Tuesday At The Movies: Maleficent

Disney has been surprising me lately with their movies, they are still doing the happily ever after and true love's kiss but finally with a twist and closer to reality.

I first sat up and noticed this in the two sisters tale, Frozen, where they took pot shots at true love's kiss and turned the concept on its head. If you haven't seen Frozen, you should. Not only is it an interesting storyline but also it has some great music. Here's one of my favourite songs from Frozen -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk

Anyway coming back to Maleficent. Remember Sleeping Beauty, the girl who is cursed as a little babe by the evil fairy to prick her finger when she turned 16 on a spindle and fall into a deep sleep from which she would never be awoken? Well, the evil fairy was Maleficent. As the old story goes, when Princess Aurora was born, King Stefan had a grand celebration and to this party he invited the three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather.

As the party in in full swing Maleficent turns up in a burst of green flames, just after Flora and Fauna have bestowed the baby with blessings. Maleficent is offended and angry that she hasn't been invited and curses the child to punish the parents. Merryweather who still hadn't voiced her blessing, weakens the curse by saying Aurora could be awoken by a kiss from her true love, but she does not have the power to undo Maleficent's curse.

To save the child from the curse the three good fairies hide her and bring her up but Maleficent finds her when she turns of age and lures her to a spindle, after with Aurora promptly pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep. It's that this point that Prince Philip enters the story in full splendor, defeats Maleficent, kisses Sleeping Beauty and lives happily ever after with Aurora. The End.

BUT... But this is not the story Disney is saying in it's new version Maleficent, that released this year. Directed by Robert Stromberg, Maleficent is a retelling of Walt Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, but from the evil fairy's point of view. This is the story of Maleficent, her childhood, her life, her love, what hardens her heart and turns her to doing evil and how she heals her heart. This is the unheard of story, the one that is usually not told and Aurora isn't the central character this time, it's the evil fairy, Maleficent, who steals your heart.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Maleficent in 2014 vs 1959[/caption]

Maleficent is played by Angelina Jolie, the Tomb Raider girl, who even after 13 years amazes me with her fitness, physique and figure. Jolie has done justice to the role and is an endearing character. The surprise for me was Diaval, the raven shape-shifter played by Sam Riley, who was just so cute and bewitching. :D

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Photo Credit: Celeste of afterword[/caption]

In this movie Disney has not only stepped away from the archaic meaning of true love's kiss but has also tried to explain that magic is a way that doesn't involve lights, flashes and flames. Maleficent does have powers and they are magical but she also has strengths and personality. She has wings that take her places rather than teleportation, she has the support of a forest full of friends in a fight rather than spells and concoctions.

This is a Maleficent who has heart, she is someone you can feel for, sympathise with and above all else fall in love with. I enjoyed watching this movie and I highly recommend you watch it too!

The Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-XO4XiRop0

Trivia I found out:

Walt Disney's 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty was inspired by the original French fairy tale 'La Belle au bois dormant' (The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood) by Charles Perrault and Tchaikovsky's famous ballet 'The Sleeping Beauty'. The Brothers Grimm wrote this story as 'Little Briar Rose' after hearing the orally transmitted version of Perrault's story which was itself based on the 'Sun, Moon, and Talia' by an Italian writer Giambattista Basile. It was fun reading all the versions and I've linked them here if you want to read them.

Young Aurora is played by Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Angelina and Brad's 6 year old daughter. Apparently all the children who saw Angelina on set as Maleficent started to cry and hence could not play the role, however Vivienne saw through the make-up, saw her mother and did not cry, leading to her playing the role.

The title song of Maleficent "Once Upon a Dream", is from the 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. It was re-recorded by artist Lana Del Rey, who was handpicked by Angelina Jolie to perform the song. The 1959 song was based on Tchaikovsky's "Grande valse villageoise (a.k.a. The Garland Waltz)" from his ballet, The Sleeping Beauty. And here's the song with clips from both the Disney movies - the 1959 Sleeping Beauty and the 2014 Maleficent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYrD_l3juoU

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The Saturday Tirade: Kids vs Dogs

I have in the 5 odd years that I've had dogs been repeated told that kids and dogs are not the same, that I shouldn't compare someone's kids to my dogs, that dogs are not a replacement for kids, and the like.

Then the other day on an NPR Podcast of TED I heard these lines...
"Children today are economically useless and emotionally priceless"

It made me sit up, it couldn't have been put across more succinctly. A couple of decades ago couples had children and large numbers of them because it made economic sense. Children worked (the concept of child labour didn't exist) and paid for not only their keep but also supported the family and added to the kitty. When the parents got old, these same children continued to make economic sense by supporting and taking care of them.

Fast forward a few decades to today; we don't have numerous numbers of children today (or most people don't). One reason you'd say is the population explosion but the other is that children don't make economic sense any more. Having kids is an expensive business, the cost of delivery, play-school, school, college, etc. makes most couples think twice about the number of children they want to have. A lot of them settle for just having one.

Children don't work anymore, they don't earn their keep. Instead parents spend tons of money on them in various ways like education, fashionable clothing, latest gadgets, etc. All of that money would still be fine, if it guaranteed ROI. But today most parents are planning for their retirement, they don't know if their children will take care of them when the time comes.

All parents and couples know this and yet they have a child or children. They spend substantial amounts of their time and money caring for the child. They don't do all of this for economic gain but rather for emotional satisfaction in various ways, whether it be the forwarding of their genes or meeting societal requirements.

So where am I going with this, why did I say all this, how does it tie in my starting lines; these are questions you might have after reading this but bear with me a while long as I talk now about my dogs.

I live on the out perimeter of the city, which means that I get to live in a larger independent house with a largish garden but I definitely don't live on a farm. My dogs (and I have 6) don't have to work for their food, they alert me to the one off snake or every passer-by but they don't have any really economic purpose in my life.

I spend a fair bit of time and money on the upbringing and welfare of my dogs, definitely less than schooling fees :D but still a large enough amount to make people sit up. I would give up almost anything, make just about any compromise when it comes to them.

Yet in all of this I know that my dogs are a bad investment plan. They are most likely to not outlive me; when they pass on they will unhinge me emotionally and will make my pockets a lot lighter before they are gone. And yet I have not one but six. Of course you may think I'm nuts but I think they make me a better person; my dogs make me complete.

Now if you look at what I said earlier...
"Children today are economically useless and emotionally priceless"
Replace 'children' with 'dogs' and tell me are my dogs any different from your kids? ;P

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Friday Review: A Fresh Start

It's been a while since I posted a book review, for that matter it's been a while since I wrote regular posts. :(

Life's been a little crazy and now that things are settling down I hope to remedy that. Hmmm I had hoped to remedy it two weeks ago but I woke up one morning to the discovery of my blog being hacked. All I saw was the Wordpress White Screen of Death. :(

I paid Sitelock to locate and fix the problem but it seems like there are still some bugs / malicious code and Sitelock keeps sending me emails about it. I'm not sure if they just want more money or is it a genuine problem. That said I guess I will have to figure it out and do a fresh install but that's a topic for another day. For now, the white screen is gone and text is visible here again. :D

But coming back to books. I've been a bit busy and haven't been reading much in this year. I'm way back in my GoodRead Books Challenge and the number (don't even ask what it is!) just makes me feel terribly guilty. I've also been thinking about why I haven't been reading and after mulling and sulking over it for months I've realised that it's the reviewing that's killing my reading.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy reviewing books but I find it so difficult to say no that I seem to have accumulated a lot of books. The books seem nice but I just can't find the enthusiasm to read them. And the fact that I have to read them with a review in mind just makes it that much more boring.

I miss reading books that I want to read for the sheer joy of reading them with no need or requirement of a review. Maybe that's where I went wrong, I stopped reading books that I wanted to and I shouldn't have done that. I should have balanced the two, and made time for both books of my choice and books for review.

But that's all water under the bridge I guess and it's time to start afresh. If you are an author or publisher who has sent me a book and are wondering what happened to it, now you know. I'm sorry for the delay and I promise there will be a review, but it will be a bit delayed as I fight my way to getting it done.

I'm not accepting books for review as of now, at least not until I have finished with my currently existing TBR pile. I also intend to read more of the books I want to read and may not even review them, I'm going to read simply for my reading pleasure.

So every week from here on there will be a Friday Review post which will not necessarily be a book review but can be a review of a book, website or product. I'm taking the pressure off of me and taking time to enjoy myself a bit. ;)

Have you ever buckled under the pressure of reviews? Lost the joy of reading momentarily? Been put off by reviewing and the large TBR pile? Found it difficult to say no? Let me know your thoughts, I'd appreciate all the help I can get. :)

Now that all that's off my chest, here's looking forward to many hours of happy, joyful, and guiltless reading. :D

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Video Wednesday: The Lemon Tree Initiative

I came across the Lemon Tree Initiative video a week or so ago when a friend posted it on Facebook. Praveen's message that this was one of his favourite hotel chains and that the video gave him more reason to appreciate them had me intrigued. It's what prompted me to hit the play button.

And man did I smile though it all. I felt good by the end of the video, happy that there was hope for the human race after all, that there were people doing awesome things out there, going the extra mile, making a difference,... If you are wondering what I'm talking about, watch the video now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Z3qcm8EgY

The Lemon Tree Group of Hotels runs a very special initiative that provides work places for people with disabilities. THey don't pity them but celebrate their challenges and make their disabilities their strengths.

As the Founder of Lemon Tree, Patu Keshwani says it all started when two people with disabilities were hired to wash dishes in the kitchen. The job wasn't given with a grand scheme in mind by rather with the intention of giving an opportunity to people who would not otherwise get a job easily. But over time they realised that people were disabilities were great employees, they also realised that 10% of India's population is disabled in some form, so they started to look at roles in their organisations where peoples disabilities were irrelevant.

Today they have over 300 employees with disabilities and 90% of these are speech and hearing impaired. They also have over 20 people with orthopedic handicaps. Keshwani says they had given thought to hiring visually impaired people but realised that it would be really difficult for them in an hotel environment where there are a lot of visual ques. Their latest addition to the disabilities list is people with Down Syndrome.

The aim of Lemon Tree is to have 20 to 25% of their workforce as people with disabilities by 2018-19, that's about 2000 to 3000 people!

The video was just wonderful to watch, the joy and happiness the employees of Lemon Tree seemed to radiate was catchy. It made me smile. Rather than sympathise and pity them, the Lemon Tree initiative gives them must needed strength and confidence to stand-up and be their own person in the world, a chance to earn and live with dignity!

Kudos Lemon Tree, may your tribe increase. I hope more organisations learn from you. :)
You can find out more about Lemon Tree Hotels on their website.

P.S. - I found that they also have a Pooch Policy. :D Each Lemon Tree Hotel (and they have 25 of them) has adopted one street dog in and around their hotel. The dog is named, vaccinated and loved and cared for by the Lemon Tree team. These guys just make me smile wider and wider. :D

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Tuesday At The Movies: Project Sudeep

I first noticed Sudeep a few years back but I never did really pay attention to him then. There were multiple reasons I think - my Kannada isn't very proficient, I'm not a huge fan of Kannada Cinema, most Kannada movies I hear of are just masala with no substance, and so on go my reasons.

Over the years though I have been seeing Sudeep's face off and on plastered on walls around the city, then a couple of months back I watched a part of some movie of his and he caught my eye. The movie left me interested even though I couldn't understand all of what transpired and was said (I don't even know the name).

The partial movie got me thinking and it took a few months for the thought to crystallise, but now that that's done, here's what I plan to do. I intend to watch some or maybe even all Sudeep's movies in a bid to understand him better, Kannada Cinema better and who knows maybe even make my spoken Kannada better. :D

When I looked up Sudeep on Wikipedia I found a long list of movies and I didn't know how to go about choosing movies to watch. I figured it'd be best to ask friends on Facebook to solve this dilemma. Here's are the movie they recommended...

1. Mussanje Mathu


2. Kiccha


3. Just Math Mathalli


4. Veera Madakari


5. Naan E / Eega


6. Huccha


7. Varada Nayaka


8. Maanikya

That's not a lot of movies, yet 8 movies will take me 24 hours to finish watching and seems like countless hours to find and download. That's my biggest challenge it seems - how do I find these movies easily?

I keep you posted on how Project Sudeep is coming along as the weeks progress. In the mean time, if you know of easy methods of getting a copy of these movies please let me know. And feel free to add to my Must Watch Sudeep Movie List in comments. :)

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Cover Reveal: Brew by David Estes

I received an invite for Brew's cover reveal a couple of days back and I said yes without thinking much about it. Now, I've never done a cover reveal on my blog before, so off I went to hunt on Google. I didn't find anything about how to do a cover reveal but what I did find out, was that a Cover Reveal is like an event authors use to promote their books.

So I guess it's as simple as sharing the book cover. The author David Estes has sent me text to share along with the cover but before I share that here, I like to say that the reason I'm doing Brew's cover reveal on my blog is that his new series Salem's Revenge sounds promising with gangs of witches, wizards, and warlocks. It's been a while since I read a wizard book and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing the series here.

Now, on to the cover... Ta Da!!



Blurb -

Salem’s Revenge strikes without warning or mercy, ravaging the powerless human race under the forces of united gangs of witches, wizards, and warlocks. During the slaughter, Rhett Carter's foster parents and sister are killed, and his best friend and girlfriend are abducted by a gang of witches calling themselves the Necromancers, who deal in the dark magic of raising the dead. Rhett’s sword-wielding neighbor with a mysterious past saves Rhett from becoming another casualty of the massacre and teaches him the skills he needs to survive in this new world.

Rhett is broken, his normal high school life of book blogging and football playing shoved in a witch-apocalyptic blender. The only thing he has left is his burning desire for revenge. Armed with his new witch hunting skills and a loyal, magic powered dog named Hex, he sets out into the unknown with one mission: hunt and destroy those who took away everyone he ever loved.

But Rhett isn’t just a witch hunter; he has secrets of his own that he has yet to discover, secrets that his enemies will stop at nothing to keep him from.

And discovering the truth about himself is the human race’s only hope.

Add to Goodreads 

David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. David grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife. They now live together in their dream location, Hawaii. A reader all his life, he began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and started writing full time in June 2012. Now he travels the world writing with his wife, Adele. David's a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table.

Connect with David - Goodreads, David's Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and his Goodreads Fan Group

 
Have you done a cover reveal before? Did I do this right? Is there a method and etiquette to doing this?

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Video Wednesday: Alia Bhatt. Really the Butt?

Alia Bhatt has been the butt of jokes for a while now. Ever since her appearances on Coffee with Karan where she answered a few questions crazily wrong and didn't know other answers she has been the target of numerous memes and jokes on the internet.

Over the last couple of months, after I heard the first joke about her I've been trying to catch up with her interviews. And I'm yet to find one in which she is stupid, silly yes but she's definitely not stupid.

Daughter of Mahesh Bhatt and sister to Pooja Bhatt, this girl just doesn't have the genes for stupid. Baby face yes, but not stupid. And if any proof was needed about this, the video she has worked on with AIB says it all. Alia makes a joke of herself so well that one is left wondering about her intelligence at the end. A brilliant way to show the other cheek to all those writing her off.

This is one girl I'm going to be keeping an eye on over the years, she definitely has spunk and attitude. And even if you don't care about that, watch the video, the storyline and performance by Karan Johar, among other things make it worth it! You'll be laughing throughout, I promise.

Here's AIB: Alia Bhatt - Genius of the Year...



What do you think of the video? Alia Bhatt? :D

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