In My Life

I don't often watch Filipino movies, more so in theaters but I gave in this time. My office mates raved about it and one let slip that there was a scene wherein John Lloyd Cruz slapped Vilma Santos. Hmmm, that's something I should see for myself.

The movie does not disappoint. Actually, I'll go as far as to say I loved it. I found myself alternately laughing and crying. I didn't know if there would be a kissing scene between JL and Luis (I was quite sure there would be but none confirmed) and I kept myself alert because if there would be, then I didn't want to see it to spare myself a heart attack. I love JL and seeing him kiss another man is more than I could take. Fortunately, I closed my eyes just in time for the smack. Ha ha!

In My Life is a must see for mothers. I'll be sure to bring a copy the next time I'm home.

Image from http://www.pep.ph/index.html

Californication

I love David Duchovny. I mean, who in her right mind wouldn't? He's got to be the sexiest and the most charming man in all of Hollywood. If those eyes were directed at me, I'd probably swoon the first few seconds and then I'd agree to whatever he wants me to do. A bit exaggerated, yes, but I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

I have just finished watching the 2nd season of his Showtime series Californication. Just like the 1st one, I found it overly lewd. This is not me being prudish. It's literally about fornication in California. Notwithstanding its being obscene, I enjoyed watching the show because it's touching, it's undeniably witty, it's very amusing, and it's got excellent soundtrack (Mamas and the Papas, Lynard Skynard, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana among others. Have I mentioned the selection's excellent?) I love Hank Moody and his mostly sarcastic remarks. I love that he adores his daughter and his daughter's mother. I love Rebecca's flat, emotionless delivery of her lines. And most of all, I love how the conversation between them goes. I am so looking forward to the next season.

Here are two of my favorite conversations.

After Hank's vasectomy,

Rebecca: How's the package?
Hank: It's not a conversation I ever wanted to have with my daughter, but thanks for asking, sweetie.

Here's a tearjerker:

Hank: I know you're pissed at me. I know your mother and I have done some pretty unforgivable shit to you and I know you're rapidly approaching that age where the very thought of having a conversation with your father makes you nauseous. But I just want you know that I'm not going to quit trying, ok? Because you're the best thing that ever happened to me and I love the shit out of you.

Rebecca (wiping off tears): How's the balls?

Hank: Boys have seen better days, thank you. (After seeing Rebecca smile) Is that a laugh? My pain is funny to you? Jesus! You're just like your mother. You should know what that woman put me through.

Featured Music

Freebird by Lynard Skynard (Episode 4 - The Raw and the Cooked)

Karen, breaking off the engagement,
Karen: Angel, I love you so, so much.
Hank: I can't stay.
Karen: I'm not asking you to.

Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana (Episode 10 - In Utero)

Hank: Hey, what's wrong? You ok?
Karen: Kurt Cobain, he's dead!
Hank: What?! What happened?
Karen: Suicide.
Hank: That's a fu*&^#$ shame.
Karen: Yeah. And I'm preganant!

Nothingman by Pearl Jam (Episode 10 - In Utero)

Excerpt from Hank's letter:
I don't know what's going on with us. And I can't tell you why you should waste a leap of faith on the likes of me. But damn, you smell good Karen, like home. And you make excellent coffee. That's got to count for something, right?

Image from Google Images.

DVDx

Last month, I went through a personal battle and in an effort to ward off emotional demons the economy way, I bought a pirated 54-in-1 Brad Pitt movie collection in Blu-ray (just 17 full movies, actually) from one of the 2nd floor stalls of Traveler's Inn located in the notoriously perilous Carbon. **After seeing most of the movies in it (I refuse to watch Legends of the Fall), I swapped it with Sher Butter's 2009 Hot New Movies collection. I have about seen more movies than the previous two years combined. To prove that this is not an exaggeration, I will give you a list of the movies I've watched in less than three weeks' time: Contact, Interview with the Vampire, Spy Game, Snatch, Babel, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Ocean's 12, Ocean's 13, The Devil's Own, Se7en, The Fight Club, 24:Redemption, Eagle Eye, Vicky Christina Barcelona, Wanted, Juno, Dan in Real Life, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Taken, and Vantage Point. For somebody who is not a movie-goer, I say these are a lot.

While some of these were watched with only half the attention because the other half was focused on either nail cleaning or brow plucking, most were watched with an expression conveying enjoyment, and some even, with creased eyebrows and mouth ajar associated with total involvement and intense concentration. And where there's attention and/or concentration, there's also realization and/or observation, profound or not. I am sharing mine. Let me warn you though; they belong to the second category mentioned.

• I am adding Brad Pitt to my list of deities. I used to be in the opinion that he's all good looks and no substance. I was so wrong.

• Kevin Spacey has made it to my list of Creepiest Actors. So far, it's just him and Anthony Hopkins on that list.

• The Fight Club and Babel are really good movies. Go watch them if you haven't yet.

• Snatch is Pulp Fiction-ish. Benicio Del Toro is John Travolta and Brad Pitt is Bruce Willis. Pulp Fiction is, in my opinion, the better movie.

• Benicio Del Toro looks a bit like Kevin Roy of Razorback. Here's a picture. This was taken by Kid A during the Villains Tour concert last Dec 12.

• In Spy Game, a severely beaten Brad Pitt looked like Marc Abaya, former frontman of Sandwich and now of Kjwan.

• I developed a certain respect for Shia LaBeouf having had seen Eagle Eye. Still, I am not watching Transformers.

• Juno is a cool, cool movie with a great soundtrack. I'm pretty sure my parents, especially me ma (Snatch's Mickey), would react violently to it, though.

• I am so looking forward to the new season of 24. Kiefer Sutherland is god. He is my *John Clark of the Clancy novels.

• Lastly, I am still undecided as to whether Christian Bale is good-looking or not.

**I would have preferred traveling every weekend but that would have completely depleted my meager savings.

*I originally wrote Jack Ryan. Then I realized I like Mr. Clark better.

Toilet

I thought I was a fool for no one
But oh, baby, I'm a fool for you

Muse, "Supermassive Black Hole"


This is a formal admission. I am a Twilight-er.

I go against the flow most of the time. I lose interest on something that's liked by the major population. Considering the hype surrounding Stephenie Meyer's books and the Twilight movie, my normal reaction was to be uninterested. I refused to read the books even though my sister's been bugging me to death into doing so. I did not have plans of watching the movie in the big screen either, despite my officemates' persistent invitations.

But fate has it's ways. My landlady, who's in her early sixties, has one of those 36-in-1 movie collection, which was, of course, pirated. One Sunday last December, she knocked on my door and said "Jo, kabalo ka mu-operate aning DVD player? Gusto mi mutan-aw ni tatay nimo ug Twilight unya lahi man ang mu-salida." Oh, ok. So even THEY know Twilight. I assisted them and with time to kill, I decided to watch the movie along with them just to see what the fuss is all about. The copy was bad, the color was awful, and I sometimes couldn't understand what the characters were saying because my landlady would, every now and then, give a recap of the previous scene. With that being said, I don't know why I stayed until it was time for me to start preparing fpr work. It's maybe because I was busy deciding whether Rob Pattinson was good looking or not, or, it could be because I was finding it hard to understand why Kirsten Stewart got picked for the role and so I got occupied with convincing myself that surely, there must be something to her. Nevertheless, I found myself enjoying the movie and getting "kilig". Rob looked more handsome by the minute and I decided that, yes, Kirsten was fit for the role. By the time I heard Supermassive Black Hole during the scene where the vampires played baseball, I was already a dead fish.

So here I am, done reading all five e-books (including Midnight Sun--thank goodness for e-books!) and not getting enough of the soundtrack. My favorites are Collective Soul's Tremble for my Beloved and Blue Foundation's Eyes on Fire, aside from Muse's SBH. I've seen the movie quite a few times already (not once in the big screen, hehe) and I'm a sucker for anything Twilight. I am swimming with the current this time but, hey, what can I say? I'm just a girl and that's about everything you're gonna get.

***Toilet is how we refer to Twilight at the office. By the way, my landlady was sleepy halfway through the movie. Before she entered her room, she said "Boring man na uy. Wala may action!" I wondered what "action" she wanted to see.

Contact

"If the universe is composed of just us, it would be an awful waste of space.

"With all things equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the correct one."

These are unforgettable lines from the movie Contact which stars Jodie Foster and one of my personal deities, Matthew McConaughey (the list includes Bono, Sting, and David Duchovny, among others). For years now, I've heard from friends how great it is but I never got around to watching it until today. The movie is thought-provoking, as how Kid A would put it. The plot is ambitious but unlike Signs, I think they pulled off a good ending.

Harboring no illusions of being a movie critic, I will end this by saying that Contact is now one of my all-time favorites and that if you haven't seen this classic yet, then it's time to go to Carbon, Colon, or wherever and buy yourself a copy.

Explosive!

Yogi Hen is the one person in the office who shares the same taste in music as me. He's the only one who shares my passion for Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Radiohead, Beck, and U2. (You can bet he's the only one who knows all of them too!) Considering that, it's only natural that we share music downloads. Just last week, I traded Rico Blanco's Your Universe and Pearl Jam's Live at Benaroya Hall for Jack Johnson's 5 albums, Pedicab, and some Explosions in the Sky.

Explosions, what? That was how I reacted when Yogi Hen first ranted about the band. He made me promise I'd listen to the album and I jokingly told him I'd even make a review if he wanted one. Well, I did listen to the songs and I'm mighty glad I did. Missing out a classic such as this would have been tragic.

When I heard the first track playing, I immediately thought that the band's name was very appropriate. Well, saying that they're explosive is quite an understatement, actually. They're mind-blowing! Makes you want to stop whatever it is you're doing, however important it may be and just close you eyes and focus all your attention to them. Easily the perfect background for cozy and relaxing nights.

The last time I reacted this way was when I first heard Beck's Sea Change. It's amazing how easily Explosions in the Sky entered the list of my favorite bands.

As I'd normally say when something pleases me, "Panalo!".