Wednesday, December 30, 2009

MMFF tripping: Ang Panday

It's actually a tradition for hubby and me to watch at least one movie included in the Metro Manila Film Festival. For this year, we chose to watch Ang Panday starring Bong Revilla.

(We noticed that for the past Film Fests, we watch either a Bong Revilla or Vic Sotto starrer. We would've watched Wapakman, but because of a very negative feedback, we chose to skip it.)

As we all know, the movie is based on the creation of Carlo J. Caparas and was portrayed by the King, Fernando Poe, Jr. It tells the story of Flavio, a blacksmith in a folklore universe of the Philippines, and his destiny to fight the big bad of all mankind, Lizardo. Throw in a love interest named Maria and you have a formula for a cheesy flick set in a parallel world.

Okay, so here's the rundown of my comments:

1. It's got a cheesy story, as expected, with cheesy lines. But it can't be helped...

2. Graphically, it's nice. Kudos to Riot Inc. for doing a good job. Not very much comparable to Hollywood, but we're slowly getting there (time and budget are what the industry needs).

3. Musical score was good. Can't say the same about the Pupil-penned theme, though.

4. Unnecessary scenes and characters were included in the movie. I don't know why directors bother to do so.

5. No product placement. Yipee!

6. Hubby kept ranting about the "little details." To put it simply, we were wondering why Bong Revilla was kept ridiculously clean throughout the movie.

7. Philip Salvador's character laughs a lot. It gets irritating at some point.

8. The movie had so many scenes and settings based from big Hollywood films. Look for inspirations from movies such as Lord of the Rings... and Thundercats. LOL!

All in all, I guess it was okay, if you're more for the formulaic movie plots. Well, it won as Best Picture for this year's filmfest, so you might want to check it out.

And for the record, Wapakman's gimmick (if it ever was a gimmick) became its downfall. Tsk.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Villar's "Naging Mahirap" ad: Really now?

For your reference, here's the full ad. Listen to the lyrics:



A few things I just noticed:

1. Villar harps too much on his "mahirap" angle. I like the "sipag and tiyaga" slant more. This ad is the complete opposite of his first slogan.

2. People will take this literally. If you say you will take them out of poverty, they will take your word for it. And when you don't, they'll hate you. Remember the Bible story about giving man fish and teaching him how to fish? The ad seems to lean on the former. And that is not good.

Truth is, no one will pull you out of your misery except yourself. You have to work for it and not let anyone do it for you.

While I don't dislike Manny Villar, his ad is an epic fail.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Getting Trailer Addict-ed

It's my last day of work for the year, I'm taking a leave beginning tomorrow until the end of the month. So while I've got no work to finish, I decided to check out some trailers for 2010 movies.

I would've gone to YouTube, but the site's blocked by our office's firewall. Apple Trailers would've been okay if I had a Quicktime player. Good thing there's TrailerAddict.com to satiate my hunger for movie trailers.

So far I've watched those of Iron Man 2, Nine, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and The Wolfman. Still have to browse for more trailers, and so far I'm satisfied.

Visit TrailerAddict.com and have a blast getting a sneak peek of your most awaited movie for next year.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Brittany Murphy dies at 32

This was the news that greeted me this morning, the first news bit I saw upon opening my computer.

Actress Brittany Murphy died in her home due to cardiac arrest. She was found unconscious and was brought to the hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

It's so sad to hear news like these, especially when you feel like someone's gone too soon, at such a young age when she's enjoying her life.

May you rest in peace, girl.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Ooh, a new look

...for my blog, that is. I kinda like this new layout, it's cleaner and less cluttered than before. I wonder why I didn't see this over at BTemplates in the first place?

Earlier, I had a problem with the comments box. As trail29 from TalkPh pointed out, the captcha phrase in the comments box couldn't be entered. I thought it was because of the template. But I changed it and it still had that problem.

Good thing I went over to the Help Forum and found the answer. One guy told me to insert a tag in the HTML which will adjust the size of the box (I think). Well, it worked!

And then I decided to keep this template. I realized I like blue anyways.

So there, enjoy the new look of my Point of View.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Movies to watch out for in 2010

MSN Entertainment has just released its Top 10 Movies to See Next Year. Yes, of course it includes Twilight Saga: Eclipse and the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The list actually is pretty interesting because, by the plots, these upcoming flicks are sure to be a hit. Just noticed, though, that they missed out on some movies, including:

* The Book of Eli - Denzel Washington kicking ass and Gary Oldman as the bad man. Coolness!
* The Last Airbender - I'm just hoping M. Night Shyamalan does this justice. I loved the series.
* Clash of the Titans - Elementary days come to mind. But this one would surely have better effects. And a bald Perseus.
* Prince of Persia - With Bubbleboy, er, Jake Gyllenhall in the lead role, I'm curious as to how this game-turned movie will be. Nice trailer, though.
* The A-Team - Okay, so because I'm anticipating this, you'd probably have an idea of my age. But heck, it's a cool macho series (and I'm a woman...). Would want to see how it turns out.
* Tron - Got to watch the 80s original, and the trailer made me wonder what happened to Jeff Bridges' character during the hiatus.
* Toy Story 3 - Of course.

This early, the list leaves enough to make you wonder what else are in store. I'm getting excited...

This Season's Picky Taxi Drivers, part 1

It's not an unusual occurrence, but it happens a lot especially during the Christmas season: taxis refusing to accommodate passengers. They always have a lot of excuses on hand, the main one being "traffic."

I don't get why they would choose to let go of potential income and continue to waste precious gas by driving without a paying passenger in tow.

Don't they realize that people flagging them for a ride are interested in giving them income?

There are also those taxi drivers who would ask for a hefty price and wouldn't use the meter, just to see if people will fall into his ruse called overcharging.

I believe Manila's LTFRB are doing something about this. You can text the taxi's plate number and report if they turned you down or overcharged you. Sadly, I forgot to put the number on my phone.

So anyways, I'd like to list down the plate numbers of the taxis who refused to drive us from Makati (AIM) to Malate (behind Aristocrat Restaurant) last Friday, December 11 at about 5PM:

PVK 382
TYE 566 (Body name: TAI)
PXE 995

And though he did accommodate us, I would like to post the plate number of the taxi who charged us Php300 (did not use the meter) for the same route on that same day:

TXV 842

There you go. Have a safe trip this Yuletide season.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The side effects of Coldease

My officemate felt that she was going to have a cold this morning, so she bought Coldease, the latest cold medicine out in the Philippine market. I've heard a radio commercial of theirs days back and advertisement banners have been plastered in EDSA. It said that you should take Coldease before you actually get a cold (or something to that effect).

Got no photo of it, but it's a soft gel capsule which, according to the label, is made of herbal ingredients. Everyone's switching to natural (just like Lucy Torres... er...), so I guess the makers of this one, Unilab, is just itching to jump into the bandwagon.

Thing is, on the fine print, it's got loads of side effects. To enumerate:

- nausea
- dizziness
- vomiting
- abdominal pain
- tingling sensation of the tongue
- diarrhea
- headache

Skin irritations, like rashes, and other allergic reactions may also occur.

There's a disclaimer, though, that Coldease should not be taken for more than two weeks to minimize side effects. So they may or may not happen to you when you take it.

So far, my officemate hasn't been complaining of anything related to the aforementioned side effects. I guess it just struck me as weird that one herbal medicine could have such a number of side effects.

Maybe I'll ask my doctor about this one first, in case I get a cold.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Iron Man 2 Teaser Poster Out

... And behind the iron-cast hero is a monochromatic version of him, also known as War Machine.

I'm no comic book fan (not much, maybe) but this gets me excited because I really liked the first installment. I thought that Robert Downey, Jr. was tailor-fit for the role, despite his lack of height (Iron Man is tall).

Big question now is, will Don Cheadle, who replaces Terrence Howard in the sequel, fit into the role of James Rhodes? Stark's buddy from the military will be the one donning the silver armor, and quite frankly I think Cheadle is pretty, er, petite for the character. Acting-wise, I have no arguments. I guess I just don't see him as a military guy. He's not buffed, not quite tall, and I kinda feel the suit's too heavy for him.

Well, we'll see how this goes come next year. Fanboys, get ready.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Deathly Hallows Teaser Trailer on TheRemembrall.org

Thanks to my Plurk buddy, I got a sneak peak on the teaser trailer of the latest Harry Potter installment on The Remembrall site. Being a fan, it's exciting to watch how the story will be translated from book to film (again).

Truth to tell, I always thought that HP is better read than watched on the big screen. There's always some alteration going on during production. Sometimes I feel that what I saw on the movies didn't compare to what I imagined while I was reading the book. But what the heck, it's still Harry Potter and the rest of the crew. And I can't wait to see the final installment.

(Hmm, is the movie version of Book 7 in two parts, as earlier reported? Must take a look into this...)

Satiate your hunger for HP as you watch The Deathly Hallows trailer over at The Remembrall.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Kris Kringle: Playing Santa Promo

Just joined TalkPH.net and found this contest from member Yuuki. It's open to GirlTalk and TalkPH members only (wow, I'm member of both, hehe!).

All you have to do is place this badge somewhere in your blog:



and be her top commenter for December. $19.99 is up at stake, to be deposited to the winner's PayPal account.

Though I don't think I'll be her top commenter for the month, I'll just join in the fun. :)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Joining TalkPH. net

Was browsing through my online friends' blogs when I stumbled upon TalkPH.net from Realm of a Dreamer. It's a local forum where you can join discussions (like the usual forums that have been around), but what's special about it is that they have an Ad Revenue Sharing Program, which helps you earn while you create a topic or participate in a thread. Earnings are entered to your Google AdSense or Yahoo Publisher Network. For this, I entered my Google AdSense account.

I've just joined a few minutes ago, as of this writing, so I'm still in the process of learning the TalkPH.net ropes, so to speak. I'm going to join in the discussions and see how this goes from here.

If you want to join TalkPH.net, you can click here and register.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Philippines now the most dangerous place for journalists, according to Inquirer

In just two days after the grim massacre in Maguindanao allegedly due to political rivalry, the Philippines has now overtaken Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists, said the International Federation of Journalists. You can read about the article here.

All in one day, at least 12 media persons from local TV, print, and radio were killed, some were even buried in a shallow grave.

My heart bleeds for these people, who lost their loves just because they were doing their job. Until now, it's hard to stomach that this "for the movies" scenario does happen in real life.

There is also one account from one of the reporters spared from this grisly attack on human rights. He and other reporters detoured to a hotel to get some things and eventually was not included in the convoy that was attacked.

At his article, which you can read in this Inquirer website, you will learn that:

1. Esmael Mangadadatu requested for escorts from the police and military, but was turned down;

2. Mangadadatu allowed the women, including his wife, to file his certificate of candidacy because in their tradition, Muslim women were respected; and,

3. When his request was denied by the military and police, Mangadadatu asked for some journalists to accompany his wife and supporters thinking that no harm would come over them while the media is watching.

But no, no human life was respected during the mass killing in Maguindanao. Men, women, politicians, lawyers, journalists, supporters, innocent people -- these lives were taken away in one swift blow.

Now our nation is under the tight watch. I would want to see this issue have a closure.

Too bad the trend here is that controversies get overshadowed by other controversies until they are forgotten.

But this one, I hope not.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Maguindanao massacre

I was riding a bus home when this news caught my attention.

A convoy of a politician from Maguindanao, some supporters, and journalists were kidnapped and killed en route to their filing of certification of candicacies.

The fatalities were the wife, sister, relatives, and lawyers of Esmael Mangudadatu, who is going to run for governor of the province, and mediamen including reporters from DZRH, Manila Bulletin, and others.

Reports from newscasts, broadsheets, and the Internet said that the killings were connected to their family's rivalry with the Ampatuans. The elder Ampatuan is currently the governor while the son, the present mayor, is running for the same position as Mangudadatu.

It saddens me that people would kill over power. No, for more power. It has been in the history of the Philippines that during elections, you'll hear potential candidates getting ambushed or killed in cold blood -- and fingers would point to their rivals as perpetrators. In the city I live in, a mayoral candidate who questioned the results of the elections (where the incumbent won by a landslide) was gunned down by unidentified men years ago.

Politics in the Philippines is getting scarier. What's worse is that it's becoming a trend, a culture. And no one can do anything about it, even the police.

This dark episode in Philippine politics seems to have no ending in sight.

Friday, November 20, 2009

World Pyro Olympics 2009 at The Fort

Time to witness a grand spectacle of lights once again -- this time in another venue.

The World Pyro Olympics 2009 is happening tomorrow at The Fort. Germany and China starts the show at 7PM and 8PM, respectively.  Other participating countries are Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, South Korea, USA, and Philippines (are we competing as well?).

Hmm, I wonder why they changed the venue? The fireworks look great when reflected in the waters of Manila Bay -- you won't notice how murky it is in the evening, so that's fine. Hope I could go to this year's Pyro Olympics.

For the schedule of pyrotechnic shows, go to their official website.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Pride and Glory: Amanda of Survivor Philippines: Palau and the Pacquiao-Cotto Fight

I watch Survivor Philippines: Palau only if I can catch it or if not busy taking care of my baby. More or less, I have an idea who's outplayed, outwitted, and outlasted each other. So Amanda Colley van Cooll winning the title of Sole Survivor wasn't much of a surprise for me. She had a great strategy, lying low in the first challenges, making solid alliances (especially with another strong contender, Mika), and showcasing her strength in winning the individual immunities and reward challenges on the latter part of the game.

Justine Ferrer and Jef Gaitan are also deserving of their spots in the top three. Justine, the first to be voted off in this season, proved that she has the physical strength by outlasting all other castoffs and getting back in the merge. Jef, while being the weakest physically, used her weakness to her advantage and stuck with the stronger castaways. That's one way of using her smarts.

It's unfortunate I didn't catch the Reunion special last Sunday. Just had my fill of the recaps on the Survivor blog and another Survivor Philippines site, which gave me a good view on who voted for who and why.

Amanda deserves this. Hope to see more of her on TV. She'd make a great addition to Unang Hirit, in my opinion...

--------


Last Sunday, my first thought was that Manny Pacquiao should win this fight because he's already landed on the cover of TIME Magazine. Filipino pride, dude, don't let me down.

And he didn't let me down. Pacquiao won via TKO against the reigning WBO welterweight champ, Miguel Cotto. At first, I thought the Pacman was going to have a hard time fighting Cotto, at some point he was just taking punches from him. But after seeing Cotto go down twice, our hopes went up.

It took 12 rounds before referee Bayless stopped the fight. Three cheers for the Filipino champ! Once again, he has proven that he is the pound for pound king in this generation.

Will Floyd Mayweather Jr fight him? I guess if his dad says so, hehe. And if that happens, it's going to be one heck of a fight.

But for now, I'll just wish to see Manny Pacquiao in person to have our copy of TIME Magazine signed.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

My hangover on (500) Days of Summer


I must admit, weeks after I've watched (500) Days of Summer, I can still feel the rollercoaster of emotions the movie has brought me.

It's not the usual story of boy meets girl, because it's only the boy that falls in love and the girl doesn't. Tom, a writer for a greeting card company, meets Summer, the new assistant, and is instantly infatuated with her when he learned that she also likes The Smiths. Tom wants her to be his girlfriend, but Summer doesn't believe in romantic relationships. She explores the world of romance, though, with Tom, but tells him that she can't promise him anything. In short, she wants no strings attached -- something that Tom misunderstood, or refused to understand, while they were together, similar to his misunderstanding of the movie he watched as a kid, The Graduate. And that is why we see him in the first few minutes of the movie as a very broken and hurt man.

What I liked about this movie is how the story was presented. Despite the story not having a chronological order of events, I think it helped in giving the film more depth. I also liked the film's wit, especially from the character of Rachel, Tom's younger sister, who seemed to have a more mature outlook in life than her brother. The soundtrack is nice, too, and supports each scene perfectly.

(500) Days of Summer is a very honest take on love and relationships without being mushy or corny. It's very realistic, it's not hard to relate to either Tom or Summer. It could be a bit depressing to watch if you just came from a bad breakup, but just like Tom, you'll learn that there's life after Summer.

Monday, November 9, 2009

My online money-making experiences

Being a new mom and experiencing the repercussions of the economic crisis, I have since looked for ways to earn some extra bucks.Because I have some access to the Internet during my idle time at work, I chose to do some posting and reviewing online.

One of my first efforts was MyLot.com. I remember signing up for it on 2007, but then didn't really get to be an active member. It was only late last year that I rediscovered it and tried posting topics and comments to it.

MyLot is like a forum but not in a forum-type format. Basically there are topics which you can respond to and topics you yourself could start. You earn by posting and commenting. I'm just not sure of how the earning scheme works, but for like 10 posts a day, I make about $0.15. So if you have more posts, the more you earn. You can get your payment through Paypal when you reach the minimum $10 payout. I've only earned less than $5 so I'm trying to post and comment during my spare time.

Another site I have gone to was Ciao.com. It's more of a review site where you can read and post opinions of different products, from movies to cosmetics. I've earned around $30 with Ciao.com for writing there for a few months, but just last April they banned many users from Asia because of myriad instances of plagiarism. Even honest writers (like me and many other Filipinos) were affected. Last I know, Ciao.com was bought by Bing.com.

One of the sites I went to but stopped was DestroyDebt.com. It's a forum site where you can share tips on budgeting and how not to incur debt. They suspended the earnings program there as well.

I've also discovered Bukisa.com, another posting site where you can post videos, presentations, and written reviews. I've only written eight articles, and the viewership is pretty few, unlike in Ciao.com. So far, I only have $0.20 in my account.

Another paying program I've joined is Paid-to-Promote.net. You just have to paste the codes in the HTML of your site so that when someone goes to your site, you earn money. The only problem I have is actually pasting the codes on the HTML because there's always an error when I do. I think it has something to do with the incomplete command for the iframe. So for now, until I find a solution to it, I hope to earn from Paid-to-Promote's referral program.

I've also put Google Adsense in my blog for months now. Earnings in Google Adsense is crawling up for now. I just have to post more so that my blog gets indexed and people get to read it.

I'm also trying out Bidvertiser.com, which also helps you earn when users click a Bidvertiser ad on your site.

Lastly, I recently discovered Linkbucks.com, where you can earn when someone clicks on the links you have on your site. It's pretty simple, you just generate a Linkbucks code using the original URL you want to point at. Instead of using the original URL for the text link, you use the Linkbucks-generated URL. When a reader clicks on that link, you earn some bucks.

Earning at Linkbucks is kinda slow, though, because it depends on the ad you use, the traffic your site generates and the location of those clicking the link. You earn more when you use the Intermission-type ad and if the clicker is from US, UK, Canada, and the like.

I'm sharing this to you so you can also have ideas where you can earn some bucks online. Though I must say that I'm still earning a few dollars, I know that when I put all my efforts in earning online, I'll have some extra moolah in my pocket, just enough to support my additional needs.

If you want to be my downline and earn online as well, you can click the following referral links:

MyLot.com
Paid-to-Promote.net
Linkbucks.com
Monetize your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Welcome to my point of view

It's not my first time to blog, but my other blogs are either a hodge-podge of personal stuff or too concentrated on just one topic. I wanted a blog which shares my interests, from music to movies to showbiz to politics to online earning. So I decided to put up this one, which is more of my opinions on the aforementioned topics.

Readers of this blog may or may not agree with my views, but that's okay. You're reading from my point of view, but I also welcome comments to my commentaries. Just leave a message, but no flaming, please. :D

To you, dear reader, welcome to my point of view.