The Wheel and Axle

Today, a true master of film celebrates his 78th birthday.

People will always remember Francis Ford Coppola for movies like Apocalypse Now and the Godfather series. And of course, rightly so. These are classics not just in Hollywood filmmaking but in the global realm of cinema.

However, for me, Francis Ford Coppola will always be first and foremost Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

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As expected, Disney’s live action remake of their animated classic Beauty and the Beast is as magical as the original. Although the new film is quite faithful to the first one, it still does have a few changes, primarily in order to flesh out the backstories and motivations of the characters. Some new songs were added along the way to enhance the story beats and the character arcs. All these resulted in a richer, deeper, and in many ways slightly darker approach to a classic tale that’s, well, as old as time.

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06 March 1806 – 29 June 1861

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I love musicals. I love Nick Joaquin. I love Paulo Avelino.

I cannot wait for this.

Happy 49th birthday to the Shield-Maiden of Rohan who showed us that it takes a woman to vanquish a Nazgul that no man could ever destroy. Miranda “Eowyn” Otto will always be the biggest badass of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (yes, Legolas my darling dearest, you come in a very close second).

I saw (and faved) this years ago, but I saw it again, and seriously, whoever made this cut deserves an Oscar or something. Not only is this #realtalk regarding how pathetic and weak Edward Cullent and his ill are, but it also squashes the inherent misogyny and disturbing abuse undertones of that faux-vampire / sparkling-statues series that I shan’t name.

Wondie and Spidey!

Last Saturday, I dropped by Komikon 2016.

My plan was to just pick up a pre-ordered, limited edition signed hardbound copy of The Origin of Zuma. The origin of this iconic Filipino monster has never been told, and when the social media page of legendary creator Jim Fernandez announced the story would now be released, I had to have it. I grew up watching those Zuma movies, and I loved them (and they always scared the shit out of me).

In any case, my basic plan to just get my copy went down the drain because I ended up – as usual – hoarding more than I expected. That, and I also met other creators that I didn’t get a chance to meet last time, including another legend – Hal Santiago, Jim’s collaborator and Zuma artist.

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I’ve always been more of a Star Wars fan than a Trekkie. This doesn’t mean I dislike Star Trek; I love the latter, too.

It just so happens that Star Wars was more of a fixture in my formative years: not only was I born on the same year that A New Hope was released, but Return of the Jedi was the first ever movie that I saw in a theater (to my recollection).

My oldest brother also had a collection of Star Wars action figures housed in a Darth Vader case, which I loved and was envious of – particularly since he rarely let me touch them. Moreover, I was extremely fascinated with the fantastic worlds that the “galaxy far, far away” presented: heroic Luke, sexy Leia, and dashing Han fighting their way out of Jabba the Hutt’s control as Boba Fett got consumed by the Sarlacc will always be etched in my mind as one of the most epic things, ever.

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27 October 1932 – 11 February 1963

Cinderella
Sylvia Plath

The prince leans to the girl in scarlet heels,
Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan
Of silver as the rondo slows; now reels
Begin on tilted violins to span

The whole revolving tall glass palace hall
Where guests slide gliding into light like wine;
Rose candles flicker on the lilac wall
Reflecting in a million flagons’ shine,

And glided couples all in whirling trance
Follow holiday revel begun long since,
Until near twelve the strange girl all at once
Guilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince

As amid the hectic music and cocktail talk
She hears the caustic ticking of the clock.

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