Paris je t’aime

20 Directors, One City, One Story, One Movie!!

Paris!The City of Love!!! I terribly wish to walk down the streets of Paris while wearing my tsinelas!! Have a taste of anything and everything french! To top it all… it would be great to have real french tounge show you what a real french kiss is about! slurpeee!!

Back to the batcave —-weeee–>>> With Paris in mind, lets have some buzz about this movie! I have a huge feeling that this wont be shown in any theater here in the country, but I am truly excited about this film!

Imagine 20 stories of love, 20 directors, a great collection of actors, all in one city, and all in one movie!! Wow!!!

Imagine the wide variety of styles, the delicious mix of different genres, the creative weaving of not just 3 or 4 but 20 storylines, the realization of different approaches on one unversal theme…. LOVE!!!! I just have that weakness on films that deal with matter of the hearts!

Each director has the freedom to apply whatever treatment they desire. No rules, no boundaries, as long as it is not more than 5 mins, and of course, it should be set in Paris. Each of the episodes are set on different Paris arrondissements but are not arranged in order. The transition is very well polished. The first scene for the next part would actually end with the last scene from the previous one!

One of my favorite directors is actually on the line-up, Alfonso Cuaron! I still have that "Clive Owen infertility effect" after I watched Cuaron's "Children of Men". Cuaron's contribution for Paris is something to watchout for! He actually used one single shot for the entire 5 minute segment.

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about! I can actually give you 5 aside from what I have already mentioned. Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gylenhaal, Steve Buscemi and Wes Craven!! Not to mention, Miranda Richardson and Bend It lIke Beckham Director Gurinder Chadha!

Wes Craven would actually have a 360' shift with his contribution! The acclaimed director of the Scream trilogy, Red Eye and other Horror Flicks directed a heartwarming drama!

Natalie Portman is a treat! She is such a gem! I do have an idea what her character would be. She's an aspiring actress with a dead-end relationship with a blindman! I am quite sure that this would be bittersweet!

There is just sooo much to mention! I know that this is a great movie! It was actually shown in Cannes, I havent heard any clamor or noise yet about this film. It would be great if it would be shown next month while we celebrate the month of the hearts!

After the skip are the sequences and the directors and more photos from the film. Out of 20, two was taken off because they can't associate them very well with the storyline! I have no idea who those directors are and how they reacted!

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Look who I found!

A trip to Cubao was stirred by fate and we found ourselves in Eastwood!!! We were just supposed to kill the hours in Cubao! Spend it the way we usually do! Sit somewhere while slurping something and notice almost everything nice or bad with all the people passing!! Let's call the other hobby that we have as …. fishing!! Hunting for yummy and delicious hot catches!! Hmmmm…..

We decided not to go home early and we took a full turn ! We found ourselves in Libis, a better place to go fishing!! Nikkei left me outside Starbucks as he tried to hunt for cheap yosi and tried to invent good excuses to leave his officemates that he accidentally found. I was wondering whats keeping him so long and was about to leave the table when I saw someone who was really familiar! I would recognize that face anywhere, that slender built and that unique mix match of medium sized shirts and straight-cut jeans!!!

"Noynoy?!" Noynoy!!! And it was really him! I was totally awed seeing him there! There are few more surprises! Pipo, Lucky and Tim are with him! Paula actually texted Nikkei on our way taht they might be around the area, but I didnt expect to see them there!!! It was such a high seeing them! I am surrounded by my college batchmates!!! All of them finished school already! Tim and Pipo are having their Masteral in Diliman! Lucky works in IBM… take note ha… HR!!! heheheh… Noynoy is here for training for another job as a Med Rep. Few minutes later, after discussing the lives of the people that we all knew, Pat and Paula came along!!

Imagine 3 years of not seeing these people! These people who made my college life so unforgettable!!!

Good thing that Flaegil was around the area! We spent the night in his unit in Lafayette!! It was fun! We finished few bottles of Grandma!! And again, for the nth time, I have no Idea how I got home!!! I wont forget the "Sucklolo, LickLola joke", a ten year old would do good in cracking it Noy!

I was just so happy seeing this people and patching things up with people that I didnt get along with in college! I was so immature during those years! They know how childish and weak I am in dealing with emotions! But I really want to thank you guys for giving me those memories that I would surely cherish forever!! Guimaras, Boracay, Miag-ao, Iloilo would not be that beautiful without you people!!! 

Congrats to Marian for giving life to another beautiful gift from God!!!! 

Curtain Call!!!!

A year and a half! God! I was able to stick with this company for a year and a half! I passed my resignation letter last Monday and thank GoD, effective Feb. 15, I would be a certified unemployed!

I would like to take a bow! I hear applauses and boos, but anyway, I would take my bow in grace and beauty! I would like to thank this company for my SSS contributions and the thousands of hard earned pesos. 

I just need to take a rest and keep distance from any phone sets! heheheh!!! So goodbye! Paalam sa mga kanong walang magawa sa buhay! Sa mga gagong kano na nag pak yu sa akin sa phone… dobol pak yu din sa inyo to the nth power! Mga ulol kayong lahat!! Sorry!!! heheheh!

Sorry din sa mga pinangakuan ko ng credits na hindi ko ginawa! Sorry din sa mga accounts na aking nabalahura! Sorry sa mga pinangakuan na hindi natupad! Sorry sa mga nasira ang buhay dahil sa kagagawan ng account namin, pero wala kayong magagawa dahil talagang ganyan!!! 

so sa lahat! baboosh! tenk yu por koling and hab a nice day!!! Chow!! 

The Unbearable Lightness of ….. ME!!!

I have troubles in remembering what my weight is! I have difficulties with numbers, especially if it's more than 100 or followed by grams, meter, kilo, pounds or whatever! I have exceptions though, I am quite good with numbers if it has a peso sign or anything monetary!

Something is wrong with my anatomy! I am 5'9 and an average looking 2nd yr highschool looks heavier than me! I swear that I dont have worms or any parasites in my system! Hmmmmm…..

I eat a lot! But that would also depend if I have enough money to satisfy my taste buds! I would go for anything! I could finish several servings of rice and I dont care if the food is drowned in liters of cholesterol. I eat several times a day and I am not as active as I was before! I tend to sleep for more than 8 hours and I spend most of my wake hours watching movies! It is still a big question why body fats keeps on avoiding me!

Thin is beautiful… but not in my case! I cant wear some clothes that I am dying to wear! I cant wear any sleeveless or anything skimpy that would show detailed structures of my bones! I cant find pants that would match my waistline and the lenght of legs! I am like a walking bamboo! I hate using belts but there are times that I have to, cause my waistline cant hold my pants!

I was walking to buy something the other day when Ishi (our 3 yr old neighbor) ran to me and insisted to be carried along. I was too occupied to mind her and didnt even bother to say hello or cuddle or pinch her… the kid gtot annoyed and pulled my shorts! Damn! I was the god of humiliation at that point! The whole worls was looking and my shorts were pulled down and everyone has a good view of how my undearwear covers my ass!! Whew!

The problem would be with my metabolism (a scientific explanation is good to cover any conspiracy)! Believe it or not but I have scheduled toilet deposits after every meals! Good thing that this doesnt happen if I am not home! But its quite unusual to have at least 3 visits on a day! They call the toilet seat as my throne! I finished reading Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" with those frequent visits!

If I could think of an advantage ….. at least my sister and I could share clothes!

Listen….

Babel
Alejandro González Iñárritu

Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal

This was the last film I watched for 2006. I watched it December 31st while getting ready for New Year's Eve. It won the Golden Globe for Best Picture Drama the other day, that's when I remembered that I didnt write a review for the film.

A lot of people seems to compare this film with 2005 Oscar Best Picture "CRASH". Well, I dont know but I think this film is better. 

I am a big fan of Iñárritu. I consider his films sacred; 21 grams and Amores Perros! Too bad I was only able to watch three of his works, it is quite difficult to get hold of a copy for the rest. It would actually be the first time for him to have a popular release with a superstar ensemble. He was even able to convince an a-list actor to tag along. I would kneel to Iñárritu if I was Brad Pitt just to be a part of this film.

Shot in 3 continents, in 5 languages, with one message …. LISTEN!!! 

The film holds different perspectives in a multilingual approach on what would happen if love is ignored, or replaced by hate anger and discrimination! The films intent to present their goal in different perspectives was beautifully woven. Each storyline holds valuable content and the casts were able to deliver exceptional performances.

I never saw Pitt's eyes drown in tears the way I saw him did in this movie. Pitt was able to dissolve everything that he was and was able to initiate an existence of an all new persona. Cate Blanchett was also good, you could feel the depth of her pain, the hurt of losing and you could easily dwell in her emptiness. The Japanese actress, Reiko, was a revelation! The 27 yr old actress was able to portray a 17 year old mute with no effort. She was fearless in showing her full frontals for the film's sake. It was not wasted though, cause it was initiated in a way that she would still gain your pity and respect. I still do feel that Gael Garcia Bernal was underused in this film! That actor has so much talent and he was not utilized well.

I liked the ending! It was so humble and simple! The denouement and the way the movie reveals the connection between the characters were quite abrupt but was still able to hold grasp of its intent.

It's successfully tragic!