[ T - T R A i N ]

Where I learned how to cook

Last night, MN and I went to an early evening screening of the Bugs Bunny Revue at the Brattle Street Theatre for their 14th annual Bugs Bunny Film Festival. It was an hour and a half of childish pranks from the rascally rabbit himself and the audience, about 20 or so us in the whole theater, mostly children but also quite a few like-minded adults, lapped it all up. I think MN and I and the couple sitting in the row in front of us laughed the loudest. For me, it was nostalgic. A few of the episodes I remember from the countless afternoon I had sat in front of the television. I was so delighted to see 'Bunker Hill Bunny.' ("I'm a Hessian, without no-o-o-o aggression! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," said Sam von Schamm--aka Yosemite Sam--in surrender.) But a couple of other episodes reminded me of where I got my ideas of cooking--American cooking, that is.

One was "Operation: Rabbit" where Wile E. Coyote, with a soothing and calm voice like what you would expect from a therapist, used various creative ways to trap and make a meal out of Bugs Bunny but invariably backfired. So, in one attempt, the hapless predator created a pressure cooker and placed it over the rabbit hole but not before tossing in some greens and, most importantly, grabbing a bottle of seasoning and letting drip just a sparking drop into the hole along with all the other ingredients. I think it was for a rabbit stew. He made it look so appetizing. And then there's "Bedeviled Rabbit," which featured the Tasmanian Devil. Again, the rabbit that could not be outwitted was being pursued so that he could be made into a meal. TD trussed up BB so he could be roasted over a spit, and just the right amount of salt and pepper was sprinkled along with, guess what, a drop of what I was starting to suspect was a tasty and very potent seasoning. Despite the the somewhat savage ways that Wile E. Coyote and the Tasmanian Devil prepared their meals, they always had greens along with their protein. And in several other Bugs Bunny episodes, fricassee was often mentioned as a dish. I still do not know what a fricassee is but it sounds really fancy.

So, aside from spending a lot of time in my grandmother's kitchen when I was a kid, Bug Bunny cartoons taught me about food--salad always comes with a meal, just a drop of the right seasoning is all you need, paper frills on a rack of lamb or chicken or turkey or a sticks of dynamite make them fancy (and edible)... Oh, and most importantly, carrots are good for you. That's all folks!

Pinoy Relationships (circa 1970s)

Could you imagine what a film by David Mamet, Woody Allen, and Oscar Wilde would have been like had they collaborated together on a Filipino screenplay? It would have been something like Salawahan, a film directed by Ishmael Bernal and written by Jose Carreon that came out in 1979 . I was channel surfing yesterday afternoon and chanced upon this film that was being shown on Cinema One. It's a kind of film you don't see these days anymore, one that is witty, well-acted, and well thought out. It's a comedy about relationships in the very liberated 1970s and ponders the question of whether one's romantic sensibilities change over time and how much one would tolerate when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex.

The movie stars Matt Ranillo III as a playboy who, despite his refusal to acknowledge it, suddenly finds himself pursuing and falling for just one girl, and Jay Ilagan as a probinsyano with matching probinsyano values who suddenly finds himself enjoying being involved with and being pursued by two women. A very young Rio Locsin, the "traditional" Filipina, plays Matt's main love interest, while Sandy Andolong, the liberated swinger, and Rita Gomez, the older woman, simultaneously vie for Jay Ilagan's attention.

It's a film that tackles love, sex, and relationships very much like Woody Allen would have in his early films, and with as much comedic flair. (I also bring up Mamet because Jay and Matt's characters reminds me of the two male characters in Sexual Perversity in Chicago... the play, not the film. Actually, the film was titled About Last Night. Because of a steamy love scene--or is it several love scenes?--between Demi Moore and Rob Lowe, my sister refused to let me it watch when she borrowed a Betamax copy when we were much, much, much younger. I saw the stage version in London in 2003, which a star-studded cast that included Minnie Driver, Hank Azaria and Matthew Perry.) If dialogues like the one excerpted below do not make you laugh out loud, then you're taking yourself too seriously:

After a big mix-up at Matt and Jay's pad, Rio Locsin slices a piece of Rita Gomez's birthday cake and hands it to her as a kind peace offering.

Rio Locsin: Komedia, 'no? (It's like a comedy, isn't it?)

Rita Gomez: Kanina pa kita inaawat. (I was trying to restrain you the whole time.)

Rio Locsin: I'm so impulsive. I'm only 18.

Sandy Andolong: Pareho pala tayo. (We're similar.) I'm 20.

Pause. They look at Rita Gomez, who's obviously older than the two other women.

Rita Gomez: I'm hungry.

I want a copy of this film!!! The 1970s really is the Golden Age of Philippine cinema. Temptation Island, anyone? No, seriously, I really do think this is a brilliant film--for its wit, its insight, its execution. I just can't imagine why we've strayed so far from excellent film-making. 

Idol Worship

Mau Marcelo--the first Philippine Idol.

I confess, I had been following Philippine Idol. And 'our' idol won. The whole family was so happy. (So happy that I heard them clapping from the other room.) She's got the whole package--voice and personality and a real presence. Let's hope they give her good songs for her album.

More Than Meets the, uhm, Force

I almost wet my pants when I saw this. Seriously. I mean it combines two of my favorite things from childhood. No, that's not quite accurate. I still love them as an adult. And this toy talks. It blinks. And it transforms! It's simply awesome! (Can you identify the two figures it transforms into? One says the line "I have a very bad feeling about this," and the other, well, just grunts and roars. And they co-pilot the Millenium Falcon.) Unsurprisingly, it appears to be popular. It was availalbe when I first saw it early yesterday afternoon, and by late evening it was out of stock. (Fresh stock was brought in just a couple of days before.)

Also,  I'm so stoked about the live action Transformers movie (not to be confused with the animated Transformers: The Movie), coming to a theater near you a year from now. (July 4, 2007, if you want to start lining up for it.)