Here is another round of my top ten anythings.

TTA4. GENIUS TV ADS As of March 2004

1. On the top of my list is the Coke-for-everyone campaign. Para sa labandera... showing the Coke crown that symbolizes a tub. Para sa tatlong hari... with three Coke bottles standing for Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar. Para sa pamilya... with an assortment of Coke sizes suggesting a mother, a father, and their children. Etcetera etcetera. At the end, it says: Coke. Mismo. Pure genius! There is a good use of imagination in terms of visual associations. The ad is also effective in projecting the product as the softdrink for everyone.

2. Sprite Magpakatotoo Ka! series of commercials. Well, this can be expected from the same beverage company as Coca-Cola. It has a nice ideology. Be true to yourself.

3. Milo Generations Very sporty and carries the Filipino Olympic tradition. And that what's-his-name Lizardo karate kid is cute! ;)

4. McDo family 1 The one with the song Kanlungan. "Lumilipas ang panahon..." Nice song and very family-oriented. After going out in life on their own, the children come back in the end and the happy family has a nice get-together at McDo.

5. Oreo with the two cute little boys. The younger boy tries to imitate his brother in dunking Oreo in milk, only he uses his milk bottle. Hehe... :) Cute!

6. The Caltex Star Mart ad showing a young boy giving chocolate to the mom of the girl he likes. Short-term goal vs. long-term goal...This little boy knows how to court the right way! ;)

7. Fita 1 The friends who switch positions: Palit kaya tayo? Anong gagawin mo? Last Fita mo na... Takam na takam ka na tapos humingi ako.... The friend gives it and the guy eats the Fita. Magulang!

8. Fita 2 The one with the fairy. The guy shares half of the bread to a fairy disguised as an old lady. Because of his good heart, he is given a chance to wish. He asks for a red sports car. And he gets it! However, he only got half of the car. Hehe... :) Well, what you give is what you get.

9. The Libresse commercials with John Lloyd Cruz, Richard Gutierrez, and Lucky Manzano. Revolutionary! Guys advertising girl products and vice-versa... It implies a significant change in the way gender constructs are perceived and propagated.

10. Another McDo commercial, the Karen po ad. Touching! Si lolo talaga, oh!

I wish advertisers would stick to these intelligent-funny-good visual types of commercials. Aside from being very effective in marketing the products, they raise the standard of promotions as well.

* That new Pepsi commercial is cool too! We will, we will, rock you! Beyonce was so pretty there in her sexy gladiator garb. I wonder how Pepsi got all four singers to agree to come out in one commercial. They got Beyonce, Pink, Britney, and Enrique. More than that, I am curious how much they were paid. The entire thing with the talent fees must have been pretty costly. Sadly, aside from the impact because of the celebrities and the good rocking song, the commercial did not mean anything at all.

TTA5. MY FAVE ROMANTIC COMEDIES As of March 2004

Among the film genres, I prefer the romantic comedy best. I usually watch movies to relax and to have fun so the romantic comedy suits my purposes well. It is funny. It is romantic. It is inspiring. It is relaxing.

I have watched quite a lot of romantic comedies already and here are, in my assessment, the best of them. Warning: Do not proceed reading if you do not want spoilers. But most of them are old already so I would say it is pretty safe.

1. Love Actually What else can I say? Borrowing from the movie, Love actually is all around. This movie captured me from the very first scene up to the very last.

That airport scene was a wonderful opening. The V/O said that whenever he felt gloomy and the world seems to be full of sh*t, he just goes to the arrival station at an airport. There, he sees love all around in mothers and daughters, brothers and sisters, couples, and friends all excited to see each other.

Then the movie branches off into the lives of the many different but all related characters. There are stories of love despite different social positions, love for the children, love borne of gratitude, unspoken love, etc. My favorites are the love amidst different languages story starring the very Mr. Darcy-like Collin Firth and the sacrificial love with that really hot GD guy. I watched it with my girl pals Mau, Tin, Mitzi, and Jing and whenever that babe was onscreen, there was a collective sigh. Watch it, you will know what I am talking about.

Notable too is the scene when the guy who harbored a secret love for the wife of his best bud is found out. Watching the video he took of her, the girl was so shocked. It was really heart wrenching.

By the way, the makers of this film are the same people behind Four Weddings and a Funeral so if you liked that one, you are bound to like this even better.

Love Actually is all around

2. Notting Hill For ___, from ___ who always sat beside her carved in a bench in the park says it all. It is the movie star-meets-regular guy plot. But there is something in the winning smile of Julia Roberts and her chemistry with Hugh Grant that makes the formula romantic comedy look like more than that.

Not to forget too, this is where Anna delivered her memorable line. I am only just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

3. 10 Things I Hate About You Rocking! A hip romantic movie, perfect for teens. I like the soundtrack too with that cool girl rock band and You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you rendered by Mr. Bad Boy himself Heath Ledger. And I wanna do that paint balls thing.

4. Shakespeare in Love Classic. Now I know why Gwyneth Paltrow and Winona Ryder were ready to engage in cat fight just to grab the part.

5. My Sassy Girl This Korean movie (or is it Japanese? I am not sure on that.) stars the most sabog and the craziest girl I have ever seen, Junj-jo. But she is really pretty. And I like her fun spunk. The lead guy Gyun-Woo is funny too, although very gullible. My Sassy Girl is a good laugh and it is touching too especially with that waiting to meet at the tree after years of not seeing each other. But what I remember most is the scene where the girl barfs at the subway. I always remember it when I am at the MRT station. My Sassy Girl is one of those films that leaves a strong impression.

6. Got 2 Believe is undoubtedly the best local romantic comedy. It has a funny-sometimes crazy script, very lively production design, and a very different Claudine Barretto and Rico Yan.

And I must say, being a creative wedding planner seems like a fab job! Did you see that prince and princesses-theme wedding? It must be really expensive with all those period costumes but I am sure that a wedding like that is plain magical.

7. Cutting Edge Love on ice-skates! The feisty Moira Kelly and heartthrob-of-his-time D.B. Sweeney tease, and fight, and quarrel, and finally fall in love. Whoever said that there is a thin line between love and hate was right. The line is as thin as ice.

Aside from being a good romantic comedy, Cutting Edge features a lot of ice-skating action. That last scene was Olympic worthy.

8. Pretty Woman Well, I am a big Julia Roberts fan. I already noted Notting Hill but I just have to put another of Julia Roberts' works. I was contemplating between this, My Best Friend's Wedding, and Runaway Bride but I must say this is the film that started Ms. Roberts down the road of being an American Sweetheart.

9. One Fine Day is all about a day that started really awful and ended really wonderful. Love really comes at the time it is least expected. Watch this, if only for George Clooney.

10. City of Angels Any romantic comedy list would not be complete without a Meg Ryan in it. An angel falls in love with a mortal. He clips his wings and give[s] up forever to touch [her]. Yeah, he dies but in his own words, it had been worth it.

My fave band The Goo Goo Dolls provide the main music to the soundtrack so expect the soundtrack to be a bomb.

Runner-up List:

* Moulin Rouge Absolutely fantastic! Freedom! Truth! Beauty! And above all, Love! All the exclamation marks are very much deserved. The only reason I did not include it in the list is that branding it as a romantic comedy does not give it justice. Its proper genre label should be romantic musical extravaganza. Highlight the word extravaganza.

* Someone Like You Ashley Judd was fantastic but the plot is just plain good and not great. But it is pretty interesting, a girl who sets out with a down with love and men are cows outlook ends up under the influence of love with a cow.

* Bridget Jones' Diary Okay, but the book is much better. Some movies, although faithful to the book which is its source, does not match up to it. Still, Renee Zellwegger was great and she brightened up the screen. Imagine, she even put on extra pounds just to play England's best girl.

* Jerry Maguire has a captivating story and that famous You complete me line. But I do not like Tom Cruise much. No offense but he is too much of a pretty boy.

* You've Got Mail A Meg Ryan masterpiece again this time with Tom Hanks. E-love. Well-done romantic comedy but for me City of Angels is more powerful.

* Never Been Kissed stars Drew Barrymore as the writer who gets to relive higschool. Miss Josey Gellar, is so funny. She is actually cool playing someone uncool. Michael Vartan is not as hot in this one as he is as Vaughn in Alias but his performance is commendable.

* Serendipity Most people do not like it but I do. I believe in that entire fate, destiny, and soul mate stuff. Nice soundtrack too! And good title, the perfect word.

* A Walk to Remember Was not very faithful to the Nicholas Sparks novel but a good screen adaptation. Made me cry! And the Only Hope number was angelic. :)

* Titanic Well, it's a bit corny now that the Titanic craze has subsided but you got to admit it was a well-told love story. It wouldn't have been a titanic success if it wasn't. Plus, Leo is cute although practically every teenage girl already has a crush on him so I don't like him anymore. I am not taking a number.