Review: 500 Days of Summer

Time for a totally biased review.

It only took the first fifty seconds of 500 Days of Summer to get me hooked on director Marc Webb's wildly entertaining romantic comedy.

Let me count the ways:
· Hopeless romantic - looking for 'The One' - check!
· Listened to sad British pop music when he was a kid - check!
· Read and watched 'The Graduate' in high school - check!

Damn.

The story itself is not very different from other boy meets girl movies, but the the visuals, the narrative, the music, the situations, the quirkiness—it all works so well that I only disliked one scene (the office meltdown) in the movie.

I feel that this is how Nick Hornby's High Fidelity should have been: a uniquely surreal and groundbreaking film about love and loss that leaves you analyzing its many details over and over.

Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra) star as the couple in the film, and I can't even mention their names for fear of spoiling the movie experience even a tiny bit. It's good enough to say that they and the supporting actors work well on screen and are good choices to play their parts.

500 Days of Summer is directly influenced by Woody Allen's award-winning 1977 film Annie Hall, but pays no direct homage (none that I noticed, anyway) to it despite the many scene recreations, references and direct footage placements of other films like The Graduate, Star Wars, Sid and Nancy, When Harry Met Sally and Enchanted. There are other films sampled here, but I can't name them all (weak!), especially the black and white films that might be classic French films, for all I know.

The non-linear presentation of the movie is wonderful and I can really relate to the many many hilarious inserts from pop history. A former band of mine even played The Clash's Train in Vain (drunkenly trashed in a videoke bar), and is one of my most favorite heartbreak songs.

This film definitely merits a second or third viewing, and maybe, dare I say it, you should watch it five hundred times.

4.5 out 5 stars

UAAP Finals: UE thumps Ateneo 88-68

A sea of blue could not drown the spirits of the UE Red Warriors yesterday as they exacted revenge from a game one loss to the Ateneo Blue Eagles, making the 72nd UAAP finals even, 1-1.

The clinical precision of Ateneo's offense was negated by UE as the Warriors played with fiery determination—breaking down the Eagles' vaunted passing and triangle offense by clogging lanes, double-teams and implementing a trapping defense.

The Warriors caught fire early, leading by five points during stretches of the first and second quarters, but faltered late in the first half, with Ateneo leading 40-38 during halftime.

The game broke open in the third quarter when the Eagles couldn't stop the trio of Pari Llagas, Elmer Espiritu and Paul Lee, resulting in a ten point lead heading to the fourth quarter, 63-53.

From there, the Warriors were never threatened as they rolled to an 88-68 win, capped by an impressive alley-oop play straight from NBA Live by Lee, who passed from the top of the key to Espiritu, slamming the rock home with two hands.

Notes:

• The MVP and Mythical Five awards were given before the game started.
  
  Season Most Valuable Player: Dylan Ababou (UST)
  Mythical Five: Paul Lee (UE), Dylan Ababou (UST), Elmer Espiritu (UE), Aldrech Ramos (FEU), Rabeh al-Hussaini (Ateneo)
  Rookie of the Year: Jeric Teng (UST)
  
  
• I felt that UE took a lot of forced shots and some players lacked discipline handling the ball and were impatient on offense. This could have led to a comeback by Ateneo, but UE's defense was very good, allowing few easy shots.
  
  The Warriors were swarming the floor, with the guards trapping and pressuring the backcourt, and little-used Tagarda providing defensive hustle off the bench.
  
  
• Rabeh al-Hussaini was brilliant with his mid-range jumpers, fed by a triangle offense that knew how to get the ball to him ala-Spurs and Tim Duncan. Rabeh is too tall for the Warriors—they can't reach him when he elevates for his shot.
  
  UE responded by throwing double-teams at him and sometimes making a small man cover him to make him uncomfortable, reminiscent of Detroit making Corliss Williamson defend Shaquille O'Neal during the 2004 NBA Finals.
  
  Rabeh was also negated and frustrated by Pari Llagas, a traditional back to the basket big man with an array of moves that puts a lot of centers to shame and a basketball IQ that goes beyond the roof.
  
  
• Ateneo's offense is very precise and team-oriented, while UE relied more on individual brilliance and a lot of heart in Game 2. Llagas and Lee broke down the defense a lot of times, while Espiritu bombed away from the three-point line, nailing four out of five attempts.
  
  I have no doubt that Ateneo Coach Norman Black will come up with adjustments to try and win it all on Thursday, 2009 October 8, but can they overcome UE's defense? Can UE keep the fire burning and sustain their effort? We'll see.
  

Boxscore:

UE 88
Espiritu 22, Llagas 19, Lee 13, Acuña 12, Lingganay 7, Reyes 6, Zamar 5, Duran 4, Tagarda 0, Bandaying 0.

ATENEO 68
Al-Hussaini 18, Monfort 12, Reyes 11, Baclao 10, Austria 6, Salamat 4, Long 3, Chua 2, Buenafe 2, Sumalinog 0, Salva 0.

Quarters:
18-15, 38-40, 63-53, 88-68


Links:

Inquirer article (from where the photo was swiped):
Warriors forge rubber match

Wikipedia:
UAAP Season 72

RIP David Fernando - Philippines battles flood chaos

I just learned that David T. Fernando, my former boss at Infinit-e / NextStage passed away due to an accident in his home related to the extreme weather conditions that we are still experiencing here in the Philippines.

Mr Fernando is one of the founders of Smart Communications.

The wake is at Christ the King in Greenmeadows.

Rest in peace, sir.

Inquirer article:
Wall collapse kills Smart cofounder

***

A massive rescue operation is under way in the Philippines where at least 73 people are confirmed to have been killed in the wake of torrential rains.

Tropical Storm Ketsana triggered the worst flooding in decades in the capital Manila and nearby provinces.

Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said troops, police and civilian volunteers had rescued more than 4,000 people - many clinging to each other on roofs.

More than 250,000 have been driven from their homes, officials say.

Read more at BBC news.

GTM: Celebs Marian, Pacman and Jakerald hooked on Scrabble

Another insanely funny post from Good Times Manila:

Good Times Manila recently visited the sets of two shows, one a top-rated soap opera on ABS-CBN and the other an upcoming sitcom on rival network GMA-7 for a closer look at how today’s stars are really like in person.

Read it in full here:

http://goodtimesmanila.com/2009/08/11/celebs-marian-pacman-and-jakerald-hooked-on-scrabble/

Conversations

The Turtle said to the Rabbit:

The Eumenides are in discord
Malignity bares them assembled
Seeking to strike those
By association are exposed

The wielder of the pen
Became mouth of the crone
Fit for sacrifice
On the Ring of Fire's yawn

When we find ourselves north
To speak of things foretold
Will travel be Augean labour
A switch 'tween young and old?

At the end of the twelfth
Universalism behold
Seek the fire of wisdom
All enmities are solved

The V Party

A head was hanging out of a Honda moving along Quezon Avenue at two in the morning, throwing the night's dinner and booze on the street and covering the car's door with stink and bile.

Just like that day in college.

That head just came from the 'Virgin Party,' where the host, a thirtysomething birthday celebrant, was calling out some of the guests as actual virgins, but appropriately enough, he may be the Supreme Virgin.

Enjoy, enjoy. Happy birthday, Alman!

Me and the band, before playing at the V Party.

View more photos here.

Review: District 9

Most alien movies show those creepy creatures threatening to run all over our beaches and fast food chains, but District 9 reveals those invaders as trash scavengers and earth food devotees after decades of living with humans.

I'm tempted to say that District 9 is a cross between Slumdog Millionaire's shanty scenes and Starship Troopers, but a cross between City of God and Troopers is a better reference (Aliens dancing Jai Ho! during the end credits would've been a good treat, though).

All great science fiction deals with intense philosophical ideas and what-ifs, but District 9 is different because the theme resonates more with current social problems. It's very real in the sense that if you just substitute the aliens with humans, the 'area' becomes a slum in Brazil or Manila, and there lies the charm and the thinking—one doesn't need to be an alien to experience discrimination.

District 9 is based on director Neill Blomkamp's 2005 short film 'Alive in Joburg,' extending it to create a science fiction classic.

Not for the squeamish!

Four out of five stars.