Damned In Blue

Since 2009 or as far as I can remember, there are only four movies I've seen that truly moved me. To be clear, I've gone and seen lots of movies over the years, so it's not like I have a small pool of choices. However, my film standards have gotten much simpler. Back then, I look at organic unity, theme, plot, and other elements of a story and production that make up a great movie. Nowadays, as long as I don't fall asleep while watching it, it's already not a bad film. And there are lots of good films in the past 10 years: Most of Pixar's stuff is good to great. And the MCU films are a treat to watch. But again, only three films continue to haunt me after months and years of watching it. The first three were Mother! ,  Arrival , and Oldboy . It would take me an entire day to write about each film and how awe-inspiring they are in different ways. But that's not the purpose of this post. Rather, I'd want to discuss the fourth movie I've seen for the pa

  I swore off writing on this blog in 2009 when I transitioned to writing for a different one. The reason was simple: tabula rasa . I believed I turned into a different person back then, that I'm ready to make the change with new challenges looming over the horizon. I was ready to turn in a new leaf, to let bygones be bygones, and embrace the uncertainty that tomorrow brings with an open heart and mind. For years, this sentiment ring true. I did change. The part of me that was this blog for years was scrubbed off from my essence. It became a shell of what this blog represented. At least, I tried to. But let's face: the more things change, the more they stay the same. You can't teach old dogs new tricks. I could go on and on with these empty platitudes that govern our lives. Because that's all there ultimately is, this void that we're trying to fill to make ourselves feel alive.

I am a big fan of movies – the good kind, of course. I love movies that arouse feelings and emotions instead of logic to convey its story (Donnie Darko, 2001: A Space Odyssey), those with ordinary stories delivered in an extraordinary fashion (Good Will Hunting), or those that are simply indescribably good (Me And You And Everyone We Know). Okay, so I have an acquired taste. So rape me. So, why the hell do I find myself wearing a smile after watching The Game Plan on the first day of its release here in cinemas? For one, this cliché Hollywood movie is far removed from the films I usually watch. Everything in The Gameplan reeks of cutesy, family-oriented crap that Disney is known for. In fact, I compare this movie to Jersey Girl by Kevin Smith: both almost run with the same storyline, and both are sappy and saccharine in their delivery. However, although I didn’t like Jersey Girl (sorry sunrisehotgun – To redeem myself, Mallrats is a fucking classic), I found myself laughing at how Joe

I mentioned in my previous post how Guitar Hero isn’t really heroic at all. Although I won’t take away its fun gameplay that makes it so damn addictive, gamers are better off playing a real Gibson SG Les Paul or a Fender Stratocaster in a heartbeat. Not only will people get the joy of playing their favorites tunes, but they get a more rewarding experience of spending hours, days, and even months mastering a composition of complex proportions (Dragonforce, for instance). However, there are times when playing Guitar Hero is better than performing in front of a live audience. Believe me, performing on-stage feels like shit sometimes. I guess it comes to no surprise that I play the guitar. After all, bitching about Guitar Hero without being able to play the instrument would really be stupid on my part, don’t you think? arch enemy, guitar, guitar freaks, guitar hero, in flames, metal music, ps3, rock music, video game console, Video Games, wii, xbox 360For those interested, I play metal mu

You know what depresses me?  Guitar Hero . Sure, it may be fun to play and it sure boasts a  killer  soundtrack (”Raining Blood” by Slayer!? “Through The Fires And Flame” by Dragonforce!?! Kill me now!), but the fact that the game replaces the six-stringed instrument with five buttons on its neck and installs a switch near the bridge that goes up and down - assuming the movement of string picking - had me shaking my head in disbelief. Let me make things straight with fans of Guitar Hero and the Bemani series from Konami. As mentioned, I can imagine the game being fun to play because players are able to imitate music by different recording artists and make it their own (well, somewhat) by playing with it using the guitar tailor-made for the game. Plus, practicing for Guitar Hero is less rigorous compared to practicing with a guitar, which simply means that Guitar Hero won’t take much of your precious time burning a hole through walls using your staring powers and fleeting with your thou

The Darjeeling Limited was released on selected cinemas this past week in the US, and despite its lukewarm reception and box-office sales, even not having seen a trailer of the film or having heard Hotel Chevalier just a couple of days ago (more on this later), I can only assume that this film kicks ass. Not in a Tony Montano-kind of way, but the kind that would make Mahatma Gandhi wet himself. There, I said it. For those who’s still wondering why I, a lowly and fashionably-bored bloke that I am, would even prematurely surmise the excellence of this film, I have two words for you: Wes Anderson . If there’s anybody who could pull off films with so much conviction and passion despite its glaring awkwardness and banality, please let me know and send me a copy of their film (please, by all means necessary), because Anderson puts his cinematic knowledge into good use, utilizing the plethora of film methods to convey a sense of enlightenment to its characters that permeates to