Do Good. Buy a pair. Give a pair!

Anyone who wears prescription glasses know that most optical shops have limited range when it comes to trendy eye wear. These accessories which for some are a necessity don't come cheap, either.

But over at WarbyParker, a 17 month old startup company, they have revolutionized the eyeglasses industry. They sell eyeglasses, online. Their customers test the retro-style glasses, which go for $95, including prescription lenses, through a mail-order, try-it-at-home program. Founded by 4 graduates from the Wharton School of Business, the startup company has sold over 50,000 eyeglasses worldwide.

Their hip, trendy range include optical frames as well as sunglasses for both men and women. Their home try on program is a big success. You select any 5 pairs of eye wear, you'd will to try at home. Then WP ships them to your address free of charge. You are given 5 days to choose before you make your final decision.

In the spirit of good social corporate responsibility, their buy a pair, give a pair promo is huge success. For every pair that they sell, they provide a pair of glasses to someone in need. They have partnered with non profit organizations that provide glasses to impoverished communities around the globe.

So check out their highly comprehensive website to learn more about this hip trendy company that believe that it's good business to do good and give back to society!

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen
Marion Cotillard, Carla Bruni, Kathy Bates

This latest picture from Woody Allen begins with a montage of gorgeous Parisian locales accompanied by a jazzy melodic music and from that moment on it is impossible not to fall in love with Paris. A light-hearted magical stroll through a magnificent city filled with greats artists who go there to find inspiration.

We view the city through the eyes of Gil (Owen Wilson) who is visiting Paris with his uptight fiancee (Rachel McAdams) and her stuffy conservative (read: Republicans) parents. He is a Hollywood screenwriter who is revising the first draft of his book and is completely enamored with Paris. While his fiancee cringes at the very thought of settling out of the US of A.

Gil's vacation is hugely improved when, on the stroke of midnight over a number of nights, he is miraculously transported back to Paris in the Twenties. During that period, he gets to hobnob with literary figures like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein, among others. Not only do these historical figures welcome Gil into their inner circle, they also encourage his writing.

But this isn't a time travel movie, there are no explanations given as to why or how Gil is transported back in time. It just happens. I attribute it as a manifestation of Gil's desire to escape from the drudgery of his impending marriage to a woman with whom he shares no common interests. Case in point: Gil loves to walk through Paris in the rain. Unlike his fussy fiancee Inez who doesn't like doing anything that Gil likes. In fact, we don't really know why they are together at all.

The main argument of the film is that you shouldn’t live in the past; even though the past is infinitely more alluring than the present. Everybody is disillusioned about their current lives, but yearning for a romanticized previous era is simply a way of not living your life to the fullest. It suggests that we should enjoy the present for all it's worth.

The pleasures of "Midnight in Paris" are going along with Gil for the ride, sharing his enthusiasm for Paris and following the film's artistic references. It had less of the neurosis usually associated with Allen's movies. Although Owen Wilson did capture much of his characteristic mannerisms, brilliantly. The film had a whimsical and romantic flair with just enough wit to charm our visual senses. I loved it, both the city (my fave spot) and the movie!

ONE DAY

Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Rafe Spall

"Twenty years. Two People."

This story unfolds on the 15th of July in the year 1998. The year when Dexter (Jim Sturgess) first meets Emma (Anne Hathaway). Bookish Emma and immature rich boy Dex spend the night together after their graduation day at Edinburgh University. Though they will remember this not-quite tryst as a "near miss," it cements a close friendship that waxes and wanes over the years.

They never become a couple, but the film follows their twin lives on this day (July 15) over the next 20 years: sometimes together, sometimes poignantly apart. Love, friendship and the different push and pull factors that influence wants, dreams and ambitions come into play as Em and Dex ride the emotional rollercoaster of their adult lives.

Based on a 2009 bestselling novel (which I never read) by David Nicholls, it has a good and unique premise. By examining the ups and downs of the ever-changing relationship between two people over 20 years, we silently find ourselves rooting for them to end up together. Even though along the way, as we witness the different trajectory that their lives embark on, we tend to lose interest in their individual stories. Or fail to notice Anne Hathaway's distracting British accent. Or how we start to slowly dislike the Dexter character and his many failures.

Until. One day in the year 2006. Everything changes. All the boring, dragging moments leading up to the 15th of July of that year is quickly wiped out as a single incident wakes us from our stupor. What happens near the end of "One Day" is likely to have a decisive effect on your opinion of the movie. Perhaps you will have seen this climax coming all along, and maybe you will find it splendidly moving. Either way, you will close the chapter in the life featuring Em and Dex with fondness. I know I did even though I was all torn up with tears in my eyes. Gosh!

TRESPASS

Nicole Kidman, Nicholas Cage, Liana Liberato, Cam Gigandet

"When terror is at your door, you can run, or you can fight"

Just as the Millers discover that their teenaged daughter Avery (Liana Liberato) has sneaked out of their house to party, a bunch of thieves posing as security men invade and hold them as hostage. Taking place over a single evening, Kyle (Nicholas Cage) a diamond broker and his bored and neglected wife Sarah (Nicole Kidman) are tormented by the robbers who plan to steal the diamonds together with cash inside the safe.

What follows are a lot of seemingly empty threats, a lot of yelling and some infighting among the invaders. As the incident progress several cracks in the Miller's not so perfect marriage come to play. The plot is complex and the tension frequently abated by the introduction of unnecessary flashbacks to reveal the back story of each characters.

The heist doesn't go as planned as people start revealing head-spinning secrets one by one. A cat & mouse game ensues, as the family constantly tries to escape while everybody involved try to figure out who betrayed who.

"Trespass" is fraught with bad, cheesy dialogue, implausible story line, unnecessary plot changes, and lame editing. Even the presence of two top notch actors do nothing to salvage this predictable thriller. The only 'positive' thing that you get out of this film is that you cannot trust anybody. Be extra wary of people who install your top of the line security alarm system. Either that or you simply don't neglect your wife. It would spell trouble with a capital "T".

INCENDIES

Lubna Azabal, Maxim Gaudette, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin

"The search began at the opening of their mother's will"

The last will and testament of Nawal Marwan specifies 2 requests that her twin children Jeanne and Simon must first comply with before she is granted a proper burial. They are handed two letters to be given to their long lost father and a brother they never knew existed.

The tantalizing puzzle begins in Montreal, Canada where the twins live. The sullen Simon doesn't care about the letters but Jeanne decides to return to her mother's homeland somewhere in the Middle East. She discovers the shocking truth about their mother's troubled past and the disturbing circumstances of their birth.

The plot then shifts to Nawal's turbulent story. A tale born out of a tragic love affair in a fictional city called Daresh which has become the battleground of a civil war between Muslims and Christians. Terrorism, martyrdom and imprisonment also figure quite prominently in Nawal's fate. It is told through flashbacks which are entwined with Jeanne's journey to unveil the mystery behind the two letters.

The film moves seamlessly between Nawal's world and the twins. Mirror images are used like a remote road seen through the mother's eyes, then the daughter's; a city street then and now. The past is where all the intrigue of the movie lies, and that is where the film is at its most compelling. But it can also be quite disturbing to witness the sheer brutality both physically and mentally that Nawal endured in her lifetime.

The skillful acting skills of the cast shine through like a beacon in this very dark and heavy drama. The pacing was a bit slow and was dragging at times with scenes focusing heavily on the suffering and torment. So much so that when the viewer is fed with a final twist towards the end, you feel like you were hit in the head with a hammer and you almost forget to breathe as you gasp to grasp the crucial detail in the puzzle.

No wonder this Canadian film with dialogue in French and Arabic with English subtitles was nominated in the Foreign Language Film category in the 2011 Oscars and even if it didn't win, I still highly recommend it.

A MATTER OF SIZE

11th Israel Film Festival
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 5

"A Matter of Size" is a comedy about four overweight Israelis who quit their diets, embrace their weight and take up sumo wrestling under the grudging instruction of a Japanese restaurateur. When newly fired Herzl takes a dishwasher job at a Japanese restaurant and discovers sumo culture, it gives everyone new purpose – or at least something to do.

The film has its amusing moments as the four friends take up a sport where being fat is honored instead of ridiculed. Likewise it is highly emphasized that 'sumo is not just about being fat', it is a well defined albeit complicated art.

Shots of them, clad only in their bright red fighting mawashi, as they jog through green fields, perform the graceful ritual warm-ups, and strain to push one another out of an improvised wrestling ring in the forest are ludicrously funny and beautiful.

Beyond the physical training, the film also forces the characters to confront their buried psychological issues. Subplots involving infidelity and sexual orientation with a tinge of romance work to support the main theme of self-acceptance. It does capture the essence of Israeli Jewish humor with dialogue such as "even on a diet, you have to eat," and "with your mouth, we only talk."

"A Matter of Size" has its entertaining moments, but sadly never gets beyond that, with a sappy yet very flat ending to a premise that had so much potential. Its storyline mirrors a bit too much like "The Full Monty" but sadly is not enough to replicate that British film's charm and wit.

11th Israel Film Festival

The Embassy of Israel in Manila will host the screening of the Israeli box office hit "A Matter of Size" for its 11th Film Festival in coordination with the Ayala Center and Greenbelt Cinemas.

The featured movie is an Israeli film that portrays four overweight friends who try to lose weight, but use their situation to turn themselves into sumo wrestlers, while providing a hearty, feel-good comedy film with full of surprises.

The movie portrays an everyday problem, wrapped in Jewish humor and transcends all cultural and language barriers. It truly is a one of a kind movie, that goes beyond the underdog to hero cliche.

Date: November 14 & 15, 2011.

Venue: Greenbelt 3, Cinema 5

CHE BELLA GIORNATA (WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY)

MovieMov: Italian Cinema Now
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 3

This politically incorrect comedy starts with a voiceover from Checco who recounts his pathetic life. The inept buffoon who works as a bouncer at a local disco applies to be a carabineri (military police officer) for the 3rd time and fails. But through dubious family connections, he gets a job as security detail at the Duomo, Milan's famous cathedral. After several disastrous mishaps, he is assigned to guard the Madonnina, the statue of the Virgin Mary located on the rooftop of the imposingly grand cathedral.

His bottomless stupidity makes him the ultimate prey for Sufien and his sister Farah who plan to bomb the cathedral's famed rooftop. Farah attempts to get into his good graces by pretending to be a love interest. And Checco being a fool falls for her, unbeknownst of her hidden agenda.

Corruption, the church, terrorism and the north-south divide all come in for blunt ribbing in this wacky comedy. Foreign audiences might not quite get the local humor based on numerous Italian stereotypes, especially between the north and south. But the broader comedy, which pokes fun at Italian ignorance of Arabic culture and dare I say the Catholic church can easily resonate with the offensive humor.

The gorgeous cinematography featuring the beautiful city of Milan more than makes up for the really lame storyline. It was surely a vehicle to showcase the dry and mostly offensive humor of the main character, Checco who is portrayed by a top comedian in Italy. Seeing Milan and most of all the Duomo again in all its splendor made it worth enduring this film. Thankfully it was free of charge because I certainly won't pay a dime to view it.

UNA VITA TRANQUILLA ( A QUIET LIFE)

MovieMov: Italian Cinema Now
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 5

Rosario, an Italian living in Germany owns a successful restaurant/hotel business. He has been living in Germany for 15 years with his German wife, Renate and their young son, Mathias. Soon enough, two visitors from Italy show up and his sordid past catches up with him to interrupt his peaceful existence.

"La Vita Tranquilla" explores the premise of redemption. Is it possible to redeem oneself from a violent past? How long can you keep your past life, a secret?

Apparently for Rosario, 15 years is not long enough. Now he fears that if his past resurfaces, his old personality will too. Rosario knows that his current life is at an end, but he doesn't know why. His mind is so fixated on figuring out if he can cheat death as well as protect his current family from learning about his past. He is too distracted with sorting out his past that he compromises the very existence that cradled him for so long.

Part of the film's success lies in the way it balances contrasting concepts: Family offers both security and betrayal. It is also full of subtle modulations with two different scenes juxtaposed together to create a bigger impact. It is mostly a riveting character study of a marked man's frantic quest to keep his true identify from surfacing to the fore. The pacing of the story is slow, at first. But eventually perks up during the last quarter with an intense go-for-broke situation prevailing with a somewhat tragic and quite sad ending.

MINE VAGANTI (LOOSE CANNONS)

MovieMov: Italian Cinema Now
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 3

Secrets abound in this family drama set in Puglia. Tommaso is an aspiring writer who returns from Rome to his hometown. His father is planning to hand the family pasta factory to him and brother Antonio. Tommaso also intends to come out of the closet to his family. Yet at the opportune moment, he is preempted by his equally secretly gay brother, Antonio. One paternal heart attack later, the traditional Cantone family is in shambles.

This isn't merely a coming out of the closet tale. The entire film prevails on the notion of impossible love as well as the pursuit of happiness without the fear of repercussions for our actions. Everyone in the family seems to have one or two secrets related to love and loss, and those dramatic elements of the storytelling play out well.

"Loose Cannons" has elements of farce, comedy capped with a tragedy that basically ties all the loose ends together. It is however marred by distracting side plots which although significant are not given more depth. These scenes were presented as flashbacks with nary a dialogue. They did jar the senses as they had this silent movie effect with a self explanatory tone attached to them.

The film is kept rocking by a good soundtrack of original songs. Subterfuges both realistic and ridiculous keep this amiable family drama going through the first half. Although the last half starts to morph into serious daytime TV soap opera, the quirky characters with their eccentricities pretty much make this quite an engagingly entertaining piece.

It's as complicated and colorful as family usually is.