Seen 5 : The Before Trilogy

1. Before Sunrise (1995) – ☆☆☆☆ – This one’s just okay. Liberal. Dreamy. So so. 2. Before Sunset (2004) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Among the three, this one is my favorite. IMHO, it’s a thousand times better than Before Sunrise. Or maybe it’s just because “second chances” and “the one that got away” always get me. This movie swept me away! 3. Before Midnight (2013) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – This. is. how. love. stories. should. be. done. Complicated and ugly and messy and enduring and beautiful!

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“Like sunlight, sunset, anything so ephemeral. Just like our life. We appear and we disappear. And we are so important to some, but we are just passing through.” – Before Midnight

Seen 4!

1. Daydream Nation (2010) – ☆☆☆☆ – Nice flick. Different and refreshing. Reece Thompson. Enough said. 2. 3 Idiots (2009) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Aal izz well. This movie is crazy! Must watch! 3. Warm Bodies (2013) – ☆☆☆☆ – Pretty cool. Predictable. 4. Side Effects (2013) – ☆☆☆☆ – eff yeah! Rooney Mara! Good movie. 5. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004) – ☆☆☆☆ – Dafaq did I watch?  6. Gran Torino (2008) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Neat! Badass Clint Eastwood. Wooo!

Seen 3!

1. The Oranges (2011) – ☆☆☆☆ – Leighton Meester and Hugh Laurie ♥ What is wrong with me? Haha! It’s entertaining though. 2. Silver Linings Playbook  (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – I fell in love with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. Crazy flick! 3. Paperman (2012) – ☆☆☆☆ – Black and White. Animated short film. Cute. 4. Smashed (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Very nice movie. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is just amazing. 5. Argo (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Kudos to Ben Affleck for this! Two thumbs up! 6. Seven Pounds (2008) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Tearjerker! It’s an awesome film. Will Smith and Rosario Dawson were incredible.

 

 

Seen 2!

1. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (2012) – ☆☆☆☆ – I haven’t read the book yet but maybe someday I will. Entertaining flick. Reminded me of how beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead is. 2. The Rebound (2009) – ☆☆☆☆ – It’s a nice chick flick. 3. Pitch Perfect (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Aca – awesome! Hail Rebel Wilson and Anna Kendrick! Made me love Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds! Talk about LSS! 4. Django Unchained (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Tarantino does it again! Genius! A twisted and violent tale with a happy ending! This film’s a must watch!  5. Butter (2011) – ☆☆☆ – Meh! 6. Ruby Sparks (2012) –  ☆☆☆☆☆ – Written by Zoe Kazan. Epic! Perfect! Two thumbs up! (:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Epistolary Novel. Young Adult. 1999.

Charlie is a freshman. And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his year yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Here goes whatever: Charlie is 15. He’s supposed to act like someone who is 15! Okay, maybe I’m just being insensitive about him being mentally unwell and traumatized and all but still, 15 years old and that naive? That’s kinda hard, if not impossible to pull off. I honestly think he sounded more like he’s 12. My favorite character is Patrick, I won’t be able to give a reason because there ain’t one. Haha! One thing I admire about the story is how it rendered Charlie’s emotions to be all over the place, plain yet quite catchy I think. I want to read some of the books mentioned in the story, maybe see things for myself.

The book doesn’t have an overwhelming plot or an impressively unique prose, it’s actually very simple and I guess that’s what made me enjoy reading it all the more. It’s such an incredibly light read!

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Okay, so part of the reason why I watched this movie is Ezra Miller. He’s queer, I know but it doesn’t really matter. He’s just so beautiful! Yeah, that’s that! Haha! Okay, the movie is great. It’s a really good thing that the author of the book, Stephen Chbosky, is also the director of the film because basically, he’s the one who knows what is important to be shown so that the film doesn’t deviate from the story in the book. He knows the essence of the story and I think no one can depict what is in the book better than him. I utterly think that Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller were perfect for their roles. I just wouldn’t have it any other way. The naive 15 year old Charlie in the book was not in the film and a regular adolescent Charlie is there instead which is way better in my opinion. This film actually made me wish I am more whimsical.

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I enjoyed reading the book as much as I did watching the film. The story left me hanging and wanting more of Sam, Patrick and Charlie’s friendship. (:

“We accept the love we think we deserve. ” – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

“It’s just that I don’t want to be somebody’s crush. If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it too.” – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee. Classic! (:

To Kill A Mockingbird is a great book. It’s a wonderfully written literature with solid plot and appealing characters. The story has humor and compassion, it showcased love and kindness as well as contempt and cruelty and fairness and injustice. I honestly disagree to confine the story’s concentration on racism because there’s so much more to be recognized in the plot like childhood adventures, family, dignity, empathy, etc. It’s a hard-to-put-down novel. The story is moving and motivating. I think everybody should read it!

1962. Directed by Robert Mulligan.

I watched the movie immediately after I finished reading the book because I challenged myself to point out the differences if there are any. And though those differences appeared to be very apparent, I was glad it didn’t deflect the whole story, I mean the core was still intact despite changes. The movie concentrated more on the trial (Tom Robinson’s) and Atticus Finch being a moral hero and I don’t have any complaints about that whatsoever. Gregory Peck would always be Atticus Finch to me, I just can’t imagine another face as Atticus.

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is now definitely one of my favorites! There’s just something very likeable about it, as if everything I’d want and need in a book is in it. The movie, however different from the book is still a good one. It’s worthwhile and decent. Scout and Jem Finch would always be dear characters to me. I’d like to think that somewhere out there is an Atticus Finch who’s a cool and wise father and a man of integrity. He’s sorta one of my heroes now. (:

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

“Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. “Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

Seen!

1. Precious (2009) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire. Made me cry! Great movie! 2. Casino Royale (2006) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – I fell in love with Bond and Lynd. Awesome movie. Definitely one of the bests! Two thumbs up! 3. Quantum of Solace (2008) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Another great one. Olga Kurylenko was really good. Daniel Craig made me realize how much I hate Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. 4. Brave (2012) – ☆☆☆☆☆ – Fun!  5. Rango (2011) – ☆☆☆☆ – Enjoyable though a bit boring at first. 6. Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) –  ☆☆ – Okay, don’t hate. Haha! I saw this one on the shuttle bus. I’ve always preferred the book. 7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid : Dog Days (2012) –  ☆☆☆ – This one is just okay. I think I like the first one better. 8. Mystic River (2003) –☆☆☆☆☆ – based on Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same title. One of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Sean Penn and Tim Robbins were stupefying. Clint Eastwood did a really good job on this one. 9. Ted (2012) – ☆☆☆☆ – Dafuq did I watch? Haha! It’s good. (:

Skyfall

“Skyfall is bloody awesome!” – Me with a sexy british accent. Lol.

Skyfall is the 23rd film of Ian Fleming’s character James Bond. The film features Daniel Craig *swoon* as James Bond and was directed by Sam Mendes. The movie’s release coincided with the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond movie (I think). It is also the first Bond film to have been screened in IMAX theaters.

I’ve watched a few Bond films before this one but I was never really a fan of the infamous 007.. well, not until I watched this one. Haha! Let’s just say a change of heart transpired last monday. Lol.

Here goes everything I can say about Skyfall: Amporma lang! Haha! The movie is great! It’s truly a must-watch. Hearing Adele’s voice in the movie gave me the chills! Sure, I’ve heard the song Skyfall a lot of times before I saw this film but hearing the soundtrack in the movie was spine-tingling! It was weird in a really good way. I think I saw Jarah Mariano in the opening credits of the movie and man, she’s so beautiful! Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva was totally brilliant! He’s insane! He was so good at being the villain I wanted to punch him in the face! Hahaha! Berenice Marlohe is friggin’ gorgeous and ravishing and enthralling and okay, enough. Haha! Ben Whishaw was also in the movie! Bloody John Keats is quartermaster Q. He’s charming btw. Voldemort, I mean Ralph Fiennes was also in the movie as Gareth Mallory. Naomie Harris was kick ass sexy! And Daniel Craig was superb (as usual)! There’s really something about Daniel Craig playing 007. I don’t know, I can’t quite put my finger on it but I swear there really is something oddly perfect about it. Haha!

 Bond: Everyone needs a hobby…
Silva: So what’s yours?
Bond: Resurrection.

Indie Film – Kinatay

Kinatay is a 2009 indie film directed by Brillante Mendoza which stars Coco Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Mercedes Cabral, John Regala, Julio Diaz and Jhong Hilario. The film competed in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival which won Mendoza the Best Director Award. The film garnered mix reviews and some strong criticisms but one who commended the film and its director was Quentin Tarantino (a personal fave director) stating in a letter “Your decission (sic) to never dramatize the murder, never indulge in movie suspense…. was bold, daring, and to me, the whole point of making the movie in the first place.”

The film in one word: Disturbing. I saw this the other day (3 years super late!) while on the shuttle bus on my way home. I’m honestly caught between regretting seeing the film and felicitating the people behind it. It was raw and so surreal I couldn’t help but feel stunned after watching it. The emotions shown were almost tangible and knowing that the story depicts something in reality makes it all the more perturbing. I commend the film for really coming through to its audience; It’s utterly effective (it scared me sh!tless). And as for watching it again, No, thanks.

August 2012 (:

1. Audrey Hepburn is Elegance. Elegance is Audrey Hepburn. And your argument is invalid. 2. Christina Grimmie – the girl who makes the original version of the songs she sing sound like covers. Haha! She’s amazing!  3. The Beatles shooed my rainy days away. Thank you John, Paul, George and Ringo! (: 4. I’ve been looking at a lot of tattoos lately. It’s frustrating ’cause I know I can’t get one. *sob* 5.  When all else fails, read. Yeah, I believe that’s all there is. 6. Meet my new buddies VB and SQL. The three of us are kinda inseparable for a month now so I guess it’s safe to say we’re beginning to get solid. Haha!

1. Paprika – 2006 japanese anime.  2. Blue Lagoon : The Awakening – saw this on the shuttle bus. 3. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – 1961 and Audrey Hepburn. 4. State of Play – it’s almost like a novel. IDK why.  5. Blood Work – 2 reasons why I watched this: Michael Connelly (book)  and Clint Eastwood. 6. Roman Holiday – 1953, black and white, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.  🙂

August 2012 was pretty awesome. (: