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Gladiator (2000) Review

After picking Gladiator to be on one of my films-to-watch this week, I have this strange feeling that I’ve already watched it as a kid but just doesn’t remember it. As I watch the entire film, I found myself surprised because there are some parts of the film that I still remember. It’s just that now that I’m older, I have a much wider and deeper context on what the film is really talking about.

Production-wise, the film has it all. From costume design to camera shots, a millennial can mistaken this as a recent film despite being released almost two decades ago. The actors also did a superb job in portraying their roles, although I wasn’t quite convinced with the accent that Joaquin Phoenux is attempting, or the lack thereof.

But aside from its outstanding production, it is the story that makes it more lovable to the audience as it puts us to an arena that either makes us the spectators or the gladiators that everyone makes fun of.

The film is loosely based on real-life events during the Roman Empire and for someone who’s fascinated with history but not too much to actually memorize them all during her school days, watching a film like this that would later motivate me to research on what really happened is a treat for both my eyes and my knowledge. 

The entertainment and satisfaction it brings me are incomparable to all the romcoms I’ve watched in the past.

With films like these, we can somehow see some resemblances on how the government, corruption and entertainment work in the ancient times up to the present that can make you wonder whether this world has really progressed at all or are the technological advancements the only change that our generation has brought.

The small flaw that I find quite disturbing in this film is its repetitive use of slow motions during fight scenes. Although it’s forgivable since the people back then might’ve liked them to be seen in a slower mood.

Overall thoughts for the film

I love it! 

This is a must-see film for people who feel the need to be connected with our current society with ancient times.

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One-Week Leave: Finishing My Goal

Day 4 and 5

To be honest, nothing much happened on day 4 and 5. Maybe some revelations that life has been providing me but its quantity has left me immune on what’s next so, no worries.

I also watched a bunch of movies but I guess I’m too happy with day 3 that I wasn’t that happy with the next ones I’ve watched. If you can read the reviews I made, most of the recent ones are shorter than the usual.

Although I spent more time at our mini-garden near the gate so I guess that’s new. Also, my shingles are getting better so I tried moving without a band-aid on so, that’s good.

I know I tried writing a lot during my leave to make my skills better but I think I have to shake off this drought again because my emotions are hindering me to spit out words from my head when in it should’ve been my motivation to do so. That’s where all writers get inspiration from, head. 

Lesson: don’t get everything get into your head. Stay focused on your lifelong goal and always think rationally.

Day 6

I was the type of girl who would love to set goals for myself without even finding the grit to finish them: and of them includes me to finish writing 10 movie reviews during my one-week leave. Actually, this one-week leave series should’ve been done daily but procrastination let me sleep during those days.

But anyways, a thought triggered me to end that crappy attitude of mine. For the first time in my life, I wanted to finish what I started. This time, I meant it.

So, this post is my way of telling the universe that it can’t trick me into sleeping because I’ll check this off my bucketlist, just how I’m going to do the same on the remaining goals I have in life.

And I don’t care whether it’ll take me the next morning. I have to finish this now or never.

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84 Charing Cross Road

During the times of pen-pals and typewriters, a British chief buyer and manager Frank Doel and American writer Hellene Hanff create a friendship that is so strong despite their unfortunate missed opportunity to even meet in person.

Just Friendship?

For most parts of the film, I honestly thought they would end up together. Even though Hellene doesn’t seem to be the romantic kind, their friendship still makes Frank’s wife get jealous of her, and I can see why.

I honestly don’t think that they’re just friends. For me, the film’s narrative is successful enough to deceive people that it can turn into something more but fails to let the people understand why they act that way everytime they receive each other’s letters.

I know this is inspired from the real Hellene and even though I’m a firm believer that a boy and a girl can be really just friends, my gut feel tells me that Hellene wrote this novel-turned-film as her way to cope for her lost friend whom she secretly loved.

A trip down memory lane

Watching an old film like this makes me fascinated with all the things they use at that time that are outdated in 2019 such as typewriters, old television sets, and even the effort required to retrieve old books. Thus, making this film take us down to memory lane.

The film’s narrative is quite simple. It’s about a writer who develops a friendship abroad. Maybe during that time, that’s quite impossible hence the recognition for this film but in 2019, you can easily talk to a stranger be it in Europe or just a neighbor. Watching this film can make you create comparisons such as this.

Overall thoughts for the film

For me, it’s not the film that most millennials may enjoy but still a good one if you’re finding for an old film with a lighter plot.

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The Thing That The Grand Budapest Hotel Lacked (for me)

A Wes Anderson film has always been a delight to the eyes due to the distinct colors he put in the cinema. His storytelling is always incomplete without focusing much on the visuals as it gives you a clearer view of how he wants you to feel as a member of the audience.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is just like that.

If we were to talk about the technicalities such as the production design, costume design, color grading, musical score, camera shots and the like, this post will be filled nothing but praise due to the astounding work that Anderson has done with the film. The film is produced like a theatre on film, as if Anderson wants us to take to a theatre with his film. 

 However, it is the story that was lacking for me.

Maybe it’s just me as a millennial ranting about a classic film but for me, the story could’ve been better because no matter how good the film is production-wise, people can still get bored if they can’t get along with the story presented.

I see the characters, Zero and Gustave, as mere people who are running away from Dimitri. I don’t personally root for them as I usually do in the movies because I don’t know much of their story. When they are talking about their past, I don’t feel much connection needed from them to relate to the audience. Though it’s a good thing that people can be distracted with outstanding visuals and sounds.

I could make this post longer by stating how the film is filled with symbolism from its shots, colors, and such but maybe I’m the type of person who thinks that content weighs heavier than production. 

But still kudos to Anderson for making the people go back in time through a film.

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My Reaction Over Gone Girl (2014)

Basically, my initial reaction during and after the film is :o

To be more specific about it, here are my thoughts:

The half of the film talks about missing Amy Dunne, America’s sweetheart. His husband is seen as a prime suspect due to the shreds of evidence left at the crime scene where he is painted as a cheating, abusive husband to Amy. Although the cheating part is true, the abusive one is something that Nick Dunne swears that never happened.

The other half of the film gives the audience the other side of the story: Amy’s psycho side. It turns out that she makes use of her writing background into decorating her cheating husband as an abusive one who murdered his innocent wife. At first, you can see a fresh insight about rape cases and sexual assault since it’s quite new in the film scene for a woman to consciously fake an entire misery just for the sake of revenge but if we were to think of the effects that this film may cause, I can say it can be pretty detrimental to future victims of sexual assault for they can be dubbed as another Amy Dunne.

The direction and screenplay in the movie aren’t draggy even though a ton of events occurred within two hours. Although I would prefer it if the revelation of Amy as a psycho is placed in the latter part of the movie to create a much “mindblown “ feeling into it. I imagined it to be a mystery where the audience are also finding clues with Nick and the police in finding Amy, only to find out that everything is planned.

Unfortunately, the film focuses more on the craziness that a woman has over her cheating husband. (I’m not married so I don’t have much to say on that part of the film)

Given the awards and nominations that this film has received on prestigious award-giving bodies, there is no question on the film’s ability to move the audience in a newer concept that can get their minds twisted from all the information they receive on screen. However, the underlying effects of the representation they made in the movie serve as the downside of this wonderfully crafted film. 

In hindsight, this is still a good yet slightly disturbing movie to watch. But upon watching it, avoid generalizing all victims of sexual abuses and always remember that this work of fiction doesn’t happen in most cases of abuses. You can check out the police records if you’re too doubtful with my statement.

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One-Week Leave: Three Great Films for Day 3

For the third day of my leave, I watched and wrote three outstanding films that gave me some insights about life and how I should be living my life.

The Spectacular Now

I’ve already said this in my review: it’s more than a rom-com. 

But of course, let’s talk about the romance. Gahd, this film just made me want to have a boyfriend so bad at this point. Though I know this would also pass too in a couple of days, I just found Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller so adorable that I think I would go crazy if I’d find out they were dating in real life. I became a shipper because of that film. Ugh, so cute!

Aside from my pettiness, I also liked this film because it made me realize that no one is a mirror of their parents. Even if your parents resemble you a lot, be it in physical aspect or through actions, you’re still a different person that has a different path with a decision that you have to make. I felt like that’s a thing I had to hear once in a while and I’m glad that I did, through this film.

Also, I loved how living in the now means living your best today so that there would become another one tomorrow. I felt like that has a huge impact on me, especially now that I’m not feeling the excitement of going to work anymore. My old self of always bringing my A game at the table for every single day has vanished into the woods without the intention of coming back. But with Sutter’s extra push for me to live in the now wherein he expounded it into something more meaningful, made me hope for a comeback of a better version of myself where I can be most of.

Patch Adams

1. Try to focus on finding the solution instead of just focusing on the problem

2. Have a heart for helping people

3. Learn from the people around you, talk to them, interview them, learn from them

These are the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this very motivational movie. 

For months, I’ve been struggling to find my self-worth that could be related to my work. It is only then that the act of helping other people other than being a corporate slave is what I was looking for this whole time.

Most of my time, I would just create on what was asked to and command all the orders sent through email. I never really thought of making an impact to the world, or even to my country at least like I’ve always imagined during high school. 

But now, my motivation now is to help people. No matter if my job can be a tool or not. I will use all the learnings I had from other people, experiences, and media to help people in my own simple way. It may be a hard and tough journey but I’m sure I’ll get there. I can write concepts that can help people, help people share their stories; or maybe just donate blood, join a charity, run for a cause. Whatever it is, I would always devote my life to helping people in need because that may be my purpose in life.

Forest Gump

Just like Patch Adams, this film made me want to step out of my comfort zone. But for Forrest Gump, I learned that there’s something more to getting out of your box: the ability to always say yes.

Forrest Gump may seem dim-witted to some but from what I’ve seen, he is courageous; and he’s good at it.

From all the things he’s been, he never said no. He learns something new, excels in it, earns money and awards for it, and then finds another passion he can pursue; and he’s still good at it.

I loved that about him because I used to be like that. The kind of person who would always love to try new things with confidence that I would be the best at it someday; and believe it or not, I used to excel in those. Photography? Sports? Writing? Editing? I would try them all and for a first-timer, I was usually good at it.

Then, a slump took its toll on me that suddenly, I wasn’t good at them anymore. 

Maybe it was the laziness for me to do better or overconfidence that if I already did it better the first time, maybe I’m already good enough not to practice. Or maybe the lack of confidence due to criticisms done by others, or the thought that everyone’s too good that I’m average. Sigh, I honestly don’t know what went wrong. 

But who am I kidding, it’s all of them. All of the above. Those were the reasons for my slump. But good thing, there’s Forrest Gump to the rescue.

His versatility as a human being made me realize that it’s never too late to try out new things and to excel in them is never impossible as long as you have patience, confidence and a huge amount of luck in you.

Lessons for the day

I was just home for the entire day but with the exposure of three great films that I’ve watched today, I felt like I was taken away to another dimension where learning about life has very good teachers due to their visuals that can make me go to sleep with huge contentment in my heart.

Obviously, I’ve stated all the lessons I’ve learned from each of the films I’ve watched but if I were to summarize, I would say that watching films is the lesson for me because it changes people’s perception about life. And maybe, I need that more. And that I need that kind of feeling to be felt by my future audience.

Because of this day, I wanted to watch more films every day and to be able to write films as good as the ones that I have watched.

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Watching Forrest Gump Is Like Watching A Whole Series In Two Hours

I’ve always heard of how people loved Forrest Gump but I never had the pleasure to relate to them as I haven’t watched the movie just yet. It just now had I realized why everyone was all about how great the movie was because indeed, it was one of the best films I’ve ever watched.

Jenny’s sweetest three words

“Run, Forrest, run!” 

Those three words from his childhood love Jenny has struck Forrest for almost all his life: be it in the football field, the war in Vietnam or during his run across America. As the movie portrayed it, Jenny looked like a hero that must be awarded for being Forrest’s motivation during tight situations. 

But in my opinion, those lines are quite injected into the film with brute force because if someone were to throw rocks at my best friend, I wouldn’t ask him to run: I would stand up for him. The fact that Jenny always asked him to run instead of defending himself makes her character odd for me, especially that those lines served as the heart of the film.

The journey as a boy with autism

The film’s intention to motivate everyone, no matter what God has given them, had been the ultimate message that the film wanted to send. 

To be able to narrate that story within two hours without being too draggy was the thing that made this film so special in comparison to the other films within the same genre. Every minute of it was so full of stories, emotions, and depth that everyone could find hope for.

Forrest Gump’s journey on his unique life can make a person feel like, “If Forrest Gump can do it, then I can do it too.”

I like how they didn’t depict Gump as an idiot savant as what was originally done in the novel. 

The line, “Stupid is as stupid does” is a lifesaver for everyone who would attempt to call Forrest stupid from both the characters in the movie and the audience watching the film. 

Its representation of autism on the big screen isn’t as overly exaggerated as what was usually done in Drama films. Nor is it degrading as what was usually done in Comedy films.

 It’s just Forrest Gump.

The man who was a football star turned army soldier turned ping-pong legend turned shrimp business owner turned grasscutter who then became the father of Little Forrest Gump.

Overall thoughts of the film

In this generation where most films would rather portray the reality that the classic films used to escape, looking back at one of these is a way to survive this mad world. Trust me, I’m barely breathing too.

The positivity and sunshine that Forrest brought in the film is the kind of energy we must have in this life.

This film deserves to be seen by the younger generation who possess too much negative energy. It is because this film can save lives, more than Forrest Gump knows.

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Patch Adams Is The Inspiration You’ll Need In Life

The logline in itself is already appealing to people because of its unconventional way of mixing serious medicine with its polar opposite, comedy. It’s also based on a real person plus, it’s Robin WIlliams so everyone must’ve had high hopes for this movie and he delivers.

The biggest let-down of the movie

You can get tons of inspirational messages in this movie despite not practicing the medical field due to Patch Adams’ character of always wanting to help the needy. From staying at a mental ward to pursuing medicine at his old age, we can see how his stay at the mental ward opened his eyes on his dreams in life.

It’s mostly comedy as Robin Williams’ character, Patch, acts like a clown among patients to help them increase their quality of life: which is his ultimate mission.

As a member of the audience, I can say that most parts of it are cute, especially when he made the children and the elders laugh and fulfill their passions in life that they thought they could never achieve. 

But his comedic act during the visit of gynecologists to their university is quite misogynistic for me.

I’m not really a snowflake when it comes to jokes but we can clearly see how he designed legs wide open near the door of the university, in which he defends as “sense of humor” that all doctors must also have.

He gets called by the dean because of that and even though the dean is the antagonist of the film, I’m actually on his side during that time. It was a huge letdown of the film and it would’ve been better if they removed that scene.

Patch Adams as depicted in the movie

The Patch Adams in the movie is your guy who gets his way despite exerting much effort. He’s a smart, funny and courageous man who would encourage others to do the same as he believes that there is more to books and classrooms in gathering knowledge into your brain. 

It is very encouraging if you would think about it. It would’ve been perfect but maybe I’m looking for more scenes that show how he learns from the box of a classroom because its lack of those scenes made it look like a person can be on top of his class by just goofing around patients. A few scenes with him learning from the nurse or patients about his lessons, probably, that helped him ace his test would’ve sufficed to prove that one can learn more if they could step out of the box.

Nevertheless, his last few words towards the end of the film can move a person to her feet and actually want to step out of her comfort zone. 

For a person who needs a push in life, I think Patch Adams is the one for you.

There was no Carin Fisher in real life

After watching the film, I immediately searched for articles about Patch Adams in real life. I found out that there are quite some alterations with his real life and the movie released and that there was some drama that transpired as Adams released a statement on how the film focused more on the comedy than the free hospital he built. With more research, I found out that it’s only loosely based on the real Patch Adams.

As a communications graduate, I can understand why the producers made some adjustments with the storyline. However, it was the addition of Carin Fisher that I didn’t like. 

I personally felt awkward with their team-up. I felt like the age gap was too wide and her death wasn’t that much appreciated in the end, in which it should’ve been if we were to consider that Patch was deeply in love with her.

Overall thoughts about the film

For me, it was a film you should watch once you’re lost in life. It doesn’t just talk about comedy but talks about humanity and how one can help improve someone’s quality of life.

Although there are some components into it that I didn’t like, as I stated earlier, its message to encourage someone to step out of the box and learn more from people is powerful enough to get over its imperfections.

It is still a must-watch film for all adults who feel like their visions are slowly being swallowed into their corporate slave selves. This movie may help you change your perspective on life about the never-ending process of learning.

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The Spectacular Now Is More Than Your Typical Rom-Com

As a huge fan of romcoms, my initial reaction to the description on Netflix was, “Oh, another party guy-good girl movie”. I wasn’t really psyched on what’s going to happen but what happened in the movie wasn’t the reaction I expected from myself because as the title says, The Spectacular Now is more than your typical rom-com. It has a depth into it about teenagers that wasn’t usually depicted on other teen movies.

Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller’s chemistry

It has been a running joke to everyone that Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Theo James are actually secretly fighting over Shailene Woodley in The Divergent film series since she co-starred with the three of them. At first, I only felt awkward with Ansel acting as her brother while being her one great lover in The Fault in our Stars. I never knew how great her chemistry is with Miles because I never watched their film. 

After watching the film, I realized that there’s something about Shailene and Miles that I couldn’t understand. I’ve watched a ton of rom-com films and whenever they’re about to explode their romance on screen, I could probably tell how it’s going to be as most of them are formulaic and not at all unconventional. And The Spectacular Now isn’t one of them.

The script and direction made the scenes raw as if they weren’t being watched on screen. Upon watching, you could feel the realness of their characters and if you would be technical about this, you could probably say that the overlapping dialogues actually helped them achieve that because of how it mirrors the daily conversations of real humans.

Their chemistry on-screen makes you want to root for them even though Miles’ character, Sutter, was being a jackass in the latter part of the movie. And to make the audience feel that their connection is real means that they did a great job in acting.

Teenage Troubles

In this film, both Sutter and Aimee are graduating high school students who clearly have issues with their parents. Sutter's mom is hiding his father’s whereabouts from him and Aimee’s mom is stopping her from pursuing college in Philadelphia. 

Their relationship made them promise to each other that if one stands up to his or her mom, then the other must also follow. 

In this point, we saw a surprising character development and how some adolescents see themselves in their parents with the fear of them turning just like them too. For me, this is the most heartwarming scene in the entire movie.

“Live in the Now”

Sutter’s favorite line is “Live in the Now”. He doesn’t want to get too serious about his life that got him dumped by his girlfriend that led to his meetup with Aimee. On the other hand, Aimee is the ideal, good girl who has a plan in life.

His plan of just living his youth also gave him fail remarks on his grades that made his professor have a talk with him. It is during then when he said my newest favorite film quote,

“Everyone’s telling me I’ve gotta move on, but I don’t see what’s so great about being an adult. I mean, are you happy?”

As a newbie in adulting, I honestly don’t know why everyone’s so happy about graduating because adulting sucks. 

I’m not really a badass like Sutter but during that moment, I felt a connection with him as if he could be my friend if his character were real. I’m also sure a lot of people could relate to that.

But in the end, his mantra of always living in the now expanded into a greater horizon that served as the greatest lesson of the movie.

 “It’s fine to just live in the now. But the best part about now is that there’s another one tomorrow. And I’m going to start making them count.”

Overall thoughts

I love this movie. 

Personally, I hate open-ended films because it made me feel like the writer just got tired of writing an ending. But for this one, I’ll just let it go.

The movie is a surprise for making the viewers love Sutter and Aimee’s relationship and empathize with them through the struggles they faced.

Also, we see character development until the end of the movie where Sutter and Aimee met again in front of the university, During that point, I felt so proud of Aimee for the growth she has made as a person.

This movie is definitely a must-watch.

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One-Week Leave: Forgot to write Day 2

This was supposed to be written yesterday but I was too tired to even write so I just decided to write it this morning so here it goes.

Unplanned Dalagang PIlipina haircut

So I’ve been wanting to cut my hair since last week due to its length and I actually hate having long hair already. 

So I had my haircut in Lucena since it’s a lot cheaper and as long as my blisters are covered, my mom said it won’t be that contagious anymore. Before grocery shopping, we went to a salon inside the mall and went to the ones with no people so that we won’t wait in line. (Okay, from there I should’ve sensed that there’s a reason for that.)

Mom had a manicure and I had a haircut. I showed him a picture of what I would want my hair to look like and I made it clear that it should be a straight cut. So to make it a bit lighter, I started some small talk whether my hair is too dry and I told him that I want to cut my hair to get rid of the dry parts. (Again, girl. Wrong move!) 

At first, I try to keep my smiling face (even though his hands are too heavy that I say ouch occasionally). But as he cuts my hair, I could feel like he honestly doesn’t know what he’s doing. 

You know how it’s like in the salon? Where they would organize your hair into sections and then cut it and then trim those into sections? He didn’t do it. Thus, he trimmed the sections by cutting most on the end and less on the other end, making the hair on back shorter than the front. 

It would’ve been okay if he was vying for the bob cut, but no. It honestly looked like a plain mess and he instantly saw how my smiling face turned into a cold one and how I inspected my hair. So he immediately offered a solution to make it shorter, and so I gave him instructions. I repeated that he should just make a straight cut because hello, that’s what I asked you in the first place. 

Mom just finished her manicure and she looked quite happy with her work and was asking me to just pay for the both of us so that she could go shopping while I get finished with my hair. But since I was too pissed with that evil gay, I asked her to stay so that she could look at the hair and maybe scare him a bit that there’s a parent with me.

Mom gave a few instructions too but in the end, it still doesn’t look good. 

I told him off after that but he defended that he only did that because he wanted to get rid of the dry parts. Ugh, the dry parts!!! 

I mean, yeah, it’s okay for you to do that but if your customer told you a hundred times on what to do, plus having a picture to show on how she wants it done, then you should’ve done it!

I was so pissed off that I just didn’t say a word and just paid with a very frowning face. I was planning to fix it the next day (which is now) but I realized I just wanted to make it longer for a bit and then I would have it fixed by a professional this time. It is then that I have realized why I pay hundreds of pesos for more expensive hair salons: because some could ruin your hair.

But I guess I just have to live with it now for a while and enjoy having that dalagang pilipina just like Mimi. 

Also, I’m kinda hoping he gets my virus too because as he blow-dries my hair using a comb, he would also comb and blow-dry his hair like an unprofessional biatch. It’s unfortunate for him because most of my marks are on the left side of my head so yeah, I hope you’d get my chickenpox!

1/10 movie review done

Since I went out yesterday, I was only able to watch one movie and that is The Other Boleyn Girl. I made a review about it (please check out my previous post). It was actually a good film and kind of reminded me of some of the things that have been happening with my personal life right now.

In my interpretation, the movie revolves around manipulation, betrayal and treachery from both the Boleyn girls. This made me realize that these words aren’t exactly new to this world and that I must not be so surprised.

The world would always include plot twists and turns that would never allow one’s life to be boring hence I should always be prepared on what’s in store for me. Not just physically or mentally, but also emotionally. 

So the biggest words for me that I should embrace at this point is let it go. 

Let go of everything that’s bothering you and use them as a fuel to become more alive than ever. 

Maybe that was the biggest lesson I had that day.

[anahanash-blog]

Manipulation Revolves Around The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

To fulfill my goal of writing 10 movie reviews this week, I randomly pre-selected 10 movies to watch on Netflix yesterday and the first one on the list is The Other Boleyn Girl. Honestly speaking, the only reason why it caught my attention was the costume and production design as I thought that it could make me feel like I was in another dimension but after watching the film, I realized that the film’s dimension wasn’t exactly on the fictional side of the world because the Boleyn Girls, especially Anne Boleyn, actually made a huge impact on England in the real world. And Google confirms it!

Mary Boleyn, Oh Mary Boleyn

During the first quarter of the film, you could already see how the director painted Mary as the innocent and an only-does-what’s-best-for-someone kind of girl while her sister Anne is the ambitious, jealous sister who would do anything to make herself queen. But if we were to analyze the scenes, Mary isn’t actually that innocent at all. In fact, she is just as manipulative as her sister; the only difference is that her sister is the aggressive one while she is the soft one. Everytime her sister gets in trouble because of her, her excuse would revolve around, “I’m just doing this for your sake” when in fact, she gave in easily when the King invited her over. 

There's also one scene in the film that makes you wonder, “Why is she even doing that?”: when she was treating the wounds of the King and talked to him for almost an hour and a half. Maybe this is just me as a conservative tita but despite her endless denials that she never meant anything to happen, you could feel like 

I also don’t get how she claims that the King loved her and that he loved her too when the King is deeply adoring her sister behind her back. Maybe it’s because it’s ancient times but if I could go back in time and hear her say that I would slap her and say, “Girl, he’s a player. Stop wasting your time!”

But maybe the film also reflects how women can also be easily manipulated that a guy loves her, especially when used with flowery words. So it’s safe to say that Mary got what she deserved.

Anne Boleyn as the hard-to-get manipulator queen

Contrary to the innocence that the film depicted on Mary, Anne is an openly queen bitch that wanted to gain power since day one. But instead of using her sister’s ways of easily giving in to the King, she used the Maria Clara approach and manipulated the King into doing everything she wants before giving it her all to him. And it worked. But also sparked the Reformation in England.

Personally, I never liked the pakipot moves that the Filipino elders have been forcing the youngsters to act whenever guys are approaching us because it makes it difficult for them to accept the word no.

This movie just proves how detrimental that move is because right after the King did basically everything for Anne, he raped her (in the movie) as if she is a prize he needs to savor after a long journey he has been. Moreover, after she finally became queen, the King starts to show his affection towards other women which says that he only pursued Anne, not because he loves her more than Mary, but because he enjoyed the challenge and because the challenge is now over, he’s now finding a greater challenge he wishes to enjoy more.

Overall thoughts about the film

The film gave the viewers a sneak peek of how the royal world works their wonders and woes in the ancient times and for me, the acting, cast, cinematography are all effective to take the viewers into a different time.

This film is also good for people who only know a little about history as this would later encourage them to research on the things that transpired in the Kingdom of England.

[anahanash-blog]

One-Week Leave: What I Learned from Day 1 + some flashbacks from Sunday

Due to a severe nerve headache and swollen right eye, I was rushed to the Emergency Room at Lucena City where they diagnosed me with shingles. As  they explained it, shingles, or what they call herpes zoster, is like the next level of chicken pox which means that I am currently contagious so I need a week or two to recover. 

Of course, I can’t file a leave for a week because first, I don’t even have leave credits just yet and second, I already filed a two-day leave for our Boracay trip so if I would maximize that, I might not receive a single penny on my paycheck.

So, my Sunday revolved around me watching a bunch of Netflix films and series while taking up my meds. It was kinda boring, tbh, but there was this kind of serenity I felt that I could never feel in the city. Like the sense of feeling home and connected with the world again as if I lived in an alternate universe for so long.

In my 7-month stay at the office, I honestly don’t feel very well with how my career is starting. While thinking about it, this is actually my dream job. To be able to write concepts, scripts, social media captions all at once? Best job ever! But there’s something in me that lacks everytime I face my computer at my desk, my writer self. 

Honestly speaking, I can actually write better now than I could’ve when asked to do concepts, scripts and captions needed for my job. 

It’s like my ideas won’t flow properly and my creative juices have gone dry, and despite trying so hard to recover from it, I can’t. It’s like I’m stuck at a dead end that the only way for me to be happy again is to watch and watch all day long like a student enjoying her vacation.

There even came a point where I ask myself whether this is the career that God has planned for me or is it just a bump in the road that I must get over with. I tried to think of other career paths that may help me earn money and satisfaction for myself but all my life, I have been so dedicated to writing that I feel like I don’t know anything else aside from this one.

And at this point, I honestly don’t know if I should just quit and just start a business or suck it all up and be better at my craft.

That’s why I’m dedicating this week for me to find myself and hopefully get some answers I’ve been looking for in my very lost life.

Day 1

For Day 1 of my one-week leave, I mostly just stayed at home with my mom and brother. My brother had a night shift so after I woke up, we just talked for a few minutes before he finally took his sleep and after that, he woke up again then went straight to the shower and then went to work again in the afternoon. It’s actually a tough schedule he’s having right there.

And for my mom, we mostly chatted about things in life and the most dreadful question I absolutely hate that my family loves to pressure us all about: saan ka ba masaya? But this time, it’s not on me: it’s on mom.

She told me how my brother in the US pressured her in asking her that and while she claimed that she’ still happy despite being unemployed and all that, my brother asked her to dig deep and think the things that make her truly happy. 

She was quite teary-eyed while sharing that story with me especially when she said that her answer was actually gardening.

See, our condo in Manila is very tiny but despite its small size, my mom still managed to put a garden inside it that usually sparked an argument between her and dad because of the dirt and mess the plants create. And yeah, I get annoyed with the plants too because, come on they’re too big for the condo!

But after seeing her eyes light up while talking about plants and knowing that she finally had a plan in her life, I actually felt happy for her because this can finally be the career she would love after working so long at a low-paying desk job.

So I gave her ideas on the things I see on Tumblr and Instagram, pitched in some business ideas on how we can sell the plants and a few hours after that, she ordered some tools on Shopee. 

I know it’s going to be a long road, and it’s possible my mom would get lazy to do this eventually, but at least she’s trying and maybe that’s what matters most.

In conclusion for today, I think the lesson I picked from Day 1 is that we must never stop trying. It is because the moment we stopped trying is when we lose the ability to reach our dream.

[anahanash-blog]

‘Brother of the Year’ short analysis by a girl with two older brothers

The moment I saw the trailer of the Thai film, Brother of the Year, I was instantly hooked due to its relatable storyline and surprising inclusion of Kpop superstar, Nichkhun, to the lineup of actors present in the film. For years, the Thai film industry has been making waves as an underdog who is now making a mark for themselves due to their astounding cinematography and simple yet unconventional concepts. This is why most people are excited after watching the trailer because for once, a film’s focal point is now based on the struggles of having an older brother.

In the first quarter of the movie, we saw a glimpse of how Jane and Chut’s childhood turns out and without any surprise, most of them involve fighting and bickering. The movie went on with some slapstick comedy aided with comic visual and sound effects as the two fight in their adult years. 

Honestly speaking, I wasn’t a very big fan of these scenes. Although the reason may just boil down to not being one of the film’s primary audience, because I’m not Thai, I feel like there are a lot of ways to make it naturally funny without doing all those zoom ins and sound effects. From the perspective of a girl with two older brothers, I feel like every fight can be naturally funny as long as the lines are good and the actors would find their chemistry as siblings who annoy each other. It doesn’t have to scream comedy especially if your main premise is already funny enough.

Jane and Chit’s encounter in a client-agency manner

The story progresses after their paths have crossed in the workplace when Chut, who works as an Account Executive in an advertising agency, meets their client’s newest Brand Manager, Jane. Here, we can sense the sibling rivalry that stemmed from their childhood as Chit was the slack off and Jane was the achiever. 

In these scenes, I could see some similarities of this film with the Filipino film, Four Sisters and a Wedding because in both films, we see how sibling rivalry can bring so much impact to people that they can carry those baggages over up until adulthood. For me, this is an insight that most people must be aware of especially to parents who unconsciously (consciously for some) compare their kids with one another due to their undying favoritism. I think it’s time for parents to realize that there is a possibility that they are the ones contributing to their children’s insecurity and mental health issues-- and that needs to stop.

Jane and Moji’s forbidden love due to our Brother of the Year

The story progresses after Jane develops a romantic relationship with her colleague, Moji (acted by Nichkhun) wherein Chut refused of their love-- and eventually engagement and marriage, being the protective brother that he is. 

Despite Chut’s other reason for not approving of their relationship, we can see how protective a brother is towards her younger sister even though Chut himself is also a womanizer. And although it’s not really emphasized in the film, I was glad that the film depicted how men can sometimes be hypocrites when it comes to protecting their wives, daughters, sisters and other female family members when in fact, they are also the perverts whom they are afraid their family would date. In the film, it was mentioned that Jane hated her brother for always threatening the guys who liked her although the reason wasn’t verbally stated and in the first part of the scene, we see a portion of male gaze done by Chut with a woman he’s about to do it in his and Jane’s house.

Blood is thicker than water

After the huge fight that transpired between the two, it was heartwarming to see them emphasize what siblings are really for. The ending was actually the game changer of the movie because after attempting to make the people laugh on the first half, the result whether who laughed or found it corny would eventually slip on your mind after the second half of the film that you could actually feel your heart cry a little. Chut, acted by Sunny Suwanmethanon, is actually a great actor and it only takes a few lines for him to captivate the hearts of the audience. Urassaya Sperbund is absolutely stunning the film but her acting could’ve been better, in my opinion. Just like Nichkhun’s although it’s completely understandable since he’s not really an actor and according to interviews, he had to relearn his Thai after staying abroad for too long that his Thai proficiency became ‘rusty’.

All in all, I’ll give the film an 8/10.

[anahanash-blog]

Me as a friend

When I was younger, I had this one rule that defined my life as a whole: if I can't be a good friend to my friends, then that means I can't handle a romantic relationship. I held onto that for so long that before I realized it, I'm already 20 and never had a boyfriend since birth. (yes, I'm still not over this one)

Although I can name a thousand reasons why I never had an actual boyfriend such as strict parents, priorities and others, I felt that as years go by, the real bottom line for that was because I have no idea how to handle relationships in general. Because aside from not being a good friend, I'm not also a very good family member.

I guess I'm way too selfish enough that whenever I feel like I'm about to be hurt or betrayed, I would walk away even before things get worse. Yeah, I can blame it to the fake friends I had before but I felt like everything boils down on how apathetic I am towards other people's feelings.

Lol, is it weird? Or maybe I'm just being overdramatic about this. But anyways, I'm about to meet up with my friends so yea.

[anahanash-blog]

Purpose in Life

At first, I was so sad and confused on what the hell am I doing with my life aside from wasting it because tbh, that’s what I honestly feel. I feel like I’m wasting all the opportunity and the help that fate has been giving me in order to reach my dream, and also the universe’s consolation prize for me lol but yeah, I felt like I cracked the code after finding out what’s really missing: purpose.

When you create something, there must always be a problem that needs to be solved. And why is that? Because my job is to provide solution for clients who are in need for creative strategists (which is me) and they need it to become good. But, I was so focused ob getting to the top without realizing that I don’t excel in that way. Having a goal to be perfect makes me stay in my comfort zone without stepping outside if the box as a move to let all the fresh ideas come inside of my brain and that’s a huge problem. I’ve been having lots of troubles with myself because I felt like there’s something lacking in me: and that’s purpose.

So speaking of purpose, what is my purpose in life?

If you would ask my high school self, my answer would be to showcase the Filipino creatives to the other nations just like how Koreans did with theirs that people are now dying to go to Korea just because of Kdramas. I had that kind of vision because I was so proud of our country that I want others to see the beauty of it too. But as I entered college, I met people who are much more passionate, patriotic, and probably more talented than I am that instead of just focusing on my own pace, I started comparing and questioning my worth for not being able to achieve so much unlike the ones they had despite being so young. I feel like it started my ‘competitive’ side that never even worked because no matter how hard I tried, I never unleashed my best self.

And now that it all makes sense to me, I would like to write this post to remind myself one thing that can help me with all my self-doubt: working smarter is better than working harder. Not that I’m discriminating hard workers but sometimes, hard work is nothing if everything’s a failure.

The passion one can bring into working smarter can make anything much better that my purpose of featuring our nations creative side can still be possible, even though I can’t exactly write drama-ish scripts yet. (but maybe in the future, who knows lol) I can still do it in my own ways like making great scripts for ads, ey???

I’m just so happy that everything’s finally making sense now that I’m kinda seeing the light that reveals the actual direction of my life. Now I don’t have to be so afraid that the dark might trip me with all the obstacles that might hinder me from reaching my dream.

The dark days are over now.

I just have to always remember my purpose in life.

[anahanash-blog]

What are you most thankful for?

[To keep my writing skills and creative juices in their right position to help me with my work, I will be doing a year-long writing challenge where I write something based on the titles I saw on Pinterest.]

To be honest, I don’t think I was even grateful enough from all the things I received last year. Yeah, when I was young I was way too optimistic that I believe that happy endings will eventually come my way but as I grew older, I slowly realized that happiness requires hard work. And in that sense, I guess I'm a sloppy employee for Happiness Corp.

Instead of working hard to attain that happiness I desire, my pessimism ate me as a whole where my outlook turned into just accepting reality whether my life will turn out miserable and just be glad that I’m still breathing.

But looking back on all the things that happened to me, I realized that there are tons of reasons to be thankful but given that the title needs what I am most thankful for, I would like to grab the opportunity to thank the whirlwind cycle of life for all the lessons she gave me.

Last 2018, I was a college senior who would whine on how her future is going to turn out. That girl would be so scared that she can’t even find a job that would suit her, provide her happiness, or that a company would even accept her.

The once confident and ambitious child who aims to change the world with her talent turned into a timid worker and writer who can’t even decipher whether she has the privilege to be even called one despite her job title a few months later. I had no vision on how my life would turn out five years from now that I always freeze whenever I get asked by that question during job interviews. That's how severe my denial is that I am really about to enter adulthood.

Maybe it's because of my terrible teenage years? Probably. Sigh, I can write an entire novel on how my teenage years sucked even though it was the thing I looked forward to the most as a child.

But despite all the hardships and sadness I felt throughout the years, I am still thankful to all the lessons I learned along the way. Those obstacles I had to go through and the misses and turns I had to endure taught me one important thing: face it.

No matter how scary the future might be with all the new things that welcome us on our early years of adulthood, resilience must be our best friend in every step of the way because in life, there's no turning back.

We can reminisce our childhood memories from time to time but we can never be a kid for a lifetime. We must face responsibilities and the steps towards our dream of being successful because in adulthood, we can never just dream about it, we need to act upon it.

[anahanash-blog]

Heart Check

I asked my heart if it was okay

And it said yes

Bummer, it seems like my brain is the one that needs fixing

‘Cause it won’t stop creating stories about the idea of us