I deem last year's 52 movie and video goal a resounding success. I watched more movies than usual (for me) and spent lots of hours watching stuff. For TV shows, anime & dorama, I counted each season as just one so even if Kamen Rider Kabuto had 49 episodes, I just counted that as a single show. Really a success, since my main goal was force myself to sit down and watch---I definitely logged a gajillion hours! So for this year, here's an attempt to watch another 52!

2007: 55 Movies & TV show seasons

1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Movie)
2. The Last Samurai (Movie)
3. My Boss, My Hero (JDrama • 10/10)
4. Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (Anime)
5. Galileo (JDrama • 10/10)
6. Aquamarine (Movie)
7. Princess Bride (Movie)
8. The Legend of the First King's Four Gods (KDrama • 24/24)
9. Juno (Movie)
10. Cowboy Bebop (Anime • 26/26)
11. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Movie)
12. Sky High (Movie)
13. Across the Universe (Movie)
14. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Movie)
15. Twilight Samurai (Japanese Movie)
16. Bambino! (JDrama • 11/11)
17. Cinderella ni Naritai (Japanese SP)
18. Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata (Japanese SP)
19. Top Chef Season 2 (Reality TV • 13/13)
20. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Movie)
21. Cooking Master Boy (Anime • 52/52)
22. Romeo x Juliet (Anime • ep 24/24)
23. Kung Fu Panda (movie)
24. Zettai Kareshi (Jdrama • ep 11/11)
25. The Dark Knight (movie)
26. Doctor Horrible's Sing-along Blog (Web series • act 3/3)
27. Avatar Book of Fire (Animated TV series • 21/21)
28. Becoming Jane (movie)
29. Penelope (movie)
30. Pink no Idenshi 5 (JDrama)
31. Wanted (movie)
32. Equilibrium (movie)
33. The Last King of Scotland (movie)
34. Top Chef Season 4 (Tv series • 15/15)
35. Moyashimon (anime • 11/11)
36. Wall-E (movie)
37. 27 Dresses (movie)
38. Ugly Betty season 2 (TV series • 18/18)
39. Special A (Anime • 24/24)
40. The Storyteller (TV series • 9/9)
41. Itazura na Kiss (Anime • 26/26)
42. Boku to Kanojo no XXX (JDrama • 7/7)
43. Starter for 10 (movie)


Ongoing seasons from last year:
• NHK to Youkusou (Anime • 4/24)
• Gintama (Anime • 2/xx)
• Nodame Cantabile (Anime • 1/xx)
• Bokura ga Ita (Anime • ep 19)
• 5cm per second (Anime • ep 1)
• Darker than Black (Anime • ep 1)
• Air Gear (Anime • 4/26)
• The Coffee Prince (KDrama • 13/17)
• Saiunkoku Monogatari (Anime • 18/39)
• Hotaru no Hikari (JDrama • 3/10)
• La Corda d Oro (Anime • 13/26)
• Witch Yoo-hee (KDrama • 1/16)
• Marmalade Boy (Anime • DVD 4/8)
• Katekyo Hitman Reborn! (Anime • 16/xx)

i. hot film
We watched Beowulf Saturday evening, compliments of Noel (Thanks Noel!) and it was a hot film. Not because of nekkid Angelina Jolie nor nekkid Beowulf. It was because when we got to that scene where the dragon was burning the tower? The film burned. Literally. As the dragon spewed fire, the literal film burned, stopping the movie for a minute or so.

The timing couldn't have been better.

ii. good parenting
Parents, please consider what movies your kids are watching before packing them off with yaya (nanny) to the movies. Because Beowulf is not something your pre-adolescent kids should be watching unsupervised. Heck, I don't think it should be shown to kids at all. All that gore, inebriation, sexual innuendo, and nekkid Angelina Jolie is not something kids should see.

Especially when your kids are loud, immature and ruin the cinema experience for all. I hope your brats get Grendel nightmares! Though judging by their reaction from Angelina...I'd rather not guess what their dreams would be like. T_T

iii. music & lyrics
Did my challenge 2 shoot yesterday. I found it fun, but a part of me feels apprehensive because the shoot felt so easy. I guess I got too used to complicated set-ups between PF & TQ so now, with a simple set-up, I feel like I'm slacking off---something I promised not to do.

Reminder to self: You loved the new concept enough to drop your initial, complicated set-up. Stop flogging yourself. Besides, the song's goshdarned fun! How can you go wrong?

i. stardust yay
He says Stardust will be released in Manila Oct. 17 this year. YAY! At least now I know I was right in not buying the pirated version and just waiting for the cinema screening. Neil makes me feel like the Philippines is not just a dot on the globe.

Yay!

ii. sleep
It feels weird being able to sleep for a whole 8 hours. Last night, I just did a teeny amount of surfing then promptly slept at around 9pm. Sure, I didn't get to do the stuff I planned (tweak plug-ins, organize photos, update blog) but still, I feel weirdly refreshed.

And it's a Friday! All hail Fridays!

http://channels.ourmedia.org/great-web-crash-2007

I could so totally relate, hahaha! Can you?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Is anyone familiar with the film Once?

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/

I'd love to watch it, but it's not available on Amazon nor Yesasia. Yes, I checked the usual torrent sites as well. If anyone can point me to the right direction, please do.

i. just move forward
Just came home from a movie with Paddy. After a nice dinner at Pancake House (Crispy Belly, how I love you so!), we went to watch Meet the Robinsons. We had no expectations, having only seen one trailer--the singing frogs one that we caught before Shrek 3. A few minutes into it, realizing we were all surrounded by kiddies, we were getting quite worried. "I hope it's not too kiddie," he said. "I just hope it's a bit Pixar-y," I replied.

Something has to be said about watching movies without any expectations. When it unfolds, you're pleasantly surprised. You find yourself laughing loud in the theater, even if the only person laughing along is the guy you're with. You find yourself squealing with glee when some character reminds you of someone else (It's Dory! She reminds me of Dory! Hahahaha!). And you find yourself leaving the theater with a satisfied smile when you realize that you got way more than what you expected.

Go see Meet the Robinsons. In the odd circumstance that you don't like it, you can always just move forward afterwards.

(Note to self: Ask Cla if she has the Rufus Wainwright songs in the movie.)

ii. thank you bono
I think I should ditch plugging in Yukiko when driving and stick to my bootleg U2 compilation CD when driving. There's something about Bono that helps me park. Near perfect parking at ATC & parking at home garage, double success!

iii. have i mentioned how much a certain foodblog i keep makes me happy?
It does. And to show you that this mention is fueled by sincere happiness and not a shameless plug, I'm not even mentioning what the site is.

i. blogging backlog
I am ebul. After a week with no work internet connection, it hits me. A lot of my blogging is done in between work projects. Heeheehee. Hence the lack of blog entries, despite having a backlog of lots of stuff to talk about. So this will be a long entry. I'll try to keep it short but my definition of short can be quite relative. :P

...I took a short break writing and watched TV. I felt a tad sleepy but just had to blog (probably meaning zombified kao at the location shoot tomorrow later but hey!). So, I dashed to the kitchen and grabbed some munchies.

As an effect, the rest of the entry is brought to you by our sponsor, Krispy Kremes.

Heehee. SUGAAAAAAAAAAAHR!

ii. i wanna be impulsive, reckless...
I ran into an interesting book last Friday night as I was waiting for John to meet me after his 2pm to 10 pm shift.

And because a large part of the mall was closed, off to Powerbooks I went. I decided to grab a book because it was closing time already, I still had more than half and hour to wait, and I actually did NOT have a book in my gigantor purse.

So, I leafed through the new arrivals stack and found this --- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak book.

The cover drew me so I checked out the teaser at the back, which in turn, charmed me. While I had no real spending money to speak of at the moment, I found myself, after dithering between "yes buy" and "no save", I found myself whipping out my credit card and buying it.

I tore the plastic wrap open over coffee at SBC and it looks promising. Still, I was worried since it was an expensive book and I had no idea whether it was any good. Thankfully, a check at Amazon showed good reviews. Now only if I can find time to actually read.

iii. 300
It was inevitable, I have to throw my two cents in.

I went off to see 300 with no expectations. I had no idea what it was about (something spartan war something something) and only went as a favor to John who really wanted to watch it. Besides, seeing a movie was a nice way to spend a Friday night, right?

After two well-spent hours wherein I gasped, grabbed John's arm, cried, and got blown away, I had one conclusion.

It's a tanginang epic. (Tangina is a contraction of son of a bitch, but honestly, saying it in Filipino has much much more ooomph.) Because every few seconds or so, I had to go, tangina!

The cinematography / art direction, treatment, pacing, acting, script, everything about the film blew me away. I wanted to go through each and every element I loved but hey, this is prolly the nth blog entry you've read on 300, so I'll skip it.

Suffice to say, as soon as I got home at 1am, I went online and read up on the movie, the graphic novel, and the Battle of Thermopylae. And I was even more astounded to find out that a lot of the elements, even the kewl lines ("Then, we'll fight in the shade!", "Spartan, come home with your shield or on it!") were from history! How cool was that?

Anyway, I promise not to ramble anymore about 300. Although there will be one more entry, an f-locked one, but I'm sure a couple of people from my f-list would enjoy it.

iv. something i bought



Totemo kawaii desu! Yuh? 88 pesos each, Daiso / Japan Home, I love you! And so do my Pinkies! These little things are miniatures that are meant for doll houses, similar to the re-ments I blogged about some time ago.

v. sugar crash commencing
Today was a super busy day, despite it being a Sunday. Usually, my Sundays are spent sleeping til the sun is midway across the sky and the noontime variety shows are halfway over.

Today saw me leaving the house before the sun was up. I actually got to watch the sun rise as my mom drove me to Alabang. The reason? Work!

7:15 am saw me somewhere in Mandaluyong, attending an occular inspection of some high-rise condo we're shooting in tomorrow. I mean later.

After which, I, Dior and Cla rushed off to Megamall to shop for props. It was a tiring experience I don't want to repeat anytime soon since my feet were crying out by the time we finished. Sure, I loved the company, these girls are loads of fun, but I hate Megamall, especially on a weekend. Ugh.

Cla: Dior, nagugutom na AD mo! (Dior, your Art Director's hungry!) She was referring to herself of course. A sure sign that hell will soon break loose. Or at least, said Art Director will be ready to eat a whole cow. *looks around nervously* Or more likely, a whole Account Manager *points to Dior*

Still, all's well ends well. We grabbed really nice yet cheap table settings (SM Saleslady: Ma'am, ang sosyal naman ng mga pinamili ninyo / Ma'am, the stuff you bought are really classy --- score success! We were aiming for a classy --- albeit on a budget.) and I got a dozen Krispy Kremes. A baker's dozen, if you count the complimentary doughnut they gave me.

That, pretty much, summed up the day.

i. bobers is me!
So stoopid. I wrote a lengthy, multipart LJ post earlier today. Well, it's lengthy because it's full of memes I've been putting off but still, it was a fun post, especially because it had that "fictional character you want to screw around with" meme. Now I can't post it because I left the file at work. :(

Oh well, at least I remembered to bring my take-home work. Maybe I should start writing. Oh lookie. Manga download's finished. Or maybe I won't start.

ii. i miss bento
I absolutely really truly miss preparing bento boxed lunches. This is the first time in weeks I went grocery shopping and I was going nuts buying chicken, beef, pork, and veggies. All in miniscule portions of course, ("Miss, give me 2 bags of ground chicken, just 100grams each please.")

I'm not sure I can still cut it making quick bentos in the morning but hey, I'm up to the challenge. I mean, today, I packed lunch, and I made a mistake choosing which box to use. I ended up with the sauce from corned beef hash on my jeans. Good thing it was only a small spill, so I was able to scrub it out with a wet wipe.

If only I had my camera back. Well, at least it's been 10 days. The people at the service center told me 14 days, tops. There's nothing like vanity to push me in the mornings.

iii. i'm a sappy girl
Okay, call me a little freak, but I find love stories in the weirdest places. I'm such a sucker for them, hehe. Today, I was reading volumes 17-21 of 20th Century Boys. The prospect of the upcoming movie got me excited again, so I trawled the net for torrents and it worked. But I'm digressing. Back to the story, so I was reading it. It's a story full of convoluted plots, maniacal masterminds, doomsday scenarios, and downtrodden citizens. Instead of that though, the happiest part for me was when I ran into a chapter where Yukiji was reminiscing about Kenji. Bwahahahahaha, I got teary-eyed at the prospective match up. Hwehwe. I'm so corny. ^_^;;

iv. video watching
I've been watching a handful of videos of late, mostly TV series episodes. Been watching Ugly Betty, then started on Heroes the past weekend. But the thing I've been religiously watching is Rurouni Kenshin. I'm up to the Kyoto Arc now, and Kenshin's just about to step into the Aoshi room. Oh joy.

Busy busy day. But there’s always time for a small breather.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Teaser Trailer

i. proof of mananghood
I guess I'm really full of double standards and crap. I mean, I admit to reading shoujo smut, h-doujins, and the occasional h-anime, but I was totally aghast when I saw a teaser pic from the new Harry Potter movie.



WTF is up with that? I know Harry and Cho kissed. I read the book. But my mind's image of a sweet, mostly chaste kiss was disrupted when I saw the pic. That was far from a sweet little kiss. They had their mouths open! With that sort of pic, you can expect some torrid tongue action happening there. I mean, it's a children's book, for crying out loud! Sure, it's gotten much much darker than the first book, and American young adult books do have teenagers having sex in them, but somehow, my mind just can't reconcile Harry Potter doing that with Cho.

Maybe with Draco...

ii. iconic nodame
Had fun making Nodame Cantabile icons yesterday. Still have a few more in the works, but I've yet to weed through my screenies folder. If you like anything, feel free to grab, though I'd appreciate a comment and credit.

i. bipuro pimpage
Had a lot of plans this weekend. Clean the room. Upload the things I’ve been meaning to sell on ebay. Fix LJ lay-out. May LJ mood themes. Bake cupcakes. Update bipuro.

Well, 1 out of a gazillion ain’t half bad, I guess. :P

Since it’s been a long time since I’ve last done this, I’m sure you guys won’t mind. But if you do, there’s always the option of skipping to the next paragraph, right? Switches to news announcer’s voice:

Today on bipuro, hawt bishounen as always! Atobe Keigo from Prince of Tennis and Kohsaka Makoto from Genshiken are sharing the spotlight. Not to be outdone, the boys from Slam Dunk are all laid all out in their team colors in a sporty bishounen meter. Finally, two anime up for review: Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, and Honey & Clover! Remember, that’s http://www.bishounenproject.com. Now back to you, kaoko_cow.

ii. the weekend was an eyeful
The weekend was definitely an eyeful as I spent a lot of time in front of the PC, TV, and Movie screen. Quite uncharacteristic of me, really. Well, you do see me infront of the PC a lot, but it’s seldom because I’m watching something. Anyway weekend rundown:

- Welcome to NHK episode 1-2
- Tona-Gura! Episode 1
- More Hard Gay! (the cooking episodes, yay!)
- Lady in the Water
- Pirates of the Caribbean 1 (yes, it was the first time I watched it :P)

Trust me, it’s quite a lot by my standards. Yay! Maybe I should put my movie viewing list back up.

iii. thoughts on new anime
Anyway, here’s what I think about the two new anime series I watched.


Welcome to NHK episode 1-2 (Anime)
One of the new anime that just premiered this season, NHK is weird and confusing, yet looks promising. Revolving around the NEETs (Not in education, employment or training--basically jobless bums) and attempts to save them, Satou the main character (a NEET) believes that NEETs exist because of a conspiracy to create them, through anime.

Hilarious at times, and usually interesting (plus, I like the art), this is one series I’ll probably be keeping an eye out for. I’m not yet totally sold on it, but at the very least, I will be watching a few more episodes.


Tona-Gura! - Tonari Gurashi (Anime)
Tona-gura is a the usual little boy – little girl make childhood promise to marry each other when they group up, pinky swear, lalalala. Boy moves away, girl pines for him. Years later, boy moves back to the neighborhood, back to their house next door. Girl anticipates his return, and hopes he still likes her like he did when they were kids.

Usual huh? Now what if the boy turns out to have grown up into the world’s biggest pervert? Gotcha there, huh? Now this one, I’m looking forward to watching. Saw just one episode, but it left me laughing my guts out. Slightly ecchi yes, what can you expect from such a premise, but still, the characters are lovable and have great chemistry. I especially love Yuuji’s little sister Marie, the adorable little girl who’s...ah. I’ll let you discover that for yourselves. In the meantime, I’m crossing my fingers that the series delivers!

iv. avast!
Clicky clicky littleyuzu’s LJ (direct link here!) for Jack Sparrow cuteness!

v. toto, i don't think we're in kansas anymore
Or so it felt like it. padpad and I went to SM Molino to watch Lady in the Water. We figured that since it was new, the cinemas had to be halfway decent. Plus it was right outside one of our subdivision entrances, and I wanted to go check if they had any interesting stores.

We should've felt the ominous warnings when http://clickthecity.com didn't yield any results when we wanted to check out the screening schedules. But still we went.

When we got there, we saw a poster of Lady in the Water with a sign that said Coming Soon. I shrugged it off, saying, "They probably forgot to change the posters." Surprise! When we got to the cinemas though, it said, clear as day, NEXT PICTURE. And the movies that were showing were Superman, Pirates, and 2 other movies I can't remember right now. John phrased it perfectly, "Balik na tayong Maynila!" (Let's go back to Manila!)

And so we ended up driving to ATC and watching there instead. So much for my pastoral adventure!

You know what? I guess I really love to cook. Today was a particularly long day. Morning was really screwy since the van driver went stoopid and took the long, traffic-heavy, and generally not taken road (SLEX/Nichols instead of Skyway) so I got to work at 10am instead of 9:15 to 9:30 like I was expecting. (Poor driver, he really had a death wish, all of the passengers were cursing him already. I held back since they were already doing a good job.)

Anyway, so it started off the wrong foot, then was really busy because of pending projects, an appointment with a client, and a new project coming along. I got caught in a sudden downpour when I stepped out to grab a panini next door (tomato-basil from Grub Club = luv) and just my luck, I didn’t have any spare clothes to change into when I checked my drawer at work.

Despite that, I met up with friends to watch Pirates of the Caribbean since we had tickets already, then had dinner and chatted much about Jamie & Gino’s wedding plans. (Or rather, ficsation and Nards making their plans for them.) So when I got home, what I really wanted to do was go online, then promptly hop into bed. And getting back to my entry opener, I discovered how much I really love cooking because when my mom said her arms were aching from her shoulder thingie (she has this…shoulder thingie where it aches due to calcium deposits in her joints yadda yadda) I actually OFFERED to do the cooking for her.

And no, it’s not for dinner. It’s not essential to get it done. I just wanted to cook. Chicken. For tomorrow’s dinner. As if pre-cooking chicken wings wasn’t enough, I put a few chicken parts aside, and started making Chicken Inasal marinade. I was cooking Chicken Inasal at 1am. To be barbecued tomorrow morning for my bento, just because I suddenly felt the urge to eat chicken inasal.

So it’s now 1:30 am. I’m waiting for the chicken wings to dry up, and I’m puttering about in the kitchen to see what I can cook for tomorrow’s bento. So I’m staying up late, making a kitchen inventory, then waking up early later to cook. Again.

I guess my brain’s screwed on the wrong way.

Oh yeah: Will Turner? Hawt. Jack Sparrow? Adorable. Davey Jones? DA MAN! (*cue in Christmas is All Around*).

ps.
I love my new icon. The only reason why I finally succumbed to a paid account is so that I can use this icon. Because Tamaki is love.

i. gimme my books, damnit
I have an urge to move to the States. Triggered by an e-mail from Amazon telling me about their latest releases, in particular, The Wallflower v 7 and Princess Diaries 7. (Wow, just realized, both 7s!) Books which, if I order, and wait for my aunt to ship, will possibly arrive here much later than if I wait for Powerbooks. But there's also the possibility that it will be horribly expensive because it's initially a hardcover release. Which wouldn't be the case if I lived in the States.

Yes. I lead a life motivated by shallow reasons.

ii. narutardation
I used to be a big Naruto fan from way back, particularly before it was licensed (the manga) by Viz. I would await each release from Toriyama world with baited breath; I'm not sure but I think this was probably in 2001. I stopped reading years ago too, there came a point when it was too much of a hassle to look for chapters via IRC, since at that point, there wasn't a group which regularly scanlated it yet after TW dropped it. In fact I didn't even get into the series, since I didn't like the first 2-3 episodes. A few days ago though, I went off and reread the manga, due to padpad's current obsession with the anime.

I'm back where I was, years ago. I now remember why I liked the series in the first place, and once more, I'm addicted and eagerly awaiting more chapters. Sigh. The pitfalls of reading a weekly serial. (Gimme more Kakashi-sensei, please!)

iii. good movie week!
I deem this week a good movie week, since I got to watch two really fun movies. First off was V for Vendetta which I've been eagerly awaiting since last year. And I was right to watch it on opening day. V was a delight to watch: engrossing, and fascinating. For the first time ever, I adjudged a movie adaptation better than the book. Sure, it was a shock that Alan Moore refuses to be associated with the movie, but I think it was a good movie. Yes, I positively cringed when they explored a love angle (*gag, gag, gag*) but on the whole, I liked how they turned it into a more upbeat, hopeful film.

And I loved the climactic battle. Sure, The House of Flying Daggers made daggers / knives really cool, but V takes the cake. I mean, daggers with afterimages? And the explosions! I never enjoyed explosions as I did here.

Then last Friday, John and I saw She's the Man which I've been dying to see since I saw the trailer at apple's trailer site. I mean, it's romantic comedy with CROSS-DRESSING! *getting giddy already* And I was so not disappointed. It was laugh out loud funny, and Amanda Bynes played her part with aplomb. I mean, I think I got gas from laughing too much.

I walked away from the cinema without any fangirly sighs (Tatum Channing so doesn't do it for me) but with the happy giddyness of having seen a really entertaining film.
.

Too lazy to review, let's settle down for my weekend rundown :D

i. plodding through emma
Still haven't finished reading Emma. Downloaded the Gwyneth Paltrow movie hoping to push me into reading faster, but after skimming through it, I changed my mind about watching. It looks so...dated. Ah well, stupid of me to think it won't be. First off, it's old, second, it's a period piece. But after watching Pride & Prejudice (the Keira Knightly one), it feels so spiffy. Besides, I don't remember Sense & Sensibility giving off that dated, low budget feel. But I still will watch it eventually as Ewan McGregor's in it.

ii. korean romantic comedies
Watched My Tutor Friend (Kwon Sang-woo and Kim Ha-Neul) and I realized how much I erred in lavishing praises on He's so Cool (points to post below). It's better made, it's more cohesive, and the story telling is better. No excuses, I guess the interaction between the two leads just totally sucked me up. Such a sucker for cat and dog leads who bicker all the time.

iii. looking at those gleaming butts
After that, John and I watched Transamerica. Funny, I knew what the premise of the film was, but the homosexuality still hit me in the face. I guess I was ready to deal with Bree's (Felicity Huffman) gender issues, but not her son's. And seeing all those boys parade around sans underwear while my mom was in the same room definitely made me feel uneasy. God, I'm old as hell, but I still get embarrassed when my mom sees me watching things like this. Felicity Huffman, thumbs up for the acting. And for holding that weird voice throughout the movie. Transamerica felt surprisingly light considering what the topic was, but it's still a drama, I guess.

iv. shitload of manga
Read a few volumes of manga, as well as a handful of one shots and series installments, but what left a lingering wisp of emotion in me was Replay by Riang Ryu. Funny since it's not a manga but a manghwa. (Small diff? Manghwa's korean. :D) It was pretty fast paced, and the storyline was pretty interesting. It's fantasy, but not your maho shoujo fantasy. More like an occult / new age light fantasy. It's anything but CLAMP, the mangaka who I'd think would resemble the storytelling is Chiyo Saitoh. (Linkies, ask me.)

And it's another Monday once more, (12:43am) goodbye weekend.

v. good movies
At least this week looks to be a good movie week, with V coming out on Wednesday. That and She's the Man, hwehwe. Come on folks, you know me well enough. You think I'd let a cross-dressing teen flick pass me without batting an eyelash? Someday, I swear, after I lose 10 pounds, I'm going to go all bishounen on you. *hearts hearts*
.

I'm going on a Korean romantic comedy fest this coming week, due to the impending absence of my computer (postponed bringing her to the shop today, hopefully can do so tomorrow), together with a happy purchase of a Korean movie omnibus DVD.

First movie off my list was He was Cool, starring Endless Love: Autumn Tale's Song Seung-heon (yes, he was also in So Close and Summer Scent), as Eun-sung, a bad-assed high school boy who can beat the crap out of anyone who stands in his way. Playing the leading lady is Jung Da-bin (Attic Cat, Non-Stop, My 19-year-old sister-in-law) as Hye-won, your stereotypical bubbly high school girl from an all-girl's school.

What starts off as a misunderstanding (Eun-sung was all out for Hye-won's blood) gently blossoms into love, but that doesn't mean there aren't obstacles. And there's quite a lot: Hyo-bin, who likes Eun-sung, Han-sung, Eun-sung's self-declared sworn enemy who also likes Hye-won, Eun-sung's mysterious past, yadda yadda. But as the romantic-comedy formula goes, where else can they end up but in each other's arms?

Clocking in at almost 2 hours, this movie feels far from two hours. After watching it, I could swear what I saw was a K-drama compressed in 2 hours. It says at the start that it's based on a novel. A few minutes into it though, and my gut feel tells me that it's based on a manghwa, and not a text-novel (have yet to find out, still researching). It has anime-esque touches, which I believe they pulled off with aplomb. It's not overdone, just a few bits and pieces there to enhance the viewing experience. (Wait for the scene where Hye-won's mom and brother sneak up on her, it's priceless.)

The movie has enough subplots to stretch it into a 9-13 episode drama, so it's understandable that a lot of the subplots of the film feels like it's on fast forward, and can be explored further. A lot of things, the film makers take for granted, and we're expected to do the same. Yes, they've already moved on and are so much in love. Good thing I was willing to not be so critical, so I ended up enjoying the film.

Despite the pitfalls, it's not a bad film, because the movie has some weird charm that keeps me watching. Maybe it's with the acting. Seung-heon and Da-bin are wonderful together, and I'm honestly surprised that I like Seung-heon so much in this movie. Quite unlike his other roles as a calm, cool, sensitive guy, here he's brash, loud, and just this close to being a bastard. Of course, he's sensitive deep down (what loud-brash bida guy isn't?) but he's able to bring Eun-sung to life. Down to the action scenes actually, Seung-heon's action sequences are pretty cool, and has that oomf I look for in action films. And Da-bin? She's downright homely when she cries, with her mouth wide open, and you're half expecting snot to drip out of her nose. But you still love her. Maybe that's why we love her, because she looks like a real girl.

He was Cool is a good afternoon movie with the girls. Or perhaps a solo afternoon movie, snuggled up in bed, with just a tub of popcorn and rootbeer. It's a happy romantic-comedy which is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face.
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Do not, under any circumstances, even if you're being held at gunpoint, watch Date Movie. It is the grossest, unfunniest excuse for a movie there ever was. Even watching it on video is a waste of money. Hell, even watching it on a video you borrowed free from a friend IS a waste. It's that bad.

What makes it bad? First off it's a failed mismash of things. Sure, it's a spoof of romance movies, you say. It has to be a weird mix. In this case though, it doesn't work because it's not a mix. A mix would have a point. We mix ingredients together to come up with something different, something that gels together. This is a weird collection of unfunny spoof moments that have no cohesion at all. They're as successful at making a cohesive movie as a first grader would be mixing oil and water. It's gross and irreverent (and not the funny kind of irreverent, but the done in bad taste kind of irreverent). It's so gross calling it toilet humor would be insulting to funny, bawdy jokes. I'm not being mean here, I watched, and enjoyed A Scary Movie. I like a handful of Leslie Neilsen spoofs. I know how to let loose at a no-brainer movie. This one, just sucks.

i. shopping for food
I'll pick shopping for food over shopping for shoes any day of the week. So it's only natural that I miss shopping for groceries after not being able to do so for quite some time. I used to do this every few days or so to buy ingredients for my daily packed lunches. I seem to have gotten lazy as the new year turned over. Today however, with only a few hundred left to stretch til payday, I went off to buy a head of lettuce and ended up with a bag of groceries. Not that I mind, at least I'll have interesting lunch food til next week.

ii. packing lunch
The major pitfall, I believe, in packing lunch the night before, is salivating and having to lust after what you've prepared for next day's lunch, in the fridge. And it's quite pathetic when the high point of your day is lunch. Be pathetic with me and drool along!

Tomorrow's lunch menu:
A cold, crunchy salad of iceberg lettuce, julienned jicamas (SINGKAMAS! I wanted to go for the alliteration though), diced mangoes (really sweet! I just finished eating the other cheek), and shredded kani, to be dressed with poppy seed vinaigrette.

I feel like such a slob, living for food. And don't try to comfort me that it's all right since it's a salad, since you guys (well, except the handful here that I lunch with) have no idea how big my salad lunchbox is. *rofl*

iii. catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
And in un-food-related developments, I heard Claire Danes is playing Yvaine in the movie adaptation of Stardust. WTF?! I wanted some unknown who'll allow me to really believe that the scene unfolding before my eyes is real. Besides, I'm a spiteful little brat, I still haven't totally forgiven her for all those disparaging comments against Manila. Nevertheless though, expect me to be in line, opening day, regardless of who stars. (Pun not intended.)

i. intro: around the world from the initial d soundtrack
As if it's true, haha! Today was my first time ever behind the wheel. And to my extreme shock, the instructor made me drive. ON ALABANG ZAPOTE ROAD. Then the service road to Sucat. Me. Behind. The. Wheel.

I know it was driving class, but I thought we'd take it slow. I imagined he'd drive us to somewhere near Commerce drive, where I could practice driving around the semi-deserted streets in the Trade / Commerce area. Was I ever soooo wrong. It was a miracle I was able to follow what he was telling me. It was a miracle I didn't kill anyone. I was so happy when he finally told me to park.

It felt so surreal. It was a bump car, only I wasn't supposed to bump. It was like disassociating myself from my body. My feet followed what the instructor was telling me. My hands were loosely holding on to the steering wheel as my arms were practically frozen with tension.

Will I eventually be able to drive? Yes, I think so. Eventually at least. Did I unleash my inner Takumi. Hell, I don't think I even have an inner Itsuki! I am so not looking forward to driving class tomorrow. Just the thought of having to do so is scaring me already.

ii. two movie night
After the recent movies I watched, I thought I was starting to not be as emotionally involved with movies. I wasn't raving or ranting. I was mostly, "It's good, but it could be improved this way." That's why I was pleasantly surprised that the last two movies I saw had me back in fighting, "Let's discuss what we just saw," form.

Fearless. Friday night was Fearless night. Giving in to padpad who wanted to watch it, I was ready to be entertained, but not involved. But I was. I found a lot of loopholes in the story, and I found the narration a bit choppy. But the way it ended was engrossing and memorable. ( Fearless spoilers ahead. )

Final analysis: Watch Fearless. Be ready to suspend disbelief and not poke too many holes into the fabric of the story, and you'll be rewarded the last few sequences which are really memorable.

Pride and Prejudice. A few minutes into the movie, I told John, "We should've watched it on DVD, that way, we could turn the subtitles option on." True enough, I had a hard time keeping up with the movie's dialogue. Admittedly, my hearing isn't that good, hehe. I probably would've had a hard time keeping up with the story had I not read the book (and seen some of the Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy mini-series).

Being hard of hearing aside, I loved it. Kiera Knightly's expressive eyes were a treasure. So much of the movie was conveyed through those gems. And Mr. Darcy. Matthew Macfadyen isn't stereotypical poster boy handsome, but with his portrayal of Mr. Darcy...how can you not love him? The subtleties employed to show how smitten he was. And how controlled. My heart was absolutely ( oh wait, let me lj-cut )

Final analysis: Watch the movie. Watchit watchit watchit. John enjoyed it, so you can bring the boys along. Then buy the DVD. So you can watch Mr. Darcy again and again and again.

iii. bargain bin haul
As Happosai from Ranma 1/2 is fond of screaming, "Whattahaul! Whattahaul!" I love bargain bins. If you look close enough, you can discover a lot of delightful things from bargain bins. Which explains why I came home with 13 books and 4 comics. The first batch of 11 books was from ATC's Chapters and Pages, all bought at 9 bucks each. (I actually bought 12 books, but the 12th was a Beatles book for John's dad.) More than half of them were Choose Your Own Adventure books, from the Edward Packard vintage. Later on, we went to National Bookstore ATC, where I found Diana Wynne Jones' Mixed Magics for 50 bucks, and a copy of Donna Jo Napoli's Crazy Jack for 30. Yes, I already have Crazy Jack, but I figured I'm sure I can find a friend who'll be able to give it a good home. Then I picked up a bunch of 5 peso comics, mostly for the pretty art. (Got 2 Books of Magic issues, imagine, I bought it to cut it up, hehe. Can't do that to my Trade Paperback Comic collections, can I?) Don't you just love bargain bins?
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i. being emo over my pc
It's so sad that something as simple as a computer can bring me down. Honestly, this past month when I've been having major computer problems feels so hellish to me. It's like a part of my life has been put on hold. Sigh. Pathetic, yes. If I could just afford one, I'd go and buy a totally new, hawt, souped up one. But in this world where we live in, I go from paycheck to paycheck because of horrendous bills, and other stuff I need to spend on. Ugh. I need the tech-god to shower its blessings on my dilapidated old set-up. That or a miraculous free day during the week so I can lug her to PCX. You know how down I feel? Let's just say I don't mind leaving her for a week at a repair shop just so I could get her performing as she should. I don't have tough requirements. I just want her to do what she's supposed to do. *sobs* I can't believe I'm letting a computer bring me down.

ii. why do birds...
Suddenly appear? And it's playing badly in my mind; the absolutely goshdarndest case of LSS ever. Got the chance to watch Mirrormask today. Yes yes, I know. You shouldn't pirate the work of your favorites, but come on, do you honestly think Mirrormask will ever be shown in Manila?

It was pretty...surreal. Well, it was fantasy, but not quite the fantasy I expected. That chiaroscuro thing it had going on with the trailer? That was the general mood of the movie. With a dash of tinsel thrown in. It wasn't quite the Henson movie you'd expect, but it's onehelluva Dave McKean ride. And the dialogue is peppered with Neil witticisms. Lovely film, really. It feels like a children's bedtime story layered with lots and lots of Dave. (Oh yeah. And David Bowie's balls make a cameo appearance.)

I don't think I'm really making much sense, but if you want to see it, either DL it like I did (holler for a link) or visit your friendly neighborhood DVD pirata. I saw a copy on my way home today, and if I didn't just watch it, I'd probably have grabbed it.

iii. aeon flux
Oh yeah. We also watched Aeon Flux. Another movie to add to my movie list, as part of my "see more movies" resolution. Charlize Theron was fantastic. The action scenes were okay. Pad argues that Charlize Theron was the movie's only saving grace, but I don't think it was that bad. It just wasn't memorable-good. It was entertaining yes, but I've seen lots of anime. Lots of similar plots. It was entertaining, but I think it'll probably be one movie I'll barely remember seeing, years from now.

iv. a perfect day for love letters
Bought a copy of George Asakura's A Perfect Day for Love Letters v1. I've seen copies of the second volume (licensed and released in the US by Del Rey - I love you Del Rey, thank you for the cheap manga!) lying around in Powerbooks, but while I know it's a collection of short stories, I didn't want to buy it without owning the first volume too. So when I saw it at National Bookstore in Festival, I snagged the more decent of the two remaining copies.

A Perfect Day for Love Letters is a collection of shorts that have a love story element in it. There's the usual girl gets love letter from anonymous guy story . There's also the girl falls in love with guy after she reads his love letter for someone else. There's this sloppy girl who transforms into girly girl after getting a love letter. And the final story, which I find quite touching, is about a mailman who fabricates love letters for a girl who's anxiously waiting for her lover. The stories range from kilig, to touching, to stereotyped. As with most collections, some stories are better than the others. I'm not too hot about the art, but it passes. I mean, I know I've seen manga artwork that TRULY ANNOYED me. The art here reminds me of a less stylized Yayoi Ogawa (Candy Life, Kimi wa Petto).

Overall, it's pretty okay. I'll probably be buying volume 2 simply because it's relatively cheap, and accessible, but it's not one of those series that I'll be ordering online just to get a copy. The stories are entertaining enough love stories, but as to be expected from one shots, you don't get overly attached to the characters. Don't get me wrong, most of the characters are likeable, but well, it's still a 40 or so page story. There's not much room for character-love.

On the ratings scale, it's not as good as Salad Days (Inokuba Shinobu) but it's quite good for a one-shot volume. Actually, it may be unfair to compare it to Salad Days, since I've read the whole series, so it's only natural that I'd find better stories there if only for sheer volume. Still, I think APDFLL is an okay buy for less than 500 bucks. I say, grab a copy, and snuggle in bed for a few moments of shoujo-waff.
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i. sleep? wussat?
It's obvious that I'm quite excited about the weekend. It's 1:30am and I haven't even remotely done anything bedtime related. We're leaving for San Pablo tomorrow, after work, but I haven't even begun packing. So yes, I'll probably be running on coffee at work tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers that there isn't much work tomorrow, so I could go and fix the songs on Yukiko. Hey, every vacation needs a good soundtrack, ne?

ii. i'm annoyed at you all!
Why do you guys keep posting when I'm busy and not when I'm not? Damned postwhores, posting when I'm not able to check LJ. But you're never there when I'm bored as hell and need a post to comment on. I hate you all! *sobs* Just for that, I'm posting a post! So there! *sulks in a corner, talking to herself*

iii. i need to keep better track of my stuff
Related to the San Pablo trip, Jamie asked me to bring my Ultra Maniac VCDs, and now after digging through my collection, I just realized it's not with me! While I can borrow ficcy's set (sorry, ficsation, I couldn't resist :P) it's not the same thing since I spent blood, sweat and tears converting that series to VCD. *sobs even more* This year, so far, is full of losses! The PC crash, realizing I'm missing stuff that I thought were all with me. Poor me. *sobs*

iv. donations!
Monetary donations to go to the acquisition of a new motherboard is currently being accepted. Please address checks to kaoko_cow, queen of hamsterdam. Pesos, dollars, and potato chips will be accepted.

v. hanadan lurve
Thank god I refrained from watching the subtitled Hanadan 9 at work. I saw the unsubbed one a few weeks ago, and admittedly, it lessened the need to see the subbed one immediately. Anyway, I put it off til now, and I'm thankful no one saw me watching it.

Man, for a light romantic comedy, the tears gushing from my eyes were copious and continuous. I so can't wait for the special. I LOVE YOU MATSUJUN!!!

note for the senshis: I promise to burn you a copy for delivery next week. It'll be in divX format, but I'm sure you guys would rather have that than have to wait for my computer to be repaired yes? I'm kinda strapped for funds though, so if you don't mind, I'm charging 9 bucks per disc, (so that's 80 bucks, let's round it off). I'll meet up with naochan for lunch next week, when she's free. You guys share nicely okay?

vi. dorama-ness
Can't wait for video viewing time. I traded for the Stand Up! series, as well as Tokyo Tower. Stand Up! looks promising. Lots of cute Japanese high school boys. It's a coming of age story, one review site says that it revolves around 4 boys trying to lose their virginity. And of course, there's a childhood friend character who comes back, so it promised to be poignant rather than a slapstick get-laid fest. Anyway, it stars Shun Oguri (Rui from Hanadan), Narimiya Hiroki (that guy who had a crush on Fujiyama-sensei in Gokusen), Yamashita Tomohisa (Yamappi! Akira from Nobuta wo Produce), and Ninomiya Kazunari (he's the main character me-thinks, he's from Arashi also). Playing the childhood friend is the really sweet looking Suzuki Anne, if you guys have seen Kindaichi 3, she's Matsujun's love interest there.

Then, there's Tokyo Tower. I only have one reason for trading for it. Matsumoto Jun. Well, 2 reasons actually. Him and the fact that he gets naked in it. At least I was told he would.

vii. don't you have moments...
...when you wish you just didn't know?
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I was all rearing to go and review Narnia, but I decided to climb my bookshelf first and grab my copies of the series.

The only thing that makes me sadder than losing books, is losing a bunch of books. None of my Chronicles of Narnia volumes were in sight! I have combed all my bookshelves and not even a shadow of a single book. And to think I so proudly put them together from scouring branches of Book Sale (except for my Magician's Nephew which I bought at National). *sigh* To think I wanted to reread the series after watching the movie. I guess this means I'll have to buy an exorbitantly priced copy when I have the spare cash. I don't think I have the heart to go scouring secondhand bookstores again.

Anyway. Oh yes. The movie. (Gawd, I'm still saddened by my missing books.) The movie's great fun. It's not a sprawling epic like The Lord of the Rings. It's not a dark, emotional, moving film like HP Goblet of Fire. But it's a wonderful fantasy-adventure that explores good vs. evil, just the way C.S. Lewis wrote it to be.

At its heart, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a children's tale. It's a myth spun with the desire to entertain children as well as teach them values through analogies with the Christian faith. Little Lucy was a precocious little character; her sassy remarks come off as lovable. Sadly, the other kids don't shine much. Peter is the classical hero, Susan is the worry-wart (and doesn't get to show off her cool side) and Edmund is, well, Edmund. They're stock characters and while they're fine for a children's tale, ultimately, we didn't connect on an emotional level.

Aslan was magnificent though. Each time he was on cam, I so wanted to hug and fluff his mane. And Tilda Swinton was freaky as hell. I imagine kids would have nightmares about her.

It's still a must-see though. So make sure you go and troop to watch it on the big screen, because catching it on pirated video is wasting the beautiful imagery.