Watch Slumdog Millionaire

Included in TIME's Top 10 Movies of 2008.

One young man, Jamal (Dev Patel), has miraculously, or suspiciously, spanned those two worlds. A tea server, or chai wallah, for a telephone marketing company, he has won a fortune on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The show's host (Anil Kapoor) is so skeptical of Jamal's ability to answer the questions that he has policemen try to torture the truth out of the lad. His explanations all relate to his hard life as a homeless orphan in the company of his brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) and, not often enough, with the winsome, consistently abused Latika (Freida Pinto). Salim is a type-A troublemaker, a fighter and conniver, restless and reckless, and thus the ideal complement to Jamal's caution, sensitivity and resilience. These flashbacks constitute the body of a sharp, teeming, dark, very romantic film. - www.time.com

This Indian movie deserved my Wow! I actually enjoyed that one! moment. The movie was charming, easy to follow and very much relatable (and it wasn't TH - trying hard, if I may add). It showed the conditions of the poor in India, organized crime, and crooks that ruled the streets. Yet, never dwelling too much to outshine the movie's plot. For instance, there was this scene of the women washing clothes on a murky brown water river. Also, the public toilets where the poop fall directly into the swamp. You watch scenes like that and you know they are serious societal conditions, but before you can even dwell on that thought, the movie takes you to more important development on the lives of the character that eventually lead you to put that thought on hold so you can concentrate on the story.

Watch the trailer here and go and watch the movie! go, go, go!



Digression: I've been entranced by Indian films since my melancholy nights in Dubai circa 1999. It kept me company during those times when I missed home, well, cable TV to be exact. Reminded me of summer afternoons and those films I watched on PPP (Piling-Piling Pelikula) . Those 70s and early 80s films featuring the likes of Rogelio dela Rosa, Charito Solis, Nida Blanca and Gloria Romero. The Indian movies that I saw, though, centered more on the bare-chested men than their damsels in distress. There were a lot of dancing too which required a lot of hip work and the songs, so LSS-ish!

Forest Park, Bacolod City

I didn't have any expectations of the place save for the animals, which I wanted my son to see (whatever they were). So when we got there I went, "Wow! this IS a park!"

It's an enclosed property (much like Eden Natural Park in Davao) only 30 times or so smaller. The greenery was a feast for the eyes. There were three playground sites complete with monkey bars, swings and see-saws for kids and feeling-kids. Lovers could take a stroll and settle on the many wooden benches around the park. We actually saw at least three pairs during our visit. Hmmmm, was that other girl still in her school uniform?

The lagoons and the bridges made a perfect site for the much needed emo moment. I made my mother pose in one of them, choreographed it even to make it more dramatic (echos!). Picnickers could bring their own food or order from the canteen located near the mini-zoo. We bumped into a few teenagers on the way to the cottage areas carrying bagfuls of junkies. I hope they know how to dispose of their garbage properly.

For the animal lovers, there were the rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, snake and monkeys in the cages and the kois in the ponds. One of the resident monkeys (lolo monkey, we called him) was a bit hostile though, banging on the cage and threatening to bite us. That's just because I touched the baby monkey's back a few times.

If action is your game, you can also check out the airsoft game site and ask around about memberhip.

Forest Park is located near St. Francis Village in Brgy. Taculing, Bacolod City. It is open from 7am-6pm daily.

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The Lovely Bones (2002)

Written by: Alice Sebold

Plot Introduction provided in Wikipedia:

"In 1973, a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon is raped, murdered, and dismembered by a neighbor. Over the next few years she watches from a personalized heaven as her family and friends deal with their grief. She sometimes becomes angry and frustrated from the choices her family makes while looking over them."

It's another death story told in a rather creative way (If you've read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven you'de know what I mean). It's actually a poignant recount of the events that follow the death of a daughter/sister/friend/crush/schoolmate.

The story of a brutal death does not end when a body is found or a murderer served with a sentence. It lingers. Like the wringing sound of a pulled spring. Each reverberation echoes the pain felt by family members, friends, relatives and the whole community touched by the deceased.

Death means something to the dead as it does to the living. The letting go part is never easy. Painful, especially when death comes in a rather unexpected and brutal way. The father, not willingto move on, consumed by anger. The other daughter who just wanted to be seen for who she is and not whose sister she was. The younger brother who barely new what gone even meant. The mother, struggling and finally giving up on family life.

If I were to dream of my own heaven it would contain a placid lake with me floating on it. The wind caressing my cheeks giving me a little push while I move past beds of lilies and lotus. It would be eternally misty, as in early morning.

City of Friendship: Tagbilaran City, Bohol

Finally, Bohol! glad the office picked this venue for our national convention. The team is pretty organized this time, even integrated a tour of the island into our itinerary.

What I enjoyed most:

The serenity of the place, sunset at Bohol Tropics, this wooden bridge at the Tarsier viewing area, the port fronting Baclayon Church and the Tagbilaran Pier at dusk.

Bohol's finest.

Loboc Children's Choir. We were fortunate to have been serenaded by the famous Loboc Children's Choir. It was like listening to angels sing. They recently bagged awards during their stint in Spain and even the Vienna Boy's Choir gaped in awe with their performance. Cesar Montano once commissioned them to "harana" his then girlfriend Sunshine Cruz when he proposed marriage to her. I bet she got carried away with the background music, hence she said yes!

The Tarsiers! History books tell us a lot about them. I'm glad the trip set a few things straight and factual. For one, they are not monkeys and they are not the smallest of their kind. They're not endemic to Bohol alone but they are territorial and afraid of cats.

Loboc River. Until today, I've never seen a river so deep in color and so clean even with the commercial activities in the area. As in, wow! and it's really so placid! I haven't watched Panaghoy sa Suba but I bet it's immortalization is as good as the real thing!

The Chocolate Hills. Now here's another fact I learned during my trip. The soil in these hills are salty hence no trees would grow in them. The hills are at their glorious during summer months when they look like mounds of chocolate kisses. There are two viewing areas, one in Carmen, which is really accessible to tourists and the other in Sakbayan which is still about 45 mins away (please don't trust my estimate, I was asleep during the transfer, hehehehehhe).

Things I Brought Home with Me

Loads of Pasalubong. Like any other trip, I was prepared to buy stuff for the folks back home. Of course I bought some tarsier key chains, ref. magnets, Bohol shirts for the hubby, mother and the two chuwariwaps, chunkie nuts instead of the usual peanut kisses which are readily available almost everywhere . I also bought baked polvoron, some cookies, ubi polvoron and ubi jam.

The Ubi Story. We learned from our tour guide that Boholanos take the planting of ubi rather seriously with a ritual which involve women with naturally big "bumpers". The planters hire these women (preferrably married) to do the planting in July during the full moon. Bare naked, they chant "mu daku ka ing ani, mu crack ka ing ani" or something like that while planting. The guys in our bus had a few laughs about it, "wala bang demo?"

How do tarsiers mate? During the mating season, female tarsierspee on a tree branch or something to advertise that she is "searching" for a mate. The male tarsiers then search for the pee scent that they like and they leave their saliva on them. The female then surveys her pees for her perfect match and then the mating. The actual mating thing happens in just a few seconds. (Daw si Flash ba!)

Some quips from HIM:

• Never ASSUME, for it will make an ASS out of U and ME
• Murphy's Law. If something goes wrong, it will.

Mixed Feelings.
Bohol brought those who were close, closer and rifters far more apart. It brought me sad news about the hubby's friend taking his own life and my son almost sticking a pencil through the househelp's eye. It brought me feelings of frustration for the lack of affirmation from HIM about our work and the hubby not happy about my buying him the wrong sandals. The negative feelings lingered quit a while but when I look back, I can't help but laugh at all those jumpshots and hilarious photo ops we brought ourselves to do. After all the hardwork and low morale that we've put ourselves into, we deserved all the fun. Thanks to our ever humble servant-leader who never fails to look after our best interests, life is still a beautiful thing!

After the Wedding and Prag

After the Wedding is a Danish film by Susanne Bier. It's an Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Film in 2006 (the award was won by Pan's Labyrinth). I got hold of a copy after reading a good review by time.com about it but only got the chance to watch it recently.

Synopsis from its official website:

Far from home, Jacob (Casino Royale villain, Mads Mikkelsen), runs a struggling orphanage in one India’s poorest regions. Desperate to save the orphanage from closure, he returns to Denmark to meet Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard) a wealthy businessman and potential benefactor. Jorgen offers Jacob a seemingly innocent invitation to attend his daughter’s wedding. What appears to be nothing more than a friendly gesture sets in motion an increasingly devastating series of surprises, revelations, and confessions that will forever change their lives. Sweeping, yet entirely intimate, AFTER THE WEDDING is a shattering portrait of a family struggling with the fragility of life and the search for connection, healing, and forgiveness.

The story: man and woman fall in love, fell out of love, parted ways. years later, man goes back to Denmark gets invited to a wedding which turns out to be his daughter's, one who he never even knew existed until that moment. As in woah! there's your conflict!

I memorized a few lines I found to my liking:

1. Jorgen to Helena on her getting the jitters the night before their daughter's wedding: "Anna is young...and she will have many weddings... the first time is always difficult." Can't imagine that happening here in our country. Wouldn't dream of it either.
   
2. Pramod, the little boy in the orphanage to Jacob: "You said you don't like rich people, then why are you going to live with them?... I don't want to live there with you, I like it here (referring to the orphanage in India)." Sometimes, children have a way of making adults appear to be complicating things.
3. Helena and Jacob finally talking about their past: Helena: Why did you not come after me? ... Jaboc:I thought you were coming back. People, expectations and pride.

Great movie and yes, I fell in love with Mads Mikkelsen. LOL! Just enough to google him up and search for any film with him on it. Of course they were hard to come by. But after some dedication, I finally was able to find another movie with him on it, Prag.


PRAG (2006) is a Dogme Film by Ole Christian Madsen. I found an English-translated website sometime in the past but I couldn't locate it anymore so I will just give you the plot summary provided in imdb.com:

Romantic drama: the story of Christoffer and Maja's trip to the city of Prague - a beautiful, aging city, but also a city choked by a rigid and dated eastern-block mentality. PRAG is the story of a distant, ever-absent father who, even after passing away, traumatizes all who have known him. And PRAG is the story of a marriage on the verge of collapse, in which Christoffer wants one thing and Maja another. A story of an old love, constantly transformed; at once, rooted, fragile, vulnerable, forgotten and rediscovered. A marriage where secrets, one after the other, come bursting out of the closet.

The story: man's estranged father died, brings wife along to retrieve his remains in Prag. already knew that wife is seeing another. hopes that the trip will be a good time to save whatever is left of the marriage. confrontation about the affair... no raising of voices...just talking...

Here's some of the lines I got from the movie:

Maja: I saw you today.
Christoffer: I saw you today too. You looked absolutely beautiful.
Maja: Then why didn't you come over to me?
Christoffer: Because that would have ruined it.
(In an earlier scene, Christoffer saw Maja speaking to her cellphone obviously to her lover. Then she saw Christoffer watching her from afar. She stops, wipes the smile off her face and moves away.)

M: Is this a mid-life crisis?
C: I'm 40 and want to do new things. People under 40 always think that's a mid-life crisis.
I wouldn't know, I seem to be in a crisis all the time LOL!

M: Since when are you game for anything?
C: Since I found out you are seeing another man.
And that was delivered in a very matter of fact, no-frills tone. Gosh! that's love!

One review about the movie ended with this statement: For all its sadness of theme, Prag is a strangely beautiful and moving film. And all I can say is it's so so true!

Hail thee Mads Mikkelsen! Anybody knows where I can find Open Hearts?

Reign Over Me and Blades of Glory

I have to admit that I have been watching films lately for the purpose of entertainment, no interpretation needed, just sheer enjoyment. This week we watched two interesting films: Reign Over Me and Blades of Glory.

Reign Over Me

Plot Summary provided in yahoo movies:

Former college roomates Charlie Fineman and Alan Johnson meet up again by chance on a Manhattan street corner. Five years after losing his family on 9/11, Charlie--once a successful dentist--has retreated from his life, and Alan is stunned to see the changes in his formerly gregarious friend. At the same time, Alan--who should be enjoying his beautiful wife, children and career--is overwhelmed by his responsibilities. Their rekindled relationship becomes a lifeline for the two men, who are both in need of a trusted friend at this pivotal moment in their lives.

I've shunned away from 9/11 films mainly because it's about the 9/11 disaster and I really am not emotionally prepared for that kind of drama in the middle of the week. But then it's Adam Sandler. So I consented to watching the film as I have always been supportive of Adam Sandler films no matter how odd they are. I didn't expect, though, to see him do drama after Punch Drunk Love. Heard of it? I don't blame you if you haven't.

Adam was aptly casted for the role of Charlie. His playful character gave the movie some light comedy even on heart-piercing scenes. The camera angles were not really meant to highlight his expressions but one can tell by the way he delivered his lines that he had imbibed Charlie's predisposition. The movie tackled on the painful issue of letting go of the past and moving on. Something I wish some people I know should do when they get out of heartbreaking experiences *winks*


Blades of Glory

Plot Summary provided in yahoo movies:

Perhaps nowhere in sports is the marriage of athleticism and grace more evident than in the arena of world champion pairs figure skating--the lifts, the jumps, the routines. It⿿s an elegant world, a rarefied universe, a noble place populated by the crème de la crème of skating elite. Well, it used to be. When the macho, swaggering Chazz Michael Michaels takes to the rink, he is the rock star of the arena, leaving a trail of thrashed ice and shrieking female fans in his wake. The only competitor who can match Michaels⿿ scores is the driven former child prodigy, Jimmy MacElroy. Spotted as a youth executing triple lutzes on the frozen pond of an orphanage, MacElroy was whisked away to days of endless training, and now stands as the picture of poise, the personification of the highest ideals of the men⿿s sport. Michaels and MacElroy have met in finals rounds before, but their latest head-to-head at the World Championships--when they tie for first--is more than either one can bear, and their longstanding rivalry erupts into a no-holds-barred fight. The ensuing brawl not only sets fire to the World Championship⿿s helpless mascot, but lands both athletes in hot water: Chazz and Jimmy are called before the sport⿿s governing board, stripped of their gold medals and banned from the sport for life. Now, three-and-a-half years later, both men are still trying to find their way in a world without competitive skating. Michaels has devolved into a drunken party machine, skating as a costumed evil wizard in a kiddie ice review, and MacElroy has been banished to the shoe department of a chain sporting goods store. But then, inspiration (in the form of an over-friendly, former stalker of Jimmy⿿s) strikes, and a loophole emerges. To skate again, all Chazz and Jimmy have to do is set aside their long festering hatred of one another and join forces--as the first male/male figure skating pair to compete in the history of the sport.

Waaaaa! Will was his usual Saturday Night Live self! After Night at the Roxbury, and Superstar I have been watching him humiliate himself in films over and over again. I liken the guy to our very own Jimmy Santos except that he's a whole lot funnier and very much better in the field of acting. The movie is my second Jon Heder film and well, he's as effective as he was in The Benchwarmers.

Yes, it is hilarious with all those skating stunts and the funny coined term "boobie shake". Which just makes me think... how much enjoyment would I get had the movie been Filipino made... naaaaaah!

Homer, Bean and Gus

Three movies I've watched lately: The Simpsons Movie, Mr. Bean's Holiday and The Benchwarmers.

The Simpsons Movie. True to its TV reputation, the movie has all the wit and humor that adults will find amusing and children funny. I've read from somewhere that it got the ire of some Catholics on the scene (oops! spoilers) where Homer was leafing through the pages of the bible hoping to find answers. I liked the movie's rendition of the Titanic scene where the barge sunk drowning the band, the ala-Brokeback Mountain scene, the Itchy/ Hillary '08 campaign slogan, President S and the Bambi and birds ensemble. There were some scenes, though funny, should be watched with parental guidance as it might provoke some false courage or misguided truths in our little ones especially on the issue of taking responsibility for your actions, responding to dares and resolving family matters.



Mr. Bean Holiday. Of course it's full of Mr. Bean antics! But I watched it with my relatives and we laughed our hearts out for the whole duration of the movie (they because they thought it funny while I was just happy to oblige). Rowan Atkinson always portrays his role with so much mastery that I sometimes wonder if he's able to see himself apart from his Bean character. (Maybe we should ask Teddy). I didn't like the plot as much as The Simpson's Movie, though. Maybe because I have a son and I could kill if that had happened to him. I wasn't able to follow much of the movie because of the French lines. I'm not sure if there's a translation when you watch it in the big screen but my copy didn't have any so we had to just assume we understood what the muttering in French was. The movie featured many different faces of Paris and Cannes that left me gaping in awe. Wish I could visit those places in this lifetime. The movie was palatable but I couldn't appreciate it more than it's first installment - Bean the movie with Peter MacNicol (Ally McBeal, Numbers). That one I laughed my heart out to the very end. I pretty much enjoyed seeing Willem Dafoe portray his character as an egocentric filmmaker. Some people are just so like that... Anyways, the movie was simple as it is...no hidden meanings, no intricate connections.


Benchwarmers. Just like any Happy Madison movie, Benchwarmers tackles the issue of outcasts who also deserve their chance to belong. Rob Schneider was unusually serious in this film. I didn't quite expect Rob to produce those realistic teary eyes in one of the scenes. I wonder if he'd ever star in a drama.... David Spade, on the other hand, donned his usual Joe Dirt image. The movie, by my standards, is half a notch higher than Mr. Bean's Holiday. I wouldn't recommend watching it with children though. Not with the overgrown man in skimpy bikini, the gay hunk cuddling a midget and a sunscreen-eating albino, add to that the booger-obsessed character portrayed in the film. One catchy phrase hit me on the film, when the bullies were discussing about what to do with the outcasts: "what will happen to us if there are no nerds like them?" also reminded me of the order given on The Simpsons Movie about assembling 100 tough men and 200 soft men so that the tough men will look tougher. So what happens to bullies when there's no one to bully anymore? Interesting eh?

All in all, I had fun watching all three. No mental exercise needed there, just sheer amusement.