Movie Review: "Little Manhattan" (2005)

New York stories are a class all their own. It's amazing how just one city can generate tons of inspiration for musicians, novelists,playwrights, movie makers and even video game creators. Each New Yorker has his own story to tell...this is Gabe's story.

Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) is 10 and 3/4 years old and is a native New Yorker living within his 9 block radius of Manhattan which his mother designated for him to stay within. He's got tons of friends, a bright base-kicking future ahead of him, and like other 10 year olds, he hates girls.

Things take an interesting turn when he decides to tka karate to strengthen his legsfor his base kicking skills. He meets Rosemary (Charlie Ray), a kindergarten buddy who's now 11. Gabe starts getting funny little flutters in his stomach whenever he sees her and starts hanging out with her more often than his guy friends.

Of course, love isn't all peaches and cream. They get into tangles and the awkward situations and of course, there's the mysterious issue of the first kiss. Why are girls so hard to understand? Love Sucks!

Little Manhattan is probably one of the most effective love stories I have seen in a long time. I say this with a straight face bacause I, just as you do, dear reader, know how it feels to be in love for the first time and that it never EVER comes back the same. Call me mushy, but I felt for these kids more that I did with any Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks or Keanu Reeves/any other hot chick in Hollywood romantic comedy.

The two young leads have more chemistry than most hollywood pair ups. Josh Hutcherson is so relatable that you laugh with him and almost shed a tear for his romantic misfortunes and triumphs.



Basic is one word that describes the story best. Basic love questions, basic storytelling and a basic view of New York. I have learned a lot about New York in the little montages in the movie more than other movies intend to do.

>Great consideration was given to the fact that this may turn out into a corny lovefest. The movie was set in a realistic environment where parents are divorced. Aunts are knocked up before they're married and love doesn't last. However, doesn't love last? Does love really die after you stay with a person for a while? New Yorkers a a cynical bunch of pricks so it wouldn't be right to have them just swept away in romance.

All in all. A great movie. A gem among the hundreds of tepid love stories floating around.

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

Movie Review; "Silent Hill" (2006)

Video game-based movies are and always have been, mediocre..if not bad. We have seen this repeated many, many times over. Naming these movies would just end up taking the entire space I have for this entry. My anticipation for Silent Hill was that it would break this trend. That it would break the mold of the usual bland video-game based movie adaptation. Needless to say, a lot of critics(movie and videogame alike) were all over this movie before it even started on how faithful it was to the original Konami PlayStation game. Anticipations grew. People got excited. Including myself.

Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) is worried about her daughter Sharon(Jodelle Ferland). Her sleepwalking trips take her to the strangest, most dangerous places. She is worried that one day she might meet her end in one of these terrible spells. She decides to take Sharon to the very place she keeps screaming about in her dreams.

While her husband Christopher (Sean Bean) researches about Silent Hill at home, Rose takes her there, thinking it would help the child come full circle with her nightmares, only tom lose her in the small deserted town.

What transpires is a tiring search throughout the town for her lost daughter filled with encounters with demonic creatures and and the very fires of the coal fires deep in the pits of the ghost town.

Though the movie was very atmospheric and at times genuinely creepy. There were these little irritations that came about throught the movie that led to the deterioration of the original level of anticipation i had. I didn't expect much with the acting (Radha Mitchell was mediorcre while Sean Bean was...meh) as that the best performance I had seen in the movie was by the 9 year old Jodelle Ferland.
I do not, however, question the movie's faithfulness to the original game. The inclusion of the zombie babies and the evil nurses was mandatory and the appearance of Pyramidhead was a wonderful delight (though relatively short and sensless).
As a movie Silent Hill was, like other vg-movies like Doom and Resident Evil, mediocre, but not terrible. Its faithfullness to the source material was what made it what it is. Video game based movies are really hard to judge. The congruence with the source material has to be balanced with its aesthetics as a film. This balance is yet to be met. Silent Hill was pretty close, though.

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

Album Preview: Pearl Jam, "Pearl Jam"

The new Pearl Jam album is out and, being the Pearl Jam baby that I am, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Since they parted ways with Sony, they have been signed by newbie indie record label J Records.I guess it's their way of "sticking it to the man".

“It’s a very special opportunity for us to work with a band that possesses
such an historic legacy,” comments J Records founder and BMG U.S. Label Group Chairman Clive Davis.

Since their inception in 1991, Pearl Jam has sold nearly 60 million albums
worldwide, including millions of live bootlegs. The band has released 7
studio records, 2 live records, one double-disc b-sides record, and one
double-disc greatest hits record.


Props to NotLegal

Some Really Neat Movie Monologues.

I got to get my butt workin' on a new list one of these days. I've just been so out of my zone recently I haven't really seen a movie in 3 weeks. Anyway I found a really cool entry in Progressive Boink listing down a really cool rundown of movie monologues ranging from Christohper Walken's mesmerizing monologue with young Butch about his dad's gold watch in Pulp Fiction to Tom Hanks' rant in A League Of Their Own.

Enjoy kids.

More Transformers News...

Man, this movie hasn't started shooting yet and it's getting more attention that most of the summer movies coming out this year! It's scheduled for release in summer 2007, but excitement for this movie is already boiling up. Transformers fanboys like myself are all over this like flies on a piece of...anyway here's the update.

AintItCool News has had a guy interview Transformers director Michael Bay in his office. Apparently Michael Bay is very excited to get the word out about the movie but at the same time, didn't want to give out too many details on the story.

He later related to the journalist some of the concept art that would end up in the film like early drafts of the robots. He didnt want them to look too "blocky" and kind of gave them some round edges, unlike inn the cartoon. Which makes sense. He showed him Optimus Prime, who still, thank heavens, he is still going to be a MAC truck. And oh yes, there will be a Megatron vs. Prime duel...in downtown LA, no less.

He also related details about a very obscure Decepticon named Scorpionok (you know who this is, fanboys!), apparently he is going to be battling US allied forces in the Middle East, emerging from the sand below. Fun, Fun Fun!!

Anyways, If you want the full brunt of the interview just go over to AICN and read the entry by Quint.

Props to The MovieBlog.

"www.rocketboychronicles.com" Is Now Up

A little promotional work never hurt anyone...

Hi, Rocketboy here. Just wanted to tell you guys that www.rocketboychronicles.com is now forwarding to your favorite (or least favorite) movie blog (hey, eitherway, I get the hits).

Plus, I am experimenting on a little project called the rocketboy videoblog. Now, since I'm a regular visitor of video sites like ABum and Spiked Humor, I figured I should cash in and join the bandwagon, 'cause...I sell out very easily that way.

Just go to video.rocketboychronicles.com for your fix of old funny commercials, funny political satire, and guys getting hit in the nuts.

Transformers Movie is Cast

Some news from the Transformers Movie franchise front.

John Voight, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bernie Mac, John Turturro among others are, according to Cinematical some of the actors chosen to be in the new Transformers movie. Now it isn't entirely clear if the will be 'acting' in the movie or if the will be supplying the voices or doing motion-capture or green screen acting or what not, but the actors in the list doesnt really look the part IMO. Bernie Mac? He could do a good voice, I don't see anything special about John Voight or John Turturro's voice, (maybe they will be acting in it as live people, Spike, perhaps?). I can completely see Michael Clarke Duncan as a voice for let's say Grimlock or Ironhide. No news on George Clooney being Optimus Prime anywhere here like in older posts...but I say give Lance Henriksen a job because only he, IMO, can be the voice of Prime.

Props to TheMovieBlog

More Mandatory News...

Robin Williams as the Joker?

On one hand, he is wacky and maniacal, almost bordering clinically insane. On the other, he's a great actor who knows how to stricke the right emotional chords in us. Is Robin Williams really right for this part?

Williams just joins the fine line of fine actors that are being rumored to have been invited to play the part in the next Batman movie. Sean Penn, Steve Carell, Johnny Depp (a good idea), Michael Keaton (come on...), and my bet...Crispin Glover.

We all know that Jack Nicholson made a great Joker. Who do you think will make the perfect Joker for this new set of films?.

Sailor Moon Live-Action Movie

Please shoot me now.

Fox has announced plans to make a live action-Sailor Moon movie. Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel) has been tapped to re-create the well loved Japanese Anime in the flesh and guess ho's being rumored to take the lead role of Sailor Moon....Lindsay Lohan.

Now as much as Linds in a schoolgirl uniform sounds appealing, I exhort everyone to pray really really hard that this does not go through because. The way things are going with Hollywood, there is a good chance this will be greenlighted. Ever seen a pile of money before? Ever seen a BURNING pile of money? This is probably the closest you can get.

Movie Preview: "Snakes On A Plane"

he whole blog phenomenon has changed the way information is being disseminated throughout the world. Being a proud part of this phenomenon, let me show you a movie that has, in part, been almost assured of its commercial success due to this hobby of the bored and tech-savvy, ladies and gentlemen, Snakes On A Plane!

Snakes On a Plane Started as your normal everyday garden variety B movie material project. Its about, well, snakes on a plane. An Idea so utterly dumb and shallow yet amazingly brilliant. Then Samuel L. Jackson came into the picture. Scriptwriter Josh Friedman startsd a blog. Movie blogs spread the news. Then the idea of Sam in the snakes on a plane in one movie inspired bloggers everywhere to monitor the filming and basically provide free publicity for the low budget flick.

"Snakes On A Plane quickly became an Internet meme soon after Josh Friedman's blog entry [1] and mentions on several Internet portals. The title inspired bloggers to create songs, apparel, poster art, pages of fan fiction, parody films, and mock movie trailers."


I was surprised that my mother, who touches the computer only to check email, knew about Snakes On A Plane after hearing about it on CNN.

The producers during the process of filmmaking, gave very liberal power to both the actors and the audience in deciding what the outcome of the film would be like. They will, after all, be buying the tickets.

"At one point, the film's working title was altered to Pacific Air Flight 121. In August 2005, a perturbed Samuel L. Jackson told an interviewer, "We're totally changing that back. That's the only reason I took the job: I read the title."In another interview in early 2006, Jackson claimed that once he learned about the movie title being changed he said: "What are you doing here? It's not Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a Plane!" The film was soon reverted to the working title of Snakes On A Plane."



I can just imagine how Hollywood execs are going to cash in on this new way of getting their tickets bought. Oh, insane Hollywood!

Props to Wikipedia

Some Mandatory Movie Updates

Some news in the Hollywood and Korean Cinema forefront.


Some new Superman Returns images have come out, and they sure look nice. One is of Clark Kent running looking like he either is going to change to Superman or he really needs to go to the bathroom. Another is of Lex Luthor (as shown) chillin' in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Now We gotta see this before we see the entire movie in jpeg format...

More Superman image goodness here.




Korea's new monster movie The Host is slowly gaining momentum and international interest. This will be Korea's first attempt at making a big-budget special effects film. The budget for this film is at a whopping 10 Billion Won (yes that's 10 Billion. That's a lot of Hyundais). Plus it stars Korean legend Song Kang Ho and a personal favorite of mine Bae Doo Na.

Oh and to those who haven't really heard or cared but never really went out to find out. The DaVinci Code author Dan Brown's legal case over the copywright of the material for his book had ended last week, in favor of Brown and his publisher. This means the sked for the movie's release is still a go for May 19th. Hopefully it gets a simultaneous release in the Philippines so that book-lazy filipinos everywhere can finally see what most have us have read years before (sorry my sarcastic horns were trimmed last week, now they're growing back). Seriously, I've seen the trailer and I think it's going to be great.

I wish I could do a movie review, but honestly, I haven't been seeing a lot of movies lately. I haven't seen Hostel or Ice Age yet...like I hear anyone complaining...

Movie Review: "Stay" (2005)

Sorry for not having posted for the past few days. I was on vacation and didn't have the time to be a geek again. Anyways back to geekorld and do all the geeky stuff that I do best.

I just saw Marc Forster's Stay yesterday and thought it to be a moderately futile attempt at re-hashing the David Lynch template of movie making. Its psychadelic dream-like sequences are actually very impressive but fail to stand on its own and cannot compare to the craziness that only Lynch can provide.

Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor) is a New York shrink who has an explaination foreverything until he meets Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling). A suicidal college student who has his suicide scheduled for Saturday. Lila Culpepper(Naomi Watts) is Sam's girlfiend with a history of depression. The tangled storytelling is attributed to the warped reality of Sam and Henry's existence. Death and depression become topics of discussion between them in the beginning but soon enough they begin to switch roles, literally. Finally twisting into an ending that explains it all.



Theres not much to tell about the story other than that it is intentionally confusing. One would feel that not getting the movie would make you feel stupid. I didn't feel stupid. Just apathetic. You can tell my heart's not into this movie.



Rocketboy's Rating; ** (2 out of 5 stars)