DLoaded Movie Weekend

Failed to take full advantage of No 'Rents Weekend (they're in Baguio). Didn't go out. Watched movies, instead. With the exception of The US vs John Lennon, I got these flicks based on the "recommendation" of IMDB--

Sexual Life: This was what a movie producer I read about would refer to as a "Showtime piece of garbage."

Cargo: Drama/mystery about a really nosy stowaway trying to uncover the secret about the ship he's on, as well as its crew. This was a miss in the hit-or-miss department.




The Good German: Shot in the style of old 1940s B&W movies, complete w/old "wipe" transitions, obviously fake backgrounds for the driving scenes, and dull-looking opening credits. (Although the amount of cussing going on will remind it's just an homage.) Bit of false advertising though, as Tobey Maguire's character's role was smaller than you'd think. And for a mystery it was a bit predictable.




The US vs John Lennon: Yeah, it's supposed to be about how the FBI started spying on Lennon, but as with The Fog of War, I got more info about the Vietnam war and it's chilling parallels with the current war in Iraq and the US government's sinister way of handling it.

Now for movies named after the title character--

Ellie Parker: A day(s) in the life of a struggling actress, played by Naomi Watts. Watch it for Watt's chameleon-like versatility, similar to her character in Mulholland Falls. Story, however, was... blah, like Mulholland Falls.

Edmond: Watch down-on-his-luck Edmond Burke's (William H. Macy) spiral from a pitiful loser to an unsympathetic one in just one evening. As usual David Mamet knocks it outta the park w/ his gift for dialogue. Too bad the film itself wasn't as good.

Kenny: Loved this charming mockumentary from Australia. Despite the subject's occupation (professional portable toilet plumber), Kenny Smyth's optimism and sense of humor will win you over. You'll never look at shitters (his term for the portalets) the same way again, and in this case it's a good thing.

Drowning in DLoaded Movies

Now that the 2006-07 TV season's almost done, I'll have no series to catch up on my PC. Now there's time to watch season 1 of Prison Break on dvd, as well as almost 2 dozen downloaded movies. Yesterday I finished Sexual Life (sucked), North Korea: A Day in the Life (slightly bleak) and Primer (intellectual minimalist sci-fi), and the day before that is was The Trials of Henry Kissinger (man, that guy's a dick).

So even if my social life's put on hold, at least the intermissions' entertaining.

10 Thoughts (Not Really) on Fracture

Caught this at Greenhills Theater Mall w/ lawyer-to-be Rons. Hey, a lawyer movie! Finally I can ask about what legal moves done in the movie would work in real life. That said, there's not enough interesting points in the movie for me to bring up 10 Thoughts.

I haven't watched any good legal dramas on TV in a long time, so all I can do is compare this movie to a pseudo-special episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in that we already know whodunnit and are just waiting for the criminal to get caught.

Kudos to both Ryan "Johnny-Storm-clone" Gosling as Willy Beachum and Anthony "I-can't-place-his-accent" Hopkins as Ted Crawford. There were times though when they could've been replaced with George Eads and Robin Williams, respectively. The former because of Gosling's character's Southern accent, the latter because of some of the clever lines being delivered by Hopkins' character. And for a thriller/mystery, there were a surprisingly good number of them written.

The Moment of Truth scene concerned whether or not Beachum would call up his assistant and present false evidence to the judge. I actually found myself mutting nonono, don't dial that number, ya fool. That was the extent of my Yelling at the Movie Screen behavior.

As proof of padding the film, there was the almost pointless character of Nikki Gardner, played by Rosamund Pike. Her relationship with Beachum went nowhere in the end, all the more making me question the point of that Thanksgiving dinner scene, other than to give Beachum a judge to run to (Nikki's dad) near the end. Again, pointless.

No Sixth Sense-like twist ending, just an anticipated twist w/ the prerequisite flashbacks. All in all not-bad for a flick, but for me just dvd-worthy.

On more positive notes, Ron was great company as always, and I encountered 2 friendly familiar faces! Hi to Nikki Wong and Annie Coo (Whose picture you see here, found completely by chance online. Ain't she purty?)

Only PBB Watchers (Season 2) Would Get This

Just so ya know, I wasn't the one that

Photoshopped the moles off her face.

While at the bank I was reading a newspaper article on Wendy Valdez. Suddenly bank's radio played When She Cries by Endless Heart. Creepy.

Just as creepy, this revealing message post about Wendy's alleged "dark side." (Reprinted totally w/o permission, unedited, save for placing paragraph breaks for easier reading.)

mga PBB fanatics, malalaman nyo na kung sino ba talaga si wendita sa tunay na buhay ayon mismo sa classmate ni wendita sa FEU.

Facts about Wendy

i think even if how hard we try to hide our real “mukha” lalabas at lalabas din to. i know wendy from FEU (my school too) the main reason why she passed her mascomm degree is because she ****ed (sorry for the term)our professor last february. (this is true we have pix and cams) inside the speech laboratory all schoolmates know this.

She said shes went to japan as a dancer…it is true but she works in a prostitute house there and is charged $150 (pls convert to yen) a night. Shes had controversial issues in FEU before about her story because she denied this when called to explain herself(kailangan ng FEU na mag background check sa students for school image) sabi ba naman niya “i went to japan as a cultural dancer” may cultural bang inuuwi at binababoy ng mga customer?(confidential files from 2005 feu)

IT is true that she is a good person but trust me when i say this. she should not deny the fact of her past so she can gain advantage over other people. SHe is NOT POOR. her last boyfriend was a Japanese DOM (62) named Hakimoto Ikita who gave her more than a million pesos. After she got the money she enrolled herself AGAIN IN FEU. this was around 2003. and left her lover to rot in Japan. while she was with the JAP guy. she was engaged sexually with my cousin T.H. Morales. also a student in FEU. reason they broke up. He caught wendy in bed with another DOM. It is sad to admit that my cousin is a shabu addict and so is wendy.they have sessions with drugs and after they have loud *** ( i should know my cousin lives next to me i can hear them).

I am not against wendy or anything…and im happy that this might be her next step to changing her bad ways of using people for money…i am just sad that she keeps on making herself look “nakaka awa” to other people on tv so she can get more votes. i just want her to be real and honest of who she is…she is hiding from a beautiful face and a sexy body…all i want is her honesty.

I pity Bruce he seems to be a nice guy to fall for someone like wendy…i told you shes an evil genius. she has her ways of convincing people to like her…through her lies and many faces. i bet after big brother and shes a star…she will never look at bruce the same way like shes trying to portray now. She has used a lot of people already…i know miss M guidance councelor. sometimes shes saddened of wendy’s personality problem and wendy being a user.

if you found this article rude…my apologies
if you found this article enlightening…thank you

im hoping that the true PBB housemate deserving to win should win…but i hope wendy won’t coz she is not deserving to me.

thank you…

Ma.Kathleen Morales Espiritu
from the other forum

Select and Elect

Nationwide voting today for legislative posts. Endured the heat and a dodgy tricycle ride only to find out I've been purged from the official voters list. Guess not voting in the last 2 major elections would do that.
And Ma voted for Lacson again! Gah! Stop it! That man is EVIL!

Congressman Luis Villafuerte is an Asshole (UPDATED)

@$$hole

Even if Jesse Robredo wasn't my ninong, I'd still feel the same way about "Villain"-fuerte for his shoddy, bullying tactics.

UPDATE: Texted lawyer friend to ask if she had plans tonight. She texts back in the negative but said she's going to bed early "bcoz i hv flyt tom. election racket.hehe!" I jokingly text back asking if her destination was Bicol. Turns out I was right (and freaked her out w/ my pseudo-psychic abilities)! She's being sent by her law firm to keep watch at the local elections there. The itch in this? She's helping guard the Villafuerte camp.

I can't fault her, though. She's unfamiliar w/ the man's background. And a gig's a gig.

Sad.

Just heard from a friend about the passing of another friend. If we were closer I'd pass through all 5 stages of grief, but I think I'll just go through 3 of them. (Yeah, glibness isn't one of the 5, but that's how I'm coping right now.)

Noreen Gaye Lim was my ex-thesis-mate's cousin. As thin a connection as that may sound I thought-- think of her as a good friend. Back in college when we were shooting the short movie for the thesis (never finished) at their house, in between breaks Gaye and I would sometimes hang and share music tastes. I learned early on about Ani DiFranco (thanks, Showbiz Today and Conan O'Brien) but it was Gaye who turned me into a full-time fan, as well as to other female artists like Sarah Maclaughlin, Chantal Kreviazuk, Portishead and the whole Lilith Fair roster.

Stage III colon cancer. 28. Funeral 2 weeks ago. Words I never thought I'd hear about her in the same conversation. But heard them I did, and regret follows. Part of me is upset at ex-thesis mate for not telling me about either the wake or the funeral. Part of me is shocked about the COD. Part of me is angry at how the good die young. Part of me is pissed about never getting the chance to talk to her again.

But for the most part I'm just sad.

10 Thoughts on Spider-Man 3

Caught this on The Block's Cinema1 w/ friend Rons. Got to remember that "guaranteed seats" does not mean "guaranteed quiet viewing." I think a kid (why the MTRCB G-rated this movie instead of PG I'll never know, money 'coz Venom ain't exactly a kid-friendly character) 2 rows above me coughed on me. Ecchh.

1. Opening credits were for the benefit of those who've been hiding under a rock--on Mars-- all this time and missed the first 2 Spidey flicks.
2. For a professor who said was a physicist, Doc Conners sure spent a lot of time analyzing the symbiont. And it didn't even faze him that the stuff was acting like evil Flubber.
   
3. Bruce Campbell was at his cameo comedic best as zee French waiter. Makes up for Stan Lee's hokiest cameo yet.
   
4. "Peter Darker©" was funny (not as funny was Campbell), tho' his poor Tony Manero impression (at that bizarro Pee-Wee-Herman-dancing-to-Tequila sequence) bewildered me. I thought the symbiont was attracted to aggression, not released inhibitions. That's Smallville's Red Kryptonite.
5. I missed the point of Harry's brief period of amnesia, as well as the cookin an' Twistin w/ MJ scene, AND the death threat scene. How exactly does MJ telling Pete that she's in love with someone else save Pete from Harry? Pete's Spider-Man, and he can (and did) kick Harry's ass before.
   
6. Oh, no! Mary Jane's in grave danger! Gotta get my costume, then... stare at it for the longest time while MJ's inside a cab dangling hundreds of feet in the air.
7. Poor Thomas Haden-Church. Not only did his acting chops play second fiddle to his CGI-Sandman, but the whole storyline concerning his sick daughter went nowhere. Praises to Topher Grace for his role as Eddie Brock.
   
8. Most cringe-worthy moment: Spidey swinging in front of the American Flag. I literally went "Gah!" with that.
   
9. Most movies follow the Karma-like rule of the villain not dying unless he/she murders/kills someone else earlier in the film. Not so here. Venom? Dies. Harry? Dies. Sandman? Does his Michael Jackson impression in the Remember the Time music video.
10. This movie was like X3 done right, 'tho that's not saying much.
    

Idiot Move of the Month (or Guess Where This Story is Going)

I woke up this Sunday morning feeling fairly refreshed. As a would-be godfather, I was set to attend my friend Anne's son's baptism at Sto. Domingo Church, a stone's throw away from my house. Lunch was to follow at a restaurant in Banawe, also nearby. I had over an hour and a half to prepare, so I took my time. Groomed and dressed up nice? Check. Keys and digicam? Check. Cellphone? Check. Present for the baby? Er, not ready yet, but I'll come back for it after the baptism.

While heading for the footbridge to cross over to the church I checked the text message Anne sent me the week before about the details and venue.

The baptism and party was yesterday.

Still, I crossed the footbridge, hoping against logic that maybe Anne has the same misprinted Asian United Bank calendar I had at home and showed up today. No such luck. I called her from the church to apologize.

Lines Drawn Out

Encountered lots of lines today. Surprisingly the one I thought would take longer to wait in, wasn't, and vice-versa.

Had the Altis re-registered at the newly relocated LTO office (now nearer our house) and it took less than an hour. Wanted to get prepaid plane tickets printed, and it took all afternoon.

I was already in Pasay, so I thought stopping by the Cebu Pacific office near the airport be faster then the other locations I had listed. Wrong. When I pulled a number stub it was more than a hundred stubs behind what was displayed in the LED counter. A lot those in-between probably left out of frustration, but it was still discouraging.

I decided to head for the Megamall office. I was right in thinking there were less people, but unfortunately they didn't print tickets that were bought online, and said I had to go the Robinson's Galleria branch.

And so I did. And again the first stall I stopped by asked me to walk to the bigger office further down the end of the mall. More people. Though given an "express" stub I still managed to wolf down a MacCheeseburger meal, doze off a bit and listen to 1.5 episodes of The Dennis Miller Show (One episode averaging 1 hour and 48 minutes) before I was called. In the end my transaction took less then 5 minutes. And I thought waiting in to be called in Metrobank or Equitable PCI on a busy day was bad.

On the way home heavy traffic was encountered on Araneta Avenue, thanks to the idiot Kabataan partylist group prepping to hold a stage concert in the middle of one of the lanes. (At least I now know who not to vote for.) Last week a portion of Tomas Morato was closed for an Earth Day concert, and now this. Someone should remind the organizers that "sidewalks are not for the commerce of Man," so how do they think the public would feel about shows done in the middle of a national highway?