I GOT MY STAR WARS ADIDAS

And all is good - thanks for buying them Fred!
Thanks for bringing them home Michelle!

I'M WATCHING MY STORIES!!!!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND 3D

Really? All that hoopla for this??? I was totally disappointed with ALICE. Sure some of the performances were great, some of the FX were enjoyable and it had cool moments but it felt like they forced it into being 3D and despite the Tim butoness of it all, it didn't work in 3D. I actually found myself bored in parts which is a shame cause Burton knows how to make a good looking scene!

THUMBS DOWN

THE ROAD

Wow... I need to take a shower, I haven't felt this low since I watched REQUIUM FOR A DREAM, humanity is in the crapper. I just wish we knew what caused the global disaster because the resulting landscape is cool to see. It's bleak and it's haunting but it's good.

THUMBS UP!

THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT

My fundamental problem with this flick is that I don't buy "Dewey Cox as a Vampire". Selma Hayek as the bearded lady? No problem but John C. Reilly as a Vampire, just don't see it. Based on the popular book series, the Vampire's Assistant starts off an adventure between a circus of freaks and a group of evil vampires, best friends are caught on opposing sides of the line. If this movie was harder, it would have been better. If this movie was sillier, it would have been better, instead it's PG-13 and it's caught in the purgatory of not enough violence and not enough laughs.

THUMBS DOWN

FRINGE: SEASON 1

I really like this show. It's like X-FILES meets TWILIGHT ZONE meets ALTERED STATES meets ALIAS. Good characters, cool crimes, unique twists and fresh perspectives and since it's produced by JJ Abrams it also has a healthy does of STAR TREK lens flares. Can't wait to see Season Two!

THUMBS UP!

UP IN THE AIR

I know I am in the minority here but I didn't like UP IN THE AIR. It felt like there was little to nothing new going on, Clooney was Clooney, Jason Reitman was continuing his quirky directing style and the whole movie felt somewhat boring. I think I need to see it again or something maybe I missed something.

THUMBS DOWN

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS

Always loved Gilliam films and this one is no different. It's feels like a throwback to some of his earlier work like TIME BANDITS or MUNCHAUSEN which is fine by me. Billed as "the last film of Heath LEdger" as he died as soon as he wrapped, Gilliam enlisted the help of other actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law & Colin Farrell) to help flesh out the character and guess what, it works! Also want to call out Peter Stormare as the President and Tom Waits as the Devil, great perfomances all around.

THUMBS UP!

DAYBREAKERS

Vampires rule the planet and guess what? The supply of human blood is running out and the Vamps haven't found an alternate solution to their issue! That's the premise behind the enjoyable and over-the-top DAYBREAKERS withe the great cast of Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill and Willem Defoe. I really enjoyed the serious campy nature of the film, it's totally gruesome but the characters are 110% committed to their seriousness so it works. I like the ending as well, a neat trick in how to solve the Vampy "epidemic"... hope there is a sequel!

THUMBS UP!

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Bloody brilliant, I loved it. See it if you haven't but if you are not a fan of Wes Anderson films, you won't like it cause it's a stop-motion Royal Tenenbaums with Animals... love it!

THUMBS UP!

MOON

How Sam Rockwell did not get nominated for Best Actor with his performance in Moon, is beyond me. This is a solid little film, a little SOLARIS meets 2001 and Rockwell carries the piece from start to finish. Kudos to Duncan Jones for creating a compelling low-budget space flick that is the furthest thing from cheesy!

THUMBS UP!

MANGIA WITH QUATTRO

So I am going to have to pimp the family a little here and let you know that my family has finally put out a cookbook. It's called MANGIA WITH QUATTRO: FAMILY-STYLE ITALIAN FROM THE HEART and it's chocked full of Corsi Family recipes and history. My uncle Antonio spearheaded the project with help from my cousin Patrick and my dad Mario as well, the whole family actually. I even pitched in with a story about the first time I had a steak at Quattro Whistler and I was glad to help out. All the favourites are in here, from all the restaurants and all the family dinners and tons of photos too! It fills me with a lot of pride to see the book now and hear about friends who are cooking with it and loving it.

Do you feel like some great Italian cooking? Then check out this book (its available in most book stores as well as Amazon) and you'll be glad you did! I'm getting hungry just writing about it!!!

GIO'S SAN FRANCISCO/GDC TRIP

Wow... 2.5 weeks goes fast but it seems like forever since I've been home to Singapore. I went to SAN FRANCISCO for two reasons, work and GDC. As part of my job, I have to go to the Head Office 3-4 times a year for meetings, product review, budget planning, the usual fun and games. These meetings went well and it's always good to spend time with the crew in San Francisco.

The other reason is ofcourse GDC, the Game Developers Conference. This is my third GDC but my first as an Executive Producer. I spent most of my time on the Expo Floor talking up Singapore and our Studio as well as reconnecting with old colleagues from jobs past. It was a successful conference, a great work trip and its always great to spend some time in the Golden Gate City... I'll be back soon!

If you want to see my pics from San Francisco, click HERE!!!

GIO'S VANCOUVER WEEKEND

So I am currently at work in San Francisco for two weeks at the mothership. I decided to get up to Vancouver for the weekend in-between and boy howdy, am i glad i did. Even though it was short, a few days of recharge with friends, family and the dogs is worth more than you can imagine!!!

FRIDAY - Arrived in Vancouver in the late afternoon and was off in a flash. I debarked the plane, got through customs and was outside waiting for Michelle in about 90 seconds, no joke, fastest entry ever!!! Michelle and Lance picked me up and we went for a quick bite at Sushiyama (always good), I bought some clothing essentials at Mark's across the street, then headed home. It was great to see Laverne & Carmine again. We played for a few hours, Michelle gave me some Olympic clothes (hoodie, mittens & touque) and then we went to the Red Lion to see my dad. Family dinner, ran into Todd & Ali and then home for the night.

SATURDAY - Slept in a little (last of the jetlag) and then Victoria came over to hang out of the day. We did some shopping, had lunch at Cactus Club (miss those Hot Wings) and Lesley joined us for the remainder of the day. Went home to take the dogs for a walk in the park (I forgot how much I enjoyed that), then we headed to Chad's place for a BBQ Party. A bunch of peeps gathered for some grilled meat and Old Fashioneds and lots of laughter, it was great to see those people again, thanks for hosting Chad!

SUNDAY - A good nights rest followed by a great brunch at Milestone's with about 15 of our friends, that was awesome, it was good to catch up with some people that I haven't seen for months (thanks for setting that up Lesley). We then headed home and took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood looking at all the new houses that have cropped up and entertaining Michelle with stories of my youth. We then went to Sarah & George's for a great Oscar Party (Hurt Locker? Really? Should have been Inglorious Basterds).

MONDAY - Lazy morning hanging around the house which led to us getting a late start (totally fine). We went to the bank to deal with some financial shenanigans (you can never escape the Shenanigans), lunch at The Reef on Commercial, back to Awesometown to pick up some mail, then to the store to pick up supplies for dinner, then home for a big family feast. Michelle's folks, my folks, my aunt, uncle, Lance, the boys and Ida & Albert popped by to introduce us all to their new daughter Lola (10 days old, so cute). A great way to cap off the whole weekend.

TUESDAY - Woke up at 3:30am to shower and down a coffee so Michelle could drive me to the airport for my 6am flight to San Francisco and work at 9am. Awesome weekend with Michelle in Vancouver, like I said, too short but better than no weekend at all. See you soon Vancouver!!!

WANT A MR. AMBASSADOR FEZ???

So the kick ass team at FEZ-O-RAMA, those are the guys that make my MR. AMBASSADOR Fez for TIKI BAR TV, have a cool idea. When they created this prototype fez for the show, they only made a handful of them and as it stands, they only have one Black Mr. A Fez left and instead of sending it to me, we decided to auction it off for Charity, the CITY OF HOPE CANCER REASEARCH & TREATMENTS Charity to be exact.

It's an awesome cause, you get an awesome "extremely limited edition" Fez (I think there are four in existence) plus bragging rights, you also get a cocktail glass with the famous Ambassador phrase "Russia Wins, let's drink" on it and all you have to do it bid on the goodness! But don't just take my word for it, you can read all about the auction HERE!!!