Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Back to Narnia

I came across this in Yahoo when I was browsing through the 2008 most anticipated movie list. What a coincidence since I am currently reading this book in the Chronicles of Narnia. This I think is the most appropriate movie to make after "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" because this story happened only after a year since the return of the 4 Pevensie children to England. The synopsis from Yahoo! movie page goes as follows:

One year later, the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct and Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy. The four children will soon meet a curious new character: Narnia's rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding, as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians--led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian--embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz's tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

I am so excited to see this movie. The 4 children are still played by the same actors (a little grown) and they added a very dreamy actor by the name of Ben Barnes to play Prince Caspian. And might I add that Peter Pevensie is becoming quite a dreamy lad himself. This movie is set to be release in May 16, 2008 directed by Andrew Adamson. To see the trailer, click here.

Another picture of Prince Caspian (played by Ben Barnes).

Isn't he dreamy? Although I think he needs a military haircut to complete the dream (fantasy).


(pics above taken from yahoo movie page)

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Sweeney Todd


Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a broadway Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim that first hit the stage in 1979. This was recently transformed by Director Tim Burton into a movie which is nominated for several Golden Globe awards. Johnny Depp portrayed Todd while Helena Bonham Carter portrayed Mrs. Lovett. Let me start off by saying that I really like this movie a lot. A bit gory but in a non gruesome kind of way. Throat slitting and blood gushing was definitely shown but in a way that was necessary in the story. The story is about Todd returning to London seeking revenge on Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman aka Professor Snape) for falsely jailing him many years prior to get to his wife. Upon Todd's return, he sets up lodging and a barber shop upstairs of Mrs. Lovett who recognizes him and had this unrequited love for him. Todd killed several men and the bodies were served on Mrs. Lovett's Meat pie shop. He was able to eventually kill Judge Turpin and was killed himself in the end. In the process, he killed his wife who was still alive but crazy and Mrs. Lovett for insinuating that his wife died. Such a tragedy!!!

The flow of the story was effortless, the acting was superb, the costume becoming of the characters and the singing was good considering that Depp and Carter are not singers. But the younger cast members sang quite wonderfully. Specially Johanna (Jayne Wisener) and Tobias (Ed Sanders). Of all the cast members, I think Carter had the weakest voice.
This my friend, is a must see movie specially for the broadway enthusiast. And please, let us give Depp that Golden Globe and Academy that he so deserve.

(picture above taken from Yahoo movie page)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

China

THESE ARE SOME PICS I HAVE TAKEN FROM MY RECENT TRIP TO CHINA WITH MY MOTHER.

A FAIR PROSPECT OF THE ORIENTAL PEARL OF TV & RADIO TOWER IN SHANGHAI FROM THE "BUND". THE BUILDINGS AROUND THE TOWER WERE JUST BUILT WITHIN THE LAST 10-15 YEARS. THE "BUND" IS THE AREA ALONG THE RIVER WHERE WESTERN BUSINESSES AND BUILDINGS WHERE FIRST ESTABLISHED.


A WONDERFUL SHOT INSIDE THE REED FLUTE CAVE IN GUILIN. IT IS BLUISH CAUSE THEY PUT IN BLUE LIGHTING FOR EFFECT.


THIS IS WHAT I AMUSINGLY REFER TO AS THE CHINESE VERSION OF THE VENETIAN GONDOLIER. THIS WAS TAKEN ALONG LIJIANG RIVER IN GUILIN.


MAGNIFICENT PEAKS IN GUILIN. THESE MOUNTAINS ARE THE RESULT OF MILLIONS OF YEARS EROSION.


TERRACOTTA SOLDIERS AND HORSES OUTSIDE OF XIAN. THERE ARE STILL A LOT LEFT UN-DUG AND UN-RESTORED AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE BACK. THE SOLDIERS AND HORSES WERE IN COLORS WHEN THEY FIRST WERE DUG BY ARCHEOLOGIST IN THE 70'S . NOW EXPOSURE TO LIGHT HAS FADED THE COLORS.


A VIEW ON TOP OF THE ANCIENT CITY WALL IN XIAN. BUILDINGS TO THE RIGHT ARE OUTSIDE THE WALLED CITY AND CAN BE AS TALL AS THEY WANT TO BE BUT STRUCTURES TO THE LEFT NEEDS TO BE SHORTER THAN THE WALL. THEY WANT TO PRESERVE THE TRADITION OF THE CITY WALL BEING THE TALLEST STRUCTURE AS IT WAS IN ANCIENT TIMES. XIAN WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE EARLIER DYNASTIES AND IS LOCATED SOMEWHAT IN THE MIDDLE OF CHINA.


ONE OF THE INNER BUILDINGS AND COURTYARD INSIDE THE FORBIDDEN CITY. PERHAPS THE RESIDENCE OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER? :-) I DON'T KNOW.


TEMPLE OF HEAVEN IN BEIJING. ONLY THE EMPEROR PRAYED/MEDITATED HERE IN ANCIENT TIMES.


IN FRONT OF THE TIANANMEN SQUARE IN BEIJING. "TIANANMEN" MEANS THE PEACEFUL HEAVEN'S DOOR.


GREAT WALL OF CHINA. NO EXPLANATIONS NEEDED HERE. CAN YOU SPOT MY MOTHER???

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Altar Boyz

Ta Pinky and I went to see the Chicago production of Altar Boys. And I must say I was thoroughly entertained. It was at the Drury Lane Water Tower Place Theatre which was a mid size theatre. This was ideal cause all the seats were "good" seats. You definitely don't need theatre binoculars to see the performer's faces and expressions. The show itself had a very simple stage set up and it was relatively short. The story is about these 4 altar boys plus 1 jewish friend forming a boy band singing praises to the Lord. Despite of the fact that there was no intermission, it did not feel tedious at all cause the fun music and upbeat choreography kept me riveted to the show. There were some pop culture reference to the dance moves like the makarena and the Dreamgirls moves. The lyrics of the songs were brilliant and genius. Just when you think they were going to say one thing "tabooish", they end up saying another totally appropriate. And of course, I must mention the boys. It would not be my review without mentioning the boys. I think they were all adorable and so accomplished. They sing and dance so well. "Me gusta" all of them but I specially like Matthew, Luke and Abraham. Check out which one is which HERE . Make sure you scroll down to the Chicago cast pictures.

I once prayed while in the Vatican for a youngin catholic jowa (bf) and so far God has not answered the prayer. Please Lord, let it be one of the Altar boys... Amen


(pictures above taken from altarboyzchicago.com)

Saturday, November 03, 2007

30 days of night

Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with vampires. I escape to the world where you are always young, strong and beautiful plus you can bend the minds of people to your will. Just think of the things I can do with that power???? The next thing you will hear is I am rampaging in boystown. And I am not talking about Linda E or Naomi kind of rampaging down the catwalk.

"30 days of night" came out last week and it stars Josh Hartnett. Let me just get it out of the way by saying the Josh is "me gusta" in this movie. YUM!!! Although there was no skin from Josh, I still would not mind telling Josh to "bite me". So if you like Josh that much, you better head to the movies or get yourself some bootleg copy.
This movie is of course about vampires who wreak havoc in Barrows, Alaska, around winter time when this town had 30 days of no daylight. I like this very premise. Where can you go to escape when the vampires are out and about 24/7? Scary thought huh? And may I say that this movie was indeed scary. Plus it helped that the vampires in this movie were really scary looking, although fashionably in black. Not unlike the Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise "Interview with the Vampire" movie where they were handsome. I also like the fact that there was no "stupid" scenes in the movie. All the characters behaved logically. In this movie, vampires can only be killed by sunlight, beheaded or shred into small pieces. And also, you turn into a vampire by being infected with their blood after being bitten. These I think are the more common lore about vampires. There is one scene in this movie that sort of did not sit well with me. How come Josh turned into a vampire within minutes while the others took hours and days? What is up with that? Oh well, I guess I did not get it. Despite this, I would still rate this movie as "graphically scary", "gory and exciting", "freakishly entertaining". It would surely have a room in my collection of DVD amongst the Horror genre.

(pictures above taken from yahoo.com movies section)

Monday, October 15, 2007

Legally Blonde


Pinky alerted me the other day that "Legally Blonde - the musical" will be shown in MTV. At first I was thinking that I would not be able to watch it cause it was overlapping with Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. I love those shows. But after checking the times (6 central), it looked like I was destined to watch it after all. I like Legally Blonde the movie so I was certain that I would find the musical version amusing as well. Plus I already know the story so I would not be confused with it as I often find myself with other musical (e.g. Pirate Queen). If I were a critic, I would give this musical 5 star rating. "Brilliant!" "Fantastic!" "So refereshing" "Riveting." "Tear Jerker." (well it made me cryolla khomeni several times). From the actors to the dance routines to the songs, everything was just very entertaining. I especially like the character of Emmett. He is such a good person. Somebody that you can easily respect and like. He worked his way through law school so that he can give his mom a better life... He saw the good in Elle when almost everybody else only saw a ditsy blond. Plus it helps that he is cute. And the hair Luisa.... I would love to comb my fingers through them. Yum... Love his voice as well. So soothing, warm and manly. He is the kind of guy that you would like to bring home to meet mama. I wonder if he likes tinola, chicharon bulaklak and batchoy? hmmmm.... Going back to the musical, I also like the other men in the show except Professor Callahan (DOM). The UPS guy is bootylicious, and Warner is so A&F! But if I have to pick and choose between the three guys, Emmett will win for sure. No contest. Some of my friends who knows me will be somewhat surprise that I picked Emmett over Warner. But life is full of surprises. And the female cast members were also good. They sing and dance very well indeed. Very accomplished. I like 90% of the songs in this muscial. I am not yet very familiar with them since I only saw it once. Perhaps I should buy the soundtrack so that I sing along with the music like I do with "Miss Saigon". I would love to watch this show in broadway. (I wonder what Tita Lani will be doing during new years weekend). Perhaps I will follow Lani and Pinky's example and wait at the backdoor for the casts to come out. And you know who I will be waiting for... :-)

(picture above taken from legallyblondthemusical.com)