Quite an interesting week. I watched two movies last Tuesday afternoon and got a new computer the day after.

My new PC has a 56X CD-ROM drive, 128 MB RAM and a 40G memory. This alien is very pleased.

I caught The Powerpuff Girls Movie and Killing Me Softly successively. The first one I got to watch twice. The second one I caught right from the beginning, but was not able to watch again because it was late and I wanted to catch the last jeepney trip home.

The Powerpuff Girls Movie was short and sweet, a retelling of the girls’ origin and the rise of Mojo Jojo to power with the building of his superstructure in Townsville.

This was the first time I got to hear the real American/Cartoon Network voice actors and I was very satisfied. E.G. Daily, who plays Buttercup, is simply terrific. I also loved the movie’s soundtrack and the new syntho-remix of the show’s Bis ending theme, Saves the Day.

Here is the skinny on the PPG movie from Amazon.com:

This full-length adventure features an animated epic so big so funny and so spectacular that only the Powerpuff Girls can handle it!

Created by a perfectly powerful experiment Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup explode into action as the new kids in Townsville! But after one enthusiastic game of tag they nearly destroy their beloved city.

Now called social freaks they turn to the mysterious Mojo Jojo for help but this sinister simian has other plans – big plans – like leading an army of evil monkeys to destroy the world!

Join the celebration as the Powerpuff Girls save Townsville and the world – for the very first time…before bedtime!

Killing Me Softly is a mystery story of sorts, with a potent sexual flavor.

The chemistry of Heather Graham, the CD-ROM editor Alice, and Joseph Fiennes, the slightly violent mountain-climbing hero Adam Taliss, was simply incredible. They practically set the whole screen on fire.

The movie takes off with the two lead characters’ steamy first meeting, then moves on into their very passionate physical and romantic relationship.

Their whirlwind courtship leads to marriage, which opens doors into Adam’s mysterious and dangerous history.

My only complaint about the movie was that the ending was not on an explosive note, but a despairing whimper against the winter air.

Amazon.com gives the following film summary:

Heather Graham (Boogie Nights) and Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) sizzle like never before in this steamy sexual odyssey about the addictive and deadly powers of illicit passion. Too much of a good thing can be deadly.

When Alice (Graham), an American living in London, meets Adam (Fiennes), a handsome adventurer, she’s lured out of her safe, mundane life to pursue an affair that brings her to the heights of excitement and ecstasy.

But when Adam’s mysterious and violent past begins to surface, Alice investigates and learns that Adam’s past and her future may both point to murder!

Last Monday was quite productive, as I got to successfully run several important errands all over the city.

I enjoyed jeepney-hopping, despite the fact that it was raining on and off the whole time.

In the afternoon, I treated my grandfather’s sister, whom I affectionately call “Nanay,” to snacks at Jolibee-SM Jaro Branch. Nanay celebrated her birthday on the 15th and, of course, I would not even dare think about missing out on my gift-giving duties.

Then it is off to SM City to catch a movie. I opted for Disney‘s Lilo & Stitch.

It was one animated film wherein I totally loved the voice actors to pieces, especially Ving Rhames who played the ex-CIA social worker Cobra Bubbles, my favorite of the characters.

My most adored scene was the one in which Stitch made a toy replica of San Francisco and proceeded to trample the miniature city to pieces a la Godzilla.

In a nutshell, the movie was short, sweet and delightfully funny, serving as a welcome affirmation of the importance of family in one’s life.

More on Lilo & Stitch from Amazon.com:

Warm, funny, and imaginative, Lilo & Stitch is the best animated feature the Walt Disney Studios have produced in years.

On the planet Turo, mad scientist Jumba Jookiba (voice by David Ogden Stiers) has created a miniature monster programmed for destruction. When the monster escapes to Earth, it’s adopted as a pet and named “Stitch” by Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a lonely little Hawaiian girl.

Lilo and her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere) have been struggling to stay together since their parents died. Stitch and Lilo share some hilarious adventures, evading welfare officer Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) and galactic police agents.

They learn the timely lesson that a family can be something you’re born into – or something you assemble.

A warmth and sincerity that recall The Iron Giant and the films of Hiyao Miyazaki make Lilo & Stitch a delightful fantasy adults and children can truly enjoy together.

I have just finished watching The 74th Annual Academy Awards.

It is four to the hobbits and four to the schizophrenic mathematicians. I still say that The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring deserves to win Best Picture over A Beautiful Mind any day. Think what you like, but LoTR deserves more than it was given.

However, I was most happy with the results for Best Actor and Best Actress categories, wherein the plum went to Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, respectively. I have seen Denzel and raved about him in Training Day!

It is also great that Oscars are also being given to animated films, full features and short ones alike. The victories of Shrek and For the Birds, both of which are immensely fun, delighted me to no end.

Very good that the animated genre is given the attention and recognition it has long since deserved. Next thing we know, anime-style features may just invade the Western market and make their mark on the Oscars.

Here are the complete results:

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind
Best in Film Editing: Black Hawk Down
Best in Make-Up: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best in Costume Design: Moulin Rouge
Best in Cinematography: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Documentary Feature: Murder on a Sunday Morning
Best Documentary Short Subject: Thoth
Best in Art Direction: Moulin Rouge
Best Animated Feature: Shrek
Best in Sound: Black Hawk Down
Best in Sound Editing: Pearl Harbor
Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent, Iris
Best in Visual Effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Original Score: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Best Live Action Short Film: The Accountant
Best Animated Short Film: For the Birds
Best Original Song: If I Didn’t Have You, by Randy Newman, from Monsters Inc.
Best Adapted Screenplay: A Beautiful Mind
Best Original Screenplay: osford Park
Best Foreign Language Film: No Man’s Land, from Bosnia and Hersegovina
Herschel Humanitarian Award: Arthur Hiller
Honorary Oscar/s: Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford
Best Actress: Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball
Best Actor: Denzel Washington, Training Day
Best Director: Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind
Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind

Just finished watching Rocky III (1982) on GMA-7. The “villain” role of Clubber Lang, portrayed by Mr. T, was a little too two-dimensional and you could not really appreciate it because you never really got to know his character. It was like Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) was the embodiment of Good, and he was the exact antithesis.

I think I am growing a scary fascination on The Powerpuff Girls. Darn GMA-7, Neopets and our local stationery store for causing it. Do you know that I’m even contemplating them for a webpage layout – or even a whole fansite? Heaven help me.

Speaking of Neopets, I cannot believe what some members are doing to their virtual babies. As in some of them ABANDON their pets at the Neopian Pound for others to adopt. How dare they? They create a pet, and then just leave them when they get tired of them? Is that being fair to that helpless little creature?

I have now maxed out my pet limit of four. I have created two blue Acaras and a yellow Kacheek. And I had just blown 85 Neopoints to adopt a poor red Chia. I was browsing through the Neopian Pound when I saw this baby crying into his palms, thus my heart went out to him and I adopted right on the spot.

Just got done with a shopping spree for books and an omelette feeding session for all of them. I think all of them like sweets, too, just like real children do.