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a version of this was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer‘s Arts and Books section, October 26 2009. Kiri Dalena looks at me and acknowledges familiarity – here was no high and mighty, isolated and removed artist. After establishing the lines that bound us, she jokingly whispers a rhetorical question, “I am not young or exciting … why am I here?” There is nothing here in fact but self-deprecation, and a whole lot of humility. Kiri talks about her art, diverse… Continue reading »
whatever it is that has happened since this time and the present, since her rise to motherhood and wife-hood, since her now overexposed face selling every possible product on television — since the death of Cory — i daresay we have all forgiven Kris Aquino. or at least we’ve tolerated her. or maybe we’ve become immune to her? which is really why she’s getting away with ruining Noynoy Aquino’s chances at a decent win when he does run for president… Continue reading »
no, i didn’t know alexis tioseco personally. but i knew OF him. had been introduced to him too often. and fought with him in front of an international audience on SEA cinema. but this is getting ahead of the story. too many years ago, i met alexis in malaysia at a cinema conference. he was a resource person along withindie filmmakers raya martin and john torres. i was presenting a paper on the iconography and star creation of Judy Ann… Continue reading »
The lady at the ticket booth asks me: “Ok lang po bang black and white yung movie?” When I say yes, she promptly informs me that they’ve received many complaints about the independent film Manila’s lack of color. Produced and starred in by commercial actor Piolo Pascual, this should’ve been expected. The world is in color after all. And all the films that Pascual has done so far have showed all his hunky glory in color. And yet, there is… Continue reading »
Though admittedly not the best of speakers, it was difficult not to be enamored by young independent filmmaker Raya Martin on a Saturday afternoon at the Lopez Museum. Even when he sometimes lost his train of thought, and dared speak of filmmaking as an ultimately personal thing – almost a refusal to consider us as audience. What Martin had going for him wasn’t just his youth and its contingent rebellious streak, but a consciousness about his craft that was surprising.… Continue reading »
the only thing that links me to Cory Aquino is really memory. because while yes, it has been about these images of yellow my grandfather and mother carried, as her death sinks in it’s also about many other images in my head. of Butz Aquino and ATOM, and an uncle who was part of it. of Kuya at 13 asking that he be allowed to go with our older cousins to EDSA because, as he told my mother, what if there… Continue reading »
last friday, along katipunan avenue, ugly pink MMDA street dividers had yellow ribbons. today, driving through The Fort, lampposts and trees adorned with the same. on GMA 7′s sunday noontime variety show earlier today, all artists had yellow ribbons and pins on their shirts, Judy Ann Santos was in a crazy yellow bustier. the UAAP’s main game between U.P. and Ateneo this afternoon had all basketball players and coaches with yellow ribbons attached to their uniforms. and as in 1983,… Continue reading »
That we are enamored by KC Concepcion is understandable. It’s not so much that we saw her grow up, or that she’s the girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth – many other young stars are the same. We find her interesting because in the past, she remained distinctly resistant to the idea of the limelight, having one-foot-in-one-foot-out of the showbiz industry she was born into.
To re-introduce the second season of reality show Pinoy Dream Academy, ABS-CBN showed reruns of the first season on Studio 23. So everyday last week, we were reminded of how great the talent actually was last year. Too, it was a reminder of how many of them turned out: those who haven’t become near-extinct have been forced into becoming “actors” instead of just singers; those who are seen more regularly on television have been forced to fit into the mold… Continue reading »