Eat Pray Love - the movie

You might be wondering how this piece of literature garnered two entries on my blog which has been, in the whole of its existence, a random spurting of thought. No, I am not an Eatpraylovaholic. Its just a good book and as I have said, its been long since I actually finished a book. I finished the (approximately) 400 pages of it and I am proud to truthfully declare that my eyes are still intact.

While reading the book, I did what most of us do - imagine the scenes in full detail. After a few pages or so, my imagination can make an hour long movie. There are approximately one hundred few pages in the book so if you do the math, there should be around 100 hours of film to justify the magnitude of the book. Common sense used, it is impossible to make a film that can justify the mammoth chronicles of the book. So while finishing the reading, I was lowering my standards for the film which will probably skip most of my favorite details and which will likely fine tune the plot to create a more tangible and less spiritual ending, in honor of the limitations of commercial film making. Skip the whole point to make more people understand , in other words.

The film can survive if you haven't read the book. If you have read the book, I can easily imagine you throwing tomatoes at the movie screen. The book was like Ferrerro Rocher, the movie was just the gold wrapper. Some consider that trash, others, part of the whole treat.

Charice and Pempengco on Glee Season 2!

One of the few things the Philippines is internationally recognized for are its child singers and as Charice Pempengco's small frame resonated awe-inspiring notes on Oprah, I was pretty proud. I even started singing myself and realized later that not because Charice is Filipino,every Filipino can sing. I'm a little racist at that, I guess.

Now that she's casted on Glee, I can't wait to finish the episode! I'm already on the start credits and I saw this:

Every other cast had their names spelled out, even if it covered Sue's face except Charice'. We need international recognition for our crazy last names too!

Better than pepper

Its been a long time since I got sucked into the movie theater.

Earlier today, I had to choose between Step Up 3D and Salt. I could not afford another headache so I avoided the 3D glasses.

It was a good decision. In the static, model face of Angelina Jolie I saw the most complex yet so truthful character I have ever encountered in my time in cinema. My phone and my co-watchers, basically the world, were all drowned into the darkness by the movie's constant high.Although some parts were very predictable, other parts where mind blowing. I still see the end-part helicopter dialogue being rolled on my on-board mental projector. For a hot pursuit movie, it was really good. It went beyond just being chased around the movie screen.

You should really go and see how a distinct face portray emotion without much contortion.

Prince of Persia: Sand Everywhere

Prince, please watch your eyes.

One of my greatest 'teenhood' fantasy is to be a film critic (alongside being a doctor and astronaut). Because I want to be a film critic, I expose myself to indie films, most of them Filipino, and I try to familiarize with alien cultures as much as possible. "To understand a product, you must know the manufacturers", marketing whores would say. Same as in films, to understand the movie, you must understand the filmmaker and his culture.

Criticizing "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time" (hereafter referred to as PoP, curse long movie names) is very hard to review because it is a commercial movie. A movie that isn't made for the art but for the people. Commercial movies are where financial health is calculated rather than the cultural value. Its also where director's act like dumb viewers and not as animate visual artists. PoP was a form of entertainment. If you want to spend 2 hours of your life sitting down and watching flashing lights, go see the movie. If you want to see an artwork, a masterpiece in film, stay away.

Personally, I did not want to watch PoP but my cousins assured me, by the power of movie trailers, that it was going to be amazing. It wasn't, at least for me. Entertaining but not moving or earth-shaking. 

I have high standards no box office film will ever meet so good luck, directors. When I grow up, I will not only be a movie critic but also a challenge to my generation's filmmakers.

If you were expecting a comprehensible review of the movie from this post, here is a brief and general opinion:

If you enjoy being buried in sand and you enjoy sand in your every body part, watch the movie. And if you think the Terminator with Arnold Swac*******ger was brilliant, you need to watch this. And if you can only associate Jake to Brokeback Mountain, watch this also. I used reason number 3.

I should note that this bad reaction to the film maybe because I think brilliant movies should not be heavily funded (although I liked Avatar) or overly publicized. My brain tells me to appreciate the work of the homeless rather than the millionaire's. Unfair, but earth is never fair. 

Eclipses, why are they so rare?

Here is a sneak peak of Eclipse. It will be opening on June 30 here in the Philippines
Enjoy!

I don't get why Dakota Fanning's eyeballs remind me of white mice.

Note: My previous blog entry is still movie related. I just came across two movie headlines today.

Shrek Forever After now showing in the Philippines!

I went to the mall this afternoon and I was shocked the Shrek Forever After movie is out. Forever After is the latest installment of the humorous series called Shrek which introduced me to ogres. Before Shrek I didn't know ogres existed, after Shrek, I couldn't believe ogres could be a hit to young children. How about a movie with friendly tyanaks or 'demon babies'? Would movie magic still make vampire fetuses a hit?

Shrek 4 is available in 3D and non-3D cinemas. I get really confused in which way to watch because in 3D I get a third dimension and a headache and in 2D I get the boring sound and video but no headache. If you consider bragging rights as an advantage, 3D would be very advisable.

I didn't watch the movie today because I wasn't prepared. I spend a decent amount of time aging in front of a television set and I haven't seen any trailers or TV ads show up on ABS-CBN or any other local channel. Maybe I'm in the wrong time slots or maybe THEY are on the wrong time slots. I consider my age group to be still attracted to humorous animations. Why don't they advertise on my shows? Confident much they'll earn through word of mouth, maybe. The Shrek series would be a success and an explosive last installment would be an appropriate grand finale.

Crossing my fingers I can watch the film tomorrow!

Iron Man 2: The Dream Nerd

I heard from my cousins that Iron Man (without the two) was a good movie and it left you wanting for more. Its summer, its useless to reject a movie invitation so I tagged along to watch Iron Man 2. We were so lucky to grab a seat. Its the most populated SM Cinema has been since the last Harry Potter installment.

Iron Man 2 was a movie. I can't tell you if it was good or bad. The only standards it passed was being a movie. I can't even say if the 2 dollars was worth it. Just like any other movie which can't be described by any other word other than 'movie', I'll probably forget about its existence in a few days. If you are not happy about my review, go ahead and watch it yourself. Put a link to your own review in the comments box and let me read it.

Although, I have to note one thing that affected my reaction to the movie. I consider myself a science enthusiast and as I watch this sci-fi/hero movie, I can't help to compare the events and materials to reality. All of the computer technology and high capacity compounds that produce power for at least a century (given they are pocket-sized) were just to impossible for our time. The movie wasn't set in the future, it was set in the present where humans are fond of F1 Mach 1 cars which in the future, will be turtle-ish.

I consider myself a nerd. I love to learn science. Iron Man is like a scientist's/nerd's ego. Anthony Stark is a 40-ish man who knows a lot about Physics and Chemistry almost impossibly though, he is also a celebrity and an alpha man ladies try to grab on to. Isn't it obvious?

Images to Video for Free

I am a trying hard filmmaker and I made an almost commissioned short ad for our upcoming end-of-school party. Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas is known to throw the wildest school parties and one can't be pushed through without one or more video presentations.

Above, I used my DSLR and 20 minutes to shoot footage around the school. I was planning to do a stop motion video using photos. I almost succeeded but its a disappointment when I know I can do better.

PS: I am the dancing guy in the video.

The program I am sharing to you all is the one I used. You can use it to stitch your JPEGs, PNGs or bitmaps into video files. You freely decide on the frame dimensions and frame rates. You can also audio if you like. The program is for free, otherwise I could have not used it. You can get it here. Just click this or this or this. Humor when you click them all. :-)

Get more updates by clicking here.

And if you like what you see here, don't forget to share. Sharing enlarges your house in heaven! :-)

Alice In Wonderland according to a nobody

Just watched Alice In Wonderland in 3d today and now, I can't even write a good article about it because my head is still spinning. I just realized today that I wasn't born to enjoy 3D movies because I end up looking for motion discomfort bags in the movie house within 15 minutes. It felt like almost two hours of hurricane turbulence. If it wasn't pricey, I could have walked out the movie house proudly.

The film is beautiful but not the media.

My ticket entitled me to a complimentary hotdog or popcorn. Everyone was going for the popcorn so I chose the hotdog. While I was eating it, my Biology teacher texted me about our medical mission in Zarraga tomorrow. It read: "Please do not forget to bring your camera for documentation". I remembered its a circumcision or free 'tuli' drive. How am I supposed to document a bloody, adult-material scene using my one year old camera? I stared down at my hotdog and concentrated on Johnny Depp's rainbow make-up.

Bottomline: If a non-3D version is available in your area, watch it instead.

Get more updates by clicking here.

Old Filipinos Do What Should Be Left To The Vacuum

Oh, is that the guy who killed the villain after

hours of a cheezy conversation in the movie?

He's a senator

God Bless the Philippines.

I despise Filipino action movies and now I have to suffer listening to their dialogue until my ears retire. All thanks go to (drumroll) my co-dweller (not Bon) who can't understand any language from a country which produces quality one and a half hour films.

For those of you who define nationalism as clinging and swallowing every showbiz product of your own nation, stop reading or else this would break your heart.

>

Why do I hate Filipino action movies so much? The reason is that they have dialogues which are supposed to deliver quality human emotion to the viewers but instead, they bring sphincter dysfunction that make you vomit your intestines out. How would you feel if a killer speaks to his should-be victims in language like, "Dala ko ang sasakyan mo pa-empyerno"?

If you ask me, I felt less human because the only justification I can find is this: The movie writers think that our South East Asian minds can be entertained by poorly written scripts with catch lines older than Erap and jokes cornier than corn molecules itself.

Haven't you noticed? Filipino movies are so rare nowadays? Maybe the Filipino line of thought became quality over time.

PS: If you are interested in the reason why my blog hibernated, you don't need to know.

Get more updates by clicking here.

Video That Made Me Laugh For More Than 5 Minutes Award

I searched this on Youtube because my friend told me all about it. I may have been to young to watch TV during those times so I can't really remembering seeing anything of this sort... Hahahaha....

Get more updates by clicking here.

This Is It

Before I proceed to giving my insights on the movie, let me share the environmental factors which may have affected my reactions:

Kimmy Dora: Eugene Domingo takes center stage

I promised myself to watch the movie and see how Eugene fairs as the lead actress with two characters to play at the same time. I was not disappointed but I was not really amazed either.

For starters, the storyline.
The classic archetypes were present. A clueless chimay was there, kidnappers were also there and of course, a heart attack of a beloved when when tension arises between his two loved ones occured.

Unfortunately, they had to include a song number with Kimmy and Dora singing at the end of the movie that flashed a photo of Redford White in front of my face.

Second, the script.
It was nothing special. I can't remember a special line in the movie I can keep and carry with me all throughout my existence. But I enjoyed some of them like "Ano kaya yung Ebola virus, mas malaking ipis?" or "Hindi ka bobo, slow ka lang" It might not sound funny when you read it but try watching the movie and I'm sure you will have heartburn while laughing.

Third, the direction.
Remember Agent X44 or D' Anothers. It's all the same thing from the forever mainstream movie director Joyce Bernal. She did not develop a new concept or method in the movie, it was a typical Bernal film.

The cast.
Here's something new, Eugene Domingo for the first time,playing the lead role,two times over. She plays both the twins and she rocked her first spotlight although she has to develop some aspects that will make Eugene, the star and not as Eugene, the star's sidebar gadget. She can act, that's a no brainer but she lacks comething which I am sure could be filled in anytime soon. Her 'adlibs' (by the way I saw it) were hilarious. Her natural aptitude for pun creation was evident.

The supporting actors and actresses were also good but Eugene made it possible to keep the eyes on her. The names Regine Velasquez, Ruffa Mae Quinto, Vhong Navarro or Dingdong Dantes did not come close with stealing her spotlight, Domingo kept it to herself for the movie's duration.

Verdict: Go watch the movie, its worth your 100 Pesos. Don't expect to laugh your popcorn out while watching the movie, the hearty laughter came after the viewing. When you have to remember everything that happened in the movie, you will really L-O-Loud, trust me. This is based on personal experience.

Note: For families, watch out. I considered some of the Filipino words used taboo. If your family is a great believer in (Human Reproductive) Biology and uncorrupted, do not fear, friend.

So why watch Up?

Following Ma'am Salinel's suggestion, I watched Up with 3 friends. As many of you did, I expected the movie to be childish and set in a pseudo-world fabricated by the writers. I expected a Teletubbies psycho-ness. That was my pre-viewing mindset. The theatrical theaters did not serve justice to the movie. The advertising department of Up should burn to ashes.

First of all the storyline. It goes beyond a granpa-child relationship. By the end of the film, you could contemplate why the events happened and what the complete personalities of the character were. The makers came up with a complete plot and zero blank holes to fill.

Maturity. Up might be an animated film from the producers of Toy Story but the film is different. The writers created layers. There is this layer that impacted the young, childish generation and there is one for the people who utilize their brains. This production might be one of the most mature films you will ever finish watching. Go grab the oppurtunity.

The animation. Yes. This might be obvious if you know the companies which produced them. Watch this movie in a 3D theater and you will be appreciating the new dimensions on the trailers rather than on the movie. I could recall only one 5-second scene where the movie elements actually popped off the screen. The trailers that came with the movie enjoyed the technology more. All of it had balls, bombs, rods etc falling of the screen. SM Cinema 5 houses the 3D screening. I watched the film in 3D so I have zero idea on where to watch it in non-3D.

Those are my three reasons. You may ask, "why three only when your promoting the film like Kris Aquino with cornbeef?" Because, those are the aspects you will be really needing. Besidess a storyline, maturity and animation, what else does a movie offer?

Summary: Go watch the movie.