The story is rehash; you already the same plot (memory loss) from previous good films, like Jason Bourne for example. But Liam Neeson is a strong screen presence that even his God-sounding voice keeps the movie from faltering.
Nice movie to watch if you just want to unwind over the weekend.
I am excited to see the end product of the Hollywood remake of the kick-ass novel The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Mara Rooney don’t look like her! Pale and gaunt, just for the movie.
This is Mara Rooney before her casting in this film.
And this is her now in the teaser pictures for her upcoming role as Lisbeth Salander.
This line from Sebstian Junger’s WAR evokes an honest assessment why young males are hook to it.
War is a lot of things and it’s useless to pretend that exciting isn’t one of them. It’s insanely exciting. The machinery of war and the sound it makes and the urgency of its use and the consequences of almost everything about it are the most exciting things anyone engaged in war will ever know. Soldiers discuss that fact with each other and eventually with their chaplains and their shrinks and maybe even their spouses, but the public will never hear about it. It’s just not something that many people want acknowledged. War is supposed to feel bad because undeniably bad things happen in it, but for a nineteen-year old at the woring end of a .50 cal during a firefight that everyone comes out okay, war is multiplied by some number that no one has ever heard of. In some ways twenty minutes of combat is more life than you could scrape together in a lifetime of doing something else. Combat isn’t where you might die—though that does happen—it’s where you find out whether you get to keep on living. Don’t underestimate the power of that revelation. Don’t underestimate the things young men will wager in order to play that game one more time.
1. Sing by My Chemical Romance
2. For The First Time by The Script
3. Closer To The Edge by 30 Seconds To Mars
4. Fuckin’ Perfect by P!nk
5. Rolling In The Deep by Adele
6. Dogs Days Are Over by Florence + The Machine
7. Rocketeer by Far East Movement
I am currently reading this book by Sebastian Junger “War” about his experiences as an embedded entity with the US army in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan. Here’s what Amazon has to say about the book:
The war in Afghanistan contains brutal trauma but also transcendent purpose in this riveting combat narrative. Junger spent 14 months in 2007–2008 intermittently embedded with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, one of the bloodiest corners of the conflict. The soldiers are a scruffy, warped lot, with unkempt uniforms—they sometimes do battle in shorts and flip-flops—and a ritual of administering friendly beatings to new arrivals, but Junger finds them to be superlative soldiers. Junger experiences everything they do—nerve-racking patrols, terrifying roadside bombings and ambushes, stultifying weeks in camp when they long for a firefight to relieve the tedium. Despite the stress and the grief when buddies die, the author finds war to be something of an exalted state: soldiers experience an almost sexual thrill in the excitement of a firefight—a response Junger struggles to understand—and a profound sense of commitment to subordinating their self-interests to the good of the unit. Junger mixes visceral combat scenes—raptly aware of his own fear and exhaustion—with quieter reportage and insightful discussions of the physiology, social psychology, and even genetics of soldiering. The result is an unforgettable portrait of men under fire.
Dear GLEE,
Please, highlight the dancing skills of Brittany in your successive episodes. The next episode “Blame It On Alcohol” seems like she will show her dancing chops again.
True Blood season 4 will premiere on June 12, 2011–the same date as the Philippine Independence. But I will discuss my thoughts on Season 3.
There were new characters introduced–Tommy (Sam’s brother), Jesus (Lafayette’s love interest), Alcide (werewolf), Holly (Wiccan waitress), and many others. But other than these new characters, it was noted that the entire season 3 is all about identifying one’s hidden identity–Sam confessed that he is a shapeshifter, and Sookie learned that she is a fairy.
But while watching the news lately, this being Manila (Philippines) where anything and everything can happen, I was reminded of the recent headlines resembling what happened in Season 3. Remember Russel, the power-hungry Vampire King of Mississippi. He who wants to expand his interest and dominion over other vampire territories, in means beyond what was agreed upon.
He reminds you of despot and kingpins the world over. But then again, these autocratic rulers will receive their comeuppance sooner or later. But not without someone volunteering his self to lead (or sacrifice); to put his self beyond personal interest for the benefit of everybody.
The local news in Manila lately mimics the story of season 3. We are all too familiar with the high stakes corruption charges at the higher echelon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Notice that AFP high ranking officials are like Russel, who “kills” mercilessly anyone who wants to get in their corrupt and stealing purposes in the military fund.
But Sookie, Bill and Eric are not to be taken lightly , either. They will see to it that the power-hungry will not succeed. They will do everything to make his objective a failure. They are like the whistleblowers—Heidi Mendoza, George Rabusa, Jun Lozada.
True Blood is dark, violent, and lusty–the way vampires really behave (at least in the literature I read, and movies I saw). But we cannot deny the fact that their world (or Charlaine Harris mind) and our world share some parallelism; albeit, in different context.
Now, I have 2 reasons to wait for June 12 , 2011. 1) Season 4 premiere, and 2) holiday in the Philippines.
In the movie 127 Hours by Danny Boyle, Aron Ralston (played magnificently by James Franco) thinks of precious little things while his limb is stock in a boulder down in Utah. Precious little things like Mountain Dew (super cold!), the good memories from his friends, his father, his work supervisor, etc. That keeps him sane for the next 127 hours before he cut his limb.
The same thing happens to me while I run the Condura Skyway Run For The Dolphins 2011. I joined the 21K category. Because it’s a long distance run, I summarize my 21 random thoughts while inside the run track.
THANKFUL FOR
Km 1. Good Health. I started running March 2010. And I never look back since then. My first run is 5K and I am now running 21K. I am about to enter mid-life and I was never sick (thank God) nor hospitalized. Just thankful for being in tip-top shape.
Km 2. Sound Career. My career is satisfying, and it makes me enjoy things I like doing.
Km 3. Stable Support Group. Thankful for good, close friends. My cushion on the blows of life.
Km 4. Independence. I started being independent when I went to college. Then I became financially independent when I started working seven years ago. And I have become comfortable with this setup–the last full show movie watching, night out with friends, and the like which single person normally do.
Km 5. Water. While running my first 3 kilometers, I started going thirsty. Boy, don’t you just love water more during this moment?
ASPIRATIONS AND PLANS
Km 6. Full marathon before 2011 ends. The target is to join the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon normally held every first week of December. Although I heard that Manila has superior running community than this wealthy nation-state, still, every runner needs a taste of international exposure.
Km 7. Faster speed; greater endurance. Which means, run daily for endurance. And cross training at the gym. It makes me cringe everytime an old guy (age 50s and above) pass me over while running. If they can do it faster than I do (and to think that they are older), then I can do it if I just put my heart to it. Seriously.
Km 8. Running shoes. I have been thinking of getting my third running shoes. Serious runners believe that you need to have at least 3 running shoes.
Km 9. Foreign trip. My first trip overseas was 2 years ago in Singapore together with close friends. And the same group is itching to travel again this year to Phuket. Well, work hard play hard.
Km 10. Lose weight. My weight vacillates from 150lbs to 143lbs. But I want to lower it to at least 140lbs this year.
PET PEEVES
Km 11. Late and absences by staffs. One of my pet peeves at work is the habitual suspects of tardiness and absences. These group of people who don’t care about their career and how to step up the corporate ladder (and eventually enrich themselves through hard work). Running not only makes you sweat, it also erase your worries and relieves you of stress and tensions.
Km 12. High stakes corruption in AFP/PNP. We are all familiar with this. The news is everywhere. It makes you sad that you being a citizen of this country who pays your taxes honestly, and it just went to satisfy the greed of some corrupt officials in the bureaucracy. Crap.
Km 13. Kill joys. Don’t you just hate it when you encounter somebody who loves to make life miserable for everybody? Like Sue Sylvester in GLEE? Argh, banish them all to a far flung nobody’s island.
Km 14. Rude cabbies. Yes, we all experience cabbies with horns. Them who are devil reincarnate roaming the streets of the metropolis.
Km 15. People who do not obey rules. Our country will not progress, I guarantee, if we don’t even follow the rules.
SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE
Km 16. Sleep. When you are weary and tired while in your 16th km, various things come to mind. One of which is sleep, I think how I wish I am just couching in my bed right now and sleeping like a log. You know, like you just fall flat to your back and doze off right there in the wide asphalt lane of Skyway.
Km 17. Tawilis. Craves for tawilis and bulalo especially when your knees is already hurting–its way of complaining that you have already enough. But I endure because the spirit is still willing and able.
Km 18. Full body massage. And to add insult to injury, the finish line is just a stone’s throw away from The Spa (The Fort)! Hilot massage please!
Km 19. Nuclear family. It all boils down to your basic family–your mother, father and siblings. And Basti, my nephew.
Km 20. Beer. Coors Light announces free beer after the run. Which makes my spirit up and alive. I have to finish running this 21K so I can gulp my earliest beer drink so far–at 8am!
Km 21. The hard earned medal. I don’t know why it feels good to receive medals. Maybe it’s positive reinforcement. Maybe it’s been awhile since I had one (the last was way back graduation in UP). Or maybe someone appreciates your effort for reaching your objective to finish.
Tears of joy here.
Finished my 2nd 21K in 2hours, 35minutes. Great improvement from my first 21K at Quezon City International Marathon 3hours and 4minutes. Great start for my running schedule this 2011. More on my thoughts about this great run soon.
Meanwhile, I need to rest. The pain is starting to manifest.
Cheers!
