Suspense Movie Marathon

I was able to watch three movies on a Sunday and all of them had a scary and suspenseful feel; Monsters, After Life, and Suicide Girls Must Die! Spoiler warning.

First up, Monsters. The movie is about two individuals, a photographer and the daughter of the photographer's boss. They are to travel from Mexico to the USA going through the 'Infected Zone.' The premise is that six years ago, alien creatures somehow infected an area of Mexico. Visuals. The movie had a little bit of Cloverfield and District 9 feel to it. The rendering of the monsters were pretty much ok since they looked like octopi on land. Story. The story was plain and simple. Just get from point A to point B but with challenges. Kind of like movie, The Road (if you have seen it). Recommendations. Go ahead and see it. It's not as fast chasing as The Blair Witch or Cloverfield and not as visually stimulating as District 9. Rating. Eight tomatoes.

After Life. This movie stars Christina Ricci, Justin Long, and Liam Neeson. You'd think that it's a supernatural story at first but you'll find out otherwise as the movie progresses. Casting in Ricci (Wednesday Addams) was a great touch. Not to mention Neeson (Qi Gon Jin) since he finds himself an apprentice. Visuals. Nice play of lighting, make-up, and all those analog effects. Story. Here's a spoiler if you haven't seen the movie. It was more like a serial killer movie. I don't know how Neeson's character does it, but he makes you think you're dead until you accept that you are then he buries you alive. Then off to the next victim. Never gets caught and he even picks up an apprentice. Recommendations. Suspense fans, go see the movie. Big screen, 3D, HD, DVD, it doesn't matter. I think you'll like it. Rating. Five tomatoes.

Lastly. Suicide Girls Must Die! Meant to be a reality show stint about the making of a calendar. So you'd be expecting amateur shots like the Blair Witch. But no running around while making the viewers dizzy. It's more of a reality TV feel like Survivor mixed with Top Model. Visuals. Nothing much to say but wow. Did I just say that? Not because of the amateur shots but of the nude stills. Hey, they are great. I wonder where I could find them. Probably on their website. Story. The girls think they were just shooting some stills for a calendar. Then one by one they go missing. Yet they continue until all hell breaks. Then the last girl finds out that it was all a prank. They've all been Punk'd! Recommendations. See it if you're bored. It just might work. Rating. Ten tomatoes.

There you go. Three movies in one day and probably in one genre.

Contra 4, Spider-Man, and Viewtiful Joe

Since I got myself a Nintedo DS, I figured I'd write something about the games I've been playing on this hand-held device. Besides, I haven't had any game reviews. Rating system? Just a simple 1 to 8 scale. Don't ask why I chose 8 as the highest. And folks, I would just be giving reviews and not cheats since the net is probably crawling with the cheats already. Let's begin.

Contra 4. The classic 2D, shoot-em-up game with the classic Konami cheat is on the DS. The game stayed loyal to its classic roots of hard core 2D action and two player mode, as it was meant to be. There are three levels of difficulty and you can't see or play the last stages if you choose the easy mode, wimp. Graphics even stayed as close as the original but made use of the DS dual screen. But it didn't make full use of the DS's touch screen feature. Other features include a museum where you can view tidbits about the past Contra games. Ratings. Difficulty; 5 out of 8. Graphics: 4 out of 8. Playability: 7 out of 8. With an overall 5.3.

Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Spider-Man teams up with his friends and foes in order to stop a planetary threat. Like that hasn't happened before. Nothing new there. Like all Spider-Man games, it is very linear and has very little to offer in terms of playability. Play it once and you're pretty much good. It makes very little use of the DS's touch screen. Only when switches or the like need to be tinkered with and to solve puzzles. Ratings. Difficulty: 3 out of 8. Graphics: 4 out of 8. Playability: 4 out of 8. With an overall of 3.7.

Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble. Saving the best for last. Joe comes back for more on the hand-held. However, he would be fighting baddies in the real world. This game makes good use of the DS's touch screen; Scratch, Split, Switch. And what's a good Viewtiful Joe game with out the super slow mo. Even if you finish the game, you'd want to go at it again just to unlock all Joe's abilities. Henshin a-go-go, baby! Ratings. Difficulty: 5 out of 8. Graphics. 6 out of 8. Playability: 7 out of 8. With an overall 6.

There you go. The first three games. Come back for more DS game reviews. I'll probably have newer ones. Probably.

Henshin!

Being a Kamen Rider fan that I am, I finally decided to write a little something about the masked rider.

Kamen Rider, the masked transforming hero that usually rides a motorcycle and kicks antagonist ass. Through the many years that Kamen Rider existed and through the two eras that it has been, Showa and Heisei, there have been many of them.

In this article, I would like to differentiate each of the main riders of the Heisei era, from Kuuga up to OOO, according to what type of rider they are, their status as a rider at the beginning of their respective series, how they know when and where their enemy would strike and what are their enemies called.

I would be categorizing them as:
Technological type - Source of powers come from the advancement in technology.
Organic type - Changing into a rider entails that the riders entire biological make-up changes as well. (However, I think none of the main riders are of the organic type.)
Mystical type - Origin of powers come from mystical sources such as ancient artifacts, mystical creatures, and the like.

Kamen Rider Kuuga - Mystical type. Not a rider at the start of the series. Yuusuke Godai acquires Kuuga's belt and is able to transform. His enemies are called the Gorongi. He knows they are around since the police usually are the first on the scene then he comes next.

Kamen Rider Agito - Mystical type. Since Shouichi Tsugami lost his memory, it is unsure if he was or was not a rider prior the start of the series. However, it is safe to assume that he was since he is very knowledgeable of Agito's abilities. His enemies are called the Unknowns. Shouichi seems to have a connection with the Unknowns and feels it when they are about to strike.






Kamen Rider Ryuuki - Mystical type. Not a rider at the start of the series. Shinji Kido finds a blank Advent Deck and makes a contract with Dragredder and becomes Ryuki. He battles other riders and the monsters from the mirror world. Shinji and the other riders hear some kind of high pitched sound whenever a mirror world monster is about to attack.






Kamen Rider Faiz - Technological type. Not a rider at the start of the series. Takumi Inui dons the Faiz Gear and transforms into faiz. Orphenochs are what Faiz fights. Since the Orphenocs are after the Faiz gear, trouble seems to find Takumi.








Kamen Rider Blade - Technological type. Kenzaki Kazuma is a newbie rider at the start of the series. He uses the Spade's category Ace to transform. Blade seals the Undead. The undead are found via a tracking system.








Kamen Rider Hibiki - Mystical type. Hidaka Hitoshi became an Oni on his own. He discarded his name a long time ago and was then since called Hibiki. Hibiki fights kaijins they call the Makamou. He and other Oni hunt the Makamou with the help of Disc Animals.








Kamen Rider Kabuto - Technological type. Not a rider at the start of the series but knows that being a rider is his destiny. Souji Tendou has a rider belt since he was a child and he was chosen by the Kabuto Zecter. The alien Worms are what he fights and some of the alien Natives. Since every worm leaves a pattern, Tendou easily finds the culprit Worm.






Kamen Rider Den-O - Technological type. Not a rider at the start of the series. Ryotaro Nogami was given Den-O's belt because he was a Singular Point, a being that is not affected by changes in the time stream. Den-O battles the wish-granting Imajin. The Imajin that possesses Ryotaro can feel the activities of their fellow Imajin.







Kamen Rider Kiva - Mystical type. Already a rider at the start of the series. Wataru Kurenai was passed the power of Kiva from his father, though not directly. The vampire-like Fangarie are the antagonists of this series. Wataru's father's violin, The Bloody Rose, which strings vibrate every time a Fangarie attacks its prey is the sounding alarm.






Kamen Rider Decade - Technological type. Not a rider at the start of the series. However, it was said that Tsukasa Kadoya was already a rider way before and only lost his memory. Since Tsukasa travels different worlds, he fights whatever or whoever it is that is the antagonist on whichever world he is in. But his main nemesis is Shocker.






Kamen Rider Double - Technological type. Already a rider at the start of the series. Hidari Shotaro and Phillip use Double Driver and Gaia Memories to transform into Double. Shotaro and Phillip fight Dopants. Since both of them are detectives, they find that most of the time, their cases involve a Dopant.







Kamen Rider Ozu - Mystical type. Not a rider at the start of the series. Eiji Hino was given the seal to transform with by Ankh, a mystical being known as Greed. The incarnation of human greed are known as the Yammi and this is what Ozu fights besides the Greed. Ankh, being a Green himself, can feel if a Yammi is in the process of growth.






There you have it. All the twelve Heisei riders in a nutshell. There are other riders in the Heisei era. Some of them are secondary riders from the series, some are from the series but only have a cameo appearance, and some are move exclusive riders.

I'd probably categorize the secondary riders on my next post. Until the next post.

Pimpin' Aint Easy, Grandma

This is one of the funnier moments in my life and also one of the more… gut wrenching.

It happened one day while I was in a well-known mall in Metro Manila (no mall naming to protect the good name of the Mall, as if it had any). I was minding my own business when suddenly an old woman approached me and asked, "Gusto mo ng babae? (would you like a girl?)" So grandma is a pimp, eh. It was no surprise at all since the mall was known to be crawling with pimps and whores (like I said, it's not like it had any good name to begin with). Being the curious person that I am, I inquired of her the hiring price. It was at a price of Php 500. Cheap (in every sense of the word and it depends on who's spending).

The funny part was when I asked where the girl she was pimping was. Then she said, "Ako (Me)." What?! If I were drinking something at that time, I would have blown the whole contents of my mouth on her face. Thankfully, I wasn't. And I kept my composure and kept the laughter from leaping out of me. Being a granny that she is, I respectfully declined.

I thought that was the end of it. She kept pressing saying, "Sige na, good service naman eh (Come on, I give good service)." What the hell! By this time, I really felt like farting because I had to contain my laughter. My goodness, grandma. Are these desperate times? No.

At last she gave up. However, by this time, she started pimping other girls. Younger girls she said; one was a stout woman, another one was missing her front teeth. This would be being mean but, really, they're at the bottom of the likable chart, way below dog poop. If I could read grandma pimp's mind by that time, I believe she'd be thinking, "Grandma doesn't look so bad now, huh?"

With the relentless pimping, and my so wanting to laugh or at least give out a giggle, I had to leave and let it out some place else. The novelty book section of the bookstore seemed very appropriate.

Cosplay X

Cosplay X. The tenth anniversary of cosplay in the Philippines. The event occurred on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2010 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.


I wasn't able to attend the first day but I was able to attend the second. There were a lot of cosplayers of different genres; from movies, to games, to anime, to comic books. One event hall could not accommodate the numbers.

I was surprised to see a lot of Final Fantasy VIII cosplayers, more specifically Squall. I wonder why there is a sudden boom in Squall cosplays. However, I didn't take any pictures of any of them this time around. There are also new ones like Kamen Rider Ozu, who has just been on air for a month now.

Exhibitors aplenty. Free installers for up and coming new on line games; toys; anime related memorabilia; accessories and trinkets; samplers for Sony's 3D entertainment pack (I gave this one a try. Sick!); costumes and other cosplay related articles; videos; and a lot more.

OY! by Lynx

Lynx is a genus of wild cats and there are four species that belong to this genus. Lynx is also the name of an up and coming rock band here in the Philippines. Their first music video, titled "Oy!", has already been shown on a local music channel, Myx, on their show, RockMyx. This metal song sends out a socio-political awareness to those who watch it.

I had an unplanned chit chat with one of its members. It happened on one of my rounds on my day job. It so happened that the sales manager of one of the establishments that I regularly check is one of the founding members of the band. He is Jesus 'Jess' Sacilioc.

Mr. Sacilioc said that the band goes way back around twenty years ago, thus, having a classic AC/DC feel to its sound. Right now, he no longer plays but he manages the band instead. Back in the day, he used to play the bass guitar. The band members have changed over the years but the name of the band stayed the same.

Their music video came to fruition when all the band members (current and former) had a reunion. Some of the former members are already professionals in the field of music and media. Making a music video came naturally.

I asked him about the band name. He said that since the lynx was a wild cat and the band had a somewhat wild sound, they named the band Lynx.

Here is their music video, Oy!. Remember. You saw the video first on Myx. Not on my blog. Well. Probably some of you will see it here first.



If the video doesn't play, click here.

Two Events, One Day

I went to SMX Convention Center to attend an event. It turns out there were two events that were currently on (there were actually three but I don't know what the other one was).

First up. The one I intended to attend. The best of Anime 2010. It was held on the upper level of the SMX; Function Room 5. It's your usual otaku convention. There were the various exhibitors, booths, and of course, cosplay enthusiasts. And as I said on my FB post, I did go as Amano Ginji but its not like I can take a full body picture of myself. :)



The other event captured one of my many interests; books. The 31st International Book Fair. The book fair covered all of the conventions halls of the first floor. If I'm not mistaken, that's five event halls. That's one huge area for a whole lot of books. There were technical books, text books, books on philosophy, sciences, religion, children's books, pop-ups, comic books and all other topics and print media you can think of. There were also various teaching aids and other related stuff. Most of the books were on sale up to 70% off! Not to mention book signings by local authors and a few international ones.

Chopsticks were signed by the author, Stanley Chi.

Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D

Shooting zombies in 3-D! The fourth installment of the Resident Evil movie franchise. It still stars Milla Jovovich as Alice (I still think the Alice character is more of a Parasite Eve feel than RE). Other stars include: Ali Larter as Clair Redfield, Boris Kodjoe as Luther West, Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine (shown only post credits after you say to yourself, "Jill Valentine? When did she come out in the movie?"), Shawn Roberts as Albert Wesker, and Wentworth Miller as Chris Redfield.

Now to nitpick on the details. Visuals. I saw the movie in 3-D. Freakin' awesome. Murky water scenes still give me the creeps. Story. Unlike the first three movies, this one is slowly inching its way to the storyline that the game followed. The appearance of the Las Plagas/Oraboros parasites and Jill being under mind control hints that a next RE movie may come out and may follow the game's story line.

Movie situation of note. The survivors were inside a penitentiary because it was difficult for the zombies to enter it. However, they needed to get out in order to reach a cargo ship for rescue. They needed the help of Chris in order to accomplish this. It's amusing how they need the help of Michael Scofield (Miller) to escape a prison. I just thought I point that out.

Being a fan of Resident Evil, surely this rating will be biased, I'm giving it a single tomato.

The Longanisa List

Longanisa is what the Filipinos call the sausage. With a country as diverse as the Philippines, you can expect the longanisa to be different from region to region. There are a couple of ways I know of in cooking one; in oil or in water.

Generic Longanisa. Why do I call it generic? Simply because it's the common one that you can find at the market place in Metro Manila. There is nothing so special about it; just the usual odd parts and preservatives. When cooked, there is a little bit of caramelized sugar and some oil or fat comes out from the longanisa.

Fast Food Longanisa (specifically from Jollibee). This is what some fast food chains serve. This type of longanisa resembles more of a special hotdog. It is made at a meat processing plant with a name similar to a Philippine province.

Vigan Longanisa. Up the North Western part of Luzon is Ilocos where Vigan is located is where you can find one of my more favorite type of longanisa. The Vigan longanisa is not as greasy when cooked as the other types. It is also garlicky. This is the type of longanisa you would most likely have in the Ilocos Region, Region 1.

Cagayan Longanisa. Like the Vigan Longanisa, this is also garlicky with a slight difference in flavor. Both are not very greasy when cooked. This can be found in Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, and Quirino.

Pampanga Longanisa (Unfortunately, I don't have a picture for it). It is the more famous type of longanisa around Central Luzon, Pangasinan, some parts of Southern Region 1, and Metro Manila. When cooked, you will notice the caramelized sweetener on the outside of the longanisa. This makes it very sweet and sticky.

Quezon Longanisa (No picture). This type is probably the largest. Its common size is generally the largest compared to the common size of other longanisa (I said common size because you can custom make a longanisa to any size and length). You have to go to Quezon or its neighboring provinces to try one of these.

Dumaguete Longanisa. This type of longanisa is what you would most likely have in the City of Dumaguete. It is similar to the Pampanga Longanisa because both are on the sweet side. The difference lies in the wrapper. The Dumaguete type has none. It's skinless.

Cebu Longanisa (No picture). In contrast to the Quezon type, this is perhaps the smallest. It is almost spherical in shape. One piece is around an inch or so in diameter. Also, it is not restricted to one taste; there's sweet, spicy, etc.

Nueva Ecija Longanisa (No picture). I'm not sure if I have tried this particular longanisa. But for certain, I have heard of it. It is more commonly known as bototay.

There are a lot of other types of longanisa out there; one being a variant of the other. There is a difference from region to region, province to province. Since most of them are home made, even home to home. They are made to fit the different tastes of a diverse people.

Negros in Four Days

My recent trip to the Visayas was not limited to Bacolod City. This time, I had the chance to visit Dumaguete City as well.

Bacolod City. The city of smiles was my first destination. I stayed at my usual hotel of choice, Check Inn Pensionne. It is by far the cheapest hotel I have ever stayed in. The room rates are from USD 11 - USD 45. However, they don't have free breakfast but it's okay. The hotel is just beside City Hall which also makes it very accessible. SM City Bacolod is just walking distance away. And SM City Bacolod is very near one of the famous food destinations at Bacolod, Manokan Country.

Manokan Country is a stretch of restaurants that have chicken inasal as their specialty. Chiken inasal is their style of barbecue. You can have your own choice of cuts; paa (legs and thighs), pecho (breast), pechopak (breast with wings), three pieces of wings, and the famous chicken ass. They also have heart, liver, and some oysters.

Dumaguete City. I took the bus to get to Dumaguete City. There are two options, one taking the North route and the other, the South route. There are more trips using the South route because it's faster. Still, it takes around six hours to get to Dumaguete from Bacolod by bus.

I only have one observation about the personnel of Ceres bus lines North station. The conductors, bus drivers, and dispatchers there are very rude and very unaccommodating (up yours mother effers!). Ask them a question in Tagalog, they answer in Ilonggo and leave you hanging. Ask them in English, same thing. Didn't they go to school. Or is driving school the only one they went to. I had to call up a friend just to know the bus schedule. And off to the South Station I go. The people at the South Station are way better. But enough of the complaints.

I stayed at Camila Hotel. They have pretty decent rooms (then again, I took their business class room and I didn't get to see the cheaper rooms.) Room rates are from USD 17 - USD 33. But again, no free breakfast.

Dumuguete City is sprawling with foreigners. I can compare it to Olongapo City. There are also many foreign students here (from Korea and Pakistan). Night life here happens along the Boulevard where most of the bars and restaurants are located. Lucky for me, my brief stay at Dumaguete City was also the foundation week of the famous Silliman University, one of the more famous universities in the region with its international standards. This made the city more busy with the visitors and tourists. I actually had a little difficulty booking my accommodations.

That's my brief trip around Negros in four days.