Trainspotting

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

It’s been over a decade since “Trainspotting” was first released on film, but Jo and I only got around to watching it yesterday even as she prepares to fly off to study in Wales. We figured you had to be in the right mindset to catch this film; that is expecting to see lots of drugs and syringes, hear lots of hard to understand Scottish accents, and just preparing to see what all the hype regarding the film was about. Sure enough, we got all of that and more.

Mark “Rent Boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor) is one of a group of friends in Edinburgh, the majority of which just so happen to be heroin addicts. Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) are just as hooked as Renton is, while Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) aren’t addicts yet have their own quirks as well. Most of them enjoy living in a perpetual heroin-induced fog, aware that the drugs give them a greater sense of happiness than what the real world usually does. Despite Sick Boy and his girlfriend losing a baby due to neglect caused by being high, they still continue with the habit. Even as Renton and Spud attempt to get clean, something always seem to happen that brings them right back in.

Director Danny Boyle weaves a manic story of fast dialogue that will oftentimes have you trying to read the subtitles, yet also cringing at the various ways that Renton and his “mates” sink deep into heroin in the mid-1990s. The reality of their pathetic addiction contrasts with the dreamy nature of the scenes when Renton or the others are high and existing in a virtual dream. It had been argued when “Trainspotting” was first released that it glorified drug use, however Jo and I found the contrary to be true. As someone who can’t stand seeing needles, I had to turn away from the tube a number of times as McGregor and the other actors were in various states of preparing to ingest the drug.

I also found out that the term “trainspotting” is British slang for trying to find a vein to intravenously inject drugs. Eww. Anyway, this is the film that first got Ewan McGregor the acclaim that he has since mined into a very successful film career. It is easy now, in hindsight, to see how good Ewan was even then. The rest of the cast don’t disappoint either. Perhaps setting the tone for being a villain in most of his recent movies, Carlyle’s Begbie is psychotic, in-your-face, and as paranoid as can be. Jonny Lee Miller’s Sick Boy channels Sean Connery in some scenes while playing tortured drug addict/negligent father in others. Ewen Bremner’s Spud comes across as the weakest of their group, even defecating in his girlfriend’s bed and resulting in one of the grossest scenes I’ve ever seen on film.

However, a personal delight for me was seeing Kevin McKidd’s role as Tommy. As a fan of the HBO series “Rome” I only saw McKidd as the powerful former centurion Lucius Vorenus, someone who is loyal to a fault, to the point of alienating his family. Seeing the actor ten years before he took this role is something indeed as one notices the changes in him. Apparently, he once had long curly blond hair, and was always pretty physically fit. As Tommy goes from drug-free to addict and loses all sense of self-worth, almost mirrors Vorenus’ descent after Niobe’s death in “Rome”. It’s nice to see that even though McGregor was the clear breakout star of this particular film, a lot of the other actors have made names for themselves in recent years too.

I must admit that there were indeed times when Jo and I were cringing from either fear of needles (me), or gross scenes (the “worst toilet in Scotland” scene). Still, I’m happy to say that I finally see what all the hype was about regarding “Trainspotting”. Together with “Snatch”, “The History Boys”, and “Hot Fuzz”, there seems to be a pattern of British filmmakers who come up with slightly off-tangent movies with well-developed characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and lots of innovative jumpcuts and editing. To say that “Trainspotting” was the first in this group to have those elements would be a great compliment, and the only other compliment I can add for now is that is stands up remarkably well for a film shot over 11 years ago.

Porco Rosso

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

As a big Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli fan, I was quite depressed when, last December 10, my collection of Miyazaki DVD’s that Jo bought for me from Hong Kong was stolen from my car. We had not yet even begun to skim the surface of Miyazaki’s work, and those 7 DVDs were an absolute treasure that Jo somehow managed to find. Luckily, since that time, Jo has lent her boss, Maggie, my three remaining Miyazaki DVDs: “Princess Mononoke”, “Howl’s Moving Castle”, and one of my favorite movies of all time, “Spirited Away”. With Maggie becoming a fan as well, she ended up buying an original DVD of Miyazaki’s “Porco Rosso” from the US.

Originally released in 1992, “Porco Rosso” (or “Kurenai no Buta”, literally translated as “The Crimson Pig”) tells of World War I fighting ace-turned bounty hunter Porco. Once a human named Marco Pagot, some unexplained curse turned him into a human-pig hybrid. He still retains his unbelievable piloting skills however, and becomes the scourge of sea pilots across the Adriatic and Mediterranean. Porco shares a non-romance with the beautiful Gina, the wife of his late friend Bellini. When an American named Donald Curtis shoots down Porco’s plane, he also believes he’s killed the pig. Instead, Porco hides in Milan where he wants the plane repaired by Piccolo the mechanic. Instead, Piccolo entrusts his granddaughter Fio to fix Porco’s plane. Hesitant at first, Porco eventually finds Fio to be an excellent mechanic and earns his respect.

Even as Curtis tries to convince Gina to leave with him for America, she reveals that she awaits the day when Porco will come to her garden and whisk her away himself. The other sea pirates force Porco to square off with Curtis for a price: if Porco wins, Curtis will pay off his debts but if Curtis wins, Fio must marry him. The ensuing dogfight leaves both pilots out of ammo and desperate, eventually settling on fisticuffs. Can there be a resolution before the Italian air force crash their little gathering of sea pilots? Is there any hope of returning Porco to his human form? Will he end up with Gina or with the young Fio?

In a change from the usual Miyazaki fare, “Porco Rosso” has a clear historical and geographical setting in our world. Set between the first two World Wars, Porco is shown as a hero of “the Great War” and is shown fighting Austro-Hungarian forces. As we have come to expect from this fantastic creator, the animation is beautiful, clean, and still stunning. Before he adjusted to the age of computers, Miyazaki had already mastered traditional animation, and it is evident here. The dog fights are a marvel to behold as the planes, the pilots, the bullets, and everyone in between moves realistically and smoothly. Longtime Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi gives us a soundtrack reminiscent of the old Hollywood romances, only fitting as Porco clearly has a little Humphrey Bogart in him.

Since Disney and John Lasseter secured the American distribution rights for Studio Ghibli, the American voice actors have proven to be excellent. The meticulous attention to detail such as trying to use words to match the lip movement of the animated characters shows me a devotion that Miyazaki must really appreciate, thus continuing his partnership with Disney. Michael Keaton as Porco is clearly channeling his inner Bogart while also portraying a tortured soul. Susan Egan’s Gina knows how much power she has over the sea pirates, and isn’t afraid to flaunt it. For Brit Cary Elwes to play Texan Donald Curtis is a fine nod to the actor’s chameleon-like ability behind the mic. Cindy Williams went for a higher pitch to play the young Fio, and she pulls that off with ease.

As we’ve come to expect from every masterpiece from Studio Ghibli, the story is always what really carries the film. Beyond the beautiful animation, the sweet soundtrack or even the perfectly cast voice-acting, without a strong story to tie it all together, it would be for naught. Thankfully, “Porco Rosso” has all of these elements, with the story being the strongest among them. Porco’s plight has made him bitter toward humans yet he still values his flirtatious arrangement with Gina. This despite his bitterness of being a pig and being an object of ridicule. The arrogant American Curtis falls in love with every woman he meets, utterly convinced that they should all bow at his feet and that he has a grand destiny. Beautiful Gina holds power in a male-dominated field yet pines for the one male who refuses to be swayed by her. Vulnerable yet capable Fio looks up to Porco, though he fears abusing the trust she places on him.

Again, Hayao Miyazaki does not disappoint. There seems to be no let up in this man’s continuous quest to craft finely written Japanese animation that can be appreciated by anybody at any age. For someone to excel at his craft for so long, and to be admired the world over by so many, it’s amazing to think that Miyazaki keeps producing great results with every film he makes. I for one am glad that he’s still in the game, still keeping us fans satisfied after all these years.

Kobe Bryant Supernatural Tour in Manila, September 5, 2007

Notice the spelling error?

The best basketball player in the world returned to Manila after 9 years to promote his new Nike Zoom Kobe II shoes and to conduct a basketball clinic at the Philsports Arena. Luckily, good buddy Jude got us seats. Kobe is still da man!!!

Knocked Up

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

It’s not the most pleasant of situations, and is often seen as a mistake or a horrible accident. However, accidental pregnancies have been around since the dawn of time and will probably continue to happen until the end of time. Still, if the some of the guys who brought us “The 40-Year Old Virgin” could make a comedy movie about this stressful predicament, it had the chance to be funny, right?

Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a slacker, stoner, and porno-lover. That sentence alone should get most guys to love him. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a production assistant on E! Television who suddenly gets to be an interviewer. Just as her career is on the rise, Alison and Ben get hammered and have a one night stand. Eight weeks later, Alison finds out she’s pregnant and their lives are about to change forever. What follows is an attempt by these two seemingly polar opposites to try and make a relationship for themselves in light of the baby that they’re about to have.

Director Judd Apatow has done two of my favorite comedies of all time: “40-Year Old” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” Whereas those two films had huge laugh out loud moments for me, scenes that literally had me grabbing my stomach due to laughter, “Knocked Up” completely lacked those. I don’t know if the premise of a Katherine Heigl actually falling for a Seth Rogen is just so incomprehensible to me, but I believe it’s more of an unimaginative and relatively unfunny script that kept this movie from being a great comedy. The dialogue was alright, but nothing crisp or really, really funny.

Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation that removed the funny from this flick. I mean, it’s okay to see Ben and his stoner friends smoking their bongs and peddling porn for a while, but it also got old relatively fast. It was funny when Ben and Alison tried having sex while she was already pregnant, but it still lacked an extra dose to get me laughing. In the end, maybe Apatow, Rogen, and company also wanted to tell a story about gaining maturity and taking responsibility for one’s actions. Seriously, who wants to see maturity and responsibility in a comedy? Not me!

Overall, “Knocked Up” wasn’t a bad film, it just wasn’t a great film either. Considering the track record of the director, writers, and actors, that’s quite disappointing. But hey, it’s not like it was ever shown on the big screen in the Philippines anyway. You gotta love free downloads.

Reign Over Me

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Take then a dentist with a thriving practice. Married, with three beautiful daughters, and a poodle to boot. Now take that all away. Take it away by having your entire family on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. That’s what happened to Charlie Fineman in “Reign Over Me”.

In a rare dramatic role, Adam Sandler plays Charlie, a man who seems to have lost everything (including his mind) after the events of September 11, 2001. Don Cheadle plays his old college roommate Alan Johnson. Now a successful dentist, married and with two kids, Alan bumps into Charlie after a long time, and is surprised his old friend barely remembers him. Even as Alan tries to balance his life with wife Janeane (Jada Pinkett Smith), an inappropriate sexual advance by a patient (Saffron Burrows), and his medical partners, he also wants to check how Charlie is now. Unfortunately Charlie doesn’t act like he even remembers his old life, instead fixing and destroying the kitchen in his condo every few weeks. Can Alan bring his friend back to the real world without opening up old wounds?

When I picked up this DVD, I’ll admit that the first thing that got my attention was its stars. I’ve long been a fan of Sandler’s comedy and I really like Cheadle’s acting choices. I was a bit surprised at how heavy the subject matter turned out to be, but it was a pleasant kind of surprise. Cheadle and Smith again bring on the acting that has gotten them attention in the past. Their story of a marriage that looks ideal, but is actually dominated by the wife provides both actors with material to mesh with each other. Even cameos by Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon as Charlie’s estranged in-laws gave us strong performances, particularly when Charlie attempts an awkward reconciliation with them late in the film.

I’ve never really been a Saffron Burrows fan, but her manic and depressed dental patient here was quirky enough that you actually sympathized with her plight. Liv Tyler plays Alan’s friend and Charlie’s new psychiatrist Angela Oakhurst, and we are treated to the acting that once made Tyler one of Hollywood’s hot new actresses. Though she has noticeably aged since then, her quiet, controlled acting serves as a good counterpoint to Sandler’s necessary over-the-top neurosis.

More than any other actor in this film, it is Adam Sandler who provides the good stuff. For a man who is more famous for punching Bob Barker and playing a semi-retarded football player onscreen, this was truly a shocker from “The Waterboy”. All the pain that Charlie has chosen to bury or forget just explodes out of Sandler the second he even thinks that somebody is trying to psychoanalyze him. It’s raw, it’s uncomfortable, and it feels real. When Charlie opens up to Alan and realizes that this man may be the only real friend he has, you’re riveted to the screen as he recalls how his life and loved ones were taken away in a flash.

Director Mike Binder gives us a funny, poignant, and painful account of how the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could literally shatter a person’s life. As Charlie’s psyche seems irreparable, even as his in-laws and Alan try to reach out to him, we get the sense that Charlie would rather not live in the present, preferring instead to live when his loved ones were still close to him. I heard from a friend that Adam Sandler almost got Oscar consideration for this portrayal, and it’s easy to see why. Yes, I still love seeing him acting like a retard making funny voices or trying to be charming in romantic comedies. However it’s also nice to know that this guy’s actually got a little more depth in his acting repertoire and is doesn’t look like a forced effort.