a poem
by Adrian Mendizabal
I can barely hear you breathing.
You sound lost as if a heart
So I came, but left.
How much does love cost:
If i can only hear you breathing,
Or sighing, or speaking;
If I am only here to live away.
You came because my sadness is
so swept by the northern seas.
You came to bereft me,
my senses, my body, my soul.
I can feel my flesh shudder.
Is it pain from past love,
or your absence?
I am dead like a twig
twisted into you,
like veins in my heart.
Whenever I hear your voice
I cry inside and
robed myself in desolation.
Is it that i longed for you?
Or that this wrath in my
soul is forever a vindication
of my sinful acts of passion?
What has become of me?
Have my mind depleted?
Have i forgotten what i
used to be, have i loved you?
What else this matter-of-fact
has become?
Your hands are raw when
I hold them, sometimes cold
sometimes green, sometimes
incandescently true.
What else then is love?
~dedicated to Xd
Something to learn from Sean Combs
a commentary
I'd puke if i tried, but i must release this bubbling stress.
Last night was hyper. it's my first 7-hour straight cram study and everything broke apart. But then i trod on, I was strict on my time so i had this idea to make shifts on my super-study-cram. thing. It's my old style in studying.
What style?
Well, it's a 1-hour-study-and-fifteen-minutes-break. During break time you have to do something else totally unrelated to the topic your studying. in my case, it's contemporary topics on BIOLOGY. I write on a yellow pad paper divided into four equal sections by perpendicular red lines. basically, it functions as my note sheet. I would put everything relevant to it without any hesitation or whatever, just scribble continuously until my alarm went on.
Every time the alarm goes berserk, i would stop, take a piss or read DETAILS: MEN'S STYLE MANUAL. It's a great stress reliever, full of colors and provides a lot of tips on MEN'S Fashion. yeah, I'm kinda looking forward for a wardrobe change so i bought this for a couple of bucks and treated it as my secondary 'bible'(forgive my word if there are extremists here!). So i browse and browse for fifteen minutes, learning the essentials of pants, T-Shirts, and Tuxedo, and everything in between.
I particularly like Sean Combs' way of dealing with fashion. He said, and I quote with immense joy:
Am i bulimic? a self referential question indeed. (Don't start okay! Give me time to talk it out!) With this rather significant question, i swear no body's gonna listen. Yeah! Well, this is something that i used to say when i was trying to make me like a total Mark Walberg or the replica of Vin Diesel. I tried everything to look like them, but instead i turned into turd. Poor me!
I did tried to dive for the gym but genes(forget BIO adrian!) would not agree with me. And now i am trying to make it as a social construct so i am trying to befriend 'non-fat' people, except for the bubble guy downstairs. I have everything in place, only coffee in the morning, branch but a little light, and regular dinner. If you are a nutritionist, please do give me advice on my eating habits. And I swear I really need the assistant of the following:
1) A GYM BUDDY preferably a before-and-after type that of home shopping networks'
2) A Personal Trainer - to pump up my confidence of achieving the ultimate Lacanian figure of the phallic male (psychoanalysis stuff, don't fuss)
3) A Personal, i repeat, personal nutritionist - the one who cooks and prepare my healthy food everyday
4) A Personal Psychiatrist - to counsel me on self-esteem and handling stress (o.O)
5) A Personal Secretary - to arrange my everyday schedule even though I'm in collage.
Anything you would like to suggest anything in reference to my quest towards perfecting 'the self'?
On the other side of the UNIVERSE, let's talk about films.
the 140-character-critiques of films that i have watched lately:
1.) Bedtime Stories (Adam Shankman, 2008) - Totally hilarious but subliminally homo-infused and dumb.
2.) Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007) - Perfectly pitched erotically charged epic, a reexamination of Lee.
3.) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyzaki, 2001) - Brilliant! Nothing beats a Miyazaki portrayal of friendship.
4.) Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) - A masterpiece! The best of Kurosawa!
That's all for now!
I'd puke if i tried, but i must release this bubbling stress.
Last night was hyper. it's my first 7-hour straight cram study and everything broke apart. But then i trod on, I was strict on my time so i had this idea to make shifts on my super-study-cram. thing. It's my old style in studying.
What style?
Well, it's a 1-hour-study-and-fifteen-minutes-break. During break time you have to do something else totally unrelated to the topic your studying. in my case, it's contemporary topics on BIOLOGY. I write on a yellow pad paper divided into four equal sections by perpendicular red lines. basically, it functions as my note sheet. I would put everything relevant to it without any hesitation or whatever, just scribble continuously until my alarm went on.
Every time the alarm goes berserk, i would stop, take a piss or read DETAILS: MEN'S STYLE MANUAL. It's a great stress reliever, full of colors and provides a lot of tips on MEN'S Fashion. yeah, I'm kinda looking forward for a wardrobe change so i bought this for a couple of bucks and treated it as my secondary 'bible'(forgive my word if there are extremists here!). So i browse and browse for fifteen minutes, learning the essentials of pants, T-Shirts, and Tuxedo, and everything in between.
I particularly like Sean Combs' way of dealing with fashion. He said, and I quote with immense joy:
"Women are going to tell you they love a man who's huggable --- that they like something they can hold on to --- but at the end of the day, nothing compares to a toned body. There's nothing wrong with letting it all hang out, but when you care, it shows."Okay, don't start judging me! I want to quote this because it comes from a very professional, well accomplished person. I respect Sean Combs for being great singer and also a fashion designer. This is something most of (fat) guys must know. It reminds me of Pink's song that i wanted to imitate just to make myself agree with Sean Combs.
Am i bulimic? a self referential question indeed. (Don't start okay! Give me time to talk it out!) With this rather significant question, i swear no body's gonna listen. Yeah! Well, this is something that i used to say when i was trying to make me like a total Mark Walberg or the replica of Vin Diesel. I tried everything to look like them, but instead i turned into turd. Poor me!
I did tried to dive for the gym but genes(forget BIO adrian!) would not agree with me. And now i am trying to make it as a social construct so i am trying to befriend 'non-fat' people, except for the bubble guy downstairs. I have everything in place, only coffee in the morning, branch but a little light, and regular dinner. If you are a nutritionist, please do give me advice on my eating habits. And I swear I really need the assistant of the following:
1) A GYM BUDDY preferably a before-and-after type that of home shopping networks'
2) A Personal Trainer - to pump up my confidence of achieving the ultimate Lacanian figure of the phallic male (psychoanalysis stuff, don't fuss)
3) A Personal, i repeat, personal nutritionist - the one who cooks and prepare my healthy food everyday
4) A Personal Psychiatrist - to counsel me on self-esteem and handling stress (o.O)
5) A Personal Secretary - to arrange my everyday schedule even though I'm in collage.
Anything you would like to suggest anything in reference to my quest towards perfecting 'the self'?
--------------------
On the other side of the UNIVERSE, let's talk about films.
the 140-character-critiques of films that i have watched lately:
1.) Bedtime Stories (Adam Shankman, 2008) - Totally hilarious but subliminally homo-infused and dumb.
2.) Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007) - Perfectly pitched erotically charged epic, a reexamination of Lee.
3.) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyzaki, 2001) - Brilliant! Nothing beats a Miyazaki portrayal of friendship.
4.) Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985) - A masterpiece! The best of Kurosawa!
That's all for now!
Everyone talks about Waltz with Bashir
a collage of commentaries
Everyone talks about it and i want to talk about it. Ari Folman made a masterpiece. He crafted it as Takahata's expressionistic Grave of the Fireflies(1988) and Coppola's Apocalypse Now(1979) came to life. What has Ari Folman achieve with his animated documentary challenges the definition of animation.
Alan Cholondeko talks about the nature and function of animated films. he said, and i quote:
Everyone talks about it and i want to talk about it. Ari Folman made a masterpiece. He crafted it as Takahata's expressionistic Grave of the Fireflies(1988) and Coppola's Apocalypse Now(1979) came to life. What has Ari Folman achieve with his animated documentary challenges the definition of animation.
Alan Cholondeko talks about the nature and function of animated films. he said, and i quote:
"[...] This means that the logic and processes of animation—of what I have called and elaborated in my writings as the animatic—of which film animation provides singular exemplification and performance, offer the best description of not only film animation but the contemporary world, and the subject herein. The implication is clear: we need animation film theory, film animation theory, animation theory “as such,” to understand film, the world and the subject. And we need television animation theory, video animation theory and especially computer animation theory as these media increasingly pervade and reanimate the mediascape of the world and the subject. Or rather immediascape, in which world and subject are immersed, even as it is immersed in them. These are an immediascape, world and subject increasingly hyperanimated, hyperanimatic—the pure and empty, virtual forms of animation and the animatic." (Link here)
Alan Cholondenko is surprisingly enthusiastic about animation, but for me, in reference to my childish faculties, i may not agree to his declaration that, and i quote:
"[...] not only is animation a form of film, film—all film, film “as such”—is a form of animation (a claim I made 10 years before Lev Manovich, I might add, but which, I must add in turn, others made before me, including Sergei Eisenstein)."
The rather confusing awareness of Alan Cholondenko made me think that with Folman's Waltz With Bashir, all else in film animation may have shifted their definition. Film animation has been marginalized by film theorists and film critics for decades because of it's eclectic variety in forms. Some even stripped away it's jurisdiction on cinema and labeled it as a form of graphic art.
However, with Waltz with Bashir i have to stress that animation is in some way important to the very definition of film.
Little of you know, for i have known it just this morning on J. Robert Park's (in partnership with Robert Davis) DAILY PLASTICS film blogsite, that the film was shot using a camera and was animated after by Yani Goodman. I must say, without formality, OH MY GAWD! This is something beyond filmmaking!
Parks said, and i quote:
However, with Waltz with Bashir i have to stress that animation is in some way important to the very definition of film.
Little of you know, for i have known it just this morning on J. Robert Park's (in partnership with Robert Davis) DAILY PLASTICS film blogsite, that the film was shot using a camera and was animated after by Yani Goodman. I must say, without formality, OH MY GAWD! This is something beyond filmmaking!
Parks said, and i quote:
"[...]The focus on dreams and memories, repressed and remembered, is incredibly provocative, and the simple but effective animation works far better than live action photography could. The animation dovetails particularly well with the Jungian/Freudian imagery on display, giving the entire film an archetypal quality. That threatens to minimize the horrors of war, but Folman always knows when to pull back, when to allow the details of an interview to ground the material."
It was a Jungian/Freudian imagery, bless me! I praise Parks for declaring this sentiment with sense. I agree entirely to what he said. It might have been that Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies became, with Ebert's pouting notice on it, the "greatest depiction of war." However, Waltz with Bashir may have attempt to disagree with that.
And gosh! Praise to Folman with a his very auteuristic and very honest depiction of a human soul. I must say this is somewhat a bridge between fully understanding auteurs and the nature of auteur films.
Jane Schoettle further admonishes it's grandiosity by declaring, and i quote:
I must watch this animated film now! I hate the distribution of such good films to Third World countries. I end this post here.
And gosh! Praise to Folman with a his very auteuristic and very honest depiction of a human soul. I must say this is somewhat a bridge between fully understanding auteurs and the nature of auteur films.
Jane Schoettle further admonishes it's grandiosity by declaring, and i quote:
"Folman has elevated the film's impact by securing the extraordinary involvement of Yoni Goodman, who created astonishing animations of images originally shot on film. This visual approach elevates Waltz with Bashir beyond our jaded impressions of ever-present news footage and into the surreal terrain of image and memory. Folman does not delve into the politics of the conflict, choosing instead to subjectively explore a dark chapter in his (and Israel's) life." (Link here)
I must watch this animated film now! I hate the distribution of such good films to Third World countries. I end this post here.
HOMAGE TO ART(2008)
a strong commentary on what is art
You would notice that my dormroom door has sign on it. It says:
Let this signage be named as Homage to Art(2008)
made by Adrian Mendizabal as a protest
Well, frankly, i don't want to put it in the most blatant sense, but this is a protest. A protest for what? OKAY! here is Adrian again nagging about culture and art without doing anything for the betterment of the world at large. So why a protest?
This is speaking not just as a cinephile but an art hell-raiser. Art is something you don't speak in an absolute sense. When one talks about art one cannot reach a conclusion of a yes or a no, or an 'i agree' or a 'it sucks'. I want to make a protest by putting the URL and the name of my BLOG in front of my door so that if anyone, especially my dormates, sees it one must know the following things:
1) The sign denotes a blog, obviously. An art existing in a written form actualized in cyberspace.
2) It's made originally by the person inside the door. This is an attack to the authenticity of art nowadays. is there any authentic art? Has intertexuality defined my post-modernism consumed authentic feeling of art? The sign by door defines the idea of authenticity. It acts like a label that within this door lies the owner, but this owner can be split into two: it either denotes my roommate or me. So this brings us to another level.
3.) The sign is a label. I am particularly against stereotyping. I hate stereotypes. I put the sign in the door as label to insult those who like to put labels on arts works. When one 'boxes' a certain concept like poverty or lower class i.e. 'poor' people don't have the capacity to view what is good art and what is not. I like to insult them by putting a signage on door which labels the door and the owner of the sign.
4.) It has no color. I protest against the sentimentals! i find sentimentality a distraction for an artwork. And this is a protest against the sentimentality of mainstream Philippine cinema. I fin d unsentimental themes universal and more precise. There is a clear distinction between emotional and sentimental: 'emotional' attempts a universal idea while 'sentimental' plagiarizes it. it mimics the emotional to appeal to the audience in an erroneous and loose manner.
5.) It is printed using a computer printer and covered with a clear tape. It composed of almost nothing but text on a blank white paper cut with distinctive boundaries. With this i protest against the connoisseurship nowadays. I want to challenge them to accept this not as a signage on my dormroom but a piece of art. I made it to be it using my ADOBE photoshop CS2. It's authentic, it depicts an ideology, it has a form and a context. Fundamentally, it is an art. And it can exists that way. To connoisseurs it may look like a piece of trash, but this is not how i see it. It's an art work that defeats the purpose of "what is art in a conventional sense". In a simple sense, it's an art work against 'art'. It needs no quality definable by current trends on art because it uses simple materials like paper, ink, and clear tape. However, it cannot be repeated or reproduced, even by the same artist because it uses unique proportions of clear tape, angles of paper cut, and amount of ink embedded on it.
My protest is rather implicit. So if you are an Ipil resident who happened to spot on that signage it'll be grateful to treat it as an art piece in protest to the things that i mentioned above. I name it, "HOMAGE TO ART".
But perhaps this post isn't complete without any personal agenda to discuss.
I would like to share to you my notebook, shown below:
Of course, with the presence of the two five-peso coin, the meaning of this photo is bereft with connotations. One would think, is Adrian trying to say something about the economy or the crisis? No, dear friends, I am not. but in arts, one can say this and attempt to come up with grandiose explanations about the significant of the elements present in the artwork. I must claim that everyone must function as an aesthete once in his own life to be happy. An aesthete works well when he's in need of something beyond him. Immaterial reality, that is.
Look at the notebook. It's an art work. It has contents which springs back in my high school years. Look at it carefully. Can you see the inside? can you? of course you cannot. One cannot find the point, function, or essence of this notebook without looking inside. There, as soon as you turn the first page, you'll see something eventual. But i won't tell you what it is. It is up to you to decide whether to open the notebook or not. I ask you, is essence, for you, more important than the appearance of things, or otherwise? I ask another, are you happy?
Without a word, i praise CURT DUCASSE. His writings are inevitable. He made me cry.
I also suggest to look at this (see picture below):
Are you familiar with this piece of art? This art is new. This art is embeded on my phone by an artist. He must have recognized it's essence. He must have recognized that this piece of art is tantamount to PICASSO's Guernica (1937) because of it's sheer depth and tempting semiotics.
"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso (1937)
With this, all else shall unfolds. It will start with my Homage on Art(2008). This is because i have to lead this declining art culture into a revolution.
You would notice that my dormroom door has sign on it. It says:
Let this signage be named as Homage to Art(2008)
made by Adrian Mendizabal as a protest
Well, frankly, i don't want to put it in the most blatant sense, but this is a protest. A protest for what? OKAY! here is Adrian again nagging about culture and art without doing anything for the betterment of the world at large. So why a protest?
This is speaking not just as a cinephile but an art hell-raiser. Art is something you don't speak in an absolute sense. When one talks about art one cannot reach a conclusion of a yes or a no, or an 'i agree' or a 'it sucks'. I want to make a protest by putting the URL and the name of my BLOG in front of my door so that if anyone, especially my dormates, sees it one must know the following things:
1) The sign denotes a blog, obviously. An art existing in a written form actualized in cyberspace.
2) It's made originally by the person inside the door. This is an attack to the authenticity of art nowadays. is there any authentic art? Has intertexuality defined my post-modernism consumed authentic feeling of art? The sign by door defines the idea of authenticity. It acts like a label that within this door lies the owner, but this owner can be split into two: it either denotes my roommate or me. So this brings us to another level.
3.) The sign is a label. I am particularly against stereotyping. I hate stereotypes. I put the sign in the door as label to insult those who like to put labels on arts works. When one 'boxes' a certain concept like poverty or lower class i.e. 'poor' people don't have the capacity to view what is good art and what is not. I like to insult them by putting a signage on door which labels the door and the owner of the sign.
4.) It has no color. I protest against the sentimentals! i find sentimentality a distraction for an artwork. And this is a protest against the sentimentality of mainstream Philippine cinema. I fin d unsentimental themes universal and more precise. There is a clear distinction between emotional and sentimental: 'emotional' attempts a universal idea while 'sentimental' plagiarizes it. it mimics the emotional to appeal to the audience in an erroneous and loose manner.
5.) It is printed using a computer printer and covered with a clear tape. It composed of almost nothing but text on a blank white paper cut with distinctive boundaries. With this i protest against the connoisseurship nowadays. I want to challenge them to accept this not as a signage on my dormroom but a piece of art. I made it to be it using my ADOBE photoshop CS2. It's authentic, it depicts an ideology, it has a form and a context. Fundamentally, it is an art. And it can exists that way. To connoisseurs it may look like a piece of trash, but this is not how i see it. It's an art work that defeats the purpose of "what is art in a conventional sense". In a simple sense, it's an art work against 'art'. It needs no quality definable by current trends on art because it uses simple materials like paper, ink, and clear tape. However, it cannot be repeated or reproduced, even by the same artist because it uses unique proportions of clear tape, angles of paper cut, and amount of ink embedded on it.
My protest is rather implicit. So if you are an Ipil resident who happened to spot on that signage it'll be grateful to treat it as an art piece in protest to the things that i mentioned above. I name it, "HOMAGE TO ART".
But perhaps this post isn't complete without any personal agenda to discuss.
I would like to share to you my notebook, shown below:
Of course, with the presence of the two five-peso coin, the meaning of this photo is bereft with connotations. One would think, is Adrian trying to say something about the economy or the crisis? No, dear friends, I am not. but in arts, one can say this and attempt to come up with grandiose explanations about the significant of the elements present in the artwork. I must claim that everyone must function as an aesthete once in his own life to be happy. An aesthete works well when he's in need of something beyond him. Immaterial reality, that is.
Look at the notebook. It's an art work. It has contents which springs back in my high school years. Look at it carefully. Can you see the inside? can you? of course you cannot. One cannot find the point, function, or essence of this notebook without looking inside. There, as soon as you turn the first page, you'll see something eventual. But i won't tell you what it is. It is up to you to decide whether to open the notebook or not. I ask you, is essence, for you, more important than the appearance of things, or otherwise? I ask another, are you happy?
Without a word, i praise CURT DUCASSE. His writings are inevitable. He made me cry.
I also suggest to look at this (see picture below):
Are you familiar with this piece of art? This art is new. This art is embeded on my phone by an artist. He must have recognized it's essence. He must have recognized that this piece of art is tantamount to PICASSO's Guernica (1937) because of it's sheer depth and tempting semiotics.
"Guernica" by Pablo Picasso (1937)
With this, all else shall unfolds. It will start with my Homage on Art(2008). This is because i have to lead this declining art culture into a revolution.
A NEW HOME
a reflection on blog
Sometimes, I suck like a 'Spielberg' on HTML stuff. I usually drop over HTML tutorial sites and blogs to get some tips and some codes for wrecking, rearranging, and beautifying my irritating, darn, bloody blog. I want to thank TIPS FOR NEW BLOGGERS and the other site i forgot, i deleted my web history, I am sorry for that. So with the grueling hours of debating whether to scrap the old, eyesore, aesthetically challenged blog, i welcome you to my NEW HOME.
So what's up:
1) Three Column Blog - I really wanted to make to this one for my blog but i never got the guts to do it. I am stuck with the scribe shit-colored main wrapper (the part where your blog posts are situated) and sidebar backgrounds. I hate brown because it does not accentuate what i am writing and i hate my favorite font style, Garamound, to blend with it. And i hate the way i crowd my sidebar, i want every element to be distributed.
With this freedom to a two-column sidebar, i can put anything: from polls to pictures, to lists of films, and essential links to ease navigation of my blog.
i can see how this blog is getting bigger. i have 250+ posts including drafts and unfinished posts. So for the coming months I'd be serving you enough cinephilic juice to fill the whole cyberspace.
2) Grayish Background - I admit it, the big problem for my blog last year was the background. i love the cinema draping, i love how it unfolds, all it's creases and meticulous stitches. but this unprecedented change made me realize that in order for my pictures to stand out, the battle of the color of the background and a hue of the picture must be resolved. So i must, and i repeat that, i must choose between destroying the picture or destroying the background. I destroyed my past background and settled with the light gray hue.
I was thinking of having a white background but it's too common. To add a bit of originality to this one, i chose gray for aesthetics. Gray is elegant! Gray is precious and submissive. It is mysterious and ambiguous. Gray is representational to cinema.
Gray simply means, in cinematic context, that we cannot look and judge a piece of film art in absolute sense. There will always be 'gray' areas in film criticism. So this would be the point of the gray thing.
3.) POST TITLE thing - My old post would comprise of two titles, the one that links the post and the one that is centered and in bold-typeface to put title to the post, in a basic sense. I wanted to put it to establish emphasis and formality but that does not seem to work. So with this new scheme i would scrap out the boldface, centered title and stick with Bloggers' title with link. It's a good thing because it's less crowded to look at. I am now trying to remove those darn titles to improve the posts.
I hope you enjoy the new look of my blog site. This is a revolution! I am very please with the results though i still want to improve it to the webmaster level.
Anyway, that is all for now. More talk on films next time.
Sometimes, I suck like a 'Spielberg' on HTML stuff. I usually drop over HTML tutorial sites and blogs to get some tips and some codes for wrecking, rearranging, and beautifying my irritating, darn, bloody blog. I want to thank TIPS FOR NEW BLOGGERS and the other site i forgot, i deleted my web history, I am sorry for that. So with the grueling hours of debating whether to scrap the old, eyesore, aesthetically challenged blog, i welcome you to my NEW HOME.
So what's up:
1) Three Column Blog - I really wanted to make to this one for my blog but i never got the guts to do it. I am stuck with the scribe shit-colored main wrapper (the part where your blog posts are situated) and sidebar backgrounds. I hate brown because it does not accentuate what i am writing and i hate my favorite font style, Garamound, to blend with it. And i hate the way i crowd my sidebar, i want every element to be distributed.
With this freedom to a two-column sidebar, i can put anything: from polls to pictures, to lists of films, and essential links to ease navigation of my blog.
i can see how this blog is getting bigger. i have 250+ posts including drafts and unfinished posts. So for the coming months I'd be serving you enough cinephilic juice to fill the whole cyberspace.
2) Grayish Background - I admit it, the big problem for my blog last year was the background. i love the cinema draping, i love how it unfolds, all it's creases and meticulous stitches. but this unprecedented change made me realize that in order for my pictures to stand out, the battle of the color of the background and a hue of the picture must be resolved. So i must, and i repeat that, i must choose between destroying the picture or destroying the background. I destroyed my past background and settled with the light gray hue.
I was thinking of having a white background but it's too common. To add a bit of originality to this one, i chose gray for aesthetics. Gray is elegant! Gray is precious and submissive. It is mysterious and ambiguous. Gray is representational to cinema.
Gray simply means, in cinematic context, that we cannot look and judge a piece of film art in absolute sense. There will always be 'gray' areas in film criticism. So this would be the point of the gray thing.
3.) POST TITLE thing - My old post would comprise of two titles, the one that links the post and the one that is centered and in bold-typeface to put title to the post, in a basic sense. I wanted to put it to establish emphasis and formality but that does not seem to work. So with this new scheme i would scrap out the boldface, centered title and stick with Bloggers' title with link. It's a good thing because it's less crowded to look at. I am now trying to remove those darn titles to improve the posts.
I hope you enjoy the new look of my blog site. This is a revolution! I am very please with the results though i still want to improve it to the webmaster level.
Anyway, that is all for now. More talk on films next time.
The Hours
a fledgling commentary
No! It's not about Stephen Daldry's The Hours(2005), mind you! If there could be any chance to rant anything cinematic like the preposterous appraise of Slumdog or the subliminal homosexual connotations of Disney's Bedtime Stories(2008), then kill me!
Whatever reason i have for Saturday is, as always, overrated and dumb. My cells are changing! Is there anyone dying here, or is there anyone killing somebody? Please do entertain my brain cells. For 6 straight hours, i have been calculating for angular acceleration and the finding for the instantaneous center of rotation. Don't ask, okay!
I have been planning to watch the films that i missed last weekend so i will try to plant them into my schedule(whatever that meant) or what else can i do on Saturday Night? A strange question indeed.
Plausible activities for a Saturday night:
1) Parteh!
2) Kill myself!
3) Have friends with zombies(or whatever)
Anyway it's freaking boring so i am planning to sex-up my night with a couple of films that i've been dying to watch the whole week:
1) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
2) Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
3) Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007)
4) Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
5) Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
6) Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2004)
Six films, that's all!
It's about an hour before my ES 12 exam. wish me luck!
I am also planning to change the lay out of the blog, need to learn HTML! Crash course, anyone?
No! It's not about Stephen Daldry's The Hours(2005), mind you! If there could be any chance to rant anything cinematic like the preposterous appraise of Slumdog or the subliminal homosexual connotations of Disney's Bedtime Stories(2008), then kill me!
Whatever reason i have for Saturday is, as always, overrated and dumb. My cells are changing! Is there anyone dying here, or is there anyone killing somebody? Please do entertain my brain cells. For 6 straight hours, i have been calculating for angular acceleration and the finding for the instantaneous center of rotation. Don't ask, okay!
I have been planning to watch the films that i missed last weekend so i will try to plant them into my schedule(whatever that meant) or what else can i do on Saturday Night? A strange question indeed.
Plausible activities for a Saturday night:
1) Parteh!
2) Kill myself!
3) Have friends with zombies(or whatever)
Anyway it's freaking boring so i am planning to sex-up my night with a couple of films that i've been dying to watch the whole week:
1) Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
2) Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
3) Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, 2007)
4) Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
5) Ran (Akira Kurosawa, 1985)
6) Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2004)
Six films, that's all!
It's about an hour before my ES 12 exam. wish me luck!
I am also planning to change the lay out of the blog, need to learn HTML! Crash course, anyone?
FILM READS: Chris Holmund on Masculinity
on readings
Vin Diesel on Babylon A.D.
Aside from these, I am most ardent to disclose to you what i learned from Chris Holmund on his essay on the Screening the Male entitled: MASCULINITY AS MULTIPLE MASQUERADE and i quote the following words on Lacan's Theory on Masquerades via Masculine portrayals in Hollywood:
"Lacan is less concerned in 'The Meaning of the Phallus' with male homosexuality, presumably because gay men share with straight men the same desire for possession of the phallus. For both dressing up and display are essential. Indeed, Lacan's most provocative remark, made just after his discussion of homosexuality, obliquely links heterosexual masculinity with homosexual masculinity. Because in his framework the phallus is necessarily veiled, it is difficult to know where the difference begins and where it ends. As a result, Lacan notes that 'in the human being virile display itself appears feminine' (Lacan 1958: 85). For all their cocky, self-assured, flaunting of masculinity, therefore, straigth men and butch clones both are merely masquerading"
This quote is highly contestable and is prone to criticism. But i am really appalled by Lacan's conclusion, hence also that of Holmund's, about the male masquerading to overcome their lack. Their lack in many aspects as sexual human beings. If you want to know more about Lacan's 'The Meaning of the Phallus' you can click here for an e-book version of the important manuscript.
Jacques Lacan is a famous french psychoanlytst and psychiatrist. He's a prominent figure in psychology and also a basic figure in psychoanalytic theory on films. Holmund uses his interpetations to establish that male muscular roles in cinema embody the ideal 'masquerade' image of a male figure and this, however, affects the viewers psychoanalytically by drawing up certain schemes on overcoming the lack of being 'ideally' a heterosexual male.
This quote is very important in my analysis of Almodovar's Bad Education(2004). it's a bit hard to analyze and draw the fabric of such films because it draws from the psychoanalytic approach on film.
A scene in Bad Education.
This could be the key in unlocking Almodovar's serious work, Bad Education, which i have mentioned in my other blog posts.
After all, this is a great day find connections.
WARNING: Contains disturbing graphic pictures(isn't it obvious?). Viewers discretion in advised.
I have this book that i borrowed from the College of Arts and Letters library before Christmas. break last year. Screening the Male: Exploring the Masculinities in Hollywood cinema edited by Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark is the book which is due today[may His holiness save my day :-|]. I have been site-hopping also for a couple of days now(a post-Golden Globe attitude to just plunge into the film blogosphere searching for gossips on the looming 81st Academy awards.)
Essentially, this would be the time that the blogger let in some LINKS to the readers which I, without any further ado, am willing to share to you:
Essentially, this would be the time that the blogger let in some LINKS to the readers which I, without any further ado, am willing to share to you:
- SENSES OF CINEMA - According to the site, "an online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema" Furthermore, quoting from their site:
Senses of Cinema is primarily concerned with ideas about particular films or bodies of work, but also with the regimes (ideological, economic and so forth) under which films are produced and viewed, and with the more abstract theoretical and philosophical issues raised by film study. As well, we believe that a cinephilic understanding of the moving image provides the necessary basis for a radical critique of other media and of the global “image culture”. (Link to page)
COMMENTS: it's a rare find over the net. It's an online journal kept by film theorist, film critics and serious, rant-over-the-head but devoted cinephiles (like me without the subversion of an authoritative voice) over the talks on cinema in association to it's effects on culture and media. I just felt that this is essential to anyone who wants a serious head-on with film. It's highly recommended because of it's scholarly treatment on the subject.
- THEY SHOOT PICTURES, DON'T THEY? - According to their site it can "best viewed primarily as a cinematic traffic cop." Basically, this site is an AUTEUR-based compilation of cinematic wonders ranking the TOP 100 Film directors of all-time(from 1895 to January 2009). Quoting from them:
They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? is dedicated to the art of motion picture film-making and most specifically to that one particular individual calling the shots from behind the camera - the film director. The 800-plus directors listed within these web pages range from the great geniuses of cinema (Godard, Welles, Hitchcock, etc.) to the great studio auteurs of the 40's and 50's (Hawks, Siodmak, Fuller, etc.), to the European masters (Buñuel, Renoir, Bresson), to the modern-day breed (Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, Kiarostami). (Link to page)
COMMENTS: I literally drool on this site. I love this site! LAVET! It ranks the TOP 1000 films (i do not know if this accuracy is a question) of all-time with worldwide scope. It's a great find and certainly an obsession. It also includes the TOP 250 essential films of the 21st century though i disagree with the idea because there is nothing different between 21st and 20th century films. But then, it's still one important film site that a cinephile could land on. Aplause!
- GIRISH SHAMBU - He's the ultimate film blogger, a legend almost. He not a bryanboy type(for Ozu's sake!), but a "popular center of the film blogosphere". According to GreenCine Daily, a quote that i grabbed:
Girish Shambu has to be one of the most fascinating personalities among film bloggers. How he manages to win teaching awards and titles as an Associate Professor of Management at Canisius College and write so eruditely about a wide range of films for publications such as Senses of Cinema and his own elegant blog and keep up with the bustling community there (a hundred comments per entry aren't uncommon) is... well, who knows. (Link to page)
COMMENTS: I particularly like his style of discussion on cinema. He's a great writer and i admire his scholarly vibes on his blog(might be because he is a professor himself.) It's also fascinating that his teaching career looms on business but his fanaticism on cinema brought him to the level of the GURUS. This digression on finding the art of cinema aside from ones daily, common jobs or activities(him being a professor on management) is quite refreshing yet for me a common thing because i, too, digresses from the hard and un-'artistic' world of Engineering.
--------o-o-o--------
HOLMUND on LACAN
Vin Diesel on Babylon A.D.
Aside from these, I am most ardent to disclose to you what i learned from Chris Holmund on his essay on the Screening the Male entitled: MASCULINITY AS MULTIPLE MASQUERADE and i quote the following words on Lacan's Theory on Masquerades via Masculine portrayals in Hollywood:
"Lacan is less concerned in 'The Meaning of the Phallus' with male homosexuality, presumably because gay men share with straight men the same desire for possession of the phallus. For both dressing up and display are essential. Indeed, Lacan's most provocative remark, made just after his discussion of homosexuality, obliquely links heterosexual masculinity with homosexual masculinity. Because in his framework the phallus is necessarily veiled, it is difficult to know where the difference begins and where it ends. As a result, Lacan notes that 'in the human being virile display itself appears feminine' (Lacan 1958: 85). For all their cocky, self-assured, flaunting of masculinity, therefore, straigth men and butch clones both are merely masquerading"
This quote is highly contestable and is prone to criticism. But i am really appalled by Lacan's conclusion, hence also that of Holmund's, about the male masquerading to overcome their lack. Their lack in many aspects as sexual human beings. If you want to know more about Lacan's 'The Meaning of the Phallus' you can click here for an e-book version of the important manuscript.
Jacques Lacan is a famous french psychoanlytst and psychiatrist. He's a prominent figure in psychology and also a basic figure in psychoanalytic theory on films. Holmund uses his interpetations to establish that male muscular roles in cinema embody the ideal 'masquerade' image of a male figure and this, however, affects the viewers psychoanalytically by drawing up certain schemes on overcoming the lack of being 'ideally' a heterosexual male.
This quote is very important in my analysis of Almodovar's Bad Education(2004). it's a bit hard to analyze and draw the fabric of such films because it draws from the psychoanalytic approach on film.
A scene in Bad Education.
This could be the key in unlocking Almodovar's serious work, Bad Education, which i have mentioned in my other blog posts.
After all, this is a great day find connections.
2 Solutions to 1 Problem: A Case of Minimalism
a commentary
Strike a pose!
Abbas Kiarostami, according to Scorsese (courtesy of Stuart Jeffrie's article on the Guardian), "represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema." This claim of superiority is "exaggerated" to the extent of the gods when Jean-Luc Godard, the founder of the French Nouvelle Vague, said, "Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami".
Highly esteemed Kiarostami, with his monumental features A Taste of Cherry (1997) and The Wind will Carry Us (1999), is now considered a living legend of contemporary cinema. It would be too careful to say that he was an auteur practicing his best ideas of cinema in his films. This control over praise does not work with him on a here-and-now basis for the reason that Kiarostami redefines cinema's boundaries on the artistry taking into account it's whole history by putting his audience into a meditative stance, and leaves them without suffering the prejudice mainstream cinema brutally dictates.
Anyone can put judgement on this film. This is what Kiarostami is trying to tell us. Two solutions, strips away the sentimentality most movies with children as characters impose. This is a Kiarostamian minimalism, although it can be viewed in Bressonian form. But the cut and dry narration of the story is unique in cinema. He wants us to understand that the theme: conflict between two individuals can be resolved in two very simple ways.
It is not austere as one could have described, but rather a assemblage of cut-and-dry truths. Truths that are treated with objectivity without suffering from the adverse effects on emotive forces commonly seen in Filipino films with love as theme. It is, in a way, a form of encouragement to the audience, to look at human conflicts this way. To at a certain part of the problem without the emotive facades.
In essence, this 5-minute film is indeed Kiarostami's best kept short after Bread and Alley(1970).
A scene in Bread and Alley.
Highly esteemed Kiarostami, with his monumental features A Taste of Cherry (1997) and The Wind will Carry Us (1999), is now considered a living legend of contemporary cinema. It would be too careful to say that he was an auteur practicing his best ideas of cinema in his films. This control over praise does not work with him on a here-and-now basis for the reason that Kiarostami redefines cinema's boundaries on the artistry taking into account it's whole history by putting his audience into a meditative stance, and leaves them without suffering the prejudice mainstream cinema brutally dictates.
-----------------------
NOW SHOWING
//
Two Solutions for One Problem
by Abbas Kiarostami
--------------------------
In his short film, Two Solutions for One Problem(1975), Kiarostami explores a common perspective on human relations: conflict between a man and another man. It seems cut and dry to explore this relations in a, call it, "Kiarostamian" perspective. This might oversimplify the fact that Kiarostami only wants to us to understand a singular conflict between two individuals in a black and white manner, as in the first part of the film. But he puts another interpretation, a rather simple one at the other half.Two Solutions for One Problem
by Abbas Kiarostami
--------------------------
Anyone can put judgement on this film. This is what Kiarostami is trying to tell us. Two solutions, strips away the sentimentality most movies with children as characters impose. This is a Kiarostamian minimalism, although it can be viewed in Bressonian form. But the cut and dry narration of the story is unique in cinema. He wants us to understand that the theme: conflict between two individuals can be resolved in two very simple ways.
It is not austere as one could have described, but rather a assemblage of cut-and-dry truths. Truths that are treated with objectivity without suffering from the adverse effects on emotive forces commonly seen in Filipino films with love as theme. It is, in a way, a form of encouragement to the audience, to look at human conflicts this way. To at a certain part of the problem without the emotive facades.
In essence, this 5-minute film is indeed Kiarostami's best kept short after Bread and Alley(1970).
A scene in Bread and Alley.
The Office of the Student Reagent(OSR) Issue
a re-post from chosetoknow site
------------------------------------
Choose to Know.
Stop Misinformation.
Let us step aside from film and view-in to a University issue. I got this from a multiply site of the Univeristy Student Council. This is really appalling!
Read the condensed memo below.
Read the condensed memo below.
------------------------------------
Choose to Know.
Stop Misinformation.
(Condensed Version of the MANIFESTO OF PROTEST AND APPEAL: To the Memorandum of Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid)
The new UP Charter requires that the rules and qualifications for the selection of the Student Regent must be approved by the students in a referendum. This is not, as some claim, a “threat” to the Office of the Student Regent. “A referendum is a means of assessing public reaction to the given issues submitted to the people for their consideration. It is consultative in character.” (Philippine Law Dictionary, 2005). For this reason, we welcome this statutory requirement as an opportunity for the students to participate in the decade-long debate surrounding the selection of the student regent.
The Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) has faced consistent and rational opposition from a considerable number of student councils who raise the same proposals yearly for the consideration of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC). Hardly has this debate ever reached the students who are the real stake holders in the selection of their sole representative in the Board of Regents. This year, six student councils submitted proposals for inclusion in the ballot for the referendum, namely:
(1) the inclusion of a minimum academic requirement as qualification for nomination of the SR;
(2) the inclusion of an express enumeration of powers and responsibilities of the SR;
(3) the democratization of the voting structure taking into account the relative sizes of all units, without sacrificing the smaller units;
(4) the de-politicization of the SR selection process by deleting in the rules the Kasama sa UP, a political alliance composed of several student councils; and
(5) the rationalization of the selection process by extending the effectivity of the rules to at least 3 years, instead of the current system of annual amendment.
Unfortunately, upon the discretion of the SR, these proposals were excluded in the crafting of the ballot for the referendum which now basically asks us to say “yes” or “no” to the CRSRS. In this oversimplified form and with the campaign to defend the Student Regent from an illusory threat, the democratic space of the students has, in consequence, been narrowed. In effect, what the proponents of the CRSRS and the Defend the Student Regent campaign are telling us is that a “no” to the CRSRS is a “no” to the student regent. What is true however, is that a “no” vote is as valid an exercise of opinion as a “yes.” But we are being prevented to exercise this discretion because of the claim that if a majority of the students vote “no”, it would result in a vacancy in the Office of the Student Regent and a loss of student representation in the BOR. The law, jurisprudence and the legal opinion of the VP for legal affairs tell us otherwise. What it tells us is that in case a student regent is not selected, the incumbent student regent will hold office until a new one is appointed (Lecaroz v. Sandiganbayan 305 SCRA 396) and if the student regent can no longer hold office, the vacancy will be filled in the same manner as the predecessor (Section 2, par 2 R.A. 9500).
It does not even have to come to this. If the ballot includes the proposals, the students will be given more choices instead of being confined to two; if they do not approve the CRSRS, they can alternatively include various amendments. This would maximize the referendum which financially and logistically is not easy to conduct.
But the student regent insists that our main and urgent task is to have the CRSRS placed in a referendum effectively reducing the democratic participation of the studentry to that of a rubber stamp to the status quo. That is not what democratic student participation is for. In times when our national leadership is consistently oblivious to the true expression of our people’s aspirations, and when the powers-that-be continue to dominate and mute worthy dissent, there is all the more gripping reason for student leaders in the University of the Philippines, to want to know what the students specifically want in their SR. In this referendum, we dare to ask the students what they want of their SR.
Thus, we strongly urge the SR to include the proposals of several student councils in the ballot. We demand that she halt the growing misapprehension that a “no” to the CRSRS, is a “no” to the OSR.
More importantly, we urge the students of our university to join us in our call for genuine democratic participation.
Choose to KNOW!
Signed:
Third Bagro, Chairperson*,
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)
Jan Robert Go, Chairperson*,
UP Manila University Student Council (UPM USC)
Nasvin Del Rosario, Chairperson*,
UP Visayas Cebu College Student Council (UPV CC SC)
Helena Garcia, Chairperson*,
UP Extension Program in Pampanga Student Council (UPEPP SC)
Rafael Usa, Jr., Chairperson,
UP Visayas Tacloban College Student Council (UPV TC SC)
Jobert Navallo, President,
UPD Law Student Government (UPD LSG)
Maria Christina Langit, Chairperson,
UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)
Jamie Pring, Chairperson,
UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)
Christopher Yu, Chairperson,
UPD College of Science Student Council (UPD CS SC)
Iris Siy, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Home Economics Student Council (UPD CHE SC)
Sean Su, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Architecture Student Council (UPD Archi SC)
Juan Antonio Maningat, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Statistics Student Council (UPD SSSC)
Bernica Marquez, Chairperson,
UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)
Noel Ricardo Reyes, Chairperson,
UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)
John Almeda, Chairperson,
UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)
Sheila Mae Sabalburo, Chairperson,
UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)
Kriska Tayag, Chairperson,
UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)
McRhonald Banderlipe, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Labor and Industrial Relations Student Council (UPD SOLAIR SC)
Sophia Monica V. San Luis, Law Representative*
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)
UPD Law Student Government (UP LSG)
UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)
UPD College of Engineering Student Council (UPD ESC)
UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)
UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)
UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)
UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)
UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)
UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)
1 Choose to Know is an alliance of concerned members of the University Student Council of Diliman, student councils from across the UP System, student leaders, students and political parties formed in order to ensure that the referendum will not be a wasteful exercise of sovereignty.
* Signed in their personal capacity as such
--------------------------------------------
Gosh! I should have voted NO but with this clarity, it is evident that YES would be the right choice.
The new UP Charter requires that the rules and qualifications for the selection of the Student Regent must be approved by the students in a referendum. This is not, as some claim, a “threat” to the Office of the Student Regent. “A referendum is a means of assessing public reaction to the given issues submitted to the people for their consideration. It is consultative in character.” (Philippine Law Dictionary, 2005). For this reason, we welcome this statutory requirement as an opportunity for the students to participate in the decade-long debate surrounding the selection of the student regent.
The Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) has faced consistent and rational opposition from a considerable number of student councils who raise the same proposals yearly for the consideration of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC). Hardly has this debate ever reached the students who are the real stake holders in the selection of their sole representative in the Board of Regents. This year, six student councils submitted proposals for inclusion in the ballot for the referendum, namely:
(1) the inclusion of a minimum academic requirement as qualification for nomination of the SR;
(2) the inclusion of an express enumeration of powers and responsibilities of the SR;
(3) the democratization of the voting structure taking into account the relative sizes of all units, without sacrificing the smaller units;
(4) the de-politicization of the SR selection process by deleting in the rules the Kasama sa UP, a political alliance composed of several student councils; and
(5) the rationalization of the selection process by extending the effectivity of the rules to at least 3 years, instead of the current system of annual amendment.
Unfortunately, upon the discretion of the SR, these proposals were excluded in the crafting of the ballot for the referendum which now basically asks us to say “yes” or “no” to the CRSRS. In this oversimplified form and with the campaign to defend the Student Regent from an illusory threat, the democratic space of the students has, in consequence, been narrowed. In effect, what the proponents of the CRSRS and the Defend the Student Regent campaign are telling us is that a “no” to the CRSRS is a “no” to the student regent. What is true however, is that a “no” vote is as valid an exercise of opinion as a “yes.” But we are being prevented to exercise this discretion because of the claim that if a majority of the students vote “no”, it would result in a vacancy in the Office of the Student Regent and a loss of student representation in the BOR. The law, jurisprudence and the legal opinion of the VP for legal affairs tell us otherwise. What it tells us is that in case a student regent is not selected, the incumbent student regent will hold office until a new one is appointed (Lecaroz v. Sandiganbayan 305 SCRA 396) and if the student regent can no longer hold office, the vacancy will be filled in the same manner as the predecessor (Section 2, par 2 R.A. 9500).
It does not even have to come to this. If the ballot includes the proposals, the students will be given more choices instead of being confined to two; if they do not approve the CRSRS, they can alternatively include various amendments. This would maximize the referendum which financially and logistically is not easy to conduct.
But the student regent insists that our main and urgent task is to have the CRSRS placed in a referendum effectively reducing the democratic participation of the studentry to that of a rubber stamp to the status quo. That is not what democratic student participation is for. In times when our national leadership is consistently oblivious to the true expression of our people’s aspirations, and when the powers-that-be continue to dominate and mute worthy dissent, there is all the more gripping reason for student leaders in the University of the Philippines, to want to know what the students specifically want in their SR. In this referendum, we dare to ask the students what they want of their SR.
Thus, we strongly urge the SR to include the proposals of several student councils in the ballot. We demand that she halt the growing misapprehension that a “no” to the CRSRS, is a “no” to the OSR.
More importantly, we urge the students of our university to join us in our call for genuine democratic participation.
Choose to KNOW!
Signed:
Third Bagro, Chairperson*,
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)
Jan Robert Go, Chairperson*,
UP Manila University Student Council (UPM USC)
Nasvin Del Rosario, Chairperson*,
UP Visayas Cebu College Student Council (UPV CC SC)
Helena Garcia, Chairperson*,
UP Extension Program in Pampanga Student Council (UPEPP SC)
Rafael Usa, Jr., Chairperson,
UP Visayas Tacloban College Student Council (UPV TC SC)
Jobert Navallo, President,
UPD Law Student Government (UPD LSG)
Maria Christina Langit, Chairperson,
UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)
Jamie Pring, Chairperson,
UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)
Christopher Yu, Chairperson,
UPD College of Science Student Council (UPD CS SC)
Iris Siy, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Home Economics Student Council (UPD CHE SC)
Sean Su, Chairperson*,
UPD College of Architecture Student Council (UPD Archi SC)
Juan Antonio Maningat, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Statistics Student Council (UPD SSSC)
Bernica Marquez, Chairperson,
UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)
Noel Ricardo Reyes, Chairperson,
UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)
John Almeda, Chairperson,
UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)
Sheila Mae Sabalburo, Chairperson,
UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)
Kriska Tayag, Chairperson,
UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)
McRhonald Banderlipe, Chairperson*,
UPD School of Labor and Industrial Relations Student Council (UPD SOLAIR SC)
Sophia Monica V. San Luis, Law Representative*
UP Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC)
UPD Law Student Government (UP LSG)
UPM College of Medicine Student Council (UPM Med SC)
UPD College of Engineering Student Council (UPD ESC)
UPD College Music Student Council (UPD CM SC)
UPD College of Business Administration Student Council (UPD CBA SC)
UPD School of Economics Student Council (UPD SE SC)
UPD Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UPD AIT SC)
UPD National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (UPD NCPAG SC)
UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (UPD CSSP SC)
1 Choose to Know is an alliance of concerned members of the University Student Council of Diliman, student councils from across the UP System, student leaders, students and political parties formed in order to ensure that the referendum will not be a wasteful exercise of sovereignty.
* Signed in their personal capacity as such
--------------------------------------------
Gosh! I should have voted NO but with this clarity, it is evident that YES would be the right choice.
ESSENTIAL FILMS of '08
video post
Well, do i have to say this? I cannot essentially find a good cinema in manila to watch these films:
BALLAST
Waltz with Bashir
Hunger - Camera d'OR
In Bruges
Gomorrah - Grand Prix
The Class - Palme d'Or
Nietzsche on Hardship
video post
I totally agree with Nietzsche's point of view on hardship. I used his philosophy to overcome the pain of failing a subject. he said that instead of putting failure aside, we can use it for cultivating beautiful things.
You might want to check on these videos!
Part I- Guide to Happiness
Part II - Guide to Happiness
Part III - Guide to Happiness
Perspectives on a Saturday
a commentary
I have been craving to blog about just almost everything that happened to me from the past days. And i thought all of them will converge tomorrow, a Saturday.
Of course there is the looming load of academic work for the weekend.
Of course there is the looming load of academic work for the weekend.
The actuality of ES 12
Involving everything else, and with proper decorumshall be turned into gold
Of course, with the appropriate amount of caffeine, mind not the logo!
Saturday without film viewing is not a Saturday but a bum day. My play list is rather accumulating films day by day. Sure enough i would finish them, albeit the random schedules and busy routine, sure enough that by Sunday evening everything is finished. The following films constitute varied styles of filmmaking. I wouldn't comment on that one after i have seen it all.
Saturday is my only chance to watch Curious Case of Benjamin Button on a big screen without the hassle of academic work or the distraction of an exam. Whatever my saturday would be this is the list of films that i would be voraciously watching:
Reruns:
Saturday is my only chance to watch Curious Case of Benjamin Button on a big screen without the hassle of academic work or the distraction of an exam. Whatever my saturday would be this is the list of films that i would be voraciously watching:
1.) Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
2.) Ugetsu (Kenji Mezoguchi, 1953)
3.) A Short Film about Killing (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988)
4.) The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004)
5.) Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)
6.) Moolaade (Ousmane Sembene, 2004)
7.) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008)
Reruns:
So anyway, i hope i spared you my saturday forecast. i'm enjoying my cup of coffee so bye for now.
1.) Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar, 2004)
2.) Blow-Up (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966)
LAMORISSE and Coffee
a commentary
Good morning guys! I'm enjoying my coffee which i prepared an hour ago so it's icy cold. I am in the middle of my extensive review in one of my major subjects, but in between my heat transfer thoughts i recall a short film that i wished to put emphasis on this post. By the way, how are your post-Golden Globe modes? Who revolted against Slumdog, anyone? Who adored Kate(me! me! me!)? Anyway, my thoughts on Albert Lamorisse brought me to showing you a portion of the film, White Mane(french- Crin-Blanc, 1953). Watch YouTube video below.
First of all, Lamorisse is a great director for children films. I do not want to put his film as a 'genric' to other children films(i.e. Lion King (1994), Sound of Music(1994)) because they exhume an immaterial aura which made it transcendent to it's predecessors. Winning at Cannes for Palme d'Or for shorts, White Mane is not a typical children film. Though this transcendent quality of Lamorisse's films other than White Mane would categorized it as unwatchable for children, i might disagree to that.
White Mane caters for the young audiences. It is seemingly a heroic portrayal of this young kid in taming a white horse. On a deeper level, it appeals to the concept of liberty and friendship which young children could identify easily. The element of the mane draped with white skin is universally acknowledge and can be viewed at multitude of perspectives. This interlaced quality of perspective of watching White Mane transcends it from typical children films which are musically fueled. It is highly entertaining and astonishing. It appeals to all walks of life.
He's the man!
Anyway, my coffee has gotten cold as ice, and i have an 830 class at the Bio pavilion. i wish to spare more of great and important films to watch for, but i must insist to discontinue for now.
May you have a good morning, a hot cup of coffee and a meaningful film experience(if by any chance this would push in your schedules) this morning.
First of all, Lamorisse is a great director for children films. I do not want to put his film as a 'genric' to other children films(i.e. Lion King (1994), Sound of Music(1994)) because they exhume an immaterial aura which made it transcendent to it's predecessors. Winning at Cannes for Palme d'Or for shorts, White Mane is not a typical children film. Though this transcendent quality of Lamorisse's films other than White Mane would categorized it as unwatchable for children, i might disagree to that.
White Mane caters for the young audiences. It is seemingly a heroic portrayal of this young kid in taming a white horse. On a deeper level, it appeals to the concept of liberty and friendship which young children could identify easily. The element of the mane draped with white skin is universally acknowledge and can be viewed at multitude of perspectives. This interlaced quality of perspective of watching White Mane transcends it from typical children films which are musically fueled. It is highly entertaining and astonishing. It appeals to all walks of life.
He's the man!
Anyway, my coffee has gotten cold as ice, and i have an 830 class at the Bio pavilion. i wish to spare more of great and important films to watch for, but i must insist to discontinue for now.
May you have a good morning, a hot cup of coffee and a meaningful film experience(if by any chance this would push in your schedules) this morning.
THE GOLDEN GLOBE goes to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
The Golden Globe goes to:
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE(given...)
and WALTZ WITH BASHIR(astonishing!)
a commentary
Happy boring Monday everyone! The thing is 66th Golden Globe Awards have been concluded a few hours ago. I think it's a little late to post the winners for the ceremony but then let me spare you my own list and comments.
COMMENTS!
Okay! here it goes. The film Slumdog Millionaire(2008) is smash hit, that's given. (no further comment until the 81st Academy Awards is concluded) However, i would like to focus on the winner for best foreign film - Waltz with Bashir(2008) from Israel. Though i have never seen the film, only the trailer, i think it's a breakthrough! Astonishing and ambitious to actually portray it in an animated fashion. It seems to appeal to, comparable to Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies(1988), a realistic depiction of war. I harbor all my emotions to this picture, and i hope MTRCB will show this on the big screens in Manila.
Moving on, Kate Winslet's wins big! According to New York Times, it's the third time that an actor received two acting awards from the same ceremony. It's big thing for Kate! I congratulate her.
There are only three nominations for best animated film, a sad thing.
Danny Boyle grabs the throne for best director. He's a recognized director for Trainspotting(1996) which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screeplay last 1996(a ciao to screenwriter, John Hodge).
There is a looming cloud for 81st Academy Awards in February 2009 that Slumdog Millionaire will grab most of the major awards.
I think it will win at the Academy grand slam.
Slumdog Millionaire Trailer
THE LIST:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I've Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Written by Eric Roth
Doubt
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon
Written by Peter Morgan
The Reader
Written by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire
Written by Simon Beaufoy
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Changeling
Composed by Clint Eastwood
Defiance
Composed by James Newton Howard
Slumdog Millionaire
Composed by A. R. Rahman
Frost/Nixon
Composed by Hans Zimmer
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Down To Earth" – Wall-E
"Gran Torino" – Gran Torino
"I Thought I Lost You" – Bolt
"Once In A Lifetime" – Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" – The Wrestler
Best Television Series - Drama
Dexter (SHOWTIME)
House (FOX)
In Treatment (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order
January Jones – Mad Men (AMC)
Anna Paquin – True Blood (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment (HBO)
Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)
Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (SHOWTIME)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA)
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
Kevin Connolly – Entourage (HBO)
David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
Tony Shalhoub – Monk (USA)
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
A Raisin In The Sun (ABC)
Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Cranford (PBS)
John Adams (HBO)
Recount (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Judi Dench – Cranford (PBS)
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
Kevin Spacey – Recount (HBO)
Kiefer Sutherland – 24 (FOX)
Tom Wilkinson – Recount (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Eileen Atkins – Cranford (PBS)
Laura Dern – Recount (HBO)
Melissa George – In Treatment (HBO)
Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Dianne Wiest – In Treatment (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Denis Leary – Recount (HBO)
Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
Blair Underwood – In Treatment (HBO)
Tom Wilkinson – John Adams (HBO)
For more info please refer to http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/.
COMMENTS!
Okay! here it goes. The film Slumdog Millionaire(2008) is smash hit, that's given. (no further comment until the 81st Academy Awards is concluded) However, i would like to focus on the winner for best foreign film - Waltz with Bashir(2008) from Israel. Though i have never seen the film, only the trailer, i think it's a breakthrough! Astonishing and ambitious to actually portray it in an animated fashion. It seems to appeal to, comparable to Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies(1988), a realistic depiction of war. I harbor all my emotions to this picture, and i hope MTRCB will show this on the big screens in Manila.
Waltz with Bashir(2008) trailer
Heath Ledger received a posthumous award for Best Supporting Actor in Drama and that is not shocking. He deserved it.Moving on, Kate Winslet's wins big! According to New York Times, it's the third time that an actor received two acting awards from the same ceremony. It's big thing for Kate! I congratulate her.
There are only three nominations for best animated film, a sad thing.
Danny Boyle grabs the throne for best director. He's a recognized director for Trainspotting(1996) which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Adapted Screeplay last 1996(a ciao to screenwriter, John Hodge).
There is a looming cloud for 81st Academy Awards in February 2009 that Slumdog Millionaire will grab most of the major awards.
I think it will win at the Academy grand slam.
Slumdog Millionaire Trailer
THE LIST:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I've Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)
Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
David Fincher – The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Written by Eric Roth
Doubt
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon
Written by Peter Morgan
The Reader
Written by David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire
Written by Simon Beaufoy
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Changeling
Composed by Clint Eastwood
Defiance
Composed by James Newton Howard
Slumdog Millionaire
Composed by A. R. Rahman
Frost/Nixon
Composed by Hans Zimmer
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Down To Earth" – Wall-E
"Gran Torino" – Gran Torino
"I Thought I Lost You" – Bolt
"Once In A Lifetime" – Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" – The Wrestler
Best Television Series - Drama
Dexter (SHOWTIME)
House (FOX)
In Treatment (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order
January Jones – Mad Men (AMC)
Anna Paquin – True Blood (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer (TNT)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment (HBO)
Michael C. Hall – Dexter (SHOWTIME)
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie – House (FOX)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors (SHOWTIME)
Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (SHOWTIME)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who? (ABC)
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
Debra Messing – The Starter Wife (USA)
Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds (SHOWTIME)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell – The Office (NBC)
Kevin Connolly – Entourage (HBO)
David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
Tony Shalhoub – Monk (USA)
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
A Raisin In The Sun (ABC)
Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Cranford (PBS)
John Adams (HBO)
Recount (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Judi Dench – Cranford (PBS)
Catherine Keener – An American Crime
Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)
Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris (HBO)
Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)
Kevin Spacey – Recount (HBO)
Kiefer Sutherland – 24 (FOX)
Tom Wilkinson – Recount (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Eileen Atkins – Cranford (PBS)
Laura Dern – Recount (HBO)
Melissa George – In Treatment (HBO)
Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Dianne Wiest – In Treatment (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Denis Leary – Recount (HBO)
Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
Blair Underwood – In Treatment (HBO)
Tom Wilkinson – John Adams (HBO)
For more info please refer to http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/.
Aching for Corleone
a commentary
Well, what more can i say?
I just need to kill the ice around here! F***ing boring Urgh!
Take a look at this:
Monday afternoon, a cup of coffee tainted with beans, and a bunch of work - a very typical day for me. It's chilly and gray outside. no time for walking or strolling. I still have a little cold.
So what is this aching feeling for Vito Corleone?
Well obviously, i wish to finish my work by 6 pm and watch The Godfather(1972) by 7 pm after dinner(wahaha) to break the ice. It's freaking cold around Manila.
Monday afternoon, a cup of coffee tainted with beans, and a bunch of work - a very typical day for me. It's chilly and gray outside. no time for walking or strolling. I still have a little cold.
So what is this aching feeling for Vito Corleone?
Well obviously, i wish to finish my work by 6 pm and watch The Godfather(1972) by 7 pm after dinner(wahaha) to break the ice. It's freaking cold around Manila.
I mean, he could really have
a good use of that fire around here!
a good use of that fire around here!
Well, what more can i say? 
I just need to kill the ice around here! F***ing boring Urgh!Just look at him... (sigh) poor us, we have exams tomorrow!
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