This is all about me and nobody else. This is where I'm free. Free to talk, free to feel, free to think and free to live my life. This is my journey and I share this with you. Welcome to my site!
Starring: Ryan Reynolds Blake Lively Peter Sarsgaard Mark Strong Angela Bassett Tim Robbins
When Abin Sur, an alien crashed to earth, he knew he would not live longer. So he asked for his ring to find his replacement... a man wortht to be his successor. And the ring chose Hal Jordan, a test pilot . As soon as Hal spoke the oath, he instantly became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force. The ring was powered by the wearer's will power. He was dragged by the ring to Oa, the Green Lantern Corps home planet. There he trained under the hands of his fellow Green Lanterns. Now he must save planet earth from Parallax, an entity which already consumed many planets, and Hector Hammond, a mortal who got telekinetic powers from Parallax's DNA when he autopsied the body of Abin Sur.
Positive: There is no other actor who could do better than Ryan Reynolds. He is witty, funny and buffed. What can you ask for? And the one who played hammond is a genius, well figuratively, although he played a genius scientist here. Basically, the film version of the Green Lantern sticked to the comic book's main story line. The battle between Hal Jordan and Sinistro during Hal's training is exeptional. Their reciprocation of power reminded me of the funny guys in the Pepsi Akin ang Pinas TV ad.
Negative: None. Although the story was a little draggy but that's forgivable. Hey, I'm a Green Lanter fan, ok?
Overall: Visually entertaining, great actors, great sense of humor. Glad to watch it in 3D. I super love it.
Starring: Joel Courtney Elle Fanning Kyle Chandler Ron Eldard Riley Griffiths
Super 8 is a sci-fi adventure movie. A group of kid film makers witnessed the derailment of a military train. They found out that this was not an accident. The train contained strange little white cubes and a strange lifeform escaped from the wreckage. The friends decided to keep it for themselves. Mysterious deaths and disapperances happened to the town. Soon, the entire town was ruled by the military forcing the people to evacuate to a safer place. The town became a war zone between the military and the alien. But when one of their friends was abducted by the alien, they must head back to town, pass raging guns, tanks and missiles, and go to the alien hideout to save her. When they met the alien face to face, they realized all he wanted was the parts of his spaceship (in the miltary's possession except one) so he could go home.
Positive: The film stars adorable kids but brilliant actors. The war effects were jawdropping. I was feeling nostalgic while watching this film. It was like I was watching old-school The Goonies and ET rolled into one. The movie mixed light drama, humor and seat-jumping thrills. It has one of my favorite actors, Kyle Chandler of Early Edition TV series, who was superb in this film. I like it when kids are the main focus of the film, let alone the saviors of the world.
Negative: This film has no new material. I have watched some like this years ago. It was predictable with a feel-good ending. The alien was not consistent. There were times that he was cruel, all-hell-breaks-loose, demonic creature, then it transitioned into a kind, compasionate lifeform. It would be better if it just sticked to one character. Maybe the film makers inserted the latter because this movie is supposed to be for kids.
Overall: This film is an enjoyable and entertaining sci-fi movie for kids and adults alike. I like it.
Starring; Bradley Cooper Ed Helms Zach Galifianakis
Here comes another sequel of the season. The Hangover Part II tells the story of a group of friends who went to Thailand to attend the wedding of Stu in a resort. One night, the gang sat by the bonfire. They, together with Stu's soon-to-be-brother-in-law, agreed to have one bottle of beer each not knowing Alan drugged one of the bags of marsmallow (intended to knock out Teddy, the soon-to-be-brother-in-law). The bags of marsmallow got mixed up and ended up knocking them all out. When they woke up the next morning, they couldn't remember what happened the previous night. They learned they were in Bangkok, Stu got a tattoo in his face, Alan's hair got shaved, found Teddy's finger, got international criminal Leslie Chow and a monkey as company, and Teddy was missing. With the wedding coming near, they must trace what happened the previous night to rescue Teddy.
Positive: The film featured an exotic Asian country showcasing its culture and sceneries. Zach Galifianakis, who played Alan, was commendable. His scenes got highest score in the laugh meter. The monkey was also funny acting like a human being. Trivia: I learned that the monkey is the very same monkey which appeared in 2 Night at the Museum films. The funniest part was the flashing of pictures during the closing credits. It was hilarious.
Negative: There was nothing new to see here because it used the same old material as the first one. It was like watching the first film but in a different location. The film in Bangkok was not as fun as the one in Las Vegas. There were lots of penis flashing scenes. Yeah, it was funny on the first time but my laughs wore out in the succeeding scenes. I'm wondering why Teddy and his family seemed not to be bothered when his finger was cut. It was like getting your finger amputated happens everyday for them.
Overall: It may not be as funny as the previous film but I had a few good laughs. It is pretty good for an R-18 film.
Starring: Jack Black Gary Oldman Dustin Hoffman Angelina Jolie Jackie Chan Seth Rogen Lucy Liu David Cross James Hong Michelle Yeoh Danny McBride Dennis Haysbert Jean-Claude Van Damme Victor Garber Fred Tatasciore
Jack Black is back... and so is Po, the Panda, Master of Awesomeness. The unlikely hero, a kung fu master, lived his dream as a Dragon Warrior with the Furious Five (Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis and Viper). Together, they protected the Valley of Peace. Then came Po's dilemma. He learned he was adopted and this made him lost focus in battling the enemy. While battling Lord Shen, the peacock, and his men, he learned the truth about his parents and why they had to leave him. Now he must face the one who killed his parents. Lord Shen had cannons as his ultimate weapon and Po had to fight him with, hold on to your hats.... inner peace.
Positive: I love everything about Kung Fu Panda. The humor, the CGI/3D/visual effects, the story, the characters, and oh the fight scenes. I like the fights scenes better than that of X-Men: First Class's. Po is so cuddly I'm gonna die. Yeah, I know. That line is from another movie. Jack Black's lines were so amusingly funny. Add it to the all-star cast from Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman, Jean Claude Van Damme, Michelle Yeoh, etc. 2 interesting characters were Lord Shen (peacock) and Croc (crocodile). Usually, peacocks are personified as the good one and crocodiles are the bad ones. But in this film, it's the other way around. The peacock was the main antagonist and it's the first time ever (correct me if I'm wrong) that the crocodile played the good guy. Agree?
Negative: The film showed pandas getting exterminated. Is genocide allowed to be seen by kids? I just hope the kids would not notice it. I admire Jackie Chan very much. I wish they gave him more lines. And 1 and half hours is too short for an entertaining film such as this.
Overall: Totally awesome! The film is so good I'm glad I watched it on 3D. The whole family will love this. If you love Kung Fu Panda you gonna love this sequel even more.
For the first time ever, Allied Bank IT-Operations accepted On-the-Job Trainees. 2 Chinese students from Ateneo set foot on IT-Operations and we were like "Whoa, what's going on?" Then I remembered we were told days earlier that OJT's would be coming over to spend 250 hours of training.
Meet Rachel Ann Sze, the bubbly sweet girl of the duo. She may be sweet but she retaliates when you go overboard. She slaps so hard that her hand leaves a mark in your arm even if you wear a jacket. She is Miss Congeniality because she befriends everyone. She laughs even in the corniest jokes I've ever heard in my entire life. I never saw her get mad. Lat and I made her ride a bus and jeepney for the first time.
And this is William King Lim, the second half of the duo. He is a coding freak who takes programing seriously. So seriously that he loses track of time that makes him occasionaly skip lunch. He looks forward for his Cobra break during late afternoons. When he gets mad, he smiles. What's up with that? And when he smiles or laughs we can't find his eyes.
Actually, the first time I saw them made me think how would they blend in with the Mainframe and PC Operators. It may sound childish of me but I always think richie rich kids have the snobbish bratty impression who always talk in English (and/or Chinese). And I worried for them because I thought they would be left alone. That they were there for school business and not to reach out to people.
But lo and behold! I was amazed when they were laughing with the Mainframe Operators. Hmmm. That was not bad. Eventually, they became close with the MF Opers.
Then, it was their turn to mingle with the PC Operators. Instantly, they blended in with the PC Opers. It all started with Lateefa's Cheez Curls, which she shared with them. William said the last time he tasted it was when he was just a kid. He thought Cheez Curls was long gone. Rachel, I believe, never tried it before. They promised to bring snacks the next day. The following day, they brought canisters of Pringles. Then I figured out, we all have one weakness... FOOD!
Lat has a thing for anything Japanese, Korean or Chinese. So, understandably, she became close with William and Rachel. Eventually, I was dragged to have lunch with them (I usually skip lunch. I'd rather sleep during lunch breaks). Then, we had to sneak in snacks into the Quickie Room. Food is forbidden inside IT-Operations. But we have our ways. That's where magic box comes in a handy. Sneaking ice cream during mornings was awesome. Rachel brought Krispy Kreme for everybody. William shared his City Buns burgers. In their last day of duty, they bought an elevator-wide sized pizza. We had our lunch/dinner at A Veneto, Yakimix, Shakey's, Teriyaki Boy, Mom and Tina's, Glorietta Food Choices, Landmark, etc. and all had been a lot of fun. Truly, food is a universal language.
Even if their OJT days are over. We still keep in touch. Texting, bashing each other in Facebook, dinner, movies (ok, just one movie but I'm sure there will be other times). They even visit us every now and then.
We miss the both of you. We are looking forward for our next gimmick. Uy, Let's make a go for Max's chicken-all-you-can.
Starring: James McAvoy Michael Fassbender Rose Byrne January Jones Oliver Platt Kevin Bacon
My friends Lat, Rachel and Vincent were supposed to watch Kung Fu Panda 2. Then William arrived and he was sooo eager to watch X-Men: First Class. We agreed leaving Kung Fu Panda for the next time. The cinema was so jampacked, we settled for the very front seat. Oh, well. We can't back out.
Finally, the much anticipated prequel of the X-Men movie franchise is here. We got to know the beginning and end of Professor X and Magneto's friendship; Mystique's reason to side with Magneto; why Professor was stuck in his wheel chair; the first ever recruitment of an all-mutant team; and the main focus of the film: Magneto's becoming.
On the positive side, the story was splendid. I love the way flashbacks were used to tell the story of Erik Lensherr (later Magneto). I love the way fictional events were interconnected to historical facts. The civil war between the US and Russia which led to the Cuba Missile Crisis was nicely incorporated in the story. Surely, there were no mutants during the Cuba Missile Crisis but after watching the film, for a moment I had a second thought that maybe there really were mutants who intervened before the war began. But that just me being paranoid. Hehehe. I even got to know other mutants that I am unfamiliar with. And this with the help of GMG (Don't ask me what's GMG). I like the twists of the story like best friends Charles and Erik turned archnemesis. And oh, I like the missiles engaged-disengaged-engaged-disengaged. That was a breathtaker. Visially, it was commendable. I like the visual effects.
On the negative side, I didn't like Hugh Jackman's cameo. Sure it was humurous but it affects the continuity of the story. Wolverine, appearing much older than Professor X and Magneto? Oh please. Some characters were Americanized for the film. Dr. Moira McTaggert was an Scottish geneticist in the comic books. Here she was an American CIA agent. Banshee was supposed to be Irish. It's forgivable for those who are not into comic books, but for comic book freaks like me, it a major major sin.The battle between the 2 mutant teams was set to a minimum. I expected a more spectacular battle scenes like the previous movies.
Over all, the film is great. It fresh and entertaining. It is necessary to introduce the characters in light and fun way in the first film and discover their dark sides in the next films. And they did just that. I'm looking forward for X-Men: First Class 2. I like it. I know I'm biased, but hey, I'm a comic book sucker.
Starring: Johnny Depp Penélope Cruz Geoffrey Rush Ian McShane Kevin McNally
And Jack Sparrow is back minus Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. The 4th installment of the Pirates of the Carribean series revolves around the quest for the Fountain of Youth. I find the movie less entertaining compared to the previous films. Some funny scenes didn't humor me much. Some scenes got me bored that I literally fell asleep for a few minutes. The romantic angle between Philip Swift and Syrena, the mermaid wasn't effective. I think they didn't have the chemistry as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann had. Penelope Cruz was not that great although she was Gorgeous with a capital G. And where are the skeleton pirates? They rocked the funniest scenes in the previous films. Good thing I didn't watch it in 3D or else I would be more disappointed. It's pretty long running for 2 hours and 15 minutes.
On the positive side, Johnny Depp was brilliant as usual, and funny. The CGI landscape was breath taking. The battle with the mermaids was awesome. Great story. (And I didn't know that drinking the water from the Fountain of Youth was that complicated.) The visual effects was just seamless. I can't figure out what's real or not.
I think it would be better if Will and Elizabeth were present. I hope Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley be back in the next film. And oh, bring back the skeletons please.
June 17, 2011 Friday
