여러분, 메리 크리스마스!
여러분, 메리 크리스마스!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Maligayang Pasko sa inyong lahat!
Showing posts with label universal studios. Show all posts
Showing posts with label universal studios. Show all posts
RIP Terminator 2: 3D
You have served the Universal Studios Hollywood family well. We've seen you through Skynet's self-awareness, through the end of the Governator's term... it's finally time to pack up and go. I'm glad to have enjoyed your show a couple of times -- one last time on my December 26th visit.
Make way for Hogwarts, Cyberdyne Systems. To one fantasy to another. Suuuuper!
Second half of 2012: KPOP
And the journey through 2012 continues...
I love it when things creep up on you. I love discovering new things. I wasn't looking for anything really. It's like... they found me.
A lot of firsts happened during the 2nd half of my 2012. First KPOP concert, first time to go back home to the Philippines after 3 years, first birthday party in 15+ years. I also crossed out a couple off both my wish list and bucket list. So many good things, so much love happened in these latter months.
But I have to say the highlight of it all is the epicness that was the BIGBANG Galaxy Alive Tour... experience. I find myself still pinching myself. Did that really just happen? It's not just about the concert... all the other good stuff that happened. My fangirl moments. It felt so good being able to lose your cool like that. I haven't done than in a loooooong time. I do know exactly how much I spent on the whole thing but I don't regret a single cent. It was a birthday and Christmas gift to myself. Sometimes, when I listen to Fantastic Baby, I forget that I actually saw it performed live in front of my very eyes five times. And when it hits me, I turn into mush. It was so awesome and humbling to witness such talent from those guys. I hope I get to see that again.
BIGBANG came as a surprise to me. Back in high school when the Asian wave hit the Philippines, I was attracted more towards CPOP and Taiwanese dramas than the Hallyu wave. Only very recently did I hit my head and realized how rich and high quality it is. And it's a good thing that 2NE1 and BIGBANG were the ones that reintroduced me to KPOP. I realized that I still dislike some of it (I initially did not like the overly manufactured sound KPOP had. Some groups still have that today, unfortunately). The talents from YG Family are definitely top-notch and I would gladly listen to them any time. (EPIK HIIIIGH!!!)
My decision to go to the 2NE1 concert was completely impulsive and I am glad I went after it. I've never had so much fun at a concert! That was my first taste of a KPOP concert. I did all those things... sang along even if it meant butchering the lyrics, dancing the correct choreography and all. I didn't get a lightstick but it was okay. I did get two at the BIGBANG concert though and oh boy, how fun was that?! XD
Other concerts I went to are both at the Hollywood Bowl. I grew up listening to Barry Manilow music and I finally got to watch him live. I pretty much melted during Weekend in New England, one of my favorite songs of all time. I also went to that Filipino celebration thing. I enjoyed the Pinoy talents enough but I pretty much lost it when Black Eyes Peas (sans Fergie) and PCD Nicole Scherzinger took over the night. Speaking of Black Eyed Peas, I saw apl.de.ap and will.i.am twice this year -- at that Hollywood Bowl thing and the 2NE1 concert. Yeah, they closed the show with the girls.
November, I went back home with my mom to the Philippines. It was bloody hot but it was nice to see family and friends again. Nothing like the warmth and love of the people you grew up with. And the food... you can't beat food in the Philippines, I'm telling you. It's also in the Philippines where I got my first BIGBANG CDs. And my new makeup love, Etude House. If you look at my stash, one would think I went to South Korea instead of the Philippines!
December gave me two of my most anticipated movies: Rurouni Kenshin live action and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Sure I saw Rurouni Kenshin during my flight to the Philippines but in December, I saw it in the cinema with my brother. Then watching The Hobbit with my two favorite geeks before flying back to the US. I ended up watching both movies multiple times.
So that's it for 2012. I had so much fun. It was a long rollercoaster ride and I still don't want to get off. But I have to move on and hope for better things to come. I hope 2013 holds bigger and better things for me. Unlike the previous years, I have plans this time. We're not getting any younger and I think it's about time for me to work out something in my life.
See you on the other side!
Happy LOTR-filled Holidays!
When I watched The Hobbit in 2D back in the Philippines, a handful of people urged me to watch it in 3D. I will say this again, I am not the biggest fan of 3D. I haven't watched a lot of them; those that I did watch in 3D, I disliked. I'm pretty content with 2D plus it's cheaper.But since coming back to the States - and to be fair, it's The Hobbit... I'll watch it 10 times in the theater if need be - my mom and I decided to IMAX the thing. I know that the movie is in fact shot in 3D so it should be better than those movies "converted" to 3D. Oh man, I so want to see it again! In 3D!
(If only the other LOTR movies were shot in 3D. Just imagine how Legolas' hair would translate.)
Since it was my 2nd time watching it, I focused on specific aspects of the movie. On the first run, I tend to enjoy it for what it is and judge how faithful it is to the book. This time around, I got to enjoy the music, the scenery (and remember if I've seen that in the other movies lol), as well as random stuff like where have I seen this actor before and whatnot. I go even geekier, if that is even possible. (Yes, it is.)
You are a Lord of the Rings addict if you know which race is coming up next based on the background music.Indeed. I have a torrid love affair with Howard Shore's score for LOTR. Especially the one for all the Rohan scenes. Even my mom is in on this. She said that the theme for the elves reminds her of Haldir. And rightfully so because you can hear it during LOTR:TTT when Haldir and his army of elves lend a hand to Theoden at Helm's Deep. See, we do have a geek vein in the family. (Watching LOTR is a bonding activity among the Tenmatay family.)
Anyway, I love the score for this as well. It's new and different but familiar at the same time. The dwarves singing a direct passage from the book gave me goosebumps. How I wish they let Legolas!Orli sing. Legolas has a crapton of songs in the book. I can imagine how awkward it would be to see it on screen. Think... Elessar!Viggo singing at his coronation hahaha. I never am comfortable watching that. But I digress. I love the musical choices in this movie so far. And good choice in using Tolkien's own words.
And then Christmas came along. I want to forget this year's Christmas for very personal reasons so I won't even attempt to write about it. A wonderful thing about it was I counted down to the 25th by rewatching the whole trilogy... extended with audio commentaries!
Not all of it though. I mean, I wanted an excuse to play my DVDs. I audio comm'd FOTR and TTT but I only watched the theatrical release of ROTK. I do have all 3 in the 4-disc format but my ROTK is from a different region. I think my aunt bought it from another country while the first two were from the US. It sucks. I can't play ROTK. I do have a copy of the extended version on my external HD but I want to go back to DVDs. Either I buy an ROTK 4-disc with a different region or I buy a multi-region DVD player. Bummer.
(I used to have all 3 movies in VCD, 2-disc DVD, and 4-disc extended but I gave away my VCD copies to a celebrity I interviewed back in high school. Brad Turvey, wherever you are.)
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| The happiest that my Christmas 2012 got. |
I never intended to have Tolkien/Peter Jackson to end my year. It just happened. After my epic LOTR Christmas marathon (I've decided to make it a yearly thing), my mom and I went to my favoritest place on the planet: Universal Studios Hollywood. I fcking LOVE this place. I used to go there all the friggin' time. But this year, would you believe that December 26 was the first and the final time I went to Universal for 2012? I fail. I missed it so much. I missed people/tourist watching! And I missed the Studio Tour. King Kong 3D... I'd go ride that tram over and over just to experience that part of the tour again and again.
As you know, King Kong is directed by Peter Jackson and he had a hand in creating that part of the tour. The LOTR connection didn't stop there. Hot Topic was having a Boxing Day sale where all of their shirts were $10. I got two, one with Gandalf's face and the other one is probably my new favorite tee shirt.
I also started re-reading The Hobbit. After some thinking, deciding to drop the book that I was trying to find the interest in reading and digging this one out from the shadows. If you want to read Tolkien, better start with The Hobbit because it is by far the easiest to read. And it is funny, too. Plus if you've seen the movie, the reading will go by much faster.
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| "Lyrics" to the video above |
Is it okay to say that I want to watch the movie again in 3D? Provided I've seen the first three films more than I could count, I better start with this one now. Right? RIIIIGHT?! ;-)
PS: I don't know if you've noticed bu the supposedly Elvish-made blades such as Glamdring and the Orcist do not glow blue at the presence of orcs and/or goblins in the movie. Only Sting, Bilbo's sword did. Glamdring never turned blue in the LOTR movies.
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