30 Days of Cinema

Back to this long dormant blog...and for the next thirty days with a radically different focus...hey, it's the summer! Anywho, in part inspired by the TEDtalks video by Matt Cutts (see attached video) about setting similar goal or plan, I have begun a marathon of 30 days of movies. The idea is to watch as many *good/great* movies as I can in a 30 day period (which began on July 12th). The only condition is that: All of the movies have to be available in Netflix streaming...I am not going to rent DVDs or wait for a DVD in the mail.

Good question: how do I know what are the *great* movies? Answer: I have a good sense of what kinds of movies I like...I hate summer blockbusters, most animations (yes, even those from Pixar), fantasies (no Harry Potters here), horror, gore and vampires (except Shaun of the Dead, which is great:). A stranger at Denny's once told me that the kinds of movies that I love the best are called "quiet dramas." I venture widely but that is an apt description of the best moves, IMHO. 

With that very subjective criteria in place, I think a good place to start looking for the best films is: Roger Ebert's list of great films in history! Why? Because Ebert is a respected movie critic who is not a snob and who likes regular, Hollywood movies. Besides, I got hooked on his journal and I truly admire him and his reviews. Reason enough. 

Now on to that is the format. I will watch as many movies as possible until August 11th 2011 ( I have seen three in the last couple of days since this thing started). For each movie that I watch, I will post a brief personal reaction of my impressions. Not a "review" - I will leave the professions to do that. Just personal reactions. In addition, I will try to post some trailers and other links about the movies whenever possible. 

Finally, you may ask what does this have anything to do with "muse~nepal" the blog and its stated mission? The simple answer is not a whole lot. The more complicated answer is that I have been sorely neglecting this blog for the last year, mostly because I was hamstrung about trying to make a sense of the Nepali political situation and feeling repeatedly frustrated by my inability to meaningfully engage with the issues of Nepali politics, society and culture. Rather than leaving the blog dormant and increasingly on the verge of death, I have decided to revive the space for this exercise. One hopes that by and by one will also get the inspiration and confidence to tackle the serious issue of Nepal's future with passion and clarity. In the meantime, cinema!