Edmund

There is no such thing as revenge

#502. Revanche. Directed by Götz Spielmann. Austria, 2008. 1:85:1. Color. 122 minutes. German.

This is one of the best, the most beautiful and saddest films I’ve ever seen in years. It has left me speechless.

If you can’t sleep, watch . . .

#501. Paris, Texas. Directed by Wim Wenders. Germany, France and the United States, 1984. 1:66:1. Color. 147 minutes. English.

I first saw this back in High School. E_____ and I walked out during the part where Travis had polished the shoes. I tried to see it again, thinking that my tastes have matured and that my pre-conceived notions about the film might change. This time, however, I walked out much earlier—during the part where Walt received the news that Travis was found.

I just hope Criterion doesn’t release anything by Wim Wenders anymore.

¡Viva la Revolución!

#496. Che. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. United States and France, 2008. 1:78:1. Color/Black and White. 261 minutes. Spanish.

I’ll watch this next week—if and when I have the time, and if and when I’m back to my proper revolutionary/rebellious self. I’m too busy and quite melodramatic these days.

I’m going to find this hard to watch. First, I’m not a huge fan of Che Guevara and what he stood for. Second, I read/heard that this film portrays Che in a more realistic light. I’ve been so used to seeing the idealized and mythologized Che—as portrayed by better-looking actors such as Gael García Bernal (who played Che twice) and David Essex and Mandy Patinkin (from the original London and Broadway versions of Evita respectively). A smart-ass Theology classmate of mine once remarked that Benicio Del Toro (who plays Che in this film) looks like Philippine Senator Aquilino Pimentel. The remark never left my head.

10! Federico Fellini’s 8½ is now also on Criterion Blu-ray (#140). This was where they based that recent box-office disaster 9. The musical remake was a bad idea—some things are best left not “updated.” Anyhoo, 8½ is one of my least-favorite Fellinis. I hope it’s just my player (again)—my disc doesn’t have sound.

When will La strada and Amarcord be ever released in hi-def?

Blasts from the past

L’Osservatore Romano’s top ten rock and pop albums, and my take on each:

1. Revolver by The Beatles — I definitely agree and approve.
2. If I Could Only Remember My Name by David Crosby — David Crosby who? If I Could Only Remember My Name what?
3. The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd —I remember The Wall better.
4. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac — I can’t stand Stevie Nick’s voice.
5. The Nightfly by Donald Fagen — Never heard of Donald Fagen. Never heard of the album.
6. Thriller by Michael Jackson — Is this an attempt to get into the bandwagaon?
7. Graceland by Paul Simon — Overrated.
8. Achtung Baby by U2 — Zzzzzzzzz . . .
9. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory by Oasis — Did those who made this list even know what the Gallagher brothers mean by “morning glory”?
10. Supernatural by Carlos Santana — So 1999.

If L’Osservatore Romano was hoping to “strike a more contemporary tone,” as the Daily Telegraph puts it, by coming up with this list, then I think it has failed massively. Pop/Rock music now has a very unrecognizable face, having evolved drastically over the last ten years. None of the above-mentioned CDs are that relevant anymore, especially to the 14 to 18 age group who actually download and buy music. The list would’ve been more relevant—and actually interesting—had they included The Fame by Lady GaGa . . . I’m just sayin’.

Leave the ’80s be. We are the World was recently remade. Jay-Z said it best: “I know everybody is gonna take this wrong: We Are the World, I love it, and I understand the point and think it’s great. But I think We Are the World is like [Michael Jackson’s] Thriller to me. I don’t ever wanna see it touched.”

I’m just glad that Madonna wasn’t part of that travesty—and that she didn’t take part even in the original We Are the World. It was actually her song Crazy for You, the love theme from the film Vision Quest, that ended USA for Africa’s four-week reign at the top of the charts in May 1985. I remember it well! She played a local bar singer in her first-ever major motion picture appearance:

There’s also a music video for Gambler, Madonna’s second (but unreleased) contribution to the Vision Quest soundtrack. It was one of my personal anthems back in High School, because of the line “You’re just jealous ’cause you can’t be me!”:

And still on Vision Quest . . . Kuch, the hero Louden’s friend who fancies himself as a Native American, is played by Michael Schoeffling, who was “Jake Ryan” in Sixteen Candles. As I’ve said, I haven’t seen Sixteen Candles (yet), and the “Jake Ryan” I’m familiar with is the one from Hannah Montana, but I do have this nice novelty T-shirt, which I got as a freebie from a magazine subscription:

I can’t wait to wear it to an ’80s-themed party. It’d be a hit.

The day after Ash Wednesday

Revenge, an out-take from Madonna’s great 1998 Ray of Light CD:

There is no such thing as revenge.
You will not give as good as you got.
There is no such thing as an eye for an eye.
If you think you're the giver, you're not.

There is no such thing as regret.
There is no point in placing the blame.
Hate destroys the one who hates
and everyone suffers the same.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.

There is only love and respect.
To thine own self be true.
When you point the finger,
there are three fingers pointing back at you.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

Recognize that God is alive in everyone.
Recognize that love lives in us all.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

What you see
is not necessarily what you get.
Eyes are the window to the soul.
Take your judgements
and let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.
Let them go.

Je suis Canadien—mais je ne suis pas Québécois

I caught a[nother] glimpse of the Vince Coleman/Halifax Explosion Historica Minutes commercial on TV last week, so I decided to dust off and watch my old Historica Minutes DVD. I’m a huge fan of Historica Minutes—those sixty-second short films that feature important moments in Canadian history. I first learned my Canadian history from those beautiful shorts, and they really give you that vibe that makes you feel proud to be Canadian.

My favorite Minutes: Jacques Cartier and the “naming” of Canada—the actor portraying the know-it-all priest is a joy to watch; Governor Frontenac—one of the most good-looking Minutes, with shades of 1970’s Cromwell; and Étienne Parent and Balwin and Lafontaine—there’s something very Les Misérables about them.

Historical spoiler. I was reading The Folio Book of Historical Mysteries, edited by Ian Pindar (London: The Folio Society, 2008), an anthology of essays about history’s most fascinating enigmas. I was halfway through Paul Doherty’s “Was Tutankhamun Murdered?” when I put the book down, got up for a glass of water, checked my e-mail and found a news item about the very recent finding that King Tut died from complications from a broken leg and malaria. Suddenly there was no point in going back to the essay.

Cake

I had the strangest craving for cake yesterday. Luckily, it turned out to be J____’s birthday, so there was actually cake! Her neighbor made her a really nice cake. Too busy eating, I forgot to ask her what it’s called. It was chocolate with cream cheese and coconut sprinkles. It was the best cake I’ve tasted in ages, so I had to ask for another slice to take home. The last great-tasting cake I had was at Red Ribbon in Manila, Valentine’s Day 1999.

My new BFF

Though I like its low prices, I try as much as possible not to buy music and movies from Wal-Mart. The stickers Wal-Mart use for their price tags are ultra-sticky, and obsessive-compulsive collectors like myself who want their treasures looking almost-untouched hate those stubborn sticker residue that clings forever to their unopened collectibles.

I usually use baby oil (and sometimes cooking oil) to remove the sticker residue from the cellophane wraps of CDs and from other glossy surfaces like plastic or mylar. Once the baby oil removes the residue, I then would apply rubbing alcohol over the cellophane and wipe it dry with tissue paper.

There was a gross-looking sticker residue on the cardboard sleeve of my Inglorious Basterds Blu-ray. I definitely couldn’t use oil on paper to clean it up—the slip case would be ruined. So I looked online for tips on handling these kind of things. A product called Goo Gone was always mentioned and recommended. I knew I’ve heard of it before somewhere, but I wasn’t sure if I could find one in town. After a desperate search, I didn’t find any in all the stores.

There’s some work being done at the basement, so I cleaned up some of the mess yesterday. Guess what I found under the bathroom sink:

There’s a simple but very nice lesson that I learned from this. Sometimes the thing that we want most but think we couldn’t have is just right under our very noses! So seek—and you shall find.

Anygoo, with one little drop and one slight, very delicate stroke, Goo Gone made my Inglorious Basterds look glorious:

Teshuvah

Lent is fast approaching. I’m sick and tired of people blabbering about giving up all kinds of stuff for the holy season. I really find this kind of talk ignorant, fake, insincere and hypocritical. How about repenting, turning back to the Lord and circumcising your hearts and actually doing something useful and helpful for yourselves and others for a change, eh?

Pattinson/Dalí

I’ve mentioned the problems I’ve been having with my Twilight Blu-ray disc. Well, after installing those numerous updates in my laptop, I’ve finally got it to play. Yes, I finally saw Twilight. Did I like it? Yes and No, I guess. Am I looking forward to seeing the rest of the franchise and getting the upcoming discs of the upcoming movies? Maybe.

In other Robert Pattinson news . . . I also saw Little Ashes last night. I was expecting a lot of Luis Buñuel in it, but the film’s main focus was on the Salvador Dalí-Federico García Lorca relationship. I loved the film. My only complaint: it should’ve been en Español. Like the insufferable Love in the Time of Cholera, you’ll see Spanish characters here speaking accented English. Lorca’s poems featured in the movie, particularly the Balada de la Guardia Civil Española, will make your hairs stand. Too bad, they’re voiced-over in English.

Javier Beltrán looks a lot like the young Lorca. “Pattinson is simply brilliant,” proclaims the W Magazine quote on the DVD cover—and he truly is. Aside from looking very much like the young Dalí, R-Patz has captured the weirdness and creepiness of Dalí perfectly. His final scene (the last sequence in the movie) and the way he uttered his final line and made his final exit will make you cringe—in a good way.

So now I’m looking forward to seeing Robert Pattinson as Georges Duroy in the upcoming film adaptation of Guy de Maupassant’s (!) Bel-Ami. I noticed that “Georges Duroy” has an almost-Dalíesque moustache in the cover of the novel’s Penguin Classics edition: