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Happy 100 years Oreo! ❤ (Taken with instagram)

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The Songbird Replies, Grammys, Kris RealiTV and Other Mind Blabbers I

  I was beyond ecstatic when Songbird Regine Velasquez finally joined Twitter on December 5, 2011. I just couldn’t believe it! I’m an avid Reginian at heart and it’s such a great pleasure to read tweets of your super idol in your timeline, words which she herself typed, thought about, and posted. So imagine my euphoria when she replied to my tweets last Sunday and Monday. They were a series of replies that I really felt like we were having a conversation. Haha! Ok, of course those were simple tweets of thank yous blah blah but hey Regine Velasquez, the Songbird of Asia tweeted me back and for a huge fan like me, it felt like winning the lottery!

The Grammys!

I am such a big big music lover, when I was a kid I remember waiting for the Grammys every year with so much anticipation. I intently watch every performances of the night and of course wait for who wins what. But over the years, it just bored me all of a sudden and found myself just reading news about the awards show. A great reason for this has to do with the fact that most of time they highlight country music so much and I don’t like country music. If there’s a genre of music that I really don’t like it’ll be Country music and Hard Metal Rock. But this year, I made it a point to seat through the Grammy’s 2 ½ hours airing to wait for Adele! I love her and I love her music. Adele’s voice is majestic and she looks so regal and sophisticated. Who needs a Heidi Klum body if you have a voice like Adele’s??! I am so happy for her awards sweep that night, she so deserves all of it. I wonder what’s going on in Gaga’s mind the entire time hahaha!

Still on the Grammys, after seeing Chris Brown’s performance, I find myself crushing on him again and totally forgetting the entire Rihanna assault fiasco 2 years ago. My goodness with the way he moves and dance on stage all I can say is damn he’s so HOT!

 Adam Levine’s performance made the Grammys worth it of everything. I love him and just by looking at him makes every wasted minute worth it! His sex appeal is excruciatingly inexplicable! And yes, I envy Anne V to the bones!!!

Finally, yes, I know it was last minute but I don’t like Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of “I Will Always Love You”.

Grammy Fashion: I’m not really someone who gives a big deal about red carpets and other fashion chuchus I just say it as it is if I like the ensemble or I think it’s horrible. Gwyneth Paltrow for me is the night’s best dressed! I also love Rihanna’s gown!

RIP Whitney †

I’m not a big Witney Houston fan but my Mom is, so I practically grew up to her music. My Mom watched The Bodyguard like a hundred times in the cinema and its soundtrack was my sister and I’s lullaby every night when I was in 1st or 2nd grade. Like what an article I have read the evening of her passing, I too was shocked but not surprised on the news of her death. One of my BFFs perfectly said it, “sayang! Whitney’s another great talent wasted with vices.”

I’ve been watching One Tree Hill’s Season 7 and I just have to say that there’s no single episode that my heart didn’t melt with my boy love, ROBERT BUCKLEY! Don’t argue with me because I think he’s perfect!

I just finished watching the season’s 18th episode and I just have to say that it is by far the best episode of this series ever!!! In all aspects!  It literally had me crying an ocean of tears. I swear I was crying the entire time.  Now my eyes are all puffy! The BEST!!!

This week, Kris Aquino’s daily morning talk show presented a reality TV treatment for her birthday special entitled Kris RealiTV. I love the idea! If there’s one celebrity who’s so fit to have a reality show here in the Philippines ala “Keeping up with the Kardashians” it has to be Kris. The way she has built the success of her entire career with transparency, I really hope the reality episode rated well, enough for the Kapamilya network to give at least a weekly reality show of her life.

With his appearance in Kris RealiTV, I remembered how crushable James Yap is. He’s really one of my forever crushes.

I heard the news that it’s now confirmed, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep will star opposite each other on the film adaptation of August: Osage County. My goodness! I’m sure this will be an acting-fest one!

Wow! This is the first of my “Mind Blabbers” entry and I’m “liking” this formula so expect a lot of these in my blog from now on! One of my super close friends tweeted a year ago that she felt blogging is really not for her, she’s really just fit for micro blogging as in the case of Twitter. Honestly, I’ve been feeling the same way these past few months. I don’t know why all of a sudden writing full length blogs felt so tedious and pressuring so from now on, my blogs will feature “anything goes blabbers” haha!

till my next blabber…

xOxO

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where'd you get this, sis???

Evil evil laugh! (Taken with instagram)

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Segunda Mano

3/5

A horror flick that gives emphasis to both elements of suspense and story, Segunda Mano is a remarkable tale that tells us what we should really fear in this life.

An antique shop owner, Mabelle buys a second-hand bag from her best friend’s store not knowing that the bag carries with it a part of the dead owner’s soul. As the ghost haunts her down, Mabelle finds herself searching back the past to protect the people she loves from the curse of death the bag brings. And as the ghost reveal its purpose Mabelle uncovers a crime, and secrets that made up her identity.

I won’t pretend to be a pro about this genre because I am beyond honest that I never watch horror movies. “The Poltergeist” and “Child’s Play” may have traumatized me a lot when I watched them in 1993. So if you’re doing the math, this is my first full-length horror movie in 17 long years. I’m a huge Kris Aquino fan but given that she’s the Horror Queen and almost all her movies of recent years are horror, I intentionally passed on to watch all of them. The closest I’ve come to see was the last 5 minutes of her 2004 hit, Feng Shui which I watched on Cinema One at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Now, thanks to Harper’s Island, True Blood, and THE WALKING DEAD, I feel brave enough to last 2hours of pure horror (not the asian horror films like The Ring though di ko talaga kakayanin!). What’s with Segunda Mano that made me change my mind? The trailer is blunt and not at all scary plus with the little that it showed to protect the twists and turns of the story, made me really curious. But beyond anything, I am the type who can tell if a movie’s worth watching from just its trailer. I knew that there’s more to this especially with its Grade A from the Cinema Evaluation Board.

For a first timer, Joyce Bernal did a pretty good job directing a horror/suspense movie. She is able to build up the element of suspense in all the right places. What’s nice about Segunda Mano is that it’s a movie that doesn’t only scare you but it has a good story that was narrated beautifully. In addition to this, there is a perfect balance of horror and comedy in this film to not make it so heavy for a Christmas Day play date. It’s awesome how polished they merged these two genres.

The only problem I have about this movie is the pacing. It feels like everything’s happening so fast you barely have time to relate and be captivated by the story as well as with the characters. Editing is also bad. I think in a genre such as this, a seamless editing is the key. Cinematography is good since the movie’s general feel is not hardcore, minute-by-minute horror. Special effects were lousy and the stunts were mediocre at its best. To me all the stunts Kris was so proud of were not believable at all especially that with its poor editing it’s so obvious the one doing the stunt was not her.

Acting wise—you know, the whole world knows that I adore Kris Aquino but never her acting. Her facial expression and general acting in this movie still sucked big time. Though, I must say that she’s improved a lot. This is still her best genre—horror. Put her in drama as what she’ll be embarking on next year, I’m not so sure. I hope she undergoes tremendous workshop first. Dingdong Dantes shined in this movie. For so long, and in his age, he’s still doing cutesy-cutesy role in his home network. It’s about time he take on a character like this to show the viewing public that with a little bit more workshop, he can go head to head with the likes of Piolo, Derek, and John Lloyd. But more than his acting which still needs improvement if it will be deemed worthy of an acting award; it is his good looks that are so noticeable in this movie. I think Dingdong Dantes is aging gracefully. Angelica Panganiban is one hell of a versatile actress! She only did a few lines but you can so feel her presence. She doesn’t need to say a dialogue but with mere facial expressions you can feel the pain and longing of her character, you can feel the depth of whatever she’s trying to convey. To me, this is the measure of a true blue versatile actress and I think among all the other actresses of this generation, she is the best! This review will not be complete if I don’t pay tribute to the biggest revelation of this movie which is Bangs Garcia! Segunda Mano is also a movie where she shined. She’s so natural and effective in a role that’s very cliché it feels exceptionally fresh. Bangs deserves a Best Supporting Actress trophy if only Eugene Domingo is not also nominated.  

All in all, what makes Segunda Mano worth watching is the new face of horror it showcased. It did not focus only on scaring the viewers but very important is how it paid attention to present a quality story that mind you is not new at all especially if you’re very well read and have already seen a lot, but the beautiful narration and Direk Joyce’s brilliant take on flashbacks makes the movie tolerable to sit through for almost 1 hour and 50 minutes. And what’s so awesome is how it showcased finely choreographed brutality and doesn’t demonize your mind. Finally, Segunda Mano is a horror movie which reiterates the fact that it is the living not the dead that we should be scared of. 

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I WISH I COULD TURN BACK TIME WHEN I WAS...

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PLEASE...

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I HOPE AND PRAY THAT 

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OMG!!! Pizza is forever love!

(via Deep dish pizza goodness | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)

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I MISS BEING ONE...

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KOREK!

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FOR THE FIRST TIME, I AM ACTUALLY FANTASIZING ABOUT TAYLOR LAUTNER BECAUSE OF THIS PIC!

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I love you is a phrase everyone longs to hear. However, real love is evident without a word having to be said. It’s in the attention, affection, and sacrifice people show for the ones they care about. If you want to know how much God loves you, just look at Jesus on the Cross. God’s love didn’t stop. He listens to your prayers. He brings good things to your life.

On May 2, 2011, Kris Aquino reflects on a message from God’s Daily Answer (The Kris Aquino Magazine)

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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1

3/5

Average at its best, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is an adaptation that fairly delivers what’s left of an overrated phenomenon.

It’s a dream come true for the mortal Bella Swan (Stewart) to be married to his perfect vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Pattinson). But happily ever after is just not theirs to grasp when an unexpected turn of events began to unfold as the new Mrs. Cullen becomes pregnant. Conflicts arise when the ancient treaty of peaceful co-existence between the werewolf pack and the vampire family has been breached as everyone believes that the baby is a threat for everyone.

There is something about the Twilight saga movies that makes it an “almost there but never quite there” kind of movies. For starters, it wasn’t able to contain the hype and mystery that makes a series adaptation compelling in every sense, kinda like what the Harry Potter series have done for 10 long years. Can it be because the first movie was an epic failure in terms of production and over-all output or is it possible that its story just doesn’t have what it takes? It now becomes a crisis figuring out what went wrong in this movie franchise. Is it the story itself or perhaps just the movie adaptations? Well, I guess it’s both.

In the age of True Bloods and The Walking Deads where HOT, sexy, and fierce are being redefined, somehow the vampire and werewolf story this saga presents seems too bland. It’s like a steak without salt and pepper, pasta without parmesan. It just feels so cliché, predictable, and unexciting; in short, overrated in epic proportions. You watch it because it’s there or you’ve seen all the other instalments so might as well watch it too. Or you’ve read the book and just for the sake of.

On the upside, first and foremost, I have to commend the beautiful screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, yet again. Among all the books, I think it was on Twilight and Breaking Dawn thatStephenie Meyer really got her creative juices out. She wrote Breaking Dawn very beautifully and so I am very glad that like the New Moon and Eclipse movies, this also stayed faithful to the book. Locations and cinematography gave as much justice to the marvellously rich imagery Meyer provided in the book. Lighting is perfect and editing was seamless. I think Director Bill Condon did a great job in terms of execution because he was able to bring to life scenes that were very critical in terms of an honest and decent depiction. These are scenes like the breaking of bed honeymoon consummation, Bella’s delivery, as well as Bella’s metamorphosis into a vampire. So good job! Also, sound and visual effects were so good! At least this aspect is amazing.

One more thing that makes this movie good is the beautiful beautiful music, not to mentionCarter Burwell’s incredible scoring. I never liked a single music from the New Moon and Eclipse movies respectively but with this one, I love all the songs. Music choices were great this time.

The biggest downer of this movie is the below average, not even mediocre acting of all three main characters. By this time, they should have been giving their characters enough justice. This is also that part of the saga where much of the story’s narrative will depend on character building and eventual growth and maturity from each of them. Unfortunately, all three of them bombed at this one. Kristen Stewart I believe is one of the worst actresses of her generation and of all time! My goodness! Robert Pattinson still has no emotion and un-relatable in all aspect. Yes, he’s handsome but that’s it. He delivers line in monotone. Taylor Lautner is somehow a far outcry from the acting of his two co-stars but still needs a lot of in-depth polishing.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is still a very enjoyable movie especially for fans and, now so-so fans like me. It gives you the visual image of the texts you’ve once loved in Meyer’s book and with all due fairness, it’s a good adaptation in many ways. It is still worth all the anticipation, your money, and time. It’s not a spectacle you’ll never forget but a nice spectacle to enjoy while it’s there. It’s also a nice medium to reminisce your crazy teenage love life. And while you’re already there, savour the guilty pleasures it brings. 

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