Movie Review: 'A Rainy Day in New York' Shows the Big Apple Wet and Underwhelming

Woody Allen's 'A Rainy Day in New York' would have been the perfect movie to introduce the ageing auteur to Laura and her friends - today's generation of kids whose world-view is infinitely wider than my generation, thanks to Google and the Internet.

It would also have been the movie that Vic, Laura, and I could've watched together since it all had the ingredients that interested each of us - me and Woody's writing, Vic and the Met and NY's wealthy people, and Timothee Chalamet and Selena Gomez kissing for Laura.

A movie that bridges generation.  

Unfortunately, as the movie unfolds, I wondered whether Chalamet and Fanning's character were just 'old souls' because they talk like 'old people' and dressed as such - especially Chalamet - whose character possesses a pseudo-sophistication which I have never seen from a college kid of TODAY's generation LOL.

Instead of dancing to inane Tiktok videos shirtless, he looks like a cool GQ model with no money worries.

Anyway, what I love about the movie, like other previous Woody Allen movies are some snippets of humor (this one has so few of them) which are Allen-esque - the gorgeous NY apartments - I got some decorating tips from them; and the flow of the story that just puts people together in places and events just because.  It's like getting a surprise everytime you pop into the neighborhood McDonald's.

I also loved watching Diego Luna and see how sexy he is, although gravely underutilized here.  A shirtless Timothee and Diego would've made this exciting and homoerotic LOL but Woody never ventures into this territory.

Anyhow, this is very lightweight Woody Allen.  I just hope he has not run out of ideas because this movie sure makes it looks like he has!

 

Movie Review: The Novelty Fades A Bit in 'Don't Breathe 2'

'Don't Breathe' had one of the most audacious premises of any horror movie in a long time when it came out years ago.  I thoroughly enjoyed it as I did not have an idea what the movie was about since I do not usually watch trailers.  All I knew was it was a horror movie.

And what I ride we all had!

Fast forward to 'Don't Breathe 2' and just like the first one, I did not watch the trailer for this but I already knew that the main protagonist had 'skillz'.

Anyhow, the whole movie was a disappointment, even though they put a young girl there to add some spice in the story.  Maybe because I knew the main protagonist was a bad-ass, I did not feel any tension or fear for them  against this squad of hooligans who were up to no good.

In other words, the premise which was so promising in the first, virtually destroyed the suspense, in this second outing.

By the time the last killings were made, I was just glad the movie was over.  Too much unnecessary deaths and no fear or horror at all.  What wasted time.

 

Movie Review: 'Mysterious Skin' A Wonderful Gay Movie Discovery

 

Today, I discovered a wonderful gay movie entitled 'Mysterious Skin' which starred a younger Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  I didn't expect much from the movie, thinking it was just another gay movie with wayward gay men looking for a quick fix.

It had a deeper story and a very disturbing first act which involved scenes of pedophilia.  It was very shocking to watch knowing that these grown men were abusing these boys.  Gordon-Levitt's character was played by a younger actor and he was around 10 years old and those scenes.  It was maddening that no one discovered that scum of a baseball coach so these two boys, Gordon-Levitt's character, and another main character actor, had to go through these horrible abuse growing up.

Gordon-Levitt is fearless in this movie and I am surprised he did not receive that much buzz from it.  He was very very good and you really root for him as he tries to fix his life, dealing with his homosexuality and his decision to be in the sex trade.

The story depicts how these two young men are dealing with a present which does not present too much promise to gay men like them and dealing with a dreadful past which possibly made them think their  bodies were up for sale and to be used like that by other predatory men.

I wish I would have seen this movie when I was younger since the emotions are very raw and the pain they were dealing with was making them feel numb and immobile - but still they move on and try to make the best of their situation.

It may seem like a depressing movie but it's a movie of empowerment, where the victim stops acting like a victim - and takes control of their future - and dealing with a past that has left their self-esteem in tatters.

TOP 10 ARTISTS OF 2021 (based on American charts)

Starting last August, I will be posting the top 10 artists of 2021 on that particular week.  I will update it every month, from September until the final list on December 2021.

Here are the top 10 artists for the week ending November 13, 2021 -  

1. DRAKE                  138

2. OLIVIA RODRIGO  131

3. THE WEEKND        112

4. ARIANA GRANDE   108

5. JUSTIN BIEBER     106

6. DOJA CAT               85

7. DUA LIPA                80

8. LIL NAS X               74

9. MORGAN WALLEN    69

10. BTS                      66

 

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2021 (based on American charts)

 

Starting this month, I will be updating this blog on the top 10 albums of 2021 (based on American charts), until we come up with the final list on December 15, 2021                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Here are the top 10 albums in the American charts as of November 13, 2021

#1 Dangerous 64

      Morgan Wallen

#2 Sour 40

     Olivia Rodrigo

#3 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon 34

      Pop Smoke

#4 Future Nostalgia 32

     Dua Lipa

#5 Planet Her 28

     Doja Cat

#6 Evermore 25

     Taylor Swift

#7 A Gangsta's Pain 25

     Moneybagg Yo

#8 After Hours 24

     The Weeknd

#9 Certified Lover Baby 24

     Drake 

#10 Positions 22

      Ariana Grande

TOP 10 SONGS OF 2021 (Based on American charts)

Starting this month, we will be posting the top 10 songs of 2021 based on American charts, until the final list is released in December of this year.  This is based on a point system created by yours truly.

So, as of November 13, 2021, here are the top 10 songs of 2021 -

#1  Levitating 48

      Dua Lipa / Dababy

#2 Save Your Tears 40

     The Weeknd / Ariana Grande

#3 Butter 35

     BTS

#4 Good 4 U 35

      Olivia Rodrigo

#5 Stay 34

     The Kid LAROI / Justin Bieber

#6 Driver's License 33

     Olivia Rodrigo

#7 Kiss Me More 33

     Doja Cat / SZA

#8 Montero (Call Me By Your Name) 31

      Lil Nas X

#9 Leave the Door Open 31

      Bruno Mars / Anderson Paak

#10 Mood 30

      24kGldn / Iann dior

 

Niall Horan

 

Niall Horan has ten top 10 hits in My Weekly Top 10 countdown, outside of One Direction. Four of them went all the way to #1.

2021 - Heartbreak Weather (#1) *1 week

2018 - Too Much to Ask (#1)* 1 week

2018 - You and Me (#1)*1 week

2018 - The Tide (#2)

2018 - Flicker (#7)

2018 - Paper Houses (#8)

2018 - So Long (#1) *1 week

2017 - This Town (#8)

2017 - On the Loose (#6)

2017 - Seeing Blind (#7)

Niall Horan Tops the FABE International Top 10 Countdown For the Fourth Time

One Direction-er Niall Horan posts his fourth #1 song outside One Direction, as Heartbreak Weather moves to the top spot in my FABE International Top 10 countdown, more than a year after it was released in the UK.

Here are my ten favorite songs for the week ending September 24, 2021 -

#1 Heartbreak Weather  (#2)

     Niall Horan

#2 BLOODMONEY   (#3)

     Poppy

#3 Unprodigal Daughter (#4)

     Cast of Jagged Little Pill

#4 Pin Pin (#6)

     Myke Towers

#5 Under the Gun  (#7)

     Gregory Douglass

#6 Say Something (#8)

     Kylie Minogue

#7 As I Am     (#9)

       Justin Bieber /Khalid

#8 Nothing But You (#10)

       The Vamps

#9 Permission to Dance (NEW)

     BTS

#10 Back to the Streets (NEW)

       Jhene Aiko / Saweetie
 

 

Adie Tops my FABE OPM Top 10 Countdown for the First Time

The slew of new artists topping my FABE OPM Top 10 countdown continues this week, as Adie's 'Paraluman' moves to the top spot.

Here are my ten favorite OPM songs for the week ending September 24, 2021 -

#1 Paraluman  (#2)

     Adie

#2 Cruel  (#3)

      Zack Tabudlo

#3 Fix Me (#4)

     Jake Zyrus

#4 Samahan Mo Ako (#5)

      Je

#5 Bangin (#6)

      Paul Pablo

#6 Polaris (#7)

     December Avenue

#7 Sasamahan Kita (#9)

       Jom / Crakky / ALLMO$T

#8 Mahalin (#10)

       Trisha Denise

#9 Gusto With Ya (NEW)

      DENY

#10 Di Ko Alam (NEW)

       Wilbert Ross

    

 

 

My Five Favorite Tracks from Lany's 'gg bb xx'

 Lany just released their latest album 'gg bb xx' and here are my five favorite tracks - 

#1 ex i never had

For me, this is the catchiest and the strongest track from this album!  Also, the title alone can already easily catch someone's attention pretty es

#2 somewhere

I love the insistent beat of this song which starts at the beginning of the song and lasts throughout the song.

#3 care less

This is another catchy song from Lany, and this time, they switch the title, singing it as "a little bit of less care".

 

 #4 roll over, baby

This is my fourth pick, a gem which is inside this album.

#5 dancing in the kitchen

This track slowly grew up on me and during the final selection, I decided to include it in this list.

Benedict Cua Gets His Very First #1 Song in my FABE OPM Top 10 countdown

Benedict Cua gets his very first #1 song in my FABE OPM Top 10 countdown this week, as Something Beautiful moves up to the top spot.

Here are my ten favorite songs by OPM artists for the week ending September 17, 2021 -

#1 Something Beautiful (#2)

     Benedict Cua

#2 Paraluman  (#3)

     Adie

#3 Cruel  (#4)

      Zack Tabudlo

#4 Fix Me (#5)

     Jake Zyrus

#5 Samahan Mo Ako (#6)

      Je

#6 Bangin (#7)

      Paul Pablo

#7 Polaris (#8)

     December Avenue

#8 The Baddest (#9)

     BGYO

#9 Sasamahan Kita (#10)

       Jom / Crakky / ALLMO$T

#10 Mahalin (NEW)

       Trisha Denise

    

 

Ashley McBryde Tops My Fabe International Top 10 Countdown This Week

Ashley McBryde gets her very first #1 hit in my FABE International Top 10 countdown this week.

Here are my ten favorite songs by international artists for the week ending September 17, 2021 -

#1 Never Will (#2)

      Ashley McBryde

#2 Heartbreak Weather  (#3)

     Niall Horan

#3 BLOODMONEY   (#4)

     Poppy

#4 Unprodigal Daughter (#5)

     Cast of Jagged Little Pill

#5 Borderline (#6)

     Tame Impala

#6 Pin Pin (#7)

     Myke Towers

#7 Under the Gun  (#8)

     Gregory Douglass

#8 Say Something (#9)

     Kylie Minogue

#9 As I Am     (#10)

       Justin Bieber /Khalid

#10 Nothing But You (NEW)

       The Vamps
 

BTS

BTS has nine top 10 hits in my FABE International Top 10 countdown and four of them have gone all the way to the top.

2019 - Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey) - (#1)

2020 - Make It Right (#1)

2020 - Lights (#6)

2020 - Dynamite (#1)

2021 - Life Goes On (#7)

2021 - Butter (#8)

2021 - Stay (#10)

2021 - Blue & Grey (#8)

2021 - Fly to My Room (#1)

BTS Get Their Fourth #1 Song in My FABE International Top 10 Countdown

 

The Korean supergroup BTS get their fourth #1 song in my FABE International Top 10 countdown this week.

Fly to My Room quietly ascends to the top as BTS other international hits like Butter just pass through the top 10.

Here are my ten favorite songs by international artists for the week ending September 10, 2021 -

#1 Fly to My Room (#2)

     BTS

#2 Never Will (#3)

      Ashley McBryde

#3 Heartbreak Weather  (#4)

     Niall Horan

#4 BLOODMONEY   (#5)

     Poppy

#5 Unprodigal Daughter (#5)

     Cast of Jagged Little Pill

#6 Borderline (#10)

     Tame Impala

#7 Pin Pin (NEW)

     Myke Towers

#8 Under the Gun  (NEW)

     Gregory Douglass

#9 Say Something (NEW)

     Kylie Minogue

#10 As I Am     (NEW)

       Justin Bieber /Khalid

James Reid Tops My FABE OPM Top 10 Countdown for the Seventh Time

James Reid's 'Soda' becomes his seventh #1 song this week as it ascends to the top.

It has been three years since James' last chart topper, Prom, his collaboration with Nadine Lustre.

Here in Soda, he works with CARELESS.

Here are my ten favorite songs for the week ending September 10, 2021 -

#1 Soda    (#2)

      James Reid / CARELESS

#2 Something Beautiful (#3)

     Benedict Cua

#3 Paraluman  (#4)

     Adie

#4 Cruel  (#5)

      Zack Tabudlo

#5 Fix Me (#9)

     Jake Zyrus

#6 Samahan Mo Ako (#6)

      Je

#7 Bangin (#7)

      Paul Pablo

#8 Polaris (#8)

     December Avenue

#9 The Baddest (NEW)

     BGYO

#10 Sasamahan Kita (NEW)

       Jom / Crakky 

James Reid

James Reid returns to the top spot in My OPM Top 10 countdown this week.  Soda, his collaboration with CARELESS, moves to #1 this week.

2014 - No Erase (with Nadine Ilustre) (#1)

2014 - Natataranta (#1)

2014 - Bahala Na (with Nadine Ilustre) (#1)

2015 - Huwag Ka Nang Humirit (#1)

2016 - Randomantic (#1)

2017 - Cool Down (#4)

2018 - The Life (#5)

2018 - Mean 2 U (with Kiana) (#6)

2018 - Prom (with Nadine Lustre) (#1)

2021 - Backhouse Ballin' (#6)

2021 - Soda (with CARELESS) (#1)

The Ruling Class, The Pretenders to the Throne, and the Next Gen All Vie to Be King of Tennis in New York

To get ahead of Roger and Rafa in terms of grand slam titles won, Novak needs this US Open title to lay his claim as the GOAT of men's tennis.  

The earlier he does it, the less pressure he would feel, especially in this tournament, where Roger and Rafa are glaringly absent.  If he doesn't take advantage of the moment, too many permutations in the draw could complicate future grand slam tries.

To add high drama to it all, is that Novak has to take revenge on the player who denied him of his golden grand slam dream.  We will see soon if Novak dismantles Zverev in the semi's or the German dismantles the Serbian again, for the second consecutive grand slam tier tournament.

I am not really a Novak fan and I love how Zverev plays. He is playing at such a high level now, and his Olympic gold medal has certainly made him feel he belongs to that exclusive club of grand slam champions.  

I will be cheering for him in the semi's and I am sure Novak will give him a handful.

On the other side of the draw, I am very happy that Felix Auger-Aliassime, is giving Canadian tennis, a great boost.  He is finally showing the world what he can do and is slowly showing the promise of a wonderful talent.  He is actually well-rested, as his QF match with Alcaraz did not reach a full set, with the latter retiring.

This should make him fresh and fighting against the Russian Daniil Medvedev.  I have always felt that Daniil is already way due for a grand slam title - and he has come to Flushing Meadows ready to fight.  He also has more experience over the Canadian at this stage of a slam, so this should be a match for him to lose by his racket.

I am looking forward to a Zverev - Medvedev final. How about you?  Who are you rootinn 

Two of These Female Warriors will Slug it Out to Become Queen of Tennis in New York

Naomi Osaka should get her act together, and quick! What this US Open has revealed is that there are many other younger players who are out to take her place if she doesn't get her s**t together.

I am a fan of Naomi that is why I am saying this, and it will be such a big waste for women's tennis if she lamely just complains about her mental health issues.  She can very well afford the best sports psychologist in the world - and she should do that - because women's tennis will be much richer for it - if we have all the world's best competing in all the grand slams.

Now back to the hungry female warriors for the women's singles title in New York.

They all battled their way to get to the semi-finals and they all have fascinating back stories.  And one of them is going to be elevated to champion status for the first time - by winning in Flushing Meadows.

Well, basing on her grit and her Houdini-like way of scrapping through a tight situation, i think this should be Leylah Fernandez's coming out party.  

I am amazed at how she battled top player after top player - to reach the semifinal stage - Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, and Elina Svitolina - all tennis b****hes of the highest order.

Her third set tiebreaker with Svitolina in the QFs was by far, for me, her most incredible display of how tough she is. I was so impressed Leylah never backed down.

It also helps a lot that her mixed race background gives her a unique charm - and yes - another top non-white player in a sport long dominated by white people.

I love Aryna Sabalenka, and her #2 ranking should make her the favorite to win this year's title, but i will be cheering more for Leylah Friday morning, Manila time.

As for the other side of the draw, I am charmed by the wily ways of British player, Emma Raducanu, who, in only her second grand slam, has already reached the semi-final.  Her fragile slim figure hides her tough way of playing and she has enough confidence to really get her through to a title finish.

However, I am rooting for the scrappy, a bit masculine-like Greek player, Maria Sakkari.  Maria has fought hard in many of her grand slam tournaments, and now, finally, the stars have all aligned, and with wins over marquee names like Petra Kvitova, Bianca Andreescu, and Karolina Pliskova, her wins over them, should give her the confidence she needs to get it to a higher level - even possibly - a grand slam title!

Just like Leylah Fernandez, she had to fight her way to beat three top players - to get to where she is - and she has shown incredible fighting spirit at very tight moments, most especially in her match against the former champion - Andreescu.

So, for me, I am looking forward to a Sakkari - Fernandez final.  How about you?  Who are you cheering for?

 

Bandang Lapis Get Their First #1 Song in My FABE OPM Top 10 Countdown

 

Bandang Lapis finally get their first #1 song in my FABE OPM Top 10 countdown this week.  The song moves to the top spot.

Here are my ten favorite OPM songs for the week ending September 3, 2021 -

#1 Sana'y Di Na Lang  (#2)

      Bandang Lapis

#2 Soda (#3)

     

     James Reid / Careless

#3 Something Beautiful   (#4)

    

     Benedict Cua

#4 Paraluman (#6)

     

      Adie 

#5 Cruel (#9)

     Zack Tabudlo

#6  Samahan Mo Ako   (#7)

      

       Je

#7 Bangin  (#8)

     

      Paul Pablo

#8 Polaris (#10)

     

     December Avenue

#9 Fix Me (NEW)

     Jake Zyrus

#10  The Baddest (NEW)

        BGYO