It’s been so long since my last Casual Consumption post that it makes no sense to back track and list everything I’ve casually consumed since then because it would be a pretty freaking long post filled with boredom and grief. (Mostly yours.)

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Film

I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy last Sunday and it was amazing. In case you didn’t know (you probably do), the film is made and released under the Marvel franchise and is based on one of their more obscure comics of the same name. Guardians follows Peter Quill, a minor outlaw, as he stumbles into something huge… that’s pretty much none of his business and proceeds to make it his business with his rag-tag gang of criminals. I can’t really say much without giving the first forty minutes away, but I will say that this is by far, one of the most entertaining comic movies I’ve ever seen.

Prior to this, I was actually able to catch three Cinemalaya movies, namely #Y, Dagitab, and Mariquina. I didn’t know anything about the movies prior to seeing them, except for some of the people responsible for them. (Sarie picked our afternoon’s movie itinerary.)

#Y opens with a suicide then follows it up with a back story, about a month and a half leading up to it. The story was compelling enough, if trite, but the stiffness was distracting. Although #Y seems to be driven more by the characters’ stories and problems than actual plot, I felt no real empathy for any of them, which might be the point of it. I don’t really know. (image source)

Dagitab, which follows the story of two professors married to each other, had some beautiful shots and scenes, and I could pluck quite a number of scenes that were captivating, but I won’t pretend that I was lost for quite a bit of it. When I thought I had a good grasp of the film’s themes and narrative, the resolution went quite the opposite of it, so maybe I made up all my connections and realizations in my head. Compelling performances from the cast, however, and really quite beautiful. (image source)

Among the 3, I think I had the easiest time watching Mariquina. The film goes a bit into the history of shoemaking in Marikina, through the life of Mylene Dizon’s character, Imelda (of course) Guevarra, whose estranged father, a renowned shoemaker from Marikina’s glory days, is found dead in a river. As much as there seems to be some intended soul-searching and self-confrontation, I think I was more compelled by the story that shoemaking as a craft holds. (image source)

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Books

I’ve been reading—predictably—#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso, CEO of Nasty Gal. This has been making its rounds in the beauty blogging world, and I couldn’t resist. So far, I am on the fence about it. It makes me feel alternately inspired and annoyed. To be honest, this is more a memoir than anything, so that’s a caveat, if you’re looking into it for concrete business advice. I’ve also started on Lev Grossman’s The Magicians as per the recommendation of my friend, Martin. I read a while back that it was a good book to read as an adult, if you were a fan of Harry Potter. So far, I am about 80% into it but I’ll reserve my opinions for later. I’m also in the middle of a couple of other books, which you can check on my GoodReads. I’ll post a Capsule Reviews soon, when I’ve finished most of the books that I’ve been dipping in and out of.

Television

I am so enthralled by Teen Wolf, but a little bored with Scott McCall, who I loved beyond measure earlier in the series. I’ve also caught up with Adventure Time, which has actually made me tear up during a couple of episodes… and by “tear up,” I meant “try really, really, really hard not to cry.”

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You’re the Worst is probably my favorite discovery as of late. I was looking for a new show, because a lot of the ones I watch aren’t back yet, and I came across this one and was so sold on the trailer alone. Week-long waits for new episodes have become unbearable once again.

Music

I don’t have new music, but I’ve been binging on the soundtrack of my youth—aka late emo. I used to primarily be a Taking Back Sunday fan, with heavy servings of Thursday, The Starting Line, Brand New, and Armor for Sleep. I’ve been binge listen-screaming to all of those bands lately, I’m not gonna lie. TBS and Saves the Day (another lite fave) are actually playing in Manila later this month but I actually have no extra 4k to shell out for pure nostalgia. If I decide not to go (which is a high probability) and Saves the Day plays “Hold,” though… I don’t even know what I’d do.

Food

I’ve also been enjoying trying to eat healthy and have been subsisting on a vegetable soup mix I found in Healthy Kitchen for lunch because it’s easy to make and set aside to heat up again the next day. Of course, I’ve found it hard to say no to both McDonald’s Shake Shake Fries (ketchup flava!) and Potato Corner (barbecue). And Eric Kayser cookies. But I’m trying, I swear.

And that’s that! I always mean to make these a little shorter but end up talking and talking and talking just because I do these updates so infrequently. Anyway, these are a lot of my recent round of um, cultural and actual ingestion, I guess. Let me know what you’ve been enjoying lately!