Bab-el

The first time, I wanted to watch this movie because I saw Cate Blanchett (yep, and not Brad Pitt). The second time, it caught my attention since a lot people in hollywood media didn't even know how to pronounce the movie name. But most importantly, it won golden globe best drama and nominated for 7 Oscars. So I thought, why not?!?! I didn't really catch much from the trailer, but after watching the movie I realized I wasn't even close to guessing what it was about.

The stories were set in different places in the world - Morocco, US, Mexico, Japan. Stories that seemed independent, unrelated, told in different languages. An American couple having a trip to Morocco, and the wife got shot by a kid who was practicing his rifle that his father just bought. The couple's children were left at home with a nanny who had to leave for Mexico for her son's wedding, and decided to bring them along. And a Japanese girl, mute and deaf, going through her life of silence, ignorance, and insult. Her father turned out to be the owner of the rifle which he had given to the local guide that took him hunting. Confused? You gotta watch it yourself :P

I like the fact that it wasn't clear which incident happened when, and as it continued you gradually understand and start putting things together. But even more than that, I looked up the movie title, and it's quite interesting. It refers to a town in Hebrew bible, Babylon, where Tower of Babel is located. People spoke the same language, and they tried to build this tower to reach heaven and become godlike. This made God angry, and decided to make those people speak different languages, so they could no longer communicate and stop building the tower. So it ties back to the "language" obstacles told in this story, where people try to "say" something but it is not always "heard." Everyone had to struggle along the road; not everyone ended up with a smile.. not everyone was given a second chance.. I think it's a really good movie, and it tries to communicate a lot. A bit difficult to understand, yes (so might require post-research hehe), but worth watching..

directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
released: November 2006

PS. Apologies to some who I've mentioned watching this together. I couldn't help it! After my terrible final exam, I needed a distraction hehe..

Music & Lyrics

Another chic-flick for this year's Valentine :) I was at a point where I couldn't stay home alone anymore, and so I dragged my friends out for a movie over the weekend. Been a while since we went to the cinema - blame it on the freezing weather here..

An easy-to-watch romantic comedy, and it has Hugh Grant written all over. Whatever role he used to play, he's pretty much still doing the same. But that's his signature, and it's rather funny as is. A bit too much of the (weird) dancing in this one, but I still like listening to his posh accent :P The highlight is probably the back-to-the-80's theme of this movie. Alex Fletcher (Grant) was a big-time star in a band called Pop! And the no.1 hit was called "Pop! Goes My Heart" which stuck in my head for a while afterwards. Time passed and of course his singing career went downhill, until his manager got him a chance to compose a song for another rising star singer. Problem was, he can compose but cannot write lyrics. So that's where Sophie Fisher (Barrymore) comes in, started from being just the 'plant girl' to helping him out with the lyrics. Beginning of the lurrvvveee story...

Most of the songs didn't quite meet my expectations. The oldies ones were funny, together with the music videos.. but the modern ones didn't catch my ear. And the fact that these actors/actresses couldn't sing didn't help either, hehe.. But, overall it was a good movie to enjoy on a lonely weekend.. Seeing Hugh Grant dressed and danced like that was amusing enough already.. If you fancy him, you should watch it.. Remember, he's getting old.. Can't be taking this type of role forever.. :P

Trailer Widget

As I was trying to find a decent way of sharing movie trailers, I stumbled across this new release from Universal Pictures that seems to be a new way of advertising their film. I know you can find it in youtube or google video or whatever, but the quality is just bad. And many times I've had problems with 'video no longer available' which is rather annoying. This was taken from an entry in widgify which talks about widget advertising, but it doesn't seem to say if other film producers are doing this as well. I just thought it would be kinda neat if you could browse through different movies, and I'm sure widget creators can easily make one! Anyway, this is Smokin' Aces. I haven't watched it, so not gonna comment ;) But don't you agree it looks much better than youtube?

If anyone has a good source to share, please let me know.. I would never underestimate the power of web 2.0 and obviously I can't keep up with what's happening anymore..

penguin can dance ^^ (and sing)

to celebrate the beginning of my winter break, i went to see Happy Feet today.. honestly when it started showing in theaters, i didn't know much about it nor was i keen to watch.. i thought it was just another animation film.. and also i was hypnotized by 007, so Casino Royale was my priority :) (must admit, the new mr.Bond is hot!) then after a while my friends started talking about this happy feet movie.. seemed like it's pretty interesting.. and so i went and actually enjoyed it.. penguins are cute, esp the little ones.. and of course this is a cartoon, so it's not as depressing and realistic as the March of the Penguins documentary.. anywho, i realized this was very much a musical film.. the animation is neat, but given these days' technology it's prolly nothing fancy compared to what you've seen before.. i would recommend if you enjoy some fun tunes and the idea of dancing/singing penguins amuses you ;) they actually did a pretty good job with the songs.. i recalled myself tapping my feet as i watched as well.. (the cinema was close to empty..)

on the note, last week Happy Feet was #1 on box office, ahead of #2 Casino Royale.. can't be that bad right? ^^ and as i go down the list, #3 was Deja Vu. i'm not sure about most people, but for me it was pretty bad. of course i had high expectations, and i totally blame the trailer which gave me the totally wrong idea.. so if you see the preview and think what you think, it won't be like that..hehe. next program for me, perhaps The Holiday.. something to go with the season! ^^

oh, and happy father's day too :)

Abracadabra

"Secrets, are my life.."

people have secrets. and people want to know other people's secrets because they ARE secret.. had it not been secret, it would lose that only mystery behind..

but what if somebody lives his whole life with secrets.. that even the people closest to him cannot see through him.. is it illusion.. is it reality.. how do you see the difference? how do you know the difference?

i have just watched "The Prestige" - a new film directed by christopher nolan of Memento and Batman Begins. do not confuse this with The Illusionist which was released a few weeks earlier.. (i haven't seen that one so i can't really compare.. but reading the synopsis gave me the idea that the stories are totally different) my reaction after i watched prestige was.. wow, i liked the movie a lot! attention grabbing, scenes after scenes you keep discovering something behind. and then you start putting all the puzzles together.. leaving you with that one missing piece.. of course i won't tell you and spoil this favorite movie of mine.. see 'til the end.. you might find it, you might not..

"Every great magic tricks consist of three acts:

The Pledge..
when a magician shows you something ordinary
but of course, it probably isn't

The Turn..
when he makes that ordinary something
into something extraordinary

Now you look into the secret, but you won't find it

That's why you have The Prestige..
where things twist and turn
and you'll see something shocking you've never seen before."