This Won't Take Long, Promise [Friday, April 30, 2004]
Speechless Recognition [Tuesday, April 27, 2004]
Audio Match Plug-in [Sunday, April 25, 2004]
Standard Deviation [Saturday, April 24, 2004]
Shattered Expectations [Friday, April 23, 2004]
A Well-Drawn Plan [Thursday, April 22, 2004]
Here We Go [Monday, April 19, 2004]
Pre-Night Shift Tune-Up [Monday, April 19, 2004]
Sounds Like A Plan To Me [Sunday, April 18, 2004]
Stupid Idiot Box [Thursday, April 15, 2004]
System Restore [Thursday, April 15, 2004]
Trailers Galore [Monday, April 12, 2004]
Conquering Baguio In A Day [Sunday, April 10, 2004]
Stingeyes' New Addiction [Thursday, April 8, 2004]
Cable TV [Monday, April 5, 2004]
Greedo Shot First [Saturday, April 3, 2004]
Shattered Expectations [Friday, April 2, 2004]
The Black Mages [Thursday, April 1, 2004]
Fuck!
I was supposed to sleep early today, early meaning around before noon. Now, it's already 1 in the afternoon and I have to wake up by 5 since work starts early today.
A friend at work burned me a copy of this short cartoon being showed on Cartoon Network. Since we only had cable lately, I was only fortunate to catch one episode of it.
Anyway, I decided to have a peek, and said to myself, why not watch the first three chapters.
Such is the power of the force, I ended up watching all 20 chapters, and of course I have to blog about it.
If you have no idea what cartoon am talking about, stick around tomorrow, will blog more on it.
Summer Slam today, but as always, I am not able to go to work. If I was still in the morning schedule, I could work around it, bit with the night sked there is no opportunity for that. Will have to let go eventually.
Night sked sucks big time.
Not only does it eliminate any chance in having a life, which in my case means movies, videogames, and gigs, but it also drains the living daylights out of you.
Day-offs do not help either. So far, we have only had one day-off. Another would be coming up tomorrow, followed by one on Thursday. Yes, split day-offs. Our first chance to experience consecutive day-offs is pushed back two weeks from now. Am afraid my frail little body won't last if I keep on pushing and don't watch it.
Blast it. More on this escalating predicament tomorrow.
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It's amazing how one's sense of time is shattered by the night-shift. If I had not checked twice, I would not have believed it was Tuesday today.
Days pass by slowly, without anything ever getting accomplished.
I can't believe I have nothing else to say.
Simply bland, as with everything else in life.
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It's amusing to think about things regarding work. It is my day-off today yet I just got home from work and have work tomorrow, so where exactly is the day-off in that. Bah. Like I said numerous times before, it's not a day-off but a night-off. An almost useless one at that. Would probably just spend it on sleep.
What the hell was up with that Ragnarok Online review of sorts? Was totally unaware about it.
As I remember, I was ranting about the lack of friends I have, even online ones, and was threading along the lines of begging anyone to introduce me to some of your online friends.
Pathetic, but that's me.
Here's something to let you forget about that last statement, or should I say, request.
Do you by any chance use Winamp 2.0, 3.0 or 5.0? If so, check Audio Match for this cool plug-in for your Winamp which in turn allows you to have this image.
You have to be online though for the image to actually reflect an ID tag.
It also allows gives you a list of the last 50 songs played in your Winamp. Click here for my recent list.
Pretty cool stuff, IMO. Consider it as some sort of a bribe.
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I don't feel so good. Throat is irritated. Eyes are heavy. Muscles are aching all over. Brain hardly runs at minimum required speed to function logically. Decent sleep is needed, but sadly, not today.
Sixth day at work today. The only good thing about it is the multiplier. To hell with it though, I'd exchange anything for a decent rest day.
Videogames are calling my name once again, and it's amusing that the bed is also doing the same thing. I wonder who would win this time.
I need friends. Only two people read my livejournal and hardly anyone except myself visits my site.
Am not much of a social person but if the same thing happens when am online, that just tells oodles about my personality.
This would be the main reason why I stopped playing Ragnarok Online, as I was playing it with minimal to no interaction with other live players. Mostly talk to NPCs and to assholes who are so defensive about kill stealing, screaming "Bawal Sawsaw!!!" even if you are just passing through. I guess this people don't realize that there is a certain phenomena called lag where in this disappear and reappear out of nowhere. The only other interaction would be the time where I'd beg for someone to heal me. Started playing the game during the beta test period when Ragnarok had minimal exposure, which alternately means, no one I knew was playing the game yet.
Just the other day, I saw a copy of Ragnarok Offline, a hacked version of the online game which setups it's own server for your own personal enjoyment. Almost instinctively bought the game when it came to me that I have already experienced the game, and that is enough. Besides, there are so many other games out there which I could play alone, say Far Cry and Starwars: Knights of the Old Republic which I have just upgraded my PC just so I can play the bloody game.
There are multitudes of MMORPGs nowadays, Ragnarok Online is just one of them, simple, cute and fun were the main three factors that made/make it a hit here.
Simple. The graphics are not the best out there, but it provides such a backward country capabilities of handling the game. We are a dial-up nation and our broadband connections pale in comparison to other nations. As a result, a simple and less-graphic intensive game proved such a success.
Cute. This would relate to the artwork and overall feel. 2D sprite-based characters thrown in a 3D environment. Original artwork closely tied in with anime and manga complement this appeal of overall cuteness. Who does not want a nice fat poring doll?
Fun. Whether you opt to socialize you're way through the game or live a life of solitude, you would undeniably have fun playing this game. Played the game most of the time alone, and repetitively hacking the same critter until you reach a certain level has never been so much fun. Am not being sarcastic, but it is fun since your working towards a goal of reaching the next job level and transforming your character. Of course, let's not forget about the interactivity with other live people. Once you get through the hordes of assholes and find a decent party, leveling up and exploring becomes more fun and easy.
What the hell?
A minute ago I was talking about not having friends, now I have a review of Ragnarok Online. Talk about spontaneity. Nah, say lack of having significant conversations.
The message of this entry deviated from what I wanted to point out. With the entry being quite long already, I am just gonna stop and leave that unfinished though for a future entry.
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Schedule for next week just came out, and as luck had it, I have to go to work on Saturday, which means no Summer Shebang. Shucks. I was really looking forward to attend that event. Add to that, shift would start at 12 midnight, which leaves me thinking, "How the hell do I get to work?"
The trouble with this kind of work is that you can't just be absent. Technically, you could but with severe penalties.
I for one have never been absent for any reason whatsoever, but that does not give me the privilege to do so whenever I want.
For it to be legal, it has to be filed as a leave. Easier said than done, since you have to file a particular leave two freaking months before you plan to do so.
Could have done it for Summer Slam, but with previous experiences with the gig, who would want to. I doubt June 12 or 13 (NU Independence Day Sessions) would have slots open. If I only know what date the NU Rock Awards this year would be, I'd be starting with the filing of leaves right now.
Sheesh. Just too damn tedious. Oh, and aside from not being absent, I have yet to use any of my leaves.
Due to the sudden change of schedule, I have no plans for tomorrow. If I only knew about it, I'd be watching Hellboy tomorrow. Have watched the movies being showed in Eastwood, so watching a movie before going to work is out of the picture, unless I'd have enough energy to travel to another mall.
It's not like The Bride would be making an appearance in cinemas this Friday.
Will see what happens.
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The night schedule is simply exhausting, it eats up a lot of energy and time. Sleeping during the day is not as good as sleeping at night, early morning is fine, but at noon, well, that's a different story.
It seems that the days are shorter and you notice you have not done anything else aside from sleeping and work.
For all problems though, there are resolutions.
Yesterday, thanks to some careful planning, I was able to watch Hellboy before going to work. Click The City provided me with correct screening times on a Wednesday at 7 in the morning. Movie problem solved.
In order to maximize a normal day, what I am gonna do from now on is try to come home as early as possible, and waste the morning away doing anything, videogames, TV, internet, etc. until noon. At that point, am gonna have lunch and then sleep until the evening, until a few hours before going back to work.
Now this is a well-drawn plan, and I believe it is fool-proof.
Hellboy is one of those good comic book movies, and in my opinion, belongs to the same rank as that of Spiderman. The characters are well-developed, the pacing of the story is tight, and most important of all, the movie is fun. Definitely recommended.
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So, did the plan work?
Nope. Woke up slightly past 1 pm, which is the normal time I wake up during day-offs. Bah, staying up late has never been a problem for me, so why the hell am I worrying about it.
Spent the afternoon playing Drakengard. Have finished it last week, but there are multiple endings, a total of 5, and am now down to the last one, say the most tedious one. Each ending is entirely different from each other and offers quite a few surprises.
There's a copy of Hellboy around, but I have restrained myself from watching it since it would be released this Wednesday, just a few more days. Am definitely going to work early this Wednesday.
There is also a copy of Walking Tall around, but I have seen it already. It's one of those movies am not really hyped up about and would probably pass it up in theaters if there is something better released along with it. More so now, since I have to make an extra effort to come to work early in order to watch a movie.
Now let's talk about the movie itself, Walking Tall is pretty decent. The story is a bit shallow, but it is based on a true story and that makes it forgivable. Personally, I liked The Rundown better.
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It's 4 in the morning and am still. The reason being I have to stay up as early as I can, so I could sleep during the day, sort of a pre-night shift conditioning for the change in schedule from day-shift to night-shift.
Anyway, I do miss staying up late. The day-shift schedule transformed my body clock into that of a normal person. In other words, sleeping before midnight.
Got a few more hours tomorrow to play around with videogames. If am on the mood, I'd talk about some recent upgrades on the PC, not that anyone cares really.
Temptation is just too hard to resist at times. This is the case with movies. During the last two years, there were multitudes of simultaneous releases, which is a rarity now.
Big Fish is an excellent example of this. The movie may not (did not) rake in hundreds of dollars at the box office, and due to this, there is no reason for a simultaneous release. They just let us wait, forever.
You try so hard not to support pirated DVDs as much as possible, opting to wait it out until it is released in the theaters first, but in instances like this, the temptation is simply hard to bear.
Mind you, I haven't succumbed to that temptation yet, as I do not have a copy of the said film.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 was released last week in the US. No word yet or even a slight hint on when it would be released locally. The OST is already out. Sadly, it ain't an enhanced CD unlike the first, but am still gonna buy myself a copy.
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How nice. Have the whole day tomorrow for free since it is our day-off, or should I say night-off?
Yes. Night-off. Which simply means that we are back to in the night shift. Bad thing? Yeah, but atleast it's only for a month.
Night schedules really shatter one's sense of time. The day seems shorter, as I seems to be more draining, but the days pass by faster. It is also not such a good schedule for watching movies at the cinemas. This was the case before, back in December. Fortunately, the Eastwood Cinemas are just around the corner and one could practically catch the 2nd to the last screening for the day and still make it to work in time.
Yes, I already have this planned out. Am going to paint my windows black this weekend to prevent sunlight from entering my room.
Schedule for the week is from Monday to Friday with Saturday and Sunday as day-offs (night-offs). Hopefully this would not change immediately, as to allow me to attend this year's Summer Shebang on Saturday. Sadly, we'd be transitioning to a weekday day-off which practically eliminates gimmick opportunities. Am probably gonna drop out of Summer Slam, but I have to be present on the other. Either of which would do.
Today, being a free day and all, I spent time watching movies. Was able to see Paycheck and Taking Lives.
After office, I check the screening times at the Eastwood Cinemas and the time for the 5:25 screening fell right into place. Consumed one of my Starbucks Gift Certificates for this movie.
Paycheck is an entertaining movie, the action is tight, the plot is okay, but when you think about it, there are major plot holes in the story. I am not going to spoil it for those who have not seen it yet but allow me to say that it is about the 20 items he sent to himself. (Come on! Only two people read your journal anyway!) Besides am not in the proper condition to talk about it now.
Oh, and Ben Affleck was "ok" in this movie. Uma Thurman is still fabulous. Of course, this is a John Woo film, with his regular trademarks, the dove and hold-on-to-your-seats chase scenes.
Next up was Taking Lives, but let me add a story before it. After watching Paycheck at the Eastwood Cinemas, I decided that it would not be feasible to watch another movie here. At 7 in the evening, traveling to Robinson's Metro East would be quite troublesome, so I X-ed that option. I then decided to go home but remembered that on the way, I'd pass by Robinson's Cainta.
Lo and Behold, the timing was perfect. It was 8:12 when I arrived at the mall, and the last full show for Taking Lives starts at 8:20.
After passing the flirty ticket attendant, I sat myself down in the cinema to enjoy another movie. The theater itself is comparable to Metro East, which is definitely a good thing. Stadium seats with nice legroom, and most important of all, few people.
Taking Lives is a classic thriller movie wherein the first few scenes would hint who the killer is. Show would be a better word as it was way obvious, and in the middle of the movie I tried to convince myself otherwise. In the end, it lived up to to the cliché. Still, there is this additional scene at the end which provides a different twist. Despite this, the movie was an enjoyable experience though grotesque and demented at some points. Keifer Sutherland's role was pathetic, and it seemed more like a cameo than an actual performance.
Amusing. Two movie reviews that say more than just "'twas a nice movie."
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Have been stuck the whole evening watching TV (neither videogames nor movies). As far as I can remember, I have not wasted this much time in a day on TV. Most of my day offs would be consumed by videogaming or movie watching.
Work resumes again tomorrow by 6 in the morning. Come Sunday, we'll be in the evening shift once again. Bad news right? Thankfully, it is accompanied by some good news, it would only be for a month, as per our team leaders request. Luck is still on my side.
Damn, there is so much I want to do. I just finished the November issue of FHM, which means i am 4 episodes behind. Add to that there is this graphic novel and novel I purchased way back which I have yet to touch.
Life can easily get so disorganized. Work is to blame for this.
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Damn.
What a scare I got when I turned on the computer and logged on to my account. What normally looked like this, suddenly popped up like this.
Panic mode steps in, plus swearing of sorts, wondering what the hell they have done with the computer. Checking out My Documents does not help either. It was like logging on to an entirely new account.
Luckily, Windows XP has a utility called System Restore, and thankfully, it worked, restoring my computer to its old state. Man, I swear, it was the first time for me to use the utility and see how it actually looks like. It's just ironic that I use the utility everyday at work without ever seeing what it looks like, until now, that is.
Phew.
Now I've put up a password for my account, just to be sure.
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As I was cyberslacking yesterday, I came across some vital information about a new trailer for Spiderman 2 released on the Internet.
Without much thinking involved, I proceeded to Station 168, the cafe which probably has the fastest connection around, plus their seats rock and the sound system for each PC is spectacular.
Anyway, I had a movie trailer time that day. A bunch of new trailers were available. Spiderman 2, Alien vs. Predator, The Girl Next Door, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Van Helsing, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Kill Bill Vol. 2, and others.
Man, was it an enjoyable experience.
The Spiderman 2 trailer was freaking spectacular. The new trailer gives away a bit of the story but is far more interesting than the cafe setting of the initial trailer. More fancy moves from Spiderman in this one. Too bad we have to wait until June 30 for it's release.
Another movie worth mentioning is Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. The moment I saw this trailer, my bloody jaws dropped to the floor. The movie is set before the 1950s and the concept itself is from the same era. You'd think it's an old movie which just received a digital bath (pun!) and re-released for this generation. The cool thing is that it is not. It's a totally new film with that classic feel. Ever seen Iron Giant? If you have, then I bet you'd get what am saying.
Alien vs. Predator is a nice concept which is finally brought into the big screen. Nothing much to see and tell about the trailers themselves aside from the fact that is on my list this year (What movie is not on your list, Simon?).
Vampires rejoice once again with Van Helsing, a story about a monster slayer/hunter high on the tail of Count Dracula. Kate Beckinsale is also in this movie, but she does not play a vampire this time around, though.
Then we have Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I probably be among the few people who actually liked the first movie, but I have higher hopes for this one and after checking out the synopsis for the sequel, I found out most of the characters from the game Resident Evil 3: Nemesis are showing up in this one, namely Jill Valentine, Carlos, Mikhail, and that other soldier dude. The teaser trailer itself is enticing enough.
Of course, who can forget Kill Bill Vol. 2. Three more people on the list, a few twists here and there, and finally answers to unanswered questions. Cool. Enough said.
Gack!
I was only going to talk about the new trailer for Spiderman 2 then add a few comments about Sky Captain and the blog turned out into a similar post from last year when I talked about Summer Movies.
Now it's almost 11 and I have to wake up at 2 in the morning. Thankfully it's the last working day tomorrow.
By the way, anyone want some coffee?
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Am really starting to get so stressed about everything. It's a medical feat why am pretty much standing up till now. I just want to drop down on bed and sleep, then wake up and do my usual routine of playing videogames all day.
Last Tuesday, the family had a quick trip to Baguio. Left Manila a few hours before midnight and came home a night after. A quick but packed trip. Visited most of the popular places in Baguio, namely, Grotto, Burham Park, Mine's View Park, Mansion House, Crystal Cave, Botanical Garden, and Baguio Cathedral. Of course, one should not forget the "ukay" market.
In case you are interested in more pictures, click here.
Just don't forget to check out this wonderful picture of the view from Mines View.
Oh, the cleverness of me!
I find it amazing anyway, it's actually three snaps merged into one using the Canon Photo Software. Click this here for a hi-res shot.
Yesterday was Holy Friday, and every store around Eastwood was closed, except for Fazioli's and Eastwood Cinema's. Lucky me.
My ride home was a bit late, or to be exact, has not yet left home yet, so I was stuck in Eastwood. Good thing the cinemas were open. Out of the four theaters, three still have The Passion Of The Christ, check. The remaining one had something different, Peter Pan.
Being the kid that I am, I watched it since the timing was also perfect. Of course, I enjoyed the movie, it is Peter Pan you know, the boy who never wants to grow old.
And yes, Tink is hot. She's French, which could be the reason why she did not utter a word in the movie, but still, hot.
Stressed and worn-out. I need my dose of sleep now which I'd get after uploading all of these stuff.
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I hate cable TV.
Woke up around 2 in the afternoon for lunch and have been glued to the television set until now. It's a wonder how I even pulled myself away. I can live watching Discovery and TechTV all day, that is until they show reruns. Addictive idiot box.
Due to that unexpected TV viewing, I have little time to write a proper journal for the whole trip yesterday. Add to that the fact that I am still tired and almost sick. Aside from that, work starts at 5 in the morning which means waking up at 2. I need some decent rest.
I hope there are no good movies this week, so I won't be tempted to watch any tomorrow. I want to be able to go home quick and watch cable TV. Errr... I mean, write a proper journal and have some decent rest. Good, it's Holy Week so I would not expect there to be any.
I must sleep now, I can't keep on pushing my body to far.
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Finally.
After what seemed to be more than a lifetime, we now have cable TV installed in the house. Three cheers to that!
Sadly, I have been browsing all of the channels but there is no Animax in sight, as well as Star. Anyway, it's something new, and I spent more than two hours this night flicking the remote, changing from channel to channel.
The bad news, I have yet to accomplish anything, the proposed new layout, even that review. How I wish I could save some time wasted on traveling to and from work.
It's late already and I have to wake up early for work. Was supposed to say something more, but my brain has ceased to function any further.
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Eyes are red and irritated, still am up in front of this monitor to think that at work, my face is pretty much glued to a monitor.
Sleepy and tired, but I must post.
Why? Simply because I want to, and I can.
Illogical thoughts passing through my senses. Let's talk some sense now.
Am never going to have lunch without my MP3 player again, you'd never know if you'd be alone again. One other thing, have to rub it in that Saturday is KFC day.
Got home late once again, so I was not able to do anything. Tomorrow is 4/4/4 but I still have no new layout. Will try to work some magic tomorrow and teleport home. Sheesh. Then there's that review. So many things to do, it's like school work. Nice. I work best under pressure, sadly there is no pressure now.
After what seemed to be like forever, they are finally releasing the original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD. Oooopppsss. Digitally enhanced, tweaked and modified version of the original Star Wars Trilogy. Fans wishing for the original version released in theaters are not so lucky, but won't stop them from pre-ordering a copy. The DVD box set is due by October.
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Got the chance to see The Passion of the Christ earlier today at the Eastwood Cinemas. Like I said, I have yet to see a packed theater here, though the people I were sitting next to were eating some smelly food and use mobile phones in the theater.
Anyway, on with the movie.
I don't know what to say about this version of Christ's story from a Mel Gibson perspective. Personally, I thought it was just too much, the passion that is. The movie is too cruel, which is probably to move non-believers or something, to think deeply about what this man has done for all humanity.
The title fits the movie perfectly, maybe I was just expecting something different from the obvious stuff. I was mildly amused by it, and mildly, only because it is still a movie, and I try my best to enjoy most of them.
Dropped by O music video bar and picked up a DVD copy of Gangs of New York. It cost me a mere 350 pesos, so I did not even think twice about grabbing it.
A DVD of a movie I love for 350 bucks?! Too good to be true.
And it was.
Opening the case showed there were two discs, assuming at once that one is for the extra features.
Popped it in the player (DVD-ROM) only to find out the movie was chopped in two. Perfect. This is one of main things I love about DVDs, eliminating the need to stand up and swap CDs, or at best, have a 2-second delay while changing from disc 1 to disc 2 using a 3 disc CD player.
There are no subtitles or alternate languages available, which is not really important anyway. The aspect ratio is 4:3 and not the widescreen version with an aspect ratio of 16:9, not that I have a widescreen TV anyway. The picture quality is good enough, so that will do.
Sadly, this is a good warning message to stay away from localized copies of certain movies in the future, and stick to US or Asian releases at the least, as long as it is not a copy localized for the country.
Nonetheless, 350 pesos is still not that much of a deal anyway.
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Thanks to Tycho's numerous links on one of his blogs, I was able to stumble across some interesting links.
One of which was a band named The Black Mages, a Japanese band, with acclaimed sound genius Nobuo Uematsu on keyboards. The band plays rock versions of popular Final Fantasy themes. They have released an album and perform in live concerts in Japan. Thanks to some googling, I was able to uncover a site where I downloaded all ten songs in the album. Pretty cool stuff, more so if you are a FF aficionado like me.
April Fool's Day marks the anniversary of Perfecting Loneliness, my personal website of sorts. The layout as remain mostly unchanged after a year, aside from a few tweaks in the menu for decreased loading time. Image links are prehistoric, and so I had to change it somehow.
I mentioned last month that a new layout would be out soon, supposedly by 04-04-04, but as of the moment, it is very unlikely. Just for the heck of it, I might as well upload an initial idea for a possible layout, one of which I had in the bin for quite sometime now.
Then there's this album review I have to complete soon, for the resurrection of an online rock ezine. If you've been reading some of my reviews on movies I have seen, you'd know I have no talent/capability of writing something good. Hoping I would though.
Finally had the chance to squeeze Schindler's List in my busy schedule. The movie is great (see what I mean!). Arrgggh. Am not going to say anything more about it, assuming most (huh?) of you have seen it already.
As for new releases, Wednesday - Thursday offs do not give me the privilege of watching movies on opening days, such is the case with The Passion of the Christ. Since am off early tomorrow, might as well see it. Hellboy was just released this week in the US, hope it would get here soon. Same thing with Kill Bill Vol. 2, as it is opening this month in the US. Don't let us wait for a couple of months before you release it locally, there is no Metro Manila Film Fest this time, so make it quick.
I have to finish this now, since I have to be at work by 5 in the morning,
which means waking up at 2. Bollocks!
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