vday

yesterday was the day of the hearts.  it was the day when lovers eat at a decent restaurant, at the very least. it was the day when men spent so much for flowers and chocolates, and when women, most of them, were expecting for those. it was the day when i was inside the movie house, watching the pink panther,  alone. i love that day.

first in 09

i’m currently at work, doing nothing. i am looking forward to going home. i have been sitting in front of the pc for 13 hours, 4 hours pre-shift overtime included. i don’t feel like going to church today. i wonder if nelmar has already arrived from bacolod. speaking (or writing) of bacolod, i realized, just now, that i haven’t been home for a couple of years. i kind of miss the city already. i am actually planning of going there next month. but i am not that sure about that yet.

geez, this is my first entry this year, and i have nothing but inconsistencies (which i secretly love about myself).

wild is the wind

Especially when the wind sings as purely and soulful as you do, miss simone. my heart aches everytime I hear you sing. You just know how to do it. (But I also love the version featured in the trailer of Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road. Can’t wait to see it on the big screen, and be carried away.)

the movies

i can’t wait to see the reader and revolutionary road. i felt exactly the same last year for no country and there will be blood.

:)

only because john mayer’s vultures is playing. only because i had read leopard in the new yorker yesterday. only because i had arroz caldo with a friend last night. only because i’m in love.

I Am Not There.

me la pasé bien.  adiós.

I See Beautiful Things

1. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron)

Sounds real. Looks real. Feels real. I remember laughing a lot while watching this. Then I’d stopped because it’s not funny anymore. This film can ‘play’ me in any way it wants to. I’m its slave.

2. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese)

   De Niro drives me nuts. I understand Travis. I can also smell the filth of the city.

3. Capote (Bennett Miller)

Didn’t show how great a writer Capote was but showed how writing, and the subject he was writing about, greatly affected him as a person. “I don’t lie”, says Capote- who, by the way, was superbly played by Philip Seymour Hoffman- to his bestfriend Harper Lee, while they were driving in a car. Then he looked away.

4. In The Bedroom (Todd Field)

 The screenplay is just wonderful. The film’s title makes sense. And, of course, the acting- it’s perfection.

5. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola)

The horror indeed. Never boring (at least for me).

6. Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu)

Great story. If you want to understand, listen. The score is great, too. And there’s acting. Huge.

7. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik)

Everyone in this film knows how to act. To really act. That sometimes I forgot that they were just acting, and actually thought that they weren’t. I can ‘feel’ them all. Brad Pitt’s performance in here, though I still hate him, was arresting. Beautifully photographed. The score got me involved.

8. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)

It’s an Anderson film. I love Anderson. The man can write. Daniel Day Lewis will eat you alive. The man has talent. The movie won Best Cinematography, and it deserves it. The score was sick. The title warns us.

9. No Country For Old Men (The Coen Brothers)

I’ve read the novel so I know how tight the adaptation was. The editing was also tight. Beautifully photographed as well. It’s ‘technically’ perfect. And oh, that ending!

10. Crash (Paul Haggis)

 I was having a hard time breathing when I was watching this with Angus (a friend). The writing and editing were done wonderfully. It got me right away with its first scene.

It’s quite hard to rank these beautiful films. Much harder is the choosing of what to include in the list. I’ve seen so many great films in my life, and all of the said films have something in them that stand out among the rest. If I think about it though, it’s not really necessary to come up with ‘my top ten’- something. It is, as a matter of fact, and as I’ve realized, causing me a lot of trouble. But can’t help it.

I Hate That I Love It, But, Yeah, I Fuckin’ Love It

I’m sort of depressed right now. If not for that Y Tu Mama Tambien ( And Your Mother, Too) I wouldn’t feel this messy. It just left me the feeling I don’t want to feel, and that, though I’ve felt numerous times already, is still rather unfamiliar to me. I consider it a sexy film, but it wasn’t the sexiness that got me. And I don’t fucking know what it is exactly. I would probably feel this if I broke up with someone, provided I’m in a relationship, I really love, but who also is the source of the pain I feel, just to make that person feel that I can live without her (or, okay, him), or to prove to myself that I can. Deep inside though I know that the pain will still be there. It might even get worse. So there. That’s how I feel after watching the film. And fuck, it ended that way. And fuck again, that music played when the movie ended, that’s another thing. This is torture Cuaron. You’re torturing me.

Who Are We, In Sicko, He Asked.

In a U.S. Naval Station in Cuba, where some of the terrorists are being detained, enemy combatants have accessed to top notched medical facilities whenever they need it. And the American people, quite a few of them, in America itself, worry a lot about their health problems. They worry much not of the health issues they have or they are encountering but of how they can afford the medication/s for it. Even those who have health insurance worry about this since having one does not guarantee ‘full’ assurance.” Such a shame. We (even here in the Philippines) through global news get to witness Bush announcing that a number of terrorists, who were part of the 9/11 incident, were already held captive as if it’s the greatest news in the world (since he announced it with pride). Then we realized that, by watching Sicko, those who volunteered during that horrifying day and the days that came after- those who have the ‘heart’ and who cared, were not provided medical assistance when they needed it. Some of them got sick after all the effort they share in helping their fellow Americans the best way they can. What a shame.

Sicko, though indirectly, shows us how dirty others can get just to get what they want: Money, Success, etc. But it also does show us, though indirectly, that there’s still goodness in others. There are people who still care. Yes, it’s possible for one to ‘appear’ good to be noticed or even praised. But that person helps, though indirectly. And that’s something. That can make someone cry. That can make me cry.

The Only Reason Why I Watched It Is Because Of Johnny Depp

Not because he’s charming and so manly (If I could make/force myself to appear as manly as he does, I would), but because he can act. And sing. The movie, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (which I had seen on the big screen earlier this year), is really good. I still love it. Depp was exceptional in it. And the music. Wow. I’m watching it online right now. Movies like these are gift from God. They are just wonderful to watch. And they inspire, too.