Kidding Aside

A Game of Thrones mania

2011-08-16T09:48:00.002+08:00

Yes I am a decade late into this, just like in everything else. Yet again this is a delightful find. if you haven't watched the full season 1 yet or grabbed the last five books, I certainly recommend these to you. The story is all too familiar, warring kingdoms, betrayals, illicit affair and knights and dragons but it still satisfies like a whole new sexual experience. Do it and let's talk.

Self-Loathing

2011-08-16T09:19:00.002+08:00

It was a couple of days ago just when the mirror accidentally found me and had two minutes of face time with myself. I had to ask, is this really me?

I was kind of reminded of a timid little boy who had little guts to speak up in front of class or strike up a conversation with a classmate. Flashes of a teenager who had to rehearse words only to gobble it up in front of a girl and a trying hard wanna be rocker spilling lyrics of Pearl Jam without knowing any single relatable experience.

Much has changed over the course of those years. Much has remained and yet this much has been all been due to the people in my life. I have changed a lot and the mirror says no fairest one of all lies, it just stares you blankly and frankly.

I am a selfish sonnabitch, if truth be told. I don't care much for other but care too much of what others might think. It may come of as pleasing others or doing them favors only those favors shall reap rewards in the future. A vicious man is what I am. I do not even know if a am a good father or worse a good person.

Looking at the mirror changes nothing. My reflection stays the same. The creases and the scars are still there and the dark spots still lurks in the most unfortunate places.

Re-Launch

2011-07-26T15:35:00.002+08:00

Putting the prefix re- into anything can mean a lot of things but tend to signify repetition, a redo of sorts, or going back to square one. Not to say much, but it sounds off failure, not being able to do it the first time thus the need for a re-up.

Putting up a blog is much like serving out your mind in a breakfast platter for the whole world to gobble up. You put your thoughts on display and the world sees you. You bring out good ideas and you mount expectations from others and more so from yourself. You make crappy pronouncements and misconceptions are born. This is what, I think, a journal or a more contemporary diary makes better suited for private thoughts put on ink.

There was a time when I had to re-think of what I put in here for fear of what friends might think, or what the occasional officemate might gossip about, or worse, what thoughts about the past can put dents on the present and the future. It just wasn't worth all the risk.

But, the gloves are off and this time, I want to write for myself. I want to express me. Words can hurt and that is the beauty of it - the hurt goes but the words stay. I want to ramble on and on but the prefix Re- just sums it all up for this new blogging me. It is an admittance that it was all for show.

Who knows this re-me is a show too? Anyhows, only me will find out.

Dormalcy

2011-02-03T10:36:00.002+08:00

They even term it as a lack of inspiration. In its more popular form, it's called writer's block. Me? I simply name it hugak. Yes, my lackadaisical nature gets the best of me most of the time. In fact it must be my most recognizable attitude just yet - laid-back, uncompromising, non-committal and at to some degree just plain lazy.

Life is a grind. We all know that. We come to work every Monday looking up every hour hoping it is Friday just yet. Every second of our life is a purpose for another purpose. Yes you do this job to get a raise, you get a raise to buy a car, you get a car to get social stature. The list goes on. To a fault, we no longer pause to smell the gumamelas.

It is agonizing to find some purpose in life. Every purpose starts out a wonderful objective but is muddied along the treacherous path of life and eventually becomes and obligation. When I was kid, it was getting the best grades in class. In teen years, it was getting along and fitting in. Now, it is all about the money which in all honesty is not even that great and fulfilling.

Looking around, we see drones of people punching in and out of their everyday lives, coming home to families they provide for. Not too shabby I suppose, but what about dreaming big? Of godfathering great ideas? Of having your own name in a building? I suppose all these can take a back seat to living the lives we have right now. Welcome to mediocrity.

Rewind to 14 Years Past

2011-01-03T10:31:00.003+08:00

As it turns out, we all can get along.

This time around we have beer bellies, Christopher de Leon mustache, a stretched out six footer, and of course a bunch of professionals (Count em three Professors, two Lawyers, an Accountant, an Adman, and a couple of bigshots). No longer we have to pass around the bill (still we passed it to Alder), we just have to wait for the volunteer to foot it.

December 30th was soggy at its worst but actually was one of the jaw locking experiences due to lots of laughs and quirky unintentional comedy. Who could have known that what was once a group of cliques in high school could actually come together, reconcile differences and share laughter at the expense of well, someone who is not there. Nah, we toned down on the backbiting this year and we maxxed out on the anecdotes, mostly poking fun at ourselves.

To cap the night off, it was refreshing to put our efforts into a small project which can be a start of something big. To my 4R friends, salamat sa maogmang banggui nin pagiiribanan!

The Social Network

2010-11-04T16:43:00.004+08:00

I say we replace one word and this movie is still the same, you don't get to 500 million dollars without making a few enemies.

I was really pumped for this one being a coding enthusiast and a David Fincher follower (the resume is impressive: Zodiac, The Game, Se7en, Benjamin Button and of course Fight Club). This is what Pirates of the Silicon Valley should have been: an ocean of character development, a hollywooded non-fiction script, and capable actors.

Dare I say, Movie of the Year or better yet an Oscar? Yes, I do!

The Plot:

Based on/actually inspired by the talented lives of Mark Zuckerberg and his dorm room friends from Harvard who founded Facebook. The story evolves on the friendship of Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin and their falling out during the life and triumph of Facebook. Sandwiched in between is truant Napster founder Sean Parker, wonderfully played by Justin Timberlake who comes in between their friendship and the eventual success of Facebook.

The Good:

1. The three amigos: Eisenberg, Garfield and Timberlake. The main protagonists who played the film are perfectly cast that you could not put in another actor to play them.

Jesse Eisenberg plays and looks the part of a talented but brutal programmer who cares anything less but the recognition. This is captured in one scene when he is talking to Saverin announcing that they have made it as he looks on his group partying and drinking with his face speaking out that "nothing interests me here," look.

Andrew Garfield is the school boy who captures us with his innocence. This is best seen in one scene during the trial where he is accused of animal cruelty which could have tarnished the image of the company. His character was more concerned of what his father would think than the implications in the case. And his boiling out breaking the laptop scene makes us all drool of a complex Spiderman. Way to go for the new webslinger!

Justin Timberlake is the wild card and he actually gives me the best scene. A morning after one night stand and a girl asks her, "bet you do not know my name?" He musters a "Stanford?", obviously referring to the Stanford panties and in a minute goes on a tirade of all the girl's info. You have to see the scene to laugh out loud. Justin the boyband is no more, all hail the new asshole Justin.

2. David Fincher. We all knew he is an able director from shots though key holes in Panic Room to slow-mo fight scenes in Fight Club but he displays a skill here that other directors have yet to master. The boat chase scene is so intense that it looks and feel as if you are one of the rowers in the race.

3. The Story and the Dialogue. Enough said. This should have a minimum of five nominations alone: Best Actor (Eisenberg), Supporting (Garfield), film, direction and adapted screenplay. The pace is superb and you would not even notice that two hours have been eaten up.

I am always critical of how movie closes that I am happy that it did it that way. In the end we get a scene of Zuckerberg refreshing every second to see if he got the friend request from the girl who motivated him to make Facebook. It is really what the movie is all about, this one man's yearning for acceptance and the hardships he had to go through to prove his worth.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

2010-11-04T16:07:00.003+08:00

MTV of the 80s addicts, Nintendo boys tie your shoelaces, bring on your rock guitars and get ready to jam with Scott Pilgrim!

Yes, I get it, only a few will quite get the attention deficit, frame turning life of Scott Pilgrim. One minute it ventures into realism, the next minute you're transported into an out of this world comic book. Yes, it is literally a moving graphic novel, complete with the kapow! and kabaam! This what makes it special. More on this later.

The Plot:

Scott Pilgrim, young bassist player for a band based in Toronto, Canada, finds the girl of his dreams but to conquer her he has to defeat her seven evil exes. See, it is as simple as that!

The Good:

1. Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Yeah I said it, she was the driving point for me personally since I always had this schoolboy crush on her. From the sweetiee damsel in distress in several slasher films, MEW transforms into this pained broken character whose spontaneousness is a mystery. She changes her hair color once every one a half week for no reason at all and she has this poker faced look that still puts out a warmth that I can't explain.

2. The Seven Exes. A wide range of great actors to choose from here, there's Captain America himself in Chris Evans in one exhilarating skateboard from the top trick, the Man of Steel himself in Brandon Routh who is oddly enough is still a Vegan with powers and Jason Swchartzmann who reminds me of his obsessed self in Slackers.

3. The Soundtrack. The songs used in the film are original and catchy. I hope to download the album illegally over the next few days. Even the logo of Universal has very cute monotone to it.

The Bad:

1. Made for a crowd film. This will not appeal to people who have not grown up with MTV and Nintendo games cannot actually appreciate the 1-up and coins gained references. And some viewer may be lost in the shuffle of this attention deficit film. And yes, it is unreal, which to some point is tiresome and predictable.

RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous)

2010-10-28T13:28:00.003+08:00

Graphic novels turned movies is the fad these days. Count 'em and they are racking them up faster than Shake Rattle and Roll can give its 12th installment.

The latest of the variety is RED starring a bunch of veteran actors in Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren.

The Plot:

RED CIA agents are suddenly being exterminated for an unknown reason. Frank Moses (Willis) is one of them, a former CIA black ops agent who is rather bored of his retirement, filling most of his time with inappropriate calls to an insurance a company help desk operator.

Unexpectedly, he becomes a target for extermination along with several other retired agents. banding together, the group goes deep into the mystery behind the killings and trace it back to the Vice President who is running for the presidency and apparently wants to clear all untoward incidents that may be traced back to his name. The REDs were a part of that single extermination in the 1980s where the current VP was involved. A simple twist apparently exists in the end, which even a ten year old can assume ten minutes into the movie.

The Good:

1. The Cast. With this movie, I can sense this conversation took place.

Bruce: Why don't we make a movie where all the old guys can carry guns?

Malkovich: I want a magnum. Anything less, I wont sign. And a big room of guns.

Mirren: Yes, I will do it if I get to be sniper.

Freeman: Can I still kick some ass, I usually just say something cool and it works all the time.

Bruce: Yeah let's do this mutherfucker.

2. John Malkovich. He triumphs as the icebreaker of the whole film. To his straight faced unintentional jokes to his crazy hair and get up, malkovich fits the bill of the deranges retiree who is still consumed by the paranoia of it all.

3. Helen Mirren and her gun. Be it her sniper or that big-assed 30 caliber gun which had to be screwed to the ground, Helen Mirren is a sight to behold as a kick ass assassin. She sure wears and looks the part and hell, she even looks like she is having a blast. Must have been a vacation after all those medieval period pieces she has been appearing in the past years.

The Bad:

1. Too predictable. The trailer screams the whole movie and ten minutes in, the twist int he eand is a dead giveaway. And yes, we've seen Bruce Willis kick ass and be the strong silent hero that he is, so it does not offer much than the Good I have mentioned above.

Wall Street 2:Money Never Sleeps

2010-10-28T12:59:00.004+08:00

Sophisticated is the word. Even the poster says it all. Two slick young men in their Armani suits, married with their glossy hair and their commanding posture, just screams this movie is not for everyone.

Remember when you had to flip the Sunday newspaper and immediately went to the Comics section first, the Sports and Entertainment sections next and not even wrinkling the Business Section? This movie is that same section.

The Plot:

The story evolves around Gordon Gekko, fresh out of prison from his insider trading fiasco, now acting as a tell all man and a consultant as he predicts the future of Wall Street before its soon to be crash. Along the way he tries to repair his relationship with Estranged daughter Winnie with the help of Jacob, a fellow trader and Winnie's fiancee in exchange for helping him to get back at the man who caused his mentor's suicide.

The Good:

1. Gekko, Gekko and Gekko. Michael Douglas with the grey hair, prostate cancer and all deliver and shines in his original role. During most part, you are at your toes guessing if he really is what he seems and what his ulterior motives are. His slick, composed and grounded performance carries the movie throughout.

2. The style. Oliver Stone uses imagery and powerpoint like visuals to effective use in this movie. It does not dumb down the viewer with very technical stock market ideas but rather assumes it can be understood along the course of the movie.

3. The Ducatis. Yes there was one scene of motorcycle race which just features how cool Ducatis are. Just a guilty pleasure, I guess.

The Bad:

1. The ending. Spoiler Alert:For the life of me, I cannot fathom how the main characters especially the daughter can forgive a scheming father who cheats her out of 100 million dollars. This is beyond the fact that he was the cause of her family's demise and her brother's suicide.

2. Shia Lebouf. He may be a good actor but I just could not get the image os Sam Witwicky the hyperactive teenager in Transformers. I always envision stock brokers to be fast tackers and slick, Shia is obviously a fast talker but somehow he does not fit into the role.

3. Some plot holes. How can the daughter who despised her father be involved with someone who is also a stock broker?

Finally, a sport where height is not that might

2010-10-28T12:36:00.003+08:00

Yes, it is not sepak takraw or table tennis, or better yet, golf. For the past weeks, I have already indulged in what Camarines Sur has been whoring out for three years now... Wakeboarding at CamSur.

And just like Neo during his first jump, everybody falls the first time. Thing is that did not only apply to me once or twice but around ten times. True that, it seems to be easy to ride a board and go through an oval shaped man made ride but still, it requires a lot of skill. You've got to have enough arm strength to sustain speeds of approximately 40 kph. Your legs must have enough power to withstand the pull of the rope and of course the abs to complete the whole challenge.

Once upon I time I was a disciple of Tyler Durden who maintained that Self improvement is masturbation. With the obvious byproduct of wakeboarding being triceps and six packs, I am beginning to resonate some hesitation. Fuck Tyler on this one, I am finally trying to excel at something where height is not an advantage and a lot skimpy clad girls at arm's length are all but a bonus.

Movie Downloads Review

2010-10-04T13:48:00.005+08:00

With 2010 being a turtle year for good movies, there are few and far between good to great movies to shell out money for actual theater experience. When that happens , thank God for torrents when we can actually just enjoy or torture ourselves with these mediocre films:

Robin Hood

They should have just stopped with the title and not called this Robin Hood. It is worlds apart from the merry singing bandit we have read and seen in some mediums. This is the serious version, so serious that it has sucked the life of Robin Hood. Apparently Robin is no bandit but actually a noble man stripped off of his real lineage. Who would buy that?

We want the Robin who steals and gives to the poor. And of course, the singing almost homo-ish version in tights.

Even the beautiful Cate Blanchett and Russel Crowe with their acting cannot save the life of this Robin Hood incarnation. I could just not get past the title. Other than that the battle scenes, specially the sea stand off was beautifully shot and the cinematography was commendable. It is just the plot that muddles it altogether.

Knight and Day

Nice going there Tom. Apparently the Salt movie was offered to you and yes you decided to do the poor man's version of that in Knight and day.

Beyond the silliness of the script, the unbeliev

ability of the events, and the general overacting of Cameron Diaz, this was easily the train wreck of the summer. if only Tom Cruise could save th

e life of an otherwise predictable script. Is

he really a double agent? Did he really turn sides? Then, this movie could have been better, yet, we get a Tom who could casually converse during a knife duel. No amount of acting can save a scene like that.

Knight and Day is a waste of time that i found myself skipping the last parts just to rid myself of the snooze fest. Besides, there was no eye candy to go around. Sorry, Cameron, I have seen you without the makeups.

Get Him to the Greek

Actually this was not a bad film. As some of you may very well know me I am comedy guy, much more an Apatow fan. So this actually ranks high up there. This rather belongs to the downloads section for SM would not show not high profile actors in their mere four cinema mall.

Get Him to the Greek is your traditional slacker film with all the main ingredients in it. The by the book guy, the slacker, and some outrageous characters drawn in and out and in between. the major surprise here is P. Diddy Combs portraying the head of major label record. He actually does it as the foul mouthed label producer who is enamored by the concept of a mind fuck.

Beneath all the senseless toilet jokes, the awkward one night stand, and the drug induced trips is a actually a sensible message, if life gives you drugs, embrace it, rub the wool wall. Weird as it is, the movie does it for us just wanting to pass time and have a good one while we are at it. Just another Apatow film in his long line of funny films except of course that pretentious Funny People screw up.

Motorcycle Drive By

2010-10-04T13:30:00.003+08:00

So I have began riding a motorcycle. To be honest, it has just been my first week into driving one and I have just about fifty reminders on not to drink and drive. Well, I do not intend to do both at the same time. Who is the dimwit who paired those two together? It would never work as coffee with Ovaltine.

Some just random stories with my motorcycle drive bys:

The first day, I was kicking the life out of my starter only to notice that I have not even turned on the key. Well to be fair, I did not run over some poor dog or crashed into a stationary car on my first time and mind you, I have overtaken two padyaks during that day (the other one was parked).

The second day was more eventful. I had just gone home from a mild drinking spree with officemates. I had three to four glasses of Fundador so I was tipsy at best which I think gave me the psuedo-confidence to drive again for this consecutive night. The plan was to buy some fries at McDonald's centro, not crash the bike and go home safely. To my credit, I did well. On my way home (I took the Barlin route to Sta. Cruz), an acquaintance hailed me and hitched for a ride. As he positioned behind me this was the conversation:

Me: This is my second night of driving a motorcycle.

Him: Is that so? Are you serious?

Me: Yes.

Him: You seem to smell of alcohol.

Me: Yes, I guess I had some shots.

Him: Can you please pull me over at the next corner?

I guess the second day of driving was just not making it for him. Good for him. To date, I have been enjoying the ride and being too cautious and nervous to a fault, especially with curves and overtaking buses. (See I ride daily the Maharlika Highway). I hope this does not jinx my so far unblemished riding record.

The Expendables

2010-08-26T15:26:00.002+08:00

Not to be outdone in his last falling leaves, writer, producer, director and actor Sylvester Stallone has assembled an intriguing cast in recent history. The names are sprawled all over the teasers, statham, li, crews, couture, lundgren, rourke, and yes, cameos from bruce willis and the terminator.

Coming in this movie, I had envisioned Expendables pinoy style. Too bad some members of my dream cast are already six feet under, FPJ, Rudy F., Estrada, Lapid, Binoy, Ronnie Ricketts, to name a few. We could have pulled it off, knowing Pinoy movie makers to be the penultimate copycats.

Back to expendables, the plot is as shallow as it can get. A team of mercenaries are hired by the CIA to overthrow a corrupt regime in a fictional island. Behind this imperialistic regime is a capitalist American who is pulling the strings, to keep his drug business afloat and flourishing. Now there's the usual equation of the leading lady, the damsel in distress which helps the protagonist suddenly grow a conscience. All of these, we have seen and heard before.

The Expendables is basically a guilty pleasure, a no brainer action movie thrown back to the 80s. No CGIs here, no 3D visuals, just pure gore, arms chopping, necks snapping, and mixed martial arts. This movie delivers with what it offers. The siege of the port alone is enough for the price of admission. And Mickey Rourke delivers once more with a heartfelt authentic rendition of a man in remorse. I still can't figure out what Stallone is mumbling at times but it is amazing to see what he can still do at 70.

Here's to hoping for a better plot and more action sequences for possibly, a sequel. And yes Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Steven Seagal, park your egos for a minute!

Inception

2010-07-19T09:30:00.004+08:00

Amazing cannot even begin to describe this.

The buzz of the summer has been Inception, the newest science fiction thriller from Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Enough with the remakes (The Karate kid), tv series adaptation (The Last Airbender), and sequels (Sex and the City 2), the stage is right for original material. Nothing can be more brand new than the concept of dream invasion and inception.

Cobb, played wonderfully by Leo di Caprio, is an expert at corporate espionage, only that he does this by invading dreams. He and his team (Joseph Gordon Levitt) enter the subconscious of their targets and extract information locked in the vaults of their target's minds. The team botches a job which turns out to be an audition for another job. Saito, their original target (Ken Watanabe) makes Cobb an offer which he cannot refuse. Being a wanted felon in his country, Cobb ponders the enticing ticket back to the United States and to his family.

In order to do that, they have to do the reverse. Instead of extracting information, they have to implant one - inception. To introduce an idea into the mind of the target, Cobb assembles a team - the architect (Ellen Page), the chemist (the Indian guy from Drag Me to Hell), a forger (Tom Hardy), and his trusted sidekick (Levitt). To crack an inception, Cobb reveals that they have to do a multi-layered dream - three at the most. Going beyond that would make someone susceptible to limbo - that is losing sight of what is real and what is a dream - and in the process lose their minds.

While the plan seems solid at the outset, the curve ball is Cobb's past. He is and his dead wife experimented on multi-layered dreams and she lost grasp of reality. Cobb's wife thought that the dream world was the real one. Cobb suggests to her that in order to escape the dream they have to kill themselves, making this his first unintentional attempt at inception. Confusing reality from the dream, she commits suicide by jumping off a building, leaving Cobb with a world of grief and guilt. This guilt triggers him to recreate a dreamworld based on his memories. This, he knows is dangerous as he warns the Architect (Page) to never recreate dreams from memories.

In the end, the satisfyingly unsatisfying climax leaves much to the audience to chew on. Cobb and his team successfully plants the idea on their target. Cobb makes peace with his inner guilt by letting the memories and dreams of this wife go. And lastly, he is finally able to go home to his kids. Not without a final clip to debate on.

Before he goes to embrace his long lost children, Cobb lets his totem spin. It spins continuously as the camera focuses on it. And as it fades to black, we hear a thud, seemingly suggesting that it has toppled over.

This is cinema breakthrough as it challenges movie makers all over to create new story lines and at the same time be visceral in its presentation. Inception hits both with a home run. The no gravity fight scene of Levitt already pays in full the price of admission. The stunning dream worlds that Page creates are magnificent and aware of every single detail, from mirrors mirroring mirrors, to worlds collapsing and folding into every corner, and stairs of paradoxes going up and down and round again.

Nolan has opened a whole new way of doing things, that is being original, assembling a great cast, and putting front and center character development and an edgy storyline. Di Caprio is at his Shutter Island best in this role (though both roles are very similar), Page strips off of her Juno emoish sarcasm and cuteness and fits into a calming presence, Hardy is funny and provides the comedy for the whole show while Michael Caine in his few scenes comes off as the most wise of the bunch, he just has that gift.

They say a good film is evidenced by the discussion afterward, I have a ton of them:

1. Was the whole movie a dream? Why did the children never age? Are the other members just projections of Cobb's subconscious?

2. Was it an inception of Cobb? Did the team stage a job to rid him of his guilt of Mal? Come to think of it if Saito wanted to rid of Fischer there are faster and more efficient ways, why not hire a killer?

3. Why is it that when Cobb and Mal laid on the train tracks, they were still young when it was suggested and shown that they were already old in the dream world?

4. Can you not create items in dreamland when you are not the architect? Did not Tom Hardy say to Levitt, "You must dream bigger," and even brought out the big gun in the dream even if he was not the architect?

Still, a 12 over a 10.

Toy Story 3

2010-07-13T11:56:00.004+08:00

Rarely do movies move me to tears, much more cartoons. I guess I speak for the majority that cartoons are generally to entertain children, impart lessons, and just give us a hell of a good time.

Don't get me wrong Toy Story 3 does all of that and more.

The conclusion to one of the greatest Disney franchises brings back the whole gang - Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Porky, Rex, Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead and their alien kids. This time around, Andy, their kid is all grown up and just days away from going to college. Their playtime days are over and the gang is just coughing up dust in the toychest.

The fate of the toys? Either to be donated, banished to the attic or brought to college with Andy. The gang is accidentally shipped to a day care center which is under the control of the imperialistic Lot-so bear. Led by Woody, our protagonists hatch a plan to get back to Andy, and make it back on time before he goes to college. As in all feel good movies, all is well that ends well, the toys get donated to a new owner who is loving and caring, and the movie is wrapped by Andy's simple words, "Thanks guys."

The end is an emotional farewell that can get anyone who ever had loved someone, be it toys. For one last time, Andy plays with them and the nostalgia of what our friends has been through pricks the heart with a sharp needle. That last sequence brings closure to a satisfying three movie arc that has narrated what toys go through.

In many ways men are like toys. We act out for the ones we love and do what will make them happy in exchange for a minute of attention. These toys are the embodiment of the selfless love that most of us profess blindly when someone calls us their own. Just like these toys, we crave attention, we harbor bitterness, and we do everything to cling on the past. And just like Andy, our loved ones outgrow us, neglect us, and sometimes forget the time we have spent together.

Life and love in general is like that, it turns out well for some and unfortunate for others. Lucky for Woody and his pals, they get an owner who reciprocates that love and takes good care of them. Unlucky for Lot-so who was accidentally left out, felt scorned, grew bitter, and became a cynic towards love.

Toy Story 3 is the best yet of the year and just like Andy, let me say this to the great people of Pixar, who are one of the few movie makers who hatch original stories, "Thanks guys!"

The A-Team (2010)

2010-06-28T12:31:00.003+08:00

Hollywood is fast becoming like the sari-sari stores in the Philippines. You open up a barbeque stand on one corner, another puts up the same type of service across the street several days later. Someone tries on an ukay-ukay business and several would follow suit. It is a copycat world.

Not long ago I watched Losers, a so-so film about military men who were framed by their own government. They turn mercenaries and go on a suicide mission to clear their names. Stop, rewind, replay and that is what we get with The A-Team only that The Losers start with L and A is A.

This is a major upgrade of The Losers. Instead of Zoe Saldana we get Jessica Biel (hotter). In place of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Liam Neeson (C'mon who would ever go up against him, remember, Taken?). And several other cast members who are better like the guy from Hangover (Cooper), the guy from District 9 (Copley) and a mixed martial artist taking over for Mr. T (Rampage).

Mind you, this is a mindless action flick. The highlight of the film includes a helicopter going 360, a tank flying itself, and some elaborate action sequences that come with commentary. These are the type of boxes I don't regret opening when in the first place, I know what I am getting. The A-Team does not disappoint with its imagination but only falters in plausibility. With the action taking a front scene you do not mind the used up plot, the mailed in acting when no acting is actually required, and the otherwise useless eyecandy. On second thought, Saldana showed more skin. The A-Team while not garnering an A is near a B.

Celebrating on the Road

2010-06-28T08:27:00.002+08:00

A yearly birthday blog is long overdue. A sudden business trip to Metro Manila and an otherwise expected empty wallet laid an uneventful 31st birthday.

I am a birthday whores. I like to spend it with large groups preferably on the beach singing until the wee hours of the morning to Barry Manilow songs. that's no the only complication - I also have different groups of friends. There's the homebrewed friends, the office pals, the high school buddies, the Smartbrands tropa, the Dota playmates and some other friends in between.

The last birthday I had was different from the rest. It as the first time I spent in a zip code other than 4400. I did not invite any friend to any gathering. And I actually celebrated it at around 10 PM when I got to Naga. The actual celebration was usual, drinks, singing and a hard hitting hangover in the next morning to cap it all off. Come to think of it, it was no different than the rest.

What am I blabbering about? Actually it's nothing. It's just my natural tendency to blow things out of proportion. If I was online I would be reacting to every birthday wall post greeting on facebook. If my phone wasn't dead for a few hours, I would be replying with lots of thanks. If I was in Naga, even if I was dead broke I will find a way to get some cash and splurge on a drinking marathon with friends, first come first served.

They say 31st is the last day in the calendar. This is pushing the envelope when there are months when only 30,29 or 28 appear. But what is age other than being a number? What is a birth date other than being another budget blasting event? How can it be special when it is spent just like any other day? The questions linger and shall recur on the next 365th day.

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-06-15T12:17:00.003+08:00

In the tradition of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future comes this story about four guys who are accidentally sent back to 1986 through a hot tub time machine. How cool is that? Way better than the Delorean or the phone booth, is the hot tub+booze+russian banned drink+a squirrel = hot tub time machine.

The movie pokes fun at adults wanting to go back to their silly teenage carefree ways. The protagonists are your typical losers: the alcoholic, the guy who was just dumped, the husband who takes his wife's surname, and a teenager who only speaks to girls online and lives a virtual life of a prisoner.

Trying to bring back meaning to their lives and to encourage their supposed suicidal friend (the alcoholic), they go back to Kodiak resort and try to recapture the magic of their teenage life's best days. Only that the resort is a hairline close to being damned, the town is a wash, and they are too old to party. Throw in the hot tub time machine and the whole scene changes dramatically.

The transport through time is a used up formula of down and out heroes being given a second chance, and in the end triumphs, yet, this movie is surprisingly refreshing. Its rapid pace and successive turn of events keeps the story in line though at not all times plausible. The characters are silly yet believable, they do not go out like The Hangover guys or actually live in the past a la the Old School characters (Ferrel, Wilson). And the film is edited good enough that we do not get tired of the used jokes, the silly references and the over the top acting (the bald guy from What Happens in Vegas).

In a genre filled with a lot of typical movies of feel good nonsensical time traveling dudes, this one triumphs and gives us a few useful chuckles and a nice warm bath.

Prince of Persia

2010-06-15T09:08:00.005+08:00

As an avid fan of the video game, I was pumped to see a live action adaptation of Prince of Persia. I was looking forward to packed action sequences, terrific CGI and at least a plausible story. Given the history of video games turned movies, the tides are not in favor for a good adaptation. Remember Doom, Super Mario Brothers and to some extent, Lara Croft? Yes, they murdered our beloved video games.

Still, with Disney at the helm, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, I was hopeful to say the least.

The movie tells the story of a street rat, who on one fateful day is adopted by the king of Persia, making him a prince even without the pure blood. Fast forward to some years later, the protagonist is one swashbuckling warrior who is part of the growing empire of Persia. Through his acrobatic moves, they siege the holy land, and unbeknown to him, he lands the Dagger that can control time. It goes to the predictable route of someone poisoning the king, the blame put on the young prince and he goes on a journey to prove his innocence and save the earth in the process.

While all of the above is predictable and the movie serves nothing new about medieval pieces, prince of Persia puts up a decent effort to adapt a video game. It keeps wary of its pace, gives homage to the video game's stealth moves, and somewhat tries to incorporate the hard to fathom plot of time travel via a dagger into a believable rendition. While Gyllenhaal tries to give his best impersonation of a troubled Prince what comes off is a young kid just learning the ropes of being at the forefront of his destiny, kinda like young Clark Kent discovering that he could fly. As I see it, the prince is a dark reserved character who is an enigma. What comes off is a young Prince eager to charm the crowd and the Princess, more specifically.

Thank god for Alfred Molina who saves the film with his quirky and scene stealing role of a mercenary who is obsessed with birds. His one liners put some humor in the otherwise dull script. Gemma Arterton as the Princess is a sight to behold but I hope in the future that she tries other roles of fear that she might be typecast to these period films (Clash of the Titans being the other).

All in all a good film, not certainly eye popping but serves it purpose and can boast of a film adaptation that is better than its previous predecessors.

In the middle of the crossfire

2010-06-09T08:38:00.002+08:00

June 11th.

The last time they came here they came in numbers, the atmosphere was tense, the gates were the 38th parallel. It was picturesque of Edsa Dos. Only that I wasn't there. Some of my co-employees and I were soothingly gulping cold San Mig Lights at Gerry's grill having been tipped by radio that an angry mob is on its way.

"Mabuti nang talsot kesa bugbog."

This coming Friday the threats are real and near. They are talking about thousands taking into our gates their complaints. The angry mob wants heads to roll (figuratively, I hope.). They are closing down Almeda and Del Rosario, even routing those vehicles from Legazpi to take the Cararayan shortcut.

I do not know what will happen this coming Friday. Only that the employees are instructed to be here in full force, that we can't go on personal leaves of absences or go home before the prescribed 5 PM.

Yes, we are going to be in the middle of a crossfire, and it aint gonna be pretty. So, as small and defenseless as we are we are already thinking about contingency. Dammit, I did not sign up for this shit! These are the plans:

1. Dig out foxholes and hide until the tension subsides.
2. Dig a tunnel from the office and to have the end outside the gates of Casureco II.
3. Provide an improvized ladder and get out through the back way (Villa Corazon).
4. Strip, run to the gates like headless chickens and hope they let us out.
5. Beg, beg and beg they let us out.
6. Make a very big kite and windsurf until we get to SM.
7. Buy 2 cases of San Mig light and ride the night out.

Out of those options, the last one is the most realistic. Oh well, they can protest outside all they want, I am gonna be drunk anyway. And yes, they are barking at the wrong tree. It's not my fault. Empleyado lang po ako digdi, naglalapigot para sa pamilya ko. Dae mandamay nin inosente. Peace out!

Falling faster than flies

2010-06-01T08:53:00.004+08:00

It is a sad day when news hits us that some of the more memorable establishments in Naga City are falling faster than flies. Yes, Emily and Bichara Cinemas are closing down.

I have very fond memories of the chain of Bichara cinemas. I remember Parokyalistas flocking to a free viewing sponsored by Juan Carlos Bichara whenever he wins a student council election at Naga Parochial School. It was a full free day of movies and if I remember correctly it, the theater was packed with little boys and teachers cheering on Ghostbusters doubled with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

I also recall celebrating one of my birthdays at Emily theater to the movie, Back to Future II. And how can I forget my first date at Bichara to the movie Addicted to Love, much of which I did not understand.

Even the photo would hold true that this is one of the establishments that has made Naga City, Naga City. It is very hard to preserve establishments much more, have them keep up with the invasion of big corporations but still, it is our fault for not patronizing them much. Well it is hard to blame most Naguenos when Bichara is old and stale, the air conditioning is actually blowerizing at best, scrupulous characters may be roaming around in the dark and the movies are at best one week older than the feature in SM.

I am still rooting for these ageless establishments to bounce back, modernize themselves, and still keep that air of familiarity that has made this city what it is. Robertson Mall is fighting back with a new mall on the vacant lot across the now developing STI campus in CBD. Goldilocks is locked on to replace Electromart which once was Graceland 3. Starbucks is hoping to revive Magsaysay life with its new tambayan beside Yellow Cab. Even Molino Grill has remodeled to now include a ktv place akin to M21 in Manila.

As the cliche goes, change is inevitable we can only hope that some good things last as long as they can.

When in Rome

2010-05-31T14:14:00.003+08:00

There's not much you can complain about when you download a movie for free over torrents, even if you have decided it is going to turn out to be a rom-com formulaic cliche on romance.

Above sentence sums up the way I feel about When in Rome, the latest feature from Kristin Bell (Heroes, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Josh Duhamel (Transformers, Fergie's hubby) about a young disillusioned art curator who finds love and doubts its sincerity. Bell goes to Rome to attend a sister's wedding, meets Duhamel. Next scene she decides to give love a chance, sees Duhamel flirting with another girl, gets disappointed, takes off her shoes, goes to the fountain of love and picks up five coins from the fountain (saving them from their misery) and in process puts on a spell on the five men who placed the coins int he fountain. The last one she assumes to be duhamel being a poker fanatic, with the last coin being a poker chip.

From there, you don't even need the details. It is a washed up plot that is desperate to be saved by witty lines and freash characters, what we get is a dull cliche of a love story. Boy meets girl. Boy chases girl. Girl succumbs then relents then succumbs and relents and they kiss and the lived happily ever after. It is a Star Cinema chick flick turned foreign. Quick get John Lloyd and Bea, a new song on the radio is apt for their upcoming movie, titled from the same song, "How did you Know there's One More Chance in my life."

Well as I have said, you can never complain when you downloded it for free and even watched it. The only thing you can do is share it to the officemates and hope they too waste two hours of their life.

That I can relate to

2010-05-31T13:32:00.002+08:00

I am the type of person who always yearns to have someone relate to things I like. A good song on the radio finds my ears, I call attention to a fellow music lover of the new sound. A quality movie gushes my eyes, I immediately write all about it. A new found restaurant impresses my taste buds, I even foot the bill to treat a friend. Call me an attention whore but it is more of heightening the experience by sharing it with a buddy.

With my rather early fatherhood, my peers could not constantly cope with my experiences. I understand that the first time you share to your friends what joy fatherhood can bring and its blissful pains, you can come off as rather blessed. The second time around it can still be tolerable, but the third and fourth and the nth time is tethering on the annoying, much worse, makes me come off as a know it all.

With most friends still single or categorically, still, impotent (LOL), I still could not resist on insisting how much joy fatherhood and married life can bring. I jut want them to relate to the lfie I have been in for the past 3 and so years. So, the last week's news of friends unexpectedly expecting is wondrous news. Not only that they will no longer get the butt of infertility jokes, I can look forward to playmates for my kids.

And finally, here's hoping they can finally understand that parenthood is really a blessing that we want to shout out to the whole world. And at times, an excuse to duck out on night outs.

Kick-A$$

2010-05-18T09:27:00.004+08:00

This one lives up to its title. It really kicked ass.

Not expecting much from a beat up theme of superheroes, Kick-Ass generates a new route of poking fun at the whole superhero genre itself. It is Watchmen with the laughs, it is V for Vendetta revved up with superbly done pacing, it is the Matrix reloaded with a believable plot.

While it may sound generic, the story of an unknown teenager yearning to become a superhero in his own ways generates a lot of interest. The story evolves around this trying hard teen who is mistakenly credited with actual heroic deeds done by gutless vigilantes (Big Daddy and Hit Girl). Big Daddy and Hit Girl are victims of a frame-up job that costs them both a wife and a mother and a life of peace and hope. Together they band together, fight the bad guys, and win in the end.

Sounds generic, eh?

But still, the pace of the movie more than accounts for the more than recognizable path of feel good piece. The characters are real, the lines are snappy and the action for the most part rivals a special effects laden movie. One scene in the movie when Hit Girl massacres a whole alley of gangsters, Trinity-style, is enough to make you watch even that one portion and be contented.

Truth be told, I enjoyed this more than Iron Man 2. On second thought without much expectations hinged on this one, I was able to sit back, just wait for what's coming and be surprised whereas in Iron Man we were just spoiled by the first one. Expectations can do that for a movie, ruin or raise it. In this case, kick-ass really did a butt kicking of a movie.

My Small City

2010-05-18T08:58:00.008+08:00

There are now only two types of stores that proliferate the main streets of the city of Naga - UK shops and pirated DVDs.

Exhibit A: KFC beside E-Mall and Metrobank, now a series of Pirated DVD shops.

Exhibit B: PT&T near Vilda's and Moderna: now a UK shop.

Exhibit C: Red Ribbon, formerly Pizza Hut: now a Pirated DVD haven.

Exhibit D: Chowking beside Gibi shoes: now a UK shop.

It can go up to exhibit Z and the list never ends. Everywhere you look it is now all the same to eye save for some classic Naga establishments like Naga Garden, Robertson, Advent Cinema (albeit its erstwhile revival and reburial), New China, Oyster Villa and of course St. Francis Square.

The culprit of it all? The big bad wolf we all love - SM Naga.

It is just sad to see that the small city I have come to love is suddenly turning into a Quiapo reeking of shady corners, shops with very low mortality rates and mirroring vendors all selling the same useless novelties. With rumors of more big malls focusing their sights on this small city, (Robinson's is rumored to be scouting for some big area along Diversion), we can only hope that Naga City Centro can keep intact the aura of familiarity that has made it the small uncomplicated city we have come to love and live in.

Palakasan for lack of a better title

2010-04-22T13:53:00.003+08:00

From appointing personal counsels into DOJ posts, GMA just surprises us everyday with her bag of magic tricks. This new act is in the form and shape of a manicurista taking on a board member post in Pag-ibig reportedly taking in a monthy income of Php 130,000.00. The curtain raiser is his gardener as deputy of the Luneta Park Administration.

Not to demean these guys but I am jealous to the bone!

They did not only have to kiss butts to get where they are, they just had to pull weed and clean fingernails. If only life was that easy. But no, we are not in God's good graces. Sure, when you're a good gardener you get rewarded by tending to a bigger garden, the greenest of the greens, where Jose got shot himself.

The manicurist I just did not get. She cleaned her nails so she can administer bigger dirts in Pag-ibig? Love for nails? I just don't get the connection here? can anyone clue me in?

I get it. Life is unfair! Someday I'm gonna put out someone's ingrone (sp?!) and get to the top.

Date Night

2010-04-15T13:14:00.002+08:00

I was counting on the sexy geek Tina fey to salvage another bumbling comedian in Steve Carrell and I was utterly disappointed.

Date Night, the story of a middle aged couple who have reached a plateau in their married life which has been routine and bordering on boredom.

To stress this point, before they put the light out one ordinary night, Carrell asks Fey, "So that signals were not going into some action tonight." (referring to Tina's action to put on her mouth guard). Fey tries to put out the piece with saliva dripping all over and says "Oh we can still play around." and quickly they both say, "nahh it's ok".

To spark the relationship, they decide on one night to go all out crazy and steal a reservation in a restaurant and all goes tumbling from there. It goes to the typical route of rom-com
with trademark shootings and car chases and supposed to be spiced by witty one liners in between. Sadly, at times the comedy just seem forced, the plot outrageous and the characters robotic.

To salvage the film, we get a heavy dose of Marky-mark and his abs and his six pack and his torso to the point that Steve Carrell screams "And please, please wear a god damned shirt!" The most enjoyable cameo came from the loving couple of James Franco and Mila Kunis who conclude their act with these memorable exchange:

Kunis: "But we can't leave our home."
Franco (shows his tattoo of Kunis in his chest): "But baby you are home, this is your home (points to heart)"

And they make out. Just the kind of one liner I was looking for all night. To be honest, it was a good movie. The couple have recognizable chemistry and the cameos save what is a formulaic plot. Maybe I was just expecting too much of a date with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell.

Stories in the water

2010-04-13T10:43:00.004+08:00

A close friend of mine recently made a career (personal) move and relocated to Metro Manila. It was an arduous deliberation on her part, weighing the finances, the simple Naga life she is about to leave behind with the prospect of personal growth and more importantly family togetherness, weighing heavy in the scale.

On our part who have been her friends and family for most of five years, it has been both an emotional and uneasy transition. We were more friends than office mates and her going away was akin to us having a family member go abroad and leaving us to resort to facebook and instant messaging to keep in touch. Well, that is the sad reality of life, we can never be all in one place forever.

The point in all these is not only the bond we lost but another reality in life. A wise man told this anecdote a few days ago:

A rich man was scouting a coastal area and chanced upon a fisherman in the blue seas. The fisherman was curious, "Sir what do you seek in this place? You seem new."

The rich man replied, "You see I am an entrepreneur. I plan to buy a lot of ships to harvest tuna."

"What for sir? Why do you need a lot of tuna?", the fisherman queried.

"Well, I am going to put up a canning factory by the bay. I will export canned sea products. I think this is a good investment and I will earn a lot from this venture," he said.

"Oh I see, that is a very good plan," says the fisherman.

"Yes, I am doing all these to be able to retire early and play and spend quality time with my grandchildren," the rich man expounded.

"Oh, I see. I have to go now I have had enough catch for the day. It's time to rest and play with the grandchildren," and off the fisherman went.

Sometimes we chase dreams which are already there. Most times we have to venture into foreign lands to see we already have what we were looking for. In unfortunate times, we will never find what we look for.

This comes to my third point: fishes in bodies of water. As a used metaphor clearly illustrates, a probinsyano like me is a big fish in a pond but if I swim off to Metro Manila, I'm just a small fish in the big deep ocean. Not to say that my friend made the wrong move because that is just the norm, go to big cities, conquer dreams, and be the shark of the ocean, but at the moment we just have to make do with what we have.

Be big in small plces. Dream big even when you're small. Swim up even when the current is swimming you down.

Clash of the Titans

2010-04-12T11:20:00.003+08:00

Maybe when someone says it's a visual feast, it's one way of saying that the plot is negligible. Just see it for the effects. Never mind the story. Be silly and and enjoy the graphical ride.

Clash of the Titans is the newest in line of the CGI-laden movies riding high on the heels of recent successes such as Transformers 2, 2012, Alice in Wonderland, and to a higher degree Avatar.

Forget the discrepancies with the mythology. Or the bad facial hair that you could not even distinguish Liam Neeson from Voldemort. Or the mailed in acting job by Sam Worthington that you could not tell if he angry or anxious or even depressed or finding it funny that he learned sword fighting in minutes. You see, everything else except the visuals are dismissible with a CGI-laden movie.

It was an ok movie to be generous, a movie to kill time but not the type to linger for a long while or even talk about in the next 24 hours with a friend who also saw the movie. When the person who accompanied you is more interested with scouting the flock of birds in dim light rather than focus on the feature speaks a lot about the movie.

Clash of the Titans strengthens the argument that for movies to earn they don't need a whole new plot or complex characters, just overly done action sequences, superbly drawn creatures (the Kraken hear eats the Kraken in Pirates of the Carribean), and a formulaic story of a hero who doesn't want to be one is forced to be one, and eventually takes the cudgels and culminates in a climax where he flies over and above a humungous monster and defeats him in one turning point! Now, that's what I call cinema.

Sigh, I have to rewatch the Lord of the Rings, again.

Dancing with the Devil

2010-04-12T09:36:00.003+08:00

As the now bankrupt Nic Cage said in his 8 MM movie, you dance with the devil, the devil don't change, the devil changes you.

We all started out somewhere, the totoy fresh out of college armed with all the ideals in the world. We embodied what these all too familiar Presidentiables have been lying through their teeth with, sipag at tiyaga, galing at talino. All that and more with the genuine yearning to change the world and make a difference.

My peers hail from different walks of workplaces, the corporate, the government, the enterpreneurship. Occassional meet-ups give us a chance to re-evaluate our lives, our principles, and where we are in the real world.

The corporate has the sound and look of money. It is a gutless world where the company goals are over and beyond all calls say, personal emergencies, and yes even sickness. A good friend of mine once told this story: He experienced a sudden pain in his tooth and had to take the day off. He texted the HR to notify them of the nature of the emergency only to be dumbstruck with this reply: In the future, inform them in advance so that the company will be able to prepare. Needless to say, he planned his toothaches in the months forthcoming. The corporate world is the epitome of the survival of the fittest.

The government is a whole new different jungle. This is a world wrapped in either apathy or self-forwardness. With no real vanguard after the treasures, it is literally every man for himself. There's the one sided contracts with promises of under the table riches. There's the compromised promotions to shush naysayers. There's the usual favors from relatives to friends on trivial matters such as applications, discounts and speedy transactions.

I belong to the latter.

To begin with I am no saint, I use company time for personal gains to a lesser degree browse on the Internet. (who doesn't?) But to change colors is a beautiful naked young woman lying in your bed. It is easy to dance with the devil, you say what they want to hear, you nod in approval even when your heart na dminds screams otherwise, you even give in as long as your name is never in the discussion.

The dancing is the start. It begins with the clapping with the hands, the slow sway of the hips, the rhythmic side to side movement until you get lost in the moment and the music takes you away. The devil doesn't change, it has changed you, that in essence is my fear.

What Party? Where's the Party at?!

2010-03-30T09:00:00.007+08:00

Suffice it to say that when a Partylist's name is bearing Kakusa (Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala) or worse Pacyaw (Pilipino Association for Country - Urban - Poor Youth Achievement and Welfare), it is going all out on name recall.

Nothing amuses more than the diskarte of the Pinoy. With airtime in tv of Manny Villar's ad reaching its limit, he has to resort to doing pa-extra in his VP's ads, his senatoriables' ads, and even a party list which is glaringly using the same jingle and the same children.

What caught my attention recently is the use of the PBA. Wittingly, the men behind the PBA party list has used the more popular sport and league in the country to advance their campaign. And to put it further is the face of Manny Pacquiao to banner the drive (too bad Pacyaw was beaten to it!). These are the kinds of moves that can make you just shake your head and smile. While it can be argued that the sports program of the country is marginalized it cannot be wholly generalized that athletes are in the same boat. Oh well, leave it to the Pinoys to weave a talentadong strategy.

Were not even yet talking about Ladlad. Yes I would not have to explain what is it for. Its Ricky Martin recently in a nutshell. See that's what in a name. Names can draw perceptions, induce pre-first impressions and generate votes. No doubt Ladlad and PBA will be allocated our precious pork barrel funds in the coming months just because of the name.

As Eddie Murphy says it in his movie A Distinguished Gentleman - "It's the name you know, the name you can trust!"

Shutter Island

2010-03-29T10:34:00.003+08:00

This is a case where art weighs more than the story.

A thriller as advertised, Shutter Island helmed by arguably the greatest living director Martin Scorsese is the story on two federal agents investigating an escaped prisoner/patient in Shutter Island, an isolated hospital/prison for the insane with criminal record.

The fourth collaboration with Scorsese and Leo di Caprio brings a lot of promise with a film presumably organized as a puzzle. During the length of the movie, viewers will continually be guessing if everything is a game, or if the protagonist is really insane, or if the facility is indeed as dark as advertised.

With a riveting plot, this movie takes off. From the moment the marshals arrive at Shutter Island's gates, the camera work, focusing on the details and the full shots of the island coupled with the eerie soundtrack can give you the feel of isolation, paranoia and fear. This is the movie's strength - the power to engage the viewers and involve them with the maze of Shutter Island. This coupled with the fact that di Caprio plays the part of the paranoid to perfection makes the movie worthwhile.

In general, the dark undertone of the movie and the route of making it feel like an "old" film has successfully created a movie that has the feel of suspense and thrill. While the plot twists may be predictable to the trained moviegoer, the shock and shudder that the last scenes depict delivers well in explaining the whys and hows of the movie.

One movie you would regret shutting your eye to.

Pageturners

2010-03-19T09:15:00.004+08:00

The hardest part of going to a job you despise everyday of your life is the agonizing thirty minute trips. While my office is located within the city, it is at best at the outskirts. See, we even have grazing cows as neighbors. And the taxi fare is luxurious at the least. Just some of the reasons why I loathe my job save for the zip code.

Anyway, these thirty minute trips have been spent mostly on what I am going to do with my life, why I haven't got there yet, and if I am gonna let a cold beer run through my throat later the day. These thoughts are later translated to blog posts, so if I have more, it is for lack of a better term, walang magawa. Lately, I have found a better way to exorcise these demons - books.

Yes, thank God for books and Neil Gaiman, Dan Brown, Mitch Albom and even Nicholas Sparks(?!). Just some of of the pageturners that have helped me recently on these agonizing trips:
1. Angels and Demons
2. Smokes and Mirrors
3. Lost Symbol
4. The Time Traveller's Wife
5. Dear John
6. For One More Day
7. The Runaway Jury

Just last night I chanced upon a 30% discount for all Neil Gaiman books and quickly grabbed Smokes and Mirrors (priced 299, I got it for P209). Too bad I did not have enough dough to grab some more works of literature's rock star.

I am grateful for my high English teachers who pummeled us with countless book review and readings enough to make you nose bleed through War and Peace. I can even recall in my fourth year that I passed a book review on a piece that I haven't read. I think it was For Whom the Bell Tolls. I read the synopsis at the back (see there was no wikipedia back then), quoted a few lines here and there made some general characterizations, blah blah, blah and surprisingly even got an A. More likely because of reputation.

While that anecdote was really beyond left field, it made me rethink how much books are better than movies. While you can fake reading a book, with movies you never can. Movies are more commercially available and you spend two to three hours max, and you get the experience. With books, it is a passion. You turn cover to cover to unfold the scenes.

I always look back to that one phony act in my high school day and remember how much I cheated myself more than my teacher; for robbing me of the experience of a For Whom the Bell Tolls. While I would still prefer a bestseller to a classic, still if I still had that book today, it would be another friend in times of that corroding thirty minutes of my everyday different day same shit life.

Even the Best of them can't revive a Corpse

2010-03-15T08:32:00.005+08:00

If a picture paints a thousand words, you would not even dare shell out bucks for pay per view or go to the cinemas to watch the latest Pacquiao-Clottey bout.

The pictures below tell the tale of 12 boring rounds of boxing. It is now official that this sport is going down the drain faster than poop. It is the hugging and the ducking and the bicycle moves (ala Cotto) that makes us turn to UFC or hell even, the Wrestling's-not-Fake WWE dramedy. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why these fighters even bother to go up the ring just to duck out, get encased in a turtle shell or ride their bicycles avoiding the human traffic that is Pacman's gloves.

If any, Hatton is more commendable than the rest of them. At the very least he tried. He got in there, gave his all and never backed down. Same story for this Mayweather guy. If he is ducking out pre-fight how much more running will we expect if and when the fight is made?

Sadly, even the Pacman cannot revive a dying man that is the sport of boxing. Let's not forget that he tried all of his antics, even the pompyang move ala FPJ! (Thanks to tibibord.blogspot.com for the image)

Cop Out

2010-03-13T08:59:00.003+08:00

Kevin Smith in yet another comedy, a buddy cop movie at that sounds appealing. Throw in Bruce Willis and his dry humor and I am sold. Though not quite on Tracy Morgan who I find annoying, but truth be told I only watch 30 Rock for the hotness that is Tina Fey.

I came out of the movie disappointed.

The movie was too cliched, too much here and there of Lethal Weapon or Rush Hour, or hell even Tagalog Rudy Fernandez films. To find out it wasn't written by Kevin Smith made me say "Uhmm, so that's the whole thing why it sucked balls!"

Kevin Smith's movies lies on the script, the constant back and forth of silly but logical characters. This movie lacks all of it save for Seann William Scott who steals the show. The plot? Let's not get even there, it is forgettable chase of a stolen baseball card that gets intertwined with drug dealing chicanos.

The end is the usual firing back and forth with the screaming villain with the protagonist-sidekick (Morgan) getting shot in the chest and whatdoyouknow? the baseball card absorbing the bullet for him.

Maybe it is just me but clearly after a few movies, Kevin Smith is losing his magic - Clerks 2 and Zack and Miri Make a Porno (to an extent) and now this? Maybe it is time to go back to the View Askew universe and not cop out with safe choices such as this one.

A World of Approvals

2010-03-12T15:57:00.005+08:00

First, it was our parents. We wanted them so much to be proud of us. We longed for their attention, their love, their approval that we did whatever they dreamed of us doing, ballet classes, karate lessons, singing contests, you name it we did it.

One poignant moment in my childhood was my absentee father who left us when I was barely three making a rare appearance during my birthday bringing a manila bike with him. I was so elated at his surprise that the memories of his drunken self momentarily faded but soon my bubble was burst when he asked where the celebrant was even with me in front of him. As it turns out, he thought it was my sister's birthday much to my dismay.

My mother, who is the constant of my life, was a career woman in her younger years who had to shuffle in motherhood, career and lifestyle in between odd hours and weekends and thus, was hard to steal time from. Our monthly recognitions at school were filled with tension and surprise with me not knowing if ever she will arrive on time when my name is called.

School is hardly different. We had to study up to the wee hours of the morning to earn a very good from our teachers. Even opinions are set aside to please our instructors. At one point, a friend of mine stressed that education is just repeating what your teacher said. I look back and ponder the truth of it. We rephrase a few sentences here and there, replace with a synonym here and there, and put in the gist of what our teacher stressed, voila, we get an A!

Now don't get me started with friends. All the alcohol, drugs, and dying your hair red can attest to all the approval we wish to claim. We try so hard to blend in that we forget our true colors. With friends, approvals make or break our puberty. We either end up the outcast or one of the cool kids.

Our professional life is never different. We go beyond our means to please the boss, we even rehearse our spiel to create a good impression on our potential employer, and we project a different us in front of those above us. See why nobody was a blatant to say in front of the boss how incompetent he is in fear of disapproval or in this case, firing?

Love is the epitome of approvals. See its either a yes or a no, and you're doomed! How many of us have tried to sing, mastered Calculus, walked on fire, moved mountains, and the more realistic side, saved money just to take out the girl we yearn to a lavish dinner?

Sex, let's not get there. You know my type. Oh, am I saying too much?

All in all we really live in a world of approvals. We do this and that to get a check, a yes, a nod of the head or simple tap of the shoulder, that is if you are like me a pleaser. I know it is a hasty generalization, but for most of us, that is what we do, we please to please ourselves. Get approval to get self-worth. And endless cycle of kissing other people's butts.

I only yearn for a world of self worth without the hassles of approvals. I am responsible to a fault, but the cycle has to stop. See I even made my blog public for you to read and approve yet, I should be firm in saying this "Eff you if you don't like this freakin' entry. I don't need your approval"

Red Shoes

2010-03-12T14:25:00.006+08:00

To make two grown men choose over two romantic movies is just not fair. It was a choice between Dear John, a movie based on the book which I recently read (more on that later) and The Red Shoes, an indie film which is obviously a love story as evidenced by the tagline "a love story about a pair like no other."

So we went with the latter. I guess the appeal of an indie held more promise than that of a formulaic Nicholas Sparks novel. Ten people, count 'em ten were in the theater to witness this odd pairing of not so popular leads on a movie lacking marketing credit.

To save ourselves from humiliation from the other moviegoers: two were lovers, one was a lonely man, and four were presumably friends. So none was like us: waiting for my bus' departure at 9 PM, had nothing else to do and were friends of Marvin Agustin, or so the other seven in the moviehouse thought. Anyway, I am getting lengthy on the excuses.

Red Shoes uses Imelda Marcos and her 3,000+ collection of shoes as the plot device of the movie. Our young protagonist, Lucas (played by Marvin Agustin) stole two pairs of red ones from Imelda's collection during the day protesters stormed Malacañan Palace on the day of the Edsa Revolution. He gives one pair to his mother as a symbol of justice, and one to Bettina (played by Nikki Gil) as a symbol of love.

The movie has a unique storytelling reminiscent of 500 Days of Summer. The movie goes back and forth through time using the shoes given by Lucas to his Mother (his mother marks every shoe box with the corresponding year). While it can be similar to that manner, it is not. It is not cutesy, or endearing, it has bits and pieces of that but tells more from culture, history, science (pathology) and of course love.

The movie shows how our choices in simple things reflect our choices in life. Lucas stays true to form of his white shoes choice, he never strays from his home, wants to keep his mother's view of his deceased father intact, and holds on to his principles of providing for his own. His mother who is undecided on his choice of shoe color is endlessly seeking for a way to communicate with his dead husband.

The Red Shoes is a refreshing take on a love story themed movie. Thankfully, it does not go the route of Kimerald or John Lloyd movies which is as predictable as sunrise and sundown. This movie only shows that still there is hope for Philippine Cinema, even if it comes from a stolen collection of an allegedly stolen wealth.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-10T08:43:00.004+08:00

This is a different rabbit hole.
Sure the fixtures of Lewis Caroll's novel are there, the mad hatter, the evil queen, the deck of cards, the smiling disappearing cat, the Indian smoke-pipe wielding blue caterpillar, and of course, your super-sized, mini-me Alice.

It cannot be denied that this one is a visual feast, going through the route of Avatar cgi awesomeness once Alice opens the door to Wonderland. But its strays a lot from the original novel that it will leave you scratching your head. In this one, Alice is persuaded by a dressed up rabbit to peep and fall through a rabbit hole in high hopes of her saving an Underland dominated by an evil queen. Plot reminds you of what?

Still guessing? Clue: It had four kids as protagonists and already has 2 movies under its franchise.

Guessing still? Clue: Its title rhymes with a disease on balls.

Oh cm-on, its Chronicles of Narnia for God's sake. Yes, if you think about it they need a champion to slay a jabbawockee. There is an evil queen and the inhabitants are talking animals. Tim Burton must have missed that movie but I can clearly see the resemblance. It does not take the route of who stole the tarts plot but instead introduces a cliched white queen versus red queen who are surprise, surprise, estranged sisters!

Not to put the axe harder on this one, it has its good to great points. Tim Burton's wife, who is forever Marla to me (Helena Bonham Carter) steals all the scenes with her egregiously humongous head and her signature line of "off with their heads!" Alice played by a newcomer whose last name I cannot pronounce or spell is marvelous with her eccentricity and transformation into a young woman with conviction. Johnny Depp, well I dunno about this one, but his Mad Hatter comes off as over the top and sometimes too weird to a fault, sorta like the bit he played in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Well as this goes, the visuals steal the show and makes all the buck worth the price of admission. With the deluge of these types of movies dominating the cinemas, one will only wonder when they will deliver a movie with substance over style? Still, a good enough attempt to lure us into the rabbit hole, but I feel this Alice in Wonderland did not steal the tarts.

V-Day Postmortem

2010-02-16T09:37:00.009+08:00

Filipinos when it comes to Valentine's Day are the most ecstatic. Facebook pages would be flooded with status updates as cheesy as this one - "Above all things, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Happy hearts' day to all! :)" Motels, hotels and apartelles are booked to full sleeping capacity as early as the 13th. And roses climb up to as high as a thousand a dozen to the wooing Romeo longing to impress his Juliet.

I may be in the minority but I am one of the few to laud the Department of Health's unwitting move to distribute free condoms on Valentine's day. It's Robin Padilla being the coitus interruptus that he is in his commercials blurting, "Bago umaksyon, Proteksyon!". It's your regular parish priest talking in an eerily scientific tone that sex should be done with the calendar and with the missionary position alone. It's your mama telling you that lovemaking is for husbands and wives only.

It comes as a reality check in a time of moral degradation. Several prominent Catholic leaders have strongly come out against the condom promotion and have called it immoral and vulgar and said it would promote promiscuity among the young people. I say it is too late to promote, when promiscuity is commonplace and sex is a hushed yet regular activity among teens.

It would be turning a blind eye on the real scenario when we still think of our kids or our younger siblings to be the innocent little children we saw growing up before our eyes. Not when tv stations are gaining a lot of viewership on tv series such as Katorse, or the internet is proliferated with adult sites, or when men's magazine are within reach by the average minor.

DoH's act is good, it's just that the timing is bad. From the news stories, people who were buying flowers from Dangwa were given free condoms as well. Well, figuratively, it plays well, a flower with a condom, and the jokes are limitless. You can just say, "Here 's your flower, and here's another for your flower." No offense.

This is a wake-up call for the church and the family to face the music. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex are real issues, and they must be faced with the frankness and the deposition that no amount of church sermons can turn away the youth from the calls of the hormones. It is time for a new battleplan. I am not saying that giving out condoms is the way but it is a start, a start to accepting the truth, that the birds and the bees are flying low and wide.

To suppress this reality check is the same as putting a plastic orange flavored stretchable synthetic on you know what.

Automating the Manually Automated Elections

2010-02-11T17:04:00.005+08:00

It's nine Presidentiables and the computer to decide it all. No, not really.

The decision to automate the elections is a new burst of wind to the age old philippine elections scenario characterized by delayed ballot casting, months long ballot counting, and protests after protests. Or so we thought...

The thing is the system is supposed to ask every voter to correctly shade a circle and correctly shade the total amounts of shades, say for the senatorial slates, and if not the vote is nullified.

The immediate ramifications:

Gone are the days that vote buyers will just teach illiterates to write a few letters, (say Ogag), this elections needs as much as a person to be able to read.

On second thought I wonder if the ballots have pictures corresponding to the circles to be shaded. Judging by the mock elections I have seen on tv, they do not which comes to my quirk with this automation.

Why didn't they make it touch screen???

It is as simple as that, put in the pictures of the candidates, allow the voters to press the picture, review it before finalization and voila, you have a vote. Without this, still there's the problem of the paper jamming to the vote reading devices. Or your occasional problems with shading.

Nonetheless, why do I even care, right? I got a letter from the post office that I was blah blah this and blah blah that to reactivate my voting powers. Sounds tough, eh? I last voted in the Erap elections and the math will say it was more than a decade ago, so I guess Comelec is right, I should go, and confirm it was not a fluke. That I, Vincent Hidalgo did really vote and care, once upon a time. Yeah right! I still care, but not with the voting, or the candidates, just the computer system, that's all. Thank you.

Up in the Air

2010-02-11T16:25:00.005+08:00

There are movies that can make you laugh, they make your stomach ache (see my last movie post). There are movies that leave you in awe with the visuals that you are transported to a different dimension (Avatar). And there are just a few movies which make you think, and think hard. This movie, Up in the Air is way up there.

This latest feature from Juno Director, Ivan Reitman, tells the story of a corporate downsizer, Ryan, and his exploits. His exploits include his manly goal of achieving ten million miles and be just the seventh person to do that. Further along, due to his lifestyle of steady flying in and out of places, he is living a relationship-free life mainly out of his delight and comfort. He thinks marriage is overrated, that relationships are a burden, and emotions should be backpacks that are to be left behind to move faster in life.

All these changes when he meets Alex, a corporate downsizer herself and Natalie, a new hire who proposes to use video conferencing as replacement for the personal way of downsizing. These changes take a heavy toll on his brick wall of isolation, turning his life around. He suddenly decides to attend a sister's wedding, even bringing along Alex with her, and in a key scene in the movie is able to talk the groom out of cold feet.

The movie is easy to follow and the characters so real. There is Ryan's boss (Jason Bateman) who cares nothing less than the results as against the means by which it was procured. There is the determined Natalie who wants nothing less than to prove her academic achievements through her innovative ideas. And there's the casual lovers Ryan and Alex, who borrow time across flights to escape from the daily rigors of their jobs.

The key to all these is George Clooney who seamlessly puts on the part of Ryan. On second thought, he is as cool and collected as he can be. In fact, he reminds me of Danny Ocean, wearing that boyish smile, the very witty one liners, and his grace under all the pressure and emotion. He is just playing himself out there.

This film effectively captures a man's struggle to remain within his comfort zone and the teasing of a real life that might have been. All that only to be crushed by a shocking spoiler, well not too shocking, maybe I was just enjoying myself too much, I haven't given it much thought. The irony about it all is that Ryan is the master at putting a positive spin on pretty much deathblows, but when life throws him a curve ball and gets a firing himself, he has shock and awe written all over his face. Overall, Up in the Air is a relevant tale of hard times, and a surviving man.

Whip It

2010-02-02T12:51:00.003+08:00

The directorial debut of Drew Barrymore hopes to cling on Juno's marketability. At some point, it clicks as evidenced by my agreement to get hold of this whip it movie.

Premise: Kitty Pride is a misfit in her middle America town in Texas. Her mother is insistent on her winning every beauty pageant ion her town. Her father is a non-confrontational football addict. In all these, she tries to find a way to get out of town, or at the very least a little escape, and she does in roller derby.

Due to her small size, her dexterity proves to be a very essential skill in the brutal sport, and she soon takes on the arena and the fake name of Babe Ruthless.

Whip it is as simple as it gets on the effort to produce a feel good feeling. There is the typical conservative family, the cool sports, and the magnetic heroine. Kitty Pride does her usual charm of capturing us with her innocent face and fiery heart. The supporting cast especially the parents reflect the usual family most of us grow up with, over protective, critical minded but in the end, supportive and understanding.

My only qualm it is obviously a directorial debut of Drew Barrymore due to her limited scenes, her actor friends showing up sporadically in cameos and the lack of camera angles to highlight the sports scenes. Not bad, but not great either, still worth a look if only for Ellen Page.

It's Complicated

2010-01-21T10:05:00.003+08:00

Taboo.
That's the first adjective that came to mind seeing 50+ year olds humping like rabbits, or smoking weed in a graduation party, or making out whenever there's a chance - in the elevator, the classic legs playing under the table, you name it, this film has it.

Jane and Jake have been divorced for 10 years. Jake is married to the woman he cheated Jane on, Jane is living alone, everyone is moving on with their lives. Their lives get a u-turn on the fateful evening of their son's graduation. They drink some wine, dance, and eventually have mind blowing make up sex (see picture above).

It's Complicated is the latest romantic comedy from Nancy Myers (What Women Want, Somethings Gotta Give) that tackles how adults deal with coping, moving on, young-old love, love triangles and rekindling old romances. The cast is superb in dealing us with recognizable characters, making us point to this and that as some familiar family member. The pace is great and frame by frame the movie unfolds and delivers its laughs. The end wraps it up beautifully by showcasing how the main character (Meryll Streep) has still room to grow and outgrow her selfish quirks, recognize who truly cares for her, and be able to maintain her relationships with the people in her life.

Overall a movie to watch if you want to unwind.

The Lovely Bones

2010-01-21T08:45:00.005+08:00

What may be lovely in pieces and spurts, may not be totally lovely as a whole. This promising film adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel of the same title, The Lovely Bones, is the latest from the Lord of the Rings director. (n.b. Sebold based her novel from her experience as a rape victim, talk about writing close to the heart)

The premise of a Peter Jackson at the helm of a story of girl murdered and raped, watching her family from a graphically created in-between world is juicy at its best. Top this with an awesome cast of Markymark, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci and Susan Sarandon makes it a lot more enticing.

The movie has its technical greats, the camerawork is outstanding, the editing lets the transition of the story move better, and the graphics are superb that it makes you want to die right away and be in that marvelous place. With all these positives, still I had a feeling that something was missing. The story seemed to imply that Susie (the murdered girl) was happy to be dead (!?). In fact the hilarious part was showcased towards the end when she took hold of her schoolmate to make out with her long time crush.

The Lovely Bones, apart from not being able to fully concentrate on the difficulties of the family to cope (or not) with the loss of their murdered child, also fails to showcase how the mother and father fell apart in the wake of her loss. The mother was shown as someone who just did not want to deal with the loss of her child and just tries to shut herself from the reality. The father was a typical obsessed man who could not believe that he could not take care of his family. All these with no processing, or reason, and just left it as it is for the viewer to accept. It tries too hard or little in showing us how grief can engulf and consume a lovely family, which was what I was expecting at the very least. It was getting there when Markymark was breaking the boats in bottles one by one, and yet falters when it takes the turn of suspense thriller.

The movie all in all fails for me, mainly due to great expectations. The computer graphics are awesome and a visual feast (talk about humongous boats within bottles crashing at the shoreline while an orange sky turns dark blue) . The cast is solid with special mention to Stanley Tucci (who deserves an Oscar nomination to say the least) who played the killer as effectively as a low keyed Hannibal Lecter. And the main protagonist, Susie gives her best to render us her sense of grief, relief, anger and all the mixed emotions that a dead person watching over her family can behold.

The Lovely Bones is still lovely in some parts but as a whole is, as Susie says, "almost, but not quite."

The Virtue of Composure

2010-01-18T12:09:00.007+08:00

There was this one kid in elementary whom I despised the most. He would love to think that my cheek was made of elastic rubber and stretch it to his heart's content. He would constantly call me names and torment me to hell's end, throw crumpled paper at me, put trash in my bag, and be his usual targets in our afternoons agawan base games. All's well that ends well, we became good friends when we went to high school.

The thing with high school is the bullies turned into the grade conscious and tsutsuers. They are the ones who would constantly line like bees to the honey. The bickerings and name callings have turned into backstabbing - who would fall in favor of the queens. All's well that ends well, we still became good friends after graduating from high school.

Composure has been one of my stronger points in my lifetime. Not one to take much offense, I regard this virtue as my shield from all the negativity of this world. I did not come from a well-to-do family. I don't have killer looks. I don't have anything to make myself cut above the rest. And yet, I still have the nerves to constantly call out people for minor lapses, or unintentional maladies, or even natural discomforts.

Yes, you can only criticize if you can accept some. And that is the trite concept of composure. Grace under pressure, calm amidst the war, and dog faced in the face of adversity.

I was in a heated conversation with a laywer friend over some bottles and the concept of Csureco II being owned by the consumers, and after some exchanges he had resorted to calling me pilosopo. Oh well, I finally told myself, got yah, and flashed a smile, shook his hand, and told him, "I was just kidding, we're still cool right?" Aight, he said.

I was grinning inside with the signs all over the place:

a loud, loud, loud voice? Check.
asking sympathy from our drunk comrades (Tama baga padi?)? Check.
name-calling? Check.
me dog-faced smiling? Check.

Pretentious composure, my ass.

Invictus

2010-01-18T09:50:00.004+08:00

Normally, a based on a true story with huge historical ties mixed with a sports movie gets me all pumped. Combine that premise with an absolutely loaded cast, I am in.

Morgan Freeman to play Nelson Mandela? Spot on.
Matt Damon dyeing his hair blond for a South African rugby player? Intriguing.
Clint Eastwood directing? Promising.

Invictus is the latest feature from acclaimed Director Clint Eastwood (Mystic River, Flags of the Father, Letters to Iwo Jima, Unforgiven, Gran Torino) which tells the story of how Nelson Mandela, South Africa President, uses the rugby national team to unite a country ailing from inter-racial pains.

I cannot make my mind up if Invictus is a sports movie, or a historical one. While it has bits and pieces of how Mandela rose from being a 27 year prisoner due to his apartheid convictions, the whole movie still screams sports story. It has the predictable thematic of feel good yet the over-all treatment is subtle on the political undertones, and the general theme of forgiveness, unity and peace.

Lost in all these are the sports scenes. I admit I am not a rugby fan, scratch that, I have not even watched a rugby match nonetheless, I was half-heartedly expecting to learn a bit or two or the least be able to follow the rugby scenes. Instead, I am constantly relying on a simple glimpse at the score, or the two bodyguards' reaction to the game. Did they win or not??? This simple absence of sports narrative (hell, even a commentator wasn't even there!) can be concluded as Eastwood's style to differentiate it from a Jerry Maguire, or an Invincible movie, which tries and goes for the dramatic and slow motion last second victory effect. However, in this case less is not more, that is my only gripe.

Overall, Eastwood has the ability to take a predictable story look understated yet still cleanly crafted. Not to mention that Freeman and Damon, as expected, give out solid performances. Invictus in this premise, delivers the points, err goals, see?!

Sherlock Holmes

2010-01-15T13:01:00.004+08:00

Guy Ritchie's film has an irreverent, gruff style when it comes to his films, evidenced by unmistakable Ritchie trademarks, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Revolver.

This does not sway away from that tone and adds a noir that belongs to the 1900s. To be fair, I have not read a single Arthur Conan Doyle novel, but as popular culture would suggest, Sherlock is renowned for his intellectual prowess.

In the newest re-imagination of London's popular detective, Sherlock comes of as rough on the edges, eccentric, egoistic and dispassionate. This is captured perfectly when he tries to psychoanalyze Watson's new girl over dinner. Based on a mark on the finger that denotes a ring, he haphazardly concludes that the girl has been left by her former lover, only to be corrected by a slap and a cold "No, he died you idiot!" remark.

While the film's substance and overall acting makes this worth the money to be spent, I think the pace and storytelling pulls it back from being a great film. The film dwells a lot on minor detail and style that it sometimes forgets to push forward the story. Yes, it was integral to emphasize that Holmes fighting prowess is mainly due to his thinking process but to use it everytime in a fight sequence makes it repetitive and over-indulged.

Downey and Law lend great character acting to Holmes and Watson, but the other support actors like Rachel McAdams (eye candy) and Mark Strong (typical villain) are not given much depth and lines to showcase thier individuality. Overall, the movie can still redeem itself with a sequel thanks to a mysterious Professor Moriarty (rumored to be played by Brad Pitt) however, a new tone and faster pace is needed for lasting effect.

Remembering Nald

2010-01-13T08:43:00.003+08:00

It is tough to lose a friend who is on his way to his prime years. It is tougher to never get the chance to experience your friendship reach its prime years.

Nald has always been a familiar person dating back to my childhood days. Him, his Kuya Ryan, and his cousins KC and Karl are fixtures in every summer days in Lagonoy. Their afternoons are usually spent on mountain bikes and to the untrained eye may come as a showcase of both their bikes and their Spanish looks. This most probably was the main cause of the aloofness and awkwardness that has wrapped our childhood links, even for the fact that we were related in blood. (He is my uncle)

Fast forward to several years ago, I chanced upon an adult version of this mountain bike riding kid. He's expectantly taller yet surprisingly sharing the same interests I have for years, books, music, tv series and specially movies. Nald's passion for movies transgresses that of any person I know. If you need to know which film is worth your money, ask Nald and he will have a ready answer.

Conversely, I do not even have a ready answer when pressed with the question of how well did I really know Nald. Honestly, I did not know him much but I did know him enough. Enough to say that he could make corny jokes tolerable. Enough to absorb that his movie and series insights can ruin your budget. Enough to conclude that a guy with no girlfriend who is not even a playah can make a lots of gals cry. Enough to once again affirm that life is really so short.

Sabi ngani ninda plastikan naman daa pag mayo ka na, na ika na ang pinakamaboot na tao. Totoo man gayud, pero sa kaso mo gayud dikit ang ang maisip kan kabaliktaran. Padi, pakikumusta na sana kay Jack, Kate, John, Sawyer asin sa gabus na losties sa island!

What keeps my week sane?

2009-11-25T09:34:00.002+08:00

Here's a short list of what keeps my week sane:

1. An episode of How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Top Chef and Californication, in that order.

2. A good PS3 NBA 2k9 match up with my cousin or brother.

3. One SM movie, this week its Ninja Assasin!

4. Three hours non-stop of 5 on 5 DOTA.

5. One bucket of Red Horse.

6. A hug from Acacia.

7. A kiss from Akello.

8. And one from Mommy. :D

Fallen Eagle

2009-11-25T08:55:00.005+08:00

To say that I have lived my life without any regrets is hypocrisy. Regrets are a part of life, and as we look back, there are some timestamps where we could have done things differently or taken the other fork in the road. So whenever I hear a beauty pageant contestant without hesitation proclaim that "I would not change a thing in my life," I really find it hypocritical.

I am a fallen eagle. Not was, but am. I remember that night I was on the bus back to Naga for the break and in my head I was already computing if my grades would add up to the required QPI (quality point index) of 1.8 to stay in Admu. I knew it would come short (I got 1.2). My Calculus and English classes eerily my best and favorite subjects were going to be my doom. So the day I went back to Manila to enroll, I knew doomsday was coming. I even brought bigger bags (two of them).

So when my gay roommate (there were three of them, all sexually confused, this was the one who on a daily basis pestered me with Himig Handog songs) mouthed the words, "you are getting kicked out, same with Idunnowhathisnamewasbuthewasalwaysdrunk," hit me, it no longer had its numbing effect. I packed my bags. Left some of my smelly unwashed briefs and headed home.

You say what happened my friend?

What happened to me as Barney would say it is legen... wait for it... dary! Yes I was a legend but in a terrible way. Lower classmen in my former high school would point at me as the guy who flunked due to too much computer games. May I correct that it was a totally inaccurate conclusion. It was not computer games but computer games and movies, actually. In my short stint in Metro Manila and the lovely dorm of Ateneo, I was acquainted with Warcraft, Doom, and a whole lot of Sta. Lucia, Megamall, SM North and even Ever Gotesco Grand Central in Caloocan.

Well as the cliche goes, when they close a door, a new door opens, well what I got was a small window but a lot of windows. Now I have two wonderful kids, a stable job, free access to internet, a whole lot of movies (this gives away my numerous posts on movies), and your unending supply of computer games (I don't even play that much anymore). Still, I can't help but wonder what would have ever happened if my Ateneo thing had panned out?

Could I have had a financially statisfying life, relocating to the States, being discovered as a funny Asian and appearing in the Hangover naked instead of that Korean dude?

Could I have turned gay as influenced by my three Himig Handog singing sisters in the Ateneo dorms and be the next Bebeng Walangari?

Could I have been Chris Tiu's buddy and made the Greenwich cheesy hugging commercial?

See, the possibilities are endless which just justifies my regret. So right now forgive me if it crossed my kind if I hadn't been a fallen eagle for I had flown to the possibilities and there must have been a long list, if you think positively about it.

The Hurt Locker: Your Modern Band of Brothers

2009-11-23T13:09:00.005+08:00

One of the movie genres I truly enjoy are war films. Schindler's List started it for me then it was on to Band of Brothers, Windtalkers, the cheesy Pearl Harbor, We Were Soldiers, Courage under Fire and several notables trying to piece together any human interest story in the backdrop of a war laced setting.

As I have said before, watching a movie with zero pre-conceived knowledge is a plus. The Hurt Locker has the distinct feature for me. Another plus is that this is the first modern day film which effectively paints a picture of what the new war is about.

The thing about modern war movies is that it loses the cheap thrill of hand to hand combat, it has lesser avenues for tactical assaults, and features less and less of the camaraderie of the men in war. Most of the time it is a show of technological force. The biggest missiles, the largest tanks, the longest guns on display are front and center in a modern day war.

While what I said ahead is true, in this movie, the uniformed men are front and center. In fact the movie borders on the psychological aspect of what a man in war goes through. The opening lines say it best, "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug."

The protagonist while not typically your male chiseled hero comes in the form of Sgt. Williams James, a replacement bomb disposal expert. At first, he may come off as an aloof, distant, quiet hero and you may mistake him as the antagonist causing friction in the group. As the story unfolds, the viewer will be amazed at how he relishes at the role, showing unpredictability, inner strength, similar to a bomb that can explode at any time. This is best showcased in one scene when all civilians are evacuated yet he chooses to disarm the bomb at the cost of endangering his and his crew's life. Apart from this, Sgt. James favorite past time is to drink brandy and engage in a who hits the hardest games with his oft perplexed team members.

Overall it is refreshing to watch a movie that takes on how the thrill of war like a drug can keep men hooked. Even with the impending dangers, they keep coming back to the battlefield like moths to a flame. This movie ranks up there with the best of 2009.

2012 is not a box of chocolates

2009-11-23T11:47:00.003+08:00

Yes, Forrest this is not a box of chocolates which you'll never know what you're gonna get. 2012 is north of that. In fact it is a testament that a peach is a peach and not anything else.

This latest installment from the catastrophic film maestro (Day after Tomorrow, Independence Day) promises a lot of out of this world explosions, eye-popping graphics, and outrageous plot lines and delivers just that. From the inconceivable escape through flying limousine by John Cusack and his family through earthquake shattered Los Angeles to the mammoth airplane chance landing upon China when the earth poles have reversed, the plots are just too mind boggling to analyze but nevertheless passable. This is mainly because we knew that we will be served with the improbable when we got in the theater.

The eye-popping graphics borrow a few of its ideas from Titanic, Volcano, Dante's Peak, and even with his previous film Independence Day (with the wipe out of the White House). The characters are negligible enough that you wouldn't care if anyone dies at any point in the movie (yes even the children, especially the Russian kids). The only one I even remotely cared about was the prophetic Woody Harrellson already giving me two performances I like in 2009 (Zombieland and 2012), but we all knew he was going out first but yes, as expected with a huge loud bang.

In essence, 2012 is not a failure because it promises what it delivers, frame to frame non-stop action, incredulous comic at most unfortunate instances (joking in the midst of a tidal wave), bland to predictable acting (John Cusack was his laid back self which miraculously transformed well for this film). And of course, the redemption in the end that mankind will go on even after all the end of the world prophecies. Not your mysterious box of chocolate but nevertheless a sumptuous peach to take a bite at.

Inglorious Basterds

2009-11-23T10:55:00.004+08:00

To say that Quentin Tarantino makes eccentric films is an understatement. There's the stylish 80s looking film Pulp Fiction and the ninjaeqsue violence ridden Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2.

Inglorious Basterds was an ambitious project which supposedly had to star Leo di Caprio, Brad Pritt, Adam Sandler, and Nastassja Kinski. Unfortunately due to major scheduling conflicts we are only left with Mr. Jolie himself. This does not turn out that bad mainly because the smorgasbord of well known stars could have turned the attention from the story telling and the style oft he film.

The movie despite being set in World War II depicts more of a 60s western movie - a band of bandits (the Allies) unite on a common mission (to scalp as many Nazis as they can) and carry them out in a grotesque and at the same time weirdly funny way. The scalping of the heads reminded me of Legends of the Fall. The bat wielding Nazi hater who pummeled a guy to the ground brought back memories of Danny de Vitos death in Casino. And the marking of the swastika on the head of freed captives (to tell the story of the basterds and spread fear) well had no flash backing effect but still had the effect.

This movie has Tarantino's stamp all over. There were no intentionally funny lines but I had some grins here and there specially with the film within a film film, the guns under the table stand-off and the way Brad Pitt coolly addressed his men in the film early on, mainly due to too many Fight Club rewatchings. Even Hitler himself is sort of a caricature, world's apart from the Hitler in Valkyrie whom I found near accurate, but still this movie's Hitler makes me grin (maybe mostly due to the failed resemblance other than the stache).

The movie succeeds in creating a movie that transports you to another time, and ask was this really made in 2009? And that is a good question by the way.

Funny People

2009-11-23T10:33:00.005+08:00

I like Adam Sandler. I envy Seth Rogen. I want to have Judd Apatow's brain. I like Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and even to a degree Eric Bana.

So Funny People should strike as something which I anticipate a lot, to say the least. I was expecting it to turn out better than Superbad, or even at the level of Knocked Up's intelligence, or 40 year Old Virgin's unintentional truthful frankness. Instead it turned out to be a snooze fest.

I can only infer that this ambitious project turned out for the worse when it decided to cramp a lot of actors into a premise suited for a drama. Well, I was not informed if this was a drama but if you'd ask me, I'd certainly put that in the category. The jokes were few and far between. Adam Sandler was not only miscast but he comes off like a chicken with his head cut off. His character was borderline asshole to suicidal that it makes you wonder if he had to redo his Reign Over Me character.

I hate to put more nails into the coffin but this movie takes the cake when goes into incredulous lengths and screen time on how a dying man who is given a second chance at life would not learn anything. Instead, he takes a bulldozing path of wrecking a family for his own happiness. I did not quite get the message in all that. You have a terminal disease, suddenly you're cured, so get your happiness at all costs because you never know when you might just die, sucker.

By the third hour, yes it goes that long, we were wondering if at has any denouement, climax or some sort of silver lining of credits rolling up. Fortunately it has, long after I have suppressed my drowsy eyes. So funny people was never funny at all, who knew?

(500) days of summer

2009-10-15T15:36:00.004+08:00

The good thing about going into a movie blind is that you will be pleasantly (or horribly) surprised of how it will turn out.

I expected 500 days of summer to be a movie to be about some time frame during summer months. As it turns out it is about Summer, the female protagonist in the story.

I am a self confessed sucker for romantic comedies. Jennifer Aniston's, Hugh Grant's, Sandra Bullock's... seen it all. So a movie with Zooey Deschanel, the ultimate romantic comedy female sidekick, and cobra commander Joseph Gordon Levitt (also of 10 things I hate about you, see I told you), did not make me think twice about opening the torrent file.

Told in a non-linear style, the movie sets its sight on young lovers who would come to terms on their relationship's status, direction and identity. This eventually leads to them parting ways and from there, the story takes in full view of one of the lover's misery, coping, and acceptance of the trials and tribulations of every lover's glorification of destiny, true love and all the other myths that comes with it.

While the movie's sole fault might be repetitive cliches on the broad and over indulged subject of true love, the message comes across that people might just be wrong about the right one for them. This movie just all the more makes each of us feel silly that once in our lives we tried to let our emotions get the better of us. We allowed our skewed feelings feel so right that it ruined eveything in us..

All in all it is good to find a romantic flick that doesn't scream cheesy, or another Jennifer Aniston vehicle whose tires are all but worn, or formulaic approach to a genre which has been abused more than Megan Fox's hot bod in my imaginations. I rank this up with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Love Actually as some of the better romantic comedies of the past years. A film to watch.

Idiocracy

2009-10-12T09:48:00.003+08:00

That's it I am fed up!
My flying recommendation to friends of the social networking site Facebook is slowly backfiring. What started as harmless games has evolved into a daily activity which has consumed almost half the days of my friends, office mates and loved ones alike.

Things have gone for the worse when people cannot let a day pass by that they haven't tended to their farm. Some even resort to asking someone else to tend it for them. And at most times, conversations revolve around the new look of their farms, the number of crops they gathered, or for heaven's sake, the pink little cows they got!

I have gone through computer gaming addiction during some portions of my life, notably my Counter-Strike days, my overnight NBA 2K marathon games, and more recently, my fascination with DOTA but nothing rivals the effect of what Facebook has brought us, a virtual life. They say the internet has really changed the way we live. Now, I say amen to that.

One can assume any identity over the internet. Who hasn't been fooled by a she-male over the internet. I have been but that's for another story. (Oh crap, it won't wait) So when I was still with Smartbrands, I chatted with this lady who needed to reinstall her operating system. She was flirting the whole time asking for discounts for the services rendered (no, double meaning intended). The dimwit that I am was enticed and even gave into her repeated plea for a discount. She even called and has this bedroom voice that persuaded me to give in some more. To my shock and awe, the bedroom voice belonged to a behemoth she-male who was almost twice my size. "Koya pwede ba...?"

With the internet's boom, you won't even need face to face time with you bosses. Exhibit A, my boss now sends his instructions over his email, this considering that he is only 5 footsteps away from me, or a buzzer that can be triggered at his fingetips. I heard he is now collecting our yahoo messenger IDs, well that I couldn't consent to at any costs.

See how much fun the net has been, you won't need friends, virtual ones will suffice. You won't need a career, with just a click of the mouse, you can be a chef, a restaurateur, a farmer, or a basketball star. Too bad after all of the clicks, the points, coins, and the virtual fame, would still not amount to something in real life.

Much like how this blog has not amounted to anything. Just yet, fingers crossed.

Three more coming

2009-09-29T09:48:00.001+08:00

Mother Nature fights back

2009-09-29T08:41:00.006+08:00

Pictures of Ondoy's Aftermath:

and where was congressman Mickey during 11-12 pm of Saturday??

Chris Tiu, you let me down

2009-09-04T15:03:00.003+08:00

Hindi ko akalain na ang taong nagsilbing inspirasyon na magpapula ng aking lips ang siya ring tutunaw ng aking mga pangarap.

Bakit Chris, oh bakit?

Naturingan ka pa namang founder ng laglag panty party.
Inilagay pa naman kita sa Hall of Fame ng Red Lips Society.
Ikaw pa naman sana ang tunay na Pinoy Idol.

Sayang lang, ng dahil sa isang commercial, lumabas ang tunay mong kulay.

Kaya ba mapula ang lips mo dahil naglilip gloss ka? Kaya ba mahilig ka magbasketball dahil gusto mo ng contact sports? Kaya ka ba dean's lister kasi bookworm ka at wala kang hilig sa tsiks? May relasyon ba kayo ni JC Intal? Nagdedeodorant ka ba tuwing halftime? Napakaraming mga tanong ang bumabagabag sa aking isipan pero hindi ko yata matatanggap na wala ka pang gf dahil hindi ka macho o palikero.

Ikaw kaya si Chris Tiu! Ang Clear Man, ang Pinoy Idol, ang Dean's Lister, ang Atenista, ngayon sangkot ka na sa homoment, bromance at cheesy commercials? Tsk tsk.

Hindi bale na si John Lloyd kasi may pass na sya. Sabi nga sa blog na ito, tunay na lalake si Llyodie. Eh, ikaw, kaduda duda na. Kaya pala talaga red lips ka.

District 9

2009-09-04T11:13:00.004+08:00

I was lured by the prospect of another alien movie by two words - Peter Jackson. Having not seen a trailer, or read a review, I came into this movie with zero knowledge.

It is a pleasant surprise to find a rare approach on the the sci-fi genre. District 9 does that with a documentary style first chapter, a fugitive themed middle, and terminator/robocop action for the booming finale.

With no familiar actors to follow, this film concentrates on the human-alien relationships, similarities between the two species, and the general themes of survival, and basic instinct. What makes it easily distinguishable as different brand of alien movie is that the aliens here are somewhat blending into the human society. They are outcasts who are put into District 9 which reminds us of a Jewish resettlement camp during the World War II.

All in all, District 9 is a refreshing take on this sci-fi subject. it chooses not to go through the usual route of hostile aliens ala Predator or Alien, or the cute and cuddly E.T. to Coneheads. Instead, the movie portrays these aliens as just like us, exploring all means to survive, adapting to a new environment, protecting our own, and most especially, just wanting to go home.

This is a rare gem in a summer dominated by mindless action flicks as Transformers and G.I. Joe. Definitely, a must see for sci-fi lovers.

Confessions of a Casureco II Employee Part Deux

2009-08-14T10:58:00.003+08:00

My apologies to some readers who commented on the previous entry related to this topic. I did not notice that quite a few were already commenting on this still hot topic. Since they were quite lengthy, I decided to answer all comments through a new post.

Some backgrounder on the current Casureco II problem:
Due to the refusal of the Board to sign checks, payments to Aboitiz, NGCP (formerly Transco), BIR, penalty-interests are already mounting to the tune of almost 30,000 a day for Aboitiz alone. From what I have last heard, management and the board are working out ways to come into an agreement to settle the bill with Aboitiz which is now nearing the 180 million range (two months unpaid, another month coming in August 25th).

Here they are: (comments are in italics followed by my opinion/answer)

From Juan:
1.) the transfer of more or less PhP107M from CASURECO II General Fund derived from Consumers' power bill payments to the CASURECO II Employees' welfare fund... an error cannot in anyway be corrected by another mistake...I supposed!...

In principle, amounts from the general fund of Casureco II should not be transferred to any account which is not owned by Casureco II, in this case an account maintained by the Labor Management Council (LMC) which now holds the figure of 107 million. This LMC account is the one which collects the penalties from employee's tardiness and absences, party contributions and other penalties (office uniform etc).

Due to the refusal of Msgr. Sañado to sign any checks bearing the name of Mrs. Barrameda as co-signatory, the management explored ways to avoid accumulating further penalties to the tune of almost at Php 500,000 as of this writing. In layman's terms, the money was transferred to that account so that the LMC signatories shall now be the ones signing the check for that particular account and not the Board. How it was transferred and approved by the bank is unknown to me.

Some will insist that the cliche - the end does not justify the means, stands true in this case. Still, it begs the question, what else can justify the means but the ends? You decide.

2.) the involvement of the two labor unions (NA HUNA MO SINDA NA AN SALBADOR KAN COOPERATIBA)wherein they publicly showed taking side with mrs. barrameda...which should not have been the case!

No law states that a union should be neutral in a squabble between management and its board of directors. While it may be prudent not to take sides in this squabble, the personal biases of the officers of the unions will usually show. This is just natural as raw human emotion and reaction. Come to think of it, why is that the majority of the employees have chosen a side?

As Dante has aptly stated, The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.

3.) according to the news... for the past several weeks there was the presence of a van inside the CASURECO II main campus whose men are they and what was their purpose?...

...ANO KAIPUHAN NA GWARDYAHAN SI MRS. BARRAMEDA?...TANO???

I honestly do not know the rationale of the purpose of these men in a van. One can only assume that her safety might be at stake and she hired these men on her own personal capacity.

4.) is it really true that mrs. barrameda is allegedly backed up by LRV and his son SB?...

..AROG NA KAINI AN MGA COOPERATIBA?...NA DAE NA NAHAHALI AN PAKIKIARAM KAN MGA POLITICO???..

Isn't everything backed by politics? The church, private corporations, schools, showbusiness. Nothing is sacred in the Philippines when it comes to politics, that is the cold hard truth. Haven't it crossed some people's minds that the other side may also be backed by a political force of some kind? Isn't it always something? I am not actually for these political influences. Truly there is a need to consider alternatives.

Convert to CDA and let people vote on the directors who will have full autonomous control of the cooperative? Sounds the more like politically influenced scenario here don't you think?

Let it stay with NEA's absolute control and allow the government to give subsidies to the cooperative during calamities for its rehabilitation and maintain a non-profit identity?

Why not make the cooperative private? Investors can put in their money and have the sole purpose of exploring means to protect their investment translating to profits, better services, and a corporate atmosphere?

5.)"intriguing" NEA's decision on several issues...

...WHY UNTIL NOW NOTHING HAVE BEEN HEARD ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE NEA AUDIT???...

...ANO PA AN HINAHALAT NINDA? OR NINDO DYAN SA CASURECO II...

...PAGAL NA MAN KAMI NA MGA CONSUMEDORES SA PALPAK NA SERBISYO NINDO!....

...NAGHAHAPOT LANG PO PASENSYA NA...BALDI NA KAYA...

I am privy to NEA's decision on the auditing of the charges against Mrs. Barrameda. They have not yet come up with an official statement on that end. I know consumers are already anxious of developments as this problem has already stretched out for a quite a long time now. We can only hope that NEA fast tracks on its decisions and finally take a hard stance on what roads the cooperative should take.

6. I overheard thru radio that LRV lambasted again the monsignor about old issues and made fun of him...AROG KAIYAN AN GUSTO TANG CONGRESSMAN???...

...NA NAKIKIARAM SA SATUYANG COOPERATIBA???...

...HUNA KO DAE! IYO PALAN....

...ANO AN MASASABI NINDO NA MGA CONSUMEDOR KAN CASURECO II?...NAGHAHAPOT LANG PO....

Congressman Villafuerte's comments are made on his capacity as a resident of this city and as a representative of his district. As to liking him to be our congressman is far from the issues of Casureco II.

While it is true that this has already been a very publicized matter, wherein several political figures such as LRV, Mayor Robredo have already aired their opinion on the issues, let us not forget that absolute control and supervision of the cooperative lies with NEA. Politicians' opinions do not hold any weight, only the NEA's decision will.

7. both manifesto favoring Sanado & barrameda have been circulated in the area coverage of casureco2 which allegedly initiated by consumers of their own group...AN SABI!..

...i will try to secure a copy on both side if i can and have it posted at JUAN A. SALAKOT BLOGG column...

...SANA MAKAKUA AKO...

Yes, it is true that manifestos have already been circulated in the coverage area. As to who purportedly circulated them is unknown to me. One can always assume they circulated it themselves, which is perfectly understandable.

From Daxki:
8. Dawa siisay ang maging GM or BOD diyan, ang brown-out dae maiwasan unless Cas2 spend money to improve the system, the lines & facilities, modern repair & maintenance eqpt, disciplined employees and lineman, pro-active maintenance. Typhooon area baga. So dapat un mga major feeders e underground and make it redundant. So saying is easy, doing it is not a joke and need lots of money,discipline and openness of management to impose new technologies..

True, true and true. Finally, someone who has a piece of understanding of what is the bigger issue. Let us not forget that Casureco II is 30 years old. The lines are worn out. The poles are deteriorating, and the facilities are out-dated.

Several studies have already been explored, to name a few - Casureco II call center, Broadband over Power Lines, Scada, GIS structuring of the system, total rehab of lines. The implementation of these can be at hand with the improving financial status, but these developments have taken a back seat to the squabbles. Our consumers are daily being deprived of these chances to be given a better service due to a rift which has no visible roots and a clear cut scandal to point to.

I can understand the squabble if the charges are as serious as the C5 extension program, or the Estrada Jueteng scandal, or the Hello Garci anomaly or as trivial yet important as the infamous 1 million peso dinner. In this case, the charges are as heavy as a feather. What I can't hardly fathom is why can't they give it a chance. From the get go, the Board was intent on removing Mrs. Barrameda.

Can the Board not be able to oversee the movements of the OIC, more so that they are the policy making body of this institution?

Can they not consider putting aside the squabbles up until NEA has already decided on the charges?

Can they not hold the operation hostage while there are no developments from NEAs audit team?

Can they not delay elections to allow the public to choose the new directors or retain the incumbents?

Or can they?

My Treasures

2009-07-31T10:30:00.004+08:00

A picture paints a thousand words...

Samahang Parokyalista

2009-07-31T08:54:00.007+08:00

Our beloved Director Rev. Monsignor Jaime M. San Andres (+), our Principal Mrs. Flavel C. Favoreal, our charming Assistant Principal Mrs. Carmen C. Ojeda (+), friends, guests, my fellow Parochialites, a pleasant goooood morning!

(Customary Applause)

Little did we know that that little speech many Parochialites recited in front of the student body whenever there was a program (Linggo ng Wika, National Book Week, Science, Math Week, you name it) was grammatically incorrect. Pleasant na good pa, sain ka pa! What made it more egregious was our stupidity to clap at it every time we heard the rhythmically enunciated goo- (rising) --oood (falling) morning!

Reminiscing those hot old days in the quadrangle waiting for the programs to consume two subjects so that it will be recess time again is a warm fuzzy feeling. I can still remember the taste of loglog at the canteen, the feeling of sweat on the daily after school aragawan base, or the stack of tex hiding under my desk.

Connecting with most of these elementary classmates is both a weird and exciting experience. See, most people I met in elementary rarely became my close friends. They are few and far between. Maybe because I was a timid and shy boy back then, or due to the fact that I couldn't participate in sports up until my 3rd grade due to a broken leg, or mainly because of the unfortunate circumstance that I was an altar boy and a commentator . Come to think of it, even my high school buddies turned Mr. Bogus when we parted ways. Maybe, it is just me.

It is fun to reminisce and remind ourselves that we were once little innocent boys oblivious to this world full of commercialism, pressures, and grammatical imperfections.

(Photos courtesy of my Grade 6 seatmate, Henry Earl Siguenza from FB)

Anakbayan

2009-07-29T08:21:00.005+08:00

Damn right it feels good to be an activist. You get to wave placards, shout invectives until your voice box falters, raise you fists and sing in unison.

It has been almost 1 and a half months and still our Board President is hell bent on not signing any checks. An office mate passed away without receiving his funeral benefits from the office, or the contributions from his co-workers. Another one whose wife gave birth did not get the incentives due to him.

Back to the rally. Truth be told, I enjoyed it. We bonded as office mates and showed our full united force. In fact, it felt like going back to Parochial days when we strutted our streets for the Intrams. Spectators were many, we caused traffic which is rare in the city, and we carried torches like witch hunters.

The only down point was when we were in Plaza Quinse Martirez, a couple of the professional bums were uneasy when we were approaching the late hours. Probably because we were occupying their bed space. Good thing we were able to appease most of them with free goto and mais. A good experience over-all.

Huwag matakot, makibaka! Ibagsak ang imperyalismo!

Bad Joke

2009-07-23T08:38:00.005+08:00

Have you ever made a joke with the sole purpose of cracking things up but generating the opposite: awkward silence, angry looks, and profanity laced invectives? When you do that you show a classic case of a bad joke.

Jokes have this thin line between great and going overboard. To the general public these boundaries are dictated by norms, morals and generally accepted principles. To close friends or lovers, these boundaries are trespassed to the point of injecting crude and personal flavor to the jokes.

To illustrate, it is taboo to fart in font of people you don't know that much, but with a close friend it's a different thing altogether. We even go to lengths of positioning in front of the fan or being angled 90 degrees of our target before we release our nerve gases. Our familiarity even at times gives us the license to name call, yakmo, botlog, nognog, boksingero, albino, babalu... and so on and so fort.

Indeed, familiarity breeds contempt. At times, our jokes become the match that ignites long stemmed roots of hate, disgust and indifference. Come to think of it, it is good to throw a bad joke from time to time. You get to know who is pikon. You expose the pressure points of your best pals. You find their limits, getting an upper hand on them. You get to test the friendship. And most importantly, you get to know them a little bit more.

Over the course of my bad joking, which is an art by the way, I have deduced that there are some people who love going fastball on some people but do not want to be pitched the same way. In effect they do not want to reap what they sow. There are some who are prudent in all ways to be able to do no harm and dealt no harm. And there are a few ones who accelerates without any brakes and can also take the hit of a upcoming ten wheeler without hesitation.

I think I belong in the last one. My life is an open book, and I believe jokes, tirades and insults are a part of life, in fact they are character building (see related post here). Bad joke it may appear to some still, come to think of it, it can produce results, however bad they may be.

Just Friends

2009-07-22T10:22:00.007+08:00

I think it is not up for debate that a male bond is oceans apart from a male-female friendship. If you have a girl for a best buddy, I know you have been bombarded with millions of "Is there really nothing going on?" questions. Even so if you're lady pal is a hot commodity you will be the constant envy of your male troop. So the eternal question that has bugged Harry and Sally remain, "Can a man and woman be ever just friends?"

You see from an Adam's point of view, "we all want to nail women." Yes it is sexist but it is the truth. A man will always have an ulterior motive when it comes to women. Every woman he meets are potential lovers, at some point and to some level. Some men even fly around the friendzone to get flying permission into the lovers territory. Some women I know are even wide eyed when I caution them of a man who is showing extra attention.

While it is often dismissed as a friendly gesture, I know that there is a hidden agenda. Fact is why do these men constantly befriend the prettiest of the bunch and not the whole bunch of wallflowers? There is always something beneath, every gesture, a free ride home, an extra candy, a listening ear (you see men hardly listen, ever!).

The fact of the matter is sex ruins friendships faster than a Lebron James breakaway dunk. Some women would go to as far as having sex with a friend to determine if they are really just friends, leaving the guy friend more confused or encouraged or both. Some men would not dare being frank with their motive in fear of losing their friendship. It is hard to get the sex dynamics out of the way with a male-female friendship.

So my final advise for men out there who maintain a psuedo male-female friendship, don't do it, not even good sex can justify ruining a good friendship. Or better yet, be friends with women you have zero plans of sleeping with.

Filthy Rich

2009-07-22T09:26:00.002+08:00

Just early this week, a cousin of mine came home with his wife and kid to enjoy some time off from work. The couple both work as nurses in London, England, so to say that they are well off is an under statement.

Dinner was spent at Gery's grill due mainly for their thirst for local Filipino cuisine, after wards we were off to see their condo unit in Cainta. IIRC, (If I remember correctly) it was called Cambridge village when in fact it kind of looks like a country club. The whole posh subdivision was adorned by five tall condo buildings reaching as high as 6 floors. Below the towering stuctures are several amenities: a basketball court, two olympic size pools, tennis courts, a fitness gym, a mini-theate, libraries, and ktv lounges.

This all got me thinking of my long standing principle to stay in Naga and carry out a simple life. See, I am a small city guy. I am enamored by the laid back lifestyle, the close knit family, the stress free envionment and the proximity of work area, home and the central business district.

When I asked my cousin what makes London more enticing aside from the obviously ginormous pay, he laid out a long list of benefits for the kids. The education of the childen is taken cared of, the wife's pregnancies are subsidized, and several other fringe profits the first world country has to offer. Now that I have two kids, this things got me rethinking over and over my stategy.

Certainly if I work hard enough, I can build a simple house good enough for my plain lifestyle. What I am worried about is if I can give my kids the best education that life has to offer. I am torn right now. While we can abandon our lives right now and risk going to a land of milk and honey. The assurances are never there. I can abandon my steady job (?!) and gamble on a high paying job which can even end in a two years time if lucky.

This is my current predicament.

Confessions of a Casureco II Employee

2009-07-10T09:50:00.012+08:00

Its been 26 days, 11 hours, 17 minutes since I have last seen my payroll. Things have gotten so bad that I have been having my breakfast and lunch at the office canteen to minimize costs. Things have turned for the worse that I now walk from Santa Cruz to Francia to catch the Magsaysay-Del Rosario jeep. And to top everything, It takes me five to ten seconds to remember by ATM's PIN.

The power struggle between our Board of Directors headed by Msgr. Zosimo Sañado and OIC-GM Jane Barrameda is on course for a steep cliff. All transactions had been put to a screeching halt. No more gasoline withdrawals, ditto the salaries of employees and the payments to all our power suppliers.

Naga City and its neighboring towns faces the imminent threat of being cut off with power supply by Aboitiz, the new owners of Tiwi. This aside our inability to respond to all electricity related service and maintenance job requests. It is forced vacation leave for all Casureco II employees.

Let me simplify the power struggle to the mis- and uninformed:
Mons Nono Sañado and his majority bloc wants OIC-GM Jane Barrameda out.
To do that, they must get NEA's appoval.
The courts and legal documents have stressed that NEA has absolute control over ECs.
NEA requires proof of misconducts and illegal actions by OIC Jane before her ouster.
Mons Nono and his group opines that to investigate the OIC-GM they must remove her first, so they install Mr. Rolly Pante as new OIC-GM.
NEA insists on the proof before installing a new OIC-GM.
Mons Nono and his group refuse to sign checks unless the name bearing the OIC-GM is Sir Rolly.
The employees still recognize OIC Jane in the absence of a black and white of NEA's approval of Sir Rolly's designation.
Stalemate.

Crushed in the middle of all this brouhaha? The employees.

This my friends is a classic example of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object. The effect - a collision course with no impact. Neither party wants to budge letting ego, power thirst, unwavering self-belief, vanity and misconstrued infallibility to tear up this institution.

The irony of this struggle is both parties claim that they are doing this in the best interest of the cooperative. Both claim to be the saviors of an institution that is fledgling. Isn't it laughable now that in their quest to correct the cooperative, they are doing more harm than good?

Casureco II is on the brink of losing labor support and strength with disgruntled employees. The threat of being in the dark is imminent if payables are not settled. Service is compromised with the inability to act on consumer complaints. Labor and civil cases loom to pile up if the salary delay persists. And amidst of it all, two leaders who insist on thier positions, in their goal of improving services to the consumers. Never have we been made out as idiots as much as this one.

I know now that the one who gives in is the real party that cares for the interest of the cooperative. It is just sad that the employees are hostages in this tug of war of power. Power that was as attractive as a beat up Volkswagen when the cooperative was knee deep in debt in 2006, but, now as beautiful as the shiny new Ferrari with the 80 million income for 2008.

See, it was always about the money, and the power, and the money. And more importantly, this is also about MY money.

Defining the Peñafrancia Fiesta

2009-07-08T10:01:00.004+08:00

Out with the new, in with the old. This I am told by several friends that this 300th Peñafrancia Festivities will be undergoing a major face lift. No more of the Miss Bicolandia Pageant (to be moved to before Traslacion or after the Fiesta). Scrap the Civic Parade, in with the Perdon which was done in prior years. Apparently, the city has seen the last of the wild beer parties.

This comes amidst an aggressive effort of the church and the city government to preserve the solemnity and religiosity of the occasion.

A band aid on gunshot wound? Definitely.

It has been decades that this occasion has diminished its aura of solemnity and religiosity. What kind of solemnity can you expect out of drunk men wrestling over the chance to touch the image? They could freely visit Ina at the Basilica for 365 days, and yet they wait at this very day, bathe themselves with gin, walk on foot, and box out the crowd to expect some miracle from touching the image?!

Can banning street parties remedy the fact that on the day of the festivities, it is all about the drinking sprees and less and less about the praying? Hypocrisy is what I see when in the past I have seen members of the congregation dancing the night away in those street parties, or conspicuously hiding in a crowd of partygoers.

How ever these people may deny it. Fiestas has long transformed into a civic and commercial occasion. Midnight mall sales, dolphin attractions, visiting rock bands, and street parties has slowly defined the Penafrañcia fiesta.

The question has evolved to:
Isay maarabot na artista?
Hanggang alas dose kayan ang SM?
Isay nanggana sa Miss Bicolandia?
Daog si Ateneo sa military?
Sain ngunyan na banggui may street party?

This attempt to purify the occasion is two decades too late. While commendable at the least, another failed attempt by our church and city leaders to straighten a backbone that in the prolonged crookedness has hardened to a hunchback. Goodluck with that band aid.

Great Love, Correct Love

2009-07-07T10:26:00.003+08:00

You've heard it all before, from the over the top best friend on the wee hours of a drinking spree, an online blog on the wedding day of an ex, or the emotional outburst in the middle of the day crying out the name of the one that got away.

I know we all went through this phase. We've gone bonkers over a missed call. We've over analyzed simple good nights. We've interpreted even the austere gestures - the borrowed pen, the little brownie snack, or the free ride home. It was special, it was great, destined, complicated, bliss, forbidden, bitter-sweet and any other chocolatey adjective in between. It was our one great love.

(I admit miss getting goosebumps, or stuttering in front of a girl. Its been eons since I have composed in my mind the words, only to come up with a Hello. Kilig is a feeling which has deserted me and I cringe at the sight of HHWW-PSSP couples. At least you know where I am coming from.)

The truth is it was that way because we fantasize it to be that way. Deluded by a million Korean Boys over Acting telenovelas, cheesy forwarded text messages, over the top Sarah Geronimo romantic comedies, we want to have the same thing. We yearn to have our own little love story fairy tale endings. We create our own great love, written, produced and directed by our own hypothalamus.

We all want the drama of great love. You will always constantly wander about that childhood sweetheart who went abroad. You will forever replay the theme song of the one guy who had to marry off with someone he got pregnant. We rewind and play the memories in our head of every little detail of a dinner spent in stealth mode in fear of being seen by a deep penetrating agent.

We think it is great love because we wanted it to be that way. Of course, you'd get head over heels over forbidden love. The more that it is drawn away, the more we chase it. We are little children constantly aiming for the lollipop on the table. We fall off the stacked books. Our arms numb out tying to extend ala Mr. Fantastic. Our voices wear out with desperate attempts to harbor attention. The sad thing is, for some of us, once the lollipop lands in our hands, we find out it was never sweet all along. When it is ready to be devoured, we find to have never wanted it in the first place.

When love is stable, and assuring, and uncomplicated, and constantly present, usually it is taken for granted. It is a Ferris wheel of great loves. One yearns for her great love, ignores the guy who treats her as his own great love. All the while she is waiting for her great love to flee a relationship she cannot escape.

Why can't we just be happy with our correct love?
What is wrong with stable and assuring, and uncomplicated, and constantly present?
Right, same words rhyme with boring, predictable, and undramatic.
What kind of love do I have right now? You tell me.

The Pillars Opinion rant

2009-06-30T08:31:00.005+08:00

Now I know that the word nostalgia is a pocket ready term for aging persons. Last night while I was skimming through the latest copy of the Pillars Opinion, a flood of memories was drowning me, in a good way. (Click here if you want to see online copies of archives)

The usual topics of TFI (tuition fee increase, as always), fraternities (staple article), Sexual Deviation - Chuvaness (no better topic?), Balikatan, SM Effects on Naga's businesses, BS DoTA and Urulay Ulay Atenista brought back images of Bonks wrestling Diablo on the antique PC, Ninoy puffing on his endless supply of malboros holding in his other hand magic cards, Fiel and OJ Bulao playing physical Tabuc style indoor basketball, and heartthrob King intent on finishing his latest crossword challenge. In the background is the voice of Elvie, our managing editor, cussing about the piss filled coke Litro, the trapped cigarette butts in between hardwood floors, the extended deadlines, and the occasional condom neatly wrapped in the doorknob.

As these images came like a flash, I immediately blurted out, "Is this all they could write about now? We certainly were better than this pretentious high falooting journalists wannabee." Insecurities abound, I gave every article a paragraph to catch my attention, only to turn to the last one, Urulay Ulay Atenista, only not to finish it for lack of interest. I wanted my ten minutes back.

Can I no longer relate to college level writing style, or are these new crop of Pillars writers taking themselves too seriously?

To be fair, we can never be impartial judges of ouselves, bias will always creep in when we try to compare our work to a similar rendition. Our parents manifest these all the time, "Kan kapanuhanan mi, lakaw lang kami. Ang balon mi diyes sentimos lang." Of course they could always walk, there were fewer vehicles. The streets were safer. The sun was tolerable then. Even the air was clearer back then. Try walking nowadays, and a 8 to 10 chance exists you'll get fumed with black smoke, a 1 to 10 chance your cellphone might get snatched. And a probability, you'll go home with heat stroke.

On the other hand, I cannot fathom how these young thespians would resort to analyzing the psychological effects of computer games to the young minds, or the effect of SM Naga to business and cultural statuses of the city, or heck, how the Balikatan exercises even matter. Why don't they stay within the ballpark for once? Talk about what youngsters keep up all night most of the time, young love, a bit of booze, cheap snack hangouts, heck talk about why thee are dental and clinic fees when you never use them.

Sounds like a rant right? I admit I am just frustrated to find that something that was once yours could turn into an old lady in a decade. It's like you have to relocate and leave a girlfriend behind. The distance doesn't work so you eventually break up. After ten years you chance upon her profile in facebook, click on a couple of albums only to find a wrinkled stressed shell of her herself in a family photo of her fifth daughter's birthday.

I am just saddened to realize either one of the two things, that I am too old to understand youth jargon, or that a typical parochial institution can suck the fun out of the typical campus journalism shenanigans - the hidden banters, the clues in inside jokes, the low blow articles, and the shocking exposes. For the life of me I want to believe it's the former, but this rather incompetent judge of talent insists the latter.

NBA Draft Day Deals: Shaq to Cleveland

2009-06-29T14:38:00.004+08:00

The Big Diesel, Cactus, Aristotle, whatever is teaming up with another MVP in Lebron to try to capture his last title. He's still a force judging by his number and this screams like a panic move from Cleveland considering that their weak spots are obviously an agile forward who can guard tweener power forwards (think Lewis, Dirk, Josh Smith) or a bigger small forward to go into small ball when Lebron slides to the PF position (think Posey, Pietrus, Stephen Jackson).

I am not too excited by this move considering Shaq's age, his ability to pick and roll, and the stack of big men which are duplicated with his entry. They still have Big Z (whom they should try to move), Varejao (who can be effective if he can shoot the 15 foot J consistently) and Joe Smith (whom I think should start but wouldn't due to seniority's sakes.

They still have the midlevel and they free up some salary due to the expiration of Wally World's contract so they should get someone. if this does not wok out, they will still be free of the one-year rental of Shaq and of course Lebron who would bolt if they don't capture the title this year.

Addition Suggestions: Matt Barnes - Phoenix, Grant Hill - Phoenix, Antonio Mcdyess - Pistons, Charlie Villa - Bucks and Jason Kidd- Mavs.

NBA Draft Day Deals: Carter to Orlando

2009-06-29T14:25:00.004+08:00

This is a bold move by the Magic that should generate some applause. They bring in Vince Carter, his chicken wing dunk, his half-man half-a-season reputation and 40 million plus in salary for Courtney Lee, Battie and Alston. Instead of staying put and hoping to sign Turkoglu, they acquire the versatile swingman who is perfect for the second or third option behind man beast Dwight Howard.

This deal should give Van Gundy more option and creativity with his offensve sets, now owning two good to great defenders in the wing position in Pietrus, a revelation during the 08-09 playoffs and Carter.

This must have the boys in Cleveland and Boston cramming for a deal to counter this one as the Orlando perimeter game just gets better. The question now is to re-sign Turk who can command 10 mil plus a year in salary which will definitely put them over the cap.

I dare the Magic to let Turk walk and go after Gortat, who showed a lot of promise playing D12's backup. And with the remaining money, spend on a backup PG, or a versatile PG-SG type. Suggestion additions: Ronnie Brewer of Utah, Brandon Bass of Dallas, Jarret Jack of Indiana, and Anthony Parker of Toronto.

Transformers: Just like watchin' porn

2009-06-29T08:46:00.004+08:00

It's like watching porn, you know what to expect. A lot of slam bang, a lot of action, little to no drama. If there is even a hint of plot, it would last two minutes. It is just a pure thrill ride. Brainless action and skin flick.

This is what you will get from Revenge of the Fallen. A lot of action, I mean stacked, over the top explosions, and extended screen time for those masterfully digitized robots. Megan Fox in her eye candy role, and of course Michael Bay out of this world action scenes, think Bad Boys 2 highway scene.

Of course these types of movies should not be critically reviewed and be taken for what it is. It is a mindless action flick. Even if its constructed that way, still it should have a semblance of a coherence or hint of a plot.

Even the attempt at humor is a bit desperate. I think it is aimed at ten year olds, the humping dogs, or the humping robot on Megan Fox (understandable), the hysterical mother who wasn't remotely like that in part 1, or that new Mexican guy who is always terrifyingly screaming like a girl or hugging the next guy to him out of sheer fright are terribly forced and can only illicit Andrew E. levels shrieks.

Overall I would not complain of the robots, the animators did a masterful job. It was only on the execution portion that I am pissed. You setup a new villain, the Fallen, for extended time, only to be ripped by Optimus Prime in under twenty seconds in the final battle. What was that? The only good battle was when Prime died during the battle royal with Megaton and Starscream. In the other sequences, you cannot distinguish who is fighting who, if it's an Autobot or Decepticon or if the US military is even bombing the right guys.

This was a two hour and a half hour action chase filled ride which was slowly tuning into an extended clip of a movie in Gods of War or Final Fantasy. It could have worked if this was concise. If they are going to do a new movie, which will probably 100% occur, I hope they put it in the right hands, let Guillermo del Toro do it, or even Bryan Singer (even if he ruined Superman Returns), or Kevin Smith, he knows comedic dialogues, and we can possibly see some more of Megan Fox's parts. I am just fed up of the over the top, mindless action sequences of Michael Bay. He should be the fallen after this one.

Obsessed: Fatal Attraction 2

2009-06-23T10:08:00.004+08:00

How is this for a premise: Ali Larter and Beyonce Knowles having a catfight to the death over some dude? Interesting right? The problem is the dude. If he was some kind of an Adonis or a Brad Pitt, it would be understandable. But he's some random black dude and he isn't even in the caliber of Denzel, or Usher, or even Eddie Muphy.
It is mind boggling.
It's I believe I can fly mode ala Seal and Heidi Klum.
It's improbable, every man is envious.
At least it's fiction, to say the most.

The plot: Idis Elba and Beyonce have a newborn son, an illustrious career, and are settling into a new house. Ali Larter is temp in the guy's office. She sees something in the guy which is impervious to the naked eye, and stalks, harrasses and obssesses about him to the point that it is supposed to be scary in a fatal way.

The funny thing is I cannot reconcile by any means that this guy can reject Ali Larter coming onto him in the bathroom, initiating all the moves, or an Ali Larter who flashes her body covered only by black lingerie in her full glory. She even had to resort to drugging him just to do the nasty.

By the final act where Beyonce and Ali Larter entangle in a catfight, I am laughing my ass off and waiting for the expected to happen, a gory death for Larter, pobably with her falling from the stais or something. True enough, she dies a gruesome death falling into a hole in the ceiling with the chandelier falling on top of her.

While it must be obvious that this movie was made to warn cheating husbands of psychotic obsessed flings, I could not get the mental image of Ali Larter in my head, over-all doing the opposite. They should have probably used a different actress, I have my biases I admit. Who doesn't?

Rebooting the Man in the Ski Mask

2009-06-22T13:51:00.003+08:00

Yes, Jason is back and along with him the formulaic Friday the 13th franchise that we have come to love and hate, at times.

The opening fifteen minutes showed a lot of promise. The usual adventurous teenagers trying to find marijuanaheaven come across a deranged maniacal psycho killer and one by one drop like flies. The kills were swift and imaginative from a half naked woman hanged upside down on a sack torched over the campfire to his lover whose head was quickly detached with a machete-type of weapon.

From there, it gets a bit of a drag. Another group of vacationeers camp into a guest house and their adventures in the forest suddenly eliminates them one by one. Even the breast exposures cannot save the lengthy uneventful sequences. There was the opening silicone breast sequence, the waterskiing topless lunatic hot chick, and best of all that fully bloomed woman on top blessed the natural cup DDDDs. (I bet you will see this movie due to the previous sentence, well that was the highlight of the movie)

Maybe the film was a fail for me, after watching a lot of Jason movies, since I was kind of expecting an origins story. How did Jason get his mask, why does he have a hunger to kill, and how did he survive the drowning? And why doesn't he ever die?

Well at least they showed in the first frames his trauma of experiencing his own mother's gory death, with the head detaching from its neck. This is why I thought it had some promise from the start, but what we get is another formulaic, forgettable Friday the 13th which is full of gory violence, teenage lust, and more mobile and agile Jason (who shows a bit of smart savvy with his bells and all) but lacks that new story so to speak.

Just another Friday the 13th, with the 13 body count, after all.

Iskwater ako

2009-06-16T09:07:00.005+08:00

Mga alas siyete kan sarong banggui, may bigla na lang nagburulyawan sa luwas. Basta baga nadangog ko na sana "Ipapulis pa nindo ako" sabay nagralagatakan ang garo nagkaparasa na baso. Kan sinundan nya man na banggui duwang lalakeng burat man ang nagporormahan tapos inarawat man sana kan mga kapwa lasngag. Kansuudma man, sarong teenager na nagboboard sa likudan mi ang nagsuicide, naginom nin pahingurag na anti-bacterial. Broken hearted daa, sayang magayon pa naman. Maray sana ta dae man nadagusan.

Ini ang San Miguel sa Santa Cruz.

Street man daa an samong looban. Dae man ngani maapod na street ta motorsiklo na sana ang nakakalaog one way pa. Sa sobrang sadit kan looban garo na kami nagbuburuya pag naglalaog o luwas sa dalan. Dapat kaini interior sana, garo laog kan rida, ta sadit man na maray, mini ang size.

Typikal ang samong looban. Aga pa lang yaon na sa may atubangan kan sari-sari store si Bugoy na kapot ang sarong litrong Red Horse. Mayong baso, diretsong um-om, alas siyete pa sana nin aga. Ang mga babae man kung dae nagtsitsirismisan habang nagpapasuso nin mga aki ninda, garo mga mathematician na grabe ang intellectual discussion tungkol sa reading sa jueteng. Dae pa digdi kabali ang mga aki na mayong karikarigos na abang kulit na naghahapot kung mapaapon ka na kan basura nindo o kung pwedeng maka-arbor nin piso.

Maogma na maribok ang samong lugar. Normal na ang mga nabuburulyawan na mga magagom, mga kataid na nagpapakurusugan nin radyo saka mga burat na nagdadaraklagan bote. Kumbaga sa Pinoy movie garo setting sa pelikula ni Philip Salvador sa Joe Pring.

Pero gaano man ini karibok o kagulo, dae ko ipapadaog ang lugar na ini. Didgi naimmortalize ang mga vandal sa lanob na arog kan:

"By the power of my imagination, I will destroy your virginity"
"Don't fuck the fuckers, coz if you fuck the fuckers, the fuckers will fuck you."
"I hate vandalism, but God said, 'Love your enemies', so, I love vandalism."

Ang San Miguel man ang nagpakusog kan boot ko. Dae na ako takot sa medyo delikadong lugar, aram ko na ang gigibohon. Tipong lakaw na mapakumbaba, ang dungo nasa dalan, luway luway sana ta baka mapagkamalan na maton. Sabay pag may nangikil, bunot tulos sabay tao maski singko na sana ang nasa bulsa.

Kung kaipuhan mo man maski anong second hand, cellphone maski anong tatak, o kaya imported nasapatos, o maski mga electric fan, halat halat ka sana ta may marani na sana saimong tambay. Yaon diyan si nangangaipo nin panginom kaya pinapabakal na sana nin 400 ang electric fan, o kaya man si may paryentes na nagpadara nin package tapos mayo man nin gagamitan kan Italian shoes (nakabakal ako 500 lang) tapos siyempre si nakahabon nin latest model nin Nokia.

Ini ang samong lugar. Dakul na dikit ang pagbabago. Si mga kababata ko na mga siga kadto, siga pa man giraray, pero may mga hanapbuhay naman.

Kan sarong aldaw ngani nagsakay akong padyak pauli, nabigla ako ta nagpundo na sana sa looban. Eu palan ta si Alden ang nagpapasada. Gwapito man kadto, ang bata Atenista, mala nagpusaw na ang kaputian ta nagkakayod na sana. Naremalaso lugod si diyes pesos ko ata singko lang dapat ang bayad. Masupog man kaya.

Si Marlon man na eu ang pinakamagulang ming kasurog sa inter-zone basketball, nagpinatal. Tigsnatahcan ang sarong mukhang momong na estudyante sa Cathedral. Ang dae nya aram runner palan to sa track and field. mala Barlin pa sana nahabol na sya, naguli baga bugbog sarado pagkatapos ma-piyansyahan. Duwa naman kaya ang aki, mayo pa nin trabaho ang mag-agom. Makiherak man hade?

Eh tano ta yaon pa ako digdi? Masakit magsuway, saka boring man sa ibang lugar. Maski gustuhon ko naman maghale, mau pa man sagtak, saka for shure, mamimiss ko ang drama kan lugar. Kaya ngani binoblog ko na bago pa maglipas sa utak ko. Ang pook San Miguel, Sta Cruz Proper, Naga City, 4400.

Drag me to Hellacious

2009-06-09T10:26:00.003+08:00

What do you do when you go to Cubao-Ali Mall, three hours early before the bus to Naga leaves? And it is raining like there is no tomorrow? And you have nobody with you?
No, not hookers! (Great minds think alike.)

Yes, a movie. So typical. So I plan to waste (enjoy?) those extra hours inside the theater, and line up for Angels and Demons for lack of better choice. It was that or Terminator Salvation (seen that) or Night at the Museum (check!) or Drag me to hell (appealing but I never watch horror movies alone). Between my movie picking and my near-exploding bladder, this mystifying ticket counter chick tells me I am already 13 minutes late. The near exploding bladder wins, so I pick the next token movie, which this blog title suggests.

it was not a bad alternative considering I get almost two hours of Alison Lohman who looks a lot like Isla Fisher (whom I also have this boy-crush on). The thing with me on horror movies and horror houses, I get the bravado when I am with someone who is the more terrified. Otherwise, it is me slouching in the chair, closing my eyes, distracting myself during intense scenes or simply muting out the sounds by putting my fingers in my ears. In this case, I am alone, so 30 minutes in the movie, I have done all three.

The stupid me realizes by the second act that the movie seems to be some kind of parody, or comedy. The blood and gut scenes are exaggerated, the elements of thrillers are done to extreme effects that it almost makes it funny. There are, I think, six (6!) scenes where Lohman gets something in her mouth by accident, be it a fly, or the eyes of the old woman gorging out, or some sticky green fluid from the woman's mouth. Suddenly, the horror movie is actually a comedy.

Yes, it was a laugther from the moment I realized it wasn't that serious, especially when the goat... God damn I haven't mentioned the premise yet, right? Quick recap: Girl is a loan's officer in bank. In her effort to get the assistant manager's position, she ejects a loan extension on a gypsy. Gypsy begs and kneels for her extension, she stands firm, Gypsy curses her to be dragged into hell. Gypsy in a heartbeak dies and torments Lohman's soul.

So where was I? Yes, the goat. The exorcist of some kind can trap the demon's spirit in her body but it must be transferred to the goat, which must be slayed upon transfer, which expectantly doesn't happen. Now for the climax, in an effort to reverse the curse, Lohman digs the old woman's grave and in a comedic fashion gets repeatedly mouth to mouth, or hand in her hair, or face to face with the dead gypsy's body. Still, despite all these, she still comes out all sexy despite the mud and the spit and the phlegm. Yes, she's that good looking.

So after all that I get out of the theater feeling I did not watch a horror movie. Embarrassing may it be to admit but I was all slouched, finger in ears during the fist part, when two young girls three seats from me were all relaxed and excited. You will ask, did she get dragged into hell? Do you feel lucky?

Cm on watch the movie for Christ's sake. I mustered a lot of courage to go through all that.

7 out of 10.

That dreaded M word

2009-06-09T08:24:00.003+08:00

No it is not Marriage, that just comes second by a hair.

Dread is reserved for maturity. You see, maturity is a long road trip. You begin the ride anxious to see the end of it. Along the way, there are a lot of bumps and humps and adventures. Next thing you know, you are enjoying the full ride. A minute later, just when you get the hang of the long road, you're unexpectedly at the last stop.

I do not know if one gets the metaphor and all, but the main point is that I am at the end of the road trip. How do I know this?

a) On a weekday during the ungodly, unholy hours, I wake up to the sound of giggling, ogling, and boisterous laughter from obvious participants of an all-nighter drinking spree. I fight back with a yell, "Hoy magpaturog kamo, kung habo nindo magturog." (In plain English: The old man next door doesn't know how to party and doesn't get today's youth)
b) On a business trip which lasts throguh the weekend, I pack up my bags on the Friday and head home, anxious and excited to spend quality time with my kids.
c) After office hours, I pretend to be busy working late or time my CR break when my posse is timed to appoach my desk and hint at after office beers. I disappear like the shadow before the dusk hits me.
d) At siesta time, the next door emo-neighbor is just being acquainted with Rage Against the Machine. I cross my fingers, hope and pray that my two-month old son doesn't get startled by Zack de la Rocha or I would have to redo the waltz lullaby all over again.
e) The games I enjoy nowadays are limited to Diablo II, World of Goo and Texttwist. I.will.stop.here.

Going back, why do I use the word dread, when in fact I am enjoying it, having found my peace. No more partying until dawn, or putting names into familiar faces I met some bar nights before, or being updated to latest music, or billboard top 50 hit list, or trying to tell my barber to do an emo-look when I have been sporting the same Jose Rizal look for twenty years max. Come to think of it, I should relocate the bangs to the left side, as that side is already being pushed back into a landing area.

What is the point in all these? I do not know, honestly, we all have our measures of maturity, and at some point, whatever our age is, we still revert back to selfish little brats and do beer bongs, and pass up some joint. The more important thing than the whole point of maturity is the comma, where we are allowed to pause, breathe, and see life in a slowed down motion, to see how far in the road we have been.

And yes, how much more miles we have to cover.

Terminator Salvation: Reanimation or Burial?

2009-05-28T12:09:00.004+08:00

Terminator Salvation, needs one of the first two words. Either one will do with this rather disappointing sequel to the terminator franchise. Not to say that this is a bad film for it is not, it is decent, has a good story, action packed and has passable acting. It just lacks that magic.

Maybe, it is the absence of an identifiable villain, Arnie in T1, Carmen Soo in T2 (yup, lame attempt at a joke and slips that I have seen that movie), the cop in T2, and that crazy hot robot in Rise of the Machines. What we get in Salvation is a smorgasbord of robots, giant ones, motorcycling riding gung hos, the T-800 T-600 (I think I am reciting cellphone models). Mind you, the graphics are msterfully done, but there is no chill factor. The fear of getting crushed or annihilated by a robot is lacking. In fact you get the feeling that the robots are tamer than the autobots.

The absence of Arnie hurts a lot. The terminator franchise is a classic due to effective one liners, jam packed action and comedic timing. This movie is lacking in all departments. What we get is an arc of a guy who dies and donates his body to science, he is resurrected, he saves his friends, fights and dies. The end. Just another cliche action movie.

Other than the giant robot taking out one by one the fleeing vehicles, there is much left to be desired in terms of the action sequences. They have a generic fight of Connor, Wright and the T-800s in the end, even putting in an obviously graphically interfaced Schwarzenegger into a limited screen time but we do not get any drama from that. There was no liquid metal changing, or a villain growing out parts. Can they not be more imaginative than a factory scene fight as the climax? I am utterly disappointed.

To end my rant, I left with the feeling quite like when you near the end of a Hardy Boys book. They capture the bad guy, the bad guy spills out the beans in full color, unaware of the consequences. In this movie, a super computer who plants a mole in the person of Marcus Wright to lure John Connor into coming into Skynet so he can be destroyed. Then that super computer suddenly without any logic, tells Marcus Wright of his real purpose? Dumdum right? What else do you expect but that cyborg (who thinks he is human and is all about second chances) rips out his chip and aids Connor? This is really falling apart by the third chapter.

Well to cap it all, Terminator is not all that bad taking into consideration that it has a budget of 200 million, gets a mailed in performance from Batman, and has a director who obviously doesn't know how to pull it all together. We still have gems in the performances from Sam Worthington (the Avatar movie is suddenly looking more promising) and Anton Yelchin (zee favorite guy from Star Trek). And yes, there are robots lots and lots of them. On second thought, I still have Revenge of the Fallen to look forward to.

7.5 out of 10.

Pull me over Driver

2009-05-28T11:51:00.004+08:00

Move over tricycles, park the Magsaysay-Centro-Diversion loop jeepney to the side, bang the buses for there is a new ride in the city of Naga. Yup, yellow cab opened recently followed suit by the real yellow cabs, taxis!

Yup you heard it right, those metered things denoting social status or us probinsyanos, is now invading the city with the arrival of 30 Toyota Avanzas in gray colors. This reminds , me I have to tell a friend who is getting an Avanza in July that he needs to avoid gray. Maybe he will get it in striped blue, or fushi, fusci, fuchang ina, red na lang! Now the prospect of riding my friend's car and park in front of Avenue as we go wuth our usual after work spree, is suddenly turning discouraging.

As read from a friend's blog, (they say give credit where it is due),
"The starting flagdown rate is Php 30.00 then Php 2.50 na ang succeeding per kilometer rate. You can text or call the Taxi Service with the number 09273228647 to pick you up."

So courtesy of genova taxis, we can now organize road trips to Legazpi or Lagonoy in great fashion. I never knew this day would come but it is definitely an alternative mode of transpo at this apt time for consumerism when Naguenos are being drowned with SM mall times, yellow cab pizzas and unnecessary luxuries of flag down rates. Hail, that cab for me, will yah?

Beam Up Trekkies!

2009-05-12T15:26:00.003+08:00

I haven't written about movies in a while. And I have not recommended a movie of quality in a longer while. At the beginning of the year I made a list of anticipated movies, only for these to come up short in expectations.

For the record I liked Watchmen, only that i thought it would appeal and be appreciated by people without any comic background on it. Fast and Furious was ok and formulaic, so no use talking about it when you know it is a guilty pleasure on fast cars, babes in pekpek shorts, and more cars. Star Trek XI, on the other hand is unknown territory.

I do not know much about Trek except that it supposedly stars William Shatner and it involves beaming up, aliens, and a big ship. Heck, I even thought that Trek is some sort of a sequel of Star Wars. Years later, I got a bit acquainted with Star Trek generations, with the bald guy, Professor X manning the Enterprise as Luc Picard(?!).

On with the movie!

This movie is one hell of a non-stop action, comedy, suspense, great script and character development all in one. It is more than two hours long yet, as the cliche goes, time flies when you having tons of fun. To answer the concern of most: Yes, you will enjoy it even if you are not a Star Trek fan, worshiper, or follower. Hell yeah, you would even have a ball even if the last movie you appreciated is 300 or Twilight.

The good: we get great performances from Chris Pine (Kirk) who shows off the show off side of Kirk, his charisma, and gutsiness. Sylar-Zachary Quinto (Spock) is tailor made for a role that is supposed to suppress emotion only to falter and go french kissing with Uhura (trek fans I am told object to the Uhura-Spock romance). There are several other unforgettable performances by Harold-John Cho (sulu), Yelchin (Zhe Ruzzian guy zho alwayz uzez zee letter Z), and Simon Pegg "I like it here" (Scott) as the ship engineer. And yes Zoe Saldana (Uhura), finally gets to grace us with her hotnesss. Eric Bana in limited screen time was also effective only that I got to recognize him a few frames later. The only character who was out of place was that old guy who plays the old Spock. Couldn't they get a better one?

The bad: A few convenient instances such as Kirk being banished to a deserted planet and lands conveniently to the same place the old Spock was banished by Bana. And yes, sometimes it was too fast for us to absorb and digest everything. And what the hell happened to Winona Ryder, are we that old that she is accepting mother roles? Damn, I am getting old!

All in all the film made me jealous of JJ Abrams' eye and vision in capturing the sci-fi realm. Lost is great. Fringe is fantastic. Star Trek cements his stature as a guy who knows his twilight zone stuff. So in him I absolutely trust. I would definitely drag you out of your seats and tell you to buy a ticket to this movie. Trust me.

9 out of 10.

Someone Make (SM) the people go away!

2009-05-11T08:14:00.000+08:00

Yes, a lot of, err tons, countless, no adjective can describe the number of people flocking daily to SM City Naga. The sight is one for eyesore with 90% of the mallrats just doing the routine window shopping, or in any case, taking advantage of the newly installed centralized airconditioning.

Last weekend marked my 2nd and 3rd visits to the said mall. And mind you, the crowd size was still ginormous. It was like a colony of ants going to and fro only with no absolute purpose other than to be in the packed space. Fortunately for us, we had a bit of a purpose, that is to buy books, see a movie, and eat. Well, we achieved the first with 66 peso purchases of the two towers, return of the king, forrest gump and two winnie the pooh storybooks.

We got to accomplish second goal with a regrettable 270 pesos to see a Filipino thriller which was rather unsatisfying. I would rather not mention the title for fear of further deriding my reputation.

My daughter was all gimpy with her excitement to go to a jampacked Jollibee which is unpassable even for a teenie tiny stick. We had to settle again for consecutive days (for me) for Molin for Grill which was the only resto with vacant seats. The same cannot be said for a stall in the second floor. How can a souvenir shop/pasalubong center showcasing pilinuts ever expect to get income? It was the only place you can be comfortable to extend your elbows.

My only gripe was not being able to give my kid all her qualms due mainly to a tight budget and as I have mentioned for the umpteenth time, the very very large crowd. So, these are the pics of my daugther, salivating at the prospect of enjoying SM:

Hindering Holy Hiccups

2009-04-27T14:09:00.003+08:00

Napuunan naman lang magbikol ngunyan na aldaw. Dagus daguson na.

Puon kaya kan nagluwas si aki ko, si pangaduwa, tong lalake (sana), nagruluwasan naman si mga sinaunang mga pagtubod.

Eh ang bagong mundag baga pahingurag nin mga blemishes (hehe sosyal) sa mukha. Sabi kan mga ranggurs samo dae daa pagtuyawon ta baka daa maglala. Dae daa lamang nungka banggiton kung may nagbabakbak o kaya may puti ta baka daa magurugbon. Eh, ako pa naman si bakong makaluma. Pano man yan maugbon? Sa pagtuyaw sana? Kung arog lang kayan, haloy ko na kuta tigtuyaw si saro-sarong punggod ni AJ Dee kan college pa kami para nagurugbon nin sangkatutak hanggang maging arog na siya sako, punggod na tinubuan nin mukha.

Uni pa ang makaturitriste, dae daa pag bayaan ang aki na solo. Kung babayaan man, maglaag nin tolong gihoy (walis tingting) sa taid nya. Ini daa ang pangontra sa taong lipod, aswang, o ano pa man na taong lupa. Eh ano ang gigibuhon kan gihoy, nagaasa sinda na may sarong multo na makua kaini tapos pag may nagraning aswang hahagupiton kan si gihoy? Kapraningan ano, nagaasa sa taong lipod para magrapas nin taong lipod. Hay, nakakapraning.

Tano pati tolo??? Dae na lang kaya buong sighid para mas epektib? Tolo para sa I love you??? Ano yan garo Lost may numbers? Sa states o africa o london kaya ginigibo man yan? Ang mas dakulang problema, may sighid man daw duman?

Ini aram ko gibogibo man nindo. Kung nagsisinok ang aki, ano ngani yan sa english? Hiccup, hehe sosyal na naman. Magkua nin sadit na papel, tong malinig ha, bakong pinuknitan sa diyaryo, gibuhong square, laagan nin art, lawayan sabay itaplak sa angog. Bilang ka lang mga pirang minuto, viola! Sinok away!

Aminon ko tatanga tanga man ako, nagtinubod tubod man sa mga ranggurs. Hehehe. Ano man daw ang logic diyan ano? Hamag yan.

Shame, Shame, Shame

2009-04-27T08:47:00.003+08:00

Due to the lingering effects of our office squabble and the instantaneous birth of my son, I am currently suffering (more) financially. So last Saturday, ay inda bikolon ko na lang daw...

Kaya kan Sabado, naghanap ako nin paagi kung pano magkakasagtak. Eh, aldaw man kaya mau nin negosyo sa plaza o sa Rodson. Dae man ako pwedeng magapply sikyu sa SM ta tapos na ang job fair. (Trese mil daa ang bulan, sayang ano) Saka mau man akong kusog boot magshoplift sa E-mall. Maray sana kung 7-11 yan ta madali sana magsikwat nin toblerone. Hade, noi o tong lalakeng sasambiton ko pero dae ko papangaranan???

Kaya uni ang solusyon.... Tambunting.... hehehe. Mau nang mauutangan hay, kumbaga said na. Alang na ang bubon. Labot na ang bulsa. Ni dilimon mau nang pambakal. Ok naman? Garo desperado na?

Since (ay buray naka-english lugod ako) mau man akong yaman o ginto o alahas ano pa man ang pwedeng isangra, eh di cellphone na sana. Garo naman lang relo ngani idtong cellphone ko ta mau man nagtetext. Hehehe. Ay, bako ko pa nganing cellphone saka Nokia 6680 sana. Dae man suba-suba, de camera man ito saka nakakapatugtog man nin Mp3. Kaya lang raot na ang battery ta butog na (hehehe, nice Nald).

Di amay-amay ano? Mau pa akong karikarigos. Nagsulot man ako nin maray na shorts saka bagong bado para dae man ako mapagkamalan na snatcher. Dae na ako nagpahamot ta grabe na yan baka atyan kayan may magkacrush na sako. Dara ang ultimong diyes pesos nagpasiring na ako sa Cebuena Lhuiller. Dae ko sigurado kung si tigcocommercial ini ni Juday. Enewei, baduyon na. Sa topic na kita.

Di naglaog na ako. No turning back. Tigahapot ko pa si gwardiya kung may pila o kung matao pang number. Momong pano. Eh duduwa man lang kami na masangra. Sa boot boot ko, maray dae makasupog. Mayo nakakabisto sako. Di diretso na ako sa may window ano. Sabay...

Tyadaan...! Ang nasabat sako si Jorge Jet Jarme (Garo pang artista ang pangrana). Si kaklase ko sa Ateneo kan high school. Honors class man daa kami. Eh di nabigla ako, sabay siya man nabigla napataram nin "oi, Vince" Sosyal ano? Vince hehehe. paVirivince, Enteng man lang. Ang Vince para sa may kwarta lang, o kotse o kaya man agom si Patricia Bermudez.

Dae ko palan nadescribe si Jorge, payat may hitsura man, may GF ta pirang beses ko na nakasabatan sa centro kaya mga 80% sure na akong dae bakre tapos ngunyan ko lang naaraman na siya palan ang The Pawner. O sya eh di mau naman aratrasan, sabi ko "nagsasangra kamo nin cellphone?" Simbag man siya, "Anong unit?"

"6680."

Nagpause siya ano. Eh di kabado ako. Doble kasusupog kung dae pwede. Baka magtarakop ako nin mukha o kaya magsuba na lang, hehe try lang padi, tigheleng ko lang ang worth. Maray sana ta nagtaram na si Jorge nin "1000 padi." Sangribo lang? 1000? Sangribo? Para sa gabus kong pagal, eu lang yan? Eh di no choice sabi ko "sige na padi."

Si kinse minutos na pagtindog ko duman ang pinakahaloy na kinse minutos sa buhay ko. Siyempre awkward silence. Mayo man akong maitaram. Eh dae man kami close. Siguro nakagrupo ko siya sa group play, once lang pero dae ko na tanda. Eh di uto na tinao na sako, tiglaag na sa supot si cellphone na baka sa birthday ko pa maheleng. Sabay tao sako kan 960 pesos net of advance interest.

Shame shame talaga as I was walking out the door. So kahiya. Kaya lang kan nasa market na ako, habang nagbabakal nin pesh and meat, nagiromdoman ko. Hamag yan tano ako masusupog? Si Jorge ngani sa Cebuana Lhuiller nagtratrabaho. Eh Atenista man siya saka Honor's class pa?! Hehehe.

Yan nagmaray maray na ang pagmate ko. Sabay sabi sa sadiri ko "Whatever Jorge, You're such a Major Loser!" (masakiton palan i hand signal ang letter J)

SM Nagamall Final Update

2009-04-23T16:33:00.007+08:00

Days before its opening on May 1st, some officemates were able to sneak in SM Naga. Obviously, it is still half done but there are a couple of welcome fixtures: ACE Hardware, National, 4 moviehouses which will open with the Pacquiao - Hatton match.

As I am told, the restaurants are new and very refreshing like Graceland, Bigg's, Mang Inasal, Ice Blink, KFC and Red Ribbon. What the fock!?!? Did naga centro relocate to SM? Can't they even bring in a Wendy's or Goldilocks or even for Pedro's sake Kenny's, Yellow Cab or DQ??? I guess we have to anticipate an Aling Cely's kinalas opening a branch in SM.

Here are some of the pictures from the inside courtesy of my officemates:

Another Trophy in the bag

2009-04-22T14:38:00.006+08:00

I can imagine that warm feeling Michael Jordan had when he sank that 18 foot jumper in Delta Center to win his sixth and final NBA championship. Or the euphoria that surrounded Manny Pacquiao when he knocked down Erik Morales with his patented left hook in the third round of their third bout.

The last time I felt this way goes way back to the time I found out I got into the college of my choice which I eventually got kicked out of, or when I was named staff of the School Publication where I was maligned due to a controversial lampoon issue, or when got the Yes I was praying for from my first girlfriend, who eventually left me for complicated reasons. See, they all went to shitters but I am still at my utmost buoyant mood.

I am a Dad again. Last April 18At 12:54 pm, I got the news that I am a father to a six-pound healthy baby boy. What was supposed to be a day for regular checkup and ultrasound to determine the position of the baby turned out to be labor day. The responsible father that I am was up all night on a drinking spree banking on the the expected date of delivery of May 4th. Oh well, it still turned up well and good.

Enough with all the words, let the pictures tell the story of Mayce Akello P. Hidalgo:

Lent and Repent

2009-04-08T09:31:00.003+08:00

Lent always amuses me. People go to great lengths to show sacrifice, embody abstinence, and personify suffering.

Nagueños have this yearly tradition of walking on foot. They would walk 15 kilometers from Naga City to Hinulid, Calabanga just to kiss at the feet of the Hinulid. My officemate quipped that people also flock to Hinulid to buy this miraculous oil which can heal all kinds of body aches. Talk about irony. People walk for 2 hours, some without and shoes or slippers to buy some oil which can cure body aches!

And of course, we all know about the no-meat on holy week and the fasting during Fridays. Can't people sacrifice something more valuabe than meat? Say, alcohol, or cigarettes, or women, or excessive shopping, or sex? Wouldn't that be a better trade off and sacrifice than starving yourself to death, only to eat like a rescued plane crash victim after sixty days of isolation on an island in the Carribeans?

On a similar trajectory, Moslems during Ramadan, I am told (correct me if I am wrong) fast from 6 to 6 (am to pm). After 6, it is an all out smorgasbord party? Tell me there is nothing wrong with that. Tell me! Tell me! Tell meh!

On a final note, see the picture above. Mexico, Pampanga is a yearly tourist spot during these times of the day due to real persons carrying real crosses plunging in real nails on their real hands. Are they not supposed to know that infliction of pain towards oneself is a sin to the body?

It is murder to some degree when we abuse ourselves. Yes, I am no saint. I drink lotsa lotsa alcohol, intake second hand smoke, tried a few herbal miracles, and some other graphical details I'd rather not mention.

Jesus Christ did not volunteer for the crown of thorns and the nails and the dying on the crucifix, he was persecuted to be put in all those tribulations. In essence, dying for the sins of man. Volunteering for all that stuff for a personal cause or for the forgiveness of personal sins, I just do not get. I don't get at all. Why not trying to change instead? Or being good for once, that may just work.

Oh, well that's just me, the pastor that may friends label once in every while and every passing outs.

Again, thank God for piracy: X-men Origins WOLVERINE

2009-04-07T13:55:00.004+08:00

A friend sent me a torrent last week of this movie and I was apprehensive at first of its authenticity. This movie is supposed to come out on May 1st and the mere thought of an advanced copy of one of the movies in my top 10 anticipated films of 2009 is salivating.

To start off this movie is way better than X-men 3-The Last Stand. It has a better flow, the story while flawed has a semblance of a structure, and the actors' performance is passable to top-notch. I would not spoil everything for you. I did write three paragraphs only to realize it would be unfair to tell everything and deleted everything.

What makes review special is that this movie is unlike any. When wolverine is hit by a truck and is thrust upward around about two feet above the truck, he is suddenly transformed into a blue guy. Obviously, a dead give away that this is an unfinished computer graphics.

On the final scene when he is battling a retooled Deadpool of Weapon XI, the dam is gray in color and there are still lines on it, complete with vectors and coordinates. It is so damn funny that the action sequences can rival a comic scene. See when a young cyclops is about to blast his optic rays, on the far right corner of the acreen the words "red optic rays" are shown like we are looking into a story board.

This is rather a eye opening experience as we are submerged into the experience of unfinished hollywood errr, computer work of art. The actors are just mere cut and paste material, and anytime they can be replaced by blue plastic men. See, movies have a long and bright future! Soon enough they would not need the actual real actors, just the mugshots, or the 1 x 1 pictures.

I would still watch the real thing though, I mean the original pirated complete version. Did you get my dig? Just for the sake of comparison. So go ahead, and download one, it is free anyways, and get to see how a computer graphics laden film is made, claws, optic rays, and flying bodies and all.

Rating: Not applicable.

Relax, Unwind, Relax 2

2009-04-07T12:36:00.005+08:00

Why do Casureco II employees still organize beach overnights in the midst of all the office mess and internal organizational problems?

It is simple, because we can.

Yes, 400 pesos per head, 20 people, 12 hours of relax, unwind, relax. Again. Do I still need to draw it play by play like the first episode? It was pretty much the same, except for the food, and the henna and drinking, and the banters, and the pictures. Ok, I'll do it!

The difference between a group of friends goin' out versus a group of officefriends goin' out? Not much, especially if the officefriends agree that office topics are strictly off limits. So, this was a simple Nagueño beach outing. By 3 PM, Ian had already commissioned a Centro-San Felipe-Vice Versa jeepney to bring us to Surfer's Paradise for 500 pesos. You caught the name? yeah it is a paradise! What made it so, I dunno, certainly not the videoke, or the pooltable, or the ten peso per head entrance, or the surfs - there weren't any! I still do not get the name.

Anyway, being the designated co-organizer, I was up to the task of killing the crabs (an-et, is this the term for Lady crab?). The vaind lineup was ginataang an-et with kalabasa and malunggay, beef steak courtesy of Rex, inasal na manok and some late arrivals of steamed fish courtesy of Wendell. So imagine my delight when the officefriends were squabbling over the an-et when I announced that there were only eight pieces. If they only knew that I just got out of the nature's lair before I mashed the squash.

To hasten our passing out, we started with the two liters of Gilbey Gin mixed with Lime Juice at a little after five PM. ( I told you what else is new???) Aside from the intermittent Henna tattoo service, it was pretty much the usual drinking spree. Jay got the three stars and the sun replica, Kat chose a butterfly over the right shoulder (ala-Mandy Whore in a walk to remember), Jang picked a sun, Albert took a dragon in the arm, and I got a mess of abstract ink. Actually I slept on the tattoo and it spread all over the sheets and my back.

In the morning, we were able to get over our hang-over with some clean cold salt water, and some loving hugs and kisses from my daughter who was pretty much the main reason why I slept early. I would cherish this back to back outing because this will probably be my last and only two for the summer. So overall, another relaxing, unwinding, relaxing time of my life.

8 out of 10.

Casureco II Power Crisis

2009-04-07T12:22:00.003+08:00

To all those covered by our services, I know the title is a dead give-away, because it happens all the time. It's like knowing how your pee is stronger than the tap water during mornings, or getting used to the way Quirino highway is full of one way lanes every two years.

In four words, Get used to it.

So this is how it goes, our Board is bent on removing our OIC-General Manager. The OIC takes refuge from NEA being our regulating body. NEA opines that status quo must be maintained before any movement is implemented. the Board does not want to follow NEA. Tons of letters are sent, some cases are filed, meetings are held to naught and...

We are sitting ducks, our salaries are frozen like ice, our gasoline our cut off much like the tails of our leaders, and we whine like we work our ass off every single time, which we never do. Anyway here is my piece on the subject matter:

My Fellow Casureco II Employees:

We are children whose parents are on the verge of divorce. It is a painful, horrible truth that threatens to break up our family. The saddest thing about this separation is that our parents will fight over our custody. A tug of war will ensue to determine over who shall get us.

We were once a financially stable family, a well to do clan which was the envy of its peers and neighbors. A few bad investments here and there and suddenly we were mired into a deep pool of financial distress. We were a clan which was high and mighty and suddenly fell flat on our faces. Those were eons ago. Remarkably, with the perseverance of our siblings, we are slowly getting back on our feet. Suddenly, there is hope that we can go to the best schools and look forward to a stable future.

It is so sad that this brief moment of stability is all short lived. Our parents are no longer seeing eye to eye. Co-existence which was once viewed to be salvageable is a forlorn fantasy when mama and papa no longer hold any respect for each other. Ego and pride is a destructible force that tore this family apart, left children abandoned, and suddenly painted a black cloud over a once glimmering horizon.

Do we really have to choose on to whom to side? Is it more the fault of the other than the negligence of both? Do we have to suffer the aftermath of a divorce? Do we really have to choose?

My last hope is that they settle this like adults and lay down a decision which they both agree upon. From there we can move forth, go back to our normal lives, and accept the truth, however hard it may seem. After all, the children are always the most affected when parents decide to part ways. For as children, our hardest decision is to choose between the people who brought us into this world.

Your loving sibling

Relax, Unwind, Relax

2009-04-07T10:47:00.004+08:00

I have been blogging like a snail lately. Scrap that. More like, the frequency of seeing Ogag in any television or movie exposure. Blame the figure of speech on a movie called Torotot. Anyway, the past two weekends were headlined by two successive outings or excursions which is the commonly used term.

Last March 28-29, we were in Splash Mountain in Laguna to relax, unwind, relax in the much hyped 15 swimming pools, four story giant slides, and a fun-filled weekend, much to the exaggeration by the guy who shall be mentioned but will not be named. The "enjoy" was kicked off by an hour long standing only trip via commercial bus to Laguna.

Picture this, on my back were the altec lantingish speakers. I was holding a bag of groceries on one hand, and I had to stand on the aisle, unbeknownst of the time when my ass can finally get some cushion action. To make matters worse, the co-captain of the bus (kundoktor) was going to and fro, rubbing whatnots with me while collecting fare. To make matters worserer, the other passengers where putting out FUs with their calm sleeping faces amidst the full blast airconditioning. Right then and there I wanted to scream like a maniac and shatter their stolen powernaps!

Anyway, we survived the trip, save for King who was the occasional view on the front with his constant rising and falling whenever someone gets in and out (of the bus, I mean). The saving grace was the venue. The room was big enough to fit in nine people, ten bags, 1 cooler, two laptops, 1 tv and Ninoy's ego. My only gripe with the pools were that there were so shallow you couldn't dive, or go skinny dipping and legwatching. It was definitely made for children and some adults 5 feet and so.

And this thing is important, the water is damn hot. not warm, hot! If you just pooped, wait five minutes or so, or you'll definitely yelp. And yes, Ninoy used that excuse to not take a bath, again.

As expected, the night turned out to be a simple relocation of the drinking session, with me ending up as the pastor, Yaggz revealing that he is a willing responsibilitycatcher, and the guy who shall be mentioned but will not be named is still the last guy standing (as always). It was a different case in the morning though, with the counquest of the four story giant slides still on our radar.

All I can say is this - we owned those weak ass slides! And yes, we finally got to sit and take a powernap on the way back to Manila. All in all, a relaxing, unwinding, relaxing event.

8 out of 10.

Laugh Trips, Memory Lane Expressways, and Passing Out

2009-03-16T10:38:00.007+08:00

You may have noticed by now that I have been posting mostly about beer and movies. This is on the former which can either be a good or a disastrous topic. I hope its the former.

This night belonged to Budoy who was the birthday celebrant. Well, I was on a business trip giving me another opportune time to bond and hangout with my long time friends. The roster for the night includes Budoy (In the striped shirt and going clockwise), Patrick, Me, the guy who shall be mentioned but will not be named, KingJoy, Ninoy, Glenn (Budoy's former boss), Glenn (Yaggz's formerFriend (???) and Ginebra Fan), and Che.

The main attraction: two earlobes of Alfonso I, (the picture shows a different alfonso but believe me the effect is the same) featuring a smorgasbord of pulutan to boot. KingJoy brought a king-sized Yellow Cab pizza, Budoy fried some chicken ass, some tilapia were asalized from the nearby bbq stand, I boiled bulalo for five hours specifically for drunkards who will pass out (in this specific gimmick, it turned out to be me). What else? Well we had the usual pulutan, mani for Ninoy and hilaw na mangga with bagoong for Che.

The night started out well. What is great about this group in comparison with my other tropa is that we do not have to go about the usual "saen ka na? pira na ang aki mo? may harong ka na? gurano ang sweldo mo?" spiels. We get down and dirty as soon as the cork pops or in this case, an earlobe of brandy without any stopper (beat that Grandamama!)

It never ceases to amaze me how much laughter we can generate with simple and witless jokes anchored on mere association. Every person who had a same quality with another guy has to have a picture taken. (e.g. Mayon Boys, Irigeños, Engineers, Ateneans, Upeans) You don't have to go into the verge of toilet humor to roll out laughing but the simple witty banter and exchanges is enough to put gas into your stomach. Since it was a Wednesday night, the night ended early for some. (King, I am calling you out, I know in your bed that night you're still telling yourself, I should be in the top three!) Some others retired due to work commitments in the morning. After 3 pm, I went blackout and as expected, yet again i cannot remember a single thing.

As they were recalling to me the details of the previous night, I could not help but think if it was a fabrication but one thing is for sure the last man standing was that guy who shall be mentioned but will not be named. Che said that the guy who shall be mentioned but will not be named pondered in the dark for 30 minutes as he waited for the sunrise.

So there, I finally mentioned him in a night to be forever remembered just like any night that is full of laugh trips, memory lane expressways, and passing out.

Forthcoming Naga Hangouts

2009-03-06T09:27:00.005+08:00

One of the perks of having this line of work is being in the know of certain developments in the city, particularly, the construction of new sites.

That old portion where we used to hang-out, the place that started turning Magsaysay into a Libis of sorts is gone. It is a sad day when a good hangout such as Chili-Peppers will be reduced to rubbles after hints of mismanagement, underdevelopment and several other factors. Well as they say, with gimmick places, you better offer a new trick or an keep an old hat to keep your customers glued. Well, the place turned stale, for God's sake they don't even have chili sauce to spice up the sisig. The prices went up, from an unlimited beer from 9-12 for only a hundred bucks, to almost 150 per bucket.

While the neighboring sites obviously developed (Avenue Plaza, Red Platter), it suddenly lost its aura. Maybe the change is just for the better.

So in with the perks that I am talking about. I've been told that that site is now being turned into Yellow Cab and Starbucks. I must admit I was skeptical about a Starbucks flourishing in Naga City. But by the looks of it, it may just thrive. Sad thing is it might also kill another Naga hangout keeper - Beanbag and Molino. Oh well, that's how competition works.

I am sure sosyalistas will flock like birds gasping for a fresh breath of air to this coffee shop to affirm their social status. And those trying hard kinds like me will just bring a hundred bucks (hope it suffices), a beat up NEO laptop and play fantasy nba all night long. If you haven't come home to Naga for like a year or so, you will suddenly be amazed at the many facelifts in the city. It's like Vicky Belo masterpiece of an Anita Linda type of woman. And I'm saying that in a very bad way.

And I haven't announced that SM will officially and finally open on May 1st? I guess I haven't, so there.

I dreamt of Heart Evangelista

2009-03-04T12:51:00.003+08:00

Much ashamed to admit it, but yes, I really dreamt of Heart Evagelista. Just last night.
The details were blurry as any dream is but I can remember us smacking, hugging, and being lovers. I know some would say that it is a sign of interest for someone but she is not my type. Yet, it was a good dream I suppose. As I remembered it all too clearly just like when I dreamt about Vina Morales (in her prime) when I was a teenage boy.
This is becoming all to embarrasing now, devoting almost 100 words on this subject, so I guess that's it. It was just a weird dream after all.
And yes, I forced myself back to sleep, hoping that the dream would have a part II ala telenovela Luna Mystika.

Push it through the cliff

2009-02-26T11:55:00.002+08:00

There's Harry Potter and there's Twilight.
There's The Hulk and there's the Punisher.
There's Batman and there's Catwoman.
There's X-men and there's Push.

You get the comparisons. Our dilemma during a Sunday afternoon was to choose between the lesser of two evils - Push or Confessions of a Shopaholic. I could go with either eventually we found ourselves on the second row facing this poor man's attempt at X-men.

Actually, it is also a lame attempt at a Heroes episode, only that a) heroes is no that great anymore and b) a lame Heroes episode is more watchable than this crap. The characters are poorly or not at all developed. They just say this and that have been together, or these people have these powers. And their motive for doing things are never elaborated or even logically backed. Someone helping someone was left into the imagination or assumed to be an act of altruism.

It was far off from reality and logic. At one point, Chris Evans who has telekinetic powers was held prison in the trunk of the car. While the other heroes were battling, one unlucky villain (obviously, a prop doll) fell and miraculously opened the trunk. After that, with Evan's powers he was able to free the cuffs from his hands. Why can't he use that power to free himself from the whole trunk of the car I do not know.

The supposed saving grace in Dakota Fanning is just horribly misused. She's too young to be sexy, and too old to charm us with her usual childish aura. Her legs were hogging the camera at every opportunity (in lieu of a well endowed chest) but still I wouldn't jack off of it, even if my manhood depended on it.

Camilla Belle who is the apple of my eye in mediocre to crappy films like When a Stranger Calls and 10,000 BC, cannot save the film with her looks when her eyes are all drugged and her nose is constantly bleeding black stuff. Chris Evans is still a two-bit hack who can't even show if he is terrified, or having an orgasm. He'd better stick to torching stuff in the future.

All in all push is the movie you would rather push off a cliff or push into the depths of the ocean. You would not want to be caught dead with this movie in your pirated dvd collection, even if it is only 3 for 100 pesos.

Rate: 5.5 out of 10

The Avenue Plaza Hotel Experience

2009-02-26T10:47:00.006+08:00

As a Nagueño, I see to it, if my budget allows, that I have eaten in most major food chains, hotels and major establishments in the city. At present there are a few exemptions:
Red Ribbon - newly opened, avoiding the "nali" label
Hollywood Star - tad expensive, passing on the gay stand-up comediennes.
Avenue Plaza - too expensive, 3K for an overnight stay.

It is a sad thing when new establishments rise in the city and the average Nagueño cannot even afford to step foot in the area and order coffee (It's 80 pesos for cryin out loud!). It is sadder that average Nagueños can only set foot when they are hired as bus boys or receptionists or floor managers. It is saddest when a German (FU Dirk!) can hog the pools of Avenue Plaza (see picture above) and flash their weiners for all the world to see.

Enough with the intro, I finally got the chance to wine and dine in this so-called first rate hotel. We had a business meeting with some people from Aboitiz. Well the details do not matter. The thing is we were subjected to a four course meal at their expense (soup-salad-main-course-desert). The waitresses looked like models for soap and lotion. The chairs and chandeliers could cost you an arm and a leg. But, the food was bland. Aside from serving meat on an Ash Wednesday, not that I am too high on holy days and the stupid religious observations, the chicken was just absoultely bland. I was thinking to myself even KFC tastes better, or my usual pa-cham chicken recipe would earn a better ranking.

Ambiance my ass. While these imposing expensive hotels can intimidate you with luxurious facade, wall to wall imported carpets, a piano that plays even without Stevie Wonder, Spanish telenovela actresses turned receptionists, still I would prefer Bigg's, Geewan's or even Enting's Kinalas.

Just consider this my way of flashing back my own tiny weiner to these establishments that alienate its own locality and would rather embrace a twice-a-week bathing tourist who piss on their expensive pools. They can have their brochure back!

Poker Insights

2009-02-26T09:29:00.005+08:00

I engaged in a poker semi-tournament when I was egged on by friends to go up against quasi-celebrities last Saturday. The prefix quasi is stirred by the presence of Magoo Marjon, Mica Abesamis and Rado Dimalibot, whose names ring a bell only to hoops followers. During the course of the night, I got hold of new insights about poker, myself and my competitors.

1. Poker is not a sport, it is still gambling. While a few would argue that it is more due to psychological and probability tactics, I think that it is more of a chance game as you can never control the outcome of the cards. The best hand I got all night was a pair of ladies (Queens). Bleh for beginner's luck, my ass.

2. When it comes to playing with strangers, I go into a corner, curl up like a baby, and fold. I usually am the bigstack bully, even if I don't have a stack, that is when playing with familiar faces. But that night, I folded (Ninoy counted) eight times before I made my first call. I was folding A-6, J-9, K-5. Oh well you get the picture. The time I reverted back to being me. I called an all in of Q-8 against my 2-5, both not suited.

3. Alcohol and poker do not mix. While a margarita or two would be good to soothe the nerves, three pitchers of it with not much dinner intake eventually leads to a big fat L. (L for love, lambasted loco its Loser!) Tell that to someone I know who had to open up the taxi door on the way home to puke, all this while the taxi was on 50 kph, more or less. This was his theory all along.

4. Pretty busty ladies on a heads up can be distracting. It's a lose-lose situation. Enough said.

5. If you're new to the game and you are not familiar on who is to act first, the lull time while you don't know who is gonna act, until you realize that you are the dumb asshole who is holding things up can be disguised as a clever way of weighing your options.

6. You can never trust your cards, you can only hope that your opponents have worse cards.

All this I learned when I lost 800 pesos in two poker buy ins, three pitchers of margarita (though shared with 2 others), and a couple of river drownings.

Ang Enot na Bubo nin Tabo

2009-02-26T09:03:00.002+08:00

Tano baya ta abang sakit magbubo pag amay na aga ano? Lano na kung Lunes abot sa Biyernes?
Ini ang urualdaw kong sakit. Yaon ka na sa laog kan banyo. Nagbubulos na ang tubig sa salog ta pano na ang Orocan. Nakaunat unat ka na. Naka-udo ka na asin nakabuhos nin limang balde ta dae nagiirarom. Ang sunod mo nang dapat gibuhon. Kuanon ang tabong pula asin bendisyonan ang sadiri para sa panibagong aldaw.
Tanu na ta garo sobrang lapigot bago ini maibubo ano?
Hay hugak.
Pag naibubo mo na kaya obligado ka nang magsabon, maghiso (para sa iba), magbulos nin pangopisina asin puunan na naman ang urualdaw na kalbaryo. Abang siram sana maghigda entirong aldaw sa kama ano? Aram ko nagibo na ni kan kadaklan. Sa kahugakan mo, duwang aldaw na dae ka nagkarigos, tigparapindot mo lang remote control buong aldaw sabay mabuhat lang kung malamon na naman. Ini ang buhay.
Pero kaipuhan talagang mabubo nin tabo eh. Maski sobrang lipot kan tubig, maski sobrang siram pa maglitong litong sa kama, maski sobrang langit ang makipagulmungan sa saindong namomootan, mabubo ta mabubo ka man giraray ta arog kayan ang buhay. Pano ka na sana makakan, ang sabi ngani?
Pano ka na sana makakabakal kan mga piratang dvd na gusto mong dalanon habang naghihigda?
Pano ka na sana makakan masiram kung maung sagrak?
Kaya uyan ako sa opisina maski Huwebes, na eu ang tamang aldaw na hugak ta nasa tahaw kan semana, asin nakakabagot na. Ta kaipuhan magbubo nin tabo para may dikit na kuwartang maitago.

Got Milk?

2009-02-11T16:01:00.002+08:00

Blame it on a terrible hangover that I finally got myself into putting in Milk. Yes, Milk, the movie about the first openly gay man who held public office in San Francisco. I had such faith in Sean Penn, having delivered the goods in Dead Man Walking and I am Sam, that I thought that the gay storyline would not be a distraction.

Five minutes in, Milk is voice recording his last will and the events that led up to his assassination. This is followed by a true-to-life (that's how they call it in Pinas) scene of a lady announcing that the Mayor and Harvey Milk have been shot dead. This shaping to be a honest to goodness biopic.

Ten minutes in, Harvey is going down on a subway and meets a stranger tells him that it's his birthday and if he wants to join him. Their eyes meet, someone places the hand on the neck, and I press the forward button faster than they could touch lips.

Harvey and Scotty move to San Francisco with hopes of more acceptance of their relationship. They start a photography business called Castro Cameras and lure their fellow birds into turning the street into their new nest. Soon after, the length of Castro Street is predominantly occupied by homosexuals. Yes, I forwarded, count, three times due to uncomfortable guy-guy suggestive sexual scenes.

In view of widespread abuse and discrimination against gay persons (police brutality on gays, firing teachers who have gay tendencies), Harvey Milk decides to run for a seat in the district supervisor. He loses for three straight times. Scotty quits as he gets tired of Milk's political ambition. He finally wins it in 1979. I forwarded it two more times due to brokebakan, and I have had enough and stopped from there.

Just yesterday, I was curious as whatever happened to harvey, I wikied the movie and found out he was shot dead by his fellow supervisor (Josh Brolin) for their disagreements on the passages of certain ordinances. On a personal note, I think watching Milk is an accomplishment as I have gone almost two-thirds of the movie and did not stop. With Brokeback Mountain, it was the tent scene and I was kaput.

I am sure it was a well made film and Sean Penn deserves the Oscar nomination. Yes, I did not see him in the movie, I saw Harvey Milk, that's how good he is. Go ahead and watch it, be forwarned, the girls will never come.

Rate: Not Applicable