Hey Lola, I Got Quoted by Adobo Magazine

As they say, third time’s a charmer. This is the third time that my review in PEP got quoted. First was for “Dayo” and then “Engkwentro”. What’s special about my third one is that Adobo Magazine mentioned my name and not just PEP, unlike the first two. At ka-level ko na ang Screen Daily at Incontention. Feelingero!

See the article below.

Adobo main course presents “Lola”, Brillante Mendoza’s Dubai Filmfest Best Film winner

The year 2009 was simply marvelous for Brillante Mendoza. The Filipino director beat the odds and was named Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for “Kinatay”. The same movie won for Mendoza the same award at the Sitges Film Festival in Catalunya, Spain.

Though “Kinatay” made him known worldwide, Mendoza’s other gem is “Lola” (Grandmother), and this movie does not shy away from awards either.

Awarded Best Feature Film at the 6th Dubai International Film Festival in 2009, “Lola” was in Official Competition at the 66th Venezia Film Festival 2009, as well. At Venezia, “Lola” was the second surprise selection for the competition, a coveted position for filmmakers. The movie also opened the 11th Cinemanila International Film Festival this year.

In “Lola”, Mendoza’s two main characters are withered and wrinkled, gray and grieving. Against type, the movie speaks to the young and reckless, through the ways of the old and practical. Seemingly, the youth take for granted what the elderly fight so hard to obtain, that is survival.

Released in September 2009, the Philippine-French production is in Filipino/Tagalog with English subtitles. The movie features two of Philippine cinema’s veterans from the 1960s, Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio. Playing the roles of Lola Sepa and Lola Puring, respectively, the actresses play characters at odds with the other when their grandsons are involved in a crime. They eventually realize they share the same plight and poignancy that plague and personify the elderly.

“In this film, Mendoza forces his viewers to walk in his characters' shoes until our feet get blisters from the long, agonizing walk. It's a dragging and tedious journey, but once we reach the destination, the pay-off makes it worthwhile,” writes reviewer Fidel Antonio Medel of the Philippine Entertainment Portal.

The blog incontention.com writes, " 'Lola,' an unadorned social drama that requires, but ultimately rewards, considerable patience on the viewer’s part, sees the director broadening his range and earning the hype."

" 'Lola'’s handheld aesthetic, gritty neo-realist feel and slow pacing will obviously confine it to arthouse circuits, but within this niche Lola could turn out to be Mendoza’s most commercially viable film to date internationally," reviews Screendaily.com.

“Mendoza’s style is so allergic to exposition that it takes a while for the story to take a grip–but in the end, this reticent, unforced approach makes the drama all the more affecting,” it adds.

Adobo main course presents the award-winning “Lola” on Tuesday, February 2, 2009 at Cinema 1, Greenbelt 3, 7PM. Tickets are at P250.00 each.

Join us as we present the best of Filipino talent appreciated around the world.

The original article is posted here.

Read my full review of “Lola” here.

Zombieland Survival 101

Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland, the Americal cousin of Shaun of the Dead, brings the zombie genre back to life in this hilarious and inventive road trip movie. When the undead takes over the world, an unlikely alliance is formed among Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, all this time I thought he was Michael Cera, dumbass!), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson.), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine fame).

They’re not after saving the world. That would be too clichéd, don’t you think? Columbus is content just to survive… and maybe get hitched while doing so. Tallahassee wants to get his hand on the Earth’s last remaining Twinkies. While Wichita and Little Rock want to go to an amusement park. These guys have big ambitions, I must say. But as one of Columbus’ Rules of Survival state: enjoy the little things.

See some of his rules below.

Armed with these rules and some ammo, they put the undead to rest while having a lot of fun on the side. Production is slick. Acting is convincing and funny. Script is clever. This may not be the most original zombie movie you’ll ever see, but it’s one of the most fun and entertaining.

And don’t forget about the last rule, some rules are made to be broken.

Watch the trailer here.

Rating: 3.5/5

Most Fasyon Magazine Covers of 2009

#9

Maricel Soriano, Preview July

#8
Ruffa Gutierrez, Preview May

#7
Geoff Eigenmann, Garage January

#6
Shaina Magdayao, Meg November

#5
Divine Lee, Philippine Tatler July

#4
Ornussa Cadness, Rogue October

#3
Kim Chiu, Preview September

#2
Robin Padilla, FHM Collections

#1
Anne Curtis, Mega February

9 Hottest Magazine Covers of ‘09

Here’s to another year of objectifying sex in magazine covers. The usual suspects, men’s lifestyle magazines, put their game face on as they release one hot cover after another. But in their pursuit to push the envelope, they’re finding it harder and harder to differentiate sexy from slutty. In this age of shameless Photoshopping, even the ugliest ducklings can be turned into majestic swans in a single click. The cover model doesn’t even have to be a beauty anymore, concept and art direction take the fore.

Not Hot Enough

Cristine Reyes, FHM September

After being crowned as FHM’s Sexiest for 2009, how could this be? Look at the cover, Cristine definitely deserves better. But fret not, she’s in her full hotness glory on the inside pages.

Viva Hot Babes (Katya Santos, Maui Taylor, and Andrea del Rosario), FHM February

They’re called has-beens for a reason.

Gerard Anderson, CosmoMen

Aljur should have been on the cover instead, agree?

Gerard Anderson & Kim Chiu, Metro December

A number of teeny-boppers can turn into demigods in a bat of an eyelash, but not them.

Unknown Women, Playboy April

This had a lot of potential. Mr. Art Director, you are so fired.

Paloma, Maxim Collector’s Edition

Why don’t you just take your clothes off? Spare us from these hideous outfits.

Paloma, FHM April

High-octane concept, in my opinion. Putting glitters on Paloma’s pussy and nips is genius, but I hope they have chosen another photo for the cover. She looks like an old maid here.

Mocha, Maxim April

Props for being brave. Slaps for being sleazy. I miss the days when lesbo action was hot.

Honorable Mentions

Marge Simpson, Playboy US November

Although this is a foreign cover, this is just too good to ignore. The mother of those fuckers bared it all to commemorate The Simpsons’ 20^th anniversary. So who’s next? Bart on GQ? Lisa on Cosmo?

Shaina Magdayao, Mega October

She’s on her way to becoming a hot property. She almost made the cut, if only she had less clothes on.

#9

Ornussa Cadness, UNO October

She appeared on two covers for October: Rogue and UNO. Some may claim that the Rogue cover is classier and sexier, but I still picked this one over the other. Ornussa is not meant to be classy. She’s a wildchild. In this cover, she is herself.

#8

Cherry Ann Kubota, T3 April

Among the five ladies who graced the 100^th issue of FHM (Precious Adona, Joyce So, Jacq Yu, and Gail Nicolas), Cherry Ann is the hottest. T3 goes out with a bang with this cover.

#7

Bangs Garcia, FHM May

She finally spreads her wings and flies. Man, close your fly, you’re birdie is about to fly.

#6

Maggie Wilson, FHM March

This former Bb. Pilipinas World title-holder sizzles as she plays with fire.

#5

Bianca Gonzalez, UNO September

This is not Bianca Gonzalez! She would never show her cleavage like that. She would never pose for a men’s mag.

#4

Akemi Katsuki, Playboy November

Another topless no-namer. But with a sight like that, any guy wouldn't mind giving her his last name.

#3

Daiana Menezes, Maxim June

They say being sexy and funny is a deadly combination. If that’s the case, Daiana is a serial killah!

#2

Marian Rivera, Cosmopolitan March

Say what you want. Call her bakya and jologs. But let me state my case: magazine covers don’t talk, they’re just meant to be seen.

#1

Rosanne Prieto, Rogue March

I don’t have a clue who she is, but I like what I’m seeing here. If you ran out of concepts for a shoot, remember: you can’t go wrong with a birthday suit.

2009 vs. 2008

I don’t know about you, but I find this year’s covers a bit dud. Anne Curtis, Precious Adona, and Joey Mead were powerhouses last year. You can check the 8 Hottest Magazine Covers of ’08 here: http://failed.multiply.com/journal/item/136.

Best Film Performances of 2009 (Pinoy)

Best Actor

Baron Geisler
Jay/Padyak

Runners-Up

Romalito Mallari
Dinig Sana Kita

John Lloyd Cruz
In My Life

Coco Martin
Kinatay

Ronnie Lazaro
Yanggaw

Joey Paras
Last Supper No. 3


Best Actress

Irma Adlawan
Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe

Runners-Up

Eugene Domingo
Kimmy Dora

Che Ramos
Mangatyanan

Rosanna Roces
Wanted: Border

Dimples Romana
In My Life

Flor Salanga
Jay

It’s a TV Soap… It’s a Telenovela… It’s Sagrada Familia!

During the heyday of soap operas, the boob tube was filled with numerous sympathy-begging characters: Mara (Judy Ann Santos) and Flordeluna (Janice de Belen) to name a few. Their greatest strength and weakness is their exaggeratedly good heart. They are patient and kind and loving. They turn over the other cheek when attacked by the antagonists.

We root for them. We cry with them at times of great ordeal. And sometimes, we wish we could slap them in the face so they would wake up from their incurable martyrdom. That era of martyr heroines has long been gone… or so it seems. Now that Filipinos are slowly retiring fantaseryes and Koreanovela remakes, soap operas are making a comeback not only on TV but also on the big screen.

Director Joel Lamangan’s latest independent film, Sagrada Familia (his follow-up to Dukot, Fuschia, and Walang Kawala), adapts the soap opera formula for the silverscreen. It is composed of equal parts of melodrama and tragedy, complete with long suffering protagonists and a downright evil antagonist (the male equivalent of Princess Punzalan’s Selina from Mula Sa Puso). The film may please diehard fans of soap operas, but more progressive viewers are likely to find it passé.

Sagrada Familia tells the story of a family that falls apart because of a tyrannical patriarch. When Merle (Snooky Serna) leaves for Naples to work as a nurse, she leaves her daughter Kat (Lovi Poe) under the custody of her overprotective husband Johnny (Emilio Garcia) and consenting mother-in-law Carmen (Gloria Diaz). After Johnny finds out that her daughter is seeing a boy, he suddenly goes berserk. Kat soon finds herself physical maltreated and sexual abused.

When Merle decides to come home, she discovers that her family has gone missing. She searches high and low to know her family’s whereabouts. But when she finally finds them, she is faced with a truth that is too hard to swallow.

The script, penned by Racquel Villavicencio (award-winning writer of classics Ikaw Pa Lang Ang Minahal, Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81, and Kisapmata), is a little extreme compared to your average primetime soap in its inclusion of hefty servings of violence and incest in the storyline. But other than that, the requisite elements are all in place: camp, sentimentality, and hearty melodrama.

The script’s fatal flaws are its lack of logic and an inconsistent characterization. For example, when Johnny finally reveals his true colors to Merle, Carmen tells her that Johnny has suddenly become violent since she went away. From the get-go, it has already been established that Johnny is violent. The very first scene shows Johnny beating up a young Kat for dirtying his security guard uniform. And then, he accidentally kills his father when the latter whips him. So did Johnny suddenly become violent? Or is he inherently violent?

Another example, when Kat confesses to Merle that she is raped by Johnny, Merle calls her names and blames her for seducing her father. Merle’s reaction is out of character. It doesn’t make sense, since she knows how good of a daughter Kat is. In fact, Kat is a consistent honor student and a loving daughter.

Lamangan’s direction shares the same distaste for melodrama as Villavicencio’s script. The film is replete with hysterical acting, buckets of tears, and clumsy dialogue. Like the director’s other films, the score remains to be a concern. It’s as if Lamangan doesn’t trust his scenes to be dramatic enough that he has to amp up the musical score several decibels higher.

Like your favorite soap opera, Sagrada Familia ends with a climactic shootout: a police intervention that’s a little too late. We’ve seen this ending before on the television. It’s sad that they have to recycle it for the big screen.

Rating: 1/5

My 2009 in Status Updates

Two days before 2009 comes to a close, I reminisce my year by going through all of my posts on my Facebook wall. Let me share my favorites with you.

DEC. 29: I’m planning to buy a notebook. Budget is 25K. Any suggestions on what brand and model? (FB is very helpful in soliciting tips from friends. 28 comments and counting.)

DEC. 29: Spell evil. S-U-E S-Y-L-V-E-S-T-E-R! Kick Schuster's sissy ass! (And Sylar goes down to # 2 as my favorite TV villain.)

DEC. 21: RIP: Brittany Murphy, actress/singer, 32. (The only death that mattered to me this year. Blame Paul Oakenfold and Happy Feet. Cory Aquino and Michael Jackson were complete no-shows on my FB wall.)

DEC. 21: 3 steps to unfriend someone 1. deny his/her existence whenever he/she is around 2. block his/her number from sending messages to your cell 3. delete him/her on Facebook Voila! Friendship over!

DEC. 18: Kids are running around the office. Summit Media has turned into Disneyland! (During our office Christmas party. Let it be Crowne next year.)

DEC. 7: My favorite thing to do in Facebook: UNTAGGING (So what if I love cleaning my wall? OC ako e. I don’t appreciate Friends for Sale, Pillow Fights, Farmville Gifts, Tag All Your Friends, and the like, so please spare me.)

NOV. 19: I never believed in blessing in disguise until now. (Being transferred to a new department is actually a good thing. Bitter? Not anymore. Grateful? Oh, yes!)

NOV. 12: It's almost midnight and I'm still in the office. Have to wake up early for tomorrow's presentation. Weekend, excited na kong makapiling ka! (One of the numerous times that I stayed in the office till the wee hours of the morning to finish presentations to advertisers. Goodbye to the corporate slave me.)

NOV. 8: Tryin' to bounce back from a tumultous week. A week filled with self-induced heartache and health failure. I gotta get through this. And I'm gonna get through this. (On recovering from kuliti and break-up. Awwww…)

OCT. 16: Just got back from a shoot with the Goin' Bulilit kids. Aaron is like a breathing stuffed toy. So cute! (I resisted the urge to sneak him in my backpack. Haha!)

OCT. 8: Don't you hate it when the cashier keeps on bugging you for loose change?

OCT. 2: Supermarkets and groceries are singing hallelujah to Pepeng. Panic buying at its best. (If we’re prepared, it won’t hit us.)

SEPT. 30: Is Jacque Bermejo a real 'sinner' or a victim of a fraudulent account? Or is she just another 'thesis' of a UP college student (Ederlyn, anyone?)? Jacque Bermejo will soon cement her status as an urban legend. (Whatever happened to her?)

SEPT. 28: Since I didn't have cellphone coverage and electricity over the weekend, I didn't realize how much damage Ondoy has done until I got to work this morning and found out that some co-employees lost their home and even their family members. Let's all pray for the victims of typhoon Ondoy.

SEPT. 22: You won't believe what FAP chose to represent RP in the Oscars. Not 100, not Jay, not Manila. Not even Lola, but close: Ded Na Si Lolo.

SEPT 22: Yes, it's true. Words can make your knees weak and your heart flutter, especially if those words came from someone you love. Who said Hallmark cards are passe? (After 1^st monthsary. Surprise, I’m still capable of getting kilig.)

SEPT. 18: I can't be any happier that this busy week is about to end. Lo and behold, long weekend. I can finally shave. (After the Advertising Sales Conference.)

SEPT. 10: Friend mo na ba sa FB si Kimmy at Dora Go Dong Hae?

SEPT. 2: Vote for your favorite DJs in the Top 100 DJs poll. My vote goes to David Guetta, Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Benny Bennassi, and Kyau & Albert.

AUG. 25: Sometimes, all you want is to be the wallpaper on someone's phone. (It actually felt good to be the wallpaper on someone’s phone… and laptop!)

AUG 24: Who said 'new me' resolutions are just for New Year? You don't need 2010 to be a better person. All you need is a catalyst for a change. Or more aptly, a special someone who would inspire you to change for the better. (In love nga ako e. Pagbigyan n’yo na ko sa mga cheesy posts.)

AUG. 20: What if ABS-CBN remakes Gossip Girl? Imagine Pinay Blair uttering these lines: "Dalawang salita, siyam na letra, sabihin mo at sa iyo na ako". Panalo!

AUG. 12: Lady Gaga has a dick and it's bigger than yours! (Thoroughly entertained by Lady Gaga during her concert.)

JUN. 25: With the barrage of status updates and tweets, are we sharing too much information already?

JUN. 2: If beer tastes bitter, it means you're problem-free. Otherwise, it's sweet. Drinking till the beer tastes bitter won't help solve your problem. -plagiarized from Men's Health

MAY 28: Dionisia is the new Imelda! (But with a better accent!)

MAY 25: OMFG! Brillante Mendoza is Cannes' Best Director! (The year’s biggest surprise. It was a great triumph for the Filipino people.)

MAY 14: I just received my credit card bill and I was devastated by the five digits that will devour my paycheck tomorrow. (This was just the start. This December, my 13^th month pay was spent on paying my credit card dues.)

MAY 4: Prepare to suck the cock of karma! -Pineapple Express

APR 30: I finished the Ridiculous Burger, a three-patty burger, in 7 minutes. Over 2 minutes to be a Hall of Famer. That sucks! (Although I have beaten Seb in the K-Zone Challenge, I was still a failure. I need a hug now… and a milkshake!)

APR. 24: Today is Long Sleeves Day! Me haves skin allergies. Dunno what me is allergic to though. Maybe, BS. =P (On my recurring allergies.)

APR. 21: Sometimes, being negative is positive. (I got tested and I’m negative, that’s why I’m positive!)

APR. 16: Me calls them Spiky Boy Medel. Mine hair spikier than Goku's.

APR. 8: I'll stay in Manila for the holy week. Sino gusto sumama sa 'kin na mag-skateboard sa EDSA?

APR. 7: The things you own end up owning you. - Fight Club

FEB. 23: Gerard says, don't sweat the small stuff! (My personal mantra for the year.)

FEB 18: I have to channel his inner kid. Mind you, it's for work. (On my new position as Publishing Assistant for the kid’s magazines of Summit Media.)

So what are the highlights of my year?

1. I had the chance to be a kid for 10 months and enjoyed every minute of it.

2. I fell in love. It may not have worked out as I thought it would, but I’m happy it happened. I had so much to love to last me another four years of singlehood.

3. I am now a certified film addict. I conquered French Filmfest, Cinemalaya, Cinemanila, and Cinema One Originals. That’s on top of my DVD marathons at home.

4. I attended a lot of movie premieres, thanks to PEP and K-Zone. I wrote reviews for PEP. I also had a brief stint as contributing writer for SPOT.

5. I partied more responsibly compared to last year.

6. I started going to the gym.

7. I discovered Facebook and Twitter. I retired Multiply and Friendster.