So who got excited when the news leaked out that DBSK would be a guest on Running Man? Me. Who got extremely disappointed after watching the episode? Me. Who cannot get over her disappointment? Me. Who wants DBSK to go back to Running Man and have a better nametag-ripping game? Me.
From this alone, you can see how sad I am over the episode. Haha! But for very shallow reasons, though. I love Running Man and it's the only variety show I watch regularly. (I haven't watched all episodes but I'm planning to watch all in the near future!) So when I learned that DBSK would be guesting for the second time this month, I was beyond ecstatic. I devoured every piece of information and fan-taken photos I could find weeks before it aired. Then I watched the episode and somehow, I realized that it's not up to par with other episodes. I don't blame it on the boys, though. A part of me actually feels like there's some sort of minor injustice. HAHA! Don't think I ended up hating Running Man after the DBSK episode because you're wrong! I still love the show.
There are parts I loved and parts that are meh. So let's start with the little things that made me smile and laugh.
[Disclaimer: There are tons of spoilers below the cut. Also, I'm a Cassie and a big ChangMin bias so you know what to expect.]
First things first, I just want to say that GMA Films is a production that I often avoid. It's simply not my cup of tea and their stars often leave a bad impression on me. After watching Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles, I can now say that I finally have a movie from GMA Films that I genuinely like.
To put it simply, this film restored my faith in Philippine cinema. Tiktik proves that you don't really have to compromise quality while still maintaining mass appeal.
Yes, this film isn't perfect. The special effects needs a bit more refining but I'm willing to overlook all of that. I am too pleased and happy with this movie that I'll gladly glaze over the weaknesses.
I'll go ahead and say it: this movie exceeds expectation. I think anyone who saw the trailer and ended up liking it still had doubts whether the movie could be as good as the trailer. It seemed too pretty and too badass to really be a Filipino movie. And I'm just so glad that I am proven wrong.
The entire story takes places in less than a day. It's quite short if you think about it, but it's all for the better because it leaves no room for petty side stories, irrelevant dialogue, fillers, and everything else that makes a movie longer than necessary. The story moves fast and keeps you at the edge of your seat from the very first appearance of our dreaded aswangs. The conflict is established early on and more than half of the movie is devoted to the protagonists trying to win against the supernatural. It's pretty intense if you ask me.
Despite it's one-day setting, the characters are pretty fleshed out. I'm not sure if it's because they gave use familiar characters such as the talkative nagger as the mother, the timid husband, the breadwinner turned pregnant daughter, and the asshole of a boyfriend. We see different sides of the characters as they try to fight off the aswangs. Well, being faced with aswangs can really bring out the best and worst in a person. It's just that they're placed in a situation that will push them to do things that their normal selves won't do. But overall, I think they acted in a way their real-life counterparts would have acted.
Joey Marquez, Dingdong Dantes, Ramon Bautista,
Janice de Belen, Lovi Poe and Direk Erik Matti. ∞
It's summertime and the Sci-Fi Club is making the most out of it. They play baseball and completely believe they're good at it. They go to the public bath house to cool off. It's turning to be such an exciting summer until they ended up ruining the remote control for the A/C of Sci-Fi Club's room. Suddenly, they're irritable and all they can think of is finding some ways to fight off the hot weather. But things start to change when they discovered a time machine in the club room, and all they want to do is turn back time and nick the functional remote control from a day ago.
It has such a silly premise. A group of teens encounters a time machine and the only thing they can think of is fixing the remote control. But once they start to realize the implications of changing the past, their actions seem to weigh heavier than they think.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie. Though time travel is a concept that often baffles me and makes me ask way too many questions, Summer Time Machine Blues manages to simplify quite a technical idea. And if you know me, I'm all into things that try to popularize hard sciences. If a movie or novel or whatever manages to make a complicated matter seem simple, then I'm all for it. And this is enough reason for me to like this movie. Time travel can cause headaches and I had a little of that in this movie but it's tolerable enough. It takes time travel lightly at first but it manages to make it quite simple, without having to belittle its consequences.
The only thing I didn't like is the peculiarity of the actions of some characters. I sometimes wonder if it's a cultural thing but Komoto, Eita's character, isn't weird at all. It's just that some of the members of SF Club act in a very unrealistic manner. I know that they have to act like that for narrative purposes. Most of their peculiarity causes the story to move forward but their peculiarity is enough to irritate me. The way they react to some situations is something I don't see normal people doing. Or maybe I'm expecting too much realism from a movie that's dealing with science fiction! (This is highly probable.)
I know that they need to do the things they have to do in order for things to move forward and for the narrative of the movie, of course. But I wish they thought of some other things to make it better. I don't know.
I'm also irked off how they treat one of the characters, Soga. They bully him into being the first one to try the time machine. Even when they see that the first try is enough to terrify him, they still pressured him into doing it again. And again and again. Friends don't do that to friends. To tease a friend is okay, but to pick on him and pressure him into doing something he's terrified to do is just wrong. I know it all turns out well in the end but I just felt a tad too sorry for him. Obviously, this kind of reasoning is way too personal. I just don't think friends should subject friends to that type of peer pressure and bullying. We're talking about time travel here, and that's not a light matter!
Aside from this, I have nothing else to complain about. Japanese humor is something I'm still getting used to, but someday I swear I'll understand it. When I watch Japanese movies, I sometimes wonder if the scene is supposed to be funny or maybe it's not really supposed to be funny. I also don't know what I'm really trying to say.
The storyline is taut, and you just know that it's a movie that took its time to be planned out from beginning to end. For it to be coherent, it can't be written or directed on a whim. A lot of the time travel details rely on the story, so the writing must be pretty solid. But I must admit, it took me about 20 minutes into the story to fully get into the movie. It's all good from then on, though.
Anyway, another thing I like about this movie is the cinematography! It's just amazing. And though it's a sci-fi film, it tones down the special effects. I love the slow motion to signify the importance of some scenes. I love the hazy illusion to show how hot it is. I love the fisheye effect to focus on the characters. I just love how the film is executed. I also only noticed the green tones of the movie when I was making the screencap. I swear it wasn't intentional for the caps to be green-ish. I actually quite like it.
Also, I realized how I always easily fall for the lanky, awkward, torpe type of characters. Example:
My thoughts on TVXQ's comeback single, Catch Me, can be summarized as follows:
ASDFGHJKLAHAJFNWOIEHFOINVSEQOCSA
Yes, I'm not very coherent when it comes to TVXQ. And before I even go and rant about it, I think I should put this out there. I'm a very, very, very biased fangirl. A very, very, very emotional one, too. I don't cry over movies and dramas but I cry over DBSK (I prefer DBSK than TVXQ, thus I'll call them DBSK from here one). So yeah. I just want to avoid anyone telling me I'm too biased because I know that already. Haha.
I've been meaning to post my thoughts on Catch Me but I waited for their comeback performance first. You have no idea how agonizing it to let the world wide web know how much ecstatic I am over all this. Well, I've ranted over it on Twitter and Tumblr but it's not complete unless I've raved about it here. I may end up parroting what everybody else have already said but I don't care.
Oh, another disclaimer. I am no music expert. I am a horrible singer, and basically, music is not my forte. Anyway.
So let's start with their single.
CATCH ME, The Single
What is eargasm.
I played it over and over again, because it's so addicting. I know that people think it doesn't sound like TVXQ at all, and they mean it in a bad way. But I still feel as if it's very TVXQ. Sure, it's a bit more techno, and there's too much dubstep and whatever for some. But it stills feels like a song TVXQ would sing. And they sang it well, of course.
I am incredibly proud of ChangMin and YunHo because I know that they're not the best singers out of the original five members. But look at them belt out high notes and make such a stunning song. It's catchy but it's not just pop-py. if you know what I mean. I'm pretty sure that some parts of auto-tuned, but not too much that you would no longer hear their real voice. Based on this song alone, I can see how much they've improved as singers. I don't have good listening skills, but YunHo I LOVE YOU. And ChangMin, I'm so proud because your voice is no longer too shrill for my liking.
Argh. I've been listening this consistently for the past two weeks, listening to it repeatedly all throughout the entire. And I don't get tired at all.
CATCH ME, The Album
I want to cry over the gorgeousness of this album. They tried out different genres and proved to me why they remain to be my favorite KPOP group. And that probably won't change. Ever.
For the first time, I listen to their album and loved all the tracks. Sometimes, I wonder how this album would sound if JYJ is still part of TVXQ. Probably glorious. But even with just HoMin, Catch Me album is an amazing album. I bet it'll be one of my all-time favorite album of theirs. Seriously. KYHD is their first album as a duo, but Catch Me is the album that they finally make their own identity. The songs are crafted well for their voice, and I love how they were part of the production of the album. I listen to the songs and cannot help but be proud of my boys.
Besides Catch Me, my favorite tracks are Good Night and Like a Soap. According to ChangMin, Good Night is a song that will motivate you when you're tired and stressed and stuff. But I think the song is for lovers. Haha! It's a really, really good song and my second favorite track from the album. Like a Soap has a weird title but it's surprisingly really good!
ChangMin composed I Swear for Cassiopeia. I know right, the whole fandom is quite shocked that the snarky maknae is suddenly expressing his love to the fans he so dearly enjoys bullying. I shed a tear.
