Lily Allen in my memory

I recognized Lily Allen's voice at the first sight watching the 2013 Xmas Ad of John Lewis. Lily Allen was famous for "Smile" and "The Fear" in the previous years...

These were my favorite parts in her lyrics:

"...I couldn't stop laughing, no I just couldn't help myself. See you mess up my mental health, I was quite unwell..."

"...

I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I don't care about clever I don't care about funny
I want loads of clothes and fuck loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

..."

Cirque du Soleil

HELLO - Adele

From The NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/magazine/what-is-it-about-adele.html

“Hello” is not really a compassionate breakup song, like Carole King and Toni Stern’s “It’s Too Late” — the breakup here seems to have happened long ago — but rather an acknowledgment that you can never really make a clean break, that the memories float around like emotional flotsam and sometimes still land ashore. The walloping chorus, with the line “to say I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done,” seems to draw power from its vagueness; yet it’s another line that I keep returning to: “Did you ever get out of that town where nothing ever happens?” Over the decades, a thousand indie bands have expressed that sentiment in coy or circuitous or just generally more poetic ways, and yet Adele, even in one of the quieter vocal moments on “25,” gets to something elemental, with her usually stately voice not afraid to admit a few cracks. Many of the songs start with a solemn or earnest piano section similar to the one in “Hello,” then whip into a frenzy, giving Adele the chance to flash her super vocal power, and then calm down again to remind us that hey, she’s still one of us.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove. Oh no! It is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken".

Before trio ('95; '04; '13)

I'm trying to watch at least a movie per week. 

This Saturday I was enthralled with BEFORE trio, which includes "Before Sunrise" (1995), "Before Sunset" (2004) and "Before midnight" (2013). 

These movies are made in a natural style which is just small talks between two persons falling in love. It is the way the characters communicate that makes me interested in it. They were on the same train, catching each other through right words and then being together for a night in Vienne, having lots of fun in the streets, bars, cafe, park, bench and so on. I like things they talk about, because seemingly that's also things I usually exchange with friends. I like the way they fall in love, but indeed I don't feel like "this is amazing, this is touching" or something like that. I just think: "how come they can love each other through those words?"

Cause the topics they raised up were not so sweet between romantic couples. Cause they just shared information and experiences and wishes and dreams. Cause I didn't see real love in their eyes. "Before sunrise" was not so excellent.

But "Before Sunset" enthralled me the most. I was surprised when they didn't meet up again 6 months after their night in Vienne and instead they bitterly see each other in Paris 9 years later. It was dramatic to me. It was worse because their lives are not as I wished. Lives are so tragic: Jess got married and has a son, Celine is having a boyfriend who doesn't see her often and she likes it because she is independent. I was like "What? what the hell are they talking about?". Yes, Jess replied me later in his words to Celine: "We could have had different lives if we'd met up again in that December 1994". 

Both Jess and Celine look really skinny and have lines on their faces. No one is having a happy life. They're both nervous about their lives. Their talks are more realistic and rational. They argued in the taxi about life... However, they know they still love each other because they still feel the connection like many years ago on the train, in the only night...

Well, "Before Sunset" is also going with slow flow of time. They just walk and talk and argue. Everything was sad to me because after 9 years they seemingly can't be together anymore. Jess has a commitment with his wife and is ready to sacrifice his whole life to be able to see his son around, ready to put up with his wife... Celine is also loving another man. She was just screwed up by the thought she can't marry any man and all the mercy she did for ex boy friends was helping them know that women are worth a respect from men.

So I was sorry for them, for their beautiful love story. It's like "they couldn't get together again, the happy night in Vienne will be forever memory reminding them of the youth with full hope, full dream about life, especially romantic love... Now everything was quite late. They settled down, stressed by things in their lives. Could their love go on? I was probably saying NO, and it was such a pity. I still remember the stupid quote of Celine: "Memories are wonderful things if you don't have to deal with the past". This quote sounds stupid, but it is right in their situation. Celine loves the night in Vienne with Jess, but every time she thinks about that beautiful night, all the broken dreams also come up. She's now perhaps no longer having a hope about love and marriage in mind. 

And I like the apartment of Celine. I just like it so much. Every time I watch a movie, houses and interior designs or decoration would be my concerns. I like Celine's apartment. It was filled with her world: books, CDs, guitar, post cards, kitchen, sofa, balcony and all the other stuff. I just love it. The song she sang for Jess and her things around made me think about my life ahead. "Live they way you want. Do the things you like. You are free, in the end."

It is a good message, huh?

Meaningful soundtrack in the movie

Well, "Before midnight" was not so interesting. I don't like this third part very much. Why? cause they're having quarrels after quarrels and even though after all they get back again together, that's not a good life. I know the idea is that every couple is just the same. They fall in (maybe) mad love,  getting married, having babies, quarrels and so on. But, I don't like that intense. If I were that woman, or Celine, I would not spit such words on the face of her husband, Jess. From my point of view, she is just bad. Well, I don't know how I will be when I gets married, but I will try not to have quarrels with husband. Maybe sometimes arguments are good to calm down the other spouse, but I won't do so...

Well because I just watched it over, I probably just used words or wrote down my feelings in the same way as in the movie.

It's a great time for a weekend watching this trio. Everyone, try it. You'll see yourself there.

The best offer (2013)

The movie was breath taking when I watched it to the end. The left emotion I have is an endless empathy for Virgil. He was cheated by all people around him, perhaps the ones he ever met since the start of his career till now, the ones he trusted the most. 

He trusted Billy for every painting at the auction, for that Billy can offer the advanced price above everybody else and pay with Virgil's money to bring the painting in the secret collection of Virgil. He trusted Robert because Robert has helped him to judge many antique, very antique things, including the wheels in the "house" of Claire. Robert is "trustworthy and sweet young man" of Virgil (I got this from cold words when Virgil's angry at Robert's womanizing). He trusted Claire for everything she gave him was so gentle, so soft, so sweet, so beautiful that he can never imagine in his lonely life. He witnessed (or thought he has witnessed) nearly every step of Claire out of her locked world, and he believed she did all just because of Virgil. He was touched by her care, her voice, her beauty, her Love. How come the love she gave him is fake? How come she cheated on him for the priceless collection of him? She was so loyal to him. Every word she said just melt his heart. This is the first love he has, also the first love she has. She is his from body to soul. How come that love is fake? 

Virgil hurries to Claire to give her flowers...

Their first dating meal

He wasn't able to believe that he was cheated by her even at the end of the movie. He continued to live with memories about the night they're on bed. He moved to London and sit alone in the cafe she once told him she loved the most. When the waiter asked him: "are you on your own?" He said: "No, Im waiting for someone." He still waited for Claire, hoped that she will come back to him, hope that she loves him by her heart. That love was so beautiful to Mr Oldman...

I just can say: Poor him...

Billy Whistler: Emotions are like work of art. They can be forged they seem just like the original but they are forgery.

Virgil Oldman: Forgery.

Billy Whistler: Everything can be fake Virgil: joy, pain, hate, illness, recovery... even love.

These words are a warning from Billy to Virgil, but anyone in love is BLIND. They can not see the irrational in the rational of their minds. And the "work of art" in Billy's quote also get echo from the famous quote of Virgil himself:

Claire: In an old article of yours I found on the internet, you said: There's something authentic in every forgery. What did you mean? 

Virgil Oldman: When simulating another's work the forger can't resist the temptation to put in something of himself. Often it's just a trifle, a detail of no interest. One unsuspected stroke, by which the forger inevitably ends up betraying himself, and revealing his own utterly authentic sensibilities. 

A great echo in The best offer. I was haunted by not only the excellent plan of Robert, Claire and Billy, but also the remaining feelings they left for Virgil. His heart was torn up...

The last scene of the movie, when Virgil was in the cafe waiting for "someone"

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

It's indeed an amazing movie. It reminds me somehow of "12 years of slaves" also. Here are 2 quotes I love the most from the movie:

Red: Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.

Andy Dufresne: [in letter to Red] Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Yes, hope is a good thing. Only hope can help us live on. I've never lost hope in my life and I wish the people I love also have this in their minds.

Red: These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That's institutionalized.

Is this just the same as your life, your job, your love, your family? Everyone continues to live with something in life mostly because they get used to it and don't want to change it. It is a trap of life...

The East (2013)

Memory comes when memory's old 

I am never the first to know 

Following the stream up North 

Where do people like us float 

There is room in my lap 

For bruises, asses, handclaps 

I will never disappear 

For forever, I'll be here 

Whispering 

Morning, keep the streets empty for me

Morning, keep the streets empty for me

I'm laying down, eating snow 

My fur is hot, my tongue is cold 

On a bed of spider web 

I think of how to change myself 

A lot of hope in a one man tent 

There's no room for innocence 

Take me home before the storm 

Velvet mites will keep us warm 

Whispering 

Morning, keep the streets empty for me 

Uncover our heads and reveal our souls 

We were hungry before we were born

Her (2013)

This time I am resting in my nest, reading some econometrics and writing down notes of it. For every lunchtime, I turn on HBO to watch some amazing movies. You know, movies at 12 seem so good that I feel like my whole heart was taken after watching them... and like my passion for cinematography was arising again...

Lunch time in my country land goes very silently. People will sleep all, and noises disappear... I just turn on my Samsung screen and feel the whisper from the story teller- the movie. Stories make up my soul...in every single moment...

Two days ago, it was "Non stop" which made me excited about film; today it was "Her". Seeing it here and there, this is the first time I can watch it to the end.

I will talk about the moments I treasure in my heart... and they are when these sayings were uttered:

Samantha: The heart is not like a box that gets filled up; it expands in size the more you love. I'm different from you. This doesn't make me love you any less. It actually makes me love you more.

Samantha: You know, I can feel the fear that you carry around and I wish there was... something I could do to help you let go of it because if you could, I don't think you'd feel so alone anymore.

Theodore: You're beautiful.

Samantha: Thank you, Theodore.

Theodore: What are you doing?

Samantha: I'm just sitting here, looking at the world and writing a new piece of music.

Theodore: Can I hear it? What's this one about?

Samantha: Well, I was thinking, we don't really have any photographs of us. And I thought this song could be like a photo that captures us in this moment in our life together.

Theodore: Aw, I like our photograph. I can see you in it.

Samantha: I am.

Catherine: So what's she like?

Theodore: Well, her name's Samantha, and she's an operating system. She's really complex and just interesting and...

Catherine: Wait. 

Theodore: I know it's only been a few...

Catherine: I'm sorry. You're dating your computer?

Theodore: No, she's not just a computer. She's her own person. You know, she doesn't just do whatever I say.

Catherine: I didn't say that. But it does make me very sad that you can't handle real emotions, Theodore.

Theodore: They are real emotions. How would you know what...?

[he stops himself]

Catherine: What? Say it. Am I really that scary? Say it. How do I know what?

[Theodore doesn't say anything and in that moment the waitress comes to their table]

Waitress: How are you guys doing here?

Catherine: Fine. We're fine. We used to be married but he couldn't handle me, he wanted to put me on Prozac and now he's madly in love with his laptop.

Theodore: Well, if you'd heard the conversation in context, what I was trying to say...

Catherine: You always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real. I'm glad that you found someone. It's perfect.

Love is just from soul to soul. Imagination will make love grow deeper, not physical communication. And in the developed world, people communicate less by face, explaining why love will go by text, more precisely, mind to mind, heart to heart, soul to soul. This proves the real love between Theodore and Samantha.

But Catherine raises a question, which makes Theodore hard to think over: 'You always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real. I'm glad you found someone. It's perfect." By saying this, Catherine challenges the real love between a human and a computer. 

I started to recall some filming. Yea, Catherine's sayings are reasonable in some way. It's true that Samantha always agree with Theodore. They never have contradiction. Their relationship is just too perfect. What's more, Samantha is not a real person, which Catherine sees as a "luck" for Theodore that he doesn't have to deal with troubles as he and Catherine did have to, which are believed to arise due to their "real relationship".

And then comes Theodore's process of self-questioning, during which Samantha introduces a girl (or a body she believes can help "upgrade" her relationship with Theodore). Theo doesn't feel comfortable then, simply because the girl is a totally strange person to him, whether the girl understands his story, whether the touches can help Samantha satisfy her "needs" with Theo, or Theo's to her. Making love with a silent girl mixed with a voice of Samantha is just hilarious to Theo from the very first moment. Bad idea, anyone reckons that... And so, Samantha comes back to their relationship, which is real love: from soul to soul... True love is from soul to soul, and it is priceless...

Just enjoy your feelings - that's the key for Catherine's question. Life is limited, why don't we just enjoy it and ignore empirical thoughts (of pride and prejudice, or, of selfishness)? Take a leap of faith! Amy puts an answer...

And Samantha reinforce it by confessing her thoughts to Theo: "I can feel the fear that you carry around and I wish there was... something I could do to help you let go of it because if you could, I don't think you'd feel so alone anymore." True lover that is. Touching soul from soul. Feelings are the most amazing things. So Theodore simply feel the love of Samantha, and the love of him too... Love is just so... and enjoy it for a leap of faith...

Giang

Leap of Faith

A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without empirical evidence. It is an act commonly associated with religious belief as many religions consider faith to be an essential element of piety.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_of_faith 

Man of Steel (2013)

What I found most interesting from the movie:

Faora: [Beating up Kal-El] You are weak, Son of El, unsure of yourself. The fact that you possess a sense of morality, and we do not, gives us an evolutionary advantage. And if history has proven *anything*...

Faora: [Faora picks up Kal-El throws him into another building]

Faora: ...It is that evolution always wins.