In my first look back at the year 2007, I take a look at my personal top 5 of movies that I liked throughout the course of the year. Please note that this list is not based on box office collections or on how different they were from the set formula for Tamil movies, it is just based on how much I liked all of these movies. So without further ado, my list is as follows:

5 - Kattradhu Thamizh - I honestly have very few words to describe this movie. It could be considered a deep love story beginning at the ripe age with fantasy and ending with tragedy, it could also be considered as an anti-social film about how our first language gets little to no respect at all in this day and age. Whatever it was based on, it did have a deep impact on me with Jeeva’s and Anjali’s wonderful performances at the centre of it all. Surely one to catch up on if you haven’t yet seen it.

4 - Oram Po - Coming from the same school of film-making like Vishnuvardhan, something different from the usual was to be expected from Pushkar and Gayathri and they delivered with the highly, to put it in the Chennai-slang, “local” film. John Vijay could probably be one of the finds of the year with his natural village-slang and timing for comedy, everything he did brought the house down. Most aspects of the street-racing shown did remind one of the Fast and the Furious series but still giving it a highly Chennai look and taking an inside look at the auto driver’s life deserve a thumbs up.

3 - Chennai 600028 - Very rarely do sports movies become a hit in Kollywood probably because of the deviation that is required from the generic Tamil movie. With Chennai 600028, Venkat Prabhu proved that a sports-based movie can be made within the framework of commercial cinema combined with all the glitz and gloss to appeal to the urban audience also. Probably the best aspect of the movie was how natural the whole movie felt; from the comedy of Premji Amaran to the usual fights arising when gangs (or people) from two different areas collide were picturized with such energy and rawness, almost every aspect felt life-like in this highly commercial film. With wonderful numbers like Jalsa..., Un Paarvai..., Veedu Veedu... and a highly energetic soundtrack from Premji Amaran, I can only hope that Venkat Prabhu continues in the same trend with his next movie, Saroja.

2 - Billa - Remaking any old classic is a difficult task in itself but taking a movie that made Rajinikanth a superstar and, in total, has already been made three different times and make it look as if it is an entirely new movie is a colossal task and that is what Vishnuvardhan achieved with Billa. In a nutshell, Billa has already set a benchmark on which future Tamil films that want to be slick and stylish will be judged. Ajith’s natural smart looks and urban demeanour were utilized to the maximum potential and that, combined with a pulsating soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja, near-perfect western style cinematography by Nirav Shah and wrapped up in a two and a half hour jaw-dropping package by Vishnuvardhan made Billa one of the best movies of 2007.

1 - Mozhi - If there was one spot in my top 5 (or top 10 for that matter) that was never in doubt since the moment I decided to make a list, it was the top spot and that goes to Mozhi. This movie, to me, proved that a director doesn’t need to go all sad and teary-eyed on viewers to make a realistic movie. And make no doubt about it Mozhi was as realistic a movie as any released last year without having the dreary aspect mentioned above that is assocaited with most "realistic" Tamil movies. With fantastic performances from the entire lead cast especially Jothika and Prakash Raj backed up by melodious music by Vidyasagar and top-notch screen play and direction by Radha Mohan, Mozhi is undoubtedly the best movie of 2007.

Sivaji - The only reason I did not make a top 10 was I could not find a place to insert this movie in it. So, I ended up doing a top 5 and giving Sivaji a special place of sorts. Honestly, had this movie been made with anyone but Rajinikanth as the hero, it probably would have been a complete dud at the BO. Shankar’s usual trademark touches make their appearances here too – the lavish sets for songs and their beautiful picturizations, an overall message that forms the crux of the story etc. – but it is Rajini who really stood up and made this movie the blockbuster it was. Looking half his age, Rajini along with Vivek looked at home in the comedy sequences and looked amazingly smart in the song sequences and looked every bit of the Sivaji we had imagined him to be when fighting the baddies against Suman. Shriya got her big break with this movie that has led her to being paired opposite Vijay, Vikram and, recently rumored, also with Ajith. Shankar wrapped it in a neat package that, although not at all meeting any of my expectations, did turn out to be quite a good entertainer.

So that’s it people, movies like Pokkiri, Paruthi Veeran, Evano Oruvan, Kireedom, Kallori etc. were also some which I really enjoyed watching a lot and would’ve made it to a top 10 had I made one but since this is the first time I am doing this sort of a list, I stuck with the easier top 5. And since I did not watch most of the diwali releases especially Polladhavan, I thought it was safer to do a top 5. Hope you had a good time reading it.

First off, the truth; I have never actually sat down in front of the TV and watched a series that "I" actually liked. My favorite TV show so far is the Friends and I became a fan of that because my sister was a big fan of that. Other than that I have occasionally sat down and watched Jag, X-Files, Everybody Loves Raymond and again all of those have been series that my sister had been watching for quite some time. But very recently I sat down and decided to give a few shows a try of my own and from then on have been very impressed by two of them.

The first one and the one that has me riveted each time is House. The series is into its 3^rd season here (4^th in the US) and I started watching it only from about the end of the second season. To be honest, I have never watched a medical drama before. The closest I ever came was something known as Medical Investigations or somesuch in the Discovery Channel. The episode that actually got me terrifically interested was House vs God. I imagined it as being dark and serious but it turned out to be a mixture of everything including comedy which I did not expect to find. Hugh Laurie was not uncommon to me, I had heard about him and seen him in Stuart Little but here he has just lapped it up so much that I cannot imagine anyone else as House especially his comedy timing, dialogue delivery and body language are spot on. The supporting cast does its job pretty well and this is one show I hope goes till the 10^th season like Friends. I am actually going to buy the 1^st and 2^nd season DVDs sometime in the near future since I have not watched them yet.

And the second one is Numbers. I am a math geek, I love math and if it hadn’t been for my even greater interest in Computer Science, my future would have definitely been related to math. The first time I saw an ad for Numbers on TV, I told myself “I have got to check this out!” but as always I never did. I actually only started watching the show when I was casually flicking channels and getting bored with nothing else to watch. It was about the 19^th episode of season 1 and had something to do with using math to calculate human efficiency and I digged it. From then on I have watched the show regularly and it actually just completed its 3^rd season here. Though I did miss much of the first season and a good number of episodes in the third, the actual math used to solve each case is highly intriguing. Of course, the show does have low quality production values evident from the highly graphical explosions but still the main cast is wonderful and does a great job especially Rob Morrow as Don Eppes, David Krumholtz as his brother Charlie and Judd Hirsch as their father, Alan. Again this is one show I hope does go a long way because the way math is used in each episode is pretty brilliant.

Apart from these I actually did start watching Top Chef but that is only because of the awesome dishes that are put on display in that show. So, really the only two series that I have actually become interested for myself are House and Numbers. Any of you interested in these or found a few shows that have captured your mind, post ‘em here.

So, I completed Neverwinter Nights recently and I have to say I was amazed by how well it played considering its age. The main reason I played it was that I am getting a new computer in December and I know I will be busy playing The Orange Box, Crysis, Oblivion and almost every other great game from the past three years, so I will have no time to play this. But I am glad I chose to do it because it gets added to Planescape Torment, KOTOR, KOTOR2 in the list of amazing RPGs I have played.

Although I completed it over the course of about 6 months (WOW!) it never stopped getting better from time to time. And part of it is the story. To be honest at about the middle of chapter 2, I was not much impressed and incredibly many of the sidequests had better substories than the main one itself. But the twist at the end of the second chapter really hit me in the face. And from then on I thought it was really epic with quite a bit of history of the gameworld and so on. Though it was not as complex as Planescape Torment I felt it was awesome and quite epic in its own right.

I played KOTOR before this and at the beginning I was a bit put off by the graphics and gameplay. But since I stuck up to it, I was able to overlook the graphics and the gameplay got really interesting one I started leveling up and the amount of exotic items we can find in this game is incredible and some of it really helped in certain sidequests which would have been difficult without these items. I would suggest anyone who plays the game to atleast put up until the end of the first chapter because the gameplay and story of the later chapters is well worth some of the turn offs of the earlier ones.

Overall, I really enjoyed Neverwinter Nights and it ranks as one of the gaming experiences I most enjoyed. On other notes, since my exams have started no gaming for about 15 days after which it is going to be gaming marathon and madness with the new system and The Orange Box, Crysis and others and I hope to bring certain impressions of those games like this one in my own quest to keep this blog alive.

For people who care, here is my full review of the game over at Gamespot.

The last time we met our favorite young wizard, he was left all alone after the death of Dumbledore with no one but two other 17-year olds with the impossible task of seeking out Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes, destroying them and then seeking out The Dark Lord himself and finishing him and hopefully making out of it alive. As if that wasn’t enough, Dumbledore was killed by none other than Snape in whom he trusted and Rowling unimaginably made Severus Snape the most important character in the Deathly Hallows after probably the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione and Voldemort. So, Rowling has numerous questions to answer and to finish off the series in a fitting way so as to leave all its fans satisfied. So, does she? In my opinion, The Deathly Hallows is possibly my favorite in the series as a whole and yes, the conclusion is superb and Rowling leaves absolutely no stone unturned.

The book begins before Harry’s 17^th birthday when we know his protection against Voldemort given by his mother breaks and the Order of the Phoenix realizing this are trying to move Harry to a safer place. Saying absolutely what happens anymore in the book would be spoiling it for fans but suffice it to say the story twists and turns until the climax.

Ron and Hermione of course accompany Harry on the journey to secure the remaining Horcruxes and destroy them. There are numerous verbal fights, emotional sequences and then reunions as Rowling spins one heck of a magical yarn. She leads us on a nostalgic trip where everything from the Snitch Harry first caught to Dumbledore’s light-snatcher to Sirius’s mirror make a return and it almost seems as if she does not want to forget many of these amazing characters and sequences herself and in turn we do not want to forget this series that has captivated our hearts for many years.

However, after reading about a third of the book I found myself utterly confused. Here, she was with a plate full of questions to answer yet Rowling seemed to be happy to posing more and more questions and I must accept I was slightly nervous that the ending might not tie up all the loose ends or might be unsatisfying. But all my fears were washed away in the amazing last third of the book in which there are numerous goosebump sequences, sequences and dialogues where you will sit tight in your chair and every hair on your body will be pointing skywards. Rowling yet again has proven that she is truly a mistress of story-telling and while some of these sequences may seem too convenient as things fall firmly into place, there is no doubt about the emotions we feel when we read them.

So, in the end everything about The Deathly Hallows will leave you satisfied from its amazing action set-pieces to the complexity of the emotions underneath all the action and of course a finale that is befitting to the series as a whole. In the opening tribute, Rowling thanks all her fans for sticking with Harry till the end. And that is what exactly every fan has done, their love for Harry and his friends has only grown warmer and stronger with each of his adventures and in this final adventure Rowling makes sure that even as we – along with her – say one final wet-eyed (in my case) and heart-warming goodbye to the series, it will remain etched in our hearts and minds for all eternity and there in lies the true magic of Harry Potter and Rowling’s writing and not in the spells and enchantments that appear inside the book.

PS: Minor spoilers regarding the Harry Potter books. So, stay clear if you haven't read any of the books from the series.

The Goblet of Fire marked a change in tone for the series as a whole, one which has not changed since. The opening sequences really set it up, a very tired Voldemort instantly killing an eavesdropper or a number of death-eaters casually tossing muggles up and down and we instantly realized that much of the humor from the previous books may never show up again; this was most evident when Dumbledore who had been shown as having a benign smile and caring face was first shown in all his fury as he attacks the fake Alastor Moody and then casually turns his face with his feet to check whether he is knocked out. It also marked Voldemort’s return to complete power and Harry’s first face-to-face meeting with a full strength Voldemort which he faced with all the bravery that was expected of him. When Dumbledore spoke the words “Any time you have a choice between good and evil, remember what happened to Cedric Diggory”, we were one of the many people mourning the loss of this fictional character and we realized that even though the tone had changed from humor to darkness, much of the love and underlying warmth were still intact.

Then The Order of the Phoenix came about and Harry was shown as being left fully alone by his friends and we got the first glimpse of Harry’s anger at being The Chosen One. We also realized that no matter what happens Ron and Hermione would be firmly by his sides. And the story fully opened up with the Prophecy being revealed and Harry being shown as the person to overthrow Voldemort and his evil. Of course, Harry’s burden was further increased with the death of his only remaining family of sorts in Sirius Black. OOTP also featured the best duel to so far grace Harry Potter with the amazing confrontation between Dumbledore and Voldemort during the climax. And we realized that the true weapon Harry has over Voldemort in spite of clearly being the lesser in terms of wizardry is his heart; the only question remaining being how it plays a part in book 7.

I have personally said to myself many times that instead of being called Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince, it should have been called HP and Severus Snape because that is what the book exactly is. THBP firmly establishes Snape as the most important character in book 7 after Voldemort and Harry himself. A large part of book 7 is dependant on whether Snape is double agent working for the good side or evil side. And of course all THBP does is set up for the conclusion. We get to know more about Voldemort’s past, his true inherent cruelty in the way he kills his father’s family and of course his Horcruxes which are the source of his immortality. The whole story finally falls into place with Harry and Ginny (and in a way Ron and Hermione) unmasking their feelings for each other and with Dumbledore’s death which meant Harry’s last protector was gone and he was left all alone (Again!). It also featured some of my favorite lines from all the books like when Dumbledore says, “I am not worried Harry! I am with you” and when Ron and Hermione firmly say they will accompany Harry wherever he goes.

Phew! It has been quite a ride even though it took me less than a month to finish all 6 books and in reality I have been waiting only for about 5 months now whereas some of you have been drooling for years together for book 7. But it feels like I have been part of this world for a longer time than I really have. I know I have forgotten many important characters/events in the above tribute. Hagrid is a wonderful character as is Draco as are most of the people in the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore’s army like Luna, Neville, The Weasleys and more and to start mentioning everyone is something I don’t intend to do.

I don’t want to start speculating about The Deathly Hallows but am definitely going to say that it is going to be the best book of the lot. Of course, the humor will not be there and the book will be all dark as Harry first goes after the remaining horcruxes and then after Voldemort himself. It is still unclear whether Ron and Hermione will accompany Harry which I hope they will. And of course unfinished plot points like the life debt owed by Wormtail, Ron, Ginny and Mr. Weasley will definitely rear their head. And Rowling must give a strong explanation as to why she killed Sirius and Dumbledore and also round off Snape’s character.

I am completely going to shut myself away for the next few days from anything related to Harry Potter – news, forum topics etc. – no leaked press news is going to spoil it for me and I am sure The Deathly Hallows will be the finale everyone expects it to be and hopefully it will be just that.