Friends with Benefits

I wanted to see this in the theater, but my cousin advised me to just download it instead. And yeah, while I liked the movie, it's better just downloaded and watched at home rather than spend your bucks for big screen tickets.

Friends with Benefits is a just a light movie, with a fast-becoming familiar set-up: 2 supposed friends who are sleeping together and should have no emotional investment. Haha. Who are you trying to fool? Sex is an intimate act, and if you are doing it together, on a regular basis, you are bound to fall in love with your bedmate. End of story.

Nevertheless, while we know exactly where the movie was going to, it doesn't stop us from enjoying it nevertheless. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are so charming together and very convincing both as friends and as lovers =)

Most memorable line: from JT's gay officemate: "It's not who you spend Friday night with, it's who you want to spend the whole day Saturday with."

Last Supper No.3

I just finished watching Last Supper No.3 from Cinema One tonight, and I just knew I had to write about the film.

The story was about Wilson, an Assistant Production Designer tasked to look for a Last Supper to be used as a backdrop in a Corned Beef commercial. After accidentally losing one of the 3 Last Suppers which were shortlisted, Wilson got in rough terms with the owners and this is where his arduous journey through our country's impossible Justice System begins. Calling it Justice System is wrong on so many levels already, haha. There's neither Justice nor System  in there, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The movie tackled on the country's depressing Justice System (if we can call it that), and how unsuspecting average citizen gets entangled in its ridiculous ways. In a comical way, Last Supper No.3 showed how red tape, corruption, ridiculous practices, this country's exclusive circumstances and the colorful personalities can drag on a simple case of losing the forsaken Last Supper No.3 to years and years of unnecessary due process. It started out really funny, but it later become difficult to watch, as you can't help but think, why is everything so complicated?! The sad part is, our country's justice system is complicated. It's actually like that in real life  - it will start out as funny and ridiculous, but later it's just plain ridiculous! With my short brush to this so called Justice System (and I intend and hope to never have to deal with them ever again) here in the Philippines, I say the movie gave a very close portrayal how things and people are in that pit.

I have not watched too many films, but I am very happy with the kind of films that are being made; makes you think, and hope, that one day our brilliant filmmakers will one day not only get the recognition they deserve, but also help alleviate this country from the mess we're in.

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank

Was supposed to watch Septic Tank in the Greenbelt run with a couple of friends, but tickets were sold off before we could get hold of some for ourselves. So, it was such a pleasant surprise that it was shown commercially. And boy, was I glad to have gotten the chance to see the film. Wow, wow, wow. Brilliant, funny, witty, superb acting. Everything I want in a film. I am by no means a film critic, but I do enjoy watching movies, and getting something out of it when I get out of the moviehouse.

With Septic tank, even if you take out the brilliance out of the movie, it would still be hilarious!!! Eugene Domingo's timing and acting prowess is impeccable. I thought she would be overrated, but she is not. She deseves every accolade she gets because she is good. Very good.

But more than Ms.Domingo, what I love most about the film is how subtle it was. Subtle, without trying too hard. It was able to present a very serious issue, Pedophilia, without boring the audience. I haven't seen too many films, but for me, it was brilliant. Heck, I was even laughing at the musical part. Brilliant.

In addition, the movie was also able to showcase the difficulties of independent fillmaking. Showed how struggling producers and directors go about the challenges in making up a film, and more importantly, what their real motivation is. It's awards, no longer story-telling. Real.

Yes, I am taken away. And I was crying because I was laughing too much. And after that, it made me think, and ponder. What more can you ask for?

Be deliriously happy.

Meet Joe Black had always been one of my favorite movies of all time. I find the movie so complelling its simplicity, yet it captures some of the sincerest sentiments of my life. As with other things in have held dear in my life, I liked the movie because it spoke to me.

I guess a lot of people would remember the movie for these lines. And it's true, we should never settle. It's all or nothing - a fairy tale or not at all.

Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back. How do you find him? Well, you forget your head, and you listen to your heart. And I'm not hearing any heart. Cause the truth is, honey, there's no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love, well, you haven't lived a life at all. But you have to try, cause if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike.

“There’s not an ounce of excitement, not a whisper of a thrill. This relationship has all the passion of a pair of titmice. I want you to get swept away out there. I want you to levitate. I want you to sing with rapture & dance like a dervish…be deliriously happy or at least leave yourself open to be.”

Maybe, people even remember this one, Anthony Hopkins as William Parrish delivered this on his *grand* party:

 I thought I was going to sneak away tonight. What a glorious night. Every face I see is a memory. It may not be a perfectly perfect memory. Sometimes we had our ups and downs. But we're all together, and you're mine for a night. And I'm going to break precedent and tell you my one candle wish: that you would have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." Sixty-five years. Don't they go by in a blink?

But these lines from Allison, William's other daughter really gets to me every time:

Because I know that you love me.

I mean, it's not like it is with her.

Whenever she walks into the room,your eyes light up.

She always gets a smile from you,as opposed to me.

When I walk in,this look comes over your face, like,

"What does she want now?"

But you've never let either of us want for anything.

Oh, God. More than that, Daddy,more than that.

I've felt loved,and that's all that matters.

So, never mind favorites. You're allowed to have one.

The point is,you've been mine.

I guess I'm just touched as to how real it felt. How it's ok to be the non-favorite because you are still loved. How real and how easy people fall into the trap of having favorites, how it's nobody's fault and how everyone should never feel injustice to this little fact. It's so real. That is how movies should be.

X-Men: First Class

I've watched this film a couple of months back and I can remember that I enjoyed the movie quite well.

Directed by Matthew Vaugh, the movie dates a couple of decades back, when Professor X was still Charles Xavier and Magneto was still Erik Lensherr. It showed the 2 most iconic mutants as best friends rather than today's archenemies.

I remember being quite entertained by the main characters' "bromance". Hahaha. Nevertheless, though I'm not the series' biggest fan, I appreciate seeing a glimpse of its story and its beginnings. Always best to understand your past so we can all move forward, right?

Something Borrowed

A girlfriend invited me out for a movie recently, and we went to see the ultimate chick flick with a tagline that had me in mind:

It's a thin line between love and friendship.

Haha. Of course, with that tagline, I'd definitely watch it. I thought it was your typical (well, it is typical in my life.haha.) i've-always-been-in-love-with-my-bestfriend type of movie, but it was actually not. The friendship plot was actually between the 2 girl bestfriends (and no, no lesbo love there), one who's always gave way, and the one who always had her way. Yes kids, the world is unfair.

And so, the movie went on, not so much laughs, just enough not to keep me bored. And while most of the reviews I've read didn't lilke the movie, I actually did. I liked it how the characters involved weren't black and white good or bad. Just like real people. And of course, there were characters I CAN COMPLETELY RELATE TO. You are somebody's first choice. Haha. I wanted someone to say that to me.

Kate Hudson was superb, as always (but yes, I am a fan). But I think the others did pretty well too. But me calling them others is a bad sign. Haha. So yes, it was pretty much Kate Hudson and everybody else. Especially the lawyer guy. And the other guy friend, which is me in real life. HAHAHAHHAHA.

So, yes, this hasn't gone up the ranks of Meet Joe Black and 500 Days of Summer in my movie dictionary, but I liked it nonetheless.