( can’t blog. finished checking all media law exam papers… 4 days b4 deadline. R will decode: they’re given in blind, i.e., no examinees’ names, just student numbers.)
where are the movie lines? betcha prefer reading movie lines picked for this month’s can’t-blog series:
Way back before she was voted worst actress by Razzies for the Twilight series (but highest paid by Forbes), Kristen Stewart starred in the critically acclaimed indie film “Speak”, about a “selective mute” teen-ager who enters high school:
(Text and all photos rightclicked from imdb.com used here non-commercially for academic purposes)
Melinda Sordino
(played by Kristen Stewart): [voiceover] We’re studying American history for the ninth time in nine years. Every year they say we’re gonna get right up to the present but we always get stuck in the industrial revolution.
Mr. Neck (played by Robert John Burke): My family has been in this country for over 200 years. We built this place. We fought in every war, from the first one to the last one, paid our taxes and voted. So tell me WHY my son can’t get a job?
(a number of students raise their hand but he ignores them)
Mr. Neck: Reverse discrimination. He wanted to be a firefighter. Went up for the job but he didn’t get it. What I’m suggesting here is maybe if we had closed our borders in 1900 then real americans would get the jobs they deserved.
(the Native American student raises his hand but the teacher points to Heather)
Mr. Neck: Young lady.
Heather (played by Allison Siko): Um, I think that we’re all foreigners and should just give the country back to the native americans.
Mr. Neck: Now we have a debate, don’t we? “Native Americans”?
African-American student: Maybe your son didn’t get the job because he wasn’t good enough. Or maybe he’s lazy. Or maybe the other guy was just better than him.
Mr. Neck: Watch your mouth, mister. That’s my son you’re talking about. You know what? That’s enough debate. Everybody take out your book.
(Dave stands up to speak)
Mr. Neck: Mr. Petrakis, please take your seat.
David Petrakis(played by Michael Angarano): If the class is debating then each student has the right to say what’s on his mind.
Mr. Neck: I decide who talks in here, Mr. Petrakis.
David Petrakis: You opened a debate, you can’t close it just because it’s not going your way.
Mr. Neck: Watch me! Take your seat, Mr. Petrakis!
David Petrakis: The Constitution does not recognize different levels of citizenship based upon the time spent in the country. As a citizen and a student I’m protesting the tone of this lesson as racist, intolerant, and zenophobic.
Mr. Neck: Sit your butt in that chair, Mr Petrakis, and watch your mouth! I try to get this debate going and you people turn it into a “race” thing. Sit down, Mr. Petrakis, or you’re gonna go down to the principal’s office.
(Dave walks out of the room)
Melinda Sordino: (voiceover) Dave Petrakis is my new hero.
Email and photos from Myra:“Just read your blog. want to share this. Teng showed me this house for sale in their neighborhood in E____ ____, Los Angeles last July 2011. Advertised as “Good Will Hunting House” about $900,000. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon rented and lived in this house where Good Will Hunting was written.
(photo by Myra Lambino from her cellphone)
“1923 Medieval Storybook Fantasy house with panoramic views of Los Angeles. Couldn’t help but take pictures from my cellphone.”
(photo by Myra Lambino from her cellphone)
My reply:“Hahaha! quaint Hollywood houses – parang Gothic ang dating! (looks Gothic to me!) Look at the twisted and uneven architecture – it’s like being inside a Van Gogh painting! Natuwa siguro sila they used up the creativity of the architect to finish the script! They didn’t just go to a hotel like many scriptwriters and songwriters do – they found a stonehouse that looked like it had spirits in it. In an interview, Matt Damon said that in his scriptwriting class in Harvard, he submitted 40 pages of a play to his scriptwriting professor, and got an “A” at the end of the sem; his prof took him aside and told him: “There’s something in this, finish it.” He couldn’t write some more so he went to see his childhood friend Ben Affleck who was then in L.A. Ben Affleck wrote 200 pages more of it. Parang may prayle nakatira sa bahay na ito (This house looks like there’s a Spanish friar living in it) o kaya parang lalabas si Quasimodo to serve you dinner (or like — Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame, would come out any minute to serve you dinner.) Inspirational!”
(photos by Myra Lambino from her cellphone)
Myra’s reply: “Hahaha its a creepy charming house. pagpasok ko nga,(when I got inside the house,) I felt like — baka may witch dito lumabas (i felt like a witch might come out here) i- bake kaming cookies!(and bake us cookies!) just to add, during Ben Affleck’s stay in this house he was enrolled in Occidental College, here is Los Angeles ( which is in the same neighborhood E____ ____, LA where Teng lives). President Obama was also enrolled in Occidental College here before. People get their minor subjects or prerequisites in this college ( low tuition fee) then transfer to the Universities.”
And that’s the Quasimodo house where it all started.
Update, 2012: The Hollywood Film Awards honors the cast of the Ben Affleck-directed film Argo with the “Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award”; Matt Damon gets Oscar buzz for Promised Land.
