In an effort to get back into the habit of reading, I took on the Goodreads reading challenge. For the year, I'm challenging myself to read at leas 75 books.
I actually bought a Kindle Paperwhite to help me with this goal. :) I just need to wait for it to be shipped, so for now I'm using the Kindle app on Jarvis (my Asus Transformer pad) until I get Snow, which will be the name of my new Kindle.
I also discovered that Amazon has a Bestseller list that lists down the top 100 Paid and Free e-books. This is a n excellent (and legal) way to score free e-books, or make a note of titles worth purchasing. The list is updated every hour.
Since this discovery, I already downloaded over 35 titles for free and bought around 15 titles from Amazon.com, and I'm expecting to get a lot more in the future.
So really, this 75 book target, should be easy for me. :) I actually wanted to go for a 100, but since I haven't been reading much lately, I decided on a more modest target.
Wish me luck! Happy reading!
Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Friday, January 04, 2013
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Harry Potter...until the very end.
[caption id="attachment_87" align="alignright" width="200"]
It All Ends[/caption]
It's been 2 days since the final Harry Potter film has been released worldwide, and I've already seen it twice. The movie was epic. Hands down, one of my favorite movies to date, and the best Harry Potter movie of all time. Everything about the movie was amazing and I'll probably see it again soon.
And yet, I can't help but feel sad and empty now that I've seen the final film...
It's the end of an era. It truly is.
Without spoiling anything, here are the top 3 things I loved about the final film. Obviously, I'm not going to say the story, because without it, there wouldn't be a movie to begin with.
1. The acting - Of course, with the who's who of British cinema in this film, you can expect stellar acting from the senior members of the cast, but what surprised me is how much Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have grown and how well they are acting now - which is a far cry from where they started. Scenes are heartfelt, real and believable. And of course, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith and most especially Alan Rickman delivered some of the strongest performances in the entire film.
2. The music - Especially during the battle of Hogwarts, and the Epilogue scenes... just magic.
3. Snape's memories - Honestly, when I read that part of the book, it seemed cheesy to me, but it was one of the best parts of film, absolutely terrific.
There's a lot more to love... but I can't think of a way to write them without introducing spoilers, which is not something I want to do especially to those who haven't read the books. But there is one thing I noticed in this film that I also didn't like too much in the last Deathly Hallows installment, it's that death scenes leave me cold and emotionless... when it should have pushed me to tears. When Hedwig died in the books, I was devastated, when it was shown in the first Deathly Hallows, it didn't create much impact - it's the same thing with Deathly Hallows 2, but I guess it made up for it with other emotional scenes so it's not a big deal.
For those who need a refresher, Warnes Bros Pictures created a fantastic video that is an excellent refresher for the past 7 films, and a great teaser for the current one. Enjoy!
It All Ends[/caption]It's been 2 days since the final Harry Potter film has been released worldwide, and I've already seen it twice. The movie was epic. Hands down, one of my favorite movies to date, and the best Harry Potter movie of all time. Everything about the movie was amazing and I'll probably see it again soon.
And yet, I can't help but feel sad and empty now that I've seen the final film...
It's the end of an era. It truly is.
Without spoiling anything, here are the top 3 things I loved about the final film. Obviously, I'm not going to say the story, because without it, there wouldn't be a movie to begin with.
1. The acting - Of course, with the who's who of British cinema in this film, you can expect stellar acting from the senior members of the cast, but what surprised me is how much Dan Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have grown and how well they are acting now - which is a far cry from where they started. Scenes are heartfelt, real and believable. And of course, Helena Bonham-Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Smith and most especially Alan Rickman delivered some of the strongest performances in the entire film.
2. The music - Especially during the battle of Hogwarts, and the Epilogue scenes... just magic.
3. Snape's memories - Honestly, when I read that part of the book, it seemed cheesy to me, but it was one of the best parts of film, absolutely terrific.
There's a lot more to love... but I can't think of a way to write them without introducing spoilers, which is not something I want to do especially to those who haven't read the books. But there is one thing I noticed in this film that I also didn't like too much in the last Deathly Hallows installment, it's that death scenes leave me cold and emotionless... when it should have pushed me to tears. When Hedwig died in the books, I was devastated, when it was shown in the first Deathly Hallows, it didn't create much impact - it's the same thing with Deathly Hallows 2, but I guess it made up for it with other emotional scenes so it's not a big deal.
For those who need a refresher, Warnes Bros Pictures created a fantastic video that is an excellent refresher for the past 7 films, and a great teaser for the current one. Enjoy!
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review
One word, it was awesome!
I thought the Transformers franchise lost me after Revenge of the Fallen, well didn't really lose me, but I didn't like that movie as much as the first. It was sloppy and confusing, so I wasn't really expecting much with the new Transformers movie. It's a good thing Maitz wanted to watch it, because it is honestly one of the best movies I've watched this year.
There was a lot to love about the movie, but here are just the top 5 reasons why I totally enjoyed watching:
If you haven't watched it, I suggest you run to the nearest cinema to get your tickets. From beginning to end, you will be entertained, I promise.
I thought the Transformers franchise lost me after Revenge of the Fallen, well didn't really lose me, but I didn't like that movie as much as the first. It was sloppy and confusing, so I wasn't really expecting much with the new Transformers movie. It's a good thing Maitz wanted to watch it, because it is honestly one of the best movies I've watched this year.
There was a lot to love about the movie, but here are just the top 5 reasons why I totally enjoyed watching:
- The Story - decent background, good development, great twists, emotional, funny and it never got boring despite the over 2 1/2 hour runtime.
- The Humor - Bottom line, every time the movie wanted to be funny, it was hilarious. The jokes, the quotes, the gags, quips and innuendos, it was well executed and never fell flat.
- The New Faces: 1. New Girl - OK, so she has a name, when they first announced they would be replacing Megan Fox, I wasn't expecting much from Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. I mean, it's not like Megan had to act in the previous movies, right? Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised with her character, and quite honestly, the chemistry between her and Shia LaBeouf was much more believable. Mikaela's character was cool in the first Transformers, but in the 2nd movie, the scenes between her and Sam was almost painful to watch. 2. Dutch - It's not just Rosie's character that breathed life into the movie, Dutch is quite possibly one of my new favorite movie characters, why? Because he is such a character! Although I can't help but think if his character is programmed from the Dollhouse...I mean, he is Alpha.
- The Human Element - It's not just the robot aliens who are responsible for saving the world (and not just Josh Duhamel's team either). There was a lot more for our fellow humans to do in this film, from jumping off planes, to outflanking decepticons, the human involvement in this film was a lot more noticeable and that was great to see in a Transformers movie.
- The Violence - It's like watching Game of Thrones, but with robots! The clash between autobots and decepticons in this movie is much improved from the tangled metal mess from Transformers 2. So, they might have gone overboard on the slow-mo a few times, but it's just so cool you'll forgive them for it anyway.
If you haven't watched it, I suggest you run to the nearest cinema to get your tickets. From beginning to end, you will be entertained, I promise.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Aida the Musical: Timeless, Tragic, Beautiful
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="320" caption="Aida Poster from Atlantis Productions"]
[/caption]
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of musicals. I love the theater, I love the songs and marvel at how elaborate scenes are played out in such amount of space, and I have such high respect for theater performers who perform everything live - no cuts and second takes here.
The latest musical I was able to watch was Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida. Staged at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, my entire family and I had pretty good seats at the center loge. The musical started a couple of minutes late, but the wait was tolerable.
Honestly, aside from the brief summary that the story is a love story between 2 princesses and a soldier during a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, I didn't know what to expect. So it was a pleasant surprise to see that it wasn't all mush. :P The play starts in a modern setting, inside a museum housing Egyptian relics, we see two strangers who seem to be taking interest in each other more than the exhibits. The statue of a female pharoah, Amneris comes to life, and talks about how 'Every Story is a Love Story' and sets the background of how "This is the story, Of a love that flourished, In a time of hate", when Egypt was at war with Nubia, Aida's homeland.
The scene changes and we are now in Egypt, seeing Captain Radames coming from a successful expedition from Nubia. We see a group of Nubian women captured by his men, bound to be slaves in Egypt. One of the women fights back and out duels most of his soldiers. Because of her spirit, she catches Radames' eye. This girl, is Aida - who unbeknownst to Radames, is the daughter of the Nubian King.
We are also introduced to the other characters of the play. Zoser, Radames' father and chief minister of Egypt, plotting against the king so Radames can ascend to the throne. Amneris, the pharaoh's daughter, princess of Egypt, Radames' fiancee, who acts all shallow and vain but is actually just projecting this image to hide her insecurities, Aida is presented to her as her handmaiden and they become good friends. Mereb, a Nubian servant Radames saved, recognized Aida as his princess and tells the other slaves about her presence, and of course the Pharaoh, who announces that the long-delayed marriage of Radames and Amneris will push through in 7 days. Staged in a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, the love story unfolds between Radames and Aida, with the songs carrying so much emotion you can't help but believe in the connection the two of them have, and also shows us how they are supposed to choose between love or loyalty. Along the way, we also see the other Nubian slaves, who call to Aida to free them from slavery, and Aida's father, Amonasro, who was also captured by the Egyptians. Mereb and Aida bribe the guards so they can visit Amonasro, and planned to use Radames' wedding to Amneris as a distraction to help him escape. Amonasro finds out about her relationship to Radames, demanding her to "cut him out of her heart" and be loyal to Nubia.
Zoser also finds out about Radames and Aida's relationship and warns Radames that it will interfere with his plans to take the throne, they have a heated argument and Radames proclaims that he doesn't care about being pharaoh. Zoser then orders his men to find Aida and kill her, but when the soldiers arrived in the Nubian camp, another slave (Nehebka) sacrifices herself for the princess. This only strengthens Aida's resolve to be loyal to her people and goes out to find Radames that they can no longer be together. When they meet, Radames tells her he will cancel the wedding, do anything to be with Aida. Knowing that this will endanger the plan to help her father escape, she tells him that he needs to go through with the wedding, in spite of what she feels for him. He agrees with the condition that she escapes back to Nubia, that there will be a boat waiting for her at the docks. They say their goodbyes, unknown to them, Amneris hears the entire thing and prepares herself to go through with a wedding that she now knows is a lie.
At the wedding ceremony, a guard rushes in and informs everyone of Amonasro's escape. Radames rushes to the docks and finds out Aida's true identity. They have a fight, but Aida assures him her feelings are real, Zoser and some guards arrive and Radames allows Amonasro to escape. Zoser mortally wounds Mereb, and in a tear jerking moment, the injured Mereb utters "I always wanted to see Nubia again, take me home." before dying in Aida's arms. As guards arrive to arrest Radames and Aida, Radames advises his father to flee, and he does, but was later captured and we can assume was brought to justice.
Aida and Radames were brought in front of the pharaoh and Amneris, the punishment for treason is to be buried alive. Amneris, in an act befitting of a future pharaoh, persuades her father to show mercy to the couple, by asking them to be buried together in one tomb. As the punishment is carried out, and they are slowly deprived of light, Radames assures Aida "If I have to search for a hundred lifetimes, I will find you again, Aida."
We then come back to the museum, and Amneris continues the tale that during her time as pharaoh, the death of Radames and Aida brought a time of peace between Egypt and Nubia. She then watches, the two strangers get together, the reincarnations of Radames and Aida, meeting again after a hundred lifetimes, proving how love knows no bounds, and that they were destined to be together.
The story is very beautiful, and the songs are amazing, but I did notice some areas for improvements. Ima Catro's portrayal of Aida, although fierce and strong, lacked the emotional connection with the audience for us to want to root for her. Haji Alejandro had the voice, and delivered some strong scenes, but was not sinister enough for the role, the pharaoh was too strong for someone who was supposedly sick and dying of poison, and lastly and my biggest criticism for the play, is the dancing. Take Zoser's men for instance, although the choreography was fun, the dancers were not together at times and not giving their all, which just made the dance disjointed and a little awkward to watch. The Dance of the Robes was better, but would leave you wanting more if you're a fan of shows like So You Think You Can Dance. Myke Salomon's portrayal of Radames was the most consistent throughout the play, but Rachel Alejandro as Amneris was still my favorite.
Overall, Aida is a wonderful addition to the broadway plays staged in Manila. I highly recommend you to come watch it, tickets are still on sale through Atlantis Productions, or Ticketworld. Shows run until July 10. :)
[/caption]It's no secret that I'm a big fan of musicals. I love the theater, I love the songs and marvel at how elaborate scenes are played out in such amount of space, and I have such high respect for theater performers who perform everything live - no cuts and second takes here.
The latest musical I was able to watch was Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida. Staged at the Carlos Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, my entire family and I had pretty good seats at the center loge. The musical started a couple of minutes late, but the wait was tolerable.
Honestly, aside from the brief summary that the story is a love story between 2 princesses and a soldier during a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, I didn't know what to expect. So it was a pleasant surprise to see that it wasn't all mush. :P The play starts in a modern setting, inside a museum housing Egyptian relics, we see two strangers who seem to be taking interest in each other more than the exhibits. The statue of a female pharoah, Amneris comes to life, and talks about how 'Every Story is a Love Story' and sets the background of how "This is the story, Of a love that flourished, In a time of hate", when Egypt was at war with Nubia, Aida's homeland.
The scene changes and we are now in Egypt, seeing Captain Radames coming from a successful expedition from Nubia. We see a group of Nubian women captured by his men, bound to be slaves in Egypt. One of the women fights back and out duels most of his soldiers. Because of her spirit, she catches Radames' eye. This girl, is Aida - who unbeknownst to Radames, is the daughter of the Nubian King.
We are also introduced to the other characters of the play. Zoser, Radames' father and chief minister of Egypt, plotting against the king so Radames can ascend to the throne. Amneris, the pharaoh's daughter, princess of Egypt, Radames' fiancee, who acts all shallow and vain but is actually just projecting this image to hide her insecurities, Aida is presented to her as her handmaiden and they become good friends. Mereb, a Nubian servant Radames saved, recognized Aida as his princess and tells the other slaves about her presence, and of course the Pharaoh, who announces that the long-delayed marriage of Radames and Amneris will push through in 7 days. Staged in a time of war between Egypt and Nubia, the love story unfolds between Radames and Aida, with the songs carrying so much emotion you can't help but believe in the connection the two of them have, and also shows us how they are supposed to choose between love or loyalty. Along the way, we also see the other Nubian slaves, who call to Aida to free them from slavery, and Aida's father, Amonasro, who was also captured by the Egyptians. Mereb and Aida bribe the guards so they can visit Amonasro, and planned to use Radames' wedding to Amneris as a distraction to help him escape. Amonasro finds out about her relationship to Radames, demanding her to "cut him out of her heart" and be loyal to Nubia.
Zoser also finds out about Radames and Aida's relationship and warns Radames that it will interfere with his plans to take the throne, they have a heated argument and Radames proclaims that he doesn't care about being pharaoh. Zoser then orders his men to find Aida and kill her, but when the soldiers arrived in the Nubian camp, another slave (Nehebka) sacrifices herself for the princess. This only strengthens Aida's resolve to be loyal to her people and goes out to find Radames that they can no longer be together. When they meet, Radames tells her he will cancel the wedding, do anything to be with Aida. Knowing that this will endanger the plan to help her father escape, she tells him that he needs to go through with the wedding, in spite of what she feels for him. He agrees with the condition that she escapes back to Nubia, that there will be a boat waiting for her at the docks. They say their goodbyes, unknown to them, Amneris hears the entire thing and prepares herself to go through with a wedding that she now knows is a lie.At the wedding ceremony, a guard rushes in and informs everyone of Amonasro's escape. Radames rushes to the docks and finds out Aida's true identity. They have a fight, but Aida assures him her feelings are real, Zoser and some guards arrive and Radames allows Amonasro to escape. Zoser mortally wounds Mereb, and in a tear jerking moment, the injured Mereb utters "I always wanted to see Nubia again, take me home." before dying in Aida's arms. As guards arrive to arrest Radames and Aida, Radames advises his father to flee, and he does, but was later captured and we can assume was brought to justice.
Aida and Radames were brought in front of the pharaoh and Amneris, the punishment for treason is to be buried alive. Amneris, in an act befitting of a future pharaoh, persuades her father to show mercy to the couple, by asking them to be buried together in one tomb. As the punishment is carried out, and they are slowly deprived of light, Radames assures Aida "If I have to search for a hundred lifetimes, I will find you again, Aida."
We then come back to the museum, and Amneris continues the tale that during her time as pharaoh, the death of Radames and Aida brought a time of peace between Egypt and Nubia. She then watches, the two strangers get together, the reincarnations of Radames and Aida, meeting again after a hundred lifetimes, proving how love knows no bounds, and that they were destined to be together.
The story is very beautiful, and the songs are amazing, but I did notice some areas for improvements. Ima Catro's portrayal of Aida, although fierce and strong, lacked the emotional connection with the audience for us to want to root for her. Haji Alejandro had the voice, and delivered some strong scenes, but was not sinister enough for the role, the pharaoh was too strong for someone who was supposedly sick and dying of poison, and lastly and my biggest criticism for the play, is the dancing. Take Zoser's men for instance, although the choreography was fun, the dancers were not together at times and not giving their all, which just made the dance disjointed and a little awkward to watch. The Dance of the Robes was better, but would leave you wanting more if you're a fan of shows like So You Think You Can Dance. Myke Salomon's portrayal of Radames was the most consistent throughout the play, but Rachel Alejandro as Amneris was still my favorite.
Overall, Aida is a wonderful addition to the broadway plays staged in Manila. I highly recommend you to come watch it, tickets are still on sale through Atlantis Productions, or Ticketworld. Shows run until July 10. :)
Thursday, June 23, 2011
What is Pottermore?!
Less than 20 hours until we find out what... I already set up my reminders to make sure I don't forget.
http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces
So many owls already! I can't wait!
http://www.youtube.com/jkrowlingannounces
So many owls already! I can't wait!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Harry Potter Love
In less than a month, the final Harry Potter movie will be released in cinemas...I am literally counting the days until I can score 1st day, 1st showing tickets from Sureseats. In the meantime, I have this awesome, awesome trailer to tide me over.
I was first introduced to Harry by my British cousin, John. He was about 10 I think some 12 years ago, and they were visiting my grandparents here in Manila. He was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (later changed to Sorcerer's stone in the US edition), and he was very excited about it, told me it was a good book.
One afternoon, with nothing better to do, I read it. It was a kid's book, so it took me just an hour to read it, but for some reason, I got hooked. My cousin was returning to the UK so I had to buy my own copy of the 1st book (so I can reread it), and bought Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban - I was still studying so I had to borrow money from my parents for the book. :P I eagerly read the second and third books (on the same day mind you). And I swear, I thought Prisoner of Azkaban was the best book ever! I was so in love with Remus Lupin's character that I liked him even more than Harry.
And the rest, as they say, is history. It didn't take long for Goblet of Fire to come out, but then the wait for the 5th, 6th and 7th books was torture. Granted, I could always re-read the earlier books, I even had audiobooks and e-books of the entire series, and even backup paperback copies. I mean, backup paperback copies? Who does that? My top 3 books are definitely Deathly Hallows, Half-Blood Prince and Prisoner of Azkaban.
Anyway, going back to the movies...well, there are some criticisms to note, and I don't always agree with the way they edit them, but I am still eternally grateful to WB for producing them. They still brought Harry Potter to life, in a way even my imagination would not have been able to. And I have to say, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs, Ralph Fiennes - basically the entire HP cast are just all amazing. And that British accent is just always so nice to hear.
I will definitely cry when I finally get to watch this movie. I can't wait to watch it, but at the same time I just don't want it to end... it's like the Deathly Hallows release all over again. All I know is, Harry Potter will always have a special place in my life - and the magic will live on, no matter what.
I was first introduced to Harry by my British cousin, John. He was about 10 I think some 12 years ago, and they were visiting my grandparents here in Manila. He was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (later changed to Sorcerer's stone in the US edition), and he was very excited about it, told me it was a good book.
One afternoon, with nothing better to do, I read it. It was a kid's book, so it took me just an hour to read it, but for some reason, I got hooked. My cousin was returning to the UK so I had to buy my own copy of the 1st book (so I can reread it), and bought Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban - I was still studying so I had to borrow money from my parents for the book. :P I eagerly read the second and third books (on the same day mind you). And I swear, I thought Prisoner of Azkaban was the best book ever! I was so in love with Remus Lupin's character that I liked him even more than Harry.
And the rest, as they say, is history. It didn't take long for Goblet of Fire to come out, but then the wait for the 5th, 6th and 7th books was torture. Granted, I could always re-read the earlier books, I even had audiobooks and e-books of the entire series, and even backup paperback copies. I mean, backup paperback copies? Who does that? My top 3 books are definitely Deathly Hallows, Half-Blood Prince and Prisoner of Azkaban.
Anyway, going back to the movies...well, there are some criticisms to note, and I don't always agree with the way they edit them, but I am still eternally grateful to WB for producing them. They still brought Harry Potter to life, in a way even my imagination would not have been able to. And I have to say, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs, Ralph Fiennes - basically the entire HP cast are just all amazing. And that British accent is just always so nice to hear.
I will definitely cry when I finally get to watch this movie. I can't wait to watch it, but at the same time I just don't want it to end... it's like the Deathly Hallows release all over again. All I know is, Harry Potter will always have a special place in my life - and the magic will live on, no matter what.
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