You Gotta Move Like Jagger

photo credits to

http://www.elegancehospitality.com/ruby/home.htm

My sissy and I finally got everything planned for our birthday trip next month. We opted for Hanoi this time around because we’ve been yearning to try Vietnam’s infamous coffee, have some gastronomic adventure and at the same time explore Hanoi’s Old Quarter. We just pretty much would like our new passports stamped to kick off the year. My only concern was, there’s not much option as far as flight schedule is concerned bound to Hanoi via Cebu Pacific. Most of them are either in the afternoon or close to midnight whilst the best ones aren’t cheap. My sister and I both hate evening flights because there’s not much to see except the city’s bright lights once the plane ascends then afterwards it’ll be twilight zone almost all through out the flight. 

I personally hate the frequency of turbulence during evening flights, it’s just nerve wracking. Anyways, before all the flight schedule bound to Hanoi get sold out, we booked ours like we have much choice or Bangkok would be our next option and I just don’t feel like going to Bangkok next month because it gets extremely hot over there during summer. So what else…hotel accommodation-check, airport shuttle to hotel-check, itinerary-check. We decided to not go through a travel agency this time because aside from it’s cheaper if you plan your itinerary yourself, it’s also much more convenient ‘cuz you’re not time pressured and you could just avail one of the hotel’s tour packages anyways. Ok, ‘nuff about travelling before I get too excited. 

Welcome Jagger the pup!

Another thing I’m raving about, we have a new member in the family! He’s name is Jagger from Rollingstone’s Mick Jagger—remember Maroon 5’s song ‘you gotta move like Jagger, you gotta mooove like Jagger?’ He’s a four month old German Shepherd, again. I was just surprised my Dad bought a new dog one day in lieu of our beloved Brandon who passed away last Christmas. He must’ve missed him badly, well, we do too. It’s just that when Brandon came in he was already seven months old so he didn’t require much tending as oppose to Jagger, he’s technically a baby and he’s a menace waaah! He pooped all over the house during his first night, howled the whole time, chased my feet etc. It’s been a long while actually since we had a pup in the house and he’s not an ordinary sized puppy. Well, we see how it goes. My cat Atari is also scared of Jagger not because he chases him it’s ‘cuz he’s bigger than him. I’m actually surprised Jagger is behave towards Atari. He even offered his toy to Atari the first time he saw him like it’s no big deal he’s a dog and the other one is a cat lol. I pray to God he’ll have a long and happy life like Brandon did, I’m rooting for over ten years, I hope. 

Here Comes The Sun

Upcycled my vanity table chair.

I upholstered it with this

tapestry I bought from the
textile outlet. 

My little work space at home with twigs and

rose cactus. And oh! my hand made crafts:

bottle vase & pen holder all made using

jute twines.

It’s summer once again and it’s oh so freakin’ hot outside and I’d rather stay indoors than roast under the heat of the sun. I don’t like summer like I always say because the extreme heat from the sun is damaging for color-treated hair etc.

Anyways, moving on, been busy as always with more DIY projects. I’m loving fabrics lately that I’ve searched from stem to stern just to find real nice cloth for  my pillowcase project. Good thing, I found this huge textile outlet somewhere close to where I live which has a wide array of fabric to choose from. They have pretty much all materials for almost everything,  silk, laces, curtains, tapestries and so on and so forth. They even sell beads and yarns perfect for my second DIY dream catcher project for my niece. 

my second DIY dream catcher.

I’m also quite busy making home decors for my sister’s new crib so I’m all glued to Pinterest most of the time especially when I don’t have work. I think I should’ve taken interior designing because I enjoy adorning/decorating houses more than anything lol. A house is like a blank canvass and your choice of accessories is what adds character to it. I have also re-arranged my work table at home btw, I feel inspired to work when my space is comfortable and everything that I need is right around the corner.

Summer makes me busy because of the darn heat! geez. 

DIY 'Em Catcher

My very own DIY Dream Catcher :)

I'm thinking of other products to add to my shop so I figured, why not a dream catcher since I am so fond of them? What would make my very own dream catcher unique is that I would be using jute twines instead of other strings normally used in making dream catchers for a change. 

mason jar photo holder

So, I worked on my DIY dream catcher project this morning since I don't have work today. I seek help from my friends: YouTube & Pinterest and it turned out pretty well thank God! It wasn't that easy to make through because of all the twirling just to cover the entire hoop/ring which made me quite dizzy. I used handy materials I found inside the house such as my ever reliable jute twines, some sea shells for crafting, beads from unused bracelets, glue gun, marble stone, steel galvanized wire for the hoop or ring and of course the classic feathers which according to folklore is where the good dreams flow. It took me less than an hour to finish whilst watching the telly and muti-task pretty much. The concept for my dream catcher was on the spot though since I just utilized whatever materials I have at home.

DIY wifi password frame

Let me also share my 'wifi password frame' project (I made few days back) which is useful whenever visitors come by. I recycled this old wall decor and covered it up with burlap. I also downloaded this wifi password printable I found online, added a flower from my craft materials, a robot pendant, a small clothespin which I covered with Washi tape then finished it off with hot glue and there you go, my DIY wifi password frame.

Last but not least, my diy mason jar photo holder which I filled with canola oil, fresh flower (you may use any colorful flower, a twig etc.). The only work I did on this project was the lid because I covered the whole lid with jute twine and ornate it with a burlap flower I also made from scratch.

Acintya

I’ve always loved Indian music even if I can’t understand a thing I guess it’s ‘cuz music is universal. Music is like love, it is expressed in so many ways more than words can say. I specifically love those Indian instrumental music usually used in practising Yoga not knowing what they’re called, they just have that beautiful eastern vibe. I never got the chance to learn about Indian music until now. I recently searched online for Yoga Music and I found out that they’re actually called ‘Hindustrani’ which is a North Indian classical music. I kind of noticed that even my cat loves Hindustrani music, and, he seemed to be in a trance every time I play one. I thought, there might be some sort of soothing airwaves emanating from such music. 

My spanking new passport; now with the stripeys
and new font. In the background, my also new
 rose cactus..

Anyways, I stumbled upon this 90 minute Hindustrani audio track over Soundcloud called The Seeds of Awakening in search for Hindustrani music. I have collated quite a few tracks and created my own playlist containing only nothing but Yoga/Hindustrani music. I thought world music is one of the most brilliant genres I’ve enjoyed in my lifetime little did I know there’s so much more eccentric tunes out there. 

Moving on, I bought another rose cactus for my little terrarium because the other one withered and died so I made sure to layer my terrarium correctly this time; stones, moss, activated charcoal and potting soil. I’ll keep an eye on it from now on. 

Ok, I finally got my new passport yey! So where to next? The answer is, I don’t really know. This might be the first time I’m gonna be travelling unprepared. Nevertheless, I’m still hoping I could travel because I’ll be bringing my Hindustrani music with me as I go :)

Best Movies Of All Time

Here’s my trip down the memory lane--my top 7 movies of all time. I’ve seen most of them when I was either in in elementary or high school and yes these movies will never get old. 

Ghost was shown in the U.S. in 1990 and back then, it takes a while before American movies hit the Philippine cinemas unlike today. So, I was either a freshie or sophomore in high school already when this movie became such a hit that all my female high school classmates started sporting that Demi Moore pixie cut. I never did because short hair never suited me even before so the shortest my hair could go is shoulder length and that’s it. I just had this inkling that if I can’t pull it off like Demi Moore did in Ghost, then ne’er mind. This flick also made Unchained Melody became such a hit all over again and boy it never sounded better until they used that darn song as one of Ghost's OSTs. For kids who haven’t seen this movie, I suggest you go watch it because you’ll be missing half of your life if you don't.

Ghost (1990)

Romantic/Fantasy/Thriller

Casts:

• Patrick Swayze (Sam Wheat)
• Demi Moore (Molly Jensen)
• Whoopi Goldberg (Oda Mae Brown)
• Tony Goldwyn (Carl Bruner)
• Rick Aviles (Willie Lopez)

Sam and Molly just moved in to their apartment in New York with the help of their friend Carl. Sam work as a Banker whilst Molly a potter. Carl and Sam work at the same Bank btw. One day, Sam told Carl a secret about one of those multi million accounts he’s handling. Carl became interested because of the huge sums of money involved thus hired Willy Lopez to steal Sam’s wallet so he could get the password and have access to Sam’s accounts. Things went awry after Sam budged and fought Willy since he’s not willing to give his wallet away. Sam unfortunately died after Willy stabbed him and he turned into a ghost. It took a while for him to get used to what a ‘ghost’ can do, but, after mingling with fellow ghosts he learned how to use his ‘powers.'

Sam, squeamish to know who's responsible for his murder, followed Willy home and learned that someone eventually ‘asked’ the later to steal his wallet. Carl on the other hand seemed to have expressed liking for Molly.

Sam, to his anger found out the it was Carl who masterminded his murder. He went to Oda Mae Brown, a fraud psychic, in his attempt to seek help and warn Molly. Sam realized that Oda can hear him so he bugged and refused to leave until Oda agrees to help him. Oda, no matter how she despised being the intermediary between Sam and Molly, relayed Sam’s message about Molly’s life being in danger. Molly, despite her reluctance believed that Oda communicates with Sam after the later revealed stuff that only the two of them know.

Sam, through Oda’s help, closed a 4M USD account under a fictitious name 'Rita Miller’ before Carl could transfer the money to his own account. Oda got upset though because Sam asked her to donate the check to charity so Carl won’t track her down. Willy and Carl chased Oda. They were both haunted by Sam. Willy died after Sam spooked him, scared to his wits, was hit by a car and died instantly. The demons took his soul. Carl, on the other hand died instantly also after shards of broken glass pierced through him. Carl now dead, saw Sam but before he got the chance to talk to Sam the same demons took his soul.  Molly finally saw Sam’s spirit before he went into the light. The End. 

Kids nowadays may find this movie cheesy because of the advent of 3D and stuff. But for me, nothing beats classic movies like ‘Ghost.’ Good old flicks are superb no matter how raw the special effects were lol. 

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Comedy/Drama

Casts:

• Robin Williams (Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire)
• Sally Field (Miranda Hillard) - Daniel’s wifey
• Lisa Jakub (Lydia "Lydie” Hillard)
• Matthew Lawrence (Christopher "Chris” Hillard)
• Mara Wilson (Natalie "Nattie” Hillard)
• Pierce Brosnan (Stuart "Stu” Dunmeyer)

What I like about movies back then was, they’re not very lengthy yet the whole essence is there. No beating around the bush so all you need to do is just sit back and relax, watch a movie. 

Miranda decided to file for divorce because he couldn’t endure Daniel’s antics anymore. She would often come home to a messed up house and she does all the chores with no help from Daniel. During the legal battle, the custody of the kids went to Miranda and this broke Daniel’s heart since he will only get the chance to see his kids few days a week until he proves to the court that he has the financial capacity to support them. A crazy idea came across his mind after learning that his wife is looking for a nanny, he posed as Mrs. Doubtfire, an old English nanny to his very own kids. Daniel’s gay brother helped him with his disguise.

Miranda and their kids didn’t know at first because Daniel has a talent for mimicking. Whilst pretending to be a woman, Daniel learned why his wife is divorcing him. Miranda, on the other hand, started hooking up with an old fling named Stuart or Stu which made Daniel extremely jealous. Chris, Daniel’s son discovered first that he is not who he is. Daniel was forced then to admit to Lydia (eldest daughter) and Chris that he’s only posing as Mrs. Doubtfire so he could see them. Lydia and Chris kept their promise not to tell their mom and little Natalie until Daniel’s Mrs. Doubtfire mask dishevels while he’s trying to help Stu from choking during their family dinner. Miranda was devastated and even more limited Daniel’s visitations rights to their kids. 

Daniel got the job as Mrs. Doubtfire for a children's show, it raked good ratings. Miranda felt pity for Daniel, realized how his poor husband tried to put his life in perspective in the end allowed Daniel to visit their kids as normal. 

The late Robin Williams is really brilliant. I love pretty much all of his movies because he’s not your ordinary actor since he can portray almost any character. There’s nobody else like him. 

My Girl (1991)

Tragic/Comedy

Casts:

• Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd)- Vada's Dad and owns Sultenfuss' funeral parlor.

• Shelly DeVoto (Jamie Lee Curtis) - newly hired make-up artist at the funeral home. 

• Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin)- Vada’s bestfriend

• Mr. Jake Bixler (Griffin Dunne) - Vada’s 5th garde teacher

• Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) 

Vada’s mother passed away two days after giving birth to her and nasty kids say that she is the reason for her mother’s death. Harry, Vada’s father barely pays attention to Vada because he’s often busy with his business, a funeral home. Along came Shelly, a make-up artists who responded to Harry’s ad ‘wanted: make-up artist’ not indicating it was for a funeral home. Harry, hired Shelly anyways. Vada hangs around with his only best friend, Thomas (who’s allergic to everything) everyday. Vada believes that she is very sick so she often visit the Doctor although she’s been told many times there’s nothing wrong with her.  Shelly and Harry started dating. Vada disapproved at first despite Shelly’s attempt to connect with her.

Tragedy struck, Thomas died after having stung by a bee in his attempt to recover Vada’s mood ring in the woods. He was taken to Harry’s funeral home which even more devastated Vada upon seeing her only best friend lying in the coffin. It took a while before Vada recovered from Thomas' death. Vada realized then that there's really nothing to worry about because her mom will surely take care of Thomas, her only best friend in the afterlife. She came to like Shelly in the end. 

I love this flick no matter how tragic it is. There’s just too many good things to pick up from it such as the the irony between life and death. That, the ones who were left behind shouldn’t stop living after a loved ones passing and being less enthusiastic about life means one is being a living dead himself or something like that. The movie title may be wholesome but the meaning of the movie is pretty profound that kids may not understand yet so this movie is for adults in my opinion.

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Drama

 Casts:

• Robin Williams (John Keating)

• Robert Sean Leonard (Neil Perry)

• Ethan Hawke (Todd Anderson)

• Josh Charles (Knox Overstreet)

Another one of those Robin William’s brilliant films. I have always liked this movie because it’s all about sucking the marrow out of life. This movie popularized ‘Carpe Diem’ or seize the day that, every time I think of Dead Poets Society, Carpe Diem automatically pops in my head. 

The movie is about a group of young boys who went to Welton Academy which is an elite boarding school in 1959. The school have this reputation of bringing their students to ivy league schools after they graduate. One of the major characters is Neil, a son of an ex-military who allows his life to be manned by his control freak father. 

Todd, a new boy in school who also came from family of scholars became Neil’s room mate. Neil introduced Todd to his overachiever friends in school. 

Along came John Keating, the new English Teacher who also happened to be Welton’s alumni. He introduced the boys to his non-mediocre method of teaching. He taught the kids to ‘seize the day’ or simply break free. Neil found that Keating used to be part of a group in Welton called Dead Poets Society (DPS) and opted to be called O Captain My Captain instead of Mr. Keating. When Neil asked Keating about DPS, he told the boys to leave it in history and burn the book. 

Neil revived DPS and the group found a hideaway cave somewhere close to the boarding school. They talked about poems and many other things during their meetings. The DPS is illegal though because they are breaking the school law for unauthorized after school rendesvous.

Neil, inspired by Keating, decided to audition for a school play by Shakespeare entitled A Midsummer Nights Dream,  he got in. His father saw the play although Neil never intended to. Neil even wrote a fake letter of consent from his 'father' stating that he allow his son to be part of the school play so that his father will not know about it. Mr.  Perry (Neil’s Dad) found out anyways and was so disappointed that he told Mr. Keating to stay away from Neil. 

Neil, totally devastated his father’s lack of support, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The school found out about DPS, blamed it’s existence and death of Neil towards Mr. Keating. They fired him but before he left Welton, his students showed their support for Mr. Keating by stepping on top of their classroom chairs and uttered O Captain My Captain.

Very brilliant movie. I dare you to watch if you are in a middle of crisis like for instance you are  torn between what your parents want and want you want for yourself. Carpe Diem. 

White Fang (1991)

Adventure

Casts:

• Klaus Maria Brandauer (Alex Larson)
• Ethan Hawke (Jack Conroy)
• Seymour Cassel (Skunker)
• Susan Hogan (Belinda Casey)
• Jed (White Fang)

19th Century.

Jack from San Francisco went to Yukon in Alaska to go to his father’s claim. He asked Skunker and Alex to take him to the claim. Alex, declined at first but after Skunker persuaded him later on agreed since he was Jack’s Dad’s buddy.

En route to the claim, a lot of things happened. Jack almost froze to death after he stepped on a thin ice and nearly drowned then Skunker’s passing after a pack of wolves attacked them. A group of sled team shot a female decoy (half dog half wolf) in order to save Alex and Jack from the wolves. The female decoy sadly died and left behind a pup (this part really broke my heart). Along the way Jack saw the little orphaned pup/wolf and asked Alex how big is the pup’s chance of survival alone in the woods. Alex said zero if it won’t be with a pack of wolves.

Alex, upon reaching his destination bid Jack goodbye. Jack though continued to bug Alex and promised to leave him if he take him to his father’s claim, Alex agreed. Jack offered Alex a deal, he will teach him how to read and in return Alex will help him find his gold.

Alex and Jack visited a Native American settlement (because Alex is friends with the Chief of Tribe). Jack saw a wolf named ‘White Fang’ (not aware that it was the same pup he saw before because it's all grown). He tried to pet White Fang but the Chief prevented him. He told Jack that wolves are meant to obey their owners because they are their ‘masters’ and not because they're friends with them. Alone in the woods Jack was attacked by a grizzly bear, White Fang saved him so Jack owed the wolf a sense of gratitude.

White Fang had a tough life because the Chief needed to give him away (no matter how unwilling he was) to a group of bastards (the same men who robbed Jack the first time he set foot in Yukon) because they had their own dog beaten up by White Fang on purpose so they could use the poor wolf for dog fights. The men made huge amount of money from bets because of White Fang. During one White Fang’s fights, Jack recognized him and saved him from his slumber.  Jack and Alex took White Fang to the claim and treated his wounds. White Fang and Jack became friends to Alex’s surprise since White Fang is a wolf. 

One day, the makeshift mine crumbles, White Fang rescued Jack for the second time like he’s Jack’s guardian angel or something. Alex found gold particles on the wolf’s foot so they hurriedly went inside the mine and they found more gold. Alex sent Jack to town to have the gold tested, White Fang tagged along. Hours later, Jack happily reported to Alex that the gold were 98% pure which would make them friggin' rich. The men who used White Fang for dog fights followed Jack to the claim, set their cabin on fire but weren’t successful after White Fang attacked them. 

Alex decided to go back to San Francisco and persuaded Jack to come along. He planned to use the money to build a hotel in Scott's honor (Jack’s Father), and would like to name it 'Hotel Scott.’ Jack set White Fang free upon Alex’s advise that the wolf belongs in the woods because that’s his home by nature. Jack, all ready to go changed his mind and decided to stay in Alaska, Alex understood though. White Fang came back to the claim and reunites with Jack. 

This is a very beautiful story of friendship between a wild animal and a human being. This flick justifies that the world is filled with infinite possibilities. 

Reality Bites (1994)

Romantic/Comedy/Drama

Casts:

• Winona Ryder - Lelaina Pierce, the main character; aspiring videographer & works for a TV show "Good Morning Grant"
• Ethan Hawke - Troy Dyer; band member
• Ben Stiller - Michael Grates; 
• Janeane Garofalo - Vickie Miner, Lelaina’s friend, Manager at The Gap
• Steve Zahn - Sammy Gray, Lelaina & Vickie’s homosexual friend

Friends Lelaina, Vickie and Sammy are having a little celebration at the building’s helipad after their graduation ceremony with Lelaina filming the whole thing. Lelaina dreams of becoming a videographer thus would like to use her little video clips as materials for what seemed like a reality based TV show. Troy and Lelaina used to date. 

Lelaina works for a morning TV show called  "Good Morning Grant” hosted by a prick. She’s been suggesting a different format for the boring show but Mr. Prick refuses to change anything and undermines Lelaina’s talent. Lelaina, pissed off after he overhears Mr. Prick uttered something about firing her, she then wrote nasty stuff in his cue cards which led to her termination from the show. Vickie offered Lelaina a job at The Gap but the later refused. Vickie treated it as an insult since Lelaina was a ‘Valedictorian’ in college. They somehow patched things up. 

Lelaina, now jobless became depressed resorted to Psychics. She made a 400$USD bill after her frequent calls to a 1-900 number. Vickie and Sammy talked to her about paying off the astronomical telephone bill. She used her father’s graduation gift, a gas card by raising 400$USD cold cash.  In the movie, it was revealed that Vickie feared about having HIV after sleeping with tons of men, Troy a non-conformist who refuses to work for companies because of his notion that he’s making them richer and Sammy, who never told his parents about his being ‘gay’ until after college fearing his parents would be disappointed. 

Lelaina met Michael, an executive for a cable channel called In Your Face (ala MTV) after she threw a cigarette into his convertible which caused his accident. The two dated. Troy hated Michael because she likes Lelaina. Michael bought Lelaina’s video footages and she didn’t like how it turned out at first because the editing changed the essence of her video project. 

Fast forward, Vickie tested negative for HIV, Lelaina and Troy became romantically involved (finally) after enduring each other’s wraths. 

You know what I love about this flick? The awesome OSTs. Let me also mention that I was a fan of Winona Ryder back in the 90’s because she’s one of those edgy, mysterious, gothic yet talented actresses back then. Remember Beetlejuice?

The Haunted (1991)

Horror

Casts:

• Janet Smurl (Sally Kirkland)
• Jack Smurl (Jeffrey DeMunn)
• Mary Smurl (Louise Latham)
• John Smurl (George D. Wallace)
• Ed Warren (Stephen Markle)
• Lorraine Warren (Diane Baker)

This movie scared me to my wits the first time I watched it because I was still a kiddo back then. But hey, it still scares me as an adult because it was based on a true story about a family haunted by poltergeists in their own home. 

The Smurl family moved into their new home and started experiencing scary stuff. The Smurls were Ok at first but as time went on poltergeists started haunting them. The first to experience was Janet, since she’s often home. She started seeing ghosts, was hurled by poltergeist and everything else unimaginable. Janet sought help from ghost hunter couple Ed & Lorraine Warren. The haunting took years until they decided to leave their haunted house in lieu of a new one. 

This movie is really scary even without the presence of gore because like I said, it was a based on true story and nothing beats the real deal. 

If you may be wondering how come I did not include A Nightmare On Elm Street it’s cuz it wasn’t really scary for me. I found it more annoying than scary. 

So, there you go. Happy moving watching folks!

Movie-thon

I dig k-dramas right now but I’ll also add a spritz of Hollywood and Brit flicks to make my movie reviews have that U.N day feel. These movies, in no particular order, were by far the best ones I’ve seen. 

Always (2011)

South Korea/Romance-Drama

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m not really into the romance-drama genre 'cuz I'm a fan of horror movies so just imagine how iffy I was when my sister told me to quit watching horror flicks for now because of the gore. It’s not that I don’t watch romance and drama movies, it’s just that I find them cheesy most of the time (although not all of them). When I googled ‘best Korean romance movies’ this movie “Always” came up. 

I was intrigued by the movie poster because it didn’t look teeny-bopper-cheesy to me. If you’re my age (who’s already alive during the first EDSA revolt a.k.a Coup d’etat) you’d be able to relate why I don’t prefer teen love stories because I’m not a teenager anymore. Anyways, going back, let me begin. 

Cheol-min work as water delivery boy in the morning and parking attendant at night. He met Jung-hwa by chance after the later thought he was the previous parking attendant she watches soap opera with. Jung-hwa is blind by the way. 

The two got to know each other because Jung-hwa regularly hang out in the parking attendant’s booth to watch TV. Cheol-min was an ex-boxer. He got into trouble and was incarcerated. Jung-hwa on the other hand works as an inbound customer service representative for this company that employs people with disabilities. Her boss is sexually harassing her but won't quit her job because she’s got nowhere else to go. 

One night, Jung-hwa’s boss paid her a visit on her birthday then assaults her after she refused to be touched. Cheol-min went to Jung-hwa’s house and saw everything. He beat up Jung-hwa’s boss. Jung-hwa finally quit her job. Cheol-min promised Jung-hwa to take care of her. Love blossomed between the two until Cheol-min  learned that he was the reason why Jung-hwa turned blind. Cheol-min accepted an offer from an old acquaintance to box/fight illegally in Thailand for him to raise $30,000USD and use it for Jung-hwa’s eye operation so she could get her sight back. Jung-hwa’s operation was successful but she never saw Cheol-min again.

Two years passed. Jung-hwa started living a normal life, put up a pottery business and studied to become a masseuse. She never forgot Cheol-min. One day, Jung-hwa massaged one of the patients at the hospital (not knowing he's Cheol-min because Jung-hwa was still blind when they met). Cheol-min was totally heartbroken unable to tell Jung-hwa who he is) and already planned a life of a recluse. Before he retreated somewhere faraway, he paid Jung-hwa’s store a visit. He bought a plant in a pot and took his ailing miniature turtle pet then left. Jung-hwa noticed that the turtle is missing when she came back to the store, her assistant told her that a man with a scar on his face was the last customer. Jung-hwa realized it was Cheol-min for sure  because he originally owns the turtle. She ran after Cheol-min and almost failed until she remembered the same place they use to go to. Jung-hwa found Cheol-min standing there, saw his face for the first time. Cheol-min and Jung-hwa finally reunited. 

This is a wonderful movie really. I mean, like I said, I’m not a fan of romance movies except for 'The Notebook’ but this flick is definitely gonna be added to my list. A must watch. It’s not your typical love story.

Spellbound (2011)

South Korea/Horror Romantic Comedy
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️




Jo-goo used to be a street magician back in the days and during one of his street performances, he noticed a woman from the audience who seemed not amazed by his magic tricks because she’s consumed by so much sadness. The woman later on became an inspiration for his now successful stage magic show.

Few years later, Jo-goo employs Yeo-ri (the same sad woman from the audience) to become part of his show (the type who pretends she’s part of the audience without the audience knowing she works for the magician). Yeo-ri is odd and anti-social, she never went to any of Jo-goo’s after work huddles and claims she’s out of control when she’s drunk. One day, Yeo-ri did not go to work which made Jo-goo worried. He went to her house and found she lives alone. Jo-goo saw a little boy in Yeo-ri’s house not knowing the kid is a ghost. The kid followed Jo-goo home which freaked him out. He learned that Yeo-ri can see ghosts. The two became close because Jo-goo is scared of ghosts. They eventually fell in love after Jo-goo learned that Yeo-ri is a nice person who’s family left her behind because of her sixth sense. Jo-goo broke up with his model girlfriend. 




Spellbound is actually interesting. Something I haven’t seen before. They infused horror with magic and romance which I think is kind of an odd combination but not bad though.




About A Boy (2002)

British-American-French/Comedy-Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I stumbled upon this flick whilst searching for Nicholas Hoult movies. I think About A Boy is one of Hoult’s famous movies before Warm Bodies. I was reminded of Hoult after I saw him again in this movie Mad Max and I thought his complexion is really chalk white. 

About A Boy stars Hugh Grant as Will Freeman and Nicholas Hoult as Marcus. I was so surprised to see little boy Nicholas Hoult in this movie and my God he’s cute as a button. I never thought he was chubby when he was still young because he’s now a tall and lanky guy with still a chalk white complexion. Let me just say that he’s even whiter as a kid. I didn't know he's British neither.

Alright, moving on, Will, the main character is a single 38 year old guy, unemployed yet live a luxurious life because of the royalties from his Father's famous Christmas song. Will realized after dating a single parent, how guilt-free it was hooking up with one because their lives are complicated so they don’t really stick around for too long. He decided to join SPAT a support group for single parents to hook up with a single mother then got acquainted with Suzie who’s friends with Fiona, a depressed single mother. Fiona has a son named Marcus who often gets bullied at school because he’s a little eccentric compared to other kids. Marcus became acquainted with Will because Suzie tagged him along for a picnic. When they got back they found Fiona lying on the couch unconscious, she attempted to commit suicide.

Marcus thought his Mom Fiona is so sad and depressed. Fiona had 'music therapy' to rid off her depression thus often play the song Rainy Days And Mondays by The Carpenters. The song got stuck into Marcus’ head and even sang it out loud, out of the blue during class which made all his classmates laugh at him. I never thought Nicholas can sing really but he was good, I just don’t know if he still sings.

Marcus decided to stalk Will and found that he’s not a single parent nor has a kid. He sort of blackmailed Will, that, he will tell Suzie he’s lying if he won’t let him hang around in Will’s house. Will came to like Marcus in the long run. Marcus told Will that he thought about having a third person for back up so he won’t be left alone if his mother commits suicide again or abandon him. He tried to set her mother up with Will but it wasn’t successful. I really like Marcus, he’s a brilliant kid and he thinks that he makes his mother happy every time he sings. Suzie later on learned that, Will lied about his being a single parent so she stopped seeing him. Marcus, on the other hand remained friends with Will. 

Will met Ellie (Rachel Weisz) but it did not work out neither after Ellie learned that he lied about Marcus. Will introduced Marcus by the way as his ‘son,’ Ellie found out  it wasn’t true. 

Marcus decided to sing for the school talent show thinking this would make his Mom happy. Guess what Marcus chose to sing? Yes, t'was Rainy Days And Mondays by The Carpenters indeed. I thought it’s a  beautiful song but I guess kids think otherwise lol. Anyways, Will rushed to Marcus’ school to save the poor boy from further humiliation and from becoming a laughing stock. He showed up with a guitar onstage and accompanied Marcus while he sings Rainy Days And Mondays. Ellie’s son btw danced during the program and he fell in love again with Will after what he did for Marcus. The End. 

I love this movie because It’s so meaningful. My sympathy goes to kids like Marcus who unfortunately have to deal with their parents shortcomings. I hope all kids has a mindset like his no matter how hopeless the situation is. 




The Classic (2003)

South Korea/Romance-Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Warning, this movie is very lengthy although the plot is really nice. The movie has fragmented chronology because it consists of two stories, Ji-hye's mom and her own love story.

Ji-hye found her mother’s box full of love letters and started reading them. She learned that, her mother,Joo-hee fell in love with a guy named Joon-ha before her father. Her mother gave Joon-ha her necklace.

Now Ji-hye’s love story: She secretly is crushing on a guy from school named Sang-min who directs the school play. However, her friend likes Sang-min too so she’s keeping her distance from him to avoid conflict. 

Back to her mom’s love story: Joo-hee grew apart from Joon-ha because of the war. Joon-ha survived the war but told Joo-hee he’s married. Her mother learned that her first love has gone blind. She married her father afterwards and had her. Ji-Hye found out that her mother’s first love Joon-ha died in the war and had a son. 

Present: Ji-hye found that Sang-min feels the same for her. She took Sang-min to the place where her mother and Joon-ha met. Sang-min cried to Ji-hye’s surprise then took off his necklace, the same necklace her mother had. Ji-hye found out that Sang-min is the son of her mother’s first love Joon-ha. This only means that Joo-hee and Joon-ha’s love story finally find its happy ending through their kids. Fate found a way to match two people together. I couldn’t think of a better ending actually because if Joo-hee and Joon-ha ended up together, Ji-hye and Sang-min won’t or vise versa.




Carol (2015)

British-American/Romantic-Drama

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Casts:

• Cate Blanchett (Carol Aird)
• Rooney Mara (Therese Belivet)

Sad to say, Rooney lost over Alicia Vikander in the Oscars. Nevertheless, I could care less because these two ladies are my best bet as far as acting is concerned, they are equally awesome for me regardless of the genre. 

Moving on, the movie is about a married woman named Carol Aird who hooked up with Therese, a salesgirl from Frankenberg's department store in Manhattan. Carol is looking for a present for her daughter for Christmas, unfortunately the doll is out of stock so Therese recommended a train set instead. Carol’s daughter loved the train set so she thanked Therese and invited her over to her home. Therese found that Carol is in the middle of a divorce and used to hook up with her daughter’s Godmother.  Carol’s husband is divorcing her because of her being a homosexual and would like full custody of their daughter otherwise will expose her homosexuality. Carol gave up custody of their child because she doesn’t want their daughter’s life be impaired because of the legal battle. Therese and Carol eventually went on with their relationship. Therese realized she's a homosexual and broke up with her boyfriend. 

There's nothing special about the movie except it happened during the 1950's back when homosexuality is not widely accepted yet AND it stars two of the best actresses Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. 

 

Coming Down the Mountain (2007)

British/ Drama
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Casts:

• Nicholas Hoult (David)
• Tommy Jessop (Ben)




David hates his brother Ben who has down syndrome because he thinks that their parents spends everything on Ben.  He despise his brother so much to the point that he wanted to kill him. David’s parents wants him to look after his brother all the time. 

The move to Derbyshire (their family is from London) pulled a string on David because he doesn’t want to leave his girlfriend behind. David thought his parents do not think about his welfare since moving to Derbyshire is only beneficial for Ben (there’s a special school for Ben in Derbyshire). David wasn’t happy with everything after the move; he hated his new school, he got into a fight. 

One day, David took Ben out for camping instead of taking him to school. Whilst on top of the cliff, Ben said their parents love him more than David because he’s a troublemaker which made David sparked and pushed Ben off the cliff. Ben however survived but did not tell the police that his brother attempted to kill him. Ben walked away from David afterwards, David followed and found him having milkshakes. The brothers talked and David learned so many things about him. He found that Ben has a girlfriend from special school and he’s not as helpless like what their parents perceived about him.

The police picked up David and Ben from the camping site because their parents are worried sick about them. As soon as the two got home, David endured their parent’s wrath but Ben got in the way and stood like a man to defend his brother. Their parents were shocked with how Ben reacted. David then told their parents that Ben has a girlfriend and he’s just like a normal person, they’re just treating him as if he’s helpless while he’s not. The parents met Ben’s girlfriend, also a special child. Then all is well.

This is a very good movie because sometimes, those people living with individuals with 'down syndrome' limits their growth because as humans we are stuck with the stigma that people like them are helpless. Little did we know, we often inhibit their growth because of that ‘fear’ of letting them go.

Last but not least,


The Revenant (2015)

Historical/Adventure
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

• Leonardo DiCaprio (Hugh Glass)
• Tom Hardy (John Fitzgerald)
• Domhnall Gleeson (Andrew Henry)
• Will Poulter (Jim Bridger)

This movie is pretty heavy because of the gore, human and animal slaughter etc. so if you’re the sensitive type who gets grossed out with a sight of blood even in movies then don’t watch this. Writing about historical events is quite a challenge for me because you have to be true to the facts. It’s kinda like writing an autobiography, you have to make sure to write about the correct chronology of events and the names of people involved.

Circa 1823.

Captain Andrew Henry sent group of trappers to hunt for pelts or fur in the the Northern Plains (now called South Dakota) lead by Hugh Glass, an experienced guide. Whilst the group is resting Arikara Native Americans (American Indians) attacked Glass and his group, unaware and unwarned, majority of them died. The  Arikara have this belief that the Americans abducted the Chief's daughter named Powaqa. Glass suggested that the remaining trappers/survivors escape on a boat despite John Fitzgerald’s disapproval because he abhors Glass as he was partially scalped by natives in the past and Glass has a half-native son named Hawk who's with him during their quest. Scalping by the way (which is being practiced by natives) means the tearing of the human scalp (with hair) from the head of an enemy as a trophy.

Once the trappers are settled after the escape from the Arikara,  Glass went out to check out for pelts in the forest. He saw a big grizzly bear with its cubs, tried to shoot it but was badly mauled beforehand. He killed the poor bear but he was left for dead.  Fitzgerald had an evil suggestion which was to leave Glass behind because he slows them down. Andrew Henry refused to kill Glass though. Henry offered to pay whoever sticks around with Glass until they get to the outpost. Whilst one of the trappers Jim Bridger, is out getting water, Fitzgerald attempted to kill Glass by suffocating him. Hawk, Glass’ son saw it and got in the way but Fitzgerald stabbed him to death in front of Glass. When Bridger came back, Fitzgerald said that the Arikara is near and they have to abandon poor Glass so they left him a in shallow crater or grave.

When Fitzgerald and Bridger reached the outpost, Fitzgerald said that Glass is probably dead because of the Arikara. Fitzgerald intimidated Bridger, kept mum about it fearing for his own life. Henry gave the two money for trying to stick around with Glass.

Glass, on the other hand crawled out of his makeshift grave, ate twigs and raw animal meat to survive. He met Hiku, a nice Pawnee guy (a native) who treated his wounds and kept him warm during the snow storm by building him a makeshift shanty from tree twigs. He was unfortunately hanged by French-Canadian pelt hunters the next day. I thought, vengeance could’ve been easy on Hiku’s end but he did not kill Glass because he was a God fearing man. I couldn’t wrap my head around what he did to deserve such evil deed of mankind.

Moving on, Glass survived and reached the fort. Henry looked for Fitzgerald after the later stole money. Fitzgerald retreated somewhere  far. Glass told Henry that Bridger does not have anything to do with Fitzgerald’s demonic possession err evil actions so he was spared. Glass and Henry went to chase Fitzgerald. Henry was killed by Fitzgerald unfortunately when Glass and Henry split up. Glass could’ve killed Fitzgerald but he didn’t  after remembering Hiku’s words about vengeance, it’s in God’s hands and not humankind. The Chief of Arikara, accompanied by (his now found) daughter Powaqa, killed and scalps Fitzgerald yet spared Glass.

This film made Leonardo DiCaprio bagged his first Oscar award for Best Actor after over a decade. I was surprised Leo hasn’t won an Oscar yet because he’s an awesome actor even as far back as Titanic days and he’s won tons of Best Actor awards in the past (Golden Globe,  Academy Award). This is such a well deserved feat for Leo although it’s been long overdue.

Going back to The Revenant, it was a lengthy film and may not be for everyone because if you’re clueless about the movie like you haven’t read about it in Wikipedia or online news you’ll be pretty dumbfounded what the hell is going on. I didn’t even know at first that they were hunting for pelts, all I know is that they are on a quest and that they were attacked by natives. Of course an attack is always triggered by something so that wasn’t clear at first. My sister googled the movie whilst we were watching it at home to know what exactly is going on before we get totally lost in space. Nevertheless, it was a profound film, a lot about humanity and the domino effect of vengeance, that, it is infinite if no one will concede. Leo mentioned during his speech (after winning the Oscars) something about climate change which I think relates to the extreme weather conditions his character went through. The film denotes that, climate change has been prevalent even as far back as the 1800s. The Revenant tackled about a lot of issues and  on a bigger scale may be pretty difficult to unravel what the geist is all about, but, if you search in your heart, this film justifies that, goodness always prevail in the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - highly recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  - somewhat highly recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️    - it was alright.

⭐️⭐️       - nah.
⭐️          - waste of time.