Rakenrol

I missed 'Senior Year' because of work conflicts. But for sure, I will never miss this.

I have always been a fan of Pinoy Rock ever since I was in high school. I even aspired to be a rock star before. Lol, yes, I studied how to play a guitar and drums before. We even formed a band for our music class and I was their not-so-great drummer. Lol, but I practiced hard after making our MTV because I really loved the drums before. Whatever, so much for those nostalgic moments, so about this film again. . . When I first time viewed this, I was so excited and I cannot wait to see this film. I think this will be good, because it does not only focus on the Pinoy Rock industry but also about life, love and arts itself. I am thrilled also on how this movie will manifest the true meaning of arts and aesthetics in video/film making and in music.

*giddy* I love watching films like this.

Source Code

Source Code - Jake Gyllenhaal, I desire you so much and I do not care if you are old. I will watch all your movies! Lol. But seriously, this is quite an awesome movie. In my POV, it is sort of modern ‘Groundhog’s Day’ meets ‘Inception’ and ‘Memento’. Albeit the ending is so predictable and there are some ‘fail’ special effects. Lol.

Oscar's

I just want to share my reactions at the recent Academy Awards.

1. The opening is so creative and fun.
2. Anne Hathaway is too quirky, but her song number is impressive and so as her wardrobe.

3. James Franco looks cute in his Marilyn Monroe costume.

4. The hosts are hot and gorgeous. Enough said.
5. I felt the disappointment of Christopher Nolan for not winning the Best Screenplay. He's 'bastradic brilliance' (that is how I will describe his greatness) never fail to awe the literary and film world but he still remains underrated :( I just feel so sad about his lost, I dunno. (I mean, Memento, Dark Knight, Inception, The Prestige etc? Isn't he that superb for being both director and scriptwriter of these awesome films?)

6. Cate Blanchett is stunning as ever. Her aura is too powerful, but the details of her gown. . .

7. Kirk Douglas is comedic.

8. Hailee Steinfield is the prettiest fourteen year old I have ever seen.

9. I am amazed of Mandy Moore's new look.

10. Helena Bonham Carter is awesome. Her face.

11. Scarlett Johansson's eyes are lovely.
12. The Video clip wherein they lip sync. Lol at Twilight's He doesn't have a shirt.
13. Inside Job's creators are so sincere and humble in receiving their award.
14. Just like my sentiments for Nolan, I also felt sad for David Fincher for not winning the Best Director. I mean, he is great and again, underrated. He directed the freaking Fight Club and Seven by the way, just so you know. And put vibrancy and perfect framing on a seemingly 'bland' film (It's not actually bland, okay? But if you shall be asked what TSN is all about, of course, you will answer, 'It is about the creation of Facebook' and that do not appeal much, right?) . And Tom Hooper winning over him? I cannot even. . .

There is a hip and youth vibe on Oscar's now because of the hosts but I do not felt that vibe on the results. I mean, King's Speech is still the big winner after all, right? Anyway, it is just that I thought the results would be more unpredictable and daring. Yes, I know and it is so obvious Colin Firth will win as Best Actor, Christian Bale will win the Best Supporting Actor on the other hand, and so as King's Speech.

Harry Potter as a masterpiece?

*I am basing this essay on my own criteria of a masterpiece.

I think viewing Harry Potter as a masterpiece for film is different from viewing it as a textual literary masterpiece because film also has its own criteria and literature has its own. The criteria for a film does not only tackle the narrative but the overall composition of a motion picture. While in Literature, narrative, language and its form are the some of the foremost criteria.

The films itself, even if you have not read the books are of good quality and created an enormous marvel of magic, wizardry and battles. The visuals too are rich and impressive as well as the cinematography and the acting performance, although there are lots of scenes cut due to the time constraint. Yates, as the director, has done the last film so well compare to the other previous films. His vision as the director is noteworthy, from its pacing to its design. I think even without reading the books, audience can still appreciate the Harry Potter films.  To think also, the first Harry Potter film popularize first before its books.

In Harry Potter 7 Part 1, apart from other Harry Potter movies, the spectacle of Hogwarts is apparently no longer present. The excitement and thrill of the Quidditch match or the typical scenarios of adolescents in a boarding school has been over. Harry, Ron and Hermione are all grown up and without the guidance of Dumbledore; they have been set on their own in finding the horcruxes. In this film, based on a perspective of an audience who just watched the film without reading the book, the film showed its more mature and darker side. The focus was no longer on the magic (although it still plays an important role in the film), but rather on the development of the main characters and their last journey which is set in a quite ‘realistic’ setting. As also a coming of age story which brings another complexity of the film narrative. Instead of only showing the fantastic vision of Hogwarts and magic like in the previous films, in this film, it depicts the quests of heroes even outside their “boarding school of wizardry”. That is also crucial for the main characters, because this time they are not only ‘tested’, but they are already thrown into their own realities and facing the Dark Lord. And for a story, narrating as vast as that magnitude with a lot of twists and complexities, it is commendable for being a masterpiece.

However, I think Harry Potter can be a masterpiece if its yardstick is of children’s fantasy literature but not of Tolkien’s epic fantasy because that will cause discrepancy due to the variation of their genres, although Rowling created a number of allusions to Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings and it somehow follows the standard rule of the fantasy genre. Rowling’s imagination is extensive and brilliant as so as her creation of characters and settings. Nonetheless, that is still quite debatable since it is not as poetic as Narnia. However, her imagination and creativity could suffice the predominant criteria of being a masterpiece. J.K. Rowling creates another world, different from Narnia’s alternative world and from Lord of the Rings’ Mythological Past. She created a world bridging our world and the world of wizardry which I think is another laudable idea she embedded in her series.

Nonetheless, its flaws are evident on the books, especially on the inconsistencies and vagueness in its rules as a fantasy text and its narrative. And so as its prose style which as Harold Bloom and A.S. Byatt criticized as “full of clichés”. But I think, labeling a text as a masterpiece does not necessarily means that it should not be unflawed. Of course, to a certain degree, it has its own errors but why not take a look on its strength as both literary text and film? Take in consideration too of its tremendous impact worldwide. It is a cultural phenomenon globally that linger for almost a decade, as of now, and even translated in over sixty languages. And by cultural phenomenon, it does not mean that it lacks its literary significance like what the normative ideology usually says. Thus, for me, it can be considered as a children literature’s masterpiece of our age in film. However in books, I am in no position to judge it since I only read the first two books.

500 Days of Summer

I actually like this movie because it is quirky. LOL. Seriously it is quite heartbreaking, but nonetheless I still find it quirky. Lulz and maybe because it doesn't end the way other chick flicks end. And, and, and, I really like Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt.

They are so cute here.

And I fell in love with this scene.

Ignoring those judgmental eyes are one of the best things in the world.

Despite of all those smiles and intimacy, things end. They just end and leave us clueless. It's hard being too attached because everything changes, withers or grows, but that is just how life is. Shiz, all that cliches are actually coming from my mouth.

But this just broke my heart. I am afraid waking up one day and feeling unsure of everything. Or I am afraid when he woke up one day and he will be uncertain about me. However, it still proves that love is is constantly changing and everything is ephemeral. Yes. Everything. We just have to accept how things go or we'll end up bruised and empty for wallowing too much of still holding on.

This really struck me. I mean, the expectations VS reality scenes. Yeah, I am like that too. Sometimes, even though I hate to expect because I know I shall just be disappointed at the end, I will still expect and I am so hard-headed like that. But what can I do I am so imaginative and I dream too much HEH.

Another scene that struck me -_-

The image says it all.

However the ending, is uhm, not so great, but it is fine and hilarious.

Some people say, Summer is a bitch, but I never thought that she is. I mean, that is reality; she is is just being real. You do what makes you happy although you know people will get hurt. That is life. People have to deal with it and move on. And these are the things I need to remember all the time.

Minor Characters in Namets

A Negrense film directed by Jay Abello and written by Vince Groyon.

The opening scene shows a vignette of how through the brawling of the cavemen, they discovered fire and how they accidentally learned the earliest way of cooking the food. The cavemen serve as the foregrounding elements that the film will be talking about food. This can also be viewed as the folklore about the culture of Negros, especially about the Negrense cuisine.

In all the minor characters, Boss Dolpo is one of the most unforgettable characters because of his shortest lines and his mumblings throughout the film. The most memorable line that he said was only “Namets!”, while Cassie refused the business offer they gave her at the swimming pool. Peque Gellaga did play very well on this role, because even through his facial expressions, body language and his constant eating, the audience can depict his character and its development as the story progress. The way he grumbles, or burps or even the way he splashes his feet on the water, the audience can view his reactions toward the situation. Perhaps, he does not think much, but he just depends on the decision of the people around him and his own personal interests (food and money). An example of that is the fact that he is not really into managing restaurants yet he accepted Jacko’s offer to him because he likes food and that might only be the way for Jacko to pay his debts. He even gave a budget for the restaurant’s renovation. Then, at the near end of the film, he just accepted to trade the restaurant for candidacy, when in fact his character never seems to be inclined in politics. Thus, he was more likely influenced by the decisions of his advisers. His mind is child-like which is contrast to his appearance is also another element that makes his character amusing. 

Another comical character is Oscar portrayed by Dwight Gaston, is Boss Dolpo’s ‘spokesperson’. His humorous acting and combining it with his perfect timing in delivering his lines are the reasons why he can be considered as a lovable ‘villain’. The audience can also see the he is ever faithful to Dolpo, to think he can easily scheme to betray his child-like boss. But perhaps, his illogical fidelity to him blends well in the overall lightness and wittiness of the film. To sum up the characters of these two seemingly villains, is to point out how they deviated from the stereotypical villains that are usually present in stories. They are ought to act to be the typical antagonists in the story which are evident in trivial parts, like taking away the restaurant of Jacko and ignoring Jacko’s suggestions and pleas. But the quite deviating part is, in this film, they are even the ones who brought the two main characters/lovers together. Also, they do not even plot any act against the main characters, they just acted upon their own personal inclinations. Hence, making the film, although it is a romance-comedy flick, not entirely full of clichés or stereotypes.

Other minor characters showed in the vignettes of the film, became symbols of how food does not only satiate our hunger but its other connections to people’s lives. It shows other uses of food which at some point is quite strange, like a siopao as a love potion.The most notable of the snippets, is the child who is too attached with his pets and his father played by another remarkable actor, Ronnie Lazaro. Both of these characters acted impressively, even the little boy. Their acting was dramatic and so as the scene because the father needs to cook in order for their family, especially his sick daughter, to eat. But the ironic part is, the audience finds the scene hilarious. Conceivably, it is because of the flow and the wittiness of how it was directed and written. Another vignette shows the characters of a baker who knead the dough by squeezing it in between his hairy and sweaty armpits to create siopaos as aphrodisiacs for the horny wife of the security guard. The acting of the siopao maker is hilarious but well-portrayed although it was just a cameo role. Other characters in other scenes such as the café manager who discovered why his Bacolod branch consumes the most sugar than other branches in the Philippines, the dialysis patents who is dying to eat his favorite Napleones in the hospital and the father who teaches his kids the proper and systematic way of eating Chicken Inasal, do not only add up on the humor of the film but also shows the culture and delicacies of Negros. Hence, crafting the film not only to be caricatured as romance comedy film, but also catering to introduction of the uniqueness and richness Negrense cuisine and culture to a wider audience.

However, apart from this wittiness, the film also shows mundane minor characters such as the father of Cassie who always supports her daughter in all her endeavors, the mother and auntie of Jacko who serve as his guidance and advisers of and the relatives of Jacko who always doubt Jacko’s capabilities due to his fickleness and immaturity. All of them conform on the typical yet believable characters that often show in almost all films. Nevertheless, their uses might function as balance the lightness of the film, because if these characters will also be complex then the flow of the film might be affected and it will not end up the way the movie ended.

Enjoy watching the movie and prepare to be hungry!\
*Photo Credits: Click the pictures!

Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind

I just watched this 2004 movie last night. I heard both nice and negative reviews about it and so I got curious to watch it. Anyway, let me just give you few information about it just for a sort-of-brief-introduction. It was directed by Michel Gondry and was written by Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry himself too.

(I like this scene for some reasons, lying on a snow! Yes!)

It is a science-fiction, romantic, non-linear narrative and a surrealistic film. Quite impressive mixture of genres, but I think they could have added more on its narrative since it is quite unsatisfying at the end. I dunno if I am right okay, and I just find the sub-narrative a little bit unsubtle addition to the main narrative. Yeah, the story of the doctor and Kirsten Dunst aka Mary. Their story is slightly ineffective for me and a quite deus ex machine-ish tool just so for the main characters to meet and know their history at the end of the film.

Jim Carey aka Joel and Kate Winslet aka Clementine look so gorgeous here and I love the setting here! Also, I think Clementine is a good name for her character, although it is a contradiction to her personality.

Comedic Kate Winslet showing off her crotch. But I do not actually like this scene especially when Jim Carey transformed into a midget. Owwwkay -_-

The nerve at this scene. Hahaha I kid. It's just that, I cannot even. . . Why Michel Gondry, why?

However, this scene is cute. Kirsten Dunst forever hots. Hohoho.

What is it about forgetting? There comes a point in our lives when we just want to forget everything to take away all the pain. But that is only cowardice, that is escaping. Accepting torment and reality is never easy, but that is better than removing a part of what we have been. Memories are sometimes excruciating, but by those abstractions, we feel we are whole as an individual. Experiencing pain is just a phase, it shall pass. And after that, we will be much stronger. - My so-called insights after watching the film.

Anyway, let me just cite wonderful quotes from this movie.

Mary: Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders. (It's by Nietzche, my favorite existential philosopher.)
Mary: How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd. (Alexander Pope)

Fucking Åmål

This is a 1998 Swedish Film directed and written by Lukas Moodyson. It was supposedly entitled Show Me Love, but I guess the title is of no appeal and so settled for Fucking Åmål. Indeed, it is teenage film set in the 1990's which I really think is the best decade ever.

She portrayed the character of Elin, a hot fourteen year old girl who eventually fell in love with a lesbian. She had a bad reputation because she seemed to be the girl whom everyone dated or necked. She easily get bored on things and you can see how she really wanted to run away from Åmål, because that place fucks her life. Well, I think that is typical for provincial liberated girls. But, I like her character because she is kind of feminist that she fights for her rights and never did she allow guys to objectify her. She tried at first to control her feeling for Agnes, but at the end, of course, she confessed her love and broke away from the norms because that what makes her happy.

This is Rebecka Liljeberg as Agnes, a sixteen year old lesbian who is characterizes as a strange and rebellious high school kid. I think her character is disturbing yet pitiful. Maybe that is because she is in her teenage years that time, which is considered as the critical years in a person's life, which explains the sort of madness and irrationality she possess. Disrespecting her parents, cutting herself, being rude to her friends and feeling isolated all the time are, I think, her major issues as seen in the film due to her self-frustrations. But anyway, at least, at the end, she finally had the one she really loves. By the way also, I believe she is pretty too! Don't you think so?

Favorite Scenes:

They decided to hitchhike to go to Stockholm and inside the car, they kissed. While the background music is, I Want To Know What Love Is.

After Elin opened the door inside the restroom and announced to everyone that Agnes is her new girlfriend.

I really think the movie is fantastic all in all. Comic yet serious. Cute yet awesome. Realistic yet one of the contemporary fairy tales.

They are gorgeous!

Mulan

If there’s one Disney princess that I wish to be, that would be Mulan and I even consider her as my alter ego. Hellsyeah and I think the picture below is one of the loveliest picture of her.

Reasons:

1.      - I am always thinking of being a guy because I do not think that I am that fitted to be a girl.

2.     -  I seriously wanted to be a soldier also ever since, but my parents will never allow me, for sure. Perhaps because I want to engage in wars and I like military trainings. Although most people always think I am frail, duh. They have never seen me in field.

3.    -   I dream of running away from home and then become someone my parents would be proud of. And I think that is one hell of an adventure.

      - From all the Disney princesses, I think she is the one of the most simple looking, but she won someone’s heart because she is brave and smart. I also want to be able to do that, to have someone who would not care if I look non-significant, but who will love me because I am audacious and quite intelligent. Hahaha.

5.     - Like her, I always want to prove to those people who look down on me that I am actually better than what they think of me.

6.     - I like proving someone wrong. Hahaha.

     -She knows who she is and what she wants.

7.     - I am actually hard-headed because I often follow what I think is right and ignore what others would say.

And I like how this Disney movie does not talk about moral issues, but of the cultural aesthetics, beliefs and traditions. Not that I am against morality, but because I believe discussing about that is too much of a cliché. I also want to take note that its main focus is the Chinese, which maybe represents the Eastern Ideology, which I really love. Yeah, even it is too abstract and quite incomprehensible compare to the rationality of the West.

It is just sad, I have not yet seen its sequel.

Total Eclipse and Arthur Rimbaud

Yes, another fangirling thing. But you will not imagine how obsess I am about Arthur Rimbaud. He is definitely the hottest poet that has ever lived. Hohoho. And for me, probably one of the most genius and fascinating because at the young age, he already established himself as a known poet. *Will blog more about him after I finish reading a book about him.

Move away Holden Caulfield, I found my new love. But he's dead again, long time ago. Lulz. My gahd why am I too fascinated with dead people and lifeless fictional character? But no, I'm not necrophiliac, okay? lulz.

Anyway, we watched a while a go The Tin Drum (Directed By Volker Schlöndorff and won a Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival) and Total eclipse (Directed by Agnieszka Holland in 1995 which is based on a 1967 play written by Christopher Hampton). Both are very nice films. The Tin Drum, original story by a Nobel Laureate, Gunter Grass, was in a magic realist mode but very different with Marquez' magic realism. I don't personally like it so I'm too lazy to discuss it (Maybe soon). But I must say that, The Tin Drum is a disturbing Film, but of course Blindness, originally written by Saramago, another Nobel Lureate is more disturbing. Hohoho.

However, Total eclipse is wonderful for me. Not only because DiCaprio is astonishingly handsome there, but i really like the idea of someone having the freedom to explore the world by himself. He reminds me of Holden Caulfield, because of destroying norms and doing what he wants without acknowledging what the society dictates, but the difference is. Arthur Rimbaud is real and he's character is charming. Although i'm quite sad because he is not that recognized today. He should have written more poems and literary pieces back then. *sighs

I've read in an article that Victor Hugo even called him an Infant Shakespeare, perhaps because he was only sixteen when he started composing impressive poems. But for me, he should not be compared with anyone. He's too unique! He's too awesome. I have read on a book about him, Complete Works of Arthur Rimbaud, that he was really a child genius even when he was still studying although, he was evidently rebellious even in the age of 10. Maybe I'll blog more about that soon. Hohoho, bastardic brilliance.

I think the film not only emphasize how genius he is but also his homosexual love affair with another poet, Paul Verlaine. I was scandalize when they first kissed. Imagine DiCaprio in his youth kissing an ugly guy. Hohoho. My gahd. And during that scene, maybe my reaction was too puzzled that my prof asked me if who was I expecting DiCaprio to kissed? I could have said, "me" but I prefer shutting my mouth. And I was more perplexed when they were appearing naked and all that and doing their thing. Whew. Eversince I entered the Literature Program, I have been seeing explicit sex scenes, violence and a lot of oddities. But that is a good thing, since I am being more aware of the real world.

One of the most memorable lines for me:

Rimbaud: Love..

Verlaine: yes..

Rimbaud: ..no such thing.

Verlaine: What do you mean?

Rimbaud: Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together, that's not love. That's stupidity or selfishness or fear. Love doesn't exist.

Verlaine: You're wrong..

Rimbaud: Self interest exists, attachment based on personal gain exists, complaisancy exists. But not love. Love has to be reinvented.

I quite remember zen perspective on love here. And i like this concept so much because you see, love is often mistaken by people's need to be attached and to posses, which is quite sad. We desired love, because of course, no matter how we not admit it, we also wanted to be loved back. Yes, that is natural, but that is not really the essence of love. We love because we love, no reasons required. It is a spontaneous feeling that enables our heart to soar or to fall.

And this line also,

Rimbaud:The only unbearable thing is that nothing is unbearable.

You can see the paradox in this statement, which I believe is right. If someone would say that pain is unbearable, but in the end he could withstand it without being dead, then that will fall in the category of bearable things. Don't you think? I mean, we can bear anything as long as we are still alive after. The only means that it would be unbearable is if we die after that 'thing' happened.

Rimbaud: You're here living like this because you have to. Drunk and sex and the kind of complaisant melonchonly and enough money to soak your self oblivious every night. But me, I'm here because I chose to be.

Again, the need over your freedom. People often decided to be attached with someone because they need them for their own self-interests. But a sincere lover disregard everything and just chose to love or be with someone he loves.

Rimbaud: I found it.

Verlaine: ..What?

Rimbaud: ...Eternity. Where the sun mingled with the sea.

I love the imagery here. But the most beautiful line, well, for me, is this,

Rimbaud: I understood that what I needed to become the first poet of this century is to experience everything in my body. It's no longer enough for me to be one person, I decided to be everyone. i decided to be a genius. I decided to originate the future.

All i can say after DiCaprio said that line was, wow.

Yes, such a rare kind of genius of his time.

The Social Network and Andrew Garfield

Hahaha. Pardon for the fangirling stuff again. This America-British actor is hot, don't you think? Hohoho. My new boy crush, Andrew Russel Garfield, who portrayed Eduardo Saverin in The Social Netwrok. And hellsyeah, he is the new Peter Parker in Marc Webb’s 2012 SpiderMan Reboot. Wowza. Wooohoooo. See, the world cannot end in 2012.

I have watched The Social Network last Thursday, and yes it was awesome. The director is David Fincher who happened to be the director of Fight Club too. According to my so-called-really-movie-expert friend, that director is 'experimental' when it comes to the camera angles and techniques (But of course he's in Hollywood, very much capable of doing stuffs because of the large budget for films). And since I am no proficient in movie making, because I am more focused into its narratives, I quite appreciated that friend for explaining stuffs to me like that. So anyway, kudos to Fincher.

Hello, Mr. David Fincher.

The narrative is fine and quite predictable, but this is one of those movie which is great and popular because of its director and the phenomenon of facebook. Well, that is based on my opinion and you are free not to believe. Hahaha. Oh well, so much for I really wanted to show in this blog my favorite scenes, but I still cannot find them in Google. Pardon.

Basically a no one to a somebody story. From being an ordinary school boy in Harvard, who happened to broke up with the girl he is currently dating and his pursuit for his project to be successful. And along his quest he tagged along his bestfriend, yes it Eduardo Saverin, and met a few obstacles on their way. The last part is nice, really. It's simple but meaningful at the same time, don't you think? Hahaha. Anyway, after the movie, I can't help but to wonder about these things:

1. Why didn't the director showed how Mark and Eduardo reconciled? Hahaha. I just wanted to see Andrew Garfield at the end, that's why.

2. What happened to him and the girl?

3. What could be the girl's reaction after seeing this movie?

Hmmmm :D
*All photos from Google.