Carrie 2013

            I looked forward in watching Carrie the time I learned it will be having its remake this year. It felt excited because I always knew that the movie is really scary since I was able to watch the previous and original adaptation when I was younger. I could still remember how much I got scared when I watched the movie during the 90s. And so the other day, I watched it on the big screen.

            Originally based on the 1974 novel by Stephen king, this time, Carrie 2013 took us to a modern setting of the story. Starring Chloe Grace Moretz as Carrie White, played the girl in her senior year in high school that possesses telekinetic powers and has a very religious mother (Julianne Moore). She is being bullied in school by some popular girls, Chris (Portia Doubleday) and Sue (Gabriella Wilde). Realizing her fault and to make it up to Carrie, Sue asked her boyfriend, Tommy (Ansel Elgort) to take Carrie to the prom. Highlight of the film was when Tommy attended the prom with Carrie and had a good time. But Chris, her boyfriend and her other friends, made sure to ruin the night for Carrie by pouring a pail of pig’s blood on Carrie and Tommy when they were crowned as the Prom King and Queen and showed a video of Carrie freaking out. She was humiliated and all the people in the event laughed at her. With all the anger she was feeling, Carrie avenged to everyone using her telekinetic powers in killing most of the people there including Chris. Later on the film, she also killed her mother and Carrie died through the falling rocks and stones that crushed their house.

            I always believed that Carrie has been a part of the movie history as one of the scariest film ever but this recent remake of the movie made me feel disappointed. There was no doubt that Julianne Moore delivered well, but the other artists, I am not sure if they were good enough, maybe they do. The storytelling was a little dragging. I don’t know if I am just already mature for this super power kind of movie, but I almost didn’t feel any goose bump. My friends and I went to watch Carrie anticipating for a real horror flick but it turned out we just wasted our money for it didn’t reach our expectation from the movie. I did not feel terrified the way I felt during the first two movie adaptation of the novel. 

            Oh well. Maybe next time, we must read reviews first before finally catching this kind of movie on cinema. Still, Carrie is Carrie.

           

Pinoy Films: OTJ and Lihis

            Just a week ago, I was able to catch two (2) Pinoy Films, OTJ: On The Job and Lihis. Meaning, this post may have come a little too delayed. ;)

            Directed by Erik Matti, starring Piolo Pascual, Gerald Anderson, Joel Torre, Joey Marquez and many more, OTJ which was distributed by star cinema, is a film that tackles high crimes in the country that involves government officials, military men and prisoners.

            The story is about murder cases committed by hired killers from prison, Tatang (Joel Torre) and apprentice Daniel (Gerald Anderson). These cases were first handled by a police officer, Sgt. Acosta (Joey Marquez) which was then transferred to NBI, and was passionately attended by Atty. Francis Coronel (Piolo Pascual). As these two law enforcers tried to search for answers and the murderers, they found out that it was the job and business of a high ranking military man, Gen. Pacheco (Leo Martinez) and with the knowledge of a corrupt government official, Cong. Manrique (Micheal De Mesa).

            I think the actors played well the whole time during the film as they were able to convince me with their characters. There is no doubt that Mr. Torre may receive awards from his portrayal as Tatang. It was unusual, but it was good to see Gerald Anderson played a dark character as a hired killer. Although full of emotions, Joey Marquez as the police officer gave some hilarious scenes which lightens the movie. Piolo Pascual the NBI agent being trained to do dirty jobs by his father-in-law, played by Micheal de Mesa, provided the sex appeal of a man fighting to do what is right. 

            What I dislike about the film are the scenes that don’t seem to be important but were included; like those sex scenes which I thought took so much time as to what it was supposed to be. The texture was already close to or can already be compared to a commercial movie. As a whole, the film deserves all the recognition that it has been getting.

            I find the story relevant as it seems to depict a real life situation in our country that we, Filipinos, may not have knowledge about. It seems that the makers of the film are trying to convey a message about the illegal system of some government officials that are not divulged to us. I hope this serves as an eye opener for everyone to become vigilant in terms of what are happening I our country.

The other movie, Lihis, is an indie film which stars Jake Cuenca, Joem Bascon, Lovi Poe, Isabelle Daza and Gloria Diaz.

            The story is about the struggles and acceptance of a forbidden love – gay relationship in a rebel or communist group during the 1980s. The story of the gay couple was brought up by a history teacher/journalist, Ada (Isabelle Daza), the daughter of Ka Jasmine (Gloria Diaz, Lovi Poe) and Ka Domeng (Joem Bascon) as she searched for the truth about a massacre in an old town during the rebellion in Marcos’ regime. It was later revealed that her father had an affair with his comrade, Ka Jimmy (Jake Cuenca), which he later chose over her mother (Lovi Poe).

            While I thought it was just focusing on the LGBT theme, I believe it also shows the cruelty of the government towards media people and trying to hide the truth among nation’s people nowadays. The movie also illustrates the great effort of those rebels to survive while hiding in the mountains as they show their resistance against the government during the 80s. 

            As gay couple, Jake and Joem played well with their characters and in their intimate scenes. There were no signs of hesitations as they exposed so much flesh. Lovi Poe perfectly fits to play as a strong willed woman and showed her sexiness with her intimate scenes with Joem. Even as a newbie, I think Isabelle Daza’s acting was already satisfactory. What I just didn’t like about the film was some irrelevant scenes, like Isabelle’s sexy scene with Alex Castro, which were included in the movie.

 

            Overall, I think the film was good, it was okay. I like the fact that it imparts the message of acceptance among gays or same-sex affairs even during the time of rebellion and what love can do to protect your people.

 

Once is enough. Twice is too much. Thrice is ...

            We would often hear this saying anywhere from anyone, but “thrice” is actually what? What will happen after an event comes for the third time? Well, maybe it depends upon the situation. Maybe the third sentence can be completed with a lot of different words that can describe the weight and severity of the situation.

            I think it can be … Once is enough. Twice is too much. Thrice is IRRITATING. Sometimes, when we keep on repeating a statement, a question, a command up to the third time can be quite irritating. It is as if that person is so slow on picking things up or can be a lazy one. Or maybe that person is neglecting you and simply doesn’t pay any attention on you. Kabadtrip lang! But then, sometimes, it can also be sooo irritating to hear a statement or command more than twice. Hearing similar things (especially if it is a command) on repeat seems to be so annoying. Unlimited lang te? One may not help it but feel dumb if an instruction is continuously reiterated. Ano yun, SLOW lang yung tao? Hindi maka-pick up? KAASAR ah.  And worst is, you just have to say, “Yes, okay” after every repeated instruction.

            Then I browsed through the internet, checked on with google … And I saw, “Once is enough. Twice is too much. Thrice is STUPIDITY.” I guess this is very much related to pain due to Love and Relationship. This may have been stated after a hurtful action done by one that has occurred three times. It is as if you’ve been fooled twice and you let it happen for the third time, definitely you will be tagged as someone stupid. If someone has hurt you for the first time and gave him/her a second chance, is as if giving that person “an extra bullet for their gun because they missed you the first time”.  Then they actually did the same thing. So what more if you give them another chance? It’s gonna be like the third bullet to be shot at you. Then that already is STUPIDITY. There may be a lot of reasons for giving a person so many chances to either change for the better or eventually hurt us again. It may not end to thrice but may continue to hurt us for the fourth time, fifth time and so on. Bottom line here is, how long and how many times do we really have to suffer and endure the pain just for us to realize we’re becoming stupid already?  

            Back in college, I can still clearly recall one of my professors’ statement, “Once is enough. Twice is too much. Thrice is dangerous.”  Yeah, she said it is already dangerous once an event happens for the third time. Well, maybe it is because, we may not know what we can do after realizing that everything went more than too much. Emotions might explode right after recognizing that events and acts are now IRRITATING and making us look STUPID.

            In this case, I think one must have a conscious effort to avoid letting someone go beyond his or her limits. Remember, Lahat ng bagay may hangganan. We may not expect it, but certain action can be executed once a person has had enough and more than too much ...