Confession: I just watched Toy Story

I've always thought I have watched one of the most famous animated films of all time, Toy Story. I know the names of the characters and I know their faces. But when I recently watched the movie online, I realized that I haven't seen the film ever. Where did my childhood go?

So after watching Toy Story, I then watched Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 all within 24 hours. It's a shame that I haven't seen the movies before and it has been almost 20 years since the first movie was shown. Now, I will surely watch the planned Toy Story 4 in the cinema.

And I just had to say this, I really like the films. They bring back memories of my childhood when I too would be playing with my toys and create scenes in my mind. Wonder if my toys also come alive when no ones around. :-)

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SM, Ayala Cinemas Online Tickets

Going to the movies is now made easier with the two biggest cinema chains allowing online purchase of tickets. Imagine buying tickets to your most awaited movie without having to line up. Plus you also get to choose the best seats.

I have tried the services of both SM and Ayala. And so far, both worked well. I did manage to get the best seats without having to line up and I arrived at the mall just in time for the trailers. However, I must say that though I prefer Ayala Mall Cinemas, SM has the more convenient online experience.

Both Ayala and SM charge P20 fee per ticket, but SM doesn't ask you to print your ticket. In fact, they will text the ticket to you and you'll just need to scan your phone to the 'scanner' right outside the theater and that scanner will print out the tickets for you. Ayala, on the other hand, will ask you to print your ticket at home. If you don't have a printer, you have to go to the ticket counter and ask them to print it for you. And before they print it, the counter lady will ask you to fill up a piece of paper with all the details.

In terms of 'less hassle', SM wins. But nonetheless, buying movie tickets online for both companies is now very convenient. I now wonder why so many people are still lining up.

Ayala Malls Cinema: www.sureseats.com
SM Cinema: www.smcinema.com

Ayala Malls Cinema ticket

SM Cinema ticket (via text)

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My Oscar predictions & the winners

In my previous post, I wrote about my predictions for the Oscars. I scored 10 out of 17. Not bad for someone who doesn't watch movies as often as I would want to. Texts in bold are the winners, while those italicized are the winners I failed to predict.

Maybe I should make this a yearly post.

BEST PICTURE
Argo

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTOR
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) or Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert de Niro (Silver Linings Playbook) or Alan Arkin (Argo) [Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) or Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Life of Pi [Argo]

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Argo [Life of Pi]

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Skyfall

BEST SOUND EDITING
Django Unchained [Skyfall & Zero Dark Thirty]

BEST SOUND MIXING
Lincoln [Les Miserables]

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Lincoln

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Life of Pi

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Les Miserables

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Les Miserables [Anna Karenina]

BEST FILM EDITING
Argo

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [Life of Pi]

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My Oscar Predictions 2013

In a few hours, the winners of the 85th Academy Awards will be announced. I am no movie critic, but here are my predictions. I haven't watched all nominated films, so basically this is just a limited and personal forecast. This is just for fun, but then again, I could be the next Oscar forecaster, haha.

Note: I've only seen 6 of the 9 Best Picture nominees namely Argo, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook. I haven't seen Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Zero Dark Thirty. In addition, I have seen other nominated films such as Skyfall, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Avengers.

BEST PICTURE
Argo

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTOR
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables) or Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert de Niro (Silver Linings Playbook) or Alan Arkin (Argo)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) or Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Life of Pi

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Argo

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Skyfall

BEST SOUND EDITING
Django Unchained

BEST SOUND MIXING
Lincoln

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Lincoln

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Life of Pi

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Les Miserables

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Les Miserables

BEST FILM EDITING
Argo

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

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The Bourne Legacy

my ticket

The Bourne Legacy had its Asian premiere at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at the Resorts World Manila last August 5, 2012. It was a star-studded red carpet event with celebrities and top ranking government officials in attendance. American producer Pat Crowley flew all the way from New York to grace the event.

Crowley says shooting in the Philippines was the perfect choice for them. He had to bring in about 100 of his crew from abroad and hired over a hundred more workers here in the country. They also had to repair about 50 shanties in San Andres, Manila for the "roof scene". Crowley says all that hard work was worth it, even saying that the "Manila chasing scene" was among the best in the industry. He adds The Bourne Legacy is the big screen debut of the Philippines in a long time.

Producer Pat Crowley

It's true. This is the only film of this scale to have shot in the country in recent times. What is important to note is that Manila was used as Manila and not any other Asian cities like in the past. A lot of foreign films were shot in the Philippines before, but the country was just used as substitute for Thailand or Vietnam. Here, Manila is Manila.

The film is the fourth installment in the Bourne series. Before watching, I suggest you get to know the first 3 films first just to get the gist of the plot. I was lost in the first 10 minutes of the film because I forgot what happened in the first 3 Bourne movies.

I won't say much about the film to avoid spoilers. But I must salute the producers for actually choosing Manila for the car chase scene. I couldn't imagine how it was to shoot in the streets of Manila, but they did it, and they did well. It must have been a nightmare shooting in Manila, but they managed it well. I hope local film producers could also do similar chase scenes. Now, The Bourne Legacy has also set a benchmark in the local film industry. If it was done well, I'm sure Pinoys can do it too, if not better.

I recommend this film, if only for the Manila scenes. It's also refreshing to hear Filipino words in a mainstream Hollywood movie. Just expect an abrupt ending though, medyo bitin.

Newport Theater lobby

red carpet area

first time I had to wear something formal just to watch a movie :)

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End of an Era

Many have said that their childhood has ended with the finale of the Harry Potter series. As the promo ad of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" film-- It all ends. In a way, it also does for my childhood.

I have been reading Harry Potter since I was in second year high school (about a decade ago). I remember my classmates reading it and I was curious about it, so I asked my lolo to buy me the book. He bought me 2 hardbound books, to my pleasant surprise. When I read the first, I was already captivated by the magical world of Harry Potter. When the movies came, it was another magical journey.

I remember during my third year in high school, Harry Potter was the theme of our Christmas Party. It was such a fun and innocent time. Each one of us was a Harry Potter character. I was Albus Dumbledore (we didn't act or wear costume, we were just using the name). When I entered college, I kept on reading/watching it. Although, when I graduated college, I wasn't able to continue reading/watching it. Until the last Harry Potter movie came.

I already have a movie ticket for July 15. So I started watching on DVD all Harry Potter movies starting July 1. I bought Harry Potter Books 6 and 7 last July 10. I had to finish reading the 2 books in 5 days. I didn't succeed, but I finished reading until the part where Harry Potter 7.1 ended. So while watching Part 2, it was totally all surprises.

The finale movie was great! Effects wise, acting, everything was there. Although there were changes from the book, it still was worth it. It was an epic and great ending to a series so loved by the world. I will miss Harry Potter, cause I am not sure if there would be such a phenomenon again. I am happy that I was born at a time the Harry Potter books were published and came to life.

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Knowing

These past days have been really very busy. Last week we had our midterms. Thank God I got a good grade. Last weekend I went on a fieldtrip to the middle of Taiwan (about 4 hours by bus). It was so tiring, but fun nevertheless. These are the reasons why I haven't posted a lot on this blog. :-)

Anyway, last night I watched a movie here in Taiwan. It was my first time to do so cause it is very expensive (NTD 290- about P350 normal seats with no food). We watched "Knowing". I felt mixed emotions after, hahaha. It is a thriller/sci-fi/drama/end-of-the-world kinda story. Basta I hope it won't happen in real life.
That's it for now.

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pope's toilet

After class today, our Korean friend told us there will be a free movie tonight at the Arts and Culture center in the university. Maan and I decided to stay and watch the movie. It was "El Banyo del Papa" or "The Pope's Toilet". We were excited to see the Spanish movie, since it was also presented to the Oscars way back. We sat comfortably in the only sofa in the room near the screen. The lights were turned off... But what we forgot was: we were in Taiwan! Alas when the movie started, we were surprised to see the subtitles were in Chinese!! We couldn't go out since the exit was blocked. So we just stayed there the whole movie listening to Spanish language and reading Chinese subtitles. Well, we still kinda understood the movie based on body movements of the characters. But it was frustrating when the audience laughed, and we didn't. It was a funny experience. We were used to English subtitles in the Philippines kasi... hehehe. We vowed not to watch a non-English film in Taiwan!
hehehe

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