as time goes by

I saw two films today for the firs time: Casablanca, the ultimate romance movie (yes, it was just my first time to watch this!); and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the definitive "spaghetti western". These are supposedly two of the greatest films of all-time, and the reason why I came across them is because I was making my way down through the IMDB Top 250 films.

Supposedly two of the greatest… and I have to admit that I liked them both, with preference for Casablanca over GB&U.

Casablanca is just such a big-hearted film and I'm a sucker for the romance that I can't help but love it with all its memorable quotes and illustrations of lost loves and lost chances. Quite possibly one of the most heartwarming and sentimental romances ever put to film.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on the other hand, as much as it has been revered through the decades, is anything but high art. Still, it doesn't have to be: It has an excellent narrative with very well drawn and engaging characters that any attempt at being "high art" would just dampen the enjoyable combination of action and comedic wit that this film has. It does run a bit too long for me, clocking at almost 3 hours, but it'll do.

Still, Casablanca is totally a winner in my books, and here's the signature song from that film:

"…the world will always welcome lovers… as time goes by…" 

faking it

As much as this lomo thing has got me very interested, parang ayaw ko pa munang gumastos for it, lalo na ngayon na kabibili ko palang ng cam. So for the meantime, while I can't dive into the art and experience of being a lomographer yet, I can at least emulate that lomo effect digitally using an imaging software. The results are very promising. Take a look for yourselves:

Original versions:
  

"Lomo" versions:
 

Pretty good, imho!  

the lomobug strikes

Oh noes… just a few weeks after the shutterbug struck, the lomobug strikes!

This lomo thing isn't actually my idea in the first place. my sister was the first one that said she was getting interested in lomography, and since it is an alternative form of photography after all, i looked it up planing to maybe buy her a holga cam for Christmas or for her birthday. Slowly, i found myself getting sucked in by the simplistic and gung-ho charm of lomography. And most of all i love its guiding rule: There are no rules.

I just came from Cinemalomo tonight, which was held at Mogwai in Cubao Expo (formerly Marikina Shoe Expo) and it was fun seeing all the short films made by various lomo enthusiasts. It actually makes me kind of want to try it out myself.

Oh noes… the lomobug strikes. 

do not watch the golden compass!!! it kills god!!!

do not watch the golden compass!!! it kills god!!!

Oh brother. Seriously?!?!?!

I've been getting a lot of forwarded emails lately telling people to avoid watching The Golden Compass because it's anti-Christian… because it kills God… because it's out to fool people and brainwash children by bashing Christianity and promoting Atheism…

sample: 

The Golden Compass
It is coming out on December 7th. It is marketed for children and in the end they kill God and everyone can do as they please. It stars Nicole Kidman, which will help to make it seem mainline and OK.
 
However, it is written by Phillip Pullman, a proud atheist who hates Christianity and wants to "kill God" in the minds of children. The movie is a "dumbed-down" version of the first book in a trilogy which themes get progressively darker and darker.
 
Please pass this on so that unsuspecting parents won't be lured into it. We all know that Satan's best works are ones that seem nice and harmless on the top. This seems to fall into that category.
 
Most of all, read for yourself what Snopes has to say about it.
 
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

Go on, just go to that snopes link and read more.

Great bejeezus, this is like The Da Vinci Code all over again. The funny thing is that while religious zealots out there claim that Pullman's trilogy is a brainwashing attempt against God and Christianity, what they're doing is exactly religious propaganda at its finest! "Don't watch The Da Vinci Code" … "Don't watch The Golden Compass" … Well golly, if they're condemning these writers and these books, then they're no better.

To be honest, Pullman IS an avowed atheist, and his books are - to put it lighty - "challenging". But time and time again, I will always say that this is exactly what Christianity needs: challenges. Things to challenge your faith. If your faith is strong enough, then it shouldn't be rocked by these kinds of things. Also, if parents know how to raise and guide their child in the correct Christian manner, then no amount of anti-Christian propaganda should be able to undo that. Also, I don't consider Pullman's works anti-Christian per se. It's more about abuse of the doctrine and religion. So, seeing all these emails… god… religious zealots do blow shit so far out of proportion, it really is annoying.

I'm not anti-christian. I'm not an atheist. If anything, I guess I'm just a non-practicing catholic… an agnostic of sorts, if anyone want to put a label to it. The fact that Pullman's books challenge the church and organized religion in general is reason enough for me to support him.

Plus, the film simply looks badass.

an enchanting return to form…

…for walt disney.

I was surprised… very pleasantly surprised… that I loved Enchanted. Judging from its trailer, I was expecting it to be another one of these cheesy, corny and ineffective gimmicky feel-good throwbacks to good old days of Disney. However, as much as the film still is cheesy… it never comes across as corny and ineffective.

I didn't think they would be able to pull it of, but Enchanted is almost just like the experience of watching your favorite Disney films… but in live action. Just like Disney classics such as Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, Enchanted has just the right amount of romance, comedy, fantasy and the great Disney music (thanks to Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz) that I bet many people have missed so much.

Amy Adams totally owns the role of Giselle (some sort of a re-hased Snow White). She's light, bubbly, funny and innocent. She twirls and glides and sings to her animal friends. She's a hopeless doe-eyed romantic and an adorably exaggerated caricature of what made all the past Disney princesses so appealing.

Actually, most of the characters in the movie are exaggerated versions of everything we've loved about Disney. Susan Sarandon plays the evil witch/stepmother; James Mardsen plays the stereotypical charming prince (although why are most prince charmings portrayed as stupid nowadays?); and in the spirit of the classic cute and hilarious Disney sidekicks, we also have Pip, Giselle's chipmunk friend.

It's cheesy. It's predictable. It's preposterous. But you will not care about these at all because Enchanted proves to be a genuinely funny and heartwarming parody of Disney's time-tested princess genre.

Surprising as it may seem, Enchanted may be the best and most rewarding movie I've seen in the past few months.