the understatement

‘If I don’t go, we gotta pack up and leave. Now I’m tired, Alice. I’m tired of watching my boys go hungry. I’m tired of the way that they look at me. I’m tired of the way that you don’t…I’ve been standin on one leg for three damn years waitin for God to do me a favor and He ain’t listenin.’ — Dan Evans- a good husband and a father of two, played by the beautiful Christian Bale in the movie 3:10 To Yuma- to his wife Alice when she asked him not to go and be a part of the ‘team’ in escorting the outlaw Ben Wade, played by Russel Crowe, to a train to Yuma. He volunteered to do this for $200.

He lived with his family in a small ranch, and was forced to leave by this I-dont-know-what-his-name-is. Somewhere in the movie Wade called Evans stubborn for keeping his wife and kids in a dying ranch. ‘I aint stubborn’, he told Wade while awaiting for the train and while it’s raining bullets, literally, from Wade’s gang. Apparently his youngest has tuberculosis and Evans was advised to stay in a place with a dyer climate because of the kid’s condition. Now that’s what you call a father. Someone who may not be able to bring everything you want on the table but someone who wishes he could, and would if he could.

And I love the ending and the quote above.

food talk

I am currently chatting with my friend Nelmar through GoogleTalk. We haven’t talked or chatted for, I think, a week now. I missed chatting with him, even though we basically talk about the same things over and over again everyday. That’s why I consider him special. I just can talk about almost anything under the sun with him without getting bored or something. I don’t know if he feels the same way too, though.

So since I am on OT today from 9 am to 1 pm, I was able to catch him online. We talked about the new song I love, about one of his favorite hobbies [I think]- skimboarding, his being food concious or health concious to be exact, and food. I just learned a new ‘recipe’ from him: what to include in making a mouthwatering sandwich. I know it’s just a sandwich but considering my stand for food and preparing them, it’s a big thing. I haven’t eaten anything for the past months other than oatmeal. Okay, I try other food sometimes but most of the time, it’s oatmeal. And tonight, I’m trying something else, something new. Real food.

beautiful days

Today is the last day of work for me this week. I was supposed to be out of here an hour and a half ago but I decided to render  OT for four hours. Tomorrow and the day after are my day offs anyway. And two more days after my off, that’s Thursday and Friday, I’ll be on suspension. This is because of my absences of course, without notification. Funny thing is I specifically asked my Team Leader when would my suspension be served just before I received the email from our workforce management regarding the suspension. I couldn’t wait for it. This is the best thing, by far, our workforce management has ever done in my one year and ten months stay in this company. They made me feel proud for them. Others would feel differently if this happens to them, being suspended. But for me, this is just amazing. I actually been waiting, and praying for the memo to be served. For four days, I can be completely happy. I’m starting to re-love this company for it.

the beautiful things

A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful movie. It’s a representation of how powerful our minds can become. But when our hearts contradict it, it becomes less powerful. Or maybe not. Maybe our hearts are as powerful as our mind. I don’t know. I get confused sometimes.

on movies, again.

Jennifer: I only came to tell you that this, you and me, can’t go anywhere beyond this evening. It just can’t.

Ralph: Well, then, you should’ve worn a different dress.

This is from a scene in the movie Maid In Manhattan, which I watched solely for Ralph Fiennes. I still hate Jennifer Lopez, in the same way I hate Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. But if there’s a feel good film with an interesting screenplay I have to recommend, it’s Notting Hill [which I watched just after I finished Maid In Manhattan]. I love it. I love Julia Roberts. She seems to be a quiet type of a person. Hugh Grant’s character was charming I almost fell in love with him. And it’s so unbecoming of me, I know. But what the heck.

side effects

This is one of my favorite tracks in Mariah Carey’s latest album, E=MC2, which is already out in the market. Her first-released track, Touch My Body, is her eighteenth number one. Two more to go and she’ll beat The Beatles’ record for the most number of number one hits. The girl got mad talent. She can really sing. Geez, I think I’m in love. Again.

“….Still little depressed inside, I fake a smile and deal with the side effects”.

And it’s her song I Wish You Well that really made me cry. Feels like it just crashed the wall I have been building for years to protect my heart from those who don’t know love. And just love. Just love.

“They have greatly oppressed me from my youth but they have not gained victory over me (In Jesus’ name)”.

Bravo.

the wit and wisdom combo

“But my mistakes have been necessary .” This one is by Conan O’Brien, a TV host. This is one of the many things he shared with Harvard graduates in 2000. [He went there in college]. I find O’Brien funny. His wit works for me. I don’t see him that often but there are times that I’m luckily able to watch one or two of his late night show episodes. Sometimes I rely on Youtube.

Today I was able to read this speech he had for Harvard graduates. Of course being a man he is, one can expect humor- a lot of it- with his speech. But there’s so much to O’Brien that the eye is incapable of seeing. And with these, one can’t help but admire him. In this speech I’m writing about, he included one of the first review he had gotten from a critic from the Washington Post. Let me quote a line from that review: “….he’s the host who should never have come.” I’m sure that O’Brien delivered this with his irresistible wit, and that the graduates had surely laughed their ass out. But I’m also sure that this is a serious thing for him. [I was sort of crying when I read this]. And in the latter part of the speech he read another review from a critic [a recent one], and I’m quoting a line from it as well: “His comedy is the gold standard and Conan himself is not only the quickest and most inventive wit of his generation, but quite possible the greatest host ever.”

He said that he had a lot of success and also a lot of failures in his life. And by this he meant, and this is just based on my own understanding, that it’s not only the good things that happen to us that we should be thankful for and give so much importance to. Our failures have made us what we are right now. Strong and surviving. It’s OK to fail. What is important is we learn something good from it; we realize something valuable. I wish I could post the entire speech here but I can’t. It’s too long. Maybe some other time. I’ll just keep a copy for myself.

O’Brien ended his speech that day with this:

‘I’ll go now, to make bigger mistakes and to embarrass this fine institution even more. But let me leave you with one last thought: If you can laugh at yourself loud and hard every time you fall, people will think you’re drunk.’

And this, ladies and germs, is from a man of wit and wisdom.

what the…?

Been into using words such as fuck, fuck you, shit, bullshit, motherfucker and the like lately. This I learned from watching too much movies. The Filipino translation of these words I often hear from the television.

Media is an effective ‘training ground’ for the ‘becoming’ of a person. I remembered, when I was in La Salle- Bacolod, one of the editors of our school paper then had written that the media claims they only provide what the people want. On the other hand, we, the viewers, just settle with what they, the media, feed us. Sounds like nobody is to blame. She had made her point quite clearly. And as far as I can remember, most of the students [if not everyone] hated her because she was outspoken.

magnolia

I’ve been meaning to write about this movie for four days now. The problem is that I don’t how to do so. It’s so good I start to lose my focus just by the thought of it. So I’ll keep it simple and short: Magnolia is so beautiful.

When I saw his latest masterpiece There Will Be Blood, I thought P.T. Anderson is one of the very few filmmakers who just recently came to a realization of what movies should be, when all along he already had this vision eight years ago. The movie’s essence, ofcourse, as always, depends on the one viewing it. For me, it’s a representation that in life weird things really happen, that shit will always be around. But all these bullshit and crap, though in the future will be a part of our past, can never stop us from becoming who we really want to be or who we really are. Yeah, whatever.

Somewhere near the ending, it rained frogs [in reference to Exodus 8:2]. Literally. When I saw that scene, I just couldn’t believe it. And I cried [I don't know why]. Again, Magnolia is beautiful. You owe it to yourself to watch it.

To end this entry, let me quote Tom Cruise [who was brilliant in the film]: ‘Respect the cock.’ Whatever the fuck he meant by that.

good film, bad hairstyle

So Paramount Vantage [or whoever is responsible for the international distribution] has decided to have the movie shown here in the Philippines. Finally. Five months after it premiered in the US, No Country For Old Men is now here. But mind you, it’s only shown exclusively in just two cinemas. Better than my favorite There Will Be Blood, which was shown in only one cinema. And they have the guts to tell us that piracy is illegal. Show movies on time.

The movie was adapted from McCarthy’s novel of the same title. It’s actually an ‘almost’ faithful adaptation. I have read the novel so I know a few happenings had been changed [just a little]. And the movie is ‘almost’ as good as the book. Thanks to the Coen brothers. How good the movie is depends on how much sense you get from it. It could be a waste of time for some, or a masterpiece for others. As for me, I love it. I tried very hard not to but I can’t help but love it. I even remembered describing it as perfect to a friend, who hates it [the movie] so much. Tommy Lee Jones did very well in this movie, and played, for me, the most important character [though his character would be useless without the others].

Just when you’re expecting it to offer more greatness, other than those you have already witnessed so far, the movie ended. It just ended. Just like that. It’s so sudden you can’t believe it. And it could be one of the best endings in the history of movies. I don’t even know if I would still like it had it ended differently.

But if there’s one person who deserves all the applause or recognition, it’s Cormac McCarthy and his intelligence.

There Will Be Blood should really have won Best Picture, or they should have given the Best Director award to P.T. Anderson at the very least. This is just me thinking out loud ofcourse.