Reading Challenge Day 2: Books Read More Than 3 Times

For The Reading Challenge Day 2 - a book that you've read more than 3 times, I chose not to limit myself with only one. I have read many good books, and many deserves a second reading, or a third. Sometimes, to simply relax, I would reread my favorite books. So here they are (in no particular order):

• The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series - yep, I read all 5 books more than three times. Rick Riordan always crack me up with Percy's sarcasm and wry humor. (The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian)
• The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins really know where how to place cliffhangers every chapter, that with the goal to read only a portion of her book, you end up reading them entirely again. (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay)
• First 3 books of the Odd Thomas series - Yep, I'm a Dean Koontz fan and I hail Odd Thomas. He is the best fictional character IMO. (Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd)
• Neil Gaiman's Stardust and The Graveyard Book
• Erich Segal's Love Story - yep, a love story yet the first full length novel I read and still enjoy reading.
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney is good and Greg just funny. nuff said. (The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, The Last Straw, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, Cabin Fever)
• Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
• Sylvia Engdahl's Enchantress from the Stars - why this ain't popular is a mystery to me. Great style of story telling with 3 narratives, one fairy tale like, another sci-fi style. A must read, if you see a copy(I don't have one, but I still do my best to find one).

For the Philippine publications:

• Bob Ong's books - (ABNKKBSNPLAKo?!, Bakit Baliktad Magbasa and mga Pilipino, Ang Paboritong Libro ni Judas, Stainless Longganisa, MACARTHUR)
• Trese Series - comics do count, right? Well I have read Budjette Tan's more than 3 times. (Murder on Balete Drive, Unreported Murders, Mass Murders, Last Seen After Midnight, Midnight Tribunal)

If you haven't read them yet, these are recommended. :)

Star Trek Into Darkness and Beyond - Movie Review

Star Trek boldly goes to where the first movie from the reboot didn't, straight to greatness.

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew. (via IMDB.com)

Although I liked many his shows and few of his movies, I was never a fan of JJ Abrams. The first Star Trek was enjoyable but very restrained, perhaps with the notion that if the said reboot failed, it will unleash the wrath of thousands of fans. But he does perform here with the sequel, taking bold risks. Fair enough, these risks off.

The rapport between the actors and actresses displays on the screen. It shows how much they love working with the others and they approve of the good material. The lines are delivered well and always on cue, making them funny and emotional at the right moment while being genuinely realistic.

The writing is smart yet takes note of those that are new to the franchise, while making references to those who had been fans for decades. A nod to Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. Yes, there are many plot holes, but who cares about them if the movie is this fun!

The cinematography is UHHmazing. The way Abrams and Dan Mindel (DOP) spins the camera to give us the frantic feeling when The Enterprise simply floats stranded in space or when its tragically falling from the sky.

There are many movies that try to cash in more money by releasing in 3D and many are disappointments. Infact, I almost always discourage people from seeing movies with the added dimension. But Star Trek Into Darkness, I strongly suggest that you see it in digital 3D. If IMAX is available see it in that format. You may shed some extra cash, but trust me, it's all worth it. **** 1/2 out of 5.

Reading Challenge Day 1: Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip

As Day 1 of the infamous 30-Day Reading Challenge, I have chosen Carl Hiaasen's Skinny Dip as the "Best Book You Read This Year."

I had been very busy for a couple of months and reading had few opportunities to take my attention, but I could never abandon my love for books. So if I had time to spare, I would grab a book and read away. Unfortunately, I had little thus I had read few books for the past five months (too few in my opinion). And the best among them is Skinny Dip.

Marine Biologist Chaz Perrone forgot that his wife, Joey, was a star swimming athlete when he threw her off a cruise liner. Now the estranged wife seeks revenge, with the help of an ex-cop Mick Stranahan. But in Chaz's world, separating lies from truth and stupidity from brilliance wouldn't be easy, and it doesn't help that Chaz is just plain terrible at being caught.

The plot is formulaic but Hiaasen's words are so smooth that the humor simply breezes through you like fresh air. You will have plenty of laughs from this revenge novel. But if you were to dig deeper, Hiaasen is simply mocking us by going through subjects of ambition, greed, disappointments and vanity. And through beautiful and sharp writing, he lectures while being at his funniest and most entertaining.

The 30-day Challenge I Shall Accomplish!

At the very least I'll try to. (Hey, this ain't a false promise.)

After reading from one of my former student's blog about this 30-Day reading challenge and since I have genuine love for books, I decided that I would like to try this. This'll get my mind off the exhausting task of grading students and give me motivation to continue blogging (which I abandoned four months ago unless you count posts sharing notes and reference. Which may be counted, right? No? Oh okay.)

So here it is! Drum roll please.

And since I am to take this challenge too seriously, I will have my first post coming right up in five. Four. Three. Two. (It's cooler to have countdowns, right? No again? Gotcha.)

Les Misérables: Big Momma of Musical Movies - Love IT or Hate IT

And I hated it.

I always liked watching musical movies, from the abstract representation of events, to the artistic way of storytelling and scripting. Chicago has been one of my favorite movies and Hairspray(remake) is my guilty pleasure movie of all time. However, to be bombarded by a lot of colorful characters, each with their individual story-line that aren't really connected with each other, each with their emotional climax, I found Les Misérables very very very exhausting to watch.

The film tells the story of Jean Valjean(Hugh Jackman), an ex-convict who becomes mayor of a town in France. Soon exposed, Valjean agrees to take care of Cosette(Amanda Seyfried), the illegitimate daughter of a dying Fantine(Anne Hathaway), but as a fugitive must also avoid being captured again by police inspector Javert(Russell Crowe). The plot spans 17 years and is set against a backdrop of political turmoil, which in the film culminates in the June Rebellion of France. (Synopsis from Wikipedia.org)

Based on the musical of the same name, Les Misérables tells the story in 158 minutes of singing and dancing, each line with so much emotional investment from the actors playing their respective roles. The movie would surely fail if not for the acting. Jackman carries the entire movie and plays with conviction while Hathaway surely deserves whatever awards she'll get for the next few months. Redmayne and Barks and the rest of the cast give their minor characters their glory. Of all, in my personal opinion, the weakest would be Crowe as he struggles in comparison with the rest.

The cinematography is a little bit unfocused however, the close ups to the actors during their emotional performances is commendable. The direction seems unguided and looks to me that actors do alot of improvisation(which is good, if not too much). A shame, Tom Hooper(The King's Speech) used to be one of my favorite directors.

The musical numbers are stunning, especially if it goes full blast. While some musical monologue works(Fantine's, Marius' and Eponine's), many just fails(worst is Javert's). The wordings and lyrics are good(maybe thanks to the original musical). However they are scattered throughout a multitude of characters, each about different things, something that may work in a stage play but not in the movies, making the movie feel unfocused and disjointed.

Indeed, Les Mis is a superior musical movie. Many may sing high praises to it. I am just not among them. **1/2 out of four.

The Dark Knight Rises... Rises... Rises More, then Clunks Downward Spiral - A Movie Review

The end of Christopher Nolan's fantastic trilogy starts promising, gives a kick-ass plot and introduces interesting new characters(at the expense of Batman) yet it climaxes in the most conventional manner of summer blockbusters.

Eight years later, Bruce Wayne has retired as Batman (Christian Bale) and with the assistance of Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman). However, with the arrival of the mysterious burglar, Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), and the beautiful entrepreneur, Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), also comes the brewing danger of a masked killer Bane (Tom Hardy) and his Gotham of its true nature.

The premise of the movie deserves it's moment even though critically acclaimed The Dark Knight was a very hard movie to follow. However, it fall short of its predecessor. One of the reasons of the success of TDK was because of its central villain, a performance worthy of attention and praise, which is lacking in Rises.

Bale's performance is as stunning as his companions reprising their roles(Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine). However, the surprise performance of the movie would be Hathaway's as she brings interest and freshness to the role as Catwoman.

The cinematography, along with the visual effects, conveys perfectly the profound message that Nolan and the other writers(Jonathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer[story]). However, it is clear that they had trouble finding a bombastic end to the franchise without loosing the quality and the grittiness. The end result was clunky, unrealistic and predictable, as all summer blockbusters usually do. Unlike in the case of The Avengers, this was unwelcome for The Dark Knight trilogy.

Howevr, even with the obvious flaws of the movie, I am happy to inform you that one can have a great time with this in the big screen. Three stars out of Five

A Love Story in The Amazing Spider-Man: Movie Review

I tweeted last friday my review of the movie in 140 characters: The Amazing Spider-Man: a romantic comedy with added action to justify its 3D format. Yet amazingly, it works!

Peter Parker (Garfield) is an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. (via IMDB.com)

This is a reboot of a franchise that was pretty much the reason why superhero movies dominate the cinema nowadays. And since it was done just 5 years since the last movie of the original trilogy, one would not see a need for this movie so soon. That being said, many things would be compared among the two movies. The latter has the same plot lines that feels like a rehash of the former, that the first hour of the movie becomes draggy and uninteresting. However, as the "original" part of the movie starts, the movie begins to glow as its own, and the scenery and the cinematography becomes fresh and new.

The stellar performances of Garfield and Stone helps breathe life into the new take of the characters. Both display with ease the angst and anxieties, the unpredictability and the potential, and the love that only teenagers are capable to give. Their chemistry together is undeniable in the screen. In fact, most of the movie were focused on the two that one would think that the director and writers were making a romantic comedy rather than a superhero movie. And that works for our friendly neighbor!

However, with the focus on the main characters is to the expense of the villain. The lizard is a great comic book villain, however, in this movie, although still menacing and threatening, is unmotivated. He lacks reason why he exists rather that for spidey to have a villain.

I'm sure, though, that everyone would agree that the best aspect of the movie was its score! Credit goes to James Horner. IT. WAS. PERFECT. FOR. THE. MOVIE. PERIOD.

Though with many plot holes and some portions feel like a repeat, with the new take on the characters, the stellar performances of the lead, and a breathing cinematography, The Amazing Spider-Man deserves your presence in the cinema.in 3D!