A Prophet (2009)

 I read about 'A Prophet' recently and sought to see it. It didn't disappoint. It's a really gritty prison movie and is unique on showing some pretty much uncovered territory (in movies) in terms of ethnicity. Tahar Rahim definitely should be watched out for future roles. You'll feel sympathy for his character even if he does some pretty ugly stuff. Definitely a must-watch for movie lovers.

Who's Your Momma?!? - RED

There are a few obscure but very interesting and entertaining movies made in 2010. One is RED which stars Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich (I love his weird accent - - one that I remember from the first movie I saw him in -- Man in the Iron Mask), Morgan Freeman, and HELEN MIRREN. The point of this post is... you should watch this movie if only to see Mirren wield guns and a badass machine gun. It was really fun to see these geriatric actors as retiree spies slash assassins. Watch watch watch!

Come to you Momma Highness...

Movie Mission #1 - Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

This movie is preserved by the US Library of Congress and the AFI and is ubiquitous on a lot of Top 100 movies list. It stars Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy and Robert Redford as Sundance. It tells of the adventures of the two and is known for showing the beauty of Wyoming wilderness during the loooong chase scenes. The movie is all about people chasing the two actually. The cinematography is superb of course and the actors are top notch. One memorable scene is when Paul Newman is taking Sundance's lover around while the (later) Oscar winning song Raindrops are falling on my head is playing. I thought the scene was really out of place but it was a nice break in the mood of the movie. The best thing I love about the movie is the ending. History is questionable whether the real Butch Cassidy survived or not. And so the movie leaves you to decide whether the duo could have survived a barrage of gunmen. I recommend you watch Butch Cassidy for educational purposes. It may not be something you'll thoroughly enjoy as a relaxing movie but it will be a learning experience if you love movies.

Movies Movies

I love movies. I often forget to write something about movies I see here but you should know I download movies nonstop and often watch alone in the cinema too. I follow up on movies I have missed and especially make it a point to watch all the nominees for the academy award best picture and those that generate buzz in film festivals. I saw three movies in quick succession in the past days.

Iron Man 2 - Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Ron Cheadle, Mickey Rourke - The entertainment value of this movie is stratospheric. There was only one moment in the movie that my attention was lost. Mickey Rourke is crazy - a compliment - he's so believable as the villain. The action was great and the comedic timing of Downey as always hits the homerun. I'm just disappointed Terrence Howard decided to leave the franchise. It would have been better if there was a continuity in the actors. Even Oscar winner Gwyneth decided in the end to stay, why not him? The snippet after the credits hint at the new 'thor' movie... the one with Chris Hemsworth (brother of Miley's boytoy Liam Hemsworth) starring due 2011. The story also prepares the movie for the upcoming Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Avengers movie.

Young Victoria - Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Paul Bettany - I love this movie. Even if it's not very historically correct. I love the treatment and both Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend showed fantastic acting.

Three Kingdoms - Andy Lau and Sammo Hung - I'm a sucker for Kung Fu movies. I'll watch any kung fu movies with good fight scenes. This movie I thought had potential but it was dragging and there was a scarcity of good fight scenes. In the end, it was a mess. No wonder it didn't succeed in the west like most Jet Li movies which often had good story lines.

This is it!

I watched it with Verle. Wow... MJ was singing live at his rehearsals. I loved his unembellished voice, it's more solid than in his records or when it's digitally enhanced for the live shows. And at 50 he was still dancing better than his dancers half his age LOL... The world missed a lot when it didn't get to experience the real "this is it" concert... pity us....

I loved it when his dancers didn't go and rest during their rest-time but watched him practice, they were all down in front of the stage jumping and cheering enjoying him for themselves... and he's funny... I hope he's in peace. Rest well...

Marga Returns (for a while)

Marga returned from a while from Minneapolis to attend her oathtaking. Group G went out for dinner and.... the girls FORCED and TRICKED me into watching Kimmy Dora !!! X<
Happily eating cheesecake in Cibo...




Marga's new trodat, complete with nationalistic symbol...
Merry Christmas...
Starbucks endorsers...

Kimmy Dora is overrated... I only laughed for real when one of the twins was imitating her sister to protect her father's feelings... mostly annoying...

HP & the Half Blood Prince (Spoiler Alert!!!)

I thought that a very long time spent waiting for the sixth HP installment will ensure very satisfied HP fans both read and non-readers. I hate the fact that the movie dwell too much on adolescence, hormone surge and flirting and totally left out the fact that the sixth book is very pivotal in explaining a lot of things and setting-up the scene for the end of the series.

Important scenes that were left out from the book / unfaithful scenes :

The Room of Requirement - Harry was supposed to accidentally see Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem when he hides the Half-blood Prince's book.

Harry and Ginny's first kiss was totally different from how it happened in the book. Not that this is important but it is rather annoying and could have been omitted altogether actually.

The absence of the great battle scene at the end. The Order vs. Death Eaters inside Hogwarts. Epic. But amazingly absent from the movie. It would have been a great great scene something that could have rivaled Voldemort vs. Dumbledore although I think that scene from the HP5 also detracted too much from canon.

The most important thing to me was the fact though that Dumbledore did not freeze Harry at that encounter before his demise. I do not think the REAL Harry, and by that the character conceived by Ms. Rowling would have just stood there and did nothing while Dumbledore was wandless and his life threatened. No amount of promise would have stopped Harry from helping.

I think the ending was ok. I'm guessing they will start the next movie showing a short scene of Dumbledore's funeral and that's fine with me. I hated the rock concert sort of tribute at the end of HP6 though. Raising their wands sheeesh....

It was a good movie. Yes. A good movie by itself but an unfitting tribute to the book. Much like the first movie of the twilight saga...

Studying and Watching Movies

I just finished watching a very touching movie, Marley & Me. I could not help but shed a tear! The plot is a simple narrative about the life of a starting couple, and a dog and how their family grew. Mature and light, I could watch this movie every christmas...

I guess this is my therapy. I just could not go on studying continuously. I watch a movie, study, watch a movie, study... I hope I'm getting this right. I don't want to force myself because I know I could not retain what I'm reading that way. Anyway... back to reading...

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PS : In the course of the past weeks, I have watched/rewatched: Inkheart, August Rush, Bride Wars, New in Town, and Push. Yes. I love movies. I keep track of New DVD releases. I go to the cinema alone when I want to really absorb a movie. ;-)

Moviess

New model. Original Parts. Great movie. Fast paced and the effects are great! It was nice to see Vin Diesel and Paul Walker racing their cars again. A visual feast for those who adore cars.
I can hear all the girls giggling goodness... Anyway, it was funny, especially the character's best friend who is a dork, yes, but a filthy rich dork. I am ok on being a dork if I were as rich as he was.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

"Life is the Ultimate Work of Art"

I have never enjoyed a Woody Allen movie like this one. This is one of the best movies I have watched in the past few months. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! And Penelope Cruz was amazing in this. I loved her emotions. Urghh... I wish I could live that life, well not the sexual tension that they had, but the passion about life, and ART! Kudos Mr. Allen!

Full Synopsis : (Spoiler Ahead)

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlet Johansson) visit Barcelona for their summer, staying with Vicky's distant relative Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and her husband, Mark Nash (Kevin Dunn). A Narrator (voice of Christopher Evan Welch), present throughout the film, describes the two friends: Vicky is practical and traditional in her approach to love and commitment, and is engaged to the reliable but unromantic Doug (Chris Messina). She is in Barcelona getting her masters in Catalan Identity, a project spawned by her love of the works of Gaudí, and is emotionally moved by Spanish guitar. Cristina, on the other hand, is spontaneous and unsure of what she wants in life. She is just out of a relationship and wants to get over the bad time she had making a 12-minute film about Love.

At an art exhibition, they notice the artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Cristina is impressed with him at first sight, and grows intrigued when Judy and Mark tell the girls that the artist has suffered a violent relationship with his ex-wife, María Elena (Penélope Cruz). Later that night, the pair notice him across the room in a resturant. He and Christina exchange glances, and he approaches their table, asks Christina's eye color, and abruptly invites them to accompany him to the town of Oviedo, where they will sight-see, drink wine and, hopefully, make love. Christina accepts at once, but Vicky is skeptical and refuses. She is eventually convinced, and the pair accompany Juan Antonio to Oviedo on a small private plane during a storm.

At the end of the day, after some sight-seeing and a good deal of wine, Juan Antonio asks both women to come to his room. While Vicky refuses to sleep with him, Cristina agrees, but suddenly falls ill with an ulcer and food poisoning. For the remainder of the weekend, Vicky and Juan Antonio are forced to sight-see alone. During their trip, he tells her about his ex-wife and his loving but violent relationship with her. After more wine over dinner and a guitar concert in a park, Vicky succumbs to his charms and the two make love.

The next day, Juan takes them back to Barcelona. Vicky, feeling guilty, does not confess the incident to Cristina, and the two begin to grow apart, Vicky throwing herself into work and Cristina experimenting with photography and poetry. Juan Antonio calls Cristina back, and they begin to date. Doug suddenly suggests to Vicky that they get married in Spain in a civil ceremony, assuring her that their high society wedding will take place later in the States. She agrees, with some misgivings, and he flies to Barcelona from New York.

Cristina and Juan Antonio grow closer and they move in together. Suddenly one night, Juan Antonio receives a call that María Elena has attempted to kill herself. Since she has nowhere else to go, he brings her home, and she moves into the guest room. Though initially María Elena distrusts Cristina, she soon develops a liking for her and encourages her photography, which becomes better as a result.

Cristina soon realizes that the ex-spouses are still in love, and María Elena confides that their relationship was always loving but unstable because they were missing something, a mystery element neither of them figured out. María Elena now suggests that the missing link is in fact, Cristina, and the three indulge in extremely cooperative sexual relationships, as Cristina begins making love to María Elena as well. Cristina discloses the events of her life to Vicky, who appears secretly jealous of her friend's freedom, and to Doug, who disapproves.

As the summer winds to a close, Vicky has realized that she is unsatisfied in her married life, and is still attracted to Juan Antonio. She sees Judy cheating on her husband but understands why Judy can't leave her husband, and confides in the older woman. Judy, who sees Vicky as a younger version of herself,takes it upon herself to bring the two together. Meanwhile, Cristina realizes that she can't live in a threesome for the rest of her life and decides to leave Juan Antonio and María Elena. Maria does not take the news well and breaks down. Cristina goes to France to spend the last week of her summer. With their "missing link" gone, Juan Antonio and María Elena break up again.

As a final attempt to pair up Juan Antonio and Vicky, Judy arranges for their meeting at a party. He begs her to to meet him the next day. After lying to Doug, Vicky, against her better judgment, goes to Juan's home for lunch, after which Juan tries to seduce her again. She is about to allow herself to be seduced when María Elena enters the scene with a gun and begins firing wildly. As Juan Antonio takes the gun away from his sobbing wife, the gun goes off and Vicky is accidentally shot in the hand, wounding her slightly. Vicky shouts at both of them, calling them insane, and that she could never live like this, and leaves.

When Cristina returns from France, Vicky confesses the entire story to her. Doug is never told the true version of events. As the three Americans return to the USA, Vicky goes back to her married life and Cristina remains where she started, not knowing what she wants, but knowing what she doesn't. As Vicky chooses to live her planned, perceived ideal life and Christina chooses to live with no plans for life, they end where they begin.

Three More Movies...

Very intruiging story.

It's been so long since I've been emotional to something. The scene where Diana Lane contemplates on Richard Gere's death is moving.

Mmm. I think I understand the scorn this movie has recieved. I am not sure but I think there are moments they are trying to be funny when the overall theme was serious. Didn't like the development and there were times it was dragging. The only absolution? Amazing cinematography. The sweeping Australian landscape, the aerial shots (even if they are computer generated) and the old world look.

Movies I've Watched Lately

To prove that pedia rotation at the Philippine Childrens Medical Center is benign, I'm sharing the movies that I have seen this past weeks (2 weeks to be exact) :-)

Some of my friends didn't like the movie. It is a typical british movie with a lot of talking. I liked it though, I liked the plot, and the guy who played Lenny's son was a good actor.

What can I say?! Edward Norton. Amazing acting. Collin Farrel? He was great here too. I loved the story of police corruption in the United States.

Josh Brolin as Mr. W. Bush was really amazing. This movie is really funny. I can't help thinking... are these things true?! My God!

Meryl Streep. Mery Streep. Nothing more need to be said.

Contrary to the opinions of the Americans. I didn't like this movie. I don't need to see more slums than what I see around me.

Mr. Pitt deserved his nominations for this role. He was great!

The best movie I watched these past weeks. KATE WINSLET IS AMAZING!

august rush

incredible movie. it's about an orphan with a heavenly musical gift. his parents, a young irish rockstar and a julliard cellist met and shared a single night of love. they were separated by circumstances and the mommy thought she had lost her baby. 11 years later, the boy came looking for them... the best part, hearing the musical numbers.