Loops and Shuffles

I predicted that Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist would at best make me go all eeeeeee! and want to be a teenager again. There are moments when it did, especially because Michael Cera is ten times more adorable in this movie than he was in Juno. Sigh! Michael Cera makes me even more sure to go for the nice guy this time (this time? next time? *shrug*). :P

The movie itself was unconventionally, realistically adorable. The supporting cast was a fistful of fun (they're not a fistful of a--holes, contrary to how Norah put it), filled with a quirky yet charming gum-obsessed (ick!) best friend and gorgeous gay bandmates. That Tris girl was also so effectively annoying I wanted to go ahead and punch her myself (so mature, I know :P). And I genuinely applauded when Nick just took off and left her there. Atta boy! :) Some of the scenes were a bit on the eew side, but I couldn't help but marvel at the symbolisms (the gum and the search for Fluffy/Caroline especially) that made this movie special in a world were romance and romantic comedies run rampant. I also love that the movie basically happens in just one night (technically speaking, just the significant bulk of it though). Because really, sometimes, it only takes one night to change your life (WTH, WTH, WTH?! Where is my one night? Hahaha).

And while this is a movie about teenagers, it is not just another teen movie. Yes, the characters may be teenagers, but their predicaments are not exclusively for teenagers only. Because when do you really stop going around circles, start letting go of the past and allow yourself a fresh new shot at happiness? To me at least, that was the movie's fundamental question.

P. S. I'd love to read the book they based this movie on too. I hope I find it. :) Tsk, tsk. Here I go with the books again. :)

The Perfect Pre-Valentine Quote

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love."
--Neil Gaiman

Waaah! Grabe naman! Love can be wonderful too! :D

Woot!

The brilliant Mr. Coelho has a new book! And it's a thriller of sorts. It seems a bit different from the rest of his books. Nonetheless, I'm excited. :)

For the first chapter, click here.

Not Bad, Australia

It seems as if I have too much time in my hands, because I can now afford to watch movies of epic lengths. In fairness to Australia, it was much better than I expected it to be. I expected to sleep through parts of the movie (or leave early if necessary, haha), and yet I didn't. Which just goes to prove that my subconscious thinks Hugh Jackman is sexier than Brad Pitt (Yes, I'm pinning this one on my subconscious. So when is that Wolverine movie showing again? :D).

Now back to Australia... I must say I'm glad I watched it. Even if the trailer wasn't that appealing and I really watched it only because it's a Hugh Jackman film (my heart literally stopped when he showed up at that ball all clean-shaven and every bit gorgeous). However, I must say Nicole is perfect for the part of an English aristocrat and she proves yet again that she is regality personified. I especially loved the funny kangaroo scene.

I was also in awe of that black horse Capricornia (or at least that's what I thought I heard it was called). I never knew I'd find a horse so beautiful, and yet I saw it and was utterly amazed at how perfect it looked. The droving scenes are also pretty exciting, even when my initial reaction was that it would be tiring to watch herds of cattle being moved to a faaaar location for days.

While the plot is nothing extraordinary, the themes of love and solidarity are nothing new, after all, the historical and cultural circumstances did provide a fresh, educational take. It was also easy to pinpoint when the movie can be cut to shorten it. The return to Far Away Downs could have been a perfect happy ending. And yet, the movie continued on, in a spectacle of this-and-that-being-dead-and-alive-after-all-only-to-be-(probably)-killed-again. But then again, had they nipped it at a typical happy ending, the movie wouldn't be anything special. Because much of the emotional beauty in this movie were in those scenes when the happy backdrop started to fade.

All in all, it's a good movie that was worth the 2 hours and 35 minutes of my time. Sure I kept on telling myself that I was gonna hurl if I hear one more instrumental tune of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. But it was Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman at their romantic best. In a scenic, scenic tale. I'd be willing to take a little cheese with that. :)

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This is Me Pretending I'm Not Scared of Them