Siths in da haaaawse!!!!!

Wow, the new Star Wars Movie title is finally out. Release Date is May 19, 2005. Everyone else is in, along with Peter Mayhew who reprises his old role as Chewbacca. It doesn't seem, though, that we will be seeing a young Han Solo. Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) is set to die a hero's death in this movie. The is also a rumored second duel between Skywalker and Dooku. Well let's keep our fingers crossed. May the Force be with you...

Papa's got a brand new Bag!!!

Ever heard of that urban legend of the crafty "pasahero" who always brought P1000 in his pocket to pay the jeepney at 6am. He always got free rides because the jeepney driver (considering that it was morning and it was his first run for the day) could not provide change for his P1000. This happened every day. The jerk would wait for this particular jeep and pay the same P1000 bill and the irked driver would always have to give it back.
One day the driver got sick of the guy and decided to prepare. He had accumulated quite a number of .25 centavo coins that day and managed to come up with P1000 worth of .25 cent coins.
Morning came and the same scenario ran, Jerk pays up. This time the driver hands him an SM bag full of P.25 centavo coins. The driver laughs allong as he drops the idiot to his stop, carrying a 5 lb bag of quarters. Oh the frustration if that bag were to just rip open.
Well the reason I tell this story is because, It happened to me this morning. Only I didn't intentionally leave just P500 in my pocket. I go to work at 5:30 am and I rode the trycycle to get out of the subdivision I live in. Needless to say he was pissed. He brought me to the next gas station to get change. As if we weren't down on our luck being in this mutually irritating situation, the gas station didn't have loose bills either...BUT...they do have a lot of 5 pseo coins. Hence I was handed a bag of P5 coins, straight from the bank. I had to bring this bag in my hefty bag and count the stupid stack at my work desk. I got P450! I was duped! This Sucks!

Friendster Photos

Ever wondered why there are sooo many pretty girls in Friendster? I mean, A lot of my "not-so-pretty" friends get crowded Inboxes full of invites because of one picture they have on their profile that was caught in a good angle and in good light.
Merong nagpapa-cute, Merong galit kunwari, merong nakalabas ang dila, merong naka panty, merong anime, merong artista merong baby picture kahit bawal daw.

Theres this really cool site that explains all this.

Click here to see what I mean.

Deng Mangalagu follow up...

For a very short while, they took the firewall off of Friendster in the office, I took all the opportunities to log in and make changes. I changed the profile info and took out that cheesy poem I had made for a special someone (It seemed inappropriate to share such a private piece of aesthetic "gem" for such a shallow cause). I also changed the background on my MySpace profile.
Now the firewall is back up again. Invites come in trinkles now. Not like before, however contributing to this would be the fact that I can't log in and invite more girls, it's the self invitations that keep it going. Its surprising that I still have 27 pending friend requests in DengMangalagu 1 after having 501 members.

Anyway, check out what I got....

Movie Review: "Imelda" (2004)

Funny, Infuriating,and Creepy. These are the words that best describes the Ramona Diaz docu-drama "Imelda".
I had been waiting for the movie since I first came to hear about it. I was very pessimistic that it would not be shown in local theaters, adding the fact that Imelda herself filed a motion not to show the movie. The courts ruled a restraining order on the premier to 24 days. 24 days ain't that long.
The movie was a feast for the eyes of Imelda bashers. The shoes, the singing, Marcos' dead corpse covered with wax, everything you could ask for.
It started out with good notes on Imeldas roots to her apparent nervous breakdown during Old Ferdie's senator days until the early years of the regime when she started making goodwill tours to Libya to talk to Q'addafi (or Kaddafi, I still dont know how to spell it) to attending state dinners in the White House. A lot of the resource persons had a lot of good things to say about Imelda.
Things take a bizarre turn when she starts to explain her existential theories on the Cosmos and "Peace and Order" on a piece of drawing pad as referenced on her her "book" ,"The Circles of Life". "We have many gods but one Creator" she says, as she draws an apple shaped figure in the pad. This movie turned out to be a very fascinating trip into the psyche of the "Iron Butterfly". A journey into origin of her wacky logos for the "Bagong Lipunan" programs and her narcissistic claim to be the embodiment of th Filipino People, "Loving and Beautiful".
Most of the things that gives Imelda away are the actual things she says. It's amazing how level Diaz was in the treatment of the issues. She had reason to be. She was deep in the belly of the beast having to interview Imelda's closest friends and confidantes and was careful not to ask the wrong questions. The opposing opinions were provided by American statesmen and filipino Matial law journasists. Fr. James Reuter gave sume very funny coimments on how Imelda would not shut up for 4 straight hours.
The treatment was so even and balanced we really have a hard time deciding who Diaz is siding with. We all know, however, that this is the most effective way to catch a fish...with it's own mouth.

Rocketboy's Rating: *** (3 out of 5)

One Small Victory

At last Angelo De La Cruz is free. The nation is in a state of euphoria as one of its hardworking sons who was struck by the great misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, had his luck turned around through good decision making and heartfelt prayers from home base. Being a fellow Kapmpangan , I feel glad and proud to be of the same bloodlines as Angelo, I'm sure Kapampangans love all the attention too. We are again center stage in this great cinematic moment of global proportions.
After all the prayers, the glorious homecoming. After all the pancit has been eaten and all the media turn their attention to the next salvage victim across the street...in comes the real problem.
We all know for a fact that the US is not very pleased with President GMAs decision to pull the troops out. A New York Post editorial labels the move as condoning terrorist behavior. Two Bulgarian hostages were beheaded by the extremists previously but the Bulgarian government didn't budge. Many global observers would probably ask why we were such "sissies" like Spain and Thailand.
I would like to state for the record that I support the decision to pull out. Our president needs the confidence of the people. The global community is probably aware of the fact that we are an immature nation (a nation who looks upon moviestars to save it from hunger).
Most people don't realize how hard the decision was for the President. Letting Angelo die would be equal to letting us all die. Of course this not the actual case. But the President is aware of the consequences of her actions if she left Angelo alone. What the masses are not aware of (or don't care to know) is how much this is going to set back our relations with our greatest ally and supporter. We will have to anticipate some economic turbulence because Uncle Sam is not going to hep us like before. Expect the masses to be mad at GMA again for letting the economy lag. Can you see my point? Any which way, SHE loses.

On Movie Spoilers...

I was planning on watching I, Robot today. I was always fascinated by the ideas of Issac Asimov. Bicentennial Man was a a great book and I got to read some of his other short stories as well.
Anyways, I was sitting on my workstation minding my own business when a group of guys from HR were having lunch (my station is near the pantry) . Turns out their topic for the day was the movies to be premiering that week. One of the guys started talking about I, Robot apparently he already saw it on pirated DVD...AND GAVE OUT THE ENDING. I was within earshot of their conversation, And I heard EVERY FREAKIN' THING! Way to go, Einstein! You just saved me P80!! BRAVO!!! YOU DA MAAAANN!!!

Just like Ben Parker said "With great power, comes great responsibility" All DVD owners should practice a little discretion with the plots and endings of the movies they see.
THIS SHOULD BE MADE LAW. I once had to sit through some genius in a theater tell his girlfriend the whole "fascinating" story of "Spiderman 2" . I never really enjoyed "The Sixth Sense" at its full extent because, my friend decided she couldnt bear the pressure of NOT telling us that Bruce Willis was a ghost!!
We all enjoy movies. We will all enjoy movies better if we just keep our mouths shut and let everyone else enjoy the same experience we did!!

Wassup ACErs

A holler out to my fellow ACE graduates in Cebu!  Kumusta na ang mga business nyo?  Here's a pic of the people I went to lunch with in Mandaue during the BYU study. Thanks Bro. Tony (the good looking guy in the green shirt). 

Movie Review: "The Home Teachers" (2004)

Before I give out my review let me tell you how I got the DVD.
I was walking down The Angeles public market one day near Plaridel to shop for some DVDs.  This has become a regular ritual for me since I bought my DVD player.  I actually enjoy "hunting" for rarities and old favorites more than watching them at home and realizing that they suck. Anyways I was thumbing through some dvd cases..you know the usual Troy, was there, Starship Troopers 2, My Wife was a Gangster 2 and then... I stopped.  I couldn't believe it.  They had  Halestorm's "The Home Teachers".What was a "Mormon-genre movie" doing in this part of this predominantly Islam section of the market? Did they accidentally pick up a copy of the original and make hundreds of pirated copies and put a copy  in my hands in a serendipitous twist of fate?Needless to say, I bought it.
The Home Teachers is the story of two members an Elders Quorum class that couldn't be more different from each other but nevertheless, were assigned together as hometeaching companions.  Greg (Michael Birkeland) is a father of three and can't live without football, so he watches it every Sunday after church.  Nelson (Jeff Birk)is a scriptures-on-CD salesman who can't live for the next month without getting 100% hometeaching.  The two clash heads , encounter gnomes, mooseheads and destroy toilets for the next six hours trying to get to the three families assigned to them and complete their home teaching assignments.
A lot of the laughs in this movie are obviously intended for Mormons, so it would probably leave a lot of non-members stumped.  The influence of Farelly brothers comedy is very evident in this one.  Although they really needed to tone down on the toilet humor so as not to offend their target audience.  It starts out hilarious but the pace kinda gets a little slow in the middle, like the scene with the escaped convicts in the Winnebago and the conversation in the police car trip back to Salt Lake which was set to probably give more depth to the characters. The "Your Not Alone" song sequence was probably given a lot of thought for a long time, but just came flat out corny.
All in all it was better than The Singles Ward.  Its nice to know that Kurt Hale and his team are getting the hang of mixing madness and Mormonism...but it still needs more improvement.

Rocketboy's Rating: * (1 out of 5)

The Next MacGyver?

When I was 11 I thought that McGyver was the coolest guy. He could get into nuclear power plants and prevent radiation leakage using a melted chocolate bar. Ha! Bet those "brilliant" Russian scientists never thought of that! He could make a firesuit out of melted rubber hoses. I once tried to melt plastic to make a costume for my G.I. Joe, but I almost burned our dog doing it.He could kill a snake using a standard issue swiss army knife (I had one of my own, and I'm talking about the P2,000 ones from Switzerland, not the bangketa variety) and use a flare gun to propel himself away from jagged rocks while he parachuted over a cliff. I could go on....

We have also seen a number of 80's TV shows being produced for the big screen. I think nothing is more eagerly anticipated as a feature MacGyver movie. No doubt it will be a huge blockbuster as that it already has a built in fan base and can still be modified to the current times to get more fans.

The real question is, who will be MacGyver?

Paul Walker. Fast. Furious. Plus he's american.

Thomas Jane. We still have to see if he'll do well as The Punisher

Damian Lewis. Has leadership charisma as shown in "Band of Brothers", but will this Brit look good in a brown leather jacket?

Colin Farrell. Forget about it, Unless you want a Mac that nails chicks more than he completes missions.

Orlando Bloom. Too prissy? Yeah I thought so too."You have my bow..and my swiss knife."

Viggo Mortensen. Here's a serious choice. A real outdoorsman, perfect as Mac. But people might see too much of Aragorn in him.

Brad Pitt. Pretty boy who can be tough and rugged as well, but could be too big of a star.

Ed Norton. Sorry, had to add him.

Tom Welling. Too young. Plus I think he's being reserved to be the REAL next Superman.

Jude Law. He could be the perfect European McGyver.

Who do you think will make the perfect MacGyver? Hey, why not make your own list then post it as a comment. I'd like that!

I am Migraine Boy

I think I have a migraine.
I know some of you are probably saying "Big deal, I've got hemmorhoids" But hey, migraines, common as they are, may result in plane crashes, stock market faliure, and possible nuclear fallout.
Can a hemmorhoid do that? Huh?
I've had this since last night and it's killing me it';s keeping me from making this blog. I used to watch TV and stare at the computer all day and never get a headache. It's hard enough sitting in front of a computer all day with a throbbing head..I have to take calls from whiny americans for the next six hours too.
I wish I just had hemmorhoids (...wait, be careful what you wish for , you just might get it. I'll just wish for...uhh, Jennifer Love Hewitt.)

Movie Review: "Torque" (2004)

Bikes. Girls. Bikes. Murder. More Bikes.I dont see how this could have developed further into a good movie.
Torque is all about fast bikes and the zombies that ride them.
Th movie starts out with Ford (kinda ironic for someone who rides a bike, a little irony in there for sure) the fastest rider in "ever" coming back to the USA from Thailand presumably because he was from the government and gets mixted up with some bikers called the Hellions led by Ice Cube's character Trey. Ice Cube's brother Jr. gets killed by Henry James the leader of a rival muscle bike group but pins it on Ford. Ford has to prove his innocence by, guess what, out-racing everyone else for the evidence.
Dont get me wrong. These kinds of films don't really get a lot of accolades for their writing or story development. But the people who did this movie could have done better and breathed life into the story instead of...say put more bikes. Sub plots like the family conflict in Biker Boyz and the morality check in Fast and the Furious gave a little meat in their respective stories at least.
One guilty pleasure would probably be the showdown between Monet Mazur and Jame Pressley. When you see two chicks beating the crap out of each other while on their bikes, you know your in for a treat.

If you're out to get the DVD, I just hope you like bikes, because it's all you will get...oh and girls.

Rocketboy's Rating: * (1 out of 5)

Follow up on Deng Mangalagu

I haven't been getting that many invites since they banned Friendster at the office. Its funny that they let me do my blogs at work while they buld a giant firewall on something that doesn't take that much bandwidth.
My DengMangalagu project is however still consistently getting at least 1 invite every 2 days. I dont get to check as much as I used to. I have to go to an internet cafe just to follow up on my testimonials and messages and stuff. (Yawn) life is peachy.

I Love Julia Stiles

After a long time, (long before my My Sassy Girl phase for sure), I saw 10 Things I Hate About You again last night. Its amazing how those high school life fuzzies come back like an old fungus on you after wearing unlaundered socks (okay, too much info there). It also reminded me of my undying infatuation with my onscreen sweetheart (when I say onscreen, it doesn't necessarily mean that we're on the screen together.) Julia Stiles.

My friends always teased me for having a "major Jones" for Julia. "Square yung mukha niya", "She's not really that pretty", " She alway plays the mad, antisocial chick.", and of course,"Taray niya!" Well that's exactly why I LOOOOOVE her!
I always saw Julia Stiles as the typical girl next door. Not too pretty (well, compared to the staple teen flick regulars Hillary Duff, Mandy Moore and Anne Hathaway), but enough to get you interested. Julia has the face that doesn't strike the first time, pero gumaganda siya habang tumatagal. One of the things that made her a star was her infectious ability to "get jiggy". It was I first saw that 10 things party sequence where she dances drunk on a table when I said, "Hey, ang cool ng chick na to, ah". That infatuation turned into obsession, when I saw "Save the Last Dance". She immediately got inagurated into my "Top 10 Girls of All Time" (which I will feature in the future, so stay tuned.)

At a time when Hollywood keeps looking for the big "new thing" new with the perfect face and the perfect anatomy (coughlindsaylohancough!), It's comforting that they still trust the tried and tested "real girl". I cant wait to see "The Prince and Me". I just hope they don't give her screwy lines and bad directing.

Movie Review: "Zatoichi" (2003)

The legendary Zatoichi gets a remake in this Takeshi Kitano version of the classic tale of the blind wandering swordsman with a mission to right wrongs and give you a wicked nice backrub while he's at it.
Kitano plays the quiet and often times bashful but fierce Zatoichi in his full charismatic glory. The opening whack-up scene took less than ten minutes but seemed like an intoduction to non-Zatoichi followers and seems to tell us kids, "This is why he's a legend".

Th story begins with Zatoichi wandering about with his deadly red cane/katana blade in his right hand, stumbling into a village where the Kuchinawa clan rule with an iron fist. He is taken in by a poor "tindera" type with a good for nothing nephew who is addicted to gambling.. you know, your typical Malabon set up.
Zatoichi turns out to have a knack at "sensing" how a dice rolls so he becomes a regular with the nephew at the local gambling den owned by the clan.. you know, the typical Muntinlupa setting.
Things get interesting when two geishas cross paths with Zatoichi and tell their sad tale of murder, revenge and their pain with Kuchinawa head Ginzo as the author. Then, its whoopass time!!!

A simple story with simple twists keep this movie intersesting. I just found the digital blood and samurai effects a little distracting. It was said that this was a very violent movie, but dont expect any Kill Bill type blood spurting, but you get a lot of fast swordplay and fast deaths.
Plus, the keyboard music souded like it came from a Casio 380.
My favorite part was the Geisha dance. I didn't know how entertaining a geisha dance could be. It kinda puts you in a trance. Come to think that the dancer wasn't even a ... well I'll let you see the movie first.

All in all it was worth the watch, just don't let the distractions get to you. Plus, if you are not used to japanese movie endings you might just want to dismiss the last 10 minutes of the movie.

Rocketboy's Rating: *** (3 out of 5)

"My 8-bit Universe" : a.k.a My Best Family Computer Games!

I caught my cousin playing Fatal Frame one day on his X-Box. He says its the best game ever (next to the EA Sports NBA series, according to him). Of course I had to agree. The graphics were excellent, Its as if actors were playing the game's characters. They looked real. The ball playing and the boxing games feel like your watching the NBA or watching at Caesar's Palace...only you're the one moving the guys. I couldn't help but recall where my cousin and I started out when we were kids. We were in front of a black and white TV all day during the summer...playing Double Dragon!!

Before PS 2 and X-box, before Dreamcast and Playstation, HECK! even before the SEGA Saturn, there was the small red and white console in every home called the Family Computer. Every kid had it. No question. We weren't rich, but we had it. It cost around P2,000 or so at that time, a lot for a 10 yeasr old back in 1989. But our Tito Ed bought us our own and we loved him for it.
We all have our favorite games, here are mine.

PACMAN. Although originally released for play on the original
Atari console. You can't NOT hate this game. Probably
everyone's introduction to computer games. Hindi pa rin siya
nakakasawa.

YIE-AR KUNG FU. This is the only screenshot I could steal
off the net. I like it because it is basic. a-punch, b-
kick. up arrow-jump, down arrow-duck...easy. you dont need
to be specially fast to beat the enemy. Something a gaming
doofus like me would enjoy playing.

DOUBLE DRAGON. I remember cussing in front of the TV after
getting beaten in this game. Pagagalitan ako ni Mama
afterwards. When my uncle bought this game, i had my exams
the morning after. I could not concentrate. I couldn't wait
to get home to play Double Dragon. I remember playing all
day after school, not thinking of my Science exam the next
day. My mama had to pry my hands away from the joystick with
a crowbar to keep me from playing this game.
The graphics were way cooler in this game compared to the
other games during its time. There were many stages, and I
love fighting Abobo!

ROCKMAN. This game will forever remain the greatest 8-bit
game of all time, second only to Mario Brothers. I remember
being obsessed with this game. I told you that I suck at
video games, I have to confess, I NEVER finished it. My
cousin Blue was the KING of Rockman. It would only take days
of after-school play for him to beat Cut man, Elec Man and
Clash Man and eventually get to Dr. Wily. He did the same w
ith Rockman 2. I could spend a whole day just watching
someone play this game and finish it.

SUPER MARIO BROS..What "The Godfather" is to movies. "Super
Mario Brothers" is to video games. Nobody would have gone
through a normal childhood in the late 80's if he did not
play Super Mario. If I'm not mistaken, the concept of
putting sub stages within stages was introduced in this game.
This was also the pioneer of the secret path to stage
selection. If this does not bring back memories of your
childhood, nothing will. The mere intro "Tenen-ten, te-nen,
ten!" is enough to bring tears to my eyes....Y_Y

THE GOONIES. Although the game was very far off from the
original movie story, this has got to be the best developed
video game adaptation of a popular hollywood movie at that
time. We all know that the bottom line for any video games'
success is its playability, regardless of it's movie or TV
franchise. I have to say, even experts find this game tough.
Primarily because of its tremendous stages. My fingers got
tired just making that boy walk around!

GALAGA. Classic. Simple. It may be one of the most primitive of the games here, but who doesn't love it? The principles are simple. Shoot them all before they get down to earth while dodging away from their "Bug lasers". I see people in the office playing this game and pac man over the internet. Usually its the older guys like the Manager.

DIG DUG. Who didn't have that 500 in 1 game cartridge when they first came out? Now you can see these games strategically imbedded in cheap VCD players sold in Greenhills, but back then, you had a great deal whan you had "500 in one". This was usually a staple in those cartridges. I never played this game. I thought it sucked. But whenever anyone opens the topic of Nintendo or Family Computer, this somehow pops into my head first.

SUPER CONTRA. If you didn't like this game, BAKLA KA! Simple as that!

I had this fantasy that they would make amovie out of this game starring Sylvester Stallone as the guy in blue and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the guy in purple. I guess everyone else had the same idea, huh? Comments Please!

POOYAN. My brothers ans sister will not forgive me if i did not include this game. Although this is more of my siblings' favorite, it brings back a lot of memories from when we still had a small black and white tv to play all our games in. My brother Jon even made a "Pooyan dance". I'd show you how it goes but you'd ask me to stop doing it midway.

Movie Review: Spider Man 2 (2004)

It was the end of my shift and I still have'nt made up my mind. There was a very strong typhoon going on outside at Signal No. 1 and the wind was blowing skirts up everywhere. After a few minutes of pondering over a cup of lukewarm company paid chocolate , I decided..I'm gonna go. I hate lining up for a movie. I hate it when it gets noisy in the theater. And I ABSOLUTELY hate noisy KIDS running around in the theater. But alas, my desire got the better of my sense of comfort. I'm going to see SPIDERMAN 2.
I had my reservations at first. The first one was good, but not spectacular. I saw it in Angeles City when I was still a tutor along with my brother and some friends on premier night. My expectations were that this would be a clone of what Superman 2 was. You know, when Superman got fed up of being Superhuman and not being able to be with the love of his life, therefore sacrificing his powers. You know what THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I GOT!
However, as I recall, I lLOVED Superman 2. Although SPIDERMAN 2 recycled an old formula, it was a tried and tested formula nonetheless. It works...for superheroes, at least.
Sam Raimi's treatment of the new Spiderman movies concentrates more on the personality of Peter Parker. It doesn't take a lot to figure Spiderman out. He swoops in whenever there's trouble, saves the girl, boy, puppy whatever the case may be. Puts him down on a street or a park, says a lame joke and takes off. Peter Parker is a more complicated character. Conflicted by the his dead end job, his schooling and of course the love of his life Mary Jane and his "responsibility" as vigilante savior to the people of New York, Peter Parker lives a dual life that's taking him closer to the edge. He comes to a point where he doen't know who he is anymore, you know kind of like how we are sometimes.
Alfred Molina is the perfect Dr. Octopus. It seems like Spidey has a penchant for schizos for enemies. The way Henry Osborn as conflicted Gollum- wise was similar to how Dr. Octavius was controlled by his AI mechanical arms. Funny he never got any superpowers but was able to resist large chunks of brick and concrete without bleeding. Hmmm, just an observation.
The real gem here was the human storey of Peter Parker and his struggles to live a normal life. Although, we know know what he chooses in the end.
All in all SPIDERMAN 2 is a great summer movie fit for a good night out. It was definitely better than the first.

Rocketboy's Review: **** (4 out of 5)