I love David Cronenberg's movies Eastern Promises and A History of Violence - and that Viggo Mortensen is in them is just a bonus! Viggo is also once again here and with Keira Knightley in the cast, this is a must-see movie for me! It also helps that it's about Freud. Finally, a movie about the Austrian genius!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Movies I'm Looking Forward to Watching: Martha Marcy May Marlene
This movie looks pretty interesting! I love thrillers, especially those that don't pretend to be one! Is this girl a schizo or has she lost her sense of reality? Hmmm....yeah, I have to watch the movie to find out, don't I?
Movies I'm Looking Forward to See: The Descendants
I cried in About Schmidt and Sideways really drew me in. Now, Alexander Payne has another new movie and as usual, it's about relationships. It's great that George Clooney is here so I'm definitely watching it. Just from the trailer alone, it looks like Alexander has maintained his sense of humor in looking at people's troubles.
Movies I'm Looking Forward to See: The Ides of March
I love George Clooney and all the political movies he does. It doesn't mean I agree with his views, it's just that he makes boring politics look more interesting and engaging. This presidential campaign thriller looks pretty interesting to me although the plot may have been used many times before. Anyhow, would be interesting to find out what sets Ryan Gosling's character off the rails!
Movies I'm Looking Forward to See: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I love spy movies and this one looks very interesting - and it helps that the cast has Gary Oldman and Colin Firth in it. The trailer alone looks very suspenseful so I hope the movie lives up to it!
The Movie I'm Really Looking Forward to See: Midnight In Paris
Well, I am a big Woody Allen fan so the bias is there. And he keeps making these sumptuous movies set nowadays in Europe that it's impossible for me to get disinterested in them. The trailer looks beautiful and Owen Wilson plays Woody Allen perfectly! Well, I hope I won't get disappointed. I don't think he ever disappointed me though.
Movies I'm Looking Forward to Watch: The Iron Lady
I grew up with a Britain being ruled by Margaret Thatcher. I have no idea as to how British politics works but this woman really showed a lot of guts bringing Britain into the Falklands War in the early 80s and the fact that she was a woman running a First World country - or any country for that matter - was already a very interesting fact. Of course they had get Meryl Streep to play this role. Who else can be 'The Iron Lady'?
Friday, July 29, 2011
Believing in Guardian Angels
Last night my nephew Dylan had a convulsion due to high fever. It was a good thing my niece Laura was insisting that my brother, Vic, not go to his scheduled photo shoot yet! She was bawling and crying and making sure that Vic did not leave the house. Good thing, because minutes later, Dylan had a convulsion and had to be brought to the hospital! It was actually our first experience with convulsions and we forgot about the cold compress on the head. Anyhow, Laura was definitely Dylan's guardian angel last night as she made sure Vic was there when Dylan really needed help!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Philippine pair charged over animal torture videos
It's good news that these horrible people have been charged in court. I hope they rot in jail, or at least feel the pain of what they did to those poor animals!
Hardness more important than size or frequency
I so totally agree with this article! Frankly, I feel like Superman when Junior cooperates! Well, there are good days and there are bad days, and really, it also embarasses me to talk about this in public. Thank God for that blue pill!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
What I Like About Body Balance 53
Is it just me or is this new release just tough on the legs? Anyhow, I've always associated Body Balance as a leg and core buster so I'm not surprised. The second track which works on the legs was a bit hard for me yesterday since I did leg exercises the day before, so my thighs were really pretty tired! I like the balance track for this release since it's not too fussy and I think the sequence makes us not too shaky. Well, bottomline is I can do it well, which is good for my confidence. Finally, the Pilates and core track here is tough. I want to memorize its sequence so I can also do it everyday, and not only in class. The movements are slow, deliberate and very effective. I've had to stop several times yesterday since my legs were tired already and my core was really working hard! I just hope I can do it more times before they go to mix and match again.
Movie Review: Captain America A Good Introduction for the Comic Hero
I have heard of Captain America the superhero but I am not very familiar with his background or his powers so I was a bit interested with the movie that just came out yesterday. It is visually stimulating considering that it was set in the 1940s. The costumes, the atmosphere, it was all perfect. Chris Evans' transition from skinny to buffed was also very interesting and this guy can actually act! Well, I have some idea now that ties in all the Marvel superheroes so it would be pretty interesting to see how they all work together in the Avengers. If you want to just sit back, relax and watch things explode here and there, Captain America's for you. The material is not heavy, no philosophical musings here, actually, a movie perfect for a 13-year old boy!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Movie Review: 'Blitz' An Enjoyable Police Story Set in London!
Seeing Jason Statham in the poster, I immediately surmised that this movie was going to be another slam bang gunfest set in an Eastern European city! However, I was quite surprised that it was set in my favorite city of London, and well, everyone in the cast had the English accent! The movie is actually interesting since it involved a flamboyant cop killer, played by my favorite actor in Queer as Folk! He has aged here a bit though and he doesn't look sexy anymore. Oh well, he's a cop killer!! To make things more interesting, Jason's boss is queer! Although they never show him doing it with another man. Tsk tsk.....Well, the standard Jason Statham growling and chasing and car chasing scenes are there but there are interesting characters here like the homeless snitch, a young policewoman addicted to drugs and alcohol and a 15- year old punk! A slice of the criminal world of London. Even the audience I was with was into the story, gasping and shrieking at the right moments. We really do love action movies here!
Movie Review: 'Prom' Is Simple and Delightful
This movie was obviously targeted to the high school crowd but even in my 'old' age, I got to enjoy it since it made me reminisce about THAT time in my life. The complications also in the movie are quite similar to the complications we usually have at that age. Although the whole movie centers on the event - the prom that is, the subplots points to other concerns young people have as they grow up. Nothing too serious here, mostly about puppy love really, or young love sweet love. There are a lot of eye candy here, young that is!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Mi Diario en Español: el 25 de julio de 2011
Estaba una vez de vinculatción afectiva hoy con Dylan. Le traía a Trinoma para comprar unos pantalones cortos desde todos sus pantalones cortos estaban muy ajustado para el. Decía Bebeng a poner un pañal en Dylan desde no quería atterarme cuando Dylan quiere defecar. Dylan estaba muy dócil y cooperativo. Comimos en Jollibee donde Dylan obtenía un juguete de Captain America. Tambien matriculaba Dylan como un miembro de niños club de Jollibee.
Traia Dylan a la iglesia y queria pasearse pero limitaba sus movimientos acerca de mio. Estaba fascinado con un perro mono. Pienso podemos traer Dylan a la iglesia cada domingo.
Asistia Body Jam y Body Combat hoy. Hay un hombre mono en la clase hoy. Me preguntaba si es heterosexual. Le veia en la sauna tarde. Tambien disfrutaba de clase Body Combat especialmente la parte donde haciamos las patadas. Veia muchos hombres monos en el vestuario hoy incluyendo Chito. Es muy mono ahora!
What I Like About Body Combat 48
I've only done Body Combat 48 twice since it was released here almost 3 weeks ago, but already, I remember a track which is very challenging. Interestingly, it's sung by Alesha Dixon and it involves a lot of balancing and kicking to the right and left and front and back. It's quite exhausting. Actually, I find the whole release exhausting and I've had to catch my breath several times, especially in the latter tracks just to keep up. To save energy, I try to 'cheat' on some parts of the latter tracks, so that I can go full blast when I need to. I miss the jump kicks though for this release. Otherwise, it's a fantastic release and I hope I can do it more times in a week, if I weren't just too busy!
What I Like In Body Jam 57
It actually takes time, even for me, to like a new release. From my experience, it takes maybe 4-5 classes before I really begin to enjoy a new release, so that would usually take 2 weeks, since I just try to limit my attendance of Body Jam to at most, 3 times a week, so I won't get bored with it.
It's now the third week of the new release in ABS-CBN, and the instructors are now adding the new moves, but not yet in all the songs.
I've always been privy to the hip hop songs of any release and for the 57th release, it's no different. I love the choreography for Willow's Whip My Hair, and for the last track, especially when we're doing the Black Eyed Peas song, which I forget now. I also love the last track by Sean Paul. I remember playing that song almost 10 years ago and it still sounds fantastic now, especially that the choreo tries to be as close to raga.
Finally, I've always loved Gloria Estefan, and I was happily surprised that they included Go Away in this release! I haven't heard it for a long time! Also, I love the hip swaying done for this song - fittingly Latin!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Mi Diario en Español: el 24 de julio de 2011
Fui a misa hoy con Mama y Laura. Entonces, comimos en Jollibee donde Laura jugó. Ella estaba entusiasmado a ver la mascote de Jollibee. Después de comer, hicimos compra en National Bookstore donde compré unos juguetes para Laura y Dylan.
En casa, cenamos y tambien jugué con Laura. Le enseñé como jugar la ficha de dominó. Tambien le mostré el video de 'Cherish' de Madonna y le gustaba el video mucho. Hizo lo mismo movimientos en el video. El video figuró los sirenos y le gustaba como ellos nadaron.
Antes de dormir, escribí en mi blog.
Shocked By the Norway Shootings
Our family has an affinity with Norway since one of our sisters married a Norwegian, and I was lucky enough to visit the country. It is indeed a very peaceful, well-organized and clean country so events like what happened these past few days would seem out of place there. And what makes it more shocking is that the perpetrator is not a foreigner, but a local boy - a local terrorist with right wing ideas. Events like mass shooting are really incomprehensible - and will surely plung the country into some soul-searching. Also, there were no outward symptoms that would show that this thing might happen since the supposed perpetrator appeared harmless and had no previous history of violence.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Mamie Gummer: Must Be Tough to be an Actress and be Meryl Streep's Daughter!
When I saw her name as the credits came on, I instantly knew that she was Meryl Streep's daughter, since I knew Meryl's married surname was Gummer. Anyhow, she does look like her mother and she's a very capable actress, much like her Mom. Anyhow, must be tough getting out of Mom's shadow. She does very well here though, she even sings! Not a very difficult role playing a loony since there's so much room to move. I saw in her credits that she's in The Good Wife. Excited to see her there.
Movie Review: 'The Ward' A Big Yawn
Today's horror movies have evolved so much that John Carpenter's brand of horror has not kept up at all! Frankly, his latest offering, 'The Ward' was a big yawn! Not once did anyone in the theater I was in, scream or jump in their seats. Not that it was boring, it's just that the storyline is a bit dated and the effects were a bit of the 80s stuff, which would not frighten anyone now. Not unless it's The Exorcist! Anyhow, I am a big fan of horror movies, but you can sit this out. You might fall asleep in the theater, sayang naman the pera.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Fat Burners Work but Watch out for the Side Effects
Ok, ok, so I had to resort to using fat burners since my schedule now has significantly slashed my gym time by more than half. I still go to the gym regularly but not as frequent as before and with lesser intensity since I am really just tired already at the end of the day! Anyhow, this fat burner I bought was the same one I used a few years back, and I remember that it worked fine then since I never crossed over to the 190's!! I was just steady between 185-188 lbs.
So when I tipped at 212 lbs a few days back, I decided to reuse this and I'm happy to say that in the 3 weeks that I've been using it, I slipped down to 206 lbs as of my last weigh in! I warn you though of the side effects. First, is the incessant flatulence. It's really comedic in a way so I suggest you take it before you sleep and have all that flatulence come out in the privacy of your bedroom. If you're single, that is.
Second is the incessant visits to the bathroom. It's like you have diarrhea! So I suggest you drink more water than normal so you won't get dehydrated then be sure to have access to a clean toilet. My frequency is one dump every three hours on a bad day and once every six hours on a 'quiet' day. So be ready for this inconvenience!
Third, I did get sick about a week into taking this. I'm not sure though if this was the cause but there was no other thing I did to my body previously so this was the culprit. I think since this thing gets rid of so much water in the body, I got dehydrated and became weak, so much so that one week after taking it, I got the flu and got sick. My body is back to normal now and I feel much stronger than last week, so I guess the body has finally adjusted to my taking of this fat burner.
Yes, it works! I notice that my appetite has been suppressed a bit also. I know that it worked because of the weighs in and my belt also moved a slot tighter. Well, I just hope I reach my goal of 200 lbs quickly so I can now take it off my regular regimen. I am now doing more intensity in my exercises now so they work in tandem!
Classic Lines From 'Downton Abbey': "What is a Weekend"
I discovered Downton Abbey because of my baby Alberto who was raving about this BBC series! This is one of the most talked about scenes in Season 1 when Maggie Smith delivers that famous line, "What is a weekend" - and just watch everyone's reaction!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Theater Review: If Their Voices were the Costumes, 'Aida' Is Surely Pure Gold!
Ok, ok! I wanted to watch the musical because I wanted to see the costumes and the sets! It's set in Egypt after all and Cleopatra and Nefertiti were Egyptian queens known for their beauty and dazzling wardrobe! But anyhow, since the most expensive ticket would only come to about 30 pounds, I would understand why they could not approximate a West End set or costumes. Because an Aida in West End would normally cost five times that price for a front seat ticket, so I guess they have more budget for those things.
Anyhow, the cast dazzled in the area that mattered most, and that is their vocal interpretation of the musical's music - which in itself is so moving already! The revelation of the night was that cute guy Josh Santana! I think he stole the show from the three leads - Myke Salomon, Ima Castro and Rachel Alejandro - who were all very good already! Veteran Hajji Alejandro also gets a role and he still has a strong voice, even after all these years!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Getting To Know Lady Gaga's Stylist: Nicola Formichetti
The creative world of music and fashion has since been rejuvenated by the fantastic collaboration of Nicola Formichetti and Lady Gaga. We are quite lucky really that the paths of these two people crossed paths. When we first saw Lady Gaga, she was already wearing space-age looking costumes but she became more interesting when she was dressed by Nicola. She finally found someone who can make her own personal vision come true. It also helped that Lady Gaga wrote and sang songs which are hits in their own rights - with or without her having to resort to show-stopping outfits to make a noise! In the end, it's still the music that should make an artist interesting!
Meeting the People Behind 'Bawal Tumawid Nakamamatay'
I actually watched the play last week with Mama, and since I did not bring a camera, I was not able to have some pictures with the cast. Anyhow, I went to CCP again this week to watch the ballet Romeo and Juliet and after the show, my friend and I went to Yellow Cab for dinner. We were seated inside and I noticed instantly the lead actress in the play who was seated on a table outside. I immediately asked my friend, who brought a camera, to take a picture with them, when they were not too busy.
Anyhow, after we finished our dinner, we went outside and I asked to have a picture with Kiki (the lead actress in the play) and Joey (the writer and director). They told me there would be a repeat of the play on August 12 and I immediately said, Yes, I would be watching it again, and this time, I would be bringing some friends with me.
Well, I strongly urge you to watch the play too! It's witty and the dialogue is very current, and it's one of the rare plays that can make you laugh so hard, tears fall down your face! The ending is just really, really hilarious! It definitely brought the house down the first time we watched it!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Theatre Review: Bawal Tumawid Nakamamatay
Bawal Tumawid Nakamamatay is probably the funniest play I've seen in a long time and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, at that! The dialogue is something ordinary Filipino can follow so it has none of those high brow stuff ordinary non-theatergoers would sometimes shy away from. It was great that they allowed everyone involved in the play to come out. Joey Paras directs it very tight and the best things in this play are the two wonderful leads, Leo Rialp and Kiki Baento. I swear, Kiki is the funniest non-stand up comic actress I've seen in a long time! Maybe because I only watch musicals that I've forgotten how fun plays can be. You'd really have to watch this and I guarantee you that it's a lot of fun!
Kylie Party in Bed!
I haven't partied in months so last night, I decided to shed my laziness and brought a good friend along to party in Bed because it was supposed to be Kylie's night. Well, the Bed Bar looks much much better now. I actually love the interiors and all the bling blings they placed here and there. I was just surprised that there weren't that many gay men out! Oh well, maybe it's just July and not really party season. The last time I went to Bed, the whole place, including the second floor, was packed! But that was ages ago. The music mix was fine but could still be improved. I'm not really a fan of remixes and prefer how the British do it. Just play what you hear on radio. Familiarity is more fun than remixes. At least for me - (and millions of other Filipino partyphiles!)
I won a poster by the way, thanks Ferdie who checked my tickets. Me, the poor old woman, couldn't even read my own numbers - que horror! Now that beautiful poster is tacked in my closet door. I did have a good time and I was a bit tired already around 4AM. Signs of old age.
Movie Review: Sometimes Funny And A Little Bit of Fun in 'Monte Carlo'
I actually didn't know that the lead actress in this movie, Monte Carlo, was Selena Gomez. I normally don't read the credits when they show and even when I saw the poster, I didn't quite see in fine print, her name. So, it was a good surprise to finally see how she looked like! She looks a bit different though from what I see in her video of that new song of hers. She looks bigger there. Here, she's really just a young teenager.
Well, with Transformers 3 ruling the box-office this week, it's a good thing they have Monte Carlo as a foil! The movie has some funny moments. The cute men equation though is very high as all three girls are paired with some very goodlooking men. I love the scenery the most. Paris and Monte Carlo are really 'photogenic' cities! It's a very light movie about mistaken identities so you can bring your kids here just in case you run out of tickets for the Transformers movie.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Closet Talk: A Big Fan of Y-3
I chanced upon an article today that said that Y-3 Yohji Yamamoto just turned 10 years old. I am a big fan of this sporty brand and I do have some Y-3 articles in my closet ranging mostly from bags to tank tops and shorts. Interestingly, I don't really like the shoes but stick mostly to the clothes and the bags. Unfortunately, it's not in Manila yet since they're really a bit pricey. I remember buying tank tops at 5,000 pesos a pop! Stupendously expensive! But the good thing about it is that they are still in good condition after all these years and the cloth really stretches. It's really a good buy. I just usually stick to buying two pieces per collection since they're really too expensive!
My Fashion Shopping Bag This Week: A Little Bit of 'Oxygen'
I am back to my shopping ways these days, trying to add a few things to my closet once again and taking out some of the older ones. This week, I visited the Oxygen shop in Trinoma and I encountered some of their stuff on sale! I immediately scoured the racks and picked 7 shirts to fit. Five of them were in black, one in blue and one in gray. The color scheme of Oxygen's latest collection is predominantly black and neutral colors - colors you will rarely find in my closet. I ended up buying only two of the stuff. I'm an XL size guy and although some of the shirts said they were XL, they did not fit too well. The blue and the gray one were ok but they could not hide my belly, which is crying out to be hid! I love the two black shirts I bought though. They're stylishly cut and the cotton is quite soft. I'm just worried when it becomes really warm because they could really stain with sweat. But they're black anyway, so it can be hidden.
They still have some stuff I'd like to buy but I just hope they can fit me perfectly!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Inspired by Korto Momolu
I was watching a CNN show today and I chanced upon a great interview with Liberian designer Korto Momolu. Her story was quite inspiring, since they had to leave Liberia when they were young. She ended up studying and growing up in Canada, then she moved to the US when she got married. She recounted how she started designing when she was in her teens and now, her collection is mostly for women with curves. Her story has inspired me to design once again, of course, just doing the shirts I want for men. Thanks Korto for sharing your inspiring story!
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