Day 347 - Fourth on the Fifteenth

It would've been better if this was the fifth movie that I saw since I got back from NZ so the title would the "Fifth on the Fifteenth", or if maybe I watched this movie yesterday so that it would be "Fourth on the Fourteenth", but what are you going to do? Things happened in this way.

Anyway, this is my movie ticket for Real Steel, which I watched today with my best friend E at my favorite mall in the world, Alabang Town Center. I already pasted it on my planner before I took a photo of it. It's an OK movie, if you're a kid. Predictable of course, but has some funny moments and at least it's better than the Transformers franchise. The stories are different, I'm only comparing because they've both got robots. Or wait, Transformers technically has aliens. Whatever, some sort of mecha.

Day 336 - LOTR Tour

Obviously (from this photo), today we went on the Lord of the Rings tour in Wellington. I've been on it before but the rest of my family hasn't. I think they enjoyed it. :)

Day 297 - Laptop on Loan

Because I am poor, I have to borrow my sister's fiance E's laptop while I'm here. Lucky for me, he's got laptops coming out of his ears, so lending me this one for a few months doesn't interrupt his computer needs. At least, I hope not. Points if you can tell what movie is currently playing (not many points though because it's kind of obvious).

P.S. I think the red wall background is quite good for photo shoots. Maybe.

Day 291 - Private Cinema

Because it was the middle of the day and a Tuesday, the Deluxe Cinema in Lower Hutt looked like this. I watched Thor all by myself, like I had a private cinema. Too bad I still had to pay for it, but my ticket was discounted anyway so it was still really a fun (albeit slightly creepy) experience. :)

Day 247 - White Cheddar Popcorn

I love eating popcorn almost as much as I love watching movies. Lucky they go together!

This is the bag of White Cheddar Popcorn that E bought for me from Taters because we watched Sucker Punch in ATC today. The movie didn't suck as much as I expected it to, but it still wasn't great and I liked it as much as I liked Watchmen, which is to say I didn't. But I liked the soundtrack, and I still enjoyed the experience of watching it because how can I not when I have white cheddar popcorn on my side?

Day 225 - Did you cry during Casablanca?

So there I was studying a book for English learners and one particular picture caught my eye. See the drawing for #3 Did you cry during the movie? The girl is watching Casablanca! There's Rick, Victor Laszlo, Captain Renault and even the airplane in the background. :) I don't think there was actually a scene that looked exactly like this in the movie, and it's too bad Ilsa didn't fit anymore, but that's okay. It's still obviously Casablanca.

It surprised me because the pictures in these books are usually generic and don't make references to pop culture, because you're supposed to focus on the sentences/grammar (I'm assuming), but maybe the artist for this couldn't resist? Or is Casablanca the go-to movie when you want to refer to one in a textbook?

It's so cute. :)

P.S. Apologies for the very poor quality of this photo. I used my cellphone camera, and I don't think it's meant to take pictures like this.

Day 189 - Movies and TV

For 1.11.11 I went to see the movie that everyone says makes Philippine Cinema proud, RPG: Metanoia. (See movie ticket on the right.) It was absolutely amazing. :D Which is why, I have no idea why they didn't show it in ATC. I had to go to SM just to see it, just like when I saw Dayo. What? They don't think the kids that go to ATC will want to see this movie? Tsk tsk. Ayala Malls are so elitist. And maybe so am I for not wanting to see movies in SM Cinemas. No, actually, I think I have a good reason. Because the theaters in SM suck. Seriously. I mean, you pay basically the same price (P160) as you would in Ayala Cinemas, but the seats are old (they don't even have cup holders) and the floors are sticky and they don't have guaranteed seating. I mean, I'm lucky I saw this movie when it's been in the theaters for 3 weeks already so it was only me and maybe 10 other people in the theater, but what about for movies that have just come out? You pay P160 and there's a chance you'll have to stand in the aisle. Does that seem fair to you?

As for the other item in the photo, I'm also now a very proud owner of the book by Richard Castle. It's a promotional material for the TV show Castle, which stars Nathan Fillion, of whom I am now officially a fangirl. I love him and I love Castle and I can't wait to read this book (even if I know Nathan Fillion didn't write it, but I'm a fan of his character, too. And I can't wait to find out how Richard Castle really writes).

Day 150 - 7 Part 1

Is it strange that when I woke up today, the first thing I thought of was that it was finally possible to see the seventh Harry Potter installment -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part One)? The first thing I did today was turn my computer on and check the times it was showing at the mall. I was so eager to see it, I didn't even realize how expensive it was. -_- Lucky I got the Citibank coupons and got a P100 discount. And there's no use crying over spilled milk, so I will just convert the cost to US Dollars because that would mean that I got to watch the movie for only $5. Everything in life is just a matter of perspective anyway.

As for my opinion on the movie, well, just go to my main blog for that. :)

Day 118 - Movie Schedules

I watched The Town today with my family at ATC. My brother wanted to watch it because it was given a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don't agree with them, though. After seeing the movie, I think 95% is too high a score. Sure, it's a bit impressive that Ben Affleck co-wrote the script and directed a fairly entertaining and unique movie, but... at 95%, I would expect a movie to blow me away, like Inception-level*. But it wasn't like that. It was closer to The Departed, (or maybe I'm only thinking that because they're both set in Boston), but I still think The Departed is better, and not just because Leonardo DiCaprio's Boston accent is way more believable than the strange sounding words coming out of Ben Affleck's mouth. Oh well, to each his own, and at least I liked it better than From Paris with Love (I'm only bringing this up because it's also about criminals and cops).

BTW, (haha I almost forgot to say something about the photo!) this is a photo of my dad and my brother, looking at the movie schedule board outside the cinemas. There's a short description of each movie beside its schedule and I guess that's what my dad is reading.

*While writing this, I decided to check out Inception's rating at Rotten Tomatoes and lo and behold, it got only 79%. WHAT IS UP with that site?!

Day 103 - Nothing Says Loser Like...

... being alone in the cinema watching a romantic movie.

OK, I wasn't alone the entire time. Eventually more people went into the cinema, but only about 10 or so. It was Monday night after all, and I was watching Going the Distance on it's 2nd week, so I wasn't expecting it to be a full house. And I only watched it because my P100-off coupon was about to expire. Still, it felt a little weird when I was the only one there. I did at one point ask one of my friends to come with me, but she was busy, so...

Anyway, I still enjoyed the movie, even if I don't like Drew Barrymore. I know she's supposed to be one of America's sweethearts, but I really don't get why she's so "great". But I did get my money's worth when I saw this movie. Of course, I did only pay P60 for it.

Day 96 - Movie Weekend

Actually, I also watched Resident Evil: Afterlife yesterday c/o my fellow September birthday celebrant, L. But for some reason, I lost the tickets to that one, so I could only take a picture of these ones.

I saw this movie today with my parents at ATC. I wasn't really planning on seeing it, but was intrigued after so many posts on Facebook of the line, "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" In fairness, the kid who said that, Agnes, was really cute. And I enjoyed the movie, too, if only for its ridiculousness. It's still not Pixar-level, but the jokes were really funny and I think it was creative that one of the reasons Gru was "despicable" was because his vehicle was totally non-environment-friendly.

As for Resident Evil: Afterlife, I'm not a fan of the franchise, but I have to admit that this one was definitely entertaining. Nevermind that it barely had a story or that the characters were flat, hardly had any dialogue, and that they killed the Asian guy, you watch this movie for the special effects and badass action anyway, and those certainly did not disappoint.

Day 95 - Seafood and Pirates

My half-German cousin and her boyfriend had been craving for lobsters ever since they got here to the Philippines for vacation. But because it's too expensive in most restaurants, on their last night, we went to that place in Manila where you can order the lobsters raw from the market and then just have one of the surrounding restaurants cook it. It's the cheapest place you can get lobster from, in the city at least. It's also one of the places where you can buy pirated DVDs like these. I guess it makes sense that somewhere near the sea, there will be seafood, and pirates.

P.S. Apologies for the quality of the photo. I had to take this covertly with my cellphone.

Day 55 - Mr. Snack Bar

I saw Inception for the second time today. Because it's just the kind of movie that you have to see twice to really understand. Or maybe, enjoy in a different way, like The Sixth Sense.

Anyway, this is one of the guys who walk around in the theater during the trailers to sell snacks and bottled drinks to the people who maybe didn't have time to line up at the snack bar outside. I know, Filipinos are so spoiled, we've come up with a way to make the snack bar come to you, right when you're on your seat and waiting for the movie to start. (Or maybe it's because there's just a lot of people who need the income.)

I took this picture outside the cinema, while waiting for my brother who bought the tickets.

Day 48 - At the Movies

LOVE - This poster/cardboard display actually has 3 sides to show the 3-word title of Julia Roberts' new movie, Eat, Pray, Love.

Thanks to Citibank and its rewards (Php100 off on your movie ticket for every Php1500 purchase using your Citibank credit card), Sunday night has become movie night at ATC for my family. Tonight we saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel. It's pretty OK, for a kid's movie. Although I was really expecting more since it was produced by the same people who brought us Pirates of the Carribean. Oh well. Maybe on their next project.

I took this picture while waiting for my brother and his girlfriend to buy food. I could've walked a bit further to take a picture of the other two sides of the display, but I actually like this side best. :)

Day 5 - The Artsy Friend

DRINKS & MOVIES - E with a sake cocktail mix @ Sumo Sam, Shangri-la Mall

Sometimes, an artsy friend will invite me (or I will invite him/her) to a free screening of a movie with subtitles. This time, it's E and the French Film Fest, which from its poster had me thinking that the theme was romantic movies, but turned out to include some real confusing films with undiscernable plots. Still, I had a fun time exchanging stories and trying out strange food and drinks from Sumo Sam's menu with a friend who shares an interest for non-Hollywood/mainstream movies. I particularly enjoyed her anecdote about watching Sex and the City 2, how she and her friend passed the time before the last full show by drinking alcohol and feeling all groggy by the time the movie started.

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On an unrelated note, I really should start bringing my real camera to take better photos.

Day 2 - SATC Day

One of my bffs, J.

June 2, 2010 - Just another day for guys, but for us girls, it's the day for Sex and the City 2. J and I coordinated our "busy" schedules so we could watch it. We were supposed to see it in Alabang Town Center, and I was supposed to title this entry SATC @ ATC, but practicality made us see it in Market! Market! (this is the name of a mall) instead, which is alright. The cinemas there aren't bad, except for the seats which are a bit too low.

The movie wasn't bad. But it wasn't great either. It didn't really have a story. Critics have called it several bad names, but I think fans like us will still enjoy it, if only for the larger than life costumes and funny quips. :)

Anyway, I took this picture outside Market! Market! while we were waiting for my parents to pick us up. Gosh, that sounds horribly childish, doesn't it? Let me explain: My parents have a badminton game every MWF and they finish quite late, so when it's MWF and I'm out late, it just makes more sense to catch a ride with them rather than to commute home, even if I can. And J's house is near ours so she went with us, too.