Revenge of the Nerd

I was thinking about saving up for laser surgery for my eye problems over the weekend. Very self explanatory: get rid of that irritating need to wear glasses so i could play billiards, badminton, soccer and other sports more effectively.

But then again, I look better in glasses, and after Tobey Maguire's Spiderman success, we glasses-toting Geeks are back in the vogue.

Verdict? The glasses are staying.

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Speaking of geekiness, I was able to get hold of a pirated (i think the politically correct term is Originality Challenged?) copy of Akira Kurosawa's legendary groundbreaking film, Seven Samurai over the weekend. I have been looking for a copy of this film since i first heard of it back in highschool. Luckily for me, there are a number of copies available in Makati Cinema Square.

I watched it this saturday, and until now, I am still in awe.

Shot in black and white and in 1954 (this is not a typo), it was the film that inspired great filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

In a nutshell, the three hour (yes! I made the mistake of watching it at 11pm) Seven Samurai is an epic tale of a poor village repeatedly looted by bandits who one day decide to take a stand. They turn to a samurai (Kambei) willing to help their cause for only three square meals a day, who in turn realizes that he needs to recruit six other battle-ready warriors to properly defend the village. Thus, a quest begins to complete the Seven Samurai, and to ultimately defeat the evil bandits.

Its not a very straightforward tale. Behind the main quest, each of the seven samurai have their own personal reasons for joining, ranging from simple respect for Kambei, to an adventure of a lifetime, a personal quest for perfection, a noble desire to help, to even making a statement to the world. Whatever their reasons, Kurosawa gives us very deep views on both the samurai's and the farmers' philosophy and attitude towards life, war and adversity.

Lacking CGI, "bullet-time", scantily clad voluptous women and other modern film staples, Seven Samurai more than makes up for it in REAL action, REAL acting, great character development, great drama, hilarious comedy and very ingenious shoots. It gives us a very deep look into Japanese society and culture, a sense of awe at the giants of the past and reminds us what real movies should be made of.

Definitely a damned good movie. Probably even the GREATEST movie in Japanese history.

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Lastly on the topic of nerdiness...

Mensa will be holding a qualifying session on Saturday , 21 August 2004 at the Private Room, OAKWOOD Premier, Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati. The qualifier is a culture-fair test of the type that is often referred to as "abstract reasoning". It does not test for math or language skills. While there is no strict time-limit, most people will finish in an hour or two. You may register and START your test anytime between9:00 A.M. and 3 P.M.

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Back to our regular programming :)