Jay E. Tria
Author

Jay E. Tria

  • Movie Review

    Review: Secretly, Greatly

    August 24, 2014 - By 

    The 2013 massive hit Secretly, Greatly tells the story of three North Korean spies sent to a small town in South Korea as sleeper agents, waiting for the call of their mission towards the reunification of Korea. One is a ruthless, genius lieutenant decoying as the village idiot, the second is the general’s son playing a wanna-be rock star, while the third is an ambitious young soldier posing as a high school student. Superstar Kim Soo Hyun leads the cast, and that usually is enough motivation for most to hit play. Let’s break it down.

  • Movie Review

    Review: Rurouni Kenshin Kyoto Inferno

    August 23, 2014 - By 

    Kenshin Himura sets the silver screen ablaze again. Forgive the pun. Can’t help it. That statement was one of the many things scrambling about inside my head after 2+ hours of glorious samurai legend story telling. The second installment of this much-awaited three-part saga, Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno delivered exactly what its predecessor promised, plus more tricks and twists care of director Keishi Otomo‘s artistic madness. Let’s break it down.

  • Tourism

    Things to Do on a Budget Trip to Singapore

    August 20, 2014 - By 

    My July Singapore trip was one of the most spur-of-the-moment trips I’ve taken (right after that random win for a free Shanghai trip), and since it was unplanned, my wallet was not ready either. A tricky situation to manage, specially with Singapore being a  notoriously expensive destination. Still with a lot of DIY-ing, a heavy dose of OC research and planning, and discipline to match the wanderlust enthusiasm, I was able to accomplish Singapore-on-a-budget! How? Read on.

  • Movie Review

    Review: Begin Again

    August 3, 2014 - By 

    It’s the kind of movie that gets me out of my couch and into a theater because it promises a handful of my favorite things – genuine music, quirky sundresses, Keira Knightley, Adam Levine, and Mark Ruffalo. I bought my ticket expecting a standard romcom, and my sister was quick to note that such low expectations are what made this film work for us. But I think that’s too crude an observation. Begin Again, though nothing legendary, is charming and honest, much like its awesome soundtrack.

  • Movie Review

    Review: Kisaragi

    July 24, 2014 - By 

    The 2007 Japanese film hit Kisaragi has been on my to-watch list for far too long. I’ve actually seen nearly the entire film on Youtube, only for the video to be cut about thirty minutes into the ending. Convenient. Years later, that elusive ending is finally mine. Thus, a review.

  • Drama Review

    Review: The Heirs

    July 22, 2014 - By 

    It took me half a year to finally decide to catch the Heirs. For one, I thought patronizing Lee Minho was too mainstream (Bench‘s fault, haha) and although I love Park Shinhye, it’s just really difficult to get over You Who Came from the Stars. So I put on the Heirs DVD without much excitement.