Cloverfield - Halfway

For all the hype that it generated since its trailer was first shown on Transformers the Movie, I think Cloverfield was underwhelming. I watched it with Jamie this afternoon and we left halfway through the movie.

I have a few nagging thoughts:

1) The actress who played "Beth" is very pretty.

2) I'm not sure if the hand-held camera filming method is really effective (by my standards and tastes) when used throughout the movie. I wasn't too impressed with both Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project (both of them used the filming method all throughout the movie) but I thought the Bourne Ultimatum is kick-@$$ (with it applying the same filming method only on fight scenes).

3) The marketers for this movie are so good to generate so much hype the past 6 months. Cloverfield's gross total in less than a week, or maybe for just a couple of days, may already surpass its overall budget.

4) Aside from "The Dark Knight", what are the movies that I should look forward to for 2008?

 

My Favorite TV/Cartoon Shows (Late 80s Edition)

Just thought of going Old School and letting the late-80s, early-to-mid-90s kid in me take over in this blog entry.

The idea of blogging about this came to me sometime ago when I realized that I don't watch any TV show anymore. Of course, I've been watching movies in theaters and Youtube videos but I'm counting both of them out. I strictly mean TELEVISION SHOWS. Movies on DVD that I watched are not considered as well. I watch at least one every week.

I tried to recall the TV shows that I loved as a kid - of course, most of them were cartoons. There were so many that I chopped up the list chronologically - from the earliest shows I watched and liked to the more recent ones. I came up with a long list. I'll post the rest of the list in later blog entries.

These were my earliest favorite shows, run sometime from the mid-80s to the early 90s:

1. Ghostbusters - Has the best opening song for a cartoon show. Four paranormal investigators/"ghostbusters" together with Janine (had to look her name up), and Slimer. Oh, don't forget Marshmallow Man.



2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Cowabunga! Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donatello - on their wild adventures with their Master Splinter, April, Casey Jones against Shredder, Krang, Rocksteady, Bebop, and the Foot Soldiers.



3. Transformers - More Than Meets The Eye!! Optimus Prime is an icon!



4. Care Bears - Don't laugh. I liked Tenderheart Bear, I so wanted to have a pet like him.



5. Garfield And Friends - I didn't like it as much as Ghostbusters then but I do miss the Garfield-Odie-Jon trio.




6. Saber Rider - ...And the Star Sheriffs. Another awesome opening song. I liked the guy with the red suit.



7. Dinosaucers - As a kid, I've always been fascinated with dinosaurs. I still am. How could I not love this show then?



8. Thundercats - Somehow, Lion-O's image has been etched somewhere in my memory. Yeah, I liked lions too.

 

Bourne Yesterday

Bourne Ultimatum ranks up there with Transformers as the best movies I've seen so far this year. I watched it yesterday.

I am giving it an A overall - it had superb action scenes, an intriguing plot, and maintained character development and continuity of story (tracing back from the first two films). I also like how Bourne's story in the film was made relevant to the times as it was deviated from the books. Having read the novel Bourne Identity first before watching the Identity film, I was at first disappointed that they didn't follow the book's story. But now, I just realized that the Bourne film series has an excellent story in its own right and at least adheres to the fundamental character struggles of Jason Bourne. By the way, if you haven't read all the three Bourne books (Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum) by the great Robert Ludlum, I suggest you grab and read them now.

Some people didn't like how the camera was handheld in action/fight scenes because the view became dizzying and unstable. However, I am going with the original director's idea that, at least for the Bourne series, it produces the effect that you are caught up in the scene and matches closely the character's (usually Bourne's) point-of-view.

 

Transformers Movie Day (No Spoilers)

Continuing from my previous blog, I just came home from watching Transformers the Movie. I started the day accompanying Jamie as she shopped for some stuff. As a guy, I tried my best in giving my most honest and objective advice as she tried out the dresses (I've never done that before - the giving of advice in which clothes to buy, I mean). Most retail items here in America are really very good buys when they're on sale. At around noon, we picked up Sarah and Abbey from their house and went on to watch the movie.

I'm not going to rate or give my review as that isn't the point of this blog. I only have three things to say:

1) I absolutely liked the movie.

2) Megan Fox is steaming hot!!!

3) Next time, I'll make sure I go to the restroom before watching a movie even if I don't feel the urge to relieve myself. I so wanted to excuse myself in the middle of the movie but chose not do so because I didn't want to miss a single thing. This also happened to me when I watched Pirates 3. But, no matter (see item #1).

Here's the final Transformers trailer:

 

Optimus Prime Toy Robot

Optimus Prime Toy Robot (movie version) - this toy is freaking A.W.E.S.O.M.E. My brother was able to buy one, using the money he received as graduation gift.






































































I remember wishing for an Optimus Prime robot when I was a child. Those were the days...

(By the way, I might watch the movie tomorrow. Yes!!!)