MOVIE REVIEW: Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out

It’s been ages since I last made a movie review (I believe the last one was 2011) and I’m really glad that I’ll be reviving my movie review posts with a movie from one of my favorite animated film studios; Disney-Pixar with their latest animated film; “Inside Out”.

Not to be confused with a low-budget WWE film of the same title (hence me labeling it as Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out), this film’s premise hinges on a simple question:

“What is going on inside someone’s head?”

The story revolves around Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), and her 5 emotions that runs around inside her head.

Led by Joy (Amy Poehler), along with the rest of Riley’s emotions namely Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith), they are in charge of keeping Riley’s well-being happy and safe.

Joy in particular, wants to ensure that Riley is always happy, all the time, and does whatever it takes so that all of her memories are all happy and bright ones. This was highlighted in the first few minutes of the film, which vividly recalls the blissful happiness of childhood, one that easily connects with younger audiences (and recalls some fond memories to older audiences, specially those with kids of their own like myself).

However, when Riley finds herself and her family moving away from their old home (something I quickly related to, because I just recently moved out of my parent’s home and into my own apartment with my family), Sadness suddenly wants to become more involved in the process. This doesn’t bode well for both Joy and Sadness that they end up being accidentally thrown off HeadQuarters (the main hub that controls Riley’s thoughts and emotions) and into Riley’s long-term memory. This leaves behind Anger, Fear and Disgust to take control of HeadQuarters.

This is the part where Riley slowly changes from a happy-go-lucky young kid, into an angry, sarcastic and anxious teen (and you guys will actually see HOW this happens thanks to the 3 emotions left in HeadQuarters). And it is here that Disney-Pixar flexes their creative muscles to bring to life visually an 11-year-old girl’s inner turmoil and conflict.

Joy and Sadness’ journey back to HeadQuarters, takes them thru several wildly imaginative depictions of the mind’s different functions. From the glamorous Dream Production Studios, to the wacky and far out Imagination Land; they give viewers a reprensentation of how the mind works… albeit in a visually stunning and highly creative way.

The level of creativity in this film is simply full to the brim, so much so that you will definitely be craving for a second viewing.

Coming from the same directors who made Up, this film is bound to draw a lot of feels (I mean it IS marketed as an EMOTION picture ain’t it?) and buckets of tears. During the screening, lots of sobbing can be heard in the room (myself included) and I remember myself driving all the way back home visibly and emotionally shaken and deeply affected (specially with a certain character in the film that wasn’t present or shown in any of the promotional trailers) so do remember to bring some tissues to wipe a tear or two.

Quite honestly, I was NOT expecting Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out” to be THIS GOOD. Infact, I’ll be the first to admit, that watching the trailers leading up to the release of the film, it simply didn’t “click” with me as with other Disney-Pixar films. But after watching the film, I can safely say that hands down, this is one of Disney-Pixar’s most ambitious and most imaginative movies ever made.

It’s multi-level layer technique of story telling that simultaneously shows 2 different worlds/perspectives (the real world that Riley lives in, and the world of Riley’s mind) working hand-in-hand to craft one beautiful story is an accomplishment in itself.

And as with any great film, Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out, is one that rewards its viewers the more they watch it and it only gets better with time as ones who were once young when they first watch the film, will find more to appreciate as they rewatch the film again once they are older. A must-watch for any movie fan.

Disney-Pixar's "Inside Out" directors comes to Manila! :D

I never thought I'd ever see the day, where I would be in the same room with the directors from Disney-Pixar, and last friday that day finally came true when I was invited to the Disney-Pixar's "Inside Out" press conference which was held at the Manila Shangrila Hotel! :D

The day started off with me meeting some old and new contacts from my blogging circles! It was so nice to meet you guys again! :D

And then the moment arrived where the 2 directors of Disney-Pixar's "Inside Out" finally came to the stage!

One notable guest was co-director; Ronnie del Carmen, who left the Philippines in the 1980s dreaming of making movies of his own that people would love to watch, now comes home with a Disney-Pixar film he co-directed no less! He was given a warm pinoy welcome by fellow filipino Pixar fans.

At the Q&A portion, I loved the directors dishing out alot of trivia that fans like me enjoy learning about! Some of the most memorable trivias they share are:

• Ronnie del Carmen revealed that there is a "pinoy-centric" group of artists within Pixar that they labeled as "Pixnoys". According to Ronnie, they are fun, loud and loves to eat every now and then.
• According to Pete Docter, the film originally had atleast 27 emotions in the original draft. However, they cut the number down to 5, and combined many of the emotions they created to be embodied by just 1 major emotion.
• Speaking of emotions, the two directors also revealed that for the movie, they actually consulted with psychiatrists and experts in emotions to help them in crafting the movie.
• The one of the film's main characters; Riley (the girl where the 5 emotions have their misadventures), was based off Pete Docter's own daughter; Elie. When she was younger, she is known to be bubbly, happy and full of life. As she hit puberty, she is now more quiet and this gave Pete the idea of playing around with what is happening inside his daughter's head (which is the main idea of the film). Looking at Riley and Elie, I can definitely see the resemblance!

• Ronnie del Carmen revealed that apparently he was the one who directed the first 5 minutes of the Disney-Pixar film "Up". Here's the said clip for reference:

• Speaking of "Up", Pete Docter also revealed that his own daughter Elie, was the one who provided the voice of the younger Ellie in the film.
• Someone asked if there's any truth to the "shared Pixar Universe", while both Pete and Ronnie debunked the said rumor, they did however not stop the fans from dreaming up the possibilities (and also plugged in the Disney Infinity toyline)
• According to the directors, the voice talents behind the different emotions, not only influenced the character's look, but also how the character was written due to the actors' way of delivering lines and how some of them are actually great writers on their own.

Overall, the event was really awesome and as a Pixar fan, I feel so honoured to be in the same room as these amazing people. To close off, Ronnie del Carmen, left an inspiring answer to a question that most aspiring artists (such as myself) always wanted to ask people at Pixar of how can they be successful in what they do.

And his answer? Just do stuff.

Doesn't matter whether or not your work is great now, just make stuff and show it to people and you will definitely get feedback to improve your art. The more you get yourself out there, the more possible it is for you to get noticed and hopefully one day, join the guys at Pixar. :)

Catch Disney-Pixar's "Inside Out" on August 19, opening nationwide thanks to the distribution efforts of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures! :D

Dracula Untold = The Castlevania film we are hoping for?

Over the week, a friend shared with me a movie trailer for an upcoming film; Dracula Untold.

After watching the film, I can't help but feel as if I'm watching a live-action Castlevania movie. Infact, there's even a scene in the trailer that closely resembles that of the trailer for Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2. Here's the trailer:

The one thing that strikes me the most is how the end of the trailer for the movie "Dracula: Untold" where Dracula summons a legion of bats to stomp the enemy, closely mirrors that scene from the trailer of "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2" where Dracula also stomps the enemy, but as a black mist.

Even the costume design for "Dracula: Untold" reminds me of a character from Castlevania Lament of Innocence; Mathias Cronqvist (whom fans of the series know to be the man who would later be Dracula).

Both share a similarity with Dracula sporting jet black hair, with matching black fur on one side, and that chain around his neck. Aside from the red cape, its almost similar at the very least. Then there's the armor. That one closely resembles that armor worn by Walter Bernhard from Castlevania Lament of Innocence as well:

The thing to note would be the overlapping dragons and dragon wings on Dracula's breastplate similarly matches the idea of Walter Bernhard's armor. Then there's Dracula's wife:

I find this interesting as both women are blonde, both of them have deep misty blue eyes, and they seem to both wear the same white dress.

Maybe I'm taking everything too seriously, but I guess it's just me to wish and hope to watch a Castlevania movie. I mean almost every videogame franchise has been given the movie treatment, from Super Mario Bros, to Mortal Kombat, Tekken, heck even Dead or Alive got its own movie! And for a franchise that's as legendary as Castlevania, I just don't understand why there's no movie adaptation yet. Hopefully, at the very least this film will give me a glimpse of what's possible for a Castlevania movie...

Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno/The Legend Ends is coming to the Philippines!!

The much anticipated sequel to the surprise local blockbuster hit; Rurouni Kenshin, is now confirmed to be coming to the Philippines!! As announced on Warner Bros Philippines' Facebook fanpage, the 2 feature film sequels will be coming to the Philippines this year:

The first of the sequels; Rurouni Kenshin - Kyoto Inferno, arrives on local theaters on August 20th. While its follow-up; Rurouni Kenshin - The Legend Ends, arrives almost a month later on September 24th.

To check out their awesomely fan-enticing latest trailer, click here.

To check out their insanely spot-on cast, click here.

Personally, I find the announcement quite surprising to say the least. As a few years ago, the first Rurouni Kenshin film was NOT brought to the Philippines by Warner Bros (who we all expected to do so considering they were the ones who produced the film in the first place), but by Movie Punch (aka Pioneer Films) and by SM Cinemas. I suppose the backlash of their action, seeing how the first Rurouni Kenshin film practically sold out in every SM Cinemas on the day of its release, and the local fan reception of the film, stung them and thus they probably didn't want to make the same mistake with the sequel.

Quite frankly, I'm happy to know that the sequel will find its way to our shores and I cannot wait to watch it on the big screen with friends! :D

Street Fighter Assassin's Fist = Best live-action Street Fighter adaptation yet!!

I've been a long time fan of Street Fighter, since I first played it on the SNES with Street Fighter II: The World Warrior.

There's simply something magical with Street Fighter II when it first came out. It was the first time in my personal gaming history, for me to see a game where you can actually select the character you will use in-game. Remember this was the time when back in the day, you only control one character and you have little to no choice as to who you will control (ie. Super Mario Bros, you only control Mario if you're player one, etc.)

It may not seem much of a big deal nowadays, but the first time I saw the game's "Player Select" screen, I was blown-away by the sheer number of characters to choose from of 8 unique characters.

Another memorable component of the game was it was the first time I ever played a game wherein I actually fight AGAINST another player sitting next to me. Back then, multiplayer was a co-op affair, with the second player helping you in your game. So actually playing a game where I'm fighting against another person was simply amazing for me. :D

Suffice to say, the game took the gaming world like a storm. And it's insane popularity led Hollywood to make a film version of the series. The campy, weird, but okay-in-a-way, live-action movie in 1994.

In a way, the film sort of "nailed it", with Van Dame doing Guile's famous Flash kick (aka Jack Knife kick), and loved Raul Julia's depiction of M. Bison going all campy with puns galore. :D

But obviously the gamer in me isn't quite satisfied with the movie, compared to Mortal Kombat which fully embraced the game's lore and mythology, Street Fighter the movie was a little bit more "Hollywood-friendly". Guile became the lead character, instead of Ryu and Ken (who were relegated to minor supporting roles in the film), and don't even get me started with that piece of s***; Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li.

F*** you Hollywood. Just F*** you.

Quite frankly, I don't get why can't Hollywood get Street Fighter right. It's like its cool to make a movie about demi-gods, superheroes, aliens and what-not, but it's just not cool to make a film about a bunch of martial artists who can wield near-superhuman abilities and powers. It simply doesn't make any sense to me. I was thinking, if the comicbooks can do it, why can't videogames?

And I think that's what the producers of Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist were thinking as well. And it only took them this proof-of-concept to show to the world how a REAL Street Fighter movie is made:

As a fan, the moment I saw this clip, I was blown away at how this short fan film does a better job at capturing what Street Fighter is than the shitty live-action movies Hollywood has shown to date. Add the fact that guy playing as Ken is pretty spot on (seriously, its as if he was lifted out of the game and into the real world. That's how scarily accurate they got the portrayal). It was AMAZING. 

Little did I know that this was a taste of things to come. And now, after the long wait, the same team who produced Street Fighter: Legacy, is back with Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist. A mini-series that's now available on YouTube which expands on the story of Ryu and Ken's tutelage under Gouken, and their history with their master's rival/brother; Akuma/Gouki.

Here's the entire playlist for your viewing pleasure:

Without spoiling too much, I'd have to say this is THE BEST live-action adaptation of Street Fighter bar none!! They took the mythology and lore of the game and added new twists and filled-in some of the parts that were unexplained in the series, giving a fresh perspective to both new and old fans alike. 

I also loved the fact that they focused the entire mini-series only on Ryu and Ken's tutelage under their master Gouken, as it gives alot of character development between these 2 friends/rivals. Admittedly, it also gives Ryu, which is more or less a blank slate in the game, a more fleshed out story and his interactions with his best buddy Ken are some of the highlights of this series. Because of keeping the focus on just 4 characters, everyone of them feels much more developed and less rushed, making fans appreciate them more. :D

The series is also peppered with tons of fan service and nods to the game that only hardcore fans will get/notice, and is a delight to watch (ie. watch out for the Yoshinori Ono; the producer of Street Fighter, cameo).

That said, I do have abit of critique mostly with the special effects, as I believe they could've done a better job in showing off the "Hadouken" and "Shoryuken". 

One example would be the "Shoryuken", where they could show more "oomph" to the move instead of just making someone fly off. Think off the scene in the "Man of Steel", where they took the simple idea of Superman flying as shown in this scene, and added more weight and oomph to it visually:

Just look at how the ground shakes and a small dust of wind slowly pushes out of Superman's body, showing the amount of power being generated at that moment to prepare him for the leap. And how the flight seemed so powerful with the added "boom" on the ground showing off how much energy was generated during Superman's "take-off" from the ground. It's those simple cues that makes something that looks ridiculous on screen, much more believable and more visually arresting to behold. However, considering this was NOT Hollywood, I can't exactly blame the guys, as they had to work with what they have, and they focused on what mattered most... character and story.

So kudos to the team behind Street Fighter Assassin's Fist!! Seriously you made a fan out of me guys!! Hopefully this is a start of more things to come in the future!! Can't wait to see how the other World Warriors are gonna appear in your cinematic vision of the series. :D

Gundam Unicorn Episode 7 Philippine Screening + GMKC 2014 = My Epic Gundam Birthday!!

May 18th, 2014 marked the day I finally become 31. I don't really FEEL any different, only that I bear some life lessons that shaped my life for the better. :D This comic more or less captures what I feel "getting older"

My feelings about "adulthood"

However, little did I know, that this day would shape up to be THE best birthday celebration I've ever had in my life. :D

As you guys can imagine (if you managed to see most of my blogposts) I'm a HUGE fan of Gundams. As my significant other mentioned, I'm in a "Gundam High" this year. So imagine my delight and excitement, upon Gundam Philippines' announcement that the seventh and final episode of Gundam Unicorn will be shown here on SM North Cinema 10... on MY BIRTHDAY. :D

My face lit up like this upon learning of the awesome news

And thanks to my Gundam Model Kit Competition entry, I got to score 2 tickets for the screening of Gundam Unicorn for me and my significant other. You can read more about it via this blogpost. 

Having the screening of Gundam Unicorn's final episode set on my birthday was pretty much awesome already, however, the awesomeness of my birthday didn't just stop there. One of my good friends; Mr. Kenneth Guevarra of SenZaru Multimedia, gave me an early birthday present...

Thank you so much Kenet!! :D 

He drew a chibi-fied version of me (and my cat Tigger) with a Gundam head (which happens to be the Build Strike Gundam of Gundam Build Fighters) and it looked AMAZING!! :D I was lovin all the little details (like the Sub-Zero shirt), and my love for videogames (3DS in hand). I was more than surprised and thankful upon receiving such an amazing artwork from my friend, and added more to the awesomeness of what will become a Gundam-themed birthday celebration. :D

So on May 18th, me and my date went to SM North early, to avoid the long line (and hopefully score some nice seats). However, as soon as the mall opened, to our surprise, the line for Gundam Unicorn's movie screening was already INSANELY LONG. Alot of fans were really excited to watch the film, like us, and so we had to wait out abit before we were let in.

Thankfully, we weren't too far off the line, hence we immediately went in and luckily we got to score some really great lazy-boy seats in front, and I LOVED IT!! :D

As soon as the movie started, the room erupted in applause and happy cheers from the crowd. The entire place was filled with so much gundam love, that it made watching the final episode on the big screen more worth it. :D The feeling reminded me of the first time I watched Rurouni Kenshin being screened here in the Philippines, where tons of fans are having such a great time, it was AMAZING! :D It was definitely an experience.

I can almost imagine everyone in the cinema
reacting this way, after watching epic moments in the film.

Without spoiling too much, I can say that the film was a completely satisfying conclusion to the Gundam Unicorn saga. It had alot of highs and some lows, with lots of emotional moments that made many fans weep (including me and my date) inside the theater.

To my surprise, my date had a blast watching the film, despite the fact she wasn't able to finish the first 6 episodes of the series (she only got to episode 3). And after watching episode 7, she was definitely a fan of the series that she wished she could've had money to buy herself an HG Gundam Unicorn or Banshee kit. :D To view more of her take of the event, you can visit her blogpost.

After the event, me and my date went straight to the Gundam Model Kit Competition (GMKC 2014 for short), and IT WAS SIMPLY GUNDAM HEAVEN.

And as seen on my previous blogpost, I showed my date the towering Gundam Banshee statue that was on display that day.

Obviously, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to have herself taken a picture with the statue. Infact, she wants to freakin hug the thing if not of the sign that tells her otherwise. XD

There were alot of people; both new and old fans alike, crowing the event. Because aside from the awesome gundam model kits that are on display, they also had a HUGE SALE on gundam model kits!!

Parents, kids, and kids-at-heart, all enjoying the awesome sale.

Number of people in the event area is insane!!

She REALLY wanted to get this kit. :D

Would love to add this to my collection one day. :D

Speaking of sales... remember on my previous blogpost where there was this one gundam model kit I was praying for, that it would still be available and on sale when I get back on May 18th? Well on my birthday, my prayers were answered!! :D

I was super worried I would never be able to buy this kit, due to the sale. Considering this was priced at Php7,000 and then they lowered the price down to Php3,500 (more cheaper than the ones sold on Greenhills), it was a pretty sweet deal IMHO. And yes, I'm very giddy and happy as a kid as soon as I bought the kit. BEST. BIRTHDAY GIFT. EVAR!! :D

However, that's not all. Upon purchasing the mega size model kit, I was given a free special edition Hobby Japan magazine. I didn't think about the magazine too much at first, however, as soon as I got home and opened the magazine I was surprised to see it in FULL ENGLISH!! :D

Kudos to Bandai, Toy Kingdom and Bankee trading for this wonderful freebie!! :D I hope this is a start of Bandai's improvement in terms of making an impact globally, as I would LOVE to see the day where Gundam model kits being distributed here in the Philippines are in full english, from the box to the manuals!! I highly encourage Bandai to do so. :D

As for the GMKC 2014 event itself, where I actually joined as a New Challenger in the Open Category, unfortunately I didn't win (there were simply alot of tough competitors). It was all good though as we got to meet after the event the head of Bankee Trading, Mr. Rodel (the official distributors of Gundam model kits in the Philippines) and the representative of Bandai from Japan, Mr. Oyama.

Thank you so much guys for having such an awesome event here in the Philippines!! We hope this is a start of more great things for local gundam fans. :D Overall, my birthday ended on a very epic note, as the next day, I got my cake... or make that CAKES.

THREE FREAKIN CAKES!! :D What an epic way to cap off my 31st birthday!! :D It's been an amazing experience for me, and I'm very thankful of how my birthday turned out this year. :D Looking forward to next year!! :D