Conversation Storm – a short film by H.P. Mendoza (Screening free from 5/5 to 5/12)

by H.P.

“REMARKABLE! Hilariously funny and awesomely tragic at the same time.” – Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com

Bin Laden is dead.

O.K., we’ve all seen the video that SFist thinks is “adorable” in which an ATV riding, flag-waving, gun-firing patriot is screaming “U.S.A.” repeatedly. We’ve all seen the fake photos of Osama Bin Laden’s dead body. And amidst all of the new internet memes surrounding Bin Laden’s death, we’ve all heard the familiar cries, back and forth, of “Torture Works!” – “No, it doesn’t!”

(…”It’s not torture!” – “Yes, it is!” – “It’s enhanced interrogation!” – “It’s torture!”…)

For one week only (5/5 to 5/12), I’m screening a film I shot of The Nonsense Company’s CONVERSATION STORM, a fantastic performance by The Nonsense Company and written by Obie award-winning playwright Rick Burkhardt.

BEDSIDER: Fact or Fiction

by H.P.

In June of 2010, my partner, Mark Del Lima worked with IDEO on a set of animations for The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. I composed the music, voice directed and shot the live action to accompany Mark’s animations.

After the website went live, three of Mark’s animations were showcased at the Pasadena Museum of California Art for the 2010 California Design Biennial.

Since the site is live, now, (!!!) and it represents one of the many times Mark and I have collaborated, AND it features the voices of Asian-Am faves L.A. Renigen (Fruit Fy, Colma: The Musical), E.S. Park (CAAM, Fruit Fly, LaLa, On the Clock), Shelly Kim (CAAM, Fruit Fly, Rock the Vote, On the Clock), Mariana Lopez (Frameline, Fruit Fly) and Bethany Del Lima (The Pookies, Fruit Fly)…

…I just thought I’d share. ^_^

BEDSIDER: FACT OR FICTION
Click here to view all twelve animations!

or

Watch FACT OR FICTION: Douche and Dont’s, feat. L.A. Renigen, right here:

Favorite movie of 2010 vs. Best Picture of 2010

by H.P.

“OMG. Was that liek teh most boringest oscars evar? #smh”

So, the Oscars are over and over the past week, we all had to sit through a barrage of tweets and facebook updates containing witticisms and regurgitated jokes about the Academy. Lots of tired “what the hell was she wearing” quips and “Kirk Douglas is going to give me nightmares”. A lot of received opinions flew about the travesty of having 10 Best Picture nominees while other screeds were posted about the injustice of Christopher Nolan’s exclusion from the Best Director category.

“Ok, someone needs to tell Melissa Leo that the Queen wants her doily back. ROFLMAO!!!1 #fashionpolice”

The New Camp (pt. 4)

by H.P.

Click here to read The New Camp (pt. 3).

Last week, we chatted with Chris Vargas and Greg Youmans about their radically queer series Falling in Love with Chris and Greg. Today, we talk with Brent Anbe, creator of Ajumma! Are you Krazy???

H.P.: Ajumma! has a queer sensibility about it that is unmistakably camp. What were your influences?

BRENT ANBE: My influences for Ajumma! came directly from my research and surrounding of Hawaii’s Korean drama fanatics including that of my former office co-workers, family members, and true and devoted Korean drama fans.

The New Camp (pt. 3)

by H.P.

Click here to read The New Camp (pt. 2)
Last week, we took a closer look at new camp favorite Michael Lucid of Pretty Things. Today, we’re going to talk to Chris Vargas and Greg Youmans of Falling in Love…with Chris and Greg

Popular for their radically queer take on the sitcom, Chris and Greg have formed quite the following at LGBT film festivals and through their YouTube channel, LovingChrisandGreg.

The New Camp (pt. 2)

by H.P.

Click here to read The New Camp (pt. 1)

Last week, we looked at the new batch of camp favorites including Falling in Love with Chris and Greg, Ajumma! Are You Krazy and Lars Von Blank. Today we’re going to talk to Michael Lucid of Pretty Things fame.

From the twisted mini-series Megwin and the Land of Neverwill to the deliciously bitchy movie review show 2 Tickets to the Movies, Michael Lucid has created an irreverent world of his own that is equally literate, crass, campy and shrewd.

Let’s take a look at one of the catchiest viral videos from Michael Lucid, “Straight for a Minute”:

HP: Growing up, what comedians, actors, television shows or films made you laugh the hardest?

The New Camp (part 1)

by H.P.

Have you ever laughed really hard at something while your friends stare at you like you’re mean spirited? Or have you ever had to defend a joke for being “stupid” even though you know the humor lies in how “stupid” it is? And/or have you ever laboriously tried to explain to someone why John Waters films are funny?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you, my friend, may have a sense of camp.

Often, Mark and I will be at a party when he’ll want to share a scene from Showgirls. I’ll usually lean and say “Honey, they won’t get it.” And, frankly, 99% of the time, I’m right. Not everyone gets why a woman screaming about her blue blood nouveau riche woes is fucking hilarious. Not everyone gets why a bio gay boy whining and complaining about his academic debt to his plaintive trans partner is comedy gold.

Yet, *we* do.

I’d like to share with all of you what I consider the cream of the crop as far as the new camp goes. I think that, as an appreciator of camp, you tend to seek out raw talent devoid of orchestral score, big name Hollywood power, and CG polish. I present to you, for your weekend viewing, the new camp.

“Ajumma! Are you Krazy?”

Racist or Ironic (Part 2)

by H.P.

(note: Yes, I’m a link-happy blogger. I scatter links throughout my blogs. Click away…)

Last week, I posted some clips from movies that had scenes of stereotypically Asian behavior and my question for each one was: Racist or Ironic?

Interestingly, most of the people who had responses e-mailed, facebooked or tweeted them directly to me as opposed to commenting on the site. I understand, too; the responses can generate such vitriol. So, I’m keeping opinions anonymous and continuing the experiment with Racist or Ironic, part 2.

Dude, Where’s My Car? – “And Then…”

Racist or Ironic? (Part 1)

by H.P.

We’ve all seen The Slanted Screen, right? We all know about the racist characters in classic films like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sixteen Candles, and Indiana Jones. And because we’ve all seen them and have made note, that means that all of the filmmakers out there, in this day and age, have seen them, too, right?

Hopefully.

The answer to a lot of the racist characters of decades past was to make after school specials that attack those antiquated sensibilities. We suddenly saw a yellow Ranger in our children’s programming. And in younger channels, we see Asian protagonists who educate everyone in the ways of being Chinese.

Born Again Asian

by H.P.

I’m Filipino-American, raised Catholic by immigrants, raised WITH immigrants and raised with pride.  (We also had seven dogs and never ate them.) I was raised in the Mission in San Francisco and being Asian was never a problem.  I was certainly not in the minority and neither were any of my Black, Latino, Asian or White friends in my Catholic school.  And it was because of this level playing field that we saw it as innocuous to blatantly point out each others’ race/ethnicity (both of which were words we would ignorantly interchange with nationality…but that’s a different article.)

But I knew I was in the minority, amongst my friends.  Being gay was that deep dark secret that I and all of my Catholic school buddies were taught to shun.  Abominable, I was.  I didn’t even know what that word meant!  The word only brought images of giant snowmen to mind, and I certainly wasn’t THAT.  (He was white, after all.)