Just this past Wednesday, I had an amazing experience viewing The Dark Knight for the first time on IMAX. Not only was the whole IMAX experience satisfying and worth the extra money over regular theaters, it was even better that I saw one of the best film I have ever seen on that glorious wraparound screen.

Like what everyone is saying, I feel that the highlight of The Dark Knight is definitely the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger who sadly passed away in his acting prime. The little quirks that Heath Ledger gave to the character of the Joker added several layers to an already deep character. It was a flawlessly executed part, one that to me has risen to the top of all-time villain/antagonist list.

But what made this movie really GREAT is the entire cast. If only Heath Ledger had a great performance out of the entire cast, then it would only be a good movie. Thankfully, other characters such as Harvey Dent/Two-Face and Commissioner Gordon were great as well. They weren’t perfect, but it doesn’t matter. Unsurprisingly, Christian Bale was still great as Batman(although I feel he was overshadowed by Joker). Somewhat surprisingly, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight was a more convincing performance than Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins.

The screenplay is brilliant. It felt like the fastest two and a half hour movie I’ve ever seen. It didn’t feel that long at all. The score is terrific. Everything about this film is fantastic to me. And I’m running out of words to describe it. In less than a week, this film has broken records and garnered rave reviews. All it needs now is to be recognized at the awards.

A bright new film in the horizon for Philippine cinema. “Ploning” will be released in the Philippines at the end of this month. It’s an indie film by a new production studio, Panoramanila. Their goal is to create a new brand of Filipino cinema that will hopefully ignite the fire under our cold film industry. I support this movement all the way!

For a long time, I’ve wondered why the Philippines has not produced a breakout film that will attract critical attention not only in the Philippines but also internationally. Not just something that will be successful critically, but also something that will change the film industry. I feel like this will be the film that breaks the mold.

Teaser Trailer:

Official Trailer:

“Philippines is not all urban poor. Philippines is also the thousands of islands in the whole archipelago. This is one of the topics the film of Dante will be tackling. I’ve chosen to be part of this project… or rather the project chose me to be a part of it. I have a passion right now to make films that veer away from the usual dark torrid violent and desperate images portrayed in most Pinoy indie films right now. I have nothing against them. Definitely not… film as an artform should indeed show the truth of reality in what is happening to its society. But film as an artform should not portray only one version of the truth. We should also show the world how beautiful our country is… if also in our films.”

“For this maiden project, Panoramanila intends to portray a more beautiful and scenic Philippines. It wants to veer away from the stereotype images of third world poverty, sex and gambling trade and violence proliferating from current crop of Filipino films recognized in international film festivals,” added Sebastian.

Panoramanila Press Release

I’ve just witnessed what will most likely be another Pixar masterpiece. The new Wall-E trailer was released yesterday, and while I’ve always been interested in this film since it was Pixar, it is the premise that hooked me from the beginning. It also hopes that it is being helmed by Andrew Stanton, one of the creative minds behind Finding Nemo.  The trailer shows definite promise for the film, showing the cuteness of Wall-E and the newly introduced Eve robot. The cinematography and music is usual Pixar brilliance. I will watch this in the theaters, and I will love it just like all Pixar films.

Watch the trailer here. It is under “Trailer” and if you can watch it in HD, please do! The CGI in this film looks outstanding. Pixar tops itself yet again.

Facebook founder is world’s youngest billionaire

Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK – Mark Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old founder of social networking site Facebook, is the youngest ever self-made billionaire, according to an annual list published by Forbes magazine.

“He is the youngest billionaire in the world right now and we also believe he is the youngest self-made billionaire in history,” said the magazine’s Associate Editor Matthew Miller, unveiling this year’s super-rich list.

The magazine put the former Harvard student’s personal wealth at 1.5 billion dollars, based on what it said was a conservative valuation of five billion dollars for Facebook and Zuckerberg’s estimated 30 percent stake.

It played down speculation that the site could be worth as much as 15 billion dollars, which was based on Microsoft paying 240 million dollars for a 1.6 percent stake in the company last year.

“Would it really fetch that much today? Some analysts — and a few Facebook investors — doubt it,” the magazine said. It said it based its valuation on Facebook’s estimated annual sales of 150 million dollars.

It’s been a while since Apple last updated its laptop line. For the Macbook Pro, the last time was in June 2007 when they put in the LED screens and gave it the Santa Rosa chipset. The Macbok was updated in late 2007, when it was given a modest upgrade in speed and memory.

Just earlier today Apple announced its latest update of the MBP and Macbook. Aside from a speed bump, the Macbook Pro is also gaining the multi-touch trackpad found in the Macbook Air. The Macbook Pro receives a CPU and memory boost. The fastest Macbook CPU is on the same level as the faster MBP CPU of the previous update.

My Santa Rosa Macbook Pro, which I got back in June 2007, sort of feels old now with its lack of multi-touch trackpad. But I don’t regret getting it. It’s been worth the money, and aside from my first MBP having a warped LCD lid (which I returned promptly), I haven’t had any huge problems. My only minor problem is the squeeking of the keys that comes and goes. Just when I was writing this entry, its high pitched squeek came back, perhaps trying to tell me it’s starting to feel old. I don’t think so, my friend!

…

(lamezors)

Since Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Olympic back in 2001, the city has been undergoing a massive makeover in a bid to amaze the tens of thousands of visitors for the Olympic games. How did they go about doing this? By building amazing, cutting edge architecture that no other place (perhaps, excluding Dubai) would risk building.

Four projects stand out among the rest, creating buzz around the world. These are the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, the National Theater, and the CCTV headquarters. These four buildings were featured in a Discovery channel documentary on Beijing’s preparations for the 2008 Olympics.

The Bird’s Nest was the winner of a design contest for the Olympic Stadium designed by Herzog & de Meuron. Very radical design for a stadium, but for some reason I’m not as amazed by it as other people. Perhaps when I see it finished, my opinion will change.

The National Grand Theater in Beijing is designed by French architect, Paul Andreu. I really love this building. Who would’ve thought that something as simple as an oval dome would be so beautiful? Maybe it’s the shiny titanium skin or the glassy facade, or perhaps the reflective lake that surrounds the building. It’s a brilliant design, but many people in Beijing have criticized it for looking out of place within the Tienanmen Square, where it is surrounded by historical buildings such as the Forbidden City and government buildings. I think it’s nicely juxtaposed between those old buildings, and to me it shows that China is progressing nicely into the 21st Century.

With the Olympics only about 6 months away, many of these buildings are close to completion. The Watercube was completed a while ago and it’s going through trial runs. This is another piece of brilliant design. In the videos above, you will see how the design came to be. The completed Water Cube actually looks better in real life than in the renders.

More pictures of the Water Cube.

 Last, but not least, is the CCTV Headquarters. The amazing looping building is designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren. Although it looks like an impossible building, it was designed by employing sort of an illusion as the support of the building stands vertically, while the “skin” of the building bends away from it. Eh, I’m not sure if I’m describing it right. Just watch the video. :)

Girl shows up alive at own wake
By Orlando Dinoy
Mindanao Bureau
First Posted 16:30:00 02/21/2008
DIGOS CITY, Philippines — Members of a family here got the shock of their lives Thursday when the young girl whose death they were mourning walked into their home very much alive.

The Gempesaw family had been holding a wake for what they believed to be Jocelyn, 13, who had been reported since February 14, since a body with features resembling the girl was found in a sugarcane field in Barangay (village) Agustin here on Sunday.

Editha, Jocelyn’s mother, herself positively identified the dead girl as her daughter and claimed it from the local morgue.

On Thursday, Jocelyn read an account of her supposed death in a local tabloid and hurried to the wake, her father Rodolfo said.

She explained that she had been hiding in a friend’s house in Emily Homes after fleeing leaving her allegedly abusive employer’s house on Valentine’s Day. She had been working as a store helper.

Digos police chief Caezar Cabuhat said investigators were “back to zero” on the identity of the dead girl.

Link