2011: An Autobiographical Retrospective

.:2011 In Retrospect From My POV:.

Well, wow. This was quite a year. For the past how many years, I've always done a top 5 or top 10 people I'm most grateful to, but I think that with everything that's been going on, there's just way too many people for me to thank. Let's just put it this way... if you're mentioned in this MASSIVE post I'm writing right now, then yeah, I'm thanking you for being a notable enough part of my year for me to actually make mention of you. If I manage to, maybe I'd even itemize that list after the post to thank you all. Whatever, really. It's my blog, so I'll write it as I see fit.

I wanted to recap how 2011 went through my eyes. This is, after all, a rather autobiographical blog. Always has been, it's just been masked by the fact that I do a lot of navel-gazing and projection when I go through with it, and it ends up being of relevance to other people in general. It's just a case of good fortune, I guess. I'm kinda tired of actively trying to be profound, so I'd happily settle for profundity in the midst of banality.

January: Not on the right foot...

Except this foot, I guess.

It was a pretty unpredictable start to 2011, as it appeared that love was on the horizon, especially given the first post I made for 2011: the wedding proposal for no one. Alack and alas, things weren't meant to be, and I started off the year with quite a downer of an opening, despite the fact that I went to CamSur and even attended two separate weddings. At this point, I lost one of my best friends. And at the rate things are still going to this day, I think I lost that person for good. The sad part? I actually feel better this way, than when I pretended we could still patch things up.

The only thing that gave me a semblance of sanity was my Project 52 2011, where I covered music videos that caught my fancy during the week in question. It was a pretty good idea, even if I sometimes couldn't write as much about the music video as I really wished I could. Nonetheless, that project took on a life of its own, and really brought to life the old adage: every song tells a story. And oh, what stories they told!

January also opened with the sad news that both Bamboo and Sugarfree, two of the best bands in the past decade, were disbanding.

Indeed, January didn't quite start off on such an auspicious note, but hey, maybe February was going to turn out better, right? Right?

February: My life was complete...

Yes. Yes, it was.

Well, yes, admittedly, my Single Awareness Day was far from perfect, but not only did I have my first date with Jazminne, but for the first time ever, I met the one and only Kim Chiu. I think that would pretty much be one of the highlights of my year, if not the highlight.

February was pretty depressing, but Kim Chiu more than saved it, to say the least.

March: Rocking my world...

This was the night the music died.

March was marked by the earthquake that hit Japan, more than anything else. Sure, there was talk about the National Blogger's Association, as well as the whole brouhaha over Manny Pacquiao and Willie Revillame. Things were definitely coming to a head, and the Jan-Jan issue just exploded from this point on, really.

Things were definitely cooking, and the craziness that ensued from the whole Willie Revillame drama still reverberate to this very day. What wasn't cooking, though, was rice. For me, at least. I gave up rice from my diet during Holy Week.

Sugarfree's farewell show brought tears to my eyes that month.

April: We were all April Fools...

I am a Patriotic Filipino®!

April was the month of iBlog 7. I wrote about day 2 since that was the only day I attended, but there were laughs to be had about the stuff that went on during day 1, to say the least. It was pretty hilarious to hear cries of "cyber bullying" from the very same people who used their blogs to attack and malign the reputations of people because it's "their blog, their rules." Ah, yes. The maverickness of it all never ceases to be a source of amusement.

Nonetheless, iBlog 7 was indeed interesting, but so was Willie Revillame's tirade. He dissed everyone from Aiza Segeurra to Lea Salonga to Jim Paredes, and it was just... wow. Unfortunately, his disappearance from the airwaves didn't last too long. MVP has invested too much into this guy to just allow him to disappear from his network for keeps.

Of course, in celebration of the logical fallacies that littered the landscape, I made a series of posts to address these logical fallacies. Needless to say, it was a pretty amusing time, and it didn't take long before a lot of people started responding to the discussions I directly or indirectly instigated. On top of this, I even went to Nagsasa for a nice weekend of peace and quiet, which was my only respite from the hurly-burly of the year, come to think of it. Quite a crazy month, really. It was only going to get crazier.

May: The geek Is fighting...

On this month, Randy Savage stopped the end of the world. 

Maybe on October 21, then?

I started going to Geekfight in May. It was quite an experience, and certainly changed my life, as far as making new friends would be concerned. Of course, it was really fun to be doing standup comedy on a regular basis again, as we started off in Tomato Kick, and I managed to meet some new open mic people. Couple this with a few performances that happened in Merck's as well, which definitely made the comedy scene get really hype.

On top of that, the RH Bill started getting a lot of mileage at this point. People were debating about it left and right, and needless to say, I found myself firmly on the side of the pro-RH. It was pretty awesome as I slowly worked those little bits and pieces of my personality into my standup comedy, all the same.

I also got myself an iPad 2 on this month. Any time I felt like playing on the go, my PSP had to settle for being my second choice at this point.

I got into OGM around this time. Best decision I ever made.

May also marked the month that Bearwin Meily betrayed the magic community. Also, this was when Mindmaster was in full swing, and of course, I ended up writing for The Filipino Freethinkers the minute he started doing seances. It was really an embarrassing time to be a magician, what with all the infighting and the outright charlatanism that was being peddled as legitimate on national television.

June: For the lulz...

That's my... girl?

By this time, I had a sylvans rival sandwich, and it was heavenly. Nuffnang had its family day, along with a few other events, all the same.

This month was when my addiction to Cracked went into full swing. I am an avid reader of their articles, and over time, my writing style was inevitably influenced by them somewhat, especially when it comes to making stupid captions on pictures. It was highlighted by stuff like Abante plagiarizing a satire article, as well as some hilarity involving Gerald Anderson and Supot.ph. I also continued to write for The POC, and made sure to discuss homophobia with a very contemptuous tone.

Of course, I hosted Toycon as well, which was quite a highlight for me, especially since Jazminne actually won. Pretty amusing how that turned out.

And, oh. I started doing Just Another Magic Monday in June, because I kinda missed writing about magic, which also means my Project 52 in 2012 will definitely not be about magic, since I can just keep doing that as is, anyways.

Truth be told, June was a pretty happening month. With all the comedy shows I was taking part in, who knew I was going to end up doing even more soon enough?

July: The laughs keep on rolling...

No captions needed.

July was the month of Fabio, as he challenged the Old Old Spice Guy, Isaiah Mustafa, to a mad libs duel on YouTube. Needless to say, it was a total riot. I was on the losing team, though, since the Old Old Spice Guy ended up getting the nod. I was hoping to see the Old Spice Girls, though. This month saw me do the most blogging in 2011.

I started opening for Mike Unson in Capone's in June, but the succeeding months, I just ended up doing more and more of them. It was quite an experience, to say the least, and I'm glad that Mike went ahead and took me under his wing. I couldn't thank him enough for it, to be honest. Considering that I opened for him and the Itchyworms in the same venue on successive nights, I really felt honored that these people have been asking me to open for them. I've been a huge fan of Mike and the Itchyworms for years, after all.

Of course, Harry Potter 7.2 came out this month, too, and I wrote one of my best posts about the franchise when I wrote about Snape and his unique way of showing his love. In Snape, I felt a kindred soul.

July also marked the month that the Morning Rush would celebrate its 15th year. I went to the celebration, of course. It was really one of the most awesome times, ever, seeing so many old faces that day.

And, oh. Sara Duterte and Vicki Belo grabbed some headlines at this point, too.

August: The Explorers, triumphant...

Because you can't go wrong with a hidden goatse.

Geekfighting was extra fun in August, since my team, the Explorers of Uranus, hosted our own Geekfight. I even came up with the questions for one category, the Fighting Games category, which was, admittedly, a pretty easy one. My friends from the Comedy Cartel actually participated in that one, which amused me to no end.

Also, in August, the Freethinkers won in the Globe Tatt awards, and I was very happy to have been a part of that success, no matter how minute.

A minor controversy about language cropped up this month as well. I wrote a retort, which, unfortunately, remained unaddressed by James Soriano, which was a crying shame, really. Nonetheless, I was pretty proud of how I did that article, because I think it provided a very succinct and civilized counterpoint to James's haphazard attempt at being contrarian. There was a bigger hubbub over Mideo Cruz around this time, but I didn't feel the need to throw my hat into the discussion as much, despite having met the man in person. I was far from offended by his artwork, but I simply wasn't impressed. I've seen it before, and I've seen it done better. At this point, though, the National Artist F. Sionil Jose had something to say against Mideo's work that made me begin to take stock in the man's blowhard attempts to posit himself as a still-relevant authority on anything. This was going to come to a head in later months.

Of course, on the lighter side of controversies, Christopher Lao happened. Sorry, but I'm backing the dude. He didn't deserve the flak he received. At all.

August was the first time I ever met Rex Navarette. This was really awesome, and became the opportunity that allowed me to host his second show in the NBC Tent later on during the year. I still am not over that. It was, in my book, the milestone of my year.

So I broke my one picture per month rule. So what?

I also discovered why having a stalker sucks at this point. But let's not dwell on that.

Oh, by the way, the world-famous magician, Shoot Ogawa, went to the Philippines in August! He wouldn't be the only big shot magician coming to the country this year, though.

September: Wake me up when September ends...

We still miss you, AJ.

I normally am very pessimistic about September, being my birthday month and all. But who knew it would suck so much, really? If one month could be struck out of 2011 in the vain hopes that it never happened, I wish it was 2011. Seriously.

It started off okay enough, when I met Roderick Paulate during the Zombadings premiere. Things were even more awesome when I first met Marybeth, one of my favorite co-hosts of all time now, and hosted Best Of Anime with her, which led to me getting "married" to Jazminne. It was all fun, but I think the bad still outweighed the good, even if the Disenchanted Kingdom also celebrated its second year of existence this month. Yes, even if Michael Ammar went to Manila.

First of all, F. Sionil Jose happened. This was quite a frustrating thing, because I ended up losing a so-called friend who apparently valued some person she doesn't know more than someone she's been friends with for almost half a decade. That was disheartening, to say the least, but y'know what? She can go dunk her head in the water for all I care, at this point. She's dead to me, at this point.

So yeah, that was pretty lousy, and so was the whole thing about bloggers getting a worse and worse rep in general. But you know the worst thing about September? This was the month where the blogosphere became a far less fabulous place. We lost AJ Matela, and his loss came with a heavy price, both emotional and financial.

The blogosphere came together in a way that could only be called phenomenal, but if we could undo all of that to have AJ back, I'd have happily made the trade. I'm sure a lot of us would have wanted the same, as well.

We still miss you, AJ. A lot.

October: The less said about this...

I still say the show title had a lot of unfortunate implications, though.

Well, first, the awesomeness: I hosted Alodia's Fantasy. It was a great honor, and it's good to know that Alodia has a lot of faith in my ability to host, as she entrusted me with the hosting duties for one of the biggest nights of her career thus far.

Of course, this month also marked one of the least well-contemplated big decisions in my life. I think a lot of it owed to the wedding I attended on this month, and the surrounding circumstances, but now, looking at how things are today, I must say that it was a monumental waste of time.

I think I've had more good memories with my X-Box Kinect (Which I bought in October.) than that other thing.

See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya. Who knew this post would turn out to both be relevant and prophetic to me in the months to come?

November: Right place, right time...

Not pictured: the pepper spray cops.

I met Hillary Clinton, then on the same day, I hosted Rex Reloaded. What more could I have asked for? It was, to put it simply, just a great career month for me. Aside from that, I even performed with the Itchyworms on their fifteenth anniversary. It was, without a doubt, an awesome time to be a performer.

I think I can bask in these two paragraphs at this point and call it a month, because I couldn't have asked for anything more from November. Instead, things were, on hindsight, even better, because I undid something stupid from October. Thank heavens.

I also met a new friend this month, during the TOEI show, which was, to me, a homecoming of sorts, since it was my first ever hosting gig for cosplay, five years ago. Kristell Lim is one of the most awesome new people I have met in 2011, no questions asked. I have a soft spot in my heart for TOEI.

So overall? It was actually a good month.

December: Lost in the reverie...

Did you know Kurt Angle inspired my blog's title?

So aside from Piolo and Mo Twister, December was pretty quiet for me. I was surprised to see myself nominated this month. It was for the Personal and the Society categories of the Philippine Blog Awards. Lo and behold, I won for the latter. I was pretty shocked because I was doing voice over duties during the event, so winning was the farthest thing from my mind.

Nonetheless, with all the reverie of the year, I was very delinquent with my blogging, to say the least. It was fine, though. I still managed to do my Christmas shopping properly, and I even squeezed in a bit of hosting during the Christmas ToyCon for one stretch of the program, where I conducted the auctions.

I also saw something happen to me in record time. Let's just say that I found it funny because it just exposed all the lip service for what it was: lip service and nothing more.

Thought it didn't directly affect me, the Sendong typhoon really sucked, though.

I think the weird thing about this year was it was bookended by the very same person who started my year off on the wrong foot. I don't harbor any ill feelings towards her at this point, but I won't let myself be used again any longer.

All in all...

... It was your average year, although the new Sales Manager in Nuffnang certainly is quite a game-changer, work-wise. I'm guessing it would be for the better, though. Some weird firsts happened in my life, including the first time I ever got a sermon from my own mom about my lovelife, but overall, I can't really say this year was significantly better than last year, save for the fact that the one-two betrayal punch I received in 2010 from a certain someone probably won't be outdone by anyone else for a long time. That shadow hovers over me to this day.

2012 is a year for hope, regardless of those stupid end-of-the-world predictions. Despite that, I'm rather cynical now, so I don't put much stock in this hope any longer.

Pardon me while I burst into flames. At least, 2012, if I'm going down, I'm going down in a blaze of glory. If not, then I can be your firework.

On Planks And Weddings: My POV On Best Of Anime 2011

.:Best Of Anime 2011 Recap!:.

The magnetic stage proved to be metal man's undoing.

Hosting Best Of Anime 2011 was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had, and I don't even know where to begin to tell you about how much fun I had.

Well, I guess I could begin by mentioning that I probably won't be giving a full-blown recap of who the winners were and all of that stuff, since my memory isn't that great. If you wanted to find out about that stuff, you can go here instead. I'm sure Roch would cover that part better than I would, to say the least.

In any case, I had a ton of fun hosting the event, and considering how my co-host was an absolute dream to work with, we really managed to pull off quite a coup. For two days straight, the audience was hot and firmly behind every single band, cosplayer, and performer onstage, which, admittedly, is one of the most difficult things to do in an event where people only generally care about the cosplay segment and nothing more.

On day 1, the muse of the Best of Anime, Sam, was featured, and that was pretty interesting. Some of the highlights that day included Dennis Isidoro rocking like mad to the tune of "Jiban", and the Gibson sisters dominating three of the non-cosplay contests.

During the cosplay proper, I was wholeheartedly rooting for the girl who cosplayed as the Panzer from Zoids. The detail and the movement she put into the whole bit really wowed me. Of course, Umali came in his War Machine costume, complete with pulsating guns and cannons, which I quipped made for a lucky girlfriend for War Machine. The audience agreed.

Sagashimono disproved the notion that nobody cares what happens in a con after the cosplay, because their fans were positively rabid! I was overjoyed for Sagashimono as they just ruled the stage on Day 1.

Towards the end of the event, I had my first attempt at planking onstage, which I was totally doing ironically. One of my friends dared me, so I just went ahead and pulled it off. I'm still not a fan of planking, and I'm not going to start doing it at every gig I perform at. Besides, it's gonna be illegal soon. Welcome to the Philippines.

Special mention as well to MC, the girl we had on Day 2, who announced to everyone what a Gashapon was. She was our official Gashapon endorser for the whole day, and the last auction we had on Day 2, which led to people bidding like crazy for an overcoat, really caused quite a stir. The bidding war that sent the overcoat to 2,000 bucks was simply a sight to behold.

But really, day 2, to me, was marked by an amusing turn of events, where three attempts were made to get me to the Ani-Marriage Booth.

The first time, I managed to evade capture until the priest cuffed my co-host, Marybeth, instead.

The second time was hilarious, because initially, one of the security people was shooing the priest away. Then, he changed his mind, held me in place, and they did manage to cuff me to my co-host. Of course, what most people forget is that I'm serious when I say I'm an escapologist. I asked for a hairpin from Marybeth, then proceeded to lockpick my way out of the cuffs within a minute. We even went onstage just to taunt the Marriage Booth guys about it.

The third time, there was no escape...

You can just see how vehemently I was protesting this.

So I managed to end up cuffed to one of my best friends, Jazminne. It was hilarious even if she did try to hammerlock me a couple of times. We both had fun, though, and it was a pretty enjoyable as far as non-binding marriages go.

With this ring, you will become myyyy preciousssss...

Shortly afterwards, our "marriage certificate" was drawn up, the handcuffs were released, and I casually pointed out that I still had a hairpin in my pocket. I guess it just slipped my mind to lockpick my way out of getting "married" to Jazminne. LOL.

They didn't even spell her name right, making it doubly non-binding.

At the end of the two days, I felt exceptionally happy, having hosted non-stop for the duration of the event, and having made some great new friends, as well as touching base with some old ones as well. It was a great time for me, and as early as now, they want me and Marybeth to host for them in 2012. Well, why not?

In any case, thanks to Primetrade Asia for the opportunity to host this event. I was truly honored. More thanks to Chanty, who was with me for an after-party for two after the event as we had dinner to mark the successful occasion.

All in a day's work.

Film Review: Temptation Island

.:Film Review: Temptation Island:.

More poster fail!

Temptation Island
Nowhere near as bad as people claimed.

So I watched Temptation Island with Jazminne yesterday, and it was sheer hilarity, from start to finish. I think Joey Gosiengfiao would be proud, albeit I still stand by the belief that the original film was unintentionally hilarious.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Temptation Island is a remake of the 1970's cult classic, that features a high-stakes beauty pageant featuring Serafina L (Lovi Poe), Cristina G (Marian Rivera), Pura K (Solenn Heussaff), and Virginia P (Heart Evangelista), each of them joining the contest for their own reasons.

Making the cut to the final four, these four sultry vixens find themselves shipwrecked in an island, only flanked by a hodge podge of other people in their quest for survival and their hope for rescue.

Let's get this right out of the way: this is not a comedy meant to uplift anyone or anything. It's something you're meant to enjoy akin to watching Blades Of Glory or a watchable version of Epic Movie. Once you've accepted that, you are ready to enter the inanity and conceit of the film and appreciate it for the funny work of art that it is.

The original is often regarded as untouchable, and in a lot of respects, it is. What made the original Temptation Island work is, thankfully, not something the new film is trying to duplicate, even if the storyline is obviously a complete rip of the original film's.

Instead, the new film relies on the acting (or over-acting) skills of Marian Rivera, who honestly carried most of the film on her back. Love her or hate her for her offscreen antics, but when she's tasked to pretty much play herself in a film, she does it without a hitch. Ruffa Mae Quinto continues to steal the show with her stellar performance in a support role, and Lovi Poe shows promise as a comedic actress who is woefully unaware how hilarious she actually is (in character, of course).

To me, though, the revelation of the film has got to be Aljur Abrenica. The man may not be uber-eloquent, but let's face it: playing up that fact about him makes him both funny and accessible to fans at the same time. His hilariously awkward-sounding conversation with Marian Rivera in near straight English (Sans the diction, obviously.) just made me laugh out loud in the cinema, really.

Obviously, the Machete diet fixes your body, but not your English. He clearly doesn't give a damn.

Overall, the storyline was fun to follow, and I had my share of laughs, even if I found Solenn Heussaff's acting to be an atrocity. I felt this was also one of John Lapuz's weaker outings, but thankfully, Marian Rivera, Ruffa Mae Quinto, and Lovi Poe made sure that this movie wouldn't fall into a black hole of suck.

Also, my very own starlet discovery was in the movie.

Originally, the only reason I'd have bothered seeing Temptation Island was because Trixie was there, but thankfully, the movie was good enough that had they somehow edited out Trixie's scene from the film, I'd have Crane Kicked only two ushers instead of five.

Pictured: an unsatisfied customer.

Overall, I had a lot of fun watching it, and I wouldn't mind watching it again with friends. It was fun for what it was worth, even if you know they were obviously trying to be funny this time. The fact that this film pretty much single-handedly proved that we have an upcoming generation of onscreen talents who can do comedy (Whether or not they realize it.), to the heart of this reviewer, is very endearing.

Also, I had great company while watching the movie, so it totally ruled even more.

Because she's totally awesome.

Jabronis, with all the bad Pinoy movies we get, it's great to support the good ones that we actually get that aren't yet another poverty porn film.

"Fun" Evaluation: A-
"Critical" Evaluation: B

Project 52 (26/52): Alone - Heart

.:Project 52 (26/52): Alone - Heart:.

Here's a song that is such a standard in karaoke every single time. That's not to say that this is an overplayed song, or anything to that effect. In fact, it only indicates how popular this song happens to be, and how awesome it really happens to be.

There's really something about this song, to say the least, and with the idea of finding someone alone, and being able to shower them with love and affection, I must say that it's a very suitable song for me this week, especially when I consider that it was Jazminne's birthday last Saturday, which meant I had to do what I can to really catch her by surprise. Needless to say, that all worked out pretty well, and I'm very pleased as punch that she enjoyed the little surprise I had lined up for her.

Anyways, "Alone" is all about finding a chance to really have that special someone in your arms. It's about asking aloud what has to be done to get there, and how difficult it can truly get. That's kind of a very interesting point of view, really, particularly when time or distance gets in the way between you and your love. It is what it is.

Magic in the Philippines has always been turbulent and rather... marginalized. Hopeless romantics among us certainly exist, though, and that's precisely why this song is something you can expect any magician in this country worth his salt to be extra partial towards. Oh, believe me. It's true, even if the sudden sidestep into magic was a bit unexpected, considering this is Project 52.

Nonetheless,as a mentalist, I tend to overthink this song quite a bit, to the point that it makes no sense any longer at times. I've always been a huge fan of Heart, and this song has certainly been one of my favorites, especially when presented with an opportunity to actually dedicate it to someone, as one ought to.

The ToyCon 2011 Recap

.:The ToyCon 2011 Recap:.

That has got to be the best stage for a cosplay event I've ever seen, hands down. Photo from Mr. Abundo, as is any other onstage photo you see here.

So... ToyCon.

Having been involved with ToyCon since 2007 in one way or another, I was certainly stoked to know that I was going to be doing some hosting duties yet again for the biggest convention in the Philippines not held in SMX. Last time I hosted was, I believe, in 2009, and needless to say, given the scale of how big this year's ToyCon was, I was just glad that I was a backup host, and not the main one.

At least, that was the case on the first day, as I stuck to hosting exclusively on the stage at Megatrade Hall 2, which was where the bands and panels were going to be, but not the cosplay itself, which was 190++ people of pure cosplay goodness. I actually saw the latter half of this event, when Cholo and Ashley Gosiengfiao took over hosting duties, and it was just awesome, but definitely stressful.

Meanwhile, in contrast, I mainly handled doing questions for the ACPI during their panel segment as we talked about animation, then shared the stage with Cholo for the panel on comic books with local artists who made their names in the international arena like Edgar Tadeo, Mico Suayan and Gilbert Monsanto, as we entertained questions from the audience, and even quizzed them on their Kick Fighter knowledge.

After the cosplay segment, though, and they needed to buy time for Ashley to make her exit lest she be forced to perform an acapella song number, I was instantaneously called up on stage to do some standup comedy and magic, with mentalism thrown in at the end. I had to buy them about ten or so minutes of time, and it was fun, because I was back where I started: onstage, in ToyCon, performing magic and mentalism just the way I did four years before.

I even ran into an old friend, Liezel, who was wearing a ton of blue that day as well, which resulted in this awesome photo...

Bluer than blue! Note my jacket there, then note my jacket on Day 2 in later photos.

I left day 1 pretty happy, because even if the crowd was ten thousand strong, I had a relatively light assignment of handling only the panels for the day, which was a far cry from the high stress you'd come to expect from doing the actual cosplay segment itself, especially when you factor in the intimidating size of the stage. At the time, just performing for fifteen minutes onstage seemed enough to me, since I didn't do the normal mental preparations I do for hosting cosplay events (Oh, believe me. You have no idea how much effort CosFus was for me before I hit the stage...).

It was a lot of fun, I met some people from GameOps, Fritz, Ryan, and several other people from the blogging world. Overall, it was still a hectic day even if I was only handling the minor stuff.

And then Day 2 came along.

Day 2 was super hectic because they were both doing the regular stuff for the convention as well as handling the shooting for Cosplay Nation. Day 1 had the ACM happening in ToyCon, so that was overall busier, but Day 2 was no slouch, either. By the end of the shooting, Cholo was exhausted from being the hype man all throughout, so at the last minute, I discovered I had to do hosting duties for the group Cosplay competition as well as the Gamer Girl contest.

It was a really hot crowd, undeniably. When I did a roll call of all the UAAP schools, there was wild applause from the people from each school - except NU, which apparently didn't have a single representative that day. :P

The group cosplay went all right for the most part, although I had to buy the program people another twenty minutes by doing straight standup comedy, seeing as I didn't have my bag of tricks with me. I can't thank Mr. GB Labrador enough for the inspiration for that one, but I pulled it off, and once the program got going, save for a few minor hitches, all proceeded according to plan. 99.5 RT got so much mention throughout my spiels, obviously, so Gibb, Neil, Koji, and Cleo should be proud. Heh.

What shocked me, though, was that almost immediately afterwards, after all the fun we had, and the fact that the eventual winner, the Sentai group has a name that rhymes with "hentai" (How juvenile, I know.), the Gamer Girl contest featured none other than Jazminne Huang! Considering that she's one of my dearest friends, we ended up sharing so many obvious inside jokes while we were onstage together that I had to remind the audience I'm not a judge, especially when we found out later on that she actually won the thing. Considering she's also one of the frontrunners in the race for the Prettiest in DLSU, she's had quite an awesome time recently.

With only six candidates, this was still pretty hotly contested.

While two of the ladies in the competition turned out to have never even played video games ever, and one of them, despite claiming to be a hardcore gamer, apparently doesn't even know what the Contra Code was, that didn't change the fact that this was quite a hotly-contested competition. I didn't even have an inkling that Jazminne would win, although she did answer very intelligently during the Q and A segment. I believe my questions involved the Contra Code, one's least favorite boss, one's personal milestone as a gamer, a question about what games a certain girl plays since she isn't a gamer, a question about what game one would play if she gave video games a chance, and about the stereotype that male gamers are better than female gamers by default.

After the contestants were done, while they were coming up with a script, Alodia ended up onstage, along with a celebrated cosplayer from China named Grace. We had amusing banter, probably brought on by the fact that this wasn't the first time we co-hosted, so we had a lot of professional chemistry working in our favor. Inside jokes flew in rapid succession, but the audience still managed to get them. I mean, after seeing these people applaud for Temptation Island, it was almost like the entire audience heard my own inside jokes when I was telling them to my friends.

Good times, good times.

So when we awarded the winners (I had to step offstage, though because they were shooting for the movie at this point.), it was quite a thrill, especially when I had to hand the prizes to Jazminne, who was in shock at winning the Gamer Girl Contest. It was double win for me, and as Cholo thanked me, it just really felt great to be doing a good job, especially since even the Cosplay Nation people were congratulating me even if my hosting had little to do with their actual shoot.

Of course, nothing could cap off my day better than sharing my moment of personal triumph with yet another wonderful winner, though.

Maybe I should've stuck with the Ateneo jacket?

A Double Film Review

.:Film Review: Who’s That Girl?:.

Standees rule!

Who’s That Girl?
Sometimes, life is easier if you actually just explained.

Can’t believe that I went on two dates this whole week with the incomparable Jazminne Huang, but I’m glad that we went to two fairly okay movies, so that I didn’t feel like I actually wasted my time with her when we could’ve done something like bowling instead.

You’d be surprised, but this film review is relatively spoiler-free.

“Who’s That Girl” is a pretty fun and light-hearted romantic comedy featuring the ever-reliable Anne Curtis, the indisputably hilarious Eugene Domingo, and of course, the loveteam/career kiss of death leading man himself, Lucky Manzano. With other great people like John Lapus in the equation, there was no doubt that at worst, the movie was going to be worth a few laughs, and it certainly provided just that.

I guess the storyline was pretty obvious by watching the ridiculously lengthy trailer from the get-go: Bea (Anne Curtis) had a longtime crush on John (Luis Manzano), and aside from the obvious fact that it’s a reference to John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo, the creepy flashbacks to Bea’s past are hilariously overplayed. Without ever expecting to see him again, Bea blossoms into a gorgeous woman who is desired by many, and she ends up crossing paths with him when she finds an obituary announcing his death.

Except it wasn’t his death, but his father. You see, John Eduque is a jr so that means she made a fool of herself when she arrived there, causing a scene at the wake. She makes it worse by trying to make a run for it without explaining the miscue, and this sends John’s mom (Eugene Domingo) into a spiral of depression, believing that her husband cheated on her. John vows to find this woman who has destroyed his family. Hijinks ensue.

A simple premise, with a paper-thin plot, and overplayed gags you could see coming a mile away. This wasn’t a shining moment for Philippine film, but there is no question that the movie still has a lot of good things going for it, starting from the unmistakable chemistry between Anne and Luis, who played off of each other pretty well, and had enough acting talent to salvage the terrible script. This is testament to the acting talent of the two lead stars. They did well despite the material they had to work with.

This was, without a doubt, a film made for its kilig factor. It wasn’t ingenious, it wasn’t special, but it was a perfectly serviceable film, and in my opinion, a film I had less problems praising than the last Tanging Ina instalment. Overall, I liked watching the film, but if you compared it to other recent romantic comedies, Who’s That Girl isn’t anywhere near as good as them. It gets even worse if you tried to compare any other movies Eugene Domingo starred in to this one.

Fun Evaluation: B+/A-
Critical Evaluation: C+

.:Film Review: Sucker Punch:.

Role reversal!

Sucker Punch
Eye candy but not much else? Okay lang.

So last weekend, during another K-Pop con, I managed to steal away a couple of hours from Jazminne and her two friends, Jessica and Jemina (Triple J?), so we could catch Sucker Punch, which I’ve been curious about for a while already.

That being said, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Now, while some reviewers have given great insights that reveals how deep Sucker Punch actually is, I assumed that turning my brain off to watch the film was the best course of action, what with Jamie Chung and Vanessa Hudgens in the cast, not to mention the lead star, who normally shouldn’t even appeal to me, in the first place. I’m not so sure if that was the best course of action, since with four different things they needed to get, there were four distinct huge action scenes in the film, and each one got more and more boring as time passed. The eye candy could only get so far.

The characters were walking stereotypes, and only Baby Doll and Rocket actually felt anywhere near fleshed out, which made their choice of characters who made it to the end of the film intact rather... questionable.

The film was all about a girl who ends up in a mental asylum thanks to an abusive stepfather, who ends up getting a lobotomy. At least, that’s how the film starts, but then, the storyline shifts without any spoonfeeding into the whole thing being a theatre bit, and now, instead of asylum patients, they’ve turned into cabaret dancers or something. All well and good, except even within that, more fantasy sequences are played out in the mind of the apparent lead character, which just gets increasingly frustrating because we actually wanted to see Baby Doll dancing. She was winding up for it already, but instead, we’re treated to a CGI smorgasbord that is awesome to behold, but indisputably leaves the viewers cold afterwards.

I feel that if we had to make an in-depth analysis to show why Sucker Punch is actually a great movie, then it’s either failed at getting the point across, or we’re just guilty of giving the filmmakers too much credit. Even if you can’t quite articulate why a film is good or bad, you should at least get an overall feeling, regardless of a technical analysis, and ultimately, what matters is whether or not you actually enjoyed the film.

Given that Sucker Punch was an action-packed film that had pacing issues and very poor characterization, I have to say that while I liked the concept of the film, the execution really, really left me cold. With my companions actually audibly declaring they were bored by the time they were fighting cyborgs, I realized that the film, from the trailer alone, was misleading the potential audience about everything except the promise of lots and lots of eye candy.

The film failed because it made an implicit promise that you will enjoy this movie if you actually turned off your brain and just handwaved away any shortcomings from within. It made this promise, and yet the storyline actually demanded a lot of thought from the viewer, and expected one to be able to enjoy all the gratuitous violence and cheesecake while taking in the pseudo-philosophical ideas the movie was tossing at you. It was a bad combination and it didn’t work. It was trying to be both a mindless and deep film at the same time, and for that to happen, you needed to excel on both levels. Sucker Punch excelled at neither end of the spectrum.

Would I recommend you to spend your hard-earned money on this film in the cinema? If you’re a hot-blooded male who wants to look at hot girls kick some righteous behind, sure, go for it. But if you don’t fit that demographic, I strongly suggest you wait for the DVD, because it might be more fun to watch the film if there are some insights behind the scenes being thrown into the discussion.

Fun Evaluation: B+
Critical Evaluation: B-

Project 52 (13/52): Absolutely - Nine Days

.:Project 52 (13/52): Absolutely – Nine Days:.

This song is really catchy and captures how I feel in a nutshell. It’s about loving someone absolutely, and doing what you can to make them smile.

Considering how things have been going lately, I couldn’t be any happier. What was once just an ego-booster is slowly but surely turning into a beautiful reality. But I digress. That isn’t really what this song is about.

I really do like listening to this song, as it’s just one of those great alternative hits that you hear that just makes you smile and think for a second. The melody of the song is undoubtedly upbeat, but the lyrics do spell an underlying push and pull between the fact that yes, the girl is lovable, but there is an inner sadness to her that the singer can only hope to quell.

It’s whimsical-sounding, yes, but the song is testament to how romance should always be about making each other happy. Ultimately, that’s why this song never fails to pick up my day, and that’s why this is very likely to be my personal anthem for the rest of the week, Rebecca Black LSS-ing be damned.

Film Review: Rango

.:Film Review: Rango:.

Not the best movie poster shot ever!

Rango
Your typical hero’s journey. And I mean typical.

So Jazminne and I managed to watch yet another film together, and this time, it was one I wasn’t going to feel uncomfortable seeing with her. Rango is typical kid’s fare, if a little too typical. Despite that, the film decidedly had some child-unfriendly themes, and it was compounded with a clear-cut love letter to Westerns of old that I just couldn’t quite appreciate as much as it target audience clearly would’ve appreciated more.

Rango follows the story of, well, Rango, an earlier-unnamed pet chameleon who thinks himself a great thespian while living out his fantasy life in his terrarium. En route across the Mojave desert, he ends up in the middle of the desert, and now finds himself in the town of Dirt, who are facing a water crisis.

Finding this to be his chance to make a name for himself, he musters up his swagger to pretend to be a ruthless gunslinging lawman, which lands him the job of sheriff in the town, a thankless job as he now has to address the town’s water crisis, not to mention their mayor’s shady tactics, bank-robbing moles, and a host of other challenges.

What will happen to him once the people of Dirt find out that he’s a bald-faced liar?

The eternal hero’s journey is summarised in the following important points: (1)The Call To Adventure, (2) The Refusal Of Adventure, (3)The Crossing Of The Threshold, (4) The Road Of Trials, (5) Meeting With The Goddess, and (6) The Return. There are other steps in the journey in general, but these are the most important parts.

When you think about it, this movie fits all of these stages quite handily. This made the movie pretty rote and predictable to me, as I knew more or less what was going to happen at which point. The first act when he found himself out of his terrarium was his call to adventure, and at first, he refused this call. He ended up crossing the threshold when he realized that the town of Dirt wouldn’t know who he really was so he could do anything he wanted, really. Trial after trial then came: he had to deal with the moles, he had to deal with the hawk, and he had to deal with the mayor, among other things. After his fall from grace, he met with the “goddess” who was, in this case, a CGI version of Clint Eastwood, I believe. Then finally, he had his triumphant return.

It was so by the numbers, but it was so well-done, particularly since the voice acting for the entire film was top-notch. Johnny Depp acquits himself very well as Rango, and the rest of the cast really do justice to their roles.

This isn’t a bad film. Not by a long stretch. It’s just that... I can’t bring myself to care about it. Beyond watching the film with Jazminne and really enjoying my time with her, I could hardly care less what was going on with the movie.

And this is unfortunately why I can’t really analyze the movie the way I normally do. I wasn’t too particularly impressed, and it really, really could’ve been better.

That being said, your moment of Zen for today...

Yiheee!

Film Review: Black Swan

.:Film Review: Black Swan:.

I swear! The movie poster is just right behind us. LOL.

Random Assortment For The New Year...

.:To My Lovey-Dovey...:.

It was an amazing week or so. One that I'm very happy about, and it was wonderful while it lasted. I wish you nothing but the best. >:D<

.:DK On The NY:.

It was the first Disenchanted Kingdom of 2009, and it was a rather quiet one, albeit punctuated with a lot of fun moments as it was a packed house, and Marf's snoring became an actual highlight of the program, since Logan asked me to put Marf on the air while he was passed out on the couch.

Anyways, it was a great way to start off the New Year, although the day was surprisingly short, as the DK lasted only two hours today. Heh.

.:Watch The MMDA Get Pwn3d By The LRTA!:.

Ever noticed these signs on structures that happen to jut out even by just a bit into the sidewalk?

No, they’re not going to solve that problem for you, either.

Isn’t that the silliest thing? They practically vandalize a structure, and they’re not even going to try to fix the problem at all. They’ll just put that annoying pink sign on the structure, and call it a day’s work. Brilliant.

Well, if you needed any proof that these people just stick these signs arbitrarily without knowing what the building they’re sticking it for is, then look no further. You see, they actually stuck some of these posters on a building that, if I’m not mistaken, powers the LRT-2 Katipunan station. Well, the LRTA was not going to be a pushover for these shenanigan, so not only did they tear off these annoying posters...

Pwn3d!

... they even rubbed it in the faces of the MMDA that they are way off base in sticking their posters where they don’t belong.

I don’t care how progressive Marikina got under BF. I don’t care how many “improvements” he claims to have made in the MMDA. I am just sick and tired of seeing his face plastered all over the Metro when he was heading the MMDA, and suspiciously enough, these posters even make their way outside of Metro Manila! I don’t know about you, but now that he's running for higher office, all his "achievements" ring hollow to me.

By the way, the baby blue + pink color scheme has got to go! Seriously. Iyan ba ang mga kulay ng tunay na lalake?!?

On Lovey-Doveys And Disenchantment

.:Flabbergasted:.

Can’t believe how quick things turned out, but I’m relishing the moments spent with my Lovey-Dovey. Suddenly, my Christmas wasn’t cold any longer.

.:DK Goings-On:.

I must say, being online while on the Disenchanted Kingdom has allowed me to keep up with on-air discussions better, if only for the fact that I’m more capable of contributing to the conversation on the fly because even if I’m lost and clueless about a certain topic, I now have the capability to look it up.

Last Monday and Tuesday, the DK episodes have been quite entertaining, amid all the veiled tones Logan masterfully interjected into the flow of the show. It was a bit surprising to find out about Brittany Murphy’s unfortunate passing last Monday, but overall, I was finding it easier to interact with Marf, Pom, Logan, and Cleo throughout the program. After that, we actually swung by the ToyCon just because we all thought it’d be really cool to go there and see what’s going on.

The “Plant Man” moniker does persist, but I personally don’t think it applies anymore, especially when Tuesday’s episode came along, which to me, was even better.

Thing is, Logan started talking about how people in corporate boardroom meetings seem to always be spouting clichés that don’t really mean anything at all. I recalled seeing a bingo card online though, and it’s apparently a little game employees happen to play when meetings are way too boring. Watch out for buzzwords like “negotiating a win-win situation” and “movers and shakers in the pipeline” during a meeting, and you’d understand that a lot of this stuff is really just meaningless drivel being thrown in to sound substantial.

Just like the words “anyways” and “in any case!” But I digress.

I gave them my presents last Thursday, and had to miss out on the Christmas episode on Friday because I was predictably with my family. Nonetheless, it’s good to know that the presents I carefully picked for each of them went over with them very well, whether it was the Batmobile for Marf, or Quagmire for Cleo, or the Vader Mr. Potato Head for Logan. The day before that, I swung by Chico during his shift on RX (Didn’t know Delle was on leave when I went.) and gave him my presents for him and Delle. It was all good, really.

I had a very abbreviated Christmas list, but that’s mainly because I really do think my presents over before I just hand something to someone. I remember that outside of family, the only other person I had was the Ice Queen, and I had to have a lot of assistance there just to ensure I got something she’d like.

To me, in an age of commercialism and materialism, putting a little love into your presents could do so much to change someone’s Christmas for that year.

Having said that, Monday was a pretty cool day as well. Pom was exceptionally generous with presents, and I received candy cigarettes from the man. That was just way cool. They were ribbing me quite a bit as well because at the end of Friday’s show, Cleo happily announced that I was in a relationship already, and of course, Logan and Marf just need to chime in on that. Even had a moment where I got to pick Cleo’s brain for a few minutes after the show as well, and I can’t be any happier for her as far as how things are going...

This has been a nice way to cap off what was a very challenging year. Here’s hoping things move on the up and up come 2010.