Angels and Demons

1. The Da Vinci Code may have been a bigger box office and bestseller hit; but cinematically, Angels and Demons proved to be just above it in several levels.

2. More action, better paced, better acting (Obi-Wan did a fantastic job.)

3. Much like other book-to-movie adaptations, the book was more engaging. Although the movie itself, did not disappoint.

4. Just like The Da Vinci Code, I read the book before I saw the movie. I particularly liked the representation of the God Particle (anti-matter) and how Ron Howard integrated the use of the Hadron Collider to create it.

5. MINOR SPOILER ALERT: The thing that was missing though, and this was a huge part of the story in the book, was the Camerlengo's relationship to the deceased Pope. This was what I thought, what Dan Brown wrote as the match that started the whole fire.

6. I love wide-angle shots in a movie. It is sort of a like a gauge on how grand the scale of production is. And this movie had lots of it.

7. Replay Value: definitely worth buying an original DVD box set for. We got the original The Da Vince Code Limited Edition Box Set with Cryptex for the first movie. What box-set bells and whistles will they think of this time? Limited Edition Anti-Matter perhaps?

3.5 DREIs


1 - DREIs: "Avoid Like The Plague" Why did we watch this in the first place? (i.e. Bangkok Dangerous, The Hottie and the Nottie, Scorpion King 2, etc..)
2 - DREIs: "Shite" No need to see this movie unless you have absolutely nothing else to do. Movies with high expectations but falls short on almost everything. (i.e. Righteous Kill, Max Payne, The Island, etc..)
3 - DREIs: "Okay" Good movies that could have been better. Usually gets half good reviews, and the other half so-so. The experience will also depend also on who is watching. (i.e. Clone Wars Animated, Fast and the Furious, The Devil Wears Prada, etc..)
4 - DREIs: "Great" Almost all facets of the movie were masterfully done. Great in almost all aspects. (i.e. 300, Dark Knight, Transformers, Slumdog Millionaire, etc..)
5 - DREIs: "Revolutionary" It will change the entire concept of filmmaking and how films are made from this point on. It will serve as the new gauge for movies of the same genre. (i.e. The Matrix, LOTR, The Godfather, etc..)

To Boldy Go Where A Few Has Gone Before: Star Trek Zero

Warning! Spoilers!

First, let me establish that I am a trekker. Not the all-out geek who knows all the sciences and can speak fluent Klingon, but I have always appreciated the TV shows and the movies. Particularly, Star Trek: The Next Generation (Picard, Riker, Data, Troi, Worf, La Forge, Crusher, etc..). I used to watch that show every week (Voyager and Deep Space Nine did not have the same intellectual appeal as TNG).

So with that in mind, I went to this movie with no expectations at all. I was thinking this is just sort of a run-of-the-mill prequel to the Star Trek Movies, and that the producers and writers just wanted to establish the history between Spock and Kirk. I was mistaken. This might very well be the best Star Trek movie ever made - everything was extremely well done. With my affinity for TNG - it is hard for me to say that. However, I was overwhelmed by how much thought was put into the plot and the scale that was placed in this production.

A few notes: James Kirk - great acting by Chris Pine, he portrayed the brash, young, Kirk masterfully and with great writing, his persona almost transcended the screen. Spock - one of the things I looked out for was if he remotely reminded me of Sylar, this movie will fail. Zachary Quinto made an extremely believable Vulcan and not once did Sylar cross my mind. Leonard Nimoy was here as well - for a good part of the movie.

There were a few references to Star Wars I noticed like: Luke Skywalker's adventure in Hoth and Qui-Gonn Jinn's "there's always a bigger fish" theory. I don't know, maybe its just me.

They now have the freedom to rewrite Star Trek's entire history (or historical events for that matter, characters did not change) because of the alternate reality they have created from Spock and Nero travelling to the past.

Overall, an entirely entertaining movie. Action-packed. Well-thought of plot. Sci-fi on a grand scale. Great acting and writing. Hopefully, they start bringing in TNG's mythology to the next movies.

4 out 5 DREIs

1 - Drei: "Avoid Like The Plague" Why did we watch this in the first place? (i.e. Bangkok Dangerous, The Hottie and the Nottie, Scorpion King 2, etc..)

2 - Dreis: "Shite" No need to see these movies unless you have absolutely nothing else to do. Movies with high expectations but falls short on almost everything. (i.e. Righteous Kill, Max Payne, The Island, etc..)

3 - Dreis: "Okay" Good movies that could have been better. Usually gets half good reviews, and the other half so-so. The experience will also depend also on who is watching. (i.e. Clone Wars Animated, Fast and the Furious, The Devil Wears Prada, etc..)

4 - Dreis: "Great" Almost all facets of the movie were masterfully done. Great in almost all aspects. (i.e. 300, Dark Knight, Transformers, Slumdog Millionaire, etc..)

5 - Dreis: "Revolutionary" It will change the entire concept of filmmaking and how films are made from this point on. It will serve as the new gauge for movies of the same genre. (i.e. The Matrix, LOTR, The Godfather, etc..)

Movie Rating System

It occurred to me that when I look back at all my movie reviews, it would be helpful to me if I establish a rating system to easily categorize and distinguish motion pictures from movies that I can watch over and over again, to movies that merit buying an original DVD for, to movies that I should avoid like the plague.
The next question is: What rating scale would I use and what would be the factors that constitute each scale level? Rottentomatoes uses its own Tomatometer on a 0% to 100% scale from its approved critics; similarly, IMDB uses a 10.0-star scale to show its average user rating for a movie. Since, this blog is nowhere near the magnitude and scale of those sites, it seems logical to have a rating system designed for a smaller purpose. Besides, this blog is for my personal use anyway. To that effect, a 5 scale rating would suffice. And instead of tomatoes or stars, I thought I'd be true to this blog's namesake and give it a 5-scale Drei rating.


1 - Drei: "Avoid Like The Plague" Why did we watch this in the first place? (i.e. Bangkok Dangerous, The Hottie and the Nottie, Scorpion King 2, etc..)


2 - Dreis: "Shite" No need to see these movies unless you have absolutely nothing else to do. Movies with high expectations but falls short on almost everything. (i.e. Righteous Kill, Max Payne, The Island, etc..)


3 - Dreis: "Okay" Good movies that could have been better. Usually gets half good reviews, and the other half so-so. The experience will also depend also on who is watching. (i.e. Clone Wars Animated, Fast and the Furious, The Devil Wears Prada, etc..)


4 - Dreis: "Great" Almost all facets of the movie were masterfully done. Great in almost all aspects. (i.e. 300, Dark Knight, Transformers, Slumdog Millionaire, etc..)


5 - Dreis: "Revolutionary" It will change the entire concept of filmmaking and how films are made from this point on. It will serve as the new gauge for movies of the same genre. (i.e. The Matrix, LOTR, The Godfather, etc..)

And So It Ends...

Miami's season ended with a 91-78 Game 7 loss to the heavily favored Atlanta Hawks. I'm not entirely dissapointed with the whole season, but I really was hoping for at least second round outing. Miami almost got what it wanted in the regular season - they almost got home court advantage in the first round finishing with the 5th seed and eventually losing in seven to the 4th seeded Hawks. Overall, it was a relatively "good" season to start after the awful 15-67 W-L record last year.

With hindsight, here are my thoughts for this season:

1. Michael Beasley? He's good and he'll be better. He definitely will be a cornerstone of this franchise. I can see him as a consistent 20-10 player 2 to 3 years from now.

2. Dwyane Wade - There has been a lot of talk about whether D-Wade will be staying after his contract expires. People are saying he'll take a look at the roster and that there is no one there absolutely worth staying for for competing for a championship. Again, there have been no indications that he is considering leaving - but you never know. I think with the impending cap space and with Chalmers, and Beasley, and Spo - he's got lots of reasons to stay although the lure of a better roster somewhere else will still be on his mind. And the entire Heat Nation. But dang, the entire Heat Staff (and Wade) should be taking care of his body - it seems that at every season's end - he's nursing something bad. Definitely not a good sign for him.

3. The Trade - I didn't agree with it then, and I still don't agree with it now. If we had Marion instead of Jermaine, we'd be preparing for the the Cavs.

4. Jermaine O'Neal - exactly what he turned out to be - old and hobbled. Not exactly what we hoped for. Sayang. It means that we will be paying his contract next season instead of say - Carlos Boozer's.

5. Erik Spoelstra - he was in the midst of COY talk, and that's huge for a rookie coach. From 15-67 to 43-40 wasn't just about D-Wade's health - it was also about Spo's coaching. Go Pinoy!

6. Mario Chalmers -Like B-Easy, he'll get better. I expect him to work in the offseason with his shooting. His defense is spectacular - he tied the Heat franchise record for most steals in a game (9), and he has shown a propensity for hitting big shots as well. But, right now, it's just hard to see him as a starting PG for a championship caliber team. Hopefully, when I said "he'll get better" it means better in every basketball catgeory.

7. The Bench - Daequan Cook and James Jones, Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire. Looking at purely offensive and defensive awareness, this could be the bench for being competitive. However, with how the season ended, you'd think that there still is something missing. And there is - consistency - specially on offense. If Cook and Jones aren't hitting their shots, it makes it that much harder for Miami to win a game, any game for that matter.

8. 2010 - The year of the free agents. We can hope right? Ultimate scenario - Wade and Bron; 2nd Ultimate scenario - Wade and Bosh; Somewhat realistic scenario - Wade and Stoudamire; Nightmare Scenario - Wade walks. I think we'll end somewhere in between realistic and nightmare.