Here be an online conversation between the blog owner (me) and Lawrence, who has seen the film. Twice.
tl;dr – I start the film in an excited mood, then grow grouchy. Insidious has an excellent first part – great atmosphere, effective score, cute nod to the horror films of the 80’s – but the second act is dragged down by too much exposition and back story. It creates its own myth and thus must anchor the scares on its own myth (instead of on people’s preconceived beliefs, like the Devil and Hell and the afterlife), but the myth is just a handful of words spewed by one of the characters in a single scene. It’s not strong enough to make the horror last.
"Is that so?" Yes, Leigh Whannell, my horror movie crush. I'm sorry. I liked Saw though. Does that make you feel better?
It’s fun to count the months. Just four more and it’s the second anniversary. :)
It began to rain, so instead of going out, we just had Amici (gelato cakes!!!) delivered for dinner. We watched some episodes of Top Chef Canada while eating.
prosciutto e funghi (pizza), cannelloni agli spinaci (pasta)spumoni surprise, mango sans rival
Jaykie had class on Saturday, so he went to UP, and I went to Trinoma to shop for gifts for my parents (my mother’s birthday is on the 25th, my father’s in July). This despite the fact that I woke up suddenly at 5 am, broke out in sweats, and felt as though I were falling. Vertigo once more, with feelings. I popped a Serc (24 mg.) and hoped this would pass soon and not come back to bother me again.
I wanted to buy a bag for myself, but couldn’t find anything that I liked, so I ended up buying costume jewelry.
TV necklace, pink rose ring, black rose ring
I know I have way too many rings, but I’m on the lookout for more plastic rings. And that TV necklace was just cute. (I’m wearing it today at work, and I broke one of the antennas. :( But it’s still cute. I’ll just cover the broken antenna nub with my hair.)
We had late lunch at Mango Tree Bistro. It’s our second time at this Thai restaurant. We love their food.
Just writing about it is making me crave for it. So delicious.
We got home before the rain fell. And how it fell. I was amazed it didn’t flood the streets. Early dinner was a tuna sandwich. Jaykie made the tuna spread (mayo + celery + apples = delicious). Later, when we got hungry again, I poured us some cereal and cold milk.
We finished Damages Season 2 and watched Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, a TV movie that is basically an extended episode of Burn Notice with Sam Axe and a pinch of Michael Westen. It’s hilarious.
Jaykie’s little walk-in closet’s roof was leaking, so we left a plastic bucket there overnight. Look how much water we got.
"What are you doing?" "Taking a picture." "Why?" "I'll blog about it." "But they'll find out I have a leaky roof!" Haha.
This morning we woke up and Jaykie said he wished he could just stay under the sheets and read. I’d love that too, but alas, work.
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Happy Father’s Day to my Tatay! :D I’m coming home next week with the gifts. I hope it doesn’t rain.
I was ready to give up on the X-Men movie franchise because the third film was bad (they killed practically everyone) and the first outing of X-Men: Origins (Wolverine) was horrible. But I don’t think I have ever seen a young Magneto and a young Professor X on the big screen, and friends are raving about this new film, so I gave it a try. I’m glad I did. It’s not flawless, but James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender give engrossing performances. They’re really good. The supporting cast is meh. I don’t get that tornado guy at all. Kevin Bacon is more jokey than villainy, and January Jones looks lovely but is bland, bland, bland! I’m not too familiar with Emma Frost, but isn’t she supposed to be seductive and powerful? January looks more angry than alluring. She doesn’t suck you in. It’s like they just turned Betty Draper into a diamond statue.
We we so excited.
It also saddens me that the only characters of color in the film either end up dead or with the bad guys.
Is she really called Angel? Isn't there another X-Men named Angel? With angel wings?"I knew I shouldn't have gone with these two white guys."
Now the question is: will they now continue with this new set of characters, or go back to the Origins series? So many origin stories! So many characters! This can be confusing.
Sam Bell works for Lunar Industries, a company in the business of harvesting helium-3 from the far side of the moon. Sam oversees the company’s automated harvesters and sends back canisters of He-3, which Earth then uses for energy. Sam is the only human being in the facility. Every now and then he receives messages from Earth. The messages (from his wife, Tess, and child, Eve) are not live, because communication problems on the moon have hampered the reception of live feeds. He is accompanied by an AI named GERTY. He has been on the moon for three years. When the film opens, he is nearing the end of his contract.
But there’s a problem: it appears that he is losing his mind. One moment he turns and sees a teenager with dark hair and wearing a yellow jumpsuit in an empty cabin. He longs for his wife. He spends his days distracted. One day, he goes out to drive his rover and crashes into a harvester and loses consciousness.
While watching the film’s first few minutes, I kept asking, Who’d sign up for this? Who’d be so desperate to agree to stay on the moon alone for three whole years? Then I find out.
Moon (written and directed by Duncan Jones, who also directed Source Code) is the kind of film that sucks you in and spawns discussions. The references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris are apparent. I loved it, and Sam Rockwell is awesome.
Damages
I just finished Season 1. It was brutal and compelling and I just couldn’t peel my eyes off of it. It’s not an episodic show, like Law & Order, and it’s definitely not a comedy, like Boston Legal. There is one big case that the characters try to crack within the 13 episodes. Meanwhile, the body count continues to rise and lawyer Patty Hewes becomes more and more psychopathic. Glenn Close is perfect, but I find myself more drawn to lawyer Ray Fiske (played by Zeljko Ivanek), and the young couple who gets caught in the web.
My sister brought home strawberries and blueberries from Baguio
and they are superb when mixed with milk and cream. Mmm.
Also during this week: Yakimix and Amici with Jaykie’s family, home, lipstick for my mother and sugarfree candy for my father, my mother observing that there’s always murder in my stories (eek!), and that promise that Jaykie and I will eat right, exercise and lose weight – totoo na! :)
Dinner for two: soup, spam-and-egg sandwiches, rootbeer floats.
We had Thor-day on Thursday. Friday was supposed to be badminton, but Jaykie was feeling sick, so I lifted weights while he rested with his iPad. Saturday was Free Comic Book Day and the first day of the two-day Comic Con, but it was too hot to leave J’s air-conditioned room. It was so hot I had to take at least two showers. Saturday pm it began to rain really hard, complete with thunder and drama. Counterproductive weather. We did nothing but eat and watch shows. White Collar. Sons of Anarchy. Battlestar Galactica (the remake). How I Met Your Mother. Parks & Rec. Big Bang Theory. Community. Modern Family (their Mothers’ Day episode cracked me up – I love Gloria). Plus Inside Job, a documentary that J and I liked a lot.
If I had known Kenneth Branagh directed this film, I would have expressed interest sooner. (Branagh directed the Sleuth remake, which I loved.) I’ve never read the Thor comic books. I think he’ll bore me the way Wolverine bores me, all anger and muscle and big pronouncements. (No offense to fans.) “How dare you threaten the son of Odin with such a puny weapon!” Thor screams in the film, and promptly gets tasered. Thor is simple (three acts: hubris/fall – realization – victory), maybe even too simple for some, but there are highlights: Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Tom Hiddleston as Loki (very very good), lines like “We have Xena, Jackie Chan, and Robin Hood”, and that (surprisingly) effective exchange between Thor and Loki on Earth. I thought it was a fun ride.
I’ve seen The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but when the trailer for The Rite appeared in cinemas I decided to skip watching it during its run because I have had enough of exorcism films. What else can they possibly say that haven’t been said?
But I enjoyed The Rite because it is filled with believable people, and it argues with exorcism while also taking it seriously. The exorcism professor in Rome mentions psychosis and psychiatric measures, and I am pleased with the show of logic. The protagonist himself is a skeptic. “You should fear me, mortal,” says the demon inside the possessed girl, and exorcism student Michael Kovak replies, “How can I fear you when you don’t even exist?”, which understandably shuts the demon up.
Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) is the funniest exorcist I have ever seen in a film. He’s quite a character. During an exorcism his phone rings and he says into the receiver, “I’m in the middle of something right now.” Exactly what I’d imagine a long-time exorcist would say, if his cell phone’s ringtone suddenly cut through the Latin prayers. If I ever met Father Lucas, I’d have a chat with him.
2. The Roommate
A straightforward, no-frills, psychological suspense film. What makes it disturbing for me is that I actually like the roommate character. Not a bar person, silent, good listener, understands and appreciates art, and has heaps of clothes you can borrow. Too bad she’s insane.
3. 21
A group of MIT students are recruited by their professor to count cards at Blackjack. I still don’t understand the Math (“the simple Math”) but this film is enjoyable.
4. House
Finished Season 6. The plot’s going everywhere now but I still love you, Dr. House.
5. Burn Notice
Finished the latest season. A covert-ops spy receives a burn notice and finds himself with no job, no money, and no clue as to what happened to his records. If you want something fun and light, watch this.
Eliza Victoria 