Pi, Jesse and Celine

I bought two books the other day, one for me and one for my daughter. I picked up The Life of Pi reading its brief write up from the back cover.

.....combining grand storytelling with a profound exploration of ageless themes: faith and truth, fact and fiction, man versus nature, and innocence and experience.....

I have known this book years ago, read a lot of blogs and forums talking about how good the book is. But for some reason I have always skipped buying this. I started reading the other night and I'm onto a few pages already. I never thought this book will entertain me.

I'm liking it so far.

"Fiction, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence?"

*****



Last night I thought of watching clips from Before Sunset. Just because. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. This movie all started from Before Sunrise in 1995 I guess (or 1994, I'm too lazy to google). In 2004 they met again, about nine or ten years after. Ha! I had a post about this in one of my obscure blogs. I wrote.....

Can I stand a movie with only two characters just talking for an hour and a half? Yes - beautiful people talking about whatever comes to mind, exploring possibilities. Excruciatingly honest. Intelligent scriptwriting, effortless acting. And its setting, Vienna, is one of the most romantic places for me - walking on cobblestone pavements and beautiful landscapes.

Existential ennui, don't we experience that once in a while no matter how old or young we are. The movie could be a documentary of anyone's life, a life that comes across one's thought but maybe has no chance to explore, to dissect and to experience because of being too afraid of going down the train and wander and face the what ifs.

And then they meet again. And I like the ending. So much.

I read somewhere a part three is being considered. I don't know how it can be any better than Before Sunset. But I'd welcome a third. Let it be as real and as unfiltered as the first two. Real? The feelings Jesse and Celine presented to us are real for some people at least.

*****

My favorite exchange of dialogues.....

A transcript from one of my favorite moments in Before Sunrise.

Jesse: Alright, I have an admittedly insane idea, but if I don't ask you this it's just, uh, you know, it's gonna haunt me the rest of my life

Celine: What?

Jesse: Um... I want to keep talking to you, y'know. I have no idea what your situation is, but, uh, but I feel like we have some kind of, uh, connection. Right?

Celine: Yeah, me too.

Jesse: Yeah, right, well, great. So listen, so here's the deal. This is what we should do. You should get off the train with me here in Vienna, and come check out the capital.

Celine: What?

Jesse: Come on. It'll be fun. Come on.

Celine: What would we do?

Jesse: Umm, I don't know. All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9:30 and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just going to walk around, and it would be a lot more fun if you came with me. And if I turn out to be some kind of psycho, you know, you just get on the next train.

Jesse: Alright, alright. Think of it like this: jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you're married. Only your marriage doesn't have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you've met in your life and what might have happened if you'd picked up with one of them, right? Well, I'm one of those guys. That's me y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, to find out what you're missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband to find out that you're not missing out on anything. I'm just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you're really happy.

Celine: Let me get my bag.

And from Before Sunset.

Jesse: Oh, God, why didn't we exchange phone numbers and stuff? Why didn't we do that?

Celine: Because we were young and stupid.

Jesse: Do you think we still are?

Celine: I guess when you're young, you just believe there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times.

Jesse: And you can screw it up, you know, misconnect.

*****

Checking Rotten Tomatoes, Before Sunset is at 95%, and Before Sunrise is at 100%. Wow, after all these years, the reviews are still so high. I just have to agree!

Up in the Air

.....consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection.

Ryan has long been contented with his unencumbered lifestyle lived out across America in airports, hotels and rental cars. He can carry all he needs in one wheel-away case; he's a pampered, elite member of every travel loyalty program in existence; and he's close to attaining his lifetime goal of 10 million frequent flyer miles - and yet...Ryan has nothing real to hold onto. (Up in the Air)

Reading that snippet of Up in the Air made me very interested to watch the movie. Why? Because I can identify with what was written, except that I am very much connected to people :) I love the fast-phased life, a life always on the go. I wondered then what could Up in the Air has to offer me? Will I learn a thing or two, would I be able to identify myself with the character?

I was excited to watch it to see how the story will go. George Clooney is also someone great to watch in the big screen. As the story unfolds, I see how different the character is from mine except for the fact that we both love zooming in and out, dashing to and fro.

I love the story though. We all want to get connected one way or another. There will come a time when we look for a warm body to talk to, to spend the day with, enjoy conversations and eventually fall in love with. But sad to say things are not always what it seems to be.

You may be ready but the other party is not, and never will be. "You are an escape. You are a parenthesis." Ouch, that will surely hurt.

Anyway, I love the fact that the women here are Ryan Bingham's (George's character) greatest challenge. Natialie (Anna Kendrick), a young and idealistic co-employee who is out to prove that her cost-efficient initiative of downsizing a company through conference call will benefit the organization, is surprisingly great. A far cry from her Twilight stint as Bella's friend.

I didn't recognize her at first because she acted so well. She deserved that best actress nomination.

Alex (Vera Farmiga), is Ryan Bingham's match. Sleek, cunning, sexy, intelligent. But she can't be more that what she is for him.

I just find it odd that there is a motivational speech about a life free of relationships with people and things. With things, that can be possible. But with people? And it's more odd because there are people who pays to listen for this kind of "motivational speech". This is what Ryan Bingham does on the side, "What's In Your Backpack"?

I still think this movie should have won the Oscar Best Picture award. It has heart, mind and humor.

Riding the LRT

I went to Manila yesterday for an appointment. I decided not to be picked up by hubby, go home alone instead and use the LRT (train) to avoid the heavy traffic on the road. It was a great decision. I had a smooth ride from Manila to EDSA (a major thoroughfare in Mega Manila). What could have been a two hour drive only took me about thirty minutes. Happiness. :)

The LRT is clean, and the air condition is working well. Great!

I was also pleasantly surprised by the actions of the guard inside the train. At first I thought he was observing someone who seemed suspicious but I did not see any. Well it turned out he assists people - women, children and senior citizens most especially. He tries to look for seats for those who need to be seated (older people for example). He is on guard whenever people alight from the train and assist them again while they go out. He is quick to inform people standing in the train whenever a seat is vacated. Just like what he did to me.

If this is LRT's customer service drive then it's good. I just don't know if this is still possible when the train is filled to the brim.

This guard should just be careful holding people's arms, women mostly. It might be misinterpreted as taking advantage. Some people do not want to be touched by people they do not know. Generally, the guard is very pleasant.

I was also entertained by the little girl beside me. She's around five or six years old I guess. She kept on singing this nursery song, the title escapes me now. She's so adorable.

She sings because she likes to. She sings to her heart's content. She sings to entertain herself. She sings because she's fond of the song. Oh to be a child and to be so unaffected. I can't help but smile at her.