Amateur movie review: Monsters vs Aliens (3D)

Monsters vs Aliens 3D viewed 04/11/09. Premiered 04/11/09. This is my very first 3D movie ever! I’ve been aware of 3D movies since I was in grade school, hearing about it through my friends as they commented on how they ended up with headaches from staring too hard and too long. Thankfully, vast improvements in this visual technology have made it less harmful to the senses. The goggles given to us for viewing were not the disposable, paper type. However, the goggles need to be tweaked a little. By that I mean they should’ve made them wrap-around types to keep minor light-reflections that are coming from behind the individual’s head. Unfortunately, in this movie, there were only a few scenes where the 3-d rendering really stood out (no pun intended). For those in the audience too young to know or care, the movie paid homage to many sci-fi and horror B-movies from the 50s. I may not be a connoisseur of such B-movies, but I am aware enough of them to know which character and scene came from what 50s B-movie. I thought the funniest character in the movie was that gelatinous monster named B.O.B. as voiced by Seth Rogen. Another was the homage to Mothra creature called Insectosaurus. As for the movie, I gave it two stars.

Amateur Movie Review: Watchmen

This review may be late in the posting, but that's because I was off the island, had a hectic work schedule when I returned, and was battling a lingering flu. Anyway, on with the review: Since seeing the previews in the theaters and after months of anticipation, I finally get to see this much awaited flick. I've known about the Graphic Novel for a long while now but never got around to reading it; the book was just too esoteric for me - especially the art. I tend to favor the more mainstream comic books since that's where I cut my teeth on as a youngster. Obviously, the plot/story line was a radical deviation from comic book norms - especially back when it was first published in the mid-80s. Listing my favorite scenes, one was obviously the scene where Silk Spectre was gettin' the "bizznez" from Night Owl after a night of superheroing in his ship that he affectionately called "Archie." During that 'delicate' scene, I saw some guy walk out of the theater with a young boy (no doubt some embarrassed father or adult accompanying the boy). He obviously had no clue that this movie was for mature audiences (didn't he bother to read the ratings? Guess not). Another favorite scene was when Nite Owl and Silk Spectre was trashing the inmates at the prison where Rorschach was incarcerated in an attempt to rescue him; and the scene with the whole team together in Ozymandias' lair. Of course there were many, many other scenes, but that would be giving away too much of the movie. Anyway, my favorite character of the bunch? Rorschach (I'm still wondering how and why the inkblots on his mask kept shifting around, after all, it's only a cloth mask right?). Another character (or more accurately, the actress) that piqued my curiosity was one of the first generation Watchmen (back then called Minutemen) called Silhouette played by Apollonia Vanova. Whoever, cast her in that role, however short in the flashback scenes, should get a raise! Without giving out too much of the movie, it certainly did not follow any clichéd story/plot lines which disappointed me a bit, but on the other hand, such deviation made for more compelling characters and story. I give it 4 and a half stars. I docked 1/4 star for it being a bit too long and dragged out in some scenes and another 1/4 star for not being too clichéd (which actually turned out to be a good thing).

A grievous epiphany about sugar-free cough drops!!!

Since coming back from Washington, I've been battling a nagging, linegring cold (I shouldn’t have taken a shower and walked out in that 30 degree weather as we headed out to the airport) that seriously congested my sinuses and lungs. I had real thick stuff (mucus if you really want to know) clogging up my chest that I couldn't cough out no matter how hard I tried. I was coughing incessantly like a dog too. At some point, I was coughing so hard, the muscles in my ribs hurt. So I came to work refusing to call-in sick unless ordered to go home by my supervisor (bad idea, because most of my co-workers got the sickness from me as well); to minimize the nagging coughing spells from an itchy throat, I brought with me a bag of Halls cough drops - the sugar free kind. For most of the afternoon, I scarfed down those cough drops like they were going out of style! By early evening when everyone had left the office, I was stricken with a new malady: a serious tummy ache! By 8 PM I realized to my utter horror and discrete embarrassment what the tummy ache meant - I was about to have a serious case of the runs! And run to the office restroom I went (thank goodness it was night time; with only two other co-workers in the office with me, no one would know ever know of my dirty little secret). A few weeks later, I found out through a co-worker that sugar-free products have that effect on certain people (she did not know or hear of my misadventure - I hope); she said her sister has that type of reaction to it and the runs was the serious side effect. Now I didn't bother to research this on the net but after I stopped consuming the cough drops, the sore stomach - and that side effect - did not bother me again. So proceed with caution with the sugar free stuff.

Off 'da island for a few days!!!

About a month ago this week I took my mom to see her great grand children in Vancouver, WA. It was also meant to get off the island and give her (and to a lesser degree, me) a long overdue and deserved vacation. My mom has been to a lot of places in the east coast (where her husband, my dad came from) but as far as the west coast, has only been to California. This was her very first time to see the Pacific Northwest (I think that’s what the region is referred to) so I didn't just want her to sit in my nephew's house and just play and bond with her great grandchildren. I planned a fun week of showing my mom how cool this place is; taking my cues from the Travel channel shows (specifically "Man vs Food."). After landing in Portland, OR on Friday March 6, we spent the next day going on a toy shopping spree for my grand niece and grand nephew (to compensate for not being around them most of the time - the bonding came later during the week), I watched a movie the following day (see amateur movie review: Watchmen); by Monday, I took her to the mini-casinos up north (I forgot the name of the area) and by Tuesday, took my mom to Seattle, WA (my first time there too!); we went to see the Freemont bridge troll; Pike's Place fish market and Seattle's famous land mark, the Seattle space needle (but because of a momentary lapse of reason on my part, we didn't go up to the top to view the city skyline). On Wednesday, we went around Portland, OR to check out the neighborhood and visit my nephew's friend who fights in MMA; then by Thursday I had my niece-in-law show my mom around their neighborhood (the place is growing - with new neighborhoods springing up despite the gloomy economic projections - I wish I had a down payment for a house). My mom was annoying at times during that week but quite understandable given her age and the fact the she had to refrain from smoking in my nephew's house for most of the week. This was also the first time in over 50 years that she's felt cold weather dipping below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I didn't leave Vancouver, Wa. empty handed though; I bought me another electric guitar from this cool music store in Portland. Then Friday, it was back to the Islands! Next vacation I plan to take my mom on: Vegas!