with age, comes wisdom?

As such, the writers, of glossies with snippets I ear marked earlier and the opinions above are those of maybe, Gen Y. It shows by reading between the lines. Affirmations that the world is turning a new leaf and every commodity has an expiration date. Was it only yesterday I was waiting in vain for the Del Valle couple to discover the contents of Gardo's diary? Now, the original Mara is in her thirties and her market and demographic is growing older with her. Youth, it seems, equate power. Although when I was younger, I have to ask permission what movies, what shows to watch, not to mention being dependent on my parents for food, clothing and shelter. Of course, young slebs fans are not only concentrated on the youth market. But those in their twenties, with time to spare and fresh graduate money to burn can indulge in the shows and endorsements of their peer group, an age bracket I find utmost difficulty relating as I continue to reach old age with related body aches and milestones. But the genuine talent, who doesn't need the trappings of outside beauty to sparkle, will push aside trends and continue to rise through the heap of wannabes and maybes. In the long run, good looks fade, wrinkles appear and a younger version of an old star will dominate the entertainment scene.

Notes

Just for my reference.

high speed bike chase

in the slums. in the heaviest of Manila's traffic. the only reason I seek the Bourne Legacy (haven't seen all the previous Bourne films) because a few shots used my country's capital as a glorious backdrop. and movies sell more than documentaries. and blockbusters sell to the favoured denomination, of the portion of the global population who don't require to think, but just to watch, observe and follow. however long it took me to decipher (i'm a slow learner) that RP may not yet boast of elegance in its various metropolis. but when it comes to natural landscape, chicken barbecue and warmth of its guest relations committee, we're the sweet icing.

as for Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz, the film is too light for their range. but hope they enjoyed the views in Palawan (the closing credit scene in the boat).

watch and weep?

i cried, or was about to cry. not because it was gripping. no, it's just so bad. i had to look at the thesaurus for the different meanings of horrible, awful, ghastly. the premise might have been hilarious. but the subject of dire financial straits is not funny. never.

'twas fun!

I enjoyed the Oscars ceremony. The host was a brilliant choice. It's merely due to Family Guy as our default midnight viewing for years and years. I know some people find Seth offensive. But kernels of truth are, in other ways or forms, sting. Yes, we saw your boobs.

Hurray for a Daniel Day Lewis win! He has done well with a handful of movies and lives his life so out of the tabloids (in picturesque rural idyllic in my mind), it's so refreshing. Talent is not merely as deep as the lacking in melanin epidermis.

I might actually watch all of the nominated feature pictures, except for Silver Linings Playbook (might find it depressing) and I'll catch Les Mis in the West End (childcare and all), somehow.

on the 24th

one of my wishes in life is to be articulate, as a writer, a speaker, in any language, to enunciate with close to perfect diction, to write elegant prose, to speak and write the best hiligaynon, the poetic language of simplicity.
then there are others who are brilliant in any endeavour. as an actor, Daniel Day Lewis should be the standard bearer (or Jason Statham, whoever gets your drift). His Lincoln makes you forget he's posh English or he was Guido from Nine. if i have the time ( that's a huge If), i will watch every entry in his filmography, compare and contrast performances, be mesmerised and on the evening of the 24th February, Los Angeles time, I'll stay up late until dawn for his Oscar's speech.

antiphon

no, i'm not a fan.
although this piece may convey a form of irony.
it's just the hollywood machine,  selina kyle could have been played by a far less anorexic actress.

emma morley by someone who can pull an authentic Yorkshire accent.

for fantine, i'd go for joanna ampil.

it's dark knight

was it a good idea to have watched this prolonged saga of a comic book super hero during the countdown to new year's?

no. any other time would have been perfect timing.

was it any good?

a Batman with too much angst. a teeny weeny Selina Kyle. a luminous Marion Cotillard. Bane, doesn't resemble Bane of the comic books.

it's way too long.

and Emma Stone, yes.
Anne Hathaway is Fantine. i'll explain.

across an ocean, still in love?

the acting is superb, relying only on improvisation, with no working screenplay, as i've read. the sundance accolades are well-deserved. this film makes one use of the subliminal consciousness. love is already difficult without being apart. bureaucracy makes living, existing and loving even harder. the gist is that due to visa violations, the English girl (felicity jones) is banned on US soil. but the American dude (anton yeltchin) can work and play in the UK, only he doesn't feel at home, his furniture design business is in Santa Monica. they met while they were students in LA.

the story spans years and from the outset the girl is more invested in the relationship; leaving notes, creating scrapbooks, overstaying her student visa for a summer of passion, texting from across the pond, suggesting marriage. they get hitched in Camden. they have relationships with other people. they thrive in their professions. it's a complicated dynamics. after several years her ban is lifted and she abandons her life in London to be with him, only we don't know if they will end up together, not the typical celluloid offering.

shot on a shoestring budget, there are very few dialogues, it's mostly close -ups of emotions, or a cut on the girl's heel in one montage. but it makes one think. yes, long-distance sweet nothings are not new but whether bureaucratic rules are there or not, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

set in snow

Felicity Jones, the incandescent actress from Cemetery Junction, has the title role in Chalet Girl, one of those confections, where the ending is all-apparent when the film is only in its planning stages and the script is not yet written. I only checked this frothy meringue because Like Crazy, a love story with tears and emotions, feted in Sundance, was showing on Sky last week and a quick review of Miss Jones filmography revealed that Chalet Girl, whose preview trailer I encountered while I sat in a darkened cinema in Marble Arch, also stars the Oxbridge lass. Even if it was already shown on digital telly over and over, I simply didn't recognise it was the same leading lady as in Luise Miller, the play staged in Donmar Warehouse summer of '11. I tried but couldn't acquire tickets for that performance. Donmar, yeah right, with its capacity for ten people. Still wondering how I landed tickets for Life is a Dream.

Chalet Girl also stars Ed Westwick. I haven't seen a single episode of Gossip Girl (I'm not the target demographic) so I have to compare his English accent with his Chuck Bass drawl on you tube, concluding of not spotting a tint of difference. Or I'm just too daft to detect a variety in phonetics. I'm impressed with Jones' snowboarding skills. Despite not being the female Shaun White off cam, with a few lessons, she could certainly pull off competent snowboarder on screen. The views of Austrian snow is breathtaking and I've decided for this winter and the next, I need more colorful willy hats.

how horrible?

I really enjoyed my early evening viewing of Horrible Bosses. I couldn't envision a better, more erudite word. But it's funny.
The plot, the writing, the comedic timing of the cast is fantastic (Jennifer Aniston is no Rachel here). It could be crude, homophobic or racist. The kind that people with limited view of the world would frown upon and place it in a box of politically correct quips. But all the elements work and complement each other.

It's hard times (all my life, is hard fiscally) these days. So difficult that our degree of tolerance of whatever state of horrible is breaking richter scale records. However, we should persevere and divert our attention like catching this gem in a digital video disc, movie channels or web portals.

badge

my back aches right now. it's not something chronic, only a one-off, just this moment. i love to sleep and staying awake for feedings is a challenge. there are sacrifices we need to do for wishes to be granted. i'm so slow in exploring a few areas for improvement in my routines (like penning this blog) while a bit better in some others (pacifying baby screams).



with a portion of clothing covered in barf, i look almost as dishevelled as SJP in I Don't Know How She Does It. if only i could have an enormous an abode as kate reddy's in that movie. my family of three is in the process of moving house and its mechanism is a mind-bending undertaking. there are tons of issues to consider, which means dipping into a non-existent pile of coins under the bed.

 hope we can still eat.

dolorous

if i have the time i'll try to go through anne hathaway's film catalogue, including the princess diaries. although i'm still on the periphery for brokeback mountain, rachel getting married and get smart ( or the likes). there was a redeeming feature to bride wars, the elegant gowns for instance. i haven't seen les mis at the west end, i wonder how her fantine will fare in the celluloid version amongst cinema goers when it opens later in the year. from what i've seen on you tube, her rendition of i dreamed a dream could be enhanced (or i'm just tone deaf). since i prefer television as a medium these days, i gave the dark knight rises a miss until its digital premiere ( if there ever such a thing).

i haven't read the novel, One Day. but the movie version is quite poignant and sad. it's like another Love Story (1970), only spanning more than twenty years. when it comes to this genre, it's either formulaic or unconventional.  One Day is more creative but far removed from feel-good. if it helps, the leads are both good looking. emma (hathaway) is very hollywood, despite the British setting, her accent is a bit confusing (she still sounds like anne hathaway). whilst jim sturgess' dexter is not too hollow. there's a bit of depth in the screenplay but where's my happy ending? or i'm the one that's hollow?

fair shake

there are a few layers to The Help. there's the aspect of race and equality. there's the essence and psychology of domestic servitude and the relationship with the community. there's the simmering stereotype of roles in Hollywood. we can all leave that behind right now (really heavy stuff) and discuss in brief the movie's discernability .

it may appear it's based on real life's experience but the story is fiction from a novel of the same title. the film is all about the elegant acting of its wonderful cast. viola davis is mesmerising in the title role. you can feel her pain and suffering. we all know from the clips and trailers that octavia spencer provides most of the funny bits and yeah they're maybe hilarious in some levels. with different characterisation and hair colour, i can tell jessica chastain and bryce dallas howard apart. while emma stone, from Superbad to Zombieland to Spiderman is simply prolific. her skeeter may not have the required teardrop moments but she's in the lead.

do BFFs exist?

i view bridesmaids more as a drama than a comedy. i don't particularly find it funny. hitting rock bottom isn't funny. being usurped by somebody younger, richer, prettier as a best friend to one's BFF isn't particularly hilarious. it mirrors life in a lot of ways. we're deemed losers if we don't achieve a certain milestone at a certain age. but Annie (Kirsten Wiig) is not looking at the right angle. she may lose her so-called best friend but she still has her baking talents. she has that chris o'dowd character ( yes, the guy from The IT crowd is going places) hovering for a little bit of attention. her mother seems to have a top notch personality and a cozy abode when one is  in need of shelter.

i know a wedding shower present of blast from the past memorabilia cannot compete with a free trip to Paris. it's a shallow world out there, and tricky. our best friends sometimes get deluded with free, expensive stuff while we're struggling in emotionally and financially.

but all the loose ends (this, being a movie) get tied up in the end. although the wedding ceremony appears tacky. too much confection isn't altogether picturesque.

discard

was trying to declutter last week and found a box full of old articles from almost ten years ago.  what am i doing keeping and hiding them under wraps and leaving to wither amid the mold and the ever-changing  room temperatures?  i hoard a lot of clippings, i just love to read stuff.  these files were accumulated during the years i didn't own a printer. quite ironic as the one we have now is not functioning, such a hassle when one has an essay to submit.  there are still a few boxes that are in dire need of  despoiling.  i had let go of Lebron James and Kobe Bryant articles, even Lee Young Pyo. and a GQ (was it Esquire?) cover of Kirsten Dunst.  i reckon, i may have also thrown away a Vogue cover of  Reese Witherspoon, it was a profile before she won an Oscar. i  wasn't too disappointed or cried a bucket of tears because of that, it's just a magazine.  i could chuck a few more periodicals in the bin, i just get distracted in taking a look back at the cool writings, that's all.

advent calendars on display

regular Lego advent calendar



star wars Lego advent calendar

I'm totally hopeless in abstract reasoning examinations. Ditto with Lego parts and pieces. I couldn't connect the tiny dots. Kudos to the hubby for helping me out with the snowmobiles, yoda as Santa Claus and just about everything.

i like the house

death is a serious issue. taking care of a child is a serious issue. this is like three men and a baby but much darker. we go through predictable romcoms and montages, and life is hardly reflected in romcoms and montages.

the mansion, with the huge kitchen, what an American dream. both the towering protagonists have their great jobs. i particularly enjoy looking at the cakes and muffins.

connect, disconnect

during my debilitated state, i was reading, re-reading blogs about Filipino films, recalling all the great movies of the past.  there were loads of wonderful pinoy classics from the 50's to the 80's.  the output became quite so-so in the 90's until now.  that's just me being set in my old ways.  it's not entirely mediocre, it just depends on one's afiliation.  there are loads of showbusiness practitioners in Philippine cinema today, whether they have the acting chops or not is debatable.  will their stars continue to shine for decades?  who knows what the future brings?  it depends on career strategy,  will they make mistakes or the right decisions.

to continue the high school trend since Easy A, let's tackle the pinoy movie genre. of all the pinoy plots and melodramas set in a high school, after all these years, i only like one movie. 14 going steady (1984) was created to produce a new bunch of regal babies after maricel, snooky etc.  janice de belen was the highest-billed star in this flick, deservedly so because all others were newcomers.  janice was flordeluna and i was an avid viewer of flordeluna.  i was ten when i watched this on my own probably in Holiday theatre beside City Hall where my mom worked.

directed by  joey gosiengfiao, set in a private high school.  janice (maita) is rich. gretchen (lualhati) is poor. nadia (bobby) is middle-class and going through puberty. lualhati pretends to be rich and wants to be like maita. the film is about courtship, raging hormones, formation of an identity and all the stuff a typical teenager grapple and confound with in their daily interactions. i like the school paper angle.  can't wait to watch this again.  too bad i don't have cinema one.

high school rush to cinema

as promised (this is a good sign, i don't usually follow up the promises in this blog, i'll backread soon and excavate the abandoned covenants), here are my top three hollywood high school flicks.

in chronological order:

Pretty in Pink (1986) even when i was a teenager i watched this over and over, in betamax. Andie seems like a smart, hardworking, good girl who just happens to be poor in hollywood standards.  i reckoned if that was destitute, then i was living a super deprived life, not having a room of my own and who wouldn't want to go out with a guy like Blane (eeww, rich people with their names)?  that's a BMW he's driving?  Andrew McCarthy  is so cute, i wished he'd never aged.  goes to show that beauty is  truly skin deep. or only ugly people say that?

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)


two actors -- Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.
it's a literal adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew set in the paradise of  the young and the good looking and katherina and petruchio (patrick verona) are feisty but lovable characters.

Mean Girls (2004)
written by Tina Fey
this makes me sad.  Rachel MacAdams and Amanda Seyfried are currently Hollywood It Girls. while Lindsay Lohan is reduced to posing for Playboy, the nadir of all has-beens and looks decades older than her chronological age of 25. and she can act. truly act. and even sing. but her voice may have been ruined by inhaling nicotine, tar, even nasty carcinogens.  i'm not sure if looks can be revitalized, once ageing occurs, it's there to stay.

this film tackles cliques, in high school.  there's also the constant need to be liked and become popular thus be with the in-crowd.

runners-up -- Bring It On (2000)
Clueless (1995)