“This Thing (This Thing)… A-called Love…”

cue music:  … this thing (this thing) … a-called love (called love) … a-hay just… can’t handle it…

On the news last night: [part of a report about Michelle Madrigal's new Maxim shoot] “…Umaasa naman si Michelle (Madrigal) na makatanggap ng maraming projects para makapagbayad ng renta at makabili ng one-thousand five-hundred na halaga ng pre-paid cellphone cards linggo-linggo.”

Wow meyyyn. Some goal. And I don’t know which one’s worse, her or Mario Dumaual, the reporter.

It’s like that headline a while back, in the same program: “German model, nadulas sa swimming pool habang nagmo-model ng alahas.”

I was like, huh? Heck I care if that happened to some model, German or otherwise. ’Di ako apektado. It’s funny yeah. But lest we forget, this is not “Stupid Models Caught on Tape”. You’re doing a news program for goodness’ sake. You gotta have something more relevant in your headline (and stories for that matter) than that. Turns out later that the German model in the story was actually Heidi Klum. (hilarious, by the way!) Now, why couldn’t they just put her name in the headline! I know many of those watching probably wouldn’t know who Heidi Klum is. But at least, there’s a semblance of relevance. Tipong kung isa ‘ko sa mga taong ‘yun na di siya kilala, sasabihin ko na lang sa sarili ko, “ambobo ko, di ko kilala ‘yung model na ‘yun…” Ganon.

“It’s Like I Never Loved You At All…”

Was on the bus on my way home when my player shuffled into this song. First couple of lines pa lang… goosebumps agad for some reason.

“Like I Never Loved You At All” [Take That]

Where, where are the stars?
The ones that we used to call ours
Can’t imagine it now
We used to laugh till we fell down

The secrets we had, are now in the past
From something to nothing, tell me.

*How did we lose our way?
It’s hard to remember
All that we shared
Now we both have separate lives
From lovers to strangers, now alone
There’s no one catching my fall
No one to hear my call
It’s like I never loved you at all.

Now you’re so far away
And I see our star is fading
One too many times
Guess it just got tired of waiting around.

The nights that we thought, if these walls could talk
From something to nothing, tell me.

[repeat *]

It’s a track off Take That’s new album “Beautiful World”… na kahit minus Robbie ay hanep pa rin. ‘Di pa rin  kumukupas ang songwriting powers ni Gary Barlow pagdating sa mga ganitong love songs. It’s cheesy, yeah. But this cheese, I like. Take That eh. Hello “Back for Good”! Like my favorite song EVER! Hwapak.

Galeng din that they were able to pull off what many others have failed to do, *cough* All Saints *cough* — a successful comeback! Woohoo, pressure on the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys. Haha. It’s like the Battle of the 90’s Has-Beens… err (sige na nga), Legends!

Parang sa “Tribu”, Pero Baliktad

To you who reads our electric consumption meter every month. Thank you. May regalo ka sa ‘min sa Pasko.

Our latest electricity bill: P105.90

11 Stitches

The sutures are off now, and it’s all up to me to keep it together, and heal.

For a lot of reasons, I feel much better now–both physically and inside. I guess unconciously I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. For something to serve as a catalyst, not to change exactly, but to push me further and help me see myself better. Before, I felt like I was just going through the motions of being myself, if that makes any sense. Like this is what I do, so that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Not that I didn’t like how I was before. Nor as if anything has ever stopped me from doing anything unexpected of me. It’s more introspective. Blocking myself off from aspects of me I didn’t want to deal with. Now, I feel that I’m strong enough already to see my entirety, without leaving anything else out for my convenience. Like I can seriously look myself in the eye and tell myself if I had to that I’m a piece of shit… and I’ll be able to handle it. Would hurt if I needed to do that, of course. But I’ll manage.

In short, I guess what I’m trying to say is… I got tougher balls now! Pwera usog and yeah, pun intended.

James Blunt’s “All The Lost Souls”

Uber cool album cover.

Nothing new here really, basically just a collage of James Blunt pictures. But it just works so well here and it’s so nicely done, you can’t help but appreciate it. I like it a lot. The idea for the artwork came about supposedly because Blunt didn’t want his face on the album cover. So they put 1000 of his pictures on it!

The lead single off the album has already leaked. It’s called “1973″. Been playing it a lot lately actually. It’s slightly different from what we’re used to hearing from James Blunt. This one’s more uptempo, and has a bit of an 80’s vibe about it. Parts of it also kinda reminds me of Bryan Adams’ “Cloud #9″, which I love. So the song’s definitely a hit in my book.

Cinemanila 2007 Winners

ASEAN COMPETITION
Best Short Film: Renita Renita, by Tonny Trimarsanto, Indonesia
Best Feature Film: Mukhsin, by Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia

DIGITAL LOKAL COMPETITION
Best Short Film: The Calling, by Christopher Gozum
Ishmael Bernal Award for Young Cinema: Delusions,
                                        by Ernest Michael Manalastas

Best Director: Raya Martin, Autohystoria
Grand Jury Prize: Voice, Tilted Screens and Extended Scenes
                            of Loneliness: Filipinos on High Definition,
                            by John Torres

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Best Short Film: Waiting Time, by Chul Jung, South Korea
Best Documentary: Neo-Lounge,
                               by Joanna Vasquez Arong, Philippines
Best Actor: Cast of Tribu, Tribu, Philippines
Lino Brocka Award: The Edge of Heaven,
                               by Faith Akin, Germany/Turkey

“We Were Stuck in Traffic, We Took the Bike…”

That’s Quentin Tarantino when asked if they indeed took a pedicab on their way to Cinemanila’s awarding ceremonies at the Malacañang yesterday.

They were supposedly running late for the event scheduled at 2 p.m. after being stuck in heavy traffic for almost 3 hours amid the heavy rains. Direk Tikoy Aguiluz, who was with him that time, asked then if it was okay with him to just ditch the limo for a pedicab so that they could make it to the awarding, where Quentin will receive his Lifetime Achievement award from the president. He of course agreed, and they took separate pedicabs (as both of them couldn’t fit in one) all the way from SM Centerpoint to Nagtahan, where a car waited for them.

They finally arrived at the Palace 40 minutes after the event started, but still 30 minutes earlier than the President, who also got stuck in traffic on her way to the Palace. As Tarantino was all soaked after the ride, he reportedly changed into jogging pants which he wore with a Barong Tagalog to the ceremonies.

[see full story in today's PDI or here]

It’s cool that he got to experience the Metro at its finest. Seriously. You guys know how much I love it when it rains in the city. Especially when it rains really hard. When classes get suspended,  the streets get flooded, passengers get stranded, and we all get to complain about it. It’s chaos. It’s fun. It’s romantic. Hehe.

Anyway, nothing to worry guys. Quentin actually seemed to enjoy his experience with the bikes… “It was a lot of fun. It just took a long time but it was not bad at all.” Hey, maybe we’ll get to see it in one of his films in the future.

Eh kumusta naman kaya si manong pedicab driver? Haha. Bigatin!

“A Cup in Hand…”

I like times like these. When it’s pouring hard and your just home, listening to the sound of the rain outside. When it’s only 3pm but you have to turn your lights on because it’s already dark. Then you leave your windows open to let the cold wind come through… as you enjoy your afternoon snack of pancakes and coffee.

Mmm… the sound, the aroma, the feeling. Nice. Pambawi sa “house arrest” mode ko.

Kulang na lang, well… you know. Haha. Nah, I have my coffee so I’m good. That’s enough to warm me up. But ok yeah, still… it would be nice to share it with someone. Like… friends. Hehe. Oo tama, friends.

If I Could Be at Cinemanila…

Cinemanila’s been ongoing for almost a week now and I have yet to watch anything from the festival’s line-up. (I was there for the opening film pero we decided not to finish watching it kasi medyo di namin trip eh) Kainis. I really want to go there and watch but my current situation just won’t permit me to. What’s more of a bummer is that there are films in the festival that I’m actually really looking forward to seeing. Tsk… pirata na lang nga. Hopefully!

OFFSCREEN
country: Denmark
year: 2006
director: Christoffer Boe
cast: Nicolas Bro, Lene Christensen, Christoffer Boe

synopsis: Nicolas Bro (Nicolas Bro) is an actor who uses his handheld camera as a means of making the outside world a more tolerable place. When his best friend Christoffer (director Boe) suggests that Nicolas film every aspect of his life as a means of breaking his stifling inhibitions, Nicolas determines to capture a real life love story on camera as he attempts to win back his wife Lene. Though initially an amusing distraction, Nicolas growing penchant for filming the most intimate aspects of his personal life finds him becoming increasingly distanced from the real-world repercussions of his actions.

Got really excited when I saw this in the Cinemanila program. Christoffer Boe’s first film “Reconstruction” instantly became one of my favorite films after seeing it also at Cinemanila back in 2004. This is already his third full-length feature after “Allegro” in 2005. What’s interesting with “Offscreen” is that its main actors actually play themselves in the film – they are the actual characters. Even Boe himself appears as a character here. And to keep with the concept of “man with a movie camera”, most of the film was actually shot by its lead actor/character Nicholas Bro using a handheld camera. Coolness! Another great mind-bender from Boe for sure.  ::  [schedule: Aug.14 - 6pm]

PARIS, JE T’AIME
country: France
year: 2007
directors: Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, Emmanuel Benbihy, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydès, Walter Salles, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Daniela Thomas, Tom Tykwer, Gus Van Sant
cast: Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Miranda Richardson, Maggie Gyllenhall, etc.

synopsis: Twenty acclaimed filmmakers from around the world look at love in the City of Lights in this omnibus feature. Paris Je T’aime features eighteen short stories, each set in a different part of Paris and each featuring a different cast and director (two segments were produced by two filmmakers in collaboration)… [full synopsis]

I learned of this through Ayn, who got to see the movie while she was in Berlin early this year. Astig… Paris in the eyes of the “who’s who” of world cinema. Particular segments I’m really curious about are those by Wes Craven (“Père-Lachaise”), Sylvain Chomet (“Tour Eiffel”) and Gus Van Sant (“Le Marais”). Found out that Christoffer Boe also shot a segment for the project. Supposedly, however, his segment could not be integrated into the film properly so it ended up not being included. In any case, “Paris, je t’aime” is still a definite must-see pour moi. Hopefully, we get another screening of it here soon or better yet, it shows up in our favorite, ahem, DVD outlets.  ::  [schedule: Aug.12 - 6.30pm]

“Now I’m Just Gonna Have To Take It…”

“With his arms around your love / Oh no, here comes the pain that you can’t ignore…”

Hindi pa ba sapat na nakaka-relate ako sa kanta? Kelangan talaga ipa-experience pa.