Love, obsession, and a dream come true

All of the above are only connected because I decided to put them all in this little weekly column space, which, for today, will just have to come in short rushes. I had initially planned on writing about two movies before their relevance is completely obliterated by the movies poised to take over the box office. It's summer after all, and a lot of big hits are lining up for the summer crowd. But I caught the live telecast of the 79th Oscar Awards on RPN 9, and as of this writing, I'm awash with warm and fuzzy feelings over former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson's win as Best Supporting Actress for her role-her first-as Effie White in the film adaptation of the hit musical Dream Girls.

I haven't seen the movie, but I caught the musical a couple of years ago and found myself imagining its film version. I thought maybe Destiny's Child could do it, them having their history of breaking up and getting back together and all. I was particularly moved by the song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"-who wouldn't be?

Fast forward years later, and Jennifer Hudson, once panned by Simon Cowell for a "hideous" hot pink dress she wore that was designed by a friend, sings the career-making (or career-breaking) song all the way to the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, BAFTA, and now, the Oscars.

Those who are following the current season of American Idol on Star World or ABC 5 will recognize it as the song Lakisha Jones belted out last week, wowing all the judges and prompting Simon to say that he's tempted to tell all the other contestants to book their plane tickets home.

"Look what God can do," Jennifer said in her Oscar speech. You just can't help but be overwhelmed by her victory and inspired by her. When she lost in American Idol, it would have been very easy for her to fade back into anonymity if she hadn't kept going. But even American Idol winners haven't reached her level of success right now-according to Wikepedia.com, Jennifer won 25 out of 28 awards for which she was nominated. And to think she barely made it to the top ten.

I'm a big fan of Drew Barrymore. I loved her in for-general-patronage E.T., Firestarter, and Babes in Toyland, loved her in parental-guidance-recommended Poison Ivy, Doppelganger, and The Amy Fisher Story, and loved her even more in back-to-GP Ever After, Never Been Kissed, and 50 First Dates. But I just don't think she and Hugh Grant have any chemistry between them in Music and Lyrics.

It was a weak film with a very promising and timely premise (notice the '80s retro happening all over the place?) and very engaging characters. Eighties pop star writes a song for a pretentious current teen sensation (more famous than Britney and Christina combined, but insecure of Shakira) with the help of a naturally talented plant-sitter, and they fall in love. Unfortunately, it didn't work because it was all too fast-tracked. Falling in love in three days-to the point of public declaration through a self-written song launched in a rare bid for a career comeback? Come on. Besides, anybody who has ever co-written anything knows it's not conducive to romance.

The song "Way Back into Love" is a hit, though, and again, so is Drew's fashion sense in the movie. And it's not really bad, especially when you stick around for the credits, because there's a funny little consuelo de bobo montage that shows a very charming Hugh Grant hamming it up as a pop star.

Jim Carrey takes a huge departure from his funny-face roles in The Number 23, a psychological thriller directed by Joel Schumacher. It also stars Virginia Madsen. As Walter Sparrow (Carrey) reads a book given to him by his wife Agatha (Madsen), he becomes increasingly obsessed when he finds a lot of similarities between his life and the story in the book. His obsession manifests itself in a pattern of connecting the number 23 to everything in his life-and he keeps at it, until he uncovers a shocking, long-buried truth about himself.

The Number 23 is one of this year's early must-sees. The trailers make it look like yet another evil vs. good movie, but it's really about destiny vs. choice-and about how breaking away from life patterns that haunts us and our families begins with the awareness that you do have a choice. Email your comments to [email protected]. You may also post them at http://channelsurfing-freeman.blogspot.com or SMS +63-920-2737087.