Friday, March 03, 2006

Love Story - the movie

Interesting fact
As the name suggests …….Love Story is the saga of two young lovers with a tragic end when one dies in life threatening illness ……Before I start with the movie …….i would like to share some interesting fact associated with the movie. Writer Erich Segal actually wrote the screenplay first …….and the authorities at Paramount studios liked the screenplay and decided to make it into a film. Later when the film was completed, Segal was asked to write a book based on the screenplay as a part of publicity of the film …….this is quite unheard of but true. The book was a runaway success and so as the movie.
Plus point
Love Story was released in 1970…….even if you watch it today , you will definitely find it contemporary. The biggest plus of this movie is the background music and no wonder that Francis Lai scored an Oscar for that. Its so melodious that you just cant help but hear it even if you are not musically inclined.
The movie
Starting with the movie now ……..its the story of two young lovers , Oliver Barrett IV and Jennifer Cavalleri. The boy is super rich and will be going to Harvard for his law degree and this girl is from a poor family who’s dad is a baker , she is going to study music at Radcliffe. Both were deeply in love and decided to get married . This idea was not very welcomed from Oliver’s family’s side so he snapped all the ties with his father.
Both got married ( the verse Jennifer recites when they were getting married was awesome ……..i don’t remember it exactly but it will definitely touch you deeply )
Later when they were doing good , both 24 year olds decided to start a family and it is where it was discovered that Jennifer is suffering from life threatening illness and has very less time in hand ……She finally dies but her death brings the father and son together ……..this is one task she couldn’t do when she was alive but her death did her incomplete task!

The performances
Most natural performance has definitely come from Ali MacGraw ……..when you are watching the movie , you wouldn’t realize that this is some actress playing the part ……..she has portrayed Jennifer with much of ease. Ryan O’Neal has also performed very well ……..specially the scene when he comes to know that his wife has very less time to live ……..other have also done their job well ……..

All in all a good movie to watch when you really don’t feel like watching the usual movies of the present era ………it’s a timeless story with some really crisp dialogues and a very touching opening quote :
What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?
Well the movie says “Love means never having to say you're sorry” which is quite true in most sense ……..

So a definitely must watch for the ones who like romantic movies and what possibly can go wrong with a movie that was nominated for 7 Oscars and got one for music too .......definitely time well spent !

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Less is More!

My review is generally intended for women ........but the natural things to make your skin glow can be applied to men too !
when it comes to make up , i have observed most of the indian women tend to put a lot . The key is to emphasize on your best feature rather then trying to bring out everything which makes it look overdone. For instance, some women have lovely eyes, try to bring them out by using eyeliner/ kohl , whatever makes you comfortable and mascara .And if its evening use a little eye shadow to make it look more glamorous. Eye shadows can be avoided in day time. Always use the best quality products Please use artificial lashes when you have some serious scarcity naturally else you would do great with your own lashes( bring them out using mascara.) Now that you are one of those fortunate women who have beautiful eyes, your next step is to give a natural and (not very dark color) to your lips. most suited lip colors for indian skin tones are almond, wine, copper, ruby and their different hues. Please dont get impressed with the colors used by extremely fair skin......most of them dont have black eyes so their lip colors compliment their eye color.Always line your lips before filling in the lipstick and try to go one shade darker than the lipstick when buying the lip liner . Going for a contrasting shade is a big no - no . Lip liner not only helps in keeping your lipstick intact on the edges, it also define your lips in a much better way. Another tip to use a lip liner is to start with a X on the middle part of your upper lip and then follow those lines to line the entire lips.Nowadays too much of glitter and shine is in but you can always stick to whatever looks best on you .....there are no rules or generalization when it comes to colors and type of make up which is in ......follow your instincts. Believe me, its no point using a tons of shine when it doesnt suit you at all . It can make you look worse.
Now coming to the women who do not have very defined eyes....if you have good lips, half of the battle is won . Just use a mascara and a good color of lipstick , you are good to go. Good and shapely lips make a great statement . You can see people's reaction when you smile :-) Dont forget to use mascara on your eyes though!
For those who are wondering why i havent touched upon the basics of make up ie the foundation and face powder. Personally i dont think they are so much required in day to day life ........moreover, if you have a healthy skin, there is no point covering it up with artificial stuff. Indian climate is usually warm in summers so anyways its going to wash off unless you go for some water proof stuff. Anyways the only important thing to take care is to moisturize your skin. After 25, body almost stops making its own oil , so please moisturize your skin regularly and dont forget to use a sun screen if you are going out in sun. From my personal experience in india, i found Lotus brand sunscreen better than lakme etc.
For a healthy glowing skinWhat you eat is what you are ! holds true in this case. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits and drink plenty of water ( minimum 8 glasses a day ) .Make it a point to eat two fruits a day and have 5-6 servings of vegetables in your diet. If you follow it seriously, you will be amazed to see the results. Your body will thank you and it will get reflected in your skin quality. This natural shine and glow cannot be brought with any product on the earth!
another tip is to have a juice of a lemon in a glass of warm water( do not add honey) . have this first thing in the morning and you will soon see the results.
Always try to use natural products to clean , exfoliate and moisturize your skin. Papaya is the best to remove dead cells. Egg yolks can be used to moisturize the skin as a pack. Besan is a very good cleaning agent.
Out of the products available in the market, personally, i use Dove, it is one of the best! i can vouch for it .....i am using it for almost 8 years now for cleaning my face everyday.
To sum it up, when it comes to make up .....less is more and there is definitely no substitute of healthy , glowing skin which will definitely speak volumes. So change your habits a little bit and you will be rewarded soon :-)