IVANKUN

The Hitlist - May 29 - June 4, 2010

2010-05-31T02:03:00.000-07:00

LW	TW	Title	Artist	PP	WC	Total
3	1	Usher ft. Will.I.Am	O.M.G.	1@1	5	24782
2	2	Girls' Generation	Run Devil Run	8@1	12	24603
1	3	T-Ara	I Go Crazy Because Of You	1@1	8	18572
4	4	Rain	Love Song	4	8	16117
9	5	T-Ara	I'm Really Hurt	5	4	14931
5	6	2PM	Without U	5	6	14736
8	7	Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris	Break Your Heart	7	4	14648
-	8	Super Junior	Bonamana	8	1	13731
-	9	Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber	Eenie Meenie	9	1	12178
10	10	Girls' Generation	Oh!	5@1	17	12168
6	11	BEAST	Shock	2	12	10385
17	12	Iyaz	Solo	12	3	10353
11	13	T-Ara	We Are The One	11	3	9472
18	14	Charice Ft. Iyaz	Pyramid	3	7	8625
15	15	KARA	Were With You	15	3	8621
16	16	Taylor Swift	Fearless	16	3	8286
14	17	Rain	Hip Song	14	4	7387
-	18	U-Kiss	What (remix)	18	1	7000
8	19	B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars	Nothin' On You	7	6	4050
-	20	F(x)	NU ABO	20	1	4009

Dropouts:
12 - U-Kiss - Bingeul Bingeul
13 - Secret - Magic
19 - Train - Hey, Soul Sister
20 - Gloc 9 ft. Letterday Story - Martilyo

Legend:
LW=Last Week
TW=This Week
PP=Peak Position
WC=Week Count

the Hitlist

2010-05-31T01:55:00.000-07:00

hey! I'm back! you can check here the latest topping songs of the week!!! Today, I will launch the Hitlist: a countdown that will collect all of the famous songs, asian man or american.
here's how i tabulate the chart:
1. 50% will be collected on youtube and all other video, music sites.
2. 30% will be from the album sales.
3. 20% will be from the broadcasting stations.

Films to Watch This End 2009

2009-11-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

1. Avatar - The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former U.S. Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race, who are considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. Standing three meters tall (approximately 10 feet), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.
Philippine Playdate: December 18, 2009
Predicted Rating: 5/5 stars

2. Ninja Assassin- Raizo (Rain) is one of the world's deadliest assassins, having been kidnapped as a child and raised by the Ozunu Clan, believed by the world to be a myth. When Raizo's friend is executed by the clan, Raizo flees into hiding. He later reemerges, seeking revenge. Meanwhile, Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) is a Europol agent who investigates money linked to political murders and finds that it is linked to the Ozunu Clan. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more. The clan, finding out about the investigation, attempts to assassinate her, but she is rescued by Raizo. Hiding in Europe, Raizo and Mika must find a way to take down the Ozunu Clan.
Philippine Playdate: November 25, 2009
Predicted Rating: 4/5 stars

3. The Twilight Saga: New Moon - On Isabella "Bella" Swan's 18th birthday, Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and his family throw her a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, she gets a paper cut, which causes Edward's adopted brother, Jasper, to be overwhelmed by her blood's scent and attempt to kill Bella. To protect her, Edward decides to end their relationship, and the Cullens move away from Forks. This leaves Bella heart-broken and depressed.
Philippine Playdate: November 20, 2009
Predicted Rating: 5/5 stars

In the months that follow, Bella learns that thrill-seeking activities, such as motorcycle riding, allow her to "hear" Edward's voice in her head. She also seeks comfort in her deepening friendship with Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella later discovers that Jacob is a werewolf. He and his fellow werewolves protect Bella from the vampires Laurent and Victoria, the latter of whom seeks revenge for her dead mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight.

4. Paranormal Activity - Micah, a day-trader, and Katie, a college student are a young couple "engaged to be engaged". Katie claims that a ghostly entity has haunted her since her youth and believes the ghost has followed her to their two-story tract house in suburban San Diego, California. Micah buys a video camera in the hopes of capturing paranormal activity on film, a project that will ultimately last three weeks. During a visit to their house, Dr. Fredrichs, a self-professed psychic, assesses that they are being plagued by a demon which feeds off "negative energy" and is intent on haunting Katie no matter where she goes. Dr. Fredrichs also recommends the two contact Dr. Abrams, a demonologist, and Micah's reluctance to do so leads to frequent arguments between the couple. Each night, Micah leaves the video camera on a tripod in their bedroom to record whatever might be occurring while he and Katie sleep. He manages to document several phenomena such as objects moving on their own, lights and televisions switching on and off, and sounds ranging from voices and growls to footsteps and loud thuds. The strange occurrences in the middle of the night soon involve Katie awakening to spend several hours standing by the bed and staring at a sleeping Micah, and going outside to sit on the backyard swing. She ultimately does not remember her behavior the following morning.
Philippine Playdate: November 25, 2009
Predicted Rating: 4.5/5 stars

5. Amelia - On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) along with her navigator, Fred Noonan (Christopher Eccleston) is on the last leg of an around-the-world flight. Moving in vignettes from her early years when Earhart was captivated by the sight of an aircraft flying overhead on the Kansas prairie where she grew up, her life over the preceding decade is gradually unfolded. As a young woman, she is recruited by publishing tycoon and eventual husband George Putnam (Richard Gere) to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean, albeit as a passenger. Taking command of the flight results in a success and being thrust into the limelight as the most famous woman pilot of her time. Putnam helps Earhart write a book chronicling the flight, much like his earlier triumph with Charles Lindbergh's We, gradually falling in love with his charge, and they eventually marry although she enacts a "cruel" pledge as her wedding contract.
Philippine Playdate: December 2, 2009
Predicted Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

My Favorite Songs (updated)

2009-11-14T06:14:00.000-08:00

Girls Generation - Genie
Super Junior-M - Super Girl
Girls Generation - Chocolate Love
Super Junior - It's You
F(x) - La Cha Ta
Tokio Hotel - Automatic
Shinee - Ring Ding Dong
Adam Lambert - Time For Miracles (new)
SS501 - A Song Calling For You (La La La)
Brown Eyed Girls - Abracadabra

Here's the rest of my faves:

11. Girls Generation - Gee
12. 2NE1 - I Don't Care
13. Super Junior Happy - Cooking? Cooking!
14. Big Bang - Haru Haru
15. Big Bang - Gara Gara Go!
16. Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne - Down.
17. Selena Gomez - Falling Down
18. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
19. Yui - Again
20. Paramore - Ignorance

My Favorite Films of the Year

2009-11-14T06:10:00.000-08:00

1. 2012 - 5/5 stars
2. Transformers 2 - 5/5 stars
3. The Hangover - 5/5 stars
4. District 9 - 5/5 stars
5. Angels & Demons - 4/5 stars
6. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - 4/5 stars
7. Monsters vs. Aliens - 4/5 stars
8. Knowing - 3.5/5 stars
9. Fast & Furious - 3.5/5 stars
10. Drag Me To Hell - 3/5 stars

2012: We Were Warned for Awesomeness!

2009-11-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

2012 is a very great film! When we went to the cinema earlier, we didn't get into the cinema that early. We need to pass a very long line. After the line, you must watch only 1 screening but it's worth it. My 130 pesos didn't waste!

n 2009, a huge solar flare erupts on the sun. One of the protagonists, Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an American scientist, travels to a copper mine in India to meet his friend, Satnam (Jimi Mistry). His friend has discovered that Earth's core temperature is increasing rapidly. Adrian returns to Washington D.C. and submits a report to the Chief of Staff, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt), who immediately takes him to see Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover), the 45th President of the United States. In 2010, Wilson tells other heads of state and heads of government the situation at that year's G8 summit and billionaires all over the world buy plane tickets for a billion euros. In 2011 the original version of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris is replaced with a decoy, and is sealed away to keep it safe from the impending disaster.

The story jumps ahead to 2012, to Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a divorced father who works as a limousine driver and writer, and his ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet), and children, Noah (Liam James) and Lily (Morgan Lily), who live with Kate's new boyfriend, Gordon (Thomas McCarthy). Jackson takes his children on a camping trip to Yellowstone, where he meets Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), who hosts a radio segment that addresses the Mayans' prediction.

Enormous cracks soon develop along the San Andreas Fault, California, and disruptive shaking occurs in the San Francisco Bay area. Despite government assurances that all is fine, Jackson grows suspicious.

After hiring a private plane, he drives to Kate's home to save his family and Gordon from the impending earthquakes of the Earth's crust displacement. Jackson quickly collects his family, and Gordon pilots a plane out of the city. Los Angeles then collapses into the Pacific Ocean.

When the plane runs low on fuel, they are forced to land in Wyoming. Jackson uses the moment to contact Charlie, regarding a map to ships being built in order to save humanity. They return to Yellowstone to find Charlie, only to discover that he has gone to the mountains to watch the approaching catastrophe.

After getting hold of the map they discover that the ships they are searching for are in China. Jackson and his family leave just in time as Yellowstone Caldera erupts, killing Charlie. Meanwhile, an earthquake destroys the Vatican, killing the Pope and the Italian Prime Minister.

In order to get to China they board an Antonov An-225 at McCarran International Airport, with Russian billionaire Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric) and girlfriend Tamara (Beatrice Rosen), as Las Vegas is destroyed by earthquakes and ravaged by a volcanic ash cloud from Yellowstone.

While in the air, the group learns that the plane does not have enough fuel to reach China: they've passed Honolulu, Hawaii, which has been inundated in lava. As they're about to ditch the plane they discover that they are no longer above the ocean: the Earth's crust has shifted thousands of miles and they are heading towards the Himalayas. During a crash landing on a glacier they manage to escape from the plane safely by using one of the luxury vehicles in cargo as a raft, only to be abandoned by Yuri. The pilot of the plane, Sasha (Johann Urb), dies when the plane falls off a cliff.

Meanwhile, the President dies when he stays back in America and the White House is crushed by the USS John Kennedy as well as tsunamis. The Chief of Staff escapes America with Helmsley and the First Daughter Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton) in Air Force One, and he becomes Commander-in-chief of America. Air Force One heads to China. Satnam dies when the tsunamis hit India. The Dalai Lama also dies when the tsunamis hit Tibet.

The group eventually find their way to the ships with the help of some locals and are smuggled aboard with the help of a Buddhist monk, Nima (Osric Chau) his brother, Tenzin (Chin Han) and their grandparents. Tsunamis begin to engulf the Indian peninsula, and a giant wave eventually reaches the ships, which turn out to be arks constructed to save the heads of state, hand-picked individuals chosen to repopulate the earth and the rich elite, who could afford to buy tickets (which was earlier mentioned that tickets were €1 000 000 000).

Adrian convinces the leaders of the G8 to let on more people into the ark by quoting Jackson's book, but as the gates open again, Gordon fell between two gears and was crushed, while Tenzin was injured. Meanwhile Yuri and his two sons are trapped beneath the gate and as it closes again, Yuri manages to lift one of his sons onto the gate but as the gate closed further, he had to throw his second son up, causing him to fall to his death.

As a tsunami sweeps in it picks up the parked Air Force One causing the heavy plane to crash into the ark, breaking the ark from its anchor. Tamara drowns within the ark. The gates are jammed and the ark ends up on a crash course for Mount Everest. Jackson fixes the problem with the help of his son and the ark crashes but slows down enough that the damage is minor. When the flood eventually recedes, the captains of the arks decide upon the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa as a suitable place to reestablish humanity. Jackson reconciles with his family, and Helmsley and Laura start a relationship. The movie ends with a view of the world showing the dramatically changed African continent.

There are many emotions rounding up in the film like suspense, thrill, laughter, drama and excitement. I highly recommend this film to you guys. Watch it before it expires :))

This will be my film of the year next to TRANSFORMERS 2

Watch the trailer here:

Rating: 5/5 stars

My Top 10 favorite Songs (updated)

2009-11-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

Girls Generation - Genie
Super Junior-M - Super Girl
Girls Generation - Chocolate Love
Super Junior - It's You
F(x) - La Cha Ta
Tokio Hotel - Automatic
Shinee - Ring Ding Dong (new)
Super Junior Happy - Cooking? Cooking! (new)
SS501 - A Song Calling For You (La La La)
Brown Eyed Girls - Abracadabra (new)

Here's the rest of my faves:

11. Girls Generation - Gee
12. 2NE1 - I Don't Care
13. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
14. Big Bang - Haru Haru
15. Big Bang - Gara Gara Go!
16. Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne - Down.
17. Selena Gomez - Falling Down
18. Chicosci - Diamond Shotgun
19. Yui - Again
20. Paramore - Ignorance

My Top Favorite Songs (updated again)

2009-11-05T02:16:00.000-08:00

Girls Generation - Genie
Super Junior-M - Super Girl
Girls Generation - Chocolate Love
Super Junior - It's You
F(x) - La Cha Ta
Tokio Hotel - Automatic
Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne - Down
2NE1 - I Don't Care
SS501 - A Song Calling For You (La La La)(new)
Big Bang - Haru Haru (Day by Day)

Here's the rest of my faves:

11. Girls Generation - Gee
12. Flo Rida - Jump
13. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
14. Chicosci - Diamond Shotgun
15. Big Bang - Gara Gara Go!
16. Miley Cyrus - Party in the U.S.A.
17. Selena Gomez - Falling Down
18. All Time Low - Poppin' Champagne
19. Yui - Again
20. Paramore - Ignorance

My top 10 fave songs (updated)

2009-11-02T03:45:00.000-08:00

Girls Generation - Genie
Super Junior - It's You
Girls Generation - Chocolate Love (new)
Super Junior-M - Super Girl
Big Bang - Haru Haru (Day by Day) (new)
2NE1 - I Don't Care
Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne - Down
Miley Cyrus - Party in the U.S.A.
Paramore - Ignorance
F(x) - La Cha Ta (new)

Here's the rest of my faves:

11. Girls Generation - Gee (new)
12. Flo Rida - Jump
13. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
14. Chicosci - Diamond Shotgun
15. Big Bang - Gara Gara Go!
16. Tokio Hotel - Automatic (new)
17. Selena Gomez - Falling Down (new)
18. All Time Low - Poppin' Champagne
19. Yui - Again (new)
20. Ely Buendia & Francis M. - Higante (new)

My Top 10 Fave Songs (updated)

2009-10-20T04:24:00.000-07:00

Super Junior - It's You
Girls Generation - Genie
2NE1 - I Don't Care
Big Bang - Gara Gara Go
Paramore - Ignorance
All Time Low - Poppin' Champagne
Demi Lovato - Here We Go Again
Flo Rida - Jump
Super Junior-M - Super Girl
Justin Bieber - One Time

Here's the rest of my faves:

11. Panic At The Disco - New Perspective
12. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
13. Super Junior - Sorry Sorry
14. Jay Sean & Li'l Wayne - Down
15. Honor Society - Where Are You Now
16. 2NE1 - Fire
17. Boys Like Girls - Love Drunk
18. Lily Allen - XXXX You
19. Ed Helms - Stu's Song
20. Phineas and Ferb - Gitchy Gitchy Goo

You're Such A Winner!

2009-10-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

Yaya and Angelina: The Spoiled Brat Movie is a funny film of Yaya and Angelina which is from a sitcom on Bubble Gang. Their tandem (Michael V. and Ogie Alcasid) are very funny and very hilarious.

Angelina is a 7 year old girl who is spoiled and a bully. Her first yaya (or nanny) was hospitalized because of the girl's disobedience. Her parents decided to find her another yaya which would fit for her attitude.

After a lot of applicants decide to quit the job, a woman named Rosalinda Lucero tries to applies for the job, and gets it. (It is also during that scene that she reveals she is also called "Cha Cha", as in Cha Cha Lucero, probably the seed of the line "Whatever, yaya, you're such a loser!") She thought that being Angelina's yaya would be an easy job, but after some time, and some tragedies occur becasue of Angelina, Angelina's mom decides to discharge her if she would cause any more problems. Yaya was frustrated about the things Angelina's mom told her. Angelina tried to make her yaya happy, by showing some magic using a Jackstone ball, but the trick failed.

The ball went to the pool where Angelina's fish resides. The fish ate the ball, and because yaya is afraid that if the fish dies, she'll be discharged by Angelina's Mom, she tries to save the fish using a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The fish got alive, but the jackstone ball hit the lampshade causing it to hit the fish and die. Angelina's Mom and Dad saw the fish on the ground with no life. Yaya was discharged. Angelina lived without a yaya. And because no one will protect her, Angelina was accidentally kidnapped by some terrorists. Angelina called her mom and dad but they are both busy, so she called her yaya. Angelina describes the place (as a loser; we find out that what she saw at the window is Manolo Service Center), Yaya found the place near the church. Meanwhile, her mom and dad thought that Yaya kidnapped Angelina as revenge of firing her.

Yaya saved Angelina, but her dad and mom were also kidnapped. The only way to save them is that Angelina should give the flower with a bomb inside to the Duchess of Wellington, which they want to kill while she makes her speech. Yaya found a way to stop the terrorist from killing the woman, she changed the flowers and she went to Eve (terrorist's boss) and fought her.

Yaya defeated Eve and the terrorist was caught by the police. Angelina's mom and dad were saved because of Yaya. They decided to make Yaya as Angelina's permanent yaya. And they all climbed up on stage with a LOSER on Yaya's back and wings on Angelina's.

Overall, I highly recommend this film. It's so good and not a LOSER

Rating: 5 stars

In One's Life

2009-10-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

In My Life is a good film about a mother and his gay son. I like the movie because it is comedy and somewhat drama. Vilma Santos is good and John Lloyd improves in his acting while Louis does good also.

Shirley (Vilma Santos) is a woman whos wants to in control of everything. Working as a librarian in a public school, a firm "Sshhh!" from her makes the students tremble in fear. But in her family, her unwarranted intervention in the lives of her children and their families keeps her emotionally detached from them. Realizing that she has lost the command she once had, she goes to New York to reunite with Mark (Luis Manzano), her estranged gay son who is now suffering from colon cancer.

But Shirley doesn.t know this and living with Mark in Ney York comes with a cost. She has to live with her son's lover Noel(John Lloyd Cruz) who is an illegal immigrant. Whenever Mark is not around, Noel makes it a point to tour her around as he tries his best to endure Shirley's degrading behavior on him.

Everything is going right until circumstances forces Shirley to go back to the Philippines. Now that she's back with her family, she realizes that something is wrong - she is not happy.

For once in her life, she finally comes to a brave decision that will bring her real happiness.

I recommend this film overall.

Rating: 4 stars

Man 'tis Good!!!

2009-10-01T03:05:00.000-07:00

When I watched it last August, THE HANGOVER really is funny! The comedy is so awesome like Old School. The actors really knows how to make fun.

Doug (Justin Bartha) is about to be married to Tracy (Sasha Barrese), and his friends — Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) — take him to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Tracy's father lends them his car, a vintage Mercedes convertible for the trip. The four get a villa at Caesars Palace hotel and casino, then sneak onto the roof and toast to the night ahead. The next morning, the three groomsmen wake up in the suite with no memory of the previous night, and realize that Doug is missing. Clues abound: the suite is in severe disorder, a tiger is in the bathroom, a baby is in the closet, Stu is missing a tooth, one of the suite's mattresses is impaled on a statue outside, Phil is wearing a hospital bracelet, Stu has an $800 ATM receipt, and a valet brings them a stolen police cruiser they dropped off the night before.

While retracing their steps, a doctor at the hospital informs them that they had traces of roofies in their blood, explaining their memory loss, and that they came from a wedding. They find the chapel, and learn that Stu, despite planning to propose to his controlling girlfriend Melissa, married a stripper named Jade (Heather Graham), the mother of the baby in the closet. The men visit her apartment and return the baby, but are taken by surprise and arrested for stealing the police cruiser. Phil negotiates their release in exchange for the three groomsmen "volunteering" as targets for a taser demonstration. They then retrieve the Mercedes from an impound lot and discover a naked Asian man in the trunk. The man attacks them and runs away, and Alan admits to spiking their drinks the night before with what he thought was ecstasy, but realizes the drug dealer must have sold him roofies instead. They return to the hotel and find former boxing champion Mike Tyson in their room, who was looking for his stolen tiger. Tyson knocks out Alan and orders them to return the pet to his mansion. They drug the tiger with roofies and transport it in the Mercedes, but before they reach Tyson's mansion, it wakes up and destroys the car's interior. Tyson plays security footage of the groomsmen's activities from the night before in an effort to help them locate Doug.

Resuming their search, the three are confronted by the thugs, who, as it turns out, are led by the naked man they found in the trunk of their car, Leslie Chow. According to Chow, the groomsmen have $80,000 of his money, which they accidentally took the night before. Chow demands it back in exchange for Doug, whom he has kidnapped. Unable to find the money, Alan uses his knowledge of card counting to win it playing blackjack. The money is repaid, but Chow had kidnapped a different Doug, who turns out to be the drug dealer who sold Alan the roofies. After a conversation with the Doug the drug dealer, Stu remembers that hotel windows do not open in Las Vegas, and deduces that the mattress on the statue must have been thrown from the roof, and therefore they must have locked a sleeping Doug on the roof as a prank. Rushing back to the hotel, they find him with less than four hours before the wedding. Stu and Jade agree that they cannot remain married, but promise to meet the following weekend to see what develops between them. Jade also reveals that Stu had pulled out his own tooth on a dare from Alan. As they rush home and make it to the wedding, Doug discovers he has Chow's $80,000 worth of casino chips in his pockets. Doug marries Tracy, and Stu breaks up with Melissa. As the reception ends, Alan reveals a digital camera he discovered in the back seat of the Mercedes chronicling the events they were unable to remember, and the four agree to look at the pictures only one time before destroying the evidence.

Rating: 5 stars

Theta Pi Must Rise!!!

2009-10-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Sororiy Row is a good film for me despite of other critics negative reviews. The scare tactics are very effective for me and Briana is so hot! I like the visuals but I want realistic killings and bloodier!!!

Run by Mrs. Crenshaw, the college sorority Theta Pi is home to seniors and best friends Jessica, Cassidy, Ellie, Claire, Chugs and Megan who, despite Mrs. Crenshaw's best efforts, constantly throw wild parties. During one of these parties Megan discovers her boyfriend Garrett is cheating on her and with her friends' help, decides to pull a prank on him as payback, faking her own death while making out with Garrett. With help from the sisters, Garrett brings Megan to a steel mill, intent on dropping her body down a mineshaft. After the sisters (jokingly) mention they need to release the air out of her lungs so her body won't rise to the top, Garrett stabs Megan with a tire iron, actually killing her. Panicking, the group dumps Megan's body in the mineshaft, vowing never to speak of the events that transpired ever again.

Eight months later, during the party after graduation, the girls receive a picture sent to their phones: a hooded figure holding the bloody tire iron Garrett used to kill Megan. As the girls become worried, Jessica takes lead and insists it is merely a prank by Garrett and they continue with the party. Megan's sister, Maggie, also arrives, wanting to honor her sister's memory by attending the party. Chugs leaves the party to go to her therapist appointment. She find's her therapist in his bed saying the last patient left abruptly, and if they could finish where they left off. Chugs goes to 'freshen up' in the bathroom. While she is there, her therapist has a tire iron thrown at his head, impaling him. She then goes looking for him, not noticing the pool of blood coming from under the bed. She then becomes tired of looking, and lies down on a sofa. As she tilts her head back to let the champagne flow down her throat, the killer appears and shoves the bottle down her throat before slitting it with the tire iron, which makes her spit up blood into the bottle.

Later, A sorority girl named Joanna, is killed getting the tire iron shoved up her chin after hearing about Megan's death. In the basement, Ellie finds Cassidy's blood-stained jacket (which the group had wrapped Megan's body in before dropping her into the shaft) while Claire's boyfriend Mickey is also killed getting the tire iron through his head. The girls regroup and all receive a text message containing a clip of Megan's death and a message telling them to go to the mineshaft. Driving to the shaft, the girls find Garrett. Thinking the obviously delusional Garrett is the one stalking them, Jessica runs him over when he tries to attack Cassidy with a mirror shard, discovering afterward Garrett has been receiving the same messages they have, proving he is not the killer. After the girls return to the now empty sorority house, they receive a text message from Chug's cell phone, telling them that she is dead. While struggling to get in the house, Claire is dragged into the hot tub and shot in the mouth with a flare gun, and Mrs. Crenshaw is impaled, leaving only Jessica, Cassidy, Ellie and Maggie.

Later, Maggie becomes trapped when the killer sets the room on fire with a Molotov cocktail. Cassidy and Jessica look around (while Ellie hides upstairs) and run into Kyle, Jessica's boyfriend, who injures Jessica after getting into a fight with her. Jessica and Cassidy then go and hide from him. They hide in the bathroom where they find Megan's corpse hanging in the shower. Kyle then finds them and tell Cassidy that Jessica told him they murdered Megan. He is then killed with an axe by Andy who turns out to be the real killer. He then kills Jessica by stabbing her in the mouth. He tells Cassidy that he just wanted to help her, killing everyone who knew about her involvement in Megan's death so they could never tell anyone else and reveal she was involved. Playing along with her crazed boyfriend, Cassidy tells Andy that Ellie is in the basement and while Andy goes to look for her Cassidy fetches Ellie from upstairs and they try to run, but are attacked by Andy.

Telling Ellie to flee, Cassidy hits Andy with a lamp and tries to escape but instead ends up trying to help Maggie out of the burning house. While trying to help Maggie, Cassidy is attacked by the recovered Andy, who leaves her dangling from a hole in the floor. Cassidy begins to struggle as Andy slowly jabs the knife into her finger. As Andy prepares to finish Cassidy off, Ellie appears and blasts him with Mrs. Crenshaw's shotgun. With Andy dead, Ellie pulls Cassidy back up and the two save Maggie before fleeing from the house.

Fifteen months later, Theta Pi is being renovated from the fire and Maggie is now a Theta sister. As the girls sing the Theta Pi song, a figure with a scarred wrist is seen (Garrett).

Overall, this movie rocks!! and I recommend this film.

Rating: 4 stars

Final Enjoyment

2009-10-01T02:55:00.000-07:00

When I watched it last September at Sta Lucia, FINAL DESTINATION 4 or THE FINAL DESTINATION performs well, I dislike it a bit because the events are really predictable. I will like it best if they shown it in 3D, it really ROCKS!!! Here is the synopsis of the film:

Whilst watching a race at McKinley Speedway for a break from studying, college student Nick O'Bannon (Bobby Campo) has a premonition of a car crash which sends debris into the audience, crushing some spectators and resulting in the stadium partially collapsing, which would have killed almost everyone present in the 180 section. In a panic Nick manages to convince his girlfriend Lori Milligan (Shantel VanSanten), and friends Hunt Wynorski (Nick Zano) and Janet Cunningham (Haley Webb) to leave. The quartet are followed out by a handful of others who have become angry with Nick after he pushes past them to escape. A security guard named George Lanter (Mykelti Williamson) intervenes when everyone begins to argue outside, just as the catastrophe Nick had foreseen occurs. After a memorial service at McKinley Speedway, two of the spectators who followed Nick and his friends out of the stadium - Carter Daniels (Justin Welborn) and Samantha Lane (Krista Allen) - died violently in freak accidents: Carter is blown up with his tow truck and Samantha is killed by a flying rock propelled by a lawnmower, which goes through her eye. Before their deaths, Nick had seen omens of how they would die.

After hearing about Carter and Samantha's deaths on the news, Nick and Lori begin doing research, and learn about the disasters that occurred in the previous three films (the explosion of Flight 180, highway pile-up of Route 23, and roller coaster derailment in McKinley, Pennsylvania) and discover that the survivors (who were saved by premonitions) began dying in a series of improbable accidents shortly afterwards. While Hunt and Janet refuse to believe them, Nick and Lori manage to convince George that Death is after them and the trio begin trying to warn other survivors, though fail to save any except for Janet, who nearly drowns getting her car washed. The next survivors to die are Andy Kewzer (Andrew Fiscella), Hunt and Jonathan Grove (Jackson Walker).

George is abruptly killed just before Nick has a second premonition showing him that Lori and Janet will die while watching a film in a shopping mall cinema after an explosion in a room above the theatre. Nick rushes to reach them, while Lori begins spotting omens warning her that the danger is not over. Once Nick arrives, he and Lori attempt to convince Janet to leave, but are unsuccessful in their efforts. Janet is killed in the explosion and Lori also meets her demise by being crushed in an escalator. Nick then realizes that the event hasn't happened yet, and is able to save his friends by extinguishing the fire that would have caused the initial explosion.

Weeks later, the trio, thinking they have conquered Death's plan, celebrate surviving in a cafe. Nick notices a loose leg on a scaffold outside the cafe, and he tells a construction worker to fix it up. Once inside he drifts off into thought after seeing omens around him, and realizes that his premonitions and signs, along with all the disasters and deaths that had occurred since the speedway incident, are red herrings from Death used to manipulate them into where and when it would really come for them. Just as Nick realizes this, the scaffold falls, and in order to avoid it, a truck swerves, crashes through the cafe window, and kills the group. Thus leaving all connected to the McKinley Speedway disaster dead.

Overall, I like it/dislike it because they didn't shown it here in 3d.

Rating: 3 stars

District Awesome

2009-10-01T02:49:00.000-07:00

DISTRICT 9 is one of the best films of the year!!! I really enjoyed this film so much. Set in Africa, we can say that African actors and actresses are really good like Sharlto Copley and the director and the CGI equals awesomeness!!

In 1982, a large alien spaceship stops above Johannesburg, South Africa. Reports suggest that the ship became stranded after a command module separated from the ship and dropped to Earth, nowhere to be found. After cutting their way inside, an exploratory team discovers a large group of unhealthy and leaderless arthropod-like species. These alien creatures, derogatorily referred to as "prawns", are taken from the ship and housed in a government camp inside Johannesburg called District 9, which soon turns into a slum. In the first decade of the 21st century, Multinational United (MNU), a private military contractor, is placed in charge of policing and relocating the now 1.8 million aliens to District 10, a new camp 240 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg.

Wikus van der Merwe is the MNU field operative assigned to lead the relocation, which begins with the serving of eviction notices on August 9, 2010. As this continues, some nearby aliens are shown distilling a liquid from a piece of their technology into a small canister. While raiding one of the aliens' shacks, Wikus discovers and removes the container, accidentally spraying some of the liquid onto his face. One of the aliens (named Christopher Johnson by MNU) questions the legality of the eviction served on him and demands his rights. That night Wikus falls ill and is taken to a hospital, where his left forearm is revealed to have mutated into an alien appendage, and is quickly taken into MNU custody. After discovering that Wikus can now operate alien weaponry due to his mutating DNA (the weapons being unresponsive to humans), they intend to vivisect him before he fully transforms, in an attempt to replicate his ability. In a panic, Wikus uses his new strength to overpower his captors, and escapes.

Now a fugitive, Wikus takes refuge in District 9 and returns to Christopher's shack. Noticing Wikus' arm, Christopher reveals that the canister Wikus confiscated contains a fluid that would allow him to access the mothership and leave the planet. After revealing that the lost command module is hidden under his shack, Christopher agrees to help reverse Wikus' genetic transformation if Wikus, in return, retrieves the canister. Wikus agrees and tries to buy weapons from the local Nigerian gang. Their leader, the paralyzed warlord Obesandjo, seizes Wikus, seeking to gain his ability to operate alien weapons, which he believes he will achieve by eating Wikus' mutated arm (as he believes in Muti). Wikus manages to get his hands on an alien firearm and quickly holds Obesandjo hostage for a cache of weapons.

Wikus and Christopher break into the MNU offices and retrieve the canister. They fight their way out of the building and flee to District 9. Christopher, having previously seen that MNU is performing medical experiments on his race, informs Wikus that he has decided to return to his home planet to seek help for his people before he cures Wikus, which would take three years. Frustrated, Wikus knocks Christopher unconscious and powers up the command module with the help of Christopher's son. Soon after takeoff, one of the craft's engines is shot down by MNU, and it quickly crashes nearby.

MNU forces take Wikus and Christopher prisoner, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes them. The Nigerian gang captures Wikus and prepares to sever his mutated arm for Obesandjo. From the command module, Christopher's son activates the mothership and a mechanized battle suit that kills Obesandjo and his men. Wikus then gets into the suit and rescues Christopher from the MNU mercenaries, allowing him to get to the command module. Promising Wikus that he will return to reverse his transformation, Christopher returns to the mothership. Heavily wounded and in a much more advanced state of his mutation, Wikus crawls out of the battle suit and is confronted by Venter, the sole survivor and captain of the MNU squad. Before he can kill Wikus, aliens in the camp dismember him.

Christopher activates the mothership and Johannesburg's residents celebrate its departure. A series of interviews and news broadcasts are then shown, providing various opinions on the events. The aliens are successfully moved to District 10, said to have a population of 2.5 million and growing. MNU's illegal experiments on aliens are exposed. Some people theorize about Wikus' fate, while others hypothesize that Christopher Johnson might return for the refugees, or perhaps declare war on humanity. Wikus' wife reveals that, having found a small metal flower on her doorstep, she has hope that her husband is still alive. In a scrapyard, an alien with a bandaged left arm crafts a flower out of metal.

Overall, I really recommend this film highly. Based on their acting and the aliens, it is so good.

Rating: 5 stars

disUPpointed

2009-10-01T02:33:00.000-07:00

UP is a film for all ages, when I watched it last August, I feel bored in this film. Because it is designed for kids, I tried to watch it but I'm so disappointed because I didnt have fun watching on it.

Carl Fredricksen, a shy and quiet young boy, meets an energetic and outgoing bucktoothed barefooted tomboy named Ellie, discovering they share the same interest in exploration as their hero, famed explorer Charles F. Muntz. Ellie expresses her desire to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South America, a promise she makes Carl keep. Carl and Ellie wed and grow old together in the old house where they first met while making a living as a toy balloon vendor and a zookeeper respectively. Unable to have children, they also try to save up for the trip to Paradise Falls but other financial obligations arise. Just as they seem to finally be able to take their trip, Ellie dies of old age, leaving Carl living alone in their home as a sour recluse with nothing to live for and missing his wife terribly. As the years pass, the city grows around Carl's house with construction as Carl refuses to move. After a tussle with a construction worker over Carl's broken mailbox, the court orders Carl to move into Shady Oaks Retirement Home. Carl comes up with a scheme to keep his promise to Ellie, and uses his old professional supplies to create a makeshift airship using tens of thousands of helium balloons which lift his house off its foundations. Russell, a Wilderness Explorer trying to earn his final merit badge for "Assisting the Elderly", has stowed away on the porch after being sent on a literal snipe hunt by Carl the day before.

After a storm throws them around for a while, they find themselves across a large ravine facing Paradise Falls. With their body weight providing ballast allowing Carl and Russell to pull the floating house, the two begin to walk around the ravine, hoping to reach the falls while there's still enough helium in the balloons to keep the house afloat. As they walk towards Paradise Falls, Russell finds a colorful tropical bird which he names Kevin, not realizing that the bird is actually female. They later run into a dog named Dug with a translating collar that lets him speak. They discover Dug's owner is Charles Muntz, who has remained in South America for several decades to find and bring back a large species of bird (which turns out to be Kevin) in order to restore his reputation after bringing back a skeleton of the bird and being called a fraud because scientists thought he faked the evidence. Carl is initially thrilled to meet his hero, but when he realizes that Muntz is after Kevin and will kill without a moment's thought in order to capture her alive, Carl takes steps to save the bird and escape from Muntz. Thanks to Kevin and Dug they escape Muntz's pack of vicious dogs, led by Alpha, but Kevin is injured during the escape.

As Carl and Russell assist the injured Kevin to her chicks, Muntz and his dogs arrive in his airship, led by a tracking device in Dug's collar, and sets Carl's house on fire, forcing Carl to choose his house over Kevin. Muntz and his dogs quickly capture the bird and fly off. Though Carl successfully gets the house on the ground overlooking Paradise Falls per Ellie's wish, he has lost Russell's favor. Carl, settling down in his house, finds Ellie's childhood scrapbook and discovers her mementos of her life with Carl after they were married, and a final note from her thanking Carl for her adventure and an encouragement for him to go on his own. Invigorated by Ellie's last wish, he goes outside to see Russell, only to find him giving chase to Muntz. Carl lightens the weight of his house by dumping furniture and his possessions, allowing him to chase after Muntz in his house with Dug by his side.

Russell enters the airship through a window, but is captured by the dogs. He is tied up and left to fall to the earth, but Carl saves him and keeps him tied up in the house. Carl and Dug board the ship, and are able to lure the guard dogs away from Kevin to free her. Carl and Muntz duel face to face and fight (Muntz with a sword, Carl with his cane), while Dug is able to wrest control of the dogs and the dirigible from Alpha. Russell frees himself but clings to a lifeline as he finds the house in a dogfight with biplane fighters. When Carl shouts for help, Russell distracts the dog pilots and regains control of the house to rescue his friends, who are now on top of the airship. In pursuit, Muntz shoots out some of the balloons, causing the house to land and slide off the airship. Carl manages to trick Muntz inside the house while saving Russell, Dug, and Kevin; Muntz falls to his doom, while Carl's house drifts off into the clouds — a loss Carl gracefully accepts as being for the best.

Carl takes Muntz's dirigible and returns Kevin to her chicks, and then returns Russell and Dug back to the city. When Russell's father snubs his son's Senior Explorer ceremony, Carl fulfills that role himself to proudly present Russell with his final badge, the grape soda badge that Ellie presented to Carl when they first met. Afterward, Carl, reinvigorated in both spirit and body from his adventure, becomes a cheerfully active community volunteer with a strong father like relationship with Russell, Dug, and the other Wilderness Explorers. Whilst Carl now resides in the late Muntz's blimp, his old house, through happenstance, has landed exactly where Ellie envisioned it — overlooking Paradise Falls.

Overall, even the animation is so good, the storyline FOR ME, is bad.

Rating: 2 stars

I'm Back!!!

2009-09-21T04:24:00.000-07:00

After 2 months of absence!!! I'm now really back!!! I will now start with few reviews of Up, District 9 and The Final Destination.

My Top 10 Songs (Updated: JULY 17, 2009)

2009-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

1. Linkin Park - New Divide
2. Super Junior - Sorry, Sorry
3. Simple Plan - I Can Wait Forever
4. 2NE1 - Fire
5. Wonder Girls - Nobody
6. Jesse McCartney - How Do You Sleep
7. David Cook - Come Back To Me
8. Pitbull - You Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
9. Green Day - 21 Guns
10. The Veronicas - Untouched

Revenge of the Fallen still UNBEATABLE!

2009-07-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had an opening day fit for a king. On Wednesday, the sixth entry in the blockbuster franchise conjured $58.2 million on nearly 10,000 screens at 4,275 sites. That ranked as the second-biggest Wednesday ever behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's $62 million, and fourth-biggest among all opening days.

Yeah! TRANSFORMERS 2 is still unbeatable on HP6's first day of release.
Go Transformers!!!

I don't like this movie (HP6), but I'm looking forward to The DEATHLY HALLOWS 1 and 2...that's so Theater BREAKIN'!!

My Top 10 Songs (Updated: JULY 07, 2009)

2009-07-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

1. Linkin Park - New Divide
2. Simple Plan - I Can Wait Forever
3. 2NE1 - Fire
4. Wonder Girls - Nobody
5. Demi Lovato - Don't Forget
6. Jesse McCartney - How Do You Sleep
7. David Cook - Come Back To Me
8. Pitbull - You Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)
9. Green Day - 21 Guns
10. The Veronicas - Untouched

My Future Film Predictions

2009-07-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have seen their trailers, and based on them, my predictions has come out of the couch. Here are my selected films and my predictions.

1.Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - I predict this film would definitely come out badly (sorry for the HP fans). The CGI is good and the characters also. But most of all, after the Goblet of Fire, I didn't understand Phoenix. So I've decided that the next film would definitely drops on my list. But i'm looking further for the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2. But I'm going to watch this in case of some prediction changes.

MY PREDICTED RATING: 2/5 Stars

2.PUBLIC ENEMIES - I think this film would rock! Johnny Depp on an action movie??? that's sounds cool. Without humor in his film, I thought that he sucks. But when I watched the trailer. He shows the best on what he've got! Im looking forward for this film which is playing on the Philippines on July 22.

MY PREDICTED RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

3.UP - For me, UP will be the kid's film of the year but for me, I didn't like it. I don't like their concept. Flying house with balloons (tons of them) and finding several misadventures like storms, giant birds, and the like. But i'm going to watch them on DVD rather wasting my money on this film.

MY PREDICTED RATING: 1.5/5 Stars

4.THE HANGOVER - Woo! is Mike Tyson really there? the answer is yes! and this film is really funny even if I didnt see it on theaters yet. I like their funny concepts and the girls! I have nothing to say but I'm looking forward for it to hit the big screen.

MY PREDICTED RATING: 4/5 Stars

5.2012- Oh darn! it's doomsday already? It's too sudden and I like it. On the other way around, I like the CGI so much! It rocks a lot. And with John Cussack on the film, it rocks! I'm definitely like to watch it on November 11 I think.

MY PREDICTED RATING: 5/5 Stars

6.NEW MOON - Eventhough I didn't like TWILIGHT so much, I'm looking forward for this film and I think this will be better than the previous film. Unlike TWILIGHT, NEW MOON has a fine script and concept. With Taylor Lautner as a wolf...it's good! I don't want to say something 'bout this but I'm looking forward for it

MY PREDICTED RATING: 4/5 Stars

The Fallen Has Risen

2009-07-02T04:31:00.000-07:00

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN did it!!!
wew!! after 2 years of waiting for the sequel of Transformers, it finally came out! And even much better!!! Everything are well-made, fantastic and superb. The best in here are the fight scenes, it's so extreme and pulse-breaking. Also the jokes are too funny, we laugh out loud with their jokes. And finally, Megan Fox is so hot, even in all angles, she is so cool.
The film opens with Optimus Prime narrated that in the ancient times, there are Transformers, they are working with the Sun Harvester and fight humans. The fallen is focused in that scene strangling humans. Then after that, the film return in the present times, in Shanghai where the Autobots will defeat Demolisher and Sideways. Together with Prime, Skids, Mudflap, Sideswipe, Arcee, Chromia and Ironhide, they defeated the two. Then after the transition, Sam is going college, when he enters on his dorm, he met Leo, that he became a friend in the film. Meanwhile, Sam called Mikaela, during their conversation, something fell on the floor which is the AllSpark, when he picks up the item, several ancient text flashed in his mind and had a mental breakdown, writing symbols in his Astronomy class and in his dorm. Then, he met Alice, the Pretender Decepticon. Alice then enters the room, seducing Sam, and Sam enters his car, Bumblebee together with Alice. Then, Bumblebee knows that Alice is a Decepticon so, he destructs Alice buggling her seat, sprinkling something and snowy radio music. After that, Alice leaves the car and then Sam went to Prime then Scalpel, a Decepticon doctor, prepares to remove Sam's brain, but Optimus and Bumblebee appear and rescue him. In the following battle, Optimus takes on the Decepticons on his own, killing Grindor, however, he is ultimately killed himself, stabbed from behind by Megatron.

Megatron orders a full-scale assault on the planet. The Fallen speaks to the world and advises them to surrender Sam to the Decepticons or they'll continue their attack. Sam's parents are captured by Rampage. Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, the twins and Wheelie regroup, Leo believing his online rival "RoboWarrior" may be of assistance. The man is revealed to be former Sector Seven agent Simmons. Simmons reveals his hidden alien archive and explains that the Transformers have visited Earth before, as their language is written on ruins all over the world. Wheelie identifies the language as that of the Primes but only a Seeker can translate it; Seekers being used by the Primes to locate suitable stars for harvesting. They find such a Seeker, a former Decepticon named Jetfire, who Sam is able to revive using the second shard.

Upon learning the situation, Jetfire teleports the group to Egypt via a space bridge and explains that the tomb of the Primes is located in the surrounding desert, and only a Prime can kill the Fallen. He then stays behind to allow them to find it. By following the clues, the group find the Matrix in a tomb in the ancient city of Petra, but it crumbles to dust in Sam's hands. Believing the Matrix can still revive Optimus, Sam collects the dust and instructs Simmons to telephone Major William Lennox to bring the other Autobots and Optimus's body.

The military arrives in short order, but are tracked by the Decepticons, resulting in an intense battle. During the battle, Bumblebee rescues Sam's parents from Rampage, killing both him and Ravage in the process. Devastator is then formed and unearths the Sun Harvester in one of Egypt's pyramids before being blown to pieces by a railgun fired from a nearby destroyer called in by Simmons. Jetfire arrives in time to save the group from Mixmaster, slicing the Decepticon in two. He is then attacked by Scorponok from beneath the ground and badly damaged but manages to crush and kill Scorponok. The air force carpet bombs the Decepticons. Megatron gets through the carpet bombing and kills Sam. In a vision, Sam meets with the other Primes, who tell him that the Matrix of Leadership must be earned, which Sam has done. Sam is brought back to life and the Matrix reforms from the dust. Sam uses it to revive Optimus, but the Fallen, with aid from Megatron, steals it shortly thereafter to activate the Sun Harvester. The human military tries to stop him but are powerless against him. Jetfire, having been mortally wounded by Scorponok, gives up his life and parts to give Optimus the strength he needs to defeat the Fallen. Optimus destroys the Sun Harvester and then fights both Megatron and the Fallen, brutally destroying the Fallen, and Optimus claiming that "I rise, you fall". And leaving Megatron heavily wounded. Starscream convinces Megatron to retreat.

The film concludes with Optimus stating that the Transformers and humans are now connected by their histories and Sam returning to college.

I want to watch it over and over again. As my advice, DONT TRUST SOME CRITICS SAYING THAT THE FILM IS NOT GOOD. WATCH IT BY YOURSELF AND JUDGE IF THE FILM IS GOOD OR BAD. FOR ME IS FANTASTIC AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE FILM. Overall I recommend this film highly.

MY RATING: 5/5 STARS

I Can Wait Forever

2009-06-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

When I Met You
I Suddenly fell in love with you
I Courted you with all I've got
And suddenly, my efforts grow, that's what I've Got!

That day is so inspiring
When days go by, I'm still mesmerizing
I Love you so much
And you love me even better

Then One day come
That we need to broke apart
With your misunderstood feelings
With the words "I don't love you
and I'm Sorry"
I suddenly cried and worry

I will not stop
Hoping your love come back
I will do anything
For your feelings to hind
I still love you
And I hope you still love me
Until the end of time
I will do Anything
I CAN WAIT FOREVER

My Fave Films

2009-06-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

My Top 10 Films (present films)
1. Drag Me To Hell
2. Angels & Demons
3. Night at the Museum 2
4. Star Trek
5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
6. Bedtime Stories
7. The Day The Earth Stood Still
8. Transformers
9. Terminator Salvation
10. The Simpsons Movie

My top 10 most Anticipated Films
1. Transformers 2
2. Harry Potter 6
3. G.I. Joe
4. Avatar
5. Sherlock Holmes
6. Iron Man 2
7. Final Destination 4
8. Sorority Row
9. Inglorious Basterds
10. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Drag Me to Perfection

2009-06-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

Wow! This film is my one of the best this 2009! This really a shocking film and thanks to Sam Raimi 'bout that! After the Evil Dead series, Sam Raimi Returns to his specialty genre, the horror genre. After Spiderman, another hit strikes the Philippine cinemas, Drag Me To Hell. This film tells about a loan officer (Christine) that turned into assistant manager and she encountered a woman that begs for an extension to her mortgage because she is suffering from economic problems. Then Christine refuses for another extension because it's the third and last extension. Then, the old woman follows the girl in the parking lot and pulls her outside the car. Then the old woman picks out the button and said "Soon, it will be you who comes begging to me," then she return the button to Christine. And after that, Christine needs to stop the curse given to her and lately, she didn't stop it, instead, she's dragged by the devils hands from hell and pulled her underground. The special and visual effects are very good and Sam's own strategy of horror is very effective. It's so scary and I like his strategy of putting some humor on a very scary film. And it's so gross. Like on the cake with an eye popping out and strikes by a fork and there's some blood splatter. I suggest that don't buy popcorns or any foods because you will puke it out when you see the film. This film is highly recommended. This film ROCKS!!!

My Rating: 5 stars

Goodbye Summer :D Hello Junior!!!

2009-05-28T01:21:00.000-07:00

MY BLOG IS BEST VIEWED WITH MOZILLA FIREFOX

Hey! this is my last blog post on May and my last post on the summer season.
I think my summer is worth it coz I learn so many things and I love it. I learn how to play some of the famous songs in the piano, learned how to be a good altar server and to be a true follower of God, how to socialize more with others, learn to LOVE and not to be LOVED.

I enjoyed so many things this summer like the Lenten season, instead of being solemn and quiet, I'm so happy on that week, coz I've found her and love her. Then being present at the "SALUBONG". I enjoyed it so much unlike last year, I think there will be a better SALUBONG next year.

Next is the Retreat care of KOA. I enjoyed it coz I learn how to be a real and true Altar Server and to be a follower of God. I learned so many things in the retreat like the kinds and wonders of prayer, the purpose of being a true Altar Server and how to be in touch with God more. I confessed also, I said my most forbidden and most extravagant sins that I've done since after my last confession which is on the year 2006 or 2007. So there are so many sins that I have to say to the priest. And I took 30 minutes in that confession and the priest requested my to pray 5 our father. And we will have a follow up of the retreat this coming saturday! Yay! I'm exited coz it's swimming time!

And Lastly, I enjoyed in this summer is that I've found and owned her, the girl of my dreams. But we broke up a month and a week after coz some things are needed to be fixed and understand. Until now, I'm still waiting for her love to come back, and I'm doing everything that I can to bind us together again.

So this have been a long blog entry, hope to see you next week for my new blog entry.
Coz I'm going to be a Junior High Student! Good for me! and next year I'm going to graduate! Yay! See you! Ciao!

NOW PLAYING
COME BACK TO ME - DAVID COOK

You say you gotta go and find yourself
You say that you're becoming someone else
Don't recognize the face in the mirror
Looking back at you

You say you're leavin'
As you look away
I know there's really nothin' left to say
Just know I'm here
Whenever you need me
I'll wait for you

So I'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you come back to me

Take your time, I won't go anywhere
Picture you with the wind in your hair
I'll keep your things right where you left them
I'll be here for you

Oh, and I'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you, come back to me

And I hope you find everything that you need
I'll be right here waiting to see
You find you, come back to me

I can't get close if you're not there
I can't get inside if there's no soul to bear
I can't fix you, I can't save you
It's something you have to do

So I'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you, come back to me
Come back to me
So I'll let you go
I'll set you free
And when you see what you need to see
When you find you, come back to me

And I hope you find everything that you need
I'll be right here waiting to see
You find you, come back to me

When you find you, come back to me
When you find you, come back to me
When you find you, come back to me

define pretendig... c:

2009-05-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

PRETENDING:

1. saying your ok, but your not. That you understand but you dont.

2.acting like your busy, but in reality you are lonely.

3.convincing people that you want to be friends, but you really want is more than friends.

4.when you know he/she has somebody new, you act as if it does'nt hurt but in fact, it hurts so deeply.

5.when you say you've move on, but in reality, you're still waiting.

6.when you say it's over, but the truth is you cant let go.

7.lastly, you'll say that you cant relate with this blog entry, but deep inside, you really do.

~tnx to her 4 this msg~

NP: Jai Ho

2009-05-05T05:16:00.000-07:00

Since May 4, Jai Ho topped in the Daily Top 10 of MYX...

PUSSYCAT DOLLS - JAI HO

(Jai Ho)
(Jai Ho)I got (I got) shivers (shivers),
When you touch away,
I'll make you hot,
Get all you got,
I'll make you wanna say (Jai Ho)

(Jai Ho)

I got (I got) fever (fever),
Running like a fire,
For you I will go all the way,
I wanna take you higher (Jai Ho)
I keep it steady
Cuz steady is how I feel it.
This beat is heavy, so heavy,
You gon feel it.

(Jai Ho)You are the reason that I breathe,(Jai Ho)
You are the reason that I still believe,(Jai Ho)
You are my destiny,
Jai Ho! Uh-uh-uh-oh!
(Jai Ho)No there is nothing that can stop us(Jai Ho)
Nothing can ever come between us,(Jai Ho)
So come and dance with me,
Jai Ho! (oohh)

Catch me, catch me, catch me, come and catch me,
I want you now,
I know you can save me, come and save me,
I need you now.
I am yours forever, yes, forever,
I will follow,
Anywhere in anyway,
Never gonna let go.

Jai Ho

(Jai Ho) Escape (escape) away (away),
I'll take you to a place,
This fantasy of you and me,
I'll never lose the chase. (Jai Ho)

Yeaahhhh (Jai Ho) Yeaahhhh

I can (I can) feel you (feel you),
Rushing through my veins,
There's an notion in my heart,
I will never be the same.

(Jai Ho)Just keep it burnin', yeah baby,
Just keep it comin', (Jai Ho)
You're gonna find out, baby,
I'm one in a million.

(Jai Ho)You are the reason that I breathe,(Jai Ho)
You are the reason that I still believe,(Jai Ho)
You are my destiny,
Jai Oh! Uh-uh-uh-oh!

(Jai Ho)No there is nothing that can stop us(Jai Ho)
Nothing can ever come between us(Jai Ho)
So come and dance with me,
Jai Ho! (oohh) (You and me, it's destiny)

Catch me, catch me, catch me, come and catch me,
I want you now,
I know you can save me, come and save me,
I need you now.
I am yours forever, yes, forever,
I will follow,
Anywhere in anyway,
Never gonna let go.

Jai Ho (Yeeeaaahh), Jai Ho (Yeeeaaahh), Jai Ho

I need you,
Gonna make it,(Jai Ho)
I'm ready,
So take it!

(Jai Ho)You are the reason that I breathe,(Jai Ho)
You are the reason that I still believe,(Jai Ho)
You are my destiny,
Jai Oh! Uh-uh-uh-oh!

(Jai Ho)No there is nothing that can stop us,(Jai Ho)
Nothing can ever come between us,(Jai Ho)
So come and dance with me,
Jai Ho! (oohh) (You and me, it's destiny)

Jai Ho!

Baila baila!
Baila baila!

Jai Ho!

Baila baila!

Jai Ho!

REMINDER

2009-05-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

MY BLOG IS BEST VIEWED WITH MOZILLA FIREFOX ONLY

My Top 10 Songs (Updated)

2009-05-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

1. Simple Plan - I Can Wait Forever
2. David Cook - Come Back To Me
3. Pussycat Dolls - Jai Ho
4. Craig David - Insomnia
5. Flo Rida - Right Round
6. Britney Spears - If U Seek Amy
7. The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell
8. Pitbull - Krazy
9. Vanilla Sky - A Thousand Miles
10. Boys like Girls - Five Minutes to Midnight

c:

MAYO...May...

2009-05-05T04:40:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog entry for the month of May. I am so speechless, today, May 5, for me is a "semi-dull" day because it's so boring here in my house. The thing that relieved my boredom is o7, she makes me happy today and makes me laugh so loud. LOL!!!. And this is the end of my day, i'll continue chatting and texting my fellow friends and her. So adios!!!

SUMMER

2009-04-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

I love Summer!!! This is the season in which I can rest and do anything I want...so here is my to-do list for this summer:
1. Date with 07
2.Play O2jam To Death!!!
3.Make Many Websites
4.Read at least 20 Mangas
5.Listen as many songs that I want
6.Sleep
7.Eat many foods for me to gain weight
8.Watch Fairly Oddparents and Spongebob Squarepants!!!
9.Watch many Animes!!!
10.Mall Hopping

MY NEW TOP 10 O2JAM SONGS!!!

2009-04-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

so here is the list with the level and difficulty:
1.Identity Part 2 - Normal X 4 (lvl 15)
2.Cross Time - Hard X 4 (lvl 26)
3.Earth Quake - Normal X 4 (lvl 15)
4.Recollection - Normal X 5 (lvl 16)
5.Milk Chocolate - Hard X 5 (lvl 18)
6.Go Hell - Hard X 5 (lvl 22)
7.Pit-a-Pat Christmas - Hard X 5 (lvl 16)
8.Pit-a-Pat Summer - Hard X 4 (lvl 19)
9.Please Don't Go - Hard X 4 (lvl 18)
10.Electro Fanstasy - Hard X 5 (lvl 15)

HOLY TUESDAY

2009-04-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Hey!!! Sorry for the long wait... I'm here again posting my latest blog. For Today... I find this day a tiring day. Last 3 pm... we had a practice on our parish for the preparation for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. We had finished our practice for about 5.45 I think... so the wy of the cross was adjusted from 5 to 6.30... Then after that, I went to my house to change clothes. Then I came up again to church for the way of the cross. It was tiring because we've done it from 7 I think until 10 pm. We had started it from our parish and finished on our past KOA's house. When I came up to my house... I've feel tiredness... and that's it... that's the end of my Holy Tuesday... So that's for now... Sayonara!!!

THE BLOOD....

2009-03-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

Me and my Cousins and Siblings had made a short film and here it goes:

Blood, Violence and more...

2009-03-20T02:51:00.000-07:00

I've been watched several films that has gore, blood etc... so I will share to you my top 5
Films of BlOOD and Violence...also GORE!!!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of the Fleet Street - I watched it again on HBO last night and I can't resist to watch it again. I like the character of Todd because he likes revenge and he love it.

My other faves:
2. Saw 2
3. The Breed
4. Halloween
5. Friday The 13th

And For My Honorary film (not included in my top 5): The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

NEW TEASER POSTER OF HARD LIGHT

2009-03-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

Lent

2009-03-08T01:13:00.000-08:00

So..I will start my March 8 with a solemn day. In the morning, I went to the adoration chapel for the vigil and after that, I went to the church to do some activities and later, I will go again to serve for the last mass. Then after that I will review for My Test in Biology, Values and Algebra.

Then for tomorrow, I will go to school, then after going to school, I will go directly to the church for the celebration of the anniversary of El Shaddai and I have a very big role in this event, I will handle the Incense and will assist the priest in the mass. The mass is on 6.30 PM so after school, I will commute because my service will depart from the school at a very late time and it will cause tardiness on my attendance on the KOA. So that's for now and I'll leave you a nice BYE BYE!!!

HARD LIGHT

2009-03-01T01:05:00.000-08:00

I've decided to have a short film called "HARD LIGHT", and Im searching for new actors and actresses that will be working with this short film. It is and independent film that will not have it's debut in cinemas thus, having it's debut in youtube where all famous artists and singers are discovered. I will start this short film after school year 08-09. There's no plot yet and the sfx and the program needed for editing the film are already prepared, all I need are the actors, actresses and stunt men. Here is the brief details of my short film:

Studio - Exclusive Pictures (INDEPENDENT STUDIO)
Cast-
Equipments

Cam - To Be Provided

Program - Sony Vegas Pro and Final Cut Pro

Location - TBA
Release Date in YOUTUBE - TBA
Production - TBA

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG!!!

2009-02-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

Something will rise this March '09

2009-02-11T05:40:00.001-08:00

There will be a massive renovation on my blog. Wait for MARCH 2009 for a great change in my blog...

Website alert!!!

2009-02-11T05:34:00.000-08:00

There will be a new website of Sto. Nino Parish School. This site will bring the students and teachers to the boundary of technology, which will be in form of ______.tk (thinking of a good domain name). This features all about SNPS, calendar of activities, alumni, faculty and most of all about our/your Present School. This site will be released in the first week of MARCH 2009.

My top 10 O2jam Songs

2009-02-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of my favorite o2jam songs:

Glide in With Ginban Kaleidoscope

2009-01-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Ginban Kaleidoscope is written by Rei Kaibara and illustrated by Hiro Suzuhira. The manga adaptation is also written by Rei Kaibara and illustrated by Jun Hasegawa. An anime adaptation of the first arc of the novels, aired weekly on TV Tokyo from October 8, 2005 to December 24, 2005. This animated series is about the 16 years old Japanese figure skater known for her sharp tongue, Ms. Tazusa Sakurano who considers herself to be worth $10 billion in beauty and Pete Pumps, the Canadian ghost .

The story begun during the qualifying round of ice skating in Montreal, Canada. Tazusa was fall in the middle of a Triple Lutz and loses consciousness. And at the same time Pete Pumps, a 16 years old Canadian stunt pilot, dies in a middle of his performance when his plane crashes due to mechanical failure. Then Pete as a ghost he was given a 100 days by GOD to stay on earth before he can go to heaven and inadvertently ends up possessing Tazusa.

When Tazusa back in her consciousness, she heard a strange voice and she taught she was crazy but then Pete explained things to her and eventually she realized that she was possess by the boy spirit. She did anything in order to take away Pete from her body but as it was destiny she do nothing but to accept the boy spirit. The things that bothered her was doing things that she usually do, like taking a bath and changing clothes because Pete see what she see and feel what she feel. While eating with Yūji Takashima, Tazusa's Canadian coach and Yōko Sakurano, her younger sister, she discover the secret keyword to control Pete's behavior even it was so nice to her. The keyword is tomato because Pete hate it. That time Tazusa picked up a habit of eating tomato in order to control Pete.

Watch Ginban Kaleidoscope on Animax Saturdays at 10.30 pm and Sundays at 11.00 am and 10.00 pm

Code Geass - A Must See Anime

2009-01-20T21:25:00.001-08:00

Code Geass is a must-see anime. Why? See the synopsis below:

On August 10, 2010, a.t.b., the Holy Empire of Britannia overpowered Japanese forces and conquered the country with their new, powerful, robotic weapons, the Knightmare Frames, in less than a month. In the aftermath of Britannia's invasion, Japan lost its freedom, its rights, and even its name, becoming Area 11 of the Britannian Empire. The Japanese people, renamed as "Elevens", are forced to survive in poor neighborhoods, while Britannians live in first-class settlements. Rebel elements persist, however, as pockets of Japanese organizations struggle against the Empire for the independence of Japan.

After his father, the Emperor of Britannia, failed to prevent the assassination of his mother, an attack which also left his sister blind and crippled, the young prince Lelouch vowed to destroy Britannia. Seven years later, he accidentally becomes mixed up with "terrorists" in Area 11 and encounters a mysterious girl named C.C., who gives him the power of Geass. With it, he finally has the power that he needs to defeat Britannia and fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

Is that interesting? Watch Code Geass on TV5 coming soon.

Abandon Not

2009-01-20T21:17:00.001-08:00

The Abandoned is a great film, with horror around the movie.

A Russian peasant family is sitting down to dinner when a run-down, overheating truck comes to a halt in the front yard. The father opens the door to find a now dead woman, obviously murdered, and two crying infants in the seat next to her.

Fast forward 40 years. We meet Marie Jones who has been summoned back to Russia by a notary who claims to have found her long dead parents and the home they once owned: the Kardinovsky Farm. As she mounts the steps to his office, she runs into someone, but brushes it off.

After meeting with the notary, who explains he found no other living heirs, she sets out to visit and claim her parent's home. She arrives at the house where her mother died and is "attacked" by a now very old mother who, in Russian, insists that she not go to the Kardinovsky Farm. They're interrupted by Anitoly, her guide, the only person willing to venture to the farm at night.

The farm sits on the "island", a small parcel of land surrounded by the river and only accessible by a bridge. After hours of driving they cross the bridge and stop just a few yards from the house. Anitoly tells Marie to stay put while he makes sure there are no animals between them and the house.

Marie waits, and then sees what appears to be Anitoly ahead of her, but when she leaves the truck, she finds herself alone. Within minutes the truck dies, leaving the forest quiet.

With no one around, and no where else to go, she enters the old house armed only with a flashlight and begins to investigate. While exploring the ground floor she hears a bang and a child wailing from upstairs and rushes up as quickly as possible to see... nothing. She enters the nearest room, a nursery, and sees, out of the corner of her eye, a woman walking past the door.

When she runs into the hallway she sees the same blonde woman turn into another room and she follows only to scream as she comes face to face with her dead self who appears to be very real and soaked to the bone. She runs out the door in time to see the truck (and presumably Anitoly) leave. In a panic she chases him and falls down a hill and into the river where, since she can't swim, she begins to drown.

She wakes up in a much warmer and brighter lit room in the house. There is a man (Nikolai) rifling through her wallet. Marie smacks him across the face with a log, then flees the room.

He chases her and explains that he is her brother and that he too was summoned by the notary. She is of course skeptical, as the notary had told her she had no brothers or sisters, but when he takes her upstairs and shows her their cribs she realizes he is telling the truth.

She tells him what she saw and he explains, that seeing your double shows you the way in which you will die.

Very quickly they meet Nikolai's ghost (a bloody, ravaged body) and they both realize they have to get out of the house and off the island. As they get ready to flee Nikolai falls through a hole in the floor and vanishes leaving Marie alone. She returns upstairs, determined to find anything to explain what is happening. Upstairs, in her parents room, she witnesses some of the events of the past as she watches her father stab her mother to death on their bed. Screaming, she turns to find her double behind her, yet again. This time it catches her in the babies' room and seems to suck out part of her life, leaving her gasping and disoriented. She flees the house.

There is a boat on one side of the river, and she takes it to the other side, leaving the island, and her dead self (watching from the shore), behind her. Unfortunately, it's too late, and as she runs through the forest, she finds herself before the house again.

This time when she enters, she finds the dining room is suddenly... clean and neat, as it must have been decades before. At the table, looking morosely at a birthday cake, is an injured Nikolai. He didn't die, but merely fell into the basement through the floor. He explains to Marie that he's figured out what is going on: they were never meant to have left the house in the first place. They were supposed to have died with their mother all those years ago and now, on the eve of their birthday, the house has called them back to fulfill their destinies at midnight.

When the clock strikes midnight, the entire house returns to the state it was in 1966, and they hear their father enter the house. Marie tries to intercept, hoping to change the past, but Nikolai intervenes and tells her that it's already happened and that the only way to survive would be to get away from there, in the past, where the house can't touch them. But when they try, they get separated. Marie ends up in the back of the truck as her father drives away with the infants (herself and Nikolai), whereas Nikolai sees the form of his long lost love, Natalie.

Her father stops at the barn, leaving one baby in a pig's pen to feed the baby to the boars, while he tries to drown the other. Neither he nor his wife (who he had thought was dead) see Marie. Her dying mother shoots her father in the head and grabs both babies, fleeing to the truck. Meanwhile Nikolai turns to see his lover is now actually his father and then is attacked by wild boars, fulfilling his destiny.

Marie finds her father's now desiccated body in the farm, and is then pushed back into a pseudo-past where she realizes her father and the notary are one and the same. He's come back from the dead to lure his children to the hell he had created. She flees his office in the present and runs right into her past self as she comes up the steps, and continues to flee into the sunlight until she finds herself right back in the house, this time between the past the present, where the apparition of her father explains to her that he's always loved his children, and his wife, and couldn't let them leave him. She runs from him, down the hall and finds Nikolai's body, being eaten by the boars. As they tear off his nose and parts of his stomach, she vomits and falls against the wall. It's only when his dead self comes after her that she flees out to the truck parked out front and drives away.

Her father's voice comes over the radio, telling her to come back and join the family he has created, and then promises to take her daughter, Emily (who is in the States) but it's too late. The bridge that brought her there has been destroyed, and she plunges into the lake, drowning, and fulfilling her destiny.

The film ends with her daughter (who we now realize is the narrator) explaining that she knew in her heart her mother would never return. It's been months since she left for Russia and in all this time she's never had the desire to know what happened to her, or her parents, thus breaking the cycle and leaving her... abandoned. This is not bad for the second horror movie arrived in the Philippines this 2009. Compared to "Molly Hartley", this movie is a little bit interesting.

In theatres January 21, 2009

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Friday the 13th - Another Horror Attempt

2009-01-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

Friday the 13th is another part of the franchise that tells about Searching for his missing sister, Clay heads up to the eerie woods of legendary Crystal Lake where he stumbles on the creaky remains of rotting old cabins that lie in wait behind moss-covered trees. And that's not the only thing hiding under the brush. Against the advice of police and cautions from the locals, Clay pursues what few leads he has with the help of a young woman he meets among a group of college kids up for an all—thrills weekend. But they are about to find much more than they bargained for. Little do they know, they've entered the domain of one of the most terrifying specters in American film history - the infamous killer who haunts Crystal Lake armed with a razor-sharp machete…Jason Voorhees.

In theatres: FEBRUARY 2009

C.C.Club

2009-01-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

This text is written in tagalog.

Sa unang taong 2009, eto kaagad and nabuo ko na blog entry. Ito ang CCClub. Itong club na ito ay nagbibigay ng parangal sa isang karakter sa isang anime na tinatawag na "Code Geass" ng Japan. Dahil sa lubos na paghanga namin sa karakter na si C.C., binuo namin itong samahan na ito. Kami ay masugid na manonood nang palabas na ito kaya ito ulit nabuo. Kami ay binubuo nina: Ako(Van), Lerick, JC at Christine. Kami ay naghahanap pa ng iba pang miyembro. Kung gusto niyong sumali, i-add niyo itong email address na ito sa yahoo messenger: vanelias_lava@yahoo.com o kaya ay i-text niyo ako sa 09228991454. Magandang araw sa inyo!

In the year 2009, and immediately formed this blog entry. This is CCClub. This club will provide a tribute to an anime character on the anime called "Code Geass" of Japan. Because we fully adore the character CC, we developed this organization. We are eager audience of this anime so we formed it. We are composed by: Me (Van), Lerick, JC and Christine. We are still looking for other members. If you'd like to join, then you add this email address to your yahoo messenger: vanelias_lava@yahoo.com or simply text niyo ako sa 09228991454. Good day to you!

....Wait....

2009-01-05T05:19:00.000-08:00

This may be my first post this 2009 but I will not be posting any blog entries this January 7 to January 16 2009 because of my very busy schedule like chapter test, projects, periodical test and hunting for my missing computer notebook...pls if anyone saw my computer notebook, please return it immediately, I need to review for the chapter test. By the way my computer notebook is color blue and imprinted my name "Van Elias Lava" and section II-Franklin. Thank You very much for your concern.

Expect More this 2009

2008-12-31T23:39:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my Blog!!! Because it's 2009, I'll be adding 9 genres to my blog. Expect this 9 genres will appear on my blog for the rest of the year:

Movies
Music
Anime
Cars (New)
Celebrities (New)
School Life (New)
Daily Journal (New)
Food (New)
Travel (New)

What To Expect This 2009?

2008-12-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the films to watch for this 2009:

And Many More!!! Wait for other films to expect this 2009...

My Top 10's of 2008

2008-12-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

Here is my list of my faves since 2008:

Music

Light On - David Cook
Crush - David Archuleta
Decode - Paramore
Psychosocial - Slipknot
Low - Flo Rida
Fall For You - Secondhand Serenade
Get Back - Demi Lovato
Tonight - FM Static
Mad - Ne-yo
Miss Independent - Ne-yo

Anime

Mai Otome
Mai Hime
Naruto Shippuuden
Code Geass
Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge
Shakugan No Shana
School Rumble
Witchblade
Rumbling Hearts
The Prince of Tennis

Movies

Mummy 3
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Iron Man
Indiana Jones 4
Twilight
The Dark Knight
Hancock
Bolt
National Treasure 2
Kung Fu Panda

Anime Girls

Arika (Mai Otome)
Mai (Mai Hime)
Noei (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge)
Sunako (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge)
Kalen (Code Geass)
Midori (Mai Hime)
Mikoto (School Rumble)
C.C. (Code Geass)
Fumi (Code Geass)
Shana (Shakugan No Shana)

And That's all!!! Goodbye 2008 and Hello to 2009!!!

MMFF Box Office since Dec. 25 and 26, 2008

2008-12-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

The Box Office of the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival

For December 25, 2008:

Ang Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat-P20,900,000
Iskul Bukol: 20 Years Later- P18,900,000
Shake, Rattle and Roll 10-P13,100,000
Desperadas 2-P7,000,000
Baler-P5,300,000
One Night Only-P1,500,000
Dayo-P1,200,000
Magkaibigan-P600,000

For December 26, 2008

Ang Tanging Ina Nyong Lahat-P41,000,000
Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After-P35,600,000
Shake, Rattle & Roll 10 - P22,900,000
Baler - P15,200,000
Desperadas 2 - P12,500,000
One Night Only - P2,700,000
Dayo - P2,200,000
Magkaibigan - P1,000,000

Here is the list of the awards held on the awardings night of the MMFF:

* Best Picture:
o 1) Baler
o 2) Ang Tanging Ina Ninyong Lahat
o 3) Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After
* Best Director: Mark Meily - Baler
* Best Actor: Christopher De Leon - Magkaibigan
* Best Actress: Anne Curtis - Baler
* Best Supporting Actor: Philip Salvador - Baler
* Best Supporting Actress: Manilyn Reynes - One Night Only
* Best Sceenplay: Roy Iglesias - Baler
* Best Story: Jose Javier Reyes - One Night Only
* Best Cinematography: Lee Meily - Baler
* Best Sound: Albert Idioma and Wally Dellosa - Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia
* Best Visual Effects: Robert Quilao - Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia
* Best Production Design: Aped Santos - Baler
* Best Editing: Danny Anonuevo - Baler
* Best Make-Up: Noli Villalobos - Desperadas 2
* Best Musical Score: Jessie Lazatin - Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia
* Best Theme Song: Lipad by Jessie Lasaten and Artemio Abad Jr., performed by Lea Salonga - Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia
* Best Child Performer: Robert "Buboy" Villar - Shake, Rattle & Roll X

M.I.T. 20 for December 13, 2008

2008-12-14T01:13:00.000-08:00

(replace 1-20 to 20-1)

Neyo - Mad

Rihanna - Rehab

Christina Aguilera - Keep's Gettin' Better

Rain - Love Story

Coldplay - Lost!

HSM3- Right Here, Right Now

Various Artists - Just Stand Up

Demi Lovato - Get Back

Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold

T.I. Feat Rihanna - Live Your Life

Miley Cyrus - Fly on the Wall

Beyonce - Single Ladies

Chris Brown feat. Keri Hilson - Superhuman

Beyonce - If I Were A Boy

Pussycat Dolls - I Hate This Part

David Cook - Light On

Jonas Brothers - Lovebug

Britnay Spears - Womanizer

David Archuleta - Crush

Paramore - Decode

Light On - David Cook

2008-12-14T01:06:00.000-08:00

Never really said too much
Afraid it wouldn’t be enough
Just try to keep my spirits up
When there’s no point in grieving
Doesn’t matter anyway
Words could never make me stay
Words will never take my place
When you know I’m leaving

(Chorus)
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Something I rely on to get home
One I can feel at night
A naked light, a fire to keep me warm
Try to leave a light on when I’m gone
Even in the daylight, shine on
And when it’s late at night you can look inside
You won’t feel so alone

You know we’ve been down that road
What seems a thousand times before
My back to a closing door and my eyes to the seasons
That roll out underneath my heels
And you don’t know how bad it feels
To leave the only one that I have ever believed in

[Chorus]

Sometimes it feels like we’ve run out of luck
When the signal keeps on breaking up
When the wires cross in my brain
You’ll start my heart again
When I come along

Get Back - Demi Lovato

2008-12-14T00:55:00.000-08:00

You won't get away like you always do, this time.
Baby, you're hte only thing thats been on my mind.
Ever since you left, I've been a mess
You won't answer the phone

I'll say it once, then I'll leave you alone
But I gotta let you know

I wanna get back
To the old days
when the phone would rings
and I knew it was you.
I wanna talk back
And get yelled at
Fight for nothing
Like we used to
Oh kiss me,
like you mean it
Like you miss me,
cause I know you do.
I wanna get back
Get back with you
ayaaa...

don't look at that way, I see it in your e-e-eyes.
Don't worry abou met, I've been fi-i-ine
I'm not gonna lie, I've been a mess Since you've left

Everytime I see you, it gets more and more intense.

I wanna get back
To the old days
when the phone would rings
and I knew it was you.
I wanna talk back
And get yelled at
Fight for nothing
Like we used to
Oh kiss me,
like you mean it
Like you miss me,
cause I know you do.
I wanna get back
Get back with you

You were the only one I wanted
You were the first one I fell for
You're the only one that I'm in love
And I don't want to be lonely anymore

I wanna get back
To the old days
when the phone would ring
and I knew it was you.
I wanna talk back
And get yelled at
Fight for nothing
Like we used to,
Oh kiss me
like you mean it
Like you miss me
Cause you know you do
I wanna get back
Get back, with you

Get back! (Get Back!)
Get back! (Get Back!)
Get back! (Get Back!)
Get back! (Get Back!)

oh kiss me,
like you mean it
Like you miss me
cause I know you do

I wanna get back
Get back
I wanna get back
get back
Get back
Get back with you

Get baaaaaack!

yaooo

Oasis: A Story of Love and Sacrifice [Introduction]

2008-11-18T03:40:00.000-08:00

A simple Slayer (Amanda) accidentally heard from her parents that she will die after a month because of the severe damage from her heart because of endless battles between her and the Demons. Suddenly, a flamist (Tony) appear to help her to save her life. Unfortunately, Tony can't help Amanda to save her life. But to help her accomplish Amanda's mission... to slay demons in the city. Until the last day of Amanda came, Tony will do anything to save Amanda to the enchantress (Tokina). So Tokina and Tony had a deal. Tokina will get Tony's life after 3 days so that Amanda's life will last forever. But Amanda heard their deal, Amanda did not want Tony to die so she talked to Tokina. What is Tokina's decision and will the love of Amanda and Tony last for long?. Find out at the chapter one of the novel on Friday; November 21, 2008 with the title At First Sight.

Films to watch this end 2008

2008-11-17T04:13:00.000-08:00

BOLT the film is about Bolt (John Travolta), a small white German Shepherd who has lived all his life on the set of a TV show in which he portrays a superhero dog. As a result, he thinks that his superpowers, and events on film, are real. When he is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he embarks on a cross-country journey to reunite with his owner and co-star, Penny (Miley Cyrus). Along the way, Bolt teams up with a jaded housecat named Mittens (Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton) who also happens to be an extreme Bolt fanboy, and eventually he discovers that he doesn't need superpowers to be a hero.
Release Date: November 26, 2008

BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA Vivian (Jamie Lee Curtis), chihuahua Chloe's (voice of Drew Barrymore) owner, leaves the pooch with her irresponsible niece Rachel (Piper Perabo) to dog-sit. Rachel decides to go to Mexico with her pals, leaving Chloe in the room; the dog sneaks out and gets stolen. Chloe ends up tossed into a dog fight ring, left to defend herself from dog El Diablo (voice of Edward James Olmos). Delgado (voice of Andy Garcia) rescues her from the fight, unleashing the other dogs from their cages and unlocking the ring to allow the two dogs to escape. Delgado was planning to just walk away, but he feels bad and decides to help Chloe get back home.
Release Date: December 3, 2008

TWILIGHT Seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her father, Charlie. There, she finds herself drawn to a mysterious classmate, Edward Cullen, who is revealed to be a 108-year-old vampire who is physically seventeen. Although Edward discourages the romance at first, they soon fall deeply in love. When the arrival of three nomadic vampires, James, Laurent, and Victoria, puts Bella's life in danger, Edward and his family, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, put their lives at stake to save her.
Release Date: November 26, 2008

BURN AFTER READINGOsbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who quits his job at the agency after being demoted, ostensibly because of a drinking problem. He then decides to write a memoir about his life in the CIA. His wife, pediatrician Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), wants to divorce Osbourne and, at the counsel of her divorce lawyer, she copies many of his personal and financial files off his computer and onto an optical disc. The lawyer's receptionist accidentally leaves the disc at Hardbodies, a workout gym. After her husband is served with divorce papers, Katie changes the locks to keep him out of their house.
Release Date: November 19, 2008

QUARANTINE A medical emergency at an apartment complex is reported and the night shift is sent in. Yuri (Rade Serbedzija), the building manager, explains that a woman has been screaming, but is now silent. They are joined by two police officers, James (Andrew Fiscella) and Danny (Columbus Short), in the lobby. They are led to the apartment of Mrs. Espinoza (Jeannie Epper), the source of the screaming. Yuri unlocks the door when she does not answer, and a dog runs out. Within the apartment, Espinoza is struggling to breathe, covered in blood, and foaming at the mouth. She bites James before being subdued by Fletcher. The others take James downstairs to get medical assistance, but find the building sealed shut by the authorities. Fletcher falls from the top floor, bitten, breaking his leg. Release Date: December 3, 2008

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is 20th Century Fox's contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an alien whose arrival on our planet triggers a global upheaval. As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor's appearance, a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson get caught up in his mission – and come to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described "friend to the Earth."
Release Date: December 10, 2008 (eventhough it is said to the poster, 12.12.08, the production company said that this film is to be moved 2 days befor the US playdate so it's 12.10.08)

ROCKNROLLA When a Russian mobster sets up a real estate scam that generates millions of pounds, various members of London's criminal underworld pursue their share of the fortune. Various shady characters, including Mr One-Two, Stella the accountant, and Johnny Quid, a druggie rock-star, try to claim their slice.
Release Date: December 3, 2008

FOUR CHRISTMASES No one enjoys the holidays more than Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon). Every December 25th, this happily unmarried, upscale San Francisco couple embark on a holiday tradition they have shared every year since they met—ditching their crazy families for a relaxing, fun-filled vacation in some sunny exotic locale. There, sipping margaritas by the pool, they toast the season, knowing they have once again avoided the chaos and emotional fallout of their four respective households: divorced parents, squabbling siblings, out-of-control kids and all the simmering resentments and awkward moments that are the hallmarks of every family Christmas. But not this year. Shorts and sunglasses packed, Brad and Kate are trapped at the San Francisco airport by a fogbank that cancels every outbound flight.Release Date: December 3, 2008

LAKE DEAD Three sisters, Brielle (Kelsey Crane), Kelli (Kelsey Wedeen) and Sam, (Tara Gerard) who are on college break and find out about their grandfather who had just passed away, and he had left them a motel in his will. Their father, John (Dan Woods) tries to get them not to go, but the sisters ignore him and head off, taking their three friends, Tanya (Malea Richardson), Ben (Jim Devoti), Bill (Alex A. Quinn) and Bill's girlfriend, Amy (Vanessa Viola). The group drives to the motel and meet the caretaker, an old lady who appears kind. After finding a lake on their property, the group of friends take a swim, not noticing that a dead Sam is floating underneath them.
Release Date: TBA 2008

UNEARTHED After a sinister crash on the highway in a small New Mexican town, people start disappearing and animals and nature begin dying. The cause of the crash is later revealed to be a 900-year old creature which was unearthed during an archaeological dig in the area. Meanwhile, a gas station owner informs a group of people that the gas tank never arrived, which meant that the small group needed to spend the night at the gas station. Sheriff Annie is called to investigate the crash, and finds a strange piece of evidence.
Release Date: TBA 2008

OTHER UPDATES WILL BE POSTED SOON IF THERE IS A CHANGE OF SCHEDULE

THE O2 ADVENTURE - A story of the respiratory system

2008-11-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

I made this story by myself. Hope you like it...

One day at the city of Chloroplasto, two friends were being forced to get out of the city because they are not widely accepted at the city. They are Oscar and Ore. They are oxygen molecules that are called “excess” at the city. At that day, they were captured by the Chloro police. After they were captured, they were brought at the borders of the city. They are worried on which way they will go after they were expelled at the city. When they are outside, they saw their other friends that are sipped out. When they saw their friends, they were suddenly sipped by the “Black Hole”. “I don’t know why it is happening to me…” Oscar said. And they were out of the city. When they are out of the city, they thought this is hell but when they see the “real world”, Ore said “What a fantabulous place this would be!” After they’re flying at the “real world”, they saw a tunnel. “What is this huge tunnel?” Oscar said. “Let’s Come in!!!” Ore said. “Freeze you two!!!” The Mucual Police said. “Are you to will invade us again?” The Mucual Chief said (The mucual police and chief are the mucus that filters oxygen and remove foreign invaders). “No! we will not harm you” Oscar said. The Mucual chief detected no invaders in them so the police let them pass. When they’re travelling, they saw some foreign invaders that are trapped with the “finger cells” called cilia. “this place sure is creepy” Oscar said. Then they went to a large “tollgate” called the Pharynx. They are divided into two main highways, the Aero Expressway and the Food Expressway (The food and air tube). The gate officer said that “You are oxygens, you will pass along the Aero Expressway, here are some motorcycles, and you will ride along a large, long highway when you pass in this tollgate”. And they pass at the entrance of the Aero Expressway call the Glottis, and glottis also is the entrance of the Food Expressway. After that, they saw a door-like structure that blocks the food expressway for them to pass without losing the track. After that, they saw a large, creepy tunnel-like place on which other foreign invaders are trapped, it is called Trachea. In the trachea, they are moistening. After that, there’s another tollgate that separates the 4 way expressway into 2, it is called Bronchi. There, they are given weapons because they are preparing for a fight between them and they’re greatest enemy, the CO2 or carbon dioxide. After they’re preparing for the fight, the highway is narrowing. “what is this place, it’s narrowing and narrowing!!!” Oscar said. This place is called Bronchioles. After that, they saw a dead end. “What should we do now?” Ore said. “We have weapons right, this is where we will see the CO2’s” Oscar said. “Now we will do is to enter that vessel like place for us to escape in this dead end” Oscar said. They enter to the vessel like place called Capillaries. “There are the CO2’s” Ore said. “We’re CO2’s and we will kill you!!!” the master CO2 said. The Master controllers called the backup for them. The master controllers are the Pons and Medulla Oblongata, which is responsible for the respiratory system. Then the fight continues. The CO2’s were weakening because of the joint forces of Oscar, Ore and the entire backup. And the battle ended and the Oxygen wins the battle. The CO2’s suddenly disappeared. “Where are they going?” Ore asked. “They are going to the city of Chloroplato because they are not needed here in this place” The RBC said. “That is the place on where we’re expelled!!!” Oscar said. “In the Chloroplasto, Oxygen is not needed but in this place, you are really needed because without you Oxygens, this place will collapse and die easily” The RBC said. “Another command from the Master Controller!” The Police said. “We, the Master Controllers, are really pleased to welcome you Oxygens, without you the entire kingdom will collapse and you are welcome to roam around this wonderful kingdom.” The master controllers, Pons and Medulla Oblongata said. “We really thank you masters because if we’re not welcome in here, we will be like nomads, going nowhere” Oscar said. “You are now ready to go to the different regions of this kingdom” The RBC said. “Thank You!!!” Ore said. And they live there happily ever after.

My 5 Most Admired Anime Girls

2008-11-14T04:32:00.000-08:00

Noi Kasahara-
She has an unbreakable love for Takenaga and is often questioning their relationship. She is very beautiful and kind. She is the first female friend that Sunako makes, even if unwillingly. She is always standing up for Sunako at school when people make fun of her. She has a very quick temper around Kyouhei and the two are often found fighting. Like the boys, Noi is not that good when it comes to housework.

Mai Tokiha-
Mai is a recent transfer student to Fuka Academy and the heroine. She takes part-time jobs to pay for her brother Takumi's medical bills. As she's had so many part-time jobs, she considers it a hobby.

Natsuki Kuga-
Natsuki is a loner and truant who seeks revenge against the First District. She ends up working with Mai and Mikoto. She has the rather bizarre hobby of collecting lingerie.

Sunako Nakahara-
Sunako is often referred to as Ghost girl or Scary girl due to her dark presence. A lover of solitude, gore movies, anatomical dolls and objects that reflect the ugly side of life as she puts it, Sunako has locked herself away in a world of solitude due to a traumatic experience with her first love. She has especially mixed feelings about Kyouhei, and as the storyline progresses, their relationship becomes more solid and intimate. She even shared a kiss with him.

C.C.-
A mysterious green-haired girl who bestows the power of Geass upon Lelouch under the condition that he grant her greatest wish. C.C.'s abilities caught the interest of Britannia and she was imprisoned as a part of Britannia's experiments in the past. She passively oversees Lelouch's missions to ensure that he does not die and to help his plans succeed.

Slipknot - Psychosocial

2008-11-14T03:39:00.000-08:00

I did my time, and I want out!
So abusive faith!
It doesn't cut, this soul is not so vibrant.
The reckoning, the sickening.
Back at your subversion.
Pseudo-sacred sick before dawn.
Go to your deserts, go dig your graves!
Then fill your mouth with all the money you will save.
Sinking in, getting smaller again.
I'm done! It has begun, I'm not the only one!

And the rain will kill us all.
Throw ourselves against the wall.
But no-one else can see.
The preservation of the martyr in me.

Psychosocial, Psychosocial, Psychosocial.
Psychosocial, Psychosocial, Psychosocial.

There are cracks in the road we lay.
But we're the devil filth, the secret death gone mad.
This is nothing new, but would we kill it all?
The hate was all we had!
Who needs another mess, we could start over.
Just look me in the eyes and say I'm wrong!
Now there's only emptiness, burn elicit self threat.
I think we're done, I'm not the only one!

And the rain will kill us all.
Throw ourselves against the wall.
But no-one else can see.
The preservation of the martyr in me.

Psychosocial, Psychosocial, Psychosocial.
Psychosocial, Psychosocial, Psychosocial.

Fate! Cannot catch this lie, (Psychosocial)
I've tried to tell you thrice! (Psychosocial)
Your hurtful lies are giving out. (Psychosocial)
Can't stop the killing, I can't help it. (Psychosocial)
If it's something secret. (Psychosocial)
Is this what you want? (Psychosocial)
I'm not the only one!

And the rain will kill us all.
Throw ourselves against the wall.
But no-one else can see.
The preservation of the martyr in me

CRUSH - David Archuleta [on music]

2008-10-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

I hung up the phone tonight
Suddenly happy for the first time
Deep inside
It was a rush
What a rush
'Cause the possibility
That you would ever feel the same way
About me
It's just too much
Just too much

Why do I keep running from the truth
All I ever think about is you
You got me hypnotized
So mesmerized
And I've just got to know

[Chorus]
Do you ever think
When you're all alone
All that we could be
Where this thing could go
Am I crazy or falling in love
Is it real or just another crush
Do you catch a breath
When I look at you
Are you holding back
Like the way I do
'Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away
But i know this crush ain't going
Away
Going away

Has it ever crossed your mind
When we're hanging,
Spending time, girl, are we just friends
Is there more
Is there more
See it's a chance we've gotta take
'Cause I believe that we can make this
Into something that'll last
Last forever
Forever

[Chorus]

Why do I keep running from the truth
(Why do I keep running)
All I ever think about is you
(All I ever think about)
You got me hypnotized
(Hypnotized)
So mesmerized
(Mesmerized)
And I've just got to know

[Chorus]

Going away
Going away

Save the best for last!!!

2008-10-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

High School Musical 3: Senior Year starts when they, As seniors in high school ,Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future. In my own opinion, this movie is the best compare to the past two HSM's. Also, the songs were great like "Now or Never", "A Night to Remember", "High School Musical" and "The Boys are Back". I wish for another sequel like they in the time of Christmas, New Year or other occasions because HSM 3 is the best, I want also for the most not only the best. Also these are the track listings for the HSM 3: Senior Year

Now or Never
Right Here, Right Now
I Want It All
Can I Have This Dance
A Night to Remember
Just Wanna Be with You
The Boys Are Back
Walk Away
Scream
Last Chance
We're All in This Together
High School Musical
Just Getting Started

YAMATO NADESHIKO SHICHI HENGE

2008-10-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

I've been watching this anime three weeks from now...
and i'm addicted to it.

"This incident sparks a life change, and as a result Sunako shuns all forms of beauty, both in herself as well as in life. Concerned by her change for the worst, Sunako's aunt, the owner of a beautiful mansion where four very handsome students live, offers the guys free rent in her mansion if they can turn Sunako into a perfect lady"

Here's the list of characters in the anime:

Sunako Nakahara- The female lead, Sunako is often referred to as Ghost girl or Scary girl due to her dark presence. A lover of solitude, gore movies, anatomical dolls and objects that reflect the ugly side of life as she puts it, Sunako has locked herself away in a world of solitude due to a traumatic experience with her first love.
Kyuohei Takano-He is the most popular of the foursome. He is very loud and bossy when it comes to his needs. He is a lover of food and can devour anything in seconds. One of his favorite foods is Sunako's fried shrimp. He was forced to leave home because all of the mobbing and harassment by his fans were taking a toll on his family.
Takenaga Oda-He comes from a very wealthy family and is quite serious in nature. He is the brain and logic of the group often trying out logical strategies to make Sunako become a lady. He is a book worm who loves to study.
Yukinojo "Yuki" Toyama- A shy character, he is sweet and has a very loving nature. He comes from an humble family and has two younger twin siblings who make an appearance in the manga. Yuki is the most innocent of all the characters, often crying and becoming scared when he enters Sunako's room.
Ranmaru Morii- The playboy of the group. Ranmaru comes from a wealthy family and is an only son. He is very extroverted and a lover of older women. He has a very sexy nature and extremely high self esteem.
Naie "Noi" Kasahara- She has an unbreakable love for Takenaga and is often questioning their relationship. She is very beautiful and kind. She is the first female friend that Sunako makes, even if unwillingly.

You can watch Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge in the Philippines at TV5

mondays- thursdays: 6.30 pm
weekends: 4-5 pm

My Top 20 Songs for the month

2008-10-15T04:56:00.000-07:00

eto po ung top 20 fave songs q poh... sana magustuhan nio rin po ung mga songs.

Fall for You- Secondhand Serenade
Thunder- Boys Like Girls
The Man Who Cant Be Moved- The Script
Viva La Vida- Coldplay
Burnin' up- Jonas Brothers
Shake It- Metro Station
Ne-yo- Miss Independent
Crush- David Archuleta
Whatever You Like- T.I.
Shut Up and Let me Go- The Ting Things
So What- Pink
Dangerous- Akon
Disturbia- Rihanna
Womanizer- Britney Spears
Yugto - Rico Blanco
In The Ayer- Flo Rida
Low- Flo Rida
Hero Heroine- Boys Like Girls
Vulnerable- Secondhand Serenade
Hold On- Jonas Brothers

Tropical Humor

2008-10-11T02:27:00.000-07:00

When Ben Stiller sits on the director’s chair, we’re going to get something a little more gutsy than your typical comedy. He’s going to go for something a little bit bigger, a little bit grander, and tons more ambitious. That’s always a welcome thing. Tropic Thunder has a bit more ambition than it can handle, but it’s still one of the funniest films to come out this year.

The film follows the exploits of a bunch of prima donna actors as they shoot a Vietnam era war movie. Tugg Speedman is a big name action star trying to raise his stock after a disastrous turn in a serious drama. Kirk Lazarus is a five time Oscar winner who goes to extreme lengths to portray his characters. Jeff Portnoy is a lowbrow comedian with a drug problem. Alpa Chino is a rapper who shills energy drinks. Because of their antics, the production is a month behind schedule just five days in shooting. Desperate and facing pressure from the studio, the director decides to just drop the cast in the jungle and shoot the film guerilla style. But things don’t go according to plan, and the actors are forced to fight their way out of drug cartel controlled territory.

There’s a lot of funny in this script, but it lacks a little focus. Tropic Thunder tries to do a lot of things in its attempt to lampoon the entire structure of Hollywood, poking fun at prestige films and “serious” actors and awards and adoptions and movie executives and action films and assistants and everything that makes the mad world of movies tick. All that, and it still tries to give us rounded characters, a full arc of stories and a fully functioning action movie in itself. That’s a lot to tackle for any production, and while this script comes amazingly close, it just falls short. It’s still laugh out loud funny, but there are parts where it’s obvious that we’re just being rushed through the scene to get the next big joke.

It’s a good thing, then, that the big jokes are actually really good. While the satire lacks focus, it makes up for it with sheer potency. There are lines in this movie that will be quoted and repeated and put up on blogs for years to come. There are moments in the film that just stick with you; that you’ll play back in your head on the ride home. Much of the film’s potency is owed to the spectacular cast. Ben Stiller can be pretty hit-and-miss, but he thrives in this kind of character: well-meaning dopes who rely on a truckload of false bravado and hang on to the fringes of sanity. His crazed look has always been one of Hollywood’s best, and when used well, it’s just instant laughs. Robert Downey Jr. steals the show playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian method actor playing the role of an African-American sergeant in the movie. He stacks his role with so many levels of meta-acting that it’s hard to actually see him under all of it. Lazarus stands out as one of Downey’s most memorable characters, in a career already filled with great characters. Of the leads, Jack Black seems to have done the least, generating most of the easy laughs. Jay Baruchel is full of heart, and it would be great to see him in more things. Steve Coogan, Danny McBride, Nick Nolte, Bill Hader, and Tom Cruise all take terribly memorable turns in this film as well.

It’s the people that really sell Tropic Thunder. There’s a fair amount of things in this film that just shouldn’t work, but the cast delivers it all with such gusto and perfect comedic timing that it’s almost hard to notice. And perhaps it’s a little self-indulgent, at times, a little too Hollywood insider-y. But all in all, it’s hard to think of a recent film with as many hearty laughs in it. And really, Downey Jr. is worth the price of admission alone.

Body of Truth

2008-10-11T02:23:00.000-07:00

The names attached to Body of Lies are probably enough to get most people into theaters. It isn’t too much of a stretch to say that anything director Ridley Scott does is going to be at least worth a look, and Crowe and Dicaprio are never going to offer up anything less than good performances. Add William Monahan, who wrote the script for The Departed, and that’s a formula for success. And while the final product doesn’t quite live up to the potential of these names, Body of Lies is still a far better film than we’ve seen lately.

Roger Ferris is a CIA secret agent stationed in the Middle East, keeping tabs on terrorist cells and gathering intelligence for counter-terrorist operations. He is sent to Amman, Jordan to follow the trail of an evasive terrorist responsible for suicide bombings in Europe. There, Ferris makes fast friends with the charismatic Jordanian head of covert operations, Hani, who offers to help Ferris as long as they keep honest with each other. But back in America, Ferris’ boss, Hoffman, has his own ideas on how to run things, and causes friction between Ferris and Hani, threatening to ruin all their operations. As Ferris gets closer to his prey, the harder it is to tell where his loyalties ought to be.

This film is based on a novel, and this where things get a little tricky. Novels, with their longer form and slower consumption, tend to get away with things that are difficult to pull off in movies. Movies need more narrative momentum, and can’t really afford to have several separate arcs start and end in the middle of the story. When Ferris starts a new operation, it feels like we’re starting all over again. Monahan’s script is plenty clever, and does everything it can to keep the film moving, but he can’t keep it from feeling episodic, and thus, a bit disjointed and long. The film can also appear a bit preachy, favoring direct statements rather than building up its arguments. But amazingly, despite all that, there’s still a lot to love about the story they’re telling. The film is a pretty affecting look into how the war on terror is operated: how the operatives on the ground are subject to the whims of bosses who run this war while taking their kids to soccer practice, how cooperation is needed but rarely sought, how the people who actually know things tend to be put into the background. It’s a terribly harsh, fascinating tale with too many great elements to mention; it just isn’t structured that well.

Everything else works pretty well. Ridley Scott is just terribly good, and he leaves very little to complain about in the directing department. It’s interesting to note that the film’s Director of Photography Alexander Witt has mostly worked in second units, which means that his primary experience is in shooting big action sequences. He injects the same mentality in this film, treating everything as if it were about to explode. He’s injects frantic energy into the film, which helps somewhat. Does anyone still need to point out how good Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe are? They are fantastic, and Crowe in particular seems to have lots of fun in his role. Mark Strong, who plays Hani, is almost frighteningly charming, and he steals a good number of scenes in this film.

Body of Lies probably isn’t as good as it could be; the structural problems of the script really make it lag in the second act, and its preachiness softens what could’ve been a real jolt to your system. No, it’s not as good as it could be, but having said that, it’s still pretty good. The performances are strong, the directing is solid, and the story will still provide moviegoers with a lot to chew on. While it won’t floor you, it’s going to be hard to deny that you got a lot out of seeing the film.

Rating- 3
Credits- clickthecity.com/movies

The Eye That Follows

2008-10-11T02:15:00.000-07:00

There are points in Eagle Eye that really test your suspension of disbelief. There are points in the film where even the most open-minded and accepting moviegoer will go “now hold on, I’m not buying that.” But even as the film forces the very limits of plausibility, it offers up enough excitement and fun to keep you in your seats; maybe even on the edge of it. While there are certainly flaws to Eagle Eye, humongous action scenes and great performances might just make you enjoy it.

Jerry is an underachieving young man who works at a copy shop and has trouble making the rent. Rachel is a divorced mother with a deadbeat ex, and she’s seeing off her only son, who’s off to Washington to play trumpet at the Kennedy Center. The two have no connection to each other, but one fateful day, they both receive phone calls from the same female voice, telling them that they’ve been “activated,” and giving them a set of very specific instructions. With their lives and the lives of their family on the line, the two are forced to travel across the country, being guided by what appears to be an all-seeing force, made to play out an elaborate plan. It soon becomes clear that a much larger conspiracy is at work, and the fate of the entire country lies in the hands of these two unwitting pawns.

There are four words that could’ve made this screenplay infinitely better: “20 years from now.” The problem with this film is that the second act sags under the weight of all the implausible happenings. The script needed some sort of out, a quick and dirty explanation for all the crazy stuff that goes on. What the script does is it tries so hard to establish that the people were relatable and real and normal, and that actually hurts the film, because it just makes it hard to buy some of the more improbable stuff that happens. You tend to give action films a lot of leeway in this area, but Eagle Eye just challenges you at every turn. The script also kind of suffers from explaining too much, but that’s already to be expected from big blockbusters.

Despite all that, though, the story mostly holds together, and even leaves some room for a bit of cleverness. The characters actually end up being pretty well developed, in spite of all the strangeness that goes on. The film also benefits from a couple of crazy, high-energy action scenes full of exploding things and crashing cars and generally fun stuff all around. D.J. Caruso turns out to be a pretty decent action director, and he has a pretty good grasp of what makes a set piece work. He really conveys a sense of speed and danger and movement, and that can really pump you up.

Shia Lebeouf has taken a lot of flack over the last year or so for his performances, but he makes up for a lot of it here. It still doesn’t feel like he really deserves the place he’s in, but it feels like he genuinely trying to get there, and he’s working hard to be better. I have proclaimed my love for Michelle Monaghan several times already. She is a terrific actress, and it’s easy to watch her, no matter what she’s in. Billy Bob Thornton is almost too much fun to watch. Michael Chiklis gets a pretty good turn in here as well.

Eagle Eye has its flaws, and some things just don’t work as well as they ought to. But when it does get to something that works, it manages to squeeze enough good will out of those moments to sustain you through the tough times. I do wish that the film ended five minutes earlier, with a gutsier, more powerful ending, but Hollywood is just the way it is. Still, Eagle Eye ends up being pretty fun, and you can do far worse than fun.

Rating: 4
Credits to: Clickthecity.com/movies

Scary Rogue Crocodile

2008-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

You come to dread watching horror movies these days. Not because they’re scary, but because they’re usually so poorly made. They’re often just showing you stuff in a mirror and calling it scary, or filling the screen with blood and guts and calling it realistic. And so, Rogue comes as a refreshing little surprise. Prioritizing actual horror above all, we end up with a film that’s not particularly original or exciting, but definitely scary.

Pete is a travel writer sent to the Australian outback to write about the growing tourist trade in the Northern territories. He, along with a group of tourists, joins a river cruise down crocodile infested waters. The tour gets derailed when they spot a distress flare upriver, which they decide to follow. It all goes terribly awry when a gigantic rogue crocodile attacks and damages their boat. In a panic, they run their boat aground on a tiny island in the middle of the river. With the rising tide threatening to put them underwater, and an unstoppable predator waiting in the wings, the group must figure out a way to escape their predicament.

You aren’t going to find many new ideas in this film, but there’s some really effective horror in here. It works by keeping everything gloriously simple. A group of people trapped in one place, a deadly predator keeping them from escaping, and an external factor (the rising water) keeping them from just waiting it out. Those elements add up to some powerful suspense. The script also has the patience to not show all of its cards right away. It lets things build slowly, allowing the fear and paranoia to accrue, until it all comes out in bursts of concentrated horror. Again, it’s nothing particularly original, but it’s done pretty well.

The film is a bit of an exhibition of how horror ought to be done. Horror isn’t about seeing someone get harmed. It’s about the anticipation of someone getting harmed. This is where the film excels, but really building that air of anticipation. Director Greg McLean never lets you forget the threat, even while using the threat rather sparingly. The violence is meted out in small doses, never becoming more important than the fear of the unseen. The croc itself looks pretty good, although there’s shot of it near the end that feels kind of off.

There isn’t a lot to say concerning the performances. The characters aren’t exactly the most complex, and don’t require much acting in general. The most that you can really ask from this horror cast is to sell the fear, and they do that well enough. Michael Vartan isn’t the best actor out there, but he’s used to pretty good effect here. Radha Mitchell gets a few nice moments in there. Sam Worthington does a nice little in here as well. The cast mostly gives way to the fear, never giving in to the temptation of just hamming it up.

Rogue is just a nice little surprise. Horror movies in general have deteriorated over the last decade or so, with most of them relying on sheer shock value instead of proper horror filmmaking, or falling back on the camp crutch in order to get away from building an effective story. Rogue does it right, building suspense and withholding violence, letting fear fill the air instead of blood and body parts. It’s the kind of thing that recalls movies like Jaws, and it’s nice to get something like this every now and then.
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You Can't Mess With Zohan!!!

2008-08-13T22:00:00.001-07:00

You Don't Mess With the Zohan sort of feels like it started out with a lot more ambition. You can just get a whiff of that certain subversive absurdity that Robert Smigel tends to pepper in his work. Maybe they lost their nerve along the way. Instead, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan falls back on some very old tricks. Big Sandler fans will still probably love a lot of it because of that. Everybody else can probably get away with not seeing it.

Zohan is Israel’s greatest Mossad agent, but he’s grown tired of the constant conflict. He fakes his own death so that he can escape to America and follow his dream: to cut and style hair. Taking the name Scrappy Coco, he takes a job at a small hair salon run by a Palestinian immigrant, Dalia, who’s struggling to make the rent. Zohan’s unorthodox approach to hairdressing makes him a hit with the clientele, and he soon finds himself living his dream. But a greedy landlord, a Palestinian taxi driver, and an old rival threaten to take it all away from him.

The film has some really funny moments in its repertoire, and there are a few big laughs scattered throughout. Unfortunately, the film tends to run its jokes into the ground through endless repetition. The first time you see someone in the film use hummus for something other than spreading on flatbread, it’s pretty funny. The next eight times, not so much. Cheesy disco, sex with old people, and Hacky Sack all get the same repetitive treatment. That’s pretty much the film in a nutshell: some funny ideas, done over and over again, for far too long, until they just aren’t funny anymore. There are bits of cleverness here and there; a light, subversive undertone that almost does justice to the controversial subject matter. It just doesn’t go far enough to actually matter.

One of the reasons the satire doesn’t have any punch is because of the filmmaking. Dennis Dugan doesn’t really have a light enough touch to let any the sophistication shine through. He hits hardest when doing slapstick, and the film works well enough at those points. When the film tries other things, when it dips it toe into the realm of satire, the cracks begin to show. He plays it too big, too broad, and it just becomes another throwaway joke lost among the much easier laughs.

Adam Sandler, whether you like him or not, is always a lot of fun to watch. He’s clearly comfortable in Zohan’s skin, and he delivers an effortless and strangely natural performance. John Turturro, who plays Zohan’s Palestinian nemesis, the Phantom, really commits to the role, and his enthusiasm carries you through some of the character’s weaknesses. Sandler’s usual gang of comedians manages to show up, and they do add something to the background of this film. Watch out for cameos from the likes of Henry Winkler, Chris Rock, John McEnroe and George Takei.

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan is really funny at times. There are points in the film where you’re just taken in by the majestic absurdity of what’s on screen. But then it starts to go wrong. The film shows you that majestic absurdity a second time. Then a third. And as it runs its jokes into the ground, your attention may begin to wander towards the paper-thin plot and the stale direction. And it might still surprise you with a bit of inventiveness, but by then, it might be too late. You Don’t Mess with the Zohan has it moments, but all in all, it’s not the easiest film to recommend.
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Dark Success!!!

2008-08-13T21:53:00.001-07:00

By now, after months and months of hype and anticipation, compounded with the shroud of Heath Ledger’s untimely death, people are probably expecting The Dark Knight to be practically the second coming of Jesus. It’s not quite that, of course, but it is a tremendously good piece of cinema. Bold, complex, gritty and unwaveringly intelligent, The Dark Knight may have just changed everything.

About a year after the events of Batman Begins, crime in Gotham has plummeted, thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant Jim Gordon, the Batman, and a fearless district attorney by the name of Harvey Dent. The three of them have the organized crime families on the run, and are on the verge of a breakthrough that could severely cripple the criminals’ operations. But a new player has entered the picture; a psychotic, remorseless killer who calls himself the Joker, whose brilliant schemes thwart the authorities at every turn. He issues a challenge to the Batman: reveal himself, or people die. As the body count grows, the Batman is faced with the reality that he may have met his match, and must make a difficult choice that could mean the end of his crimefighting days.

The story was a surprise. It is sprawling and ambitious, almost Shakespearean in scope. It is far more than what we’ve come to expect from superhero films. It is blindingly intelligent and darkly tragic, unafraid of leaving audiences with a bad taste in their mouths. The Nolans’ script is heady stuff, a meditation on crime and how order is achieved in a society. It is Batman and Joker as two extremes in the spectrum of order: the Joker as anarchy and the Batman as fascism. It is a story of how in a battle of extremes, it’s often the people in the middle who suffer the most. And it paints everything in a gorgeous palette composed mostly of shades of gray, sometimes giving you the terrible realization that the villains might be right, and Batman, for all his good intentions, may be wrong.

It’s good stuff. Maybe there are a few narrative shortcuts taken along the way, but Nolan builds his characters so well that you hardly notice. He establishes the threat of his villains so well that you just come to accept their ability to accomplish any of their goals. Nolan’s filmmaking holds up pretty well, too. Nolan fills his scenes with a sense of unease, making every sequence feel like a ticking time bomb. He wisely focuses on the characters, building his movie patiently as we get to know what defines these people. And when things do explode, Nolan offers up a satisfying rush. His fight sequences do get a little messy, but this movie isn’t about the fights.

It’s about people, and thankfully, the people in this film are great. Christian Bale’s Batman is much the same as in Batman Begins, except a little wearier, perhaps a little more unsure of his place in the city. He still employs the goofy scary voice as Batman, but it doesn’t really break the performance. Heath Ledger’s Joker is mesmerizing, a deadly combination of nervous energy, pure danger and unabated psychosis. It’s a landmark performance, one that the late Mr. Ledger will certainly be remembered for. Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent will probably be glossed over by most people, but that would be a mistake, because he’s brilliant. Amazingly, Maggie Gyllenhaal might be better at being Katie Holmes than Katie Holmes herself. Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon is wonderfully subdued. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine bring so much to their small roles, and it’s greatly appreciated.

Since I didn’t just want to buy into the hype of the film, the first I did when the movie finished was list down all the things I didn’t like about it. I came up with a good number of things: it may have been ten minutes too long, maybe too many things were said out loud when they could have been implied, maybe we could have kept Batman attacking from the dark like in the first film, and maybe Edison Chen shouldn’t have been in it (even for just a little bit). Honestly, I could nitpick all day, because I’m trained to find these little flaws, but at the end of the day, that’s all they are: nitpicks. This is a fine film, one that may redefine our idea of what a superhero movie can be. It’s a wonderfully complex film that delivers on the action, but chooses not to stop there. Instead, it gives you more and more, never letting you turn your brain off. This is grand cinema, and it’s a proof positive that great movies are still being made.
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2008-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

WALL·E did it!!!

2008-08-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

People have come to wonder when Pixar’s streak of great films is going to end. Even their weakest film, Cars, was still galaxies better than the average Hollywood film. And now, WALL·E is just terribly effective. Just brimming with imagination, this film is one of my favorites of the year, so far.

In the far-flung future, Earth has been left behind by its human inhabitants. A single robot, WALL·E, has remained to carry out his duty of cleaning up the planet. Over the years, WALL·E has developed a bit of a personality, and he’s grown to yearn companionship. One day, he gets his wish, when a female robot EVE arrives on Earth with a mysterious mission. But just as WALL·E and EVE make a connection, EVE gets taken away to space. WALL·E stows away on EVE’s ship, and follows her straight into the depths of space, where the fate of the human race is revealed.

WALL·E keeps things decidedly simple plotwise. Low on dialogue and high on expression, the first half of the film plays out like a pure exercise in visual storytelling. And if there’s one thing that Pixar does well, it’s storytelling. Despite a very limited vocabulary, these characters absolutely sing, exhibiting enough personality to transcend their animated form. The character designs are supremely elegant, keeping things focused on simple expression. The film’s just bursting with imagination, and it’s easy to get swept away in the universe they’ve created.

It’s a given that the film looks good. Pixar has always been pushing the boundaries of animation, and they continue to make things look better and better. But it’s not just the look of the animation that’s improved. In general, their filmmaking has grown leaps and bounds. Emphasis has been given to the film’s virtual camera, which now employs some pretty great shooting techniques. The film ought to be commended for its use of depth of field, and the realistic way they move the camera to follow the action. It seems really basic, but the use of techniques like rack focus and follow focus add an element of realism to the way the film is shot. Through these methods, Director Andrew Stanton has imparted a powerful sense of movement to his film.

This movie once again proves that animated films don’t really need big-name actors to be effective. Ben Burtt, who provides the voice for WALL·E, isn’t even really an actor. He’s a sound engineer, and his devotion to audio clearly shows in the film. WALL·E and his supporting cast are a marvel of sound design. Elissa Knight, another non-actor, has provided the perfect voice for EVE. The actors that are there do some pretty good work as well. Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, and Kathy Najimy provide a nice bit of humanity to the proceedings.

WALL·E is really quite good. There are probably people who might quibble about the film’s inherent anti-consumerist message (especially given that the film is produced by Disney, maker of merchandise), but those are things to be dealt with outside the cinema. Inside, with the projector running, with the story being told on screen, it’s rather difficult to find fault in the film. This is a lovely movie they’ve created: one with great characters, a few good twists, some exciting action, and a good dose of heart. It has a beautiful sense of wonder that will just take audiences away. This film is exactly why we go to the theaters in the first place.
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SOURCE=clickthecity.com/movies

Mummification... Success!!!

2008-08-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a good film compare to the other mummy movies that Cohen directed. It started in the end of WWII, the rough riding O'Connell Family -- Rick , Evelyn, and college age son Alex -- have been in semi-retirement. Gone are the days when they would circumnavigate the globe looking for ancient treasure and kicking antiquated butt. When they get the chance to return a precious diamond to the people of China, they jump at the chance. Unfortunately, the gem is instrumental in the resurrection of the evil Emperor Han a ruthless tyrant bent on conquering the world. Luckily, an ancient witch has cursed him to an eternity embedded in rock. Of course, it won't be long before our haphazard adventurers have him up and around -- and seeking immortality via his massive terra cotta army.

Compare to other reviews, they say that this is an annoying film like this statement: "Borrowing every beat it can from the entire Indiana Jones lexicon, and lost in waves of pungent cinematic cheese, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is the latest in a long line of "who asked for it" three-quels as talent paycheck providers. It's a routine romp which owes more to the modern technology of today than the giddy joys of the '30s serials it constantly steals from. How can you defend a film which wastes the undeniable talents of Li and Yeoh and then allows CGI yetis to upstage them both and become the stars of the story? You heard right: Fake as faux fur Abominable Snowmen show up during the second act and become ferocious fuzzy-wuzzy bodyguards for our heroes. They even know the practical way to avoid an avalanche."

I will say that their reviews are a big wrong- wrong because this movie is a big hit even without Yeoh and Li, they can make a surefire hit film. My rating for that film is an excellent rating. I will say that this film have the guts to fight to the academy awards. I would say that do not believe to other reviews that say negative opinions and watch the movie that you can witness the action and the suspense of this film. Go and watch this movie!!!.
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COMING SOON...

2008-07-16T05:32:00.002-07:00

Oh my Mamma Mia!!!

2008-07-16T05:05:00.000-07:00

The movie musical is a rather tricky thing. Cinema tends to deal with a certain level of realism. Many people will never be able to accept characters breaking into song, especially when they’re dealing with serious matters. Mamma Mia! succeeds because it doesn’t deal with serious matters, letting the sheer campy joy of the songs do most of work.

Twenty year-old Sophie is about to get married, and she’s determined to have her father give her away at the wedding. The problem is that she doesn’t know who her father is. After reading her mother’s diary, she narrows it down to three suspects. She invites all three of them to the wedding without telling her mother, believing that she’ll know her father when she sees him. But when all three show up, and Sophie can’t tell, the wedding becomes a little more than all of them can handle.

The plot, if we’re being generous about it, is really thin. The original musical wasn’t really a narrative force to begin with, but the film trims it down even further, just barely maintaining enough story elements to keep some semblance of plot. But let’s be honest: this is a story based on the music of ABBA, and for the most part, it works. It works because the film is so adamantly cheesy, so free from pretension that you just start letting things go. You start to forgive the film for things like a lack of character development, broad, easy humor, and flat dialogue, because it never pretends to be anything more than it is. It doesn’t quibble with themes, doesn’t pretend that it’s giving us a timeless love story, or a grand meditation on life. It is unabashedly frivolous and lacking in gravity. At its core, it’s just people singing ABBA songs, and that’s okay.

Unless you don’t like ABBA, of course. Then it’s not okay at all. The film’s not going to change your mind about them. On the filmmaking side of things, there isn’t really much to say. Director Phyllida Lloyd clearly doesn’t have much experience with film. Her scenes mostly play out like they were still on stage. Some pretty scenery perks up a couple of frames, but a lot of it is remarkably flat. Lloyd relies solely on the production design to keep her film visually interesting, and it isn’t really enough. She does make up for a lot of her filmmaking deficiencies by injecting the film with a ton of unbridled joy, and for some people, it would be easy enough to just get caught up in all of it.

Is there really anything left to say about Meryl Streep? I will say that in this film, she attacks every song with enough gusto that she manages to make The Winner Takes It All work. Amanda Seyfried, who plays Sophie, is just stunning, and this movie might finally make her the star that she deserves to be. Pierce Brosnan may want to retire from acting and just spend the rest of his days singing Disco hits, because he looks like he’s having a lot of fun here. Colin Firth spends the movie being Colin Firth, which people seem to find charming.

Mamma Mia! isn’t really great cinema, but it doesn’t need to be. A good bunch of movie musicals get caught up with trying to be epic love stories or having some sort of profound insight, and they fall flat because all the singing inevitably clashes with the gravity of what they’re trying to address, and you just can’t solve life’s mysteries by singing pop songs. Mamma Mia! seems terribly aware of this fact, and skips the inevitable dash of pretension in favor of the outright cheesy camp flavor that only ABBA can bring. The production, for all its flaws, succeeds in bringing a lot of unmitigated nostalgic joy to the screen. It’s probably not for everyone, but joy is hardly ever a bad thing.

Journey to the Wonders of the Earth...

2008-07-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

Journey to the Center of the Earth as a normal, run-of-the-mill 2D picture, isn’t a particularly interesting one. The story is blindingly simple, the characters lack any depth, and the effects aren’t anything we haven’t seen before. But Journey to the Center of the Earth isn’t meant to be seen as a normal, run-of-the-mill 2D picture. When this film enters the third dimensions, things start to get interesting.

The film is sort of an update to the Jules Verne classic sci-fi story. Trevor Anderson is a professor of volcanology. A little over ten years ago, his brother, Max, didn’t return from an expedition, under mysterious circumstances. Trevor, studying his brother’s notes, heads out to Iceland with Max’s thirteen year old son, Sean. There, they hook up with Hannah, a local mountain guide. They travel through the Icelandic mountains to retrieve some of Max’s research materials, but get caught in a cave-in along the way. As they try to find a way out of the cave, they inadvertently stumble into a deep chasm that takes them all the way to a hidden underground world at the center of the Earth.

There isn’t much to the plot. It’s pretty clear that the filmmakers wrote this script by first thinking about the action sequences they wanted to produce, and then just kind of filling in the blanks. The characters aren’t really fleshed out all that well, despite only really having three of them to focus on. Aside from a pretty large plot hole, however, there’s nothing particularly offensive about how this film tells its tale. It’s dead simple, just enough to keep it from becoming a random sequence of vignettes. That may be just enough, because any more, and it might start getting in the way of the main attraction.

If you don’t see this film in 3D, you’re missing out. It’s that simple. The third dimension defines this film, making it something more than your generic family adventure film. It becomes your connection to the film. The characters and the story are a little too simple to really grab you, but the 3D makes the film experience immersive. It’s a gimmick, all right, but it’s a terribly fun gimmick, one that has you dodging in your seat and grabbing at things that aren’t there. Kids will certainly love it.

The acting in the film isn’t exceptional, but it gets the job done. Brendan Fraser isn’t the world’s greatest actor, but he knows what he’s doing. He’s goofy and quippy and you can’t really hate him, no matter how cheesy he gets. Josh Hutcherson, who’s really become a staple of American family films, is always pretty good, and he’s no different in this film. He’s no Freddie Highmore, but that’s all right. Few kids are. Anita Breim has pretty decent chemistry with both of the boys, and that’s enough to get her through the film.

It’s all about the 3D with this film. Without it, I would probably knock half a star (or maybe more) from the final rating, because it just isn’t as exciting or as fun an experience. I know it’s a lot more expensive, and having only one cinema showing it in that format is a problem, but really, 3D’s the way to go. Get a seat closer to the screen so you can just barely see the edges of the frame, and it’s even better. And maybe if enough people see it in 3D, it’ll convince other cinemas to invest in digital projection. And then we’ll all be better for it.

Onecock, that's Hancock!!!

2008-07-16T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hancock could've really been something. The superhero genre, despite its popularity (and my own personal fondness for it), has not exactly been a venue for complex characters. The movies just go larger than life, painting good and evil in wide swaths that leave no room for quibbling. Hancock had a chance to turn everything around by deconstructing the superhero myth, demystifying it and bringing it closer to the real world. And for the first third of this film, it felt like we were going to get that. Unfortunately, there was an hour left in the picture, and old habits die hard.

Hancock is the world's only superhero, but he's not a particularly nice guy. He's an alcoholic, and often, when he's saving the day, he causes more damage than he prevents. The people of L.A. hate him for this. Then one day, he saves the life of Ray Embrey, an idealistic P.R. man who spends his time trying to convince corporations to give aid to poor countries. Ray offers Hancock his services, believing that he can help Hancock become the superhero that people want. But as all this is happening, Hancock finds himself inexplicably drawn to Ray's wife, Mary, and an earth-shattering secret between them threatens to change everything in their lives.

The first thirty minutes or so of this film are great. It's just a great set-up, and the Hancock character offers up tons of intriguing possibilities. He's a hero, but he's also a tremendous jerk. Unfettered with origin stories or distinct motivations, Hancock starts out as something more than your prototypical superhero. He didn't see his parents murdered, or have his dying uncle tell him "with great power comes great responsibility." He's just a guy trying to cope with being alone in the world, be it through superheroics or a bottle of bourbon. It's quite a character, and one that just had tons of potential. But then the first act ends, and the script takes a hard left turn, letting go of all its potential and dragging the film into typical blockbuster fare. There are still some good scenes, but it feels like the film just never takes it to the next step, content with mucking about with a muddled mythology that never really manages to make sense.

Peter Berg's shaky cam style makes its way into a blockbuster, and it mostly works. It doesn't always make the action easy to follow, but it adds incredible urgency to his scenes. But Berg is really at his best when shooting simple things, his camera picking up little nuances that tell us so much. Berg likes to draw in close to his actors, letting them reveal their characters with things as small as an eye twitch. It doesn't all work, however. Berg isn't great at showing us the fantastic, and the style doesn't lend itself well to the typical big blockbuster musical score. It just doesn't mesh well, and a couple of scenes come off awkward because of it.

The performances in the film are all really solid. Will Smith doesn't really get enough credit for his acting abilities. As Hancock, Smith is terribly compelling, a remarkably strong portrait of loneliness. Smith is at his best when he goes smaller, when he's not trying to chew up the scenery. He gets to do that here, and it's good stuff to watch. Jason Bateman plays the everyman really well, and he's the heart of this picture. Charlize Theron is always really good, and this film just continues the trend.

There is word that there is an R-rated director's cut of Hancock floating around somewhere that is thirty minutes longer and features a good deal more complexity. That sounds like a version worth waiting for, and hopefully, something we'll eventually see on DVD. This current version of the film has its strengths, but in the end, it becomes little more than your average summer blockbuster, falling into the same old bad habits that these movies tend to have. Which isn't to say it's bad, really, since there's still lots of fun to be had watching an inebriated Will Smith breaking things. It just isn't everything it could be.

Super Wanted

2008-06-27T04:06:00.000-07:00

Wanted’s goal is terribly simple: let the bullets fly, let cars crash, let blood flow and let the audience just hang on for the ride. It’s not rocket science to be sure, but what they’ve created here is a beautiful mess of violence, and while the Wanted is littered with flaws, the film makes it easy to get swept away.

Wesley Gibson is a 25 year-old account manager who doesn’t have much of a life. His boss berates him constantly, he suffers from a repetitive stress disorder, and his girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend. But things change for him when a woman named Fox shows up one day, and tells him that his father was the greatest assassin who ever lived, and that Wesley had a greater destiny waiting for him. He joins the Fraternity of Assassins, a group of killers who live by fatalistic code. After enduring their incredibly tough training, Wesley goes on a quest to kill the man that killed his father. But not is all that is seems.

Fans of the comic will no doubt notice that the movie’s synopsis doesn’t exactly match up with the source material. But really, you have to let it go, because in some ways, this story’s a lot better. Mark Millar’s original work seemed more interested in shocking you rather than telling a strong tale. The movie really reins it in, keeping the spirit in a much tighter package. It’s not perfect by any means: the third act gets bogged down by a stretched out monologue that shouldn’t really have been happening, some plot elements are absurd, the use of voiceover is hit-and-miss, and there’s a gaping plot hole that you could drive a dump truck through. But you won’t really get a chance to think about that, because the film throws absolutely everything at you.

Timur Bekmambetov is an absolute master of violence, a mad genius at crafting action scenes. Years of movie watching have probably made you think that you’ve seen it all when it comes to action, but you’re wrong. Bekmambetov is the conductor of a mad orchestra of violence, playing a rather powerful symphony of killing people and blowing stuff up. It’s breathtaking, and at the end of some of the sequences, you may feel like giving a person beside a high five. Bekmambetov takes a lot of old tricks and uses them in new, inventive ways. Slow motion shouldn’t feel this new and exciting, but it does here. Through the use of it, he allows even the bullets to have a story.

But while the action is great, what really makes this movie tick is James McAvoy. This film, with so many ridiculous elements to it, really hinged on the abilities of its lead actor. Which is to say: they’re really lucky to have James McAvoy. He’s probably the best actor of his generation, and his performance as Wesley pretty much carries you through the film. Angelina Jolie spends the entire film pretty much just looking tough, and she does that well enough. Morgan Freeman’s performance is a bit unremarkable, and the rest of the cast aren’t given all that much to do.

Wanted isn’t the smartest film you’re going to see, but it’s certainly one of the most fun. It’s just so relentless, and at times, even exhilarating. The film just throws the most absurd things at you, and Bekmambetov somehow makes it work with enough panache that it just leaves you smiling. And McAvoy’s carrying of this film is quite impressive as well. If there was just a little more discipline in the scriptwriting, this could have been a perfect little summer flick. But even in its current, flawed form, it’s just a lot of fun waiting to be had.

Funny and Getting Smart

2008-06-19T03:29:00.000-07:00

Bringing a classic TV show to the cinema is no easy feat. Translating a show with the stature of Get Smart is an even more daunting task. This new remake approaches the problem by trying to hit audiences with a big, blockbuster feel. While not really capturing the spirit of the source material,Get Smart offers large explosions, good performances and big, easy laughs.

Maxwell Smart is an analyst who works for CONTROL, a secret spy organization devoted to protecting the world from terrorist threats. Max dreams of becoming a field agent, but he never gets the chance, despite being qualified. But when CONTROL is viciously attacked by a rival organization, they have no choice but to send their only qualified agent out into the field. Teamed up with the deadly and beautiful Agent 99, Max must use his unorthodox skills to thwart a deadly nuclear plot that could put the entire world in jeopardy.

There isn’t much to say about the plot. The script doesn’t really give us all that much to consider as it mostly speeds from one joke to the next. There is enough of a narrative to keep the film together, but it’s obvious from the get-go that the filmmakers wanted to focus on big joke pieces. And there are a lot of laughs in this film. However, it’s worth noting that the film takes a much simpler route to laughs than the show ever did. While the show worked by using wit and generally satirizing the entire spy business, this film goes much broader with slapstick and some toilet humor. It probably won’t concern most people, but it does feel a little easy.

The biggest problem with the film is that it veers a little too close to 2003’s Johnny English, which is strange considering the great well of ideas they already had access to with the original show. The film does try to give nods to its source material, and these little moments are often in a class of their own. To its credit, the film goes much, much bigger. Blending action and comedy is Peter Segal’s forte, and a couple of sequences in this film truly shine. There are a couple of odd flashbacks in the film that don’t really fit stylistically, but otherwise, the entire film moves quickly enough.

There is nothing to complain about in the acting department. Steve Carrell is the perfect choice to fill the shoe phone. It’s obvious how much he admires Don Adams, and his performance certainly reflects that. He does employ a lot of his own old tricks, and that can divide people. Anne Hathaway is a good choice for agent 99, with bright eyes filled with easy competence. Alan Arkin plays the Chief much tougher, but it’s hard to argue against such an immense talent. The supporting cast is filled with great comedic talents, and they all do their best to have you rolling in the aisles.

Get Smart is a terribly difficult movie to judge. It is certainly funny enough for people looking for an easy, breezy comedy, but fans of the show might be a tad disappointed. While the great talent involved will probably keep you entertained, it just doesn’t capture the magic that the old show brought. The TV show was a show with a distinctive sort of humor and style, and this film settles for the broad humor of modern comedies. Still, it’s hard to deny just how truly the film and its cast can really be. It at least deserves a mild recommendation.

Prince Caspian Always Wins

2008-06-15T02:44:00.000-07:00

Narnia 2 is a markedly different animal from the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It’s certainly brasher and much more action-oriented, moving at a much faster clip than the first film ever did. But all the speed came at a price, and while the film does deliver a few grand scenes, a lack of thoughtfulness and character development strip the film of all its magic.

The Pevensie children have now been living in London for a year, after having returned from being the high rulers of Narnia. They are having trouble adjusting to the normalcy of their day-to-day lives. They are suddenly called back to Narnia, where they find that thirteen hundred years have passed, and that the kingdom that they once ruled is in ruins. Narnia, it turns out, is now ruled by a ruthless usurper to the throne, the uncle to the rightful heir, Prince Caspian, who is now leading an army of Narnians to overthrow the corrupt rule. The Pevensie children must once again go into battle to help out Prince Caspian and bring back the balance in Narnia.

The script focuses mostly on delivering action, and it does it pretty decently. It moves at a pretty good pace, and it manages to keep one’s attention for most of its remarkably long runtime. It does this, though, at the expense of character development and thematic resonance. Maybe it’s a problem of the source material itself, but the Pevensie children don’t seem to have grown as characters, despite managing to age to adulthood and ruling a kingdom. There are also seeds of pretty powerful theme in here, but the script just isn’t up to tackling any of it. This story also suffers from a crippling reliance on an almost literal deus ex machina, although you can hardly fault the film for it, given the circumstances.

The film is directed by Andrew Adamson, who directed the first two Shrek movies. His background in animation shows, as the animated characters really steal the show in this film. He just gets inventive when dealing with his animated creations, often bringing more life and expression to the film than the actual living people. Past that, however, Andrews’ filmmaking is pretty unremarkable. While the production is pretty lavish, the filmmaking comes off as rather staid. They’re aiming for an epic, magical feel here, but it just doesn’t come through, leaving a pretty mundane feel to all of it.

The cast is a mixed bag. Of the Pevensie siblings, Edmund, played by Skandar Keynes, fares the best, obviously benefitting from having spent so much time with Tilda Swinton in the first film. Anna Popplewell does well enough as Susan, being just charming enough to keep your attention. William Mosely, who plays Peter, is unable to project the pathos that his character calls for. Georgie Henley seems content to just ham it up as Lucy, and it can get annoying. The best part of the cast is Peter Dinklage, who is just fantastic in everything he’s in.

When all is said and done, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is okay, but it’s hardly noteworthy. It suffers mostly when you consider that it’s a sequel, and while it does have some charms, it just doesn’t capture the same magic that the first movie had. There are a couple of really good action sequences in this film, but all the character stuff is terribly weak. And while good action can certainly perk up a movie watching experience, it’s ultimately the character stuff that’ll make you care. I suppose if you’re a fan of the books, this film is a foregone conclusion. If you’re a kid, you may get a kick out of it. For everyone else, other films have done it better.

Indytastic!!!

2008-06-15T02:41:00.000-07:00

Indiana Jones 4 has the odds stacked against it. It needs to, all at once, satisfy a rabid fanbase that’s been waiting for this film for nineteen years, introduce a character to a new generation that wasn’t born when the last film came out, and move the franchise’s timeline to a new status quo that takes into account the age of its primary actor. That’s a tall order for any film, and in many ways, this film didn’t stand the chance. Having said all that, however, this film is loads of fun, and while it doesn’t really live up to the rest of the franchise, it’s a rollicking good time.

It’s 1957, nineteen years after the events of The Last Crusade. America is in the middle of the Cold War. A greaser named Mutt Williams asks a recently fired Indiana Jones to help him decipher a letter sent to him by a mutual friend. The letter reveals the location of the Crystal Skull, which according to legend will grant great power to whomever returns it to its rightful place. Indy and Mutt travel to Peru to figure out the puzzle, only to find that the Russians are after the same prize, and that there is more to the legend than meets the eye.

On the surface, there’s a lot to like about this film. It has all the elements of an Indiana Jones picture: big fights, crazy stunts, treasure, a villain with an accent, deathtraps, and a pretty big mystery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go much deeper than that. The script is problematic, relying hard on big action-y moments to distract us from the lack of structure and character development. Throughout the entire film, you get a sense that you’re somehow missing something, like there’s a missing scene or a piece of dialogue that would help explain why we should care about certain characters or events. The film is littered with brief asides and disposable moments that only hint at the bigger picture that the film needed to paint.

But honestly, for the most part, you won’t be thinking about the script deficiencies. It’s Indiana Jones! He’s back! It’s hard to think about the weaknesses of the plot when Indy is jumping from one truck to another, punching out Communists. If there’s one thing this film got right, it’s the action. It’s all very exciting and very well done, capturing the high adventure feel of the earlier films. Spielberg definitely knows his stuff, and combined with the classic John Williams score, the charm is undeniable. It’s also worth noting that Spielberg brought Janusz Kaminski along to shoot this film, making this the prettiest film in the series.

Harrison Ford is still a great leading man, providing a charisma and a physicality that seems to be lacking in today’s stars. His Indiana Jones, while older, is still every bit the same action hero, and Ford seems to be having a great time playing him. Shia LeBeouf does a pretty decent job against Ford, but his character, Mutt Williams, isn’t really fleshed out enough to be a showcase for his skills. By far, Cate Blanchett is the best thing about this film. She makes a truly engaging villain, and you end up wanting to see more of her. It’s also a joy to see Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood again, and she seems to feel that joy, too. The cast also features stalwarts like Jim Broadbent and John Hurt, though their involvement is pretty minimal.

At times, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull feels like it started a punch line without giving us the joke. The film seems content to just get by on the strength of its property, without really giving us the meat that say, Raiders of the Lost Ark did. It’s a good thing, then, that the property really is that strong, and that Indiana Jones is still one of the best characters to ever grace the silver screen. And for all the script weaknesses, there’s enough skill behind the camera to distract you from all of it. My advice: turn off for a bit, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride. Just don’t expect it to be Raiders.

Unhappening...

2008-06-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

The Happening is somewhat of a test of M. Night Shyamalan. His last film, Lady in the Water, didn’t do so well, and his films before that mostly got by on the strength of his debut. People have really started to wonder if Shyamalan actually deserved his place in Hollywood. If people are basing their opinions solely on The Happening, then the answer is a resounding “no.”

One morning, people in Central Park suddenly start to behave rather strangely, resulting in quite a few deaths. In Philadelphia, Elliot is teaching his science class when they all get the news that Central Park may have been the target of a terrorist attack. People rush to leave the cities, all the while getting reports of more places being affected by the attack. We follow science teacher Elliot as he tries to figure out and escape the threat with his wife, Alma, who he’s recently been having some problems with, and his friend’s young daughter.

At times, while watching this film, I felt like a practical joke was being played on me. The concept is solid enough, and the central threat in this movie is one that is rarely explored. But the script isn’t really up to really fleshing out this threat, and it fails to at least make the threat consistent from scene to scene. Sometimes, when the threat reaches people, people die. Other times, people don’t die. At a couple of points in the film, a character speaks up and says that some things are acts of nature, and that we won’t ever understand them. This is just frustrating, lazy writing that we shouldn’t have to tolerate in this day and age. The characters are pretty weak altogether. Almost none of the characters talk like a normal person, and they all act pretty illogically. Besides that, the driving conflict between Elliot and Alma is just terribly weak.

Shyamalan’s filmmaking can be pretty off-putting. It feels like he’s trying a bit too hard in this one, giving his scenes a strange pace. To his credit, this approach leads to some very tense and effective horror and action sequences, but it also leads to a lot of clunky drama. Any scene with just two people talking feels a bit wrong. Tak Fujimoto’s cinematography feels a bit odd at points as well. There are a couple of sequences where it feels like the camera should have been in a completely different place.

This is a fairly strong cast, but the performances come off pretty weird, as well. Mark Wahlberg appears to have been told that teachers always talk like they’re talking to a class. Zooey Deschanel appears to have been instructed to simply act odd and confused all the time. John Leguizamo does well enough, comparatively, but he couldn’t save some of the film’s most terrible lines.

The Happening has a couple of good ideas, but ideas just don’t make a movie. You need a screenplay that does more than close its eyes and wish the plot holes away. While there are a couple of scenes in the movie that show a spark of imagination, the film mostly feels like a strangely pretentious and preachy B-movie. Given the level of talent associated with this film and its budget, that’s just unacceptable.

Hulkable Smash!!!

2008-06-14T02:33:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, 2003’s Hulk wasn’t really all that bad. It just wasn’t what people were expecting. It was a bit too heady, a little too stylistically alienating for an audience that only really wanted to see a big green guy smashing things. This new version, The Incredible Hulk set out to be the complete antithesis to the previous film. It goes a much easier route, providing pretty strong popcorn thrills and lots of explosions at the expense of any sort of complexity. It doesn’t make for the most inspired film, but one just can’t deny how fun it can all be.

The film begins with Bruce Banner hiding out in Brazil, learning techniques to control his anger and trying to find a permanent cure for his unfortunate condition. He is corresponding with a biologist back in the States, who is making promising strides toward eliminating the Hulk. General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross is still on Banner’s trail, and has teamed up with Emil Blonsky, a ruthless and fearless special-forces soldier who will do absolutely anything to gain the power to defeat the Hulk. Banner must travel back to his home, where the potential cure may be found, and his only love is still waiting for him.

Zak Penn’s script is at best, utilitarian. The story is very simple, and every scene is peppered with all the information that you might need to understand what’s going on. There isn’t a whole lot of subtlety, but the Hulk doesn’t really call for a lot of subtlety. The script mostly moves things along, moving Banner and the Hulk to where they need to be. Character development suffers a bit along the way, but this story is so easy to follow that people might not even notice.

For most people, it’ll come down to the action, and it just so happens that director Louis Leterrier is somewhat of an action prodigy. Best known for Transporter 2, Leterrier is an artist of destruction, and it really shows. His fights are brimming with energy, and a kinetic filmmaking style keeps up with all the movement. He’s able to convey the monstrous strength of the Hulk quite convincingly. Where he suffers is in the dramatic/romantic moments, where he has to fall back on some of the oldest tricks in the book. His use of the score in underlining every moment between Banner and Betty Ross gets pretty tiresome. It’s not particularly terrible, but it comes off pretty rote compared to his pretty stellar action scenes.

Edward Norton does well enough as Bruce Banner. He’s taking his cue from the Bill Bixby version of Banner from the television series, and it’s an effective, if a bit familiar approach. Liv Tyler doesn’t fare as well. It’s difficult not to compare her to Jennifer Connelly, who played Betty in the 2003 film. Connelly’s a far better actress. Liv Tyler only really has one trick: when she needs to say something important, she whispers it. By far, the best thing about this cast is Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky. As Blonsky, Roth is a heady, complex mix of arrogance and desperation. He steals every scene he’s in.

I think it’s fair to say that this version of the Hulk aimed much lower than the previous film. It stuck to the very basics, avoiding all the psychological hoodoo that can bog down (or alternately, elevate) a Hulk story. The end result is a film that isn’t particularly deep. But people mostly want to see Hulk smash, and in this way, the film delivers. There’s enough Leterrier madness and geek love in here to help people ignore the weaknesses of the script. While not nearly as strong as Marvel Studios’ first outing, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk is still pretty strong popcorn fun.

Kung Pow Panda!!!

2008-06-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

KUNG FU PANDA is a great movie this 2008. I most concentrate more on reviews than writing on my own life. So enjoy!!!

Everything you need to know about Kung Fu Panda is in its title: there’s kung fu in it, and there’s a panda in it. If that isn’t enough to get you rushing into the theater, you obviously have no heart. But to be serious for a moment, Kung Fu Panda is an absolute joy to watch. Fast, funny, and full of heart, this film is probably the best Dreamworks animated feature yet.

Po is a lazy, clumsy panda who works at his father’s noodle shop, but dreams of becoming a kung fu master. He gets his chance when he accidentally gets chosen to become the Dragon Warrior, a warrior destined to gain unlimited power and defend the town from Tai Lung, an evil snow leopard obsessed with getting revenge with the people who imprisoned him. Po receives lessons from Master Shifu, an old kung fu master who has trained the greatest warriors of the land. But while Po is eager, he shows no skill, and Master Shifu doesn’t quite believe in Po’s greater destiny. With Tai Lung quickly heading to the village, the two must overcome their issues and find the secrets of the very heart of kung fu.

It’s your basic clumsy-loser-discovers-he’s-the-chosen-one story, a pretty familiar trope, but a fitting one for a movie so rooted in a long tradition of films. They make their intention pretty obvious, as the film works as a loving tribute to classic kung fu films. There are bits of Five Deadly Venoms, a little bit of Drunken Master, just a touch of 36th Chamber of Shaolin. But beyond the tribute aspect, the script is also surprisingly tight and remarkably clever at points. The film relies heavily on visual gags, but it doesn’t waste them, strangely managing to tie even the silliest together in the end.

The animation is gorgeous. The problem with most Dreamworks animated features is that they often don’t really have any style. They look good on a technical level, but often fail to portray any sort of artistic vision. Kung Fu Panda finally bucks that trend, giving us visuals that are most than just technically proficient. The film uses a sparser style that helps give emphasis to the action. And there’s a lot of good action in here, too. There are limitations to martial arts that can pretty much be ignored in animation, and what we end up getting are some of the craziest fight scenes ever put to film.

This is a pretty good voice cast. Jack Black as Po the Panda is just common sense. He completely shines through the character, constantly entertaining and just endlessly funny. Dustin Hoffman is a bit of a strange choice for Master Shifu, but he does a fine job here. Ian McShane as Tai Lung is just plain genius, as no one does evil like McShane does. The rest of the voice cast turns up some pretty surprising names, like James Fong, Seth Rogen, Angelina Jolie, and Jackie Chan. They don’t get nearly as much time as Black or Hoffman, but they do well with what little they have.

Dreamworks Animation has kind of always been the runner up in animated features. They’ve produced some pretty good films, but none of them have even come close to anything that Pixar has ever done. Kung Fu Panda, however, is a somewhat different story. While it would probably be hyperbole to say that it matches up with the gold standards like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo, it certainly does put up quite a challenge with a lot of clever little bits and a ton of heart. This film is just tons of fun for anyone. And really: kung fu and panda. What more do you need?