I Feel Alive

I'm officially back. This blog will be a daily journal except weekends will be posted on a Monday as a round-up. What's with the weekend break? I promised not to surf the Net for at least two days in a week in order to conserve energy and money. We are currently living in the Gore-era. It's cool to conserve.


So what was I doing in these past days aside from cramming for schoolwork? Watching movies. A couple of weeks ago, I had to endure the very loud movie of Michael Bay - Transformers. I definitely see a very bright future for Shia Le Beouf. Who would have thought the peskiest member of the Stevens family will star in three blockbusters in a span of two months? The guy is good. Plus the fact that he has charm which is rare. We are talking about a charming star who can act - not Zac Efron. Time magazine called him as an Every Guy, in the same mold as Tom Hanks. Fair enough. But he also reminds me of another Every Guy, the great James Stewart. Incidentally, Le Beouf's sleeper hit Disturbia was a remake of a Hitchcock film starring the affable Mr Stewart. However, I have a feeling that he will reach the Harrison Ford plateau. Ford started out as the leading man of young special effects wizards such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Michael Bay is not the same as Lucas but his still an effects wizard. But Le Beouf will be under the tutelage of Spielberg as he essays the role of the son of our favorite archaeologist. Yes. He will be the son of Indiana Jones. What better way to start your quest to be the next Harrison Ford than star alongside Han Solo himself?

Of course, every muggles know that the real movie treat of the year is the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series. Most people hate the fifth book but I don't. The wand-to-wand fight scenes though was a bit of a letdown. I was expecting more. Imelda Staunton was marvelous. Hah! I knew it. Pink is evil! Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange? Genius! The kissing scene? First reaction is: am I still watching Harry Potter? I cannot wait for the book.

During weekends, I treat myself with a couple of DVDs just to unwind. I recently watched Curse of the Golden Flower, Art School Confidential, The Interpreter, and Kung Fu Hustle.

Curse of the Golden Flower is the reunion movie of Zhang Yimou and her enchanting muse Gong Li. Violent very violent. But there is something romantic when blood mixes with chrysanthemum flowers.

Art School Confidential is a small film about a Picasso wannabe who wanted to impress the woman of her dreams with his art. Unfortunately, her nude model dream of a woman has fallen for a hunky art prodigy with a secret. Our hero concocted his most ingenious plan that landed him...in jail.

I was not able to watch Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter. I finally saw it and it was a fine movie. It is always a joy to watch Sean Penn. My father said that he did not understand it. We do have different movie tastes.

Stephen Chow and his big-budgeted film is rather inferior compared to Shaolin Soccer. I was terribly disappointed.

I have not been able to keep my promise to read one book every week. Last Wednesday, I bought a novel entitled Educating Peter. It was the sophomore effort of Tom Cox. It is a road and coming of age story about a rockstar wannabe named Peter. The book had me at its cover - blue backpack and an AC/DC black shirt.

There is something therapeutic about blogging. I currently have at least five papers and I still prefer filling up my blog instead of finishing research proposals. But of course. I cannot talk about Shia Le Beouf and Dolores Umbridge in my research proposals. The bigger question is when will the men's basketball team of the UP Fighting Maroons win?