What's fast becoming a trend these days is going against it. It seems like everybody strives for uniqueness amidst the insipid uniformity around. Take Allan Ball's American Beauty, it defied the usual formula most filmmakers are stuck into. This time, he took the idea on mainstream TV a step further, making it darker, quirkier and more unpredictable. It was a hit again on both the critics and viewers from the promising premiere in 2001 to the haunting finale in 2005.

The plot isn't really original in fact it has been rehashed by a dozen soap operas since god knows when. It is about this family who runs a funeral home in Pasadena, the patriarch dies in a car crash leaving the rest struggling to move on; Nate, the prodigal eldest son, David the closeted brother, Claire the rebellious youngest child and Ruth, the conservative mother. As expected, aside from death, there's the requisite serving of today's most pressing social issues in which the family has to deal with like addictions, teen angst, religion, same sex relationship, infidelity, etc. There is really nothing new especially if your too exposed with all the series popping out in the tube these days but what separates this from the rest is how they weave all these issues perfectly in an interestingly twisted or even weird tone and yet still manage to remain realistic. It is very impressive how Mr. Ball chooses the most depressing theme yet still maintains the viewer's interest from waning, seems like he developed some drug more potent than Prozac which beguiles viewers to see depression on a different light. The show is basically a parody on the impact of death to those who face and avoid it. Every episode starts with a short death scene which influences the core theme of the episode's turn of events.

The solid performances of the actors add more impact to the show highlighted with a dose of dark humor, witty lines and acid-laced sarcasm by the scriptwriters. Peter Krause, Lauren Ambrose, Richard Jenkins and Michael Hall frontline the cast while Kathy Bates, James Cromwell and Lili Taylor support few episodes. It's also interesting to note Frances Conroy and Rachel Griffiths winning the Golden Globes Best Actress plums in the leading and supporting roles respectively.

Polishing up the show's already gleaming material is the musical theme. Thomas Newman came up with a beat that goes well with the poignant theme and the dark cinematographic hues. It starts with some haunting high and low notes then melts down to a melody reminiscent of the pipes used in a Scottish funeral.

Another plus is the DVD set from the contents to the packaging. It comes with the complete 5 season (5-6 dvd's per season) stacked in a box that looked like a slice of earth from 6 feet under to the top completed with a marble epitaph on a patch of grass. It includes illustrated booklet with character obituaries, several show features, subtitles and language selections (French, Spanish, etc.), episode commentaries, deleted scenes, cast interviews, series retrospectives and 2 CD soundtracks.

It's definitely a must-have.

Nope, this is not a review on the latest album of Tata Young, this is more serious than the popstar's provocative music video that's going way outside the Thai moral crucible, this is something that involves our Health, Safety, Security and Environment (if i were to borrow my present company's ideology towards quality service). I am talking about "An Inconvenient Truth", the latest documentary film of the then U.S. Vice President Albert Gore. I bet most of you upon hearing it the first time will dismiss this as a by-product of a loser's chagrin from the famed Florida vote in the 2000 U.S. elections. Others may think of it as merely a tool that would advance him in whatever political plans he has in the future, or it could also be an attack to the U.S. government especially the one running it (good thing nobody thought of it as a form of terrorism because it seems that whatever attack there is to the great U.S. of A. these days, is considered a terrorist act). It's not so hard to expect that the film's purpose will be flooded with a lot of speculations because afterall this guy isn't a nobody, but if we will be swayed by all these at-first assumptions we won't be able to grasp the gravity of the message he is trying to convey, of course it's logical to disect the conveyor's motives first inorder to justify the credibility of the material but i believe we don't need to, since we ourselves are witnesses to the facts he presented in the film. By the way, before i go on further, i would like to clarify that this is also not a political piece nor any advances i am planning for myselft in this company in the future, i am just a nobody who was moved by the message of the film not because it was so cold inside the movie house that night but because of the surprising intensity this film is carrying.

Global warming, it doesn't sound new anymore, we even heard this back in our grade school, well, unless you were snoring and drooling in the back seat of your class during that time. It's one of those issues that we normally classify as something that we cannot use in real life or something that won't make us rich that we just dump it in the attic of our minds, well, what the film does is it retrieves that worn out information, clears out all the dust and cobwebs, breaks it into pieces and re-structures it for our better understanding. The presentation is not as exciting as what Morgan Spurlock did in "Supersize Me", it's like sitting in the classroom and listening to your professor, except that the classroom is bigger and dimly lit, the blackboard is replaced with some modern powerpoints sprouting in different sizes all over the centerstage and the professor is no longer the boring one you once had but a convincing and charismatic figure. The film starts with a re-education of Global warming concepts, how it is formed and how it gradually affects us, then it builds up to our current state wherein we experienced calamities and outbreaks such as droughts in Africa, hurricane Katrina, SARS, Avian flu, etc., then it warns us on what may happen in the future. After presenting all the facts, it also studies our behaviour towards this issue like denial, despair and the theory of collective thinking. In the end it gives us simplified tips on how we could control it...very informative indeed. Another good factor about this documentary is that Mr. Gore manages to include personal clips on his journey towards understanding this issue better and finding some means on how to combat it, this passion started in his college years until he became the second most important figure in America. This just proves that he is not one of those flash-in-the-pan big shits who is just riding on some big global issue to achieve political stardom or in his case finally end up with the glory he was close to having. According to him, that incident was a big blow, he can't do anything about it but make something good out of it...and he totally did.

Just a couple of observations i have on the film (spoiler alert: you may proceed to the next paragraph if you haven't seen the flick), when he raises himself through an accordion lift during the CO2 discussion the camera zoomed to a close up and just when he finishes his sentence the camera zoomed out and he was there standing on the floor, what happened to that? was there some kind of a mishap that he fell and rolled over the floor and the editor was just kind enough to edit it since they can't sacrifice credibility for that kind of humor? just imagine, a U.S. Vice president rolling on the floor in his first debut for a decumentary film, it's gonna be a big hit, well in Saturday Night Live i guess, maybe that's the reason why they inserted a clip of Futurama instead. Another thing is towards the end of the film, you can see Mr. Gore sweating, it is barely noticable but if you look closely to his hairline, boom! there some sort of warming happening right there, did the production crew purposely break the airconditioning in that room to have some sort of literal paralellism with the film's message?

"Each one of us is a cause of global warming", this and other cliche's have been bombarding us since time immemorial but only a few has done something, the vast majority is still so passive about them. It's funny how we can be so efficient and fast in terms of solving our personal problems but when it comes to a big one, a global one, the collective thinking of the people tends to slowdown and procrastination gets in the way. I guess, we're still stuck in the idea that problems as big as this have bigger solutions and we all have to wait for it to happen or wait for somebody to start making it happen. We're all very much aware that we're part of that bigger solution but we just don't want to start unless somebody is going to start or if somebody does, we wait until the majority follows and then that's the only time we join the bandwagon, so true right? This is where the problem lies, what good are these environmental documentaries, campaigns and adverts if the targets still have the same mentality and attitude toward addresing this pressing issue, let's try to make a difference for once since this is not just for the environment that we are currently living in but also for our children's and the generations' that come after. This may sound like an after school special squeezed out from a moral issue, something that's often realized when the going gets tough or when the consequences hit us right in the face, but we don't have to wait for that do we? we have to do something now or else we will be reliving scenes from the movie "The Day after Tomorrow".

Here's the first thing i want you to do...

Nope, i'm not gonna urge you to forward this mail to 20 people, i don't wanna sound like one of those annoying email spams, besides i don't have any reward to give you incase you'll do it nor any badluck to wish you incase you'll not (i have a good heart). Alright, just this...if you're not busy, head to the nearest moviehouse and check out this film. For Thailand, it is currently shown in Scala and Lido, for Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia, you can check your local Art film theaters.

Let me warn the guys out there who haven't seen this flick not to bring a date when you watch it, no, no...take it from me cuz when the movie started with a silhouette of a chick dancing on Linkin and Jay-Z's collab, my date blurted a loud, crisp, sarcastic "right!". I just realized then that it was way out of the "movie date" category bounds, my advice? just leave those honeyz at home or outside the movie house and be a big chauvinistic-couch potato-beer drinking pig cuz you're in for a wild testosterone packed ride (I'm such an ass). It's more of a pre-booze binge movie with the guys wherein afterwards we can have some rounds and rave about us havin' hardcore guns on our right hand, hot chicas on the left, fancy ride parked on our swanky fat hood and other ingredients that make up the ultimate guy's fantasy, wicked eh?not only that, it's also coherent with some of Miller Lite's "Man Laws" like;

-A man never cries except if he wanted to show his sensitivity to the opposite sex (it never even happened in this movie)
-A man shall never dance for fun unless to improve his chances of getting a girl
-A man will never get in his vehicle by sitting sideways and swinging both legs in
-Yes, No and Ok are perfectly good answers to any questions
-A man shall not nag another man but a firm stare is ok
-Remember that looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun, quick glances.
-A man may never use the word fabulous. Instead, a man must use the words, cool, sweet or awesome.
-Men sharing their feelings or intimate details is acceptable in groups of two or three when riding in a car or over beer but shall never be discussed after the session.
-No man shall ever order a drink with an umbrella in it, even if it's raining.

Anyway, let's get back to the movie before i totally digress. The plot is a typical mission gone bad but the protagonists were able to get away with it, the bad guys go badder, the leads get stuck in those mofo's web but eventually beat 'em in the end, they ran away with their girls, everybody's happy and the credits roll. They were able to inject some love story in it but manged to tone those emotionally-charged scenes with some sizzling bed and shower action, very 80's action flick indeed. It's like watching the old TV series on a big screen except for a faster pacing, realistic execution, slicker cars and much modern main leads.

What i like about the film...

The action - realistic, different from the usual big hollywood installments packed with some eye-popping blasts, over the top car chases and Asian-inspired fight sequences. The camera is taken a bit like an amateur style to give us a live-action feel, it's like the camera man is part of it and like docking his head from those bullets, very much like the COPS tv series, the gun fires and blasts sound so realistic or it was just the works of some modern dolby shit in that theater (sheeez! i'm such a big FOB).

The ladies - Kudos to the creators for casting exotic ones, it totally fired up the flick. No offense but we're just sick of seeing blonde girls in action movies, so typical, though they were not able to get away with it totally but atleast they made the blonde girl here interesting. Naomie Harris was funny (especially her accent) in Pirates of the Caribbean, well, she's not here but daang! she's hot (Jamie would not be kidding if it was real). Gong Li was perfect, her presence is magnificent, with that stern-looking face, intimadating aura and that sophisticated stance, she practically owns every scene that she's in.

The soundtrack - better than the 80's, though we hear of the Numb/Encore remix much especially in the previews but there are some good ones like the rehash of Phil Collins' In the air tonight, some tracks from Moby, Blue Foundation, Nina Simone remix and a lot more.

The poster - blue, black, gray...plain slick!

Lastly, the fact that our demographic has finally not been robbed off from what a real hard hittin' action flick should be. First, it was MI:III, disappointingly Ethan Hunt was such a cry baby then Clark Kent came next, he was even worse, good thing this one came right on time.

Now i already have my own fix, guess i have no choice but to watch a chick flick, day off's done bitches! time to serve the master.

1st RULE: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB. (got it!)
2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB. (dammit! i said i got it!)
3rd RULE: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over. (but if somebody says kill him! then the fight is on)
4th RULE: Only two guys to a fight. (so when's the royal rumble?)
5th RULE: One fight at a time. (i said when's the royal rumble?)
6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes. (except for bitch tits)
7th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to. (even if ur balls are crushed)
8th RULE: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight. (after you sing or dance)


Perhaps, some of you can't stand watching blood spurting, ribs cracking or gums bleeding, well, Mr. Fincher used this for nothing, it's an important part of the film since it is an allegory (repeat, an allegory, not the main point of the flick...so please don't do this at home ok) of this ideology. A way to release all tensions that your enslaved with, a way of taking control of yourself and the things around you and a way of strengthening that masculine fiber (and the best way to do it is to go back to man's barabaric instinct huh? nice!!! sounds like a psycho boot camp to me).

"We are God's middle children, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention we have no hope of damnation or redemption."

and to get his attention they came up with some sort of a buddhist/nazist project , they call it "Project Mayhem". The name reflects nothing but destruction and destruction it is for they herded a lot of young men, trained them to make bombs to blow up major credit card buildings (whatta Gordian solution in todays credit card problems!). This is where the film takes off towards its major twist which others find unecessary since according to them the film would do good without it. Well, I like it the way it is because the twist adds depth to it, it empahizes the complications of Jack's psyche as well as the possibilities that lead him into in his search for his identity.




soap

I bet Jack still has a lot of options, a lot of soaps to choose from that would rinse off his urban mischiefs apart from Tyler's. Jack was easily beguiled by Tyler since he's undeniably a great salesman but he can still think of some other things like what i did after watching the flick. Since his flat got burned and was left with nothing why not pull the thread and go to India. He can live a life of utmost piety and simplicity, a humble lifestyle that would give him inner peace and happiness, it will then be called project mercy of the charity club. He can also hook up with some French peeps and start a getaway in Bangkok or Malaysia then look for a certain utopia or put up a business there and call it project resort and spa of the beach club or he doesn't need to go that far, he can just stay in his place and join the burgoening reality tv show craze. He can choose from Big brother, Survivor or the Amazing race. It'll be a hell lot of fun seeing Jack, Tyler and Marla in Big Brother or a Jack-Tyler/ Jack-Marla/ Tyler-Marla tandem in the Amazing race hehehe... but whatever it is (i could almost hear Tyler say...nice try dude!), guess he would still choose the soap that  works great even on bloodstains.