Just Dropping By

Hello everyone!!

A Small Touching Story Mainly for Professionals. ...

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man.

SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"

DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"

DAD: "If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00 ?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often.

The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!"

He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you." The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $20.00 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

Indie Film Making

pelikula@titusbrandsma is looking for short films, short documentaries, full-length of any genre to show in our 4th Pinoy Indies and monthly film dialogue sessions (August 9, 2008).

Deadline of submission for 4th Pinoy Indies: July 21, 2008 (tentative)
Submit a copy in DVD/VCD/VHS format to:Titus Brandsma Center Media Program3/F Theresa of Avila Bldg.28 Acacia St. Barangay Mariana,New Manila, Quezon City
Look for Ms. Bituin Quinto. Please enclose a sheet of paper that contains the following information:
Title
Director's Name
Running Time
SynopsisCast and Crew
Additional info: (Awards, Nominations, Festival screened)

Selection and programming of films will be decided by the pelikula@titusbrandsma core group. Selected works will be a part of the TBCMP film library. Unselected works are to be returned to the filmmakers.

You can also submit your work and other requirements during our monthly film dialogue session at TBC. If your film is selected and scheduled for showing, you are required to be present on the day it will be shown for the Q & A. (Metro Manila entries only).

If you're from the province, you may or may not be present during the showing provided that you submit a written article about your work covering all the aspects especially the content.

For non-Tagalog films, please submit a copy with English subtitles.

For further details, please contact:Bituin Quinto Coordinator, TBCMP
Tel No. : (02) 726-6054 Pls. pass for those who are interested.

Movie Review # 2 – Bees and Resident Evil

Bee Movie (2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389790/

My observations are the following:
Bees are definitely workaholic
Males are predominant workers. Females – hmm… can’t say.
Hard work and cooperation are tremendously important.
Bees can talk loudly. Humans can talk back to insects.
Humans and Insects can be lovers.
References to other films are good. (pool – The Graduate)
Vegetables and trees can’t live without bees because they need to be pollinated. How about tubers?
Bees have incredible strength.
Cows can talk.
Animation is not bad. Actually it is good.
Story is incredulous.

My Rating: 2/10

Resident Evil: Extinction (Russell Mulcahy, 2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432021/

My observations are the following:
Tons of eclectic zombies – meaning some are dumb, and some are intelligent (climbing)
Lots of action and gore
Group of refugees with “limited” supplies
Milla Jovovich turns into a psychic
Fight scene between psychics (Milla and the boss)
No plot or story
Boring

My Rating: 1/10

Movie Review # 1 - Pianos, Pianists, and Piano Teacher

These films have one thing in common - that is the PIANO. The plot doesn’t necessarily revolve around the piano, but one can distinctly see the piano as a vital role in the film.

The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/

The Pianist is what I consider film making at its best. Roman Polanski, a well known director of Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby, Tess, and others, has given justice to the memoir of Władysław Szpilman, who is a Jewish Polish pianist working for a radio station. This film focuses on the experiences of Szpilman, who is awesomely played by Adrien Brody, before, during, and after the invasion of Poland by Nazis. This is a powerful and heartwarming film of human triumph and will to survive.

My Rating: 10/10

The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107822/

The Piano is a story of love and passion of Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mother who has not spoken since she was six years old, communicates only through sign language with her child, Flora (Anna Paquin), and most importantly, expresses her emotions through her piano. This film is quite different from typical love stories. Ada, a somewhat rebellious and independent woman, is transported to an island to be married to a stranger (Sam Neil). In there, she found passion and love with another man (Harvey Keitel.) Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the film. Watch it and see the beauty of the film.

What I like in the film is Holly Hunter because she acts and expresses her emotions by means of her face. No need for dialogue.

My Rating: 8/10

The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0254686/

Weird and unusual. These two adjectives best describe the film. Adapted from the novel of Elfriede Jelinek, The Piano Teaches tells the story of a sadomasochistic piano teacher named Erika who loves to torture her students by verbal abuses and has perverted sexual behaviors – masochism and voyeurism. Throughout the film, the director lets us explore the life of Erika – how she treats her students, how she conducts her perversions, and how she meets an engineering student and becomes “engaged” and “obsessed to him.”

My Rating: 7/10

The Beginning: Movie Review

Hello. Today I am going to create and begin my first movie review. After watching tons of films, I finally decided that I should impart and convey my humble opinion on a film. In a film, I always look for quality, direction, story, and acting (of course). Even though a film is disastrously made, I still find time to give respect to it (no matter how difficult it is). Anyway, my review will be concise, plain spoken, and direct to the point. I hope you will enjoy it.

By the way, I will use a numerical ranking system – that is 1 to 10. One is the lowest score, and ten is the highest score. It doesn’t mean when I give a score of 1 to a film, it is hideous and ghastly. It is just that I don’t like it.

Just Saying Hello

Hello everybody. Wishing you all a good day.

Enormously Important Announcement

For all the women who are Mothers, who are planning to be Mothers, or who are expecting to become Mothers soon, I greet you all HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.

PS. In the Philippines, Mother's Day is usually celebrated on the second sunday of May - that will be on May 11, 2008. Please don't forget to greet.

過年好, 恭喜發財 Happy Chinese New Year