xXx (Triple X) opened in Iloilo City last Wednesday.

I got to catch it on Friday afternoon. All in all, it was a diverting, fun movie, with lots of action and thrills.

Xander Cage’s (Vin Diesel) motorcycle stunts were breathtaking. The hero himself was quite dashing in a post-modern, Mad Max sort of way.

I would definitely choose him over James Bond any day, if only for his inclination towards extreme sports and video games and his disdain for hypocrite politicians.

Asia Argento played the love interest and Russian spy Yelena. She reminded me too much of Milla Jovovich in terms of looks.

Asia did not have that much bite to be a hardened undercover agent who had worked closely with criminals for about two years. Her character was too transparent and has too much conscience (facially expressed, no less) to survive that long a lawless tenure without slipping up, given that she slipped up so easily with xXx when he supposedly killed that member of the Czech Secret Police.

Marton Czokas, strong-and-silent Celeborn in The Lord of the Rings, played the cunning, decadent former-soldier-turned-terrorist Yorgi.

Marton, hands down, stole the show with his uber-sexy drawl and serpentine body language

The music was fairly vibrant, orchestra rock, should I be made to come up with a name for it.

I especially loved Adrenaline, the song played during the ending digital title sequence. Said track was performed by Gavin Rossdale, of Bush fame, and produced by Glen Ballard, he who likewise handles most if not all of Alanis Morissette’s recordings.

Linkin Park’s Reanimation is currently my heavy rotation album.

I must say that it is amazingly, delightfully innovative, even more electrifying than Hybrid Theory.

My favorite tracks are Enth E Nd (Kutmasta Kurt and Motion Man remix) and 1Stp Klsr (Humble Brothers and Jonathan Davis remix).

I practically melted when I heard Enth E Nd for the first time; I just loved the beat and Motion Man’s voice to pieces. The song is now number one in my street dance choreography wish list.

However, I am still madly in love with Korn’s Jonathan Davis and very nearly died when I heard his trademark fiery, grating voice in 1Stp Klsr. Imagine if they make a video for this track.

Here is an album review from Amazon.com that pretty much expresses my sentiments:

Reanimation is the evil twin of Linkin Park’s 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory.

While plotting their next studio album, the Southern California band enlisted some of aggro rock’s leading lights, as well as some of the more enlightened underground MCs and producers, to slice and dice all the songs on their debut (including a few bonus cuts that made it to their Japanese release).

Linkin Park allowed their special guests – including Korn’s Jonathan Davis, Staind’s Aaron Lewis, Orgy’s Jay Gordon, the Roots’ Black Thought, and Jurassic 5’s Chali 2NA – to run riot through their songbook, tweaking melodies, writing new lyrics, and sometimes changing the entire intent of the originals.

As a result, this collection of 20 songs is Mr. Hyde to Hybrid Theory’s Dr. Jekyll.

Most of Linkin Park’s atmospheric and melodic moments have ended on the cutting-room floor – along with the self-consciousness that pervaded many of the songs – replaced with a brash impudence that’s more rap than rock.

Chali 2NA entirely changes the landscape on “Forgotten,” shape-shifting the song into an alien being dubbed “Frgt/10,” which takes you to a dark, desolate place with only your own disturbed thoughts and some electronic bleeps for company.

And that’s enough. This is a masterful art project that truly succeeds.

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.

The song You’re So Sexy, a sultry, danceable, pseudo-techno beat by French Affair, has gotten quite popular in the Philippines, in radio and television alike.

It is a little like the “sister song” of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy that was an international hit several years ago.

We wanted to make a blend-in of both songs, an idea that occurred, quite simultaneously, to several insane people at around 3-4 o’clock this morning. The end product would sound like a medley alternating between the two songs, with seamless transition. It starts with the Right Said Fred intro of “I’m too sexy…” and ends the same way with the final line “I’m too sexy for this song.”

An mp3 of You’re So Sexy could be downloaded here. I also found another rendition of the song, the extended club remix.

Lyrics to You’re So Sexy are found here. The words to the Right Said Fred song I’m Too Sexy are also available.

The last week of July has been quite, well, memorable to me.

On the 25th, this past Thursday, I took the Philippine Career Service Professional Exam.

Shock of shocks, my score was 95.95. Sans review and sans sanity.

The Civil Service test I took was Computer-Assisted, which was a lot more efficient and fun compared to the traditional pencil-and-paper one. The latter type of exam will be given to a large number of people come October.

The computer test took three hours. After the allotted time has been consumed, the screen just froze up and the user was automatically logged out. Neat programming.

To top it all off, the results were handed out just 30 minutes after the end of the test proper. No more weeks of tense waiting that way. The exam was multiple choice, with 150 scored items. The passing grade was a highly discriminating 80.

Out of the 15 of us who took the test that day, only four passed, staying in the “standard” percentage of 25-30% passers out of the total takers. The other three who passed the exam scored in the mid-80s range.