Weekend Warriors

The gang (well, mostly just me and the Alfars, with Vin bringing up the rear halfway into the movie) watched Kung Fu Hustle at The Podium on Saturday. This was the second time I saw it, though the first time I watched it from beginning to end (I missed the Axe Gang's dance number the first time around). The movie just rocks.

Love the story, simple as it was. I love the concept of the kung fu masters in hiding. I love the casting of the various characters, from the "Warriors Three" - Coolie (Xing Yu), Tailor (Chiu Chi Ling) and Donut (Dong Zhi Hua) to the damn cool strumming assassins (Jia Kang Xi and Fung Hark On), The Landlord and Landlady, Ice cream lady Fong (newcomer Huang Shengyi), the venomous Axe Leader, Brother Sum (Chan Kwok Kwan) and the disturbingly powerful Beast (Leung Siu Lung).
The fight scenes and action in KFH kick arse, both parodying and surpassing the masturbartive fights in the Matrix sequels and even the Showdown in the House of Blue Leaves in Kill Bill Volume 1. The CG works great, in all its overblown craziness. And of course, the laughs come fast; not as fast as in some of Stephen Chow's earlier films, but when they come they come great.

I'm getting a DVD of this classic as soon as I can. But I actually still wanna see this baby in theaters again, one more time. And anyone who hasn't seen it yet should make it a point to see it in a theater, and not on the small screen. This is meant to be enjoyed big time. Do the hustle, people! Heh.

Doing the Hustle


Stephen Chow brings us the first cool movie of the year.

Fans of Hong Kong director-actor Stephen Chow have been waiting for the follow-up to his mega-popular Shaolin Soccer for a while, and now it's here. Kung Fu Hustle revs up the laughs and the thrills with more fantastic CG-enhanced martial arts, slapstick, sight gags and a nice story to boot.

Set in 1940s China, Kung Fu Hustle tells the story of Sing (Chow), an inept wannabee gangster who wants to be a member of the dreaded Axe Gang (a syndicate of top hat and suit-wearing, hatchet-toting, mobsters). To prove himself, Sing and his chubby sidekick (Nino Muhlach-lookalike, Lam Chi Chung, one of Chow's chums from Shaolin Soccer) try to extort some money from the residents of a run-down apartment complex known as Pig Sty Alley. Needless to say, their efforts fail miserably. However, they DO cause the real Axe Gang to crack down on the place, causing some of the resident martial artists to reveal themselves in a flurry of fists and kicks. From there on it's an escalating battle of killer kung fu as the residents of Pig Sty try to fight off the criminals and their hired assassins.

I won't go any more into detail, suffice to say that Kung Fu Hustle throws combos of laughs, chills and thrills at you pretty much from beginning to end. KFH isn't rocket science; there are slapsticky bits which work best when watched in a theater, with a whole audience laughing to get you in the fun. There's lots of kung fu with overblown CG work that looks quite awesome, and tons of playful nods to various movies from Spiderman to The Matrix and even The Shining. In the midst of all this, there's a sweet romance story so guys can bring along their dates to watch as well. Parents should take note though- there are a couple of bits which might be a bit too scary for really young kids.

KFH is currently doing the rounds in theaters around the world, to rave reviews. The icing on the cake for me is that KFH is such an Asian-flavored movie through and through, yet a big change of look and feel from the recently serious batch of martial arts features like House of Flying Daggers and Hero. Chow and crew gives us a classic, simple story that's imaginatively and refreshingly told, with a likeable cast that gives great performances (even the non-actors have funny little touches) throughout. Big props to Wah Yuen, one of Hong Kong's most famous comedy actors, and Yuen Qiu, a former Bond Girl, who play the Landlord and Landlady of Pig Sty, and Leung Siu Lung who plays 'The Beast'. Chow himself is in hilarious form as always.

If you love Stephen Chow's past works, you'll be in stitches with this one. Bring your friends, your workmates and see it in a good theater. If you haven't seen Shaolin Soccer or God of Cookery, just have an open mind, think 'anything goes' and just enjoy the show.

Kung Fu Hustle is now showing in theaters in the Metro. Don't wait for the Axe Gang to break down your door- Rustle up your friends and catch it over the weekend.

Addendum: The fight scenes in Kung Fu Hustle were choreographed by Yuen Wo-Ping and Sammo Hung. Well, that explains the Matrix similarities. The Chinese titles for 'Kung Fu Hustle' are 'Gong Fu'/'Kung Fu'.

MIA

Tekken 5's been out in arcades overseas for some time now, but I still haven't found squat in any of the local places. I guess the local Rino's or Time Zones don't really find it profitable to invest in new games anymore. So gamers here will probably have to wait for the PS2 version of the latest Tekken to play it. Which shouldn't be a bad thing, given that the game may be coming in the next couple of months or so, along with almost arcade-perfect graphics and gameplay, more CG movies than any Tekken before and lots of customization options to dress up your fighter. Till then, all we can do is hie onto sites like Tekken Zaibatsu to watch videos. Sigh...

Vendetta


Comic turned Film coming in late 2005.

I remember reading some bits of V for Vendetta years ago, as it was part of a European comics magazine anthology, which included Marvelman and Laser Eraser and Pressbutton. While it wasn't my favorite in the mag, I really liked the art and the moody atmosphere. The image above is the teaser poster of the movie, slated apparently to come out in late 2005.
V for Vendetta is set in a future, totalitarian England, with a mysterious masked vigilante dodging the authorities as he cuts a deadly swath of revenge throughout Fortress London. So far, the only star to be confirmed in the cast is Natalie Portman. Yet another comic-to-movie translation to watch out for this year.

Return to Arms


Good and Evil clash once more in the lands of Norrath.

Last year's Champions of Norrath for the PS2 was a surprise hit, giving even us nonline players a taste of the addictive MMORPG world of Everquest. In CON, you played a hero called forth to battle the increasing threat of evil growing in the realms of Norrath. Victory however only resulted in a fallout that continues to fester in the realm in the sequel game, Champions: Return to Arms.

This time, you answer the call of Firiona Vie (the infamous blonde elf sorceress and Everquest's poster girl) to put a stop to the threat of evil once and for all. The schtick this time in CRTA is that you don't actually have to follow the path of good and play white knight. Like in the recently-released Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, you can actually opt to don an evil hat and serve the cause to resurrect Innorruuk and bring him back to power. Your decision will bring about distinctly different quests, enemies and goals through the game. This pretty much doubles the already mammoth amount of replayability in this game, and that's always great.
Aside from the dual-path of storyline, CRTA also ups the ante with improved graphics, new mini-games and two new races of characters to play as; the Van Shir are a race of humanoid cats, specializing in berserk warriors. On the other hand, the reptilian Iksar specialize in magic-using shaman. Players who built up characters from CON will be glad to hear that RTA will allow for you to transfer your heroes to the new game- the experience cap has now been raised to a whopping Level 80, so even characters you've maxed up from CON will have lots of room to improve further.

Champions: Return to Arms is slated for release this February. I'll be sure to keep the peepers peeled for a copy asap.

A Taste of Prosperity

Yesterday I had dinner with Vin and Andrew at McDo, and we tried their new Beef Prosperity sandwich. The prosperity consists of saucy, peppery beef with onions in a slightly longer bun than usual. I found it quite delicious (even buying one to take home), as good as Jollibee's Peppercorn burger but more on the beefy side, with a nice tangy taste of onions with later bites. Really nice, though it comes with a price; at P88 by itself (P108 with Orange Fizz and 98 with softdrink), the Beef Prosperity is on the expensive side as McDonald's sandwiches go, and it's a bit on the light side too (I can easily finish two in one sitting). I'd place the satisfaction factor at about slightly over KFC's Chicken Fillet sandwich (the one that inspires greed). Still, quite delish and something to try if you pass by McDo anytime soon.

Tomorrow Angel

Ate dinner last night with Vin at Wendy's for his favorite spicy burger, the Big Mexican Melt which I really can't finish without taking out some of the tongue-searing jalapenos. We talked about stuff, including the future of Angel Ace. While I am busy right now with the Kai anthology, I have not forgotten my first lady of flight. The storyline for the next issue will move the whole plot forward, at the same time revealing stuff that should have been out long ago- particularly the relationship between Angel and the series main villain, Mondebaine Gallowglass of Gallowglass Mass Industries, Inc.

Aside from the usual pinups and perhaps a short back-up story from contributors, I'm fully intending to do this book myself. It's been a long time since I've put pencil to page seriously for a while... gotta get my drawing chops back into gear or I'll get really rusty.

Lola

My Lola, or grandmother (on my Mom's side), was the only grandparent I knew growing up. I remember her fondly, sometimes sadly, as she would occasionally come to the house to live with us for a while. I remember the aged, wrinkled face (she was ALWAYS old to me), the smell of pulbos (baby powder) and the way she would hug me.

I say that I remember her with a bit of sadness because I was told that Lola, in her old age, gambled away her fortune. Back then, Lola owned houses and property aplenty. In another world, she would be the Lola of anybody's dreams, having great wealth that would be passed down to her heirs when she passed away. However, the gambling bug hit her hard in her later years, and as a result she sold house after house, property after property, to use in the casinos.

Lola ended up having to go from house to house among her sons and daughters, to live in until her strong character would clash with the in-law or spouse, and off she'd go to the next place to stay. I remember feeling sorry for her, thinking that she should have saved at least one house for herself so she could live comfortably and without worry for her retirement.

Eventually, she more or less settled in the province, where she passed away peacefully several years ago at over eighty years of age. And so, she was buried there, far away, and not in my family's personal grounds at Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina. My Mom decided to go alone to the burial- we weren't able to see my Lola laid to her rest.
And so, I remember Lola as the last time I saw her.

Last night, I had a dream, and Lola was there.

I wasn't scared at all, despite the fact that I thought she was a ghost. In fact, I even brought out my cameraphone to snap some pictures. Since I never see ghosts in real life, I seem to see them all in dreamtime. Weird, eh?

Thankfully, my dream did not have the somewhat disturbing overtones of a dream her old driver had a few months ago- the old man, sick in bed, dreamt that my Lola appeared, beckoning for him to 'go with her'. Don't worry- He's still alive. He came out of the dream quite scared though, saying to his former boss that he didn't want to go just yet.

I saw Lola as she was the last time I saw her, shuffling about, looking over the house. It was our old house in Pasig, not our present residence, which eventuallly clued me in that it was all a dream. I remember looking at Lola for a while more, and then eventually the dream faded and I woke up. Was there meaning in the dream?

Just recently, I remember talking about my Lola to some friends, and saying how I felt sorry for her. Perhaps Lola is telling me that all is well now. She lived life the way she wanted, no matter what. Now, she's at peace, and I should just remember her with love.

With the warmth of the scent of baby powder, and tight hugs.

Thanks for the visit, Lola.

Film Fatale


Charlize Theron dons black for the role of Aeon Flux.

MTV Liquid Television's risque futuristic action-espionage series, Aeon Flux (by Peter Cheung) is in the process of being turned into a live-action movie for 2005. The role of the titular mercenary assassin is being filled in by the gorgeous Charlize Theron, recently awarded best actress by the Oscar Awards for her performance in the film Monster (where she played a disfigured female serial killer). As per the TV series, the movie is set in the future, where mankind has almost been wiped out to extinction. The last remnants of humanity live in a bubble-domed city known as Bregna, which is ruled by a council of scientists. Aeon Flux is a slinky, acrobatic assassin hired by the group known as the Monican Underground to assassinate the city's leader, Trevor Goodchild.

Aeon Flux the animation was known for many things- for episodes filled with psychobabble, risque animations, lanky Peter Cheung character designs and often fatal endings for the titular heroine. I loved it, for what it was; it was kinda but not anime- brainy and gritty and sexy. I'm a fan and I was hyped when I heard that a movie was being made.

But honestly, seeing the pics of Miss Theron in costume, I have to say that I am disappointed. As with Elektra, the costume defines the character a lot, and here once again, we have cutbacks. The costume just SUCKS like HELL. It's not like the original costume was impossible to do; it showed off skin, but not impossibly so. The costume on Miss Theron is like a full black body stocking, and it looks totally frumpy, un-sexy and crappy. CRAPCRAPCRAP!!! From that costume alone, I can predict that this is going to bomb, and bomb bad. I hope I'm wrong, 'cause I really like the Aeon Flux character. Right now though, it does not look good. Not good at all. BAH. We'll see.

New Suit

Last night, I got off Cam's car after Dean's birthday bash and I heard something clatter on the asphalt. I looked with horror to see my O2 XDA II Pocket PC Phone lying on the ground! It apparently had fallen from the clip on my belt. Slightly panicked, I got it and looked it over. Fortunately, the metal jacket was good as gold... or as steel, as the case may be. My smartphone was unscathed. Unfortunately, it seems that my beltclip for the metal case was now useless. The plastic nib, which keeps the phone held securely to my belt, had apparently been worn down and was now unable to 'bite'. In effect, it takes little effort for my phone to slip out of the clip's catch and fall from my belt.
I had spend about 1,500 pesos on the thing just this past December, and it was now pretty much useless, unless I get a replacement belt clip. And that, I guess, is something I probably will not do.

So when we went out for lunch today at Wok Inn, it was to my good fortune that we passed a new PDA shop in Park Square. I looked through the various PDA cases and accessories, and eventually settled on a cheap (P290) PDA case with a belt loop (unremoveable except by taking off your belt) that I like. The XDA2 fits snugly into the padded case, and there's even a nice elastic band catch which secures the device when you're on the go. And it hugs my side well, reducing the bulge it makes at my side. Perfect! So now, while I have downgraded from plate mail back to leather/cloth armor, I feel safer. At least, for now. Of course, only the eternally vigilant can be truly far from harm. Heh.

Back to the Salt Mines

It's the first day of work in 2005! WOOHOO!!!

Bah.

Anyway, the day didn't start off too bad. The commute was actually pretty easy, with the MRT crowd being pretty light- I was actually able to sit down from the get-go. Don't really expect too much for today... work will probably pile up as the week goes along, though, and I might actually have to work into the weekend on something. Oh well. At least I can expect some new stuff at the ol' Blood Bank tonight. Stuff like Batman/Danger Girl, the latest Street Fighter comic and some more odds and ends. Yay!

PSP

I found a PSP at Theater Mall in Greenhills the other day. It was the value pack, which includes the unit itself with several accessories (no games). At 30K, it's pretty pricey, and I easily found myself turning away from it. No matter how spiffy and cool the Playstation Portable is, I'm really not an on-the-go gamer, and it will take a bunch of incredibly great games to get me to fork over the moolah for it.

By the way, Virra Mall, the center of dibidi and gaming goodness in the Greenhills area, is now closed for renovation. Heartbreaking, but then again I guess it's been a long time coming. Certainly, whatever will replace the former VM will be brighter, fancier and cleaner- but then, the black market charm of the old Virra will be something I'll miss. I hope the old shops and stuff that made the place cool will still be there when it reopens... whenever.

Appleseed


Deunan and Briareous return in CG form.

Here's a good way to start the year in anime.

Appleseed (2004) is an update based on the original manga and anime by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell). The movie is set in a future where a world war almost sent man into extinction. Years after, mankind now lives alongside Bioroids- artificial humans who many see as a superior race. The world is now governed from Olympus, with Bioroids serving to protect and lead man to a brighter future.

Human female soldier Deunan Knute is saved/captured from a battle-ravaged wasteland by Olympus' ESWAT squad and recruited to become part of the new world government's special forces. She is assisted and protected by her former partner Briareous, who has now become a cyborg working for Olympus. Unknown to Deunan, she is about to become a tool to carry out the secret agendas of various groups seeking to eradicate either Bioroids or normal humans from the face of the earth. Which future life takes lies in Deunan's hands... and that of a mysterious object known as Appleseed.

Instead of regular cel animation, the new Appleseed movie is done completely in cel-shaded CG animation (which has been seen before in videogames such as XIII). This gives the feature a pretty slick and impressive visual style, and the motion-captured animations allow for some pretty cool action scenes, from the starting battle between Deunan and some enemy mecha troops, to the final battle against some mammoth walking war machines. Along with the action, the characters also convey emotions well, so this seems to be a pretty cool direction for anime to take.

Fans of the original will surely love seeing Deunan and Briareos in fine CG fighting form. The movie is a spectacular work and anyone who loves mecha and high octane sci-fi action adventure anime would do well to grab a dvd copy of this film from the better-stocked anime or movie sources.

Looking forward to...

Releasing K.I.A.

My very own PSP (Playstation Portable, for those not into gamingspeak)

Hot new games for PS2 and Xbox

More nights-out with the Usual Suspects

Seeing Siglo Passion released

Shanna the She-Devil by Frank Cho

Working on a new comic project

A DVD drive for The Sanctum's PC

New dibidis

New restos and food to discover

New anime and manga to tug at the heartstrings

Doing new ads and commercials

My next phone

More trips to the Blood Bank

Happy New Year

I didn't want to make any resolutions 'cause I'm sure I probably won't be able to carry them out. Just damn happy to be alive, healthy (more or less), hale and hearty, a family around me, a good roof over me and hopeful dreams inside me.

Let's all hope for a bigger, better, brighter and safer 2005, everyone.

Full Metal Marathon

Yersterday I spent almost the whole day watching episodes of Full Metal Alchemist. In fact, of the 51 episodes, I watched up to episode 49. By the stroke of worst luck, the dvd I had of the last several episodes was apparently defective, not allowing play of the last two eps, despite the availability of two different models of mutant dvd players.

With the New Year celebration tomorrow, perhaps the earliest I can get the finale is on Sunday. Well, I can always revisit the the couple of dozen episodes I watched before.

After watching, I can pretty much say that FMA did not disappoint; the series retained the flavor it had in the first season I watched, mixing in continued action, drama, conspiracy, mystery, guilt and a dash of tragedy every now and then for a pretty gripping watch. It was simply impossible to keep from watching the next episode. Unlike most series, FMA seems to have pretty much everything wrapped neatly, with plots and characters consistently having connections that eventually are revealed towards the end. Of course, I still have the actual last two parts to see how it all ends, but even up to this point I am pretty satisfied with how the series has come. Again, highly recommended for mature anime enthusiasts.

Addendum: Apparently, a FMA movie is coming, and it is supposedly set after the events in the series. This probably means that any loose ends will be answered in the theatrical feature. Now I really really really need to watch those last two episodes...

Stretch


Lastikman gets a bashing.

I just got a copy of Mars Ravelo's Lastikman, read through it, looked at the pages. As I've heard from early reviews and comments, the art, by Arnold Arre (Mythology Class, After Eden) is excellent, and as always has that 'Arre' look which I particularly like. The colors, on the other hand, while quite good, give me an impression of being muddy and subdued- I don't know if it's because of the palette used or the printing, but overall it seems a bit off-tuned to the supposedly comedic and lively tone of the title. Perhaps brighter colors would have been better? As it is, the book evokes to me that it is the comic adaptation of the Film Festival movie, which it is NOT, fortunately.
The story, by Gerry Alanguilan, does a good job of introducing the character of a stretchy alien coming to Earth and becoming a crime fighter, though perhaps the word of it being a wacky tale of comedy made me expect too much. In truth, the comic overall isn't laugh out loud funny, despite Arnold's portrayals of Lastikman's wilder contortions. Secondly, I found several scenes depending too much on narration, taking away from the character story. I also found the use of english and tagalog a bit jarring- it worked as a comedic vehicle in Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, but seeing it used here just made the Filipino language look like inferior speech- something I am sure is not the intention, but in the end, whenever english is used it is spoken by a scientist or an alien. Maybe I am reading too much into it. Oh well.

Anyway, it really didn't help that I don't like the character at all. Never liked stretchy characters, don't like the shades for eyes (not even the art could make him likeable for me). No, Lastikman will always be that creepy character in the old tagalog movies that freaked me out when I was a kid- not scared, mind you- just freaked. He's just too weird. So I don't like the character. Don't like how he's an alien. Don't like his look. Don't like how he's such a WUSS in the comic and everyone else has to come to his aid- having the masa rise up towards the end and come to the aid of the hero is getting old. I hated that kind of scene in the first Spiderman movie, hate it here. Sigh.

The best thing in the comic for me is Atomika, an original character created for the comic by Gerry and Arnold. Unfortunately, she really shouldn't have had the clout she has in this book. That she has two pinups dedicated to her just shows where Gerry and Arnold's love in this work really went. Heh.

All things said and done, Lastikman is still a fine comic in terms of production. The art is great, the story good, the colors are nicely done and it's a one-shot and long enough to be worth 150 pesos. I just don't like it. Give me an Atomika comic and I'll take that over this anytime. So, Gerry and Arnold, hop to it!

Mars Ravelo's Lastikman from Mango Comics is available in bookstores and comic stores all over the Metro now. Go get it!

Sweet Jam


The I-Mate Jam, the smallest Pocket PC Phone around.

It's my new object of lust; it's the I-Mate Jam AKA the O2 XDA II Mini, the world's smallest Pocket PC Phone to date. It basically gives you the capabilities of a Personal Computer, PDA, Video and Music Player, Handicam, 1.3 Megapixel Digital Camera, gaming console AND mobile phone. DAAAAAAMMMNNN!!!! Of course, I have all that already with my O2 XDA II, but the schtick with the Jam is that it's so incredibly SMALL. Smaller than an I-Pod. It's positively tiny and oh, so cute. I want it!!!

Of course, it's also a bit of a paradox. The smaller size also means, inevitably, smaller real estate for the Jam's screen- it's far smaller compared to the bigger PPC devices, which is a negative in a way. Paradox, I tell you- what makes it so desirable is also it's weakness. Oh well, you can't have everything. Aside from the much better camera, the only thing it one-ups my PPC is the size. Darn, it felt so nice and light in my hand (I was able to check out a unit in Mega).

If I could trade in my XDA II for the Jam (or the O2 XDA II Mini), I would probably do so. But then again, I'd probably have to decide what's more important- screen size, or portability.

Let's see what happens as the new year comes in. Heh.

Overstuffed Taco

I went out yesterday to keep from going MAD from staying in The Sanctum. The traffic is still pretty horrid, despite the fact that it's supposed to be holiday season (or perhaps that's the reason why?). I took the MRT to Cubao and decided to have merienda at Taco Bell. Bad idea, turns out. The place was PACKED, and throngs of people kept flooding in. I thought I'd be able to sit down and have a quick meal easily since I was alone, but DAMN. It turned out that every single seat in the place was either occupied or reserved by stinkin' family groups. GAH!!! So la-de-dah, I ended up eating my taco and quesadillas standing near the door, on the service counter (which is also the trash deposit area).

As I ate, the guard (who probably was in as much frustration as me since he was consigned to wear a Santa's hat along with his serious security guard uniform) gave me some apologetic words. The symphathetic fellow took off a bit of my miffedness, and I commented that they should either extend their area or get more seats since the demand is so high. Darn! It's only TACOS, people! What's the reason for the crowds? The food really isn't that great, there aren't any cool mascots nor is the place cheap. Is it all because the place is just new? Or is it the name 'Taco Bell' that strikes a chord? Well, for some reason or other, the place is doing outrageously good business, which should make the Pizza Hut people (they own the franchise) happy... and should herald more Taco Bells to come eventually.

So I finished my so-so food and was off for the rest of my day.

Cabin Fever

I've spent three days in The Sanctum since Christmas. Gotta get out tomorrow and do something. Thinking of going on down to Greenhills to pick up new anime, particularly the rest of the episodes of Full Metal Alchemist and some other stuff. Should also check out the new comics at the ol' Blood Bank, in case they do arrive in time. New Year's coming up, and then back to work. Gotta make good use of the last half of the vacation.