Boring until the last part. They had to make a leeway for the second act's establishment of character and plot development. But it ends with a cliff hanger, saving it from being a total bore.
Boring until the last part. They had to make a leeway for the second act's establishment of character and plot development. But it ends with a cliff hanger, saving it from being a total bore.
And the plot thickens. Witchcraft is happyhappyjoyjoy. But note to self--never, ever watch The Vampire Diaries at midnight, ever, ever again. Even if you know what's going to happen. Doesn't make it less scary.
There's a new vampire in town and I adore her. And then they kill someone. And then, wow. These writers are as ruthless as the evil brother vampire, Damon.
2009 has been a year of great losses, and this month we have lost one of the best actors of Philippine Cinema.
I've known Johnny Delgado since the Bad Bananas, and I thought (and still do) that they were the funniest comedy troupe in Philippine showbusiness, funnier even than Tito, Vic, and Joey.
But my first appreciation of his full acting potential was back in film school, when I saw Mike de Leon's short film Aliwan Paradise. And I already marked him down as the most natural local actor I have ever seen. His acting style is subtle, yet full of energy, and the way he delivers his lines--you would never sense that he was speaking lines from a script, as they are colloquial and natural. I don't know if the directors give him license to paraphrase, or if he just does a damn good job.
Film historians will tell you that Johnny Delgado is the son of director Ben Feleo. But what few people know is that he is the director's adopted son. His natural father is Sixto Esquivias, Jr. He is an Esquivias. My mother's first cousin. My uncle by blood.
Johnny Delgado a.k.a. Juan Marasigan Feleo. 1948-2009.
*some info from Wikipedia
pic from pixelgrain.biz
The only people who will feel great loss upon the passing of Captain Lou Albano will be those who grew up in the eighties.
Lou Albano was a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation. Some might remember him from the animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling.
Lou Albano appeared in several Cindy Lauper music videos, as one of wrestling's most active stars, helping the sport cross over to mainstream consciousness.
Lou Albano also played Mario. Yes, the Italian plumber. This was in the TV show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which was the earlier version before John Leguizamo played Luigi.
Louis Vincent Albano. 1933-2009.
*some info from Wikipedia
pic from blog.taragana.com
Okay, I'll just do this in (silver) bullets. (That's a pun--you know, werewolves.)
- I've never watched Twilight the movie, but I have read Twilight the book. And I think to appreciate the movie more, I should've seen Twilight the movie first.
- I loved the action sequences. I mean, they're in a semi-podunk town called Forks, where the only action they get is cliff diving. And maybe random rides with bearded bikers. So of course, a vampire-werewolf face-off is always welcome.
- I think that the werewolves' ability to keep warm is a lame-o excuse to keep showing their bodies and their six-packs. "It's a wolf thing." I mean, seriously, come on. I understand them having tattoos. But them wearing identical shorts and shoes? And no shirts? The only ones who enjoyed this were the young girls in the movie theater. Because I certainly didn't.
- Kristen Stewart is a traitor. A traitor is someone who doesn't catch your attention at first, but little by little, you realize that she is actually beautiful. The realization slowly creeps up on you, and hits you when you least expect it. My realization hit me around the twenty minute mark. I hate traitors.
- I loved Ashley Greene. She played Alice Cullen. It must be her hair. But I googled her, and realized she doesn't look as pretty in other hairstyles as she did in her Alice Cullen hair.Which was actually a wig.
- I ♥ Dakota Fanning. All those who thought Dakota Fanning was an alien when she was a kid, raise their hand. I admit, I found her creepy when she was young. Simply because she was a really terrific actor at that young and tender age. But now, after seeing New Moon, I have concluded that she is not an alien, and that she is all grown up now.
And of course, there will be no ravings about that guy who played Jacob. Nor will there be any ravings about Robert Pattinson, the guy who played Edward Cullen. Because I. Am. Edward. Cullen.
*some info from IMDb
pic from news.bbc.co.uk
The Twilight Saga: New Moon. USA. 2009.
Rating: Seven out of ten.
Kristen Stewart: Eight out of ten.
Dakota Fanning: Nine out of ten.
You may also want to check out the other reviews for The Twilight Saga, such as Eclipse and Breaking Dawn─Part 1.
We don't get to see Sue Sylvester in this episode. Finn and Puck are jerks. Kudos to Mercedes for putting Puck in his place. But Mercedes explicitly admits that the loser kids' lives revolve around the popular ones so that's more loser-y. Plus, though I don't like Juno, that film did a better job on handling teen pregnancy messages than Glee could. Glee is so preachy. And when they talk about teen pregnancy, I want to laugh. Or sleep. Mostly sleep. It has been consecutive episodes of these teenagers bitching around about pregnancy, and bitching is fun when it's funny. Here, it's not even dramatic, just annoying. Still, the sub-story, the teacher-student relationship was funny and showed Will's acting capability. But Glee should really stop with the homophobic jokes. Kurt does not deserve to be token funny. He should be token adorable. Because he goddamn is. Plus, we don't get to see Sue Sylvester in this episode.
Less than five minutes into the film, I already stopped it in my head.
Why?
Because Tom Cruise spoke English.
I already mentioned in my earlier reviews about effective realism (if I want to coin the word, I'm going to have to do an academic paper on it, which of course I will NOT do), and I wish all movies would follow the same trend. Inglourious Basterds, for instance, also used effective realism. If you're going to do a film about the Germans, then please make them speak German. Or at least make them all look Aryan. I mean, they could at least have dyed Tom Cruise's hair blonde, to make him look more German and less all-American pretty boy. Didn't Tom Cruise look good as Lestat, who had blonde hair?
Also, the story kind of--there's no better word for it--sucked. I don't know if it was director Bryan Singer's fault, or the scriptwriters', but suck it did.
But what saved this film was the production design (excellent uniforms and props, and that annoying eyeball that Cruise keeps in his pocket), and the performance of Tom Wilkinson. He is fast becoming my favorite "fierce old guy" actor. I hope he isn't a fierce old guy in real life.
Oh, and also, Bill Nighy was here. Only I don't know which character he played. He was so damn good, he escaped my eye. I only saw him on the IMDb cast list.
*some info from IMDb
pic from specialcomment.wordpress.com
Valkyrie. USA. 2008.
Rating: Six out of ten.
Tom Cruise's eyeball: One out of ten.
How many more films based on video games do we have to endure before they come up with Grand Theft Auto?
Anyway, Hitman, sadly, is not one of my favorite games. Which goes on to say that this is not one of my favorite movies. And although there are a lot of shots slash sequences that pay direct homage to the video game, that is just not enough. Although there are some redeeming factors.
1. Timothy Olyphant. Surprisingly, he can play a cold-blooded killer with little emotion. No pretty boy antics, though. Which is a good thing, really.
2. Olga Kurylenko. The Russian who doesn't look too Nordic. She looks like she has some Asian blood in her. I think most southern Russians look like this, being close to Mongolia and all.
3. Dougray Scott. What a great team player. Dougray Scott is so effective that sometimes you just forget he's Dougray Scott.
4. Robert Knepper. One of my favorite new actors. He just takes every role assigned to him, and he does it good. Just doing the Russian accent alone already requires effort.
And let me just say that if (and that's a big IF) they do decide to make a sequel to this movie, I am definitely NOT watching it. And I wish the big Hollywood studios would get their asses working on that Grand Theft Auto movie instead.
*some info from IMDb
pic from thehollywoodnews.com
Hitman. USA. 2007.
Rating: Five out of ten.
Robert Knepper's Russain accent: Seven out of ten.
Olga Kurylenko's nakedness: Nine out of ten.
From the start, you will know that this is a cheap production. But "cheap" doesn't necessarily mean "crap". This show is a beauty. For finding humor in that seemingly humorless department the white collar workers are familiar with--I.T. And after these guys throw a party, you'll find out why they seem humorless.
*pic from theitcrowd.co.uk
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