Subic-Montemar

Last weekend, my family and I went on our last summer vacation. We were supposed to go to Quezon province but plans didn't pull through, so we decided to to go Montemar. My parents tried to book a few days before, but it was already fully booked, so we just decided to book Sunday night and take our chances for Saturday night. We ended up staying in Subic from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning. We were supposed to also try out parasailing there (1000 per person for 10 minutes of being on the air) but it was fully booked. So we just hung out in our hotel room (Days Inn Hotel) and then we headed off to Montemar in the afternoon. My brother and I swam in the pool but it wasn't exactly clean so I only stayed a while there, I spent most of it sitting in the steps. After, my brother, Lota, and I headed to the beach to check it out. It was really pretty and fun and nice. We had walked pretty far out and yet it was still shallow (as in, my head was above the waters). We didn't really swim since none of us liked salt water all that much to actually swim and stuff, but we enjoyed wading and walking and 'riding' the waves. It was fun. After, we had dinner and then slept. The next morning, I slept late and woke up a few hours before lunch. After lunch, we headed out. It was fun and stuff. We were commenting on how this summer was the summer where we went the most places. We went to Banaue-Vigan early April, Subic late April, and then Montemar mid-May. We were supposed to also have another weekend vacation but couldn't find any free time, so Montemar was the last. Also, on the way to Montemar on Saturday, we passed by Mt. Samat to visit the big cross there so Lota can see it coz she hasn't been there. To my memory, it's only been my second time there.

Montemar was a blast and it's such a great place. I think it was the fourth time I went there, although I only remembered of my past visits when we were finally there. My family will always remember (and tell anyone who asks) of my (and their) first visit there. I was just a baby, I think, and I got sick on our first night there - high fever. We were there with all our cousins, mother side, and everyone had to leave coz of me. On our second time there, I recall it was with a few of my cousins from mother side and father side. My third time was with my mom, which I only remembered when I saw the beach, on their company outing, when I tagged along. It was fun. I'm going to miss vacation as school starts in about two weeks. I'm not yet looking forward to hitting the books.

Kingdom Of Heaven

I've been wanting to watch this since it was released and most people assume that I want to watch it because of Orlando Bloom. I'm such a fan of him and have been since I first saw him as Legolas back in 2001. In reality, Orlando playing the lead is just a bonus. I was curious about the story. It was about the Crusades, which I was always curious about at the same time, it was the one few times of the Catholic Church's history that I dislike (the other being the Inquisition). It was stupid and senseless and was done for the greed of people. I was curious to see the story of a guy called Bailin who was supposed to be a very honorable person - a knight in the true sense of the word.

Due to trailers and what little interviews and promotions that I've seen, I knew it was the story of Bailin, a blacksmith who lost his wife and child. To gain forgiveness or redemption (or something), he goes to Jersalem and joins the Crusades. He ends up saving Jerusalem because he is an honorable man with integrity and he refuses to back down from what he believes is his duty. In the history of the Crusades, where men like that are few and far in between, I wanted to see Riddley Scott's movie.

I wasn't disappointed. Well, not really. Even before watching, I knew there was a romantic interest, which I was against (no, not just coz she kisses Orlando). I was against it coz supposedly, Bailin's driving force is his wish for redemption/forgiveness for the death of his wife (which, I found out after watching, was due to suicide - a big taboo during those times), so I'd like to assume that he loved his wife very much, yes? So what's he doing getting laid a short while after his wife is buried? That doesn't make sense to me. And, for all intents and purposes, it seems he also really loves this girl. For reasons I don't even know.

SPOILERS: He meets her, like, twice and then she follows him to Carnac or some C-place and then goes to his bedchamber. Obviously, they have sex. When his wife hasn't even been buried for a year or something.

Anyway, I loved the movie. The characters. The nobility of Sir Godfrey (Laim Neeson; who was the only fictional character), the honor and integrity of Bailin (Orlando Bloom), the voice of wisdom that comes out of Gary Oldman's priest character, the complex cynical and yet loyal character of Jeremy Irons. I like the Leper King, Salahadin (?), the non-servant whom Bailin saves.

I adore the leper king. For someone who's suffering from leprosy, he is one very strong king who truly cares about his people and what is good and right. If only we had that many kings in our history with that kind of a personality.

I admired the battle strategies, how they were able to defend the city of Jerusalem from the overwhelming forces of Saracens (is that the correct spelling?). I just admire how they planned their defenses, synchronized their attacks. I never realized how much I adore battles.

As for the battle scenes themselves, I kind of couldn't help but yearn for Peter Jackson's battle portrayals in LOTR. With Pete's version, you know what was happening and who was fighting whom. Of course, it probably helped that bad guys are ugly brutes with weird and dirty armors while the good guys are strapped with gleaming armors and great swords. In Kingdom of Heaven, it's very confusing. Muslim and Christians all look alike and the only way they can make sure the audience knows who Bailin is and what's happening to him is to have Orlando take off his helmet to fight while the rest of his men keep their helmets.

Anyway, it's a great movie. I recommend it to everyone.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith

Ooooh. I love this. Need I say more? I'm a total Star Wars kid. I dug the Force, adored Luke and Leia, and wanted a Wookie or Ewok of my own.

Did you know that Return of the Jedi was released pre-movie-release to be titled as Revenge of the Jedi so that bootlegs (the term for piracy peeps) will get caught if they sell pirated stuff coz the title is wrong. After all, fans of Star Wars know that revenge is not the Jedi way. Ironic, don't you think, that the last of the prequel trilogy (Ep3) would have a title that mirrors the end of the first (second?) trilogy, Return of the Jedi. (Excerp from http://imdb.com: "The title to this film is based on a false name given to _Return Of The Jedi (1983)_ , which was "Revenge Of The Jedi". In the Special Edition of ROTJ, George Lucas himself stated that they purposely leaked out the name as "Revenge Of The Jedi" in order to catch people making bootleg merchandise. He also stated that a true Star Wars fan would have known it was a false title because a Jedi would never seek revenge. The false title also caused another movie to change its title; Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) was originally titled "Khan's Revenge", but changed when word of the third Star Wars film's working title was leaked.")

This movie is a far cry from the first two movies that disappointed fans the world over. It's action-packed from beginning to end. The movie opens a few years into the Clone Wars and ends just as the Clone Wars end. And yet we all know that peace is not obtained since it takes Luke defeating the Dark Side to get it.

Hayden is hot, Ewan is gorgeous and those two are in practically every reel so I certainly got my hottie fix (fixes?). Except that Ewan has these two pimples on his forehead that just distracted me every time his face was on the big screen (he and Hayden gets loads of close-ups)...

Their climatic light saber fight gave me goosebumps and the private amusement of realizing that these are the two actors who made lightsaber noises the first time they held lightsabers in their hands. Read it off imdb.com (trivia part) that Ewan McGregor apparently made (unconscious) lightsaber noises in Ep1 and the director only realized it when they were editing the film. He had to take away Ewan's 'sound effects' and fill in his own. In ep2, "Like Ewan McGregor did in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Hayden Christensen made "lightsaber noises" the first time he was handed one in rehearsal. After chuckling at the young star's antics, George Lucas informed him that they probably had people in Sound Effects who could do a better job in post production." (http://imdb.com/) I assume that when the third film rolled around, they outgrew the need to make lightsaber noises? Boys will always be boys. And Ewan and Hayden are two of the most adorable boys around.

Also, did you know that the tradition is that every actor cast as a Jedi Knight gets to design his own lightsaber except that Hayden wasn't allowed to do that coz his lightsaber had to be the same that was given to Luke (Ep4) that Obi Wan said belonged to his father? On that line of thought, I wonder how come Ewan was allowed to design his own lightsaber when he also should have the same lightsaber design as Obi Wan of Ep4 used? Although, apparently, in this movie, he did use the same lightsaber as ep4 Obi Wan used.

Anakin's walk in the Dark path makes me feel so sad. It's like watching an honorable and great person walk down the path of no return. You pity him. You want to be there to stop him and yet know that he's a far better warrior than you and he'd just probably kill you. You want to shake him silly for being so stupid and gullible and yet you feel for him, you know and understand the reasons behind his actions. While you dislike what he's doing, you understand that he's just confused and desperate. He did it for Love and isn't that every bad guy's redeeming quality? When Darth Vader (I consider the 'true' Darth Vader to be his steel-clad face in black costume) finally makes his appearance, I get all tingly inside, knowing what his fate will be like. And yet, I also can't help noticing that Darth Vader of Ep3 is very lean and thin... while Darth Vader of Ep4-6 is... not. Couldn't they have made Hayden seem bigger? Coz it's really a glaring inconsistency coz Darth Vader of Ep4 is a big guy and here we have a tall and lean Darth. But, fine, I'll forgive George. Anakin probably enjoys eating and, with his body organs all out of whack, he probably ends up storing fat thus becaming, er, bigger as the years go by. Also, Hayden is really the guy under that costume, camera tricks were used to that he would seem taller than the Emperor. Coz in Ep4-6, Darth Vader was taller and bigger than the Emperor. In his old Anakin guise, Hayden's about the same size as Palpatine.

SPOILERS: I loved and just totally adored Obi-Wan's last words to Anakin/Darth Vader: "You were supposed to be the chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the Dark Side, not join them! You were supposed to bring balance back to the Force, not leave it in darkness!" You can totally see him questioning Anakin, seeing his confidence and trust in Anakin dissolving before your very eyes. You see his disillusionment, his pain, his hurt as the one person he cared most about took a path that would lead to his/their destruction. "I hate you!" Darth Vader yells back, angry until the end, when he's defeated and about to die (relatively speaking). Obi-Wan looks tired, worn, defeated even though he believes he has killed Darth Vader. "You were my brother! I loved you!" he says, watching as flames lick Darth Vader's stump legs and begins to put him on fire. Obi Wan watches, not because he wants to or because he has to ensure that Darth Vader is dead, but because you know he can't take his eyes away from the man he once considered his brother. He mourns for everything that has happened and how things came to end up being the way they were.

SPOILERS: Ewan McGregor is a wonderful actor. He totally pulled off the pain he felt as he watched a hologram security camera show him images of Anakin Skywalker killing off Younglings - a scene I believe George included to show everyone that Anakin Skywalker had gone down the path of no return and was beyond redemption. He expressed just the right amount of shock and pain, as well as resolve and strength (to do what he had to do regardless of how he initially didn't believe he could kill Anakin, his brother). You could see how, in his mind, he believed it true, but in his heart, he hoped Darth Vader wasn't as gone as he thought he'd be. But when Darth Vader started to choke Padme and Obi Wan tells him to let her go, you can see how Obi Wan finally realizes that Anakin is truly lost. After all, he loves Padme more than anything and for him to allow anger to rule over his love for Padme... well, only a Sith would be able to do that.

I watched it until the end, first with my parents and then, one showing later, with my brother and his wife. I wanna watch it again and again and again. So if any of my friends want to watch... can you invite me out? Hee. I adore the movie. I definitely do. The first was a disappointment, the second had sequences wherein you sigh or roll your eyes. The third? Pure magic. It brings back to mind the magic one experiences when one watches 4-6 for the first time. Undoubtedly, George Lucas can't seem to match the brilliance he showed 20 years ago in the original trilogy, but he sure comes close. I just can't understand why the cast billing starts with Ewan McGregor (Obi-wan Kenobi), Natalie Portman (billed simply as 'Padme'), and then Hayden Christensen. I would've thought Anakin Skywalker would have first billing since he's kind of 'the star', right?

SPOILERS: The one disappointing line from the entire movie that I hated? "Anakin, you're breaking my heart," Padme says, choking back tears. Ugh. How cheesy can you get? I just really didn't like that line. Then again, all is forgiven coz her next line just hits me: "You're walking down a path I cannot follow." How true.

Man. I wanna watch it again! Who's up for it?

To Trish (you reading this ba?): sorry, I watched both movies na. I know I said let's watch Kingdom of Heaven but you didn't really seem that enthusiastic and I couldn't find the time din naman... and then my parents suggested we go and watch it since I keep saying I want to watch it, so we did. But I totally wouldn't mind watching it again. If you don't mind that I've watched it already, let's watch? Pretty please? Especially Star Wars III. Man, that is/was GOOD.