Filed under: Please, it's more than just a piece of celluloid, Thankful for Work Nonetheless | Tags: being john malkovich, film, gondry, kaufman, pelikula
I like my header. It’s a screen grab from one of my favorite films, Being John Malkovich. It was written by the brilliant Charlie Kaufman, who also wrote The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind–it’s one of the most beautiful love stories ever written and made. Well, what else do you get from a Kaufman-written screenplay that’s directed by Michel Gondry? It’s always so brilliant, it’s already predictable.
My header tells me, You’re not a writer. My site stats tell me, You have 0 views today. And I’m not annoyed at all. There’s a reason I googled Being John Malkovich and used a frame from that film as my header. Because I know I’m not a writer, but often these days, I forget, that I’m going to be somebody else: not a writer, nor a planner-maker, nor an entrepreneur.
I take a look at John and Catherine again, bending over on the 7 1/2 floor. I smile, relieved. As long as I know why I have this as my header, then I’m fine, baby.
Filed under: We are all but punchlines | Tags: 90s, ate, high school, libis, mule, youth
Nawiwirduhan na ako sa amin ng mga kaibigan ko. Kaya na naming sabihin ang “hay, ang mga kabataan talaga ngayon” e parang kailan lang e kami ang sinasabihang mga pakawala nung gumigimik pa kami noon sa Libis, kahit 2nd year high school pa lang’t kaka-aral pa lang ng Biology, sabay order ng Mule at kunwari’y malalasing pagkatapos ng tatlong bote lang, pa-cool, pa-sosyal, dahil hindi pa nun naiimbento ang pa-art.
Nawirduhan ako nung una akong tinawag na Ate ng isa sa mga ka-trabaho ko sa taping, bilang nasanay akong ako ang tumatawag na Ate sa kanilang lahat. Bigla akong bumalikwas paharap sa kanya, “Wag mo nga akong tawaging ate!”.
“Bakit po, ate ka naman talaga a!”
“Hindi a! Ilang taon ka na ba?”
“22 po.”
Oo na.
Filed under: Please, it's more than just a piece of celluloid, Thankful for Work Nonetheless | Tags: film, hollywood, ningas kugon, pelikula, screenplay, script, star cinema, what if
Aminado naman akong hindi ako marunong magsulat ng script, bukod sa tama nga ang sabi ng isa kong kaibigan, “Puro ko konsepto! Puro ka drowing!”, (minsan nga pala, kaibigan ko rin ang sarili ko), kaya para makasulat na sa wakas, sumali ako sa isang scriptwriting workshop habang kauumpisa pa lang ng bagong taon. Subukan ko lang gawing mas napapanahon ang “ningas kugon”.
May mga schools of thought din pala ang pagsusulat ng script, ano? Merong mauuna muna ang ideya o konsepto, tapos saka ka magre-research ng katulad nun sa totoong buhay, o yung What If school of thought (e.g. “What if may manananggal na biglang bumisita sa Maynila? Okay, go. May nangyari na kayang ganun? Saan kaya?”). Hindi ko sinasadya, pero ito ang madalas kong gawin. Siguro dahil Hollywood at Star Cinema ang kinalakhan ko, o dahil sadyang mapaglaro lang ang utak ko, o dahil tamad talaga akong mag-research, o dahil mas natutuwa akong mag-imbento, o dahil ewan, e gusto ko e. Meron ding mauuna muna ang nangyari sa totoong buhay, o research, tapos saka mo gagawan ng ideya o konsepto, o yung What Is school of thought (e.g. “Ay, may mananaggal daw na nanggulo kagabi sa Tondo! Okay, go. Ano kayang pwedeng kwento dun?”). Yung pangalawang school of thought ang itinuro sa workshop.
Pagkatapos ng workshop, marami akong natutunan.
Isa na dun, na matigas pala talaga ang ulo ko.
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, Please, it's more than just a piece of celluloid, Thankful for Work Nonetheless | Tags: baz luhrmann, film, pelikula, showbiz, UP
I think you owe me an explanation. I think it was you, sir, who said that it was okay to not know what to do with your life “because the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives” in a “song” addressed to the ladies and gentlemen of the Class of ’99.
In 1999, I was 15, and I told myself, I’m going to be a sportscaster if only to be able interview a certain Ralph Rivera. He was the most charming professional basketball player here then, and I was so certain I would marry him someday. I didn’t marry him of course, but I didn’t get too depressed over it because after I admitted to myself that a five-footer standing side-by-side with a 6’1” man isn’t too flattering a camera framing for a wedding photo, I realized I didn’t want to be a sportscaster anymore. At 22, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to be a film director.
I’m now 26; I’m not a film director and I don’t know what to do with my life. (more…)
Filed under: Abba said it so brilliantly, In love or something like it | Tags: burnout, ebe dancel, ely buendia, eraserheads, OPM, sa wakas, sugarfree, telepono, UP
The Master Spinner said this issue’s theme is summer, which is fine, except that the CD I’d like to review has nothing to do with summer. In the meantime, while thinking of some contrived connection with summer, in the spirit of insistence, I’ll start writing about the greatest CD I’ve ever owned, and it’s not by any Rolling Stone or Billboard artist, so hang me now, DJ.
I first heard of this band in an NU107 Pocket Concert coverage on unTV when unTV was still cool and did not have Bible verses as chargens. I was in the kitchen and I heard a familiar voice singing Hello / di na kita naiintindihan and I was completely convinced that it was Ely Buendia, or whatever name he was using that time. I rushed to our sala and did not see any Ely or Jesus. Instead, I saw an unknown band that the chargen later said as “Sugarfree” and the song was “Telepono”, and the rest, as I say, is personal purchasing history.
“Telepono” became my anthem, much like any Eraserheads song was for any UP student whose student number begins with 97- and below, or, to be more age-sensitive, any bitter long-haired youth at that time. I was in college, heartbroken as I remember, and there was Ebe Dancel singing malabo / na ba ang linya sa ating dalawa, as if he sneaked on my cellphone’s Inbox and Sent Items last night. For a while, I was getting restless listening to the first recorded version of “Telepono” (it has a ringing phone in the intro, right before Natatandan mo ba / kagabi, and inabutan na tayo / ng umaga no’n’s last note was less, for lack of a better non-musical-person-term, wavy) on my old CD player via a CD I burned myself. I was fine with that, though of course, as with any six-peso CD-R King disc, it was sure to skip once in a while, especially if I played it every day on my UP Katipunan-Ligaya-San Joaquin route home for a more dramatic jeep ride. I could almost hear my CD screaming for a new mp3 player, but there’s a cheaper, better alternative of course, and it took Sugarfree (actually, their label) two years to finally release it. And when that time came, my home-made CD and the new CD said the same thing: Sa Wakas. (more…)
