3 movies that changed me

Kakabakaba ka ba? (Thrilled) / Directed by Mike de Leon / Written by Mike de Leon, Doy del Mundo and Racquel Villavicencio

I don’t think I have enjoyed any movie more than this crazy and audacious local creation. It’s fast and witty. It doesn’t make sense a lot of the time and Jay Ilagan’s deadpan punches just crack me up all the time. Seeing it recently, I never thought Charo Santos could make me smile.

This movie has been consistently in my top ten while movies like “Usual Suspects” and “Amelie” are finding its way out. Kakabakaba has taught me to try to go crazy sometimes. Things don’t always have to make sense. Hang on to something and take it for a ride. Mike de Leon and the gang were wracking their brains until the very end on how to finish the movie… and so they came up with a brilliant plan: end with a big production number!

Eternal Sunshine Of a Spotless Mind / Directed by Michel Gondry / Written by Charlie Kaufman

Kaufman and Gondry have my eternal gratitude. This is a tireless and soon-to-be classic love story. They just made the idea of soulmates not so mushy anymore. The use of live effects in most of the “optical tricks” and the use of those antiquated computers as the memory eraser just added so much veracity if you will, to this out-of-this-world movie.

If there was a screenplay that I wish I had written, this would be it.

But what was so inspiring was that there were so many changes that took place while the movie was being shot. Things are never really set until you actually screen the goddamn thing. Even then, one is never sure. I just saw three cuts of Blade Runner and who would’ve let Harrison Ford’s voice over narration tell the story? The producers did! Most people who saw Blade Runner in the theaters must have seen this inferior version.

But that’s how these things go. It ain’t over. Ever.

Fog Of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. Macnamara / Directed by Errol Morris

I am a pedestrian movie viewer. Rarely do I indulge in cryptic experimentations and the obscure and esoteric. And here is a documentary full of talk and stunning visual images that made me sit through and think about this stupid stupid war. This guy, who is as distant to me as any strange and great man, is suddenly even more strange and more great.

After watching this, I have decided to follow Morris closely. He is truly one of the best filmmakers around. He also knows how to come up with the whole package. Morris seems to have knack for branding his movies. His movie sites and home site is a treasure of information.