[Pink News] Gay Marriage in the Philippines in Our Lifetime?

On May 19, Jesus Nicardo Falcis III filed a petition with the Philippine Supreme Court to nullify provisions of the Family Code that prevent gay marriage in the country. It's a rather bold move that should prove to be an interesting legal at the very least regardless of the outcome. If anything, it represents one of the more serious efforts to get the gay marriage question discussed in legal circles. At the very least I expect our own legislators to give more thought to the matter, which will most likely include a few bills that will try to reinforce the Family Code or introduce other legal restrictions geared towards preventing gay marriage from becoming a reality in the Philippines.

A few days before the filing was made public by the Supreme Court, this commentary piece appeared on GMA News with the mantra that seems to be in use more and more when it comes to talking about this subject - Not In Our Lifetime. It refers to the usual answer when people ask if they think gay marriage will ever become legal here. Most don't expect it to happen in our lifetime and thus even the major LGBT groups have focused more on pushing anti-discrimination legislation as opposed to going straight to gay marriage.

Falcis echoed the "not in my lifetime" statement in his own opinion piece over on Rappler, where he talks about his reasons for challenging the Supreme Court in this manner. It's a bold move and I laud him for his efforts and those of us in the LGBT community ought to do our part to show our support. Sure, our Supreme Court isn't quite as "cool" as the US Supreme Court tends to be on such matters, but every bit helps.

Just over the weekend we saw Ireland vote in support for gay marriage on a national scale. It was the first time that a popular vote determined the legality of gay marriage for a country. And gay marriage won with about 62% of the vote - which is pretty darned amazing. There's a wave of change slowly sweeping across the world with gay marriage now legal in about 20 countries so far. It's not exactly a tsunami, but it's definitely gaining strength as time passes.

Maybe we will live to see gay marriage in the Philippines in our lifetime. But if that reality is going to become real any sooner, it will need more people to show their support and be prepared to get the heavy lifting done. The Ireland vote won because of a lot of hard work to raise awareness and gain support. Falcis' Supreme Court petition is one big step forward, but there's going to be a longer legal fight ahead of us and we need to get out there and get our voices heard.

[Movies] Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde (2003)

So after finally reviewing the first Legally Blonde movie, one cannot just sit idly by and not get around to reviewing the second movie as well. Or maybe that's just how I feel being a bit of a completest when I'm not too careful about things. That sentence may not make much sense, but it sort of does?

Back on point, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde was a weird follow-up to the hit first movie. Perhaps we shouldn't have been all that surprised that they had decided to create a sequel given the success the first movie had managed to attain for itself.

But what was disappointing is the fact that as fun as the first movie was, this one rather paled in comparison given the decision to follow the overly tired Hollywood sequel formula of quickly rehashing plot elements from the first movie and figuring out a way to include them in the sequel. Thus you have a movie full of seemingly random gags here and there only loosely held together by a weak narrative. And it's such a shame since Reese remained pretty brilliant in this movie in terms of her performance but had little substantial things to really accomplish here.

[TV] Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 2

The first season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was initially received with very mixed reviews and it was only after the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier that the show really surged forward and established itself as a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And so a lot of folks, myself included, we looking forward to this second season and how it would integrate with the Phase 2 movies.

And it does seem like the writers responded to feedback going into this season and did their best to keep the main story interesting without giving the impression of waiting too long before something actually interesting happens as it waits for other movies to be released.

To be fair, the revelations at the end of the last season did a lot to help provide a lot more different avenues to explore this time around. And I felt the show has a pretty good start this time around, but still the weight of movie-related obligations certainly exerted some pressure on the direction of the writing, especially towards the end.

[Games] Shadowrun: Crossfire

Shadowrun, as a game franchise, has been around for quite some time. Originally a tabletop RPG, we've seen different iterations of the franchise across different media including a few video games released as part of the brand.

Shadowrun: Crossfire is a deck-building game set in the same fantasy cyberpunk universe as the original RPG. Deciding to go with the deck-building route was an interesting choice since it's the sort of card game that's easy to get into without the usual sort of investment we see in collectible card games.

Now I happen to like deck-building games and this one's a little tricky versus others. I guess the main challenge is how the ability to purchase new cards is tied strongly to defeating adversaries and challenges placed in your way, which can be pretty annoying in the early stages.

[Comics] Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's The City on the Edge of Forever

So I had been pretty keen on getting a copy of this comic ever since it was announced. But given how much of a miser I've become with comics, I ended up waiting for a relevant comiXology sale in order to pick up the title at a good rate. I love my digitial comics, but I still don't feel 100% comfortable paying full retail rates for them.

But getting back on point, I was really curious as to how this comic adaptation of the original Harlan Ellison teleplay for The City on the Edge of Forever would turn out. As it stands, this Star Trek: TOS episode remains to be one of if not the most popular Star Trek stories out there. And if the final output was already enough to create a place in the minds and hearts of Star Trek fans over the years, what could have the original story been like?

Over the years I've read a few comments and insights on what the original script was like and even a few lengthier discussions of some of the deviations from the original plan versus the final episode. But getting the story in comic book form is a nicely unique way of experiencing things in a visual manner, even without a full episode being produced again. And the end result was pretty interesting indeed.

[Movies] Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

What crazy world is this that we're all talking about the latest installment in the Mad Max franchise, a series of movie that has mostly been a strange cult classic over the years. No one expecting to hear more from Max given 30 years have passed since the last movie, but here we are. And we're in a world where this movie is one of the most talked-about and widely praised movies that we've encountered quite a while.

Mad Max: Fury Road is more than just a movie - it's pretty much an experience. It's a larger than life adventure in storytelling in a manner that is uniquely within the distinct flavor of this series. It's a movie that fits in perfect with the overall story of things but also stands apart as an entirely different creature of its own design.

I think we're all going to continue talking about this movie for some time. It's a wild ride and yet a brilliant expression of art at the same time. It's a story that we'll continue to enjoy and dissect and just ramble and rave about over and over again. It's one of those movies that you want to watch over and over again like taking repeat rides on a rollercoaster. The rush is almost the same every time.

[Pink Culture] RuPaul's DragCon 2015

So last weekend, "HERstory" happened when the first RuPaul's DragCon took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there was an actual convention for drag queens. And we're not just talking about a slightly expanded tour even for the various queens of RuPaul's Drag Race, but an actual bonafide major convention event with almost 14,000 participants. That is simply amazing.

To think that drag culture remains to be a rather misunderstood segment of the LGBT community given it's more about an entertainment experience rather than "just" a preference for expressing one's sexuality in a certain manner. And this is probably one of the greatest achievements of RuPaul's Drag Race - being able to bring drag culture to millions of viewers around the world.

[Movies] Legally Blonde (2001)

I don't think any of us could have predicted what a hit Legally Blonde was going to be during the time of its release. It was a crazy movie that seemed fated to be dismissed as just another dumb comedy or worse, some weird rehash of the sort of movie that Clueless had been. And given the classic that Clueless remains to be, that was some pretty tough competition.

But instead, we got a movie that was hilarious and brilliant at the same time. Sure, the central character is quite literally "a dumb blonde" as the old stereotype goes, but the story was crafted in a manner that gave her a lot more character and definition beyond that. And how the movie achieved this over the course of 90 or so minutes is what helped make the movie become so much more.

And mind you, this is a comedy that managed to get translated into a rather popular Broadway musical, and not in an ironic sense as we've seen with some not-so-great movies. And personally, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie and how it just worked. Good job, Elle!

[Theater] Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady: The Musical (Dalanghita Productions)

So first there was the one-act play featured in the Virgin LabFest. Then there was the graphic novel based on the play. And finally, there's the musical that has expanded the story into a larger than life comedy experience. And I cannot stress this enough - this production is just brilliant.

Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady: The Musical is probably the best play we've seen all year and maybe even one of the best we've seen in recent years as well. It's a wonderful original new musical that touches on a number of aspects of Filipino culture, superheroes and the plight of maids and domestic workers everywhere. It's a play that has you laughing from start to finish and yet it also has a message to share in a most clever manner.

Now it's a pretty long road for a one-act play to get expanded into a full three-hour musical theater production and we've seen how a lot of stories get lost in the effort to make something bigger and grander. However the creative team behind this show managed to do just that and in a manner that is going to remain quite memorable for years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, this show is a game-changer.

[TV] Intruders: Season 1

In the post-Orphan Black world, it was easy to get excited about the other projects coming out of BBC America. And this one was supposed to be based on a book, so that meant potentially rich source material right? But it's hard to determine when a show will or won't do well, and in this case the results were definitely a little mixed, leaning to the side of the not so great.

I really wanted to like Intruders since it had a decent enough premise and it had Doctor Who veteran John Simm as one of the lead actors. I loved him as The Master during the Tennant run of the show and so I was looking forward to seeing him in another BBC production.

I guess the real challenge here is that the show had a rather deliberate sense of pacing it was trying to achieve that probably ended up feeling a little slow in the end. And given how the show only had 8 episodes to tell a story, you'd think that each episode would feel pretty insightful and meaningful. Instead there was a lot of feeling like you're being taken for a ride, and a not in a good way.

[Games] Yardmaster

As much as we seem to primarily enjoy the big, complex strategy games with lots of wooden pieces and different paths to victory, there's always room for simpler, quaint little games that just seem to nicely round out the collection.

Yardmaster is a good example of one such game that I picked up because of a general appreciation for trains and not much else. Plus a card game that can support up to 5 players can also come in pretty handy during a big enough game night.

That game offers a good amount of fun given a pretty simple game design. And the art in itself is rather lovely, if a bit repetitive given the way the cards came out, But more on that in the full review.

[Books] Doctor Who: The Vault

Coffee table books are weird purchases among bibliophiles. You know how it is - they're great books to have, but they're horribly cumbersome to read. And thus a lot of times the end up being more decorative in nature and aren't always read by their owners. I have a good number of books that fit this bill as well - and thus they remain on the shelf.

So when I picked up a copy of Doctor Who: The Vault, I was pretty determined to not let it waste away on the shelf. After riding the high of the 50th anniversary special, it became a particular goal of mine to slowly but surely work my way through the book and enjoy every last bit of it.

It took me a lot longer than expected, but that can be blamed on the fact that I read a good number of books all at the same time. And between something on my Kindle and something that is best read at a table or on my lap, you can probably understand how reading this book became of lesser priority over and over again.

[Movies] Mordecai (2015)

Johnny Depp seems to be following a path similar to Jim Carrey in the 90's. And what I mean by this is that he seems t be repeatedly cast in movies where he seems to play the same exaggerated, over-acting character type over and over again. It's something that probably crystallized after the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and hasn't let up since. Whether this is just something his agent is deciding for him or something he personally enjoys doing is something I can't quite figure out at this time.

Mortdecai is a particular unusual movie with a rather eccentric titular character and a somewhat convoluted adventure as well. It strikes me as rather strange that this movie is actually based on a series of books - I can only wonder what the original books were like in order to inspire a movie of this nature.

The movie feels a little long, especially since you spend most of it wondering where the heck things are headed. It doesn't help that Mortdecai as a character is pretty annoying and to force the audience to follow him around is a bit of a pain.

[Pink Scene] Goodbye, BED Manila

So earlier in the month, the surprise announcement hit social media that BED Manila was closing its doors after 12 years of partying. And while I haven't been to BED since it moved to its Greenfield District location, the news still made me feel a little sad. I have more than my fair share of histoy at BED's original Malate location and it's always sad when a gay institution like this closes shop. The LGBT community here is always in need of safe spaces to be themselves and pretty much have fun when needed.

So by the time this post finally publishes, BED would have completed it's Last Dance closing event and those red doors are going to stay closed for now. I wasn't able to squeeze in a last visit to the bar before all this, but I suppose that's just as well given how I've already buried my history there.

It's okay to feel sad about BED closing. It's definitely a sad turn of events. But also make sure to focus on the good times and celebrate all the good times on that dance floor. BED raised a lot of us queer people and I'm sure that we all learned things there in one way or another.

[Movies] How Far Should Remakes Go?

So the first trailer for the new Jem and the Holograms movie finally hit the internet and well...reactions have been mixed, to say the least. The primary criticisms of fans of the original 80's animated TV series involve the loss of show elements like Synergy or The Misfits and instead presenting a more generic sort of young success story. Regardless of where you stand in terms of what makes a proper Jem movie for current audiences, there's a lot to be said about such remake efforts.

Time and time again we've seen older properties being revitalized somehow and brought into the present as a remake or update of some sort. But a lot of times we're seeing movies that go to great lengths to introduce new concepts into the franchise to the point of taking out a lot of the elements that fans of the original show or movie held near and dear to their hearts.

And you'd think that remakes are always going to be about that nostalgia factor - as much as you want to introduce new audiences to the franchise, you still want to get those older fans to go and watch or bring their kids or things like that. But instead we get these monstrosities that I just don't understand what purpose they mean to serve.

Sure, some studio executive figured out that working with existing franchises is a safer bet than trying to tell completely original stories all the time. Thus the reason why sequels and remakes continue to come out one after another. But then why disguise a completely new intellectual property as an older franchise? Why tell a story that only shares a name with an older property as a common thread between them?

Just look at this trailer for the Jem movie, which is essentially a repacked Hanna Montana or Justin Bieber story using a different set of girls. I'm sure it's a decent enough story on its own. But why claim that it's a Jem movie if you're going to drop all the other elements of the original show? We need to stop doing this, Hollywood! It's got to stop! Even Michael Bay's remake of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was still better than this since at least it had a mutant mish-mash of elements of older versions of the franchise woven into the narrative. This Jem trailer is just so, so, so alien from what Jem used to be.

Be brave enough to take more risks and tell new stories. Don't go to ridiculous lengths to dig up older franchises only to totally ignore what made the original show what it was and just throw all that out the window. We can do so much better.

[TV] The Walking Dead: Season 5

As I mentioned last time, The Walking Dead continues to linger on that last of TV shows that we watch and increasingly don't know why we continue to do so. The plot lines have just gotten more and more convoluted and things only seem to move forward based on continually bad decisions by the characters involved. And it's not like we were all that into modern zombie culture, if you can even call it a culture, really.

And that last season really ended on a weird note with the whole Terminus story. Yet another example of possible shelter not being quite that, which seems to be a primary theme in this show. And that's truly a reality in this dark post zombie apocalypse world, I'm sure. But man, is that all this show is going to be about time and time again?

It's a bleak show, and things do need to be bleak. But five seasons into the show I think we all need to take a step back and wonder where this show needs to go. The characters need to have some sense of purpose, and thus far we have everyone slowly breaking down, it's a wonder they're still alive.

[Games] Imperial Settlers

So Tobie had been ranting and raving over wanting to get a copy of Imperial Settlers since last year. He has introduced me to quite a number of brilliant games and he then proceeds to beat me in said games over and over again. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is love.

But Imperial Settlers is a pretty brilliant game that has genuinely surprised me in terms of how it works and ultimately how fun it is. I mean come on, how else can one feel about a well-executed game that seems to capture elements we've only really seen in real-time strategy games?

The game is absolutely brilliant and I think my only complaint at this point is the fact that it only supports 4 players. Well, maybe that and how much table space it needs once everyone has a lot of cards in play. Go fish.

[Comics] Adventure Time Vol. 4 - Bitter Sweets

Of all the characters in Adventure Time, the one who has shown the most development and changes is probably Princess Bubblegum. She started out as an interesting supporting character - a strong monarch but potentially a romantic interest for Finn as well. But that door quickly closed as Princess Bubblegum would time and time again put her duty to her subjects above any personal feelings.

Bitter Sweets is the fourth original graphic novel for Adventure Time and it finally comes around to focusing on our pink haired monarch. And this adventure actually takes her outside the confines of the Candy Kingdom as part of an important mission.

Princess Bubblegum can be pretty fascinating, but admittedly the most "controversy" around her tends to come in when she has to make ultra-logical decisions that don't always seem all that "nice" given a "hero" of the show. This story doesn't quite have her in such a situation, but it's still an interesting romp that is a great excuse for featuring even more of one of my favorite characters in the show - Peppermint Butler!

[Movies] Non-Stop (2014)

As much as Liam Neeson first blipped on my entertainment radar as the tragic hero in Darkman, which was a pretty action-oriented and highly physical role. But later on he went into a number of dramas and period movies and it became easy to forget that he had been an action hero of sorts once upon a time. But I think things really started to shift after the success of Taken, which really helped him stand out as this older, intense man with a specific set of skills and a million ways to kill people tucked under his belt.

So now we have a good number of Taken sequels and other movies like this one, Non-Stop, which continue to find ways to make Liam Neeson look a tough and intense in an already tense situation. This movie actually has a lot of the same elements as Taken, but instead the action all takes place on a plane.

Exploring the nuances of airline safety in a post-9/11 world has become a common trope in Hollywood and this movie continues to play on that. And while I can't vouch for the accuracy of how things were portrayed here, I guess it at least made for some decent level of entertainment. My bigger issue was with the mystery angle of the whole thing, which probably could have been better written.

[Pink Culture] Katya is My Spirit Animal

So when the contestants for Season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race were announced, I wasn't immediately sold on most of them, which is sort of typical for me. It's hard to tell what the queens will be like based on still images after all.

Well into Season 7, I can firmly state that I absolutely love Katya, as crazy as that may seem. She's such an interesting and entertaining character that it's hard not to love her. Sure, her brand of comedy is often vulgar and crass, but that's all part of the fun, really.

Katya is my spirit animal and so today we're going to celebrate her.

[Movies] Midnight Cowboy (1969)

I have a bunch of older movies that bumped up in my "To Watch" list after I watched the HBO documentary Casting By somewhat recently. The documentary had pointed out many of the brilliant casting choices made back in the day that involved may key films and certain breakthrough performances that helped put some now-famous actors on the map, as it were.

Midnight Cowboy was one of those movies featured in the documentary and it's a movie I've heard about only vaguely. All I've every really know about the movie is the fact that it had won a number of awards at the time, but that's pretty much it. The documentary had brought the movie back onto my radar, in a manner of speaking.

The movie was pretty deep and it has all the hallmarks of the sort of great movie that a lot of more recent dramas aspire to emulate but don't always manage to do so. It's actually a rather dark tale with sometimes shocking visuals and somewhat uncomfortable subject matter. But in the end, it's a pretty moving entertainment experience.

[Theater] Run For Your Wife (Repertory Philippines)

I think a lot of folks underestimate Repertory Philippines since they still focus on a lot of straight plays as opposed to musicals. Sure, everyone loves a good musical and they're a heck of a lot of fun to get into for sure. But there's still something to be said about live theater on its own and all the brilliance that can be achieved there. And so Tobie and I still make the effort to go see Repertory Philippines productions when we can squeeze them into our schedule.

Admittedly I wasn't immediately keen to watch Run For Your Wife since I was totally unfamiliar with the source material. I had no frame of reference about how good or bad the play could be, but curiosity and an empty gaming schedule slot all came together to sort of conspire and get us to watch the show last Sunday.

And I am so thankful that we did. This was pretty much one of the funniest plays that I've ever seen and quite the brilliantly executed little farce as well. And a good farce isn't easy - it relies a lot on the talent of the cast to juggle all the crazy situations and do so with a straight face. The team behind this play totally killed it.

[TV] The Walking Dead: Season 4

The Walking Dead is feeling more and more like an RPG campaign that's going on for a little too long. Sure, there are still interesting encounters here and there and moments of awesome for each of the characters, but overall the story doesn't seem to be going anywhere significant. And that's not too unexpected since it's the tragic fate of almost all zombie stories.

The show is a survival piece and every episode tries to focus on situations of various difficulty that the survivors need to get through. There was a bit of a goal in the first season with eventually trying to get to the CDC in the hopes of finding information about a possible cure. But things like that have disappeared and now it's just a lot of character drama and zombies.

And the zombies are still pretty good, don't get me wrong. But you can only watch so many scenes of zombie squishing and CGI head explosions. We need a bit more than that and I'm not sure if the show is going to get around to that.

[Games] Five Tribes

Here's another game that came into view because of Wil Wheaton's TableTop web series - Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala. There's been some buzz about the game floating around, but it wasn't until I really took the time to watch the TableTop playthrough that I figured it would be a great addition to our collection of games here at the Sietch. Thankfully Tobie was able to secure a copy and things have been pretty interesting since then.

Five Tribes features a number of different scoring rules that feel like elements of different games that we've played. But the way all these elements were brought together made for a whole new game experience that's definitely fun.

The game is fairly light at first glance, but it also remains highly strategic as well. And you know how much we enjoy our strategy games.

[Comics] Adventure Time Vol. 3 - Seeing Red

The Adventure Time graphic novels are an interesting off-shoot of the franchise that largely operates on its own despite the fact that there are also continuing comics based on the show. These titles are standalone stories that are pretty interesting on their own and do not necessarily crossover directly with the show or the on-going comic book series.

Seeing Red is the 3rd Adventure Time graphic novel released by BOOM! Studios and follows the pattern thus far of largely focusing on a particular character for its narrative. The first book focused more on Flame Princess while the second book was about LSP and some of the other Princesses. This time around it's all about Marceline the Vampire Queen, as the title generally implies.

These graphic novels are interesting little adventures that clearly feel like an attempt to create a somewhat manga-like experience given their black and white pages and such. There's a lot to be said about going through a complete story in this graphic format that makes for an interesting experience.

[Movies] Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

With movie adaptations of comic books being all the rage, it's still fun to see lesser known titles make their way to the screen. It's been a lot easier to have the stories of classic costumed superheroes approved for a movie release, but some of the other stories that just happen to be told in a comic book format but don't necessarily involve super-powered individuals.

Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of those movies based on a comic book that I had never heard of before the movie was due to be released. I still haven't looked into the original comic book as of this time, although I am a little curious after watching the movie. And while I'm sure that the movie is a lot flashier that the comic, the movie still does a great job of selling you on the fundamental idea behind things.

What can I say? There's a certain degree of rightness for spy movies that involve a proper English gentleman, in a manner of speaking. American spy thrillers have a very different tone and color to them that feels completely different from what we see with the British stuff. And this makes things all the more enjoyable.

[Pink Scene] Manila Luzon in Manila for Pride 2015!

It's official! After Adore Delano and the pair of Alyssa Edwards and Laganja Estranja, Manila Luzon herself is coming to the Philippines! Not only that, but she'll be here just in time to kick off O Bar's Pride festivities on June 20, 2015. This is her first official show in Manila - so you know this is an event you can't afford to miss!

In addition to Manila Luzon, you'll have the joy of watching other performances:

• The O DIVAS (The countries most phenomenal drag performing group)
• The LOLA DIVAS (The Philippines pioneer drag queen group)
• FIRE & LED Dancers and soo much more!

VIP tickets have been on sale since Wednesday, but you might still have a chance to get one of 100 exclusive tickets that grant:

• Quick Entry to the event
• Meet & Greet with Manila Luzon
• Professional Photograph with Manila Luzon

Tickets retail for PHP1,800.00 and can be purchased online at the In the Dark Asia website or at the gate. General admission tickets will also be sold at the at door on the night itself including O Bar admission.

[Movies] The Untouchables (1987)

A big part of the reasons why I have two days dedicated to movie reviews is the desire to catch up on older stuff that people tend to include in various "must-watch" lists depending on their interests. Just thinking about all the different movies out there that I haven't seen sort of boggles the mind and the challenge of finding time to watch them all is pretty daunting. Plus there's then fact that a lot of the more serious movies tend to be lengthier ones as well, thus further obligating one to allot more time for such efforts.

The Untouchables is a movie that I've seen in bits and pieces but I never got around to sitting down to watch from start to finish until recently. A lot of big movies seem to fall into this category for me - thank years of parents watching movies that probably aren't safe for kids combined with the never ending cycle of movies on cable channels like HBO.

The movie was pretty good and I can see why it often gets cited as one of those films that are worth the time and investment of brain cells. It wasn't quite perfect, but it certainly packs more of a punch than a lot of stuff that you see today.