Jane Eyre: Old drama, new age

There was a 1996 movie of the same title that I didn't know about until my wife pointed it out to me some days ago. Further research made me realize there was an earlier version back in 1944, the original in fact, and there had been mini-series created around the same theme and title. While reading Jessica Zafra, I thought that I MUST soon finish the eBook before the 2011 film adaptation opens. And I'm still on page 381 out of 956, not even halfway through. I usually find time finishing off a book in less than 2 weeks, and it's not really a question of how much time one has for "leisure reading" but more on how much distracted one is when doing his daily rounds of reading. And no amount of reading campaign can change the course of junk reading habit, without taking into account the elimination of certain distractions.

At first, I thought being able to catch up on my reading by having eBooks on my phone is the second best thing to happen to smart phones (the best thing would be the To-Do list widgets). But after installing Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre on my phone about 3 months ago; none of them got finished. I browse other applications by the end of a chapter. I pause reading when there's a text. At times having to zoom in and scroll makes me nauseous especially when on board. While I do not procrastinate on stuff which are pending (my definition of pending is different), I push back reading Jane Eyre because: (1) when I can't relate, I get bored, (2) I found out about the new movie, so I'll wait to watch the movie first, and (3) I have a strong feeling that this is an Atonement situation wherein watching the Movie before finishing the book is more emotionally fulfilling (couldn't tell I didn't finish the book either).

Notwithstanding poor excuse to obvious laziness or simply bad reading habit, Jane Eyre is a classic masterpiece that starts unacknowledged standards to recent spike of teleseryes and drama anthologies. The fun part is that even if things were difficult for Jane Eyre, and you know you root for her ultimate stardom, you'd still be intrigued by mysteries that are bound to happen. It's like watching the trailer of "Who's That Girl" starred by Anne Curtis, and you know exactly what the plot is, but you still want to see the movie because you're hoping to see Anne get butt naked, or at least on a skimpy two-piece. Alright that's a very stupid analogy, but you guys got the point.


P.S. From past experiences watching good screen adaptations before reading the book gave me better emotional throughput. Classic examples are Brokeback Mountain, Atonement, and English Patient. The opposite is true for the movie Yes Man from the non-fiction of the same title.

Love and Other Drugs: Other Couple's Talk

The usual formula of a rom-com can be witnessed on movies such as Going the Distance, Keeping the Faith, There’s Something About Mary, and recently playing whole month in HBO – French Kiss (Meg had gone way over the top for this). To our delight, there's a unique rom-com chemistry in the lovely couple Anne and Jake, who grew lovelier in Love and Other Drugs after their Brokeback Mountain roles. We knew the love angle in Brokeback is different from the new ensemble they had.

Edward Zwick really dwelled on character development and he used the two so cleverly that we are immersed on their passion – the intrigue about the pseudo-relationship they are trying to keep and deny. Anne’s Maggie gave a different meaning to Parkinson’s, and I suddenly felt an urge to Google her pictures right after watching the movie. Jake’s portrayal of Jamie came a bit of a surprise to me, because although I’ve seen him act his way from being a high school nerd experimenting rockets, to being a gay cowboy, and to being a castaway soldier; I’ve never seen this kind of versatility in him yet as an actor. I’m thrilled to see him in his next movie Source Code.

For the sake of argument someone pointed out that there's a lot of sex scenes in the movie to make it appealing romantically to the general public. I presume that in order for the viewers to grasp the idea of the Jamie and Maggie's relationship, we need to understand the primary constant that bind them in the first place: they both enjoy having SEX. How the movie evolves into something romantic without sacrificing plotlines and using to full extent the gorgeous nakedness of both Anne and Jake, is an important element in reconstructing the concept that this movie is not just your ordinary rom-com flick, but you can take into account good acting, hot scenes, and the range of emotions on screen.

I am reminded by a co-worker who mentioned in passing – about a trainee she used to handle who’s having an affair with a married guy. Given, I know at least 5 married guys who’ve had affairs at work and this is supposed to be normal to them; I still think that society dictates the male-chauvinistic behavior and not the work environment. Much to our dismay, we equate machismo to the number of women a guy is romantically involved with. But then, if you came across someone like Anne Hathaway, then you’d probably stop being a douche bag, and stick to one woman.

How I Met Your Mother: Be Barney's Wingman

Mondays on ETC is HIMYM day, two back-to-back episodes are aired, the first at 9PM is last week's episode, and the 9:30 PM slot goes to the match-aired (as how ETC termed it, which still sounds weird for me) episode.

Amongst the favorite characters is Barney, the bachelor-type guy who goes after random girls for unsolicited sex with no emotional attachment. We learn how he lures preys through his "pick up" lines which can be legen--wait for it--dary at some point, unrealistic when you sometimes think of it, and utterly gender-biased the most. It seems practical to note that creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas patterned their lives thru the other male leads - Ted and Marshall - who seem more romantic and relatable to the regular viewers. However, there's no denying that we do aspire to be Barney at one point. At one, single-dotted point in our lives, have we ever imagined ourselves hitting off with a total of 200 random partners? Well it may sound far-off, but that's really our Id talking. You know, Id, the one who takes on the darker, non-conformity side of ourselves.

Recently, Barney's been denying his possible attachment to a previous date and his friends are teasing him about it. Meanwhile viewers are still pounding on who could be the "mother" and we definitely think it's not Zoey, because we just heard that HIMYM is still up for another two seasons. When I watch HIMYM and I start to think that I'm Barney I'd probably skip the dating and proceed to the fun part, but the fun part isn't sex, but the chasing that you have to do. And I've been a wingman for some time, with my co-workers and friends, but have never been the actual guy. Maybe I can ask someone to be my wingman, for fun, but who's gonna agree anyways?