Raving Reviews

Just recently I catched up on two things I love most: movies and books! It has been a while since I’ve seen a movie and read a good novel. I mostly delight myself and spend hours doing marathon on series like Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, American Idol and The OC. That’s why when I found time to buy some dvd’s (somewhere, don’t ask) and rummaged into a shelf full of books I haven’t read yet, I gave in and indulged. This would be the first of the many movies, series, books and the like I’ll be blogging about, up until my player give up on me, and until I completely inhaled those dust that inhabited the pages of my stocked or should I say stucked novels. First off, The Bucket List.

Well yeah, it maybe too late for me to make a review for this movie. But it’s one of those I’ve heard a lot of good things about. Ok, it was actually more like A Walk To Remember for me the first time I learned what the story is, having a list of things one would want to do or accomplish before he dies. But this one has an interestingly different take on a bit the same plot. It’s a story of two old men with nothing in common except their terminal illness. Sharing the same hospital room, they somewhat created a different kind of friendship and later made a pact to be able to complete their bucket list. The next thing they knew, they’re skydiving, race car driving, taking world trips to Johannesburg, climbing the pyramids of Egypt and going on lion safari in Africa.

I loved the simplicity of this movie. The way it discussed real and true hard times of people struggling from cancer, finely slicing conflicts within their lovedones. The characters were amusing, the acting very sutle. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman were just great! They had equally drawned two entirely different people in the characters they played. And yes, the ending made my cry!

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Next up, Cinema Paradiso. I just so love foreign language films! I don’t know why but it really amazes me. Probably because I’d like to be a linguist. I remember the days when I got hooked into watching Y Tu Mama Tambien, Amores Perros, El Crimen del Padre Amarro, Malena and many others. But it was so late for me to find out about Cinema Paradiso, a 1989 Oscar-winning movie for Best Foreign Language Film. So this one’s a review 19 years in the making!

It was set in a Sicilian town and was told in flashback as a successful film director Salvatore returned to his childhood village after 30 years, for the funeral of his friend Alfredo, who was the projectionist of the town’s moviehouse called Cinema Paradiso. Alfredo serves as Salvatore’s father figure who, in his early days of showing passion for films, taught him everything he needs to know in films and filming, and wished him to succeed even if it means breaking his heart in the process. The movie intertwines with comedy and nostalgia, exploring issues on youth, adulthood and reflections of the past.

I was raving after watching it! The story’s highlights were depicted perfectly. The acting was superb and would leave a deep emotion in your hearts. It was such a shame I just seen it now. Sheesh!

I watched both movies in a row one afternoon, thinking I’d have a great time in doing so. Well I did had a great time, crying in the end haha! That’s how deeply moving these movies were. And I’d gladly watch it again and again. Minus the crying, I think.

Up Next. A music review!