2011 CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FESTIVAL – Schedule

2011 CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FESTIVAL

Edsa Shangri-La Mall Cineplex, 6th Floor

Mandaluyong City, Philippines

at Shang Cineplex Cinema 4:

November 09 Wednesday

3pm                Opening Ceremony

4:45pm           Gala Premiere: SA KANTO NG ULAP AT LUPA by Mes De Guzman

7pm                Gala Premiere: ANATOMIYA NG KORUPSIYON by Dennis Marasigan

9:30pm           Gala Premiere: DI INGON ‘NATO (Not Like Us) by Brandon Relucio and Ivan Zaldarriaga

November 10 Thursday

5pm                Gala Premiere: MGA ANINO NG TANGHALING TAPAT by Ivy Universe Baldoza

7pm                Gala Premiere: MY PARANORMAL ROMANCE by Victor Villanueva

9:30pm           Gala Premiere: BIG BOY by Shireen Seno

November 11 Friday

5pm                Gala Premiere: SA ILALIM NG TULAY by Earl Bontuyan

7pm                Gala Premiere: KA ORYANG by Sari Dalena

9:30pm           Gala Premiere: SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILIA CUNTAPAY

November 12 Saturday

5pm                Regular Screening: Sa Kanto ng Ulap at Lupa

7:30pm           Regular Screening: Di Ingon ‘Nato (Not Like Us)

9:30pm           Gala Screening: CARTAS DE LA SOLEDAD (Letters of Solitude) by Teng Mangansakan

at Shang Cineplex PREMIERE THEATER:

November 10 Thursday

12nn               ISHMAEL

2pm                ANG DAMGO NI ELEUTERIA

4pm                SA KANTO NG ULAP AT LUPA

7pm                ANATOMIYA NG KORUPSIYON

9pm                DI INGON ‘NATO (Not Like Us)

November 11 Friday

12nn               Cinema One Docu Special: INDIE MAINSTREAM PAANO KA GINAWA? by Jay Abello

2pm                LAYANG BILANGGO

4pm                MGA ANINO SA TANGHALING TAPAT

7pm                MY PARANORMAL ROMANCE

9pm                BIG BOY

November 12 Saturday

11:30am         CARTAS DE LA SOLEDAD

1:30pm           KA ORYANG

3:30pm           ANATOMIYA NG KORUPSIYON

5:30pm           SA ILALIM NG TULAY

7:30pm           KA ORYANG

9:30pm           SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILA CUNTAPAY

November 13 Sunday

11:30am         MGA ANINO SA TANGHALING TAPAT

1:30pm           MY PARANORMAL ROMANCE

3:30pm           KA ORYANG

5:30pm           CARTAS DE LA SOLEDAD

7:30pm           SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILIA CUNTAPAY

9:30pm           BIG BOY

November 14 Monday

12pm              SA ILALIM NG TULAY

2pm                ANATOMIYA NG KORUPSIYON

4pm                MY PARANORMAL ROMANCE

6pm                DI INGON ‘NATO

8pm                CARTAS DE LA SOLEDAD

10pm              SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION FROM LILIA CUNTAPAY

November 15 Tuesday

12pm             MGA ANINO SA TANGHALING TAPAT

2pm               SA KANTO NG ULAP AT LUPA

4pm               BIG BOY

7pm               SA ILALIM NG TULAY

9pm               BEST PICTURE WINNER

Source: http://pinoyfilm.com/2011-cinema-one-originals-film-festival-screening-schedule

2011 Italian Film Festival Screening Schedule & Synopses

 

The Conformist

At the core of the movie there is a man, Marcello, who, in order toconceal his being different, chooses to act the same as the mob surrounding him, thus becoming a fascist and turning into the killer of his teacher, an anti-fascist professor.

Last Tango in Paris

An impossible and desperate love story. A heartbreaking cry by the middle-class. A challenge, trickled through cinematic elegance and expertise, to the obliging conventions of the forefathers of cinema.

The Last Emperor

Immense portrait of almost a century of Chinese history, from the appointment of Pu-Yi, a three-year-old child, as Emperor of China, until his death as a plain gardener in Beijing’s botanical garden.

The Dreamers

On the background of the riotous political events leading up to May ’68 in France, three youngsters shut themselves up at home in Paris, where they will explore emotions and eroticism in a crescendo of more and more extreme mind games.

Deep Red

A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a feisty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.

Suspiria

A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school. She tries to settle in at the ballet school, but hears strange noises and is troubled by bizarre occurrences. She eventually discovers that the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization.

Dracula 3D

The young solicitor Jonathan Harker travels to a remote castle in Transylvania, where he meets the creepy Count Dracula who keeps him trapped in his mansion. With the help of Professor Van Helsing, Harker will strive to put an end to the Prince of Darkness’s bloody crimes.

Victory

The tragic story of Ida Dalser, Mussolini’s first wife, who had a son from him, Benito Albino Mussolini, who died with his mother in a mental hospital where Il Duce had had them confined.

Corpo Celeste

Marta is thirteen and, after spending ten years with her family in Switzerland, goes back to live with her mother in Italy’s deep south,in a Calabria floating between modernity and ancient traditions.

What a beautiful day

Checco, security guard in Milan’s Cathedral, falls in love with Farah, but he doesn’t know that she’s in Milan for a very personal vengeance and wants to involve the young, ingenuous man in her criminal project. However, she will realize soon that Checco will change her life forever.

A quiet life

Rosario Russo hails from southern Italy, has a young family and is perfectly integrated in his new home near Frankfurt where he runs hotel business. He keeps a low profile, has hanged identities, speaks an impeccable German. Until one day his past suddenly comes back to haunt him.

Passion

Singers and songs, musicians and poets, real and legendary characters play the leading role in a movie that walks through one of the most beautiful, famous and controversial metropolitan cities in the world, one of the very few able to represent an idea of life.

Habemus Papam

After the Pontiff’s death the Conclave needs to elect the next Pope. However, the newly elected one falls prey to doubt and anxiety, depressed and fearful of not being able to accomplish his tasks. The Vatican then summons a therapist in order to support him and help him get over his troubles.

Loose Cannons

Tommaso is the youngest member of a large family of pasta-makers in Puglia. Today they have come together for a special family meal to celebrate handing over the factory’s management to Antonio. Tommaso has decided to finally announce to his unsuspecting family that he’s gay.

Serbis

The Pineda family operates a run-down movie house which shows dated sexy films, where they’ve taken up residence. Amidst their daily activities, they deal with each other’s sins and vices, unmindful of the other kind of business going on inside the movie theater between the serbis boys (male prostitutes) and the gay patrons.

Lola

Two elderly women, both called Lola, bear the consequences of a crime involving their respective grandsons – one is the victim, the other is the suspect. Both weak and poor, they laboriously solicit money in the midst of a storm — one for the victi’s burial, the other for the suspect’s bail bond.

Kinatay

Today is Peping’s wedding day with the mother of his baby. A poor police academy student, he can’t turn down an opportunity to make money. Peping naively accepts a well-paid job from a corrupt friend and falls into an all-night nightmare, the kidnapping and torture of a prostitute. Is he a killer himself?

Schedule:

November 9-13

Ayala Center, Makati City

Greenbelt

***

8:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Opening Gala

HABEMUS PAPAM

BY Nanni Moretti (Italy 2011 – 104’) CAST Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa

8:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Billante Mendoza

SERBIS

BY Brillante Mendoza (Philippines 2008 – 90’) CAST Gina Pareño, Jacklyn Jose, Julio Diaz

10:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 4

Tribute to Dario Argento

DRACULA 3D

BY Dario Argento (Italy 2012 – 20’) CAST Asia Argento, Rutger Hauer and Thomas Kretschmann

5:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

MINE VAGANTI | LOOSE CANNONS

BY Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy 2010 – 110’) CAST Riccardo Scamarcio, Nicole Grimaudo, Alessandro Preziosi

5:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

HABEMUS PAPAM

BY Nanni Moretti (Italy 2011 – 104’) CAST Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa

9:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

PASSIONE | PASSION

BY John Torturro (Italy 2010 – 88’) CAST John Turturro, Max Casella, Lina Sastri

9:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci

IL CONFORMISTA | THE CONFORMIST

BY Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy 1970 – 115’) CAST Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, Gastone Moschin

4:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Tribute to Dario Argento

SUSPIRIA

BY Dario Argento (Italy 1977 – 112’) CAST Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci

5:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

PASSIONE | PASSION

BY John Torturro (Italy 2010 – 88’) CAST John Turturro, Max Casella, Lina Sastri

6:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

UNA VITA TRANQUILLA | A QUIET LIFE

BY Claudio Cupellini (Italy 2010 – 100’) CAST Toni Servillo, Marco D’Amore

7:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

MINE VAGANTI | LOOSE CANNONS

BY Ferzan Ozpetek (Italy 2010 – 110’) CAST Riccardo Scamarcio, Nicole Grimaudo, Alessandro Preziosi

8:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

VINCERE | VICTORY

BY Marco Bellocchio (Italy 2009 – 128’) CAST Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi and Fausto Russo Alesi

9:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci

ULTIMO TANGO A PARIGI | LAST TANGO IN PARIS

BY Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy 1972 – 136’) CAST Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi

2:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

UNA VITA TRANQUILLA | A QUIET LIFE

BY Claudio Cupellini (Italy 2010 – 100’) CAST Toni Servillo, Marco D’Amore

4:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Tribute to Billante Mendoza

LOLA

BY Brillante Mendoza (Philippines 2009 – 110’) CAST Anita Linda, Rustica Carpio, Tanya Gomez

5:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

VINCERE | VICTORY

BY Marco Bellocchio (Italy 2009 – 128’) CAST Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi and Fausto Russo Alesi

6:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

CORPO CELESTE

BY Alice Rohrwacher (Italy 2011 – 98’) CAST Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentieri

7:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

CHE BELLA GIORNATA | WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

BY Gennaro Nunziante (Italy 2011 – 97’) CAST Checco Zalone, Isabelle Adriani, Nabiha Akkari

9:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci

L’ULTIMO IMPERATORE | THE LAST EMPEROR

BY Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy 1987 – 160’) CAST John Lone, Joan Chen and Peter O’Toole

3:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Italian Showcase

CORPO CELESTE

BY Alice Rohrwacher (Italy 2011 – 98’) CAST Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentieri

3:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Italian Showcase

CHE BELLA GIORNATA | WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

BY Gennaro Nunziante (Italy 2011 – 97’) CAST Checco Zalone, Isabelle Adriani, Nabiha Akkari

5:00 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5

Tribute to Dario Argento

PROFONDO ROSSO |DEEP RED

BY Dario Argento (Italy 1975 – 126’) CAST David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia

5:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Brillante Mendoza

KINATAY

BY Brillante Mendoza (Philippines 2009 – 110’) CAST Coco Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Julio Diaz

9:30 PM – Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3

Tribute to Bernardo Bertolucci

THE DREAMERS

BY Bernardo Bertolucci (Italy 2003 – 130’) CAST Michael Pitt, Louis Garrel and Eva Green

Source: http://pinoyfilm.com/2011-italian-film-festival-screening-schedule-synopses

Holden Caulfield Should Hang out with Charlie

 Books that punch you real hard in the gut and leave you devastated are hard to come by. Stephen Chbosky’s ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ emotionally TKO’d me. The novel, written in letter form, drew several emotions inside of me and pulled everything to the surface, making me vulnerable for a moment. The protagonist’s (Charlie) words, experiences and realizations are beautiful, haunting and absolutely honest. He reminds me of Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) minus the teenage angst.

I could have wept and cried my heart out if I wasn’t inside the office. Yes, I was able to finish reading the book during the 9-hour office hours while doing my job at the same time. My seatmates would occasionally throw puzzled looks at me because I couldn’t control myself from laughing hard at some parts in the book.

Charlie is a 15-year old boy who recounts his everyday experiences through a letter written to an unknown friend. Whether he’s describing his first party where he witnessed a girl being raped by her boyfriend or talking about masturbation, he’s always completely honest. He observes things with sensibility and feels deeply involved with the people and experiences happening around him. A year before he began writing letters, his bestfriend committed suicide and his favorite aunt died in a car crash. This made him an emotional basket case.

The book tackles various issues that teenagers face in highschool: making friends, family tensions, suicide, romance, depression, pregnancy sex and drugs – common struggles that most adults have experienced when they were young. Some of the experiences that Charlie describes ring true and can inevitably make you smile.

Towards the end of the novel, I felt like he was talking to me, the letters he wrote were for me. His pains became terribly familiar because at some point in my life, I’ve been there. Needly to say, ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ is a fascinating and captivating piece of literature that can make you see life and views in a whole new perspective.

No Other Woman

The friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached types of relationship seem to be the IN thing nowadays. At least in films, anyway. It’s definitely a cool premise but so far the movies that touchbase on such a theme tell us otherwise. It looks good on paper but in reality, it hardly works. In Friends with Benefits (topbilled by Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake) for instance, man and woman engage in a sexual relationship devoid of love and emotions. However as time goes by, the don’t-fall-in-love-with-me deal is eventually forgotten. They start to develop feelings towards each other and that is when the conflict arises. Predictably, they end up together and live happily ever after. Or not, if the producers decided to make a sequel.

Eros Atalia’s “Ligo na U, Lapit na Me” on the other hand offers a fresh take on this type of relationship through a character that has balls to keep her words – Jenny (played with a sweet vulnerability by Mercedez Cabral) who is resolutely adamant about not falling in love with her FuBu. What sets this film apart from the rest of the movies which fall under the same genre – No Strings Attached, Friends with Benefits and more recently, Star Cinema’s No Other Woman – is its solid characterization and its guts to actually mean what it says. In other words, it doesn’t compromise its plot to win the audiences’ hearts.

And that’s the problem with ‘No Other Woman.’ It’s fun to watch at first, with Anne Curtis’ Cara – a young, care-free and seductive mistress who doesn’t mind being caught in a messy situation. She knows that Ram (Derek Ramsey) is married but she pursues him anyway. Eventually, the wife Charmaine(Christine Reyes) finds out about her husband’s affair and with the help of her mother (Carmi Martin), she decides to fight to save her marriage because she, well, believes in love.

The second act of the film is its highlight. And I wish it never lost its momentum. The verbal exchanges and emotional banter between the two women offer excitement and hilarity. You can actually feel the tension and the dialogues that often play on a rhetorical and metaphorical level hardly go amiss. They’re always right on the money, so it’s not surprising to see the audience goes wild.

But everything goes downhill on the third act when Charmaine finally gives up and Cara falls in love with Ram. This is the part where the Star Cinema ‘curse’ kicks in – you know, all the histrionics and cliches that are ubiquitous in every Star Cinema romantic film. For one, car accidents as a way to resolve the conflict is a very common device they nevel fail to employ on their plot. The epilogue that usually shows girl leaving the country then coming back all healed up is another cliche.

Yeah, of course we know the reason behind the run-of-the-mill resolution – they don’t want us to feel depressed when we leave the theater. They want us to feel good. After all, people watch movies to relax. But what they don’t realize is that moviegoers, some of them if not all anyway, have become critical.

14 Rules for Writing Fiction

So you want to write, huh? No worries, you’re not alone. Here are some helpful tips from famous writers. These tips/rules/guidelines can help us down the road. We’ve been told that the path is not going to be easy, and we should believe that.

1. Neil Gaiman: Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

2. Elmore Leonard: Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.

3. Diana Athill: Read it aloud to yourself because that’s the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out – they can be got right only by ear).

4. Margaret Atwood: Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.

5. Roddy Doyle: Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don’t go near the online bookies – unless it’s research.

6. Helen Dunmore: A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.

7. Geoff Dyer: Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct.

8. Anne Enright: Write whatever way you like. Fiction is made of words on a page; reality is made of something else. It doesn’t matter how “real” your story is, or how “made up”: what matters is its necessity.

9. Richard Ford: Don’t write reviews. (Your judgment’s always tainted.)

10. Jonathan Franzen: You have to love before you can be relentless.

11. Esther Freud: Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don’t let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won’t matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.

12. David Hare: No one has ever achieved consistency as a screenwriter.

13. PD James: Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.

14. Al Kennedy: Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back.

Captain America Redux

'Parang macho, ganun...'

I was leafing through a copy of Michael Ondaatje’s ‘The English Patient,’ thinking about buying it when I heard the male bookstore attendant ask his co-worker if she had already watched ‘Captain America.’ His colleague said she hadn’t.

MBA (Male Bookstore Attendant): Maganda pala ‘yun.
Colleague: Tungkol saan?
MBA: Isang payatot na lalaki [Chris Evans] na gustong-gustong maging sundalo. Hindi siya natatanggap kasi nga payat siya tsaka maliit pero di siya tumigil sa pag-aapply. Tapos nung training na, tinest sila ng commander [Tommy Lee Jones]. Naghagis ng granada sa mga kadete, matapang niyang dinambahan ang granada.
Colleague: Pero alam niya na fake ang granada?
MBA: Hindi, kaya nga bilib sa kanya ‘yung scientist [Stanley Tucci]. Eh di natanggap na siya pero ginawa siyang test subject. Pinasok siya sa capsule tapos inindyeksyunan. Sigaw siya ng sigaw kaya pinatigil yung operasyon.
Colleague: Bakit, nasasaktan siya?
MBA: Oo, pero hindi siya sumuko. Sabi niya ituloy lang daw nila. Nung lumabas siya sa capsule, ang laki na ng katawan niya. Sobrang laki.
Colleague: Parang higante?
MBA: Hindi. Malaki lang. Di ba payatot siya?
Colleague: Ah, naging macho lang?
MBA: Parang ganun na nga. Tapos nun, naging star siya sa pelikula bilang Captain America.
Colleague: Parang tungkol sa paggawa ng pelikula ng Captain America ‘yung Captain America?
MBA: Oo, parang ganun. Pero nung huli, nagkatotoo yung pelikula. Isinali siya sa misyon para patayin yung kontrabida [Hugo Weaving] na gustong pasabugin ang iba’t-ibang bansa – New York, at iba pa. Sumakay siya sa spaceship. Bago siya maglanding, kinausap niya yung girlfriend niya at sinabi na talagang ‘yun ang kapalaran niya. Tapos pagkagising niya, nasa New York na siya. 70 years na pala siyang tulog. Ang labo nga ng istorya eh.
Colleague: Baka epekto ng gamot kaya 70 years siyang nakatulog.
MBA: Baka nga. Nagtaka nga siya eh kasi me date pa nga raw [with Hayley Atwell] siyang pupuntahan.
Colleague: Me karugtong pa ‘yun.
MBA: Oo nga.

When MBA finished relaying the story to his colleague, I closed the book I pretended to be reading. I couldn’t have told it the way he did – clear, spontaneous and enthralling. I left Booksale with a smile on my face.

The Thin Red Line

Chief

The police officer was in his early forties, 42 to be exact as he admitted towards the end of our convoluted discussion. He could very well pass as Efren Reyes, Jr.s’ doppelganger – what, you don’t know Efren Reyes? – but a darker version (no pun intended), burly, big bellied and pockmarked. He had a good command of the English language.

“Hey, you know what, we should refer him to our company,” I told one of my friends, B, who didn’t seem to hear me.

The police officer, who had sharp ears, did.

“Ano po?” he asked me, distracted.

I shook my head and looked away from him.

It’s past 9 – we’re stuck (the four of us: K, B, M and me) in the corner of Valero Street, at the wrong side of the road, which was exactly the reason we’re being held-up by Chief Efren Reyes look-a-like. “It’s illegal parking,” he explained yet again, with an apparent exasperation etched all over his face.

“Hindi naman namin alam na bawal mag-park dito,” M reasoned out. “Hindi naman kasi sinabihan. Paano namin malalaman?”

The police officer whose patience was wearing thin pointed out the signage to his right and kicked the red pavement. Clearly, ignorance of the law excuses no one.

“Kuya, wala akong time dito.” K, the owner of the car was trying to negotiate. She was told that she’s required to attend a 4-hour seminar at the OVR office in Makati.

“Hindi ba isang araw?” one of Chief’s companions butted in. He’s round-bellied like his boss, and his impatience kept him restless.

“Sign here, Ma’am so we can all go home,” Chief suggested, with a subtle warning in his tone.

We tried a variation of “Pag-usapan na lang natin ‘to” but Chief just wouldn’t budge. Ah, he’s definitely a Makati police officer – may paninindigan. But the cynic in me thought that good negotiation skills can persuade him to let us get away with the offence. Unfortunately, I don’t have such a skill.

The talk/debate/discussion lasted half an hour – some bystanders across were looking at us with indifference. As Karen scribbled her name on the ticket, Chief gave us a useful tip.

“Our Saturday operation begins at 8am.”

K and the two girls went inside the car, Chief and his cohort had moved on to the next offender, and I walked the opposite street.

Blood

There’s a red spot on the elevator floor.

Ting!

It’s blood. Bloody hell there’s blood. There’s a killer on the loose. He/she likes to do ‘it’ inside the elevator just for kicks. Let’s take another lift. The maniac might be waiting some floors below for another helpless victim. I don’t have any pointed thing for a weapon. 

It’s 1am and my imagination was running wild. My colleague was amused with my exaggerated reaction. All I said was ‘Blood!’ and she looked at me as if I was actually telling her about the killer angle.

“Bet you’re gonna blog about it,” she commented in an undertone.

This isn’t blog-worthy, I thought, while snapping a good shot at the ‘crime’ scene.

My attention was glued at the red spot during the entire 15-second trip. Blood’s usually thick and the liquid splattered on the floor’s less dense. It gave off a rather sweet smell too. Boring.

-Some twenty-something year old kid must have been clumsy and spilled his juice. Lame.

-A couple who had a sudden desire to make out inside the elevator didn’t notice their drink spill. Kinky.

-A Sharon-Cherry episode, and instead of water as prop, they used pink juice. Dramatic.

Ground floor – we’re off and the elevator shut again. Same spot an hour later – I hoped for another interesting elevator surprise.

Get Off My Effing Sarao

Friday morning I found myself digging for coins inside my bag. I groped no coins, only keys, pens and some old tablets. I had no choice but to hand the crisp 200 peso bill to the driver, fully aware that he’d just whisk my payment off like a dirty rag. Some of these metro drivers can get rowdy when you give them big bills – they’ll hold your hard-earned money no longer than 3 seconds and tell you off for being such a douche. Well, they don’t tell you that exactly but you know that’s what they think about you. Action speaks louder than words.

“Wala ho akong panukli dyan. Kababyahe ko lang,” Manong Driver said, annoyed.

“Wala ho talaga eh.”

His next response was unintelligible, and he wouldn’t accept my payment. The scowl on his face said it loud and clear – ‘get off my effing Sarao.’ I ‘heard’ him all right. I was about to make him stop his Sarao when a girl across my seat offered to pay for my fare. “Dalawa na ho yang singkwenta,” she told the driver.

“Salamat, bayaran ko na lang mamaya,” I said to her, slightly embarrassed but deeply grateful. “Nasa 30th po kayo di ba?”

“Ha, saan yun?” She asked with a perplexed look on her face. Oh no, I thought she worked at our company’s concessionaire. She looked familiar, I’m sure we’ve met several times but I just couldn’t tell where. Then I noticed the logo on her shirt – Grub burger or something.

I tried again. “Chili Peps?”

She smiled. Yikes, I hate that diner. Their daing na bangus tasted awful. But they have good service and obviously it extends outside work. I forgot to get the girl’s name (who I called ‘ate’) – maybe I’ll eat at Chili Pepper tonight so I can repay the favor by giving commendations to her boss.

Best Moments/Scenes/Actors/Plays and Other Things in the Virgin Labfest 7

This year's entries.

A few bucks well spent. Even if it created a hole in my wallet. Not that huge but enough to make me cut down on a few expenses. I was determined to watch all the entries and I succeeded doing that. And it felt really good. Best thing it did for me was to rekindle that old longing and spirit to write my own winning play. That’s a long shot but it’s worth a shot nonetheless. I was meaning to write a review of each set, a habit I’ve been practicing for the last few years, but I thought of doing something different this time – list my favorite moments/scenes/actors/plays in the festival.

1. Wow Mali moment in ‘Kawala.’ The culprit – Jelson Bay who played three different roles (priest, Tonton, manager) and he played them all well. In his first appearance in the play as the gay manager, he mistakenly called Dante ‘Marco.’ Dante’s role was portrayed by Marco. But he quickly saved his funny ‘error’ – “Ay Dante pala. Ano ba yan, sa dami ng mga boys ko, kung ano-anong pangalan na ang nasasabi ko.”

2. Pewee O’hara in Kawala. The play’s setting is inside the elevator. Imagine an elevator with its mirros and cramped space. Pewee is Mrs. Valdez, a vain old woman who frequently checks herself in the mirror. The mirror is imaginary of course but her acting was so effective that you’d think there’s really a mirror on the stage. Now the funny part – as she scrunched her face up, someone in the audience laughed. Pewee’s colleague, apparently, who couldn’t suppress his laughter because she’s looking directly at his direction (and she was making faces).

3. The playwright of ‘Mga Lobo Tulad ng Buwan’ watching his own play, his jaw dropping every now and then. He’s right in front of the stage so it’s hard not to notice, and once you noticed him and his facial expression, you’d find it hard to look away. And I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

4. Che Ramos in “Isang Gabi Bago Magbukas ang Portrait of an Artist as Filipino ni Nick Joaquin.” She’s so enigmatic and marvelous and witty and vibrant. Her comedic timing is perfect and her punchlines and execution, flawless. Needless to say, she’s my favorite in the ensemble but to be fair, all of the actors did a pretty good job in portraying their roles. The chemistry among the cast was evident, it looked like they were hanging out together for the longest time.

5. Anna Abad Santos as Miranda in “Evening at the Opera.” Such a powerful performance. She owned the stage when Miranda talked about her experience in watching an opera in New York. It made me want to experience the same thing. And oh, her kolehiya English accent is something that’ll live in your head for quite sometime.

6. I didn’t enjoy Allan Lopez’s “Higit Pa Dito” last year but it’s a different story this time. It knocked me dead.

My favorite set.

7. Most outstanding play for me in terms of content is Mixkaela Villalon’s provocative “Streetlight Manifesto,” which talks about the subjective nature of truth and justice.

8. Joey Paras’ ‘Bawal Tumawid Nakamamatay’ was a real thigh-slapper. The punchlines worked, the actors delivered convincing performances but the play seemed to have lost in its funny dialogues. It’s fun, yes, but that’s all there is – fun. But then perhaps, that’s really the point of the play – to have fun.

9. Best actor this year for me is Cris Pasturan in ‘Kawala.’ It’s such a shame that a friend of mine who has a huge crush on him wasn’t able to see the play.

10. It’s fun to see new actors showing remarkable portrayals in different plays. Last year, it was Paul Jake Paule in “Balunbalunan, Bingibingihan” and “Carmi Martin” who scored a bull’s eye performance-wise. This year’s Virgin Labfest saw some fresh and raw talent in Marco Viana (Kafatiran, Kawala) and Jelson Bay (Ondoy, Kawala).

11. Plays I wish to be revisited next year: Kafatiran, Evening at the Opera and Kawala.