Happy Birthday dear blog!!!

Yep, tomorrow is the first birthday of our dependable blog!!!

“Para Sa Kabataan” a film by Dang Bagas

Dang Bagas produced her movie, “Para Sa Kabataan” based on Jose Rizal’s poem, out of her own pocket and finished it specifically for the reality competition “On the Lot”. You can view her movie on the show’s site. But I preferred seeing it on the large screen last weekend. As with any sneak previews, Dang was all nerves. And that was contagious because I helped her shoot this and in a fraction of a minute upon seeing her, I was nervous and didn’t know what to do with my hands. The venue, by the way, is Mag;net Katipunan. So what to do with nervous hands? I ate arroz caldo.

The film which she copied and sent out through Fedex before the appointed deadline, mysteriously returned to its sender, meaning Mr. Spielberg didn’t get it. The last carbon copied part of the mailer’s documents was blank, turned out the reason. I beg the show’s producers to consider the film, it is a first from Dang who like most of us writers have toiled so many years telling our stories. Please, you have the film on your internet site, watch it please.

Beyond her zip code, Dang didn’t have control of that package but before she shot the film and edited it, she’d come up with the money, the crew, and finished her film. Attagirl!

She dared us to look for some glitch in the film but we didn’t notice as it was a second watch only for me, and the first time, I saw it on a small computer screen.  And we didn’t go there upon her invitation to catch a flaw or what. We know how it is to screen your first for an audience for the first time. I’m happy with what she did, happy with BJ Tolits being her choice for the main child character, happy about the happy accident of the grenade prop not quite being on the set and her adjusting to the situation made for a more achievable plot ender.  I knew she would endlessly twist the movie in her mind, like she did with her pen in an introduction she shot for the film and uploaded on the show’s site, and think she should’ve edited it this and that way so it could be better but I knew she did her very best within the constraints of the oft-constricting budget. You could while watching her film figure out almost immediately the kind of intelligent thoughts she would discuss with her friends and family, her love for the future of this country, her respect for the past and the contributions of Jose Rizal that are to this day, relevant and in need of disseminating. As  the director of this film, she was cool as well as eager to get to the set and get it done! She shares the burden and relief of producing a film that is aligned to the Filipino spirit, and she’s quite refreshing to be in a production with.  

Bravo Felinda Bagas, filmmaker!

Sunshine, written by Alex Garland

I don’t know about you but I have my very own summer blockbuster movie and it may not be what the mainstream showbiz media might consider their summer blockbuster movie because technically it’s not summer yet in Hollywood though it already is in the Philippines. But, yes, I have one and I saw it last Sunday, and I waited a good five days so others who might come across this blog have a fair amount of days to see it for themselves.

My personal summer blockbuster movie is Sunshine (kudos to Alex Garland; am very grateful that finally a Pinay character, never mind if it’s Michelle Yeoh playing the Pinay character, ends up in an elite group, practically a hero, out to save the earth by saving the sun. This Pinay character is nicknamed Cory, and also referred to as Corazon in the film. If I’m not mistaken, the character is a biologist from the Philippines named after our first woman President and if I am, go ahead, bite me.)

I liked the story, it stands apart from Independence Day, or that Bruce Willis film about drilling into the asteroid that’s on collision course with the earth.

I liked the casting.  I recognized that actor from the original movie The Ring, the dad of the Whale Rider, and Rose Byrne who has done a few independent films already. And sure that guy who flies after the Silver Surfer in the cinema trailers. And how can I not recognize Cillian Murphy of 28 Days Later, etc?

I liked the effects, which did not overwhelm the script nor the actors. It’s like the filmmaker’s take on those Ray Bradbury books.

Anyway, I really like my summer blockbuster film. Let the Sunshine in.

Doing the Write thing before Easter

The audacity of this title coming from me, hah! But I have, in fact been wanting in the areas of sleep (not to mention malling, reading books and sitting at cafes), because of must-writes or the stuff I do to earn a living.  Instead of  house blends at the cafe, I  keep a warm pot of  acme-strength barako coffee for company until  daylight when I’m almost passing out from fatigue and when I’m crashing from a sugar-high. It’s been like this for a month.

Last Saturday, I gave up the urge to take along my laptop to do some personal writing project to a 3-day trip to my hometown about 9 hours away. On the way back, I regained precious sleep time on the road, at the back of my aunt’s Toyota Revo. Man, I felt recharged. Unfortunately, writing on this trip amounted to zilch. Last year, I was in Boracay and the presence of a friend influenced me to write a poem at least.. *** , you know this is you so I don’t have to name you and blurt out you were healing a broken heart that time.

But I’m proud to say that 9 hours away from here, it’s a different time altogether. For starters, 24 hours there feels like 36, especially when you wake up in the middle of the night wondering why it’s so freaking dark and quiet still when you feel it should be 8 am already. I know I should live there and extend the writing hours so I’m not cramming for deadlines, but out there, my typing skill gave way to hoisting a heavy bampoo pole with a net basket and poke at bunches of mangoes way up and picking the lot of them off the tree. I filled 2 small boxes with mangoes in an hour and a half, which is why my muscles on my left shoulder are so sore tonight. Imagine how my other muscles would be protesting today if I gave in to the urge to actually climb the mango tree… that was inhabited by fire ants…and  I wouldn’t blame them because my grandmother’s indian mangoes are so yummy.

Anyhow, I’ll try to be at another location where I’ll hopefully be able to write out a story idea as a birthday gift to myself. Till then, I’m keeping away from beginning another book (terribly difficult) or buying more plants (the morning glory has been growing flowers each week and growing happy thoughts as well, the bougainvillea has new flower buds). That I’ll have to balance with the must-writes for clients, even this is a joy for me because if not, I don’t know how I could’ve endured the silence of those short nights writing fast to make the deadlines. And if not for them, I wouldn’t be able to pay for my mobile phone’s credits, my water bill, my transport allowance and all that jazz. At least now I’m confident that if  in the future I’m not good enough a writer and the money from being a scribe runs dry, I can always do mango-picking to earn my keep.