Never Let Me Go

Finally finished reading "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's one of those books I've never quite got to the end on the first read, languishing on the bookshelf for years after. Miraculously it hasn't made its way to the heap I donated to the library.

"Never Let Me Go" is undoubtedly the most disconcerting book I have ever read. I can't remember when a book has moved me so and made my heart bleed. I know it will haunt me for a long time to come.

The story seems innocent enough at the beginning with the children growing up at Hailsham, a school set in the English country side. With the classes, art and guardians it gives you an impression the children are indeed "special" and privileged to be studying there.

Ishiguro takes us through their childhood with the characters wondering about their future and as you get to the end the muted hints dropped here and there hit you full force. Their future has been destined, they'd grow up to be carers, donors and complete.

Most disquieting of all is you are as "sheltered" from the truth as the characters. Through sheer brillance, Ishiguro has made each of them endearing in their own ways. When the reality of why or what they are here for dawns on you (and them), you want to cry out for them. It has been made into a motion picture with Kiera Knightley, just watching the trailer makes my heart break.

It is a morality tale and Ishiguro has written it so hauntingly beautiful you never, never want to let the characters go the way they are meant to. One line will always stay with me. "We always wonder if you have souls at all," says a guardian and that's alluded to the special children at Hailsham.

Anthony Hopkins - Painter

I get updates on news topics via email and one of the headlines on Reuters today is Sir Anthony Hopkins having an art exhibition. A friend asks me if it is the self same actor. After doing some reading and digging on the Internet. Yes it is.

Above is a work by Sir Anthony, acrylic on canvas. I read he uses a palette knife instead of brushes to paint. Aside from the bold colors, the focal point of his abstracts are the eyes on the faces or masks. He believes the eyes are the life of a person. It shows. Some of his work are being auctioned at http://www.artnet.com/.

Sir Anthony is one of the few actors who has a definitive factor in my choice of movies. If he is in it, even a small role, I am watching it. He can steal any scene just by his presence. Coupled with his accent, he is Welsh, he is simply mesmerizing on screen and off. An actor of his caliber is rare and his creative pursuit as a painter at age 72 proves that creativity is a life long endeavor. It is a great stimulus for people with dreams to not procrastinate. Just do it. Bravo.

(photo: www.artnet.com)

Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe

The Last Samurai was on last weekend. I timed the chores beforehand so I could watch it (the fourth time) with the least amount of interference, well except for the commercials. It was no doubt very Hollywood, an epic tailored for Tom Cruise, by Tom Cruise but I thought it was a darn good movie. The first time I watched it was because Tom Cruise starred in it. After that, it's all Ken Watanabe. Without him, the movie would have lost most of its appeal.

Watanabe had this presence about him on screen that managed to eclipse everyone else. His piercing gaze spoke volumes of whatever emotion he was trying to convey, sadness, pain, pride. He was very convincing playing a samurai lord, with his height, 6'2" and biography of playing samurai on the small screen. I also read up on bushido afterwards to see if the movie did justice to it. Well, what was repeated again and again was that samurais followed a strict code of honor, were highly disciplined and literate and would rather commit seppuku rather than losing honor or being shamed. Lord Kasamoto was all that.

Critics wrote the movie glazed over the true history of the Meiji Restoration and glamorized the order of samurai, but I think it was less a historic rendition and more of a fiction focused on values, honor, truth, bravery and camaraderie. Kasamoto fought to the end and died with honor. The last shot of Watanabe before dying was the cherry blossom petals flowing in the wind, "perfect", his last word. This is what I think of Watanabe's portrayal of Kasamoto, perfect.

Australia

Hugh Jackman was not a familiar name in my peripheral knowledge of Hollywood stars till I watched the Oscars presentation. He was the host of that night. There were a lot of criticisms about the Academy shouldn't be spending an absurd amount of money on the presentation, in accordance with the economic times.

The decoration was subdued compared to the past Oscars. Against the backdrop of this blandness though was true talent. Hugh Jackman cracked a couple of jokes setting the mood of the night. He quipped about the past roles he'd played in, and he said the most challenging one was him, an Australian, playing an Australian, in a film called Australia. Then he sang, in a Broadway style for 5 minutes. I was awed. Boy could he sing!!

Australia was a movie about the lost generation of aboriginal children in Australia. These were children born of white fathers and aboriginal mothers. These "creamy" kids would be taken away from the aboriginal mothers and kept in schools run by churches, aiming to assimilate them into the white people and cutting their roots as half aboriginals.

Nicole Kidman, always elegant, played Lady Ashley. She came to "down under" from England to find Lord Ashley, who had invested in a cattle ranch, dead. Hugh Jackman was the cowboy sent to meet her and take her to the cattle ranch. It was hilarious when poised gal met tough guy and Nullah, the creamy child.

The film was funny, wistful, romantic and epic in scale and it attempted to tell the story of the lost generation against the backdrop of a love story and a war. In the end, I think the movie accomplished what it set out to do, to bridge the wrongs done to the aboriginals. In 2008, the Australian government apologized for what she has done to the lost generation.

It's a beautiful movie.

(Photo: http://movies.about.com/od/australia/ig/Australia-Photos/australiapic2.htm)

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

I have always wanted to watch The Kite Runner. I read the book last year. It was not easy reading because it raised a lot of questions about morality.

The Kite Runner was about the friendship of two Afgan boys, Hassan and Amir. Hassan was a hazera, meaning flat-nosed, an inferior tribe. Hassan's father had been working for Amir's father for over forty years. Amir and Hassan were inseparable. Hassan was illiterate, so Amir always read to him and told him stories that he had made up.

Every year, there would be a kite flying tournament, and the last remaining kite in the air would be the winner. Hassan would always run for Amir's kites. He never disappointed Amir for he always knew where the kite would land. That year, Amir won and as usual Hassan ran after the kite that Amir had cut off as the trophy.

A couple of bullies were teasing Amir why he would hang out with a hazera. Hassan had always protected Amir when they were bullied. This time, the bullies cornered Hassan demanding the kite. Hassan refused to give them the kite because Amir had won it and out of his undying loyalty to Amir, he was raped by the bullies.

Amir hid behind the wall, saw everything, but he did not help or asked for help. One day, Hassan and his father Ali left. Then came the Russian invasion and both Amir and his father had to flee. Amir's father entrusted his house to his good friend, who incidentally encouraged Amir to write.

After they arrived in the U.S. Amir married and became a writer. One day, he received a call from his father's good friend and told him that "there is a way to be good again." Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban, leaving their son, Sohrab, in an orphanage in Kabul.

The secret and fact was Hassan and Amir were half brothers. Amir went back to Kabul to find his nephew. Hassan had learned to read and write. Not only did he not blame Amir, he wanted to be a good writer so he could write Amir a letter some day. The letter had all the blessings for Amir and a photograph of Hassan and his son.

Amir finally brought Sohrab back to the States and the final scene was Amir teaching Sohrab to fly a kite. After cutting the last kite, Amir ran after it, telling the reclusive and abused Sohrab that "for you, I'd run a thousand times", echoing what Hassan said to him all those years ago.

The film touched me the most when Amir read the labored letter of Hassan. Hassan felt he was not "good" enough compared to the literate Amir. In fact, it was Amir who was not "good" enough for Hassan, betraying their friendship. This is the irony of it all.

In the end, although the Amir could not undo the past, he could move on with lesser guilt. Through Hassan, he had journeyed through love, friendship, redemption, forgiveness and ultimately "be good again".

The movie is a very good rendition of the book.

The Reader

The Reader

The Reader was set in Germany, when Kate Winslet, in her thirties, had an affair with a fifteen year old David Kross. The affair lasted a summer and Kate disappeared, carrying her secret. David went on to become a law student and after all these years, he finally met Kate again, albeit on trial for war crimes as a former SS guard.

As the story unfold, Kate's secret began to unravel. It began with David remembering how Kate always loved being read to every time they meet. Her disappearance, her refusal to submit a handwriting proof all boiled down to her pride and shame to cover the fact that she was illiterate. Kate was sentenced to life in prison.

As David journeyed to Auschwitz to witness the horror of the camps, you could vividly sense his turmoil on the train back. How could a woman he loved be a part of this inhumanity, but did it mean he should do nothing and see her punished, just because she wanted to hide her shame?

This was the point when both characters amended the past. David had never forgotten his love for Kate, but his conscience could not forgive her. So David became the reader again. He read to her on tape, book after book.

After twenty years in prison, Kate eventually learned to read and write. I teared up when David received a one sentence letter from Kate telling him about the book, "The lady and the little dog".

The ending was how Kate and David finally chose to face their own worst demon, guilt. The span of over twenty years finally allowed them to forgive each other, forgive themselves and gave a closure to their love affair.

I loved the movie.

Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett


Josh Hartnett in Armani Beauty's Perfume Ad

I just finished watching Black Hawk Down on tv. I was never into war movies because of the gore. The tv station kept advertising the film on prime time and a familiar face came up in one of the war scenes.

I knew he acted in Pearl Harbor, but his name kept eluding me. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I just could not recall it. I just remembered that I liked his character more than Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor. Out of the blue, while watching some commercial after dinner, his name popped up, Josh Hartnett.

I looked up his biography. Aside from acting, he is also featured in ads. His most recent one being the first male spokesperson for Armani Beauty. It's a perfume by Emporio Armani, "Diamond". Well, he was voted the sexiest male for many years, so it's not a surprising choice.

I have only seen 2 of his films, Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down, but I really like his portrayals. What strikes me though, is the similarity in roles he's been casted. You can switch his character in both films and you will see the same guy. He will be the more sentimental, idealistic and intellectual guy, basically the good guy.

As an actor, being stereotyped is supposed to be a bad thing because the roles lack versatility, but Josh Hartnett is such a believable good guy. I guess it's the earnestness in his eyes, but I like him being the good guy and he is a very good looking one I might add.

(Photos : www.flickr.com & www.finchsaquarterly.com)

The Women

(Photo : www. AllMoviePhoto.com)

The Women, starring Meg Ryan and Annette Benning....

It 's been a while since I have watched a movie with Meg Ryan, a favorite actress of mine, on the big screen. I remember her fondly in the roles of "When Harry Met Sally", "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle". I also like Annette Benning a lot, coz she is so beautiful and elegant. When the DVD came out, I rented it.

The storyline is nothing new. One of the girlfriend's husband has an affair and the movie revolves around on how she deals with the betrayal, with the rally of her best friends around her. I guess the best part of the movie is the emphasis on the bonding between 2 best friends, and how, losing the best friend hurts more than finding out about a cheating husband, because your friend is someone you trust that you could fall back on when things go wrong. Since it is a comedy, it has a happy ending.

The funniest part is that there are no male leads, not even the husband who cheated in question. The most you get that he existed is from the phone calls he supposedly made to his wife. This is an all female cast, with Candice Bergen and Bette Midler, too. I don't think I gave too much away with this post, but girls, you should rent it. It would boost up your girl power!!

Sex and the City - A Guy's Viewpoint

Confession : I saw SATC twice. The first time was with a gal pal who had never followed the series and was wondering what the hype was about. The second time was four gals who had followed the series in various degrees. We were all very excited the movie was on and disappointed about how hard it was to get tickets. One thing for sure is, we never thought of going to watch it with our male friends.

So, I was pretty surprised one day, when I received a call from a male friend asking me if I had seen the movie, and would I go to see it again. I told him I had already seen it twice. Then he said "Great! We can talk about the movie then". He proceeded to tell me the bits and parts that moved him and that he was actually a little teary. My mind went blank.

I was totally caught off guard and I cut him off in the middle of a sentence and said, "it's a chick flick". It's like I could not comprehend why a straight guy would go and see SATC and discuss it with me, let alone be moved! After rudely interupting him, his comeback line was, "I do have a feminine side, you know".

Ok....

I thought it's an isolated incident of a guy into SATC....

Am I wrong! I just heard from a gal pal that a male friend of hers had followed the series all the way through, and told her how real the story was. He could totally relate to the on going struggle between Big and Carrie. He said the characters were not fictional. It's a portrait of everyday women.

Ok....

I wonder how many guys out there would vouch that they like SATC. Guys who won't be embarassed to admit they saw the movie and wont' say "it's a chick flick" in your face. Instead of blaming the male friends who wouldn't go with us to see the movie, I guess I should reflect on my narrow-mindedness of categorizing SATC is a chick flick and Indiana Jones is a male flick...

Sex and the City

I finally got seats to see Sex and the City last weekend. It was up for a week and the tickets were still hard to come by. As the four girls strutted down Manhattan and the famous SATC theme came on, I was silly with excitement. As Carrie so aptly put, "Girls come to New York to look for labels and love." The movie is certainly not short of labels, but there is plenty of love, too.

It was a reunion, not only for the lead characters, it was a reunion for the fans, too. Critics say the actresses look old. Yes, they have all aged. Well, so have we. The story line is more mature and goes more in depth about love, romantic love and love between friends.

When the credits roll, I wish the gals, Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and of course Samantha the best. It's a lovely 2 hours of laughter, tears, girl power, nostalgia and deja-vu. Walking out of the cinema, the question that Carrie wonders lingers in my mind. Does true love exists? I will myself to believe so....Afterall, Carrie has Big.

In case you missed it on 60 Minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks about women over 40:
60 Minutes Correspondent Andy Rooney (CBS)

As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all.
Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think.

If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.

Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.

Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart.

Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Yes, we praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal.

For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, hot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress.

Ladies, I apologize.For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?', here's an update for you.

Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

Hooray to girl power!!