Silent Hill left me silent

Hey look, it's Pyramid Head!

Silent Hill -- I remember watching this at a big cinema, last full show, with very few people watching besides me. I admit that I never really got around to playing the game, mainly because I'm such a scaredy-cat.

Now onto the story...

A woman brings her daughter to a town called Silent Hill as a response to her daughter calling out for the place while her sleepwalking became more dangerous. A car crash that involved them just outside the town knocks them unconscious and when the woman wakes up, her daughter is nowhere to be found, and Silent Hill suddenly became a ghost town, complete with fog and ash-fall. As the woman goes around the town in search for her daughter, she encounters some messed up creatures that all connects to the secrets of Silent Hill and the town's connection with her daughter.

I must mention that I found the creatures of Silent Hill repulsive. Utterly hideous, especially the Janitor. Anyway, the movie itself is kinda...well I don't really know how to describe it, but it's like it's still missing something towards the end. Sure, it was a scare-fest for me. But that was almost all there was to it. I was left hanging trying to figure out what happens after they were able to get out of Silent Hill.

If there's anyone who can tell me, I'm all ears.

Since there's not much to say anyway, I'll just list down the different creatures found in the Silent Hill movie:

• Grey Child - they are noisy, blackened creatures that grab and drag you to god knows where. They are blackened in the sense that they look like they were burned to death.
• Creeper - they resemble insects that swarm all over people plus when you turn them over, they have this human-like face underneath.
• Dark Nurse - they squeak when they move, carry objects that can kill and they wear nurses' uniforms. One thing though, their faces are so disfigured, they're scary. Oh and they won't move when there's light.
• Lying Figure - probably the only creature that can come out during daylight, they spray acidic, tar-like substances on their victims.
• Pyramid Head - just check out the picture above for reference. He also carries a huge knife and is brutally strong.
• Janitor - before shifting to the otherworld, the Janitor is just a corpse, disfigured by barbed wires and stored in one of the school comfort room's cubicle. He was once the school's janitor but he molested a kid, therefore, earning him the punishment of being tied up.

And now, I shall leave you all with an image of the Janitor:

What to do when everybody hates you

Everybody Hates Chris -- I'm sure everyone has their own favorite comedy shows that they can't get tired of watching, to the point where they actually get their jokes and quotes in the programs themselves.

I have a few favorites too. One of them is Everybody Hates Chris. I just like the whole concept of the show where the eldest child almost always gets the blame for everything that happens around him.

Everybody Hates Chris is a sitcom that reflects actor Chris Rock's own teenage experiences. Each episode is packed with Chris' day-to-day normal life adventures that is seemingly extraordinary to me as a viewer. Why? Because no matter how hard-headed and naughty I am, I can't get to as much trouble as Chris does in one day. And that amuses me a lot!

If this is the kind of childhood he had, and the kind of child he was, I'm sure that contributed a lot to how he is right now and why he is in the comedy business.

Although I also think that these things will only be funny if it happens to someone else and not to yourself. I mean, I wouldn't want to get blamed for anything at all! If you guys want a funny, inspiring and plain wacky sitcom to end that stressful day, watch Everybody Hates Chris.

He's a Devil with the Guitar

Santana -- I'm not sure if people my age know who Carlos Santana is, aside from his recent collaborations with some new artists on songs like Maria and Smooth.

Anyway, Santana is one of the guitarists I look up to. I mean, he's really great with the guitar.

I remember watching the Woodstock '69 where Santana was playing Soul Sacrifice. It was utterly amazing. There's no other word to describe what I saw.

Santana for me is one of the music industry's legends. I wonder if there will be anyone else to replace those musicians before...that when you watch them, you'll feel all sorts of emotions inside you and all you can do is sit there, listen to them with your mouth hanging open, and let their music just take you to a rollercoaster of music, feelings and mean guitar playing.

I really recommend watching one of their concerts, especially during their early days as a band. It's an experience worth telling to your children.

Doom for Doom

Doom -- Enter the Rock in this movie adaptation of the video game of the same title.

If you weren't able to catch Doom when it was shown last year, Doom is about a group of soldiers..well, space marines...who were sent to another planet to make sure that everything's going fine with a research facility.

Upon reaching the facility, they find out that the place isn't so fine after all. Almost all the scientists are missing, dragged into the darkness by some weird, unseen (not invisible) thing. They were briefed about the situation by a lady scientist who is probably the only scientist left there. Oh and a physically disabled guy is there to help too.

They receive their mission: get rid of the thing and leave.

Then you will see a series of action scenes and you also discover what the weird, unseen (not invisible) thing is. Of course, I wouldn't tell you the whole story here because I don't want to ruin anything for you, dear reader and unfortunate misser of the movie, Doom.

Okay, personally, I don't like the movie. It's an Alien rip-off. I haven't played the game but I've seen it and I wish there were scenes there that were actually taken from the game. Oh wait, there is! It's only scene that I liked in the whole movie:

You know those first-person shooter games like Time Crisis and well...Doom (durr)? There's this scene where the Rock goes around the lab, trying to find the weird, unseen (not invisible) thing and it's like you're playing the actual game itself. There! That's like cool, you know?

Well, that's me of course.

Try to watch it. If you don't like it, don't blame me. If you do, praise me for introducing Doom to you.

The Sweet Life!

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody -- Wouldn't it be grand if you can live in a hotel suite for free? Well okay, not really for free if your mom works at the hotel restaurant as a singer. At least, you get to roam around the hotel as much as you want and get to do whatever you want too. Although, you might get in trouble with the hotel manager one too many times in the process.

This is the life of Zack and Cody. They are twins whose mom works at the Tipton Hotel as a singer. They were able to live in a suite as part of their mom's contract with the hotel. The Tipton is owned by the parents of one of the residents there, London Tipton, who happens to be the twin's friend. Zack and Cody also befriended Maddie, candy-counter girl and Camp Tipton Daycare Center manager, who also happens to be London's friend.

The episodes of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody usually just revolves around the adventures of the twins within the premises of the Tipton Hotel. They both get into trouble most of the time, especially with the Tipton's manager, Mr. Moseby, who tries his best to keep everything under his control...usually, his efforts all end up in vain. Not to worry though, at the end of the episode, everything is patched up by the twins and the people around them.

The Queen was Damned Indeed

Nahhh.. I wasn't saying that to Aaliyah, just in case people get the wrong notion or something.

Queen of the Damned -- I read and liked Anne Rice's book. I fell in love with the story, with the intricate history of the vampires, so much that I really had high expectations for the Queen of the Damned movie.

I was disappointed.

A lot.

Sure, I understand that like with most book-to-film movies, time is scarce, so the director has to fit in everything in one to two hours, preferably an hour and a half, lest the audience be bored...to death. I understand too that movie adaptations are based on the director's interpretation of the story, so it is up to him to recreate what he read.

The Queen of the Damned movie lacked something that made the book wonderful. The story was missing the important parts, the elders weren't given that much thought...then Aaliyah died before they were able to finish shooting the last scene of the movie, where her character, Akasha, dies. So they had to use CG to finish up the queen's death, and it was so hard to watch. The transitions from scene to scene aren't that smooth...so I got the feeling that I was watching three different independent stories at once.

The soundtrack is pretty cool though. At least, they still have a redeeming factor left to save this movie. Artists like Jay Gordon (whom I think voiced for Lestat's concerts) are featured in the album. If you haven't read the book yet, you might want to consider watching the Queen of the Damned movie, or if at least, you're a fan of Aaliyah.

Too Big A Love?

Big Love -- If you're not too partial on morals and ethics and stuff, I suggest you try watching Big Love, another one of HBO's original series.

Big Love features the life of a polygamous family who lives in Utah. Who you see in the picture is Bill Henrickson and his three wives: (L-R) Nicki, Margene and Barbara. Bill has 8 kids from these three women. They encounter a lot of problems because of their lifestyle since their neighbors look down on the practice of polygamy.

Bill and his family don't think that what they are doing is wrong. Then again, why would they try to hide it in the first place if they didn't think it was wrong, right? Hehe Bill is messed up in my opinion.

I'm not really into this whole polygamy thing so I don't really enjoy watching Big Love, but for those of you who don't really have any inhibitions and stuff, try watching it.

Do You Know The Greatest Story Ever Told?

It's Stanley! It's Stanley!

Stanley -- That round-headed, six-haired, freckled kid you see on the picture is called Stanley. He has a pet goldfish named Dennis and they go on different adventures that involves learning about animals.

Yep. A-NI-MAL-SSSSSS.

Stanley is Playhouse Disney's version of NatGeo's Wild. Whenever Stanley is in some sort of predicament that his little underdeveloped brain couldn't understand yet, he consults Dennis about this. (Yes, the fish can talk. Quite eloquently, actually.) When Dennis can't answer Stanley's query, they both consult the omniscient Great Big Book of Everything (*echo* -thing...-thing...-ing...). Surprisingly, this book contains facts about all the animals Stanley can think of.

The odd pair tries to see what the animal will do when it faces a similar predicament that Stanley faces. By "trying to see", I meant they go inside the book, to the page where that specific animal is in and just have fun and learn and sometimes, get into trouble too. Sometimes, its the animals who come out of the book. Either way, Stanley creates an adventure in order for him to learn how to solve his problems. It's cool.

Besides, Stanley is way too cute.

Remembering Clarissa

Clarissa Explains It All -- If you watched Nickelodeon during the mid-90s, you must definitely know who Clarissa Darling is. If you don't, well she's a teenager who describes her day-to-day activities, problems and feelings in a fun and non-conventional way. Oh yeah, Clarissa is played by Melissa Joan Hart, of the Sabrina fame.

The show is very, very amusing and it doesn't get boring. Even re-runs still make me laugh. Clarissa is a light-hearted show that both kids and adults can relate to.

Here's a look back at Sabri-- I meant Clarissa Explains It All.

Comfort Gays: The Life of Walterina Markova

"As humans, we won’t live long. Revealing my own story is my way of inspiring other gays who continue to be oppressed today. By my act, I may have probably given freedom to many other gay people." - Walterina Markova

Markova -- Markova is a Filipino movie about one of its most controversial issues during the WWII era. It is the story of Walter Dempster, Jr., a Filipino-Jamaican who struggled with his gender issues in a society where homosexuality was taboo. Yep, Walter Dempster, Jr. is gay and he goes by the name of Walterina Markova.

The story in the movie starts with Markova's teenage years where the viewers can see the abuse homosexuals get during that time. He was often bullied and beaten up by his gay-hating older brother, Robert. Markova only found freedom and relief after his brother died and Markova found six friends who were like him. They then had fun cross-dressing and dancing in clubs, while hiding their sexual orientation to people.

Markova's freedom is short-lived when the Japanese troops came to the Philippines during the 1940s in the advent of WWII in Asia. He and his friends were dancing in a hotel for Japanese officials who later brought Markova and the others to different rooms for sex. The Japanese found out that they were men underneath the female clothes and were sent to a Japanese camp to be imprisoned for 'deception'. There they experienced being used for the Japanese soldiers' pleasure all the time and were also forced to do labor. The only time Markova truly became free was when the American troops finally saved the Philippines from the Japanese.

Anyway, Markova really is a historical movie because his story encompasses three periods - his past (from the 1930s to 1940s), his present (when he worked for the movie industry as a make-up artist during the 80s and 90s), and finally, the future - whether homosexuals will truly be accepted in the Philippines without any discrimination.

The movie itself, even though it was a biography plus that of a gay person, garnered positive reviews because the actor who played old Markova was the Philippines' comedy king, Dolphy, while his sons Epi Quizon and Eric Quizon portrayed the parts of young Markova and middle-aged Markova respectively. It really is a great movie, not only because of the actors, but the story of a comfort gay during the Japanese regime makes it worthwhile to watch. Markova is funny and sad, plus you get to know how hard it is to live as a homosexual during the past.

Do watch Markova. Highly recommended for people of different sorts.

Another X-Men Movie?

X-Men -- So will there be another X-Men movie? It has been on the news that there are plans but no one knows exactly what the story will be. Some speculate that it will be a Wolverine spin-off, but that probably will be another movie.

Also, rumors has it that Gambit will be introduced in the fourth movie. It's about time too.

People were asking if the new movie will be a Cyclops spin-off, but it was denied. Definitely not a Cyclops movie, I'm sorry to say, Cyclops fans. (I personally don't like Cyclops at all.)

I'm hoping that they do a separate Wolverine movie and not make that the fourth installment to the X-Men series. Why? Because there were quite a few loose ends on the third movie that practically screams, "HEY! THERE'S A FOURTH MOVIE SO WATCH OUT FOR THAT, OKAY??"

So what do you guys think? Any speculations on what X-Men 4 will be about? Do tell me, I love hearing ideas :D

Some Weird Spanish Children's Movies

Veggie Tales -- This has got to be one of the weirdest and most amusing children's show I've ever seen. As you can see on the pictures, vegetables are the main characters in this series that teaches kids moral values by adapting Bible stories and putting them on the show.

The picture on the left is the cover for the Gideon special of Veggie Tales. I'm not sure I actually still remember who Gideon was and what he did, but I'm pretty sure he's a Bible character. Can you imagine a cucumber playing Gideon? I'm sure as hell I can't!

Who would've thought that there's something like this being shown on TV? Cars and animals, I understand...but vegetables?? Will children take something like this seriously?

Erm...well, I guess if kids actually liked Teletubbies, who knows what else they'd fancy right? At least, Veggie Tales is way better than the Teletubbies. Veggie Tales at least, teach the kids stories from the Bible plus a "moral of the story" part. That's something not all kids' shows have.

Maybe the reason why they chose vegetables is that it's easier to create and animate than other objects. Like in the picture for example, the veggie playing the tuba doesn't have arms nor hands, so you kind of wonder how the hell it manages to play the instrument. Well, realistically speaking, vegetables don't have arms - so it's easier to animate them without all the joints and stuff. Then again, vegetables neither have eyes, noses, mouths and more importantly, mustaches. And where can you see a vegetable wearing glasses?? Okay, more important than that, vegetables don't move. At all. So it's really weird and funny seeing this, right?

Right. Just agree with me on this one.