Paalam

I am giving up Elias for 1981.
I was born in 1981.
See you there.

Another Idol

American Idol season 4 begins on the 18th. Listen to what Randy, Paula and Simon (yes, same old faces, despite last season's rumors that there would be a new set of judges) have to say about this season's finalists. (Randy said that with this batch's talent, last season's final twelve wouldn't even make it to the finals.) Did I say I'm excited? I hope ABC-5 telecasts this again. Please, please, please. I can't afford a cable connection right now.

Almario Reacts

With regard to my post last December 31, Jema lent me a copy of Bulawan 10: Journal of Philippine Arts & Culture, which Virgilio S. Almario edits. In his editorial, Almario (Sir Rio, on more personal occasions) was obviously reacting to Garcia's arguments against him, and called the latter "anghel ng katarungan sa pagsusuring pampanitikan." In effect, Almario wanted to justify his being "nativist," especially because he believed that Garcia misread him. In several instances in his book, Garcia was asking for Almario to be ironic in his position on language and Philippine literature for it could be the older critic's final refuge. I'm wondering if Almario's sarcasm with the way he ended his article was irony enough:

E, "self-righteous" din nga siguro ako dahil hindi naghihintay ng biyaya mula sa sinumang banyaga. Maaari pang idagdag na isa akong "oportunista" dahil hindi naghahanap ng kaganapan sa pamamagitan ng basbas mulang Kanluran. Karapat-dapat lamang akong isumpa bilang nakadidiring "Nativist" ng mga Hybridist.

Results

Happy new year! Classes will begin again in two days so I had to check the remaining long test the whole afternoon. It’s new year but nothing has changed: many students failed the exams. How do I discuss the result to them on Wednesday and still not spoil our first meeting for this year?

Anyway, I finally saw Mano Po III: My Love and Sigaw yesterday, and until now I’m wondering why the former got the best picture award, with its very sloppy script filled with characters without character. So despite the predictability of Sigaw’s first half (the "subtlety" concerning rooms 6 & 9, especially), I definitely like it better than Joel Lamangan’s. Okay, I’ll have to say I’m quite biased for suspense films, but without Vilma Santos (I must admit, she deserved the award) and Eddie Garcia (not Christopher de Leon), Mano Po would have been the filmfest disaster of the year. The shallow characters of Judith, Stephen, and especially Bernadette were equaled by the horrific performances of Karylle (it’s good she can sing), Patrick Garcia (what happened to his Batang PX potential?), and Sheryl Cruz (she doesn’t seem to age, even her acting). I give Mano Po III a C+ (2.50) and Yam Laranas’ a B- (2.75).

My personal ranking of the filmfest entries:

1. Aishite Masu: Mahal Kita, 1941 (disclaimer: best in the entries, not necessarily an excellent one; it would have been better if Lee got rid of the older Inya as the present-day narrator, I think)
   
2. Panaghoy sa Suba
   
3. Sigaw
   
4. Mano Po III: My Love
   
5. So... Happy Together
   
6. Spirit of the Glass
   
7. Mars Ravelo’s Lastikman
   
8. Enteng Kabisote: Okay ka, Fairy Ko... The Legend

Unfortunately for what I think are the better films in this year’s festival, box-office turnout seems to be inversely proportional with my personal taste.