Joker!

I have seen quite a few Hollywood movies. Most of them have been the usual action flicks or sugary romantic comedies. But there have been exceptions to this too, for a couple of movies like the LOTR (all the three movies), The Prestige, The Godfather I and II, made me feel as if I would like to catch them again sometime! In the modern day media frenzied world, I thought that the hype leading up to the latest installment of Batman on the big screen might have been a bit of a hyperbole. To top it all, I never read any of the batman comics nor had I seen previous versions of the batman movies. When I(just like any other individual in USA) reserved the tickets for The Dark Knight, apprehension was the foremost emotion I felt, wondering if the 8 dollars that I pay for the ticket might go a waste! But now after watching the movie, it is more of the Batman excitement that has caught up with me. What a movie it was! Not many action sequences, but the movie moved at relentless pace. Only once did I ever check my watch during those 2 and a half hours to have a look at the time. Without providing any spoilers (though I believe most of the folks reading this post would have already watched the movie!) I would just say that Heath Ledger's performance was haunting. Best comic book movie villain? Yes. Best comic book adaptation? Better than most (because I have not read Batman comics). My personal favorite scene would be when the "Joker" appears at the mob round table conference and provides the viewers with some magic using just a pencil! There are bound to be critics who would say that the movie was sadistic or the hype preceding the release was indeed an exaggeration. On a personal level though, I am going to watch the preceding Batman Begins too, for now I have become a fan of Christopher Nolan and his movies. Move along spidey...move along Hulk...It is time for Batman and his wildcard nemesis-JOKER!

Roger that!

I am writing this with the backdrop of what many sports and tennis fans state to be the greatest matches they ever watched in the history of this sport! It is with a pang of regret I realize that I missed it. :( I stopped watching tennis (did not stop following it on the web though!) when the Great Sampras retired in 2003. Not because I hated tennis. But I missed the drama that I usually associated with a grand slam championship. This in turn I associated to the fact that the Fedex started winning games at a canter. For all his domination I believed that tennis was becoming to boring to watch. Every other day I would read on the web that Federer won a new tournament. Losing just four matches in an entire year? I just could not patiently watch a human do that! More so the same individual who had dethroned Sampras from his perch? No way. When Sampras was at his peak, he also had few others like Agassi, Rafter, to an extent Becker, and of course the always eccentric Ivanesevic to give him company. But when Federer was at his peak, there was no competition at all. Or whatever competition that Fedex had was brushed aside by his pure might. But only over the past year or so, with the emergence of Nadal and Djokovic as serious contenders to Federer's throne on any surface for that matter, have I considered watching Tennis again. Yesterday's loss at Wimbledon, only goes to show that even Roger Federer is just a human. And now that he has finally lost a match at Wimbledon, his achievements at SW19 might finally sink in on laymen like me! 12 Grand Slam Titles? Just two short of a record equalling 14? This is where one has to appreciate Rafael Nadal too. For it is because of him, one realizes the scale of Federer's achievements. This is where one has to recognize people like Rafter, Agassi and Ivanisevic too. For it was because of them that we were witness to many a rivalry during the 90's. I still remember the epic quarter final between Sampras and Agassi at US Open when all the four sets went to tie-breakers. I still remember when Sampras decimated Agassi at a wimbledon final. I still remember the record breaking 13th for Sampras in the gloom of Center court. It was always interesting to see how Sampras would return after a loss or after critics ruled him out! The same applies now to. It would be interesting to see how Roger Federer would end the year? Would it be another year where he ends as world no. 1 or would Nadal finally overtake him? Would it be the first time in 4-5 years when Federer ends up without a grand slam title in a year or will the Fedex blast back onto the courts at Flushing Meadows and prove to anyone that the first 6 months of 2008 where just a blip (according to his own mighty standards atleast) ? Yes, now tennis would be interesting! Mighty Interesting!