Something to Give Thanks For?

The Swedish director Lukas Moodysson has a new movie. Reminiscent of Babel, the film Mammoth stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams as a New York couple who leave their eight-year old under the care of a Filipino nanny. She is played by Marife Necesito.

It remains to be seen how Filipinos will be depicted in this movie, and the reception it will get around here and over there.

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.

It Happened One Night

It's three at dawn, and I'm surfing stations on cable TV.

A movie channel is showing an old black-and-white flick. The setting is a club where people in suits drink and smoke.

The signage says in big, bold letters: "The gayest bar in Manila."

Then Clark Gable comes on, talking to one of those classy leading ladies of old. 

I want to know what the title of this movie is. I want to see it again.

Deliverance

James Cameron's The Terminator headlines movies chosen December 30 for inclusion in the American film archive.

The Library of Congress selected 25 films with cultural significance for addition to the National Film Registry. Other picks were Hallelujah (with a cast all comprised of blacks- in 1929!); Sergeant York (1941); Richard Brooks' In Cold Blood (1967); and Deliverance (1972).

The Library aims to preserve original video and audio recordings. With the passage of time, older films start to deteriorate because they are based on acetate and nitrate. It has been estimated that about half of pre-1950 movies, and about 90% of those before 1920, have been lost in time.

One Savage Lady

The actress Ann Savage died in her sleep December 25. 

According to her manager, she had complications due to strokes. She was at a nursing home, and she was 87.

She debuted in 1943, and her career had been over in the mid-1950s. This year she had starred in Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg.

She has been known best for being the femme fatale in Edgar G. Ulmer's Detour (1945). She played a woman blackmailing the character played by Tom Neal. The movie reversed the traditional gender roles of its time. 

Detour has been enjoying a following, and I'm looking forward to seeing it myself. 

On a Loop

Harlan Ellison, the fantasy writer, had won a suit claiming that a good part of The Terminator had been culled from The Outer Limits, a 1960s science fiction series.

Two of his acclaimed teleplays for the series seem to have given birth to the plot and the images  of the movie: "Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand."

Reports had it that the movie was too close to the episodes.

Coming up is another movie with a circular narrative: Christopher Nolan's Memento. It was ranked 100th in WGA's 101 Greatest Screenplays, just below The Wild Bunch and just above Notorious.

Unwashed

In Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, a rich girl screams at a farmer who smashed her sports car and killed her boyfriend:

"You filthy unwashed peasant, you killed the man I loved and ruined my car. He was handsome and he was rich and now he's dead and you're stupid and ugly and you don't even care. You hate us because we screw in Saint Moritz. You probably don't even know how to screw. You just get screwed by the union. You probably don't even own the tractor. (She kicks the tires.) Cheap tires? My car was beautiful. It had a Chrysler motor. I got it because I screwed the son of General Motors."

Ha ha. I can't wait to see the movie.