Watching WORLD WAR Z for the second time

Dr. Andrew Fassbach: Mother Nature is a serial killer. She wants to get caught, she leaves bread crumbs, she leaves clues... Mother nature knows how to disguise her weakness as strength.-Max Brooks' World War Z


Sometimes it takes a second look for one to appreciate something better.  Last week, I watched this flick with my folks and when my niece, Sunshine, asked me how it was, my answer was, "Hi Sunshine...Ma says kiss Bree and hug Sonny for her. My opinion? If there's a sequel, I won't watch it, but in toto, it was good. Not great, but good. I like the fact that it's also a thinking movie. There's a lot of gore, but I must say that I admire Gerry's (Brad) love for his family...people still prayed...etc." 

Mom and I are farsighted so when the only seats available last Sunday were on the second row, so only dad was ecstatic.  It felt like we were watching the movie in 3D even if we were only watching it in 2D.  We were dizzy and most of the time we were closing our eyes.  There were lots of nail-biting scenes that made us cringe most of the time, but there a lot of endearing moments too.  It was very, very victorious, but I wouldn't want my future to be like that.

Yesterday, although I felt great serving God and had a wonderful time bonding with a "big sister" of mine, I was feeling somber that I felt I needed to watch FOUR SISTERS AND A WEDDING, a local flick that I've been waiting for since its first press release. 

At first I only asked my bestie how she was. We have not seen each other for ages so I was practically just curious.  When she replied, in a sorta kinda whim, I asked her if we could watch a movie. I sent her two queries. One via sms and another via a personal message on FB. 

My text message(via sms) indicated that I wanted to watch the Filipino flick, but the only message she was able to read was the one via FB.  I was able to open her reply late this morning.  She told me that she wanted to watch WORLD WAR Z. I was supposed to attend a Christening/Birthday party of a great niece(the grandchild of my first cousin), but since I woke up late, I was glad that she was available to watch a movie with me(if I woke up early, we would meet up after lunch).  

I wanted to tell her that I didn't want to watch it, but something inside me made me say, "We can watch two movies today..."

OK, enough of the side stories.  Finally, this afternoon after watching FOUR SISTERS AND A WEDDING(which was surprisingly heart wrenching and enjoyable almost simultaneously), I watched WORLD WAR Z again with my bestie. My other good friend who watched the first flick with us did not like to watch it again(she just had an expensive massage instead) so up until the movie started, I was wondering if I was doing the right thing.

A few minutes later, I knew I did the right thing. The seats I chose were great and I started watching almost with a clean slate. Hey, I don't care if it's the wrong idiom, but that's how it felt like when I was watching it.

There were things I thought that were icky before were funny this time...since mom and I were either closing our eyes or looking at the floor or ceiling, we missed a lot of things...they may be trivial because we still understood the movie as a whole, but there were certain scenes, dialogues and other stuff that were clearer.

Now, I understand why this traveling brother of mine gave it 5 stars.  This movie's merits does not rely on Brad Pitt alone.  The whole cast and crew, most especially its director, Marc Foster, deserve all the accolades.  Max Brooks is a genius and he sure gained a fan. I will definitely read his books from now on.

When I watched it for the first time I did not understand why parents brought their young kids(well, a lot of them watch THE WALKING DEAD anyways, but...), but seated where we were this afternoon, I realized that it wasn't as scary as I perceived it to be.  As long as the parents would really give them the proper guidance, young children can appreciate this...just don't sit on the front, OK? During the first time, the kid seated near us was really scared.  This time, as I observed the dads with little children, the kids were properly guided and they had fun watching it together.

Yes, it's a depressing film(survival of the fittest is still the name of the game...looting was one of the means of survival), but Gerry Lane's love for his family is really commendable.

There are many great lines and one of my favorites is the one above.

To end this, let me share to you another of those great quotes from Max Brooks that I got from the Internet, I must say, is this: Remember; no matter how desperate the situation seems, time spent thinking clearly is never time wasted. ― Max Brooks, The Zombie Survival Guide