Clash of the Titans was alright by me, but It didn't stand out as the epic remake I expected from the trailers I saw. Director Louis Letterier's effort to make a defining film based on the story of the demigod Perseus was ok, but it deviated greatly from Greek Mythology, to the point that none of the events that took place in the film are canon besides the slaying of Medusa and the Kraken. Despite the relatively low points and mixed reactions, the movie fared well in box office numbers to warrant itself a sequel, and here we are with the next picture that sees Sam Worthington return to the lead as Zeus' son with "Wrath of the Titans". Anyone who loved the action of the first film and its cast will be geared up for this... but does it play out well as a heroic follow-up or a tragedy to be? Find out in the review below, and special thanks again goes to Warner Bros. Philippines and SM Cinema for the special screening invites, which also gave me a chance to see The Dark Knight Rises Prologue in IMAX again!!
Here it is... Justice PH/ Gotham PH and Gotham Madness star in their very first and simple Batman fan film feature!
"WHERE'S FINCH?!"
"On March 2012, DC Comics talent and Batman: The Dark Knight writer/ artist David Finch was invited to Fully Booked.
However, something unexpected happened, prompting Batman and his allies from Gotham PH to respond to a situation. Finch was unable to make his trip, and suspicions arose that Gotham Madness may be behind the delays. With that, The Dark Knight set out on his own investigation and ends up paying a visit to his old archnemesis... The Joker."
Timzster Productions presents "Where's Finch?!"
Where's Finch?! - A Batman Fan Film
A fan film by Batfans for Batfans!
Special Thanks goes out to Justice PH/ Gotham PH, Gotham Madness, Fully Booked, DC Comics, and David Finch!
*Disclaimer: Batman and all related characters are properties of DC Comics and Warner Bros. This is a non-profit fan film by fans who appreciate and love the comics, books, shows, and movies the franchise promotes and is based upon.
I haven't read any of The Hunger Games books, and after seeing this film, I can honestly tell you why I'm glad I skipped out. As much as possible, I prefer to keep myself in the dark for movies adapted from literary works I have yet to read, and I'd much rather pick up the novel once I've seen the film version to save myself from looking out for the flaws or loose adaptations. That being said, I rested easy got and to enjoy what I can consider another one of those "healthy starts" for movies in the year 2012. Special thanks goes out to Microsoft Philippines and GMA Network for providing these tickets again to the screening!
Finally, after months of waiting and anticipation, I got my hands of definite classics from my Playstation 2 days, which have been collected and remastered in HD format for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 - Konami'sSilent Hill HD Collection and Capcom'sDevil May Cry HD Collection! As the title suggests, these are rereleases of classic games from two stellar franchises that have proven to be hits for the PS2, and all of them are collected into one single Blu-Ray disc/ HD-DVD package for convenience!
Featured among the lot are the ff:
Silent Hill HD Collection
- Silent Hill 2 - Silent Hill 3
Devil May Cry HD Collection
- Devil May Cry - Devil May Cry 2 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition
With those games in mind, these bundle packs are truly worth the price of admission again for those who have or have yet to experience these fine additions to gaming history! Granted, there are other new games to consider that harness the power of today's console generation, but I chose these ones simply because I wanted them out of nostalgia and fandom. Besides, replaying these with Trophy support and in full HD for the PS3 counts for something, and the replay value each of these games have make them worthy additions to a gamer's collection!
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Metal Gear franchise has been nothing short of excellence and awesome... And we have Konami and Hideo Kojima to thank for that. The man behind the legend of Snake has epitomized Stealth games and Tactical Espionage Action, and I've been fortunate enough to be there for the ride, which spans a good two decades of gaming. Suffice to say, this post was born out of seeing a post the previous day that highlighted Kojima's intentions to create games until the day he dies, and the fact that I stumbled upon a newly released Solid Snake Play Arts Kai action figure. I may have a Big Boss Peace Walker Play Arts Kai figure, but the sight of the original protagonist in his new toy form was enough to send me spiraling down memory lane, and reminisce about Metal Gear and it's influence on me over the years.
To paraphrase an iconic line from Metal Gear Solid 4: "Gaming Has Changed", and so has Metal Gear with it. Having its humble origins in the 8-bit era and the 80's, a then unknown Hideo Kojima created a little game for the MSX system called "Metal Gear", which pitted a young soldier named Solid Snake against an entire mercenary nation and its bipedal nuclear tank weapon, with the world and its peace on the line. The game borrowed concepts heavily from several well know Hollywood action movies, and Kojima himself was an avid film buff, which would highlight the rest of his tenure and work in the series' later installments.
Metal Gear became a hit and earned a follow up a few years later, but it wouldn't hit cult status until the release of "Metal Gear Solid" for the original Sony Playstation. That title helped revolutionized action and stealth gaming, and garnered a strong following thanks to its brilliant storytelling and gameplay. Soon thereafter, MGS spawned into its own series, and the franchise has constantly impressed the masses with each installment coming to pass. Solid Snake's story was fleshed out, as was his mentor/ rival/ progenitor Big Boss, who proved to be an iconic character of the series himself. The twists and turns of the series' continuity proved to be legendary in itself, and for each boss battle next to every final boss or walking tank you fought, you'd remember names like Vulcan Raven, The End, Liquid Snake, Cyborg Ninja, and Revolver Ocelot.
Regardless of how you know or choose to perceive it, Metal Gear certainly has become a legend inside and outside of gaming. 25 years of duty is not a small feat, and you can easily see how dedicated I and the rest of the fanbase are to this day, despite the fact that the series could already be finished and done with at this point after what happened in the previous installments released thus far. No matter what comes next after the spinoff title Metal Gear Solid: Rising or that unnamed FoxTech game, one thing will always be certain: we will always remember Metal Gear's legacy and the games Konami and Hideo Kojima have produced so beautifully over the years. That being said, I'll now continue to dream about that Play Arts Kai Solid Snake figure...
The stage is set. The fighters have assembled. The crossover of two epic franchises is here!
When Capcom and Namco Bandai announced to the world that they were going to have a crossover game between Street Fighter and Tekken during the 2010 San Diego Comic Con, my heart raced and pounded like crazy. The tech demo demonstrating the fight between Ryu and Ken vs Kazuya and Nina using a modified Street Fighter IV engine was literally candy to my eyes, and I couldn't wait for this baby to make it home to consoles and to the laps of dedicated fighters waiting to break in the game and push it to the limit. Fast forward to present time, and after almost two years of marketing, teasing, and occasional trolling/ battling between Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono and Namco Bandai Tekken lead director Katsuhiro Harada, Street Fighter X Tekken finally makes its way to the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. After a week of release, how does the game fair in terms of performance and presentation? Find out with this short review, and see if fists collide with intensity in this brawler!
Announced byComic Odyssey earlier in the day, Fully Booked has officially announced via their Tumblr page that DC Comics artist David Finch will be coming to Manila, Philippines on March 17 and 18 to meet and greet fans at the bookstore's branch at Bonifacio High Street. This comes after last week's unfortunate news, where unforeseen circumstances had to force Mr. Finch to miss his scheduled tour for March 11, 12, and 13. Now the man behind Batman: The Dark Knight is really coming this time, and anyone living in Manila who's a fan of his works and comics will surely want to plan their weekends for this!
"David Finch in Manila has been rescheduled to THIS WEEKEND! :-) We are very happy to announce this and will be releasing the details as soon as we can. Kindly stay tuned and help spread the word to the rest of his fans! :-)"
Be sure to catch David Finch at Fully Booked at BHS this Saturday and Sunday! Also, resident DC Comics cosplayers Justice PH/ Gotham PH and Gotham Madness will be there to support the artist and bookstore, wearing the cape, cowl, and uniforms of the characters from the Batman universe! See you all there!
There's no question that Sci-Fi movies entertain me a great deal, and I enjoy them immensely.
Growing up as a kid, I lived to watch cartoons that took you worlds beyond our own, retaining a semblance of humanity that the viewer could relate to yet mystifying them at the same time. Filmation and Mattel'sHe-Man and The Masters of The Universe served as that childhood springboard into a realm of fantasy, technology, and magic, and much of my imagination and appreciation for popculture stemmed from shows like that. Eventually, I grew to appreciate films of similar nature, namely the 80's Flash Gordon flick and the Star Wars/ Star Trek movies. Little did I know that all these concepts I enjoyed bore fruit because of one hero before his time: John Carter of Mars. Thanks to a special screening by Disney at IMAX in 3D last week, I got the chance to see this adventure, and the hero in it responsible for starting a trend that spanned generations.
Movie: John Carter Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Dominic West Release Date: March 9, 2012
Based on legendary sci-fi writer Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series of novels, John Carter is an adaptation of the first book "A Princess Of Mars", and serves as the origin tale showing how Carter made the trip from Earth to Mars and became the hero and adventurer he was destined to be. Played by actor Taylor Kitsch (you know him also as Gambit from X-Men Origins: Wolverine), John Carter started out as a disillusioned American Civil War Confederate Army captain, who lost his family and motivation for fighting for his country. After circumstances see him transported to a mysterious world that later turns out to be Mars, Carter suddenly finds himself with enhanced abilities thanks to the planet's lesser gravity. He soon meets the inhabitants of Barsoom, namely the indigeneous aliens who live there, including the beautiful Martian princess of Helium named Dejah Thoris (played by another X-men Origins star, Lynn Collins). Thrust into the middle of a conflict and conspiracy that could determine the fate of Mars and the entire universe, the man known as John Carter must find it in himself to decide his destiny and finally be the kind of man he was born to be: A hero.
With the character's first appearance dating back to 1912, Disney's John Carter just so happens to be the centenary celebration of the character, and we owe so much to his existence for all the glorious Sc-Fi material enjoyed by millions of readers and viewers over the years. After viewing the film, I immediately compared it to another science fiction work I enjoyed in my youth, namely the Alex Raymond created comic strip "Flash Gordon" (ultimately getting the 80's live action flick of the same name I mentioned earlier). There's a lot similarities and parallels to that work and John Carter, but Burroughs' creation was first and arguably ahead of its time. The author was also responsible for creating another famous character, namely "Tarzan of the Apes", who went on to have several adventures and depictions in various forms of media and literature. "John Carter of Mars" never got that same kind of popularity, but its influence inspired people like George Lucas and James Cameron to develop Sci-Fi concepts that became blockbusters hits, namely "Star Wars" and "Avatar".
John Carter Trailer
As a movie adaptation directed by Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton, Disney's John Carter serves as wonderful science fiction adventure that the family can go to see. With today's technology allowing much of the special effects to become a reality in movies, bringing the world of Baroom/ Mars is literally a cinch, and the cast only guarantee a grand stage for adventure, with known actors like Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, and Dominic West providing excellence in their roles, both for voice only and physical roles. However, after a century of inspiring other ideas that borrowed concepts from its own premise, John Carter does feel like a "run-in-the-mill"type of movie that has stuff people may be all too familiar with, not knowing it was the progenitor of it all. It's only drawback is it's a title that doesn't scream epic, rather a character who sounds like a John Doe and not something alluding to Burroughs' prized creation. Marketing has been a little low key to depict the film as an epic, but it does try to bring exposure by offering more clips of its premise, including this 10 minute exclusive sneak peek released by Disney.
John Carter - Exclusive Ten Minute Scene
As for John Carter himself, Taylor Kitsch captures the spirit of things by delivering a heroic performance, but it's going to take more than one movie to convince others of his acting chops, and hopefully this saga will spawn more sequels. I'd love to see Lynn Collins return as Dejah Thoris, and they have chemistry together as a power couple. Oh, and the aliens were funny, especially the big dog that looks like Marvel's Lockjaw. In fact, you have Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), Silverfox (Lynn Collins) Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), and Green Lantern Sinestro (Mark Strong) in this movie... it's comic book movie all star casting here!
Undoubtedly, John Carter will divide fans with the way its presented and marketed, but those willing to step up and take a ride will be presented with an adventure that promises to be fun and captivating for generations new and old alike. It may not be recognized by many as one of the grandfathers of sci-fi adventure, but give it a chance and it may entice you to revisit Burroughs' books that started it all. All it takes is a leap of faith, so disregard whatever mixed opinions there may be... and watch something that keeps the spirit of adventure and fantasy living on forever.
Much of us know him and his legend, and despite lacking powers or abilities that far exceed those of mortal men, Bruce Wayne's alter ego simply kicks ass. No matter how much you look for reasons to justify that he's just one man in a cape and costume, Batman has one superpower that has earned the respect and admiration of his peers, foes, and fans alike - his sheer will and determination. Losing his family to a petty crime and dedicating himself to fighting injustice has been the creed of this character for much of his 70 plus years in comics, and the spirit of the character not only endured with the times, but has influenced us to strive to become our own Batman, in one form or the other.
In my case, I owe it to the legend of The Batman for making me the person I am today, and I'm not just talking about the fact that I cosplay the character (more on that later). Reading his adventures and watching cartoons like "Superfriends" and "Justice League" showed that Batman is certainly not a hero to underestimated, and despite his lack of superpowers, he's not just some rich fellow flaunting that he has fancy rides, gadgets, and a bat cave. He carries himself by refusing to give up, and until every breath of his body is expelled, you won't see him hesitate until he reaches his objective and gets the job done. That display of willpower and resiliency has an impact on you, and if someone like the Batman can do it, why can't you? Simply put, Batman inspires one to take the challenge or answer the call for a cause worth fighting for. He uses intimidation, detective work, and various forms of training and martial arts to get his work done, coupled with access to the latest gadgets and technology money can buy thanks to his dual identity's wealth. You don't have to literally take your life and compare it to Bruce Wayne's, but if you see it as an analogy or parallels of your own life given some similarities, then anything goal is possible if you put your mind into it.
There have been many iterations of The Batman seen through TV and film too, and each carries themselves accordingly to a degree that gives meaning and inspiration to its audience. From Adam West's portrayal of a campy Batman to Michael Keaton's gothic take of the crime fighter, and Kevin Conroy's absolute vocal perfection of a lone dark avenger to Christian Bale's realistic take on one man making a difference as a symbol, there have been countless ways to personify the essence of The Batman in a manner that gives credence to his definition of a man dedicated to his calling, and strives to be the hero everyone deserves who is fair and just. His is the way many envision themselves as, but not everyone can be like him truly. We try each day to make ourselves a "Batman" of sorts, in what we do and how we strive to be the embodiment of a perfect man/ woman who does everything with sheer will and determination to guide them through.
In effect, I have been an avid follower and fan of The Batman since I came to know him, and as a result, I pay tribute to the character and honor his legacy by inspiring others and making fans happy by cosplaying as him during cosplay events and gatherings. I started wearing the cape and cowl with fellow friends and collectors just last year, and collectively we have come to be known as Justice PH, a group who cosplays as the DC Comics Characters who make up the Justice League. We have expanded this far and have met and befriended some fellow like-minded individuals, particularly Young Justice and Gotham Madness, and since then we have established ourselves as fans doing what we do best: paying tribute to our inspirations and heroes the best way we can.
On that note, Fully Booked has invited me and my fellow cosplayers from Gotham PH (a subsidiary of Justice PH) and Gotham Madness to participate and help promote the arrival of DC Comics superstar writer and artist David Finch to Manila this March 11, 12, and 13! As the writer/ artist of ongoing title Batman: The Dark Knight, this is a real treat for Batman fans, and those who know Finch for his works in New Avengers, Moon Knight, and Brightest Day will also be excited to attend this event! Be sure to check out more info from Fully Booked's official website, and please visit/ like our Facebook pages at Timzster, Justice PH, Gotham Madness, Young Justice PH, and Fully Booked!
With all that said, I will commend the Batman for who he is - a hero who proves to be the representation of man's indomitable will, spirit, and heroism to this day! Be sure to also catch Christopher Nolan's epic final chapter of The Dark Knight Saga, when The Dark Knight Rises arrives in conventional theaters and IMAX this July!
On March 11, 12, and 13,Fully Booked will bring DC Comics Writer/ Artist David Finch to the Philippines for a 3 day meet and greet session with fans and collectors! To promote the occasion and spread awareness, the bookstore has teamed up with the members of Gotham PH (the Gotham City branch of "Justice PH") and Gotham Madness - Filipino cosplayers who portray their favorite comic book characters, and in this case, members of Batman universe! Once again stepping into the shoes of The Dark Knight himself, I along with my fellow heroes and villains spread the word by distributing stickers and pins promoting Mr. Finch's visit to Manila, as well as posing for photos with people and citizens of all ages!
Promoting David Finch in Manila! - Fully Booked, Gotham PH, and Gotham Madness!
Shot on March 3rd Saturday, this video shows just what happened on Fully Booked's "Promo Day". If you're a fan of Batman, David Finch, or happen to be a comic book collector living in Manila, you owe it to yourselves to check out what you missed! It's a taste of things to come on March 11, when Gotham PH and Gotham Madness reconvene to welcome David Finch on Day one of his visit!
