The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I thought I'd seen everything...at my age, I thought there'd be nothing in the movies which could still hit me deeply. Until this movie.

I've seen a lot of films about lives--some are stand out originals, and the rest just echo that originality. I guess this one is a fresh tune.

This of course may just be my first look impression...maybe it would be different given a different weather or a second viewing, but this is just to say that I am swept off my seat.

I will still check out the short story of the same title though, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I have a feeling that I'll be disappointed. So there.

I Love You, Bobby: Revisitng Bob Dylan

Unconsciously, "Blowing in the Wind", (the Kansas version) was the first Dylan song that stuck on me. I was a little kid then, and our maid was singing that song for her high school graduation.

Many years later, out of curiosity, and probably by the advice of some friends, and perhaps too because a hot college American Lit professoress mentioned that a certain Mr. Bob Zimmerman adopted Dylan Thomas's name for his own, I got this "The best of Bob Dylan" tape (When I decide to try an artist I totally have no idea of, I normally choose the "best of" collection first, just to be sure...but having bought a lot of "best ofs" and eventually ending up buying also the individual albums, it is my opinion that often the best ofs are not really the best...so there). I immediately fell in love with the raw voiced folk singer, and all of the songs in the cassette. But of all the tracks there (which included Sister, The times they are a changing, shelter from the storm, tambourine man, and the poignant Blowin in the wind.) my life, and everything I thought about music was changed by "Tangled up in Blue." I used to hop along the street in my walkman, everytime this song comes up. I always dreamed to live in the 50s; I even had an Alice Daisy phase (disregarding the fact that I took the name from Alice in Chains and Alice in Wonderland), during which I tried to approximate the mind of a hippie.

Anyhow, as heroes we so passionately love forever, sometimes withdraw in hibernation in the caverns of our minds, I somehow outgrew my Dylan phase, especially when I discovered more electronic sounding outfits...but in spite of this, I still listen to that good ole Dylan tape in my quiet hours. Until someone "borrowed" it and that was the last time I saw that tape.

Years passed without Bob, until Eric sold me his DVD collections, and one of them was a collection of Dylan Sessions from his folk guitar days to his modern band set-ups. And among the videos, my devotion to Bobby was rekindled by the song Hurricane, which I believed was how folk rock should sound like (only). And thanks to modern technology (for MP3 players) and Eric Lim (for the copy of the songs Hurricane and Tangled up in Blue), I was reunited with the songs I know I will always love.

* * *
Bob Dylan's Profile (Ripped off from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan)

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, and a poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of Dylan's most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of American unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'",[1] became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. His most recent studio album, Modern Times, released on August 29, 2006, entered the U.S. album chart at number one, and that same year was named Album of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine.[2]

Dylan's early lyrics incorporated politics, social commentary, philosophy and literary influences, defying existing pop music conventions and appealing widely to the counterculture. While expanding and personalizing musical styles, he has shown steadfast devotion to many traditions of American song, from folk and country/blues to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly, to English, Scottish and Irish folk music, and even jazz and swing.[3][4]

Dylan performs with the guitar, keyboard and harmonica. Backed by a changing lineup of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the "Never Ending Tour". Although his accomplishments as performer and recording artist have been central to his career, his songwriting is generally regarded as his greatest contribution.[5]

Over many years, Dylan has been recognized and honored for his songwriting, performing, and recording. His records have earned Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards, and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1999, Dylan was included in TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and in 2004, he was ranked number two in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "Greatest Artists of All Time", second only to The Beatles.[6] In January 1990, Dylan was made a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by French Minister of Culture Jack Lang; in 2000, he was awarded the Polar Music Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music;[7] and in 2007, Dylan was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in Arts in Spain by the Fundación Príncipe de Asturias. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.[8][9][10]

In 2008, Dylan was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."[11] Previous recipients of this award include Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.[12]

The Surrogates

Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

Touchstone. Dir. Jonathan Mostow. Star: Willis.

Synopsis: FBI agents (BRUCE WILLIS and RADHA MITCHELL) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves – fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles – enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who’s real and who can you trust? --© Touchstone Pictures

***

I watched it last night, thinking it will be about robots. And I wasn't wrong. The film featured life-sized barbie and ken robots which people set out to the world as their fantasy perfect selves or surrogates. But that wasn't all. Slightly different from its predecessors, from Robocop, Bicentennial Man to A1, by making us the robots indirectly, instead of robots just being our functional assistants, the merit of the film for me came more from its commentary. A statement which isn't really original and fresh but the way it was presented was point blank the least: be yourself. I treasure movies which teaches something new. And for this reason I never tire of re-watching the Matrix (sometimes all three in one day) for it blows my mind away every time I do. I enjoy having my mind blown away by anything.

So what was new about the Surrogates? It gave me an insight on what will be the culmination of this popular lifestyle of stylized self images should it go on. How far will you alter yourself to function in the world according to your idea of "Life"? You can be who ever you want to be. And everyone is playing the role of someone beautiful, healthy and enjoying life perfectly according to their idea of what life should be. Are there really no crimes, accidents or deaths because what we are actually killing or hitting is just the shell. Talk about Zen detachment. But is evil really solved because no real person is getting raped, robbed or killed? Should it broke down we can always buy new surrogates. I love the part when Willis' surrogate did and he was forced to go out in the real world filled with surrogates. He was bumped, stared at, and practically harassed by the robots because of his humanity. Because of his human flaws he couldn't keep up with the pace of these things by just walking on the sidewalk.

I have a personal thing about staying indoors for fear of something bad happening or for plain fear of assholes. In the film all that walks the earth (except for the people at autonomous Human Coalition territory) are surrogates, while their human counterparts sit on chairs where they control the robots. I guess the play on our fear of dying, of rejection and anxiety for anxiety itself appealed to me more than it supposed to be. What can I say that fear for me is very much real.

I remembered my recent drama with my network profile. I once said I am not my FB profile. What you see is my idea of what a person should be in my book. In the film you can see a white man taking a black surrogate. I surmised that the reason is sexual. This person recognizes the virility of an African American body, and he believes that having sex in a body like this is the ideal way of fucking someone. Things like that.

The Surrogates gave us the outcomes of desiring to become and wanting to enjoy who ever we want. You can have affairs with anyone anonymously like in chat rooms. You can do whatever you desire without the consequence of the real. I especially appreciate the device used by the film to differentiate surrogates from the humans. The robots were perfect while the humans were, well humans.

For best results watch it and log on to your favorite network site after.

The Legend of 1900

It's long, to the point of long-winding. I actually watched it for two-days with much effort. In spite of the corny flash-back narrative technique, which appeared to be the favorite during the year 1998, it garnered a considerable number of awards, including a Golden Globe for Original Score. The story, and much of what the movie has to say is original, and some "snatches" are actually beautiful, but its just so reminiscent of Titanic, which I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. And as the movie is long, more like watching Ben-Hur, certain problems with tightness caused it to drag.

Clarence Williams III's portrayal of Jelly Roll Morton, though, for me was best performance in the film, and the Piano Duel, its highlight. I felt I have never heard of what the piano can do as an instrument, until I heard it in this film, in this particular part (which I have played back a couple of times). The cigarette lighting on the heated piano strings which might sound cheesy is no where near that description, it was just plain unbelievable. Definitely the best reason for anyone to watch the movie. The rest after that was just plain excruciating mush, and one can't help but be impatient to know what the ending will be.

The Eraserheads is cool again

I may be wrong but I think, with the unfortunate exit of Rico Blanco from Rivermaya, a nostalgic spotlight is now on their closest rival band to the throne of Pinoy Pop, The Eraserheads. Although the band members of this so-called legendary group have formed their respective bands and the band Eraserheads is no longer existent per se, the E-heads-stigma is indelible. Among the ex-e-head-formed-band, I guess Raimund's Sandwich broke through first. I don't know if this was a long time ago for some, for for me it was only with their song Percolator (I might be wrong, I might be wrong) that I think they have re-emerged. To be fair with the first Sandwich line-up, which included Kwan's Mark Abaya, I guess Butterfly Carnival is still a very influential single. Then I was caught by a new release by the Ely Buendia-fronted Pupil, Monobloc, which for me restored the decency in being an Ely Buendia fan. Then recently I saw in TV that MYX is going to do a retrospective on The Eraserheads. All these string of events, if they are not signs saying that E-heads is great again I'd swear that I listen to Click Five (I don't know what's got into me, but I like them). This is not saying that these events are the first of its kind. There has been an Electromagneticjam tribute album by several E-heads inspired newbies to attest that this doesn't just happen in the past few days. The time Ely released his Bedspacer album, I guess the tributes were already in the mass consciousness. To be fair with Rivermaya, all these tribute to E-heads were possible of course because the band is already disbanded, thus making it proper for a tribute. Whereas Rivermaya is only Rico-less but is still alive and performing, but if a tribute to Rivermaya would be released, now--okay, it is not impossible. So there. But for now, E-heads is in, again, yay!

Suralista. April 21, 2008