Watched a movie last Monday (theater ticket prices are 50% off every Monday nights in Kuwait). Contagion. Starring lotsa stars in their notsa-stellar-but-okay performance. It's all Gwyneth's fault. Or maybe it's the script. While watching it, I remembered Dustin Hoffman's Outbreak movie which tackled the same subject -- spread of an unknown virus . Whereas Dustin's Outbreak was confined in one place, Gwyneth's Contagion was worldwide killing around 35 million people. Nonetheless, I thought Dustin's better.

Because there were lots of stars in Contagion - most of them have, in the past, either won an Oscar's or nominated for Oscar's -- my expectations were high but quite noticeably in the movie, their characters didn't develop well and, during the end credits, I have more questions than answers. Primary of them is this: Why do all of them, except perhaps Laurence Fishburne, looked un-beautified? Gwyneth’s character looked sickly (and freckle-ish), Matt was fat, Marion Cotillard's hair looked too 70’s, Jude Law's character seemed to have a diastema (or maybe not), Kate Winslet's character is typically Kate (like I'm watching her character in The Reader -- except she's not in Germany and it's not the 50's, and she's a CDC doctor, so I didn't quite understand her saintly demeanor), etc.

Or maybe I didn't get the film's message unless it wants to tell us that virus spread rapidly and could potentially annihilate mankind, which really are not new information at all. Or maybe that's what acting is all about -- subdued and contained, not wailing as what we normally see in teleseryes. But should the flow of the movie be subdued as well?

After the movie, I concluded that...

1/ Blogging sells! In the movie, Jude’s character earned millions of hits (and dollars) when he first made known about the virus and it's homeopathic cure. I wonder what would scare people to death and make me controversial...hmmm.

2/ The movie sealed Kuwaiti's aversion for pork. The last part of the movie showed pigs and pig carcass and I can only imagine what were the reactions of the non-pork-eating Kuwaitis while watching the scenes. They must be saying: they deserve to die, them pork-eaters!

3/ If a new virus strain breaks out now with no immediate available cure, the poor will die first unless you kidnap a WHO representative as ransom for a boxful of antidote. Oh, and make sure the antidotes are real and not placebos.

Did it entertain me? In a way....yes. But it's not the sort of movie that I will recommend to my friends. As I said: Dustin's better.

To scare ourselves last night, November 1, my flatmate and I decided to watch Paranormal 2 at Cinescape in Al Koot in Fahaheel, Kuwait.

It was the first time that I saw the cinema full. On three occasions that I ventured Cinescape in Al Koot, I always find the cinemahouses almost empty. But last night, it surprised me that the theater was a third full.

So those media blurbs may be true after all: that Paranormal will scare your wits out. I don't normally like horror films because it takes days for my brains to get rid of those disturbing scenes (like that long-haired girl coming of the well in The Ring). So before I watched Paranormal, I visited imdb to read Paranormal's bloopers (those mistakes that inanimate a movie no matter how scary or serious or straight it is).



Armed with those goofs, I sat at the cinema waiting for Paranormal to scare me. Nothing in the first 30 minutes. It was true then that it took a long time for the movie to build up. And then it happened: the cupboards suddenly opened. It jolted me a bit but the moviegoers -- mostly Kuwaiti bachelors armed with popcorn and knick-knacks -- just laughed. True, the scene was funnier than scarier. The next scary scene was when the baby levitated (but again it looked funnier than scarier).  Even when the was dragged lifelessly by an unseen something, I can't feel anything but boredom.

The last 15 minutes of the movie which are supposed to frighten us just pissed us off.  We didn't even realize that the movie ended had it not been for the end credits.  Walang bulaga factor!

Paranormal 2 is not ghostly; it's ghastly. Or perhaps the way the Kuwaiti authorities censored it left the movie worthless. (I saw Eat Pray Love two weeks ago but only had the Eat and Pray scenes without the Love because of the way they censored the kissing and fondling scenes. It's weird, really.)

Paranormal 2 is not at all scary but just the same, I left my lights on last night. Hmmm...and tonight as well.

I saw Apocalypto over MBC Action last week. Never mind that it was past my bedtime, but I just can't let this pass. I've been intrigued by -- but never had a chance to watch -- this movie since it was released in 2006.

Hence, after four years, when I saw its advert on tv, I promised myself to watch the movie.

And I did.



Verdict: I was floored.

One of the best films I've ever seen. It's a visual triumph. No matter what they say of Mel Gibson, I still admire him when he megs his movies. It's true that his movies are bloody and gory and not for the weak-hearted (like The Passion of the Christ, for example), but I admire their glory and the story and the lessons behind each film.

Apocalypto was set during the Mayan Ages. The storyline was quite simple. It narrates the life of a native, Cougar Paw, whose village was suddenly attacked by bandits and all their able-bodied men and women captured as either slaves or life offerings. Cougar Paw who was about to be killed as an offer to the Sun God, by fate, escaped although not unscathed to return to his pregnant wife and son whom he hid inside a deep well.

I guess the quotation used at the beginning of the movie, that of William James Durant, author of The Story of Civilization summarizes the heart of the movie: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."

The film was dubbed in Mayan language (subtitled in English) which added credence to the setting of the film.

One line which moved me is that of Cougar Paw's father who said: Fear is a sickness. It will crawl into the soul of anyone who engages it. It has tainted your peace already. I did not raise you to see you live with fear. Strike it from your heart. Do not bring it into our village.

The Apocalypto I saw on MBC 4 was, I'm sure, unnecessarily cut for tv programming reasons. I read that the movie was more than two hours long; what I saw, therefore, was only three-fourths of the movie. I hope I can get hold of a DVD of Apocalypto. Warning for those who may be interested to see it for the first time: it's not for kids. If you hate the sight of blood, cadavers and hacked heads, you will not enjoy this movie. But if you enjoy grand production films sans CGI magic, as I do, you will definitely enjoy Apocalypto.

Saw 500 Days of Summer and I immediately fell in love with its music especially Regina Spektor's Us. (Also loved the movie. Although the storyline is simple -- and yes, trite -- the dialogues in the movie are crisp, witty and young.).

Spektor's Us is not a new song, but I'm sure it will once again become a hit because of 500 Days.

See this Youtube Lollapalooza Concert in 2007, and notice how original Spektor's voice is, how fresh is her smile, and oh how cool the music is of Us.

Five reasons why you should watch 500 Days

1. Regina Spektor's Us;
2. Witty character dialogue (especially the narrator's);
3. Cool music;
4. Cool characters;
5. The story is for young gen, and I'm still young.

I've read that it's not good and it's purely for entertainment. I had a preview last night and I agree with the comments of RJ and Jo. I say: 2012 is purely an escapist movie, filled with jaw-dropping effects but bereft of a sensible storyline. The script is so awful, so out of synch with reality that I honestly wished all the adult characters would die in a single swoop of a tornado. Perhaps 2012 would have been better if only the kids were left alive midway in the movie. (I'm bad, ain't I?).

But this I admit: their movie website is impressive. They even have a survival sweepstakes for those who wanted to be saved when December 21, 2012 comes. Of course both the sweepstakes and 2012 doomsday are not real; purely imaginative inventions of the movie publicists.

Know this: we are being manipulated, people! Think: If the world is ending on December 21, 2012 then we should move PEBA04's awarding at an earlier date like September, for example. Just kidding.

Out of curiousity, I played the Survive 2012 Game. It's a multiple choice Q/A type of game where everytime you click the right answer, you get to move closer to Tibet, where the rescue facility is.



The questions (and the answers) are interesting (and sometimes comical), but may prove to be useful during real life situations.

1. If you're exposed to extreme cold, and you have a choice whether to eat a heavy meal, drink from a bottle of whiskey or drink a hot choco, choose the chocolate because it has calories which the body needs to re-warm.

2. When hiking and you find yourself caught near a wildfire, immediately go downhill (instead of run uphill) as fire travels uphill.

3. If your plane crashes over a lake and water starts rushing in, when are you supposed to inflate your life vest -- before or after the exit door? Answer: after. An inflated lifevest may trap you inside the plane.

4. There is a terrible earthquake at the beach and your boat is docked nearby, don't stay in the boat. Run as fast as you away from the beach as earthquakes cause tsunamis.

5. During a mountain hike, you get a terrible toothache and can't continue to the next village for assistance, put an aspirin on the gum above the tooth to stop the pain. It should temporarily stop the throbbing of the nerve until you reach a medical facility.

6. While making a campfire you burn your hand, and your choice is between a canteen of water or butter, choose the cold water. Butter does nothing to the burn.

7. You are in the trunk of a kidnapper's car. You have worked your blindfold but you have to get your hands untied (I honestly don't know how can we can free our blindfold without freeing our hands first), spit on your wrist which should make it easier for you to slip off the rope. "A slippery wrist is your best bet. Pulling hard may the rope make make it tighter." (I wonder though how you'd spit at the rope if your hands are tied behind you).

8. You are in a field when a bee stings you (you are allergic to stings), should you scrape the stinger or squeeze it? Scrape it with a flat rock or a small branch. Pressing it might release more venom into your blood stream.

9. When a mountain lion crosses your path while you are backpacking, should you be quiet or make noise? Answer: Mountain lions don't like confrontation. The more assertive and frightening you are, the better. Inversely, if it's a bull, stay calm because an agitated bull charges.

10. You are on a shore of a river when a crocodile rears its head in front of you, should you grab a stone and hit the crocodile in the snout? Apparently, no. You should run as fast as you can to escape.

11. As you open your front door, an assailant shoves you inside and slams the door and holds a gun on you, should you spit in his face, scream or do as you're told? This is funny but apparently, you should spit on the assailant's face to distract him, strike him in the head and then escape.

12. Fire is raging through your apartment building and you hear someone screaming from behind a locked door, don't charge at the door using your shoulders. Instead, front kick it near where the lock is. Your foot is less vulnerable to injury than your shoulder.

13. If you're traveling through the desert by car and you have to stop and rest, don't take a nap inside your car while the A/C is on. Leave the car and find a shaded area to sleep. Why? The car temperature will be about 110-115 degrees fahrenheit within 15 minutes. The last thing you wanted in that situation is for your battery to run out.

14. There's a flash flood and you race to your car but you accidentally drop your keys down a storm drain, the best way is to hotwire your car than to try to retrieve your keys. (This I honestly realized from playing the 2012 game: we should all know how to hotwire cars).

15. You get caught indoors during a volcano, should you get outside to escape the lava or lock yourself up? Answer: Never outrun a lava and mud once a volcano erupts.

16. You're driving on a busy street and your power steering fails, the best thing to do, instead of slamming on the brake or accelerating to see if it will unlock the steering column, is to take your foot off the gas and move tot he side of the road and stop the car.

17. If you're in a commercial flight and a panicking passenger storms the cockpit to force the pilot to land, the best thing to do is to confront the passenger instead of wait for something to happen. Do your best to delay him until others can subdue him.

18. There's a fire in the building and you are caught inside the elevator, instead of waiting for help, try to see if you can pry the doors open wide enough to crawl out.

19. After a thunderstorm, you notice that the air has a sharp smell to it and that the sky has a greenish tinge. It's unlikely a storm nor a gas leak, my friend. These are the signs of an approaching tornado. Hurry inside your home to prepare for cover.

20. You are driving fast on a twisty road at night when your headlights pick up an animal standing in your lane, should you stay in or change your lane? Apparently, it's better to stay in your lane and try, if possible, to hit the animal at an angle rather than hit another car on the road. (Hope PETA would say okay with this).

If you are interested in finding more survival preparedness information, feel free to read the following sites:

• Knowledge Hound lists a variety of sites related to emergency preparedness and disaster response procedures
• Jess of Lifemoto lists the survival things you may need during calamities
• Urbachletter offers a downloadable disaster survival guide
• Flood Emergency Preparation

I saw Julie and Julia today. I can't line it up as my favorite Meryl Streep movie but what made me so interested about the film is that it talked of (my) two passions: of cooking and blogging.

(Passion in cooking? Okay, I'm not being true about this: I do dream of becoming a Rick Stein and I do sometimes experiment in the kitchen but I don't think I would regard it as passion. Interest, perhaps, but not passion).

(In blogging? I don't know. It's a notch higher than interest, but it's not yet a passion, I think. The fire within is still flickering but I know, one day, it will soon light up into a glow. Or something to that effect).

While watching the film, I realized something: that in order to succeed in life, in whatever endeavour you choose, you need to have passion and direction (and butter!). Passion to keep you moving and direction to get you where you want to be. (And sometimes too, we need to butter ourselves up and others too!).

This mantra of passion and direction applies most aptly in what we are currently busying ourselves in: blogging.

Blogging, for me, is marketing. Whether we recognize this truth or not, whenever we hit that publish button, we are selling ourselves.

I learned from Julie and Julia, and from other blogging lits as well, that there are two ways -- and Julie did these in her blog -- to sell ourselves: Create a niche for our blog. Differentiate it, too.

Amy Adam's Julie was personal in her writing about cooking Julia Child's recipes. My favorite webdesignerwall's approach is personal but his focus is on one thing: tuts (short for tutorials) on and about web graphic design.

I have been trying to create a niche for my blog and my being an OFW and in Saudi should have been my thrust. Sadly, I just couldn't. I tend to talk about a lot of things not associated with being an OFW nor with being in Saudi. Like this post, for example.

Notice this: most successful blogs are those that focus on one thing, and on one thing only. It can be a personal blog, yes, but the focus should be on something.

The Pink Tarha is one Saudi blog which I find to be in focus. They have the vision of what their blog will be about, and as evidenced by their posts, they're doing it very, very well.

The other Saudi blog that I regard highly is Ed's The Sandbox. His Buhay Buhangin series (his comic strips of and about OFWs in Saudi) differentiates his blog from the rest of us.

On passion, there's no one I regard highly than Kenjie. His dedication to bring PEBA into fruition is beyond words. Okay, that accounts to buttering up!

I will highly regard the movie not just because of Meryl Streep's and Amy Adam's acting -- how funny they were of their characters especially Streep -- but mainly because it taught me lessons about my current passion of blogging.

All I'm looking now is a sense of direction.

It's coming.

Soon.

I hope.

Last night, I saw Jay, the movie that won as Best Picture for Cinemalaya 2008 and is in running for Urian Best Film for 2009. (One film that I'm yearning to see is Yanggaw, also an Urian contender).

Jay, the film, is about two Jay's: Jay Santiago, a gay TV producer documenting the family of a gay hate crime victim whose name is Jay Mercado. In documenting the news, Jay Santiago unemotionally intrudes into the private grief of Jay Mercado’s family. Baron Geisler starred as Jay Santiago.


Jay is both funny and painful and too near the truth. I can't help but laugh at how Baron's character deadpan-ly sweet-talks the grieving mother on how to re-enact her wailing after seeing her son's body, or how the other characters in the film acted (literally at times) their grief in front of a camera. (Notice the film's poster and you'll see a tv screen inside the niche).

Jay is an insider's view at how manipulative media can be, at how the media can unemotionally zero-in on the pain of other people, at how the media can easily twist some facts to their advantage. The sadder part is that we, the viewing public, easily believe what is printed on the newspaper or what is broadcasted on tv as news. The saddest part is that there's no way we can know whether what we see and read is true or not.

Nothing is more apt to describe the entire film other than a quote from Jay Director Francis Xavier Pasion who said: “Do not believe everything you see as truth.”

I hated Baron's manipulative character and he, for me, totally deserved the Best Actor award from Cinemalaya 2008 (and I won't be surprised if he wins Urian this September).

During the last scene, I was secretly hoping Baron's character would end up like Jay Mercado: dead. Well, he didn't. I honestly felt that the film's ending was like an unconsumed climax. Nabitin ako and it left me more opinionated about how I negatively view our media as being twisted and self-serving.

Watch Jay with your friends. Your post-movie conversations will surely be entertaining.

Jay's honors:

• The film won the Audience Award in Black Movie Film Festival 2009 held in Geneva, Switzerland.
• The film was nominated for the Sutherland Trophy in The Times BFI London Film Festival in 2008.
• In the 11th Festival de Cine Asiatico de Barcelona (Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2009), the film won the D-Cinema Award "for developing an original and sharp critic to the media which entertains and makes you think, going beyond its political and format boundaries." The D-Cinema award is given to the most innovative and experimental Asian film shot in digital format.

Saw Slumdog Millionaire last Thursday evening. Watched it again the next day. I wouldn't mind watching it again tonight if a friend drops by and asks me if there's a good movie to watch.

The movie is Indian, in English (with pinches of Hindi language in between). The story is riveting and hurtingly funny and as what I usually say of a good movie, heartful.

It has won numerous Golden Globe trophies and is now a leading contender in Oscar's.

The film tells about the survival of three slum orphans in Mumbai's harsh setting and what became of their lives after going through series of injustices and difficulties. The three orphans, for me, represent three different choices in life. Those kind of choices that we -- knowingly or unknowingly -- take; choices that would ultimately determine what will become of us later in life. Pa-profound ba?.

Jamal's choice: I will take life's shit (he literally plunged in deep shit in one of the scenes) because I believe that life will be better someday, especially if 'it's written'. He ended up answering all the questions in Who Wants to be a Millionaire, winning 20 million rupees!

Salim's choice: I will not take this sitting down. I have to do something to better my situation. In the end, he became one-of-those thugs by one-of-those bigtime mafia bosses. (Although I personally thought his choice was mainly because of his love for his younger brother Jamal).

Latika's choice: I will survive by waiting and seeing. (In fact all throughout the movie, she is seen waiting and seeing. She actually reminded me of those fairytale damsels who opted to wait for their knights in shining whatever to save them). She was prostituted but in the end was saved by his knight, Jamal.

Slumdog is that movie that I wouldn't mind seeing over and over (at least until after the Oscar's is finished because I believe Slumdog will beat Benjamin).

(Too, I wouldn't mind recommending Slumdog to RJ who was a bit sore after I've made recommendations about Seven Pounds. RJ: hope you love Slumdog as much as I did).

This post about Ploning is a tad late. Since last year, I've been unsuccessfully looking for the movie because I was intrigued about its claim that Ploning might finally be that first Pinoy film nominated for Oscar's. Finally, I saw it, slept over it, saw it again and...I loved it.

It's website says: The official Philippine entry to the best foreign language film category of the 81st Academy Awards although the latest news is that Ploning didn't make it in Oscar's final list of nominated films. Just the same, I saw it to find out what the film is about. My personal verdict: Ploning is not as great a film as Oro, Mata, Plata nor Himala BUT may likely be one of the best new Filipino films and that one film that will definitely make you proud of the Philippines and its inherent beauty.

(Recently, Ploning won an award for its director Dante Nico Garcia from the Asian Festival of 1st Films.)

The film, shot entirely in Cuyo, Palawan tells of a simple lass named Ploning (Judy Ann Santos) whose simplicity have touched the lives of people around her including that of a young boy who at his age have learned the pains of lose and betrayal. (I'm not good at summarizing the movie in a few words and I might end up giving away the movie's secrets so I suggest you just watch it yourself or read its summary in their website).

The sneak preview says: A man searching for his past...a woman waiting for her love...a town eager to move on...and a boy caught in between.

The preview ends: If love is meant forever, can you wait a lifetime?

Ploning's downside is on first half hour of the movie (I'm a firm believer that if the first 10 minutes of the film didn't bore you, then it's a good film!). It was so slow that when I first saw it at home in the Philippines, I, maybe because of tiredness, fell asleep. Or maybe because I was lying down when I watched it that I had difficulty reading the tagalog subtitles (it was dubbed in Cuyonon dialect), and so my eyes gave in.

Last night in Saudi, I saw it again and realized what I missed when first previewed it: the beautiful cinematography of Cuyon's beaches, it's festive atmosphere, the introduction of the film's characters. Still, it was too slow for me. Only after the arrival of Mylene Dizon did the movie picked its momentum and from then on up to the ending, the movie unfolded into a very beautiful story.

Equally memorable about Ploning is its dialogue: sometimes profound, othertimes irreverend. One that I remember well is this: Siguro kung naging matalino ako, hindi ako naging masaya. Hmmm...

Saw Will Smith's Seven Pounds last night and it got me hoping if someone rich and giving (not necessarily as good-looking as Will Smith) please discover my inner kindness and find out about my deep-seethed desire (to own one) to give me -- without strings attached and sans conditions -- a beautiful beach house!

That's what Will Smith did in the movie: he gave a needy mother of two his beautiful beach house. He also gave away his kidney, liver, bone marrow and his lung. In the end he also gave away his eyes and his heart. All because of guilt. Because some years ago, his wife was killed in an accident together with six other strangers because he was fidgeting with his cellphone while driving.

Throughout the movie, I thought Will Smith was dying of something that's why he chose people whom he will give his body parts to (and that beach house!). I was wrong. All throughout the movie, Will Smith was trying to know the kindness of those people whom he decided he will help live (by giving parts of himself, literally). The whole film was about someone's hope for redemption via kindness.

(This must be the reason why I'm in Saudi and not copywriting for a famous advertising company in Manila. I don't know how to describe a beautiful movie. I do not have a flair for a Rotten Tomatoes-ish movie review).

I liked Seven Pounds the movie because it made me realize a lot of things, mostly about the inherent kindness of people. That life is not really about what you can get from it but from what you can give to it. That kindness begets kindness and redemption and joy and life.

Many, many years ago I met an elementary school teacher who travels by foot just so she can teach the children of a remote village somewhere in Rizal. I've forgotten her name now. The article I wrote about her didn't get published (it's not her fault; it's my bad, bad writing). But I remembered what she told me when I asked why she decided to accept the job: "I pity the children."

She pities. And her pity emanated kindness.

For a while I thought I'd also be a teacher and travel by foot and teach children of remote villages how to read and count and sing. Greed for material wealth took me away from that short-lived dream. Once in a while, during those moments of solitude and contemplating (about getting old, death and dying), I revisit that dream of becoming a teacher in a barrio; revisit that desire to serve other people.

This I plan: when I reach 50, I will submit myself to serving others. (I planned to have a million pesos by 30. I'm 40 now with a paltry savings. So go figure).

Seven Pounds is that kind of a positive weeper that I will, maybe for a few months, remember and claim as my favorite. What I'm hoping to remember, till my life's over, is that kindness creates kindness; the more kindness we see, the kinder we become.

(I don't know if you get this feeling but I remember whenever I ride a jeepney in Antipolo and I happen to sit with either a nun or a seminarian -- or someone religious-looking -- I can't help but be watchful of my thoughts as if they can read the sinful things that go through my mind. I want to be that kind of kindness/goodness/positive vibration/non-evil/holy-emanating person -- without the habit or the all-white gown. I wonder how...)

That is the kind of movie Seven Pounds is. Emanating positive vibrations of kindness, love, giving.