September 2008 Archives

By Anna Valmero Inquirer.net "Most people respect the badge. Everyone respects the gun." This line encapsulates the main theme of the film, Righteous Kill: the gun as t he great equalizer among peopleâcivilians and criminals. Godfather vets Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro team up in the film as NYPD detectiv es David "Rooster" Fisk and Detective Tom "Turk" Cowan, respectively. They are tasked to work on a murder case and investigate if it is connected to a previou s crime involving a serial killerâa crime they perceived to have been already s olved. A series of bloodshed involving unlawful citizens follows the murder case, and in the crime scene a gun with scribbled poetry versed with the details of the d ead criminal's crime were found. Talk about killing with style. This brings us to the perennial argument of right and wrong, or our blurry noti on of the two. Where is the thin line that separates the right and the wrong? O r, is the area just gray to begin with? Most people struggle with their every day lives facing decisions that deem them more 'good' than 'bad.' Although the notion of good and bad is relative, when is it 'right' to take the life of another? For policemen assigned to create ord er and protect the people, when can and can't they use their badge as a license to kill? Fisk says, "As long as the 'right' people are killed." So what triggered the cop to turn vigilante and sweep lawbreakers off the stree ts? In Fisk's case, how will one take it if a model policeman puts an innocent civilian behind bars? The story progresses unraveling the intertwined morality questions that form th e story's theme and direction. As my friend said, "You can never go wrong with Pacino and DeNiro in the movie. "

Spoiler alert! After nine months of waiting, the new Heroes episode finally airs. As season 3 premieres, two episodes were immediately lines up by NBC. (You can catch some previews here). This season wi ll answer questions like "Who shot Nathan Petrelli?" Without giving away too much details, the two new episodes will introduce new c haracters and "repackaged" characters. You will find the world's fastest thief introduced. You will also see Heroes becoming villains. It is going to be a bat tle between good and evil. So who shot Nathan Petrelli? Was it Noah Bennet who is a known killer?Adam Monr oe? Niki Sanders? Angela Petrelli? Mohinder Suresh? Claire Bennet? Or the most obvious one, Sylar? Let's just say a certain time traveler intervened to protect the future. Enough said.

(Editor's note: Re-posted to correct earlier title). By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net CARTOON Network turns its animated television series "Ben 10" to a movie, dubbe d "Ben 10: Race Against Time," its first live action made- for-TV movie. Ben 10 fans can expect an action, adventure, humor-packed film with computer-an imated graphics visuals, according to Cartoon Network Enterprises Vice Presiden t for Asia Pacific Dulce Lim-Chen. "Itâs a very good take from the animated ser ies with actors performing," said Lim-Chen. Ben 10: Race Against Time casts TV Legend Lee Majors as Grandpa Max (Benâs and Gwenâs grandfather), Graham Phillips as Ben Tennyson (Evan Almighty), and Haley Ramm as Gwen (X-Men 3). In this movie, Ben will be challenged by his nemesis, Eon from another galaxy w ho will try to get the Omnitrix from him and destroy the Earth. Though his character Grandpa Max is involved with a paranormal society called t he Plumbers, Majors doesnât personally believe in UFOs. Nonetheless, Majors related that he has similarities with Grandpa Max such as g iving sound advice and keeping his grandchildren away from trouble. Cartoon Network said the movie premier will be on Sept. 26, 2008 at 8 p.m.

By Izah Morales INQUIRER.net HELLBOY 2: The Golden Army is a visual treat for its audience yet it misses weaving it s ending to sustain the plot of the story. The plot of the story was promising in the beginning when a truce made peace po ssible between mankind and magical creatures but distrust and thirst for power and dominion over Earth pushed Prince Nuada to kill even his kin. Disobedience and greed overpowered him as he ignored to honor what has been agreed upon by m ankind and the magical creatures. As the story moved to its climax, the film engages the viewers to the story and some funny moments (remember when Hellboy and Abe Sapien started singing as th ey tried to understand love and falling in love). But then, the ending was disa ppointing because the death of Prince Nuada and her twin sister Princess Nuala does not justify peace. Being six feet under doesnât stop war. The movie left v iewers lost in transition. It also tried to inject love story (Sapien falling i n love with Princess Nuala) when it is not needed. The film became a bit cheesy , but perhaps that was Guillermo del Toroâs way of injecting humor and some "hu manity" in the movie. Nonetheless, Director Guillermo del Toro (also of Panâs Labyrinth) successfully brought its viewers to a world of make believe for this action adventure packe d movie. Viewers will surely enjoy watching how superheroes, Hellboy a.ka. Red, Liz Sherman, and Abraham Sapien, can be normal and mortal in their extraordina ry way. Despite their super powers, they reveal a "human side." That human side was exposed when Red and Abe went on singing Al Green and Barry White after do wning cans of beer. If you want a mind-tickling film this is not for you. But if you want your eyes to feast on visual effects then you should not miss this one.

THE Amazing Race Asia (TARA) Season 3 is on. The Asian version of this award winning reality show will start airing on Septe mber 10, 2008, and will run Thursday nights at 9 p.m. on AXN channel, Sony Prod uctions Entertainment Asia announced in a launch early this week. A total of 22 teams registered for the TARA Season 3 promotional event; but onl y 8 teams were left standing. From the 8 chosen teams, only three were awarded by the Sony Productions Entertainment Asia during the event in the Trinoma mall in Quezon City. This year's Philippine team is composed of Tisha Silang and Jeff Rodriguez. The y were invited to talk during the launch about how they discovered each other's strengths and competitiveness while both rekindled the challenges they have ha d as individuals. Season 2 Filipino contestants Marc Nelson and Paula Taylor were also at the eve nt to share their experiences. During the launch of TARA Season 3, a mall-based race was also simulated inside the mall with obstacle courses built within the activity area while some parti cipating merchant stores and boutiques served as pit stops.