Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat


"Pu(*>#@%!!! Hindi ito Myth Class!!!"

When I was a kid, I remember watching these local shows on TV- movies and sometimes TV series- with some pretty wild shit. There were improbable, impossible stunts like the hero taking out two different targets with his last remaining bullet by placing a knife in front of his gun barrel. Or a guy becoming bulletproof thanks to a magical amulet. Or a gang of martial arts-fighting vigilantes dressed in matching red shirts and leather vests.
Weird funny shit, but also pretty cool in a way (though we'd never admit it). These were cult films, pulp action Filipino-style antics that could be seen as our own local version of Superheroes.

Superheroes and supervillains in denim jeans and jackets, bandannas, puruntong shorts, dusters, kamisetas and tsinelas without any capes, spandex or fancy-slick english code names in sight. Here, a hero can be named Berto and his nemesis could be that drunkard Roy down the block. Aling Nena the old fishball vendor could be a frickin' mangkukulam or sorceress for all you know. Jomar the taho vendor could be a half-demon in disguise. That's how it is here. In a word? Awesome.

But the World of Andong Agimat isn't a pretty, happy place. It's a bleaker, grimier, more seedy version of present-day Metro Manila (not even the flawed but hyper-realistic urban tableau he envisioned in Trip to Tagaytay). There is widespread poverty and garbage littering the streets, creeping about like a weird form of algae. To make matters worse, there's an alarmingly large amount of supernaturally-empowered individuals hovering about. Like gangs of goblin-like hooligans, unnaturally strong and quick gangsters and- most dangerous of all- a growing cult of almost diabolical, bloodthirsty and seemingly unstoppable cultists.



Into this world of super-powered crime and supernatural creatures steps in the titular Andong Agimat. A perpetually frowning protagonist whose eyes seem eternally hidden by his shadowy brows, Andong's quick hands with a gun and his invulnerability to bullets makes him the ideal occasional ally for the embattled police. But Andong is a drifter, a drinker and has his own ghosts to haunt him at night... crimes past and lost love. Obviously, Ando's not the ideal hero to lead a desperate battle to save a person of incalculable value from the stinking forces of evil, but hell, he's all the side of good has. So, he's gonna have to do. Bahala na si Batman.

Arnold Arre's latest graphic novel stands at over 200 pages- a pretty impressive work by any measure, and certainly one of the artist's more impressive showings. As always, Arnold's art is the first thing to notice- page upon page upon page of incredible panels full of bold, black and white lines, movement, action and characters jumping at you or from panel to panel. His art has improved once again (especially in action and fight scenes), though I gather that a lot of Andiong was actually made in the course of the past several years or so. As always, every panel is literally crawling with tons of detail and characters. It's such that you can pretty easily imagine the smell of the garbage and shit on the streets, or imagine the wonderful smell of characters like the pus-filled Big Bad slinking in the shadows. Once again, Arnold's mastery of ink and pen shows and then some.



To populate the metropolis is a cast of Arnold's most interesting character designs yet. Although Andong himself is admittedly just Arnold's own perpetual Hero-type Kubin (Myth Class) on a bad day, I find myself loving wilder, harsher designs like the skull-faced Hari ng Tondo, the malevolent and inaptly-named Jun Pogi and the fiery (literally) Tonyo Baga. Of course, it wouldn't be an Arnold Arre book without the BABES, and Agimat has them in spades, from lead heroine Silang and salamangkera Nara to uber bitch Satina and the incredibly cute speedster from Bicol, Mariang Tinik (Arnold's speedy characters are always damn cute). While Arnold's art is hardly manga, fan service is something I always look forward to and enjoy a lot in this one.



However, along with the welcome titillation is a heightened bit of violence and language, though while not blatantly presented is heavily implied... and this may raise an eyebrow or two among conservatives. I just hope that this doesn't restrict the book (though I dare say that little kids wouldn't get it anyway) or cause an uproar again like Tala's bare boobies in Myth Class.
Still on the topic of language, it cannot be ignored that Andong Agimat is written entirely in TAGALOG. In that, while I understand the story for the most part, some lines of dialogue, particularly the ones heavy with archaic Tagalese leave me bewildered and groping as to what the heck is being said. To be fair though, these lines are probably intentionally vague and you can usually understand through context.

That said, Agimat is not without flaws. While many sequences, particularly the opening scenes and pretty much all of the many action sequences, are brilliantly presented, the movement from one scene or stage to the next is sometimes a bit too leisurely given the urgent manner of the quest. Also, I question Arnold's decision to place the main hero away from all the action during not one but two crucial moments.

Given that there are so many things Arnold wants to show, say, express and explain, it's inevitable that there will be unwieldy moments and spots where the storytelling could have been more efficient, where clarity gets somewhat compromised. But these nitpicks are more than made up for the intricate and minute details poured into the panels, the almost cinematic way pages are presented and the action brought to still, yet moving, life. Yeah, it will take me a couple or may be more read-overs to get the whole thing but damn... this book looks so damn gorgeous that I don't mind.

Andong Agimat is undeniably again another spectacular epic rom Arnold up to the quality we've come to expect from such a passionate, prolific creator. The story is gripping and moves you to move page after page until the end, and even then you're left craving for more. As I've no doubt mentioned, the darn art is incredible and the detail is just crazy. This is also Arnold at his grittiest, which is something new to see, but not entirely off the rack.
It's still an Arnold Arre book, and that means there's still those Arnold Arre-ism that I've come to expect. Things like Good always winning over Evil in the end. Love conquering all. And the most darn awesome car-and-runner chases I've ever seen in comics.

Andong Agimat succeeds with the single act of bringing to life in language, theme, feel and design an incredible new world peopled by a pantheon of heroes and villains that are so visually striking, evocative and most importantly, undeniably Filipino. And it's a world that I definitely want to see more of.

In that, I'd readily say that it's my favorite of his works so far. Easily.

Andong Agimat is now available at comic book stores and good bookstores in Metro Manila (already confirmed to be in stock at Comic Quest Megamall), Tagalog language, Black-and-white art, 220 pages, Php400.00. If you love comics, run over to your comic store for your copy and enter the World of Andong Agimat. Now Na.

My Own Personal Agimat

Today I got my hot copy of Andong Agimat by Arnold Arre straight from the artist/creator himself! I feel very fortunate to be one of the select few to see the latest graphic novel from Arnold in advance, and I am dying to pull open the book and immerse myself in his new epic.
At more than 200 pages, Agimat dwarfs Arnold's Trip to Tagaytay in page count and is on par with After Eden, but short of the mammoth Myth Class volume. The book is also Arnold's first work in tagalog... I rarely hear Arnold TALK in tagalog, let alone write in it, so this will be something. As always though, Arn's distinctive art and character designs already mark this as a must-see for any fan of comics and graphic novels.

Expect a review as soon as I get to read my copy.

Andong Agimat by Arnold Arre will be out early this April at good bookstores and comic shops/stands in the Metro. Something to look out for.

Project Kris

Over the weekend I'll be starting a bit on Project Kris, which is a comics project which I will be writing for. It looks a bit daunting given that the stuff so far I have been given is a bit on the convoluted side- I'll have to do a bit of re-writing and setting down stuff to get everything into order and working as a cohesive and engaging comic book. I don't want to treat this as a job- the trick is to like it and do it like any of my personal titles, so I can get through it without letting details like having to deal with nitty gritties spoil the experience.

The trouble is, for starters, that it isn't a usual comic book that I do. Male hero, no special powers and probably no costume. But there's action aplenty and grittiness which is always interesting. And if all things go well, this job will fund my next book. Maybe I can treat it a bit like Powers. Or something like that. Anyway, more on this as I do it.

Shin Angyo Onshi



The title is surely a mouthful, but Shin Angyo Onshi is an anime movie that otaku would do well to check out. Just like the movie Wonderful Days (which I really haven't seen in its entirety), Shin Angyo Onshi is a Korean-made anime feature film. Based on the manhwa (Korean comics) of the same title, the movie is set in an alternate world in the aftermath of a great empire's collapse due to the death of the Emperor. As chaos and turmoil engulf the land, the only justice now left is in the hands of the Angyo Onshi, or 'Agents of the Empire' who dispense law by the power of their sacred/mystical seals.


Talk to the Badge.

Despite looking quite surly and cold, the wanderer Munsu is actually the titular Shin Angyo Onshi, or New Agent of the Fallen Empire. In fact, he seems to be extremely powerful given that he can use various magical abilities, not the least of which is the summoning of a phantom army to do his bidding.
The film actually has two parts, the first being the introduction of both Munsu and how he first meets his eventual follower/travelling companion/bodyguard Sando, a lovely and silent young woman who just happens to have almost divine skills in laying waste to any enemies stupid or brave enough to challenge her.


Sando AKA Death Incarnate in Bondage Lingerie.

The second part of the film deals with Munsu's and Sando's first adventure, which deals with a mysterious island where evil magic is afoot. The whole film then has the feel of being a pilot for an eventual anime series, not really closing anything but giving the impression of a whole lot of justice-bringing and butt-kicking to come.


These are actually the good guys, believe it or not.

Despite that, the film should satisfy with pretty slick animation, though slightly not the kind of quality you can expect from big budget Japanese anime. There's quite a bit of amazing fight scenes and accompanying fan service with Sando, whose outfit consists basically of skimpy bondage-type leather straps and strips of cloth wraps. Munsu on the other hand fills the bad-ass role as he uses guns (similar to Genjo Sanzo from Gensomaden Saiyuki). Both leads are pretty interesting characters- Munsu has a bit of an anti-hero bent as he can be quite cruel or even heartless with how he deals his justice... while Sando on the other hand despite being an unstoppable slice-and-dice killing machine still has a young girl's innocence and an irrational fear of crossing bridges. Hmm.

I can only hope that an actual anime series or more installments of the movie follow. Shin Angyo Onshi (or "Phantom Master") is not an easy-to-find title; I had to scour the land for weeks before I finally happened upon the source of my copy. Now it's on my phone for anytime viewing. HAHA! For everyone else, if you can, try to check it out if you happen upon it. It looks cool and is pretty good for an independent anime.

Zenzational!



Last Saturday I had the great fortune to be able to watch the second to the last staging of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah: The Musical at the CCP. Thanks to Carl Vergara, who happened to create, write and draw the awesome comic from which the play is based on, me, Budjette and Cams got to watch what I believe to be one of the best and most inspired comic-to-performance translations ever.
Interestingly enough, me and Cams actually almost came late to the affair thanks to heavy traffic on EDSA. Thankfully we were able to arrive shortly after the theater doors opened, and we were on our great second row seats (right behind actors Roderick Paulate, Cherrie-Pie Picache and screenwriter Ricky Lee as the show started.

The whole theater itself was surprisingly small- I don't know if there could have been more than five hundred people in the whole audience. The stage spilled out into an aisle between the audience and out into the exit area. The stage itself seemed sparse and I wondered how they would be able to visualize and bring to life a superhero comic. Did they succeed?

With effing Flying Colors.

I have to say that I have never, ever been to a play that had me laughing so much and so into the performances. Granted, this has special resonance for me being a beloved comic (I am such a big Zsa Zsa fan), but darn, I have to commend director Chris Millado, Musical composer Vincent de Jesus, comic adapter Chris Martinez and the rest of the play's production staff for such a vibrant, faithful and innovative translation of the original comic... I wholeheartedly believe that Zsa Zsa The Musical is just as viable a comic book-to-movie translation as any of the big budget superhero flicks. No, really. It's that darn good. How else can you describe a play that succceeds in visualizing montage panels, goes so much deeper into characters and actually improves on the already hilarious gags and dialogue from the comic? I found myself seeing comic panels brought to life right before my eyes again and again.

I have to applaude the entire cast, with special mention of Eula Valdez who not only looks SMASHING as Zsa Zsa, but impressed everyone with her POWERful singing voice and total performance. Then there's Agot Isidro as the villainess Femina Varoux who just gets the look down PERFECT, as well as keeping a straight face throughout all her entirely english dialogue... Tuqx Rutaquio as Ada (Zsa Zsa's alter ego) and Ricci Tan for being THE personification of the comic's Didi. Kudos and wholehearted applause to the rest of the cast and the members of the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company who brought this perfect play to life. Superheroes, brilliantly campy humor, Matrix martial arts, Giant Frogs, zombies, big hair, skimpy outfits... What's not to love? Abzolutely Amazing!

The only negative is the relative few people who have seen this gem. I know every single staging has been SOLD OUT, yet many many more people have not seen this show. I truly hope ZZTM gets a re-staging, and perhaps in a bigger venue. This play simply has GOT to be seen by more people. If you read comics you absolutely MUST see this play. Carl, congratulations for being the first contemporary comic creator to see your baby realized in perhaps the best way ever. WOOHOO!!!


Cams, Zsa Zsa (Eula Valdez) and one Happy MADman.


Carl and his superheroine with Budjette.

C means Cannon Fodder

It's tough to be a superhero these days. Particularly if you're a 'B' or 'C' Lister. This means you're not one of the big boys (and few girls) who bring in the big bucks for the comic book companies. Recent and upcoming events in the major comic book universes have so far had the alarming penchant for killing off their supporting or not-so-main heroes seemingly for shock value purposes.
I have the bad luck of liking books that feature such kinds of heroes. Take DC's Batgirl, which got cancelled, perhaps not in small part to the events of the current "Infinite Crisis" event. Yeah, Cassandra Cain's still alive but her future is as yet uncertain. In Marvel, it's even worse. In the latest issue of New Avengers, the Canadian super team Alpha Flight is apparently killed OFF PANEL. They don't even get the decency of a real cool final battle or death scene. What an ignoble end to a team that has been around almost as long as I have been into comics.
The New Warriors also seem to be headed for cannon fodder status, as they are apparently the ones who will be involved in the event that will directly cause the upcoming Civil War mini-series in Marvel. I particularly find the way the Warriors have been treated recently as distasteful to the extreme- they've been around as a group since the 90s, and haven't been given decent writing or art which could have made them a more viable team. I hope that they don't go the way of Alpha Flight though- if anything, the preview of Civil War makes me curious, so at least that aspect of the gimmick works. Sucks though if Namorita dies... Grrr.

Bah. Lousy DC and Marvel. At least I myself would NEVER kill off a character just for a cheap gimmick or to sell comics...



Okay, maybe not really NEVER but not often...

Kawaii


Let's do the dance of joy!

Isn't this just the CUTEST animated gif you've ever seen? Darn, it's adorable! I could just sit here and watch this little anime cutie dance on and on and on and on and on. Hehe. Dance! Dance!

Comicking

I know I haven't been able to post much about my comic works lately... the truth is, I've been so busy at work that I almost haven't been able to do much in terms of comics. In fact, I regretfully wasn't able to do a comics entry to the Fully Booked contest. GRRR. Maybe next year, I guess.

But the key word is ALMOST. Comics are what keep me sane, so the day I stop doing comics is the day I need to start looking for a straitjacket. Maybe. Anyway...

I'm still working on the 2nd issue of Kunoichi Boy. It's still in pencilling stage, but I've done more than a dozen pages and so this should be done soon. It's a more action-oriented issue this time, even more so than the first ish, but it should be fun. Hopefully this should be done by the end of March for release in Comic Quest.

I got myself a little comic job I'd like to call 'Project Kris' that I really can't talk about much- suffice to say that it will earn me a bit of cash (that I hopefully will use for a future comic) and it's something very very different from the stuff I usually do. I'll talk more about this when I am able, but suffice to say this is a very interesting project I'm glad to be able to do.

Finally, K.I.A. will finally be getting a bit more distribution thanks to Jamie and Nautilus Comics. Don't be surprised to see my favorite bikini-clad assassin babe elsewhere aside from Comic Quest in the next few weeks. WOOHOO!!!

That's that for now. Still working on the Last Angel Ace Story script. Ideas, ideas. So many ideas. Gotta filter. Hmmm. Moving on. Moving on.

Shakedown

Last night we were all at The Salt Mines when a pretty strong earthquake started. We all stared as the blinds on the windows began shaking, as well as stuff like a wind chime I hung at my workstation. For several moments the shaking continued and we just stared and continued our humorous banter... no doubt to keep ourselves calm. We were all on a high floor so it was only natural that the we'd 'enjoy' a prolonged shake. I wasn't particularly afraid... the building was pretty solid, and the quake not really that strong. But we felt it, and that meant it was significant. Several of the staff called home to ask if everyone was okay. Thankfully, this quake doesn't seem to have caused any damage. Just a bit of the shakes.

Walking in Dreamworld

Perhaps it was because of the fact that last week was particularly tiring, or perhaps it was because of my bad stomach... but I had particularly vivid dreams over the weekend. Two in fact were quite memorable and involved journeys into some weird worlds that could easily fit into some comic book or Sci-Fi show.

The first dream is pretty much a 'Trekkie' episode. I found myself appearing in this odd place which was in some ways primitive (adobe buildings, decadent tribal outfits and feasts) and in some ways modern (I eventually find out they have TV). I came into the place as a guest, with several others (who my companions were escapes me). We were allowed to walk around and stay in one of the adobe buildings as our residence. I found myself a bit depressed that there was no electricity and thinking of what I was to do in the place. Later, during a feast with some weird food, a traitor to the place was caught and executed on TV. Yikes. Luckily, before the inevitable part of such stories where we the visitors would outlast our welcome, I woke up.

The second dream started off normally enough- I was at a kind of photo shoot with my college friend. We were taking photos of several pretty models (yeah, only in my dreams) when I suddenly had the hankering for donuts. So I went out to get a box, with the odd recollection that there was a Donut Shop nearby. I soon found myself walking around in streets that seemed familiar yet alien. Ordinary streets soon became sinister as strangers soon began to give chase. I found myself crossing over into yards, grabbing sticks to ward off pursuers and to try to navigate around dead ends. It all felt like some PC graphic adventure game (those point-and-click puzzlers that I was never good at). At one point, I was even being pursued by Agents... yes, Agent Smith from the Matrix, who appeared strangely enough like 2-D images on a wall. ODD.
Anyway, I eventually find myself opening a door and entering what seemed to be a kind of residence/graphic design office/production house kind of building- very modern and multi-floored. There were people around, but like Solid Snake in Metal Gear I navigated around them to try and get out and continue my search for donuts. Eventually I find my way out but it only leads to more streets and still no sign of the elusive pastries.
Thankfully, my cellphone alarm woke me up soon after, and I was pulled away from Dreamtime back to reality. Darn, those were weird dreams. Weirder than usual.

Gosh, I wonder if I can have some donuts delivered?

RAW Tour

I'm really disappointed that I wasn't able to watch the WWE Raw Tour in Manila. According to some posts online and reports from fans on some popular wrestling sites, the show was a roaring success.
The Filipino crowd lives up to the hospitality of our race, and the audience cheered or gave 'pops' to all the performers, whether they were 'faces' (good guys) or 'heels'(bad guys). The biggest applause of the nights went to current WWE Champion John Cena despite some local boys joining in on the 'Hate Cena' fad going about. Also cheered greatly was funny, bushy-haired heel Carlito and his opponent, returning superstar Rob Van Dam who impressed all with supposedly the best moves of the night.
Another superstar to totally impress was Triple H, who despite being probably the nearest thing to the devil himself among the WWE's heels, made big impressions with his presence and attitude. A pleasant surprise of the tour was that the first night was apparently immortal superstar Rick Flair's birthday, which was celebrated by the audience singing, a cake being brought out by the lovely WWE Divas and a tribute to the 16-time World Champion by his best friend, Triple H.

Darn, I wish I was there. But then, I think that the ones who would really enjoy the show are the ones who could afford the ringside seats (which apparently cost about 10K a seat- YIKES). Still, it would have been great to join in big chants and stuff. Oh well. Anyway, I'll make sure to be present the next time the WWE returns to Manila, whether it's Raw or Smackdown. WOOO!

Rumblings

Since Thursday night, you could tell that there were bad things happening. There were whispers of a coup all week, and it was obviously going to come to a head during this year’s EDSA celebrations.
Even so, I had to go to work extra early on Friday, so I was on the road just after 6AM. By 7:30 AM I was at the office and getting set for the big presentation we had been prepping for all week at the Salt Mines.
The good news is that the presentation went very well. The bad news was that we learned that President GMA had declared a ‘State of Emergency’ by the time we were finished. Despite it all, we all leisurely headed for Greenbelt to have a celebratory lunch and enjoy the quasi-fiesta like atmosphere of a day full of rallies, riot police, coup paranoia and commuting nightmares.
The funny thing about a coup here in the RP is how people react. Often, masses of people gather to watch the soldiers duke it out, no matter the danger getting hit by a stray bullet or shrapnel. This time though there was little to worry about in terms of fighting- apparently the coup had been quashed before it had even begun. Still there was uncertainty and you could tell as everyone who had a mobile phone was texting away like crazy or calling to console their friend or family waiting on the other end of the line. Me? I was worried about how I was going to get home quickly enough to avoid the inevitable crush and gridlock that would clamp down on Ayala Avenue.
So as fast as I could (after lunch and some window-shopping), I hied off to the MRT station and took an extremely crowded train to Cubao and home.

It’s a bit with irony that Friday was the same day that the WWE wrestlers came to Manila, the same time that a political rumble started off in the country. What a great way to welcome the world-famous brawlers. Sigh.

Anyway, I’ll probably be staying home over the weekend thanks to the uncertain climate. Gives me a bit of opportunity to get some rest, do some comic pages and maybe catch up on some reading. Hey, at least that’s one bright side to all this coup nonsense.

Wrasslin'

Jack TV is my friend. Aside from finally giving previously unseen episodes of X-Play finally every weekend, It gives me so much wrestling every week. I get my WWE fix reasonably close to when it happens stateside (about two weeks delay). I've always been a WWE fan, so it is with quite a bit of disappointment that I won't be watching the WWE Raw Tour over the weekend. It would have been great to see old faves (Triple H, Sean Michaels) and new faves (John Cena, Carlito) in action, in the flesh, even thought it kinda sucks that the Smackdown guys won't be around.
But then again, I'd probably have only gotten the less expensive tickets, which would give me a seat that would make the huge wrestlers look like teeny-tiny action figures (videowalls and projection monitors regardless). Anyway, a friend of mine is going so I'll hope to get a review from her. And hopefully there will be reviews or reports on the Philippine shows online soon after the fact.

Hellish Fun


A bloody good manga.

Recently I've gotten myself addicted to the manga version of Hellsing. I've probably mentioned this title in the past- it's a horror-action series set in a dark, gothic England where creatures of the night are beginning to pop up all over the place like bad cavities on British people. To combat the bloodthirsty vampires and their resulting ghouls, the government turns to the mysterious Hellsing Institute. Led by the imposing Sir Integra Van Hellsing, a young but stern woman who inherited the post from her father, the soldiers and agents of the Institute set out to exterminate the undead scourge in the name of god and country.
Of course, a couple of things stand out in Hellsing. One is that the Hellsing Institute's 'trashman', or their most potent weapon against their targets is a vampire himself- Alucard, an awesomely powerful vampire whose terrifying powers are matched only by his loyalty to Integra (the reason for which should be revealed in the manga in time). Aside from Alucard, there's Victoria Celes, a young rookie policewoman and newly-created vampire (she was vampirified by Alucard to save her life from a vampire vicar in the first episode) who tries desperately to hang onto her humanity as well as getting used to her new undead existence. Oh, and there's of Walter, Integra's butler and former Hellsing trashman who's almost as deadly as Alucard despite being a normal human.
The second thing that you'll notice about Hellsing is that they take religion pretty seriously. Hellsing itself is a Protestant-backed organization, and that puts them into competition with the Catholic faith- embodied of course their opposite number on the Vatican's side: The sinister Iscariot Organization whose agents also work to stamp out undead in the name of Christianity. The competition between the two rival organizations makes for some pretty violent action and even some humorous banter (and insults), but you just know that when real evil makes it's appearance, these two parties will have to come together.
And Big Evil WILL indeed make an appearance, in the form of the enigmatic Millennium, a cabal of Nazi Vampires who are out to remake the world in their own fanged image. These are pretty cool villains previously glimpsed only in that awesome Hellsing MTV included in the US-released DVDs (the bespectacled guy in the shadows who mockingly claps Hellsing's efforts is the Big Boss), and includes a female villain named Rip Van Winkle- How cool is that? Heheh. Will there be any good, or at least humanity, left after all is said and done? We'll just have to see.

A cool extra in the manga is a side-story at the end of each book on the adventures of a pair of Iscariot agents: Gun expert Heiffer Wolfe and Yumiko, a shy nun who, when danger calls, unleashes a persona known as Yumie- a 'berserker' like swordswoman who can use a katana like a bloody Stradivarius. Radical.

Hellsing the Manga is a hellishly good read- it's a lot better than the original Hellsing anime (which diverged from the manga's story after the first several episodes) story and gets deeper into the characters. Integra in particular comes off as a bit kinder and more human in the manga than in her first anime appearance. The art is sharp though with parts looking a bit too cartoony particularly when Victoria's case. Still, this is a great manga with both black humor and action satisfying to the extreme. Anyway, I'm two book deep into the series, and three chapters are already lined up for reading (the series so far has 7 installments out).

You can get Hellsing manga graphic novels at Comic Quest or at Fully Booked. Anime enthusiasts can also look forward to a new Hellsing OAV (based on the manga) from Gonzo later this year. Lots of dark, bloody good fun coming very soon. Hoho!

Heroes Farewell


The sun sets on the best superhero animated series ever.

I've been a fan of Justice League Unlimited from the first episode I saw, and it tears my lungs out to know that this groundbreaking and dynamic series is now ending (or ended) with the 13th episode of the show's 3rd Season (as JLU). The third season, which should be known as the 'Legion of Doom' season, ends with a two-part finale that culminated with an invasion of Earth by the forces of the awesomely evil Darkseid and an alliance between the Justice League and their opposite numbers led by Lex Luthor.
It's really sad to see such a quality series go... a title filled with great storylines, outstanding action and fight scenes and tons of great vocal performances that truly succeeded in bringing to life the DC Universe. Easily, I consider Justice League Unlimited as THE Best US Cartoon ever. Kudos to the animators, writers and producers of this great show, and I hope that somehow, someday the JLU will somehow, someday return for more adventures.

Well, for now though, us fans have three great seasons of JLU (and two of the original Justice League cartoon) to always enjoy.

The Adventure Continues!

Ready for Battle



Recently, a couple of cool images have popped up online as Arnold Arre gets closer and closer to releasing his latest comic/graphic novel work. Entitled Andiong Agimat, this darker, grittier story from the author/creator of Mythology Class, Trip to Tagaytay and After Eden takes on the quest of the titular hero and other characters as they try to rescue someone from the grimy fingers of a menacing Metropolis. I've seen images which seem to refer to this story on Arnold's site, and it looks pretty cool- lots of dirty, polluted scenery populated by harsh, punkish characters with cyberpunk or pseudo-future designs. Of course, the heroes though are Pinoy through and through. It's been remarked that Agimat is very much distant from Arn's previous stories... I can't wait to see and review the finished book (waiting for my copy, Arnold! Hehe).
Andiong Agimat is set for an April 2006 release. Wait for it.

Upgrade Complete

Yesterday I finally went the big step and finished the other half of my home PC upgrade. Several months ago I turned my old PIII into a Pentium 4-powered beast. After that, my once-gargantuan 80 Gig-Hard Drive turned into a barely-usable 30+ Gig HD, for some reason. Well, with me doing video conversions and captures all the time, space is a big priority. So I hied off to Greenhills and got the remaining stuff to make my PC a viable tool again- a 200 Gig Hard Drive, new 64mb Video Card and a spiffy new case.
As always though, having your computer put together by hacks at the Computer Shop eventually results in things not working once we get it home and me having to fly in my tech support team (Andrew and Pot) to help me get things into working order. Well, it took us the whole evening but now, my Windows XP PC is looking and working fine.
Aside from all the work and effort, it cost me quite a bit too, all the day's expenditures costing me about 12K (that includes several Hellsing tpbs which I got instead of a DVD Drive... Heheh). Anyway, this should be worth it. I'm hopefully gonna do a lot of stuff with this baby. Yep. Till the next upgrade!

Portabrawls

Following the resurrection of Cassandra Cain... is the news of Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP. Yep, a Tekken title is headed for the Playstation Portable. No silly 2-D rip like Tekken Advance was for the gameboy advance... this is full-blown 3-D fighting, with PS2 quality looks and gameplay. TDR for the PSP will be based on the recent arcade upgrade Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. All the included characters, including newcomers Dragunov and Lili will be playable.

WHOA. A true, handheld Tekken. That's reason enough for me to buy a PSP. Well, let's see it happen first before I start grabbing one of them toys. Look for Tekken PSP to hit later this year. Now, if only Capcom would port SF3 Third Strike to PSP...

Ends and Beginnings


The cover to Batgirl #73.

I've been in a depressed funk recently thanks to the possibility that DC is killing off my favorite bat-femme, Batgirl AKA Cassandra Cain. Well, last night I finally got some closure with the final issue of the series.

I have to say that the ending surprised me in some ways, disappointed in some ways but in the end I got what I was looking for.

Issue 72 ended with Cassie obviously DEAD (that happens when someone shoves a knife through your chest). It also ended with a regretful Shiva taking Batgirl's body and apparently heading off to a nearby Lazarus Pit.

I had actually been running so many scenarios in my head... what if the Lazarus Pit fails to revive Cass? What is something stops Shiva from using the pit? What if Cassie emerges from the pit like the most recent dunkee, Mister Freeze's wife... a raving, insane and dangerous monster?

Well, to my mixed relief and disappointment, Cassie comes back from the dead via the Lazarus Pit with no more ill effects than a momentary urge to strangle Shiva. She calms down fast enough for the rest of the issue's revelations to unfold.

All throughout this final arc, readers have been teased on the identity of who Cassie's mother is. The latest speculation was that it was the deceased Carolyn Woo-San, sister of Sandra Woo-San AKA Shiva. But it turns out that the easy answer was the right one- Shiva is Cassie's mom. The revelation also shows how twisted Shiva really is- having the child and sparing the man who killed her own sister and then becoming a ruthless killer afterwards.

Finally, the two old foes- Cassie and Shiva- have their final battle. They fight, and the duel ends with a SNAP. I am shocked that they would actually kill off Shiva, a major Bat-villain, but then again she's been so overexposed lately she's long overdue for an absence. From how it was framed, this death looks to be permanent, but you never know- Cassie DID leave her body hanging over the Lazarus Pit, and bodies left hung tend to fall off eventually... I would much rather that Shiva stay dead though and pass the torch of the Deadliest Female Alive in DCU to Cassie.

Now where to? Cassie has obviously shed the Bat-mantle now, given the events in the finale. She's now simply known as Cain, the most skilled martial artist in the DCU. Obviously, such a powerful figure won't or can't be quiet or inactive for too long. I'm almost certain that Cassie will be joining Birds of Prey, which is great since I am already buying that title anyway.
Which leaves to question just who the upcoming 'Batwoman' is... and who the heck is wearing the Batgirl costume in the upcoming issues of Robin?

Anyway, all things said, I am finally out of my Batgirl depression funk. I'm probably gonna go off to get some Batgirl trades of the early issues, and the Batman: War Games TPBs. Sigh. Moving on, moving on. Heh.

Book Daze

Today, amidst a flurry of work that had me and my art director 3sha running from one end of the city to the other, we managed to find time to have about an hour to peruse the shelves of Fully Booked at Rockwell. All I can say is... DAMN. This was the first time I'd been at the place since it was moved from the ground floor up to the third (or fourth) floor of the Power Plant mall. The new FB branch is HUGE and covered with books from top to bottom. Needless to say, the bibliophile and graphic novel geek in me was slobbering in glee.

Unfortunately for my wallet, I found myself unable to resist grabbing up several books. I purchased three Blade of the Immortal books, and the first two chapters of the Hellsing manga. These five books alone cost me almost five thousand smackers. DAAAAAMN! But really, I could easily... EASILY... spend double or triple that amount in the place (well, at least I'd have a Fully Booked discount card then). There are so many things I want to buy. Hellboy. How To Manga books. Film books. Fantasy and fiction novels. Magazines. Even reprints of darn Hardy Boys and scabs of children's and young adult books were tempting me severely.

GYYYAAAAHHH!!!! All that and I STILL had the week's comics to get later in the day. GYYYYAAAAHHH!!!

Anyway, I finished up work and rushed off to Mega afterwards to get the phamphlet stuff- The LAST issue of Batgirl chief among the acquisitions, along with the latest issues of JSA Classified, Justice, New Avengers and a copy of Wizard Anime Insider. Lots of reading stuff. More money out from the ATM.

Well, I can't really complain. I don't really regret buying books and comics. These things, along with food, videogames, the occasional movie and pleasant conversation make life that much more pleasurable. Oh well.

Third Time's the Charm



I got to Comic Quest yesterday to grab my copy of Trese #3, but was told it was sold out. I had to buy the display issue, but it was worth it. Hey Budj, time to restock. Heh.

Trese is the supernatural/crime comic series by Budjette Tan and Ka-Jo Baldisimo. In the third issue entitled "Our Secret Constellation", Alexandra Trese is hot on the trail of a mysterious killer with unearthly powers... perhaps even more power than the supernatural investigator and her formidable henchmen, the Kambal, can handle.

I have to say, the idea and plot twist in this issue made me quietly go, "Whoa."

A ballsy story and a great homage rolled into one. My only gripe is that this story could have been longer, perhaps with more pages to thresh out the action which is a bit truncated. This story deserved more detail to the content. Heck, it could have been a 'Trese: The Movie' issue.

That aside, this is the best story yet in Budj and Ka-Jo's works, and a must-read for indie and local comic enthusiasts/readers. For a preview, you can check out Budjette's blog for the comic, here. Copies of the issues are available at Comic Quest Megamall.

Birthday Bash

Last night, the gang got together to celebrate the birthday of Jaime Bautista. The Nautilus head honcho and creator of Cast invited us all over to dine on pasta and KFC at his posh pad, which was a veritable display of cool action figures. There were cabinets filled with tons of great toys, but of course all of us could easily notice which hero really had Jaime's heart- Iron Man! The Geek in all of us surfaced when we all got to grab and try on for size a life-size Iron Man helmet (yeah, as Andrew would say, we were alll reeking of geeking at that point).
Anyway, the night was pretty cool with good food and good gossip and conversation before the party adjourned just after midnight. Coolness, Jaime! Let's do it again next year.

Strike Three


The Brotherhood is back for the finale.

There's been quite a bit of flack being thrown at X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Aside from the initial hubbub that ensued when former X-director Brian Singer left the set to work with DC's Superman Returns, there has since been great criticism of the third movie's script. SPOILER WARNING!
The third movie will supposedly be about a new serum that 'de-mutates' mutants, stripping them of their powers. This is apparently produced from the body of a mutant called Leech. This serum is the focal point of the conflict in X3, along with the resurgence of Magneto (Ian McKellen) and a much larger, more powerful Brotherhood of Mutants. Standing against them as well as being continually hounded by the government are the embattled X-men. What has caused uproar among fans is the supposed early death of Cyclops (James Marsden), a victim of the uncontrollable powers of a newly-returned and seemingly resurrected Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who eventually does an Anakin and turns to the Dark Side. Aside from Scott Summers, at least two other big name characters will supposedly bite the dust in X3. Hmmm.

Anyway, there are new members to the team that had only cameos in the previous installment, such as Colossus, Shadowcat and Jubilee. New to the films and making their debut are Angel and Beast (the latter played by Frasier's Kelsey Grammer).

Still, I'm waiting for this finale with excitement, despite the early negativity. Hopefully the final product will at least have action aplenty, including some mammoth scenes of carnage from Magneto (one of the films' best points). We're expecting X3 to hit in May 2006.

Issues and more Issues

Anyway, on the side, I've been pencilling pages for the 2nd issue of Kunoichi Boy. This all-new story (which wasn't dredged up from the foiled release in Questor Mangamania) has our heroes Jin and Mikoto sauntering into a quiet town... perhaps too quiet for a town. Well, there's something sinister going on in this sleepy little hamlet, and it's gonna lead to quite a bit of action before long. I'm intending for quite a bit of ninja girl-on-ninja girl/boy fighting in this one, so it should be pretty fun. I'll see about getting this issue finished and out on the Comic Quest rack in a month or two.

Meanwhile, you can check out the latest issue of Budjette Tan's supernatural series, Trese! The third issue is now available at Comic Quest, and so far I've heard good things. Budj is getting better and better with his dark heroine, and the art by Ka-Jo is as cool as always. I'll be sure to pick this up when I get the chance, and I think you guys should too!

Overtime

It's past midnight and we're still in the grind, shooting the TV commercial. Circumstances forced us to leave the southern mall and continue the rest of our shots in the confines of a studio. Unfortunately, the act of uprooting and setting up again ate up a lot of time. So now, it's early in the morning of the weekend and I'm still on the job. Should be done in an hour or two though... which should mean I'll be in bed by about 3AM or so. Gosh, I need some shut-eye. Oh well. It's a living.

Shooting South

The past two days have been spent on a TV commercial shoot down south, in the very nice Alabang Town Center. I seldom ever come this far south, which is a shame since the sprawling mall/shopping complex is really cool... literally. There are so many big trees around the plaza area, it reminds me of the ol' college campus of UP. It's a nice place to relax at as well as shop and dine.
It was fun to just walk around and window-shop during lulls in the shoot, and a I ended up buying a couple of magazines to take home. Anyway, it's been a smooth, relatively problem-free shooting, thanks to a pretty great production house (which kept us well-fed and served throughout, even having our own air-conditioned tent! Yipee!). We'll be wrapping up the thing this evening and I'm looking forward to a restful weekend. Fun work is still work. I'm pooped.

Feeling Nutty

On a whim, I had a very different kind of dinner the other day. I went to NY Diner (or something like that)at the Food Court in Cubao's Gateway Mall and tried their Bacon-Banana Peanut Butter and Jelly Twister sandwich. This is very similar if not the same sandwich that was supposedly THE favorite of 'The King' himself, Elvis Presley (who reputedly ate several sandwiches in single sittings).

How does a bacon-banana-peanut butter and jelly sandwich taste like? Actually... NOT BAD. Weird, definitely weird... and I really felt pretty queasy eating something that seemed to be a cross between a savoury and sweet concoction. But the bacon was there, the banana sort of quelled the otherwise very sweet peanut butter and the jelly was just... there. All in all, I felt strange eating it, but a day later I am actually not averse to repeating the experience. No, I'm not craving it, but I'm quite ready to eat it again. Though probably next time as a snack, and not dinner.

Oh, and I probably won't be eating this too often... knowing how Elvis ended up. Heh.

Jackpot

After weeks and weeks of searching, I finally bagged a copy of Munich, the latest Steven Spielberg flick. As I've maybe written about before, it's a real-life cloak and dagger film about the events initiated by the murder of Israeli athletes by Black September during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Particularly, it centers on the five MOSSAD agents sent to assassinate the ones perceived to be responsible for the crimes, and on the personal cost that service to God and country takes on the actual men who pull the triggers or press the detonator switches. It's supposed to be pretty violent and holds little back, doing for espionage films what Saving Private Ryan did for war movies. Been waiting for this for some time, and I'm gonna watch it asap. The film stars Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy), David Craig (Tomb Raider, the next James Bond), Goeffrey Rush (Pirates of the Carribbean, Mystery Men), Ciaran Hinds (Rome) and more.

Also got copies of Zathura (Jumanji in space!), Doom (why not...) and King Kong, which I amazingly have NOT yet seen, Peter Jackson epic regardless.

Nice stuff to watch. Hopefully I'll have time to see them all soon, despite a big shoot coming on me in the next couple of days. We'll see.

Bogus Bento

Recently I saw the new KFC commercial about the new KFC Chicken Tempura meal (ninja-like waiter serves the dish shuriken-style), and when I got the chance to dine at the prime chicken place, I was set to order it. However, when I looked at the menu, my eye was caught by the new 'bento meal', which seemed to have the chicken tempura and a couple of extras.

Well, I ordered it and lo... I got this styrofoam package containing a meager serving of spaghetti (about three forkfuls), 2 pieces of chicken tempura, rice and a brownie.

This is probably the most un-bento bento I have ever seen. Well, the food wasn't bad but presentation-wise it was pretty crappy. It looked like those handout meals you give volunteers or extras on a TV shoot. Bleh. Just goes to show you that you should never go to a chicken place when you're in the mood for Japanese. I think.

English Dud

I remember months and months ago, I was dreaming of watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, devouring every trailer and snippet of information. Then, some time later, the Japanese DVD came out, and the movie became available online. Later, it became available on VCD and DVD locally.

These days, I either have the whole movie or the best scenes loaded on my mobile for anytime viewing. Yeah, I am a softie and sentimental goof, and I just love the world of Midgar.

And STILL the darn english dub isn't out yet.

Yeah, it's amazing but the US still doesn't have their version of Advent Children out yet. Delay upon delay has moved the release date back again and again. Ads for the DVD and UMD have come out in recent magazines, but still the movie isn't out yet.

The latest announcement has it coming out 'before 2006 ends'.

They say this is due to the development of supplemental materials (extras) for the release. Darn, those had better be damn good extras. Anyway, I'm sure the disc will be a hit on release regardless of the fact that, oh, everyone has seen the film already by now. Anyway, I'll be getting it as well, but man oh man, is it late or what? Sigh.

XPedience

I finally made the jump from using Windows Me to Windows XP last night. Of course, being the PC noob that I am, I needed to bother my brother just hours before he had to rush off to the airport to get the stuff started. Afterwards though, I had to find my way through the rest of the installation myself. Still, after a bit I finally got the PC working on XP and already it's working far better than before. I had delayed going XP for the longest time since my old Video Capture Card only worked on Me... but with my new AV700 doing all my video capturing, that was no longer a reason.
My only glitch now is the weird way that my 80-Gig Hard Drive suddenly turned into a miniscule and only-barely adequate 35-Gig one. I'll probably upgrade to a bigger HD and have a nice new case for my PC (which sports a new Pentium 4 chip) very soon. Gotta start making the plans on that.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Early this morning, at about 4:00 AM, I got up after about an hour's worth of shut-eye to join the trip to the airport to see off my brother and his two little girls.

In two vehicles we went convoy style, a van with most of the family and 3 balikbayan boxes, and a car with my bro and his friends. The two girls, Pam and Pat, sat with two of their cousins in the rear seat of the van, while me, my parents and my sister and her husband sat up front before them. We engaged each other in various conversation, but it was impossible to ignore the girls in the back seats as they alternately laughed and cried. The cousins were naturally very close and I guess is was finally dawning on them that it would be a while... a long, long while, before they conceivably would meet again. My mom tried to cheer them up continually with jokes that if she won the Lotto, we'd be there to visit in the US in a second.

We got to the airport and it was a blur of motion then. We unloaded the boxes, and quick farewells were given. Me and my brother hugged and he told me to take care of our parents. The girls were almost speechless and could only half-smile and hold back the tears as they went off into the terminal and on to the future.

The long drive home was brightened only slightly by a breakfast from McDonald's. But of course, all of us had our own internal thoughts.

I didn't shed any tears, but I felt the leaving inside. I'll miss having the kids around and pestering me (a bit). I'll miss having my brother around and being a kindred fan of tech, toys, games and dvds. In a way, we were always distant, but in many other ways we were so very close.

Of course, being far away need not mean out of touch. I'm going to have to keep busy soon, fixing up my mom with the PC my brother left behind, getting a broadband internet connection so we can keep the lines of communication close. Darn, I feel like I'm in one of those telecom ads. Well, it's only now that I finally identify with those maudlin commercials.

By now, they're probably halfway there. Good luck and God Bless, Jun, Pam and Patricia. I'll see you all again someday.

The Night Before

Tomorrow morning, my brother Jun and his daughters Patricia and Pamela will be flying off to the US, where they will be reunited with Jun's wife Mylene. Conceivably, we may not be seeing them in the flesh anytime in the near future. I've never really been overly emotional or sentimental, but I will miss them. Even if the kids drive me crazy every time they invade The Sanctum, the house will be a slight shade less lively without them.

When my sister and her family leave in a few months (maybe) for Canada, it'll be just me and our parents left to live in the country. I don't see myself flying off and leaving Metro Manila behind anytime soon, so I'll be around for a while. Things are going well anyway... and hopefully they'll stay that way. All we can do is just hope for the best, take on every test and let God do the rest. And all that jazz.

The Only Constant Thing

Sometimes... no, many times, I wish that you could just stop time and preserve a status quo forever.

You reach a point where everything seems right, you're having so much fun and you wish it could all just go on forever. Well, maybe not forever, but for a while. I think that's a sign that you were or are happy. That you've found contentment with the things around you and you could just stay there in that pocket of eternity for the duration.

But that really isn't possible, is it?

Time marches on regardless of how people feel or act or decide to act. Change comes relentlessly, either as a thief in the night or as a marching band blazing on at full volume. Whether it's a shock or a whisper, change enters our lives and the effects are things that we must deal with in order to continue living.

A lot of things have been happening lately. These events have rocked my world in significant ways. The most distinct recently was the fact that my friend Vin, the genial and jovial shopkeep of Comic Quest has entered a new chapter in his life... and that chapter apparently does not involve him being the CQ shopkeep anymore. It's a big thing, considering that 'The Store' has been more or less the center of my social life for the past, oh, six or seven years. Now, it's no longer that... it's just the place where I get my comics every week. Weird. Really weird.

But this shock of a change isn't the only thing that has hit me in terms of the gang I run with. Lately, we haven't been going out as much. The Saturday Night Outs that we once looked forward to as oasis of discussions, creative mixers full of laughter, anecdotes and experience-sharing aplenty are now few and far between. As people grow older, it seems, they grow more focused on their own interests and their own paths. Some people have left us seeming for dead. Some are about as rare to find as chicken teeth. Others are there but might as well not be.

Don't get me wrong. We still meet, and I still look forward to each time we do. Just not as religiously. Perhaps when some creative urge, opportunity or project appears and beckons, perhaps the old magic will well up and like Musketeers in hiding from Cardinal Richelieu (sorry, I saw it on Star Movies last night), we'll take up our swords and uniforms once again and meet all for one and one for all.

But damn.

Do I miss the days when we didn't NEED to have a hopeless cause or a ridiculous project to rally around to meet each other. When we just enjoyed to meet because of each others' company. When it was enough to just talk and laugh about things for little or no reason aside from it was just for the sake of talking about it.

Maybe we're just getting old. Nah.

That's the way it is, isn't it? You just try to fit in as well as you can. Even if you don't really fit in, you try to give what you can because that's what friends are for. To be there when it counts, or to just be there, period. That's all there is to it. This is as good as it gets.

There are stories to tell and lots of things still to do. I believe this. I really do.

It's just that if I knew that it would all come to this, I'd have recorded and videotaped all those nights out we had before. Archived them on optic disc or memory crystal and put them in a safe at The Sanctum, where I can just bring them out and try to find warmth in the memories for just a little while.

Damn. That's pathetic.

Again, the point of this post. Change happens, like shit. It happens and there's not a damn thing we can do about it but roll with the punches. Change anything that's wrong with you and keep on trucking. Move on as others move on and just find a place where there's more heat and warmth to partake of.

Because while there's really no point in crying over spilt milk or spoiled milk, there's even less point in crying over milk that you actually got to drink and enjoy. You've pissed it all out by now and so you've got to find a new quart to fill that thirst.

I miss the good times.

But I know there will be other good times.

And I'll be damned if I don't squeeze all the enjoyment I can with what I am lucky to have right now.

So this really isn't a rant. It's just an affirmation that I'm still here.

I'm still working at The Salt Mines (and hopefully getting better). Still dreaming about the next big Xbox360 game. Still getting a kick out of finding gems in the ol' DVD bins. Still working on bringing out The Last Angel Ace Story and the further adventures of Agent K and The Pink Ninja. Still counting on the next Project Hero and whatever else comes my way. Still kicking back in The Sanctum to enjoy loot from Comic Quest or Greenhills.

I'm still here and looking forward to the future. That's all I can do.


Moving on. Moving on.

Fantasizing

I've more or less decided on my entry to the Fully Booked fantasy fiction writing contest. At least, for my prose entry. Not yet too sure about what 8-page comic story to send. That will certainly have to be self-contained, totally new and affecting even in the very short page count. Certainly, I have to give this one the good ol' fashioned college try. I'll do my best to start my efforts on this one come the first day of February. Then, we'll see what happens then.

Ready to Rumble


Rumble Roses XX's new Create-a-Babe mode.

The first Rumble Roses game on the PS2 was a mixed affair. Obviously taking a stab at the niche established by the rival Dead or Alive series, the titillation-heavy all-female wrestling game from Konami had it's ups and downs. For one thing, it had a cast of female grapplers who fit a wide variety of fetishes and persuasions. You had the usuals (bubbly anime heroines, blonde cowgirls and S&M dominatrixes) and quite a few unusuals (megalomaniacal doctors, slutty judo champions) in the roster, with good and evil personas. As wrestling games go, the multitude of holds and grapples were perfect for putting the female characters into some pretty compromising situations. There was even some DOAX-type fanservice in the form of voyeuristic Watch Modes and even some iffy mudwrestling.
Unfortunately, even with all the eye candy and fan service, the game had limited appeal in terms of gameplay modes and variety. There simply wasn't enough game to get in this title. So while it provided a bit of bang, there was little to come back to after the initial play.

Well, a couple of years later, Konami is still at it with their DOA-killer, now aiming for the Xbox360 next generation console with Rumble Roses XX. Now, before you get any ideas, the 'XX' stands for tag team play, not for anything lewd (right).

Aside from the obvious assumption that the game will surely look tons better than the PS2 game (each character model will consist of 50,000 polygons, making for some very smooth and curvy characters), the game will rev up with new modes and gameplay elements. For one thing, there will now be two-three and four way fights, playable on or offline. This should make for some really interesting tag-team or triple threat matches.
What will really please creative types will be the new Character Edit/Creation Mode which will allow players to make up their own wrestling babe from scratch or edit/modify the existing 40 characters. In terms of editing, this entails everything from giving your babe more muscles, more boobage (yes, you read that right), changing hair and skin color, applying makeup or switching wardrobes. It seems that Character Creation is THE mode to have for next-gen fighters (except for snobby DOA). XboxLive users will be able to show off their Frankenstein-esque creations online. Don't worry though; developer Akari Uchida guarantees that you cannot create monsters or ugly wrestlers with his game- they'll always be babes. Wow.

Speaking of the 40 characters, there actually are just 10 base characters, each with three additional personas/versions; there's Face (good), Heel (evil) and the new Superstar versions of Face/Heel. The Superstar versions are flashier, stronger and more fab versions of the wrestlers, with all-new moves and over-the-top ring entrances. As before, the end boss seems to be the mechanical madame, Madame X. No Story Mode this time around, but with all the new stuff, we won't be missing the terrible dialogue or weird plotlines.
Also added will be a new 'Queen's Match', which seems to replace the now-missing Mudwrestling Mode. Losers in QM will have to go through DOAX-like penalty games, which are meant to embarass or put them into a titillatingly humiliating experience- from doing the limbo to bouncing on skippy balls or dancing some lewd dance. Weird but oddly compelling.

THis game certainly isn't for the easily offended or the weak of heart; it's really beyond being suggestive- the characters are just as good at being wrestlers as they are exotic dancers, it seems, and the game really doesn't care about depicting females in a pretty chauvanistic way (athletic as they may be, the girls act all girly and prissy in other situations). It's got it's own code and humor, but safe to say guys should keep this hidden away when offendable female friends are in the vicinity.

Behind all the tons of fanservice though, once again I hope they do the basic steps right, by putting in great wrestling gameplay and animation. When all is said and done, it's the wrestling and grappling that will keep this game in play as much as the T&A. Really. Well, we'll see when the game comes out in a couple of months in March 2006 on the Xbox360.

Evolution


Selene returns to kick Lara Croft's butt.

The first Underwold film was a slick piece of work- while it was often mentioned as a Matrix-wannabee, it did have a cool concept (Vampires fighting Werewolves), nice production values and visuals and the singular genius of having the radiantly gorgeous Kate Beckinsale as the leather-clad vampire warrior, Selene. Apparently, while the first UW was a modest success in theaters, it was a relatively low budget film that suddenly had a big pay-off in DVD sales. As a result, the title gets a new lease on life and a chance for bigger things with the sequel, Underworld: Evolution (which has since gone on to become the number one film at the US box office).

Evolution kicks off right after the events of the first film. In fact, it mops up the loose ends from before quite bloodily quick. But before we actually get into the current affairs, Evo opens up with a flashback to the 12th century. There, we see a small army of vampires in Lord of the Rings-like armor (a bit like vampire elves, actually- which is quite cool) taking on a village infected by the Lycan breed. We learn of the origing of the two warring races, and in particular the fates of the two brothers who started it all- the prime vampire Marcus, and the head werewolf, WIlliam.

The action then shoots back to the present, as Selene and her half-lycan/half vampire lover Michael (Scott Speedman) are on the run. Their opposition, however, quickly changes from ordinary gun-slinging vampire goons to the now-awakened, mutated Vampire Elder, Marcus (Tony Curran), who has his own evil agenda. In order to survive AND stop the world from being consumed by mad vampire/lycan mutants, Selene and Scott will have to ally with a mysterious third party and risk it all for the sake of the future. They must evolve... or die.

This is a pretty slick and well done action film, though I have to say that you need to watch the first film to really make heads or tails of it all. The names and events just fly at you as fast as the flash edits.

Still, the action is quite easy to understand, and the bad guys are pretty easy to see. The production values are more ambitious this time around (more and bigger werewolves with niftier transformations), thanks to a bigger budget, and the film retains the blood and blue look of the first. Performance-wise, Miss Beckinsale's Selene is an awesome action heroine (she could give Angelina Jolie a run for her money)... did I say she was darn gorgeous? I'll say it again. Selene is HOT. Oh, and girls get Michael- Scott Speedman's reluctant superwolf/vamp is pretty kick ass. The two make a great, perfect couple and a subtle cheer for mixed race relations.

All in all, Underworld: Evolution is a worthy sequel/climax to the original film, ending with a pretty optimistic view. The next film in this series, if director Len Wiseman has his way, will supposedly be a prequel showing more of the history of the ancient vampire/lycan war.

While there are some rough spots, I certainly liked Underworld Evolution enough to try and find the first film again and watch it, and have this sequel on DVD when I can. An exceptionally cool franchise which gets a shot in the arm with this hot sequel. Again, I recommend watching the first film before heading to the theaters to catch this bloody good action flick.

Fear Factor

It's great to be a scare-fan lately, with lots of cool, creepy shows on offer. Which is great since I haven't watched Nginiig! in months ever since they started doing more and more celebrity 'possession' shows than actual ghost or mystery features.

Ghost Chasers is a pretty cool show, featuring the exploits of a duo of plumbers who moonlight as paranormal investigators. Together with a seemingly ever-changing support crew, TAPS (The Atlanta Paranormal Society) sets off all over the country visiting and investigating haunted sites. The cool thing about Ghost Chasers is that they often DO seem to catch evidence- be it the odd light 'orb' or even actual footage of moving objects or unexplainable apparitions. Which is a WORLD away from local shows that show nothing but bad acting. Anyway, the show's already on it's 3rd season in the US (the 2nd season is showing locally on Star World) and seems to be going strong. If anyone knows if the DVD of the first season is available locally, please tell me.

A Haunting is a new show on The Discovery Channel which takes a detailed look into some really creepy, real-life supernatural encounters. The show takes great pains to recreate the accounts of the actual people involved and revs up the precedings with flash edits, scary sound effects, suspenseful music and basic special effects... all in all resulting in a pretty scary show that should satisfy your scare-cravings.

Ghost Chasers is shown on Saturdays (9PM, 12:30AM Sunday) on Star World, While A Haunting is shown every Wednesdays (10PM) and Saturdays on Discovery Channel. And be prepared for a chilling good time.

Idolatry

As anyone in The Gang would attest, I'm not into singing... and certainly, I've never really been into the show American Idol. However, for some reason every time I catch the show on TV these days, I am inexorably engrossed in watching it. Seeing all these nobodies and wannabees get grilled, speared, shish-kabobed and sauteed by judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson is just so... entertaining. It's like gladiatorial games, yet without the action but triple the cries of anguish and despair, with the requisite 'Aye' or 'Nay' from the Emperor. Or Imperial Council, as the case may be. I don't know if I'll still be as engrossed when the actual competition starts, but we'll see. For now though, it's good watching.

Buyer Beware

Have you heard about the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan film, The Lady in the Water? It's billed as a 'bedtime story' that Mr. Sixth Sense tells to his daughters, and stars actor Paul Giamatti as the main hero Cleveland Heep (a building super who finds the titular lady) and Bryce Dallas Howard (from M. Night's last film, The Village) as Story, a 'Narf' or aquatic creature whom Cleveland must somehow help get back home. It sounds weird and wonderful on paper, and I'm pretty curious to see how this film turns out.
Imagine my surprise to find a DVD titled Lady in the Water on the DVD stalls a few days ago. WOW! Maybe it was an ultra-ultra-ultra advance copy, with no effects and shit. WHOA! So I scooped it up. No matter that I wasn't able to preview the thing. I had found a gem.

Later at home, I popped it into my mutant dvd player and the movie started. It wasn't Lady in the Water. It was She Creature, this b-movie mermaid/horror film from a couple of years back.

Sigh. Well, you get lemons as often as gems with the bootleg biz. Had me a bit of a laugh and this blog entry, so it's not a total loss. Heheh. Gah.

Weird Dreams

Lately I've been having really strange dreams. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I often come home pretty pooped and just aching to get some shut-eye. Now, I've had odd dreams countless times before. It's just that these days I seem to remember them a lot more even after waking up. Perhaps they're visions. Then again, perhaps not. But I guess it might make some interesting reading for me to jot them down when I can.

Here are some of the recent ones.

One dream had me flying a dragon with Harry Potter (yeah, Daniel Radcliffe in character) trying to get it back home. Unfortunately, it was a particularly slow species of dragon, so we eventually had to go and take a train since flying it home would take several months. Unfortunately, I didn't meet Hermione anywhere in the dream.

Another dream had me in a Star Wars-esque setting, among a troop of captured rebels or perhaps conscripted workers drafted to serve the Empire. We stood in formation as we watched Imperial Stormtroopers file out of a ship and past us in a long line. The weird thing here is that the troopers were BURNING. Yep, burning stormtroopers, or firetroopers (the flames looked pretty nifty, and they didn't seem to be bothered). After these burning soldiers passed, they were followed by ICE troopers, all frosty and foggy.
To compound the weirdness, after the military parade my troop was sent to have our meal. We waited in line as an officer approached each of us, serving some sort of gruel. The rest of my group each had a meal tray... however I inexplicably had only a newspaper. EH?
Realizing this, I worriedly stared and waited with dread as the Imperial officer serving the food came to me. He stopped and there was silence as I thrust out the periodical. Luckily, before anything else happened I was woken up by our maid- It was lunchtime.

WEIRD.

I think there are profound messages in these dreams. Messages that may mean the difference between my success or failure in my endeavors.

Or not. What the heck. They're pretty funny in any case.

Doing a 360, Part Two



So far, my new XBox 360 has been working fine. No sign of any bugs or defects, or signs that the rumors of overheating and other crap are happening to my unit. It works fine, especially the cool wireless controller. Yesterday, in anticipation of my running out the included batteries, I got the XBox360 Charge and Play Kit which consists of a rechargeable battery pack, and a USB charger cable (you plug it into your PC or the Xbox to charge it up).

My only game so far is Dead or Alive 4, which was my first and only choice for an initial game (it came free with my unit). The game looks incredible, though at first glance it looks very similar to the previous XBox entry, DOA Ultimate. However, as you see more of the game you will notice the increased level of detail and realism in the graphics, the new animations and tons of little nuances which make it a whole new game and pretty much the most playable and technical game in the franchise.

In terms of Story and cinematics, DOA4 impresses with a collection of probably the best CG endings so far seen in a videogame fighter. These somewhat lengthy movies range from the bizarre and funny (ever think you'd see Kasumi the Ninja Heroine as a mermaid? Or how Hitomi spends her mornings? It's here...) to the silly (Leifang overreacts anime style, Zack in a slapstick quest ala Harryhausen/Indy Jones) and the plain weird (Brad Wong goes tripping). Several though are epic, and center mainly on the ninja characters' quest to destroy the evil DOATEC corporation once and for all (which result in some righteous ninja butt-kicking). If you finish all the initial characters' Story Modes, you will unlock DOA4's ULTIMATE Ending movie, which belongs to the character of Helena, the opera singer turned new CEO of DOATEC. Her movie reveals a lot, begs the asking of some questions and finally brings this chapter of Dead or Alive to an end. My advice... don't turn off the movie until the credits end.

In terms of gameplay, DOA4 is a whole new ball game given that several key mechanics have been refined and made more robust. Counters are now harder to do and cause less damage, giving fights a bit longer life span (which is good) and minimizing the winning of bouts due to random countering and luck. Fighting against the CPU is now more challenging given the fiercer A.I., who WILL counter you if you just rail out the same attacks again and again. There is no Easy Mode, so right off the bat you'll be in a fight.
Oh, and at the end of the Story Mode for most characters (and at the end of Time Attack) is Alpha 152, a glowing, transparent, crystalline or metallic female Kasumi clone (think Dural from Virtua Fighter but with hair) who is the new Boss of DOA. Forget Raidou. Forget Tengu. Forget Genra. Alpha 152 will kick your butt and then some with teleportation, super-long combos and some scary throws that can take out half your life bar in a flash. Sparring mode will do you good.

My main gripe with DOA4 is an aesthetic one... I hate the choices Team Ninja made for the unlockable costumes. In fact, I believe they got a bit lazy or rushed things. Many of the characters sport palette-swap outfits (the same outfits but with different colors) and a lot are shortchanged again on the size of their wardrobes. Where are the bikinis? The cool choices fans were given in DOAU are sadly lacking in DOA4.
That aside, DOA4 plays great, looks beautiful and is easily the best of the lot in terms of gameplay. Now, if only Team Ninja gets to working on additional costumes for download, it'll be perfect. As it is though, you can't get any better than DOA4 when it comes to fighting games on the Xbox360 (there's no other fighter anyway), though as it is DOA4 fails to top my current fave game, Soul Calibur III for the PS2. Still, it's one of the best reasons to get an Xbox360. Though Rumble Roses XX is coming late March. Hoho.

Yes, the Filipino Can!

Congratulations to The Pacq-man, Manny Pacquiao, for winning his long-awaited bout with Mexican pugilist Eric Morales. This day Manny was truly powered by the faith of his people as seemingly every Pinoy was watching the match. Late in the day, me and my friend Pot went to the malls in Greenhills and we found the usually-filled up parking buildings virtually EMPTY. It seems that most of the population was glued to TV sets watching their champion do battle.

Congrats, Manny. You earned it.

Doing a 360

Before the weekend, I finally got my very own Xbox 360 console. I opted to get a less expensive Japanese version, which I intend to have modified eventually if and when the system is busted open. It’s still pretty early in the life of the device, so it’s quite pricey- however, my set comes with the complete package that includes an optional Hard Drive, wireless controllers and one game. The whole kit and caboodle cost me just as much as much as the Archos AV700 I got late last year, which is fine considering I’m getting a machine that will be providing me tons of next-gen entertainment in the next couple of years.

This early I have to say that I am pretty impressed by how slick the whole thing is. It just looks so futuristic and smooth, like it wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi movie. I am particularly blown away by the wireless controller. It’s amazing to feel this freedom after a lifetime of playing games with controllers tied by wires and cables to the central console. It’s incredible, like playing a PSP or handheld save your screen is the big TV. WHOA. The down side though is that the controller is battery operated, so either I’ll be buying batteries every so often or I may have to invest in rechargeables and a battery charger.

The system looks great, and on my first play time seemed to drift off and before I knew it, it was dawn and I was still raring to play. Oh well. I don’t want to keel over so I’ll be sure to have rest (and give the box rest as well) every now and then. I’ll also see about getting a broadband connection so I can connect to the Xbox Live marketplace eventually.
My review on DOA4 to come soon. For now though, I have to log on a few more hours of playtime. While the batteries last.

Best Videogame Movie Yet?



That's the impression I got after watching the latest trailer of Silent Hill.

Whereas the first teaser spot was kinda... off... the full trailer makes me totally excited in this movie adaptation of the classic survival-horror game series from Konami. In a contrast to the Biohazard/Resident Evil games which basically puts players in the shoes of trained combat professionals on missions, Silent Hill throws in hapless souls out of their daily humdrum lives into a horrifying mystery quest. The frights are more visceral, more twisted and less monster than they are nightmares grabbed from the darkness inside the human mind. At stake are their very souls, and the souls of their loved ones, typically lost and missing in the all-consuming fog.
The new trailer has it all... the innocent victims at the start, the inevitable accident that traps them into the realm of shadows that is Silent Hill. There's the protagonist- a young mother (Radha Mitchell) seeking her missing child (Jodelle Ferland). There's Cybil, the hot lady cop straight from the first game (Laurie Holden), a with-like woman named Dahlia (Deborah Kerr Unger) foretelling doom, and a worried father (Sean Bean, hopefully as a real hero this time) trying his utmost to actually get IN Silent Hill to find his wife and child. Apparently the town's being consumed by something terribly evil, and people are actually being forced to hole up and run from its grasp or be utterly destroyed. The key to it all is the spectre of a young girl (yes, another evil young girl to inspire terror), with which the protagonist must somehow deal with if she is to save her child...

By the latter half of the trailer, the imagery turns to the familiar horrors of the game- ghastly apparitions, dark realms of shadow, rust and blood, bandaged walking and grasping abominations. And the sirens... those evil sirens are blaring by the end, and the familiarly creepy Silent Hill music is playing... They got it. They got it all.

The director of Silent Hill is Christophe Gans, who may not be a popular director but megged the very atmospheric Brotherhood of the Wolf, and that will surely aid in the creepy feel of SH. I can't wait to lose myself in this film. And it looks to work, thanks to the recent craze in creepy films. Silent Hill may just have what it takes to be the most successful and at least, faithful videogame to movie adaptation yet.

Silent Hill sweeps into theaters this April 2006.

To see the awesome trailer, click here.

K.I.A.



The events in the latest Batgirl comic seems to have put me into the mood for sexy, petite Asian girls with perfect killing-machine beautiful bods. Yep, I feel like doing another K.I.A. comic, and soon. Hopefully focusing on the adventures of my own Kai will make me forget the travails of Cassandra Cain.

Anyway, I ended the first K.I.A. anthology release with Agent K suddenly remembering her real name- Kai. Then what? It's conceivable that she would then go about trying to learn all she can about herself; aside from still wracking her brain for the shards of memory that are flitting about, just out of reach, she may try to track down some of the faces in her head. Foremost of course, is Angel, whom she has been seeing everywhere faintly until 'Shock to the System'.

Would Kai trust Vanya and KALI enough to openly ask for their help in finding her past? Probably not. As Agent K, she has learned to be more cautious... she'll do her probing on her own. This will lead to abruptly ask for a vacation (the simple act of which I have already written a script for) to have time to do her sleuthing. But what will this search uncover? Angel Ace? The SIVA? What happened in the time between Kai's 'death' and rebirth as Agent K? What role did Vanya and KALI play in the current situation of Agent K/Kai?

All these we'll try to take up in the next K.I.A. release (and perhaps with a mission story or two). I really would like to continue Kai's adventures in smaller sizes than the original anthology (so I can do it more often), but still with colored covers and good production values (instead of making it a Xerox book like Kunoichi Boy). As I said, it's my favorite. Heh. We'll see what happens, soon.

There. I've forgotten about Batgirl already. DOH!!!

Comics in Crisis

Some comic bits...

Darn, Infinite Crisis is a doozie of a read. Four issues and I'm still reeling with each new reveal, with the pull-no-punches action and the cataclysmic developments. It's enough to make me want to go out and grab a new copy of the Original Crisis on Infinite Earths to relive the events that set the seeds for all the dire situations happening presently in the DC universe. Whoa. Gotta pause... Whoa. This issue is so far the best in a so far outstanding and appropriately grim and universe-changing series.

The latest issue of Batgirl is cataclysmic in a smaller way. WHAT THE FOCK!!!!! HOW CAN THEY DO THAT!!?! SPOILER ALERT. Yeah, they killed Batgirl AKA Cassandra Cain. The spunky, coolly awesome little oriental girl in the batsuit gets stabbed through the chest in this penultimate issue. And no, she's not on her last legs as the issue ends- she's DEAD, as in, she breathes her last breath, says her last words then trails off into silent stillness with her eyes open DEAD.

Then Shiva comes, picks up her limp body and takes her to.. where? Well, there's a Lazarus Pit nearby just begging for Cass to take a bath in, but we'll just have to see how this ultimately ends. Will Cassandra Cain remain dead (which SUCKS since she was pretty awesome and is so similar to my own Kai) or be resurrected? One thing's for sure, whether she's alive or still dead at the end of the next ish, the Batgirl series is over. As for the character of Cassandra Cain, we'll just have to see. I do hope that if she does stay dead, they don't just forget her. She mattered, damn it. I want to see her live on and continue, hopefully as one of the new members of Birds of Prey. Darn, it's going to be a long wait to February...

Waiting for Armageddon


The many, the proud, the deadly.

I never thought I'd be excited over a Mortal Kombat game, but I am. Yeah, the previous couple of installments- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and MK: Deception are collecting dust, unplayed, in The Sanctum- but I find myself quite in a tizzy over the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

The latest issue of Game Informer magazine has released the first solid info on the upcoming MK title. Contrary to expectations, the latest MK will not be a next-gen title. Yep, it will instead be coming out on the older PS2 and Xbox. The reason for this is so Midway can tie up all the loose ends left in the current storylines before moving onto the Next Gen platforms.
Aside from that though, there's little revealed about what will be in store in terms of story. What is revealed is more about the gameplay, features and perks that are coming with Armageddom.

First of all, MKA will feature over 60 characters. Yep, you read that right. More than 60 kombatants- which is literally almost everyone who has ever appeared in an MK game, in all the released platforms. This includes even obscure titles like MK Mythologies Sub-Zero and MK Special Forces. The only character to perhaps miss the proverbial boat though is the centaur-like sub-boss, Motaro, who apparently might not make the cut (good riddance).

If 60 of the baddest, meanest bastards and bastardettes in Outworld and Earth Realm aren't enough for you... then KREATE your own! MKA will include a Kreate-a-Kombatant mode which will allow you to create your own death-dealer from the ground up. Dress him or her up from head to toe, customizing everything from eye color to breast size (Yes, you read that right too). Not only that, but you'll be able to select each of their special attacks and moves, and even name your special techniques yourself. Yeah, like Soul Calibur 3 it will be Attack of the Bikini Fighters all over again, but darn, it's gonna be fun. Hoho.
Tired of the usual Fatalities? MKA will also have Customizeable Fatalities. It's not clear though how this will be implemented. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to represent EVERY twisted fatality dream out there (particularly anything to do with pouring hot oatmeal down some orifices), but we'll just have to see.

In terms of other modes and extras, MKA will feature a redone Konquest Mode (which was basically a mini-adventure in previous games) that will be more similar to the recently-released and quite excellent Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Unlockable secrets and extras, once accessible only from Konquest, will now be reachable by play in other modes, and will be found in the game's new Vault (which replaces the old 'Krypt' as the storehouse for goodies).
As for actual gameplay changes, all we know is that the fighting system will be overhauled. You can customize combos and there will be a new way to do air combos. You will also be able to control where you throw opponents, adding a bit more strategy to environmental dangers like deathtraps and stage-specific dangers.

WHEW! That's a lot. A damn lot. And I am giddy with glee. There's a cool fighter coming still to the present platforms, so fighting game fans looking to see what may be the best MK ever would do well not to sell off their PS2s or Xboxes just yet.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is set for release on Xbox and PS2 in October 2006.

A Lion in Winter

I finally got to watch Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last night. After a pizza dinner at Greenwich (yummy original crust pizza), I made a beeline for Gateway Mall's nice theaters. I caught the last full show and had my choice of pretty much everywhere to sit since there were only about a dozen people in the spacious theater. And good thing too, since the goddamn idiots behind me kept talking and talking even after the movie started. I walked off and found myself a nice seat near the front, nearer to the screen, away from cinematic barbarians.

Anyway, Narnia is the first in what may be a series of films based on C.S. Lewis' fantasy novels. Actually, I haven't read the actual book, but I DID watch the classic animation movie based on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe shown years and years ago. So, yeah, I knew what was going to happen even before getting in the theater.
The four Pevensie children- Lucy, Edward, Peter and Susan- are living in London during The Blitz in World War II. After a night of bombing from above, their mom sends them packing off to the countryside where they'll be safe. They are sent off to stay in the rather large mansion of one Professor Kirke, along with the McGonagall-like housekeeper, Mrs. MacReady (Elizabeth Hawthorne). While exploring the mansion during a game of Hide and Seek, Lucy (the youngest) discovers a huge wardrobe closet which turns out to be a portal to the fantasy world of Narnia.
There, she meets Mr. Tumnus (a quite well-cast James McAvoy), a faun, and has a bit of tea with the hoofed halfling creature. However, fun and lightness soon turns into menace when Lucy learns of the White Witch, Jadis (played note-perfect by Tilda Swinton), a tyrannical sorceress who has locked Narnia into an eternal winter. Eventually, all four Pevensies enter Narnia, and there is some drama as younger brother Edmund finds himself making some pretty daft decisions involving sweets called Turkish Delights. Ultimately, the children unite with Narnia's Lion King, Azlan (voiced by Liam Neeson), and together fulfill a prophecy to vanquish Jadis and bring summer and justice to the land.

First off, comparison with the more mature and sophisticated LOTR trilogy are unavoidable- the effects (or at least some) were done by WETA Workshop, which also did LOTR's eye-popping FX. The flavor and mood of Narnia however is more storybookish and whimsical compared to the midieval pseudo-history of Middle Earth. While LOTR makes you feel that you walked into some lost chapter of earth's history, Narnia is a trip into a fairy tale.

This makes for the more ecclectic look of Narnia's creatures- the armies of both good and evil are made up of half-man, half-whatever races, or even actual animals like cheetahs, rhinos and beavers (ah, the Beavers...), wolves and foxes. While the faun and centaur warriors certainly look awesome, the armies look mismatched and motley compared to the armored humans of Middle Earth. Don't expect gritty combat- this is simpler by a long shot (with armies led by children, what do you expect?) but still you can expect some pretty exciting battle scenes by the end- a big pay off for a pretty long film (going a bit over two hours).
In terms of acting, the Pevensie kids are pretty good, though I have to say there's a bit of woodenness to some scenes. Lucy's (Anna Poppenwell) face is definitely button cute and perfect for the role, while Edmund (Skandar Keynes) has the sullen look befitting his character. As expected, Tilda Swinton own ever scene she appears in as the icy queen, even more so in her climactic fight scenes- that girl can swing a sword and make it look serious... I wonder if she can do it as a protagonist, eventually?

Worth watching certainly despite my nitpicks, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a respectable entry into the fantasy film genre. Give Narnia a visit in theaters now in the Metro.

Kick Ass Babe


Milla Jovovich is the ultimate ass-kicker in Ultraviolet.

WHOA! I just saw the newly-released trailer for the film Ultraviolet, and I have to say I'm anticipating this film with eager beaver glee. The film is set in the future when genetics have allowed for the development of mutant, superhuman beings. However, these beings were hunted down when the ruling government saw them as a threat. The last remaining mutated supersoldier is, of course, the titular Violet, and she's got a bone to pick with humanity.
The film stars Milla Jovovich as the pistol-packing, shades-wearing, bodysuit-hugging super agent, which is kinda fitting since the psychedelic, dazzling and comicbook-like visuals of the futuristic world Ultraviolet exists in bears a bit of resemblance to the Fifth Element, which Jovovich also starred in. The visuals also bring to mind the look of the videogame Killer 7, which I really, really dig.

The fight scenes look pretty amazing, with UV taking on literally armies of black-suited thugs, so this will be a feast of carnage (though maybe bloodless) and lots of supergirlpower action.

Will this be something awesome or just all flash and sizzle? We'll just have to wait and see. I'll be sure to give this a big lookee-lookee when it comes slamming in later this year.

To see the awesome trailer, click here.

The Final Countdown

I guess I'll have to at least try to give that Neil Gaiman contest at Fully Booked for comics or fantasy literature a good ol' fashioned college try. 100,000 smackers isn't something to sneeze at. We've all got until the end of February (the original deadline was extended from end of December) to come up with some extraordinary stuff. Of course, I'll have to start wracking the noodle for some new stuff... I know something's still in there untapped. Just have to tickle it a bit and milk the head udders. Maybe I should get some inspiration by watching something cool- hopefully Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in a nice, big theater. We'll see what the grey macaroni pumps out soon.

Shootout

Finally, I'm able to update. It's been a pretty busy weekend for me: I had to attend a shoot for one of our major clients. It was an MTV/Promo TV commercial, starring lovely local singer/actress/model/VJ Iya Villania and quite a few attractive young women as well. We shot the spot in two days of shooting inside a studio, which meant long hours of sitting around as the crew set up the shots, and take after take was filmed. Yeah, I and my art director Trish had to spend hour upon hours on duty (sipping sodas and nibbling on chips and candies periodically placed before us), but it was cool to be on the client's seat and see everything done well. The Production House was great, the talents were marvelous and the director hilarious. By the time we finished it was early morning Monday, but what the hey... it looks like the commercial/MTV's gonna look great and that's all that matters.

One funny little thing- to pass the time during some of the longer setups, I actually watched the whole Aeon Flux movie on my O2 Mini. It's actually the first time I actually watched a full-length movie on my mobile, and it wasn't half bad. It's a great way I guess to see some films that you ordinarily don't have time to see. And I still had lots of power left over till the shoot packed up. Coolness. My thoughts on the film? Well, here's a mini-review for the mini-watch. Cool story with some nice mysteries and a bit of the psychobabble and philosophizing morality plays from the original cartoon. I would have liked Trevor Goodchild to have been blonde though- the actor wasn't bad but he looked kind of non-descript. Miss Theron gave a great performance, but I still hate her costume. Not bad at all, and perhaps I'll give it a watch when it slips into Manila theaters.