One Year (2008)

January 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 am |

Happy One Year for pikanpie.com ‘`BLOG!!!!

 

The blog has served its purpose well throughout the year, and it’s been a fantastic year. I’ve got a nice treat at the end of this entry also.

If I had to describe 2008 in a few words, I would say: pivotal, turning point, revelation, successful, and most of all ambitious. The years feel shorter and shorter, but the memories, the moments, and the accomplishments become greater and greater.

Let’s start with pivotal and turning point. I recall the cold nights of December 2007 as being very quiet in my apartment. There weren’t many visitors, and I had seemingly put a final end to a life of the past. That January 2008 was the birth of fiftyonred, and it was then that I knew that this year would be different from other years. In 2008, I was to be bound by nothing but myself - no evil will hold me from that of which I desire and no chivalry would deny me the liberty of life. It was this pivotal year that I decided that this is the year to act. This is the time to go from an idealist to an optimistic realist. And this was the turning point of many aspects of my life.

This lead to a self revelation. After the demise of Wings, I no longer needed wings to fly, and this lead to an absolute freedom in 2007. I was finally free. But such a freedom lacks direction, and that’s what 2008 has given me. The proof is in the frequency of blog posts, which becomes even more clear in the last few months. It’s decreased because of the successes.

In no way will I ever consider my life to be successful until I’ve dominated the world. But in 2008, even though I’ve had far more failures, successes were present as well. I was able to show myself that I’m not just talk, that I can produce results. But now that I know this, you won’t see me use this bold word for another few years. The goal is to aim higher than we can reach.

That leads to the final word, ambitious. This comes with the age. I’ve always prevented myself from having actual goals because of these questions that have no answers. In a negative sense, I’ve lost touch with that childhood aspect of my life. But I had given myself a choice to make back then, and ‘it doesn’t matter’ does not count as a decision. It took me something like four years to finally decide to do something. If you want something, do something. Maybe love is all that you need, but you gotta learn to love yourself. And I can’t be doin that if I don’t give myself the shot to be all than I can be. Because deep inside, I believe I’ve got oceans of potential. And I’m not going to hold back anymore. World, here I come.

 

So if you were bold enough to click for more, you get the bonus feature!

My father used to hate spending money on a movie ticket to only go see one movie. So he goes movie hopping, and he used to do this way before I knew the meaning of movie hopping. If you don’t know, it’s when you pay for one movie and afterwards just walk into another movie. You can do this because they only check your ticket in the front, and once you’re through, you’re through. I tried going with him once or twice to see his three or four movies, but it was unbearable. I typically don’t like to do this because I go to the movies as a pasttime, as a social event. My father goes to watch the damn movies.

After some time, this habit escalated. And now pops goes about once every couple of months to watch seven movies in one go. Seven movies (yes, it’s possible). That’s like 14 hours straight of movies. He plots out all of the movie times and makes the best schedule so that he can see up to seven movies. And he’s got many stories of nearly getting caught or being recognized. No one will dare to tag along, so he goes by himself.

I always thought it to be a little sad that he does all of this on his own. So in light of the new year, I decided to go with him. Out of 7 movies, I am 5-1-1. Five wins, one loss, one tie. The five wins are the ones I sat through from 3:20PM to 1:28AM - Bedtime Stories, The Spirit, Tales of Despereaux, Yes Man, Curious Case of Benjamin Button in that order. The one loss is because I could not wake up at 10am so I missed it - Marley and Me. The tie is because I didn’t make it to this one, but I’ve seen it already… so a tie is as close to the game-record analogy as I could get - Seven Pounds.

So here are the 6 movies that I’ve seen from above in my ranking order:

6. Tales of Despereaux - This was actually a pretty good movie, and having it as the last on my list says a lot of good things about all the movies that I’ve seen. I just didn’t like how straightfoward and obvious the entire synopsis was. I’m a sucker for character development, and I didn’t like any character in particular. The animated princess was a sweetie, but that’s about it. I liked the whole be-a-rebel theme though, but it was played out. I must also note, the main score for the orchestration is nice. It’s got that final fantasy interval, and the music director utilizes it at the right time knowing very well its effect.

5. The Spirit - I was not a big Sin City or 300 fan, but after this movie, I’m a huge Scarlett Johansson fan. I used to just know her as the chick who beat out Jessica Alba on the hot 100. I just never thought she was hot. She was beautiful and cute, but there was just something about her that seemed plastic. But it fit perfectly into the style of this movie. I can’t pin point what it is - she looks like a normal chick, but you put her in the right costume and she’s got ya hearty. Anyway, back to the movie - horrible plot development and the whole thing was so damn slow, like the rest of em. But it had it’s short moments and one liners that bring about a sophistication to it. Eva Mendez never looked so luscious. Kudos on finding Seychelle Gabriel. Very cute, very sassy a very convincing young Eva. Did I mention Scarlett Johansson is in it?

4. Seven Pounds - You gotta love Big Will. If there are any movies that I’d watch without any previous knowledge of, it’d be a Will Smith movie, Adam Sandler movie, or Judd Appatow film. Regretfully, I’ve got to say that this one did not deliver like other Will movies. Maybe it’s because I casted it in the shadow of Pursuit of Happyness, which I absolutely loved. Or maybe it’s because I feel like a horrible person after watching this film. I’m not sure. The whole premise, the meaning, the intricated character plots and all, they make for a great film, but something about not knowing what the hell the movie is about an hour and half into it bugs me a bit.

3. Bedtime Stories - What did I say about Adam Sandler movies? This one is no exception. Casting really knew how to pick their chicks. Teresa Palmer is gorgeous and sexy in making you believe that she’s a billion dollar princess. Kerri Russell is casted perfectly as the less-significant teacher who ends up as the fairest maid of all. Such a part takes natural beauty, and Kerri Russell has natural beauty. The cameos are always a plus in Adam Sandler movies. While the jokes are a notch below that of Click, the plot twists are better thought out. And, once again, the theme is made blatantly obvious, which seems to work very well for Sandler - Life doesn’t suck.

2. Curious Case of Benjamin Button - This is a movie for the times. It’s got everything that you could ask in it, and that might have hurt it a bit because, man, it was long. Brad Pitt is chill, but the way he and his lady talk can really put me to bed. Do people really speak that slowly in real life? The film’s greatest strength is its story, which to my knowledge is not original. A man that ages backwards… 2 things - 1) sounds like an awesome story premise and 2) how the hell are they going to pull this off in a movie. But they did. There’s no disappointment. You see his entire life from beginning to end. Extraordinary approach to viewing life and it’s difficulties in an alternate perspective. In my opinion, a well-developed demonstration of the holy scripture, alleluia - the lord giveth and the lord taketh away.

Might I also add the the war seen was really intense. Normal war scenes make you curious, excited, and wanting in on the action. This was makes you want to do exactly what Brad Pitt does, get the fuck down and hide ’cause those shits are coming loud and fast and it’s coming right atcha.

1. Yes Man - The winner! Of course not as deep as Benjamin Button, not as meaningful as Seven Pounds, and not as artistic as The Spirit (and no, ScarJo was not in it either). But let’s face it, through all the criticism and style and directing and hype, etc, etc, what it really comes down to in the end is how much you enjoyed a movie. And seriously, sitting through five movies in a row, you know in the end which one you enjoyed the most. And it’s this one. I’m actually not a Jim Carrey fan at all. Most of his past movies were mediocre at best. I liked Liar Liar, though. But if you want to see Jim Carrey at his best, this is the movie to watch. It’s like he’s been holding out these few years to through this one out. The jokes are great, the plot is well developed, and the characters are likeable. I usually find myself not liking Carrey characters, but Carl Allen is realistically very likeable. He hits comedy from all different angles here, from his signature act-like-an-idiot to situation irony to a fly landing on his eyeball. This is a good movie to watch. Once in a while you’ll want to turn away because Carrey bores you, and trust me Carrey bores the shit outa me, but not in this movie. There’s always something there in each scene to appreciate. Where do they come up with these new gags? He also plays a very convincing drunk.