Movie day galore

Since today 's the start of my rest day period, I decided to watch movies. It's some form of stress reliever, really. An escape from reality, yes, and get away from..nakakalurlur na pipol, as how my sister will put it to describe those "blah" moments that happen in one's life. Anyway, it was fun, being in the company of my two "girlfriends", (wow, sounds so teeny bopper!)with whom I spend most of the time laughing about the corniest, stupidest, but funny things which make you feel light. Because we all deserve those happy moments!!!

It was raining this afternoon, that's why we decided to pass the time at the mall before going home.

Corny as it may seem (but fun and feel-good naman), we watched A Very Special Love which starred John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo.




Of course, JOhn Lloyd was still at his best, being the most sought-after, drop -dead, makalaglag panting kagwapuhan ni John Lloyd. It never failed to make all those girls feel kilig the whole movie time. Him, being JOhn Lloyd made the movie "watchable". Nadala niya ang movie!

Sarah Geronimo meanwhile, just proved how bungisngisin and perky she was on the film. Add to that, her vibrance and naivete, which is appreciative, whacky and fresh. This I think is a great job for the teen pop princess (asus, very press release ang dating!)

Sarah's appeal is just so "masa" or..hmm..pardon the term, "bakya", but I think it's effective. She showed vibrance, which gave her that inner glow in the movie. Personally, I think she's a Juday in the making. ANd for her to be paired with a really gorgeous, sleek and sassy kind of John Lloyd in the movie, created a balance.

And of course, it showed that fantasy wherein even a plain-Jane can snag a hot-guy. Of course, it's just something to make you feel good. In reality...hmm..sometimes it happen, sometimes it doesn't. How it does happen...well I don't know as well...

Technically speaking, the movie was feel-good, really kilig to the bones. After exiting those moviehouses you'll end up gushing for John Lloyd even more.

It's a proven thing that movies which got its title from romantic songs are a staple that entice people to watch. It's for the lovelorns, the people who practically wish to feel those kind of romances for themselves. And I think it's not a bad thing. It's very hopeful.

At shempre, wag nang magpaka plastic, si John Lloyd yun!

By the end of the movie, you'll find yourself singing its soundtrack. Of course, who doesn't anyway. It's really catchy. It fits (in a very normal, usual kind of way!)

But then again, it's John Lloyd!

Malayang Manood ng Cinemalaya

I met with my sisters around 6 in the evening to watch a Cinemalaya movie (It's actually sort of an annual thing for me to watch these festivals), entitled My Fake American Accent.

I can perfectly relate with the topic..ahemm..too much info. Anyway, it showed the call center lifestyle. It explained the call center lifestyle. But it sort of seem like an avp for, say a lecture, or a backgrounder. It was catchy at the start, but it was, well, sorry for the term disappointing as the movie went through its end. It showed the story of individual call center agents and how this job has formed their lifestyle, their thinking, and their relationship.

Honestly speaking, the movie wasn't able to address the core issues, or even situations that happen in a call center, or about the call center lifestyle. Or maybe, the moviemakers didn't really try to imply or address any issue or concern, and it simply wanted to show the lifestyle.
Parts of it showed superficiality and featurized, but still, it was a fresh topic for a movie. It showed a story which attracted the audience and made them laugh. The punches , or what we call in filipino, mga hirit are witty, sarcastic and classic at the same time.

But eventhough the movie wasn't what I expected for it to be, still I appreciate it. It showed how young urban working peeps try to find meaning and purpose in their life, at the same time, enjoy and appreciate whatever experience come along their way.

Post script:

Panalo ang hirit nung isang character sa movie: "Hi ako si Astrid. Dating field writer, pero sa call center nako ngayon, paano, walang pera sa pagsusulat e!:


(Or maybe it's just me noticing na ganun ang writing career. Meron namang nakakapundar sa pagsusulat e!)

Yey!!!!!

It was like a sudden tap on the back saying I need to get motivated again. Funny how I have incidentally browsed on some blogs to read entries on emo-ness or on being happy. It's like some "force" is telling me to wake up, at hindi ka dapat forever emo...o sha, itigil na ang dapat itigil, at alisin na sa isip ang kung anumang bumabagaga sayo. (Siyet, hanggang sa tagalog, madrama pa din! hahaha!...)

Anyway, I feel happy for a lot of different reasons:

1. I finally arrived on my decision. It's something really personal, but the whole part of it all lands on that one big topic on decision-making.

Yes, true, I may be sacrificing one thing that I love doing and dream of pursuing, but thinking about it, there are other avenues wherein I can still do that while retaining the other situation I am currently into. Who wants to give up a good lifestyle anyway...

2. Me and my friend cooked something up. SOmething worthwhile doing...something fun..something different!

3. Am going to watch a cinemalaya movie tomorrow.

It's something I'm looking forward to.

4. I finished that "article"
.
Yey, another achievement!
5. I'm cooking up for another article am going to write!

Another something to look forward to!

6. Feel motivated again

It seems like the best thing to feel good again is to look forward, and do the things you want to do!

Yey!!!!!!

post script:

thanks to ala and alex

for sharing to us their own pieces on happiness!!!!:-)

Nahihilo, nalilito

ano ba, ano ba, ano ba? Nakakalito naman magdesisyon ng mga bagay-bagay. Nakakapraning, nakakainis, nakakaemo. Sino ba naman kasi ang may sabing problemahin ko ito? Simple lang naman e. Dapt gumawa o pumili na ako ng desisyon. Tapos nun, no regrets, no turning back, no more crying over spilled milk. Pero shempre, you have to take a lot of things into consideration--yung pagka emo mo, yung kakayanan mo, yung magiging benefit sayo in the long run. So paano mo nga ba makukuha yung bagay na gusto mo? Hindi ba pwedeng walang i-give up? Pwede naman e, that is kung kakayanin mo. Kung ikaw si Darna, kung ikaw si Hermione na pwedeng gumawa ng potion o magic kung saan ang clone mo ay gagawin yung isang bagay na guto mong gawin, at isang clone o true self mo na sa isa pang bagay. (Yun nga lang, di sila pwedeng magkita, kasi kung ganun, sasabog silang dalawa di ba?)

So ano nga ba? Kailangan nang magdesisyon. At stick to that decision, and stand up for it. Pero ang hirap talaga pag-isipan!

Anyway, lito lang ako kaya ko naisulat ang mga bagay-bagay.....haaaaaay:(

Operation: Get my LIFE back

These are the words that I emphasized on my old-school organizer the other day to indicate the set of changes that I have to begin. After a wave of hurly-burlies and emo attacks, I figured out it's that time wherein I have to straighten things out again.

Sabi ko, I'll adhere to the things I need to adhere, to commit to the things which I need, sabi ko I'll be m: ore responsible this time.

Tapos nun...boom!

HIndi na naman ako pumasok sa ofis..

then...

nakipagchikahan pa ko sa isang taong sinabi ko nang hindi ko na pagi-investan ng time and energy...
But at the end of the day, should I wallow on those things which I wasn't able to do?

Should I continuously blame myself for my shortcomings.

I guess the effects are the true tests of Operation: Get my LIFE back. It's not on how I was able to perform the tasks at hand (though doing it is a big factor) but on how I dwell on the after-effects.

It's on how after falling down, you know wgen to get up and start again.

It's on not looking back on past faults and mistakes, and keep you from doing good things now, or changing things for the better,

It's about looking on past mistakes, but use them as springboards to getting the results you want to happen on these present times.

Ok, it's another emo tack for me. So I guess, I have to end now...

Reality check: Still have an article to write...

need to be efficient once again!....

eiga sai 2008

And so it's that time of the year once again when japanese film enthusiasts rush to the edifices of Shang to watch Eiga Sai 2008. It's that yearly japanese film festival which feature contemporary as well as old jap movies that shows japanese culture and lifestyle. This year, it focuses on the youth--how they love, their experiences, their way of thinking.

I, along with a close friend and two new friends were luckily able to watch its opening last monday. We watched We Shall Overcome Sunday which tackled about the prevailing rift between japanese and koreans. This time, it showed how this situation has come to influence the youth as well-the presence of gang war, rough-necked gangs, fighting and almost killling each other.The movie might have showed violence and brutality, but it as well showed how in this kind of situation, there also blossomed a friendship and love between the two races.


The next day, Joey and I watched the screenings again. This time it was Jap-movie galore which started at 2 in the afternoon. First moVIE was Hanging Garden, which showed the typical Japanese family life. In the movie, the featured family was one which never kept any secret from anyone. Anything is revealed, or simply told to anybody in the family. It showed their openness to one another. They can talk about anything under the sun may it be about sex, love or simple feelings with each other. Or so they think that they never keep any secrets from one another--still there are situations they keep each other from telling, some hidden truth that they never revealed with one another. This tests the family's bond with each other.

There will be some hidden truths that will come out in the open, and dark shadows of the past that will haunt their present lives.

It's remarkable to note about the film's cinematography--the use of "vertigo" shots, wherein the camera is spun on 360 degree angle. It may be an implication of how one character simply wants to perfect a family, just like the perfect form of a circle so to straighten the crookedness of her past, or so that the dark past won't happen again.

Their is also the use of blood, screams and rain, to indicate the darkness of this past, the shrieking scream that finally lets go of all the pain and how the rain washes away all the gore and darkness of it.

The movie got it's title Hanging Garden from that piece of furniture which was hanging at the family's round dinner table, supporting the light bulb and has a garden as its design. That piece is something indicating the family's bond, one that is always left hanging due to life's conflicts, situations and the consequences it bring but tries to keep it steady and together.

Second movie that we were able to watch was Linda Linda Linda which is a feel-good movie about established friendship through music. It showed the lives of four kids who tried to create a band, keep it together and still do the act, amid their conflicts with one osanother. it also showed a friendship which bloomed between a korean who tried to adjust to the japanese school community, and japanese kids which realized how they can pull up a good friendship with each, one that is cherished and will always be remembered.

Third movie, which we found the most interesting one was A Stranger Of Mine. Simply speaking it could have been a short narration of one event, but showed the different perspective and actions of four characters involved in that event. Let me quote a review, as I can't find of exact words to describe how this feel was intellectually created:

a film built on subtlety, intelligence and humanity. While it is not a flashy film by any means it is the sort that just grows and grows and grows as it progreses until, while you are unlikely to point to any particular moment that makes it so, you exit the theater knowing that you've just seen something special.

-NYAFF Report

you can view the full review here

Watching these films, stirs up the "creativity" in me. It inspires me to, one day do something like this, along with good writing and brainstorming, as well as the motivation and belief in oneself to make such things possible.

*****

I felt blessed that I have films like these to watch, along with Joey, my freelance artist-friend with whom I share my rants and dreams with. Good luck to us, and we will do great projects some day!!!

You're almost there my friend!

Yun Lang...

At dahil nakita kitang kasama mo siya, habang naglalakad kami sa galeria nung isang araw, dun ko napagtantong dapat na ngan itigil ang kabaliwan. Pero dahil palagi pa rin tayong magkasama, magkatabi o nagkikita, mahihirapan yata akong iwasan ka.

Wala naman yata talagang dapat magbago dahil magkaibigan na tayo noon pa lang. At hindi naman nagkaaminan o nagkasabihan ng nararamdaman. Pero kung walang magbabago, mahirap lumayo, at kung mahirap lumayo, mayroong hindi magbabago o mawawala.

Pinagtatawanan ko na lang ang lahat ng bagay na nangyayari sa akin, dahil wala rin namang mangyayari kung idadaan ko ito sa lungkot, sa galit o sa pag inom.

Ayoko namang sirain ang pagkatao ko dahil lang sa isang pangyayari sa buhay ko.

Dahil malalagpasan ko rin ito, at may ibang tao ring darating...

****

Maulan kasi, kaya ko to nagawa...joke lang ang mga bagay bagay!, hehehe!

change, change, change

Change dares you to be different. It's a signal for you to try unknown borders, or do things you hAVen't been doing for a while.

Change is a break from the things you have been doing over and over most of the time. It creates a variety from your routine and patterned lifestyle.

Yes, change is a good thing. And change saves you from your everyday boredom and current burn out.

Hello, change.

that time of the year

This is the time of the year wherein you feel trapped in this world of negativity and passivity You feel as if you're stuck in this world that is non-evolving, non-changing. You start to wonder when you're going to have that big break, when you'll feel successful and free again, or simply feel good about yourself and the things that you do


This time, is a hodgepodge of problems and issues. You might not be direclty involved, or .somehow/artly involved, and you seem affected because you are part of that environment. No matter how hard you try to appease two parties, or even try to understand both points, you just end up feeling like the unopinionated one, the person with whom both parties talk to about the things which are happening, the listening ear, the middle ground.

It's not like you're the wrong one, you're just everybody's friend, and somehow you understand both sides. And you can't take a stand, because...you are everybody's friend.

And now you end up being the passive one.

I don't know if things are already worse, or if everything is a big deal. I try to stay on the sidelines, but still, i feel trapped in it.

****

I am just the mere viewer on the sidebenches waiting as the whole team, gang up, play, and resolve their matters.

*****

And now, I feel like leaving the game. It's been too tiring watching and observing them all. And it's going into your head. It's too much stress, there's just so much battle around.

****

Sigh. Did I say it's that time of the year?

***

Emo attack!

***

Current song in my head: Must Get Out. Maroon 5