The Amazing build-up to TDKR

Just so we're clear, this is not a spoiler. I merely attempt to capture my experience before I watched it. I would rather die than ruin THIS of all movies for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. I mean it.

By now as most of you must've realized how crazy I am about movies. After reading this you might consider the fact that you underestimated my fanaticism. Let me tell you something: you always will.

I had pre-booked the tickets for The Dark Knight Rises for IMAX on the 28th of June. The date is relevant, since it helps emphasize the enormity of my shock and surprise that I didn't get it. The moment I discovered that (late Wednesday), I cancelled it before it redirected my request to a sub-standard theater. 

Then I checked PVR's site and found that my favorite theater was almost entirely empty for the first show of the morning on Friday at 9 o clock. Unsurprisingly, it took a lot of time to process my request because of the potential traffic at that point of time. The most anticipated movie of all time had turned virtually every online movie booking site into IRCTC.

After I successfully booked a top-row seat, the excitement was more palpable than ever. I felt like dancing all over Mumbai. Smiling for so long made it look like I had a coat-hanger stuck in my mouth.

You might have observed I said seat, not seats. Yes, I had decided to watch it alone. It was decided the moment I saw the trailer. A man with unconditional love towards something would never allow anything to come between him and his love. He would not tolerate the slightest criticism, or any comparison to anything/anyone else whatsoever. My friends tend to judge the movie based on the intermission, which I really hate. They say things like 'the first half was better' etc. Directors never intend to include an intermission.

Some may call this paranoia, like my friends here, but that's how it is. If you don't share another man's passion, then his passion is likely to be perceived as paranoia by you.

It was Thursday night, and my excitement had somehow turned into some sort of anxiety. I actually couldn't sleep through the night. I tried to sleep early, but was in a state of half-sleep throughout. Flashes of Batman were popping into my head, and it was so tangled up that you can't even call it a dream. I had been off the radar for a week ahead of the movie. I stopped reading the news, both offline and online, stopped tweeting etc. I was already off Facebook for a month. I tried to make the possibility of coming across a spoiler near to zero.

Even though I didn't sleep well, I woke up with the first alarm without a second thought, got ready, and set out on a journey, which was likely to be a life-changing one. When I got to the box office, I was taken aback by the multiple queues lined up. It was 8.45 in the morning !

It's always overwhelming to see that there are other people who share your passion.

I remember staring wide-eyed at this couple who were getting two tickets for Cocktail. At 9 in the morning. On a Friday. Oh, who am I to judge?

The theater was housefull within minutes. After the wonderful 52 seconds of the National Anthem were over, there was a calm throughout the theater. A calm before the storm. Then something happened, which I couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams would happen on that day.

The screen read: "Trailer: Man of Steel", and the audience started clapping and shouting. Before I could start wondering what was the big deal about this movie, the music started, and a woman's soft lament echoed between the walls. The moment it started, several chills went up my spine, and this electricity started flowing in my body. It was so beautiful and sad, I actually felt like crying. Judge all you want, but if you allow it, music can do that to you.

During those timeless seconds, I noticed the names Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan on the screen, finishing with a man flying through the clouds. It was Superman.

Those sixty seconds really got to me. I think they made the entire experience a little more awesome.

I am not going to discuss/review the movie. I believe movies are like people: judge them by yourself, and leave others' opinions aside. Only then you will realize how you really feel about the movie, or the person. A review will rob you of the freedom of choosing the good or bad in a movie, even if it's a good review. 

All I'll say is: I walked in with goosebumps. I walked out in bliss, hope and more goosebumps.

10 epic movie scenes

So I thought since my last post was a little wayward, maybe this will make it feel more complete.
Here is the list of my 10 all time favorite movie scenes: Scenes which evoke emotions so powerful from me that I make sure I'm watching the movie alone.
(Note: This is slightly different from the list of my favorite movies)

To view the videos on the Youtube page, click on the title of the video.

#10. If only one thing had happened differently, from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button:
 

 #9. Desk scene, middle and end scenes, from Dead Poets Society

#8. George Bailey's speech, from It's a Wonderful Life

#7. The park bench scene, from Good Will Hunting.

#6.  Return of the King, from Lord of the Rings

#5.  How I feel, from The Departed:

#4.  Sam's speech, from Lord of the Rings:

#3.  Opening the Safe, from Inception:

 Blogger isn't allowing me to paste the video here, so I'm just sharing the URL. Click here


#2.  Wayne Manor burns, from Batman Begins:

If I could, I would have shared the link to the entire movie. It's the closest I feel towards any movie.

#1. The single greatest ending to any movie in my opinion, from The Dark Knight

I'm sure there are other scenes which choke me up or leave me entranced, but these are the ones I can always think about.

Movies Movies Movies

Everyone has a preference for the subject of a conversation. Even the people who generally seem to have enough sense as to what the other person would be interested in talking about, there's always something they would simply love to ramble about. That something for me, is movies.

Up till the first year of my college, movies never meant a great deal to me. They were nothing short of a source of entertainment, which of course was the reason they started. But something changed my outlook completely after that. I think I ran into people who themselves had vantage points both unique and passionate.

I'm not really dancing on cloud nine these days, quite frankly. But right now I'm heaving with so much emotion, I just can't sleep till I write this. I thought a facebook status would do, but then this movie was so amazing I thought it'd be an insult to it. Thanks to this absolute delight of a movie, It's a Wonderful Life.



One could be passionate in many ways about movies. There are action buffs, romantics; while some prefer the lighter side of it.

My preference is pretty simple. I fall in love with anything that touches my heart.

It could be the dialogue, the conversation, the expressions, or the music alone. (I've decided to dedicate a different post altogether for rambling on music) This doesn't mean Twilight makes me coo and cry. The only thing I like in that movie is the cinematography. It's pretty amazing.

Anyway, there needs to be some serious levels of intensity in at least one aspect of the movies. The story, the acting, the music...could be any one, or even perhaps all. I won't mention any favorites here, otherwise this post will never end, and I'll end up looking red-eyed drunk in office tomorrow.

The point is, movies mean more to me than anything else. People resort to different things when they feel lousy and depressed. Talking helps the most, and I know it because I do it for other people. But when it comes to me, I could talk to a hundred people, have fifty depressed conversations (the other fifty would either go offline or walk away, sensing the mood), and still feel the same. So nowadays I talk less and watch a movie instead. If I were a scientist I would've published a column in Times Trends that Movies have proven to uplift the mood more than people.

Looking back, the characters I have loved in my favorite movies have a common trait: They all cared more about something else other than themselves. Bruce Wayne, Samwise Gamgee, John Keating, Sean Maguire...and now George Bailey. All of them have truly inspired me, not to succeed or achieve something, but they inspire me to LIVE. The great directors and writers, through these outstanding actors, speak of their ideas. Ideas, which spark the zest of my life.

 All you can take with you is that which you have given away. - (A quote I noticed on the wall in the movie.)