How Zach Braff does it? I'm not too sure. All I know is that - the guy is brilliant. He has incredible insight in the kind of projects he chooses to work on. He's a genius, for sure.. from screenwriting to acting, soundtrack selection to directing.

In many a series of lead roles, he plays Michael in the film called The Last Kiss. Michael, a twentysomething architect on the verge of pushing 30, is happily settled with his girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) - the kind of relationship his friends were quite envious of. He realizes that everything he wanted since he was young falls into place. He has a great job, maintains a friendship with his childhood friends and Jenna, who is expecting their first baby. Pretty much, he has it all.


While at a friend's wedding, he meets Kim (Rachel Bilson) - a charming yet aggressive college student who caught his eye. With her forward nature, she seems to easily get Michael wrapped around her fingers without hesitation. While making conversations with her, Michael confesses how much he thinks that even in his otherwise perfect life - there's no more room for surprises anymore. Kim suggests that he's in a crisis which he agrees in silence.

On the homefront, Jenna is caught offguard of her parent's separation and tries to tie loose ends hoping to get Anna and Stephen (played by Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson respectively) back together especially with the pending birth of their granddaughter. While, Michael's friends are in a tsunami of relationship turmoil. Izzy, who got jumped by his girlfriend Ariana, and Kenny, who is commitment-phobic, decide to embark on a roadtrip to get away from Wisconsin. Chris, on the otherhand, is stuck in a ticking timebomb of a marriage with Lisa waiting to disintegrate.


With everyone around them in a state of domestic disturbance, Michael is secretly brewing a mix of his own by meeting Kim from time to time with Jenna kept in the dark. Despite having an inkling of what the consequences of his actions will be, he becomes more enamored with Kim's youthful and carefree ways. Chris suspects of Michael's cheating ways and decides not to get involved in any of his alibis.

On the night when he was partying with Kim at a club, Jenna tries to get hold of him with sad news of Izzy's dad who passed away. He puts up an excuse that he is out with Chris only to get busted by her at the wake where all of Michael's friends including Chris are present except him. Upon rushing his way home, Jenna confronts and interrogates him of his whereabouts. Preferring to stick to his alibi only to get outed with Chris, he starts confessing and vows of its meaningless implication in their relationship. With his apologies holding no weight on the matter, she kicks him out of the house. So left with no place to go, he drops by at Kim's dorm and decides to sleep with her instead.

Jenna moves to her parent's house to compose herself and cool down. He figures it right away and thinks of visiting her there when Kim ambushes him at his office. He explains to Kim of his predicament and tries to apologize to her of the confusions caused between them. Michael then rushes out and arrives at the house to talk to Jenna. As her parents tries to get some sense talking to them, she bolts out of the door and goes straight to their house and locks Michael out. He makes up for everything that he has done by waiting and staying in the porch for days and nights - rain or shine. Until Jenna gives in.


What's fascinating about the film is how it dissects the very complicated depths of how relationships is responsible to its own demise. The human factor, is almost and always, a given factor. How being human is an imperfection in itself that explaining lapses in judgment is like beyond the radars of being human. With a contemporary story and setting, Braff has become a poster boy for sensitively flawed leads experiencing dramatic highs and lows of a relationship. His performance is just seamless to begin with. In the meantime, Bilson can easily master the role of a sex kitten trying to seduce the male protagonist and sway him off the tracks. But somehow, you can't help but notice bits and pieces of her O.C. days with Summer Roberts springing from behind her - not so hard to miss on that one though. Overall, the material on this remake is relatively modern and likeable. Kudos!


** This story is taken from my old blog - popcorn sessions. **

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Photos via Aceshowbiz, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, JoBlo

A few weeks ago on this blog, I posted a two-part series entitled “What Dreams Are Made Of… Sometimes!” It was written at a time when my mind and body was consumed with too much work and personal stress that it took an insane toll even during in my sleep and dream state. I had no idea then what I was running into. Until I realized that it was a dream that had zero – I repeat, zero – sound taking place. No sound, no noise, and most definitely, no music. It was an audiophile’s worst nightmare!

And so, I thought maybe in the future we could manipulate the kind of dreams we have. Maybe make some edits as our dream starts unfolding. Wouldn’t that be so cool? It’s like those scenarios in the movies where a character breaks the fourth wall and tries to revise the story in real time – should some situation proved disadvantageous – in order to gain the upper hand.

In the spirit of that theory, I had this idea what if we can pre-select the kind of tunes that gets played in our dreams. Nothing blah or meh in this case. But a trove of ultra quirky, part dreamy, part ambient, hyper pop alternative soundtrack that even MTV would pale in comparison. So I’ve run down a list of what I felt best suits that surreal and, most often, inexplicable dream environment. Let’s go through it – shall we?


(1) Under The Water – Merril Bainbridge

(2) What I Am – Emma Bunton f/ Tin Tin Out

(3) Symptom Of My Time – Marie Frank

(4) Indestructible – Alisha’s Attic

(5) Damned – Shimoli

(6) Tattooed On My Mind – D’Sound

(7) Totally Underwater – Shelly Poole

(8) Snow On The Sahara – Anggun

(9) Templefrog – Kiln

(10) The Rain – Oh Wonder

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Photos via (from left to right, starting from top panel)  1 - Wikipedia, 2 - Wikipedia, 3 - MusicStack, 4 - LaDiscoàTibronx, (middle panel) 5 - MusicStack, 6 - Lyrics 007, (bottom panel) 7 - iTunes, 8 - Wikipedia, 9 - Ghostly, 10 - All Things Go Music

[This is the second part of the two-part series. To read the first part, click here.]

What I stepped into was a world beyond recognition – it was strange and otherworldly. I was floating in the air with the misty wind moving all around me. I could feel that there were others just like me but just outside my peripheral vision at every turn of my head. It’s like being sucked into a world that was sort of Tim Burton-esque in all its fantastical glory. I was floating in a patch of land that seemed to be elevated by a sea of clouds. A few distances away, I could see a cascading waterfall with the water dropping off to a bottomless pit. Across it were vines growing in total abandonment as it made its way towards some funny looking trees resembling the kind found in exotic Socotra. I was spellbound.

But to add another layer of weirdness was that there was a complete absence of noise, sound, or perhaps even, music. Ever thought how intriguing it can be when you can actually bring your senses forward when you’re under a dream state, of course, with the exception of your tactile and olfactory senses? I’ve always thought it to be rather bizarre that I can still feel, see, hear and say something in that dream state when, after all, you are in deep sleep. But at that point in time, I was missing the hearing part or, yet, the absence of it.


As all dreams often are, they normally don’t make sense. Maybe they served as a reflection of your waking state of how exhausted you are from what you were doing and how badly you needed the rest. Maybe they don’t. And, in that particular dream, all I was doing was just roam aimlessly around that mystical environment – enjoying the sight of the waterfall, the sea of clouds underneath, the intertwining vines and the funny trees.

Before I know it, I started falling off the bottomless pit and I could sense my body was moving uncontrollably. My arms were spread out in the air hoping to grab something to keep me from falling further. I was screaming like mad minus the sound of my voice. All of a sudden, I was taken back to reality. It turned out – I had fallen off the bed with half of my blanket held tightly in my hands and the other half tucked in on top of the bed.

I was awake but didn’t have the strength to get up just yet. I opened my eyes and kept thinking what the dream was about. I replayed it over and over in my head about what it meant. But unfortunately, I didn’t reach any conclusion whatsoever. Then I realized something… there was melody in the air. A song was playing. I also realized… I can hear the music playing. Thank God – everything’s back to normal! Phew!

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Photos via HDW, michaelpickard