Maskara by Laurice Guillen (Movie Review)

Maskara by Laurice Guillen --- A movie review by Jojo Armenta

Maskara was the opening film for Cinemalaya this year and it was indeed, a perfect movie to start the annual showcase of independent films here in the Philippines. 

Photo coutesy of: http://www.clickthecity.com/movies/?p=11968

Even though the film was star- studded, I liked the film so much not just because Laurice Guillen is well known as one of the best directors in the Philippines, but because the story of Maskara is based from the true-to-life story of Johnny Delgado, a veteran actor and the late husband of Laurice Guillen who just passed away 2 years ago. Maybe it's not what everybody is expecting about the movie but it definitely gave the audience some lessons on how showbiz personalities live they life off-cam.

Secrets were kept for so long but in the end, it was all revealed. The outcome was positive though. The memories that Johnny Delgado left his loved ones were cherished and learned. A family tie story that will definitely capture every Filipinos heart.

Desperately Superficial

Desperately Superficial by Jojo Armenta
Do not condemn me for what I've done.

Keeping you alive makes me wonder what now.

This face with  mask I'm having for a long time, 

This furious of thoughts lingering on my mind. 

I'm shuttered with fears and doubts.

Out of this world is basically fine. 

No matter how hard I try,

This burden controls me inside.

Maybe it's too late, maybe it's not

Or maybe I'm just fascinated on how you act

Stop saying that you'll stay for long,

Or else I'll be drown again by your words. 

Please don't you dare bare this in mind

For you not to be ashamed of yourself

I may not get over with what happened

But I will try to carry things over mine. 

Veronica Guerin: Movie Review

 

Synopsis: Based on a true story, this is about the Irish journalist Veronica Guerin (Cate Blanchett), a reporter for The Sunday Independent, who exposed some of Dublin's most powerful crime barons and drug lords in 1996. But later that year she was gunned down by assassins hired by the same criminal drug lords she exposed. 

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312549/plotsummary

I love writing, though I am not that perfect in constructing my ideas yet, I am really practicing to become better and this movie made me love writing more. While I was watching this movie during our Film Appreciation class, I was frightened because I found out that being a journalist is a very dangerous profession.    To the point that you're putting your life on the line. But Veronica Guerin, inspired us. She is a hero. I already thought that she will die in the end but I didn't imagine how brave she was to fight for what she believes in. She was able to get the drug lords put into jail and the people supported her and gave their tributes for what she has done. It was amazing. I literally cried after the movie. I can't imagine how hard it was for her family to lose someone like Veronica Guerin. She also proved to everybody that a woman can also make a change. It was a really nice film. Bravo!

Say No to Domestic Violence!

courtesy of YouTube and Hannah Fortich. =)

This issue is not unusual to us. We already heard about Domestic Violence for so many times, but sometimes we just ignore it. If we can't do anything to help these people who were verbally, physically and sexually abused in any way, it means we're just letting these unreasonable acts to happen. Let's not be still. Do something. Say no to domestic violence!

Dinig Sana Kita (If I knew what you said) Part 2

 Dinig Sana Kita (If I Knew What You Said) by Jojo Armenta

               As I promised last time, I will blog my insights about this beautiful film by Sir Mike Sandejas. Students were all privileged to have Sir Mike, the director of the film, when the film was shown in our school. Dinig Sana Kita was released 2 years ago and I heard about it but I didn't get to watch it because the screening was too far from where I live. I didn't know that this film features Deaf and Mute people, but now they don't want to be called Mute because they could read lips when we talk.

               First of all, this movie is not a love story. Sorry to spoil you but I just want to clarify this because people focus more on the romantic scenes than what the real message of this movie wants to say. I want you  to look deeper more on the meaning of every scenes that you will see in the film. Everything has a meaning and every meaning made the story and the movie itself complete and amazing. Honestly, when I first saw the trailer of this film, I thought it was concentrated on the love story between a deaf guy and a rocker girl. I became excited because the trailer was romantic and we could relate on what the movie is all about.

             The film actually revolved around mostly with Nina and Kiko. They both longed for care and understanding. Kiko was abandoned by his mom when he was still young and was brought to an orphanage where he met his new family who took care of  him until he learned how to become independent. He knew where his mom lives but he never get to know her personally. In this world, I think it is really common for people who are disable to experience unfortunate things because they are disable. The fact that they're disable, some people also look at them as "walang pakinabang" which worsen their "being" disable. Gets? People are too judgmental and passive. Kiko doesn't want his mom to leave him but she still did because she was ashamed of her child who is deaf.

             Kiko strived hard. He was so passionate about dancing and teaching kids who are also deaf and mute. How can he dance? he's deaf. Well, that's the power of vibration. They could feel the rhythm of the song using vibrations. Amazing isn't it? That's why we should not under estimate people who are disable because they could do more that the things that we can do. Even though the're not perfect physically, they're very thankful and appreciative of the things that they have. That is what we should learn form them.

            After Kiko, let's talk about Nina. This girl is really interesting. Btw, the girl in the film who played the role of Nina, was the daughter of the director of this Film. Her name is Zoe Sandejas. Let's go back to Nina, the rocker. She always listens to LOUD music. Literally LOUD! When I first saw her, she was singing as the vocalist of their band, I asked myself, as the usual story there is something wrong with Nina. She looked pale and dry while performing her song. I think you could just count the smile that she did in the movie. I finally found the answer to my curious mind when she got home. She was verbally abused. Now I got it, why she rebelled from her parents and from every opportunities that comes her way. She became tired of listening and following her parents. Nina has a strong personality and yet she can't even explain fluently her side to her Dad,
who always punish and give her lessons. Nina is always brave outside but actually, broke inside.

            I hope this movie will open your mind and straight those narrow thinking. Especially to those parents who doesn't care and don't know how to understand the situation of their child who is disable. This blog is just an insight based from my perspective and own understanding of the film. If you have comments, please feel free to comment.

Thank you for reading this and God bless!=)

Dinig Sana Kita (If I knew what you said)

Synopsis:

The film is a love story between a Deaf boy who loves to dance and a troubled rocker girl who abuses her hearing. One lives in the world of solitude and silence, the other in noise and fear. Crossing paths in a Baguio camp that mixes Deaf and hearing kids, both find that they have more in common with each other including a love for music.

DINIG SANA KITA is the first Filipino film to have a Deaf Actor in a Lead role. Romalito Mallari is a Deaf performer that has played several stage productions as actor and/or dancer. It also features several Deaf actors in the cast and ensemble.

Awards: DINIG SANA KITA" won the Audience Choice Award, Children's Award & Best Original Music Score for Cinemalaya Cinco 2009. Cinemalaya 2009 --- Best Original Music Score , Audience Choice Award and National Council of Children's Television Award, Brussels International Film Festival --- Grand Prix-Deaf Cinema and 8th Gawad Tanglaw --- Presidential Jury Award For Film Excellence

Sources: http://www.facebook.com/dinigsanakita?sk=info

           http://www.cinemalaya.org/film_competition_dinigsanakita.htm

          *This film by Sir Mike Sandejas is indeed a wonderful movie. Dinig Sana Kita featuring deaf people really amazed me. I didn't know that deaf people can dance. How is that possible? Well, watch the movie. I can't say anything further but I will definitely blog about this movie again so watch out for it. I will gather first all my thoughts and opinions about it. 

The House-bands

The House-bands by Jojo Armenta

Again, I wrote this blog because I was inspired by our discussion yesterday in Women's Studies and this blog that I wrote is different from what you think because I mentioned my subject. This is not about us, women. This is about them, the Husbands with a new name -- The House-bands. Our discussion yesterday was fun yet very informative especially for us who grew up closely with our moms.

Most of the girls that I know are more enjoyable when they're with their mom like when it comes to shopping, boys, etc. Before, yeah it's true because the society labelled men as busy persons. They should work and work because Fathers are the so-called "head of the family".They really can't put so much time on spending it with their children because they come home late because of work but I am not saying all Fathers don't have time for their family. The society gave men a heavy responsibility to take because they're men. That's why I wrote this blog to change the perspective of the readers about them. 

Men are always known for being tough. They can't cry because they're men. They should always take control because they're men. They should always decide because they're men. There are a lot more to say how society define men but did you ever consider them as the opposite one? Because not all can do these huge responsibilities. I guess, even the small ones who are still asking about the environment they belong to would already carry these responsibilities because they were born men. 

Let me now go to the meaning of my title "The House-bands" and as we go to this discussion, please open your mind and way of thinking to this "not so" sensitive topic about men. Remember we are promoting gender equality and fairness. Before, women were considered uneducated, controlled by men and the doer of all the chores at home but now, a lot of women work abroad and make money for their family. What is the implication of this? Meaning men stays at home while women are working.

They cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry and  lot more and seeing them doing these things makes them cuter and funny. (Laughs)

Let us not focus too much on what they can't and can do cause well let's face the fact that men are not just tough but also flexible as well. So going back to the title of this blog, we should not underestimate the abilities of men when it comes to household chores because they can do it better than you could ever imagine. Staying at home and letting their wives to work doesn't mean they're inutil or useless.

I entitled my blog with House-bands because I want to emphasize the role that men are taking nowadays, though not everyone agrees and accept this new concept of what men are right now, I think it's good to change the heavy role that the society gave to the so called "head" of the family.

Why Men Who Wear Pink Called Tough?

Photo: Google

Why Men Who Wear Pink Called Tough by Jojo Armenta

I wrote this blog because I was inspired by our discussion earlier in Women’s Studies because we talked about Sex and Gender. Honestly, it was just earlier where I noticed that there’s a big difference between sex and gender. We know that they’re sort of the same because of the concept of sexual identity, that’s why we never noticed the difference. But when we discussed it earlier, I realized that there are a lot of issues about sex and gender that wasn't given importance. Everyday we face different issues about gender that we just ignore because it’s already part of what the society brought us to be.

Let me first define what sex and gender means. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women while Gender, refers to the society constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a particular society consider appropriate for men and women.  Source: http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/

Men and women are distinguished through physical appearance and traits. Aside from the fact that physically, women are different from men, women are usually said emotional, sensitive, maarte, magaling sa bahay, while Men are said strong, ma- pride, immature and insensitive. We all tackled these things earlier and our professor asked us, “May mga babae din bang immature? Bakit wala bang lalaking maarte?” And I realized that our professor was right, everything that we just said about men and women were just created by the people and the society due to the changes in time.

Reality check: (Discussions earlier during our Women’s Studies class) a girl who is short- haired is sometimes called lesbian. What if we just like to make our hair short because it’s hot and we’re bored with our long hair? Men who are organized and clean with their things are sometimes being judged as gay. Do men really have to be dirty with their things because they’re men? I don’t think so. I think there are also men who are cleaner and more systematic than girls but it doesn’t mean they’re gay.

Photo: Google

Sometimes I see shirts with a statement saying Tough Men Wear Pink. Now, I agree with this statement because men who wear pink are really tough and courageous enough to face the undying gender issues. It’s just color and it’s becoming a big deal when gender is involved. Let’s not just go with the flow every time we hear gender issues that are unjust and not right. It’s time to break the wall of gender inequality. But there are still a lot of gender issues that need to be noticed and we should not neglect it.

Born to Serve and Lead

The Student Council together with the Council of Leaders, had their first Student Leadership Training for this year at St. Scholastica's Convent, Baguio City last May 29- 31, 2011. I was so blessed because I became part of this leadership training for the 3rd time and learned deeply more about the different Benedictine Leadership.

The module of our leadership training was a little bit different from the past SLTs that we had and I enjoyed it so much because I realized a lot of things about myself and my school. St. Scholastica's College Manila is the second family where I belong now and I am proud that I am a Kulasa because after SLT, I realized the changes that happened to me. My social awareness and my critical thinking developed into a higher level because of the path I chose today.

I am different now because I want to prove to myself that I can do something great for the betterment of others and my country. "I want to make a difference",sounds cliche and overused but this phrase is what I believe in right now and I am preparing myself on the many challenges that I am about to face as a leader, as a student and as a person, and this will definitely help me to attain all the goals that I have in mind. Through the different leadership training and opportunities that St. Scho is giving me,I will always keep in mind the passion that I have since high school, which is serving and leading. 

Though the 3- day leadership training that we had in Baguio was more on enjoyment because we also spent time to check out the beauty of Baguio, we still didn't forget the purpose of our journey there. I think most of us are now ready to serve our fellow Scholasticans. 

We are all ready to face the school year ahead of us. We are all prepared for whatever circumstances a leaders should experience. We are all ready to stand and voice out concerns. After the Student Leadership Training, we're now united and going to work as one. We all have the same passion and one goal, that is to serve and lead. 

From Nobody to Somebody (Justin Bieber)

From Nobody to Somebody (Justin Bieber) by Jojo Armenta

May 10, 2011--- The date where Beliebers have all been waiting for. Finally, Justin Bieber visited the Philippines for his My World Tour Concert at the SM Mall of Asia concert ground. For the first time, I saw an overflowing crowd cheering and waiting to see their number one guy. Actually I am not surprised seeing those fans gone wild and so prepared for JB's concert because I already watched lots of videos of Justin Bieber's concert in YouTube. Justin always knocks girls on his feet every time he performs on stage. With his passion in music and love for his fans, Justin's fame became worldwide.

I heard a lot of people saying Justin is the next Michael Jackson. He could sing and dance well. JB's music often gets the number one spot on the U. S Billboard chart and radio stations all over the world. His music is like a disease that you can't get away from, your last song syndrome for a week or two. Like his single Baby featuring our very own Jasmine Villegas on its music video. This song became the national anthem everywhere after they released the music video on YouTube which until now is the title holder for being the most watched video ever. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube and search Baby Official music video. =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

Justin Drew Bieber was also discovered in YouTube like Maria Aragon, Gabe Bondoc, AJ Rafael and a lot more. He also dreamed big and didn't stop from believing because he knows that he has a talent to share to the whole world. He came from a broken family because his parents were divorced, but it didn't stop him to go for his goals and dreams. Justin was nobody before, he's just like other kids who play around and do what kids do. With the support of Justin's mom, Pattie, Scooter Braun, Justin's manager and Usher, Justin's mentor, he became somebody who is now the incredible and amazing Justin Bieber.

As I am watching Justin Bieber performing live, I still can't believe that I am at his concert seeing him personally. I'm not that close with the stage but I can see him clearly and I really want to shout at the top of my lungs that Justin could only hear me shouting saying "I love you Justin!". LOL Well, you may say I love him that much not because he's cute (well that's one reason). But I am fan because he is such an inspiration. He do what he loves to do and as he always say "Never say never!". That's what he did that's why he is who he is right now because he believed. Believed in his mom, believed in his manager, mentor, fans and of course... himself.

I recommend you to watch Never Say Never. The story of a 17- year old boy who dreamed big and just believed, started from nowhere and now, he is the one and only, Justin Bieber.


Thank you for reading my blog! God bless you. =)