I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the friends(and friends of my parents) who came today. We had a prayer for well-being in the morning. It's a religious tradition with my family(and most muslims) that we have the event whenever someone is about to embark on a journey of sorts. And mine will begin soon. We also had a huge cook-out today to commemorate the occassion. Friends arrived good-naturedly with sincere well-wishes...and presents and cash as well...hurhurhur =)

Went clubbing on the night of Valentine's Day with 2 of my wackiest buddies, Jo and Deena. Had a fantastic time, girls! Even though the music and the crowd sucked at some moments, there were several gems that made the night totally fun in the end. We club hopped from China Black to Tha Wu Bar. We had intended to go to Double0 but it was too crowded and the long line outside didn't show signs of diminishing. After the dancing and the partying, we headed back at 2 am. Deena back to her place and Jo bunking over at mine. After cleaning ourselves up, we had a good long chat over potato chips and mugs of ice cool water. Single's valentines ;)

I caught Chicago yesterday on a sneak preview and totally love it. It's possibly the best film I've caught so far this year(together with The Quiet American). It inspired a lot of thoughts and emotions(mostly giddy exhiliration) and that completely did it for me. This is probably my last film dissection before I leave for Perth. As usual, just my two cents worth(warning: some spoilers ahead)...

Chicago is charged but not extremely flamboyant. It is exuberant and stylish without falling victim to a trap of grotesquely stylized generic classification in film material. It is subversive without being cheesy. And any corniness on their part obviously belies a purpose. To put it simply, Chicago scaled a very fine line between being a magnificent cinematic opus and a completely overcooked ham. And consequently audiences may love it or hate it.

The premise is simple enough. Roxie Hart is a naïve wannabe stage performer who’s addicted to jazz, booze, decadence and most treacherous of all, her hunger for publicity. Her obsession with the limelight is apparent in her constant drifting into a fervent imagination dripping in song, acts and stage performances. But her survival instincts get a jolt and the true Roxie emerges when her even more blatantly guileless husband, Amos Hart(the amazing John C Reily), rats on her when he unceremoniously discovers that she was having an affair with the object of her murder. A passion turned sour when she realizes that she’s being used as just another piece of ass. Charged with murder, Roxie is sent to a women’s prison together with other notorious murderesses of Illinois where she meets Matron “Mama” Morton(the irrepressible Queen Latifah) and runs into the delectable and vivacious Velma Kelly(Catherine Zeta-Jones), a famous jazz performer convicted of murdering her sister and her husband whom she caught in a compromising situation together. She is the killer whom the public adores. Petrified of being found guilty and getting the death penalty, Roxie gets Billy Flynn(Richard Gere), Illinois’s best criminal lawyer to do her case. A conflict of interests is manifested, as Billy also happens to be Velma’s lawyer. A series of intrigue, theatrics and dance and song ensues as the plot thickens and unfolds to climatic proportions.

Renee Zellweger’s portrayal of the little, blonde minx with a lethal ambition is priceless. It’s even more captivating than her go as Bridget Jones. Catherine Zeta-Jones totally swings as Velma, a truly devious diva with a vengeance. Richard Gere’s singing and dancing…er…talents are competent enough but he shines as the self-obsessed, attention-seeking attorney, Billy. It is a collaboration of three-dimensional, multi-faceted characters and an ensemble cast of some of the most talented actors and performers to date including Taye Diggs, Mya , Lucy Liu and Dominic West to name a few more.

The film is rampant with the theme of publicity and the obsession to attain it, even by less honourable means. All the world is a stage, where acts and the right choice of words can mould truths, half truths and lies to conform the public opinion. In one way or another, everyone's a performer which is not just a comment on acting as an art but on the seedy capabilities of ordinary people and society also. To me, the film celebrates the strength of womanhood as well where women prevail after bad spells. With fantastic performances, cheeky innuendo and (gun)loads of charm, Chicago is a crowd pleaser with wit and sophistication that can cajole the most discerning and jaded of movie viewers into, at least, tapping toes to the music. It is a heady and sensuous musical concoction of intrigue, crime, sex, decadence, womanhood, dark glamour and all that jazz…..