Entertainment

I haven’t had my heart broken in loooongggg time (romantically speaking that is) but i still have a penchant for love songs that speaks of unrequited love.

I’ve been on roadtrips for the past three weekends and one of the highlights of every roadtrip is that you get to hear songs inside the car either from a CD or the radio. During our Port Stephens roadtrip, I heard this song from Hilda’s CD while we were on the way home and the following week, she sent me a copy via snail mail (How romantic is that??? I miss receiving snail mails!).

Last Friday while cleaning the house, I kept on playing this song over and over again…learning and memorizing it. This is the kind of song that makes me regret not learning how to play the guitar (But it isn’t too late yet right? Maybe one day I’ll get the discipline to learn it!).

And this song has been playing inside my head thousands of time since then…this morning, I found the MTV on youtube.

Teardrops On My Guitar lyrics

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see
That I want and I need everything that we should be
I’ll bet she’s beautiful, that girl he talks about
And she’s got everything that I have to live without

Drew talks to me, I laugh cause it’s just so funny
That I can’t even see anyone when he’s with me
He says he’s so in love, he’s finally got it right,
I wonder if he knows he’s all I think about at night

[Chorus:]

He’s the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star
He’s the song in the car I keep singing, don’t know why I do

Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can’t breathe?
And there he goes, so perfectly,
The kind of flawless I wish I could be
She’d better hold him tight, give him all her love
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she’s lucky cause

[Repeat Chorus]

So I drive home alone, as I turn out the light
I’ll put his picture down and maybe
Get some sleep tonight

He’s the reason for the teardrops on my guitar
The only one who’s got enough of me to break my heart
He’s the song in the car I keep singing, don’t know why I do
He’s the time taken up, but there’s never enough
And he’s all that I need to fall into..

Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won’t see.

Billy Elliot is a movie adaption about a boy discovering his love for dancing, set in the 1980s, a generation when the idea of boys dancing are frowned upon.

The story showed Billy’s struggle to learn how to dance and convince his family to support him in this “bizaare” endeavor.

It is about being yourself, making your dreams come true and believing that you can achieve what you want as long as you work hard for it.

It also showcases the love of a mother which served as a big inspiration to the main charater in fulfilling his dreams.

The musical is entertaining–funny and touching at certain times; lyrics were very inspiring and the scenes where dancing was involved will make you wanna dance.

This is one musical that hits home, made me asked myself “Why didn’t I pursue dancing before?” (I realized now that the answer to that was because I chose to finish school instead of dance) There was one part of the musical when Billy Elliot was asked why he liked dancing and he answered with a song called “Electricity”:

I can’t really explain it,
I haven’t got the words
It’s a feeling that you can’t control
I suppose it’s like forgetting, losing who you are
And at the same time something makes you whole
It’s like that there’s a music playing in your ear
And I’m listening, and I’m listening and then I disappear

And then I feel a change
Like a fire deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I’m flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I’m free I’m free

There’s one song called “Shine” that made me remember my Affirmation before called “Shine!” The song inspires one to shine no matter who you are and what you do, what’s important is when you do something, do it well and shine!

Doesn’t matter if you’re short or squat
Cerebrally challenged, completely shot
You might have it or might not
All you really have to do is
All you really have to do is shine
Give ’em that old razzle dazzle and shine
Give ’em that old razzle dazzle and shine
And shine
And shine.

The most touching part of the story is the love between Billy and his Mom. The Mom sings:

And I will have missed you growing,
And I’ll have missed you crying
And I’ll have missed you laugh.
Missed your stomping and your shouting,
I’ll have missed telling you off,
But please Billy,
Know that I was always there.
I was with you through everything.
And please, Billy…

know that I will always be
Proud to have known you
Proud that you were mine
Proud in everything
And you must promise me this, Billy

In everything you do
Always be yourself, Billy
And you always will be true

….I was with you through everything.
And please, Billy,
Know that I will always be.
Proud to have known you.
Love you forever.

That song made me remember my mother. And I guess anyone who loves their mother will think of their mother the very moment they hear that song.

As the Brits and Aussies say, “This musical is bloody brilliant!” and it is. It is entertaining and provides a lot of insights in life and inspires one to reach for your dreams.

The second musical we watched this year (and probably the last, not unless they bring “Wicked” to Sydney) on 20 July 2008. First time to watch in Capitol Theatre –which is a better theatre venue than Lyrics Theatre.

The theatre is stunningly beautiful. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside so here’s some photos I got from the net.

Inside the Capitol Theatre

Let’s keep this short and sweet.

How do I love “The Dark Knight”? Let me count the ways:

a. The best Batman movie ever because it’s the most realistic, has a screenplay that makes the most sense and better cinematography as compared to the previous Batman movies.

b. Awesome performances of actors (in order of preference):

Heath Ledger at The Joker

I couldn’t agree more with everybody that this was Heath’s best performance as an actor and best portrayal of The Joker. Anyone who will play The Joker next will probably have a hard time encompassing Heath’s performance.

Heath’s The Joker portrayal had stirred so many emotions in me while watching this film: fear because he was psychologically scary, excitement because he simply lights up every scene when he’s in it, pity because his eyes showed a certain despair and need for revenge, joy because he was funny and entertaining and awe because he simply was so different from the Heath that played lead actors in his other movies. He was simply The Joker here, nothing more, nothing less.

Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes

It would be unfair to compare her to Katie Holmes but I can’t help it (so sue me hah!). I liked her as Rachel Dawes because she was convincing enough to be a lawyer, her acting was simple but substantial and her death (sorry, spoiler!) was a surprise.

Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox

Two actors that supported the lead role and yet they delivered. Bow.

On why I won’t give it 5 stars?

Because the voice of Batman (played by Christian Bale) was soooo hoarse, it was annoying. The only thing I said when I first heard it was “Kiko Matsing, is that you?” Good thing, Batman doesn’t speak so much. But I do like Christian Bale as Batman…he’s way better than all the other Batmans put together.

If you haven’t seen this film, watch it! And I really hope you watch it on the big screen beacause this Batman has more substance than ever, more haunting and very entertaining…it’s worth your money and your time.

We watched this movie last Friday, 18 July 2008.

Last night we celebrated our 17th month a day earlier (today’s our monthsary) by watching “The Phantom of the Opera”. I realized that for the past 5 years of being together, I never introduced Chris to “my art”, it’s always been “his art”–graphic design, photography, exhibits, etc. And so I bought tickets to The Phantom of the Opera in February (tickets were selling like hotcakes, May schedules were already sold out!) so I can share my love for theatre with him.

According to him, the only plays he had ever watched in Manila was “Noli Me Tangere”, El Filibusterismo” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and for me that doesn’t count at all, coz they’re the kind of plays one had to watch when you’re studying Secondary School in the Philippines. So in effect, this was Chris’ first time to watch a play–and I’m glad it was The Phantom of the Opera that we watched.

It was also Chris’ first time to go to Star City (Sydney’s Las Vegas), this was where we had dinner at Trophies.

Our dinner: some Chinese BBQ Pork and Roast Duck

Infront of Star City where they have this big Phantom of the Opera paraphernalias

Chris’ first time to see a Musical Play…this was infront of the Lyric Theatre in Star City

Very excited to see The Phantom of the Opera as I heard it has the best production ever.

The Lyric Theatre was full even on a Thursday…there was not an empty seat on the theatre last night.

The Phantom of the Opera was the most spectacular play I’ve ever watched. It is indeed the musical that has the best production from costumes to stage set-ups for every scenes. The actors were sooooo good–all had equally powerful voices but it was The Phantom’s voice that I fell inlove with. Other than the voices, all did well in acting too.

It is from this musical where the song “All I Ask of You” (which I’ve always loved since I was in High School) was from and now that I’ve seen it sung in this play, the song has more meaning to me, more heartfelt knowing why it was sung and which part of the story it was sung. I fell inlove with the song all over again.

Chris enjoyed his first musical (yay!!!!) and I’m so glad he liked it as much as I did. This morning when he woke up he looked for his “All I Ask of You” MP3 and played it while he was surfing the net. I guess my love for theatre rubbed off on him aye? Success!!!!

After the show, we hang out a bit for a hot chocolate at the Lyric Cafe and to end the night going thru the scenes we love best.

In Act One, these were the scenes that made an impact on us:

Scene 4 where The Phantom and Christine (the lead female) were in the Labyrinth Underground singing “Phantom of the Opera.”

Scene 5 where The Phantom sings “Music of the Night” to Christine in his secret hideaway place.

Scene 10 where Raoul and Christine sings “All I Ask of You” on the roof of the Opera House.

In Act Two:

Scene 1 where the unforgettable and vibrant Masquerade was sung.

Scene 9, of course who would forget the last scene? This was where The Phantom had to let Christine go even if he loved her so much.

Since we had an advanced 17th month celebration last night, we stayed home today and only went out to do some grocery shopping. We also catched up on sleep…hindi na talaga ako sanay magpuyat.

Other than introducing Chris to my love for theatre I have decided that we should once in a while see a play instead of a movie. A different form of art, a more enriching learning experience. So next month, we are seeing another musical play.