The Wheel and Axle

To echo my mentor Jessica, War for the Planet of the Apes is perhaps one of the most human films of 2017 so far. In contrast to its predecessor – where humans were caught in a power struggle between two factions of apes – this new film in the series showcases apes caught in a conflict between two factions of military men.

Despite the simian nature of its primary protagonists, they are perhaps the most human characters of the entire movie. Conversely, and ironically, it is the human characters who are ultimately devoid of humanity. Like the rest of this film series, the movie is a commentary on human nature and what makes us tick – and what makes these simians who have become humanlike tick.

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From Atlantis’ FB Page

2005’s Kinky Boots is one of my favorite LGBT-themed films ever. Heck, it’s one of my favorite films, period. It’s funny, touching, and uplifting all at once. This was a time before Joel Edgerton ever became Ramses and Chiwetel Ejiofor ever became Baron Mordo. The film itself is something I can watch over and over without getting tired of it.

So obviously, Kinky Boots the Musical has absolutely big shoes (boots?) to fill in my eyes. True, it won Tonys, Oliviers, a Grammy, and more. Plus, hello, Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein, duh. I have not seen it on Broadway – it’s on my bucket list – but I managed to catch the matinee of the Manila production last Saturday afternoon with my friend AJ.

The verdict?

Big shoes absolutely filled fantastically!

And such a perfect analogy, to boot (heh).

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New Justice League trailer: Oh. My. God! This will slay! Leaguers! Amazons! Hippolyte! Themiscyra! Atlantis! Apokolips!

“No protectors here. No Lanterns. No Kryptonian.” Hmm. Sounds hinty!

The suspense is just too much.

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20 March 1976 – 20 July 2017

Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, like the rest of his band, will always be icons of rock. Fronting a band that has survived – and succeeded – across two decades of the changing face of rock is no small feat, and the talent involved is enormous as the discography proves.

A couple of days ago, Chester passed on into truly legendary status.

Rest in peace, sir.

In the end, you still did matter.

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I watched Spiderman: Homecoming two weeks ago, the day before I flew off to my Indonesia vacation. Due to my travel, I’ve only been able to really gather my thoughts now, which in a way is a good thing as I managed to revisit my views of the movie. I initially rated it very good, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized its flaws.

Spider-Man: Homecoming is most definitely a huge improvement over the last Spider-Man movie, which if we’re going to be honest was such a disaster that they had to reboot the franchise yet again in less than a couple of years. The new movie, of course, is a fairly good movie in and of itself, regardless if its predecessor set a low bar or not. (continue reading…)

Totally deserves her own series after last year’s sleeper hit.

“Coming Soon” can’t be soon enough.

Seminyak Beach, 15 July 2017

Terimah kasih, Bali!

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Late Friday afternoon, we found ourselves back in Bali.

This time, we stayed much closer to the airport, in Seminyak village, at the Astagina Resort, which is a mere five minute walk from the beach. This was perfect as it afforded us a quiet place to stay but close and accessible enough to the hustle and bustle of the famed Bali shore, which I was quite excited to see for the very first time.

Due to traffic, we checked in quite late – almost early evening. As we didn’t have much left to do for the night, we decided to just explore the area for a good dinner place. We made our way to Jalan Dhyana Pura, a busy stretch of street where we were hoping to get dinner in Mozzarella, which we found had high ratings on TripAdvisor. Alas, the place was packed, so we decided to have Japanese food across the street – an intriguing place called Sushimi. We were lucky as the place also had delicious food, and it was a welcome change from the Indonesian and Italian/mediterranean food we’d been having for the past week.

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The highlight of our trip to the Komodo National Park was, of course, getting to actually see the majestic Komodo dragon a.k.a. Komodo monitor lizard (Varanus komodoensis).

These creatures, considered as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are the largest living lizards in the world. They are now found only in five islands in the area: Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang, Gili Dasami, and Flores.  They’re believed to be extinct on Pulau Padar, the last one having been seen in 1975″ although there have been claims that a komodo had been spotted there in recent years; these claims are unverified, despite apparently spreading on social media.

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Another legend gone: one who is responsible for the modern zombie film.

Rest in peace, George Romero.

Please don’t reanimate.

04 February 1940 – 16 July 2017