For a moment there I thought I was in one of my surreal dreams again. I used to have this one dream where I suddenly find myself in the bottom of the ocean, struggling to come up to the surface and when I do, I realize that I’m in one of those beaches in Thailand.

The movie was kinda like that. Well, sort of. Three folks fell into a volcanic tunnel and into a body of water. When they come up they were in Jules Verne’s center of the earth, captured to perfection by the author’s book. It’s a fun movie when you let your inner child run wild. The little kid promised himself a Masserati when he started picking out those uncut diamonds the size of his fist. I wonder what I’d buy if I get myself a few of those. The adult me however wanted first to think where I would sell those stones.

See how easily the adults turn something wonderful (to a child’s eyes) into something pragmatic?

If you have a couple of hours to spare, and a few pesos to spend, it would be fun to see this movie– unless of course you’ve already buried the little kid in you.

I had my IMAX cherry popped last Friday at the MOA.  I’ve skirted going to that theater for the longest time owing to the usually anemic movies they play there.  I like experiencing new things but at least there’s some good motivation to really get me started and stampeding dinosaurs aren’t exactly good enough reason for me. 

Last Friday however, I checked out the movie playing in MOA’s IMAX and was delighted to see The Dark Knight showing.  I was with the SO and a couple of her out-of-town friends who wanted to check out MOA and despite their not-so-subtle hints that they’d rather watch Mamma Mia instead, I still had them marching to my dictatorial beat. 

The IMAX entrance fee was a steep P416.  A bit painful if you think of all the pirated DVDs you can purchase with that amount.  Still, an experience is an experience is an experience.  And IMAX is something that any out-of-towner should experience, right?  Not that they had any say about it, the SO was already paying for the tickets even before they could say yes.  The fact that I was in a fragile mood the past week certainly contributed to the SO’s support for my cause.

The IMAX screen was huge! The cinema chairs are almost colliding with the screen ‘cept for some balcony railings.  We were worried that we’d get dizzy as we’re right smack in the middle seats and yet we get the feeling that we’re still sitting too close.

“Why make such a huge screen and only use a part of it?”

I remember an article I read about IMAX before and it said that for a movie to work in an IMAX theater, it has to be shot using IMAX cameras as well.  I guess they weren’t lying as some of the commercials shown prior to the actual movie were all blurred and of very poor quality.  It also confirmed our fears that we’d get dizzy from watching too close to a very big screen.

When the movie started, we were relieved as the opening scenes showing the producing company only took about 2/3 of the screen which led one of the townies to remark about the waste of screen.  I think the exact statement made was “Why make such a huge screen and only use a part of it?”.  The remark was made quite loudly which made a few heads turn to our direction.

Of course she spoke too soon.  After the opening credits we were taken on top of a building and we’re actually looking down at the streets  below us.  “So that’s what the balcony is for!” I said to myself.  It’s like were up there with the chopper filming the movie.  It was something new and it was good!

The rest of the 2 hour and 30 minute movie passed in a blur.  I was totally awed by the clarity of the picture and the panoramic view that IMAX brings.  It’s really quite different from the usual movie.  I was hoping that IMAX would place me beside the actors or that bullets fired would be whizzing underneath my hair, but that was too much to hope for I think.  It was still quite an experience.

But the question is would I be watching IMAX movies from now on– not in your life.  Too expensive.

Batman: The Dark Knight

I was hungry for the next Batman installment when Batman Begins ended.  I thought Christian Bale was brilliant as Batman.  Somehow the previous Batman movies did not really make a fan out of me.  I thought they were overbudgeted and just showed special effects to lure people into watching.  Most of the time they capitalized on big named actors to make a killing at the box office. 

With Batman Begins they started incorporating some sense into the film and some acting too.  Actors did not just simply smiled their perfect smiles and that’s it.  Batman, played by Christian Bale, had me thinking of my own desperation and the sometimes hopelessness that comes along with it, so I wasn’t really surprised that I got excited when The Dark Knight movie was announced.  To catch it on IMAX was the icing to my anticipation.

Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman’s archnemesis in the movie, was fantastic.  He completely took over the Joker role, portraying the character as a menacing, malevolent badass.  I think Jack Nicholson would be ashamed of his own Joker performance.  If I’m gonna be a bad guy I’d like to be Heath’s Joker– bad through and through and wrapping Batman silly around his fingers.  I think the unkindest cut was when he mixed up the location of his two hostages towards the end to confuse Batman.  That was pure evil and pure genius!  You should watch the movie (preferably in IMAX if you haven’t been to an IMAX movie) to appreciate this.

After the movie the two friends said they liked the previous Batman movies better.  Whatever.

Fans of secret agent 007 rejoice!  Another James Bond movie is at hand.  Quantum of Solace hits the big screen in November.

Looks like another dark movie from the James Bond franchise.  This time the movie sports a rather pretentious title.  It seems the owners of the franchise are no longer content with just changing 007′s personality.  They now veer away from the playful titles as well. 

There’s no denying Daniel Craig’s raw intensity though.  I think he fits the secret agent type better than the debonair flamboyance of his predecessors.  I just hope they make whatever fancy car they intend to blow up in the movie last a little bit longer than the last time, when the supersleek Aston Martin did a cameo role before goin belly up.

Quantum of Solace Trailer

Another friend left our company to join the rank of the self-employed. I am saddened and at the same time glad that she finally found the courage to pull the trigger. It helped immensely that she had something waiting for her at the other side of the pond, otherwise she wouldn’t have been so brave.

Her departure left me thinking about two things; the first is about that pivotal moment when one arrives at an irrevocable decision to cut all ties cleanly. How can you really say that you’re ready to let go? Should there always be a safety net just in case the person or the object that we are relying on to catch us won’t be there, or should we just say fuck it, close our eyes, and jump?

The usual answer, one that has reached cliched proportions, is ‘to follow your heart’. It’s a very romantic notion but it sure wouldn’t be of much help when you get hungry. Somehow the words hungry and happy seem out of sync when used in one sentence. Hunger, I think, will always lead to not so happy feelings. I don’t know which is worse, being hungry or being miserable.

It also made me think about the last words said in the movie Wanted starring the luscious Angelina Jolie:

What the fuck are you doing with your life?

Never mind the expletive, it’s there to emphasize a point. The question however, deserves to be answered– what the fuck indeed are you doing with your life? Are you staying with your miserable job because of the fear that you’ll be hungry afterwards?

It takes guts to answer this question truthfully.

I took a break from an entire day of watching DVDs in my room to go to the mall and what else, watch a movie. I had to get out. I felt like getting cooked in a slow boil inside my room. I’ve always loved summer but working in the nightshift means that I have to sleep during the day when the sun is at its hottest.

I just finished watching Penelope then, that pig snout of a girl played by the delicious Christina Ricci. She was cute when she played her character in Casper but she was the bomb when she joined the cast of Ally McBeal. It was an ok movie, I guess, compared to the previous action flicks from Thailand and Korea.

Korean films can match the worst of Filipino films in terms of sappy dialogues but what they have a definite advantage over our movies is that they focus more on tragedy compared with the pinoy’s penchant for happy-ever-afters. The Thai movie was atrocious. I had to stop watching it midway. The Korean movie – The Superfighters – I finished. Except for that portion when they exchanged those barfy lines, it was actually entertaining.

Waiting for me at SM is Doomsday. I kinda like it. The gore is enough to keep you awake, and the lead character, Rhona Mitra who once was in Boston Legal, had the physique to make her action sequences believable. Just don’t think too much while watching the film or you’ll find so many holes there’ll be nothing left to watch.

By the time I got home, traffic was building up and the less than kilometer drive from the mall to my house almost took an hour. When I opened my bedroom it felt like Rhona Mitra stepping off the shower, barefoot, wrapped in white cotton towel, water still dripping from her hair.

It was hot.

Tonight I watched a movie that gave me goosebumps almost all throughout its entire showing. Right after it ended I knew I had to write the experience right away but alas my web host is not cooperating. So I had to put this in notepad for a while and wait for my site to go up.

The movie is August Rush. It tells the story of an orphan who is gifted with music. And he uses this gift to reach out to his long lost parents. Words fail me in trying to capture the magic that has captivated me all the time I was watching. It is a movie that everyone MUST, MUST watch.

This is one of those movies that makes you want to grab somebody beside you in a bearhug and not let go for a couple of minutes. It’s just too bad that I’m alone while I watched this. I totally agree with what one critic said about the movie;

“Your heart will be singing and your spirit will soar!”

I have yet to come back down to earth.

But only 3 of them are worth talking about.

On top of the list is Love In The Time Of Cholera starring the recent Oscar Best Supporting Actor Winner Javier Bardem. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is as complete as a movie can ever be. Great acting, great story, great cinematography, and great soundtrack (I think by Shakira). The premise of course is how long we are willing to wait for love. In Florentino Ariza’s case, he waited for more than 50 years for his beloved’s husband to die to be able to propose again. It is a lifetime of waiting interspersed by women who shared Florentino’s bed if not his office table. Too many women in fact that one would wonder whether he was really unfortunate to have spent his life away from the love of his life.

When they finally became together again they were more than 70 years old and it is to the directors everlasting credit that he would show these two making love, even showing the very ancient Fermina Daza nee Urbino in all her naked glory. You can imagine my grimace upon beholding the mammary glands of a woman in her super advanced age. If you are familiar with GG Marquez’s works then you have an idea of the amount of work that must have been involved to have come up with a less than 2 hour film based on a book that’s at least 600 pages long. But they captured it beautifully. One could argue that the book is still far superior than the movie (which is more often than not the case), but what the movie has done is provide form to the imagery that Marquez created. The result is a heady mixture that tantalizes the senses. A triumph if I may pretentiously say so.

My Blueberry Nights marks Norah Jones’ acting debut. Norah Jones is best known for her 2006 Grammy Award winning album Come Away With Me. It is the story of a young woman struggle to continue living despite a broken heart. Unlike Florentino Ariza who screwed his way to while away the time, Liz (Norah Jones’ character) traveled across the country working as a waitress in whatever town she finds herself in, in order to pick up the pieces. She spends her free time writing on a postcard that she sends to Jeremy (a kind café owner who kissed her lips when she got wasted and slept on his bar) played by Jude Law. I find the writing and the postcards very romantic. Not many people do that anymore. To hear Liz talk about it, she was only crossing the street to Jeremy’s café. But instead of going about it directly, she took the scenic route and healed herself first. The movie is directed by Wong Kar Wai.

3:10 To Yuma is a western film featuring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Gah the ending totally messed up the film. Although this is not to say that the movie was excellent until the last part. I think there are a lot of flaws in that movie, chief among it is Russell Crowe himself. I do believe that when one man lives his life as a cold blooded killer who would easily kill another person by stabbing him repeatedly on the neck with a fork or just as easily fling somebody down a cliff, there has to be some noticeable trace of that menace on the person. There should be some palpable psychotic glint in the person’s eyes or a sneer, anything. It was hard to look at Russell and not imagine him as the good guy. Oh well.

Other watched movies:

La Vie En Rose – Great acting, don’t like the music.
Bee Movie – Too fantastic
Sleuth – Boring
Walk Hard – Amusing Enough
Meet The Spartans – Ugh
Deal – Gambling movie
All In – Gambling movie (Hey, I’m a gambling man)
The Magician – Wrong CD inserted. Bastards.
Vantage Point – Repetitive. Sorry. I don’t care how noir it is.
Wassup Rockers – What a drag

So I got my wish. 2 out of 5 in my Oscar Picks got the vote. It’s a no brainer really. There was no way Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem were gonna lose. The rest? Oh well.

Heres the link for the complete list of winners. 2007 Oscar Winners

I got a bonus though. Falling Slowly that lovely song in the movie “Once”, the same song that the lady commenters here really liked, won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

This is him in No Country For Old Men (winner, Best Picture). Scary dude.

Oscar Picks – I haven’t really watched all the Oscar nominated movies, only those movies that matter – at least to me. My one true delight was knowing that Juno, a little movie that I thought would never be shown in our local cinemas would be one of the Oscar picks for 2007. For my Oscar picks, I only limited myself to the 5 major categories. Sorry, no appeal will be entertained (nyaha!), I’m writing this for myself.

Here they are:

Best Picture – There Will Be Blood
? I was one of those folks who bolted from their seats halfway through this movie. I was bored to death. Good thing I was watching it on DVD, so when my back-up DVDs were all consumed, I had to go back and finish the damn thing. And I’m glad I did. The movie was so fluid and the range of humanity displayed in the second half more than made up for the seemingly lackluster first half.

Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
? Hands down, the Oscar is as good as his. This is my best chance of actually getting something right among all my Oscar picks.

Best Actress – Ellen Page, Juno
? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that this diminutive actress will score a huge upset come Oscar night. I hope.

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
? Gad, this guy gave me the creeps when I watched No Country. His demeanor, his hairstyle, his gun; he was crazy scary without even trying.

Best Supporting Actress – Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
? This was Amy Ryan’s breakthrough performance. And besides, George Clooney agrees with me.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I get at least 2 out of 5.

Technorati Tags:oscar picks, oscar picks 2007

It’s amazing what DVDs one can buy in Quiapo these days. Proof of that is this little beauty here.

I have always been a music fan. Although being a fan does not always translate into being a musician (so true in my case) this still does not dissuade me from loving music. I especially like music when it’s incorporated in a movie. I think the written word becomes more dramatic when burst into songs. I believe all words aspire to be sung one day.

The plot of the movie is simple enough. Boy travels to the big city to find his dad, got disappointed, fell in love with a beautiful girl, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda. The cool thing here is that every so often, the characters start singing. And all of their songs are Beatles songs no less. What’s there not to like?

You’d have to be really emotionally stunted to not feel anything for this movie– what with the Beatles music, the powerful imagery, the psychedelics. This should qualify as a musical but I don’t really give a hoot. It made me forget that I’m absolutely bereft of sleep and should have spent the time watching this movie– in bed.

I think that if you’re a Beatle’s fan, it’s almost a sin not to watch this movie.