Lunch Box Filmyzilla

[Chloe Sarnoff]

Threeof my good female friends, who I could usually find overcoming hangovers at their Saturday morning "Recovery Drunches" at Oxford's Pub, once made pinpricks in their thumbs and performed a ceremony becoming blood sisters. They were the only people I have actually known who could inspire a Judd Apatow buddy movie, and all three could do what not all women do well, and that is perfectly tell a dirty joke.

Maybe I liked "Bridesmaids" in their honor. Paul Feig's new comedy, written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, is about a group of women friends who are as unbehaved as the guys in "The Hangover." Don't tell me "unbehaved" isn't a word. It is now. And Wiig is rather brilliant in her physical comedy as she flies to Vegas as part of her BFF's bachelorette party; if it were not the wedding of her BFF, this trip would get her thrown out of the wedding. Her motto: "What happens in Vegas, starts on the plane."

Wiig plays Annie, whose Milwaukee bakery shop has just gone bust, who rooms with a surpassingly peculiar British brother and sister, and whose longtime friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), is getting married. Naturally, she expects to be maid of honor, but begins to fear a rival in Helen (Rose Byrne), the rich and overconfident trophy wife of the groom's boss. You see that can lead to trouble.

Helen is one of those people who at birth was placed in charge of everything for everyone. It's not that she's trying to steal Annie's thunder, it's just that she can't comprehend that she isn't running the wedding. This leads finally to Annie's explosion at a bizarre French-themed bridal shower with an item of pastry that would strike even an editor of the Guinness Book of World Records as, well, excessive.

The movie does a good job of introducing a large cast and in particular keeping all the members of the bridal party in play. They include Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), a mother of three adolescent sons ("My house is covered in semen"), and (my favorite) Megan (Melissa McCarthy), who has the sturdiness and the certainty of a fireplug.

Did I mention the movie was produced by Apatow? Love him or not, he's consistently involved with movies that connect with audiences, and "Bridesmaids" seems to be a more or less deliberate attempt to cross the Chick Flick with the Raunch Comedy. It definitively proves that women are the equal of men in vulgarity, sexual frankness, lust, vulnerability, overdrinking and insecurity. And it moves into areas not available to men, for example the scene when they're all trying on dresses at a bridal shop and the lunch they've just shared suddenly reappears, if you get my drift.

Not everybody can do physical comedy. Wiig's behavior on the flight to Vegas would win the respect of Lucille Ball. I don't even want to start describing what happens. In these day when you can get arrested on a plane for taking out your car keys, her behavior is a throwback to the good old days of airborne slapstick.

Yet the movie has a heart. It heals some wounds, restores some hurt feelings, confesses some secrets, and in general, ends happily, which is just as well, because although there are many things audiences will accept from women in a comedy, ending miserably is not one of them. That may be sexist, but there you are.

Stanley (Partho Gupte) is a fourth grader at Holy Family school in Mumbai and is very popular among his friends. He is talented and well liked by his peers. The English teacher, Ms. Rosy, (Divya Dutta) is particularly impressed with his creativity, wit, and humour. Stanley is shown with a bruised face in the opening scene of the movie. On being questioned about it by Ms. Rosy, he concocts an elaborate story, much to her amusement. His humorous essays and offhand poem recitations make him her favourite in class. However his imagination is not always rewarded; his science teacher (Divya Jagdale) rebukes his attempt at constructing a light house as part of the class project since it does not adhere to the topics covered in class.

It is shown early on that he doesn't bring his lunch box or 'dabba' to school, unlike all his other classmates. Verma (Amole Gupte) is a ravenous Hindi teacher; a phagomaniac who does not bring his own dabba either but lusts after everyone else's, also stealing food on occasion. The kids at school nicknamed him as 'Khadoos' (cantankerous person). He has a poor reputation among his peers for his mindless and inconsiderate gluttony. He particularly eyes the dabba of one of Stanley's friends and shamelessly joins the group in class as soon as the lunch bell goes off to gorge on their food. A lot of his class time is spent discussing what his students brought for lunch.

One day, he ends up coming late during lunch-break and misses out on eating what he had earlier hoped to eat from the children's dabbas. Upon realising that the food in question was shared with Stanley, Khadoos berates him for not getting his own dabba. Stanley senses Khadoos' hostility towards him and avoids eating from his friends' dabbas thereafter, telling them every day during lunch break that he is going home to enjoy a hot meal prepared by his mother. His friends catch his bluff soon after when they find him loitering around the school during lunch break. When confronted, Stanley tells them that there is no one to cook for him until his parents get back from Delhi. Eager to help their hungry friend out, Stanley's friends start hiding from Khadoos during lunch break while sharing their dabbas with Stanley. Chagrined, Khadoos starts hunting for them arduously during lunch break every day. He catches hold of them eventually on the terrace, empty dabbas in tow. Upon realising that the group shared their lunches with Stanley again, he menacingly threatens Stanley to either bring his own dabba or stop coming to school. Stanley obliges and stops coming to school.

In this time, Stanley's friends come to know of an inter-school concert that they think he would be a perfect fit for. However, since he is debarred from school by Khadoos, Stanley remains sceptical about his chances. He secretly starts attending practice sessions for the concert and begins learning the dance steps and song lyrics by himself. Soon after, he is spotted practising by one of the organizers of the concert. His talent is recognised and he is immediately included in the troupe. In the meantime, Stanley's absence is felt by his teachers and friends, who finally spill the beans to Ms. Rosy about the reason behind his nonattendance. Aghast and disgusted, Ms. Rosy confronts Khadoos in front of other staff members asking him to "have some shame" since Stanley "is just a child". Khadoos begins realising his folly.

One fine day, Stanley brings his own dabba to school. He offers it to Khadoos on a platter and asks him for permission to come back to school. Guilt-ridden and shame-faced, Khadoos resigns from his post. He apologises to Stanley in a handwritten letter and promises to never return.

After the success of Taare Zameen Par Amole Gupte wanted to make a small, non-mainstream film. He borrowed money from friends and began shooting with a five-man crew in a Mumbai school. The crew shot during four-hour workshops every Saturday for a year and a half to capture all the scenes they needed.[2] Shot using a Canon EOS 7D,[3] the film used 170 child actors in total. After the film was completed, Gupte showed it to Karan Johar and he helped him to sign a distribution deal with Fox Star Studios.[2]

Last week I mentioned I had initially planned on writing about a different movie before revisiting Meet The Robinsons and feeling inspired to write about it. I promised I'd cover the original film in the future, and this week I decided it was time to rewatch 1995's A Little Princess. Unfortunately, it didn't have much of a lasting impact on society, and it might seem random that I'd choose to analyze such a forgettable film that's over two decades old. However, for me, A Little Princess wasn't as forgettable as it was to most others.

The film is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel of the same name. The movie might not be remembered by many, but it has some big names behind it. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarn, best known for his Oscar-winning films Gravity and Roma, directed the G-rated drama with Rain Man producer Mark Johnson also on board.

I watched this movie a lot as a kid, and while I realized a lot more problematic aspects than I remember from when I was a child, its themes around hope, belief, and imagination still ring true for me. On Movie Mondays With Gina, I like to cover films that allow me to dive beneath the surface and discover greater meaning than meets the eye. I chose A Little Princess so I could delve into the importance of nurturing and healing the inner child. This is something I am so passionate about, whether I'm speaking to my younger self in meditations or revisiting old movies I loved as a kid.

Healing the inner child has a lot to do with reassuring yourself and speaking to yourself the way you wish a parent or caretaker had when you were younger, but it's also related to keeping your childlike wonder alive. Not everyone had a happy childhood, and this is prevalent in A Little Princess with the way Miss Minchin treats the children at her Seminary For Girls. However, if you look back on the happiest moments from your childhood, you'll remember the times you were the most carefree and imaginative. When you allowed yourself to be excitable, to daydream, and to play make-believe.

Revisiting movies that make me feel this way helps me connect with my inner child, which is exactly why I wanted to watch A Little Princess again and write about it for my newsletter. Before sitting down to write about the film, I took time to google what others thought about it from an adult perspective. I found everything from people calling A Little Princess their problematic fave to A Little Princess: Intersectional Feminist Masterpiece? by an author named Kitty. The author delves into the film's problematic elements, as well as Sara's immense privilege.

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