Carnaval

Segunda-feira, Fevereiro 27, 2006

I Think I’m Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

Now that I've seen Memoirs of a Geisha, the film I've been waiting for around two years, I therefore think it's a sin not to be writing even a simple review about it.

As I have mentioned earlier in my blog posts, which to me were clearly enthusiasm-filled bouts of desperate outbursts, I had doubts about a Malaysian, and two Chinese actresses playing Japanese roles. Having seen only the trailer then, I thought the film would turn out much nicer had the makers selected Japanese actors instead.

But now, I realized it didn't seem to matter because Zhang Ziyi (Nitta Sayuri), Gong Li (Hatsumomo), and Michelle Yeoh (Mameha) did incredibly well in the movie.

The film in its entirety was just superb. Like Arthur Golden's book, I was also captivated by everything in the movie. The colorful (also the dark and gray) scenes were powerfully dramatic. Add that to the smoothness and vibrance of the expensive kimono plus the dance of the geisha and maiko on stage and you are seduced all over, if not, lured to the aesthetic influences of the Japanese culture.

The makers did well on the cutting and editing despite the many parts in the movie being exaggerated a bit, and some scenes in the novel being changed. The film ran for almost three hours yet anybody who had read the book knew that still so much happened in between each scenes. But thanks to the help of the brief narrations of old Sayuri, it's nice that the synopsis of the original idea was well-maintained.

Going back to the main characters, Zhang Ziyi perfected the quiet and inquisitive aura of the Sayuri I read from the book. The Chiyo-eyes (possessing too much water, as if someone had poked a hole in them and drained all the ink out) looked great on her actually even if they looked fake in the posters. And no one can deny how gracefully she dances. We've seen her in Zhang Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers and her moves were simply impeccable. Gong Li (Farewell, My Concubine), who played Hatsumomo, was the most beautiful among the spiteful life forms that ever walked the earth. Drunken, stern, and bitchy, I loved how much I hated her in the movie -- this just showed how perfect she was for the role. Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), who played Mameha-san, looked at least more Japanese than any of the first two. Skilled and very sophisticated, she's has the most 'pa-virgin' look which totally singles her out of the geisha crowd. Haha. Her beauty is evident even without the necessity of makeup. I only wish Pumpkin's face had looked plumper in the movie, kaya nga Pumpkin e. But just the same, she also acted very well.

The scenes with Nobu-san and the Chairman elated me so much. I liked the part when Sayuri used Nobu's temper to prevent him from becoming her danna, or patron (a la sugar daddy -- joke!). But when she was supposed to expect Nobu that 9 o'clock, the Chairman showed up, courtesy of Pumpkin who all this time wished to take vengeance. Please excuse my memory lapse, if I remembered it right, the Chairman even had a myocardial infarction after that shocking incident.

Rob Marshall did a great job here. The movie is a typical love story, yes. But it has something more to it, like the necessity of arduous training in dance, playing the shamisen, the highest bidder, a mizuage just to become a full-fledged geisha. Sayuri has to go through all these just so she could bring herself closer to the Chairman. My two comments in the film is:

1) that I hope it used English subtitles instead because sometimes it's hard to make out the words of all the characters (except, well, Michelle Yeoh).

2) where's the tea ceremony?!

That aside, the movie was AWESOME! There, I said it again. Haaayyy... Inside the movie house, I even had to argue with a kid beside me who had just reached his puberty when he blatantly cried out, "...ang panget ng palabas! Ang boring!" The gall to blurt out something so horrible for the Geisha/Marshall fanatics to hear. Just when I realized my emotional momentum was ruined by this boy from the 9th circle of hell, I hushed him up. "Shhhh!!!" And then I snapped piercing words at him, something that made him numb during the movie and hopefully for the rest of his insipid life: "You have no idea what you’re talking about. You never read it. You never read the book."

Carnaval took a nap at 9:17:00 AM

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Sábado, Fevereiro 25, 2006

Memwars! Memwars!

As usual, nagbi-busy-busy-han sa school. So much happened these past few weeks, I'm hoping I could share some with you on my next post. Memoirs of a Geisha na at last! Sana mapapanood ko na sya this weekend.

Anyway, I got tagged by Ava.

4 jobs I had in my life

1.student
2.utusan nung capping, ehehe
3.counselor
4.prime minister

4 movies I could watch over and over again

1.hable con ella
2.beauty and the beast
3.girl with a pearl earring
4.wicker park (hahaha! Call me shallow but I really liked this movie)

4 places I've lived

1.Bagong Barangay Housing Project in Pandacan, Manila
2.Merville, Paranaque
3.Baguio City
4.Region 1

4 TV Shows/Channels I love to watch

1.Discovery Channel
2.HBO, Star Movies
3.That's So Raven
4.The Ellen Degeneres Show

4 places I've been on vacation

1.Baguio
2.Laguna (Dini! Dini!)
3.Vigan
4.Lucban, Quezon (for the Pahiyas festival)

4 of my favorite foods

1.Meiji black chocolate
2.pasta
3.fiesta ham
4.Garilao cake

4 places I'd rather be by now

1.Brasil, doing cartwheels
2.PGH Ward 7 (psych nurse, at hindi pasyente)
3.My room, sleeping
4.In front of the TV, watching some DI-BI-DI

4 bloggers I'm tagging

1.Cow
2.Augie
3.Jopwitee
4.Mumtin

Another crazy test I got from Bren. Could be true.

Trish --

[noun]:

A real life terminator

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Carnaval took a nap at 7:46:00 AM

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Sexta-feira, Fevereiro 10, 2006

Good News!

Been experimenting lately on Flickr features. At long last I've uploaded the pics from the Laguna outing last December (this one's for Ava). Chong, sorry if it took me three months to finally upload our beautiful pictures. Hehe.

Augie and I resolved to celebrate our birthdays together with the Salot family last Monday (February 6). My birthday's on 11th, Augie's on the 15th. We had dinner at CPK, Glorietta and I was very glad to see everybody including Vina (my ka-barkada's girlfriend). That night was actually the first time in so many months that we ever bonded together. And all of them looked fantastic, they're all thin, including Augie! That's a tough challenge for me, hahah, because I promised myself to lose a few pounds when my twentieth birthday comes simply because I certainly don't want to die of heart problems.

Truth is, I almost thought I wouldn't be enjoying the joint birthday celebration because earlier that day I still had to go to some hospital in Tayuman (there are only two hospitals around the area so go figure!) for some boring orientation. It was such a waste of time. My groupmates had to spend four hours sitting on a pew probably made of the hardest kind of wood known in the country. Hay, talk about ischemia (loss of blood supply) of the butt.

Tomorrow's my twentieth birthday. Bukas na! I suppose I won't be enjoying my special day too much because I have to review for a new topic in Med-Surg, and the political party I am in compels me to stay overnight after class for the training.

Have a greeeat weekend, people.

Carnaval took a nap at 2:58:00 PM

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Quarta-feira, Fevereiro 01, 2006

Close-up Fotos

Talk about laziness. I spent my entire afternoon yesterday taking photos of some very ordinary items found inside my house. My selected items were:

my sister's pastel colors,
my mother's supplement pills
pin cushions
the little bulol my eldest sister bought from Baguio
oranges
pineapples
and a tube-full of shuttlecocks.

They looked great in the photos with the red background (I love red!). At least I think they are. The yellow light provided effects, and it was good.

Certainly I don't have the money for formal photography lessons but a lot of books in National Bookstore and Powerbooks have helped. Nagfi-feeling photographer, ehehe. The camera I used is a 5.0 megapixel digital point-and-shoot Olympus Camedia C-500 ZOOM which I think has better features than our first camera. Sometimes I wish I had a DSLR, but that's too expensive, especially for a non-pro. Hay.

Ava, remember last year when you constantly bugged me to create a flickr account? Just so you know, this is only my first time to use my account.

Click on one of the thumbnails for bigger view and more photos.