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:

Off from Work

7 working days + 2 weekends = 11 days away from my work. This has been the longest break I’ve had since I graduated from college. I missed slacking. 🙂 I missed being carefree. But it was different this time. My being ‘carefree’ entailed a lot of expenses that surely hurt my income and savings. But hey, it was all worth it.

My checklist of things have changed as I shifted to a new environment. I earn my own money now which means I have control over it. There were a lot of things going in my head when this vacation was approaching. I should go see the American Idol Live! Tour 2012. I did last year so I thought of continuing what I started. But something I don’t know kept holding me back. And I thought it was a bit overpriced. Let’s go to Vigan! No time to plan it. Besides Mama doesn’t like long trips. I swore to myself that the first trip I’m gonna have with my earnings would be with my family.:) Why not try the beaches in Batangas? I was so dying to go to Acuatico! But it was too expensive for me. Plus my sister just got back from her Asian tour. I have to shoulder all the expenses. Every idea of going out of town did not materialize. I don’t wanna shock myself financially plus my body was screaming to just relax and spend more time sleeping.

I did stay in, most of the time. But it did not involve much of snoozing. I spent my days catching up with TV shows, reading books and going out with friends. At the first night of my vacation, I watched a few episodes of True Blood 5. But I was drawn in to finishing the first season of Touch. I was simply in awe with how intelligently this series is written! And I found myself literally in tears in its penultimate episode.

Photo from Seriable

Also, I bought my own original DVD copy of Supernatural 1! My sister and I are so hooked with the storyline the Winchester brothers got themselves tangled into so we decided to start collecting the series (just like with The Vampire Diaries) 🙂

And since it was 11 days dedicated to relaxation, I did start with a new show to watch! It’s a legal drama entitled Suits which follows the story of the best closer in New York, Harvey Specter and the lawyer who didn’t go to law school, Mike Ross.

Photo from IMP Awards

And I’m proud to say that I’m already done watching its 22 episodes! Couch potato-ing at its best!:D Now, I have to wait til January for the continuation of Season 2.

Aside from filling up my mind of different plots, I also had time to hang out with my friends. Given my not-so-normal work schedule, it was a bit hard for me to see them so I grabbed this chance to spend time with ’em. I went out with college/OJT mates and celebrated a pre- and post- birthday at Johnny Rockets in Burgos Circle! Then I went to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower with a co-GIP trainee last Friday. That movie was awesome! It may have strayed a bit from the book but it’s forgivable (for the screening time’s sake). And last, I got to spend late lunch with the longest college friends I have just days before my vacay ends. Nothing beats the company of old people who knows you inside out.

But the core of this vacation was really the time spent with myself and with my family. I found this very exclusive place where I spent most of my afternoons looking at the Makati skyline. It was the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch at the Two E-com Prism Plaza.

Photo from SM Land

CBTL is situated on the right of the fountain if you’re standing from the viewpoint of the picture above. Opposite the view you can see in the coffee shop is the vast waters of the Manila Bay. What completes the experience here is the strong wind that really takes away the stress!

Plans may have not materialized, yet I can say that I enjoyed this vacation. As short as it was, I had enough time for myself, my family and friends. Til next year since I only had this privilege once in twelve months.:)

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: