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

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.

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.

I was finally able to watch The Prestige last night. I found it okay, entertaining, but not that great as some people opined. I was able to guess how the magicians did their tricks at once so the ending didn’t surprise me at all. I loved the all-star cast though. I was surprised that David Bowie (as Nicola Tesla) is in it. I liked the props and the costume design. I also liked their play on Tesla and Edison’s rivalry, echoing Angier and Boden’s obsession with outdoing each other.

I watched the film with my friend Phoebe. I chose the 10:45 PM showing at Greenbelt 3 and made reservations through sureseats. Ticket is expensive, 160 pesos, but cheaper compared to watching it abroad. We arrived in Greenbelt around 9PM so I had enough time to eat supper. I chose National Sports Grill since I’ve never eaten there. Good choice. I loved the San Francisco Burger with Sourdough Parmesan bread. Yum. The fries were really good too. I ate too much though. While I ate, Phoebe mostly read the Time magazines she bought. She ate at home already so she just picked on my fries. She isn’t into American food.

We were supposed to watch Cine Europa yesterday but I woke up very late. 5:15 PM to be exact. Yay me!

Tonight we will have a family dinner to celebrate mine and my sister’s birthdays. The relatives will be coming and I hope it will be fun. We decided to have it at Burgoo in Rockwell. I love their salmon and Seafood Caesar Salad.

I watched Marie Antoinette this afternoon with my new friends Chito Rico (Sorry! I’m bad with names) and Luna. I met them through a Philippine depression mailing list I joined a week ago. They’re great and we could relate with each other because we’re all going through the same thing. I’m glad I joined the group. I hope I will become friends with the other members. Maybe I’ll finally have a support group and a social life.

Marie Antoinette was great. Sofia Coppola showed a different side of the notorious historical figure and in the process, the viewers get to understand and relate to Marie Antoinette. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Marie Antoinette except for her famous words (”Let them eat cake”), how hated she is, and that she still makes an appearance as a ghost. Coppola reminded us that M.A. is young after all, that she was given heavy responsibilities and was put into too much pressure, that she had difficulties with her marriage, and that she is female. The M.A. in the film reminded me of today’s socialites. People like the Hilton sisters and other trust-fund babies who just want to party and live the life. They’re young, love to party and experiment, has money to splurge on clothes and stuff, and they’re also portrayed negatively in media. Perhaps the film is also a commentary about them. What I loved most about the film is the visual eye candy. I love Coppola’s use of bright colors and how she framed Kirsten Dunst surrounded by flowers. The set design and costumes were great although I’m not so sure if they’re historically accurate. I also loved the scoring and soundtrack she used which added a modern touch to the film.

We watched this in Greenbelt and the cinema was full. I don’t know why this film is only being shown in Ayala Cinemas. I think a lot of young people would like to see this. I feel like watching the film again. Maybe I will with mom.