entertainment | The End Justifies the Journey

I was just rummaging through my stuff some weeks ago and found something I wanted to share. Then I forgot. So I was rummaging again and voila! This is a brief film review that I had to write for school. Obviously, I was much younger, judging from the lack of depth and the way I wrote, but I’m sharing anyway. Changed just a word or two, added names of actors and edited the looooong paragraph. No stars given as I need to see the movie again to be able to cirticize better.

This must be my very first film review, ever! My advanced apologies 🙂

***************************

One of my first film reviews, and it shows! Oh, well, just in time for a post-Holy Week post. Found this from the Boston University site

AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD

In my opinion, At Play in the Fields of the Lord is not simply a movie. It is a movie of importance.

Historically, Filipinos can relate to the Indians’ problem. That is why even if I haven’t personally experienced what my ancestors and the Indians went through, I can understand how they felt. The introduction of Christianity is a noble deed, as long as one is sincere in his intentions, and the effect on the ones to whom it is introduced would not be more on the negative side.

In the movie, it is cleary shown that there are people like Leslie (John Lithgow) who pretend, who try to appear so saintly, when they do not really care about the “uncivilized.” I don’t know if there is such a thing, but I would call it the ‘Hero Complex.’ There are people who feel like they are the only ones who can save everyone and feel like the world owes it to them. It is also clearly shown in the movie that what is good for you may not be good for others, that if you push them to comply with what you think is right, it may just hurt them.

Like the experience of the Indians. They were not ready to embrace Christianity. They were only coaxed with goods. Where did that lead them? Martin (Aidan Quinn) was sincere in his intentions but still, he resorted to bribery, reason enough for the Indians to embrace Christianity without being ready. And what about Lewis Moon (Tom Berenger)? He did not want Christianity to enter the tribes. In fact, he joined the Indians. But it proved to be dangerous. He wasn’t about to let go of what he was in the past, kissed Leslie’s wife Andy (Daryl Hannah), and killed practically the whole tribe…Sometimes, it is better to let others be.

Some aspects of the movie may not be realistic but the fact is, most of it is realistic, even the nudity. Basically, the movie is actually good.

In my FAQ page, I challenged visitors to go ask me anything that is not-so-frequently asked. My friend Sherwin posted one:

“Can you list all (or at least the ones that you still remember) cartoons/anime you watched when you were a kid? Which of the listed is your most favorite? And why?”

I would have answered right on that page, but my answer proved to be long enough to be a new post. So here I am, and here are my answers below:

Sherwin,you have got to be kidding! I can’t list down all the cartoons I watched aaaaagges ago. But let me jog my memory (meaning do some Googling here and there). Some of them may have really started before my time, but considering how late the international episodes reached us before, I am basing on MY time. I have several favorites (in red asterisks). As for animes, well, if you asked me back then, I would’ve said, “Anime? What’s THAT???”

Meet the original famous chipmunks, Chip ‘N’ Dale. Chip’s the smarter one, Dale’s the goofier one missing some teeth. Got this image from THIS page

1. I do remember the WALT DISNEY fairie tales and cartoons.* I was no Mickey Mouse fan, though, because the only interesting thing about him were/are his friends and his dog, Pluto, really. The princess-damsels also bored me because I found them so helpless. I loved CHIP ‘N’ DALE instead. They were the original famous chipmunks long before Alvin, Simon and Theodore (and no, we’re not talking about men in skimpy clothes). I found them hilarious, battling it out with the hot-tempered Donald Duck mostly, and whenever they would do their “mirror moves” when one or both unwittingly thought the other was just his mirror image following his every move.

More from Disney:

ADVENTURES OF THE GUMMI BEARS

THE WUZZLES*

2. LOONEY TUNES.* Any kid then should have had parental guidance while watching this. Oh well, what am I saying? Compared to what kids watch and play today, they make Bugs Bunny look like a saint, LOL!!! By the way, if you don’t know it yet by now, NEWSFLASH! Dat li’l itty bitty Tweety Bird who tot it thaw a puddy tat? It is actually a boy canary. *GASP!!!* I just can’t get over it.:@ Oh well, he and Big Bird should get together sometime for some guy-canary bonding.

3. HANNA-BARBERA shows:

(a) THE FLINTSTONES*…“Yabba-Dabba-Doooooo!!!!!”
(b) THE YOGI BEAR SHOW though I never did like Yogi. Spinoffs — YOGI’S GANG and YOGI’S SPACE RACE
(c) THE JETSONS, which, out of my loyalty to The Flintstones, I did not really enjoy
(d) SPACE GHOST that I hardly remember, really — I was too young to grasp what the story was about
(e) SHAZZAN — Same as previous entry. I even thought it was “Shazzam!!!”
(f) SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU!* Replays after replays after replays and my sister and I kept watching because we loved mysteries…“Scooby-Doo-Bidoooo!!!” Spinoff: SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO
(g) THE SMURFS.* Fave smurf: Papa Smurf. Smurfette was too self-important.
(h) THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW that I don’t exactly remember except I know I watched it as the title is familiar
(i) POPEYE
(j) TOM AND JERRY
(k) CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, with his friend Hairy Scary 😉
(l) PACMAN. Remember him? My fave character was Baby Pac until the Rip Van Winkle episode revealed he was a boy
(m) THE FONZ AND THE HAPPY DAYS GANG
(n) THE LITTLE RASCALS*…cuties!!!
(o) SUPER FRIENDS.* For some reason, my faves were the Wonder Twins, probably because they were the only young ones there
(p) RICHIE RICH

4. The HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN….TALES*, I think that’s what followed the name. One of my favorites. Not-so-child-friendly if you’re looking for happy, shallow endings to show the kids. It told the stories as they were from the books, that is why I will NEVER get over Disney letting The Little Mermaid live happily ever-after with her Prince Charming AND even bearing a daughter. Like I always say, if they wanted a different ending, they could’ve just created a whole new story altogether with a whole new ending. Same difference.

5. Christian Broadcasting Network’s SUPERBOOK* and its companion series THE FLYING HOUSE* (I really wanted to be Corky, except I didn’t want him to be a boy, either. Ugh)… Both taught me my first religious stories from the Bible. I don’t think I got to watch SUPERBOOK 2.