Hello! Daylight Saving Time tonight and we have an hour of extra sleep. Yay! Yes! Yes! hahaha.

Ehh… Wala ako masabi.

Ooh, I want to share Marit Larsen’s new single If A Song Could Get Me You from the album The Chase. I’m excited because I thoroughly enjoyed her first one, Under The Surface. Ms. Larsen used to be one half of Norwegian pop duo M2M and she started her solo career in 2005. I’m glad that she did because I love her pop/folk music, very refreshing and original. I also find it impressive that she plays an assortment of instruments (guitar, piano, etc) and she writes her own songs. There’s also a sense of honesty from her music, almost like you can see her personality through them. ML is also as cute as a button hehehe. Here she is singing unplugged at a public market.

So I wish you all good night and enjoy the rest of the weekend. I’m off to watch A Very Special Love hihihi. Nandun kasi si John Lloyd, I liked him very much in that movie with Bea…uhhh title…One More Chance, I think. Can I just say Filipino movies are so bad with titles. They’re always named after songs, which make them indistinct and corny (sorry but true hehehe).

Last Thursday we got the result of our second exam. I passed, but barely, and it’s silly but I became depressed for the rest of the day. I talked to a couple of people who would understand but I mostly kept quiet because I didn’t want to offend anybody who had it worse than me. So I sat out the 4-hour lecture, feeling more miserable after every hour, and after, I stayed with the others for a classmate’s baby shower. It was another hour or two of forcing myself to smile and talk at the right moments. I was drained so I bailed on my study partner and went home early and slept for most of the afternoon. So what’s the point of the story? Wala lang hehehe. Wala na akong tagapakinig ng mga detalye ng buhay ko kaya sub muna kayo hehehe.

The next day back to normal, almost, so I made my favorite Knorr Crab and Corn soup to console myself and watched Kiki’s Delivery Service. It’s a Studio Ghibli anime film, the same studio that produced Howl’s Moving Castle, which I’ve seen 5 times already and I’m still not tired of it. KDS is the first DVD in this new collection. A little about the story - it’s a sweet and simple, coming-of-age story of the young Kiki who left her home to find a life/career in a new city. Now for both films, I’m very impressed with the animation; it’s a major reason why I enjoy these films. And the soundtrack…how to describe…nostalgic.

Kiki’s Delivery Service
borrowed from Wikipedia.com

Howl’s Moving Castle
borrowed from imdb.com

borrowed from p-pcc.blogspot.com

Before the end of the day, I finished two papers, yay. Thursday sucked but Friday was very good, productive and relaxed.

I was looking for an old entry of what I said about a favorite movie, Batman Begins. I found it and all I said was, “and yeah batman begins enjoyed it very much”. Bwisit. Anyway, I recruited my younger brother to watch The Dark Knight with me tomorrow. It should be really good. What I loved about the first one was the dark atmosphere, right amount of special effects, detailed story and twists, good action and the scary villains. I say scary because they actually feel justified of what they plan to do, no remorse. I remember the old Batman movies and sometimes I would see them played in cable channels and…wala lang, pambata sila. And I almost forgot! I also love Batman Begins because of my favorite actor, papa Chris Bale. Love! hahaha. I’m definitely going to the movies tomorrow.

Edit: 7/22/08

Went and saw the The Dark Knight. And yea! It lived up to my expectations and more. I would watch it again just to pick up the details I missed - we were a minute or two late and about 2 hours into the movie my left contact lens fell off, imagine watching a movie with only one good eye. I should really go get my eyes checked and replace my lenses and get glasses. Anyway, let’s see if I can come up with things I like about the movie:

• the hero who isn’t always sure about his decisions but wants to do the right thing; I love the way Alfred knows and supports him
• the dual personality - the arrogant and rich playboy and the the brooding Batman
• there are special effects but it’s not overloaded with CGI. I loved the cinematography although I like the one from Begins better; it’s more visually dark.
• Heath Ledger’s Joker was disturbing. Another scary kind of villain - someone who has nothing to lose and just does what he does for the heck of it…psychopaths…
• Maggie’s Rachel seems more suited for the film. Katie Holmes was too cute. Maggie fit the more serious, more adult look and acting for the film.
• I love stories so I love the longer, more complicated stories for movies like TDK. I love atmospheres, too. The first two words that come to my mind if I were to describe this film would be: dark and serious. Some parts my heart was actually racing.

Overall, I’m very satisfied. There you go, my first attempt at a movie review. I’m planning to make a book review soon, maybe a short one. I’m almost finished with Winter Moon by Dean Koontz. And I’m going to start the book I borrowed from Mang GB The Fountainhead.

I watched Catch and Release last night and loved it, loved the atmosphere and the story. So I was surprised when I went to imdb.com and saw that most people didn’t like it. I’m into all sorts of movies but I have an appreciation for these types that are just about regular people going through life; in the case of this movie, people going through a pivotal time in their life. I can see how others would see Catch and Release as boring or slow, sort of sad. Anyway, I thought it was good…

Hmmm maybe I was just a little sad too…