Life Changing Football

            It is the first time that I have heard about the homeless world cup that is why I conducted a research about it to be able to write this paper.  According to my research, the homeless world cup is a sporting event that brings together homeless people to play football. 

            I think that this is a great idea to address the issue of poverty in our country.  I often associate poverty with laziness.  I have this image of marginalized people as hopeless and bums.  And I am sure that I am not alone with these generalizations.   But with this homeless world cup, people will be enlightened with their image of poverty.  These guys are homeless and they just don’t sit at home and be bums.  They do something about their situation, which is really heartwarming.

            I think that the homeless world cup should be given more media attention because it is good to see something like this once in a while.  Through media exposure, they will definitely get the support of the Filipinos.  I believe that the government should also fund projects like this.  But it is sad to say that the government lacks funding when it comes to Philippine athletes.  The Philippine team needs all the support that they can get to be ale to train better and produce outstanding results. 

            I read a blog which was an interview with one of the coaches of the Philippine team.  His name is Ronald Patulin.  He had said lines that struck me.  “For Team Philippines this means more than football, this is our opportunity to voice the issue of homelessness which is ignored in the Philippines” and “Taking part in this event is the focus by which we can change lives through football”.  I can feel the dedication in these lines.  I like the way that they addressed issues in the Philippines that are ignored.  Most Filipinos would address these issues through rallies which harms the image of the Philippines.  Joining the homelss world cup and winning it will give pride to the Philippines.

            Media often portrays negative issues about this country, which is why Filipinos get hopeless about the situation.  Stories like these will definitely give back hope to the Filipinos.  These will make them realize that Philippines is not so bad after all.

Sources:

http://www.streetsoccerphilippines.com/

http://www.homelessworldcup.org/news/team-philippines-touch-down-in-rio

Kim's Photos

My family went to Canada during the Christmas break.  It was the first time I experienced falling snow and it was really amazing.  It was really cold up there but the scenery was so beautiful! I had with me my father's Nikon D80, though I have no idea how to use SLR cameras, I think my pictures turned out to be great.  If you have no skills in seeing the right angles and other things that professional photographers see in a picture.  You just need an awesome scenery and keep clicking your camera, there is no doubt that you will have great pictures with you! 

view outside our lodge

the driveway

my little brother enjoying the snow

It's Christmas Time.. It's MMFF time for Filipinos

Metro Manila Film Festival happens every 25th of December and lasts until the first week of January.  It is an event wherein only Filipino movies are shown in all cinemas nationwide.  Movie directors look forward to this event and they really work hard for their movies.  Not all movies are qualified to be a part of this event.  The board only chooses 8 movies.

(clockwise from the upper left) RPG Metanoia, Father Jejemon, Dalaw, Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin (Last na To!), Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote, Super Inday and the Golden Bibe, Shke Rattle & Roll XII, Rosario

After watching all the trailers, these are my comments:

 RPG Metanoia - The animation is definitely good.  It could pass as a Pixar film.  But I did not really get the story presented in the trailer.  I hope this will do well, because I believe that it took a lot of effort to make this.

 Father Jejemon-  First thing I noticed was Dolphy.  He really looks old in this film and it is distracting for me.  It looks like a low budget film and the story looks too simple.  I think that this movie is not MMFF worthy.  But I think people will watch this because Dolphy is in it.

 Dalaw- Some scenes were too dark, they should have fixed the lighting because I could just see their faces sometimes.  The trailer achieved it's goal which is to scare the audience.  And I think that this will do good because Kris Aquino horror films are promising.

 Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin (Last na 'To!)- This is the final installment of Tangina Ina.  It looks like a chill movie.  By chill movie, I mean that people would wanna see this come Christmas, because it will give them a good laugh.  All other installments of Tanging Ina proved to be a success because of the tandem of Eugene Domingo and Ai Ai Delas Alas.

 Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote- The tandem of Bong Revilla and Vic Sotto is new, and based on the trailer I think that they really did a good job.  On the other hand, the special effects in this film can still be improved.  The  fight scenes look choreographed when it should look realistic.  But there is humor in this film which I know that Filipinos will enjoy.

 Super Inday and the Golden Bibe- Marian Rivera is the lead actress in this movie but I think that Pokwang is overshadowing her.  Jake Cuneca on the other hand is the lead actor, but I barely noticed him in the trailer.  The trailer was kinda long, they could have shortened it.  There is humor in this film which again I think that the Filipinos will enjoy.

 Shake, Rattle & Roll XII- First thing that I would like to commend in this trailer was the font that they used.  It added to the horror effect to the audience.  A lot of good actors and actresses in this film.  Like Dalaw, this trailer was able to give a scare to the audience.  There is always a Shake, Rattle & Roll entry in the MMFF.  And they always do well because they have proved to be a quality horror film.  Which is why I think that people would see this one.

 Rosario- The trailer was unique compared to all the other trailers.  This one had no dialogue in it, it only showed clips of the film with a background music.  It helped emphasized the drama theme of the story.  Jennylyn Mercado's acting looks really promising.  It is the only movie in this year's MMFF that is in the drama genre, which I think will give the film an advantage

I think this year's entries are great and I encourage people to watch and support these films.  It is a Christmas tradition here in the Philippines, and it gives Christmas color and excitement.  The Philippine movie industry needs our support, so let us all hit the cinemas this Christmas break and enjoy the show!

Movie Review: My Amnesia Girl

As much as possible, I wanna write movie reviews that are current.  I was in the mall, figuring out what movie to watch.  The movie choices during that time were not really interesting for me.  But like I said, I wanted to do a current movie review.  So that is why I picked My Amnesia Girl.  It is one way of supporting the Philippine movie industry. 

When the trailer of this movie came out, people responded negatively to it.  A lot of people said, including me that it was a carbon copy of the Hollywood movie 50 First Dates.  When you watch both trailers, you will really be convinced that these 2 movies are the same.  This is maybe the reason why moviegoers chose to skip this movie. 

The tandem of Toni Gonzaga and John Lloyd Cruz was new.  Which put a light to the movie.  I do not really associate Toni Gonzaga with acting, I associate her with hosting.  But after seeing this film, I can now say that she can act.  John Lloyd Cruz on the other hand has no problems with acting. 

The story line presented in the trailer was different from the story line of the movie which was actually a really good twist.  The story line was nice but it could have been showed better.  But, there were some dull scenes in the movie.  And we all know how Filipino directors like putting dragging scenes, which really annoys me. 

Overall, the movie was not that bad the way I thought it would be.  It was a normal romantic comedy movie.  If it did not star Toni Gonzaga and John Lloyd Cruz, I do not think it will be something that moviegoers will watch.  Like I said, it is a simple and chill movie. 

It is not worth seeing in a movie house.  Buying the DVD would have been better.

my letter grade for this movie

C+

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

My first movie review would be on the 7th installment of the Harry Potter series.  First of all, I am not a big fan of the Harry Potter series.  But I have read all 7 books, and I always look forward to the movie version.  But for this 7th installment, I was not as excited as I used to be.  One factor to the lack of excitement is that the book was released in 2007, and the movie version came out just this year 2010.  Another factor is that they made this last installment into 2 parts.  

When I entered the cinema, I had a lot of expectations.  I really expected the movie to be mind blowing and I thought that I would leave the cinema with satisfaction.  Unfortunately, I did not find the movie great.  But don't get me wrong, it is a good movie.  Not just the way I thought a final installment would be made.  Maybe they made it the way it is so that people would look forward to the 2nd part which would be released next year.  But that is not the case for me.  Although I do understand why there is a need for 2 parts for this last installment.  The book is just too long to force all the important events in a 3 hour showing.

For me, the book is better than the movie.  I would suggest people who plan to watch this movie to read the book instead.  People who plan to watch this and have not read the book will have a hard time following the story.  A lot has been left out by the movie, and some scenes have been added.  I think that the movie failed to justify the book.  Well, it never does.  But if we speak of its effects, there is no doubt that they aced it again.

I do not want to go into the details of the movie because not everyone could relate to the story and i might just spoil it for some.  But overall I think that it is not a waste of time and money, but they could have done a better job because this is the final installment.

my letter grade for this movie

B