Because I Said So (2006)

Director: Michael Lehmann (1)

Cast: Diane Keaton (2), Mandy Moore (3), Lauren Graham (4), Piper Perabo (5), Stephen Collins (6), Tom Everett Scott (7), Gabriel Macht (8), 

(Watch the trailer)

My favourite quote - "I just want you to understand something about motherhood okay. I mean, it's the most impossible love. You tell me when it ends. You tell me when it stops. All I know is, it's absolutely fine for me to teach you how to walk and talk, and then you grow up and you head off in the wrong direction toward a cliff. And I'm supposed to just stand there and wave and go, "Well, kids, good luck. It's Mom. I'm here. " Well, I can't do that. What am I supposed to do, huh? Am I supposed to just put my feet up at the end of the day and say to myself, "Well, you know, they're on their own and she says she's fine. " Well, you won't be." 

Mama by Spice Girls 
(Video linked from Youtube)

She used to be my only enemy and never let me be free

Catching me in places that I knew I shouldn't be

Every other day I crossed the line

I didn't mean to be so bad

I never thought you would

Become the friend I never had

Back then I didn't know why

Why you were misunderstood

So now I see through your eyes

All that you did was love

Mama I love you, Mama I care

Mama I love you, Mama my friend

You're my friend

I didn't want to hear it then but

I'm not ashamed to say it now

Every little thing you said and did was right for me

I had a lot of time to think about

About the way I used to be

Never had a sense of my responsibility

Back then I didn't know why

Why you were misunderstood

So now I see through your eyes

All that you did was love

Mothers know best. Do they really? It's the time of the year when working adults get their "report cards" regarding how they've fared at work in the past year. The reward/results come in the form of bonuses and pay increments. I fared very badly. And I cried as the reality of the results sunk in. I cried because this thought came into my mind - "What do I tell my mother?" 

Let me explain. In recent months, my mother has been first hinting, and now blatantly telling me I should get a new job. A better paying job. A 9 to 5 job that pays better. She's been encouraging me to apply for a "creative position" at Google without really knowing if what this "creative position" her friend has been talking to her about entails. And just recently, while watching the Zombieland blu ray together she dropped a "so are you going to start applying for jobs" line just before the opening titles rolled out when the huge chunk of words under the heading "WARNING" appeared. Suddenly I wasn't sure if the "WARNING" sign was a huge hint about my mother's "nudging" or a warning against piracy. 

All this reminds me of the way Diane Keaton's character, in Because I Said So, "convinced" and "manipulated" her daughter, played by Mandy Moore, to date the man she deems suitable for her daughter. 

A mother's love. That's what Because I Said So is mostly about. Mothers may or may not always be right. But mothers do what they do because they love you. 

It was only after I went to Australia to study that I became a little closer to my mother. You see, I come from a traditionally Asian family where the parents are the stern father and mother figure in their children's lives. Not like in western culture where mothers can be best friends with their daughters and father are buddies with their sons.

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Writer and Director: Tom Hanks (1)

Cast: Tom Everett Scott (2), Liv Tyler (3), Charlize Theron (4), Ethan Embry (5), Tom Hanks, and Alex Rocco (6)

(Watch the trailer)

My favourite quote - "Ain't no way to keep a band together. Bands come and go. You got to keep on playin', no matter with who." 

I love watching a film over and over again because each time you watch a film, you notice something different and affects you in a different way. Watching That Thing You Do! again for the umpteenth time, I caught a few details that brought a smile to my face. 

When The Wonders were going on television, I noticed all the little backstage details I never used to in the past. Probably because now I am so used to stuff like that at work that when I see it in a film, it screams and jumps out at me. We got a glimpse of the television production going on and it reminds me of why I love my job. When the director said to his crew that the "supers" were coming up I actually know what they mean now. In the past, I never noticed that line because I wasn't aware of what it meant. Everything about that live television debut of The Wonders was so surreal. It was like I was watching myself at work, except it wasn't actually my production. Kudos to the crew on making the film so realistic. (Click here to see the part with The Wonders' performance on television)

The costumes and the set was amazing! I really felt like I was living in those days, watching the television live show on my brand new colour TV. I never really paid attention to the character or the actress who played Tina too. No, I'm not saying that Charlize Theron wasn't good in the role, just that the role was so small and really a minor plot in the entire story. Looking at her performance now, she really captured the ditzy blonde personality really well.

Jazz! It dawned on me that this film is probably the reason why I started liking jazz. I like the emotion in jazz music and how it makes me feel. Jazz makes me feel like I could enjoy the music and forget all my troubles. 

One other thing that really got to me was the fact that the film felt so real that I actually walked out of the cinema thinking this film was based on a true story. Yes! I believed that this was true for a while before realising it wasn't at all based on fact! When I went on Google to find out more about The Wonders, all I could find was about the band in the film. I think the ending where there were snippets of information given about what happened to each of the band members helped fuel that belief for a while. I like it. I like closure and knowing what happened to my favorite characters, even those I don't like, and even if they're fictional. 

Now, let's get down to the why. Why I love this film and the quote I mentioned. Simply put, I love it because it reminds me to stick to my passions. It reminds me to keep on writing, no matter with who. I also love it cos of the great characters in the film. I love watching how each character interacts with the other band members and how each character react differently to the situations they face. Working in a team is like playing in a band, each person has a specific role and no one should be more important than the other. Yes there should be a leader, but everyone needs to work together harmoniously for a band or a team to succeed in their endeavors.