skipped work last thursday to head to the Shangri-la Cineplex where Cine Europa was running. for more than a week, film buffs enjoyed free screenings of carefully selected films from the European Union.
i failed to make it to the 12 noon showing of You and Me (Toi et Moi) from France but made it to the 230PM movie, The Wave (Die Welle) from Germany.
the movie is a moving drama about a teacher who struggles with a subject he did not really want to tackle in their school's Project Week. to make it more interesting, he thought of an experiment done to his class as they discussed "autocracy". it became quite a riveting project as they developed their knowledge and experience on fascism and neo-Nazism. the experiment however spins out of control bringing it to an explosive ending.
i am particularly pleased that The Wave is a contemporary movie. and as i was about to rave about how i love German music with all it's disco, tantric, heady beat, google tells me the OST is actually composed of songs from several artists all over Europe like Sweden, Britain, and even the US. Lol!
my second movie that day was Italy's production of Fyodor Dostoevsky's life and love called The Ghosts of St. Petersburg. it's a profound movie alright but the bleak, wintry setting of Moscow and Siberia made me feel its gloom all the more. i must have snoozed in some of the scenes.
we did not make it to the 3rd movie because tickets ran out already. i finally got my cinema pass later that night but sadly i was not able to go back to Shang anymore for the last screening days. i hope they open up more cinemas for more people next time. and i hope too that i'll win in their raffle promo which gives a trip to Europe as the grand prize. sigh.
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Palahniuk Virgin No More
i spent my weekend watching over senior high school kids sweat it out for the Ateneo College Entrance Test and got to pick this book in case i get bored. i know it was quite a rash move, maybe i should have picked something more juvenile or wholesome at least like The Little Prince or Catcher In The Rye hehehe...Six hundred dudes. One porn queen. A world record for the ages.
Snuff is about a porn star who plans to end her career by starring in a world record of bedding 600 men. on camera. think of it as wrestling's Royal Rumble. 60 seconds of wham-bam-thank you-mam and then comes the next guy all turgid and ready for the dive.
the barely 200 page book takes you behind the scenes where guys from all ages, shapes and sizes walk around naked with just their number inked on their bodies. they amble around, munch on donuts and chips and popcorn and some jack off to keep themselves ready for action while waiting for their turn.
there's nothing remotely erotic in this book really. the botched porn movie titles like Whore War One, The Blowjobs of Madison County, A Tale of Two Titties, etc, etc. were all hilarious. the characters are not your typical boy/girl next door, hollywood celebrity types but merely your scumbags, filthy types.
it is shocking in a ridiculous kind of way and like Fight Club, it feels filthy and icky reading it but it's an enjoyable ride just the same.
i finished the book that afternoon session in between reading the test instructions to the kiddies. Palahniuk's words were indeed a fresh breather to the rather rigid academic texts i had to blurt out to the class haha!
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