Friday, June 29, 2007

Movie: Transformers

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketStudios:DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures
Release:July 3, 2007
Genre:
MPAA Rating:PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language


I loved the Transformers cartoon series when I was a kid. After a few seasons though, the storyline has taken so many turns and the characters have become so unrecognizeable that I have lost interest altogether. I am happy, however, that this movie is more akin to the first season despite the differences from the cartoon.

Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, and he starts out like his Even Stevens character ... a real fast mouth. Megan Fox plays Mikaela Banes, the school jock's girlfriend that Sam has a crush on. She laughed with everybody else when her boyfriend was making fun of Sam, it's a real wonder she even started talking to him.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPhoto Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketIt doesn't take long before Bumblebee is introduced. After the initial disappointment that he transforms into a Camaro instead of the VW Beetle in the cartoon series, I have no problem falling in love with this character. The scenes where Sam thought someone was stealing his car, then finds himself being chased by his alien car were hilarious. No one could blame the other characters for thinking Sam was stoned. Having damaged his voice box, Bumblebee had to make do with patching together phrases from songs on the radio. I have this movie to blame if I keep humming "Baby come back!" for a month. The songs are so corny it's cool. Given the antics that Bumblee play here, I guess it's a good thing that he takes the shape of a Camaro... otherwise, I'd be thinking about how much he is similar to another animated car: Herbie, a VW beetle that recently starred in a Disney movie.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketThe arrival of Optimus Prime was awesome. Many of the robots here have little similarities to their cartoon counterparts. The makers however made Prime as close to the cartoon Prime as possible. That's how much this autobot gets respect. This robot is so awe-inspiring that he remains respectable despite the funny situations he finds himself in (hiding in the Witwickies' garden) or saying funny things like he learned English from the world wide web. Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketAt the other end of the spectrum, Megatron does not look anything at all like its cartoon incarnation. To emphasize that his group, the decepticons, are the opposite of the autobots, they have total disregard for humans to the point of flicking them away like disgusting insects. A number of the decepticons are already land based vehicles though, compared to the cartoon's season one where decepticons were planes (to contrast with the autobots being cars).


If the comedic situations here cater to children, the action on the other hand earns its PG-13 rating. The opening, which was set in a US base in Qatar, already had merciless action. The climax is awash with explosions, racing, and demolished transformers littering the streets, and soldiers running around the city.

The ending allows for a second Transformers movie, what with Starscream escaping, Scorponok burrowing under the sand in Qatar, and Optimus Prime beaming out a signal to his "brothers" at the end of the movie to inform them where he is. I find it funny that Mikaela is kissing Sam while they are lying on the hood of Bumblebee. Seriously, wouldn't you find it awkward to be kissing your girlfriend on top of a sentient car with three other autobots standing nearby? It's like having a threesome with Mikaela and Bumblebee while Ratchet, Ironhide and Optimus Prime look on.

Things of note: aside from the Official Transformers site and its offspring Cybertron site, Transformers has a MySpace account, and you can visit a facility in Second Life called Sector Seven.

GM has its own Autobots Rollout site that features the autobots that transform into GM vehicles (Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz, and Ratchet).

If you have watched the movie, you already know how much a pain in the Autobots' ass Sector Seven is. If you're a big fan of Transformers, you may already have visited the sites that revolve around the Sector Seven angle. If not, read on.

There is an official Sector Seven site, and the active passwords are deceptibot, codeblack, gravesen, and byebyepowers (takara83, thefirst7, nbetwo and fwiffo are now deactivated). Each password will bring you to different sites with the idea that each password brings you to the desktop of a different Sector Seven agent. Some links have the same content, others have more content. The movie presents Sector Seven as a secret government agency, and you will find that data on this site is not straightforward ... often employing codewords and not so obvious links to movie clips and other stuff.

To complete the illusion, there is a Stop Sector Seven site (which also has its own MySpace site). This site is supposedly set up by people who believe that Sector Seven and its activities must be exposed. The members include Sector Seven agents who have defected - these agents supposedly owned the now deactivated passwords to Sector Seven's site.

A fan has created a mirror site to Sector Seven, and made it to look like Agent X's desktop. The password is Megaman. It collects the various info available on sectorseven.org and calls them intercepted data. Being a fansite, it is not always easy to access perhaps due to bandwidth problems.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Criminal Minds: KIRSTEN'S BLOG

Kirsten Vangsness plays Penelope Garcia on the TV series Criminal Minds. Since Garcia's the computer geek in this show about the FBI-BAU, CBS has decided to give her a page on the website.

Kirsten's blog started February 2007, and shows some insights on the personalities of the actors playing the main characters.

Kirsten was a comedic actress who had appeared in numerous theater productions previous to her stint in Criminal Minds. She returns to theater when on break from the TV Series. As you can see in this photo, she is right when she says on her blog that she has taken better pictures.

:-)

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Matthew Gray Gubler: The Unauthorized Documentary

Matthew Gray Gubler, who plays Dr. Spencer Reid in the show "Criminal Minds", had a lot of time doing nothing in between takes that he and friends were able to make these clips and uploaded them to YouTube.

It's fun to watch:

Here's a link to the first video of the series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2Ll4LAoeZE

If you want more, then look up the username andyswan.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Movie: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Studio:20th Century Fox
Release:June 15, 2007
Genre:Action/Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Sequel
MPAA Rating:PG for sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo.

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:
Overall Grade:B
Story:B-
ActingB
Direction:B
Visuals:A-

It was the Silver Surfer that made me want to watch this film. He is one cool, menacing threat to the Fantastic Four's version of reality.

Unfortunately, I think the build up of action in this movie ended in a somewhat anti-climactic face-off.

Apparently, there is an interesting reason as to why the Silver Surfer IS, which, given that most of the movie is devoid of a serious story, leaves the audience wanting for more revelations than what was furnished.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Zelle Music Video: Sabihin

Ian Lauron sent me a link to YouTube promoting a band called Zelle which he says is going to be launched soon.



It is a music video of the band's song "Sabihin", which in turn is from the album "Search for Warmth"

Monday, June 11, 2007

Movie: Meet the Robinsons

Meet the Robinsons
Studio:Walt Disney Pictures
Release:March 30, 2007
Genre:Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Animation and Adaptation
MPAA Rating:G

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:
Overall Grade:B
Story:B+
ActingB
Direction:B
Visuals:B

The trailer was all about a kid who ends up in the future...and the animation.

To be honest ... the futuristic world created here wasn't that great.

The nice surprise was actually the story. It was reminiscent of Dickens and even "It's A Wonderful Life". In a nutshell, it was all about how one's actions, no matter how small, could have a big impact in the future.

I would bet that for a lot of kids, the big lesson comes at the end of the movie when one realizes who Wilbur Robinson's dad is, and eventually, the identity of his arch-enemy and the root of all his hate.

Movie: Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's Thirteen
Studio:Warner Bros. Pictures
Release:June 8, 2007
Genre:Action/Adventure, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Sequel
MPAA Rating:PG-13 for brief sensuality.

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:
Overall Grade:B-
Story:B-
ActingB
Direction:B-
Visuals:B


This movie had no pretentions at greatness. At the onset, everyone knew this is a fun flick, that when it comes to living up to expectations, it gets an "A".

There's actually a bit more comedy here with the addition of the hotel inspector in the cast.

As usual, some scenes are pretty much useless, but everybody in the gang has to have some kind of role in the heist.

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