The Ex X-Men(3)

I watched the movie last night (actually, the last full show) and, quite frankly I was both surprised and disappointed. Let me give you a list of my thoughts about the movie (and spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the movie):

• A major X-Men character suddenly dies (or suddenly was wiped out from the rest of the film with no absolute explanation on how he perished). Wolverine questioned Jean about what happened to Cyclops (or where his corpse his) and that questioned was never explicably answered. You just find him supposedly dead under an area of green grass and a tombstone.(except


• Not only has Cyclops (a major and defining character of the X-Men) perished, but also Prof. Xavier under the hands (or mind) of Jean Grey. I appreciate the darker mood of which the film's plot has suddenly went to, but I feel killing of two major X-Men does not make a good plot twist to introduce and develop other characters into the story.


• Speaking of other characters, the film has falsely advertisements to begin with. If you would look closely in banners and posters, Angel (or better known to many as Archangel), is shown along with Storm, Wolverine, Magneto, Jean Grey, Beast and Prof Xavier. Eventually you've expect his character (along with blue furball Beast) to be centered at by the film or at least given much emphasis since he is a new character just like the way Nightcrawler was introduced in X-Men 2. But this did not happened. His character was used more like very thin icing on a sponge cake full of air. You only see Angel in the beginning of the film as a child frightened about his mutant transformation (into a birdman). You next see his character almost in the middle of the film as a grown man accepting his mutation and abruptly flew away into freedom, literally. Three fourths into the film, you next see him poking his head into the Xavier mansion seeking refuge. And lastly, you see him again for about two to three minutes rescuing his dad from death and flying away (again!). And ok, you see the last of his character at the end of the film as a free flying creature. Frankly, Angel's character was left very undeveloped, uninteresting and totally flat. You let other non-following X-Men moviegoers in the dark about who and what Angel can really do as a mutant. He even barely talked enough in the film. But no, Angel or Warren is just a flying bird man with stereotypical blond hair to depict what else but an angel. At least Beast had more screen and talk time (though his mutant battle skills near the end of the film was not as dramtically and strongly protrayed as Nightcrawler in the previous film).


• It's a good thing that other X-Men characters are introduced into the lineup, and yet many of them suffered the same fate as Angel's flat characterization. Piotr or Collosus, that metal mutant guy, was only known appreciated in the film through battles. Rouge's character was also underutilized, if not, shown too briefly at the beginning, middle, and end of the film with no defining moments in a real-time mutant battle. Such a waste of talent here. At least Kitty Pride was given more screen time and battle scenes (and she isn't even one of the major characters displayed in banners and posters!).


• Many well-known mutant characters were changed drastically in the film, of which I either chuckled at or groaned to utter disbelief. Take for example Jaime Madrox, aka Multiple Man. He's one of the good guys (X-Factor, offshoot of the X-Men) but in this film he's recruited to the side of Magneto. His character was also underutilized.


• The Dark Phoenix storyline could have been the defining plot of the film but instead ended up as a mishmash of killings reminiscent of the bloody rampage done by Carrie.

Hope this is not the last film of the X-Men series of movies. This last film is far too weak against the previous movies.

Unexpected Error

I hate it when you've written a long post and all of a sudden the PC you're using would suddenly display an Internet Explorer error telling an undescribable error. And then all of my Internet Explorer windows closed down without me saving my long and precious work.

Now I'm pissed with Microsoft Windows.

Now I've lost precious time and eventually will shorten my post today...

Grrr...

Anyway, congratulations to BJ and Tyler for winning the Amazing Race Season 9. It was a wonderful two-hour episode fit for bowing down before the boob tube (literally, I did that after my favorite hippie duo won the race in a tight battle against the frat boys Eric and Jeremy).

...my fingers are tired from typing.

I'll switch again to Firefox. Hmp.

Pre-Mother's Day Message

Yesterday was a public holiday here in Singapore. It was Vesak Day. A holiday is a holiday and good thing is a nice day to sleep and recuperate (not to mention it was quite a rainy day too; back home, an ex-officemate told me that Philippines was experiencing a typhoon).

* * * *

Tomorrow will be Mother's Day. Hope Mom would see and read this post (and not the naughty archived posts of the past, anyways). I dedicate this humble post to her, so bear with me.

In Singapore, Mother is also known as Mommy or moreso as Mummy. No kidding there. Since Singapore was once under British rule, many of the British words were inherited and later on integrated into everyday usage such as Mummy or Mum for dear Mother.

The first time I saw this word was during a TV advertisement showcasing a special magic mummy day on Sunday. Magic Mummy I wondered. I would not have concluded that the ad was referring to Mother's Day if not for the stenciled image of a curvy figure with an apron serving as background for the big fonts of the TV ad.

No dead and stinky mummies would ever replace our dear mommies.

Mom, if you read this, thanks for every sacrifice you have done for the past years especially during the development years of my life. I thank for your sacrificed sleepless nights when you attented to my cries of hunger when I was a baby. I thank you for your patience in teaching me my first steps towards walking upright during my toddler years. I thank you for your attentiveness in listnening to me when I bring home news about my schooldays during my elementary and high school years. I thank you for providing me financial support and encouragement in my chosen field of study during my gruelling college years. I thank you for thanking me when I recieved my first pay check from my first job and I treated you all.

I thank you for the countless things I could still remember you did to me - through good and bad times. I know you've always said to me you wanted to live more for me and my brother. I'm still affected by those words and I would cherish it for the rest of my life. I could not thank you enough - your taking care of us your children is a life-long career no mere work can be compared to.

I love you, Mommy, Mummy, Mom, Mama, Ma, Inay, 'Nay. God bless and take care.

Advance "Happy Mother's Day" to every loving and dear mothers out there. You deserve a standing ovation from us children of the world.

What's Wrong With A Spoon?

What's wrong with using a spoon, anyway?.

Oh, I've seen enough racism everyday, noticing even the tiniest, subliminal racist acts, jokes, puns, behavior not only to us Filipinos but to other races as well. I try not to dwell on these, but the fact still lies ingrained in other people, thinking that one's set of behaviors and beliefs should be accepted worldwide.

I leave this open ended.