Article: Making “Apple iPad” FanBoy Approved Part 2

If you haven't seen the first part of this article, you can head over here and my rant is of course, still up. Anyway, on Part I of this article, I mentioned two usage models that I targetted for my iPad. While iPad 2 may have changed the ball and I don't personally own one to give a better opinion, seeing the reviews and looking at those changes made me feel lucky that I am not an Apple FanBoy jumping in every iteration of what SJ (Steve Jobs) has to offer. With a crappy camera, same iOS, the only thing major I see from reviews: dual core, better graphics. Which, while I may have digress a bit, still falls way below of what SJ mentioned why iPad is better than NetBook (yes, I am still picking on this topic).

Article: Fanboy's Feedback on The Last Airbender Movie

I just saw The Last Airbender [in 3D] last weekend together with my kids. I decided to write a mini review to share my feelings about the movie since I am a fan of the animated series. I have always kept my eyes open for new episodes at Nickolodeon channel and Avatar: The Legend of Ang has always offered me fun and entertainment after a grueling work, or tasks from the office. It offers me a brief moment of solace and isolation from the world around me, as I engulf myself in the world of Avatar. I have come to like all the characters, and have always been looking forward for the next episode. So it's not a surprise that when a movie was planned, made, and shown, I am also one of the faithful that flock the cinema. I will now share my mini-review and my feelings after watching the movie.

Tech Link (Industry): "TRON:Legacy" movie brings video game world to life

Wow, I am so excited to learn about this cool stuff. I have been an avid fan of the original TRON movie, it was so cool back in the days. The great about this movie is that, well, we're now well matured in digital animation and movie technology and many people are now more aware of "computers". I mean, back then, when you speak computer, I remember my parents asked me, "what's that?".

Misc: I just remembered, I did watch Pirates of the Carribean

Hmm, I don't know why but I forgot posting it here, wanting to ask for your feedback. But I guess the movie didn't struck me as strong as the previous two.

My personal favorite is the original movie, the first one. I never imagined that such movie would make a great hit in the box office, I mean, Pirates to the theme of Disney (I think)? But hey, it was great and that prompted me to watch the sequel, and I don't really recall why would there be a second part as the first one seems "complete" to me.

Anyway, the 2nd installment was decent, but it left a lot of things hanging and made me say "heck, that's it, it's going to be a forced trilogy or worst, more than three sequels that the future ones may suck big time". Hey, it's not like I am against sequels, but I believe this movie, in its original storyline, wasn't created in such expanded detail. This is what I am afraid of, if you are familiar with dragging TV soap operas, I feel that this movie would suffer the same fate.

But that didn't stopped me from watching the current sequel and 3rd installment, just so I'll know what happens next and hoped that the movie will finally come to conclusion, but no, there are gaping holes again. Bah!

So anyway, sorry for the rant. I don't mean to make this Blog post longer than two paragraphs, I don't have a review like I did to 300 the movie. Anyway, I know it's late, but hey, better late than, well, err....

Article: "Spiderman 3" - a FanBoy's take on the movie...

After securing the tickets and waiting for months, I finally got to see the movie! I have been edgy and pretty much excited on watching this that I really skipped reading the previews and early critics or anything related to Spiderman. I don't like any spoiler, I'd like to see the movie for myself and post my thoughts. So today, I just saw it. What's my verdict? Read on to find out...

I. Background
It's no suprise that Spiderman 3 will pick up where Spiderman 2 left off. There's a trail of Spiderman 1 history lessons as well, as the battle continues between Harry and Peter Parker. Hey, don't tell me you never really know the friction between the two "best friends".

Aside from that, there are several new characters that are introduced into the movie. For the super villains, Venom appears and another super villain is Sandman. I am particularly interested with what's going to happen with Mary Jane's ex-BF in part Spiderman 2 but he never made an appearance. Now, I am focusing my attention with Peter Parker's beautiful lab mate.


II. Storyline
To be frank, I am quite confused with this movie. For one, during the early part of the movie, I am focused on how Sandman will affect Peter Parker's life. My focus, because of how the movie started, is all about this Sandman guy. But as the story unfolds, it's all about the seemingly unbroken ties between the original characters: Peter, MJ, Harry, and yes Aunt May(??).

The heart of the story never really deviates from the first two, it's all about the battle within Spiderman himself. In Spiderman 1, he is just trying to discover his self, and lay down the foundation of story for Spiderman 2 and eventually, Spiderman 3. But still, Spiderman 1 also shows his inner battle, that is the struggle between power and the responsibility that goes with it. In Spiderman 2, again, it's an inner battle, that is to forgive himself and to actually know what he really wanted to be: hero or normal guy. In Spiderman 2, it's very easy to catch the storyline, and it also solidify Harry Osborne's position as the next super villain. Spiderman 3 is again, a battle within himself, his darkside that has been trying to get out. The super villains, like Green Goblin in Spiderman 1, Doc Oc in Spiderman 2, and now Sandman in Spiderman 3 are just spices to the movie. Well, not that I expect too much from them, they did lay the foundation as I said earlier.



III. Characters
I love the characters and their portrayal in the movie. I love Harry Osborne, I always love the guy, even from the start of the series. I just feel bad about him on this movie, it's a major letdown actually. I wish it could have been written differently, but I guess there's no room for two heroes on NY city so he has to go.

Spiderman / Peter Parker - the soft spoken, good tempered Peter Parker returned as his usual self with a twist: showing the evil part of his humanity and how vulnerable he is even as Spiderman. I like the acting as usual, but he has a lot of idle moments which adds to the dragging sensation that I felt.

MJ / Mary Jane Watson - Good acting as usual, not much to ask from her except, she really needs to look more beautiful. Her fangs are lovely, I'd love to be bitten by her, but at her young age, I am bit worried at how bad she looks when she's really not in a good mod (meh). No wet look this time around though, sigh...

Green Goblin II / Harry Osborne - My all time favorite character. He's one cool guy, literally, even when he turned into an antagonist. He redeemed himself in the end though. He has a better outfit now, more black than green. His mask isn't the same as the original Green Goblin which covers the whole face, Harry the Green Goblin looks more like a modern Ninja, yay for Harry.

Sandman / Flint Marko - His lips are scary, the face so square you won't really mistook him for a vilain. But inside his strong and rugged visage is a heart of man, a father, who only wants good things for his daughter.

Venom / Eddie Brock - I never liked the guy, and that's what makes his acting great. He is able to really let me feel that he is such a jack ass. I'd love to see him in other movies as a naughty guy or in a similar character.

IV. Costumes, Effects(FX), and Battle Scenes
The movie shows the strength of CGI. Sandman is a scene to behold, and the transformation of Eddie Brock into Venom is amazing. I liked the smooth sailing Spiderman, webbing his way across the city block.

For battle scenes, the highlights is between Spider Man and Green Goblin tag team versus Venom and Sandman tag team. The protagonist composed of mutation and technological power hose, while the other is about the freak team.

I can't believe how weak Sandman is compared to all the other characters of the series, while Venom is just so amazingly unbalanced. Too bad, they got defeated, I'd like to see them go down, but not like that.



V. Verdict and Conclusion
While I love this installment of the series, it pales in comparison to the other two, specially Spiderman 2. The story seems weak, and not that "smooth" as it appears more like tattered rags patched all together. There's a twist and turn, but other than shallow mysteries, it's just that. If you are a serious fan, then you should watch this one. However, if you just want to past the time, then better check other movie reviews.

Brag: I have tickets to Spiderman 3 Premiere!

I am so happy, I already have four tickets reserved for Spiderman The Movie 3. I am a big fan of the past two movies, and I am off to watch it tomorrow. Philippines is lucky to air it early compared to other countries and geos. Woot, I can't wait. Here are the tickets in all its glory, yay!

Article: "300" - a FanBoy's take on the movie...

I just came from watching this really awesome movie. I did a little research because I loved it. I only watch it because I have been enjoying the trailer I've been seeing and I was intrigued by it. I'll be honest, I am no movie guru so whatever info I got came from the official site. I really liked this movie that prompted me to post this Blog and my take on the movie. If you are interested with my blabbering, expand for more (Warning: there might be spoilers).

I. Background
The movie is about the legend of the Battle of Thermopylae wayback 480 BC. This is a film my Zack Snyder, based on the graphic novel "300" by Frank Miller and Lyn Varley. The story revolves around the invasion of the massive Persian army. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler/Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) must defend his homeland, Sparta, with his legion of "300" Spartan warriors against hundreds/thousands adversaries led by led by it's powerful God-King Xerxes The Great (Rodrigo Santoro/Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle).


II. Storyline
I can not fault the movie for the simplicity of the movie in terms of storyline. There's not much that has changed from start to finish. This maybe because the movie is focused on that point of time of invasion. I can't really count the days that has passed, but if I can recall it correctly, it happened all within a 3-day timeframe (I base this on the time Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey/The Brothers Grimm) asking for appearance with the Greek officials).


III. Characters
This is one movie where I am not familiar with the casts that I have really appreciated the acting. I can't believe I really enjoyed each character, despite the lack of development or changes in them. While this is understandable (I mean, the whole thing happened in less than a week), I still liked these characters a lot.

I love the Persian leader Xerxes The Great, man, he's one heck of a giant. He stands so tall, King Leonidas has to look up when he's talking to him. He (Xerxes) looks kinda "gay" though, and he has a voice that is undescribable, really like a "God". It has some echo sound to it, that is emphasized by smooth, low, bass notes.

Of course I love the primary character King Leonidas, the way he deliveres the message and shouting “Spartans! Tonight we dine in Hell!” is so sexy! He has a range of emotions shown all thru the movie, but he seems to be, for most part, angry. He looks like he has mood swings, from being perfectly calm, then a rabid killer.

Queen Gorgo is gorgeous. She's sexy, and she did show some "flesh" here (Nipple Alert). I don't really like that part of the movie where she makes love with the King (who is nude, eeeew), if I like porn, I know where to look. Anyway, she portrays a very strong Spartan woman and I like the way she acted.

The rest of the army is just blood thirsty, and this has been portrayed well by all the casts. They enjoyed the battle very much, and are very happy in battle. Dying in battle will be their ultimate glory, and this has been clearly shown. They are very loyal to the King, willing to follow him anywhere and will do anything for him.

IV. Costumes, Effects(FX), and Battle Scenes
This movie has a lot of "fantasy characters" to it, well, not that I doubted this to have them but if you can imagine Spawn-kinda type of monster, you can bet they're here in this movie. Can you imagine Orc-like Immortals (one of the characters in the movie)? Or how about huge, fat, human with a bone-knife for his arms? Or how about those "magus"-like characters who lives atop a rock-pillar and have a super sexy young girl for an oracle(Nipple Alert)?



For the gals, naked men abound in this movie. Muscles, abs, muscles, abs, muscles, abs, and even more muscles just keeps showing up. It's a muscle porn fest galore! However, I can't believe these Spartans wore leather underwear though. And they also fought against their enemies with super long capes. The Spartan armors looks real enough, with their huge shields and broad sword, they are a sight to behold. For the guys, well, there's a few scenes showing women with their very thin costume, see through if you may.

The action is superb, coupled with the sound effects, action is top notch. If you are familiar with MTV-like videos where a certain scene speeds up and then slows down, then the action part played like this for the most part. Bloods splattering all over, limbs being cut there, people flying everywhere, but it's done in an awesome manner. In this speed up/slow down style, I'm able to really see each strike, every thrust of the weapon.



The scenery is all computer generated, well, at least that's how it looks to me. There is also like a bronze-metal like texture on the whole movie, and it's just so good. The eye candy is never ending, from the lighting to the sepia coloring, to the emphasized contrast, everything is captivating. This is one movie where I can't miss watching at the big screen.

V. Verdict and Conclusion
I have only seen the movie once, and I quickly wrote this Blog while the vivid images and storyline is still fresh from my memory. The calm, but roaring, whispering sound still lingers in my ears long after I left the movie house. I know I'd watch it again if have the time to spare. I'll definitely be grabbing a DVD for me to enjoy it in its full glory with subtitles, extras, and other freebies. So my verdict? Go watch it!

Source:
Official "300" WebSite

Trailer:


Orig Wide Screen Trailer/Official Site