We had an early day off of school yesterday and as usual, we went to town, haha. The usual routine: first stop- bookshop (to search for some books/magazines), bakeshop (to buy foods), walk thru the streets (and buy some Chicken Pops along the way) annnnd lastly, to hunt for some interesting new, not-so-new up to the classic, movies/DVD.

Yee! Luckily, I get to see this Driving Lessons dvd for the first time and I was like, "Wha? Is this real?" haha. For everytime we go there, I am on a hunt for some Rupert Grint stuff, aside from the usual Harry Potter movies of course. Well, truth be told, Rup only has 3 movies outside Hogwarts namely Thunderpants (2001), Driving Lessons (2006) and Cherrybomb (2009). Uh there's 4, I'm sorry, it's called Wild Target and it's not yet released as of the moment. :) Cherrybomb has just wrapped up recently and was an indie film, that's why there's a very little chance of it to be shown in here (be it on theatre or dvd). Tsss. I so want to see that movie, but all I can do now is to hope.

Moving on, when I saw that DL dvd, I bought it right away haha. It's not everyday that you get to find one, yeah? And later that night, watched it again (again since I've seen the movie through the internet a couple of times). It's always refreshing though, to watch movies on your own tv, without all the distraction and buffering, lol.

So... Hm. As we all know there's a lot of DL movie reviews around the web, and here... are my thoughts about the movie. I am a Rupert fangirl, (lol yes. And proud!) but I'll try to make this one fair to everyone haha.

'Driving Lessons' means a lot to Rupert for this is somehow his attempt to make his own identity and not just be known as Harry's sidekick, Ron Weasley that is. Did he succeed then? I must say yes. He has captured the right emotion that's needed in his every scene. The shy guy Ben Marshall, who's being deprived of a normal teenage life, er, sort of, by his so-called Christian but overprotective mother, Laura (Laura Linney). It was when he worked as an assistant to Dame Evie Walton (played by Julie Walters, who happened to portray Molly Weasley in the Potter movies, Ron's mother.) that he learned how to live and stand for his own. What can I say? Julie Walters is amazing! Convincing acting, indeed. She and Rupert has this on-screen chemistry of motherly affection making their scenes so nicely done. Laura gave an awesome job too, I am really getting irked by her all throughout the movie 'cause she's so crazy. Haha. Teaching about Christianity and being good when she herself is not even a perfect one. Who is perfect, anyway. None.

What I am loathing about though is Rup's on-screen partner here, the one who gets to have his first on-screen kiss and loses his on-screen virginity with. lol She looked like an older sister to Rup. Bahaha! Srsly. Or maybe I am jealous, or maybe no. Idk. But it was sort of cool though. Rup has perfected that awkward, innocent expression on his face making his scenes come up so natural.

My favorite scene from the movie has to be this exchange of emotional lines by Ben and Evie. It's when Ben failed to come to Evie's reading in Edinburgh after being held up, er, spending the night with Bryony.

Ben: I'm not going back.

Evie: Then I'll walk.

B: You can't! You're dying!

E: I am not dying.

B: You musn't be afraid of death.

E: I am not dying!

B: God embraces all who believes in him, for they will have everlasting life.

E: I AM NOT DYING! I MADE IT UP!

B: I forgive you.. ..God gave you your talent for a reason.

E: There's no God, you pompous little cretin.

B: God forgives you for that too.

E: Let's get one thing clear, sunny boy! I do the forgiving, not God!

B: That's a terrible thing to say!

E: You never read the bloody thing anyway!

B: I read the Bible every night!

E: Liar!

B: Liar? You tell me I'm a liar? I'd never met anyone who lied so much in all my life! You make out all people out of thin air! You make out professations! You make out money!

E: You said you'd be there at eleven and you weren't. For one time I really needed you and you let me down at one time.

Woo! That was really intense! I've never seen Rupert that mad. Oh well, this is his first lead role, lol, that explains why. But anyway, he's, er, they pulled it off rather really well.

I also love the behind-the-scenes outtakes and the deleted scenes that's included in the dvd. It's so funny how awkward Rupert dances in their rehearsals haha. And when Julie was laughing as she forgot some of her lines that's rather adorable to watch. Rupert dancing, singing Gospel songs, reciting poems, swearing... lol awesome!

Upon watching the movie, there is this promise that somehow, he's going to be a great actor, comedy being his forte, given the right opportunity in the future. For now, I can just keep my fingers crossed for that. Harry Potter movies may come to its end come 2011, but I do hope it'll not be the end for Rupes' acting career.

So there! I tried really hard not to be so much of a fangirl but eventually, I failed, haha. And I am sorry for that. All in all, Driving Lessons is a feel good movie. Might as well you give it a try and watch (if you still haven't.)

"Thank you for having me." -Ben Marshall

You can never really tell when you’re getting hooked into someone/something. It just kind of happened. From the smallest stuff to the biggest names in the whole Earth, everything seemed so addicting. And this “awesome” guy named David Archuleta is never an exemption -- the guy who took not only America but the whole world by storm. Archu-storm, they say, whatever it was. ArchAngels, Archies (Archienoy if you’re a Filipino) and a lot of variations, that’s how his fans are coined. I am so glad to say that, though indirect as it may be because I am not even a member of any of his fan site/group (before, I'm a proud part of the Archuleta Philippines family now so there's that), I am one of them, lol. 

So why did I come up with this? I don’t know, really. I just thought that what I am about to tell is worth sharing and that somehow you might get to relate to it, just because somewhere, sometime, in our boring lives, we became fangirls. Just a quick reminder, though, what’s written below doesn’t necessary mean that it refers to me or that I do those stuff, lol, rather that’s what I have seen, observed and well.. Lezgo!

David at the Idol Finale red carpet. (credits to original owner)

Every admiration has its PRO's and CON's, no matter how we view it. And so here’s my take on being an Archie. 

• You put Archu- prefix to most of the word that you know. E.g. Archu-storm, Archu-smile, Archu-family, Archu-everything and the list goes on.. 
• You always go to Youtube to search for his latest vlogs, on-tour videos, shows, etc. 
• You collect his pictures! 
• Your bedroom wall is filled with Archu-stuff! (Seeeee!)
• You have every magazine that features him, no matter how long or short the article is or how big or small the inset picture is. 
• You smiiiiiiile a lot! Just because David loves smiling. lol 
• You want to eat Pad Thai, though it the first time you have ever heard of it. (Pad Thai is a noodle meal from Thailand)
• Totoro? You loooove Totoro! Hahaha! Though you can’t figure out still what kind of creature it actually was. (A Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki creation. Watch the film! It is nice.)
• You know the lyrics of his songs by heart. 
• You can recall every Idol moment that he had. (Remember that time Simon Cowell called him a chihuahua or when he sat on the floor when asked to choose between his co-contestants? Or the ever enchanting rendition of John Lennon's Imagine?)
• You’re admitting that you have ODD, OAD. (Note: Obsessive David/Archuleta Disorder)
• You easily hear when people mention his name, sing his songs even if you are literally faaaaar from the speaker/from them. (LOL. I’M so guilty of this)
• You can answer every question related to him, his family background to favorite color to foods that he love, EVERYTHING , make that all-caps.

For greater good:

You know that you’re on the good side when:

• You’ve met new friends from every nation, Archu-friends, online, in person, and they’re here to stay. You are kind of sure that they are the realones, the kind of friends that are worth keeping though you’ve seen them only once, er, you’ve known them because of the web. They won’t let you down, and you are like that to them. But you can’t quite agree to the fact that you have to share David with each other, lol. 

• You refrain from swearing. Not that you are too fond of speaking swear words before, but knowing David, he seemed to be a nice guy, well, he really is, and so he has influenced you to be the nicest that you can be. 

• You face the world with one big smiiiiiiiiiile. You realized that life isn’t that bad at all and that he’s like a ray of sunshine shining down on you, and you might influence others to smile too. Then happiness is just at hand. Being optimistic won’t hurt. Thanks, D!

Oops! This is bad.

• When all you ever think about is him, lol, that can’t focus on the real world. 

• When you flood/spam him with your tweets. Bah! He still needs privacy, though he is a public person. We have to be reminded by the fact that it’s a one-way relationship. We can’t expect them to reply with our rantings, as always. They’re here to share their good music and let us to appreciate it. What’s good with David is that he shows appreciation for the support that he’s getting. He never forget to thank the fans. How sweet is that. And so, don’t lose hope. Tweet once in a while. Butttt.. Try not to spam.

Credits: Archuleta Fans Germany

There. I don’t even know if this makes sense but, in any way or two, people influence you in ways you can never imagine. And that there are so many ways of showing your support to persons that you value the most. Sometimes, it’s weird, but yeah, they’re making you happy and that’s what matters, really. 

Sheesh, I can’t think straight now. LOL. I still have a lot to review and remember for our exams. Haha! But I’m positive, everything will fall into place. Bye!

Sweeet.

So I came home yesterday and saw this newspaper lying on my table waiting to be read. It has a huge picture of PGMA of the front page, apparently regarding the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that will take place on Monday. Err.. but that's what not what I want to talk about on this post, lol. Not that I don't like her or that I don't care about the country but.... Sheesh, don't let me explain. Haha Fine. I am not fond of politics. :D

Moving on, what interests me are these Potter film reviews that I found! Good read, really.
One from a teen writer and the other I guess is from a pro, or sort.

The first one says: "While I realize that it's impossible to squish every little detail of HP6 into a two-hour movie, I do know the story well enough to discern which parts matter, and which parts can understandably be omitted for filming purposes. That being said, the movie in itself isn't a complete waste of time." Of course, it isn't a waste of time. And just like before, we can't expect, well it is really impossible for the movies to stick with the whole book.There are these disappointment but fortunately, somehow some part of it gives us satisfaction. Both the reviewers showed disappointment with the lack of focus on Snape-is-the-Half-Blood-Prince thing. But said that Alan Rickman gave a very splendid performance.

As for the individual performances, the younger reviewer mentioned how Daniel Radcliffe's acting "doesn't evolve beyond the emotional range of a teaspoon", and Bonnie Wright gave a "sup-par depiction" of Ginny Weasley and that the HP veterans really did well, Gambon, Rickman, etc.

"Rupert Grint did a stellar job of capturing Ron Weasley's sardonic sense of humor and bumbling lack of subtlety, with Jessie Cave milking Lavender Brown's over-enthusiastic advances for all it was worth." How I love reading praises for Rupert, lol. But indeed, they really did a great job on it.

There's also a deeper explanation given by the other reviewer as he elaborated on the movie's "pluses and minuses." He even said, "Yates succeeds for the most part in condensing the first several chapters of the book in a few minutes of screen time. In some instances, he even improves on Rowling, avoiding the more implausible devices she resorts to, to create or resolve plot difficulties."

"He arranges elements in a scene with the eye of a still-life painter, juxtaposing images to good effect. In an early scene, for example, Harry and his friends Hermione and Ron have a laugh. The laughter echoes as the camera slowly closes up on a picture of an unsmiling Draco printed on a page of the Daily Prophet, its edges on fire." This is actually one of those few Trio moments on HBP that I loved. Awesome.

What I kind of didn't agree on was when he said that the Non-Potter readers who has watched the movie was left befuddled and disoriented when I think that it is a Muggle-friendly movie. For my friends anyway.

"There is on departure from the book, however, that is especially felicitous. And it is a scene that Yates invented. Harry spends the holiday with the Weasleys, but he gets an unexpected visit from the Death Eaters... ...the scene affords viewers a brief but exciting wizard battle and economically obviates the one that Rowling puts in the end of the book, which had it been filmed would have been predictable and even clunky. But the scene does more than that. When, in the last 20 minutes of the movie, Dumbledore creates a protective ring of fire around Harry and himself as they cross a lake infested with Gollum-like creatures, the scene with the Weasleys is recalled as an ironic counterpoint." I think Yates has already explained the need for the addition of the Burrow's Attack scene in the movie on a recent interview that has surfaced online and can be read here so I won't elaborate much on that.

In the end, it's just their opinion, what matters most is what we think about it, ourselves. Did we like it? Was it the best or in the reviewer's term, a little half-brewed? (Me, again, I LOVED IT.)

This last one, we might all agree on.
"You can hate it or love it, criticize or praise it - either way, it's a movie that shouldn't be missed. On principle, I mean. You know, just because it's Harry Potter."