After giving it much consideration, I’m officially moving my treasury of words to Livejournal. Thanks to my loyal readers (there’s about one or two, I think) and please do add me up if you have an LJ account. I pasted a couple of entries from here over there for the sake of continuity, if not for anything else. (Yeah, I'm just too lazy to transfer all of them. And besides, redundancy is sooo not me.)
I'm not deleting this account to keep my blog roll and the reader comments.
See you there!
I was just semi-sulking while at a party in my husband’s aunt’s house about not being able to attend the Eraserheads reunion concert at The Fort when I heard the terrible news. Ely Buendia was taken to the hospital midway through the OPM show of the century. It was all I could do to stop myself from painting my face red, running to the streets, and screaming “Idiots!!” at the top of my lungs (this being directed to the show’s organizers, of course).
It was as if the whole thing has been jinxed from the very start; as if the universe is conspiring against the much-anticipated and long-awaited reunion of this band touted as the
First, there was all the fuss about Philip Morris controversial “sponsorship” of the planned concert. Following millions of debates and even government interference, Philip Morris was kicked out of the picture and everything was finally ironed out, or so we thought. Thursday morning, Ely’s mom suddenly dies of after a cardiac arrest.
You’d think people would have the sense to postpone the concert out of respect for the Buendia family but nooo. It pushes through (maybe for the fans who fought tooth and nail to get their tickets, who knows) with the band reportedly having to do sound checks up until 3am in the morning of the big day.
It just didn’t make sense to rush something as “monumental” (as quoted by Plurk buddy Kawaii Koakuma) and as important an event as this. It was supposed to be fun, nostalgic, and heartwarming. Like revisiting a long-forgotten home where you spent your childhood. Or seeing a puppy love. The night wasn't supposed to end like this.
Maybe I should be seeing the bright side of not being able to attend the concert. (I was devastated when I heard just today that Markus Adoro actually gave people on Multiply the chance to sign up for free on his VIP list). Yes, I guess, in a way, unfortunate people like me have something to be thankful for; our money and time were not wasted. But of course, I also feel for those who were there, the hardcore fans who waited years for this reunion. They who had "Minsan," or "Pare Ko," or any other Eheads anthem as the theme song of their lives. They are no doubt disappointed and miserable (if only for a bit).
To Ely Buendia, everything must have been like a whirlwind to you. Thanks for trying. Get well soon.
Contrary to what was stated at the back of the pirated DVD copy hubby bought from the peddlers, Kisaragi isn’t about the plight of an unfortunate stall owner who was in huge debt to a bunch of loan sharks slash gangsters, who then kidnap his wife and child.
Despite this “minor” deviation, we found ourselves enjoying the Japanese film while it was running and loving it when it finally ended. Another title added to my favorite movies list.
Kisaragi is based on a novel by Kosawa Ryouta and was directed by Sato Yuichi. It is actually about five fans of a young “J-Idol,” Miki Kisaragi, who supposedly killed herself. The group, who met online, decided to hold a gathering to commemorate the first year death anniversary of their (untalented) idol. The meeting was initiated by “Guru,” who proclaims himself as Kisaragi’s number one fan.
As the story progresses, (never fear, I won’t spoil anything; I am a spoiler Nazi.) the group speculates on the possibility that Kisaragi did not commit suicide and was maybe even murdered. Each member of the group makes revelations that more or less give each of them closer ties to the dead pop star and to each other. Together, they try to figure out what really happened the night of Kisaragi’s death.
What interested me most about the movie is the fact that it was almost entirely shot in this penthouse where the meeting took place. The actors were very good, tickling your imagination, bringing the characters to life, and proving that you do not need elaborate sets and sophisticated special effects to produce a good movie. The flow of the dialogue was easy to follow and the actors gave depth to their roles, you are bound to hold one or two of them close to your heart. In my case, I loved them all: the enthusiastic “Guru”, the happy-go-lucky “Snake,” the forlorn “Oda Yuuji,” the fat and silent “Yasuo,” and the mysterious “StrawberryGirl.”
I wasn’t really expecting anything before I saw the movie. Perhaps I just didn’t have anything better to do at the time and I’m glad. Kisaragi wasn’t boring at all but in fact, it gets more interesting every minute. Assertions and possibilities were made gradually with a few flashbacks rendered with just the right amount of humor and digital animation. Midway through viewing, I feared that the ending might not be able to provide gratification but guess what? It did. It does. This one is truly a gem found only once or twice in a boxful of Japanese movies.
I haven’t read the novel so if you happen to have a copy, contact me please. Tee-hee. And make sure to watch Kirasagi if you find it. There’s a lot of laughs (“StrawberryGirl” and “Snake” fetched a handful from me), there’s drama, and the suspense! There’s the cheesy part near the end, which, for me, merely served as a reminder that it IS a Japanese film after all. Yet, we didn’t mind.
My husband recently bought me Jessica Zafra's Twisted 8: The Night of the Living Twisted, immediately ending the silent treatment we were giving each other at that time (Love you, Angel!). I haven't read Jessica since well... college and I welcomed the unexpected re-acquaintance with her brilliant and twisted mind like a father would his prodigal son.
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