Secret Dreamworld of an Insomniac

Logging away the movies for the first quarter of 2007…

Frank Miller’s 300

If I was asked which I thought would be the best guy flick to ever, I would’ve said Fight Club. Well, at least that would’ve been my answer 3 months ago. Brad Pitt and Norton just got bumped out by 300 greeks – that’s eighteen hundred packs of abs if you’ve seen the movie. I have a copy of the comic released in the mid 90’s and except for Leonida’s wife featuring in the movie, it was a practically a frame-by-frame adaptation. It was more than perfect. It was raw power - packed in high definition and audio.

Movies, for me, is art and story-telling. They definitely delivered a hell of a piece with 300.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith is definitely an actor. He can live his roles. He can make people relate to the story. The only thing I didn’t really like about ‘Pursuit’ is that they equated happiness with money. Something I am bitter about because I have none of the latter. But bearing in mind that Smith’s character was broke and hopeless, money would surely help them acquire happiness. It’s thoroughly depressing and although the ending should be inspiring, I just felt it didn’t outweigh the depressing parts of the whole movie. I still recommend it though.

Eragon

I didn’t want to make a review of this since Eragon was way back in January but anyway, I’m logging everything. So… well we know this is just part of a trilogy but people would expect the first installment to deliver. The battle scenes lacked action and cinematography. One wouldn’ve feel if the movie was climaxing or just dying out. You’ll just be surprised it’s already over. Let’s hold back the judgment ‘till the sequel.

The Holiday

The Holiday opened up last December but was shown last week of January to Valentine’s. I liked it, I liked it, I liked it. Cameron was BEAUTIFUL. It was a breath of fresh air considering the kind of movies I watch.

Premonition

Another best-seller on the ticket booths. This movie is still showing in some cinemas here. It didn’t have as much bells and whistles as 300 but I’m guessing word-of-mouth was to blame for its relative success. I missed Sandra Bullock. Specially that she does no funny lines in this one. On the contrary, Premonition is a suspense-thriller mystery. Good enough to watch / rent.

Sunshine

Just when I was feeling we were lacking what NASA would call ELE (Extinction Level Events) themed movies, here comes Sunshine to re-ignite peoples’ obsession with doomsday. Following Zafra’s review, producers of Sunshine did away with the technicalities or subplots (family, girlfriends etc.) altogether and concentrated on the team’s mission – to create a big-bang inside the sun to prevent it from dying.

The Reaping

I’ve yet to hear a bad review about this movie. I will forever be a fan of Dark Castle Productions – they made the suspense-horror films House on Haunted Hill, 13 Ghosts, Ghost Ship and Gothika. They always made a point to come up with creative ways to mutilate, kill, decapitate or torture undeserving characters. For me, the best / goriest mass-killing scene happened in Ghost Ship.

Anyway, The Reaping has a great storyline and a surprise twist which is expected from Dark Castle. Hilary Swank is also surprisingly stunning and believable with her role as a scientist who disproves miraculous occurrences. People who reviewed the movie said “this will make you believe in God!”. Well, I think they missed the point but hey, at least they loved it.

–

There you go. Next up: The Last Mimzy which I will be watching this week and Spiderman3 next Tuesday!

–

~

The Last Mimzy
The Last Mimzy caught my attention on the trailers. It brought me back to the 80’s and early 90’s science-fantasy movies. Two kids find a mysterious box by the beach and suddenly they’re using 100% of their brain power. The movie is refreshing. Very relaxing and intriguing. There was a hint of where aliens came from, the future and people from the past that had superior IQs. This is a kid-movie so there aren’t much breakneck action sequences and it moves at an easy pace – the better for us to understand the dialogue. Recommended for family viewing.

Spiderman3
Cheese and action! I enjoyed the movie although in retrospect the movie didn’t have much fiber in it. It was made to entertain to the max and it served its purpose. The almost 3 hours playtime wasn’t really necessary and the Sandman villain character could’ve been saved for the 4th instalment. There was just a lot of stereotypical elements flying around the story – Parker’s inner struggle, his ego, Mary Jane’s constant whining, the Sandman’s dilemma… nothing too new and interesting here. I was having the feeling the movie wasn’t intended for my age bracket.

It was a good watch though. Worth the buck.

Shrek3
I couldn’t remember much of the details on Shrek3 except that I had a good laugh every 5 minutes or so. It had smart humour, wit and was a complete entertainment package. As usual, it still had good morals and a touch of maturity when Shrek was having a crisis on having baby ogres. Hated the Arthur character. He was more of a pain in the ass most of the time and he doesn’t have much gravity to be able to pull off the supposed-to-be moving dialogue towards the end of the movie. Shrek could’ve delivered the script better.

Pirates of the Caribean – At World’s End
Geoffrey Rush is back! At least this time, 2 great actors gave this movie weight and worth – Depp and Rush. The second movie was I guess just a filler until they finish the 3rd one. Stunning visuals, engaging action and the scenes just pull you through their world. You taste the salt water at times and I’ve heard stories of people getting sea-sick just watching the movie. If you’re reading this and haven’t seen the movie – go watch it or rent it. Don’t waste 30 bucks on pirated copies – you’re going to miss much of the thrill and feel.

Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Mr. Bean’s Holiday is a classic – in every sense of the word. It’s the Mr. Bean style we’ve enjoyed on TV in the 90’s! Don’t overlook this one folks. It’s as close to art films as you can get and it’s even very much enjoyable. You could tell the Atkinson probably intended to compete this  movie at Cannes by the way it was directed, soundtracked and filmed. If you want to relax, see this one and you’ll a get a good laugh as a bonus which is another health plus.

–

~

I‘ve a lot of pending movie revs I’d love to post in but I’m just way too busy at the moment with work and managing another website/blog. I’ve seen a number of really good movies so far like Frank Miller’s 300 and The Pursuit of Happyness and I’m promising myself to write up about them.

Anyway, our gigs landed us on TV recently (well, last night) on RJTV and here’s the recording:

TSC’s Lei and Nomer appeared on "Sweet Talks" at RJTv, Sunday, March 18 8pm.

View the recording on the TSC Gallery:
http://tscgallery.blogspot.com/2007/03/story-circle-on-rjtv.html

–

~

Too busy to compose anything… Here’s some entertainment from my friend and Story Circle member/performer Anthony on his nominated performance for magic routine of the year 2006.

Anthony in Mongo Magic (Megastrip, Megamall)

http://tscgallery.blogspot.com/2007/03/anthony-mongo-magic.html

For more magic videos go to The Story Circle Gallery section. Please do share to your friends and family. We’ll try to keep the humour PG-rated. Videos uploaded every week.

–

~

Just keeping a log of the latest movies seen so far.

The Fountain
The Fountain is an art film more than a movie. It was a relaxing experience really. However, I’d understand if people won’t get it. The running time for The Fountain’s plot is excessively longer than it should’ve been in my opinion. I’m also not sure if this is good for rental…

Apocalypto
Finally I was able to catch this one. I was expecting a more violent and gory film knowing Gibson. This isn’t also as tragic as Braveheart or The Patriot. I was expecting more pyramids and the likes. For the uninitiated, they’d have the impression that the Mayans lived in an extremely violent civilization. It looked like they consulted everything on a single documentary I watched years ago in National Geographic and didn’t bother looking into other sources.

Although everything in the movie was probably accurate, a lot of the aspects of Mayan culture must’ve been left out. Like the fact that they were also very advanced in terms of astronomy, calendrical cycles, mathematics and measurement.

I was expecting an answer to the question “How did the Mayan civilization vanish?” and I’m not sure if it was addressed in the movie. There was a hint of the Spaniards but I’m not so sure they were there when the Mayans flourished. Common sense would have possible answers though. Unlike the Egyptians, the Mayans didn’t think of building their major cities along side a flowing river like the Nile. An absence of free flowing water will result in the following: drought, excessive loss of natural resources, poor/no waste management, diseases and a lack of swimming recreational activities which drove them to sacrificing each other simply because they were bored.

Ironically they turned to sacrificing prisoners of war to appease their gods because they were running out of natural resources and were getting sick. And how do they dispose of their decapitated sacrifices? They just dump them on a massive pit near their city – thousands of rotting corpses and they don’t bother burning them. This was the theory presented on the National Geographic documentary. There were accounts of writings that told of the stench whenever a trader would pass by their cities.

Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider would always be my favourite comic character. One because he actually kills his villains and not just take them to the cops like Spidey does. When I was in first year high school, the school organized a Superhero Art Contest and I quickly signed up. I didn’t have to think of who I will paint for my entry. Ghost Rider. First because I knew that a guy in bright-yellow flames with red backdrop will definitely stand out among the other entries unless someone was entering in with Phoenix which was unlikely. I won. From that moment on, I knew he’ll be my hero.

However, the character I followed on the comics was Dan Ketch. The second Ghost Rider after Johnny Blaze. For the movie, I didn’t care as long as it’s still the guy with the flaming skull I’m watching. Apparently, Ghost Rider was an unexpected hit reaching #1 in the US box office last week with 45 million USD’s in one weekend. It’s really not as bad as I would’ve expected except for Cage’s funny acting “Look into my eyes…”

–

~

The last quarter of 2006 brought in 2 films very close to heart. The Prestige and The Illusionist. Both period films centered on the industry (and art) of magic and illusions. Unfortunately by reasons I do not know, The Illusionist never reached Philippine cinemas. The Prestige would have to be one of the best films I’ve seen for 2006 next only to The Devil Wears Prada. However, after watching The Illusionist last night, I’d have to move The Prestige a notch lower on the ranks.

While some reviews said The Illusionist has similar plots to The Prestige, I’ll have to disagree. The Illusionist is a love story through and through. The Prestige is The Count of Monte Cristo done with theatrics, smokes and mirrors. I’m guessing The Illusionist must have had a great twist in the end for viewers that are not as analytical as me when it comes to producing films. Maybe it’s just that I have too many plot twist experiences that I now know what the writers were thinking. Nonetheless, it’s a lovely artistic film.

The only thing I did not agree to was the use of CG to enhance the effects and illusions presented in the movie. The special effects used on The Prestige were minimal that the tricks performed were more realistic (the illusions could be done in real life) while The Illusionist felt the need to raise the bar to illusions performed during the Victorian period. Well, even on our time the effects presented on The Illusionist might still be impossible to accomplish.

Hmm, I think there’s a hidden agenda on Hollywood and Las Vegas to promote the magic and illusions industry. Lately, magic has been reduced (or minimized) to street magic level with the likes of Blaine, Criss Angel and Derren Brown and perhaps the stage illusions were not selling as much.

–

~

Below is a friend’s letter to me. I don’t care if I’ve adviced her wrongly or for the better, I just feel that she can’t forever live in her current state… You can’t love someone if you can’t learn to love yourself first - Bliss, 1997. I don’t really know. I just need this outlet…

–

"… my daughter was still a baby when I observed how close she was to her dad. Until now that she’s four years old and I have her custody and I’ve already separated with her father, there was never a time when my little girl would not remind me how much she liked her father better than me. On my part, it is very painful to think that I’m doing everything for her although it has been very difficult because of my situation in life. But in the end, whatever I do tend to be always wrong for her.

Even if she gets scratched, wounded or whatever, as long as she’s with her dad, it’s ok. But if she were with me when she gets these accidents, I’m automatically the mom from hell. I feel my daughter loves me but I also feel she loves her dad more.

Her dad recently contacted me just to tell me how worthless I am and that I can never be a mother to my little girl. It has always been my fault. Even though I’ve thrown away everything just for her. A lot of times I want to just give it all up. She’s the only one, she’s the only reason I’m still working to get a better life and it’s unfair that the only reason you’re living for is the same person who hates you.

At times I also think what if I send her back to her dad… Start my own new family without them - Hoping that they will love me better. It’s not all the time my friends are here to support me through life. Honestly I’m tired and I can’t move anymore. No, I don’t want to move anymore.

My ex-husband and my sister eloped years ago and now, they also want my daughter. Even though I’m thinking of finally giving up custody for the sake of my daughter’s happiness, I’m also thinking nothing will be left for me. No history, no life, no reason to live.

Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should let my daughter decide for her happiness for the moment and just hope that she misses me when she grows up. I can’t have her hating me everyday…

Perhaps like you said, I should surrender everything to fate this time and give myself freedom to breathe. You’re right when you said I won’t be able to help my daughter when even I can’t fix myself up. I just don’t know if I’ll ever survive the loss and missing her. But maybe, I do need this time for myself…"

–

~

On an online discussion about Filipina beauty, a question was raised: “Why does it seem like there are more beautiful Filipinas in the rich and wealthy than there are in the poor?”

Ofcourse, the most common answer is because it is the rich and famous who can afford beauty products. But one analyst did some math and suggested that the question isn’t necessarily true. The Philippines, being a third world nation has more poor in its population. So it doesn’t  matter how  many pretty women there are in the rich and famous category, the total number of pretty gals belonging to the poor, even though the percentage of them are relatively few, will still be significantly more than the total number of rich and beautiful women. It will make sense, just try and figure that out.

Oh, but the beautiful poor Filipina aren’t exactly ‘poor’ but they will more properly fall into the realm of well-to-do families or the ‘commoners’ of modern society. What’s more is the fact that if one visits the countryside provinces or Cebu and Davao, the women there are simple, but nonetheless beautiful.

I also added that these provinciana beauties are the ones who bag the city mayors, congressmen, governors, business tycoons, the Japanese perverts, and dirty old Caucasians. Hence, the beautiful poor will eventually mingle in with the illustrados and the politicians who basically own the country.

–

~

I’m making a list of New Year Resolutions that I’ve already given up on. So far, here’s one: I’ve given up on “To eat more healthy foods.” I’m realizing that although I can make myself eat more servings on a single meal, the food won’t necessarily be ‘healthy’.

The other day, a co-worker was doing her daughter’s homework and she asked “What are the basic food groups again?” To which I replied with: “There are four basic food groups: canned, frozen, instant and fast.”

–

~

I’ve always seen Golden Globe as an awards night for TV shows and the Oscars for feature films. Nevertheless, I’m quite happy with the winners on the motion picture categories. Meryl Streep won Best Actress (Comedy) for The Devil Wears Prada which for me is the best movie I’ve seen for 2006 followed by The Prestige, Cars and Happy Feet. Cars won Best Animated Feature Film. There were a few of movies we don’t care much for like The Queen, Dreamgirls (Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy; which hasn’t reached the Phils yet) and Babel (which won Best Motion Picture – Drama). American Idol’s Jennifer Hudson got an instant win for Best Supporting Actress – Musical or Comedy. Not bad for a relative stranger on the big screen.

As said, I look with more anticipation on the awards for TV shows during the Golden Globes. I had a bit of high hopes for new comer Heroes but it may have been too early for the mutants to bag an award. Grey’s Anatomy finally won, beating out Lost and 24! Hugh Laurie won Best Actor for TV – again, making a good run for Kiefer Sutherland’s money. I’ll vote for Hugh Laurie anytime over Jack Bauer. Hugh can be annoying, sadistic, eccentric, funny, serious, sarcastic and brilliant all in just one episode while Kiefer Sutherland’s character is just… Jack Bauer.

Ugly Betty is apparently hitting it big in the US. No comment.

For a complete list of nominees and winners: http://www.hfpa.org/nominations/index.html

–