Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Transformers 3, Piracy, Welcome to the bloggosphere

New blogger here just watched Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and I must say, this will be one of those movies that I won't get tired of watching over and over.  And as I quote from my recent social networking site post, 'scott pilgrim is the most funnest, bestest movie ever! i don't really mean that. but it's really really really good.'  And I do mean REALLY GOOD. Like AWESOME.  It's a treat, especially to those who grew up with video games, even to those who haven't read the graphic novel.  Every moment of it entertained (as what movies should do to a person), which the recent Transformers flick failed to do.  

Yes, in your humble servant's humble opinion, the Scott Pilgrim movie is better than the third Transformers movie.  Can't say that it sucked though 'cause I was still generally entertained.  It's just that there were some boring parts - the fight sequences are too long.  You know that they would all live in the end anyway, why drag it on for almost an hour?  It would've been more fun if there was another twist or two in the story line.  (SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT) Eg. the Optimus Prime that came back was really a doppleganger decepticon and the real Optimus was sent out to planet Krypton due to the blast.

Why compare a relatively old movie to a new one?  They're the most recent movies I saw.  I watched the new one on opening weekend, meaning just last Saturday (in a movie house) and the older one just a few hours ago (if I say how I saw it would I be put to jail?).  OK so this is a blog post about PIRACY.  If I would be locked up in jail for watching Scott Pilgrim, so should the millions of inhabitants of Metro Manila, and neighboring towns and cities (I live in a neighboring town btw).

I remember having this conversation with my cousin: {not exact translations}
YHS (Your Humble Servant): Alam mo ba kung bakit nauuna lagi tayo sa pagpalabas ng bagong movies? Yung Transformers 3 sa June 29 na ipapalabas sa'tin, sa Amerika sa July 1 pa.  Parang may iba pang movies na gano'n eh.  Sa Japan nga sobrang tagal pa ipalabas pag narealease na sa Amerika. [Do you know why new movies get released here (in the PH) early? Like Transformers 3, for one, would already be seen in theaters on June 29, while in America they won't see it til July 1.  There were other movies that like that. See, in Japan, they won't show the movies months after they're released in the US.]
Cousin: Kasi hindi pa naipapalabas, may pirated DVD na.  Kailangan unahan.  [Because before they're released in cinemas, there are pirated DVDs of 'em available already.  Competition's tough.] 
YHS: Oo nga noh. Kala ko kasi dahil lang sa die-hard hollywood movie fans talaga mga Pilipino. [You're right! I didn't think of that.  I just thought it's because Filipinos are plain die-hard hollywood movie fans.]

THIRD WORLD CITY LESSON # 1:  We (by 'we' I mean most third world city residents (Filipinos)) more often than not do not think twice about buying pirated DVDs or downloading movies from the internet.   Why?   Because they're cheap.  Cheaper than a cinema ticket, way cheaper than an original dvd.  A pirated movie on dvd would cost you a third or even a quarter of what you would spend if you would watch it in a movie house.  There are even DVDs with multiple movies on them.  By multiple, I mean multiple: like 12 in 1 multiple.

So if you want to purchase one and you're in the vicinity, just visit the nearest public wet market or drop by D_ _ _ _ _ _A, S_ _ R M_ _ L, E_ _A C_ _ _ _ _L, or my favorite place to get them M_ _ _O W_ _K. (as if the police don't know where these places are. even They buy from these. Now I'm not really sure if piracy is illegal here.)

This concludes my first blog post.  I sincerely hope that this blog would be of help to those who do not understand the workings of third-world city societies.  Living in a third-world country (or developing country for political correctness) does not suck all the time.  We are in fact a happier people than most in the first world.

PS: If the authorities would read this by chance, please don't arrest me 'cause I'm just one of the millions you would have to.

And we do have internet in the Philippines.

And Scott Pilgrim rocks!

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