hollywood v bollywood

The Economic Times of India is reporting that the Indian film industry is facing a formidable challenger in the form of Hollywood's latest '09 releases, including "Changeling," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Seven Pounds." Bollywood usually has the upper-hand versus Hollywood, says the article, but this week there were no Hindi releases.

The Times goes on to say that January 9 will see the release of some low budget Hindi movies like "Bad Luck Govind," "Horn Ok Pleassss," "Kaashh...Mere Hot," "42 Kms," and "The President is Coming." Anticipation will no doubt boil over into a duke-it-out film fight on January 16 when "Changeling" (starring Angelina Jolie) is released along with Akshay Kumar's awaited "Chandni Chowk to China" (starring Deepika Padukone).

The article goes on to list buzzing 2009 Hollywood releases: "Frost/Nixon" (February), "Watchmen" (March), "Gran Torino" (March), "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Star Trek 11," "Fast and Furious 4," "Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs," and "Public Enemies" (starring Johnny Depp).

And their Bollywood competitors:

Vishal Bharadwaj's "Kaminay" (March), "Shortcut: The Con Is On" (starring Amrita Rao), "Anurag Kashyap's "Gullal" (March), "Pathshala" (starring Shahid Kapur), Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor's "Kambakkht Ishq," Aamir Khan's "Delhi Belly," Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Delhi-6," Kabir Khan's "New York and "My Name is Khan" (starring Shah Rukh Khan).

Kristen Stewart on her ‘80s amusement park comedy Adventureland, Joan Jett biopic Runaways and her pop-culture vamp phenomenon New Moon.

So, in Adventureland, you're damaged, you say?
“I’ve never met a terribly introverted and damaged girl at a theme park in the '80's [laughs]. I related to her because I like characters that are written that are whole … it's easy to tell what would be right and wrong and how they would feel about something because they're very defined … I could imagine what it would be like to not like yourself very much and not have a mom and not have a dad to reassure you and sort of be kicking it alone and feel like you're sort of smarter than everyone but no one gets it.”

Wait a sec, "masochistic?"
“I don't think she's too excited about [dating a much older guy]. I think it's masochistic … It's an outlet for her, and it's just something that she can go do, and it's mindless, and it's like she has this void, and it's not necessarily being filled by that -- but it's a distraction. She's not proud of it … She's ashamed of it.”

Would you rather: work the games or work the rides?
“It's kind of a toss-up because more human interaction goes along with games, but then the physical aspects of the rides isn't appealing for me. I would rather be the janitor, no joke. I would literally rather clean up everyone's mess and not have to talk to them or work their rides.”

Kristen, you're a ‘90s child playing an ‘80s chick.
“[I like] Madonna and like neon colors. The style was very distinct, and it's coming back, too. Everyone's sort of got like an '80s feel … we were given like a big booklet of information that wasn't very important. There was like a yuppie boom, all of a sudden everybody became very materialistic and wanted to look rich.”

And you're doing it again in Runaways!
“I just saw [Joan Jett]. She's really good. She, like, penetrates you with her gaze, literally. She's a badass. She's the ultimate cool -- like really deep, too. She's very thoughtful. She could sit in a room full of chattering people and music, and she's just sitting there. Then something crazy'll happen, and you're like, ‘Joan, did you see that?’ And she'll be like, ‘No.’ She's very thoughtful, and she loves what she does. She cares about so many people. She's an activist. She's really amazing.”

Can we hear you sing? Please?
“I want to very badly, but I also want it to sound right, and I don't know if it'll be a combination where they lay our voices on top of each other or if it'll be just her or just me. We'll see. We'll see how able the other actors are to play the music themselves. It would be awesome. We're definitely on band practice.”

OK, fine, what about you + guitar-smashing?
“The relationship that's really interesting is Cheri and Joan, the two front men of the band. They get tattoos together in Japan and obviously they still have those tattoos. I'm looking forward to that just because it's such a fun part of the movie. I like the big conflict. Cheri can't really handle the success, nor does she want it necessarily in that respect. Joan is a very steady, self-assured, and she knows this kick started her whole career. So to watch it all fall apart and her still stand, I'm excited about that. It's a really explosive scene. Amps are kicked through, and guitars are smashed.”

Um ... we have to talk about New Moon, you know that.
“[We are] just picking up where we left off. The story, there's like a six-month period where the first one ended, and the second one picks up, but nothing has changed. They're at a good, solid point in their relationship. I'm interested to see him leave because that's what the first one is entirely based on, that abandoned devotion ultimate love story. Now she's going to be stripped of that, and Bella is actually an interesting character on her own.”

Avatar

The Wall Street Journal reports that sci-fi film "Avatar" led the way to Hollywood's biggest US box-office weekend of all time. With a box-office total over the last three days of $278 million, this weekend's films beat the old record of $260.8 million from July of 2008, according to estimates from Hollywood.com.

James Cameron's 3-D epic "Avatar" took the top slot at the box office over the Christmas Day weekend, bringing in $75 million. Guy Ritchie's action-oriented retooling of "Sherlock Holmes" grabbed second place with $65.4 million. The film set a new record for a Christmas Day opening by grossing $24.9 million on Friday.

In the gaming age, many modern films appear to rely more on computer generated visuals rather than an engaging plot. In "Avatar," James Cameron, the director of "Titanic," presents spectacular imagery, decades after 3-D films made their debut.

I saw the film last week in Kuala Lumpur and while the technology is more impressive than the storyline set in 2154, it has a contemporary theme with a big corporation led by a military commander with a style that would have been admired by President George W. Bush, using "shock and awe" against the forest people on the distant moon Pandora, to secure mineral rights.

The Financial Times' John Gapper said "Avatar" will probably be one of the biggest money-spinners for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, since Cameron's 1997 "Titanic," epic.

Gapper noted that in contrast with Murdoch's conservative slant, that film also had a rather leftist tone, with the poor people stuck in steerage displaying more moral fibre than the rich folks above.