Bagong Buwan

For now, all I can say is that I never understood anything Edward said til the last scene before the movie ended. Detailed review to come.

The Peaceful Warrior

I have just finished watching The Peaceful Warrior.

Synopsis:
Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz) is a college gymnast with Olympic dreams who's world is turned upside down when he meets a mysterious stranger called Socrates (Nick Nolte). Socrates holds the power to tap into new worlds of strength and understanding. After a serious injury, with the help of Socrates and an elusive young woman named Joy (Amy Smart), Dan discovers he has much to learn and even more to leave behind before he can become a peaceful warrior and find his destiny.

courtesy of Moviefone

My friend suggested I watch film, saying it might enlighten me or something.
Well, first of all before you guys start downloading or purchasing a copy online, mind you this is not a movie for everyone.
But if you look past the exterior and listen to each line said then you'd understand the depth of what this film is all about.
I won't exactly dish out the details here about the movie. All I'd like to share is that this movie will refresh your mind about what the difference about wisdom and knowledge is. Release your inner inhibitions.

In other news, I found something quite strange.
I've just checked my Friendster account and noticed the number of people who has recently viewed me has increased.
When I visited some of their profiles, it seemed as if they were newly registered accounts. Each with different name and all that.
Containing only one different picture (which btw, happens to look as if they were just copied off from the internet from someone else's account) from each profile's album.
Now, I don't really care who views my profile since it's private anyway therefore insufficient access to my info and stuff.) Nor do I think this is a big deal.
I just wanted to take this time to write something out of nothing. Well, technically not nothing but of something that appeared quite odd.
Facebook is still better than FS, that's for sure.

Watchmen

Thinking I'd be in for a treat watching the comic-based movie "Watchmen", I convinced some of my friends to watch it with me.
The movie is in a way loyal to the graphic novel, making the movie itself quite epic. But the director's overwhelming loyalty has failed to make the movie itself, while watching it, captivating.
Tickets' price was reasonable since it's a lengthy movie. But what can you make out of a movie that seems pretty boring til the end.
As I was staring at the big movie screen, I kept thinking to myself what if I'd watched Confessions of a Shopaholic instead. Maybe it'll be less boring.
No doubt that the actors had delivered their roles pretty well, still the movie lacked something. Thrill and action. There were some scenes that seemed too gross or gory, something was still missing.

It's one of those novel/comics/game-based movies that makes you think the director had assumed the audience had a grasp with it's background.
Therefore, leaving an unsatisfied movie-goer.

I've yet to watch Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, because I've been hearing that it's better than Watchmen.

Til next movie review.

And so she returns..

And so she returns from a month-long hiatus.

It's been weeks since my last post. I'm beginning to think my bloggie here's sulking. I can't say for now if I'm back to blogging on a daily basis but I'll be updating. As what I'd usually do.

And what am I doing up so early in the morning? 

Have I felt so guilty about letting cobwebs lurk all over the place?

The truth is, I woke up thinking that we were supposed to be working on our rest day and I thought to myself that if I came in early I could log out early too. Good thing I sent an sms to my team captain that she reminded me that it was my regular schedule today since I had someone to swap temporary schedules with for this week. Talk about dopiness.

Maybe, as what my mother said, I got too excited to wear my new shirt that I wanted to go to work that early. Oh well. Rather than going back to sleep and taking back the energy from my body, I'll just surf around the net for a while.

Oh, I recently downloaded movies that I truly enjoyed. And if you're interested on downloading the latest movie there is in the market without being fooled about it being fake or a bad copy then go to this site: ExtraTorrent. I strongly sugg

est you read the comments before downloading so you'll know the rating of each movie by people who had already downloaded and watched them.

One of the movies I downloaded was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 

A story about a man who ages backwards. Born an old man (in the body of an infant) and dies as a beautiful baby boy (going back to the body an infant). The heavily CGI-ed movie is quite impressive. I'm not exactly a fan of Brad Pitt, because everytime I hear or see a movie of his it makes me think that he's only getting good reviews because he's good looking. But in this movie he seems somewhat charming, in the sense that it's not too overwhelming but just enough to get you interested about how he's going to look aging younger every 2 years. Isn't it a bit weird? Talking about aging younger. I won't be dishing out details here, wouldn't want to spoil ya. But if you've got nothing better to do, watch this movie and better have chips while you're at it.

Another movie I downloaded was The Love of Siam. 

I saw this at a local mall, flashing scenes of the movie. What got me interested was the part that the main characters kissed. And so you ask what's new about a couple kissing. Well, for one they're guys. Not the overly-macho type of guys you'd normally see on gay movies but teeny-bopper looking guys. What sets apart this movie from other known gay flicks is the subplot. Again, I won't give out too much detail. All I can say is this movie is worth watching. Whether alone or with your friends.

Oh, and about her? Doing fine beyond what I've expected. 

Marks the first month of Happiness (12-30-08)

Upcoming Movies

Yeah, upcoming movies to be rated. I will be watching the following movies tomorrow with a friend from work. Will be rating and reviewing them after. :)

The "Thank You" Girls

"The 'Thank You' Girls" is a Visayan film with a gay lingo twist.

Tired of losing in all the beauty competitions in Davao City, five dysfunctional gay beauty pageant veterans decide to travel north to Cagayan de Oro City, in the island of Mindanao.

Their mission: to conquer the grandest competition of beauty, personality and brains in the whole province.

They believe that being city dwellers, gays in the province will never stand a chance against them.

(courtesy of their official site.)

I saw clips of the movie being shown on a local tv channel and got interested. Unlike most gay indie films, this is relatable to straight and gay people alike, young and old. I was able to watch it with my co-workers on its last day at the movies. I was amazed at how they had shown parts of my hometown (Davao). How inviting the place looked like. Their "roadtrip" adventure to gay beauty pageants had few dull moments. Everyone was in character. Except for that Carlos guy who couldn't speak in fuckin straight Visayan. His Tagalog accent made it awkward to even listen to him. How I wish they would have made him mute instead. *haha*

Still, I did appreciate the movie. The witty lines and certain scenes. Gie Salonga, who's a half-brother/sister of the Lea Salonga, is in the movie. I honestly didn't know anything about him not until my friend told me about his family thing with Lea S. And to think he didn't have any Visayan or what-not blood in him and he could speak the dialect perfectly. (Of course, he had a tutor for that.) Still, he pulled it off quite well.

The lives of the heroines in this movie are shown through the eyes of their beloved jeepney (Char Lang) *really, that's the name of the jeepney*. You can even find some quottable quotes from the lines they throw.

I recommend this movie for those barkadas, families and just plain people-who-know-each-other-as-acquaintances. It's not dangerous for the faint of heart, so you can pretty much enjoy this movie. (Understanding the gay lingo beforehand is a plus as well.)

And for reading this post, I thank you very much.

Giving this movie, 3 stars (out of five of course).

WALL-E

What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off?

Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”) and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille”) transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL•E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Joining WALL•E on his fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots. (courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes)

Okay, so this is somehow an outdated post about the movie. I watched Wall-E along with friends from work weeks ago. I've been looking forward to watching the movie since I'm kind of a big fan of animated movies. Well, for some of them though. This is indeed another Pixar masterpiece. Very well done, creating a 3D-2D effect that appeals both to the young and old.

To be able to convey a message that even kids could understand without any dialogue for most parts. And isn't Wall-E just so darn adorable? The way he calls EVE as "Ev-a" is kind of funny too. To think that we'd all turn to blobs in the future because we were brought up to depend on what we think we are abundant of.

Of love from the heart and care for the world. One of those movies, you'd want to see with your friends and family.

Giving this movie, 4 stars.

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Perfect Attendance. Just 3 more days and I'll be able to complete a month without any absence. Of course there's an incentive for this.

This was supposed to be a team PA (Perfect Attendance), then it was down to only the 4 of us. Isn't it just sad to work with someone so inconsiderate? With no sense of responsibility, none whatsoever.

Then there's that newbie who just makes my eyes flinch, eyebrows glued together and my face 30 years older. I might be being a little unfair but the way she asks me technical questions is just damn annoying. To top it all off, she's sitting next beside me which I'm not quite comfortable with.

Or maybe it's just this damn headache that's really bothering me.

I guess I need to get some sleep.

Zzzzzz

Over Her Dead Body

Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) and Henry (Paul Rudd) are about to be married, but on the day of their wedding, Kate is accidentally killed by an ice sculpture of an angel, after an argument with the sculptor about the lack of wings. After a year Henry reluctantly agrees to consult a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell) at the urging of his sister Chloe, arguing that Kate may tell him to get on with his life. Chloe gives Ashley Kate's diary, so that Ashley learns information about Kate which seemingly demonstrates psychic abilities. Despite his initial skepticism over these abilities, Henry is impressed. Moreover, Henry and Ashley fall in love. However, Kate's ghost, who only Ashley can see, is jealous and harasses Ashley to force her to break up with Henry. Ashley persists, but Henry discovers the fraud with the diary and breaks up the relationship.

The ghost of the sculptor who created the angel that killed Kate helps her decide that she wants Henry to be happy after all. The movie ends with Henry and Ashley getting married and Kate going back to heaven.

An extra storyline is about Ashley's assistant Dan (Jason Biggs) who has claimed for years to be gay, allowing him to be Ashley's best friend without sexual connotations. She is upset when Dan confesses to be heterosexual, and to have lied to her because he liked the intimacy, even though it was non-sexual. Nevertheless they go on holiday together after Ashley and Henry break up. Being in love with her, Dan is disappointed that Ashley chooses for Henry. However, Dan and Chloe fall in love.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Browsing through a sea of DVD copies. I looked past this movie since it didn't exactly seem that interesting to me. My friend, who was with me at that time kept insisting that I buy a copy of this because the trailer she saw was funny (to her, that is).
So I didn't give in that easy. Only to find out weeks after that, my co-worker had a copy of it too. So I thought, "Hey, why not borrow one and watch it. If it's gonna suck at least it didn't cost you anything, except for time and the effort of borrowing it."
And so I watched it with my friend who happened to be the one bugging me about it. It was an OK type of film. Not that funny and not too corny. Jason Biggs was his normal loser-type-bumbling-kind-of-way. Paul Rudd was charming as usual, although he kinda looked stupid in some scenes (aside from the ones where he's supposed to look stupid). Eva Longoria-Parker fit her role to a T, and might I say she made me laugh. Lake Bell has some pretty angles, although it was as if it was her film debut. Well, to be honest, since this is in fact a movie review. I think they could have casted someone else aside from Lake Bell. I didn't find her attractive in any way, nor was her acting skills impressive (which is totally quite the contrary).
Anyway, this isn't exactly the type of film where you laugh your heads off most of the time. Makes you giggle though. :)

Giving this movie 3 stars.

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I've been having my hair cut shorter and shorter for the past 3 weeks now. And I don't know why. Me thinks I'm getting ripped off from the salon that I've been going to. Me thinks I'm wasting money on my hair. Me thinks I look good with my new cut. Me thinks all is good.

I'm totally inspired by Kaba Modern's performances. Oh how I wish I was back on the dance floor.

Made of Honor

Made of Honor
Made of Honor revolves around Tom and Hannah, who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He's a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn't found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her "maid" of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her.
Courtesy of IMDB.

I guess I've been a fan of Patrick Dempsey since his teeny bopper days. Loved his teen flicks, especially Can't Buy Me Love. His big comeback on Grey's Anatomy didn't interest me, none whatsoever. I don't know, maybe it's because he looked too old and worn out in the series, even though a lot of people seemed to render him "too hot" and "dreamy". Guess that's why he was tagged as Mr. Dreamy there, duh Avy.

Anyway, talking about the film. I saw the poster at the movies and became really drawn to it. Because, again he was the lead character. Anyway, I didn't wait for a dvd copy on it from one of my favorite pirated dvd stores. (Again, I am not ashamed to say that I do buy pirated dvd copies.) So I basically downloaded it through Azureus again, which never fails to amaze me. Got to watch it the day after I finished downloading it. Not exactly a clear copy but hey, as long as I can hear them and see them, it's fine with me.

The movie seemed to be too fast-forward. Didn't show exactly how Hannah had come to accept the marriage proposal from Colin. Somehow, throughout the movie, it makes you think that maybe Hannah was up to something. Trying to setup Tom to let him show his true feelings for her. But then again, maybe it was just me thinking that. Anyway, I did some of sort of research regarding Patrick Dempsey (playing Tom), and he was a juggler before. So that juggling with the plates thing he did in one scene wasn't choreographed, nor was he even trained for it. (Too much information) His guy friends were all so supportive about him trying to win back Hannah. Helping him out in memorizing all what needs to be know about being "the best made of honor" there ever was.
Then again, there was never any depth to the characters. I guess I expected too much from it, just remembered that it is just a romantic-comedy flick. But still, a feel good movie. So if ever you want to watch this, make sure you have your friends along with you. Guy friends or girl friends.

I'm giving this movie 3.5 stars.

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Somehow, I became too excited about going back to school. And expected too much from the course. How unfortunate for me to have the same professor on the 2 major subjects I took. I don't think I can even learn anything from her other than how old her son is and how old she was when she first learned to ride a bike. Some people would talk about their lives and their experiences but of course with a lesson at the end. But with her, it's just different. It's like reading a blog filled with nothing but ramblings. Nothing to learn from. I didn't know that she'd be like a teacher in secondary level, where the teacher would mostly just read it off a book. Even though she's reading it through powerpoint presentation (techie professor), she's sort of just translating it in Tagalog. Where in fact, we do understand simple English.

I don't care which universities, colleges or school she has taught at already, it doesn't even show in the way she handles the class. I was thinking of someone who often speaks in riddles, makes the class THINK and not just read and memorize. Oh expectations.

I know I've exerted too much effort in getting all my paperworks done, school records and all those stuff passed to them, but it seems like I'm wasting my time with all of this. I guess, going back to school wasn't exactly a good idea. Oh well.

Then again, at work. My colleague, who happens to be either too naive or just wants to test me, keeps questioning about my sexuality and my experiences. Which of course is a bit awkward, but good thing is, she's decent enough to ask me about those in private. It's also funny how almost everyone at work is very much intrigued and interested in knowing who I actually have a crush on. So much for office romance.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda is the story of Po, (voice Jack Black), a sweet, but clumsy Panda who has dreams of fighting with the legendary Furious Five and protecting the city against all threats. The only problem is that Po has no real life experience of kung fu, and his real job is serving noodles at his dad's noodles shop. News of selecting the Dragon Warrior is sent out from the Jade Temple, and the whole city along with Po, go to the celebration. The competition is between the Furious Five: Tigress (voice Angelina Jolie), Viper (voice Lucy Liu), Crane (voice David Cross), Monkey (voice Jackie Chan), and Mantis (voice Seth Rogen). Po accidentally enters the contest and is named the Dragon Warrior. Master Shifu (voice Dustin Hoffman) must find a way to train Po and make him a Kung Fu Master, especially, after they learn that the snow leopard, Tai Lung (voice Ian McShane), is headed their way.
Courtesy of IMDB.


After days of wanting to watch Kung Fu Panda, I got into the situation of buying a pirated copy of it. *who doesn't anway?* I guess, I got too excited that when I was already in the middle of a good part, the scene freezes. Gets stuck in a very hyped-up fight scenes and hilarious moments. Which had forced me to download VLC media player and even download the film itself through Vuze (formerly known as Azureus). Which had impressed me very much. It was as if I've downloaded all the media players available, only to remember that in the office, they were using the VLC after downloading through Azureus. Which was somehow a wack in the head kind of thought. I found the film very enlightening. It is definitely unlike any animated films. Jack Black does fit the main character. I was somehow expecting Angelina Jolie, who was the voice of Master Tigress to have this kind of lead role or whatever. An extra, as usual, just like in Shark Tale. Ohh, speaking of Shark Tale, Jack Black was in it too. Anyhow, Dustin Hoffman makes his character too Americanish (is there such a term?), I'm still thinking of other actors who would've been the voice of Master Shifu. And to think that Jackie Chan was voicing over Master Monkey. Not exactly a very interesting ensemble, but hey, I enjoyed the thought of the movie. :)

I'm giving the film, 3.85 stars. :)

Definitely, Maybe

"definitely, maybe"

Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is a 30-something father who is in a midst of a divorce. His 10 year old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) lives with her mother but is with him once or twice a week. On one of these occasions she questions him about his life before marriage. After her first sex-ed class Maya wants to know everything about how her parents met and decided to get married. In an attempt to "PG" his story, Will changes the names and some facts. In doing so, he creates a love mystery so Maya has to guess which of three women is the one he finally married. The story he tells Maya is depicted in long flashbacks. From time to time the film switches back to the present, where Maya comments and asks questions.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

I was in the mood of buying some new dvds so my player wouldn't get mad at me for not using it. My friend and I were looking through some available movies when this caught my attention. I'm not exactly a fan of Ryan Reynolds (Just Friends) but the cast somehow got me drawn to it. So I bought it.
It's one of those romantic-comedy chick flicks that I dig. The plot about the love story among the three women were sort of cliche. Makes you think, throughout the entire film, which one would steal the spotlight more. To be honest, I'm quite surprised to see Rachel Weisz in this kind of movie. Somehow at the back of my mind I was thinking that she kind of too of a pro and an A-lister to be in part of it, and she didn't fail to make her character much more interesting. Isla Fisher, whom some of us would recall as being that spoiled little rich girl in The Wedding Crashers, in a way gets you with how emotional she can be in the movie. I can never take her apart from her role in The Wedding Crashers, which made it kind of hard to understand her character better. Still, they make a pretty good couple. If he ended up with Elizabeth Banks, the story wouldn't be at all that interesting. Then there's always Reynolds' trademark of being a total jerk which added something-something to the love-story between Fisher and him. The kid, Abigail Breslin, didn't seem all that cute to me. I don't know, she's just not that adorable to me. I don't know about her acting skills as well, can't see through her character. Then again, it's a good thing the main focus of the story is all in lead role's complicated lovelife.

I give this movie 3 and a half stars.

A proud member of Mindanao Bloggers. :)

Vantage Point

I'd been all jittery about watching this movie. The trailer seemed to be interesting. From different points of view, the end's all the same. Truth be told, it was a total waste of time when I watched Vantage Point. I mean, they just turn to another person's side of the story, that's just it. Nothing more. Nothing too special about this movie. Yeah, plainly about assassination, terrorism and the like. But there's no depth in the movie. I guess the writers got to engrossed with spicing up the character's point of view that it totally neglected the bigger picture.
All that excitement gone to the dumps.

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I've finally gone back to school. It's funny how people reacted when they learned I was already a 2nd courser. And I know what comes to mind; "Don't I ever get tired of studying", "Why'd you take your first course anyway" and all those stuff. Well, for one, I've been interested with Psychology ever since my 2nd year in college, but my first course (IT) was a priority which definitely helped me out with my job.
It's a lot different to be studying in another school. The standards and rules aren't the same. It was as if I was thrown into the wild. Like animals gawking, hovering, ready to pounce on new meat. But of course, I know better than to give in. Add to that my age. Senior in my class, so to speak. And for this term, as much as possible I do not want to establish friendship bonds with them. It's nothing personal, it's just that I want to focus on studying and my work at the same time.
I've only got 3 subjects for this term. 2 majors and a minor.
Will I survive?

Penelope

Starring: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon. This is a story somewhere in the middle of fantasy and reality. A curse put upon a girl born from a certain family that will have the face of the pig. And the curse will only be broken unless "one of their kind" learns to love her. She is raised to think that her physical appearance is not entirely hers but of someone else.
The family then assumes that this is somewhat a romantic kind of love to which is why they persist on finding the "right one" for her, which usually ends up ugly since all her suitors run for their lives from the very sight of her.
The snout can't be cut off since her heart was attached to it.
Then comes in this guy mistaken for someone else, but still pretends to like Penelope just so he can get the money to be payed to him if he gets a picture of the pig-faced girl. I'll try not to talk about the entire movie, but as the usual romantic-comedy plot goes, they end up happily together.

After days of begging this friend of mine from work to lend me his copy of the movie, I was finally able to watch it. Not because of the trailers which I haven't seen yet, but because it features my favorite actors; Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon. I've followed Christina's movies way back since the Addams Family days. I even saw her latest film, Speed Racer (which I'll be reviewing sometime later) as well. Her performance is every bit of elegance. I've always admired how she delivers her roles. On this movie though, she portrays this inquisitive and intellectual girl stuck with a snout for a nose, which appears to quite whimsical. I was also expecting Reese Witherspoon to have a bigger role here, sad to say she didn't have that much part here although she was fun to watch. The guy, James McAvoy, even made things look sweeter. His reaction to her seeing him at the last part was heart-pounding. Yeah, I'm not the touchy-feely kind of person but hey, I was moved. And to this I say, I'm impressed. And it's noticeable as well that the point of learning to love oneself is overshadowed by the romantic plot of the film. But still, both the young and the old can enjoy this.

I'm giving it 3 and half stars (out of 5)