Totoro Makes Each Day Brighter

Just recently, my husband had a meaningful talk with his team at work. They started to talk about movies, cartoons both for the kids and the young at heart. It just so happen that one of my husband's coordinators loves Japanese cartoons, anime. He recommended flicks from Studio Ghibli which is a Japanese Animation Studio, and he was very nice to give us a copy of one of the movies.

It all started with Spirited Away. Then we went on with Princess Mononoke, Grave of the Fireflies, Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro.

My Neighbor Totoro has become the family's favorite. My Neighbor Totoro carries a very pleasant vibe. Watching the opening segment alone can make a person smile all day. Listening to the theme can make us wander away to wonderland. It's the perfect cartoon for the whole family, I greatly recommend it.

My Neighbor Totoro is a 1988 Japanese film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The story goes around two sisters and their adventures with the wood spirits in rural Japan.

 The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988.

It was re-released by Disney on March 7, 2006. With Dakota Fanning ( Satsuki Kusakabe ),  Elle Fanning ( Mei Kusakabe ), Tim Daly (Father and professor- Tatsuo Kusakabe ) and our very own Ms. Lea Salonga (Yasuko Kusakabe - Mother).

Rotten Tomatoes reported that 90 percent of critics gave the film positive write-ups, based upon a sample of 29, with an average score of 8.1/10. -source-

Totoro made several cameos in other cartoon movies and the famous ones are episodes of South Park as a background character, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Brief Lives and Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Over the weekend, we went to Greenhills and found dozens of Totoro merchandise in Comic Alley. The sales person from Comic Alley told us that they're just doing an experiment if the Totoro items are going to sell and they are.

Comic Alley is the No.1 Anime shop here in the Philippines. I told my husband that Comic Alley is going to be added as a regular stop for me in any mall.

For starters, I bought a small stuffed toy and an I.D holder with a Totoro chain. At work, my husband has his own Totoro too.

Why are we all goo-goo-and ga-ga over Totoro?

1. He's so cute and cuddly.

2. He's so cute and cuddly.

3. He's so cute and cuddly.

And you know what's interesting too?  we also found some sellers of original Totoro bed, slippers, jacket, bags and big stuffed toys, things that they don't sell in Comic Alley.

As a parent, cartoons like My Neighbor Totoro is something worth watching. I suggest this more than any other show on television. My Neighbor Totoro emphasizes good values. It enhances imagination on an innocent and more natural approach, respect and care for nature and the most important of all, it shows love between family members and neighbors.

I just love Totoro... 

Music To My Ears: Rock of Ages

This has got to be one of the best Rock n' Roll album I've ever listened too. Contains the greatest mashups ever recorded. Rock of Ages is originally a musical. Broadway has been featuring this hit since 2009 up to the present. The music goes around the 80's glam rock up to the early 90's. This year, Rock of Ages was brought to the big screen with an all-star cast ready to bring the house down with awesome music. Tom Cruise played as Stacey Jaxx went through rigid training five hours a day with Axl Rose, Keith Richards and Jim Morrison. Catherine Zeta- Jones, well we all know the splendid job she did with Chicago. One of my favorite songs in the movie was from Catherine Zeta- Jones: Hit Me With Your Best Shot!

Julianne Hough played Sherrie Christian, her voice was spectacular. And I got familiar with Julianne Hough through the Rock of Ages. This lady will make it up there.

Since the featured songs and genre were the songs I grew up with, it was pleasing to hear how some of my favorites was liven up with new versions or call it mashups. My ultimate favorite in the album is the More Than Words/Heaven mashup (Diego Boneta and Julianne Hough). It's the greatest! Got the full album from iTunes too ;D

The Infinite Avengers

I am not a comic book person. But I get my knowledge about these things such as the Marvel Comics both from my husband and brother. I read a few strips of The Avengers when I was a kid. I got familiarized with The Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America with those "few strips".

My husband and I watched The Avengers on 3D at the Promenade in Greenhills. Like everyone else, we waited with great anticipation for it to finally hit the big screen. When the first Iron Man came out, my husband told me that Mavel just might do The Avengers. Well, thinking that The Hulk was released too, and with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) making some special appearances, they just might... and eventually, more superheroes were introduced through the years, including Captain America and Thor.

My husband and I were not the only ones who got into this whole Marvel phenomenon. Our eldest son Franky as well. We bought some videos of The Avengers for him to watch and enjoy. The so-called videos are cartoons of the original Avengers superheroes, which includes The Ant Man, Wasp and HawkEye.

The movie was very entertaining, fun, yet filled with action scenes. They did a great job with The Avengers. We watched it on a weekend and with the whole week of waiting, I've read several reviews and I can't believe that there were still unsatisfied movie goers. Most negative feedback I've read circulated on not giving justice to Black Widow's character and something about HawkEye and there's one who even said that it was an Iron Man movie. In other words, there weren't any balance among the characters. That's them and this is Us- Marvel fans. For me, it was a well-balanced flick. If I'm to play as Nick Fury, I would probably say: "everyone did their job and each met their purpose". I saw the realistic side of being a superhero--- if we have superheroes.

By the way, hats off to Mr. Mark Ruffalo, best portrayal of The Hulk.

-photo source-

To make this entry shorter. One of the things that got my attention was the teaser trailer at the end of the movie. In relation, my husband treated me to a good reading for my iPad. It's an awesome comic book, great while I waited for the time to see The Avengers movie. My husband told me that this particular Marvel Comic book might come in handy for the next Avengers.

And so it is...

Does this smile reminds you of someone or something? Think: The Avengers Teaser. That's right folks, it's THANOS! I say, there just "might" be something bigger, greater and powerful behind the next Avengers. 

Get The Infinity Gauntlet for iPad
.

The Soul Of Epic Films

Why do I love Epic Films... The beauty of epic movies aside from the core of the story, is the moving factor we get that can be applied in real life. From an ordinary script to a scroll of  inspirational words. From a famous actor to a struggling individual delivering the other side that makes up an extraordinary life.

To name more of my favorite films:

Shawshank Redemption

The Prestige

Legends of the Fall

Empire of the Sun

Big Fish

The Green Mile

Schindler’s List

Interview With The Vampire (an epic for me)

 EPIC

A story centered on a heroic mission dealing with majestic adversities and achieving goals of unusual fulfillment filled with hope and dignity.

Majestic Adversities... it may sound and look that these 2 words obviously clash. But if you're going to think about it over and over again, such thing can exist. Adversities considered as morale  boosters that pushes and inspires man to go beyond his limit with his passion to help and to make a difference by breaking a certain barrier that nobody has done before.

Energy and persistence conquer all things. - Benjamin Franklin-

TRON On IMAX

TRON was the perfect movie to watch on IMAX. The Walt Disney Castle that's always shown before a movie was made digital to match the artistic world of TRON. It is indeed the spectacular 3-D movie of the year. TRON left me breathless.

TRON is a sci-fi film that goes around the story of Sam Flynn son of the missing virtual world designer. 20 years went by and a message from an old pager was sent to his father's friend. Through this message, Sam went back to his father's old arcade and discovered a secret room that has a system ready to be launched. Sam tried to access the computer and without any clue, activated the very same machine that brought his dfather into the world of TRON. The story concentrated inside The Grid which Sam's father has created and improved with the help of Clu and Tron (which are 2 important characters).

Kevin Flynn: The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships, motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day...

As for me and my family, we had a blast watching the flick on IMAX. It's best to watch these kinds of movies on IMAX. It's an action packed movie which was digitally perfected. And of course we had free popcorn. We really waited for my husband's birthday to make our TRON experience extra special.

15 in 15

This is actually a Facebook tag... interesting to make sharing easier... It's being able to think of 15 movies in 15 minutes.

Here are the rules:

• Don't take too long to think about it.
• Fifteen films you've seen that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
• Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what films my friends choose!
• (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note).

1. Eat, Pray, Love

 2. RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous)

3. Lord of The Rings Extended Version
4. The Ring
5. The Grudge
6. 28 days & 28 Weeks Later
7. Transformers
8. Christopher Nolan's Batman
9. Fight Club
10. Iron Man 1&2
11. Big Fish
12. Harry Potter
13. Shawshank Redemption
14. Chronicles of Narnia
15 .The Prestige

The top 2 movies are the recent ones I've seen. Both movies are fun to watch. The rest are my all time favorites. And since I'm already sharing my thoughts on flicks. The Hobbit just got its green light to continue production. If you haven't seen the Extended Version of LOTR, save it. Watch it after The Hobbit then try connecting everything. The 1st Part of the last Harry Potter installment (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) is going to be shown this month, and another adventure from The Chronicles of Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) is also set to be released.

What If... The Zombie Survival Guide

Did it ever occur to you what if, a real Zombie scenario will happen? I thought about it several times,  even brainstormed with my husband (who's also a fan of zombie flicks) of things we must do in preparation for such event. But really, we don't want that to happen, ever! Let's see, I've seen a lot of Zombie movies--- Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, I consider Quarantine as a Zombie flick and of course what can be "Zombier" than 28 Days and Weeks Later. Enjoyed it? kinda, it's the "what ifs" that's going inside my mind. 

 What if this Zombie thing really happens? Funny part,  it is going to be a whole different story when it happens here in the Philippines. Imagine, MMDA's walking like corpses, Jeepney Driver's reaching for you, some half- naked stand-by carrying a bottle of beer walking in a weird manner, your neighbor with a broom or "pamaypay"dragging herself towards you.

What if I am the one stuck in the movie, running away from the Zombies, where will I  get my melee and ranged weapons. It's not easy to carry those things if it's real. What if...

What if I go to a supermarket and stock up on supplies, how will I do it, what store will I go to? 

What if  I get stuck in a mall or in a highway inside my car, should I go out or remain unnoticed? Well, Max Brooks was thinking the same way and created the ultimate Zombie Survival Guide, Complete Protection From The Living Dead. This reading started by defining key words that is going to be helpful in the later part of the book.

From the best tactics, positions, locations, weapons, armor and even vehicles to use this book explained everything well and "wisely".

 Let me share the Top 5 Lessons For Surviving A Zombie Attack:

1. Organize before they rise.

2. They feel no fear, why should you?

3. Use your head: cut off theirs.

4. Blades don't need reloading.

5. Ideal protection: tight clothes and short hair.

A story behind the cause, future effects and worse case scenarios and the "temporary solutions" in order to survive. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet and keep alert! as how Max Brooks described it. I gave emphasis on temporary, because in cases like these, the only thing that is permanent is the thought that you need to live no matter what. Most of the time, you will be running around.

 And in my hands is a copy of another Max Brooks special. World War Z--- An Oral History of the Zombie Wars. A New York Times Bestseller and intended to be in full picture by 2012 with Brad Pitt as lead role.-source-

World War Z is a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdote. Brooks designed World War Z to follow the "laws" set up in The Zombie Survival Guide, and explained that the guide may exist in the world of the novel as a precursor to the Zombie War.-source-

Toy Story 3

After a year of waiting, here I am finally blogging about it. It's been 10 years since the last Toy Story came out. I followed Toy Story since 1996.  When I read about the news that Toy Story 3 is in the making, I got very excited. I bought the dvds for both Toy Story 1 and 2 so that my son can watch it too. Toy Story is the favorite cartoon movie of the family. We love watching it over and over again. And who wouldn't want a Potato Head :)

I am not going to make an all out review about Toy Story 3. All I want to share is the big difference it made from the first 2 movies.

A new Story,  A new Adventure and new Toys!

Toy Story 3 left a greater emotional impact to the audience. All kinds of emotions were extracted out of me. And we're talking about a 31 year old adult watching here. I laughed, I giggled, I smiled, I was in awe, I got scared for the toys and I also cried.  Oh and I just love hearing the children laugh. They were very entertained. My son loved it! Laugh your heart out with the Spanish Buzz Lightyear.

My favorite scene from the movie was the last part. I guarantee, the finale will surely melt your heart. I grew up not having a favorite toy. I was a kid of jump ropes , game boards and jack stones. I played a lot outside the house. You see, as a person who had a different  childhood experience,  I was still able to connect with the boy (Andy) and his love for his toys treasuring them as his loyal friends. I cried because I felt the emotional attachment of a teenager to his favorite toy. You see a young man but deep inside,  his heart was still of a little boy. Strings of fond memories he spent with his toys and the joy these toys gave him throughout his childhood.

Just like what Woody would often say. "We're not here to be played with, we're here for Andy when he needs us". It's filling up those tiny spaces in a child's heart, making him happy and jolly all the time.

You wanna go interactive with Toy Story 3? Visit: http://disney.go.com/toystory/

Adorable Puss In Boots

Isn't he adorable... I was  literally pinching my husband while watching Shrek Ever After, because I want to hug this fat cat!!!

 Feed Me If You Dare...

Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), became an overweight cat that couldn't even  chase a mouse that helps himself with Puss' milk.It's one of the highlights of the movie. Love it!

Avatar--- Our Year-End Movie

I miss watching movies... New Moon is out, 2012 is out, the Grudge went out already. The last flick I watched was "Up". And it is a cartoon. With ours, my son sometimes call the shots. I had to get a babysitter, in order for me and my husband to watch the movie we want that is sometimes not fit for a 5 year old. If this is the case, we wait for the DVD of that certain movie we didn't see, to come out.

As my husband and I were breezing for new movies to come this December, we found out that Avatar is going to be shown before Christmas. Yehey!

Hopefully, before the Manila Film Festival movies takes over cinemas here in the Philippines, we will be able to watch Avatar. That is, before the year ends by the way. As frequent movie goers, we do feel bad that we missed a lot this November '09, at least a good flick to end 2009 will make us feel complete.

If you're a sci-fi movie fan, Avatar is a must -see movies by James Cameron (Director of Aliens, TITANIC, True Lies and Terminator 2).

Genre: Science-Fiction
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron
Starring:
Sam Worthinghton, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang,

All Hail District 9!

I just knew that this is going to be an awesome sci-fi movie. It is a documentary- type flick. Video Camera recordings put together. It was the best Sci-fi movie I have ever seen so far. It proved that good movies comes from the people behind the creation not the acting. The setting was different. Usually we would expect that it will be shot in one of the hot cities of America. The film went around in an unknown city of South Africa. The actors are not famous, but they're all good. If this alien thing is to happen in real life, District 9 is probably closest to reality.

Peter Jackson (director of Lord of the Rings) made another classic. I've read several reviews online from various critics. I was like, you people should say something good about this movie. They did as expected.

Chicago Tribune, Geoff Berkshire
"A late summer sleeper that puts most of Hollywood to shame."E! Online, Luke Y. Thompson
"...a memorable work that's likely to stand alongside the sci-fi classics."New York TimesA. O. Scott
"...smart, swift..." Reelviews, James Berardinelli
"...ends in a way that is both satisfying and unsettling."

Main character: Sharlto Copley - Wikus Van De Merwe

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable -- he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.-source-

Anything sci-fi, I will gladly watch. Friends were raving about this movie. I'm thankful that my husband taught me to appreciate sci-fi. This is one movie genre that has a lot to offer. Very satisfying for movie lovers like me.
We watched at the Gateway Mall. I had speculations while watching, making assumptions to how the movie will end...

Like what James Berardinelli of Reelviews said... "...ends in a way that is both satisfying and unsettling."

Saturday Was So Close Night

Its a Saturday. Sunday and Monday are still to come. Its a long weekend for everyone here in the Philippines. My husband and I decided to stay at home and relax with some homemade chicken wraps and a movie called So Close. We have been choosing between SEVEN (Brad Pitt) and So Close an action-adventure Hong Kong film. We chose So Close. This movie came out in 2002, I can still remember seeing the movie poster in Megamall while on a date, with still my BF then, now my husband. It really didn't attract me, thinking that it's another chick- action movie. Last night, I gave it a try. Besides, its nice to watch old flicks that is not from my usual preference.

My Chicken Wrap (recipe to be posted soon)

I didn't get disappointed, its the best action chick-flick I watched. Sorry to say, its better than Charlie's Angels. It's not that I want to compare, but the last chick- flick I watched was Charlie's Angel.
Smiley Face
So Close was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The movie went around the story of 2 sisters who grew and were trained to be hired assassins, computer hackers and espionage specialists. Who used their late father's advanced secret satellite technology to give them access and advantage over their enemies. At the beginning of the movie they assassinated the chairman of a top Chinese company. The older sister played by Shu Qi as Lin was the one taking action while the younger sister Zhao Wei – Quan assisted via satellite, studying the location and possible solutions for a clean mission.

In the aftermath of their successful mission, an intelligent Police Detective named Kong Yat Hung (Karen Mok) (the third lady in the poster) was assigned to their case and was able to track them down. The story became more complicated when the sisters became targets of the very people who originally hired them. More Here.

The fight scenes were the ones that got really into me. Its different for girls to go and battle the bad guys with various Kung Fu techniques. I bet, the cast studied and trained Kung Fu to give justice to their characters. Bravo!

So what's up for today (Sunday) and tomorrow? We'll see, we will be having lunch with my parents today. Later, might go some place else again... Tomorrow, might be a total rest day, for another week of work, school and chores. Have a lovely day!
Smiley Face

I Want More Autobots!!!

If there is something I didn't like about Transformers 2, that is it lacked Autobots. It was announced ahead that the movie is going to be focused on war between The Decepticons and the Human Race. Wouldn't you think adding a little flavor to our good robot friends would have made the movie more exciting. Robots familiar by name. I mean, its "The Transformers" right? This is also the movie where I concentrated on the robot characters instead of the humans. A job well done for the actors by the way.

Over-all, the movie was great. There's a big bunch to watch out for.

The fight scenes of Optimus Prime are my favorite. It showed qualities of a real leader and a great warrior. He fought Megatron, Starscream and Blackout all in one battle. But of course, a twist was needed in order to make way for more interesting scenes.

Let me introduce you to the Transformers who made the list:

Originally, we planned to watch on IMAX at the Mall Of Asia. Due to a busy week, we weren't able to make ticket reservations. Second choice was the Globe Platinum (Cinema 10) at the Gateway Mall. When we got there, it was fully booked until the following day. All 9 cinemas at the Gateway mall are showing this robot flick. The line went all the way around coiling from the center. Bought tickets for the last full show.

Franky was very excited. He brought his toy robots, and played along while watching. As for me, I want to watch it again on the big screen, buy the toys and DVD as soon as they release it. Will there be a next Transformers? I don't know, I hope so. Megatron still reigns, Optimus Prime is stronger than ever. Most Autobots and Decepticons survived.

The Meteor Fever

Here's the real reason why I seldom blog lately. The Meteor Fever is back! Instead of blogging and making drops, I was on Meteor Garden Marathon during my free time for the past 2 weeks.

When Meteor Garden was first shown last 2002, I didn't internalized the story very well. Thinking, that it was more for the kids than people my age. I did watch a bit. But didn't care that much.

And now, Abs- Cbn once again adapted another show similar to Meteor Garden, called "Boys Over Flowers".

This time, I was able to follow the story. Both Boys Over Flower, and Meteor Garden shown on Abs-Cbn are based on the famous Manga series Hana Yori Dango.

Out of curiosity, I looked up on Youtube episodes of Meteor Garden in order to compare the two adaptations. See difference here
Stars of Meteor Garden
Cast of Boys Over Flower

Though both are based from an original series, they have big differences that made the two enjoyable to watch. Boys Over Flowers is more wholesome. Jandi as the lead actress portrayed a balanced role than Shancai of Meteor Garden. Jandi added entertainment by being funny. Both girls are good actresses. As for the boys, Boys Over Flowers gave a different feel.

Gu Jun Pyo who's the counter part was Daoming Si, was a bit stiff but gave class to the character, as to how a rich boy should be living. On the other hand, Jerry Yan, did a great job acting as a childish- brat (if there's such term), that he turned out to be more charming.

With the role of Lei, played by Vic Zhou in Meteor Garden, he wasn't as conversive and interesting compared to Ji Hoo of Boys Over Flower. But again, both actors were very good in their own way and they stood out.

Over-all, both adaptations are great to watch. With Meteor Garden, it was nice to finally understand the story. "I don't like Ye-Sha!" hehehe!!!

Thank you Youtube!

Movie Mania

The weekend was truly a relaxing one. First time I didn't think about Blogspot, Multiply, Entrecard and Facebook. From saturday we have been feeding our eyes with various movies.

As we were talking over dinner about the scariest movies of all time, my husband was able to set the mood for Saturday Horror Night. He immediately searched online on movies (old and new) that are considered to be on top of the list. We chose The Shining (Jack Nicholson). Based on a novel by Stephen King. It wasn't scary. It was sick!
A dad (Jack Nicholson), a family man who wanted a good life for his family. Finally nailed a job in an old Hotel, famous for its scenic beauty for ski lovers. He didn't know that the old place had a history, that every man set for the job turned it down. Being a person with deep thoughts and who wants change, he agreed to get the job. Guarding the Hotel for 5 months, the whole Winter. The only transportation that can access the place during this complicated season is a snow mobile.

With the history where an old caretaker went berserk and killed his family, some believed that his spirit still lives in the hotel.

Jack's family stayed with him. It went well at first, but as they stayed longer, things began to change. Jack was getting irritable, his son (who was gifted to have The Shining or ESP) sees things and started getting bad encounters. And the only person who remained intact was the mom played by Shelley Duvall.

"Though not initially successful, the film has had status as a cult film for years. It has since gone on to broad mainstream success, now being frequently ranked as one of the best horror films in history and its iconic imagery deeply embedded throughout popular culture, although there was a long interval between its release and its achievement of iconic status." -wiki-

The movie was really good. For a 1980's flick, they did a pretty good job. The actors portrayed their roles well. Especially Jack Nicholson. His transistion from being a good Father to an evil psycho. That was just creepy. Anyway, I give it 5 stars. It is the #1 scary movie of all time. You wanna know why? look for it and watch.

Little that you know, aside from bummin' around the house the whole weekend, my husband and I went for a quick flick of Angels and Demons sunday evening.

To start, it was too good that I couldn't think of any words on how to make a review. Yey! Tom Hanks! I missed this guy. He is one of my favorite actors. Actually I really don't want to comment about the movie. Basing it on my personal point of view, I might create conflict with people who has a different look about the whole story behind not the movie itself. I mean, thats how good it is. Plus, I want to travel and study Ancient Rome :D

To end the weekend, I declare The RING as the next scariest movie of all time. Well, we can't actually compare Western from Eastern movies. Their both different. The Ring was just off-beat, you don't know when you'll get scared. We watched it again before going to bed sunday night.

-photo-

"After "normal" Sadako was murdered, the other Sadako merges with her. This merger involves no physical contact, as the child Sadako is locked in a room when it occurs (and vanishes afterwards), and two characters watching over the nearby corpse of older Sadako witnesses only the reanimation of her corpse.
The "restored" Sadako is mostly based on the older one, although when provoked her powers surface and her appearance change to resemble her younger form (her face obscured by her hair, moving mostly through shadows).-wiki-

5 Stars for Fast and Furious!

They are back! Faster and more Furious with awesome car stunts. Makes me wanna pimp our own Honda Civic. There were mixed bad and good reviews about the movie. I watched the first 3 ---Fast and Furious. I gotta see this one too. With some of the main cast back drifting their stuff, it nailed a whopping $72.5 million on its weekend debut.

I enjoyed the movie! As usual I was also amazed by the cars. I think this was the best of the Fast and Furious flicks.
This 2 men were reunited for 2 different purposes.

1. Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) now an FBI agent trying to catch a drug lord using car racers as medium in order to ship his illegal packages in and out of the U.S territory.

2. Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) wants revenge to the person responsible (who was also working for the drug lord) for the death of his girl Letty (Michelle Rodriguez).

Two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what’s possible behind the wheel.-source-

Directed by: Justin Lin (Tokyo Drift) .

A possible Fast and Furious 5 on its way!

Silent Hill

This was one of the movies that kept us busy over the Holy Week. No cable T.V, we thought at least a good movie would keep us company.

I got familiar with Silent Hill as a game on Playstation 2. I watch my husband play it. With all the interest rising, we got a DVD copy.

The eerie and deserted town of Silen Hill draws a young mother desperate to find a cure for her only child's illness. Unable to accept the doctor's diagnosis that her daughter should be permanently institutionalized for psychiatric care. Rose (Radha Mitchell) flees with her child, heading for the abandoned town in search for answers, ignoring the protest of her husband (Sean Bean).
It's soon clear that this place was unlike anywhere she's ever been. It's smothered by fog, inhabited by a variety of strange beings, and periodically overcome by a living darkness that literally transforms everything it touches. As Rose searches for her little girl, she begins to learn the story of the strange town and realizes that her daughter is just a pawn of a larger game.-source-

This was the movie adaptation released in 2006, from the first game Silent Hill: Origins 1999.
It was a very interesting flick. Not scary at all, but very disturbing. I got confused right in the middle of the story. It will take a lot of thinking, but it was all worth it in the end. It was made for you to internalize in order to get the answers to your questions. It's one of the things I love when watching a movie---when I get to think and study. Then later, get the message I'm looking for.

No wonder it was a huge success to the general public. The characters were based from the first four games.

It's one of the movies that had an evil face-off. Watch it!

Sunday Was Monsters vs Aliens Night

It was quite a lazy sunday for us. After going to church in the morning, we went home to get some sleep again. It's a good thing that my son was having that same mood too. From Friday until Saturday, I got busy with various activities and appointments. Pedia appointment in the morning, groceries in the afternoon, photo shoot in the evening and a family reunion the following day. Sunday night, we went with our instincts, I was so damn lazy to prepare dinner, had to eat out, and decided to watch a Family movie.

Everyone was raving about this 3D movie. Gateway Cineplex was the movie house to be. After buying our tickets (Php271), went to Starbucks to wait for the time, and to relax some more. Bought some burritos from Taco Bell and went inside with our 3D glasses. It's movie time!

By the way, the glasses are not for free, how I wish.

Monsters vs. Aliens is a computer animated film, 3-D feature film from Dream Works and Paramount Pictures. This is the first computer animated movie produced in real 3-D instead of converting the film into 3-D after it is finished.-source-

Monsters vs. Aliens stars the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, and Stephen Colbert.

A meteorite that contained an element called Quantonium hits Susan Murphy that turned her into a giant monster. She was taken to a secret government compound where she met a group of monsters taken from other encounters over the years. Far away from earth, an Alien (Gallaxhar voiced by: Rainn Wilson) was after this Quantonium to make a new world of his own. Using one of his Alien Bots, he was able to track the Quantonium inside Susan Murphy (aka Ginormica). With the US government all pushed to the edge, they had no choice but to use the monsters against the aliens.

Monsters: Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a mad scientist turned himself into a cockroach hybrid, BOB (Seth Rogen), the gelatinous, mass brought to life in an experiment gone wrong, The Missing Link (Will Arnett), Lizard- Man from the Black Lagoon event, and the humongous-sized mutant larvae Insectosauru. Including, Susan Murphy (aka Ginormica).

It was a fun movie :D Considering that it was also my first 3D experience and my son's too. The price was a good Php 271, we got free popcorns. You guys should watch it with your kids, they'll love it.
-all photos from google images-

Me Time: The Family Man

Tuesday Night was another chance for some Me Time again. My husband was still at work, my son slept early, a good meal of Pork Afritada, Corn Kernels, Hot Jasmine Rice and The Family Man waiting for me to start.

I went through old piles of original VCDs the other day. Boy we had a lot. Since Dvds costs so much then, VCDs were the next best thing..

Same picture to be shown, not as clear unlike with a DVD and it goes with the trouble of changing the disc after the other. I didn't mind, I was caught between watching Blast From The Past or The Family Man. Clearly both Family movies are great, might as well go with the more serious one first.

The Family Man was shown in 2000. It was one of the nicest movies of Nicolas Cage. Jack Campbell, a successful businessman, was happily living his life. Single, rich, successful, what will a man want on Christmas Eve/Day, but to nail a big time deal as Christmas gift for himself. Christmas night, he decided to take a walk home.
Passed by a shop for some eggnogs, encountered a life changing experience that led him waking up with a new life the following day.

He's married to Kate, lives in New Jersey and has two kids. Kate played by Téa Leoni was the old girlfriend whom he left for London. Kate wanted a normal life with Jack, but he chose a different path that ended their sweet relationship.

Jack was having a hard time understanding the glimpse of his life as a Family Man. Part of it, he was trying to get back his Luxurious life as a single person, which he worked for 13 years. As he went through discovering Family Life, he learned a lot of things. The value of relationships, the happiness that a Family can give that Money can't provide, and of course, the unconditional love.

I was thinking of my husband the whole time while watching the movie. I am grateful for the life I have now. With my family...
This was a great movie. I'm buying the DVD :D

A Walk To Remember

It is surely a movie to remember...

It's one flick that I love watching over and over again. The movie, that made me love Mandy Moore as an over-all performer. Her breakthrough in the acting scene.
A Walk To Remember is a romance film based on a romance novel by Nicholas Sparks. The inspiration for A Walk to Remember was Nicholas Sparks' sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who died of cancer in 2000.The plot was inspired by her life; Danielle met a man who wanted to marry her, "even when he knew she was sick, even when he knew that she might not make it". Both the book and movie are dedicated to Danielle Sparks Lewis.

Everytime, all the time, its impossible I won't get teary-eyed while watching. Especially when nearing the end part...Last Saturday, it made me cry again, the funny part, my son was looking at me. With his facial expression I know he was figuring out why, and I had to explain that it was the movie. The story of 2 highschool kids who were living in 2 separate worlds, was brought together in order to fulfill Jamie's (Mandy Moore) miracle.

"Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it."

It also includes a great line of songs:

Dare You To Move- Switchfoot
Cry - Mandy Moore

Someday We'll Know -Mandy Moore and Jon Foreman
Dancing in The Moonlight - 2001 Remix Toploader
Learning To Breathe - Switchfoot

Only Hope - Mandy Moore
It's Gonna Be Love - Mandy Moore
You - Switchfoot
No One - Cold
So What Does It All Mean? - West, Gould & Fitzgerald
Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough - New Radicals
Cannonball - The Breeders
Only Hope- Switchfoot