Movie Review: Wrath of the Titans

Here’s a little brush up on Greek Mythology. The three brothers – Zeus, Hades and Poseidon killed their father, the Titan Kronos in order to gain Mount Olympus and rule as gods all over the earth. Being immortal however, the Titan Kronos wasn’t really killed, he was just imprisoned in Tartarus. This little bit of mythology reminded me so much of the Percy Jackson series that I loved reading so much last year. Going back to the movie though, it came to the point when the gods simply didn’t have enough powers anymore. People were praying less and less to them. To ensure their immortality, Hades made a deal with Kronos along with Ares at the cost of Zeus life. Poseidon gave Perseus the task of releasing his father before everything is too late.

Signs that it’s time to quit your job

About the same time last year, my life was going through some very drastic changes. One of the reasons was that I had quit my job of more than 2 years and was preparing for a new one. Quitting your job involves much thought and one that shouldn’t be acted on impulsively (unless you deem it necessary). If you’ve done so, then it’s time to put in a course of action. However if you’re undecided, I’ve compiled  some reasons here that might make you see things clearly.

 

 

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a movie that has been so hyped up ever since it was announced. Marketing went full-force right up to the weeks before the movie was shown and fans of the book had deemed it to be THE movie to see this year. I was one of them. I've blogged about it so many times and told you guys how excited I was to see it and I've marked my calendar for the day of its showing. I ignored the bad reviews I've seen throughout the net and on social media sites where friends have posted what their reactions were. I told myself that I want to reserve my judgment until after I've personally seen it myself. I also kept thinking that it couldn't be THAT bad. Last night I finally got to watch it and I can tell you upfront now, this fan is extremely disappointed. Here goes another hyped up movie that couldn't live up to the hype and another movie adaptation that has gone wrong. Read on to find out the reasons why I feel cheated on what could have been one of the best movies for the year.

Thoughts on the Pretty Little Liars Season 2 Ender

For fans of the show, it's probably not just me raving about how great the entire second season went. I'm not surprised that the shows ratings have skyrocketed. Personally, it's too long to wait for season 3 and I might re-watch the first and second seasons just to distract me from the wait.

Hats off to the writers for the last episode of Pretty Little Liars entitled Unmasked. It stood for two things - the masquerade ball that our girls were attending and the identity of "A" finally being revealed. On the whole, the show (and the books) has a very complex plot and I know we're nowhere near over, that's why I'm really looking forward to season 3. For those of you who's just started to get hooked on the show and hasn't seen this last episode yet, better skip this post entirely and browse several other interesting posts that I wrote using the links from Linkwithin or my blog's sidebar. Otherwise, let me share my thoughts and theories about what's coming next for Pretty Little Liars.

Pantone branches out into Cosmetics

The leading color authority, Pantone has now reached out its arms to delve into the world of cosmetics. They’ve teamed up with cosmetic giant Sephora to come up with a line using tones and shades from the current color of the year – Tangerine Tango.

I personally think that the shade is perfect for summer. While some don’t know it well, reddish orange hues are flattering to every skin tone. Take a peek into the line. [VISIT THE WEBSITE]

A collection of Great Phone Wallpapers

If you’re like me, I can’t resist changing my phone’s wallpaper every few days. I guess that’s really just the artist in me. This is one of the reasons why I love the customization features in Android phones. There’s a lot of great themes and launchers out there but sometimes, you can do with replacing the default wallpaper built-in with the theme. Here are some excellent phone wallpapers I’ve found that I’d like to share with you guys.

Click on the photo for the image’s original size. Photo credits before each pic linking to the creators’ respective sites.
Pencils Under Water

Angry Birds Space: A first look

So Angry Birds Space was officially released yesterday and I got the chance to try it out last night. Here’s my first impressions of the game.
The birds have gotten makeovers. See they’ve donned space gear suits and are now set to conquer space.

The Books from my Childhood

My love for books extend all the way to my childhood and I sit back with fond memories about the great books I read then. These are the books I’ve happily added to my “read” books category in GoodReads. My preference in book genres has greatly expanded to other genres since then but I’ll never forget the books I had in my childhood.

The Nancy Drew Series
I used to check out these books from the library and I would be exited to come home and read them after doing my homework. The Nancy Drew books that I borrowed from the library weren’t exactly new. They were hardbound but the pages were already a bit yellow and some of the book spines were frayed. Nevertheless, I loved reading them.

Movie Preview: Dark Shadows Movie Posters

I’ve always loved the team-up of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp since their Edward Scissorhands days. Years after, they’ve teamed up for yet another movie, this time a gothic comedy entitled Dark Shadows. In a nutshell, the movie is about how Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) was turned into a vampire by a witch named Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), whose heart he broke as he was a playboy. Buried alive, Barnabas emerges from his tomb to find his once glorious mansion in ruins and remnants of his family in considerable stages of family troubles.

Free Android App: Quick Note

There's a whole lot of note-taking apps that are available at the Play Store, one of them (and I've used it for a while) is Quick Note. I like it because you have a variety of widget styles and sizes to choose from in order to display your note on the homescreen. The only drawback is, it doesn't have the checklist capability. Setting that aside though, it's a very useful app for quickly jotting down a note.

Quick Food Post: Max’s Cauliflower Puffs

Everyday while driving to work, I pass by the C5 flyover and see a lot of billboards. One of them is Max’s Cauliflower Puffs, I was intrigued the moment I saw it. As part of their Lenten menu, well I promised myself that I would see how it tastes like. Yesterday I finally did.



This is how it looked like. The serving size was pretty okay. The cauliflower stalks appeared to have been dipped in batter, fried then slathered with a kind of garlic sauce. The verdict? 3 out of 10. It wasn’t at all what I expected it to be. I couldn’t taste the cauliflower anymore because of the batter. The batter tasted like it was cooked in the same oil that was used to cook Max’s chicken. I barely noticed the sauce taste too. Quite disappointing.

Songs from The Hunger Games Movie

A movie gets bonus points in my reviews when it has an awesome soundtrack, however as I have yet to see The Hunger Games movie, let’s just explore the released songs from the soundtrack first. Get out your earphones and listen to these songs. I’ve provided the youtube videos here with this post so that you won’t have to search for the songs online. Enjoy!

YA books turned into movies to watch out for

I'm really excited to see The Hunger Games movie which is set to be released in the next few days. I've read all the books in the trilogy and can't stop about how awesome it is. Again, if you haven't still, go grab yourself a copy of the books and start reading now! While it can be argued that not all movie adaptations of popular YA novels come out good, there's a certain type of excitement to see the book that you loved be shown on the big screen.

Here are some book adaptations that are soon to be coming our way, I've read some of them while some are still in my "to-read" category in GoodReads. Here's to hoping they will be good.

 

Movie Preview: Zac Efron in The Lucky One

The Lucky One is based on the Nicholas Sparks’ bestseller book entitled in the same name and is starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling. My mom has a huge crush on Zac Efron and looking at some of the photos released for this movie, it’s really hard not to turn away from those really intense eyes. Well, looks like Mr. Zac Efron is determined to show us how much he has grown up. In my opinion, he’s a very good actor and I admire him for taking on versatile roles.



In this movie, U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

Seeing Green: Green Nail art

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d commemorate it by posting something that has to do with the color green. I haven’t really done a feature on nail art for a while, so here are some great examples of green nail art.

Book Review: Shatter Me

I love dystopian novels. It is set somewhere in the future where the common theme is something’s gone horribly wrong with the planet and there’s no explanation for it. Mostly the main characters do what they can to survive. While I love the general genre, I hate that there’s now a sub-genre of romance dystopian novels. I’ve learned my lesson from reading Delirium and it got a thumbs-down from me.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Free Android Game: Draw Something Free

It’s only been 24 hours and I’m already addicted to Draw Something Free. It’s a new social game that I got from the Google Play Store. It’s available for the iPhone and the iPad too. As long as you have the game on your touchscreen phone or tablet, you can join in on the fun. The gameplay is very simple, pick three words to draw for a friend who will try their best to guess it. See? It’s simple and you won’t believe how much fun it is. Oh and the drawings don’t have to be masterpieces, it can be as doodly as you like.

Movie Preview: Prometheus Trailer intro by Charlize Theron

I’ve been really curious for a time about what Prometheus is all about. I’ve seen the teaser trailer and it’s looking to be like Ridley Scott is in his home turf again having brought us Aliens before. The sci-fi film is shot entirely in 3d and Scott is announcing that he won’t likely film in another format ever again. Anyway, let’s see what Charlize Theron has to say about the film.



On March 19, another trailer for the movie will be released. I’ll make sure to give you guys the latest updates. Briefly, here’s what the movie plot is all about.

“PROMETHEUS 3D” will unlock the beginning of our end as a group of only the best of the experts in the field of science and technology trek an unknown environ in space trying to find answers to man’s beginnings. As their expedition brings them further and farther to the darkest corners of the universe, they begin to encounter a terrifying and vicious battle to save themselves and the future of human race.

Prometheus is going to be shown in theaters on June 7, 2012.

The Avengers Movie Posters and Banners: New set!

April 25 is looming ever closer and fans are getting more and more excited as we (yes including me) anticipate the showing of Marvel’s The Avengers on the big screen. The movie is the super hero team up of a lifetime which brings stars from previous Marvel movies together for one giant film.



Together, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow must face Loki and another yet unknown enemy in order to save the world under the leadership of Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. They must face each other’s differences and learn to work together as a team.

The movie posters are right after the jump. Just click on the photos for a larger view.

Movie Preview: Perseus is back in Wrath of the Titans

In Clash of the Titans, Perseus (Sam Worthington) found out that he was a demigod. He was reluctant to become the hero that saves the princess and Argos from the Kraken. In Wrath of the Titans, Perseus is now determined to become a great father to his kid. Meanwhile the gods of Olympus are getting weaker because of the lack of devotion from the humans. Turning his back on his demigod nature, Perseus has now settled into a normal domestic life.

However when a chimaera attacks his village, Perseus must once again take up the role of the hero. He has to help the gods regain their power while the Titans threaten to get unleashed from their prison through the treachery of Hades.

I can’t wait to see this movie, opening March 29 in theaters across the Philippines, the demigods will once again grace the big screen.

My Next Batch of Best Go Launcher Ex Theme Picks

Since I’ve had such a positive response to my previous batch of Go Launcher Ex Themes and that had been such a long time ago, I thought that it’s high time to publish another one.

Kudos to the folks who relentlessly make great themes for our Android phones. I really had fun choosing these themes. Enjoy!

Colorful Heels from ModCloth

I was just browsing through my reader feeds yesterday and in one of the fashion sites that I follow, I saw a cute bunch of heels being sold on ModCloth. I haven’t gone shoe shopping in a while and I gotta admit, seeing these heels, gave me the slight urge to check out the nice collection. Here are my picks. [for a larger view just click on the photos]

1. Betsey Johnson Busy Making Friends Heel $99.99
2. Get in Lime $59.99
3. How was Hawaii $59.99

Of the three, my favorite would be the polka-dot one. It channels charm and style. The bright green colored shoe caught my eye because I thought it would be fun to pair with a white skirt. The striped heel suits my funky personality well too.

1. Just the Spot $97.99
2. One of the Greats $57.99
3. To the Pointillism $57.99

Another set of brightly colored heels. Of the three, I’m loving the blue one. I think these could go well with work outfits. The shoes would jazz up a boring suit.

Judge, Jury and Executioner

When I was watching the episode of The Walking Dead which was entitled 18 Miles Out, I was gripping the edge of my seat. It was so full of suspense that I couldn't wait for the next episode. The next one, entitled - Judge Jury and Executioner, however paled in comparison. In fact, I was thoroughly annoyed with it.



There's only 2 episodes left in the series and this one I feel was absolutely unnecessary. What annoyed the heck out of me was all the talk! The dialogues were long, repetitive and while I understand that the writers meant to send the message across that our group is in a desperate situation, a good chunk of the allotted time could have been dedicated to something else. There was little zombie action here and at the risk of mentioning a spoiler in this post, it's not really something to get excited about.

Movie Review: John Carter

Disney’s John Carter is the movie adaptation of Edgar Rice Borroughs’ book “A Princess of Mars”. It’s the first among a series of books that tells of John Carter’s adventures and encounters in Barsoom, which is the planet Mars. Sadly, I haven’t read any of the books, though after seeing this movie, I’m thinking that they might be worth a look. Also, I’m hoping that there will be re-prints of them in the coming months. Incidentally, the movie also celebrates the 100th year anniversary of the character of John Carter in the books. It was said that he was the heroic paradigm in which heroic predecessors took their inspiration from.

 
In a nutshell, here’s what the movie was about. Captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) was a war veteran who found himself on Mars while on the search for a cave of gold. Here he got captured by Tars Tarkas’ (Willem DaFoe) clan. While in captivity, he saved the life of Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who was running away from an arranged marriage. She was being forced to marry Sab Than (Dominic West). Princess Dejah asks Carter for help to save her city and ultimately Barsoom from the clutches of Sab Than.

A Memorable and Tummy Gratifying Experience at The Winebar at Café 1771

Mention El Pueblo to me and I’ll immediately conjur a picture in my mind that consists of Racks, Mcdonalds and Shakeys. Admittedly, I haven’t explored the other establishments in the area that much. So when I got an assignment to review The Winebar at Café 1771 there, I had no idea where it was. When I got there however, it was like a stepped into a different area altogether. I was impressed at how the interiors were designed and when we got to tasting the food, well let’s just say, my head was swimming in good memories when I laid down in bed that night.

Read all about my dining experience with my full review at WheninManila.com.

A sneak peek at some of the shots I took:

New Dresses from Anthropologie.com

I’ve been a fan of Anthropologie ever since I’ve stumbled upon it. I’ve always liked their selection of dresses and home goods. Recently I’ve received an alert through their newsletter that new spring dresses have arrived to their catalog. Here are my top picks.

Temple Run comes to Android

I won't deny that I haven't been curious about Temple Run. How can I not be when I see friends posting on Twitter and Facebook all the time. Being available only on the iPhone, and me having an Android phone, I kept wishing for the day that it will finally be introduced into the Android Market.



Looks like that day has come folks. They've finally announced that Temple Run will finally be released for Android phones on March 27. This could be because of the so many fake apps popping in the market. Woot! I'm marking my calendar for that one. I can't wait to review it.

My First Time on the Pole: Pole Dancing Lesson with Pole Cats Manila

One of the things in my bucket list is to try out pole dancing and after months of planning to do so, my schedule finally freed up. I was able to try it out one weekend from last. It was a really great experience for me and I'm really hoping to incorporate this regularly in my schedule.

 

Read more about this on the full article I wrote on WheninManila.com

Music: Florence and the Machine

Ever since I saw that new trailer for the second season of Game of Thrones, I couldn’t get that background song out of my head. So after a quick search I found out that the artist was Florence and the Machine. Hey I was surprised that I knew most of the songs from their albums. Here are some of the songs that you might recognize and also these are the ones that I liked the most.


I first heard this song on Glee and while they did the more pop version of this song, I like the original best.

I’ve been hearing this song because it’s been getting a lot of airplay in the local radio stations, I didn’t know that it was sung by Florence and The Machine and just recently, it was also featured in one of the episodes of the latest season of How I met  your mother.

Here’s another song I recognized from the album. This was one of the songs that I immediately liked in the soundtrack compilation for Jennifer’s Body.

Another haunting song. Her voice is so ethereal and I love it!

Free Android App: 1Weather Review

Back when I still had my HTC Desire, one of the widgets that I loved upon looking at my homescreen is the weather widget. It also had this homescreen animation that mimicks whatever weather it is outside. Then came the time that I replaced the Desire with a much better phone, the phone I'm still using right now, a Samsung Galaxy SII.  However, I've not gotten tired of the weather apps in the market with widgets that are closely similar to each other. Think flip-calendar style and weather animations like the sun, flowers and clouds. For some reason, I was really getting sick of those and I even considered getting one of those minimalistic widgets that were mostly comprised of texts and numbers.



When I saw 1Weather as an app featured in one of the Android app review sites I go to, I had to give it a try. It's a free Android app anyway and it was just a quick install of 3MB from the Android market.

Game of Thrones Season 2 New Posters and Trailer

Which house are you betting on for the Iron Throne? It's all about war on the next season of Game of Thrones which will start airing on April 1. Everyone's excited! Promotions are well underway too. Here are two new posters to view for the series.

 

 

I can't wait to see Arya as she sets off to find her way back to her mother and siblings. There's also the war games between Cerce and Tyrion to look forward to. I'm not eager however to see Geoffrey's face again. There's something about him that just annoys me to the very core. So as one of the hated characters in the story, he's doing a very terrific job. Anyway, I can't wait for April. For the meantime, let's all just feast our eyes on this released second trailer for the series.

 

Movie Preview: Disney Pixar’s Brave

When I saw the first movie poster for Brave released as a teaser, the first thing I noticed was the lead character’s wild curly mane of red hair. It looked so soft and realistic. Having some knowledge with 3d softwares myself, I know how hard it is to achieve that effect. The poster had a whimsical feel to it and I’m curious why the movie was entitled Brave.



The movie is set in Scotland and is about Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), the daughter of King Fergus(voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). She lived at a time when women were still considered inferior and had no voice and choices of their own. Determined to set her own path, Merida defied a sacred tradition in their land and unknowingly unleashed a curse on her father’s kingdom. Seeking the help of a Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters), she must discover the true meaning of bravery in order to undo the curse before it’s too late.

Prepare yourself for car emergencies

Not more than two week ago, it was 11pm and I was heading home from a premiere in Greenhills when all of a sudden my car died on me. Since it was a Wednesday and my civic was coding, I was using my dad’s old Lancer. It just died. Luckily, I was able to use the car’s momentum to steer it towards the inner lane of the road. The area that I had stopped on was dimly lit but was a major road, so there were still a considerable number of cars passing by. Sad to say that not one of those cars stopped by to help. My car had no tint and they could easily see that I was a damsel in distress. Oh well. I put on my hazard lights and made sure my doors were locked. Dialed a few numbers for help. I’ll not go into details with what happened that night but there was a time that I feared for my safety but the right people came to my aid and in 2 hours I was on the way home.

Photo Credit: |Mahin| things the way they are 

Here are some things that I learned from that experience that I’d like to share which you might find useful in case you’re unfortunate enough to have a car emergency on your hands.

Movie Preview: Despicable Me 2 Teaser Trailer

What I loved most about Despicable Me were the minions. Those cute pill-shaped little creatures that inhabited Gru’s lab. Come see the teaser trailer for the sequel with those adorable minions singing!

 

The New Official Trailer for Marvel’s The Avengers

Think highly anticipated, lofty expectations and THE blockbuster movie for this year. The Avengers movie brings a slew of big Hollywood stars in one epic action film that brings goosebumps to all fanboys out there. As for me, I’m looking forward to see Chris Evans as Captain America and Chris Hemsworth as Thor again. I’m also intrigued how Jeremy Renner will be as Hawkeye.

 

Avengers Assemble!

 

The trailer gives us a glimpse of the beginning of The Avengers as an assembly of heroes tasked by S.H.I.E.L.D to protect the Earth. They’re directed by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). As a team, we see that in the beginning they squabble amongst themselves but hopefully will pull together in the end. Loki clearly is the mastermind behind the plot to destroy earth but I’m curious about the dragon alien appearing at the end of the trailer. It looks to be an exciting movie filled with so much action and spectacular effects. Mark it on your calendars, April 25, 2012 for Marvel’s The Avengers.

The Most Satisfying Pleasures Life has to Offer

This post is inspired by a Twitter trend that I saw weeks ago. There were a lot of interesting answers and here are some that I recall from personal experience.

• Finding hidden money that you’ve forgotten about.
• Waking up in a panic and realizing it’s Sunday.
• Getting a surprise for no reason. 

• A long hot soak in a tub after a very tiring day. 

• A first kiss.
• Slipping into comfy clothes after a tiring day at work.
• Making a loved one extremely happy.
• Quenching your thirst when you’ve been really thirsty for a while.

• Winning something from a contest or a raffle.
• Eating food after you’ve been hungry for a while.
• Getting an adrenaline rush from a sport or an outdoor activity.

Photo Credits:

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Movie Review: My Week with Marilyn (Get a chance to win a Boracay Trip)

The movie is told from the point of view of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an ambitious and hard-working man who desperately wanted to get in the film-making business. He got his chance working as the third assistant director of Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) for the movie The Prince and the Showgirl. While her husband was away, Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) spent a week off from filming with Colin and with this he shares an insight of who and how Marilyn was behind the camera.



To be honest, when I watched the movie at a special press screening, I didn’t have any inclination of how Marilyn acted, how her voice sounded like or even the way she carries herself. Yes I’ve seen her pictures but that’s just about how much I knew. I knew also that she was this big star, so big in fact that she became an icon.