Dead Center

Story of my Life

pelikula:

Hey Kid, Wanna Be A Star?
by Jansen Musico

Pepot Artista (2005)
D: Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo Jr.
S: Elijah Castillo, Rio Locsin, Epy Quizon, Tado Jimenez

Fame will get you anything you want in the Philippines: a good house, a fancy car, your own talk show, and truckloads of cash from endorsing products you don’t even use. Indeed, fame can give you a taste of the good life. That’s why it doesn’t surprise me how many Filipinos seek it each day.

Flicking the switch on the TV is like opening the gates to talent show hell. People parade themselves like fools for fifteen seconds of fame or more. This quest has always been in our culture ever since the emergence of radio and television. Yesteryear’s Tanghalan ng Kampeon gave birth to successors like StarStruck and Star Circle Quest, now sneakily transformed into contemporary fame making machines like Pinoy Big Brother. Fame’s allure is so tempting and its promise is so life changing that most of us often daydream with false illusions of our third-world state. Luckily, Doy del Mundo wakes us up with his 2005 Cinemalaya winning entry, Pepot Artista.

The movie takes us back to the ’70s to meet Pepot (Elijah Castillo), a young and gutsy boy with dreams of becoming a big star like his idols Guy and Pip. He often drifts off in his own reveries where he’s a star being chased by fans, making movies, and breaking into a song and dance number of his favorite “Maria Leonora Theresa.” Such hallucinations always get him in trouble with Ms. Teyk, his menopausal adviser played with much pizzazz by a cross-dressing Tado Jimenez. But her punishments don’t faze our little hero. In Pepot’s head, he’s a star trapped in a poor household with a family content with being so. He wants to be more, and in order to do this, he runs away from home to turn his fantasies into reality.

An adventure like Pepot’s would be dreary if placed in the wrong hands. Thankfully, the very same man who penned Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Kisapmata, Batch ‘81, Bayaning Third World, and Markova was the same man who wrote and directed Pepot Artista. Doy del Mundo’s fire for social change takes another form as he directs this story to the Filipino youth. Of course, the movie wouldn’t be as good without a talented cast composed of actors like Rio Locsin, Epy Quizon, and Elijah Castillo, who made Pepot endearing to everyone following him on his pursuit.

Pepot’s long journey to stardom is quite unorthodox but it mirrors the hardships most Filipinos will go through for a chance at being on top. His experiences reveal the absurdity of the Filipinos’ view of fame as their savior. It slaps us with the reality that the search for grandeur might also be robbing us from future opportunities. But what do we do when we finally get roused from our musing? At the end of the film, Pepot disappears and all that’s left is a writer telling us of a boy he knew who once wanted be a star.

GPOY! My ultimate artista look alike.

aldrin:

Good afternoon, Agent 00000. The image you are looking at is a screenshot of the result of the list randomization performed within the last ten minutes to determine the winner of a recent competition giving out a copy of The Bourne Trilogy by renowned conspiracy theorist and couples counselor Robert Ludlum. The operation was a mild success, with your name, Agent 00000 aka Thunderbed, coming out on top of the resultant list, a spot arbitrarily chosen to be the position of the winning entry. Your mission, Thunderbed, should you choose to accept it is to inform me of your coordinates by leaving a message here. The package will be delivered to your specified address within the next 168 hours.

Unfortunately, this post will not self-destruct in five seconds. It will instead link to this clip from the acclaimed 2008 spy-fi film, Get Smart, a clip showing a scene which may or may not be an accurate depiction of your reaction upon reading this slightly congratulatory message.

Mission accepted. Check your mail Sir. ~strokes cat while drinking Apple Marrrrini~

GPOYW (Forever 21 Bangkok Edition)

This was taken about six weeks before the mass arson of Central World Mall in Bangkok.

1. This, my friends, is a classic case of guerrilla marketing. You tag girls and basically call them fat, expect war. #Trobol indeed.
2. Yes, Kid Cudi is kind of my god right now.

GPOYW (Scott Pilgrim Edition)

Take three. The first two doesn’t feel like me at all. (Yes, I’m taking this too seriously).

sesquipedalianist:

Gino, favorite ko yung sa’yo.

Oh look I’m on Philippine Star. Just like any other day of my life.

Salamat Don!

I just want to show off my shirt.

(via dawndie)

GPOYW (Forget my horrible hair. Look! I’m playing Assasin’s Creed on iPad Edition)

iLove it.

GPOYW (Sukishi, Siam Center) with my sister and her friend

Sukishi is Thailand’s answer to Manila’s Yakimix (which I need to try very soon).

Thank you guise for granting my birthday wish!

(via sethee)