repost: “In the mood for love – boy silip and the lady with a nice figure”

honestly, the movie really got me feeling kinda weird. it made me feel like caught in the tightness of the framing of some of the scenes. “mora’g guot lagi?”. but actually, it was a style applied in the movie to make the audience feel like “Voyeurs”, “Mamboboso”, “Gapamaklad”, or whatever people call it.

oh, and yeah, the feeling was so familiar (being in tight spaces, and all)… =)
but what caught me most was how they used the woman to capture the audience. i even heard some of my female classmates murmur: “lamia niya’g lawas uy!”, which indicated that even the girls were so caught by the imaghe of the woman. the image of the woman in the movie really showed an erotic message. it made me follow her around the screen to where she goes, whether she’s on the street, the apartment, and the tight alley where she buys noodles.

i bet that one thing explains it: “Scopophlia”… scopo + phili, the love of looking/seeing
the woman really bears the image of the film, it captures the audience (even some girls), and most especially the boys. it really explains that the audience, especially males love to look… and no matter how hard we try to deny scopophilia, it all comes out when we are actually captured by the images of women in the movies and are indirectly staring and no longer just looking…

Babel: who, where, when, what, why, and how…

Babel has a very interesting story, plot, setting, sequence of events, and actors pool…

the story is sooooo “making the audience feel so depressed and frustrated”, but in the end t’was nice…

Brad Pitt! Cate Blanchett! these are just two of the main characters in the movie… let’s say “Brad Pitt”, just “Brad Pitt”… the name really brings people to the theatres knowing that this guy is in the movie… hmmm… his portrayal of a husband-father-tourist role is different from his other roles – the hunky, action star, playboy roles… in Babel, brad pitt’s role really convinced the audience (me) into believing in his character… the same goes for the other characters – the very protective, perfectionist, OC wife-mother-tourist;   the two ignorant, gun-shooting, peeping tom, naughty morrocan boys;    the loving mexican nanny;    the no-longer-want-to-be-virgin deaf-mute teenage japanese girl (naughty role) – they were all believable…

the story is so heart-breaking… the sequencing of the events in the movie is really  effective in explaining the sequence of unfortunate eevents that struck the characters – from the selling of the gun, to the shooting, from the vacation of the parents, the nanny with the kids – they were all explained clearly in the movie… the setting was also given justice, whether it be in the U.S., Japan, Morroco, or in Mexico, the director was so successful in showing the scenes…

overall, the playing of space and time in the movie is really seen, and is reall, really effective in telling the story…

wow…

repost: “Citizen Kane – wow…”

the movie was critically acclaimed; i don’t know how to critique it myself, but i’ll try…

the technical aspect had profound meaning as to how they were applied to create the whole film… the lights, the shots, the camera angles had different meanings… the use of spacing, the types of shots, the camera angles, framing and perspectives each had a reasons why the scenes were shot in the manner they were done… excellent cinematography… although the movie is in black and white, it gave out a very interesting view for the audience – black and white are neutral “colors”… the combo of these elements gave the whole movie a very interesting very deep meaning into the film’s story…

what amazed me was how the plot was made – it was a flashback type of plot… it starts with Mr. Kane in  his bed where he dies, but before he died, he mentioned “rosebud”… the story is actually a narration of how he grew up, how he grew old, how he loved his wife, how he grew weaker, how he marched on to his demise, and ho he died… the “rosebud” uttered before he died really got me hanging on, it made me curious…

it really brings out an idea of how it was to be like during those times (the great depression)…

“Wealth isn’t everything”…

Photo Journal : An Afternoon Walk

http://www.slide.com/mscd?pxcid=1raU3im9cx36-YmR-d2YWDArf8VjBgB1_UwllRnGzHLBIt0b3j4SU4-dVOJd_wjT&notifyfans=1&bnc=bnc

Mind Boggling Images…

Thoughts before watching Matt Barney’s “performance art” video:

“…’Cremasters Cycle’ – this sounds new, i wonder what it’s all about…”

Thoughts while watching “performance art” video:

“great, it features a weird  pink guy in garments, girls barely clothed walking in circles, mobs of people shouting and playing rock “music’,  a guy splashing molten wax on a box-like object, and a pretty lady that transforms into a pseudoHyena-like creature; weird; absurd…”

Thoughts while thinking about what the film was about:

“…   (?)   …”  and ” i think it’s all about weirdness, arcane emotions and a secret  message which i thought is left for the viewers to speculate on it…”

Thoughts while a discussion was going on:

OVERHEARD: “unsa ba gyud ang iyang ginapasabot? wala gud ko’y nasabtan… unsa man meaning atong mga gipakita kaganiha? mora’g weird lagi…“

“…yes, basi’g wala lang gyud sya’y ginapaSabot sa iyang audience, or kung naa man, ang audience na ang bahala magHunaHuna ato…”

BUT ACTUALLY: WALA GYUD KO NASABTAN but i know that Barney’s art had a message to be told pero wala lang ko’y idea unsa ang message…

“now that’s ‘Rich’!”

Friday, 12th of January, 2007 – UP Mindanao hosts a show for Rich Kiamco entitled “Unaccesorized”…

a boy was born in the cornfields of illinois.. his parents were Filipinos… he grew up with his parents pressuring him to do this, to do that; not to be like this, not to be like that; he practically grew up wallowing in the expectations of his parents…

but this boy was different, he knew he had something in him, he knew that he had potentials; but he also knew that his parents had other plans for him… he eventually became the person which everybody hated – THE OVERACHEIVING FILIPINO…

and so the story revolves around his life wallowing in the pressure of being flexibly adept, he discovers that he’s gay, he confesses to his parents, gets persecuted for being gay, finishes high school, goes against his parent’s expectations and plans and pursues his dreams, goes through a series of ups and downs, and realizes that he can do anything he want; doing things his way…

personally, i was amazed at how Rich Kiamco unravels his story to the audience, it was a very nice comedic story-telling; a one-man comedy act… even though it was just a simple stage play played on a small stage with chairs positioned in different places, it really made the audience imagine the scenes in his story..

his performance was outstanding… it was as if he had not thought about writing the script and just performed impromptu in front of the stage… he sings, he dances, he’s an acrobat, he can really act! there’s no wonder he’s won international awards…

the heme of his performance is really inspiring… it inspires the audience in a sense that it tells them that we make our own happiness; that it relies only on the ways and means we can acquire our joys and our dreams…

overall, i would say that Kiamco’s show was awesome… it was a good showcase of versatitlity and talent… he truly raised the image of Filipinos as talented people… it amused, entertained, and made te audience ponder because of its message of inspiration… truly a one of a kind “mini show fiasco”…

“Apo tinurbo ng Lolo…”

the story of tuhog shows a story within a story…

the story revolves around a mother and her daughter who happens to have fallen victim to their Amang’s hunger for sex.. the movie tells of how a director had wanted to come up with a movie featuring the story of the mother and the daughter’s life treated as sex slaves of their amang…  and so it came that the director had interviewed them and had asked for their permission to put their life into the big screen… they were reluctant at first but then agreed after a few deals and contracts… they were told that the reenactment of the happpenings in their life would be presented in an artistic manner… then came the movie!

it turns out that what had been presented on the big screen was an OVER-EXAGGERATION of the events and the facts in real lidfe… from the behavior of the mother towards amang, to the way Floring acts, and even how the chain of events had been shown, it was obvious that their true-to-life story was Super Sensationalized…

“Kapag ang kuwento ay binenta, kasama ang kaluluwa…”

Sad to say the nother and child had not wnated to end up being victims of super exaggerated negative facts… (who would want to be one?)

the movie is a perfect example of Plato’s tenet on how the essence of the truth deteriorates through the art, and Aristotle’s idea of art as showing the copy of a copy of a copy…

it is quite evident that the movie within the movie is quite different from the real story… it takes us to a degree where what happened in real life is really far from the original events.. thus, proving the real deal on Mr. Plato’s concept of art…

On the other hand, we also have Mr. Aristotle’s viewpoint that art only transfer the artist’s thoughts to the audience… in some ways, what the artist of the movie did send the thought of the story to the audience… however, the message of the story was not to the liking of the real characters of the story…

 it amazes me to think that art can be very dangerous once the artist communicates the wrong thought to the audience… however, the audience may have the right to choose which ones to believe and appreciate, and which ones to criticize and boycott…

the sight, sound, story, speech

Antigong Agong features a unique spectacle, melody, thought, and diction…

Spectacle

their stage was made of a 14ft high riser made of bamboo and other wooden frames… the side risers are also moveable which enables the stage to be used for more “scenes”… the riser is said to resemble Mt. Dahu, which happens to be where the story revolves… i assume that the riser took several hours of conceptualization and more hours for carpentry… the riser looks sturdy enough to hold up several men, and served its purpose as the resemblance of Mt. Dahu… (i also had a chance to walk around and above the risers, and it actually was a little shaky, a bit scary…)

Diction

their choice of language was in Filipino and some parts of their dialogue were in their native tongue (Tausug)… their language was appropriate to fit the audience’s comprehension… (their intonation in Filipino is quite funny though…)

Melody

the musical scoring was good… it had a mixture of the use of traditional (kulintang, dabakan, et.al) and contemporary musical instruments (i.e. guitars)… the musical scoring was under the talented ears and hands of Popong Landero, who happens to be very popular here in Davao… (some of their music actually seems to entice the audience to dance, and the music on the parts that were dramatic was so stirring…)

 Thought

but what’s most important was the theme of the whole story… the message the production wanted to convey was peace and equality amongst us all… they wanted to show that they also seek peace despite of the fact that they dwell in a war-torn area… the story shows that contemporary Tausugs are hopeful that they could live their lives just like any other Filipino – to have a job, get married… they also want to disprove prejudices that they are people of violence and war… and last but not the least, they seek closure to the massacre that claimed the lives of more than a thousand innocent people… the story of Antigong Agong makes the audience believe that htere is still hope for their people of their (ours actually..) generation and those to come…

a dark past, a prophecy, and of being hopeful…

on the 6th of december year 2006, “Antigong Agong” was presented to the students of UP Mindanao as part of its caravan promoting peace through a musical-theatrical presentation… it was inspired by the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Bud Dahu Massacre…

i must admit, i was quite impressef with the spectacle of the show… it wasn’t presented in the typical European style… the musical scoring was very good… the songs were also good… the stage was only made of bamboo and its structure only showed its frames… the terrace was set as a place where many scenes were played, on different times, different settings in the story…

as for the acting, i would want to suggest that they take up workshops that would improve their speech and delivery of their lines in Filipino… although the diction was good, some of the performers had problems in pronouncing some words in Filipino…

the characters were all presented clearly… they all helped in forming the thought of the story…

what amazed me the most was the plot… Mr. Mardoquio really did a fine job in coming up with another masterpiece… the script was awesome… although the story of Antigong Agong was fictional, it was presented in a way that it seemed real… how they presented the story of Bud Dahu allowed the audience to somehow understand how and why the Tausugs came up with their beliefs, values, and attitudes towards the “Milikans”, and how they have become victims of prejudice…

Antigong Agong is a good comedy, although there was a part in the story that featured a tragic past of their people…

the plot brought out the theme of the story… the theme was on love, being hopeful, and unveiling of a dark past…

the way they presented the story shows that they promote peace and would want to disprove prejudices… they want to break the stigama that the people of the Sulu Islands are not war freaks; that they are like most of us (only more exposed to violence…)

the people that made the show wanted to present that there is still hope, that there is no need for violence, and that there should be peace and equality among us, and that there should be a closure in the event(s) that marked a dark history on the people of Bud Dahu…

-vincemiceter

On removing the truth three times, and of imitation

Plato says that art removes the truth three times away from reality…

as stated in the given example – the concept of a bed… he states that an original idea comes from the gods and are given to the first degree receptors of this idea which are the craftsmen… in the case of the example, the concept of the bed comes from the gods (original idea), is then given to the craftsman who builds the bed (2nd degree of the ideal concept), and then the artist who imitates the image of a bed (the 3rd degree)…

this argument is somehow credible, and is effective in presenting art as a mere imitation of the ideal concept that spawns from the cosmos, or from whoever/whatever entity that Plato might have had in mind…

It then concludes that those whose line of work are of the arts are less logical than craftsmen and those who dabble in sciences…

if this is the case, then so let it be…

but it is important to know that humans are innate imitators…

Aristotle argues that the essence of a concept is never lost in art…  he believes that in some ways the essence of the ideal concept only becomes immaterial and circulates only in the minds of the audience of that certain piece of art…

for example, i made a theatrical presentation of a day in the life of Mr. Dennis John Sumaylo… the true events in his life might be altered or can be presented differently from the the evetns presented on stage… the actions, scenes, and happenings in his life are sensationalized to add art to the presentation of a day in his life, and sometimes some details are removed or added to serve a certain purpose…

Sensationalization/alteration of actions, details, and the likes are important to bring out the beuaty of a certain art form… this proves to be an explanation why Plato argues that art takes us away from the ideal concept…

However this argument may sound true, Aristotle believes that men are natural imitators of the things around them… they imitate concepts and ideas to their liking, sensationalizing them, altering or even changes a more original concept entirely… but despaite all these, Aristotle still asserts that the essence of the original concept can still be found in art but it is only a less original concept that makes the audience believe in the essence of what the artist wants to impart…