Digital Fortress

Dati, simpleng pa-cute effect lang sa text at chats ang “hehe”. Minsan, ginagamit ko yan para humaba yung sentence pag feeling ko bitin. At ngayun, ang “hehe” can also mean “no comment”. Madalas ko mapansin yan sa mga chat lalo na pag naka YM mo bigla yung mga classmate mo nung elementary. Pag medyo awkward na ang usapan, mag-he-”hehe” ka na lang. Pag hindi ka makarelate sa sinasabi nya or wala ka lang talagang comment sa last statement nya…isang sagot lang…”hehe..”

Pero sa mga nakaka-chat ko, parang understood na yun e. Pag nag-”hehe” ka na, usually, end na yun ng conversation unless nag open-up ka (or sya) ng bagong topic. Kaya minsan, nasasawa na ako mag-”hehe”…”haha” naman para kunyari natatawa ka kahit hindi.

Wala lang. May times kasi na naiirita na ako sa ”hehe” pero I still can’t live without that magic word. Hehe…(’ta mo!)

At least nga ginagamit lang sa text or chat yun e. Imaginin mo na lang kung sa actual conversation yung ginagamit. Parang weird…

Many people are actually complaining about PLDT’s “crappy” Broadband Services on their blogs. Konti lang yata ang nagpe-praise about the service. Well, recently, nagpa-broadband na rin kami and so far, wala pa naman akong angal. Download speed can reach up to 120 kbps depending on the site kaya wala na akong pake kung san ako mapuntang site. I felt more freedom on web surfing than ever before. Kaya ni-grab ko na yung opportunity na magdownload ng movies via bittorrent.

During those dialup days, ni hindi ko nga alam kung ano yung bittorrent e. At wala akong balak alamin kasi alam kong hindi naman ako magbe-benefit dun. Pero ngayun, yung mga movies na hindi ko mahagilap sa mga bangketa, nakikita ko sa bittorrent sites. Ang saya-saya naman.

Ngayon, mapapanood ko na after 10 long years, ang classic zombie cult film ni Peter Jackson na Braindead (or Dead Alive). I’ve been wanting to see it again ever since napanood ko yun sa birthday party ng classmate ko nung Grade 5. I considered it my favorite movie then. Pero ngayun, mapapanood ka na ulet. Yung lawnmower scene na lang talaga ang naaalala ko dun e.

Thanks to PLDT’s excellent service. Sana naman hindi ito ningas cogon na one month/two months lang mabilis. I guess depende na rin to sa location e. Nung nasa Munti pa kami, maximum speed ng dial up namin dun e…33.6 kbps lang. Pero nung lumipat kami sa Makati, umabot sya ng 45 kbps. Swertehna lang talaga siguro.

They say that you can never forget your first IMAX experience so when I learned that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be shown at IMAX 3D at SM Mall of Asia, I didn’t hesitate to reserve a ticket even it comes with a hefty price of Php400 each. The weekday mornings are cheaper by Php50.

So does IMAX theater at SM Mall of Asia really worth the price? I don’t think so. It’s overpriced. It should have been P250 or P300 only. They are bragging the so-called “IMAX experience” to sell more tickets. So what really is the “IMAX Experience”. Well, just upon entering the theater, you’ll be amazed on how big the screen is. But even before the movie starts, I was wondering how can I see the whole picture on that super large screen? Whenever there is a wide shot, you have to scan the screen from left to right (or up to down) to see what is happening. That is true during action sequences or even dialogue scenes where the each character is on the opposite side of the screen. Read more »

Sa lahat ng tinatanong ko kung maganda ba yung movie o hindi, ang sagot lagi nila sa akin: “Ok lang”. And it was also my response when my sister asks me how was the movie. Sabi nya: “Ay okay lang? Siguro panget…”

Well, not exactly. It’s not too good and it’s not too bad. Many people (mostly non-readers of the book) will be disappointed if they compare OotP to the two previous movies which are both equally impressive. This movie is a decent adaptation of Rowling’s longest novel. I like how they trim the story in just 2 hours and 15 minutes. Personally, I thought that book was overly long and it could have been shorter. I also think Rowling realizes that there’s not enough action moments in her book so she throws in this battle at the Ministry of Magic in the final chapters to compensate. That is exactly how it played out in the movie. No more big action scenes like the one we expect in a summer movies. The main focus of the film is Harry’s emotional journey and how he handles the present situation. He is taking more responsibility in his actions and he’s now on his own. And I have to say that Daniel Radcliffe impressed me more than the previous films especially on the scene where Voldemort possessed his body near the end.

The new director isn’t the one to blame if some people were disappointed. I guess it’s in the source material. I always thought that Rowling slows down the story by making the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe that Voldemort’s back. Maybe it’s her way of making the series longer so it will last until Book 7.

I wasn’t even disappointed in this film. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the movie that disappointed me. But in this movie, I’m a bit prepared of what should I expect. What makes this film special is the realization of the character of Professor Dolores Umbridge. Imelda Staunton fits perfectly and totally upstaging familiar characters. She’s not the typical Ms. Minchin teacher but rather ’sweet’ and ‘pink’. Alan Rickman’s Snape doesn’t fail to impress me either. His one-liners are the best.

With just almost two hours, they managed to capture the atmosphere of the film but there are times that I felt that some moments were too abbreviated. The “Snape’s Worst Memory” part is too fast that I can’t hardly breath during that little clip. It would be very interesting if they lengthen it. I really like the little flashbacks from the previous films. They were effectively used in the final moments in the Ministry of Magic (”I feel sorry for you…You can never learn love..and friendship”).

Next year, I think mid-November, the 6th installment will be released and David Yates will once again helm the director’s chair. I would have love if other director to step in for the project or Alfonso Cuaron to come back…

For me, Transformers is still the most entertaining movie of the year. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix lacks the action that we expect but is actually a decent addition to the Potter franchise.

RATING: (out of 10)
Stone: 7
Chamber: 6
Azkaban: 9
Goblet: 8
Phoenix: 8

Whew. Matagal-tagal din akong nawala sa internet world. Panu ba naman kasi, yung PLDT phone installation namin, inabot ng 3 months bagi kami makabitan. As a result, 3 months ding nakatunganga itong Opera browser ko at ang outdated kong antivirus. Kaya ngayung may dial-up connection uli ako, libreng-libre uli ako mag-internet ng walang Websense on the way (hindi katulad sa workplace).

So right now, masaya ako dahil permanent na ako dahil naka-six months na ako sa company. So anong ibig sabihin nun? Pwede na ako maging pasaway! Nyeheheh. Nagkaroon na rin ako mag-update ng Wordpress theme and this time, iniba ko lang yung color scheme. Binase ko sa colour scheme ng company namin at nagkataon pang colour scheme din ng upcoming Harry Potter book. Sa loob ng six months, madami dami na rin ako naipundar sa bahay lalong lalo na sa aking pinakamamahal na PC. Hard drive upgrade na lang ang kulang before ako makuntento. In fact, nire-ready ko na yung PC bago kami magpakabit ng broadband.

At dahil unti-unti ko na nang na fi-feel ang ownership ng PC ko, parang ang damot ko na. Parang ayaw ko na pagamitin yung mga kapatid ko. Ni hindi man lang kasi marunong mag-cover ng keyboard pag hindi ginagamit. Nakakaasar. Ganun pala talaga ang feeling pag ikaw na ang bumubili ng gamit. Tulad ng isa kong friend, hindi ko pa rin feel na employed na ako. Hindi ko pa rin fully absorbed na “eto na, may trabaho na ako, employed na ako”. Feeling ko pumapasok lang ako sa school at kailangang pumasok ng maaga at mag-abang ng 15th or 30th of the month to withdraw money on the ATM machine. Maybe it’s a good thing kasi hindi mo feel na pressured ka or maybe it’s a bad thing dahil hindi ka seryoso sa trabaho mo. I don’t know, basta sumusweldo ako, yun ang importante..Wahaha.

I’ve never been a fan of the original Transformers cartoon series. Hindi ko na nga maalala kung nakanood ako nung mga episodes nun. Ang naalala ko lang e mga Shaider, Mask Rider Black, Bioman, Cedie, Princess Sarah, Tom Sawyer etc. Anyway, I immensely enjoyed Michael Bay’s Transformers. And I think it will definitely appeal to non-fans as well thanks to the inputs of Steven Spielberg (as an executive producer) and lead actors Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox.

I guess Shia LaBeouf is the male counterpart of Rachel McAdams in terms of the number of movies he’s appeared in a span of like a week. Shia starred in three summer movies like Disturbia, Surf’s Up (voice) and later on Indiana Jones 4. I was surprised to learn that he was born a day after I was born (June 11, 1986)…haha..wala lang.

His love interest is the newcomer Megan Fox. She’s sexy, bad-ass and has a wild look on his eyes. I’m sure audiences will really go “ohmigawd!!” too during that particular scene.

There are still typical Michael Bay shots here and there like helicopters swinging around the desert, military base camps and high-ranking officials in their command centers yelling cliched commands to aircraft pilots in the field. The weird thing about this Michael Bay flick is the non-appearance (only his socks) of the President of U.S. which I am really grateful.

The most amazing thing about this movie is of course the robots! Transformers continously wows me with its incredible special effects.The complexity of a single transformation of each of the Autobots or Decepticons is not meant to be viewed only once. It has this ‘repeatability’ factor that is very suitable for the DVD’s rewind function. There are so many moving parts that you can’t catch in one viewing which makes this movie spectacular. It is so believable that I didn’t notice any fake-looking CG element in the whole film even though I was really trying my best to spot them in some scenes. It works seamlessly! I think this movie will definitely raise the bar (yet again) in CG technology. As one reviewer puts it: “It’s like seeing the bullet time effects in The Matrix for the first time.” It’s really a different “experience” to see it on big screen especially during the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons. Nice sound work here. Metal on metal clanking to each other plus a terrific score from Steve Jablonsky. Although there are times that I got confused on who’s fighting who…who’s that on what…it’s a bit nauseous at times but I guess that’s what it’s really all about!

I watched this movie with fellow officemates as it is sponsored by a our company. And it’s a rewarding experience to watch with them. Minsan lang ako nakanood sa sine na pinalakpakan talaga yung film not only in the end but during the comedic moments and eye popping visuals. Nung nanood ako ng Spiderman 3 sa G4, one guy actually started to clap pero walang sumunod sa kanya. Pahiya. After the movie, I told my officemate: “Sulet na sulet kahit libre ang ticket”. And that’s saying na if I actually pay P170 for this movie, it was really well spent.

This is no doubt the best summer movie of the year. It appeals on all ages and it brings the kid on each of us. This is way, way better than t disappointing Spider-Man 3 and all other movies this summer. If I can rate all summer movies I saw, it would be like this:

1 Transformers
2 Shrek 3
3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
4 Spider-Man 3
5 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

I have yet to see Ratatouille and of course, my most anticipated movie this year, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on IMAX!

RATING: 9/10