Here are my picks for the Best and Worst of 2012
Film
Best
The Cabin in the woods for completely surprising me. It starts out with a mundane scene inside a lab before you get a cheesy -looking title and then goes on to tell a typical tale of teens who go to a cabin. So far, so boring right? Then it proceeds to turn your world upside -down because you just don't know what's going on till the end! It reminded me of how I felt when I saw Scream for the first time. The characters knew all about horror films but they still made dumb choices in their own movie!
Other films that I recommend are:
Skyfall (the most engaging Bond story I've seen)
Avengers (a superhero team that works!)
The Dark Knight Rises (I loved the ending)
Filipino notable movies of 2012
Thy Womb (Nora Aunor's new film would have gotten top pick if it gave in to a little drama and didn't end so abruptly. It just felt like it went on and on about life in Tawi-tawi then it races to the climax, the end. Though I would still like my Tita Luday to see this. She would love all the banigs or woven mats)I doo bidoo (A valiant effort to make a musical using the songs of the Apo Hiking society.Like Mamma Mia. My reaction was that "mas tagos sa puso ang tagalog songs")
6 degrees of separation Lilia Cuntapay ( a mockumentary about an extra in horror movies. It's funny and touching at the same time)
Tiktik : The aswang chronicles (Almost a successful Pinoy monster movie. Would have been scarier if they didn't change the monsters from live actors to CGI. Also, too much slow-motion, when they should have used more editing)
Hobbit (Honestly it was too long for 1/3 of a simple book. Some parts felt like I've seen this before in the Lord of the Rings trilogy)
Worst
Kimmy Dora 2. What a disappointment! After the rollicking success of Kimmy Dora 1, my expectations were high since the creators took so long to make sure they weren't repeating themselves, so they inserted a horror angle years after the J-horror movie trend had ended.
TV
Best
Sherlock BBC's modern day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes was something I avoided for so long but enthusiastic word-of-mouth from my officemates got me to try it and now I'm hooked. Just like The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper, Sherlock is ultra-smart but also super-insensitive. And still somehow likeable. Plus the nod to the classic cases like The Hound of the Baskervilles is just bloody brilliant.
Notable: Homeland is a suspenseful drama about a US marine who may or may not be a Taliban spy. All the tense situations and behind-closed-doors will keep you glued to your seat.
Worst
Aso ni San Roque. Oh my God. After all these years, GMA still has not learned how to make a spiritual drama. Mga Mata ni Angelita , which was originally a movie about a blind girl who could talk to Mama Mary devolved into a lazy halloween costume fantasy.
ABS-CBN then came up with May Bukas Pa which was really Marcelino Pan y Vino but it was so successful because it was about faith, not monsters. They also had 100 days to heaven, which was about a nasty woman who was given a second chance on earth as a little girl. Equally successful.
Aso ni San Roque has manananggals, kapres, tikbalangs. My dad wonders why they even called it Aso ni San Roque when the dog is hardly ever there.
Another bad soap from GMA was Biritera, about a poor girl who sings her way to fame to find her lost family. The singing was not very good and the writing was insulting to viewers. ABS-CBN might just show up their rival again with their own singing girls' soap "May isang pangarap"
Book
Trese :Midnight Tribunal is the 5th book of the Trese series about a kick-ass paranormal detective in Manila and it still as exciting and absorbing as ever. The pop-culture references are so hilarious! Highly recommended especially if you are a Filipino who grew up here in the 80s!
Worst
****Edited****
Juan Ponce Enrile: A Memoir is not something I wasted money on but I just read an excerpt where he denied that his 1972 ambush was fake, so that Marcos could declare Martial Law! This runs counter to his Feb. 1986 statement to a room full of Filipino and foreign journalists, when Enrile though he was going to die and he said that the assassination attempt on him was a set-up to justify Martial Law.
This was broadcast on radio and heard by people all over the country! The Inquirer reported it. As well as New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner in his book. As well as Time correspondent Sandra Burton . Journalist Raissa Robles even found an Asiaweek archive detailing this! So was he lying then, or now? He is obviously trying to revise history to aggrandize himself. A memoir full of fiction. Kapal ng mukha. Malapit na mamatay, sinungaling pa rin.
Runner-upThe night eternal Book 3 of the Strain trilogy. Another disappointment because the first book from the minds of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan was so creepy and mesmerizing. The last book was just so corny. I didn't care about the characters anymore.
Song
Best
I'll be there by Julie Anne San Jose. So refreshing to hear amid all the high-pitched and overly stylized songs on the airwaves today. The simplicity of the melody kinda reminds me of those cute Korean songs. Panira lang yung Elmo Magalona. I think she'll go further without a love team.
Sirena by Gloc 9. Who would've thought that a rap song extolling a gay man would be so well-received? Very cool.
Worst
Gangnam style. It was okay at first, but after hearing it over the holidays over and over again, it gets old and irritating. Enough already. Call me maybe was almost the pick here but Psy's song elbowed her out into the I don't know if I like it or hate it category
Gadget
Best
Panasonic 3D tv. This was my birthday gift to myself and I'm grateful everyday for it. I've always wanted a plasma and it's true: TV, DVDs and downloads look great on it. 3D is just a bonus. The only drawback is that the reflective screen is like a mirror when there are dark scenes.
Worst
I don't have one right now but I did read this article about how Blackberry users in the US are ashamed of their phones. Ouch. That is like a death knell for the poor company.
Trend
Best
Zumba. Even if I haven't joined the classes in my office, I am happy for my office mates who have embraced a healthy lifestyle because of this. One of them even goes to the office on her day-off just to get her Zumba fix.
Worst
cheap unli-call and text. Not only has it clogged the airwaves, Unlimited call and text options are now so affordable, even jeepney drivers use it. I have no problem if they use it on their free time, but I fear for my life whenever my jeepney driver makes or receives a call or text while driving! And it's not even an important call! Just the hi's and how are you's they can discuss when their passengers' lives aren't at stake.
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