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Soy Muy Amigo (I Am a Dear Friend)

The Spaniards colonized us through religion, converting native Filipinos into Christians...

The Americans seduced us with the promise of Democracy and Freedom...

Which leads us to the question: What does it really mean to be a Filipino without the influences of our colonial masters?

This movie was made for our generation, maybe to give us a glimpse of what it means to be Filipino.

Kaya ng Filipino Lumipad... a DAYO Review

11-year old Bubuy meets Anna the Mananangirl for the first time

We were blown away by the first public premiere of Dayo the Movie last Friday. I almost shed a tear when the movie finished because Filipinos have finally created the first All-Digital Animated Movie that we all can be proud of.

Dayo The Movie - 9 Days to go...

Dayo The Movie is the First Ever All Digital Full Length Animation of the Philippines!

The Dark Knight Premieres in IMAX SM Mall of Asia, Manila

BATMAN - The Dark Knight
premiered in IMAX SM Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines last night.

It is brilliant, dark and disturbing.
It is definitely, a Christopher Nolan masterpiece.
We were emotionally involved with the fears and hopes of the citizen of Gotham.

I was scared of Joker. Heath Ledger's performance was no joke.
I'm torn between giving him a standing ovation for his performance or
Feeling angry with the way he terrorized the citizens of Gotham.

The IMAX screen brought Batman to life.
It was responsible for the fears and drama that the audience felt.
I felt like I'm a citizen of Gotham City.

Most of the cinematic and action scenes are filmed in the highest IMAX film resolution.
You can distinguish the IMAX 2D scenes where the pictures are taller than it is wide.
With this, you are engulfed by the emotions and drama of the entire scene.

The trailer was just a teaser.
If you love it, wait till you see the rest of the movie.
Bravo to the brilliant writer of The Dark Knight!

A lot of people died in the movie.
Heath Ledger died after shooting this movie.
It was neither a happy or sad ending.

Saying that this is "The Movie Event of the Year" is an understatement.
This is not for kids and I would not consider this a cartoon anymore.
Just watch it.

Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. Copyright 2008.

P.S. Reserve your tickets @ SM IMAX (+632) 556 IMAX (4629) / 5560242). P350.
The Dark Knight opens on July 17, 2008.
The best seats in Imax are the top rows M,N,P,Q and pick the center seats.

Princess Urduja - The First Filipino Animated Film

(Thanks to Michelle Morelos for the Urduja photos)

Congratulations to Producer Tony Tuviera (of Eat Bulaga fame) and Director Reggie Entienza for Urduja! It is "the first-ever Philippine full-length digital and traditional animation film" that showcase Filipino talent and animation capabilities (see more info: Life is an Animation) This is history in the making. Who said that the Filipino film industry is dead?

Urduja is a fictional story of a warrior princess in the land of Taliwisi which is in Pangasinan. The story revolves around the forbidden love story of Princess Urduja(voiced by Regine Velasquez) and the Chinese Pirate, Lim Hang (voiced by Cesar Montano). It also offers a view of the tribal lives and ancient traditions in the Philippines. I love the movie's theme song "Babae Ako" sang by Regine Velasquez.

Urduja reapplies some of Hollywood animation's winning formula which uses a woman as a lead character like in Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. The musical romance scenes of Urduja and Lim Hang are reminiscent of Pocahontas. It is like watching anime-like cartoons but dubbed in Tagalog. You'll get entertained by the Eat Bulaga humor between Tasir (a tarsier voiced by Allan K) and Kutkut (a rat voiced by Michael V). They resemble the tandem of Timon (a meerkat), and Pumbaa (a warthog) from the Lion King.

What I did not like about the movie is the over use of romantic cliches,and tired Eat Bulaga jokes. The plot is also predictable.

I sincerely hope that this opens the door to animated movies featuring the enchanted tales of Filipino folklore or the lost island of Lemuria in the Philippines.
I am proud that we finally have our first Filipino-made animated film! Watch it for its historical significance and realize that "Kaya pala natin ito (We can do it!)!"

Have you watched Urduja? What do you think of it?

Text and Photos by Anton Diaz. Copyright 2008.

U2 3D Premieres in Manila

U2 3D Up Close

Official U2 3D Website: U2 3D Movie

I watched the premier press preview of U2 3D movie last night. I was not ready to witness a historic technological advancement in concert films history. I would agree that this is even better than watching the U2 concert live. At one point in the movie, I felt I was in the front row crowd singing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with U2. The imagery created by the concert performance and video screens are something to see. You can be intimate with Bono who sings directly in front of you in virtual reality -- a defining moment in 3d movie history. The combination of 3d images and text, 5.1 surround sound quality and actual participation of the IMAX crowd, makes the experience surreal.

It would have been great if the entire crowd in IMAX was standing up with the crowd and singing. But again it was press night and most of the oldies just decided to sit back and watch. I know that you will be watching this specially the U2 fans out there. Please come with a mindset that you are attending a concert and having the best virtual reality interaction with U2 and the stadium crowd. Sing, wave your hands, clap, bring out your cellphones and forget for a moment that you are in a 3d IMAX theater.


U2 3D was shot during the last leg of the "Vertigo" tour in South America. U2 is not only recognized for their musical invention but also for reaching out to millions of fans through new technologies. This technologies include the use of video screens during the 1992-93 "ZooTv" tour, LED displays on their 1997-98 "PopMart" tour, and recently, the use of dimensional, light beaded video curtains above the stage at their 2005-06 "Vertigo" tour. They were also the first bands to embrace the Apple iPod device coming out with a U2 branded iPod. Bono wanted to go somewhere magical with the creation of U2 3D. He decided to shoot the South America Vertigo tour to capture the enthusiasm of the crowd who are excited to watch U2 after an eight-year hiatus from the continent.

Here is a 30 second clip on the U2 3D movie:

Spiderman 3 @ IMAX. Is it Worth it?

By now, I'm sure that most of you were part of making Spiderman hit a record-shattering opening day in the Philippines! There won't be any spoilers in the post. Some say that this is the best Spiderman ever and there are a lot of villains just in one movie! Others also say that it is dragging, there are a lot of inconsistencies in the movie and the drama is predictable. Overall, I liked it but I don't think it was worth watching it in IMAX because there are no 3d effects. However, if you want to impress a date, here are the top reasons for watching Spiderman 3 in IMAX:

Top 3 reasons for watching Spiderman 3 in IMAX!

1. Watch Spiderman 3 in the biggest screen in the country and the no.1 IMAX theater worldwide (in terms of sales).

2. Get a chance to see and take a picture of the biggest bubble wrap sticker in the Philippines!

Spidey 3 on Imax!

The Biggest Sticker Wrap in the World -- 113ft by 75ft Spiderman 3 (may be a Guiness Book of World Record in the making)

Yes! Spidey is coming to town! This is another reason to go back and watch Spiderman in the Imax big screen! I'm excited and I'm very happy that SM Cinema gave me a few tickets to the premier opening on May 2 12.01am which is also the press screening. (I don't consider myself as press, but I would like to have the freedom to take pictures inside IMAX -- hopefully) As shared during the iBlog 3 talk, I'll be sharing two tickets to the blogger who would give me a great feedback about the presentation. I'll just wait for a few days before I select the winner.

Here are the official dates from SM Cinema and reserve your tickets now (after reading this) for the May 4,5,6 weekend!

May 1(Tuesday) first day opening of Spiderman on regular cinemas
May 1 (Tuesday) first day opening of Spiderman on IMAX Theatre ( it is 2d just like the normal movies but you get to watch it in the biggest movie screen in the country.)

For ticket inquiries and reservations for IMAX Theatre you can call 556-0242 or 556-4629

If you are not going out of town on May 1, you can check out the Spiderman 3 launch events starting 4pm onwards in SM Mall of Asia. Most notably, there will be a local group of college students from U.P., Ateneo, & La Salle who will do a Parkour stunt similar to the chase scene in Casino Royale. If you are not familiar with the Parkour group, check out this You Tube video on Parkour.

Thanks SM Cinema for the insider's tip on this!