more chicha

mga blast from the past and kinda near past, and the heres and nows. ayuz.


GO FISH
(1994)
d. rose troche
s. rose troche, guinevere turner

pitch: college and post-college lesbians bond, face issues of their community, and help those who need help in the love department find love despite their eccentricities

catch: wala. this film is perfect. pramis

and that it is. i remember watching this a long time ago and ending up liking it. more than ten years after, as i watched it again, i find myself loving it.

and why shouldn't i? the lesbians here are of my generation, mga kasabayan ko, perhaps in sexuality moda and in creativity, too. the way the film was shot, with all those quirky experimental in-betweeners sandwiched sa more normative scenes and all, huwaw, may tatak nga kami, in fairness. at hindi lang sa pagiging lebsiyana ito. the style reminds me of darren arronofsky's earlier style, isa ko pang kahenerasyon although syempre iba ang filmmaking focus niya.

simple lang itong film. no more than a little over an hour, pero puno at satisfying sa kuwento, iyon ay kung lesbiyana ka. i don't think they made this film for non-lesbians, pero those who get it are okay. it means may openmindedness na nangyayari. that's how i see it.

hay grabe. nakakatuwa at nakakatawa na ganun pa rin ang concerns natin after more than a decade --finding love chorva. hindi talaga ata ito magbabago bilang thematic framework, ng buhay at ng sining. well, okay naman ako don. :)

hay. wala na akong masabi... basta. there must be some strange reason why i bought this film and watched it at the time i did, in some kind of lesbianic divine intervention kind of way. yes, the universe has a funny way of reminding you that you are okay.

grabe.

and that, i am.



ITTY BITTY TITTY COMMITTEE
(2007)
d. jamie babbit

pitch: a pre-college student working in a plastic surgeon's office finds love and radical feminist advocacy in a girl who's a member of the appropriately termed group CIA or Clits in Action (i'm not making this up!)

catch: it feels amateurish at times, and not in a good way

fast forward to 13 years since GO FISH and we still get independently-produced films shot in a quirky, edgy way, with characters spewing lines of advocacy of a feminist and lesbian nature. nice. nga lang, mas maganda ang handling ng GO FISH sa ganun, at ito hindi.

maganda naman sana ang kuwento, something that should be close to my heart. er, bosom din. the lead character, a kinda prim and proper chicana who is so out to her loving family, works as an assistant in a plastic surgeon's office known for good boob jobs. nawindangers lang ang life ng family niya when she joined nga this radical group with chicks wearing black leather jackets. hay, at yun na ang start ng prublema -- na minsan naman, para kasing walang prublema yung characters, na pilit lang sinaksakan ng prublema. hay labo, lalo na yung nag-a-angst-angst na si chicana na parang wala sa rason o tamang katinuan, script-wise. tapos yung object of affection niya na kept woman ng isang tanders na feministang may sariling NGO chorva (um, shades of lola darkness ito, minus the evilness hehehehe). hay basta, ang daming malabo kaya sometimes it feels so amateurish. parang di pa tapos ayusin at i-rewrite at workshop-in yung script e shinoot na. it felt that way.

hay. sayang. the title was a catch for me kaya ko to binili. well.. take the good with the bad, i suppose. and no amount of cameos will save this film, kahit pa man sina clea duvall yan o si jenny shimizu.



PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS
(2006)
d., s. maria maggenti
c. justin kirk, gretchen mol, elisabeth reaser

pitch: a lesbian new york writer, fresh from a break-up, finds herself having relations with a man and a woman at the same time, not knowing that the two were lovers

catch: wala! happy din ito! biased ako e bakit ba hahahaha

this one's another good one ha. kakaaliw siya. i love justin kirk esp in ANGELS IN AMERICA and in LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! buwisit yun kasi sa lahat ng mabibigyan ng nominations for acting sa ANGELS, siya wala! bad trip! e role niya kaya yung may pinaka-bearing dun, haller. oh well.

katuwa itong film. nakakatuwa kasi feeling ko, halaw sa tunay na buhay ng writer-director hahaha. i read somewhere na maggenti's not identifying as a woman-loving-woman daw kasi lately, which is kinda ironic, coming from directing another pivotal lesbian film in the 90s called THE INCREDIBLY TRUE ADVENTURES OF TWO GIRLS IN LOVE. yes, that film kung saan semi-baby butch pa si tina, yung actress sa THE L WORD. yes, siya yun! look at the eyes. they have the same blank stare.

feeling ko ganun nga ang film. isang biyaning na malaki ang commitment issues kaya napasok sa isang masalimuot na hetero at homo relationship at the same time, kasi nagpapatianod lang siya. eto yung mga may rason sa buhay na "it just happened..." like "bakit mo ko pinagpalit? bakit ka nainlab sa iba?" at ang sagot sa iyo ay "it just happened..." hanlabo. nakakainis kung tutuusin pero i let it go kasi kyut yung actress eheheh. i am biased that way. madali akong bentahan.

ayokong ibigay ang ending pero nakakatuwa naman siya, but not in a star cinema mainstream cinema film type of way. in an indie film type of way and in a lesbianic way din. basta happy siya. nakatulong ang magandang script. ito halatang nagdaan sa pagbubuno ng mga makikilatis na mata at utak, at mabuti ang kinalabasan. winner! watch!




THE THANK YOU GIRLS
(2008)
d., s. charliebebs gohetia

pitch: a group of visayan gay/trans people, whose livelihood is to join gay beaucons, goes on a roadtrip to find their own inner journeys and outer fabulousness despite the odds

catch: a bit longish, could be edited down a bit pa

congrats to upfi student bebs for helming this first full-length of his. maganda ang topic at hindi siya seasonal: mga gay beaucon joiners na ang tawag pala sa kanila e "thank you girls" kasi lagi silang natatalo o hindi nakakaabot ng first place. premise pa lang, panalo na! kakatawa siya hahaha.

nainis lang ako at hindi ako marunong mag-bisaya. gusto ko pa naman maintindihan yung nuance ng gayspeak nila doon kasi kakaiba e. but the subtitles work naman.

what doesn't work is that repeating narrative cycle style sometimes, reminiscent of other nonlinear narrative films like some mexican films na di ko na maalala title, basta andun si gale garcia chorva kyuti. may malaki dapat dahilan kung bakit babalikan ang ikot ng isang parte ng naratibo, at dapat e sa ibang anggulo naman ito i-take. yung nangyari kasi, parang iisang anggulo lang, at tight lang ang isa at yung isa e wider shot. weird lang.

may feel din siya ng PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, this aussie film of yore na ganito din ang tema, na ni-ripoff naman ng american film na TO WONG FOO THANKS FOR EVERYTHING JULIE NEWMAR about the same time. inevitable ang comparison kasi road trip ito ng trannies at may eksenang nasa top ng bubong ng jeep at nagpapalipad ng colorful cloth.

the VO also reminds me of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN na di mo alam kung sino ang nagsasalita tapos marami siyang alam sa buhay ng mga tao sa film. iffy lang na in the end, yung jeep pala ang nagsasalita. siya ang VO. actually, i think it could work better kung walang VO na lang, totally. ngayon ko lang naisip. hm.

pero other than that, masaya naman. the acting was good, the lines are witty and funny, lalo na yung nagpapraktis sila ng mga QnA portion while travelling. pinaka-paborito ko ito:

maitim na vakler: i have a question for you. define darkness.
vakler na nagre-rehearse: darkness is here beside me.

or something like that. hahahaha! basta aliw ito! if only for the lines. hahaha! saka maganda yung kuwento. nga lang, minsan it felt pepered with advocacy, with the beaucon women spewing lines straight out of taskforcepride hahahahah! well, this is good pero it might not be a bit realistic, kasi sa totoo lang, hindi naman masyadong advocacy-aware ang karamihan sa mga beaucon joiners na ganito e. siguro dapat tinimpla lang. i get the point but sana hindi nasobrahan.

all in all, happy ako na sasali ito sa vancouver. sana manalo! congrats guys!

isa pang naalala kong exchange, thanks to lush's blogpost.

vakler 1: okay, here is your question. what is your waistline...and why?

hahahahaha nakakatawa! ang dami pa nito e. basta! watch!!!!!!!!


next time ulit.