This was in my WatchList for a long time and for some reason, I always thought this movie is part of 'Final Destination' franchise.

Boy, was I wrong. This movie has a very interesting time travel paradox and executes it very well.
I have some disagreements with the final third of movie but overall, it was a good watch.

P.S. -- If you love such mind bending time travel paradoxes, do give a shot to Netflix series 'Dark'.

I am not a horror junkie but if a horror movie is well reviewed and known to be well made, I do watch it. This one came highly recommended so gave it a shot and what a banger it was. The climax was very well done.

I have observed that my teenage daughter now appreciates good movies so I am slowly introducing her to few of my favorites.
We watched this one last night and really had a good time discussing all the hints afterwards. Hope she watches it again and again and again, just like his old man.

Incredibly well made and chilling movie. Great directorial debut from Anna Kendrick.

May be not a good time to watch so much a movie with so much Orange sand.
Loved the movie and very impressed with the cold revenge execution in the end. Many a times Hollywood movies chicken out but this one goes all the way.

Watched on Friday October 25, 2024.

Reminds me of Oppenheimer, by which I mean it’s a Wikipedia walkthrough of Napoleon’s life.

Beautiful people in a beautiful location with a murder mystery. I like such low effort shows.

Interesting concept but overall Okayish.

'Reacher' but non-lethal. Loved the movie.

From one WTF moment to another WTF moment.  This was a wild ride.

Okayish. Watched it just for Raveena. Childhood crush and all, you know 😊

Extreme SA Trigger Warning but last 30 mins are worth it. 
This is some “Oldboy” level shit.

My sister finally came to visit me decades after I moved here.
I don’t know when was the last time we lived together for more than couple of days (during my India trips).

I went through an elaborate process to get her and her family prepared for USA trip, starting from getting their new passports, and then the painful process of getting B-1 visa.  After she finally got visa in 2016, she had second baby and the plan to visit went again on back burner.

I went through the whole rigmarole once again to get new passport for new baby and one more visa (thankfully, the new baby qualified for dropbox).
If you are an Indian, you might know that it’s 1-2 years wait now to get visa interview so I do appreciate that newborns don’t need an appointment if parents already have visa.

Sister only had couple more years left on her 10-year-visitor-visa so her travel had to be soon.
Finally, now that the new baby is not new anymore (5 years old), she came with the 5 year old and my parents.

Her husband and first kid couldn’t join this time due to parent’s health issues but at least she used her visa once before it expires.
She is here only for a month (2 weeks already gone) and I want to show her so much but also want to spend some personal time with her.

NorthEast plan
– Niagara Falls (Done)
– Statue of Liberty (Done)
– Some good nature parks in Central NJ (Done)
– New York City Landmarks (Pending)
– Washington DC (may not happen but pending)

Hopefully, she would have good memories from her trip and she could come back again with full family.

I am a simple man. I see Tabu, I hit play. 
Not great but fun to watch.

Some Pixar movies just hit you emotionally like a truck. I always get a sob in first 20 minutes of UP movie and at the end of ToyStory 3.

Inside Out 2 was such an emotional moment, not only for me but for many others I was sharing the theater with, including my teenage daughter, who was a mess at the end of movie.

Thanks Pixar, keep this up.

Long pending watch. Enjoyed it overall

Holdovers and then AmericanFiction.
Probably the first time I like the movies which were nominated for Oscars.

There is one scene in the movie where our protagonist is in a party. He is evaluating a potential love interest and then the love interest's partner comes in the door. The expression on my face and protagonist face could have been a mirror image.

When was the last time you felt the same as the character in the movie is going through.
This is such a beautiful movie which invokes that simple slice-of-life picture on screen.

An instant Christimas classic and I see myself revisiting this movie during many holiday seasons in future.

Ladies who found their way. ❤️

Having never read any of his work, I was under impression that Roald Dahl wrote literature appropriate for children.
I recently started reading ‘Matilda’ with my younger daughter and finding it out to be inappropriate for very young kids.
Dude had serious dark side. I now call him ‘Stephen King for kids’.

On the related note, my high school going kid got assigned a book called ‘There There’ by ‘Tommy Orange’.
The book is all well and good but kid mentioned that it has too much profanity and cursing in it.
I know kids now a days are not shy of swearing (I mean just take a look at their Discord chat) but if the book is making a high schooler uncomfortable, may be something is not right with teacher officially assigning such books as part of ‘Language and Arts’.

The kids are all right but I am just getting old, I guess.

Someone can't control which family they are born into.
But, if you really learn the ropes and deliver good product, it would be hard for someone to call you a nepo kid.

I love, love, love anything and everything Akhtar siblings do. Everything they make is of high quality, including this first venture of Zoya.

This movie will always be relevant.

I definitely wasn't prepared for what we got in the finale but I loved this it and the series as a whole.
It's one of those TV Shows I would love to revisit again in future.

Hope it gets all the love in Emmys.

Revisited this classic after many many years. Loved it once again.

Decent family drama which, I am sure, will resonate with lot of people.
Good luck to anyone who has to defend themselves in French court.
IMO, there are many other movies/shows which have dealt with similar subject matter in a better way. I don't understand the hype this one got.

The best scene in the movie was the fight scene between the couple.

Watched on Tuesday April 16, 2024.

I first saw Lagaan in 2001 with my friends in Borivali, Mumbai.
At that time, with no social media in place, the premise of the movie was not known by general public.
Given how big cricket is part of a regular Indian's life is, I had such a good time watching this movie.

Now, in my 40s, I am reliving my youth vicariously through my daughter. It's always fun to watch how she reacts to the movies which were significant part of my life.

This movie didn't disappoint in 2024. With excellent soundtrack and thrilling buildup to the climax, it was still a great watch.

I could be biased due to my love for Hrithik but it wasn't a bad movie.

Very impressed with Vijay Sethupathi's performance. 
I really wish I knew either Tamil or Malayalam to savor some of South Indian Cinema.

Watched on Friday March 15, 2024.

Watched on Saturday March 9, 2024.

Still makes me cry. SRK is a gem we don't deserve.

When stalwarts like Rajkumar Hirani and Shahrukh Khan come together, the expectations are going to be very high.
May be that's the reason I found movie lacking in so many fronts.
I expected the movie to be completely about the dunki route but that plot is just encompassed within couple of songs.
There are some good moments in the movie but overall, it's a dud.

Spoilers --
Hirani is known for family movies so I was jarred to see suicide based plot in the beginning. I wasn't prepared for it and had to fast forward quickly.

There are few in my family who gave substantial time of their life to clear Indian Administrative Competitive exams like UPSC.
Even I tried couple of times to clear state level exams but my attempt was very casual.
This movie has a happy ending but speaking from my personal experience, the unfortunate fact is that most people fail in this endeavor and that can lead them into deep depression.

Anyways, this is a feel good movie and I really liked it. Vikrant Massey is someone I will keep an eye out for in future.

"Dripping with style". Really had lot of fun watching this movie and hoping to watch again sometime soon.

Watchmen made us aware about Tulsa riots and this movie made us aware about plight of Osage Nation's plight.

Being a Scorsese's production, this is, of course, an excellently made movie but I wish it had more POV from Indigenous people's perspective.

Thankfully I waited to watch this movie on Apple TV+. I don't think I have the patience and stamina to sit in movie theater for 3.5 hours.

Watched on Thursday January 18, 2024.

"Some crossings cost more than others. Some crossings you pay for with your whole life."
As an Indian immigrant, this movie really hit me hard.
When we move to a new country/place, we leave so many things behind. At some point in life, all of us look back and weep about the personality we left behind in old country.
Very melancholic and beautifully shot movie which will hit you hard.

What a beautiful gem of a movie. Fair warning that you might ugly cry at the end.
I am glad I came across it on a long haul flight.

A decent horror comedy with good VFX. I was pleasantly surprised how real the CGI animals were.

Before I forget about stuff I observed during my India trip, I want to jot it down:-

1. Just like every India trip, I spent all my time in central India (Nagpur and surrounding area). This was where I grew up during teen years and have fond longing for this place. Given this was December, the weather was pretty nice there. The chill in the air during morning/night was welcoming.

2. People in India actually use phone as a phone and not as texting device. SMSes are used for receiving OTPs whereas Whatsapp, of course, is used mostly for spreading propaganda. In day to day life, you receive so many OTPs that phones have inbuilt feature to delete OTPs after 24 hours.

3. Android phones overwhelmingly surpass iOS. Even the cheap Chinese phones (<10,000 INR) are really good. I didn’t see any iPhones around me during one month stay. I replaced my dad’s old OnePlus phone with new Samsung (S23+). The process of setting up new phone was pretty seamless (used Samsung’s app which works with all other phones). While researching the phones for Indian market, I found the website gadgets360.com very useful. It’s pretty decent site with good content.

4. Nagpur – Boy, has this city grown
   –The infrastructure improvement I observed since last time I visited was really stunning. There is whole new metro system, new flyovers and roads which makes transport really easy. There is lot of traffic, of course, but the city is really trying to keep up.
   –The quality of medical care in Nagpur is really good. So many specialists in various fields are available at reasonable cost. My dad went through knee replacement surgery and we are very happy with the result. He is already walking pain free and looking forward to riding his scooter soon.
   –Most of the kids in my family are now in high school and all of them are going to coaching institutes to prepare for college entrance exams (JEE/NEET/UPSC etc.). I feel sorry for the kids grinding themselves down for the competition but it is what it is. The good thing is that best institutes are available in Nagpur so they can at least stay home instead of going to specific town, which used to be the norm (Kota, Bhilai, Hyderabad etc.)
   –I visited some of the new residential societies on a whim. From what I can decipher, the quality of construction was excellent. It was good to see a home with thick rock solid concrete walls instead of punchable drywalls.
   

5. Vidarbha is very hot and dry region but fortunately receives sufficient rainfall each year. In the last decade or so, lot of dams and reservoirs have been constructed in Vidarbha region which really helps with water supply. I don’t know the long term impact of climate change but water supply issue feels sorted for now. Fingers crossed.

6. If you have not been to India for some time, the scale of digital payment system (UPI) will surprise you. Every shop and street vendor has bar code promptly displayed and almost everyone uses GPay/PayTM/BHIM to make payments. No one is forced to use UPI and cash is still an option but I found GPay very convenient to use. Even transferring money to friends/family is very convenient using UPI as it’s platform agnostic and some of the low value transactions don’t even need internet connection.

7. EV Scooters have become very prominent on Nagpur roads. Some of the big companies (TVS, Bajaj, OLA) have good EV scooters. I drove TVS one and it’s really well designed.

8. If you have a house, Solar Panels have kind of became a standard. Every roof is covered with them and the generated electricity is fed directly to central hub. My dad has received negative bill since last year or so. If he replaces his old scooter with EV one, it would be carbon neutral.

9. Finally we come to most important topic – Food.
   One benefit of visiting India during winter is the amount of in-season green vegetables available. I had tons of fresh Methi, Palak, Green Peas sabzi (I find the frozen GreenPeas in US stores very sweet for my taste whereas the fresh ones in India are much better).
   Getting these green vegetables ready to cook is time consuming process, so while cleaning the raw materials, I got to spend some quality time with family members in kitchen.
   I don’t get to eat meat during India trips (parents are vegetarians) but had some outside with friends. It all comes down to curry, which was excellent at the places where I had it.

That’s a wrap. I am glad I wrote all this down and hope it will be fun to read these observations in future.

Before I forget about stuff I observed during my India trip, I want to jot it down:-

1. Just like every India trip, I spent all my time in central India (Nagpur and surrounding area). This was where I grew up during teen years and have fond longing for this place. Given this was December, the weather was pretty nice there. The chill in the air during morning/night was welcoming.

2. People in India actually use phone as a phone and not as texting device. SMS is used for receiving OTPs whereas Whatsapp, of course, is used mostly for spreading propaganda. In day to day life, you receive so many OTPs that phones have inbuilt feature to delete OTPs after 24 hours.

3. Android phones overwhelmingly surpass iOS. Even the cheap Chinese phones (<10,000 INR) are really good. I didn’t see any iPhones around me during one month stay. I replaced my dad’s old OnePlus phone with new Samsung (S23+). The process of setting up new phone was pretty seamless (used Samsung’s app which works with all other phones). While researching the phones for Indian market, I found the website gadgets360.com very useful. It’s pretty decent site with good content.

4. Nagpur – Boy, has this city grown. The infrastructure improvement I observed since last time I visited was really stunning. There is whole new metro system, new flyovers and roads which makes transport really easy. There is lot of traffic, of course, but the city is really trying to keep up. – The quality of medical care in Nagpur is really good. So many specialists in various fields are available at reasonable cost. My dad went through knee replacement surgery and we are very happy with the result. He is already walking pain free and looking forward to riding his scooter soon. – Most of the kids in my family are now in high school and all of them are going to coaching institutes to prepare for college entrance exams (JEE/NEET/UPSC etc.). I feel sorry for the kids grinding themselves down for the competition but it is what it is. The good thing is that best institutes are available in Nagpur so they can at least stay home instead of going to specific town, which used to be the norm (Kota, Bhilai, Hyderabad etc.) – I visited some of the new residential societies on a whim. From what I can decipher, the quality of construction was excellent. It was good to see a home with thick rock solid concrete walls instead of punchable drywalls.

5. Vidarbha is very hot and dry region but fortunately receives sufficient rainfall each year. In the last decade or so, lot of dams and reservoirs have been constructed in Vidarbha region which really helps with water supply. I don’t know the long term impact of climate change but water supply issue feels sorted for now. Fingers crossed.

6. If you have not been to India for some time, the scale of digital payment system (UPI) will surprise you. Every shop and street vendor has bar code promptly displayed and almost everyone uses GPay/PayTM/BHIM to make payments. No one is forced to use UPI and cash is still an option but I found GPay very convenient to use. Even transferring money to friends/family is very convenient using UPI as it’s platform agnostic and some of the low value transactions don’t even need internet connection.

7. EV Scooters have become very prominent on Nagpur roads. Some of the big companies (TVS, Bajaj, OLA) have good EV scooters. I drove TVS one and it’s really well designed.

8. If you have a house, Solar Panels have kind of became a standard. Every roof is covered with them and the generated electricity is fed directly to central hub. My dad has received negative bill since last year or so. If he replaces his old scooter with EV one, it would be carbon neutral.

9. Finally we come to most important topic – Food. One benefit of visiting India during winter is the amount of in-season green vegetables available. I had tons of fresh Methi, Palak, Green Peas sabzi (I find the frozen GreenPeas in US stores very sweet for my taste whereas the fresh ones in India are much better). Getting these green vegetables ready to cook is time consuming process, so while cleaning the raw materials, I got to spend some quality time with family members in kitchen. I don’t get to eat meat during India trips (parents are vegetarians) but had some outside with friends. It all comes down to curry, which was excellent at the places where I had it.

That’s a wrap. I am glad I wrote all this down and hope it will be fun to read these observations in future.