I don't know if I can write an objective review about this film, being the Pisay fanatic that I am.
Spoilers abound, though this movie can't be destroyed much by spoilers, I believe. There are no twists to be wary of; it's really just a simple but heartwarming retelling of what Pisay life could be - if you're from Pisay, you probably already know what's in the movie, especially if you were a student there way back in the '80s.
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Before I launch into my LENGTHY (sorry) review, let me just say a few words about the soundtrack that I do not have yet. Yup, I don't have it yet, but I am excited by the names that adorn it. Check it out for yourself: http://www.pisaythemovie.com.ph/soundtrack.html
I've explored the Pisay-Eheads connection in my blog before. It was the same entry where Auraeus commented that he's thinking of making "Manhid" his next feature film. Sana matuloy yun! Kickass soundtrack yun, for sure!
Folks from the "Pisay" movie have commented on my blog and I hope that would lead to stocks of the CD and the "Pisay" shirt being sold in Pisay mismo.
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I love Pisay, the school. It's like what Hogwarts was to Harry Potter - a place where he found himself, a place where he belonged, a place where he realized what he was to do with his life. (From here, you'd have to pardon the Potter references; I just finished Book 7, hahaha.)
I love Pisay so much that I came back to be part of her again physically (because of course once you've been through the halls of Pisay, you're forever a part of her already).
So anyway, enough about me; let's talk about the movie :P
I like the way the story was presented - here we saw how the lives of a bunch of kids were changed as they made their way through that part of the life they will forever remember fondly not just as their "high school days", but as their "Pisay days".
The story is told as the Harry Potter series proceeded - year by year. In each level, we get to know more about a certain character, or a pair of characters. We see what dilemmas they are going through; for the pairs, it's what brings them together and, later, what drives them apart.
1st year tells us of the story of Rom and Wena. They are brought together by the universal need to belong - Rom was an alternate (accepted as a scholar once the original qualifiers gave up their slot) and his first friend in Pisay was Wena; Wena was (I would assume) a Catholic-private-schooled-rich-girl. Even though they would initially seem worlds apart, they somehow found each other in the dizzying place and time that is the Pisay Freshman Year. Lots of Pisay kids would feel lost in this initial foray into the world of Pisay. And when you find someone special to hang on to, it would probably be the greatest feeling in the world. Too bad though that their companionship led to Rom's less than satisfactory grades (at least, to his Physics teacher, Ms. Casas), and they were forced to spend less time with each other. The final scene for Freshman Year was quite touching - each was shedding a tear as they looked at the batch ranking that revealed that their separation had done the other well academically. No words passed between them, because I guess it was a painful truth that could not be spoken about. Can't say I was forced out of a high school relationship, but I would understand the pain of having to not be with someone because it would actually do you good. That's just so sad.
2nd year tells us of the story of Mat. He's this jolly kid from the province - a hero in his hometown for having passed the Pisay entrance exam. He tries his best to succeed in his studies, but he is distracted by mean upper-classmen (di ko estudyante yung nang-bully sa kanya, pero balita ko total opposite nung character niya yung totoong student, hehehe) and his longing to be home with his folks. His efforts to survive the struggle for existence come a little too late, and he fails to make the mark. This part made me cry, because I remembered my batchmates - my friends - who had to say goodbye after Sophomore Year. Kuya JC was a good friend, and since he lived in Iloilo, it would be 10+ years before I would see him again after our sad goodbyes in the back lobby on one of the last days of Sophomore life. Thank God for SMS, we get to keep in touch more often now :)
3rd year tells us the story of Liway and Andy. The symbiosis that they form was supposed to be just for academic purposes, but they learn more from each other than they initially intend to. Andy becomes more socially aware thanks to Liway's personal stories, and Liway associates Andy's chem lessons on catalysts with her own purpose in life. Sadly, real life takes charge, and Liway has to flee to political safety without even getting to say goodbye to Andy or even her friend Wena. Today, maybe, we don't have much of a politically-charged atmosphere that forces people into hiding. Or maybe, at least not like how it was in the '80s (or am I just being naive?). So I can't say that I've lost someone to circumstances so much bigger than I am. But still I felt for Liway as she had to leave Andy and everything else she has come to love in Pisay, because, of course, her place was with her family, and it wasn't in this country anymore.
4th year tells us of the story of Euri. His story, just like all the other stories, is one tale that keeps retelling itself through dozens of Pisay scholars. He actually verbalizes the dilemma at one part of the story, something like 'Would you actually know what you really want to be when you're just 12 or 13?'. Of course, this is in reference to the contract that Pisay scholars must sign as they enter a SCIENCE high school. Once you're through with Pisay (or Pisay is through with you :P), you have to take a science or technology course in college to make sure that what the Filipinos spent for your high school education would not go to waste. But what if, during the course of your high school life, you realize that you're made for something other than science or technology? What if your passion ('cause that's what really matters, right?) lies in creating plays or novels rather than in performing experiments or discussing scientific theories? Obviously, Mat's character was based on Solito himself. And I guess there goes the answer to the question - it doesn't matter where you end up, as long as you excel in whatever endeavor you eventually end up with. But of course, the operative word there is EXCEL. You can't be just another playwright or singer or priest or whatever if you're from Pisay. You've got to be superb in whatever field you chose.
The movie may be compartmentalized into year levels, but the stories that unfold before us are not merely tales of high school kids from different points of view. I think they're not even themes exclusive to Pisay kids. Puppy love, academic challenges, personal struggles, the search for your true self - everyone goes through these at some point of his life. It's just nice to see how it is dealt with the Pisay way - with physics exams, geom problems, chem experiments, and bio practicals to help you along the way ;P
No, seriously, in Pisay, we all start out on more or less common ground. In your first year, you're all newbies, clueless as to what this thing called Pisay has in store for you. And that fact alone bonds you for the next four years of blood, sweat, tears, and (of course) smiles and laughter. Some circles of friendship may be exclusive for the first couple of months (years?), but you'll learn to love that bunch of people known as your batchmates, and after Pisay, you'd feel more of the Pisay bond when you get to meet people from batches that came before and after you. Who knows, you may even find that special someone from the ranks of Pisay scholars that span the decades (hopefully not too far up or down, though, haha!). I did, right smack in my batch :)
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Fun/funny moments from the movie:
* Minggoy was an endearing character. I CRIED when his story ended. Again, I remembered our batchmates and Pisay friends who have gone ahead of us. Two from Batch '98: Oliver Ang and Marvin Abing.
* Seeing Ma'am Paulette! Hahaha, the reaction of the crowd was funny when Ma'am shushed the LQ-ing pair in the library. (Same reaction for the Ma'am in the girls' dorm)
* The Corkboard. When the Pisay shoot wrapped up, one of the last scenes was shot in the Bio 1 room. Supposedly, they also shot scenes in the Bio Unit, but I don't think that made it to the film. So anyway, after the shoot, we were looking for our corkboard (the unit's bulletin board), asking the crew where it could have ended up. It never came back to the Bio Unit. Then upon watching the film, Menggai and I saw the corkboard one last time. It was the corkboard with all the student pictures which the Director (Doktora) was looking at to reminisce about some students who had recently graduated. I didn't notice it at first, but the green and yellow art paper on the corkboard looked eerily familiar...
* The extras! Hahaha, of course it was fun seeing former students, especially my former advisees, in the film. It just so happened that Ria Caringal sat in front of me. I had no idea she was in the film until I saw her scenes. So I'd tap on her shoulder and say, "Haha, that's you!" Hehehe.
* Pisay. Photogenic pala siya. Ang ganda siya tignan sa movie! It was funny though seeing the renovated flagpole area (notice the missing flowerboxes?) and the ASTB in the background during the creek scenes. The ASTB was just grassy area until our Senior Year. And the dismantled aircon vents (from the lib) - they used them as backdrop!
I regretted Imago not using Pisay as a venue for their vid shoot a couple of years ago (their former manager asked permission but the plan never pushed through), because I thought it would be cool to immortalize Pisay in a music vid. But Solito's movie is far better than the immortalization I had hoped for :)
I love the storyline. It's actually a fictionalized account of the Battle of Thermopylae, where Spartan King Leonidas led 300 elite Spartan warriors against Xerxes' massive Persian army. Whatever the elements may have been - fiction or fact - the storytelling was superb.
I love the characters. King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) was both mighty and endearing. As a warrior and leader, he was fierce and authoritative. As a husband he was loving and loyal. I never knew of Gerard Butler before; now I'm currently seeking DVDs of Dracula 2000 and Phantom of the Opera.
Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) was girl power personified. She capably portrayed the independent Spartan woman.
Theron (Dominic West) was a convincingly evil politician. I wanted to applaud when Queen Gorgo did what she did to him in front of the council.
I love the soundtrack. ROCK! Hahaha, instead of the usual orchestral arrangements for the fight scenes, the wall of abs that is the Spartan army walks on the battlefield to the sound of hard rock!
I love the cinematography. Some scenes look like they were taken straight out from the comic book. The visuals were stunning. The sex-and-violence scenes were executed with such good taste. Nothing too explicit (as in hindi bastusan), nothing too gruesome (as in not needlessly gory).
I love the dialogue. There were so many memorable lines in this film, I had to stop myself from taking down notes! I especially enjoyed the witty remarks that passed between friends and between enemies.
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Persian emissary (to Leonidas): Why does this woman think she can speak amongst men?! Gorgo: Because only Spartan women give birth to Spartan men.
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Persian emissary: This is madness! Leonidas: This is SPARTA!
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Persian: A thousand nations of the Persian empire will descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun! Spartan: Then we will fight in the shade.
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Xerxes: Consider the fate of your women... Leonidas: Clearly you don't know our women. I might as well have marched them up here...
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Persian: Spartans! Lay down your weapons! Leonidas: Persians! Come and get them!
OMG. Want to watch a ******* great movie? (Hehehe, the bleeped out portion is in the spirit of the movie...)
Watch this.
FINALLY, Drew and I get to watch a decent movie. And it's friggin' awesome! Ang galing nung story! At siyemps, Martin Scorsese film din yan so of course it's awesome! It's a remake of the movie "Infernal Affairs" (not familiar with that, though).
STAR-STUDDED CAST: Jack Nicholson - Evil. Evil. Evil. He's sooo bad he's good. Matt Damon - You'd want to like him, but you have to hate him. Leonardo DiCaprio - Mighty fine actor, this guy! Mark Wahlberg - The artist formerly known as Marky Mark. The potty-mouth and the plastadong hairstyle is so very oxymoronish. Alec Baldwin Martin Sheen
And a guy called James Badge Dale, who caught my attention when he appeared in the joint episode of CSI Miami and CSI NY (he also guested in CSI Las Vegas and was a regular in 24, I think). I just found out a few minutes ago that he was the kid that was murdered in the movie version of Lord of the Flies.
I just checked out the official website of The Departed (http://thedeparted.warnerbros.com) and watched the trailer, and realized that OMG they showed some pretty important stuff in the trailer! But of course you'll only realize how important they are after you've watched the film.
I hope The Departed snags some Oscars next Academy Awards night!
One more cool thing about this film is that it features the song "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd. Not sure if that was used in any of the Rockstar seasons. But I'm pretty sure I got to know Pink Floyd through that show; I love "Wish You Were Here" (c/o Marty Casey, though Storm's was OK too) because of Rockstar:INXS.
This is Pink Floyd performing "Comfortably Numb" at the Live 8 gig.
500 new messages in my email inbox...all because of Multiply! Susmaryosep!
And yet I can't switch off the email notifications, hehehe. I don't get to check my Multiply account that often, so the email notifications are quite convenient for a chismosa like me...as long as they don't reach 500 messages! My gulay, mukhang todong nag-Multiply mga contacts ko this weekend ah, hahaha!
Deleting messages from inbox...
Hmmm...turns out most of the updates are from a single user...nagkaglitch ata ang Multiply kasi these are old blog posts and stuff...weird!
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Watched the BEP Monkey Business gig at the Araneta from last July. It was shown on ABS, tas siyempre puro ABS celebs yung pinapakita sa audience.
If I weren't in the hospital, I may have considered watching this gig live. BEP's one of the non-rock groups I really appreciate. Besides having a Pinoy in the group, they've got really nice tunes - that's saying a lot from me kasi di ako masyado appreaciative sa hiphop/RnB :P
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Coolness. Fatboy Slim videos on MTV. Praise You, na ngayon ko lang napanood ng buo, followed by Weapon of Choice (Christopher Walken rules!). Did Christopher Walken ever play a vampire? Parang yun kasi impression ko sa kanya eh, isang vampire, hehehe.
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Saw my batchmate Arnee Hidalgo at Pancake House BF Homes this evening; my family had dinner there after mass. She was with her panganay and her husband - anlaki na pala ng anak niya! He looked so much like his mom, at nakakaaliw kasi bibo siyang bata, not the usual kid that shies up when their parents introduce them to other folks.
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Finally got to watch a movie in the cinema - Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest. Two things:
1. May katuloy pa pala yung movie. Ibang klaseng bitin yun ah. Wala man lang closure whatsoever. 2. Johnny Depp is sooooo charming, no matter how grimy he is.
Ok, so more than two things. I couldn't appreciate the movie fully 'cause Drew and I were seated at the frontmost row of Cinema 4 in ATC - that's like so close to the screen, nakakahilo.
I particularly loved three scenes: 1. Johnny Depp's escape from being roasted alive. The fruits were a lovely addition to the choreography, and Depp's "eye make-up" was so cool, gusto ko rin ng ganun hehehe. 2. The crew's escape from their ball cage. Kakatuwa especially when they were running while still encaged in the ball hahaha! 3. The wheel fight scene - kakahilo siguro yun!
Though I can't remember much the story of the first Pirates, I do remember liking it so much more than Dead Man's Chest.
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[Plugging] TUNOG KALINGA : A Concert for GK Sison's Education Fund
The UP Underground Music Community in partnership with Youth for Christ Alabang is holding a benefit concert for Gawad Kalinga’s child and youth education programs in GK Sison, Poblacion, Muntinlupa City. To be held on August 19, 2006, at the Hampton Court, Hillsborough Subdivision, Alabang, the musical event will be showcasing the best of Philippine mainstream music scene together with independent bands of the UP Underground Music Community. The full band line-up can be seen on the poster attached.
In holding this concert, we hope in our small way, to help in purging our nation of poverty and improving the quality of life in our country. Further, we see this as an opportunity to heighten social awareness among our youth and challenge them to be part of the move towards positive change.
Tickets are available at 150 pesos before the event and at 175 pesos at the gate. For ticket inquiries, please contact Gerard (09065158398). Thank you very much and may God continue to bless you.
The movie is a fictionalized version of J.M. Barrie's relationship with Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies (played by the equally elegant Kate Winslet), a widow, and her four (in reality, five) sons, which served as Barrie's inspiration to write the story of Peter Pan.
It appeared to me as sort of a bittersweet tale of finding one's muse. Barrie was married, and yet the inspiration he needed to make what is now a classic children's tale was a woman who was not his wife, and boys who were not his sons.
His relationship with his wife did appear to be in need of mending - they slept in separate rooms - and it did not help that Barrie spent more time with a widow and her sons than with his own wife.
But I found it beautiful how the movie portrayed Mary Barrie bowing out of their relationship - she understood that this was what her husband needed to make the story that would make him a fulfilled playwright. (In reality, Mary Barrie had a relationship with another writer, and her marriage to J.M. Barrie ended in divorce.)
Of course the story of the movie has been modified for cinematic purposes. Yet it was a nice "behind-the-scenes" look at how the story of Peter Pan came to be.
However, reading up on the Llewelyn-Davies boys was quite a surprise. The movie implied a happily-ever-after ending, but the truth was actually far from that (the real Peter committed suicide at age 63...).
(Read a good summary of J.M. Barrie, his relationship with the Llewelyn-Davies boys, and the making of Peter Pan here.)
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Watching P.J. Hogan's "Peter Pan" last night and then "Finding Neverland" tonight has got me really interested in the real story of Peter Pan. Luckily, I just found an online version of the actual book, and I just might read it. You see, it's quite hard to have watched Hogan's "Peter Pan", with Spielberg's "Hook" going on in the back of my mind. Like I said in my previous post, the story came across as weird and disorienting, because I already had a preconceived and modified idea of the story of the boy who never grew up.
As for "Finding Neverland" as a movie, Johnny Depp is such a winner. I always find myself being immersed in whatever character he plays (though admittedly I think I've only seen maybe two or three Depp movies :D ). Truly, he is one gifted actor, with the looks and charisma to boot. I remember watching him on Oprah, just around the time I watched the VCD of "Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (maybe a year or two after it was shown in the cinema, hehe). And I was truly mesmerized by his personality. His girl is one lucky woman ;)
Ayan tuloy, gusto ko manood ng "Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest". Andrew and I have missed out on so many great movies lately. During the summer, he had a cast, and it was quite uncomfortable for him to move around. Then his mom came home from the States, so we weren't quite free to watch movies during the weekends (which is the only time we can get to watch movies or go out - work, you know). And then I got sick - two weekends in a row, with matching hospitalization - so that makes our list of missed good movies quite long: The Da Vinci Code, Superman, Pirates, Lady in the Water, Miami Vice, etc etc etc. All because of work and other grown-up responsibilities.
Just watched P.J. Hogan's Peter Pan (2003). Was watching Black Hawk Down earlier on AXN, and Jason Isaacs, one of my celeb crushes, is part of the cast. So I decided to watch another Jason Isaacs movie when BHD was done. Was supposed to watch The Patriot, where I first saw Jason Isaacs as the bad, bad Colonel Tavington (his best performance, I believe). But then I said since I'd be wasting 2 hours of my life, I might was well watch something I haven't seen yet.
Ganun pala story ng Peter Pan. I've never read the book or watched the play. My first and only encounter of Peter Pan's story was Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991), where Robin Williams played a grown-up Peter Pan whose kids were kidnapped by Captain James Hook. That, by the way, is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Getting to see Hogan's Peter Pan, I was quite amused by the story, which I found weird. Mga children's stories talaga, hindi naman pang-children, hehe.
I never knew that there was a romantic angle to Peter and Wendy's relationship (though I just read on Wikipedia that that aspect of the story has almost always been downplayed in the book's film and stage adaptations).
I enjoyed Hook so much that it was quite disorienting watching this more faithful movie version of Peter Pan. So Wendy brought the Lost Boys back with her to London...so who does Peter Pan play with now in Neverland? And it's really weird that Mr. and Mrs. Darling would just adopt all those boys just like that. And it was an "awww" moment for me that Peter and Wendy don't end up together (in Hook kasi Peter ends up with Wendy's (grand?)daughter Moira).
Though I did recognize the same dialogue - like that bit about always keeping the window open, about how a fairy dies when someone says "I don't believe in fairies", or Peter saying "to live would be an awfully great adventure"...oooh, this is making me want to watch Hook again :D Or maybe the Johnny Depp starrer Finding Neverland, which is a fictionalized account of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie's relationship with a widow and her children - what inspired him to write "Peter Pan". But, no, it's already 2 in the morning...
So now I'm thinking...if I, a child of the '80s, am this disoriented with the story of Peter Pan...what of my students who were born in the '90s...do they still appreciate the classics such as Peter Pan? If there's a good Disney adaptation, such as with The Little Mermaid, then well and good for them. Eh paano kung wala? Then these classic tales are just lost on them.
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Trivia: P.J. Hogan's Peter Pan was executively produced by Mohamed Al Fayed; he dedicated the film to his late son, Dodi Al Fayed, who died along with Princess Diana in a car crash in France.
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Siyempre what's a story without a quotable quote diba?
This quote was also used in Hook, and I quite like it: "Living would be an awfully big adventure."
So, come on, get out those happy thoughts and start flying. Let's get this adventure started :)
It was just supposed to be a 3-day weekend, because Pisay had its annual fumigation yesterday, July 14.
But since classes were suspended Wednesday afternoon and the whole of Thursday, well here we have our 4.5-day weekend :P
Which is just swell because Wednesday night had me starting up a fever, and my temperature actually escalated to a 40.3 high right about Thursday noon. So sakto lang talaga sa bakasyon yung sakit ko. I believe I haven't felt so down in ages. It was like there were two fists permanently pressing against either side of my head. Ugh.
The problem now, though, are the class days missed. Hehe, yup, I am now on the other side of the fence, and lost class days makes me more irritated than jubilant. And that's because it ruins the schedule for lessons and exams, so now I have to figure out how to make up for lost time.
So what have I done so far with the 4.5-day weekend?
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Rockstar:Supernova
I'm still not as impressed with the new rockers as I was with the INXS batch.
I'm still disappointed that it's only the 2nd episode of the 2nd season, and they've already recycled so many songs - quite a lot of them performed by Marty Casey.
I'm still not digging Zayra. She can't sing on-key!!! Oh ok, so she did A BIT better during her bottom-three performance. But I still wish her out of this show. And I've quite warmed up to Dilana. Her take on Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" was cool. Her deep voice suited it well, and she didn't freak me out as she did when she sang "Lithium".
I'm glad Magni did better this time around. I kinda like to see him stick around quite longer, if only to see him make Iceland proud. It's not everyday that country gets a share of the international spotlight, right?
I'm still rooting for Josh, even more than I am for Lukas. He's got the best voice among the rockers, though I'm not quite sure it's what Supernova is looking for.
And yeah, I still crush Phil and Toby. Woohoo, Toby got the encore spot this week :) I doubt if Phil's ever gonna get that, hehe.
Lastly, I'm not surprised to see Chris go. Though I really would've preferred Zayra out.
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Walk the Line
Speaking of Johnny Cash, I finally got to watch his biopic, "Walk the Line", starring one of my all-time celebrity crushes, Joaquin Phoenix.
Though it appears that Johnny's marriage to his first wife Vivian broke down because of his relationship with June, I can't help but feel kilig over Johnny and June. Though Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do not bear any resemblance to Johnny and June Cash (or do they?), I'd say they were perfect for the roles. They've got that great couple chemistry between them, and they were awesome using their own voices for the singing parts.
It's so nice that Hollywood makes movies like these. If not for this movie, I most probably wouldn't know of or have any interest in Johnny and June Cash. Except for Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hurt" playing on NU, and his songs being used in Rockstar ("Ring of Fire" - Dilana) and AI ("I Walk the Line" - Chris Daughtry), I wouldn't have known about him at all. And it's great that a biopic like this comes along because it introduces these great legends to a new audience, at the same time (hopefully) making long-time fans happy.
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Ever After
Since it was my sis picking the VCDs to watch, for the nth time she popped in Ever After *rolls eyes* Though I don't mind it that much because I like the movie as well. Drew Barrymore is such a beautiful and talented actress, and Dougray Scott was just the perfect Prince Charming for her Cinderella.
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Clueless
This was the third movie I've watched over the break, though, like Ever After, it's something I've already seen before. Sakit ko yun, actually - I tend to watch the same movies over and over, when there's so much more I haven't seen yet, and we actually have VCDs or DVDs of those movies.
Alicia Silverstone is so endearing in this movie. She was perfect for the part, and it's always so amusing to watch her.
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So there, so far I've seen 3 movies while trying to get some work done over the break. Hopefully I get a lot more work done before trying to finish any more movies :D
To all Pisay folks out there, I hope you're enjoying your vacation as well. And I hope you're in good health ;)
Aside from occasionally shooting people and things, and increasing damage to her eardrums on a daily basis, The Mighty Dacs also teaches biology to adolescent geniuses along Agham Road in Quezon City.
