"Interstellar" | MOVIE REVIEW

I have a soft spot for Christopher Nolan flicks, and I have an even softer spot for space flicks, so, the moment I heard about a little Christopher Nolan project by the name of Interstellar, I knew I just HAD to see this movie. Why? Because I had a gut feeling that this movie was gonna be great.

It's science.

Basic genetics, man. They teach you this stuff in 7th grade.

I mean, you have Christopher Nolan at the helm, and you have both him and Jonathan behind the proverbial typewriter, Hans Zimmer manning the orchestra, and Matthew Mc-freaking-Conaughey as lead actor. It's also a sci-fi movie. About space travel. Everyone knows how much I freaking love space movies. I was already throwing money at this movie as soon as I saw the first couple of frames in the trailer.

Like I said, I knew this movie was gonna be good, but I didn't know it was gonna be my-friend-messaging-me-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-tell-me-how-awesome-it-was good.

I kid you not.

I had more than enough reasons to see this movie, and, by some miraculous stroke of luck, I had enough money to afford a ticket.

I don't regret spending a cent on this movie, because it was worth it.

The film's premise was straightforward: the human race is dying, and we need to leave Earth in order to ensure our continuity as a species. So, Matthew McConaughey is tasked to pilot a spaceship in search of a habitable planet. Everything's all really well written from the plot to the characters to the dialogue. The movie plays on all the right sentiments and reaches into parts of my subconscious I didn't even know existed. The movie makes you think. The movie makes you contemplate your very existence.

As with any *great* movie, it's difficult to get into the nitty-gritty of things without giving away any major spoilers, but I will say that the film's plot and execution alone already make it a worthy contender for the title of the "Best Film of 2014".

The movie's also got beautiful visuals to boot. The CGI is absolutely spot-on, and the spaceship shots are all angled perfectly, and nothing ever looked out of place or like it shouldn't be there. The art direction was great and the overall feel was consistent.

Now, I have two favorite things about the movie: one, the characters, and, two, the sound. I think I'll talk about the sound, first.

Interstellar is one of those movies that never stops making passionate love to your ears. Unlike a pushy SO, however, it actually GIVES you a great reason to actually stay and keep letting it make love to your ears. The score is absolutely stellar. It's Hans Zimmer's way of reminding the world why he's so great at what he does. It's bombastic, it's overflowing with grandeur, it's downright bloody amazing. And all the other sound elements are brilliant, as well (especially when you don't hear anything apart from the shaking of the spaceship). While it was difficult to understand Matt Damon (yes, Matt Damon) and Michael Caine in some parts, everything else in the sound was absolute class.

And the characters were even better.

There was just so much dynamic and chemistry between Matthew McConaughey and, well, just about everyone else in the movie. The bonds between characters were tangible and never left me unsatisfied as a viewer. I ended up loving just about all of them (and hated some with a passion). I loved how I was able to feel the emotions Matthew McConaughey was feeling.

And it’s the characters in this movie that make you feel many things.

Especially these.

Now I’m not gonna go into too much detail about how emotional this movie made me, but all I will say is that it’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie that’s made my cry harder than Click.

Interstellar also happens to be one of those movies that leaves very little to gripe about (except – potentially - the science, to some extent, but, let’s be real here, who the hell watches these movies for the science?), and you’re left marveling at the sheer scope and brilliance of this movie. My only complaint about this movie would be that some lines were almost unintelligible at times, but that’s really just about it.

Overall, if you’re gonna spend 230 bucks at a movie theater hoping to get a lot out of it after, Interstellar is the movie for you. It’s everything we’ve come to expect from a Christopher Nolan movie: deep, engaging, a slow boil, well-balanced, thought-provoking, interesting, and filled to the brim with the unexpected. In my book, this movie could very easily go down as the best film of 2014, and only faces actual competition from Gone Girl (which I shall get to soon) and, potentially, the next installment in the cool-to-hate Hobbit trilogy.

In other words, Interstellar blows 22 Jump Street and X-Men: DoFP right out of the water.

The face I was making throughout the movie.

PROS: Too many to list

CONS: Some lines are difficult to hear and/or understand (at times, and very seldom), could be paced too slowly for casual moviegoers

OVERALL: 10 out of 10 (absolutely amazing!)

Let's throw in an extra cat for good measure.

PHOTO CREDITS:

http://www.interstellar2014-movie.com/gallery/Interstellar%20Movie%20Images/58/
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/c5/c5f7369ca5a1ab939cb703ac63794fbc3c333bdf9ea90bec61487865b553de18.jpg
http://www.opinionatedbastard.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KeystoneButWaitTheresMore.jpg

http://9gag.com/gag/aOyeYXR  

(C) Rafael Alfonso Duran, 2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

5 Life Lessons I Learned From My First Year in College

I've been told time and time again that college was fun, and that they're an even better four years than high school. Now that I've finished my first year at college, all I can really say is...

This isn't just stress - this is... ADVANCED stress.

But don't get me wrong, though - college is hella fun. And life-changing. How so, you might be asking.

Well, I've managed to compile a small list of life lessons I've picked up from my first year in college.

The first is this:

Money is important

Once you get to college in the Philippines, nearly everything you do will end up revolving around one question: can you afford it?

The sad truth is that near everything in college (and around it) revolves around money. Getting to and from home, what you wanna eat, hell, even printing your homework will get you to rethink how you're gonna manage your budget in any given day.

Above: miscellaneous expenses.

This is also one way college prepares us for the real world: money is important and, if you don't have it, you're screwed.

There are advantages to this, however. One such advantage is that this teaches us where to eat. Since everything in college is expensive, it's important to know where you can get yourself a nice meal for a good price.

And, if you're the kind of guy who makes it a point to spend very sparingly (after learning the hard way that being broke isn't good), this can also serve as an opportunity to practice being able to reward yourself at the end of the week.

You know... for surviving.

It's never a good idea to overspend, so it's best to start kicking the habit (assuming you have it) the first thing you get because, once you get to college, there'll be hell to pay if you don't have enough money to get home at the end of the day.

Time-management is the best skill you can learn

When you're in college, there is an absolute guarantee that you are gonna cram the living sh*t out of an assignment sooner or later. This creates massive disturbances in your sleeping schedule. And sleep is something you'll need a LOT of when it comes to these kinds of environments.

Time management is one of the most important skills you'll need to develop upon entering college. It's a good idea to create your own personal schedules for waking up, getting dressed, leaving the house, and even taking naps. But, perhaps most importantly, you'll need to create schedules for how the hell you're gonna handle your bloody assignments.

You probably might've noticed by now that Spongebob is the ideal role model for any college student.

Time management doesn't just mean organizing which assignment you're gonna do first and which test you're gonna study for last - it means you have to figure out a way to make sure a 25-page paper is finished before the deadline a week later.

And there's also the matter of the orgs (short for organizations, you sick pervert) you join. You see, unlike high school or grade school where you have a set day for meeting with your clubs, in college, all the clubs meet at their own set times, and not just on a single day dedicated to meeting them.

Y'all are too damn young to be going to clubs!

You're also gonna have to learn how to balance your time between doing your homework, meeting with your clubs, and hanging out with your mates.

It's best to start practicing time management once you get to college. That way, the workplace will be a lot less stressful.

Learn to accept

Once you get to college, you're gonna come across people from all walks of life, and there is one thing it does not pay to be:

An asshole.

And there are many different ways to be an a**hole. For example, you can be a racist and hate every white guy you see because all white people are Americans who think they're better than you (not true), or you can be a homophobe because, you know, gays are gross (not true either).

While it's "okay" to be an a**hole in high school (because, you know, teen angst and all that sh*t), it's SEVERELY looked down upon in college. There are LOADS of people in college, and you'll definitely be encountering several foreigners, gays, etc., and it's best to treat each and every one of them with the proper respect entitled to every human being, even if they disagree with your point of view.

And that includes not treating white people like either A) gods or B) elitist scum whose parents pay for everything.

It was in college that I learned that people will judge you based on the language you speak (you can thank Mo Twister for perpetuating that) and, before I knew it, I had the word coño floating above my head.

Head's up - it means "vagina".

While people use the word coño in a very light-hearted fashion, to many people (such as my family members, a lot of whom are Hispanic in descent), it's quite offensive.

It's not nice to be labeled based on the color of your skin (yes, that's happened to me) or the language you speak (that's also happened).

Although racism, sexism and homophobia do exist in college, it's important to be the more mature person and just respect those people, even if they are a**holes.

But just remember: that doesn't mean YOU have to be an a**hole, too.

Going on adventures is healthy

I'm going on an adventure!

Believe it or not, going on adventures can be both very fun and character building. They give us memories and life experience.

And also a very liberating sense of freedom.

I remember the time I went to the National Museum with my mates. We all stayed at a hotel, got stranded on an island in the middle of España (otherwise known as hell), and got a thorough bath in street water.

You know - the one rats swim in.

Thankfully, none of us got cholera or any vicious disease. What we did gain instead were a bunch of laughs and several incredible memories we still love to relive today.

And the reason it's character building is because I managed to do so many things WITHOUT the help of my parents. And, for once, it was great. It sort of feels like levelling up in an RPG and gaining buttloads of experience and skill points. You feel stronger and more responsible in the end.

Not to mention ready for another one of those challenges life throws at you.

Get involved

What's college without being a part of something, right? College is filled with student organizations that should appeal to your interests. You like debating? Sign up for the debating club! You like football? Sign up for training! You like math? Wait... you like math?

And these orgs are valuable opportunities for even more life experience and adventure - kinda like joining a guild in an RPG. They're also gateways to meeting loads of new people and making new memories.

And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

But what's most important about getting involved with student organizations is the life experience and enhanced skills you gain from them. They look nice on your resumé and, the more you're involved, the easier it would be (presumably) to get a job in your field of interest.

College is almost 50% fun and 50% stress, and it's best to learn how to maximize fun and to cope with stress. I can now say that I have better time management skills, and that I'm hardly ever late to class now that I've a fixed schedule at home. I can say that I've definitely learned to save, even if I'm surrounded by quite frankly everything I would be interested in buying.

But most of all, I can say that, over the past ten-or-so months, I've matured a lot more than since I left high school - and that I am a better person.

PHOTO CREDITS:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MxNvMzHpf8_Ad5LhVSIbHZeoBsT07Gy2mKJsd1W0ice1QNsZ5Fwi8WoIZvnC92Dvyv-tnQVy_6WtpCBtzLgM5payx19x4TZ-xOCfxwzYNg6gYqj72nhnYNbmL-zXfiMbLd0AoxUogHwM/s1600/Advanced+Darkness.png

http://memecrunch.com/image/5216051aafa96f3ecc000033.png?w=400

http://rrhealthandwellness.thewebsitestore.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/are-you-busy.jpg

http://s3.vidimg02.popscreen.com/original/41/MExBWEpQbHBENGsx_o_spongebob-squarepants---essay-writing-the-scene.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnuiitbs2Mq30-8QXAg_onbs767JD386aroJUqNwYGTrRF6jY4-lhz44cQkjqx-pJfE-gm8bOmnbiv5jWTTvV5kAyM9xpjdpHts23YuFo1DrlMqQMBm8VGSiMP8LPM17zf9jcs-EXhGc/s1600/substitute+teacher+Key+&+Peele.jpg

http://www.metalinsider.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Fred+Durst.jpg

http://www.buzzle.com/images/diagrams/human-body/labeled-female-reproductive-system-diagram.jpg

http://elizabethgracephotographyblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/im-going-on-an-adventure1.jpg

http://www.therpf.com/attachments/f9/braveheart-full-sized-bust-bh-002.jpg-34288d1284875242

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44012000/jpg/_44012833_the_street_crudwell.jpg

http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/himym3.jpg

"Maleficent" | MOVIE REVIEW

It's not your usual fairy tale.

I went into the theatre not really knowing what to expect because, in spite of having seen its really awesome trailer, I've been hearing mixed reviews of Maleficent from my friends. Essentially, it's a retelling of an age old story that does provide a lot of perspective and impressive action sequences. It, however, falls flat on its face several times, but rarely ever struggles to pick itself up again.

Everyone's heard the story of Sleeping Beauty and has probably watched the movie once or twice. We all know how it goes. A witch curses a girl to go into an endless sleep after pricking (hehehe) herself on her sixteenth birthday, and the only way that curse can be broken is through true love's kiss, which is where our Prince Charming comes in.

Did I mention that the witch has exotically beautiful cheekbones?

What makes Maleficent different from the original tale is impossible to discuss without giving away any spoilers. To summarize, after being betrayed by her childhood love (who turned out to be an asshole later in life), she curses his daughter, as was mentioned earlier. A lot of emphasis was put on the exposition and makes us understand why exactly Queen Mal was so pissed off. It makes sense, and it provides us with a new perspective to a story we've heard a million times.

While there wasn't anything inherently wrong with the plot itself (which I found to be really nice), it was let down numerous times by poor writing, forced lines, and characters who were either underutilized or completely unnecessary - *coughs* Prince Philip*.

Okay, fine. He was useful for the first twenty-or-so seconds of screentime.

In truth, the acting could've been better and there were some people who seriously needed to be recast. While Angelina Jolie's performance as the cold and heartless Dark Queen of the Fairies got better as the film rolled on, the rest of the cast weren't entirely impressive. Perhaps the least impressive performance in the film was that of Sharlto Copely, who makes just about as good a villain as Orlando Bloom in that God-awful Three Musketeers reboot. While the concept of the movie's villain might've sounded like a good idea on paper, Copely does a terrible job of bringing the said villain to life by coupling terrible writing with an equally terrible voice.

It's difficult to take any villain seriously when he sounds like a goat with a fake Scottish accent.

While Aurora was everything she was said to be (that being pretty and graceful), her character was also let down by writing that was, at times, borderline cringe-worthy. Other characters, as I mentioned earlier, were underutilized. Diaval, for example, could've used more screentime. He was an interesting character, and I he was the only character with whom I felt a connection.

The cast of characters is very wide and diverse, but the film spreads it out too thinly, often sacrificing the development of other characters just so Angelina Jolie could get more screentime or that the three fairies could just make everyone giggle.

Seriously, whoever thought that repetitive slapstick gags were funny should never have been allowed to right their scenes.

While the film does have a great sense of character development as far as the titular character goes, it was too often let down by poor writing and characterization.

The technical aspects of the movie, however, were why I really stayed (that and because movie tickets are hella expensive). With a nice balance of color and gloominess, Maleficent is a beautifully painted picture of a land that truly feels fantastical. The landscapes were beautiful, the costume design felt unique and hardly ever generic (unlike Jack the Giant Slayer), and the creatures were all so odd and quirky. The movie's overall aesthetic managed to feel unique, in spite of borrowing several fantasy conventions.

Except the dragon. That was a huge letdown.

However, the real highlight of the whole movie is the score. It soars and takes the movie to heights it never could've reached on its own. Unlike many other movies nowadays, Maleficent has a score that evokes emotion out of you as a viewer. It has that kind of score that demands you pay attention (in a good way) and, at least, helps keep you glued to your seat.

The movie, while not bad, wasn't very good either. It HAD the potential to be a great movie, but fell flat on its face in too many aspects that, in the end, leave it stuck in the pool of mediocrity. Its bold ambition to reinvent the classic fairy tale millions of people grew to love ultimately killed it in the end (along with the poor writing and characterization).

Maleficent is a visual marvel with a nice sense of character development and a brilliant score sadly coupled with poor writing, lazy characterization, and miscasting. Overall, it's not a terrible film, but it isn't something you wouldn't wanna spend your money on.

PROS: Beautiful design, terrific score, nice character development on Maleficent's part, ambition
CONS: Everything else.
OVERALL: 6.5 out of 10 - Meh.

Photo Credits:

https://movies.yahoo.com/photos/maleficent-movie-stills-slideshow/

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/06/01/arts/01DRAGONS1/01DRAGONS1-articleLarge.jpg

http://smcinema.com/sites/default/files/Maleficent_PrincePhillip.jpg

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" | MOVIE REVIEW

It's better than the Avengers.

There's been a lot - and I mean a LOT - of superhero movies coming out lately (from Marvel, in particular), and a lot of them seem to have trouble setting themselves apart from one another. Iron Man 3 didn't really do the job for me and I was struggling to sit through Thor 2. While the recent DC movies (The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel) earned really high marks from me, I felt a lot of the new Marvel movies lacked something that the new DC movies did. Even on TV, DC has the better show.

Sure, The Avengers was an okay film, but, to me, it really isn't just more than a 'splosion-filled sh*tfest that was good for maybe the first couple of watches. Then it started to get old. To me, The Avengers lacked any real staying power - which is something only one of the new Marvel films actually has. That particular film was X-Men: First Class.

As a kid, I grew up watching the original X-Men and Spiderman trilogies, and so it really isn't much of a surprise that I'd be holding First Class in such high regard. It was a great film. Not exactly on the same level as The Dark Knight, but still pretty damn great. It was well-written, had a really great premise, had enough action to keep you glued to your seats, and it had a really great (as in, really, REALLY great) set of characters, and each of those characters felt human in their own way. The highlight of that movie was Magneto - who, in spite of his mutation, was a very human character with very human emotions and a very human motivation. You connect with characters like him. And that's what made X-Men: First Class different from, let's say, Iron Man or Thor. It's what made First Class better than Iron Man and Thor.

Once I got the hint that a sequel to First Class was in the works (thanks to that little scene at the end of Wolverine) and that the said sequel would feature the cast of the original X-Men trilogy AND the new X-Men (or should I say "old"?), I had one of the biggest nerdgasms one could possibly imagine (to put it into perspective, it's very similar to how I felt upon watching the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey). When I saw the trailer for the very confusingly named X-Men: Days of Future Past, I, as stereotypical white girls do, couldn't even. I mean, how could I have even? My favorite childhood superheroes (minus Tobey Macguire, sadly) were banding together with the heroes from a superhero film I regard as one of the greatest. There was no way this could fail.

Did it?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

If it did, we'd have a very angry blue monster man on our hands.

Days of Future Past is a refreshing break from the more light-hearted and brighter franchises like Thor and Iron Man, and the tonality of the film itself sets it apart from all other Marvel releases from the past two years. To sum up the plot, in the year 2023, the mutants (not just the X-Men) have all been wiped out by a bunch of robots called the Sentinels in a human effort to drive them into extinction... or should I say X-tinction? He he he... okay, fine, that joke sucked.

Anyway, the only way to defeat the Sentinels (who, by the way, were programmed from Mystique's DNA and now have magical adapting powers) is to stop them from ever being created, meaning they (and by "they", I really mean Wolverine because he's pretty much invincible and the only one physically capable of making such a trip) have to go back in time and convince Mr. Tumnus to get Katniss to not kill Tyrion Lannister.

Everything else that follows is a potential spoiler, so I won't go into detail about that. Needless to say, as confusing as the plot may be, it carries itself out quite well throughout the movie and really doesn't do any harm to the continuity of the original trilogy and First Class. It's a nice, strong plot that sails smoothly although it could take the average viewer some time to wrap his/her head around. But the real highlight of DoFP wasn't JUST the plot. It wasn't the action or the sex appeal, either (even if the movie did have Ellen Page). It was the characters.

Oh yeah; she's in the movie, too.

In spite of how many characters you had onscreen at the same time, it never felt too crowded or visually tiring. Each of the mutants felt equally important to the plot as the next one. Even Quicksilver, who has roughly ten or so minutes of actual screentime, was important to the plot. The characters were all carried out in the best ways possible. These characters weren't some invincible celebrity tag-team like the Avengers were. No. These characters were, in spite of their respective mutations, very human. You ended up connecting with these characters, even if they only had five or so lines. You cared for them, and they, in turn, kept you glued to the story. Bryan Singer made sure that each of the characters played an equally important role to the film, and he managed to pull it off.

What I like so much about the X-Men being very human characters is that you get to establish emotional connections with the characters. In recent years, only a handful of superhero movies have featured superheroes that actually felt human (The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel). But why is this so important? Well, it's so important because it shows us that superheroes can't do everything on their own, and that they're all human beings, just like us. It shows us that anyone can be a superhero, regardless of what powers they have. DoFP is no exception. The heroes and the villains are all driven by a very human emotion: fear. It's fear that drives Bolivar Trask to do what he does, it's fear that drives Magneto and Professor X to send Wolverine back in time. It's fear that keeps them all together.

It's probably also fear that keeps his awesome mustache together.

The acting in this film was superb and did nothing BUT compliment the portrayal of the characters. James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart present two VERY different sides to the much beloved Professor X, and Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender both manage to fill each other's big shoes as they portrayed my favorite Marvel villain ever, Magneto. Even more minor roles like, let's say, Colossus and Iceman were all acted out very well. Even Booboo freaking Stewart (whose name alone makes me kinda nervous) managed to carry out his role with finesse.

And the character development. HOLY CRAP, the character development. It was visible. You could feel the characters grow. Past Professor X, for example, experiences a change in his world view as he's forced to let go of his fear of hearing all the voices inside everyone's heads. Mystique experiences a change of heart. Even Magneto, as stubborn as he is, grows smarter and more perceptive as a character. While there really isn't much character development to speak of as far as the mutants of the future are concerned, the mutants of the past is where most of the character growth (and very visible character growth, mind you) is at.

They also have a pretty awesome sense of fashion.
 

The technical aspects of the movie can't be ignored. Visually reminiscent of The Dark Knight, the movie isn't exactly what a lot of superhero movies are nowadays. The sets have a more natural look to them and hardly ever feel artificial. The movie is visually immersive, and feels distinctly X-Men. The darker lighting compliments the setting and overall premise of the movie. It gives you that feeling of despair and helplessness - it makes you feel what the mutants are feeling. It makes you feel as if you're actually in the movie.

The costumes and make-up all feel distinctly X-Men. Everything from Mystique's awesome blue skin to Beast's blue beastliness (Grimm should consider taking a page out of X-Men's book - just saying) even to Toad's various warts and his huge jaw, it all feels natural. While I do have nothing against CGI, I am a bit more partial to the more natural look of movies. Nothing in the movie looks too overly-CGI'ed, and nothing feels too overly artificial. Even the Sentinels (a.k.a. the badass plastic robots out to kill the mutants of the future) hardly ever seemed fake. The costumes and sets in the scenes that were supposed to take place in 1973 all felt historically accurate and really just immersed me into the movie. Visually, the movie looks better than the film it, without a doubt, risks being compared to - The Avengers.

The score might not be anything spectacular, but it does the job well enough. It sets the tone, which is what it should be doing.

The movie, inevitably, risks comparison to The Avengers due to its basic premise, which involves an all-star cast of superheroes uniting against a common enemy. However, it surpasses The Avengers in all aspects. It has characters viewers with connect with as human beings, there's an almost tangible sense of danger, and it has real staying power. Whether or not Age of Ultron would ever be better than DoFP (or at least match its level of intensity and overall depth), we will find out in the future. But, for now, I'll let Days of Future Past take its spot as the best film Marvel has to offer nowadays.

And that, Avengers, is how you make a superhero movie.

PROS: Wonderful set of characters, amazing character development, immersive, superb acting, brilliant sense of nostalgia

CONS: Nothing I can really think of.

OVERALL: 9 out of 10 (really freaking great!)

PHOTO CREDITS

 http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=115188#/slide/2

http://screenrant.com/x-men-days-future-past-images-blink-stryker-toad/

(C) Rafa Duran, The Galactic Deep-Fry, 2014

All rights reserved.