Ang Demonyang Fashionista

It is regrettable that Hollywood got to make The Devil Wears Prada first.

If it didn't, it would have been nice to see Vilma Santos play Miranda Priestley. Yes, Vilma Santos. Naturally, we're going to have to fashion (ahehe) a local name for her, and we will adapt it to local sensibilities. Or Star Cinema will.

Andie's adventures in the city can be translated into the travails of the working girls in Makati. I'd like to see Angel Locsin play her, and Luis Manzano her boyfriend. Then this would have been Vilma and Luis' first movie together, although they wouldn't share a scene.

Think about it: Vilma will boss Angel around, pushing her to her limits as only in-laws would. Then, when Angel goes home, she screams at Luis: "She's not happy when people around her are happy. She wants everybody to be miserable just like her." Short of yelling, Why is your mother such a monster?

Vilma is a good match to Meryl Streep, as Angel is to Anne Hathaway. Vilma is as towering a presence as Meryl, and Angel is as much a beginner as Anne is.

What is most thrilling is to see Vilma without the hysterics. It will be a challenge to the Star for All Seasons not to raise her voice for the entire movie. Please do not think that I am a Noranian (even though I admire Nora as well), especially since I like Vilma more than the Superstar. Can you see Vilma delivering these lines: "I told myself, Go ahead, hire the smart, fat girl. But you ended up disappointing me more than the other girls did." Is it not exciting to see Vilma for two hours up on the big screen without the wailing and the flailing of the arms?

It is regrettable that Hollywood got there first.

The Devil Wears Rajo

Nanghihinayang ako at nauna ang Hollywood sa paggawa ng pelikulang The Devil Wears Prada.

Kung hindi sana iyon naisalin sa puting tabing, masayang isipin na ang papel ni Miranda Priestley ay napunta kay Vilma Santos. Oo, si Vilma Santos. Siyempre, babaguhin natin (o ng Star Cinema) ang pangalan ng bida sa ating bersyon, at iaangkop natin sa ating kultura ang kuwento.

Naisip kong ang mga pakikipagsapalaran ng bidang si Andie ay maaari nating ihalintulad sa working girls ng Makati. Gusto kong ibigay ang papel na ito kay Angel Locsin. Pagkatapos, si Luis Manzano ang gaganap na nobyo niya. Disin sana'y ito ang unang pagkakataon na magkasama ang mag-ina sa isang pelikula, kahit pa wala silang eksena na magkasama sila.

Isipin n'yo na lang: Uutus-utusan ni Vilma si Angel, pahihirapan na para bang sinusubok ang pasensya ng isang mamanugangin. Pagkatapos, magdadayalog si Angel kay Luis pag-uwi ng bahay: "Hindi siya natutuwa nang masaya ang mga tao sa paligid niya. Gusto niya miserable ang lahat ng tao." Kulang na lang itanong niya, Bakit ganun ang nanay mo?!

Sakto ang tambalang Vilma-Angel sa parehang Meryl Streep-Anne Hathaway. Kung anong tayog ni Meryl ay siya namang taas din ni Vilma. Si Angel, tulad ni Anne, ay nagsisimula pa lang sa pag-arte. Wala silang sinabi sa mga reyna ng pelikula.

Pero ang mas magpapasabik sa mga tao ay ang makita si Vilma na hindi sumisigaw o humihiyaw. Isang bagong hamon sa Star for All Seasons ang hindi magtaas ng boses sa kabuuan ng pelikula. Huwag po ninyong ipagkakamali na ako ay isang Noranian (kahit pa humahanga din naman ako kay Nora), lalo pa at mas gusto ko siya kaysa Superstar. Naiisip ba ninyo kung paano sasabihin ni Vilma ang linyang ito: "Ang sabi ko sa sarili ko, Sige, kunin mo 'yung matabang babae na matalino naman. Pero ang nangyari, mas na-disappoint pa ako sa 'yo kesa sa mga nauna sa iyo." Hindi ba masarap isipin na dalawang oras na hindi lilitaw ang mga litid ni Vilma sa malaking tabing?

Sayang talaga at nauna na ang Hollywood.

'Yun lang.

Let the American Salvage Spin

Finalists for the National Book Award were announced Wednesday.  

Fiction nominees are:

American Salvage -  story collection by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Let the Great World Spin -  Colum McCann

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders -  stories by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Lark & Termite -  Jayne Anne Phillips

Far North -  Marcel Theroux (son of Paul Theroux)

The finalists in young people's literature are:

Claudette Colvin -  by Phillip Hoose

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith -  Deborah Seligman

Stitches -  David Small

Lips Touch - Laini Taylor

Jumped -  Rita Williams-Garcia

Poetry nominees are:

Versed -  Rae Armanytrout

Open Interval -  Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

Or to Begin Again -  Ann Lauterbach

Speak Low -  Carl Phillips 

Keith Waldrop -  Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy

The winner in each category will be known November 18 in New York and will get $10,000.

Gore Vidal and Dave Eggers are honorary awardees.  

A Passport on One Leg

Herta Mueller, 56, was tapped Thursday to receive this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

Many observers believe her selection is in accordance with the commemoration of the 20th anniversay of the fall of communism, although Peter Englund denies this. Englund is the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy.

The prizes have been given to European writers in the last three years. 

Last year Horace Engdahl said Europe remains the literary center of the world and that American writers are not at par with them.

This year Englund has said he thinks the Academy finds it easier to pick European authors because the Academy is comprised of Europeans, and therefore share the same sensibilities. Mueller was born in Romania, and she and her husband emigrated to Germany in 1987. 

Mueller is the 10th German to receive the prize, the latest being Gunter Grass in 1999. Her body of work is mostly in German, but there have been translations in English, Spanish, and French.

Mueller began in 1982 with "Niederungen" (Nadirs), a short-story collection. Her most recent novel, "Atemschaukel" (Swinging Breath) is in contention for the German Book Prize tomorrow. It would be interesting to see how it fares.

Mueller is also the 12th woman to cop the Nobel in this category, the latest being Doris Lessing in 2007 .  This year marks the first time four women have taken the Nobel in the same year, with two of them from the United States and another one from Israel.

The Nobel Prize in Literature includes 10 million kronor (equivalent to $1.4 million), and will be awarded December 10 in Stockholm.

Mantel's Mantel

Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" has won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction on Tuesday.

Mantel, 57, has written film criticism, a memoir, novels, and short stories. Her novel "Beyond Black" (2005), was a finalist in the races for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

The prize comes with 50,000 pounds (or $80,000). Last year's recipient was "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga.