movies

Film Review: “Heneral Luna (2015)”

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A film review about Heneral Luna, directed by Jerrold Tarog. Heavy spoilers ahead!!

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A rant on Philippine Shows

There are two things that I’d like to rant about.

  1. Variety Shows
  2. Telenovelas/Soap Operas

Fair Warning: I am a human being, and my opinions might vary greatly from yours. These are my thoughts and I post them in the hopes that we might actually change the way our world is turning. This is a rant, and only just roughly based on truth.

  1. Variety Shows
    One HUGE flaw about Philippine media is that we depend too much on western culture. Master Chef, Big Brother, X Factor, Biggest Loser, The Voice… They’re all just western programs with the words Filipino Edition added on the bottom. How about an original reality for once?But even our original programs aren’t working that well. It’s Showtime, for example. This variety show has segments that need you to pretend to be someone else. These segments are mainly Kalokalike and Mini Me, wherein people have to literally just cosplay filipino celebrities. I mean, really? In my opinion, this is just to boost the ego of said celebrities. It completely loses the meaning of loving yourself. It’s acceptable to cosplay a fictional character because come on. The person is fictional. But to cosplay a real human being – to wear the same outfit, to walk and speak the same way… It’s absolutely ridiculous. Mini Me doesn’t even make sense, either. Because how can a child look like a celebrity. Like I said, it’s just wearing the same thing

    Not only do they make you pretend to be someone else, they also make you follow them and humiliate yourself in the process in the segment Sine ‘Mo ‘To! Like as if their egos can’t get big enough. These madlang people are PEOPLE too. I used to enjoy this segment, but someone pointed out that this segment is just a bunch of famous people ordering non-famous people around. And hooray, you get cash prize for it.

    Another thing about It’s Showtime is its exposure to gays. They have segments like That’s My Tomboy and I am Pogay. I don’t understand why you have one whole segment solely focused on homosexuals.

    Instead of achieving their obvious intention to persuade people that gays are humans too, they’re doing quite the opposite. They make gays act in front of the whole Philippines as some kind of entertainment monkey. It disgusts me. Leave them alone.

  2. Telenovelas/Soap Operas
    There are so many things that I want to talk about when it comes to Soap Operas. I don’t wait around to watch it. It just so happens to coincide with my eating schedule that I have no choice but to watch bits and pieces of it. There so much more that I want to rant on (Mirabella, LuvU, MMK, etc.), but I’ll stick to these three.
  • Be Careful With My Heart
    It really does not have any conflict anymore, other than small ones like Maya’s parents still not getting it on. I see no point to this, except that it hasn’t ended because people still like it. That’s not what TV Shows are supposed to be about!!! It’s not just pure entertainment. A show must have a story. And a story must have conflicts. Conflicts should be solved. Morals should be learned. And it ends with that – with a lesson. What can you learn from this?Nothing’s happening in this show! The family just keeps getting better and better! It’s FANSERVICE. This is a show that never ends, not until the last peron who is obsessed with it stops being obsessed with it. Even fanservice fanfiction has a plot. And they don’t even get paid. 
  • The Legal Wife
    I had an idea for a show. How about a story of a religious lesbian province-born girl who tries to defy the laws of a post-apocalyptic dystopian society and tries to save the world and she turns out to be Lapu-Lapu’s direct descendant. Oh wait, speaking of lesbians, have you ever wondered why there are no LGBTs in Philippine Media? Is it because homosexuals are ‘frowned upon’?The Legal Wife is all about infidelity. That is immensely frowned upon, both by the Bible and the Society, and yet we have a whole show for it. Now, if you can make a show about infidelity – which is directly forbidden in the 10 commandments, so don’t even try to argue about God hating gays – why can’t you make a show about two people of the same gender falling in love in front of the camera?
  • Dyesebel
    Out of all the shows, this one takes the cake. First of all, too much coincidence, as is what happens in every single filipino show. Second, the mermaids swim like seahorses. Awful props and effects. Have you seen Pirates of the Carribean? Even GMA’s Kambal Sirena is better than that. You can’t tell me you’re doing your best when you give crappy designs like that.Third, acting is downright horrible. We don’t see Dyesebel. We see Anne Curtis. Name a Filipino Telenovela wherein the main character is someone we don’t know yet. It’s always some famous hot chic paired with another famous hot-looking guy. They don’t even bother to change the plot anymore. There’s no character development, at all. Every character is so one-sided. It’s as if the writers manipulated the character to match the actors, when ACTING IS ALL ABOUT actors manipulating their emotions to match the characters. It’s so wrong!

    Fourth, it’s a sad replica of The Little Mermaid. And even if it’s not exactly an exact replica, Dyesebel has already been done numerous times by a handful of different beautiful girls. It’s not about the plot anymore, it’s about the woman portraying the character in a bikini shell and a tail. It’s not her performance anymore, it’s how good she looks in it.

That’s the sad thing about Filipino Shows. I wish we can get rid of all of these irritating filipino tropes. Let’s twist things up a bit. Teach people lessons other than work hard, stay true to yourself. And if directors, writers, production managers and film crew staff alike don’t make a difference, then I will.

People think engineering, nursing and business management are more important than other careers like film making or teaching. While the former shapes the future, the latter shapes the society. Films and TV shows shape the mind of each individual – graduates and tambays alike. And if we don’t fix the terrible condition of our media, no matter how advanced our technology is, if our minds are twisted to think that everything I said above is OK… well, we’re in for a nasty future.

Highlights of my February 2014

Movies/Shows I watched for the first time:

  • The Walking Dead – New Episodes (Feb 9-??)
    So The Walking Dead came back this Feb 9! I’ve been so nervous the whole month, waiting for a major character to get bit! Ugh, the suspense is slowly killing me. Thankfully, (or unfortunately, depending on how you see it), no one’s been hurt yet. 
  • William (Feb 7)
    A comical Tagalog play about William Shakespeare, and how his works affect our modern high school students. I enjoyed it 🙂
  • Robocop (Feb 8)
    This movie actually impressed me, and it intrigued me to watch the past Robocop film/s. Although this modern sci fi movie is sure to have more eye-popping effects, I’m interested in comparing the plot of the Robocop now and the Robocop before. I admit that the message behind the movie I’ve watched was clearly stated (and no doubt stayed in the minds of the more observant audiences), but I’d like to know if the movie this was adapted from was just as deep. The ratings in IMDb seems to show that the 1984 version was better.

Unforgettable Events:

  • Loki Month!!! I did a few metas, which can be found here.
  • Went to my First Film Festival Ever!! Won 6 awards out of 10, including Best Director and Best Film! Woot! 🙂 (Feb 21)
  • PROM! And Ragnarok! On the same day! Wore my Loki/Prom Dress! (Feb 22)
  • Called my crush and asked him out to Valentine’s (Feb 13)
  • School Food Bazaar! Sold Pizza Fries and a little bit of Funnel Cake and Cotton Candy. (Feb 28)

Books/Stories I read for the first time:

  • Thor: Trials of Loki by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
    Riza gave me a Marvel Comic Book as a birthday present. MY FIRST MARVEL COMIC EVER!! It includes vagye Norse Myth references, like the cutting of Sif’s hair, the sewing of Loki’s lips, etc.  (Feb 7)
  • War is Kind by vs_milton
    Someone in real life gifted me a thing for my birthday!! Rhia, our Writing Club Chief, wrote me a Loki/Sif angst fic for my birthday. Thank you, Rhia 🙂 
  • Do or Do Not series by andquitefrankly
    My most favorite fanfic series of the MONTH! Frostiron Highschool AU. Fully loaded with geek references. JUST EVERYWHERE. I recommend it to all of my friends, even those who aren’t shippers. It’s slow, it’s funny, and definitely enjoyable. It truly was an escape from reality from me. My own twisted paradise. I love it 🙂

People:

  • Red Anton (Feb 6)
    Well, this guy I liked 6 years ago started talking to me again in Facebook. We talked about college and other random stuff. It was good. 🙂 
  • I saw Rani in the flesh! (Feb 7)
    It was at Shakey’s, and the first thing we did was hug. Will never forget that 🙂 (Feb 7)
  • Aron’s girlfriend (Feb 7)
    I also met her at Starbucks during the same day! 
  • Arlo Gregorio (Feb 7)
    Also met him for the first time, also at Shakey’s (wow i had so many new friends!). He was frakking hilarious, and it turned out he was friends with my friend so it didn’t feel too awkward. 

Places:

  • Went to the Money Museum in the Central Bank of the Philippines: Honestly, I feel like our stay here was just absolutely too short. We only had about 30 minutes to look around. (Feb 7)

Other Miscellaneous Experiences:

  • Sang ‘No Words’ by The Script in front of the whole class.
  • Ate Razzles for the first time (Feb 12)
  • Family Day (Feb 14-15)
    Quite… uneventful. This is what happens when you dream too much. Just lazed around with friends. And waited… 
  • Mala-meet (Alaskan Malamute Meet) at BoniHigh (Feb 23)
  • Borrowed Arlo’s huge CD collection
  • Listened to the Beatles for the first time

Highlights of my January 2014

So I wasn’t able to make a diary for every day of the month. That was when I decided to make THIS. A diary for the whole month! Just to cancel out the boring days and highlight the good ones. All in jumbled up random order.

Movies/Shows I watched for the first time:

  • Marley and Me (Jan 25) 
    I choked in my own tears watching the last part. It took me long enough to finally get my hands on a copy of this movie. After watching this, I watched 8 Below, which obviously is not a good idea if you’re a dog lover. Don’t try this at home, kids. Very dangerous. Dangerously depressing.
  • Game of Thrones (Jan 31-?) 
    I’ve only watched it until episode 4 of season 1. But I have loved the story so far. I’ve read halfway through the book last year, and I like how close the story of the show is to the book. My favorite, so far, has to be Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark. Such badass women. The Lannisters fckin piss me off, except Tyrion.
  • Ender’s Game (Jan 29) 
    Beautiful graphics and science fiction gadgets and stuff. But there’s a lack of character development. I feel that everything was just a tad bit rushed. Still, I love the plot twist at the end. It made the movie a bit better.
  • 47 Ronin (Jan 19)
    Amazing! Just such an amazing movie! Packed with the Japanese culture, fiction, and a legend to be remembered, always. 
  • August Rush (Jan 26) 
    It is a fact that you are not a musician, artist or a lover of both or either music or art if you haven’t watched this. It’s an amazing movie, with a moving story. Fully recommended to all artists of any form out there.
  • Sherlock Season 3
    Horrible series. Made me cry so much. 

Unforgettable Events: 

  • School Sports Fest
  • Camille’s Birthday! (Jan 13)
  • Dog Show (Jan 26)
  • Picnic at Nuvali with friends! (Jan 4)
  • La Salle’s Eco Car
  • Career Talk in school (Jan 29)

Books/Stories I read for the first time:

  • Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom (Jan 26-27)
    I got a copy of this book from a dentist in our hospital. I finished it in two days. I was actually shocked at the fact that this was based on true story. I didn’t know until I read the whole thing! I guess that’s what made the whole thing more beautiful than it already is.
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell
    I got attracted to the story the moment I laid eyes on it in the library. I read the first few lines, and I immediately borrowed it. I loved the last line of this book. It delivered its message perfectly. I love the layers and layers of symbolism packed in one small story.  
  • in her garden grew hyacinths by LadyCharity (An angsty Thorki fanfic)
    This fanfic! Fully recced to all Thorki fans. This hurt so much.

People:

  • I met Rani! 
    I first noticed her in Facebook. She’s my friend’s friend. I saw my friend and a bunch of other students (including Rani) in their ‘creative shot’ outfits for their graduating picture. I noticed her because she was wearing a Thor costume. She went to school as Lady Thor. That, for me, was incredibly badass and awesome and I knew that I wanted to be her friend. I freaked out for a while and jumped around my bed smiling that night. I’m glad I met her. 

Other miscellaneous experiences:

  • Played volleyball with a classmate
    Such a minor thing to include, I know. But this was the first time I interacted with someone who wasn’t in my circle of friends. And I was doing sports. 

  • Practicum teacher was a friend of mine 😀 (Jan 23-24) 
    This practicum friend is Riza. She’s my first ever friend who is actually older than me, and she was our Computer teacher for a day. It was fun. 
  • Played Assassin’s Creed in PS4 for the first time! (Jan 11) 
    I’ve never played a game for such a long time, this day actually meant a lot to me. You can say my eyes were finally open to the world that I tried to shut down for years.
  • Made my own River Song Diary! (Jan 2-3) 
    This River Song Diary was my first ever ‘personal project’. I’m actually quite proud of how it turned out. 
  • Watched everyone else get ‘promposed’
    This is actually a big deal to me. It was the first time love in my generation was openly accepted in school. It didn’t matter that it didn’t happen to me. What mattered was that it happened. I love love. I love it when people share it. 

Ideas I had this month: