Category: Movies

Thanks to Intel, I had the chance to watch Kung Fu Panda 2.  It’s already the second installment of the film but I wasn’t able to watch the original 2008 film.  After watching the sequel, I finally understood why Kung Fu Panda is successful.  It’s fun, entertaining, cute, exciting and touching at the same time!

This time around, the movie is in 3D!  I certainly enjoyed the movie and was laughing all throughout.  The movie, Kung Fu Panda 2, was definitely great to catch if you want to forget about all the stress at work or at home.

It’s also amazing that all the stars in the original film reprised their voice roles.  Look at this awesome list of stars in Kung Fu Panda 2:

• Jack Black (Master Po)
• Angelina Jolie (Master Tigress)
• Jackie Chan (Monkey)
• Michelle Yoeh (Soothsayer)
• Dustin Hoffman (Master Shifu)
• Gary Oldman (Lord Shen)
• Seth Rogen (Mantis)
• Lucy Liu (Viper)
• Jean-Claude Van Damme (Master Croc)
• David Cross (Crane)
• James Hong (Mr. Ping)
• Danny McBride (Wolf Boss)
• Dennis Haysbert (Master Storming Ox)
• Victor Garber (Thundering Rhino)
• Michael Bell (Gorilla Guard)
• Fred Tatasciore (Po’s Dad)

The movie revolves around Master Po who is protecting the Valley of Peace together with his friends and the Furious Five (Tigress, Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis).  Master Po, being the Dragon Warrior, is living his dream but is being challenged by Lord Shen who plans to destroy kung fu and conquer China.

Master Po has to uncover his past and discover his origin to find inner peace.  Thus will be able to defeat Lord Shen and save Kung Fu and China.

Will he be successful?  Go watch the movie.  You’ll love it! 🙂

As always, I appreciate movies that can provide us some great lessons in life.  Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of them as it’s backed up with a good story.  Let me share the lessons that I was able to bring home after watching the movie:

• Find your inner peace – You get to hear this line a lot in the movie.  I’m sure you’ll understand what this means when you get to watch Kung Fu Panda 2.  Take note of this lesson that Master Shifu will share and Master Po will learn.
• Don’t hold grudges – No wonder Lord Shen became a villain here.  He was holding so much grudges with what happened in his past.  Do you want to live life driven by anger?
• Love knows no boundaries – I shed some tears as I see how unconditional the love of Mr. Ping is for Master Po.  Mr. Ping is Master Po’s adoptive father and he really loves Master Po like his real son.

My Rating for Kung Fu Panda 2: 4 out of 5 stars.

Good movies just kept coming!  Come to think of it, good is even an understatement.  Excellent should be the word to describe the 2 movies I’ve recently seen.  Both Thor and Fast Five were outstanding!  I cannot believe that we would have 2 great movies showing back to back.

I was invited to attend the advanced screening of Fast Five last tuesday by PLDT myDSL.  I was excited as 2 of my favorite actors are there.  I actually never imagined Vin Diesel & Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson to be in the same movie!!!

I got the biggest surprise as it went way beyond my expectations!  You see, Fast Five is already the 5th installment of the Fast & the Furious franchise.  I never expected that they could actually make it better.  In my opinion, Fast Five is the best among all the Fast & the Furious movies.

I seriously think that everyone should not get any spoilers because what made the movie amazing is the surprise factor.  You really never know what’s coming next.  Though some scenes were really not realistic, it wouldn’t matter.  The non-stop action will really take all your attention.  I never had a dull moment.  NEVER (not even a single minute)!

Fast Five were able to reunite all your favorite Fast & the Furious stars namely Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon, Don Omar & some surprise stars 😛  As of this writing, it was concluded that Fast Five was the most successful in the franchise having broken box office records with highest grossing opening weekend in April in the U.S.

The movie follows Dom Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) & Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) as they plan a heist to rob $100 million from a corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (played by Joaquim de Almeida).  At the same time, both are also being pursued by top DSS agent Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson).  You have to watch Fast Five to know how the story goes.  I assure you, you will be so happy that you decided to watch Fast Five.  It’s THAT good.

Before I forget, do wait for the scene after the credits.  You’ll LOVE the surprise! 

My Rating for Fast Five: 5 out of 5 stars.

You might think I’m crazy for watching this movie in 2 consecutive days.  I just cannot get enough of Thor, I was so impressed that I couldn’t resist to watch it again.

Thor is a superhero film based on a comic book character created by Marvel Comics.  It stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Tom Hiddleston and some other great artists.

I appreciate that the movie was beautifully made in 3D.  Take note, that the movie was created 100% in 3D and not just bits and pieces.  I watched the movie both times in 3D!  Even after my 2nd time, I was still raving about how awesome and how epic the movie was!

Who is Thor anyway?

Thor is a hammer-wielding God of thunder.  Son of Odin (King of Asgard) and brother to Loki.  He was about to get the throne from his father but was interrupted by the Frost Giants’ attempt to get their source of power (Casket of Ancient Winters) from Asgard’s possession.

Thor’s reaction to this showed how arrogant, impulsive, arrogant he was.  It even went to the point that he disrespected the king.  This resulted to Thor being stripped of his godly powers and being exiled in earth.

I love that even if we haven’t read the Thor comicbooks, we can still understand the whole story.  It was made with everyone in mind.  There are several stories that each of us can relate:

• Father and son relationship
• Sibling Rivalry
• Romantic Love
• Loyal Friendships
• Honor

Each aspect definitely has some lessons for us to take home and reflect.

But yeah, Chris Hemsworth’s abs is definitely worth looking at.  Yes, we girls were drooling like crazy!  I must admit that I searched for the actor through Google and found out that he’s already married.  Bummer.

Guys, on the other hand, will like seeing Natalie Portman there.  The action scenes and special effects were awesome too!

What more can you ask from a superhero film?  Great story, nice effects, good action scenes, perfect acting and I can go on and on.  For me, this movie was made of epic.  Don’t miss it!

My Rating for Thor: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

P.S.  Don’t forget to finish the credits as there were scenes worth watching for 😉

I wanted to watch a movie but theaters only had movies that are for kids.  I’ve really grown past that stage.  There were only 2 movies that I could choose from: Beastly & Arthur.  I felt that Arthur was just too much of a comedy that we ended up choosing to watch Beastly.

I had low expectations but boy, was I so happy after watching it.  If you love romantic movies, then you should watch Beastly.  I had tears in my eyes on certain parts of the movie.  I guess I easily get touched especially with scenes full of love & care.  Anyhow, in spite of the fairy tail-ish story, Beastly was so much more!

Aside from the good looking actors in the movie, there were valuable lessons to take home too!  Lessons like:

• Love is not just about material things.  This applies to all kinds of relationships (romantic, family, etc).
• Beauty is only skin deep.
• Kindness & love warms the heart.
• Love is never ugly (as what’s written on the movie poster).

Anyway, so what is Beastly all about?  Beastly is a modern version of Beauty & Beast.  Kyle Kingston (played by Alex Pettyfer) is arrogant, mean & vain.  He wins the student party president out of being wealthy, popular & good-looking.  He seemed to have gotten those traits from his father.

During the after party of Kyle’s victory, Kyle humiliates & bullies Kendra (played by Mary-Kate Olsen) who is actually a witch in disguise.  Embarassed & angry, Kendra transforms Kyle into an ugly man.  She informs Kyle that he has only one year to find someone who loves him or he stays that way forever.

I love how the story unfolded from this point of the story.  I don’t wanna spoil everything to you so I suggest you go catch Beastly in your favorite theaters while it’s still showing.  Beastly was a nice movie to watch!  I liked it a lot.  I went out of the theater feeling very good.  It was a humbling experience too!

My Rating for Beastly: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I was trying to kill time yesterday as my car was number-coded.  5 hours of waiting time is too long that I decided to just watch a movie alone.  Honestly, all 5 movies that were showing in Shangrila Cineplex weren’t my type.  I had to choose the best among the 5 movies.  I’ve chosen Hall Pass.  I was glad I watched it.  Hall Pass was hilarious and I had a nice laugh.  I wasn’t even worrying that other people might think I’m crazy as I was alone then.

I entered the movie house not knowing what to expect with Hall Pass.  I just knew that it was a comedy based on the movie poster I’ve seen.  I never even thought that there’s such a thing as Hall Pass.

Hall Pass = A week off marriage, in which they can do anything & everything during the period.  No strings attached.

Is this even happening in real life?  I have no idea.  Maybe you can give me some perspective on this?

I loved how the movie was played out.  There were some cheap “Rated R” scenes but I believe it was really meant for laughs.  With the Farrelly brothers directing & producing the movie, it wasn’t a surprise (remember ‘Something About Mary’?).

Hall Pass showed the adventures of Rick (Owen Wilson) & Fred (Jason Sudeikis) during their 1-week off marriage.  It showed their day by day activities, 7 days in total.  They tried going to bars, drinking, being high, eating awful lots of food, golfing, flirting and a lot more.  It was really fun to watch.  I somehow think that guys do really think that way.  But will giving a Hall Pass to your partner work?  It depends.

Watch the movie to see if it did work out for Rick’s & Fred’s marriages.

Oh, before I forget, I found these pickup lines used in the movie hilarious!

• Hi, my *toot* just passed away.  I was wondering if I can bury it inside you.
• Poof!  I’m here.  So what are your other 2 wishes?
• The necklace is very becoming on you, but then again if I were on you I’m sure I’ll be coming too!
• So are you living from Ireland for a chance because when I look at you, my *toot* Dublin in size.

My Rating for Hall Pass: 3.5 out of 5 stars.