I made another RotS teaser montage (see image on the right). I can’t wait to see the movie. I have to buy "pirated" editions. The poster was in our local cinema. I thought they would show it the same date it was shown on Manila. But no.. it was offset by some annoying sugary, nonsense "love story" of sorts called…hell..I don’t even want to remember. Anyway, what could you expect? Most movies today cater to the lowest common denominator. I mean, who has seen "Magnolia" or "The Shawshank Redemption"? Filipino movies today were very disappointing, whatever happened to movies like "Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag" or "Isang Taong Walang Diyos"…"Rizal"…"Dekada 70"?? Almost nothing like that comes around. Except during film festivals. Today, we get movies like "Say that you love me", "Now that I found you" etc (movies about rich, tween-age people who don’t have any problems besides their so-called love life - or - another cliche - rich guy marries poor girl - and vise versa - who doesn’t have to do anything besides look cute/pretty - and they live happily ever after! - that is SO new - There are dozens of good films revolving around that premise, but the difference are engaging characters and tasteful handling.) They seem bent on making movies out of songs…hmmm..if that is the case, how about "O, Ilaw", "Saranggola Ni Pepe" or "May Isang Pipit"??

And there seems to be a shortage of good "role models" in movies and TV shows, especially in the "women" department. Our ideal "girl" prototypes were ditzy, loud, annoying, mostly stupid, childish, always tearful, dresses up like a clown, most likely dependent on arrogant, chauvinistic men…I could go and on. Where, if I may ask, are our Ellen Ripleys? Lara Crofts? Integral Hellsings? Clarice Starlings? Joan of Arcs? Trinitys? Padme Amidalas?

Before you accuse me of being a man-hater, no, I don’t hate men in general. What I despise are men who objectify women. Those who see women as tools/things to be possessed and dominated. That is the case with our society these days. Despite many cultural, industrial, and social advances, most Filipino men haven’t changed a bit. Instead of admiring a woman for her intelligence, courage and independence most men would label her an "emasculating bitch" (as -Hail!-Jessica Zafra mentioned in her article "I’d Date Me"). In fact, most men see intelligence in a woman as a threat to their masculinity. How sad. I mean wouldn’t men like a woman who, besides doing all the "traditional duties" - ??? - , can still be his mind-mate, one he can discuss politics, important issues, books and many other things with, instead of being a "switch on/off" drone.

What else? My current projects include: artwork for Mr. Scott Ferguson’s wonderful story/saga called Star Wars: Altered Universe , it’s a fan fiction, but it rivals George Lucas’ story in a good way, basically the premise is, "What if Anakin Skywalker didn’t turn to the Dark Side, and he and Padme raised a family?"… I loved it so much! Mr. Scott and I have had a sort of deal and I don’t want to disappoint everyone. So I’ll start the works this week. The story has "mushy" moments, but they come across as poignant and not irritating. Plus, the action sequences were nothing short of brilliant!; I’m still reading Anne Rice’s Blood Canticle; Other WIPs: Jack Sparrow, Edward & Kim (from Edward Scissorhands) etc..

Revenge of the Sith (Padme) Calendar:

see: http://www.jedidawn.biz.ph

I need sleep! Yes, I do. I need it badly. I can’t seem to get enough sleep. I have deep eye bags. Not that I’d fret for "beauty" reasons.  Confusing?? I’m confused too! Very confused, indeed. Just where did that come from? I apologize if I’m not making sense.

Back to the topic of sleep. I must have insomnia, either that or I’m turning into a "spawn of the dark" otherwise known as creatures of the night. It takes hours for me to get to sleep, even if I splayed myself on the bed. *sigh* I try to self-medicate by listening to classical/rock (depending on my mood) songs until I get sleepy enough. It works, most of the time. Sometimes I draw. Or read.

But what?? in the Force is wrong?! I still wake up feeling tired. But, when I attempt to go back to bed, wha! I can’t sleep because my system would not permit me to! Unless I consider banging my head against the wall…not a good idea.

About the recent fare hike…From six pesos to eight. har…no wonder I had to walk. I mean, the distance between my house and the office is not worth eight pesos! besides, I’m pretty used to walking, even long distances.

Other stuff:

I’m currently playing "Medal of Honour"…and I’m stuck on the fourth mission..hehehe…it’s a miracle I was able to complete the first three. The game was hard…the AI (artificial intelligence) was very good. Kudos to the developers! You made a game that doesn’t insult anyone’s intelligence.

Also "Final Fantasy IX"…I’m on disk three. I hope I’ll be able to finish it this time around. I’ve played it before and I got stuck somewhere around the Forgotten Continent…something to do with losing battles to "Grand Dragons"…sigh..

I’m very excited to see the upcoming movie "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith"….I’ve been reading reviews and most of them were all praises…

Another thing is that RotS is a dark film…darker than dark, actually. There’s a scene wherein Anakin murdered Jedi "Younglings" (children ranging from 5-10 years old!)…that should be the ultimate act of Evil! Plus, the legendary duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan spliced between Yoda vs. Darth Sidious. Now what more could a Star Wars fan want?

Mood: slightly fine

Music: "Minas Tirith"

Book(s): Blood Canticle by Anne Rice

The Bottom Line:

GMA 7’s latest "fantaserye" entitled Encantadia opened last week. They have been advertising it a few months in advance…I, yes, I have watched every episode since…and here is what I think.

On a side note, I also watch "Darna"…but I find it getting increasingly annoying. The "telenovela" themes which I completely abhor are starting to emerge…so, I might have to stop. Oh, that… and the "action scenes", if you could call it as such, is so lacking in "spirit" (everything looks and feels choreographed - nobody REALLY gets hurt - must be the action/horror fan in me)… and what’s up with Darna posing everytime she transforms???! geez… (that episode with Efren falling was an all time low…) and perhaps a bit of character development would help. . Not to mention, Dr. Zombie was a cross between Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin from the Spiderman movies…bits of cheesy drama scenes were nerve-grating too..on to Encantadia…

The Good:

Nearly cutting-edge stuff. Great costumes. All in all a big leap in the works. I also like Sunshine Dizon’s Pirena…she seems realistic and not as one-dimensional as the rest of the cast.

The Bad:

The map of Encantadia alone is a dead ringer for Tolkien’s middle earth (LOTR). Any  genre fan will notice that (I’m sure the unsuspecting masses think GMA came up with such an "original" idea - *eye roll*). Hey, hey…It’s not "evil" to borrow someone else’ idea from time to time (George Lucas borrowed assorted elements from Akira Kurusawa’s films), but at least, try not to make it so godddamed obvious! There’s also the Master Yoda-like character called Imaw. Dingdong Dantes as "Ana-gorn" (hehehe…he seems to me like a combination of Anakin and Aragorn, hence the name)…i mean, Ybarro. Karylle as a thrift-store "Arwen" (spouting irritating songs from time to time)…oh, and "Hatoria" filling in for "Mordor"….

EDIT: where I left off..

Again, the battle scenes were lacking in authenticity. I just can’t get the "battle" feel. Lireo (queendom of the "diwatas") reminds me of Zanarkand (from FFX), if only a bit. "Awoo" came out straight from "The Neverending Story"…or one of Neil Gaiman’s novels..

The Ugly:

This is the really irksome part of "Encantadia".

Cliched plot elements, hard-to-swallow resolutions (you should have seen the flashback episode last night - Ybarro’s origin - what idiocy! For christ’s sake! They were travelling with a QUEEN. There should be TONS and TONS of guards! But no, there are like 12 and the lead knight -played by Richard Gomez- just made a stupid decision - and what happened to the queen’s powers?? she was practically a sitting duck! the proverbial damsel-in-distress - talk about BAD resolution!).

The syrupy, saccharine sweet "love story". Particularly that of Ybarro and Alena…let’s start with Ybarro. He’s some sort of Paladin-thief (and the cliched soon-to-be-discovered-prince) hybrid (supposed to be really skilled in the art of war, but since the fighting sequences were a bit bad, I can’t really be sure). Apparently, he’s an individual suffering from bi-polar disorder with just a hint of schizophrenia. Why? He switches from "smooth-smarmy" to "overly serious" and vice versa throughout the show…although that probably wasn’t the actor’s fault..the script writer deserves a whack in the head! Character development? In "encantadia" there is either none at all or it all happens too fast. How else would you explain the bi-polar Ybarro? I thought he had the "Zidane" potential….but i was very wrong.

Alena. There really is nothing much to tell about her. She is just a pain in the ass, plain and simple. The easy-to-get, starry-eyed Princess-songstress.

Ybarro and Alena. There is symmetry in the universe…