reel moments

"Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures."
--Jessamyn West

consider yourself warned. there are potential spoilers ahead. well, the warning's applicable only if you haven't watched the movies or seen the scenes i'm talking about in this post.

if you don't want to risk encountering any spoiler, stop reading here and just come back another day.


"big brother" moment
movie: ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros
the jeepney scene with maxi crying his heart out to kuya bogs



move over, big brother of reality tv. the "big brother" award goes to kuya bogs!

kuya bogs was portrayed oh-so-well by ping medina. when kuya bogs saw maxi sad and crying, he led her into an empty public jeepney and, there, allowed the tears of her young broken heart to fall down. maxi's heartbreak was made more convincing because of that scene. kuya bogs was there to cushion the pain.

i could still remember the words he said so kindly... "tama na iyak..." i bet i'm not the only one who likes that scene a lot. maxi's envied for having a caring brother like kuya bogs.


"just chill, ok" moment
movie: reality bites
that moment of tension between leilani's BFs: michael the boyfriend and troy the jealous best friend

michael: have i stepped over some line in the sands of coolness with you? because excuse me if somebody doesn't know the secret handshake with you...

troy: there's no secret handshake. there's an IQ prerequisite, but there's no secret handshake.

ahahah. i looooove troy's reply. it's something still civil but acerbic enough. uppity actually.


"this is love" moment
movie: march of the penguins (documentary)

this. i've said this before, i'm gonna say it again: the penguin love scene is the best love scene i’ve ever seen!


"mother and son" moment
movie: the passion of the christ
the "i'm here" scene

remember that scene where the mother rushed to her son when she saw him fall on the ground one playtime? that left quite an impression on me. the scene illustrated very well the mother's love for her kid. it was on the expression on her face. it was on the way she said, "i'm here." it was on the simplicity of the scene.

i believe every mother's love is like that. it doesn't require grand gestures to be felt.


another "mother and son" moment
movie: crying ladies
the scene with stella and her son preparing for sleep

have you seen this movie? stella was portrayed by sharon cuneta. though morally weak, stella's a loving mother to her son. during their quality hours together, she and her son played and clowned around a lot. they also prayed together.

the mother and son scene in this movie that stood out for me was this hilarious sequence where stella was saying their prayer and, suddenly, the room started shaking. her neighbors who lived just a floor above her were doing it wildly and noisily. in her attempt to protect her son's peace and innocence, stella matched the shaking and the noises by saying her prayer louder and louder while hugging her son. she prayed frantically and incoherently, she invoked the lyrics of her favorite videoke song.

laugh trip.


"she broke his heart" moment
movie: casablanca
the bleeding letter scene



first, he got stood up. second, he received her goodbye. then, the rain fell. the words of his lady-love got smeared. very heartbreaking!

rick blaine waited for ilsa at the train station. she didn't come. his friend, sam, came and handed him a letter. it said what it said. i love you, goodbye. you know, that kind of thing.

the sadness of the moment got doubled because the rain fell and the raindrops caused the farewell note to bleed.


"mean girl" moment
movie: mean girls
sugar and spice, think twice when she's being nice

regina george, the high school queen bee, saw lea edwards wearing a skirt. she blurted out, "oh my god, i love your skirt! where did you get it?"

thrilled that regina liked her skirt, lea answered, "it was my mom's, in the '80s."

regina said, "ah, vintage! so adorable."

lea was doubly thrilled so she thanked regina. when lea was already out of earshot, regina, in her mean girl tone, announced to her friends, "that is the ugliest effing skirt i've ever seen."

haha. mean girl, indeed.


moment of truth
movie: pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl
captain jack sparrow living up to his character

captain jack sparrow: me? i'm dishonest and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid.

captain jack sparrow and his run-on sentences and confusing sensible statements. savvy?