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!

Remembering Paul Harvey

I read from the MSN homepage that radio personality Paul Harvey passed away. Now to those born in the mid-eighties and don't listen to radio - especially to the news and talk radio - may not know or care, but to me, this man is radio giant and icon. I remember hearing his news broadcast in the early mornings during the week. As pre-schooler, I naturally didn't care for the news back then but his voice stood out prominently in the background during the din of breakfast in our home (I credit my father for making Mr. Harvey a daily part of our morning ritual). As the years went by, especially by the time I was in the 5th grade, I began to actually listen and look forward to his news broadcast after the regular news. His distinctive voice and playful delivery made the news fun to listen to (even the serious ones). To me, he sounded like an uncle who was telling an entertaining story but with an important lesson. By the time I was in the 8th grade, his voice and delivery of the news conjured up - in my mind - images of life in America during the 50s (don't ask me because I don't know why I had these thoughts); from those thoughts I began to wonder how long has Mr Harvey been doing this. By the mid-eighties and onward, my daily routines shifted and listening to his show faded away into the ethers of the past. During the late 90's, I started to get nostalgic for those mornings when his voice was part of my household. Since then, I would try to look for his morning radio news broadcasts from the local radio stations of the town I moved to, but because it was low in priority, I didn't put much effort into looking for it thinking that he may have already retired from the business. However, one morning I hit pay dirt. I stumbled into one of his broadcasts from the talk radio station that I listen to; however, there was something odd about the voice - it was not as how I remember it. By the end I found out why: it was Paul Harvey Jr., who was behind the mic. Good as he is and with all due respect to Mr. Harvey Jr., he's close, but no cigar! I wondered what had happened to my favorite radio "uncle." Did he retire? It was a bit hard to accept but realistically it was a logical conclusion. A few months had gone by and I stumbled upon another broadcasts - I was oblivious to the time because I was so excited to hear the very voice I remember when I was in grade school all those years ago: It was the real deal! I made it a point to jot down the time at the close of his newscasts just so I could catch it again on another day; that was about a week and a half ago. The day before yesterday (Feb 28, 2009), I read the sad news. Just as I finally found him in the airwaves again, I lost him. I just hope we can download or buy copies of his news broadcasts the same way you can purchase old time radio shows on CD. I will miss Mr. Harvey. Whenever I think about his voice and his news broadcast, I'm brought back to fond memories of mornings with bacon, eggs, pancakes, the aroma of coffee, and the chaos of a family getting ready for the day while my father calmly sat in the middle of it all. From Mr. Harvey's intro of "Hello Americans, this is Paul Harvey...Stand by for news!" to his closing statement that was simple yet comforting: "Paul Harvey...good day." Good day indeed, Mr. Harvey. Your voice will sorely be missed by me and the multitudes who enjoyed and learned from your broadcasts. May you rest in peace.

Remembering dad on his birthday...

I'm typing this blog to honor the memory of my father who passed away in 1995. Our relationship then was somewhat strained during that period because I was eager to assert my need for independence while my father was, in his twisted little way, reluctant to let me "spread my wings." He knew that the key to my success in establishing independence depended on two things: mobility and money. Both of which my father kept to a minimum. I won’t go into details about that part because by American standards, the story of how this came to be seems very convoluted; understand that my father was an American living in Asia and taking advantage of the culture’s proclivity for obedience and harmony. So naturally, I took a passive-aggressive approach to my rebelling when I was a teenager. Don’t knock the technique; it enabled me to get away with a lot by appearing obedient and harmless! But aside from that short but tumultuous period in my life, I look back and realize that my dad was a great father. Flawed as he was – as I believe most fathers are – he did his best and did it out of pure love for his family. No one can take that away from him. You know the saying “behind every great man, there’s a great woman?” well, in my father’s case that woman was his mother. She nurtured, guided him, and taught him to live a life that is just and honorable despite his mischievous ways. Obviously, my dad was a natural trouble maker in his youth. Not the bad kind, but more the impish, happy-go-lucky kind that annoyed his siblings and made his father throw-up his hands in frustrated capitulation. In one year, he crashed all four of the family cars; flipped another car he was driving with his parents and two of his aunts as passengers (his father decked him because he was being a smart-ass). In a lot of ways, he never grew up; he was never really ready for fatherhood. My dad was very conflicted in his demeanor: around family, he tried to act the responsible leader and provider while deep down inside he painfully wanted to carry on like he was 19. At times, I loved it; at times I hated it. However, there is no denying my dad’s powerfully positive impact on my life. Though I remember the conflicts between us, it could never outnumber or overpower my memories of the fun I had spending time with him and the somewhat privileged life afforded by his efforts, hard-work and sacrifice (which writing it in this blog could never do it justice)! Thanks to my dad, I was introduced to the world of comic books (he started buying them when I was about four years old not realizing then that I didn’t know how to read much less recite my alphabets). Thanks to him, I was introduced to the world of American Hot Rods and Muscle Cars; Because of him I was privileged to live in two worlds: that of an American and that of an Asian. He unwittingly influenced my conservative, right-wing political leanings although I argued his political positions from a left-wing, liberal standpoint. Do I miss him? Pretty much. If he were alive today, I’m sure he would be very happy to know that we now see eye to eye on many issues, and that I would work harder with him to achieve many of his automotive projects. But that’s all wishful thinking now isn’t it? Anyway, his birthday was yesterday. I was just thinking about him and wanted to thank him for the great life he provided me and the rest of our family when he was around.

Amateur Movie Review: Push

Basically, there’s really nothing special about this movie. The concept of a secret organization assembling psychics of various abilities for diverse purposes is nothing new (look up remote-viewing in the net), but the categorization of the various psychics based on their skills/powers was pretty cool. Unfortunately, there were no “Holy shit, that was awesome!” moments in the film (obviously, I've been watchng too many movies like this one that I'm quite jaded). This would probably make a great TV or mini-series; the writers could better flesh out the characters’ personality and motivations; perhaps give the concept of the Division and the characters more depth (much like the TV series "Heroes"). Though seeing the Movers in action was fun to watch, I couldn’t help but make comparisons to the Jedis in “Star Wars” when they were moving/throwing things around during the fight. Even the Pushers ability begged comparison to the Jedi mind trick; only the Pusher’s ability seemed more potent and they weren’t as lovely as Camilla Belle. The rest of the cast, from Chris Evan’s character Nick, and Djimon Hounsou’s Division Agent Henry Carver to Dakota Fanning’s Cassie Holmes were fun to watch and pretty much kept their characters, and perhaps, the movie from being too cardboard-ish or cartoonish. Would I recommend it? Only if you’re fans of the four principal actors in the film; otherwise, wait for it to come out on DVD. I gave it three stars!!!