movie quotes of the day

no particular reason for looking up these movie quotes. they're just nice.

If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. ~ Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible. ~ Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)

The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino. ~ Joe Fox (You've Got Mail)

Deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you. ~ Rachel Dawes (Batman Begins)

I like the quote from You've Got Mail. How do you define yourself, in terms of coffee? My sense of self changes depending on mood. A long time ago it was eggnog latte. As you can imagine, it was during the christmas holiday season. From time to time caffe mocha used to be my choice. Then I got introduced to caramel frappuccino. Yes, that immediately became my all time favorite. Now I've been satisfied with hot caramel macchiato. Yummy :p

everything to do with food

http://www.cookbook411.com/

this is the I Like Food blog :)
go there only when you're full because you might not be able to restrain yourself from drooling at the pictures ^.~

black bottle tavern

first heard about this place from a friend. I think she heard it from her friend. googled for any kind of review, hoping to find good ones. I was very impressed. not only did I find favorable reviews, I also came across really good blogs :)

now, this is the official website of black bottle gastro tavern.

the first review I found was from the I Like Food blog.

another review I found was one just recently written, at Metroblogging Seattle. Go to the February 16, 2006 post on Metroblogging eats: The Black Bottle.

aren't you even more curious now? ^.~

Emma (1996)

"The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made." ~ Emma Woodhouse

the best romantic comedy of all time :) Saw it again (finally!) the other day and confirmed my high regards for the movie. A guaranteed fun movie experience. Up till now, Emma still remains my favorite romantic comedy movie ^-^ I still haven't gotten around to read the book. I should if I claim to be such a fan. Afterwards I'll be able to say confidently if the movie is such a success for me thanks to the great writing of Jane Austen or the splendid work of the movie makers in producing the movie. Or both ^.~

Emma actively engages socially with everyone in her town. She tries to match Ms.Smith with Mr.Elton. She founds council from Mrs.Weston whenever she encounters obstacles. She befriends Frank Churchill, the charming gentleman from out of town. Of course last but not least she frequently engages in debates with Mr.Knightley about varying issues. It helps that I'm a sucker for british english accent. Just like in Harry Potter, the accent makes the characters that much more attractive to me.

I love the dialogues in the movie. They're all so well spoken. Again, I'll have to read the book to know if the dialogues are taken directly from the book. Then it'll be the brilliancy of Jane Austen in creating all the playful conversations :)

My favorite line, taking into account the way he said it, his facial expression while saying it, and the overall scene ^-^
"I rode through the rain! I'd - I'd ride through worse than that if I could just hear your voice telling me that I might, at least, have some chance to win you." ~ Mr. Knightley

after...

can't get the spanish song out of my head ^.~ Maybe it's because I've heard it multiple times, since I had to watch the movie more than once to satisfy my excitement. I'm still talking about 2046...
There's this spanish song they use when Bai Ling, Ziyi Zhang's character, was getting dressed, moving her body as if to the music, and watching herself in the mirror. She's so pretty! The music is so perfect for the scene. Sexy!
Now everytime I remember the song, the scene returns to my head. A powerful scene indeed. Great work by the director Wong Kar Wai for the whole concept of that scene. If I recall correctly, it's the introduction scene for Ziyi Zhang.

I can't help but admire her beauty. I was captivated the first time I saw her in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I'm forever biased now with any of her movies. It's not that I like every movie she's in. Can't say that I like House of Flying Daggers much. The love triangle plot there is a bit too forced. Nevertheless, watching Ziyi Zhang there is an enjoyment in and of itself.
Will she be as big as Gong Li? Most probably...

2046

What a movie! I've been waiting for this movie in the last six or so years. Talk about a long wait.

My first discovery was through a friend. She told me about it at around 2000. Back then we were still in grade 11. She wrote me an email with a list of the actors playing 2046. I still kept the email! Reading the name of the actors got me so excited. Gong Li, Faye Wong, Ziyi Zhang, Maggie Cheung. There's also a japanese actor. I wondered how it's going to work out. Chinese and japanese actors in one movie. What language would be used? Little did I know about Wong Kar Wai, the director. He's a highly acclaimed director, with a distinct style in film making. Nevertheless, I knew nothing of that then. All I knew was 2046, a movie with star caliber actors.

At that time the movie was probably just in the beginning stages of its production. Then it took them four years to finish! What took them so long? All the years I didn't forget about it. I saw the trailer, which made me more curious and intrigued.

I was finally able to watch it on dvd just a few days ago. After all these years, was the excitement worth it?

The first time I saw it was at night, past my bedtime actually. Truthfully, I slept through it. This kind of movie needs your full concentration. You have to read the subtitles, and the storyline isn't the easiest to follow. It jumps through different time frame frequently. Well, I guess the movie didn't excite me as much as I had anticipated to be able to keep me awake.

I realized immediately that the trailer was so misleading. The distinction between the present and future was quite clear. I thought there's some time travel associated with the storyline. That's what the trailer implied. The time travel was in fact in Tony Leung character's mind.

The next morning I saw it again. This time I was able to enjoy the movie, from start to finish. Enjoying the movie is not quite the way to describe the experience. Wong Kar Wai is definitely a talented movie maker. Unique. Confusing for a first time viewer. He's very conceptual. After watching the behind the scenes, listening to the director and actors explaining about the movie, I was able to understand it better. You see, this movie is a summary of his past works. So he included characters from his previous movies. He made changes to their personalities. Still, knowledge of his past works might have helped me appreciate the movie the first time I saw it.

Don't get me wrong. The acting definitely impressed me. I was transfixed by Ziyi Zhang's performance. Her little dance as she was getting ready for the night, accompanied by the spanish song, was one of my favorite scenes. Faye Wong's pacing through the room repeating japanese phrases was also a great scene. Maggie Cheung is the pretty perfect woman. Gong Li is the beautiful mysterious lover. They're all so great in portraying their characters. Each with their own personal hidden emotional struggles. I got to see what I was looking forward to.

The movie used a mix of mandarin, cantonese, and japanese dialogues. It took me a while to get used to. Is it common for chinese movies? I wonder if it actually happens in real life, where one person talks mandarin while the other replies in cantonese. As for me, I just read the subtitles throughout the movie. It still felt weird. Is it implied that they understand each other perfectly although they were talking in their own language? That would be so convenient in real life. You don't have to be bothered to learn different languages. Everybody understands everybody, talking in their own tongue. Not realistic, I know. It's just a thought.

Wong Kar Wai is best in capturing the complex personalities of his characters. That's the focus in 2046. Each character has so much depth. The relationships between Tony Leung's character and the other leading ladies are the driving force of the movie. To love and to be loved. It's a complicated love story. Does it end with a happy ending? I can't say ...

which movie star are you like?

According to the Movies.com Which Movie Star Are You Like? quiz, you're: Matt Damon Your hard work has paid off! You're known as a talented, dedicated, nice guy, who wisely learned from his best pal's failure to keep his lip zipped about affairs of the heart. Also, unlike that unnamed pal, you don't seem to have let success go to your head. Take this quiz at Movies.com

hahaha :D
nothing realistic to this. this is for pure fun. good thing I do actually like matt damon. try and see. just for fun ^.~