The Truth About Marley & Me

Everybody say that dogs are man’s best friend, but what if your pet dog is rowdy and destructive like Marley. This seems to be the plot of the movie Marley & Me which starred Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Although in most part of the movie I was laughing, the last few minutes really put me in tears.

 

Honestly, I hated the rowdiness of Marley in the movie. I love dogs especially Labrador but I don’t think I can ever take a Marley. There are many times in the movie when I hoped that the family will just give up Marley so they can put an end to all the troubles that he has been giving the family but they didn’t. I admire how compassionate and understanding they treated Marley. How they sincerely made him a member of their family. I marvel at the connections that Marley and Owen Wilson have in the movie.

 

Watching Marley & Me just reminds me of how our family treats our pet “Tracy”. In a way, Tracy receives the same treatment in the family as Marley with the Grogans. My dad calls her as daughter, and we (my siblings and I) call her as our sister. Funny but true, Tracy is the first one in the family who stayed in an air-conditioned room. Our house helper cooks separate food for her and even have it process in an osterizer for easier chewing. Whenever she gets sick, my dad will run her to a veterinarian. Tracy has a natural charm. She is very loveable! I cuddle her whenever I am home, and she wakes me up with a lick in my face in the morning. We all have fond memories with Tracy. But sad to say, she is already aging … as a matter of fact she is more than 13 years old now. She no longer runs at the door whenever I come home. My dad says she has delegated the welcoming responsibilities to Curly (her daughter) and Big Boy (her son). In all honesty, I can not still see a picture of our family without Tracy. I will definitely cry a river when that time comes when Tracy has to leave us.

 

Perhaps my family’s connection with Tracy is the main reason why I liked “Marley & Me” so much. But regardless if you don’t have a dog in the family or if you have other pet in the family, I will still encourage you to see “Marley & Me”. The movie will teach you how to be more responsible and loving to animals. Just a word of advise, don’t forget to bring a roll of tissue paper with you while watching “Marley & Me”.

 

 

If you have not seen the trailer of Marley & Me, please click on the youtube link below:

 

The Truth About Love Me Again (Land Down Under)

Part of my personal commitment to have a more balance life for 2009 is to watch movies whenever my time permits. As of press time, I can say that I have been faithful to my commitment. As a matter of fact, I watched Love Me again (Land Down Under) just last Saturday.

 

Love Me Again (Land Down Under) is not the typical rich boy falling in love with a poor girl movie. The story is about young lovers Ara (Angel Locsin) and Migo (Piolo Pascual) and their journey to their self-discoveries. The conflict lies between the desire of Ara to work in Australia and the strong opposition of her boyfriend who wants to establish a ranch in Bukidnon. Will their love be able to conquer their differences? I won’t tell.

 

Did I like the movie? For a couple of reasons, I did not.

 

One of the many reasons why I did not like it is the cruelty to animal that has been exhibited in some of the scenes of the movie. Much as they would only like to show the reality of cowboys’ culture, I still don’t think it is enough reason to justify those scenes.

 

Acting wise, the stars have only shown mediocre performances. Where is the “Angel Locsin is now an actress!” that they have been clamoring about? Her acting is no different from the Angel Locsin that I have seen as Alwina in Mulawin.

In some heavy scenes, you can actually feel that she is acting, making it harder to empathize with her character. I personally believe that Angel has a lot of room for improvement still. I hope someday I can see her in a more subdued acting.

 

Lastly, I hardly saw Australia in the film. I even checked the full trailer of the movie at Youtube and true enough there is hardly a trace that it was shot in Australia. There is even only one Australian national (and two kangaroos hehehe) seen in the whole of the movie. In fairness, the location in Bukidnon is awesome.

 

Now, will I recommend this film to you, guys?

 

Let me put it this way, if you are a fan of either Piolo Pascual or Angel Locsin, go and watch the movie. But if you are a fan of a good movie, you won’t see one in this film.   

 

For your reference, I am attaching in my post the trailer of Love Me Again (Land Down Under).

 

The Truth About Ploning

 

 

 

A lot of people have been pronouncing that the Philippine Cinema is a dying industry. To be honest, I can not argue with this observation. If you will take a look at the volume of Filipino films being produced the last three years, you can easily take note that there were more than 50% decrease than that being produced during 80s and 90s. If you will also carefully look at it most of the films being shown lately are produced by independent film producers or the so-called “indie films”. I wonder what happened to the major film outfits of the 80s and 90s.

 

A lot of people are saying that our film outfits can not really compete with the technology used by international film producers, resulting to its gradual death. On the other hand, I think lack of new materials and originality is also a significant factor. While high-tech effects can really help sell a movie, we can never discount the power of a movie having a heart.  If my memory serves me right the movies “Ghost” and “Titanic” had the longest theater run in the Philippines. Both movies made it more than two months in the theaters, not because it has high-tech effects but more because it touched the Filipinos’ heart.

 

Speaking of a movie with a heart, last December 2008, I finally got the chance to buy an original vcd copy and viewed the movie “Ploning”.  It is the Philippines’ entry to the 81^st Academy Awards for best foreign language film category. In all honesty, I liked it … actually “like” is an understatement … I am astonished by the film. I already viewed it twice and I won’t mind watching it all over again.

 

From its picturesque vistas that captured the beauty of the island of Cuyo, to the sterling performances of its casts (my personal favorite were the little boy who played Digo, Judy Ann Santos who played Ploning and Ms. Mylene Dizon who played as Celeste), to its simple theme of unconditional love…this film will certainly be a Filipino film classic.

 

“Ploning” epitomizes what real love is … being selfless, unconditional and unwavering. In one of the scenes, Ploning taught Siloy that pain accompanies real love, and the person who gets most hurt in a relationship is the one who loved more. This statement from Ploning could actually be an object of debate for some people. I also understand that not all people will understand why Ploning keep holding on for Tomas’ love in spite of its uncertainty…only the people who experienced genuine love will understand Ploning.

 

Sad but true, I see so much of me in Ploning’s eye. I also experienced loving deeply and losing someone so dear to me… and like Ploning; I am not giving up and will continue to love unconditionally, no matter how pathetic people think I am.

 

To love … to wait … to hope … that’s what “Ploning” is all about.

 

I hope the Philippine Cinema can produce more movies like “Ploning”… plain, simple but with a big heart.