The WSOD Principle

When you find yourself cursing at Claudine Barreto in Anak for her rebellious and resentful ways against her OFW mom Vilma Santos (Go ahead, Ate Vi, slap her!), you know that the principle is working.  Or, when you start shouting at a Wes Craven character, telling him not to fall asleep lest Freddy Krueger exact revenge with his knives as fingers.

It’s the principle of ‘the willing suspension of disbelief’, or the acceptance of a level of implausibility in the narrative and the whole visual experience.   If you find yourself Tweeting or checking your watch repeatedly inside the cinema, then the film has flunked the principle.

There are some details that can break a film.  Like, costume design.  Inaccuracies or sloppy costuming will snap you out of stupor.  Remember, the batsuit nipples and Batgirl's zippers in Batman and Robin (1997)?  Period Pinoy films where men have underwear line before Jockey briefs was launched in the market?

But let’s talk about the ones that have upped the WSOD factor.  I’m less interested in costume dramas.  People are more accepting of costumes for 19^th century of early 20^th century films.  Just throw in a lot of hoop skirts and ruffled tops and it seems accurate enough.  References for centuries past abound.  I think it’s more challenging to do costumes for films set in the modern era (the 70s as a cut-off), since everyone has preconceived notions on how things went in the recent past.  Also interesting are those in fantasyland are -- only the costume designer and director’s vision of the nonexistent matters.

Here are my picks for costumes that pulled off the WSOD principle:

Star Wars (1977)

Milk (2008)

Clueless (1995)

Velevet Goldmine (1998)

The Fifth Element (1997)

Legally Blonde (2001)

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Devil Wears Prada (2005)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

The New York Film Critics Award: "The Greatest Honor"

Forget the Oscars.  Ignore the Oscar buzz.  Watch the Oscars show for the red carpet fashion, and new masters of ceremonies Anne Hathaway and James Franco.  I haven't really cared about the winners for several years now.  True, they've thrown cinephiles a few bones in Annie Hall, Godfather I and II, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.  


But they never gave one to Stanley Kubrick.  They'd been celebrating mediocrity since the 80s:  Ordinary People, Dances with Wolves, Driving Miss Daisy, A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart, Crash, Forrest Gump, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks (twice at that!), Marisa Tomei, Jack Palance, Ron Howard, Lionel Richie's Say You Say Me.  So why should I take them seriously?  

The awards I look forward to at year's end are the ones handed out by the New York Film Critics Circle.  The great John Huston (Prizzi's Honor) once called their award "the greatest honor that anyone in my profession can receive."   They recognized what the Academy snubbed such as Citizen Kane, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Mulholland Drive, Sideways,  Persepolis, Steve Martin (All of Me), Cameron Diaz (There's Something About Mary), Lisa Kudrow (The Opposite of Sex).

This year's New Film Critics awardees are:
Best Film: "The Social Network"
Best Director: David Fincher ("The Social Network")
Best Screenplay: Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg ("The Kids Are All Right")
Best Actress: Annette Bening (for "The Kids Are All Right")
Best Actor: Colin Firth ("The King's Speech")
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo ("The Fighter")
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo ("The Kids Are All Right")
Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique ("The Black Swan")
Best Animated Film: "The Illusionist"
Best Non-fiction Film : "Inside Job"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Carlos"
Best First Feature: "Animal Kingdom"

Hooray for Annette Bening!  She's made the right career move by playing a lesbian.  Twice she was denied an Oscar by Hilary Swank.  Hilary first won for playing a transgender man. A few years after, she built more muscle for her boxing role and then won again.  Hilary has another Oscar-worthy performance in Conviction.  Can't wait for the Oscars if only to see Annette's reaction if she loses to Hilary.  Annette could still reprise Linda Hunt's Oscar-winning role in The Year of Living Dangerously before it's too late.  Doon lalaki na talaga si Linda.

Linda Hunt as a man in "The Year of Living Dangerously"

Rosario, not like Insiang.

By my lonesome self I saw Rosario earlier.  My friends didn’t want to see it.  One was unconvinced that Albert Martinez, who started his career as an actor in silly teenage romp like Blue Jeans and Bata pa Si Sabel, could actually direct a film.  Another also wouldn’t give lead star Jennylyn Mercado a second look (“I never liked her on TV; could she really carry a big movie?).  Others declined after being inundated by the movie’s marketing (“Must all the Expressway toll booths have posters of Rosario?).  They had also seen the trailer and thought it was another Markova, where Dolphy bookended a movie that wasted a highly original material (comfort gays for Japanese soldiers).

Well, I can tell them now: Albert Martinez can direct.  Jennylyn is miscast.  The marketing is as epic as the movie’s ambition – trim the excesses and all you’ve got is a movie about a woman who ran into a series of misfortunes on account of several indiscretions.  In a barn, a bodega, a rusty vintage car and a pre-war shabby tenement.

The story revolves around Rosario (Mercado), who arrives from Nueva York in her wealthy father’s Isabela hacienda.  She’s smokes a lot, wears a lot of make-up and fancy headgear, does a mean Lizst on the piano.  She’s Isabela’s hope as the next Manila Carnival Queen. She seduces Vicente (Yul Servo), the manager of the hacienda.  Her father learns of her trysts with Vicente and sends her to a convent for rehabilitation.  She escapes, then hooks up with Vicente to start a family. Vicente gets ill with tuberculoisis. He quarantines himself in their San Juan home and denies her sex.  Alberto (Dennis Trillo) lures her into committing adultery.  She gets found out again.  More bad luck ensues.

“A woman ahead of her time”, so declare the advertising.  More like a woman who can’t keep her camison on.

But I must hand it to Cinemabuhay, mogul Manuel V. Pangilinan’s film outfit, for debuting with all the right intentions. They’ve given Martinez a break and he’s certainly more skilled and artful than most directors who compete in the annual Manila festival.  They spent on the film, hiring a first-rate production team: Carlo Mendoza (Director of Photography), Albert Chang (Musical Score), Miki Hahn (costume designer) and Brocka’s meticulous and precise production designer Joey Luna.  And, kudos too for having a female character as its principal character.

Strong female characters are a rare treat in Pinoy movies.  One of the most memorable ones was Brocka’s Insiang (1976).  Like Rosario, Insiang is morally challenged.  Like Insiang, Rosario, she seeks emancipation from her environment (though Insiang’s was impoverished) and an unforgiving parent.  Like Insiang, Rosario suffers from societal abandonment after struggling for self-actualization.

But unlike Hilda Koronel who played Insiang, Jennylyn’s guileless countenance is puzzling. Hilda was wan and stoic because she was plotting.  No amount of accoutrement from the 1920s or rapturous camera work could make Jennylyn believably mystifying enough for men to fall for her.

Unlike Rosario, I felt for Insiang.

Christmas time is here.

Here's a clip from a fave Christmas movie, A Charlie Brown Christmas.  There's a bit of Charlie is each one of us -- we always get anxious, we don't win all the time.  But like Charlie, we take comfort in the friendships of many.


Good grief, it's Christmas!  Happy Christmas!

Rom-Com for sis

My sister, who’ll soon turn 50, will be rounding up a dozen of her high school golden girlfriends after New Year’s for a three-night beach outing.  Yesterday, she asked me, “What DVDs should we all watch?”   I was stumped.  Now, sis, I have your list after thinking long and hard for the last 24 hours.

This isn’t a definitive chick-flick list.  I'm no authority.  I’m not crazy over ever Katherine Heigl or Jennifer Aniston film that comes out.  I could tell how the story would pan out after the establishing scene.  My list, I think, were not originally marketed as chick flicks but turned out to be successful in showing girl power and the complexities of women.  And most guys wouldn’t mind watching the films with their dates.

1. There’s Something About Mary (1998).  So much comedy in two hours!  The most stylish film about bad taste.   And perceptive in the ways of love, women and men.
2. Room with a view (1986).  Yes, Helena Bonham-Carter and Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t start out as menacing characters.  The most buoyant period piece ever.
3. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997).  Silly adorable.  Most profound dance sequence in Time After Time.  
4. Sabrina (1954).  The charming cast (Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) made a fluffy fairytale very believable.
5. Notting Hill (1999).  You are lifeless if you could resist the chemistry of Julia and Hugh. 
6. When Harry Met Sally (1989).  Four words:  orgasm at the deli.
7. Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios (Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown) (1988).   Pedro Almodovar doing comedy, before incessantly rebelling against his Catholic upbringing.  Nobody does neurotic women better Pedro.
8. Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) (2001).  This will always figure in any list I make.
9. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008).  Woody Allen at his sunniest.  Best triangle since Romy and Michele’s dance sequence with Alan Cumming.
10. Muriel’s Wedding (1994).  Quirky Australian film that stars fave Aussie actress Toni Collette as a hopeless romantic.   If you like Abba or have been converted by the Mamma Mia! overkill, this is your film.

A dying art

One of my fondest memories growing up in the 70s and 80s was walking through the streets of my hometown, marveling at movie posters.   I’d get excited about a movie if the poster were illustrated well.  The blurb, the airbrushing technique, and the visual synopsis made the posters of my youth collectible. 

Only three remain in my 80s and early 90s collection:

Today, the movie poster does not inspire the same awe.  Maybe Quicktime killed the airbrush artist.   It’s the digital trailer that gets you excited.  Besides, everyone’s a graphic artist now with the accessibility of the computer, and the ease that comes with handling Photoshop.   It’s ceased to be an art. 

But there are a handful of posters I’ve seen this year which I think both qualify as great merchandising and awe-inspiring movie events.

My all-time favorite is this film from 1998.  And the movie itself is as wonderful as the poster.  Look closely.  It's a profound take on the familiar floating head.

A world like no other

For our company’s Japan-themed Christmas party, I thought I should borrow ideas from Japanese cinema.  Then I realized I didn’t know much about it.  My knowledge had been limited to the master Kurosawa, animation genius Miyazaki, and a few of action director Kitano’s, and Oshima’s.  Plus the scariest movie since The Exorcist -- Ringu; and Oscar best foreign film winner, Departures (2008), which I didn’t really like (interesting subject, but manipulative).

But the few Japanese images in my memory bank remain deep and wild.  Japanese films are most original, and do not follow continental standards in any genre, even sex.   The saddest film ever made was a Japanese cartoon (Graveyard of the Fireflies).  There’s little dependence on other cultures because theirs alone is a rich and unique source of material.  Here are some images that I could not make costumes of –

Rashomon (1950) by Akira Kurosawa

Ikiru (1952) by Kurosawa

Kagemusha (1980) by Kurosawa

Ran (1985) by Kurosawa

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) by Nagisa Oshima

In the Realm of the Senses (1976) by Nagisa Oshima

Ringu (1998) by Hideo Nakata

Graveyard of the Fireflies (1988) by Isao Takahata

Princess Mononoke (1997) by Hayao Miyazaki

Spirited Away (2001) by Hayao Miyazaki

Howls Moving Castle (2005) by Hayao Miyazaki

Zaotichi (2003) by Takeshi Kitano

Departures (2008) by Yojiro Takita

I wish I could see more films from Japan.  By the way, I came as a cherry tree.  It's got as much visual impact, but heavier.

Back when a horny fridge brightened up the Christmas break.

 

Messieurs Manny Pangilinan and Albert Martinez, Rosario better be good.  It's the sole glimmer of hope in the list of mindless entertainment that will be in every moviehouse this Christmas break.  Here are the official entries to the 2010 Metro Manila Film Festival:

1. Ang Agimat ni Enteng (comedy, action, fantasy by
M-Zet/GMAFilms/OctoArts Films/Imus Productions/APT Productions)
2. Ang Tanging Ina Mo Rin: Last na To! 
(comedy
, ABS-CBN)
3. Dalaw 
(suspense thriller, 
Cine Media)
4. Rosario (drama-filmbio
, Cinema Buhay)
5. Father Jejemon (dramedy
, RVQ Productions)
6. RPG (an animation film,
 ABS-CBN Film Productions/Ambient Media)
7. Shake, Rattle and Roll XII (horror suspense
, Regal Entertainment)
8. Super Inday and the Magic Bibe (comedy/fantasy
, Regal Entertainment)

Decades ago, the Manila filmfest would showcase the most exciting work by contemporary filmmakers.  It was the biggest movie event for cinephiles.  Several classics were filmfest entries: Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon, Insiang, Kisapmata, Himala, Karnal.  But since the late 80s, greedy movie producers have contaminated it with horrible sequels, horror films, visual effects, rip-offs of Hollywood blockbusters.  And if only for that, we can’t wait for Christmas to be over for the Oscar hopefuls to start showing.

Believe or not, the first Shake, Rattle & Roll was a masterpiece, specifically National Artist Ishmael Bernal's Pridyider episode.  From a script by the late great screenwriter Amada Lacuesta, who also wrote the abortion movie Hinugot Sa Langit and the hilarious protest movie Working Girls, Bernal gave a fresh take on the horror genre by having a horny refrigerator as the baddie.  Sheer genius.  It has yet to be surpassed by producer Mother Lily, in spite of modern technology, and the tons of money she’s earned from the laughable Fil-Chi ‘epic’ dramas.

Embracing aggression

The Golden Globe nominations are out.  But no citations for Kick-Ass?  Not even for the year’s breakout performance by Chloe Moretz, who played ‘Mindy’, the foul-mouthed 11-year-old who’s trained to wipe out organized crime?  I love that movie, and I’m not saying this so you won’t think I’m square. 

I’m sure there are more people who hated the movie for its gratuitous violence.   But it surely grabbed my attention, more than the so-called arthouse movies that figure in the Globes.  It’s about ordinary people wanting to be heroes, and killing scores of bad guys along the way.  That’s not much of a synopsis.  It’s beyond comprehension.  Think American Pie meets Kill Bill, but even more shameless, extreme, and morally reprehensible.  

I like dark and demented themes as much I’m drawn to Merchant-Ivory period dramas.   It must be about getting in touch with my inner Dirty Harry, who co-exists with my inner English manor-living, ruffled-shirt wearing Colin Firth. 

But my love for violence stops there.  Earlier today, in our monthly share-in at the office, a co-worker admonished us to embrace aggression.   He said, “violence burns in some pitted place inside you”.   Through time, we’ve learned to deny it.   We deal with aggressive behavior by rationalizing (“it’s not worth it”); or by coping with it (we whine, curse, wish karma).    He added we should re-ignite the fire to lash back lest we fall first on the canvas.  Surviving requires aggression.

He recommended boxing as a way to improve our skills at fighting back.  Anchor aggression in good footwork.  Don’t get caught off balance. Turn hits into combinations. Make the other guy fight on your terms.

So am I ready to embrace violent behavior?  I really don’t know.   Do I want to add to the meanness that already surrounds us?  I do Thai boxing but only to get those elusive abs.  Besides, I’m hypertensive.  Can’t get too angry.   I would surely die from a stroke before I could throw the first punch.

Courtroom clichés

Trending on Twitter now is the Supreme Court’s decision on the Vizconde Massacre case. 19 and a half years ago, a 47-year-old mother and her two daughters, aged 18 and 7, were stabbed to death in the Paranaque City, Philippines home.  The young girl had the most stab wounds (19). The older daughter was first raped before she was killed.

The case became the most sensational case in the 90s because the accused were sons of high-profile politicians, military officers, businessmen, lawyers and celebrities. The lower courts convicted them after a grueling trial.  They then served 15 years in the National Penitentiary.

A movie on the massacre was produced and directed by Carlo J. Caparas – The Vizconde  Massacre.  And its blurb goes, God Help Us!  It was awful, but it made money. Kris Aquino was crowned the ‘Queen of Massacre Movies’.  Two decades later, Caparas became National Artist.  Such bizarre circumstances deserve a separate entry.

Early, this morning, the Supreme Court acquitted all of the accused.  I haven’t read the full SC decision, and cannot as yet give an enlightened opinion on the matter.  I suspect, though, that it was the ineptness of the police investigation that set the accused free.  The question remains though: Who murdered the Vizcondes?  Clearly, there were no other suspects.

Expect more high drama to hug the news in the next few days.  In the Philippines, the fireworks happen when the trial is over, not during litigation.  After all, real-life lawyers aren’t as articulate as John Grisham’s characters.  It’s so different from what we see in Hollywood movies.  And Hollywood always pictures it this way.

1. The prosecuting lawyer is always the bad guy. 
2. The defense lawyer is brilliant, but ill-tempered and flawed off-court.
3. The defendants and lawyers are romantically linked.
4. Favorite line: I’ll see you in my chambers.
5. A surprise witness appears near the end of the trial and turns the tide.

Here’s a clip from a clichéd courtroom drama, spoofed and made even sillier by folks in my industry.

Happiness

It’s more than just normal sadness.  You can’t just snap out of it.  That much I learned about depression from reading William Styron’s autobiography “A Memoir of Sadness” in the 80s.  I don’t know why I bought that book; I liked his Sophie’s Choice so much that I thought I should read anything Styron.

About the same time, Jaime Ongpin, Cory Aquino’s finance minister and father of a college classmate, killed himself because of clinical depression. That incident made the little-known disorder all too real.

For some, Christmas is not a time of good tidings but of greater sadness.  The material spending, not spending time with loved ones or anyone at all, or spending too much time with loved ones, contributes to holiday depression.  Some can't handle the pressure to be happy, are unable to jump into the holiday cheer.  Sometimes, the sadness just happens for no apparent reason.

I've got several dear friends who are afflicted with perennial grief.  When they talk about it, I usually have nothing helpful to say.  Should I say, this Christmas, reach out to your friends?  Make the connection, have someone by your side, just do something?  Sorry, Ain't got Dr. Phil's virtue of empathy.

Other than "don't forget to take your meds this Christmas", here's what I could offer: watch happy movies.  Not Christmas-themed movies because you wouldn't want to be reminded about being Home Alone or the lack of Love, Actually.                                                       
See Amelie.  This adorable French fable is about a shy waitress who's also little miss sunshine.  She learns that the greatest happiness comes from making other people happy. Maybe that's all it takes.

Film étranger du jour: The White Ribbon

In this millennium, the black and white film is as rare as a likeable Tom Cruise starrer.  I thought it would have a revival with Schindler’s List sweeping the Oscars in 1994.  That didn't happen.  Is it because the B&W style doesn’t attract huge audiences?

Maybe Schindler’s made a modest profit.  But the colorless ones that came before it, in the age of Kodachrome, didn’t.  Raging Bull (1980), which most critics hail as the best film of the 80s, was one. Young Frankenstein (1974), the Mel Brooks comedy classic, is almost forgotten.  Viewers seem to not find excitement in the absence of color, and thus, avoid it more vehemently than subtitled films.

I personally like watching B&W.  It takes a lot more skill to film scenes in B&W. It also has a storybook quality because it’s not all too real.  Would Hitchcock’s Psycho have been as chilling if it were in color?  The blood in the shower was more dramatic in black.  Gus Van Sant, whose Psycho shot-by-shot remake bombed, would agree.

Last year, the American Society of Cinematographers gave its top prize to Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon (2009).  The film also won the Palme d’Or in the same year when Brillante Mendoza scooped the Best Director’s prize for Kinatay.  It’s shot entirely in black and white, and it’s the only one of its kind I’ve seen in this century.

You could grab most of the frames and post them on your wall.  The images are luminous. But the story is about the ugliness that’s latent in men, even kids.  Beneath the beauty of a small German village that’s about to experience the horrors of World War I, is hatred against societal norms, the ways of puritanical elders that choose to see things in black and white.