Watching films like this sometimes make me wonder how easy life must be in the Land of Opportunity. I mean, here's a dude who works for his father but he simply goofs around and he still gets to keep a really huge apartment. Then there's this girl who works in a busy trading floor but still has time to plan every bit of detail for her loved one. And then, just like that, they pack up and head for Vegas. What a life.. it's like they have no care in the world.
Yeah, it's time to slap me a couple of times so I can get thrown back to reality. Movies don't exactly portray real life, don't they?
At any rate, the premise of getting married to a person you knew for a very brief period exemplifies how life can make a turn for the worse, and then suddenly for the better... or is it? Well, the trailers show this anyway so it's no secret that the movie is about a couple who really want out of an instant marriage suddenly end up wanting in because of a 3 million dollar prize money. But their marriage isn't exactly a bed of roses. It's more like a bed of thorns. But the six months of hard marriage could be the most interesting highlights of their life yet as they try to outwit, outlast, and outplay each other. Wait... that's another show.
We certainly enjoyed watching this movie. Lots of laughs, lots of heart. Cameron Diaz is one of my favorite actresses, and Ashton Kutcher certainly played his character as a bum-turned-responsible citizen to a tee.
Ok, I admit it. I'm a sucker for superhero movies. Save for Punisher and Elektra, I have watched the Batmans , Supermans and X-Men and eagerly anticipate whatever Marvel or DC Comics will pull from its hat in the future. And though Iron Man isn't exactly one of my favorite heroes, the teasers were enough to get me reeled in, hook, line and sinker.
Well... I have watched the movie twice and I must say that I really like how the story of Iron Man was told. It wasn't all eye candy, although I should give credit to the cinematic crew for creating such a hi-tech environment that's not at all impossible, what with the recent developments in AI and virtual reality.
I must say, I am indeed impressed at how these two technologies have been fused together to allow for full human interaction with system design and analysis. Tony Stark, a certified genius for creating electronic marvels, accomplishes his feats with his robotic arm assistants and virtual reality, 3D interface. I am awed enough to have my interest sparked once again in robotics and AI. Yes, I'm a frustrated computer engineer (that course was not yet offered when I was in college - don't ask what year that was).
Iron Man gives us a glimpse of how man exerts his power of technology to bring either productivity, or destruction. Tony Stark makes a 360-degree turn on his outlook of life as he becomes entrenched in a trap which he inadvertently helped create: a trap of demise and cruelty. And using the skills that he possess, he creates a force to combat that evil.
This is a feel-good movie, and the action scenes do not disappoint. No mutants or space people this time, just humans and their hi-tech toys, making this film truly believable. I have not read any Iron Man comic title, but I believe that Robert Downey, Jr. did an exceptional job at depicting the complex character that's Tony Stark. It was a pleasure seeing Gwyneth Paltrow as well as the faithful assistant Pepper Potts. And Jeff Bridges! My, has he grown old! Or was his character simply meant to be that way?
Overall I love the plot, the eye candy, the characters, the cars, the computers, the robots. The war scenes where the people hide in houses and the enemy throws bombs inside or riddles it with bullets even reminded me of the book I read about World War II in Manila. I wish there was an Iron Man back then.
cross-posted in watson.online/
Simula palang ng palabas ay nag enjoy na ako, Matagal tagal ko din naman kasi naming inintay ito at siempre bilang isang masugid na taga suporta ng pelikulang gawa ng Marvel, di namin ito palalampasin. Ayos ang effects ng pelikula okay din ang plot nito. Sangayon din ako sa pagiging sensitibo ng Gumawa ng pelikula dahil maganda nilang nailatha ang pinagsimulan ni Iron Man. Naalala ko tuloy na dati ay sa Vietnam ang naging setting dahil ito ang kalaban ng amerika nuong araw, pero nararapat lang na sa Afghanistan nila ito nilagay dahil naayon at napapanahon lamang dipo ba.
Maganda rin ang pagiging sangkot ni OB Stane sa plot sa pagpatay kay tony. Dahil sa simula palang ng pelikula ramdam mo na magiging kalaban yun, lalo na pag pamilyar ka sa komiks. Bumagay din kay Robert Downey Jr. ang papel na tony stark, napalabas niyang cool ito at class. Maganda rin ang pagkakapareho ng armor ni iron man at hindi ito nagmukhang cartoons, di tulad ng Hulk halatang halata na computer generated si hulk, sana mabago ito sa ipapalabas na incredible hulk. Maayos ang effects okay din ang cameo ng director nito at si stan lee.
Sa madaling salita ako ay maghihintay ng susunod na Iron Man. Wish kolang sana I plot nila ito sa Armor wars at siempre andun dapat si War Machine.
While mentally sifting through our minds our usual watering holes and finding them bland at best, we were about to resign to a fate of a gimickless Friday, when Yoyo suddenly had a flash of inspiration and excitedly informed us about this place in Malate where they serve mixed drinks by the pitchers at 200 pesos each. This reminded me of Puerto Galera's Mindoro Sling! Well, with nothing else popping in mind, we met Mitch and her sister Jo and took a quick jeepney ride to Adriatico Street in Malate.
When the finally alighted in front of an open-air bar, we were a bit hesitant to enter. A couple of tables were occupied by some serious-looking guys, and a long row was set-up for a rather noisy crowd. Upon Yoyo's prodding, we entered the premises and got seated near the bar.
We then checked out the drinks list. The mixes sported water-themed adventures save for the Mango Margarita (tequila, triple sec, mango shake) which we tried first.
Soon enough, a pitcher with chilled yellowish stuff was placed on our table with shotglassess for each. Shredded ice poured into the glasses, we tossed for good health (kanpai!) and gulped our first ever mango margarita.
The mango taste was quie evident, and more so was the the tequila. Well... I am not exactly a hard liquor drinker but I think that the tequila was fighting with the mango slush taste; there should be harmony (yin-yang!) between these two elements. It is a nice drink but it can do better. I love the mango shake component though.
Right after Mango Margarita, we attacked the Red Tide (red passion, dark rhum, juice) next. This was a nice mix. It actually reminded us of the Mindoro sling.
Soon we were enjoying ourselves. The dance music was enticing us to beat to the groove but we weren't drunk yet. The big crowd next to us started dancing though. But we didn't mind anymore. It was a Friday night after all!
Tides is the name of the place and primarily serves drinks and pulutan with upbeat music in the air, but you can also order pizza here courtesy of Pizza Niro.
Two pitchers later, we called it a night. We still had some other plans, like playing Cluedo! Hmmm... we have a couple more pitchers to try out next time. Hopefully we can go back soon!
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Like most boys growing up in Baguio City in the late 70s to the 80s, we watched a lot of Martial Arts films. Foremost of these is Jacky Chan's movies. The fight scenes are meticulously thought out and performed like it can be done by everybody else. And as can be seen in the outtakes (which is a trademark ending of his films), you can see the dedication Jacky Chan pours into his movies. It is a passion that shows in his performance.
And then came Wong Fei Hung of the "Once Upon a Time in China" series. Jet Li wowed us with his moves. While Jackie Chan loves injecting humor into his performance, Jet Li exudes a calculating and serious mood. I wondered if there will come a time when these two will face each other in a single movie. In my wildest dreams.
Lo and behold. My wildest dream came true! The ironic part is, I have never even seen a trailer of this movie. Just the posters at which I stared in disbelief. It's for real!
And so last weekend, my wife, Jo-Lo, and I trooped to the cinema to watch Forbidden Kingdom. I knew early on that there has to be a confrontation between these two stars and eagerly anticipated this. I was not disappointed. It's one of the best martial arts sequences I have seen.
An added bonus is Jackie Chan reprising his role as a drunken master. Some of his earlier films portrayed him as a character who was taught the art of the Drunken Fist, whereby the martial arts technique required drinking copious amounts of alcohol while fighting and getting drunk in the process while at the same time becoming more invincible! And Jet Li maintained his composure as a Monk; his Wong Fei Hung persona really suits him.
Hmmm... I really do not want to give away spoilers at this point because the movie is still relatively new and you might not have watched it yet, but if you have, I would like to hear your take on the immortality concept of the movie. That part was confusing to me.
As for the overall plot of the movie, it actually reminds me of another movie called Warriors of Virtue where an American kid loves going to this Chinese food shop. He had braces on his legs, but this did not stop him from dreaming of becoming a football player. An accidental drop into a whirling water storage of sorts (he was cajoled into crossing a narrow plank by kids who need a really good spanking) transported him to the mystical land of Tau where he met these Runes possessing powers of the five elements.
Hmmm... I do see the resemblance with Forbidden Kingdom. There's also this dude who loves frequenting a Chinese store - this time a pawnshop - and is forced by a gang to do something bad and he falls.... into the magical land of Ancient China where there is a prophecy that the Monkey King will rise again and defeat the oppressive regime.
Yes, dear boys and girls. The spotlight is shared by this lanky kid who grows in strength and willpower as the story progresses. I have read some reviews that said the movie needed a touch of American for it to sell in the US and give it an international appeal. I disagree. In my point of view, these critics are misguided. I believe the story did call for an "outsider" entering the mystical, ancient China, and who to better personify it than somebody of a different skin and hair color? It wouldn't be as effective if an Asian dude played the part.
The fourth character in the team is played by a lady called Golden Sparrow. She's quite attractive, and lethal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The theme - a fantasy and action flick is very appropriate as I remember their films of old, when Jackie Chan and Jet Li were known only to our side of the world.
Cross-posted in watson.online/
Ito talagang si pareng Stephen King, ang galing gumawa ng istorya. Mula noong napanood ko ang kanyang Silver Bullet ay talaga namang na-engganyo akong abangan mga pelikula na hango sa kathang-isip nya. Kaya lang... ewan ko ba. Hindi ako ginanahan magbasa ng libro nya. Noong college ay sinubukan ko yung It pero nasa chapter 2 pa lang ako ay umayaw na ako. Teka... yung Christine yata nabasa ko.
Anyways, nung nalaman kong kay Stephen King ang pelikulang ito ay syempre di ko to palalampasin!
Ang isang town sa Bridgton, Maine ay biglang nagkaroon ng malakas na bagyo isang gabi. Tapos sumunod na araw, nagkaroon sila ng fog. Masaya sana kasi para kang nasa Baguio pero ang makapal na fog na ito ay nagdala ng salot! Cmon it.
Mga alien life forms na carnivorous ang kasama ng mist na ito. This time around, hindi humanoid ang form at hindi scalpel at laser ang dala nila, kasi mga monstrous animals ang mga ito.
Kung may mga monsters sa labas at na-trap ka sa loob ng supermarket, anong gagawin mo? Lalabas ka ba? Kung ako tatanungin mo, malamang hindi. Pero boring na pelikula yun di ba? So ayun, may mga lumabas. Labas-masok nga sila eh. May minalas, may sinwerte.
Pero aside from the horrifying situation they are in, Stephen King also made a play on human emotions. Nagkaroon ng faction sa loob ng store: ang mga gustong mag-stay, at mga gustong lumabas. Teka... parang The Stand ito ah.
Anyway, yung mga gustong mag-stay, may leader sila. Isang religious fanatic na nagku-quote sa Bible at sinasabi nyang dumating na ang paghuhukom. Problema, delusional sya. So nang sumusunod na sa kanya yung iba, alam na nung kabilang party na delikado sila. Gagawin silang sacrifice! Ewww.
Teka. Panonoorin mo ba ang pelikulang ito? Hehe sorry po napagana ako sa pagkwento. I like this movie because it was suspensful and engaging. Talagang edge-of-the-seat thriller. Kaya lang... the ending is one of the biggest let-downs ever in a movie so far. But who's to say that you must like the ending of all movies to enjoy them? I think the movie was contrived to make you feel downtrodden and depressed at the end. And it was successful in that objective. So therefore... I like the movie and at the same time I did not like it. Pero maganda yung movie. Ang labo no? Panoorin nyo na lang to get my drift.
Last night (March 26, 2008) I finally experience a Jumbo Bola Bola Siopao and it was very delicious even without the sauce, you can get satisfaction with its taste. From the soft bread to the filling it is awesome down to the last bite.
It reminds me of Kowloon Siopao not the siopao you buy from siopao factory and 7-11. Malayong malayo ang timpla. the only bad thing maybe for me is, that's it is located in Mandaluyong. Medyo malayo kami sa amin ang Mandaluyong kaya sasadyain mo siya talaga. to be exact here is the address, PVL resto: I. Lopez St, bgy new zaniga, Mandaluyong.
Its around 8 inches big and the filling is bigger than a large siopao, Imagine eating a bola bola filling the size of a large siopao. I already had the liberty of getting a giant asado siopao 9 years ago somewhere in Paco/Pandacan area, but bolabola was'nt available then. 
May katanungan lang ako, pag ganito na kalaki ang siopao kasya ba ang isang buong pusa dito o kuting lang?
ang bola bola ba ay pusa na ginawang fishball?
bakit yung bolabola sa loob na siopao hindi naman bilog?
Tsaka bakit iisa lang ang laman diba dapat bola lang dahil isang bola lang ang laman?
o bola lang siya as in joke lang?
