Dan + Blair = Dlair

Watching Gossip Girl has never been such a kilig more than ever. I mean, seeing Dan and Blair flirt through fight with each other is so cute. I really hope that GG writers will pursue this coupling.

Photo Courtesy of fuckyeahdair.tumblr.com

"I, Blair Waldorf, need Dan Humphrey's help"

Kilig. Dan regains his hotness back after being dumb following Serena's ass. And all I am waiting for now is for them to kiss! Lonely Boy and Queen B for the win!

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

Yey for me last night!

Just want to share:

Last night, I called the show (Good Times With Mo the Podcast) to ask for an advice on how to win back my ex-boyfriend. I will not delve in to the details on our breakup but I will just tell you that it hurts me so much without him for these past few days. Luckily, Mo is got soooo mabait and he and Rhian gave me a valentine's package from Quickdelivery.ph and to ask my ex out. Yey for me!





I invite you guys to listen on weeknights 9-11PM starting next week. Got a love/sex/relationship questions? Don't be shy and ask them out to the Philippine Genius Mo Twister and Dr. Gan Montenegro. Each caller wins aPhilipps Go Gear Mp3 Player from Tradeport.com (and the cool thing is that, they will deliver it straight to your home) and a chance to win  cellphones, laptops and GC's from Fridays and SanMig Light.

****
PS: Yesterday is a very awesome day for me: I saw my first love, my happy crush texted me and I got a chance to win back my love of my life.

Oscar's Best Picture Nominee: The King's Speech
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
Directed by: Tom Hooper
Produced by: Iain Canning, Emilie Sherman, Gareth Unwin


Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95%

Synopsis: . His Royal Highness Prince Albert, Duke of York (Colin Firth) has to overcome his insecurities to deal with what his royal duties imposes on him but the greatest impediment to his public duties is his speech impediment. He must deal with his stammering first in order to face the challenges imposed by the Abdication of his brother, the former Prince of Wales, and ultimately leading his country to war against Hitler as King George VI. This is the story of how "Bertie" found a way to overcome his speech impediment and most especially, found himself a friend.

His Royal Highness Prince Albert, Duke of York stammers. He can't even say a sentence in a single blow that is why he was left standing behind the microphone on his first broadcast-- leaving him humiliated in front of his father's people. In the first scene, I cannot help but to sympathize to the stammering and the sense of desperation is obvious in the face of the Duke and the Duchess (Helena Bonham Carter. Yes, Bellatrix Lestrange). This leads to the therapy sessions with Lionel Logue, which is so confident of his methods that he even insisted to be in first-name basis with the Prince-- a serious protocol breach.This device to create the equality inside the confines of Logue's consultation room works in two different levels: One it establishes the authority of Logue from the Duke's behavior and as a presage to a relationship deeper than a doctor-patient corroboration.

It is hard enough for Bertie to become a stammering prince, so what more when his brother abdicated the throne (King Edward, played by ) and the royal duties to become a King and Emperor of the British Empire would be too much for him? It was explained that the stammering is acquired (Prince Albert does not stammer when he talks to himself) and it roots from his strict controlling father (portrayed by Michael Gambon) and on how his defects were corrected. He was forced to be a right-handed and forced to wear painful metal splints to correct his bow knees.

The therapy sessions involves series of motor exercises which includes rolling and waltzing and shouting in the window. It is an unusual method and it was revealed the Lionel was not a medical doctor but a failed actor who treated shell-shocked victims form World War I. This confrontation, the climax of the movie, revealed the strengths of both actors as they deliver the lines so powerfully that it doesn't just evoke the confirmation of the success of the therapy (King George said, without stammering, "I have voice") but also a sense of release not only from the insecurities of Prince Albert but also on the superficial protocols. This had me a change of heart and now I am for Colin Firth for the Best Actor award (Sorry James Franco, you are still hot anyway).

Again, subtleties works best for me. What strikes me the most are several explanations of the current behavior of the present monarchs. For one, during a scene where the Princesses of York (the future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon) asked the Duke to tell them a story. This particular scene reminds me of the movie The Queen starring Hellen Mirren where it was shown the Queen's love for dogs (there are dogs beside the Princesses). Another thing is about how the Duchess (Bellatrix Lestrange for Best Supporting Actress!) strict abidance of the protocol (obviously manifested by her partiality towards Wallis Simpson, and the scene with Myrtle Logue when she teaches Mrs Logue on how to address her). This reminds me of an anecdote I read about the Countess of Snowdon and her very strict nature when it comes to protocol (it must be noted that the young Princess Margaret calls her father Your Majesty in the film). Indeed, the late Princess must be inherited these behavior from her mother.

I am always amazed by the intricacies of the british monarchy---especially it's complex protocols most specifically in the title and styles. The British Monarchy is the most interesting family for me, having ruled in an unbroken chain for centuries. With The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen, and The Young Princess on my movie repertoire, The King's Speech is yet another great addition to the history of motion picture as it is compelling and inspiring at the same time.

Other Oscar Nominations:
Best Actor (Colin Firth)
Best Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush)
Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter)
Best Director (Tom Hooper)
Best Film Editing (Tariq Anwar)
Best Art Direction (Eve Stewart. Judy Farr)
Best Costume Design (Jenny Beaver
Best Sound Mixing (Paul Hambling, Martin Jensen, John Midgeley)
Best Original Score (Alexandre Desplat)
Best in Cinematography (Danny Cohen)
Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler)
***Note: TKS has the most nominations for this year's Oscar's