backwards

Bernhard Schlink’s "The Reader" will be turned into a movie. The filming of the said film will start next month. Nicole Kidman is part of the movie’s cast. I love the book. I just hope that movie will be as good as the book (because most of books turned into movies are badly done with the story straying away from the book and cutting some crucial parts).

Anyway, here’s a very short list of books turned into movies that I have seen and liked.

1) Silence of the Lambs — based on the Thomas Harris book of the same title. I first watched this during our film art class in college. The suspense and mystery will keep you interested all throughout the movie. It must be the fact the it has a good cast (Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins). I like the book, too. 

2) The Notebook — based on the Nicholas Sparks book of the same title. I thought this was another bad movie. I didn’t like the book, anyway. I ended up enjoying the movie version than the book.

3) The Client — based on the John Grisham book of the same title. This is the reason why I used to love Grisham. The movie starred Brad Renfro (it’s a plus that he is in the movie… Most HS girls then have a crush on him) and Susan Sarandon.

4) The Thirteenth Warrior — based on the Michael Crichton book entitled Eaters of the Dead. The story is similar to Beowulf.

5) Pride and Prejudice — based on Jane Austen book of the same title. Both the book and the movie are entertaining (save for the middle part of the book which is dragging).

Goya’s Ghost – The setting

during the Spanish Inquisition.

Natalie Portman plays

Inez/Alicia in the movie. It

shows how the Roman Catholic

church then can be so cruel,

executing and torturing anyone

suspected or found guilty of

being a heretic. The movie is

satisfactory. It can be quite

dragging… It showed the

Spanish painter Francisco Goya

as someone who is "balimbing."

He would ally with anyone who is

in power and commissions him to

do portraits or artworks. He

failed in trying to help Inez,

who was wrongly accused of

heresy and was therefore

imprisoned, tortured, and rape.

Lost in Translation — The movie

shows the different states of

being lost. Lost because of a

communication gap, a language

barrier… or lost in thoughts

and in nowhere land, not really knowing what and where you want to be. There

are funny moments, triggered by

language barrier. A good watch. I am interested in the movie’s soundtrack. Na-LSS ako sa karaoke song ni Scarlett Johansson — Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better — and the Jazz Singer’s song — Midnight at the Oasis. Air is also included in the OST.

Marie Antoinette — No wonder it

didn’t get praises, compared with

Sofia Coppola’s other movie,

Lost in Translation. It was

quite dragging… boring. I

don’t know but I would have

liked it if it was not

modernized and did not really

focus on how worldly or young

Marie Antoinette was when she

married the French dauphin and

crowned as queen of France. And

I don’t know I just don’t see

Kirsten Dunst as Marie

Antoinette. Even my

three-year-old nephew thought we

were watching Spiderman.

Here are some lines from "The Unbearable Lightness of Being":

We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come. - page 8

Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love. - page 11

In spite of their love, they had made each other’s life a hell. The fact that they loved each other was merely a proof that the fault lay not in themselves, in their behavior, or inconstancy of feeling, but rather in their incompatibility: he was strong and she was weak. She was like Dubcek, who made a thirty-second pause in the middle of a sentence; she was like her country, which stuttered, gasped for breath, could not speak. But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave. - page 75

Debussy’s Claire de Lune reminds me of high school. Our music teacher, Sir Canicula, would usually play a classical music before leaving us on our own to do some artwork. And I love those classes, not because I am good in making artsy stuffs nor it allows us to just bum around because the teacher left the classroom. I love it because it’s the least stressful class we had in HS. The most "unpopular" class back then is P.E., for girls that is. We had a superstrict teacher for P.E. that the minor class is never taken for granted. Claire de Lune, together with Mozart’s Elvira Madigan, also reminds me of weekends when we were still living in Iloilo City. Back then, I would wake up to the sound of instrumental music my father pops in the CD player. 

Pachelbel’s Canon, meanwhile, leaves a smile on my face. It reminds me of My Sassy Girl the Korean movie.

I’ve been listening to songs from Paula Cole’s greatest hits album (thanks to Mark’s sister, Olive). I like her version of Autumn Leaves (Frank Sinatra and Eva Cassidy also did this song… I don’t know who’s the original singer behind this song). Tomorrow I Will Be Yours and Postcards from the East Oceanside are also worth listening to.

Another week has ended… it’s watching DVDs at home again. Yey

I so love listening Frank Sinatra’s "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Strangers in the Night." They take the blues away. Listening to "oldies" music transports me to another dimension. An imagined dimension where people don dresses and coats and ties, are polite, and dance the foxtrot. A dimension where everyday (should I write every night?) it’s a perfect evening — stars scattered across the sky, the moon is bright, the night breeze is calm, and in a dance hall, Frank Sinatra or The Temptations is lined up to serenade the partygoers. I know that sounds like a scene from a film marketed for hopeless romantics. what can I say, I can never get away from the hopeless romantic side of me. Fifi and I agree that love songs of today are not as romantic as the ones Sinatra sings.

Love was just a glance away,
A warm embracing dance away.

I miss Iloilo City. My brother Paolo, who is assigned there, has told me that JD Bakeshop now sells Black Forest Cake. JD is our favorite haunt since HS because their goods are so affordable and can satisfy food cravings. They have Baked Mac (it was only PHP 10 an order when it first opened in 1994), Chicken ala King, Palabok, Fried Chicken, Ginat-an, and pies and breads. If you have PHP 100, you can almost get a piece of everything you want to taste-test.

Then I just remembered last night this German-owned restaurant on Seminario St., Jaro — BAVARIA. Back in college, we go there to eat Rosti and drink German beer. And you think it’s expensive… no, not at all. Their serving of Rosti then only costs PHP 25. Rosti is made of shredded potatoes, it’s supposed to be a side dish but that’s all we can afford then. Hehe. They have this other cocktail drink that’s only PHP 25 (or was it PHP 35). We just share a glass of it because it is in a very tall glass. And their beer, I forgot the brand… but mind you, it’s not as expensive as the beers here in Makati. So, I asked my brother this morning if Bavaria is still around and it still is. Yey! I promise I’ll have their Rosti (and this time, along with other stuffs listed in their menu) again when I visit Iloilo City.

Here are other food stuffs sold in Iloilo City that I miss:
1) Tibiao’s Teren-Teren. my ate and I used to have this as afternoon snacks. A Tibiao branch is just behind our first boarding house in Aurora Subd. Tibiao’s Palabok (which I like over Jollibee’s), Spaghetti, Siopao, Baye-Baye, and Katalugan, as well as Biscocho, are my favorites too.
2) Banana-Que or Kamote-Que sold near St. Clement’s gate or West Visayas State University Hospital. I think it’s only PHP 5.
3) Ma’am Trinidad’s suman latik sold at WVSU HS/COE and CMC makeshift Canteen. Only for PHP 6 then.
4)Tatoy’s Manukan chicken and grilled tanigue with the  sawsawan that I sorely  miss.
5) Roberto’s meatballs.
6) Buho’s pan de coco and pan de sal. When I was in HS, sometimes the whole family would drive around the city and then end up buying pan de coco and pan de sal at Buho (near Sun Yat Sen) before heading home for midnight snacks.
7) Though this is not exceptionally tasty, I also miss Shellsyd’s huge burgers that can be divided into four equal parts. I don’t know if Shellsyd still exists.

On Friday, I finally watched the much-talked-about Transformers the movie with Fides and my ate. When I was a kid, I didn’t really like Transformers. I like Voltron then. Anyway, the movie could be categorized as comedy. The only thing that I didn’t like much is the final fight scene. It was exhausting to watch as the fight scene happened in the city (there were a lot of distractions - the buildings, the cars, and the people). Overall, it’s a good movie to cap the workweek.

The rest of the weekend was spent in front of the TV watching DVDs.

Shrek III. not as funny as Shrek II.

V for Vendetta. A timely film to watch with the Human Security Act (also known as anti-terrorism bill) set to take effect this week. The scenario that happened in V for Vendetta could also happen in real life if people will allow the government to instill fear in them and let them abuse its power.

The Messengers. directed by the Pang brothers, who were behind "The Eye." It has its "scary" moments but it’s not as good as "The Eye." My younger sister said it must be the fact that the actors were not good.

Music and Lyrics. A feel-good film. Hugh Grant must have dreamed of being a singer. And he must love to dance a lot.

Naked Weapon. a lousy movie to watch. But I understand why it is popular among men, the assassins are pretty and sexy. The story, however, has a lot of loopholes. The CIA agent is stupid. It’s not worth watching.

Robinhood: Men in Tights. I remember seeing this on HBO when I was in HS. It’s a funny movie, a spoof of Robinhood.

para akong addict na naghahanap ng matira… para akong alcoholic na naubusan ng malaklak. Hinahalungkat lahat ng kabinet at mga sulok na maaaring pagtaguan ng droga at alak. Wala pa rin akong makita… Gusto kong magtanong kung may nakakita, may nakatukib ng aking mga sekretong lagayan, pero di ko rin nais na malaman nila na ako ay isang addict o isang alcoholic. O di kaya, ayaw ko ding aminin na ako ay addict o alcoholic na. Di ko naiintindihan… iniisip ko, hinahanap-hanap din kaya ako ng droga o ng alak? Sila din ba ay nalulungkot sa tuwing di nila ako makakasalo sa agahan, tanghalian, o hapunan. Kung minsa’y aking naiisip, nababaliw na yata ako. Mawawala na ata ang isip ko kung di ko sya makita… kung di malaman kung saan sya nakatago… kung muli ko pa sya mahawakan sa aking mga kamay, mahalikan at malasahan ng aking mga labi… makasama hanggang malapit na magbukang-liwayway.

syanga ang pag-ibig ay parang droga o alak… hinahanap-hanap mo pag nawalay o nawala na sa iyo… hahanapin mo pa rin sya kahit alam mong nakakasama sa iyo at kahit na alam mo walang magandang idudulot sa iyo.

april 13, 2004

Finished reading Alice Hoffman’s "Second Nature" and watched a couple of movies over the weekend. One of the movies I’ve watched is "Love Me If You Dare" (though I have to struggle following the conversations because the subtitles cannot be read and I can’t understand French).

I didn’t like the movie because I think it is sick. I mean, if you love someone why would you wait for one, four, or ten years before you could tell that person about your feelings? Why would you need to make several dares before telling what you really feel? Why would you hurt your family and your husband because of that? It’s pure selfishness. The dare-or-not game they kept on playing after they (Julien and Sophie) had their own families is sick. I hate it.

It was sundown. I waited for you to come out of the cottage… Darn,
I always expect… I expect you to walk by me by the beach… watch the
sunset. I hate it… I hate it… I lingered by the cottage steps for a
while, still waiting for you to join me. You did not… and I was quite
disappointed. I left… started to hurriedly walk away from the
cottage. I almost want to run toward the beach shore.

I saw kids
scampering out of the water as their moms, dads, or yayas gathered
them. One kid stopped by me and made a funny face. I smiled at him…
He still did not stop making that funny face. I started down the water,
letting the surf touch my toes. The sunset is beautiful… Shades of
orange blinded my eyes. I wish I could paint it with words as perfect
as it is now. But I couldn’t… the way I couldn’t say in words what I
really feel for you. I frowned at the thought of me having to keep this
from you. I wish this would fade away just like the way the sun sets to
make way for the stars. Fade away to make way for something else. I
slightly turned my head to see if you followed me. Still you did not.

Darn
it… you are supposed to be contented with just loving him in silence,
i told myself. How can i do that? I can no longer keep this to myself.
Darn it… Darn it. I started to walk again. Maybe if I walk… I’ll
forget. I’ll forget i love you… and i couldn’t tell you i love you
again. You know that i love you, don’t you? I told you once… when I
learned to muster courage. I thought you love me the way i do. You said
i love you too anyway. But the thing is you love me differently. And
that truth crushed me. I walked until i reached the edge of the cove.
Still you are in my mind. I couldn’t take thoughts of you off my mind.
I remember everything… I remember how our eyes would meet… how your
eyes would sparkle everytime you talk about something amazing, funny. I
remember how you would eat like a little kid… the way we sit in
silence side by side while eating ice cream. I don’t know how it all
started. I don’t know when and how I fell for you… All i know one day
I couldn’t stop talking about you… thinking about you. Each day, I
see something in you…. Each day, I find myself falling, falling for
you… until I couldn’t deny it anymore. This is not good… I know…

I
closed my eyes… felt the breeze touch my face. I pray to the universe
that i’ll learn to be just happy with what i have. I still have you…
as a friend. that’s all right… And I won’t runaway from this… from
what I feel for you even if you cannot reciprocate what I feel. 

April 12, 2005 (a short story never finished)

One of the movies I like watching is CLOSER. Why?

there are many things that I wanted to talk about Closer. All
throughout the movie, i kept on thinking why love has to be difficult
sometimes. Difficult in a sense that we can’t just love the person who
loves us back in the same degree that they love us. Difficult in a
sense that we never stay contented with what we have… we always
desire someone who’s not within our reach… who leaves us challenged.
Is that human nature? To be always challenged? Love should be simple,
shouldn’t it be? but who knows what really is… Alice said it well - Where
is this "love"? I can’t see it, I can’t touch it. I can’t feel it. I
can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can’t do anything with your
easy words.

Another thing is I kept on thinking
Love has become a meaningless word. Just like the characters in the
movie we seem to be callous in throwing our "i love you’s." We say i
love you without really meaning every word that makes up this
three-word sentence. The three-word sentence has become one of those
cheap commodities being sold in streets. What is "i love you" anyway?
It’s just a sentence… It has become like that… A worthless
sentence.

No, the movie did not leave me bitter about love. It just slapped right in my face the bitterness love can bring in our lives.

You
asked me how many stars can I give to the movie… on a scale of 10, i
give it an 8 (i dont believe in perfect 10s, lahat ng bagay may flaws,
jinujustify pa)… Eight for its witty dialogues, its rawness (i
consider it real… not one of those things you know that can only happen
in movies), for Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Alice/Jane… for the
way it leaves me thinking during and after the movie… I like the
transitions from scene to scene, the intertwining of the dialogues…
(Alice asked Dan to hold her close before she left, Clive said the same
thing…)

Again, we make things complicated. Too bad.