All posts by Renette

On Prince Caspian (The Movie)

TV & Movies,

I’m a really huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia series by my favorite author, C S Lewis, so I was very excited to see the movie. It was a good thing that I decided early on that I would enjoy it as a movie on its own, and not as the movie version of my favorite book. I’m glad I did, because otherwise I’d be appalled at the number of liberties they took with the plot (warning: spoiler alert!).

That’s not saying I didn’t enjoy the movie though, because I really did. Ben Barnes was amazing as Prince Caspian the Tenth, as were William Moseley as Peter, Anna Popplewell as Susan, Skandar Keynes as Edmund and Georgie Henley as Lucy. I am now officially a fan of director Andrew Adamson, who directed the first Narnia movie as well as Shrek 1 and 2.

I kind of wish he incorporated some flashback scenes though, such as when the Pevensies first realized they were in Cair Paravel (Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmund were standing in the exact same place as they were during their coronation) and when they first saw the stone table split into two in Aslan’s How.

aslans how

COMMENTS ON THE PLOT

I thought the back-story was a bit underdeveloped, especially with regards to the identity of the Telmarines and Prince Caspian. I’m not sure if a person who watches this without having read the book first can completely understand the complexity of the story. As previously mentioned, there were a lot of changes in the story, such as the timing when Prince Caspian blew the horn. In the movie, he blew it when he was caught by Trumpkin, Nikabrik and Trufflehunter; in the book, he blew it when the old Narnia were already assembled and have begun fighting against the Telmarines. Another change was how Trumpkin was captured by the Telmarines. In the book, he was captured on his way to the Lantern Waste (or the lamp post where Lucy first entered Narnia) to meet the ancient kings and queens whom they were expecting. In the movie, he was captured when he tried to stop the Telmarines from getting at Caspian at the woods.

COMMENTS ON THE CHARACTERS

Most of the characters were a bit different from the books, although the changes did add more drama to the movie. Trumpkin was a little too surly and morose – I don’t remember seeing him smile even once in the entire movie. Peter seemed to be going through an angry adolescent stage where he wants to call all the shots and yet does not want to take the blame when things go wrong. Prince Caspian was not as deferential towards the four ancient kings and queens as I would expect him to be (saying to Peter, “You’re not exactly what I expected,” to which Edmund retorted, “Neither are you.”) And Aslan was a near non-entity in this movie, only appearing towards the end. There was also the power struggle between Caspian and Peter, which was an interesting angle; although in the book Peter was quick to assure the other that he wasn’t there to steal the throne, but to help him claim it.

I think they did a fantastic job with the dashing Reepicheep the mouse, which is why I really hope they do The Silver Chair too, so that I can see what Andrew Adamson (or Michael Apted perhaps?) can do with my all-time favorite character, Puddleglum the marshwiggle. They were also able to give more depth to the character of Caspian’s Uncle Miraz, who “looks as if he’d be equally at home starring in ‘300′” as it says in one review. In the movie, Susan is a warrior (unlike in the book, where Aslan did not want the girls to participate in the battle) and Lucy remains childlike and pure of heart, that for a time she is the only one to see Aslan. Edmund’s character was the most interesting for me though – there’s an emotional maturity about him now compared to the previous movie, plus he shows some dry British humor as well.

There was very little screen time for Trufflehunter though, who is the embodiment of steadfast, unwavering faith in Aslan, and of Dr. Cornelius, who played a bigger part in the book. And there was only a brief appearance by the funny, lovable bulgy bear! In the book, I love the part when he was allowed to be one of the marshals for the duel with Miraz, and Peter told him, “But you must not suck your paws.” He looked shocked and replied, “Of course not!” until Trumpkin pointed out that he was actually sucking his paws at that very moment.

COMMENTS ON THE CHRISTIAN THEME

Prince Caspian is not as overtly Christian as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the pivotal scene of which was the death and resurrection of Aslan, which mirrors Jesus. I think the main Christian theme in this movie would be faith in God even when he seems so far away. I particularly love the part when Peter and Caspian were arguing about war strategy, and Lucy said, “Have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch, Peter?” I also like the part when the spirit of the White Witch reemerges and tempts both Caspian and Peter into calling her back to life. Edmund, perhaps in an attempt to make up for his betrayal in the first movie, destroyed the ice wall of the White Witch (this part wasn’t in the book though) because he knew that only Aslan could help them.

OTHER COMMENTS

Curiously, there were portions reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings. One was when Dr. Cornelius woke up Caspian to warn him of the attempt on his life that night. There’s a shot of Caspian peeking through the door of an adjacent room while the Telmarines shot arrows presumably at the sleeping form of Caspian, and feathers got strewn about the room. This reminded me of the scene where Aragorn (who was still called Strider at that time) moved the hobbits to a different room of the inn they were staying at to warn them of the danger. Later that night, they watched the Black Riders attacking what they thought were the sleeping forms of the Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin, and feathers got strewn about the room as well. Another was the rising of the river god towards the end of the last battle, which reminded me of the time Arwen used elvish magic on the river to destroy the Black Riders following her and the injured Frodo. There was also the scene where Edmund seemed to fall off the balcony to be borne by a griffin, which reminded me of Gandalf jumping off the rooftop of Saruman’s tower, only to be carried away by another huge bird. And of course, there were the dryads (trees) at the end, which reminded me of the Ents.

It seems that this movie is pretty much getting mixed reviews from what I can see from the internet, but I found a review from Plugged In which I particularly liked. I for one loved this movie as much as I loved The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and I can’t wait for the next Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, to start filming.

My Favorite Onscreen Couple from One Tree Hill

TV & Movies,

Here’s to my favorite onscreen couple Nathan Scott and Haley James. It’s funny that I’ve mentioned One Tree Hill a couple of times in passing, but have never written a post about my current favorite show. I started watching One Tree Hill two years ago because of my boyfriend, who told me to check it out. I wasn’t that big a fan at first, until I borrowed his seasons 1-3 DVD’s (which he received for Christmas… from me) which I watched till the wee hours of the morning.

I think the main appeal of One Tree Hill for me is the relationship of Nathan Royal Scott and Haley James-Scott. The storyline has been used before: rich, popular jock falls in love with the nerdy class valedictorian, except that they get married in high school. I love this couple because, as Brooke says about them in one episode, they make us believe in true love. Which is funny if you think of it since this is just a show anyway, and I seriously doubt if high school marriages can really work in real life. I like how they understand how hard a teen marriage can be, but they still give everything they’ve got to make it work.

Nathan: Haley, what’s wrong?
Haley: We made a mistake Nathan.
Nathan: Haley…
Haley: No. I’m… I’m not ready for this. I just, I just really wanna go home to my room. You know, I’m not a wife, I’m not even a senior!
Nathan: Haley. Haley, listen, this is not a mistake.
Haley: How can you be sure because there is nobody that thinks this thing can work.
Nathan: I DO. (picks up her wedding ring) I promise you Haley, I will always be there for you, I will always protect you. Ok? I will always protect you. Always.

I also like something that their therapist told them in season 5. After four years of marriage, the therapist told them that they may be losing their individual identities already, and that they may not be the same people they fell in love with in the first place. The next scene shows them at home with Haley back on her piano and Nathan playing around with a basketball. That’s an important point I think – that you should still be yourself and do the things you’ve always loved in spite of, and because of, your relationship. That’s the way to keep your sanity… and your relationship too.

Complete Song List from STEP UP

Music & Theatre, TV & Movies, ,

I really liked the movie “Step Up” and have been listening to the soundtrack nearly everyday on my way to and from the office. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, but I kept thinking I would prefer a CD containing all the songs from the movie in the order they were played. For some reason I never thought to check out the list of songs in the credits, but found a song list from IMDB.  I added some scene descriptions and did some minor corrections on the list.

Petey Pablo – Show Me The Money (included in the soundtrack)

This was played during the opening credits where they interposed scenes of dancers doing ballet and hip-hop to show how dancing has inherent similarities.

Clipse – Ain’t Cha (included in the soundtrack)

This was played during the opening party scene at Omar’s, when Skinny bugged Mac (who was making out with a strangely deep-voiced woman) to leave the party saying, “This party’s whack.”

T I – Get It

This was played in the scene you can call “Where Tyler’s At,” which was the first time we see Tyler dancing (and with PJ’s girlfriend too).

Dolla – Feelin’ Myself (included in the soundtrack)

This was the song Tyler listened to when he headed straight to his room (“I’m not hungry”) after getting 200 hours of community service.

Kathleen Crees – Violette

This was played while Tyler was on his balcony looking outside, after telling his foster sister Camille to get out of his room.

Jeanette Ortea et al – Maidens of the Grove

This was the song being sung by the three girls in the hallway of MSA, when Tyler first got there.

Nuttin but Stringz – Canon in D

This was the song played by the violinists in the hallway of MSA.

Black Sheep – The Choice Is Yours

This was played while Tyler was dancing in the parking lot in his “garbage man jumpsuit,” when he noticed Nora watching him from a window.

Mark Ronson – Little Dap

This was played when Tyler, Mac and skinny were playing basketball at the court.

Shilo Monaco – Shilo’s Piano

This was the song played by the student practicing on piano while Principal Gordon was looking on approvingly. According to the DVD commentary, this was really the composition of the guy playing the piano.

Ron Feemster – Cleaning Song

This was played while Tyler was cleaning MSA and being a jerk about it.

Fatboy Slim and Macy Gray – Love Life

This was played when Nora was auditioning sophomores to be her temporary partner while Andrew was out injured, which was one of the funniest parts of the film. This should have been included in the soundtrack I think.

 Chris N Drop – Crazy Strings

This was played while Nora rehearsed alone, waiting for Tyler.

C. Ride – Pushin’

This was played while Tyler and the boys were going to Omar’s, and found out that them “dudes froze out.” 

Chris Brown – Say Goodbye (included in the soundtrack)

This was played while Lucy and Nora were talking in the cafe about Nora being so defensive and denying her feelings about Tyler.

Samantha Jade – Step Up (included in the soundtrack)

This was played during the montage of Nora and Tyler rehearsing. There were lots of funny scenes there. It was also used in the Step Up Dance Contest.

Josh Henderson – Philosophy

This was the song that Brett (Nora’s soon-to-be ex-boyfriend) was recording in the studio with Miles when Tyler came in late for his rehearsal with Nora. I wish this was included in the soundtrack so that we can hear the entire song.

Kwame B. Holland – Tonight

According to the website where I got this from, this was the new song Miles played for Nora, and was used during the group rehearsal (when Tyler found dancers to do back-up for Nora, so she could have it the way she imagined her routine to be). This is kind of weird though, because I think it was ‘Bout It. I’ll have to watch the movie again and check.

Gina Rene – U Must Be (included in the soundtrack)

This was played in that rooftop scene where Tyler and Nora danced. This has got to be one of my favorite scenes of all time.

Jamie Scott – Made (included in the soundtrack)

This was the song Lucy’s older, “sophisticated” boyfriend Colin performed in the club. I love this song. Interestingly enough, Colin’s real name Jamie Scott is also the name of the son of my favorite TV show couple (Nathan and Haley from One Tree Hill). 

Sean Paul & Keyshia Cole – Give It Up to Me (included in the soundtrack)

This was the song played after Colin and his band took a break. He met Tyler and convinced Miles to play with them, while Nora arrived and headed to Tyler. Channing Tatum (who plays Tyler Gage) and Jenna Dewan (who plays Nora Clark) appeared in the music video and did a really cute dance sequence.

Drew Sidora featuring Mario – ‘Til the Dawn (included in the soundtrack)

This was the song Lucy performed in the club, when Nora asked Tyler to dance. He didn’t know it was a line dance, and fumbled through the steps at first, then ended up showing off his dance skills. My favorite scene in the entire movie!

Drew Sidora featuring Mario – For the Love (included in the soundtrack)

This was played while Lucy (played by Drew Sidora) and Miles (played by Mario) were talking after the performance. This was the song on the background when Tyler and Nora finally had their first kiss.

Kelis – ’80s Joint (included in the soundtrack)

This was played during Tyler and Camille’s dance-off while playing with a ball. FYI, Camille (played by Alyson Stoner) is actually the amazing kid dancing in the music videos of Eminem’s Lose It (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha) and Missy Elliot’s Work It.

Novel – Damn

This should have been included in the soundtrack! This was played during another montage of Tyler and Nora rehearsing and goofing around.

Anthony Hamilton – Dear Life (included in the soundtrack)

This was played after Tyler and Nora’s major fight, because Andrew came back and Tyler had to drop out of the showcase.

Pitbull – Toma

This was played during the party scene at Omar’s, when Mac said “All these girls and he [Tyler] don’t feel like dancing.”

Rhymefest – What Up!

This was also played during the party scene at Omar’s.

Ryan “Alias” Tedder – Attention Please

This was also played during the party scene at Omar’s.

Youngbloodz – Imma Shine (included in the soundtrack)

This was the song Miles played in Omar’s party, to which Nora did lyrical jazz (her favorite style of dancing according to her audio commentary) and Tyler did hip-hop. This was also the song playing when Skinny got shot.

Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake Waltz

This was the song the ballerina was dancing to during the showcase.

Young Joc – ‘Bout it [instrumental] (included in the soundtrack, but with vocals)

This was the song used during the showcase. What a way to end the movie!

Ciara – Get Up (included in the soundtrack)

This was played during the closing credits where they included submissions from the dance contest. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan also appeared in the music video wearing black leather.

The Last Lecture of Randy Pausch

Last Friday, I read an article in Time Magazine that mentioned Randy Pausch’s lecture on YouTube. Curious as to what it was about, I searched for it the first chance I got. After all, the last time I searched for a YouTube video mentioned in Time Magazine, I saw Young@Heart’s performance of Fix You, which really made me tear up. For those of you who don’t know about them yet, Young@Heart is a singing group composed of octogenarians, which covers contemporary pop tunes.

So I was optimistic about checking out who Randy Pausch is. He’s got to be interesting and big enough to be mentioned in Time Magazine. And he is – or at least, he is now. I don’t want to give a detailed biography, since it’s all in the Wikipedia article about him, but the reason why he’s so popular now is because of his Last Lecture. It seems that there’s a lecture series in Carnegie Mellon University, where he got his doctorate, called “Last Lectures,” wherein they invite professors to talk about what they would try to impart to the world if it was their last chance to talk. For the then 47-year old Randy Pausch, it was a particularly appropriate topic since he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in August 2007 and has been given just 6 more months of good health. In September 2007, he gave his last lecture entitled, “REALLY ACHIEVING YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAMS.” It became a YouTube hit soon after.

It’s a 76-minute lecture, but I strongly advise you to watch it. You wouldn’t even notice the time; Randy Pausch is such an inspiring and highly entertaining speaker. It really made me think about my childhood dreams and what I’ve done to pursue them.

Here are some of my favorite thoughts from the lecture:

“Remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

“When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up.” (quoting his football assistant coach)

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

Here are the links to the YouTube video, the lecture transcript, and his personal website.

RANDY PAUSCH’S LAST LECTURE TRANSCRIPT

RANDY PAUSCH’S WEBSITE

Note: The picture is from www.cs.virginia.edu

Postscript: Randy Pausch died last July 25, and I pray that God will sustain his family.

Who’s the Man? She’s the Man!

TV & Movies, , ,

shes-the-man--poster-shes-the-man-687673_351_500

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. – William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (Act 2, Scene 5)

So maybe a line that profound is out of place in a teen flick, but what the hey, Channing Tatum pulled it off. His character Duke Orsino said it to Viola (played by Amanda Bynes) when she told him the truth of her identity in the romantic comedy She’s the Man. I just have to give it to Amanda; she’s really the man, with her freaky boyish facial expressions and movements.

I’ve only read one Shakespeare play in my entire life (The Merchant of Venice), and found it interesting but pretty tedious so I’m not sure if I’m going to ever read another one. But if I do decide to read one more Shakespeare before I die, it will probably be Twelfth Night, the play where the movie She’s the Man was based.

Here are some interesting similarities and differences between the play Twelfth Night and the movie She’s the Man:

– The names used in both the movie and the play were the same for Viola, Sebastian and Olivia.

– In both the movie and the play, Orsino tried to get Viola to help him win over Olivia, but Viola ends up falling in love with him instead and Olivia ends up falling in love with the male version of Viola.

– In both the movie and the play, Sebastian and Olivia got together at the end.

– In the play, Viola fell in love with Orsino, who is a Duke. In the movie, Viola fell in love with her roommate and soccer teammate named Duke Orsino.

– In the play, the country where the shipwrecked Viola found herself was named Illyria. In the movie, Illyria was the name of the school where she transferred to join the boy’s soccer team.

– In the play, Cesario was the name Viola used when she pretended to be a man (not Sebastian, since she was not impersonating her twin). In the movie, Cesario was the name of the restaurant where the high school kids hung out.

– In the movie, Duke’s best friends are named Toby and Andrew. In the play, Toby is the name of Olivia’s uncle and Andrew is the name of one of her suitors.

– In the movie, Malvolio is Malcolm’s tarantula. In the play, Malvolio is Olivia’s steward.

Quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird

Literature, , ,
To kill a mockingbird cover

 

Today, I had about four hours to kill waiting for my boyfriend at Libis so I went to the nearby bookstore and chose a book to buy. I wanted something familiar and comforting, and couldn’t decide which one to buy – Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince or Volume 2 of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes collection. I previously owned copies of these books when I was in high school, but I lost them somewhere along the way or lent them out and never got them back. It never bothered me before since I never considered myself a book collector anyway. I usually just borrow books from friends or read them at Powerbooks  – thanks to the genius who allowed people to read the books at the store, sort of like a library; and put in Java Man Cafe as well that serves my favorite pasta with arrabiata sauce.

However, thanks to the influence of both my boyfriend Sidney and my good friend Mike R, I decided it would be nice to have my own personal library, so I guess I should start buying my books now. But anyway, back to the choosing: I put down Sherlock Holmes Volume 2 because I wasn’t sure if they had Volume 1, and I will only buy one volume if I’m sure I can buy the other. After more dilly-dallying, I finally put down The Little Prince because I realized that much as I loved the book, there’s no way it can last me four hours.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in grade 7 or 8 at UP Integrated School (which is equivalent to first or second year high school). I distinctly remember writing “Atticus… Atticus…” in my diary, which was supposed to remind me of my favorite character from the book, Atticus Finch. He was a widowed lawyer who always did what was right, even when it was lonely. The story still haunts me (although I did not cry this time) as it is very difficult for me to imagine that less than a lifetime ago, black people and white people seemed to live in two different worlds, being two different folks. But as Scout said in the book, when her brother Jem told her that he thought there were four different folks in their town, she replied, “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”

Anyway, here are some of my favorite quotations from the book which I highlighted in my copy as well.

SCOUT on reading: Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

ATTICUS to his children: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.

ATTICUS to his children again, when they got air rifles for Christmas, and as a reference to the title of the novel: I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit `em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

MISS MAUDIE to Scout, trying to explain why Atticus told them that it was a sin to kill mockingbirds: Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

ATTICUS to his children on a drug addict neighbor who died clean though suffering from withdrawal till the end: I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.

MISS MAUDIE to Scout, on why Atticus never boasted about his skill in marksmanship: People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.

CALPURNIA (the educated black servant of the Finches) to Scout: It’s not necessary to tell all you know.

ATTICUS to his son Jem, who couldn’t believe that the jury ruled against an obviously innocent black man: They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it – seems that only children weep.

Photo credit: seanelynn

Thought-Provoking Quotes from Fahrenheit 451

Literature, ,

Thanks again to my friend Mike R for introducing me to another great book – Fahrenheit 451 (which is “the temperature at which all books catch fire and burn”) by Ray Bradbury. I’ve heard of the author before, but for some reason I’ve never been interested in reading any of his books. Big mistake.

This is definitely a classic yet it’s quite easy to read; in fact, I finished this in only 3 sittings (two of which were during my lunch break), or less than two hours. But that’s another mistake. This book is not meant for speed-reading, which is why I’m planning to re-read this again (slowly this time).

Here are some of the interesting quotations from Fahrenheit 451 that can really make you think:

[Fire’s] real beauty is that it destroys responsibility and consequences. A problem gets too burdensome, then into the furnace with it.

With school turning out more runners, jumpers, racers, tinkerers, grabbers, snatchers, fliers, and swimmers instead of examiners, critics, knowers, and imaginative creators, the word “intellectual,” of course, became the swear word it deserved to be. You always dread the unfamiliar.

Intellectual as a swear word. I like that.

If the government is inefficient, topheavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it.

Why does this kind of government sound so strangely familiar? Oh well. I will NOT write about politics here.

If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none.

The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.

That’s the reason why I love Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It touches life beautifully.

You’re afraid of making mistakes. Don’t be. Mistakes can be profited by.

The most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom – the solid unmoving cattle of the majority.

There was a silly damn bird called a phoenix back before Christ: every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up. He must have been first cousin to man. But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again. And it looks like we’re doing the same thing, over and over, but we’ve got one damn thing the phoenix never had. We know the damn silly thing we just did. We know all the damn silly things we’ve done for a thousand years, and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we’ll stop making the goddam funeral pyres and jumping into the middle of them. We pick up a few more people that remember, every generation.

Unfortunately, though this is a very beautiful verse, the first thing that came to my mind was the image of Jean Grey aka Phoenix from the X-Men, and Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix from Harry Potter

Stuff your eyes with wonder… Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that … shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.

Another beautiful verse, ruined by the sudden image of Sid – not my boyfriend Sid – but Sid the sloth from the movie Ice Age, shaking his ass. 

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The Inspiring Coach Carter

TV & Movies, , , ,

Last night, I watched Coach Carter in its entirety for the first time. I’ve seen about half of it a couple of months ago at the insistence of my boyfriend, Sidney. We were flipping channels, and it was on HBO, but I didn’t want to see it because I thought it was just another feel-good basketball movie. But he won out, and even though it is a feel-good basketball movie, it’s also based on a true story, and some parts made me cry. As a bonus, Channing Tatum is in the movie, although I noticed that only after I’ve seen Step Up, when Sidney was enumerating Channing’s movies which I’ve seen before (namely She’s the Man and Coach Carter.)

As an aside, I read that before playing the Jason Lyle character in this movie, Channing has never played basketball before. He had to get some personal training to get him up to speed with the other players, one of which was Antwon Tanner, who plays the role of Skills in my favorite TV show One Tree Hill. But more on OTH on a future post.

Here are my favorite inspirational moments from Coach Carter (in chronological order):

#1 When Timo Cruz couldn’t finish his task of 1000 suicides and 2500 pushups in one week (which was his punishment for leaving the team the first time), Jason Lyle (played by Channing Tatum) stepped up and offered to do pushups for his teammate. He told Coach Carter, “You said we’re a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.” The entire team followed suit and did their part to help the exhausted Timo complete his punishment.

#2 When the people wanted to forcibly end the lockout and let the boys play despite the fact that more than half of them were failing in class, Coach Ken Carter got up to say the following:

“You really need to consider the message you’re sending this boys by ending the lockout. It’s the same message that we as a culture send to our professional athletes; and that is that they are above the law. If these boys cannot honor the simple rules of a basketball contract, how long do you think it will be before they’re out there breaking the law? I played ball here at Richmond high 30 years ago. It was the same thing then; some of my teammates went to prison, some of them even ended up dead. If you vote to end the lockout, you won’t have to terminate me; I’ll quit.”

#3 When the board ended up voting in favor of ending the lockout, Coach Carter went back to the gym to pack up his things and go home. He was stunned to see his players sitting on desks and studying in the middle of the court. Jason said, “Sir, they can cut the chains off the door, but they can’t make us play.” Damien explained, “We’ve decided we’re going to finish what you’ve started, sir.” And Worm couldn’t resist adding, “Yeah, so leave us be, Coach. We’ve got sh*t to do, sir.” That was funny and touching at the same time. But the best moment has to be when Timo stood up (and you remember how he was when he went to Coach Carter’s house in the middle of the night after his cousin got shot), and quoted the words of Marianne Williamson, which Nelson Mandela once used in a speech. This is what he said:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Wow. That’s really something. It’s more powerful if you see it in the context of the entire movie. The final song they played after the team lost their playoffs game is also a must-see (“Hope” by Twista featuring Faith Evans), and Channing is in the music video so that’s a bonus for me. 

Trapped by THE PARENT TRAP

TV & Movies, , ,

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It’s a bit funny to write about a movie that came out 10 years ago, but my nephew and niece were watching it last night when I got home, and I felt “trapped” into watching it with them. And I say trap in a good way, meaning I couldn’t leave without finishing it first because it was so funny and heartwarming.

The Parent Trap is definitely a classic, and is one of my family’s favorite films to watch when we’re together. Lindsay Lohan was really cute in this movie too, plus her British accent (as Annie) was dead-on.

Anyway, here are my favorite scenes from The Parent Trap:

#1 When Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) first met her mom, Elizabeth James (Natasha Richardson) on the stairs of the James household. The scene was just so happy and sad at the same time, because there’s the excitement of meeting her mother for the first time, but there’s also the pain of the lost years and her yearning to meet her mom (or mum, as the British call it).

#2 When Hallie finally told her mom that she wasn’t Annie, because Annie was in Napa with her father. This scene gets me every time. I mean seriously, can you watch this part and not tear up even just a bit?

#3 When Annie first met her dad, Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid), and she jumped up to his arms and hung onto his neck, saying “Finally!!!” It’s another bittersweet moment in the film.

#4 When Nick told Annie (whom he thought was Hallie) about making his young publicist, Meredith Blake (Elaine Hendrix), a part of their family. Annie said it was brilliant because she’d always wanted to have a big sister. When her dad explained that he was planning to marry (and not adopt) Meredith, Annie bursts out in French. The expression on her dad’s face was hilarious when he asked, “I didn’t know you could speak French?”

#5 When Chessy found out that Hallie was actually Annie, and then the dad came and asked her, “Why are you looking at her (Hallie) like that?”

Here’s an interesting trivia – the actress who played Meredith’s mother is the same actress who played the evil girlfriend (Meredith’s role) in the 1961 movie The Parent Trap. In that film, she was also named Vicky.

Stepping Up the Game with Step Up 2: The Streets

TV & Movies, , , ,

I’ve always been a fan of dance movies, so it’s no wonder I was so excited to watch the sequel of my favorite dance movie of all time, Step Up. I got even more excited when my boyfriend told me that Channing Tatum will be reprising his role as Tyler Gage, even if it’s just for a few minutes. I immediately asked him if Tyler was doing any dancing, and when he said yes, I knew I had to watch this movie. Anyway, here are my favorite scenes:

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#1 The dance battle between Tyler and Andie West (Brianna Evigan), and it’s not just because Channing was there. The dancing was fun, with the trampolines and the back flip from the DJ booth. My favorite part in that entire dance was when he jumped off the trampoline and hooked his long sleeves, so that when he jumped back to the floor he was only in his sleeveless shirt. After that move, the DJ screamed, “It’s over! It’s over!”

I also thought putting the dance-off in the movie was very smart because of the following reasons:

a) It provides continuity from Step Up 1 to Step Up 2 – it was like Tyler was passing the torch to Andie and Chase (whom we see freestyling at the Dragon Club in his black hoodie) By the way, speaking of hoodies, the black and white hoodie he was wearing was Nike. I hope they’ll sell it here. So anyway, unlike other sequels where you don’t really understand how one is related to the other (such as the Bring It On movies – you just know that everything’s about cheerleading), the short scenes with Tyler connect the two movies without seeming contrived or forced.

b) It explains the absence of both him and Nora from the rest of the movie. Remember when he told Andie that “Me and Nora goin’ on tour” then did this silly dance? It showed that they were still together, and they were both going places now, which is actually the case in real life for them too. In case you didn’t know, Channing Tatum (who played Tyler Gage) and Jenna Dewan (who played Nora Clark) are still going strong as a couple and as individual actors with promising careers.

c) It ensured that all Channing fans will go see the movie (mostly to see him dance). It also completed Tyler’s character transformation since Step Up 1 from unambitious kid who’s going nowhere fast to a driven rolemodel whom Andie’s guardian believed set a great example to all the other kids in the block.

So thanks to director Jon Chu for getting him there, though I wish Jenna had a cameo as well (even without dancing since the whole ballet thing probably wouldn’t work with the storyline).

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#2 The amazing moves of Moose (Adam Sevani) to the song “The Way I Are” on the stairs. First of all, can I just say he’s the spitting image of Gordo from the Lizzie McGuire show? They both got this nerdy geeky thing going for them.

This is Moose:

This is Gordo:

Anyway, what’s so funny about Moose’s dancing is that he’s such a nerd so you’d never think he’s capable of doing even the most basic dance moves. When Andie heard his ring tone, she disbelievingly said, “That is not your ring tone,” mainly because it’s not the type of music you’d expect a nerd to like. Then Moose does this funny beat box and weird moves and says, “Watch me” then started free styling up the stairs. Talk about shock value! The New York Times even said he “might be the baddest nerd in movie history.”

The little ballerina stole the scene in Step Up 1 when she glared at Tyler, who couldn’t keep laughing while doing ballet. For Step Up 2, the scene stealer has got to be Moose. I mean, he even won an award for it at the 2008 Young Hollywood Award.

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#3 The final dance of the MSA crew, especially Moose in “Bounce” and the pair dancing of Andie and Chase Collins (Robert Hoffman) towards the end. I’ve never seen two more evenly matched dancers together. Tyler and Nora were matched as well, but they were good in different styles. Both Andie and Chase are amazing hip-hop dancers. I loved watching them together.