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Jul 28
After watching “The Dark Knight” last week, it was the score that definitely set the mood and tone for the movie perfectly. Not surprisingly, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard were the orchestrators of each masterpiece in the OST. Both of them realized that creating a heroic theme that a viewer could hum would ignore the complexity and darkness of the characters. So that theme is only audible early on in the film, and it created what Zimmer described as a “red herring”, a kind of musical foreshadowing. “The Dark Knight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” was officially released 13 days ago.
Honestly, a few of the tracks were a bit redundant, probably because they are all pretty lengthy to begin with. It was an OK soundtrack for me, nothing superb like what Zimmer and Howard could really do. But for the movie, it was perfect. The OST probably could have had shorter tracks for the audience to have had a better listening experience. In any case, above is the official artwork for the special edition OST, and according to sources, the score will come in 4 different versions. The first is a 1-disc standard CD; the second is a 2 LP set of 180 gram vinyl; the third would be a special edition digi-pack; and the fourth would be the Collector’s Edition. The track names all come from lines in the movie. Click below for the download link. Enjoy!
Tracks:
1. Why So Serious – 9:14
2. I’m not a Hero – 6:35
3. Harvey Two-Face – 6:16
4. Aggressive Expansion – 4:36
5. Always a Catch – 1:40
6. Blood on my Hands – 2:16
7. A Little Push – 2:43
8. Like a Dog Chasing Cars – 5:03
9. I am the Batman – 2:00
10. And I Thought my Jokes were Bad – 2:29
11. Agent of Chaos – 6:55
12. Introduce a Little Anarchy – 3:42
13. Watch the World Burn – 3:48
14. A Dark Knight – 16:15
Artist: Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard
Title: The Dark Knight (OST)
Time: 01:13:32
Size: 106.12MB
Website: Hans Zimmer
Torrent: Rapidshare
Jul 20
 I haven’t lined up to watch a movie in ages. Two days after the premiere of The Dark Knight, the lines were filled up in Rockwell yesterday. I was thinking, this is going to be another one of those ultra-hyped superhero movies that’s going to end up as a huge flop. So I went in the theater with nothing but very high expectations of how it would turn out. I don’t recall ever seeing reviews and ratings for a movie so high from sources like IMDB and especially Rotten Tomatoes, but this one had all the critics bowing down in awe.
Usually, around 90% of the time, when I go into a movie expecting it to be unbelievably excellent, it proves to be a complete failure. The Dark Knight, not only proved me wrong on that count, but also turned out to be hands-down the best movie of 2008 (no movie shown this year is even close), and it might just be one of the best movies EVER made. You don’t have to take my word for it, if you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favor and line up, because it is definitely going to be worth every penny, and more. I’ll try to make this review as spoiler free as possible for those who haven’t watched it yet.
First off, this isn’t a superhero movie. Second, this isn’t even Batman’s movie. It can be summed up in the words of one of the critics when she said “the Joker should be charged with the film’s biggest crime: stealing the show.” And that indeed says it all. Sure, this firm was a Batman film, but it was a film about the Joker, and even Harvey Dent, for that matter. Batman played a supporting role in this film, honestly, amidst the new suit and toys, it was all overshadowed by how rich the Joker and Harvey Dent’s characters were put to life. And that’s props to how great the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were in their respective roles.
The movie starts off with a rather peculiar bank heist, and now that I look back at it I understand the point of starting it that way. The mood and the storyline was riveting, and you wouldn’t realize that you have sat past 2 hours and 42 minutes because it kept you glued to your seat. The anarchy and chaos the Joker created is unmatched by any Batman movie ever made. And he was scary, man, whenever he came on screen you couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do next. The morality angle was portrayed so well, and the kind of corruption the Joker was able to inflict on Gotham (in its entirety) was nothing short of poetic. The twists and turns seemed endless too, and you would catch yourself thinking that was all there is to it, but there was actually still so much more.
The character of Harvey Dent as the “White Knight” of Gotham was awe-inspiring, and also very disheartening, because it proved that in the end, the Joker still won. Dent’s role was played to a tee and also to utter perfection. You would catch yourself cheering for the character as you wanted him to truly succeed in what he was trying to do, and still kept cheering on when you saw Dent’s character inexplicably transforming. That’s what makes this movie eerily great. You are totally engulfed by it and would applaud the characters that played their roles to perfection. I had so many instances in the movie when I kept saying to myself “Damn, that was good.” And this is definitely a movie for the ages, and for those who love seeing good versus evil, with an ending that is up in the air until the final cut of the film.
Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker was unbelievable. No words can do it justice. And the fact that he is gone makes it such a shame, because it would be perfect to see him hold up that Oscar when he receives it. Yes, he will get it, there is no question. I thought that they were nominating him to win because of the sad fact that he passed away, and it would be like a nice goodbye parting gift, but he truly does deserve it. I am sad that such a talent has passed away. No one is going to be able to play the Joker as perfectly as Heath Ledger has, EVER.
Here’s a little trivia from IMDB to add more accolades to Heath’s role in the movie. To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character’s psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker’s thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore’s comic “Batman: The Killing Joke” and “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” to read. Ledger also took inspiration from A Clockwork Orange (1971)’s Alex and Sid Vicious. Wow.
What else is there to say without spoiling the movie any more than I already have. It’s hands-down the best movie of 2008, it’s going to be up there on the all-time best EVER movies list, and it’s Heath Ledger’s final masterpiece on film. Christian Bale’s Batman can come back with a bang in the third installment, but Ledger and Eckhart, OWN this one.
Personal Rating (out of 10): 9.4/10
IMDb User Rating (out of 10): 9.6/10
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
Genre: Action
Duration: 152 minutes
Posters: Batman: The Dark Knight Poster, The Joker Poster, Harvey Dent Poster (500×800), The Dark Knight Poster (620×889), Batman: Facing Gotham, The Joker: Why So Serious (452×629)
Links: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes
Jul 18
You are about to have an extraordinary experience. You are about to have a conversation with God.
 The Complete Conversations with God, an uncommon dialogue, is probably the one book that has radically changed my perspective in life. That’s a pretty heavy statement, considering there aren’t really many books that would do that to someone, but this one definitely did. I got my first taste of this book around ’97 when a friend of mine had recommended that I read it. It changed my life. And I’ve been trying to do the same thing for others ever since.
Considering I came from a Catholic background, it surprised me that the book actually made more sense to me than anything I had ever read and learned back in grade school up until college. It was both an eye-opener and a life-changer, as it challenged many of the things I learned to be truth ever since I was a kid. It is made for everyone who is seeking inspiration, as it gives you a new perspective, or dare I say a new lease, in life.
For those who have never heard of CWG, the story of the trilogy goes this way. Neale Donald Waslch, the author, is a very frustrated guy with everything in his life going South. He starts writing all the questions he has on his mind, that has plagued his life for years, on a yellow piece of paper. As he scribbled out his last bitter questions, his hand remained poised over the paper, as if held by some invisible force. Abruptly, the pen began moving on its own, and thus began his conversation with God.
The picture you see above is actually the Gift Edition that contains the entire text of the trilogy. Conversations with God is made up of 3 books, each talking about particular topics. Book 1 revolves around the personal aspects of a person’s life and focuses on an individual’s life challenges and opportunities. Book 2 speaks about global topics of geo-political and meta-physical life on the planet and the challenges that face the world. And Book 3 talks about universal truths of the highest order and the challenges of the soul. To give a fair example, as to how the “conversations” actually go, please follow the link below.
Read More…
Jul 15
If you asked anyone what the fastest racquet sport in the world was, chances are they would guess either squash, tennis, or even table tennis. And they would all be wrong. Only a few people would come out and say badminton, and those would be the people who are right. Just to give an example, the shuttle can travel up to 200 mph, so players in this sport need to have unbelievably fast reflexes to be really good at it.
The sport is currently dominated by China, but a few years ago Indonesia was the team no one could beat. The most popular player today is undeniably Lin Dan of China and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, but my all-time favorite player has always been Peter Gade of Denmark. Gade was a totally different breed of player, and he could pull off the most unbelievable shots in a game. The video of probably the best badminton trickshot I have ever seen can be downloaded HERE. The screenshot of the video can be seen above, though it’s rather small because it won’t fit my page if I made it any bigger.
If you have never heard of this video, much less seen it, it’s a definite MUST for all badminton fanatics. You can keep trying to do what Peter Gade did, but you’ll never be able to pull it off! God knows I’ve been trying this for the longest time and I still can’t do it. Hmpf!
Jul 14
 There’s nothing like another superhero flick, right? Well… I didn’t expect much from this movie honestly, but when it ended, I couldn’t help but nod my head at how good it actually was. IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and a bunch of other critics gave Will Smith a horribly low score on this one. But how can all three be so wrong?! Unless I’m the one with really bad taste in movies, all I can say is that this one was definitely worth watching.
Hancock is a story about a “superhero” who could care less about being one. The movie starts off with Hancock (Will Smith) dead drunk on a bench with a kid trying to wake him up to help end a police chase. What follows is Hancock’s spree of reckless pursuance of crime and a complete disregard for public property. He destroys the entire block in the midst of apprehending the criminals that he is chasing. Everyone hates him, and says that they would be better off without him. One day he saves the life of Ray (Jason Bateman) from a train that was headed straight at his car. Ray is a PR executive, in lieu of Hancock saving his life, tries to help Hancock fix his image so he can be loved by the people. Ray brings him home to meet his wife and son as thanks, but his wife Mary (Charlize Theron) believes that Hancock cannot be fixed.
If I say anything else after that, then the twists in the movie would be given up, and it would spoil the movie for all the people who haven’t watched it, so I won’t. I went into this movie not expecting a lot, and knowing that there was a twist to it because my sister told me that it did the night before I watched it. So I went in to the theater trying to figure out as early as possible what it was. The only thing I can say is that there are actually 2 twists, with the second being the best one. The greatest thing about the first twist is that it was so unexpected. I thought I knew what it was from the get-go, but I was wrong! The second one, I totally didn’t expect, and it was that twist that made the movie a really good one.
If you haven’t watched this movie, I can guarantee you wouldn’t figure out what the twist is. The movie was very well-done, and any movie that surprises you the way this did, is definitely worth more than what IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes scored it at. There have been a ton of movies over the decades, and practically all the original ideas have already been shown and all the possible twists to similar stories practically done. Hancock is a fresh new idea, of a superhero who has powers but isn’t really one to begin with because of how he is. His journey towards knowing his true nature was very nicely done, and was actually shocking, yet inspiringly sad in the end.
I would strongly suggest you go watch this movie just to see if you could figure out what the twist actually is. As I said, you would never figure it out, and when it gets to the secret being revealed, you would truly feel for Hancock’s character. At least they ended it on a happy note so you won’t leave feeling depressed. But props to the 3 main characters (Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman), as they have successfully made this movie truly worth watching. Will Smith definitely solidifies his status as one of Hollywood’s best actors. I hope this movie does very well everywhere and proves all those critics wrong.
Personal Rating (out of 10): 8.4/10
IMDb User Rating (out of 10): 6.9/10
Starring: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman
Genre: Action
Duration: 92 minutes
Links: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes
Jul 12
There is nothing more entertaining than seeing a fight break out on a basketball court on National TV, especially if it ends up becoming a laugher afterwards. That is exactly what happened when Purefoods faced Talk ‘N Text last July 9 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. Below you can find the picture recap as well as an animated GIF of the incident (thanks to insane_blue7 for this).
After repeatedly banging each other in the post (hehe), a heated scuffle ensued between Terrence Leather of TNT and Jondan Salvador of Purefoods. (1) Leather was fuming mad and couldn’t help himself as he threw the ball at Salvador’s face. (2) While all this was happening, PBA superstar (or should I say supercoward) James Yap, slowly crept up from behind Leather and kicked him! (3) When Leather turned around and started to get ready to beat the living daylights out of Yap, (4) he ran his tail off straight to his bench. A melee had began as players from Purefoods started to rush to Yap’s aid before Leather could get his hands on him. You could even see Enrico Villanueva try to get to Leather until Ali Peek tackled him back (ouch that must have broken a few of Rico’s ribs).
Both players were fined, rather lightly too, and this will go down as one of the funniest fights to ever happen in a basketball game. Both players apologized for their actions, with Yap saying that he shouldn’t have done what he did as he is being looked at as a role model by many kids in the country. And that he only kicked Leather because of an overwhelming surge of emotion after Leather threw the ball at his teammate. Good excuse for kicking a guy from behind.
Well, it’s strike 3 for him now, after that huge scandal he had at Belo, then getting suspended because he hit Joseph Yeo in the face last February in the Finals, and now this. Kris Aquino (the nerve), was still defending her husband to the end, when what he did was clearly intentional. I also read somewhere, that they are calling this “The Assassination of TERRENCE LEATHER by the Coward JAMES YAP,” which is a very clever adoption of that Jesse James movie, and rather apt for this incident. Definitely looking for more James Yap moments! He’s on a hot streak!
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