xmen 3 weekend

went to see the film "x-men: the last stand" yesterday with fellow xmen fans denise and our beautiful fairy godmother of a friend (you will know why when you meet her!) ate gracie. we haven't gotten together in ages and we were just so excited to see each other that we met two hours over a late lunch just to gab. subject of the hour was da vinci code, which we all read before it was even popular, and before the birth of all those da vinci posers. we're not even fans of the book, we all liked angels and demons better, but we three just have a lot to say about it. we have different takes on dan brown's controversial fiction, and it's just amazing how the diferences just made teh conversation a lot more interesting. and then we saw xmen 3 and felt like we are the only people in the moviehouse who are really reacting even to the non-action scenes.

perhaps its because we're such fans we were actually prepared to be disappointed because it was megged by  anew director but well, we liked the film. we were hoping though that they should've followed the dark phoenix saga plot but the result was just good. yes, i like the phoenix character, i like famke janssen and thought she did a great job in the film, earning even the praises of sir ian mckellen. 

i would like to go on and talk about the film, but i am afraid that it might give away clues and spoil it for everyone who hasnt seen it. but i loved it! and it was more special because i watched it with people i know would understand it too. goodness, i am beginning to sound like such an elitist but well, these days posers are just the pits. anyway, it has been a wonderful week, capped off by a fabulous weeekend with amazing women. looking forward to more!

PS, meeting ate gracie and denise again plus maybe a couple other friends to watch "the lake house" thsi coming june. we so cannot wait!

Breaking the Code

I first read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in late 2003, when it just made the list of Powerbooks' top ten books of the month. I admit I was kind of attracted to it by the intriguing blurb, although I had no idea then that I would eventually find the concepts presented in it quite blasphemous. I was raised Catholic, and even though I am not such a devout one, I know in my heart that I will stay true to my faith until I die. Anyway, so when I read DVC I am quite amazed by the fast paced story line, almost like Nancy Drew caught inside one of Robert Ludlum's spy mysteries. I loved Sophie, in the same manner that I loved my film heroines. Sans the scandalous bordering on the ridiculous concepts, it was a fun read.  

I finished the book in a day, quite satisfied. I had no idea that almost a year after it would be so popular that it became some sort of a status symbol. You're cool if you have read DVC. I have encountered people who would talk about it saying it was good, but when asked why, or when pressed for what exactly they think about such and such thing presented in the story, they won't have anything sensible to say. I know you're not supposed to take the whole Holy Grail or Jesus-married-to-Magdalene idea so seriously, but I found it both amusing and annoying how guys would try to impress other at parties by talking about DVC. They talked about the plot, the action scenes, but they cannot fully grasp why the hell was Sophie and Robert were running, or why was Silas beating himself up. "I read DVC in 8 hours, straight. Wild, dude!" Eew. 

And then another issue was that the book has managed to offend certain religious groups, I understand that. But what's sad is that a certain percentage of people who have read it actually started believing those way out-of-this-world ideas in the book. I know we are all free to choose whatever we should believe in, but it is sad when that decision is basically a product of a certain influence, and not simply one's own. 

I saw the movie last Friday with officemates and I am surprised when after watching it, I actually thought I liked it better than the book. Simply because the movie did not try very hard to present it as some sort of a thesis disguised as a spy story to convince anyone of a certain "truth". Instead the film was presented as a fun-giddy ride of a spy story. Yes, like Nancy Drew caught inside a Ludlum espionage mission. DVC the movie was done in such a way that although it will cause viewers to ask questions and ponder on certain concepts, it never delved away from that one fact: that above all, Mr. Brown's DVc is actually, a very tastefully written work of fiction. 

PS, Mr. Brown has another book called Angels and Demons. I like it way better than DVC, and in my opinion will make a really good film. I vote for Raachel Weisz as Vittoria, another cool kickass character.