Sex: Boatman and Scorpio Nights

Personally, I find bold movies and pornography boring. Of course, it’s easier to tell what bold movies are—which is any film that involves nudity and sex—from pornography. I am not entirely sure about what pornography really is, but I’m sure of one thing: it’s a big bore, and so are bold movies. A couple of people fornicating does not really make for intellectual stimulation, and I find myself unable to be entertained when I feel that something as basic and mundane as sex is involved. I would rather read a book.

One such boring film is “Scorpio Nights” by Peque Gallaga (1985). This is how the distribution of the movie was in the span of one and a half hours: 10% story in the first part, 80% percent of sex almost the whole time, and 10% of the story in the ending. One can tell the story in ten, maybe twenty minutes without the sex scenes. I suppose the point of the movie is sex—wanton and sinful, sweaty or wet with rain—in which case, the point was very well made. All kinds of kinky and fetishistic sex was explored, from voyeurism to pink mosquito nets, plastic raincoats, soap suds, and even necrophilia. “Scorpio Nights” was all about fornication but it was saved from being common pornography (I am using the word loosely here to mean  material with the sole intention of sexually exciting the audience) by the shockingly gruesome ending.

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A Movie Review: The Point of Departure

“Itim” by Mike de  (1976) has a cliche plot: a ghost with unfinished business comes back to haunt the living for her tragic death which creates complications for the people involved. This particular story arc has appeared in myriad other films and television shows here in the Philippines as well as the rest of the world. There is nothing particularly unique about it, except the context of when it was conceived—”Itim” was released in the 70’s, when stories like it were not popularly explored. In other words, it was original during its prime, plot-wise.

Consequently, the treatment of the plot was particularly sophisticated even if we compare it to the horror films of today. Mike de Leon and of course, the scriptwriter, has a very acute sense of suspense and horror; they both know how to use them harmoniously without going overboard. There is also an extensive use of symbolism in the film, mostly religious. There is that eerie meeting of wooden saints, the Virgin Mary’s decapitated head staring blankly ahead, and the old shriveled man who appears in blahs dream repeatedly are some examples. There is also a copious amount of silence in the movie, which heightens the suspense more than an eerie instrumental would have. All these devices make “Itim” sophisticated way before its time and has spawned the bastards of this genre up to the present.

One such bastard is “Signos” by Aloy Adlawan (2007). Several similarities in the plot as well as the treatment of both films are prevalent. For one, both films feature a successful son from the city who rarely visits his father in the province. There is also the simple but beautiful country lass who becomes the love interest. The setting is in the province, which is depicted as quiet, slow, and backward. Also, both films are successful in using silence and music to create suspense, even when nothing particularly horrifying is happening.

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What I was thinking exactly two years ago

Dresses and Depression

To hell with dresses and depression.

I walked around the mall and just stared dreamily at ice cream and cotton candy. A sugar fix would fix me up, I’m sure. But before ruining myself in the eyes of myself completely, I decided to go to Booksale for a greater marginal utility.

I stared at the bookshelves (as per routine) and found (gasp!) Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams. It’s the third book of the Hitchhiker series, the third book I’ve wanted to read for the past month of my life. I considered not reading So Long, And Thanks for All The Fish (the fourth book) until I’ve read the third book, but what the heck, I threw prudence to the polluted winds.

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Burning Bridges

I have the terrible habit of burning bridges.

Of course, it may simply be that people just don’t

like me at all; there’s a very high probability

of that but let’s explore it another time.

For now, let’s talk about my unfortunate habit

of burning bridges.

Sometimes I burn bridges

because I don’t want to cross them anymore.

Sometimes I burn bridges 

because they’re old and unstable.

Sometimes I burn bridges

simply because I’ve forgotten they were there.

Sometimes I burn bridges

accidentally.

There’s a Stars song that says if you’ve got nothing

left to burn you have to

set yourself on fire.

I’ve always wondered if they meant

set yourself on fire with love

or passion

or set yourself on fire with

regret.

Now is that time of the year!

Do you know what day it is? 

It’s the day that means the semester is ending in two weeks! Homaygod! Can you believe that I’m graduating in just one more sem? Every single time the sem is ending I swear I can’t believe it. It’s surreal—that’s the best word for it. Now all I need to do is wade through the flood of papers I need to finish in two weeks and it’s all gonna be COOL. Cool, I tell you! Cooool.

Mr. Villar: Marketing Specialist by Day and Rising Internet Star 24/7

I’ve known Mike Villar since 2006. We would chat and eventually he’d get drunk and then talk about existentialist hullabaloo like who is God and why are we here. Then the conversation would degenerate into pink dwarves and finally, Mike would stop knowing how to spell words. You don’t need to talk personally to Mr. Villar, Rising Internet Star, to know that he is this retarded in real life. You just need to read his blog and you’ll get a very good idea of how his life is more miserable than yours.

Drugs, sex, money, anxiety disorders and the wonders of Xanax—it’s all there. I’ve followed his blog faithfully since I first set eyes on it. And so I’ll give you a little tip: the stories that pass off as humor in his site? Eighty percent of them are true. So when he tells you that he gave himself a handjob while watching Maja Salvador on TV, and then cried to sleep afterwards, it’s most probably true.

We need more real bloggers. Vote for Mike Villar in the Blogger’s Choice Award category in the Philippine Blog Awards 2.

Blogging Is Dead

I want to read fiction again. I miss the dank and musty smell of secondhand books, the yellowing and crumbling pages as I turn them. I miss the high of a good climax and the winding down of a rational denouement. Mostly, I miss being intelligent. Since I stopped reading voraciously (I used to consume five books a week) I believe that I’ve dumbed down. Too much Internet does that.

I stopped reading fiction because I thought that reading blogs can take the place of my books. For a while reading blogs satisfied my craving for good stories—someone would talk about a funny incident that happened on the way to work or an epiphany about life, and I’d be hooked. Blogging had a charm, back then. People did it to share their stories because they would burst if they didn’t, or at the very least, it gave them satisfaction to know that their story is out there somewhere and someone might read it sometime. Blogging was all about honesty three, five years ago. Now? It’s just another way to sell.

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I Suck At Star Wars Renegade Squadron!

“If things go right we’re meant to be!” -Modern Nature by Sondre Lerche and Lillian Samdal

 —

I know why I haven’t been blogging lately. It’s not because I’m busy with all the papers school has been throwing at my face nor is it because of the eBay Fashion Challenge (I keep saying that if I have a piso for every eBay listing I’ve seen in the past two weeks, I would be a rich woman)—really, I’m the Queen of Irrelevance. I waste my time on things so much that even I know I’m wasting my time. It’s that bad. So, why haven’t I been blogging, you ask? Simple! I just realized it myself today. There’s something not right about my theme. I don’t know what, but I do know that I don’t blog when I don’t like how my words are virtually framed, and that’s the job of my template.It’s doing a bad thing of it.

The solution is simple. I’ll go back to my old design or (if I’m not too busy wasting my time) make a new background and header.

—

On other news, it’s just a month more before this semester ends. Think of that, just one more semester and I’m free! My grad pictures were taken last Tuesday and as usual, since the last twenty years, it’s a disaster. I look stupid in all pictures. I would have missed the whole grad pic thing if only I didn’t have parents. But I do have parents so I suppose that it’s a necessary evil. Contrary to popular belief, I like to make them happy.

—

I woke up around 1:30 am a while back. Couldn’t sleep, thinking about the photoshot at Ortigas today. Okay, that’s the dramatic thing to say. That’s just like, 20% of the reason why I couldn’t sleep.The 80% of it is because I slept at 6 am yesterday and a person can only sleep so much! Nonetheless, the photoshoot is on my mind. I’m prepared to lose the contest, but I’m not prepared to think of myself as inferior. In the end it’s not what you think of me, it’s how what you think of me influences what I think of myself. The former is an object, the latter is a process. Big diff.

—

I watched “Dan In Real Life” yesterday afternoon. It’s nice, but just that, nice. Not great or awesome. It’s a pleasant movie. What I do love about it is the soundtrack! Sondre Lerche’s sound is exactly my thing—light, jaunty, upbeat. I suspect that I’ll be listening to the “Dan In Real Life” album for months. By the way, I still listen to Stars. After all this time, I know, I know.

—

I played Star Wars Renegade Squadron on my PSP since 2 am and I must say—I suck at it. I never was good at games that involved shooting.Maybe I just need to practice but I’m just about ready to give up the freakin’ game. It’s just that I have nothing else to play.

—

Quotable quote to Uretz, while doing Doms’s makeup at the OSAD:

“If you keep on second-guessing yourself, you will never arrive at a conclusion.”