Calvin's Hub » Movies and TV

Inception was intricately brilliant, except for the bad guys

Calvin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:52:33 +0000

I decided to see Inception yesterday after seeing The Dork giving praises and offering his firstborn to Christopher Nolan (writer and director) for this masterpiece. This is the kind of hype that makes me want to spend money on movies. It’s a 9.3 in IMDB as of this writing!

First of all, this is a thinking sci-fi movie full of edge-of-your-seat suspense. Don’t expect a sit back and relax kind of movie if you really want to enjoy it. If you don’t follow it, you will get confused and bored. If you didn’t watch it from the start, you will be disappointed.

The story is so complex for me to explain without giving any spoilers but it is not that hard to follow. Hmm, I think it’s like the Matrix and Minority Report combined without those futuristic weaponries.

Despite the plot being too over-the-top and sometimes too complex for me, here are the things that I enjoyed about the movie.

The casting.

Kudos to whoever arranged this. Leonardo DiCaprio was his usual spot-on self in his lead role. Ellen Page (Juno) continues to amaze me with her naturalness in delivering her lines. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer) didn’t have much dialogue here but surprisingly was superb in his support role. Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down) was my favorite character here. Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight) and Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins) who were reunited with Nolan for this film were just “meh”.

The visuals.

They say that you can also watch this in 3D but the only thing you would really enjoy in 3D are those exploding objects. Nevertheless, the CGI here is top-notch and quite enjoyable even in 2D.

The storytelling.

Yes the plot can be quite a handful to digest but Nolan did an excellent job making it easy to comprehend. He won’t give you everything at once but will explain and reinforce things as needed. Oh yeah, I already told you about the healthy dose of suspense right?

Conclusion

So is this movie perfect? Did it deliver for me? Well kinda. The only thing I want to gripe on is that the bad guys here are either dumb or just shooting blanks. I can accept holes for a highly ambitious plot such as this but when the enemies just can’t buy a stinkin’ vowel then it’s just too bad.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Sorry, I just can’t give it a 5 because I’m sure not everyone can enjoy this to the fullest. You will get you money’s worth though especially with how it ends.

Ditching Destiny, switching back to Sky Cable

Calvin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:01:56 +0000

That’s it. I did it. Called up Destiny Cable and had my subscription cancelled. We still have no cable for weeks (missed the NBA finals because of it) now despite calling them twice about it already. I don’t care because it’s goodbye Destiny for me.

Funny thing is that the person I talked to just don’t give a damn. Hahaha. He didn’t bother asking me why I’m terminating their services. He just said “Ok” and that my subscription will end on the 30th.

Now we’re going back to Sky Cable.

The reason why I left Sky a couple of years ago is because their rates were high when they went digital. Now, they got the Plan 280 which gives me the basic channels plus Basketball TV, Star World and my wife’s favorite Cinema One… err AXN (Amazing Race Asia hurry up). The only thing not included is HBO and Star Movies which is not popular these days in the world of torrents.

I think a lot of people can live with Plan 280 so if you only have one TV, Sky Cable’s the more practical choice.

The price for subscribing is:

P2000 for the installation fee (because of the digibox which I think is refundable when you surrender the box)
+ P356 for each additional TV
P280 monthly (for the Plan 280)
+ P250 monthly for each additional TV

Since we already have a Digibox during the prepaid Amazing Race Asia days, I don’t have to pay for installation fees. Good thing that our second TV is broken so we don’t have to worry about paying for extension. Hahaha.

So it’s P280 monthly for me compared to Destiny’s P500 monthly and hard-to-reach customer support.

Tia… Tagalog movies galore when you get back.

The Smurfs get 3D digital treatment for 2011 movie

Calvin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:12:09 +0000

I don’t know if you live in the time where kids used to watch Smurfs (along with My Little Pony, or Rainbow Brite, Jem or Care Bears. yeah that’s what it’s like growing up with 3 sisters but I digress). Anyway, I already forgot what’s the deal with the Smurfs is but they’re getting a 3D treatment for an animated feature film for 2011.

Yep, after many decades, the Smurfs are coming to the big screen next year with a combination of live-action and computer animation. Check out how they will look like in the big screen.

Everybody’s favorite gay guy, Neil Patrick Harris will be a part of the movie but he won’t be a Smurf. He will instead play Johan who I had to Google up to find out that he’s just a page. Bah.

Grown-up Dakota Fanning, Jayma Mays of Glee, will also be a part of the movie as one of the live actors. She will play as one of the human friends of the Smurfs.

If you check out the IMDB page, notable voice actors for this movie are: Katy Perry who will be doing the voice for Smurfette, Jeff Foxworthy for Handy Smurf, and Wolfgang Puck for Chef Smurf.

Fortunately, they will be giving the story a modern touch unlike the medieval setting from the cartoon series. It will be like Enchanted where the Smurfs are magically transported to Central Park via a portal from their village.

Trivia, what’s the name of the villain in Smurf (shown below played by Hank Azaria):

A. Gorgonzola

B. Garbanzo

C. Gargamel

Personally, I didn’t become a fan of the Smurfs so I’m not sure if this is one of the movies that I need to watch but who knows? I found Enchanted funny and entertaining and besides who doesn’t want to watch NPH?

Jovit Baldivino wins first ever Pilipinas Got Talent

Calvin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:52:01 +0000

I told you he’s gonna win it. Yesterday was the grand finals of the first-ever Pilipinas Got Talent and 16-year old Batengueno, Jovit Baldivino, got a whopping 48.81% votes to win the competition. That’s almost half of total votes and there were 11 other finalists. Very impressive fan support!

Two million pesos goes to this deserving kid and I’m sure shows, projects, TV guesting and maybe a recording deal even is already being lined up for him by ABS-CBN.

2nd place goes to Velasco brothers (15.39%) and 3rd goes to Baguio Metamorphosis (7.27%). That’s how much disparity Jovit has with his competition. Both 2nd and 3rd placers received Php100,000 each by the way while the rest got Php50,000 each.

PGT A Success

It’s another successful localization of a popular talent show by ABS-CBN. Britain’s Got Talent was a very popular show in the UK where the aim is to find that “gem” hidden amongst common people. Gems like Paul Potts and Susan Boyle. And Jovit somehow resembles them.

I think what Jovit has going for him aside from his talent is his background and attitude in life. For the first time he stepped into the stage during his audition, nobody knows how we would do. But when the former siomai vendor sang those first few words, people were mesmerized. Same thing with Potts and Boyle.

Here’s his finals piece by the way when he sang Queen’s Too Much Love Will Kill You. When he finished his last note, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’d win.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcTbvTnYaEk

But just like what Ai-ai said (not shown in video), I hope Jovit doesn’t let fame and fortune get into his head. Stay humble Jovit and you won’t lose your fans because they are the ones who will determine your success. It would be nice if someone like Ryan Cayabyab would mentor him. Congrats Jovit!

Now I hope there will be a season 2. I want to see our own version of Stavros Flatly. Hahaha. Or is there a Sungha Jung here in the Philippines?

Spider-man + Kill Bill = Kick-Ass

Calvin — Fri, 21 May 2010 01:44:00 +0000

When you put Spider-man and Kill Bill in a blender, you will get a shake called Kick-Ass!

Before I saw the movie Kick-Ass, I didn’t know what the hype was all about. Why people who’ve seen it kept saying how cool Hit-Girl is. I didn’t know how a superhero movie of heroes with no superpowers can get such rave reviews.

So I watched Kick-Ass. And afterwards I said to myself, “Wow! Can’t wait for the sequel.” This, not Iron Man 2, is the superhero movie of the year for me.

First of all, I don’t think this movie is for anybody. If you were turned off by the brutality of Kill Bill then you might not enjoy Kick-Ass. It is a movie based on a Marvel comic with the same name by the way. And die-hard fans of the comic would shun the movie adaptation.

Anyway, on to the review without spoiling the movie too much. You can divide the movie into two parts.

The first part is like Spider-Man. You get an ordinary comic-geek named Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) who’s a nobody. He’s unpopular in school and hangs out with a couple of his comic fan friends.

He wonders why nobody has ever think of donning a costume to be a real superhero. So he created the persona Kick-Ass after buying a costume online. And without any training whatsoever, Kick-Ass became popular after defending a guy getting beaten up (while getting beaten up at the same time as well).

In the second half of the movie, his fate intertwined with a father and daughter duo. This is the Kill Bill portion of the movie.

Ex-cop and widower Damon Macready aka Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) trains his daughter Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) to be a ruthless killer. Like a 10-year old Kill Bill. Their ultimate goal? To kill the crime boss who framed Big Daddy that eventually led to the death of his wife.

Acting was superb. Well maybe except for Nic Cage who was bland as he can get but his character ain’t flashy anyway. The star of the show is Hit-Girl. Chloe Moretz is going to be the new Dakota Fanning. She’s wickedly awesome in this movie.

I also have to give credit to McLovin err… Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Red Mist, the crime boss’ son who also wants to get a piece of the action. He did his role pretty well with his typical loser-yet-cool image that is integral in the story.

The pace of the movie was just right. There’s a right balance of action and comedy and a teeny bit of drama and there’s no time to get bored. Fight scenes for Hit-Girl were choreographed beautifully. Although there was a time I would question her decision when taking on the bad guys. I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.

Oh and you can’t help but notice the nice mix of songs they put in this movie.

Ok I ran out of adjectives and superlatives already. Go watch the movie if you can.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. This is what a relaxing and enjoyable movie should be like. Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall will be coming in 2012.

Jovit Baldivino, brilliant with Carrie in Pilipinas Got Talent

Calvin — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:30:00 +0000

It is no surprise that 16-year old Jovit Baldivino made it to the semifinals of Pilipinas Got Talent. This time, he’s much better.

Check out his performance of Carrie by the band Europe during the semifinals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=N720rvdP49E

Yes, he’s much better now in my opinion. More confident I would say. His pronunciation while singing sounds more natural compared to his previous performance during the auditions.

I can’t believe I would write this but I have to agree with Kris when she said Jovit is like the male Charice. With his singing talent, I hope he can enter the international scene after PGT.

Jovit Baldivino heavily favored to win Pilipinas Got Talent

Calvin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:22:14 +0000

If you don’t follow Pilipinas Got Talent that much (like me), then at least you better check out what 16-year old Jovit Baldivino from Batangas can do.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKoSajcq31c

A lot of people got goosebumps the instant he belted out those first lines. Reminds you of a certain Filipino singer who’s now part of Journey eh? Even without his story which PGT is making a big deal of, a lot of people would still vote for this kid for his talent alone.

I would expect Jovit to win this competition similar to how Paul Potts took everyone by storm from the first Britain’s Got Talent. An amazing voice coming out of an unassuming and humble person will go the distance in a talent show. Let’s hear some more of those Steve Perry-esque voice in the upcoming rounds shall we?

Next time, let the kid sing by himself ok Miss Ai-ai?

Watch out for Pinoys on America’s Best Dance Crew 5

Calvin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Ok not exactly an all-pinoy group but Poreotix is a six-man crew made up of Filipinos and Vietnamese. Three of each actually and they got selected to be one of the nine finalists for this season’s America’s Best Dance Crew after a very successful audition.

The group (L-R) is made up of Justin Valles, Chad Mayate, Charles Nguyen, Lawrence Devera, Can Nguyen and Matt Nguyen (sitting). Guess who among them are Pinoys? Hehehe.

Poreotix specializes in popping, choreography and robotic moves (hence the name) with a lot of theatrical and humor added into their routine. Check out their audition that surprised a lot of people when they danced to Taylor Swift’s Love Story.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF0Aww__Sfg

Hilarious! Nice tutting and isolations too. From this performance alone, they had Jabbawockeez’ snappy moves and also resemble Quest Crew’s theatrical antics. Their only weakness I see is the lack of athleticism that pushed Quest Crew to the top last season but still they’re quite enjoyable to watch.

I’m going to watch out for these guys and I hope they make it far and even win this whole thing. The first challenge which is Chart Toppers has already aired and you can watch the full episodes here.

Hachiko: A Dog’s Story makes grown men cry

Calvin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:45:00 +0000

I’ve heard of this movie a few weeks ago and people kept saying how they cried after watching it. I’m really not fond of animal movies but I want to see if this one’s a real tearjerker… so I asked my wife to watch it with me.

Hachiko: A Dog’s Story is loosely based on a true story about a dog of the Akita Inu breed in Japan which is known for their immense loyalty and intelligence. I’ve heard of the story way before I heard that a Hollywood movie will be made so I kinda know what to expect in terms of the plot.

This film stars Richard Gere who plays a music professor (Parker Wilson) who one night finds this Akita puppy (Hachi) at the train station on his way home. He initially didn’t want to keep the dog but when he can’t find its owners after a few days, he took Hachi in.

Over the years, both owner and dog formed a tight bond. Hachi would always walk with his master at the train station and wait for him there when he arrives in the afternoon. With this routine, people who are regulars at the station and close to the professor also fell in love with Hachi.

I’m going to stop there because I don’t want to spoil things too much.

There was already a movie about this story in Japan in 1987 entitled Hachikō Monogatari but I heard that this Hollywood version tells a better and more compelling story. To attract the western audience, they used Hachi (meaning instead of Hachiko.

The real star of this movie is Hachi and I love how the director showed scenes from the dog’s point of view. Richard Gere wasn’t too bad himself here, just being his classic self while the others made an adequate supporting cast.

This one’s a really nice, heartwarming film that shows us the value of family loyalty and life-long friendship. Everyone can learn something from Hachi.

Verdict: 4.5 stars out of 5. I did not cry but my wife did and after watching it she kept on reminding me that I promised I won’t make her cry. *roll eyes*

Dog-lovers might want to prepare some tissues when watching this.

The Blind Side movie review

Calvin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:22:15 +0000

I just saw this film last night with my wife after hearing nothing but praises about it the past couple of weeks. It truly is! It’s a heartwarming film that reminds me of The Green Mile… gentle giants touching the lives of people in an extraordinary way.

The Blind Side is based on a book by Michael Lewis with the same title which in turn is based on the true story of Michael “Big Mike” Oher, a big, traumatized and homeless kid from the projects with an addict of a mom but was given a chance by a caring family to excel in life. In Oher’s case, he made the honor roll during college and is now playing in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.

The film is led by Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a well-to-do mother of two who took notice of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) one night trying to look for a warm place to stay. She invited him to sleep on their couch for the night which eventually led to how Michael touched the lives of her family.

I won’t spoil much but there are a lot of circumstances in Michael’s life that made his story special. He didn’t do well in school during his childhood, he transferred from one foster home to another, and being big and black made it uneasy for him to attend a pre-dominantly white school yet with the affection and care shown to him by the Tuohy’s made him succeed in life which is a true inspiration to everyone.

Acting here is top-notch especially for the usually-bland Sandra Bullock. In fact, she won Best Actress at the Golden Globe and the 2010 SAG Awards for this film. You’re going to love Jae Head here as Tuohy’s son, SJ, and Michael’s friend.

There’s nothing bad I can say about this film. The screenplay, the pace, the humor and the amount of drama is just right for me.

Why Blind Side you say? The Blind Side refers to the side opposite the direction a player (usually the quarterback) is facing. It’s up to the tackle to protect the quarterback’s blind side and with Oher’s built, he was a sought-after recruit in the country in his senior year in high school.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars. Yep, it’s that good. One of the best drama films I’ve seen in years. It may not end up in your DVD collection but it’s still a must-see film.