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.

I Watched The Watchmen

I read the book. I liked the book. Then I learned that it was going to be made into a movie. This was the first time that I couldn't imagine how something could possibly be made into a movie. I mean I was just dumbfounded. "Unfilmable" is what some fans called it. It just wasn't made for the big screen. Even Alan Moore initially didn't want to be part of this. And rightly so, the storytelling of the comic just seemed impossible to tell without going beyond at least 10 hours (the movie was 2 hours and 40 minutes).
A lot was ultimately left out - the news snippets of each hero that provided the background, nothing to note about Rorschach's shrink who almost went crazy in the novel, and no Black Freighter back story. Even the ending was changed entirely- no octopus! Also, Dr. Manhattan's anytime and all time power was not efficiently explained in the movie.
However, I was amazed at Snyder's vision. I didn't think it could have been done. But he did. The film worked perfectly - the scenes were timed right, the action sequences were violent and always appeared to hit real hard. I didn't realize they made this movie so violent and so disturbing. And that was definitely part of its appeal. Two-thumbs up for the movie originally called unfilmable by the novel's die-hard fans.


Heartbreak Kid

The Final Set: 3.7.09

1. Thanks to Jas for the VIP tickets! The creative mind from MTV behind all billboards, posters, and ads for the event.
2. Awesome concert, just plain awesome.
3. Ely Buendia did NOT die.
4. There was, of course, the obligatory FrancisM tribute. It was said that Francis Magalona was supposed to rap his part in Super Proxy - Ely Buendia did the whole thing instead. I admit I had goosebumps though, when the eraserheads played one chorus from Kaleidoscope World and Raimund Marasigan held up the "Man From Manila" sign. Rest in Peace, Francis.
5. I was pretty fuckin' pissed off that we missed the first three songs because of the traffic around MOA. I would have sang my heart out at "Waiting For The Bus" - one of my all-time eraserheads favorite.
6. It occurred to me that a concert this huge, VIP seats are imperative. Imagine all the 9s and 10s around (a few 11s and 12s as well) and you get to rub elbows with a few well-known people.
7. The acoustic set was a nice touch - probably to get Ely Buendia some rest. We couldn't help but feel terrified everytime he paused and hanged his head down during the whole concert, in our minds we were thinking: "No! Not again!"
8. After the third and final set - Raimund Marasigan urged to the crowd to call his bandmates to play a few more songs. This was after probably half of the crowd exited already. They sang three more songs.
9. The last three songs (not part of the setlist) was the highlight of the day. They made mistakes and everything - it felt like this wasn't really part of the rehearsed show and that it was just a genuine jamming from former bandmates giving one last thanks to their fans.
10. You know when you exit a showing of a new movie and cameras are there to get the reaction of the crowd? Well there was a camera at the VIP exit and it turned to me while I was exiting. I did the devil rock sign and said "Go heads." I was secretly hoping that that will be showed at the DVD. But it occurred to me that I pointed at my tattoos as well - thereby ending any hope if it being included. Tattoos are often mistaken for a gang sign and MTV probably does not want to be affiliated with such. Bummer.
11. Just an amazing night, only knock on it was the traffic, the "jogging," the Prado-dead-battery-alternate-reality, and Mae Dei wasn't there. Still, easily one of the highlights to start the year.

Photos from Michelle Hidalgo

Jermaine O' Neal

Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for Jermaine O' Neal and Jamario Moon.
Toronto fans are saying this is a good deal for the Heat. However, I can't help but feel Miami could have done a whole lot better for Marion.

A few good things to note though:
1. Marcus Banks and his awful contract are finally off of Miami's books.
2. Jamario Moon over Diawara on the depth chart.
3. Improved interior defense?

A few not-so-good things to note:
1. The Heat has now two former All-Star centers that are way past their prime. Way past.
2. Downgrade defensively at SF. Who'll be guarding Lebron, Pierce, Lewis, and Joe Johnson now?
3. Bye-bye Carlos Boozer.
4. The Heat just became even more injury prone. If that's even posible.

In the East, you need Marion more than you need a Jermaine. No one can stop Dwight Howard defensively anway and the Heat (Haslem and committee) have done a somewhat okay job against Bosh and KG. Granted Marion has had games where his presence was never felt. But when he decides to turn it up a notch defensively, he's played relatively good defense against the Kobes and the Lebrons of the NBA. After Marion, the Heat has no one that can play a lick of defense at the SF position. And I don't think that Moon is the answer.
I'd be ecstatic at a 17, 8 and 2 blocks from Jermaine. But realistically, I think the Heat just traded for a 13 and 6 guy that will play less than half of the remaining games.
I think Riley pushed this trade for a shot at home court advantage in the playoffs. But at what cost? This does not even guarantee a playoff seeding and it certainly doesn't make the Heat contenders. The Heat can't be in a Win Now mode, right? We are going in the right direction but we are definitely far from that at this point. Could there still be some trades before the deadline?

Just Like Mommy and Daddy

If there was any doubt that she's a rocker, I guess this video shows she's into Rock and Roll just like mommy and daddy. Rock on, baby!



Yeah, Seiichi may like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, but she still rocks all out to KISS.

Appleseed: Ex Machina

This may be the best animated/CG movie in probably.. ever. I mean I know that's saying a lot. But this movie even rivals Final Fantasy: Advent Children in terms of graphics and style, and way better in terms of characterization, story telling, and cinematics. You can definitely see John Woo's influence on the movie - not just with the birds but with the stylistic gunfights, the slow-motion, and the action.
The only thing is (I know this is a small thing compared to eveything that was grand in this movie, but...) I think the animators were still high from the Sentinel juice they drank while watching Matrix Revolutions. The problem was they KNEW that they were going to get a ton of comments about how the last scene was extremely like the Zion attack - but they did it just like that anyway.

Slam Dawg and Probe Nixon

I usually have an inner aversion to movies that have Best Picture Oscar nominations. This started around 1996 when the Academy chose to acknowledge snore-inducing bore-fests like The English Patient and Fargo. This was when 1996 also provided classics and infinitely-more-watchable movies such as Independence Day, A Time to Kill, The Rock, The Ghost and the Darkness, Trainspotting, among others were shown.
I have seen both The English Patient and Fargo. They were hmm.. okay.., even passable on some odd standards. But they are nowhere near where and what critically acclaimed movies should be. It is mind-boggling, even now, to think that at that time, these movies were the best for that year.
Sometimes though, they get it right when movies like The Departed and The Return of the King wins Best Picture, but more often than not, I just can't trust the judgement of these old people. Science-fiction, action movies, and comedies rarely get any attention.
This year though, I have seen three out of the five Best Picture hopefuls: Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Benjamin Button movie had an interesting plot but was boring as expected. However, Slumdog and Frost/Nixon was better in every way than I expected. Slumdog Millionaire was masterfully done. Everyone has been talking about its wonderful story telling and characterization, but another aspect of the film jumped out to me - the soundtrack. Not the kind of soundtrack that you'll go and buy in the store because of the new songs but rather how the sounds were used to enhance the feeling and emotional awareness of the movie. Slumdog Millionaire is like a newly delivered Meat Lover's Pizza - it's fresh and it seems to have everything.
Frost/Nixon follows in the same mold as The Last Castle (and even Death Note) wherein two strong personalities try to outmatch each other. I have had only a little background with regard to the details of the Watergate Scandal but it didn't seem to matter when I watched this movie. It really was about two men and the people behind them preparing for what was an eventuality that would define their entire lives. The acting was superb and I really feel that Frank Langella at least has an edge over Brad Pitt on this category.
Although I haven't seen Milk and The Reader, I woudln't be surprised if either Slumdog or Frost/Nixon takes home either Best Picture or Best Director award. But if Benjamin Button somehow gets any of either award, then the "Academy" has just proven that even after all these years my aversion to them has real reason and merit, and would not have been baseless. Let's just hope my gut feeling is wrong and either one of the two films gets the Best Picture and Best Director award.