Vampire Love Story

Why watch this (drivel)?



When you can watch this?



Now, I haven't watched either but I think I'd rather watch the latter. No offense to the rabid fans of the series out there.

P.S. Thanks to sparks for the link.

El Orfanato

If you ever want to be frightened out of your skin one of these days, go watch El Orfanato (directed by first time director Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo del Toro).

Seriously freaky stuff. I had my eyes closed most of the time (for those who know me, you'd know this is my way of watching horror movies) and still I couldn't shake off the eeriness of the film.

D, who LOVES getting freaked out, enjoyed himself immensely. There were a few scenes when we, along with the rest of the audience, jumped out of our seats because of how brilliantly scary they were set up.

Hollywood movie directors, please take note. This is how you make a great horror movie.

The Dark Knight

We're watching the new Batman movie later tonight. I can't wait.



I wanted to watch in Gold Class but it's near impossible to get seats for any decent movie that comes around, unless you want to wait a month for it. Oh well.

Update: Watched it and loved it. For one thing, Katie Holmes isn't in it, so you couldn't go wrong there. Didn't disappoint, which is rare these days. Chris Nolan rocks. Heath was brill. It's a bit long (about 2 1/2 hours or thereabouts) so be prepared.

Death Proof at the Moonlight Cinema

Seriously, this movie is cool. A chick flick and a guys gory dream come true all rolled into one. Tarantino rocks.



Now all I need to do is find out where to watch Rodriguez's Planet Terror, other than the Astor*.


----

*The Astor Theatre is having a special season of Grindhouse -- showing Death Proof and Planet Terror as a double feature, the way the directors intended it. Unfortunately, we'll be in Manila at the time they're showing it. Bummer.

UPDATE: We watched Planet Terror and I was sorely disappointed in Robert Rodriguez. It was still worth watching just for the girl with a machine gun for a leg...

Thank God It's Friday

I hate cliches but TGIF is exactly what I feel right now. I've had a loooonnnggg week and it's nice to be snuggly in bed at this moment.

Work's still the same beast but I feel less frustrated. Only because I've decided to be more proactive with my career and have taken some steps to make sure that the company hears what I have to say. I feel quite proud of myself in that respect.


Last Friday (feels like ages ago), D and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie at the IMAX. Now, I've never watched anything in IMAX before and I didn't have any expectations. It was great! The screen was HUGE.

I don't know exactly what D and I were expecting but we kept waiting for the 3D to come on. Mid-way through the movie, we were looking at each other and wondering whether the 3D parts were ever going to come on. It finally did, once, at the end of the movie. It ran for 15 minutes and that was it. Now, don't get me wrong. It was great effects and it's definitely the way to see this particular movie but we both thought that there would be more 3D happening. Silly us.

The glasses are still dorky by the way.

Transformers and Burger King

This is funny.

I want to watch Transformers!! We're going to do it tomorrow.

Four Eyed Monsters

I watched this indie film online last night with D. It was funny and very artsy. We both really liked it so I decided to post it here as well to help them promote the movie.

Join Spout Buy DVD Watch Video Podcast Get Code

They've uploaded the entire film on YouTube for a limited time and are asking viewers to help with their credit card debt (incurred during the filming and production of the movie) by joining spout (free sign-up and the site will give them $1 for every person who joins) or buying a DVD or high quality download.

Learn more about their story here.

It's been a while

I haven't blogged in more than a week.

I've been busy with work (ugh), reading lots (at least I've been updating my reading blog), getting ready for when the parents come to visit (in less than 2 weeks! woohoo!), ebaying (it's very addictive), practice driving and watching DVDs.

Besides, there has been nothing new to warrant an interesting post. Oh well.

I've been driving more lately. Mostly weekends and errands. D's going to the mechanic tomorrow to get my new old car serviced to make sure it's at least safe. I have a parking slot at work already. I've been taking the online practice knowledge test (yes, I still have to take a silly test even if I have been driving for over ten years) to make sure I can pass the actual test.

Been watching a few DVDs which have been interesting: Kolja (Czech, must see), Le Placard ("The Closet," funny but typical French comedy), L' Appartement ("The Apartment," French, original version of Wicker Park, recommended), and Pulse (Hollywood version of Japanese film, Kairo. Had my eyes closed for most of it, D really liked it as it was creepy. Very Japanese horror.).

Also watched a few which were trying, to say the least: An Inconvenient Truth (everybody raves about this. Literally made me fall asleep. Haven't gone through the whole movie yet. I don't like Al Gore.), Havoc (Stars a very different Anne Hathaway, looked promising but got boring. Haven't finished this either. Too annoying.) and Crank (What in the world has happened to Jason Statham? Silly, silly movie. Nothing redeeming about it at all.).

We also watched Spiderman 3. That warrants its own post...

Sunshine: A Review

Watched this movie about 2 weeks ago but I still feel that it warrants a blog. Since it is sci-fi, there are holes in the story but with films like this, you have to suspend disbelief while you are watching it or else your head explodes (or you don't enjoy the film at the very least).

I enjoyed it. Surprisingly, too. Other than certain parts of the ending (I won't go into detail due to spoilers) which I felt insulted the rest of the movie, it was an entertaining watch.

I have decided that I like Danny Boyle. 28 Days Later is one of the few zombie movies that I like (I know the sequel, 28 Weeks Later won't be as good but I'm still watching it). I even like The Beach, which was almost universally panned, just because of how it looked like. Now, I haven't watched Trainspotting (it's a subtitle movie for me and I have to be in the mood) other than a few glimpses here and there and I know it's the quintessential Boyle film. But the movies that I have watched, I enjoyed.

Cillian Murphy is brilliant, as always. Now, I don't really like like him but I think he's a very good actor. And that fire guy from Fantastic Four was surprisingly good as well.

This film sort of reminded me of the Alien series but without the Alien. I recommend watching it.

300: A Review

I loved this film. I didn't expect much from it, especially after Chrismiss blasted it. I just hoped it would be as pretty as it looked on the trailer.

I really liked it. It was bloody, gory and fun! Yes, the storyline was more fluff than anything else but what can you expect from a comic book? (Yes I know it's technically a graphic novel. Semantics.) I liked the cinematography and the CGI-ness of it. I read a review somewhere blasting the movie for being too faithful to Frank Miller's version. Um, yeah, that's what an adaptation is, right?

The half-naked men prancing about did help with the eye candy but, surprisingly, I got bored with them after a while. They sort of just blended with the scenery.

Another highlight was the Queen. She rocked! Especially the near-end bit. Won't spoil it for those who haven't watched it but that scene is worth looking out for.

However, I did get disappointed when I did more research on the history of the 300 Spartans (nothing to do with the movie at all). Turns out there were more than 300 that fought in the Battle of Thermopylae. Another 4,000 more that is. It would have been more impressive if there were really only 300.

Last note: I thought Xerxes was just a tad bit silly. Seriously, he looked more like a drag queen than a deluded demi-god.

I highly recommend watching this film on the big screen. Unless you have a really flash home entertainment system, the small screen would not do it justice.

Notes on a Scandal

I managed to drag D to watch Notes on a Scandal, starring Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett, last Friday. It was surprisingly good. Judi Dench is amazing. Real creepy, hehe.

The story was well-written, the pacing was just right and the acting was spot-on.

Even D liked it, high praise for something he considered a chick flick.

If you haven't seen it, go watch it. If it's already shown and you missed it, rent the DVD.

The Good Shepherd

This is the longest movie on earth. At least, it felt that way when we were watching it. 2 freakin' hours and 40 minutes. That's how long it was. And you could feel every second tick away.

It was slow, draggy and just plain boring. No suspense, no action scenes, no car chases. Everything, and everyone, is very somber and serious.

Directed by Robert de Niro. Impressive casting: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Billy Crudup, John Turturro and more. Neither de Niro or the cast made the movie come to life.

Not the best movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon. Not the best movie to watch, period.

Moonlight Cinema

We went to see Casino Royale at the Moonlight Cinema (Royal Botanical Gardens). It was quite fun! I'm posting the pics here first as I can't be bothered writing about it in detail yet.

sleepless nights, marie antoinette and other things

i've been having trouble sleeping the past couple of nights. not really sure what it is, but i have a sneaking suspicion it's job dissatisfaction. i've been really bored at work lately. not enough to do and even when there's work to be done, not challenging enough. i really shouldn't complain as they're paying me decent enough. but i need mental stimulation!
________

last night, D and I watched Marie Antoinette. it was my turn to choose a movie (the last time, we had to watch through his excruciating movie choice: Eragon. sucked big time. seriously.)

it wasn't too bad, could've been better. Sophia Coppola directed it and I was hoping for more of a "Lost in Translation" experience.

started out okay but dragged on for the last half hour of the movie. lots of scenes that did not seem all that necessary. nice cinematography and period pieces though.

my reco? watch it on DVD. when you have nothing better to do...
_________

we're going to go see a movie at the Rooftop Cinema tonight. Karima and her sister are coming. should be interesting... i'll blog more about it.

_________

i want to travel again. been ages since i've been to a country i've never been before. we're planning to go overseas this year and i really should start planning it soon. i don't know how i'll manage with getting more leave from work though. sometimes, work gets in the way of life, don't you think?

The Holiday

So I managed to convince D to watch The Holiday with me. It was sappy and gooey and GOOD. I loved it. Surprisingly, so did D.

Nothing extraordinary about it, just your typical light fluffy romantic comedy. But Jude Law was gorgeous and Kate Winslet was funny. It's a feel good movie and the perfect choice to see during the Christmas season.

And, best of all, the official website lets you make a trailer of your life! How cool is that?

Children of Men

D and I went and watched the movie "Children of Men" starring Clive Owen and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. It was totally not what I expected. But it was GOOD. I don't know why I was expecting a hollywood experience (even had this notion it would be a fun, mostly mindless, run like Minority Report) but we got much more than that. It was brutal and realistic (well, as realistic as you can get when a film is set in the future).

another suprise was that it was written by PD James, one of my crime fiction writers. the movie was so NOT crime fiction. well, i'm aching to read the book now. reserved it at our local library...

http://www.childrenofmen.net/ watch it, love it. well, i did, anyway.