I will not say anything about Marti Scorsese’s new magical film Hugo except that you will miss watching the best movie of 2011 if you haven’t seen it. Besides, it might win big at the Academy Awards few hours from now.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Little People, Air Chrysalis, Tengo and Aomame.
The whole of February, my book pre-occupation is exclusively for Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84. The book is a tall order for a reader, it contains 900+ pages and though its easy read, still, you have to pause for some chapters to digest what the heck is going on. I am more than half reading the whole book, and I have to honestly say, that this is so far the best Murakami book I have read. It is thrilling, philosophical at times, and a good love story!
The story progression has been good so far; and I am confident that the remaining pages will be one hell of a ride. I am excited.
Weekend Indulgence
Weekend, that means Saturday and Sunday, is my indulgence days. Whatever my thoughts crave, yes it’s always food, I have to abide otherwise the I feel bad and agitated. Over the weekend, I have been craving the vegetarian panini of Rustan’s supermarket. I love this sandwich. I think I can live the whole week with panini as my breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Last week, one midnight, I suddenly think of Cibo’s tiramisu. I cannot help it, I went to their Shangri-la store the following day just to eat it. Oh well, these foods I just have to burn by constantly running. It’s not bad to give in to your craving some times. If it makes you happy, give in.
Loyalty Award
Yesterday, Team Manila announce in Twitter that new T-shirt collections are now available in their stores. I immediately went to their Rockwell store after office hours to check it. Dang, I love two of their designs so I did not hesitate to buy it right away.
Then, when I went home, I tweeted them that I bought two pairs that night. Appreciate that they re-tweet it for their other followers. 
Yabu: House of Katsu
I hear the buzz so loud about this new katsu restaurant in the Atrium of SM Megamall from Twitter that I have to give in and give it a try. So I did over the weekend, only to confirm my pre-meditated suspicion about the crowd there and how hard it is to get a seat. True enough, you have to wait to be seated because they are always full especially during eating time (lunch, and dinner).
I decided to take out a chicken katsu, complete with two appetizers (potato salad, the best I’ve tasted!). I have to immediately rush home and eat it while its hot. Honestly, I was not a fan of katsu but this one’s really good. I have to go back and try their other katsu offerings like pork, seafoods and vegetables. The price is a little steep, though, but the serving is big so it’s worth it.
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The disaVOWal.
The Vow is suppose to be a Valentine offering, obviously, with its regular release within the week. I saw it last night. I usually keep my expectations low, like very low, when watching this genre. They either get too mushy or over-the-top. Besides, keeping your expectations low means less upset after leaving the cinema. Less probability of saying “walang kwenta” then walking out of the theater, doubly pissed because you pay a handsome price for a ticket.
The gist of the story can be summarized thus:
Boy and girl got into an accident. Both wounded; but girl seriously because she failed to wear her seat belt. Girl lost her memory, specifically those that she is with boy. Boy adjust to the setup of re-creating moments again to win her back. And they live happily, ever after.
My first complain is the two protagonists—Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams do not have chemistry! Sorry, but it was my honest impression, from the start that they are holding hands together running to get into their car amidst a snowy Chicago, I cannot patronize the partnership. And this is essential in any love story movie. It is as if I am watching a mismatch of partners in a Nicholas Sparks-inspired romantic movie, though both were previously starred in one. Channing with Amanda Seyfried in Dear John, and Rachel with Ryan Gosling in The Notebook.
50/50 was my favorite romantic movie of last year. For this year, 2012, I think I still have to look for more. The Vow is not it.
Movie Marathon. Part 2.
After reading three books in a span of two weeks can be tiring. My minds just want to not read a fourth book right away. This must be information overload, or so they say. What I did was watch good movies, the kind which are frontrunners at the award season in the US. As a movie fanatic, I am self-obliged to watch them right away so I can check if the winners at major awards show are really deserving.
1. 13 Assassins. This Japanese movie is really good. I chance upon it when it was mentioned as one of the top foreign films of 2011 in the National Board of Review. It is a story of 13 samurais who plot to kill an abusive and dictator-styled leader who will succeed the throne in Shogun Japan.
2. The Debt. An unsuccessful plot to capture and send a Nazi leader from Germany to Israel to face liabilities for his atrocities on anti-Semitism. And how a major cover up would haunt these plotters during their old days as that cover up unfolds again in their midst. True to their cloak-and-dagger lifestyle, this movie is suspenseful enough to engage you with the story, but failed to deliver a different approach to a common spy movie.
3. War Horse. This film is included in most “best list of last year” from American Film Institute to National Board of Review. Directed by the multi-acclaimed Steven Spielberg, and based on a children book, War Horse tells the unforgettable story of a horse and a boy during the World War I. Riveting and sad, but uplifts you at the end knowing that in times of great distress, special bond and relationships makes you cope to the unexplainable horror of war. Beautifully acted, too.
4. The Descendants. When I watch this, and when I come to the part where George Clooney tells the “other man” in the life of his clinically-dead wife, a thought comes to mind—this is like Star Cinema’s “No Other Woman” only this time it’s the wife who did the infidelity. Great acting performances from George Clooney and his daughters in the movie. It has an indie feel to it, blame it to the director who also did “Sideways” years ago. This is a shoo-in for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
There are still other films that I would like to see, such as The Artist, Hugo, Extremely Loud Incredibly Close, My Week With Marilyn, Shame, and A Separation. Well, let’s reserve that for the weekend. That is if I don’t feel like going to read a book again.
Dark, like the way you read it from the book.
The New York Times describe Lisbeth Salander, thus:
“Tiny as a sparrow, fierce as an eagle, she is one of the great Scandinavian avengers of our time, an angry bird catapulting into the fortresses of power and wiping smiles off the faces of smug, predatory pigs.”
The Hollywood version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher, is a dark, haunting story of female abuse in a patriarchal society. Rooney Mara deserves the Best Actress nomination at this year’s Academy Awards. She exudes punk and kick-ass attitude the way she is described in the book where it was based, but at the same time, shows vulnerability especially in the way she speak and act (she craves for sex, for example).
Like in any David Fincher film, the cinematography sets the mood and tone of the whole film. We are in Sweden. We are in a cold, below zero temperature place. It always snow. It’s cold. Which juxtapose with what is generally, the central theme of the film, to solve a cold case of missing person inside a famous, influential Vanger family. Well acted, I cannot find a fault from this adaptation. Though purists (those who read the book) would complain about one major change at the end of the movie where the missing girl is found not in an Australian outback, still the whole picture provides a dark toned, convincing film about the (mis)adventure of a heroine in the midst of chauvinist pigs.
By the way, I like this version more than the Swedish. Just saying.
What did you do when you were 26 years old?
The writer of the new movie Chronicle is Max Landis. He is 26 years old. The director of the same movie is Josh Trank. He is also 26 years old. I like the movie–at least it is better than the forgotten Cloverfield. A story of three young boys possessed with mystical powers after going inside a mysterious hole in a barn. In the movie, one of the boys mentioned about Arthur Schopenhauer and his concept of will. The German philosopher said that all nature, and that includes man, is the expression of an insatiable will to life. If given with greater power, such as telekinesis in the film, man can either use it for good or bad. But Schopenhauer’s tenet is bias towards good, with the belief that man by nature is good. Though the movie’s storyline revolves around the failure of goodness, what with using telekinesis to wreak havoc in Seattle. But partly, this could be the result of environmental factors since his father is an alcoholic, couch potato who abuse him verbally and physically. Add to that the hapless situation of his mother. The kind of environment wherein hate and rebellion, and the absence of love, leads to the diffusion of “will.” Thus, he make use of his telekinesis in a bad way when he was confronted with no available “right” option. He rob a convenient store to justify buying medicine for his ailing mother.
The movie looks like an indie-produced, but this is release by a behemoth film outfit. I like the special effects; can be compared with any Marvel superhero flicks. Catch it in your nearest favorite cinema.
