Alien VS Predator

Whoever wins, we lose more than a hundred bucks.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I met up with Vin and Jason after work to watch the monster franchise-crossover movie, Alien VS Predator. As usual with our movie ops, after Vin closed up the store we had a rush dinner and then hurried off to The Podium.
These past few weeks, I've missed I, Robot, Catwoman, Collateral and The Village. For some reason, we decided to watch AvP. Oh well. Here we go.

Set in present day (October 2004), the movie introduces us to... well, a bunch of humans. I really don't care about any of them, and I hardly remember any of them as well. There's the lead female, a kind of mountaineering or survival specialist, a couple of archaeologists, a tough chick that kinda reminded me of Marie Fredrickssen from Roxette, a black guy with a great voice, a bunch of guys with 'cannon fodder' and 'alien bait' written all over them, and of course Lance Henricksen as multibillionaire Wayland, whom film enthusiasts will probably see as the origin of the Wayland-Yutani Corporation that's the background villain in the Alien movies.
To make a long, dragging first quarter of the film mercifully short, a heat source is detected by Wayland's satellites at the North Pole. They find a pyramid hidden under the ice, and immediately send forth an expedition. Wayland himself joins the hastily-gathered experts and manpower, despite having a life-threatening illness. Of course, the ruins are deadlier than just any ordinary fossil ground- and soon the humans are waist-deep with H.R. Giger's babies, and a team of the extraterrestrial hunters known as The Predators.

This film just screams 'rushed', in more ways than one. The characters are pretty shallow and the story is little more than an FX-fest. There are some stuff about the origins of earth's civilizations and how they are tied with the Predators, and that's pretty much it. The alien-predator fights are kinda short, and people hoping to see the predators kick major butt will be disappointed. The climax, where the last predator and human join together to fight and survive, is pretty hokey... especially the part where the predator improvises some equipment for his new ally... The only thing missing is the crab-faced alien giving the homo-sapien a 'thumbs up' and a pat on the back at the end. Heh.

In the end this is really just a harmless, no-brainer action movie that tries to use two popular franchises... an idea that has been in comics for years, but in the end the movie version just falls short... as I expected. It could have been scripted a LOT better, with the wealth of stuff and material the producers had to work with... but a lot just went to waste, under-utilized and glossed over. Dumb, heavy-handed action.

Well, I wasn't expecting much from this, so I actually had a laugh and a bit of fun. Heh. What a way to end the week.

Game Over

I've finished reading Game of Thrones.

Great read.

Off to find the next book.

Winter is coming.

Road Rage

There's nothing more infuriating than spending almost an hour waiting for a cab along Katipunan with the sun over your head and the smell of garbage and some decaying animal cloying your nostrils, having a cab some along and then just have it taken by some FRICKING BEEYOTCH who appears out of nowhere in front of you.

I had half a mind to grab the taxi thief by the hair and piledrive her into the sidewalk.

There has to be a law, darn it. BAH.

The Game Continues...

Just before retiring last night, I decided to read a couple of chapters of Game of Thrones. The plot deepens, with Eddard Stark, new King's Hand, forging deeper into enemy-infested territory. However, it's not a battlefield the noble lord is accustomed to- this is a secret war, fought in hallowed halls and dark allleyways with subtle treachery, hidden daggers and sweet poison, deadly intrigue and ruthless subterfuge. Ned Stark is not without allies in his fight for the King, but his enemies are powerful indeed.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Starks, their allies and their enemies continue the high-level drama of kings, lords, bastards, assassins and knights, even as the balance of power shifts in the East, and a forgotten evil gathers menace in the North.

Winter is coming. And the Dragon may yet wake.

Don't understand a word I'm babbling about? Get yourself a copy of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones and start playing. This book has lodged itself like a sharp antler in my throat and I can't stop reading. The characters are excellently written, and there are surprising twists to the various personages encountered in the novel. Gripping stuff.

And of course, by the time I put down the book for this sitting (I'm about a third through) it was FRICKIN' THREE O' CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!! GAAAAHHH!!!

Dream Wars

This morning I dreamt of a battle scene which looked like something from Saving Private Ryan except with superheroes.

I saw large numbers of caped and costumed characters alongside squads and squads of regular soldiers, charging forward in a cratered, desert landscape. Sometimes explosions would rock the landscape, sending bodies and body parts flying- Yes, even the costumed guys died. It was kinda cartoony though- about as gory as a contemporary RTS computer game.
The highlight was watching the dream's 'main character', who looked pretty much like the Terminatrix from T3, charge forward, using her shapechanging powers and fighting skills to wade through squads of enemy troopers. The climax was the T-X charging into a cave, and then exploding out, locked in battle with a robotic triceratops.

Battle ended, troops cheered, heroes were victorious... and I woke up.

It must have been the pizza dinner.

Modus Operandi

I just got a warning both from e-mail and from my parents about a modus operandi carried out by a couple of evildoers to victimize women passengers of taxi cabs.
The schtick is actually pretty simple. The perpatrators have a taxi cab that plies routes in Makati. They pick up lone female passengers who fit their target. Then, when they reach a secluded, dark spot, the driver will get out and open the trunk. At which point, the driver's accomplice will jump out and hold the passenger at knife-point.
Apparently, the two men responsible for these crimes- Arnold Apolonario (the driver) and Nick Simpao (the knife-man) have already been caught, but have gotten out of jail due to our LOVELY justice system. While the e-mail has suggested that Apolonario may have already slipped out to the States, this scheme may still be in use by other lawless bastards in Metro Manila.

The best people, especially women, can do is just stay vigilant. Try not to show off valuables like expensive cellphones and large amounts of money when in the street, or in the cab. Try to select cabs with well-known and respected company names, and always jot down the license plate and name of the cab (real cabs have red serial numbers on the license plate) or let your companions and friends do it for you. Always keep an eye on your cabbie, and eveything he does.

These really aren't foolproof defenses against such crimes- in the best case, if the holdup men are just after money and valuables, just give them up since NOTHING is worth your health and life. Keep a clear head, always say a prayer and keep your wits always about you. Survival is always top priority.

I'm a regular commuter, but luckily I'm male, so this M.O. might not necessarily be for me. But hold-ups are a constant threat, so all I can do is keep under the radar and avoid looking like a target (especially since I walk around with a laptop and cellphone all the time). Darn. What I would give for a real working Vanishing Ray. Sigh.

Stark of Winterfell Raving Mad



Last night I started reading George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel, Game of Thrones. I've been hearing great things about this book from Dean, Gig and Vin for the longest time, so when I saw a copy at the National Book Fair, I got it.
The book's a pretty fast and easy read- a high-level tale that revolves around the powerful and embattled Starks of Winterfell, a noble family as hard and cold as the land they rule. When the Starks' patriarch, Eddard Stark, is offered a position of power by the King, it starts a deadly contest between the Starks, their allies, their enemies... quite literally, a game of thrones.

The novel is pretty entertaining- the setting is interesting and the politically-charged plots and subplots, including a growing threat of supernatural forces and a threat of invasion from overseas mixes with more personal tales of ambition and adversity. It's not your fireball-and-orc horde type of fantasy world; there are only hints of magic and dragons are extinct, but I find myself turning page after page. Good stuff!

Depending on how fast I finish the first part, I guess I'll be on the lookout for the next two parts of the saga. Only one problem though...

HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO GET ANY COMICS DONE WITH THIS DARN BOOK TAKING UP ALL MY TIME???

Local Justice

On the local news I watched a video taken by the Philippine Air Force as a squadron of helicopters and bombers poured hundreds of bombs and thousands of ammo rounds into a couple of houses on a tiny island in Maguindanao. According to the PAF, this was proof of the death of a feared Kidnap-for-Ransom gang leader and 15 henchmen. Of course, there was really no footage of the bodies... but the Armed Forces rep said that they were 100 perfect sure that their 'surgical strike' was totally accurate.

On other recent news, a man was supposedly killed then cooked and EATEN in a case of apparent cannibalism. The police found the site where the body was apparently burned, tramping across the scene like a pack of wild elephants no doubt. Of course, there are no CSI departments here to tell how many people were at the scene, what actually happened to the victim, or any pertinent data. All the police have to go on in liey of any forensic evidence is eye-witness accounts, confessions (often achieved via torture) and... MY WORD AGAINST YOURS!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Well! Doesn't that make me feel safe. Gah.

Winning Weekend


Sweeet!

This weekend was pretty busy. In the late afternoon, the gang (Vin, Dean, Gig, Carl, Andrew, Elbert, Jason, Charles, Jaime and of course, me) converged on The World Trade Center in Manila to attend the National Book Fair and later, the 2004 National Book Awards. Particularly, our object was the award for Best Comic.
The Book Fair was, to Dean's estimation, crap. Well, I really didn't expect anything, nor was I expecting to get anything at all. In the end though, I got myself a couple of acquisitions- George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones (which I have been hearing of FOREVER from Dean, Gig and Vin) and four choice issues of Asterix the Gaul. I even won a free umbrella from National Book Store, which was fortuitous at the very least since it was raining and I brought no real protection at all.

Anyway, the awards were held in a partitioned-off area of the Book Fair and I have to say, it was the WORST awards event I have ever seen. The plastic walls of the venue were falling off with alarming regularity, threatening to flatten unfortunate audience members, and the presentation of the awards were... not particularly engaging. Sigh. Well, at the very least Ruey's spiels were entertaining, and the Comic Award magnanimously went both to Siglo Freedom AND the competition, the Darna series by Mango Comics.
Afterwards, it was a sight to see Dean talking and discussing comics and publishing with the Yonzons, and perhaps something will come of this night that will be good for all of us comics makers.



After the awards, the group split up to make their way to Rockwell for a well-deserved dinner. Me and Jason drove in the Pinoy nomad's pickup through traffic and rain to the sound of The Lord of the Rings- an experience to remember, actually. Eventually, the group had a pricey but satistying repast at Burgoo's. Later, it was winding down time at Country Waffles, which let us talk more comic geek talk and appreciation time for newly-bought books. Then, it was home for me and Karaoke Night for most of the rest.

Today, I was lucky to have a bit of rest. The weekend's not over since I have to go attend my friend Alex's delayed birthday party. Later tonight, I hope to at least get some work done on pages. Then it's work again tomorrow. The weekend's almost over, but it's been a winner.

Bleak

That's pretty much how I describe Dawn of the Dead, the recent remake of the George Romero original horror film which I just watched on DVD. The blood and gore are pretty nasty even for desensitized me, and the depressing ending revealed in the end credits made it all so meaningless. The interaction of the humans was kinda cool to watch though- sorta like Survivor crossed with Resident Evil. Well, that's one film I won't really be aching to watch anytime soon. If ever.

Heeeeey... Detective School Q's on! Just the thing to watch after a gory thriller... Nice, cheery anime. Ah.

Pocket Moviemaking

I just rediscovered the fun of making short films... using my cellphone. I guess I was a bit inspired by Untamed Cinema's Grayson short feature. My Nokia 7610 has of course a camcorder function, which allows me to take vids of up to 10 minutes in length. Along with the phone comes actual editing software with which you can edit your footage, make cuts, splice together various videos, add music, simple visual effects or transitions from clip to clip (fade ins and outs). It's actually pretty cool and I haven't really played with it ever since I got my phone. Well, I started doodling and playing with it today and it's pretty fun. It only takes the phone, some knowledge of editing and fooling the camera and some silly ideas to make up a phone video short feature.
Of course, I probably won't be able to make my own Lord of the Rings film, but who knows? Maybe I might even post them to kick off my new career as a cameraphone filmmaker. We'll see. Heheh...

Sudeki


The new action-RPG for the Xbox.

The world of Sudeki is a place sundered into two parts- one of light, and one of darkness, thanks to the depredations of an evil god (You just have to hate those evil gods). The world was saved by the coming of Four Heroes, each blessed with the powers of the light god, Tetsu. Now, generations later, the descendants of those four original warriors must find each other and take up arms once again.

The game puts you in the roles of these four heroes-Tal is a swordsman and warrior in the Illumina Empire's army. He's the son of a general but has to fight in the frontlines along with the other grunts. Unfortunately for him, his father blames him for the death of his brother, so that's a healthy bit of angst right there. Ailish is the princess of Illumina and one of the best magicians in the land- she's also a bit of a spoiled little rich girl... sorta like a cross between Zatanna, Lara Croft and Paris Hilton. Elco is the Imperial scientist and genius, and apparently of Latin descent according to his accent. He is a workaholic and dedicated to completing a new gadget that will protect Illumina and its allies from enemy attack. Finally, Buki is your sexy half-beast babe who starts off distrustful of the human races of Ilumina. Buki's priorities set her against Illumina at the beginning, but it's obvious she'll soon warm up to her comrades as the evil plot moves forward to endanger her homeland.

Sudeki's gameplay is a mix of RPG elements (levelling up, talking to townspeople, upgrading equipment) and realtime action. As Tal or Buki you fight in close, mixing it up with enemies using deadly combos and superattacks. As Elco or Ailish, the perspective switches from the usual 3rd person view to a first-person perspective very much like a shooter. Bolstering attacks are special Skill Attacks which are both graphically flashy and incredibly damaging. Sometimes you'll play as one character, but often and into the game you'll have heroes in groups of two to four. You'll only directly control one, while the rest are handled by the CPU AI (whose behavior and patterns you can tweak). Basically though, you'll probably find yourself babysitting your CPU allies since they tend to get overwhelmed by enemies.

So far, Sudeki seems to be a straight-up game... it's pretty linear; almost painfully so. There's always a map with an arrow to guide you to your next destination, and the game pretty much points the way to times when you need to use a special talent, such as Ailish's ability to dispel illusions, Elco's jet pack or Buki's climbing skills. Sorta like RPG for Dummies. Hmm.

Anyway, the game looks pretty good, with hi-res graphics, anime-ish characters and lush places to explore. It's still not as lively or as deep as better RPGs though. The voice acting is a bit on the down side, with Tal sounding like he's reading from a script, and Elco making bad Antonio Banderas impressions throughout. I'd mark it at just adequate.

With good RPGs in short supply on the Xbox, I'd say that Sudeki isn't really half bad. It looks and plays well, but nowhere near the caliber of more serious RPGs. But then again, it has a scantily-clad cat girl so I like it. Hoho...

Vampiric Ghandi

Ben Kingsley has reportedly signed up for a role in the videogame-to-movie translation of Bloodrayne. The Oscar Award-winning actor, known best for roles such as Mahatma Ghandi, will play the role of Bloodrayne's father- a vampire lord out to conquer the world. This may either turn out to be very cool, or sucky (as in the case of Jeremy Irons playing the hammy baddie in Dungeons and Dragons). Talk about changing the meaning of Hunger Strikes. Heh.
The upcoming Bloodrayne movie is based on the videogame of the same name, which features a sexy half-vampire heroine who fights Nazis and supernatural forces. Terminatrix Kristanna Loken has already been reported to play the title role. Also rumored to be in the running for a role in the film is actress Michelle Rodriguez.

HOLY Amazing movie trailer, Batman!


Too good to be true.

Remember Batman: Dead End? It was that Batman short film made by a budding filmmaker that wowed online audiences for its excellent visuals, action and painful dialogue. It was so good, comic fanboys all over wished that the upcoming Batman films had half as much attitude and feel as that short feature.

Well, this year's answer to Dead End is a movie trailer entitled Grayson, which is of course based on the character of Robin. The trailer's story is set twenty years in the future, after the Death of Batman! Dick Grayson's been living peacefully all this time with his wife and daughter, but something happens to bring the sidekick out of retirement and back into the shadows to avenge his fallen hero.
This trailer/short film is pretty mind-blowing. It starts off with an intriguing premise then slowly snowballs into scene after scene of dramatic vignettes, impressive fight scenes, intriguing dialogue and some quite jaw-dropping cameos from some other DC characters. It's all quite far-fetched and a bit on the melodramatic (and yes, quite a bit of energetic overacting is present), but after watching it if I had a hundred million dollars lying around, I'd give it to these filmmakers (a group calling themselves Untamed Cinema) so they could make the whole movie, and not just a trailer.

Really cool, superhero fanboy eye candy through and through. It's amazing what a bit of money, a lot of imagination, some leather outfits and a good eye for camerawork can do. Who knows? Maybe an Angel Ace movie trailer isn't so impossible... Heh.
To see this amazing bit of superhero pipe dreaming given 5 and a half minutes of life, click here.

BTW, if you can, try watching the accompanying Grayson Behind-the-scenes feature as well- hilariously amazing.

Happy Birthday Parents!



Today, my Mom and Dad turn one year older... together! Yep, as incredible as it may sound, my parents share the same birthday. How's that for a partnership? Mom's 68, Dad's 72. They've been together for at least 40 years. And if there's any good in this world, they'll stay together for a lot more years to come.

Happy Birthday, Mommy, Daddy. Love ya.

Cross-dressing Hero


The adventures of the first male ninjagirl are coming later this year.

Over the weekend I stayed at home working on pages. In particular, I inked the first four pages of Kunoichi Boy, my story destined for the pages of Questor Extreme Mangamania. Despite a long delay in the release of the next issues of both Questor and QEM, I have been assured that KB will indeed be on the lineup of manga stories in future releases.

I was pretty depressed when the mags seemed to stop and disappear, but now that it seems that things are going to start over again, I'm getting back into the groove. KB is one of my most unusual creations, and I am really excited to show off this title to readers. It's going to be an action-adventure with strong fantasy elements and of course liberal amounts of humor and romance... my models for the story will be my favorite anime and manga- Inu Yasha, Ranma 1/2, Ninja Scroll and Rurouni Kenshin... I'm not saying that KB will be as flashy as these titles, but at the very least I want the fun of these shows to be felt in Kunoichi Boy's adventures.

So far, I am not really sure how long my run in QEM will be. I'll be winging it, but hopefully readers will latch on the adventures of my ninja cross-dresser and we'll see the title go all the way to the end. Wow. That will be a first. Hehehe...

Street Fighter Perfect Collection

I got myself a copy of the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection today. The disc contains two games- Hyper Streetfighter II and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. The former brings together the various versions of Streetfighter II and allows you to pit different versions of the classic World Warriors against each other (from SF Champion Edition to the New Challengers). 3rd Strike is a port of the final installment of the underrated Streetfighter 3 series, boasting a large selection of fighters, amazingly fluid animation and rock-solid Street Fighter gameplay.

It's a great start to the DELUGE of fighting games coming in the next few months- King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, Guilty Gear Isuka, Mortal Kombat Deception and of course, Dead or Alive Ultimate and Tekken 5. Till the next wave of beat 'em ups arrives, I'll be brawling with Ibuki and the gang.

Look ma, no wires!

After a couple of weeks of waiting, I finally got my laptop upgraded with an airport card. Now, I have access to wireless internet! WOOHOO! This means I can go around pretty much anywhere in our office and stay online. Also, I should be able to surf at various WiFi spots in malls like Greenbelt, Glorietta and elsewhere. Pretty cool.

Hard Choices

Over a Chicken ala Kiev dinner at Classic Roast in Megamall a couple of nights ago, Vin, Dean and Gig grilled me on some hard choices.

Streetfighter or Tekken? Streetfighter, I'd have to say. The classic Capcom brawler is still the best, pound for pound, blow per blow.

PS2 or Xbox? DAMN this was hard. The PS2 had the numbers- the greater number of games and franchises, variety and star power. But the Xbox had Dead or Alive, and the library was getting better and better. I went with the future.

Videogames or Anime? Anime. No question. More often than not, I'd rather watch than play. Hmm. That sounded a bit naughty...

And of course... the clincher...

Angel or Kai?

Actually, this wasn't as hard as the other questions.

She's my lead heroine, my first baby and my golden girl... and while Angel will always have a special place in my heart, if I had to make a choice between one and the other, I'd take the angrier, more angsty, more tempermental, more fickle ninja girl.
Kai's adventures are darker and sexier, and she can go where Angel shouldn't or wouldn't go, and always looks great at it. While Angel is a bright, fun and colorful book you can open up anytime for a great read, Kai is a guilty-pleasure mag that you enjoy best in your favorite corner all by your lonesome. Heh.

And of course, I can share those guilty-pleasure adventures with readers in a few months, when we bring out K.I.A.. The book just came one step closer to becoming a reality. In about a month, after I finish the remaining art chores and production preparations, we'll be heading to the printers. WOOHOO!!!

As for the choices, I'm of course glad that they're all just hypothetical and I don't really need to choose between any of them. In these cases, I can have my cake AND my pie, and eat them as much as I want. HOHO.

K.I.A. Update


A sample from the K.I.A. story "Zindernuef", with art by Taga-Ilog.

It's been a long time since the last K.I.A. update, but even with the delays the Angel Ace spinoff anthology is still on track for a late 2004 release. All the stories from contributors have been submitted, so we're now entering the production phase where we organize and edit the pages, prep them for printing and of course, bring together the moolah to pay for it. Hopefully we'll be seeing Kai's adventures in print in time for the next C3Con, if there is one, later this year.