Terra Nova. Episode 2: "Instinct"

All right. Cute little birds, aye? Not.

A swarm like that is never cute.

Anyway, that Commander Taylor... isn't he the tough guy from Avatar?

I knew it.

Yes, that's Stephen Lang, who coincidentally also plays a colonel here in Terra Nova. But don't judge him if you think he can only play tough guy roles. The guy's a thespian, and is actually a Tony nominee.

Also, they introduced someone who could provide complications to the happily-married life of Jim Shannon. And that is in the person of Dr. Malcolm Wallace (played by Rod Hallett), who thought he could score once more on his med school flame who is now Mrs.Shannon. But why is he named after the father of William Wallace? Will there be any Braveheart references in future episodes? Just kidding. Of course there won't.

"But I am gonna score, one way or another."

*some info from Wikipedia
pics from TV Rage, Boomtron, and IMDb

Terra Nova. Episode 1: "Genesis" (Parts 1 and 2)

You all know that in American TV shows, when they say they'll start the season with a treat by giving you an episode twice as long as usual? Well, that's really a trick, as they'll really be giving you two episodes in succession. Not really one long episode. At least that was the trick with the latest seasons of Modern Family and How I Met Your Mother. Well, such is not the case with Terra Nova. When they said a two-hour pilot, they really meant a two-hour pilot. It's just broken down into "Genesis" Parts 1 and 2 for production's sake. You know, so the filmmakers don't get confused.

Okay, so we can assume that the future setting is kind of like The Matrix, where the sky is too dark and the air is too polluted to breathe and all that. But don't worry, because we don't get to stay in that world too long. We're going back to the past, baby.

Thank God I don't have to wear this mask for the entire episode.

That's right. The past as in 85 million years into the past. To the time of the dinosaurs. What's that, you say? Like Jurassic Park? Of course it is. This series is produced by Steven Spielberg.

However, there will be no Samuel L. Jackson
telling you to "Hold on to your butts."

But we don't have any of that "step on a bug in the past and you'll never have been born" philosophy. This show utilizes the alternate timeline theory of time travel (as if time travel officially exists already), where nothing you can do can change the past, because whatever you do will just branch off into a totally different timeline. This is the time travel theory I subscribe to more, and sadly, this is not the theory followed by Doctor Who and Back to the Future, which are my favorite time travel show and movie, respectively.


*some info from Wikipedia
pics from Zap File, Think Hero, and Seriable

Pinoy Icons: Edith Tiempo

She kind of looks like the old lady on our street.

So, 2011 is the dying year for great female Filipino writers, is it? Dying just two days after another legend Kerima Polotan Tuvera, Edith Tiempo joins her as they debate endlessly on literary criticism in that big writers workshop in the sky.

Like Ms. Tuvera, Ms. Tiempo is also part of our literary canon in English. And I also don't remember reading any of her works. Woe is me. Anyway, all I remember from my college classes was that she was married to another writer, Edilberto K. Tiempo. And that they were like the Brownings (Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning) of the Philippines. Really now.

Anyway, she was born even before World War I broke out in Europe. Imagine that. Her legacy was establishing, along with her husband, the über-prestigious Silliman National Writers Workshop. This is like the holy grail for all Filipino literature students. I would of course only dream to get in. We shall see.

Wait, for someone who is married to another literary giant, why is Edith Tiempo's English Wikipedia page shorter than Kerima Polotan Tuvera's? Relatives and acolytes, get to work.


Edith L. Tiempo. 22 April 1919 - 21 August 2011. 


*some info and pic from Wikipedia here and here

Pinoy Icons: Kerima Polotan Tuvera

One of her book covers. I think.

She is an icon of Philippine literature in English. Her work is considered canon. But I do not remember reading any of her works. Shame on me for being a literature graduate who does not know her work. Professors, crucify me now.

I did do a Google search on her (shame on me if I didn't), and lo! Her birthday is one day after mine. Which makes her also a Sagittarian. Which makes her cool.


Kerima Polotan Tuvera. 16 December 1925 - 19 August 2011.


*some info from Wikipedia
pic from Blogger

World Icons: Steve Jobs

I know enough about Steve Jobs to say that he is a damn visionary. Although I have never owned an Apple product in my life, I have used them long enough to be able to say that all those virtual arm-waving that Tom Cruise was doing in Minority Report is just a few generations away.

But still, summing up Steve Jobs in three letters: L.S.D. That's right. Anyone who's tried psychedelics has seen God, and is all right in my book. I mean, they could've died as soon as they met the Almighty, but they didn't. Why? Because they realized they purpose. A purpose which is far bigger than them. And for that, I tip my imaginary hat to you, Mr. Jobs. Although I do hope for the day when I myself could own an Apple product. Either that or five tabs of acid. Whichever comes first.


Steven Paul Jobs. 24 February 1955 - 5 October 2011.



*some info from Time
pic from Huffington Post

Modern Family. Season 3, Episode 5: "Hit and Run"

Like that scene from Jurassic Park.

This episode takes a look at how gay people react to a hit and run. And you know what? It's no different from straight people. But it makes it a lot funnier because it's Cam and Mitchell.

Also like that scene from Jurassic Park.

Also, if Phil Dunphy seems to like black women, why haven't we seen this in the previous two seasons?



*some info from Wikipedia
pic from VLC

Modern Family. Season 3, Episode 4: "Door to Door"

Aren't you supposed to be naked when you do this?

Not really one of the better episodes. This one's a bit ho-hum. Note to self: Do not marry a slob. Also, the day stop signs become a big deal in the Philippines is the day we have our own bullet train.


*some info from IMDb
pic from VLC

Modern Family. Season 3, Episode 3: "Phil on Wire"

All this episode made me want to do was try out that juice fast thing. It's supposed to detoxify and stuff. God knows if anyone needs a detox, it's me. That's because everything has been rather toxic lately.

"Food!"

Oh, and also, according to Siege Malvar, Stella is the new Lily. And Stella's the dog.

Sofia Vergara can really do it doggy-style. 

*some info from Wikipedia
pics from VLC

Friends with Benefits

A lot of you may think, "Hey, this is similar in plot to No Strings Attached!" or that even their titles almost mean the same. Maybe it's just a matter of time before they come up with a movie entitled Fuck Buddies.

Justin Timberlake, as I've said before, is a good actor. But please, not in rom-coms. I don't know why. But please, don't.

"But I put on some abs for this movie!"

Mila Kunis looked hot in Black Swan. But here, I just realized that her eyes are just a tad too big. And also her legs aren't that great.

I think it's the knees.

This film's saving grace, though, is Woody Harrelson. He plays a gay sportswriter, and he plays it perfectly. He doesn't even go into the stereotype gay performance. Nor does he exaggerate. He just pulls it off great.

"I'm a gay guy with a speedboat."

Also, Nolan Gould of Modern Family has great comedic timing. Let's hope for a great career for him.


Friends with Benefits. USA. 2011.


Rating: Seven out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
pics from Wordpress, Joblo, and Slacker Cinema

Batman: Year One

Year One, based on the comic by Frank Miller, recounts the beginnings of Bruce Wayne taking up the cowl and Jim Gordon's career with the Gotham City Police Department.

I'm kind of ambivilent about Year One. While it's a really faithful adaptation of the comic (almost panel-for-panel, really) , I'm not digging the art direction. The original art was gritty, dark and has this really sketchy feel to it. The animated movie felt like a half-assed attempt to clean it up and make it more polished for animation. It would have been better if they just veered away from the style completely and did it like, I dunno, Under the Red Hood or something. The animation itself was problematic as well, which at times felt like a motion comic rather than a cartoon.

I also cannot stand Batman's voice. Ben McKenzie does fine as Bruce Wayne, but his Batman voice gives Hayden Christensen's wooden acting in Star Wars a run for its money.

Really almost 100% panel-for-panel. Which is cool.

What I really enjoyed were Jim Gordon's parts. He's always been pretty likable, but Year One really shows the depth of his character.

source: forums.superherohype.com

Also really fangirled over Eliza Dushku as Selina Kyle and Grey DeLisle as Mrs. Barbara Gordon! Grey DeLisle has voiced almost every one of my favourite animated characters so it's always a thrill for me to find her in other cartoons.

So is it perfect? No, but story-wise it's faithful to the comic, which should be a prerequisite for any Bat-fan. Worth it especially for Jim Gordon and a peek at Selina in her Tim Sale Catwoman costume!



This review originally appears in Teluete's awesome blog, Gab Can Fly. Check it out.