Aug
21
2008
Those words come from a conservative guy talking to a transvestite who somehow feels comfortable with his presence. Unfortunately for this guy who has a problem with a shoe factory he newly-manned when his father unexpectedly died, he isn’t comfortable looking at a man wearing a dress. “You look like the worst bits of both,” he has said.
This is one particular scene in the movie Kinky Boots, directed by Geoff Dane and written by Julian Jarrold, where it steered me the most. Though the guy named Charlie Price can be considered an enlightened man in the land of Northampton, he still falls under the prejudices of other people’s scrutiny and idealisms when he and Lola the drag queen are together in the restaurant. Issues on sexuality often heats up even the most apathetic citizen that it is the whole debate becomes senseless and even discriminatory.
As for the aspects of pop culture found in this movie, the one that surfaced perceptibly is the fashion aspect since the whole film involves shoes, good looks, and runways. The film effectively covers this matter which almost everyone in the world has been involved with. From the proper shoe size to the debatable concern of who must wear this and that, Kinky Boots somehow breaks the mold of gender inequity in a less declarative and demanding way. Like Lola, or otherwise known as Simon, this cross-dresser who designed the “transvestite boots” for a factory that manufactures the common products such as the Oxfords and the school shoes is like a movement for a possible change, a sure way of ensuring equilibrium that homosexuals have their own share of the pie present in the market.
On the other hand, this act can be held accountable as a disadvantage since the majority is alien with this idea. Who would’ve thought that this particular place makes boots for gays? Therefore this is one thing that’s obviously unpopular either in this generation or on the next few years to come. Let’s face it, though more and more people have fought for the reshaping of the biased mentality, we cannot still get away from labels, taunts, and misconceptions that defeats the protests of those “radical” thinkers. Boots are good for females, better for female dancers, but awfully bad for drag queens—this is the code one may get in this film. For me, fashion adapts to different views and concepts so basically it shouldn’t follow a direct rule.
The movie has the makings of a classic, though. Even if it deals with issues about gender, fashion dichotomization, and societal biases, this movie can stand the tests of time for its focus on being uncategorized and fearless. These themes are universal and the insights never change even after countless of viewings. Just like Steven Spielberg’s Extraterrestrial, it still remains watchable until now for its charming nature, its youthful burst of energy found in the child protagonist, and the theme of reception and release. Aside from being a favorite, this sci-fi movie makes anyone relate to the child because personal experience usually makes movies click. In the film Kinky Boots, no one can really get away from it without having a connection to one of the wide variety of characters. Popular culture is unquestionably transitory, it lives on the various changes of things, but through this series of modification it eliminates the borderlines, the limiting characteristic of time. And since this movie, Kinky Boots, offers illumination of knowledge that transcends any period, it is a classic no egotistic scholar of the highest order could ever disagree.__________________________________________________________________
Aug
14
2008
Don't you just wish to have an all-in-one software for file conversion, ripping, burning and audio/video editing?
Well, here it is. The name is Blaze Media Pro. It is a powerful all-in-one multimedia application that can do so so much!
For Audio conversion, file supported are
MP3 to WAV, WMA, OGG and vice versa. Also supported are CD/MIDI/DVD Audio conversion to WAV, WMA, OGG and MP3.
Moreover, video editing is available for AVI (uncompressed and compressed using any available codec), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV, and ASF. Comprehensive video editing options are also provided (delete frame, delete selection, crop, resize, rotate, mirror, flip, trim, text overlay, adjust audio volume, etc.) plus an extensive list of over 30 effects and color adjustment operations to allow for powerful video enhancement and alteration.
Why not test the trial version now?
Aug
06
2008
No, not really. LOL. But, I won two tickets from Click the City to an advanced screening of Wall-E! Yehey. This is the second time this year that I won something from Click the City. Last May, I won Fool's Gold goodies (I think it was a shirt and a notebook), but I wasn't able to claim my prize. This time I'm going to MAKE TIME to claim my prize. I vant my free movie. :P
Aug
05
2008
I've a tendency to go nuts over book sales and VCD sales. Thus my list of things to read and movies to watch grows every week and I just don't make time to read or watch these shiznit. I suck. Haha.
Reading materials:
Mozart's Sister (Nancy Moser) - I really do find this interesting, but I'm not even halfway through. Circus of the Damned (Laurell K. Hamilton) - I only know Dracula and the Anne
Aug
01
2008
Activity was barely existent in the office and so we had the chance to watch WANTED tonight.
Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy, Wanted is a story about a transformation of an ordinary account manager who found out that his father who left him when he was an infant has been murdered. This father was a member of the Fraternity of Assassins, a group that exterminate people from the face of the Earth based on the name (target) the Loom of Fate comes up with. Taken into the Fraternity's leader's wing, this account manager was trained and was transformed into an assassin.
If you wanted to see bullets that defy the law of physics, watch Wanted.
Barely 5 minutes into it and I had decided it's a horrible movie. I'm sorry but I had to say it's really horrible.
But halfway into it, I begun to see past the almost unreal scenes and I realized that the unreality of it all brought more than a smile on my face.
It's a terrible movie. But.
Jul
31
2008
And I thought the rumor was true. It’s not. After all, it's just a rumor. A lot in the web is circulating that the young Dumbledore in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince would be played by Sir Ian McKellen; the famous Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Eventually, I have known that everything’s fake. This 68 year old actor clears it all a long time ago in an interview: “…‘Don’t you wish you’d played Dumbledore?’ I say no! I played Gandalf! The original. There was a question as to whether I might take over from Richard Harris but seeing as one of the last things he did publicly was say what a dreadful actor he thought I was, it would not have been appropriate for me to take over his part. It would have been unfair.” Okay, that seems fair enough.
Well, I still love Michael Gambon as the quirky and sometimes serious Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore in the last three Potter films no matter what people say. Anyway, the latest trailer of the movie has finally been released (uhmm, days ago?). And I love it. Yeah, yeah… I know the issues of movie adaptations but, honestly, the sixth installment looks promising. The cave scene is really cool.
Jul
22
2008
Though the Dark Knight hasn’t swept off my feet yet, considering that the movie’s premiere here in Dumaguete seems ages to happen, I get the impression that I would forever love this film after reading countless positive reviews. And one more thing to watch for: I love the Joker—he’s my favorite villain of all time next to X-men’s Apocalypse.
But let’s face it; we just have too many Western comic characters popping in our movie screens. There is Hulk, Iron Man, and then Batman. It’s as if they’re readying to dominate humanity! But after a few website hopping an hour ago, an image has caught my attention that immediately brings back that memory. It is the memory of having played outside every Sunday when the sun sets that I have to get back into our house and watch my weekly dose of animé. It is one of those Japanese cartoon sagas that, save for the pop culture mania that I have gotten into, completes my day in its earlier viewing back then in RPN channel 9.
Does that photo look familiar? Yes, it is Dragonball Z. And it is coming to the theaters soon. ___________________________________________________________________
Jul
22
2008
The 1980s marked a significant decade in the movie industry. It was during this time that blockbuster films popped up almost every year. From sci-fi to horror to action and adventure to wars and...
This is only a teaser. Visit my blog for full links, other content, and more! http://www.betterthanezrah.org
Jul
18
2008
From my family mailing list, I got a heads-up about an independent film by Director Paul Alexander Morales, Concerto. According to the trailer and blog, the film is about a family in Davao and their ordeal during the last part of World War II.
To the right is the movie poster, which I got from the movie’s blog [http://concertothefilm.blogspot.com].
Watching the trailer, I was really intrigued by the theme, the apparent story of the movie. It says in the blog that it’s about a “piano concert” that the family held in the forests of Davao City amidst the war. Presumably, this is the time of the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines.
This film, which is a historical account by the way, is doubly interesting for me. Since it is about Davao somehow, and because it is placed in a historical setting with Japanese personages, I really hope I’ll be able to see it.
There have been screenings in Manila since 12 July 2008, and one more scheduled on the 19th — tomorrow! — at the CCP’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo. I wish we’d get a chance to see Concerto here in Davao as well.
The film is part of the CINEMALAYA 2008 competition, among 19 other entries.
To watch the movie trailer on YouTube, click here.
Jul
11
2008
Photo courtesy of http://morofilm.blogspot.com
My friend Jun Macarambon, who co-wrote “A step for my dream” had their film officially selected in this year’s Cinemalaya, inevitably the most prestigious film festival in the Philippines. I haven’t seen the film myself, but the fact that it made it to the festival should keep everyone’s heads up. It was directed by Monalayn Labado, also a Mindanawon. Hopefully, their producer Teng Mangansakan II, also a documentary filmmaker from Mindanao, would allow to screen the said film for this upcoming Mindanao Film Festival for everyone to see. Lately, the influx of critical Mindanao filmmakers shaking the national and international scene have grown since, perhaps, Lav Diaz. Other films to watchout for that are made by a Mindanao filmmaker include Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s film (director of Huling Balyan ng Buhi) “Imburnal”, which was recently shot in some parts of Bankerohan and Gumasa. It is an entry for this year’s Cinema One Originals. Also, an advocacy film was recently made entitled, “Hunghong sa yuta” which has already run on local cinemas. Noticeably, most of our fresh breed of filmmakers have done stories on Mindanao, treating these stories with a fair sense of what Mindanao truly feels like.
In an interview, Mangansakan mentioned a trend in the past of outsiders making stories about us with an unnerving sort of unfamiliarity, even dettachment. I once watched a 1980 Eddie Romero epic (three and half hours long) film entitled, “Aguila” starring Fernando Poe Jr., Christopher de Leon, Eddie Garcia among other star studs, and the film had vague images of Mindanao as the backdrop of where Fernando Poe eventually disappeared to. It portrays Mindanao as somewhat the ideal place to get lost in, a place ridden with rebels. Although, the rather unbalanced portrayal of Mindanao is for the overall cinematic effect or part of how it was written but that’s precisely how it’s just not enough for non-Mindanawons to describe what Mindanao is like. Even National Media makes me cringe at all the news they run about the region. Whereas that is my advocacy, all strifes of artistic forms or self-determining movements in Mindanao have been hampered by the fact that there isn’t ENOUGH support from the locale, or at least not too many are aware that it needs support. I hope you will show yours.
Hello, buy me a beer and earn a friend!
Jul
08
2008
I wanted to watch Wanted solely for Angelina Jolie and her real/fake tattoos, but it was James McAvoy who blew me away. Angelina Jolie's performance was nothing I haven't seen from her before, but James McAvoy was simply brilliant. I didn't find him this gorgeous and appealing in Atonement. I think it was the character and how he played it. Skillz haz it. Oh, he's rumored to play Bilbo Baggins in
Jul
02
2008
And then there’s another installment.... Seemingly, the cutting, slicing, or whatever -ing available never stops.
Enough said. But I must admit, the teaser poster looks good though; made me remember of other movies. Very, umm, classy.
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Jun
15
2008
Activity in the office was relatively slow yesterday and so I had a chance to -- guess what? -- watch a movie again.
And it's a lovestory! Weeee heee. Being a sucker of romantic tales, you can just imagine how secretly excited I was when my male officemate only said in a flat voice, "it's a lovestory" after I asked whether it's a good one. *
But of course, I tried to mask my excitement*
Anyway, PS. I Love You, which stars Hilary Swank (Holly) and Gerard Butler (Gerry), is a story of a young widow named Holly who discovers that her husband Gerry left her messages to help her get through her mourning. And help her start a new life.
It's a total tearjerker and it touched me. It actually planted
what-ifs in my mind. Although the concept about "those letters" seem unbelievable and not realistic, I was carried away with the story. And what do you expect from a wuss like me? It won't be shocking to know that I cried - as in CRIED - while watching it. I was silently crying right there in the office. And I would have unabashedly cried more if I wasn't sharing the room with two other companions who were busy doing technical stuff.
When I went to the CR after seeing the end of the movie, I saw that my eyes were swollen and red. What a wuss! So my say about P.S. I Love You is it's an eye stinger. :-)
Jun
14
2008
Indiana Jones mania has come again! I just finished watching on Cable T.V. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I didn't realize that Marion Ravenwood was a character in this film! ...
This is only a teaser. Visit my blog for full links, other content, and more! betterthanezraH.blogspot.com
Jun
13
2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a 2008 adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. Set in 1957, the fourth film in...
This is only a teaser. Visit my blog for full links, other content, and more! betterthanezraH.blogspot.com
Jun
09
2008
I’m aware that names have special meaning and significance to them. Example, it is said that Abraham means “father of many” and Abraham did become the father of his people. David also means “beloved” and indeed, he’s loved by many.
But I didn’t know that even manga characters have special meaning to their names. Example, from the Japanese manga BLEACH, Ichigo Kurosaki’s name means “First Guardian” or “He who protects. (Now, it would be interesting to find out whether he really could protect the world from annihilation.) So then, if I were to choose a powerful name (like one for a superhero or manga character), I’d pick my name to be Jada Yagami. Jada because I love shades of green (jade) and Yagami from another Manga character. How about you, what would it be?
Want to learn more about manga characters? You may start by watching
Bleach the Movie. It will be available in selected US movie theatres on June 11 and 12. Purchase of tickets maybe done online –by providing your zip code. Maybe it’s time to go and check it out.
Jun
03
2008
Wanna know the faces behind the voices of the characters?
Click on "Read more of this post..." to see for yourself!
**Highly recommended to the curious at heart... Hehehe...
-Jack Black voices Po-
-Angelina Jolie voices Master Tigress-
-Dustin Hoffman voices Shifu-
-Jackie Chan voices Master Monkey-
-Lucy Liu voices Master Viper -
-David Cross voices Master Crane-
-Seth Rogen voices Master Mantis-
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
May
27
2008
Last week, Dhirrac and I watched “21,” a movie with the tag line: “They proved Vegas blackjack was beatable…by beating the hell out of it.”
The movie mesmerized me to the point where I wondered if what they did was actually very possible indeed to do. Of course, the movie was based on the story of the MIT Blackjack Team, who indeed proved that they could do it. Although there were a lot of controversies that surrounded the whole movie, I could not help but be in awe at what they could do. I mean, are they good with numbers or what? Whoa. I just can only wish… and it got me thinking…
Do some of their tricks and stuff they did work on online casinos? What if you were to look at the list of top USA casinos and take your pick and participate. Could you possibly pack a punch as much as those guys did? I am so curious, really. I have half a mind to try it. But then again, I am not exactly as good as those guys who did it. If you are wondering if you could do it, too.
Perhaps you should visit TopUSAOnlineCasinos.com and choose one from the bunch of online casinos. The presentation there is really simple so it isn’t so hard to get lost or find what you need. It is also very detailed, and if perhaps there are some things you think you need in a specific casino to which you would like to be able to apply your tricks to, then be my guest.
For now, I would like to research more on how they did it. Although those who were a part of the MIT Blackjack Team were exceptionally good, who knows if I just might make it? 
Brains.. I need brains!!
May
14
2008
I had the chance to watch Vantage Point, which stars Dennnis Quaid, a couple of weeks or so ago in the office. (C’mon… Please don't ask me why I was able to watch it in the office. Wink.)
Although I enjoyed it, I really wasn't too impressed with the story. The plot, which revolves around the assassination attempt of the US President while attending a summit in Spain, was promising but I just am not convinced with some of the scenes. Okay it’s just a movie but aren’t scenes in the movies supposed to look convincing? Aren’t they supposed to get the audience involved in the characters? It didn’t happen to me though.
My favorite charming blunder is the “he-doesn't-even-look-like-me" double of the President. It’s actually a line I’ll always remember and associate with the movie – although I believe it’s a line to reinforce the existence of a body double. But indeed, the double doesn’t look like the president. at. all. Not an iota.
To me, it’s ridiculous to get a double that doesn’t look exactly like the President (in the story). They could have at least attempted to make the double look like the President. Ever heard of prosthetics? But I can see there was none of that.
But in the end, I had to accede that it was cleverly done. You won’t miss what the story is all about as the movie replays relevant scenes at a different perspective or vantage points. (For awhile there, during the second replay or perspective, I had the fleeting thought that I must have mistakenly pressed a rewind button or that I had a not working copy.)
May
14
2008
After the repeat of Nightmare Awards, guess what I’m getting? Death Note! Waaaaaa! I’m only a nice girl who only loves to blog and then I get this? What’s going on?
Okay, okay it’s not a death note for me and I haven't experienced anything supernatural so far.
But it’s the
DeathNote the movie that I meant. Based on the hit supernatural action-mystery manga, Death Note is an offering from NCM Fathom and Viz Pictures to horror-movie fans out there. It is about a notebook which a Shinigami death god named Ryuk dropped and which a student named Light Yagami found and vowed to use to rid the world of evil as any human whose name is written on it eventually dies.
Interested already? It will be available in selected US movie theatres on May 20th and 21st. Purchase of tickets maybe done online –by providing your zip code. Go check it out.
May
12
2008
I was watching TV last night while am doing the photos for my blog. It was a horror movie, but then I asked myself “when was the last time I watched a horror movie”? Hah! It was almost a year! I remember I was with Cheng² and we were like hiding behind the pillows and asked each other “what’s happening”?
So I browsed the net for upcoming horror movies and I bumped into THIS CREEPY Trailer. Based on the trailer, I think the movie would scare a lot of people and this will include YOU! YES YOU! Aside from being scary, the movie Frontier(s) has a controversy going on that Frontier(s) is “Unrated”, and most unrated movies don’t get to theatres and this film is doing so. Good thing they’ll be able to show it in selected theatres UNCUT and UNRATED on May 9.
Though we won’t be able to watch it on theatres, no worries! The UNRATED and UNCUT version of it will be released on May 13th in DVD! Yes! We will be able to watch it at the comfort of our own home! With popcorns and chips and soda this time! But then again.. We will be hiding behind those pillows. Hehe.
May
08
2008
The girl at Going Japanesa has been my muse for countless times. Her craziness and often even her emotional state has been a source for much musing on my part. I am glad that I have a friend such as her, who makes me think and not just irritate the heck out of me. One who, instead of making me eat my words or show me how stupid I actually am, makes me feel like I just may have a point. Although she is not the only one who has this effect on me, I write this as a tribute to her today since she was the one who inadvertently reminded me to watch the movie Bucket List, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.
Suffice it to say, I loved the movie. I know not many would love it, or would agree that I think it was nice. There were some points which were a little bit boring, but in the end, I CRIED. What can I say? I’m a weeper, and I am such a softie for these types of movies, like Pursuit of Happyness.
In contrast to Pursuit of Happyness, where I could definitely relate to Chris Gardner in almost all points, this one made me relate to it on a different level. Something that tugged on my long buried dreams and wishes. Something I thought was long dead and gone. But perhaps I am still 23 years old. 81 years of age is still a lifetime away, but I must admit I almost always feel like I am in my 50s. 
Life and all.
So, a bucket list? Yes, I am planning to make one. I’m writing it in my pink journal/diary with beautiful pages given by the girl at Going Japanesa. Who knows? I might hit it big and I would get to do all the things I want to do which others have most definitely have taken for granted.
To start off? Well, I definitely want to skydive, to bungee jump, to dive, oh so many things.. 
May
05
2008
VERB Advisory: I advise everyone reading this now to please bear in mind that what you will be seeing is a trailer of a horror movie and some of the images as well. So unless you are ready to watch it, please don’t click any of the links. If you have a child with you, please exercise caution.
This morning, I have seen the Trailer of the unrated and controversial movie Frontier(S). It’s so gruesome to me. No kidding, I mean it’s maddeningly scary. So over the edge. With all the blood, it IS just gross. But then scary movie is not really my cup of tea. However, most of my friends in the office love to watch horror movies. When they would invite me to watch this kind of films and I decline, I do get a good ribbing sometimes. It’s nothing offensive though and I don’t mind.
It’s not yet shown in my place. But for US residents, you may check if the theater near where you live is one of the selected theaters to show this film on May 9. But if you’d like to bring horror viewing to the next level and watch this film in the comforts of your home, pick up an unrated and uncut copy of the Frontier(s). The DVD copy will be available on May 13th.
May
05
2008
We're streaking! We're streaking!
Yeba. The Ultimate Warriors won our 6 games in Pool C. Our longest winning streak in history. Hahaha. I guess we're going up to Pool B next week. I wonder who we're going against. We need to work even harder in the next few weeks. Haha. Yehey.
You know who I like these days? Leona Lewis. I've seen bits of her Bleeding Love video before but I never really paid
Apr
29
2008
I first fell in love with Robert Downey Jr in Heart and Souls, with a coterie of souls with unfinished businesses as his guardian angels. I almost went over the top when I saw him sing with Sting in Ally McBeal. He made deadpan hilarious in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, and now Robert Downey Jr. is Ironman.
So while some people may think that Robert Downey Jr may be too old to be playing a superhero, I think he fits the bill just fine. This is probably going to be the movie I wouldn’t mind spending a bit to see in a real movie house next month. Oh and yes I am going to buy the DVD as well.
Iron Man Exclusive Trailer
I’m sure you’ve all seen this trailer before, but I couldn’t resist.
Other links I found while looking for photos of Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman are:
There, that should keep any Ironman fan like me happy for hours.
Apr
29
2008
One of the few films that really stood on its leg after numerous disappointing series is the Batman. Thanks to Christopher Nolan who got the director’s chair and save the franchise from a possible regression into mediocrity, the second take of the caped crusader in Gotham City is another reason to buy a ticket at the nearest movie house when the month July comes. And Christian Bale as The Dark Knight can be another reason. The foremost villain of the bat here is the Joker—my favorite next to the Riddler! In the trailer, his chilling query “Why so serious?” duly shows the perfect combination of instilling fear and guilt. And he’s portrayed by Heath Ledger; which would probably be his final performance for the silver screen if his other movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, ceases to show up in theaters.
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Apr
21
2008
Little Known Movie of the Week
The last VCD I bought was Winter Passing, with Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrel, Ed Harris, and Amelia Warner. It's about this depressed struggling actress Reese (Deschanel) and her recluse novelist father Don (Harris). Reese was offered money by an editor for these letters that her writer parents wrote to each other, so she returns home to find her dad living in the
Apr
18
2008
Grand visuals plus gripping storylines (though the latter may unfortunately wane in the end) more often than not attract me. That’s why when I have seen the movie trailer of Tarsem Singh’s latest feature film
The Fall, it instantaneously becomes my favorite next to Julie Taymor’s
Across the Universe and Guillermo del Torro’s
Pan’s Labyrinth.
Though Tarsem, as what he is famously called in the industry, is much more associated with
The Cell (which starred Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn) and its “inappropriate” heaviness on eye-popping imagery than on plot, I still say his latest work has a lot of promise. Well, I just base this praise on the trailer and I just hope that when I see the entirety of this movie I wouldn’t swallow these words. I don't even know yet when this would be shown in the Philippines.
Click
here for the full trailer.
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Apr
14
2008
Of Fabulous People
I have fabulous friends. They threw me a surprise birthday thing last weekend after ultimate. They prepared a raclette dinner with spam, vienna sausage, chorizo, beef loaf, marble potatoes, and Che Vital cheese. We also had some really good red wine and yummy chocolate cake. Whee! Thank you, friends! :) Note: I think I'm finally starting to like red wine. Forcing myself to
Feb
21
2008
Jedi Master Mace Windu is back!
.. with a vengeance..
Yes, he’s out to get Anakin Skywalker for disarming him, literally cutting off his arm, in Revenge of the Sith. But wait, he’s not armed with a light saber? Instead, he’s wielding a high voltage baton to prevent Anakin from sky-walking, err.. vanishing? err.. disappearing?
On a serious [...]
Those words come from a conservative guy talking to a transvestite who somehow feels comfortable with his presence. Unfortunately for this guy who has a problem with a shoe factory he newly-manned when his father unexpectedly died, he isn’t comfortable looking at a man wearing a dress. “You look like the worst bits of both,” he has said.
