Heroes 3x23

Start:

Apr 14, '09

Heroes Season 3
Volume 4: Fugitives
Episode 23: 1961

Heroes 3x24

Start:

Apr 21, '09

Heroes Season 3
Volume 4: Fugitives
Episode 24: I Am Sylar

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

Plot:
Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) visit Barcelona for the summer, staying with Vicky's distant relative Judy (Patricia Clarkson) and her husband, Mark Nash (Kevin Dunn). A narrator (voice of Christopher Evan Welch), present throughout the film, describes the two friends: Vicky is practical and traditional in her approach to love and commitment, and is engaged to the reliable but unromantic Doug (Chris Messina). She is in Barcelona getting her masters in "Catalan identity". Cristina, on the other hand, is a nonconformist, spontaneous but unsure of what she wants from life or love.

They Say:
Vicky Cristina Barcelona garnered the best reviews Allen had received since his Oscar-nominated 2005 film Match Point. At the time of release it had an 80 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes Scott Tobias wrote in the Onion AV Club that it was "a witty and ambiguous movie that's simultaneously intoxicating and suffused with sadness and doubt". Richard Roeper suggested that Cruz should receive an Academy Award nomination for her role. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the film as "the work of a confident and mature artist" (Allen). Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote "Although Vicky Cristina trips along winningly, carried by the beauty of its locations and stars - and all the gauzy romanticism those enchanted places and people imply - it reverberates with implacable melancholy, a sense of loss." Richard Corliss ended his review of the film with "The movie has neither the sardonic heft of Max Ophüls's La Ronde nor the emotional precision of Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, two films that also dance the change-partners gavotte. But Vicky Cristina Barcelona is so engaging so much of the time that it feels like a modest rejuvenation: evidence that a summer in Spain can do wonders for a writer-director who may not have outlived his prime."

Not all the reviews were positive. James Berardinelli, writing for ReelViews said "[Allen] has slipped back into the sinkhole of mediocrity", Kenneth Turan wrote "that despite promising elements, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is too intent on being taken seriously to be more than mildly diverting"; he says the film's narration becomes tedious, "Bardem's performance is so good it tends to mask how lacking much of what surrounds it is", and the film overall is "indifferently directed."

Ian Freer of Empire gave the film 4/5, and wrote "within Allen's recent output, Vicky Cristina is a highlight. See it for beautiful locales, an ambivalent look at human relationships and a clutch of great performances, especially from Cruz."

I Say:
VCB is a very light-hearted movie. Although categorized as comedy, it's not really that hardcore funny: it's just it's not very dark and sad and gloomy. I liked the narration style. It didn't bore me in the least. The movie follows my so-called narrative style. I also liked how they title the movie because the premise goes like this: VICKY and CRISTINA went to BARCELONA.

Among the roster of actors, Penelope Cruz is the best. It's as if I already fell in love with her. But her acting here is very exceptional.

Here in VCB, I learned a lot of new things about love and seduction. Of course I won't spill it to you.

7th Week: It's Not About Me

First of all, I would like to thank all of those who greeted me days around my birthday. To be honest, it was the best birthday that I had, because that's the first time I received a lot of personal greetings instead of a battalion singing the Birthday Song. Teehee... You're too many to mention, though. I might get exasperated. :P

Well, there's nothing new for this week... except I experienced a lot of firsts. LOL. But I will mention about it later.

Methinks Monday is the day that I don't really like. I don't know why. I think it's because it's Dr. Basilla's turn to talk, and many will rampage towards him to be his thesis advisees. Well, I really have no qualms if he will not choose me, but there is this ill-feeling churning me on inside. I don't know why.

Time-travel to Thursday. It's my Math 162 exam. That will be my last exam for the month. Or so I think. [To my contacts in Plurk, you might recall my "whinings" about my crush accidentally bumping into me and apologizing to me, but hey, the kilig moment is over. Let's get over it.] I didn't had enough time to finish the exam. It was fairly easy, but the time constraint killed me. It resulted to me not answering 2 out of 7 items. Hrngh...

Results for Math 150.2 exam was returned back. And I received a passing mark despite not answering 2 items worth larger points than most of the items. And, yes, our take-home exam was given last today. Did I mention that earlier? It was TOO hard. Trust Believe me.

Friday morning, I woke up early to submit the requirements that I lack for the scholarship. Hell. This is most of the time that I had a lot of first's. It's my first time to see a lot (and I mean A LOT) of people at the MRT. I waited for almost 1 1/2 hr. If not for Bess and my AI7 playlist, I would have been annoyed. Then after 2 decades hours, while I was getting out of Magallanes station, my ticket was rejected! Well, the reason was because I was on a MRT station for more than 75 minutes. So I, with a few others, went to the ticket office and we exited through a metal gate guarded by, well, a security guard.

I will be posting at some time (most probably later) the gifts I want to receive when I reach 21. Yay!

This week is a tough one, believe me.

Math 162 THV 2nd Boardwork

Attached here. Pardon the clarity.

Attachment: 2009-02-17-1952-16.rar

Rachel Getting Married

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

It's not about me.
-Kym

Plot:
Kym (Anne Hathaway) returns home from rehab the day before her sister, Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), is getting married to Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe), a musician. Her arrival causes long-standing family tensions to rise to the surface.

They Say:
Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "a triumph of ambience", and that Hathaway, DeWitt, Irwin and especially Winger are working at a very high level. Roger Ebert's four-star rating added, "apart from the story, which is interesting enough, Rachel Getting Married is like the theme music for an evolving new age." Other critics praised Jonathan Demme for USA Today "a career of cinematic good works" (Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer) and "his best film since The Silence of the Lambs...as raw as Ingmar Bergman and as operatic as Mildred Pierce (Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly).

Peter Travers noted that Rachel Getting Married is "a home run...[it goes] deep into the joy and pain of being human." A.O. Scott of the New York Times said that the film has an undeniable and authentic vitality, an exuberance of spirit that feels welcome and rare.

I Say:
I was shocked at Anne Hathaway's performance. She was so superb.

The story was good. I can see myself in Kym: very faulty and seeking too much for attention. The way it narrated the story made it different from the rest of the films. At first you may find some scenes that is too trivial to be aired but then, at some time you will realize that the scene either symbolizes something or it will trigger some important part of the story.

RGM is a story of a family who, obviously, almost subsided by some turn of events. From her arrival to the end, it showed how chaotic families can be. It's a very sad part of life, but I'm used to it.

RGM is the story if you want to understand people like me. If you want to understand me.

6th Week: Bittersweet Chocolate

Saturday. Math 123.2 exam. Like little puppies on a stormy night, some of us (including me) were afraid of what's to appear in the exam. It's because the last time we had our exam, the time allotted to us to answer it wasn't enough and it was extremely difficult. Surprisingly, this time, the exam came out easy and I answered it with confidence (except for the question about the Cantor set). We ate at Burger King after that and a long voting process on where to eat.

By Sunday, my heart thumps louder and louder. I will be having my scholarship orientation on Wednesday morning, Korean exam on Wednesday noon, and another Math [150.2] exam on Thursday. Yes, you got me: I had almost no time to review.

So came Wednesday. My mother and I woke up and got off early to go to Bicutan, Taguig (I bet she's excited, also given that a parent or guardian is required to attend the orientation and contract signing). To our relief, we got there earlier than the call time. We asked a speaker/coordinator there at what time will it finish, who promptly told us that it will be done at most 12. Luckily, the program ended up early and we just have to fill up the forms. I had a heated argument with the person to whom I should pass the requirements. You will never imagine how it went (good thing my mom didn't saw us), battling over the sentence construction about what papers are required. In the end, I just "opened my mind" and let them "win" the idiotic debate. And either way, I have to return to Bicutan to submit other forms.

I arrived at UP at around quarter to 1, so I still had time to review (talk about being optimistic). At the exam, I was so disappointed on how easy the exam was, considering that it should cover 13 chapters from 2 books. Why disappointed? I forgot how to spell the other suffixes since the Korean language had a lot of e's and o's.

Thursday. I was frustrated, big time. By afternoon, my professor in Math 197 gave us this so-called "Pre-Second Exam". It turned out to be just a set of exercises. Two things: (1) I don't know how to answer some of them, and (2) I gave it almost all of my mental energy, considering I had a "real" exam by late afternoon. Yes, dears, I haven't reviewed for the exam, and my head is a total mess, so I used my allowance for tomorrow to eat A LOT.

I won't talk about what happened to the exam. It was fairly easy since our professor said he will give a take-home exam, which containced the harder parts. To our surprise, he forgot to give it to us. I don't even know if he did made it at some time earlier, considering that he wants to check our paper before the deadline of dropping which is fast approaching. After the exam, I breathed heavily and clearly, knowing that the next exam will be next week. But I had to review, still.

So what's the deal with my Korean class? Well, it turned out that we don't have any lessons. From Friday onwards, we will practice conversations. Finally, the thing I've been waiting! But there's still a problem: I forgot my vocabulary! T_T

Marley & Me

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

Plot:
Soon after their wedding, John and Jenny escape the brutal Michigan winters and relocate to a cottage in southern Florida, where they are hired as reporters for competing newspapers. At The Palm Beach Post, Jenny immediately receives prominent front-page assignments, while at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, John finds himself writing obituaries and two-paragraph articles about mundane news like a fire at the local garbage dump.

When John senses Jenny is contemplating motherhood, his friend and co-worker Sebastian Tunney suggests the couple adopt a dog to see if they're ready to raise a family. From a litter of newborn yellow labrador retrievers they select Marley (named after reggae singer Bob Marley), who immediately proves to be incorrigible.

They Say:
Todd McCarthy of Variety said the film is "as broad and obvious as it could be, but delivers on its own terms thanks to sparky chemistry between its sunny blond stars, Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, and the unabashed emotion-milking of the final reel. Fox has a winner here, likely to be irresistible to almost everyone but cats ... Animated and emotionally accessible, Aniston comes off better here than in most of her feature films, and Wilson spars well with her, even if, in the film's weaker moments, he shows he's on less certain ground with earnest material than he is with straight-faced impertinence."

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter observed that "seldom does a studio release feature so little drama - and not much comedy either, other than when the dog clowns around . . . [W]hatever Marley wants to be about - the challenges of marriage or the balancing act between career and family - gets subsumed by pet tricks. Dog lovers won't care, and that basically is the audience for the film. From Fox's standpoint, it may be enough . . . Marley & Me is a warm and fuzzy family movie, but you do wish that at least once someone would upstage the dog."

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film "a cheerful family movie" and added, "Wilson and Aniston demonstrate why they are gifted comic actors. They have a relationship that's not too sitcomish, not too sentimental, mostly smart and realistic."

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the film A-, calling it "the single most endearing and authentic movie about the human–canine connection in decades. As directed by David Frankel, though, it's also something more: a disarmingly enjoyable, wholehearted comic vision of the happy messiness of family life."

I Say:
I do love the movie, to begin with. I found the movie divided into three parts: the first being cute, the second being too hilarious, and the third one being tear-jerking. It's funny that there exists SUCH dog. Watch the movie for yourself.

I wanted to buy the book by John Grogan and read it first hand. I wanted to know how the narration really went and if there are more info about Marley.

I know it's hard to cast Marley for the entire show (they casted 22 yellow labradors) since, basically, the dog's growing: and fast. There might be inconsistencies about the dog's fur color but that's excusable. After all, the story is more important.

I must admit, I was spoiled before I watch this movie. There are some emotions I wanted to feel during watching the movie but I thought it won't happen since I spoiled myself with its synopsis. But I still felt it. A friend told me that it's because [we] can relate with the story.

I want to watch the movie again. This time: in the movie house.

Heroes 3x22

Start:

Apr 7, '09

Heroes Season 3
Volume 4: Fugitives
Episode 22: Turn and Face the Strange

ColorGenics

Saw this on my Multiply contact's (Andie's) post. Here is the link that features this "thing" called ColorGenics. Feel free to try this as well.

(sidenote: Ang galing. Parang totoo.)

---

Name: Denji
Date: 2/8/2009
Colorgenics Number: 13724065

---

You have always been on the move seeking affectionate, satisfying and harmonious relationships. Your ultimate goal has been the realisation of an intimate union in which there could be love, self-sacrifice and mutual trust. It has often been said that 'True love is just around the corner' and - if you haven't found it as yet - you possibly soon will.

You want what you want and you need all that you want and, as they say in the movies, you are the sort of individual that 'By hook or by crook' you will, by fair means or foul, endeavour to get what you are looking for.

You need a friend - a close friend - and you are willing to become emotionally involved with the right person, but you are very demanding and particular in your choice of partners. You are constantly looking for reassurance and it is perhaps because of this that you tend to be somewhat argumentative, but you try to hold back - careful to avoid open conflict - since this might reduce your prospects of realising your hopes of establishing a warm caring relationship.

For whatever the reason, you find it extremely difficult to sustain relationships - that is to sustain them in the manner that you would wish. You are a very gentle sort of person, full of feeling, sensitivity and susceptible to love and affection, looking and longing for a partner with whom you can enjoy 'All things bright and beautiful' - someone with whom you can seek out the more esoteric things of life. But up to now this person has only existed in your imagination. You are very choosy, appreciative, refined and extremely artistic in temperament and it is your hope to seek others who will allow you to form and express your own taste and judgement and who at the same time may assist you in your intellectual or artistic growth.

You are inclined to be too trusting and you feel that you need to be on your guard against the possibility that your endeavours and actions may be misunderstood. Too often you have been taken advantage of and you have been mentally abused. Now you are seeking a relationship which can provide peace of mind, where you can be yourself and not have the need to put on a false front.

5th Week: Descaling Might

6th of February, 3PM, at math Bldg. I am to write that time about my week's frustration when I tamed a cat and, shortly, it frantically followed me everywhere. I had to stray the cat so it won't bother me in writing this. But I had to admit: that cat made me feel better.

A classmate of mine declared last Monday that we don't have any classes on my only subject class for that day. Scenario: NLEX, on a bus. Of course, I'm a bit frustrated. If not for Regina inviting me to review, the fare would have been a waste.

Tuesday. Both Math 162 and Math 150.2 professors announced that our exams will be moved from Feb 10 to some date after Feb 11, which I will be having my examination on Koreyano 11. Sounds like good news.

I didn't bother going to school this Wednesday since (1) I only have a afternoon class, and (2) that day is the day for ACLE. So I spent half my day asking for my father's Tax Exemption Certificate (he's a seaman). I went to the regional (or was it provincial?) BIR office in a nearby town. As I shyly get myself in there, they said to me that I can get what I want on our municipal hall. So I went back to our town and rushed to the said place.

I was annoyed by the people to whom I should ask for the thing that I want. As you see, they have a preformatted certificate which only states the exemption for someone with a low annual salary and that they only give it for "scholarship and summer job purposes". With a 50-peso bill, they gave me one WITHOUT EVEN ASKING FOR A PROOF THAT MY FATHER SHOULD REALLY BE EXEMPTED. Annoying.

Thursday is a normal, unboring day, I just got my letters from DOST (for scholarship) and College of Science (for recognition day).

Friday turned out to be a disaster. I faxed my reply slip to DOST and printed my brother's project at the Shopping Center (at UP) before going to class. I have a problem I wish to talk with my Korean teacher: that the scholarship orientation falls on Feb 11 (see above). So basically, I asked him if I could take a late exam. Annoyingly, the ill-conceited guy my professor gave me a big, fat NO. I felt my world crushing prior to the cat incident mentioned at the beginning.

Well, we have an exam this Saturday on Math 123.2. But I'll put it on next week's entry so that it can have a unifying theme. Busy, busy, busy...

Doubt

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

"I had... such doubts."
- Sister Aloysius

Plot:
Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, the film opens with Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. That evening, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict headmistress of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow Sisters of Charity of New York nuns. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior.

They Say:
Based on 130 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 76% approval rating. The site reported in a consensus that "Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a 70/100 approval rating based on 34 reviews. Critic Manohla Dargis of the New York Times concluded that "the air is thick with paranoia in 'Doubt,' but nowhere as thick, juicy, sustained or sustaining as Meryl Streep's performance."

I Say:
The film gave me goosebumps. It was horrifying. Yet another one of those movies with narrative plot but, this time, with a strong element of suspense. The actors were good at their parts.
Somehow, the story was static at first. Yes, the scenes were not new to me since I was a Catholic before. But it couldn't be any more sinusoidal at the middle, where pressure and tension was crushing the scenes at all directions. And they shouted as if they were from Ancient Sparta. No, I'm not talking at the negative sense.