I can't believe I'm saying this, but here goes:

Kristen Stewart made Adventureland watchable.

But before you go on saying I'm now a big fan of the Twilight star, wait just a sec.

I was terribly disappointed with Adventureland. As much as it had rave reviews from film critics for its nostalgic feel and writing, I personally think the movie over-all was a snoozefest and lacking attitude.

The story is about the coming of age of James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), a recent college grad trying to make ends meet by working in Pittsburg's mediocre theme park for a summer. He meets a lot of odd characters, but he eventually gets close to Em (Kristen Stewart), the park's resident troubled girl. The film's strengths is in the acting (especially on Kristen Stewart's end) and character development aspects, as the romantic angle of the film is far from your typical Hollywood romance.

Maybe director George Mottola (of Superbad fame) wanted to mirror the boredom and blandness of suburbia. Who knows? Perhaps that was his objective, but nonetheless, Adventureland should be called "Dreamland" as it could induce sleep to several people.


Rating: 2/5


Technorati: Adventureland

For me, Michael Mann's Public Enemies is a movie about technology.

Yes, technology.

The story of John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp) and his gang during the "Golden Age of Bank Robberies" in the 1930's is interesting because of the lack of technology. For example, (a little bit of a spoiler alert) John Dillinger walks around the city with minimal disguise and no one recognizes him and no one reports him. And Dillinger was considered Public Enemy Number One at that time.

Another technological issue is the "obsolescence" of bank robbing presented by the movie. This development would prove crucial in the events of the story.

But Michael Mann does succeed in presenting John Dillinger the criminal as someone who protects his girlfriend (nicely played by Marion Cotillard), and instinctively eludes the "scientific" lawmen led by Melvin Purvis (played by Christian Bale). Just tone down your expectations a bit on the action department-- it's all revolvers and tommy guns.

Public Enemies could make a case as one of the Top 5 gangster biopics of the decade, thanks to Johnny Depp and Michael Mann's attention to detail and historical accuracy of facts and technology.


Rating: 3.5/5


Technorati: Public Enemies

Sandra Bullock is back to her rom-com ways, and it's good that she's back in her natural element. (She was last seen in the thriller Premonition and it was a total bomb.)

In The Proposal, she plays Margaret Tate, a high-powered Devil Wears Prada-type editor of a book company. She's essentially the slave-driving bitch of a boss that makes the life of her assistant, Andrew Paxton (played by Ryan Reynolds), a living hell. The hook of the film is that Margaret coerces Andrew to marry her to save her from being deported to Canada and the unlikely "couple" goes to Andrew's home in Alaska to convince  his folks that they are what they seem to be.

The movie has its share of laughs as Sandra Bullock's character gets into awkward situations and Ryan Reynolds quips sarcastic remarks with good timing and aplomb. The story presents a some hindrances to the romantic story like Andrew's dad and his ex, but they are generally weak, as the real gulf the couple has to cross is their difference in position and stature in the corporate world.

Do Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds have chemistry? If you can get past that she's too old for him, then it's OK.I wish they had given them more screen time together to make things a little more plausible.

The Proposal is a good break from the summer action and fantasy blockbusters (Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen & Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to name a few.) The film won't pull off any surprises, but it's OK.


Rating: 3/5 


Technorati: The Proposal

Are you on the look-out for a new time piece?

This coupon from Urban Time SM North Edsa Annex will give you a 20% on all times, including watches from Ice, Guess,  Buffalo, Roots, Seiko and Esprit.

Just print the coupon above and you're good to go. Thanks to Urban Time!


Tags: Coupons

I was thinking of alternate titles to my movie review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the formidable Harry Potter film franchise. Here are some of what I came up with:

• "Harry Potter Grows Up"
• "When Harry Met Ginny"
• "It's Official: Harry Potter enters 'Twilight' Territory!"

Technorati: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Last weekend, I volunteered as a speller in Atlantis Productions' staging of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at the RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

The Tony Award-winning play is known for getting audience spellers and having celebrity spellers in each show. (Obviously, I was one of the audience spellers. :P) The celebrities during our show were model/TV host Phoemela Baranda and TV star TJ Trinidad.

The experience of being on stage as guest speller was fun and memorable. I was given some guidelines by the production staff like what questions to ask and what to do on stage. One important reminder was to follow the instructions and directions of the cast members on stage.

I have to say that being a guest speller is a misnomer because you do more than spelling! Some of the directions the actors will give you are to do some very simple dance movements and actions like clapping and reacting to other actors. There's more, but I'd like to keep it a surprise for future volunteer spellers in later productions. :P It's just too bad that I didn't get a photo of myself on stage during the show.

If your comfortable being on stage and a good sport, I definitely recommend volunteering as a speller in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee if you get the chance at a production in your area.


Technorati: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Yesterday, one of my good friends texted me saying that she found a photo of me and my girlfriend in the Philippine Star, one of the top daily newspapers in the Philippines. Like most people, I was surprised and immediately bought that day's issue.

I found the photo my friend was referring to at the Lifestyle section. The spread was about the recent premiere night of Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The spread featured other personalities like celebrities and bloggers.

Of course, I'm happy that the folks decided to add the picture (although I'm still not sure why :P).

But it was one pleasant surprise. :)


Technorati: Philippine Star

7-Eleven recently the first competitive hotdog-eating contest in the Philippines. Dubbed as the 7-Eleven Big Bite Match, this contest will pit the country's top gastronomic challengers for the top prize of PhP 500,000.

In the recent media launch, competitive eater Tom "Goose" Gilbert came and gave a sample of how trained eaters consume hotdogs in very quick succession. In a face off against Filipino challengers, Goose bested them by eating 10 hotdogs in 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Talk about eating fast! :)

I've never seen a person eat that much hotdogs and I'm sure seeing the record holder of 68 hotdogs down the frankfurters would be a sight to see. Here in the Philippines, we may see our best eaters gobble up tons of Big Bite hotdogs in the finals on August 29, 2009.




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Bloggers I saw in the event:

• Mica
  
• Arpee
• Winston 
• Jonel
• Leira 
• Sire 
• L.A. 
• Karla 
• Sha 
• Anton
• Noemi
• Aileen
• Jay
• AJ

Technorati: Competitive Eating

Family entertainment just took a good turn with Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

The third installment in the Ice Age series is definitely better than the second offering (Ice Age 2: The Meltdown) and the addition of a new character gave life to the adventures of the unlikeliest herd in the Ace Age: Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Dennis Leary), Sid (John Leguizamo) , Ellie (Queen Latifa), plus Crash (Sean William Scot) & Eddie (John Peck).

Undoubtedly, the character, Buck the Weasel (voiced by Simon Pegg) stole the show. His crazy antics and oft-kilter behavior made the movie lively and could well be a star of his own animated movie. If you ask me, Buck's addition is like adding Puss in Boots in Shrek-- it was a franchise-saving move.

Animation-wise, the film is superb and since I watched it in Digital 3D, the film experience was tremendous. (More on the 3D experience later. My only nitpick is the over-all blandness of the story and the tiring slapstick of Sid. But bottomline is its a great family movie.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a must watch for parents and kids. And if you can watch it in 3D, take the opportunity! :)


Rating: 4/5


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I watched this film in the newly opened Digital 3D theater in Trinoma Mall in Quezon City. The theater was packed with guests, media, and several celebrities.

I was very much impressed with the new theater and I hope that this technology could be brought to other Ayala cinemas as well. :)


Technorati: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs