Tuesday, January 31, 2006

screw work

today, my mother told me through text that my youngest sister, yayie, dislocated her knee cap while rehearsing for their school cheer dance competition. she is currently confined in st. patrick's, waiting for the doctor who'll supposedly come tomorrow and say if she needs to have an operation. thanks to my beloved layla i was able to rush here to batangas and see my sister. i wanted to stay in the hospital room but my mother insisted that i rest here at home and return tomorrow.

i wish that yayie doesnt have to undergo an operation. i wish that she'll be okay tomorrow like nothing happened. i wish it had been me...

Sunday, January 29, 2006

signs

well, it seems like our pc's not fit to stay on for more than 12 hours. it hung up while my youngest sister was playin chuzzle, which i just had installed and cracked. im givin it a bit of rest now, and typing this blog post on my other sister's laptop computer, which my younger brother and i borrow from once in a while to play need for speed underground 2 (and since ive managed to include all three of my sibs in this intro, i'd like to mention that my father asked me to download an mp3 of the song you're my best friend by don williams. he's got his own laptop as well. as for my mother, the only time she ever touches the pc is to play solitaire.)

the story behind jaiku #2: i called up layla last night (she wanted to stay at our place in guadalupe and we had a little fight before i left last friday) to check up on her only to find out that the effin rats are tormenting her again, the fly papers arent working. now, if i was as a bad boyfriend, i wouldnt have given a damn about it and just enjoyed my weekend away from her. being the exact opposite of that, what i did without thinking twice was get dressed, hop into our car and drive all the way back to guadalupe, like a knight in shiny armor off to rescue a damsel in distress (in this case, it was a knight in houseclothes and purple slippers two sizes too small). unfortunately, there's nothin special to tell about that trip. just me, the car, the radio, and the endless road. anyways, when i arrived, the critters were gone, layla still in an agitated condition. i talked her into goin out for a drive with me (there's an entirely separate and quite long tale about this though) and after a quick shower, we were off. there were some cops lurking around, waiting for unsuspecting victims, so i stayed alert and focused (which isnt hard 'cause ive always obeyed the law, except for the speed limit). layla and i barely chatted. then, at one point on our way back home, i couldnt find a u-turn slot. all intersections had no u-turn signs on them and i didnt want to risk getting caught by them cops, especially when i didnt have money to bribe em with. so for a while i drove blindly, entering streets by gut feeling (this was in makati by the way, at midnight). we were on this road, momentarily void of other vehicles, and to our utter surprise, fireworks just exploded right in front of us. both of us were taken aback for a second by the unexpected sight. i slowed down, we watched the fireworks display in the night sky, and soon passed by its source. people were gathered at a particular lot, celebrating the chinese new year. but what layla and i celebrated, thanks to the heads up from the fireworks, was our love. we kissed and made up.

if you think about it, that drive around the city mirrors our relationship. we didnt need a u-turn. we just had to stay together and keep at it, even if it looks aimless, because you'll never know what you might miss...

handle

id be returning to manila tomorrow earlier than planned. got a call from an office senior, they'll be swamped with scripts tomorrow and will need all the manpower they could get, and im one of them. goddammit. so much for "scheduled" leaves. i really really hate my job now.

p.s. i want my own laptop.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE by jaiskizzy

through a magical closet, four siblings stumble into the ice-laden realm of narnia, fulfilling the prophecy that 2 sons of adam and 2 daughters of eve will come to aid qui-gon jinn the lion in vanquishing the white witch and put and end to her tyrannical rule. let the fantastic cgi war commence!

when i edited the two-mintue-plus mulawin movie trailer for television last year, the cgi didnt impress me at all. well, maybe the dragon looked good but overall, it bombed, for me anyways. then i read somewhere that exodus was boasting of having more cgi scenes than the lord of the rings. that was enough to tick me off with these darn movies. quality over quantity, you morons, and quality with proper usage. in a hilarious review of mulawin (read here scroll down to lupisan), some dude points out how the dragon never really interacted with the real players (and from the trailer i edited, there was this scene of two kid mulawins flying side by side, their wings overlapping. sheesh). when i saw narnia with layla and my sibs, it only stressed my point that no matter how they say that our film industry has come a long way regarding special effects, we're still eating dust from those who are way ahead. so until they could equal the seamlessness of the narnia griffon alone, they ought to shut the hell up.

kudos in big heaps to the geeks who made aslan come to life, and i mean really come to life. that was the most realistic lion animation ever. and apart from the aforementioned griffon, my favorite would be the cheetahs. in the scenes where they're part of the crowd, they were so human, the best cgi rendition of a curious bystander ive seen. then there's the centaurs which are just plain cool. which brings us to the climactic battle that is basicaclly all of these good things multiplied and mashed together in a ferocious fight frenzy. simply breathtaking. cgi is meant to suspend disbelief. we know it's not there, it's not real, but when the cgi is well-done and well-used, you believe for a moment that it is.

anyways, the sfx aint the only thing that made narnia work. although the kids werent very good actors, they did their roles justice. great performance by tilda swanton, the white witch, who played gabriel in constantine. awesome set designs (the ice statues were "cool") and costumes. ive never read a page of the narnia books, but the story was weaved fine in the movie. it's always good to watch a movie meant for kids and like it as an adult. wish i had a magic wardrobe as well. it should open up to the playboy mansion instead though.

the good: primarily, the special effects. those whol'll be making next pinoy sfx-heavy fantasy movie should learn from this film.
the bad: if the potion that santa claus gave to lucy cured all wounds with a single drop, how come edmund still had one on his lip?
the ugly: the scene where they're walking on a rock bridge formation and they get a nice view of narnia. obviously done with a green screen.
the score: 8 turkish delights.

the skiz.

jaiku #2 + narnia

can't find a u-turn
to get to the other side.
suddenly, fireworks!

the story behind this jaiku later. in the meantime, you can read my narnia review here. see ya!

Saturday, January 28, 2006

target practice

the succeeding paragraph is not meant to draw readers/visitors to my side of the conflict. i am merely hoping that by divulging the said conflict, my clouded cranium would clear up, maybe with a little help from good souls would care enough to comment or give advice. so here goes...

everyday, ideas come to me like bullets to the head. i'd be sitting on the crapper and suddenly... bam! in comes a comic book concept. or inside a bus tryin to keep my eyes away from the stupid pinoy flick being shown and then zunk! my second novel (and i have yet to write down the first). these ideas are always different and i feel as if no one else's ever gonna think of em. big or small, i love my all. i consider them as my children, fetuses waiting to be born from my pregnant brain. some have been lucky to be let out to world, the rest still swimming in mind juice and bumping into newcomers. anyways, when john (deadspot co-director) sold me his digital camera (called her "gigi", i give some of my special stuff names too, tin), he told me about the short film he'd be shooting soon entitled "manyika". since it was a usual thing for us to throw blabbers at each other, i got to talking about one of my ideas, a horror short film. he said he liked it and asked me if i'd want to shoot it simultaneously with his. i wanted to, of course, and so i told him that id write it down and get back to him. the next time we conversed was through ym about a week later. i had my horror film concept but not a title. john and i was discussing this and i really wanted to have a nice title to hold my wonderful concept into place. the moment john typed in "20/20" as a suggestion, everything fell apart (long backstory short: ive seen a short indie flick with that exact same title last year and i didnt want to seem like i copied it.) we logged off without settling on anything. what i did next was recycle my original idea and i came up with something 20/20-ish which i emailed to john who flat out rejected it. and then he presented a synopsis of my original idea but with significant changes and plastered with that darn title "20/20", including a clause that says if in case i didnt like his version, he'd go right ahead and make the film himself and give me a "based on" credit. that's when i blew. there was no way i was letting anyone take my great idea and screw with it. and so now, our friendship is crumbling. i know somewhere in there i am to blame as well but im pretty certain that most of it is his fault. ( i was about to make a link to the email debate between john and me plus the rest of my tirade on this malodorous matter, but it contains details that id hate anyone else to see and copy).

last sunday, went to my my first airsoft war game. randell parcon was there and he lent me his rifle (mine was a pistol compared to his) and mask, which proved very useful for i was taken out of the gunplay when some dude with a well-found firing position bombarded me with bb pellets on the face. but only after i scared him a couple of times with my return assault as well. layla was there for support. i made her fire some shots at a gatorade bottle. she enjoyed doin it but the newbie couldnt hit the target (she plays time crisis real good though).

and finally, my first "jaiku" (obviously "jai" and "haiku" put together). blog post ends after the last dot. later!

behind her husband,
i could see her troubled eyes
staring back at me...

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

announcement

peeps! (been tryin not to use that one but oh what the heck...) wont be puttin any updates till the end of the week. i'll be goin home to batangas so i'll do my blogging there. tc!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

HOSTEL by jaiskizzy

two american dudes and their new icelandic buddy travel around europe for some double-b fun: beer and babes (and breasts and butts). they are then lured to a hostel in bratislava where gorgeous, hot, horny women await them. what seems to be a wet dream come true for them (and all men) turns out to be a nightmare underneath when suddenly another b word is added to mix: blood. this, friends, is my kinda movie.

easily made the list of my favorite films i keep inside my head. started off kinda slow, but i didn't mind, thanks to the huge amount of t&a (oh yeah). i mean all of it is vital to the story since these guys are lookin for adventure, and i guess it worked cause a part of me desired to try amsterdam out and immerse myself in the same hedonistic activities (only in your dreams, skiz. you are not single...). anyways, so as tipped by some dude through pictures of him burried under female nakedness, the trio head to bratislava and check into a hostel where they have to share a room with strangers. but these strangers have nice tits and soon they've paired off and testing the bedsprings. next morning, the icelander is missing, supposedly he ran off with a japanese chick. (trivia: this movie has 9 different languages and zero subtitles, and holds the record for the most different languages in an american film without subtitles. cool.) you'll just have watch the film or yourselves to find out what follows next because it's a road staight to spoiler zone. only thing i could say is that all that skin baring level is then surpassed by violence and gore, with finger slicing, open chests, and optic nerve cutting to name a few. real awesome juicy stuff. obviously, this movie is very much a guy flick. but im pretty sure some if not many girl would enjoy it, although probably not as much as us men (espcially me) would. but there is one scene near the very end that most if not all girls would relate to: when the girl sees her reflection in the glass and what she does after that. classic.

the cameo by takashi miike (genuflect), who makes movies like this, was so cool, and made him live right up to his reputation. the endind was perfect, (i almost applauded like the audience in the vcd did, only i was watching it alone) the details of which id rather not discuss to avoid spoiling it, so i'll just say the one word that was plastered in my brain all throughout the ending sequence: punishment.

produced by quentin tarantino and directed by eli roth (great work, guys), this fine fucked-up flick's got more gore than you'll ask for. definitely not for the squeamish. and i hope it stays that way when they release it in our theaters because i will watch it again. a truly superb movie. i completely enjoyed every maniacal moment, every mindfuckin minute, and every sadistic second of it. here's to gore noir(term by harry knowles)!

the good: everything. the nudity, the carnage, the plot, the script, the direction. like i said, everything.
the bad: well, just a lil complaint. that blond dude character. what a total wuss...
the ugly: the gore of course! but it is ugliness that's beautiful!
the score: 10 bubble gum chewing street kids. hehe.

the skiz.

hostel!

hello! just here to post my first movie review for 2006. it's of hostel which definitely one of the best films ive seen in a while. i was highly entertained, and so i highly recommend this movie.

hostel: two american dudes and their new icelandic buddy travel around europe for some double-b fun: beer and babes (and breasts and butts). they are then lured to a hostel in bratislava where gorgeous, hot, horny women await them. what seems to be a wet dream come true for them (and all men) turns out to be a nightmare underneath when suddenly another b word is added to mix: blood. this, friends, is my kinda movie. continue here

upcoming reviews: the chronicles of narnia (thinkin of making this one a comparative analysis against two mmff movies that boast of "world-class sfx": mulawin and exodus) and the movie ive been dyin to watch and finally did and the wait was all worth it, oldboy.

see you soon!

Sunday, January 15, 2006

first filling

come to now.

well here it is, boyos and girlies! the moment none of you cared waiting for has arrived. pulling through many setbacks, trial and error after trial and error, i have finally finished what ive begun. and so, with great pride and crossed fingers, i present to you my new blog: filler. okay, so it's not that shocking like lightning, and doesnt look much right now (as if it would look much ever, huh?), but this is basically the look, the theme, the feel that my latest blog endeavor shall wear from now on. there's still a few more stuff i need to add in the coming days and maybe a couple of css adjustments or tweaks here and there (on some pc's, the fillboard spills over to the main post area. sorry.), but this is it. this is the blog. the blog that will take the jaiskizzy.blogspot.com url and the blog that i, depending on outside forces, will update from time to time (geez i really wish i could say everyday). having said that, i welcome thee, dear reader, dear friend, dear stranger. hope to always have you around...

and btw, if in case any one of you ever felt like seeing spew or rope again, worry not. i havent deleted them. ive merely changed their urls and will stop posting on them for the time being. unless some sort of reason we've all yet to know pops out of nowhere. skizspew.blogspot.com leads to spew and skizrope.blogspot.com leads to... you guessed right, rope.

anyways, to start fire burning, please lay your attention on the pic immediately below this sentence:
this was taken in sm megamall on a recent mall stroll with layla. she went off to buy twister fries and as i followed not too closely behind her, i caught a glimpse of it and just had to snap a shot. opted to use layla's k700i over my 7650. fortunately, every one ive shown it to got the message quick and liked it (but forgive me for explaining the obvious. bad habit. it's a mcdonald's take out booth, seen in a different perspective, hence "make out". nice, eh?). so anyway, the significance of the photo is this: i realized that i may have an eye for this kinda thing. which brings me to the part where i tell you about my new (and first) digicam. it's a 12 megapixel digital camera that can record video and moonlights as a webcam, and it's all worth 6,000 buckaroos. neato. i really believe that this gadget was meant to be mine. my friend john was selling it, through email, and his message was the last one i read and replied to before gma7 decided to sever the internet connection in our office. afraid it didnt send, i texted john at once, demanding that he sell it to me and no one else. turns out he was just about to leave the house and meet up with the first guy who offered to purchase the digicam. three days later, thanks to my income tax returns, i was able to cough up the dough and hold that silver thing in my hands and call it my own. happiness...

there you have it. my first filler post. id love to stay and say more but im gettin sleepy and tired already, and for an insomniac like me, that's a good thing. later, however, i shall post one more before i go back to manila. i'll put up my reviews of hostel and narnia, and blabber about the crap of exodus and mulawin (oh how ive missed being negative). so good riddance, madams and sirs. hope you enjoyed spending (or wasting) your extra time with me. thanks and take care.

p.s. comments (or any other form of reaction) will be highly appreciated. i swear.