linda linda linda

i watch a lot of anime so this very cute japanese film affectionately entitled linda linda linda came up on my netflix. named after the song (only 2 lindas) by the blue hearts, a japanese punk band influenced by the ramones (who make a fictional guest appearance). see/hear the song here. it's the version from the movie. very catchy, if you ask me.

the movie is about girls. teenage girls who come together randomly to form a band just to participate in a rock festival. well, the singer is the random component. she replaces the vocalist who had to leave the former band as a result of some cat fight with another former band member. the story includes a myriad of female social issues. the different lives each member of the band leads. there's a leader and followers. awkwardness between strangers and new friendships (kindred spirits are realized) and most entertaining, awkward relations with their male counterparts. the ending is not so surprising as it ends happily and makes you feel good, in general. it's about friendship and music, which i really enjoyed.

and most important, i now know how to write my name in japanese. hahaha.

the wonders of coincidence

i recently saw this movie, lovers of the arctic circle, as recommended to me in my netflix. it's a spanish film made back in 1998. there are no known actors (that i know of). but it's a romantic drama. i find that i really enjoy romantic films. dramas or comedies, as long as it is romantic, i kinda dig it. chick flicks, i guess. they are temporary moments of romance, almost like real life. in the case of movies, it is an hour and a half of romantic moments.back to the film, the story is about two kids named ana & otto. they meet in elementary school and instantly fall in love. it's the cutest thing. the movie is all about coincidences. and you see each of their perspectives of the same situation. one after the other. this is one of the components of the movie that seems really unique and cool. sort of along the lines of amelie and run, lola run. not only do the two have palindrome names but they also love the arctic circle. they talk about the "midnight sun" in finland. just so i don't ruin it, i will summarize the major coincidences. otto's father ends up marrying ana's mother and the two are step siblings but are secretly in love with each other. otto was named after a german pilot his grandfather smoked a cigarette with during the war. and the coincidence is that ana eventually meets this german pilot, who ends up being her step grandfather. craziness. the ending is a little tragic, which makes it even more romantic.

i had an interesting chat with a good friend on the train about coincidences. he says, they are more common than we know. and that if we open our eyes to them, we would discover them more often. certain coincidences are obviously not welcomed but random coincidences are kinda cool. for instance, i went dancing last night at leisure and i met this guy. i was dancing next to his british friends and could kinda feel him watching me. his friend bumped into me and that's how he started talking to me. i forget how we got on the topic of san diego, but turns out, he went to uc san diego too. and graduated in the same year as me. and lastly, we're the same age! he's a month and a half older than me. what a coincidence, right?

ian curtis & control

i finally saw control on netflix. aside from the poor yet typical male behavior, i enjoyed it on a deeper level than i imagined. it's hard to believe that ian curtis was only 23 when he killed himself.

for those who don't know, ian curtis was the singer of the band, joy division which spawned new order, after curtis's death with the addition of gillian gilbert. new order is my most favorite band ever. yet, i was never really a joy division fan. generally, i think joy division fans aren't really new order fans either. the music between the two bands are very different.

back to the film. it plays like a documentary. i guess that makes it a mockumentary? the title is very fitting to his life. it was all about control. and after reading an interview with his widow, debbie curtis, it reminded me of how ted treated me. like ted, ian wanted to control her. from music to books and whatever else she didn't mention. it's controlling in the subtlest way but worse because you don't know it. i have yet to read his biography by her but i plan to. i also want to read the book that tony wilson's ex-wife wrote in collaboration (maybe just referenced) with the other woman, annik honoré. it sounds like you get both stories with those two books.

despite being attracted to such musical genius, (which i admit is very appealing) how do you go further and steal someone else's husband/wife? i know this happens all the time but i just don't get it. especially someone with a new baby. don't even get me started with ian curtis as a man. he really sucked. seeing things like this really make marriage so unappealing to me. ugh, sorry, this is beside the point.

the point is the music. the movie made me want to listen to joy division. and after doing so, i found the darkness of the music is really very beautiful.

once in a while...

...comes a great indie/foreign film that is so heart felt that it is worthy of a blog post. this movie, once, has achieved such greatness. at least with me it has. and since it won best foreign film for the 2008 independent spirit awards®. maybe it wasn't just me. as with many other great films i've seen via netflix, it was recommended to me by my manager to put into my queue.

i decided to watch it very late after a day of packing. i missed a bit of the first part but was pulled in soon after. the music is amazing. glen hansard (from the band frames) sings with an aching passion. the movie has a documentary feel to it. it's awkward and real. songstress markéta irglová plays opposite hansard in the film as well as a music collaborator. she also sings beautifully, especially in if you want me. i was blown away by her voice. earlier, i got chills just talking about it (the music) with my coworkers.

the music was so good, i plan on purchasing the soundtrack.

last week: 3 consecutive days in the city

on wednesday, i drove up to san francisco after work to attend a special screening of the latest documentary by a former student of mine. despite the traffic (an hour and a half from palo alto), it was worth it to see her and her film. sharmeen obaid-shinoy was a student in the program i worked for back in 2002. this was my favorite cohort i worked with. it was the first year of students i worked with from application to graduation. start to finish. sharmeen went on to complete a master's in communication. which was nice because she was around for an extra year. i haven't seen her since 2004. it was really lovely to see her.

her latest film, iraq: the lost generation, is amazing and i admit, a bit difficult to watch. it's raw and touching. what documentaries are made of, i suppose. in a matter of a few months, she visits iraqi refugees in syria and jordan. the tribulations as a result of war is beyond devastating. it's hard to imagine it, right? the violence, crime, and poverty as result of wartime on the lives of women, children and families is utterly horrendous. and to think this was just a glimpse of what's happened. if you get the opportunity to watch this film (or any of her documentaries), you'll know what i'm talking about.

sharmeen was scheduled to go to the airport after the screening so i was able to catch her for a quick hug and chat. she's coming back in the fall so hopefully, we'll get to plan something and spend more time together.

on thursday, my good friend joe was up visiting from LA. so we planned to go to popscene to see maps & atlases and foals. the last time i was at popscene, was early may when the mary onettes played there. the last time i was there or any club with joe was nearly a year ago and more. as we are waiting to get in, jorge says to me, your bf is here, (points to joe) i'm telling.... at the exact moment, who else walks out but chris, my popscene bf. i never expect to see him there. i kinda always hope to see him but am mostly disappointed. i'd given up on him a while ago.

seeing him is just what lisa says it's like when guys see a beautiful girl. dazed and confused, kinda. just looking at him puts me under this spell. he's got this great smile. and his eyes are nice and big. and beautiful. and i'm like putty in his arms. he gives the best hugs on top of the irresistible smile. even joe said he had pretty eyes. haha. we hung out for a little bit. he left early so i walked him out and waited with him for his ride. it got cold so he put his jacket on me. when his ride came, he kissed me sweetly on my neck and said he'd call me. it's always nice seeing him...

foal was fowl, so joe and i left for some munchies. we went to sparky's in castro. i think i got to bed by 3 am. fun fun fun.

i'd taken friday off to hang out with joe. we planned to have lunch at xanh. i'd never had lunch there before. they have this great lunch special for $15. you get soup, an appetizer and an entree. it was sooo filling! mmmm...

luckily, we were heading up to the city to walk around (to walk off our lunch!) and shop. joe and i took bart to the sf shopping center from millbrae. it took longer than i thought it would despite being so close to sf. we were there for 3 or so hours and surprisingly, i came away with nothing. joe got sunglasses. that was it. it was the start of the memorial weekend sales and nadda. i'm still in disbelief that i didn't get anything...

mostly martha

mostly martha made in 2001 is the original version of no reservations starring catherine zeta-jones & aaron eckhart. while i absolutely adore aaron eckhart, i don't think i will watch no reservations after having seen mostly martha.

i love foreign films. if there's a foreign version of an american film, i'd rather see the foreign version. i don't see a whole lot of german films but after watching this one, i think i'd like to see more. i thought this movie was really charming. it was happy, sad, romantic and funny. all good emotions to feel in a movie. if you want to see no reservations, you should skip it and see this one.

i am legend

last night, i watched i am legend starring will smith. the only thing i knew about it was that it was based in new york and there was some sort of zombie invasion. when i was in new york with bernie, we saw cloverfield also based in new york. after the movie, bernie's roommate pascal said he was sick of seeing movies where new york is the target of vast destruction. i guess they both had seen i am legend. and i remember thinking, everything bad happens here. or los angeles. what's interesting is that the movie is based on richard matheson's 1954 novel originally set in LA, not NY.

anyway, i'm probably the biggest chicken shit when it comes to horror films. and this movie was no different from the others. as a matter of fact, it was one of the scariest films i've seen in a while. needless to say, it scared me shitless. there were parts i couldn't bare to watch. i actually had to talk through the scary parts to keep myself distracted. and i stayed up reading to keep my mind off of the movie.

i know, that's why i call myself a chicken shit.

control

in theatres on october 26 (now!)

sf- landmark lumiere
berkeley- landmark shattuck

anyone want to see it with me?

les poupées russes

i'd been wanting to watch l'auberge espanole with audrey tautou for a while now. then i heard there was a sequel, called les poupées russes (russian dolls). i got them both on netflix. there was an interesting concept with the russian dolls. so i don't ruin the ending (as i seem to always do), i won't go into detail how it relates to the movie. but the concept was simply that love is like the russian dolls. in life, you go through so many "dolls" until you get to the last one. and i suppose that last one is the one. it's kinda hopefully romantic of me, isn't it? ♥