The Weekend Recap - 08.09.2011 - Booze, The Hangover Part 3, and Running With Batman

This fucking photo says it all.

Saturday... Sunday: The past 2 days was a complete blast! I had my birthday last Friday (August 5), and then me and my friends followed it up with a cool party... filled with great laughter and of course... TONS of booze. 

Tequilas all over the place, food, more tequila, then finished it off with some 100% pure Russian vodka that had everybody going crazy sh.it all night.

The next morning most of my guys can't remember what they did, and everybody had the worst hangover in their entire drinking lives. 

I wanna do it again. 

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Monday: I don't know what hit me, but I bought a DVD collection of all the Batman movies, right from the Tim Burton classics starring Michael Keaton, to the horrible Joel Schumacher films with Val Kilmer and George Clooney with the Bat-nipples, up to the greatest superhero movie Batman Begins and the smash-hit The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan.

Up to this day, I still find the first two Batman movies (Batman and Batman Returns) really enjoyable, and will forever be two of the best Batman films ever.  I believe that those two set the standard for the "dark and gritty" trend in superhero movies today. Everybody wants to make something dark and edgy, and the aforementioned films truly symbolized that style. I guess we could all give Tim Burton the credit.

Not to mention that familiar Batman theme we all grew up with. Its one of those epic musical scores that epitomizes the character, just like John Williams' Superman theme. 

This scene still sent chills down my spine.

And you just can't beat the tandem of Keaton/Batman + Nicholson/The Joker (still one of my all time favorite portrayals, but I believe Heath's Joker was the best). Its damn unreal. I also love Danny DeVito's Penguin (he was born to play that character), and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman (who would even forget that "meow" + explosion part?). These villains we're perfectly portrayed and used in the movies.

I refuse to comment on the Joel Schumacher films. They're all forgettable. Those movies we're a disgrace to the Batman mythos. I gotta admit though, Val Kilmer was quite an interesting Batman, I think even better than George Clooney. But still, they all suck, and they will be remembered for that.

The only thing those movies got right for me we're Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone, and Uma Thurman. 

And the nipples on Batgirl's costume. Lovely. 

First time I saw this as a kid, I knew I love Batgirl.

Finally, if you're going to ask me who's the best Batman? I would still go with Michael Keaton anyd ay of the week. You could say that's because of the nostaglic effect, but I'll stick with it. Don't get me wrong, I like Christian Bale, but there's just something about Keaton that got the whole Bruce Wayne/ Batman dichotomy right.

Now if you'll excuse me... I've got to catch up with reality and work. No comic book reviews for i-don't-know-how-long.

The Weekend Recap - 07.19.2011 - The Magical Finale and More Zombie Thumping... Soon!

It was a nostaglic and bittersweet ride this weekend, mainly because of the ending of the beloved Harry Potter franchise via the last film - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. 

Nostalgic because as I was watching the film, I remember all those 10 years worth of movies and memories, seeing all these actors grow up (literally), and enjoying every bit of the magical ride. But then as I walked out of the darkened movie halls, I felt a bit sad because I won't be seeing Harry, Hermione, and Ron EVER again.

And that means we won't see them for good. Gone are the wands, the magical encantations (my favorite spell was "Expecto Patronum!"), and the Hogwarts Express... all of it.  

It was the perfect ending to a once-in-a-lifetime movie franchise and one that will never be duplicated. And I am thankful to be one of those people who have witnessed - no, not just witnessed - but experienced a one-in-a-million journey... in a world where everything is possible with a flick of a wand. I'm gonna miss it.

But I'm gonna miss Emma more than anything else.

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I was over with the Harry Potter fever after a day, and immediately got to my DVD store and bought the complete Season 1 of AMC's hit series "The Walking Dead" - based on the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard - which is one of my comic book series  of all time along with Bill Willingham's Fables.

12 chapters and an explosive season 1 finale, I want more of this series. Its such a shame that I would have to wait for October for Season 2. 

Glad I found a way to quench that thirst, with an exclusive Walking Dead Comic-Con poster and a preview clip that shows a hardcore Rick Grimes laying the smackdown on two helpless roamers. 

I like the fact that the next season could be going into a more dark corner in our character's minds, for it is the main element that made the comic books such a hit due to its many unforgettable scenes. I can't wait to see how would they translate the most bone-chilling moments in the comics into the TV screen. Darker, bloodier and better than ever.

Random Thoughts: The Problem With Teaser Pics and Gazillion TV Spots

In today's uber-interactive world where just everything can be shared online, people get a glimpse of many trailers, teaser pics and TV spots of a specific movie even before it hits theaters. 

The problem with this is that it SPOILS the excitement and the mystery of the film, and when we finally get to watch the movie we often feel like we didn't see anything new or surprising. 

We don't feel satisfied unlike the good ol days where trailers are only shown twice, and nobody's leaking out commercials and exclusive set pictures. People get to enjoy the thrill of knowing absolutely nothing about the movie and as a result, people get to enjoy the film more.

While getting the first peek sounds really cool, it doesn't really help viewers in the long run so with that said, I have decided not to click too much on links that leakout information, pictures, and videos on a certain film - especially with superhero movies. In short, I'm gonna do myself a favor and do some damage control.

I may watch a two trailers and look at a few pics here and there, but if I think something is going to spoil me big time... nah, I'm gonna forget about it.

Tired.

I'm all tired and burned out.

I may not be reading nor reviewing any comic books this week - which is a shame actually - because there are so many good titles that released their latest issues for this month.

Oh well, that's life. Sometimes you just have to take a step away from the noise of the whole world.

A Happy Father's Day To All!

So don't forget to give the greatest dad...

 ...a warm hug

.... a heartfelt kiss

or simply...

...your T-I-M-E.

Have a great weekend guys!

Footnotes: image 1 - Rose Wilson and her dad Slade  (DeathStroke); image 2 - Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle) her dad Jim; image 3 - Clark (Superman) and his (foster) dad Jonathan

Nostalgia Bytes: Remembering Captain America's Final Justice

Back when I was addicted to the first Playstation, one of my favorite games was Marvel vs Capcom 2. The game has it all: you can get to build a team of all your favorite super-heroes and characters and pit it against the AI's (artificial intelligence) team or even better, play it against your friend's own and see who is better. Then you can talk trash everytime you win, which was always the best part (admit it). 

I always used Captain America in every team that I had mainly because he is such a bad-ass character that has three of the best (arguably) moves in the game. There's the Hyper Charging Star (which is basically Cap charging behind a flaming shield), Stars and Stripes (which is a "Shoryuken"-type shield uppercut) and finally, my favorite super move of all: Final Justice - a move which can sometimes cheat a counter-team combo and the only move that can hurt a familiar Kryptonian. Seriously. Watch.

                 Remember Action Comics #900? Captain America didn't like that.

In short, Cap doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't play cute and he will kick your butt and ram your head to the floor until it explodes like a grenade. Plus, he always WINS the war for his team in the with the ultimate swag using Final Justice. Iron Man and Thor don't even come close. Here's an example:

                                                  Final Justice FTW!!!

Nostalgia Bytes: Remembering Most Badass Kamen Rider (and henshin) EVER.

dEvery week I will try to pick one Youtube video(s) that brings back some of my childhood memories. I'm more of a 90's guy, so most of the articles/videos featured could be ANYTHING from the late 80s to the later part of the 90s. Yeah, the good 'ol times. 

First up: The popular Japanese Tokusatsu 'Kamen Rider Black' or more commonly known here in the Philippines as 'Masked Rider Black'.

I remember I was 7 or 9 years old when I first saw Black's first transformation scene and I was going like crazy. The next day I was doing my best henshin imitation at the mirror. I still do it today especially when I want to get pumped up or something. Call me crazy but that's just the way it is.

I'm just kidding, I am not doing that anymore. Moving on...

Tetsuo Kurata as Minami Kotaro

Before all the K-pop and boy-band wannabe-looking Masked Riders of the present day who uses all different kinds of hi-tech belts, swipe cards and other shit that you would only see in Star Wars, there was Kamen Rider Black. 

Masked Rider Black

(If you are one of those kids who were born in the early 2000s who wouldn't probably know what this is,  here's a link of the story synopsis for you.)

This TV series was one of the best of the 90s and one of the best Kamen Rider shows of all time (probably the greatest) because of its dramatic storyline, great special effects and action sequences, manly lead star (Tetsuo Kurata) who is nowhere near the kids who portray the Riders today, and most importantly - because of this single greatest henshin (means "transformation") sequence in tokusatsu history:

The Weekend Recap - 05/31/2011

Alright, time for a quick recap of what I've done this weekend.

So what's up?

First, my brother had four free tickets to the screening of Pirates of the Caribbean 4 so we, together with my other siblings went ahead to the cinemas to watch it this past Saturday. Here's a mini-review of the film:

Its never the same without Keira Knightly.

Why Superman Is The Greatest Comic Book Character

He's the man that started it all. The archetype for the modern superhero. The brainchild of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who for more than 70 years is still ripping that shirt off, taking over the skies and saving the world... Superman. 

There are superheroes that are way cooler than him - like Batman for example. Billionaire playboy, has nifty gadgets, and basically is better than the Clark Kent who works as a newspaper journalist, walks to his office and gets yelled by his boss every day, right?

But still, i like Superman. Hell, i LOVE Superman. I've got him all over the place, be it action figures, mugs, dvds, and even in my blog! There I said it. Does that make me a gay now? LOL. 

Back to the question. Why him? Is it because of the superpowers?

My Kryptonian Name..

is Err Zor.

I don't know what the hell that means, so I decided to do some research to find out the etymology of my kryptonian name. 

Let's take each one and dissect them, starting with the meaning of "Err":


Thinkexist says:

1. To miss intellectual truth; to fall into error; to mistake in judgment or opinion; to be mistaken.

Ok, that's doesn't sound good.

How about "Zor"?

OnlineSlangDictionary says: 

Often used with an expression to enhance it. Frequently used in collaberation with (and originated from) "leet speak" (1337). also -zorness -zors.

Example: Wowzors! (a form of a joyous expression) 

WTF? I didn't know Kryptonians knew "leet speak." Anyway, based on the above information, "Err Zor" literally means: "BIG TIME [insert derogatory/totally insulting word(s) here]". *

Wanna know the "kryptonese" version of your name? Click here.

*and to think that I really spent time writing this shit. 

If you liked my post, get free updates via email or RSS.

Will be...

...watching Smallville until its 2 part finale the whole weekend. Can't believe its finally ending. It had its great and not-so-great moments, but overall it was a wonderful 10 years.*sobs* 

LOL, just kidding with the sob part.

Enjoy your weekend guys!

What's up with me lately...

Hmmm... nothing going on much asides from learning on how to play the piano, and my first piece is one of my favorite tunes in "How To Save A Life" by The Fray. I always wondered how cool would it be to be able to play the piano and sing and I'm kind of living it right now with my old electronic keyboard. Haha. Sweet.

--

Still reading comics of course, just finished reading Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo who apparently collaborated on another graphic novel before that, which was Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. Love this team and their works. 

--

Currently waiting for following comic book issues/titles:

• Power Girl #24 
• Morning Glories #10 
• Superior #5 
• Superman #711
• Scarlet # 6 
• Kick-Ass 2   #3
• The Walking Dead #85

..and I'm reading another title who's protagonist is a backward-spellchanting lady magician in fishnet fetish wear (oh yeah): Zatanna. Who doesn't like sexy, big boobed women who kicks-ass? 

Free Comic Book Day 2011 At Comic Odyssey Tomorrow!

The  10TH annual Free Comic Book Day  is just hours away!  This yearly event is celebrated worldwide every first Saturday of May with the aim of  encouraging new readers to get into comics,  and to promote comic books and most importantly, comic book reading in general. And tomorrow, May 7 (actually today here in the Philippines - its 12:11 am now) one of the biggest supporters of this event this side of the world -  Comic Odyssey - will be giving away... 30,000 comic books coming from publishers such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, etc at their Robinson's Galleria branch in Ortigas/EDSA.

Just in case you didn't catch that, I'm gonna repeat it again. 30,000 FREE COMIC BOOKS WILL BE GIVEN AWAY TOMORROW.

Wow, that's a lot. Very impressive. So if you are not going to do anything important tomorrow, try to drop by at Comic Odyssey before 10:30 am to get some good freebies and also the chance to meet some of the local industry's top comic book artists and creators. For more information click here. 

Speaking of comic book reading, I remember when I was 7-9 years old, my parents brought me a copy of The Amazing Spiderman. Sadly, I don't remember what the issue number was because my copy got lost a long time ago. Anyway, having that comic book helped me learn how to read, enhance my reading comprehension and develop my literacy at a very young age while introducing me to the wonders of reading. Though I didn't understand the story well back then, I did learn new words and phrases while reading aloud the dialog inside those thought-balloons and enjoying the Spidey swinging all over the place. As a result of that, I was able to learn the language pretty well, and since then, I had this new-found love for reading all kinds of literature. 

Its so damn hot!

Its ridiculous here in the metro right now because its summer time and guess what, we've got a scorching, brain-draining heat wave going on here. About 30 degrees C for today I think.

Only had 5 hours of fucking sleep because of that. Sweet. 

*****

On the other hand, it made me remember Johnny Storm. Yeah, the freaking Human Torch from the Fantastic Four.  If you don't know what happened to him, well... he  died fighting extraterrestrial aliens in Fantastic Four #587 and was replaced by your friendly neighborhood, Spider-Man. I guess they can't think of any interesting roles for Torchy anymore. 

But I'll know he'll be back. Nobody dies in comics for so long except for a couple of guys, who are usually supporting characters. For example:  Uncle Ben (Peter Parker/Spiderman's uncle), Gwen Stacy (Spidey's first girlfriend), and Thomas and Martha Wayne (Bruce Wayne/Batman's parents) to name a few. 

What's up with me lately...

Just another quickie with what I'm doing, watching, reading or whatever thing it is that probably you don't really give a damn about.

Watching...

• Pawn Stars (History Channel)
• Top Shot (History Channel)
• the NBA Playoffs - betting for the Lakers or Bulls to win. And I hate the Miami Heat. 

Yep, basketball and a couple of shows that are really that damn entertaining. Especially Pawn Stars. Where do you get to see a show where people go sell or pawn their antique stuff while talking a lot of historical bits about their items? Plus the interaction between the owners of the shop and its customers are cool and sometimes hilarious. A recent episode that I watched saw a guy trying to sell a life-sized Red Power Ranger and wants to get $800 for it. Damn man, who would want a freaking Power Ranger!?

Finished reading...

• X-23: Innocence Lost (Marvel) - yes the review will come up soon. Nice story telling. A lot of substance.
• Mouse Guard Winter of 1152 
• Superior 1-4 (Icon/Marvel) - there are 6 issues in all, and I'm still waiting for the other 2 issues before I review the whole thing. Incredible book, by the way.
• Superman 709 and 710
• Steel # 1, Outsiders #37, JLA #55, and Superman/Batman Annual #5 (all part of the Reign of Doomsday crossover) - yes Doomsday's tearing all over the DC universe, and 1 more issue till he comes face to face with Superman, again! That gets me all fired up. 

I think that's pretty much it. A lot of comic books read in about 5 days. Not bad huh?

If its too good to be true...

... its not EFFIN' true.

That's my personal motto for a year now and I really believe that everybody should be watchful of things that are too impossibly good to be real. You know - to avoid getting screwed, just in case.

Its like Superman (and any superhero nowadays for that matter) dying in 1994: everybody cries, gets blown away and mourns like a family member just died because they think "he's dead! he's never gonna come back!" People buy millions of the "Death of Superman" issue and sparks a comic book boom in the 90s....  

.. then suddenly after a couple of fake Supermen coming in to the scene.. he (the real one) comes back flying with a mullet (yes, a fucking mullet) and goes:

 "Hello guys, I'm not really dead! I'm the goddamn Superman for pete's sakes! Hahahaha, screw you all!"

Comic books, people. They can screw you pretty well too. 

Two more of my collectibles..

I've posted what my workstation looks like and all the Superman-related stuff that I have there so I can brag how big of a comic book fan I am.

Here's two more of my so called "collectibles" at home: (sorry for the blurred pictures, I've only got a 2MP camera on my cellphone. Hahaha) 

First there's the pillow. A pillow with the Superman-logo emblazoned on it with the blue and yellow design to get that whole super-feel. I've been longing to get a throw-pillow like this and finally I got one. Yey! I know, I'm a real sappy guy.

Supergirl issue #47 - Pain and Responsibility
Cover art by Joshua Middleton

Then there's a copy of DC Super Heroes from PSICOM Publishing (a local publishing company here in the Philippines) which actually contains three comic book issues in one - 1 of each from Supergirl, Justice League of America, and my favorite out-of-continuity comic books, Superman/Batman.

I was real happy to see the comic book when my girlfriend gave it to me, and I was even more surprised to see that it had the latest issues of Supergirl (from the Superman: New Krypton crossover) and Superman/Batman that I have been following at the time. 

Superman / Batman #60 - "Mash-Up" Part 1
Cover art by Francis Manapul

It had Francis Manapul's cover art on the book - complete with the part 1 of issue #60 titled "Mash-Up",  which was one of the craziest storylines I have ever read. Imagine two superheroes merged into one like this: Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) + Dick Grayson (Nightwing), and then a city called Gothamopolis which is defended by a superhero team called The Justice Titans.  Now Superman and Batman has to figure out what the hell is going on. 

If that's not enough, you've got a bad-ass of a villain whose name is Lex Joker. You get the point. Its a very cool issue.

Here's a snap shot of one page featuring Francis Manapul's ink-and-wash style artwork showing our two heroes with the Justice Titans. 

Beautiful isn't it? I'm a big fan of Francis so even though this book only had part 1 of this crazy-ass storyline, its real special to me mainly because I get to own a comic with his art on it. 

Not to mention that both items came from my girlfriend as a gift. If that wasn't sweet, then I don't know what it is. 

Things from the email: The Positive Board

My Super Workstation...

So I'm back to work now and before I get to start pounding my telephone and keyboard keys away, I just want you to see what my workstation looks like:

Yeah I'm a sucker for everything Superman so obviously you will see that I have these super-stuff planted all over my desk. Makes my life a little bit colorful/awesome at the office 

From left to right: I've got my Superman-themed mug which I use everyday of course, a Superman Returns action figure (which are both given to me by my girlfriend... and yes its fucking sweet) then finally, an old copy of DC's animated film Superman/Doosmday which was given to me by my cousin who is also a big big Superman fan. 

I know its not much compared to other collector's stuff, but these are really special to me, mainly because they were given by the people closest to my heart. 

Go check out the full sized photos of my stuff after the cut.

My choice of words...

..hurt other people and most of the time its the ones that i really care about. I'm a guy that pretty much says whatever I have in mind and even though I don't intend to hurt anyone's feelings - it turns out exactly that way. 

And I'm really screwing up with my choice of words. For example, I've been saying this phrase lately:

"I could care less..."

At first I'm just saying that to tell someone that I don't want to waste my time on something that's not really important, but then I understand now that the phrase is really harsh to some extent. Never going to use that again.