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.

Another One By Scorsese And Look, There’s De Niro

I am not the number one fan, but I have always admired Scorsese for his taste and style. Earlier today I saw New York, New York, which is, I think, one of the man’s best works, in MGM. I watched it solely because, since I didn’t know the title at first or who directed it, of De Niro. The younger De Niro facinates me for reasons I couldn’t figure out yet. I’ve seen and admired him in The Godfather II and Taxi Driver. The movie, which was shown in 1977, has the element that keeps you hang into it, if not want it so badly. The effect is, and this just based on my own opinion, so impressive I want to see it (the movie) again after it ended. And the ending was perfect. Think Taxi Driver, think No Country For Old Men, think Before Sunset. It ended but it didn’t. And that’s talent. And that’s art. And that’s pure pleasure.

Punch Drunk Love For Breakfast Is Too Much

At around three in the morning, after reading a few pages of All The Pretty Horses (which I have been reading for months now since I’m reading four other books at the same time), I went out and eat in one of my favorite “eating places” along Boni Ave. As usual I ordered the one I would always order everytime I eat there. Then I decided to go online in one of the Interner Cafes around that area- the only cafe opened that time. I watched Punch Drunk Love, the whole movie, through Youtube. I’ve been wanting to see this movie for years but I couldn’t find a copy, not even a pirated one. So I was happy a Samaritan downloaded it on Youtube. The want to see this film was not about Adam Sandler. It’s the fact that P.T. Anderson wrote and directed it. He did wonderfully in There Will Be Blood and Magnolia that whatever movie he makes will guaranty greatness. I was right.

And oh, that scene when Barry (Sandler) attended his sister’s birthday party and he talked with his brother-in-law (who is a dentist) about his problem, was amazing and touching and perfect. He (Sandler) told him (the brother-in-law) that he has a problem and asked if he could help him- that he sometimes doesn’t like himself and that he cries a lot without any reason. Then he cried. It had me.

Cheers, And A Burger Afterwards (And Run On’s)

I’m a bit tipsy right now. I went out with some friends, who also happen to be my batchmates at work, and have a couple of bottles of beer earlier this day after our shift, which ended at 5 a.m. I don’t really go out that much. I consider myself a loner. I don’t really know why but I really do. And the guys I went out with aren’t my closest friends at work (But I’m not saying I’m not close to them). It’s a nice idea though, if I really think about it, since I was able to spend time with my other friends and, in a way, I was able to know them more.

Then on my way to my apartment, I bumped to a friend- someone who also happen to be my batchmate before, and whom I consider as one of my nicest friends. We call (or used to call) him daddy Nelson. Unfortunately, and this is a sad thing for me, he wasn’t able to pass the last assessment we had on the last day of our product training. We ate. I’m glad he’s fine. And as I would always tell him before, I kept on reminding him to do whatever it is that makes, or will make, him happy. We talked.

And now I’m in front of the PC when I should already be in bed. I have the urge of blogging so I decided to add an entry first and at the same time check my friendster out. Because seriously, this doesn’t happen all the time. That you feel the want to write something you genuinely feel.