War Horse

Directed by Steven Spielberg

How far will you go to fulfill a promise?

Saw this movie with Papa last weekend, running at about two hours. With the advancement of "borrowing" movies these days, it's easy to go on a movie marathon on weekends with the family without having to spend on pirated DVDs which have bad screen resolutions. I don't like watching movies and having to shell out good money and force myself to finish watching a movie that's just cam ripped. I can stall myself to wait for clear copies that are available to be ripped right from a website I've been patronizing. And I don't like going to the movies with my friends who always show up late, then we miss the first part of the story. By the time we find our seats, we're harassing each other :"Bakit ganun? Bakit galit sya dun? Ano'ng nangyari? Ano daw?" And a ticket costs almost a hundred bucks, (only in Zamboanga?) and the whole packaging comes with it. If you're lucky you get to avoid cinemas with poor air conditioning, bad odor, toilets with vandalism of crazy people with cellphone numbers since 1997 and stale popcorn. Papa is a better companion when it comes to movies. He talks after the credits roll in. =) 

So here, it's the dawn of the First World War and Devon, England is a wide sprawling town of greenery and agriculture. Albert admires a thoroughbred foal from a distance, and is overjoyed when his father comes home from an auction with it. Albert names the foal Joey and devotes his days to taming and training the foal, and teaching him how to plow a field, in order to raise money for the land's rent that is due. 

Together, man and beast go through ups and downs as they wrestle with odds and ends just by toiling in a farm. But when the nation enters into war, the two are separated and Albert promises to bring back Joey to his home. 

It takes years, and the Joey develops a relationship with different kinds of people during the war. It is a story of fulfilling promises and striving to be independent in times of uncertainties and challenges. 

It's an inspiring story about perseverance, hope and peace. 

What are your must-see movies for 2012? Share your rants and raves! =) 

Best Movie Posters of 2011

Quite busy right now, but there's something I want to share with the rest of you art-loving people. Here is a list of the best movie posters of last year, and I'm dumping them here. I am swamped with writing tasks, being the conclusion of the SOCA here, and upcoming productions lined up until kingdom come.

I'm longing for a vacation, but the Vigan trip with L won't be until June, and I still have to save a huge portion, so I'm depriving myself from further purchases because I have to prove myself as frugal. Yay.

Cat Run: The poster is an example of creative graphic work. (I didn't go for the movie) 

The pink font is sexy and perky set against a dark-themed background. It's simple. And the movie has Ryan Gosling in it! 

Nice layers of shadows for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If I were teaching a Science class about the umbra and penumbra, I will be bringing this movie poster as a visual aid. 

Apart from good reviews, the blacks in this poster makes Lisbeth Salander's face blend well in the background. Simple font, three themed font colors, dragon doesn't overdo the whole negative space. 

  

An adult version of an Agatha Christie movie, if there was one, this is the Swedish version of the movie which came out a few years ago. Still convincing. 

Daring take for whoever designed this vintage-y poster of Hobo with a Shotgun. Was this how movie posters were designed back then? Collage-like appeal did good to the eyes.

Gosling-Clooney: This is outstanding. Need I say more?

Again, shadows. Effective typography with the font and negative space is well utilized. 

For some movie posters, "posters say it all about the movie". This fits well. Simple yet effective. 

In this case, the lower portion of the grid makes good attention-grabbing. The upper portion of the grid is well utilized with a good logo-ish title. 

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Shadows, Again

Pooh and the Gang. Just a date, nothing more. 

So there, the best. I didn't bother putting up the worst. 

Hi ho, hi ho. And off to write I go....

How My Love for Books Started

This is a guest post from a friend of mine who also shares the same love as I do: books. Here she talks about books and how the love affair blossomed.

How my love for books started

By Agnetha de Castro

I still remember the day when I started to read books. It was the fault of one Sweet Valley Kids volume that I borrowed from a classmate. I don’t know what compelled me to read that. Maybe it has something to do with the colorful cover or the way my classmate’s face shone with happiness over the written words in those pages. But I am glad that my interest for reading was triggered that day and before I knew it, I consumed the book in almost one sitting and borrowed some more from her.

When I finished reading her books, I became an active member of our library and read all their Sweet Valley collections. When there was nothing more for me to read on Sweet Valley, I explored other books like the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and even Mills and Boon series.

That was one of the clearest memories I’ve had of reading. And from that day onwards, I started to read as many books as I could possibly get my hands on.

I never knew such joy and happiness as what I have found between the pages of the books I’ve borrowed and bought. It can never be replaced by momentary bursts of glee over a new gadget or some such thing. It is ever constant and irreplaceable. Such is my love for reading books. And it is a certainty that I would have books above any other material thing.

Even if I would grow old, wrinkled and with very bad eyesight, I would never break the habit of reading books.

Such is my love and passion for it.

About me:

Guest writer for Maimai’s blog. Anime addict. Movie junkie. Faithful follower and reader of many, many books. 

Got a memorable book to share? Leave a comment below!

Paulo Coelho's Thoughts on the SOPA

Coelho expresses his thoughts on the SOPA in his blog

Who else is against SOPA?

Paulo Coelho, that's who.

Here I am, ready to head home, with a good deal of commuting, when I stumbled upon this blog. It belongs to no other that The Alchemist's author himself, Paulo Coelho. And here, he shares his thoughts on the SOPA.

Visit his blog, and you will be surprised to see that he welcomes those who pirate his works.

Click here: Welcome to Pirate My Books

Kung Hei Fa Tsai

So after distributing tikoy to my non-Chinese colleagues, I had to give out a sigh and wondered what I was doing in the studio so early this Monday morning. Because it's Chinese New Year today, every body else is on holiday, (thanks to a President with Chinese roots, we now observe 3 New Years) except for our firm. Being in the media profession has its ups and downs. But there are definitely opportunities which cannot be found elsewhere.

So I'm away from my family this morning, for the second Chinese New Year in a row (last year I was out of town on assignment) and facing the computer. But 2012 promises a good year for those born in the Year of the Dragon, in all aspects (mine being 1988). But the Water Dragon has started its work already, with the city most of the time being drenched in rain. However, I'm grateful that it's not always hot here. I've learned to appreciate the rain as a heavenly blessing.

I've got tons to do so maybe I will continue blogging after I complete the script which is needed tomorrow for the morning taping. (So help me, Lord.)

One more thing, I'm halfway with my book, The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint and I might finish it this week. To everybody, Happy New Year.

Kung Hei Fa Tsai!