The Wheel and Axle

Credits: bryanzap.deviantart.com

Since my choice for Hal Jordan (Chris Pine) is now Steve Trevor, and since I wanted Armie to be Batman but that’s also not happening, please make this come true instead.

Then throw in Kevin Zegers as Kyle Rayner and Boris Kodjoe as John Stewart, and I’ll be happy.

I might even start finding Hal Jordan remotely interesting.

Tony Lambino, Jeffrey Hidalgo, Niko Pineda, Jerry Coloma, and Ricci Chan representing our Grade School batch (Elementary Silver Jubilarians!) during the recent “Tatak Asul: Tara Na Sa Loyola!” Ateneo Alumni Homecoming.

Despite the consistent low critical reviews across the series, I’ve always been a huge fan of the Underworld films.

Admittedly, the fourth film (Awakening) was a so-so follow-up, particularly since I wasn’t fond of the time jump from the second film (the third was a prequel) and I thought the different direction it took wasn’t much to my liking. The characters from the first two films mostly disappeared (to be fair, many of them were dead), and there seemed to be too much scientific mumbo-jumbo. Now, Underworld has always tried to be a little bit more grounded than the usually-mystical vampire/werewolf films, but the the fourth film took it to “evil scientists” levels that I thought didn’t work well and made the mystique of the series falter a bit.

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I saw (and faved) this years ago, but I saw it again, and seriously, whoever made this cut deserves an Oscar or something. Not only is this #realtalk regarding how pathetic and weak Edward Cullent and his ill are, but it also squashes the inherent misogyny and disturbing abuse undertones of that faux-vampire / sparkling-statues series that I shan’t name.

And I don’t even have ovaries.

I’ve always known Jeremy Jordan has made a bit of a name on Broadway and was even on Smash (which I loved), but I never realized he was this awesome.

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The Divine Miss M is 71 years old today, and boy do we love her!

She remains one of the most iconic singers, actresses, and comediennes in the history of the planet. Even at her age, she remains a fabulous presence on social media, unafraid of funny social commentary when crazy politicians and other colorful asses make fools of themselves or do nasty things.

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Today we commemmorate that historical moment 61 years ago when Rosa Parks refused to move to a designated bus seat, defying US racial segregation laws of the time and getting arrested in the process. Her act of defiance remains to be one of the most powerful cries against oppression and discrimination of the entire 20th century, and wherever we may be, may she always be a reminder for us to never accept being treated as less than equal among our fellow human beings.

Now, more than ever, when the world is being over-run by the likes of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and actual fucking neo-Nazis, the lesson of Rosa Parks should be remembered again and again, whether we are fighting for the color of our skin, or for our sexual orientation or gender identity, or for our religious beliefs.

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Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that we remember what true heroes are: selfless people willing to die (and, often, who did die) for their country and their fellowmen.

A selfish mass-murdering plunderer will never be a true hero, no matter how certain people try to spin it, and today, on Bonifacio Day, we must remember that the sacrifices of true heroes like Andres Bonifacio must never be marred by the underserving demagogues who seek to elevate themselves in their utter hubris and vile arrogance.

We will fight on for our true heroes. Always.

This year, finally after such a long time, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) shifts back its focus to actual quality films rather than mere commercial fare. Of course, the final judgment on the quality of the films will happen once they are shown, but a quick glance at the list of eight films that made the cut shows an array of out-of-the-box choices that hasn’t been seen in the festival in a couple of decades.

You see, at some point in the last ten to twenty years, the MMFF became a mere money-making venture, quality be damned. I have no idea at what point this change towards blatant commercialization happened, but it was definitely a contributing factor to the deterioration of quality film-making in the country. This is not to say there have been no good MMFF films in the last decade or so because there certainly have been. However, the garbage has far exceeded the diamonds when it came to the MMFF in recent years.

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My favorite musical makes a comeback in a different way on December 7th (US time), proving that you truly can never ever stop the beat.

Shake and shimmy, baby!