Filipina Fashion

It's interesting how the Filipina tends to have a 'uniform' every now and then. From the classic Baro't Saya to today's green pants and white top that looks a little bit like the one on the left.

Almost every Filipina (I said almost every, I didn't say all) wears that outfit, clothing combination, or whatever you might call it, may she be a child, teen, young adult, adult, old, really old, stout, skinny, sexy... It must be the Emo clothing influence. The tight fitting pants and the green is kind of the hints. Of course there are other variations to thins get-up. Green pants are sometimes taken place by blue or pink but with the same fit.

I wonder what 'uniform' the Filipina would be having in the next few years.

Quantum of Solace

I beleive it's the 22nd installment of the Jame Bond fanchise. Daniel Craig's "version" of Jame Bond is, for me, maybe the best one in years. This and the previous Bond movie is more story-driven; the intrigue and the mystery. I like it. Pierce's "version" was more on the technology and the action, and it had the motto, "good vehicle chases, good movie."

Some of the more action-oriented people of the masses might not like this James Bond movie. I'd recommed you watch the older Bond movies than this one. Otherwise, see this movie. You'll like it. I did.

Eagle Eye

At first, i thought, "Man. This terrorist group sure is organized. How in the world could they do something like this? Unless it's the government." Well, I was wrong. It was a freakin' computer. No wonder the execution was so well organized. Sugoi. And the killings, too.

The movie is fast and action-packed with a few twists and turns every now and then. Enough spoilers.

Shia LaBeouf is really getting the good roles lately.

I'd recommend this movie to everyone. Well, maybe not to the critics.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

I saw this movie on my way from Tuguegarao. That's right; on a bus. It's not the best of effects considering the copy's pirated. However, I was more after the movie's story.

Rick O'Connel and wife, and son... Yup. The boy who 'released' the Scorpion King also unearthed the Dragon Emperor. Spoiler. But then again, most of you may have seen it already. With almost two hours of running time, the story went from China, to the Himalayas and back to China. There was a lot of undead fighting... Zombies. Well, not really. More of Mummies. But not really. More of clay and bones.

As far as I was concerned, and as Comic Book Guy would say, "Worst Mummy movie ever."

Conclusion of Dune

At long last the story ends... that's one hell of a long story. I remember when I wrote, 'It's not a Dune Novel if Duncan Idaho isn't in it.' Or something like that. Of course that doesn't include those where he wasn't born, yet. Anyway. Duncan Idaho is the Final Kwisatz Haderach. I never would have thoght of that. Though ghola's of Paul and Leto II were there, they weren't the Final ones.

It was pretty exciting for me, at least. There were the gholas of the prominent characters; of course, Duncan Idaho, Miles Teg (more of a clone), The Tyrant Leto II, Lady Jessica, Alia, Liet-Kynes and Stilgar, Chani, Two Paul Atreidieses (one is more of a clone), Barron Harkonnen, Doctor Yueh, Tufir Hawat, and the almost completed gholas of Gurney Halleck, Serena Butler and Xavier Harkonnen. There was also the creation of the Seaworms, which produces more potent spice known as ultraspice.

It didn't really end with a big bang. It's more of a.. how should I say it?... A "mental / intellectual" ending. Read it for yourself.

That brings the story 15000 Standard Years in length... at least. With 15 books... at least. With the coming of the Heroes of Dune trilogy, that would be 18 Dune novels. And there might be more to come. The good thing is we already know how everything started and ended. At least as far as the Final Kwisatz Haderach.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

A Lot of Movies Over the Weekend

So it's been a while since I saw a movie. What did I do? I watched a lot of 'em through the weekend. Actually, five of them.

Let's start with Wanted.

This stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman. Neat-o cast so far. The plot: A freternity of assassins who keeps the balance. They get the names of their targets through binary code hidden in fabrics. Interesting. James is the newbie. Angelina is the veteran. Morgan is the boss. There are tiwsts and turns in the movie and the narration is quite ammusing. "What have you been doing, loser?"

Neat tricks with the curving bullet. Some might not like the ending just because the assassins die at the end. That includes Jolie but not the main guy, McAvoy. Yes, Freeman dies, too. Spoiler.

Next up would be the comedy movie, You Don't Mess With the Zohan.

This is one of Adam Sandler's happy-go-lucky movies. He just usually goes with what he has and never really thinks of what might come out of it.

This stars his usual cast of characters. Yes, Rob Schneider is here. He always is in every Sandler movie.

The plot: The best Israeli counter-terrorist has a dream of becoming a hair dresser. And his arch-enemy, Phantom, the Palestinian terrorist, played by John Turturro, has a dream of becoming a shoe salesman. Quite unique.

Overall, it's a funny movie. But I'd only watch it once.

Next is the attempt to put into shame the super-hero genre. Well, not real shame, but to give a human side to it. Hancock. As far as I'm concerned, giving a human side to super-heroes was done in Spider-Man.

This stars Will Smith as the super-hero, Hancock. Not his real name.

The plot: He's not really the most responsible super-hero. He does more damage than good. And he doesn't give a f*** what people think. Yeah.

However great the plot is, it fell short in the story-telling department. The story went from A to B in the blink of an eye. Not much there.

Next is Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Well, not exactly Verne's version. This is modern and the people in the movie, all three of them refers to the book. The book is more of their map.

Brendan Fraser is starting to become a houshold name when it comes to adventure movies. With the string of The Mummy moveis and this one, he's like a modern Harrison Ford.

The effects were so-so and the story quite fast. Well, there were really just three of them for the most part of the movie. It got a little bit boring as it went on with just the journey in and out of the Earth.

Finally, The Increadible Hulk.

Interestingly, this movie follows the movie, Hulk. However, it does not exactly pick-up where the last movie left off. Hey. It may be a stand-alone move altogether even without the previous one. Heck, the entire cast is even new. No Erick Bana, no Jennifer Connelly, and no Sam Elliot. Now there's Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, and William Hurt.

Comparing with the previous movie in terms of story, this one's a tad bit better. The effects, this is newer so this is better. Story's still fast like the last one. Overall, they're both pretty much the same.

I like the clincher at the end though. Tony Stark, Iron-Man, with Ross. Does this hint a team-up to capture the Hulk or does it hint the formation of the Avengers? We'll know in time.

There you go. Five movies over the weekend. . . That's quite a lot.

Juken Sentai Gekiranger Vs. Power Rangers Jungle Fury Part 2

Wow. . . A whole month without an entry. Almost two months if I didn't put this one up. Just busy, I guess.

I may have have said 'kudos' to PR Jungle Fury on its first few episodes, giving the US version a wee bit of original touches. Everything would have been nice until I saw the episode where they turn into Jungle Fury version of Super Gekiranger. Seriously. You'll get yourself a Super Geki-Claw when you battle your inner fears. It would have been a lot better if the Masters would have given them the Claws.

Next up. The arrival of the Wolf and Rhino Rangers. The wolf's entry was better than the rhino's. I guess the Power Ranger franchise still can't get enough of its "copying". Neil Patrick Harris look-a-like, Rhino Ranger, did the same trick Ken (Geki Chopper) did in Gekirangers, an orange blade from his fingers.

Some say that Power Rangers are better than Super Sentai maybe bacause it's the second time around and some bumps are buffed. I beg to differ. Or maybe because a lot more people understand English than Japanese. This makes more sense. I've said it before and I'll say it again. One thing's for sure. There would be no Power Rangers without Super Sentai.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

After a very long time, another Indiana Jones film has come. Everyone thought that the Last Cruisade would be the last one. Well, here's the fourth.

This fourth installment of the series is more of a combination of quite a few legends, old and urban. Let's see; El Dorado, Area 51, Ancient civilizations (which is always the case)... You get the picture. The Nazis are no longer the antagonists considering that WWII is over. Now, the cold war. Vis a vis, Russians with their research on the paranormal as weapons (like the Nazis).

Ford still stars as Indiana Jones. It wouldn't be the same if it's not him. Shia LaBeouf, the Transformers lead man, also stars as Indiana's son. Yup, that's right, son. Kate Blanchett stars as the villainess.

The CGI of the movie is a wee bit overdone. I mean they could have at least made it look more "realistic" rather than CGI-looking. You know what I mean. But the puching sound effects sound like the old Indie films. Overall, the fans would love this new installment but I guess the geeks might not really like it. I mean they are so critical that they point out each and every detail that is out of place.

We'll see if there would be a fifth. Enjoy.

Oh my Tortillos

This entry is not really a review but more of a commentary. But then again, it is entitled Canned Thoughts so here are some of my thoughts.

Lately, URC has purchased the Granny Goose brand. That includes my favorite snack ever, Tortillos. Hey, I am a URC employee but I've been a Tortillos fan ever since I was a kid. There's no way I'm replacing that with a mediocre, Taquitos.

Now that Tortillos is owned by URC, what will happen to it? Will it get bad. I don't know. I sure hope not. If Tortillos does bad and would eventually taste as bad as Taquitos, then I'm sorry. I'm still not switching to Taquitos. I guess It's time for me to switch to potato chips. I heard Eaji Potato Chips are good.

Sorry URC, I may keep trade secrets but no way I'm patronizing mediocre snacks... I am for C2 though. That I like.

Iron Man

Iron Man. The latest Marvel Super-Hero to grace the big screen. Next up would be The Incredible Hulk. I think the Hulk deviated a wee bit from the first movie, with a new cast and all. But enough about the Hulk, we're here for Iron Man.

If you don't know about Iron Man, try the search engines. They'll give you a lot about Iron Man as a topic. Anyway, the movie is not really about how Iron Man kicks butt (and he does) but how Tony Stark's eyes are opened to the reality of what he has done. Reaping what he sowed. It's more of a self-realization kind of thing. It doesn't have that inner dark-self that Spider-Man 3 had.

As for special and visual effects... Pretty nice. It has the Transformers kind of feel; The shine on the metal.

The movie was witty for the normal movie goer. I'd recommend you see it.

Dexter in the Dark

I consider myself a fan of the Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series. It has a wonderful premise and it's witty.

In this third installment, Dexter kinda lost his "shadow"; the Dark Passenger. The Dark Passenger was scared out of its wits. Dexter lost his cool. He now felt emotions. He felt fear.

It was a little bit of a let down. Take note, I said a little bit. In addition to the first person perspective of Dexter, there were other perspectives in the novel. I think there were three; Dexter's, the Watcher, and the narrator, written in italics.

It also had a feel of the supernatural. It says that Dexter's Dark Passenger came from a supernatural entity and not psychological. Psychological would have been a lot better.

All in all, it was still entertaining.

PB Phils... see the pic

What can I say? I bought myself a copy of the Philippine version of Playboy; May 2008 issue. I can't say much about it. It pretty much bored me. It came short on the visual department, not to mention the content department as well, the lay-out could do some more work, too. It wasn't worth the Php 199 I spent for it.

FHM is still the better one.

Don't get all excited with the magazine title. There's not much Playboy Philippines could offer that FHM already has. But then again, they're still in their second issue. There's still a long way to go. Maybe they'll live up to their title come a year.

Mythbusters

The Mythbusters. A show on the Discovery channel that tests the validity of the stuff that's been going around. May it be a rumor, a belief, an urban legend, and other what nots.

This show stars Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, both special effects specialists.

I first saw an episode of this on one of my travels, in my hotelroom. Being that I don't have cable at home, I am only able to watch this during one of my trips. This one has become one of my favorite TV shows.

Give it a try and watch an episode. You might like it.

The Invasion

The Invasion stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

I didn't see this on the big screen, just on DVD. A friend of mine told me that it got her scared. Scarier than I Am Legend. Well, I Am Legend was a wee bit disturbing but not all that scary. I watched The Invasion in the hopes that it is scarier than I Am Legend.

Anyway, the movie wasn't that scary. It was more of a combination of those biological-apocalyptic themed movies like I Am Legend, Resident Evil, 28 Days/Weeks Later, and the like. But its the melowed down version. It's more like the Bodysnatchers if you asked me.

All in all. The movie's not that bad. It's pretty much ok to pass the time when you have nothing else to do on a weekend and a little bit on the lazy side.

CPDRC do Haruhi Suzumiya Dance... OMG!

Do you guys remember the "Thriller" dance done by the inmates of CPDRC? Yes, that ever famous video. They did a whole lot of dance numbers after that. They also became world famous. Not to mention, a following. Other prisons seem to have followed in their footsteps. Not just prisons, you have the police academy doing dance routines as well.

I heard they are now a tourist attraction. Good going.

Now, have you seen or hear of the Hare Hare Yukai? Hmm... The Haruhi Suzumiya Dance. At the end of Haruhi Suzumiya, they do a dance. It's been very famous lately. Especially in the anime and cosplay community.

Now, you guessed it. Unexpected as it may seem, the CPDRC inmates did their own rendition of the Hare Hare Yukai:





I was surprised myself...

I wonder what they would do next...

[N.B. Embeded video may not play or may not work on office computers. Hehehe]

Hard Gay

Razor Ramon Sumitani. Also known as Hard Gay.

This guy is sooo damn funny.

Hard Gay is Masaki Sumitani, a wrestler and a comedian. He's real name (geez, another identity) is actually Heitor Shigeru. You can read more about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Gay.

Anyway. I first heard of Hard Gay at the Hataw Hanep Hero of 2007. Yup, there was a cosplayer in Hard Gay costume and he was pretty famous. Then I saw him again at the Ozine Fest of 2008. So that got me curious on who Hard Gay really is.


Again I say. He's sooo damn funny.

Here's the first video of him that I saw...



He's just funny. HOOOOOO!

<N.B. Some of you may not be able to view the embeded video from YouTube. And by that I mean you people in their offices. Hehehe.>

The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom... The first time Jackie Chan and Jet Li come together in a movie.

How should I start? As far as I'm concerned, I have been waiting for this movie. I mean this is huge; Jackie Chan and Jet Li. But I can't say much about the story. It was very simple and straightforward. Hey, they were probably after the masses. There were a little surprises though... Some wee bit predictable surprises. But surprises and twists aren't the reason why I watch Jackie Chan movies. I watch them because of the action, the funny moments, and the use-the-environment fighting style.

As modern times come and give us great technology, the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" kind of movies get better and better.

Anyway, the story is about the Monkey King. Yup, that's right. Son Goku. For those of you who don't know. Son Goku is the Monkey King.

Those who are fans of either Jackie Chan or Jet Li or both, you might want to see this movie. It's good. For those who are looking for movies that make the mind work, this isn't the movie for you.

Juken Sentai Gekiranger VS Power Rangers Jungle Fury

As many of us already know, The Power Rangers' version comes right after the Super Sentai version. This year's Power Ranger title, Jungle Fury, is from the Super Sentai series, Juken Sentai Gekiranger.

I consider Gekiranger to be one of my favorites, another would be Gosei Sentai Dairanger. Both almost have the same team. Almost. Both are based on martial arts techniques. And take note on both Sentai's roll call. Sugoi.

Tonikaku. I'm not much of a Power Ranger watcher but I do watch key episodes; the special ones. It's the first time I've seen major differences between the Super Sentai and Power Ranger versions:

First, different morphers. The Gekirangers use the Gekichangers, placed on their hands. They look like knuckle weapons when they make a fist. Maybe that's why they are The Beast Fist Taskforce. However, the Jungle Fury Rangers use Solar Morphers, morphers in the form of sunglasses. Second: The roll call. So far the Power Rangers' roll call are quite short and lack the 'flashyness' of its Super Sentai counterpart.

I have to give credit to the Power Rangers Jungle Fury for making an effort in changing some points in the series. It's like the original Power Rangers of long ago. But, I'm still putting my hats out to the Super Sentai. Without them, there would be no Power Rangers.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter

Where would I be without this wonderful, wonderful novel. Well, not many people would like it; especially the passive ones. But this is a very entertaining read. I only came across this book when I was browsing through National Book Store. I read the synopsis, bought a copy. Now I've read the 2nd novel; Dearly Devoted Dexter.

This book is written by Jeff Lindsay. It's about a serial killer who kills serial killers; Dexter Morgan. That alone got me hook, line, and sinker.

The kills were described so wonderfully. Bodies sliced up and neatly disposed of. No blood. Gift wrapped. Wait, there's more. The second book describes living slabs of meat; bodies cut up; no limbs, no lips, no teeth, no ears, no nose, no eyelids, but alive.

I know what you're thinking. "These books are sick!" Well, they would be for most people but for me it's witty. It's catchy. And I like it.

Like I said, it's not for many people. It's witty and suspenseful. You should give it a read even if it's just the first book.

Jumper

Anakin Skywalker is back. Oh, alright. It's not really Anakin. It's only Hayden Christensen.

This movie is about people who have the ability to teleport to enywhere they wanted. Much like the way Nightcrawler does but with out the puff off brimstone. These teleporting people are, as the movie suggests, called Jumpers. They are hunted by Paladins. And they have been on it for a very long time.

Paladins are ordinary humans with a credo that "Only God should be at many places at once." Thus, all Jumpers should die. Big boss Paladin is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Yup. Kick ass. War against good and evil. Only, you don't really know who's good and who's evil. There was no clear cut definition who.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a pretty good concept. The effects were very good, too. And the fight scenes were neat. Double decker bus on the loose. In your face jeep. The fights are everywhere. Sugoi. Sugoi. Sugoi.

However neat-o the movie seems to be, it is not without it's downside. I failed to see some twists in the story. It was pretty straightforward. It went like this; boy discovers powers, boy abuses powers, boy gets discovered, boy gets stupid (and I do mean stupid), fight, fight, fight, battle, battle, battle, end. Discovering that his mom was a Paladin wasn't much of a twist. It was more of a convenience as far as I was concerned.

Over all, it's a good movie... If I put a rating on it, I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Vantage Point

The premise: A terrorist attack on the United States President.

There are different vantage points to the movie. A rewind here and a rewind after that. If it were made like 24, it would only take around 40 minutes or so. The different vantage points were shown in a sequence such that when the next one is up, you'd go, "Oh... Nice." I mean there are twists to each vantage point.

"So she's a...." "So he's a...." "He's not really a..." Something like that.

The story telling is very good. However, I am not about to go wow on the ending. I mean if I am a terrorist, I am ready to die. I am prepared to kill and have killed a lot. So why in the world would I want to swerve out of the way of a kid? I will run that kid over in order for my mission to be completed. Hmm... Oh well. That's how the movie ended. The terrorists' escape foiled by kid whose parent didn't teach her not to get into the middle of a busy highway.

All in all, it's a good movie but minus the ending. Of course, that's just me.

Prelude to Dune

Prelude to Dune is a trilogy of Dune: House Atreides, Dune: House Harkonnen, and Dune: House Corrino. The Prelude to Dune trilogy took place around 30 or 40 SY before the events on Dune. This gave us a background on the main characters of the first three Classic Dune novels. This also gave the not-so-Dune-reading community the chance to have... say... motivation to read through all six novels of the Dune Chronicles. And it did.

And what's a Dune novel without Duncan Idaho. Yep, he's here and the original, not the ghola. This is also when the no-field was invented, and used by the Harkonnens. This first no field would be seen (or read) again on Heretics of Dune; including the skeletons of its original makers. This is also when the first atempts of the Bene Tlielax to synthetically produce Spice took place. They succeeded only after 5000 SY; again, Heretics of Dune.

I found a different apeal in the writing styles of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. Their writings tend to be more interesting; more infomation or detail -diven but not that boring. Maybe because they were working on notes left by Brian Herbert. Maybe.

If you've read the original six novels, you'll want to read the Preludes so you can go, "So that's what happened." or, "So that's where it started." or just plainly say, "Oh, I see."

Dune Chronicles

Dune, as far as I'm concerned, is the best Science Fiction series; Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Eperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune.

I have just finished reading the original first six novels written by Frank Herbert, and it took me a while. It wasn't very easy getting the copies until recently. The events in all six novels happened in a span of at least 5000 SY (Standard Years). The first three books was (I think) a trilogy. The story kind of melowed down by the fourth book. Events of the fourth book happened well after 3500 SY; a very long time. The events of the fifth one happened after another 1500 SY. Again, a very long time. Not to mention there were events in between like the Famine Times and the Scattering.

The end of the sixth book left me hanging and wanting to know more what happened next. Frank Herbert died before finishing the series.

In my opinion, I think Duncan Idaho is the main man in the Classic Dune novels. I mean, he's been around all the six novels. Yes, he's in all six of them and nope, he didn't live for at least 5000 SY. Heck, he died in the first novel. This is because of the Bene Tleilax technology of producing gholas. If you're a Dune fan, you know what I mean. For the sake of the non-Dune readers, yet, a ghola is a being that is grown form the cells of a cadaver. Much like a clone only from the dead. And Duncan Idaho have been made a ghola countless times. A thousand lives.

Good thing Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert, and co-writer Kevin J Anderson, wrote The Prelude to Dune Trilogy, Legends of Dune Trilogy, and, with the help of Frak Herbert's now found notes, the end of the Dune Saga; Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune, and Paul of Dune. I'm not sure about Paul of Dune but it is written in the Hunters novel that it is forthcoming. So far, I only have read the Prelude to Dune Trilogy and Currently reading Hunters and so far, it has been a very nice read.

Cloverfield

The first time I saw Cloverfield's theatrical theater, I said to myslef, 'This looks interesting.' I mean it didn't have a title back then. All it said was it was a Bad Robot Production and its release date 1.8.2008. With just that information, searching the net reallly won't be much of any help.

One day, I was watching on YouTube. Then I saw it, the release date 1.08.2008, watched the video and that was it. Some of the videos had tentative titles on them. One of them being Cloverfield.

Cloverfield.

The day came and I went to see Cloverfield.

Giving a handycam feel to a monster movie. Sugoi. Cloverfield is like a cross between Blaire Witch and Godzilla, but the monster is nothing like Godzilla. Maybe they're the same size. Though the handycam feel is quite dizzying, it does give you a sense of realism and adds to the excitement.

Tell me about it. There were times when I plainly said, 'Hurry up and point the camera at it! I want to see.' If it were shot like an ordinary movie, it wouldn't be as awesome. But of course, it's not without its downside. Being that it's just shot through 'handycam', it doesnt' really have a clear cut start or end. I sat there thinking where the monster came from. What the hell happened next? There were questions everywhere. But alas, that's all the movie had to offer.

Funny. After the movie, a lady seated at the back of the theater sait, 'Yun lang? Ni hindi nga natin alam kung 'san galing yung impakto na 'yun. (That's it? We didn't even know where that monster come from.)' I second that remark.

D-War a.k.a. Dragon Wars

When I was done with my business at Bacolod (This was 7 Feb 2008), I decided to get some R&R. Since I was at Robinsons Place, I thought I'd see a movie in one of its theaters. I had a choice between Dragon Wars and Alien Vs. Predator 2. I went for Dragon Wars.

I paid the Php 80 for the ticket and went in. The movie has just ended when I got into the theater. Goodie! I get to see the movie trailers. I noticed that the theater was fairly big. Even if you were seated up front at the lower part of the theater, you won't have a stiff neck or get motion sickness. I thought the 80-peso ticket was well worth it... as far as the theater was concerned. But they could do something about the smell. It's not very good. The restrooms are very nice, too.

Now, why am I not talking about the movie yet? It's because it sucked! It was absolute trash. I was better off watching Alien Vs. Predator 2. Heck, I was better off watching an episode of Dora ten times over. Every event in the movie was so conviniently... done. Simply put, it was bad story telling. But I have to give credit to the effects. Not bad.

My recommendation: Don't see this movie you have a brain and have the ability to comprehend.

If you don't, be my guest and see it.

It was better off shown on an unknown channel some desolate location.