I write when I am bored... or when I want to let some frustration out, or when I need to write about a movie or book that I just saw/read, or when I just want to talk about basketball. In other words, I write a lot.
Everyone has heard of the Charles Dickens classic known as A Christmas Carol. There have been so many interpretations over the years, whether it be animated, live-action, even Muppets (!) that one would think that there would be no other way to make the story fresh anymore. Well director Robert Zemeckis found a way and through the magic of IMAX and 3D, his version of A Christmas Carol can stand proudly with the best of them.
In Victorian England, Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is miserable once again. It’s been a few years since his partner, Jacob Marley (Gary Oldman), has passed away and the miserly old moneylender hates giving employee Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman) any days off, even if it is Christmas. When Marley’s ghost visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve, Marley warns him that his miserable existence must change unless Scrooge also wants to be miserable in the afterlife. Three spirits haunt Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Together, they show the old man how he has wasted his life until that point and that a terrible fate awaits him if he does not repent.
As timeless and great as Dickens’ work is, this treatment of A Christmas Carol is different because of the exceptional animation that was undertaken to create it. Improving on the performance capture effects seen previously in The Polar Express and Beowulf, Zemeckis’ team at ImageMovers Digital have added so much detail to their characters that it’s a bit scary. Wrinkles on faces, liver spots on hands, and pores on skin are so clear, the only thing separating the animated characters from actual people is their colorful world and the situations they’re put into.
Seeing the movie in 3D and on the mammoth IMAX screen only served to enhance my enjoyment of it. Then again, every film I’ve seen on IMAX has been a fun experience. The 3D touches of falling snow, horses galloping, and other similar effects were nice to see, particularly on such a big canvas as the IMAX screen. Though there are a few times when the 3D can be a bit distracting, they are few and far between. I can say though that if I had seen A Christmas Carol in a regular cinema, I believe I would have still enjoyed it. I’ve heard that this treatment remains quite faithful to the original source material, something that I always appreciate in movie adaptations.
A friend told me that they hesitated to watch this film because he wasn’t a Jim Carrey fan. I reassured him, however, that if you didn’t know Carrey played Scrooge, you wouldn’t notice him. More than just adopting a British accent, Carrey just removes everything we’ve gotten used to about him to play the old miser as well as the three Christmas spirits. Oldman looks exactly like Cratchit so we can’t separate one from the other, but I believe Carrey really needed to separate himself from Scrooge in order to make the character work, and in my opinion, it does.
I desperately wanted to love Inglourious Basterds. After all, this was the latest film from Quentin Tarantino and his films tend to be the kinds of films I love. With Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill volumes 1 and 2, Tarantino pretty much desensitized me to different kinds of violence. So when I heard that Tarantino was going to do a World War II film that had Brad Pitt and other actors killing Nazis, I was already looking for the line to the ticket gate. Unfortunately for me, Inglourious Basterds didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
In Nazi-occupied France, the famed “Jew Hunter” Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) has the Jewish Dreyfus family killed except for the escaped Shosanna. Over in Italy, American 1st Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of Jewish-Americans and Germans to cause havoc within Germany by scalping Nazi soldiers and carving swastikas on the the foreheads of survivors. Popularly known as “The Basterds”, even Hitler himself takes notice. Four years after her family’s murder, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) now goes by the name Emmanuelle Mimieux and operates a small Paris cinema. When the German sniper Frederick Zoller (Daniel Brühl) shows interest in movies and her, Shosanna is forced to screen the premiere of a film made by Nazi propaganda head Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) about Zoller’s exploits for the Nazi elite. Shosanna plans to burn down her cinema to kill all the Nazis altogether. At the same time, Raine and his Basterds are also plotting the assassination of the German brass with the help of British Lt. Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) and German film star/spy Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) resulting in a bloody standoff in the basement of a French pub.
Basterds is typical Tarentino in the sense that a. there are a lot of scenes where characters just seem to be talking, b. there’s a lot of graphic violence, and c. the film is an homage to a film genre of the past. I’m not saying the long dialogue is a bad thing at all, in fact, it’s one of the Tarantino trademarks that I love. The dialogue helps the audience understand where the characters are coming from, their motivation, as well as why they’re doing the things they do, and Tarantino has made a habit of writing rich dialogue for his characters. The first scene in particular shows just how evil and twisted Standartenführer Landa truly is. Waltz’s performance here stands out so strongly and he really feels like a suave yet demonic Nazi of the highest order. He combines charm, class, and hatred of Jews to go beyond the stereotypical Nazi of old and his brutality later in the film shows even more of his acting range.
As a Tarantino film, it’s best to keep in mind that Inglourious Basterds wasn’t meant to be historically accurate. I mean, there’s no record of anybody scalping Nazis during World War II and the ending of the film obviously didn’t happen. Despite the great cast, good plot, and the gory details, there was still something a bit off about the film for me. I think the pacing was a bit too slow when compared to other Tarantino favorites like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. I realize the need for explanation and establishing how things are what they are, but I believe Tarantino could have done away with a few minutes here and there to speed up the pace. After all, in a film like this, we as audience members just want to get to the next killing scene already.
I did like the fact though that both Shosanna’s plan and the Basterds’ plot never overlapped and only intersected during the film’s climax. In that way, there was no need for any awkward introductions between characters and the focus stayed on both plans trying to come to fruition. In my humble opinion, Inglourious Basterds was still a good film to catch, just not as good as previous Tarantino efforts on the big screen.
As a kid, I was fascinated by stories of aviation pioneers like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. I remember a book that my parents gave me then that told of how both crossed the Atlantic Ocean individually on their planes, making them heroes worldwide. The tragedy of Earhart’s disappearance as she attempted to circumnavigate the world has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories and innuendo for over 70 years, I guess I was just waiting for a movie about her life until that point. Thus I was one of the few who actually wanted to watch director Mira Nair’s Amelia.
Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) had long dreamed of flight and she was determined to become the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Through the efforts of George Putnam (Richard Gere), she does so, along with setting several other flying records. Putnam and Earhart fall in love and marry, but she also begins an affair with Federal aviation administrator Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). When she does break off the relationship with Vidal and returns to Putnam, Earhart is determined to set the greatest aviation feat of all: circumnavigating the world. Hiring renowned navigator Fred Noonan (Christopher Eccleston), Earhart tells her husband that she wants to retire from flying after this is done. However, a series of events happen that results in tragedy for Earhart and Noonan.
I’m usually a sucker for these period pieces and biographical films about famous people, so Amelia was something I looked forward to. Based on the books East of the Dawn by Susan Butler and The Sound of Wings by Mary S. Lovell, the film paints a picture of an Amelia Earhart who was initially allowed to fly as nothing more than a publicity stunt. When she first earns fame, she used it to push for more power for female pilots and more representation for women. However, director Nair doesn’t make Earhart a saint, showing her brazen affair with Vidal.
The problem I found with this film is that it was just too damn slow. Even though Swank looks just like Earhart, the plot just seemed to be stuck in quicksand at times. Although Gere and McGregor try to make the most of what’s been given them, it just lacks enough of a punch to make Earhart’s life more compelling. There are times that it seems the actors just can’t generate the energy to make the film livelier. For a film about a woman that set so many records and accomplished so many new and exciting things in her time, Nair somehow finds a way to take the fun out of Earhart’s story.
The life and mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart has been and will continue to be the subject of much speculation and hypothesis for many years to come. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can call Amelia as a good film to refer to when citing a source for those theories in the future.
You gotta love zombies. I mean, they’re dead, mindless, only want to eat to satisfy unnatural hunger, want to create more zombies, yet also want to eat their fellow zombies. What makes Zombieland stand out from the dozens of zombie movies made in the past is that this is a funny, dark, and violent done with some amusing tricks by director Ruben Fleischer.
The film starts after a zombie apocalypse has turned most of America into a virtual “zombieland”. Narration by “Columbus” (Jesse Eisenberg), he adopted the name to signify where he’s heading in hopes of finding his parents in Ohio. Columbus has been following certain rules to avoid being killed or turned into a zombie including doing cardio, double tapping to ensure the zombies are dead, being wary of bathrooms, limbering up, etc. Along the way, Columbus bumps into a man called Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who has a gift for killing zombies. They, in turn, are conned by sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) into giving up their truck and their weapons. Both pairs reach an uneasy truce as the girls are willing to help the guys reach their destination while they themselves plan to visit the Pacific Playground amusement park in California.
Zombieland immediately immerses you in what has become a reality for its inhabitants. Through pop-ups and shorts sketches, Director Schneider shows how to survive a zombie attack. It’s similar to the old “Pop-Up Video” concept on VH1, but with far more dire consequences. Eisenberg sometimes sounds like fellow geek Michael Cera and his neurotic hero does serve to annoy Harrelson’s ultra-cool renegade character. Their chemistry was essential in keeping me involved in the movie, as was their interaction with the con artist sisters. I always find it weird watching Abigail Breslin nowadays, especially since I used to see her in movies like Signs, Raising Helen, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement when she was just six. After showing off serious talent in Little Miss Sunshine, I think it’s safe to say she’s got this acting thing down pat.
The zombies in Zombieland aren’t the classic slow, plodding kind from Night of the Living Dead, but that’s not such a bad thing. I love that they run and attack, forcing the protagonists to think fast. The makeup effects are decent enough, but surprisingly, what carries this movie is actually the plot. The idiosyncrasies of Columbus, Tallahassee’s quest for revenge and the last Twinkie, as well as the trusts issues of the sisters actually make them more endearing and sympathetic. Add in a great cameo by a famous actor in the middle of the film and you have a funny, innovative, yet engaging zombie film.
Disaster movies with “end of the world” scenarios have come in all shapes and sizes before. From having meteors hurtling towards the Earth or a new Ice Age, I thought I had seen them all. Give credit to producer/director Roland Emmerich for finding another one for his film 2012: the Mayan people predicted the end of the world would happen at around the date of December 21, 2012. So Emmerich proceeds to destroy the world once more and maps out how a few select humans manage to survive the coming disaster. Yeah, this isn’t exactly nuclear science.
In 2009, Dr. Satnam Tsurutani (Jimi Mistry) tells American geologist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) that the earth’s core is abnormally heating up, it sets into a motion a chain of events that they predict will culminate by the year 2012. Helmsley warns White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) and subsequently, American president Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover). By 2010, Wilson informs other heads of state of the coming disaster is inevitable but that they can prepare for it by working together to ensure the survival of humanity. Unfortunately for Helmsley, his computations are off by a few months and the catastrophe starts happening early. Caught in the crossfire are struggling author Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), his ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet), their kids, and Kate’s new boyfriend Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy). Can this ragtag group possibly survive the destruction of life on earth as we know it?
Make no mistake, I knew full well that watching 2012 would mean a whole lot of suspension of disbelief on my part. I mean, movies predicting the end of the world aren’t exactly the “smartest” movies out there. So yes, I tried to keep an open mind and lowered my expectations even before the film started. Director Emmerich already gave us Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow so he does have some experience in this genre. True enough, it’s pretty much the same as far as story goes. Emmerich tries to give us the “common man” point of view, that’s why he gave us Cusack’s character as well as their dysfunctional family.
The most impressive thing about 2012 is, of course, the special effects employed. CGI effects have gotten to the point that filmmakers can destroy practically anything they set their minds to, whether it be the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, the White House, or even the entire state of Hawaii. The character moments in 2012 are few and far between, although they do try to give them to us through the Curtis family, the Russian mobster Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric) and his sons, the relationship between Pres. Wilson and daughter Laura (Thandie Newton), and Helmsley and his musician father Harry (Blu Mankuma). What was particularly entertaining for me though was to see Woody Harrelson portray conspiracy theorist and “oracle” Charlie Frost. Looking scraggly, demented, and paranoid, Harrelson stole every scene he was in, providing some of the memorable scenes of the film.
2012 is not going to win any awards. It’s not going to dominate the box office like previous Emmerich movies may have. It’s just a mindless film with great special effects that posits some interesting theories on how the world might end and how humanity’s spirit will find a way to survive it.
Rare is the play that translates so well into film. With that in mind, Nicholas Hytner’s film The History Boys is probably the rarest of those gems. Based on the Tony Award-winning play by Alan Bennett, it is a film that clearly stems from the stage. With rapid-fire dialogue, tons of witty rhetoric, and a sparkling screenplay, this film pulls you into the world of eight British youths who are aiming for entry into two of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world.
Set in 1983, the soundtrack is a delight for any fan of 80s music (me foremost among them). Eight grammar school students have been selected by their headmaster (Clive Merrison) as possessing the potential to enter either Oxford or Cambridge. The boys excel in their classes but are still typical adolescents: loud, arrogant, brash, and with lots of sex on the brain. Though already under the supervision of Mrs. Lintott (Frances de la Tour) and Mr. Hector (Richard Griffiths), the headmaster feels they need some more prodding in order to ensure their Oxbridge education. That‘s when they bring in Mr. Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore), a young teacher with lots of insights that can potentially affect the boys’ future.
The cast is a marvel to behold. Perhaps owing to their previous experience of performing in the theater version, each actor delivers their lines with such familiarity, confidence, and aplomb that they make every word seem compelling and straight from the heart. Griffiths is an actor that I’ve only previously seen as a comedic buffoon in King Ralph and one of the Naked Gun films, or as Uncle Vernon in the “Harry Potter” series. His Hector allows him to stretch his acting muscles and deliver a virtuoso performance as a pained and tortured teacher with a dark secret. Hector knows that the headmaster is repulsed by him, but his love for teaching and for this group of boys convinces him to stay on… in spite of the loneliness he experiences.
De la Tour’s Mrs. Lintott is so sublime that you might lose sight of her. That would be a huge mistake as her performance helps ground the movie in the face of all the testosterone surrounding her. My friend Jo’s favorite character was undoubtedly the confused teen with the great singing voice Posner (Samuel Barnett). He shines when performing in front of his peers, be it in a scene from a movie or when singing “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” to classmate Dakin (Dominic Cooper). He perfectly captures the confusion and angst that teenagers go through and we were completely under his spell every time he was onscreen.
Cooper’s Dakin is the consummate flirt. Whether it be the headmaster’s secretary Fiona or Posner or his own teacher Irwin, Dakin knows he has an effect on people of any age or sex. He uses that to his advantage of course, and though we sometimes shook our heads in disbelief at this abuse of power, we couldn’t help but be in awe at a young master in action. Moore as Irwin is someone who wishes he had done better in school and is now trying to get the best out of boys not much younger than him. Though he may lead a double life, Irwin feels that if this group can pass Oxbridge, it will serve as a validation for his perceived shortcomings.
Needless to say, I really, really, really liked The History Boys. This was a film that I only caught because my then-officemate Jami heard good things about it and the screening for The Holiday was too late. I have never been so happy to stumble into a cinema as within the first five minutes, I was hooked. With the British accents and the dry Brit humor though, I agree that half of the film’s humor probably went over my head. That doesn’t matter though. The parts that we did get totally blew us away.
It is so rare to find such an intelligent script being acted out by such exceptional actors that I can’t help but rave about it. I still like Jerry Bruckheimer movies and films starring Will Ferrell and Steve Carell, but I still thoroughly loved sitting in a movie theater and watching the genius that is “The History Boys”.
We all grew up on fairy tales. Passed down from generation to generation, these stories varied from simple nursery rhymes to more extensive stories that had moral lessons at the end. Writer Bill Willingham’s comic book series Fables has brought all of these varying stories together under one roof, as a bunch of mythical beings who have escaped their fairy tale “homelands” and moved into a secret spot in the Upper West Side of New York City. In the book Peter & Max: A Fables Novel however, the story revolves around two brothers. Both musicians, they both wanted to follow their father’s footsteps. The brothers are Peter Piper and his brother Max, who would become the evil being known as The Pied Piper.
Johannes Piper raised his sons to be skilled with the pipe as he was. Early on though, he noticed that young Peter was more gifted in music than his brother Max. To Max, none of that mattered though as long as he inherited Johannes’ prized possession, the magical pipe known as Frost. On their annual visits to play at the fair, the Pipers would stay at the estate of Squire Radulf Peep together with his wife and six daughters. The youngest, Esmerault, or “Bo” was Peter’s favorite playmate. When the first war drums of an invading empire are heard, the Peeps and Pipers were shocked to find goblins ransacking the Peep estate. Even as Johannes bestows Frost on Peter, an incensed Max begins his descent down a dark path that will have him commit unbelievable atrocities, deal with a witch in The Black Forest, and acquire magical powers that made his story legendary yet deadly. Centuries later, it will be up to Max’s brother Peter to finally bring him to justice at the expense of the peaceful life he has found for himself and his bride away from the Homelands.
I’ve been collecting the Fables graphic novels for a few years now and it has been a constant source of delight for me. Willingham’s ability to bring so many beloved fables, nursery rhymes and fairy tales together has been nothing short of masterful for over five years now, and with this prose novel, he proves that he can write a mean story even without the beautiful art from partners like artists James Jean, Mark Buckingham, or Lan Medina. Of course the few illustrations by frequent Fables contributor Steve Leialoha were much appreciated, but Willingham really shines in his writing here. Peter & Max doesn’t require you to read all of the Fables (and the spin-off Jack of Fables) graphic novels that have come before, but knowledge of those works will double your delight in this piece.
The sibling rivalry that arises between the Piper brothers is quite intense, but there is a fair amount of believability in there as Willingham made a birthright the turning point that finally destroyed their relationship. It might be a bit sacrilegious to compare Johannes, Max and Peter to the Bible’s own Isaac, Esau and Jacob, but I believe Willingham did draw inspiration from the good book for his own purposes.
Since this is “a Fables novel”, there was a fair amount of magic and mystical things happening within these pages. Some animals spoke, music emanating from pipes could hypnotize or destroy, and beings can wait centuries before collecting on old debts. It’s always a treat for me to see some of the fairy tales I remember as a kid reinterpreted in the hands of Willingham, and it’s no different in this case. By crafting an extensive backstory for characters like the Pied Piper, Peter Piper and Little Bo Peep, we become more emotionally invested in the stories, drawing more than just kiddie amusement in the end.
The legend of the Pied Piper’s hypnotic music whisking the children of Hamelin away has a darker slant in Peter & Max, particularly when one sees how the twisted musician became what he wasas he acquired the powerful yet evil pipe Fire as his own. My one big complaint about this novel was probably how anti-climactic the final battle between the brothers was. I thought it was anti-climactic after they had such a magnificent clash back when they were in the Homelands and the dueling pipes were on full display. It was also very entertaining for me, a fan of the graphic novels, to see old favorites such as Rose Red, Bigby Wolf, etc. here as supporting characters. The big treat, however, was to see more of Frau Totenkinder, particularly when she was a more malevolent creature.
As dark as Max’s descent into madness was, the contrast in the love story between Peter and Bo is also a treat. From the innocent games they played as kids to the uncomfortable teenage years and facing the Empire’s assault together and the inevitable confrontation with Max, Peter and Bo survive because they have each other. No matter the problem, no matter the physical or mental anguish they face, Peter and Bo endure whether in their old land of Hesse or in their new home because they know that at the end of the day, they have each other’s back. They made me hold out hope that there is indeed a happy ever after waiting for all of us.
Too often, when we watch action movies featuring a wronged man seeking revenge on “the system”, it features one guy with a gun taking out people who have wronged him using a lot of brawn and huge amounts of firepower. This was the kind of movie that made stars out of Schwarzenegger, Willis, Stallone, and Eastwood in the past. The difference with Law Abiding Citizen is that this time around, the wronged person uses his brain more than just brawn.
Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) sees his home invaded by thugs and blacks out before his wife and daughter are murdered. Philadelphia prosecutor Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) is eager to keep his conviction rate, so rather than take the case before a judge and jury, he agrees to a deal that will lessen the charges against the actual rapist and killer Clarence Darby (Christian Stolte) but will sentence one of his men to death by lethal injection. Shelton is devastated and angered when he sees Darby shake Rice’s hand. Ten years later, Darby’s accomplice Ames dies an excruciating death. Darby meets an even more gruesome fate. When Rice (who has risen to the rank of assistant district attorney) arrests Shelton for the murders, Clyde almost gleefully agrees to be imprisoned. Meanwhile, other people who were involved in the case surrounding Shelton’s family are dying one at a time while he sits in jail. How can he be causing all of it and how low is he willing to go to fix the judicial system?
I’ve been a Gerard Butler fan since he made such a huge impact as the Spartan king Leonidas in 300. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in his last film, Gamer. It’s good to see that with Law Abiding Citizen, Butler gets back some well-deserved swagger. Here is somebody who has been wronged by the faulty American justice system who systematically eliminates every person he thinks robbed him of his family. He doesn’t just go around punching people or shooting them with guns, he has meticulously planned everything in detail to use a variety of means to send each person a message. It’s almost impossible not to root for Shelton while the killings are happening, even though he’s supposed to be the film’s villain.
Director F. Gary Gray has already proven himself to be a good action-drama filmmaker in the past with films such as The Negotiator and the 2003 remake of The Italian Job, so Law Abiding Citizen doesn’t let up in the action department. The city of Philadelphia provides some additional character to the movie that would otherwise be lost of the filmmakers had just elected to make it another generic New York film. It’s a refreshing change though to see African-American Foxx as the slick but successful lawyer while the Caucasian Butler is the diabolical convict with nothing left to lose. Apparently Butler (who also served as a producer on the film) asked that he take the Shelton role even though Foxx was already previously cast in it. Though both are different kinds of actors, they do share some nice screen time together and that added to my enjoyment of the film.
Butler’s Shelton is a pretty vengeful character here, but he’s convinced that he’s helping in fixing a dying and decrepit organism that robs people of true justice. The various ways in which he kills everyone shows both genius and madness, making it irresistible to the audience. Yes, we all know that Nick Rice was a slimy bastard who did anything to get ahead, but the way Shelton took out Rice’s co-workers and associates went beyond just getting rid of “the bad guys” and inevitably makes Shelton a “bad guy” himself. Still, it was pretty sweet how he got his point across, as depraved a point as it was.
There’s nothing like a good scary movie to send you looking over your shoulder or double-checking if you’ve said your prayers at night. I’m not really sure why I like scary movies, I mean these films are designed to make you scream, give you nightmares, or doubt if there’s something creepy crawling under your bed. Considering that I can’t stand rollercoasters, horror movies are almost nothing to me. For me, the best scary movies won’t show you the ghouls in all their gory glory or won’t have all the guts and innards on display. The best scary films are the ones that leave stuff to your imagination through the use of sound, very simple special effects, and a great deal of innuendo. Paranormal Activity clearly is one of those great scary movies.
In a house in San Diego, California in 2006, young couple Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) are apprehensive because of a few strange occurrences. Katie claims that a ghostly entity that has been haunting her since childhood has followed her to this new home. Micah wants to capture evidence of this, so he gets a video camera and sophisticated audio equipment to monitor their bedroom as they sleep. Katie contacts a psychic, Dr. Fredrichs (Mark Fredrichs), who says that they are being tormented by a being feeding off negative energy. He suggests that they get in touch the demonologist Dr. Abrams to better understand what they’re dealing with, but Micah wants to make contact by himself through the use of a Ouija board despite Dr. Fredrichs warning against that.
The audio-video equipment ends up recording strange occurrences over the course of three weeks such as noises in the middle of the night, flickering lights, Katie standing up beside the bed and staring at Micah’s sleeping form for hours, footprints entering their room but none heading out, etc. As the strain of these phenomena only aggravate them more, whatever is causing them seems to be getting stronger and more daring in its exploits.
Shot in the form of a documentary like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity might just be the most original and terrifying horror movie in years. First-time film director Oren Peli uses a very modest budget, with hardly any effects to craft a movie that seems so real, it is terrifying. By using a simple video camera and having just Featherston and Sloat supposedly filming everything, you get the impression that these things actually happened to real people three years ago. The camera is shaky, like it is in normal home movies and the acting seems even more raw as they deal with the unseen yet terrifying entity. Much like Blair Witch did a few years back, it’s tough to determine where fiction ends and reality begins. To me, that is a big part of why Paranormal Activity is such a good film. By suspending disbelief better than the typical horror/slasher flick, this movie does what every film aims to do: make you think what you see on film is 100% real.
I started watching this movie alone in my room at around 1:00am on a Wednesday, but even before the first scene was done, I already turned it off and switched to The Tonight Show instead. Why? Because the documentary style with which it was filmed had me concerned that I was going to be too caught up in the illusion and might be too scared at such a late hour. Instead, I proceeded to watch the film a day later, and I was right. I had chills down my spine at different points of this film and some parts made me jumpy. Whether it was the sound of footsteps in the night, a blanket moving suddenly, or the sight of Katie sleepwalking creepily, the director Peli made me believe that “an entity” truly did haunt this couple. The version that will come out in local cinemas will supposedly have a different ending than this version that I’ve seen, so I am curious enough to watch it again. I dare you to watch Paranormal Activity in a cinema or alone in your house at night. Let’s see just how brave you are.
Like everyone else, I was shocked to find out on the morning of June 25, 2009 that Michael Jackson had died. My childhood would not have been complete without his music, particularly on albums like “Off The Wall”, “Bad”, and of course, the monster that was “Thriller”. Though he somewhat faded from public view due to his eccentricities, his music would pop up on the airwaves every so often. Once in a while, I even played his albums on my iPod for kicks because I was still a fan. Yet the whole world seemed to shake and convulse when the “King of Pop” passed away at the age of 50. His planned concert tour of 50 shows called “This Is It” would not happen.
Surprisingly, that concert tour’s choreographer and director, Kenny Ortega (of High School Musical 1, 2, and 3 fame) had apparently shot a bunch of rehearsal and backstage videos of the preparations for the tour. There was so much video shot of auditions for back-up dancers, Michael and company shooting videos that were to be shown on giant video walls while performing, and Michael freestyling on vocals and dancing, that Ortega could make a pseudo-documentary out of it. As a final tribute to Jackson’s genius, This Is It, the film, was created for a limited two-week theatrical run and boy, it’s definitely worth watching on the big screen.
It’s a performance tour-de-force and a rare look into the painstaking attention to detail that Michael gave to every concert, every performance, and every song. From the first beats you hear of “Wanna Be Starting Something”, you are instantly transfixed on the genius and your feet begin to start tapping along to the rhythm. Throughout the film, one sees the perfectionist that Michael was, paying attention to details such as music cues, variations in dance steps, where and when he would be standing for a particular note, how his performance syncs with pre-shot videos, and even how a burning coat should be treated once it starts to burn. He may have been a bit obsessive-compulsive, but nobody can ever argue with the fantastic results that his live concerts had become. There are a couple of moments when he asks the musical director or Ortega to start a song all over again because he noticed something they could improve on. “That’s why we do rehearsal,” he said, and you knew he took rehearsal very seriously.
The dancers who auditioned to be part of the tour were literally in tears when they found out they would join their idol. Often, while Michael rehearsed or tried out a few moves, those dancers were screaming and cheering the loudest. Why? Because, as my friend Mitch said, “They just got treated to a free concert!” We should all be as lucky as they were.
Michael was also gracious enough to share the stage with a few artists, and two really stood out. Greek-Australian Orianthi Panagaris stepped into the venerable rock and roll shoes worn by Eddie Van Halen and Slash to do the difficult guitar riffs on “Billie Jean” and “Black or White” respectively. She didn’t just do them justice, Orianthi stood toe to toe with the King of Pop and matched his energy on her guitar. Japanese-American Judith Hill sang Siedah Garrett’s part in the Jackson duet “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” and hit all the notes that the former Brand New Heavies lead vocalist once made famous. Those who watched Michael’s memorial service at StaplesCenter might remember Hill as the girl who led the singing of “Heal The World” at the end. These two women shared a stage with the great entertainer, and might have just received a final push from him on their own individual paths to stardom.
Make no mistake, the footage used in This Is It wasn’t supposed to be released to the general public. They were intended for Michael’s personal collection, just something to chronicle the events leading up to the tour. It may seem a bit rough or out of focus at times, and there are instances when Michael isn’t really singing, but rather humming along as he traces his dance moves. Luckily for us, Ortega was able to translate it into a fitting tribute piece. It’s just so sad that when one watches this film, you note how Michael seemed to be so full of life and looked so energized when he was onstage. It’s like being in the spotlight with people looking at his every move put him at ease. There were a lot of moments where my friends and I would be dazzled by his moves, then realize that Michael is indeed gone. The King of Pop is indeed dead, and This Is It is all that we have left of what might have been a magical concert experience. Thankfully, for artists and musicians like Michael Jackson, the music lives on long after the man has left the building.
I became aware of Astro Boy from the animated version shown on local TV in the 1980s. It was a fun and simple show back then, complete with an unforgettable yet catchy theme song, but I wasn’t aware of how significant the character was to cartoons and Japanese culture. I only found out about 15 years ago that Astro Boy or Tetsuwan Atom was the model for which all Japanese anime followed. The original Tetsuwan Atom comic (or “manga” in Japanese) was created by legendary manga illustrator Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s. Tezuka’s use of large, expressive eyes became a staple of Japanese animation for decades to come and Tetsuwan Atom has been like Japan’s own Mickey Mouse in terms of popularity, marketability, and appeal to all ages.
I even followed the 2003 anime version of Astro Boy on the Animax network. A bit darker than the 80s version, this was still Astro in his robot fighting glory, and it was great seeing him reimagined for a new generation. For the 2009 feature film version of Astro Boy, I was curious how the character would look in full CGI, and I was also hoping that the plot wouldn’t be too stupid or too kid-oriented to alienate an old fan like myself. Happily, it wasn’t, and there was enough of the classic manga/anime as well as a more than decent plot that I was fully engaged in the film.
Set in the near future, Metro City is a floating metropolis floating above the dump that is all that’s left of Earth. Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), Head of the Ministry of Science, is too busy to make time for his brilliant 10 year-old son, Toby (Freddie Highmore). During a demonstration for Metro City’s President Stone (Donald Sutherland), the Peacekeeper robot accidentally kills Toby. Wracked with guilt, Tenma creates a robot in Toby’s image, embedded with Toby’s memories, and powered by positive blue core energy. After the robot that Tenma also calls Toby begins to show an independent streak, Tenma rejects him. Stone wants Toby’s blue core at all costs, eventually dumping the robot from Metro City to the robot dumping ground on the surface. Can the newly-renamed “Astro” find acceptance with the surface dwellers and evade President Stone’s clutches?
I have to admit that I had pretty low expectations for Astro Boy. After the disaster that was the live-action adaptation of the anime Speed Racer, I kind of expected Astro Boy to be in the same category. I was more than happy to be proven wrong. The plot follows some of the origins from the 1950s manga and anime, while also modernizing it for the 2009 audience. There was still enough elements though (including renaming the Japanese “Tobio” into “Toby”, Astro fighting for robot rights, guns coming out of Astro’s butt, and the presence of Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun) still in the film that kept a hardcore anime guy like me glued to the screen. Yes, there were little plot developments such as Astro ending up with a bunch of kids ala-Peter Pan’s Lost Boys and the “robot gladiators” that were different, but those weren’t necessarily bad things.
The CGI is, of course, excellent. It was nice to see characters such as Astro Boy, Dr. Tenma, and Dr. Elefun rendered in 3D and it was also interesting that Bill Nighy made a rare appearance as a good guy here playing Dr. Elefun. Hearing Cage’s distinctive nasal voice coming out of Dr. Tenma’s mouth was a bit distracting, but after a while, I got used to it. I’ve only seen Highmore in live action films with his native British accent and before puberty hit so I wasn’t so distracted with his lower voice and American twang here. Sutherland is at his best when he plays villains, so his President Stone was fun to watch and hear.
Overall, I enjoyed watching this version of Astro Boy. Again, there were just enough old school elements and a decent mix of modern animation and plot updates that kept me interested. I think it’s time the kids of today met my old friend too. I still sing along to that 80s theme song every now and then, “Soaring high in the sky, he may be small, but only in size, Astro Boy! Astro Boy! He is brave and gentle and wise!”
He should always be there. You know the line… up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman! But there was a time when he just stopped. The Man of Steel left Metropolis and nobody knew where he went. This isn’t the plot of the latest Superman movie. It’s the premise behind Absolute Kingdom Come.
Kingdom Come was a momentous comic event when it was first released in 1996. The combination of Alex Ross’ photorealistic art and Mark Waid’s ominous script had comic fans of all ages stand up and take notice. “How could Superman ever leave Metropolis?” “What do you mean Batman has turned Gotham City into a police state?” “A new generation of heroes is abusing their power?” “How did Captain Marvel turn into a bad guy?” Such statements were a mere sampling of the reactions to Kingdom Come. Ten years after the mini-series was released, DC Comics published an oversized hardcover slipcase edition in Absolute Kingdom Come loaded with special features.
In a possible future, Superman has left Metropolis and most of humanity behind. Batman’s secret identity has been found out, and he rules over Gotham with an army of Bat-robots. Meanwhile, a new generation of metahumans has been abusing their gifts. As a result of their carelessness, a nuclear explosion wipes out a portion of the USA and public distrust is at an all-time high. Entangled in all of this is Pastor Norman McCay. Norman sees visions of conflict and destruction, and is approached by the entity known as The Spectre. The Spectre enlists Norman to bear witness to the developing crisis, and eventually judge if humanity and our so-called heroes will survive.
When the original Kingdom Come came out a decade ago, its powerful message and breathtaking art caused mainstream media to take notice. Waid and Ross examined the role of superheroes and the incredible responsibilities we have put on these “imaginary” characters. When they did that, they also ended up showing the all too human frailties of larger-than-life characters such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc.
In their sad view of the future, humanity has pushed the heroes we grew up with to the sidelines due to what was perceived as their being too “nice” and not issuing the vigilante justice that has been associated with other comic characters like The Punisher or Wolverine. Yet when the world faces its greatest crisis and when all the chips are down, it is those same heroes, the first heroes to ever see print in comics, who come to the rescue. However, it is a rescue that comes at a price.
The characterization of the characters stays true to both their origin stories, as well as what writers have shaped them to become in the past six decades. Ever the farmer's son, Superman honestly thinks he can save everybody and change things by just being somewhere. Batman's cynicism and callousness since his parents' death extends to even his friends like Superman. The Amazon princess in Wonder Woman shuns her role as envoy of peace, instead becoming a vengeful warrior who will do things others might fear to do.
Absolute Kingdom Come comes replete with Ross’ sketches, creator notes and annotations, as well as an extensive image gallery. This edition is bigger and is a feast that is guaranteed to satisfy old fans while enticing new fans to witness what is undoubtedly one of the most important comics ever published. You'll see how some of Ross' designs from his childhood found their way onto the Kingdom Come stage. You'll also see the detail and dedication he put into this project. This was a true labor of love, something both creators affectionately call their "love letter" to these superheroes.
I’ve seen a lot of basketball in my life. I’ve watched the NBA, Euroleague, Olympic basketball, the World Championships, the PBA, PBL, UAAP, US NCAA and even Philippine NCAA. I’ve witnessed basketball players do some amazing things with a little ball in their hands that sent jampacked arenas into a frenzy. All that being said, I had never seen anything as despicable as what Burger King team captain Wynne Arboleda did in a game against the SMART-Gilas RP Team on October 15, 2009. Much has already been written and said about Arboleda’s attack on Gilas fan Allain Katigbak.
SMART-Gilas versus Powerade-Pilipinas
Let’s put things in proper perspective. On October 5, 2009, the SMART-Gilas RP Team composed of mostly recent collegiate basketball stars and one American candidate for naturalization (CJ Giles) played the Powerade Team Pilipinas composed of professional PBA players to raise funds for victims of Typhoon Ondoy. Gilas was coached by Serbian coach Rajko Toroman while Powerade had BK coach and Pampanga vice-governor Joseller “Yeng” Guiao in charge. Most expected the pros to obliterate the amateurs. After all, these were just kids while the pros were supposed to be the best ballers in the country. Instead, Coach Toroman’s boys blitzed their elders to the tune of 98-69. A thorough ass-kicking that had many people wondering if Guiao was indeed the right man to handle the Powerade squad who didn’t even crack the top 5 in the recent Asian Basketball Championships in Tianjin, China.
In that same tournament in China, Guiao included the PBA’s number one draft pick for 2009, former Ateneo basketball player and 6–foot 9-inch tall Japeth Aguilar, in the lineup. Aguilar was drafted number one by Burger King, and Guiao wanted to see if his future superstar could immediately contribute to the cause. Now if you’ve watched any PBA over the years, you’ll know one thing about Guiao: he loves cussing out his own players and the referees. He screams at them to the point that the players look like castrated sheep after a few games under Guiao. Guiao is also credited with being able to maximize players who might not be the most talented into a cohesive unit. Of course, this also means he’s often gotten these players to play rough in order to beat the more talented squads. This was especially evident in the years that he handled the Red Bull Barako team in the PBA. With players like Jimwell Torion, Junthy Valenzuela, Homer Se, and the like, Guiao’s teams dished out a combination of elbows, knees, and punches that opposing players dreaded. And he was given the national team to coach as a reward.
The Amazing Disappearing Aguilar
After the Powerade team was embarrassed in Tianjin, Aguilar announced that he’d rather play for SMART-Gilas than Burger King, despite the Whoppers drafting him number one. I didn’t like that move because Aguilar effectively spit in the faces of every other PBA team and player because he wanted out of his contract after he had already been drafted. Why didn’t he do so before the draft and spared us all from the circus that followed? Apparently, some quarters have said that young Aguilar hated being constantly disparaged and cussed out by Guiao. The coach’s winning personality was grating at the youngster, and he tried to get out of it to play for Toroman, someone whom he had played for before, and someone who didn’t demean him.
In a few weeks’ time, Aguilar and Burger King management came to an agreement: Japeth would play one game with the Whoppers, then he would be traded for draft picks to Barako Bull who then would trade him to Talk ‘N Text (BK’s sister franchise). The Tropang Texters then allowed Aguilar to sign a contract with SMART-Gilas, and once the contract is done, he would be welcomed into the TNT fold. Imagine how well Guiao felt after being given the runaround by this kid.
Guiao’s pre-game message to BK
PBA sportscaster Patricia Hizon talked to Arboleda before the game started and he related what BK coach Yeng Guiao told his players. Hizon mentioned on Twitter on October 17 that it was something along the lines of “malayo pa bago nila makuha spot nyo. Pero ipakita nyo that this is your spot. Put them in their place and have pride.” Every Burger King player just had to read between the lines and understand that their coach wanted to send a message to these kids. Now how rough the message is, well that’s subject to the context by which Guiao said those words to his team or how his players felt Guiao wanted the message sent.
Soon enough, Arboleda had delivered a forearm across the face of Jvee Casio on a drive. Rookie Ronnie Matias dropped Chris Tiu with an elbow to the face on a rebound play. It was becoming obvious that there were marching orders for the Whoppers to get rough with the Gilas kids. We can argue all day long on the level of roughness the PBA has allowed their players to play over the years, but the past few seasons, the league has been trying to cut down on too much physical play.
When Arboleda went under Mac Baracael clearly trying to take out the forward’s knees, all hell broke loose. You see, undercutting is one of the worst things you can do in basketball. It makes your opponent lose their balance, it puts them in such an awkward position that they might fall badly. It’s the kind of thing that ends careers. Arboleda has had a reputation for rough play in years past . The son-in-law of Burger King co-owner Lito Alvarez has been a bruising player since his days in the defunct MBA and their Laguna Lakers. Putting Arboleda under the guidance of a temperamental and vindictive coach in Guiao was like putting a firecracker next to dynamite, you knew an explosion was going to happen sooner or later.
Who’s Afraid of Yeng?
Mr. Katigbak can’t be completely blameless in this incident. After all, he supposedly screamed all kinds of invectives at Arboleda. However, there is absolutely no excuse for a PBA player to attack a fan. We are the paying customers who expect that when we go to the arena, we’ll get some good basketball and we can scream our hearts out to support our team while haranguing opposing teams and players. We can blame Araneta Coliseum security for not being fast enough to react to Arboleda’s assault on Katigbak. We can blame Arboleda’s dirty play for setting the dirty tone throughout the game. What I find fascinating is that so few people have called out Guiao for his headhunting call.
Don’t you think the rookie Matias would be scared to deliver a flagrant foul unless he knew his coach had his back? I have hardly seen any sportswriters point to Guiao as the person who initiated hostilities with his little tongue-in-cheek speech. In fact, Guiao defended BK’s style of play as mere preparation for what Gilas will face in international competition. Eh gago pala itong si Yeng eh, how will the players compete in international competition if you have your headhunters trying to end their young careers? Coach Toroman has gone on the record to say about that game against Burger King, ““In my 46 years of watching basketball, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Indeed, unless you saw the early days of the PBA, you’ve never seen anything as dirty as what Burger King did in that first half. It took a reprimand from PBA chairman Lito Alvarez for Guiao’s team to stop the roughhousing.
Governor Guiao?
There is a fair amount of blame being given to Arboleda, he’s even made international news (I bet the PBA just loves the international notoriety!) Now that the PBA has suspended him without pay for the rest of the season, there’s even been an online petition to have the income Arboleda would have been paid by Burger King to instead be given to victims of the typhoons . That’s well and good, but I still say we can’t place all the blame on the player or the fan. Look at the bald dude who smugly issued the directive to put the Gilas players in their place. That same guy plans to run for governor of Pampanga in 2010. It might be better if he did win, at least then, he’ll spare the PBA and the rest of the country from the embarrassment that his petty vindictiveness has left in his wake.
Director John Woo made a name for himself worldwide with action films like Hard Boiled, The Killer, Mission: Impossible 2, and Face/Off so when I heard that he was going to take on the task of making an epic war movie in Red Cliff, I was admittedly skeptical. After all, I kind of viewed epic romantic films set in China as more the realm of Tsui Hark, Ang Lee, or even Zhang Yimou. I was intrigued enough however to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did.
Based on the legendary Battle of Red Cliffs during the end of the Han Dynasty in China, the film depicts Prime Minister Cao Cao’s (Zhang Fenyi) plan to lead the the 300,000-strong Imperial Army over the southern part of China. Cao Cao wields more influence than the emperor and marches over the Guangzhou province governed by Liu Bei (You Yong). Liu’s chief advisor Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is sent to negotiate an alliance with the Southern region led by Sun Quan (Chang Chen). Zhuge is a brilliant strategist who teams with Sun’s viceroy, Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) to formulate the battle plan that can repulse Cao Cao’s invasion through the use of tactics, knowledge of the weather in Southern China, some intuition, and a lot of luck.
Too often, the Filipino film viewer is exposed to war movies from America, whether it be World War I, World War II, or even the American Revolutionary War. We’ve also seen wars fought in the United Kingdom, France, and the like on film. It is quite rare to see a war movie set in Asia with a budget as big as evident here in Red Cliff. The battles are indeed epic, even grander than some of the big battles I’ve seen in Braveheart, The Patriot, Pearl Harbor, and Saving Private Ryan. Woo was able to capture the grand scale of the Battle of Red Cliffs and it is a delight to see on the big screen.
Despite the huge scale of the battle scenes, Woo is also able to deliver some very up close and personal scenes for his actors. Leung has been a favorite of mine since I first saw him in Hero and subsequently in the Infernal Affairs trilogy. His onscreen chemistry with Kaneshiro is crucial in the film’s success, and they do manage to come across as equals who have the potential to be rivals but end up working well together during wartime. Lin Chi-ling has a pretty impressive film debut here as Leung’s wife who actually acts and is not limited to being mere eye candy. Zhao Wei, also an old favorite of mine from So Close and Shaolin Soccer doesn’t resort to just batting her eyelashes and cashing in on her cuteness in this film as she plays the tomboyish Sun Shangxiang. There is such an impressive ensemble of actors in Red Cliff that it’s easy to get drawn into the story.
However, what really pumped me up for this film were the huge battle scenes shot by John Woo. A few Woo trademarks are evident again here (flying doves, lots of slow-motion, montage to highlight a climactic scene) but unless you’ve seen a John Woo film in the past, they come off as quite seamless and integral to the picture. From my perspective, Woo obviously used some CGI to enhance the numbers of Cao Cao’s naval fleet and the soldiers on both sides, but he was still able to get a large number of extras to actually participate. To see the detail in the ships, the armor, and the weapons from that period in Chinese history is astounding and much appreciated.
I have no idea if the real historical figures did study how the southwest and northeast winds would blow before they organized their plan of attack. I don’t know if the legends were indeed almost superhuman in their fighting ability and their use of spears and swords. Despite all that, I was more than happy to see how Woo showed all of these on film and made them all look amazingly cool. It did seem a bit strange though to watch Chinese and Japanese actors dubbed with seemingly Indian voice actors. It may have indeed been better than getting American actors who could have used American colloquialisms, it still took me a little while to stop noticing their accents and just listen to the words being said instead.
Red Cliff is a real tour-de-force for Woo, breaking him out of the “action movie” mold that we’ve all placed him in. It’s based on legendary historical figures with great actors and some jawdropping action thrown in as well.
I never saw Julia Child on her old TV show. I was too young and I don’t recall it being broadcast on Philippine television. We had Nora Daza and her kids Sandy and Nina, as well as Sylvia Reynoso-Gala to regale us with their culinary expertise. We even had Martin Yan and the unrelated Stephen Yan back in the day. But it was Child, with her distinct voice, 6’2” height, and warm personality who was supposedly the first real chef who became a television star. All who would follow owed a debt of gratitude to Julia Child.
In the film Julie & Julia, director Nora Ephron presents two films that have a few things in common: specifically Julia Child and French cuisine. We see Julia (Meryl Streep) and husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) adjusting to life in Paris in the late 1940s while she tries to find something that she really enjoys doing. Meanwhile in 2002, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is accompanying her own husband Eric (Chris Messina) in moving to Queens from Brooklyn. While working out of a government cubicle, Julia decides to start a blog by writing about her experience with Child’s masterful book Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Even as we are shown Child learning the ropes of French cooking herself and the long ordeal to get her book published, Powell sees her blog gaining an audience despite her initial misgivings.
What more can I say about Meryl Streep that hasn’t been written or said before? She truly is one of the finest actresses ever, and her performance as Child was spot on. Reuniting with her The Devil Wears Prada co-star Tucci (this time as husband and wife), the two actors have such amazing chemistry together, you literally feel them syncing with one another as actors and as spouses on film. The very pretty Adams was already deglamorized as a nun for her last film with Streep, Doubt. Here, she’s not as breathtaking as she usually is, but that’s probably to keep the focus on the food and her struggles as someone with serious dreams of being a real author. Her own scenes with Messina are pretty strong, especially when she’s on the verge of giving up her blogging due to the stress it entails.
Ephron veers away from her usual romantic comedic tendencies for Julie & Julia. She somehow finds a way to merge these two stories of two different eras into one coherent and fluid piece. Though Streep and Adams have no scenes together, the writing is so tight and pacing so well thought out that I didn’t find myself getting bored at any point during the screening. Based on Child’s book My Life in France and Powell’s Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously (the result of her blog), I didn’t feel any real disconnect as the two stories just synced.
Powell’s story, in particular, got my own creative juices flowing as I was once more inspired to get in front of a keyboard and write something down. I may not have Julia Child as a role model and I may not commit to writing about a subject like food for 365 days, but this film clearly touched a nerve for me that I hope to continue tapping in the future. Writing about anything that you like can’t be a chore. It has to be fun because otherwise, there is no point in getting yourself to write about it. So whether I write about sports, or a book, or a movie like Julie & Julia which I highly recommend, I hope that I have as much passion for it as both Powell and Child did when they wrote their respective works.
I’ve read so many Neil Gaiman books, it still amazes me how versatile a writer he is. From his roots in The Sandman graphic novels, to his epic American Gods and the unofficial sequel Anansi Boys, all the way to his more “youth-oriented” work like OtherWorld, M is for Magic, and of course, Coraline, he’s just shown such a rich imagination and a mastery at storytelling. In The Graveyard Book, Gaiman (accompanied with art by frequent collaborator Dave McKean) once again proves how good an author he is as he tells the story of a boy raised in a graveyard by ghosts.
The book begins with a murder. A father, mother, and their daughter are killed by a figure known only as “the man Jack”. Unfortunately for the man Jack, the baby boy is somehow able to escape him. This toddler ends up in the neighboring graveyard and is adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Owens, who never could conceive a child when they were alive. Over the course of time, the boy (whom they name Nobody or Bod) is educated by the various spirits and ghosts who reside in the graveyard. They’ve granted him sme supernatural abilities to make sure that Bod is protected by harmful creatures such as the ghouls who reside in the evil city of Ghûlheim. Silas, the guardian of the graveyard, provides a counterbalance to the spirits as he teaches Bod about the humanity that most of them have forgotten.
Young Bod eventually makes friends with a living girl named Scarlett Amber Perkins, but their curious friendship and a frightening incident involving “The Sleer” forces her family away, leaving Bod alone with his ghost family once more. As he grows up, more responsibility is placed on Bod by Silas and his teacher, Ms. Lupescu while the man Jack and his associates seem to have found a way to finish something they should have taken care of years ago.
The Graveyard Book has elements of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book in the sense that Bod mirrors Kipling’s more famous Mowgli. Just as Mowgli grew up in the jungle protected by Baloo while evading the dangerous Shere Khan, so does Bod grow in the graveyard with Silas and his ghostly parents, the Owenses. Every chapter moves forward two years in Bod’s growth, eventually leading to adolescence and his inevitable need to be with his own kind. Though Gaiman acknowledges these parallels, his piece isn’t limited to merely being a mirror to the earlier work. His ghouls in the chapter “The Hounds of God” are downright terrifying in their attempt to seduce and corrupt Bod into joining them. I found that chapter disturbing enough, can you imagine what kids (Gaiman’s target audience for this book) would think?
In the chapter “Danse Macabre”, the author really goes to town as both the living and the spirits participate in a bizarre tradition wherein they interact with one another. Tht’s was probably my favorite part of the book since it seemed like something Gaiman used to do on a regular basis on his seminal The Sandman graphic novels on a regular basis. Yes, I still miss Gaiman weaving his way around characters like Dream, Death, Calliope, and the rest of them. But it’s also nice to know that his imagination continues to develop new characters for us to root for and to cheer on like Bod and his ghostly friends.
It’s been a week now since the Ateneo Blue Eagles won their second straight UAAP Seniors Basketball Championship. A back-to-back feat that we all cherish, particularly since my college years were spent during the Dark Ages of Ateneo basketball. The early-mid nineties saw the program suffer through one- or two-win seasons, when archrivals La Salle would step all over our team, when my friends and I would go to Araneta Coliseum or Loyola Gym to cheer for a team that had one single bass drum from the Blue Babble Battalion to lead the cheers.
It was unfortunate that my years at the Katipunan Avenue campus were spent during this era because it was undoubtedly the lowest point in the storied history of the Ateneo de Manila’s proud basketball program. Yes, there were names such as Red Camua, Junie Rentosa, John Verayo, and the Sison Twins who tried their best to give us something to cheer for. But, in all honesty, those teams were just too weak, too short, too easy to push around by the likes of DLSU, UST, FEU, heck even UP was stronger than Ateneo then. Even the lowly National University Bulldogs, perennial UAAP whipping boys, could pull off wins against the Blue Eagles, effectively ripping our collective hearts out in the process. No amount of shouting “Fabilioh!” or “Get that ball!” could salvage our team from the bottom of the standings.
Why did we still watch? Because this was our team, this was our school, these were our classmates and friends who were playing for the school that we all loved so much. After all, not all of us were as skilled as they were on the court, not all of us could shoot as well or defend or rebound like they could, so those who were lucky enough to make it to the varsity team must have been so much better than us to merit having the words “ATENEO” emblazoned on their jerseys. If they were going to fight for us, the few of us who believed in them would cheer for them. Unfortunately in the 1990s, the losses were more than the wins.
Much has been said how Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan pumped money back into Ateneo and helped reinvigorate the dying basketball program. Here was a guy who loved our school as much as we did, but actually was willing to help finance the program so that they could recruit the best players possible to come to Loyola Heights. Through the efforts of MVP and former Jesuit Fr. Tito Caluag, Ateneo finally became a basketball powerhouse albeit through a painful, but ultimately rewarding route. In 2001, a team led by Rico Villanueva, Rich Alvarez, Paul Tan-Chi, and Wesley Gonzales entered the UAAP Finals for the first time since the Eagles won it all in 1988. We lost to the hated De La Salle Green Archers.
In 2002, when it seemed that ACL injuries to Magnum Membrere and Paolo Bugia in the preseason looked like it would once again doom the blue-clad faithful, Villanueva, Alvarez, LA Tenorio, Ebok Quimpo, and Larry Fonacier instead delivered the long-awaited title back to our aerie. Gec Chia delivered the most unforgettable shot I’ve ever seen, a jumper over UE in the Final Four that would bring us to the Finals against our long time rivals. Winning it against La Salle only made the victory sweeter, especially since it seemed as if the Green Archers always seemed to be the team that stood in our way, the team that would laugh in our faces because we just weren’t good enough, the squad who would recruit the top talent in the country because it seemed as if they had bottomless pockets. It was indeed a magical time for we who had lived through the Dark Ages as we could finally hold our heads high once more as sportscaster Mico Halili screamed “Once again, the Blue Eagle is King of the UAAP!” From my seat in the General Admission section of the historic Araneta Coliseum, I cried with my brother Jek and my old friend Homer over this title. I truly felt like I could have died in peace already because I saw an Ateneo championship live, and it wasn’t a dream.
That 2002 team coached by Joel Banal went on to have their own UAAP Championship DVD produced, as well as countless TV and newspaper appearances. Each of those young men would forever live in Ateneo lore as individuals who broke the long title drought and renewed our faith that praying and believing that our team could win a title was indeed possible. Of course, being Ateneans, we were greedy. We wanted another title the following season. The Eagles, without the graduated Villanueva, made it to the Finals by stomping La Salle in the Final Four, but couldn’t stop the powerhouse FEU Tamaraws of Arwind Santos.
2004 was a year that began with promise, but quickly ended in tragedy when team captain Larry Fonacier suffered a season-ending ACL injury (yes, that dreaded knee injury once again) against UP in the first round. Ateneo returned to the Finals in 2006, this time led by legendary American coach Norman Black, in a season that saw La Salle suspended for academic violations. Despite leading UST in the Finals 1-0 after Doug Kramer’s unforgettable buzzer-beater, the Blue Eagles fell to the Growling Tigers 2-1 in Game 3 in the last game for Kramer, JC Intal, and Macky Escalona. The last connection to the 2002 Championship team was now gone.
I hardly remember the 2007 campaign because that was the year my father died and my girlfriend left to study abroad. Despite having a weak team, the Blue Eagles led by Chris Tiu and Ford Arao still made it to the playoffs, only to be defeated by La Salle (who went on to win the championship after serving their suspension).
Last year, I saw something unbelievable: an Ateneo basketball team that just couldn’t be beaten. The 2008 version of the Blue Eagles suffered one loss throughout the season, one fucking loss to FEU in round 1. They had an overall record of 16-1, including the regular season, the Final Four, and the Finals against La Salle. Everything came together for Coach Norman Black’s crew as Chris Tiu provided the steady leadership while Rabeh al-Hussaini had his coming our party and brought home a regular season MVP award in the process. But it was Nonoy Baclao’s defense that stood out throughout the tournament. His crippling block of DLSU big man Rico Maierhofer in Game 1 encapsulated the Ateneo credo for everyone to see: defense wins championships. Baclao would be awarded the 2008 Finals MVP award, and basketball glory was ours once again.
When the dust had settled and the championship was won over La Salle, a lot of us who watched the series-clincher in Araneta Coliseum braved the rains and the lack of a proper dinner to go back to the Ateneo campus and celebrate the way only we can: with a thanksgiving mass at the Church of the Gesu. We didn’t mind getting a bit wet, we just wanted to give thanks for this team that excelled and sacrificed in order to bring home the title to Loyola Heights. It was definitely still a sweet feeling to win that title, though I will always say that 2002 was still the best of them all due to the 14-year gap and it being the first that I witnessed live. I wanted to see the traditional Ateneo Bonfire celebration because I missed the one from 6 years before due to work. Despite the horrendous traffic and the muddy Bellarmine Field, I didn’t mind so much. After all, championships are such a rare commodity, I wanted to make sure I relished every moment to the last drop.
For this 2009 UAAP Championship, it was again another dominant season for the Blue Eagles. If somebody had told me when I graduated college in 1996 that the day would come that the Ateneo team would lose a combined three games in two UAAP seasons, I probably would have died laughing. But that is exactly what this team did. After losing to UP, Coach Norman’s lads went to work, rattling off 12 straight wins before UE tripped them up in Game 2 of the Finals. The tried and tested formula of giving the ball inside to al-Hussaini while Jai Reyes took his outside jumpers and Eric Salamat forced turnovers worked as the back-to-back titles were secured in a 71-58 rout. Again we went home to the Ateneo, but this time, my brother and I made sure to get take-out food first. We were becoming veterans of championship celebrations, something I definitely didn’t mind.
I was too tired to go to this year’s Bonfire, and honestly, I didn’t really feel like going anymore. I’ve been to one, it was more than enough. What mattered most to me was that I was at the games live, cheering “One big fight!” as my team won their second straight title. I lived through those dark times, now I can truly appreciate the blazing Blue and White hue of a championship trophy. The novelty of an Ateneo championship still hasn’t worn off as I know that I’ll be at the forefront of the screaming and cussing all over again next year. Ateneo Blue Eagles: Back-to-Back UAAP Champions. Who would’ve thunk it?
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In Victorian England, Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is miserable once again. It’s been a few years since his partner, Jacob Marley (Gary Oldman), has passed away and the miserly old moneylender hates giving employee Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman) any days off, even if it is Christmas. When Marley’s ghost visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve, Marley warns him that his miserable existence must change unless Scrooge also wants to be miserable in the afterlife. Three spirits haunt Scrooge, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Together, they show the old man how he has wasted his life until that point and that a terrible fate awaits him if he does not repent.
