Zatoichi

Rating: 2 out of 5
Directed by Takeshi Kaneshiro
Starring Beat Takeshi, Tadanobu Asano, Michiyo Ookusu, Gadarukanaru Taka, Daigorô Tachibana, Yuuko Daike
Viewed on VCD

A blind masseur (Beat Takeshi)
goes into a quaint little Japanese town overrun by gangsters and ends
up hooking up with two geishas who are seeking revenge against the
killers of their parents. Little did everyone know the blind guy,
Zatoichi, was a skilled swordsman hunting the leader of the gang
running the show. Then everything gets really bloody.

Said to be the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies, Zatoichi
has lots of sword fights and lots of blood and gore, which were the
staple feature of the aforementioned Tarantino films. There wasn’t much
in the plot that impressed me except for the twist near the end of the
film, which was, I think, un-twisted at the end of the film. Confused?
Then watch and see for yourself. But let me tell you that you have to
pay really close attention watching this film because there isn’t a
clear distinction between flashback scenes and the current ones.

I didn’t like it that much but I still enjoyed the opportunity of getting to watch another foreign language film.

Purpose

[from my offline journal]

"Everything’s new, everything’s
changed. I feel alive and I feel strange. Old me has gone, old things
have passed. Future ahead, first will be last."

These are some
of the lines from "Rush", one of the songs I wrote with my former band
mates. These words aptly describe the start of 2006 for me and how I
entered the New Year with renewed strength and reliance on the Lord.

The beginning of the year brought me a rediscovery of my purpose in
Him, a sense of alignment (realignment, is more like it) to what I have
found myself slowly veering away from in the last few months of 2005.

I am thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to find
myself–who I am in Him–again, as I felt I was about to get lost once
more. Thank You, God!

It really feels great–fulfilling–to know what one is supposed to do in
life, to know one’s purpose. Having purpose makes life meaningful.
Having purpose puts everything in perspective.

Mr. Smith (Hugo Weaving in The Matrix Revolutions) couldn’t have said it
better: "Without purpose, we would not exist. It is purpose that
created us. Purpose that connects us. Purpose that pulls us. That
guides us. That drives us. It is purpose that defines us. Purpose that
binds us."

Nothing beats living a purposes-driven life.

A Good Day to Die?

[I read this earlier today from Our Daily Bread devotional booklet. Just sharing]

Hopelessness and anger combined to bring death to a young man in my
neighborhood. Someone had beaten him up for something he said. To
retaliate, he came back with a gun. The police were called. When they
arrived he ran, shooting at them. To protect everyone, they shot him.
He lost his life at age 21. later it was reported that he had told a
family member that morning: "Today would be a good day to die." I
wonder what brought him to such despair.

There was a day when the prophet Elijah felt hopeless and wanted to
die. He had just experienced a great victory over the prophets of Baal,
but now his life was being threatened by the king’s wife Jezebel. In
fear, he ran into the wilderness (1 Kings 19:4). There he "prayed that
he might die, and said, ‘It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life!"

We may think that Elijah was overreacting, but hopeless feelings are
real. He wisely went to the right source for help–he cried out to God.
The Lord knew Elijah needed restoration, so He provided for his needs
(vv. 5-7). He revealed Himself to him (vv. 9-13) and renewed Elijah’s
sense of purpose by giving him work to do (vv. 15-17). God brought him
hope by reminding him that he was not alone. (v. 18).

Look to God. He is your source of home. – Anne Cetas

* * * * *

Lord, give us grace to trust You when
Life’s burdens seem too much to bear;
Dispel the darkness with new hope
And help us rise above despair. — Sper

* * * * *

No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.

Without a Paddle

There’s a new craze sweeping the entire Sun.Star Publishing Inc. these days–ping pong mania!

It started last year during the tri-media sports-fest thingy where our
table tennis players practiced on the building’s roof deck. The ping
pong table was laid out on what used to be our dining area for all to
see.

After the sports events the said table never left it’s place. So, people
from all the different departments started to play–with a few
universal paddles at first. I was one of those who (developed an interest and) got into the game. I actually enjoyed it.

As the months went by–heck! a year even passed–more and more
employees made this sport their pastime. People would play during their
lunch breaks and coffee breaks. Others would play before work.Others
would play after. Some would play during. (Yes, it was that contagious.)

In fact, the game has become so widely practiced in our company that
players and aspiring ping pong stars bought their own paddles–and, in
some cases, their own balls (ping pong balls, that is)–just to
thoroughly enjoy playing the sport. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the
really enthused ones decided to come up with a company-wide table
tennis tournament for all to join. Talk about unity in diversity!

So now, there is an ongoing tournament that any interested Sun.Star
employee can join. A tournament for a game that I was really starting
to get the hang of. I would have liked to join the said competition–I
do fall under the amateur’s category–or to even just play the game for
fun again. But sadly I just don’t have the (ping pong) balls for it and, since I didn’t buy one,
I’m also left without a paddle.

Amelie

Rating: 5 out of 5
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring Audrey Tautou, Matthew Kassovitz, Serge Merlin, Rufus, Jamel Debbouze, Dominique Pinon, Urbain Cancelier
Viewed on DVD

I
got the DVD as a "surprise" New Year’s gift from Jucy and was all giddy
and glad to finally be able to watch it. When I finally saw it, I
thought it was probably the most "me" film I’ve seen.

"Amelie" is about a girl (Audrey Tautou) who’s got her head in the clouds, though I’m not exactly sure if her feet were on the ground. =o)

The
film is highly entertaining, very romantic and magical. It explores the
thoughts and imaginations of a girl who sees life a little differently
than everyone else–hmmmm, sounds familiar! ;o) The main character,
Amelie Poulain, is a self-appointed do-gooder who fixes other people’s
lives, which started when she discovers a box hidden behind a secret
wall in her bathroom. Along the way she meets Nino Quincampoix (Matthew Kassovitz),
who’s somewhat a kindred spirit, and it ignites Amelie’s curiosity and
romantic adventurism. If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s coming
up with intricate ways of helping people, which usually leave them
mystified.

Audrey Tautou’s performance is charming, captivating
and simply enchanting. She exudes the "innocence" of the character and
makes Amelie’s vulnerabilities believable. Her chemistry with Matthew
Kassovitz is very visceral, almost tangible. They make a very
saccharine sweet on-screen couple–probably the cutest I’ve seen in a
while.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet does a wonderful job directing
the film, as I found it seamless and coherent. There’s also a lot of
beautiful shots of Paris in this film and lots of pretty colors. And
some adorable performances from Jamel Debbouze, Dominique Pinon and Urbain Cancelier

It’s a very enjoyable film, it’s funny and it leaves you feeling good at the end.

Finding Neverland

Rating: 5 out of 5
Directed by Marc Forster
Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Radha Mitchell, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Freddie Highmore, Kelly Macdonald
Viewed on DVD

A sincere and touching film about Scottish author J.M Barrie (Johnny Depp) and how he found his inspiration to write Peter Pan in a family of four boys and an ailing mother (beautifully played by Kate Winslet).

The
film explores the paternal aspect of Barrie’s relationship with the
Davies boys, filling a void that has been vacated when the boys’ father
passed away. It is moving to see the rapport of "Uncle Jim" and the
boys bloom and develop into something deeper than friendship. But the
bond between Barrie and Sylvia Davies (Winslet)–unspoken and
unrealized as it was–is just plain woeful.

A very wonderful addition to my film collection.

In Tens: 2005 Blessings

2005 was great year full of trials and tribulations, triumphs and
victories. A lot of happy memories and joy-filled moments, balanced
with sort-of-sad events and trying times. Like a patchwork quilt full
of pieces of cloth with different colors, patterns and textures, last
year was laden with blessings of very different sorts. Here are 10 of them…

1] Got paid handsomely for an article I wrote for a Japanese magazine.
Although the work I did was submitted in November of 2004, I got paid
in February 2005. It was delayed but it was worth the wait. One article worth more than a month’s pay. Sweet!

2] Became a member of my congregation’s worship team.
I’ve been a member of the choir for two years but becoming a part of
the Maranatha Christian Fellowship praise and worship team was really
something else for me. It was like getting back in the saddle again (I
had been in a worship team before in the previous church I attended).
It was great to use my God-given singing voice in this part of the
music ministry.

3] Became an uncle for the second time.
Baby boy Ravi Kahlil was born on June 12–Independence Day!–to my
brother and his wife. And if anything, babies are a big blessing from
the Lord. Our household has become more lively, more tightly knit
because of "Bibo". The kid makes me feel light and happy every time I
see him.

4] Was named model employee for three consecutive quarters.
Some of the good things in my life come to me unexpected. This is one
of them. I have to give back the glory to God for this because I feel
(sometimes) that I don’t deserve it. The recognition is nice. The gift
cheque is even better. Hehehe.

5] Got to see a lot of wonderful movies.
Maybe some people can’t relate to this, but for a film buff such as
myself, good movies are a blessing! From "Million Dollar Baby" to "King
Kong", 2005 was a great year for film-goers. I listed my top 10 films
for 2005 here.

6] Was able to meet the girl I’ve been daydreaming (and "night dreaming") about.
Like in my recent film reviews, there will be no spoilers here, but I
will say that this is definitely one of the highlight of last year.
It’s akin to almost touching the moon. It was really amazing!

7] Survived one tough season with the choir. The
Easter cantata usually has a shorter practice time (January to
February) but lesser performance schedules. The Christmas cantata has a
much
longer practice time (June to November) but has a killer performance
schedule, with a week sometimes having three or four schedules.
Christmas 2005 was the most challenging–in terms of preparation,
presentation, and scheduling (three venues in one day). But by God’s
grace we all survived it and I believe it made the choir stronger and
the members more united. That season showed me how much more dependent I need to be on God.

8] Was given an award for my work at the end of the year. It’s
called the President’s Cup Award and it is given to employees who
render exemplary and meritorious service (or something like that. I
forgot the exact words). Again, another thing I didn’t expect, but
thank You Lord. The award was given during the company Christmas party,
which I wasn’t able to attend. The trophy looked exquisite. The
five-figure
check…priceless!

9] Seeing my family well and blessed. Nothing can beat that!
One of the things that I constantly pray for is good health and
abundant blessings for my family. And all throughout 2005 God’s been
faithful and He has blessed us with normal functioning bodies, a roof
over our heads, love in our home and joy in our hearts.

10] Persevered in my workplace. My
department is probably one of the most controversial in our company (I
could be wrong). I’ve been with Sunnex for 19 months now and it’s been
one heck a roller-coaster ride. There have been problems, conflicts,
skirmishes, misunderstandings and whatnots. But after going through a
team building seminar (and some consistent [?] praying) things started
turning around. Every one made an effort to make the office environment
more hospitable instead of hostile, caring instead of scathing,
cooperative instead of each-man-for-himself-esque. It’s all by God’s
grace. No man could have done it. Not even Jai Rabin.

There were more blessing in 2005 but the list would be too long. In all
this, I give thanks to my Lord Jesus for being so faithful in keeping
His promises and for being the Blesser that He is.

Looking forward to a wonderful year of more blessings in 2006.

Underworld: Evolution

Rating: 4 out of 5
Directed by Len Wiseman
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Scott
Speedman, Bill Nighy, Derek Jacobi, Tony Curran, Shane Brolly,Steven
Mackintosh, Scott McElroy, Zita Gorog, Michael Sheen
Viewed on the big screen

The ongoing secret war between vampires and lycans (werewolves) escalates to the next level in Underworld: Evolution, and as its title implies, everything here evolves.

Picking up where the original film left off, Evolution follows Selene (Kate Beckinsale), the vampire Death Dealer, and Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman),
the werewolf-vampire hybrid, on their journey to uncover secrets of the
two conflicting bloodlines that initially stemmed from one Alexander
Corvinus. The story also focuses on the remaining vampire elder, Marcus
(impeccably portrayed by Tony Curran), who, after getting one
heck of a rude awakening from his centuries long hibernation, goes on a
rampage in search of his twin brother William, the first and the
baddest of the lycans.

The film is very interesting, specially
for those who are familiar with the original, as it ties up certain
plot details and deepens the story by making each character more
connected and lives more intertwined. Major revelations here will help
make sense of some plot points in the first film–really, really smart
writing. There’s also more action–the Underworld kind of action–and
special effects dispersed all throughout this movie, which have become
the trademark of this franchise.

Good casting always gives any film a boost and on this one the inspired selection of Derek Jacobi
(in an integral role that I won’t reveal–no spoilers here) and Tony
Curran have definitely added credibility to a saga already made
formidable with such great performances from Bill Nighy (Viktor), Shane Brolly (Kraven) and Michael Sheen
(Lucian). And the chemistry levels between Kate Beckinsale and Scott
Speedman are off the charts as they finally become a couple here–in
love and war–making this chapter even more emotional and romantic
(even if only for a bit).

This is another one of those great
sequels that is able to build on an already excellent story and take it
to the next level, and still be promising enough to indicate a further
evolution. After all, the war between the vampires and the lycans isn’t
over yet.

French Kiss

Rating: 5 out of 5
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Starring Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Timothy Hutton
Viewed (again) on DVD

I’ve always thought of French Kiss" as the quintessential Meg Ryan
movie and one of the best romantic-comedies ever. I guess it was
watching it the first time during the height of my romantic awakening
that amplified my love for this film. Or perhaps my admiration for Meg
at the time. Well, whatever it was, I sure found this film very
enjoyable and it’s still one of my favorite movies to date.

The story finds Kate (Ryan), who hates to fly, going to Paris on a plane to get her fiance (Timothy Hutton) back from the arms of a French "goddess". She meets Luc Teyssier (Kevin Kline), a French con man, who helps her get her fiance back, but not without having a secret agenda of his own.

What
endeared me to this film, aside from Meg’s physical comedy, was how the
character Kate was transformed into a secure and in-control woman
toward the end of the film. I also found Kevin’s Luc Teyssier quite a
charming character and had a great time watching the sparks fly between
him and Kate.

I would recommend this film to the romantic types out there! ;o)

The Forgotten

Rating: 3 out of 5
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Starring Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Anthony Edwards, Linus Roache, Christopher Kovaleski
Viewed on DVD

A
mother’s son dies in a plane crash and a year after, she still hangs on
to memories of him. She sees a shrink to help her cope but one day
she’s told that her son was just a figment of her
imagination–something her husband and everyone else around apparently
agree on. This seems too ridiculous to be true for Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) who, believing that her son is real,  tries to get to the bottom of it all.

The Forgotten
had a really interesting premise and a very exciting beginning and
middle part, made more intense by Julianne Moore’s performance.
However, when the plot reached it’s climax and things got revealed, I
felt like I wasted my time making the journey with Telly for some
confusing ending that left more questions than answers. Still, the film
was suspenseful and provided me some mental exercise. ;o]