Reviewers in a Dangerous Time

the god who hates

2010-08-02T11:44:00.003+08:00

i first heard of wafa sultan on youtube while she was a guest speaker on al jazeera. it was highly irregular for anyone let alone a woman to be debating with an imam on islamic terrorism, islam itself, and as what she describes as the clash of civilisations so that it was not difficult to recognize her face printed on a book on a shelf months later while i was passing by the bookstore. i just had to have trhe book for i was already curious about her. i watched satisfied by the way when the imam resorted instead to strawman arguments for lack of anything better to say.

in the book however, i am not a fan of her writing style. it seemed repeatitious, disconnected, personal, and she seemed to make hasty generalizations about people but who is better and has the authority to talk about islam and its ills, than her -- a moslem woman who had lived in it and had actually experienced its horrors firsthand.

i also did not much appreciate her orgre metaphor. although she spoke the truth about the nature of fear and how it relates to islam, i felt that there has to be a better way to present the idea other than a parable about an ogre.

apart from her personal experiences giving insight on the origin and nature of islam, its followers and how they relate with other people, its fruits, she also talks about the obvious disconnect with what "moderate" moslems claim islam to be and what is happening in reality. it mirrors the state of christian theocracies all over the world. christian zealots behave much like islamic terrorists. people would always argue that these particular type of moslems have misinterpreted the real meaning of islam. that the true moslem never engages in violence and that they respect women. the evidence in fact showing the contrary is overwelming.

the koran is written solely in arabic, how likely is it that moslems outside of the arab world would have a filtered understanding of its teachings. meaning islam as a political doctrine and religion needs to present itself as something benevolent and beneficial in order to be accepted but the truth in detail is quite the opposite. just like the judeo christian bible, the koran is filled with archaic ethics giving justification to these brutalities all the way up to today the 21st century. and now it is encroaching in on secular societies like a disease as some put it.

wafa provides us with specific verses from the koran. too few in my opinion. but there is no escaping from that. muhammad had been very explicit and his ideas about women, jews, christians, and islamic morality questionable by today's standards. i am inclined to think that whoever subscribes to it is either ignorant, brainwashed, or have nitpicked specific teachings that suit their tastes just as moderate christians are doing with the bible.

my favorite in particular about her book is her observation about moslems living in the west. those who are reaping its benefits but at the same time claiming it to be morally inferior to their countries of origin. hypocrites. id say.

if living in islamic states is such a paradise then why leave at all. why the influx of immigrants from islamic states towards the west unless there be a sinister plot behind it all, that is to convert these secular societies into islamic states. as is happening all over europe and now even in the united states. how likely is it that people are oppressed in islamic societies and that most of them immigrate because they want to be free of it.

wafa paints a vivid picture of islam and what kind of societies it has produced. societies which lack in civil liberties, societies which slow or sometimes halt progress, where its inhabitants are automatons programmed to obey never to think nor question authority. a striking resemblance to christian theocracies. don't you think?

if immigration out of islamic societies not evidence enough that it is failed at making lives better for people, i dont know what else is.

rating 4 out of 5
****

the gnostic gospels

2010-07-10T11:19:00.007+08:00

in 1945 a collection of early christian texts were discovered near the town of nag hammadi in upper egypt that came to be known as the nag hammadi library. elaine pagels, the author of this exquisite book, discusses in easy to understand terms, the contents of the collection.

The major theme is the rivalry between the gnostic and the orthodox christians. The doctrinal difference between the two groups over issues like martyrdom, participation of women, nature of the true church, nature of god and the trinity, and salvation, that is to say, only via the self serving bishops for the orthodox christians and thru gnosis for the gnostics.

the bishops threatened by the teachings of the gnostics labeled the latter as heretics. while the gnostics viewed the orthodox as immature believing in rituals and motions of traditional worship. the catholic church of today is notably the direct descendant of orthodox christianity which put much emphasis on the unquestioned authority and heirarchy of the bishops. had the gnostics won, christianity would have been very different.

it becomes obvious what sets the books of the nag hammadi library apart from the canonical books having gone as far as undermine the patriarchy and authority of the bishops.

it poses important questions especially to those who do follow and believe orthodox teachings. what makes one believe this set of books and not the other. because the priest/pastor says so and that's it? (kasi sabi ni pader?) héhé ..

another lucky find from booksale. i got it for only 150 PHP.

rating 5 out of 5
A must read.

over the edge of the world

2010-06-30T12:14:00.009+08:00

je viens de finir le livre qui je lisais ces derniers jours. il raconte le voyage de magellan où il a fait le tour du monde au début du XVIe siècle (1521-ish). au fait, j'ai acheté ce livre d'un booksale pour seulement 100 PHP.

we are all familiar with the story of the portuguese, under the flag of spain, who for the first time had successfully circumnavigated the world and as a consequence discovered a water route to the spice islands across the "ocean sea" west of the new world.

magellan's encounters with fascinating natives and their customs including our own cebuans (to which i descend from) and the proud mactanese, betray european bigoted and self serving attitudes. they also betray our own weaknesses providing brief insight of why we continue to be divided even to this day.

pigafetta is i think as important as magellan himself for it was him who chronicled the entire voyage reminiscent of captain picard doing his log aboard the enterprise. besides being a representative of the pope, he also served as the ship's linguist and anthropologist. he (attempted to) put into writing the local languages and their sexual practices. this to me was a kind of expected. he was a man of the cloth and like many others, there was a kind of obsession with sex (just as it does today) and he means to impose his beliefs on to the natives. sans respect to their own beliefs.

most of the native chieftains who converted did so, mostly because they feared the armada de moluccas. magellan was all to happy to demonstrate their superiority. their weapons admittedly surpassed the bamboo javelins, bows, and poisoned arrows of the natives. and local politics paved the way for some of the chieftains to ally themselves with magellan thinking it would give them advantage over rival kingdoms.

i am surprised why his story had not yet made it on hollywood. it had the familiar elements of drama, political intrique, adventure, vicious villains, and noble heroes. vital ingredients that make up an epic adventure non fictional story.

rating 4 out of 5
an interesting and easy read

les bureaux de dieu

2010-06-06T06:58:00.003+08:00

A social commentary that revolves around a family planning center, it's social workers, and the people mostly women, they take the time to listen and give advice to.

all the cases tackled by the social workers make the case for sexual education, women's rights, contraception, and abortion giving emphasis on having a personal and well informed choice on their respective matters as a crucial ingredient in making important decisions. we hear of cases where it is the total opposite when women don't have the choice at all.

this is in strike contrast to what we have today in the philippines where people are mostly ignorant and sans access to health services. it couldn't be more obvious why this is so when certain prominent religious institutions who have a hand on state policies (imposing their religious beliefs onto the rest of us) continue to halt progress on civil liberties and women's rights.

I find the movie socially relevant and mature especially on how the social workers sympathized with their (patients?). but not very entertaining for it lacked the hollywood formula much like a crutch or an addiction that we have grown accustomed to.

For french language lovers, it is a treat. but for the same reason, when a language is presented as english subtitles (and not entirely translated might i add) could fail to convey the actual emotion accross the language barrier, which could possibly lead non french speaking audiences unable to relate ..

Rating 3 out of 5 ***
women power!

Diosa

2010-06-03T16:52:00.003+08:00

A local legend recounts the tale of a nature goddess who had an affinity with humans. Her name was Luciérnaga. One day, her father found out about her dealings with them, it made her father furious. He slapped her senseless breaking her crown of gems into pieces. Each piece transformed into a firefly. The entire mountain was swarmed by them to which the town was named after. Bayan ng Alitaptap (Firefly town).

Another legend spoke of her unearthly beauty wearing nothing but gem stones to cover herself up. During the spanish era, Luciérnaga fell in love with a spanish soldier. She made love to him but woke up with all her jewels gone. The soldier stole them and since then fireflies have disappeared from the town. And all male descendants of the spanish soldier had been plagued by a curse. Each of them die horrible deaths. This intruiging tale is the backdrop of the story.

teddy allegre is played by lloyd samartino
jaime allegre jr is played by alfie anido
luz is played by lorna tolentino
katrina is played lorna tolentino

Rating 4 out of 5 ****
Not bad for a pinoy fantasy

la papesse jeanne

2010-05-18T09:52:00.002+08:00

joan (played by johanna wokalek) was born a genius. she had a talent for learning and a natural curiousity towards the world. she picked up things just by listening to them. she grew up with her father who was the village priest, a religious and ruthless man; her pagan mother and her two older brothers.

joan's father groomed her brothers to be servants of the church just as he was. the oldest brother, as soon as he discovers her extraordinary abilities, secretly took time to teach her how to read and write. while her mother taught johnna the ancient healing arts by way of herbs. she learned diligently. her father though thinks that she was an abomination (unnatural) and forbade her from learning anything at all. unfortunately, she lived at an age when there was a low opinion of women.

one day she was discovered by a visiting monk who recognized her gifts. he taught her alongside with her brothers, the classics, philosophy, greek etc. the monk, excited of his find, sent word to the bishop to have her immediately transfered to the school to be given proper education, even though education was traditionaly given only to christian boys, the monk thought that it would be a crime against god not to send her. her father grew exceedingly furious. he only agreed to it if one of her brothers would be sent with her.

when the bishop's emissary came for her back at the village later, and was instructed to bring just one child. her father insisted on sending her brother instead. it was the last draw, joan decided to run away and pursue her calling.

the story is about her remarkable journey to rome where she becomes the pope in a world where she was forced to hide behind a disguise -- that of a man. where only behind this mask that she could be free. she quickly made a name for herself going against tradition but not without adversaries and allies along the way.

she became a distuigished healer and an accompished philosopher infamously arguing for equality. she was a scribe translating into different languages knowledge of the classics. she knew the value of education and took the time to teach others who were willing how to read and write.

unfortunately we could never know if this is a true story or not for if there had been any record of her, it looks like it had long been (maybe intentionally) erased from antiquity. today her inspiring story survives as mere medieval legend.

the film gives us a realistic view of why sexism perpetuates to this day. that there must be a relationship between religious doctrine and how religious people view and treat women. we can see how the story bears comtemporary implications against modern day sexism, ignorance and superstition, against gender roles, of politics in the church heirarchy. and how equality remains to be, not only a religious but certainly a social and political question.

4 out of 5 ****
read more of st paul and st. aquinas views on women

agora

2010-03-20T10:44:00.005+08:00

agora is a historical non fiction film about hypatia, an atheist philosopher who taught at the library of alexandria, 4th century AD in roman egypt.

this was at the time when the roman empire was crumbling and the number of christians
have swelled enough to take over the city. at the behest of the pagans who worshipped their ancestral gods (serapis, mithra, horus and the others - all of which by the way had similar attributes with jesus - virgin birth, saviour of mankind, miracle workers, teller of parables etc)

christian zealots performed spectacles like walking on fire to lure the superstitious crowd. and made challenges to the gods for their seeming absence in the mortal realm. they failed to apply the same standard of scrutiny however, to their own god.

the situation worsened, provoked by public mockery of their god, the followers of serapis attacked the christians. against hypatia's pleading for the church leader of serapis to instead file their case with the prefect.

much to their surprise, they find themselves face to face with the christian mob which retaliated en force. by the time the roman prefect intervened, the pagans and other intellectuals were trapped in the library surrounded by the christian mob outside which appear to be composed of slaves, the uneducated, the impoverished, the marginalized, and lead by warmongering zealots. this is significant as it reflects the same demographic of christians today.

it was painful to watch the christians laid waste to the library, destroying all nowledge of antiquity save a few scrolls which the pagans brought with them on their way out.

much later, it became fashionable to be christian. the social elite had for the most part had been converted. most likely to avoid problems with the then now established christian religion and its leaders.

hypatia in the meantime, lived quietly and continued to philosophize about the movement of the heavens, juggling between the ptolemy system, which had the earth as the center of the universe and the other heavenly bodies revolving around it in perfect circles; and the aristacus? system which had the sun as its center and the other heavenly bodies
revovlving around it in perfect circles as well. but something did not match up with her observations and measurements. this goes against the established biblical teaching, that the world is flat.

after the pagans, the christians when after its other rivals, the jews otherwise known as the beginnings of anti semitism. and then the status of women.

when hypatia's former students (now a bishop and the other a prefect) implored her to convert to christianity or else. she said she couldn't because unlike the christian bishop who don't question his beliefs. she must hers. the essence of what it is to be freehinker.

rating: 5 out of 5
*****

Les Fantomes de Goya

2010-02-02T18:29:00.004+08:00

Francisco Goya was a court painter to the spanish crown. Ines Balbutia, daughter to a rich merchant, was one of his subjects. Another client of Francisco is Brother Lorenzo who is the one responsible for excacerbating the inquisition by re-establishing torture. Ines was accused of judaizing (practicing jewish traditions) and arrested because she refused to eat pork.

Such was the power of the Catholic church during those times. I watched horrified as they tortured the truth out of Ines. Although we are far from "those times", we could still witness this kind of barbarism in countries where religion/church reigns supreme. And this I believe is central to the message of the movie. It is a warning of what religion is capable of doing given sufficient power over the state.

There doesn't seem to be any justice for Ines even towards the end of the film where Brother Lorenzo was finally caught and executed because of something else (treachery) he has done.

Rating: 4 out of 5
I love history. See Peninsular War and French Revolution

the boy in the striped pajamas

2009-10-05T17:46:00.005+08:00

bruno is a small kid whose father is a nazi officer. when his father was promoted to manage a concentration camp in the country, they all had to move out of the city with him.

later, bruno finds his way to the camp and makes friends with shmuel, a jewish kid despite everyone warning him about jews (not actually everyone). children do not have the same prejudices that adults have. we all learn it later from our parents, from school, from people around us.

my favorite scene is when bruno was forced to betray his best friend out of fear and the need to conform in order to survive. it tells us that all capable of treachery even at an age where we are supposedly pure and good.

rating 3 out of 5 ***

two lovers

2009-08-08T10:36:00.002+08:00

(photo is by john clifford)

this film portrays in contrast an insight on the type of romantic love that we used to talk about a lot back when we were younger. the question of who would you go for, given that you have the following choice. will you go for "the one" or "the only one".

"the one" is the person you love ultimately but he doesn't necessarily feel the same way or none at all. the kind of love that exists in literature. it is love where the stakes are high. even life itself.

"the only one (available)" is the person who loves you but you don't necessarily feel the same way or none at all. it's the one that you accept because either you are afraid to be alone, that you think there might be no one else, or you need the company. the kind of love that is mundane, tolerable, or that needs years to be nurtured.

leonard (played by joaquin phoenix) was setup by his parents to meet with sandra (played by vinessa ssaw). i am uncertain if this is a usual practice for american jews. it reminds me of how filipino chinese parents actively participate in arranging dates or introductions so to speak for their children. especially when it becomes although subtle as a sort of business merger of mutual benefit between families if it works out well. i can see why it persists. it is practical.

later leonards accidentally meets with michelle (played by gwyneth paltrow) whom he falls deeply in love for. is this not how love should be? is not love a complete accident, like magic, that consumes us.

naturally leonards explores both women. he dates sandra as a fallback, as a duty to his family. the safe route. where some might be quick to judge him. i do not. would you turn down love that is offered. he pursues michelle who considers him a close friend or worse like a brother among other setbacks.

in the story, i savored the honesty of how it ended as i suspect it to be so with many couples. many wouldn't admit it. of course. but i believe it to be the majority in this case. that people do not often end up with those they intended to be with. that couples born out of complacency, convenience, contentment with what is available, end up with "the only one" rather than "the one". though it does happen. not just often enough. or if it does happen. it does not linger long enough. passion dies.

rate 3 out of 5
***

The Bucket List

2009-05-19T10:02:00.000+08:00

I accidentally ran into the film a couple of times while channel surfing. HBO had been playing "The Bucket List" on several occasions and I managed to complete the entire movie (like a jigsaw puzzle) after three days.

So what makes this movie interesting, aside from having Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? I guess the film talks about mortality and how people would react if they knew they only had a year to live. Some people might just live in fear, withdraw from the world, or even focus their last remaining days fixing their earthly business. Other people might choose a different path.

Both protagonists are cancer patients who learn that they only have a few months to live. So they made a list of things they want to do before they die and try to do them one by one. Enter the cliche Hollywood formula -- the two fight while doing their list, make up in the end, gain some epiphany about life, love and friendship, die, live life to the fullest and die again.

I think the film would have made a bigger impact to me if it didn't remind me of a Hollywood television series called "My Name is Earl".

Here are some similarities in "Bucket List" and "Earl":

Both have a list of things that the protagonists are trying to cross out.
They both have one asshole protagonist who, thanks to Karma or Cancer (take your pick), gets redeemed and becomes a better person in the end.
Both have quirky supporting casts who help them cross out the things in their list.

I think the movie dwells too much on the positive, feel good aspect of life -- like friendship, love and family. It tends to downplay the actual reality of suffering and death. I doubt if all cancer patients view living and life with such gusto. I doubt if people can make instant life changing decisions just because they know the grim reaper is looking for them.

It all boils down to how a person accepts his death and how he chooses to live out the remaining days of his life.

Twilight the Movie

2009-04-21T08:38:00.000+08:00

I just finished watching the movie over the weekend. All I can say is that the Twilight story reminds me of the Roswell TV series. Here is a list of common things I noticed between the two series:

1. Both female protagonists (Liz Parker and Bella Swan) are high school students who nearly lost their lives. They were in the wrong place and in the wrong time. Both girls who have died, except they were saved by their respective crush (Mr. Vampire and Mr. Alien).

2. Both female protagonist experience a strong attraction to their respective crush -- to the point of sacrificing everything they have just to be with their out-of-this-world boy friends. In the end, they became vampires/aliens themselves.

3. Both shows have sheriffs acting as distant father figures.

4. Both shows deal with a "family" or "group of related" aliens/vampires, who were forced to accept high school girl because of her strong/passionate connection with alien/vampire boy.

Watching Twilight made me think of Roswell and I couldn't help but feel that Stephenie Meyer borrowed/used some of Melinda Metz's ideas.

I would not suggest comparing the movie to other vampire flicks. Twilight was written to be a love story for young adult writers. It steers away from excess violence, bloody gore, and horror. The story focuses on Bella and Edward's relationship, mirroring your typical high school romance (mixing with some supernatural elements).

Overall, I had a good time watching the movie. The story was a bit predictable (even without reading the book) but the characters are interesting enough for you to want to watch the sequel.

(Review copied from My Seven Lives)

Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)

2009-04-10T12:28:00.003+08:00

the german democractic republic (GDR) and the stasi (the secret police) reigned on east germany before the wall between east and west came down.

it was a drab, dreary, suppressive world were the state watches over its citizens in every aspect of their lives. you could easily observe this in the color tone used for the character's costumes and environment they moved around and lived in. it was kind of dead.

a stasi agent was tasked to hold a prominent playwright and effectively his wife who was also a prominent actress under tight surveillance because he became a suspect for being too clean.

the operation was to wait and listen, then record everything that transpires in the playwrite's house. any subversive word or action will be charged with treason or disloyalty to the state. imagine what kind of burden that is for merely saying things could potentially lead to imprisonment.

many artists like the playright before him were known subversives. some had escaped and embraced the west which stood for capitalism and freedom. for others who had been caught and blacklisted (though one of the heads of state in the film vehemently disputes it and that the state never blacklists) to perform their crafts had been silenced. and there were other artists who couldn't take it anymore, had taken their own lives which the state conveniently reclassifies as self murderers.

during the course of the surveillance, the stasi agent experiences a change introspective in him. from being ruled entirely by principle to beginning to feeling things. watch the elevator scene when the stasi agent rides it with a boy who rats on his father about saying anti-state things. normally the stasi agent would have the boy's dad arrested but maybe for this time, he let's it go.

the playwright had begun writing an article to be published in the west which exposes the social conditions and suicide rate specifically of artists in the GDR. this is obviously treason in principle but the stasi agent let's it go because he begins to appreciate the simple lives of his target.

i had always been a supporter of socialism but after watching what true socialism had been at least for east germany. i think that any extreme of the political spectrum could never be good and could only end up oppressing its citizens instead rather then uplift their lives.

maybe the central to the film was a message of striking a balance between the extremes living by principle vs feeling

Rate: 3 out of 5
No to extremes

shadow women

2009-04-07T09:48:00.001+08:00

les femmes de l'ombre is a film dedicated to women who fought against nazi barbarity during world war 2. particularly this film is about 5 women who were hired by the french division of special operations created by winston churchill in britain a.k.a. the SOE.

it begins with the recruitement. a french sniper and her brother who were both formerly tortured in the camps, a prostitute convict who had no loyalty to britain nor france, an ex-wife of heindrich who is a nazi fficer hiding in britain in shame of her past connections, an explosives expert who was apparently catholic and very religious, and an italien/jew operative working as a secret agent disguised as a nurse in normandy. their mission was to deliver a geologist out of normandy france and back to england. unfortunately the sniper's brother was captured.

things get a lot more interesting after they were forced to make a side trip to occupied paris for what turns out to be the real mission - to assasinate heindrich who had knowledge of a big plan by the allies and he was trying to convince the third reich of the threat.

i was perhaps quick to judge the ladies as they each were compelled to display rather some unadmirable qualities during the mission as each take turns at valor and cowardice. in the end they were all just being human. when one is faced with the same predicament (torture), i wonder too, what would i do.

one by one each of the ladies played their roles valiantly having to give up their very lives for the mission.

rating 4 out of 5
i love films which depict women of strength, intelligence, skill and guile.

religulous

2009-01-03T08:24:00.004+08:00

the word religulous is a play on the words religious and ridiculous. a satire comedy by bill maher. agnosticism for the common man. spoken in common words that can be understood and appreciated by everyone esp christian america as compared to but not much unlike the works of richard dawkins, hitchens, and others which are a bit more eloquent.

i managed to get a copy of the film here (RELIGULOUS). you have to download it asap for it might be asked to be removed. copyright issues tu sais. ^_^

the film talks of religion more than the existence of gods/dessess namely yahweh since bill was half catholic and half jewish. nevetheless, i enjoyed it thoroughly.

even though bill was posting the questions and i think the movie does not fall short of giving out the answers. at least to the thinking audience anyway (the questions are leading) and it almost always puts the theist to a defensive. it's what i believe in - end of discussion!

bill asks valid questions - on the subject of the virgin birth, is the earth 5000 years old, is islam a religion of peace, revelation and the self fulfilling prophecies, odd things but all makes sense from the average theist mind. other questions of interest. why politicians today (unlike the american forefathers who were secularists) pandering to churches. how some? church leaders profit from church coffers. homosexuality. the status of women in moslem society. how moslems think islamist terrorism has nothing to do with religion but everything to do with politics. hmm .. actually this maybe true to a degree ..

the funniest bit was when he played a joke on the guy who was clearly high on something and who believes in a religion that includes the use of hallucegenics. héhéhé.

Rate 4 out of 5 ****
bill. you are the man!

munich

2008-10-17T09:48:00.004+08:00

munich is a historical fiction that begins with arab terrorists taking israeli athletes as hostages in the oylmpics in munich, germany. a few years after, the government of israel unofficially hires assassins to hunt down the people responsible. eric bana plays avner kauffman - the leader of the group of assassins.

immediately, i sympathized with israel. the group of assasins, each experts in their individual fields, were in fact very likable. it felt right, what they're doing, that it was justice. im glad the story became impartial turning around towards the end, mentioning the plight of the palestinian people. at the end, nothing seemed to matter except the question of when the killing of each other, is going to stop.

personally i believe it was a mistake for the western (european) powers to put up israel in the middle of the arab region. it does not seem smart to me anyway. there is whole lot of history about this. something i am no expert in. the palestinian people who are now refugees, practically robbed of their lands are understandably doing everything they can to fight back. i believe a futile attempt. there was an interesting political dialogue between avern and one of the arabs. and avern made one very important and objective point. the palestinians have nothing now to bargain with.

Rate ***** 5 out of 5
a powerful film.

notes on a scandal

2008-09-26T19:12:00.004+08:00

english movie about two women. sheba hart (cate blanchette) and barbara covett (judey dench). i love the name sheba. it's exotic. sheba is the new art teacher. and i found her suited to the job. she is young and handsome, without restraint, new age type, good natured. she is married to an old guy who was her previous teacher. a young woman married to an old guy is already a story in itself.
then there is barbara, an aging collegue who takes sheba under her wing.

the interesting part begins when barbara catches sheba being intimate with one of the students. barbara threatens sheba unless she stops the affair. then it becomes really dark and wierd when barbara begins to ask for more and more. more than just sheba's friendship ..

i loved the language used. what must be like ordinary language for the english people, it comes out poetic to ears such as mine who is accustomed to the bastardized english of filipinoes (learned from americans).

i have often imagined many times that i'd grow old and alone and id be like barbara here .. dried up and wasted, banal, cynical, and desperate for love, .. hopefully it won't happen ..

Rate *** 3 out of 5
I enjoyed the language

Kate Chopin: The Awakening

2008-09-22T06:57:00.004+08:00

i do not know if the woman at the front of the book is kate chopin. or is it the heroine edna pontellier. kate chopin is a writer who wrote short stories in the late 1800s. the same time as our national hero josé rizal.

the first short story is "the awakening", notably her best work. the awakening recounts the tale of madame edna pontellier who just liberates herself from society's traditions. a time when women were considered property, when it was necessary to depend on being married to someone to provide for them, when women were restricted to the home and the kitchen, when women were in all respects functions primarily to provide assurance for the next generations - a baby factory. i am tempted to point out that this is a time that could describe the present as well. how ironic and horrible isn't it? but no, i am referring to the late 1800s.

some points i gathered from the short story - le réveil:

1. french créole society has similarities to pinoy high society as it exists as a microcosm.
2. infidelity was accepted if it does not cause a scandal.
3. the key to freedom is financial independence.
4. people do not own people. we are only in as much as we want ourselves to be.
5. i do not like the ending. i do not see the necessity of commiting suicide at the advent of her liberation from social bonds. maybe i misunderstood it? edna strikes me as someone who is strong but unless kate chopin meant to potray love as something that weakens people, both men and women. then maybe it makes sense.

Rate 4 out of 5 ****
Progressive ideas

The Notebook

2008-08-26T14:45:00.009+08:00

An overly sentimental rich girl (allie) / poor boy (noah) love story that works for me (Maybe just me) . I guess one needs to draw something from real life to be able to appreciate it. That sense of wanting to be with someone from another world so bad and things are not in your favor. Where despite the improbability, we pursue it anyway.

A reminder that we have but a short while in this life. And we will all have to deal with endings despite how much we think we deserve eternity. And in the end, we just have our memories.

I disagree with what I felt the movie was in a way saying - that having a full life equals having someone to love (and back). Having someone or not should not deprive anyone from having a full life. There are many pursuits in life. In fact, it is not uncommon to find people who are in relationships to be at the loosing end, having compromised many things just to stay in it.

Rate: 4 stars ****
Made me cry like a baby ^_^

the brave one

2008-05-26T17:09:00.006+08:00

The Brave One

Jodie Foster plays Erica Bain. Jodie is the best! I adore the roles she plays because she almost always potray women of strength. Not the ones that remain victims to fate but indepedent individuals who are willing to take action despite insurmountable odds and at the same time be accountable for them. This film illustrates that Woman is as capable as any man.

It is a social commentary about how life could be like living in a big and populous city such as New York, with the immense bureaucracy, the apathetic government, and the crimes. Society becomes disensitized and the individual is left to fend for themselves.

It is rather a simple story about revenge for a love lost. Erica and her fiancé takes a walk around the park at night. They were attacked by local thugs. Her fiancé dies. Erica becomes a whole new person. She becomes a stranger as she often describes it in the movie. She recovers but not really. After seeing that noone, even the government, was going to make things right, she decides to buy a gun for protection. But ends up turning vigilante.

The following quotes from the film cracked me up ..

Pimp: What if I don't pay?
Erica: Then this will be the last super cunt you'll ever see.

Rate 3 out of 5
Woman rules!

Mr. Vampire

2008-05-16T14:23:00.005+08:00

mr vampire

mr vampire upholds that certain tradition of favorite kungfu movies we have grown to love over the years. i felt like a kid wanting desperately about knowing the kungfu. remembering jackie chan and his antics. the movie appears low budget but what it lacks in special effects, it fully compensates with good natured humor. i think anyone from any background would be able to appreciate it. come to think of it, the raw quality of it is part of its charm.

the story is filled with chinese folklore, about the nature of the dead. how it continues to "live" after life. my favorite part was when the taoist? monk discovers the rogue vampire and tries to (and fails) to capture it using his own stock of undead. the fight scenes were not martial arts intensive. but like i mentioned earlier. it compensates with humor.

3 stars ***
made me laugh ..

Death Note 1 and 2 (The Movie)

2008-05-16T13:55:00.005+08:00

death note 1 and 2 (the movie)

it was only after did i watch and liked the movies did i learn that they (supposedly) pale compared to its manga roots. i have also heard that there was an animé which also surpassed the real live movies. then i suppose it was for the best that i was ignorant when i came to watch them because i enjoyed the anime-like characters and the the mind games they played against each other.

death note is about a magical book granted by shinigamis (death gods) to certain mortals. the book basically kills people. the chosen mortal writes down the name of his/her enemies. and possibly, but not necessarily, the nature and circumstance of their deaths. and those people who have their names written down on the death note helplessly die, written circumstance fulfilled. at the very least, having your name written down on it grants you death by heart attack.

i am not going to read in too much about how the japanese psyche deals with death. certainly, in the story, the seriousness of mortality as it affects all of humanity is caricatured. so i felt unattached to the idea of mortality. to me, the story is an intriguing question. what would you do if you have to power to kill.

3 stars * * *

August Rush (Movie Review: 3 out of 5)

2008-04-30T08:34:00.002+08:00

You don't have to be a music lover to enjoy this movie. However, you must be prepared to accept all the freaky coincidences and odd circumstances that play around the main protagonist of the film.

The hero (August Rush, aka Evan Taylor) is an orphan who is driven to find his birth parents. He's a music prodigy who has the "gift of listening to the world". Thanks to this gift, he is reunited with his family at the end.

It's a modern day fairy tale of sorts -- we have a young boy who gets thrown into a cruel/nasty world (aka New York City). But thanks to his musical talent, he meets people (like a character named "Wizard") who either helped or exploited him along the way. But August stays true to himself and his dream does come true.

Jen loved the film while I found it just okay. It's a feel good movie with a nice soundtrack, but there are better "feel good" movies out there. The only point that I found interesting were the movie's attempt to portray the "underground society" of New York through the eyes of children. We see the flaws and the issues of the child welfare system and how many runaway kids get used and exploited off the streets. August was lucky that he had the magical talent to get himself out of the gutter. I pity the other kids who got left behind.

Pan's Labyrinth

2008-01-16T09:48:00.001+08:00

I've been wanting to do a review of this movie ever since I watched it last October 2007. I'd personally give the movie a six star rating for its imagery, story, and suspense.

Pan's Labyrinth (or "El Laberinto del Fauno" in Spanish) is the work of Guillermo del Toro, the same guy who directed the Hellboy movie. At first I was skeptical of the movie's English title, it sounded like a B horror movie. But then after hearing nice reviews, I decided to watch it and see for myself.

The movie is basically an adult faerie tale. By adult, I'm talking about the intense and gruesome violence depicted in the story. I wouldn't recommend having kids watch the movie because of the gory head bashing, torture, and the bloody gun fights.

Pan's Labyrinth is set in the wilderness of Spain, during the country's civil war. The military, led by a maniacal war freak captain, is hunting down rebels - killing them left and right. Amidst all the death and violence, a young girl becomes enamored in the world of faerie. She encounters a satyr and learns of a fantastic faerie world. With the help of the satyr and some pixies, the girl undergoes a series of quests to help improve the lives of her family.

Slowly the girl's secret fantasy world and the realities of war begin to overlap. The rebels waged their final war against the military and the girl is forced to make a choice - to save her dreams or her family.

While the movie revolves around the girl and her struggle to save her family from hardship and suffering. I think that her innocence and belief in faerie kept her protected from the brutalities of war. Since she is the only one who interacts with the Satyr and pixies, I was left thinking whether the faeries were real or if she made it all up.

Despite all the death and violence, the story redeems itself in the end. In the young girl's mind, she has succeeded in her quest and she has brought happiness and prosperity for her family and the land.

Kekexili: Mountain Patrol

2008-01-14T13:44:00.001+08:00

I stumbled on this movie accidentally at AXN last Saturday and I was glued to the screen. At first I thought it was one of those mainland films depicting life under communist rule, but as I continued watching, I realized this was a story about life in the wilderness of Tibet.

The film acts like a travel documentary, revolving around a Beijing Photojournalist on assignment in Tibet. He gets first hand experience with the rugged and harsh life in the mountains.

During his trip, the journalist encounters a group of Tibetan vigilantes who roam the land to protect endangered antelopes from poachers. They track down illegal hunters across the mountains, arresting violators and burying the carcasses of dead antelopes they encountered.

The film portrays the harshness of the Tibetan mountains -- from its cold numbing frost, to its vast stretched of wasteland. It shows how people survive under poverty. Abandoned or simply ignored by the government, these people resort to illegal poaching, skinning of antelope skins (which are prized in the black market), and stealing.

One of the scenes that struck me was when the patrol arrested a group of poachers. The journalist interviewed one of the criminals, an old man who claimed to be the fastest antelope skinner in the region. The old man proudly showed his three sons who were along with him. He said that he was once a shepherd but because of the changes in the weather, his livestock died. Shortly after that, he became a poacher.

I liked the way the film portrayed the region as a "savage frontier", where everyday is a fight for survival. It also shows how the land affects its inhabitants, and how it affects ones moral judgment and view of good/evil.

Children of Men

2008-01-14T09:27:00.001+08:00

Watched the movie on HBO last night. I 'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic movies and this was one of the best. The movie paints a realistic and terrifying vision of the near future, a future that seems all the more probable with all the problems that the world is facing right now.

The movie is set in the United Kingdom of 2027. Mankind has less than a century to survive, since all women have lost the ability to conceive and bear children. Accompanying this crisis is a worldwide societal collapse, rampant terrorism, discrimination, and environmental destruction. Britain becomes the last functioning government, persecuting illegal immigrants and refugees.

Watching the movie gave me a picture of the world, if the present problems of global warming, political/financial instabilities, and terrorism would continue to worsen. Unlike other apocalyptic movies where mankind is quickly eradicated by some kind of holocaust, Children of Men shows a slow and more gruesome collapse of humanity and civilization. Coupled with the mysterious dilemma of infertility, people have lost all sense of decency and morality. Many of them have simply surrendered to their inevitable doom and destruction.

Despite all the death and suffering, the movie offers hope and redemption for humanity. It might not be that uplifting (at least not for me), but it still shows that there is something positive and good about people, and there is a chance for mankind to survive.

Best Songs of 2007

2008-01-05T01:43:00.001+08:00

Here's my top ten list of best songs of 2007. Last year was a great time for music, and if the pattern continues, it looks like 2008 will also be good for music fans.

Here's some interesting observations from the song list. Nine out of the ten songs had lead female vocals (Hugh Grant being the exception, and he's not even a genuine recording artist). There was only one American song in the top ten (the one by Rihanna). And four out of the ten were either remakes or heavily influenced by an older song.

You can also check out my previous 2006 and 2005 lists. Happy listening!

10. Pop! Goes My Heart - Hugh Grant

When the movie 'Music and Lyrics' opened with Hugh Grant in full 80's look performing the music video to this song, I knew I would like the rest of the film. It's a song that is made to match the look and feel of that era. And parodies a lot of the old 80's music video style.

9. Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

Surprisingly catchy and infectious. Angst-ridden, yet at the same time having a lot of positive self-affirmations. My favorite part is the short rap solo and the line where she sings "Hell yeah, I'm the motherf___ princess".

8. Don't Save Me - Marit Larsen

I have endured my fair share of ridicule and mockery from friends after admitting that I was a big M2M fan. And Marit, the blonde girl, was always my favorite of the two. So when I heard that she had released her first solo album, I was eager to check out the new songs. This is the first single from the album and was a huge hit in her native Norway. It has a lot of the M2M qualities we like, but in Marit's personal style. You can interpret the lyrics as being about the split with her M2M partner and best friend Marion Raven.

7. Shut Up and Drive - Rihanna

This is a guilty pleasure of mine. Rihanna samples New Order's Blue Monday bass and rhythm parts to create a hit song. I love it when new artists take sequences from 80's songs and adapt it to today's pop music. Most of the time, they end up ruining the old songs, but Rihanna actually does it well, duplicating the successful formula she used previously in SOS (which sampled Soft Cell's Tainted Love). Shut Up and Drive is a fast paced, energy-driven song. Rihanna's attractive physical assets displayed in the music video certainly helps enhance the appeal of the music.

6. Only a Fool - Marit Larsen

I really like Marit's voice in this one. And she does a lot of unconventional things in this song, such as the use of an instrument/sound effect that sounds like a whistle, as well as adding a banjo and harmonica to the list of instruments. This sounds very much like a children's song combined with many bluegrass and country elements. Cute and good song.

5. Everything's Just Wonderful - Lily Allen

This is a song that speaks to the thirty-something batch with which I belong to. We are faced with enormous pressure to be more responsible, get a good paying job, pay for the mortgage, stay thin, be a good taxpaying citizen, stay within the norms of society and play the same game that everyone plays. Then when asked by our friends and relatives "How's everything going?", we reply "Oh, everything's just wonderful" with only a hint of sarcasm and bitterness. And that's what this song is all about.

4. Selfish - Sunset Daze

The original 'Selfish' by The Other Two was my top song back in 1994, when I used to share yearender lists with fellow dangerousreviewer Roehl and other friends. So I was very excited to discover this remake. I only found it by accident from one of the mix collection CDs I bought early this year in my goal of updating myself with the popular songs I had missed from the Philippines the past three years.

The added background vocal blending is a great enhancement to the original. It's also good to know that some of the younger people hearing this song for the first time will also rediscover the original version by The Other Two. It's a tribute to good 90's music. It also symbolizes to me my own reconnection to family and friends I haven't seen in several years.

3. I Didn't Know I was Looking for Love - Sitti

You're probably familiar with the EBTG (Everything But the Girl) version of this song, which is one of my favorites. But after hearing Sitti's bossa nova version, I think I'm starting to like it more than the original! I was with my brother and mother at Rockwell Mall when I first heard this playing in the background. I immediately asked my brother if he knew who the singer was. He didn't know, but he mentioned that bossa nova music was getting really popular in the Philippines and that it probably came from one of those new artists specializing in that genre, in this case, Sitti.

Of all the songs in the list, I feel this is the one with the most staying power and could easily have been my #1 pick as I'm still not tired of listening to it. The music and vocals have a relaxed yet playful style to it. This is how you remake a song, you take its essential qualities, and add your unique spin on it. Looking forward to more Sitti releases.

2. Oh My God - Mark Ronson/Lily Allen

Get ready for a real treat if you haven't listened to this yet. This is an overpowering, high energy song featuring Lily Allen's singing and Mark Ronson's musical arrangement. I was amazed when I first heard this, it has almost everything I want in a song. It builds up to a point where you almost feel that it's going out of control, then recomposes itself before the dramatic trumpet solo. I listened to it repeatedly last summer while working out and taking long walks in the hot sun.

It's a remake (and improvement) of the original Kaiser Chief song of the same name. Definitely check out the other tracks in the Mark Ronson album if you're a fan of song remixes.

1. Single - Natasha Bedingfield

This is hands-down the best song of the year. 'Single' has powerful vocals, one of the best bass lines produced in a song, fantastic lyrics, and an extremely addictive quality. The song is about proclaiming your independence, not only in terms of relationships, but also with regards to your individual liberation from the norms of society. Without question, 'Single' is the top single of 2007.

dragons of the dwarven depths

2008-01-04T02:46:00.000+08:00

it is recommended that before you read the lost chronicles trilogy. you must finish reading the chronicles trilogy first. why? because the lost chronicles is about the adventures that happened during the chronicles trilogy but were intentionally left out (i heard as to make more money) but perhaps its a good thing that our favorite companions continue to have "new" adventures way after their lifetimes. ::sob:: ils me manquent bien ... ::sob:: tome 1 dragons of the dwarven depths is about how the companions obtained the hammer of kharas. a gift from the gods of light by which the inhabitants krynn will able to forge the mythical dragonlances. also it showcases the kingdom of the mountain dwarves thorbadin and the different clans of dwarved who dwell in it. my favorite part is when caramon drew a heart on the tunnel wall with tika's name inside. cute cute ^_^ (sigh) the highseekers who continues to be a burden to the companions and the refugees remind me very much of baptists or filipino politicians who charms their way in to the hearts of the mob whispering sweet words but with little or no substance.

rating 2 out of 5 .. for a book that has the word depth on the title, i find it lacked depth .. however i did want to make special mention of the artwork on the cover. its nice!

City of God

2007-12-28T19:56:00.000+08:00

imdb page

I heard lots of good things about this movie, mainly for its realistic depiction of crime in the 'City of God', the name of a slum area in Rio de Janeiro.

I was a bit apprehensive, as I was afraid it would be too violent and disturbing to watch. But it didn't turn out as violent as I thought it was. Yes, lots of gang killings and violence takes place, but it doesn't revel in them unlike many of today's unimaginative and horrible torture movies that masquerade themselves under the horror category. City of God does its best to hide the graphic nature of the violence and only uses them to illustrate how dangerous and desperate the area is.

It is filled with many fascinating characters, each with his own storyline. I found myself believing that these were real people and not merely roles played in a movie. The main character is a gang druglord named Li'l Ze. We are introduced to him starting from when he was a little kid hanging out with a bunch of local thugs. At first, it is amusing to see how eager he is to try to fit in with the older guys and show that he will make a good gangster in the future. Then the film fast forwards to the point where he is all grown up and now quite a scary character capable of much violence filled with his desire to control the City of God.

The other main character is a young boy named Rocket, who somehow manages to avoid getting himself involved with the rampant crime and violence. He grows up to be a struggling newspaper errand boy, with a passion for photography. These two characters - Li'l Ze and Rocket frequently bump into each other at critical junctions, and their paths finally cross in the climactic final scene.

The sequencing of scenes are very nicely done and serves to advance the story in a captivating way. Through this method of storytelling, we are introduced to the secondary characters of the City of God - Benny, the popular gang leader and best friend and partner of Li'l Ze. Knockout Ned, the humble unassuming slum resident who is unwillingly drawn into the gang violence. We also get to know Rocket's love interest, Angelica, and Carrot, the rival drug lord to Li'l Ze's empire.

An interesting side note is how big the class differences are in Brazil. You've got the poorest of the poor living in the City of God slums, and we get a small glimpse of the other side in the newspaper scenes, where it seems like a very different country. The income gap between rich and poor is as wide as the differences between first and third world countries.

This was an entertaining and fascinating film to watch which I highly recommend.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Great characters and realistic story.

I Am Legend

2007-12-28T19:25:00.000+08:00

imdb page

I Am Legend is a movie adaptation of Richard Matheson's novelette of the same name. A mysterious virus outbreak has turned all the inhabitants of New York City into degenerate beast-like creatures. Apparently, there are only two survivors: Will Smith's character, who appears to be immune to the virus, and his pet dog who serves as his loyal companion and best friend.

The start of the movie is pretty good. A scientist/doctor played by Emma Thompson appears on a TV news interview with what appears to be a cure for Cancer. The scene then shifts to several years later. New York is deserted and in ruins. An unforeseen disaster of apocalyptic proportions has occurred.

As a fan of the post-apocalyptic movie genre, I was looking forward to this film. But at the same time, very apprehensive as it had all the makings of another disappointing Will Smith sci-fi film in the mold of I, Robot.

While not as bad as I, Robot, this unfortunately didn't turn out well. The human/beast infected creatures didn't look real. They were very CGI-ish. I also got very impatient with the pacing, it felt like everything was moving so slowly and I wanted them to hurry it up.

I also found myself in disbelief at some of the decisions that Will Smith's character made in the movie. I found myself questioning many of his actions, especially in the later parts and the ending. This is one of the movies where I felt many of the situations were contrived.

The only saving grace here is Will Smith's relationship with his dog. It was both very touching and real. These were the only good parts of the movie.

I haven't read the original novelette, but based on what I gathered from those who are familiar with it, this film deviated from much of the original story. And I think it missed on a lot of the main points that the story wanted to impart, replacing it with more action sequences (just like I, Robot).

The sad thing is that I Am Legend hit it big in the box office, which only encourages Hollywood to follow the same formula, which will result in more bad movies like this to be made in the future.

Rating: 2/5 * *
Another Will Smith sci-fi fiasco.

Best Songs of 2006

2007-12-17T16:28:00.000+08:00

Here are my picks for best songs of last year, 2006. I've only got five that are memorable, because it was kind of a sparse year for good music. This is a year late, but I wanted to post this before I finalize my top song picks for this year. You can also check out my 2005 song list.

5. Wind It Up - Barenaked Ladies

While I was underwhelmed with their latest CD 'Barenaked Ladies are Me', I did enjoy the last song in the album 'Wind It Up'. The video is good too - a funny and oddly inspiring story about a rock star making a comeback in the national air guitar tournament.

4. Fidelity - Regina Spektor

Here's a nice feel-good song with catchy vocals and melody. It's memorable because I first saw the video in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, and thought it was fantastic. A couple of weeks later, I heard it again while browsing in a bookstore and it just had a good mood to it.

3. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

One of the most played songs on radio for the year. This is a great motivational song - especially with the excellent lyrics combined with Natasha Bedingfield's powerful voice. My favorite part is when the gospel choir sings along in the chorus. It's about deciding and writing your own future and enjoying the present moment.

2. SOS - Rihanna

When I first heard this on the radio, I immediately noticed the Soft Cell 'Tainted Love' background loop, but on a new song. Who is this Rihanna and why is she stealing from Soft Cell? I was determined not to like this new song, but after repeated listens I had to admit that it was growing on me and I was starting to like Rihanna's new spin on an 80's new wave sampling track. After a couple of months, I was hooked. It's also good workout music.

1. O Valencia - The Decemberists

It was on a dark and cold November night that I saw The Decemberists play this song on Letterman. The music and singing struck me as something very unique, and the lyrics were romantic and tragic in an epic sort of way. It transported me momentarily to a different time and place - where true love exists and lingering feuds are settled the old fashioned way. O Valencia had that magical, innocent aspect to it, which you don't see much of these days. And this is why it's my top song of the year.

The Best Books of 2006

2007-12-10T19:51:00.000+08:00

Yes I know, I'm a year late for this. Here' s my top 10 list of best books for the year 2006 (last year).

Stay tuned for my 2007 book list which I will post very soon. You can also check out my 2005 and 2004 book lists.

10. Salt: A World History - Mark Kurlansky

This book brought me back to my high school days, when I used to enjoy reading about history. The author describes how salt is cultivated and traded, and how it played a huge role in the development of civilization. In the past, salt was a scarce and heavily valued resource, much like oil is today. Salt is now easily manufactured and readily available everywhere. Kind of makes you think what would happen if oil were to follow the same fate, how would it affect the balance of power in the world?

9. Programming Interviews Exposed - John Mongan

I added this to my list as it helped me in preparing for a couple of job interviews when I was applying to different teams early in the year. This book helped me get into good programming shape and provided me the tools necessary to exercise my skills and develop my confidence which helped me get the much needed job transfer.

8. Effective C# - Bill Wagner

I needed this book to prepare me for the C# Programming Trivia part of the job interviews. It was essential in getting to know the ins and outs of writing code in the C# language. Though I wasn’t able to use much of the material in the actual job interviews, I found that it actually helped me a lot in my work, as it had some new coding idioms and tricks I wasn’t aware of in the past.

7. The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life - Ray Kurzweil

I bought this book after my father suffered a stroke late in the year. So I was determined to learn more about good health habits and how to prevent heart attacks. It also helped that it was written by Ray Kurzweil, who I respect a lot based on his past work and ideas. Kurzweil approaches health topics like any science or computer problem. He researches the topic exhaustively and puts forth a solution for himself that other people can follow. The gist of his program is to reduce fat and salt in the diet as much as possible. It is quite difficult to follow his recommended solution, and looking back at it now, I must say that I don’t fully agree with his findings. But still, this is a very educational book and highly recommended if you want to learn more about good health.

6. To Be or Not to Be Intimidated - Robert Ringer

This is the rewritten and revised version of Robert Ringer’s original classic ‘Winning Through Intimidation’. The original editions of Ringer’s books tend to have misleading titles, which is one of the reasons why he changed the title for this one. This is a nice book that, through a series of personal anecdotes and stories, teaches you how to accept and acknowledge reality for what it is, and how to deal with different kinds of people. Ringer describes the different people who will try to take advantage of you in business, and gives very practical advice on how to handle them. This is a great business and life book and has helped me a lot.

5. Hyperspace - Michio Kaku

The author, Michio Kaku has a knack for describing complicated physics topics in a highly entertaining and educational manner. He starts with the basics, then progresses to more current theories – Newton’s Law, Einstein, Quantum Theory, and String Theory. He also mixes the technical stuff with plenty of musings and digressions on the nature of the universe, reality, and time. This was a very enjoyable book to read and greatly expanded my imagination.

4. Your Money or Your Life - Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin

This is one of those subversive books that is so radically different from everything else I have been led to believe in the past. To me it is the personal finance counterpart to ‘The Joy of Laziness’ (another book I loved, which also drastically changed the way I think). If you have been struggling with your finances or find that you're not enjoying your work and your life, this book might be the most important one you’ll ever read.

It’s not so much a money book, but more of a ‘life’ book. It shows you how to value your time and how to put your life energy to things that are most meaningful to you. It also emphasizes how frugality can lead to a much more enjoyable life, by using every item to the fullest extent. The later chapters eventually get to the ultimate destination, what the authors call the ‘crossover point’ wherein your investment income equals your expenses. At this point you are free to pursue what fulfills you the most in life, which can give you greatest happiness and satisfaction.

3. Build Your Own Computer - Kyle MacRae

This is your standard ‘how to’ book which shows you step by step, with lots of diagrams and illustrations, how to build your own computer from parts you choose and buy separately. Now you’re probably wondering how a simple book like this can be #3 in my list. It’s because I’ve always wanted to assemble a PC myself, and have asked a lot of people how to do it. I’d always get a smug, unhelpful reply such as “it’s easy, don’t you know how to do it?” or something like that, which doesn't me much good. But this book showed me how to do it step by step, and also addressed a lot of the gotchas such as hardware compatibility issues and all those pesky details. It just works, which is why I love this book.

2. Looking Out for #1 - Robert Ringer

I have benefited so much from reading Robert Ringer's ‘Million Dollar Habits’ (my top book for 2005), and have gained a lot from this book that he wrote earlier. He describes his overarching philosophy on life – looking at the big picture, seeing things in perspective, always seeing things for what it is in reality. He gives a lot of advice based on his personal experience, which he narrates in a humorous, self-deprecating manner, through his plodding Tortoise character, which I instantly related to.

I saw this book many times in the past, usually in National Bookstore or book sales. I would always pick it up, read a few pages, debate whether to buy it or not, eventually put it back on the shelf. I regret not buying and reading this a decade ago when I first saw it, as it would probably have had a profound affect on my life much earlier, and I would have avoided a lot of my earlier mistakes.

The book is extremely rich in content, covering all sorts of topics on human behavior, personal neuroses that hold us back, reality-based thinking, among other stuff. What I really need to do is reread the book again and post an outline of all the major points. But if you want to get a good insight on life and personal development, I highly encourage you take your time in reading this book, and digest all the ideas slowly.

1. Naked Economics - Charles Wheelan

Simply put, this is the best economics book out there. Lately, there has been an increase in popularity of popular econ books such as Freakonomics, The Undercover Economist, Armchair Economist, and many others. While they are all a source of good ideas and fascinating reading, they are usually geared towards the more entertaining and sensationalist facets of economics. ‘Naked Economics’ is less geared towards pop economics, and is structured more to cover the basic concepts of how the free market economy works, yet is written in a way such that it is also very educational and entertaining to the casual reader.

This was the book I should have read in high school, when I used to fall asleep in economics social studies class. It covers how free markets work, why the government is useful, how the flow and availability of information affects you more than you think, the power of incentives in everyday life, productivity, and how the Federal Reserve works to our benefit. It’s 236 pages of condensed information. The author, Charles Wheelan, describes each topic with plenty of historical events, side stories, and metaphors to illustrate a new lesson, all in a succinct way.

After I finished the book, I felt a deep glow inside of me - that feeling when I knew that I gained a deep understanding of how the modern world works. It also challenged a lot of my assumptions as to how I thought things were and how different it was in reality. I knew that I would never see things in the same way I used to think of them in the past. Which is why Naked Economics tops my list for 2006.

the golden compass (book and film)

2007-12-06T12:26:00.000+08:00

[BOOK]

the golden compass is tome 1 of the trilogy entitled His Dark Materials. its a fantasy world which has similarities to our own.

i enjoyed the different factions. the separation of powers. there is oxford college which traditionally stood for social and scientific progress. the government, puppets of the magisterium which stands for totalitarian rule. one cant help but make the connection between the magisterium mentioned in the book and the catholic church with it's history of oppression of outsiders and suppression of freedom. the gyptians (similar to the fate of gypsies in europe). the free-spirited nomads who are subjects of prejudice, from which our main hero lyra belacqua will get most aid from. i was inspired by the magnificence of the armored bears and the alluring witches.

on page 239. there is, for the first time nearly the end of tome 1, a brief mention of the vatican. the power behind the magisterium and the clever precedent, refering to the practice of castration in catholic europe, to the awful cruelty that is happening in lyra's world.

my favorite part is the confrontation between the armored bears. i thought it a precise metaphor to how weak and dangerous pretentions can become.

[FILM]

have finally watched the movie golden compass. i was very disappointed with the movie. although it was faithful to the general plot, it failed to convey the same level of excitement and dread that it had in the book. to put it mildly .. it lacked soul. if the story had been human, the movie would have been someone who had lost its daemon. by this time i believe most people would have heard about it. or have watched it themselves. so it would be okey if i mention the parts which went missing in it.

1. first, the magisterium was heavily watered down into a regular bad guy. for those who havent read the books. the magisterium is controled by the vatican. even if it did maintain its primary intent, that is to control mankind (his thoughts. his dreams. his life). the change of face made it less of a threat and therefore it was less intriguing. i felt that this was very unfortunate that prof. richard dawkins is once again right in his thesis. why is religion immune to scrutiny. but that is that another story. (another forum for that matter)

2. in the book i felt scared and utterly shocked at the discovery of the ghostly kid who lost his daemon. it was downplayed in the film. i couldn't feel any dread. but instead it felt like a walk in the park on a sunday afternoon where you ignore everything around you. in the book, the boy died. in the movie, they hinted on getting the daemon back. again this couldn't work. the enemy and what it was doing became an inconvenience rather than something to be afraid of. it took away the intensity of the scene. loosing your soul is suppose to be a very big deal. and yet the people just stood there as if the kid just lost a pet.

3. what better way to invade a kingdom but by invading its culture (its spirit). this is exactly what happened during the age of colonization where christian europe settled in the americas and colonized many parts of africa and asia. this story is written all over church history. it starts by converting the ruling class, then the nobles and then finally, the peasants. it then demonizes/ridicules local traditions until eventually everything about their identity had been stamped out completely. much like the king of svalbard who was enticed to convert along with his confused subjects. it must have started that way too for the filipino natives when their datus (chieftains) converted (under the banner of the sword) to catholicism. it must have been awkward and confusing for their subjects. their way of life changed. their spirit gone. they've become slaves to the imported culture. although not portrayed very well in the film, the metaphor was perfectly obvious in the book.

rating - book 3 out of 5 ***
rating - film 1 out of 5 *

The Fifth Mountain

2007-10-08T14:13:00.000+08:00

Category:	Books
Genre:	Religion & Spirituality
Author:	Paulo Coelho

It's been years since I last read Paulo Coelho's books. Personally I prefer Coelho's first three books (The Alchemist, Valkyries, and the Pilgrimage) over his later novels. For me, "The Alchemist" was the best, followed by "The Pilgrimage" and then "Valkyries". These books were filled with insights, ideas, and new age mysticism -- which drew my curiosity and interest. I had the chance to skim through his other books, and found that they paled in comparison to his first three novels.

A few weeks ago, I friend of mine lent me "The Fifth Mountain" and "The Devil and Miss Prym". I read the two books and I am still convinced that Coelho's first three novels are still his best works. I decided to do a fantasy review on "Fifth Mountain" simply because this novel is an attempt by Coelho to retell the story of the prophet Elijah in a new age/fantasy type of narrative.

Here Coelho tries to mix religion with new-age mysticism and philosophy into a pseudo-biography of the prophet. In the book, Elijah is shown as a man who has the gift to communicate with angels. What makes the novel interesting is the way Coelho manages to portray Elijiah as a flawed human being. Coelho's Elijah is not the same Elijah in the Bible. He tries to run away from his destiny as a prophet and a messenger of God. Elijah is a man constantly bombarded with self-doubt, fear, and frustration.

My main comment about the book is that it reflects the same ideas from "The Alchemist", "The Pilgrimage", and "Valkyries". Coelho seems to be recycling or promoting the same kind of spiritual philosophy in his all his books.

At the start of the story, Elijah refuses to become a prophet and decides to live his life as a carpenter. When Queen Jezebel decides to kill off Isarel's prophets, Elijah was forced to flee his homeland. Elijah continues to reject his destiny as a prophet, causing him to experience more pain and hardship. This same conflict was also seen in Coelho's "The Alchemist", where the shepherd boy was tempted several times to follow a path that was not meant for him.

One curious thing about the novel is that Coelho skips over the story of Elijah that is found in the Bible. Instead, he creates his own story about Elijah's exile. Coelho focuses his story on Elijah's stay in the city of Akbar. Here Elijah undergoes a spiritual journey, much like the journey in "Valkyries" and "The Pilgrimage". He falls in love, learns about himself, God, and his destiny.

I think this book be is a re-telling of "The Alchemist". Coelho recreates the story of Elijah to talk about his ideas on destiny, God, and spirituality. The story works on some levels, but there are some sections where Coelho rambles about his philosophy, which I find a bit too "new-age" for me.

Death Proof

2007-09-24T08:34:00.000+08:00

imdb page

Death Proof was originally shown in theaters as one half of the Quentin Tarantino 'Grind House' double bill, the other half being Planet Terror. The two movies were released as separate DVDs, though there is a planned 'Grind House' special edition release coming soon. I wasn't able to catch this during its theatrical run so I had to settle for viewing the DVD.

This film was shot B-movie style, with grainy film quality, skips, and even an occasional blooper thrown in. It's supposed to have the effect of going to a delapidated movie house showing old, low budget films. It reminded me back when I was in high school and college, where I wouldn't be too picky about the types of movies I watched, going to poor quality movie theaters to watch rehashed 70's and 80's movies. Most of them weren't good at all, but it was still fun to watch. Death Proof tries to replicate this effect with mixed results.

You get three different picture styles, as well as two sets of female victims. It starts with a rough, grainy, old film look, complete with audio and video skips. This is part with the group of girls led by Vanessa Ferlito. It then shifts to black and white (presumably as we're now on a separate roll of film) when the second group of girls led by Rosario Dawson are introduced. Then there's a very cool effect when the film shifts to color, and you see that the girls' car is actually yellow.

To get to the good parts, you have to bear with a lot of boring conversation by both groups of girls. I found the dialog between the girls very difficult to sit through and got increasingly irritated and bored with the seemingly endless talking. I think this was the intention of Tarantino, to make us so tired of listening to these characters that it would make the action scenes much more interesting by contrast.

We are spared from having to hang out with these unlikable characters once Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) is introduced. Here is a guy we actually like. An old school stuntman from the 70's and 80's. A loner who gets the attention of the only other likable character in the first segment, Rose McGowan, a sweet girl who feels alienated by the slutty, shallow, drug-using group of girls we had to bear with earlier. McGowan is able to hitch a ride with Stuntman Mike after they leave the bar. And this is where the action starts.

In the second segment, we have to bear with another torturously long chit-chat between the Rosario Dawson group of girls. While not as irritating as the first group, they had their own set of unlikable qualities. At this point, I was actually rooting for Stuntman Mike to finish them off. And I think this was the emotion that Tarantino was going for with his audience. For them to root for the bad guy. After all, if you take away the psychotic murderous serial killer side of Stuntman Mike, he's actually a pretty cool guy who you'd like to hang out with and can relate to.

My main complaint with this film is the overly long, boring conversation that takes place not once, but two times, with two different groups of females. Perhaps Tarantino could have found a way to make these parts shorter, while at the same time getting the same intended 'irritation' effect. Or maybe not.

The dialog also feels somewhat contrived, especially with Tracie Thomas' character, Kim. Just too much girl power. Only two girls were likable, the sweet and innocent Rose McGowan, and Lee, the cheerleader (who has a somewhat interesting side story in the end, when she is abandoned by the Spice Girls).

The best parts were the road action parts. These are not your ordinary chase scenes. Most vehicle action scenes in today's movies are spliced together in a way that they don't have the same cohesion, like watching a bewildering sequence of special effects on the road that leave you dizzy. The Death Proof chase scenes appear very genuine, like they were actually taking place, and they tell a good story, with emotional pacing. This is oen of the reasons why Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite directors. You can feel the love, care, and attention to detail that he has for his movies in something as ubiquitous as a high speed car chase scene.

Overall, a very entertaining movie. And I'm eagerly awaiting Planet Terror, the other half of Grind House, when it comes out.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
A little action with lots of annoying dialog.

Braveheart

2007-09-18T16:59:00.000+08:00

imdb page

I consider Braveheart to be the precursor to modern era epic battle movies such as Gladiator, Troy, Alexander, and Lord of the Rings. It was filmed and shown before CGI, or computer-generated imagery became common in movie production.

Due to this, I had tempered my expectations for this film, as I knew the battle scenes were developed without the aid of computers or graphics. Whatever limitations it would have in terms of special effects, I expect it to be made up by a much better story and character development. But it ultimately let me down.

Mel Gibson stars and directs in this movie, which in 1996, won Best Picture and a Best Director award for Gibson. I guess it must have been a very weak year for movies at the time, as I don't get how this won. It's mildly entertaining, and at times even fun to watch, but horribly overrated.

Gibson portrays William Wallace, a thirteenth century Scottish bandit/rebel who fights to free his people from the evil English. This is the film's fatal flaw as I don't find Mel Gibson at all convincing in this role. Wallace is supposed to be this fearsome brute of a man, savage and courageous at the same time. And I just never see these qualities in his acting.

Another complaint of mine is how this movie appears to advertise itself as being based on historical events, yet is terribly inaccurate. I understand that the storytelling needs to be exaggerated and some new parts made up to add entertainment value. But in this case, Braveheart went too far off course.

Even while watching this, I couldn't believe how saintly Wallace was portrayed, I'm pretty sure the real-life figure wasn't at all like this. I'm not even sure if his wife existed, or if the Scots were the good guys, or if King Edward Longshanks was that ruthless. Once you start to doubt whether these events actually happened or not, that's when things start slipping.

Despite these complaints, I confess I found it entertaining at times. Particularly all the scenes with King Edward (Longshanks). I enjoyed the tough guy, kick-ass King character. You can feel his power and ruthlessness. To illustrate just how bad ass this elderly king is, in one of the scenes, he throws his son's male lover out a tower window, and effortlessly beats up his son when he tries to fight back.

The battle scenes were ok but lacked emotion. At times it felt like these were actors going through the motions of fighting. There were also some moments which felt too contrived, such as when the Irish and Scots changed sides. The ending where Wallace seemed to get the upperhand of the King even in defeat was just too precious and made me groan out loud.

This would have been a pretty good lighthearted action flick. It just took itself too seriously.

Rating: 2/5 * *
Overrated Best Picture

The Weather Man

2007-09-13T18:56:00.000+08:00

imdb page

Most movies follow fairly predictable plots. You can almost tell what the characters are going to do, what will happen next, and sit smugly knowing that things are going to be resolved, that everything will turn out alright, and that the heroes will be vindicated in the end. The Weather Man is not that type of movie.

In fact, you can't tell what will happen next. It could be good or bad, but in this case, things always get worse. And when you think you finally reached the turning point where things ought to be getting better, guess again. This thing is depressing to watch, but in a good way.

Nicholas Cage is David Spritz - a TV Weather Man. On the surface, it looks like he's doing very well for himself. He's a well known TV personality, has that charm on camera, earns big bucks, gets to have sex with lots of attractive women, and is on target to get a potential six-figure income as the weather guy in the country's number one syndicated morning show, Hello America. He's living the American dream, but there's a problem.

Despite all his successes, his personal life is in shambles. His ex-wife hates him. His kids have no affection for him. He feels like a failure when he compares himself to his father, a world-renowned writer played by Michael Caine. He gets no respect from strangers either, as he is frequently gets fast food and beverages thrown at him on the street. Nobody likes the weather man.

Spritz tries desperately to make things better. He takes his daughter to the company Christmas party, where things go wrong. He takes her out for archery lessons but there's no warmth in their father-daughter relationship. To make things worse, his son is befriended by a pedophile, which Spritz is unaware of. He can't even get things right in his father's "live funeral" (a make-believe funeral you stage with loved ones while the person is alive).

It's like watching a horror movie. I wanted Spritz to win, even just a little. The character is shallow, weak, and oftentimes a jerk, but I found that I still wanted to root for him to succeed. There's a point in the film where he realizes exactly the type of person he is, and I think this is the most powerful point in the movie.

In a way, it's also a film about the modern ills of western society. You can be well off materially, have all the physical comforts, and have all the external trappings of success, yet be very unhappy. One of the dilemmas that Cage's character faces is how his professional success contrasts with his failures in personal life and relationships.

There were some things about this film that I felt were flaws. For one, I couldn't figure out whether Michael Caine's character was british or not. He kind of had a british accent, yet he was supposed to be the father of Nicholas Cage's character who was American. To add to the confusion, Cage's son played by Brit Nicholas Hoult, who was Marcus in About a Boy, also seemed very British. Were Caine and Hoult supposed to be Americans, or were they there to show that Cage's family had some British roots? Though not relevant to the story, it distracted me enough as they just didn't feel as if the three males from different generations were related to one another. Poor casting in my opinion.

Another thing was that I got the impression that this was a comedy, or at least a dark comedy. It's not. In fact I think this plays more like a modern day tragedy. I watched this with the wrong expectations. Perhaps that was the intent of the filmmakers, but it made it more painful to watch for me.

This movie won't make you feel good and will make you probably more depressed after watching it. But I think that's its main purpose. You'll also think of how much your own life either resembles or contrasts with the quiet desperation of David Spritz.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
How are you like the weather man?

Hot Fuzz

2007-09-04T17:12:00.000+08:00

imdb: Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a brilliant and funny film from the makers of Shaun of the Dead. If Shaun of the Dead was a movie about all other zombie films, then Hot Fuzz is a tribute to every cop film made. It has the same director, writers, and two lead actors as Shaun of the Dead.

The plot revolves around a London supercop named Nicholas Angel, played by Simon Pegg, who's so good that he makes his superiors and colleagues look bad in comparison. So he gets assigned to the small, quiet town of Sandford. Here he meets his new partner, Danny, played by Nick Frost, who is Simon Pegg's real life best friend. They also played the part of best buddies in Shaun of the Dead. A couple of people get killed, which is chalked up as 'accidents' by the police chief. Everyone in this town seems so dumb, but things are not what they seem to be.

The first two thirds of the movie contains lots of references to cop movies. There's a scene where Angel visits his partner Danny's apartment and sees his huge DVD collection. They watch some scenes from Point Break and Bad Boys II, and Danny mimics his favorite scene from Point Break, which will be revisited in a later point in the movie. He also pesters Angel about whether he was able to do some of the cop stuff that he has seen from those classic cop films. To which Angel replies that he hasn't done any of those, and dismisses them. Again, this will be revisited in a later point.

The first two thirds is essentially a setup for the climactic last third. A lot of buddy cop movie cliches are thrown in - the amiable police chief, the rival cop team, the good-looking villain, and many others. If you watch a lot of action movies, you'll recognize them all. Then in the last part, all hell breaks lose and all the cliches come to life unexpectedly.

This was an extremely well made film, with great attention to detail. You'll need to watch this closely, or like what I did, watch it twice. As every scene turns out to have some important meaning later on. On my second viewing, I watched this with the commentary on in the DVD, where the director and Simon Pegg reveal a lot of the hidden gems. There's bits of humor sprinkled throughout that will only become apparent on second viewing. For me, the funniest part was the 'Point Break' reenactment near the end.

As you may have heard, this is a British film, but it was made to parody hollywood movie cliches, so the comedy feels very American. The spoofing is also very subtle, unlike what you're used to seeing in movies such as in the Naked Gun, Hotshots, and Scary Movie franchises. This will satisfy all action movie enthusiasts. I would love to see a sequel.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Everything you liked in cop movies.

V for Vendetta

2007-09-02T09:49:00.000+08:00

imdb: V for Vendetta

This was an odd movie. Somehow I couldn’t put my finger on it. Is it about revenge? Or social revolution? Or a political statement based on current events? I’ve read that the original graphic novel was a reaction to the Thatcher administration. And that the Wachowski brothers (who made The Matrix) wrote the screenplay for this, and simplified and revised the story for the benefit of the viewing audience.

It occurs in the distant future, with the entire story taking place in the UK. The United States has fallen into civil war and is in ruins. A fascist, repressive government has taken over, led by Chancellor Sutler. The government has removed all civil liberties and is bent on enforcing its will on the people through propaganda, government enforcers who goes by the name ‘Fingermen’, and through spying on its own citizens.

The two protagonists is a masked character named ‘V’ and a young female, ‘Evey’ played by Natalie Portman. V is hell bent on revenge and justice as he has been disfigured as a result of being incarcerated by the government. Evey has her own back story, starting out as an innocent citizen, but slowly being drawn into V’s world, eventually playing a major role in his plans.

There is a lot of social commentary in the dialogue, mostly from V. The idea that is repeated throughout the film is that ‘ideas are bulletproof’, and are more powerful than men. He also said a lot of other lines that I thought were interesting, maybe a bit idealistic, a little weird, funny even, but it fits in with his overall character and accomplishes its purpose.

I had the subtitles turned on while watching the DVD as I didn’t want to miss any of the quotes. My favorite is the one when Evey asked V whether he was certain of his plans, and he replied “There is no certainty, only opportunity.” Of all the bits of dialog, this was the one I could relate to the most.

I didn’t exactly agree with how V went about with his plans for overthrowing the government. I felt it was a bit too reckless, a bit too idealistic, and self-serving. He also came across as this goofy character, particular in this one scene where Evey wanted to leave, and he kept saying something like, ‘oh before you go’, and ‘could you do me one favor?’, which came out really weird (I kept thinking, uh oh, I think V wants to have sex with Natalie Portman). I’m not sure if the humor was intended, probably not.

There were also some boring and ridiculous parts, such as the one where the TV host spoofs the Chancellor and plays the Benny Hill music. It felt unfunny and out of place. The priest's acting in the scene with Portman was totally dumb and unrealistic. There was also this part where the lead detective kicks a garbage can in a fit of frustration that felt out of character. Many scenes didn't work at all for me.

The Wachowski brothers are brilliant writers and filmmakers, but when left uncontrolled to their own devices, they occasionally turn out some weird crap such as in Matrix Revolutions and some of the scenes in this film.

Natalie Portman was great in her role, and I think she saved this movie from going over the edge. My friend remarked that he avoided watching V for Vendetta because he didn’t want to see a bald Natalie Portman. But she still looked great with her head shaved! And I think the character fit her perfectly.

There were a couple of plot holes which I can’t list without giving away spoilers. I had some trouble believing what happened in the Evey interrogation/torture segment, and how V had rebuilt the subway train all by himself.

This is not horrible. Maybe even an entertaining movie. And it has some good ideas. It felt very preachy, but I believe this was the intent anyway. It will make you think, which is the important part. It’s the ideal movie to watch with your friends and talk about over starbucks afterwards.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
+1 * for Natalie Portman

(Note: This article describes the differences between the movie and the graphic novel. After reading it, I understood why the movie felt so flawed, at least to me. Contains spoilers. -rob)

Without Warning

2007-09-02T07:41:00.000+08:00

'Without Warning' imdb page

I remember back in the 90’s when my father woke me up to tell me that there was this important live news story breaking out. It turned out to be an HBO movie that was pretending to be a real news broadcast. He was in on the joke of course but wanted to see whether I would believe it.

I came in right near the end, having missed most of the breaking ‘news’. I remember thinking to myself ‘wow’ after seeing the ending. At the time I also thought the production values were very good, it looked exactly liked real news a la CNN.

Unfortunately, I could tell right away that it was fake, having recognized the actress playing the news anchor, Jane Kaczmarek, who would later on play Malcolm in the Middle’s sitcom mom. But I didn’t want to ruin the fun, so I played along, making believe it was real.

Fast-forward more than a decade later. I was finally able to watch the movie in its entirety after getting it on DVD. The production values did not look as good, the ‘news’ didn’t look authentic at all, and I even chuckled at some of the bad acting by the reporters and fake witnesses. Worst acting goes to the bar customers, the SETI scientist, and the lead roving reporter.

Now, it could be that the producers were deliberately trying to make the acting bad, just to make sure that no one would actually believe that this was a live broadcast. My analysis is that this could have looked real ten years ago, but watching it again, it looks very dated. Believe it or not, from reading the imdb messageboards, it appears that there are still a lot of people who mistake this fake broadcast to be real. What the?!

The only gem in this one was Jane Kaczmarek’s portrayal of the fake news anchor. She seemed very real, just the way I would expect an anchor to react if these events were actually happening. I found the other anchor to be very unrealistic, despite him being an actual news guy hired to play a fake role. OK, you’ve got what appears to be an alien encounter, an entire town disappearing, and potentially the end of the world, and he reports it like it is just any other news story. Plus his line at the end just felt stupid.

All in all, I still enjoyed it! It reminds me of what is called a ‘shoot angle’ in wrestling, wherein the participants pretend that what is happening is not part of the script, and real life blurs into the storylines (if you’re a dedicated wrestling fan, you’ll know what I mean).

Without Warning is flawed, silly, overacted, and deserves the low rating it gets. But it’s one of the bad movies I liked a lot. I can’t wait for the day where I play this movie in a party, and make believe to the other people that it’s real, pretending to watch while mumbling to myself "Holy..!”, “Shit, what happened?”, and “Oh my God, the aliens are here!”.

Rating: 2/5 * *
What if it actually happened though?

Land of the Dead

2007-08-29T18:51:00.000+08:00

I was looking forward to watching this, being a fan of apocalypse-type movies. With regards to other zombie movies, I enjoyed the remake of Dawn of the Dead, was disappointed with the original Night of the Living Dead (I think it's overrated), and was mildly entertained, yet also disappointed with 28 Days Later. So I was curious to see how Land of the Dead would rate.

Imagine what a world would be like months or even years after a zombie outbreak. This is what this movie is all about. Entire cities are abandoned and in ruin, completely overrun by the undead. The remaining human survivors band together in encampments protected by walls and electric fences, protecting them from the zombies.

A class society exists, with the more well-to-do humans staying together in a megaplex building, containing all sorts of luxuries and security. It is controlled by a shady businessman played by Dennis Hopper. Supplies and resources need to be gathered from the ruins of civilization - a dangerous task that is accomplished by mercenary teams led by Riley and Cholo (John Leguizamo). They have this super tank-like vehicle named 'Dead Reckoning' to protect them against the zombies.

Things go wrong when Hopper rejects Leguizamo's application to live in the megaplex complex, as it's supposed to be for the rich only. So Leguizamo decides to take Dead Reckoning for himself and threaten to destroy the megaplex.

You have the usual zombie/undead parts such as guy thinking the coast is clear, then out comes the zombie who gives a quick bite, and it's all over, with either his companions decide to shoot him before he turns into an undead himself, or him being eaten alive by zombies. These scenes are usually shocking and brutal, and there are lots of them in this movie.

However, the impact of the 'eaten alive' scenes don't have the shock value of similar scenes from the Dawn of the Dead remake. It's because no effort was made to build any emotional bond between the audience and the character. I think this was the intent on the part of director George Romero though, he probably wanted to keep the theme light and fast.

It's because of this that I feel that Dawn of the Dead is the superior movie of the two. The Dawn remake feels more realistic, and has more of the apocalypse feel. Land is more like a typical horror/action movie. In fact for some reason I couldn't help but think of Robocop while watching this, as you had your superhero-like characters in Riley and Cholo, and a supervehicle that had its own name.

An interesting plot line was the one which shows how the zombies evolved to become smarter. They were led by a somewhat more intelligent zombie named 'Big Daddy' who felt empathy toward his fellow undead, could communicate with them, and eventually lead them to take over the walled city. So while the humans adapted to life after the undead invasion, the zombies also did some adapting of their own.

Romero fans will enjoy this movie. It's mindless, the characters are shallow but fun, and there's plenty of gore, but done in a good way as to not upset anyone. Some may say there's some social commentary and message being communicated in this film, but naaah, it's just a fun zombie movie.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
Textbook undead film.

Lady Vengeance

2007-08-29T18:20:00.000+08:00

Occasionally, I'll take a chance and watch a particular movie, one that I know little about, gambling that it will be a good one and potential classic. Sometimes the gamble pays off, and sometimes it doesn't.

Lady Vengeance seemed to me to be a relatively safe investment. It had a lot of glowing reviews by people who seemed to share my movie interests, it was directed by Chan-wook Park of Oldboy fame, a movie which I liked, and had a revenge plot similar to Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, which I also enjoyed.

Safe bet right? Unfortunately, no. It started out nicely, with interesting plot about a girl accused of kidnapping and murder, and sentenced to a women's prison for more than a decade. While incarcerated, she befriends some of her inmates and earns their trust through various means such as helping to kill other inmates who were victimizing them, and taking care of them while they were sick.

The problem is, the movie is too slow. And I thought it got too artsy and cute. It tries to inject humor where it shouldn't, and gets over melodramatic in parts where it seemed unnecessary. I found myself getting bored, and felt cheated as some parts just stretched out too uncomfortably long.

The worst parts where the ones with the female inmate oral sex. Usually lesbian scenes are nice, but not this one, ugh. And the final extended overly long climactic scene where the families of the victims get to take revenge on the main kidnapper. In a revenge movie, the actual revenge scene would be the best part, but this one just got me depressed after I turned off the DVD. It also made me feel like I wasted two hours.

In obligatory Asian Extreme Horror movie fashion, this ends with some weird scene which I guess is supposed to be open to interpretation and make the viewer think. I didn't find it weird though, I just didn't care. In fact, this just might be the one to turn me away from the whole asian extreme horror genre which is looking more and more repetitive and depressing rather than scary.

I guess the only scary thing about this is how it got all those glowing reviews and praise from the so-called asian horror fans.

Rating: 1/5 *
Watch this if you're too happy and want to become depressed.

Point Break

2007-08-29T17:37:00.000+08:00

Point Break is exactly what a fun movie should be like. You've got the good cops and the bad surfers, throw in some social commentary, add cheesy lines and good action, have best friends become archenemies, and the result is a cult classic.

The basic story starts with a series of bank robberies being perpetuated by criminals wearing former Presidents' masks. Then the good cops are assigned to investigate, namely Keanu Reeves aka FBI Special Agent 'Johnny Utah' (what a great cop name) and Gary Busey. The villain is a mythical surfer dude named 'Bodhi' (a great villain name) played by Patrick Swayze. All three characters are larger than life - you actually believe they're real. And I'll go out on a limb to say that these are still the best roles that Reeves, Swayze, and Busey had ever played.

The chemistry between Utah and Busey's character is funny and intense. They gave Gary Busey all the funny lines, my favorite being "Utah, get me two!". Johnny Utah and Bodhi also have a special relationship, as friends and archenemy, sort of like Superman and Lex Luthor. Utah starts out as this Type A Mr. Stress personality, until he meets and befriends Bodhi, who teaches him a lot about his philosophy towards life.

Bodhi has a couple of great quotes in this film. He talks about people who "are inching their way on the freeways in their metal coffins". Before you know it, Utah realizes that his experiences with Bodhi has made him a different person. Bodhi just might be the best movie villain of all time. I both hated and liked him at the same time.

Since Keanu Reeves is in this one, there's the obligatory corny stuff and corny acting. But it works! Everything just feels right. In fact, this might be Keanu's best role to date (better than Neo even). Busey's character and Swayze's over the top persona makes sure you don't take the story too seriously.

The action scenes are real fun too. There's a Johnny Utah - Bodhi chase scene which ends in some of the worst Keanu Reeves overacting (but trust me, it's good). There's a botched FBI raid which ends with a naked woman beating up an agent. And topped with the kamikaze skydiving scene.

It's one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen. My only regret is not having watched this back in 1991.

Rating: 5/5 * * * * *
"Simple masses inching along the freeway"

Inland Empire

2007-08-27T04:24:00.000+08:00

I was looking forward to watching this on DVD as it has been almost six years since David Lynch's last movie, Mulholland Dr. Unfortunately, this movie turned out to be a total disappointment. It made no coherent sense, the video was not movie-quality, and honestly, I just got bored and ended up fast-forwarding the scenes after watching it for an hour and thirty minutes.

At almost three hours, this is a very long movie, with lots of nonsensical, dragging scenes. Unlike Mulholland Dr which at least had a plot premise, this thing made no sense whatsoever, and you get the feeling that Lynch just doesn't care. He went totally overboard with this one. He doesn't even try to make up a story.

There are scenes with people dressed up in rabbit suits, a dance number performed by teenaged hookers, a couple of dramatic scenes which end up being revealed as parts filmed for a movie when the director yells 'cut'.

The flimsy background story revolves around an actress played by Laura Dern, who was an affair with her male co-star. It is revealed that a polish curse exists for the script, resulting in dire consequences for the two main stars. Real scenes end up being movie scenes, with the place shifts abruptly to some polish locations with the actors speaking a different language. Dern is interviewed all of a sudden by some police investigator where she speaks in a southern accent and tells about how she performed some violent acts in the past. This thing makes no sense whatsoever.

Trust me, there really is nothing to see here.

Rating: 1/5 *
Waste of time and film.

Shadow Man

2007-07-22T09:27:00.000+08:00

I decided to rent this 2006 Steven Seagal movie partly because I enjoyed all his old movies (Hard to Kill, Above the Law, Out for Justice, etc.) back when I was in college. There is a certain nostalgia factor in seeing an old school Seagal movie released just last year.

The film opens with Seagal teaching his Dojo students how to fight. He says something about the force power coming from the core of the body, or something like that. He then proceeds to beat up his students one by one. Ordinarily I like mindless fight scenes, but this just made no sense whatsoever. I was left thinking, Huh?

There's this plot element where various people - high level criminals, the CIA, are all after this priceless item in the hands of Steven Seagal. His daughter gets kidnapped, I don't know why. And it even appears the female kidnapper might be a good person after all, indirectly helping out Seagal. Why that is, I don't know.

In fact a lot of elements in this movie didn't make sense at all. The car chase scene was scattered and hard to follow. The action scenes were shallow and unsatisfying. I found myself not caring what happens the rest of the story.

The most disappointing is that I actually liked Seagal's old movies, but not this one. I'm puzzled as to why there's so much user feedback on imdb who said they enjoyed this. What I should do is borrow one of his older movies (maybe Marked for Death which I remembered as particularly fun to watch), just to convince myself that the older films are still good, and that Shadow Man was just an off day.

Rating: 1/5 *
Huh?

Sam Harris, End of Faith - BOOKTV CSPAN2

2007-07-22T01:49:00.000+08:00

Sam Harris - End of Faith (1 of 4) [max] sam begins with the prestige given religion against criticism (first) about stem cell research where in between a 3 day old human embryo having 150 cells (hardly human) and a suffering human being who is plagued by an illness. theists put more value to the 3 day old human embryo. (second) theists belief in the soul at conception. if it were true that a soul is assigned to an embryo, then later splits which become two souls (?). what happens when the two souls recombine - which sometimes does happen.

Sam Harris - End of Faith (2 of 4) [max] he talks about the evils of religious moderation giving cover to the inevitable evils of fundamentalism. that is, if christians were to truly follow the bible, specific not metaphorical commandments from leviticus/exodus/thessalonians. slavery, child abuse, murder, genocide, sexism, and rape would all be legal.

Sam Harris - End of Faith (3 of 4) [max] he contines to speak about religious moderation. i am undecided about his point of view on tolerance over other people's irrationalities as being part of the problem. he does have a good point about reason being the only solution to improve the human condition. case in point, i am thinking that tolerance might be the first step and then reason as the last and only step in solving the problem of fundamentalism.

Sam Harris - End of Faith (4 of 4) [max] question and answers part. i believe the best part of the speech. he is asked to respond to religious zealotry, to homosexuality, on morality and ethics as far as statistics comparing the atheistic nations of europe and the states, the multi-verse, anne rice book on jesus?, meditation (c'est pour toi john!), distinction of buddhism compared to the violence we see in christianity and islam, and other topics ..

Rating: 3 out of 5
Makes sense

Marit Larsen - Under the Surface

2007-07-18T14:29:00.000+08:00

This is Marit Larsen's solo debut album. You may remember her as the blonde girl from M2M. I've gotten my fair share of ridicule in the past for being an M2M fan, but what can I do, they make good music.

At the young age of 24, with this album, Marit has established herself as a certified pop star with an extraordinary ability as a composer. The songs have catchy melodies, witty lyrics, and that x-factor that differentiates it from what you usually hear on the radio. You'll find yourself thinking how unique and refreshing each song is to listen to.

The individual tracks focus on a specific feeling and make a point. It's a combination of pop, country, folk and have a little bit of that M2M feel. It's clear to see that among the two M2M girls, Marit is the better composer and musician. She avoids the formulaic top 40 radio style by cleverly incorporating whistles, harmonica, claps and other cool sounds in her songs.

'Only a Fool' is my favorite song in the CD. It's the one making heavy use of the harmonica, hand claps, and whistles, and is a hybrid pop/folk song with country-style lyrics. Without listening to lyrics, you'll think it's a happy feel-good song, but listen clearly to the words, it's actually a sad and angry song.

"Don't Save Me" is the most commercial-friendly hit, staying number one in the Norwegian radio charts for several weeks. This comes closest to the traditional M2M sound only with a bit more edge. It's a angst-filled angry song disguised as a happy one. I like it because of its undertones on the M2M breakup. If you think about it, it seems to be directed towards her former M2M partner and best friend Marion Raven, who first went solo after getting a million dollar recording contract leaving Marit behind. I imagine this to be her feelings regarding the breakup.

'Under the Surface' is a haunting ballad with a slow Broadway-like melody. At first it sounds like your traditional boring love song. But there's a twist - she suspects her partner still holds feelings for someone from his past. And this thought dominates the rest of the song and she ends up sounding more desperate and obsessive with this realization. This may be the deepest and scariest song in the album.

Overall, this is a beautifully made CD filled with future classics from a rising star. You need to check this out.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
From the better half of M2M

A Chinese Ghost Story

2007-07-12T09:13:00.000+08:00

I remembered watching this classic Chinese horror story back in high school. Back then, the idea of spending a night in a haunted house really spooked me out. Despite the numerous scary and gory moments, the movie is basically a love story between a man and a ghost.

The original Chinese title of the movie is “倩女幽魂” or “a beautiful maiden’s spirit”. It stars the late Hong Kong actor, Leslie Cheung, as well as Taiwanese actress Joey Wong, and Wu Ma. The movie such a hit in Hong Kong and a few other Asian countries, it spawned off two other sequel movies and a cartoon.

The movie is an adaptation of a short story written back during the Qing Dynasty by Pu Songling. It is a typical tale of a lost traveler who spends a night at an abandoned house/temple, not knowing that the place is haunted by maligned spirits.

In the movie, the temple is haunted by a troupe of ghosts and demons, all controlled by an ancient tree demon. The ghosts are ordered to hunt mortals to feed to the demon tree.

The hero (Cheung), stays in the temple, and falls in love with the tree demon’s favorite ghost maiden (Wong). Despite all the horrible things he saw, the hero manages to fall in love with the ghost maiden and resolves to free her from the clutches of the tree demon.

Watching this movie again, reminded me of how I first reacted many years ago. I was too engrossed with the horror scenes and special effects to even bother noticing the love story. Now, I find the movie to be a tragic love story between two people. It is impossible for a mortal and a ghost to fall in love. Freeing the ghost from the tree demon’s clutches would only sets her soul back to the wheel of reincarnation. They would have to wait for another lifetime to meet up and fall in love all over again.

I gave this movie a four star rating for its story and its attempt to delve into the classic theme of a Chinese ghost story. After all, this movie is based on a Chinese horror tale written many dynasties ago. I wouldn’t recommend watching the sequels or the cartoons though (apparently Chinese movies are also prone to bad movie sequels).

Marvel 1602

2007-07-11T09:55:00.000+08:00

I recently purchased the hard cover edition of Marvel 1602. This graphic novel is written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Andy Kubert. Here, Gaiman reinvents the marvel universe by transporting iconic Marvel heroes to seventeenth century England.

We can see Stephen Strange working as the court magician of Queen Elizabeth, and Nick Fury acting as the Queen's spymaster (ala 007). Both Strange and Fury are working against the political maneuvering of Count Otto von Doom.

The two groups are seeking for the fabled treasure of the knights templar. Fury and Strange get to meet (and work with) other Marvel heroes: like the minstrel Matthew Murdoch (Daredevil), Peter Parquagh (Spiderman), Carlos Javier and his witchbreed (Professor X and the X Men), and the Four survivors of the Fantastick ship.

I like the way Giaman integrated the Marvel heroes into a Elizabethan-like setting. The plot invokes a sense of mystery and urgency. What is the legendary treasure of the Knight's templar? Who is Virginia Dare and his white American Indian bodyguard Rojhaz?

Overall, I find the series a nice read. It's been a long time since I enjoyed reading a comic book with an excellent storyline. I'm planning to buy the next series of the 1602 series (where some of the heroes have arrived in the New World).

princesse soraya d'iran

2007-07-06T08:15:00.000+08:00

a biography on soraya esfandiary, queen consort to the last shah of iran. a beautiful woman. the shah is emperor. this film focuses on the romance and drama between her and her then husband reza pahlavi. like many monarchs, they were pressured to produce an heir. and as powerful as we perceive them to be, they are really more vulnerable and not in control because of their position.

in any case, my favorite part(s) is where it touched on the history of iran itself. the political backdrop. at this time, european powers (mainly the british) imposed an embargo, having sent battleships to prevent the arrival/departure of trade ships, so that iran will be forced to sell their oil and trade with them. sounds familiar? this has very similar underlying circumstances of when the US forced japan to trade.

the result was irans citizens starved and suffered for there was no food or anything coming in. nor oil coming out. depleting the country's coffers. this angered the people. and a nationalist movement was formed. iranian oil for iranians.

reza's family urged him to agree with the british so that the political threat of the national movement would be stopped. but soraya who was ideal at this time, and having talked with certain figures in the nationalist movement, urged him to not give in. to follow what the people wanted. this was the turning point.

a coup d'etat ensued. it was so easy. because the people had nothing to lose.

this was a good movie because it opened my mind as to what happened in iran. how it was the british who started it. how americans got involved, when they had a deal with the shah to retake the thrown after his brief initial exile in italy. and later, this was no longer part of the movie, but was soon overthrown with another coup by ayatollah khomeini and this time, iran became what we perceive of iran today. an islamic republic.

rating 4 out of 5
its all about power, greed and oil

Sicko

2007-07-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

Sicko is Michael Moore's latest documentary following his previous successes, Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. In this one, he focuses on the problems of America's health care industry and what must be done to fix it.

In a nutshell, here are the main points made in the film:
- American's health care system is broken.
- Health care should be universal and free.
- Steps should be made to fix the system.

I tend to agree with all these points and glad that Moore produced his usual entertaining and educational fare to address these. It always seemed to me to be common sense that medical care that can fix illnesses and save lives should not have a price tag associated with it. And the fact that uninsured elderly, or even young people would go broke or lose their life savings after getting seriously sick means that something is wrong with the system. This became a personal issue for me recently after seeing my parents, as well as parents of friends get sick and not having any insurance or enough savings to cover for it. Michael Moore just points out what should be common sense, that there should be no price tag with saving lives and getting well.

I thought the best idea from the movie came from one thing the British doctor said in passing - that he gets incentives and bonuses if he is able to convince his patients to lower their blood pressure, or quit smoking, or do other preventive measures to improve their health. It was such a fine thought that probably won't get as much attention as the other more controversial parts in this film, but it is worth repeating: that there should be incentives on promoting good health and preventing future illnesses, rather than on fixing bad stuff after it occurs. If you ask me, the medical industry is too focused on "fix-its": fixing problems after they already occur. Perhaps because there is more money on curing ill patients, rather than making sure they improve their health so they don't get sick in the first place. I've got a lot more to rant about regarding this subject matter which I'll cover in a future post on the coffeefriday blog.

While I thought this documentary was a step in the right direction, and hopefully an instrument for reform, there were just too much social propaganda here masquerading as facts. I understand that Moore may want to exaggerate certain material to make a point, but I think he goes a bit too far in this one. For instance, he puts the health care systems of Canada, UK, and France on top of a pedestal and uses them as Utopian examples the way things should be. But he gives very little lip service to the negatives of their system. You get the impression that these countries have high quality health care that is totally free. It sounds too good to be true. The reality is that nothing is free and that everything has a cost. The cost is in higher taxes, longer waiting times, lower quality. To be fair, Moore does mention and refute these points in the movie, but gives so devotes so little time to the arguments against them, that it just felt like he was dictating to me what to think rather than letting me make my own judgment.

The part where he led the batch of 9/11 rescue workers on a boat trip to Guantanamo Bay, and later to Cuba turned me off. This was where I felt the movie stopped being a documentary and started becoming a work of fiction, or more of an opinion piece. While I acknowledge that this scene might have been staged to make a point about the broken nature of U.S. Health Care, it just got a bit too sensationalist for my tastes. The Cuba scenes portrayed the rescue workers as victims who were unable to help themselves, which does a big disservice to them as it reinforces their belief that they are victims who can only be helped by the government.

By the second half of the film, the rest of the moviegoers at the cinema I was in seemed to be totally brainwashed by everything they saw, judging from their reactions and sounds of agreement. There was loud applause at the end. While I felt initially that this was a good sign, that this would at least motivate people to make efforts to change the system, I was also a bit scared at how easily one could be misled by some of the one-sided arguments in Sicko.

So to summarize, I liked this movie, I'm glad it was made, and I think it will have a positive effect in making people think. Unfortunately I predict that it will influence people for the wrong reasons, leading us to think that free health care comes without any cost. I just wish it could have portrayed both sides of the argument (and if it comes a little biased towards Moore's side, that's ok), then let people make the decisions for themselves rather than dictating what they should think. On the positive side, there were a couple of gems in Sicko that were buried under the more sensationalist scenes, it's just too bad these ideas were not emphasized more:

- Life-saving medical care should be universal and free (even at the cost of higher taxes)
- More emphasis should be made on preventive medicine and health improvement, so people will need less medical care in the future.
- The medical industry needs to be less incentivized towards money.

Rating: 2/5 * *
Good intentions, but too one-sided in its message.

Van Helsing

2007-07-04T16:53:00.000+08:00

I didn't have high expectations for this movie, yet I found it oddly amusing. It could be partly due to the nice scenery, or Kate Beckinsale's cute Romanian accent (she's one of those rare types who gets more attractive with age). She fits the role perfectly and could have easily played the lead role. It's visually a very attractive film, and while I'm not usually a fan of eye candy effects, its looks made me stand up and notice.

The story is cartoonishly simplistic, but in a nice way. It doesn't take itself very seriously, stays very relaxed while guiding the viewer to a tour of different monsters. It has vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein, everything you expect. The main protagonist, Van Helsing , comes off as a sort of superhero expert on these beasts. There are some good action scenes which it gets a little repetitive near the end.

No need to fool ourselves, the main reason to watch this is for Kate Beckinsale's character. She is particularly hot in this one.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
All about looks.

Sunshine

2007-07-04T10:09:00.000+08:00

Say that in the distant future, that our sun gradually loses energy until it is unable to supply much needed sunlight to earth. This results in dark skies, more frigid climates, and a doomsday scenario looming over the populous. In an effort to save themselves, mankind sends out a lone spacecraft armed with a nuclear payload whose mission is to reignite the sun. The future of the world rests solely on the single crew operating the ship.

This is the premise and plot of Sunshine. Many things go wrong, mistakes are made, and difficult decisions are debated over, with tremendous repercussions. The characters are put under enormous stress and while watching this, I couldn't help but feel like I was part of the crew, agonizing with them all the way. This is the type of film where I wished I could pause it, then analyze and discuss the situation with the people I was watching with, before resuming the movie.

One thing that added to the enjoyment was that during the time I watched this, I was obsessed with getting lots of sunshine. I had just recently come from a place with extremely gloomy weather the past few months, and was enjoying the newly found tropical weather I was experiencing. Another thing that further enhanced the enjoyment was the excellent and classy moviehouse we watched this in (Greenbelt 3 cinema in Makati).

There were a couple of flaws in this one, most related to plot holes and dumb moves by the characters. I know these are essential to the story, but I felt it could have been explained in a more believable way without making the crew looking incompetent. I thought that the Captain was weak and he was mostly to blame for all the mistakes made. I thought he evaded responsibility and let a lot of dumb decisions get made without thinking it through. It was ridiculous how they let one guy make all the calculations on his own (without double-checking them), and going off and implementing it while the rest of the crew was asleep. Another silly thing is having only one person in the crew capable of activating the payload. You would think if that was the most important function of the ship, you'd have at least two people capable of doing it rather than having the fate of the world rest solely on one person.

My favorite crew member, hands down, would be Mace. He wasn't afraid to make the hard decisions, and made the most practical actions based on reality. I'll also have to pick Cassie (Rose Byrne) as she looked fantastic in this one.

I think by the last third of the movie, the director and writer just ran out of ideas and lost control of the script. It got very silly real fast. I just wish they had taken a more conventional approach to the ending. I'm hoping there's some sort of alternate ending in the DVD, or even revising the later parts all together. Worth noting is that the director, Danny Boyle, did the same 'silly ending' pattern in his other movie 28 Days Later, so maybe he takes a perverse enjoyment in those. Still, I'm willing to forget all the plot holes and silliness because this was fun to watch.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
Ethical dilemmas in a spaceship

The Matrix Revolutions

2007-07-03T16:58:00.000+08:00

Ahhh, I finally get to watch The Matrix Revolutions, the thrilling conclusion to one of the best trilogies of all time. The first Matrix was ground-breaking, the second had some bad parts, but was still good (my previous review of Reloaded is here). And now, with baited breath, I get to watch how it all ends. Will Zion be preserved? Is Neo the one? Will The Architect and The Oracle reveal the true nature of reality as it actually exists?

It turns out that none of these will be answered. Or maybe they were, I just stopped caring.

First off, I hated, hated the whole military hierarchy of the Zion defense force. The commanders came off too much like arrogant pricks that I actually wanted to root for the machines. Morpheus seems to have a very limited role in this one, which is too bad, because he was the only one that was cool.

The whole Trinity - Neo relationship is ho-hum. Neo goes off with Trinity on their own ship with a separate mission... but at this point I lost track of what was happening, and got bored. There's this big CGI fight between the machine squid-like creatures and the giant defense robots. It felt like watching a cartoon.

Then the ending. What the?! Did anything happen at all? Did I miss something? I can't believe how the Wachowski brother could mess up what started as such a good thing.

I hated this movie. And I tried hard to think why I disliked it so much. Perhaps it's because the supporting human characters were so unlikeable. Perhaps it's because of the melodramatic feel from start to finish, where everyone took themselves too seriously, including Neo. Even previously cool characters such as Morpheus, Agent Smith, and Persephone couldn't save this one.

I guess I just didn't get the whole thing. If anyone knows what happened here, please explain it to me.

Rating: 1/5 *
Horrible ending to a once great franchise.

Ong-bak: The Thai Warrior

2007-07-03T16:15:00.000+08:00

Ong-bak is a Thai action/martial arts film with some of the best fighting scenes I've ever watched. Its main star, Tony Jaa, appears to perform all his own stunts, and every punch and kick is delivered with full impact. I have a feeling that many of the actors and stunt men had sore bodies after filming. If you're a fan of old school 80's fight movies, you've gotta see this one.

The best part is when all the bad guys chase the hero through the crowded streets. Our hero jumps through barbed wire, leaps over walls, and steps over the shoulders of the henchmen in order to evade them. And yes, there's lots of good fighting here. In fact, the movie is more than two-thirds fighting and action. Another good part is the fight club scene at the bar where Tony Jaa is forced to beat up colorful characters named 'Pearl Harbor' and 'Big Bear', reminiscent of Jean Claude Van Damme's Bloodsport.

The only shortcoming of this movie is that the fights get somewhat repetitive in the end. You see the same moves over and over again. The final battle scene is anticlimactic. When you get to it, you're so exhausted from all the action that you want to take a break.

Yes, there's a story here too. The protagonist, a lowly villager named Ting who has been trained in the art of Muay Thai fighting is tasked to recover the head of the Buddha which has been stolen from his village. Along the way he meets a scam artist named Dirty Balls and his sister Muay, who take advantage of his fighting abilities to make some extra money, as well as help him in the end against the bad guys. Muay, portrayed by a young Thai actress named Pumwaree Yodkamol, is one good-looking woman. Though she is portrayed here as a short-haired college-age tomboy with a somewhat irritating voice, she's the second best reason to watch this movie.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
You want fights? This movie has it.

perfume

2007-07-03T02:25:00.000+08:00

This is one of the films featured in the recent 2007 french film festival in cebu which I missed. But I was able to acquire an english copy from a colleague.

The backdrop of this fascinating story in 18th century France, a decade and perhaps a couple of years before the American Revolution. City of Paris. There was this fish vendor who gave birth to an unwanted child. A boy.

Early on, there had been many attempts to dispose of him, but he proved lucky enough to survive. Growing up he was obviously different. He has an extra ordinary ability to smell. Distance is of no consequence. He can track anyone for miles, if he so chooses. He can break down any smell to its parts.

Naturally, he became an apprentice to a perfume maker. He was so overwhelmed by his sense of smell that when he became an adolescent. He made his first kill. An accident. A woman. Consumed, there began his journey. Perfume making has similarities to the composition of music. Each note blends. His goal was to preserve the smell of the woman.

My favorite scene in the movie is when the city elders were deliberating on their plan of action. One of them, who was a religious nut, suggested that the local bishop excommunicate the killer. As if this single act would at any degree prevent any more killings. This I think is a relevant social commentary about how people from the present day, solve their problems either by incantations or having incantations told for them by some authority. in this case, the holy mother church. Fortunately, the voice of reason was heard. A serial killer is out there and its going to take human wits to catch him.

This is the kind of movie which lingers long after it has ended. Morbid, sensual, and shameful.

Rating 4 out of 5
Disturbing.

fair play

2007-06-23T21:33:00.000+08:00

this is the only film which i was able to catch at this year's french film festival. its about a team of people and their politics. there were 4 major characters. jean-claude the manipulator, charles the manager, alexandre the loser, and nicole the executive assistant.

alexandre, who appeared to lack confidence, was an easy target. hed be the subject of ridicule. or spite. and he seems to get blamed for everything. jean-claude tries to give him advice. like thinking out of the box to solve problems. or how it was important to have the guts and be willing to do anything to achieve a goal. even if it means stepping on other people's toes. charles who is the manager - mr perfect - mr know it all - the man that society looks up to. he puts alexander down too. his words cuts like steel. i can relate very well with alexandre. and then there is nicole who is also an easy target being at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. people act as if they wer perfect incapable of making mistakes. its all just an illusion. or that sometimes we play the victim card. so that the responsibility is out of our hands.

one day, there were all in a company sponsored outing. that could represent the real world. real life. where every person is for him/herself. an accident happens and they were all trapped. the title says it all. the accident overturns the table. and they all find themselves in an unfamiliar territory. top becomes bottom and vice versa. noone escapes except one. good acting. good story. and it's not hollywood - perfect!

rating: 4 out of 5
life is one big accident

Three Extremes

2007-06-07T16:33:00.000+08:00

Three Extremes features three mini movies directed by three of the more popular Asian Extreme Horror directors: Fruit Chan, Chan-wook Park, and Takashi Miike. Each story is told in the director's style giving you a glimpse of each of their unique talents.

It opens with the first segment, 'Dumplings' (directed by Fruit Chan), which features a slightly aging actress looking to improve her youthfulness and looks. She visits this mysterious woman who cooks these dishes of dumplings, which is said to make whoever eats it look instantly younger. We can kind of guess what these dumplings are made from, its secret ingredient. This was an ok segment, nothing particularly memorable. But content may be disturbing for some.

The second segment is the torture short 'Cut' directed by Chan-wook Park who was also the director behind Oldboy. There's a bit of philosophical/social commentary in the dialog between the oppressor and the victim. And some genuinely cringe-worthy moments which made it hard for me to watch. I don't like torture films, and I found it hard to follow what was going on in this one. There is a somewhat bizarre, hard to figure out twist in the end which left me scratching my head. I only understood it after reading some of the interpretations posted by other people who watched this.

The third and last segment, 'Box', is the story of two sisters. It's a very quiet story with very little sound effects and no background music. Apparently this was the theme that director Takashi Miike (of Audition fame) wanted to convey. Some parts feel disjointed and just altogether weird. But the payoff in the end is kind of nice. And it keeps you thinking long after the movie ends.

I can't say which of the three stories is my favorite. 'Box' just felt a bit too quiet and strange (I even almost fell asleep on some parts!). 'Cut' has the richest story of all three, but somewhat disturbing for my tastes. Most people will probably enjoy 'Dumplings' the most. It's ok, but nothing great. This movie felt different, as most Asian Extreme Horror films are, so it's worth a watch if you're willing to try.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
A good intro to the Asian Extreme Horror genre.

school of scoundrels

2007-06-05T21:02:00.000+08:00

this movie is in the class of the 40 year old virgin and office space. its about this generally nice guy who noone notices because he looks average. maybe even a little ugly. he tries to please everyone. he is often proper. he doesnt swear. he runs away from confrontation. his life is mediocre. and uneventful. and expectedly, as most girls like the bad boys, he is alone, unlucky maybe, and to the point of being a push over because of it. he puts other people first before him. and what makes this a good movie for me is that he kind of reminds me, of me.

he started attending this class which taught him to be a winner. like the alpha male in a pack of lions. and he was very good. he learned a few things until finally his teacher, who was very competitive, started to interfere with his goals. that is to date this australian girl who lives on the same building where he lives.

this movie has a lot of funny antics. especially at the beginning where i could readily see my self in his shoes. although none of it really happened to me per se. because sometimes i do feel like a loser. and i suspect everyone even the prettiest or the smaertest people in the world, does too.

Rating: 4/5 ***
fuck nice .. lol

lady in the water

2007-06-02T04:15:00.000+08:00

lady in the water. its a fairy tale with a modern day twist. the central figure is story, a water nymph, who needs to get back to her home. i thought that was a pleasant pun. and around her are a host of other interesting personalities who will help her do it.

the whole business of water nypmhs coming to our world and then going back to theirs, is a long time tradition. with that in mind, just as with any other tradition, it had developed intricate rules which are all revealed when the scrunt, a wolf like villain whose purpose is to prevent story from getting home, makes its first appearance. getting a nymph home is not so easy as it seems.

having played dungeons and dragons (a fantasy role playing game) and the changeling (a role playing game where the players role play the fae). i was easily interested.

my favorite part is the gathering of the people to play special parts in her "ascension". the pot heads could have been easily us only we really dont smoke but we do engage in interesting conversations ..

Rating: 3/5 ***
quaint and witty

Bubble

2007-06-01T15:04:00.000+08:00

As many of you may know, I like my movies to be 'realistic'. I like having the sense that what I'm watching is actually happening, and that the characters are as believable as possible. Bubble is that type of movie.

As I was watching it, I felt like a distant observer to the private lives of three people who work in a doll factory in their small town and how they manage to go through their daily routine. The situation is very subtle and you can somehow sense what's going on without it being overstated. You get the sense of quiet desperation and desolation these people go through. Something happens that disrupts the delicate balance, causing a chain of events leading to a murder. But that's not the main point of the film, the story is merely a backdrop for illustrating how hopeless life can be when there are no other options. Something is very wrong here.

Bubble was shot with a very limited budget, which helps in setting the ambiance of the story. I liked the guitar strumming played at the start and in between scenes, it fit it perfectly. Plus, the ending credits with the weird music and still shots of the dolls were kind of scary. Very nicely done.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Very realistic.

pour l'amour de dieu

2007-03-09T01:56:00.000+08:00

pour l'amour de dieu (for the love of god). i thought that this film is so powerful and so relevant that its a huge waste that not too many people were able to watch it especially in the philippines. where like in france, we live amongst muslims, theists, and extremists. the truth about any religion is that it does have positive and yet then sometimes conflicting messages. it says to love and yet it also says to kill, to hate, and to murder.

the story is about a boy's journey from being a regular highschool kid to a religious fanatic. he is a second or third generation immigrant. i am guessing they were from algeria. south of france. his parents made sure that they were fully integrated in french society. this implies that he was brought up free from religion. he discovers islam from a classmate who was a confessed moslem. he became infatuated with her and then attempts to convert to islam himself to get close to the girl. the girl was like him. she was a second or third generation immigrant. she was trying to rediscover her roots. and a huge part of it was her family's religion. she was however what one may say a moderate moslem. the boy then gets involved with some extremist groups. and i thought that to show off the several prejudices and superstitions of these kind of people were priceless. example: laughing is not allowed because it is believed to be the tickle of satan. or that men. true men dont cry. that women are satan's way of seducing men to sin. there are many others. crazy stuff. in retrospect, we find similar beliefs in christian places.

in the end, the boy was forced to confront his extermist views with that of the girl's moderate views, particularly on the wearing of the hijab.

rating 4 out of 5
educational

The Message

2007-03-04T11:35:00.000+08:00

The Message
http://helpinghumanity.multiply.com/video

it is a film about the claimed history of islam. a story about mohamet. a story of what is now to be considered the stronghold regions of islam. it is mecca when europe was plunged to the dark ages. it is mecca in 610 AD. and i find that it had parallel beginnings like chrisitianity. for example, it was a popular past time for people to be polytheists. just like people in rome worshipped roman and greek deities, so did people in mecca, byzantine, alexandrie, and persia, worshipped their own list of deities before becoming monotheists.

there is also parallel as to how people reacted to the revelation or to these dangerous ideas. with resistance. but mohamet was just as adamant, just like jesus, moses, and the other biblically recorded prophets. they appeared to have conviction. but the problem is just like the rest of theists descendants today, they expected people to accept their message on the sole basis of conviction. with maybe fear mongering on the side.

"accept islam for your salvaton" -- and i thought or else what?

one of the messages (part 3 of the movie) talked about the previous custom of killing girls. because they were considered to be bad luck. or unfortunate. which i find to be parallel with chinese customs of even today. boys were regarded with more esteem. on other words, women were oppressed. the irony of this today is. islamic nations are known to oppressed their women. regarding them with a lower status in contrast to what supposedly mohamet said that all men are equal. but maybe this is to be interpreted as applicable only to men (not humankind)

rating 1 vs 5
ive seen it before in christianity ..

jeanne poisson, marquise de pompadour

2007-02-22T17:50:00.000+08:00

this is a period piece on a remarkable woman named jeanne poisson. she was the official mistress of louis XV. i am uncertain wether the film was historically accurate. i have little way to verify if it is.

the film was intriguing in a way that illustrates how french nobility behaves. maybe a reflection of how the elite, a different kind of norm, behaves. a norm of castes. where society dictates and in so doing expects a certain behaviour of a person based on his/her station.

the film may have presented the characters in almost stereotypical fashion. the haughty and witty dialogues. the political maneuverings. the backstabbing. the eternal struggle to gain allies and outwit enemies. and of course as expected, the pageantry.

jeanne poisson wasnt born noble. but she eventually was granted a title after becoming the mistress of the king. she was innocent but very intelligent. she was purportedly very pretty and fashionable. and thus she was favored. this has caused people around the king, especially the inner circle like the prince and his sister, to despise her. she was not without allies as her brother ascended to the nobility short after her. but her greatest ally is the king himself. the film is filled with plots to ridicule and destroy her. the king's mother the empress was a little more civil. but otherwise was part of the majority which without pretense would like to just about throw her out of the chateau. she was clearly envied.

my favorite part of the movie was when she tripped (not by accident) and fell on the pool/fountain. the other nobles laughed but she stood and cried with innocence and confidence "i am venus" which we know to be part of greek mythology as a goddess that was born out of the sea. i enjoyed her wit just as a priest who saw what happened befriended her and became one of her allies.

reading from history, we find that there is a debate wether jeanne was really influential in the affairs of the state.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
i love history

Rocky Balboa

2007-01-08T06:08:00.000+08:00

I was a bit of an action movie fan while I was growing up. As a kid I eagerly awaited and watched every new movie of my favorite action heroes - Steven Seagal, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, among others. I also watched a lot of martial arts films, everything I could get hold of. I especially liked the training montage and fight scenes, and would pattern my workouts with some of the training scenes I've seen in the movies, although I couldn't even get close to the type of physique that my favorite protagonists would have.

Because of all those fond memories from the 80's and early 90's fight movies, I was eagerly looking forward to watching Rocky Balboa yesterday. This is the latest and probably the last of the Rocky sequels. After it was over, I was a bit disappointed. The training montage didn't compare to the training scenes of the previous Rocky movies. Of which in my opinion 'Rocky IV' had the best training montage. Imagine a bearded Rocky doing grueling exercises in Siberia, climbing a mountain and lifting heavy farm equipment, in sharp contrast to the Russian Drago's state of the art gym facilities. 'Rocky Balboa' had a short, uninspiring training scene without much of the emotion or dramatics of the earlier sequels.

The fight scene against Mason Dixon was also very different from the previous Rocky movies. It was shot in a realistic manner, made to resemble a modern day HBO Pay Per View fight. In a sense, it was like Rocky had left the 'Rocky' universe and entered the present-day world. Which is not entirely bad, I thought the effect was interesting. But I still would have preferred if we it resembled the older movies. In fact this one, didn't even show scenes from the ending boxing/fight scene of the previous sequel, and naming it 'Rocky Balboa' instead of 'Rocky VI' was I guess Stallone's way of telling the viewers that this would be different.

I was not too fond of the Marie character because she felt too much like a quick throw-in replacement for Rocky's dead wife, Adrian. Actually while watching, I was concerned that they might form some sort of romantic relationship which would have been a disaster as no one can replace Adrian. I would have also liked to see more scenes with Duke, Rocky's (and Apollo's) old trainer. Rocky's son as well as Paulie were ok, I think they filled their roles well.

I enjoyed the first half of the movie a lot. It showed how affected Rocky was by the death of his wife, and how he constantly lived in the past, where he remembered that things were much better. It also showed how much of a caricature he became, entertaining patrons in his restaurant with old stories from his past. Rocky clearly only lived for the past and didn't like how his old neighborhood had changed so much since then. I can kind of relate to that a bit, and wish that they had explored that storyline in greater depth.

You would have guessed by now that I like Rocky III and IV more than Rocky I and II, although I like them all. Even Rocky V was ok but suffered from not having a training montage and actual boxing match in the end. I enjoyed the colorful characters and simple storylines of III and IV, and thought that Rocky IV was absolutely fantastic as an action movie.

All in all, I thought this was an OK way to end the series. I can understand why Stallone would want to end the series in the style of the first two Rocky movies but I still would have liked a more satisfying training and fight scene to wrap it up.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
A 'realistic' and current timeline Rocky with a different feel from the older sequels.

Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Me

2006-11-28T19:49:00.000+08:00

(Update: OK, maybe I was too hard on this CD. Been listening to it again, 'Wind it Up' sounds better and better the more you listen to it. It has that edge, especially after reading the lyrics and watching the video. Wind it Up will end up as one of this year's best songs. -rob)

Also known as BLAM, 'Barenaked Ladies Are Me' is BNL's latest release. Now I had extremely high expectations with this one, as I do with all new Barenaked Ladies albums. These guys write some of the most creative, kickass songs I've ever heard. And I could always relate past significant events and emotions with some Barenaked Ladies or CAKE song. I was expecting to be blown away with this one, like all their past albums.

Alas, it didn't happen. I went through it once, thought it sounded nice, but nothing really remarkable, then stashed it away. Waited a few weeks, then listened to it again thinking I might have some new insight to the songs that didn't occur to me before (as was the case with their album 'Maroon'). Still no change, it was just an unremarkable album, nothing special.

I'm not discounting the fact that a year or two from now, I'll pick it up again and "get it". But I don't expect that to happen. Here's why, this CD seems to lack a certain edginess, that punch, that intensity that was present in their previous work. I'm guessing the band has matured to the point where things are good, everyone is content, life is comfortable, and it reflects in their music. There's still a bit of that quirky lyrics and hidden meanings, but much less than before.

Another possible reason for easy-going nature of this album is that the band is now producing their own work. So they have full creative control over the music process. This can be good or bad depending on how it goes. It's good because we get to hear the original unblemished songs that the band intended us to listen to. But it can also be a disadvantage because you lack that creative input from the record label that has a feel of what sells and what doesn't. I'm not usually a fan of the record industry, as evidenced by all the flat, prefabricated music being played today on the radio. But there is probably some positive effect with having some constructive feedback from the label on what works and what doesn't. With BLAM, the band has all grown up and is learning to be on its own without adult supervision.

Due to this, I'm confident that the Ladies will learn from their mistakes and create a more meaningful, intense batch of songs the next time around. This was just a rare off-day.

We also learned here that Steven Page and Ed Robertson, the two frontmen are still the best songwriters and singers. The CD features a couple of other songs written and sometimes sung by Jim Creeggan (bass guy) and Kevin Hearn (keyboards, multi-instrument guy). Not that their songs were bad, I guess they were ok, just not my type. And maybe an acquired folk taste is necessary to appreciate them.

Two songs are passably good here: 'Bank Job', a song about a botched bank robbery, and my personal favorite 'Wind It Up', a country-type song with its catchy "wind it up" chorus. The rest aren't particularly memorable. Don't get me wrong, it's still better than most of the music out there, but I expect more from one of my all-time favorite bands, Barenaked Ladies.

Rating: 2/5 * *
A little uninspired, lacks emotion.

Leigh Nash - Blue on Blue

2006-11-28T18:39:00.000+08:00

After the news several years ago of the break up of Sixpence None the Richer, my fantasy scenario has been a Leigh Nash solo album. And that's exactly what we get with Blue on Blue, her first solo work. Fantasies do come true.

I'll get straight to the point. I'm a bit disappointed with the songs. They are good, no doubt about it, her wonderful voice is prominently displayed. The music is clean and thoughtfully engineered with clean instruments and sweet ballads. But it lacks something. Instantly after listening to the CD several times, I knew that it wasn't up to par with the previous Sixpence None the Richer songs. They lack the edge, the punch, the subtle religious angst that were present in Sixpence. They were too sweet, too radio-friendly, took too little chances. They came across more like traditional love songs and lullabies.

I think part of the reason was that Ms. Nash just gave birth and was focused on raising a family during the recording of this album, and thus lost some of that musical edge. Now some of you are probably thinking that the old Sixpence songs aren't really known for angst and anger, and you're probably right because their more popular hits 'Kiss Me' and 'There She Goes' were kind of laid-back and sweet sounding. It is their other lesser known hits that had that element of bitterness and hint of anxiety that made me appreciate the band. To get an idea what I mean, check out their songs Angel Tread, as well as 'Paralyzed' from their Divine Discontent album. There was always that hint of religious rebellion and spark from Leigh Nash that made her so attractive.

I count two good songs here: 'Ocean Size Love' has some of her best singing and a couple of great parts. Another good one, and my favorite track of the album is 'Cloud Nine' where they speed up the tempo and show a bit of a killer instinct, like the old Sixpence style. The first three songs are pleasant-sounding and meant to match a certain mood that I couldn't fully relate while listening to them. The rest are average ballads that she carries well with her voice.

So I'm a bit let down, but that's ok, because this solo album was a first good step. And she has some other good stuff coming up which I'll write about as soon as I get my hands on them. If you want a preview of future Leigh Nash music, check out her website and myspace page (love her versions of those Christmas songs). And if you haven't seen the video of Breathe Your Name yet, you're in for a treat. It's one of my favorite videos of all time.

Rating: 3/5 * * *
Too sweet, lacks the Christian angst.

11 minutes

2006-11-08T09:00:00.000+08:00

a book by paulo coelho. the same brazilian author of The Alchemist. 11 minutes is an erotic and spiritual adventure of a prostitute. it is an easy read with a delicate subject matter. sex.

my favorite part was when it teaches you how to give pleasure to the woman via the sides of the clitoris and the clitoris itself. penetration apparently is not as pleasurable to women as it does to men. another interesting part is when it describes the several sexual problems that men have. his insécurités. his needs.

its hard to believe that women from history were not aware of the clitoris. after this discovery, i am very glad that women of today are able to finally enjoy sex as much as men do. they absolutely deserve it. [français]

rating: 3/5 ***
informative

The Wicker Man

2006-09-06T16:08:00.000+08:00

If you haven’t watched this movie yet, stop reading as I reveal some of my reactions that technically aren’t spoilers but may give away clues to the story.

This was a remake of a 70’s classic movie of the same name which I had been planning to watch on DVD. I was delighted when I heard this was showing now and jumped at the opportunity to watch this on the big screen. Usually I’ll watch the original first, to preserve the experience, and the remake later. But in this case I made an exception because I had the feeling it would be weird and scary.

It delivers. The Wicker Man is quietly creepy. It actually reminded me of those old school DC or Charlton scary comics that I read as a kid. I like the way they made the music a bit cheesy, it sets the mood well. I genuinely felt I was in the island. Heck, I felt like I was Nicholas Cage’s character. I know you hear me saying this a lot, but I can relate to the lead character in the movie. I use the term ‘relate’ in a bad way, as you really wouldn’t want to be his character here.

The plot is extremely simple, easy to follow. Many people will hate the story. They will say this is a stupid movie and I can actually understand where they are coming from. But I suspect this is because the movie does some different things that ordinary people don’t like happening in their feature length films. Watch this yourself and make your own decision.

The ending is a little heavy. Not the deep kind of heavy. As I said it’s very simple, much like a WWE wrestling storyline. But it ends with a thud. And I could see the faces of the people leaving the movie house that they just felt the weight of the resolution. It affected me a bit differently. I was mad. Yes, I was quite angry as the ending hit me as if I was the main character. I wanted an ass-whupping, Stone Cold Steve Austin style. I wanted Cage to do a Rambo. I wanted this to be more Hollywood. Of course it didn’t happen, and that’s why this is something special. After watching this, I felt like I had to go home and take a shower as I felt as used as Cage's character was. It reminds me of Jason Biggs' classic line in American Pie "I've been used... I've been used" only in a sad, sick way. Ugh.

This is the perfect movie to watch with your male friends. In some sick way, I would even say that this can be educational. Watch this and learn from Nicholas Cage. This is only a movie, but in real life, please don’t be an idiot like the main character, ok? Don't tell me I didn't warn you.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
A bad mood that's good.

(More spoilers and thoughts in the comments)

Great Musical Experiences

2006-09-05T11:17:00.000+08:00

Ever listened to music and felt a tremendous surge of inspiration - when the music took a greater meaning and had a life of its own? You were transported to this wonderful place where the individual sounds and lyrics brought a personal surreal experience. Here are some of my favorite musical experiences of all time to the best of my memory, arranged in chronological order.

CAKE/Juliana Hatfield - Rock n' Roll Lifestyle, Universal Heart-Beat

Rock n' Roll Lifestyle was the first CAKE song I heard. I remember thinking it had a very unique, honest feel to it. In the first place, there was more talking than singing, and some chorus chants in the background. Great lyrics too such as: "And how long will the workers keep building him new ones… (chant) as long as you're drinking those red white and blue ones." I felt I was entering a new undiscovered musical era.

There was this other song that was a minor hit on the same station that played Rock n' Roll Lifestyle. It was Juliana Hatfield's Universal Heart-Beat, which had equally disturbing lyrics: "Beauty can be sad. You're proof of that. When the damage is done, you're damaged goods." Combined with extending a single syllable "heart" to fill in an entire verse. I kept thinking of these two songs for the duration of 1995, which coincided with the first time I was out of school. There was just something cool about both songs.

Lizards Convention - Wooden Heart, Rock the Boat

A short time after, this small Singaporean band composed of teenagers had a minor hit across southeast asia - Wooden Heart, a remake of the Elvis Presley song. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that their other song 'Rock the Boat' (also a remake) was as good or even better than their radio hit Wooden Heart. What made this a great listening experience was that it brings back memories of the time I spent playing basketball with co-dangerous review roehl and a bunch of fun guys. We also started having cable at home where I could watch and enjoy WWF wrestling. And see my favorite tag teams The Body Donnas and The Quebecers, in action.

Barenaked Ladies - Stunt: One Week, It's All Been Done, Call and Answer, Alcohol

I remember seeing the music video of the Barenaked Ladies singles One Week and It's All Been Done. At first I was amazed at the versatility of the band. For instance, it had two lead singers, Steven Page and Ed Robertson. They could rap in One Week, and belt out a corny old fashioned song in It's All Been Done, complete with hand claps, and whoo hoo hoo's. I got their CD of course, which opened up an entirely new musical experience. I remember listening to their song Alcohol and thinking "now that's a song I can relate to".

New Radicals/Jennifer Paige - You Get What You Give, Technicolor Lover, Crush, Sober

The year was 1999, a particularly carefree and prosperous time. We didn't worry about terrorism, or global warming, or nuclear weapons… just this little thing called Y2K that could result in worldwide destruction but could be fixed in software. The year also was the source of one of the best surreal listening experiences I had, courtesy of the (now disbanded) New Radicals and Jennifer Paige. Their songs epitomized the emotions of that era.

You Get What You Give has a nice uplifting, yet slightly rebellious message. Technicolor Lover - the unreleased song is a guilty pleasure of mine, as well as Paige's Crush, which I felt was overplayed, yet still retained its fresh quality. Sober could probably be one of the most underrated songs ever made, and the best music video ever made.

Barenaked Ladies - Maroon: Conventioneers, Sell Sell Sell, Baby Seat

When I first heard Maroon, Barenaked Ladies' follow up to Stunt, I was disappointed. It didn't have the catchy stuff that their previous album had. So I gave it one or two listens, and promptly stashed the CD. Only to uncover it several years later. That's when I "got it". And it's now my most favorite BNL album so far. To really appreciate it, you have to listen closely to the lyrics. I love the song 'Sell Sell Sell' because it's so over the top, in a ridiculously exaggerated way, describing in vivid detail the whole situation of the song.

CAKECAST - CAKE Finally Does Europe

This was a fantastic listening experience! Probably the best, most surreal listening I've had so far. Here's what happened. CAKE was supposed to go to Europe for a couple of live concerts. Then 9/11 hit, and their whole Europe tour dates were canceled. So to fix this, they played a live concert freely available via yahoo on the internet.

By this time, it had been more than five years since I first heard Rock n' Roll Lifestyle. And I had forgotten about CAKE. But I gave this a try, and the floodgates opened. I loved the songs. I loved how honest and sarcastic John Mccrea could be in the webcast. And of course I heard all the songs released by the band that I've missed all this years. I remember listening to the webcast from the office late at night, then coming home close to 12 midnight, feeling all pumped up.

Suzanne Vega - Caramel, World Before Columbus, Thin Man, Stockings

I only remembered Suzanne Vega from her hits Tom's Diner and Luka. They were ok songs, but nothing really remarkable about them. That changed completely after I listened to her Retrospective - Best of Suzanne Vega collection, along with the Nine Objects of Desire CD. I didn't realize that such rich songs with great lyrics, some of them dark, some of them amusing, existed. Although this particular set from Nine Objects reminds me of a sad, empty time in my life, I still love these songs for the imagery they give.

David Benoit/Smash Mouth - Then the Morning Comes

How can the same song sound so different, yet so good in both its instrumental (Benoit) and singing (Smash Mouth) forms? And for some reason, I felt like I could totally relate to Smash Mouth's lyrics, as if it was a wake up call to get up and make a comeback from obscurity.

Barenaked Ladies - Gordon: Hello City, Box Set

Ironically, the first Barenaked Ladies CD released was the last one I bought. This completes my BNL collection. To my surprise, I had another enjoyable time listening to this one, in particular the two songs Hello City and Box Set. Hello City is actually a hate song directed towards a particular city that the band performed in which they weren't treated well. Amusing because it sounds 'feel-good', yet filled with sarcasm. And my favorite song in this one is Box Set which describes how the band will eventually fade into obscurity. They tell the story of how they will release their complete collection on a single box set. The lyrics mention "Disc one it's where we begun, it's all our greatest hits" which is kind of self-fulfilling as BNL released their greatest hits CD with the title: "Disc One - all our greatest hits".

Frente - Horrible, Jungle

I remember many days of driving in the rain and darkness during the rainy season listening to Frente. First of all, Angie Hart has probably the most attractive female vocals in history. Second, these are excellent 60's-style songs, but made with an edge to it. The songs are all about depression, self-hate, jealousy, low self-esteem, only sung in Angie Hart's angelic voice. Is this good or what?

Barenaked Ladies/Frente - Footprints, Let the Sunshine In

Footprints came from Barenaked Ladies' first Christmas CD. Only a few songs were good, but I felt that Footprints stood out. There are several interpretations to the song, but I prefer my own interpretation that it is a song about a stalker in Christmas time. That thought alone qualifies the listening as a surreal experience in my book. It was during this time that I played Frente's 'Let the Sunshine In' repeatedly. Even though it had nothing to do with Christmas, it felt like a Christmas song.

Suzanne Vega - Knight Moves

Listening to this song puts me in another world and sends chills across my skin. It's a very honest song, one in which many thoughts are jumbled up. There is pleading, negotiating, reasoning out, and a lot of random ideas blurted out. Suzanne Vega described it as coming from many of the conversations she had with friends and acquaintances in the city.

Tears For Fears - Call Me Mellow, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending

Tears for Fears makes a triumphant comeback! I was instantly blown away with their single Call Me Melow. It felt Beatle-esque, yet unique, with booming vocals and a rich array of instruments to back up Orzabal's voice. The song Everybody Loves a Happy Ending will take over your thoughts and inspire you to do greater things than you thought you could accomplish. OK maybe I'm overselling the song a bit, but check out these lyrics: "Wake up you're on your own agenda. Give up the great pretender. With baby eyes of green. Wake up you're holding on to nothing. You know you're only bluffing. As dead as autumn leaves."

What bothered me was that none of the singles amounted to a radio hit in the US. These were fantastic, one of a kind songs, yet were largely ignored. This was when I realized that no longer were the Top 40 hits on radio a reliable measure of good music. I had to search and find on my own the music I really liked. A new era in what was once popular music.

CAKE - Pressure Chief: No Phone, Carbon Monoxide, Tougher Than it is, Guitar Man

This was the highlight of 2004 for me. Strange that a music CD would be a highlight, but it was. I had super-high expectations for CAKE's Pressure Chief, being four years since their last album and the CAKECAST. And to my amazement it even exceeded my expectations.

Two factors made this a great listening experience. I was out of town for a whole week for work, leaving the day the CD had arrived. I rushed to get in a couple of listens before taking off. It was also a particularly stressful week out, making coming back to Pressure Chief much more enjoyable. Another factor was seeing CAKE live in concert a week or so after the CD was out. I didn't realize there was that many CAKE fans who knew and loved the lyrics and songs that were a part of me. This made it more special. All in all, this ranks up there with CAKECAST.

Minnie Driver/New Order/Weezer - Complicated Man, Krafty, Beverly Hills

Last year was kind of a boring year, but a couple of underrated artists more than made up for it with their unique brand of music. I was excited to hear Krafty by New Order. It was like the 80's new wave tune reinvented for modern times. Again, I was disappointed that it didn't become a hit on radio. Beverly Hills by Weezer did become a minor hit, and had that good loser lyrics and catchy tune. Finally, the surprise was Minnie Driver (yes, the actress) performing this bonus single on Carson Daly called 'Complicated Man'. Wow, what a song. I'm still not tired of listening to this threesome of unique 2005 songs up to now.

Now you know the greatest musical experiences I've had so far. To save on space, I neglected to mention a few that were equally memorable. Maybe I'll write about them next time.

Red Sox Century – Glenn Stout & Richard A. Johnson

2006-08-22T13:11:00.000+08:00

this is a book i gave as a gift to my cousin jeff. him being the biggest red sox fan in the philippines. but being a big baseball fan myself, i asked jeff if i could borrow the book after he finished reading it.

“red sox century” chronicles over 100 years of boston red sox baseball starting way back in 1900 when they were still known as the boston americans as they were playing in the american league and thus differentiating them from the other boston baseball team playing in the national league who were naturally called the boston nationals who themselves would later become the boston braves before eventually relocating to a different city.

as one would expect, the book features stories from some of the greatest baseball players ever to wear a red sox uniform. names like babe ruth, ted williams, carl yastrzemski, roger clemens and pedro martinez come into mind immediately.

for non-baseball fans who are nevertheless into general trivia, it may come as a surprise that one of the greatest hitters of all time, babe ruth, was known in red sox lore for his “original” baseball skills: his great pitching. of course, the babe was eventually sold to the yankees and for over 80 years since this dubious transaction, the red sox never won a world series thus prompting sportswriters and baseball fans alike to call this unlucky streak in red sox history “the curse of the bambino”.

this is one of those books – especially for baseball fanatics like me – that’s perfect to read at your favorite coffee shop accompanied by your favorite strong coffee. strong so as to match the writing strength of authors glenn stout, richard a. johnson and the other featured essayists as well.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
a stunning landmark in sports history literature.

Just My Luck

2006-08-17T11:16:00.000+08:00

cast: lindsay lohan, chris pine, missi pyle

it was one of those days when i woke up so bored that i decided to go to the mall and watch a movie even if i knew beforehand that there was no good movie showing. and after a few moments of indecision at the ticket booth, i chose to watch “just my luck”. one of the biggest mistakes of my life!

lindsay lohan plays a girl so lucky in life luck must be chasing her. chris pine, on the other hand, is the complete opposite as bad luck seems to be upon him every other second. they meet at a costumed dance party and after exchanging a long, passionate kiss behind their masks, their lucks trade places. chris becomes the lucky person and lindsay the unlucky one.

lindsay consults a seer to seek out the reason for the sudden change of her luck from completely good to hopelessly bad. informed that her luck was stolen from her through a kiss, she goes on a serious manhunt to locate the mystery boy that kissed her on that fateful night.

i guess even the reader can see and feel that the story is not worth talking about. for my part, i only wanted to watch a movie that was lighthearted enough so that i may hopefully elevate myself from the boredom i was in. but i guess the movie turned out to be too light that i got easily distracted by the littlest cough or the subtlest movement from the audience.

once upon a time i had a big crush on lindsay – which was probably another reason that triggered my choice for this movie. but now i guess i’m already desensitized from her beauty.

rating: 1 of 5 stars *
forgettable.

The Break-Up

2006-08-15T11:39:00.000+08:00

cast: jennifer aniston, vince vaughn

i have it on good authority – my psychiatrist, if i were to reveal my source – that “the break-up” was the first movie jennifer aniston worked on after her much publicized break-up with brad pitt. so i guess this nugget of information might give potential viewers something to think about if they plan on watching the movie. we never know if jennifer might be more attuned to her role because of what was then her recent break-up.

the title of the film seems to make the story self-explanatory. jennifer and vince meet at a baseball game which then precipitated the beginning of numerous dates until in the end, they decide to live together. as usual, when 2 people in-love start living together, that’s the time when they really get to know each other – including the realization of those little quirks and eccentricities inherent in each other which now they seem to find fault with. all of a sudden, they can’t agree with each other to the point that plates start flying across the room.

so jennifer hatches up a plan to get back her old sweet vince back. they agree to “break-up”, but what jennifer really has in mind is to go out with the most eligible and attractive bachelors in town in the hope that being seen with these oh so gorgeous men might make vince feel jealous and thus rekindle his old love for her.

i guess the movie was entertaining enough except ever since “dodgeball”, i’ve always come to expect vince to make me laugh. not that there were no funny moments in the movie. it’s just that they appeared sub-par when compared to vince’s caliber for comedy. but that’s also probably due to the fact that the movie was not meant to be pure comedy but rather a mix of funny moments, romance and even some drama.

rating: 4 of 5 stars * * * *
for romantics …… like me.

RV (Runaway Vacation)

2006-08-14T13:30:00.000+08:00

cast: robin williams, jojo, jeff daniels

i have a confession to make. i only watched this movie cause i wanted to see jojo in the big screen. i’d like to say i have come to regret this decision but i can’t for jojo’s beauty was greatly showcased and magnified by the huge movie screen and she had lots of camera time so my eyes had a field day ogling at her.

the story has robin williams playing a father of a family who’s supposed to go on a vacation to hawaii. however, unforeseen circumstances in his work are pressuring him to cancel the vacation. thinking that his relationship with his wife and his children might further suffer if the vacation does not push through, he tries to come up with a scheme that will satisfy both his boss and his family.

robin tells his family that rather than going to hawaii, they should instead rent an rv and go to california. of course, unbeknownst to his wife and 2 kids, california is the site of his next presentation for his company. also, he plans on working on said presentation while traveling on the aforementioned rv thus undermining his motive for supposedly spending quality time with his family.

but like i said, the content of the story had nothing to do with my intent for watching the movie. i just wanted to stare at jojo for 90 minutes or so.

my cousin jeff has already brought to my attention my supposed obsession for younger girls – girls who’re not even of legal age. but honestly, i’m a poor judge of age. i adore pretty girls or women regardless of how old they are. age to me does not determine a girl or a woman’s beauty. i guess it just stands out when it so happens that the current girl i am adoring is too young for me.

rating: 3 of 5 stars * * *
jojo is worth the price of the ticket.

Dialogues Of Plato – Plato (Edited by: Justin D. Kaplan)

2006-08-04T11:17:00.000+08:00

i really had a hard time figuring out whether to categorize this book as a work of fiction or non-fiction. first i thought to myself this book features the philosophies of plato, and philosophy as we all know is generally termed non-fiction. then, i thought to myself, plato made use of well-renowned greek historical figures – his teacher, socrates the most prominent among them – which furthers the cause to categorize it as non-fiction for historical books (with the exception of historical novels) are usually deemed as such. but despite these arguments, i was forced to classify the book as a work of fiction because even if plato is discussing philosophy and uses real historical people, he is actually expressing his philosophies by telling fictional stories of historical figures having fictitious conversations with each other.

one might argue that the words plato is putting in the mouths of these historical figures may be consistent to the general sentiments and values of these persons. but the mere fact that the real-life characters’ words were not quoted from them verbatim cast a doubt on the book’s reliability as a non-fictional work.

but why am i even putting importance on such an insignificant aspect as the categorization of the book when this has absolutely no weight when compared to the book’s glaring significance to the field of philosophy. maybe it’s because of the difficulty of the topics discussed in the book that i feel hesitant to talk about them for fear that i may be unmasked for the pretentious fool that i am. perhaps i may even go on further in saying that i am intimidated by the gargantuan task of discussing plato that i find myself stalling and simply filling up some space.

but enough of this nonsense and let me just discuss some of the finer and simpler points of the book. plato, in 1 or 2 of the featured dialogues, tells about the importance of a balance in a mind that practices wisdom, a body that possesses strength, and a soul or spirit that is indefatigable. he relates how all 3 – mind, body and soul – should receive equal and proper training in order for one to be in harmony with oneself and with others.

plato also preaches the value of temperance – what, in simpler terms we may call self-control. i, personally can relate to this teaching as i usually have a huge appetite for food.

these are just a few or a sample of some of the words of wisdom to be gained from the book. i’d like to say more but i fear i may be going over my head in discussing them.

rating: 3 of 5 stars * * *
too deep for words.

Lady In The Water

2006-08-04T10:28:00.000+08:00

(also reviewed by rob)

cast: paul giamatti, bryce dallas howard
written, produced and directed by: m. night shyamalan

unlike m. night shyamalan’s 4 previous films (“the sixth sense”, “unbreakable”, “signs” and “the village”) where the movie begins in deep mystery enticing the viewer to figure out the solution to the riddle, “lady in the water” starts off with the story of the “sea-people” and their relationship to the “land-people”, and thus leading the viewer to believe that there is no puzzle to be solved this time around.

i applaud this tactic from m. night as it shows his unparalleled talent in misdirecting viewers in different and unpredictable ways. in “lady in the water”, he uses the style of showing all his cards from the get-go, but unknowingly to the unassuming viewer, he carries an ace up his sleeve.

the movie begins with a fairy tale/legend that retells the history of mankind. how all people used to be sea-creatures who were always at peace with each other. how, when people started living on land, they became materialistic and wanted to own more and more land as well as other earthly possessions. how the desire to possess more land and materialism in general has been the cause of much strife and numerous wars. and how through the years, people of the land have forgotten their peaceful beginnings at sea.

though these land-dwellers (this means us mortal people) have been completely oblivious to the sea-dwellers and their world, the people of the sea have always kept a watchful eye on us, and once in a while, they even send a special messenger who would enlighten us and in so doing help alleviate us from the miserable state we have brought ourselves into. but the messenger is sometimes stranded on land as monstrous animals prevent him/her from returning to sea.

and thus we find bryce dallas howard (the messenger) fearing for her life as a renegade animal (who does not abide by fairy tale rules) denies her a safe homeward journey. but bryce is not without help as fairy tale lore declares that the messenger has a “healer”, a “guardian”, and an “interpreter” among the land-dwellers. there also exists a “writer”, a “group of sisters”, a “group of people who talk about important things”, “the man who has no secrets”, and “the man who’s opinion is respected”.

but as to who is who and which is which is another matter. paul giamatti then tries to figure out who among his neighbors serves the purpose of healer, guardian, interpreter, etc. i think paul giamatti’s effort of finding out which among the people living in the apartment/condominium he is caretaker of satisfies the requirements for each character (or group of characters) is director m. night shyamalan’s subtle and ingenious way of telling us both the difficulty and importance of finding one’s purpose in life.

personally, i think there is no one generic way of finding our purpose. also, that each individual after fulfilling his purpose moves on in search of his next purpose. much like a writer after completing his story moves on to contemplate his next tale. or the way a movie director after finishing his current motion picture begins to think about his next project.

what i’m saying is man’s search for purpose can sometimes be a continuous process. at the same time, it is through the aid of this purpose that man can find meaning in his everyday existence. on the other hand, i may just be a misguided “interpreter” who likes to take things out of context ……

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
may turn out to be the most underrated movie of the year.

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants – Ann Brashares

2006-08-01T15:24:00.001+08:00

not only is this novel for teens, but it’s specifically written for teenage girls. so you might ask, what the hell was i thinking reading this book when i’m clearly a male adult who’s well beyond his teenage years. well personally, i think it’s precisely books like these that give us adults an opportunity to understand the workings of the minds of teenagers – or in this particular instance, the minds of teenage girls.

perhaps you have a teenage daughter who you always end up having arguments with. or a juvenile niece you just can’t get along. maybe it’s time to pick up this book if only to make a sincere attempt to understand and mayhap be able to relate to this generation’s crop of teenage girls. the potential learning to be gained from this fictional book might be worth 10 times more what you might hope to gain from their non-fiction counterparts. and undoubtedly a hundred times more enjoyable.

anyway, the story is about 4 high school best friends – lena, tibby, bridget and carmen – who embark on separate adventures as they journey through their first summer apart from each other. they share this special pair of pants that somehow magically fits all four of them despite each having different body types. there are certain rules that govern the wearing of the pants. the pants “travel” from one best friend to another after someone has kept and used it for a certain period of time.

but don’t be deceived into thinking that the novel is mainly about the pants. the real story involves the many different experiences and sometimes even life-changing events that each girl has to face. occurrences that any ordinary teenage girl may encounter, like for instance being in love with a boy and yet not knowing it or perhaps just outright denying it; harboring passionate love for an older boy even if such a relationship is forbidden; a sudden caring for a feisty but lonely girl who’s life is about to be sapped out by a vicious disease; the feeling of being left-out and ignored as one’s estranged but much loved father is about to be married to another woman and all his attention is suddenly focused on his wife-to-be and her two children; and so on ……

i think the book’s strength is in author ann brashares’ soulful skill in storytelling. it’s detailed without being pedantic. it’s light and yet at times can make you cry. she is able to let the reader capture the moment as if he himself was experiencing the event.

rating: 4 of 5 stars * * * *
very heartfelt.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

2006-07-26T13:42:00.000+08:00

cast: johnny depp, keira knightly, orlando bloom
produced by: jerry bruckheimer
directed by: gore verbinski

“pirates of the caribbean: dead man’s chest” is the sequel to its equally successful predecessor, “pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl”. a film made by 2 movie giants – walt disney pictures (pioneers of wholesome blockbuster children’s movies) and jerry bruckheimer films (masters of the action genre), the team-up has, just like in the first “pirates” installment, inspired a sure-fire winner of a movie. it features lots of adventures and fantasy-like characters to satisfy the kids, fast-paced action for the male crowd, and the obligatory romance for the female viewers. and maybe add a little tinge of horror just to keep everyone’s hearts racing.

but to me, what elevates the movie from other money-making films and sets it apart from the usual adventure movie is the presence of johnny depp’s acting. more known in the 80s and early 90s for his good looks, little is said about johnny depp’s acting prowess. i am appalled that he has never won the academy award or that he has been nominated for this prestigious honor i think only once and only recently at that. talk about not being appreciated for one’s highly significant contributions to the movie industry. hasn’t anyone seen “benny and joon”?

in “pirates ….”, johnny depp acts and moves in a flawlessly effeminate manner but is still able to portray his character (jack sparrow) as a rough masculine ruffian and a selfish but sometimes conscientious pirate. this dichotomy of acting has always been the trademark of johnny depp’s versatility as a thespian.

but i guess the younger generation is more familiar with orlando bloom, and therefore has an understandable preference for him. ever since “lord of the rings”, his popularity has always been on the rise so casting him as the hero couldn’t hurt ticket sales.

and how about that keira knightly?! she had to work with obnoxious outfits that would never flatter her body no matter what angle or lighting you put them through for the movie had a sort of mediaeval setting (don’t ask me for the exact time period for i don’t know when pirates were in vogue) but she looked alluringly hot in just about every scene. i liked her best when she was disguising herself as a male ship crew member. i don’t know what it is about me but women with short hair just turn me on!

and let’s not forget the lesson the movie was trying to impart (walt disney films usually have a moral to their stories): how it’s important to figure out what we truly want in life. for it is this bit of knowledge that will serve as our personal compass pointing out the right way to our true destiny. without this, we’ll merely end up going in circles.

rating: 4 of 5 stars * * * *
another must-see johnny depp movie.

Lady in the Water

2006-07-25T15:46:00.000+08:00

Lady in the Water is M. Night Shyamalan's latest movie. I've only been waiting for this one for the past two years or so. So I had very high expectations. Plus, I actually watched this on the very first night it was released, on a Friday.

And it didn't disappoint. This was good.

In fact, I was totally engrossed in this one. The characters were real. Heck, I felt like I was in the movie, just like one of the apartment dwellers residing in Cleveland Heep's residential complex.

It reminded me of when I was a kid, when I would make up lots of stories to tell my brother. I'd have different characters, each with his or her nuances. Sometimes the stories would make sense, oftentimes they were too ambitious causing the plot to crumble (like the time I created a 'princess' in an earlier part, then totally forgot about her in the end, which prompted my brother to laugh and ask "what about the princess?"). Lady in the Water resembles a lot of my childhood imagination, stories where anything goes.

It is also a movie about my friends and acquaintances. It was like M. Night made a movie that described some of my dreams where friends and people from all places would get together in one fable. I would love to watch this film with them. Though I'm not sure if they will relate to this as much as I do.

Like Shyamalan's past films, he leads you into thinking one way, then swerves in another direction. For instance, Signs isn't really about aliens, Unbreakable isn't about invulnerability, and The Village isn't about monsters. This movie is advertised as a fairy tale. And while it does have some fairy tale parts, I believe it's really about something else.

I'm predicting that a lot of people will hate this movie. It's the type that will disappoint those looking for quick thrills or amusing diversions. You won't get that here. In fact, while I was watching in the moviehouse, I noticed a couple walk out in the middle of the film. And after it ended, I overheard one teenager proclaim "This is the worst movie I've ever seen!" M. Night's critics will bemoan the fact that he gave himself another significant acting role in his own movie. Plus, it doesn't follow the usual formula we've all been accustomed to watching. I just hope people don't hate this too much.

Some parts that I felt could be improved: I thought some of the more important details had to be emphasized and explained as the storytelling can get fast and confusing. It is easy to lose track of the characters. I also found the cookbook writer's sister to be irritating at times, and didn't contribute much to the story. The character of 'Story' could also use some work as she oftentimes slowed down the pacing of the film, breaking the momentum.

What I loved about Lady in the Water is how it creates special meaning out of commonplace people and things. How each seemingly insignificant group of characters find themselves having special significance. And how it is told with such realism, that things even fall apart, then come back together.

Rating: 5/5 * * * * *
Something special

(Minor spoilers in the comments section, where I discuss some plot details and special meanings in the movie. -rob)

Superman Returns

2006-07-20T08:44:00.000+08:00

cast: brandon routh, kate bosworth, kevin spacey, james marden, frank langella

superman has always been considered the strongest superhero in the universe. even when the dc and marvel universe do crossover stories, the title of most powerful hero falls on superman. he is the epitome and living embodiment of what a superhero should be. all other superheroes become secondary beside him.

and superman being what he is, i watched “superman returns” expecting to be inspired. everybody wishes to become superman and i wanted the movie to show what it is exactly in him that people want to emulate. outside his daunting superpowers, what makes superman special and heroic? what’s so extraordinary about this alien? (this reviewer has a personal innate love for underdogs so he has a certain preference for less powerful and more human heroes.)

but try as i might to appreciate superman’s character in the movie, the film does not do due justice to his claim to heroism. he was more concerned with his love affair and obsession with lois lane so much so that the movie might have been better advertised as a story of romance than a story about a hero. (by the way, kate bosworth – who i absolutely adored in “blue crush”, blond hair and all – wasn’t even pretty as lois lane. go figure.)

i just can’t find anything to idolize in the role superman played in the movie. the only reason i could think of why people would want to become superman (based on the movie) is so that they could use his superpowers for selfish motives. maybe guys could literally and figuratively sweep girls off their feet by taking them flying. or due to invulnerability, people would have a sudden upsurge in courage to the point of recklessness when confronting their enemies as bullets won’t even stop them.

but it is the mere fact that superman is so powerful that extra care should be placed on the value of how these powers should not be abused. for if everyone got their wish and became supermen without thinking about the consequences of the possible misuse of their powers, the world would become too chaotic to live in we probably wouldn’t even have the easy luxury of watching a movie for all the malls would most likely be in ruin.

though superman was portrayed as helping people around the world (including manila if one was listening carefully) in some instances, you get the feeling it was done less out of the goodness of his soul but more as a show of his powers as if the audience does not already know who superman is or what he can do.

unlike the rival company marvel comics with their take on the spiderman movie. it first established the hero’s errant ways when his reluctance to use his powers to stop a common thief led to the murder of his uncle. then upon realizing his mistake (and owning up to it), he resolved to use his powers for the greater good of the people. simple, yet heroic and inspiring. it even gets tear-jerking in part 2 of the movie when spiderman was ready to give up being a superhero, but lo and behold, the anciently old aunt may tells his alter-ego, peter parker that kids need a spiderman -- someone they can look up to, someone to give them hope.

but everybody would rather be the more powerful superman so that the powers they can obtain can be used for personal gain. but if this is the case, then we’d all be better off reading lois lane’s pulitzer-prize winning article “why the world does not need superman”.

superman – a model we’re not worthy of; a hero we’re not ready for. let’s get charles xavier instead ……

rating: 1 of 5 stars *
disappointing.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting – Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway

2006-07-18T12:23:00.000+08:00

this is supposed to be a manual for pregnant women. but having read the book from cover to cover, i came to realize it’s more of a self-help book targeted for pregnant women who have worries and fears about their pregnancy. (i mean who doesn’t, right?) though aiming to comfort mothers, i think the book exaggeratedly soothes the reader into thinking that nothing could possibly go wrong during the 9 months when a woman is pregnant and even up to the first few months after the baby has been delivered.

take for instance the option of which type of milk is best for newborn babies. first, the book gives the utmost praise for breastfeeding. it states how milk coming from a mother has more nutrients than those provided by formula milk. it also cites how breastfeeding is the more beneficial way of giving milk for it is also a natural method of bonding between mother and child.

and just when you’re fully convinced that breastfeeding is best, the book will then take into consideration those who are incapable of breastfeeding or perhaps averse to this method of feeding. a different tune of how formula milk is wonderful for the baby’s growing needs is suddenly heard. in the midst of a few paragraphs, you are given 2 different (perhaps conflicting) advice which are both deemed best for mother and child and that it all really depends on what you want to do or what your situation is.

to confound things even further, a third method is given where a combination of both breastfeeding and formula milk is also shown as the best method, as illogical as that may seem. (mayhap the book assumes the reader’s gullibility and inability to process and analyze information.)

it’s the same all throughout the book especially when it comes to how the pregnant mother is feeling. if she feels a certain way, it’s normal. if she feels the opposite of what was previously discussed, it’s still normal. it enumerates all the possibilities that she may feel, and guess what: they’re all normal! as a clincher, there’s always this fail-safe plan: if the pregnant mother is still worried about what she’s feeling, she can always consult her doctor.

which made me wonder if this is what women really want – to be comforted no matter what the situation is. but wouldn’t it be better to be informed about the hard facts and the raw truth uncomforting though they may sometimes be so we can better prepare for the future cause let’s face it, things don’t always turn out the way we want them to be. in fact, from my experience (though i most likely will not become pregnant), rarely do things turn out the way you expect them.

but then what do i know? this book is written by 3 mothers who have gone through the experience of being pregnant and would like to share their counsel to fellow mothers. who am i to question the guidance provided by the authors especially when you take into consideration their undisputed authority as mothers? perhaps i should browse thru the book again when i myself am a mother ……

rating: 2 of 5 stars * *
informative and confusing at the same time.

the king of torts - john grisham

2006-07-18T00:43:00.000+08:00

clay carter was a long time public defender who wasnt happy with his job. there was little money too little life and too much work. his long time girlfriend rebecca van horn, who works for the government, was thinking of breaking up with him, unless he gives in to the wishes of her parents. they want him to go corporate. where the money is. they dont like clay. they dont take kindly to people who dont have fortunes to spend. they hate clay and vice versa. rebecca and clay eventually broke up. much to the pressure of her parents.

one day, he was approached by french (french is a first name) who convinced him to file a mass tort case against a drug company which distributed some bad drug. the drug had a side effect of making a person who took it to commit homicide. it didnt matter when or who.

the key to making the money was to have the families of the homicide victims to settle (to keep their mouth shut). the drug company would pay them hundreds of millions. which will include the lawyer's fees.

the story now turns into a roller coaster of money making at the expense of drug companies which made mistakes. these companies are forced to settle. they pay huge huge amounts of money to settle. little of it trickle to the claimants who took their bad drug. a lot of it goes to the mass tort lawyer. the newspapers had by now picked up his scent. of having acquired enormous amounts of wealth at a short span of time. they dubbed him the "the king of torts". suddenly, he had tons of friends. assets. one very pretty model. and made enemies as well.

i would stop here as i think you too probably already know whats about to happen next ...

rating - 2 out of 5 **
too predictable

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower – Stephen King

2006-07-14T12:29:00.000+08:00

this is part 7 – the final part – of the story which chronicles roland’s seemingly endless quest for the dark tower. a series that is now being considered as one of the greatest american epics of all-time. and it’s only fitting that i finish the book (and the entire series for that matter) on the 4th of july which as we all know celebrates 2 crucial occasions: the independence day of the united states and fil-american friendship day.

it’s as if it was only yesterday that i perused the line: “the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed”, the first sentence of the story that will eventually become the crowning glory of stephen king’s monstrously stupendous career. but truth be told, it has already been almost 20 years since those enchanting words first graced my eyes. i started the story with a 50/50 near-sighted vision. and just like roland who has lost some fingers on his dominant right hand through his many travels and countless adventures, i myself am now similarly disabled and have to wear glasses with a grade of around 250 or so for each eye. there is nothing to hold back this predicament for as in roland’s world, everything is bound to break down, be they machines or humans. the world moves on whether it be to our liking or not.

though it took me nearly 20 years to finish the dark tower story, stephen king spent a longer time writing it – more than 30 years, say thankya. it appears the “song of the turtle” (ves’-ka gan) was painstakingly slow in coming. mr. king can only listen to the song and write what he hears. he is neither the god nor the creator of his story and its characters. he is merely a conduit of a higher force or being, perhaps gan, for which the tale must be told. in fact, if not for roland and his ka-tet’s efforts to straighten out mr. king in parts 6 and 7 of the series, the story may not have been completed and would have left mr king’s constant readers all over the world hanging.

but does the story really end? mr. king writes that endings are brutal. after the “epilogue”, he warns readers to stop while the going is good. quit while you’re ahead as the saying goes. leave susannah happily reunited with eddie and jake who are both alive and well in a parallel world new york city. why remain in roland’s world as he enters his godforsaken dark tower when there are other worlds than this?

the reader has been thus warned and if he still insists on going through the horror of an ending (mr. king is after all a horror novelist by trade), then he shall proceed at his own risk.

as for me, unworthy receptacle that i am, i can only make an attempt to hear ves’-ka gan, that elusive song of the turtle, and upon hearing that song, when and if it gets sung, i make pen and paper meet.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
mr. king has not forgotten the face of his father.

What Not to Miss

2006-07-09T20:19:00.000+08:00

We're more than halfway through this year and I'm a bit worried. Why? Because so far I have yet to hear a truly great and memorable song for 2006. If this trend continues I won't have a 'top 5' song list at the end of the year. We had a couple of great new songs released last year, but this year seems pretty barren.

I've also read only a handful of books, so I've got to catch up in order to have enough to make a 'best books of the year' list. This is my fault as I've been preoccupied with some urgent stuff the first half of the year. I should have more reading time this second half. I've got a huge backlog piled up and plan to order some more books soon.

Movie-wise, this has been a pretty mediocre year, just like last year. I have yet to watch a good movie and I don't want to waste any more cash on watching films that don't do it for me. I've got my hopes pinned on 'Lady in the Water', M. Night Shyamalan's first movie since 2004. This looks like a good one. Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' looks interesting too, a must-own DVD as well as book.

What makes me excited is that a couple of my favorite bands are releasing new CDs within the next few months.

Suzanne Vega released her "Live at Montreux" live concert DVD late last year, and I just got it a month ago. Haven't listened to it yet, but I will shortly. She is also reportedly working on her next album, which I am excitedly awaiting.

CAKE has a new album coming up! Alas, it's also a live concert CD, but that's good enough. They are looking for suggestions as to which live recordings should be included in the release. I'm hoping they include a live 'You Part the Waters' and 'Italian Leather Sofa' together with their staple songs. You can get all the latest CAKE news from their site (they also have an advice column, check it out).

Now for some great news, yes Barenaked Ladies, after a long three year wait, will be releasing their new album 'Barenaked Ladies Are Me' this September. The first single 'Easy' is already out. Yay!

By some coincidence, both CAKE and BNL have split from their recording studios, electing to go independent. I am both excited and fearful at the same time as it isn't easy to promote and publicize your own music. Having two of my favorite bands take this unconvential indy route gives me a greater stake in seeing independent music producers becoming successful.

What else, there's this plan for Angie Hart, former lead singer of Frente, to go solo. I read about it in her blog (yes she has a blog, and it's your typical personal journal at that). Having Ms. Hart with the angellic voice go solo would be a dream come true for many long suffering Frente fans.

Here's the best news yet. This is something I've been pulling for for a long time. Remember Sixpence None the Richer? They disbanded right? Never hear any music from them again. Hold on, because Leigh Nash is back! Yes she is recording a soon to be released album, most likely out by this year. Some samples of her new songs are also available. What a pleasant surprise.

My fantasy scenario is for CAKE, Barenaked Ladies, Suzanne Vega, Angie Hart, and Leigh Nash to all release new albums late this year. My CD player will be playing nonstop until Christmas. 2006 will go from a barren year to one of the best years for music.

Eyes Wide Shut

2006-07-09T19:41:00.000+08:00

A warning, I have yet to meet anyone who actually liked this movie, which is interesting because this ranks as one of my all-time favorites.

Eyes Wide Shut was the last movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, and I believe he died before it was finished. It casts Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as a married couple having difficulties. I'll give a quick plot summary without revealing any spoilers. Wife (Kidman) admits to her doctor husband (Cruise) that she had previous thoughts about having an affair. The relative of a dying patient makes a house call late at night, prompting the doctor to make a late night visit. What follows next are some of the most bizarre scenes you will witness. There is a surprising admission, encounter with a prostitute, a cult, an orgy, and many others. You'll just have to watch it to believe.

I remember the first time I saw this movie, I thought I sensed a pattern. That something out of the ordinary with a bit of shock value will occur on every extended scene. These scenes are played very realistically which I love. The dialog is slow but interesting. Every character has quirky nuances that will make you believe they are real. The music pounds you like a heartbeat, and if you're like me, soon you will be totally immersed in this film. You will feel like a part of it, perhaps seeing the perverse city through Tom Cruise's character.

This movie also raises so many interesting questions and dilemmas. I was very tense and frightened during the cult/orgy part, as well as the final scene with the mask. But I remember my companions in the moviehouse not being affected, even quite bored with it, and I was curious as to why it seemed I was the only one so affected by this movie. I guess having a big imagination helps.

The main character starts out very innocently, not knowing much about the city he is in. Yet he gets to see the best and worst of human nature after venturing out on his own. There is no violence or gore in this film, but I found some of the scenes a bit disturbing because of the different ideas that were presented. It was disturbing in a good way, as I felt I had been exposed to something out of the ordinary.

I also learned that this movie was based on the novel 'Traumaville' by Arthur Schtizner which was translated to english under the title 'Rhapsody: A Dream Novel'. This is one book I've got to read after I fully recover from Eyes Wide Shut.

The big mystery for me is why many people hate this movie. With other unusual films, I can understand why it can be boring or uninteresting to watch for some. But this to me has real hollywood entertainment value. It can be disturbing or slow, but not boring I think. This is that rare movie that stays with you long after you watch it.

Rating: 5/5 * * * * *
A classic dark adventure which will make you think

Cathy Dennis - Into the Skyline

2006-07-09T18:39:00.000+08:00

I was a big fan of Cathy Dennis back in college. She was the early 90's queen of pop, best known for her hit songs 'Too Many Walls' and 'Touch Me'. This is a review of her second album 'Into the Skyline' which didn't quite match the popularity of her initial singles. I had the original cassette tape and acquired the CD version just over a month ago (actually I had bought a used CD copy several years before but stupidly left it behind at home, so I had to buy another copy).

True, this was a very important CD to me as I considered her music as very influential to my growing up as the songs come attached to many memories. One of the fun parts about being a fan is having to endure the ridicule of the Pearl Jam/Nirvana/Spin Doctors crowd (although I actually also liked The Spin Doctors back then) which were plentiful back then. Ahhh... the good ol' days.

I felt a tinge of apprehension as I opened the case and started re-listening to the old songs. I was afraid I may no longer appreciate her music as I did back then. Or that they wouldn't sound as good as before. The mark of a good artist is when you listen to the same songs many years later they still retain their power and have the same effect to you as they did when you first heard them. And the good news was, that Cathy Dennis magic was still there.

There are two types of songs in this album: the pop/dance tunes, and the ballads. Though 'Into the Skyline' will be remembered for its singles 'You Lied To Me' and 'Irresistible', its best kept secret will be its wonderful ballads. 'Being With You' is feel-good, sugary sweet. 'Moments of Love' is rich, cool, and haunting. While 'Our True Emotions' is the song that I only appreciated after being more than a decade older.

The pop/dance songs such as We've Got To Fight, You Lied To Me, and Irresistible are nice nostalgia plays. I hate to admit this, I've always been inspired the lyrics to We've Got To Fight: "We've got to fight... for what's right... in this world." It reminds me that we've got to keep striving for good even when things are bad.

But my new favorite song here is 'Change Will Come'. I liked this back in college, but it wasn't exactly my favorite. I remember back then during periods when my prospects weren't so good, and when I felt down on my luck. But I would hear this song and know that 'Change Will Come'. It's as relevant today as it was back then. A great inspirational song.

I know that I'm out of place
But I know you're just wasting time
Your life is your own to waste
But I won't have you wasting mine

Change will come
If you believe
Change will come
Do you hear me
Everybody's sayin' change will come

What good is the quick escape
When the problem is here inside
Life can be a better place
If you'll only believe in time

Change will come
Through you and me
Yeah
Change will come
Do you hear me
Everybody's sayin' change will come

She's no longer active in singing, but she's been very active composing one hit song after another. What do 'Toxic' (Britney Spears), Can't Get You Out of My Head (Kylie Minogue), 'Never Had a Dream Come True' (S-Club 7), as well as the American Idol theme song have in common? They were all composed by Cathy Dennis. Now what I want to see is a recording comeback.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Irresistible

Singles

2006-07-09T12:34:00.000+08:00

cast: bridget fonda, matt dillon, kyra sedgwick, campbell scott, bill pullman, eric stoltz, jeremy piven, paul giamatti
written and directed by: cameron crowe

i first watched this movie back when i was still in college. it’s the only movie i’ve watched with my good ole friend eric in a movie theater. and it’s the only movie i recall having ever watched at the sm north edsa mall. but it’s not necessarily these special distinctions that made this movie one of my favorites of all-time.

as college days (the time i first watched “singles”) was a time of having fun, partying out all night, and doing a bit of studying on the side – or in my case, coping up with problems and doing lots of studying to drown out my problems, i took for granted the value of my being single. i was always a hardcore loner (maybe since i was born) and was always uncomfortable in the presence of girls. to me, no other option existed outside of being single.

nowadays, i feel i’ve overcome my shyness towards girls so much so that i’ve been known to aggressively flirt around with the prettiest among them. i even had to tone down my act a bit as friends have been informing me that i might be coming on too strong with some of the girls i openly, honestly and lovingly pursue. (the reasons for my transformation from introvert to extrovert are too profoundly numerous that there is no place for them in this review. maybe i’ll expound on them on a future journal entry. stay tuned.)

my all-of-a-sudden bold capacity to approach girls made me take into consideration the idea of becoming “un-single” – that is, having a girlfriend or even (god forbid!) getting married. add to this the growing fact that most of my peers are spoken for, whether through marital vows or at least through a serious relationship.

and this is where the movie’s significance comes in. it tells that though it’s normal for everyone to desire a special loved-one he or she can cherish and hold on to, there is nevertheless nothing wrong with being single. in fact, there is as much fun and joy in being single as in being un-single.

i can delve into reasons as to how one should not let outside forces influence one’s happiness and how true joy comes from within the person but “singles” is not a serious movie. it’s a fun movie. a happy movie. a movie you can’t possibly get sick and tired of watching again and again.

and i almost forgot to mention, the soundtrack rocks!

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
a guaranteed classic that will stand the test of time.

Magnolia

2006-07-06T17:11:00.000+08:00

At first glance, Magnolia appeared to be the type of movie I would enjoy.

Unconvential plot - check.
Weird story and characters - check.
Dark theme - check.

Then I watched the first hour. It wasn't good. But I said to myself, "let's give this a chance, it might get better."

So I watched the second hour. Still not good. This was looking like a disaster. By this time I had invested two hours of my life watching this film. What the heck, might as well finish it, after all, I had only one hour left to go. Maybe there will be some plot twist in the end, some big payoff, some mind-bending profound ending that will give me inspiration and insight in my lonely life.

I watched the third hour.

Then the frogs fell. The movie ended.

There was no payoff. There was no big twist. It was a total waste of time.

Sure, you had Tom Cruise in a minor role, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, even Roehl's favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman. So this had to be good right?

There are so many bad things about this movie I don't know where to start.

Let's talk about the good things. Julianne Moore in the drug store scene where she freaks out. That's it. OK, maybe the scene where Cruise and Hoffman are in at the same time, but it was only good because I could joke that they were both in MI3.

This is a really bad movie. It is boring, pointless, melodramatic, nonsensical, and anticlimactic. And it is three hours long.

In fact, it's probably one of the worst movies ever made. And I really wanted to like it. Too bad.

Rating: 1/5 *
Sucks.

The Lake House

2006-07-05T15:12:00.000+08:00

cast: keanu reeves, sandra bullock

my favorite quotation from the movie had nothing to do with the main storyline. it went something like: “that guy has more issues than rolling stone!” the line struck me as poignant as it described me to a tee. i do have more issues than that long-running rock music magazine. nearly every situation, event or idea elicits some psychobabble out of me. this may prove useful if you’re bored and in need of some other-worldly and controversial palaver, but oftentimes it’s a distraction with its proclivity to incite arguments in what could have otherwise been a laid-back conversation.

and speaking of issues, i have one with the movie’s title. i mean, what’s up with calling it “the lake house”? it’s almost a misnomer as it detracts from the main plot of the movie. i think a more apt title would have been “the mailbox at the lake house” or perhaps simply “the mailbox”.

so anyway, the movie is about a couple – keanu and sandra – who try to find love despite living in different time zones. sandra lives in the present time while keanu lives 2 years back from the present. they are able to communicate thru a mailbox of a certain lake house which they both have owned separately at different times. the mailbox acts as a portal in time and allows them to send letters to each other even if they live very far apart – as in 2 years apart.

when i first saw the trailer for the movie months ago, i was intrigued by its science-fiction theme. but to appreciate the movie, you must ignore the science-fiction part and concentrate instead on the love story which i realized and finally had to accept was the real story. the science-fiction part was full of holes as big as those probably found in the ozone layer and the movie did absolutely nothing to cover them up. in fact, the movie was blatantly and shamelessly exposing those holes as if to tell everybody that this is not a sci-fi film but a love story. and although it was the sci-fi angle that got me to watch this movie in the first place, maybe deep in my subconscious i knew all along this was a love story and i was just using the sci-fi part as an excuse to watch a mushy film.

and good thing i watched it for i found the film to be astutely insightful as it showed that a relationship through different time periods can work, maybe even for the better, as there is less opportunity to act selfishly. the relationship becomes a practice at being considerate, for having to deal with the separation of time, one always tries to visualize the other person’s surroundings and circumstances so as to empathize with what the other person is going through; the relationship becomes communication-based, for without the benefit of seeing each other and the ever constant temptation to just go through the motions of the day, one ends up talking and listening (through letters) as one hopes to better understand each other and mayhap reciprocate each other’s needs; the relationship is neither shallow nor based on looks, as having never seen each other, one does not know if the person he or she is expressing his or her innermost thoughts and deepest feelings to is good-looking or not.

the movie is probably best seen not in 3D glasses but with your special someone. if the 2 of you are experiencing some tough times and are expecting even rougher roads ahead, this may even save your relationship.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
a perfect valentine’s day movie.

PCD - The Pussycat Dolls

2006-06-19T14:07:00.000+08:00

just when i felt i was ready to purchase my very first r&b or hip-hop cd, i find to my dismay that the pussycat dolls’ debut album “pcd” was stacked in the pop section of music one records. still, since the pussycat dolls did collaborate with artists like timbaland, will.i.am., and busta rhymes, i will insist on deluding myself that “pcd” is my first r&b/hip-hop influenced cd. and as i am not familiar with this particular genre of music, let this inexperienced review be a bold adventure to uncharted waters.

although “don’t cha” was the earliest pussycat dolls song i heard on the radio (even if i didn’t know it was them at the time), it was “stickwitu” that got my attention. i have come to consider “stickwitu” as one of the sweetest love songs ever made. it was so sugary (especially for a jaded reviewer such as me) that i was mildly surprised at the aggressive sexual theme and forwardness of the pussycat dolls’ other songs, “don’t cha” included.

another thing that turned my head was when i saw the pussycat dolls’ music videos and found out they were composed of not 4 or 5, but 6 sexy women. i was surprised again and proud at the same time when i learned that the prettiest among the 6 ladies, nicole, has filipino roots. she also happens to do most of the vocals and therefore can be considered the leader of the group.

also evident in the pussycat dolls’ videos is their ability to dance. if i were to be given a free lap dance, these girls would be on the top of my list (and not just on top of me). their dancing, put together with their sexy bodies and wonderful music were what moved me to buy their cd.

aside from “don’t cha” and “stickwitu”, other songs from the cd that have been already released are “beep” and “buttons”. another track to watch out for is “tainted love/where did our love go”, a 2-song medley remake of a couple of old but still very good songs. i was so impressed by their very short rendition of “where did our love go” that out of curiosity, i downloaded an mp3 copy of the original version by diana ross and the supremes.

though labeled as a pop album by local record bars (as i’ve mentioned above), i’d like to think otherwise as i’d like to believe that my discriminating ears are palatable to different types of music.

rating: 3 of 5 stars * * *
these girls put the pussy in pussycat.

Cycle Of The Werewolf - Stephen King

2006-06-11T08:05:00.000+08:00

(illustrations by: berni wrightson)

for years now, i’ve waited for this book to be published in the regular pocketbook size edition. the reasoning behind this self-imposed patience is that the smaller pocketbook size is cheaper. (i may be a book-lover but i am in no way obsessed with them.) my patience, however, would take me nowhere as the book just refused to be published in the much awaited pocketbook size.

having purchased it in its original (expensive) size, i finally understood why it has to be always printed in the same large paperback edition. the pages of the book have to be in a certain size to fully capture the detail and the nuances of the illustrations done by berni wrightson. some of the drawings were in color, some in black and white. some drawings span two pages (when introducing a new chapter), some just one page (within a chapter), and still others just a fraction of a page (after the last paragraph of a chapter).

the spacing of the paragraphs working hand in hand with the well-timed illustrations mimic the rhyme and measure of poetry.

the book can also be compared to a comics graphic novel, except the story is told in prose form.

with regard to the story, “cycle of the werewolf” talks about a small town being hounded by a werewolf every full-moon. it’s a short book containing only 12 chapters named after the months of the year. it starts with january, when the first werewolf killing occurred, and ends with december, where the climax took place. each chapter describes the events leading to that particular month’s full-moon.

stephen king wrote this book in the early 80s, a time when his ideas were still fresh, when his creative writing juices still haven’t been sucked dry. he was drawing from what was then an overflowing well. unlike his latter works where he tries to extend small incidents, “cycle …” comes more naturally. (downplaying king’s latter works should not by any means offend his fans nor discourage potential readers for having written as much as he has, one is bound to lose some steam somewhere along the way. heck, some write 1 or 2 books and find that they have exhausted all their creativity.)

like i already mentioned, it’s a short book. so short it can be read by a moderately slow reader in just one sitting. in my case, i took my time with each page and fancied every art with careful deliberation as i wanted to maximize the big bucks i paid in purchasing a large trade paperback novel.

this book made me wish i could read more of stephen king’s work from the 70s and 80s but i think i’ve read them all.

rating: 4 of 5 stars * * * *
long live the king!

The Peace War - Vernor Vinge

2006-06-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

fifty years previously, the peace authority won the battle against a war-torn world. they owe their victory to a superior technology which allows them to trap in a “bobble” all violent forces. once instantaneously enclosed, the bobble is impenetrable whether from the outside or the inside.

and thus the peace authority has preserved the peace (what else!) for five decades even if through dictatorial means. though still garnering some support from the people, most factions (e.g. the tinkers, the bio-scientists) are planning to stage a rebellion against the authority. the uprising is being led by the great scientist/mathematician himself, paul naismith who, incidentally is credited with the invention of the bobble, a weapon the authority has so wantonly used.

i hesitate to make comments about this book as i fear i do not posses the broad view. to me, stories with a science fiction aura to them (like “the peace war”) are usually (with rare exceptions) automatic good stories. when i can’t put my finger on any political argument in the novel, at the back of my mind, there’s always that factor that it’s a science fiction story.

so i will not further dillydally or uselessly waste your precious time, and instead will attempt to summarize my commentary in a few simple words: “the peace war” is fast-paced right from the start and it builds up to a very satisfying climax.

rating: 3 of 5 stars * * *
biases aside, this is a victory for a very underrated vernor vinge.

Failure To Launch

2006-06-09T14:19:00.000+08:00

cast: matthew mcconaughey, sarah jessica parker, zooey deschanel, kathy bates

matthew mcconaughey’s life in “failure to launch” resembled mine in several ways. he’s single, in his thirties, and still lives in his parents’ house! his always understanding mom and dad, despite wanting him to fly away from the coop, doesn’t pressure him to do so and simply awaits the day when he comes up with the initiative to leave. he has two very close friends whom he shares common interests, and whom he spends lots of time with. he likes to go out with girls to have fun. not necessarily the sex kind of fun, but the going-out-on-a-date kind of fun.

but all similarities between matthew and me end right there. cause unlike me, matthew doesn’t want to have a serious relationship with any of the girls he goes out with. when he feels that a girl is getting serious on him, he breaks off the relationship by bringing the girl to his house, whereupon the girl realizes he still lives with his parents. a ploy that has yet to fail to turn off a girl. thus, not only does matthew get rid of the girl, he is also able to do it guilt-free as it’s the girl who vocally initiates the break-up. and when he’s free of the girl, he once again starts looking for another girl he can have fun with -- someone who won’t take him too seriously.

matthew’s parents, finally getting a bit tired of having to shelter matthew for over three decades or so, decides, after some careful thought, to take matters in their own hands – something they have refrained from doing all these years. what they did was hire a girl (sarah jessica parker), whose initial plan was to physically and emotionally entice matthew, become his girlfriend, develop his all-important “self-esteem”, and in so doing, plant in him the desire to leave his parents’ home. or at least, that’s what she’s been effectively doing to previous clients.

despite my dislike in the past for the main actors in the movie – matthew and sarah – i still found myself enjoying the film immensely. which only goes to show that there is a good story here. and another thing to consider is that although the movie is a story about love, there was nothing mushy about it. definitely a plus for tough guys out there who cringe at anything remotely soft.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
“failure” never sounded so successful.

The Revenge of Retro

2006-06-08T13:56:00.000+08:00

At the start of this year, I had two main predictions: (1) This would essentially be a boring year where nothing happens, (2) All things retro will make a comeback.

You could say that prediction #1 was more of wishful thinking on my part. I had enough excitement the past few years and for a change, wanted a quiet easy-going next twelve months.

But prediction #2 was more of a hunch based on some perceived trends where we seemed to be going back to simpler, older stuff, as much of our pop culture had gotten too complicated. Plus, it was also a bit of wishful thinking as by now, most of you know I am a huge retro fan (as are many of my closest friends).

Firstly, I was mildly pleased to see Martina Hingis make a tennis comeback this year. She even has a chance to win the French Open. I think I stopped watching tennis after both she and Michael Chang retired.

We also get to hear a lot more of the europop music that was very popular in the 80's. They still don't capture the mainstream (much "popular" music we hear on the radio is still crap), but at least it is a step in the right direction. European-based music is where it's at, I believe. It's like a cycle, where they peaked in the late 80's, then lying low for a decade or two before eventually returning. I want to see a new British invasion.

But the 'aha' moment for me was when the underdog Nintendo Wii turned out to be the biggest hit in the last E3. Gamers lined up for hours to get a chance to try out the simpler, more fun Wii, with its simple yet innovative controller. I also liked that the new Nintendo will allow us to download and play all the old school Nintendo games. So now you can play old school Excitebike and the newer ExciteTruck on the same system! Plus, it looks like Duck Hunt will be getting a makeover too. What's amazing is that gamers love it. I hope this encourages game developers to focus more on fun and less on graphics and shooting.

Another good thing is the upcoming release of Will Wright's Spore. You may remember Will Wright as the creator of SimCity and The Sims. His new game encompasses the evolution of a new species. You start as a small organism, evolve into a land creature, form tribes, develop new technology and skills, conquer the planet, and eventually colonize the stars. Spore has the potential to be the most amazing game ever made.

Couch Entertainment is going retro too. I have recently cut down my TV in favor of listening to podcasts over the internet. A podcast is essentially an online radio show. This reminds me when I was younger, I would listen to the radio every school night. My favorites were the call-in talk shows where hosts and people discuss the issues of the day. I also liked this radio station (RK 96 if I remember), where the DJs actually discussed the songs that are played. Plus, every Friday was 'retro night'. Now it seems strange to have a retro night back in the 80's when we were essentially in a retro era. Still that was a great time. And I was very disappointed when one of the local stations here that used to play 80's songs all weekend switched to a new programming format that had limited new wave play.

Even the Internet seems to be in a renaissance phase. You've got all these great websites (youtube.com, pandora.com and others) that allow you to discover great music and catch up on a lot of the oldies that were fun to listen to before and still great to listen to now. I will post some of my youtube favorites in a future article.

Retro is back, man. And it's only going to get better in the future. Especially when an entirely new era of 'retro' takes hold, and we find ourselves once again reliving the old retro while living in the new one.

Basia on Broadway

2006-06-08T13:16:00.000+08:00

This is essentially Basia's greatest hits performed live complete with band and backup singers. It was recorded back in 1994 on Broadway.

This brings me back to the time when Basia was at the top of the recording industry. Everyone remembers the massive hits 'Time and Tide' and 'Promises'. For me that was a rich and bizarre era in music, when a few jazz-inspired songs made it to mainstream.

She pulls out all the stops in this performance, with an all-female chorus backup, blaring trumpets, concert piano, and drums. This is the CD you play when you want to show off your stereo system. This is live music of very high quality.

Here are a couple of my favorite performances in this album:

Copernicus - This is the opening number and sets the tone of the entire album. It is an extremely fast song which jumps all over the place. Sounds a lot like the opening of a show or musical play.

Cruising for Bruising - Great voice, Basia sings in a low key the majority of the song. One thing I like about her is that she can sing low and powerful at the same time.

Third Time Lucky - One of the great melodies and cute background vocals. This live version also sounds better than the original studio recording.

Baby You're Mine - The song has a soft bossa nova guitar background and smooth tempo. I enjoyed the low/high pitch blending. This is probably the catchiest song in the album which you will find yourself humming to long after you stop listening.

Promises/Time and Tide - You already know these songs. The studio recordings sound better than the live ones, particularly for Time and Tide. But they are still Basia staples and fun to listen to.

Take Him Back Rachel - I've never heard this song before. I love it! It has a great title and I like straightforward simple lyrics. Plus it drones on and on with the 'take him back Rachel' part. Makes me wish I knew a Rachel that broke up with a friend of mine, so I could sing this to her.

Until You Come Back to Me - As they played the intro to this song, one excited Basia fan shouted out the title. One of her more popular tunes and an instant classic. This probably sounds better live.

Two of my favorite Basia songs weren't included here, notably 'Go For You' and 'Waters of March' (you know this as the Ayala Center song). I admit they probably wouldn't showcase her live singing abilities, but still it would be nice to have them in this compilation.

All in all, great CD, high quality feel-good music. Future generations will no doubt rediscover Basia.

Rating: 4/5 * * * *
Fun listening and top quality.

Philadelphia

2006-06-04T13:08:00.000+08:00

cast: tom hanks, denzel washington, antonio banderas

anytime you talk about “philadephia” – the place – a varied number of things cross your mind: the liberty bell, cheese steaks (which incidentally is now available at brothers burger), the moniker “city of brotherly love”, allen iverson’s 76ers, donovan mcnabb’s eagles, bobby abreu’s phillies, simon gagne’s flyers or even lower merion high school – the school kobe bryant played for right before he entered the nba. any of these things may or may not play an influential part in watching “philiadelphia”, the movie, all depending on how you want to interpret it.

the plot seems simple and clear enough. tom hanks, a brilliant lawyer working in a top notch law firm had, through the years always kept the company he was working for in the dark when it came to his homosexual life. unfortunately, his sometimes careless gay lifestyle has caused him to contract the aids virus, another matter he did not divulge to the firm. but eventually, as all secrets do, his employers learned of his disease, and because of this knowledge, they had him fired.

if it were a question of work incompetence, tom might have accepted his fate with passive acquiescence. but tom knew better. he felt himself the victim of aids and homosexual discrimination so he decides to put up a fight and sue his former employers. denzel washington, a small-time lawyer who shamelessly advertises himself on tv to attract potential clients, decides to take tom’s case despite his earlier instinctive aversion and fear towards tom’s disease and his dislike for gay men in general.

the ensuing trial between tom and his former employers became a classic case of a david vs. goliath (1Sa 17:1-58) theme where tom, now unemployed, in tandem with denzel, who’s always desperate for clients were the obvious underdogs.

one thing i liked about this movie was its tendency to be fast-paced despite being tagged as a serious drama. it was like watching an action movie, only instead of being bombarded by non-stop action scenes, the viewer is treated with continuous blow-by-blow accounts of powerfully written dialogue.

another thing i liked about this movie was the whole-hearted support and loyalty given to tom by his entire family: from his parents, to his siblings, to his sibling’s spouses, and up to his boyfriend. (take that michael corleone & family!) no one wanted to cast him out. no one berated or judged his homosexual life. no one distanced himself or herself from his terminal and very contagious disease. in short, their acceptance of a hurting (both socially and physically) family member meant they were there not only in good times, but in difficult times as well.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
tom hanks has the midas touch.

the producers (the movie)

2006-05-30T08:29:00.000+08:00

the producers, produced by mel brooks, is a film based on a broadway play about a musical. it has two main characters played by nathan lane (the scheming broadway producer) and matthew broderick (the neurotic accountant). matthew was dissatisfied with his life as an accountant and has decided to produce a play with nathan that will bomb in the ticket sales. this maneuver would somehow earn them both a lot of money. im not sure how that works.

for the play to suck, they had to choose a story and unsuitable actors to play the characters, that will repulse people. but this plan backfired and the play became an instant hit.

with the absence of broadway plays where im at, i thought seeing a film version is an adequate replacement.

another observation. uma thurman has very very very long legs.

rating: 3 out of 5
entertaining and hilarious

X-Men: The Last Stand

2006-05-28T09:03:00.000+08:00

cast: halle berry, hugh jackman, famke janssen, anna paquin, rebecca romijn, patrick stewart, kelsey grammer, ian mckellen, james marsden

this is the 3rd installment of marvel comics’ x-men series. and you know that saying about the third time being the charm? it definitely does NOT apply to this movie!

i don’t know if i was simply in a bad mood when i watched this one. i dimly recall being bored at home and then going out to megamall to watch a movie. but boredom, in my case, is suppose to work in favor of the movie as this means: (1) i’m watching the movie just for the sake of watching it with no expectations – meaning i can’t be disappointed; and (2) there has yet to be a movie, no matter how bad, that failed to alleviate my boredom. though the film made me temporarily forget the bored state i was in, overall, i wasn’t impressed.

“x-men: the last stand” talks about the government developing a “cure” for the mutant gene. “cure” here obviously implies that being a mutant is a disease. some mutants, like rogue for instance, want the “cure”. rogue, as x-men fans know, cannot touch or kiss another person without hurting the person by absorbing his powers and memories. so it’s understandable that she wants out of this lonely and somewhat isolated state.

other mutants, led by the powerful magneto, found this “cure” to be an insult to the mutant race as aside from being branded as sick people, the “cure” is being enforced to all mutants, not just to those who want it. so magneto establishes an army (“the brotherhood”) that will wage war against the government and their very first act is to destroy the lab that is responsible for manufacturing the “cure” and to capture the mutant leech, whose powers became the basis for the “cure”. magneto calls out to all mutants to either join his army or stay out of the way.

it’s now up to 6 x-men – storm, wolverine, beast, colossus, iceman, kitty pryde (don’t ask me where the others are for doing so would be doling out too many spoilers) – and government troops armed with the “cure” to stop magneto and his huge army.

it may even sound like an interesting story on paper. heck, i was even excited when i saw juggernaut as a member of magneto’s evil brotherhood. but the movie simply lacked oomph. it was missing much needed pizzazz. all those things that make up a feel-good action movie were not there.

i was trying my best (without trying too hard) to appreciate the movie. heck, i was rooting for the movie as i’m a big comics lover myself. but all that transpired was countless suppressed yawns on my part all throughout the movie.

but as implied by the ending, both before and after the movie credits, this may not be the x-men’s “last stand” and a sequel would likely be in the offing. this would sadly become the movie’s only redeeming moment, for despite being a flop of a movie, the viewer’s curiosity is once again piqued as to what the next x-men installment would be like.

rating: 2 of 5 stars * *
unless you’re an x-men fanatic, you’re better off skipping this one.

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-28T00:55:00.000+08:00

cast: tom hanks, audrey tautou, jean reno, ian mckellen, paul bettany, alfred molina
directed by: ron howard

back in the 70’s, guitarist extraordinaire eric clapton was proclaimed god by fans and critics alike. as we boldly move forward in this 21st century, tom hanks, judging from his influential movies and award-winning roles, should be considered the movie industry’s one and true god. if only for this reason, the movie is a must-see no matter what pre-conceived notions one might have regarding its highly controversial story.

putting man on a pedestal of greatness or even godhood, i should point out, is a very humbling act; humility, on the other hand, is a trait worthy of a god; therefore, everyone has a capacity to be god, which only makes sense as we are suppose to see god in each of our fellow man – and this includes even the bitterest of our enemies.

but enough with my misguided philosophies for a moment, and allow me to talk a little bit about the movie. tom hanks is the prime suspect in the murder of a museum employee – i can’t remember now if he was the curator but i’m sure he was a high ranking employee. anyway, the employee, in his dying moments and with the use of his own blood, unknowingly implicates tom in the crime. it turns out the victim was simply sending a secret message to her granddaughter, audrey tautou, instructing her to find tom so that they might decipher the codes he has left them, and in so doing preserve the secrets that has been passed down to him as a member of the priory of scion.

the movie is a great mystery-thriller as tom and audrey crack one code after another in the streets of france and england. this mystery solving is easier said than done as the french police are after them – tom, for the murder he is suspected of committing, and audrey, for abetting tom, a crime suspect.

as if being hounded by the french police was not enough trouble, there existed a secret group of catholic bishops, who, in cahoots with the controversial religious group opus dei, were also after the secret the murdered museum employee was hiding, and their intent was to destroy the secret as the truth it possessed would prove too damning and would most likely lead to the destruction not only of the catholic church but the entire christian faith. to confound matters even further, a third group will surface somewhere near the climax of the movie, also obsessively interested in possessing the secret but for altogether different reasons.

the “supposed controversy” i will not delve into as it has been heatedly argued just about everywhere from friendly conversations to internet discussions that to put in my two cents worth is pure overkill. the controversy is overly exposed it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the movie.

but if you really want to know my proud opinion about the “supposed controversy”, i think jesus himself would enjoy the movie as it is a parable of the sacred feminine. it figuratively shows us that despite all our pretenses in praising our mothers, we really have minimal love and respect for the female sex. and jesus, the master storyteller himself, who loves speaking in parables, sees what the hidden hand is doing.

but that’s just me …… “a man, a human in flesh, but not by law”.

rating: 5 of 5 stars * * * * *
book’s still better, but never would i pass up on the movie.

Cover Songs Even Better Than The Original

2006-05-24T12:17:00.000+08:00

Good songs don't fade away - rather, they are remade and repackaged in a different form for the newer generations to enjoy. Artists will frequently cover a popular oldie and make it their own. And people listening to the cover song for the first time may actually think it's an entirely new composition.

Some cover songs are dreadful. They don't add anything new to the original and frequently even ruin what was once a classic. The A-Teens remakes of the ABBA hits is one good example of this. It pains me to hear good songs being remade into bad ones.

Then there is that rare breed of cover song that improves on the original. These are remakes that add flavor and sometimes provide a different angle on a popular song. A great remake has the magic of the original, while at the same time adding an edge to it. These are cover songs that end up surpassing and eventually supplanting the original. Here is a list of better-than-original remakes:

Don't Make Me Over - Sybil
(original song by Dionne Warwick)

Here's one cover I enjoy listening to. It adds an emotional punch to the original through Sybil's melodic voice that lingers on the chorus. It ventures into unfamiliar territory by blending slightly off key vocals to produce a totally unique sound. It moves an established R&B hit into smooth jazz territory.

Wooden Heart - The Lizards Convention
(original song by Elvis Presley)

I'm amazed at the creativity that this small Singaporean band displayed in totally revising and remaking an Elvis original. They sound like different songs altogether. In my opinion, the original was kind of lackluster, but I guess The Lizards saw something in it, and revised the tempo, gave it a female voice, and made it into a kickass ballad worth remembering.

I Will Survive - CAKE
(original by Gloria Gaynor)

Most people think this is CAKE's way of mocking the original Gloria Gaynor rendition. But John McCrea actually said in an interview that he liked the original 'I Will Survive' and this was his way of paying tribute. There are several key differences between the two. The original was a song about positive resolve and liberation, while the remake is actually kind of down, sarcastic and even angry. The original was a disco hit that closely matched its fancy tempo, while CAKE's doesn't even try to match the vocals to the music, lagging by half a step the entire song. The original had nice clean lyrics. While CAKE modified it slightly with the line "I should have changed my fucking lock" which I felt was more appropriate. CAKE's version added an edge to a 70's classic, and succeeded in creating something totally new.

Don't Leave Me This Way - The Communards
(original by Thelma Houston)

OK, the original Thelma Houston version is pretty good too. I enjoy them both. In fact, this is one of my favorite songs of all time in any form, whether sung disco-style like the original, 80's new wave style like The Communards, or even karaoke-style sung by complete strangers. The Communards added their own twist to it by singing falsetto the entire way while at the same time upping the feel-good energy factor by a couple of notches. The music video is good too.

Tainted Love - Soft Cell
(original by Gloria Jones)

Bet you didn't know this was a remake. I didn't know either. In fact, I confess I haven't heard the original version. But I'm still 100% sure that Soft Cell's Tainted Love rendition will be better. Why? Because this stands as one of the best new wave songs ever made. It also contains the best synthesized riffs in music history - a killer intro followed by 'Sometimes I feel I've got to.... run away, I've got to... get away...' It was also sampled in Rhianna's Rescue Me SOS, nice.

When You Say Nothing At All - Ronan Keating/Alison Krauss
(original by Keith Whitley)

This is debatable because there are times when I think the Keith Whitley country original is superior to its remakes. But I do like the Ronan Keating and Alison Krauss versions. Keating punctuates it with a slightly off-key, irish accented chorus which adds emotion and depth to the song (plus it sounded great in the movie Notting Hill). Alison Krauss had the sweeter all around melodic vocals that is easy to fall in love to.

I'll Always Love You - Vina Morales
(original by Michael Johnson)

I'm going to commit sacrilege and and say that I liked Vina Morales version of this timeless classic better than the original. OK, OK, I know in the grand scheme of things, Michael Johnson's original will probably be judged better by almost everyone. In fact I know some people who feverently detest the Vina Morales remake, calling it an insult to the original tune, and I understand their viewpoint. Johnson's version was more heartfelt, emotional, sad, matching the mood of the lyrics more accurately. In contrast, Vina's version was happy, cheerful, cute, and in no way matched the lyrics. In fact it made no sense to sing it this way because this was a song about a breakup. It just doesn't match up. However, I like irony and contrasts in my music, and this gave a good vibe, so I'm picking it.

Have I missed any other good cover songs?