Dear sureseats.com

I was so thrilled when I realized yesterday that I could purchase movie tickets online for any of the Ayala theatres via http://sureseats.com.

Ordinarily, I would simply visit ClicktheCity.com's Movies section to check screening schedules at the various theaters I frequent, then purchase the tickets at the theatre itself.

But yesterday was different; it was a holiday and the thought of having to join the crush of people lining up to purchase tickets led me to Google search, and eventually to sureseats.com, where I had my first encounter with their horrible, horrible payment process.

The only way to pay for tickets on their site is to purchase Multi-Pass credits, their own "prepaid service that allows you to pay for movie credits ahead of time, so the next time you use SureSeats, you can charge your tickets to your M-Pass credit or load."

There are only three ways to purchase M-Pass credits: at kiosks in Ayala malls, via credit card, or via GCash.

Since it was 8am and I wanted to purchase my tickets as early as possible (I wanted to get decent seats), I didn't want to wait until the malls opened to go to a kiosk.

So I tried to purchase M-Pass credits via credit card... only to learn that:

• I had to use another site that I'd never heard of (myRegalo.com) to purchase my credits
• I can only purchase M-Pass credits in P1000 increments
• As a first-time user, I had to fax or email a copy of my most recent credit card billing statement after placing my order online so they could verify my credit card
• Their business hours are Mondays to Fridays 8am to 6pm
• I had to give them "24 hours to process the purchase"

In other words, there was no way I could buy M-Pass credits via credit card and use them today even if I wanted to.

So the final fall back was to try G-Cash, which is Globe Telecom's eCash offering. I was able to create a GCash account with my phone via sms within a matter of minutes, and a quick check of my balance revealed that I had P0.00 in my eWallet. So naturally I wanted to load money into my GCash account.

Unfortunately, there are only a few ways to add money to your GCash balance, all of which require some form of offline interaction:

• Go to a Globe business center and give them cash
• Go to an accredited GCash Partner and give them cash
• Go to a Bancnet ATM to authorize the transfer of money from your bank account to your GCash account for a P25.00 fee
• Use the BPI Express Mobile menu options which come with your Globe SIMcard to transfer money from your bank account to your GCash account

That last option actually sounded promising, especially when a quick check revealed that my SIM card had Bank to GCash Transfer as an option in the sim services menu. Unfortunately, I can't just initiate a transfer right away. I first have to enroll my mobile phone number with the bank and link it to my bank account -- a process that requires a visit to the bank's ATM -- before I can transact on my phone.

So after more than an hour of trial and error, I was still unable to purchase tickets because sureseats.com made it too difficult for me to give them my money.

And as I bumped into each new brick wall in this process, I couldn't help but repeatedly wonder why they didn't simply:

• Do away with this silly M-Pass credit system
• Accept credit card payments directly
• Accept Paypal payments directly
• Allow me to charge my purchase to my mobile phone bill (especially since it's still well below my mobile account's credit limit)?

Surely the people who designed this site have actually experienced purchasing items online at Amazon or Etsy or Ebay?

In the end, I had to content myself with just reserving the seats that I wanted and paying a P20.00 reservation fee for each ticket because buying them was simply too difficult.

Must Watch: The Last Journey of Ninoy

If you are a Filipino and you have not yet seen The Last Journey of Ninoy, you absolutely have to watch it asap.



I missed the first 15 minutes of the program when it aired last Sunday (Aug 23) on ABS-CBN. Thankfully, the entire 55-minute docu-drama is also available for viewing through ABS-CBN's TFC Now service.

A $2.00 subscription to the News On Demand service allowed me to download and watch the film at my leisure over a period of 4 days.

The film's teaser is available on YouTube.

Firewall

As usual, I am pathetically behind on my movie watching, so it's only tonight that I got to watch Harrison Ford's 2006 movie Firewall on HBO.

If you like Harrison Ford and his movies from the 90s (think Air Force One, The Fugitive, and the Jack Ryan movies) then you will enjoy this one.

What I found even more enjoyable, strangely enough, was surfing the 'net after watching the film and reading the movie reviews of real-world Information Security professionals on CSO Online.com. haha!

Frankly, I didn't even know a website like CSO Online existed, so thanks to this movie, I've found another whole new site to explore. Have now added their podcasts and RSS news feed to my ever-growing list of subscriptions.

Getting Spartan

Got a kick out of watching this YouTube video.

It's Frank Miller's "300" Video Diary Day 3, which shows what kind of workouts the actors had to go through to get into shape for the movie 300.



According to IMDB's trivia page for the movie, "the entire principal cast underwent a rigorous and varied training regime for 6 weeks prior to shooting."

Six weeks only?!? Wow. It's really amazing what a lot of discipline (and necessity!) can accomplish.

Music and Lyrics

Watched Music and Lyrics yesterday, and must admit to having mixed feelings about the movie.

Obviously, I laughed at all the 80s-style antics, particularly all the gyrating that Hugh Grant performed with such gusto. haha! Just the thought of it still brings a smile to my face even now.

Having said that, I must admit that I didn't enjoy the movie as much as I thought I would, partly because of the stress from driving 1.5 hours to the theatre through a construction-induced gridlock, partly because we missed the first 10 minutes of the movie, and also partly because a friend had raved about the movie just a couple of days before and had really raised my expectations.

But I'm still glad that I watched it. The traffic jam also gave me an opportunity to spend time chatting with my gal-pal E, who was such a good sport despite being stuck in traffic right smack through the lunch hour. Plus any movie with Drew Barrymore is automatically a must-see for me anyway, especially if it's a chick-flick! hehe.

The Prestige

Oooh-lala!! What a mind-bending movie!! I walked out of the theatre with my mind still reeling from what I'd seen.

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as bitter rivals caught in an escalating tangle of one-upsmanship in The Prestige, a Christopher Nolan adaptation of a 1995 book written by Christopher Priest.

IMDB's message board has incredibly enjoyable discussion threads about the movie. Worth a visit after you've watched it.

And since I don't want to risk letting any secrets out, I will end this post here.

Sentinel

Finally got around to watching The Sentinel today, which I had purchased on VCD more than two weeks ago. Typhoon Milenyo had a way of putting so many of my plans on hold. hehe.

It was fun to watch! The story is straightforward and the plot reminds me a bit of The Fugitive (i.e., one good guy chasing another good guy while the latter is trying to prove his innocence without getting caught).

I'm so comfortable now seeing Kiefer Sutherland in this type of role (thanks to 24) that he seemed perfect for the role of David Breckinridge. Eva Longoria's role could have been a little more meaty, but at least she was slightly more than just mere eye candy on the movie.

Anyway, it turns out the movie is based on a book by Gerald Petievich. I'd never heard of the author or his writing before. The reviews of the original book aren't particularly good on Amazon, but the plot is certainly interesting enough. Guess I now have another name to watch out for the next time I visit the bookstore.

Scoop

Watched Scoop today with S.

The movie is definitely a chick flick plus a whodunit, with snippets of comedy thrown in.

The story was entertaining! Hugh Jackman was suave, debonaire, and such absolute eye-candy. I lost track of the number of times that I found myself thinking that he's such a good-looking guy. haha! Woody Allen was endearingly funny. Loved all the British accents. Loved the beautiful shots of the English countryside.

In fact, it seems like the only thing that's stopping me from saying that this is a great movie is Scarlett Johansson's acting, as well as the character that she portrayed, Sondra Pransky.

I guess the easiest way to explain it is I didn't find Sondra likable. She failed to engage me and make me feel sympathetic to her plight. I didn't think she was a particularly wonderful heroine -- you know, the type who's deserving to have a happily ever after.

Perhaps it was a deliberate decision on the part of the writer to make her character a commentary on the morals (or lack thereof) of reporters, and that colored my impression of her too much.

But, for an afternoon's entertainment, the movie was fun to watch. And rather than spoiling it for you by revealing the ending, I think I will end my entry here. ;-)

The Wedding Date

Finally watched The Wedding Date on VCD tonight.

It was fun to watch since my expectations had been lowered already by feedback from other people. I didn't go in expecting some masterpiece. I only expected to have something that would while away the time.

Consequently, I found myself enjoying Debra Messing's performance in a role that's so very different from her character Grace (in Will & Grace). And Dermot Mulroney was surprisingly hunkier than usual, with a voice that's really divine. ;)

As can be expected, the happy ending was slightly unrealistic, but as any girl knows, that's part of the fun of watching a chick-flick.

Note: Photo by Adebari, Eugene - © 2005 Universal Studios