The Numbness of Spider Senses

Russovoir must be all grown up now because superhero movies have a little or no effect on him already. He probably had enough that he directed his attention to the cinematography and actors instead. Therefore, The Amazing Spiderman is for the young ones, with their refreshing and enviable propensity in feeling vicariously to a superhero and, almost immediately, to a villain. And yes, maybe because it's a reboot of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002).

Being so, Russovoir chooses to discuss the part of the web weaved interestingly: Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, and how their romance, their chemistry spun me twitterpated.

Garfield and Stone's public display of affection, and solely because they are a couple in real life, was so palpable that you forget for a second there's a big lizard on the loose. The film centered the movie on their love affair and individual antics that gave the impression of a romantic comedy than of an action adventure genre. It would've been less cloying if there was a love triangle of which builds tension and sympathy, either for each other or themselves, that puts the plot in the advantage to be manipulated in such a way that there's a clash of emotions, like Peter (Maguire), Mary Jane (Dunst), and Harry (Franco) in all three (3) Spider-Man sagas. It gets you going because you know, as a human being, conflicting emotions can affect any circumstance.

Let's focus on Andrew Garfield now. Andrew Garfield does Peter Parker in a cooler way, the epitome of all manifestations of teen angst, dorkiness, and hipster persona. A smile that's captivating, even more so when it's forced. He is truly a good actor. He always have been. He carries himself naturally on camera with only the minor exemption of his mouth as a distraction when he tries to talk in heavy tears. Besides that, I admire him. He's one of the most promising actors in the industry. I wish him all the best with Emma Stone, who is better off in self-assertive roles than a damsel in distress.

The Amazing Spiderman, as far as ignorance is bliss goes, is a reboot performed by two (2) beautiful and talented actors in Hollywood. And as far as the desired outcome of a reboot, its reputation gave a whole new light to our beloved superhero, casting intrusively as briefly.

 

LUST-sagna for Mr. Garfield

"You better lawyer up, asshole!", said in boiling anger from a kettle neither short nor stout. Big things really do come in skinny packages. Or maybe that's a Russovoir paraphrase. The Social Network, and with all due respect and much love for Jesse Eisenberg, was a revelation of Andrew Garfield. Once a sleeper actor now is recognized in Hollywood as dedicated to acting as a spider to its spinning.

Eensy weensy spider went up the water spout. Garfield took up acting classes at the young age of twelve to silence the compliments from his teachers of his proclivity for acting. The way up was slippery but precocious little Garfield was steadfast. Local theater trophies, as if life didn't want to settle with a brightly-colored leotard for a coming-of-age gift to the 21-year old gymnast, were awarded in recognition for his performances in plays and workshops.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out. One quick pain to save a childhood numbed and gashed with misery and fear, Andrew would've wished to be Spiderman."...because I was very confused when I first went to school, and there was a kid who was just mean and I just didn't understand it, and right into my teenage years, where I would be mugged on the street, or when I was 17 or 18, and I was in drama school, and I wouldn't be able to do anything because there'd be three or four of them and they'd take my wallet, and I'd come home feeling disempowered and so angry!", admits a reticent Andrew Garfield in an interview on the July issue of GQ. An unconfident spider can always slip and fall from its own web if the treading seemed heavy and unguided. Dangling bravely, Garfield has always known one of the impressive features of a web is that, it sticks only to a prey. Never to himself. His web is only limited to his consent. And this has made him a fighter, a survivor, and he was just going through the motions in life that will say (and have said) a lot about his character.

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain. Now everything seems small and insignificant to one of Hollywood's impassioned and admirable celebrities. Never Let Me Go and The Social Network were performances of Andrew Garfield notable to anyone who understands histrionics without compromising stage presence. This eensy weensy spider went up the water spout to stardom, SAVERINg honorable mentions and awards from fifteen (15) different acclaimed award assemblies.

Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network.

Marvel Comics' multi-billion dollar blockbuster reboot, succeeding Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield is The Amazing Spiderman. A briefcase left by his estranged father intrigues Peter Parker, spawning a web of mystery which led him to a surgeon who never loses a limb. Come June 29, an outcast will have to dust away the cobwebs of who he truly is and what he should be for with great power comes great responsibility.

Peter Parker in The Amazing Spiderman.

Movie Recommendation Time: Midnight Son.

The prognosis of a maturing vampire baffles a security guard in the hopes of a cure. They say the human body stops growing at the age of twenty-five (25) that, the suspecting infection heightens its symptoms as Jacob is on the final stages of vampiric metamorphosis.

Insidiously compelling, the first stage is denial, then there's struggle, and lastly, one most feared, acceptance. This is not a typical vampire movie. No sir. The personification is so human that the film bites on the suggestion of an infection, a medical condition brought about by, my guess, genetics (They didn't show Jacob's history to leave room for retrospective imagination but left an element that produced such effect). He lived with it for so long in his basement apartment - the torture of sunlight is still a powerful attribute of their kind - painting sunrises and sunsets for which he has missed obsequiously since birth. He's alive but not exactly living.

Until one night he falls in love with a girl who sells blow pops (it's like lollipop but with gum inside). He sank his teeth - no fangs; again, it's as human as possible - to a relationship that baffles the cocaine-sniffing bartendress. "I know who you are." a famous line from the The Twilight Saga becomes "Wow, you're like a vampire." because one, she believed the poor man who got the "rare skin disease" when presented with a severely scarred arm. Two, she probably has lived her life seeing the worst of times, exposed to harsh reality too often too much, that the supernatural is out of her conscious and unconscious interest. Curiosity didn't just kill the cat, but lives.

Survival is like a bat without ultrasonic hearing, blue-collar Jacob must give in and supply his body's savage needs, renouncing morality in the name of life and love, whatever - bluntly whoever - it takes.

It's not always about the cast or the commercialization of the film that persuades Russovoir to watch. It has always been about the story, the twist, and the hairs on one's back standing up even after the movie. Independent films like Midnight Son demands a panegyric.

Father's Day Special: Courageous

"There's only three (3) men I'm a serve my whole life; it's my Daddy, Marc Jacobs, and Jesus Christ." - Russo.

That's a paraphrase from Lady GaGa's Yoü and I song, a beautiful song to say the least. Lady GaGa, who I'm sure you can only hate or love, adores her 54-year old Dad, Jo Germanotta, even and together with her boundless fame and fortune. She can never hate the person who bought her first piano. Surely her Dad had never missed a recital. Even then, Jo has always been at Lady GaGa's side in good times, and more dependably in bad. And we wonder why Mother Monster is so strong-willed, as a woman and a world-renowned international pop sensation. She was raised by a man with integrity, humility, and patience.

L-R: Natali, Jo, and Stephanie Germanotta

I heard that fatherless children are eleven times more likely than those with fathers to turn to lives of crime. But don't tell that to Harry Potter and Spiderman or they'll flip. Fathers, biological or adoptive, are crucial to a child's formative years. Not only to shoulder his share of parental responsibilities, fathers also serve as the training wheels on our first bikes, our foam fingers on our first little leagues. Because only when they appear strong, a child will be strong. You cannot fake strength. A father's presence - very singular, you noticed - can mean love, confidence, inspiration, security, fidelity, power. Each quality contributes to the intensity of the flame that is your fragile, impressionable soul.

I am one of the lucky ones to have a Dad, alive and able-bodied. Not lucky enough to have Fernando Zobel de Ayala or Donald Trump, but I'm cool. My Dad isn't exactly the super Dad I wish he is. Much less am I the super son he once dreamed of until I came out with an incurable predicament. It took a while and trust I'm still in the seemingly endless process to understand my Dad. I learned to love him because he's the only Dad I've got. The gods were gracious my Dad is a decent man. I can't say a lot about him because our relationship is a broken mirror: we can see each other eye to eye but we're aware of the cracks that scarred us over time. My Dad is an enigma, no less than his son. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"My Dad must've done something good to deserve a rewarding life."-Russo.

One of the recurring memories I had with my Dad, and trust my memory can only store memories of value, is the night he awoke me with a Jansport backpack suspiciously in my arms like a bolster pillow. Oh, my Dad can be a prankster sometimes. I couldn't go back to sleep anymore because, at that moment in time, my simple dream became a reality. And I'm glad my Dad was part of it.

I'm sure you have untamed memories with your Dad. Let them out as you watch this Father's Day Special movie recommendation:

From the creators that had my tears inextinguishable (Fireproof, Most Romantic Film of 2008), comes a film of five men who are trying to provide, survive, and revive what is given, forgotten, and stolen from them. Like a gun shot straight to the heart, Courageous is an emotional ride of which fathers are the providers, protectors, and mentors in the family as a man is distinguished for his honor.

I got WRECK 'N HURL instead of ROCK 'N ROLL.

Rocks in shallow water hurts. 
Rock of Ages hurt - from my toes up to my brain.

I have always been a fan of musicals. I personally see them as uplifting, as their songs always have been. Then again, maybe it's just my choices of musicals: the high-spirited and passionate ones. Masterful choreography makes me smile, as synchronization is one of the perks of being a perfectionist. There's so much life in a musical. You sometimes need to sing and dance, not forgetting to keep in character however your hands and feet move about, to express a certain feeling, a certain cause. That's why High School Musical was a phenomenon! I personally believe it gave new life (but of course Cry-Baby and Grease gave birth to it) - I dare say, resurrected - to musical movies for the younger generation, the most demanding as it is most profitable. Hence, the Glee outbreak.

Rock of Ages took musical movies rock bottom.

Just because a film has all these 1980's hit songs, and I do admit were great songs, that you have to rule out a solid plot. I feel like they cut out parts from the original Broadway production that made the film just plain filthy and unremarkable.

Tom Cruise was undesirable and truly performed a role that had grimace wiped off my face a mission impossible. A minority report to his many outstanding roles. A husband to a beguile wife, a father to a beautiful daughter, Cruise should've been more conscious of his movie roles. Known for his role as Ethan Hunt in the Mission Impossible sagas, a rock star role was a role most ambitious. And it did look ambitious to the point of annoyance mixed with pity.

Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx

To the rest of the cast of Rock of Ages, it was a school play that won first prize; a prize that has little or no value to your career.

DAVID CLAYTON HENRIE for FINNICK ODAIR in CATCHING FIRE.

Finnick Odair is a District 4 tribute and the victor of the 65th The Hunger Games. District Four is known for seafood and all byproducts from the sea. Finnick Odair won the games by trapping his contenders with fishnets as defense and his Poseidon-like trident for offense.

We best associate David Henrie in Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place. He projects himself as the overly sensitive, overly dramatic Justin Russo who thinks who knows everything about spells as he is one of the three (3) Russo siblings and the eldest brother to compete for the sole ownership of their Dad's magic powers. Justin competes with his sister, Alex (Gomez) and half-wit younger brother Max (Austin).

In real life, David Henrie is a professional rally driver, a musician, film producer, and a TV writer. As if he isn't already perfect, this Italian descent Schumacher is raised a Christian who behaves in public with little trace of narcissism, however imposing the paparazzi shots.

Movie recommendation time: The Music Never Stopped.

I wish I can gather anyone and everyone who has a persevering Dad to watch this film on Father's Day (June 17). I want to collect each and everyone's awe, laughter, tears, hopes, fears, and praises as it plays on. I want this to be watched so badly.

The Music Never Stopped resonates a relationship between a father and a son so strong, unbreakably unconditional, it's a masterpiece of the conductor that deserves a standing ovation; it is a note higher that is the defining moment - pulls one to a breathless state, breaking us beautifully into explicable tears.

Based on a true story, a couple received a call from the hospital of the state of their long lost son, Gabriel. Twenty (20) years of neglect, Gabriel was diagnosed with a brain tumor that left him unable to store new information and is lost with memories that are already in and are just coming in. Not exactly stupid but medically retarded, Gabriel is far from what he dreams to become.

Like a song that makes its way through the cracks of a concrete wall, there is a melody of hope that is waiting to be hummed. Music transports Gabriel back to his complete self with an enthusiasm like the last chorus to a song. His own personal taste in music was not only a tool to tune Gabriel back in harmony but it also was the only recognizable and remaining connection between Gabriel and his father, Henry, as the song for the latter mellows to a fade.