Car Crash Movies

Yesterday I watched in DVD “Just Like Heaven” and “50 First Dates.” Both main characters were in a car accident before they met their “destined” partner. I guess for a love story to be worth making a film for, you have fill the story with every single scenario why the couple couldn’t be together – she’s in a coma, he’s alive; she has short-term memory, he wants to have a long term relationship with her… you get the picture.

In “Just Like Heaven” David (Mark Ruffalo) meets the nagging spirit of Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) who pops up everytime he makes a mess in her former apartment. The conflict was built nicely… he was dead inside because of the loss of his wife.. she, a spirit who doesn’t know if she’s dead or not, needs to learn to rely on another person other than herself to find out who she is. They bicker as they go along the mystery solving, which leads them to finally finding where Elizabeth’s body is… in life support inside a hospital. I foresaw what the cliché ending would be: David would have to kiss Elizabeth’s comatose body so come to life again. And so he did. What I didn’t foresee was that when Elizabeth’s spirit returns to her body, she wouldn’t remember David.

I found the movie mildly entertaining, and yes I rooted for David to save Elizabeth, but the middle part while they were bickering and supposedly falling in love… I didn’t “feel” that they falling. It’s just like “oh you nagging spirit, I’m gonna help you find your body to get rid of you but wait, on second thought, I kinda love you.”

I enjoyed 50 First Dates more (what do you expect if you put in Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore together). But Henry Roth (Sandler’s character) had to go through heartwrenching obstacles just to get Lucy Whitaker (Barrymore) meet him and know him again and again… because after Lucy sleeps, she wakes up not remembering anything that happened after October last year… the day she had the car accident. It was really persistent, devoted love on Henry’s part. Though there were corny sequences (Rob Schnieder suddenly appearing in Henry’s aquarium while he makes out with Lucy; Seals vomiting copiously) the love of Henry for Lucy made up for it. After watching the film you’d wish you’d find someone like Henry Roth who will never ever give up on you even if everyone else has given up on you. Imagine, the day before Lucy agrees to marry Henry and make love after more than 50 First Dates, the next morning she wakes up next to Henry – a stranger for her – and whacks him with a huge stick. It’s not easy to love someone like Lucy but Henry makes it look easy because he loves her everyday as if it’s the first day they met.

Goblet of Fire Movie Review

Take away the struggles of trying to learn new spells to get through the tournament, and the forboding sense that Voldemort is getting stronger and that a Death Eater is inside Hogwarts, and that Harry is once again shoved into a situation he didn't want to happen but now he has to slay dragons for it.. then you have the Goblet of Fire the movie which was all about the game of the Tri-wizard tournament. There was no emotional pull about the boy who lived and paying the consequence of living up to everybody's expectations, no gripping conflict that Harry's arch nemesis is about to do him in, though the drama at the end with Harry crying over Cedric's body was palpable, his duel with Voldemort was downplayed and Dumbledore's watchful and compassionate nature wasnt shown.

I'm not satisfied, but if its an okay movie.

I like Blogger more

I like Blogger more than Livejournal. First I don't need photo hosting to put cute pictures like this
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I have a lot of papers I fail to throw out. I've been with more than 5 companies and my room still has files and folders from all of them. I should throw them out someday. I can't be stuck with ghosts of past works.

Oh, I like blogger more because I dont have to memorize all the useless HTML tags. Well my livejournal friend says it pays to know the tags, he may have a point, but when it comes to userfriendliness, blogger is still the best.

Just in case this entry gets searched through Blogger search, I'll put in the name of PinoyWriters and see if this comes up.

Compromises

I recently had chamomile tea with a couple of fellow writers who, like me, are working in a job away from writing. We agreed that the only time we got to write creatively anymore is through the blog. Otherwise, it is only memos, technical reports, mundance correspondences.

I have to make a buck (or in my case, a peso) and delegate my creative pursuits for saturday. But my saturdays are devoted to other things too like catching up with friends, going out with a loved one, getting repairs for car, and maybe grocery.

I miss my Monday rebellion. Impromptu bike rides. Lying on the grass, feeling the green paper thin blades springing against my skin. Wind in my hair. Cry of the wild. I miss being free.

SO what do I decide to do? My usual pattern is when i get bored, i resign or jump to another project/company. Astrology.com has warned me about this ... according to my free numerology profile:

"A deep inner restlessness and discontent with the status quo makes you seek out adventure, excitement, and the unconventional. You thrive on new ideas, change, travel, experimenting with new ways of doing things. Predictability and routine make you feel lifeless and unhappy so you must find a lifestyle that is varied enough to be mentally stimulating and challenging. Independent, freedom-loving, and easily bored, you have trouble making commitments and finishing projects. You often "move on" prematurely, whether in a personal relationship or in your work. You need to develop discipline and perseverance when you have an important goal.

You have many talents and need many outlets and avenues for their expression, but try to finish one thing before attempting the next."

I'll take the advice of finishing one thing before attempting the next. I have a lot of beginnings with no end, a lot of fan fiction stories I wrote that has yet to find an ending, a lot of books and files in my room I have yet to finish sorting, I always begin great ideas... I'm a "sparker," maybe I always expect someone to blow and spread my fire till it reaches the finishing line. Like that Mission Impossible TV series opening credits, there's a match, and a line thread that the flames eat out till it reaches the end.

I think blogger indeed is more user friendly than livejournal. Here is my blog at livejournal and see the difference in its format.

Why are Trees Taller than Me?

Miniscule. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many lives you had the unfortunate opportunity of ruining...you are nothing but an ant scurrying across the expanse of the universe.

The Creator made giants out of trees. Our pathetic skyscrapers are nothing in comparison to the magnificence of trees that will certainly outlast buildings, if we don't cut it, that is. I think the Supreme Being made trees taller than us humans for a good reason...so that we may look up, be in awe of its branches outstretched, like giant priestesses imploring to the skies to give them rain.

I'm not trying to make my race insignificant, i'm just trying to put things in perspective. I am but a speck in the horizon, and yet in some way I complete the tapestry of creation. The troubles that come in my life (though fortunately I can't think of one right now) are just tiny pinpricks in the design of the universe. If life was an embroidered mantle, it sure as hell will take time before I see it's meaning and pattern. Right now we might just feel the needles and threads piercing through, but it's just part of the process.

My blogging here has been woefuly few and far in between. I have three blogs now. One is the home to my written erotica and stories I'm too shy to admit I made, one is a treasure trove of my travels and travails, and this. Vanessarocks coz she does.

*Rock the boat, don't rock the boat honey*

see also www.livejournal.com/users/vanessa_writer