Liv in a Life Well-Lived

Whew! Watching the film felt like an ordeal. Its like going to the dentist and being shown the thousand and one apparatus one can use to inflict pain. I found myself thanking God I haven't fallen in love that bad yet, not enough to drive me insane or scar me for life. Between Vicky and Christina, I relate better to Vicky (played by Rebecca Hall) because of her traditional, safe views. I think that's how I view how love's supposed to go as well. But the real characters to watch out for in the film would be Christina (Scarlett Johansson) and Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz). They go insane as insane can go. And the funny thing is, you don't think they're whacked out while they're doing it. Honestly, mas nairita ako with Vicky. Her delusions with Juan something (played by Javier Bardem) is just irrirtating. I mean, I commsierate with her, but, its clear the thing with Juan-what's-his-name isn't going anywhere. she's just too scared. I would know. I WOULD BE...

I remember reading Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in high school; it probably made its mark because it was just so overtly whimsical. There was nothing in the short story that begged to be believed, and that was fine with me. It was an early awakening to surreal, semi-fantastic writing, and I liked it if only because it was very weird. So what I don't get is why the movie begged so hard to be believable. Practically everything was changed, the story included. In the short story, Benjamin was born old and already talking. His mother did not die, and his father did not abandon him. The older Button was embarassed of course, so tried to hide his son as much as possible. Benjamin grew up, not in a retirement home, but in his very own home. He tried to enter Yale, but was kicked out because he claimed to be teener when he clearly looked 70. He became a great businessman, saw Hildegarde Montcrief and married her. They had one son - Roscoe. They did...

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Starring: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Professor Snape I heard about the book through Sep, who exclaimed over dinner one night that she wants to get her hands on the novel Perfume, which the movie I’m about to discuss is based on. I trust Sep’s taste for it has never failed me yet, so I decided to find the book meself. Turns out, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Nothing in bookstores, nothing on-line. I’ve also surfed the pirate waves, and came up with nada, zilch, niente. So I just went to a video store and borrowed a copy of the movie which sat gathering flies on the New Releases shelf. I felt a surge of hope when I saw how nobody seems to want to watch it. Hellboy and My Only U is all out, but Perfume remained. It must be more than just crap then. More people like crap nowadays, sells better. And I was right. Visually gripping, would be my word for the film. How one movie can capture reality so viscerally, I cannot say. I am not sure it ...

Maybe the Fates are trying to screw me. For some reason, my sister wants to see Twilight. During opening weekend. And the only thing I can ask her is "Why?!#%!" No hyped-up movie aside from the Lord of the Rings is worth seeing on an opening weekend. And even then we decided to watch LOTR3 on a weekday. So what is so special about Twilight that we have to watch it with the rest of the mindless hordes? It's bad enough that I forced myself to read the books so when some adoring Edward Cullen fan spitefully challenges my opinions by asking :"But have you read the book?" I can look him / her squarely in the eye and answer, "Yes, all 4 books, because I kept hoping it'll get better, or something must be there to hook so many people. But it started from dismal to appalling and I suffered the most tortorous hours of my life." Never let it be said I didn't give it more than a fighting chance. But now she's asking me to watch a pasty-faced Cedric Dig...

Book in Hand: The Thirteenth Tale Song in Mind: Sama ko, sama ko diyan, doobi doobi doobi yeah... (blasted bus radios) There are days when I feel so exhausted and looking to the future brings no comfort because I still have many hurdles in sight (think Frodo when he crested the last mountain and he caught sight of Mordor. So near yet so far…). Days like these, nothing beats a complete surrender to another reality. These are the days I watch a movie totally alone. I LIKE watching movies by my lonesome. I am left to my own thoughts. I don’t have to explain the plot to anyone. I don’t have to pretend to laugh even if I don’t think it’s funny, I won’t have to hide my cringe if it gets too sappy. The possible pervs don’t scare me. I can always grab their patootie and yank it off if it gets too near me. And I always have a bottle of mineral water which I can bonk at someone in case they are not within arms reach, but within sight and sound. Anyhow, it has only happened to me once, and I thre...

After suffering from a dearth of good fun movies the last three months, it seems the Universe is going to make up for it this November. Here’s my list of movies to watch out for: Inkheart Why? Because Paul Bettany is in it. So even if the annoying Brendan Fraser also stars in it, I shall brave the insanity and sally forth for Paul. I really like him that MUCH. Besides, Andy Serkis (Gollum in LOTR) is in it and it’s bound to be interesting to see him act without the corrupted hobbit suit. 17Again Matthew Perry has made movies, which has all miserably flopped. Zac Efron on the other hand could so much as burp on film, and it’ll sell like hot pancakes. Let’s see who will reign supreme for this movie, eh? Perry is a 37-year-old drone who gets a chance to live his life again by being magically zapped back to 17 years old. Probably stolen from 13 going on 30 (that Jennifer Garner sweetheart movie?). Efron plays his younger self, looking all buffed and purty. I Heart Efron. And back off my ...

What I remember about X-Files is that it scared the heck out of me and I liked it. Looking back, I probably did not understand most of what was going on in the plots but it made me feel wonderment, and that was enough. The series itself primed me for my eventual taste for things fantastic. X-Files taught me to believe. :) Yeah, I was a nerd, how many times do I need to repeat this? Ella and I watched the new X-Files movie, and well, we did it for good times' sake. It made us remember our childhood to watch Dana and Fox do their investigative dance on the big screen. I realized we only understood a part of it when Ella surprisingly remarked, "Doctor pala si Scully?" Uh, yeah, hello?!? But then I totally forgot that Mulder was into the X-Files because he was trying to find his sister who he believed was abducted by aliens. How could I have forgotten that, right? I mean, really. Now, about the movie: Duchovny was quoted that the new movie is clever and complicated. I agree o...

I finally got to watch Dark Knight with Ella last night. The movie was great. The movie house wasn’t. We made the mistake of watching it in MOA (not IMX, a regular cinema) and it would’ve been fabulous if there weren’t so many kids under 13 playing marching band games up and down the stairs while the movie was progressing. How the hell did they get in anyway? Wasn’t Batman a PG13 movie? Those kids were barely 6! I actually shushed a boy who was shouting for his sister. I told him not to play in the dark and to be quiet. He had the audacity to poke his tongue out at me. It took all my will power not to stand up and growl like an ogre at him. That’ll send him running and let’s see if he doesn’t bite his tongue off in fright. I mean, really. What kind of parents will let their kids play in pitch darkness? Oh wait -- I guess the kind of parents who will shout “Sino gusto ng ketsap!” in the middle of the movie. Yes. Screw those ill-bred half-wits. Then there was that man who did not just fo...

I am now ready to admit that I am missing half of the world's imaginative genius because I don't read enough comic books! I have heard the latest Batman movie is amazing, but I have very little to work on about Two-Face and the Joker because I never really read the comic books. I know absolutely nothing about Ironman before the movie and would've thought he was a construction worker. I mean, that is some major gap in my education right there. I cannot rightfully call myself a genius if these little things are beyond my grasp. I watched Wanted today and I was blown away by the story. Half the time I was muttering "Astig!" to myself and the other half I spend wondering how come I'm not spewing something about begging too much for suspension of disbelief. After the movie, I realized it's because the story was tightly held together. It wasn't some half-baked glory shot of a violent fraternity; it has a kick-ass origin story that wouldn't let a microbe ...

Baby, you can light my fire... Whew, is it hot in here or what??? Scott Garceu, my favourite columnist for the Philippine Star, said the movie kinda sucked. He didn't say outrightly say it was dumpy, but he did say it didn't stand up to the book. After watching the movie, I agree that nothing can touch the book. But it WASN"T half as bad as I expected it would be. For one, the actors playing the Pevensie children have become THE Pevensie children in my imagination. William Moselly is just Peter-ish to start with, and Susan's darkness and light is captured well by Anna Popplewell. They just are the children. Ben Barnes have been said to be too old for Prince Caspian, but I am happy he isn't foppishly handsome as sell-out movies tend to cast actors. This Prince Caspian wasn't what i imagined him to be when I read the book, but now that he's it, I kind of... like it. A lot. :D (devilish grin) Watch it if it's still showing and haven't been replaced by ...

Oh my. What have they done to Neil Gaiman's Stardust? Have you read the book? I swear, read it. It is seven billion times better than the movie. It is not as kooky or silly as the film made it out to be. I think just because it follows a fairytale pattern, the filmakers took the liberty of making it as nonsensical as can be legally allowed. Michelle Pfeiffer was... ludicrous. And don't get me started on Claire Danes. I was never a fan of her wide-eyed cuter-than-thou acting. But she turned the ethereal but witty Yvaine into... into... Claire Danes. And the boy who played Tristan, well... maybe he's okay. But he is very forgettable. The only thing I enjoyed was Robert de Niro's performanc as a gay pirate captain although the elucidation was definitely not part of the original story. A pink feathered boa wearing, silk dress donning captain of the free ship Perdita was invented on the spot, it seems. And what were those ghosts hanging about the remaining Lord of Stormhold ...

Ha. I was supposed to watch a premiere showing of Nancy Drew today. Ian gave me 3 free tickets and I hyped Ella and Dre to go along with me. Except that from minute zero, fate tried to stop me from watching it. First, I rode the wrong jeepney going to Makati. I found myself traversing Roxas Blvd when what I wanted was a jeepney to bring me down at the UN Ave LRT station. I went down and rode another jeepmey which I thought would pass by Taft. But as it turned out, it takes a left a good 3 blocks before the corner. Argh! So I rode a taxi and wasted Php 150. When I reached Greenbelt 3, I thought it was a blessing that they haven't even started letting the people in. I thought Fate was making it up to me for giving me such a hassle in commuting. The minutes ticked by, then hours, and still no movie! The lagarista did not make it on time for the 7:30 showing. Actually, we gave up waiting around 9:30 p.m. They said the movie will start in 15 minutes, but we've heard that for the nth...

This, I found out today, is the summary of Hairspray the Movie. Oh, yeah, Tracy gets to dance on TV too which in turn led to the integration of colored people and white people in national broadcasting, I nearly forgot. I wouldn't gush about it, because that's like, pathetic. But I'll tell you this: (what the hell) I loved it. Some people would rather hang themselves from the rafters than watch a musical, but I loved it. I have to admit though as a fat girl myself that some parts were a teeny bitty unrealistic. I had to suspend disbelief numerous times, i.e.: 1. Zac Efron who plays the "Boy" noticed Nikki "Tracy" Blonsky when he saw her wiggling her hips in detention class. I mean, yeah, right. I could wiggle my hips and my nose to boot, fat lot that helped me. (no pun intended) 2. The story would have been more believable if Tracy was in love with the host of the dance show (Corny Collins played by James "I can Also shake my booty like a donkey on ...

"The only miracle is that people keep believing." - Katherine Winter (portrayed by Hillary Swank This movie had "B-class horror film" stamped all over it and its singular actress with mass name-recall seemed to prove it. But I wanted to watch The Reaping because I wanted to know how they would murder the Bible's teachings on the 10 plagues this time around. I guess it's just like not being able to help but want to witness a tragedy in the making. Thus, one boring Sunday afternoon, I managed to convince my sister and cousin to watch it with me. Despite my natural aversion to horror flicks, I still paid the fee to get the bejeezus scared outta me. I haven't done any cinemaholic criticisms for a long time. Too long perhaps that I sat rooted to my seat during the opening scene. On-screen, this oldish, unkempt guy woke up at the middle of the night because he felt something was wrong. It turns out, all his pictures of this woman Katherine (Swank) were burn...