Rohit Mordani’s Blog

The other day I was at my brother’s place and he has HD programming. I switched over to Discovery channel to see how good it looked and I saw a commercial for a new series called “Planet Earth”. It looked pretty good but I dismissed it from my mind. A few days later – while looking through the program guide (on my DVR) I saw an entry for “Planet Earth”. I just kept the timer ’cause there wasn’t much to watch anyways !

Last night, I switched on the TV and saw that 2 episodes of Planet Earth were recorded. I started watching it and within 5 minutes I was in awe ! This series is amazing – it may be a documentary but it is so good that I didn’t even forward 2 seconds of it ! The episode that I was watching was called “Fresh Water” and it explored all life that revolved around fresh water – be it from lakes or from mountain streams or the big rivers ! It absolutely blew my mind – and that too on the Simple Definition of it !! The DVDs and the HD versions (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) come out next week – this makes me want to buy a High Definition player (PS3 ? HD-DVD player? Combo drive?). I would love to have this set of DVDs.

Apparently, the series was 5 years in the making. It is a co-production between BBC and Discovery Channel. There are 11 episodes in all :

1. From Pole to Pole
2. Mountains
3. Freshwater
4. Caves
5. Deserts
6. Ice Worlds
7. Great Plains
8. Jungles
9. Shallow Seas
10. Seasonal Forests
11. Ocean Deep

Looks like I missed the first 2 episodes ! Here are some of the things that come to my mind while watching the series…

• How do they keep the camera so steady !
• What a place !
• How did they get a camera there !
• Wow !! Wow !! Wow !!
• Amazing !!
• How do they string the story from one place to another with the same subject / story line !
• What a fly by – Would love to see that in IMAX !
• Nice music !
• Love those underwater and slow-motion shots !
• Those facts are amazing !

Here are some of the amazing shots / memories (wish I could post a video here instead of this list ) of the episode that I saw last night – titled “Fresh Water”

• Otters under water
• Giant salamanders hunting fish at night
• Monkey diving into the Ganges/Brahmaputra from Mangrove trees in the Sunderbans and swimming / grabbing food / playing (underwater swimming for fun)
• Up-close shot of a Bear fishing in a mountain stream
• Group of Otters harassing a crocodile (20 times their size)
• Shot of a crocodile taking down a buffalo (shown at a speed that is slowed down 40 times the normal rate)
• Billions of lake flies mating over a lake -looks like smoke over the lake !
• Piranha Feeding Frenzy
• Bear diving to hunt fish

Some links to more info…I know I am getting these DVDs (or HD versions) some time !

• Planet Earth @ Discovery.com
• Planet Earth DVDs
• Planet Earth – Wikipedia

A while ago – about 20 weeks before the SuperBowl (2007) I started watching America’s Game on NFL Network – Now, I am a BIG fan of the NFL and NFL Network is by far one of my favourite channels and this series of programs made by NFL Films is amazing ! It is a 40 part documentary profiling the Super Bowl champions from Super Bowl I through Super Bowl XL !

I think the way it is made is excellent. The story mode is well set, the narration is exceptional – the people chosen have very good diction as well as a good voice ! The clips, sound bites and the plain background behind the people telling the story sets the perfect mood for some classy story telling ! Thinking back about the program – the best part of the program is the music ! I LOVE the introduction tune – it is amazing ! I also love the background music !

Steve Sabol has done an excellent job in making this. The top 20 were the first to be aired. These 20 best NFL Super Bowl teams were selected by a group of people (called the Blue Ribbon Panel) who are either Sports broadcasters, Coaches in the NFL, Players in the NFL or anyone related to the Game ! I may not agree with the rankings, however I see the documentry from a different perspective – through the eyes, ears and minds of the players and the coaches who made it through and achieve the ultimate goal in their careers – win the Super Bowl !

If you do get a chance then do watch the series – its worth it ! Check out the official website of America’s Game to learn more…

I am now watching the rest of the games that didn’t make it to the top 20…

Went and saw 300 today and I must say it is a good movie ! It is bloody, gory, R-rated and violent as hell ! It is definitely not for the faint hearted ! Why did I like it? Well – for the simple fact that it tells the story well and keeps you entertained throughout. It did however had a lot of scenes that made me uncomfortable even though I was only with my wife !

I loved the fighting sequences and the way it was shown – the camera angles, the colours, the action sequences and the blood splatter everywhere ! it was very well done – Kudos to Zack Snyder for his direction !

I think 300 takes a page out of Lord of the Rings (crazy battle scenes and loads of armies), God of War (The violent behaviour, the looks and the defiance of the Spartans) and a little from The Matrix (the colour scheme and sticking to tones of the same hue and the action sequences).

300 – in all is a good movie – However do not take your kids or parents with you to the movie ! Check out the video blog at their myspace site. This should give you a good idea of what I am talking about…

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Update : Check out these hilarious gifs making fun of 300 !!

This post has been in my head for a while now, and it has just been made fresh by the fact that “Water” did not win in the Oscars for “The Best Foreign Film”. What a shame – “Water” by Deepa Mehta may have been on a sensitive (but real) social topic that was prevalent in India about 60 years back, but the movie was very well made movie and the story line did not lack anything. It does portray a not-so-nice image of the practices in the early times of India but nevertheless, the audience should understand that things are not that bad these days in India. Did it lose because it may have been too crude – well we would never know.
On the other end of the spectum there are movies like Salaam-E-Ishq (and anything with Salman Khan) and Golmaal that should just NOT be made, and if made then it shouldn’t be watched ! Indian cinema also doesn’t know how to make sequels – Phir Hera Pheri was a disgrace to the first movie (phir hera pheri) ; Dhoom 2 was all about the glamour and glitter – had no story at all. I think Dhoom was much better. Kkrish was also no better (not that the ET ripoff “Koi Mil Gaya” was any better !) – just the special effects were good in these movies – which of course was done by companies from out of India ! Movies have become just a 2-3 hour commercial piece of crap – filled with endorsements !

And then there were some really good movies (though some may not have done all that well in the Box Office) – Movies such as Taxi No. 9211, Dor, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Khosla ka Ghosla, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (a total timepass movie) were really nice and well made with some very basic story lines – Elegance sprouts from something that is very basic – I truly believe in that ! Guru was another well made movie and Sam says it well in his blog – “They don’t call him Mani Sir for no reason”. A little over the top for me Sam, but nevertheless the story telling is done well – the good and the bad parts !

What I guess I am implying here is that I expect more out of Hindi movies and the people who make it. People in India are really creative and I hope that is exposed via the movies that they make ! One statement pretty much sums up what is happening in the Indian Cinema world -

“In the Hindi film industry, mediocrity is king!!”
- Anurag Kashyap

I came across this comment in Sams blog – he is probably more passionate about Indian Cinema than I am ! Check out his blog too…