Twilight

I read Twilight late 2007 without even knowing it was a phenomenon. Honestly, I didn't really find it that amusing when I read it that's why until now, I haven't read the rest of the books but of course, I was intrigued with what they've come up with in the movie. And so I watched Twilight Monday, with a friend after class while taking mental notes to myself.

As a teenager, of course I'm in love with the story. Who wouldn't be? It's such a cliche to talk "Forever" and what better way to show it than being immortal and cute. I did have butterflies in my stomach while empathizing with Bella. The lines were dead on mushy and cheesaay and yeah, that's how we roll.

But talking about the movie, it's a slightly different story. I loved the cast, I thought they did a good job on that. You can see both Bella and Edward in Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson. However, I thought they didn't really capture the real Edward Cullen in the movie. There's more to Edward than just blurting out "I love you" to Bella. Edward had humor in the book. He was funny and was a tease. Did I see that on the movie? No, except for that one scene when Rob Pattinson (with shades) and Kristen S. arrived in school together.

The musical scoring was off too. I laughed at other parts when I felt they just picked a song out of nowhere and put it in the movie. Like the scene when Edward was driving Bella to the Cullens' house. I felt like the music didn't know what it was up to. But I loved Paramore's Decode. I can't elaborate on the musical scoring further though because I'm not a pro but I really thought the scoring was meh.

I also felt like the movie was really long but when I checked the time after the credits appeared, it just rolled for about two hours. Maybe it was the middle scenes, when it was a drag. Some of the scenes were too much. I found it funny when Bella told Edward her theories in the woods, with Edward going all over the place. In the book, it was all gentle, tender, soft, you get the idea. And anyway, I was disappointed because the other Cullen characters were not really developed in the movie. They were all just in the background and they were flat.

But overall, the movie was good. Fans wouldn't say "the movie was totally different". But, they could've done better. I don't understand why they had a low budget for this film, were they not aware of the anticipation of tweens and teens worldwide? Come on, don't underestimate the power of fangirls! (Hello, Jonas Brothers) So to sum up how I feel about Twilight, it was like New Year's Eve: you're hyped up for the countdown, but when all's done after about two hours or so, you'd say "Ah, it's just another year,". Nothing much.

Do I recommend the movie? Watch it if you have read it. But if you haven't, don't have high expectations.

his stories

A little History always interest me. Although I hate memorizing every detail, I love discovering what happened in the past, hearing interesting stories and whatnot. Hence, I took American People this semester. Frankly, I know very little of American History. I only knew of it in a Filipino perspective and it's too limited. Knowing how America came into what it is now is something worth reading and it's helping me that one of the books my professor required us to read is targeted on college students. It's very easy to read, narrates the stories very quickly in a single point of view and just interesting. 

Before I thoroughly read it though, I saw The Other Boleyn Girl and despite not having very good reviews, it still satisfied my historic thirsts. I loved Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman acting as sisters. Jim Sturges played as their brother and what a hot family they could have been.  Ha ha. I don't want to review everything actually but the movie will just keep you intrigued with the whole sibling rivalry thing. Watch the trailer and I recommend you watch it too. I always had a flair with kings-commoners love stories and this one's a keeper. Don't expect a very happy ending though.

Wicker Park review

I waited four years just to watch this film. Its trailer convinced me to watch it but I just didn't have the time to see it and I don't know why I didn't even rent it on DVD. I've been dying to see this movie because it was the time when I was madly in like with Josh Hartnett, after seeing him on Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down. 

And then came Sidereel, a haven for movie lovers like me and I am thanking the people working behind these uploaded videos. Ha ha ha! If not for you I would probably end up renting this on iTunes which is a bit expensive. 

Yes, I am talking about Wicker Park. I know I am way behind all the fans who loved this movie but it's never too late to see it. Admittedly, I didn't expect a lot from it because I told myself I'd be satisfied just seeing Josh Hartnett on screen but I cried watching the final scene and fell in love with their promises, passion and obsession. Mind you, if I had Hartnett as a stalker I'd gladly give him my schedule everyday of my life. 

*Spoiler alert*

It started a little slow for me because I was a little confused about where it's leading to but the plot thickens when Alex came into the picture. It all started to make sense and became very gripping as I was thrilled with the events that were unfolding. Seriously. Imagine the things that you can do when love becomes an obsession.

"Love makes you do crazy things, insane things. Things in a million years you'd never see yourself do. But there you are doing them... can't help it." - Alex from the movie Wicker Park

I loved the last scene when it had the perfect song (duh! I didn't expect they'd play Coldplay) and perfect ending. Watch:

He didn't just ran over the girl but instead, he savored every moment after finally seeing her and he just stood there watching her sit and cry after all the secret details were revealed. It was really touching, like when he just put his bags down, fell down on his knees, caught her in a long warm embrace and kissed her very tenderly. Priceless!

Favorited!

Love Movie!

For another movie recommendation, I give you "Wristcutters: A Love Story" 

A romantic comedy that is VERY different from the rest, far from the movies you've ever seen. I recommend it to anyone who needs some cheering up to appreciate life more and just to live more.

An instant favorite, absolutely! Anything about love just cheers me up nowadays. And I think too much movie marathon triggers my innermost dream of making movies someday. Ha ha.

Running into the Wild

I bought an iTunes GiftCard yesterday and decided to rent a movie. It was a battle between P.S. I Love You and Into The Wild but I picked the latter because I saw its trailer last Fall and was thrilled. Rarely do I really recommend a film to anyone but expect me to do more movie reviews at this time of the year when again, I'm presently free from formal education.

Sean Penn's film was yummy meaning, when you finish watching the film, you will want to stay and sit longer even if the film ran for about 2 1/2 hour long. I watched the film because of its promise of a journey and was magnificently blown away after watching it. It fulfilled its promise and even ran beyond that because of its thick content of love, emotion, family, life and almost about everything. Take a peek:



I don't know if you cry in movies but I cried watching this. It was heartfelt and was really touching. The line that struck me hard? From the lead role himself,

"Happiness is only real when shared."

I can't add anything more to that.

That's basically it. Watch it with a friend or a family. And let's not forget it was based from a true story.

Let's Go Spotless

If you were to make a fictional movie/story happen in real life, what movie would it be? In my case I'd pick Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Have you seen the movie? I thought it was amazing. It was the first time I saw a serious Jim Carrey role. Basically, it poses the possibility of having to eliminate a person in your life, by erasing all memories shared with that person, down to his slightest presence. The process would be quick and easy that when you wake up, you are finally insert name here-free. Won't that be great?

A possible print ad. (yea, I did this. :))

You may say this isn't healthy, but I say it's freedom of choice. No more miserable nights, Kleenex-breeding trash bins and late night romantic tear jerker movie marathons, to completely dry one's tear ducts. Imagine if it happens in real life. There will be no more words for Denial stage, Moving-On, Getting there, Bitter (figuratively speaking) and all post break-up words imagined. I hate that I'm getting cheesy but overall, I am just thinking of a convenient way to spare every human being the freedom to fast forward their lives to the stage when they have completely forgotten the cruelty of a certain heartbreak. Screw that shizz.

If ever they meet up again, and hook up, then it's destiny that brought them together. I believe in its power! Ha ha. Although we can control our lives, there's still that supernatural force that brings people together even if they like it or not. As cliché as it may sound, there's still such thing as "the one" and believe me, you just got to have faith.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made it into my A-list movies because of its creativity, the way the film's made like how it appears to delete one's memory and all the special effects. Also, I just fell in love with the story and with its characters.

Anyway, I don't really know what I'd do if ever I'd get offered such a service.

But partly, I think, at the end of the day, guys and girls are hopeless romantics. They would still pick suffering. Besides, we love it. We love the pain, the sorrow because we crave for sympathy, partly wishing our *"exes" would see it too.

What do ya think?


*This is in general terms not necessarily speaking for myself.

Gray Matters

Being alone at home pushed myself to succumb to movie marathons, catch-up episodes of Heroes and the trying-hard-banoffee pie I'm making. Well maybe my pie isn't as good as Starbucks or even Red Ribbon's but I tell you, self-made is really sweet. Add more whipped cream and you'd be equally satisfied or maybe even more. :)

Last night, we did some grocery shopping and stopped by Hollywood Video to rent some movies. I was actually surprised when we had to pay 4 bucks to rent a single movie. That's quite expensive but anyhow, I need movies to keep me sane at home. So I grabbed Gray Matters, Knocked Up and Disturbia. And ticked off Gray Matters just a while ago planning to add it on my favorite movies.

It's already a delight from the start of the movie. Reminds me of my tour in NYC. The lights, the cabs, the buildings and that siren you hear from I don't know what. Heather Graham's performance was really great. She's convincing throughout the movie. No dull moments and the movie was really funny. Some might say this is some same old romantic comedy but watch it, it's in some way different than the rest. You might even have self-discovery by the end of the film. Ha ha. I was actually planning to watch it before but due to my busy schedule, I couldn't. And it's funny cause it's better to watch now that I'm completely alone in the house doing nothing while sipping Starbucks frappuccino. We've got loads in the fridge. Yum yum yum.

I hope I won't get fat. ;p