Film | The Dark Knight

As a movie franchise, Batman has seen its ups and downs, from the good (Batman Returns) to downright terrible (Batman and Robin). It's no wonder that Warner Bros decided to reboot everything in 2005 with Batman Begins, which featured a darker, grittier Batman, and less of the circus atmosphere that pervaded the previous films.

Now comes the sequel, titled The Dark Knight, which I think is perhaps the best Batman film of them all. In fact, it doesn't even feel like a Batman movie--it's like watching a fast-paced mystery thriller.

The plot centers on Gotham City mired in crime and corruption, due to organized crime syndicates led by a psychotic, freakish-looking villain called The Joker. So it's up to Batman, the newly-promoted Commissioner Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent to try and restore the city to any semblance of normalcy, but as always in films like these, things get complicated.

This new movie sees Batman firmly in place and acknowledged as the city's resident vigilante, with Bruce Wayne living in some posh high-rise instead of Wayne Manor (which was destroyed in the first film). The "Batcave" is now some kind of humongous underground bunker with awesome indoor lighting, filled with hydraulic-operated lifts and assorted gadgets--there's even an incinerator tucked away in a wall somewhere.

They probably hired the same interior decorator for the R&D Department of Wayne Enterprises, because it looks exactly the same; now I'm a minimalist myself, but come on, I really don't go for the-huge-empty-spaces-with-no-furniture look at all.

The cast turn in excellent performances, most notably by the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. Ledger's Joker is both deranged and maniacal, complete with grubby, scary make-up. His portrayal makes Jack Nicholson's version a paltry, has-been clown.

As for Batman himself, I had trouble accepting his hoarse way of speaking whenever he wears his costume--in fact, I couldn't help but burst out laughing every time he'd talk that way, and it turns out I wasn't the only one who found this hilarious, LOL.

While the music by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard was also great, it sounds very similar to the musical score heard in Happy Feet; maybe it's just me, but they really sound the same, hehe.

All kidding aside, The Dark Knight is one of the best movies I've seen so far this year. I actually saw it twice; the first time during the week it opened, and a second time during our office screening. Highly recommended.

Music | Fatboy Slim - Praise You

This is one of the best music videos ever made on a budget--everything about it looked cheap, yet the overall effect is a perfect example of the sum being greater than its parts.

Praise You features the fictional Torrance Community Dance Group, led by a "Richard Koufey", who's actually the acclaimed video director Spike Jonze. Koufey and his dance group looked like they stepped out of a 1980's timewarp, and they performed in front of a bewildered group of people waiting in a crowded movie theater line.

The video was shot guerilla-style, which meant that no permission was obtained from the location owners (in this case, the movie theater where the video was filmed), with the cameramen dressed like tourists holding digital video camcorders, so they blended well with the crowd.



Despite the amateurish look and feel of the video, everything clicked--the tacky choreography of the dancers went very well with Fatboy Slim's great song, and the rest is history. The song became a hit in 1999, and the video went on to win several MTV video awards.

Gizmos | Metallic Blue PSP

Out today in Japan is this cool-looking new PSP color, officially called "Metallic Blue." It's a darker shade of blue with a sheen that's almost similar to Cobalt Blue, but not quite.


This new PSP comes in two bundle packs--one is the standard Value Pack that contains the basic accessories you need to get your PSP up and running, and the other is a slightly more expensive pack that includes a SEG TV Tuner, which is a high-tech piece of hardware that's totally useless anywhere except in Japan.

As with the previously released Matte Bronze PSP earlier this year, looks like Sony is veering away from the lighter pastel shades of the early PSP units. Which is all well and good, but the PSP's current problem isn't really the colors--it's the lack of good games out now for the system.

Film | Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

I felt like watching a movie this weekend, and there were several choices: There was Hancock, but I can't stand Will Smith, who seems to play the same role over and over again in all of his movies, so that was out. Then there's Mamma Mia!, but I hate musicals, and never liked ABBA, so watching a movie with 2 hours of ABBA songs is a fate worse than death--I might end up vomiting in the theater, so that was definitely out.

In the end, I settled for Journey to the Center of the Earth; not the regular version showing in most theaters, but the 3D version showing in only one theater in Metro Manila--the SM Digital Cinema at The Block, located in SM City North EDSA.

Tickets were priced at P 301.00 for the 3D version; a bit expensive and more than double the price of regular movie tickets. Upon entering, we were given glasses, and they were a surprise--I was expecting those cardboard glasses with the red and blue plastic tints, but these glasses were the polarized type with an all-plastic frame; they fit more like goggles, as your eyes are somewhat far away from the lenses.

The 3D glasses used for Journey to the Center of the Earth

Unlike some recent films which had selected 3D scenes, Journey to the Center of the Earth was filmed entirely in 3D using Real D Cinema technology, which uses a single high resolution digital projector instead of the two-projector analog system used by most IMAX theaters.

As the film started, we were prompted to wear the glasses, and I immediately noticed how sharp and clear the 3D effects were--since it was digital, there were hardly any scratches or smudges, and the D Cinema's awesome sound system only made the viewing experience better.

Turns out the film wasn't a remake of the Jules Verne novel; it used the novel mainly as a reference for the movie's plot. To make a long story short, a volcanologist (Brendan Fraser) discovers his missing brother's notes scrawled along the pages of Verne's novel and seeing the uncanny similarities to his work data, sets out for Iceland with his nephew to investigate further. There they meet another volcanologist's daughter (the lovely Anita Briem), who guides them to a nearby mountain. Eventually the trio is forced inside the mountain, and their adventure begins.

The film is just mostly okay, with a so-so storyline, but the 3D effects make it work--overall, the entire movie can be compared to something like a 90-minute amusement park ride. Don't even bother to watch this if it's not the 3D version.

The Block, SM City North EDSA

SM City North EDSA is just one of the huge SM shopping malls scattered across Metro Manila. It's located along the outskirts of Quezon City, near the very edge of the EDSA highway and venturing towards the Caloocan area to the North.

It's not really that far from home, yet I rarely venture out there since I didn't like the mall--it was too cramped and seemed to overflow with people, mainly because of its box-like design. It was built during the mid-80's, so maybe that's it--the design has since exceeded its main purpose. So I never had a really good reason to go back there.

Until now. A new annex building was added to the mall sometime in early 2007, called The Block, and it's filled with more upscale shops and restos. The Block also houses the first digital cinemas in the region, and since I was about to watch a movie there, I figured it was time to check out the place.

From the outside, the main structure looked unimposing, like most SM malls--it appeared to be a big slab (or block, hehe) of stone plopped near the main mall. Inside was another matter entirely--the place was huge, with wide shopping aisles connected to a central atrium.

Looking upwards from the central atrium of The Block

Exploring the place, it felt just like The Podium, only bigger. The Podium is an annex mall located beside SM Megamall in Ortigas Center. Everything seemed the same, even the signage styles over the shop entrances. And no wonder--the design firm who did The Block, Arquitectonica, was the same firm responsible for designing The Podium.

From the movie area, you could definitely see Arquitectonica's high-tech modernism trademark in the huge, color framed area around several levels, very similar to their building designs in Miami.

The view from the digital cinema level of The Block

Overall, I liked the design of this mall--the wide, curving aisles lend well to circulation, and the noise levels are thankfully minimal, unlike the "palengke" feel of the Ayala malls like Glorietta and TriNoma. There are lots of good eating places as well, although like at The Podium, the proximity of shops to restos seem a bit off--it's a bit jarring to hjavascript:void(0)ave lunch right in front of clothing and sporting goods stores; maybe they should've grouped the shops more according to type.

Film | Wanted

The premise of Wanted is simple enough: office cubicle drone and all-around loser Wesley Gibson suddenly gets drafted into a secret organization of assassins called the Fraternity, where he learns that he has a unique talent for curving the paths of bullets.

But it's how that premise is executed in the film that makes all the difference. As it is, Wanted is perhaps the most stylish, action-packed movie that I've seen so far this year--it's pure awesomeness. Based loosely on the Top Cow comic-book miniseries, Wanted was directed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who did the Night Watch/Day Watch movies that became popular in his native Russia.

Wanted is Bekmambetov's first American film, and he imbues it with his unique style seen in Night Watch/Day Watch. The action scenes are brutal, yet superbly done, like watching a meticulously choreographed ballet. My favorite is the train sequence, which can only be described as riveting--it features the Car-Ramming-Into-the-Side-of-a-Speeding-Train scene, a stunt only mildly eclipsed by the Man-Running-and-Smashing-Through-a-Glass-Window-to-Shoot-Some Assassins-On-The-Rooftop-of-the-Building-Next-Door scene.

While the concept of curving bullets and bullets smashing against each other in motion practically defies all known laws of physics, seeing it happening onscreen becomes almost hypnotic, as your mind gives in and accepts it as real.

The movie also features a stellar cast headed by James McAvoy, who I last saw playing Mr. Tumnus the Faun in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Also present are Morgan Freeman and the stunning Angelina Jolie, whose mesmerizing presence alone makes the watching the entire film worthwhile. It's probably to Jolie's credit that the film doesn't need any other female assassin, so all we see is her. Which is really a good thing, as the film just won't be the same without her.

Highly, highly recommended. Expect tons of copycat movies in the months to come.

Pokemon | Pokemon 151

The Pokemon Company of Japan has just launched a new line of clothing called Pokemon 151, which is essentially a series of T-shirts focusing on the first batch of Pokemon (001-151) introduced in the Red/Blue/Green games.

The shirt designs veer away from the cute Ken Sugimori drawings and instead lean more on adult-oriented stylized images, which makes them virtually unrecognizable as Pokemon shirts unless you look very closely. 4 initial designs are currently available: 097 - Sleeper (Hypno), 104 - Karakara (Cubone), 144 - Freezer (Articuno), and 150 - Mewtwo.

Front and back designs of the current 4 Pokemon T-shirts:
top left - Hypno; top right - Mewtwo; bottom left - Articuno; bottom right - Cubone

Looking at the designs, the Cubone one looks like some kind of tattoo, while the Articuno & Mewtwo designs resemble Old English family crests. The Hypno design is downright creepy though, since it looks like a human abducting a couple of kids...ewww. Can't wait to see how they'll come up with a Pikachu design, hehe.

The shirts retail for 4,350 Yen, or about P 1,832 *gasp* Unfortunately, the shirts are just available online (for Japan residents only) or at the various Pokemon Centers. Too bad, as most of the shirts actually manage to look cool.

Film | Get Smart

Get Smart is the film adaptation of a 1960's TV comedy series, which features Maxwell Smart as Agent 86 of a top secret USA intelligence agency called CONTROL. The series was a James Bond parody, complete with ridiculous gadgets like a shoe phone.

This new and revamped movie version sees Smart (played by Steve Carell) as an analyst who aspires to be a Field Agent, and is subsequently promoted and partnered with the lovely Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Together they investigate a sinister plot masterminded by the terrorist organization known as KAOS.

The film delivers on the humor, as well as lots of action, and Carell is perfect as Maxwell Smart, who despite his bumbling ways is actually a good agent, and makes use of the data from his analyst work to help him out.

Like the TV series, we also get to see some gadgets, like a swiss-army knife with a flamethrower and crossbow, which turns Max into a pincushion in one funny scene aboard an airplane. And the famous shoe phone also makes an appearance much later in the film.

Despite the mixed reviews for this movie, I enjoyed it for the laughs and hilarious lines expertly delivered by a deadpan Carell; I thought the film was well-made, and had enough nods to the TV series. Overall, it's not great, but good enough.

Gizmos | Club Nintendo Premium DS Lites

When it comes to gaming-related hardware and software, the Japanese always have it better than the rest of the world. Nintendo gamers in Japan have their Club Nintendo, where members can get exclusive items in exchange for points earned by registering their purchased Nintendo games.

And talk about exclusive items--the Club Nintendo items are rarely available in stores, and some of them can only be obtained through a lottery draw, provided you even qualify for the draw.

Club Nintendo members in Japan who register their games between July 1, 2008 and August 31, 2008 can win any of three Limited Edition DS Lites: Premium Silver, Premium Black, and Premium Rose.


These DS Lites have a different, glossier sheen to them than a regular DS Lite, and from the pics, they almost look metallic. The best one for me is the Premium Silver DS Lite, which looks just awesome. Even the Premium Rose looks cool, and I don't even like that color, heh. Expect these exclusive DS Lites to fetch high prices if they ever appear on eBay.