TiMER

Listed under Comedy, but more in my opinion a drama-fantasy, this 2009 film was an intrigiuing gem. Written and directed by Princeton graduate Jac Shaeffer, and nominated and winner of both local and international film festivals, this first film was quirky, stimulating and insightful. Filmed in Santa Clarita California with a run-time of 99 minutes, Schaeffer managed to execute passion into her project from start to finish; she posed questions on faith, destiny, and patience.

Nowadays we live in a instant-gratification, fast-paced kinda' life-style and many often mistake jumping in the sheets, satisfaction enough opposed to a lifetime of true-love, respect and friendship. Some take matters into their own hands by seeing therapists, psychics or signing up on Match.com; while few tend to practice patience and trust in the best possible outcome. What if you could count-down the moment until you met your soulmate? 'Timer' poses that exact question! :)

Believable and fun characters, including Emma Caulfield, and John Patrick Amedori, who had wonderful chemistry on-screen. Great use of light and a soundtrack reminiscent of 'Atonement's' theme song, which was clever as well as catchy. Charming, and dream-like and posing great questions for us all - would you rather know, or break the rules and follow your heart? :)

UP

**One of my favourite movies ~ showcasing TRUE Love~! :)) Enjoy!

Fireproof

Not at all what I expected; but pleasantly satisfied. J What an inspiring and uplifting treat. I’m not married but this 2008 film wasn’t only about marriage and making it stronger but about what the true meaning of love is. If you don’t know what ‘true love’ is, then how can you practice it? I was able to identify with similar behaviours portrayed within the movie and it touched me as I’m sure also moved many viewers too! It is never too late to take a step back and work on yourself. No-one is perfect; and if we do all we can and leave the rest to our ‘manufacturer/creator’ then the impossible becomes possible and miracles start forming and begin giving birth in our lives.

This drama-fantasy-romance was written by Alex and Stephen Kendrick and directed by Alex Kendrick. A tad dramatic and tacky at parts but a wonderfully wholesome film overall for struggling couples; the message and advice on forgiving is certainly worth the watch. Chock-full of giggles, action and plenty of ‘ah-hah’ moments, this movie is sure to provoke your thinking as well as your tear-ducts. You may recognize the handsome blue-eyed star from ‘Growing Pains’ starring as main character ‘Caleb Holt’ who gave phenomenal acting as well as his fellow team of actors Erin Bethea, and Ken Bevel to name a few.

With a budget of an estimated humble $500,000 USD this cast and crew was fortunate enough to make an amazing $33 million USD profit. Just goes to show, it isn’t always about the fancy tools but how far a good story told goes! J

Check out: www.fireproofmymarriage.com for more on the film and about useful steps you can take to solidy the ‘salt and pepper’ in your marriage!

The Adjustment Bureau

There comes a time in a man's life where he has to make a decision. A decision on what he wants his life to be like, and what he needs his life to be like; what happens if you could have both because you were able to push the envelope on what the world thinks your ought to be and what you know you can be. If you feel it darlings, then it must be true. Don't live a lie; fight for what you believe in. Always…

The Adjustment Bureau, written and directed by George Nolfi, was another 2011 film I'm proud of saying I managed to snag seeing before the year is over; and glad I am. It starred Matt Damon who plays young New York senator David Norris and the lovely English Emily Blunt who plays the graceful dancer Elise. The 2 meet by chance, or maybe not at all and from that first glance, that first smile, their lives both changed forever. Despite all that tried to keep them apart, and all David Norris tried to do to forget her; he just couldn't. They both always yearned for each other, and so over the many months and years, they find each other again. As they say, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be, what you feel is no coincidence. What's real and true, will always be true and real J and with the aid of one of the fine men of The Adjustment Bureau, Harry Mitchell, played by Anthony Mackie, their dreams were able to become reality, despite all the odds against them.

Just my type of movie; action, adventure, a chase, an escape, a dab of romance, and excellent storyline that actually was thought-provoking and possible. The acting was first-rate, the cinematography striking and empowering and enthralling soundtrack.

All in all; I believe the film's message is that if you want something, you have to do all you can to make it happen. If you've done all you can already, then you just have to take a step back and believe it to manifest. You see, in life you can achieve many great things, but without love what really is the point of it all? When love finds you, hold on to it; and if it leaves you, then let it go. For true love finds you, annoys you, pushes you, yearns for you always, and if you let it go; then you don't deserve it. Both people have to take that risk to make it last forever…

Beautiful People

I live in a land of beautiful people. Everywhere you turn, in the grocery store, the cinema, the gas station, the person sitting next to you on the highway (seeing there's always traffic here), you can be sure to see a beautifully sculpted face or body nearby. Sure there are gorgeous women found in Brasil, Eastern Europe and Trinidad & Tobago [hahah] and sure there are hunk of babes found in London, Vancouver, South America, the Middle East, Germany, Africa, …I can go on J But the thing is that all these 'beautiful people' have been somehow drawn into one city, that being Los Angeles. Competition here is steep! Whether it be to star next to the BIGGER star in Hollywood films or to have or keep a mate, there's always competition. I've heard my girlfriends say more times than ever that dating in LA is difficult. They say, "OMG dating in LA is soooo hard!" or, "Guuuurrrrllll, I'm telling you these dudes out here ain't easy!" I must say that I disagree. Dating is QUITE easy in Los Angeles, its finding true love that is a bit more challenging.

We are a people of instant gratification and brainwashed into consumerism on a daily basis. Sure it's wonderful to have nice things and to get what you want or need straight away, but are we in the long run harming ourselves?

We must remember that although it is nice to live a life of luxury and leisure, that the true meaning of life is much more grand and significant. We must not become lost and blind-sided into living cookie-cutter ordinary and meaningless lives. We should set examples by living a life with love, respect and truth; one of contentment, gratefulness and ambition; searching and learning about what is our real reason for being here. So that we don't waste precious borrowed time to float away into the ocean of mindless individuals that try to primp and glue phony attachments to what is already beautiful.

Nadie es perfecto! ~ Nobody is perfect!

And everyone has their beauty it's just that everyone just doesn't have the eyes to see it. We constantly judge and make divisions and castes as to who is better than who based on how we look or how much money we have in the bank. We are human, but we don't have to be cursed with such petty human traits. We can be beautiful yet humble…in fact, I find that people who are most beautiful are those who don't emphasize so much on how they look but on how they treat people. They are the beautiful ones, the ones that radiate naturally because of their inner joy and beauty.

So they call it 'The City of Angels' and I do love living here. I won't lie and say I don't also enjoy seeing the glistening shirtless bodies running up and down the mountain when I go hiking, however eye-candy means nothing to my heart; as I know what it is that I crave, deserve, and ultimately will be blessed with once I continue to practice patience. I'm glad to know that I have eyes that enjoy the aesthetic and natural beauty around me, but also have eyes that dig deeper into an individual and see what it is that they're really about! J

I'm not saying its not okay to enjoy material things; by George yes! However one should always try to follow the mid-way or mid-path. Nothing in excess in life…a life of moderation; too much of anything usually isn't a good thing. For even if we smiled endlessly our mouth and gums would get tired, and if we didn't cry in pain, we would never know to move our hand from the fire or find out how glorious it feels to gain that extraordinary person/moment that would make our cloudy days a tad more bright! J

I will leave you with a small excerpt from 'The Teaching of Buddha', while doing some light reading the other night, which goes:

"….there is the tendency for people to disrespect the rights of others, to exaggerate their own importance at the expense of others, to set bad examples of behavior and, being unjust in their speech, to deceive, slander and abuse others…there is the tendency for people to neglect their duties toward others. They think too much of their own comfort and their own desires; they forget the favors they have received and cause annoyance to others that often passes into great injustice. People should have more sympathy for one another; they should respect one another for their good traits and help one another in their difficulties; but, instead, they are selfish and hard-hearted; they despise one another for their failings and dislike others for their advantages. These aversions generally grow worse with time, and after a while, become intolerable…

…Therefore, people should think deeply, should keep their minds pure and their bodies well, should keep away from greed and evil, and should seek good…"