21st

 (08 / 21 / 21)

    August 21st marks the commemoration of the death of Filipino hero, Benigno Aquino II, or simply, Ninoy. But also, August 21st marks a unique date being that we are in the year 2021.

    Here's a little something about peace, love, and everything in between.

To want you is to want to have you accompanied

For the whole infinite journey

Never going back to zero

Proving I can be your hero

To do that is to do all things possible

Everything that I can control

Rest assured they'll be delivered

I'll always have you under my cover

To see you smiling is to see a heart filled up hard

One smile is already the utmost reward

One hug assures I'll always be on your side

One kiss ensures enjoyment for a lifetime

To fail in doing these is to fail miserably

You can argue I don't love you too deeply

Yet I'm banking on having a second shot

On giving your daily dose of love, care, and whatnot 

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The Trouble with Bond

Bond. James Bond.

We all know the man. We all know the name. James Bond has been a front-liner of the movie industry for more than 55 years (Perhaps the longest-running, if not officially the longest-running movie hero). Bond has been in service of the cinemas for so long that many moviegoers might consider that the spotlight for him will fade, within the next few years.

The trouble with Bond is that it has an aged feel to it. When the words "James Bond" appear as a reference, the one who made the reference is almost always automatically considered a corny or a cringy man in his late 50s. It seems hard to introduce Bond to younger audiences. However, there are still others who can proclaim love for the 55-year-old movie series.

How do you introduce Bond to a younger audience? During the release of the 24th official Bond film "Spectre", I was in the theaters to watch said film.  I have seen Bond a few times before during TV various screenings.

The film "Spectre" gave a lot of problems to Bond fans with its somewhat forced plot and ties with the previous Craig films. Another problem with the film was that it almost seemed like the 50th Anniversary Bond offering and not Skyfall, with all of its homage to the previous films.

That may have been the problem in our case. As a result, some did not become fond of Bond after the said watch of "Spectre".

The film required its watchers to have still remembered most of the events, if not all, of all of Craig's past films. You would have to remember 2006's "Casino Royale" up until 2012's "Skyfall". From the eyes of a first-time Bond viewer, that would fail big-time. Only a long-time viewer of Bond would get the inevitable jokes and references that "Spectre" made.

Going back to the question, how do you make somebody want to binge watch the Bond film series?

As for me, I strongly think that you should start with a Bond film that very much followed the Bond formula, provided that they are also stand alone Bond films. Example films are 1964's "Goldfinger", 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me", and 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies".

Binge-watching the Bond film series will not be as hard as it once was after you have finished watching those three "basic" Bond films.

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