Waiting for 'The Echo'

Now that post-production work on 'The Echo' has wrapped up according to director Yam Laranas' blog, I can't wait for the official release date of this film. They have already released the teaser poster last month as well as some stills and so far it looks great.

The anticipation is further heightened by two positive initial reviews of the Echo so far. Todd Brown of twitchfilm.net, in the first review of the film, takes note of the impressive cinematography and sound design. Beyond Hollywood describes 'The Echo' as "... many things - both art-house and commercial, both subtle and shocking — but one thing it certainly is — it’s a gem of a ghost story".

I loved 'Sigaw' when I saw it for the first time last year that I even blogged about it. I hope 'The Echo' will succeed in the cutthroat world of Hollywood and becomes another triumph of Pinoy talent in the international scene.

Update [06.13.08]:

The teaser trailer for 'The Echo' has just been released. Check it out:

The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube

One of the most anticipated events this year is the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing, China. With the slogan One World, One Dream, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will draw thousands of athletes from around the world to compete in 302 events in 28 sports.

The Beijing Olympics also holds a special significance because it is widely seen as China's monumental step into world prominence, a chance for the giant nation to build goodwill and showcase itself to the world. To make Beijing worthy of its role as Olympic host, the Chinese built a number of new structures and landmarks for the games.

More than the spectacle of sports and fanfare, I am looking forward to these two new structures that are sure to become architectural icons: the new Beijing National Stadium and the Beijing National Aquatic Center.

The Beijing National Stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's Olympic Green, is nicknamed the 'Bird's Nest' because of its unique nest-like design composed of an interweaving grid-like enclosure and retractable roof. This astounding feat of engineering is designed to embody the 'Randomness of Nature'.

Not only is it an engineering and architectural marvel, it's also environmentally-friendly - with its own rainwater collection system, a translucent roof that provides essential sunlight for the grass below, and a natural, passive ventilation system. The $500 million stadium is designed by Herzog & De Meuron and will hold 100,000 spectators.


Meanwhile, the Beijing National Aquatic Center, standing opposite the 'Bird's Nest', is destined to be one of the most exciting venues at the 2008 Games. Nicknamed the 'Water Cube' or [H₂O]³, it features a soap bubbles-inspired architecture achieved by using a steel spaceframe clad with hundreds of square meters of ETFE, a kind of plastic.


The ETFE cladding makes the Water Cube 30% more energy efficient by allowing more light and heat penetration than traditional glass. At night when the structure is lit from within, the Water Cube would be a stunning sight.

I hope the Philippines will also have an iconic stadium of its own soon. We definitely need a new world-class stadium to hold world-class events. The historic but antiquated Rizal Memorial Stadium simply wouldn't suffice anymore.

Click here for more information and photos
Check out construction photos here

Three of the Coolest Ads Ever Made

Some TV ads are so well-designed and superbly executed that they cease to be just ads but become works of art. Among them is the series of ads for Sony Bravia, a brand of high-definition LCD TVs. The first ad is actually a bit old but I think it is still one of the coolest and most memorable ad spots ever created.

Imagine 250,000 real (no computer-generated effects) brightly-colored rubber balls bouncing down a San Francisco street - simple but iconic. The song is great too - 'Heartbeats' by Jose Gonzales. This is easily one of my favorite TV ads.



Meanwhile, another ad, launched last year, is a literal outburst of colors. A total of 1,400 timed explosions covered a tower block in Glasgow, Scotland in 70,000 liters of environment-friendly paint. It's quite a spectacle, an exuberant fireworks display of color dancing to classical music. Like in ‘Balls’, the paint is all real and no computer-generated effects were used. Expectedly, it made such a ginormous mess, but it is quite a beautiful mess.



The latest spot for Sony Bravia instantly blew me away. Using stop-motion filming technique, the ad features hundreds of Play-doh bunnies frolicking all over New York to the tune of ‘She's a Rainbow’ by the Rolling Stones. This is pure genius, and a lot of hard work -- 40 animators worked on 2.5 tons of plasticine for about three weeks to create this 60-second spot.



There's another Sony Bravia ad spot, actually. Probably aimed towards the African market, this time they draped the freakin’ Great Pyramid of Giza with hundreds of yards of colored threads.

Makes me wonder what they’re going to do next.

* * *

By the way, these three ads were conceptualized and created by Fallon. Watch how they made these ads: Bouncing Balls, Exploding Paint and Play-doh Bunnies. Coolness.

Will 'The Hobbit' Finally Happen?

After the spectacular achievement that is the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, I was expecting that Peter Jackson will start working on the 'Rings' prequel, 'The Hobbit'. However, another battle (very much unlike those fought at Helm's Deep and Pelennor Fields) left the possibility of a Jackson-directed 'Hobbit' film as good as dead.

There has been a nasty legal scuffle raging for years between director Jackson and Robert Shaye, New Line Cinema's co-chairman, over unpaid profits and the denial of Jackson's request for auditing of the films' income (which isn't much, only $3 billion dollars - loose change. hehe) . The rift got so bad and too personal that the future of 'The Hobbit' became quite grim.

But if the latest news is true and the two parties are indeed moving towards a resolution, we might see hope for 'The Hobbit' after all. Personally, I'd like to see no other director to work on ‘Hobbit’ other than Peter Jackson. I am quite sure that the books’ millions of fans feel the same way. In fact there are several ongoing campaigns calling for a ‘Hobbit’ film with no other than Peter on the helm.

Peter Jackson has perfectly captured J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision and made it more real for us. I’d love to see Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and others, brought to life once again by Jackson and his team. For me, ‘The Hobbit’ was a more enjoyable and fun read compared to the trilogy, and I just can’t wait to see that thrilling story of adventure, bravery and loyalty realized on screen. I’m hoping that things will turn out great for ‘The Hobbit’ and Peter Jackson and he will indeed be directing this much-awaited prequel. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Meanwhile, I don’t have any idea on who might be the perfect actor to portray Bilbo, though. Ian McKellen has expressed interest in playing Gandalf once more and frankly I can’t think of any other actor for the role. The other LOTR stars have also professed their allegiance to Jackson and to whatever he is planning to do, although most of their roles don’t really have much significance in the story of ‘The Hobbit’. Who do you think can portray Bilbo best?

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Is it the End of the Line for Harry Potter?

Well, technically it IS the end of Harry Potter, or so the author says. Deathly Hallows is the last book in the series and J.K. Rowling has no plans of writing about a middle-aged Harry. But as the world waits with bated breath for the launch of the seventh and the last book (tomorrow, July 21 to be exact) speculations on the boy wizard’s ultimate fate have reached fever pitch. Especially after J.K. hinted at the possibility of killing her main character.

Will Harry die in a climactic battle with Voldemort or will he finally triumph over his nemesis? Who are the two major characters who will meet their end in the hands of 'pure evil'?

Personally, I’d rather see Harry live. I mean it wouldn’t be worth all that trouble he went through from Book 1 to 7 just for him to die in the end. On the other hand, I actually wouldn’t mind if he dies, perhaps in an ultimate act of sacrifice for his friends. I think that would really make an impact. If it does happen, I just hope J.K. will handle his death in a way that will justify everything that the lightning-scarred, bespectacled hero suffered. I can just imagine millions of wide-eyed kids bursting into tears if that happens. lol

The best thing that can happen though is if he does triumph over Voldemort, finally vanquishing He-who-must-not-be-named in a spectacular battle, and then accidentally trips and falls over his wand which stabs him directly in the heart, thus leading to his demise. Haha. Kidding.

Anyway, as much as I want to know the fates of Harry, Hermione and Ron as soon as possible, I think I’ll skip the spoilers and stick to reading the books until the very last page of the very last book - even though I might get my hands on a copy of Deathly Hallows months after everyone in the world has read it 5 times over.

Art by Deanna Molinaro