MMFF 2011 Hoolabaloo

Shake, Rattle and Roll
I have always been fascinated with Chris Martinez ever since he came up with Last Order ng Penguin. Till his first film with Eugene Domingo in here comes the bride, for me he captures and gets most of the moments. "Relevance", in line with the recent floods, there is no better timing to make it into a horror story. Granted some of the scary scenes were copied from asian films, the more "filipino" was the first one.
Folklore, provincial idyllic feel. That might be the only thing worth watching. Crappy acting? check. Soapy dialogue? Check. and zanjoe Marudo just made my list of the worst actor EVER.
Warring mangkukulam? ok. leave it there.

Asiong Salonga
1. Left a bitter taste, more like asking for Aguiluz's original version. I don't even think it deserved the editing award. Some parts were just a bit off.
2. While most of the rants I will be presenting below would be a summation of what is obvious and clear:
a. Male Machismo would always be guns and philandering
b. Glorify tambay sa kanto, because thats how people will be respected- get yourself cocky and bully the bully.
c. Revenge. that's it for most of the time.

3. The bicycle-riding-gun fighting scene was funny!
4. If it wasn't for the black and white cinematography, the whole thing would've been any average action film dated in the 50s. There's no better way to make it stylized for cheesy lines to sound cool, "akin ang Tondo!"
5. Most of the time, I was checking out the whole 40s-50s vibe. How Tondo looked, how the characters talk and how "things were". I even concerned myself to the tiny detail as the money used. Love the outfits and Abellana's hair. Though, I keep on thinking she looks a bit young for ER Ejercito. Im convincing myself that there won't be a rape scene anytime soon. Relax, its his husband btw.

.. If this becomes a hit, Im expecting another era of crappy action films. If the trailer was a sign, lets all welcome, Hitman. starring Cesar Montano.

Paul Theroux; Iron Rooster

I heard many great stories about China. Coming from a country very much influenced by Chinese culture, I am curious and interested in learning more about the country and its people.Theroux's insights, while a bit outdated after publishing it in the late 80s, some still rang true today. Restroom complaints, spitting and the lack of courtesy among people from mainland are laments often heard by friends who have visited the place. While the lack of hygeine bothered me a bit, Theroux's novel painted a gorgeous picture of China's countryside, captured during his trip through a railway tour across China.
Hopefully, I will be able to go to the sites he mentioned and not just the more famous cities- Beijing and Shanghai.
1. First on my list is the Bogda Shan-Tianchi where the Heavenly pool is located.

2. I would also like to try the railroad crossing the Silk Road
3. He mentioned the railway crossing Emei to Kunming with 200 tunnels. A memorial was dedicated to the people who built it as hundreds sacrificed to build a railway across one of the perilous and mountainous area.

4. On the subject of Kunming, it is also home to several minorities. It would be wonderful to see their colorful clothings, as Theroux put it TECHNICOLOR TRIBALISM, which is a big fad these days

5. Theroux mentioned the ride from Guangxi to Guilin, I would personally love to see the landscapes,. As mentioned, the train ride gave him a glimpse of rural China and how the changing landscapes made man co-exist with nature-altering land to suit his needs. He also mentioned that the place resembled that of a Chinese painting.

 

 It was also a place of some exotic foods such as wawa fish (which is actually a salander) and muntjac (deer):

So cute to eat?

M5: Ninth Gate

I am a fan of Johnny Depp because he creates such convincing characters. True to any Roman Polanski film, there's tension at the start, like you are peeping into the lives on celluloid. The quest to find the three books (Ninth Gate) reminded me of a similar book I was reading The Club Dumas (Arturo Perez-Reverte). You have Johnny Depp's character criss-crossing back and forth Toledo,  Sintra and Paris in the quest of finding the "original copy". Quite predictable than most of Polanski film, bordering to laughable at times. For the love of me, I'd watch the Tenant and that You came to 1/2 of the film expecting a certain build-up yet you end up wanting more, and by the end of the film, you would've felt you've wasted most of the 2:15 of your life.

Needless to say the film has its merits, minus the distracting soundtrack...on supposedly, "thrilling parts". Depp ended up having sex (with The Devil's messenger? "The Girl"). I laugh.

Its one of those films where I fell in love with its poster and regretted seeing it afterwards.

A few shots worth noting is a close-up shot with Depp and the camera slowly moving towards him as he examines Book3 and the breathtaking view of the castle, great recreation from the book :).

Though, the film left me feeling like watching Da Vinci Code. Felt like it had  a much much slower pacing and a nothing to look forward to, except Depp is better at it than Tom Hanks :D

I will however, finish the book :) soon.

M4: Blow-out de Palma

Blowout
Right now, I could not imagine John Travolta in a de Palma film. He mightve been famous for his moves on Grease and (even Quarantino's Pulp Fiction).
Ive seen only a few de Palma works (Carrie included). Stunning shot where he paced the camera in and suddently out
Moral lesson uli: ang pakikisawsaw walang magandang maidudulot
Funny though, who cares about the govt when there's a hot chick in there.
Modulometer

Chick is stupid. Who would like to stay that way
Travolta is hopeless, and I want to redeem my failed career at justice by being a hotshot.

Braiand D palma makes stylis B films. Not much convinced and drawn to his character.

10 Movie- M1: Amadeus

1. The movie scares me. Mozart supposedly has this horrific, shrill, annoying laugh. You can just imagine how odd it was to watch the Mozart everyone knew to be a genius to turn out into this immature, childish playboy.f

From this:                                       To this: 

 

2. Well, it was obvious that despite the movies title, the real star in this film was Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham). He was pretty much convincing as this "tortured, frustrated soul". His character was so relatable because there was something about his vulnerability that we once find ourselves in his desperation and pain. We often find ourselves in situation of:

3. Jealousy: Back in gradeschool, I asked myself why God favored the prodigal son. He squandered his money away, left home; only to return and be welcomed with a grand feast and grandiose clothing,. As the older brother, I would definitely feel bad that I devoted my life to make the father proud and yet, he never even got that kind of attention. (I would even hint, "it's so unfair he had all the share of fun and games while I toll my life away" frustrations that I have) 

Salieri, who only wanted to make music for God *yeah I choked when I first heard it, was mad at Him for giving Mozart all the opportunity and talent. Being "undeserving": arrogant, boastful- it seemed as I also feel his pain seeing all those talent in the "wrong hands". Then again, I  am not so excited of hearing religious themes in bold concepts such as The Marriage of Figaro. (that's another story). Which brings me to another side story I was able to accept a long time ago that Salieri failed to acknowledge *yes, I am smarter than him. :) talent. Remember back in college, where you know people who have it all: good looks, life of a party and the brains to go with it. He/she is the top of the class despite coming home at 5 am drunk the other day for the midterms. Yes life is unfair and I got the hang of it back in college. 

Like Salieri, I slaved myself in the library for hours trying to decipher Accounting problems, photocopying numerous sheets of practice exams only to have my seatmate who spent his day playing computer games ace it. Some people are just meant to be geniuses at it while the rest of us slave away. PS. unlike Salieri, I do not have hard feelings against my seatmate enough to have murderous thoughts against him/her. :D

Ps the part where he was so angry at God when he found out that the girl he loved was already "taken" by Mozart was funny.

4. Religion. Coming from a very Catholic family, I would often hear my mom pray hard whenever we wanted something then, whenever we didn't get what we want, she would just shrug it off and say, "It's God's plan". Oftentimes, it is where one's frustation come in when we are unable to accept that most things are really beyond our control and neither does a Higher Being up there plans for us or others. That scene where Salieri fervently prayed so hard to God to "speak to Him" by helping him come up with even just one great song; while Mozart just instantly makes hits in his head. Not to talk about politics, justice and social class- you don't need validation to glorify suffering and one's "disappointments" of NOT HAVING it. It's just the way it is, the only thing you can change is how you perceive it. For Salieri, he will always be secondary to Mozart's talent. But I at least he's got more business sense. :)

5. On a lighter note, the film gave me tons of great ideas for Halloween next year:
The outrageous head pieces, I was amazed (and crept out at the same time) when I saw the odd animal shapes they wore during a masquerade ball

Mozart's wigs were ...overwhelming. If there's such a thing as costume changes, he got loads of wig changes in a span of 10 minutes. 
a. Here's my wig when I have a major concert to go with the intense face

b. I am a douche bag.

c. Supposedly this is his "normal" hair minus the wig, it very much screams " I am a member of a metal band, please date me"

Constanze Mozart (and the rest of the women's costume screamed: CLEAVAGE.

(This was an actual scene, btw)

Did you know?

1. If F. Murray Abrahams looked so familiar (I was more into Snape younger vers, BUT he isn't).  He's actually starred in films like Mimic (Dr. Murray), Thir13n Ghosts (Cyrus Kriticos)..and Scarface (Omar Suarez). 

2. It won 8 Academy Awards including best Film, 4 Golden Globes, 4 Bafta among other awards. (sabe.)