The Garapata can Multiply too...

The movie simply delivered.

Heath Ledger and Christian Bale have found the roles they should play for the rest of their careers. A pity for Heath Ledger, that came sooner than we all hoped. But definitely, the Dark Knight succeeds in pulling off a complex plot, multiple villains, nice psychoanalysis moments on both the hero and the villain, and the tiny homages to the comics (did anyone catch the signature profile moment? How about the "bat clones" which Miller had happening in his The Dark Knight Returns? Then there was the cameo of someone from the first movie which really made this universe work! Anyone note the mention of a possible feisty female to come in the future?)

The movie had some slow moments, but they served as good chances to catch some breath. The Joker stole the show in this one big time, with disturbing antics you find yourself nervously laughing along with. He was truly scary, this Joker, but at the same time there was no denying his incredible level of genius. His plans were meticulous and beautifully laid. His fashion sense was impeccable! (God, I want that outfit he wore when he was arrested!) And I really love how he WAS the Joker and you would barely remember the earlier attempts to capture the Joker on film.

While there were new gadgets, the gadgets did not steal the show. They did, however, give us a great glimpse of what makes Bruce Wayne an incredible hero, and that is the fact that he considered options out of the box to make something work.

Two-Face. On my God Two-Face's transformation was beautiful. I loved how it actually makes sense why he can slowly become a member of Batman's villain's gallery.

And the resolution does make sense for me. It does bring back the way Batman worked best in comics and it does nicely open the field for more scenes where Batman does his work with the same intimidating quality he has always had.

All the deaths were well-worth it too.
All of them!

Watch it watch it watch it!
I tell you watch it!
Then find yourself hating yourself after watching it, knowing you will never ever see another movie with this particular Joker again squaring off with the Bat.

Sigh.

I feel sad to say this.
I have always been a huge M. Night Shyamalan fan.
While many others consider Sixth Sense to be his only good work, I've always staunchly defended his other films such as Unbreakable, The Village, Signs and The Lady in the Water.

But the Happening.
Sadly, it just ain't happening.

While the plot has good ideas and nice touches, the overall approach to the narrative just falls flat in achieving a good thriller feel. M. Night Shyamalan's magic exists at the start with wonderfully composed shots, nice buildup to suspense and intriguing presentation of characters. But then, he falters, as if suddenly crumbling under his own weight, as the movie stars to stagger in its attempts to scare, starts to cause people to laugh in its attempts to emulate Asian horror moments when the talent is speechless and acts via his/her eyes alone.

The score, surprisingly, seemed ill-fitting for the movie, which really is hard to believe since it was done by James Newton Howard - who also did Sixth Sense, Batman Begins and other well scored films.

It was hard to accept many of the lines as well. After everything that has been going on, with the wife and the kid heading to the shed outside the house even AFTER they've discussed it might be the plants doing the killing, he cries out to her to shut the doors and windows and she asks,

"What's Happening!?!??!"

Uh, yeah. Sure. Were you told to portray your character that dumb?

So sorry, M. Night. I love your work and your creative vision but this is one movie that is getting a really low grade from me from your filmography.

Kasi, hire me na lang next time.

This is going to be one of those reviews others will ignore.
Why? Because I didn't like it.

I actually like the Ang Lee versions more.

This Hulk, while having much more interesting action scenes tremendously lacked, for me, in the heart department of what makes Hulk more than just a Frankenstein story with green skin. Yes, we get the wonderful destructiveness of the Hulk... in a single street block. Oh and a university park.

For some reason too, the massive bulk of both the Hulk and the Abomination are barely that massive enough that the Hulk does not sink in the muddy waters he walks on. Nor do they both combined really cause a helicopter to drop. And yes, for some reason, the Hulk has a fondness to actually using tools. Let's ignore the fact he beautifully did the Hulk Smash move and focus on the fact he's seemingly obsessed with using cars as shield/weapons.

Wtf?

The military was pathetically incapable of handling things. After knowing what the Hulk can do, why waste time with all those bullets and men charging for no real good reason. Mas may tactics pa yung mga bata sa Battle Royale.

Liv Tyler, with her collagen-enriched lips, looks horrible. I am sorry. She really just looks horrible. She almost looks like a drag queen in some shots. Her outburst to drag her father out of a vehicle in one scene was laughable. And her finding the guy who has been eluding the military for years by just driving down the road while its raining was just utterly unimaginative. Why'd he hide then if he'd just do that? Or was he NOT expecting her to see him?

So this new Hulk has some kind of Spawn fetish, with his penchant for loving shadows and using chains, but boy, near the end he get's envious of Spider-man and starts moving through the city like a tarzan sans ropes.

Again, his bulk can be carried by those things?

Really.

Ah, bring me back Ang Lee's version.
Just someone teach Ang Lee how to focus more on action scenes than father - son dramatic moments. And while Ang Lee had those stupid dog monsters in his movie, at least dealing with them was resolved. Here, what the hell happens to the Abomination? The suggested scene was Hulk spared him rather than cut his head off. But what, did the General get punished for his association in all this? Doesn't look like it considering in the end, Tony Stark still refers to him as a man of power. So what the hell happened then? Was there any point for the movie to happen or did nothing change at all?

Ano yan? Parang bagyo sa Pilipinas?
"Ay nagkahulk nung isang linggo. Ang dami nga namatay eh. At baka daw magka Superhulk sa susunod na linggo. Anyway, anong palabas sa sine ngayon?"

I hated it.
Really.

Sorry.

If you ever loved movies such as Black Hawk Down, Call of Duty 4 is sure to rock your gunhappy needs. I was never a fan of shooter games. In fact, I've never even played Counterstrike or enjoyed Doom. But when my friend Eman suggested I try Call of Duty 4, I found myself thinking... this is the same guy who got me into Need For Speed (of all things, a car racing game!). So I decided, fine, let's check it out.

I've tried Call of Duty before, back when it was still inspired by movies like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers and I enjoyed it. I loved how real the sounds were and I loved how one really felt like he was going through the scenarios. It didn't hit me as hard as Call of Duty 4 however did.

While I am not qualified to really give pros and cons on this game compared to other shooters (since I never really tried others), I will say Call of Duty 4 got me screaming, ducking and literally holding my breath on many occasions as if doing those things would affect gameplay. The feeling of also getting lost and wondering how to maneuver around to flank ones opponents was present in the game. The feel of weapons being distinct with their own pros and cons was there. And yes, the dog attacks got me screaming and shaking in fear.

Incredible. Simply incredible game.

The single player game beautifully plays like a movie, with excellently written script and very engaging characters. Hell, I actually found myself feeling for those NPCs who died in the game.

And the ending.

My God. The ending.

If you play shooters, you MUST try Call of Duty 4.

Joss Whedon surprises me (and probably many others) with the sudden release of Serenity - Better Days (part 1 of 3). Written by the great man himself with shared writing credits by Brett Matthews, and penned by the talented Will Conrad, the team (with legendary Adam Hughes providing the cover, and Michelle Madsen adding colors) brings back the beautiful family of the sci-fi television series and movie Firefly/Serenity for a three-issue comic romp called Better Days.

To quote from the press release:
"Better Days revisits everyone's favorite space cowboys in this thrilling, action-packed adventure, with Mal and his crew on a heist that promises a big payoff--what's surprising is that this heist just might make good on that promise."

Once again, the Whedon explores events leading to the blockbuster film, giving us another short tale on the events that the motley group got themselves entangled into. Sadly, with cover artist Adam Hughes giving the book the cover (with really beautiful images of Mal, Zoe and Wash) they stuck with the artist from the earlier series "Left Behind" which really irks me.

The story is a great starter and has the wit of the show somewhat. Perhaps its the lack of perfect timing on the lines which makes me yearn how this could be better. The flow has the feel of the series and the characters really get you missing the old show. Perfect reading with the soundtrack, of course!

Get your copy now!

Publication Date: Mar 12, 2008
Format: Full color, 40 pages
Price: $2.99

Seriously this was a bad remake. A bad addition to the original series (mind you, I thought nothing could be worse than the already horrific spin-offs of Knight Rider) and the only thing really going for it was the beautiful CGI effects showing how the car was bulletproof.

Other than that, it was just so bad.

Find out more as Fandom LIVE! reviews, Knight Rider!

This is my second review for the movie Cloverfield. Sadly, the first one I wrote was consumed by the internet and gone forever. Apt, I guess, considering the movie I am writing a review for is about a colossal monstrosity that attacks New York City.

For those not familiar with the movie, Cloverfield is the latest movie romp by J.J. Abrams, who is known for Alias, Lost and the viral-marketing approaches he does for his works. Cloverfield was not lacking in the viral marketing department at all. Back when Transformers was first released, a trailer seemingly about a group of friends giving their buddy Rob a farewell party appeared and lead to what seemed to be at first a terrorist attack. But after showing the head of the Statue of Liberty tumbling down the road and ending with no title but instead a teaser date of 1-18-08, the viral marketing for Cloverfield had begun.

While most science fiction movies would focus on a protagonist, bring in the scientists who explain where the monster came from, what it is doing and how to best defeat it, drag in the President of the country to discuss military plans with the General on board, Cloverfield does away with such cliches and focuses instead on being an experiential ride for the viewers to get a taste of what it would be like if one was present in the city of New York when some big monster chose to attack.

With practically all of the movie shot using a handheld camera (although those with keener eyes would note some shots were done using a steadier camera for clarity purposes), vertigo and dizziness can be expected if one is unaccustomed to such. Word of advise: when you feel the dizziness strike, do not close your eyes. Instead focus on a nearby fixed object to remind your brain that you're on stable ground. That should help stop the dizziness. The approach helps to push the illusion of the movie to be something happening for real instead of just being some movie created for fun. Sadly, this same approach polarizes viewers to either love it or hate it, for some will find the approach grossly distracting and unnecessary.

The sound effects of the movie were outstanding, relying on no musical or orchestral score to carry the emotional charge of the scenes. Instead, heart-quaking explosions and the heavy footfalls of the monstrosity give the movie a truly frightening edge. And mind you, fear does still find itself invoked in the moments of silence. While some might cry foul that such perfect sound seems so contrary to the realism of the shoddy, jerky camera work, I think it was a great decision on the director's part, Matt Reeves, for keeping the sound production clean and crisp. Bring everything down too much to a documentary level and you'll have much more people thinking the whole movie was an utter wasted effort rather than them seeing it was done to feel more real.

While I do have some issues with some of the details in the plot (will probably expound on those details AFTER the movie is released to the public, as to avoid spoiling it for the majority who have not seen it), I still enjoyed the movie much more than I expected I would.

Cloverfield nets from me high marks for being a movie that got me literally screaming, kicking and gasping for breath as the scenes unfolded with its awe-spiring visuals, terrifying glimpses and frantic moments. If you want a movie that throws you the answers, gives you orchestral swells to help your dramatic sense and gives you a hero against the monstrosity, go watch Roland Emmerich's Godzilla remake. But if you want to FEEL like you were in New York when the shit actually hit the fan, then come watch Cloverfield.

Once again, I would like to thank United International Pictures for inviting us to be present for the Press Screening of the movie.

If you want to see the trailers and the movie's main site, check out:
http://www.1-18-08.com/ (try leaving this site open for a few minutes for a surprise!)
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/cloverfield/

Expose yourself to the viral marketing of the movie by visiting these sites:
http://www.slusho.jp/
http://www.tagruato.jp/
http://tidowave.com/

Check out the myspace pages of the characters in the movie:
http://www.myspace.com/robbyhawkins
http://www.myspace.com/beth_mcintyre
http://www.myspace.com/marlenadiamond
http://www.myspace.com/lily_ford
http://www.myspace.com/jj_hawkins
http://www.myspace.com/jamielascano
http://www.myspace.com/hudsonplatt

http://www.jamieandteddy.com/

If you have seen the movie, or aren't too worried about learning spoilers, learn more about why the movie was entitled Cloverfield and the thoughts behind the production here:
http://cloverfieldclues.blogspot.com/
http://1-18-08.livejournal.com/

Check out our "just out of the theater" video review here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/,CrQfmBLdiA9GtL.x3o1m4269DdHSe89
It is also a test broadcast for FANDOM LIVE!

Oh yes! 300 rocks! Panda Bear Isha and I were able to catch the movie (minus the hassles of lines, reservations and the like! All one has to do it is see it at Waltermart instead!) and I have to say, for those who read and loved the comic, the movie is fantastic! For those who never read the comic, I can see how they will be disappointed. Whereas the previous effort to adapt Miller's work (Sin City) was commendable but in some ways a mess, this one is outright incredible in capturing the energy of his art and yet making the tale of how 300 fought against thousands and prevailed at least for a few nights.

The visuals were incredible. The casting fit so perfectly, my only gripe was that I recognized Faramir (David Wenham). I couldn't help but wonder however, when did he get so buff?!?!? Leonidas (played by Gerard Bulter, whom some may recognize from Tomb Raider) fit the role so perfectly, I will never look at a Spartan the same way again. Brad Pitt was horrible at it in Troy. Rodrigo Santoro plays a disturbing Xerxes (and I hate the person behind me who commented, "Pare, si Dhalsim!" because he obviously has no culture. I would have rather he said, "Pare, siya yung sa Lost!") Astinos (played by Tom Wisdom, whom many recognized from Mile High) looked pretty. And I have to say seeing a whole row of ladies in the audience rise up and leave after his... uh... head-y scene was hilarious!

Oh and Kelly Craig was amazing!

(Sino siya? Here's a clue: she also appeared in Coyote Ugly. Though not in a recognizable way!)

300 was definitely worth my time. Isha and I were actually brought to tears, overjoyed to see the comic literally come to life. Here's hoping the next Miller movie-adaptation, Ronin, is just as grand!

Maybe someday, they'll even have the courage to do Dark Knight Returns?