Movie Of The year! Watch Out Guys! :)

Again, I have to apologize for disappearing for a long time. I've been busy this week. We've just finish our exam!(Whoo..I hope I'll pass! hehe). This week was quite tiring but interesting. :) Btw, I want to thank all my readers and to whom who always support my blog. I was really touch by your comments, so keep them coming. :) I'll try to make an interesting issue every now and then to entertain you guys.

Anyway, many have been asking me what i'm gonna post this time. I've decided that i'll gonna post about the newest movie of my beloved show, Detective Conan and I assure you, you'll gonna love it!

The thirteenth movie, Detective Conan, Raven Chaser was previewed at the end of the 12th movie and it set to be released on April 18, 2009. This movie is confirmed to be about the Black Organization, the first since movie 5. In the movie, a new member from the Black Organization that shrunk Shinichi's body manages to find out about Shinichi's tranformation into Conan. This discovery starts to put those around him in danger as Gin and the other BO members starts to take action by eliminating Shinichi and his friends. Watch out for it guys!

Well, that's it! Thanks for reading again. :) Like Chris, I'll try to post more often from now on. God Bless and Goodbye for now!






Ran

Happy New Year!! Here's 2008 in Review

2008 will surely be marked as a milestone year for many. There are so many memorable events that occurred and some not so memorable ones. Let's take a look at some highlights of the past year.


Barack Obama becomes the first African-American President of the world's most powerful nation defeating Republican John McCain.










Earthquake in China's Sichuan province kills 70,000 and leaves millions homeless.

Cyclone hits Burma and kills about 100,000.









Sub-prime crisis. Wall Street collapses. Fall of giants Lehman and Bear Stearns.

Philippine Peso broke the 50:1 barrier to the dollar.

Oil prices reached $147 per barrel





Beijing produced the world's greatest show during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.








Cancer victim Randy Pausch gave life lessons, via YouTube, to millions. He died in July.

Russia invades Georgia causing global anxiety.

OJ Simpson is sentenced again for robbing a hotel in Las Vegas.




Pope Benedict 16th pays his first visit to the US and claims that American power won't solve religious conflict but American values might.





The Dark Knight grosses $988 million and makes Hollywood's 4th biggest hit in history.






New York Giants, with quarterback Eli Manning, upset undefeated New England Patriots in the NFL Superbowl.



Tiger Woods played the greatest golf game of his life by beating Rocco Mediate in the US Open by a comeback victory with an ACL.










Boston Celtics defeat the LA Lakers in a fantastic finals series between the NBA's two greatest rivals.











Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer in the greatest tennis seesaw Wimbledon finals in 5 hours.








Michael Phelps sets a world record by winning 8 golds including a come from behind split second victory.

Usain Bolt set another world record by winning both the 100-m and 200-m sprints in world-record times.




Manny Pacquiao wins his fourth title in four different divisions by defeating Diaz in June. He also embarrassed the Golden Boy in December 6 and was named the No. 1 Pound for Pound fighter in the world.


FLY HIGH ATENEO!






And lastly, my favorite, Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles defeatsarch-rival de la Salle Green Archers in the 71st season of the UAAP. :)






Obviously 2008 was a great year for sports but it also hosted some tragic events. I guess at this point in time, we just have to be grateful to the Lord for all the blessings that have come our way during the past year. And at the same time, it is a time to reflect and learn from the lessons of the past in the hopes of improving ourselves, our country and our relationships with people and most of all, with God for the coming year. Let us make 2009 another milestone year! Happy New Year to you all! :)

Merry Christmas!! :)

I've just read through the comments section of the last entry and I think it's about time i write another entry to update you.

Again I apologize for disappearing for a while. I think the title of this entry explains it all. My father just got back from hongkong. (I've heard chris is in there too.) Anyway, it's been a very busy but INTERESTING December for me going to so many cool places, like Manila and Makati, Pampanga is great too! and others! Whew! Truly a learning experience for me! I wish I can share the many inspiring and touching stories of the people I've met in these places.

Don't forget the true essence of Christmas - to love and to share (your self, your time, your resources, etc)! But above all, it is to be united with HIM by creating a new and clean relationship with the Father through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (Chris description of a real Christmas.^^,)

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you!


Love,

Ran

Introducing Jay Chou To the Non-Asia World

In America, I often overlook what's hot in the rest of the world and are sometimes under the belief that all stars come out of Hollywood.


So many forget that a large portion of our superstars and best actors are actually from the UK (Sean Connery, Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Hugh Grant, Anthony Hopkins), Down Under (Mel Gibson, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman), Ireland (Colin Farrell, Daniel Day Lewis), or even S. Africa (Charlize Theron).

Yes, it's true, mention Tom Cruise, Madonna, Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts anywhere on the globe and the locals are sure to know who you're talking about - But try mentioning Zac Efron, Jay Leno, Martha Stewart or Sarah Jessica Parker (the list could go on forever) and you'd draw blank stares.

Well, I deliver to you the 29-year-old superstar... Jay Chou. He is probably more famous in China, Singapore, Malaysia, his native Taiwan, and the rest of eastern Asia than all of the above stars combined. The basketball giant Yao Ming is probably the only one who exceeds Jay's popularity in China. [More...]

Jay Chou is a huge pop, hip hop, and movie star. I remembered seeing his pic on the cover of a magazine and inquiring who he was. My friend, who had previously lived in Taipei, told me he was "the biggest thing to hit Asia since instant ramen." I didn't think much about it until my mother went to Shanghai and saw his face plastered in every magazine and across countless billboards on buildings, in the subway, and along most streets. He represents everything from the aforementioned ramen, to clothing, to fine jewelry - You name it, his face is hawking it.

With a sold out show at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. a couple years ago, the importance of the Chinese market in the new global economy, and his recent success with China's no.1 foreign film this year (Kung Fu Dunk, from Taiwan), it will be interesting to see what Hollywood has in store for him.

You might remember him best as the heroic son of Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat in the beautiful Chinese film Curse of the Golden Flower. From that movie came his international pop mega-hit that is played in every karaoke house in Asia . I had to listen to my friends belt it out countless times as part of their master seduction of women. That's one of the secret tricks of expats in Japan and China - phonetically learn a romantic song in the country's native tongue and girls are sure to swoon. *Attention Male Readers* - Start practicing his song and you're sure to be as popular with the ladies in China as Tommy Lee is with the bimbos stateside. =)

Ran

Detective Conan Fanatic

First of all, i really REALLY love this anime! Especially it's main character Edogawa Conan and Kudou Shinichi! I love them both so much!

I've been watching this for about 3 years and i don't care even if i watch this again and again! This anime really completes my day.

I’m trying my best to start this review without fangirling. However, as I type the sentences, I can’t help but squee over which I should tackle first and how I should tackle this mammoth of yet another cultural icon in the world of not only manga, but of Japan, Detective Conan. In the end, I have resolved to solving this in the same manner that Aoyama Gosho starts a case with Conan: surprise.

I have been aware of Detective Conan for some while. Like most of you, I approached Detective Conan with much skepticism. For one, it was LONG and a shounen story at that (so you know that it won’t be one of those ‘in-depth’ mangas). Back then, I knew I had to struggle reading through 30 volumes and infinity to read this manga. It would require my dedication follow this manga if it reaches zeta. Nonetheless, I gave it a shot a few years back and borrowed a friend’s tankoubon to get started. And in an instant, I found myself suddenly involved in a baffling mystery that I’m just itching to solve.

Searching for evidence
Yes, I did say that I met Conan with great skepticism. For one, back then with my stupid clampified eyes, I used to think that the drawing for Conan was too simple. Too stale. Unmanga-ish. Too kiddy. It is definitely a hurdle for many who are used with popular manga styles to get over the fact that Conan is closer to a cartoon than he is to the more popular manga. His art is far too simple and too childish to even get involved in it. But you will understand later that the art will work hand in hand with the story that Conan is trying to present. Despite the art, the story can be mature and challenging, without compromising the audience that this story was intended for: young boys. It does run in a shounen manga after all.

One has got to read Conan before you can even judge whether if this is merely just a manga that people are reading out of a forced habit or really a serious manga that knows its stuff. The first few pages will already put down your biases aside and show you that Conan is much larger than that small boy with a coat and a red bowtie. The moment you start reading you are immediately hooked into Conan’s mystery. You have, to begin with, Shinichi Kudou, a famous high school detective who accidentally crossed a bunch of criminals wearing black. Caught by the suspects, they poisoned him with a drug that shrunk his size to a little boy. Nowhere to run for help, he asks his neighbor to create a cover for him, at the same time seeking refuge in the arms of his ‘girlfriend’ of sorts, Ran. Under the guise of Conan Edogawa, Shinichi searches for these ‘men in black’ at the same time protecting, as much as he can, the people dear to him.

Why are Twilight and Harry Potter compared?

Because of immense buzz for this first film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of novels, some have compared this tween and teen phenom to Harry Potter. Like the last two Potter movies, this vampire romance film made Fandango.com's top ten list of all-time advance ticket sales—thanks to a rabid fan base whose hearts were set on swoon ever since they first saw images of the vampire and werewolf dreamboats they've fallen for in the books.

Well, I think most Twilight fans will eat this up like vampires at a blood bank. The movie, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (The Nativity Story, Thirteen), is very true to the book in telling Meyer's soap opera of forbidden love and angst with passion. I saw the film at a public screening with many young girls sporting Twilight shirts and even vampire regalia. I overheard them saying things like, "That was amazing," "I wish it would have gone on forever," and "It was everything I hoped for."

But on the flip side, the adults nearby were saying things like "That was horrible" and "I thought it wouldn't end." I'm somewhere in the middle. While I think the adaptation has some great touches, I don't think the film does much for the uninitiated or adults. Boys will really only like the big fight at the end—if they're still awake.

In the book, this is an interesting look at dealing with temptation and boundaries, but the movie's love story is pretty much all about sexual attraction. I'm also not sure why the movie's Bella is fascinated by Edward. He's hot, he's a bad boy, and he wants her. Well, he wants her for dinner. But for this lonely girl, being wanted at all is enough. And of course that idea of being wanted, being known, and being passionately loved has really tapped into the desires of the books' teen audience—and the movie does that too. After all, the film seems tailor-made to showcase how good-looking and tempting Edward is. His over-the-top, slow-motion, and dramatic entrance could be accompanied with subtitles reading, "Swoon now

While I think most fans will be happy with the film, I think the movie proves that books can sometimes get away with sappiness and clichés that movies don't; onscreen, they are pretty groan-worthy. Also, while the book captures girls' hearts, the movie's love story without Meyer's description is kinda mundane. Another issue with the change in medium is that a movie doesn't let one's imagination work as a book does.Meyer's fantastical narratives are very detailed and create great mental pictures.On screen, they sometimes can't compete with what's in your head.In one popular portion of the book, for example, Edward dramatically shows why vampires don't go in the sunlight.On the printed page, the description is thrilling. In the movie, flawed special effects make it look like he's just really sweaty.

Almost all the special effects (save for that great ending fight) are almost laughable—like the vampires' super speed, which looks more like what I call "Muppet Running." You know how when Kermit would walk, you could tell he was hung by wires and his legs didn't really hit the ground with each step? That's what happens here, defying the laws of physics. In addition, the make-up of the pale Cullen family can seem very caked on and fakey at times. Plus, the vampires are asked to say silly things like, "Hold on tight, spider monkey!"


But as good as Stewart is, I think Pattinson (who was solid as Cedric in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) as Edward was a casting mistake. Or maybe it was how he was directed. He's wooden and emotes with unchanging facial expression of brooding eyebrows, deep breathing, and body language that communicates that he really has to go to the bathroom. These scenes lead to unintentional laughter in even the most serious moments.

What Pattinson does do well, though, are the tender, loving moments with Stewart. This is maybe what the movie does best: quiet moments of intimacy—not sex, but more innocent intimacy like when the infatuated Bella and Edward lie in the grass with their hands barely touching, or when they share their first kiss. These are electric moments, but the rest of the film pales in comparison.

Honestly, they are completely different. I'm a huge fan of both, though I'm more a Harry Potter fan. I think Harry Potter is bigger, anyway. Ask nearly anyone in the world who Harry Potter is and they'll know, but not the same for Twilight. I'm not trying to compare them here, but Potter is more complex and they're is really no getting around that. Though they are both Fantasy sort of, but Harry Potter is more fantasy and Twilight is romance. Harry Potter is more for all ages and genders, Twilight is forcused towards teenage girls. Can you truely and fairly compare them at all?

The Twilight Fever

I’D like to think the students in my school were among the first teens who got hooked on the first “Twilight” book by Stephenie Meyer.

I was first intrigued by the book when the Philippine Daily Inquirer published a short piece on it. Then one of my classmates told me that his girlfriend had the book and offered to lend it to me and my sister. The cover was not the black background with the apple on the cover yet -- it was a picture of a girl with short black hair, standing in front of a drab grey background.

Hooked

My friend read the book first. The next day, she passed it to me. The book was passed around and soon, other batchmates and younger students in our school got hooked on it too.

I was so obsessed with “Twilight” that we had to buy two sets of the then three books to add to our collection. One was for letting other people borrow, and one was for our personal reading pleasure. You could only imagine the wear and tear these books will get after being read so many times by so many people.

Coupled with my obsession was the need to know more information about it. I visited Stephenie Meyer’s website, eager to know which celebrities will play which character in the movie, to read the scenes not included in the book and to view pictures of parties celebrating each book’s release.

Finally the movie started...

I was ready to take a nap because finally no one would notice... then I heard giggling and shrieking from girls (even ladies) around the cinema. What was so special about a group of white, pale-skinned people walking into a cafeteria?? Then, the last guy walks in and his name is Edward. More shrieking occurred! Including my sister. I didn't think he looked hot, unlike a Brad Pitt for example. He looked lanky and had weird hair. My seat mates thought he was okay though, but not as god-like as the book had described. As the story progressed, i thought it was getting interesting and I was not sleepy anymore. A lot of kilig scenes, more giggling. Finally, they kiss! It wasn't really interesting for me (apparently,it was only me). The scene that i remembered vividly was when Belle was rescued from the other vampire that wants to taste her blood so badly, the fight scene of Edward and the vampire was really awesome!

Overall, the movie was pretty fun all throughout! There was also boring scene,but all in all it was great and I was kept awake the whole time (coffee can't even keep me awake). It made me want to anticipate the next sequel. Now, i'm also looking forward to reading the book to have a more detailed understanding of what was really going through the minds of the characters. For those who haven't seen it, it's a chick-flick movie, but surprisingly, i enjoyed it! I think if you are below 30 years old, you should make sure to watch it :) Now I know what this "Twilight Fever" is all about.

Ran