9 reasons why, despite my distaste for sensationalism, i still have to write about heath ledger

[writing while the eagles preaches wisely with busy being fabulous ]

1. he's close to my heart for the simple reason that his real name is heathcliff andrew. if you read my maiden article in this blog, then you are aware that my favorite classic love story is the wuthering heights.

2. he has a very nice smile which draws attention to his eyes. no wonder he was cast as a casanova.

3. i was enamored by his surprise act of singing atop the bleachers in a football field in 10 things i hate about you. he's my young 14-ish love (i was in 2nd year high school when i watched the movie); i even downloaded his own rendition of i can't take my eyes off of you.

4. i've fond remembrances of him portraying the gallant sir william thatcher/ ulrich von lichtenstein in a knight's tale. until today, i still remember that interesting introduction, "the protector of virginity."

5. before the tragedy, he was dating gemma ward, one of my favorite supermodels.

6. he's australian; i think australia is a land of exceptional talents, the [living] proof being heath ledger and nicole kidman (but with the exception of russel crowe).

7. i still think his role in brokeback mountain is award-winning. to play ennis del mar is challenging, yet ledger was able to put the discomfort (if any) beneath him.

8. i feel like i've won the grandslam in the christopher nolan-christian bale - heath ledger trio in the dark knight. and never, never did i question his ability of playing the joker; first, because i completely trust nolan's judgment and second, because i completely trust ledger's acting.

9. his death serves as a grave warning to me that "one more sleeping pill" is never too safe.




i hope it's true that the dead are in a happier place now, because it will be so unfair to take you away and strip you off from enjoying the life you've worked so hard to achieve. you don't deserve to die... not this early, not this sudden.
and i don't deserve to be left this emotional.
thank you for making my movie life interesting. you were worth every frame.

sweeney todd splendid (and sick)

gothic comes back to the big screen in tim burton's latest beautiful macabre (and very well-deserved) golden globes best picture winner sweeney todd: the demon barber of fleet street. burton tags along his usual cast: his sweetheart helena bonham carter and my sweetheart, johnny depp.

so i'm not in the mood to create a synopsis; and i also think it's a lot better if you see this film with no clue whatsoever on what it's about -- you're gonna be in for a shocking treat. but these are my thoughts:


*** it helps that burton did the job semi-musical (but that's a little expected since this movie is adapted from a musical); he unveils the darkest plots and tells them in an almost friendly way. the film certainly has a wealth of humor, but dark, wicked humor mind you.don't be deceived; don't you dare bring your kids here.

*** i gasp in horror as depp realizes how his revenge consumed him in a morbid discovery that he killed his own wife with his own blade no less and sends her crashing to the ground, head first. in the context of tragedy, however, it is the most beautiful i've ever seen. depp's slit throat, blood gushing out of him, blood streaming down to his wife's face, blood pouring down from his mortal rival, blood in the sewer, bloody hands, bloody clothes, bloody corpses everywhere -- beautiful.

*** i smirk at the clever madness of helena bonham carter's character. what a calculating woman. and i thought she insists to "keep that lady out!" during the grand opening of her "meat" pies because she's a beggar, it didn't cross my mind she's actually depp's lost love!



sweeney todd has all of burton's familiar and trademark elements -- especially the gore, and the black (in form and in wit) -- and if you pay attention you will not miss the homage to his previous films: the showdown between johnny depp and sacha baron cohen takes you back to edward scissorhands, helena bonham carter's daydreaming is reminiscent of charlie and the chocolate factory (with respect to costumes) and the overall tone and color reminds you of corpse bride, only we now have the characters in their breathing form. personally, i think this movie placed burton at his most accomplished; sweeney todd is one hell of a twisted delight.

just make sure you come to see this when all your tasks are done; i watched this and i could not think of anything else; i didn't want to do anything else. sweeney todd is asphyxiating as it is entertaining. i want to remember all the lines and choke on every one of them and strangely, i don't want to forget the tragedy -- again, what a beautiful, rare execution. and yes, gentlemen, go get that haircut and shave if you need to... you would not want to meet a barber in the next few weeks.

the cost of dying

[writing while the red hot chili peppers transports me back to high school with scar tissue ]

if i smoke an average of 6-7 sticks per day, (which means i am not making allowances for gloomy and depressing days) then i consume 2400 cigarettes in one year. that's equivalent to 120 packs, (as one pack contains 20 sticks) equivalent to 12 reams.

i smoke vogue cigarettes, which cost 79 pesos per pack. one hundred twenty packs of cigarettes cost nine thousand four hundred eighty pesos (php 9,480). this is my annual budget in cigarettes alone.

one pack of vogue cigarettes carries a php 13.44 import tax, which translates to paying one thousand six hundred twelve pesos and eighty cents (php 1,612.80) of annual import tax when multiplied by 120 packs.

according to the world book encyclopedia, one cigarette contains an average of two milligrams (2mg) of nicotine. then, my cigarette intake of 2400 sticks yearly means i poison my lungs with 4800 milligrams, or 0.0048 kilograms. expressed in kilograms, it hardly sounds harmful; it would actually take 104 years before i fill my lungs with just one kilogram of nicotine.

now that was a lot of math!!! i think i need a smoke. =)








p.s. happy new year, everyone.