Wickedly Good

I wanted to go and see Wicked (the movie).  RD and MyGirl were more than willing to go watch it with me.  Last weekend,  MyGirl checked online and figured that ticket prices on Tuesday are half price.   So it was a date!  

MyGirl asked whether we should go for the reclining seats for an extra $3.  It didn't really matter to me because I was primarily interested in watching the movie. Watching in style was secondary.  In the end, the kids decided that experiencing a movie in reclining seats would be best when tickets are half-price.  Let's do it.  Go reclining seats!

Armed with the decision of the date and the reclining seat, MyGirl began finalising the ticket booking. She called over to her brother and asked if it was ok for them to split my ticket cost.  RD said, "Sure, no problem."   

When the transaction was completed, she said, "You can just Beem me, Kuya."   

"I can pay for my ticket," I offered.  This immediately triggered a duet of "No!" from the kids.  

Oh yeah!  Awesome kids!  Reclining seats!  Free ticket!  We're going to see Wicked!  

We followed the yellow brick road.

As an added note, I was really happy that we were able to see the movie and the fact that we watched on the seventeenth of December was particularly significant.  One year ago, on Sunday 17 Dec, MyGirl was in Melbourne, GI and RD were at home, but I was at the Emergency Room in Westmead with MacGyver. I honestly thought my number was up when I couldn’t move my arms and legs without focusing and thinking.  It was scary! 

I was fortunate enough to watch the Wicked musical with London Eye back in 2018 and I am extremely lucky to have watched the Wicked movie with the kids last Tuesday.  

You Have to Look With the Heart

Remember ...

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Frozen in Name

All just trivia

but I did enjoy the movie, the music and the company when I watched it.

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen,  

people are saying that the characters of the movie Frozen are all named after him. 

Hans Christian Andersen

Hans - Kristoff - Anna - Sven

If you say the names fast enough, you will hear it.

Once Upon a Dream

We watched Maleficent the other night.

(Warning : Spoiler Alert!)

If you must know, Prince Charming and I had this thing when I was young.

Or more accurately, I must confess, I had this thing for Prince Charming when I was young.

(more in a previous post)  Well, in this movie, Prince Charming played a minor role.  

Yes, I do realise now that Prince Charming was just a cartoon character.
And after watching the movie Maleficent, I came up with several thoughts which had never really crossed my mind in the past.

I don't know about you but I think my points are quite valid. 

The King and the Queen missed out on the best years of their daughter's life by letting her live out in the woods with the three good fairies for sixteen years. 

The first fairy (Flora) gave the Princess Aurora the gift of beauty.  Really?  What does that say about her parents? So much for genetics.  

Prince Charming had only just met the young princess.  In fact, I think he only met her once.  The movie was right.  How could  he give her true love's kiss?

Oh no.  Is this a sign that I am growing up?  

Interestingly enough, the first family members I know that got to watch this movie was none other than Mother.and Z.  Am sure Mother smiled knowingly when the Princess Aurora was awoken by the kiss. And I would not be surprised if Z gave Mother a kiss soon after the scene.

I love you, Mother!!!!

Boyhood

Upon GI's recommendation, RD and I watched Boyhood today.

I'm kind of glad I didn't watch the trailer before I went into the movie house.

I didn't expect to see the little kid grow up into a young man.  

I wondered if they had filmed a shot where the kid's hair was long before they did one where they practically shaved off his hair.

I wondered how they managed to film that scene at the baseball game.  (The stadium was jam packed and those "extras" seemed to be genuinely excited over the seemingly real baseball game.)

I had I observed Patricia Arquette change through the movie scenes and as with the children, she too grew older.  Ethan Hawke looked more or less the same all throughout the movie.  

I had recently watched Mel Gibson in Forever Young so I knew that good make up can make one look younger AND older than you really are.  However, make up can only go so far, I could tell that the kids were growing up.

When we got home after the movie, I looked for the trailer and checked IMDb.  I discovered a lot of interesting facts about the movie.

  

The film was shot over the course of 12 years from May 2002 to August 2013.

They pieced together several 10 to 15 minute short films taken over the years. 

The writer and director cast his daughter in the movie because she'd always wanted to be in one of his movies.  

It was a real baseball game in the movie scene.  No wonder there were so many people!

The movie was life unfolding before your very eyes.  

It was a good film.  Hope you get a chance to watch it.

The Force is Strong with This One

There is Star Wars movie coming out?

Oh!  There is a Star Wars movie coming out.

In 2015, Star Wars Episode VII is expected to hit the big screens with some of the original Star Wars trilogy stars being part of the film.  No wonder I have been seeing Star Wars on various store window displays.

First at Peter Alexander (sleepwear store)

then at Vans (shoe store)

 

and at Dymock's (bookstore).

At Dymock's they had a whole set of posters like the one above.   Last week, they had a big poster that said, READING, It's Our Only Hope with Darth Vader on a chair reading a book and young Leia seated on the floor by the chair also reading a book. Too bad Dymock's changed the window display over the weekend and I wasn't able to take more photos.  I particularly liked the one that had young Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader at the breakfast table with the words,  "Use the fork, Luke!"  

I discovered that these were by Jeffrey Brown who has illustrated books with the Star Wars theme.  One is entitled Star Wars: Darth Vader & Son, the next one Star Wars : Vader's Little Princess, and the latest one, Star Wars : Jedi Academy.  I generally pass by Dymock's on my way to work so the bookstore is still closed.  I have to drop by when the store is open and check out these charming books.  

I remember how much we enjoyed Star Wars as kids. We would listen to the music by John Williams.  We had a Star Wars board game. We had a Return of the Jedi cartridge for Atari.   If memory serves me right, Sister Deer went to a party with a Princess Leia hairdo.  This last one I am 100% certain to be true, Slash M teased J incessantly by calling him Jabba the Hut Junior.  

Star Wars was a big thing.  When it first came out, we thought all the special effects were awesome.  I am sure that the Star Wars special effects pale in comparison to today's computer graphics but I still think the movie was ahead of its time. I can't remember how many times I've watched the various movies over they years and I will probably always enjoy Star Wars more than any of my kids ever will.  It doesn't matter, I still look forward to watching the new Star Wars movie next year.

Until then, May the Force be with you!

Loyal to the End

We watched a DVD last weekend which was based on a true story.  Hachi: A Dog's Tale  is a story of loyalty and friendship.  Admittedly, I was watching more because of Richard Gere than because of the dog; but in fairness, it was a nice movie and there was a part or two where I couldn't help but shed a tear.

I guess what I really liked about it is the fact that it really happened.  That makes it simply amazing!

In 1924, a Japanese professor took in a golden brown Akita (a breed of dog) as a pet. Hachiko  ['hachi' meaning 'eight', a number referring to the dog's birth order in the litter, and 'kō', meaning prince or duke]  would greet his owner at the Shibuya train station everyday.  The pair continued this routine until May 1925 when the professor failed to turn up at the station because he had suffered cerebral hemorrhage and died while at work.  Every day for the next nine years, Hachiko waited at Shibuya station.   

Hachiko's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty.  A bronze statue in the dog's likeness was erected in the location where Hachiko faithfully waited, in front of one of Shibuya Stations' five exits,

Marriage Sunday

From the Catholic Care Social Services website (http://www.ccss.org.au) : The Diocese of Parramatta has set Sunday 14 August as Marriage Sunday. This provides the faith community with an opportunity to highlight the vocation of Marriage and to celebrate and acknowledge the married members of parishes.

Before the priest announced at mass this morning that it was Marriage Sunday, I had never heard of such a thing. However, I was pleasantly surprised. How appropriate, I thought, considering MacGyver and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary tomorrow.

The priest recited some passages from the bible which I would consider as timeless.

1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

I was thinking of the Fiddler on the Roof as he was going through the passages. You know, the part where Golde is trying to figure out whether Teyve loves him (this is after 25 years of marriage).

(Tevye)

Then you love me?

(Golde)

I suppose I do

(Tevye)

And I suppose I love you too

(Both)

It doesn't change a thing

But even so

After twenty-five years

It's nice to know

Yes, the hopeless romantic in me would really, really like to hear those words "I love you" said to me (with feelings and conviction, please) rather than the "I suppose I do" that sounds like a mere afterthought.

I love you, Dad. Happy Marriage Sunday!

Defiance

I chanced upon the movie Defiance at the library. I was glad I picked it up.

Impressive as it may seem that the movie boasted the latest James Bond star Daniel Craig and that it was from the director of Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai, these were not what led me to borrow this movie. What piqued my curiosity was the fact that the movie was based on a true story about World War II that I had not previously known.

It was about the Bielski brothers, Tuvia, Zus and Asael, who fled to the forest after both their parents were killed in 1941 during the Second World War. They were joined by other Jews from their Polish town wanting to escape from the Germans. In the forest, they formed a resistance group to protect themselves with Tuvia as their leader. They tried to have some semblance of normalcy by setting themselves up as a village with everyone assigned tasks as more and more people joined them. Their number grew to reach over 1,000.

It is mentioned that the Bielskis never sought recognition for what they did but that the number of the descendants they saved are in the tens of thousands.

Amazing, really.

Back to the ... Present?

The above picture is a hoax. Marty McFly did not visit our present day world in any of the three Back to the Future movies. Believe me, we just had a Back to the Future marathon over the past week and even RD can attest to the fact that the relevant date in the future found in the 3rd movie was 21 October 2015. The other significant dates were 26 October 1985 (present day), 05 and 12 November 1955 (when lightning struck the Clock Tower), 02 and 07 November 1885 (the date on the tombstone).

In summary, this is what I remember about the trips the time machine made (excluding the one minute trip of Einstein):

1. Marty travels from 1985 to 1955 while trying to escape the terrorists

2. Marty (aka Calvin) travels back from 1955 to a new 1985 timeline

[Doc Brown travels to the future]

3. Doc Brown returns to 1985 and brings Marty and Jennifer to 2015 because Marty Jr. was going to get into trouble

4. Old Biff steals the time machine and travels from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the Sports Almanac

5. Old Biff returns to 2015 from 1955 leaving part of his cane in the DeLorean

6. Doc, Marty and Jennifer travel from 2015 back to a different 1985

7. Doc and Marty go from 1985 back to 1955 in an attempt to fix the dismal 1985

8. Doc from the future gets struck by lightning with the time machine set for 1885 leaving Marty (in the black leather jacket) stuck in 1955

[Young Doc Brown sends Marty from 1985 back to 1985 in Part I]

9. Marty of Part II travels to 1885 to save the old Doc Brown from getting killed using the DeLorean the Doc left hidden in a cave.

10. Marty (aka Clint) is pushed by the train and falls off the ravine to go back to 1985

The way I figure it, based on the three movies, at some point in time in 12 November 1955, there were four "instances" of the time machine.

a. The time machine in young Doc Brown's garage which Marty came in Part I (1)

b. The time machine which Biff stole in Part II (4) from 2015 to go back to the past

c. The time machine behind the billboard which Doc and Marty came in Part II (7) when they returned to try to fix what Biff had done

d. The time machine hidden in the cave by Doc Brown from 1885 (9) that they used for Part III

I know one can 'over think' the inconsistencies and impossibilities of the whole space time continuum so I will not even try. RD has his own theories, some of which he disproves as soon as more logical ones are formulated.

By and large, it was a good blast from the past.

World Cup Fever

While the whole world is busy watching the FIFA World Cup currently being held in South Africa, we caught up with a different set of World Cup games.

Our World Cup match was held about fifteen years ago ... it was rugby, not football ... and had Matt Damon as the South African team captain.

Yup, you guessed it! We watched the DVD of the movie Invictus.

Good movie. Very interesting.

(Oh, unfortunately, the Australian team lost in the movie, too.)

Movie Date

For MacGyver's birthday, we decided to have a 'date'. A date for us could be going off together on a walk, having a meal or dessert, or watching a movie together. Essentially, anything even remotely romantic done without any of the kids can be considered as a date.

Although the concept sounds simple, whenever we mention that we are going on a date, the kids groan and complain as if we were going on a month-long cruise and leaving them behind.

Since MacGyver was nursing a cold, we decided going for a walk after dinner was out of the question. We had a fairly hearty meal so extra dessert was not too promising either. We decided we'd watch a movie.

Now when I say 'watch a movie', I don't mean we would go to a mall and enter a cinema with a big screen. There is no buttered popcorn and soda in the picture. When we say, we are going on a date and we're watching a movie, it would mean a choice of watching a movie on RD's desktop downstairs or on MacGyver's laptop upstairs in our bedroom. Now if we wanted to eat chips while watching the movie, there would be no choice but to watch downstairs. However, if we were to open a bag of chips (assuming we had any) there would be violent objections from the kids because of course they would want to partake of the junkie (GI in particular if the chips were salt and vinegar flavour). So based on the above logic, it is not a wonder that we ended up watching the movie upstairs.

We didn't have too many choices yesterday so we settled for Shawshank Redemption, which apparently MacGyver hadn't seen yet. GI calls this movie an epic movie. (Sometimes GI's appreciation for good movies surprises me. )

Though it WAS a long movie, it was worth watching again.

In 1966, Andy Dufresne escaped from Shawshank prison. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub. I used to think it would take six-hundred years to tunnel under the wall with it. Old Andy did it in less than twenty. Oh, Andy loved Geology, I guess it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of mountain building there. Geology is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big god-damned poster. Like I said, in prison a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied. It turns out Andy's favourite hobby was totin' his wall through the exercise yard, a handful at a time. I guess after Tommy was killed, he decided he had been here just about long enough. Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice, neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a man's shoes? Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too. Five-Hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile.

Andy Dufresne - who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.

Love Affair

Love Affair is one of my all-time favourite movies. The title itself sends shivers down MacGyver's spine and the knowledge that I love that movie doesn't help one bit. He has tried to dampen my enthusiasm over the movie by pointing out to me that Warren Beatty has a reputation of having slept with over ten thousand women (12,775 to be more exact, give or take a couple, because who's counting?) And that is in spite the fact that he is married to the beautiful and talented Annette Bening in real life. Of course what Warren Beatty does in real life is irrelevant to the movie. So even if he slept with a hundred thousand women (good grief! ) I would still love the movie.

The appeal of the movie does not lie solely on the main characters' looks and popularity. It is a love story. And you know how much I love love stories, especially if they have happy endings. So how can you argue with that logic? (You can't. You just live with the fact that I love the movie.)

Love Affair is a remake of the Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr starrer An Affair to Remember. I think I watched An Affair to Remember a long time ago, way before Warren Beatty and Annette Bening played the roles of the couple that agreed to meet at the Empire State Building. I think I enjoyed that version. It was a good movie with a nice story. I liked it but I didn't love it.

So what makes Love Affair different? What makes it so special?

I must admit, aside from the fairytale story and the movie stars, it is the music.

Ennio Morricone is a genius. He adds a different dimension to the scenes of the movie. The music makes the movie more beautiful and more memorable.

Yes, yes, I am a romantic at heart.

LOVE AFFAIR: Movie Trailer - Watch more top selected videos about: Movie_Trailers, Love_Affair, Annette_Bening, Chloe_Webb, Katharine_Hepburn, Pierce_Brosnan, Warren_Beatty, Garry_Shandling, Glenn_Gordon_Caron

Birthday Evening

For my birthday, we just stayed home. After dinner, MacGyver moved the two black chairs in the living room to make space then he spread out the sleeping bags on the floor. Then the children gave me a mini-concert. MyGirl and RD played a couple of pieces for me on the keyboard, after which, GI played the guitar. Then we brought out a bag of chips, turned off the lights and watched a movie.

It was a good day.

Dreams

I watched this movie recently and it made me cry. I don't particularly like the premise of the movie but Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn had great lines in that movie. The main theme song was lovely and sad at the same time. When one wants to feel loved, this love song comes highly recommended (just don't do what they did in the movie).

These modified lyrics are sung in the movie and are not part of the theme song but these are my favorite lyrics. These lyrics ring loud and clear. You see there are days, like today, that I just wish I could be on some faraway star, found only in dreams. However these lyrics remind me that sometimes dreams don't always come true.

Dreams make promises they can’t keep
They can swindle you while you sleep
And the morning finds you wondering why
It seems when we’re young in dreams we trust
Maybe growing up is just
Kissing certain dreams goodbye…

On a lighter note, I should remind myself that maybe, just maybe ... I should dream what I want to dream; go where I want to go, be what I want to be, because I have only one life and one chance to do all the things I dream of, and want to do.

Four Seasons

I am reading this book by Alan Alda entitled Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. It is an interesting book. It includes many of the speeches Alan Alda has made over the years to a variety of groups. Plus since the book I borrowed was from the Large Print section, it is also easy reading for the eyes. (Gosh, I'm getting old.)

This is what he wrote about the movie The Four Seasons which I found interesting: Finally, I saw that this was a story of the four seasons of friendship: spring, where everyone is fresh and attractive and new to one another; summer, where the glare of the sun begins to show everyone's blemishes; autumn, where the fig leaves finally fall and you see who they really are; and the winter of friendship, where you either drop them and start all over again with another springtime set of friends or take them as they are and huddle against the cold winds of aging.

This process of going through seasons is true for many things -- friendships, as Alan Alda had written, as well as life. I guess what is important is that we go through each season as they come, learn as much as we can from them and enjoy the journey while we are there.

(When I think of Alan Alda, I cannot help think of LondonEye. I am not sure why. I was certainly a TV addict and M*A*S*H was definitely one of the series we watched together when we were kids. I think LondonEye loved Hawkeye Pierce more than I did which is why she comes to mind. Yes, LondonEye was definitely my TV partner-in-crime. Those were the days.)

Movie Shots

I watched the movie 500 Days of Summer yesterday and was fascinated by the series of scenes shown below.

Tom Hansen, the main character in the movie, was invited by Summer Finn (the girl he was interested in) to her apartment. He was really hoping that they would get back together. The movie showed two scenes side by side with the labels EXPECTATION and REALITY. Naturally his expectations were that she would be thrilled to see him, give him a passionate kiss, stay with him all throughout the evening, etc. Yet the reality was that she was civil when they saw each other, he was left to drink by himself while she entertained other visitors, up to the point where only the REALITY scene remained and it was Summer showing off her engagement ring to a friend.

Tom ran out of the apartment and ended up in the middle of the street. The scene transforms to a sketch then it is rubbed out. (Yes, I still dream of being able to draw.)

(P.S. These screen shots cost me fifteen kisses. RD initially asked for ten but when I asked for a third screenshot, he demanded the extra five.)

Letting Go

We let RD go off and watch a movie with his friends today. It was the birthday of one of his classmates and he was invited to join the celebration. Even if it was a school night, we allowed him to party. They were scheduled to have pizza at 4:45pm then catch the movie at 6pm. Pick up was set for 8pm.

Our little baby is a big boy already.

Loving UP

No, I am not talking about UP my Alma Mater. I am talking about the latest Disney Pixar release UP.



RD, MyGirl and I watched it in 3D yesterday at Trinoma. We all LOVED it!!!

MyGirl was particularly excited about getting to see a movie in 3D.

She and RD were chatting away that I had to shush them before some other viewers complained.

I loved every minute at the theater and was glad that I had brought them to watch the movie. These are really rare treats for us.

I couldn't help think of RD, when the little boy Russel, after hours of helping the old man Carl Fredricksen, complained saying, "I'm tired. I don't want to walk anymore," then promptly plopped down and simply refused to move. So like my little boy.

Honestly, I found the movie so very funny and really heartwarming. I just love these kinds of movies, especially if they have happy endings.

Did you know that I cried in Monsters Inc. when Sulley opened the door after it had been repaired and Boo shouted, "Kitty!"? (Yes, I do take after my mother who cried when she watched Heidi.)

We were the last ones to leave the theater. I had to take a picture of the kids with their 3D glasses on before we returned the glasses. Here they are with the ending credits of UP.

This movie comes highly recommended. Hope you are able to catch it. (I'll watch with you if you like. Did you know that movies cost PHP300 now?)

We Need More Monkeys!

"We need more monkeys!"

"There are no more monkeys!"

Those lines are from Toy Story. Do you remember who said these lines?

Toy Story (1995) was the first movie GI watched in the movie house. Toy Story 2 (1999) was RD's. When we let MyGirl watch her first movie, it was Monsters Inc. (2001). She fell asleep.

I love the Pixar movies ... Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Wall-E , and most especially The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. Cars is one of my nephews all-time favorite movies.

We are looking forward to watching UP. It is scheduled to show in Manila on 19 August.