Wild about Into the Wild

I must admit I don't watch a lot of movies.I 'm from the old school, more of a reader than a moviegoer. But this is one title I made a point of watching and featuring in this corner. I thought the movie was gut-wrenching and illuminating, a celebration of life more than a tale of tragedy. Chris Mccandless may appear young, reckless and misguided but IMHO, underneath the veneer of youthful imprudence lies a wounded soul turning to nature to somehow heal this woundedness. 

Inspite of the creative license scenes (like the realization that he maybe eating poisonous wild potatoes) and the NatGeo-worthy 360 degree shots, I highly recommend the movie to everyone, and most especially, nature lovers. I find a lot of myself in Chris and while I wished he exercised a bit more caution, I really admire his guts and his commitment to his dream (and as Sidney pointed out, to follow his dream to the end). Now, I've got to look for the book by Jon Krakauer.

Lost in the Wild

"No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild"  from into the wild, the story of how Christopher Mccandless lost his way in the wilds. 

Oversleeping on a Sunday morning, I stumbled upon a story that both fascinates and intrigues my imagination. Was Chris foolhardy or wise, full of hubris or enviable guts? We will never really know. So you be the judge. I find some of his epiphanies parallel mine though I'm not about to launch into a solo trip to the bush anytime soon. Now, if only I can find a DVD of the movie by Sean Penn or better yet, a copy of the book by Jon Krakauer. Read the article in Outside Magazine

Apocalyptic

"I saw a hole in the man.
Deep like a hunger that he will never fill.
It is what makes him sad and will make him want.
He will go on taking and taking.
Until one day the world will say:
I am no more and have nothing left to give." 

Apocalypto, 2006, dir. by Mel Gibson 

I seldom blog about movies here but I feel that Apocalypto bears more than a passing mention. No matter which side of the religious fence one is in, the movie raises environmental and world consciousness -- a considerable achievement at an age when most movies are mere escapist fares peopled by dreamed-of characters running on woeful themes.

Diario de Motocicleta

On sick leave and with nothing much to do but eat and rest, caught this on DVD.  Subtitled "The Motorcycle Diaries," the movie tells the story of the young Che Guevarra as he embarks on a life-changing cross-Latin America trip with his best friend, Alberto Granado, before he goes off and finish medical school.  Seeing the world out there where injustice is a given and prejudice is a thing one has to live with, he returns to Argentina a changed man. What started as a sight-seeing trip begat one of the most famous revolutionaries. As the blurb says, let the world change you and you can change the world. if it weren't true, this would sound trite but it simply is true.  Oftentimes, we're locked in the comforts and sights of the big city that we fail to see what's out there.

Phantom no menace

Joel Schumacher (of my all-time fave, "The Lost Boys") brings to the big screen Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic "Phantom of the Opera." in a word - breathtaking. 

Gerard Butler sings with great passion, though not just enough for the more mature portion of the audience to forget Michael Crawford. Emmy Rossum is enchanting and believable, a great find. Never figured Patrick Wilson (whom I've last seen in "Angels in America") as Raoul can sing well. Even just for the "Masquerade" segment (great costumes, excellent sets, hanep choreography), this is a worthwhile 2 hours. The movie's a great way to reach the younger audiences with the immortal songs of Webber, most of which will keep you singing along even way past midnight.

Movies: Sideways • Being Julia

Sideways - Two friends, one divorced, another about to get married. One reeling from a divorce that seemed to have hapened only yesterday, another wanting to get laid before committing himself. Both afraid to embark on a new journey, one of leaving the past behind, the other of making a mistake that will impact his future. More bittersweet than terribly funny, in the tradition of "About Schmidt".  Very interesting movie even if you can't tell a Pinot from a Merlot. Go figure. 

Being Julia - Annette Benning is again in the running for an Oscar and deservedly so. Wicked performance. Question is:when you act for a living, when and where does the acting stop and living your true self begin?

Film shorts - Shall We Dance, Mr. 3000, In Good Company

SHALL WE DANCE - As Richard Gere says, it takes two to dance. And this charming movie romances audiences with a charming storyline (picked up from a Japanese original). Gere once again fascinates, JLo takes a passionate turn. The movie's not just about dancing but how and why we search for something else to break the humdrum of everyday living, about daring to make a change, and about not taking people for granted. 

MR. 3000 - Ernie Mac movies are always funny and this isn't any exception. Nice moral about not getting fixated on numbers and most of all, on our own, individual achievements. 

IN GOOD COMPANY - In a time of mergers and downsizing, this is a nice, fresh perspective about waking up and finding that your boss is half your age. It's also about more than getting ahead, but rather, about getting a life. Hey, we all can learn from this.

Movies: Phoenix Rising • Filipino bashing?

FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX - Good fare for almost 2 hours.  Miranda Otto is her usual strong but attractive self. Dennis Quaid, the middle-aged journey-man kind of pilot. It's a nice adventure that reminds us how a seemingly harmless grain of sand can wreak the cruelest havoc (imagine drowning, not in water, but in sand). Bottomline: hope can rise in the midst of hopelessness like the phoenix rose from the ashes.

AFTER THE SUNSET - Is it just me or do i keep running into Hollywood movies that seemingly bash Pinoys?  In a week's time, came across Bill Murray's "The Aquatic Life" that portrays Filipinos as pirates. now, in this Pierce Brosnan-Salma Hayek's starrer, Brosnan jokingly introduces himself to new acquaintances as an owner of sweatshops in the Philippines. Hmmm, While it's nice to be recognized as part of the human race, this is certainly not a flattering way.

Oftentimes, the North American media (especially the entertainment media) seems to stereotype the world outside the U.S. whereas before, some Caucasians have the impression we still live on trees, now, if Hollywood films are to be believed, we're either a bunch of hijackers of the high seas or third-world slaves. One can either get flat out flabbergasted or find this rubbish wickedly funny. oh well...

P.S.  The Oscar jury left out Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and expectedly so. While it's dissapointing, let's face it, Hollywood was never comfortable with religion, especially, if it doesn't villify a certain sect. Or if its movies don't blaspheme. But the movie achieved what it was supposed to do in the first place, anyway, and that is, change people's lives the way no pretentious Hollywood glitzy movie did. So there.

Movies - Move closer

I ain't a big fan of Mike nichols but I admit, the main attraction of watching his film "Closer" is Natalie Portman. Totally out-of-character role here and she deserves the Oscar nomination (win?) for this one. It's as far removed from Queen/Senator Amidala as Tattoine is so many parsec away from the seat of the Republic in Star Wars. Bottomline: avoid playing mindgames with people, else, you get outplayed. Go figure. Watch closer.

Movies: Aqua

Wes Anderson's "The Aquatic Life with Steve Sissou" is as quirky as his "Royal Tennenbaums" (hope got the spellings right). Deadpan comedy all throughout. Did I enjoy it? Parts of it, yes. But I'm grappling with the deadpan supposed to be funny parts. Anyway, the movie also featured Filipinos as pirates who hijack Sissou's ship and kidnap a crewmember. Either you'll find that funny or downright appalling. You can afford to miss this one.

Movies: Eccentric Howard

Caught the life story of eccentric millionaire (billionaire?) Howard Hughes in the Scorcese film, "Aviator". And while it's mighty interesting, found De Caprio's performance totally un-worthy of all the Oscar hype.  It seems to me that he's yet to outgrow his pretty boy image, which is apparent in his mannerisms and the squeaky voice. I don't know how on earth he's even considered for an Oscar but I don't think he came close to Jamie Foxx's performance in "Ray." But back to the movie, the bottomline is, to each his own quirk. We all have our own personal demons, and oftentimes, no amount of money can make them go away.

Movies: Raving about Ray

Watched two movies recently, one's just ok, the other one's just great. 

RAY - Normally, I don't really pay much attention to what the critics or Oscar pundits say but this movie about the life, music and times of the late, great Ray Charles, really impresses. Didn't realize the depth of Ray Charles' talent as well as his long struggle about deep-seated guilt (his brother's death) and heavy heroin addiction until I saw the movie. The soundtrack is equally great with great originals (staples like "I Can't Stop Loving You") as well as covers (familiar hits like "Hit the Road Jack", "You Don't Know Me" and "Georgia On My Mind"). Jamie Foxx completely transformed into Ray Charles into this movie. Absolutely astounding. Whether he wins the Oscar or not, he's a winner in my book. director Taylor Hackford ("An Officer and a Gentleman", "Against All Odds") delivers another great film. BTW, Foxx also impresses with his singing. Check it out. 

NATIONAL TREASURE - Taut thriller though conspiracy theory movies aren't necessarily breaking new grounds.

Movies: Paz Vega Lost in Translation

My apologies, couldn't resist the pun in going the opposite direction of Bill Murray's movie "Lost in Translation." but Paz Vega (the star of Almodovar's masterpiece "Talk to Her" and the wild "Sex and Lucia") is such a lovely presence in the James Brooks movie "Spanglish". The story is all about the great length one's mother will go through for a child, even hurdling a seemingly insurmountable language barrier, hence the title "Spanglish."

The movie's a bit on the long side, over 2 hours, but it's got things going for it. The obvious is Vega Paz (to quote Adam Sandler "you're so drop-dead gorgeous.."). Then, there's the understated acting of Adam Sandler (always believed he can do drama anyway; besides, he was great in "50 First Dates" and I'm not even a fan), it would have been a boring 2 hours. Add the sketches of the quirks most of our moms have anyway and you'd walk away feeling that James Brooks really have a penchant for capturing the essence of real people and real life in his movies (watch his other gems, "Riding in Cars with Boys," "As Good as it Gets," and "Jerry Maguire.") and like in real life, some things like promising relationships, don't always pan out. Nice, feel-good dramedy with a few comic turns sprinkled on it.

Quote of the day:

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (thanks to Centerpointe.com's "Mind Chatter")

Really scary movie

Caught "Exorcist: The Beginning" on DVD last night. And while it didn't scare as much as I remembered the original Exorcist movie did in my childhood, the bottomline still sends chills. The really scary part is being reminded once again that the devil is the great liar. And while in the movie, it becomes clear-cut when the devil is in possession of the physical body, in real life it isn't really so. Rather, evil has a beautiful face, beguiling and tempting us especially in our weakest moments and proving us weak in our strongest moments. It is very evident today as in most of history -- when corruption becomes the norm, perversion becomes quite ordinary, unkindness is pretty standard. Face it, evil lurks not in the shadows but out there.

Most of all, I guess what the movie is all about is that Fr. Merrin, for all his frailties, can put the past behind and put God forward. And so can we. Amen to that.

At a loss

Ain't a superstitious person but then again, it's the third time I lost things in a week's time. First, it was my glasses (so hard not to get a headache when I drive), then my coin purse. Last sat, dropped my Globe celfone in a cab (cabbie wasn't honest enough to even answer the fone when I called 3 times; after that, the fool just turned it off; well, he's gonna get his karma anyway). It's a lot of inconvenience but then again, I just hope something better's around the corner so I can recoup my losses. It made me think of dishonest people who never develop the habit of returning things that aren't theirs. Tsk, tsk.

Mishaps sometimes also follow you even if you're not looking for it. My car's got bumped by a trooper in Greenbelt steel carpark in the Christmas-new year's day interim. Lucky for me, the security staff was alert. In short order, the owner of the trooper paid for the repairs, never mind the hassle of driving to and from the talyer. Well, you win some, lose some. 

AT A LOSS FOR SOMETHING SENSIBLE TO WATCH - Stayed for the most part of yesterday and the afternoon shows on free TV are just awful. I guess part of the reason why our country's in such a sorry state is that dearth of quality programming where you can pick up something new and useful. the japan series of mini-documentaries on RPN-9 are so much more interesting even if you've watched them over and over again. 

AT A LOSS FOR REALLY SCARY MOVIES - "The Forgotten" starring Julianne Moore and Gary Sinise seems interesting but turns out to be quite forgettable. An "aliens conspiracy theory", it unravels midway and for all her acting chops, Julianne Moore can't quite save the weak storyline. If "The Forgotten" is forgettable, I don't know how to describe "The Grudge". For all the hype, this one falls really flat on the face. The "scary eyes & hairstyle" look spawned by the equally overhyped "The Ring" is getting tired and tiresome. Ditto with vampire movies like "Dracula 3000", somebody should really make a big stake and drive it into the heart of the soul-less scripts.

Movies: Johnny's depth & other DVD tales

How fast time flies when you're trying to catch up on commitments and rest. Wasn't it only days ago when, looking forward to some R & R, I along with the rest of the working humanity eagerly awaited vacation time. You can really spend a lot of time accumulating junk that it takes more vacation days than you have on hand to clear the garbage in one swoop. But I do appreciate the time off to attend to carpentry and other jobs -- like proving that my carpentry skills aren't that rusty (assembled the hefty a/v rack in 3 hours, hehehe, still got the touch after all).

FINDING NEVERLAND - Anyway, caught this on DVD last night and I must say the story behind the conception of Peter Pan and Neverland is as magical as the tale itself. I certainly relate to the idea of sometimes wishing to stay a boy forever and never grow old. But it's certainly true that while people and things eventually go away, they can live forever in one's imagination, if one only believes. I read somewhere that the movie's in the running for an Oscar and deservedly so. It's pretty hard not to be moved by this great movie. I won't delve further into the details but Johnny once again gives a deep and moving performance as sir James Barrie with excellent acting by Kate Winslet and the child performers as well. Do catch it when it gets shown -- it's that good.

CELLULAR - Taut, action-packed with sprinkles of comic relief thrown in by William Macy. Great entertainment and interesting thoughts on the impact of cellular communications in the extras.

THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR - What happens when you open the door in the floor even when your mama told you not to? But you're just a boy, so it's just natural to be curious, right?

LITTLE BLACK BOOK - Brittany Murphy is in the same bubbly mode as Reese Witherspoon. She's funny and dramatic in this movie. The moral is: don't succumb to the temptation of peeking into someone's blackbook. Period.

GARDEN STATE - The immediate attraction is watching Natalie Portman in a role other than Queen (and later senator) Amidala. a feel-good movie about living, loving and letting go, especially of delusions and depressive thoughts.

Happy new year to everyone. Hope and pray this is another blessed one!

Movies: Suriving Ben Affleck, Wimbledon's no wimp

SURVIVING CHRISTMAS - Been watching my fair share of DVD movies. Last night, went thru an hour and a half of harrowing comedy with "Surviving Christmas" starring Ben Affleck. He has this really wooden expression (the kind that fits the title role in "Daredevil") that's not really fun to watch.C onsidering this is a comedy, it was really a stretch. The storyline is at best, absurd (about a millionaire ad agency owner who decides to rent out the family who lives in the house where he grew up for the holidays and ended up falling in love with the daughter).

Like Keanu Reeves (hoped I got the spelling right) in "Sweet November," this supposed-to-be-ad agency creative is one heck of a wooden character who wouldn't even be considered for a junior position in any respected ad agency. Funny how movies portray creative presentations, as if clients are stupid enough to accept these uncreative creatives. Heck, I wouldn't plunk a single dollar on that eggnog creatives ben was proposing at the beginning of the movie. But I digress.

WIMBLEDON - Kirsten Dunst is always fun to watch. It's kinda a stretch to make believe she can be a serious tennis player but hey, the story's good. In the tradition of Working Title films as well as English (read: british) comedy movies, this one has a strange but appealing sense of humor to it. What I liked best about the movie is that it didn't trivialize the athlete as a person. It was so real in portraying the journeyman athlete as a person struggling with emotions and physical pain, love of the game and hopelessness for life after a sports career. Too often, we tend to dismiss athletes as mere game players. But in reality, it's much more than that. Paul Bethany, while not the drop-dead-gorgeous kind of lead, is funny in the hugh grant tradition. It's really nice to watch movies apart from the usual Hollywood drivel.

Movies: Of winners, a Manchurian and Da King

Yup, the holiday whirl is now in full swing. It's the time to get in touch with friends and relations whom we didn't get in touch for the whole year. And even with not much sleep, it's like tradition to squeeze as many lunches, dinners or what-have-you's into an already crammed sked. Heck, I'm not spared from this. But this can take a toll on anyone -- like last night. Was forced to just go home and rest, missing out on the Gold's Gym party. Just seeing the crowd milling in Landmark is enough to make me want to just lie down and doze off. Grabe. Buying an item or two isn't worth it considering the long lines. But I guess that's the holiday season for you.

Our office party went rather well considering that almost everything was planned only one day before. The bonus was a nice enough bit of news. That I won the grand cash prize is another added bonus. Plus one of the big prizes in the minor raffle. Wow! I feel so blessed, many times over. It's just so interesting to note that everytime I give something to someone in need, the next day or two, I'll receive something in return. It happened so many times already in the past month, it's just so obvious to be coincidental. I'm mighty thankful Lord, please allow me to be a good steward of all these graces.

MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE - Caught up on my DVD viewing and this is a superb movie that kept my narcoleptic mind from blinking last night. It's an excellent take on a conspiracy theory -- a power-hungry cartel bent on putting a sleeper in the Whitehouse. Jonathan Demme delivers. As did Denzel, Meryl Streep and the other lead whose name escapes me at this moment.

DA KING - dunno or don't care which side of the political fence you may choose to belong to but if you'd ask me, i would say that the best thing we can do about FPJ is to pray for the repose of his soul. It's hard to fathom why people keep dragging his death into the political fray. I read yesterday that some people are even requesting the authorities to consider letting his remain be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. That's too much. the man stands for onscreen heroism which hardly reflected his real persona -- a perennial drunk with not much interest in public service outside of the movie industry. Please don't trample on the sacrifices made by our real heroes who sacrificed even their own lives so we can enjoy whatever freedom we can now. Da King isn't a god. He's not even a role model. Let's not pretend he is somewhat he is not. But he is another soul who can benefit from our prayers.

Catching up

Had a quite restful weekend though played catch up with a lot of things. Like played my first game of badminton in 2 weeks. Got started with wrapping my Christmas presents. Caught up with my reading and DVD watching.

COLLATERAL - Touted as the first film megged entirely in DV, this is an interesting albeit violent movie. Jamie Foxx is the oftentime comedic cabbie hired for the night by an unlikely hitman played by Cruise. As I said earlier, the movie is interesting, often dark and splotched with a lot of bloody segments. Bottomline: you'd never know when serendipity strikes; nothing's coincidental nor accidental - we're put in situations with a bigger purpose than we may know. Go figure.

SCARY MOVIE 3 - Being a DVD nut, I missed this in the cinemas and intended to catch it on video. The parody continues, with a mishmash of "The Ring", "Signs" and even "Matrix". I even suspected a bit of "Gothika" thrown in. Just for laughs, this one delivers though I find the Mother Teresa segment in bad taste.

COELHO'S THE PILGRIMAGE - The book that jumpstarted Paolo Coelho's writing career, it is interesting and enlightening as Coelho's novels go. The narrative resonates with emotions, inner struggles, humility, anger, and so many of the human feelings we all have to deal with. The bottomline is as simple as it gets: the pursuit of our dreams is not the end all; it is in knowing what to do with them that is far more important. Next read: The Valkyries.

Movies: Finding home, a robot 4 ur thoughts

After 4 consecutive days of overnight/overtime work, I was bound to really sort of oversleep and oversleep I did on Sat, missing out our much-awaited Laguna looping trip. Sat found me not wanting to really leave the house at all save to eat meals at the neighborhood grillery and the nearby KFC. Caught up with my movie watching list and here goes...

A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD - The blurb talks about finding home where you want it to be. The story is about the quirky relationship/love triangle between two best friends, one gay and one straight but strange, and a flower-power sort of a woman. She's secretly in love with the gay one, the gay one seems to be stuck on the straight guy, but she eventually have a child with the bisexual guy. But things are far from resolved since there are a lot of deep-seated emotional issues waiting to be uncovered and resolved. The end is bittersweet as woman and child go home to Philadelphia (maybe never to come back), the gay guy wishing his ashes be spread in this same solitary place they're settled in (story hinted he maybe sick with AIDS). Sissy Spacek plays the understanding mom here while Robin Penn-Wright is at home playing her sobering, mellowing character.

I-ROBOT - Finally watched this after getting a DVD that plays on my player. The premise is familiar territory as this has been played up in a lot of movies already (though Asimov predates their storylines I guess). Scary when robots begin to exhibit emotions and start acting like humans. Like in Spielberg's AI. You can start feeling real emotions for them. Nice graphics and effects although a lot looks obvious CG's.