Failure To Launch

I was never a fan of Sex and the City and the few times I watched some of its eps were solely to kill time. So I really had my doubts if I would last this entire movie without getting bored because as you can tell, I am not exactly a fan of SJP--that's me versus the entire world.

But I really enjoyed this film. I was surprised at how much. Well, not really. Was Bradley Cooper reason enough? For me, he was. But it wasn't just him, it was the whole package that blew me away.

Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) was hired by Tripp's (Matthew McConaughey) parents in a bid to make him want to move out of their house. Apparently, failure to launch is when a guy fails to flee the coop well past after they were supposed to. Obviously, Tripp's parents were not happy about the situation. It was really an intriguing concept because in Filipino culture, parents try to "hold on" to their kids for as long as possible. Some even want them not to move out even after they get married. Not that I approves of that but that's just how it goes. I say Paula's job was one of a kind--pretending to be in a relationship with guys who had failed to launch up to the point when they want to move out and live on their own. Without them knowing, she was actually helping them build their self-esteem and self-confidence as well. I think this was really a tough job.

And when she had to work on someone as hot and charming as Tripp, the job just got tougher. This time around, she went beyond what was supposed to do--and slept with the subject. In the clients' home. Awkward!

So they fell in love. Unfortunately, she was found out by one of his friends, Ace (Justin Bartha) and hell broke loose. (Computer genius Ace's romance with Paula's cynical and jaded best friend Kit (Zooey Deschanel) was fun to watch.) But then their friends realized that they were made for each other, so they worked to have them in one room. Trapped that way, Paula opted to explain her part while Tripp listened. Of course, when one was tied down to a chair with his mouth taped, what else can one do but listen?

Lemme just say though that what happened to Matthew McConaughey's character was probably also due to his mother's part in babying him. Doing his laundry and breakfasts at that age? C'mon. I've done my own laundry since I was 11 and although I'm still living at home, no one in our house has ever been waited hand and foot like that. That has helped a lot during those times I had to live in boarding houses when school, and then work, required me to.

Failure to Launch was a beautifully made picture about friendship and unexpected love. If you haven't seen it, you really ought to. Soon.

Seeing Double

After watching Bradley Cooper in Failure to Launch, I just can't help but wonder if maybe Shayne Ward is his singing alter ego. And when I saw Shayne for the first time, when he was performing on Top of the Pops a few months ago, and the first thing that came to mind was: Hmm, I didn't know Bradley could sing.Then there was the first time I saw The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift's trailer. If I didn't know better, I really would have thought it was James Denton I was seeing. He and Lucas Black don't look much alike as Bradley and Shayne do, but Lucas looks like a younger version of the Desperate plumber. On the other hand, James Denton looks like a more mature and a hotter mug of Mr Black.And how about Wentworth Miller and Channing Tatum? These guys have lips that are absolutely to die for! I swear they are related. Even if it goes thousands of years back in their family trees because there's something these two hunks have in common--they max out countless eye candy meters to smithereens. Oh, God, now I'm drooling. (Tiffany: Gross!)I know there are others out there who look like they were separated at birth but I can't think of any more specifics right now. My mind's off to dreamland. Damn Wentworth and Channing!

I'm Back

OMG! I didn't know I would miss this space as much as I did the more than a week I wasn't able to drop by. So sorry to the peeps who regularly check in though. I was busy, busy, busy! I think. I went on a jobhunt and it went well. Let's just not talk about it yet because I still don't know how long I'll last in this one. And my sister came for a weekend visit for our city fiesta. Wonderful! She brought with her my favorites--rice cookies! Even more wonderful is the fact that I'm the only one who likes them. And it took me no more than an hour to finish a pack. The peeps at home still can't understand why I love something that looks and (they say) tastes like plywood. Does not!

So in between house cleaning, watching TV, jobhunting, cooking and catching up with my sister, I pretty much forgot about blogging. And I know that I won't be able to blog as much as I would like to in the next few weeks. But as soon as I'm settled in my new job, I promise to make it up to you, guys!

Reality Check
Two of my all-time fave reality shows are back on TV again so I'm a happy, happy camper.

Survivor: Cook Islands started last week. One episode down and I'm already enjoying it. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Exile Island so I'm not happy that it's back in the game.

I was already excited about this season but when I heard about the groups being divided into ethnicity, my curiosity and excitement got piqued ten times over. I was jumping up and down when the Asians won the first challenge. And I love their name--team Puka. My paperweight happens to be a bottle full of white sand and colorful shells I got from Puka Beach when we vacationed at Boracay Island a couple of years back.

The Amazing Race 10 started last Sunday and since they just won their fourth straight Emmy for Best Reality Show, I'm expecting some big stuff from this season.

I was really psyched when I saw the teams. Unfortunately, the Muslim best friends and the Indian couple were the first to go. That was sad 'cause I really thought they could bring more pizazz in this edition's culture department. And Sarah, the amputee, was something to watch when she scaled the wall right before the first pit stop. You go, girl!

And there are guy models. Woo-hoo! Thank you, Jerry! I hope they run a good race because it would be so embarrassing if they make stupid mistakes. Why? Because I'm on their side. When have I ever not cheered for a team with no hot guy(s) in it? I hope they won't get sidetracked by the Miss California and Miss New York team.

The game and the race are so on!

Beta Blogging
I just wanna ask: when are you, guys, gonna switch to beta blogging? Didn't they say that non-beta users can no longer comment on beta blogs and vice versa? And that we have to do the switch manually. Jeez, here comes another headache!

Guilty Or Not

1. Dated outside your race?
NOT GUILTY (not yet...maybe I'll get myself a mutant).

2. Singing in the shower?
GUILTY (all the freakin' time).

3. Spit in someone's drink?
NOT GUILTY (why would I do that?).

4. Played with Barbies?
GUILTY (but it was my cousin's).

5. Made someone cry?
GUILTY (I might have).

6. Opened your Christmas presents early?
GUILTY (because they were not wrapped in the first place).

7. Lied to a friend?
GUILTY (not that I can remember the incident--when I was 6? 7?).

8. Watched and cried while watching a soap opera?
GUILTY (although these days WWE Raw and Smackdown are the only soaps I watch).

9. Played a computer game for more than 5 hours?
NOT GUILTY (net surfed...yes!).

10. Ran through the sprinklers naked?
NOT GUILTY (I was never that high).

11. Ate food that fell on the floor?
GUILTY (if I know that the floor is clean...and duh! there are a lot of people in the world who would give their life for that scrap of food).

12. Went outside naked?
NOT GUILTY (I said I was never that high).

13. Been on stage?
GUILTY (but not by choice).

14. Been on stage naked or close to it?
NOT GUILTY (oh, jeez!).

15. Been in a parade?
GUILTY (because most schools can't come up with any other activity).

16. Been in a school play?
NOT GUILTY (but for class presentations with role playing...then, yes).

17. Drank beer?
NOT GUILTY (no plans to either).

18. Gotten detention?
NOT GUILTY (I can be good when I want to).

19. Been on a plane?
NOT GUILTY (scared, scared).

20. Been on a cruise?
NOT GUILTY (If only I could say guilty to this one).

21. Broken into a house?
NOT GUILTY (there hasn't been a need to).

22. Gotten a tattoo?
NOT GUILTY (but I really want to have at least one).

23. Gotten piercings?
GUILTY (only in my ears).

24. Gotten into a fist fight?
NOT GUILTY (I wouldn't like to be in one).

25. Gotten into a shouting match?
GUILTY (because I can be a bitch, too, if I want to).

26. Swallowed sea/pool water?
GUILTY (can't be avoided).

27. Spun yourself in circles to get dizzy on purpose?
GUILTY (when the stupidmeter acts up on a high).

28. Laughed so hard it hurt?
GUILTY (all the time!).

29. Tripped on your own feet?
GUILTY (there goes the stupidmeter again).

30. Cried yourself to sleep?
GUILTY (but please, no drama).

31. Cried in public?
GUILTY (when the BOORs had an 'all out' fight when we were in high school...and the cinemas are public).

32. Thrown up in public?
GUILTY (oh, oh, oh!...on a ferry during bad, bad weather when I was around 10--and that was the only time).

33. Lied to your parents?
GUILTY (but can't remember the last time).

34. Skipped class?
GUILTY (because the teacher never shows up so might as well have an early dinner).

35. Cried so hard you threw up?
NOT GUILTY (is that possible?).

Stole this from Rex.

9/11: Five Years ON

I remembered the moment I learned about it like it was yesterday. When I woke up that Wednesday morning, Philippine time, it felt like any other midweek visits home from the boarding house that I usually had. Thinking back on it, I feel guilty because I was practically dancing at the thought of not having my HBO class that morning. (Not that I hated the class. It was the teacher that annoyed me so much it was unhealthy to see her at 7AM.)

My father was having breakfast and I was still groggy from sleep when I joined him. He effectively woke me up when he said that the World Trade Center got attacked. I was skeptical to believe it because my father is a joker. I told him it was impossible, that what he saw on TV the previous night was probably someone's idea sketch comedy, no matter the bad taste. He then told me that if I hadn't gone to bed early, we would have watched the news develop on CNN. That shut me up 'cause I'm big on CNN. I was still trying to digest this news when I asked him what the damage was like because all I could think about was Oklahoma--and that had been bad.

"Nothing's left," he said.

"What do you mean, nothing's left? A bomb could do some major damage but WTC is huge!" I still wasn't getting it.

"An airplane rammed into it."

"So it was an accident," I argued.

"Maybe one is an accident. But never two...the buildings collapsed after the planes made their hit."

I was struck speechless because the very Sunday before that, we watched a special in Discovery Channel about the world's tallest buildings and how engineering feats protect them from nature, making them virtually indestructible. It said there that an earthquake which is 9 on the Richter could not bring down the WTC. But of course, they hadn't expected terrorism in the cons column.

There were Filipinos who died there. But even if there hadn't been any, it still wouldn't change the way I feel about what happened. I won't ever stop having goosebumps or feel like crying when I think about or see pictures of 9/11. I won't ever stop thinking about it as my generation's worst waste of human lives. Utterly senseless.

I really wanna say more but someone's bound to take it the wrong way. It could sound potentially prejudiced so I'd rather not be like those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I could hate people and I could rant about them but I would rather keep it to myself because there's a big chance I'd be hurting someone innocent with my views. And that'll make me no better than those murderers.

There's nothing more powerful than prayer. So, I'll just go on praying--for those who perished in the attacks, for those who lost their lives trying to save others, even for those responsible.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

It wasn't a question of whether I wanted to see the movie or not. Considering I have seen the first two installments, I almost felt obligated to watch this one. I may not know how to drive but I like fast cars. Duh! I watch F1 races on TV and know who Danica Patrick is.

I wouldn't have minded if Mr Baby Blues, Paul Walker, starred in this picture. Minded? Hell, no! But of course, I have no problem with giving way to young blood.

Lucas Black was okay in this one, I guess. But I liked him more in Friday Night Lights. His character, Sean Boswell, was a crazy dude. The first sequence had him in a race where he ran his car through houses under construction. For that, his mother had to bail him out of jail by doing a cop. Just stupid. So then she sent him to his father, a Marine stationed in Tokyo. And what does he do the first chance he got? After the old man told him to stay away from racing, he stupidly accepted to race the Drift King and wrecked someone else's car!

And I didn't like his love interest, played by Nathalie Kelley. Her Neela looked and felt too fragile, and the character was somehow out of place. If you'd seen the first two movies and the girls in them, you'd know what I mean. And I was hating the villain, the Drift King, so I guess he was doing a good job...until his uncle, the Yakuza boss, confronted him about their "territory collection" discrepancies. He got teary eyed and it was not a nice touch. I got into the movie enough to feel bad when Sun Kang's character, Han, got killed. But since he was screwing the Yakuza, it was bound to happen sooner or later. He did a good job in training Sean do the drift though.

I've been hacking the movie so you can tell I didn't really like it. But there were three saving graces. One, the special effects were great. They might not have been as much of a novelty as before but each Furious movie has something different in them so they still have a Whoa! factor. Two, Bow Wow. Twinkie just cracked me up with his facial expressions, especially when he and Sean picked up his car. He looked so excited and it turned out that his car looked as far from a race car as it could be. And he was also an enterprising young American--capitalism in action. Three, the Vin Diesel cameo. It was so unexpected that I, uhm...giggled. That which you're never supposed to do when watching a fast-car movie such as this.

The reason I was not feeling much of the movie was that it looked too familiar. I had seen the Japanese film Initial D earlier this year. Although I can't remember reading "drift" somewhere in the subtitle, that was definitely what they were doing. They might even have shot on the same hill--or maybe it's the only place to do the Tokyo drift.

I don't recommend this if you feel like watching just any film. But if you are looking for the odd guy movie for the weekend, this'll do nicely. Check out the soundtrack while you're at it.

Football Footnote

Finally, Italy's Marco Materrazzi came clean in his Gazzetta dello Sport interview about what was really said that fateful July 9 evening. Apparently, when he brought down Zinedine Zidane by pulling on his shirt, Zizou then told him that he could have the jersey at the end of the match. At which Materazzi then told the Frenchman that he would rather have his sister.

The gall! Is he a jackass or is he JACKASS?
Then he was quoted as saying:

"It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I recognize that. But loads of players say worse things...I didn't even know he had a sister before all this happened."

He knew it wasn't nice but said it anyway? How stupid was that? And I suppose he thinks that just because there are worse things being said on the pitch excuses what he said.

Maybe he doesn't have a sister of his own. If he does, then I pity the poor girl. Let's just hope this doesn't happen to any of his female relatives because there's no doubt that there'll be no Marco Materrazzi that'll come to the their defense.

And maybe it wasn't enough for him to appear in football history books as a member of the 2006 World Cup-winning squad. Unfortunately, alongside Zinedine Zidane's legend, Marco Materrazzi will be nothing but a footnote. That's just too damn bad.

Becks Did It Again!

When my sis brought home this month's ish of OK! Philippines, the first thing that caught my eye was "Prince Harry Plus 10 More Hot British Boys." Hmm. Christmas came early this year. I love Brits--it's the accent.

And guess who was first on the list? My man David Beckham. (Isn't he delicious in that new Got Milk? campaign?) It's no surprise why I love this mag so much--they've great taste. Becks had already been in their Hot Bods and Hot Dads lists. Ooh la la!

Aight. This was the complete list:

1. David Beckham
2. Prince William
3. Prince Harry
4. Orlando Bloom
5. Jude Law
6. Ewan McGregor
7. Pierce Brosnan
8. Jamie Oliver
9. Christian Bale
10. Chris Martin
11. Clive Owen
    

I'd love to add Ioan Gruffudd and Gerard Butler in it though. Although I love Wills and Harry, it's kinda difficult to describe them as hot when one's foremost memory of them was during Princess Di's funeral procession.

I've no comment about Jude Law except: I hate cheats! There's one word for Bloom, McGregor and Bale--yum! I'm gonna miss Pierce Brosnan's Agent 007 and I absolutely adored Clive Owen's Arthur.

I dunno if I could call Jamie Oliver hot but I can honestly say that he's funny after I saw some of his shows. When I first heard of The Naked Chef, I really thought he cooks in the buff! But don't you just love a man who can cook? And I have no problem with Chris Martin being in the list because Coldplay's music is hot!

Great list!

-Ber is Here!

And before we know it the -ber months are here. And then Christmas; and then a new year will start. Time has come and gone. Cheeky li'l thing!

So, have you played a Christmas CD yet? I have--played Christmas in Our Hearts yesterday morning since it was September 1--just like all the other past -ber kick-off. I must admit though that I was pretty disappointed this year--our neighbor played a Christmas CD on August 31st. That was just so not fair.

Anyway, don't ever tell me that I'd forgotten to greet y'all happy holidays 'cause here it is--114 days early or thereabouts.

Going International

Living in a Third World country that only appears in international news when something negative happens--a stampede, a landslide, a Filipino accused of espionage in the US, an oil spill--is a real pain the neck. So it's always a relief to see fellow kababayans making names for themselves abroad in positive ways, especially in the entertainment industry. There's as much pride in their accomplishment as in their pride to have Filipino blood.

What really brought this on was the Black Eyed Peas's Bebot video that features a number of Fil-Am talents including AI alums Jasmine, Camille and Sway. Just gotta love Apl for doing this. Again--since he also did The Apl Song a few years back.

Ask what you can do for your country, not what your country can do for you--or something like that. True that. Especially if the government is doing na-da! That's the reason why Filipinos go to every corner of the globe in search of a better life. I have to say that but enough politicking.

Although I loved Mig Ayesa, third placer at last year's Rockstar: INXS (but I was really rooting for Marty) and the Fil-am AI alums, I have to scratch them out because the voting Filipino public were involved. I guess that goes the same for Dancing With the Stars's Cheryl Burke. But that doesn't mean I think any less of their accomplishments. But how about the Pinoy All-Stars who won the World HipHop Championships in LA last July? Or Tony award-winner Lea Salonga who opened doors for many Filipinos in Broadway when she played Kim in Miss Saigon?

Except for me, I think Filipinos are inherently good performers. Let's see the list I could recall off the top of my head--Cassie, PCD's Nicole, ex-Sugababe Mutya, Michael Copon (yeah, the jerk in the second season of OTH), Rob Schneider (he's not gonna win a Oscar in the near future but he just cracks me up). Not to mention the countless international singing awards Pinoy crooners continually garner year after year. Or the local films that earn accolades worldwide--the latest being Kubrador. Cesar Montano held his own with Hollywood's finest and did a great job in The Great Raid. Then there was Donita, who did a successful VJing stint at MTVAsia. I miss her tandem with Mike Kasem (I miss funny man Mike!). And then there's Billy Crawford who I've always known as six-year Billy Joe. Did the kid grow! I was so happy when he won over Eminem and Robbie Williams as Best Male Performer in a French awards show a few years back--he is huge in France.

Ubiquitous. That's us. Whether we're inventing the moon buggy or discovering L.A. (I read somewhere just a few months ago that two Mexicans and a Filipino discovered the City of Angels...but I still have to check on that again). Whether we are designing clothes--Monique Lhuillier ring a bell?-- or cooking the U.S. President's meals. Right now Tiffany is chanting: Batista! Batista! Batista! And yeah, even WWE champ Batista has Pinoy blood.

I admit, I'm not a huge of fan of the local entertainment but there's no helping being proud when a local makes it big in the big leagues. Thankful, really, for making the Mother Country proud.