bury me in this dress

I watched Here Comes The Bride with some friends last night and I think I can now safely say that there is hope for the Philippine mainstream cinema. The movie is smart, naughty and funny. Chris Martinez did a heck of a good job with the script and direction of the film. He was able to bring out the talent of most of the stars, Angelica Panganiban and Tuesday Vargas in particular. I think the two actresses stole the show. I’m a big fan of Angelica Panganiban (she’s the reason I watched the movie and I never miss an episode of Rubi) and now I’m a bigger fan. She played the role of a gay man in a woman’s body superbly. She did it so well that Eugene Domingo got lost in her shadow although Domingo was pretty good in the movie.

Martinez made use of a lot of stereotypes in the film and he might get a bashing for that but I think the character-driven movie called for it. Besides, it’s almost impossible not to step on people’s toes these days. At least in this instance, Martinez entertained us quite well.

In case you’re planning to see Here Comes The Bride, don’t leave during the end credits. There are a lot of hidden gems there. If you have no plans of watching it because you think it’s “baduy” eh sorry na lang kayo. You are missing a lot.

I was channel surfing the telly when I saw Ratz on Kids Co. I enjoyed that movie so I watched it again. It’s a teeny bopper direct-to-tv movie about a ring which grants wishes. I like it because of the cute rat boys (Spike and Scooter) and the soundtrack. I like Candypants’ “Dishy” in particular. It’s the song played during the end credits.

Boys, like chicken, hard to eat
But I think boys are awfully sweet
Tender like a baby ham
Sticky with pineapple jam
Sniff the heady pink perfume
Clear your plate to make some room

Boys a super crunchy treat
Make a cookie hard to beat
Butter up and bake ’em through
Like a chewy macaroon
Tease the palate with a kiss
Then the kettle starts to hiss

I’m so hungry when I see
a juicy boy in front of me
Give me three square meals a day
with boy as side dish and entree

Some boys quick like Sugar Pops
Pour the milk and scoop it up
Others simmer all day long
Bubble up and burn your tongue
Any way they’re done is right
Smack your lips and take a bite

I’m so hungry when I see a
dishy boy in front of me
Give me three hot meals a day
of boy fondue and boy fillet

I don’t want a sirloin steak
Don’t give me a chocolate cake
What my tummy needs the most
Is creamy boy spread on my toast
When he’s nibbled to the core
Please, sir, may I have some more?

http://members.shaw.ca/molasses-one/Dishy.mp3

I don’t know much about the band Candypants. I’m not even sure if the band still exists. Their myspace page isn’t much help but I read that they’re from Los Angeles and their self-titled album was released by Sympathy for the Record Industry. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve been to their store when I was in Olympia, Washington and bought tons of CDs and zines. Anyhoo, “Dishy” is so fun to listen to and the lyric is perfect.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=GsS3reVFLJI[/youtube]

I was looking for the video of Gothic Archies’ “Smile, No One Cares How You Feel” when I stumbled upon this neat video by the said band. There’s no video for the song I mentioned but ANYTHING by Stephin Merritt (aka God) and his gazillion bands is good. This video is for Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” where Mr. Snicket aka Daniel Handler collaborated with Stephin and his Gothic Archies to produce a series of songs based on the books. There’s this funny video of Snicket and Merritt during a book signing. It made me realize how funny Mr. Snicket really is. He’s bigger than life. I’ve only read up to book 2 and got tired of it. The movie was amazing though. Loved the actors, the costumes, the end and beginning credits, etc. Stephin Merritt is one of my idols so combine this awesome lyricist/musician with an author who wants to make children depressed, hahaha that’s fun times!

I blame my friend Mark for introducing this movement to me. I showed him the video of 2 girls 1 cup which I found hilarious so he showed me this clip on youtube.

Warning: So not suitable for weak stomachs, sissy boys, and the likes

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=E1wjMCDRfd0&feature=related[/youtube]

I don’t get freaked out easily but the clip disturbed me. So I did some research about Viennese Actionism and this is what wikipedia says (If you can’t trust Wikipedia, what can you trust?):

The term Viennese Actionism describes a short and violent movement in 20th century art that can be regarded as part of the many independent efforts of the 1960s to develop “action art” (Fluxus, Happening, Performance, Body Art, etc.). Its main participants were Günter Brus, Otto Mühl, Hermann Nitsch and Rudolf Schwarzkogler. As “actionists”, they were active between 1960 and 1971. Most have continued their artistic work independently from the early 1970s onwards.

The work of the Viennese Actionists is probably best remembered for the wilful transgressiveness of its naked bodies, destructiveness and violence. Often, brief jail terms were served by participants for violations of decency laws, and their works were targets of moral outrage. In June 1968 Günter Brus began serving a six-month prison sentence for the crime of “degrading symbols of the state”, and later fled Austria to avoid a second arrest. Otto Mühl served a one month prison term after his participation in a public event, “Art and Revolution” in 1968. After his “Piss Action” before a Munich audience, Mühl became a fugitive from the West German police. Hermann Nitsch served a two week prison term in 1965 after his participation with Rudolph Schwarzkogler in the Festival of Psycho-Physical Naturalism. The “Destruction in Art Symposium”, held in London in 1966, marked the first encounter between members of Fluxus and Actionists. It was a landmark of international recognition for the work of Brus, Mühl and Nitsch.

So punk rock, eh? Basically, it involves a lot of nudity, violence, sex, bodily fluid, and the ability to offend as much as possible. I really shouldn’t be eating while writing this. Anyway, there aren’t much actionism clips on youtube but here’s another one.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=maXvy1746Cs&feature=related[/youtube]

If you can still take in some more of this sick shit, I recommend the following sites: The Vienna Actionists and UBUWEB. Damn freaky Viennese!

I liked this more than Nana 1. At least this time, Mika Nakashima used more expressions oh her face. What I really didn’t like about the film version of Nana is a lot of the side stories were deleted. Like the romance between Shin and Layla, for one. I think that’s an integral part of Nana. Another is the sorta romance between Yasu and Nana. Why didn’t they include that? I’m rooting for the Yasu-Nana romance in the anime and manga so the fact that they didn’t include that pissed me off. Oh well, I’m just a viewer. I know a lot of Nana fans liked the film version. I’m not one of them though.

I just finished watching NANA movie and I’m so disappointed with it. After falling in love with the anime and the manga versions, I was expecting the movie to be really something. I have to applaud the production for making the actors look like their manga counterpart but I would rather they used actors who looked so different but can act well. Mika Nakamisha was deadpan all the time. I wish she had more expressions on her face. I wish they chose Anna Tsuchiya to play NANA instead. Ryuhei Matsuda…they could have used a better looking actor to play Ren. Aoi Miyazaki could have been perkier and funnier since Hachi is so hyper in the manga. The actors who played Yasu, Shouji, Sachiko, Takumi, Shin, and Junko were decent. Probably the actor I liked best is Hiroki Narimiya (he was also in the dorama Orange Days which I reviewed earlier). He’s the liveliest among the other actors and stayed true to Nobu’s character. *sigh* I really wish the live action was better. While watching it, I kept thinking that I wish the film was over. I haven’t seen NANA 2 yet but now I’m not looking forward to it anymore. Still, I’ll watch it. I just hope that the actors are more spirited this time.

I’m so glad I brought my laptop with me and super satisfied that I’m a Smart subscriber. There’s airborne access here at the airport and I have an hour and a half to kill time before we board the place. So yay! First time I was able to use my cheap AA access and it’s at the airport. I think that’s cool.

I need sleep badly. I only had an hour of forty winks last night. Went out with Phoebe again to watch that terrible film called Lucky You. It was a waste of 140 pesos. If you’re planning to watch it, don’t. The actors play poker throughout the whole film. Well, 70% of the film anyway. I don’t even understand poker at all so the film just made me confused. There’s some side story – romance between Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore – very cheesy. It’s really a waste of time.

I feel like I’ve forgotten something. If that’s so I hope it’s not important.

I hope there’s free wifi at Bangkok and Pattaya.

I just watched Spiderman 3 at Podium. I think it sucked. Too cheesy for me and full of cliches. It was fine during the first half and when Spidey became a fucking emo bastard but everything went downhill when he teamed up with Harry to fight Sandman and that other guy. When Harry was about to die, I wanted a gay moment between Spiderman and Harry. That would have improved the end of the film.

I almost forgot to mention that I’ve already seen Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Phoebe suddenly called me on Friday night and asked if I wanted to do something so I suggested we see the movie. We got to Greenbelt just in time for the 12am screening and I was thrilled because the theater wasn’t packed.

I was crying with laughter from start to finish. The movie was hilarious, offending, and stupid. Just the way I wanted it to be. The most memorable part for me was when Borat and Azamat were fighting naked. It was disgustingly funny! I couldn’t believe Sacha Cohen actually did that. Another part was when Borat tried to bag Pamela Anderson. So fucking funny! I also loved his driving lesson. Actually I loved everything he did in the movie.

I hope there’ll be another Borat movie someday. I will definitely watch it!

Being a supporter of Greenpeace Philippines, I was given the chance to attend their special screening of An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on Al Gore’s quest to influence mankind to stop the ticking time bomb which is global warming.

I’ve seen a few National Geographic and Discovery Channel documentaries on its effect, some even warning life on earth will cease to exist in 50 years time if we don’t do anything about it. In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore presents new studies showing that we will start to feel the extreme effects possibly just 10 years from now. Effects like more severe storms, intense heat, droughts, flooding, death of wildlife and vegetations, and the spread of epidemics among others. (more…)