My Neighbor Totoro (Movie)

I was expecting another Kwaidan-ish movie, or at least another thought-provoking movie about life, and maybe, neighbors. The cheery opening song and the dancing cartoons were definitely a welcome surprise. The movie was reminiscent of the cartoons I watched as a child. I found it a sweet story about growing up. A person's childhood isn't really complete unless he/she has those moments when they completely believe in things like "soot sprites". It shows us the essence of childhood in its innocence and complete acceptance of things.

Generations

The story was quite startling in the way it narrated such dramatic events from such a detached, impersonal point of view. It portrayed the sad realities of Philippine society at the hands of foreign colonizers. The story focuses on the tribulations experienced by the different generations of their family and how they each coped with these.

I think this really does happen in Philippine society, but we just don't want to admit it, or we don't want to admit the full extent of it. Daughters selling themselves for their father's freedom, family members killing each other--you can't help but wonder just how messed up society must be. You see how colonization tears apart not only the country, but families as well.

Run Lola Run (Movie)

Burning questions I had after the movie:
HOW DID SHE RUN ACROSS BERLIN IN 20 MINUTES??
and where the H did she get the energy to do so?
But mostly just the How.
All in all, I liked the movie..Like Einstein's dreams, it revolves around time and alternate endings to a situation. Who knew a person's running speed could mean so much? That a one-second change could cause a person's death?
Manni and Lola kinda gave me that Bonnie and Clyde vibe as well. Lola must have really loved Manni to run across the city to find 100 000 marks for him. Not only that, she robs a bank and a grocery store for him as well. Talk about tough love.

Einstein's Dreams

The whole book reads like a dream, each vignette flowing into the next. The concept of the whole time-future-past-present has always fascinated me and that's probably one of the reasons I liked the book. For some reason, I felt the book had a really dream-like quality, maybe also because of Lightman's language and style. It makes you think about all the possibilities there are, like, what if these kinds of worlds really did exist? Could the small action of kicking up dust actually prevent the creation of the European Union? These minute details snowball over the course of time into something much much larger. Such a possibility is both thrilling and frightening.

Makes me feel very...existentialist.

Manananggrrrrl

Styled like a supernatural version of Tyra Banks, it seems to poke fun at the current talk shows and the many oh so very fake talk show hosts we have. It centers on the story of Yolanda, a manananggal who kills her friend Estrella, after the latter steals her to-die-for ass. Literally.

I thought Yolanda was a little justified in her killing Estrella after the body switching (but then I have always been a wee bit sadistic). But seriously now, I'd probably be mad as hell if I were a manananggal and I come back to find my super toned abs/ass stolen by my ridiculously overweight friend. It would be something like someone cutting off your nose because theirs was as flat as the Central Luzon plain.

A touch I especially loved: Yolanda flashing the audience. Actions speak louder than words. Haha!

Midsummer

My initial reaction to the story: I don't get it!!

The story doesn't seem to have much excitement, much less a climax. It reminds me of that last scene from the Jungle Book, where Mowgli sees this girl carrying a water jug smiling, err coquettishly? at him. It bothered me how the girl was being so flirtatious with the man, staring at him, accidentally (really?) spilling water down her shirt, and letting him get water. In the end, when she invites him to her house, I had to wonder whether everything was just a show to catch the man's attention. Oh boy, this woman has the makings of a Maneater: 1900s version.

I could see this ending as a love story...but for a moment there, I was seriously considering the notion of the woman being a witch, luring the man to her evil lair. *insert manic laughter here*

Persepolis

Of all the readings this semester, this is probably the one I liked best.

It quickly captured my attention with the simple black and white drawings. The unique approach of a graphic novel to a very serious topic was refreshing (On second thought, it might not be unique but this is the first autobiographical graphic novel I've read so it's definitely unique for me). Her narration as the young Marji actually did sound like a child, an endearing touch for me. I found it amazing the way Satrapi was able to narrate such a deep story about the political chaos experienced by Iran, with just the right combination of lightness, humor and heart.