Category Archives: movies

filmmaking, laundry therapy, movies, musings

exit through the art house

was enthralled by EXIT THROUGH THE GIFTSHOP, a documentary on the lines and rules separating graffiti, street art and commercial art. directed by the highly regaled street artist, banksy, who himself questioned the popularity of his works in the art world. he asks videographer thierry gueta to released his extensive video footage on graffiti and really show that “it’s not about the money.”  rules are made to be broken, especially for these artists who ply their trade in the night but one guy really turned the whole thing around.

the film is hilarious and inspiring, the twists very smart and in the end you dont really know who or what you are rooting for. what defines an artist? who says you are one? the art world? yourself? his peers? this documentary is just awesome! in parts i began to question my own brand of art and then the film peels through another layer of the complexities and im taken into another roller coaster ride. critics questioned its authenticity, noting that thierry’s mr. brainwash was also banksy’s own makings. either way, it made for great entertainment and understanding that most of it is real. maybe.

the film received a nomination for best documentary at this year’s academy awards. im posting the trailer here:
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after this movie, we then watched CATFISH, another documentary whose review i stumbled upon in the new york times. i got intrigued and didnt bother reading the rest of the writeup. words with “facebook” and “better than” got me at hello. it started off pretty decent, introducing us to nev, a hairy photographer, whose photos became inspiration for a young girl artist. his correspondence with this girl and her siblings on facebook became some sort of relationship with the whole family. whatever else happened afterwards i will not be telling you because you gotta see this for yourself. rollercoaster ride! awesome movie, watch!

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*** a bit of a spoiler here, but, read on if you like.

it was serendipity, i guess, that we chanced upon GIFTSHOP and CATFISH one after the other. for CATFISH, we are introduced to an artist who lived in a small town hidden away from the world. no hope of leaving, no opportunities for recognition and fortune. it’s not really fame we are after, artists just need a little bit of acknowledgement for our existence and expression. i guess the same goes for every human being on the planet. im currently in my anxiety-ridden phase on whether i should be changing careers again, stop doing production design, wanting to do other stuff, finding myself yet again. for somebody who is actually doing what he was supposed to do, im ungrateful. here’s this suburban artist who never had the opportunity to study art school or pursue dreams then starts to create an online dream life to escape from her reality. that should slap me out of my whining!

bianca balbuena and i got to talking about this world we live in. there is a big difference between career and jobs. my ancestors took awhile before they appreciated my foray to fine arts instead of pursuing a professional course in college like architecture or engineering. we dont have jobs, we have careers. it’s not perfect but we earn a living and we dont have to slave off in offices 9-5 everyday. and we dont have uniforms!

for banksy, his art got the whole world buzzing enough to raise prices on street art and elevate it from just being graffiti. do more and it becomes kitsch, as what thierry has done. but these artists had found ways to do their art and be heard, in relation to the small-time dreamer artist from CATFISH who’s missing out a lot.

art is subjective, and the art world is political. heidi klum says it best, “one day you’re in, and the next day you’re out.”

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art & design, filmmaking, food trip, laundry therapy, movies, musings

i was once a filmmaker

before all these pd work on tv commercials, before regal films and centerstage, revolver and abracadabra, before doing design for brillante mendoza and jerrold tarog and chito rono and tikoy aguiluz, before getting the urian and a ycc, before graduating and all the bills, i was once a filmmaker. i wouldnt go as far as say i was great, but i was a friggin filmmaker.

and i got reminded of that by eating my instant pancit canton.

and watching the trailer of amorres perros.

in high school and college i got interested in a lot of movies. i read about some highly-praised films that i would never get my hands on. being in the province with no access to obscure movies and art house films, plus technology would not be pirate friendly for another 10 years, i was cinema-starved.

in 2000 i transferred to the college of fine arts and met kindred spirits who were also hungry for good movies. we fed on films by fincher, lynch, inarritu, mike de leon, lav diaz, tornatorre and of course on lucky me pancit canton and red horse beer. after a few years, pirated dvds and players started popping up in quiapo and it was the motherload. we continued feeding on more world cinema along with our unsatiated appetite for pancit canton and moud halal’s roasted chicken and kabsa rice.

back then we dreamed of films, ate films, breathed films. ive been lucky to have shot, produced and directed a few short films. we were living the dream, quite frankly.

before i graduated, my choices of meals were cheap or cheaper. when i started working (with then PD dante mendoza), i could afford to watch more movies on the wide screen and eat in a variety of restaurants. more when i started to do my own PD work in tv commercials and films. now it was a choice of whether we’d eat japanese, italian, pinoy or whatnot, no matter the price.

today i stayed home and waited for the rain. by the time the roofs started their staccato beat, i got hungry and cooked a batch of pancit canton. who’d have thought this bowl got me reminiscing and find enlightenment?

before all these pd work on tv commercials, before regal films and centerstage, revolver and abracadabra, before doing design for brillante mendoza and jerrold tarog and chito rono and tikoy aguiluz, before getting the urian and a ycc, before graduating and all the bills, i was once a filmmaker. i wouldnt go as far as say i was great, but i was a friggin filmmaker.

and i got reminded of that by eating my instant pancit canton.  and now maybe it’s time to go back and make my own films.

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movies, musings

how to train your dragon

this post is way overdue. but the fact is, we loved this movie so much we had to watch it twice in the theaters. and who in their crazy minds would spend for P250 ($6) per head to see it on 3D digital screens (on its 1st weekend of release)? and watch it again on p350 ($7.86) iMax 3D the week after? we are.

i was smitten by the trailer featuring this dragon that resembles stitch from the disney movie. apparently, dragon’s director is the same dude who worked on stitch, ergo yes, uh-huh. the full length was funny and exciting, and featured the best sequences for 3D there is. i didnt appreciate 3D until i saw how to train your dragon.  not even avatar, UP or the 10 minute 3D sequenes of harry potter 6 gave this much respect to the technology.  they said avatar was made for 3D. i say, nope it wasnt. the experience would have been the same if i saw it in regular screens, and id have less of a headache wearing those glasses.

im not sure how the transfer to video will affect the power of its images. thankfully the story is hilarious and endearing enough to become a classic for dreamworks. not since shrek had they have a really good animated feature out. go toothless!

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laundry therapy, movies, musings

respecting and paying tribute to this lenten season, i have decided to keep off facebook (and farmville) until Easter sunday. so far ive been successful today. the only sites open on my browser the whole day were gmail and wordpress. on account of a not so busy cyber-life, i was able to do a little organizing with my files, transferring some to my external HD and clearing up about 26gb of space on luna. yey! and i was also able to organize my closet haha tomorrow will be church time

ive been downloading mostly animated films the last few weeks. at lunchtime carlo, jhem and i gorged on carne norte with potatoes while watching disney’s hercules. the film is more mainstream than atlantis but it’s no less fun. but i still cant get over disney’s pocahontas. they released a 10th anniversary dvd of pocahontas 5 years ago and i only learned recently that they added the essential “if i never knew you” song in the movie.

ive always loved the music of pocahontas, partly because it reminded me of the dramatic score of bernstein and sondheim’s west side story. i was totally caught unaware by the new scene of the 10th year anniv version. i was already choked up by then and i was saying i didnt remember them singing in the theatrical version. but they continued singing so i ended up crying like a sissy. the last time i cried hard watching an animated feature was with the Iron Giant. that’s another story.

go watch the 10th anniv version of pocahontas, it’s the only version you should be watching.

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art & design, filmmaking, food trip, laundry therapy, movies, musings

cold onion rings, alice in gateway and a p300 masssage

yesterday we went to gateway for dinner and a movie. burgoo was a huge disappointment. tim burton’s alice in wonderland could have been more wonderful. i reckon it could have been lord of the rings-ish but the screenwriting didnt soar as much despite the multilayered original material. good thing the massage we had afterwards was beyond expectations 🙂 always welcome after days of shoot.

our search for food led us past the burgoo restaurant in gateway and we were enticed by a photo of its shrimp and rib platter. we also ordered soup and an appetizer. the food was cold, dry and utterly disappointing. wasting good food would be sacrilegious but this was not in any way good. and despite being very expensive, we ate about 40% only and left the rest behind. it was rather heartbreaking (heartbreakingly expensive!) and frustrating, and we didnt even have the energy to bring this up with the management. apparently there are other accounts by friends who’ve had the same experience with burgoo restaurants. how can management continue with this kind of service? and the waiter had disturbingly pink lipstick on. i had nightmares afterwards. carlo also writes about this experience in his blog.

with a heavy heart, we trudged to the cinemas on the top floor.  in a nutshell, depp’s performance was wonderful and i loved helena’s red queen. anne hathaway drowned in her plum lipstick and white hair. mia’s alice was a wonderful look, and the fashion was gorgeous. but the movie didnt have to be in 3d i think. tim burton is known to weave fantastic tales and paint gorgeous landscapes but when it was time to recreate an insane world and make it his home, this movie came as a letdown. the plot was too thin for such a crazy world. depp’s mad hatter was a surprise. beneath the layers of makeup and silk, he showed human emotion that transcended his character from being just a 2-dimensional cartoon to a living breathing creature. i miss the pink fur of disney’s cheshire cat but this version’s blue eyed wonder fascinates. this is this decade’s Hook and just like the spielberg pan, this confused and divided its audience.

after days of preparation and shoot, carlo and i sought to get a massage. after the movie, we headed for the one near his office in kamuning. an hour and a half later, we were renewed and ready to farm peas, white mellons and zombies again. love it ! cheers and have a good day.

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art & design, costume design, filmmaking, interior design, movies, musings, set design

a single man

oh wow. A Single Man is tom ford’s first film and based on the trailer, this film looks delish! the production design of a 60s, erwin olaf-esque milieu is beautiful, it’s practically a dream. and you know i just love the 60s (see my set for butiki). julianne moore looks fabulous here and the first few images of colin firth is heartwrenching.  i wouldnt normally blog about a movie trailer but every shot was just gorgeous, i had to write about it.



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art & design, filmmaking, movies

mangatyanan best pd for cinemalaya

won best production design in the 5th cinemalaya film festival this year for mangatyanan directed jerrold tarog.  i missed receiving the trophy onstage as i was at work.  incidentally, mangatyanan actress che ramos was presenting the award and started jumping up and down onstage when she read out my name.  jerrold stood up to receive the award and admonished me for yet missing out again on the events leading to this moment  🙂  shucks, i havent even blogged about working on this film, i had soo much fun!  cheers jerrold and thanks for the opportunity! wohoo!

links from inquirer.net and pep.ph here. the pep article is posted full below:

Mangatyanan will be screened at UP Diliman on July 31

Mangatyanan will be screened
at UP Diliman on July 31

by William Reyes Wednesday, July 29, 2009 04:19 PM

Award-winning indie filmmaker Jerrold Tarog is happy with his Cinemalaya experience.  He confided this to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) on the eve of the awards night, which took place on July 26, 2009.  Win or lose, being chosen to compete in the 2009 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Fest, with his second full-length indie project, Mangatyanan (The Blood Trail) was already a privilege.

“Masaya siya, and, well, the fact na limited ang [resources ng]… mga filmmakers, they have really good films.  So I feel privileged na nakasama ko sila,” Jerrold said.  “Maganda yung experience, inspite of all the stress, dahil maraming taong… [na-a-accomodate],” he added.

Direk Jerrold was on top of his film’s production, from conceptualization to actual shoot, post-prod, and even during the screenings, he had to oversee every aspect of his film, including technical troubleshooting and taking care of his guests invited to the special screenings.  He also made it a point to be present at every screening, “Oo, halos,” he said.  “Yun lang naman yung stress, actually.

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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN. As film, Mangatyanan tackles a very sensitive issue on incest and child abuse, as told against the backdrop of an ethnic harvest ritual (called Mangatyanan). It is conducted by a fictional tribe called the Labwanan. The lead female character, Laya Marquez (Che Ramos) is a travel photographer who is tasked to document the ritual before the tribe discontinues with the practice. Laya is accompanied by her supervisor (portrayed by Neil Ryan Sese).

The dwindling tribesmen, desperately being held together by its leader, Mang Renato (Publio Briones III) becomes a mirror of Laya’s own frailties.

Among this year’s competing full-length feature films, Mangatyanan proved to be the  most “exotic,” with a visual design that is simply stunning (credits go to director of photography/cinematographer, Mackie Galvez; and production designer, Benjamin Padero, who won the Cinemalaya 2009 award for Best Production Design).

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filmmaking, movies, musings

finally! Hooooo!!!!!


from Movieline.com

finally news about the thundercats movie by warner bros has been released on movieline.com. a lot of kids who watched this animated series looked forward to having this updated and turned into a movie.  unfortunately, it will be a CG movie. unless they make something as dramatic as the final fantasy film, this might turn out to be a disaster.  i loved the fan-made thundercats movie trailer and it seems it will be difficult to live up to what this trailer has shown (and with that i laugh out hard).

posting here the fan-made trailer. cool casting haha

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