Americada neladalli Kannadada kampu.
We are seeing an increase in Kannada activities in the US. This includes literary and cultural programs. Here is a Radio program to highlight these activities.
Please listen to a special Kannada Radio Program featuring interviews with Kannada writers and acitivists in America.
If you are involved in any Kannada activity we are eager to hear from you. Please give us a call during the program and share your accomplishments with the rest of the world. That is right. Since this program is broadcast on the internet we have listeners from all over the world.
Let us fill the air with Kannada kalarava and music for 3 hours on this Sunday afternoon.
Americada neladalli kannadada kampu
Date: Sunday May 3rd
Time: 3.00 PM to 6.00 PM PST (California Time)
Radio: Stanford 90.1 FM KZSU. (California Bay area)
Internet: http://kzsulive.stanford.edu/ (from anywhere in the world)
(Depending on your internet speed Click on 56k stereo MP3 or 128K Stereo MP3 )
Phone Number to call during the program: 650 723 9010.
Please call this number ONLY during the program.
This program starts as soon as the preceeding baseball game ends. So if you hear baseball commentary please wait till it ends and the Kannada program starts.
Old Kannada programs at http://www.itsdiff.com/Kannada.html
My Kannada Blog:
http://sampada.net/blog/rasikara-rajya
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Review: Milk
2009 April 15
Title: Milk
Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco
Written by: Dustin Lance Black.
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Photography: Harris Savides
Art: Charley Beal
Music: Danny Elfman
Editor:Elliot Graham
Score: 8 out of 10
This movie is all about Harvey Milk who was the Gay rights activist in the 70s in the San Francisco area. Sean Penn who plays Milk makes this movie all about his performance. True to the movie title the director Gus Van Sant ensures that this movie is an intimate account of Milk's private and public lives. This was a story written by Dustin Lance Black who suffered due to discrimination in Dallas due to his sexual preference.
In the years before the 70s, the rights of homo sexuals were always being questioned by the so called moral police. Actually it was worse. They were being harassed and beaten up by police in no less a city than San Francisco. Into this scene enters Harvey Milk and his partner Scott. They set up a camera shop on Castro and openly exhibit their gayness. The store quickly becomes a place for the gays to hand out. With tenacity, Milk fights against injustices to gays and after four or five attempts wins an election to the office of City Supervisor becoming the first openly gay person to occupy a public office in the US.
Being a biopic the movie has a documentary feel to it. In this sense the movie does not have an emotional narrative. It seems to be a collection of historical events. But that does not take away the credit from this movie or its makers. The locales and the costumes have been recreated so well that it transplants the viewer to the 70s San Francisco. Sean Penn does not remind you of Sean Penn at all. Sean Penn the actor has disappeared inside the character Milk so completely that we do not even feel he is acting. His body language, his expressions and his way of speaking are great testimonies to this actors ability. Having always seen Sean Penn as an unlikeable snob this movie surprises his detractors with his charming mannerisms. This perhaps is Sean Penn's finest performance. He rightly won the Oscar for best male performance.
While this movie is about Gay rights what is very striking is the thrill of seeing an underdog -individual or a group of people - organizing themselves and mobilizing a mass movement which becomes successful. The movie lays bare in front of us the situation and we cannot help cheering Milk and his group of interesting friends. There are such interesting characters as Scott (James Franco), Jack (Diego Luna), Cleve (Emile), Anne Kronenberg(Allison Pill). The movie is successful in bringing out these characters to life, complete with flesh and blood. The movie ends with a nice touch. We see the real surviving characters come and speak about Milk.
Josh Brolin (American Gangster and No Country for Old Men) is striking in his dignified performance as Dan White, a gay hating conservative City Supervisor. What could have been a caricature has been turned into an understated performance while still being able to show his rage resulting from feeling humiliated. He was nominated for Best Supporting actor at the Oscars. The award went to Heath Ledger in Batman. Scott, played by James Franco is good too.
The movie is tightly edited. The grainy feel of the film and the hairstyles take us to those days. This movie was inspired by The Times of Milk (1984) by Rob Epstein. Gus Van Sant wanted to make this movie in spite of not being the first one. His love for the theme and Harvey Milk shows in the making of this movie. There is a short glimpse of the real Milk who comes of as a genuinely concerned activist. He did not fight just for the gays. His life is inspiring for other minorities like Asians, Black and Latinos.
This movie gets 8 out of 10.
Title: Milk
Starring: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco
Written by: Dustin Lance Black.
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Photography: Harris Savides
Art: Charley Beal
Music: Danny Elfman
Editor:Elliot Graham
Score: 8 out of 10
This movie is all about Harvey Milk who was the Gay rights activist in the 70s in the San Francisco area. Sean Penn who plays Milk makes this movie all about his performance. True to the movie title the director Gus Van Sant ensures that this movie is an intimate account of Milk's private and public lives. This was a story written by Dustin Lance Black who suffered due to discrimination in Dallas due to his sexual preference.
In the years before the 70s, the rights of homo sexuals were always being questioned by the so called moral police. Actually it was worse. They were being harassed and beaten up by police in no less a city than San Francisco. Into this scene enters Harvey Milk and his partner Scott. They set up a camera shop on Castro and openly exhibit their gayness. The store quickly becomes a place for the gays to hand out. With tenacity, Milk fights against injustices to gays and after four or five attempts wins an election to the office of City Supervisor becoming the first openly gay person to occupy a public office in the US.
Being a biopic the movie has a documentary feel to it. In this sense the movie does not have an emotional narrative. It seems to be a collection of historical events. But that does not take away the credit from this movie or its makers. The locales and the costumes have been recreated so well that it transplants the viewer to the 70s San Francisco. Sean Penn does not remind you of Sean Penn at all. Sean Penn the actor has disappeared inside the character Milk so completely that we do not even feel he is acting. His body language, his expressions and his way of speaking are great testimonies to this actors ability. Having always seen Sean Penn as an unlikeable snob this movie surprises his detractors with his charming mannerisms. This perhaps is Sean Penn's finest performance. He rightly won the Oscar for best male performance.
While this movie is about Gay rights what is very striking is the thrill of seeing an underdog -individual or a group of people - organizing themselves and mobilizing a mass movement which becomes successful. The movie lays bare in front of us the situation and we cannot help cheering Milk and his group of interesting friends. There are such interesting characters as Scott (James Franco), Jack (Diego Luna), Cleve (Emile), Anne Kronenberg(Allison Pill). The movie is successful in bringing out these characters to life, complete with flesh and blood. The movie ends with a nice touch. We see the real surviving characters come and speak about Milk.
Josh Brolin (American Gangster and No Country for Old Men) is striking in his dignified performance as Dan White, a gay hating conservative City Supervisor. What could have been a caricature has been turned into an understated performance while still being able to show his rage resulting from feeling humiliated. He was nominated for Best Supporting actor at the Oscars. The award went to Heath Ledger in Batman. Scott, played by James Franco is good too.
The movie is tightly edited. The grainy feel of the film and the hairstyles take us to those days. This movie was inspired by The Times of Milk (1984) by Rob Epstein. Gus Van Sant wanted to make this movie in spite of not being the first one. His love for the theme and Harvey Milk shows in the making of this movie. There is a short glimpse of the real Milk who comes of as a genuinely concerned activist. He did not fight just for the gays. His life is inspiring for other minorities like Asians, Black and Latinos.
This movie gets 8 out of 10.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Movie Review: Rachael Getting Married
2009 April 08
Title: Rachael Getting Married (2008)
Starring: Anne Hathaway
Directed by: Johnathon Demme
Written by: Jenny Lumet
Music: Declan Quinn
Photography:David Harrison Jr. and Zafar Tavaii
Score: 7.5 out of 10
This Oscar year seems to have the theme of a recluse trying to fit back into her family or the the world in general. Rachael getting married is a poignant look at a recovering drug addict Kimmy played beautifully by Anne Hathaway. The sibling rivalry between Kimmy and her sister Rachael comes into sharp focus during the preparations for Rachael's wedding. Kimmy comes back home and is trying to fit in. In between rehab sessions for Kimmy we see how old wounds between the sisters start becoming important and developing into a major road friction point between them. In a brilliantly written script (Jenny Lumet ) we see a very real and human dynamics going on in the family. The highlight of the script is how it has used many incidents to give us a complete picture of each character.
Kimmy is simply one of the most beautiful roles I have seen. This character makes us like her even more than the role played by Kirsten Scott Thomas in I have loved so long. Initially I thought Kimmy was the older sister but in what is an amazing performance Anne Hathaway starts making her character look like a little girl. All this is accomplished by her subtle reactions and looks. It is very refreshing to see such an exquisite performance even when there was a chance for melodrama. The script writer has developed the screen play so intricately that one does not realize that the story is not very complicated. It is how the characters behave in more of less everyday situations.
There are some heart warming scenes of bonhomie between the black and white race. One is not surprised because the people involved are liberals and intellectuals from Connecticut. The theme for Rachael's wedding is Indian - they all wear sarees and eat Aloo 'Gaabi'.
The actor who played Rachael (Rosemary Dewitt ) is quite good. She brings a sunniness to her character which interestingly is not very likable. The father played by Bill Irvine has displayed the helplessness of the father a bit too much... but that I guess is his character.
The photography uses bright tones making the atmosphere look artificially bright and sunny while its not - at least not to Kimmy. Jonathan Demme handles his story in a very disciplined way without giving in to melodramatic elements.
Anne Hathaway was nominated for the best actor role which eventually went to Kate Winslet for Reader. Since I have not seen Reader, I will wait to compare Anne Hathaway's performance with Kate's.
This movie scores 7.5 out of 10.
Title: Rachael Getting Married (2008)
Starring: Anne Hathaway
Directed by: Johnathon Demme
Written by: Jenny Lumet
Music: Declan Quinn
Photography:David Harrison Jr. and Zafar Tavaii
Score: 7.5 out of 10
This Oscar year seems to have the theme of a recluse trying to fit back into her family or the the world in general. Rachael getting married is a poignant look at a recovering drug addict Kimmy played beautifully by Anne Hathaway. The sibling rivalry between Kimmy and her sister Rachael comes into sharp focus during the preparations for Rachael's wedding. Kimmy comes back home and is trying to fit in. In between rehab sessions for Kimmy we see how old wounds between the sisters start becoming important and developing into a major road friction point between them. In a brilliantly written script (Jenny Lumet ) we see a very real and human dynamics going on in the family. The highlight of the script is how it has used many incidents to give us a complete picture of each character.
Kimmy is simply one of the most beautiful roles I have seen. This character makes us like her even more than the role played by Kirsten Scott Thomas in I have loved so long. Initially I thought Kimmy was the older sister but in what is an amazing performance Anne Hathaway starts making her character look like a little girl. All this is accomplished by her subtle reactions and looks. It is very refreshing to see such an exquisite performance even when there was a chance for melodrama. The script writer has developed the screen play so intricately that one does not realize that the story is not very complicated. It is how the characters behave in more of less everyday situations.
There are some heart warming scenes of bonhomie between the black and white race. One is not surprised because the people involved are liberals and intellectuals from Connecticut. The theme for Rachael's wedding is Indian - they all wear sarees and eat Aloo 'Gaabi'.
The actor who played Rachael (Rosemary Dewitt ) is quite good. She brings a sunniness to her character which interestingly is not very likable. The father played by Bill Irvine has displayed the helplessness of the father a bit too much... but that I guess is his character.
The photography uses bright tones making the atmosphere look artificially bright and sunny while its not - at least not to Kimmy. Jonathan Demme handles his story in a very disciplined way without giving in to melodramatic elements.
Anne Hathaway was nominated for the best actor role which eventually went to Kate Winslet for Reader. Since I have not seen Reader, I will wait to compare Anne Hathaway's performance with Kate's.
This movie scores 7.5 out of 10.
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