Blue Pencil Chronicles

+ In Memory of Heath Ledger, a legendary actor who shared his passion with the world.  May his soul rest in peace.

*Possible Spoilers Ahead.  Read at your own risk.

Tell you what, I have nothing but praises for the new installment of the revitalized Batman Film Series.  It’s soooo good!  To be honest, I didn’t expect this kind of treatment for a superhero character.  It’s ingenious!  It’s very dark but that’s just the right amount of dark the Batman is supposed to be surrounded with!  I absolutely love it!

Gone were the days of Batman with humor and Batman with tits!  This is how Batman is supposed to be.

Quite honestly, I don’t know where to start raving.  The movie’s that good!  It has depth one would normally find in an indie film with a nice back story.  But in Batman?  Gah.  I was drained.  Yes, I was drained of brain power.  That’s how good it is. (more…)

I forget the last time I laughed as hard as I did when I watched Mamma Mia! The trailer was inviting enough but I tell you, the movie is just… AWESOME.

We all know that it’s a decades-old musical play based on the hit songs of Abba.  I think a growing trend nowadays (aside from the musical play adaptation trend) is the use of songs by revered groups in the 70s and 80s in film musicals, much like Across the Universe.  I think that’s a difficult but clever tactic, since not all songs of a certain group point toward a certain plot point.  Pulling it off nicely, therefore, is simply a stunning work of art. (more…)

People who know me know that on my spare time (yes, the little of it), I like to spend time watching movies (either with a companion or by myself through Joaqs).  I’m a suki of torrent sites out there, as well as cinemas whenever a new movie comes out.  But most of the time I busy myself watching movies at the apartment, just by the bed or by the study table, absent the more preferred surround sound or home theater lighting, and just confine myself with me and Joaqs (my laptop), plus a headset.

Lately, the movies I tend to watch were preoccupied with the idea that beneath the fabrics of this universe lies someone–or some thing–who/that writes the grand story of our lives.  There’s Mrs. Dalloway and Virginia Woolf in The Hours, Truman Burkman and Christof in The Truman Show, Harold Crick and Karen Eiffel in Stranger than Fiction, and Horton and the Who(s) in Horton hears a Who (although I haven’t finished this one yet). These movies talk about the eternal debate between the pre-destination of Man and his power to change that destiny, as well as the master pen-writer who weaves stories into our lives as he/it goes. (more…)

They said that if you want to expand your network, you’d have to extend your reach. That is why I’m bringing up a new baby into the blogosphere.

Now I know my posting frequency here is bad enough, so why open up a new blog? Well, BPChronicles is like my personal/opinion blog and, well, I don’t have personal things and opinion to share all the time. But this blog I’m launching is a hobby of mine. More like a past time. And hopefully, I’d be able to post frequently on this one as well.

So without further ado I welcome you to my movie blog, Popcorn Chronicles! =) *clickclick!*

Aside from the traditional gift-giving this season, I did something quite traditional as well: watch MMFF movies!

Surely the Metro Manila Film Festival entries get suckier and suckier each year (what with Exodus, Resiklo, Mano Po, Anak ng Kumander, Enteng Kabisote and the occasional Lito Lapid films crowding each year’s roster), but let’s not forget the fact that somehow a film or two of noteworthy significance manages to slip through (Yam Laranas’ Sigaw, Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, and this year’s Banal–direceted by GMA Reporter Cesar Apolinario no less–comes to mind).  Hopefully there are more films like them to come out in the coming years.

Having nothing to do on Christmas day, friends and I decided to watch a flick from one of the entries:

(more…)

Backtrack to 3rd year English and the setting is an old High School classroom with Ma’am Cylie, our English teacher, is talking about an Old English literature that has managed to survive the test of time.

The story tells of a local hero who fought the ghastly beast called Grendel, and how he fathered the son of Grendel’s mother, thereby unearthing a new monster which he needed to defeat in the end.

The hero is Beowulf, and fast forward to 2007 where he is digitally mastered into the silver screen.

(more…)

Okay, I know this is going to sound cheesy to some but this is far by one of my most favorite guilty pleasures of all time.

Yesterday, friends and I watched “One More Chance,” a Star Cinema film starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo.

But wait!!! Before you close this tab and browse other websites out of sheer disappointment, let me explain. Haha. One More Chance is a good film, especially because I can relate to it so much (okay, that’s too personal). In any case, John Lloyd and Bea, I admit, are two of my most favorite Filipino actors to date. They’re young, they know their craft, and not to mention they look good together.

(more…)