pass the popcorn please

three in a week ain't bad

after a few months of acting the social recluse, i managed to see a whopping 3 films in a span of one week. that's what you get when you find you're suddenly free one afternoon, kesehodang state of emergency pa yan.

syriana

as rumors of coup d' etat flourish that friday morning, so did these two magic words: "half day". finally, by virtue of the celebration disguised as rally (or is it the other way around?) on ayala scheduled at 3 pm, my boss finally made the much awaited announcement right after lunch. i was constantly on the phone with an old work colleague that morning, keeping tabs on the situation, and she called me back asking if i wanted to hang out that afternoon. i wasn't much worried about getting stuck at glorietta so we agreed to kill time at the cinema. because of time constraints, we narrowed down our choices to brokeback mountain and syriana -- ruby didn't seem to care for comedy that day.

we got in the theater only a bit late, so the movie was already starting. as it progressed, the confusion only increased. it became apparent that a) there were many stories going on, b) they were connected somewhat, and c) it was not pretty. since we won't understand the whole picture right there and then, we concerned ourselves with the trivial details instead. like, 1) george clooney really looked old; 2) oh, so there's the missing missile; 3) who the hell is that auditor conniving with now?; 4) galeng naman mag-target nung stealth missile.

i was happy when george clooney won the best supporting oscar. it's probably just makeup, but it took a second look for me to recognize him. but more than that, there was no sign of the swagger indicative of his early acting -- if you remember him as doug ross on er, you’ll know what i'm talking about. in that respect, he was bob, not george clooney playing bob. but i gotta tell you, i can't vouch for his acting in the torture scene because i refused to watch it.

in the same way, i also liked matt damon. i always think of him as a young man, like in the talented mr. ripley, so when i see him playing more mature roles i'm always surprised. but he was credible as a married man in this film, so kudos to him.

the story (or stories) is interesting, though a bit difficult to comprehend entirely. it's scary how one company's influence reaches far and wide, with drastic impact on so many people. now i realize that some groups can't be blamed for being suspicious of trade policies and political lobbies, if the effect is this widespread and detrimental. it makes me wonder if the filmmakers are activists or anti-capitalists, because they presented a very unflattering view of uncle sam’s corporate practices and covert government operations. i was left with a better understanding of conspiracy than all the spy movies i've ever seen.

the following week, i read a review of the film and found i wasn't alone in being messed up with the story. however, the review did shed some light on most of the movie. like, why in hell was the film named syriana, when it wasn't set in syria? i guess i missed the part where they explained that bit, or as the review intimated, the information wasn't in there to begin with. so, in other words, this is a film that you can't understand completely on first try. but i'm not really sure if i wanted to see it again, because the bad guys won this time round. much like how it happens in real life.

(next: six degrees below zero, or just how many good british actors are there?)