A Walk to Remember

While I was browsing our DVD collection last night, I found this very lovely movie of all time. I think that this is one of the best movies for me. Watching it for 4 times, it clearly had an impact in my heart. 

A Walk To Remember movie is really something to remember. I like how it was made and the scenes deeply touched me. It gave an inspiring and hopeful feelings to its viewers. The perfect direction and production together with the chosen casts to star in this movie is something to recognize. I remember when I first watched this in a movie theater, I can't help but reminisce all the scenes in my mind. I was pre-occupied with the scenes that deeply touched me. I thought that I was alone, but other viewers who walked out of the theater were looking so touched as well.

This dramatic love story is excellent, all because of its lessons in a Christian way. I love how the writers and producers thought of integrating Bible lessons in it. Because, I believe, that this served as a reminder for young couples to put Christ in the middle of the relationship and through that, miracles really do happen. 

Fireproof: Movie Review

I am so amazed and blessed with this movie and i could not just turn my mind off for hours from the scenes that deeply touched me after i watched it. God really can bless and talk to His children in every way. This movie has successfully became His instrument that it could reach people in the whole world. I admire the director and producer of this movie, who was the main cast of "facing the giants" for doing another work that will really inspire and will transform lives of a lot of people who are gonna be watching. I have also seen the "behind-the-scenes" and it just made me even more blessed for seeing that the movie was made from the efforts of volunteers from the Christian churches in the US - from the director, producer, to the camera men, casts, and make-up artists, and many more just to make this movie possible. And the first thing that they did every day before they would start filming is to pray.

I am encouraging everybody to watch this. It talks about working out broken marriage and how God changed the couple's lives together. You will definitely gonna love it and will be amazed of God's grace and power. It's two-way-thumbs- up!

I Am Sam: Movie Review

I actually has seen this movie years ago.. and i think that i've already watched it in like the fifth time last night, it's because this movie really touches me to the deepest of my heart. it inspires me so much that no matter how many times i watch it, or just play those scenes which appeals to me, i'd still be loving it and not get tired of it. in fact, i could easily know where and what part is what. i even had memorized most of the lines of each scenes for having it replayed for many times now (but not to their fully exact words)...=)

for a little summary.. this movie talks about a mentally challenged father who happened to have a daughter with a woman named "becka". Unfortunately, this woman had left him right after giving birth to the child. It was obviously because she was so ashamed of having the baby with a father like him. So Sam had to take care of the little infant all by himself.

Sam named the little girl "Lucy". He had a very hard time on taking care of her. He had to leave the little girl with somebody so he could go to work. The baby was always crying and crying all the time. And he had to feed her and keep an eye on her every now and then.

But that did not discouraged him to give up the baby nor think about it. His friends were so supportive although they were like him who were also special people. Lucy grew up so soon and went to school. The sad thing is, she was becoming smarter everyday. She was withdrawing herself from learning more in school when her father couldn't even read words by himself. It is because she was turning 8 and her father has a brain of a 7 year-old child.

That was when Lucy started to feel ashamed of his father. Since her classmates could not understand anything about him (Sam), they were like laughing at him all the time and that was just so embarrassing for her. Until problems occurred and the social welfare had to get her from the custody of her father.

This is where Sam had got to meet his lawyer and they tried everything they could to fight for Lucy just to get her back to him. But unfortunately, they lost the case. And Lucy was adopted by her foster parents sooner eventually. Sam just felt so depressed for losing her. He had lost the precious "lucy" of his life.

But since they had this very special bond between them (as father and daughter), the foster parents decided to just make Lucy go back to his father. it is for the reason that they just couldn't deprive that little girl from longing the one who's special in her life. They tried everything to make her happy with them but she would always sneak out of the house and went to Sam instead. What a very touching moment this is. It made them realize that Lucy really needs her father so much.

Love will always bring someone closer to its home and settle there in the end no matter what the circumstances are. And Love has it's every way to bring that
happiness to Lucy and Sam in this movie. *sigh*

Lesson learned: Disabled or mentally retarded a person may be.... he/she still has the ability to love and be loved... =)

Brokeback Mountain

This movie has actually opened my mind regarding homosexuals. I actually have gay friends before I entered the seminary but it is here where I learned more about them. And it is my gay friend here in UTS who first encouraged me to watch this movie. It was good watching it with him because I asked a lot of questions to him about the movie and relating it to real life situations.

I stand still to my belief regarding homosexuals, but I also love them as they are. I can’t actually fully sympathize with them because I don’t know how it is to be like them. This very close gay friend of mine has been telling his struggles to me regarding his identity as a person. He is sure to be gay indeed. He has some problems with regards to his father. Honestly I did not know how to comfort him because I didn’t know what to say. I just listened to him. His father disliked him for being a gay. But what is important now is that he told me that his father finally accepted him for what he is and actually calling him “hija” and is very proud of him for being a very diligent student in class. He is getting high grades and is a part-time faculty in the same school to where he is attending to because he helps in the choir.

In the case of this movie, it helped me to understand my friend. It actually added more on my awareness of their identity as gays, their social life and their relationships. I am relating this movie to my friend so I could reflect more on it. For me, I can just understand how gays feel about their situations. They feel the condemnation the most. They feel that they are always being laughed at. I don’t also want these people to feel this way because no one nor straight people deserved to be condemned and be laughed at.

The scene which left me curious is that when the two gays met each other again, and seemed to really long for each others’ hugs and kisses. I actually admire them for being so caring about each other that they understand each others’ problems and inner struggles in life because they have the same identity and they feel what each other feel. And the scene when the other gay died because it is the other gay who felt more grief and loss in his part because they were best friends and really had intimate relationship with each other. It seems like he lost the very important part of his life that no one and nothing could ever replace him.

Personally, I can’t be so much of advocating homosexuals but I want to understand them, and their struggles in life. I still believe that God only made man and woman alone. I don’t want to judge anybody on how they wanted to live their life because for me it is only God who has the right to judge people. What I can do is to love my neighbors and understand them and comfort them as much I can.

The Bridges at Madison County

The Bridges at the Madison County is a movie of love, frustration, unhappiness, desire, and hope of a typical woman, mother and a wife. It is true that every woman has different kind of struggles in life and in different situations. In the case of Francesca, a mother of two college teenagers and a house wife, she has a family but she does not feel the happiness that a mother and wife should have. She is happy to see that her family is living very normally like any other families but she seemed to have a lot of unfulfilled space in her heart.

Francesca portrays a very typical woman in this movie – a mother who does everyday house chores and a wife who serves her husband, until when a stranger photographer came to ask direction from her. That is when her life had changed even for just a little time of experiencing the liberty of being a woman away from the everyday routine as a housewife.

I could say that Francesca was very much aware of those times when she and that stranger man met. She knew what she was doing not thinking if it was wrong or a right thing to do. What she knew is that she was acting like who she really is as a woman.

Francesca made me sympathize with her, maybe because I am a woman too. Although I really don’t know how it is to be in her situation. I sympathize with her for desiring the things she wanted for herself when she was still single. She met and married a man from whom she bore two children with. But she realized that in that marriage everything in her life changed as well. She was like driven away from the things that she wanted to do and the things she wanted to have. It is because the reality is that, marriage is a different phase in everybody’s life. But I believe that marriage should be as happy and fulfilling part in a woman’s life as she was when she was single. She still can achieve the things that she wanted and feel the fulfillment in her heart. She wanted to be whole as a woman. And that was her dilemma.

When that stranger photographer Robert came, she realized many things about herself. Aside from having feelings with this guy, she discovered that she can also have the things which can bring her happiness. She envied Robert for he can do things which he loves to do. Taking photos is his passion. Francesca learned that the desire of her heart to be happy is just fair for her to have even though she has a family to be taken cared of. She learned how love can actually bring a lot of happiness in her heart and that’s what she felt being with Robert. She laughed like she did not laugh in ages. She can be as she actually is. She was very happy and that happiness but sadly it just ended for four days.

Even though that event in her life was just temporary, Francesca did the right thing. As what I said earlier, she knew what she was doing. She let herself to act and be as whom she really is in that four days – felt and used liberty she had, loved a man so heartedly and cherished every moment with him… but she made the right decision in the end. She did not go with Robert which will make her leave her family.

As for me, Francesca had been very sad that she actually indulged herself to the wrong thing (which is true for she has a family). I cannot deny the reality that she really did wrong. It is just not fair for her husband and for her children. But it is not only her fault because her family has their fault too on this thing. Her husband seemed to be very busy about life as a family man that he did not notice how sad his wife got. They did not have the moments from which he and his wife enjoyed to do. They were like sucked into a life of having a family and live with it.

I learned essential things from watching this movie. I learned that building relationship everyday with loved ones is very important. Because, no matter how good a relationship started if not working it out everyday will be destroyed in the end.

I remembered a computer game “SIMS” which I really love to play because that game is a life game. Sims are people just like humans who also have basic needs like food, shelter, and love. In that game, a player should fulfill his/her sims’ needs. They need to be fed, sent to school, graduate, get a job, earn money, live a comfortable life with comfortable stuffs in the house made for them… they need to have someone to talk to, companion, build relationship with, marry and have family. These needs have to be always maintained high in percentage because they’ll be sick if hungry, frustrated if not getting what they desire to have or achieve or they will fight with the people around them if not. For example, if an adult male sim established to have 100% relationship with a female sim, get married and have children, they still need to talk, to play, to caress, to kiss, to hug and love each other and meet each other’s needs although they have differences in personalities. Same with their relationship towards their children and friends. It is funny because if they don’t agree with each other’s topic, you can see the minus sign above their heads which means that their relationship level decreases.

That is why humans should be working on to their relationships…everybody. In the case of this movie, that is what is lacking in Francesca’s family. Everybody has fault because they did not seem to reach out each other and open their thoughts and talk about things regarding everything. The percentage of their relationship has gone very low and poor. That is why problems occurred.

God has made man and woman to love each other and cherish each other. It is still very important to have prayer relationships. In Francesca’s situation, at the end of the movie, her children understood her enough that they learned from her and are eager and willing now to fix their own relationships with their own families. For me, that is what’s very important. Family is really important and a very essential part in everybody’s life. I admire my mother for forgiving my father for being unfaithful before. And that is because church people helped her to do so. We were young in that time but my mother said that we were a lot of help for her to overcome that situation. My father is a very good father to us now and I could say that relationships within the family have been restored. This movie is worth watching for.