He was always the "HIM" for the past few months in this blog.
He was my former supervisor and if you would refer to my entries on July of last year I hated his guts.
He made my life miserable.
But right now... All that I'm wishing for is for him to iron out his existence.
Because, he's the reason why my life is a little bit more bearable.
"Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
All I'll ever be
And all I can do is try" - Nelly Furtado
Everyone on earth is not given a life's manual.
Life, as someone said, is a series of hits and misses and then some. All you have to do is pray that the higher powers would be aiding and abetting you in all of your endeavours while you're still breathing good old O2 in this world.
Sometimes I wish that I could have a universal vacuum cleaner which could just wipe off all the dirt and the the mess that has become of my existence here on earth.
(I think I am afflicted with a serious case of quarter life crisis.)
He's not mine any longer. I had to let him go.
_________________________________________________
"The real deal is having God hand you back the things youve lost packaged in an ethereal box labeled BETTER"
- I got this from Camz and Karlo. And I'm loving it.
http://www.tabulas.com/~iamkarlo
(This is one of the most rocky moments of my life.)
The friendly neon lights of the local convenience store glowed like a forsaken star... Shining its lights on drunken souls... Trying to drown their tears , wallowing in their miseries.
Carrying my red backpack... And my pain. I rang your phone.
(And your love was affirmed when you rushed to me...)
Fifteen minutes later you were outside the happy house...
(I love you. I know you were crying. YOu know my pain... You share my tears.)
My borrowed towerblock. My heart. My soul.
(You really don't need to be strong for me. I'm good on my own.)
Loving you in that car. Not even touching. But we both know that our love is so tangible... It electrifies the atmosphere.
(Brightlights... Headlights... Bursting in the nightshift air.)
It's a sad fact that it would all be longing.
In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the invader in one of history's most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. Though they knew it meant their own deaths, they held their position and secured the retreat of the other Greek forces. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war. The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian navy destroyed and Xerxes was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it Persian expansion into Europe - Wikipedia
BUT THIS MOVIE ROCKS MY SOCKS!
Okay..okay... The mediocre dialogue are mostly cliches and whatnots... But the frame by frame adaptation of Frank Miller's (of Sin City fame) comic book is way KEWL.
(THANKS dear for treating me out... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.)
I used to hate gladiator movies but then Russel Crowe changed my mind about that. (I love the Gladiator... Cried like hell.) But this one is like watching a full color painting spring to life. Usually people with six pack doesn't appeal to me. But this time, I could even emphatize with them.
(Though my date blatantly observed that they might have developed those buff bods through opening their doors daily... They have heavy iron doors... Go figure.)
Another observation, I am a history buff but I can't seem to recall any book mentioning Xerxes as a bisexual (well, there were rumors that Alexander the Great was gay, but that would be another movie), who has an affinity for kneeling and silver.
He really looked like a gay basketball player on this one... With tatooed eyebrows and silver lipgloss... He would pass as a model for Silverworks with all those piercings.
(And as I told my date, I could even imagine a voice over saying to Leonidas, "HEY, I AM WAY TALLER THAN YOU...KNEEL TO ME!"
My date informed me that the guy who plays Leonidas,Gerard Butler, happens to be the same guy who plays, The Phantom, in "The Phantom of the Opera".
See the similarity?
I gratefuly told him that it's a good thing that he didn't tell me before we watched the film because it might have spoiled everything for me... I would've imagined Leonidas bursting into a song about body armors and cassocks!
Here's how he would look like during normal days:
Okay, he can sing..he can dance... he can act and he can definitely kick butt! What more can you ask for gurls?
| pie | ||
The greatest edible entity currently known to man. Ahh, I just had some pie. It was better than sex. BEAT THAT! | ||
Wouldnt it be nice if we were older Then we wouldnt have to wait so long And wouldnt it be nice to live together In the kind of world where we belong You know its gonna make it that much better When we can say goodnight and stay together Wouldnt it be nice if we could wake up In the morning when the day is new And after having spent the day together Hold each other close the whole night through Happy times together weve been spending I wish that every kiss was neverending Wouldnt it be nice Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true Baby then there wouldnt be a single thing we couldnt do We could be married And then wed be happy Wouldnt it be nice You know it seems the more we talk about it It only makes it worse to live without it But lets talk about it Wouldnt it be nice?
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) travels with her very pregnant mother, Carmen (Ariana Gil) to their new home in the countryside. Civil War rages in Spain, so Ofelia's mother has decided to marry Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), who will be able to protect them and care for them. Vidal is leading an assault against the revolutionaries and wants to protect his new wife, who is pregnant, but more importantly, his new son, who will carry on his name. Carmen is having a difficult pregnancy and her doctor confines her to her bed immediately upon arrival. Ofelia meets Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), the housekeeper, who watches the new family with interest. One day, Ofelia is playing outside when she comes across a strange bug, leading her to an overgrown hedge maze and a strange world where she meets Pan (Doug Jones), a sort of emissary for another world inhabited by fairies, fawns and other strange creatures. He sets Ofelia a challenge and if she successfully completes it, she will take her place alongside the king as his princess.
"Pan's Labyrinth" is a beautifully realized, very violent, sometimes scary, sometimes politically charged adult fairy tale. I can't say the word "adult" enough. If you take small children to see this, be prepared to pay for some therapy.
(If you are expecting a kin to Jim Henson's Jennifer Connely starrer "Labyrinth", you are going to be disappointed.)
That said, "Pan's" is a strange and somewhat wonderful film.
Del Toro, who has had better success working in his native tongue ("The Devil's Backbone" but has also directed "Mimic", "Hellboy" and "Blade 2" in the United States, combines elements of fantasy, horror and fairy tales with actual historical events to create a lively, beautiful world. The elements and influences of historical events help to make the overall film more powerful; we have all seen films filled with wonderful CGI creations, but they don't seem real. In these cases, the filmmaker wants to show off their tools, everything they can imagine. But when they spend so much time on the effects, they have little time or talent to develop characters or narrative. Del Toro achieves this delicate balance by rooting the story in the real world.
Some of the characters or events may have been changed, or fictionalized, but the action is rooted in real history, grounding the fantasy elements in reality. Another factor helping all of these items blend together is the historical setting. Because the story is set over sixty years ago, during the Spanish Civil War in the 1940s, it also lends itself to a more fairy tale quality. Colors are a little more saturated, everything is a little old fashioned looking and it becomes more real. As we come to accept the environment, we become more willing to accept the creatures living in this world.
Del Toro waits for the story to get going before delving into this other fantasy world. And once he does, we have to specifically enter this world, meet these creatures along with Ofelia. She is our guide, our escort. Also, the film alternates between these two worlds, reminding us of Ofelia's real life circumstances. All of these choices help to make the film real.
"Pan's Labyrinth" is an adult fairy tale and you should pay special attention to the word "adult". If you take a child to this film expecting to see a live action version of "Alice in Wonderland" you should also arranged for some ongoing therapy. This is a beautiful film, but it is also a violent and bloody film. But in a way, this makes it all the more wonderful.
Ofelia has misgivings about going to live with her mother's new husband, Captain Vidal. And we quickly learn her initial feelings are justified. Vidal is a mean, cruel and sadistic man. Charged with squashing the revolutionaries, he will stop at nothing to accomplish this. If he catches one, he gets the information he needs and kills them. His men are instructed to be just as merciless.
This violence is mirrored in the fantasy world Ofelia enters. All of the best fantasy films and fairy tales use elements from the "real world" in the fantasy realm and "Pan's" follows this tradition. Not only is Ofelia's quest tied to her real world, but she encounters challenges and violence in this place she so desperately seeks for escape.
Ivana Baquero is very good as Ofelia, the young girl thrust into two new and very different worlds. Following in the footsteps of other good child actors, she brings an innocence to the role making the character all the more memorable. She seems vulnerable, but shows some strength as she begins to enter this other fantasy world. Like Cinderella, Wendy and other fairy tale heroines, Ofelia has both a natural curiosity and fearlessness that suits her well. Baquero shows how much Ofelia cares for her sick mother, how much she is willing to go through, and the various aspects of her character.
A 3 am phone call started all of these.
(It's funny how everything about us involves frenzied early morning rush.)
Ditch the car. Ditch the DVD player.
Ride a bus somewhere far.
(Your hand in mine. My mind dozing in Lalaland.)
