Zombie Fever

The people who know me know of my fear of zombies.

Blame it on a childhood trauma involving the cartoon series Felix the Cat, pirated betamax tapes, and overtaping old material. Suffice to say, I will never think of Felix the Cat again without thinking of Dawn of the Dead.

Because of this, I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies-- but I could never sit still watching zombie movies. The remake of Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later, the remake of Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, and even Shaun of the Dead-- it was an effort for me to watch these movies. Hell, I watched Shaun of the Dead in two parts because it took me sometime to get my nerve up to continue watching it.

Fortunately, the videogame Left for Dead was a lifesaver-- pun intended-- as repeated playing of the game finally desensitized me to the zombie theme. And to prove how much I've improved, one weekend while I was down with a fever, I managed to watch three zombie movies straight:

Rec 2, La Horde, and Resident Evil: AfterLife.

(Yes, it's a strange way to recover from a fever. But then again, being sick is life's way of saying as you speed past, "Put your brakes on, dude. That's a brick wall you're aiming for." So why not enjoy life with some zombie movies on the PC playlist?)

First of all, Resident Evil: AfterLife is what you can expect from a Hollywood movie: only empty-flash-and-bang with gorgeous monster-killer Mill Jovovich headlining the movie. Don't expect much out of it. That being said, I like the fact that they managed to answer all the questions raised by the ending of the previous Resident Evil movie (an army of Alices? a zombified Japan?) and then extended the series with a cliffhanger ending. Is it worth hanging on for this? A definite yes if only to find out what will happen next. (And isn't that the trademark of any good story?)

Crossing the pond, La Horde is the French's answer to the zombie movies. And like any French thriller movie I've watched, they criss-cross genres by starting off with a noir/crime story (a group of policemen out for revenge against a ganglord hiding in a run-down apartment) and then dropping its characters-- and you, the watcher-- smackdab in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. It's a fun movie to watch, if only for the last stand near the end of the flick. Goddamn, that's one tough sunovabitch there.

Lastly, Rec 2 is a sequel to the hit 2007 movie Rec (which was US-fied into Quarantine). I've always liked Rec for the way it intensified as well as added to the zombie mythology. Yes, the shaky camera has been done before but still. And the exorcist bit? Mindboggling. With Rec 2, the director has expanded the mythology and somehow come up with a pseudo-scientific reason for the zombie concept that could work. Unfortunately, I didn't like the add-on of the three kids and it felt that storyline was left unfinished.

So, after this weekend, the next time I watch zombie movies I would probably be okay now. But I'm still not letting go with my DIY maps and guidebook of what to do in a zombie outbreak. After all, only an unprepared person is an undead one-- so bring it on.

Kicking and Screaming at 35

Over the weekend I attended a reunion with my high schoolmates. After the Ateneo basketball team had managed a squeaker against National University, those who attended the game went out for dinner at Berting's at the Home Depot compound in Ortigas.

Suffice to say, looking at the growing paunches and lack of hair (especially on my part), I thought that we had definitely gotten older. But it still felt like no time had passed at all as we joked and horsed around-- especially after the wives had gone home on their own.

But time had definitely passed us by. Most of my close friends have either disappeared or gone abroad. We can now count some companions who have passed on to the Great Beyond. One proud parent passed around a picture of his new-born son to other friends who were parents-appreciative on their own.

Outside, I saw a group of high school kids who could have been us during our younger days when we would go out for a few beers and ogle girls. Then, we were too caught up in our own world and all we worried about was meeting girls and passing our studies.

Then, we eventually graduated from high school and went to college and our own separate ways. Now we're parents, husbands, homeowners, corporate executives, basketball coaches, managers, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and even a divorcee.

My question is: have we done enough in this life? Is this all there is to it? At our ages, what have we done in the past years that was so remarkable? And what do we need to do to make this life worth something more?

Strangely enough, I've been walking down a '90s path nowadays as I remember songs like The Proclaimers' "Walk 500 Miles" from Benny & Joon and Paul Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart". from Singles. Those songs still packed a punch the way I remember them.

My friends and I were movie buffs and we dug the soundtracks of the movies we watched like Sleepless in Seattle and Reality Bites. (Yes, we somehow gravitated to watching romantic movies despite being male. We never admitted it but we were all hopeless romantics.)

It was around that same time that I started watching talkie movies (in laser disc format even!). You know what I mean about talkie movies: these are movies that spend the most part of the running time featuring scenes of two or more people just... talking to each other.

Obviously, the most famous movie of this kind was Before Sunrise starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Who could forget Hawke and Delpy wandering the streets of Vienna talking about everything under the sun (and moon) before parting ways?

On my part, one of my favorite talkie movie time is this unknown flick by Noah Baumbach called Kicking and Screaming. At that time, this movie resonated with me because it told the story of four college graduates who had no idea of what they were going to do with their lives after finishing school and spent most of their time whinging in bars.

I first saw this on cable and I only caught the tail-end of the movie. In the near-ending scene, two friends-- Grover and Max-- had just sent off a third friend at the airport. As they exit the terminal, Grover suddenly runs back inside and heads to the ticketing counter.

At the counter, he asks airline girl if he could buy a ticket to Prague. Unfortunately, the woman behind the counter says there are no tickets left for a flight that's about to leave in an hour. Grover then launches into a long monologue that laments his inability to just do something big in his life like going to Europe. He also drops hints about a girl named Jane who had gone to Prague and left him behind.

"Send me to Prague. Please." Grover begs.

Convinced, the girl says she could get him a seat on the plane. Grover is elated and you could see in his demeanor that he's actually managed to convince himself as well. The girl then asks for his passport and Grover's face drops: he has no passport.

Later on, I discovered the story behind this scene: Grover and Jane were a couple but Jane decided to go to Prague to continue her studies. Grover-- unable to leave his comfort zone-- decided to let her go. This wishy-washy aspect of Grover's character is seen over and over again throughout the movie.

Piecing what I've seen of the movie, I finally realized the importance of Grover's big act in trying to follow Jane to Prague-- and what his failure meant.

That's when I realized at the time that it would be a good idea not to forget to make the occasional grand gestures that makes life worth living. That--and that if you're going to do a grand gesture, you better make it count.

On a last note, I just want to share this conversation between Grover and Jane taken from the very last scene of the movie (before they had become a couple and were still classmates in one class).

In a flashback mode, Jane is walking on the sidewalk and Grover runs up to her to ask something. They get into talking and Grover exclaims in surprise about being classmates for years without noticing each other. Jane says she had always noticed Grover.

For a moment, Grover is quiet and then he says:

Grover: Ok, the way I see it, if we were an old couple, dated for years, graduated, away from all these scholastic complications, and I reached over and kissed you, you wouldn't say a word, you'd be delighted, probably, but if I was to do that now it'd be quite forward, and if I did it the first time we ever met you probably would hit me.
Jane: What do you mean?
Grover: I just wish we were an old couple so I could do that.

I had to laugh as Jane's face (played excellently by Olivia d'Abo, one of the few names I recognized in the cast) shifted back-and-forth between embarrassment to amusement.

We should all be lucky if we can make grand gestures like that at least once in our lives.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Luisa, Luis and the Wolf

Here's something creepy, two short films that's part of a series called "Luisa, Luis and the Wolf" (Lucía, Luis y el Lobo). They're pretty good.

Start here (or the other one, it doesn't matter I think):



Lucia

Luis from diluvio on Vimeo.

I got a nice story idea out of this one.

For your viewing pleasure: The Internet is made of cats

While I try to earn a living, here's something to keep you people distracted...



It's all part of the plan for cats to rule the world, doncha know?

(Sorry for the overlarge screen. Video taken from here.)

Movies, Creepy Hand Logos, Japanese Birds, and Other Things

• The indefatigable don has joined up with a movie group to produce/analyse/critique movies, which you check out at pelikula. Good stuff there.
• Meanwhile, there's a great project to help local Filipino creative work called Project 20:10 (their Facebook page here). On their website, they state:

"Seems the main problem for our lack of good local content creators is lack of support. And the main reason why there is no support is the lack of good content creators. Looks like we’ve got a deadlock to break.
So who’s going first?
Both are.
PROJECT 20:10 is a campaign to get people to support more local content, as well as create more local content. By joining the project, you pledge to read/watch/play the works of twenty (20) local authors/ creators/ developers who you haven't supported before, before the year 2010 is up.
Also, by joining, you pledge to create an original piece of high quality fiction/ comic/ animation/ game worth at least ten (10) pages/ minutes/ levels before the year 2010 is up."

• In other news, this is old but Words without Borders in December had this great International Science Fiction issue. Check out the articles and fiction there. I particularly liked Hiroshi Yamamoto's The Story of the Ibis.
• Lastly, criminally underrated SF author Peter Watts did a fantastic retelling of the sci-fi classic film John Carpenter's The Thing through the eyes of the alien(s): "The Things". You can read it over at Clarkesworld or go directly here (and you can read its conception over here).

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Star Blazers

I saw this on io9 and had the shivers.

And for this who can't remember, check this intro to the cartoon series.

Fantastic!

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Ataque de Panico

"(Uruguayan director Federico) Alvarez, known for his 4-minute short movie Panic Attack (“Ataque de Panico”) which spread through the Internet this year and caused quite a buzz, has been signed up by (Sam) Raimi for a feature film debut. The director had earlier created the short movie on a $500 budget." (Excerpt from here.)

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Muppet's Bohemian Rhapsody

For this day, I would like to present to you something to make you smile... especially for those who grew up watching the creations of Jim Henson. A person is x-times blessed the number of years their creations live on after their death, don't you think?

Bohemian Rhapsody

The best music line quote from the video

Animal: "Dada?"

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Going West

I would like to buy a book. Or better yet, watch this video and tell me you don't feel like buying a book.

Going West book ad

I mean, where else are you going to find a combination of Western and noir all in one page?

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Escape from City-17

"What can you do if you happen to have the kind of computer equipment you want and just $500 Canadian (US$400)? Do what two indie filmmakers did: make a movie! This is what gamer-filmmakers David and Ian Purchase did when they came up with a short film called Half-Life: Escape from City-17 in 2008. Using machinima and Valve’s Source engine, they managed to create a movie that combined CGI, photographs and traditional video." (Excerpt from here.)

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Cup of Tears

"Combining samurai action with science-fiction graphics and manga influence, the trailer shows the stylized filmmaking reminiscent of movies like Zack Snyder’s 300, Frank Miller’s The Spirit, the Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer as well as Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City." (Excerpt from here.)

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

I love trailers. I always make it a point to catching the trailers before the start of a flick at the moviehouse.

So at my new job, I get a chance to check out interesting stuff online-- including trailers for upcoming movies. And for 2010, there are two great movies that I'm looking forward to based on their trailers: The Expendables and Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

For the first movie, how can anyone resist a movie that has all the great action stars in one flick? You've got Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, and Eric Roberts (with cameos of Bruce Willis and Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger).

The second movie doesn't have a great casting call but it takes all the tropes in woodsy-farmhouse slasher flicks like The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, etc. and give them a funny turn. Think of Shaun of the Dead but with hillbillies and moronic teenagers. It also has Alan Tudyk of Serenity fame in the lead role.

Admittedly, these movies may actually suck when I get to watch them finally but I don't care. They're great trailers and you'll see why when you click on those screens.

Expendables

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil


Ah, don't you just love trailer tease?

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November..."

Almost forgot to post this...

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*)
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!

And check out the great posters from the movie here.

Posti Interrupti: And Now, For Something Light

...Anyone want a shirt?


(From here.)

Back to the Future

I was surprised to discover a couple days ago that [identity-protected] didn't know (or remember) seeing that '80s Walt Disney classic movie, Tron. Aghast, I turned to uber-geeklord carljoe to confirm that, yes, this sci-fi movie did make an impact on us youngsters at the time it came out. Fortunately, he also had a copy in his hardware and gave me a copy to reminisce over.

And what's not to like about this pre-CGI, pre-The Matrix movie about a guy who got sucked into a computer program to fight an evil artificial intelligence? Looking over the scenes, I'm surprised and gratified to see the movie holding up pretty well in this day and age where the whole movie can be done in CGI (re: Avatar).

Anyway, the reason I brought this up is because I've seen the trailer for the sequel, Tron Legacy, and boy does it kick ass. And for those who've seen the first movie, the trailer's end is a shocker!

Here's an example of the digital cinematics of the first movie.



Now compare that to the trailer here.

P.S. Quick! Catch that Lego Tron! (From here.)

This isn't a Film Adaptation

Noted indie filmmaker Khavn dela Cruz just posted this:

“BLACKWORMS” @ Oberhausen Filmfest, April 30 to May 5, 2009
Starring Donna Miranda and written by Joseph Nacino, “Blackworms” premieres at this most prestigious shortfilm festival’s International Competition section.

Linky here, filmfest here, idea here.

And no, I can't write a script to save my tires. It was more like:

Khavn: Write me a story!
Me: Okay.
(later) Khavn: Write me a story!
Me: Crap, I forgot. Wait, I had a dream...
(later) Khavn: It's done.
Me: Wow, that was fast.

Don't you wish Hollywood was like this?

Nothing to See, Everything is Normal

Taken from karl, something... interesting for your viewing pleasure.




Ganked from the Inquirer site. As another karl(o) says, "uy, win".

Two thoughts about this video shot. On the question of its veracity, the camera-man doesn't pan back to the same location, which makes one think that the camera-man doesn't know he'd caught something on his camera. And as video shots go, this one's a pretty clear shot, unlike the blurry, shaky stuff one can find on Youtube.

As for the idea of staging the scene: sure, but the idea of veteran soldiers doing something like this in the Bacolod countryside where the statistical probability of enemy encounters is higher than you or I meeting a ghost (which in this country is still higher than other countries)... I don't think so.

They're Multiplying!

Remember Neo's fight against the copies of Agent Smith in The Matrix movie? Saw this video of matrix cat and it's so fucking cool. Watch your head explode in so much cuteness!





(Ganked from here, courtesy of karlo.)

Twi-Meow (or Twilight, with Cats)

Because I think everything is better with cats, I thought a re-imagining of Twilight the movie was in order. Here's my version (or vision!) of some pivotal scenes:



Isabella: (in the car with Edward) Your paw is so furry...



Isabella: (on confronting Edward in the forest) I know what you are. You're impossibly fast. And strong. You have long whiskers, a long tail and small ears. Your eyes change colour and you climb trees a lot.



Edward: Say it, say it out loud.
Isabella: Cat...
Edward: Are you afraid?
Isabella: No.
Edward: Then ask me the most basic question... What do we eat?



Edward: (while having dinner with Isabella) Money. Sex. Money. Sex. Cats.



Isabella: (upon waking up) Do you do that a lot?
Edward: I like to watch you sleep.

Pictures sourced from here, here, here, here and here. For other thoughts on watching movies and getting crazy ideas, see Star Wars: You're Fired!

(And yes, I did watch the movie. *wink*)

An Exercise in Subliminal Messaging

Oh look! Dancing chimpanzees!




in other news, kyu has just announced the upcoming release of the horror edition of the digest of philippine genre stories which was guest-edited by yvette tan. it has my story, plus charles tan, dominique cimafranca, sean uy, raymond falgui and alex paman. check it out, yes?



Now back to our regular *silent* broadcasting...