Echelon Conspiracy

I watched Echelon Conspiracy the other day (in the office) and all I can say is...

Shane West is soooo cute! Lolz.

Okay, okay that sounded stupid but I don't have much in my pocket to give for the film-if you get the drift. Although I think the beginning of the movie is a bit interesting, as the film rolled, I went "ah ok" all the while disappointment slowly crept in. Among other things, the car chase scenes in Moscow are pretty dragging and should have been cut. And then near the end, the scene where the main character Max (played by West) was talking with a computer is unbelievable, maybe even hilarious.

But other than that, I choose to not say anything. *wink* And really, Shane West is too cute. Hehe.

Changeling

I saw the movie Changeling, which stars Angelina Jolie, last night and I couldn't help but shed tears. I actually thought I won't do that but down at the end, in the scene where another lost boy who was found was interrogated, hearing the boy say "I miss my Mom, I miss home" got really to me.

This is a late blurb but I gotta say I love the film. Every mother should watch this one. I love the story, setting and costumes - although I can't help but notice that Christine Collins (Angelina) wore the same coat after 5 or so years. A movie about love, hope, courage, friendship and motherhood, I think Changeling, based on a true story, is one of the brilliant movies Angelina has made.

Read the plot from here.

Shopaholic - Not,! I Think

Despite being too busy these past few days, I was able to sneak a little time for myself to watch The Confession of a Shopaholic -in the office. *wink* Well actually I didn't initiate that - a colleague played it and so I watched. *hmmp, excuses!*

Anyway, it was a fun flick. Perfect for a day when you just want to relax -and the windmills in the head. The plot is not complicated -am sure had I watched it when I was in highschool, I would have appreciated it more. Not that I was a shopaholic in HS. But it's the plot, I'm talking about.

Anyway, although not totally, I can relate to the euphoria one gets when shopping. I understand the feeling of exhilaration going to the counter and paying and finally clutching the bag of goods in my hands. But I don't do that often.

Anyway, for fun I took this shopping test online and here's what it says about me (again I'm taking this just for fun, nothing more).

You Are a Discount Shopper

You love to get things as cheaply as possible. You live for sales. It's partially because you like to save money, but it's also because you like the thrill of finding a fabulous deal. Of all the types, you tend to shop frequently but rarely by. You keep an eye on prices. Brand names are not that important to you. You know how to have style without collecting designer tags.

What Kind of Shopper Are You?

Powerful Multimedia Software

Don't you just wish to have an all-in-one software for file conversion, ripping, burning and audio/video editing?

Well, here it is. The name is Blaze Media Pro. It is a powerful all-in-one multimedia application that can do so so much!



For Audio conversion, file supported are MP3 to WAV, WMA, OGG and vice versa. Also supported are CD/MIDI/DVD Audio conversion to WAV, WMA, OGG and MP3.

Moreover, video editing is available for AVI (uncompressed and compressed using any available codec), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, WMV, and ASF. Comprehensive video editing options are also provided (delete frame, delete selection, crop, resize, rotate, mirror, flip, trim, text overlay, adjust audio volume, etc.) plus an extensive list of over 30 effects and color adjustment operations to allow for powerful video enhancement and alteration.

Why not test the trial version now?

Terribly Wanted

Activity was barely existent in the office and so we had the chance to watch WANTED tonight.

Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy, Wanted is a story about a transformation of an ordinary account manager who found out that his father who left him when he was an infant has been murdered. This father was a member of the Fraternity of Assassins, a group that exterminate people from the face of the Earth based on the name (target) the Loom of Fate comes up with. Taken into the Fraternity's leader's wing, this account manager was trained and was transformed into an assassin.

If you wanted to see bullets that defy the law of physics, watch Wanted.

Barely 5 minutes into it and I had decided it's a horrible movie. I'm sorry but I had to say it's really horrible.

But halfway into it, I begun to see past the almost unreal scenes and I realized that the unreality of it all brought more than a smile on my face.

It's a terrible movie. But.

P.S. I Love You

Activity in the office was relatively slow yesterday and so I had a chance to -- guess what? -- watch a movie again.

And it's a lovestory! Weeee heee. Being a sucker of romantic tales, you can just imagine how secretly excited I was when my male officemate only said in a flat voice, "it's a lovestory" after I asked whether it's a good one. * But of course, I tried to mask my excitement*

Anyway, PS. I Love You, which stars Hilary Swank (Holly) and Gerard Butler (Gerry), is a story of a young widow named Holly who discovers that her husband Gerry left her messages to help her get through her mourning. And help her start a new life.

It's a total tearjerker and it touched me. It actually planted what-ifs in my mind. Although the concept about "those letters" seem unbelievable and not realistic, I was carried away with the story. And what do you expect from a wuss like me? It won't be shocking to know that I cried - as in CRIED - while watching it. I was silently crying right there in the office. And I would have unabashedly cried more if I wasn't sharing the room with two other companions who were busy doing technical stuff.

When I went to the CR after seeing the end of the movie, I saw that my eyes were swollen and red. What a wuss! So my say about P.S. I Love You is it's an eye stinger. :-)

What's In A Name?

I’m aware that names have special meaning and significance to them. Example, it is said that Abraham means “father of many” and Abraham did become the father of his people. David also means “beloved” and indeed, he’s loved by many.

But I didn’t know that even manga characters have special meaning to their names. Example, from the Japanese manga BLEACH, Ichigo Kurosaki’s name means “First Guardian” or “He who protects. (Now, it would be interesting to find out whether he really could protect the world from annihilation.) So then, if I were to choose a powerful name (like one for a superhero or manga character), I’d pick my name to be Jada Yagami. Jada because I love shades of green (jade) and Yagami from another Manga character. How about you, what would it be?

Want to learn more about manga characters? You may start by watching Bleach the Movie. It will be available in selected US movie theatres on June 11 and 12. Purchase of tickets maybe done online –by providing your zip code. Maybe it’s time to go and check it out.

The Vantage Point

I had the chance to watch Vantage Point, which stars Dennnis Quaid, a couple of weeks or so ago in the office. (C’mon… Please don't ask me why I was able to watch it in the office. Wink.)

Although I enjoyed it, I really wasn't too impressed with the story. The plot, which revolves around the assassination attempt of the US President while attending a summit in Spain, was promising but I just am not convinced with some of the scenes. Okay it’s just a movie but aren’t scenes in the movies supposed to look convincing? Aren’t they supposed to get the audience involved in the characters? It didn’t happen to me though.

My favorite charming blunder is the “he-doesn't-even-look-like-me" double of the President. It’s actually a line I’ll always remember and associate with the movie – although I believe it’s a line to reinforce the existence of a body double. But indeed, the double doesn’t look like the president. at. all. Not an iota.
To me, it’s ridiculous to get a double that doesn’t look exactly like the President (in the story). They could have at least attempted to make the double look like the President. Ever heard of prosthetics? But I can see there was none of that.

But in the end, I had to accede that it was cleverly done. You won’t miss what the story is all about as the movie replays relevant scenes at a different perspective or vantage points. (For awhile there, during the second replay or perspective, I had the fleeting thought that I must have mistakenly pressed a rewind button or that I had a not working copy.)

Dreadful Notebook

After the repeat of Nightmare Awards, guess what I’m getting? Death Note! Waaaaaa! I’m only a nice girl who only loves to blog and then I get this? What’s going on?

Okay, okay it’s not a death note for me and I haven't experienced anything supernatural so far.

But it’s the DeathNote the movie that I meant. Based on the hit supernatural action-mystery manga, Death Note is an offering from NCM Fathom and Viz Pictures to horror-movie fans out there. It is about a notebook which a Shinigami death god named Ryuk dropped and which a student named Light Yagami found and vowed to use to rid the world of evil as any human whose name is written on it eventually dies.

Interested already? It will be available in selected US movie theatres on May 20th and 21st. Purchase of tickets maybe done online –by providing your zip code. Go check it out.

Frontier(S) Uncut And Unrated

VERB Advisory: I advise everyone reading this now to please bear in mind that what you will be seeing is a trailer of a horror movie and some of the images as well. So unless you are ready to watch it, please don’t click any of the links. If you have a child with you, please exercise caution.

This morning, I have seen the Trailer of the unrated and controversial movie Frontier(S). It’s so gruesome to me. No kidding, I mean it’s maddeningly scary. So over the edge. With all the blood, it IS just gross. But then scary movie is not really my cup of tea. However, most of my friends in the office love to watch horror movies. When they would invite me to watch this kind of films and I decline, I do get a good ribbing sometimes. It’s nothing offensive though and I don’t mind.

It’s not yet shown in my place. But for US residents, you may check if the theater near where you live is one of the selected theaters to show this film on May 9. But if you’d like to bring horror viewing to the next level and watch this film in the comforts of your home, pick up an unrated and uncut copy of the Frontier(s). The DVD copy will be available on May 13^th.

Meet Penelope

I feel so lucky to have been able to watch three wonderful films last month, namely, The Bucket List, Great Debaters and Juno.

This month, I have yet to see more wonderful films. (So far, I’ve only seen Meet the Spartans but despite the fact that I had a fun time laughing while watching it, I just couldn’t put it in my wonderful category). But really, I hope the movies in my watch list turn out to be wonderful like the former three. Untraceable, for one. Then, there’s Cloverfield.

And Penelope. Yes, Penelope. (Promise me you’ll not laugh but I’m such a sucker for romantic tales. In fact, I never get tired of watching - or shedding tears while watching Scarlet Letter, Pride and Prejudice, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Last Of The Mohicans, to name a few, over and over again). I’m relatively positive that Penelope would fill my “romantic tales” need. Do you know why?

Because Penelope is a tale about love, betrayal, courage and friendship. It’s a story of a young girl named Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci), who is under a family curse that can only be broken if she finds love. So with her wealthy parents’ attempt at breaking the curse, she found herself in a frustrating situation of meeting suitors who seem more interested with her dowry rather than with her. And then she met Max (James McAvoy), a handsome down-on-his luck gambler who eventually falls in love with her but who betrays her with his sudden disappearance. Shattered by this betrayal, Penelope finally found the courage to break free from her family, to find adventure and live her life on her own terms and to become the person she’s meant to be.

Now, isn't that reason enough to get interested? Although I have a fair idea how it’s going to end, I just can't wait to see it and see how the story unfolds before my very eyes.