Maybe Someday Love: "(500) Days of Summer"

It’s jaded, this world. Throw a question like “Do you believe in love?” and you’d get laughed at, if not spit on. But I’m not going to blame the world. I think it’s ridiculously funny too, this “love”. Whenever I meet some annoying smart-ass, I usually ask him “What is love?” just to put him in his place. It’s such a dead-end question. There’s no way you can answer it intelligently, and no chance in hell you can stop someone (somewhere) from passing gas after hearing your well-thought-of response. It’s such a joke, and everyone knows it. Well except maybe those in the show biz who make their dough making up as much bullshit as they can when they promote their all-about-love movies. In which case, the joke’s probably on us. Wait. I’m getting sidetracked. Where was I? Of course. Love… “the many splendored thing”. What the heck, right? Inexplicable descriptions like that are slowly killing love, I think. I mean, I can really see it, in the not so distant future, You-Twit-Face Generation will be browsing through Wikipedia to find "love" being defined as: (noun) endangered feeling last seen leaving the Lot-Lot and Monching residence and found murdered by the lyrics of the terrible triad “Love Hurts”, “Love Me For A Reason” and “Love Me Do”.

Seriously. Should we take “love” seriously? It’s just a measly four-letter word, and no one seems to know what it really means, anyway. No one would miss it if it just packs-up and leave. For sure. Take my nephew Choi who, last June, was preparing a birthday card for my mom and was having a hard time remembering if Love was spelled with an “e” at the end or just with a “u” in the middle. Finally, deciding without much fuzz, he signed, sealed and delivered his handiwork to my dear mother. It reads, “Happy Birthday, Mommy. I ♥ You.”

See. Replaceable love. Genius.

And they say love is everything but smart. Who “they” are, I really am not at liberty to disclose as yet. Let’s just call them the Idiots.

The Idiots are unbelievable romantics. You tell them that they’re romantic and they cannot freaking believe it. They’ll protest to the heavens that they are just as level headed and reasonable as the next rational man, but ask them if they’d jump off a cliff for a loved one and they’ll say yes, despite the logic of self-preservation and the fact that your query was merely rhetorical. The Idiots are funny. They think that the freeze frame of the final kissing scene means that true love lasts forever.

Which leads me to “(500) Days of Summer”, the subject of this movie review. Indeed, I may be the worst critic ever for leaving my core subject for last. I'm rambling on quite a bit for this piece, an unintentional homage to the ever disorganized structure of this indie flick by Marc Webb. In a gist, the movie is about soulmate-believer Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his relationship with Summer (Zoe Deschanel) who is like the anti-love incarnate. It’s not a love story, according to the voice over narrator who eerily sounds like the narrator in The Royal Tenenbaums. I guess, in a way, he’s right. Think of love stories and you’d think of “Pride and Prejudice”, “Notting Hill” maybe even “Reality Bites”. This movie, co-written by Scott Neustadter based on his personal experience, is clearly not in the same bloodline. If it’s a love story, it’s the illegitimate child; the strange-looking and weird-talking flipsy in the family who is simply hard to ignore.

I’m not going to venture into the unknown and tell you that, for me, love is like Tom’s 500 days with and without Summer, which is basically a season filled with happiness, depression, trust, insecurity, hope and hopelessness. I have NO idea what love is. And maybe no one does. I made the mistake of asking friends of mine, a couple, if love has made life brighter, better, or easier. I was curious to know if love can really make all the ugly, crappy, and yucky things in this world beautiful, if not, tolerable. They answered at the same time, which is cute. It's just too bad they answered differently. (super cute?) So there. Of course I'm confused and highly suspicious of love, or luv, or ♥. Whatever. My point is, watch "(500) Days of Summer". You’d probably get more amusing insights about relationships just watching Tom’s sister give out her Master-Yoda-ish advices. It’s surprisingly entertaining. I don’t know if it's a good love story, though. You’re not gonna get the meaning of love there, or have the confirmation that it has meaning at all. For me, it’s more about the comedy and tragedy of searching for and finding someone in the cynical social order that we're currently trapped in. While it’s a terrific movie for the romantic idiots of this world who really need a good slap in the face (I really mean well), I just have to recommend it as an indispensable viewing for those philosophically-opposed to “love”, however it may be defined.

If you’re grinning too much, then I’m talking about you, smart-ass. You’re not an idiot now. But you will be too... You can only be so lucky.

LUNES LOOMS

The tragedy in life
is living it
like
a never-ending
Monday.

Every breath
seems accounted for
and charged to
a weekend
you’d be too tired
to give a damn

It’s suicide,
really, and the thought
that you finally figured it out
is liberatingly claustrophobic
and you have neither gun nor brain
to blow it all off

So the weekday starter
sucks the air and matter
out of your postcard-picture
fantasy
leaving you with plasma,
or frankly speaking,
ooze in an aquarium of
worms having a sun tan

You feel spent
It’s preordained
and
while the dry humor
of compulsory
companions
drags you to a grin,
you throw up
in your head
but no one will know
nor care

Not on a Monday.

Dalawang Tulang Lasing

UNA: Sa matagal at nawawala kong pag-ibig

Kung naririnig mo ako,
magparamdam ka,
utang na loob, labas at utang pandaigidig naman!
Iniisip na kasi ng marami
na inimbento lang kita,
kahit totoo,
malay naman nila di ba?
Kaya kung sakaling andiyan ka,
sa labas ng isip ko,
wag ka lang multo,
o isang jologs na naka-rugby sa may Cubao,
tawag ka naman.
Sana maganda boses mo.

PANGALAWA: Para kay Ariam

Nakainom na naman tayo.
May pag-ibig ka na bang pinaglulunuran ng alak?
O sinasabayan mo lang ako?
Naaawa ako sa iyo minsan,
kapag hindi ako galit,
madalang pero sa minsang yon talaga,
gusto kong umiyak at yakapin ka.
Kung maiibsan ko lang ang hapis mo
sa iyong pusong aalog-alog sa hangin,
ginawa ko na.
Kung masisikil ko lang ang
hininga mo, Ariam,
tinapos na kita.
Pero di ko talaga kaya.
Galit ako sa iyo, eh.
Kasi may puso ka,
ako wala.

Manapay

Makalikha ng buhay
sa mga panaginip
na hinigaan mong magdamag

Makasaksi ng mundo
na mas makulay pa
sa telebisyon ng sala mo

Di ba't ito ang mga pangarap mong
isinulat sa iyong utak
iniukit sa iyong dibdib saka
ipinusta kay balang araw?

Sawa na ako sa bunganga mo.
Parang habag mo na,

Lumipad ka
di lang sa hangin
kundi dahil marunong kang kumampay
Tumakbo ka
di lang sa takot
pero sa nais mong makaalis

Wag ka ng magpaalam
Manapay lumarga ka na

At, tang loob,
Wag mo ng lingunin ang sopa ko.

Sumusulat Ako Para Sa Aking Henerasyon

Para sa mga naabutan ang TV Patrol noong magkakasama pa sila Noli De Castro, Frankie Evangelista at Mel Tiangco. Noong sikat pa si Ernie Baron at ang kanyang knowledge power. Para sa mga nakaramdam ng pagtataksil ng tanggalin ang PBA updates sa balitang pampalakasan.

Iba pa ang mga balita dati, walang agenda. Purefoods ka man o Ginebra, walang personalan, ang importante ay malalaman mo ang final score at kung sino ang most valuable player. Ngayon, ni next game sa PBA di man lang mabanggit.

Para sa mga nawalan na ng gana sa balitang pangtelebisyon pero di lang matukoy kung anong insidente ang nagtulak sa kanilang tumiwalag. Yun bang pag-imbento (sandali) ng MBA kasi trip ng Channel 2 na agawin ang PBA sa IBC? Dahil ba sa Tide at pagka-tsugi ni Mel Tiangco? O dahil sa pag-iyak ni Kabayang Noli minsang nagbalita siya tungkol sa eclipse? Alin man sa tatlo – o lahat – o maaring noon ka pa walang tiwala pero dahil doon nakumpirma mong kalokohan na ang lahat.

Ang balita sa telebisyon, makulay. Puno na ito ng komento, pananaw, saloobin, reaksyon at interes na dinikdik, nilagyan ng tubig at harina, saka inihalo sa impormasyon. Nagkabuhay na ito, naging isang di maipaliwanag na nilalang na nakakagapang sa isip ng tao. Parang halimaw.

Para sa mga sabik sa responsableng pamamahayag. Para sa nag-aasam ng balitang walang labis, walang kulang, walang pandidilat ng mata, walang pagpapaliwanag, pag-iling, pagsinghal, paghikbi at pag-“tsk-tsk”. Para sa mga naghahanap ng pagkakataong makahusga ng sarili nila.

At napakasarap pa namang manghusga. Magkaroon ng sariling opinyon, makipag-debate hanggang lumabas ang litid sa leeg mo, at umuwing pagod pero kuntento kahit dehins ka panalo o talo. Napakasarap malaman kung sino ka. Walang tutumbas sa pagkakaroon ng respeto at kompyansa sa kakayanan mong mag-isip. Napakasarap magkaroon ng paniniwala.

Para sa mga pinanganak pagkatapos ideklara ang Martial Law. Para sa mga lumaking walang personal na galit o pagmamahal kay Marcos at Ninoy. Para sa mga nagkamuwang sa katayuan ng bayan sa panahong ang Gobyerno ay may sayad na. Para sa mga taong napapanisan na sa People Power.

Lumaki tayong iniisip ang pagkain at pang-matrikula, hindi ang sistema ng pamamahala ng ating bansa. Abala tayo sa paghahanap ng pagkakakitaan kaysa sa pagbabago. Kung pipilitin, mas maiintindihan natin ang poverty rate, peace and order and unemployment, kaysa sa Inflation, GDP at Constitutional Reforms – yan ay dahil mahirap tayo, marami tayong kapitbahay na tomador o magnanakaw, at halos lahat sa atin gustong mag-OFW. Masakit mang sabihin, pero hirap tayong ibigin ang Pinas.


Kasi napakahirap naman talaga niyang mahalin. Mausok siya, maingay, maraming away, makakalimutin, masikip, madamot, malupit at maraming problema. Hindi pa niya ipinakita ang ganda niya sa atin at tila ba pagkakaitan na niya tayo habangbuhay.

Para sa hindi pa naramdamang magkaroon ng Bayang mamahalin at pagbabagong papaniwalaan. Nasa ilalim ka ng tatsulok ni Bamboo at para bang nagyelo na ang inspirasyon sa iyo. Gusto ko lang sabihin na, hindi ka nag-iisa. Andito rin ako – nagtatanong kung pano isasaing ng mga magsasaka ang "stocks" nila sa Hacienda Luisita? Kung bakit senador sina Lito Lapid at Trillanes? Kung bakit ang pinakasikat na trabaho sa pinas ay traffic enforcer? At kung bakit 99.9% tatakbo si Erap bilang pangulo sa 2010? Andito lang din ako. Sa kabila ng lahat, nangangarap at nananabik din. Isang araw, di malayo ngayon, matatagpuan ko din ang puso kong umiibig sa bayan ko, nakikipaglaban ng luha at kamao sa dibdib, para sa akin at para sa aking henerasyon.

Cinemalaya 2009: The Good, The Great and The Ghastly

THE GOOD

It’s an exciting time for the film industry. It really is. Don’t get me wrong, I hate that I missed out on the cinemalaya full-length film entries. I wanted to punch the first person who showed us the “sold out” sign plastered on all the movie titles we wanted to see. The news sucks and the bearer’s insensitivity to its devastating effect was just worse. I swear, in my head, Kimura Lock was the only rational response. Good sense prevailed upon me, and I did manage to hold off violence. After realizing that I’m too old to throw a tantrum and too short to be a UFC contender, the irrefutable fact finally dawned on me. The indie films found success. Sold out screenings showed that Filipinos are watching; they are ready and they, apparently, want more. That mainstream impact, that’s bigger than me and my cinemalaya09-miss-out. It’s a win for the indies and the film buffs who love them. My regret was overshadowed by the big, bright future of movies.

Three years ago, Cinemalaya was unheard of, except by movie junkies and the outcasts of the showbiz world. I know this as a fact because when I went to screen the entries on 2006, the people in my queue talked like couch potatoes and the actors there were people you can hardly remember by name. The change is refreshing. It was so crowded, I feel like I was at a Transformers’ Premiere Night.


THE GREAT

We managed to catch the Shorts B Collection. Bonsai is exceptionally touching and the audience gave it a deserving thunderous applause. Angel Aquino, as always, is lovely. It was hard at first to see her as Daisy “the labandera”; but her on-screen chemistry with the awkwardly-charming security/caretaker named Romy is a real gem. It worked, and it was easy to hope that maybe, with enough “bonsai” care, anyone can have the love they want.

THE GHASTLY

So after a hasty Jollibee break, we continued our film trip with “Walang Hanggang Paalam”. The title is the same as one of my favourite Filipino songs which, coincidentally, was used in Donsol, the 2006 Cinemalaya entry which likewise starred Angel Aquino. The only reason I’m building this up is because I really want to say that I had high hopes for “Walang Hanggang Paalam”. I took two rail transit rides and a cab to get to CCP, I really wanted to see something good. I know that it wasn’t my first choice for the 6:15pm sched, but if a movie could translate at least 10% of how Joey Ayala’s song make me feel, I knew my long commute would have been worth it.

But “Walang Hanggang Paalam” the movie is horrid in its absurdity. It tells of the story of a Japanese national in search of his long lost love and a daughter yearning for his long lost father. The two met, they ended up having an affair, and in the end they discovered, what was so glaringly obvious to the audience from the beginning, that they were father and daughter. If I were its filmmaker I would just use the English title and change it to “Mahabang Paalam”, just out of respect for Joey Ayala’s endeared folk ballad. Better yet, if I were its filmmaker, I would just slap myself repeatedly until I regain some lucid interval. The movie was just unbearable. It’s filled with scenes that are both senseless and unnecessary and the characters are as contrived as the plotline. It was a misery to watch. We left hurriedly after the last scene. I personally didn’t want to see the actors when they turn on the lights. I think they suffered enough.

The movie made me think of the Korean movie “Old Boy” which likewise tackled the theme of incestuous relationships. When I first saw the Korean classic, I didn’t like it. It was hailed by critics but I personally found it too twisted and disturbing. Seeing “Walang Hanggang Paalam”, however, made me appreciate “Old Boy” and its brilliance. “Incest” is too dark and delicate a theme to be handled half-heartedly; and I’m seeing more clearly now why its director Park Chan Wook attacked it in such a strong and shocking way. He wanted to present perversion at its barest and most unsettling. It’s apparent that there was full recognition and intent to bring it to the brutal and grief-stricken extreme, if only to expose how heart-and-soul shattering “incest” is. This cinematic-metaphor is truly exemplary. “Walang Hanggang Paalam”, on the other hand, didn’t have a voice in this sensitive issue, and seems oblivious of its importance. Perhaps the filmmakers were too engrossed in the useless blow-job-scene or the glorified music video finale that they hardly had time to discuss whether or not the story they are going to put out there on the screen is tenable or trash. They just diluted the taboo in some senseless romanticized version, without purpose and without care, and they seem convinced that the viewers are going to take it all as art. It’s insulting and physically revolting. They should be thrown in a cheap and smelly moviehouse for a month and be ordered to watch the garbage that they imprudently titled “Walang Hanggang Paalam” over and over again. If that kind of cruel and unusual punishment won’t teach them a lesson, I don’t know what will.

Salvaging Salvation, A Movie Review

Terminator Salvation, the prequel/sequel of the Terminator Saga is a hit. At least, I think so. I’ve never been a fan of action films but, let me assure you, it was packed with explosions and fight scenes which are all fast-paced, technically-sophisticated and mercilessly-brutal. It was so bloody awesome that I’m getting sleepy just writing about it. I say that in all honesty and I think McG can take it as a compliment. I dozed off on Mission Impossible, Face Off, Fast and the Furious, and even Transformers when I first saw them. It’s in good company, at least as far as the blockbuster criteria is concerned.


Do I hate action movies then? Well, not really. I mean, I don’t think so. I just can’t stand action sequences after action sequences. It’s tiring and my attention span can only follow so much punch, kick, dodge, shoot and ka-boom! I need something to hold on to in action movies. Like the repressed passion in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the slapstick in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer, or the inexplicable love story in The Professional. Action movies like that, I can’t help but love.


But why is Christian Bale doing two iconic characters? His low and raspy voice is so unmistakably distinct that it’s really weird to have Batman unmasked as John Connor. Maybe his indie “Machinist” days are behind him and his real career-goal is to take on as many big budget heroes and bring them to the dark side. I remember “Equilibrium” which I was able to finish without falling asleep and actually retain in my innately anti-explosive-cinema memory. It was Bale’s first attempt at an action protagonist. Maybe Bale’s preference on characters that do so many things but say so little isn’t as radical as I thought. Maybe I should have seen it coming.


So there. Watch the Terminator Salvation, if only for Christian Bale sounding off the worthy movie quote: YOU ARE THE RESISTANCE. A warning though, the chase scenes are so fast and delirious that you might think that Optimus Prime and Bumblebee have abandoned the Autobots. Don’t fret. At the end of this journey, it will be Neo that will save us all from the machines. Or you can rent Equilibrium and see Sean Bean reading a Yeats’ Poem: “But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.” Christian Bale fighting the impossible fight may make more sense here, if not give it more humanity.