Crying Nights with Dear John

Not much movies for me this week, I watched Adjustment Bureau, Megamind (I watched it last year, this time with my brother), and Dear John. Adjustment Bureau was a chick flick, I realized, they just added this plot line involving controllists and magical doors. At the end of the day, Matt Damon looks hot and the story ended quite well (Read: They live happily ever after). Nothing much to talk about that movie but we learn that we cannot turn the door knob to the left because we might end up getting pursued with our puppeteers. Not the point of this blog post.

So last night, I bumped to this movie Dear John starring the dashing Channing Tatum and the actress from the recently big time film flop of 2011 Amanda Seyfried. All I can say after watching this movie is that it left me crying and crying with how broken John was after he received the letter from Savannah saying she's engaged. He was so broken he burned all the letters he has received. I was reminded by Steve Sandvoss from Latter Days. Channing's face and aura left a mark on me and I bet it will be haunting me for days, if not weeks. (To tell quite frankly, the Steve's story still haunts me and I watched that movie about two months ago). The imprint of loss and sadness stays in me especially when the narrative is told in such a moving way. In this case, the exchange of letters, the loneliness and uncertainty in the middle of the desert, and the longing were justified by the script.

The subplot which involves John's relationship with his father also touched me. Maybe because of my disturbed relationship with my family, but every time I see scenes involving family I can't help but cry. John grew distant to his father because of the coin collection. It turns out the "obsession" of his father for the coins is an outlet and a manifestation that the father is actually born autistic. The emotional distance between John and his father was reconciled when Mr. Tyree had a stroke and John realizes that his father is the most important person in his life. Next thing we knew, John was seating alone in his father's funeral. This contributed to John's character and in a way, brings John and Savannah together. It 's as if his father works for the reconciliation of the two lovers-- a reciprocation, much more like a compensation, for the long lost connection between the father and the son.

Dear John received a lot of negative reviews from the critics: Rotten Tomatoes gave it 28% rating while Metacritic rated 48%. Although in the Box Office, it placed no. 1 in its opening weekend. I might say that the script is actually a cliched tear-jerker but nonetheless, it didn't failed to leave a mark- at least for me. Dear John is absolutely a chick-flick, although cliched, but definitely worth the watch.

Movie Watch List: March 6-12

Just Go With It Starring: Jeniffer Aniston, Adam Sandler
50 First Dates Starring: Drew Barrymore, Adam Sandler
The Sixth Sense Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment
Forrest Gump Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
Coco Avant Chanel Starring: Audrey Tatou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola

Can you guess the connections among these movies (at least among the first four)?

Boring nights lead me to watching these movies. Movie breaks in between paper works are my private haven from all the stress, after all, watching the Twitter timeline can get boring. So Tuesday night, I found myself searching through PirateBay.org (Torrents are the most wonderful things ever invented. But that makes me a pirate. Who cares anyway?), and found a good copy of Just Go With It.  

Just Go With It is just like any other romantic comedies out there. Boy doesn't realize girl's hotness not until a vacation or something out-of-nowhere. This is just the kind of movie with no historical significance of its own but a good watch if you want a good laugh. The fake british accent of the drama queen daughter of Aniston was so hilarious that it made me want to practice Harry Potter Tongue. For more, Adam Sandler, who's character is unbelievingly rich, is so hot. Imagine hot body + sense of humor. Heaven.

The last point lead me to find another movie with Adam Sandler in it. So went to Google, typed "Adam Sandler romantic comedies" and boom, it gave me 50 First Dates. With my sudden Adam Sandler wanting, this movie is indeed a treat. Of course, Adam would not be Adam without those insensitive jokes but this movie made me cry. His character in here is so sweet that I wanna have an overnight anterogade amnesia for myself and have a boyfriend like him. The movie is heart-warming enough to evoke some tears, especially each time when Drew wakes up finding the video and knowing that she has that kind of disorder (And she has to go into that each day!) so that she get to experience Adam's love and the joy of having a daughter and also a life. Not a great movie though, but a great watch.

I get to watch Sixth Sense because it was mentioned within 50FD (Remember Drew's gift to his father?). Hahaha. I don't like to watch horror movies in the midnight (I usually watch around 12 AM) because I will be having difficulty of sleeping. So with my heart beating fast, I watched it and heaven do really loves me, it is not that scary. Of course there were the usual Oh shit! moments, but overall, it turned out to be a psycho-logic thriller. This gave me my occasional dose of thinking, and I was like, "Oh that's why!". But this movie lead me to think why Haley Joel Osment is the best pick for creepy child roles.

Speaking of Haley Joel Osment, the only movie which I saw him in it without him being creepy is in Forrest Gump. Well he looks creepy in it but the character isn't (He still look creepy in the real life! Right now! Have you seen his pictures?). Going back to FG, this movie is the "having sense" movie which deserves its Oscars. Tom Hanks is wonderful on his acting as the below-average-IQ guy. This movie made me realize that what matters most is the honesty of feelings. The truth is always conveyed in minimalistic, not those superfluous, words. This is a must watch before you die movie.

My last movie was kinda off. It does not relate to the other four movies on any other way. It just popped out of my mind, suddenly making me remember how I waited for this movie 2 years ago. Coco Avant Chanel is not the usual melodramatic film from real life. The drama is subtler and relies perfectly on the circumstances of the character. After watching A Very Long Engagement , Audrey Tatou is one of my favorite actresses (To be frank, Da Vinci Code didn't contribute to my liking of Tatou. Oh wait, Tom Hanks was there. Oh there, a connection.). Playing Gabrielle Chanel, the movie tells us the early struggle of the orphan who sooner will be the owner of the store selling thousand dollar bags. This movie is inspiring not to mention the wonderful line showcased at the fashion show towards the end of the show. Audrey looks stunning in the closing shot.

So yeah, another week passed with random movies that I watch.

Another Classic Re-imagined: Red Riding Hood

I love how Rapunzel was re-imagined in the animated love-story Tangled.  Not mentioning that Flynn Ryder is uber cute, the legend was retold with a realistic subplot primarily depicting how subtle greed and evil can be. Coming this March 11, another legend is about to retold in the horror movie Red Riding Hood.

Starring Amanda Seyfried, Lukas Haas, Gary Oldman and Billy Burke, this movie is about a forest girl named Valeria who fell in love with a woodcutter much to her family's dismay. The movie is directed by the Twilight Director, Catherine Hardwicke and produced by Leonardo Di Caprio.

Here's the trailer:

I'm excited!

Oscar Best Picture Nominee: The Social Network
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg. Andrew Garfield. Justin Timberlake. Arnie Hammer
Directed by: David Fincher
Produced by: David Fincher. Scott Redin. Dana Buinetti. Michael De Luca. Cean Chaffin. Kevin Spacey


Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 97%


Synopsis: This film follow the founding of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), a socially awkward resident of a Harvard Dormitory, had an inspiration from his breakup and what should have been an online bitch fight, he developed the world's greatest online phenomenon. But the road to heaven is not too easy as he faces charges of copyright infringement from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Arnie Hammer) while he endangers his friendship to his co-founder Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield).

Facebook is indeed the world's greatest online phenomenon to date. This generation has been a witness how Facebook (alongside with Twitter) revolutionized social networking from a simple connecting medium for friends and families to a platform of idea exchange and civilian journalism. I mean, Facebook and Twitter made it easier for news to travel and so on and so forth. The expected exponential growth that of Facebook, far more successful than Friendster during the early 2000s, raises curiosity to the persona behind this huge success. Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg is on the it-list as he amassed fortunes worth billions in less than 10 years.
Therefore, it is no surprise that The Social Network, loosely based from Ben Mezrich's novel The Accidental Billionaires, become the buzz and a hit on the blockbuster.

Quite honestly, I didn't find the movie that great. Partially because I like underdogs more (This move swept the Big four awards- there are only two others) but I just think that the movie is too over the top-- purely depending on the success of Facebook to generate ticket revenue. To be fair, I'm a fan of non-linear timeline: I mean, it takes too much effort and great creativity to create a story without confusing the audience. However, I found the film boring (Watched it in three breaks) because I was annoyed with Jesse Eisenberg's blabbering. I just see the movie as plain blabbering of Zuckerberg-- tactlessly bashing people, carelessly endangering friendship and back-stabbingly pretending to be a great ass.

Given that and of the primary principle of  fairness, I have to say that Eisenberg's acting really worked on me. I mean who else can act like that and have me smirk randomly whenever I hear him in my mind blabbering about the cup size of the girl who broke up with him ("Cup B, as in barely anything there" hilariously annoying).  I would not have any guy like that character dating me. Eisenberg is a natural actor, though, the script really flows within him (But not that great to overcome Colin Firth for the Best Actor Award). I should say also that the rest of the cast did very well in the acting, especially Andrew Garfield, oh god he is hot. It is fair to say that the motivations of all the characters are pretty well established that the believability of their acting is strong enough to persuade the audience. Note that siding on which side is hard enough.

It is just I heard so much about The Social Network that it was kind of implanted to my subconscious that this movie is highly commercialized/sensationalized. As I said, I am for underdogs so given the warm receptions of the audience and the critics, this movie would not disappoint if ever it wins an award. It is easy to say that The Social Network is not my cup of tea (So does Facebook).

Other Oscar Nominations:
Best Actor. Jesse Eisenberg
Best Cinematography. Jeff Cronenweth
Best Director. David Fincher
Best Film Editing. Kirk Baxter. Angus Wall
Best Sound. Ren Klyce. David Parker. Michael Semanick. Mark Weingarten
Best Adapted Screenplay. Aaron Sorkin

Oscar's Best Picture Nominee: The Kids are All Right
Starring: Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo
Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko
Produced by: Jeff Levy-Hinte, Gary Gilbert, Jordon Horowitz, Celine Rattray


Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 94%

Synopsis: Nic and Jules has the perfect family: their daughter is going to college with academic honors on her back, finances are strong, and they are just plain happy-- but the thing is, Nic and Jules are a lesbian couple. Given there unconventional family structure, Nic struggles to keep her family together as their sperm donor enters the scene and tries to win the favors of her wife and her children.

In these times when the society's dealing with homosexuals are relatively tolerable compared to previous era, everything is not just about a question of whether one is straight or gay, it is also a question of love (I have taken this quote from the French Film Juste une question d'amour). Love, as it is right now, is about who one is and how she sees herself from within. Although the present society prefers heterosexual relationship, it is not that unusual for us seeing a girl and a girl kissing or two men walking hand in hand.

A homosexual relationship is not easy to maintain-- I for one is a witness to this situation. For one thing, you are judged to be immoral and deviant and so many embarrassing (and most often than not, insulting) names. For us homosexuals, we are still persecuted at a certain extent. It is hard to tell the world that you love another guy, much more to show the world how you love the guy. Another thing in homosexual relationship is about insecurities- jealousy doubles its own chance. The Kids are All Right  explores the insecurity a homosexual (for this case, a lesbian) deals with her insecurities while maintaining the family she built for the last 18 years of her life.

Conflict started when Nic (Annette Benning) and Jules's (Julianne Moore) children met the guy who artificially inseminated the lesbian couple. Paul (Mark Ruffalo) hangs out with the two children too much and become attached to one another, especially Laser who just found a father figure from Paul. Things became worse when Jules started sleeping with Paul. Annette Benning's attack on the keen observer physician lesbian character flows directly from the characters motivation. Every time you see her in the screen, you can always feel the aura of insecurity she feels when Paul is around. Two thumbs up for the character.

Watching it, it is hard to identify at first whether Nic is too insecure or Paul is meddling with the family affairs too much. In Nic's point of view, Paul is a virus invading her family. On the other hand, Paul grasps the chance to change his life by connecting with his biological children. The competition between the two is subtly intense because they are two person from the opposite poles: Nic is firm with the rules for her children, Paul is loose; Nic is critical towards  Jules while Paul appreciates Jules' talent. Nic's character is troubled enough- he is loud, annoying and hypercritical in every sense- but we are gladly walkthroughed by the script towards her inner frailty when it comes to keeping her family as close as possible. Towards the end Nic won my heart and sympathy as Paul proved himself in the wrong side of the track.

This movie tackles the idea of traditional family values despite the unconventional family setting that Nic and Jules have. Trust is of the essence, as in any other kind of relationship, and it takes time and effort to make a marriage work. The good thing about this movie is that its warm atmosphere all through out somewhat resembles the warm atmosphere that a family should have: where everybody is free to think, to love and to be oneself.



Other Oscar's Nomination
Best Actress- Annette Benning
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo
Best Original Screenplay: Lisa Cholodenko. Stuart Blumberg

Goodnight, Benjamin!

Those were the last words of Daisy (Cate Blanchett) in the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). I can't help myself but cry while her soul departs her body during the hurricane. I believe that her unconditional love towards Benjamin (Brad Pitt) was finally rewarded through death, in which she can spend the eternity with him-- forever.
More often than not, we always see movies that projects the "conquering" of death through love-- of how the lovers successfully fulfilled their solemnly sworn "Till death do us part". However, by emphasizing the peculiar case of Benjamin Button's growing younger, the movie gave a new meaning in immortalizing love beyond the limits of life and death by elimination of the bias of age.
Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story of the same title, the story tackles the journey of Benjamin Button on growing in reverse: that is, from an arthritis-bed-ridden old "baby" up to his juvenile "dawn of life". Benjamin's conflict was highlighted by the love story between him and Daisy. The story progresses by emphasizing friendship, family, difficulties of long-distance relationship, fidelity and faith, and life and death. As Benjamin himself narrates every minute of his life through his diary, the story goes on with revealing points of clarification and of understanding in Daisy's and as well as Caroline's (their child with whom Daisy hid the truth that Benjamin was her father) characters.
After many years of living their separate lives as a ballet dancer and a sailor, Daisy and Benjamin finally settled as a couple once they meet at the exact same age. Realizing that the succeeding years they will separate in terms of aging, Benjamin becomes afraid of tearing Daisy's heart apart because of his condition. After their daughter celebrated her first birthday, Benjamin secretly left the mother-and-daughter pair "secretly" late at night in order to liberate Daisy from him while leaving her a chance to find "a father for their child".
Years passed, Benjamin traveled while Daisy became a private baller instructor and had his new husband. Benjamin revisited Daisy on her ballet studio with the same age as their daughter. Afterwards, they made love with each other for the last time before Benjamin become a little boy.
Years passed and a call from the home for the aged was sent to Daisy regarding about a boy who suffered from dementia and does not remember who he is. Later, it was revealed that the boy itself was Benjamin and Daisy took charge on caring for him not as a wife, but now, as a mother. Sooner, Benjamin "grew up" into a small little boy and died looking directly to Old Daisy's eyes.
It is sad of how life cheats unto the life of everyone, of how it suppresses the life of a true-lover. However, in the constant scourges brought forth by life, there is love that gives color and calmness to it. Daisy's condition was so hard that she had still love Benjamin for the rest of his life even though his memories deteriorated. Both of them were given justice and thus given eternity to spend with each other. Daisy and Benjamin just danced their own real-life pas de deux and thus were given aces after their final bow.
Heart-warming, touching and inspiring, the movie gives light to how people are differentiated in living life yet nevertheless bounded by a force that will enable them to live harmoniously and that force was LOVE.