Movies

CAUGHT ON FIRE!

Book 2 of any trilogy is crucial. It’s both the sequel and the penultimate part of the saga. Its main goal is to deepen the story and introduce more secondary characters to widen the world we’ve been crazy about on Book 1. But sometimes, diving on to the back stories and supplying more conflict can either be boring or overwhelming.

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Catching Fire, second installment from The Hunger Games trilogy is neither. It’s just right for my dystopian palate. After reading the book twice, I finally got a chance to see the much-awaited movie today and it was really awesome! The action, the drama and the twists are a notch higher than the first one but not over-the-top. You will cry, shout, chuckle and even get all jittery as Katniss and Peeta sojourns through all the districts for their Victory Tour ending with the re-entrance to the arena for the 75th Hunger Games/ 3rd Quarter Quell.

As an avid fan of the book, I am generally happy with the adaptation. Of course, there are scenes omitted (but for a good reason — preparation for Mockingjay) and the ones retained are closest to the original text in the book! I was even quietly going through some lines myself while in the movie house as they say some familiar lines (ie. Haymitch’s “stay alive” advise to Katniss at the eve of the Games). I am also amazed with how accurate most of the new characters are with the book’s description. I find the actors who played Mags, Johanna, Wiress, Plutarch and Thread perfect for their roles! I am not a big fan of Sam Claflin playing as Finnick. He’s fine in the movie though but I’d like to see somebody else playing his role.

I am at the edge of my seat in the duration of the film. Even during the quietest moments of it, I can feel the tension of what’s going around. There’s so much more to tell and I am happy and satisfied by how much of it was told in the 2 plus hours of the film.

Best movie I have seen this year!

Here’s the trailer:

EPIC’s Word Play!

It’s a Saturday! I’m off from work and I have all day for myself. Resting my eyes from reading Dan Brown’s Inferno, I went to see the animated movie, Epic. It’s a good film. Prolly the best 3D experience I’ve had – just right for me, not overdone.

The central theme of the movie is simple yet striking. Epic wants to convey that no one is alone, that everyone of us is connected. Many leaves, one tree, as how the film puts it. And it kinda uplifted me. But as I thought about it after leaving the movie house, I have realized the other meaning of the statement which was also evident in the movie.

Many leaves… A tree won’t be complete without its green leaves. But then, leaves in this phrase can also be taken as a verb. That brings us to the fact that in our lives, there are people who make our existence worthwhile. But they’ll be gone. Eventually.

One tree… Trees and humans are alike. Both need ground, air, water and sunlight. Both take time to grow.

In the movie, MK was brought in to the world of the little creatures who protects the forest when Queen Tara died. She needs to take care of the pod until it blooms for a new heir to take her place. She went through fighting the Boggans with the Leafmen so the pod will bloom under the moonlight. Obviously, MK made connection with the foreign world especially with Nod. I’d rather not go into full details so you guys would still see it. In the end, the pod sprouted when the moon was its highest peak and a new heir has been chosen. Amidst the triumph, it’s time for MK to go back to her normal size and live her life. They still have communication after but it’s never going to be the same again.

Paralleling it to reality, we all have gone through the same. We meet people who we connect with so perfectly but for whatever reason, they’ll go. Communication would still exist but deep down you’ll feel it’s different. And as time goes, connection will just die a natural death.

It’s so sad and harsh. But this is just my interpretation of what could be the hidden melancholy the movie wants to speak of.

Tongue-in-Cheeks in Between!

Happy birthday, Alyza (@alyzabp)!

So last Saturday, I went out with my college friends for a post-birthday celebration. Headed to MOA and took advantage of the end of quarter sale (bought a Maldita shirt for P300 only!). Esprit-filled, I went around the mall, took a halt at Fully Booked and bought my friend Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, the one I promised to buy her back in college!

Fin’lly, they all came and we had our very late lunch at Racks! What we’re gonna do next is unplanned yet and nobody really made a fuss out of it and so we just let time pass as we enjoy our premium boneless pork cuts. Then, we went to Greenbelt with my kontrabida personality on. Since Call It Spring in Rob Manila and Resorts World have already disappointed me, we visited their GB branch (but no, this is not really the reason, really it’s because @^#%!) 😀 What happened next should not be written because %^#%@! Haha!

Then, we hit the movies to see Abraham Lincoln: The Vampire Hunter. We were occasionally jumping from our seats! We were sitting in the second row and seemed like all their faces were zoomed just like my Twitter DP! Okay, but we didn’t really talk about it afterwards.

It’s a bit forgettable, I must say. It was a good food for the eyes while you’re inside the cinema but it lost its magic the moment you step out.

I shared the cab with Aly going home. It was still an early night so we decided to visit her unit in Raya since I haven’t been there before. We called Da and invited him over for a pizza night but it took hours of looooong talks until we made a deal. So the bottom line? We went back to Makati and stayed in Da’s pad, ordered pizza, talked about the relationship between crunchy cockroaches and reflex, etc.!

What this day proved? I can be very pushy :D, I have a “rare” common sense, LAW OF ATTRACTION and #kep!

Missed these guys so much after long weeks of working! Looking forward to the next hop!:)

Hungry for The Hunger Games

March 22 in Philippine cinemas!:)

Three days from now, I’ll be seeing Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and the rest of The Hunger Games cast in full swing! Excited is an understatement of what I’m feeling! I have read the book twice already. I watch the trailers over and over again. Surely, I’ll be one of those fans who’ll be lining up on the first screening of this amazing story.

SPOILER ALERT!

Here are snippets of the movie from The Hunger Games Movie YouTube channel: