FEMME-atay! Strong Femmes in Films on Cine Chichirya

They kiss, they kill and they kick macho ass. They are the femmes fatales and strong femmes in films.

This Friday, 20 August 2010, Cine Chichirya will name, analyze and celebrate the women who bow to no one, and won't submit to any man. They are the ones who give night terrrors to people who think men are the stronger sex.

Cine Chichirya is part of dzUP 1602's Radyo isKool programming. It tackles anything and everything about film-- trends, technology, trivia, genres, film reviews, etc. It airs every Friday, 6-7pm, on dzUP 1602 [AM band]. It's also available on live streaming over the internet on UP Diliman Interactive website [click this link to connect].

You may join the chikahan and chicha-an on http://www.cinechichirya.wordpress.com/ and cine.chichirya@gmail.com.

Kagat na!

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27 Thoughts on 27 Dresses

I wasn't feeling okay yesterday. I missed my class, and I could hardly get out of bed. So I had to find something to bitch about. And I picked (drumroll) 27 Dresses.

1. GOOD: Katherine Heigl (Jane) is very pretty. Eye-candy. Kinda looks like Ashley Judd in some of the scenes. But...

2. BAD: ...she is too pretty to be believable. I mean, nobody can be that hot and charming and still be unattached. And no one in the film seems to have noticed that.

3. GOOD: Some of the scenes are genuinely funny (e.g., when Jane's bestfriend Casey--Judy Greer--slaps her when she looks longingly at George--Edward Burns--and whispers *I love you, too.*). But...

4. BAD: ...most just plain suck. The comedic timing is terrible. It's like the characters just give out punchlines whenever they feel like it. (E.g., when the bartender tells Jane and Kevin/Malcolm--James Marsden--they are good like the guys on CSI because they have figured out that the phone is not working. What the...?! Smart-alecks are not funny. As in, never.)

5. GOOD: It's a satyre on the whole getting-married-thing some people are so obssessed about. In the same vein as My Bestfriend's Wedding (good), Runaway Bride (not so good), and our very own Got To Believe (some people are saying it's good; I haven't seen it yet). But...

6. BAD: ...it's just one of those movies about wedding. There's absolutely nothing new in the story, in the treatment, and the characters.

7. GOOD: It's not just about weddings. But...

8. BAD: ...it's about a lot of other things at the same time. Is it about being a perennial bridesmaid and never the bride? Or, is it about opening one's eyes and discovering that the person meant for you is standing right beside you all along? Or, about finding the courage to stand up for oneself and saying *no* sometimes? Or, a story about sisters? It can't be all. The writer should've picked just one, and made the rest subplots.

9. GOOD: Most of the characters change in the end. But...

10. BAD: ...the character changes are fake. (E.g., during the confrontation between sisters Jane and Tess--Malin Ackerman. Tess throws things at Jane, all the while accusing her of being jealous of her all along. Then, without proper segue, they sit together on the counter and Tess tells Jane that she shouldn't be taking care of her because she's a big girl already. What?! She ruined her wedding, and now she's telling her to stop taking care of her because she's grown?!)

11. GOOD: The protagonist finally learns to stand up for herself. But...

12. BAD: ...how she does it is unforgivable. Spilling the beans on her younger sister via the (usually tacky) powerpoint tribute, in front of everyone (family, friends and extras) is uncalled for. She could've talked to George in private, instead. Fine...

13. GOOD: ...it's more dramatic that way. Well, at least that's the obvious intention. To make it more dramatic. But...

14. BAD: ...it failed. There is no build up, and no follow up. No tension, ergo, no drama. We should've seen Jane pressuring Tess to tell George the truth, etc. The point is that the audience should feel that there's no better time and no better way than this to tell George the truth about Tess.

15. GOOD: Casey pointed it out to Jane--that she's venting out her 20 years of repressed anger, or something. But...

16. BAD: ...she still introduces Pedro whom she knows very well will only spill more beans. Is she the conscience or an accomplice?

17. GOOD: All protagonists have to go through dark times to give way to character change. But...

18. BAD: ...they must empathetic. I am rooting more for Tess (the *villainess* and the manifestation of conflict) than for Jane (the protagonist). I actually think Jane is a bitch (not in a good way) and Tess is the victim. And that is very dangerous. It creates dissonance. The viewers don't know with whom to empathize.

19. GOOD: This is a romantic-comedy. And I love romantic-comedies: When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, Don't Give up on Us, etc. But...

20. BAD: ...wait, this is romantic-comedy, right? Actually, I'm confused. It looks like it's romantic-comedy, but somehow it lacks the key elements of a romantic-comedy. I don't root for the protagonist, I honestly don't give a damn whether the protagonist and her object-of-desire end up together or not, and the whole film is hardly, well, romantic.

21. GOOD: The storytelling is not usual, not formula. But...

22. BAD: ...I don't think it's intentional. Somehow, I have the feeling that the absence of *formula* is actually brought about by the writer's and the director's lack of awareness of what makes a good romantic-comedy: That whether the protagonist knows about it or not, the audience must know whom he/she is destined for. And they must hate him/her for not knowing it, but all the while anticipating his/her realization. The audience must wait for the first real kiss between the protagonist and his/her object-of-desire.

23. GOOD: The characters are not clearcut. They're neither good or bad. But...

24. BAD: ...it makes them lukewarm. Until the end of the movie, we don't know how they really feel towards anything. Does Jane hate or love Tess? George and Tess seem to have easily moved on from the foiled dinner rehearsal, really? Just like that? Does Kevin/Malcolm really love Jane? When does he realize this? And Jane--after discovering that Kevin/Malcolm actually cries at weddings, too--falls immediately in love with him? Come on.

25: GOOD: The protagonist is not a scheming bitch. But...

26. BAD: ...this is actually detrimental to the story. She says she wants something, but she doesn't act on it. Ergo, she's just whining. Actually, even in real life, when someone says he/she wants something but doesn't do anything to get it, that person mustn't be trusted. Anyway, I can't emphasize it enought, passive protagonists are not worth watching.

27. Verdict: 27 Dresses = Bad. In a scale of 1 to 50 (1 being the lowest, and 50 the highest) I'll give it a, well, 27. I'm not sure I'd want to watch it again.

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I Love U, Torrent: Summer Lovers Review

WARNING: SPOILERS
I finally caved in and watched Randal Kleiser's Summer Lovers a couple of days ago. I'd say I had fun watching it.

It is about a young couple (Daryl Hannah and Peter Gallagher) who go to Greece for a vacation. They meet a French paleontologist (Valerie Quennessen). There is instant attraction. Then, after the obligatory moral debates, the menage-a-trois.

The actors were young, beautiful, and most importantly, uninhibited. Daryl Hannah--who later Splash-ed with Tom Hanks and much later turned down the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman, the role that made Julia Roberts a star (because she thought it was degrading to women)--was a real-life Barbie. Peter Gallagher was an eye-candy, too. Never mind the caterpillars above his eyes. It was the eightees, man. Bushy brows were to the 80s what internet is to Y2K. And Vallerie Quennessen looked like the late Princess Diana. Again, it's the 80s. The People's Princess had just hooked up with UK's heir-to-the-throne-then-and-still-is, and everybody loved her and wanted to look like her. But I'm not saying that Vallerie was trying to look like Lady Di. I must admit I have no basis for that claim, except that they, well, looked freakishly identical.

The story is very simple. But like what a review on amazon.com says, it's a vacation movie; who wants to think while on vacation?

It's a litle overscored. But it's not that much of a problem, especially if you love 80s music and you're a fan of Chicago, Elton John, and Blondie, and other 80s icons.

Then, the nudity. The beautiful trio love going to exotic Greek beaches. And for some reason, everyone in those beaches don't feel the need to wear skimpy bikinis and tight Speedos. You get the drift.

I understand that Summer Lovers was not intended to equal From Here To Eternity, but I think it's still worth slicing a bit. The story, while it's charming for being simple, borders on being flimsy. The characters have no objective and hardly have any character change in the end. Cathy Feathersome (Daryl Hannah) learns to be more open-minded and Lina (no last name--just Lina, Valerie Quennessen) allows herself to fall in love, but that's about it. While those are valid objectives, they only come out in the end. They are hardly discussed / shown in act II. And when I saw Cathy and Lina getting confused about their setup and their feelings toward each other, I knew the film was going to end soon.

And again, the nudity. This film is the result of the success of The Blue Lagoon, made by the same filmmaker, Randal Kleiser, two years earlier. Stripping teeners in The Blue Lagoon worked miracles at the box-office, so they wanted to replicate its success. In that film, the excuse for the nudity was being trapped and coming of age in an exotic island. In Summer Lovers, it was going to and self-discovery in an exotic country.

In the 60s and the early 70s, sex was an important tool for cultural revolution. Sex was political. In this film--released in 1980--had no statement whatsoever. And it borders on being exploitative.

It's a no-brainer film. And has no pretensions of being otherwise. But I must admit I had fun watching it. Partly because I was finally able to quench my twenty-or-so-year thirst for this film. And partly because it has naked beautiful young people having a fun summer. You kow, it's that kind of summer that changes a person--now, who can't identify with that? I'm not sure, though, if I would watch it again. Maybe I would after five years.

This is from the same director of Flight of the Navigator, Grease and Honey, I Blew Up The Kids. It may not be in AFI's Top 100 Films Of All Time, but it still a very interesting piece of work.

Recommended to: those who grew up in the 80s, those who saw the trailer of this film and noticed the scenes in the nudist beach, those who want to see naked beautiful young people especially Daryl Hannah, and those whose little minds were warped by the candle-wax clip on the trailer (attn: Ned), and those who just want to watch a fun film.