Life's canvas

When it comes to movies I can be pretty picky about what I watch, depending on the mood of the day. Went to watch Final Destination 5 the other day with my two friends and was somewhat entertained due to the fact that I was looking to do no thinking at all after a long week at work. I know it's going to be able people dying horribly because Death doesn't like to be cheated, for some reason it was all right that evening because I switched off the need to 'feel' the movie.

Most of the time though I would invest my mind and heart into connecting with a film's character and/or underlying story, fascinated with the reasons that motivate them to do what they do. I have always valued storytelling above CGI graphics and explosions - a film can have absolutely no chase scenes or epic artificial constructs to awe me, just simple yet well-written plot and acting, the act of explaining an idea with its actors putting them to flesh.

Take for instance The Shawshank Redemption - routinely touted as one of, if not the finest movie of all time - a simple story of a wronged man's life, his friendship with the people whom were all stuck at the bottom of society's eyes, the many obstacles standing between him and freedom and the triumph of hope over adversity.

Then take a look at Pixar's Up, the story of an old man who lived his old life bitter and cranky about a lost love & dream, learning to open up and embark on an adventure of a lifetime as the chains of the past are broken. The eight minute speechless montage of Carl's marriage with Ellie is one of the finest bit of animation ever made - it was simple and sweet, equally poignant because we know people or even some of ourselves who have went through something like that before. You can't help but feel sorry for the old man, knowing how it would devastate ourselves if we were in his shoes.

The best thing about well written films is that they don't force feed you with melodrama - the honesty of the scenes slither itself into our hearts and tug at the strings, reminding ourselves of our very own disappointments and flaws as humans.

Many people I know would avoid such movies like the plague because they find it boring and pointless as the entire objective of watching films is to entertain oneself. That I agree, perhaps we entertain ourselves differently - some look for stimulation, the adrenaline rush and 'hell yeah!' moments, whilst others enjoy having a story being told to them on the silver screen.

I can remember the scene of deep night accompanied by the moonlit clouds and the Latin choir as the camera pans slowly down towards the city of Jerusalem under siege from Saladin's army in Kingdom of Heaven.

I can also remember the 'mental battle' between Jet Li's Nameless and Donnie Yen's Broken Spear in the first fight of the movie Hero to the background of an old man's zither and dripping rainwater in slow motion.

And then there is the part where The Girl's blind date recounts what Gyeon-Woo told him about keeping her happy, as she realised that he understood her more than she could imagine in My Sassy Girl.

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy watching Megan Fox in the Transformers movies, it's just that some times I'd like to go away from all the heavily marketed media that promises only visual excitement and take a walk with the characters as they go about playing their part as actors in the grand canvas of life.

I'm tired of visual excitement in movies!

Happy belated Valentines.

Friends on MSN were asking if my user status notification above was a reaction to not having anyone to celebrate V-day with or one of discomfort for the celebration. It read:

"Should love be in the air only in February?"

Frankly, it's neither. It was a response to another friend's notification of (paraphrased) 'The day of celebration with your loved one".

Sure it is but why choose just one specific day to do that?

I think the answer to the question above is that people will find every reason to celebrate something which is great news for Hallmark, florist shops and (overpriced) swanky restaurants.

IMHO love should be something that is either what you yourself want to or voluntarily give rather than being expected to. I've heard from friends complaining about their relationships growing from one of warm fuzzy feeling to that of obligatory. But top of the pops amongst all complaints are 'I don't feel like she/he loves me anymore' or the opposite 'I don't love him/her anymore'.

Once read about a loving couple who celebrated their 50th marriage anniversary, when asked about the secret of their lasting marriage the answer given was simple: "love is not something that is there, you have to make it happen. Love is about making tea for him when he comes home tired from work, helping her clean and dry the dishes after dinner, telling him he can sleep in today and you will send the children to school, making her sandwiches for lunch when she's waking the kids up; love are all the simple things we do for one another".

Perhaps we've been looking for the wrong things when it comes to love? Many of my female friends are somewhat impressed (but not enough :P) that I can actually speak the sweetest and most romantic things, but only when I don't mean it. I suppose I can act very well when it comes to impressing people but I guess I don't like to get people to like me by impressing them because I know once the novelty wears off, you have to try harder and you'll eventually go back to who you were before.

Hence Valentine becomes the 'day of renewal' - please her today and you have the next few months off the hook.

Not convinced?

Consider the story of St Valentine below:

"Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. Until 1969, the Catholic Church formally recognized eleven Valentine's Days.[citation needed] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been killed during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino).

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.

No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

Go figure.

I'd imagine even if I am no longer single it's unlikely to change that this day to me is a day of obligation.

Yeah, that's so unromantic.