Movie Review – ‘Scent of a Woman’

‘Out of order, I show you out of order. You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place! Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are... executin' his soul!’

And that is only one of the terrific quotes that you will face if you decide to see ‘Scent of a Woman’.
Despite the title and the fact that there will be a woman, I think that the movie is about the journey a man takes from childhood to adulthood. The teenager, played by Chris O’Donnell is just a kid that saw some students setting up a prank that went very wrong and now the school administration is trying to pry out what Charlie knows. He is hired to take care of Frank Slade (played by Al Pacino) a weary retired Army Lt. Colonel, who through an accident looses his sight and his way of life. The interplay between the two characters is mind blowing.
There have been many critics about Pacino’s play in ‘Scent of a Woman’, but we must accept the fact that the performance is an extraordinary one. He is both intolerable and completely lovable in this Oscar-winning role of a lifetime. He overpowers each sentence he speaks, each gesture he makes and forces himself to be in the center of attention in every scene he appears. His character has a lot of funny quotes, he can smell the perfume of a woman (hence the title of the movie) and even though he is blind, he makes one the most dramatic and full of passion tango scenes of all times.
All in all, ‘Scent of a Woman’ is masterful piece of work. The character development is perfect, the dialogue terrific and the story line makes the audience feel all the right emotions at the right turns and has great drama.
‘Whoooah!’ I’ll give a BIG 10! Worth seeing it!

Book Review - 'Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk

<>

And so begins Chuck Palahniuk's exceptional novel ‘Fight Club’. If the above lines don't already send you rushing off to the bookstore, keep reading.
Chuck Palahniuk is one of those writers you either read completely fascinated or you hate. There are no compromises in his case. The words strike you right with the accuracy of a spyglass; the impact is nondescriptable. ‘Fight Club’ is an angry book. There is very direct narrative, very short and simple dialogue.
The story is told to us through the first person perspective of the main character, but his name is never revealed. We have men drawn to Tyler and his ‘Fight Club’ because they feel alive only when they fight, and it is only through Tyler that they feel loved. Indeed, Tyler gains sort of a cult following his every command, and our narrator is no different. When the narrator sees that men are starting to die, he tries to stop the very thing he’d created with Tyler, and that’s when things go downhill, ending with mayhem and destruction.
Is the movie worthwhile? Absolutely. See the film then read the book? Yes, in this order.
The adaptation of ‘Fight Club’ for the silver screen is absolutely phenomenal, carrying memorable quotes and scenes from Brad Pitt and Edward Norton and toning it down just enough to make it palatable to audiences.
I highly recommend this book. Not only that you feel an immense cathartic pleasure, but you will also find an author that writes in an unconventional manner and proves highly successful.

Somewhere/one/times/day

Slatina is just a place somewhere in the world. Maybe it’s a lot like your world, maybe it’s nothing like it. But if you look closer you might see someone like you.
Someone trying to find his way; someone trying to find his place; someone trying to find himself.
Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one in the world who’s struggling, who’s frustrated, or unsatisfied or barley getting by. But that feeling’s a lie and if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes; someone to help us hear the music in the world, to remind us that it won’t always be this way.
That someone is out there and that someone will find you.