My Top "Movie Jesus Christs"

Question: What do you watch every Lenten season especially on Good Friday? What else? Nothing's on TV. Except for Spartacus and Gladiator (I still don't understand whay they associate these movies with the Lenten Season) People watch the most frequently told story of all time, the life of Jesus Christ. So many movies of the Savior have been made and remade over and over again with different slants and focuses, some with great acting and awesome effects, some rather cheap and at times, funny. But however it is done, we always know Christ dies in the end, so much for spoilers (potential spoiler: After three days he rises again and becomes exalted and immortal, he forms the most influential movement and forms a church that can save mankind from sin and death).

While the life of Jesus is the most fascinating of stories, a lot of movies choose to focus more on the physical suffering of the life of Christ. His flaggelation and crucifixion seems to be set up as the highlight of most Christ movies if not the main theme. Very rarely do they portray his resurrection and victory over death, which is very point and heart of his ministry.

Anyways we have seen many actors play Jesus, although no living actor can emulate the true life of the Savior, here are some guys who came close.


Robert Powell, "Jesus of Nazareth"- I have never seen Jesus of Nazareth, but my mother says that it was the best Jesus movie since "Passion". Powell is a shakespearean actor and was at the peak of his popularity during the seventies.He looked like those Catholic statuettes of Jesus you find in the right side of cathedrals. His pale skin and frail figure however made him implausible as the sunburnt carpenter from Galilee.



Christian Bale, "Mary, Mother of Jesus"- In case you didn't know Christian Bale was the Jesus in "Mary, Mother of Jesus" which was played by Pernilla August, the lady who played Shmi Skywalker in the new Star Wars movies. Although Bale is basically pretty cool in any role he takes, he was not a very effective Jesus because he just has too much "angas". Plus I could kill the director for making this Jesus vulnerable and dependent on his Mother for guidance, who was the actual focus of the movie. In one scene, where Jesus was being baptized in the river Jordan, mary jumps along and gets baptized with him, which didn't happen and, in my opinion, borders in blasphemy.



Jeremy Sisto, "Jesus"- The Jesus miniseries was more encompassing than most Christ movies as that it covered almost the entire mortal life of Christ. I always looked at Sisto a some kind of deviant, his usual roles range from the extremely shy and misanthropic to emotionally unbalanced to, well, gay. It was very hard to see him as Jesus. He would have made a better Alexander.





Ted Neely, "Jesus Christ, Superstar"-Ah, "Jesus Christ, Superstar". Broadways take on the Life of Jesus. It combines rockers and afros with pharisees and the gospels. Its got a Funky Judas, a gay King Herod and a Jesus that sings like Sebastian Bach. It was successful in every way, It got both theater and film Box Office ticket sales, the approval of critics and the disdain of church leaders.




Willem Dafoe "The Last Temptation Of Christ"- The most controversial movie about Christ was probably "The Last Temptation of Christ". Martin Scorsese's Last Temptation ruffled the feathers of conservatives and liberals alike by portraying Jesus as a worldly Galileean with the same desires as any human being. I think Dafoe was nominated for his performance in this film, it was never shown in the Philippines because it was banned by the Catholic Church and the MTRCB. In other places it was banned because Dafoe was just too ugly to be Christ.


Jim Caviezel "The Passion Of The Christ"- Caviezel is probably the best looking Christ ever if he wasn't so beaten to a pulp by the end of the movie. "Passion" was simply a narrative of the last 12 hours of christs earthly ministry and therefore focused on his physical suffering for most of the film. His relative anonymity and real-life christian lifestyle made him an effective choice as Jesus. Being a basketball player himself, Caviezel had the physique and endurance to be able to fulfil the physical demands of the role.

The Faceless Christ- Did you ever know what the title of this movie was? I never knew. I just know that the Jesus in this movie doesn't have a face. Apparently, his face was to solemn and sacred to to be portrayed by a lesser mortal (not a very ambitious film making idea). Everytime the camera focuses on him, he turns around and shows the back of his head. I guess the actor, even though he got the lead part didn't mind not getting recognized. For all we knew, they got Bill Cosby to be Jesus, or maybe Dolphy.
Please send a comment if you know the title of this movie.


Have a Happy Weekend everyone. Easy on the Easter Eggs.

Mulawin Flies Away

Tonight will be Mulawin's last episode. A lot of things have happened during it's almost 1 year run and it has also proven to be the crowning success of GMA 7 's rule as the leading Philippine broadcast network after the almost unbeatable ABS-CBN buckled in submission to its strew of top rated shows.
In retrospect, Mulawin has probably been the best-produced TV show in recent Philippine TV history. Sure it's got less than fantastic effects, the make up is terrible and the storyline was obviously expanded due to its popularity. But I consider this an attempt to expand the usually shallow philippine C-D crowds threshold for sappy stories into more philosophical epics and imperfect protagonists and bad guys whith a little "good" in them. Also, Its sure as heck easier on the eyes with Angel Locsin and Bianca King than, uuh...Krystala?

Superman Set Pics! (From Superman's Point of View)

Great Scott! Some pictures of the set of the next Superman Movie have surfaced online! An they look pretty interesting (and loyal to the original).



We all know that a new Superman movie is in the works and is scheduled for release next year. Production has been pretty tight in releasing information about the movie (but when has that stopped internet geeks from digging) but we know this much, It is going to be directed by The Usual Suspects and X Men director Brian Singer and will have relative unknown soap opera actor by the name of Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. If you ask me, he's a pretty good choice, considering that Chrisopher Reeve was an unknown when he was cast as Superman and that Routh really, really looks like Reeve. If he can act and emulate the powerful presence of the Man of Steel and the geeky charm of alter ego Clark Kent remains to be seen though. Rumors concerning co stars also surfaced in the likes of Kate Bosworth(Blue Crush) and newcomer Mishca Barton(The OC) as Lois Lane and Topher Grace(That 70's Show) as Jimmy Olsen. My favorite part of this whole deal is the confirmation of my favorite actor of all time, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Now, how cool is that?
Here are some more pics pf the comet landing in Smallville!

Picture 2
Picture 3




Props to Twitch

"Top 100 Sports-Related Movie Quotes"

Denzel: "That sandwich in the fridge has some blue fuzzy stuff in the sides. You think I should go eat that sandiwch anyway?"


Player: "Hey Denzel, get the freak out of the way! We're about to play!"


Here's a great list of the Top 100 Sports-Related Movie Quotes for ya!

Movie Review: "The Machinist" (2004)

Of all the Andersons directing movies like now like Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Paul W. S. Anderson (These kids are not related, but I think they are into some sort of conspiracy, hehehe), I probably like Brad Anderson the Best.

After watching The Machinist. I got a bad taste in my mouth,which I also got while watching Fight Club and fuzzies, which I also got while watching Fight Club at the same time. This may lead you to conclude that this is another Fight Club clone, you may be right, but you are most likely wrong.

Not being able to sleep for almost a year, Trevor Reznik's (a skeleton-like Christian Bale) mental and physical health is slowly but surely deteriorating. As stated in the movie "If he were any thinner, he wouldn't exist." He instead takes comfort in his relationships with prostitute Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and waitress Marie(Aitana Sanchez-Guijon) and her son. In the meantime he sorts out the identity of a mysterious co-worker who seems to be the source of many of the accidents in his workplace. The more he digs deeper into the issue, the more paranoid he gets...and the more fun we have.
Highly stylized and well acted, The Machinist boasts of very rich use of color and shadows. The story also gets you gripped from beginning to end. Anderson was able to weave a tale that straight up gets the audience paranoid. He does it successfully by presenting a violent consequence for a certain irresponsible action and repeats the scenario making us anticipate and cringe in our seats, expecting another violent display.

But Bale is the biggest reason why you should see this movie. It's mind boggling how he physically prepared for this role. His almost subhumanly frail and fleshless figure is almost nauseating. Dude, even drugs can't get you that thin that fast. He lost 63 pounds by eating only a can of tuna and an apple a day (i guess it does keep the doctor away!)Only months later, he was up in harnesses training form Batman Begins, this time with a more muscular figure. What did this guy do to get that thin? And how'd he recover?

This comes to show how dedicated this guy is to his work. He probably sustained irreparable health problems getting that skinny. Well I guess it paid off.

Oh yeah, he acts well too.

The Machinist rocks, go get it!


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

Hillary Swanking Up A Burger

Hillary Swank is now officialy in my cool chicks list!


Imagine a bonafide Academy Award winning Actress (two time, actually), fresh from winning her Best Actress oscar, chomping down on a Biggie in the Kodak Theater Banquet Hall (according to sina.com).

Go Million Dollar Baby! Keep it real!!

Two Gigs, One Day

My legs hurt, eyes won't open. I had about two hours of sleep last night. But compared to most of days, yesterday was worth all the pain. I had the daunting task of going to two events at the same time. One starting at 6pm, the other at 7. One was in Makati, while the other was in Cubao, so you can just imagine what I had to go through considering that these two events happened during the peak of the rush hour. However, I did it. I did it because....I am the ROcketboy.

Ok forget the cheesy intro...here are my reviews.

Gig Review: "John Myung Bass Clinic" (Yupangco Building, Makati, March 2 2005 6pm)

I had learned about Dream Theater bass player John Myung's arrival in Manila a day before the event was set to happen. Apparently, you needed to make a reservation to attend. I wasn't able make a reservation on time and was totally bummed. A once in a lifetime opportunity to meet a member of practically the most technically proficient rock band in the world, not to mention one of my primary musical influences, isn't exactly one to be missed.
I played the pathetic fan once more and actually went to the venue without tickets. I was actually there just to get to see Myung in person as he went into the door of the building and leave immediately. Fortunately, the obsessive fanatic in me urgently kicked in and gave me the balls to ask if I could enter without a reservation. Surprisingly enough, they let me sign up and enter.

Stoked as I was in being let in to be a witness to Myung play, I couldn't help but notice the presence of many pseudo celebs inside the room like Ala and the guys from Fuseboxx. I was actually sitting next to Jerome Abalos of Death By Stereo, with whom I exchanged a few jokes.

Anyway, In comes John Myung with his Yamaha RBXJM2 six string and starts to play Overture and Strange Deja Vu from Scenes from a Memory. The audience cheered at his technical brillance. His fingers slide through the fretboard like butter. There were a few snags in his playing, probably because of stress and the fact that the air conditioning wasn't exactly very good. He isn't also particularly fond of picture taking. On the autograph taking session, he said he would only give to 100 people. He quit after 15 or so because people were to rowdy.
You can get a good view of Myung's nape and part of his right face in the pic that I kinda sneaked taking after the product demo, the floor was open for questions. A lot of technical bass questions were raised. All to which he answered very briefly. It seemed like he didn't like the usual "showbiz" questions some of the people shamelessly asked him. It was a promo tour for Yamaha, for crying out loud! He also showed off his solos for the songs Metropolis 1 and The Dance of Eternity.
He closed his clinic with The Glass Prison and Blind Faith (check out my review of the album with these songs).
As one of the ones sitting at the back I couldn't help but be irked by the poor sound quality of the PA. I mean, this is Yupangco. Their business is, and revolves around, well BETTER SOUND QUALITY. I guess they should have placed monitors in the beck of the room. They probably never expected the turnout to be so large. Well, they should. Dream Theater fans are a force to be reckoned with!


So I rush to my next engagement. I walk the entire stretch of Buendia from the Yupangco Building to EDSA! I get on the MRT and get off at Araneta center and get a coke...all within 45 minutes. They don't call me Rocketboy for nothing!

Gig Review: "Jars of Clay: Show You Love" (Araneta Coliseum, March 2 2005 8pm)

When I was still a missionary, we were only allowed to listen to religious songs. Being a fan of contemporary rock music, it was difficult for me. Jars of Clay made it easier. They perfectly blended religious cool and rock verve without being pretentious or preachy. They are proof that it rocks to be Christian.
I arrived in the middle of Barbie's Cradle's set, which in itself was pretty lively and really worked the audience. Once the white boys came in, the crowd cheered praises and hallelujas while flashing the Il Cornuto hand symbol.
The highlights were of course Love Song for a Savior, You were There, Crazy Times, Worlds Apart and the eponymous Flood. Some dude stood in for David Haseltine for Unforgetful You. He may not have been a good singer, but he got cheers from the crowd when he whipped out a rock for his girlfriend and popped the question in front of Haseltine and the rest of the band and the 3,000 in attendance. Smart strategy. If he would have proposed at some rinky dink restaurant with a voice like that, the girl might have told him to shove that ring elsewhere.
The highlight of the show was the final song Tea and Sympathy. Cellphone backlights flooded the Araneta arena as they sang their finale. The perfect end to a perfect show. You can actually feel that they enjoyed playing their set. With a set that was not too long like the last Martin Nievera Concert series and not too short like the Incubus show, you couldn't go wrong with the Jars of Clay gig. Good clean fun while you rock the spirit off your socks!