UFC 124

John "Doomsday" Howard - Thiago "Pitbull" Alves
2 Strikers who like to stand and bang. For all I know, John Howard may be the only pure striker Thiago Alves has ever faced in the UFC. So far, he has been facing wrestlers. And they're top-flight wrestlers too at that like GSP, John Fitch and Matt Hughes.

Not these wrestlers.

This fight showed that precision striking always outclasses power-strikes, as you would clearly see in the main event. But if you would ask me, I would always pick the jazz bass over the precision bass. And just as I've predicted, whoever feels that his stand-up isn't working would decide to take it to the ground first. And Howard was that dude. He tried the take-downs 'till he was down on the judges scorecards.


Mac Danzig - Joe "Daddy" Stevenson
These guys should have been scrapped from the UFC roster a couple of events ago. With a win-loss record similar to the Los Angeles Clippers, who would not want to give 'em the pink slip, right?

Well apparently, Dana White wants his fighters goin' down swingin'. Which was what Joe Daddy was doin' when he got knoced the fuck out by a Danzig hook, while backpedaling! Chuck Liddell lives!


Charles Oliveira - Jim Miller
We all knew that this was gonna be MIller time. Apparently, Oliveira didn't get the memo.

Charles should have the superior grappling(w/that kinda' last name, he better be a blackbelt!). But what happened was pretty bizaare. After a hurried scramblefest, the animal known as Jim Miller got a hold of Oliveira's leg and presto! We got to relive Mir-Lesnar I all over again(remember the kneebar?)!


Matt Riddle - Sean Pierson
If there was a robbery during this event, this was it. I don't know why Matt Riddle always ends up in the undercard. Man this guy eats punches in bunches for lunch while smilin' and will gobble a head kick for dessert and still hook you up with her hot sister(if he had one) after the program. He's that type of fighter! But still I don't know why he was fighting this Pierson guy(sorry, can't remember where I watched this dude) in an undercard bout. Another one of 'em Joe Silva mystery match-ups.

It was plain to see that Pierson was connecting more solidly. Riddle even ate a hook to the jaw while doin' a half-hearted flying knee, therefore dropping like a sack of potatoes.

The thing that I like most about Riddle is his ability to absorb punishment, and still dish out some of his own. Which was what he did from the 2nd round onwards. Though I think that it wasn't enough to steal round 3. But still, a win is a win. It's like all the people behind the scorecards suddenly all turned Russian judge on Pierson. Well I guess he's Canadian, that's why.


Sean "Big Sexy" McCorkle - Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve
This fight had a funny trivial stat. These 2 dudes make up the tallest combined height among all the fights that went down in the UFC. But it doesn't matter because for me, these 2 are as irrelevant to the UFC heavyweight division as Apollo Creed is to the WBO/IBF heavyweight division or somethin'.

Sean was bein' overly-hyped by Joe Rogan(as always), just because of that 1st round submission of Mark Hunt. We were unaware that someone the likes of Struve would be the one to put a stop to Joe's overrating.


Mark Bocek - Dustin Hazelett
If there was a fighter who would win because his last name sounds like the last name of the fighter in the blue corner og the main event, then it's Mark Bocek. I was actually rooting for Bocek because he's game, and also because Hazelett eeriely looks like a carbon copy of Tamdan "Barncat" McCrory.

Looks aside, I was predicting a Bocek win because Hazelett only has jits to offer while Bocek has a lot more in his arsenal. It's like showin' another guy your dick when he has his own dick too.

The strange thing was that instead of Bocek winning via a predictable decision or via strikes, he actually slapped on a triangle choke while dishing out some elbows to the head. Hazelett should be the one doin' that, right? Is today opposite day?


Josh Koscheck - GSP
If you wanna' get rich quick, then you should've bet your entire house and let it ride on a GSP win. This dude's pretty scary! BEsides the fact that he's a genetic freak, he's also under the Greg Jackson camp.

For all you giblets not in the know, Greg Jackson is a master game planner. For the Thiago Alves fight, GSP used superior wrestling. For the BJ Penn fight, he utilized take downs again to tire Penn's arms or somethin' like that. And in this match, since Koscheck is one of the purest and most decorated douchebags, err, wrestlers, GSP used superior striking.

And by striking, I meant boxing. I don't know if GSP hung out at the wild card gym in LA, but I do know that GSP trained his boxing under world-renowned trainer Freddy "The Cock" Roach(just made up that nom de guerre). If BJ Penn and GSP boxed right now, I don't know if GSP would still end up with a bloody nose(like in their 1st encounter). Maybe BJ might end up with a broken orbital(just like Kos). That's because of the newest weapon that GSP got from the Cock. The left jab.

This may sound cliche, but this PPV has been a great night of fights nonetheless.



*images from vis-soft.com, news.bbc.co.uk

"Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows(Part 1)"

They should've made this into one 5 hour flick or somethin'. I don't have the time to wait for the 2nd installment. We were all left "hangin'"!

And I don't get what's up with digital 2D? I thought it was 2.7D(or more commonly known as "converted 3D"). But it was just digital somethin'-somethin'. They didn't even bother to do digital HD or somethin'(if there was such a thing like that).

Anyway, the difference was just PhP10, so I gladly paid the difference, but I didn't really get to see that much difference between the regular and the "digital 2D" thing.

The HP franchise has really come a looooong way from where it began. Mr. Radcliffe is already an old guy. Same thing with Ms. Watson. She's a "full-grown mammal" right now. As for Rupert Grint, he looks like he does too much partying because his eyebags could fill myschool books! He better rest. The franchise has already taken away his childhood, what else does he want taken away?

This is what they do when not busy shooting.

Bill Nighy did an impeccable job portraying the Minister of Magic. Very far from what Davy Jones was doin'. And I really hate Dolores Umbridge's guts, straight from the book!

All I can say is that I am very very impatient and can't wait for the finale.

Overall rating-8 out of 10. Impressive effects make it an 8.3 out of a 10.



*images from webhush.com, readingharry.com

Gin Blossoms(Live in Manila)

This was the shizznit! A lot of shit happened last Thursday. I'm so fockin' busy that I only got to write about this shit just now.

I was actually late for the event. It was slated for 8PM, but it was almost 9 when I arrived. I was supposed to meet up with my bro GP and his girlfriend She. But instead, I ended up with my other friends who I was with when I watched Toto(namely Al and Emil, plus Al's wife, Robby and some other girls that I just met, namely Zai and She[again!]).

When I arrived, it was the last song of the Australian band Fahrenheit 43(who I got to take a picture of outside their tour bus before they left). Technically, I didn't give a fuck about the front acts. But I now respect Fahrenheit 43 because their guitarist was so polite and humble, and their vocalist was so hot!

I'm just sizzlin' beside the vocalist right here.

Now when Gin Blossoms were setting up onstage, we guys were guessing as to what song was gonna be played first. We were damn sure that it wouldn't be comin' from their new album No Chocolate Cake, so we guessed some classics like Allison Road and the ever-popular Hey Jealousy. But our friend Robby got it right. It was Follow You Down.

They of course played songs from their new album(just like GP predicted), but it was just like 3 or 4 songs(plus a cover, I forgot). My favorite among their new songs that caused earworms was Ms. Disarray(doesn't look like I spelled that right).

I was still high after the concert. Little did I know that the night was just gonna get more interesting after I stepped out of the concert.

What happened was that Al's car was parked just outside the entrance/exit of rockstars/basketball players comin' to from the Araneta Coliseum. Now before we hopped onto the car, I saw Fahrenheit 43 just about to get into their tour bus, so i quickly did a snapshot with 2 of the band members. For some reason, another fan ruined the pic by joining in when it was I who grabbed Fahrenheit 43's attention(check out pic above, guy to the extreme right, that's the fucker!).

Then the cherry on top for the night happened. Just as we were driving out of the parking lot, there he was, Rob Wilson(Gin Blossom's vocalist) himself, running with his wife and some handlers. They were like in that Paul McCarnney song "Band On The Run". They were literally running. Too bad for 'em some stalkers have already taken their posts outside the gates, and we also saw him so we jumped out of the car and swarmed the poor guy.

Blurry pics really don't do any justice.

I was one of the lucky few who grabbed a quick snapshot with the rockstar. Now that my life is complete(I got to brush shoulders with an international rock star), I can now rest in peace.

This was the vehicle that the Gin Blossom God hopped into.

'Till My Heartaches End

Kim Chiu is so thin! If I was Gerald, I'd go for that other chick who played his ex in this film. Now that's some yummy shit! Kim on the other hand, not so much.

Kim Chiu on opening night.

Well it's the usual Pinoy movie plot for this flick. The love story shit really gets stale, especially if the title of the movie is a title of a past hit. Which is the standard right now for Pinoy movies. If you want your movie to be a hit here, and it's not the Metro Manila Film Festival yet, then make sure that your movie title must be a song title of some past, cheesy hit.

I guess same thing goes for this movie...

The chronological distortion technique that they've used in this flick really sucked! It wasn't anythin' like 21 Grams or The Prestige. They just inserted flashbacks in between the real time event(which is Kimerald sitting in a coffee shop, talkin' about breakin' up)just to show us that they can do somethin' different other than the usual chronological style that directors here seem to collectively have.

As for Mr. Anderson, if it wasn't for this flick, I wouldn't know that he could speak fluent Tagalog. I don't watch PBB and ABS-CBN shows so I really wouldn;t know shit, right? That's why.

I thought this dude only knew Portuguese and a li'l English?!

Overall rating is 4.5 out of 10 due to the fact that the plot and story are lame!



*images from askmen.com, jasperfforde.com, costumeskeleton.com, rochellesychua.com 

Unstoppable

Have you seen any Wesley Snipes flicks lately?

Oops! Sorry! That ain't the promotional movie poster. Here it is.

我去过中国两次 为什么

Not the Asian version, dammit!

That's more like it!

Any film by Tony Scott is an instant winner. Now this film is from Tony my man. If you base everything on logic alone, then it means that Unstoppable is a winner because it was directed by Tony! The first shots of the film(where the trains suddenly go all blurry) are all pure Tony Scott!

Denzel is also bein' his usual self here in this flick. You know, with the Training Day-like statements and stuff. The only difference is that instead of taking on the action roles, he's now slowly bein' eased into the "old-man/daddy(pre-grampa)" roles, as evidenced by him having full-grown daughters who are working themselves through college, and by him working at the train station since 1981(shit, even older than I).

Working since 1981 will make you look a li'l somethin' like this.

Chris Pine is Chris Pine. Same dude from Star Trek.

Star Trek! Not Star Wars!

Same acting chops. Same everything! I guess that's why he missed out on the lead role for Tron. It's because he's always the same. the only thing that looked different is his face in the movie poster. He looks like Paul Walker!

Not a gay-looking version like this of course.

Lew Temple(that dude that played Ned) is really one of the versatile actors around Hollywood. He's described as a chameleon when it comes to acting, which says a lot. And if you notice, Lew was actually the same dude that played the county sheriff in the movie 21 Grams.

Rosario Dawson doesn't really deviate much from her roles, because I guess that's her comfort zone. You know, bein' a professional woman who works for the government or some kinda' agency. That's about it.

This should've been titled "Stoppable" because the train could be stopped easily anyway. A chopper just has to drop a man on the train to stop it. But they only thought of that in the end?!? Don't tell me Pennsylvanians are that stupid.

They could've been doin' this to begin with.

And lastly, whatever happened to the train full of kids? I was waiting for the train to slam into their car, causing chaos. But they were suddenly....gone.

Overall rating is 6.5. But since it's a Tony Scott film with Denzel in it, it suddenly becomes an 8 out of 10. Good stuff!






*images from regrettablesincerity.com, www.clamack.hpg.ig.com.br, popstarsplus.com, blog.80millionmoviesfree.com, onlinemovieshut.com, mymoviecinema.com

"Stone"

Edward Norton deserves my "ticket for the party of awesome actors" right here. I kinda' don't like Edward initially because his voice in narratives seems to be just that same, droning voice. But here, his voice is that of a high-spitched, West coast, white trash thug. He must've done some method acting on this one. Hence, the transformation.

Didn't I tell you not to use drugs during method acting?

Robert De Niro just gives out his usual, vintage, De Niro performance here. You know, the grumpy type like that stepdad in Meet The Fockers. That's all that he's gonna be from here thereon.

I somehow see stagnation when it comes to Robert De Niro's acting.

Now here's the sleeper, Milla Jovovich. Honestly, I don't find her hot in any of the Resident Evil installments. I just watched that shit because I used to play the game back then. And that's it!

Emma Stone and "Stone"? Why not?

 But here, woooh! Dang! Hotness! The boobs though are a liability, but all in all, hot! I like her look with her hair gone wild! Not the prim and sleek hair that she has in Resident Evil. 

Now we're talkin'!

I expect nothing less than an Oscar nomination out of Mr. Fight Club himself(well, half of FC that is, sorry Brad!). As for De Niro, your act is nothing new to garner something out of the academy.

Overall rating is 8 out of 10 because I was kinda' left hangin' in the end, wanting more! Give me my STONE!








*images from i.dailymail.co.uk, www.shockya.com, www.filmofilia.com, joyhog.com,

"The Other Guys"

I was just stumped at the fact that Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L Jackson died instantly in this one. I thought that they were the fuckin' supercops. But they died! What a bunch of losers. Good stuff too that Foo Fighters' "My Hero" was playing while they were falling to their deaths.

Allen Gamble(Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz(MArk Wahlberg) play disgraced New York cops who do the paperwork for the cops that they idolize(namely The Rock and Sam). I was LOL when Wahlberg shot Derek Jeter(as himself) in the Yankees Stadium. Very stupid.  

Eva Mendes' beauty was uncovered here fully I think. 

Wasn't it already uncovered before?

I already noticed her ass in Too Fast, Too Furious. But she's on a whole 'notha level right here. Can't believe Gamble was allowing Hoitz to talk to his wife(Mendes) like that. 

The hidden gem here for me is Michael Keaton(Capt. Gene Mauch). He keeps mentioning TLC song lyrics without him even noticing it. Now who the fuck would say , "Don't go chasin' waterfalls!". Hilarious shit! 

Can't find quick Keaton movie pics. Here's Batman instead.

Nice soundtrack too. Little River Band rocks! I didn't know that "Pimps Don't Cry was a real song(during the end credits). And I knew that it was The White Stripes' music that was playin' in the background during the shootout in the building after the shareholder meeting.

All in all, 7.5 out of 10 for hilarity.








*images from deadline.com, mos.totalfilm.com, blog.newsok.com

Ang Guro

Just viewed this last month. If it wasn't for school shit, I wouldn't be in the know that such a play existed.

Tickets cost Php250. But that's cool because what we got in exchange for purchasing the ticket is the non-submission of our final product(which is something that we just make up and produce and in our case, we came up with "anti-hangover" pills).

This play was headlined by Karel Marquez(yes, the same gal with the scandal who used to VJ for MYX).

In fact, Karel was the only A-lister here(together with her mom Pinky[Pinky Marquez is Karel's mom, right?] who did a special participation on this one). The rest of the cast were virtual unknowns, though some of their faces looked familiar.

Paul Ballano was the script-writer and director for this presentation. He should thank God for his sense of humor because if he wasn't funny, I wouldn't remember him at all. Kudos to him too that he chose to honor our country's teachers in this one. Teaches are really one of the most underrated people in society.

The dude who played Mr. Inspection(or was it Inspecion?) was pretty good. If it wasn't for his role-playing, I would really think that he's gay. Plus the other chubby teacher has pretty good acting chops too. Exaggerated gestures are really a must to succeed in stage plays.

Karel did a wonderful job onstage as Ms. Resontoc()or was that Resonto?), the teacher(who apparently was Paul Ballano's 1st Grade teacher in real life). Do you remember how your kind-hearted, stress-free teachers used to talk to you back in the day? That was how Karel talked the entire time. It's as if she's in the zone to be a goody-two-shoes faculty member. Her refreshing face helped a lot too.

Refreshing, not alluring/seducing.

Whoa whoa whoa! Not that type of fresh! I mean this...

Now, that's better!

The only part that I didn't like was the singin'. I don't know what it is, but there's just something about musicals that bore me to death.

Overall, this play merits a 7/10 due to the fact that I was amused for like 2 hours.



*images from www.abante-tonite.com, fhm.com.ph