Weekend Late Night Movie

Last night I watched this 1953 French Classic The Wages of Fear ( Salaire de la peur,Le) directed by Henri-Georges Cloutzot. This movie is based on a novel by George Arnaud. This story is set in a town called Las Piedras in South America.Southern Oil Company (SOC) enlists four tough drifters for a high paying suicide mission. The mission involves transporting nitroglycerin an explosive liquid across a rough terrain, to one of the SOC oil fields to quell the fire.Tension and rivalry quickly develops between the foursome, magnified by the unforgiving heat, the lure of the filthy lucre and the rough and rocky roads where the slightest jolt can result in agonising death. This movie is really thrilling especially when the drivers have to navigate around the obstacles. But it ends in a tragic way, I would have wanted to see a happy ending. The movie stars Yves Montand,Charles Vanel,Vera Clouzot,William Tubbs, Folco Lulli and Peter Van Eyck.The movie has won many awards see the list below.

Palme d'OR,Cannes-Grand Prize of the festival

Golden Bear,Berlin-Henri-Georges Cloutzot

BAFTA award-Best Film from any Source

ANTZ carrying a paddy flake

Last weekend before 2009

Santa at MGM resort on Sat 27/12/08

Sat:

M2 and me went out with a couple of friends on Sat.We first dropped by at Citicentre at Mylapore for some "pet pooja" all of us had cold coffee and I had slimmers sandwich from Barista.We then headed off to MGM beach resort which is situated on the East Coast Road Muttukadu. We wanted to stop by at Muttukadu for boating but it was too crowded.We all hit the beach at once. Had a good time watching the mussels dig into the sand. Some of them even went on a pony ride.Soon we were hungry and we opted for the buffet at Sea Crest restaurant.We sat inside the air conditioned space.They had crispy fried vegatables,soup, dum aloo, channa masala,fried rice,noodles,thengai sadam,rasam, and curd rice.I liked only the channa masala in the vegetarian section.In the desert section they has rasgullas,jalebis,mysore pak, payasam,cake and ice cream with fruits.M2 liked the mysore pak On the whole the buffet spread was no great shakes, at least for the vegetarians.It happened to be Hanuman Jayanthi on the 27th, but I could not make it to a temple because of this programme.

Sun:

We attended a birthday bash of M2's friend's kid Sid. This was held at Marry Brown Anna Nagar. It was a fun place for the kids and grown ups. The vegetarian food was great. My pack consisted of a vegetarian burger with cheese,french fries, potato wedges and cake.We washed it down with mrinda and for dessert we had a cup of ice cream . I would recommend this place if you want to hold a small b'day party for your child. One of the big attractions there was the table football also known as foosball. Both the adults and the kids had a good time playing it.

Plum Cake and Wine for Xmas

M2 and me steeped out on Christmas day to check out deals of the day at consumer durable shops. But the teeming traffic deterred us instead we decided to eat out. First we went to Quality Inn Aruna at Sterling road Nugambakkam. We had to wait for a long time to park our vehicle, so we decided against going inside. But we spotted Malayalam actor Rahman waiting for his car.He seems very well preserved.!! Next we ventured into Harrisons Hotel. We first stopped at their vegetarian restaurant Eden,which was full. Next we went to Meenam, true to its name it was reeking of meen(fish). We finally settled for Dynasty a Chinese restuarant. We ordered for a bottle of Sula wine and baby corn for starters. The baby corn was extremely spicy and peppery hot. After eating it M2 exclaimed "there is nothing baby about the baby corn"!!. M2 wanted to order American chopsuey but I was not for fried noodles in sauce.Instead I ordered for soft vegetarian noodles with shredded vegetables. For the side dish we ordered Sweet and Sour vegetables. This side dish was a tad too sweet. On the whole it was ok experience.

A little about the wine. Sula Vineyard is a premium wine company from India. We chose red wine and we got to taste the Satori Merlot. It describes itself as "a balanced, round structure with a silky mouth feel and lingering finish. Its soft, fruity style with a hint of spice invites early enjoyment and marries perfectly with a wide variety of foods. Pair with tomato-based pasta dishes and most red meat dishes. Serve lightly chilled, at 12-15°C." To go with Indian dishes go for Madera Red. Satori means sudden enlightenment.The artist Jaideep Mehrotra has painted the wine label. It even has the mandatory green dot signifying 100% vegetarian.We paid Rs1250 including VAT. Finally for dessert we had plum cake from Hot Breads at Anna Nagar.

The Tree of Life and the Seasons.

This is an amazing tree opposite my apartment. This tree is like a barometre for the current season. And this is a Winter pic in Chennai.Talking about seasons I saw this movie called "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" a 2003 Korean movie directed by Kim Ki-duk.Its about a Buddhist monastery floating on a lake in a pristine valley. The location is simple awesome. The story tracks the life of a young monk through the seasons of his life from childhood to old age.This movie has won several awards.