The Italian Resto that Your Wallet Will Love

I was lucky to have a taste of Italian at Abbondanza Pizzeria Ristorante. They cater Italian cuisine in an affordable price. Like the name itself "Abbondanza" (which means abundance), servings are abundant indeed. Thus, their dishes are always good for sharing with your families or your friends.

Minestrone

Zuppa Rustica

I love their soups! Minestrone has a strong tomato flavor making this one of my favorite menu in Abbondanza. The parmesan cheese is also rich in this soup which soften the tanginess of the tomatoes. Another soup is the Zuppa Rustica. This soup can kick. The warmth of the chili pepper won't be felt as you sip it. When it goes down to your throat that's the moment the chili starts to kick in.

One of Abbondanza boasts in their menu is their gargantuan pizza. It's 27 inches, it has 4 different pizza flavors, thin crust and shaped like a wakeboard. It is definitely for sharing.

Pizza Abbondanza

I think I was already halfway full after the Pizza Abbondanza when the Pollo Arrosto, Salsicce al Vino Biance with Baked Potatos and Calamari Ripeni came to our table. Of the three courses, I highly recommend Pollo Arrosto. The chicken is so tender and delectable because of the tomato sauce and herbs. It don't need teeth to chew it.

Pollo Arrosto

Salsicce al Vino Biance and Baked Potatoes

Now their Rissotti. I was really really full this time. But how could I avoid not to taste it? I was drooling just by looking at them. Even the aroma makes the rissotti inevitable to eat. Moreover, it was my first encounter with risotto dishes. They served us three kinds of risotto: Risotto al Funghi Porcini, Risotto con la Fondutta, Risotto con Osso Busco and Risotto con Sogliola. I find the al Funghi Porcini and con la Fondutta overwhelming but I'm a fan of con Sogliola. It's not overpowering like the first two and gives you more room for dessert.

Rissotto con Osso Busco

Risotto con Sogliola

Risotto con la Fondutta

And we get to the last part, dessert! They served us Panna Cotta, Crema Catalana and Tiramisu. Like the rest of their menu, their desserts are also rich and flavorful. Though tasty, it's not overwhelmingly sweet. It's just perfect to top off your meal.

Tiramisu

Panna Cotta

I really wanted more and finish off everything in front of me. My bad, I was already full halfway of the course. Because of that, I will definitely go back to Abbondanza.

Abbondanza Pizzeria Ristorante is located at 2nd Floor, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia and at Ground Floor, Crescent Condominium, Amethyst Drive, Ortigas.

The Red Shoes... is not just a love story

I had a chance to see The Red Shoes ahead from anyone else. The movie revolved on Lucas who stole a pair of Imelda's shoes back in 1985 which he gave one shoe to his mother and another shoe to his childhood sweetheart. Isa para sa katarungan, isa para sa pag-ibig.

What I like about the movie...
It's a very fresh and innovative Filipino film. It's like Maalaala Mo Kaya where one object is significant to each characters in the film. Only this time, the significant object is given already in the title.  Aside from the red shoes, there are still other symbolisms throughout the movie. Like the bridge that symbolizes relationships and the act of stealing which is quite redundant in the film.

The actors are also brilliant. I never thought Nikki Gil could also roll her tears down her cheek ala Judy Ann Santos. Tessie Tomas is excellent as a comic relief portraying the Imelda Marcos fanatic/parody artist and espiritista.

I have to applaud the movie for its marvelous cinematography. Each scene is beautiful as a photograph. I love how the shoe boxes are used as the timeline in the movie. The Red Shoes did not end in the traditional happy ending but it was heartwarming.

What I don't like about it...
Like what I said before, dubbing is what turns me off in most of our local films. Monaural sounds is not really satisfying in a theater. Since this is aimed as a love story, it can be cheesy at times.

And yeah, Marvin Agustin. He is a good actor but the problem with him is he is not believable as Lucas; he is still Marvin Agustin. He also has a tendency to overact and be really corny at cheesy moments. But if you're used to Marvin's acting, it is tolerable.

But overall, it is a good movie. It is not the typical drama or date movies we have here.

The Red Shoes is written by James Ladioray, directed by Raul Jorolan and produced by Tony Gloria under Unitel Productions.

Forget Everything, Watch Kimmy Dora

It's been my first time to watch a local movie in theaters after a few years. Not that I don't watch Filipino movies on TV too, because I still do if we still have Cinema One in our cable TV. Unfortunately, our cable provider gives us PBO which showcases mostly bad Pinoy movies. I rarely watch local movies in theaters because ohmigod the sounds are monaural and ohmigod the voices are dubbed. A film should boast exemplary surround sound to be seen in theaters, right?

If ever I'll see a local movie, there might be a great reason for me to watch it. Eugene Domingo is one of those reason for me to watch Kimmy Dora. It's her first starring role and I'm insanely waiting for this.

Kimmy Dora, like other Pinoy movies, still has its flaws. Like the ohmigod dubbing and ohmigod why aren't they using surround sound technology. There are unnecessary CGI's and an ending that is oh so annoying that must be removed. There's nothing spectacular in the plot. It's very basic but fun.

This film is not about surround sounds, flawed plots or wasted expenses on CGI's. Kimmy Dora is about real talent, and that is Eugene Domingo. Watching her making fool of herself and acting like a woman with a bipolar disorder is superb. I had tons of laugh. Unlike other comedy movies that will give me a few seconds of laugh and thats it, Kimmy Dora is different. I could have a heart attack or choke myself from laughing. There's that part I had a hard time breathing because I was insanely laughing in the cinema. Kimmy Dora is orgasmic indeed.

Forget the formulaic direction, the dubbed dialogues, the monaural sounds and predictable screenplay. Just see Eugene Domingo and her looney antics and you'll forget who you are with leaving the theater.

Ratings:

• Entertainment: 5 out of 5 stars
  
• Plot: 3 out of 5 stars
• Intelligence: 2 out of 5 stars

Prawns are Aliens!

District 9 is one helluva fresh alien movie. Aliens here are not as adorable as Steven Spielberg's E.T. nor a battling robotic lifeforms from outer space nor energy forms to save the human beings. They're like 6-foot tall walking and talking prawns. If you like eating shrimps and the likes, you should be ashamed of yourself after watching District 9.

In the Philippines, a hipon (shrimp) is a euphemism for a fugly-faced hot bod – you eat the flesh but trash the head

With alien movies, I expect gore. I fear that everytime a human had a contact with a "prawn", the aliens would just decapitate and obliterate humans with their awesome weapons. There are still those kind of gore but not too much like in Aliens and Starship Troopers. In District 9, I'm siding with these gigantic ugly malnourished shrimp-looking aliens over humans or that puppy-eyed Kokey.

I'm actually more afraid of Kokey than with prawns, seriously

The movie is great. It's like a mixture of different alien movies where there is gore, action and mushiness of E.T. It's a thrilling rollercoaster ride of "ooh", "wow", "eww", "woah" and "aww". After watching District 9, it stopped me from eating that Wendy's Shrimp Sandwich. Prawns have feelings too. Thank you Peter Jackson and Director Neill Blomkamp for that realization.

I can keep on yakking how great District 9 is and spill some spoilers here. Or watch it for yourself.


Ratings:

• Visuals: 5 out of 5 stars
• Intellect: 5 out of 5 stars
• Plot: 5 out of 5 stars

Battlefield Heroes… enough to keep me busy

I always wanted to play an online game that doesn’t give too much toll on my computer hardware. I want it no more than 2 GB, doesn’t need a high-end videocard to play it and doesn’t require a big RAM. Something I can play with my laptop which is not that powerful.

I’ve read a plurk from Jayvee and tried Battlefield Heroes on my laptop. Battlefield Heroes is an online first-person shooter game from the Battlefield series. It’s free to download, free-to-play and distributed by Electronic Arts. All you need to do is signup for an EA account, install the browser plugin/game launcher and play it.

The graphics for Battlefield Heroes is cartoony, which is very different from the Battlefield series. There’s not much details (or maybe I’m just playing it at the lowest setting for the graphics) since it’s an online game. The only downside of Battlefield Heroes for me, it doesn’t have a stand-alone game launcher. I have to open my browser to launch the game. Since it’s still in open beta, players will still experience downtime with servers. Players can’t choose the servers because the game does the matchmaking for them. Avatars are not that customizable, but they’re appearance can be modified by their clothings which are only limited from a week to a month usage. There are also items in store that can be used for unlimited duration but it requires Battlefunds to purchase it; real cash.

It’s fun to play and has features to keep the player busy aside from shooting and killing other Heroes. Be it for customizing your own heroes, achieving missions or plainly doing some player-kills. It kept me busy alright. I haven’t updated this blog regularly since I started playing this game.

Register and download the game at www.battlefieldheroes.com.

Transformers 2: So Insane, IT ROCKS!

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has been receiving bad reviews from big critics since the first day it was shown. I didn’t give a damn on their reviews because I loved the movie, I watched it twice. If there’s a word to describe it, it’s INSANE.

If you watch Michael Bay movies, you’ll know how explosive the movie can get. This one has a lot of it. ROTF begins 2 years after the battle in Transformers 1. Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is entering college and have to leave her hot girlfriend, Mikaela (Megan Fox) and Bamblebee at home. But the thought that they can get back to their normal life is immediately broken after a warning that the Fallen is coming.

From start, the film is already crazy. Ginormous decepticons, cool new autobots, little transformers, quarreling crazy parents, humping dogs and wherever you look is already catastrophic. Then at the middle, the main players are battling, car chases, fake humans, explosions, foxy Megan Fox, screaming Shia. I can go on and on until I spoil everything here, so I’ll shut up and end this review.

Optimus Prime is the newest Chuck Norris!

But no, I will not stop yakking! Transformers 2 is a movie that’s like every scene is a climax and the only time you rest your eyes is when you look at Megan Fox to admire her. I laughed with every witty lines they dropped, from the ghetto twin robots to the cracked parents. The lead characters here are the Transformers and the actors here are merely supporting roles. What’s even great with this film, you don’t have to be smart to watch this. All you have to do is sit back and feel that you’re in the warzone.

Megan Fox, what a relief.

The plot is predictable and that what pisses off the major critics. But for me, that’s what I sometimes look for in a movie. I get the most of the entertainment factor than thinking of what’s coming next. That’s what movie should be on the first place. Michael Bay did what he do best, make use of all the elements for a great movie and forget what others say. That’s the real artist. From sounds to visuals, everything is remarkable. What Bay did here is to make the audience feel that they are part of the movie. Entertainment factor is over the top and I can watch it over and over again because I don’t need a brain to see it. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen is all about movie experience.

If you want to experience war, you better see this.

Ratings:

• Visuals: 5 out of 5 stars
• Intellect: 3 out of 5 stars
• Plot: 3 out of 5 stars

Blood sucks? Not really.

The first time I saw the full trailer of Blood: The Last Vampire (Live Action) I knew already that it would be crappy. You know why? It was too flashy for a trailer. Most shitty movies usually put all their best clips in a more than a minute cinematic trailer (like cheap slasher movies and most of our mainstream local movies) and you will realize that the whole movie is already in the trailer. But I think I judged the film too much on the trailer.

Blood: The Last Vampire is an adaptation of an animé of the same title. The film features Saya, a half human-half vampire who hunts other full-blood vampires. She’s like Blade, a daywalker, not a vegetarian, doesn’t glitter like Edward Cullen and she’s Japanese (played by Gianna Jun, a Korean). Saya is a tough kickass vampire with her samurai which Edward Cullen can’t do because she only kill girls with his looks and bad hairdo.

The movie is a one big mess. How will you make a 40-minute animé into a full-length 2-hour live-action film? It’s this way. Let’s stick how it began and ended in the animation and tweak it a little bit. Now, you already made a 50-minute film. No, it won’t make the cut. Let’s change the characters a bit, the setting, and add what-happened-in-between-to-make-the-movie-more-understandable parts. Yay, you now have a 1-hour movie… which is good for TV release only. Let’s add the tale of her origins; who taught her to fight, did she fell in love, whatever. Hurrah, you made an 80-minute film! You’re close. Add slow-motions to the fight scenes and add all the unnecessary visual effects to make it longer. Then, you watch it and you’re assistant said, “Sir, I think we only made a mess”. But you as the filmmaker spoke in firm tone, “Just serve it to them, we don’t have budget left.”

I don’t say the movie is totally bad. It’s just messy. CGI-bloodspills during the fight scenes are really unnecessary. It’s like 300, you can see the blood spilling everywhere but you won’t see the characters get stained. Yes, the CGI is bad, really bad. The CGI monsters are also awfully done. I know that monsters are supposed to be ugly, but not plainly ugly.

So far, what I like in the movie are the fight sequences. The fights are really amazing (without the ugly CGI bloodspills). Imagine Saya, our half-vampire heroine against hundreds of vampires and her foster father against dozens of ninjas coming out of nowhere. The plot is half-baked and if developed, it could have been great.

Overall, I underestimated the film too much. It’s not bad. It’s just a mess, but if they’ve reduced and put things in the right place it would be better.

Ratings:

• Visuals: 2 out of 5 stars
• Intellect: 3 out of 5 stars
• Plot: 3 out of 5 stars

Angels & Demons… Good or Bad?

Another Dan Brown book has been adapted to movies. Unlike the first Dan Brown adaptation, The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons didn’t garner much controversies against the Catholic Church this time. Maybe there were historical and factual inconsistencies, it’s still fiction. Even if the book/movie is based on half-truth, we have to keep in mind that it’s still fiction.

One good thing of not reading the book made me not compare the movie from its origin. I can clearly focus my attention to the movie itself.

In Angels & Demons, Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) tries to save Vatican City from symbols scattered around the churches of Rome against a secret organization called Illuminati. Robert Langdon has to scour Rome to find clues just to find the antimatter which CERN discovered that may lead to the Path of Illumination; destruction of Vatican and all the cardinals attending the conclave. Will Robert Langdon save and change the world with his hairdo?

Angels & Demons is a quite predictable movie. I have even predicted what may happen in the end. Though, the plot twists made me go “He isn’t? “Yes, he is.” “Oh no he’s not!” “I knew it!” “Damn”, a lot of times. In the end, I realized I was right by the very beginning, but I’m not. It’s really confusing like that.

Unlike The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons didn’t play much mind games and math problems like the Fibonacci sequence. It’s much easier to digest and mostly revolved on different statues and landmarks. Sadly, the movie didn’t highlight the beauty of Rome. It’s still thrilling to watch as the characters move around Rome and solve the clues with the sculptures.

Though predictable, it’s still entertaining to watch. It’s even better if you’re not familiar with Rome and don’t care that much with history. Just take the movie lightly.

And also, what’s with the hairdo Tom Hanks? Please explain.

Ratings:
Visuals: 3/5 stars
Intellect: 3/5 stars
Plot: 3/5 stars

Star Trek is an Awesome Movie without the Hohumm

Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Enterprise, James Kirk, Spock… I think everyone knows now what I’m talking about. It’s Star Trek, sillies! If they don’t have a basic idea what Star Trek is, then they better do their research because Star Trek is now back on track.

Casting young stars for Star Trek made me dubious on how this movie will come out. Everybody is more familiar with William Shatner as Captain James Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock. This is also a movie that no one should mess with because of its large fanbase. Nobody messes with Star Trek fans because they can pulverize the movie outfit with their blasters.

I was not THAT interested to watch Star Trek but everyone who watched the film was raving. I decided to watch the film and to my surprise, I loved the movie. Saying that the movie is good is an understatement, it is AWESOME. Almost everything I like to see in a movie, Star Trek gave it to me. Adventure, drama, wit, action and visual effects, they are all in this movie.

Star Trek didn’t even made me burn my butt for sitting too long. There has so many great movies like “The Dark Knight” but most of them are just damn too long to watch. Even those movies still have hohumm moments. In Star Trek, they have balanced the action and the drama. Just like what everyone wants in a sci-fi, a lot of space action and just right character depth in a span of two hours. Beat that.

The actors played their roles very well. Kudos to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto for their excellent rapport and performance. I never thought that a boy-next-door type actor Chris Pine can give justice as Capt. Kirk, or Zachary Quinto be Spock and not as Sylar. It’s their typecast but they have broken it with Star Trek. I saw Kirk in Chris and Spock in Zachary (amidst the raising eyebrow of Zachary which is so Sylar). And yeah, Eric Bana and Winona Ryder is in this film too and I am not aware of that.

Star Trek is a must watch movie for this year. A fan or not, this movie is for all. And saying Star Trek is a good film is an understatement. Star Trek is so good, guess who’ll be in its sequel.

Ratings:

Visuals: 4/5 stars
Intellect: 4/5 stars
Plot: 5/5 stars

Scratching Wolverine

He has healing abilities, superhuman senses and claws coming out of his knuckles. His bones are bonded with adamantium alloy making him nearly indestructible. But what happened before Logan became one of the X-Men? That’s what the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine tries to answer.

If you are a big X-Men fan, you may already know the tale of James Howlett how he became Wolverine. The movie retold it the Hollywood way. Big budget, big stars and a lot of media hype, that’s Hollywood alright. With the hype, is it worth to watch in theaters now that almost everyone have seen the unfinished leaked version?

A popcorn movie is always good to watch on the big screen. If you expect Wolverine a movie with depth and substance like the Dark Knight, then, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not for you. It’s good to watch in theaters because audience will enjoy the explosions and visual effects better. Well, if you have a home theaters, you can wait to have it in Blu-ray or DVD. That is if you can endure the spoilers or people around you talking about it.

One of its drawback on me is that this movie focus too much on Wolverine… oh wait, no… on Hugh Jackman. Yes, I know that the movie is about Wolverine, but it doesn’t mean that most of Team X will be destroyed. It’s more of “Our Wolverine is Hugh Jackman, the sexiest man alive, let’s give other stars a shorter screen time; KILL ‘EM.”

What I like with the movie is Liev Schreiber. He is effectively gritty as Sabretooth. Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool would have been the comedic relief if given a longer screen time. Lynn Collins as Silverfox is exceptionally hot on screen, I was drooling over her. And of course, the showcase of different mutants.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is nice to watch without expecting too much from it.

BTW, don’t leave your seats if the credits start rolling.

Ratings:
Visuals: 4/5
Intellect: 2/5
Plot: 3/5

Let the Right One In... it's the right one alright.

We have a lot of vampire films lately. Vampire movies have evolved in so many ways. From the goth dominatrix of Underworld to sparkling daylight vampires of Twilight. Even cable TV has its own version of vampires with True Blood. Recently, there's this new swedish bloodsuckers' movie in a fresher view; Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in).

Let the Right One In is a film adaptation of a novel with the same title by John Ajvide Lindqvist under the direction of Tomas Alfredson. The author of the novel also did the screenplay of the movie. It tells a story of a frequently bullied 12-year old boy Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) who've met Eli (Lina Leandersson), a strange girl who recently transferred next door. Oskar has no idea who Eli really is.

This film proves that they can put chills and put the audiences at the edge of their seat without the flashy budget and visual effects of Hollywood nor the shimmering bodies of the cold blooded bloodsuckers,. There's also romance between Oskar and Eli without the icky cheesy feeling of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen from Twilight. The puppy love here is similar to My Girl; sweet, tragic but creepy... and better.

The cinematography fits the mood of the movie. It is subtle but haunting. Every frame is a captivating photograph.

Let the Right One In is so good, Hollywood will have a remake of it. Everybody knows that they are famous for ruining most of the remakes. Before they make a hollywood version, I suggest to watch the original first.

Is Oskar a meal to be really special to Eli or is he more than that? Watch the movie to find out.

Ratings:
Visuals: 4/5 stars
Intellect: 4/5 stars
Plot: 5/5 stars

BumpTop is Fun

Everyone who’s working in front of the computer for a lot of hours have one thing in common… a messy desktop. Be it on the actual desk or the desktop computer. So there’s this software to cleanup your computer desktop.

THE BUMPTOP

If you love to stuff all your files and downloads on your desktop, BumpTop is for you. It cleans up the mess you make. Users can pile their files on their desktop by type. It’s a cool way to pimp your desktop because it runs in 3D and make your computer looks like a house in top view. Users can also look around their “virtual house”. Pimp the walls with your picture files and gallery. There’s also a sticky note that users can hang on their walls or plainly lying on the BumpTop floor to remind them. BumpTop themes are also available to fit the users personality. Users can also toss files to print, send to email or sharing them with social networking sites.

Bumptop is fun to use. Removing desktop clutter is one of its primary features. Bumptop is a software that can help show off your computer. It’s like The Sims for desktop where you boast your house with cheated items or to tell your girlfriend “Hey girl, look how organized I am.”

Unfortunately, BumpTop only conceals how your desktop really looks like. It doesn’t organize your actual desktop. Do you remember the time when you’re sweeping the floor and hiding all the collected dust under the carpet so that your mother won’t scold you? BumpTop does it for you. It ain’t a bad thing actually. Users will only be disappointed to find out that their desktop is a mess when their BumpTop is turned off. Yes, the software can be closed and it’s a good thing too. It takes a toll in your computer’s memory for a software that runs in the background. It also takes a moment to load.

My desktop without Bumptop

Oooh… zen with Bumptop

If you want to have fun with your desktop and want to make it seemingly clear, BumpTop is for you. I won’t suggest it for heavy applications users and multitaskers. It can slow you down especially if your OS runs a lot of programs in the background.

BumpTop is not for the serious computer users.

Download BumpTop here

Dragonball Evolution is a... what?!

This is my first movie review here. Since this is my first, I'll be making a review of a movie I've been anticipating two years ago. That is Dragonball Evolution. I am a fan of the animé series and I'm excited to see this no matter how good or bad it is.

By making this review, I have to step aside being a Dragonball Z fanboy and just be a regular moviegoer not knowing anything about the film. The movie is definitely not the Dragonball I've grown to. It should be seen independently from the animé and manga.

Dragonball Evolution attempts to make its plot different from the series. They tried to make a movie like X-Men which has an independent story from its origins but retains the backstories of the characters. Unfortunately, it is a failure as an adaptation . Thus, they added the word "evolution" to its title. No wonder they also moved the playdates. Is it that bad?

Dragonball Evolution turned out to be a futuristic teen movie with a stereotype loser who can save the world from an alien porn dominatrix. It lacks everything; substance, character depth, fight scenes, etc. The actors here are also lackluster and they don't fit their roles. Justin Chatwin (Goku) is not goofy and heroic. Emmy Rossum (Bulma) is lost with her character, she's more of a damsel than as a tough scientist. Chow Yun Fat (Master Roshi), what happened to you???

Dragonball is all about fighting. They could have concentrated the movie with the fighting. The fight scene outside Chichi's party is fun to watch, which I wish should have done throughout the film. I think that was the part where Stephen Chow entered. Stephen Chow should have directed the film instead of producing it. He should have made it like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. Dragonball is close to those movies in terms of hilarity and fighting.


Live-action Dragonball is like this James Wong!

The film is not totally bad as I expect it. It is not that good either. It is okay if you don't see it as a Dragonball franchise. It's good to watch while smooching with your partner or while picking your nose.

Ratings:
Visuals: 3 out of 5 stars
Intellect: 1 out of 5 stars
Plot: 2 out of 5 stars