Category: movies

zombadings 1: patayin sa shokot si remington

I watched the film last night with J and some office mates, and initially, I didn’t care much for it. Only later (and I mean the-next-day later) did I understand what the filmmakers were trying to do. Homosexuality in Zombadings is shown as a curse, a choice, and a state from which you need saving (and by a “real man” – tunay na lalake – to boot) because that is how Filipino society, even in this day and age, sees it. This is how Remington sees it, this obnoxious, pa-macho young man who thinks gays are disgusting. He has to learn to respect homosexuality, and with him being so hardheaded, the only way to do it is for him to experience it. He has to learn how fun it is, and how dangerous, so dangerous that you can be murdered simply because of the way you look, the way you walk, the way you talk, and the gender of the person you choose to love and share your body with.

It’s sad. And stupid, and the filmmakers know this. A character launches into his favorite hate speech, and he is drowned by the sound of a marching band. Sure he has arguments, but it is pointless to listen to them, so why do we have to torture ourselves? Let’s just have music.

Final points:

  • Mart Escudero is brilliant.
  • Sound and editing could have been better.
  • Eugene Domingo!
  • Mart Escudero is brilliant.
  • We didn’t really need the zombies.
  • Oh, have I said that Mart Escudero is brilliant? Because he totally is.

long weekend

I have to say that in the four years I’ve been a member of the workforce, this is the first time I’ve experienced a long weekend due to the holidays. Sweet deal, except that a storm came. This always happens. I plan to see my parents on a particular weekend, and a storm makes landfall. Every. Single. Time.

I had to wade through knee-high waters to get home. But despite the storm and the flood, our pet chicken is alive and well! And she’s been giving us eggs! On Monday night my mother added them to the giniling! The eggs were yummy! I don’t know why I keep telling you about this fucking chicken but this is exciting!

Anyway. Flood. Nothing new here.

The bright side: 1) no work 2) it’s cold inside the house as opposed to hellishly hot 3) I was able to just relax and read and watch movies.

Ex Machina is created by Brian K. Vaughan (the same guy who wrote Y: The Last Man) and Tony Harris. I finished reading all of the issues early this morning (around 1 am) and I’m still thinking about it today. Ex Machina features Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer who receives powers from an unknown device that exploded at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The device gives him the power to talk to machines. After becoming a victim of a robbery, he decides to fight crime as The Great Machine, sort of like the goofy equivalent of the Iron Man. On 9/11 he stops one of the planes, allowing the second tower to survive the attack. Later on, he is voted Mayor of New York.

Vaughan loves devastating endings, doesn’t he? He gives you humor and hope until you start thinking that hey, maybe a happy ending is possible for these poor characters, then boom, a sudden dip until everything crashes. And I love it. I am devastated right now, but I love it.

I saw too many movies! Info overload!

Drive Angry is one of those redneck-y action films that I thought I’d hate but I end up loving. It’s a fun ride. (Pun!) Favorite character: William Fichtner as The Accountant.

Saw a lot of comedies: Hall Pass, No Strings Attached, Bad Teacher. All perfect for lazy afternoons. Go with No Strings Attached, if you just want something cute.

The Beaver. Huh. I have to say that when I saw the movie poster, I was confused

and the title made me laugh, but this is directed by Jodie Foster and I still somehow trust Jodie Foster (even if Mel Gibson is in the lead). I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve never seen depression and mental illness presented in such a simple, effective, disturbing way. BUT: wouldn’t this work better if it were less serious? More black humor than drama, with maybe Steve Carrell as the lead? Guess we’ll never know.

My brothers did not like Super 8, and I think I understand why. Super 8 as an adventure, as a coming-of-age tale, is adorable and pitch-perfect, but as a mystery monster movie, it’s 90 minutes of meh.

 

But I liked it. For some reason it reminded me of Eerie Indiana. (I miss that show.)

So how’s your long weekend?

crazy stupid love

When I saw the trailer my conclusion was: this is  going to be like Hitch.  Exactly like Hitch. Hitch 2. The makeover movie involving men. But I saw the film last night, and despite the many shots of ties and Italian shoes and the bar montages and that hilarious GQ-esque slow-mo on Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love is in fact more than that. There were big reveals that I didn’t see coming, and the film had the funniest climax I had ever seen in a comedy. Pun not intended.

various updates

  • Jaykie passed Exam P (the first in a series of actuarial exams) after days of studying and worrying. I knew this the moment he stepped out of the Ateneo Professional School – Salcedo building on July 28. I looked across the street and saw him trying to hide a smile. Of course we celebrated with food and drinks.

Congrats Jaykie, you deserve it!

  • We went to Eastwood on Sunday to watch Captain America. My first time in Eastwood! My Eastwood cherry’s been popped! I know nothing about Captain America, except that he has a shield and a possible hatred of the Soviets. And the Japs. And the Nazis. I think he’s boring, corny, one-dimensional, and a tad bit offensive. Oh look, the personification of America’s Messiah Complex. Certainly not the superhero I’d share an elevator with. But the film gives him  a plausible origin story. (Even the origin of the shield is explained.) He hates bullies. I empathize with him. I enjoyed the movie.

  • Stay after the credits for The Avengers trailer. To quote one enthusiastic YouTube commenter: “I nerded on the floor.”
  • Phil mentioned that adamantium (which makes up Wolverine’s claws and the rest of his bones) is the synthetic version of vibranium (which is used to construct Capt. America’s shield). So the interesting question of the night was, “Who would win, Wolverine, or Captain America?”
  • There was a bazaar, and I ended up buying two bags and a ring. (This was Jaykie’s fault! He’s an enabler!) I almost bought a new pair of shoes but I managed to stop myself. (And also managed to stop Jaykie from not stopping me.)
  • I’m in love with this ring, though.

  • Watched Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank with a large group of friends. (There were 13 of us! Lucky and very noisy 13!) Photo from Almi:

  • The film concerns three young, hopeful, awards-hungry filmmakers out to make Walang-Wala, an indie film about a mother living in the slums who is so poor she is forced to sell her child to a pedophile. How can you gauge sincerity in this kind of creative expression? Can we simply judge the final product and forget about the authors’ intentions? Are the filmmakers producing this film because they sincerely want to tell the mother’s story and inform the world at large of the level of poverty that exists in this country? Or are they doing this for the shock value, the chance to dig an award and travel opportunities from the grit? The filmmakers carry expensive gadgets and talk about poverty  in an expensive coffee place. Does this invalidate their art?  Does the fact that they are well-off reduce the value of the story they are going to tell?  I still don’t know the answers to the questions. But I’m glad an indie film managed to step away and ask them, and make me laugh in the process.

  • New job. I’m enjoying myself, so far. (Stress on the “so far”, as, directly or indirectly, my immediate boss is wont to remind me haha.)

pictures from home

Saturday to Tuesday in Bulacan. Ah, what bliss. I missed staying home. Stay home and just read a book or watch a movie and wait for my mother to call up the stairs: “What would you like to have for dinner?” I feel like a child again! One who can ask someone else to do her laundry!

For lack of anything better to do (or for being lazy to do anything better):

  • I re-read The Devil Wears Prada, and almost finished re-watching Project Runway Season 5. Omigod, too much fashion, my teeth are hurting.
  • Realized that: Smart Bro prepaid runs fast in Makati but can be infuriating in Bulacan, so I just use my brother’s Globe Tattoo postpaid.
  • I was finally able to watch Rango. I should have seen that film on the big screen! The animation is remarkable. And it’s hilarious, watch it!

  • I finished The Name of the Wind (and started reading The Wise Man’s Fear, the Kingkiller trilogy’s second book). Starts slow but around four chapters in (when the protagonist Kvothe begins talking to the Chronicler about his life and the University) it grips you and never lets go. I love the lore and the world and how magic is presented in scientific terms. It is Harry Potter-ish in the sense that there is a school, there is magic, there is the jerkwad teacher and the archnemesis and the two friends and the orphaned protagonist who is brilliant but helplessly idiotic at times, but unlike Harry, Kvothe is proactive, and unlike the Potter series, Name of the Wind begins with Kvothe a fully grown man. You don’t grow up with him. You sit down for drinks with him and he just tells you his story. (Thanks Jaykie for another brilliant recommendation.)

  • I may have added a page or two to the new story. Siiiiigh. I write so goddamn slow now. In the olden days I used to be able to sit for eight straight hours just writing, typing, typing, typing away like crazy.
  • Bought my father a new phone as his birthday gift. It’s one of the cheaper phones, he has no use for the touchscreen ones.

  • Saw the Nokia X7 and experienced sudden phone lust. I want it. I. Want. It.

  • But it retails at 18K! BUT IT HAS AN 8-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA! BUT I’M POOR!
  • GODDAMN IT!

This is Ming-Ming (Dynasty), the noisiest cat we’ve ever had.

She likes big bellies.

Famous Fathers with Cats, # 1:

We were watching Rango here, and my brother just knew I was taking a picture.

My brother, who has no choice but to be with me till Tuesday, suggested I download an ebook reader into my phone, and added Office Suite. So now I can read books (and write books ha!) on my teeny-tiny phone! I WANT AN X7! SHUT THE HELL UP!

Remember our pet chicken?


It gave us an egg! I almost rolled on the floor laughing at my father because he burst through the front door with it. He was that excited.

And now I’m here with Jaykie as he reviews for That Big Exam tomorrow. Prayers? Good vibes? Hope you are all safe and warm, wherever you are.

everybody’s fine

Frank Goode, a widower and a retiree, is having his children for dinner. He cleans the house and goes to the store to buy good steak and some bottles of expensive wine. He is excited. He tells everyone the family is having a reunion. That night, however, his children (who are no longer children and are very busy with their lives and careers) call to say that they will have to cancel. Frank is disappointed, but he comes up with a plan: if the children can’t come to him, he’ll come to his children. He packs clothes, a camera, and his lung medication, and goes on a road trip.

This film just got to me. I’ve seen it thrice. The first time, I saw a small part of it on Star Movies, that scene where Frank is on a train and a woman named Alice says he is lucky to have avoided the storm. Frank says, “I am always lucky”, with a smile so content it just breaks your heart.

Robert De Niro is amazing here. Amazing. I’m used to seeing him play tough characters – the (ex) CIA agent, the mob boss, the powerful businessman that you just don’t cross – but he embodies Frank Goode perfectly. Frank, who is no CIA, mob boss, or businessman, who is sad and weary and clueless of his grown children’s lives but proud enough to show their pictures to strangers, who is like most fathers.

 

weekend movies

Iron Man 2


Ah, sequels. We all hate them. The first film is simple and fun, and Hollywood, wanting to milk the cash cow dry, comes up with a follow-up and just goes overboard and ruins your memories of the first film. For example: If the Transformers franchise ended with the first film, I would have had fond memories of Megan Fox. I have become desensitized to explosions and fight scenes. I don’t go “Wow!” anymore. It’s sad. I loved the first Iron Man movie. It surprised me. I didn’t expect to like it. This sequel, however, is much too much. “I have successfully privatized world peace!” Is Tony Stark supposed to be this big of an asshole? Whatever happened to his character development in the first film? Stark creates weapons, drinks champagne in the dessert, and basically just goes around showing what a huge dick he has. Then he becomes a prisoner of war, gets rescued, and after searching his soul, shuts down Stark Industries’ weapon production. Enter the second film, and it’s like we’re starting all over again. And how is he able to rescue Pepper and fly away so fast without causing her injury? No matter. I only question the science of movies I don’t enjoy much. I’m pretty sure Inception is riddled with plot holes, but I don’t question it.

The Avengers film better be spectacular.

Limitless

I had to tweak my brain while watching the film, because I had expected it to be a comedy. (Bradley Cooper is in it, and I have a Hangover hangover.) I thought it would be more Paycheck than Minority Report. (Note that I have the film adaptations in mind, not the original stories. I’ve read Philip K. Dick’s Paycheck short story and it’s…different.) The level of violence, especially toward the climax, surprised me. It’s entertaining. I didn’t expect the ending. Normally you watch a character pop a pill and just wait for the crash, the downward spiral, the final few pages of Flowers for Algernon, if you will.

Hangover II

Oh look, another sequel! The only reason you won’t consider Hangover II anything special is because Hangover I exists. They’re from the same mold. The filmmakers used the exact, same plot structure, and they’re not even shy about it. They even ended the movie the same way – with a character discovering incriminating pictures saved in his gadget, observing out loud that the pictures are fucked up, another character saying “Okay, we’ll look at the pictures once and then we’ll delete them forever”, and everyone exclaiming a disgusted “Oh!” before the pictures are shown onscreen and the credits rolled. If I were any of these characters, I’d be seriously disturbed. I’d think of Groundhog Day. I’d think of all the sins I’ve done.

Accepted

A young man fails to get an acceptance letter from the colleges he’s applied to – even from his “safe school”, Ohio State – and in a moment of desperation, drafts an acceptance letter from the make-believe South Harmon Institute of Technology (or S.H.I.T.) and mails it to himself. What’s next? Create the website, find a building, find a fake dean. And maintain the lie.

The film came out in 2006, starring Justin Long, Jonah Hill, and Blake Lively. It’s a fun watch.