Saturday, January 23, 2016

Reflecting on Kobe’s 81-Point Game



One afternoon, during my senior year in high school, a couple of my classmates skipped the first period and came late because they decided to watch Kobe Bryant make history – making the second best scoring output ever in the NBA.  When they got to school around the second period, they immediately told everyone – especially to me, since they knew that I’m a big Lakers and Kobe fan – about it.  Everyone was blown away, and we couldn’t stop talking about it.  I was, of course, ecstatic and proud.  I couldn’t wait to get home to watch the replay – hoping I could catch a replay (we only had dial-up Internet connection then; not good enough for streaming videos).

That was a decade ago, and it was one of the best feelings I’ve had in my Kobe/Lakers/NBA fandom.  Since then, I’ve several times re-watched highlights of Kobe’s 81-point game as well as the entire game itself.  And with its tenth year anniversary having recently come and gone (January 22), I re-watched it once more.  But this time around, with the sentiment of Kobe’s career drawing to its close hanging in the air, there were some things that I was reminded of and fully realized as I watched.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Why Alexander Dane Is My Most Favorite Alan Rickman Character



Beloved English actor Alan Rickman passed away earlier this month at the age of 69 (he would have turned 70 next month).  He shall definitely be missed.  He was an easy celebrity to like.  He has a refined and charming personality, and he has this terrific, distinctive accent that everybody finds adorable and which other celebrities (e.g. Benedict Cumberbatch) love to impersonate.  Most importantly, he’s an “important” actor – and a genuinely talented one at that.  Now, there are only four movie characters that he portrayed that I extremely liked: Hans Gruber in Die Hard, the Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves, Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus in Galaxy Quest, and Severus Snapes in the Harry Potter movies.  But he played these four characters to perfection, making them too memorable and striking that they were already enough to establish and solidify his reputation in the world of cinema and winning movie fans’ hearts.

Among these four Rickman characters, my most favorite is Alexander Dane.  I acknowledged that Snapes is arguably the most complex and iconic – maybe even the best – and it’s either him or Hans Gruber whom Rickman is most associated with.  But Dane was the character that I enjoyed the most.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Top 10 Fantasy Books


I had already made respective lists for science fiction and science fantasy – the mashup of science fiction and fantasy – books.  So it’s only right to complete a “trilogy” by doing another list, this time for fantasy literature.  This list is exclusively for “pure” fantasy – books that exclusively use fantasy elements and tropes.  If you’re wondering why an important “fantasy” property is missing in this list, check first my list for science fantasy books for it might be there.  Also, there are no horror books in this list for I don’t count horror as fantasy even if they have supernatural or fantastical elements (someday, I will make a list for them, too).

Nonetheless, I admit that this list will feel incomplete.  I know there are tons of notable works of fantasy that I haven’t read yet.  I’ve been meaning to read the Gormenghast series for years, but I can’t find a copy.  I enjoyed the TV mini-series, but I haven’t read the Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell novel yet.   I haven’t read a single The Wheel of Time book (I want to get into it at book one, which I’m having a difficult time of finding).  And I’ve yet to get into the hottest fantasy property these days, A Song of Ice and Fire.

Furthermore, the rankings of this list are dependent on my personal taste and on it alone.  So some of these books might be ranked higher or lower than their positioning in an “objective” all-time list for fantasy books.

10.) Redwall series by Brian Jacques

Once I got to read enough Redwall books, I found the plots and themes repetitive and thin.  Still, they are a delight to read.  Set in a fantasy, medieval world occupied by anthropomorphic critters, the books feature various tales from the history of Redwall Abbey, Mossflower Woods, and other surrounding places.

Saturday, January 09, 2016

2015. In Pictures.


This is my recap of 2015: a set of images, in no particular order, summarizing the notable stuff of this year...
   
"Back to the Future Day" came and went...
...but we still don't have commercial hoverboards around.

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Photo Biography Update (01-07-16)


Some notable photos taken during the period of June 27, 2015 to January 7, 2016...

Top 10 Comics of 2015


I love comics, and I love reading them in general.  That will always be the case, and 2015 was no different.  I’ve read plenty of titles.  However, unlike the previous two years in which I did “top 20” lists, I will just be doing a “top 10” for 2015.  It’s not because 2015 wasn’t a good year for comics – it was.  Comics have gained higher recognition and status as an art form in recent years, and have since been a fantastic medium for profound storytelling and stunning graphic art year in, year out.  However, I feel that 2015’s crop of comics – or at least those I read – isn’t that noteworthy to warrant a top 20.   Also, I feel too lazy to write a top 20. Hehe.

Honorable Mentions: Bloom County (the awesome cartoon strip is back as a web comic!), Superman: American Alien, Spider-Man & the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D., Batman and SupermanInvincible Iron Man, Action Comics

10.) BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

I enjoy inter-property crossovers, and it’s been a while since something as cool as this has been done.  Only the first issue had been released in 2015, but the premise and mood it had set appealed to me considerably, enough to get a spot in this list.  I’m excited to see how the rest of its run will go in 2016.

Sunday, January 03, 2016

Top 10 TV Shows of 2015


Before we start with the list, let me first present, for your reference, all the TV shows I watched and followed in 2015 but didn’t get in the top 10 --
Anime: One-Punch Man season one, Kuroko no Basuke season three (end), Haikyuu! season two, The Seven Deadly Sins season one, Your Lie in April, Assassination Classroom season one, Sound! Euphonium, Parasyte –the maxim–
TV Series: Castle, The Blacklist, Sleepy Hollow (I dropped this during the latest season), Elementary (also dropped this during the latest season), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Defiance (cancelled), True Detective, iZombie, Constantine (cancelled after just one season. Bummer. At least, John Constantine showed up in Arrow), Agent Carter, The Big Bang Theory, 12 Monkeys, Supergirl, The Muppets

Now, unto my choices for the ten best things on TV in 2015…

10.) JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORELL

Excerpt from my review:
“Set in an alternative history around the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell focuses on the partnership of the title characters, the last two magicians of England, and then their inevitable rivalry. There’s actually something more to its premise than this, but I believe that the less information you know about it – especially if, like me, you haven’t read the book yet – the more enjoyable and fresh you will find the series to be.”

Saturday, January 02, 2016

‘Sherlock: The Abominable Bride’ is a Tough Act to Follow for 2016 TV



(Warning: SPOILERS!)
Just finished watching Sherlock’s feature-length Christmas New Year’s Day special, The Abominable Bride, for the second time (yep, watched it twice before writing this).  *whistle* Once again, Sherlock floored me!  Will this show ever run out of brilliant ideas?   Writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat just keep finding ways to surprise and delight.

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride is nothing short of awesome.  It’s not necessarily the best Sherlock installment.  But the thing with this show is that it’s really hard for me to pin-point a particular installment as “the best.”  Nonetheless, The Abominable Bride possesses a good amount of high points.

Friday, January 01, 2016

Top 20 Movies of 2015


For 2015, unlike the previous years, I didn’t make a first-half and second-half lists for best movies of the year.  Instead, I decided that, starting with 2015 films, I would do something new for my annual movie lists.

Throughout the year, I would immediately write a short review after watching a movie – thus, I could present my two cents’ worth on that movie fresh.  That’s why, if you noticed, the amount of blog posts I wrote in 2015 is more than double than what I wrote in 2014.   It’s because I wrote a blog post for every movie I’ve watched in 2015.  (Click here for all the movies I’ve watched and reviewed in 2015.)

I would then only have to assemble a single list – a Top 20 list – once the year is over.   And I’m satisfied with this new arrangement.  Since my thoughts for all the movies I watched are already available, it’s much easier for me to weigh-in, pick, and rank the movies.

Moreover, for the first time, I feel that I’ve watched all the movies I wanted to watch in 2015, thus, I don’t think there’s a need to make a follow-up list in February (like what I did last year for 2014 movies).  I think this list is pretty much complete and final already.

So here are my picks for the top 20 movies of 2015, with excerpts from the respective reviews I wrote.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

20.) EX MACHINA

Ex Machina is a superb, fresh, insightful, disturbing, and gripping science fiction psycho-thriller straight out of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror.”

'Boruto: Naruto the Movie' Renewed My Enthusiasm for the Franchise



It’s already 2016 (Jan. 1) as I write this review, but Boruto: Naruto the Movie is the last movie I’ve watched in 2015 – watched it during New Years’ Eve.  So this is still filed and reviewed as a 2015 movie – this should be the last one.

Coming into this movie, I was intrigued, but I wasn’t particularly excited about it.  I used to extremely adore the Naruto property, but I was much dismayed by its messy last arc that I was no longer as enthusiastic about it as much as I had been before.  So with Boruto (will just mention the movie as such for the rest of this article), yes, I was intrigued, but only to the extent of my desire to know more of the new post-time skip status quo that the manga’s epilogue and the mini-series Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Seventh Spring had introduced.