[Theater] Care Divas (PETA)

Updated November 24, 2011 with new show information.


As I was sitting in the PETA Theater last March 13, it struck me that I had never actually seen one of the shows from this group. PETA, which stands for the Philippine Educational Theater Association, is one of what I would term as the major theater groups active in the country with a greater focus on plays conducted in Filipino / Tagalog, naturally.

Of course knowing that, it explains why I haven't seen many of their shows as of this point. Yeah, yeah, boo on me for being bad at handling my native language, but it's a natural consequence of my upbringing. My family has always been a predominantly English-speaking household, thus explaining why (1) I've done very well in the call center industry and (2) why this blog is entirely in English despite my nationality and citizenship. It's who I am, so deal with it.

But by some strange coincidence, I to end up watching certain types of Filipino plays - and more often than not they're comedies that tend to focus on LGBT themes. Go figure - comedy is comedy but it's even better when in celebration of the pink nation. Or something along those lines - it's hard to pin down what precisely it is that draws me here.

At least I'm watching these kinds of plays, and I'm still working on my mastery of the language.

Sort of.

[Games] Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (PS3)

I suppose you could say that my partner and I are not your typical variety of console gamers. Given we live together, we tend to favor games that provide local multiplayer options so we can play games together. However we don't like fighting games though and tend to look for games that offer cooperative play.

We're not big fans of network play either since this usually means only one person can play. Plus local high speed internet tends to suck either from an overall speed perspective or reliability of connection. Thus it leads to pretty annoying games where you keep dropping out for one reason or another.

When you apply those filters to the current PS3 marketplace, you actually end up with very few games. Sadly, this kind of speaks to the profile of the expected PS3 gamer - the kind who likes to play network games alone or who like investing lots of time in single-player RPGs. Nothing wrong with that image, but it does mean that games that my partner and I can get into as a couple are severely limited. So when good two-player games do come along, you can expect us to be all over it in a heartbeat.

[Books] The Wee Free Men

When a book is marketed for younger audiences, it's hard to really make a call about whether or not I want to take the risk and read it. Let's face it - in a post Harry Potter world, a lot of authors have tried to "crack the formula" of the young adult myth and fantasy genre in order to capitalize on the new reading market. There have been strange offshoots of this behavior as well in what is now officially the paranormal romance book genre (*shudder*), and I doubt we've seen the last of the serial young adult book franchise.

But when popular authors of more adult-focused fiction venture into this realm, well, it becomes somewhat more forgivable, in a manner of speaking. And I know, if that were turned into a general rule then there are bound to be exceptions out there so I'm not proposing that. However I'm sure you can understand how it becomes easier to follow an author from one genre or medium to another given he or she has already earned your loyalty. It's like how Sandman readers come to appreciate Neil Gaiman's novel work and how those fans in turn can also come to appreciate his young adult fiction as well.

So when it comes to the crazy works of Sir Terry Pratchett, you'd think that it would be difficult to translate his Discworld books into something generally appropriate for children. However as this book proves, it can certainly be done. The trick, I would think, is remembering that you should never talk down to children - they're a lot smarter than you think.

[Movies] All-Star Superman (2011)

As much as the direct-to-video realm has been known for some really bad movies especially of the animated variety, one has to concede that the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line remains to be an exception to that rule.

And yes, this is also a direct insult against the shoddy work we see from Marvel Animation. There, I said it.

Over the past 2-3 years, the level of quality of the DC movies has been pretty impressive with each new movie being somewhat better than previous titles in many ways, showing a continuing effort to improve upon their past achievements. It's hard to explain where the secrets to their success really lies - is it just because they choose some of DC's best stories for adaptation or is this more about the quality of the animation coupled with good directing?

This may be a question left to the individual viewer, I suppose. But if anything, adapting more popular stories like this one tend to cut both ways - handle things wrong and you're bound to get a highly negative reaction from the die hard fans. If anything, I feel this was definitely not one of those cases.

[TV] Will & Grace: Season 4

As a sitcom matures, character back stories get more fleshed out and their relationships with other characters really begin to grow. It makes me wonder if writers are cognizant of the value of creating a character who starts out as single since it's inevitable in the course of things that the audience will demand they connect with someone.

In traditional spheres, it meant a happily ever after with a fabulous wedding. These days, we're sort of happy when they're no longer single by the time to show wraps. Talk about lowering yor expectations or whatever. Anyway.

The fourth season of any show is a weird point in the life. It's past the danger zone of trying to survive the first two years but it's not quite in the relative "comfort" once you break the 5-year mark. The times in-between are always a tad awkward since there seem to be so many areas to go and if you started with pretty good characters, the possibilities are pretty much limitless. Otherwise, this is when badly-crafted characters really stand out since they start to falter and so does the show shortly thereafter.

Guess which kind of show this one is?

[Movies] The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

Given I had recently watched the original version of this movie a few weeks ago, it was inevitable that I'd take the plunge and give this remake a shot.

To be fair, I really wasn't expecting much from it since (1) it was a remake, and (2) had Keanu Reeves as its leading man. And even with these factors significantly tempering my expectations of the movie, I still wasn't quite ready for the full impact of things.

And that's saying a lot. I mean come on - Keanu Reeves.

The original movie was an amazingly moving piece with a strong message coupled with pretty decent acting for its time. It was a morality piece as well given the themes involved and this remake just turned it into yet another sad attempt at a summer blockbuster which was really a dismal lifeless flop.

[Theater] Next to Normal (Atlantis Productions)

You can listen to the soundtrack of any Broadway musical as much as you want, but it never quite replaces the full experience of watching the actual show. Heck, you can even go as far as reading the plot summary posted on the web as you go through the music in order to try and piece together the full story, but still it's never enough. These are truths that speak of how uniquely powerful the medium remains to be and why I believe that musicals and theater works in general will never go out of style. They continue to perform a relevant role in our cultural development as a species - an art form that focuses on telling stories that capture aspects of our daily lives.

True enough, there are a lot of campy, corny musicals to go with all the serious ones. And there are the deathly serious ones that go a tad overboard and are a struggle to watch regardless of your love for the theater. But there are those key plays that hit that sweet spot - that masterful balance of a dramatic concept with strong music, great acting and light touches of humor when appropriate. It's never easy putting a musical together given all the diverse elements that have to learn to work together. But when they do manage to align just right and all the pieces work beautifully, the end result is something else entirely.

It's because of this search for such great musicals that inspire the soul and move our hearts that I continue to not just love but fully embrace the medium. And I'm glad that there are those who fight to keep the musical spirit alive locally, thus giving us access to some of the great plays that have added something special to Broadway's legacy.

Originally I was supposed to post this review a few weeks from now, but after watching the show, I knew I had to rearrange my posting schedule to bump this production up. If anything, I just hope that readers like you get to catch this review in time to get tickets for one of the last performances before the show ends this particular run. Or better yet, hopefully Atlantis will schedule a second run for those who fail to get tickets in time!

[Games] LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)

When asked, I normally say that I'm bad at platform games. I say this not necessarily because of a lack of relevant skills or poor hand-eye coordination, but really because the game genre really stresses me out. The need to be able to manipulate your character in order to navigate "life-threatening" challenges totally gets to me and at the end of a long, stressful platform stage I definitely feel my heart racing and all that jazz. And this is why I'm generally not good with platform games.

But at the same time, I've played quite a few of them and despite my protests against the genre, I also love games like the Ratchet and Clank series. One might argue that it's more because I think Clank is adorable, but the games themselves are pretty good too. Remind me to post reviews of some of them here when I finally get back in the mood to do so, hehe.

But then LittleBigPlanet came along and it turned out to be a platform game for platform lovers. It's something that made my partner amazingly happy when he first got his hands on it and it's certainly received great feedback from fellow geeks and critics alike. It was hard to imagine how they might top this since a lot of sequels have a nasty habit of totally ruining the original gaming experience, but this game effectively demonstrated how to make a truly awesome sequel.

[Books] Morality for Beautiful Girls (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Book 3)

I've come to really like the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of mystery novels. Sure, the mysteries aren't overly complex and they don't tackle the really serious crimes that involve the usual intrigue, fear and suspense we associate with the crime genre. Instead, we get a lot of common sense combined with deductive reasoning and a woman's intuition to solve crucial problems that remain important even through they aren't necessarily exciting.

Plus the series seems almost like a long series of fables or fairy tales, but in a tone that we all have come to associate with Africa. The words are deceptively simple in their structure and form but the story they tell once brought together tends to be a lot more complex that they initially appear to be. Plus the series has a number of rather striking and memorable characters who certainly help define the overall flow and tone to things.

And they're very easy reading - which makes them perfect companions at the end of another stressful work day. While I still enjoy the complex novel here and there, we also need those books that are just there to entertain and to be enjoyed lightly with just the right amount of thinking, but not enough to stress you out all over again. That's what these books feel like to me and this is why I continue to buy them.

[Movies] You Again (2010)

There are those movies that as soon as you see the poster or read the synopsis, you know it's all about a gimmick. Case in point, this movie features one of the biggest comedy gimmicks of recent history - involving Betty White in your project.

This is not to say she's not a good comedian / actress nor am I saying that I don't like her. In fact, I absolutely love Betty White and her work plus her recent appearances on shows like Saturday Night Live have been spectacular. However there's a difference between casting her because you truly need her skills in order to drive the movie forward instead of just having her along for the ride to see what numbers she can draw in as a supporting character who happens to be dead center in the poster.

Then again, this movie is all about gimmicks when you look at it. It also features other actresses that (1) we generally love, (2) are a bit older than we realized and (3) are fit enough to prove that they can still act as if they were much younger even when cast alongside much younger actresses.

That's really what this movie is all about - gimmick after gimmick after gimmick. And guiltily enough, I actually enjoyed watching it.

[Technicolor Musings] A Place For Fidelity In Gay Culture

Whether we like to admit it or not, promiscuity is one of the better known aspects of gay culture. Some people are somewhat ashamed of this fact while others in the community celebrate it as somehow a key part of who we're supposed to be. And of course the religious groups capitalize on this fact and use it to condemn us.



Dark Meat or Light? by Roy Sinai via Flickr/

To be fair, one could argue that genetics are probably against the efforts to remain firm. The human male has generally been the more sexually aggressive one in contrast to females. In a heterosexual relationship, you can naturally temper the male advances with the need to respect the integrity of the female (along with their differing sexual drives and appetites). But when you return to the gay context where both members of the union are of a more similar level of sexual hunger, you do get a lot of sleeping around.

Sex is far too often the equivalent of a handshake within a gay dating context. Heck, people sleep around and avoid the term dating entirely. But why should we enshrine the supposed single gay lifestyle as something great in itself? It happens, yes, but it doesn't mean we should be content with just that.

Because as ironic as it sounds, the same queers who obsess about their appearance and go after the next hot body that they spot in the bar are those that also whine about their single lives and complain about why they still haven't found the right guy. Rather than contribute to the continued decline of gay culture and contribute to the negative concepts associated with our unions, why not take an active step towards changing things? Why not believe and live principles like honesty and more importantly fidelity? Why does being loyal and even monogamous have to be anathema to the gay mindset?

[Movies] Match Point (2005)

In my continuing adventures of watching various movies starring Matthew Goode, I chanced upon this piece which had him only in a supporting role. At this point, none of the other Matthew Goode movies that I had watched after Imagine Me & You really captured the kind of characterization he had in that movie and that's been proving to be increasingly disappointed.

I didn't really expect this movie to change things given he wasn't the lead actor. So despite not achieving that goal, I was certainly surprised to find out that this movie had actually been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It didn't win though, but at the very least I could appreciate why it got nominated in the first place given the nuances and subtle complexities involved in the story.

It's nice when you enter a movie without any real idea of what it's about and in the end get pleasantly surprised with the results. This doesn't happen very often and I really need to stop watching movies just for the sake of an actor. But regardless, at least I sort of got lucky with this one and it was generally a worthwhile movie to see.

[TV] Party Down: Season 1

As the 2010-2011 US TV season seems to be winding down and there are less and less shows to enjoy, I find myself either digging through our library of TV shows and movies for things to watch to keep things going. My partner and I are tremendous entertainment fans in this regard and we always have something playing while we're at home or eating or whatever else we get into other than playing console games or tabletop RPGs.

Comedies are always tricky to figure out given how the genre has evolved over the years. I come from a perspective of liking smarter, wittier shows most of the time but I do have my history of really stupid campy stuff. In terms of TV sitcoms, some shows just work for me while others I just can't stand and for the life of me I can't consistently explain why this is the case.

Basing my TV watching decisions on the opinions of critics hasn't always proven to be a reliable method either, which is to be expected. Sometimes I totally get why everyone likes a certain show and I totally go for it. Other times I read reviews and find myself scratching my head and trying to figure out why on earth the reviewer liked this or that horrible show, at least from my perspective.

That's the trick with anything really. It always boils down to a matter of taste.

[Games] Civilization Revolution (PS3)

Like many other geeks who were around for the start of the x86 PC era, I'm a huge fan of the Civilization series of games. Sure, the games are often challenging as heck and the computer AI has been periodically kicking my butt ever since I first tried playing the game, but the sense of achievement when you figure out the right balance in order to win is hard to match with other games.

These days, the average real-time strategy game opens the door to speedy resolutions to conflict. Rushes quickly end matches and there's often a greater emphasis on larger armies of similar units if only to churn them out faster. Turn-based strategy games like Civilization always stressed the need for more careful planning and the need to focus on expanding your empire and not just army-building alone. The game has a way of capturing the weight of a nation's need for a reliable infrastructure for any effort, whether it's building a great wonder or trying to raise an army.

Civilization has predominantly thrived in the PC gaming market since the system lends itself well to hours and hours of playing and the complex calculations needed to compute the AI's next moves. It's not the type of gameplay that you would immediately associate with the console market, which tends to favor faster, more dynamic games. But when I first got to try this game out, I was surprised at how well it worked and now it continues to eat up a lot of time for both me and my partner.

[Books] The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

At times, I admit that I'm a bit of a book snob. There are those authors that I really get into that make me feel good about reading them and even having people know that I like reading them. You know how it is - for a bibliophile, you are what you read and your "book street cred" depends on the kinds of authors you like. Thus at times I proudly tote around the fact that I love writers like Frank Herbert, Haruki Murakami and Neil Gaiman.

Thus there are those authors that I've avoided like the plague since I find their writing overly trite, designed to pander to the masses and are clearly meant more as screenplays-in-waiting as opposed to serious novel efforts. Hence I've done everything that I can to avoid the likes of Dan Brown, Paolo Coelho and John Grisham, to name a few off the top of my head. These are the kinds of books that most people pick up and read and frequently list as part of their favorite books on social network profiles. And I'm not even saying that these are bad authors - they're just the ones that appear to have resonated with a very long audience and this makes them feel less appealing to me. I guess it's the pocket hipster in me or something.

So it's odd that I decided to take the time to read this book (and even buy the other two books in the series) since it does fall into the kind of genre fiction that has become so popular as of late. But then a lot of my friends seemed to like and and I'd like to think that the opinions of said friends should matter since I feel they're pretty intelligent as well. After reading this book, I've chosen to avoid passing judgement on my friends for liking this book - to each their own and all that, right? It's my fault for changing my book-selection strategy at this point in the game when I've rarely been wrong in the past.

[Movies] Leap Year (2010)

A number of my recent movie reviews clearly demonstrate my liking for British actor Matthew Goode. I totally loved him in Imagine Me & You and since then I feel like I've been looking for another movie that utilizes his unique charm and acting skills well. Instead I've gotten a number of weird portrayals that have Goode in roles that remain not as well written as his character Heck in that first movie.

On a similar note, I totally loved Amy Adams when I first recognizably encountered her in Enchanted, although she had a number of other movie and TV appearances before that. Lucky for her, Julie & Julia was another excellent movie for her that featured her unique charms and grace to the hilt.

Thus finding out that the two had a romantic comedy together, I have to admit that I've been curious about it for some time now. Thus it took my recent Matthew Goode movie hunt to get me to finally watch it...with very disappointing results.

[Movies] Kaboom (2010)

Gregg Araki is one the quirkier filmmakers in the industry today. He's not exactly well-known given how he mainly works on smaller independent films with highly sexualized or LGBT content involved (or both). The director himself is declared to be openly homosexual apart from an odd 2 year relationship with actress Kathleen Robertson.

His works include the strange Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy which includes the movies Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere. All three movies deal with sexuality among young people in a mix of both heterosexual and homosexual trysts. They also have common themes of sexual independence, a propensity for violence and surprising celebrity cameos.

It's odd that I've yet to encounter this director's works until I finally got around watching this movie. I probably would have "met" his works sooner had I finally gotten around to watching my copy of Mysterious Skin, which remains unviewed together with a bunch of other LGBT-themed movies.

Out of sheer curiosity, I know I'm going to check his other movies out soon enough because of this one.

[Japan] Crisis Resources For The 2011 Sendai Earthquake

The massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that affected Japan on March 11, 2011 has caused tremendous damage to the country and this has resulted in untold loss of life. The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami along with additional aftershocks of at least 6.0 in magnitude, causing additional damage.

It's always tricky to figure out how to coordinate efforts and where to find information during these periods, something that the folks at Google have also found frustrating, hence the need for a Google solution.

Thus Google has put together a crisis response information page to help people in Japan find information about where to find help, get information on alerts and other warnings and relevant maps of the area.



One of the more important tools they've quickly put together is the People Finder, similar to what they did after the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand. The tool helps people either report updates on people that they know of or help people search these reports for updates on their loved ones.

As of the time of this posting, there are almost 65,000 entries already in the database and this continues to grow. I'm hopeful this will help more and more people find their loved ones in the wake of this tragedy.

I remain confident that Japan will rise from this tragedy stronger than before. Already their infrastructure has proven the resiliency and the brilliance of their engineering and disaster preparations has saved countless lives. And the strength of the Japanese people is what truly keeps them thriving despite all that has happened.

Regardless, we hope for the best for all those who were affected by this tragedy.

[Movies] The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

It's kind of sad to note that when people think about science fiction movies these days, they tend to remember big budget blockbusters with dazzling effects and casts that include a variety of eye candy for both men and women. It's no longer common that the term "science fiction" triggers thoughts of very serious dramas with rather heavy content as it attempts to tackle serious issues.

I suppose it's a consequence of the times. For many studios, the technology has pretty much started to dictate the storytelling when it should be the other way around. But I can't really blame them - movie-goers tend to gobble them up like candy. Plus the challenge to studios is to create an movie experience that can't be easily replicated in people's home theater setups, hence the stress on IMAX, 3D movies and all that jazz.

So I thought it would be nice to put a bit more effort into revisiting some of the "classics" of the older science fiction movie era. This was a period when these movies felt more like stage plays recorded for more people to see. These were the kinds of movies that tried to explore the human condition using different situations and settings including far-flung vistas in a theoretical future. And this one felt like a pretty good one to start with.

[TV] Parks and Recreation: Season 1

Beyond the obvious science fiction or fantasy TV shows that catch my eye, I rely a lot on the opinions of others when it comes to looking for new programs to explore. Yes, in the absence of personal impulse decisions, the input of friends and fellow geeks plays a bit part in determining what I end up watching on TV.

And like any other geek, I also turn to the internet a lot in terms of looking for new shows to sink my teeth into. The core geek blogs like io9 and Geekosystem go a long way towards keeping me in-the-know when it comes to TV shows of interest. But beyond the geek world, I also put a lot of stock in the opinion of TIME TV critic James Poniewozik as documented on his blog, Tuned In. He presents a pretty well balanced view of the TV world as he sees it, plus he's pretty responsive on Twitter should you decide to ask him a question or two. He's the kind of guy who appreciated Party Down, another show that I'm planning on getting into.

So I was in the mood of looking for another half-hour program to add to our roster of shows actively watched and I remembered James' high praise for this show starting its second season. While I haven't quite found the time to get into either the UK or UK versions of The Office just yet, I am a bit of an Amy Poehler fan because of her Saturday Night Life run and so I thought it might be interesting to check this out.

[Call Centers] Tips For First Time Leaders

In the call center world, everyone wants to get away from the phones. It's a basic fact of life - we all start in the industry thinking that we won't be agents forever and so our phone period is a finite, limited little creature. Last week I talked about the two main career paths one can take in order to move on up. Today I wanted to spend some time talking about leadership, something that is highly important in Operation and still relevant in Support as you get promoted to more important roles.

The call center industry in the Philippines is very young when compared to other countries. Anyone who can claim to have upwards of ten years of local call center working experience are either among the first agents to take calls when the call centers started setting up in earnest or is lying.


My Asshole Boss by Christine Bell / miscellaneous chemistry via Flickr.

But the exponential growth of call centers over the past 5-10 years has resulted in a lot of hasty promotions given the lack of experienced or qualified leaders in the market. While most companies have some sort of leadership training program in place, intervention isn't always timely and the number of untrained leaders out there still outnumbers the experienced ones. and these are the same people that we entrust to drive the company's core business each and every day.

While everyone recognizes the importance of leadership training, not everyone seriously invests in it. And by invest, I don't just mean whether or not the company has a dedicated leadership development team churning out classes and self-study training modules. I'm also referring to giving these people the necessary time to actually train and take these courses before they take on their new job. Instead, the industry largely relies on a lot of ad hoc mentoring programs where new leaders learn the ropes while on the job, thus taking the term "hitting the ground running" to a whole new level.

The consequences of inexperienced leaders handling a team of 12-20 agents right off the bat can be pretty dire including poor performance, increased attrition rates and potentially labor cases against the company should you go to the extreme.

Thus the point of this entry - an opportunity for me to discuss a few key leadership guidelines that might help first time leaders in the absence of training. Reading this post is no miracle pill (nor is training for that matter), but your willingness to change and improve yourself as a leader is a great step in the right direction.

[Books] Tears of the Giraffe (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Book 2)

Given my appreciation for logic and puzzles, you'd think that I'd be more of a mystery kind of guy. But apart from reading the Sherlock Holmes stories, I haven't really ventured much into the book genre. I've seen a number of murder mysteries as TV shows and movies but it's never really translated into my reading habits.

But every now and then it becomes hard to ignore the public support for a particular author. The bookstores start to feature him or her as the author of the month and the books get prime spots on store shelves. By that point it all becomes next to impossible to ignore.

That's the story of my relationship with Alexander McCall Smith. His books about an African detective agency were outside my normal reading scope but the press around the books was pretty good. Plus the covers were nicely colorful and the snippets I browsed here and there did seem rather promising. So I picked up a box set of the books a few years ago and I've been slowly making my way through them. It's only recently that I've decided to explore the books in earnest - partly because I seriously enjoyed the TV mini-series based on some of the books.

[Movies] Devil (2010)

When M. Night Shyamalan hit it big with The Sixth Sense, the geek community was definitely surprised by this creative newcomer. In that one movie, he was able to demonstrate a refreshing take of storytelling in terms of both his writing and his artistic sense when it came to directing.

But over the years, the geek community, and perhaps film critics at large, have come to associate his name with the hackneyed twist gimmick and increasingly poor decisions in terms of how he puts movies together. At the same time, he's also granted himself more and more screen time as an actor in roles that tend to be more and more essential to the overall plot, again a strange decision at times. The problems coincidentally (?) started when he started producing his own movies, giving him (perhaps) way more control over each project than ever. Oh well.

So when they announced a movie that had his name on it but NOT as the director, my curiosity was piqued. Perhaps giving him less to do will mean a more meaningful story? Maybe another director will stand a better chance of capturing the essence of his writing and bring it to the fore in a manner that rakes in millions of dollars?

Or you get this movie instead.

[Movies] Daybreak (2008)

I know in the past I've commented on how a very large segment of the local independent film industry seems focused on creating LGBT-centric content, for good or for ill. While I'm all in support of more LGBT movies being made, I'd also like for more good LGBT movies instead of the thinly disguised gay porn that tries to pass itself off as an art film.

You know what I'm talking about - those kinds of movies.

But with bad comes some good and so we just need to get through this period in our local movie industry's development as we make our way forward onto better things. For the most part, you have to acknowledge that things are getting better for both local LGBT and independent cinema. More and more movies are getting recognition in the international scene including prestigious film festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival in France.

This movie had me a bit on the fence in terms of its overall impact. It clearly had good intentions at heart and they put a lot of effort into the value of the piece. It's just that some aspects of the execution felt rather lacking, this weakening the overall impact of the movie. But maybe this is just me.

[Movies] Clue: The Movie (1985)

As kids, I'm sure we all encountered at least one of the "classic" board games in our lifetimes. The most common would probably be the real estate game Monopoly or perhaps the electrically tense Operation, the pro-version of games like The Sims in the form of the Game of Life and of course the color-coordinated Sorry to name a few. I for one went through all these games and more as part of my upbringing.

Recently there's been a rash of buzz that some of these board games like Battleship are going to be turned into movies, although how this might work is a tad strange to me. But this isn't actually a new concept - there was one movie that was ahead of the pack in the translation game, and I'd like to state firmly that it's actually a pretty good one.

While it didn't necessarily do too well at the box office during its theatrical one, the movie remains a comedy gem that not only captured the spirit of the game but also got more than just a few good laughs. I'm talking about the movie based on the mystery game Clue, which remains one of my favorite board games of all time.

As if that last statement surprises you.