Category Archives: Movies

Happy 2011!

  By zarine | January 4, 2011 - 10:18 pm | Drama, Movies, Random Thoughts
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My greeting’s a little late, but as they say better than never. Here’s to another year of blogging and sharing seemingly trivial things – ok, really trivial things .

I’m starting my 2011 movie watching with the adaptation of Never Let Me Go (a book by Kazuo Ishiguro), starring Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield, and Carey Mulligan. My headphones are ready (my sister is watching TV outside so I’ll be watching here on my laptop), and my video player is one click away. Then maybe I’ll have something to blog about tomorrow.

Harry Potter Day!

  By zarine | November 21, 2010 - 7:04 am | Fantasy, Movies
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I officially declare today as my Harry Potter day! I will be watching with my sisters and brother. I wished that I had rewatched all Harry Potter movies before coming in for this one, but because I’m lacking time, maybe I can do that before HP and the Deathly Hallows Part II. Then, after the movie, we’ll be looking for a laptop for my brother – and I bet this has him more excited than the movie itself; I wish we have a Cyber Monday, so we can find more discounts. I’m still hoping for some store freebies, nevertheless.

Waiting to Live

  By zarine | August 11, 2010 - 10:09 am | Drama, Movies
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So have you seen the trailer of the new Julia Roberts flick?

This is the movie adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. Chick flick you say? Maybe. But I’m a chick and I’ve always liked personal journey stories, so I’m right in the middle of this film’s demographic.

I saw an interview of Elizabeth Gilbert at YouTube and there she says that this is her story, and she wants to inspire people, but it doesn’t mean that everybody’s journey will involve pizza and Italy and Bali, and all those places she went to. I wholeheartedly agree. But it doesn’t mean I can’t dream about cross-country trips, road trips in cars with filled thule roof racks, or even trips beyond borders.

You just got to keep on dreaming. And waiting to finally do even a part of the “everything” you’ve always wanted yourself to be able to do.

A Curious Case Indeed

  By zarine | September 21, 2009 - 10:01 pm | Literature, Movies
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“Well,” gasped Mr. Button, “which is mine?”

“There!” said the nurse.

Mr. Button’s eyes followed her pointing finger, and this is what he
saw. Wrapped in a voluminous white blanket, and partly crammed into
one of the cribs, there sat an old man apparently about seventy years
of age. His sparse hair was almost white, and from his chin dripped a
long smoke-colored beard, which waved absurdly back and forth, fanned
by the breeze coming in at the window. He looked up at Mr. Button with
dim, faded eyes in which lurked a puzzled question.

“Am I mad?” thundered Mr. Button, his terror resolving into rage. “Is
this some ghastly hospital joke?

“It doesn’t seem like a joke to us,” replied the nurse severely. “And
I don’t know whether you’re mad or not–but that is most certainly
your child.”

So goes a scene from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Of course, everyone knows there’s a movie now, and although it’s not something that will make anyone rush for New Orleans hotel reservations, I found the movie gorgeous in more ways than one. In a nutshell, it is a story about a man who ages backward. Born an “old man” and spent his life in reverse, if only in the physical sense. If you need extra persuading, the movie stars Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. There. I’ll be rewatching this next.

Let The Right One In

  By zarine | August 15, 2009 - 9:28 pm | Drama, Movies, SciFi/Thriller
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The beauty of Let the Right One In resides in the way the horror remains grounded in a tragic kind of love.

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

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I do not like horror films. I was able to sit through a handful of them my whole life, and only in front of the TV screen (that’s if we don’t count Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which I don’t think really falls into the “horror” category). It’s cowardice, yes, and an utter distaste for gore and gruesomeness.

I’m not much for vampire movies, either. But when a friend asked me to check out this movie, in an effort to understand why it is deemed better than Twilight, I agreed.  I wasn’t courageous enough to voice out that I’m tempted to think that any other movie can be better than Twilight; I resolved to watch the film in broad daylight and was surprised to realize that it is worthy of all the praises.  It has good scares, of course; it is creepy; and it is beautifully constructed. It’s one of those fims that are more about the storytelling than about the story – the kind that critics love to rave about. The kind that is not commercial and mainstream.

Let the Right One In is a Swedish film that centers on Oskar, a perennially bullied teenager, and Eli, his new neighbor who for all appearances seem to be just another laconic 12-year-old girl. As the two form a bond, Eli’s secret begins to unravel, and let’s just say that “she” is more than that – she’s been 12 for a long time, just without any need for the best wrinkle creams to hide the fact.

I was taken by the chilliness of the film, and not just because it is more often than not fimed in a snowy landscape; it doesn’t have too many movements nor sounds, like what you’ll expect from the genre, but it is, nevertheless disturbing and, ultimately, better than that other film I mentioned in terms of filmmaking strengths. To be fair, though, I don’t think the two movies should be compared, despite the fact that both are love stories about a couple, half of which is a vampire and the other half is human. The similarity ends there.

Sometimes Not Feeling Is the Only Way You Can Survive

  By zarine | January 28, 2009 - 2:13 am | Drama, Movies
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secret_life_of_bees

The Secret Life of Bees (L-R: Queen Latifah, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Dakota Fanning)

Based on the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lilly Owens (Dakota Fanning), age 14, living in the south with a father (Paul Bettany) who doesn’t feel anything even as he watches his daughter bleed her knees on the torture spot he makes the night before her birthday. Set at the time when the Civil Rights Act (1964) is just being implemented, the only ally Lilly had was her caregiver, a black woman named Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). Together, they flee their town after Rosaleen was beaten by some white men; they were taken in by three sisters who live in a pink house – August (Queen Latifah) who grows bees for honey; June (Alicia Keys), a classical cellist and civil rights activist who for some reason cannot commit to the man she loves; and May (Sophie Okomo), the surviving half of a twin who, after her sister April’s death, became a perennially sad (literally wailing) person who writes notes on her “wailing wall” to release some of the feelings she later describes as “carrying the weight of the world.” 

If you hate sappy movies, then this one is not for you. As with many tales that speaks about the search for love, family, and identity,  the movie aims to touch the audience in a way that at some point makes you feel like someone’s tapping you on the shoulder and asking, “Are you feeling it now?” I would have said yes, if I was asked. But there’s a certain subtlety to it that keeps the film from going overboard with drama. I think perhaps the actors are to be thanked for that in a large part. Dakota Fanning carries the movie in her small deft hands. Since I saw her in the TV series Taken, I had always been a fan. She couldn’t make me cry now that she’s older and no longer playing her cuteness, but that is not to say she is a less effective actress. Dakota Fanning is a natural actress, if there ever is one. The other four women fill their parts very nicely; I couldn’t quite pick a favorite out of them.

In the end it’s about family – how they take care of each other and how, for some, you find your own family when your blood kin doesn’t treat you like one. It’s about hope and finding the strength within yourself to make room for forgiveness and moving on. It’s kinda sweet I can almost taste it.

What’s Up, Doc?

  By zarine | January 8, 2009 - 2:12 am | Movies, SciFi/Thriller, TV
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Internet, meet my new TV (or should I say DVD?) crush – Dr.  Simon Tam.

He’s a highly intelligent and refined medical doctor who gave up a promising career to save his gifted but troubled sister in the TV series Firefly.

 

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He does look dreamy; he’s prim and proper and has trouble with swearing. But he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty for the sake of those he care about.

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he mumbles and fumbles when he likes a girl,  

 

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and he’s actually saving that guy even if he looks funny doing it.

 

He’s the resident doctor on the spaceship Serenity, which is boarded by a bunch of crooks, errr I mean a crew involved in all sorts of “space business.” The captain of the ship, Mal Reynolds (who probably have no need for those Torgoen watches), accepted him and his sister, River, as part of his crew, which set upon an intruiging series of events in the show, which was later more dealt with in the movie version Serenity.

2009 Movies

  By zarine | December 18, 2008 - 1:13 am | Movies
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I was searching for upcoming movies and found quite a handful of  ”Coming Soon” titles that I think I’m very much interested in. Some, I may catch at the theaters while others will have to wait to be fed to my DVD player. More reason to look for diet products as my list of TV shows and movies to watch keep piling up. Why, when there’s nothing unappealing about sitting tight, eating some popcorn and other junk food, sipping some soda, and enjoying the movies.

Anyway, here’s the list. You might find some to your liking as well.

 

Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

“Born under unusual circumstances” – and so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards.  A man, like any of us, unable to stop time.  We follow his story set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be.  Directed by David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a time traveler’s tale of the people and places he bumps into along the way, the loves he loses and finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
-Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

Coraline

 

Coraline

A young girl walks through a secret door and discovers a parallel reality that is eerily similar to the life she already knows in director Henry Selick’s animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s international bestseller. Upon first glance, Coraline (voice of Dakota Fanning) begins to believe that the alternate version of her life is even better than the real thing, but when her parallel-universe parents attempt to keep her forever, the young girl must summon her resourcefulness and bravery in order to find her way back home and save her family. Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane, Dawn French, and Jennifer Saunders co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher

NotThatIntoYou

He’s Just Not That Into You

Screenwriters Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein team to adapt writing duo Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s best-selling book concerning the ever-widening gap between genders and the misunderstandings that often arise between couples. In the film, a woman who can’t seem to get a grip on the men in her life pursues an advice columnist who never quite knew what he wanted in a relationship. Prolific television director Ken Kwapis (Freaks and Geeks and The Office) helms a romantic comedy produced by and starring Drew Barrymore. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connely, Jennifer Aniston

revolutionaryRevolutionary Road

Adapted from the classic 1961 novel by author Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road tells the tale of a young Connecticut couple whose once-idealistic relationship steadily deteriorates into a ceaseless cycle of petty jealousy and bickering as they strive to retain their independence in the conformity-obsessed world of picket fences and perfectly manicured lawns. Ever since they first met, Frank (DiCaprio) and April (Winslet) saw themselves as special and different. They strives to form their relationship around higher ideals, though upon moving into their new home on Revolutionary Road the defiant couple pledges never to be confined by the social conventions of the era. As time passes, however, Frank and April gradually becomes the very thing that they both feared most – a typical suburban family complete with abandoned dreams and faded hopes. Frank loses his nerve after taking a comfortable job with a reliable salary, and April morphs into an unsatisfied homemaker desperate for passion and excitement. But April’s independent spirit hasn’t been suffocated just yet, and when she hatches a plan to head for Paris, her need to escape at all costs stands in direct contrast to Frank’s desire to hold on to what they already have. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

-Starring: Leonardo di Caprio, Kate Winslet

 

shopaholicConfessions of a Shopaholic

 

A Manhattan shopaholic (Isla Fisher) whose buying sprees have buried her in immense debt lands a columnist gig dishing out financial advice in this Touchstone comedy based on Sophie Kinsella’s series of books. P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend’s Wedding) directs, with producing duties being handled by Jerry Bruckheimer. Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) can’t seem to break her habit for making impulsive purchases, and while she’s always decked out in the latest styles, her credit card bills are as thick as a telephone book. If Rebecca could somehow manage to land her dream job at a high-profile fashion magazine, perhaps she could transform what is now a simple addiction into something that could really benefit her professionally. When Rebecca becomes an advice columnist at a financial magazine published by the same company as her favorite fashion magazine, her fresh approach strikes a chord with readers and she quickly becomes the toast of the town. Meanwhile, her bank account is still bone dry, wreaking havoc on her love life and placing her career in jeopardy. As Rebecca teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, she gradually begins to reassess her priorities in life. Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, and Krysten Ritter co-star in the Touchstone Pictures production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy

Twilight Time

  By zarine | November 21, 2008 - 10:23 am | Fantasy, Movies, Romance
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I registered in the Fully Booked Web site and now I’m receiving updates from their email newsletter tool. It’s actually nice, not much “spammy,” and the updates are really interesting. I almost got to convince a few friends to attend a book signing with me once but that didn’t pan out.

Anyway, earlier this week, I received their latest e-mail newsletter and it has some good stuff about the upcoming movie Twilight. It comes with an online survey tool – for Twilight fans, there’s a contest for you. It runs until December 21. Up for grabs are Twilight: Complete Illustrated Movie Companion and Twilight Collector’s Edition. The whole package looks great so check out the official site and look for the link to “twilightraffle.”

Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?

  By zarine | September 18, 2008 - 10:54 pm | Movies, Musicals
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Keira Knightley reportedly auditioned for the upcoming remake of My Fair Lady, in the presence of the great Cameron Mackintosh himself (producer of such gargantuan productions as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Phantom of the Opera, among others). She is said to have “impressed” but is not yet confirmed for the role.

I think she’ll look good as Eliza Doolittle. If anything, she shares with Audrey Hepburn that uber-thin frame and ethereal beauty. I’m not sure about the singing, though, and she had said that she would definitely want to push her limits and try to hit the high notes herself if she’ll land the role. I can believe that she got drunk before she auditioned. I will, too, if I was her. I can already imagine her nailing that Cockney accent and screaming like a madwoman as Eliza often does. Any young woman who acts like that now would go straight to a drug rehabilitation center!

It’ll be a lovely (or loverly, as Eliza would say) role. I wouldn’t want to see any other non-singer, Hollywood starlet take the role, anyway (although I’ll take someone unknown but with a gorgeous voice like Julie Andrews’), especially one who is too busy going to one drug rehab after another to have been familiar with this classic Cinderella story. Keira’s wholesome image, and the fact that she seems to be at her best element in period films, would work just fine.