April82012

Why HP is better than HG

First things first, the following is just my honest opinion, so I hope The Hunger Games’ fans take this constructively.

Last Wednesday, I finally got the chance to see the film adaptation of the series which is considered to be the next big thing after Harry Potter —- The Hunger Games. Needless to say, I’ve also watched all 8 Potter films; hence, this comparison. And since I’m dealing with two huge series here, I will simplify and splice up this review of sorts into 3 essential parts.

1. THE CRAZE

Harry Potter

It cannot be denied that not so long ago, a young wizard with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead created the greatest stir in publishing history. Hollywood took notice and soon enough, it cashed in on the series and turned Harry Potter into the most lucrative movie franchise in history. The adaptations, with their share of good to fair and bad reviews, raked in the galleons for both the movie studios and J.K. Rowling’s big magical purse. The cinematic magic went on for a decade.

Hunger Games

While Potter was still working his charm among muggles, Suzzane Collins quietly created a young adult genre of her own, without all that magic and sorcery. Hers was more of a modern tale of the this generation’s youth and how they try to survive in a cruel and power-hungry world. And like Potter, it made its way into the bestsellers’ list and went on to be a unique alternative to Potter-weary readers. Of course, the movie deal wasn’t far behind and just this March, fans were given a front row seat to witness the games in live action.

The Difference:

Potter’s figures were simply better than the Games’, both in book sales and box office earnings. This holds true even if we only talk about the first movie or the first three books.

2. THE STORY

Harry Potter

HP is all about an orphaned boy who was summoned to study magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and become the great wizard he was destined to be. It’s a very long, 7 book saga which followed Harry through countless adventures. It’s quite difficult to make a series this long, especially when it involves a multitude of characters and events. But through the complexity of it, J.K. Rowling’s rare magical genius pulled it through and ended the series with a bang!

Hunger Games

HG is all about young men and women who represent the 12 Districts of Panem as tributes to an annual event known as The Hunger Games. The tributes are selected every year through a reaping and soon they are brought to the Capitol to be trained and prepared for the actual games. It’s a battle to the death; Of the 24 tributes, only 1 will survive and be declared the victor. But for the 74th edition, the rules have changed and the 2 tributes from District 12, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were both declared winners. From this rule-breaking, more deadly and action-packed duels ensued in the sequels.

The Difference:

Considering that Potter is 4 books longer than the Games, it has the more complex story, which is laid layer after layer in each book. In fact, the plot of the Hunger Games seemed to be just patterned after a pivotal chapter in one Harry Potter book, The Goblet of Fire. And for me, the TriWizard Tournament still has the better tricks and smarter ways of how to play a game.

3. THE CHARACTERS

Harry Potter

They’re solid, real and 3 dimensional. Rowling had created them with unique histories and characteristics that you’d actually think she knew them personally. It’s as if they were allegorically drawn from real people in the real world. Enough said.

Hunger Games

Also has believable characters but my problem is that not all of them are. There are some people I find flat, forgettable and don’t really serve the purpose of secondary characters much. Take Cato for example: He was packaged as a dangerous contender, highly-skilled and a force to be reckoned with. What happened in the movie? He didn’t look much the part and actually appeared somewhat lame at the fight scene between him and Katniss and Peeta on top of the Cornucopia. Good thing the beasts had eaten him up.

FINAL VERDICT:

Still, it’s HP. 

But then again, I love both series and I’m glad something like The Hunger Games came along to quench the thirst of bookies and movie fans alike looking for things to take Potter’s place. It’s a big shoe to fill but still, I must say that’s a pretty good job you did there, HG!

Peace out! :)

(Source: yorence)

Harry Potter Hollywood J.K. Rowling Suzzane Collins The Hunger Games books fiction movies review series fan 

April72012
TITANIC FACTS The ship RMS Titanic was completed and launched for her maiden voyage by White Star Line in 1912. It was dubbed as “The Ship of Dreams” and “The Unsinkable” due to its sheer size and luxurious charm. It was more than 269 meters (882 feet) long, which is the length of 22 buses lined up end to end! The hull or lower body of the ship was divided into 16 compartments. Up to 4 could flood and it would still be able to float. The ship had 4 funnels but only 3 of them were working. The fourth one was just for show. On its maiden voyage in April of 1912, it would sail across the Atlantic ocean from England to New York, USA. In charge was Captain Edward J. Smith. The trip was to be his last voyage before retiring. A first-class ticket for the Titanic cost more than a crew member could earn in 18 years! The Titanic was hit by an iceberg on the starboard side or the right hand side, creating huge scrapes that flooded the lower compartments. The Titanic had only 20 lifeboats. It could have held 16 more but the owners didn’t want the deck to look crowded. A lifeboat can load up to 70 passengers, but due to massive hysteria and panicking, there were boats lowered which only held 28. The Olympic, the Titanic’s sister ship, has heard of the distress call but she was too far away to help. The Titanic plunged head first to the bottom of the ocean at around 2:20 am on April 15, 1912. Of the 2,206 people on board, only 705 have survived. The Carpathia was the first ship which arrived to help the people in the lifeboats, but it was too late to save those in the water. The Titanic had plunged 3,798 meters (12,460 feet) to the ocean floor —- that’s the height of 39 Big Ben clock towers! Due to impact, the ship had split into two and its contents were spilled across the seabed. In 1997, a movie about the famous ill-fated ship was released, directed by James Cameron and starred by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The movie went on to be the highest grossing film of all time before being surpassed by Avatar (also a Cameron film) in 2009. The film had a total domestic gross of more than 600 million dollars and a total worldwide gross of over 1.8 billion dollars. In fact, it was the first to reach the billion dollar mark in box office history. The movie garnered a record 14 nominations in the 1998 Academy Awards and won 11 of them, including Best Director for Cameron and Best Picture.  Now, 15 years later and 100 years after the sinking, the movie will be re-released in 3D format starting April 7, 2012.

TITANIC FACTS

  • The ship RMS Titanic was completed and launched for her maiden voyage by White Star Line in 1912.
  • It was dubbed as “The Ship of Dreams” and “The Unsinkable” due to its sheer size and luxurious charm.
  • It was more than 269 meters (882 feet) long, which is the length of 22 buses lined up end to end!
  • The hull or lower body of the ship was divided into 16 compartments. Up to 4 could flood and it would still be able to float.
  • The ship had 4 funnels but only 3 of them were working. The fourth one was just for show.
  • On its maiden voyage in April of 1912, it would sail across the Atlantic ocean from England to New York, USA.
  • In charge was Captain Edward J. Smith. The trip was to be his last voyage before retiring.
  • A first-class ticket for the Titanic cost more than a crew member could earn in 18 years!
  • The Titanic was hit by an iceberg on the starboard side or the right hand side, creating huge scrapes that flooded the lower compartments.
  • The Titanic had only 20 lifeboats. It could have held 16 more but the owners didn’t want the deck to look crowded.
  • A lifeboat can load up to 70 passengers, but due to massive hysteria and panicking, there were boats lowered which only held 28.
  • The Olympic, the Titanic’s sister ship, has heard of the distress call but she was too far away to help.
  • The Titanic plunged head first to the bottom of the ocean at around 2:20 am on April 15, 1912.
  • Of the 2,206 people on board, only 705 have survived.
  • The Carpathia was the first ship which arrived to help the people in the lifeboats, but it was too late to save those in the water.
  • The Titanic had plunged 3,798 meters (12,460 feet) to the ocean floor —- that’s the height of 39 Big Ben clock towers!
  • Due to impact, the ship had split into two and its contents were spilled across the seabed.
  • In 1997, a movie about the famous ill-fated ship was released, directed by James Cameron and starred by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.
  • The movie went on to be the highest grossing film of all time before being surpassed by Avatar (also a Cameron film) in 2009.
  • The film had a total domestic gross of more than 600 million dollars and a total worldwide gross of over 1.8 billion dollars. In fact, it was the first to reach the billion dollar mark in box office history.
  • The movie garnered a record 14 nominations in the 1998 Academy Awards and won 11 of them, including Best Director for Cameron and Best Picture. 
  • Now, 15 years later and 100 years after the sinking, the movie will be re-released in 3D format starting April 7, 2012.

(Source: yorence)

3D Hollywood Titanic Titanic 3D box office fan movie trivia movies 

March182012

PRINCESS VELASCO / An Appreciation Post

In case she’s unknown to you, she’s an acoustic sensation in the local music scene and a member of the ASAP Sessionistas. Her hit debut album is a compilation of her soothing acoustic renditions of today’s hottest pop and rnb songs. And obviously, she’s a beautiful young lady, too! :)

Proof of my being a fan? I got her album. I watch her almost every Sunday at ASAP. I’m subscribed to her Facebook page and although I’m not that active on Twitter, I followed her there. See? She even replies to my tweets. How tweet of her! Haha!

Proof of her being a sweet, fan-loving artist? Well, I was just one of the few people whom she made a fan sign for. <*insert proud grin here*>

Last Friday, I was at Robinsons Starmills’ sale event and found out that she was slated to perform that day, part of her mall tour of sorts. Too bad I didn’t bring my digital camera, so I had to rely on my cellphone cam. Blurred is better than nothing. Here are just two of the many pictures I took which are decipherable enough and worthy of uploading.

The clearest photo of her that I was able to take was the one below. This was when she was singing “Di Na Natuto” (a Gary V. original) and she was polite enough to walk towards our side of the venue and treated fans and non-fans alike to a photo ops.

Her stint on stage was brief but she had an awesome set of songs, which included most of my current favorites like Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up” and Adele’s smash single “Rollin’ In The Deep”. The show was sooo good I could even pay for a ticket just to watch her again, perhaps on a regular concert or gig or something.

For your songs, for your replies, for the fan sign and the free show: Thanks, Princess! I love you! ;) Hope to see you next time with your Sessionista buddies once we are finally rewarded with our ASAP passes. :D

Oh, and keep rockin’!

(Source: yorence)

Princess Velasco acoustic music artist ASAP OPM abs-cbn appreciation post fan 

January232012
ME, MY COUZ AND ELDAR Yo, wizard! Finally! It had been such a pleasure meeting you. You have no idea how much you make my shoes me blush. Haha! Nice place you got there, by the way. P.S.: I hope you don&#8217;t mind me taking this fanboy moment to Tumblr. :D

ME, MY COUZ AND ELDAR

Yo, wizard! Finally! It had been such a pleasure meeting you. You have no idea how much you make my shoes me blush. Haha! Nice place you got there, by the way.

P.S.: I hope you don’t mind me taking this fanboy moment to Tumblr. :D

Enchanted Kingdom gpoy pics wizard fan 

10AM
JASON MRAZ He&#8217;s known as the Geek in the Pink and the music industry is so Lucky to have this talented young artist in their fold. He&#8217;s a master at Wordplay and fans just Love, Love, Love his distinct singing style, his own brand of mush and his musical genius. I Won&#8217;t Give Up being among his legions of admirers the world over and there&#8217;s No Stopping Us from appreciating his art and his works. His songs give us The Remedy to a noisy and wearisome world. The World As I See It now is a remarkable place because of him. It&#8217;s all A Beautiful Mess indeed. I&#8217;m Yours forever, man.

JASON MRAZ

He’s known as the Geek in the Pink and the music industry is so Lucky to have this talented young artist in their fold. He’s a master at Wordplay and fans just Love, Love, Love his distinct singing style, his own brand of mush and his musical genius. I Won’t Give Up being among his legions of admirers the world over and there’s No Stopping Us from appreciating his art and his works.

His songs give us The Remedy to a noisy and wearisome world. The World As I See It now is a remarkable place because of him. It’s all A Beautiful Mess indeed.

I’m Yours forever, man.

(Source: yorence)

Jason Mraz appreciation post fan music artist 

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