films – Page 2 – ZephyrInTheSky.com

art

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown

November 10, 2010December 2, 2012
by Josef

I can’t believe I found this on YouTube. This was my favorite cartoon when I was a kid. I loved Charlie Brown, and I saw “Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown” literally like a hundred times to the point that there were so many scratches on the video film. My parents bought the videotape for me during our trip to London. Funny story too, cuz at the Bahrain airport coming back from the trip my Dad was stopped at customs cuz he tried to bring in an R-18 movie too along with the Charlie Brown tape. Hehe.

After watching the movie, I remembered why I loved the movie so much. The music is just amazing, and though I didn’t realize it at the time, I’m bound to love any tv show or movie with lots of music (Glee, Dreamgirls, etc). It was pretty cool how they used jazz, r&b and funk music for the soundtrack. The Charlie Brown cartoons were the first to use jazz music in their soundtracks, starting with “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. In retrospect, my love for contemporary music probably started because of watching the “Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown” movie so much.

The animation is pretty awesome too. Everything has a watercolor feel to it, and I was really into watercolor during my teenage-artist phase. You really should watch this film, if only because of the music and the art. The story is pretty cute too, as long as you haven’t lost touch with your inner child. Hehe.

Here is the full movie as posted on YouTube:

“Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown”

It’s a new day
We all can agree
That the sunshine’s
Brought to you absolutely free

Free as running water
Fresh as morning dew
No matter who’s the leader
When the sun sets down
It’s gone, Charlie Brown
So race for your life

Take a chance ’cause
There’s no second dance
‘Til it’s a new day
I’ll tell you a secret
You’re about to face a test
And you’ll have to do your best
Don’t forget, just remember
Just remember, don’t forget

Your life is free as running water
Fresh as morning dew
No matter who’s the winner
If you try, we’re behind you
Charlie Brown

Race for your life, Charlie Brown
Race for your life, Charlie Brown
Race for your life, Charlie Brown
Race for your life, Charlie Brown

films

“Who else was gonna love me?…” – Mary Jones,…

November 5, 2010November 5, 2010
by Josef

I’ve written about it in my blog before, but I’ll say it again. I absolutely love Mo’Nique’s performance as Mary Jones in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”. Her rant scene is just amazing. My website is probably one of the few that has the full transcript of the rant posted on it, cuz people seem to keep finding it on Google searches and stuff. There’s apparently one Brazilian dude/chick who loves the rant so much that he/she visits my page every other day. To my Brazilian friend: Olá, meu amigo! Te amo!

My other favorite scene from “Precious” is when Mary finally admits to Miss Weiss, portrayed by the incomparable Mariah Carey, my musical Mother Dearest, that she has been abusing Precious. Mo’Nique is so vulnerable in this scene that you can’t help finding yourself feel compassionate towards her. You end up understanding why she has been so evil towards Precious. Clearly she is mentally ill, and clearly she too has suffered from what has happened to her and her child. Sadly though she didn’t see any other way to deal with her boyfriend’s abuse other than to shut up and let things happen the way they did, then abuse Precious even further.

Here’s the video of the scene at the welfare office where Mary Jones breaks down. You’ll have to click on the image to view the video, cuz the person who uploaded it disabled embedding. Below the video is the transcript. Prepare for a good, long cry…

Ms Weiss: OK, Mrs. Johnston, let’s talk about the abuse.
Mary Jones: There wasn’t no drugs in my house. I didn’t play that. There wasn’t no drugs in my house. Precious knows I will whoop her ass if she gon’ bring some drugs up in my house.
Ms Weiss: You know what I’m talking about… I’m referring to specific sexual and physical acts involving Precious.
Mary Jones: Why you ain’t say that?
Ms Weiss: Yes, that.
Mary Jones: … Well what, well what you wanna know?
Ms Weiss: According to Precious’ files, she has now had two children by your boyfriend, the late Carl Kenwood Jones, who is also her father.
Mary Jones: … Uhum… Yeah.
Ms Weiss: This is accurate?
Mary Jones: … Yes, Miss Weiss.
Ms Weiss: I need to know why you’re here. You’ve been calling this office, saying you want to be reunited with Precious and your grandchild. Now I really need to know what’s going on in that home.
Mary Jones: Miss Weiss I understand what you’re discussin’, but I’m just tellin’ you, you said I’ve been callin’ here, and I’ve been wantin’ to see Precious and my grandson, you Goddamn right I wanna see ’em cuz they belong to me. OK? Now there was a time when Precious had everything, and I done told her that. And me and Carl, we loved Precious. And you need to know that. We loved Precious, and we had dreams. Precious was born around the same time Miss West’s son got killed. December time. She was born… December time, remember, remember that?
Precious: I was born in November.
Mary Jones: November… Yeah. That’s right. My Scorpio child… You know… Scorpios, they can… They can be tricky… And I’m not sayin’, I’m not sayin’ that they lie. I’m not sayin’ that. But you just gotta watch ’em…
Ms Weiss: Can, can we talk about the actual acts of physical and sexual abuse that occurred in your household. When it first began, where it happened, and how did you respond.
Mary Jones: … Precious was a little girl.
Ms Weiss: Try and remember how old you think she was.
Mary Jones: … She was three… And I had been givin’ her the bottle, and I was givin’ Carl the titty, because my milk hadn’t dried up in my breasts, but not from her, but because Carl was (ehem) because Carl was suckin’ on them. And that’s what kept my milk in my breasts… And I thought that that was for hygienes… I did what my mother told me that I was supposed to do with my child. So that’s what I did, and you’re sittin’ up there and you tryin’ to judge me, and you…
Ms Weiss: I’m not judging you, but you’re asking me for money, and you’re asking me to be reunited with your grandson.
Mary Jones: Well, Miss Weiss, I don’t like you lookin’ at me like that. You got this bitch lookin’ at me like I’m some kinda fuckin’ monster…
Ms Weiss: We don’t talk like this in my office, OK?
Mary Jones: I didn’t want her suckin’ behind him because that was nasty, and the things that he was… it was just nasty, Miss Weiss… I, I… I had a man, and I had a child… And I had to take care of both of ’em… OK?… Did I want Carl… to touch my baby?… Because I would lay my baby… I would lay her on the side of me, on this pillow… and it was pink, and it had this little white writin’ on it and it had her name… cuz she was Precious. And I would lay my baby on that pillow, and Carl would be laying on the other side… And then, we would, we would start doin’ it, and he reached over… and he touched my baby, and I asked him, I said “Carl what are you doin’?” And he told me to shut, to shut my fat ass up, and it was good for her.
Ms Weiss: And what did you did then?
Mary Jones: I shut my fat ass up… And I don’t want you to sit there and judge me, Miss Weiss.
Ms Weiss: You shut up and you let him abuse your daughter.
Mary Jones: I did not want him to abuse my daughter, I did not want him to hurt her.
Ms Weiss: But you allowed him to hurt her.
Mary Jones: I didn’t want him to do nothin’ to her. I wanted him to make love to me. That was my man, that was my fuckin’ man, that was my man, and he wanted my daughter… And that’s why I hated her, because my man, who was supposed to be lovin’ me, who was supposed to be makin’ love to me, was fuckin’ my baby, and she made him leave. She made him go away.
Ms Weiss: So who’s fault was it then?
Mary Jones: It’s this bitch’s fault because she let my man have her, and she didn’t say nothin’. She didn’t scream, she didn’t do nothin’. So those things she told you I did to her, who-who, who else was gonna love me?… Hmm?… Since you got your degree, and you know every fuckin’ thing, who was gonna love me? Who was gonna make me feel good? Who was gonna touch me and make me feel good late at night, and she made him go away. So when you sit there and you write them fuckin’ notes on your pad about who you think I am and why I did it and all of that… because I didn’t have nobody…
…
Mary Jones: Uhm… the people… from… Each One Teach One… they had, uhm, they called me, and… they told me that my baby was writin’ poems. In fact you know what I got, wait a minute…
…
Mary Jones: I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Miss Weiss, I don’t want no checks, I don’t need no more money. Please, I’m, I’m so sorry.
Precious: I took that TABE test again.
Ms Weiss: What happened?
Precious: I scored a 7.8. Last time it was 2.8… Accordin’ to that test, I’m readin’ at a 7th and 8th grade level. Next year, high school. After that, college… I, I like you too. But you can’t handle me. You can’t handle none of this… You know, I never knew what you was until this day. Not even after all the things you did. Maybe I was too stupid, maybe I just didn’t want to know. You ain’t gonna see me no more…
Mongo: Bye!
…
Mary Jones: I didn’t want him to hurt my baby… Please, God, I didn’t want him to hurt my baby. Miss Weiss, I didn’t want him to hurt my baby. I did, I, I would say to him, I would say, Carl, what you doin’ what you doin’ what you doin’ what you doin’… Mm-mm, mm-mm… mm-mm… Can you go get her back? You can do that, because that’s what you do. That’s what you do. I need you to go, and I need you to get my, my baby back. You told me that I could come in here, and you were gonna get, mm-mm, you were gonna get Precious to stay. Miss Weiss, Miss Weiss, Miss Weiss…

* * *

The Oscar was well-deserved. Congrats, Mo’Nique!

films

Precious… Precious!

September 18, 2010August 7, 2011
by Josef

I’ve been in a very potty-mouthed mood today. In times like these, I always remember Mo’Nique’s performance in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”. Ain’t nobody gon’ fuck you up like Mary Jones. Mo’Nique is amazing. I’ve practically memorized her lines in this scene by heart. This is where Mary Jones rages out against her daughter, Precious. You can just feel her wrath coming out at you from the screen. It’s amazing how later in the movie she totally breaks down and you see her so vulnerable.

School ain’t gon help none. Take your ass down to the welfare! Who the fuck she think she is? So I guess you think you cute now, right? Oh uppity bitch. You shoulda kept yo fuckin’ mouth shut. Just cuz he gon give you mo’ children than he give me, you think you something fuckin’ special? Fuck you and fuck him!

Precious… Precious! Precious! Get down here bitch!

You brought that white bitch up in my house? You why would you bring that bitch up in here? (I didn’t bring her here.) Well, why the fuck did she ring my buzzer? I can’t hear you, Precious. Since you got so much motherfuckin’ mouth, and you gon bring a bitch up in my house, why would that bitch ring my goddamn buzzer? (I didn’t tell her to come here!)

See, I think right now, you feelin’ like you becomin’ a grown woman. Cuz of that shit you pulled in the kitchen, I shoulda fucked you up. But I let you walk away, and I let you come get yo’self together. But bitch I’mma let you know if you ever pull that shit on me again, that will be your last motherfuckin’ day standing, I promise you that. You gon send a white bitch to my motherfuckin’ buzzer, talkin’ ’bout some higher education? You’re a dummy, bitch! You will never know shit. Don’t nobody want you, don’t nobody need you. You done fucked around and fucked my motherfuckin’ man, and had two motherfuckin’ children, and one of them’s a goddamn animal, runnin’ around lookin’ crazy as a motherfucker.

Bitch, you know what? See, I think you… I think you tryin’ me, I think you really try’na fuck with me, you fuckin’ with my money, and you gon stand up there and look down at me like you a motherfuckin’ woman. I’m gon show you what real women do, bitch. See, you don’t know what real motherfuckin’ women do. Real motherfuckin’ women sacrifice. I shoulda aborted your motherfuckin’ ass, cuz you ain’t shit. I knew it the day the doctors put you in my goddamn hand you wasn’t a goddamn thing, and you have that smirk on your face, bitch? Get it off your fuckin’ face! Now smile about that! Smile about that, you fat bitch!

Bitch, I’m… I’m gonna kill you, bitch!

You really should watch this film if you haven’t done so already. I’ve seen it around 3 or 4 times I think. It’s an amazing story, very heartbreaking, and the performances are brilliant. Even Mariah is convincing, and I’m not just saying that cuz I’m a superfan. Mo’Nique is the star here though. She gave the most powerful performance I’ve seen in a while. Can’t wait to see her Hattie McDaniel film. I’m sure she’ll be amazing there too. Fuckin’ amazing.

—

PS [added on November 5, 2010]: I uploaded the transcript to Mary Jones’ scene with Miss Weiss and Precious at the welfare office here. That scene is just heartbreaking…

art

The Piano

September 9, 2010September 9, 2010
by Josef

Yesterday I was watching an episode of Bones, and it was about the murder of an Amish boy named Levi who was a musical genius. The Amish aren’t allowed to play musical instruments, so the only time Levi actually got the chance to learn how to play the piano was during his Rumspringa, which is the period in an Amish person’s life where they get to explore the world outside of their community.

Levi was delivering something, I forgot what, to this house, and it turned out to be the house of a piano teacher who was in the middle of a lesson. Levi was completely mesmerized by the music and the piano, and the piano teacher noticed this so she encouraged him to play around with the keys. He seemed so eager to learn that she started giving him free lessons, and by the 3rd session he was already playing complex pieces. He was a prodigy.

Levi soon started making friends outside of the Amish community, and eventually became friends with a group of students at a conservatory who were encouraging him to audition for a scholarship. They helped him prepare for his audition, and around this time is when all of a sudden Levi disappeared. During the investigation, the people who helped him out even became suspects at one point, cuz Bones and team thought they were jealous of Levi because he was competition for the scholarship.

In the end (spoiler alert), they found out that Levi actually wasn’t murdered, but tragically fell down from his apartment after someone tried to rob his apartment. Prior to the accident, they also found out that Levi broke his hand on purpose so that he wouldn’t get the scholarship. He had decided to go back to the Amish community so that he could be with the girl that he loved. Since the Amish aren’t allowed to play instruments, he broke his hand so that he could remove any temptation that he had to pursue his dream of being a pianist.

There’s something about a piano that completely hypnotizes me. It’s the one instrument that never fails to capture my attention. I have always wanted to learn how to play the piano. In fact, when I was a kid, my biggest dream was to become a piano-playing child prodigy. Obviously this dream didn’t come true, and I never even had a single piano lesson cuz we couldn’t afford to buy a piano. But I still want to learn how to play, and I promise myself that I will learn how to play once I can afford to buy a piano of my own.

When I finally do get the chance to learn how to play the piano, the first piece I’m going to learn how to play is Michael Nyman’s “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” from the soundtrack of The Piano. I absolutely adore this piece, and I still get emotional and teary-eyed when I listen to it.

The Piano is a film with another piano-related tragedy. Ada, the main character (played by Holly Hunter who won an Oscar for this role), is a mute (though not deaf) woman who only communicates through sign language with her daughter (played by Anna Paquin who also won an Oscar for this film when she was 11) and through the music she plays on her piano. She gets sold by her father to some guy in New Zealand who won’t allow her to keep her piano.

Her piano ends up in the hands of some other guy, and to make a long story short (spoiler alert – hehe), he allows her to play by trading 1 key at a time for each depraved thing she allows him to do to her. Eventually the first guy finds out about the affair and chops off Ada’s index finger so she can’t play anymore. She leaves the first guy for the second, and while they go away on a boat, she tries to commit suicide by throwing her piano overboard while her foot is tied to the rope attached to the piano.

So anyway. Here’s “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” by Michael Nyman.

films

“Funny Girl” – Barbra Streisand

September 8, 2010October 3, 2010
by Josef

Music-wise, it’s been a very Barbra Streisand year for me so far, mainly thanks to all the Barbra songs they’ve done so far on Glee. Lea Michele’s version of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” is still my ringtone, and I’ve already decided that it’ll be one of the first songs I’ll murder at a videoke session when I get back to the Philippines. Hehe.

Recently, I’ve been feeling very sentimental and melodramatic, and I’ve been listening to Idina Menzel’s version of “Funny Girl” (which she also did on Glee) quite a bit. I searched for Barbra’s version on YouTube, and though it’s good, I still like Idina’s version better.

Here’s Barbra’s version.

This is Idina Menzel’s version.

I watched Funny Girl (the movie) 2 nights ago. Barbra really is funny in the film; very witty. No wonder she won an Oscar for the role.

“Funny Girl”
Barbra Streisand

Funny…
(Did you hear that?)
Funny
Yeah, the guy said honey
You’re a funny girl
That’s me, I just keep them in stitches
Doubled in half
And though I may be all wrong for the guy
I’m good for a laugh

I guess it’s not funny
Live is far from sunny
When the love is over
And the joke’s on you

A girl ought to have a sense of humor
That’s one thing you really need for sure
When you’re a funny girl
A fellow said a funny girl
Funny, how it ain’t so funny…
Funny girl…

My blog has gone through many reincarnations since I started it. Its focus has changed as many times as my focus in life has changed -- from writing about the start of my career to writing about the most private details of my life, to reading people's auras online to sharing details about my health issues, and now...

I'm about to start my dream job in Bangkok with one of the largest online travel agencies. I'm also trying to be more creative, and I'm trying to be a better writer. Ultimately, I'm still all about my family, my friends, and my husband. I'm all about supporting them and helping them make their dreams come true. Their dream is my dream.

That is what I will write about.

Tag: films

Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown

“Who else was gonna love me?…” – Mary Jones,…

Precious… Precious!

The Piano

“Funny Girl” – Barbra Streisand