2009: Highlights in Film

Raya Martin's Independencia

2009: Highlights in Film

2009 has been both kind and cruel to Philippine cinema. As we celebrate the numerous recognitions Filipino films are getting from beyond Philippine shores (Brillante Mendoza winning Best Director in Cannes for Kinatay (The Execution of P) with Raya Martin's Independencia (which is the second Filipino film, after Mendoza's Serbis (Service) in 2008, to be featured in the prestigious New York Film Festival) and Manila (co-directed with Adolfo Alix, Jr.) also premiering in the film festival; Pepe Diokno's Engkwentro (Clash) winning the Luigi de Laurentiis Award and the Orrizonti Prize in Venice, where Mendoza's Lola (Grandmother) premiered in the main competition of the film festival; Pusan and Thessaloniki putting the spotlight on Philippine cinema, concentrating on the diverse output of the new wave of directors from the vibrant independent scene; Vienna holding a retrospective of Lino Brocka's works; among many others), we mourn the untimely passing of the heroes of Philippine cinema: Alexis Tioseco, a great critic who championed Southeast Asian, and more specifically Philippine cinema, concentrating on the films of the Diaz, Martin, and John Torres, whose works he dearly loved, with endless passion; and Johnny Delgado, a great actor whose collaborations with almost all of the country's great filmmakers (Brocka, Mike De Leon, Gerry De Leon, Laurice Guillen, and Celso A. Castillo), make up a portion of this country's vibrant cinema.

2009 also saw the continuation of what ails our cinema: an unimaginative mainstream (although I must admit that Chito Rono's T2, the first half of which is quite intriguing, Olive Lamasan's In My Life, a baby step for the mainstream to embrace gay cinema (as opposed to the banal comedies of Joel Lamangan that merely re-echoed the stereotypes of homosexuality from past decades with contemporary idiocy), and Laurice Guillen's I Love You, Goodbye, a fine film except that it ended illogically, were minor delights), and local film distributors that favor brainless blockbusters (Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Chris Weitz's New Moon) to quality imports (although the latter part of the year saw the surprising commercial release of Werner Herzog's The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, James Gray's Two Lovers, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox). Despite that, the year saw the continuation of what gives us hope in our cinema: Cinemalaya, despite my apprehensions to its raison d'etre of independence through creative compromise, had a roster of good to great products (Alvin Yapan's Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe), Veronica Velasco's Last Supper No. 3, Borgy Torre's charming short Bonsai); Cinemanila, apart from showcasing the best films from around the world (including Christopher Chong's Karaoke, Sergei Dvortsevoy's Tulpan and Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In), saw the premieres of Raymond Red's Himpapawid (Manila Skies), his first film since winning the Palm D'Or for his short film Anino (Shadows), Christopher Gozum's Anacbanua (Child of the Sun), and Armando Lao's Biyaheng Lupa (Soliloquy), and CinemaOne, despite my problem with the festival's treatment of its director's property rights with regards their films, which produced its sole masterpiece, Ray Gibraltar's Wanted: Border.

One can only hope for better things for 2010: with filmmakers getting their due respect, not only in terms of recognition but also basic sustenance (it pains me to see these filmmakers struggling to pay off debts incurred for the sole reason of advancing this country's cinematic culture); with our audience actually watching the films that have garnered worldwide fanfare instead of simply reading about them from obscure press releases in several broadsheets; with more film lovers writing about our cinema, giving room to responsible discourse about our films. Now, on to the lists:

******


Werner Herzog's The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

Top 10 Foreign Films Released in 2009

1) The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog)
2) Two Lovers (James Gray)
3) Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki)
4) Karaoke (Christopher Chong)
5) Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson)
6) Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
7) Public Enemies (Michael Mann)
8) Tulpan (Sergei Dvortsevoy)
9) Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
10) Drag Me To Hell (Sam Raimi)

*****


Christopher Gozum's Anacbanua

Top 10 Filipino Films Released in 2009

1) Independencia (Raya Martin)
2) Kinatay (The Execution of P, Brillante Mendoza)
3) Wanted: Border (Ray Gibraltar)
4) Anacbanua (Child of the Sun, Christopher Gozum)
5) Lupang Hinarang (Hindered Land, Ditsi Carolino)
6) Himpapawid (Manila Skies, Raymond Red)
7) Walang Alaala ang mga Paru-paro (Butterflies Have No Memories, Lav Diaz)
8) Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe, Alvin Yapan)
9) Last Supper No. 3 (Veronica Velasco)
10) Kimmy Dora (Joyce Bernal)

*****


Raymond Red's Ang Magpakailanman

Top 5 Older Filipino Films Seen for the First Time in 2009

1) Pagdating sa Dulo (At the Top, Ishmael Bernal, 1971)
2) Bakit Dilaw ang Gitna ng Bahaghari? (Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?, Kidlat Tahimik, 1994)
3) Bontoc Eulogy (Marlon Fuentes, 1995)
4) Ang Magpakailanman (The Eternity, Raymond Red, 1982)
5) Kagat ng Dilim (Dark Bites, Cesar Hernando, 2006)

(Cross-published in Senses of Cinema, 2009 World Poll)

Another Year, Another Set of Writing Goals (and a Few Aspirations)

Okay, so I'm not so great at remembering to cross-post from my LJ blog.

So, I'm just gonna say sorry and send you here if you want to take a look at all I've posted recently (it's a bunch, so take your time). And I promise I'll try to do better to remember this blog as well.

Anyway, since I'm all about making new promises, I thought I'd share my new writing goals (and a few aspirations) for the new year with anyone who cares to know what I have planned for 2010. The following is cross-posted from my LJ blog.

Without further ado, they are:

GOALS
1. Finish the first draft of my current WIP. The real, official deadline I've set for myself is my birthday (mid-Feb), but I'm really hoping to finish this by the end of January.

2. Write the first draft of another MG novel.

3. Polish one of the first drafts I have floating around on my hard drive and send it off to my agent.

4. Write five days a week.

5. Work on my health goals, since I'm not particularly happy about looking like a lumpy marshmallow if I ever need to get an author photo. (I won't list those particular goals here, but yes they are specific and hopefully attainable.)

ASPIRATIONS
1. Sell the manuscript currently out on submission.
2. Get either a two-book deal OR sell a second book (I'm not particular about which one, I'd just like to have two books sold).
3. Become an entertaining speaker for anyone who thinks I might have something interesting to say. (Yes, I like to talk but so far I haven't had much to say. I still don't, but I can dream, can't I?)

I'm ready for you, 2010.

I Love You, Goodbye (2009)

I Love You, Goodbye (Laurice Guillen, 2009)

In a film festival that showcases Philippine cinema in its most obnoxiously self-important, with festival films ranging from spectacle-filled pseudo-epics to overacted tearjerkers to undercooked slapsticks, I Love You, Goodbye, despite its own melodramatic excesses, is joyfully quiet, lyrical and close to being authentically moving. It grabs you immediately from the start, when Lizelle (Angelica Panganiban), the poor girlfriend of wealthy doctor Adrian (Gabby Concepcion), enters the house of her boyfriend's family, gets rudely ignored by her boyfriend's mother (Liza Lorena), insulted by her boyfriend's daughter Ysa (Kim Chiu), and overshadowed by her husband's ex-wife (Angel Aquino) who charmss everyone with her seeming perfection compared to Lizelle's enumeration of imperfection. Despite the onslaught of unfortunate eventualities of that night, she still ends up passionately making love with her boyfriend.

The introduction, swiftly and without need of narrative embellishments, summarizes the mess that Lizelle is trapped in. She thrives within a relationship that is solely grounded on a flimsy concept called love. The initial lovemaking scene, shot by Lee Meily in disarming close-up, exposing the uncovered bronzed skin of the lovers in intense embracing and kissing, scored by Von de Guzman who makes use of the saxophone to enhance the steamy mood, and directed with an unabashed sensuality by Guillen, is sinful to look at, not because of the abundance of flesh exposed but because it is simply an act of desperation, an act by lovers struggling amidst a reality that is against their union, a fantasy, although masked by the intoxicating feeling of romance. The plot thickens. Gary (Derek Ramsay), Lizelle's ex-boyfriend, returns, and woos Ysa so that she can get chance to win back Lizelle. Ysa eventually falls in love with Gary who can't reciprocate such adoration because he is still desperately in love with Lizelle.

Lizelle becomes the center of an intricate web of disjointed desires, misplaced adoration, and unavoidable compromise. Panganiban, whose angelic face betrays the seductive curves of her body, is quite a talented actress, gifted with an innate ability to efficiently convert emotions like restrained passion, repressed sadness, and emotional despair into heartfelt gestures, tears, and facial expressions. In one scene, where Lizelle and Gary are left alone in the beach, and allowed for the very first time since their separation to be honest with each other, Guillen aptly does away with music, allowing Panganiban to solely control the scene, puncturing the stillness of everything with a masterful display of whirlwinding emotions, of reminiscence of a lovely past and hope for an unattained future, of an unbearable loneliness and the comfort of a long-awaited release, of the utter confusion of being trapped in the middle of two equally strong loves and the happiness of being essentially exposed to one. It's a beautifully crafted scene, completely unadorned yet brimming with such delicate sadness.

I Love You, Goodbye should have been a good film and it pains me to note that it is not for the simple reason that it flaked in its ending. After meticulously mapping the exposure of a dreamy relationship for the veritable sham that it really is, it quickly abandons such directive and surrenders to the inevitable call of inane conventionalism. I Love You, Goodbye could have been the decade's anti-romance, the momentary cure (at least for the two hours that the audiences would invest on the film) to the Filipino's inherent infatuation for escape through the plasticine happiness of matinee idols and leading ladies entangled in choreographed kisses and embraces. It could have echoed the glossy melancholy of the ending of Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), where two lovers who are deeply in love, after being separated by war, unexpectedly meet-up, armed only with the painful memories of that love they used to share with each other that can never be regained. It could have had the same puncturing bittersweet resolution of James Gray's Two Lovers (2008), where a dreamer of a man wakes up and realizes his dreams of a perfect romance is unattainable, and settles.

But of course, I Love You, Goodbye is a different movie altogether and to expect something else out of it is admittedly an unfair proposition. Yet, the knowledge that the happy ending is merely a product of corporate concession and not of creative impulse, complicated by the fact that the originally intended ending, an ending that is more grounded in reality and logic, has already been shot but eventually shunned by the film's producers for being ambiguously sad, alarms because it pinpoints a national commercial cinema that is obviously taken hostage by formula and what seems to be misguided appreciation of what an audience can and cannot take.

As it turns out, reality, even in something as impertinent as the romantic relationship of fictional characters, is too much of a risk for movie producers with primary capitalist sensibilities. The more lucrative option is to perpetuate the grand cinematic lie; that everything ends happily and all problems and conflicts, no matter how undeniable unresolvable they are, can be magically resolved, and all characters can achieve a state of ecstatic satisfaction and completely forgetful of all the hatred and ill will that have been exchanged between and among them before. Perhaps it is my innate cynicism that drives me to abhor the ending that was imposed upon the film by its cowardly producers. Perhaps perfect endings are actual possibilities or even if they are not, we are in such need of them that we delight in being bombarded by them no matter how misplaced, dangerously false, and illogical they are. However, when a film has a perfect ending just for the sake of having one, betraying all notions of storytelling logic and emotional consistency, it is simply bad filmmaking that is not to be faulted to the director or her cast and crew, who in my opinion have crafted a fine film save for the insulting resolution, but to the profit-oriented movie studio that is being run by a team of unimaginative businesspeople who deplorably treat art not with passion or adoration but with outright bullyism and unfair compromise.

My Creation - Part 34

I fixed this not-so-bento-like lunch last weekend for my boys. Another new items to add on to my bento box collection. Cute box?

It's round shape, to make it easy, i made a round shape rice and top with an fried egg on top, and add some smiley face on it. Surround it with some nuggets, luncheon meat and anchovies, quick and easy. Some mummies ask me, the lunch look big portion, actually it's not too big, from picture it look big, when my boys are hungry, most of the time they will finish the food i give them. :)

This will be my last post for bento for this year, hope i did not "torture" your eyes with this not-so-nice bento post.

Leading Guatemalan newspaper pranks gays, tells them they can marry

In Latin America, April Fools' Day doesn't come in April - nor is it called "April Fools' Day"... discuss.

Actually, it's called "Innocents' Day" and it comes around every December 28th.

Anyhow, considering all the hoopla surrounding the decision last week by Mexico City's Legislative Assembly to grant gays the right to marry and adopt, a Guatemalan newspaper thought that it would be hilarious to prank Guatemalan gay couples yesterday and make them believe that their government had also granted them the right to marry.

In an article titled "The gays will be able to create a family in Guatemala", El Periódico reported that Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom had broken away from his past and promised to promote a law making it easier for gays to marry. President Colom, according to the article, had hosted a surprise Christmas dinner with the country's LGBT leadership on Saturday and had been able to work out every difference that the LGBT rights movement might have held with his government. The article also said that most of the government's ministers had been present at the dinner, including the ministers of Defense, Education and Athletics, and that Colom had taken the opportunity to personally apologize for making comments against the LGBT community in the past.

In addition, the paper said that the Guatemalan president vowed to institute a series of measures to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community in the country, and that he would require any private institution doing business with the country to prove that at least 10% of its workforce was LGBT.

But, wait! It was all a prank!

In the last sentence in the article, the paper said "Lastly, the leader asked all communication media representatives to distribute the news until today, December 28th, Innocents' Day", the only sign that readers had been had.

A few readers caught up with the prank leaving messages behind calling it in poor taste. Others thought it was the real deal, including Guatemalan homophobes who called the news a travesty. And yet, so far, there has been no apology forthcoming from the paper's editors.

Related

• Gay marriage in Guatemala on Innocents' Day (Spanish, Universo Gay)

Gay couple in Argentina granted marriage license, 1st in Latin America

From AFP:

Two Argentine men on [Monday] became the first homosexuals to legally marry in Latin America, after the governor of the country's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province permitted their wedding... Although the Argentine civil code does not recognize same sex marriages, a court had approved the wedding of Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, before it was challenged pending the outcome of a Supreme Court appeal.... Tierra del Fuego Governor Fabiana Rios authorized [Monday]'s wedding after a civil registrar had refused to officiate earlier this month... The Argentine capital became Latin America's first city to approve civil unions in 2002. Buenos Aires grants gay couples some, but not all rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

I first had an inkling that something was afoot through Twitter as the ceremony in Tierra del Fuego and the Governor's decision were kept closely under wraps. The development, which surprised even those of us who were keeping an eye on the issue as it relates to Argentina, does not mean that other gay couples automatically will be granted the right to marry.

Freyre and Di Bello had been scheduled to marry in Buenos Aires on December 1st until the marriage was stopped by local authorities. Since then, dozens of gay couples throughout Argentina have registered at local marriage bureaus in protest. Conceivably, each court would have to determine whether they will grant each couple a marriage license.

Most probably the issue will be ultimately resolved by the Argentinian Constitutional Court which has announced that it will rule on the constitutionality of marriage rights for same-sex couples in 2010.

The one thing they will not be able to take away from Freyre and Di Bello, in what had become - in some ways - a race to the finish, is their claim to being the first gay couple to be granted marriage rights in all of Latin America.

Related: The provincial government of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina has provided Rex Wockner some great photos of the marriage ceremony. Click on the link below to see them.

• Photos from the bottom of the world (Wockner)

Mexico City grants gays the right to marry and adopt

From Rex Wockner's weekly syndicated international LGBT news column via Bay Windows:

Mexico City’s Legislative Assembly voted 39-20 to legalize same-sex marriage Dec. 21... Federal benefits, such as pension, inheritance and social-security rights, will remain off-limits to married gay couples without changes in federal law to recognize the Mexico City marriages.

The bill, which also grants gay couples the right to adopt, is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard in January. The law would go into effect in March.

Belated Christmas Party @ home

During Christmas eve and Christmas day, we didn't go anywhere, just stay at home. On Christmas eve we do some deco at the house to prepare for the belated chrismas party on Sunday. Two unwelcome friends also decide to paid me visit during christmas eve, which are flu and cough bugs. :( What a day to start my long weekend.

We had a belated christmas party yesterday (sunday night), we not invite a lot guests, only those close friends and relatives. Menu for the party, no roast turkey, but all porky! Pork ribs, meat, pork sausages, chicken wings, pork satay, salad, mushroom soup, garlic bread, pasta.

I am preparing mushroom soup and garlic bread, those meat and ribs all done by bil's and my hub to grill and BBQ it, younger sil was preparing the pasta. Look easy and simple but still got a preparation to do. Bil marinate the meat one week before, hub start grill or bbq the meat in the afternoon at 2pm, since it was using charcoal, so it take sometime to grill.

Guest all come around 7pm, while i still like a headless chicken run up and down in and out and quickly had a quick shower then time to entertain my guests. Barb & Andy & Ashley, Elaine and Danny and Amber, and one of my old college friend Jackie and her friends are my guests.

Kids are having tons of fun, sil prepare some party packs for the kids and adults can eat in peace. I manage to sit down a while, eat and chit chat, and also in out kitchen to refill the garlic bread (fresh from oven). Not forget need to entertain my two boys also, after they playing a while, they will come and ask "when can we open the presents???"

We had a fun time catching up, talking, eating, laughing. Hub's cycling friend brought two home made cake, black forest and cheese cake. Me and my sil had an idea, since sil's siter birthday is on 1/1 and Elaine's birthday is on 31/12, so we said why not we use the two cakes and let them blow the candles, give them a surprise early celebration (of course we did ask the permission from the cake owner. hahahahhahahhahahhahah) We get all the kids sing "Happy Birthday" song to the two birthday ladies.

Last highlight for the night is christmas gifts exchange. Every year, christmas gifts exchange just within our family members, this year we had more fun, because we got more people to participate, those guests come to party, we inform them to bring a small gift if they want to join in the fun. All parents will bring the gifts for their kids also, we all put them under the christmas tree. We adults had the number draw first then only the kids had their. ahhahahahhahaha I tell you all the kids just can't wait to open their presents!! It's so noisy, funny and messy!! My hub and bil had loud voice, everyone opening their gifts and start laughing at what they get (this is the usual thing).

Party over about 10.30pm, we really had so much fun, including my two boys, holding their gifts. Daddy bought the boys Ben 10 scooters as christmas gift and also a full set helmet, arm and knee guard.

Thanks aunty Barb, aunty Elaine, Misha jie jie, aunty Krystal and Jackie jie jie for the lovely christmas pressies and not forgetting those from "ku cheh" and "sam sam"! (message from Fearles and Cruz)


p.s. i borrow some pictures from Elaine, because i was busy, didn't take much pictures and also the pictures i took some are blur and dark. :( the official photographer are busy grilling or bbq-ing the food.

bil deco the place on christmas eve, sil and me are the assistant. :)




pork satay on the grill



my garlic bread and mushroom soup and salad





recipe from wokking mum's blog



bbq ribs.....


another type of pork satay, all home made.


ribs or meat? i only know how to eat...hahahhahah




two type of pasta, this is one of it, cook by sil's sister, sil was cooking spaghetti bolognise.


some of the friends and relatives...


Barb, Andy, Danny, Amber, Fearles and Elaine. Ashley and Cruz was busy social around.


a suprise birthday cake cutting session for Elaine and Esther (sil's sister)




Look! Whose birthday now...hahahhahahha kids can't wait to blow off the candles!


my boys posing in front of the christmas tree..


look at the present, those with number are christmas gift exchange between adults, those without number are all the kid's presents.


Ashley and Amber open their christmas presents. (pix from elaine's camera)


my boys busy open their presents too! (pic from elaine's camera)


look at the adults also busy taking their presents


havoc, noisy, laughing.....


(pic from elaine's camera)

Chantal Joffe

Chantal Joffe

Chantal Joffe

A short gateaway to PD again...

School holidays over soon, during this long school holidays break i didn't bring my boys to anywhere..feeling guilt, we brought them to PD again, since they like to play sand and they like beach. This time round we didn't stay at Avillion, Avillion is fully booked except for water chalet, we are staying at water chalet last round, it's not cheap, so we opt it out this time. We stay at Regency Tanjung this time, it's a hotel apartment, from the hotel outer look, it look very nice and also the place is well maintain, but not the rooms :( The apartment don't have any air cond at the living room, only ceiling fan and air cond is in the room, and it's not cold at all. Anyway, it's just a night stay, so i better don't complain much.



Regency Tanjung Tun Beach Hotel

nice hor?

view from our room....by the time we check in is already about 7pm..we manage to catch the sun set.

from our room we can see Avillion Amiral Cove, this is the two bungalow house by the sea. Nice?

Next day, we wake up early then had breakfast at the cafe, i like the cafe set up. It's stall type, they serve western food, local, indian, japanese food, they even have those banana fritter (goreng pisang) as dessert!! It's not buffet style, all is a la carte. We had our breakfast facing the sea, a very nice view.


breakfast, lunch and dinner place. They had coffee house but looks like close, so this is the only dining place.


while waiting for our breakfast, the boys pose for the camera....


skinny Fearles (he is still coughing, cannot put on weight. :( )

cheeky Cruz...



playing with the swing....




After breakfast the boys can't wait to jump into the swimming pool and had a swim. After a quick swim, we walk around at the beach, since the night we check in into the hotel, Cruz already bugging me he want to sit "banana boat"! They had that while there was a time we went to PD to have seafood dinner and let the kids play a while at the beach. Ever since then, they love banana boat. (of course the boat driver didn't over turn the boat, that's why my boys still not scare about banana boat).

I told hub to go with them on the banana boat, your truly is scary cat, i never had banana boat before, because i don't know how to swim!! I always scare banana boat, the boat driver always make you fall into water before finish the "route". Hub said he want to take picture, ask me to go with the boys, i still not willing to go and on the other hand the boys keep bugging me when they see other people ride the banana boat. Lastly, "BY FORCE" your truly had her first "virgin" banana boat ride and another on the new water spot "airhead".


have a dip in the swimming pool first, before go to beach....see how skinny Fearles, can see the bone.




happily swimming in the pool....




Cruz helping Fearles to come up from the water...


playing in the sea...




"mummy, i want banana boat! I want banana boat!!"


two brothers....


trying out the new water spot "airhead"! mummy try to act cool. hahahhaha









I told my boys, after this airhead i don't want banana boat, i told them i'm scare, they told me, "mummy, no scare, you hold tight tight so no scared) I told the boat driver, don't make us fall into the water!! I don't know how to swim!!! I "threaten" him, if he make us fall into water i'm not going to paid him money. hahahhahahhaha



can see my worried face? hahahhahahha








don know why suddenly, Fearles got a very "cool and serious" face. ahhahahahha







After the water spot, the boys back to swimming pool having a good time there again. Even though it just a short stay but the boys had tons of fun. They just love water!



We hardly can see a chinese here, i think we are the only four. hahhahah




my little mermaid - Fearles



Today is Christmas, here i would like to wish my friends, my blog readers and everyone a very Happy Merry Christmas!! We will have our belated christmas celebration this sunday, looking forward to it.