The C-Spot: A Photography, Travel and Culture Journal

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Drama Director: David Fincher Writers: Aaron Sorkin (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book) Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake Release Date: 27 October 2010 (Philippines) Summary: It is a story about the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook - how it all began, the main players, what they as individuals and their relationships went through in what is now a global phenomenon. My Take: The first ten minutes of the movie gives me the impression that Mark Zuckerberg, the "founder" of Facebook, is an asshole. Well, it turns out that that impression is not far from reality (in the movie, at least). Ummm...I take that back. He's just a jerk. A plain insensitive jerk. No wonder the real-life Mark Zuckerberg hated the movie itself. Why not? More than a story of ambition, success, intrigue, deception and betrayal, it is a hate movie as well. It has "I hate Mark" written all over it. I...

A typical scene in the Philippines on All Souls' Day - a time for remembering and honoring the dead. (Below, in the comments box, is the cover photo of today's issue of the Phil. Daily Inquirer.) Buti pa sila, being honored and remembered. Pero not to worry. Our time will come :-) sooner or later. But I hope later, than sooner.  And do you know the name of this cemetery in Davao? It's called ....  Wireless Public Cemetery! No kidding.  Well, I guess it's all in the spirit of fun :-) (pun intended). Here's the caption: " THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. Kith and kin begin the annual ceremony of remembering their dearly departed at the Wireless Public Cemetery in Davao City ahead of next week’s All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. BING GONZALES/INQUIRER MINDANAO"

Rating: ★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Drama Director: Oliver Stone Writers: Allan Loeb, Stephen Schiff Release Date: 29 September 2010 (Philippines) Stars: Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf Plot As the global economy teeters on the brink of disaster, a young Wall Street trader partners with disgraced former Wall Street corporate raider Gordon Gekko on a two-tiered mission: To alert the financial community to the coming doom, and to find out who was responsible for the death of the young trader's mentor. - from Internet Movie Database (IMDb) MyTake The original title would have been Wall Street 2. That would have been right since it is considered a sequel to the 1987 movie of the same title. But for me, adding, "Money Never Sleeps" to the title doesn't serve any purpose. It doesn't add anything to the movie's appeal or lack of it. The people behind the movie says it was necessary to give this 2010 version a contemporary tone or flavor. They also...

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Books Genre: Nonfiction Author: Carl Honoré NOTE: I can't quite decide whether to classify this book under Entertainment, or Professional and Technical, or Religion and Spirituality. So I decided to classify it under a neutral classification as Non-fiction. I've long been searching for something that would explain to me why I am what I am or why I do things the way I do things. I'm pretty much certain that I walk, talk and even think slow. Some people get bothered or irritated by it. Some even ridicule me for it. I have given those remarks a typically long but hard look. And I was just about to conclude that these people were right and it's about time I started speeding up things. But as it is my character to take things slowly, I procrastinated and decided to put it off for another day. That day is yet to come. One day, while I was browsing through my favorite bookstore, and contemplating on how I will actually change from what I am to (slow) to...

In summer, after schools close for the much anticipated vacation-time,  we spend some of our days to fly a kite. Summer afternoons are the best times to fly a kite. I remember when I was in grade school, there was a big open space near our school bounded on the east side by the city church and the west side by the province's first and only seminary at that time. It was a perfect place to fly our kites which were made out of plain grade school writing paper (or sometimes just a small piece of yesterday's newspaper). They were just simple kites but it was pure joy to fly them while running around that great big open space trying to catch the wind, "out-flying" everybody else's kite. It truly was a happy and memorable time of my life.  But more than the fun and the excitement, there were things, too that I learned that would later prove useful in my adult life. It's just that the use of such lessons wouldn't become apparent to me until I reall...

I've been going to Manila ever since I was a boy in the 60s. I don't remember exactly how many times. In all of these trips, I've always been going with either my mother or father or both. Most of these trips were for the purpose of visiting my elder sister who was then already going to the university, and a few trips were actually for some sight-seeing, e.g. Manila Zoo, Quiapo, etc. I remember we always had to pack as early three or four days before and all of our luggage will be neatly lined along the hallway all zipped-up and ready to go (and not to be touched by anyone, except by my mom, of course). But there is one departure that will forever remain in my memory - the day I left for college. On the day of my departure for college, Conching went through the same meticulous preparation except that this time a few more items were added to the things we're bringing on the trip - a basket full of half-ripe bananas, half a sack of ...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Mystery & Suspense Director: Roman Polanski Starring: Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams Synopsis: A writer has been tasked with completing the memoirs of a former UK prime minister. As he digs into the life of his subject, he discovers sensitive secrets that soon put his life in danger. My Take: Okay, after a long excursion to fantasy land and wallowing in the technological magic of CGI with movies like Avatar, Clash of Titans, Last Airbender, Toy Story, and even Inception, to name a few, I'm slowly creeping back to realism via the movies like Salt. And now The Ghost Writer, a mystery suspense-thriller directed by the ever controversial Roman Polanski. Although this is not a spy movie, The Ghost Writer carries all the elements of one, i.e. anytime there is deceit and the CIA is involved, it is always a spy movie. Of course, it's not the kind of thriller that the Bourne series is well known fo...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Romantic Comedy Director: Gary Winick Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero Synopsis: When a young American travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined My Take: This would have been 5 stars for me save for the fact that it was a poor comedy, i.e. there were really a few laughs and the dialogue wasn't that witty either. But it's 4 stars because of the romance. And there was an abundance of it. For how can one not feel romantic with the postcard perfect setting of Verona, Italy, the city where Shakespe...

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Books Genre: Nonfiction Author: Daniel Pink The title of the book is "A Whole New Mind." But I would optionally subtitle it as, "Why MFA is the new MBA." (MFA - Masters in Fine Arts). This is a book I encountered while I was on one of those times when inexplicably, I just decided to put one foot after the other and nothing in particular that occupies my mind (except to count the steps I've already made). No, really it was just one of those times I was whiling away my time waiting for my wife to get off from her office. And as I am wont to do, I made a few left and right turns and found myself in one of those National Bookstore branches that abound around the Makati Glorietta-Greenbelt shopping complex. After a rather cursory and idle scan of the store, my eyes fell on this quite odd-looking book. Odd in the sense that it's cover wasn't as colorful or gloriously laid-out as many of the other books on display were, but wa...

 BATAAN - Most of the 140,000 defenders of the island were members of the Philippine Army (100,000).The Japanese bombed Clark Field on December 8, 1941. The Japanese followed this attack with a troop landing on the northern coast of Luzon on December 10. They drove steadily south toward Manila. Gen. MacArthur, who commanded all units in the Philippines realized that he could not defend the entire island. While holding back the Japanese as best as possible, he consolidated his remaining forces on the Bataan Peninsula which jutted out into the South China Sea west of Manila to form Manila Bay. Just off the tip of Bataan was the island of Corregidor which guarded the mouth of the bay. MacArthur put his headquarters on the island.  Despite desperate fighting, the Japanese pushed the American forces down the peninsula, successively breaking through four defensive lines. On April 9, 1942, Gen. Edward P. King was forced to surrender with 36,000 of his troops. Gen. Wainwright ...

Rating: Category: Books Genre: Literature & Fiction Author: Rudy F. Alano † Aug. 23, 2010 On the outset, let me say that this is not a review of the book (although I have no doubt it is an excellent one). It is just that I don't think I am in any position to review much less give a critique of the work of my Literary professor in college. Yes, you read it right. Mr. Rudy Alano was my English Lit teacher way back in college at the Ateneo de Naga. So, perhaps I will just briefly introduce him to you as I know him. Mr. Alano or Rudy as he'd like us to call him (and we'd like to call him that, too), is just a few years our senior. I can say that as an English Lit teacher, he surely knows his stuff. And I think nobody but nobody during our time was better than him when it came to Literature. As a mentor, many of his students will attest to his unique way of bringing out the talent and excellence among them. He is a living and real-life John Keating in the movie ...

Rating: ★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Drama 2007 film produced by Paramount Vantage Prod'ns. Screenplay/Director - Sean Penn Based on a book written by Jon Krakauer. See - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer Lead Role - Emile Hirsch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Hirsch Release Date (Philippines) - Not shown in Phil. cinemas but is now (first week of March and probably longer) being shown in HBO (Asia). Short summary - Top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions and gives his entire $24,000 savings to charity, so that he could hitchhike to Alaska and live in the wilderness. On the way, he meets different people who shape his values and life. (Source: HBO Asia - http://www.hboasia.com/hbo/movie/3553 ) My Take - I don't know much really about American culture or whatever it is that influences young people to leave the comforts of their home and family and try to live a life of a...

Rating: ★★★★★ Category: Movies Genre: Romantic Comedy There's this movie being shown in HBO Asia (could be for the rest of February - the Love Month), entitled "Forget Paris." Starts with hilarious missing casket scene and ends in a nice dinner party! And oh, if you are an NBA fan, this movie is a treat for you as well, since there are a lot of cameo appearances by your favorite NBA stars, e.g. Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and more. The movie is top-billed by Billy Crystal as Mickey Gordon, an NBA Referee, and Debra Winger as Ellen Andrews described as "an independent working woman." The two met in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris brought together by chance in a hilarious mix-up about a missing casket. Then Paris worked it's romantic magic on the couple and they fell in love. But unlike conventional love stories, Ellen and Mickey did not really live happily ever after...from time to time...or should I say sometimes... I lik...