Fave Book # 3: The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man is a story of a boy named Stephen Dedalus as he tries to rebel against the Catholic and the Irish ways where he was brought up to. It started when he was a boy and was sent to the a bording school with his parents’ hope of him changing into a gentleman.





But throughout his entire life as a boy, Stephen experienced the things he has never experienced before like being bullied, daydreaming and being hit by a paddle as an act of discipline. In his stay at the school, he realized that life isn’t just an powdered juice that when you mix and stir in cold water will taste good but a wine that needed to be brewed carefully to taste good. With his experiences such as overcoming his early heart break, his family problems and school problems, Stephen readied himself for the twists and turns of fate he knew is heading in his way.



A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man was written by James Joyce as a semi-autobiography and was published in 1944 in its original cover. The book itself earned several praises and recommendation from men and women of high remarks for its “dialogue intensive scenes” which was seen usually on situations while Stephen is talking to his friends and its originality in the sense that James replaced his quotation marks with dashes.



If you are interested to purchase the book, just follow this link: A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Fave Movie # 3: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a British film produced in 2008 and was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. This is an adaptation from the book Q&A by the Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup.




The story goes as young Jamal Malik (played by Dev Patel) , a former street child from the Dharavi slums , gets interrogated and tortured by the Indian Police after being refered to as a cheater in the game show “ Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?”. Being capable of answering tricky questions that an ordinary person could not, he is accused of cheating.



As the tagline says “Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it?"



A) He Cheated B) He’s Lucky C) He’s Genius D) It is Written .



As the Slumdog Millionaire film unfolds, the great question is answered as he discussed to the police how the right answers was connected to his life. Everything in his life happened for a reason. One example is the question “What does the god Rama hold in his hand?” and he remembered an incident during his childhood when they were attacked by fellow Indians. They fled from the scene but did not know where to go, encountering a child depicting Rama.



The Slumdog Millionaire movie was a little different from the book that inspired it (entitled Q&A by Vikas Swarup) in the sense that in the book the name of the character Jamal is instead Ram Mohammad Thomas for the elders in their former village gave him a Hindu name, a Muslim name and a Christian name to maintain balance among the religious communities around them.



Slumdog Millionaire earned itself a lot of awards from several major and acclaimed award giving bodies. It won 8 awards in the Oscar Academy awards, including the Best Picture and Best Director award, 4 from the Golden Globe awards including Best Picture, Best Drama Film and and Best Director, 5 out of 6 nominations from Critic's Choice Awards and 7 out of 11 nominations from BAFTA awards and won the Toronto International Film Festival's Cadillac People's Choice Award.



Official Trailer

Fave Book # 2: The Brethren by Johhn Grisham

Here is another one of John Grisham's work that stars people who stand to use the law and their knowledge of it for their personal benefit.




Three ex-judges, also known as the Brethren, doing time in a federal prison called The Trumble in Florida fine tunes a perfectly wicked extortion scam. They make use of all the time in world contemplating about their own lives. One was sent up for a murderous drunken joyride, the one for tax evasion and the third one for skimming bingo profits.

Meanwhile outside the Trumble, a controversial presidential election is taking place and one candidate is plunging into fame fast. With his timely political message and surprisingly, huge amount of money that no other candidate in history has ever had, he sends the whole nation on its grips. This includes the Brethren, because for them they just found the perfect victim. It’s now or never. What they don’t know is that a shady government figure is manipulating a very hidden and deadly string.

Now, while sitting in the prison library, they must come up with a fool-proof way to outsmart their victim. Because the timing couldn’t be perfect.

Fave Movie #2: Johnny English

Johnny English is a movie patterned according to James Bond style - although ends up with a funnier twist with Rowan Atkinson around.





When all else fails in the majestic United Kingdom, Britain’s last hope lies in the hands of Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson), the last remaining British spy and his most reliable assistant, Bough (Ben Miller).


The hilarity starts when all of the British Intelligence Agents mysteriously died – all at the same time, except for one – the disastrous yet funny agent Johnny English. Simultaneously, the British Crown Jewels has been stolen. Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) and Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia) are the prime suspects to the crime, as far as Johnny English’s educated guess is concerned. But because of the reasonable doubts of his superior, they dismissed his claim.


Henceforth, English and his partner Bough pursued Sauvage on their own, looking for proof and meeting Lorna Campbell along the way for several times. Together, they must act in the name of justice, patriotism and laughter to save the nation they love.


Official Trailer

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Fave Movie #1: Apocalypto by Mel Gibson

If you are looking for a movie that is filled with suspense that will make you jump every few minutes, then Apocalypto is the one for you. A thrilling movie created by the award-winning director Mel Gibson.

Apocalypto unfolds with a small village living a natural and normal life during the pre-Colmubian era of what is now known as America. They are harassed by a group of Mayan warriors searching for people whom they will bring to their Sun-worshipping city.

The fall of the Mayan civilization begins as the protagonist Jaguar Paw, played by Rudy Youngblood. After escaping capture and cheating death in the hands of the Mayan, he raises home to save his family - his beloved wife who is about to conceive and his young son.

What is a race to save his life is also a race against time - to save his family in the brink of death.

The production was overall fantastic. The actors were good and the story will keep you interested and hanging at the edge of your seat. Good work for the man who directed Braveheart and Passion of the Christ. Another astounding creation of Mel Gibson. I give you a rating of 5/5 stars!

Full Official Trailer



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Fave Book #1: The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

My first blog post should be about the most influential book in my life: The Alchemist.


Paolo Coelho creatively explored the story of a young boy named Santiago in search for a treasure - a treasure that he would soon discover as something far greater than anything he has ever encountered in his whole life as a shepherd. It is a wonderful book that will make you believe in something that you had when you were young, and what you have forgotten as you grew old.

The greatest adventure in life is finding your treasure, whenever, wherever! The Alchemist made me believe that nothing in life is impossible. We are all a part of God, and God is a part of us, so we should not be afraid. The power of believing shall take us to the edge of the world and to the depths of our soul.

If you are looking for a life changing and moving book, The Alchemist is the best there is.