Britain's Got Talent, DVD Rental and Bangalore's Night Life  

Posted by Vee

Street dancers Diversity won this year’s Britain’s Got Talent. IMO, they deserved to win after that scintillating dance act in the finals. 48-year old Hairy Angel Susan Boyle for the finals sang “I Dreamed A Dream”, same song which made her an instant star after the first round. Initially ridiculed for her appearance and later for Everything-is-planned ploy which also included the planned shock reaction of audiences and judges alike, she decided to quit the show mid-way. However, she stayed on and came second in the third season of Britain’s Got Talent. I loved her singing but I guess she was hyped way too much. That apart, she has got impressive voice.

My personal favorites Shaheen Jafargholi and Stavros Flatley did enter final but could not reach the final three. In particular twelve year old Shaheen was an absolute delight to hear. Like Susan, he too chose the song he sang in the first round; Michael Jackson’s “Who’s Loving You” and boy was he good? He was enormously attention-grabbing. Greek Irish father-son duo of Stavros Flatley completely entertained with their uncanny dance manner.

Other findings which I enjoyed were: 10-year old Natalie Okri and 11-year old Aidan Davis. Natalie rocked with Jamelia’s Superstar song and Aidan wowed everyone with his delightful dance.

Thanks to talent.itv.com and live commentary by Sujoy on his blog, I was able to watch all these great acts on internet. There were many more amazing performances; I have listed only my favorites.

In my last post, many people asked me the source of those movies. Pirated? Downloaded? Well, nopes. I do not download them from net. I am way too impatient for that. And forget finding those movies in your local dvd library. I am member of DVD rental sites Seventymm and Bigflix. And that’s where I get the movies from. This doesn’t work out cheaper but ultimately I it’s worth it. I had been member of 70mm for over two years now. I am not too demanding, in the sense I do not look out for latest blockbusters or famous ones. I look out for movies which are hard to get otherwise and which we hardly get to hear of. There are so many movies being made all over the world and we get to hear of just 15-20%. Where else could I have seen Iranian/Korean/Mandarin/French/German/Persian/Spanish/Japanese et al language movies? In the name of foreign language films, all that gets released in India are the blockbusters of Hollywood, half of which I found absolute crap. Yes, I am talking of Superman/Spiderman, ye-man, wo-man, Harry Potter and many such. They might be having huge followings but I do not like such movies. Of late, the scene has changed and we do get to see some lesser known good ones releasing in India too, ‘The Revolutionary Road’ for example. Yet, the scene is pathetic when it comes to the release of Non-English movies in India.

Am I happy with them? I have heard from few friends from north that 70mm service sucks. Well, I haven’t found any reasons whatsoever so far to discontinue my membership. And definition of suck varies from one to another. My look-outs are usually the Non-English foreign language films and 70mm comes with a good collection of them. For English, I am trying to watch as many old classics as possible. I am going by the decade and I am still on 50s/60s/70s. I half-way through watching the movies of Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor et al. I do not see any other way to watch their movies as I yet cannot afford to buy DVDs of all these movies.

Serviceability too is an important factor, and my experience says these providers have improved a lot in last couple of years. Initially I did face few hiccups but I was patient. Bigflix I joined recently because I wasn’t getting few movies on 70mm. Though, 70mm remains my primary provider. Cinema Paradiso is another DVD rental site, but I haven’t checked out them. My queue in the former 2 is more than 100+ which will take some time to get exhausted. However, Cinema Paradiso is another good one if words of few of my friends are anything to go by.

I do not go by the fact which site provides maximum number of titles. What is the point if you have more number of titles but what you want to see is not there? These are web based, you can check out the kind of movies you wish to watch and decide whether you want to take the membership or not. Makes sense?

Btw, did I tell how Bangalore is progressing backwards? The deadline for pubs/clubs to remain open is 11.30 PM, killing the nightlife. And, not many know that dancing here in pubs/clubs is banned. This wasn't enough that the show timings of the movies have been revised and the last show of the day will be screened at 8 PM. Can anyone beat that? The last show here till now started by 10 PM and in order to reduce the crime (words of Shankar Bidari, Bangalore Police Commissioner), they have decided to end the show at the most by 11 PM for which the show must be at 8. Now, is that rational? I do not even wish to get into the pros and cons of this as I feel there are many people (working ones usually) who would prefer to go for late night show after day’s work. And if not just that, there could be hazaar other reasons. And why any reasons? Do not we have any say in anything? Ending up show 2 hours early than usual will reduce crime. Mashallah.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 02, 2009 and is filed under , , , , , , , , , , . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

31 Pointless but Viscous Comments.

hey! All criminals go to watch movies after 8 pm. Didn't the commissioner tell you that :P :P

And yes, Boyle was talented, but way over hyped!

Anonymous  

You have voiced same views of cinema lovers in India. Though Palador has come-out with good collection series, bit it's too expensive to afford and you don't get all of them at a single DVD rental site.
For me unfortunately all DVD rental websites are banned at work, so i had to rely on those which has physical store- Big Flix.
As you are in B&W classic era let m recommend you few movies I liked recently-
Cape fear (1962 original and not the Scorsese remake)
High Noon (1952- Classic Western)
Sirocco (1952)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1957)

I have collected head-On and would be watching it tonite :)

I once registered in 70mm, just registered, and I continued to get their calls for 6 months :D Never ordered any movie yet.

Night life in Chennai stops by 11.30pm. even the shops are asked to close by 11.30. But the show timing for movies is seriously weird !!! 8pm isnt a night show for heavens sake !!!!

didya know Susan Boyle couldn't handle all the overnight reputation and is now hospitalised for psycho treatment? and about the commissioner's views, what abt the umpteen crimes happening in broad daylight!

@Einstein, Yeah, right whatever that means...;). I feel same. She is talented.

@UH, I have seen High Noon and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner out of your 4 reccos.Cape Fear(62) is in queue already. Will check Sirocco.

Hope you enjoy Head-On.

@Vimmuuu, Try it if you really wish to catch some good ones.

See, even if I get convinced about the deadline of 11:30 for eateries or pubs, The last show at 8 is something very uneasy.

@BB, Oh yes, I did get to know that. But what I feel is more than her inability to handle the stardom, it was the fact she was ridiculed for being fake, rehearsed and all that which did her in. Poor she. Anyways, Simon I guess has agreed to take out her album. Right?

I have nothinhg to tell those commissioners. They are bunch of f***ing @**holes.

Didn't follow Britain's got talent that seriously. Saw only bits and pieces. Saw a dance performance by 'Flawless' and that was absolutely breathtaking. Wa=hat happened to them?

Anonymous  

Calling the Bangalore Commissioner an A**h*** is not a very safe thing to do with how things are going these days :P he he

But ya, these creeps are stupidly innovative.

Even we have that problem every year in Navratri - All Navratri Loud Speakers should be off by 12 Midnight. Is followed for the first 3 days but then, it's always till 4 am :)

And about the movies... wish I had that kinda time... :( The only foreign films I catch is during the DIFF and at times, popular ones in my video library.

Atleast one criminal i.e u will be stopped :P Someone who doesnt like "Superman/Spiderman, ye-man, wo-man, Harry Potter " movies is a criminal in my eyes :)

I liked Susan a lot. Her not winning came as a surprise. Diversity was good too anyways. :)
I think Susan will have an amazing career despite the fact that she lost.

And the show timing bit was hilarious. Isn't the police there to grab the criminals instead of making such mindless laws?? They are just making their own task easier. The next thing which we will hear is that there won't be any movies on Saturdays and Sundays.

@Abhishek, I too wasn't following it much initially. But from 1st Semi onwards, I saw it without fail. 'Flawless was good' and they were out in the 2nd Semis.

@Rakesh Brother, From Another Mother, Hows you doing?

Well, that's not a problem I guess calling them that. 'Stupidly Innovative'... lol, thats nice one.

At least after 3rd day things are fine na.. Yahan toh roz naye laws and orders. Pathetic is the scene.

Have heard about DIFF.. I wish to attend one sometime.. :)

@Reema, Yeah, right. Whatever you feel.

@Amit, Exactly. It was obvious that she would win. But m glad she did not. Then she would have got ridiculed even more. I like her too. And its for her own good she did not come first. Cuz, any which ways she is going to be around and rocking.

Shubh Shubh bol, Sat n Sun ko bhi ban tab toh city chhodana padega.

Same problem here, no good movies available, movie taste ruined by ye-man and wo-man .. hehe.

I remember the seventymm thingie. So thats how you manage to view good films. Well, I have a good friend who sometimes burns dvds for me.

@Ava, We are soul-mate. People do not understand ye-man and wo-man is all crap...

hehe, that friend of yours is quite good, ah!!!

Anonymous  

To next year pucca? :)

But don't u diss ye-man and wo-man, I like them at times! he he

@Rakesh, Well I hope so.. I would love to.. Just let me know in advance when it will happen. I will try to book tickets..

hehe, I know ye-man and wo-man are liked and enjoyed by many. I have nothing against them, just that I find them totally boring. But, still I watch them.. Lol...

I thought Shaheen was brilliant..he deserved to be in top 3 atleast! Susan Boyle should have won..the Queen would have loved her. Anyway, Simon will probably make sure that Susan gets the big break in professional singing.

@Bhargav, Yes, Shaheen was indeed brilliant. As for Susan, well... at least Obama will now listen her. SHe has accepted to sing for him.

so that's your secret BIG B. hmmm
send me some DVD's asap.

tc n hugs bhaiya

You know I was watching superstars of dance and thinking that someone should write about it episode by episode. It is so much better than the crappy talent shows in india where most of the screen time is hogged by the zillions of 'celebrity' judges, rona dhona and what not. One show even dragged out an old grandmother to bless a participant - oh wow ! As if it is emotions that are needed more than just pure talent.

@Kiddo (rabbit), Haan ji... Will surely write one for u soon.. and my soon is like wait for an year..:)

@Ava, you are bang on... Our judges just suck.... And I am tired of seeing Farha, Anu, Javed, Saroj, Vaibhavi in almost every other reality show.. these people need to be shown how their counterparts worldwide speak and behave... our people just wish to hog the lime light,..

And getting all the clan of the participant on stage is just downright hilarious and embarrassing. But at the same time, there are gazillion audiences who shed a tear when such shit happens... of course they all belong to (k)ekta kapoor fan club....

Never knew of that show :-( Gosh i surely need to pull up my socks! In any case i dont enjoy these reality shows! More of showbazi than stuffs.
As for movies and DVDs, i prefer them in theatres. Dont enjoy the small screen much.
BTW how have you been :-) I just woke up you see ala rip van winkle

WIAN, Good Morning!!! :) Well, these reality shows are far better off than the Indian ones.. give them a try some time.. Btw, Thats' a reality.. ;)

lol! so is the reality check done? did you tell reality to wherever applicable ;-)

Heya, thanks for linking to me blog. And I still consider Shaheen as the winner, and he deserved to win. But then, Diversity;s final act with the 3 buzzers was just creativity with a capital C. Susan Boyle is all over the tabloids here in the UK, and lemme tell u, Susan Boyle does not need the 100k or the Royal Variety. She is already signed in for millions of pounds now. That Simon dude is gonna make so much money with her, given her huge success in the US.

Also, reading your interest in world cinema - have u tried watching Korean movies? I recently watched a few, and have reviewed some of them [exactly 4 so far]
Check it out, under:http://www.oneknightstands.net/tag/asian-invasion/

Cheers!

@Sujoy, I too feel Shaheen is a great discovery but Diversity deserved to win. Shaheen is a winner too. And for Susan, Simon for sure if cashing all the money he can through her.. :)

I have indeed watched Korean movies.. I will check out your post soon to see if any of those I have seen. Thanks

Hi,
Good to know that you like the collection of our world cinema. If you want us to procure some more titles or if you have any suggestions, DM us on our twitter page http://twitter.com/seventymm
Happy movie watching!

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