Annus Moviebilis

There was Bradman and then there's me. Let's leave that statement while I digress my way to a long story. Statistics appeal to me. They jump out to me from real life. I blame my parents for that. When I was a kid, summer vacations were all about spending time in Surat. One way my parents kept me engaged through train journeys was to keep a tab of how many stations the 'Flying Ranee' would pass by between Andheri and Surat. That was the simplified version of noting the station names down too. So yes, statistics interest me. The number of stairs to get to my office, the number of cars that passed by when I wait to cross like an obedient pedestrian, how many runners did I run past in the half marathon, how many Indians work on my team etc. They are a good way to stave of boredom when it arrives and provide a semblance of structure to chaos. My favorite area though is cricket statistics. Everything comes a distant second. Statsguru in cricinfo is my friend.

The second digression arriveth. I watch a lot of movies. Always have. Not sure when I got to that stage not having had a VCR at home during the oppressive 80s, but movies have my attention. So yes, I watch a lot of movies. My wife knows that and gives me gentle reminders once in a while. But how many movies did I really watch? Was there a difference in perception and reality? There was only one way to find that out. I started a project last year on the 29th of August. This wasn't meant to be a public project, but now that I am at the anniversary, I thought: why not? I listed every movie I saw in the last year. Here's the list in reverse chronological order


Kinsey
Kaminey
Short Kut - The Con is On
Last of the Mohicans
99
New York
Becoming Jane
27 Dresses
Brick Lane
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Burn After Reading
Wall-E
Mamma Mia
Kung Fu Panda
Blue Lagoon
Trainspotting
Month Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python and the Life of Brian
Gulaal
Little Zizou
Aa Dekhen Zaraa
Eastern Promises
Tropic Thunder
Angels and Demons
39 Steps
Wanted
Crimes and Misdemeanours
Highlander
The Jane Austen Book Club
The Visitor
Strangers on a Train
Walmart: The High Cost Of Low Price
Super Size Me
The Stoneman Murders
Vantage Point
Dil Kabbaddi
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Persepolis
The Elegy
Dev D
Iron Man
Billu
The Other Boleyn Girl
Victory
Goya's Ghosts
Superbad
Outsourced
Manhattan
Indian Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The Reader
Sex and the City
Annie Hall
Wolf
Luck by Chance
Hancock
Maharathi
Dasvidaniya
Revolutionary Road
The Last Castle
Rocky IV
Lions for Lambs
Charlie Wilson's War
Sorry Bhai
Jumper
Ghajini
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Into The Blue
Yuvraaj
Ramchand Pakistani
Slumdog Millionaire
Fashion
Dostana
Quantum of Solace
Golmaal Returns
Kidnap
Drona
Welcome to Sajjanpur
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
A Wednesday
Hijack
Naked Gun 2 & 1/2
Mumbai Meri Jaan
Spy Game
Phoonk
Amu
The Notebook
There Will Be Blood
Bachna Ae Haseeno
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Moby Dick
GhostBusters
Love Story 2050
Groundhog Day
Kismet Konnection
The Lives Of Others
The Great Train Robbery
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Sarkar Raj


Not a bad number of movies given the fact that this was the 'most happening' year of my adult existence. I can't imagine what the number would have been in a 'normal' year. Of course, my tolerance for movies is infinitely more than most people, so you may see movies that you might find hard to survive. In an alternate life, I would have been a movie critic, if I had the heart to criticize movies :)

There's the temptation to drill down and analyze this list some more, but I will resist. One thing is certain: this excercise will not be repeated anytime soon. Wouldn't want to compete with myself, would I? :) On second thoughts, if I were to do this excercise for the books I read in a year, it would be a short and sweet excercise.


That leaves the mysterious start to this post: There was Bradman and then there's me. The number of movies on the list: 99!

A Ray Of Light Heads For Earth

Go yonder starlight;
Infinity beckons.
Let mortals remain
Forever trapped
Between gravity and grave

Go yonder starlight;
Don’t pierce the blue sky.
Let us earn first
Our light, Our shadows
Our air, Our breaths

Taking a Michelle

Today has been five years to the dot since I started this space. It has been a slow last year, but I am going to convenience myself by referencing the dictum: quality is better than quantity. In the age of T20, my blog is hitting sixers (a.k.a. posts) with a frequency seen in test matches.

To continue with my cricketing analogy and to explain the title of the post, when bowlers take five wickets in an innings, it is called a five-for (which sounds similar to Pfeiffer, hence the reference to Michelle Pfeiffer). You are welcome :)

Thanks for being part of the journey. Looking forward to the next year!