[Blog Recommendation] Firdaus's Blog

I watch, I talk. Others do the same thing as well. So let me introduce you to a good friend of mine, not only a movie enthusiast (as he stated on his own), but also a scriptwriter, a movie director and an actor. Wow. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, *drumroll* please meet Firdaus Salim.

He just started his own movie blog. You can see it here or type "http://firdaus607.blogspot.com" (without the double quotes) into your browser address. Where I wrote a bigger picture, he went into details, and that's what I liked about the blog. Sure, he could use a more catchy phrase as the blog title or pay a little more attention to the grammar, but with a content like his, who cares?

So pay a little visit to his site and leave some comments if you please.

I watch, I talk. I also read. Feel free to watch and talk by yourself.

Adam (2009)

People met and parted in many different ways. Some more memorable than others, while some were more painful. Adam (the name of the movie) told us a story about the meetings and partings of Adam, a 29 year old with Asperger's Syndrome, and his new neighbor, Beth.

This was, of course, not your normal love story, given that the main character is someone with a mental problem. But throughout the movie, we were given a very important lesson that 'normal' is a strange thing for a 'strange' person. Just like the other way around. And that lesson brought us to a better appreciation of life, of love, and of other human beings.

The movie started with the burial of Adam's father, the only person that was able to support him so far (including doing his laundry and buying his food). Afterwards, life wasn't on good terms with Adam. Subsequently, he lost his job and trapped thick in managing the estate that his father had left. In between those situations, Beth came to his life. From a total stranger, they became neighbors, and then friends, and then close friends, and then lovers. And later it was Beth that brought Adam back on the game. Or so she thought, because when she looked at it again carefully, the line between her helping him and him helping her became very thin.

Beth lived an almost perfect life with a rich father and an even richer ex-boyfriend. But later in the movie we found out that maintaining a perfect looking life cost more than most of us can afford, and we're not talking about money here. And so, in her quest to pursue her dreams, She met Adam and fell in love with him. Not because of sympathy and also not because of her own heartbreak, but because sometimes a completely strange stranger is the only one that sees and reaches beyond our barricades. And that's what Beth experienced.

In the end, we were taken to witness how one lie, petty and unintended, and how one word, simple but unspoken, could change the whole course of someone's life. This might not be your normal love story. This might also not be your favorite one. But you would agree that this is definitely one story worth pondering.

Ending? Good ending. Not necessarily happy, but definitely not sad. If I said anything more, it would be a spoiler.

Just as an extra piece of information, this movie won the Sundance Film Festival for the Drama category.

I watch, I talk. Feel free to watch and talk by yourself.

The Little Fockers (2010)

We met the parents in 2000.

We met the Fockers in 2004.

And in 2010, Gaylord Focker was back with two 5-year-old twins and a ton of mess-ups including an "affair" with a pharmaceutical salesgirl, a lousy and cheating house contractor, a once (or twice) in a lifetime birthday party, and of course, a 90 minute mental (which later turned to physical) war with his father in law.

After several years of marriage, Greg (Gay) Focker and Pam were now the proud parents of Samantha and Henry Focker whose 5th birthdays were just around the corner. The family wasn't in their best shape. Sam wasn't talking to her father and Henry was having a little problem with social life (which he didn't seem to have).

Jack Byrnes, the ex-CIA father in law was in a desperate need for a successor for his clan's legacy. He had a heart attack and his first choice for the next family leader, the Bobfather, was proven to be having an affair. So the only viable option was the Godfocker (I know, I know, just watch the movie and you'd understand).

And so the story started. Along came Andi Garcia. Not this Andy Garcia of The Godfather but rather a very charming, beautiful, energetic, easy going, and easily drunk pharmaceutical representative selling an erectile dysfunction pill played perfectly by Jessica Alba. On a side note, like another billion men on Earth, I'm a fan of her. But it had nothing to do with this film other than the fact that I practically held my breath and hit the person beside me whenever she appeared on the screen.

Ok. So the story started. Along came Andi Garcia just when Jack was being very concerned about the affair issue. Throw in some financial and educational problems into the family. Stir it up with a too good to be true ex-lover. Mix it up with misunderstandings and silly prides. Put in some family values (for the sake of the younger spectators, of course). And look what we have here: The Little Fockers.

Well, judging from the movie title, one might expect that the story was more into the children. But apparently, it was not. The main issue here was again the feud between Greg (Gay) and Jack which occupied approx. 90% of the movie. The circle of trust, the cat and the milking, the eye and finger gesture, the espionage , and many other elements were brought back from the first movie. The only new thing here was Jack's encounter with Google and it's kind of ironically funny. One thing worth taking note for was that there were many little funny slips of the tongue throughout the movie. And just like all other predictable movies, the climax was near the end of the movie when the two finally fought bare-handed several minutes after jack saw Greg (Gay) seduced Andi (which was actually the other way around).

This movie probably won't make it to the Oscars. It relied too heavily on Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro, and one of them wasn't Oscar quality (no hard feeling here, just a joke). But believe me, you didn't need an award winning movie to make your day. This movie was great in it's own way. Not to mention Jessica Alba and her charming, beautiful, energetic, easy going, and easily drunk pharmaceutical representative selling an erectile dysfunction pill cast.

I watch, I talk. Feel free to watch and talk by yourself.