Nature takes an interesting place in Cormac McCarthy’s novels – it’s not quite a powerful, living entity on its own, but does often appear to be a sentient, breathing force underlying the thematic threads of his novels. Animals, however, take precedence even over nature – if McCarthy were to construct a Great Chain of Being, animals would almost certainly come in above humans, somewhere between men and angels. They are represented, not as higher consciousness, but rather as having a closer connection to God, a kind of elemental awareness or primal rightness which men in all their scrabbling around have somehow lost. I disagree, but it’s an interesting representation, and both coherent and cohesive in all his novels.

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-Netflix releases a huge list of high-profile films for instant watching on September 1 – woo-hoo!! Includes recent hits such as Iron Man and Star Trek and oldies-but-goodies like Some Kind of Wonderful

-”Child Star in the Making“, via the LA Times on child actors in the film industry, and the child star of Flipped, who says “Me and my family, we’re Christian, so when [adults] are talking about certain things, I just sit quietly.” (so cool!!)

-”Revenge of the TV Writers” – The Wall Street Journal discusses the power of TV writers and the invidious ways they sometimes get revenge on actors, producers, and high school enemies who crossed them

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Freedom and Fashion Photoshoot BTS from Sean Armenta on Vimeo.

Dil Chahta Hai is an unusually good Bollywood film, solidly written with good music, an excellent cast, and plenty of hilarious one-liners and funny situations. It runs a little too long, as usual – the plot slows down particularly in the middle – but Aamir Khan turns in his usual nuanced performance as an inveterate playboy who ultimately falls deeply in love. Akshaye Khanna is at first rather flat as Sid, a kind-hearted artist and the most sensitive of the three,  but improves as the film goes on and gives an ultimately luminous performance as a man who falls for a divorced woman 10 years his senior. The romance between Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and the girl he falls for is rather token and certainly the least well developed of the three, but charming nonetheless. The heart of the film, perhaps, is the relationship between the three friends, however, and this is what grounds it and what it begins and ends on ultimately.

Dil Chahta Hai isn’t just a great bromance film – it’s a great film about friendship, and in the process that rare film that conveys a sense of what it means to be alive. Tracking the three friends through graduations, pranks, ill-starred romances, bad love advice, and much hilarious back-and-forth repertoire, Dil Chahta Hai is a light-hearted, genuinely uplifting film.

Notes of wistfulness or thoughtfulness, when they are struck, are all the more compelling then, and scenery is used to great effect, as in one moment when the three friends sit in silence on a wall in tropical Goa staring out over the sea, or when a Akash wanders around Sidney trying to control the longings of his heart. The scenery, in general, is exquisite, even for a Bollywood film, and while for once not over-used as a story prop, adds a freshness and depth to all the characters’ interactions. Unfortunately, it does slow down a lot in the middle, when the three friends part, and tries to do perhaps a little too much juggling three men and each of their romances, sacrificing a level of development for the most interesting romance, the Akash/Shalini one. Nevertheless a successful and unusually cohesive film overall, and deservedly won a number of awards.

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-the avante-garde according to Brad Holland in The Atlantic Monthly

Song from The O.C. soundtrack – Nada Surf‘s “If You Leave”.  Nada Surf is an American alt-rock band formed in 1992. They released their fifth album “Lucky” in 2008.

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