JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

My parents had a good reason for taking me to the movies all the time, because I had been sick with asthma since I was three years old and I apparently couldn’t do any sports, or that’s what they told me. But my mother and father did love the movies. They weren’t in the habit of reading—that didn’t really exist where I came from—and so we connected through the movies.

And that’s actually part of the wonder. Whenever I hear people dismiss movies as “fantasy” and make a hard distinction between film and life, I think to myself that it’s just a way of avoiding the power of cinema. Of course it’s not life—it’s the invocation of life, it’s in an ongoing dialogue with life.

Read the essay at the NYRB.

The box! Paul Atreides and the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in the David Lynch film of Dune that critics hated and we love.

A few nights ago, I dreamt of Arrakis. Arrakis—Dune—Desert Planet. Was this the awakening of my latent prescient abilities or just a hint that it was time for Science of Future Past to explore the science and technology in Frank Herbert’s Dune?

Read Science of Future Past by Lee Falin.

Download Five Years of Stories (4,000 pages of original, award-winning fantasy and science-fiction) free at tor.com. Extended!

History and Theory of Art
by David Markson

Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross. All images from Wikimedia Commons.

Pontormo there, for anatomic truth,
Was said to house cadavers ‘neath his roof,

Cosimo, known as Bronzino, The Deposition

And Cosimo, disdaining meals, would stew
Four dozen eggs at once, while cooking glue.

Uccello, The Battle of San Romano, center panel

Of doltish mold, Uccello could not sleep
For trying cruel perspective till he’d weep.

Albrecht Durer, Melencolia

Your Dürer, reading Luther, cracked, and raved —

Michelangelo’s David

Though unlike Michelangelo, he bathed.

Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation

Fra Lippi spoiled, but later wed, a nun,

Raphael, Deposition

And Raphael, for bawds, left walls undone;

Hugo van der Goes, Small Deposition

Yet Van der Goes could only work when calm,
So friars shrewdly lifted voice in psalm.

Vincent Van Gogh, Irises

Van Gogh, who shot himself, was long since vague,

Titian, Noli me tangere

While Titian died at ninety-nine, of plague.

El Greco, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz

El Greco thrived in dark, when all was stilled,

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew

And Caravaggio once killed.

Each work of art is disciplined by laws,
Nor will they bend to idiosyncratic flaws;

Leonardo da Vinci, Design for a Flying Machine

As Leonardo doubtless would agree —
Who bought caged birds, and set them free.

From TED: Over 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, when someone has less than two percent chance of survival. How could this be? Jack Andraka talks about how he developed a promising early detection test for pancreatic cancer that’s super cheap, effective and non-invasive — all before his 16th birthday.

Check out his reaction when he won the Intel Prize.

Out in December.

THE PRINCESS AND THE QUEEN,
OR,
THE BLACKS AND THE GREENS

Being A History of the Causes, Origins, Battles, and Betrayals
of that Most Tragic Bloodletting Known as the Dance of the Dragons,
as set down by Archmaester Gyldayn of the Citadel of Oldtown

((here transcribed by GEORGE R.R. MARTIN))

The Dance of the Dragons is the flowery name bestowed upon the savage internecine struggle for the Iron Throne of Westeros fought between two rival branches of House Targaryen during the years 129 to 131 AC. To characterize the dark, turbulent, bloody doings of this period as a “dance” strikes us as grotesquely inappropriate. No doubt the phrase originated with some singer. “The Dying of the Dragons” would be altogether more fitting, but tradition and time have burned the more poetic usage into the pages of history, so we must dance along with the rest.

The Dance split the Seven Kingdoms in two, as lords, knights, and smallfolk declared for one side or the other and took up arms against each other. Even House Targaryen itself became divided, when the kith, kin, and children of each of the claimants became embroiled in the fighting. Over the two years of struggle, a terrible toll was taken of the great lords of Westeros, together with their bannermen, knights, and smallfolk. Whilst the dynasty survived, the end of the fighting saw Targaryen power much diminished, and the world’s last dragons vastly reduced in number.

Read the full excerpt.

Ekstra opens in cinemas on 14 August 2013.
Instant Mommy opens on 28 August 2013.
Sana Dati opens on 25 September 2013.

* * * * *

No one can ever say that we choose half-measures. When we said we loved Sana Dati, we meant we would go to the mattresses for it (and that includes mixing up Breaking Bad and Godfather references).

We’ve just spent the last 48 hours geeking out on Jerrold Tarog’s anti-romcom. On Saturday we did a podcast with its maker. On Sunday we got up early to go to Alabang Town Center and watch it again. And then we had merienda at Juan’s house and talked our friends’ ears off about the movie. Then Ricky decided to blow off his evening appointment so we could attend the Cinemalaya awards night at CCP. Where we were astonished to find that the jury agreed with us (because this never happens).

In the Directors’ Showcase, the awards for Sound Design, Musical Score and Editing went to Jerrold Tarog (and his pseudonyms Roger TJ Ladro and Pats R. Ranyo) for Sana Dati. The Production Design award went to Ericson Navarro and the Cinematography award to Mackie Galvez for Sana Dati. TJ Trinidad won the Best Supporting Award for his heartbreaking portrayal as the other guy in Sana Dati.

The only movie standing in the way of a Sana Dati sweep was Ekstra. We’re very pleased for our friend Jeffrey Jeturian, who won the Best Screenplay award (with Zig Dulay and Antoinette Jadaone) for his very first attempt at writing. Ekstra also won the Jury Prize and the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) prize. The jury opted not to hand out a Best Actor award. Ruby Ruiz as the harried talent coordinator in Ekstra bagged the Best Supporting Actress prize, and Vilma Santos won Best Actress in her first indie outing. Ate Vi could not attend the CEremony; if she had appeared, our eardrums would’ve liquefied from the cheering. Ekstra opens in theatres on August 14—you have to see it.

Best Director went to Jerrold Tarog and Best Film to Sana Dati. We hope that GMA Network, which saved the production at the last minute by buying the broadcast rights (Thank You!), will give it a theatrical run.

In the New Breed section, Transit by Hannah Espia (which we haven’t seen because we couldn’t get tickets) also managed a near-sweep, bagging the Best Film, Direction, Cinematography, Actress (Irma Adlawan), and Supporting Actress (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) awards, among others.

Best Supporting Actor went to Joey Paras for Babagwa, and Best Actor to Mimi Juareza for Quick Change. If we’re not mistaken, this is the first time a transgender has won a major acting award here. Shouldn’t Mimi be in the Best Actress category though? In any case she was brilliant in Quick Change, and we were moved by her genuine shock and emotion at hearing her name called.

* * * * *

One of the sources.

Jerrold Tarog wrote his first screenplay Sana Dati in 2006, and over the years he pitched it to a lot of producers. Nothing happened. In the meantime he made six feature films. In 2013 Sana Dati was accepted in the Directors’ Showcase at Cinemalaya, and he still couldn’t find the funds to shoot it. Just as he was about to quit, a producer appeared. Listen to the back story of Sana Dati in our podcast interview, along with tips on how to prevent overacting and questions he never wants to be asked again.

Our interview with Jerrold Tarog in the not-quite weekly podcast. Listen, download, or get it on iTunes.