“Paul has dated Angie since middle school, and they’re good together. They have a lot of the same interests, like singing in their church choir and being active in Bible club. But when Manuel transfers to their school, Paul has to rethink his life. Manuel is the first openly gay teen anyone in their small town has ever met, and yet he says he’s also a committed Christian

Talking to Manuel makes Paul reconsider thoughts he has kept hidden, and listening to Manuel’s interpretation of Biblical passages on homosexuality causes Paul to re-evaluate everything he believed. Manuel’s outspokenness triggers dramatic consequences at school, culminating in a terrifying situation that leads Paul to take a stand.“

If you’re into reading diaries, then this book is for you. Unfortunately, I’m not. That’s not to say the book wasn’t well-written. I thought it was. I still think it is. I guess I was just expecting something else.

No, I’m not going to diss the novel. Because even though I was expecting something else, and even though I didn’t like the fact that it read like a journal–I still liked what the book was trying to say.

I’ve been on the lookout for a Young Adult novel that dealt with homosexuality for a few weeks now. I haven’t kept it a secret that I’m part of GMA-7′s My Husband’s Lover, right? All right. Anyway, if you hadn’t known before, now you do.

Thing is, with worlds I’m not familiar with, I go to great lengths at getting to know said world. I did this for Bantatay before, for Futbolilits, and Indio. Now, I’m doing the same for My Husband’s Lover. And I must say, The God Box is a very enlightening novel.

Again, it reads like a diary. In my case, even if I wasn’t a fan of how the story was being told, I still think that it’s the best way of getting its point across. It helped me get into the mind of at least one gay character. Sure, he was fictional, but I don’t think the struggles that were presented in the book were. Homosexuality has always gone hand-in-hand with discrimination, and the book dealt with this topic honestly. Realistically. And that’s what I wanted to know more about.

(Last aside: I’m not limiting myself to this book to get to know more about the homosexual lifestyle. That’s just another way of stereotyping, isn’t it? I’m also talking with people, with friends, and watching films that deal with the topic.)

The God Box really does a great job of presenting the homosexual lifestyle in a religious context. It presents the confusion, the acceptance, and the fear, with great care and respect. It does a great job at presenting to a straight audience the challenges of being gay without asking for sympathy, nor does it take a high morale ground.

I really have to commend author Alex Sanchez at how he handled the topic.

I didn’t care to find out what the author’s sexual orientation is. I don’t think it should have any bearing on the final product. If Mr. Sanchez turns out to be gay, then I applaud him for not being one who makes out his characters as victims. If he’s straight, then I applaud him even more for presenting realistic characters with realistic fears.

I especially like how the main character didn’t get his questions answered in black and white. He reached a conclusion on his own. He made his decisions. And then he lived with them.

Really, The God Box is a very good novel.

Of course, you shouldn’t take just my word for it:
Guys Lit Wire
Helen’s Book Blog
The Black Sheep

“Auric Goldfinger: cruel, clever, frustratingly careful. A cheat at canasta and a crook on a massive scale. The sort of man James Bond hates. So it’s fortunate that Bond is the man charged by both the Bank of England and MI5 to discover what this, the richest man in the country, intends to do with his ill-gotten gains–and what his connection is with SMERSH, the feared Soviet spy-killing corps. But once inside this deadly criminal’s organization, 007 finds that Goldfinger’s schemes are more grandiose–and lethal–than anyone could have imagined. Not only is robbing Fort Knox his agenda, but mass murder as well…“

Goldfinger was a fun read, even if it’s not as action-packed as today’s action thriller novels. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that many of the tight corners our hero finds his self in, sorts themselves out without much sweat from our hero. Well, a lot of sweat, not so much effort.

In fact, I see Goldfinger as the more developed character in this book. As the one who actually does things. James Bond kind of just skates through it all, doesn’t he?

Granted, my only exposure to James Bond comes from the Daniel Craig movies. I’ve seen parts of the Pierce Brosnan movies, but they never really intrigued me enough that I would actively seek out a title. Too much high-tech gadgets, not so much characterization. The Daniel Craig era puts more focus on us getting to know James Bond. And, coming off from reading this book, I’m appreciating the Daniel Craig movies more. It has a more realistic approach to the whole spy business, for one thing.

And that’s my main concern with Goldfinger. Lack of believability. Our villain Goldfinger sets himself up to be a very suspicious man, on the account that he is a very rich man. And while I could suspend my disbelief that he didn’t do a background check on Bond in their first two entanglements, I refuse to believe that he doesn’t think about asking his SMERSH contacts about him after the third incident. Especially since, in the last part of the book, he eventually does approach SMERSH about Bond.

The delay wasn’t so much because Goldfinger was highly independent from his SMERSH contacts, or because he was embarrassed about being beaten at his own game. It really was just because the author didn’t want Goldfinger to know about Bond before he could get around to the big evil plan: robbing Fort Knox.

Another thing I could wrap my head around was how Goldfinger thought he could use Bond to his own gain. Why would you trust someone who tried to kill you, but wouldn’t tell you why? Seriously?

I’m going to cut myself off there. Let’s just say that Goldfinger is a fun read–so long as you don’t give much thought to it afterwards. Enjoy it for the light read that it is, but don’t think too much about the intricacies of the plots, and the deception, etcetera. It really doesn’t hold up, especially if you’re into action thrillers.

It is true that authors now are more aware of smart readers. I don’t think Goldfinger would exist in this form had it been pitched with today’s market of readers in mind. I mean, sure, the plot is still interesting, and it will still hold up against today’s more technologically-advanced criminal plots. But Bond’s part in the novel would have to be rewritten. He’d have to be smarter and more resourceful than he was in this novel. He’d have to rely less on his luck and gadgets. And it would be a different book.

All that said, I really did enjoy the book for what it was. It’s just that–the book really doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. I must say though, I am now looking for a copy of the Goldfinger film to see how the novel holds up to its film version.

He was a ne’er-do-well who wanted life to be easy. That is, until he met the woman who forced him on the straight and narrow.

Ronaldo Niangar knows that he didn’t lead a good and honest life. Which is why it was particularly difficult for him to court the woman he wanted to marry. She wanted him to change, and he did too–except to change is easier said than done.

But life has a way of forcing us to be good. Ronaldo’s time came when his youngest daughter fell with an illness that placed her in a comatose state.

His wife decided that to make ends meet, she would have to apply as a domestic helper abroad. Ronaldo wanted to stop her, but couldn’t. And then she proceeded to disappear from his life, and his children’s lives.

His youngest daughter wakes up from a coma, but something’s changed. Her illness had allowed for cerebral palsy to develop, and the girl is now vegetative in state, even though she is no longer in a coma.

As responsibilities pile up on Ronaldo, how long can he hold out before he returns to his old ways? How can someone who only wanted an easy life suffer this kind of life?

Find out tonight, on Magpakailanman, in Flowers of Hope: The Ronaldo Niangar Story, featuring Mr. Ogie Alcasid in the starring role. Joining him in the episode are Manilyn Reynes, Lexi Fernandez, Eva Darren, Spanky Manikan, and Mona Louise Rey. The episode also features the special appearances of Protege winners Jeric Gonzales and Thea Tolentino.

Flowers of Hope: The Ronaldo Niangar Story is written by Mary Rose Colindres, based on the research of Gel Launo. The episode was directed by Dondon Santos.

Jorgendipity is the story about Christine, a girl who gets a second shot at the one who got away. It starts with her first day at her new work, where she accidentally reconnects with Jorgen, the aforementioned ‘one who got away,’ and proceeds from there.

Last night, the team behind Jorgendipity (me, not included) presented to select members of the press the product behind the short web-series: Jergens. This was supposed to be a closely guarded secret, but I think someone figured it out by the third episode.

Today, they’re uploading the final episode.

I have to say, I’m very grateful to both Jergens and M2Comms for the opportunity to write the mini-series. They took a gamble with me, seeing as this is my first foray into writing for the web. (To clarify, my training is in writing for television and theater.) I was very happy when I learned that they loved my script; but not as happy when I saw the feedback that people were leaving about the mini-series.

No, Jorgendipity is far from perfect. But it’s a start. And this actually gives me the confidence to do something I’ve been meaning to do since college. (I initially thought it was during my years as an online content producer, but a fairly recent e-mail from a friend reminded me that I’ve been wanting to do this since college.)

Please watch the last episode of Jorgendipty. You’ll find it uploaded on YouTube and on the official fan page: Who is Jorgen?

And I’ll be posting updates here when I finally get around to doing my own productions. Hopefully, before the year ends.

“A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.” — (C) Warner Bros

I didn’t hate it… I just didn’t like it.

There it is. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like how half the movie was exposition that took forever to share. And I didn’t like how the rest of the movie was explosion after explosion. And I didn’t like how our character’s growth was all over the place.

And I can’t help but compare it to Batman Begins, whose director produced and wrote Man of Steel. I wasn’t a Batman fan before, and that movie converted me. And while I didn’t expect for that to happen with Man of Steel, I did expect that this would have a solid storytelling like Batman Begins did.

I mean, I know it’s hard to reboot a story that’s already been told over and over again. This is actually why I didn’t have high expectations for the Man of Steel. Unlike with Batman, I’m actually very familiar with Superman’s origins story. And it doesn’t help that Smallville, the television series, ran for ten years.

This is why I wasn’t looking for an original take on Superman’s origins. I just wanted a cohesive one.

Instead, we get one that jumps from time to time, from planet to planet, and then we get bombarded by sequences that wouldn’t look out of place from Will Smith’s Independence Day.

What saved the movie, for me, was the actors. Henry Cavill and Amy Adams were wonderful. So were Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, and Russel Crowe. Even with the disjointed storytelling, they were very effective in portraying their roles: the heartbreak, the longing, the letting go. Awesome actors. Especially Henry Cavill, Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane.

I thought Laurence Fishburne was horribly underused, as was Harry Lennix. But, what can you do? That’s how they were written.

And my biggest disappointment with the story?

[SPOILER ALERT]

Superman kissing Lois back, near the end of the film.

I get why Lois would kiss him, that part was clear. But why Superman would do the same–that irked me. That was never developed. Sure, it makes him more humanly male, but… I dunno.

I thought it would’ve worked better had Superman not responded to the kiss. Lois didn’t deserve a lust kiss.

[END OF SPOILER ALERT]

Maybe I’ll try to catch the movie again and see if it gets better the second time. But at this point, I really don’t recommend Man of Steel. Especially if you’re expecting Batman Begins levels of epicness.