I am NOT a critic. I'm merely an observer. (Books, movies, plays, musicals etc.)

(A movie I have seen THREE times) Life doesn't always go according to plan. Pat Solitano has lost everything - his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and  reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them. (Premise and storyline)  Most of the time people say that the book is much, much better  than the movie, but for me, they both are great.  The premise, of course is the same, but the approach and the treatment

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball . Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an office worker who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela ( Mena Suvari ). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley , Chris Cooper , and Allison Janney  are also featured. The film has been described by academics as a satire of American middle class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction; analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, self-liberation, and redemption....  Wikipedia When searching for images to put in this blog, I realized that the movie that I saw for the first time on TV (when it was shown in 1999 I didn't want to see it...I just didn't want to...no need to explain why) was the sanitized

  "For you, a thousand times over." The KITE RUNNER, a best seller and an awarding winning movie, critically acclaimed at that, is a story of the beautiful, but scarred Afghanistan, a father, his two sons and the people around them.   It is also a story of people leaving Afghanistan, but keeping her and her memories in their hearts. The things happening all over the world makes one think that the whole of Afghanistan is a desolate and ugly country, but it is not so.  It is very beautiful and there are many talented people living in that country.  The movie LONE SURVIVOR also taught me a lot of things about the kindness of their people.  I hope one day she would regain her peace so that people, her children, won't be forced to leave her.   Everyone has a story and more often than not, each person we meet either have skeletons in their closets or have overcome a great hurdle in their lives.  Some have woken up from long nightmares, ready to fulfill their d

4/L DC1 SM Aura Premier McKinley Pkwy Taguig (02) 815 2872 sm-aura.com Peter Bradshaw, of  The Guardian , said it was " visually stunning and deeply disturbing " Jon Espino from TheYoungFolks.com praises the film, giving it 9 out of 10 stars and saying that it is "... easily one of the most visually haunting films of 2014 ." He says  Scarlett Johansson  gives a "powerful performance" but that "her entire performance would be diminished without the enthralling imagery to underscore it."  Daniel Rutledge's REVIEW UNDER THE SKIN(UTS) is a movie I appreciated after analyzing certain scenes and reading about the book.  There are things that were a bit confusing if one is not aware of Michel Faber's  novel .  I also read the spoilers  because I've seen the movie anyway .   I usually do not need to do that because I "get it" almost immediately, but this was different.  I missed a few scenes when I had to

Greenbelt 3 poster Dan:  That’s what I love about music.  All these banalities suddenly turn into beautiful pearls. Premise from imdb:  A chance encounter between a disgraced music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter new to Manhattan turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents. Written and Directed by John Carney Music by Gregg Alexander Stranger passing out tracts on subway:  I thought there was no hope.  I thought there were no answers, but then I found God.  He may not be on our time, but He’s always  on  time. BEGIN AGAIN is a very beautiful movie that almost leaves me speechless.   Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo have good on-screen chemistry and I believe that every actor that supported them in the movie was chosen well by Stephanie DeCourcey and Jeanne McCarthy .   Keira is perfect as Gretta and I could also say that Mark is perfect as Dan. Both the screenplay and execution by John Carney  are superb.  It is well-wr

premise and storyline:  A high school biology teacher looks to become a successful mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to prevent extra-curricular activities from being axed at his cash-strapped school. tagline:  No one will fight for his students like Mr. Voss. "Don't lose that grip!" Wow.  I don't know if people would agree with me, most especially the critics, but this is a story of a beautiful friendship and the determination of a person who once had the  devil-may-care  way of living to fight for his students he did not even give a damn to.  The story and screenplay was written by the star of the film and Allan Loeb.  Thankfully, it was not that  predictable.  Still, it could've been better with different twists and turns, but for me it was still enjoyable.   Source Was this ever shown in the Philippines? Yes.  Last 8 January 2013, but I did not know about it.  All I knew was that our dear Charice is very much a pa

Source From ABS-CBN Just when we thought that the "KathNiel" love team was overrated, we were proven wrong.  Even if we  religiously  watched Got2Believe (plus Princess and I before that), we thought that everything was just hyped up that we did not have plans of watching this teen flick. "Thanks" to #glendaph(You rotten lady, why did you destroy the Bondoc Peninsula and other places!) and those power outages, we had no choice , but to watch this because we've already seen the other movies, and the other one  we haven't seen was going to be shown at a much later time. When we entered the cinema everyone was excited. Finally, when the movie started, everyone was focused, with occasional giggles that turned into laughter. Kathryn, Daniel and ALL their co-stars were very effective.  True, I couldn't imagine Kathryn morphing into Dawn Z when she gets older, but somehow it didn't matter.   I have seen Daniel Padilla in person, and he i