Hey blog readers! It’s 2012 and I might as well make a new blogpost because I haven’t written one for almost two months!

2011 has been a very different year for me especially the latter part of the year where I have faced so many challenges that may or may have not changed me as a person, not just that but the last few months have also given me so much workload that I didn’t really have the time to write anything here.

But it’s a new year which means a fresh new start, moving on from the past and learning from those experiences!

I hope this year will be filled with a lot more blessings and will give more challenges (but not those very traumatic ones like what I experienced last year) that will give a change in who I am. My New Year’s resolution is to stop being lazy, a general thing that affects pretty much all aspects of my life us laziness so I really have to stop not doing or prolonging things to have a better life! And that includes writing more posts here

See you around!

Episode 2, I Am Unicorn

New Directions faces a shake up when Shelby Corcoran (special guest star Idina Menzel) comes to McKinley High and Rachel has to deal with the return of her biological mother. Meanwhile, Kurt starts his run for class president with the special help of Brittany.

I didn’t quite like this episode, to be honest. In my opinion, it really is just meant to be an episode where the writers intended to fix some Season 1 plotlines they have failed to give some closure to in Season 2. It was great seeing Idina Menzel back as Shelby Corcoran, which indeed shook things up as Quinn and Puck had some time to change (or “change”) themselves to be able to see their baby Beth. Despite not being in good terms, it’s good that Rachel and Shelby got to have some mother/daughter time together. I didn’t see the point of the Kurt storyline, as Kurt has already gone through the whole process of seeing that he is special over and over again. They could have just chosen some other character to feature as a unicorn but it was good to see some Kurt/Brittany interaction.

Songs included in the episode were Somewhere (West Side Story) by Rachel and Shelby, I’m The Greatest Star (Barbra Streisand) and Something’s Coming (West Side Story) by Blaine. All performances were great but among the three, my favorite would have to be the Rachel and Shelby duet which was breathtaking.

Episode Grade: B

Episode 3, Asian F

Mike’s future in New Directions is challenged after his parents ask him to drop out because he received an A- (the Asian F) on an exam. In other news, the auditions are heating up for the musical, West Side Story, and Will wonders why Emma doesn’t want him to meet her parents who are in town visiting.

This was dubbed as the best glee episode ever by critics, I agree to a certain extent, but I’d rather call it one of the best glee episodes ever than imply that it is the best among everything. This really showed that Season 3 is really about trying to come back to glee’s roots, especially with the Mike Chang storyline which in my opinion was executed well. We may have seen the don’t stop believing in your dreams storyline over and over, but this shows something new, showing what Mike is undergoing in his life instead of just him dancing in the background. The Emma storyline was heartwarming as well, but I think her parents are being too exaggerated with the ginger thing. It was also a very good break from all the Kurt, Rachel and Blaine storylines we’ve been given in the past episodes. What I didn’t like about this episode though is the lack of Tina which everyone wanted to see more of, and the neverending repetitiveness of trying to give Mercedes a storyline by making her be a super diva and want her to steal the spotlight from Rachel which we have already seen in various episodes in the past (ex. A Night of Neglect).

Songs featured were Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson) by Mercedes, Run The World (Girls) [Beyonce] by Brittany and Santana, It’s All Over (Dreamgirls) by members of New Directions, Cool (West Side Story) by Mike, Out Here on My Own (Fame) by Rachel and Mercedes, and Fix You (Coldplay) by Mr. Schue and the New Directions. My favorite would have to be It’s All Over which was really appropriate for what was happening (though I was irked by the fact that they called Mercedes Effie while everyone else used their names in the song).

Episode Grade: A-

Episode 4, Pot ‘O Gold

Mercedes tries to convince Santana to join Shelby’s all-girl glee club. Meanwhile, Brittany’s family takes in Irish exchange student (The Glee Project’s Damian McGinty).

This episode didn’t really get good ratings from fans, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Unexpectedly, I really liked Damian’s character Rory, though he is indeed very difficult to understand. I must agree that the whole leprechaun thing was very lame, but it was fun to watch Rory try and make Brittany’s wish come true while Brittany enjoys getting those wishes. The Quinn trying to steal Beth back plot was very lame as well, and it was pretty bad writing for Quinn (as always). They couldn’t make Quinn content with what she has, always making her the bad guy… It was sad seeing Brit and Santana leave for The Troubletones, but seeing the performance was just awesome. And one last thing, I despise the Puck/Shelby kissing and being together plot. Seriously.

Songs featured were Bein’ Green (Kermit The Frog) by Rory, Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) [Katy Perry] by Blaine, Waiting For A Girl Like You (Foreigner) by Puck, Candyman (Christina Aguilera) by The Troubletones and Take Care of Yourself (Teddy Thompson) by Rory. My favorite for the episode would have to be tied between Candyman and Take Care of Yourself.

Episode Grade: B+

Episode 5, The First Time

The opening night of the school musical is approaching and the two leads are contemplating taking their relationships with their perspective significant others to the next level. Meanwhile, a scout visits McKinley High which could influence Finn’s future.

 The whole episode was very fast-paced having tons of storylines put together in one episode, it worked very well compared to some other episodes that had things cramped together in an episode. This episode showed Blaine and Rachel thinking about losing their virginities (to Kurt/Finn) for the sake of being sexually realistic in West Side Story which at first I thought was going to be a bad idea to show on television especially since one of the couples were gay, but ended up being handled very well and did not look R-rated in any way. Other characters featured were Artie and his struggles in being a good director (and finally, someone remembered about his relationship with Brittany), Coach Beiste and her love life which was very cute to watch, and a little bit of Mike. Sadly, it also marks the (in my opinion) dreaded and very irrelevant return of the Warblers, which also included the introduction of Sebastian who wants to steal Blaine away from Kurt (go ahead and take Blaine, don’t ever come back!!). Despite the irrelevance of the Warblers, I actually like Sebastian, he even paved way for Kurt to see Karofsky once again for some closure, which was one of my favorite scenes. I just hope they had included more of him. One more thing I hope they have improved on was the inclusion of West Side Story into the episode, as much as the songs were relevant to what was happening to certain characters, it would have been better if they included scenes from the actual play (just like what they did with The Rocky Horror Show last year).

Songs featured are: Tonight (West Side Story) by Rachel and Blaine, Uptown Girl (Billy Joel) by The Warblers, A Boy Like That (West Side Story) by Rachel and Santana, America (West Side Story) by New Directions, and One Hand, One Heart (West Side Story) by Rachel and Blaine. My favorite would have to be Uptown Girl, even though I didn’t like the presence of the Warblers and Curt Mega’s vocals, it’s very catchy and was one of my favorite songs in younger days.

Episode Grade: B+

So that’s it gleeks! This year’s mash up episode is almost coming and looks very exciting (except for the Puck/Shelby storyline)!

Its fall and that means back to school for the students and faculty at McKinley High. The New Directions clan returns after a devastating loss at Nationals, so Mr. Schuester (Matthew Morrison) assigns a project to get them back on track. Meanwhile, Sue Sylvester starts her congressional campaign

Glee is back with it’s brand new season, and by back I mean back to basics, back to the glee that we all loved and not the over the top mess we had in Season 2.

It may not have been a super great episode of glee, I can say that it is a good episode to start of a new season.

One of the best scenes for me would be the part where Kurt and Rachel realized that they weren’t the biggest stars that they thought they were. Although it may have been a little unrealistic having 10 people being alike to both Kurt and Rachel, it was a good plot point to have them see the world out there and not the small little world they live in.’

Runner ups would have to be the introduction of Sugar Motta who was HILARIOUS and Santana, Brittany and Rachel trying to lure back Quinn into the Glee Club’s arms, but I must say, Quinn looks gorgeous with that pink hair and some parts of her outfit.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, Blaine is in McKinley! Both him and Kurt are uber cute with their scenes!! The only bad part about that is that Blaine will obviously get more solos than anyone else in the glee club (even Rachel), I guess. Speaking of cute, another couple is back and we saw how cute they were… Wemma! Who wouldn’t agree that those Superman and Wonder Woman lunch boxes were very cute?

Musical Numbers

Have the writers finally learned their lesson? Looks like they overlooked the Top 40 catalog… Here are my thoughts on last week’s musical numbers.

We Got The Beat (The Go Gos) | Rachel, Brittany, Santana and New Directions

I don’t really know how I’m going to describe this. I think I can call it an under-appreciated performance (both by fans and the people at McKinley), though it was a very up-beat and catchy tune that can get stuck in your head for a long time.

Musical Grade: B+ | Relevance: B

Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead (Wizard of Oz) | Rachel and Kurt

This was very adorable. I just loved watching Kurt and Rachel goofing around with this quirky Wizard of Oz Song. But the bad part is that it isn’t too appropriate for the story.

Musical Grade: B+ | Relevance: C+

It’s Not Unusual (Tom Jones) | Blaine

Now THIS is my favorite song for the episode. The sound of it just makes me dance and have fun. Darren Criss did an amazing job with this track! The whole thing was fun to watch!

Musical Grade: A | Relevance: B+

Anything Goes / Anything You Can Do | Harmony and Friends

Queen Lindsay was AWESOME. Her vocal range was a wonderful thing to hear. Though, I didn’t quite like how they executed the performance. Could’ve been better.

Musical Grade: A | Relevance: B

You Can’t Stop The Beat | Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Artie, Mercedes, Tina and New Directions

I wasn’t quite sure at start on how they would approach the song, but I’m glad they found a way to make it sound great. The dancing and purple outfits were an enjoyable thing to watch as well. This serves as my runner up for best song of the week!

Musical Grade: B+ | Relevance: A

Quotable Quotes!

1. Sue: I have spent the entire year being nothing but kind to you people.
   Tina: Today is only the second day of school.
2. Sue: I’ve put plastic on your chair, so feel free to wet yourself with excitement.
3. Brittany: I have pepperoni in my bra.
   Santana: Those are your nipples.
4. Emma: So this is what being turned on feels like.
5. Jacob: Ooh, Brittany, what are your plans for the future?
   Brittany: Wait. Are you working on a time machine, too?

I was happy with how everything turned out, especially that they’ve given more screen time to Tina and Mike without being all too asian about everything.

Grade: B+

While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications.

This is yet another movie with a far from original plot, but it works in many different levels which makes it enjoyable to watch. And it is way better than No Strings Attached which had a similar plot and was also released this year.

I especially like the opening sequence which was handled very creatively! The rest of the movie was great, I loved the direction, how the director (Will Gluck, Easy A) featured the scenes with the flash mobs in them, as well as how he showed the many different views of New York and Los Angeles.

I also loved how they mocked Rom-Com movies though it falls under the same genre and sort of falls under the same pattern of Rom-Coms, except that it executes it very well.

The movie wouldn’t have been as funny and romantic without it’s two main stars. Justin Timberlake gave a better performance here as compared to his underused character in Bad Teacher. Mila Kunis also proved to do well in these comedic type of roles, and gave a consistent performance from Black Swan. The two have great chemistry together, and it feels like they’ve been together for a long long time to be able to achieve that sort of authentic feel to it.

Overall, I can say that it’s one of those rare RomComs that actually maximize “the formula” and put it into good use. Not just that but all the racy scenes weren’t that racy at all, just good enough for the conservative people. This is by far the best RomCom I’ve seen this year.

Grade: B+

HORRIBLE BOSSES (R) – Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day

Three friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.

The plot wasn’t that original, as there have been many movies before with the story having the protagonist working for a boss who makes his life horrible, but I guess originality didn’t really matter that much because the movie is really effective in terms of telling the story and making people laugh. Not just that, but the twists included in the story made that unoriginal plot go away.

One other thing that made this movie appealing to me were the cast, they were the ones that made the movie as effective as it was. It had a great ensemble who did very well in portraying either a horrible boss or an employee. Among the 6 main cast, my favorite pair would have to be Charlie Day (who I found really really hilarious, especially with his dumb acts and remarks in the movie) and Jennifer Aniston (’nuff said).

Julie Bowen‘s appearance also made me enjoy watching because I really love her in Modern Family!

Overall, I can say that this is one of the best comedies I’ve seen this year (but still it doesn’t beat Bridesmaids)!

Grade: B+

The multi-generational phenomenon that has inspired millions to embrace their inner-Gleek will soon bring them together to experience Glee a whole new way

I have waited for so long to watch this movie (most especially since Glee is on hiatus) and  have finally gotten the chance to do so thanks to one of my teachers Mr. Paul Daza! And so I couldn’t contain my excitement (though I wasn’t showing it publicly cause people might think I’m crazy) once I got into the cinema to finally be able to watch GLEE: The 3D Concert Movie! Here are my thoughts on

Photo by Adam Rose – © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The direction is just brilliant. The way the cameras panned through the musical numbers to different people, and through different angles of the stadium were executed wonderfully.

I didn’t quite like most of the songs in the setlist, probably because I felt that some were not really that much of showstoppers but nevertheless they were very entertaining and will get you tapping your feet and singing along all throughout the movie.

Photo by Adam Rose – © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Not for sale or duplication.

The movie not only featured the concert, but some behind the scenes footage with most of the cast in character, and also stories from three gleeks which served as transitions from one song to the other.

What I liked about it was that the movie featured how glee has changed people’s lives in many different ways (with people who have abnormalities, are homosexuals, and are psychologically ill) which gives you many awww moments and shows that no matter how different you are – you are not alone, because a lot of people share that same “loser” quality and Glee just brings everyone together.

What I didn’t like though is that despite having some short behind the scenes footage, it wasn’t enough and they even focused more on the fans than the cast members. Also, I wanted to see the cast members being themselves rather than just half portraying their characters. That would’ve been way awesome.

Photo by Adam Rose – © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

The choreography really fitted well into the 3D format, and the cast just looked amazing in 3D. I never usually enjoy 3D movies, but I guess this can be an exception because I really enjoyed how they converted most of the footage and showed it in 3D.

I was especially awed during Lea Michele‘s spectacular performance of Don’t Rain on My Parade by Barbra Streisand which gave me the chills and Heather Morris‘ performance of I’m a Slave 4 U by Britney Spears which was really jaw-dropping.

The other cast members such as Chris Colfer (who was so adorable), Amber Riley, Darren Criss and special appearances by  Gwyneth Paltrow and Mini Warbler gave a little delight for the movie viewers.

Something I didn’t like was the underuse of Dianna Agron, Jenna Ushkowitz, Chord Overstreet and Ashley Fink. They could’ve used more solos.

Photo by Adam Rose – © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching the whole thing even though some parts didn’t appeal much to me. It was a great experience to see the people I watch on TV every week in 3D and getting to know how the show has changed other peoples’ lives.

For the gleeks: You will surely enjoy this movie because it is made especially for you! Be sure to watch it as it is only for two weeks!

For the non-gleeks: I think you will enjoy watching more or less, but not as much as those who are avid fans of the show.

Grade: B+

A thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

I had second thoughts on watching this or not, since the trailer was interesting but then I said “this isn’t really my type of movie”. Even though I had that argument in my head, I heard great things about it and I decided to go and see for myself. And at the end, my decision was correct, Contagion is a very different but interesting movie .

That being said, this is not your typical movie with all the exaggerated drama and action. The story is just brilliant, something well thought of, very original, and one of a kind.

As I said earlier, I’m not the type of person who would watch a movie like this, but something about the trailer and the premise was very intriguing which led me to watch it. And that intriguing effect was present while I was watching it, having a tense atmosphere all throughout the 2 hours.

The epidemic idea was genius, and I could say that about how they executed that as well. Watching that even made me sort of paranoid about making contact with people and touching objects once I got out of the cinema. It also made me think of how we should really take care of our environment, because someday it might backfire at us (that was said to me by my Chemistry teacher while we were talking about the movie before I even watched). Watch it to find out why I’m talking about the environment…

But one thing that really made the movie that great would be the brilliant ensemble they had.

Although she died very early in the movie, Gwyneth Paltrow gave a great performance. Throw that all in with Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and many others. Despite the number of characters they had, I can say they were able to

Overall, I would like to emphasize that this is a brilliant movie, with the story, acting and direction, it’s one whole package. I guess the only thing that didn’t go well was the closure, I felt like the ending was short hanged. Nevertheless, I suggest that you go and watch this while it’s still out there.

Grade: B+

]]> http://ihaveathingforgoldstars.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/movie-mania-presents-contagion/feed/ 0 ihaveathingforgoldstars contagion_ver8 Screen shot 2011-09-15 at 7.43.23 PM Screen shot 2011-09-15 at 7.41.38 PM http://ihaveathingforgoldstars.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/movie-mania-presents-zombadings-1-patayin-sa-shokot-si-remington/ http://ihaveathingforgoldstars.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/movie-mania-presents-zombadings-1-patayin-sa-shokot-si-remington/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:13:03 +0000 ihaveathingforgoldstars http://ihaveathingforgoldstars.wordpress.com/?p=1154 Read More

I rarely watch Filipino-made movies these days because more often than not, I get disappointed after having high expectations from everything and I usually just end up watching those I didn’t watch throughout the year on DVD. But since I heard good things about this, I decided to give it a shot, here are my thoughts:

A boy is given a curse for treating homosexuals badly. Years later, the curse manifests on the young man as a demon attacks him at night. Every morning, he finds himself slowly turning gay.

The story was original enough for me, something new. I didn’t really laugh that much as compared to when I was watching movies like Kimmy Dora or Here Comes The Bride, but it was very funny at certain times in the movie especially when Remington started becoming gay.

One thing I liked was that the movie wasn’t entirely for the gay audience, even those who aren’t gay can watch and understand it, like my mother and I did. And it actually gives a good message of respecting the people from the third sex in our community, especially since most of them are always disrespected and treated badly nowadays.

Something I didn’t like though was I didn’t get the point of incorporating Gay Zombies in the movie, I didn’t think it was necessary in the plot. The idea of having gay zombies who looked like Diana Ross was kind of disturbing but hilarious.

Martin Escudero gave an outstanding performance as Remington, compared to when I saw him in his TV Show Ang Babaeng Hampaslupa where he just had a bland facial expression and didn’t have much emotion. It was as if he was truly gay and was just giving out lines from the script, it was very believable, basing it from the gay people I see in school, and I guess it’s a complement for both parties?

Lauren Young didn’t really give a good performance for me, it’s just the same as her performances in TV and other movies.

Eugene Domingo (who usually gets the spotlight in comedies) and Roderick Paulate (who almost always plays these types of gay roles) gave good supporting performances.

Overall, it was just okay for me. It wasn’t as good as everyone said it was to be, it could have been more. If you want to indulge yourself with a lot of good laughs amidst gay stuff, then this is your movie.

Grade: C+

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A comedy centered around a foul-mouthed, junior high teacher who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague — a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher.

I wasn’t expecting too much out of this, and I guess that was a good thing.

The story wasn’t that original, in fact it is similar to the movie School of Rock in the sense of a teacher who doesn’t really do well in her job. I could also compare it to Bride Wars, but instead of Brides having a war, it is between two teachers competing for various things.

It was funny enough for me, but it just wasn’t that funny to keep everyone laughing throughout the whole movie. There were only occasional laughs which I guess means that it wasn’t that effective in making the people laugh.

What makes it a bit more worse is that the movie didn’t have an actual point or something that they wanted the audience to learn. I think the whole point of it was to show that Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz) was a bad teacher and did all of what she went through just to get money and a new pair of boobs.

Despite all of that, I can say that Cameron Diaz did a good performance in portraying her character. Very effective and believable that she was a bad bad teacher – and sexy too.

I also liked Lucy Punch‘s portrayal of her character who was a “goody-goody” teacher who was actually a little mean inside just to get what she wanted but one problem there was that the characters in the movie kept on referring to what happened in “2008″ thinking that the audience knew what that character did in that year. It would’ve been a little better if they showed a flashback to that to explain her character a little bit more.

 Phyllis Smith did great too in being a supporting actress and whose character gave a lot of laughs.

What I didn’t like about it though was that they didn’t maximize Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel to their potential, I feel like they just wasted their talents.

Overall, what i can say is that it could’ve been more that what it was.

Grade: C+

Survivors of a suspension-bridge collapse learn there’s no way you can cheat Death.

I had second thoughts whether I should not watch this because I watched The Final Destination (2009) in theaters and was disappointed by it. And since many people I knew watched and said it was nice, I gave it a shot.

Surprisingly, it was really good compared to the last movie in the franchise which was really sucky. It’s a really good comeback for the franchise, in case they are planning to make more movies.

What I liked about this movie was that even though pretty much the same thing is happening (someone having a vision and cheats death but eventually everyone dies), it is very unpredictable unlike the last few movies wherein it is very obvious how things would turn out. If at first you think the character would die in a certain way, you are wrong and will have to see a few moments later how it would all end for the character.

Not just that, but they have thought of very creative ways of killing people, though some may be too gruesome to be true.

I don’t have much to say about the acting though, too bland, I guess.

Another thing that I didn’t like was the opening credits. I didn’t think that super long opening credits showing breaking glass was necessary. I believe they have only done it just for the 3D effects of the glass and the different objects that break it. They should have just gone with it.

The best part has got to be the ending that you have most probably seen already but won’t see coming AGAIN. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t watched yet . It is just very very unexpected (like most of the things in the movie) and mindblowing. Let’s just leave it to that.

Overall, it is a Final Destination too good to miss. So you better watch it! Haha

Grade: B