the host, babel & the devil wears prada

Wow. The Host was actually disappointing. I came expecting one of the best monster movies in a while. While it is entertaining, it just doesn't offer enough suspense and tension to go against other movies like it. Jaws and Jurassic Park come to mind. Stephen Spielberg sets up the mood and doesn't show the beasts until half way and towards the end of the movie. The suspense in those movies are intense. In The Host, you already see the creature within 15 minutes of the starting credits which leaves an hour and thirty minutes to fill in. The only moment I loved in the film was when the creature first appeared to the public because the chaos was freaking awesome. Just imagine that happening to you. Fuck. I'm going to run like crazy. I first started to see the lack of focus in this film in the opening where the movie shows how the creature came to be........by dumping gallons of a toxic chemical into the river. Talk about a stupid intro. What I cringed at the most was the unneeded comic relief which was horribly played out by the actors. If the production team took this movie more seriously, then it would have been a great film.

It's an enjoyable movie, but far from the greatness I thought it would be.

*****

As for Babel, I don't know why Daniel hates this film. I thought it was okay, but I'm seriously tired of these "I'm connected to you" type of films. What confused me the most was the Japanese storyline towards the end. The daughter says she saw her mother jump from a balcony, but the dad says she shot herself. And there is no explanation between why they say different things. It's so odd. The Mexican storyline and Moroccan storyline had definite conclusions which I liked to see. There is one thing that confused me. Brad Pitt tells the nanny that she could see her son in his wedding, then a couple of scenes later, he tells her that she can't. WTF? Brad Pitt gives the first phone call in distress, but the viewer doesn't get to see when the second call was made and why Pitt's character seemed angry in the second call.

This is why one storyline is better than several.

******

The Devil Wears Prada

Well, you wouldn't expect me to watch this movie, but Daniel said it was good, so I went ahead and watched. The story is cliche to the max, but goddamn, Anne Hathaway. Yeah. She's hot.

thanksgiving break

It was a pretty enjoyable week, and for some reason, I was so exhausted. On the first weekend, it was still pretty good. I got some gaming in and cleaned out my hdd. Then when I hit the weekdays, goddamn. I woke up around 10/11am because I told myself that I didn't have anything to do. Shooting Daniel's movie took one day and for the next day, we had to return it. But the crazy thing is after we returned it, I went back to sleep until around 4pm. Then I just played the rest of the day. So, it already becomes Thursday, Thanksgiving. We had some great food. Of course, Tita Perla would dish out her trash dishes, the ones where she just throws together ingredients and hopes for the best. I do like her food from time to time, but I have to be so cautious in eating them because it is so sloppily made. I found several bones in her casserole. If she had a restaurant, it would totally be a one star business. So, Thanksgiving ended and Black Friday came. Mama and Papa were out, and I woke up around 11am. I had already finished Bully, and didn't know what to play next since most of the games I have are RPGs. I was bored, period. So I started to do a bit of school work just to ease the boredom.

Later on, I got bored with that and just started to watch regular television. The cable reception has gotten to the point where digital cable seems reasonable. I'm thinking that Comcast is intentionally crapping out the analog signal for people to go on their digital service. I couldn't blame them since digital cable is a godsend. They have dozens and dozens of shows and movies to watch on demand. You can never get bored. Anyways, Heroes was sweet in HD. I was quite pissed to see that the preview from the previous episode just encompassed the final minutes of the show, but quite relieved that things are finally moving. And no Niki. Yay!

As for movies, I saw both Casino Royale and The Fountain during the break. Both are exceptionally well made movies. Casino Royale finally has a Bond that isn't sexually active with STDs and The Fountain, well, that just rocked my brain. I got some of the movie right, but most of my explanations are wrong. But that is the great thing that this movie does that not a lot do, it encourages discussion and thought. My thoughts of the movie is totally different from another person's thoughts of what happened. That is a great thing. It's not like Casino Royale where all people say, "Damn, that was great." Nothing more. But to The Fountain, there is so much more. The ideas of the desperation of losing a loved one, the idea of living forever, realizing that every moment has a meaning.....it all comes up as a topic to think about and discuss with others. It's a love it/hate it film, and I absolutely love it.

now that the craziness is over

Okay. My PS3 fever has passed, and I'm now patient to get one in about a year. Moving along, I just watched one of the best movies of the year:

Children of Men

I didn't know what to expect from this movie. I saw the trailer and said, "Seems like an interesting concept." What I didn't know how pulled in I'll be cautiously thinking, "Shit, don't let go of the girl." This movie is filled with suspense. You don't know what is going to happen next.

As for the characters, Clive Owen plays a cliched man who lost his roots, blah, blah, blah. While his character is cliched, he gives a great performance. His character's life is always at the brink of danger, yet he never breaks down until a critical point in the movie. From the trailer, I thought the girl would not know any English and be like a stupid chick, but she is far from that. She was born into that world not knowing certain things due to the events around them. So, it was interesting to see it from that perspective. Michael Caine plays this delightful hippie. You'll get a laugh from him once or twice. Anyways, I don't want to go into detail on the other charaters. I just want to say that it was wonderfully played out by the actors.

You have great "end of the world" imagery, wonderful acting, wonderful cinematography (I just love the chaotic shots).....it all sums up to a great movie that needs to be seen.

its here

The Sony Playstation 3 is going to be in people's hands once it reaches midnight. Fucking crazy. I don't know why I said that yesterday, but I'm an ass. I want one. I WANT A PS3!!! Dammit. I hate my computer. Screw my computer. I can't even play games on it because my videocard isn't good. Shit!

I want a 360. I want a PS3. I want to play Twilight Princess. Damn. I wish I had another hobby.

the insanity

The PS3 has launched in Japan last week and will launch in two days for North America. It's total chaos. I can't believe people are sitting in the rain & cold just for a system. I applaud them for their courage, but I have to say that they are pretty stupid. They just want to say "I'm an early adopter". Who gives a fuck? I've been reading and listening to a lot of podcasts that say that getting a PS3 at launch is pretty useless since there are not a lot of games that warrant a purchase. Lots of assumed launch games got pushed back like Oblivion and FEAR. So was Motorstorm and several others. It's better to wait and check what it has to offer down the road. Get a Wii or 360. Wii for Zelda and 360 for some great titles like Gears of War or the sleeper hit Viva Pinata.

Don't get me wrong. I want one too, but Sony was so retarded to make a ridiculous promise. Why can't a company make a huge allocation before dropping a release date? Shit. It is not brain science. Make two million systems before making a press event discussing the release date.

******

School was horrible again. It's due to this freaking test. I had those tests where you take it, then right after you hand it in, I'm like "SHIT! That's how I should have answered it." Yeah. Accounting sucks.

******

I just got Empire Strikes Back in 720p. It's the retard edit (not the super retard edit of Return of the Jedi), but goddamn, they look stunning for such old films.

:)

I don't care what you think, but I love the first 30 seconds of the Simpsons trailer (which looks amazing in 1080p by the way). I don't know why, but I think it is due to my love for rabbits. The way it was animated is hilarious.

i'm liberated

I finished Killzone Liberation and it hasn't been a week since I owned it. I was really frustrated with this game, and I really wanted to enjoy it. The frustration was just too much. There are only two boss battles, but they are close to impossible to beat. It took me 5 hours to figure out how to kill out one boss. What I couldn't figure out was that there was another ammo box is the bottom left corner of the screen. Now you are asking yourself, "Why didn't you see it you dumbass?" That is the problem. I couldn't see it because the camera wasn't in my favor. You have this ridiculous isometric camera which doesn't let the player see anything nor can you adjust it. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was probably one of the best designed action games on the PSP. You can adjust your camera, switch firing modes, switch weapons, they have cover that actually works. That game was close to perfection. Killzone Liberation has nothing of that. For a game that relies on cover, it does a shitty job since you can still get hit in cover. This game should only be $30 instead of the $40 I paid for it. I even had more fun with Metal Gear Acid.

Anyways, I can't wait to be playing on my Playstation 2 when I get home this Friday. Guitar Hero II, Final Fantasy XII, God Hand, Okami, Bully, etc, just so many games to try out before I go back to school.

As for school, I just spent 5 hours coding css and odbscript. Pretty sweet stuff. I might implement some of the things I learned on my journal.

ps3 sounds really nice

So the Japanese PS3 was recently released with only six days left for the North American launch. It's pretty amazing what news is released after it goes on sale. A japanese website has already dismantled the system. There is a PS2 chipset so no software emulation for PS2 games. The hdd is cool because you can remove the one installed with the system and put your own 2.5" SATA drive. You can hook up a 3.5" drive, but it won't be able to fit. Anyways, I'm getting impressed by the PS3 by the day.

I didn't get a chance to watch a movie this weekend. Nothing to see really. I wanted to check out Stranger Than Fiction, but it was not available at my theatre.

So Daniel called me up and said if I wanted to be in his movie. I said okay. It's about the attack of the deli meats. I really hope Daniel could pull it off because it would be nice to see a movie filmed by an actual camera. Because our camcorder sucks major ass.

wonderful days

The days are getting more stressful by the day. I just received my Economics test back and I got an 84%. I'm quite depressed about it actually because I could have avoided missing two questions if I read it carefully. See, everytime I take a test, I either blank out or rush through it. It doesn't help that the questions look exactly like the study guide questions. It's an 84%, a B, not the good and almighty A. But I was quite pleased with the grade for our presentation, a 97%. I thought I bombed, but it turned out really well.

I just received Killzone Liberation for the PSP and I'm really disappointed with it. It's not the game I thought it would be.

So after playing an hour or so, I went back to studying for my ITK372 class. When I was taking the test, I was blanking out again and it could be for the worse, because I had to guess for two questions. I hope I didn't do that badly.

After the exam, I got to catch a couple of my friends for dinner. See, I don't really eat with friends at all. I'm a loner if you don't already know, so it was a nice change of pace. I didn't talk at all like always which is the norm if you know me. It's nice having a group of friends. It was funny because one of them calls me Silent Bob which I don't mind since I don't talk at all.

Can you believe in a month my brother is going to be in the Philippines? Makes me regret not buying a ticket, lol. My god, I wonder how the hell I'm going to live alone with my dad. That is going to be so awkward.

my brain

I really think something is wrong with me. I don't know if it is due to mary jane from years ago or the alcohol, but I'm really screwed up. Take for example, it is 7:30am in the morning and I'm trying to remember something, and I can't. I'm frustrated for several hours, but then I have class. Then during class, I remember. How the fuck does that happen? I play video games, but later on when I try to explain it, I can't remember any of the character's names or the story. It is the same thing with movies. I can't remember shit. My conversation usually is "Ummm....you know that movie with that guy who kills that woman?" It's so retarded.

Bah, I hope it doesn't happen again. It's just so frustrating. Meanwhile, I'm quite obsessed with the guitar in Sting's "Shape of My Heart". I have no idea why I wanted to hear it. See, its weird. Why would I want to listen to a song I haven't heard since the last time I watched the Leon the Professional which was years ago?

love for my psp

I've finally beaten Metal Gear Acid. I've got to say, at first I didn't like the whole tactics thing because it was so confusing. For the first hour or so, I didn't know how to equip weapons and the manual was pretty limited in how to do it. But after playing for several more hours, I caught on and pretty much went step by step though the levels completing each one. You are supposed to go stealhily through the stages, but without the proper cards, it is pretty much impossible. So, you are forced to pretty much kill everybody which I enjoyed. If there is one thing I dislike about the game, it is how the cards show up randomly and you can't order them. I barely beat Metal Gear because of this. I had wasted my Stinger and sniper cards, and I thought all hope was lost. But behold! A sniper card came up for the final blow. If that card didn't show up, I would have smashed my PSP. The fucking sniper rifle from MGS3 was supposed to do the deed, but the single bullet missed. Fucking shit I tell you. Anyways, it was a fun game. It had a creative story that reminded me of Akira, and Solid Snake still kicks ass in tactics form.

So shortly after beating the game, I bought two games. Metal Gear Acid 2 and Killzone Liberation. I had received my rebate check from Adaptec so money wasn't as issue. I can't wait for these games to arrive.

cavite

I heard some good things about this movie. After seeing the piles of garbage that the Philippines released (I'm looking at you Gagamboy and the holy grail of crap, Agimat), they finally have a good movie that isn't some cheap drama that my aunts and my mom would watch. It's a good movie, but not great. The Philippines isn't there yet.

Cons of Cavite:

• There was this one moment of the film that was so puzzling. There were subtitles, but the scene was focusing on something else. I think the filmmakers tried to do something new, but I thought it was a horrible decision.
  
• The cinematography was quite poor. You get some typical handycam shots, and they used the overused effect of having the camera on the guys face. I don't understand why the camera has to be so shaky. This isn't WWII. Horrid alleyways. I know the director and the writers tried to show the undeveloped side of the Philippines, but goddamn, they could have showed some economic development. It was so depressing to see.
  
• The main actor sucks. He can't swear and can't act for shit. The character is fucking retarded.
  
• Why the hell are people staring into the camera? This just breaks the suspense of watching this guy go through parts of the Philippines.
  
• I didn't like the whole Phone Booth aspect of it.
  
• It's fucking letterboxed. Learn how to master your films in widescreen. Goddamn. It's already 2006. You use a digital camera and still can't put a film in actual widescreen on the DVD. Shit. If I can do it with a personal computer, you can do it too.
  

Yeah, even with all those cons, its still one of the better Filipino movies out there. I would still love to see a Filipino movie that looks like it was made with a big budget. You know, the ones that Americans and the REST OF THE WORLD makes. Iran and Brazil has better looking films. The Philippines can do it too. Or is it because they are lazy?

That is why my brother is going to be an awesome sound designer. He is going to bring that knowledge and shove it into the Philippine movie industry because they clearly still don't know how to do post audio processing (the effect of why 100% of Filipino movies sound like they were filmed in the 70s).

borat

Wow. Just wow. This movie is possibly one of the funniest movies in a decade.

the wait is killing me

I don't know why, but I'm so hyped for the release for the new systems the PS3 and the Wii. The PS3 system looks amazing, the games look amazing, it has Blu-Ray, it is what I fucking what. As for the Wii, I like it only because it has the virtual console and because it can play Gamecube games. I'm like Cartman in the recent South Park episode.

I'm still depressed that I don't have my PS2. I have 12 games on hold if you know what I mean. PC games are good, but they get boring after a while. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my PSP. I finally understand the mechanics of Metal Gear Acid and will beat the game on the weekend. I can buy Killzone: Liberation now. Oh yeah, I did purchase Capcom Classics Collection Remixed. Awesome collection that will keep you busy when you are bored. I'm currently playing Knights of the Round which is one of my favorite beat-em-ups. I want to get the first PSP collection, but the game list seems a bit weak with the exception of Final Fight. Anyways, I'm still gaming.

Movie-wise, I'm enjoying HD. Once you go HD, you'll never go back to DVDs. Watching Star Wars Episode III in 1080 is just jaw dropping. I'm currently getting Spiderman 2 which from the screenshots look amazing. 1MB/sec is very nice.