I don’t know why I delayed watching The Avengers so much. I guess it’s mostly because I didn’t really get to become an ultimate fanatic when we were watching the cartoons and reading the comic books when we were kids younger. When Dylan invited me to watch the movie, I said yes, and lemme just say, he was excited from start to finish.
I don’t know if there’s someone out there who hasn’t seen it, so let me put my review/reaction under the cut.
Genre: Young Adult
Author: John Green
Release Date: January 2012
I first read a work by John Green when I chanced upon this quote from his book Looking for Alaska:
I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.
From that point, I was hooked and immediately ran to my favorite bookstore to grab a copy. I finished the entire thing in four hours, a record for me. Then I heard that another book is about to be released, The Fault In Our Stars. I had to get it right away and I was not anywhere near the vicinity of thinking about being disappointed.
The Fault in Our Stars highlights the life of two teenagers with cancer, Augustus and Hazel. For an already tragic-sounding storyline, you’d think that this book would talk about the glory of death. On the contrary, it doesn’t. John Green takes you to a rollercoaster (“that only goes up”) of living life to the fullest and finding your infinities in the moment.
It was such a grave mistake to read this book at a time when work felt too daunting for me, as I ended up semi-bawling in my cubicle, trying to contain the tears brought about by the magnificent and simplistic writing by John Green.
Maybe it’s unusual for some to have a twenty-something read a young adult book, but you see the author does not write for ordinary young adults. John Green infuses philosophy, critical thinking and almost a sense of self-affirmation and self-realization that most adults lose sight of every once in a while. John Green treats his readers as smart and insightful thinkers; he moves you through Hazel then to Augustus, flowing through Isaac and even Dave, the brother-in-law.
The book is nothing short of magnificent. It delivers as much as it has promised, if not more. You need not be a young adult to appreciate this book. It is a great buy and an even more rewarding read. I strongly suggest that you go grab a copy (or leave a comment if you intend to borrow mine), and be enamored by the characters and the Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Seeks the Butts of Children.
Dylan and I were supposed to catch Thor on opening day, but apparently, that was what everyone had planned. We had to push it back a few more days. However, even if we watched in 5 days after it’s first release, I just have to say, Filipinos are such movie freaks. I mean really! The theatre I looked into was sold out at 12 noon! And I thought I had a good plan.
Good thing, I still managed to get seats for us. I don’t want the hassle of falling in line, so this is the part where I thank SureSeats! :)
So… moving on…
Dylan had to give me a breakdown of Nors mythology. Thor is the god of thunder, Loki is the god of mischief, Odin is fantastic papa. Hahahaha. Sorry Babe. Some things didn’t stick. Don’t worry; I’ll look it up later.
SPOILER ALERT. SPOILER ALERT. SPOILER ALERT.
Do you still remember the last time you watched a Disney movie? Not a Disney-Pixar, just Disney. Dylan and I couldn’t really recall when was the last time, and judging from the box office receipts of The Princess and The Frog, I had a feeling it was good that we missed that one.
I’ve been hearing a lot of rave reviews about Tangled, especially when it beat out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I in the cinemas for a weekend. It has Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi in it. They’re not really the world’s most loved people, so it was quite interesting when they teamed up for this special.
According to some reports, the original title of this movie was supposed to be Rapunzel. With Princess not really a hit amongst male audiences, Disney decided to rename the movie to attract their used-to-be-interested male audiences. They also increased the appearance of Flynn Ryder. It worked alright. :)
Dylan roared with laughter, and the evening was off already to a good start. We caught it at Greenbelt 3’s 3D theatre and there is no other way to see this movie.
The movie is rich with love, song, and story. It even has that evil stepmother, only this time the heroine actually thought she loved her. It was fantastic.
Really. It’s been a while since we left a theatre in love with a Disney movie. And Dylan was very courageous to say she is “the cutest Disney princess ever.”
And I couldn’t help but agree. :)
It was almost uneventful if it weren’t for that sudden whim to watch a movie.
Dylan and I caught RED at Greenbelt 3. I wanted to take him to Power Plant Mall, but I didn’t want to push him, so we just went to our comfort zone that is Ayala Malls. :) We’ve been meaning to catch that movie for quite sometime now, and we finally got around to doing it.
RED stars Oscar winning actors in their, well… senior form. Bruce Willis, Frank Moses, plays an ex-CIA agent who is not really adjusting well to his retirement. He constantly flirts with this pension operator Sarah Ross, played by Mary Louise Parker, by tearing up his pension just to talk to her. Then one night, an elite group raided his house in attempts to kill him. I say attempts because in true Die Hard factor, Moses escapes unscathed and goes to Ross to rescue her.
Apparently, that’s how they do it. They kill everyone you’re close to.
Anyway, Moses rounds up his old gang, Joe Boggs (Morgan Freeman), a lunatic laced on LSD for years as part of a government conspiracy aimed at tracking his neurological functions Martin (John Malkovich), the Russian guy who seems to serve fantastic vodka Ivan (Brian Cox) and the foxy Victoria (Helen Mirren).
It was hilarious. Malkovich and his fantastic quips managed to whip new age action stars, scolding them and reminding them that action need not be serious. They can really use a cue if not more from these veteran actors.
Mirren is the sexiest woman on earth, holding a gun like it’s a cellular phone: casual and normal. Nuff said.
Too bad, Red is no longer showing in the theatres. Dylan and I managed to catch the last stretch of it last week, and well, for those who haven’t watched it, there’s always Pirate Bay. :)
Rate: 3.5 out of 5 stars
the salt of your skin 