Season Premiere: Movies

Keanu, are you sure you're not Asian?

Keanu Reeves in 47 Ronin. 

Come Summertime in the US, you know all the mega franchises are showing and raking in big buck, because, well school's out and apparently there are plenty of kids who fuel this world. Which isn't a bad thing. But there is also another season to make it big in the cinemas. 

I'm a huge, huge fan of movies and I'll never believe a person who thinks watching movies is a waste of time or that anyone could've actually seen "enough" films in a lifetime. And yes, I do spend a lot of my free time on YouTube, clicking on all the good and bad 1 minute and something seconds of trailers, not considering the number of hits they get. Out of this, I have seen some promising stuff for the next few months that I highly recommend you to watch. 

After you see all of these trailers that I've posted you'll come to some conclusions: 1.) Keanu Reeves and Julianne Moore NEED to star in a movie together. If not at least a W Magazine cover (I just did that, yeah, just blurted it out there.) 2.) Keanu Reeves just might be Asian 3.) The next generation of stars are as big as the seniors that they all look up to 4.) After The Conjuring, I don't think anyone will come up with a good enough film to counter it...EXCEPT for Carrie. 5.) I am almost positive that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be Batman and this is coming from a non-comic reading person who just has a gut feel of things in Entertainment...Don't take my word for it, but when it happens, I told you so (along with the many who already have laid it out there). 6.) We're still in love with war and teasing the possibilities of facing a world at its end. Pretty interesting. 7.) Young Adults rule!

Escape a bit with these films and enjoy the many stories that the handsome big screen brings to life.

Season Premiere

A.P.C. Fall 2013
Simple, cool, straight-forward.
C/o: models.com

Early on, I picked up seasonal cues from the magazines I bought and the colors that marched down the runways. When campaigns change and magazine covers signal the kinds of clothes that you should be wearing, you know it's game time. And this is most evident and possibly more special during the Fall season. Obviously as the temperature drops, more clothes are needed, hence the extra effort in making beautiful items of clothing. What better way to bring out fashion's best than to showcase all of that on glossies and their campaigns. Check out some of the best campaigns, covers and pages from our favorite fashion sources. PLUS, a look at a movie/documentary that'll give The September Issue some chic competition. Welcome to a season premiere!

Midspiration

Nike fan for life. This video is genius, but probably could've been better with less talk.

Songs could definitely perk you up the same way coffee does for people like myself who swear the world by it. Other times, when you slide straight to the middle of the week, you search for other things to keep you motivated--and not just cause you want to head straight to Friday night. Here are some cool videos I've gathered from around the web that'll give you that extra inspiration and also keep you looking forward to, well, more inspiring days.

The Spectacular Now is a book. And it's one those book-to-silver screen cases where you learn of the film first before the book (for me). Believe me when I say, I haven't, in the 23 years I've been alive, have felt this "melty" and fuzzy over these two pairing up. Kilig is the Tagalog term for it, that probably won't ever find its counterpart in the English language. Miles Teller (one of the cool kids on Project X) reminds me of Shia LaBeouf-spell check, and Shailene Woodley, I've loved since The Descendants. When Miles tells Shailene she's "absolutely beautiful" and she just erupts in this candid laughter, it feels like they're not in a movie at all. It's actually like watching classmates fall in love. And that's adorable. It's reminiscent of many t-shirt-wearing, simple-town America love stories that just stay with you until you're spent. It also helps that it's a coming-of-age tale that runs the whole spectrum of life experiences from falling in love to finding ones identity, to enjoying youth, the works. I bet my non-existent ass on it, that this soundtrack will be good. If not, that's a shame. Watch this and watch these two rocket to the skies faster than you'd expect. PAY ATTENTION!



I haven't seen anything as flawlessly edited a YouTube series as Jacks Gap's. Had they been Filipinos, I'll be rallying outside their doors to sign exclusive to W, then again...But yes. It helps that the two-twins Jack and Finn Harries look boy band-ready, but they also have substance. They're funny and they edit their videos the way YouTube videos should be edited. They've got their young girls screaming for them and their early 20s as a market and when you have a platform such as Jacks Gap-which is basically a video blog of their life and things they're interested in, you could start competing with celebrities. At least, that's how we do it here in Manila. I'm not yet sure if there are Filipino YouTubers out there who could produce something as clean, as consistent and as focused as these guys.

In The Mood for Gosling

That face means business. From Esquire UK

Not surprising that after Drive's success-that moody, 80s fueled,Ryan Gosling movie, the same people who made it happen are the same names giving Only God Forgives the hot flesh and bone that it proudly has. Soul, is via Ryan Gosling who means business whether it'd be in style or in film, and the first time you catch the trailer you know it's bound to be good, downloaded a lot of times, preciously kept in your hard drive for viewing pleasure even past the film's glory days. Couldn't say it's a classic in the making, but it has all those elements that will be terribly difficult to brush off from memory.

Once the awesome music starts-how can you make such good music, the rarely and scarcely lit scenes are edited together and the two-three Ryan Gosling lines that make the cut for the trailer are already on its way to immortalization, Only God Forgives promises lots of Gosling-esque mood and feels. Trademarks of our modern day James Dean (yup, we're not yet tired from pulling out the references to the) that have given him that smarter, more grown-up edge over his pretty boy contemporaries. Exciting actually. And I'd pay to see that ALL those fighting, action scenes. 

Check it! Trailers should be good, all the time. Only God Forgives is of no exception. I just hope that the movie'll be as handsome as its star. Which reminds me, I need to catch two of his films, Drive and A Place Beyond The Pines... In for some serious Gosling treatment!

- Gerard

The Great Gatsby

The opening of the trailer, I could still remember in the book.

See, even cool Mr. Gatsby goes crazy when it's hot...

By now you, dear reader, should have some restraining order ready for me whenever there is anything F. Scott Fitzgerald present anywhere it is that I am. But just let me kill myself over how excited I am that Warner Bros. released a new trailer AND a damn handsome soundtrack for The Great Gatsby. This book is the reason I write and read and search. So just imagine my face when I heard they turned it into a movie. And imagine my face when I found out about the cast, Callan McAuliffe (terribly good-looking and promising child), Leonardo Di Caprio (definitely a God now), Carey Mulligan (diamond, for sure) and Tobey Maguire (my all-time favorite Spider-Man...), I mean it felt like Christmas and my birthday rolled in one day.

Come May, you'll be flooded with Great Gatsby shit, you won't like me anymore. But please, even if you're not a fan, spare some time to appreciate the beauty of Fitzgerald's work. While maybe the unsung hero is Tender Is The Night, and I'm obsessed with how intelligently scary This Side of Paradise turned out to be, The Great Gatsby just did it for Fitzgerald. I just can't explain how much I love the book. Seriously. It's a story, so beautiful, so grandiose yet human and real...Definitely thestandard for stories.

But if you're the kind who would never flip a page of a book, give yourself this experience. The movie. The trailer alone almost had me in tears. But yes, you must catch this. You know how other trailers promise you the film will be an experience of a "insert season here", this will surely fit the bill.

And who could ignore the cast, the cinematography, those amazing sweeping shots? I smell resurrection for Tobey Maguire. Beyonce and Andre 3000 doing Amy Winehouse' s Back To Black, Florence & the Machine on the soundtrack and Lana Del Ray too, I mean, come on...Do I even have to?
Or maybe that's just me. I'm fanning.

Jokes aside, this is one piece of art we're lucky to be experiencing, so whether you'll like it or not, it'll be worth it, somehow.

-Gerard

Weekend Hits: Darker Now

Falling into the dark side...
Diego Fragoso for Slurp magazine @ models.com

Embrace the dark side...That's what I'll suggest to you right now. And no, we're not turning all evil and demonic here. It's just one of those phases you slip into when the things you've been liking fall under a certain mold or category and they all just work! For my Weekend Hits post I'm bringing together sight, sound and loads of sense on some things pretty sinister and while it's ironic, please enjoy!

>>> MIKKY EKKO's PULL ME DOWN

The video is like a spell, really. Keep watching.

My encounter with Mikky Ekko is thanks to Rihanna's new album, Unapologetic. Stay is my favorite track on her album and she sings it (pretty well) with Mikky Ekko. At first I thought it was Ryan Tedder, but then the song's credits obviously mentioned someone else. Then I went searching all over YouTube and landed possibly one of the coolest songs I've heard this month (definitely for the year too). Pull Me Down sounds like a long, night swim, the moon watching, stars hiding, and it's just you and this vast body of water. The video helps a lot with the song. The song itself is quite simple (he basically wants you to be his girl but sings it so damn good, you'd want to be a girl for him...) and it meets your expectations somehow, especially come chorus time, you'll find yourself smiling at how liquid and right it sounds. Mikky Ekko's songs all share that same, bittersweet quality about them, when you know love's not always loads of sparkles and sprinkles. He definitely puts you on that dark sink-and-swim feel you'll never want to rise from.

>>>> JERICH EUSEBIO DRAWS

Honoring & Overcoming by Jerich Eusebio
from his Facebook page

One of my best friends (since 5th grade) has been dabbling in the arts since I've known him: literature, theater, music, film, the fine arts, he's had some happy experience with. But as we've all grown old, it seems his forte lies heavily on the basic pen-and-paper, not as a writer yet, but as an illustrator. As a registered nurse, he's not 24-7 exposed to art and knowing him, he pretty much needs his dose of it at least once and a while. His solution? Draw with his trusty pens and pour it all out there. What he lacks in color, he makes up for in texture and detail, giving his images weight, depth and a sense that what he does, he wants to do well in his own terms. Honoring & Overcoming is my favorite. I'll have to talk to him first to know what it really means and who the image is, I'm thinking Jesus, but who knows...And what's most fascinating about his works, aside from his signature strokes and well-improved style, is his reference to so much of these dark elements and arts. The stories told behind the images, the references pulled out from the very best and cool of arts and fashion and literature and film, I mean, what he does has great potential. If only he had a space to share these images to others with...I'm quite lucky I have him on Facebook. So consider this, dear best friend, a baptism into the other side of the world. 

Ulysses

Have I told you I have the biggest crush on Daniel Craig?
Not yet. the Bond for me.
@ FilmSchoolRejects

We are not now that strength  which in old days

Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are,

One equal-temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

--- Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Skyfall

Daniel Craig for Skyfall 

A frustrated Bond movie-goer here: hope this suffices as a good disclaimer. I know little about the James Bond series, aside from the obvious facts. I didn't know exactly what it is that just didn't click with me with the Bond series. Growing up I've seen the music videos of Garbage and Madonna for the theme songs of the films, but I just didn't want to watch the films. Now some years older and having embraced the love for all things dramatic, super cool and sophisticated (spy movies, the Oscars, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Raid: Redemption, etc.) I understand all the fuss over Bond. Still, I just didn't see a good enough reason for me to actually watch. Maybe it was Pierce Brosnan that didn't sit with me well. My mom loves him and I couldn't blame her, he's handsome, very suave and British (all the qualifications of an ideal mister, he's probably got).

The Spotlight on the Wallflower

Watson, Lerman and Miller
The Perks of Being a Wallflower @ Collider

Finally got to catch The Perks of Being A Wallflower today with my sister and I must say this is one of the few movies that lived up to the hype. I've had my fair share of movies and stories that are about teenagers, but those I've seen and read before pretty much pale in comparison to what Stephen Chbosky has done. Both as a book and a film, Perks manages to strike a chord in a lot of people and I think that's the reason why it's such a success. 

I still wonder though how a book such as Perks that has the easy-to-bake recipe (complex yet simple enough characters, the musical choices that linger through the novel, teenage joys and troubles, etc.) took some 11-12 years before making it to the big screen, but  2012 is a great year to have Perks. When kids these days, including those of us who are a bit older, are into these old timey songs, vibes and moods, Perks is definitely a satisfying piece of literature and film (my book review). 

The film did the book much justice. I guess you could credit this to the fact that Chbosky is responsible for the screenplay and directing, allowing him to preserve and add just about enough to his material. You could still recount parts from the book on the film and actually match what you've visualize while reading the book to the ones you see on the movie. Couldn't picture a better Charlie than Logan Lerman. This film has made a star out of Lerman. Still couldn't put the finger on it as to who Lerman reminds me of, but I'm sure this one will go very, very far. He's easily likable, very charming and handsome and he effortlessly manages to balance the brooding, tortured side of Charlie with the character's desire to belong and understand himself. Ezra Miller is another breakout star. I know he's scared audiences with his performance in We Have To Talk About Kevin, and here, he makes Patrick, extra funny, realistic and exciting. Watching him makes you want to wish you had a real life Patrick as a friend. Miller's look, his talent and the movies he's done so far will put him high up on the A-Lists, possibly sooner than we think. Emma Watson is extra beautiful. Whenever she appears on screen, I couldn't help but see her rising up to the ranks of Anne Hathaway with a face like hers. Her Sam is expected: cool, quirky, funny, mature and always so understanding of everybody. But the story however made bigger stars out of Lerman and Miller.

It was an overall pleasing experience. You'd expect Perks to turn out this good. A chunk of the movie somehow took me back to a familiar place, somewhere in the not-so-distant past and it tugged at the heart as I watched (and while reading) Perks. Surely others could attest to this too. There are plenty of moments that will haunt and will continue on a loop in your head and while not everyone could relate to the same exact issues the characters go through, there is always a part of Charlie, Patrick or Sam in all of us that were put on film and on pages thanks to Perks. Grab the book, watch the film and it'll teach you a lesson about youth, life and the moments you should never take for granted. 

Gerard

Chronicling

Andrew and his camera
Dane DeHaan, Chronicle's lead

UA&P Humanities majors, I require you to catch this film. I could only imagine taking up Film Theory now, with Sir Vito Cruz as our professor and literally enjoying a 3 hour-long discussion of Chronicle with my classmates and writing a paper about it or whatever is required. Trust me, it's no Oscar-nominated film but it's that good to catch twice in a movie house and even purchase an original DVD of.

All it took me to pay good money for Chronicle was its trailer. Everything a trailer should be, Chronicle's accomplished. But then again, there's always that huge possibility that films make better trailers than actual films. Fortunately, Chronicle proved greater than its trailer.

Fitting the Bill

Before Scott Schuman was The Sartorialist, before Tommy Ton fetched Jak & Jil and before my team of talented, amazing photographers and spotters for The Institution of Style  went snapping photos of UA&P's stylish, there was Bill Cunningham.

It's definitely possible to say that Bill Cunningham started the whole thing. We owe much to the man and I feel ashamed that the only time I learned of him, was after getting Scott Schuman's book. It's a pity for me, really. Anyway, this is definitely worth your time. This whole craze over real people and real style, photography, fashion, culture and making celebrities out of stylish people is deeply rooted here. Imagine Anna Wintour saying that whenever Bill Cunningham ignores you, it's something like dying?

Here's a legend alright and I'm watching this documentary this week, even when I'm already working (God I love saying it).

- Gerard

Stylish & Deep...Haunting

" I always thought it'd be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody."
---The Talented Mr. Ripley

Have you seen the movie? 

Yes, the 1999 film based on the part psychological, part stylish novel by Patrica Highsmith of the same title from way back in the 50s, I think. Anyway, if you're into smart movies that will stick to your head NOT cause they're scary like, say, Insidious (which I haven't seen) but are memorable because they sting you in a psychological way, this one's a keeper. 

Love for Jacqueline West: An Open Letter

The workwear-hero "Jacob Jankowski" in Robert Pattinson for Water for Elephants

To the amazing Ms. Jacqueline West,

I saw Water for Elephants yesterday with half-expectations and half-cynicism before the film. I've only heard of the book, found it interesting because of the title but never really bothered to check it out. I also learned that one of my style inspirations and favorite actors (and that's not cause he's glittering in Twilight--which I never really liked. No offense) Robert Pattinson is lead and academy-award winner Reese Witherspoon  go head-on against the fantastic Mr. Chris Waltz. It's a stellar line-up of course, but still, I thought that the movie would be some period, chick-y flick that I wouldn't ever recommend to others. 

Not even halfway through the film I was floored: The story was a classic love story, but boasted an awesome grit to it that only a writer of talent could do, so Sara Gruen, congratulations. I loved the colors of the film and how director Francis Lawrence worked his way through a story that was pretty tricky to film (because you know that it revolves around a circus and most of the film is on train...So you know the tendencies involved, right). It was amazing. The music was genius. I always consider soundtracks as relevant as the director's work and the story itself. Sometimes actors can take a back seat for me, but soundtrack has to be beautiful and sewn well with the plot. The Bessie Smith track and the Louis Armstrong, I mean these are the things I love listening to, so music gets a 10 from me. Credit goes to James Newton Howard.

It is, however, the costume that really carved a deeper fan out of me. The setting is in the 30s, American depression and if there's any period in American fashion (or in fashion per se) that I call myself a fan of, it's the post-war fashion, just because its simple, bare, void of the frills and frou frou, wearable and relevant to this very day and it makes a man look awfully rugged and chic. So imagine, to my relief, seeing Robert Pattinson wear clothes that I see him wearing in real life and also seeing myself purchasing in the coming days. Dressed in a light-brown safari shirt with a potent dark green scarf or humble in a denim shirt and olive suspenders, or really refined and simple in a tux or iconic runaway in a camel leather jacket, I mean Robert Pattinson just wore every thing that I would love to wear well into my old age. Not to mention Chris Waltz' amazing circus wear and Reese Witherspoon's dangerously sexy gowns, everything and everyone just looked so put-together and the actors wore clothes that suited their characters perfectly. Simply put, costume designer Jacqueline West did her homework and aced it.

Upon researching, to my delight, she worked as the costume designer for some of the movies on my list: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and State of Play. She also did costume for The Social Network and did an artist of a job for my favorite The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. She is pure genius at costume and I'm not so sure if she's aware of it, but she does a man's costume so well, it's crazy. I pray that her talent and her work and her eye for fashion will stay as real and powerful for many years to come. We all know just how important costume is to a film and without great costume designers or stylists like Ms. West, these films won't ever look as delicious and real as they are. 

So, to Ms. Jacqueline West, I thank you for the wonderful wardrobe Robert Pattinson wore. You are responsible for my better, deeper love for workwear and old American style and I shall always think about how handsome, rugged, timely and chic these styles are just so that I could stick to them and really carry them to my senior years.

I hope to see more of your work soon and I just might watch the film again, so I could write about it more...better.

This movie, you shouldn't underestimate. It's not the best movie out there, but it's definitely better than most I've seen.

P.S. I used to say that I could relate to Robert Pattinson's real life style, now I could say that even his style on the silver screen is worth the admiration....Outside of Twilight that is.

- Gerard

The Hitchcock Syndrome

Run Cary, Run!!!! Cary Grant in Hitchcock's North by Northwest

By now you've probably seen Lady Gaga's latest video, Born This Way and how the start is taken from Vertigo Hitchcock's really eerie movie. And so you want to believe that the classic, psychological thriller legend, Hitchcock is but a mere reference Gaga used for her latest project...

But then you realize that Hitchcock is not just impressing Gaga, but also the people who were responsible for Bottega Veneta's Spring 2011 campaign (one of my favorites this season). Check this out.

Santiago Montero and Karolina Kurkova play 2011 Hitchcock muses for Bottega Veneta's well-shot and very, very elegant campaigns. It might not be the intention behind it, but this shot is just a dead-ringer for Cary Grant's North by Northwest shot above. The others make me think of Birds just because there are birds in the background and at the same time, those dashboard shots remind me of scenes from the movie, when all they could do is stare in fear from inside their semi-safe cars.

Amazing shot...The black, glossy jacket, the pristine white trousers, the super chic bag
and then it's the eternal blue of the sky and the grays and whites of birds balancing the entire thing

Santiago Montero for Bottega Veneta

Karolina Kurkova for Bottega Veneta...
Another great shot

Turns out Alex Prager, as I go deep into research, is the photographer for the campaign and what he's known for are these kinds of photos. 

An Alex Prager signature

I don't know (yet) if ever this has Hitchcock in it, but the resemblances are pretty much leading me to conclude that they are inspired by Hitchcock: the beautiful girls, the 60s clothes, (duh) the birds and just all these other sort of sinister slants on the photos. Amazing what little knowledge of art and film and culture and fashion could do to you... Bottega Veneta wins my vote for Best Campaign this season...

-Gerard

Fever 50

photo by Lesley "Le Sizzle" Choa

Jack Kerouac

Neil Cassady (white t-shirt) and Allen Ginsberg (middle)

So during the holidays and while it's still an on-going fascination, the 50s has not only proved that it's back (in style of course) but it's also giving me the biggest fever I've had in ages. Suddenly, all I think about now is the 50s, the 50s, the 50s, what they'd wear in the 50s, what they'd smoke in the 50s, what language they used in the 50s, and why the hell did I ever leave my 20s behind?

I tell myself it's a phase, cause I'm quite the pathetic type, you know? The kind that when it's all I ever think about I let it consume me until I'm tired of it and I tell myself, well, you've felt how it is to go Gatsby, now it's time for some Kerouac. It reads like a pretentious kid trying to write instead of just writing...But hey, I'm honest like that. I guess it's all the movies I've been watching lately, thanks to Film Class, the magazines, the books, fashion...And you have to ask yourself, even when you're not as open or easily swayed as I am, why is it that at certain times we resurrect certain pasts and fall in love with them? I'm staying as close to the things I believe I understand such as fashion and film....Like suddenly Howl (which by the way is the core of this fascination with the 50s...well, at least one of the biggest factors) and other era-inspired shows like the super sleek Mad Men... Fashion I see is turning 50s too... Or maybe not, but the idea is that our times have been incredibly open to looking back at the past, loving it maybe because we see in it the present...Don't you think? I've never lived in the jazzy, dizzying 20s or the smoking, paired-down 50s (and the Beat generation I've always heard in Western Literature class) to say that sure today, it's just like those times...but there has to be something about them that we find so addictive, so important that they're worth the reliving...

And while we leave those daunting questions slightly unanswered, I finally pinned down the all-important Ms. Lesley Choa for a photo of myself. hahaha...That sounded crappy...So, the inspiration behind this look, aside from my mood, was the colors I've constantly seen in Howl...It's mostly olive green, navy blue, brown like the ones from those handsome tortoise shell glasses, mustard yellow and they're all so very masculine, poetic even and for some reason, romantic. The shirt is from my grandfather's, the man whose style I will always admire and place as a touchstone...And yeah, it's a 50s inspired look and I'm pretty much in love with it now....Who knows what I'll be wearing tomorrow...

But you do have to admit, Allen Ginsberg, makes perfect, perfect sense here:

"The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction." ----Allen Ginsberg 

And that's one of the reasons why I'm mad about my course (meaning madly in love) and mad about the olden times...

-Gerard

The Master

No commentary here, but just to push it...

He's the master.

God grant us a dream, that he go here, in Manila and you know, just do the rest...

-Gerard

East VS. West

In the Mood for Love

A Single Man

Two of probably the finest films I've seen...

Thanks to our Film Theory class, suddenly movies go beyond eye candy...And you know that these two, got it all right I believe...The clothes, the actors, the story, the music (my Lord the music), the directors...

And for some reason, these two, though different in story line, share a certain elan about them. It might be because of the 50s (and you know we're all about the 50s now) setting, but there's something more to them, I just don't know what...

-Gerard

Early Christmas Gift!

The original, Thomas Crown Affair...

Oh McQueen and Dunaway...

The long wait is over.

Mr. Saverio Mancina, publicist of Mr. Alan Trustman, the writer of The Thomas Crown Affair, once e-mailed me after I posted on THE EDGE about limited edition Persols (the ones used on the original film). He sent me a link of a feature on Mr. Trustman on The Boston Globe...That was the reason why I thought he was an editor of the paper, anyway, Mr. Mancina invited me to interview Mr. Trustman, since he saw that I wrote about Steve McQueen and the sunglasses...

Of course, I said yes...Things like these are rare, for me at least.

NOW! After watching the two films over and over and over again and putting to good use all the knowledge I've gained thanks to school (both highschool and college), Mr. Mancina e-mailed days ago the lengthy and super useful and insightful answers of Mr. Trustman... 

Please do read it here, on THE EDGE. This is a dream come true for me and I honestly felt so happy reading his answers, especially the juicy bits about Steve McQueen (one of my idols), Pierce Brosnan, Angelina Jolie and his amazing thoughts on his work, the 60s and that lot.

Thank you to Mr. Saverio Mancina, I will always be grateful for this.

To Mr. Alan Trustman, of course, who's all so busy and talented and very very influential, I must say. 

And of course, to God...that one and only man who keeps putting a smile on me when I need it the most. Thank you so much for talent, the internet, people and great stories to tell.

This is a good Christmas gift! :D

Good night everybody!

P.S. 12 days of Christmas starts tomorrow! Will start posting my day-to-day wishlist. hahaha...But this one, has got to be one amazing gift! I really wish I could give a lot of gifts this Christmas to all the people I love...Lotto, please...

-Gerard

Iconic

One among the Influencers' awesome quotes

I could never thank Paolo Ramos enough for remembering me and sharing it when he saw Influencers. It's a pretty amazing documentary that manages to pack your brains right and leave you excited for tomorrow in a span of less than 15 minutes. It's not just cause it's New York City (and that will never be a sellout reference/inspiration ever) that sets such a romantic yet realistic backdrop for the entire film, but it's cause of the things these important people say about inspiration, our generation, the powers we have been gifted with and the people who have gone before us, paving the ways for greatness and achieving it.

Of course it's the Coltrane too and all that awesome jazz and---I'm guessing---hip hop music that they used that made Influencers all too incredible, but it still is the sort of challenge they'd imposed on people like me and my contemporaries for being the best kinds of people we know we ought to be in the near future.

Dao-Yi Chow, Creative director of Public School probably had said one of the most striking things from the documentary. That real cool is when you're alone and it shows what you're really made of is exactly what constitutes coolness.

And when fashion editor Josh Peskowitz sort of summed up the entire documentary (well, not really the whole thing but the first part of it cause there's still a continuation) he really made a big impression on me that'll inspire me every single time I wake up. He said that this moment is one exciting time to live in because of all that we have and he's just as excited as we are for the future's new icons...

After watching it, I told myself to never complain about boredom, never slack off again and continue to be hungry for new and better things...We're all so susceptible to settling or complaining about new things when we don't know what to settle for and where to aim ourselves at, which I believe has to change...After Influencers, I have taken it upon myself to allow influence in and in turn, hopefully sometime soon, be the influence to others as well. I know this generation of ours has so much to offer and if it's going out on a limb, I think I've already met some (among thosands) of the future's icons our country will definitely look up to.

Today, I have become my own inspiration and pray and work hard to be one to others soon.

Do watch the film, it's amazing. If you like Iconoclasts and The September Issue, this'll surely be one of your favorites.

-Gerard

An Influencer

So I had Chrome open, with Facebook on while some British girl read to me This Side of Paradise when I felt the itch to check out my latest updates on Facebook.

Right then there, one of my classmates and friends back in senior year in highschool, Paolo Ramos (who by the way has been a secret yet constant reference of mine when it comes to style from among the few stylish citizens during our high school lives) posted the link of INFLUENCERS on my wall.

If you are my contact on Facebook, you probably have seen this wall post but if you're not, it's not really that relevant. Point is, Paolo Ramos---I call him "idol" cause he really is worth it, has been one of those kids you watched out for in the future, cause he just exuded a certain calm about himself, like he was so sure of his skills and abilities and talents and up to this very day, I still look forward to seeing his name somewhere truly important...

Thank you Paolo for this. I've already thanked him for it on Facebook...

SO, INFLUENCERS will probably get your heart beats racing. It's New York f-ing City, it's got that Iconoclast feel to it and it's about the makings (I believe) of the world's future taste makers. After this, it'll be pretty difficult to shut my eyes and go to sleep.

Again, thank you Paolo my friend...See you when we get there, real soon.

-Gerard