Half Nelson

I've been told my worst post are those in which I ramble. My digressions makes me interesting but nobody gets my point. But these entries makes for speedy reading. Just skip them. Go tell a funny joke like "What do you call chips that aren't yours? - Nacho chips." or "Knock Knock, Who's there, The interrupting cow, The interrupting c-, MOOOOO (interrupts)." Hahaha....

The script is damn tight in this movie. And the way it is written, directed and acted out all adheres to the themes of the movie superbly.

To be able to fully understand the movie starring Ryan Gosling, you don't need to know about the Civil Rights Movement that started in the US in 1951 (similarly mentioned in Forrest Gump). You don't need to know about the "Twinkie Defence" (similarly mentioned in an episode of X-Files). You don't need to know about any of the historical stuff that is mentioned in the movie.

But to know that a half nelson is a type of wrestling hold would somewhat enhance the movie maybe a little. That Horatio Nelson (mentioned in Master and Commander) is the reason why a "nelson" hold came to be named after him. Better still is to know that dialectic is a philosophical approach to resolution through presentation of evidence, counter-evidence and the contradiction in the opposites. Dialectic, along with rhetoric (only persuasion) and grammar (effective delivery) are like the holy trinity of "thinking about the reasons why".

The movie has such a clever script that it can either make a person leave the theatre thinking "Huh? Finished already?" or "Wah, sibeh cheem (really deep thoughts)." If neither of these thoughts occur, well, at least you can enjoy the artsy-fartsy direction with lots of bokeh in all the scenes (the cinematographer's comments them here and his set up can be found here)and the fantastic Broken Social Scene who provided the soundtrack to the movie. And fucking hell, Feist does a wicked version of Lover's Spit (used in Wicker Park, albeit a different version) in here. Damn....I can listen to that song forever. One of my top 26 in 2005.

Struggle. The struggle of everyday life and not knowing what is expected from yourself. Or not being able to fulfill these expectations.

Change. That change is inevitable. Period. (How did this stupid expression came to being? Period. Duh. And why the fuck am I using it?)

Turning point. Having that one moment when you gain enlightenment. From that moment on, the change will occur and will be irreversible. Struggle is successful.