The Vow

Question: If you wake up one day from a coma, lost part of your memory, and Channing Tatum tells you he's your husband, will you believe him?

Answer: Duh! In a heartbeat. Haha!

This is one way to look at Paige's (Rachel McAdams) dilemma. Inspired by true events, The Vow is about a newly married couple whose world is transformed after a car accident left the wife unable to remember her husband, Leo.

This 2012 film shows how their love story began and, eventually, hit rock bottom. Is true love enough to survive the ultimate test to their marriage? Leo's philosophy on moments of impact and how they change us forever puts life in a new perspective.

I love the story so much that I'm appalled to find some friends who didn't like this movie. I don't think it has to be compared to other memory loss-related films (i.e., The Notebook. Hey, McAdams is like the amnesia it-girl!) since it's a different and inspiring story on its own. 

I also have no complaints regarding their acting. I swear my on-screen love for Channing (We're on first name basis, see.) doesn't render my opinion biased. I think the cast delivered nicely. I'm not saying it's academy award performance but they're able to embody their characters and relate to the audience well.

The Vow goes to my feel-good movie pile. I'm keeping the CD nearby for an impromptu re-run. As for those who didn't enjoy as much watching it the first time, perhaps after reading this you'll give it a second chance?

-Martha

Olive Juice

I've been wracking my brain for a movie entry for Valentine's. I wanted to feature a love story with a twist. Then I remembered seeing a film many years back called The Other Sister. Released in 1999 and directed by Garry Marshall, it starred Juliette Lewis, Diane Keaton, Tom Skerritt, and Giovanni Ribisi.

Carla Tate (Lewis) is a slightly mentally challenged young adult. She comes home from a special school after completing her curriculum. At her welcome dinner, she announces she would like to start going to a regular school to become a veterinary assistant. Her over-protective mother (Keaton) disapproves and insists on molding her into a tennis-playing, country-clubbing, well-off young lady. After running away, the rest of her family intervenes and her mother finally relents. At her new school, she meets another mentally challenged student named Daniel McMann (Ribisi). They form a friendship which later turns into romance. What happens next is a mixture of funny, touching, and endearing love story.

I know this isn't your traditional romantic-comedy movie. But believe me the same elements are present: hilarious scenes, incredulous plots, and most importantly, shameless sentimentality. Not everything we watch should be intellectual and highfalutin. Sometimes it just has to be silly, tender, and cute. :)

-Faye

There's Something About Maria

Ever wonder why February's the shortest month of the year? It's because my zero love life says so. ^____^
Kidding aside, it actually has something to do with being the 12th month in the original Roman calendar. Not to geek you out or...

Anyway, for single peeps out there like me, why not celebrate the month of love through food? I found the perfect place to set the mood. Gayuma ni Maria has old rose walls embellished with quirky quotes, flowers, and fairy lights. There's even a 'naughty nook' where you can buy or have a laugh over aphrodisiac novelty items. For their menu, they have fun, creative names. My friends and I ordered their best-sellers.

We had Kiss Sabay Hug (₱165) as an appetizer which is chicken pork adobo and crisp lettuce to wrap it with. Nice one, I think. The lettuce did the trick, balancing the sweet-salty-sourness of the meat. Mia's Rock Me Baby! (₱285) was good. This hickory bbq pork ribs dish is typically served with macaroni salad but she asked to switch it for rice instead. Grace's beef caldereta called Secret Lovers was very flavorful.

Secret Lovers (P265)

I wasn't delighted with my choice: Afternoon Delight (₱195), an oil-based pasta with fresh tomato and chili pepper flakes. It tasted outright bland. On the other hand, Arianne and Erika said their Please Be Careful with My Heart (₱240), twice-baked garlic chicken, were too salty. I didn't really notice since my pasta left me yearning for any sort of taste.

So there were hits and misses with the food. And it's a bit pricey since their meals do not include rice yet. Concept-wise, Gayuma is spot on. I like that it's very Pinoy. I really wish they'd improve their menu and then it'd be perfect. That said, I enjoyed the experience. We had a lot of laughs and photo-op moments. It doesn't matter if you don't have that special someone. Bring your friends and family as your date and share the love.

Rating: 3.25/5

-Martha

Location:

Gayuma Ni Maria - 123 V. Luna Extension (near Maginhawa St.) Sikutan Village, Quezon City

Game of Thrones

Martha and I have an understanding to feature only the lesser known and the slightly obscure ideas. However, as we are mere mortals, we break this promise once in a while. I state this because who hasn't heard of the Game of Thrones? Granted I only became a fan two years ago. I was urged by my friends to watch the series but decided to read the books first.

Published in 1996 and written by George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire became a series of books: 1) A Game of Thrones, 2) A Clash of Kings, 3) A Storm of Swords, 4) A Feast for Crows, 5) A Dance with Dragons, 6) The Winds of Winter, and 7) A Dream of Spring. The last two books have yet to be published (Hurry up, George!).

Set in the fictional world of Westeros and Essos, it has everything you wanted in an epic fantasy novel: giants, dwarfs, dragons, zombies (of the frozen kind), magical beings, etc. Not to mention beheadings and betrayals, love and lust, and of course, nobility and loyalty. One thing that sets it apart from books of this genre is though magic is present, it doesn't dominate the story line. Realism weighed heavily on important events, even in the most gruesome battle scenes. Martin also doesn't care if a character is an obvious favorite, he'll chop his head off anyway. Mine, by the way, is Jon Snow. I don't care if he 'knows nothing', ever since he rescued those poor direwolf pups, I knew he's my favorite (Please don't kill him, George.).

As I was saying, I can't wait for books 6 and 7 to be published which I read won't come out before 2015. Boo! So, I leave you with this chilling and foretelling quote to ponder instead:

'When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.'

-Faye