Crying over "TIME"

"On one fine day, a guy time travels and lands on the meadow, sees his daughter and daughter tells her friends to go fetch mommy and tell her daddy's here. Cut to scene: a girl running as fast as she can, through the forest, through the meadow, excited to see her husband again. They finally run towards each other. They hugged and talked. Husband says "I can't stay" and wife replies in glee, but actually with a pang of pain, "I know." They kiss just in time for the husband to ebb away..." And then I cry. This is my feeble attempt to describe through words the scene in the film "The Time Traveler's Wife" that made me cry a tear or two or more...

The movie is just so beautiful and painful, heart-wrenching and heart-warming. Though generically a "time travel" movie, it struck a cord in the core emotions that we humans posses.

"I can't stay," says the husband.
"I know," says the wife.

We wait for something magical or good in our lives. Some people say it is futile. Sooner, we tell ourselves it is of no use, too. But we still wait, don't we?

Cheers for the undying human spirit!

- Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 1:37pm

Mr. Pang (Puhnnng)!

We had a blast early morning today as two Vietnamese students joined us for a sumptuous breakfast at our house. We were laughing our hearts out while eating a hearty meal and joking about Vietnamese intonation and speaking patterns. Linh, one of the students matched an action to an utterance of a Vietnamese person's name. I suddenly, theatrically, acted out a short skit about what happens if all names had a matching action and it was hysterical. We laughed our hearts out! It dawned then upon me that it was probably one of the best times of my life. And it didn’t involve buying anything or spending money. And so I thought of my ambivalent attitude towards material things. I attempted to say that the best things in life are free. You don’t need to have much money to be happy. But then Samuel L. Jackson popped in my mind saying “Those people who said money can’t buy happiness never had any.” I wish I could really be filthy rich someday and say the exact opposite.

- Sometime in December 2009

L_v_ c_n w_ _t, F_n c_n't. (Do you need a vowel?)

Today, I had the most awesome time of my life! It was a party epic, to put it rightly, according to my friend Yumi! We had a total blast late last night to this dawn as we partied: drank, smoked, danced,gyrated, flirted but all in a healthy context. Today, I had the fun I should have gotten during Christmas and New Year 2009 in Dien Bien Phu City. This is exactly, or more than what I feel during Christmas Day in the Philippines! A lot of fun with a sense of belonging and family. This is what I and Cathy have missed in Dien Bien Phu. It was f****** depressing before. Oh, but how the Lord compensates. Thanks to all my friends—no, my Hanoian family for all the fun we shared! February 14, aside from the very obvious heart's day, is also "Tet" or the start of the Lunar Year here in Vietnam! I don't have a date but hey, love can wait. Fun can't. Lol!

Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 5:27pm

Not so eXcellent

Not so eXcellent.

Yam Laranas’ latest directing effort has been only slightly impressive. “Patient X” is such a great movie in a purely technical level although I must say the lead actress Cristine Reyes did a better job than the others. The camera shots, color scheme and design of the film were so remarkable but it ultimately failed to deliver a good story—a story worth investing our time in. It is similar with Topel Lee’s “Sundo”—a great technical movie that falls behind on the story.

“Patient X” is a fast-paced film. The premise was even very good: an imprisoned ‘aswang’ or ‘monster’ but really has a greater significance than the English translation in Filipino mythology. The story could have been so much better but instead it was a paper-thin plot ninety-minute feature. It began well but sagged in the ending. Like “Sigaw,” parts of “Patient X” were predictable. The filmmakers could have added more layers to the film just like modern Pinoy horror films like “Malikmata” and “Tenement 2.”

Laranas, known most for his “Sigaw” film and the more astounding re-make “Echo,” has always been an excellent technical director. But as they always say technicalities should just enhance the story and not the other way around. Perhaps this is why this film failed in the box office. Or it could be just the lack of massive and effective advertising. It’s just too bad because I really had high hopes for the film. Nevertheless, I still hope Filipinos will support passion-driven films like “Patient X.” It is only in this way that Pinoys can actually discuss film art and find ways to improve Filipino cinema.