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I know very well that Potterheads around the world have neglected everything just to read the last installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Thus, this topic is old. But I just watched the recent film last Saturday with my family (my first time to treat them).
I nearly decided not to watch it because of the negative pulse it generated. Maybe there was good reason to it. Paolo Coelho never sold the movie rights to his book (except The Alchemist) because he believes that a book is a film that takes place in the mind of the readers. The reader is the director and does all the casting, so when one goes to the movies, one would say, "Oh, the book was better." I think that was the bottomline with all the rants I've read over the past couple of days. The book will always be better.
Judging the film however on its own merits, it is actually tight.
For me, the movie was a manifestation of the mental movie I made when I read the book. So in that respect, the film is already good for me. Because the story has progressed, as well as the roles of the characters, I believe the film is not the worst. Even Rotten Tomatoes (and for those who don't know, they are very harsh with reviews) gave the film a 77% approval rating.
For sudden shifts in editing, I give props to the director for risking. People have come to expect a style in sequence transitions, leaning towards a smooth flow. With the uproar it caused, I was happy because something different was tried. Chalk it up to David Yates' artistic license. Remember, it is the distortion or complete ignorance of fact in the name of art. It's neither right or wrong. Its intention is just to stimulate the human senses.
There were no no reactions. Mission accomplished.
July 22, 2007 | 8:57am | Log 168 |
J. K. Rowling has been to the Philippines.
I swear she has! Or she must have been reading newspapers (not the Manila Bulletin of course).
Having made it to Harry Potter folklore, our 'president' will fulfill her wish to have a lasting legacy upon leaving office (along with Hello Garci and Hello Bedol).
That is if she leaves office.
In a couple of weeks, I'm expecting a proclamation banning bloggers from writing stuff like these. The word stuff will be carefully analyzed by Raul "She Was Asking for It" Gonzales.
You want magic? That's hocus-pocus for you.
(While watching the movie, I was noting out loud how Dolores Umbridge could serve as our president without us noticing, when my mother told me to hush. I remember Jonas Burgos was abducted in a mall.)
July 22, 2007 | 9:38am | Log 169 |
Nowadays, I read newspapers as though they are videogames. It feeds the escapist in me.
I guess that's what happens when videogames become work.
With the technology now, it's a good time to be a gamer.
But, uhm, I can't have videogames as work and hobby at the same time.
Otherwise, I'd have to give my life to somebody else.
Thanks to my job's information overload, I'm keeping myself away from videogames during my free time.
Reverse psychology at its best.
(Although if I can
buy my own PlayStation 3, I think I will have a change of heart. Hehe.)
July 23, 2007 | 11:26am | Log 170 |
You've heard the quote about early birds and early worms.
What you may not know is that birds really roll out very early in the morning. It's their playtime. Early morning and late afternoon (between 4 - 5:30, both am and pm).
These birds, usually mayas, greet me every morning before work.
Late afternoon yesterday, when I visited UP, I saw my favorite, the fabulous brown shrike.
Brown Shrike
Lanius cristatus
credit: Mike Danzenbaker
An Inquirer article pegged UP as a bird sanctuary.
I couldn't argue any better. When I was in the midst of a volcanic thesis period, I chanced upon a flock of white, majestic, migratory snowy egrets frolicking at the wide patch of grass at Grepa Walk (Ylanan Road going to Central).
It's one of those instances when you can see God.
Not quite. This picture was not taken from UP's Grepa Walk, although this was how I saw them.
Snowy Egret
Egretta thula
credit: Birds in Suriname
July 25, 2007 | 9:39am | Log 171 |
I remember the last day of my ignorance. It was in Grade 3.
I came in early to school when a classmate approached me...
"Bam, english-in mo yung tinawag ako ni Jack."
"Jack called me?"
"Ulit-ulitin mo."
"Jack called me. Jack called me. O? Anong meron sa Jack called me?"
credit: Google Images
Crazy thing was after my classmates spent all their available energy laughing at me, they told me the wordplay meant sex.
Kids. Grade 3 kids.
If anything at all, if that meant sex, that's one lonely person.
July 26, 2007 | 9:45am | Log 172 |
I had just finished reading The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. It was without a doubt as the author described it: a fable about chasing your dream.
The book was at the back of my mind while I was commuting on my way home some days ago.
Traffic was awful at Commonwealth last Monday. No thanks to the president evil's SONA.
In the midst of an escalating war among the commuters in the streets, with everyone scraping tooth and claw just to find a ride home, I was able to secure for myself an SM Fairview FX. (I'm a veteran at this so I always beat everyone).
I was crammed between three wide, heavyweight middle seatmates and the vehicle's right door. But I had no problem enduring such lack of space, not with my figure anyway. So I gutted it out.
Midway through the journey, vehicles only moved as though they were being forcefully dragged out of bed. I know I don't really want to be in this FX. But it's my only way out. So I had to stay.
I thought this must be how some people think about their jobs.
And suddenly I glanced right through the glass window. I found a bus that will take me straight to my home. No connecting trips needed. But we were in the middle of Commonwealth. Somehow the vehicles were moving. It was awkward if I went out of the FX. Besides I haven't paid yet. I couldn't reach my pockets seeing that I'm a pancake as of the moment.
But there was that bus beside me, just two lanes away from me. I can catch it if I manouver myself among the crawling vehicles. But I was having second thoughts about leaving the FX because if I fail I couldn't return to it.
I realized most people have these dilemmas in chasing their dreams.
I also thought that if I can't do it now, how can I risk in the future about bigger things, about chasing dreams?
So with all my might, I reached for my pockets, paid the driver, and said I'm leaving. I felt like the boy in the Alchemist selling his sheep to chase his treasure in the Pyramids.
But ironic as it is, upon deserting the FX, traffic flow improved and off went the FX and my dream bus in a blink of an eye. Too late.
I was stuck at Ever. I risked and lost.
I realized life itself is a risk. Everything is a risk.
I didn't know what to do. I wanted to sprint and catch the dream bus. But it will be futile. I waited, paitently. I was thinking of riding another FX. There were many of them.
And then suddenly from the smog-filled night horizon of Commonwealth, I spotted the same line of bus which travels straight to my home. My dream bus.
I remembered the book, how everyone is given beginner's luck in order for them to chase their Personal Legend. And then just as the dream is nearing, life will test you to the limit.
I learned that patience is really a virtue.
July 27, 2007 | 10:30am | Log 173 |
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