Internet Warrior on: Speech Choir and Ignite Competitions

What's happening, guys?

This was it. The big day, the big one; the time that I had been waiting and preparing myself for this entire time. This is the pivotal climax and exciting conclusion to the All-English Term and the final end of my third term and my first Academic Year in Asia Pacific College. This is the very day everybody in school, especially SoMA and SoE students, waited for; the day where all our efforts and skills accumulated during the term are put to the most rigorous and challenging tests and tribulations that cannot be ignore.

This is the All-English Term Culminating Day.

So far, that day, it is composed mainly of four segments: the introduction, the Speech Choir Competition, the Ignite Competition and the awarding ceremony. During the introduction, we are given a montage of the pasts moments of the ERC faculty being together in various occasions, hanging out, working on school projects and spending some quality time outdoors.

Fast forward to the main event of the day, the first Ignite Speaker is selected at random to present his/her speech that he/she prepared during the ignite speech as part of the PUBSPE1 finals. It would be followed by a Speech Choir presentation with a section to be selected too at random. Once picked, the section's AVP video presentation would be shown right before the actual speech choir presentation. It would be followed by the second Ignite Speaker. Afterwards, to be followed by another speech choir presentation with an AVP, and so on and so forth.

Let's talk first about my section's representative for the Ignite Speech: Giu Selle Filoteo, who I would like to call "Kim Quijano's girlfriend". (I regret nothing!) I find her speech about beauty quite interesting. In fact, that really caught my attention, especially when I have become so self-conscious of my appearance. In Selle's speech, she describes the definition of inner and outer beauty more in depth, correspondent to the PowerPoint presentation she currently delved in at the time. So, I find it to be a great means to show that beauty is pretty, either in or out, mostly in. Also, her voice is very clear and efficient, easily understandable and subtle to match the tone of her ignite speech. And her PowerPoint slides are quite creative too.

Giu Selle Filoteo's speech about beauty

Next, I'm getting to the topic what you all want me to talk about: the Speech Choir from ABMA152. All I can say about our performance is that we did essentially well. Our voices are very effective, the visuals are clear and the tone of our voices are in sync and as well, serious at times. Also, I'd give plus points for the tree stick props and the cappuccino painting on the face. But I felt like while this was a good presentation, the overall performance was not too exciting or surprising to say the least. I felt like we should've taken liberties from the source material and alter it, as in go all-out and rampage, as much as possible while still being faithful to the poem "The Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou. I felt like we could've made much progress but made quite little, at least in comparison to other speech choir performances I watched.

ABMA152

Lastly, I will point out that I am very happy and very disappointed with the results of the Ignite Speech and Speech Choir competitions respectively, when the awarding ceremony came. Giu won the award of being the First Runner-Up of the Ignite Competition. I congratulated and thanked her for that; for such enthusiasm, honesty, fluency and power she let out from her voice while she was doing her job.

Who gave Giu the flowers, I wonder?

Kim, you sneaky devil! XD

But for our speech choir performance, we did not even make to the Top 3. But at least, all our hardwork should go somewhere. We did our best anyway not only as a whole class or group that seeks to succeed through an amount of great efforts. We worked hard as friends who rely on each other and help in times of need. Other section did so, just much better.

But it doesn't matter. As I've said in my Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? English Edition post, we're always winners in our rights and values, no matter the results we might get. As long as we struggle and work hard for it, there's at least got to something good that comes from it.

Anyway, this is the last day of my first year of college life. And unfortunately, the last moment that the good ol' ERC teachers would ever come together again as one English-oriented faculty body of friends and buddies.

In fact, this is a huge topic, I don't feel like giving a question for today. But don't forget to add or subscribe me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and deviantART. And since this is my last academic blog for now, I'll be free to post whatever I want out of my own free will.

But thank you once again for reading today's blog! I am the Internet Warrior and I approve this message.

Internet Warrior on: Public Speaking Competition

Good evening, people, this is the Internet Warrior again for another post that you most likely wouldn't give a sheet of paper bull about.

It was April 20, 2016 in the APC Auditorium. Early in the Wednesday morning, a public speaking competition was held. I enjoy watching public speaking competitions because I see and hear speakings bringing out their clear voices onto the public of what he/she has to say, but I don't want to be a participant. Probably because my tendency to stutter way too many times is inevitable or I wasn't qualified yet to be the best speaker in the school, let alone the classroom. This is the one thing that I have a difficult time doing.

Every time I have a decently good presentation that requires me to speak in English and even have a tendency to speak in an American-like accent, I need to be awake the next day in order to speak in English fluently but I will change the topic now since this is not the purpose of this post. Public speaking competitions are always around in APC since it's part of our curriculum. And so another public speaking competition is happening this term. The competition was held yesterday and I was not present in school because I was processing my internship application that time. The primary theme for the speech in this competition, as well as the pivotal theme for the All-English Term:

“Integrity has no need of rules.”
- Albert Camus

Since the election day is fast approaching, I'll just relate the topic to it. I believe that the leaders of this nation must have integrity. It is easy to make promises for the nation. Telling the people what you can do is just a piece of cake. But is there integrity in the words of those candidates? Is there honesty in them? Sure, they can say those things because it's campaign period and they need the votes of the people but can we really use those "platforms" as the basis for voting a president of this nation? Don't look at their performance, but look at their character. Integrity has no need of rules, its just a result of a person's character. It is a gift. And a leader of integrity will surely led his followers to the fullest. It is integrity that brings society as a moral whole. A pivotal element that is much more powerful than the rules of people. An essential trait that a leader must possess, and clearly it doesn't need any rules.

This is my post for the Public Speaking Competition and I am not endorsing any presidential candidates. I'm just expressing my opinion about the topic for the Public Speaking Competition which is “Integrity has no need of rules.”

By the way, the winners of the Public Speaking Competition are shown below. I don't have the names, but at least I have the pictures.

APC College Week 2016 - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? English Edition

This is Internet Warrior speaking with vigor and honesty once again!

It was the College Week of Asia Pacific College and this year, it was meant to be special, because the school recently celebrated its 25th anniversary of its glorious foundation. There are hundreds of exciting or mundane events that hundreds of students and faculty members are looking forward to it. One of these events is the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? English Edition.

Based on the popular longtime running game show, this contest, as part of the All-English Term of SoMA and SoE, showcased the knowledge of various students representing each section in the the said schools based on intelligence and speed.

Source: RAM Page

Originally, I was selected to join the ccompetition, but I said no, fearing that if I join, I might get the tendency to not know several questions and possibly screw up the reputation of my friends and classmates. So, instead, Jed Siroy, Alexis Pascua and Hugh Sebastian Nicdao were chosen to join and represent our section ABMA152. I believe that Siroy has the brains, Lexi has the wits and Hugh has the guts. So, I just sit down on the audience seat on and observe as all of this were happening.

It was a tough and rigorous battle ahead for my friends, with the whole competition cocomposed of five rounds: the Elimination Round, the Average Round, the Difficult Round, the Showdown Round the Tiebreaker Round. The questions are all English-related, but many of them are tricky. I always guess which of those choices are correct. Sometimes, I'm right, but sometimes, I'm wrong. There were lots of other times where I know the answer to question. But of course, "no coaching".

Eventually, the Tiebraker Round came and only two sections remained: ABMA134 and ABMA152, having the same points and fighting a decisive death match. But unfortunately for me, my team of freshmen classmates were no match for those school junior titans. Therefore, they lost and the opposing team prevailed. It wasn't a loss though. In fact, I think it was a sweet victory. We, as a section represented by a group of three, managed to go this far to become the Second Placers or the Runner-Ups of the challenging contest of brains and language.

The Runner-Ups: ABMA152

It was a breath of fresh air to embrace such sweet, unfiltered victory after a series of constant losses of ABMA152 though. In fact, it was so great that I actually got into the picture with the winners. Yeah, I call my friends "winners" because they made it this far to win the silver award and gain some prize money. Anyway, they will always be winners to me, no matter the result.

So, for today, my question to you:

What makes you a winner?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section below.

Internet Warrior on: Benjamin Alves in APC

What's happening, guys? This is the Internet Warrior once again.

It was March 18, 2016 and a guest has arrived in school. Luckily for all of us, that special guest is a celebrity. And unluckily for me, it's a celebrity that I barely knew.

Benjamin Sapida, better known as Benjamin Alves, is a Filipino actor and model under the management of GMA Network, and was the nephew of another Filipino actor, Piolo Pascual. So far, I only knew him in his portrayal in two of Jerrold Tarog's two movies, Sana Dati and Heneral Luna. In the former, Alves played a big role as a major character (Andrew) in the movie. In the latter, he only makes a cameo appearance as Lieutenant Manuel Quezon who would be the future president of the Philippine Commonwealth and protagonist for a theoretical third movie in a possibly potential Jerrold Tarog trilogy focusing on the period of the Philippines under the United States of America.

Andrew (Benjamin Alves) in Sana Dati

He is not just an actor, but also he writes poets. According to him, creating poetry is a way to express what his heart speaks about. In poetry, he can speak it up all. His presence in Asia Pacific College that time is not just for the looks. He also has the brains! The birthday celebration also become an inspiration for those who love poetry. He started off by sharing his writing process.

Source: RAM Page

He said, “Nagsisimula ako kung saan 'yung sa akin. From there, bahala na kung saan ako dalhin.”

Even in process writing or public speaking, roadblocks are inevitable. We are bound to commit mistakes. He is enthused more on the process of writing than the seeing the product of his craft.

“May idea ka, you research about it, you let it marinate, marinate mo muna sa isiapn mo then when it comes on paper mas madali siya. Hindi lagi ganon 'yung proseso pero doon ako natutuwa, sa proseso.”
- Benjamin Alves

Source: RAM Page

I can sort of relate of what the celebrity says. For me as an artist, what I enjoy on creating my craft is the process. I don't care what will the product of my craft will be, what matters is the process that I've undergo to do it. Because in that process, you get to learn new things. You don't learn on your results, but on the process of doing it. Other than celebrating through the whole festivity the entire afternoon like eating a gross cupcake, I like who he is behind the camera, his love for his poetry, the love for what he is doing. It's not about his birthday celebration at Asia Pacific College, but who he is behind the spotlight. Thanks to the celebration, I know much more about Benjamin Alves than I do before.

Lt. Manuel Quezon (Benjamin Alves) meeting with President Emilio Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.
Heneral Luna (2015)

Now to conclude this blog, I ask you guys a simple question:

How will you relate to what Alves said in the party?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section BELOW, or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

But thanks for reading today's blog! I am the Internet Warrior, approving this message.

Random Movie Reviews #5 - The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

What's happening, everybody? This is the Internet Warrior speaking.

Thirty years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber gathered an amazing group of singers and actors in London to create a musical play that will last throughout the ages in the minds of people and theater-goers everywhere. It is called the Phantom of the Opera, based on the French novel of the same name published by Gaston Leroux in 1909.

Twenty-five years later, the musical continued to be the most successful musical play of all time, next to Les Miserables, and so far, it is shown in various theaters across the world, including the New York version of it which is still the longest-running and most successful Broadway musical in history. To celebrate and honor the long success, in 2011, a new London cast is hired to perform the same old Phantom of the Opera musical with the same charm and same enthusiasm from Webber himself that made us love the whole thing since the original performance in 1986.

This is The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall.

To mark the silver anniversary of such a powerful play, Weber and producer Cameron Mackintosh decided to commemorate the momentous occasion by sending in the Royal Albert theatrical team to perform the Phantom of the Opera on October 2, 2011. The team promised to make this version of the play the most powerful that anyone could ever see. The musical had three performances. The third of which was screened live all over the globe, through television or cinemas. Eventually, it was adapted into a movie with footages of three different performances meshed in together for the price of one.

The Royal Albert Hall

Also, to celebrate the 30th anniversary since the creation of such an ambitious project, I feel that I should give the 25th anniversary special the honor of delving in through the whole thing for today's Random Movie Review. This is the Phantom of the Opera.

The play starts at the Prologue, where on the stage of Opéra Populaire in 1905, an auction of old theatrical props is underway. Lot 665, purchased by the elderly Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, is a papier-mâché music box in the shape of a monkey. He eyes it sadly, noting that its details appear "exactly as she said". Lot 666 is a shattered chandelier that, the auctioneer explains, has a connection to “the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera, a mystery never fully explained”. As the chandelier is uncovered, its lamps flicker to life and it magically rises over the audience to its original position in the rafters. As it ascends, the years roll back and the Opéra returns to its 1880's grandeur.

Thus, Act I begins all the way back to 1881. As Carlotta, the opera's resident soprano prima donna, rehearses for that evening's performance in an opera play called Hannibal, a backdrop collapses without warning. The anxious cast members whisper, “The Phantom! He's here!” The opera's new owners, Firmin and André, try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to continue and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the opera's ballet mistress, tells Firmin and André that Christine Daaé, a Swedish chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught" and could sing Carlotta's role. With cancellation of the performance their only alternative, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise she is equal to the challenge.

Backstage after her triumphant debut, Christine confesses to her best friend Meg, Madame Giry's daughter, that she knows her mysterious teacher only as an invisible "Angel of Music". The opera's new patron, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, finds Christine, his old childhood playmate, in her dressing room. ("Little Lotte") Christine reminisces with Raoul about the "Angel of Music" stories that her late father used to tell them and confides that the Angel has visited her and taught her to sing. Raoul laughs at her "fantasies" and invites her to dinner.

The Mirror

After Raoul leaves, a jealous Phantom appears in Christine's mirror in the guise of the Angel of Music. ("The Mirror/Angel of Music (Reprise)") Christine begs him to reveal himself and the Phantom obliges, then guides her into a ghostly underground realm. ("The Phantom of the Opera")

Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine, singing The Phantom of the Opera

They cross a subterranean lake to his secret lair beneath the opéra house. The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his music and enchants her with his own sublime voice. ("The Music of the Night") Christine sees a mannequin resembling herself in a wedding dress, and when the mannequin suddenly moves, she faints. The Phantom picks her up and places her gently on a bed.

The Music of the Night

As the Phantom composes music at his organ, Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box. ("I Remember…") She slips behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his real face. The Phantom rails at her curiosity, then ruefully expresses his longing to look normal—and to be loved by her. ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It")

Stranger Than You Dreamt It

Meanwhile, inside the opéra house, Joseph Buquet, the opera's chief stagehand—who, like Madame Giry, inexplicably knows much about the Phantom—regales everyone with tales of the "Opera Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso. ("Magical Lasso") Madame Giry warns Buquet to exercise restraint. In the managers' office, Madame Giry delivers a note from the Phantom: He demands that Christine replace Carlotta in the new opera, Il Muto, or there will be a terrible disaster "beyond imagination". ("Notes…")

Firmin and André assure the enraged Carlotta that she will remain the star, ("Prima Donna") but during her performance, ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh") the Phantom reduces her voice to a frog-like croak. A ballet interlude begins, to keep the audience entertained—but a series of menacing shadows can be seen on the backdrop. Suddenly the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the Punjab lasso, drops from the rafters. Firmin and André plead for calm as the Phantom's diabolical laughter is heard.

In the ensuing mêlée, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom. Raoul is skeptical, ("Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There") but swears to love and to protect her always. ("All I Ask of You") The Phantom, who has overheard their conversation, is heartbroken.

All I Ask of You

As he angrily vows revenge against Raoul, ("All I Ask of You (Reprise)") the Opéra's mighty chandelier crashes to the stage as the curtain falls, ending the first Act.

Act II begins six months later in the midst of the gala masquerade ball, where the Phantom, costumed as the Red Death, makes his first appearance since the chandelier disaster. ("Masquerade/Why So Silent?") He announces to the stunned guests that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant.

Christine and Hadley Fraser as Raoul in Masquerade

Why So Silent?

He demands that it be produced immediately, with Christine (who is now engaged to Raoul) in the lead role, and warns of dire consequences if it is not. He seizes Christine's engagement ring and vanishes in a flash of fire and smoke. Raoul demands that Madame Giry tell him about the Phantom. She reluctantly replies that he is a brilliant musician and magician born with a terrifyingly deformed face, who escaped from captivity in a traveling freak show and disappeared.

During rehearsals, Raoul hatches a plan to use Don Juan Triumphant as a trap to capture the Phantom, knowing the Phantom will be sure to attend its premiere. ("Notes/Twisted Every Way") Christine, torn between her love for Raoul and her gratitude for the Phantom's teaching, visits her father's grave, longing for his guidance. ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again") The Phantom appears, again under the guise of the Angel of Music. ("Wandering Child") Christine nearly falls under his spell, but Raoul arrives to rescue her. The Phantom taunts Raoul, launching fiery missiles at him, ("Bravo Monsieur") until Christine begs Raoul to leave with her. Furious, the Phantom sets fire to the cemetery.

Don Juan Triumphant opens with Christine and Ubaldo Piangi, the opera's principal tenor, singing the lead roles. ("Don Juan") During their duet, Christine realizes that she is singing not with Piangi, but with the Phantom himself. ("The Point of No Return")

When he expresses his love for her and gives her his ring, Christine rips off his mask, exposing his deformed face to the shocked audience. As Piangi is found strangled to death backstage, the Phantom seizes Christine and flees the theater. An angry mob led by Meg searches the theatre for the Phantom, while Madame Giry directs Raoul to the Phantom's subterranean lair, and warns him to beware his Punjab lasso.

In the lair Christine is forced to don the doll's wedding dress. ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer") Raoul arrives, but the Phantom captures him with his lasso. He tells Christine that he will free Raoul if she agrees to stay with him forever; if she refuses, Raoul will die. ("Final Lair")

An infuriated Phantom challenges Raoul in the Final Lair.

Christine tells the Phantom that it is his soul that is deformed, not his face, and kisses him. The Phantom, having experienced kindness and compassion for the first time, sets them both free. Christine returns the Phantom's ring to him, and he tells her that he loves her. She cries, forces herself to turn away, and exits with Raoul.

Christine finally leaves the Phantom.

The Phantom, weeping, huddles on his throne and covers himself with his cape. The mob storms the lair and Meg pulls away the cape—but the Phantom has vanished with only his mask remaining. And thus ends the story of music and mystery all under the power of love.

Finally, at the very end of the performance, Andrew Lloyd Webber delivered a speech to the audience before bringing out the Royal Albert Hall creative team, the original creative team, as well as the original leads from both the London and Broadway productions, Michael Crawford (the original Phantom of the Opera) and Sarah Brightman (the original Christine Daaé). Brightman sang "The Phantom of the Opera" with five Phantoms: Colm Wilkinson from the Canadian production, Anthony Warlow from the Australian production, Peter Jöback, who played the role on both the West End and Broadway, John Owen-Jones from the London and UK Tour productions, and Ramin Karimloo. The performance concluded when the five Phantoms sang "The Music of the Night", along with the entire cast and creative teams. A more-than-worthy sequence to conclude the 25th anniversary that everybody is anticipating.

And that was the Phantom of the Opera's 25th Anniversary in the Royal Albert Hall. As usual, the story, the moody theme, the music and the dark atmosphere impacts both the whole audience and cast because of its uniqueness from other powerful theater plays. The love triangle of the Phantom, Christine and Raoul, the mystery of the Opera, the darkness of the music and the gloomy atmosphere of death and magic are all portrayed with such power that made us love the Phantom of the Opera since its original Weber-Mackintosh performance in 1986 and even up to this day. And that is why the musical is still the greatest of all time.

Which of course brings me to today's question:

What is your favorite scene in the Phantom of the Opera?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section below.

But thanks for reading today's Random Movie Review. I am the Internet Warrior, saying that I approve this message

Random Movie Reviews #4 - Paddington

What's happening guys?

This is the Internet Warrior once again for another Random Movie Review.

Last time, I made reviews based on a Filipino film, a Taiwanese film and a Japanese film. So, let's see how the Brits do the thing.

Let's delve in to another movie. This time, since the last movies we ripped into are lacking light, I will review a light-hearted humor flick, a family comedy to be precise. This is my fourth movie review on the third movie I'll summarize based on something. This is the loving bear, Paddington.

From the produces that brought to us Harry Potter, Paddington is a PG-rated family comedy film about a talking bear who moves from the jungles of Peru to London. That premise, based on Paddington, a popular series of children’s book by Michael Bond, is obviously silly. Yet the adaptation of the writer and director Paul King is so on the money, so well-done, so deceptively simple, heartfelt and flat-out entertaining and funny, it make movies with far more plausible plots seem silly by comparison.

Paddington and Henry Brown (Hugh Bonneville)

The film starts with a newsreel setting up a world where an English explorer travels to “Darkest Peru” on an expedition. There he finds a rare species of walking, talking bears. Fast-forward a few decades and those bears are living with their nephew, Paddington, voiced by Ben Whishaw, who is forced to move to London after an earthquake destroys their old habitat. Once in London, he has to find a home and a family to be adopted from.

That’s it. That’s the story. The rest of the movie – which runs just under 90 minutes – follows Paddington and a London family, the Browns, (a slightly inadvertently misleading family name) trying to find a place for Paddington to live. Meanwhile, an animal poacher seeks to finish what the old explorer started and goes to hunt the little bear. It’s a simple story that rarely deviates from that goal, save for one or two fun little effects-driven action sequences.

The villain, Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman)

It would have been very easy for Paddington to waste half its run time with people in London scared of or confused by the sight of a walking, talking bear. In fact, that’s something you expect from a traditional movie. But that never happens in King’s film and that very important decision sets the tone for the entire movie.

By making the audience believe this world is totally fine with a bear who talks, it instantly sets the table for everything else. It’s fun, it’s a little irreverent, but it takes itself very seriously. There’s no ill will here. And there’s no awkwardness created by confused or evil human beings. Everyone is fine with a walking and talking bear, so the audience can be, too. Then we can just enjoy the ride, laugh at the jokes, and begin to fall in love with the characters in the film.

A fuzzed-up Paddington with the siblings, Judy Brown (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan Brown (Samuel Joslin)

The one minor gripe with the film is King’s tone is so set, specific and lovely, those aforementioned effects-driven action sequences feel a bit out of place, but you understand and forgive their inclusion. This is a movie for kids after all.

Even in the best family films of all time, the families at the center of the movie often break into factions. Maybe the kids versus the parents, the mom versus the dad, or everyone versus the mom. Once those films start to move along, you only see a few of those characters going on the adventure. In Paddington, while there is definitely a unique and rocky family dynamic, eventually it becomes a literal family adventure. The mother, father, daughter, son and even the housekeeper all team up to help Paddington in his quest to find a home.

Paddington and Mary Paddington (Sally Hawkins)

How rare is that? To see a healthy family, with a singular goal, working together towards that goal throughout a movie? It’s so refreshing and surprising that it makes the film even more warm and inviting. That drive also sets up lots of funny jokes, and moments of redemption and drama, but everything has much higher stakes because the family is doing it together.

In conclusion, Paddington is a great film. A comedy recommended for everyone, for the family and for people of all ages, be it baby or old hag. This one of those movies where you could get a few laughs or more with.

Anyway, as usual, let's end this review with a question:

If you are a member of the Brown family, how would you feel to have a kind talking bear in your family and why?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section below.

But thanks for ready today's Random Movie Review! I am the Internet Warrior and I approve this message.

Random Movie Reviews #3 - Parasyte: Part 1

What's happening, guys?

Welcome to Day 3 of my Random Movie Reviews!

So far, we have reviews two movies: a Filipino romance film (Sana Dati) and an Asian romance flick filmed in Taiwan (Turn Left, Turn Right). Today, we're gonna something different, one which is not a romance but still has a moody and heavy atmosphere as the two other previous movies we just discussed about. This time, we're gonna do a Japanese flick. Not just any flick, we're gonna rip through some horror.

Let's go and travel into the dark recesses of the world of Parasyte.

Based on the popular manga series which eventually gets an anime adaptation and distributed by the same company who made the Godzilla films, Parasyte Part 1 is about an average timid boy named Shinichi Izumi (Shota Sometani), living his boring life with his mother (Kimiko Yo) and his mundane experience of high school with his girlfriend, Satomi Murano (Ai Hashimoto).

It all changed when unknown extraterrestrial beings come to Earth and begin entering the bodies of several human victims through their ears, taking control over them completely. An alien parasite
(Sadao Abe) tries to get Shinichi, but because of his headphones, he is unable to enter his ear. So he takes over his right hand instead. With this, the alien and Shinichi become one being with two different consciousnesses. Finding out about this, the boy named the sentient right hand, Migi, which means "right" in Japanese.

The two form a slightly uneasy friendship with each other with Shinichi still trying to get used to this change. The progress of the movie gets darker as Shinchi learns from Migi that he is an alien originally attempting to control him completely through his ear but failed to do so. He also learns that the aliens have assumed the forms of many humans they invaded. These aliens are like parasites, meaning if the host dies, so does the alien parasite. Also, they eat humans.

Gross.

Shinichi and Migi meet up with three other aliens assuming the human forms of the school superior Ryoko Tamiya, a person who wants humans and her race to peacefully coexist (Eri Fukatsu), Tsuyoshi Hirokawa (Kazuki Kitamura), and a police officer, who refers to be called "A" (Nao Omori). Tamiya is undergoing an experiment involving humans and parasites after she had sexual intercourse with her human form and became pregnant as a result. As the duo learns more about the aliens' origin story from them, A, going against Ryoko's orders, goes to Shinchi to kill him. However, Migi defends his friends and the two aliens put up a rigorous fight against the other until Migi manages to finish off A. Or so they thought.

When Shinichi's mother went out in the night to go shopping, she encounters the mortally-wounded A lying on the ground. Before she could do anything, A slaughters the mother and takes her body as A's new form. Shinichi and Migi goes home and there, he meets his mother, now controlled by A. The boy hesitantly refuses to believe that his mother is dead and now controlled by the same alien parasite he faced earlier. He thinks it's all just a bad joke. But taking it as an advantage, A swiftly impales Shinichi and leaves him and Migi, with his host now dying, to perish on the dust.

But the withering Migi wouldn't allow that, as he gave some of his life energy to Shinchi to nurse him back to life. And it works. Migi's last ditch effort revives the timid boy, but the genetic materials from Migi that fuses with Shinichi's during his resuscitation causes him to change his personality completely and act more like Migi, transforming from a shy, timid boy to a strong, serious person. As the run of the movie progresses, Shinchi's character becomes more dark and uncaring. For example, there is one scene where Shinichi and his girlfriend, Satomi, see a dog lying in the middle of a road. The boy effortlessly walks to the dog in the road without getting by cars and brings it to the girl. After Shinichi concludes that it's dead, he throws it into a trashbin, much to the dismay of Satomi. Shinichi says that it's not a dog anymore but rather a "body of flesh and bones." Harsh. Extremely harsh but true.

Poor dog.

There's also the fact that there are times at random where Migi has to sleep, but unlike humans, parasites like him are impossible to wake up, as if they are dead at the time. So basically, whenever there is an enemy in front Shinichi and Migi is sleepy, he's f***ed. Let's not forget to mention that ever since the mysterious butcher killings, people somehow conclude that it's non-human that did those atrocities and claim that a parasite can be identified by pulling out a strand of hair and reacting by curling itself.

Moving on, to make matters worse, the duo finds out that there is a parasite in charge of an event that would gather as much as possible in one area and swiftly murder them all at once. Next, we see that Hideo Shimada, a parasite in form of a transfer student, (Masahiro Higashide) is now in the same school Shinichi is in. Tamiya and the others already know of Shinichi's massive change because of Migi's influence. Meanwhile in the art room, where Satomi and the girls are present, Shimada is being drawn as a model. But when a girl pulls out a strand of hair from Shimada, it curls and decays, scaring the girls into thinking they might be in the presence of a non-human. Shimada is angry at this and corners the panicking girls after revealing his true form. But before he could attack, Satomi tosses a bottle of chemicals on the enemy and it pours on its head, deforming it completely into a horrendously extremely grotesque figure and triggering him to go berserk.

AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Eventually, the school falls into mayhem as Shimada destroys anything in sight. This catches the attention of Shinchi and Migi, who eventually saves Satomi and battles the monster. In this scene, we are shown the physical changes of Shinchi due to Migi's cells in his body. He can now move a hundred times faster and more agile than a regular human. He can jump from three stories tall and wouldn't feel a thing, as shown when Shinichi carries and saves his girlfriend by jumping off the school building after Tamiya, disappointed at Shimada's impudence, drops a nitroglycerin at the broken parasite. Shinchi's aim and accuracy is also drastically improved. After sensing Hideo is still alive and heading towards the roof of the building, Shinchi goes to a higher building, aims at Shimada with a crowbar and Migi as the bow, and directly shoots at him, ultimately killing the parasite forever.

Soon, the duo encounters A, still in the body of Shinichi's mother. Unfortunately, Migi is going to sleep and A notices them. Before hibernating, Migi materializes into a long and sharp sword for Shinichi to be used in combat against A.

Good luck staying like that for a few hours, dude!

After a difficult battle, Shinichi accepts to kill his own mother to rid the parasite and does so. Finally, at the end of the movie, we see the big boss of the parasites, Goto (Tadanobu Asano), who wants to bring all of humanity into extinction. Meanwhile, inside a hospital room where Satomi is in a coma, Shinichi swears that he will find every parasite he can and kill them all, regardless of who they are and what they are. The movie comes to a close in cliffhanger with a cameraman from a roof taking a picture of Shinichi and Migi through a window, making way for Parasyte: Part 2 that would be released the following year.

Overall, this movie is awesome. I mean not as awesome as Godzilla but still pretty awesome.

Since I never read Hitoshi Iwaaki's manga series, I won't compare this movie to the original. I'm gonna judge this movie as its own thing, similar to what I did last time in Turn Left, Turn Right. The shock violence scenes in Parasyte surprises me a lot, although there are times when they come out flat. For a horror film, there's a lot of blood in there and props to the makers of this grotesque flick for making something this ambitious. Through the course of the movie, we see that it transitions from a slasher horror film to an human-against-alien action film.

The CGI in this movie isn't bad either, at least for today's standards. In fact, it's pretty well down. The way the heads morph into blades and the eyes and Migi look quite realistic.

But this movie's not without flaws. Although Parasyte is unafraid to have characters experience great tragedy, at the same time, the film is very predictable, even for someone who hasn't seen the manga or anime, and though the acting cannot be faulted, the melodrama did take away from some of the experience.

And of course, we have Migi. He looks a lot cuter and better in the manga or anime adaptations. Cute hand-drawn characters don't work when they are rendered the same way in live-action movies. That's not to say Migi doesn't adorable moments. I mean, he does. There are also moments where he comes out as more creepy than cute.

This being said, Parasyte: Part 1 provides the viewer with an original experience, which is as tense as it is entertaining, though lacking information and an anti-climatic finish, may leave question marks bobbing above your head. Since this is just the first part of the whole thing, I'll let it slide a bit. Maybe a lot of problems in this movie would be resolved in Part 2. By the way, it's already out, so maybe I should the following film a watch. I'll also probably be making a Random Movie Review based on Parasyte: Part 2.

Now, to end this review, I bring in the question for today:

If you have a strange being living in your right hand, how will you cope with the change?

Leave your interesting and creative responses in the comment section BELOW, or on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

But thanks again for reading today's Random Movie Review. I'm the Internet Warrior and I approve this message.