PIMP MY STUFF

PELICULA


An ebook of Pelicula is now available on Amazon.
Look! Product description!!

Luis Conrado exists in two worlds, the fictional reality of Habagat-- the brave and all-powerful superhero he plays on television-- and the madcap realm of the Philippine showbiz industry.

In many ways, it’s the latter world that’s more bizarre. It’s a world that has its own unnatural powers and principalities, a dangerous and dazzling world of secrets, intrigue, and lies.

A world where fame can exact a terrible price, and love can be the most dangerous thing of all.

This international edition contains several "special features": endnotes, a glossary of Filipino words retained in the text, and a Habagat script excerpt.

The first four chapters of the international edition can be found at davidhontiveros.com, and if you find them to your liking, then mosey on over to www.amazon.com/Pelicula-ebook/.

So, yeah, just to clarify, if you happened to have read Pelicula in its entirety when it was online before, the ebook is an English-language edition, the lines of Taglish dialogue and much of the colloquialisms translated for the global audience. If you prefer the original version though, fret not, as there are plans to ebook it as well.

BATHALA: APOKALYPSIS


The third issue takes flight this Saturday, May 7, at the MetroComic Con, at the Megatrade Hall, SM Megamall.
Hope to see you there. Look! Convenient recap!!

Previously in Bathala:

1999.

Andrew Carreon, reporter, is secretly the mighty superhero, Bathala.

Among the many people Andrew has chosen to keep in the dark about his dual identity, is fellow reporter Isabel Ignacio, the friendship they share a relationship that always seems on the verge of becoming something deeper, though never quite taking that last and fateful step.
Andrew fears exposing Isabel to the dangers of his other life, for over the many years, Bathala has clashed with numerous enemies, like the alien artificial intelligence from the Andromeda Galaxy, Cerebellax, or the hero’s own dark clone, ThaBa’al.
But the most dangerous and relentless foe he has is his arch-enemy, Harold Hernandez, who knows Andrew’s secret, and whose latest scheme to destroy the hero has caused the death of Andrew’s twin brother, environmentalist Leonardo Carreon.
Following the groundbreaking procedure that digitally mapped and encoded Leo’s entire personality-- producing an exact copy of Leo as an UP, an Uploaded Personality-- a gunman hired by Hernandez assassinates the environmentalist.

Enraged and grief-stricken, Bathala overpowers his clone, and demands of Hernandez that Leo’s UP be downloaded into the body of ThaBa’al.
It is Leo’s UP though that intercedes, explaining to Bathala-- to whom he shows the digital realm he now exists in-- that he no longer wishes to be encased in flesh and blood.
Reluctantly, Bathala accedes to the wishes of all that is apparently left of his dead twin, and leaves the unconscious ThaBa’al in Hernandez’s penthouse office, where the clone’s recovery is interrupted by the UP’s machinations.
Apparently, the UP has its own sinister agenda…

Meanwhile, seemingly isolated events are taking place all over the cosmos:
In Iraq, four ancient entities struggle against massive chains at the bottom of a river. One of the entities sheds a pair of tears, which are swallowed by Syrian siblings, who then seem to fall into epileptic fits.
In Scotland, a handsome stranger walks, expectantly waiting for a pivotal moment in history.
In Los Angeles, the autopsy of a charred, apparently human corpse reveals a host of eyes covering its interiors. When the coroner Paul Walsh brings in a colleague for consultation, it is discovered that the corpse has vanished from the morgue.
In the Andromeda Galaxy, Cerebellax prepares for his next encounter with Earth’s champion, Bathala.

And, despite having been killed by that gunman, Leo awakens from darkness, and not only does he encounter the charred corpse from Los Angeles, seemingly reanimated now, but he is also told that he has an “important” and “pivotal” role to play in the coming days, and is handed a scroll with seven seals…

(Pelicula ebook cover by Bow Guerrero; Bathala: Apokalypsis cover by Ace Enriquez.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (101)

101.1 PIMP MY BOOK


So my online novel Pelicula is now completely available on the ‘net, all its reels and chapters safely floating out there in the aether.
If you haven’t checked it out, or were perhaps waiting for it to boast a proper ending, well, this is your chance.
Just turn off the main infobahn here.


(Thanx to Carl, for all things Pelicula website-y, and to Budj, for co-producing.)

101.2 AUGUST AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE HIGHLIGHTS


August 2, Saturday, 5:00 PM
Aero Theatre
A marathon of the extended versions of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy (a whopping total of 682 minutes!), to be introduced by legendary fantasy artist Greg Hildebrandt.
[Special admission price: $3.00.]


A Tribute to Stan Winston [August 15-16]
Aero Theatre
August 15, Friday, 7:30 PM
A double feature of James Cameron’s Aliens and Winston’s directorial debut, Pumpkinhead.
August 16, Saturday, 7:30 PM
A double feature of John McTiernan’s Predator and Stephen Hopkins’ Predator 2.


August 21, Thursday, 7:30 PM
Egyptian Theatre 85th Anniversary Double Feature
The original versions of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens.
(Both films originally premiered at the Egyptian Theatre.)

101.3 PUSHING DAISIES AT SDCC08


With all the news that has flooded out of this year’s recently concluded edition of the San Diego Comic-Con, one of the bits that has got me giddy is this: a Wonderfalls/Pushing Daisies cross-over!


Mary Ann Marie Beetle, from Wonderfalls’ “Muffin Buffalo” episode, will appear in Pushing Daisies. (And the crowd goes wild…) At the moment, I’m unsure whether Beetle will again be played by Beth Grant (I certainly hope so).


And, and, and… Diana Scarwid appears in the first 3 episodes of Season 2. (Sadly, I don’t think it’s as Karen Tyler.)
Is Caroline Dhavernas far behind?

(Images courtesy of ew.com [Peter Jackson on the set of The Return of the King]; wired.com [Stan Winston]; horrorphile.net [Alien image]; aintitcool.com [Pushing Daisies and Wonderfalls DVD cover art]; and hollywoodjesus.com [Wonderfalls promo image of Diana Scarwid].)

(Pelicula logo by Carl Vergara; Habagat icon and pin-up by Ian Sta. Maria.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (72)
POST-KOLEKTIB THOUGHTS

First off, thanx so much to all the good people who descended upon Kolektib to see the wild menagerie that was us, all the strange and colourful folk the stellar Nida G.R. has gathered under the VPE umbrella.
Also, I should again apologize profusely to Pogz, for the non-meeting.
To one and all, whether you were at Kolektib yesterday or not, I’d be remiss in my pimping duties if I didn’t repeat: the Penumbra horror/dark fantasy novellas Takod, Parman, and Craving, written by yours truly, are available in book stores (as are all the other wondrous tomes put out by Visual Print Enterprises).
Pelicula, meanwhile, is online here. It’s up to Reel Five, Chapter 34, where an important discussion is conducted in a basketball court in Tondo.

And since I’m already here, I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly acknowledge a number of individuals, for stuff above and beyond…
To the following, whose patronage and help have kept the Iguana well-fed and stocked with reviews: Jeb, Carla and Ed, Bianca, Beau, and Reg.
To Nida, for getting Penumbra out there.
To Budj, Carl, and Karen, for all the support (moral and otherwise), over the long years.
To all of you beautiful people, many, many, many thanx.

And to all of you who’ve dropped by to keep the Iguana company, thanx to you as well! She appreciates your visits…

(Takod cover design by Wawi Navarroza; Parman cover art by Oliver Pulumbarit; Craving cover art and jacket design and Pelicula logo by Carl Vergara; Habagat design and pin-up by Ian Sta. Maria.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (39)

39.1 PIMP MY BOOK (6)
Chapters 11 and 12 of Pelicula are up at the website, where you’ll meet a former Shake, Rattle and Roll star, and find out what’s the latest iteration of the CSI franchise!
Scoot on over to the website now.
And thanx to all of you who’ve been reading Pelicula, and to Carl, for keeping the website updated.

39.2 WHAT THE BAFTA?! 2008 (1)
So the BAFTA longlists are out.
Now, note that these are lists that will be whittled down from the current 15 entries to the 5 nominees per category for BAFTA night. (That second round of voting to choose the final five nominees for each category closes on January 14.)
Still, given the insane number of films released in any given year, to snag a spot on a BAFTA longlist is still quite the achievement.
So, the possible nominations I’m excited about are:

Control:
Film
Director
Adapted Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Sound
Editing
Cinematography
Music
Leading Actor (Sam Riley)
Supporting Actress (Samantha Morton)

Eastern Promises:
Film
Director
Original Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Editing
Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen)
Leading Actress (Naomi Watts)
Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Supporting Actor (Vincent Cassel)

No Country For Old Men:
Film
Director
Adapted Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Sound
Editing
Production Design
Cinematography
Music
Leading Actor (Josh Brolin)
Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)
Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones)
Supporting Actress (Kelly MacDonald)

Once:
Original Screenplay
Music
Leading Actress (Marketa Irglova)

Stardust:
Make Up & Hair
Special Visual Effects
Costume Design
Supporting Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Other longlisted films for Special Visual Effects are Beowulf, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, Transformers, and 300, which is also longlisted for Sound.

Again, note that the 15 entries in most of the categories will get streamlined down to 5, so each of those entries above has a 33% chance of ending up on the final BAFTA 2008 ballot (if I’ve got my math right).
Congratulations, and best of luck to all of them. (You can check out all the complete longlists here.)

39.3 MORE HONOURS FOR OLD MEN

The Coens’ latest was also honoured by the Online Film Critics Society with six awards, for best Picture, Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing, the three latter awards going to the Coen brothers.

The siblings were also acknowledged by the USC with this year’s Scripter Award, “which recognizes the year’s best cinematic translation from page to screen.” Author Cormac McCarthy joins the brothers in the honour.

And to cap this off, No Country For Old Men grabbed the # 2 slot on AICN writer Nordling’s 2007 Top Ten list, where he notes:

“Any other year, this would be # 1. And it's still a masterpiece by the Coens, and I take nothing away from it. Javier Bardem plays a villain as iconic as Hannibal Lecter or Darth Vader. Josh Brolin has had a fantastic year with this performance and American Gangster, and at first Tommy Lee Jones seems like typecasting but he gets to the heart of that character with such skill it's difficult to imagine another actor playing that part. It's a bleak movie but there's humor there and it treats the audience with intelligence that's been sorely lacking in too many studio films today. It defiantly forces you to make up your own mind. I know what the ending means to me, and I admire the Coens for letting me come up with it on my own. A perfect adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel.”

(At Nordling’s # 4 and # 3 spots: Once and Zodiac. His worst? Spider-Man 3. Check out the entire list here.)

Parting shot: Reviews of Control, Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, Once, Stardust, Zodiac, Beowulf, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, Transformers, and 300 can be found in the Archive.

(Control UK quad and Eastern Promises and No Country For Old Men OS’s courtesy of impawards.com; Once image courtesy of Fox Searchlight and indiewire.com; Stardust image courtesy of aintitcool.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (36)

36.1 PIMP MY BOOK (5)
Chapter 10 is up at the Pelicula website, where you can find out exactly what goes on at all those Manila Basketball League games. Mosey on over to the website to see what the frak I’m blathering on about.
And thanx to everyone who’s checked Pelicula out.

36.2 BETTER WATCH THAT SAG 2008
Unlike the Golden Globes, which is on shaky ground with the on-going WGA strike, next year’s 14th Annual SAG Awards (scheduled for January 27), looks to be a go, though whether or not nominees will cross the picket lines to attend the show remains to be seen.
At any rate, the SAG award nominees that got my attention are:

Motion Pictures

Away From Her:
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Julie Christie as Fiona)

Eastern Promises:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai)

Juno:
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Ryan Gosling as Lars Lindstrom)

Television

Dexter:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan)

Entourage:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series (Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Rhys Coiro / Billy Walsh
Kevin Connolly / Eric Murphy
Kevin Dillon / Johnny Drama
Jerry Ferrara / Turtle
Adrian Grenier / Vincent Chase
Rex Lee / Lloyd
Jeremy Piven / Ari Gold
Perrey Reeves / Mrs. Ari

SAG has also established a new stunt award category for both film and TV, with the respective categories looking like this:

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
300
The Bourne Ultimatum
I Am Legend
The Kingdom
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
24
Heroes
Lost
Rome
The Unit

Congratulations, one and all, and hurrah for the stunt people!

You can check out the entire list of nominees for the 14th Annual SAGs here, a list which features a frighteningly thorough fact sheet, and the SAG Award histories of the nominees. So if you always wanted to know whether or not George Clooney won an Actor for his work on ER (he won four Actors as part of the show’s ensemble, but failed to win Actor in a Drama Series the two times he was nominated; sorry, George), this cheat sheet is the place to go.

36.3 TO RATE THE UNDERRATED
And congratulations to C.S. Lee (of Dexter and Chuck) and Pushing Daisies’ Orbit, for making zap2it.com’s The Underrated of 2007 list.
Recognizing the sometimes overlooked supporting players of our favourite shows, the list did well to note Orbit’s very tangible contribution to Pushing Daisies, as Ned’s faithful golden retriever, Digby.

Yeah, Orbit! Break down those gender barriers! You go, girl!

The complete Underrated of 2007 list can be found here.

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by Ian Sta. Maria; other images courtesy of variety.com and SAG [SAG crest]; and zap2it.com, showtime, and abc [C.S. Lee and Orbit with Kristin Chenoweth].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (34)

34.1 a.k.a. PIMP MY BOOK (4)

Experience the Habagat Mall Tour, now, at the Pelicula website!
Chapter 9 is up at the website, so get on over there if you want to see what the hell I’m blathering on about.
And thanx to everyone who’s checked the book out.

34.2 2008 WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (I’m excited about)

Meanwhile, as the strike keeps on keepin’ on, the WGA have released the TV and radio nominee list for the 2008 awards.
And just as the Golden Globe recognized them, so did the WGA:

Dexter:
Dramatic Series Written by Scott Buck, Daniel Cerone, Drew Z. Greenberg, Lauren Gussis, Kevin Maynard, Clyde Phillips, Melissa Rosenberg, and Tim Schlattman
Episodic Drama “The Dark Defender”; written by Tim Schlattmann

Entourage:
Comedy Series Written by Marc Abrams, Lisa Alden, Michael Benson, Brian Burns, Doug Ellin, Alex Gansa, Tim Griffin, Dusty Kay, Stephen Levinson, Ally Musika, Wes Nickerson, and Rob Weiss

Pushing Daisies:
New Series Written by Chad Gomez Creasey, Dara Resnik Creasey, Bryan Fuller, Abby Gewanter, Jim Danger Gray, Lisa Joy, Kath Lingenfelter, Rina Mimoun, Jack Monaco, Scott Nimerfro, and Peter Ocko
Episodic Comedy “Pie-Lette”; written by Bryan Fuller

And for good measure…

Lost:
Episodic Drama “Flashes Before Your Eyes”; written by Damon Lindelof & Drew Goddard

Congratulations, one and all. Winners will be announced on February 9, 2008, at the 60th WGA Awards. (The complete list of radio and TV nominees can be found here.)

Parting shot: Another round of congratulations must also go out to everyone behind Dexter and Pushing Daisies, for securing spots on the American Film Institute's Official Selections for TV Programs of the Year. Brilliant. (See the entire list here.)

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by Ian Sta. Maria; series images courtesy of about.com [Dexter]; hbo.com [Entourage]; avclub.com [Pushing Daisies]; and fanpop.com [Lost].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (29)

29.1 a.k.a. PIMP MY BOOK (3)
Chapters 6 to 8 are up at the Pelicula website, so get on over there if you want to see what happens when Habagat flies straight into a trap, and Luis has a scene with his new leading lady.
Thanx to all who’ve been checking the novel out.

29.2 SUNDANCE 2008 (2)

In mentioning Trygve Allister Diesen’s and Lucky McKee’s Red, I neglected to mention that it’s based on the Jack Ketchum novel of the same title. Apologies.

And regarding Rawson Marshall Thurber’s adaptation of Michael Chabon’s The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, it’s been brought to my attention by Franq that there’s actually a boycott against the film by fans of the novel.
I myself have not had the pleasure of reading the book, though as I mentioned in Afterthoughts (28), I’m a Chabon fan by way of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and Summerland.
Apparently, the boycott has been instituted due to the many liberties taken by Thurber in translating the novel to the big screen. Go here if you want to learn more.
Thanx for the heads up, Franq.

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 17-27, 2008, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah.
Check complete list of films in competition here, and films out of competition here.

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by Ian Sta. Maria; Red and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh cover art courtesy of amazon.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (26)
a.k.a. “PIMP MY BOOK” (2)

Thanx to everyone who’s checked out Pelicula.
And thanx to those who’ve left comments here at the Iguana.

To Martin: I’m glad you loved what you saw in the first four chapters, and I’m really glad that ritual got you the way it did.
What can I say? Lovecraft and the Al Azif (a.k.a. the Necronomicon): a winning combo.
I’m stoked that you’re enjoying the tone and the mash-up of elements and genres. As I mentioned in Afterthoughts (23), Pelicula involved a lot of firsts for me, and I’m pleased as punch with it.

To I.K.Ida: Thanx for liking the Penumbra novellas. Hope you’re enjoying Pelicula too.

To those who haven’t checked it out, go to the website designed by the very excellent Carl Vergara. Updates are weekly. Then leave any comments you may have back here.

Thanx again, one and all.

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by the equally excellent Ian Sta. Maria.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (23)
a.k.a. “PIMP MY BOOK”

First off, to everyone who stopped by at Komikon 3, either for the kind, encouraging words, to have their stuff signed, or to pick up the Penumbra novellas, my humble thanx.

And now, just to make this sound official:

PELICULA: AN ONLINE NOVEL BY DAVID HONTIVEROS

Fame is a power many dream of possessing. It is a power Luis Conrado is very familiar with, especially when he assumes his super-powered alter ego Habagat.

Having the power to fly with the eagles, the strength of a hundred men, and the ability to withstand pain and injury can sometimes pale in comparison to the shining, blinding power of fame.

Standing in that blazing spotlight for too long, Conrado does not notice the ones standing in the shadows. The architects of his fame. The ones who hold the true power.

>>> Read the first four chapters of PELICULA at: http://www.davidhontiveros.com/

Also at the site, a gallery of the super-hero Habagat. With illustrations by Carlo Vergara, Ian Sta. Maria, Kajo Baldisimo, Bow Guerrero, Ronnie Tres Reyes, Dennis Crisostomo, Arvie Villena, Reno Maniquis, Oliver Pulumbarit, Aldin Viray, and Edgar Tadeo.

A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

The seed for Pelicula was innocuous enough: very casual talk about some Internet rumour or other. Somehow, that spark collided with my long-abiding interest in live-action superheroics, and a novel was born.

Having completed the trio of Penumbra novellas (Takod, Craving, and Parman), I felt ready to tackle a longer story, and Pelicula appeared to have enough meat to warrant a novel-length treatment.

What ultimately emerged was not only something I hadn’t exactly anticipated, it was also a lot of things I’d never really attempted before in my fiction: it was a parody, a satire, a romance, and had gobbets of words and dialogue in Filipino and Taglish.

I’m proud of Pelicula, and extremely thankful to three individuals who helped in its genesis and in getting it to where it is today: Nida, who saw it first in its entirety and gave it a thumbs up; and Carl and Budj, for all the support and help over the years.

And now that it’s toddling off onto the World Wide Web, I can only hope it amuses, entertains, and enlightens you, just as much as it amused, entertained, and enlightened me, in the process of putting it all together.

David Hontiveros

November 2007

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Hontiveros is a National Book Award-nominated and Palanca-winning writer, with three horror/dark fantasy novellas (under the Penumbra imprint) out in the market.

His short fiction has appeared in such publications as Story Philippines, Philippine Graphic, and Chimera, while his articles and film reviews have been published in Philippine Graphic, the Manila Times, Mirror Magazine, and Manual.

So, if you want to check out Pelicula, just surf on over to the website.
The Penumbra novellas (Takod, Craving, and Parman) are available in bookstores, and if you don’t see them on the shelves, please ask for them.

(Image from Pelicula website, website designed by Carl Vergara, Habagat icon designed by Ian Sta. Maria.)