No Other Woman

Finally saw No Other Woman last Saturday. The movie, starring Derek Ramsey, Anne Curtis and Christine Reyes and directed by Ruel S. Bayani, focuses on the the tried and tested theme of having an affair. First, let me get one thing off my chest: Anne Curtis was hot in this movie. Mr. Bayani gave us all a lesson in shock value with that opening scene where Ms. Curtis was parading on the beach wearing, probably, the best swimsuit known to man. Then and there, I knew someone was going to have at least some kind of affair with her. Damn. Ok, I'm done. And that slow pan of the camera was just gravy. Ok, NOW, I'm done. 

Derek Ramsey in his role as The Luckiest Man Alive

The plot is simple: married man Ramsey has an affair with hot New York-educated, rich, hot, liberated, hot other woman Curtis. They agree not to fall in love which eventually, they do. Meanwhile, hot, new rich, meek, hot housewife Reyes begins to suspect the affair and confronts hot other woman Curtis and even invites her over for dinner in what would be the ultimate nightmare scenario for us guys. For us guys WHO CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES, I mean. Ha ha, silly me. Ha ha.. Anyway, after a back and forth of very original Filipino sayings, hot housewife's greatest fears are confirmed when hot other woman eventually comes clean about her dirty doings with married man. All hell breaks loose.

The movie's three leads give good performances. I am especially surprised with Derek Ramsey whose at-first confident and suave and then lovestruck and torn characterization was very spot on. Add to the mix a very in-her-element Anne Curtis whose portrayal of a smitten other woman made me even a bit sympathetic. She can lean on me anytime for support. Anytime. Christine Reyes was the other surprise for me. Who knew that this girl, with her reputation as a real-life bad girl, could play a quiet and reserved housewife just waiting to explode. The other supporting characters are forgettable except for Tirso Cruz III, whose stern and distinguished demeanor made me think he would draw a gun at some point in the movie and Carmi Martin, who nearly stole the spotlight from both lead actresses with her witticisms. The script. What script? Maybe I haven't watched a Filipino movie in a long time but correct me if I'm wrong, scriptwriters are writers who actually write scripts, right? They don't just get whatever cliches and sayings they can get from Google search right? I thought I was watching a book from the Filipiniana section come to life. It was like one of those on-line rap battles where one would try to denigrate the other. The Art of War for mistresses. I could go on. If the writer's objective was to make people laugh and have their share of quotable quotes for them to share with their friends, mission accomplished. Otherwise, I was kept searching for more decent lines. 

All in all, No Other Woman was fun to watch. It was a modern and very sexy take on a dated plot. It would have been better if they focused on making an original script that could have catapulted it to classiness instead of making something that would end up circulating as text quotes.   

Habibi by Craig Thompson

When is art a journey? When do pages become passports? With Habibi, Craig Thompson's 672-page monster of a book, we are transported to places both fact and fiction. After savoring each image, each word and more importantly, each letter, one couldn't tell the difference. And frankly, one shouldn't.

While in Blankets, we can relate to its story of first love, brotherhood, heartbreak, abuse, religious choices and The Cure's Just Like Heaven, Habibi shows us images of poverty, prostitution, power, sex, lust and a deeper insight to religion and faith as a whole. Or maybe we just choose not to relate to these things, period. But make no mistake, Habibi is still a story about love. To compare Blankets to Habibi would be unfair as it would be like comparing Spielberg's Jaws to his Saving Private Ryan. And from there we become witnesses to Craig Thompson's genius.

Habibi is a love letter to storytelling. You could see that Thompson writes and draws straight from his heart right to your own. His words are deep yet accessible. His art is simple and intricate at the same time. What comes out is a tour de force of truth, beauty and of course, love. I highly recommend that you read Habibi. It is more than a story.