"Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings" received high praise in a review in Friday's New York Times ("Weekend Arts"), October 25. The review is on the page with a bunch of other movie reviews, the page that I usually scan quickly and go on, but a completely new and outlandish (also very clever) word caught my attention: "Zombadings." It is part of the title of the new "Filipino horror comedy." Trust a Filipino, in this case writer-director Jade Castro, to invent a term that is fun and catchy and linguistically ingenious. Filipinos are great at bi-lingual puns. According to the reviewer (Jeannette Catsoulis) the film lives up to its intriguing title. It is funny, ghoulish, and (horrors) meaningful all together. There's a sex change curse, a serial killer, and lots of satire. The movie pokes fun at the zombie genre, but much more importantly at homophobia. Apparently viewers will be treated to repetitions of just about every stupid anti-gay-and-lesbian slur, which is in itself laughable, dumb(ading) laughable.
My compliments to the reviewer and the NYT for taking proper notice of Filipino movies. Filipinos have long had a love affair with Hollywood. Judging from "Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings," they evidently have graduated from admiring and imitating to creating something new and their own. The reviewer concludes with a mild warning that this film may not be for everyone, but she adds that its "exuberance and warmth of spirit are irresistible." Netflix maybe?
Final thought. Filipinos are notably welcoming to the gay and lesbian community, something I have noticed in the past in their art and literature. Another reason to pay them closer attention.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Two Young Saintly People
As I sat in the Church of San Agustin during a celebration of the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha this past November, 2012, I couldn't help but think of one of the other six people just canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church, Pedro Calungsod. The two new saints had much in common.
Calungsod was a teenager (probably 17) from the Visayan Islands of the central Philippine islands. He joined a Jesuit missionary who went from there to Guam in 1668. A few years later both he and his Jesuit leader suffered martyrdom for their faith. A recent photo article in the Philippine-American VIA Times Newsmagazine, May of 2013, focused on the "enshrinement" of Calungsod at a parish church in Chicago, where there is a large Filipino population. It was the kind of joyous celebration that Filipinos love. Calungsod was celebrated as a model "of our youth," as the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago said in his message.
I was hearing that same message in the ceremony at San Augustin in the Isleta Pueblo. Kateri Tekakwitha was martyred for her faith at the age of 24 in the Colony of New York, when the English ruled the colonies. She had become a Catholic at the age of 20, influenced by the example of some Jesuit missionaries. She refused to give up her new religion and marry. She has been known as the Lily of the Mohawks for this reason. In his homily about her, the Archbishop of Santa Fe held her up as an example to all young people for her commitment and courage. The Archbishop had chosen the 400-year-old Church of San Agustin in the Isleta Pueblo as New Mexico's official Shrine of Kateri Tekikwith, the first Native American saint. The church was filled with Native Americans of all ages.
I was, by the way, present at the enshrinement of Kateri Tekakwitha at the invitation of a friend, a Norbertine priest named Joel Garner. Father Joel had just become Abbot Joel of the Norbertines in Albuquerque where they serve Hispanics as well as Native Americans. I am fortunate to travel quite a bit. Perhaps if I stayed put more I would be more regular with my blog entries, but I would have less to write about.
Calungsod was a teenager (probably 17) from the Visayan Islands of the central Philippine islands. He joined a Jesuit missionary who went from there to Guam in 1668. A few years later both he and his Jesuit leader suffered martyrdom for their faith. A recent photo article in the Philippine-American VIA Times Newsmagazine, May of 2013, focused on the "enshrinement" of Calungsod at a parish church in Chicago, where there is a large Filipino population. It was the kind of joyous celebration that Filipinos love. Calungsod was celebrated as a model "of our youth," as the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago said in his message.
I was hearing that same message in the ceremony at San Augustin in the Isleta Pueblo. Kateri Tekakwitha was martyred for her faith at the age of 24 in the Colony of New York, when the English ruled the colonies. She had become a Catholic at the age of 20, influenced by the example of some Jesuit missionaries. She refused to give up her new religion and marry. She has been known as the Lily of the Mohawks for this reason. In his homily about her, the Archbishop of Santa Fe held her up as an example to all young people for her commitment and courage. The Archbishop had chosen the 400-year-old Church of San Agustin in the Isleta Pueblo as New Mexico's official Shrine of Kateri Tekikwith, the first Native American saint. The church was filled with Native Americans of all ages.
I was, by the way, present at the enshrinement of Kateri Tekakwitha at the invitation of a friend, a Norbertine priest named Joel Garner. Father Joel had just become Abbot Joel of the Norbertines in Albuquerque where they serve Hispanics as well as Native Americans. I am fortunate to travel quite a bit. Perhaps if I stayed put more I would be more regular with my blog entries, but I would have less to write about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)