Saw the movie @ on 3D IMAX @ SM City last night, and it was soooo worth the bucks for the advanced screening.
The plot: was kinda that subtle save-the-world-get-the-girl-guy-and-his-car/friend-and-guy-and-his-guy-issues. Yes, a plot we’ve seen countless times. But as one of my fave authors said, those are just the details. Now the story, that’s something else. This was exactly that.
New characters: With Transformers 3,this is undoubtedly the new girlfriend. I think the new girl is pretty gorgeous. Not to diss Megan Foxx, kudos to her for bringing in more to the girlfriend role in the first two transformers movies, but Rosie Whitely is like Megan Foxx with more class, I’d say. Anyway, I like it that she was able to pack in just the right amounts of sexy, playful, class and even some seriousness in the character. Not all hot and bothered and sexy like the girlfriend characters in the last two movies. This one’s like a breath of fresh air that you didn’t know you needed. I don’t think anyone thought the first girlfriend character needed any tweaking until Carly.
Yes, McDreamy was there but I don’t think Patrick Dempsey can play the sleazy bad guy half as well as he can play the heart of gold surgeon. A bit of a disappointment.
John Malkovich was there as well. This actor is incredible and I’m a huuuuge fan. That’s why I found myself wishing he had a bigger part in this installment. Well, maybe next time.
New bots: tons! the ickle ones get to see action, in fact play quite a big role though no one in the movie was aware of it. Unsung heroes, as it were.
Shockwave is this uber heavyweight decepticon which Optimus Prime destroys. No surprise there.
Then there’s Sentinel, whose supposed to be the robot version of Einstein and the Autobot leader. We later on find out that he turns out to be traitor and was on his way to rendezvous with Megatron when he crash landed in the moon (ours) and Megatron crash landed on Earth. Yeah, this installment is all about our planet, our moon, us.
And the graphics: it was absolutely, positively, all around AWESOME. For every few minutes, all throughout the movie. I’m not a really big fan of IMAX or 3D, I thought super clear visuals and hyper sound was already great and didn’t see the need for something else. But IMAX 3D was built for this movie, so yes, splurge on this.
All in all, I’d say Michael Bay’s best yet.
Oh, and aside from the food pack (which doesn’t qualify as pack as it didn’t include drinks), they gave out Transformers buttons at the end of the movie. Ever lucky in these kinds of things, I was the only one to get a Bumblebee one in our party. Yay!
You know how video games tend to make you forget you’re annoyed (or other insignificant stuff like your homework or sleep)? Well, I was several levels past annoyed when a friend suggested I view this video. I laughed because who doesnt play Angry Birds not to mention it was among the first apps I downloaded into my iphone4, and this thing is brilliant! I laughed my head off. Here it is, it’s called Angry Bird Peace Treaty.
Haven’t blogged for ages and as I’m so busy these days and I’m not quite sure when I’d be able to update again, I decided to squeeze in assortment of things for this entry so bear with me.
First: going to the advanced screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So excited. Apparently, the Vatican Paper, L’Osservatore Romano, hailed the latest movie installment to the HP Series. According to the paper, The Half-blood Prince shows a clear picture of the battle of good versus evil and that sometimes sacrifices are entailed for good to triumph. The same paper says the movie depicted an accurate picture of adolescent love as well.
I’m not quite sure as to the opinion about the good versus evil thing – isn’t it more interesting when Harry is confronted with his inner battles about this (remember those instances when he thinks he’s turning bad, or Voldemort is controlling him, or he thinks a part of him is from Voldemort?) As to the depiction of adolescent love, come on! Book 6 was Ron and Hermione getting together and Harry and Ginny getting together – in the last chapters! This isn’t a big thing in the book, I sure hope they wouldn’t make it so in the movie. And with L’Osservatore Romano hailing it, well the paper isn’t exactly a great movie critic paper…
Nonetheless, I’m ditching tomorrow to get ready for the premiere!
Two: haven’t played airsoft for ages, for a various thousand reasons. Great way to pass the time as it is, I have to say I’m not really missing it much, primarily because I’ve been spending Sunday mornings hunting for exotic plants @ the Sunday market @ the Lung Center, and the rest of the day hunting up other stuff to put in my garden. The area is roughly 200 square meters, I think, so it’ll be a real challenge and if I had my way I’d be spending every minute working on it for months. So far we’ve decided to make wide terraces with the slope and to go with a distinct asian theme. Not the millions of greens everywhere type; less but not exactly minimalist, if you get my drift. So far my biggest obstacle is doing the fountain as I can’t find neither dark sheet rocks to stick together to make 2feet by 2feet boxes with them or ready made stone/concrete boxes like it (it’ll serve as fountain, well, three of those set in decreasing height – starting at around 5feet – will serve as my fountain), and deciding on my patterns – I want different colored pebbles arranged in artful way but I also want clean lines and nothing that’ll crowd the eye. The patio and greenhouse should be a peice of cake – of course I could always be mistaken, but you know what they say about aiming for the stars and landing on the roof. I’ll post a picture of my garden here when I finish it. If anyone’s got suggestions, please.
Three: I’m looking for a new pair of heels for ages and ages now! Not just any pair of heels, red ones. I have to have one for a lot of reasons:
1. red is my favorite color
2. it’s red! everyone has to have a pair of to-die-for heels
3. it’ll go absolutely perfectly with my carved red coral bracelet
4. It’ll kill even with just plain jeans and white collars, Gucci earrings and rings
5. my father just got me a white Gucci bag with red patent leather trim last night!
So you see, I just have to have one. I’m checking out Aldo’s tomorrow. I really, really hope they have one that I’ll like…. SOS to the shoe lovers in the Manila, any other suggested stores?
Four: the usual IGT entry which I hope girls would find useful: You know how you want to wear red lipstick? Not brick red, but red red -that’s the one, well you know how you want to wear it (you know you want to, we all want to wear red lipstick) but come across a series of things that keep you back ? (will it suit me? Do I even have a prayer of pulling it off? What clothes do I wear it with? Make-up style? etc, etc.)
Well, here are a few things to know about red lipstick – and when I say red I don’t mean sissy red, we’re talking red Red here, all right:
1. it’s Red, and like all things Red, few people can wear it and look good. Luckily, there are some reds which are a tiny bit more subtle than Red, and sometimes this makes all the difference. Remember, when we’re talking about Red,we’re talking about the exemption rather than the rule. Try it on and see what suits you. If you can pull off red Red, wear it.
2. I’m neither a stiff penny-pincher or a spendthrift but I find it’s always wise to spend on specific things, one of which are those that are for me – really, why would you try to spend less on yourself? I’m not big on make-up, my staples are lipstick and lipshine and loose powder, which I guess is why I findthat spending on these things make sense. With lipstick, I’ve tried all the best brands and I can personally vouch for Shiseido. It’s smooth, has this luxurious moisture, smells nice and as intense red as you get – it even stays on even after I’ve had breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks. Seriously (forget about smudge proof, there’s no such thing yet, but along wit the rest of womankind, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that). I use the Rouge Authentique before, I’m now using Perfect Rouge from their new line. It’s twice as expensive as Mac but it’s worth every penny.
3. Putting it on and getting it to stay on. This starts with application and which has to be maintained throughout the day (not so much with Shiseido. that PhP 1,500 not looking so expensive now, right). Using lip brush makes the lipstick stick to your lips better so this is advisable. After applying your color with a lip brush (evenly. cover all areas, don’t be afraid to reach into the corners it won’t kill you), blot it with tissue (or with a towellete to be used only and only for this purpose) until very little lipstick transfers on the tissue/towellete. Smack your lips. Check that you don’t go over your lip line, unless you did that intentionally; check if there are any on your teeth. Lipstick on your boyfriend’s crisp collars and on coffee mugs/champagne goblets are sexy (especially with dramatic exits) lipstick on the teeth aren’t.
4. Gloss. I use Soap & Glory’s Sexy Motherpucker (I’m not swearing, that’s what it’s called). Get the Plum Juice. I love this one; the shine is perfect, and it’s got a bit of a minty feel to it. This was a gift from one of my bestfriends and sooner than I would have wanted I had to hunt around for a second tube, which was a miserable failure. But life must go on and I hunted, and found MAC Lipglass. I suggest Tittle Tassle, which is basically the color of raw flesh (sounds disgusting, but no worries, it looks great with Redlipstick) and gives your red lips a more vibrant feel, or the Ample Pink (pink; if this isn’t self explanatory for you there’s absolutely nothing I can do for you) which makes you look a bit more womanly (as opposed to vibrant). But nothing beats Sexy Motherpucker for sultry. I wish they’d open up shop here soon or I’d have to resort to having them shipped over, which is such a pain. Apply at the inner center of your lower lip and at the very center of upper lips. This is one of the few instances where less is more. And I’m later tonight I’m placing an order for several tubes of Sexy Motherpucker.
5. Show it off. Smile. Don’t press your lips together and look like you’re holding back puking. Don’t hold back. Dazzle. But don’t go overboard either; remember that when you smile, you’re showing off your teeth and lips, not your gums.
6. Or steal attention with a pout. Delivered just right, this can bring down empires. Don’t just press your lips tightly and shoot dagger looks at your boyfriend who forgot that it was your tenth-day anniversary; plump up lips, don’t clamp them together but gently press them together with increasing pressure so that a millimeter or two of your inner lips show, suck your cheeks in just an itty bitty bit, send ONE resentful look at your hubby (make sure he sees it) and then refuse to look at him ever again until he goes down on both knees or presents you with a Louis Vuitton Min Lin.
Warning: I don’t mean to be a b***h but pouting only works if you’ve got the looks and attitude to back it up. Otherwise, stick with the smile.
Four: the usual funny entry.
I guess I’m a bit green minded ‘cos apparently your’re not supposed to see any green stuff at all. But I maintain that no matter how you squint, you’ll see the green stuff:
And fifth: I’m trying to make the cl0thes of my beloved poopy doggie (he’d probably scratch my eyes out if he only heard my nickname for him from a human ear but well…) myself! No, I havent posted any pic of that here and it would probably be several hundred tries and some help from professionals before I do so!
Ice Age 3 premiers here in Manila in a couple of hours – can’t wait! The first two had me in stitches and I have a strong feeling this one will too. Though there are a couple of people this particular movie would be fun to watch with, I’d absolutely love to watch it with B and MX – they find humour in the craziest stuff plus they laugh with their hearts. Ice Age 3, here we come…
Saw the GI Joe trailer yesterday – another big hit cartoon of my childhood so yeah, looking forward to it. I’m not quite sure about the casting though – Channing Tatum as Duke, I dunno… but I hope the movie lives up to my expectations – scratch that, I hope it kicks ass!
Transformers 2 was first shown @ Manila yesterday so yeah, ditched and watched the movie. What you need to know: you HAVE to pick a good moviehouse. You wanna get clear pics, excellent sounds and acoustics, and NOT a bunch of kids cheering at the most inopportune times like during a conversation between the Fallen and Megatron, which causes you miss the gist of the convo (the Fallen’s an evil new character, won’t tell you any more) and asking their parents / siblings why the mom was acting all crazy just because she ate a bunch of cookies in a ziplock decorated with a picture of a three-pronged leaf (hey, it’s not a spoiler, it’ll still be hilarious, trust me). For moviehouses, try my faves: Eastwood or Rockwell. You also don’t have to stand in mile-long lines for tickets here.
Two, bunch of new robots. Some are seriously funny, one’s wickedly human and one in particular grow on you.
Three, Leo, Sam’s college roomie (another newbie) – doesn’t grow on you. (Won’t say anything more about characters as I might ruin the movie for you)
Four, Bumblebee is still the cutest and coolest Transformer.
Five, you’ll see a lot of Capt. Lenox and his kickass NEST, but it’s all about Sam.
And here’s the trailer! – as if you haven’t seen it yet.
New Moon poster, everyone! I really hope this’ll be a much improved movie. By the looks of Jacob (swoon!), he’ll live up to my expections! I wish, I wish, I wish….
Sigh. The film was a huuuge disappointment for me. I secured a copy of the book’s first printing, I’ve read it, loved it, reread it, and loved it still.
And then they go ahead and cast Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon – I mean, come on! Where’s the ‘Harrison Ford in a tweed jacket’ there, and what about Langdon’s low baritone which is chocolate for the ears? And this is the main character we’re talking about. So yeah, I think the part could have been better cast. But since we all know Tom Hanks would be playing Robert Langdon because he’d played that in the Da Vinci Code film, I had a bit of time to wrap my head around the idea of him as Langdon (which doesn’t really change things much, more like knowing the inevitable).
What was a complete and shock to me – horror, really – was how the movie told a different story than the book did! It was outrageous! The main point of the book was to show the distinctly different roads two very similar characters chose to take:
Vittoria was an orphan adopted by Leonardo Vetra, a young priest who was also a scientist who, in the main, believed that there is harmony between science and religion, only that science was too young to understand religion and see this harmony; Vittoria became a brilliant scientist and worked alongside her father for CERN, delving into antimatter and producing a quantity big enough for the naked eye to see which is basically a drop – which can power an entire city or level it, and in essence discovered the Bible’s the moment of Creation. You can see the Science-Religion conflict here;
Carlo Ventresca (they even changed his name to Patrick McKenna in the movie) was orphaned when a bomb hit the church where he and his mother were praying. He was taken in by the priest who ran the said church, who also had a deep respect and love for science and what it can do; together they served the church. Carlo became the Camerlengo when his ‘holy father’, as he calls his adoptive priest father, rose to the Office of the Pope.
Leonardo Vetra was found dead in his apartment at CERN shortly after his breakthrough on antimatter, with his chest branded with an ambigram of the word ‘Illiuminati’ and one of his eyeballs cut out – the said ambigram was thought of as a myth and is one of the symbols of the brilliance of the men making up the brotherhood of the Illuminati and supposedly lost in the bloody history of the Church and the Illuminati, while the vault holding the antimatter at CERN can be opened by retina scan which recognizes only those of Leonardo and Vittoria. One of the three battery powered containers holding these big amounts of antimatter was stolen and placed somewhere within Vatican City, exactly where, the Swiss Guards couldn’t name and it was due to explode at midnight when the battery runs out.
Meanwhile, St. Peter’s Square is filled to capacity due to Pope Watch because the Pope had died of natural causes recently; but soon the four prefereti were kidnapped from within the heart of the Vatican and it was discovered that the Pope had after all been poised right inside his bedroom.
The crux is that Vittoria, who basically symbolizes modern science in all its carbonfiber glory, wanted to save Vatican and kill the man who killed her beloved father, but in the end she didn’t; Carlo, who had spent all his life preaching the good news, turned out to be the one behind the kidnappings and killings and in fact killed his holy father himself.
To me, what made the book compelling was not just the plot, though it’s certainly part of it, but also how masterfully things were revealed. It was a real heartache moment when, as Vittoria and Carlo had been talking about Carlo’s childhood on their way to the Pope’s crypt, Carlo reveals that his holy father had guided him throughout his life and he had only recently died, that his hold father is the Holy Father; how Dan Brown came up with why Carlo murdered the Pope – in a discussion over support for Leonardo’s antimatter discovery, which Carlo was against as he viewed science as the bombs and wars that created conflict and killed his mother, the Pope told Carlo that he was not like the other people he addressed as ‘son’ but that he was his own flesh blood, which made Carlo lose his head and run off anguished and plotting murder (at this point, you’re kinda not sure about condemning Carlo). And how it was revealed in the end that the Pope’s great love and respect for science was because in his youth he had fallen in love with a nun and they had wanted to have a child together but then-priest equally loved his calling. The nun left the church to get pregnant; she soon gave birth to the greatest love of her life (and that of the priest’s): Carlo – and this was a virgin birth, made possible by science.
And let’s not forget another big character in the book, Kohler, the ruler of CERN and the ultimate personification of science who tended to look at religion with eloquent contempt. The anti-matter study was made possible because of him, he had Langdom flown in from the US to Switzerland (CERN) to figure out the mysetry of Leonardo Vetra’s murder, he found out that Leonardo Vetra had told someon (the Pope) about the supposedly super secret anti-matter study and he figured out that Carlo (widely known as the Pope’s confidant) killed the Pope. So the famous scientist whom the civil society had been calling antichrist flew to the very steps of Vatican, under live satellite coverage, an hour before midnight to stop Carlo’s plans – which got him killed, but not before he passed on a clue to Langdon. Near the end of the book, Dan Brown reveals that Kohler contempt for religion was due to the fact that rich as his parents had been, they had opted to pray for his sickness to pass instead of making use of the medicine doctors were offering. While his family’s priest told him that he had sinned and God was punishing him with the illness that would forever take away the use of his legs, a doctor secretly injected him with the medicine, saving his life, while apologizing for not having done it sooner and saving him his legs as well.
So. To those who had seen the movie but haven’t read the book, look at what you’ve missed! My advise is this: read the book. The movie and the book are different. Read the book.
It’s neither a brilliant nor a unique story, more a love story really, but I found the Twilight saga likeable enough to read. The kind of read that’ll take your mind of the mundane everyday goings on and make you smile, chuckle and even swoon at the description about the gorgeous vampire, doomed to be forever young, handsome, sculptured and well, perfect. Obviously, I wouldn’t say no to having my own Edward. What I found nice about his character is the, well, spurts of boyness which isn’t really the mainstream attitude of vampires and a breath of fresh air especially considering that the guy is supposed to be older than Ozzie Osbourne. Paired with his strong sense of right and wrong and sturdy manliness stand on most things except when it concerns Bella, he’s absolutely irresistible. Not to mention the hair, gotta love the hair – the texture of it, the colour, that it’s all wild and highly individual but not too much.
I’ve read the whole sage, of course, but let’s limit this blog entry to book one, Twilight, and the summary of that is: Edward Cullen.
Not Rob, he isn’t even really good looking, he’s just compelling as Edward Cullen. And yes, I would very much rather have a vampire with the shiny silver Volvo who scares the living hell out of a bunch of thugs, over the useless Prince Charming riding a white horse and for some reason doesn’t even have a name except that, Prince Charming.
As for the other characters:
Alice, I think, was portrayed pretty well. She’s exactly as I imagined. Can’t wait to see more of this character in the next films.
Jasper was a huge disappointment! He’s not the least bit like the Jasper I visualized – Steph Meyer’s Jasper was more a blonde, brooding, gorgeous actor of olden times, with muscles not as well defined as Emmet but chiseled and there. He’s supposed to be the strong silent type, not a wiry, frail, bookworm-ish kinda guy. Vampire, excuse me.
Emmet was like Alice, pretty good. Another character I’m looking forward to having more scenes on the next movies, and so hoping he’d be as entertaining as the Emmet in the books.
Rosalie, a bit of disappointment in the looks department. Then again, it would probably be next to impossible to find someone as devastatingly gorgeous as the Rose of Meyer.
Carlisle, a huge let down. Though maybe that’s also a lot of just me not really liking the actor in general.
Esme, not vamp enough.
Bella, biggest disappointment. The Bella I had in mind, from the books, was more a girls girl. Kristen Stewart is a bit too angular, a bit like a fourteen year old adolscent boy in build. And Bella’s supposed to be a brunette!
Jacob, a surprise, and I’m reserving judgement here. I think he has the potential to really become Meyer’s Jacob – and mine
Sam. That guy they eyed to replace my Jacob, the one in 300, would be really great for this part. Really. Visualize him walking the rez, peace on his face a sharp contrast to his deep tan and great physique, flanked by more or less similarly built and skinned guys but notably younger and brimming with energy… perfect, right?
Laurent, I didn’t think he’d be black.
Victoria is perfect. Love the way she’s so feline.
James, I think, was a bit like a second rate actor. It’s plain to see he’s someone playing the role of a vampire instead of just a vampire.
The other characters play very small parts so I’m skipping those. Also, the movie would’ve really been great if they had included the more amusing bits like Edward telling Bella he thought her body was being dragged to the forest and he might have to avenge her, Tyler joining the line as Bella’s potential prom date, etc.
But most notable, of the movie, at least for me, was that it seemed more a telenovela than a movie, especially with the lousy effects (non?) applied when the vampires used their super speed and stuff. I hope the Twilight sage, the movie at least, would evolve much like the Harry Potter movies had: one and two were pretty much lousy, but three was great and from there the movies took on a life of its own. But there are only four books in the Twilight saga so they better work fast and hard if the movies are to evolve impressively. I really hope they do.
![Almost Like Another Planet... Pamukkale Blues (UNESCO World Heritage) [Explore #1, THANK YOU]](http://static.flickr.com/7079/7209710670_f67079c754_t.jpg "Almost Like Another Planet... Pamukkale Blues (UNESCO World Heritage) [Explore #1, THANK YOU]")
