The Sunken Cemetery at Camiguin Island

I have been hearing about the Sunken Cemetery in tourist documentaries but have never found it interesting because for one thing, it's a cemetery! Diving into the cemetery sounded a lot like a spooky adventure to me.

But when a friend said that they were planning to go to Cagayan de Oro and then to Camiguin Island, my curiosity got the better of me. Why not? This can be the chance of a lifetime! Plus, there was a local movie named "Ouija" which featured beautiful Camiguin Island and the Sunken Cemetery. Suspense/horror theme notwithstanding, the scenery was enough to get anyone curious about the island.

We rented a jeepney to take us to the tourist spots, and the Sunken Cemetery was our final destination for that day. We wished to see the sunset there. As we descended the narrow steps towards the shore to take a banca ride going to the cross itself, there were a couple other local tourists about. And just like them, we were wondering where the film Ouija was shot. Wow, that film must have been very popular.

As our banca crossed the quick, less than 5-minute trip, I was half-imagining decomposing hands grasping the boat's edge, overturning it and dragging us to their watery grave. *shudder* Blame it on my increasing fascination with suspense/horror films.



We finally reached the cross and lingered about for some time while our other companions made their way as well. The water was crystal clear; you can actually see portions of the bottom. But the sun as already setting which created shadows beneath us. We returned to the mainland just as the sun started to set. It was a beautiful sight ... for a place that met a violent end with a volcano's unleashed fury.

Snorkeling (I haven't done any diving yet) would have raised the experience a couple of notches higher but sightseeing was all the time we had for the day...



Related links:
Province of Camiguin website
Story of the Sunken Cemetery

Hancock: a movie review

The story is about Hancock, a "bum" who craves for alcohol morning, noon and night, and does not care much about life in general because he's an immortal and has been in the planet for the longest time (although he can only recall the last 80 years). But when crime is afoot, off he flies to save to the day. Problem is, his intoxicated body causes so much destruction than a "regular" crime solving method would have done that the millions of dollars lost stood out more glaringly than the "heroic" act that the people of Los Angeles pretty much doesn't want him around.

Life makes a turn for Hancock as a PR agent whose life he saves decides that he can turn things around for Hancock by being his PR agent and coaching him on the do's and dont's of public relations. Problem is, Hancock has become attracted to the PR agent's wife, and things take a turn for the worse...

My thoughts about this movie
The first half hour of the movie successfully introduces Hancock as a "professional bum" who doesn't really care about anything at all but since he has these superpowers and he has a teeny weeny bit of a conscience as he tries to understand why he was that way, he helps out resolve crime in his... well, unique way. He does it whether they like it or not.



SPOILER MODE ON
However, the movie's strong plot somehow decelerates when the concept of immortality is revealed. I know this is supposed to be fiction and anything can happen in fiction, right? but still... immortals meeting and speedily losing their powers and eternal life because of this contact? I don't buy it. So there were a lot of immortals in the distant past but they all started to die off because they are eternally attracted to each other... if this is so, where did they come from in the first place? Sketchy, that part of the plot is.

Also in superhero stories, there is a supervillain that is just as memorable, if not even more popular than the superhero itself. Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has the Joker (among others), Hancock has... see? I forgot the name. It was just some regular bank robber who wanted revenge.
SPOILER MODE OFF



Given this rather blurry concept of Hancock's origins and concepts about their race, I enjoyed the first hour, but left me thinking it could have been better by the second hour.

Wanted: a movie review

Can you bend bullets? If so, you're one of the lucky few in the planet who can do so, and you can become a member of the Fraternity!

The movie centers on the humdrum life of Wesley Gibson: an office employee whose existence is tormented by constant stress from life and work. And just as he thinks that this is all there is to his life, he learns that he is the son of an assassin, and that his father was recently killed and he was being recruited to avenge his father's death. It turns out that the stress symptoms he was experiencing was actually a manifestation of a rare ability: the blood rush enables him to be more alert, quick, and sensitive to his surroundings, performing extraordinary feats that are close to being superhuman.

What follows after he leaves office life with a bang is a life of violence and brutality as he is trained to harness and control his power, and he learns to kill without regret.

The Fraternity is a group of assassins that has survived for centuries, killing indiscriminately as dictated by Fate itself. Kill one, save thousands. That's their motto. Although I don't exactly feel like getting orders from a weaving machine. Oops, one spoiler out.

So how easy is it to bend a bullet? Easy. Shoot your blood pressure to an unbelievable high that it zaps through your brain, enabling you to see things in slo-mo, and with designer bullets and a signature move that defies physics, the bullet will hit the mark in a trajectory. And while you’re at it, why not do ravishing stunts with your car? They’d call it bullet time, I call it surreal. There are a lot of things in this movie at are not at all possible in real life. It’s impossible! It’s surreal!

And I love it! I went in the cinema a bit skeptical (the trailer was too much I think, but Angelina Jolie was in it so what the heck) and we came out with an adrenaline rush! Never a dull moment. A couple of laughs, a lot of jaw-dropping action scenes, and with a nice twist to the story.


PS. I learned that this is a loose adaptation from a comic book. Save for 300, I think loose adaptations are becoming a trend. I wonder to what extent do the creators agree to having their work revised?