Feng Shui 2: Movie Review

First of before I begin I am not a professional movie critic and this will serve as my first so bare with me, I am just an enthusiast and sorry if it might seem a little a biased, but I'll try to be as objective as I can thank you.

        It's the Holiday season again so it's that time of the year in my country in which they held the Metro Manila Film Festival, it's kind of like a movie marathon but you have to actually get off your ass and go to the cinemas to watch. It is held from the 25th of December to the first week of the New Year and during this time no foreign movies is shown at the cinemas only local films. There are tons of entries that are listed in the festival, but I have decided to not list them here since none of them really catches my interest whatsoever except for Feng Shui 2 and Bonifacio, in fact it is during this time of year that I don't really bother to even go out and watch a movie in the cinemas because truth be told I am not much of a fan for Filipino/Pinoy Movies. The popular choices of genre is limited to either comedy or romance leaving all other genres to feel like they don't even exist, I cannot blame them though the masses of the people in my country prefers the said genres, maybe it is due to the culture in my country in which predominant of the people are not so well off and would rather have a few laugh or see some mushy stuff to forget the tragedy of the lives they have to face each day, looking it this way makes me feel like I could relate to most of them more. Unfortunately placing that fact aside it is the same reason why the films the producers creates in the country are mostly hated by people who are into movies for the artistry and the meaning it bring to ones life and the society. Movies with great moral lessons intact into them are shunned by most people in my country for they are not aware or not exposed to the culture of seeing movies as an art form rather than just pure entertainment. Nonetheless the rise of independently produced movies or "Indie Movies" are on the rise in the country giving the other genres previously I have never even heard of a chance at the limelight and maybe with this could change the culture on which this country is accustomed to.

Getting back, I have decided to create a review on the movie Feng Shui 2 since I have enjoyed it's previous film and was curious as what to had happened after.  Feng Shui 2 is a movie directed by Chito Roño, Ten years have past since the events that took place in the previous film and just like its predecessor revolves around a mystical cursed object called the, "Bagua". The Bagua was owned by a Chinese girl simply known as the Lotus Feet, she was left by her family alone after her servants betrayed them and the people stormed their home, burning it to the ground, to end the tradition of foot-binding in the country stating that it is a burden to them and the country itself. Just before her death she placed a cursed on the Bagua she was carrying at the time stating that who shall ever own it will be cursed with great luck and of great misery in return. The first person to look into the mirror shall receive all the good luck and the following shall receive only misery and misfortune.  In the hands of a new owner, Lester "Coco Martin", a 32 year old who had a rough life and is struggling in keeping him and here alcoholic mother, "Charmi Martin" alive since the departure of his father, "Rez Cortez", when he was still young. The placement of the Bagua into his hand wasn't coincidental though according to Hsui Liao ,"Joonee Gamboa", for he was supposedly the last to own this cursed item for he is born under the year of the dog, the last and only year that has not yet owned the item, bringing the cycle of the curse to an end and the beginning of a much worse cycle. If I could give a rating to this movie I'll give it a 7, it isn't as scary as the first movie per say but the first movie wasn't really scary, shocking at best but enjoyable nonetheless. I just really like films that has curses and mystery on them and the twist usually at the end is what I always look forward to and this movie delivered just what I was looking for. The series of death was executed in a way that it isn't too grotesque giving it a chance to be viewed by a wider set of audience but also getting a lower rating and loosing some its appeal. All previous owner who are still alive was also shown in the movie, Joy Ramirez, "Kris Aquino" and Lily Mendoza, "Cherry Pie Picache", they also played an important part in the termination of the cycle for as Hsui Liao said it was only through the joined forces of the three shall the curse be lifted. From beginning to end the movie was able to capture my attention, it was rather fast paced for from the start a chilling scene could already be seen. There was just enough space to place some light hearted comedy, typical Filipino able to place humour even at dire times, in reality it made the movies tactful attempt at horror to a stop, just when you thought you are getting there some character throws a punch line that just pulls you back I am not sure if it was intentional or just the way they delivered it that makes it funny, for most times I could understand its intention though, for as I have previously stated Filipinos loves comedy and one can be sure to always find this even in the most serious of films created in the country. I didn't hate it though in fact it added to its charm. The thing that I find most interesting in the movie is the way on which you would know when one is about to die, it always include an animal or symbol, representing the Chinese animal zodiac on which the dying character is born into, it is kind of like Final Destination on which characters are killed by a series of unpredictable events rather than just by the ghost itself. Speaking of ghost the main ghost from the first movie also appeared in this, plus with a new friend her allegedly long lost twin-sister came, undoubtedly this a huge loophole for in the first movie the sister wasn't even mentioned ones. The addition of the new ghost made the killing twice as fast, twice as unexpected but not exactly twice as thrilling, it just made it look like the creators are trying to keep it under at tight run-time, killing all the characters that needs to be ended. Towards the ending of the film is where things really got messy and frankly rather confusing. This movie was able to solve most unsolved questions from the previous movie, but gaining new question of it's own. By the looks of it the ending of the movie isn't what it appears to be and a sequel following this sequel is bound to happen. I kind of wish they just end it there though , but a story after it might be fine I just hope they make the killing a little bit more realistic and visual. It will be place with a more adult rating but it will definitely add more thrill to it plus it will gather a whole lot of audience that might be able to appreciate it more. 

   All in all I would recommend this movie,  don't take my words for it though cause I am just an enthusiast, but if you ever want to watch a movie in the cinema or are looking for a movie that contains mystery and not too frightening then this movie is just what you want to see.

Ambitions Numb-Visions

Where did the time go?

It's ticking away 

And I can't do a thing but sit and wait

Will I be the same as I was yesterday

Or will I be forever change by destiny and fate

Time is unraveling itself to us all

But I can't just be here 

I need to stand up and make a call

I need to go further and face my fear

I can't just be like this 

I need to get there and be in that hall

A dream in my heart that is as big as the stars

consuming my very existence into ash

There's no need to explain it, this isn't a parse

Nor is this a reason just to make some cash

I don't know when

I don't know how

but someday, I know

That dream of mine

will make it through

Good Bye Cris-Mont!

"Sometimes to grow further means leaving what you were accustomed to and looking for greener pasture to feed and thrive on"  -emzee

Le Giant Printer

          September 27, 2014, Today is my Birthday and also my last day in my job as a Graphic Artist in a local printing press around the area where I live. I wouldn't say I felt sad when I left, in fact I was really elated. Sure I love being a graphic artist, it is one of the things I always wanted to be, being a graphic novelist and pilot being the others, but alas the environment where I work just doesn't cut it. I wanted to be somewhere else. I learned a few things during my stay here though, especially in operating machines and doing printing jobs. On the first image presented on the side is the printer that I used to print Tarpaulins, Billboard, Canvas, Heat Press Fabrics, etc. It's really quite an exquisite machine, can't believe how much it costs though, according to my boss it costs more than a million pesos, but of course I also thought this might be an exaggeration since my boss likes bragging things a lot with me, but nonetheless I was still very wary in operating it.

Back View of Le Giant Printer ^^

Truthfully I would have stayed a little bit longer if the person I was with, my coworker and a close friend of mine, didn't decide to leave. Without her I felt I was really lost there, she was the only one I could really talk there, the rest of the workers there have no Idea what my job really is so I didn't really try to have any connections with them plus they were way older than I was, I just graduated from college while those guys have been working for years there now, their jobs were more of a manual labor sort of thing, like doing the bindings for the photo albums, wood cutting, etc. This was yet another reason why I wanted to leave, I wasn't only assigned to operate and print  a bunch of tarpaulins and billboard, placing holes in it required me to use a hammer and a tool to puncture a hole to act as the handle to hang the tarpaulin later on. They didn't even have the device to do this job, I had to actually go on my knees on the floor just to do this. I wouldn't normally complain, but there are times when we have customers and they would see me doing this, I felt like I wasn't a graphic artist at all rather I was just like those other workers doing manual labor. I didn't study for more than 4 years and took on to get a bachelors degree just to be an F#!@ing hammer man, no Sir!

Check it out, ASSome!! YO!

The Beauty and elegance is just breath-taking, noh?

My ASSOME working area!! yeah!

Well with that one aside, let us move to my other reasons why I wanted leave, check out the image on the left, that folks is where I work, isn't it great?!, I have to work with large files on a computer that runs only on 2GB of RAM, with a dual core processor than runs in no faster than 2.5 GHZ. of course with such a high end piece of equipment they expect me to create a lot of awesome art with grueling deadlines, I wasn't really sure how, but I was able to manage. It was also really hot here especially during the afternoon, it was like I was in a sauna even with the ceiling fan in full blast we were still sweating like hell. The position of the room was really awful because this is exactly where the sun falls during it's hottest times.Imagine a dog trapped inside a van that's how hot it was here. the management was only able to afford an air conditioning system for the main office, which was really unfair to be honest. Some of the people there like snooping on other peoples business as well which of course is a typical working setting anyway, I  hate it when others tries messing with my business that's why I never tried to mess around with others. I pretty much live by the motto of "what is my business is mine, what is your business is yours, so go the fuck away".  There is a lot of things that I didn't like here and just a few that I sort of appreciated. My last day prove just why I know I would never regret leaving. Weeks before me and my partner at work decided to finally leave, I was tasked to print a very expensive type of media for the machine, a Flex, it's similar to a tarpaulin but a lot tougher and way more expensive. It was my first time to print it and due to my ignorance and because I was tasked to do other things while I was printing, I forgot to roll it while printing and due to the ink still being wet on the media, when it folded on itself it got stuck and when I tried to remove it, it was already ruined. I was really shocked to know that I had to pay for it but I didn't say a word and just accepted it. So on my last day during the time I was getting my last paycheck, a whooping 2K+ was deducted from my salary giving me less than half of what I was supposed to get, I felt like it wasn't fair though, it was too big of a deduction but I decided to just leave it as it is and left swearing to loss all contacts with them and never to go back there ever again. To think it was on my birthday as well but then again they didn't know. XD

On my Last day

That place taught me how it felt to really work for the first time , I felt empowered but at the same time devastated. It made me realize that I shouldn't settle for anything less when I know I could do so much more. I might have hated it there but I am forever grateful for giving me the chance to work when I was losing hope of actually getting hired at anywhere, it has opened a new path that I could take, it isn't straight on but a path is path, on how I am going to carve it, will all just be up to me.

Just derping around [with ma siblings, YO!]

Youngest brother on the left and the one that came after me on the right

Meet my not so weird siblings, I have 2 younger brothers and a young sister, notice that all of them have almost nothing in common with me but of course that is due to the fact that they're only my half blood siblings, we all have the same mother but have different fathers, well it only applies to me really. My three younger siblings all have the same father making them full blooded siblings. I have a black-American father who I have never made in any communication with since I was 3 years of age. My younger siblings father on the other hand is a retired Norwegian Seaman, that's a fisherman in layman's term, but of course being a fisherman in other countries especially in Norway is a really great job to have because unlike Philippines, the fisherman there uses highly advance machineries and equipments making their work a real respectable and highly profitable job.

My younger siblings are a cool bunch but since my mom had them at a later age, the one that came after me is 11 years younger than I am, so I act more as a supervising adult rather than a playmate with them but on occasion I go down to their level and mess around giving my mom rather a huge headache every-time I do.

me with my SIS!

 They're all special in each their own way, right now I am trying to help my young sister, a 10 year old girl named Maria Louise, develop her skills in drawing, I completely support this since art will always be my first love and seeing others grow in it is just awesome. My other siblings seem to be fascinated with it too, but only as much, they're still the typical boys who likes sports more rather than art, I've never been a fan of sports myself so I'm guessing they got that from their father, my step-dad. The one who came after me is named, Jan Harald, an 11 year old who according to my Papa, that's what I call my step-dad, is named after the king of Norway. He seems to be fascinated with almost all of the things that I'm into wither it's Punk music and fashion, Computer Games or reading books, he's really into it not sure if it's because of me exposing him to all this things but unlike me though art never really fascinated him more than seeing it a beautiful or great to look at, he seems to be most interested with music and playing with instruments, I told him before that he should try to learn how to play the guitar if that's what he want's, me as much as I love music, listening to it is more than enough for me, I did try to learn how to play an acoustic guitar when I was 17 years old, but that ultimately ended in disaster mostly because I hated how the strings hurt my fingers and I'm just not that into it, maybe in a few years I might actually consider learning an actual instrument. My brother is still unsure of this but somehow I see him as growing up being in a Punk band and just getting crazy with it, but I think this is just me with my wild and long forgotten dream of being in a Punk band and just playing and having fun and now I somehow forcing into him, kind of like how parents wants their child to do the things they wanted to do when they were younger but ultimately wasn't able to due to some problem or fate just didn't allow it to happen, either way it's his choice and whatever he chooses to be I'll support it all the way.

The youngest of them and also the one I'm most fond of is the 8 year old boy named Kevin Lorents, this sibling of mine is probably the most brattiest of them all but in a good way, he seemed to have gotten my never let anyone push you around attitude that I developed while going through High school, when a kid tries to take something he automatically fights with that kid and never backs down a real tough attitude I admire, this sibling of mine is the most special to me, but he has a bit of a problem though mostly in the way that he talks. The other two of my siblings were able to talk properly at his age but him on the other hand is quite difficult to understand, he still sometimes mumble like a baby, not sure if this is a speech disorder or what not, but I am still a bit alarmed by this. My mom told me this would get better as he gets older but what if it doesn't? as much as my sibling is tough this would still surely affect his social interaction with others of his age and might affect his self esteem. Right now I'm reading further into what my youngest sibling might have and try to fix it the best way I can.

Well that's all for now, I love my siblings even if we are only half blood related, I try to be the best older brother I could be to them so that they would be loving to one another as they get older and wouldn't suffer the same fate I have with my own older brother, oh yeah I forgot to mention him, his name is Lester, his 25 years of age, we're not exactly that close to one another that's why we don't  have a picture together but anyway I don't want to talk much about him. Hopefully we will always get along this well.

see you guys again on my next post. cheers!!

Lip Piercing

Trying to be a bad-ass and failing! XD

Le Fresh Lip Piercing

So yeah I've decided to get the bottom of my lips pierced, I've always wanted to do this but I knew it wasn't allowed when I was still studying so I've waited until I graduated so here I am. I still have to wait for at least a week for it to heal so that I could change it into a captive bead ring. Initially I thought it would hurt a lot but I was convinced to get it anyway so it didn't matter. The first reaction that my family had when they saw me was mostly a not so good one, they're all thinking that I'm following a trend of some sort or I look like some sort of drug addict but it doesn't matter in the end I still wouldn't remove it, to me I felt more like myself this way, not sure about being individualistic but nonetheless I am just being me, hopefully my family will understand this someday.

The place where I got it done was at a local tattoo shop located in SM City Clark, Angeles City,  it's called Majestic Tattoo Shop and according to a local site, "http://www.clarkisit.com/get-inked-majestic-tattoo-shop/", The shop is currently practicing North American standards of tattooing; meaning all items used are FDA-approved, artists wear face masks, and gloves, inks are from the U.S. and there is a sink per station.

Majestic Tattoo Shop

with that in mind I was self assured that the procedure would go smoothly and with no complications afterwards at all, The procedure cost me was P1,500, a bit high but the two free surgical stainless ring were included in this. Before the procedure the guy who did the operation showed me the equipments that he would use, I was a bit eager at this point to really do it, it only took a few moments for the operation to be done and I would say I was satisfied with the results. 

The shop is currently practising North American standards of tattooing; meaning all items used are FDA-approved, artists wear face masks, and gloves, inks are from the U.S. and there is a sink per station. - See more at: http://www.clarkisit.com/get-inked-majestic-tattoo-shop/#sthash.FIsLFHH1.dpuf

I looked around for a bit after that and asked around of the price of getting a tattoo, I wasn't planning on getting one ever! It was just out of curiosity,  the price was a bit high being P2000 for the size of a sticky note paper and it was just in black and white, I guess if one wants quality tattoos one must be willing to pay the price, the tattoo artist seemed skillful and really knowledgeable in what they are doing so I would really suggest this place if one wants to express themselves through body art or piercing, after all we are only young ones so why not take it all and see where life could take you.

Wazzup!?

This is me at work! yo! XD

So world here I am, my name is Mark Christopher Lund, but you folks could call me "emzee", today I am creating this blog as a more personal site in contrast to my art blog site [emzee4life.blogspot.com], here I post my personal everyday things that I go though as I try to reach the life of a full pledge professional graphic novelist. Right now I'm still studying the mechanics of actually creating a novel and it's proving quite difficult especially if you have to teach all of this things yourself, but in time I hope my hard work will pay off.

Oh yeah forgot to continue my introduction so yeah, I just graduated from college and I'm currently working on my first real job ever!! I am a graphic artist at a local printing press in my country, I would say the place where I am currently in might not be that much but it's a start. I am 21 turning 22 soon and I mean very soon yehey! lol I might now be that excited about turning older though but it's all good. My hobbies include drawing of course, reading mystery and psycho-thriller books, urban legends, Pokemon shit and a bunch of other wacked out things.

I wouldn't say I'm a simple person cause I sometimes can't even figure out who I am myself so I could safely say I am a little bit complicated sort of guy, one moment I'm a happy go lucky the next I'm on your neck breathing serious but all together I'm a friendly person especially ones you gain my trust. Just like everyone who are my age I'm still trying to figure out who I am and what purpose do I have in this wonderful world of ours, hopefully someday my questions would be answered but in case in doesn't, I'll still just be glad with the journey that I would have to take to get to that final destination that I'm aiming for. So here's to the beginning of new chapter to my life, cheers! have a great day or night. XD