February 19, 2004

Sweet!

Awwwww.... :) I just got the sweetest letter ever! And I don't even know who he or she is. I mean, never in my blog life did I expect that somebody out there would take the time out to write such a lengthy letter in response to the mostly narcissistic and idiotics entries I post. To Mei-Tsin Yan, thank you soooo much! Needless to say, I was touched. And I rarely get touched. Heh. :D Anyways, I don't know if you'll get angry at me for this but I forwarded your letter to Arah and Rose (Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay writers), Tessa (My First Romance co-writer), and Tammy, Michiko and Emman (Pangako sa 'Yo co-writers). I just wanted to share the love (I know it's cheezy but you know, pay it forward! :D ).

Narcissistic that I am, I'm sure you expected that I'm also going to post the letter here, didn't you?! LOL! :) (And folks, I'm not making this up. Mei Tsin writes waaay better!)

Kumusta, Beatlebum.

May hinahanap ako sa Internet nang "madapa" ako sa live journal mo. Binasa ko rin, paunti-unti hanggang sa nabasa ko na siguro lahat.

May kaibigan akong minsan nagsabi sa akin: isipin ko daw 'yung bato, na kapag tinapon sa tubig ay gumagawa ng alon. Kahit maliit na alon. O kahit maliit ang bato, parating may alon.

'Yun lang ang gusto kong sabihin sa'yo. Sabi mo ay isa kang "reluctant writer," at may halong pagkailang ang pagsusulat mo ng teleserye at teenyboppers.

Ewan ko kung anong maitutulong ko sa pagsasabi ko nito, pero pinanood ko ang "My First Romance." Inulit ko pa. Kasi natuwa ako. (Sayang hindi nga lang sa sine). Ibig sabihin may saysay din 'yung ginawa mo, kahit na konti at kahit na papaano (kasi iisa nga lang naman ako, 'di ba?).

Siguro nga nakapagtataka para sa mga aral kuno sa sining ng pelikula kung bakit Rated B ang "My First Romance" pero matagal na akong hindi marunong mag-critique. Kaya para sa akin, deserving. Simple lang naman 'yung pelikula, at gaya na rin ng sinabi mo, hindi niya pinipilit na magpakalalim. Nakakaaliw naman na ipinagmamalaki mong sinulat mo ang pelikulang 'yon. Naaliw ako sa character du'n ni John Prats, na lahat ng gamit donated. Simpleng character, simpleng quirk, pero hindi madalas makita. Sigurado akong maalala ko siya nang matagal.

'Yung best friend ko, fan na fan ng "Pangako Sa'Yo." Walang halong biro. Umuuwi siya nang maaga para lang maabutan. Minsan sa mga kuwentuhan ng ibang grupo ng mga kaibigan, napag-uusapan pa namin 'yung mga pangalan ng mga characters. Kakaiba naman talaga kasi. Minsan, sabi ng pinsan ko, may nakausap siyang taga-Malaysia na naghahanap ng VCD set ng "Pangako Sa'Yo." Hindi daw niya alam na 400+ episodes 'yung series. Sana, kahit papaano, nakabawi naman sa hirap at pagod mo ang mga kuwentong ito.

Tumatak sa isip ko kasi 'yung sinulat mo tungkol sa mga trials mo at sa kaibigan mong si Arah. 'Di ko halos maisip pero napag-bonding-an namin ng isang kaibigan (na literature major kaya medyo elitista din) ang "Kay Tagal..." Patapos na 'yung series nang malaman naming pareho pala kaming nanonood n'yon. Sinabi niya, nito lang, na halos tuwing natatapos niya itong panoorin noon ay naglilista siya ng mga linya. Nakuwento ko kasi sa kanya na sobrang nagandahan ako sa isang simpleng tula galing sa "Kay Tagal." (Kinopya ko pa at ishinare sa kanya). Wala na sigurong sasarap pa sa isang writer na malaman niyang ninanamnam ang bawat salitang naggaling sa kanya.

Saludo ako sa 'yo, at sa mga nagsulat at nagsusulat ng teleserye na katulad mo, dahil napakahirap na trabaho ang magbuo ng kuwento at tauhan na bumibilang ng buwan o taon.

Kasalo namin sa hapunan ang mga teleserye, kaya siguro kahit hindi namin sinasadya ay nagiging bahagi na sila ng buhay sa bahay. Ito na 'yung alon ng bato na sinasabi ng kaibigan ko. Kaya lito ka man sa buhay mo ngayon, habang pinagsasabay mo ang pag-aaral at paglipat ng propesyon, habang iniisip mo kung tatanggap ka pa ba ng alok na magsulat, nakagawa na ng alon ang batong tinapon mo. At maaaring tuloy-tuloy pa rin ito. Galingan mo lang ang bawat sining na pinahihiram ng Diyos sa iyo.

Good luck sa iyo!

February 15, 2004

214

I spent my Valentines with my high school classmates. Franco invited us to his condo unit in Robinson’s Ermita to distribute the VCDs he especially made for our class. The VCDs feature footages from high school, which Franco took some 10 years ago using his old reliable V8 camera. (He was our Dawson Leery.) He created music videos out of them. Creative, I say, because he used songs from the era, which makes the video even more valuable and nostalgic.

Unfortunately, there were only 2 of us who went. The others said they had previous commitments which actually surprised me since they are singles. I mean, I would have understood if Mary Ann (the other one who came) said no since she has a boyfriend and it's Valentines Day. My mood dampened a bit then. For crying out loud, I'm single and I need the company of other singles like me on Valentines Day! :) Okay, I also miss them. We rarely see each other even if we’re all living in the metro because of our work (or my irregular work sked on my part) and mini-reunions such as what would have happened are always total blasts. The last time we met in Franco's place (2 years ago), we had so much fun eating, swimming, and reminiscing our high school lives. (That’s fun to me.)

The mood didn't change at all when we viewed the video. It was so heart wrenching seeing my younger self so carefree and so full of life and so not jaded...UGH! I miss high school.

There was the footage of our Social Science group acting out the Roman Empire era for a class project. We were so serious, it was so freakin' funny. I remember we did some location shoot in the mountains of Negros. Can you imagine, we were 15 year olds, Franco was our driver and lousy one that he was, we almost fell from the cliff?! :) (I know, awkward sentence structure).

There was also the video of our class during a sleepover in Marita's hotel. Marita's one of the rich kids and during her birthday, she invited the whole class to sleep over in their hotel. It was so cool! :) We played a lot of games from the juvenile "spin the bottle" to the childish "ghost haunting".

Of course, watching the video also reminded me of my status as the perennial victim of the big boys. :) There was a perfect capture of me being thrown into the pool by Arhnel, the class bully. (We're friends now, to be fair.)

Haaay.... those were the days.... 10 years ago.... man, I'm not getting younger.... I’m depressed .... :)

After viewing, we had dinner in a Chinese resto downstairs. Mary Ann's boyfriend joined us and I'm reminded again that it's Valentines Day and yes, I'm single. (Franco's GF's based south). Since I don't think both Franco and I wanted each other's company after Mary Ann and BF left for their "real" dinner, I just thanked him and said goodbye. It was still 8pm.

And that, my friends, is how my Valentines Day ended. Alone. As usual.

February 11, 2004

Of Milan and B Movies

I was at the jam-packed premiere of Milan last night in Megamall. I think I'd recommend the movie to you guys. I'd say it's one of the better Filipino movies around and definitely, the best movie of Direk Olive Lamasan. If you're a fan of her works, you will not be disappointed.

What I like about the film foremost is its excellent production values. The cinematography is really good. The movie reaffirms Shayne Clemente's status as one of the best DOPs in the P.I. Considering that they just did guerilla shoot in Milan, I have no apprehension in giving thumbs up to Shayne's work. Of course, this comes with the able direction of Direk Olive. Her shots are symbolic yet not stagey and flashy (unlike some in your face "hey, I'm a visual" director/s.) Direk Olive is also successful in giving out the best in the two leads Claudine and Piolo. While I'm not exactly a fan of the two when it comes to acting (they should take some voice modulation class or something), I think they were consistently good and gave out effective performances. Direk Olive is an actor's director so this comes as no surprise. What's pleasantly surprising though are the support cast who are just so excellent in their craft particularly Ryan Eigenmann (subtle and realistic acting), Iza Calzado (she can act! and she registers well on screen!) and the guy who played Ilonah Jean's lover.

The story is a bit similar to the Hongkong movie Comrades (which I also recommend that you watch). Lino (Piolo) goes to Milan in search of his lost wife and meets Jenny (Claudine), a toughened Filipina OFW who helps him through the process. Since this is a love story, it is inevitable that they eventually fall in love. The love story is just the backdrop though of the film's real core, which are the lives and loves of Milan's Filipino workers. Inserted in the movie are video interviews of real people telling their life anecdotes. Direk Olive also did ala-Dogville when Piolo as Lino becomes one of the interviewees in the end.

Of course, the movie's not that perfect. Some scenes come out melodramatic. Some lines might be consciously written to be trailer-worthy. It's too mainstream glossy. The disconnection of Lino and Jenny appeared "hilaw" to me. Since the story's premise of Filipinos living abroad was already tackled in Direk Olive's previous work, the URIAN winner Sana Maulit Muli, I think she was trying to avoid doing the same thing which is understandable. It's just that storytelling-wise, the Aga-Lea starrer for me is still better.

You know I'm not fond of love songs, or love stories, so I leave you to judge the film on the love angle. :)


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Something to laugh about.... The following films are the films Rated B by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB)....

Magnifico... Milan... Filipinas... Mano Po 2... MY FIRST ROMANCE... :D


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By the way, I was wrong about that liposuction thingy. ;)

February 05, 2004

Free Doom

I think I'm going to get a low grade in my film class. I always come to class late. My reaction papers on the films we viewed are only 3 paragraphs long (my classmates submit 3 pages). I don't participate in class discussions (I'm too sleepy or tired to talk, coming from a shooting that ends the dawn earlier). And I'll be absent again for at least 2 more classes due to work. I might not even get to report my assigned topic. Is this goodbye academe for me?

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We're supposed to shoot today but it was packed up. One of our actors begged off saying he'll have himself confined in the hospital for 3 days. He told us he thinks he has health problems. The malicious side in me thinks otherwise. I think he's going to have a liposuction. I know, evil thinking! :) But I can't help but think so considering we had to do some reshoots due to producers' concern about his weight. Or I may be just making too much drama out of this.

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You think I'd be free since we won't be shooting till Saturday. But no, I still have to go to the office to conduct some freakin' auditions. Gad, I'm so frustrated over the lack of talents who can act but are not expensive. It seems there is a dearth of good talents here in the P.I. People who audition are either fans who just want to see how a shooting goes or impoverished bums who simply want to earn something, anything. I'm frustrated because this is the aspect of shoot where I get the most "okray" from Direk. It really dampens my spirit, you know. It's like I'm already anticipating that Direk would "okray" me every shoot because of the quality of talents who come to the set. Argh!!! Lord, help me!

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A classmate is reporting right now about the auteur theory. He keeps pronouncing auteur as "aute-ur". Now, I'm also not good in pronunciation (or diction even) but dude, it's pronounced as "autur"! NOT "aute-ur"!!! Ugh!