WILD

In this blog entry, I am listing down why I liked the movie WILD - a Reese Witherspoon movie, based from the book "Wild: Lost and Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" of Cheryl Strayed.

1. The movie started with weird groaning (I was having the wrong idea actually). Cheryl Strayed, portrayed by Reese Witherspoon was actually in pain - with her toe nail being removed. Yes, removed! Embrace the pain!


2. The relationship between ex-couple. Although there's a struggle somehow it seemed to work. 

Paul: "I'm sorry you have to walk 1,000 miles just to…" 

Cheryl Strayed: "Finish that sentence. Why do I have to walk 1,000 miles?"

Paul manages to send packages in every stop. Each package contains necessities for Cheryl's trek. It imposes that in our struggles and in our search of answers, we need help from other people - even at times it has to be from the least people we need and want. We need support. We have to realize that we are never alone.


3. The reality of being lost - of not fitting in or of how things in our life not make sense (most of the time).

Cheryl Strayed: "I'm lonelier in my real life than I am out here."

Admit it, there's a point in our lives where we feel lost. A point where we feel we exist somewhere else...there is no sense of belonging.

4. Remembering memories of Cheryl's mother. How her passing away has damaged her. And how she coped up on losing a loved one.

Bobbi Lambrecht: "There's nothing I don't get. Believe me. Then what? Cheryl, if there's one thing I can teach you, it's how to find your best self and when you do, hold on to it for dear life."

*** 

Cheryl Strayed: "I miss you, god, I miss you… My mother was the love of my life."

The deepest lessons in our lives often times come from our parents. We take roots on their words and memories. I come to remember my grandmother, whom showered me with so much love, whom protected/shielded me from pains, whom I lost at a young age and gave me scars that I will live with for the rest of my life - beautiful scars, whom taught me life lesson, and my own personal hero.


5. Moving forward from a dark phase in our lives.  

“It was a huge physical undertaking for me to hike the PCT for 94 days, but it was also very much a spiritual journey. I turned to the trail as many people turn to the wilderness — at a time when I felt lost and desperate, when I was in a place where I didn’t know how to move forward. In many ways the trail taught me to literally just put one foot in front of the other again.”

6. Forgiveness, Acceptance and Healing

Cheryl Strayed: "Here's some questions I've been asking myself. What if I forgive myself? What if I was sorry? What if I could go back in time? I wouldn't do a single thing differently. What if all those things I did were the things that got me here?"

7. Soundtrack

1. Simon & Garfunkel - El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
2. First Aid Kit – Walk Unafraid
3. Wings – Let 'Em In
4. The Shangri-Las – I Can Never Go Home Anymore
5. Leonard Cohen – Suzanne
6. Billy Swan – Don't Be Cruel
7. Free – Be My Friend (BBC Session/Take One)
8. Lucinda Williams – Something About What Happens When We Talk
9. Portishead – Glory Box
10. Bruce Springsteen – Tougher Than The Rest
11. Pat Metheny Group – Are You Going With Me?
12. The Hollies – The Air That I Breathe
13. Simon & Garfunkel – Homeward Bound
14. Dusted and Eric D. Johnson - Ripple
15. Evan O'Toole – Red River Valley

8. The ending where Cheryl reached the end of her journey. She was about to pass through a bridge named "Bridge of the Gods". It was so enlightening for me. 

“What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if all those things I did were the things that got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?”

9. Picturesque views of the Pacific Crest Trail

10. Reese Witherspoon herself (wink)

Movie Rating: 3/5 stars

It is important to look back, to see how far we've come. But it is more important to look beyond - to cherish today and welcome another tomorrow - to make a decision and acting on it. 
We all have shadows in the past that we need to outgrow. All of those shadows will always remain in the past. 
So let's choose what we carry in the present and in the future.

Love Phobia

 What is PURE LOVE, asked by a little boy named Jo-Kang to his father. The father hardly found the right words but somehow explained it in perfect sense -

"Pure love is when you love one person for the rest of your life"

LOVE PHOBIA

Another Korean movie to remember. Cuteness of the child characters - checked! Butterflies in your stomach - checked! Giggles of laughter - checked! The guy that sweeps you off your feed - checked!

Although, I didn't cried over this movie I must still say that the story was touching. Actually I felt terrible and at some point I hated the hospital for the tragedy that Ari (lead woman) has to survive. But what are her choices really?

“Love is remembrance... Sometimes, I open up my chest of memories, hoping to keep them locked in my heart forever.” 

-said by the grown up Jo-Kang

NOW could be Better than Good

To kill the traffic in my head, I stay awake because sleeping doesn’t help at all. Even in dreams I think of the same things that I think of when I’m awake.

While wide awake, its either I write or I watch movies. And since I got a long list of pending movies to watch – thanks to my dear friends who does the downloading part :) , I decided to watch this one movie until 2:00 AM. So,  I’ve crossed-out one movie from my list this month – NOW IS GOOD.

Okay, for a brief background here – I kind of like the type of movies where the protagonist dies in the end. The likes of Moulin Rouge, Sweet November, Devdas (Indian movie), Atonement, If Only, My Sister’s Keeper, Titanic (of course!) and the list goes on. So, as early as now you know that in the movie “Now Is Good” someone’s going to die in the end. Hahaha. SPOILER!!!

NOW IS GOOD stars Dakota Fanning whom I grew to adore since her Charlotte’s Web days. She starts the movie with the lines – 

MOMENTS. This is one. This – right here, right now is definitely a moment. Anything could happen next.

Those lines caught me. That was it! I was drawn to the movie.

Okay, it’s a story of a girl who’s dying with leukemia and before her time is out she creates a list of the “crazy” things she wanted to do before she go. The list includes drugs, sex, breaking the law, and more. Well, I get her – of course a dying person would want to accomplish something that a healthy person would do. Dakota’s character as Tessa is conventional. Her father is a cancer-freak who never gives up on finding ways that would cure her – he mastered all the about the sickness but failed to see his daughter. Her mother left, never attended any of her chemo-sessions, never witnessed her break down with blood gushing out from her nose. Her younger brother seems to care or not – he casually accepts the fact that his sister is going to die some day that is why she doesn’t bother spending time with him. Her best friend is her accomplice in fulfilling her list – she’s a little damaged – who accidentally got pregnant and wanted an abortion. So it’s a mess really. 

Then comes Jeremy Irvine’s character as Adam. He noticed Tessa. He spent time with her. He didn’t make her feel helpless because of her sickness. He made her laugh, love and alive. 

Tessa to Jeremy: “I was wrong. You can’t save me!” – Beautiful line in the beach scene!

Jeremy even made the most impossible item in Tessa’s list to reality – FAME. Tessa wanted her name to be written in the world so she wouldn’t be forgotten. Jeremy spent an entire night writing Tessa’s name in the entire neighborhood’s walls – that’s what we call vandalizing!

Then comes the dying part. There’s not much drama – not much difference with other movies where the lead character dies. The story was told in a simple and realistic view. By the way, the story did not focus on the list – she did not even fulfil it halfway. But for me, the most captivating part was Tessa’s conversation with her father –         

Father: He might let you down (pertaining to Adam)

Tessa: He won't

Father: What if he does?

Tessa: I'll still have you...like always

The floodgates went down. I broke to tears – terribly! Yeah, I had my cry baby moment for almost a minute there. Bollocks! I guess so, things will turn out that way huh? Okay, moving on...

On Tessa’s remaining minutes, moments were flashing – moments in a parallel world where she’s not sick where she was able to take meals with her family, a world where she was able to spend more time with Adam, and a world where she witnessed her bestfriend giving birth (she’s the reason why the abortion didn’t pushed through). As these moments where flashing, these lines were told – 

Life is a series of moments. Let them go. Moments all gathering towards this one.

the minions did it again!

If you're a stranger in this blog, then I have to say that I am an avid fan of the MINIONS from the movie Despicable Me. In our office Christmas presentation last year, we even tried to mimic the Banana video of the minions - go check here.

Last week, the Despicable Me 2 was up for showtime in the cinemas. And do you think I would let the week pass without seeing Gru, Agnes and the Minions?! Oh hell no!!! So my friends in the office reserved seats right away and we watched the movie together. Our laughs were louder than the kids. Hahaha.

Movie Review: If you're a child at heart then you will love the movie for sure. There's no other way but to enjoy the movie. The cuteness of Agnes! The craziness of the Minions! The not-so-evil stunts of Gru! And to those who haven't seen the movie yet - here's a peek on what you are missing - Minions MV.

And aside from watching, McDonald's has a treat for the minion fans out there. 9 collectible minion toys are up for grabs if you order McDonald's Happy Meal. So what else did I do? For almost a week all I had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are McDonald's Happy Meal.

Yesterday, my Monday Sickness strikes again - Severe Headache + Nausea + Flu.

And who came to my rescue? 

from zombies to aliens

WORLD WAR Z

It's a Brad Pitt movie for crying out loud! Of course I'm gonna rate it high! But in all honesty, this is one great movie to watch over and over again.

From the beginning to end - my eyes were glued to the movie screen. It was kind of scary in the beginning because the story was fast-moving and it felt like you were running along with the people in the movie. Running away from you-don't-know what.

Family factor - checked

Action scenes - checked

Cool Effects - checked

Pinch of comedy - checked

Solving a mystery - checked

Awesome ending - checked

MAN OF STEEL

 D and I have been looking forward to this! This superman movie is definitely far different from the rest. Gone is the boy-next-door factor for Clark Kent. He did not attract girls in this movie. No cheesy and corny parts! No rescuing girls in distress!

The history of planet Krypton was unveiled and narrated clearly. The movie focused on telling Clark Kent's story - his origin, his struggles, and how he reached the decision of standing up for the human race. 

Of course, the action scenes were A+

WARM BODIES

My brother watched this movie in the cinema and he told me that it was funny. Well, I could go for a funny movie. But unfortunately I wasn't able to watch it in the big screen, rather my officemate downloaded a clear copy for me :)

So for the love of zombies!!! Hahaha. Yeah, there are too many zombie movies now and blame it on Edward Cullen. And I must say that the lead woman looks so much a-like with Kristen Stewart. 

This movie is not the typical zombie-movie we usually see.

Yes, it's a love story! It's just a light romance with cheesy, funny and corny lines narrated by the lead guy zombie

Well, I didn't regret the hours I spent watching so it was fine :)

waltz

I was having the time of my life in the waiting list

Just letting time pass by

Whistling

I didn’t mind of not being asked to the dance floor

I acted like I didn’t want to be bothered

Whistling

A few did try to ask

I hesitated

Doubting

I believe that the right partner would come at the right time

With the right music

And so I went on whistling

When that someone reached out his hand to me

I knew I heard the right song and our feet were made to dance

God-Willing

I took someone’s lead in this trance

Surrendered into his embrace

Trusting

Forward and backward steps we took

Swaying along

Dreaming

The music skipped

My heart went out of beat

Fleeting

I realized that I have been dancing around for quite some time

The same steps, the same music

Deviating

There’s nothing wrong with settling,

It’s not such a bad thing at all

Sticking

And as I look upon those eyes of yours

I see the could haves and might haves if we both took the risk

Longing

The music went on and on, on and on

Will you ever take that brave step or not?
Waiting

Now somebody else’s gentle hand is asking

And my defenses weakened

Battling

I felt scared

Could that somebody else want to dance in a new music and dance floor?

Wondering

I would not want to entertain the thought

But we’ve been moving in circles

We’ve been very careful not to step unto each other’s toes

We’ve been holding each other but not feeling

We’ve been looking into each other’s eyes but not seeing

I would love to keep on dancing with you

I would love to hurt my toes when you take a wrong step

I would love to be touched, felt, and seen by you

Wanting

And where do these words lead to?

Nowhere - Nowhere far from you

Staying

Forward and backward

Swaying

Dreaming

kayibea

1/28/2013

inspired by "Take This Waltz"

This movie awakened my fear. It bothered me for a while.

This movie caught my attention basically because it's a Michelle William's movie! I loved her in the movie Blue Valentine where she paired with Ryan Gosling and she received quite a lot of nominations. I loved the truth and the passion transcended in the movie. No make-ups in the characters.  

In "Take This Waltz", once again Michelle portrayed a simple character but remarkable! A for impact - well, for me on that note.

 

It's a story of a wife who is scared to admit the problems in their marriage. She lacks the courage to speak of it. She tried to survive and go along as she has been in the past years. She longs for intimacy. She longs for a change in her marriage. But this doesn't put his husband into a bad light because her husband is loyal and nice, played by Seth Rogen. Maybe she got bored. That's how I see it.

When she met this guy who seemed to have awakened her curiosity, she tried to evade his presence. But her boredom sinks in everyday and her wanting of something -- something she's been missing in her marriage. So eventually she gave in and decided to leave her husband over the guy she met on a shirt-trip.

Just a few thoughts: 

If the husband just didn't let his wife take that short trip alone... it could have changed things.

If the husband took notice of her signals that she wanted to be touched and seen.

If the husband just took that extra leap of changing "the usual" things.

If the wife was just vocal of what she's been going through, it could have given her husband a chance to save their marriage.

“Life has a gap in it, it just does. You don’t go crazy trying to fill it like some lunatic.”

perks of a clean slate (tabula rasa)

In my 2012 checklist, there’s an item that says [ ] Read a book and I am so happy to tell you my dear readers out there that I am able to accomplish it, finally – whew! Pat on my back. I admit that I haven’t read a book from cover to cover for years now. I get bored. My eyes get tired. And I don’t think I allot a time where I can just sit and grab a book to read.

In our 2012 Office Christmas Party, I sent a shout out to my anonymous manito/manita that I would like to get a book as a gift – “Perks of Being a Wallflower” in particular. Good thing is I did get the book! I acted surprised :)

I am interested with the story. I’ve read some good reviews about it. So the challenge was to find the eagerness to flip the pages. I must commit.

In the beginning, I found myself floundering. I could not understand what was I reading – nothing is sticking in my head. I have to read the lines multiple times. The words are actually dancing in a very scattered pattern. It felt like I was chasing or finding the next word to read. Eventually I caught up with the phasing. And at 12:30AM of January 23, 2013 I finished reading the book :)

Before I forget, I already saw the movie version of the book by the way. And just like what I expressed on the twilight movie vs. twilight book – the book version is way better! The movie helped though – it materialized the characters. It’s like I knew how Patrick, Sam and Charlie looked. But the book made me feel what the characters suppose to feel. There – just a small comparison.

The book stroked a lot of memories. I suddenly missed my friends. I suddenly longed for a get-together with my friends. And “remembering” the old days grew in me. I promise that I’m gonna write about these some time. I just need to sort my thoughts first – I am still overwhelmed with the checked off item from my bucket list.

Now, I am looking for the next book to read. These were some few of the suggested books I found:

Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto

Why we Broke Up by Daniel Handler

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

movie review: Bachelorette

Earlier this month I scavenge through a DVD shop and randomly picked a movie with catchy titles. One movie is like a cut in the throat --  "Bachelorette" but somehow it caught my attention. Specially when I read the synopsis:

Three friends are asked to be bridesmaids at a wedding of a woman they used to ridicule back in high school.

This sounds fun! I like stories of friendship and I like wedding movies (coughs). And by the way I am fascinated with movies with less press promotions.

~~0~~

One insignificant day where I wanted to torture myself by staying awake, I decided to watch the movie. Here's my 2 cents...

In every movie, we usually find a character that we see ourselves or a character that tells our very own story. My rundown on the characters that left a mark in my head:

Regan, the leader of the "B-Faces" (go guess what B stands for)
She's the focused, well-planned, and goal-oriented persona in the group. Her opinions and decisions usually gets the vote. She's the smarty pants. But behind these qualities, she's a rebel in disguise. Oh well, she drinks and parties like a man. She smokes and knows how to get stoned too.
She's also the most plastic among the 4 members of "B-Faces" because she appears to be the closest friend to the bride-to-be and yet she's also the brain behind the silly and rude acts of destroying the wedding.
But then, I ended up sympathizing with her when she said these lines:
"I'm the one who did the right thing! I went to college. I got a great job. I have a pre-med boyfriend. But why am I not engaged? Why am I unhappy"
How sad right? And as much I would like to escape the thought, somehow I wanna borrow those lines.
In the end, I have to commend the character on finding a resolution to the trouble they caused their friend. It may not be in all honesty and cleanest intentions -- but they did pull it through! They were able to fix the wedding dress 90% in 15 minutes late.


Gena, the bummed and stoned character. 
She's my favorite! Her character rocks for me! Yes, she's quite the addict in the movie but I like her. She's the girl who fell inlove in highschool, got her heart broken and messed up her life after. She's the girl who still have issues with her first love and tries to avoid to see him in all possible ways but ends up doing the opposite.
Among the "B-Faces", she's the one with a strong personality. The girl who loves rock bands, doesn't like fancy dresses, prefers shirt and pants, and talks like a man.
And behind it all, she's the one who knows more about love. She's scared to admit and accept the love she thought she doesn't deserve anymore.

(L to R): Gena, Regan and Katie. 

Katie is the dumb one among the "B-Faces", she's all about the looks.

I see honesty in this movie. Whether we admit it or not, among our set of friends we do make fun of someone. We do talk on each others backs. We pretend to do things because we care. We do envy one another. Friendship is not perfect. But what makes a difference is how you stick it out together in the end. You may hate a friend but in times of trouble, you'll see yourself doing favors for them and protecting them in all ways possible. I won't even call it hypocrisy.

But note that a friend would not go as far as hurting you too much -- as much as it would give them a reason to end the friendship.

And so my final verdict would be 4 out of 5 for the rude but funny schemes they did to their friend and maybe that's all about it. I'm just gonna rate this movie on how funny it was for me.

cinema hangouts

A list of my recent cinema hangouts

The Expendables II

a kick-ass action movie with a full-house cast of 80's-90's action stars

i enjoyed watching the action stars i grew up watching

had a lot of good laughs as well

 

Bourne Legacy

A movie that is well-thought.

The transition of the story from the first Bourne to this one is stitched smartly.

I think, Pinoys did an overrated promotion for this movie because Philippines is one of the locations... but then it was all worth it. the movie was good. Our country wasn't falsely decorated. The street shots, traffic, and squatter area were all realistic.

And the ended perfectly in Palawan!

The Dark Knight Rises

In all Batman movies, he shows off his high-tech gadgets. In this one, I would give a hands down to the filthy rich Bruce Wayne.

The addition of Cat Woman added a kick into this movie...girl power!!!

The Amazing Spider Man

Peter Parker's story was told in a different way in this movie. 

I like this Spider Man movie rather than the previous ones.

Snow White and the Huntsman

I only watched this movie because of Chris Hemsworth -- nothing else, nothing more

Men in Black

Dark Shadows

I watched this movie alone. 

I cannot bare the thought of missing a Johnny Depp movie!!!

I always get a weird connection with Tim Burton movies...the beauty in this weirdness.

titans and battleships

Uhmm...how should I start my rating on this movie. As much as I would like to give Wrath of the Titans a good review...I can't. Maybe because I have expectations of this movie coming from a very good prequel - Clash of the Titans.

The effects are great, hands down to that.

 

One factor that contributed to my disappointment is we watched this movie in 3D. I am not sure if the 3D shades is defective or what but it did gave me a bad headache during and after the movie. I should have watched in a regular cinema, I could have enjoyed the movie.

Second factor would be Cronos. If he is the father of Zeus and Poseidon, how could he be that so easy to defeat and I don't even get the point of his character in this sequel. His slow movements and shouting are all pestering to me. Then he got killed by just one shot. Oh boy! I've waited for more than 1 hour for that climax. 

Lastly, it didn't end with a BOOM. I can't spare it with an applause (like Transformers). It just ended simply and I just went out of the cinema not thinking or talking much about the movie.

This gets a 2 stars out of 5 from me.

 

Effects. Action Scenes. Smart Tactics. Movie Lines. Characters. Witty punchlines.

All are EXCELLENT!!

There's no unnecessary scene in the movie, I can't throw away any scene at all.

I like the irony when the lead character was asked on the difference between a destroyer and a battleship. He said that a battleship does this and that but the destroyer is way cooler.

But then in the end, it was a battleship that led their triumph against the invaders.

 

I like that the war veterans has a part in the movie - i love old people.

 So I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.