Foot and Fire

I was looking for a movie to watch on Netflix when I stumbled on this Korean thriller. I was surprised that I liked the film for many reasons. I have not read the webtoon to which the movie was based and I couldn't tell if the movie is a faithful rendition or has some special addition to it.  First, I was pleased that there's no unnecessary comedy the K dramas are known for.  Second, I was surprised that the director was from the movie Train to Busan, a highly successful zombie film which I think just a so-so when you assess it visually and when it comes to character exposures in the story. (To digress, I now recalled that I also liked the Peninsula as the standalone sequel to the Train to Busan). The actors are well-chosen for their roles. The Pastor, the detective and the ex-convict, the triad of the movie are all fit for their roles. The visual cues are all necessary and useful given the 2 hours limitation of a film. The film has tied the loose ends so that the ...

BIG NIGHT (1996) is what I had been looking for: a balance visual exposures of the food and the story. Everyone will love Italian brothers Primo and Secondo who have deep respect for Italian cooking but in crisis as there seems to be a need to compromise it for the business side of it. They need to prepare a dinner party for a guest who will help make their restaurant a success and their American dream come true. There are two scenes that sent me burstinf with laughter. At the beginning, Primo refuses to make the order of the woman. She ordered seafood risotto then she was looking for the seafoods, then she asked whether her order comes with a sides of Spaghetti. Primo explained that they don't go together and so she order spaghetti with meatballs. Primo explained that sometimes the spaghetti wants to be left alone, and the man suggested she order meatballs. Secondo relayed the starchy orders and Primo declined and shouted, she's a criminal. I laughed hard. I ...

10.10.20 TODAY, I GOT Rauram or vietnamese coriander, dill, chives, genovese basil, oregano.  TOMORROW, Rauram will be in a Pho Bo, dill in my tuna sandwich, chives in eggroll, basil in toast, oregano in my olive oil. Hope nothing changes after I sleep. 🤣🤣🤣 10.11.20 10.11.20 PHOTO DIARY of how my garden picks turned out today. Oregano-infused sunflower oil, attempted Pho Bo for the vietnamese coriander, egg roll with chives (no photo), tuna-dill mayo sandwich,  basil is still in the fridge.  THE STORY: Here's our Pho Bo to make you feel that we are in Vietnam, or somewhere just beside Vietnam. The boy shouted that the soup has "tyangaw" while sis chewed the rauram leaves accidentally and grimaced. Oh I liked the peppery and lemony taste of that, i said.  Conclusion after his two bowls: Tita G, it's just batchoy so we never reached Vietnam. I said, well, we may have just reached the Ninoy Aquino Int'l Airport afterall with this one. I smiled, thinkin...

Babette's Feast (1987) is a classic Danish film featuring French dishes after a long wait for that feast to happen. I was not able to snap some lines I liked ( just quoting as I remembered): "No artist is poor." "I will leave forever and will not return. I learned that in this world, there are things that are impossible" he spoke of pursuing his love  Then 25 years after, the man returned and on his way asked "Will the rows of all victories in the past become a sum of defeat now?" While eating in the feast, he declared that we make choices, we risk, we fear but in the end our choices is unimportant because grace is infinite, unconditional." "Righteousness and bliss shall kiss each other." Before leaving again, he said "You are with me every day, I hope you know that, and you will be with me for the rest of my waking hours." In this film, one sees that food can be a vehicle for renewing relationship, asse...

What else are we bound to do these days of lockdown asid from eating? Watchng movies of course. Thank you iFLIX (became a VIP while I was in house arrest due to COVID19 lockdown). I am inspired to blog about the Cinemalaya's Edward becuase I liked it. Not that it is perfect, but I liked it because it was entertaining despite the hard reality backdrop. The film tells of the coming-of-age of Edward set in the public hospital. Not appealing, right? But it takes a good director, a good script, right casting to pull it off.

How to make an American Quilt Whitney Otto Fiction, 1991 paperback, 236 pages This is one of the rare ocassions when the movie version I watched first is at par with the book I read later. I recommend the reading of the book and the watching of the film. In sum, the lives we lead, married or unmarried,  bound by law or not,  is the life we chose and we need not explain that to everyone with whom our personal story has no meaning. But vis-a-vis this conclusion is the happy realization that there is no straight line in leading our lives, so being married like being unmarried has no guarantees for what happens in the future, to our happiness. But while you will feel so confident with your decisions in life, by reading the book, one can get aquainted with the history of quilting, appreciate how it greatly contributed to the American culture, and also feel how the law greatly changed the lives of women. On page 188, the Philippines was even mentioned there. But the movie, as I can ...

We Just Want To Live Here A Palestinian Teenager, An Israeli Teenager – An Unlikely Friendship Amal Rifa'i and Odelia Ainbinder with Sylke Tempel St. Martin Griffin US ed. 2003, 153 pages I Am Khan 2010 Bollywood Movie With English Subtitle I picked up the book loaned to me by a good friend thinking I could finish it in one setting but I was wrong and I ended up reading the same in installments. The thin book can actually be read in installment without losing one's way considering it is a moderated exchange of letters. A topic is given and the girls exchange their thoughts on matters such as Talking About Myself, Thinking About the other, Intifada, Travel, Jerusalem, School, The army, and How I become what I am. Along the way, the exchange between the girls becomes an invitation to review the Middle East conflict and to peep to the wishes and dreams of common people who lived their lives caught up in conflicts. Yes, the title sums up everything: We just wan...