A Pinoy At The Movies: Hercules At Greenbelt 3 and The Hobbit At Glorietta 4

Spending two nights in Makati was a treat. And two nights in Makati were all I needed!

After I planed in from Bacolod City, flying out from the very picturesque Bacolod-Silay Airport, I immediately started my weekend with strolling around the Greenbelt and Glorietta areas trying to practice my legs after a week from the hospital and a few weeks just staying at home.

Every time I am in Manila after the Christmas holidays, it would still be the Manila film festival and no Hollywood movie is shown even a few days after the new year's. But this time, lucky me, after an extended medical leave, I was now able to catch a couple!

So, on my first Saturday night, I went to Greenbelt 3 to watch The Legend of Hercules. Well, the actors weren't familiar faces, although most of them look like the ones you'd see bulking up their muscles in the gym. After all, it's about Hercules, the strongest man in Greek mythology, long before steroids were invented. Ha-ha-ha!

This is a movie to watch if you have no other choice. And yes, I didn't have any other choice that night. Ha-ha-ha! Although the acting wasn't that convincing, the visuals and my re-education on Greek gods and the Greek wars were worth the Php 60 ticket price. Of course, in the end, Hercules and his flexed muscles won over the other bodybuilders pretending to be Greek warriors. 

                                 (Glorietta 4 Cinema)

                        (Sizzling boneless bangus dinner!)

My second night in the cinema was more interesting. I was able to get a ticket for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! This film was on a limited release in Seoul when I left in December because some cinemas wanted more share from the ticket sales of the film. This wasn't shown at CGV Yongsan, which was just next to my office in Seoul, and even my friend In-pyo, a fellow movie fan, wasn't able to catch it. I sent him a message through KakaoTALK that night telling him that I caught the movie just to make him envy. Ha-ha-ha! Mean!

And right before catching the last full show that night, this time at Glorietta 4 Cinema, I made sure I could squeeze in a dinner at my old favorite fastfood stall at the food court, Sizzling! The boneless bangus (milkfish) has always been my favorite and I got a plateful that night on the eve of my flight back to South Korea. I guess that was my last supper...without anyone betraying me. Ha-ha-ha!

After paying a Php 220 movie ticket, I was engrossed for almost three hours watching elves, dwarves and orcs enjoying my last night in Manila, the last night I could wear shorts before I flew in into the very cold winter days in Seoul. Even though the movie ended in another cliffhanger, signaling another sequel to watch out for, I was able to relive my days (or nights!) of enjoying walking around, dining and watching films at Greenbelt and Glorietta cinemas. Those were the days when my friends, especially Roselyn, and officemates would get guaranteed seat tickets on weekends as part of relaxing after a stressful week at work. Those were the days, indeed.

While In-Pyo envies me for having caught The Hobbit in Glorietta, I envy everyone having fun at Greenbelt or Glorietta this weekend. And if you're there, do watch a Hollywood film for me and even squeeze in a boneless bangus dinner if you can! 

    (A huge poster that caught my eye at Glorietta cinema lobby:                   Monuments Men! Another must-watch film!)

Thank You, #1330, For 'The Hobbit' and 'Les Miserables'!

Last November, the Korea Tourism Organization's hotline for tourism-related information #1330 held an event where they gave away prizes just for calling!

So, I called when the event started...and kept calling everyday until....I won!  I received a text that I did win and a lady called me to ask what I wanted as a prize. They had coupons for cafes and movie tickets! And since I love watching movies, I opted for the latter.

I received the e-movie tickets on my phone and I had to use them before 2012 ends. So, I waited for the two movies which I wanted to see before I would fly back to the Philippines for my Christmas vacation!

THE HOBBIT
Luckily, The Hobbit was showing at CGV Yongsan Station on the weekend before I flew out. I have seen the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and this prequel was as equally amazing! From the landscapes, to the costumes and make-up of the hobbits, dwarves and other creatures, this is one of must-watch movies. 

Although it ran for almost three hours, each minute was never boring as the scenes were out of this world-ish, making it interesting and fantastic. 

LES MISERABLES
This one is a must-watch movie.

Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne deserve Oscar nominations for their work in this film. This movie also ran for more than two hours, but with its storyline, production design, costumes and most of all, the actors' performances, I was glued to the screen all throughout like everyone else in the audience.

The story of this Victor Hugo's classic is very sad. That's why  most of the people seated around me were either sniffling or dabbing their eyes with tissue. And me? I was singing. Ha-ha-ha! 

The voices of Hugh, Anne and Eddie fit their characters, but Russel Crowe's was really off for Javert. It was painful listening to his singing. Instead of being feared, Javert sounded comical. I found myself chuckling during his scenes. 

So, if you haven't watched these two movies, make sure you do, even if you don't have the free CGV tickets from #1330.

But thanks to KTO, I was able to watch them for free! And in 2013, I will be looking forward to their free-movie events, and perhaps win again!