LefthandedLayup.com

Author: Gabriel

  • Jason Bourne 2016 – 5/10

    Tommy Lee Jones is one of those actors who are distractingly great. His greatness actually works against him in that if he’s in a movie it is hard to concentrate on it because, hell, you’re watching Tommy Lee Jones – an icon of an actor whose length and breadth of work is both voluminous and meaningful. He is a joy to watch and impressive to behold.

    I remember realizing this while watching Jason Bourne 2016 because if there’s anything Tommy Lee Jones has ever done that may be similar to this movie it would be the 1993 Harrison Ford starrer The Fugitive. The realization of which immediately made me turn wistful, because I really liked that movie, and I even liked the obvious follow up U.S. Marshals with Wesley Snipes taking on the fugitive role, which led me to remember Robert Downey‘s memorable turn as a really effective bad guy.

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  • Ma’ Rosa – 9/10

    • This movie hits home in more ways than one because it’s literally close to home. I recognize the streets of Mandaluyong where I grew up, from Boni Ave., Edsa Crossing, Balagtas and the hellhole which is Welfareville / Addition Hills. Believe it or not it used to have quaint hills and rice paddies until the local government decided to open it up to squatters quickly turning it into the den it is now. So I can’t help watch it with remorse and ill feelings mixed in. I kept hoping the camera wouldn’t accidentally pan to our old house which I haven’t visited or looked at since we left it years ago.

    • After watching this, Metro Manila, OTJ and Honor Thy Father (the last two of which are Erik Matti films), and special mention to 2005’s ‘Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros’ there’s obviously no shortage of terrific moviemaking and talent. The only problem is after watching any of them I feel like working out to induce endorphins. If you happen to feel depressed you must avoid watching these at all cost. Honor Thy Father in particular may make you want to slash your wrists if you’ve ever been a victim of an MLM scheme. Ma Rosa, with Jaclyn Jose’s long yearning looks at other families who have less than hers but were at least together and free from the trouble they were facing, will probably haunt me for a long time as well. Matti knows how to push my buttons.

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  • Thoughts On The Pilipinas 2016 Debate

    I caught approximately 75% of the debate after searching for the live stream on my phone and getting it to display on the TV (we don’t have cable or free tv). I first happened onto what was a GMA7 screen which turned out to be what they show online during a TV commercial break so I thought there was something wrong, which made me go over and try a few times till I finally saw the debate action.

    So anyway here’s what I remember from it.

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  • Honor The Father Review

    (Contains MANY spoilers!)

    My favorite story type involves the ‘character turn’ (my own term) ie., observing what a character does when faced with overwhelming change. Initially the main character is in a comfortable situation after which tremendous stress is introduced forcing them do something drastic. At that point a story becomes interesting because you watch a transformation. Faced with so much pressure all pretensions are shed and a real person is revealed.

    John Lloyd’s character Edgar is introduced as skeptical about his father in law’s MLM scheme where his wife is active in. He is also not too sure about the Church they go to where the pious Bishop extolls the virtues of cash offerings a little too enthusiastically. Nevertheless he is supportive, preferring to play the role of helpful husband.

    The eventual happens and the MLM scheme collapses. They lose everything, their creditors haul their belongings away, and worst of all their child is threatened unless he can produce 6M pesos.

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  • Trusting The Press

    Randy David wrote the other day about how he noticed newspapers treated PNoy’s speech. In it he said:

    President Aquino’s speech at the annual presidential forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) last Oct. 27 highlighted many aspects of this strained relationship.

     

    In that speech, Mr. Aquino chose to dwell on his observations of media reportage during his presidency. He was candid and critical—a refreshing trait he does not hide regardless of the audience.

     

    Interestingly enough, the media ignored his main speech and focused instead on his answers to questions in the open forum. If I had not gone to the government’s official website to check out the text of the President’s speech, I would not have guessed its topic from the news reports.

    I remember that myself because the days after the only stories about him were about his love life, or some such triviality. It also reminded me of a similar situation. (more…)

  • Bacolod 2015

    Post 3 day quick trip to Bacolod! Here are some thoughts.

    Food Prices Are Unfair – We had 3 or 4 group meals involving as many as ten people and the bill never reached anywhere what it would in Manila. At Masskara Chicken Inasal our bill only came up to P1.8k, and at Bob’s Cafe we didn’t even get up to P3k despite everyone having more than their fill. Granted there were a lot of senior citizen cards passed around but it was still amazing. Each time the bill would come I couldn’t help feeling like we were getting such a bad deal in Manila where a ‘good’ meal would be P150 – P300 and one in a similar establishment such as Bobs’ would easily fetch P600 – P800. Just check out the prices at Rau-Ram Cafe, which serves absolutely authentic Vietnamese Pho (situated in the middle of nowhere. Truly a foodie – only resto). No wonder Tita Tess eats here everyday. You CANNOT get quality that good for prices that low in Manila.

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  • Ant Man 7/10

    I haven’t written a movie review in a while but I thought of making one for Ant Man because it had a mentor element to it and I like mentor movies, and like I said I can’t get it out my mind so here I am writing it.

    It had to do with Kung Fu Panda 2008 (yes I am referring Kung Fu Panda, I have a point here bear with me). In it, Dustin Hoffman plays Master Shifu, teacher and mentor to Jack Black’s Po.

    To recount, a flashback informs the audience the origin of the main antagonist Tai Lung. Tai Lung was Master Shifu’s main candidate to be Dragon Warrior and was trained his whole life to expect he would be so. Shifu’s own Master Oogway however, never allowed it. As a result Tai Lung grew disillusioned and angry, focusing his anger on Shifu for making him expect so much.

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  • Poem for Ace on his 2nd Birthday

    Our little boy is 2
    Amongst other colors he can say the word ‘blue’
    He eats a banana everyday
    Once a week he’s at his cousins’ to play
    But today is special, today he turns 2.

    Our little boy is 2
    We are your parents, we love you
    You’re so big and smart, you’re the best
    How did we get so lucky, so blessed
    Today is special. Today you turn 2.

  • Weird Being Chased Dream

    I had an odd dream last night and it’s so odd that I’m actually writing about it.

    It was a recollection of an incident I may have buried in my head probably for decades.

    When I was around 15 – 16 years old I was coming home from school. I got off the jeep too early out of habit because I usually spend time in my grand parent’s house so I had to walk a few extra blocks to get home.

    On the way home I passed a street where a bunch of kids my age who didn’t like me saw me and started throwing rocks at and chasing me. I still remember looking to my left startled because I actually felt the wind off of a stone passing the left side of my head.

    They basically chased me around three streets, hurling what they could at me and swearing as loud as they could. It was in the middle of the afternoon and I suddenly remembered every footstep of my shoes on the pavement, every time I looked back grabbing my knees panting in exhaustion checking if they were still there, only to run again because they were.

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  • Conquering The Laguna Loop

    Last January 16, 2015, a Friday, was a holiday on account of the Pope’s visit, so I decided to take a little trip.

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