Kill Bill Redux


Go-Go fever all over again.

This night we trooped down to Podium to watch Kill Bill Volume 1 on the big screen. As I expected, the whole gang loved the bloody fourth Tarantino film. I've had a VCD-quality bootleg for months now, but nothing beats seeing this samurai-yakuza-revenge-exploitation-anime-kungfu-opus unfold on the big screen. Nothing reeks of coolness in this movie more than O-ren Ishii's and her posse's entrance into the House of Blue Leaves, slow-mo. And of course, no character in this movie is cooler and damn finer than Chiaki Kuriyama's psychotic schoolgirl, Go Go Yubari.

Gonna get the action figures when they come out. Gonna get the DVD. Might get the soundtrack. I'll be looking forward to Volume 2. I really wonder how they're gonna top this one though...

Hit List Complete

It's over. The list of art and story contributors for K.I.A. is filled up. We've got a wonderful, ecclectic mix of art styles, ranging from manga-influenced styles to indie bents to all-Pinoy art goodness in our buffet of a book. More than ten stories full of action, suspense, intrigue, martial arts, death-defying feats and a bikini-clad heroine who just won't quit. The scripts are cool, the artists are marvelous, and we're shooting for a pocket-sized release that's heavy on the content.

Just like Agent K herself, the K.I.A. anthology will be small but pack a KILLER kick. That is, if everything goes according to plan.

The preparations are done. Now, it's time to start doing the pages. GO, GO, GO!!!

HUSH

Just brought home the two-volume compilation of Batman: Hush, and I have to say I am blown away, speechless at the marvelous art before me. DAAAAMN. Jim Lee's art is simply breathtaking here, in probably one of the most impressive depictions of Gotham City and the cast of heroes and villains within. The story is probably a doozy, as well, and I plan on savouring this 12-chapter masterpiece soon. A thing of beauty.
Also got the first three issues of Aspen, which continues the adventures of Michael Turner's surfer babe heroine from Fathom. It's got babes in skimpy swimsuits and aqua-armor, weird sea beasties, water, water and more water. Cool. Makes me really look forward to seeing Turner's run on Superman/Batman later this year.

Comic Talk

I've been on a comic-buying spree lately. Just picked up the latest issue of Fallen Angel, the first issue of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and my staple anime mag, Protoculture Addicts.



Fallen Angel really isn't something I'd normally think to pick up, but I guess I'm really a sucker for babe books, and FA's dark heroine is one sexy and dangerous femme fatale (And I love them bad).
Lee aka The Fallen Angel is a mysterious, hooded and cloaked female vigilante/enforcer/bounty hunter in the crime-infested, seedy city of Bete Noir. For reasons yet unknown, she's got superhuman strength and toughness (a hard guy in an early issue likened hitting her to 'punching concrete') and amazing gymnastic ability, letting her prowl the rooftops of the city on her mostly-bare feet like a cat. Oh, and she apparently has some lethal psychic powers which can apparently let her turn people inside-out. Hint: Don't get her mad. The art, by David Lopez (pencils) and Fernando Blanco is consistent and matches the mature and gritty storyline perfectly. Aside from Blade of the Immortal and Street Fighter, this is one of the few titles I really make a point to get every month.

Haven't gotten into Kiss Kiss Bang Bang yet; all I know is that it's about retro spy action, and it's got sexy babes and Adolf Hitler.

I haven't yet gotten deep into these new acquisitions, but I'm gonna get myself the collected editions of Batman: Hush and Michael Turner's Aspen tomorrow. Lots of comic goodness to imbibe, absorb and put to good use, percolating in the gray matter. Aaah.

Gaming Picks

Got a copy of the Hyper Street Fighter Collection PS2 game. It's an interesting collage disc which brings together the original Street Fighter II and all it's variants- Champion and Turbo/Hyper Editions, as well as the Super Street Fighter II games that introduced the beret-wearing, leotard-clad Cammy, among others. Interestingly enough, you can play versions of the various fighters against their personas from other SF2 games. As far as I can tell, it just shows off the progression of the character sprites and art most of all.
A surprise treat in store in the disc is the entire Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie anime, which you can view in the Gallery Section. Unfortunately for those wanting to see Chun Li's gratuitous shower scene, it's been edited discreetly. Heh.
A nice momento for hardcore Street Fighter fans. For me though, I'd ask for Street Fighter 4. Or at least another Street Fighter 3 game. I want my Ibuki back in action! Argh. Makes me glad I own a Dreamcast.

Some other recent game picks; Biohazard: Outbreak for PS2 is an online game that lets players take the role of various individuals trapped in a zombie-infested city. Choose a security guard and you can fight unarmed better. The waitress can carry more stuff. The doctor can heal people. The reporter is usually ignored by zombies (Eh?) and so on. There's actually an offline game, but it's really meant to be played with flesh-and-blood people.

Kunoichi is the sequel to last year's hit ninja action game, Shinobi. This time, instead of a macho ninja, players control a sexy, long-legged female shadow warrior named Hibana. Once again, evil forces threaten the populace, so our heroine must traverse various urban environments, fight hordes of weird creatures and take on mammoth hardware to reach her goal. Like before, killing groups of enemies in chains will lead to a cool and pretty bloody end animation. Kunoichi will be renamed Nightshade in the US, and is far more playable (read: easier) than it's prequel.

I'm still waiting of course for Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive Online for Xbox, both of which are due for release in Japan this first quarter. I'll be scoping out the dvd shelves this weekend for some new picks to slip into the appropriate slots. Later then.

Mangamania


The latest issue of Questor Extreme is now available.

I just picked up the latest issue of Questor Extreme Mangamania. Checked out the stories, and here are my thoughts.
Free Spirits (Written by Benedict Bartolome, art by Vincent Bernales), the shoujo-romance tale with supernatural flavor, continues with this episode finally revealing information about those two ghosts who have been appearing to two of the visiting teens. As before, the art is clean but a little bit more 'libog', or oomph could have helped. There was a scene in it where the gardener and the cook seemed to be harassing the poor, shy maid and it kinda looked... wrong. Oh well. Still feel this story has way too many characters and the fact that most of them look the same doesn't help. Aaah... just not my type. Heh.
Cante Ista (Story by David Hontiveros, art by Peter Edric Go) once again mystifies me with even MORE pages of full prose. I guess the story just was too long to tell in panels so they just went and made this comic a pseudo novel. Again, I just can't get into this one, with Native American gobbledy-goo, werebears, ancient evil and... two guys kissing. Not for me. Still, the art's the best in the bunch.
Sidesweepers (Story by Bebert Lacuna, art by Roland Amago) yet again continues with the confusing layouts and washed-out art, a rather aimless non-story, a cast of characters that after seven issues I STILL can't remember any of, and a plot that STILL doesn't make any sense. Moving on...

Finally, Camp Big Five (Story by Benedict Bartolome, art by Franklin Quano) reveals the identities of the Secret Alliance that seem to be the villains of the story. These include a wheelchair-bound woman named Tatiana Karlova, a grim-faced human general named Laers Kraeg (probably joined to avenge the death of his girlfriend, Shmi), a Boazanian kid named Louis (DUKE LOUIS JEAGER IV!!!) who's a whiz with mutation machines and cloning, and of course... Mark Gordon (NOOO!!!), former Volt Team member and pilot of the Voltez Bomber.
The motivation and goals of this group is, of course, mostly anti-Boazanian, though they don't seem to have any qualms against killing the odd human who gets in their way. Karlova seems to be the one in charge; Kraeg is simple muscle, Jeager is the tech-head while Mark is a traitorous mole, striking at the Volt Team from the inside.

Not bad, but I would have wished that leading up to this latest issue we could have had more meat and depth to these baddies. I mean, the original cast of villains in Voltez-V were a colorful, interesting lot. Prince Zardoz had the charisma and the arrogant air of command. Zandra was the fawning but lethal mistress of beast fighters. Zul was the ill-favored, scheming and poisonous henchman (part Gollum, part Wormtongue... what a mix), while Draco provided brute force (and DAMN he was strong- remember how he threw around Jamie the superninja?). Compared to them, these new villains pale in comparison, which is understandable. But I wish more effort and thought had been put into their creation.
For example, General Kraeg, who first appears to glower at a spying Jamie Robinson, does nothing but look grim and dour and then run off with his tail between his legs when Steve drives in. It would have been cool perhaps to have him personally get the drop on Jamie during that time- perhaps he was a comrade of Jamie's late father and is a master ninja himself. The new mutant boazanian soldiers are also just given a passing and inadequate disclaimer that 'they're stronger than before'. Just a little bit more and these guys would have been all that more formidable and interesting.
Tatiana, the crippled pact leader, may be a former flame of Doctor Armstrong, spurned in favor of Steve, Big Bert and Little Jon's mother. Perhaps a connection will make her part in this even more heartfelt- and dangerous. And then there's little Louis, who seems to be a Boazanian little Jon in the making. He's actually the best portrayed of the baddies so far- a spoiled little genius never fails.
As for Mark Gordon- turning traitor just because he got into gambling debt? If he doesn't eventually turn out to be a double agent, I will be surprised.

I have to say that with all this, the focus is STILL mostly on the old Volt team, with the new pilots and the overly-large scholastic community at the new Camp Big Falcon being just gravy. Again, too many characters without focusing on those who should matter. Up to now, the stuff that made the original series great- big robot battles and intense drama- has been replaced with a generally bloodless and happy-happy sitcom status quo, beast fighters who are so insignificant they get killed off in flashback or retrospect, and a new cast of characters whom I haven't had reason to like or dislike after all this time.

As for the art, I still preferred the clean but cutesy art of earlier issues (which was too Gatekeeper-ish for a lot of people but I liked a lot), but suffice to say I am getting used to the present art. I just hope it pushes the envelope with every new issue.

That's that. I don't think I'll be able to continue reviewing this book without bias in a couple of issues, seeing as how I'll be eventually working with these people. Oh well, I'll enjoy the independence and right of a buyer while I can. Heh.

Questor Extreme Mangamania 7 is now available at bookstores and magazine stands, Php 100. Free Spirits cover art by Aldin Viray.

Great Katch


A K.I.A. montage by Karen Cheung.

Here's a cool pinup artwork from Karen Cheung, AKA Katch. This otaku artist will also be doing the pages of an 8-page story entitled "Freedom", giving Agent K the benefit of her clean, solid lines of art. We can't wait to see what she'll be coming up with soon.

Gymkata


Remember what a martial arts wiz Ernie Reyes Jr. was years ago? This little girl could probably kick his arse easy.

Last night, I turned on the TV to ESPN and found myself watching a martial arts competition. But unlike the usual combat sports competition, this was all about forms and katas, techniques and looking good doing it. The first couple of female competitors were adults, and it was pretty boring actually- a couple of non-attractive women (okay, you really can't expect model-gorgoues martial artists, I know) YELLING (that's all part of the focus and intensity factors of martial arts, of course) and kicking and punching and waving their arms did not really look too great. But then came the KIDS, and I gaped.
Perhaps it's because of their lightness, or maybe they were just really good. But a couple of kids, notably a ten-year old girl (looking quite cute with her Chun-Li hairdo) were not only kicking and punching like martial arts masters, they were jumping and joing flipkicks, sweeps and strikes like lightning. They yelled, expelling their inner force and ki, lashing out with kicks and sticking them (doing a kick and holding the pose) perfectly. The little girl (who won) even did a cute, videogame-ish win pose at the end of her routine.


YA-TAH!

From how the commentators were talking, martial arts 'forms' competition is the next step in gymnastics, mixing the beauty and grace of martial arts with exhibition-style presentation. I hope it catches on... it's pretty awesome to see.

10 Things I love about Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is finally out in wide circulation here in Manila, and from the sold-out ticket booths and long, long lines I gather that a lot of people have finally seen this finale to the best movie trilogy yet. At the very least, the people in my inner circle have finally seen it. So now I can gush without fear of spoiling the experience for those who matter. Heh.

1. The Siege of Minas Tirith. The sight of a massive siege army covering a field like a festering plague is something else. 200,000 orcs, trolls, towers, catapults... My gosh. Never has an invasion been portrayed like this. 10,000 Uruk-Hai? Helm's Deep was a skirmish. THIS was the real battle.

2. Pelennor Fields. From Theoden's rousing call to arms to the supernaturally-themed slaughter of Mordor's minions, this is easily the finest fantasy battle yet put to screen.

3. The Rohirrim. Easily the coolest and best warriors in Middle Earth as far as I'm concerned. Led by the coolest king and a KICK-ASS princess. That massive charge that sent an enemy more than twenty times their number RUNNING with tails between their legs. That magnificent trademark Rohan theme music, their mad, suicidal, head-on collision with the Haradrim Mumakil... DAMN. These guys rock. Makes you wonder why they didn't have a Rohan member in the Fellowship earlier. Probably the whole LOTR story would have ended far earlier. Heh.

4. The Haradrim Mumakil. Terrifying and incredibly brought to life. Where in the world did Peter Jackson find these building-sized elephants? Special Effects? Oh.

5. Shelob. Imagine the furriest, creepiest, most evil and realistic-looking spider ever. Now, imagine it's as big as a freaking car. Now imagine it can move without a sound. Now imagine it's right. Over. Your. Head. My GOSH that's scary.

6. Samwise Gamgee. Who's the real hero of LOTR? This guy right here.

7. The long goodbye. Anyone who stands up to leave before the words 'The End' appear onscreen doesn't deserve to see this whole trilogy. Just get out and let the rest of us enjoy in bliss. My favorite phase, the coronation and the Mulan-like homage. Though Aragorn breaking out in song was kinda much. Heh.

8. Legolas' Super Stunt. After the good guys get kicked and pushed down so long in this film, it's great to finally kick back. And look great doing it. A guaranteed clapfest moment.

9. Eowyn. This girl's STRONG. How else can you hoist up a fully-armored hobbit with one hand, cripple a Mumak with one-handed blows, and KILL Sauron's most powerful servant? All that after she gets her heart broken, natch. You go, girl! WOOHOO!

10. The End Credits. Lovely, lovely artworks of a magnificent, perfect ensemble cast. My only gripe is the absence of Christopher Lee's Saruman and Brad Dourif's Grima. Hopefully the Extended Version DVDs will remedy that. Take a bow, people. You all just set a benchmark for fantasy, sci-fi and high action for the next several decades.

It's over. Well, at the very least we have the extended dvd set and more than four hours of ROTK to look forward to by the end of the year. And then it's just a matter of bringing out the movie to visit Middle Earth. But we'll miss the yearly pilgrimage to theaters. Oh well. It had to end someday.

Thanks, Peter Jackson, WETA and the cast of LOTR. Hopefully, their legacy will last into the Next Age and beyond, and that this great trilogy- no, 10+ hour epic, will be an inspiration for even better films to come.

Art from Pasig


Dante and Mina? Nope, it's Shikaze and Agent K from K.I.A.

The cool sketch above is the work of none other than Culture Crash's mystery man, Taga-Ilog. He's been good enough to grace the pages of K.I.A. with his cool art, so we're beside ourselves with joy. I can't wait for the final art! Heh. Giddy like a schoolboy I am.

As for K.I.A. in general... the scripts have been assigned, the pinup artists have been briefed, the book's dimensions and page count are finalized. The groundwork's done and it's time to get into the nitty-gritty. Coolness.

ROTK Weekend (Minor Spoilers)

It started last night with the midnight showings at selected theaters. But by now, it's finally here. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is finally in Metro Manila movie theaters for general and regular screenings.
The gang will be trooping en masse to the theater tomorrow to catch this final installment of the MADman's choice for best movie trilogy ever. Finally I'll be able to see once again the moments that reeked epic coolness... The taking of Osgiliath, the suidical charge of Faramir, the siege of Minas Tirith, the coming of the Rohirrim, the battle of Pelennor Fields, the battle at the Black Gate, and the final, long, glorious goodbye.
Yep, I've seen it already. Seen it on the current crappy, skippy, butchered bootlegs too... but I will probably see it a few more times on the big screen and countless more when the original home release arrives. Yep, I am a LOTR movie freak. And proud of it. Heh.

K.I.A. Hitlist


Kai's racking up a big body count...

My latest comic project, the Angel Ace spinoff K.I.A. will be a pocket-sized publication that packs a big punch. Within it's black and white and red covers will be 160 pages graced with the art and talent of some of local comics' coolest people: Dean Alfar (The Lost), Nikki Alfar (KC Strange), Carl Vergara (Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah), Arnold Arre (After Eden), Honoel Ibardolaza (Homanga), Jon Mallari (Variable Edge), Jeremy Arambulo (Styx Taxi), Gerry Alanguilan (Wasted, Superman: Birthright), Wilson Tortosa (Battle of the Planets), Taga-Ilog (PASIG), Jennyson Rosero (Questor, Gokitomo), Jon Zamar (Minsan sa Panaginip), Michael Seludo and Marvin del Mundo (Atomic Underground), Karen 'Katch' Cheung (Asong Makulit), Elbert Or (Two-Color Truth), Andrew Drilon (Grafic), Joel Chua (Cherry Blossom High) and Marco Dimaano (pahabol).
It'll be a story of a deadlysexycool superagent/assassin/spy first, heroine-in-search-of-her-true-self second. We're drawing on stuff like Elektra, Aeon Flux, Danger Girl, Le Femme Nikita, Alias and more for our inspirations, to make for a slicker, sexier and darker book from the main Angel Ace titles.

It'll be something to see. Lots of read and see. Coming midyear. Watch out. You're NEXT. Heh.

WOOHOO!

My first overtime at the office for the year!!!

WHHHOOOOAAAAAAA!!!

Well, it won't be the last.

Heh.

Jumble Tumblers

Yesterday, after a noontime presentation to a client, me and my account person decided to celebrate our successful selling of a couple of radio commercials by having lunch. At JOLLIBEE! Whee!
Well, we got a cab and hied off to Edsa Shangri-La. At the food center's JB branch, we waited in line and I saw some cool Return of the King tumblers being offered. All you needed to do was add a paltry sum to your order of a happy meal and you had your COOL Lord of the Rings tumbler! Whee!
I ordered my usual. A Jolliyumburger with cheese combo with large softdrink and fried, and a single spaghetti.
Now, I order this combo ALL the time, at many different restaurants. I always make it a point to say 'single spaghetti' or 'extra spaghetti' since invariably, the counter people will say, 'Spaghetti with drink, sir?'
NO! I would always scream in my inner voice. DO I LOOK LIKE I CAN FINISH TWO LARGE SOFTDRINKS???

...

Okay, don't you DARE answer that.

Well, imagine my surprise when my Aragorn-Theoden-Arwen-Legolas emblazoned tumbler came filled to the brim with Coke. Right next to a large softdrink.

"Um... I said the spaghetti was just a separate order, not a combo."

The attendant then mouthed some gobbledy-goo that I could only avail of a large fries if I ordered the combo. Or something like that.

Usually, the option to upgrade fries and drinks come easily, but for some reason this was pretty iffy. Well, I was just hungry and just wanted my tumbler. I told my accounts person to just order a regular drink and refill from the extra large glass.

As we ate, I got to admire my new... albeit cheap plastic ROTK tumbler with the funny lid that came with no straw hole (usually they do... or maybe I'm mistaken). Another to add to my growing collection of movie tumblers. Whee.

Good Signs

Last night I hung out at Comic Quest, sketching out stuff in the K.I.A. sketchbook after splurging on issues of Superman/Batman (or is it Batman/Superman?). During the night, Vin pointed out to me that a customer had just bought a copy of Angel Ace Next. I of course offered to sign it, and did (Thanks for your support, Walter!).
Thankfully, Next seems to be having the same steady pace of sales as previous Angel issues. Siglo is obviously selling well and getting uniformly good feedback and reviews. And of course, the Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah compilation is selling like hotcakes.
It's a great time for local comics, I think. People these days don't seem to treat locally-made stuff like they used to- ergo, that it is cheap and low quality. From what I perceive, at least in my own view, Filipinos are now quite aware that, in the comics medium at least, the Pinoy has a lot of talent and the products are worth their hard-earned peso. Perhaps it also helps that in these trying times, there's a more palpable sense of nationality... or perhaps, just the need to believe in something... whether it be fictional heroes on pages or make-believe worlds to take refuge in temporarily. And of course, who else knows better than a Pinoy what it takes to entertain a Pinoy?

And if one person gets to laugh or feel good from reading our comics, we local komikeros and grafictionados can say we've done our job well.

Let's keep those pages coming, people. Heh.

In Fairness



In celebration of Dean's birthday, the Quest/Siglo group headed over to the Paskong Pasiklab carnival and fair at Philcoa near UP Diliman. It was a larger group than we usually had as of late; me, Dean, Gig, Vin, Cams, Carl, Dino, Elbert, Andrew and Jason (who came all the way from Davao!).
On the way we had joked about how we would probably drive up to the fair, take one look and promptly drive out. But surprisingly, the place looked decent and safe, clean and well-lit (though decidedly low-tech; no Enchanted Kingdom this). We started walking around, finding fun in stuff like games of chance such as Coin Toss Games, Shooting Galleries and Basketball Hoops. Carl, after getting foiled in scoring a single basket in the hoops, promptly picked up a gun and blasted away at plastic toy targets, winning a bunch of chocolate bars (money well spent, I guess).

Another feature we tried out for sheer curiosity's sake were the Freak Show booths. There were at least three scattered across the fair; Dyesebel (mermaid), Snake Woman and Galema, the Girl who played with Snakes. Basically, these booths were walled-in cubes where the top was open for viewing for spectators to look down on the attraction. The gang tried several. I looked at Dyesebel and could only barely make out a torse and water since the top of the chamber was covered by a colored screen (BAH).
I passed on the Snake Woman (which Andrew just described as a girl in a rubber suit) but eventually decided to look at Galema after seeing looks of shocked enjoyment on Gig's and Andrew's faces. Galema was a nondescript woman, dressed in shorts and a jacket (disappointingly looking NOTHING like the sexy jungle girl in the large billboard) who sat or stood in the booth with about eight to ten snakes all around her. She lifted them up in bunches, played with them, teased them and basically just looked pretty bored. Sessions lasted for about a couple of minutes before Galema would leave through a small door to presumably a safe and snakeless area.
Not really impressive (I actually tried to take a photo but it really wasn't photogenic); I had more fun looking at the lethargic snake sitting on the counter of the 'Deejay' near the booth entrance. I touched it and felt the dry but cold and clammy feel of the reptile; even feeling the bones beneath the skin. Ooh. Vin on the other hand kept petting it and looking at it for the duration of his stay (I won't be surprised to find a snake sitting on Vin's computer next week).

After that, we wandered around more, trying out more games, eating the odd snack (cotton candy, popcorn, hotdogs, gulaman, barbecue). Andrew rode on something that looked like a gyroscope. Some rode on the Octopus, some rode on the Ferris Wheel. Andrew took home a couple of matching bowls and glasses thanks to his luck (or skill?) in the Coin Toss game.

We all trooped into the Malikmata Horror Warehouse, which incredibly enough actually was pretty creepy and fun.
The place had quite a well done look to it, and the darkened corridors were maze-like, twisting and turning. The opening area had us walk through beds with bloodstained sheets, motionless figures hunched under them. Of course, by the time some of the figures actually MOVED, we had gone from moving in easygoing pairs to the huddled formation often used by caravan trains during bandit raids.
We moved past the morgue into more hallways with alcoves showing various vignettes of horror, with silent, garbed figures lining corners and blind curves. This was pretty much the creepiest part, since you really couldn’t tell if the figures would move or not. There were some cheesy parts, but overall we were laughing and screaming and shouting and rushing out the door. Money well spent, really!

After that, we started to wind down with some eats, particularly some solid barbecue from a Grill Queen kiosk. After that, it was past midnight and off we went to cool off at Chili’s in Greenhills (which happened only after a loooooong circling through a blocked UP Campus).

Great fun, and honestly, the best fun we’ve had as a group in a long time.

Let’s do it again next year, guys!

Movie Picks

We Filipinos should enjoy our theaters. As my cousin would say, in the US you can't just watch as you please since the movie theaters charge so much (in our money, about 500 pesos a viewing! And you can't stay in the theaters as long as you want!). Feel lucky. Very lucky.

I have to make it a point to catch a couple of the Metro Manila Film Festival flicks before the work week starts. I actually want to see Captain Barbell cause the film actually looks to have some decent fx, and some interesting character designs. I don't know if I can muster the willpower to watch Gagamboy, but we'll see.

In the next few weeks, Pinoys will finally be able to see the grandness of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (which has already been playing for a couple of weeks in the US and other countries). We're actually not the worst off- the Japanese actually have to wait till February before they can catch the LOTR finale in theaters (DAAAAMMNNN!!!), and the wait has actually been SPOILED for many of them by a really crappy, spoiler-filled trailer that made the rounds. That bites.
Me, I'm looking forward to watching ROTK again. And again. Wanna relive the moments that sent chills up my spine. Yep, this is just the first of my ROTK posts that I have been holding back since watching it last December 18. I'll be gushing more as the movie approaches, and into the day I watch it again with the rest of the gang.

And onto other films, gonna also catch Kill Bill Volume 1, which will be hitting theaters a week after ROTK. It's rated R, but I still expect cuts from our local censors to butcher this blood-fest. Oh well.

Then there's Last Samurai, which looks to be a real treat as well. Authentic samurai action, big screen real-world battles and a NINJA attack are the things to watch in this one.

Peter Pan is the latest re-telling of the classic fairy tale, and this time it's more faithful to the novel instead of the 'What If' over-hyped clunker that was Hook (though I must admit to liking the final swordfight in that Steven Spielberg film). Peter Pan is a bishoujo-boy dressed in little more than leaves, with Wendy played by a lovely young actress, a sexy Tinkerbelle, decent FX and a more perilous take on Neverland, and probably the most nasty take on Captain Hook yet (played by Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter, The evil Paddington from The Patriot). The film looks to be quite action-packed, with a right amount of wonder and magic. Unfortunately this film seems to be bombing in the US, but I'll make it a point to catch it here (or at least get the DVD).

Ah, lots of good stuff to watch. Now, if only there was enough time to go with them. Ah, that's the ticket.

Gotta Trim Down

Over this last weekend before work, I gotta do some things.

Gotta buy new razors and shaving cream (kasi, sabi ni Cams di raw maganda ang goatee).

Gotta have a new haircut (maybe I'll go with a minimalist look ala Dean, Dino and Andrew.)

Gotta fix up my room.

Gotta start taking vitamins and getting my body clock used to getting up early in the morning again.

Gotta think about doing that Atkins Diet.

Gotta get focused on being better at everything this year.

Gotta do some changes to my blogs and websites.

Gotta schedule out my year.

Gotta, gotta, gotta.

Or maybe it's GONNA.

Yep. Rah-rah post right here. Heh.

Friends and Family


Camille, Gig, Dean, Jeremy and Andrew chill with me at the Megastrip.

It's the last of the Holiday break (which was pleasantly long and enjoyable, thanks to the presence of my cousin Jeremy. What did I do to the poor young man from New York while he was here? Did I take him to the hottest nightspots in the Metro? Did I wine and dine him? Nah! I made him WORK his ass off on pages for my comics. I dragged him to some comic launch and threw him into the presence of some of the most fickle and crazy folks I know. I exposed him to a seedy, crime-infested demilitarized zone.
And you know what? He enjoyed it. What can I say? Craziness runs in my family. Heh.

Kidding aside, I introduced Jeremy to the Questventures and Siglo gang, and he took like a fish to water. He's made a fast friend in Dean and surely something cool and great will come from a partnership of these two creatives. He's going home with friendships, dvds, Pinoy-made comics and a lot of new entries in his very busy sketchbook.

Don't know when he'll next be around, but thanks to the wonders of the Web, we'll keep in touch and keep the art and stories flowing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

WOOHOO!!!! WHIZZZZ!!! BAAAANNNGGG!!! POP!!! BOOOOMMMM!!!! KAAAABLLAAAAAMMMM!!!
KAPOWIE!!! ZAAAAMMMM!!!! VROOOSSSHHHHH!!!! WWEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOBOOOOOMMM!!!