Trainspotting

It’s interesting how drug addiction is portrayed in different cultures, but the stories of it seem to all end the same tragic way. Victims of drug addiction are often seen as good-for-nothing outcasts in most cultures. Although drug usage can be portrayed as “cool” in some places–like in American party scenes–it ultimately becomes a tragic story in the end. Once a person becomes addicted, he or she starts to suffer mental conditions and other health repercussions. In worst cases, drug addiction can take away a person’s life. People begin to comment on the instances in a rather pitiful way: it’s “such a waste” for people to end up like this, and so on.

Drug addiction is a big issue in the Philippines, especially under the political climate brought about by the Duterte administration. He focuses his campaigns on the so-called drug war, and tries to convince people that the most heinous crimes are primarily a result of drugs and addiction. However, this topic was tackled very differently in the film; the characters may be seen as outcasts or ‘good-for-nothing’ people, but in the end, they’re still human. They were written in a way that makes the audience understand where they’re coming from and empathize with them–even if you don’t agree with them.

In the film, Renton tries to stop his addiction and live a new life with a job to be seen as a normal, functioning citizen. He felt as if he were directionless in the life he lived with his friends, who were also drug users, so he moved to London. However, his friends ended up going to his place there and he was influenced back again to the drug culture.

The creativity and production design in the film is amazing, but there was a scene that I couldn’t bear to watch because it was written so revoltingly. It’s the bathroom scene where he “dived” into the toilet bowl of poo to retrieve his heroin. I couldn’t handle seeing that and I realized how powerful visual scenes are to be able to give such an extreme effect.

Another scene that I’d never forget was the baby scene, where he was locked in the room in his parents’ house and he started hallucinating. It was a good highlight of the rhythm of the movie, and the pacing in editing was excellently done. The music matched the scene so perfectly, and it made it such a surreal experience to watch–I felt as if if I were hypnotized.

In the final scene, Renton talked about “the last of the lasts.” We’d start to ask ourselves with just how true that statement is, given the things he did throughout the film–and that’s what we find ourselves guilty of, too. We always say, for example, that this will be the last time we’re cramming, and we would change in the next semester–until we’re graduating and we’re still cramming our last requirement.

The film had a book ending monologue where he talked about choosing life and not choosing life. He mentioned the “normal” things a normal person should have or do: a job, a house, a family, a TV, and all that stuff. It was quite poetic. But we start to ask: who dictates that “life”? Only the privileged could do so. If we’re part of the outliers, we would be antagonized and seen as a problem. After the monologue, I couldn’t help but clap in class. It really hit differently at the end. It’s like we’re being forced into this life, and all we do is to follow the standards set for us. If we couldn’t, we’re out.

Schizopolis

The 1996 comedy film by Steven Soderbergh was particularly odd and interesting for me at the same time. Odd because of the way it was filmed, which is really not what our age have gotten accustomed in seeing how movies are made in the present; and interesting because of the message it had behind it that seemed actually highly relevant to how most individuals live their lives today. It really did not seem like a real film but more of a video done to be uploaded on YouTube in my opinion, with its shaky scenes and random cuts that really made you feel like someone’s behind and holding the camera. Majority of the scenes gave me a throwback feel to the days when I was a. little kid and my parents would interview me through their video cameras and ask how I felt during a certain important event. Yet, despite the way it was filmed, the satirical manner in which it views the society that we live in today made it quite remarkable. People’s failure to communicate seemed to be one of the underlying themes of the movie. This is one of the things that made the movie highly relevant to our society today. Among other things, in the movie, this was embodied by the character of Fletcher Munson who repeatedly failed to communicate with his marital partner. His character portrayed to be a man who was too focused on his work to the point that he lost connection with his wife. This character is highly relatable for many of us today, especially with the prevalence of technology. Munson’s fixed attention towards his work is highly parallel to how most of us are now intently giving all our attention to our gadgets. We are often too caught up in our own world to even include another human being into our consideration. I recall in one cover of the TIME Magazine that we are even dubbed as the ‘Me, Me, Me’ Generation, featuring a lone girl holding a phone up to her face in the front page of the magazine. Truth be told, not to be hypocritical but that seems really sad and depressing. Nowadays, we seem to lose real and genuine connection with the people around us because we’re always behind our gadgets. Even in the most memorable moments of our lives, we fail to take in and appreciate what we have in the moment. Instead, we put up our phones and take pictures and videos to appreciate the moment behind a screen when that memorable moment is no longer within our grasp. Clearly, same as Munson who lacked communication with his wife and therefore, all in all, lost the appreciation they once had for each other’s company. In this day and age, we tend to put ourselves in social isolation due to our high reliance to technology. Maybe it’s because behind the screens of our phones and computers, is where we are most comfortable to be in. Ultimately, the parallelism of the movie with how our society functions in the present and the weird way Soderbergh chose to present his film was what made the film entrancing for me.

Of Addiction and Longing

At first, when Mike Waters said that the road seemed familiar to him, then the shot created a circular view of the road, I thought that the “familiar view” he was referring to would be the thing they show when your eyes are being checked for eye grade. Because of this, my impression was that, that movie will be touching up on comedy, which was contrary to the monotonous tone and setting of the first scene. However, he suddenly had somewhat like a seizure attack, and at that very moment, I knew that it was not comedy. From having an impression that the movie was light, My Own Private Idaho (1991) actually talked about heavy and serious topics which are viewed as taboo.

Out of the elements present in the movie, I was really hooked with its conflict and its characterization. At the beginning, when a flashback with Mike’s mom was shown, viewers become aware that it will be one of the main driving forces of the movie. True enough, an internal conflict of the movies is Mike’s longing for his mother, which causes him grief. In more parts of the movie, like when Mike was supposed to sleep with a rich older woman, Mike was having flashbacks also of his mother, which caused him to pass out again. The fact that he was dealing with this sadness suggested that it is a contributing factor on why he was having narcolepsy attacks. I have observed that every time Mike was going to have one of his narcolepsy episodes, the movie seemed to show a certain symbolism. Every time Mike tensed up and shut down like a broken machine, symbolism in the form of timelapses of nature gathering its forces appeared on the screen. Furthermore, it was portraying that his dreams of his mother collapse into a vision of home dropping from the sky.

Regarding the characterization, I enjoyed how the characteristics of the actors where developed mainly through dialogue, appearance and action. What I really find interesting is how Mike’s characterization was developed, not only through external action, but also through internal action as shown in the clips which indicate his thoughts and feelings to his mother, and especially to Scott. This characterization helped in creating a tone for the movie, which is depressing. At the end of the movie, it continued to establish this tone as Mike never found his mother, was left by Scott for a woman, was never able to control his narcolepsy, was left by Bob who was somewhat of a guardian to him and ended up with no one to turn to with the disappearances of the important people in his lives.

For me, the movie was sad to watch for it bears complex topics considered as taboo like street hustling, prostitution, and drug and alcohol addiction. Van Zant was successful in creating a queer film which was considered as unorthodox at that time. Through this film, it opened the eyes of those who were uptight regarding these issues. However, I would say that the film still did not fully show a resolution, or did not voice out a stand regarding these instances, when it has already created a platform to be do one.

The Endless

The Endless is a semi-horror, thriller film that has a very interesting and unique plot. Fun fact, Justin and Aaron acted, produced, and directed The Endless. After some research, I discovered that the film shares the same universe as another movie that Justin and Aaron produced. That movie was called Resolution and featured Chris and Mike, who also make an appearance in The Endless (they were the guys in the cabin where Justin got a gun from).

The Endless revolves around Justin and Aaron and their visit to Camp Arcadia, which was thought to be a UFO death cult by Justin, which is why they initially left it. The movie starts off with a tape being sent to Justin and Aaron that showed Anna, a member of Camp Arcadia talking about the ascension, which was in reference towards a mass suicide in order to reach heaven. Camp Arcadia is actually modelled after Heaven’s Gate, which is an actual UFO cult that actually committed a mass suicide back in 1997 in hopes of reaching a new level of existence.

One of the things that made the movie somewhat scary or gave an eerie vibe was the Entity. The Entity is basically the God that the camp members worship and is never really explained. However, there are several interpretations by different cultures that were shown in the movie, which I found really interesting because there were some dragons, totems and other large sculptures that represented the entity. This made me think about the pyramids and the conspiracy theories about aliens being the ones to actually build the pyramids in Egypt.

My favorite scene was when Justin saw one Shitty Carl hanging and another one alive and walking. This was when Shitty Carl essentially explained the mechanics of the different loops and time domes that also explained several things in the movie (why everyone in the camp looked the same, etc.). It was also super interesting to see how jaded Shitty Carl was about killing himself and even seeing his own body because of, presumably, being stuck in the loop for so long.

The movie also has a recurring theme about control. This can be seen in the relationship between the brothers Justin and Aaron, and the Entity controlling and playing with the different members of the camp and their different time domes. The Entity essentially controls the lives of the people that are trapped in their time domes. One interesting scene in the movie theorizes that one must not allow the Entity to instill fear and let that fear control them or else they would become stuck with that fear and under the Entity’s control forever. This was said by either Chris or Mike to Justin and told him to never let the Entity to take control over him or else he would be doomed like them.

It can be seen in the movie that Justin constantly controls Aaron throughout the movie and tells him what to do, which might come from a good place and with good intentions. However, this cycle of control breaks once Justin finally respects Aaron’s decision to stay in the camp and stops trying to force his own decision onto Aaron. Once this happens, Justin and Aaron escape from the Entity just in time before they get stuck into the camp’s loop.

banana milk

Image result for futureless things — wahuu

Of all the movies we watched in class, Futureless Things, sad to say, was the one I enjoyed the least. Not to say that I wasn’t amused by it or that I found it horrible, it’s just that I liked the other movies more. I think the main reason I didn’t enjoy it is because I had no idea what the hell was going on. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention, or perhaps it’s because I didn’t get what certain scenes, that apparently depicted normal happenings in Korean culture, meant. Though I truly love Korea, and would most definitely go back there, I just wasn’t immersed enough in its culture to know what most of the scenarios were conveying.

The movie was set in this typical looking convenience store in Korea. In it were different customers and different employees, all with their interestingly nuanced personalities. There was a lesbian couple, a gay couple, a DJ, a North Korean woman, a woman that traps you in a box, a depressed owner, and a few more other noteworthy characters.

Throughout the movie, we see the different encounters that the different convenience store personnel experienced in their stay there. Some of them were funny, like the lottery man with 131 religions, the homeless genius using the convenience store fridge as his own ref, and the DJ freaking DJing on the counter. Some were irritating, like the man ‘harassing’ the woman in an attempt to woo her over with his playground level ‘pick up’ skills. Others were inspiring/disheartening, like the lady who was lying to her relative (son?) that she was eating well while all she was having was the Korean/American equivalent of what siomai rice is to the Philippine college student. There were also cute scenes like the one at the start of the movie with the cute stares and cutting of hairs and now they’re kissing, but they don’t care.

All in all, I didn’t get how the time flowed throughout the movie. I was having a hard time figuring out the events were in chronological order or if it was happening ages apart. On one hand, it was hard for me to believe that a convenience store can have so many employees on one given day. But on the other hand, not much was changing around them which is probably a sign that the events were happening close to each other. And besides that, I didn’t know the connection and point of everything that was happening.

Why it’s entitled Futureless Things may be due to the fact that convenience store personnel are often seen as part of the things inside the convenience store itself. Nothing more, nothing less. This can be seen in how most of them were treated relatively inferior by the customers that went in to buy things.

Overall, I think I’d have to give this one another watch to finalize what I truly think of it. There’s something in me that’s saying that I should give this one more chance. But, based on my first time viewing the movie, all I was able to take home was a few laughs, a bit of romantic excitement, some ‘I don’t get what just happened’ instances, and a whole lot of asking myself ‘wtf is happening here’.

Well maybe that’s all it was meant to be, maybe not. I’ll find out… in the future.

My Own Private Idaho

This movie was also in a way confusing for me. Most of the time, however, it made me think how attractive Keanu Reeves was (haha). I looked this movie up and I was shocked that it was actually a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.” Unfortunately, I don’t exactly know what Henry IV was all about.

One of the things that confused me was Keanu Reeves character. He seemed to have everything he wants, yet he lives a life that is in a chase. He does everything that disconnects him from his family.

Another thing that amazed me was how they could fly out to Italy easily. They had no money, yet they were able to find a way. They allowed themselves to be used by a man in exchange for something in return. I felt sad for Mike because he seemed like a lost child all throughout the movie. He seemed like the type of person who just needs a little love and affection from the people that matters to him. He sought for that kind of love from Scott, who unfortunately did not reciprocate it.

The part where Scott pretended did not recognize the “family” he had hurt me a little. Even though they were not necessarily good influence to him, they seemed like a real family. He made promises with them after he get his inheritance. Even after the death of one of the most important people in the group, he still acted like he did not care. The way they mourned for him, however, was quirky. They were indeed saddened by his death, but mourning for him was done differently. They were loud and jumped around, compared to the funeral that Scott had, which was quiet and solemn.

Frankly, even after watching the film, I did not know what I was looking for, what I was anticipating, or what I wanted to grasp by the end of the film.

Repo Man: Report this Man!!!

I honestly have no idea what a ‘repo man’ or just ‘repo’ meant until the film was shown in class. And I had no idea why.

The film immediately starts off with the alien side of things when a cars gets pulled over. When the policeman opens the trunk to check its contents, the policeman is immediately vaporized and vanished into thin air, leaving only his boots behind.

The alien storyline is the main storyline of the film. It is what brought the various characters together including those who work at the United Fruitcake Outlet (UFO). There a lot other characters killed in this storyline, some by exposure to the trunk, some by radiation. It is the same car that brings a lot of the characters together at the end of the film just before it flies off along with two passengers.

My first immediate thought of Otto was that he thinks so highly of himself. One of the first things established is that Otto is broke; hence, he accepts Bud’s offer to drive the car in exchange for some dollars. However, upon learning that the car which he was driving was repossessed, he storms off their office, as if he had something better to do. When he gets home, he asks his parents for the money they had promised to give him if he finished school. However, he learns that the money he was supposed to get had already been donated to a televangelist who will use the money to send bibles to El Salvador… or just some scam, I don’t know. And this starts Otto’s life as a repo man.

At one point, I was confused if they were actually legitimate repo men or just some gang or mafia running rampant in their area. Such feeling was strengthened when Bud and Otto had a chase against or just some machismo stunt against the Rodriguez brothers. Nothing comes out of such chase but it was the introduction of another party who will enter the chase for the missing Malibu. And such Malibu wasn’t just any other Malibu because, aside from being connected to aliens, it also had a bounty of $ 20,000, which was said to have been way above the value of such car.

One particular scene that really got my nerves was when Otto was forcing Leila to have sex with him under the guise that he had something to tell her. When Leila asked her what he wanted to tell her, he told her to take off her clothes. Otto proceeds to undress and tells Leila that “the least she could do is give her a blowjob.” That’s it. Otto is officially my most hated character among all the characters in all the films that were shown in class.

Honestly, I find the ending quite ironic. Despite the number of people able to drive at the Helping Hand parking lot, only Miller, their mechanic who can’t drive, was able to get into the car. There are a lot of interested people on the Malibu, government agents, United Fruitcake Outlet, scientists and televangelist, but it was someone who was barely significant in the film who got to get in first.

Ultimately, this is my most hated film for having such a character as the main character. Otto was everything I didn’t like and I can never get around his character.

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho (1991) is an emotionally charged road trip film about a narcoleptic male prostitute that struggles to find his true home, and it hit me harder than I ever expected. The film revolves around Mike, a poor, lonely and abandoned young man who sells his body to make a living for himself. He suffers from narcolepsy, and this unfortunate condition causes him to be placed in dangerous situations unattended and ultimately, alone. His best friend Scott is also a male prostitute, but unlike Mike, does it to feel alive – his decision to sell his body for money was more of a clap back at his perfect, uptight politician father and perfect, comfortable future. The two become an unlikely pair and go through the motions of the prostitute and criminal life together, and you can’t help but root for the both of them. It’s obvious that Mike and Scott care about each other – they only ever really show kindness to each other, and in a world full of people trying to take advantage of them, they can only really rely on one another. This is more evident for Mike than for Scott, mostly due to his narcolepsy. Whenever he wakes up from an episode, Scott is right there, waiting for him to wake up. The narcoleptic episodes almost become a coping mechanism for Mike, because he conveniently slips into one when he can’t deal with the emotional weight of a situation. They also serve as convenient transitions into the next scene. Because of this, Mike becomes a lot more dependent on Scott. We see this in the way he always looks for him, always wants to do things with him, and can’t really function without him.

I realized that Scott might be the only person that has ever truly shown Mike any sort of kindness. For all his uprooted, floating existence, Mike recognizes an important person when he sees one, and Scott was the one person who fulfilled all the missing roles he ever had in his life – parent, brother, mentor, friend and even lover. The campfire scene where Mike confesses his love to Scott is a warm and tender break from all the violent and sexual events before it. They both reveal aspects of their character that weren’t so obvious – we see that Scott doesn’t actually take this whole prostitution thing seriously, and that he doesn’t believe in homosexuality. Mike on the other hand genuinely loves Scott for who he is, no matter how much people have used him and deprived him of love in his own life. It genuinely pained me to see Scott kind of dismiss Mike’s feelings as if they weren’t as valid just because they didn’t agree with his. We see that maybe their relationship isn’t as genuine from both sides.

The imagery in the film also confirms Mike’s desire for home – the crashing houses, the never-ending roads, the flashbacks to an older woman –these are all part of Mike’s past in some way, and yet he still yearns for it to be part of his future. Despite his efforts to find his mother, fix his relationship with Scott and move away from his trauma, Mike ends up exactly where he started – alone. Scott abandons him and settles for his old life of comfort and security. During the cemetery scene, we see Scott and Mike attending two different funerals, seemingly in two completely different worlds. It proves that they’ll never be like each other, and that maybe they weren’t destined to be part of each other’s lives after all. In the end, Mike is left alone in the middle of a long, unending road and suffers fit of narcolepsy. He almost seems resigned to his fate at this point, as if he knows that he’s stuck in a cycle. My Own Private Idaho is the story of a boy looking for a place to call home, but never truly finds it. Everything around him changes, but he never does.

Shin Godzilla

This was the first ever Godzilla movie that I watched. As a person who used to be into girly and light romantic comedies, it was not exactly the most appealing film to me. I had ignored it my entire childhood, then, because my perception of it was that it was about monsters destroying cities and all that end of the world stuff. Yes, I knew it was a popular franchise because it’s always referenced everywhere–from anime to international films, and even in our own culture–but I still refused to give it a chance. I always just viewed it as an action film packed with fight scenes and destroying buildings scenes. Those were movies I’ve always scoffed at.

However, in the first five minutes of the film, I felt like all my notions of it growing up were totally disproven, and I felt some remorse over the fact that I did not give it a chance. I still remember what I felt, exactly: I could almost feel the oozes of dopamine and serotonin rushing through my brain, making me all happy and excited. When I was watching the movie, the same phrase started repeating itself in my mind: “I want to watch it again, I already want to watch it again.” It had not even been fifteen minutes into the film, and I already couldn’t wait to watch it again. This was quite surprising, as it is rare for me to want to rewatch films. It was a film that had that a pretty big impact on me; there were just some things in it that made me love it so much.

First, I want to talk about the editing. I’m pursuing a career in post-production, and editing is something I usually notice first when I watch films. The cuts in the film were so fast, giving the viewers a sense of urgency. Its editing was so good that I felt like I was in the movie itself. It was as if I were a politician inside the room, for instance, trying to relay messages to the prime minister; or as if I were one of the scientists trying to figure out how to stop the Godzilla. The cuts were dry, and it even allowed humor to be showcased ever so subtly. I felt like most of the funny scenes rely on the cuts; they probably wouldn’t work as effectively if it weren’t for the fast-paced, dry cuts.

My classmates’ reactions were another thing I distinctly remember while I was watching the film. There were certain scenes we found funny, but I feel like it ultimately depends on one’s culture and sense of humor. For instance, the Japanese people who were watching probably weren’t laughing at the scenes we generally found funny. Another scene, for example, is the slow motion scene where they froze Godzilla, and the civilians were rejoicing. I think its intention was supposed to be emotional, but the class was laughing. I think it’s a culture thing: Godzilla referenced some events that Japan had gone through in previous years, such as the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. The movie seems to be rooted from some parts of their history, culture and events, all of which are seen as personal and emotional. That moment probably consisted more of triumphant tears instead of laughter. Their experiences are vastly different from ours. Maybe that is why the Japanese really saw the movie as one that is groundbreaking: it gave them an emotional and personal impact. Japanese critics gave it such positive reviews that it actually received a Japanese Oscar award. On the other hand, American critics had mixed thoughts on the film. Perhaps Japanese people would probably shrug it off and say: “They just don’t get it.”

After watching, I realized that Godzilla was not just some movie about a monster destroying cities. I’d say that it was a commentary on things, in fact: on bureaucracy, Western influence and intervention, Japanese cultures of obligation and responsibility, and perhaps even the incompetence of people in politics. In the end, though, you’ll see a certain kind of genuineness in spite of their incompetence. We see a more human side to the prime minister, for example, when he refused to leave the city at a time it needed him most.

For me, this movie was the perfect introduction to the Godzilla franchise, and I probably consider it my favorite film in class.

The Endless

It’s not everyday you get to say that you watched a film on a UFO Death Cult participating in mass suicide like it’s no big deal. The Endless (2018) is a science fiction horror film that follows two brothers who return to the cult they escaped from ten years prior to the timeline of the film (because going back to a cult is definitely a good idea).

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When they arrive at camp, the two brothers, Justin and Aaron, begin to experience a lot of weird activities like playing tug-of-war with the moon, finding a monster under the lake, and being stalked a mysterious being from the sky. With all the messed up things going on, these two might either be the bravest or stupidest people I’ve ever known (It’s surprising how much weird stuff they can tolerate before deciding to run the heck out of that place).

Eventually, we find out that the place is full of time loops that reset after a certain amount of time ranging from as long as ten years to as quick as five seconds. It’s at this point in this overly saturated film where the story takes a turn from freaky to scary, as the danger of getting trapped sinks in.

I found it interesting to understand how the people got trapped in the first place and was confused at some points. For example, how did the camp sell beer and go to thrift shows when they couldn’t leave their loop? It was also weird how Aaron didn’t get stuck in the five-second loop of the man in the tent when he crossed the loop markers and it had reset multiple times with him still within the boundaries.

At the end when the brothers barely manage to escape the camp, it made me wonder how the two were able to escape again while the other characters in the camp and other loops remain trapped within their own time prisons. It even opens up the question: “What if they weren’t able to escape and they’re actually stuck in their own time loop?”

At first glance, it may seem this way, but when you think about it on a deeper level, there is actually a lot of evidence that point otherwise. All throughout the film, they’re told by those trapped that they shouldn’t relinquish control to the unknown entity as this will guarantee entrapment. Since this did not happen to either of the brothers, they were able to pass through. So, how did they escape?

As the film progresses, we see that each person is trapped in their own cycle, whether it be literally or figuratively. We can see this in how the campers go about their everyday lives, Chris’ drug addiction, and even briefly with the man in the tent. We can also view this in the way Justin and Aaron interact with each other. Justin is revealed to have had an issue with control even before they escaped from camp, and still struggles with it as seen in the way he never lets his younger brother have a say on what they do. In the end, Justin learns to let go of his controlling manner and decides to go along with Aaron’s plans. Here, we see that Justin was able to break away from his cycle of control, something no other character was able to do. Perhaps this very act is the reason why both men were able to escape the camp, since they did not conform or give in to a cycle and, therefore, not give in to the being.

Despite the story having many plot holes and giving me nightmares on two separate occasions (literally), The Endless has a very interesting plot which makes me want to recommend it to other people who may be interested in watching films of such an unusual genre as this.