So precious...

Today has been a precious day. It rained a good deal this morning, and snowed a good deal as well from afternoon until now, the weather very well puts me under a melacholic mood. Just yesterday and several days before, depressive bout of thoughts didn't leave me even for a second... I cried myself to sleep, to awake this morning feeling light and refreshed... as if a heavy cloak of dark clouds had finally lifted. Everything appears precious to me, even the little act of driving in the rain, to catching glimpses of snow falling outside of the windows as I sat working on my assignment, to seeing my parents back from work, to cooking spontaneously a fried rice dish... Then I know... I had been too hard on myself. If only I had looked a little bit closer to what really matters. I couldn't see it then, and suddenly, a revelation came, not from careful analysis of self-introspection like I always do, but from simply allow myself to live, to breathe in the moments, to experience everything as it is and as it comes. We humans are strange, and much stronger than one is able to give credits to. Perhaps, this feeling of tranquil happiness is just that, a fleeting moment of revelation, and the next day, stress and unhappiness will again take me captive... even so, I am happy just as I am now. Isn't that life? We struggle just for that brief moment of happiness? Let me be selfish for a little bit then... because yes, I am selfish, it has always been my weakness. But I'll keep trying to conquer it... because there will always be another better tomorrow.

.Life - Movies.

Lately, it seems like besides the usual everyday work and chores, what I do is lay around and watch movies. I don't know, when I get home from work it's usually 8:30 pm or later, and I just can't force myself to do anything else. Last time at the library I borrowed two books to read (one is a Murakami's book and the other is called the Book Thief) but haven't even started yet, hic T^T; Hope that will change soon. And August is coming, which means school will start for me again after 3 weeks or so T_____T;


1) Life is beautiful (Italy) ... 4/5

Beautiful movie, I wasn't familiar with Italian films so it took me a while to 'get used' to the style. But once I did, I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. Very good performance all around.


2) Paris, je t'aime (France) ... 3/5

Movie compiles of a lot of short little stories. Some I liked, some were just plain boring. Overall, it was a pretty good movie.


3) Way of Blue Sky (Japan) ... 3/5

This was a slow, laid-back, bittersweet, heartfelt teen movie (of course with dramas but minus all the cat-fights, vengeance, popularity contest, etc, etc.); just very typical of Japanese movies. I didn't enjoy it until half-way through when the tension was pushed up a little bit.


4) The Machinist (US) ... 4/5

Woah, I was pleasantly surprised at how this movie came out. Watched without any pre-notion of what it was about but I love it :). Very good psychological thriller and darn, my admiration for Christian Bale was pushed up one notch seeing how he lost 60lbs for this role 0.o; *respects*


5) Waiting in the Dark (Japan) ... 3/5

Again, a slow and very quiet thriller. I liked it enough but would not vote it very highly. The story was rather thin, and there could have been more character-study but it wasn't too bad. Though this is definitely not for the impatients.


6) Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Japan/Animation) ... 3/5

I generally like most Ghibli movies, this one... not so much. The visuals were stunning as expected but the story left me -_- most of the time. Probably a second watch will be needed. So far, this is my least favorite amongst all the Ghibli movies I have seen up until this point...


7) The Scent of Green Papaya (Vietnam) ... 3.5/5

The cinematography and music were exceptional in this movie. But uhm, it was slow... Beautiful movie though, wish there could be a little more to the story however.


One good news though, my sister just gave birth to a baby girl yesterday ^^!!!! I'm so glad both of my sister and the baby are healthy; too bad I won't be able to see the baby until next year when I get a chance to go back to Vietnam after 10 years. We were so worried for my sister all through the last 2 days, and now we could take a big belly breath of relief. And my mom is leaving for Vn this coming Friday, because of that since last week I've been running errands for her all around town -_____-, doctor appointments, shopping for clothes, gifts, medicine, etc. etc.; it drove me insane, lol. But, but... freedom at last!!! Lol, just kidding :). I'll be missing her, but I know it's all for good because my sister at this moment needs my mom more than anyone else. I can't wait to see my first niece :D.

That's all I wanna say this time, I'm so tired yet I've got to start on a crochet project *yawns*... argh, i need time, hic hic...

_ in the zone _

I watched some very good movies recently.

1) 3-iron (Korean)


This is a very poignant and quiet movie. Yup, you say it, I love my movies quiet and charming. They say 'still water runs deep', not that it's always true but for the most parts, I dislike talkative movies that are loud just for the sake of it. 3-iron is a movie about a strange romance between a guy who breaks into people's house when they're absent to live up their resources, in return he fixes up broken things for the owners and does laundry, and an abused woman in one of the houses he breaks in. She follows him and together they embark on a journey. The whole movie, the main guy never spoke one word, and the woman uttered only a few phrases, one of them I think was 'I love you'. And uhm, hehe, I watched the movie in Korean but still understood most of them just fine. That is to say how little dialogues this movie has, but it was such a beautiful beautiful movie of love that really tugs at my heartstrings.


2) Les Choristes (French)


Another French movie that I really really love, the other one being Amelie. This one is about the transformation a transferred teacher has on his rebellious students by creating a choir. The music in this movie is absolutely breathtaking. A very charming little movie that will leave you with a smile at the end, even though the ending was pretty sad itself, but it was also very endearing.


3) My kid could paint that (Documentary)


Woah, this documentary was great and thought-provoking. It's about this little 4-year-old girl who took the world by storm in 2005 with her amazing abstract paintings. People claimed that she was a prodigy until a program on 60 minutes stated that the whole thing was a scam, and that her father was the one who 'directed' the painting, and polished it up. One of her paintings could sell up to $20,000 or more. Imagine how it would be like when people suspect that they might be conned. The documentary never answered the question. Even the director was as confused as all the others. This deviation from just a regular documentary about a talented kid really took me by surprise. Really, this is a well-made documentary that would leave you thinking for days after it ends. And since it's about Art, it resonates with me even more.


4) Up (animation)


I watched this in the theatre the first week it came out and loved every minute of it. I'd have to say that I adore Pixar now. Their three recent movies top my list of favorite movies, with this movie moving up to the top, Ratatouille at the 2nd spot, and 3rd is Wall-e. I love the comedy in this, and the drama too. It was just so heart-warming, ahhhh...

I'm watching The Silence of the Lamb now, and it's really intriguing so far :). We'll see how it comes of this supposedly 'classic thriller'. Another movie that I really want to watch is this Italian film "Nuovo cinema paradiso", heard some good thing about it so definitely will check it out if I could find it.

That's it, folks. I hope you have fun this weekend!! My brother is leaving for a wedding in Colorado, aww.. I'm so jealous. This year I have not been anywhere exciting, huhu... feel like I'm wilting here with work and school all the time T^T... Anyways, that's it with the complaints, in fact, I'm happy where I am now, would not want to change it for anything *winks*... good day guys!