Things Pinoy in Hollywood movies

I watched some DVDs over the weekend and I found some curious references to Filipino things. In the movie Kick-Ass, a character named Hitgirl brandished a balisong. She deftly played with it like a Pinoy thug in those FPJ movies. Her father in the movie, played by Nicholas Cage, gave it to her as a present. She said "it's a... Filipino..."

In the movie Grownups, Rob Schneider, a part Filipino in real life, played a character with long brushed up hair ala the Fonz. His friends call him a "Filipino midget Fonzie".

And in the Denzel Washington starrer Book of Eli, the fight scenes looked very much like arnis fighting with blades/swords (eskrimahan). Word is out that a Filipino trained Denzel in the art of kali fighting.

Iron Man 2 delivers

I liked Iron Man 2. My kids, Vito and Popoy liked it as well. Genius Tony Starks (Robert Downey, Jr.) has that arrogant streak that befuddles everyone around him, including his friends but more so his enemies, specially those who try to control him and compete with him in vain.

The movie is not boring because the battle scenes are not overly drawn, unlike Transformers 2. The producers did a good job interweaving possible future movies into the storyline. They first did that in the Incredible Hulk 2 where they dropped hints of Iron Man 2. This time they're effectively announcing an Avengers movie with Iron Man but without Tony Starks. How will that be? asked Tony himself in the film. I think in the Avengers movie they'll be showing Iron Man in full costume all the time. Most probably they'll be using another actor.

Midway in the movie, Agent Coulson said to Tony that he is being reassigned to Mexico. I thought that was too much info and that detail had no bearing in the movie. And they just wanted to give the actor some speaking lines. We left while the credits are rolling and Highway to Hell is blaring. Bad move. People say at the end of credits they showed Agent Coulton found Thor's hammer found in Mexico. This is a hint of a Thor movie. We missed that.

There are some forgivable flaws. For all his genius, Tony Stark did not provide Iron Man suits any security features. He could have made the Iron Man suits work only when he is wearing it, after all he said he is Iron Man. As it turned out, anybody who steps even in for the first time it can make full use of its weaponry and flight capability.

People who expect prolonged fight scenes may find the manner Iron Man defeats the antihero too short. But it's alright with me and my kids. It makes us look forward to the next one.

Watch Glee Season 1 Episode 15 online - The Power of Madonna

Synopis: Mr. Schuester is concerned that the girls in the glee club are being disrespected and bullied by the guys. Looking to Madonna and her musical message of equality as inspiration, he challenges the entire team to choose Madonna songs as their next assignment in the hopes that the girls embrace her strength, independence and confidence and that the guys will see the error of their misogynistic ways. The glee club takes the assignment to heart as they perform some of Madonna's greatest hits, including "Express Yourself" and "Like A Prayer." Meanwhile, Kurt and Mercedes give Sue a vote of confidence with a makeover that is definitely in "Vogue"Source: FOX

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Watch Glee Season 1 Episode 14 - "Hello"

I like Glee. It has become one of my favorite shows, maybe because of how they seamlessly intertwine different songs into an episode's theme. The newest episode is titled "Hello". Fitting, perhaps, because of several month hiatus from the last episode. The songs in this episode have the word Hello somewhere in their titles: “Hello, I Love You” (The Doors), “Gives You Hell” (All American Rejects), “Hello” (Lionel Richie), “Hello, Again” (Neil Diamond), “Highway to Hell” (AC/DC), and “Hello, Goodbye” (The Beatles).

Episode summary: Finn and Rachel are finally a couple, but for how long? Jesse St. James (Jonathan Groff), lead singer of Vocal Adrenaline, catches Rachel’s eye and sways her heart, but what are his real intentions? Looks like he and his coach (Idina Menzel) are up to no good. Will gets to kiss two women, but somehow ends up alone. Sue Sylvester is back as an even more conniving coach of the Cheerios. Quinn being out of the picture, Heather and Santana do her "dirty work". (Source: FOX)

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Transformers 2 - More than a peso per minute waste of time

Paying PhP161 to watch the 2.5 hrs. long Transformers 2 means you only waste your money at the rate of PhP1.073 per minute. Imagine if the movie was just 90 minutes long, then you would have wasted PhP1.78 per minute. So, despite the all-out assault on your eyes and ears, the movie still gives better bang for the back as you waste your money slower. What other film can give you that?

They made the film PG-13 so parents will have to accompany their pre-teen children to watch it. So the wife and I watched the film too, together with Popoy, 6, and Vito, 12.  There are clearly scenes not for kids, even if they watch together with their parents. There are pumping scenes by dogs. There is another scene with a small robot humping Megan Fox's leg. There is a seduction scene with a scantily clad woman astride Shia LaBeouf with the shot showing her panties. Then there is the scene where Shia's mom got stoned from some weed spiked food and said she would do anything to get an A.

There is a lot of sexual innuendos in the way Mega and Shia were about to conduct their video chat. The scene of John Turturro in thongs is grossly disturbing. But I have no complaints with Megan's other scenes;  she in hotpants on top of a motorcycle, and in a tank top running away from bombs.

Of course there is a lot of violence even if most of it is inflicted by robots on robots. The punching, kicking, stabbing actions will be imitated by kids. The movie bored me, but the head splitting sound effects on a full surround theater prevented me from dozing off. Moreover, I couldn't follow the story, but my boys did. The parents needed guidance on that aspect.

Sport lang!

The Miami Heat and the Magnolia Beverage Masters, my favorite basketball teams, are both having such nightmarish times that not even Michael Fajatin can amuse me. Then the Fed (the tennis champ not the post-Greenspan board) lost to the Joke. That means it will take a while before he catches up Sampras' Grand Slam record. Rafa also lost, to Tsonga (who he?). New and younger talents indeed. Pete's record will be safe for a while as the younger ones crowd out the top players. Looks like a bad weekend for my sports watching.

The big upside that negates the lows is the all-goddess finals in the Australian Open Tennis Championships. That's enough to make my weekend. Tennis fans can't ask for more. Ana Ivanovic faces Maria Sharapova. Maria won eventually but fans do not care who wins. It is a sight to behold. Lithesome Maria versus shapely Ana. Gone are the Williams sisters, one of which has a body like Lebron James and the other looks like Blakdyak. Never mind if Maria grunts louder than Monica (Seles, not Lewinsky).

Then I caught on HBO the Kevin Costner-starrer "For Love of the Game", one of my top 5 favorite movies. I don't know why this movie clicked with me. I've seen it like a dozen times, I have a copy, but I still spend two hours watching it again on cable. It is both a love story and a sports movie (Costner's 3rd baseball movie?). IMHO, this is Sam Raimi's best work, the same director who gave us Spiderman and the Evil Dead movies. Kelly Preston makes John Travolta a very lucky guy. Good song selections with Bob Seger's "Against the Wind" and Bob Dylan's "I Threw it All Away" capture the drama and emotions.

Not a bad sports weekend after all. The men's tennis finals may prove to be a good weekend capper. I go for the Joke on this one.