Da Vinci Code Movie - A few more abberations

Here are a few more plots that were 'constructed' for the movie and were nowhere in the book, I think these did the overall plot some harm: 1. Fache tells Collet that he was contacted by Aringarosa (a Bishop of his order - Fache is apparently Opus Dei in the movie) and told that Langdon told Aringarosa in confession that he planned to kill the curator of the Louvre and Fache was trying to catch him without implicating the Bishop who didn't keep the confession a secret. 2. Aringarosa and the Catholic church were in cahoots about the whole thing, they knew what the 'grail' contained and wanted it destroyed so no DNA testing could be done. They convened a secret council to do this and were not disassociating from Opus Dei. Aringarosa was NOT working with Fache to try and stop Silas they knew that Silas had killed people and were OK with it. 3. The Curator was not Sophie's real grandfather, just the grand master of the Priory who was prepping her to be in the order. They weren't speaking because when she was little he screamed at her (the scene shows him rushing in and wiping everything on a desk onto the floor while screaming at her while she cowers) and told her to never ask about her family and then sent her to boarding school - after which she saw the ritual. The poor direction robbed this scene of it's essence. 4. When they get to Rosslyn Chapel, they very easily find a secret sub-chamber that contains all the documents of the Priory and the 'grail' just no body - it has been moved. The members of the Priory show up, she meets her grandma - no brother, and they all hang out. Oh and not to forget, the ridiculous bit about Sophie trying her luck at walking on water, it was ridiculous and made light of the entire enormity of the plot.

The Da Vinci Code Saga

I went to see the movie, yeah even though I had read the book. I must say I regret buying the book. The plot was interesting, the claims scandalous and the symbolism emphatic, but the style of writing was cheesy. I personally preferred 'Angels & Demons' by Dan Brown, it was a very well constructed thriller. Da Vinci code, could hardly match it's page-turning quality, in-fact I felt it was written by someone who has lost the zeal for writing.
The movie however, was a whole new affair. I went to see the movie only and only because of Tom Hanks. The movie, I found, improvised on the book a good deal, in some cases changing certain portions of the plot [Ref: The drawing room scene where Sophie is supposed to hide the cryptex, The scene where the Priory of Sion members come to meet Sophie, The scene about Sophie recalling her grandfather performing the rituals, the rituals were more elaborately depicted in the book, The scene where the Teacher kills the butler etc. etc.]. But I think these alterations, for the most part did not rob the movie of it's charm but could have added more mystique to the plot. Tom Hanks, acted his part, yes I hated his hair-style, and I'd have to say this wasn't one of Hank's greatest acting jobs, though to be fair to him, he could only do what the script allowed, and Dan Brown certainly needs to give Robert Langdon a persona-rehash.
All in all, I'd say watch it before you criticize the movie. Was it worth the money spent on a ticket? I wouldn't know - I got two complimentary ones. Here's an idea - how about an Angels & Demons movie?

P.S. Ron Howard could have done a heck of a better job by getting a better Sophie, what was he thinking?

Holiday

Just got back from a short trip. Glad to be back. The place we went to is a hill-station, so expectations were high (I being a sucker for Hills and any place that is cold). But I must admit I hadn't bargained for the constant rains which stalked us for all the 5 days we were there. Needless to say, the sight-seeing was at a minimum and the photographs though beautiful, a tad depressing due to the absence of the sun.
Shillong is a very beautiful town and I would say one of the cleanest hill-stations in India. The people are renowned for their hospitality and rightly so. The drive from the airport was a three hour long affair, though after the first hour I didn't mind because we started climbing uphill, and it got comfortably cold and scenic. We didn't avail the car on the way back, we opted for a 20 minute helicopter ride, which provided breathtaking views of both Meghalaya and Assam.
Another significant thrill was a boat ride we took on Ward's Lake. I was a tad nervous about the condition of the apparently worn out boat, but it put us back on shore dry.
Well thats all at the moment, Arrivedecci