Dark Superman... riiiiiight...

So I promised myself that my next post will be another one of my well-loved pot shots at GMA… but I missed the train, and took too long before shooting at Gloria’s last S.O.N.A… (which I prefer to refer to as C.R.A.P., or Creatively Redundant Address of the President). And anything I say now would probably sound like a redux of every other commentary pouncing on GMA’s every audacious claim…

So… I pounce upon something totally insignificant to the world… or come to think of it… something less insignificant than GMA’s SONA and far more interesting…

The suits over at DC Comics think they found the alchemic formula for comic movies… “Hey, since the grim and gritty “DARK KNIGHT” made a ton of money and broke box office records, let’s make Supes all dark and gritty, too! We can make Lois Lane a whore, who was a rape victim!”

Please ignore that last sentence up there…
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poltergeist/news/1751089/weekly_ketchup_superman_gets_rebooted_poltergeist_gets_remade

noo-nee-noo-nee-noo…

oookay… assuming that you’re still reading this crap I’m spitting out and haven’t decided to dip further into the Rottentomatoes archives like I would’ve done, let’s get on with more…

One of the best Superman renditions of late is “All Star Superman,” where Grant Morrison and company go retro-sci-fi on Mr. Kent and remind us how a character like Superman with all his mythological baggage can not only be entertaining, but possibly even relevant… relevant in the sense that Superman can return to being a vehicle for the fantastic, the cosmic, and the strange… something where disbelief is not required for one to be entertained, but it will be overlooked in favor of chin-rubbing, provoked thoughts and even a slap on one’s own forehead to cheer such imagination for imagination’s sake…

"....Grant Morrison and company go retro-sci-fi on Mr. Kent and remind us how a character like Superman with all his mythological baggage can not only be entertaining, but possibly even relevant…"

http://golangco.blogspot.com/2008/02/delayed-book-review-all-star-superman.html

Dear Mr. DC Suits… I mean… come on… Superman in a darkly hued suit, purplish hues, flying through to supposedly save the day… man, if someone dressed up like a faggot dominatrix in purple leather comes flying at me while I’m hanging on for dear life on a building ledge, I’d fucking let go…!

Call Grant Morrison for the next Superman movie… Heck, if I had the man’s number, I’d call him for you just to save the world from what already sounds like a lousy movie…

Movie Review: WALL-E

More Human than Some Movies with Humans

It’s a love story. It’s a sci-fi movie. It’s a comedy. It’s a cartoon. It’s an environmental campaign. It’s a damn good movie.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes… and finally, yes.

After two weeks of noodling the wifey for time to catch WALL-E, we finally brave our lack of sleep and drive off to the Powerplant to catch Pixar’s latest dish. I’m pretty sure that at this point, nobody needs a synopsis on the movie (it’s on Wikipedia, people…). Come to think of it, nobody needs my review, but what the f… I’m writing it anyways…

WALL-E’s very plot heart is actually the classic poor, lonely but street-smart boy meets sophisticated, disciplined, upper class female. In this case, they’re separated not by bank accounts or social class, but by centuries of technological upgrading.

The character designs are simply fantasmic. WALL-E (Waste-Allotment-Load-Lifter-Earth-class) is clunky, yet seems practically functional. A robot that can express more emotions than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and is so lonely he counts a cockroach as a friend. Of course, in the case of Gloria M.A., she MARRIED the cockroach… oh wait… she’s an insect, too… so no real issue there… anyways… back to the movie…

EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) on the other hand, is simply gorgeous. I won’t be surprised if EVE was designed by the same guys Steve Jobs has chained to his mad design laboratory… from the sleek, white translucent shell that allows LED’s to shine through and/or subtly pulsate, to the hovering body parts, to the subtle expressions on the illuminated eyes on the tinted face-plate, EVE’s design is both coldly futuristic, yet warmly expressive at the same time.

The bleak, but threateningly possible depiction of Earth’s future barren state from too much consumer waste is nicely juxtaposed against the beautiful optimism expressed by practically every character at the sight of the plant… which almost sort of tells viewers that we can keep laying waste on the Earth long as there’s a single goddamn plant we can use to green up the planet.

"...[WALL-E] can express more emotions than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and is so lonely he counts a cockroach as a friend. Of course, in the case of Gloria M.A., she MARRIED the cockroach…"

As a formerly-ripped-but-now-pudgy guy, I find the depiction of obese, nigh immobile, tech-dependent blobs as future humans all too possible. With the world’s obesity rate, especially in developed countries simply going through the roof… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bmi30chart.png Writers Andrew Stantonand and Jim Reardon totally did their homework on that one…

I absolutely loved the chase scenes… loved how they never the humans steal the show… love how WALL-E reminded me of Johnny 5 (remember him?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jaWPQ3Z7FE , loved how the Axiom reminded me of the Starship Enterprise, and most of all…

I loved how WALL-E’s ninety-seven minutes had more emotion and humanity than all the three Star Wars prequels put together…

Good night and thank you for reading through this crap tonight...

Leaving on a Jet Plane (Not Me)

WARNING: MUSHY POST AHEAD...

Tuesday. First official day with that desk empty and clean. Yep, Art Director Extraodinaire Michael A. Lorenzo was definitely out of the building.

No real fanfare, no sobbing, no loud drinking and no farewell partying… it was almost as if there wasn’t a real goodbye. But hey, I kid myself.

Six and a half years later, Mike remains the most consistent performer on the Maverick team. There were two other people apart from myself whom I built this company around, and he was one of them. Mike was everyone’s favorite. From the account executives, down to the admin staff… except for the occasional idiot who thought he could rival Mike’s skill and professionalism with his bravado. Mike was everyone’s favorite, and no one had a hard time seeing why… but hey, every morning he wakes up, something tells him he has to go to Dubai…

So here’s that simple nod of utmost respect, gratitude, and hopefully friendship of a true kind that will last for years to come. From me to him.

Cheers, bro… may you plant good roots in Dubai… and yes, I definitely wouldn’t mind you putting up Maverick Dubai. Like I said, you own the name as much as I do.

Guest Concert Review: Tony Hadley (GOLD)

Ladies, Gentlemen, and everyone in between... i proudly present what i hope will be the first of many... I bring to you BROKEN RECORD's first guest blog!!!

Delivered by a first rate music lover, a vocalist par excellence, a one-time showband frontman, a Kundirana veteran, and a member of an almost-was boyband called Soul Purpose back in... dammit, i forgot when... and even he has chosen to forget that episode in his life...

Should have been the linchpin of what became Jeremiah (THAT boyband...)... the inimitable (assuming anyone wants to imitate him in the first place)... Mr. Carlo Emmanuel Rodriquez Balingit!!!

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Tarnished "GOLD"
by Carlo E.R. Balingit

Before anything else, I would like to warn you that I can’t write for shit and stuff I do get to jot down always end up a tad skewed, largely due to the fact that I just write things as they come to my head. You are reading this horrendous essay simply because the blog’s owner asked me to contribute my experience hoping that this initial contribution will start a chain of other contributors filing up his blogspot and hence turning his little corner of the cyberspace into a e-pop culture phenomenon… blah-blah… dream on…
So here goes the tragedy.

Pre-e-e-esenting, Gold! Ex-Spandau Ballet Tony Hadley (and John Keeble) in concert at the Araneta Coliseum… Ok, ok, gig’s up, I admit I belong to the minority that is anti Duran-Duran and pro Spandau Ballet, so shoot me for being TRUE (pun intended).

Really looked forward to this show, after all, unlike the last time Tony Hadley was in town, this time he had John Keeble with him (in idiot math that sums up to ¼ of Spandau Ballet.). Like, hell yeah, that’s as close to the full band as it’s ever going to get—me thinks.
Arrived at the venue a little under 7pm, since I thought that parking was going to be a bitch. Rumaged through the concession stands for snacks, and snuggly tucked myself ever-so-firmly on my seat… and waited…


and waited…

and waited…

and waited…


Then miraculously at a little over 8:40pm the house lights were turned down and the front act started their, uhm, act. Can’t seem to remember the band’s name, but what I do remember is that they sang the much personally despised PCSO radio/tv jingle. Seeing as this irritating form of so-called lyrical prowess is what made them famous (duh?), they covered that as well as a song entitled Miss, and a not so bad instrumental number… so ends act one.

Act two (yes, there’s a second act.). Now the second act was a bit interesting. This band of merry men go by the name Sabado Boys (Saturday Boys). Former front men for various local bands who have made a mark In the local band scene. These people being Luke Mijares, Paolo whatever, Mike Chan, DJ Mike, The Frestyle guy who looks like Aiza Suigerra and Jimmy “no-talent-whatsoever-so-help- me-god” Bondoc. As much as I’d like to dwell on how most of these guys were actually good and that Jimmy Bondoc deserves a spot in musical hell, I would rather just save that for some other time and move on to the main act… (Jimmy Bondoc deserves a spot in musical hell!)

After both acts, the venue is once again shrouded by darkness. As the crowd clap and hiss waiting for the main act to start. There was a 2 second chord struck by the back-ups, which the crowd thought was the beginning of the show, but unfortunately it was only a sound check conducted on the mikes… the audience once again begin their hissing. I mean I could relate, I’m getting tired of waiting myself—haha.

Then, small blue penlights start running all over the stage, as the hissing change into cheer. Then “BAM” vocals sound in unison with the instruments and the hair on the back of my neck. Then as the music played I saw Spandau’s front man take the limelight… I gasp and tell my star-struck self—damn he’s old.. and damn he’s fat. Now it’s sad since my brain isn’t cooperating with me and I can’t remember what the opening act was… was it She’s highly Strung or Lifeline? Honestly it didn’t matter I was re-living my musical teen years and that was enjoyment enough. Tony then took a break to greet the crowd and thank everyone for the very warm welcome with thank you, salamat, cheers capping each and every spiel.

I’d like to say that each song was delivered the way I remembered them but in truth Mr. Hadley improvised on the stanzas, which for me gave the song a breathe of new life. He covered all the Spandau songs like True, Round and Round, and my personal favorite Through the Barricades. Personally, though old, I think he has vocally matured well, technique has improved drastically, not that he needed improvement.


What came unexpectedly for me was when he started covering songs by other artists. U2’s “With or Without You”, a Duran-Duran song that I just can’t remember, an excellent version of Mike Cohn’s “Walking on Memphis”. Which started me thinking that “normally” once an artist starts filling in his show with songs that he never covered before, doesn’t it only show, if not prove, that his career fell so short that he does not even have enough material for a 90 minute show. Well, regardless of the fact, Hadley still “has it”.


Mr. Hadley improvised on the stanzas, which for me gave the song a breathe of new life.


Now going back on the “old” comment… lemme move-on to John Keeble. Now the guys was more wrinkled and bald but man, the way he assaulted those drums you’d think he was 18. Truly, Keeble proved that he can still hack it.

The show was closed with Gold as the crowd cheered to one of the most famous Spandau Ballet songs, and was later followed by two encore numbers that I have never heard.


All-in-all, the show was “enjoyable”. It brought a lot of people back into a time they well remembered, and I think… or would like to think, that above everything else that’s what music is really all about. Making each person lay back and relish our own lives personal GOLD (again, pun intended.).


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I would like to thank Carlo Balingit for sharing his time, creativity and endless love for gay music. I hope you guys enjoyed the above review as much I tried... (kidding!) it was great!

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Movie Review: A Very Special Love

Fluffy, Cheesy, But Thankfully Not Corny...

I did something totally uncool. In fact, I’d like to believe that it was so uncool, it has come around full circle and actually become cool…

I took the wifey to see John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo’s “A Very Special Love.” (See what good advertising can do…!)

Perky-cute regular girl-next-door meets nasty-mannered rich boy dreamboat, they grow on one another, they hook up, they find something to fight about, they make up, and they live happily ever fucking after… So don’t expect to be totally wowed plot-wise… (hey, who does…?) The plot however, thin as it was did serve as an excellent vehicle for the obvious chemistry between Mr. Cruz and Miss Geronimo. And while it wasn’t Pulitzer material, it wasn’t too cheesy to the point of pukability either. And the stars make the hundred and ten something minutes cruise by quickly. Cheers to Director Cathy Garcia Molina...

"...whatever [Sarah] may lack in the physical hotness department, she more than makes up for with some effortlessly sunny charm that makes you want to root for her..."

So John Lloyd is now finally given a “mean guy that the nice girl is after” role as opposed to his usual “nice guy who eventually gets the girl…” roles, and he pulls it off. Greatly in part because the eternally affable, likable and totally accessible Sarah G. is a half or so step down the food chain in the looks department, especially playing off John Lloyd’s mestizo scowl. I mean, imagine Bea Alonzo in Sarah’s perky middle class girl role and you can easily see that it won’t work with her rather upper class looks…

Now I admit I don’t tune in to ABS-CBN often enough to consider myself a worthy assessor of Sarah Geronimo’s talent, but I must say that her starring self-effacingly endearing turn in this rom-com exhibits her potential to turn herself into our less glamorous version of Cameron Diaz. The main difference of course is that Sarah doesn’t have Diaz’s supermodel looks and figure, but she remains attractive in her own “cute-but-not-drop-dead-gorgeous” girl next door way. And whatever she may lack in the physical hotness department, she more than makes up for with some effortlessly sunny charm that makes you want to root for her even in the scenes where she makes an absolute doofus of herself…

But while the movie lights itself up whenever the leads get together, the rest of the talented cast provide very little but talking wallpaper. But one didn’t catch the movie to see Rowell Santiago pretend to have a straight guy swagger. Halfway through chuckling and even occasionally laughing out loud at the movie, one will begin to notice something almost strange… the movie’s funny without being slapstick!

I suppose my strongest beef with the movie is the stupid title, which was most likely chosen to also promote Sarah Geronimo’s new album of cover songs that Viva acquired the rights to. I mean, guys… a movie’s title helps in a movie’s cool factor. Not in this case, people. “A Very Special Love,” c’mon!!! Geez…

Without any apprehension, shame, or pretension, I highly recommend the movie. It’s still showing, people.

P.S.

somebody fire the stylist who gave Sarah that stupid oldish hairdo... didn't do the fledgling movie star any favors...

P.P.S.

this flick proves that one does not need to wait for the Metro Manila Film Festival to make (and see) a decent, entertaining Pinoy movie...

Concert Review: Rick Astley Live at the Araneta Coliseum

Hopelessly crying for help whenever you need a strong strong man who will never let you down... (whew...!)

For some odd reason, many find the concept of a Rick Astley concert snicker-worthy. (and I don’t mean the candy bar.) But my skin is pretty damn thick. I begged for tickets for the August 1 one-night concert, got them, got fucking rick-rolled, and had a good time. Faggot jokes be damned!

Now despite my personally horrendous attempts at any semblance of dancing, I will joyfully admit to being a regular at the Hyatt Terraces’ Gold Mine disco back in the eighties. Prior to the earthquake, the Gold Mine was the “place” place, if you get what I mean. And I had my fill of Rick Astley, Basia, and a few other eighties staples. Thus, the Astley concert was truly a throwback to good old times.

The concert was supposedly scheduled at 8pm. But in typical Pinoy fashion, Mr. Astley showed up at 9:30 amidst chants of “Ro-De-Rick…” (referring to Dick Paulate, the self-proclaimed “Rick Astley of the Philippines,” who apparently WAS in the house…)

Now most acts or artists will have a nice set list, with their hits sprinkled in paces to keep the show’s excitement up. So it says quite a bit about Mr. Astley when he can come up with a full set list of hit songs sprinkled with a couple or so relatively minor songs.

There was a serviceable front act from Bacolod, who had a not-so-star-looking bass player who had a much better voice than the lead singer who unfortunately looked better than him. And they had a supposed guest singer lady who probably didn’t sound so bad if got past the ridiculous a-gogo dancer outfit that had places where tits were supposed to be…

"...every song selection felt like a comfortable pair of old shoes. Old shoes that may stink a bit if you get close enough to sniff them, but you’d pull them on anyways..."

Mr. Astley swaggers out with his stiff dancing and kicks off the real show with his second number one hit, “Together Forever.” He then followed right through with the slightly smaller hit “A Strong Strong Man,” where he flubbed the timing into the last chorus, then shut up for the rest of the song to try and regain his bearings (and probably his dignity). In full acknowledgement, Mr. Astley makes a joke about jetlag.

As expected, one does not find three-minute spells of familiarity throughout the concert since almost all of the songs are familiar to the rather aging audience (present company included), and every song selection felt like a comfortable pair of old shoes. Old shoes that may stink a bit if you get close enough to sniff them, but you’d pull them on anyways, be thankful your feet don’t have noses and be off.

All the cynics can laugh all they want, but I’ll take Rick Astley’s handful of certified hits, and less than a dozen or so smaller hits than pityingly yawning through a concert where Keith Martin’s singular hit “Because of You” had to be stretched to fill in almost 15 minutes. Or cringingly brave through 10 minutes of Jimmy Bondoc’s ridiculous pseudo-soulful gritting and eventual massacre of his one legitimate hit “Let Me Be The One,” which I actually like on a musical level if he didn’t have to howl through it like an over-excited hyena pretending to be serious...

"...then there he was back on stage… RODERICK FUCKING PAULATE… the has-been who always was an almost-was, but for all his over-modulated singing, never really got past the fag-in-the-closet reputation he had..."

Other numbers performed on the earlier half were (in sequence): “When I Fall in Love,” “The Love Has Gone,” “She Wants to Dance With Me,” and “Don’t Say Goodbye Girl.”

At first, I noticed a very slight reduction in the brilliance of Rick’s trademark baritone on the first few songs, and simply attributed it to age. Then he warmed into his self-penned “Hold Me in Your Arms,” where he dished out a lot of heart and did his darnedest best to sound just like the record with a few curls here and there if only to remind us that it was a live performance. Screw age, this one he sang from the heart, and damn, he sounded good as ever…

Ole’ Rick then grooves into the minor hit “Everytime,” steps things back up with “Take Me to Your Heart,” (where he went all amnesiac on the lyrics yet again… Rick invites the crowd to fill in the church choir parts in “Cry For Help.” Following that up with the ballad “Hopelessly,” his cover of the Motown classic “Ain’t too Proud to Beg,” then “My Arms Keep Missing You,” where he invited a member of the audience to sing karaoke with him, then supposedly finishing up the show with “Whenever You Need Somebody.”

Now after hinting about a supposedly special guest somewhere at the early part of the show, Mr. Astley finally drops the bomb on the crowd almost halfway into his list. Declaring “Roderick, I have six more songs, then you’re up!”

Obviously, there was going to be an encore. I mean, Rick obviously wouldn’t “let us down,” right? If you’ve read this far into this boring entry, you will notice that I haven’t mentioned Rick’s first and biggest hit, which also spawned “rick-rolling.”

Then there he was back on stage… RODERICK FUCKING PAULATE… the has-been who always was an almost-was, but for all his over-modulated singing, never really got past the fag-in-the-closet reputation he had. But hey, I’ve always heard Dick’s a nice guy/gay. A nice fellow people didn’t say anything bad about, except for the fact that he used to really profess to being a straight man… yeah… sure…

So there he was on stage, and Rick Astley gamely picks up a guitar and plays alongside him, while marveling at how Dick remembered the words so well. Even exclaiming at some point that Roderick “should’ve been up [there] all night!”

I took my own video, but a lot of other better videos are around to document this…uh… major… err… event… here’s a “good” copy…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLq_T-3z9co

Good thing, Rick did his biggest song again with the band and himself at the mic. And no, the concert “didn’t let me down” at all…

The Canine Mafia, Part 3 (The Passing of the Amazon)

Joni (shown in photo) holds the distinction of being the first of our poochies to take her ride down the so-called Rainbow Bridge after Marge’s conception and eventual birth, as well as through the course of my blogging. ( http://www.rainbowbridge.org/ or try googling “rainbow bridge”…)

The above point is significant to me for a couple of reasons. First, with Marge already around, it becomes an interesting study on how we will feel about the loss of one of our supposedly “substitute children” now that an actual human infant descendant has been produced (a.k.a. Marge). The other point is that Joni will be the first canine recipient of an online eulogy here at my fledgling blog…

Both points can and will be addressed via the eulogy…

I’ll start off by saying that Joni is also the last of the children of the union that was Stolich II (the patriarch), and Soda (the late matriarch). The other remaining member of their bloodline apart from the aging patriarch is Jennifer, who is the child of Soda and JM, who is the last born child of the patriarch and the late matriarch. So oddly enough, Jennifer was a child of canine incest…

Joni’s most remarkable trait was that she was a friend to all the other dogs. She absolutely didn’t mind playing the lackey or henchwoman. Given her size (hence, the nickname “Amazona”), she could have bullied the others easily. But it was more than amusing to find her bringing chunks of food up to bed to a young, lazy Jennifer way back, while Jennifer just kept on being a bitch to everybody, including her.

Joni was never demanding. She didn’t make a fuss when she wasn’t brought to the other room where Baby Marge was, didn’t bark her head off just to demand and get attention. But was always happy and grateful for whatever attention she did get. It was both what made her endearing, but admittedly a tad short-changed. Sometimes, it was all we could do to just pick up the other more demanding ones so they’d shut up. Joni was content to just keep hanging around, and followed the others in whatever game everyone else was playing.

One of the most memorable movie moments on my list is from Brad Pitt and Sir Anthony Hopkins’ “Meet Joe Black.” When Sir Anthony was about to go off with ole’ Brad, he tried to stammer an apology to his elder daughter played by Marcia Gay Harden, and her character’s answer was just plain beautiful. Here’s a transcript I found online:

Harden: After all, you've been a wonderful father.

Hopkins: Yeah, well, I haven't been the father to you that, uh...

Harden: That you've been to Susan? (Susan is the other daughter played by Claire Forlani)

Hopkins: I wasn't going to say that…

Harden: …Oh, God. More than that, Daddy, more than that.I've felt loved, and that's all that matters. So, never mind favorites. You're allowed to have one.

The point is, you've been mine.

* * * * *

For what it’s worth, I’ll admit Joni wasn’t our favorite, but we loved her like we did everyone else.

And the simple answer is no. No, losing Joni doesn’t hurt any less. Baby Marge has affected every aspect of our lives in a bright and sunny way, but having her didn’t mean our dogs were any less precious. And my wife still cried. (Yeah, so did I…)

And we still miss her. Just like we still miss Stolich I, Soda, JM, Joey, Doggie Marge, Jumbo, Princess, and Bambi.

* * * * *

We didn’t know if the ehrlickia came before or after Joni was copulated by Happy (the undersized newbie poodle…) and may have had or caused the miscarried pregnancy that started all the bleeding. But it seems that everyone in the house was struck with it, and now every dog in the house is on doxycycline.

After a month of the antibiotic, we drive everyone back to the Makati Dog & Cat Hospital near Rockwell, and hopefully, the blood numbers will be better…