To my fellow Bananas! Every felt like the “white” part of your cultural identity was undermined by your “more Asian” friends and family? Our Heroic Melon friend, Kevin, does a short video blog regarding that look people give you when you don’t display the appropriate amount of Asian knowledge or demeanor.

It usually boils down to language when this look of disapproval appears. Even in the 21st century, generational misunderstandings still exists between those who can speak their ethnic tongue and those who can not. Granted, with any language barrier there are bound to be linguistic misunderstandings. But in this case, the differences lie in a judgemental perception the older generation of Asians have on the younger generation of Asians. And this is where the term “banana” came about. A mildly derogatory term used to describe a younger generation of Asians whom the older generation thought were too influenced by Western cultures and societies. But today, we embrace this derogatory term as an identity to be proud of. Even if some of us can’t speak our mother tongue, we still proudly embrace the fact that we have Asian and Western traits within us.

Tell us your stories of people giving you the “Asian look of disapproval”! We’d love to hear it.

Cheers.

-phibz.

Our friends at the Heroic Melon Collective have done it again! They released their latest episode of the Awkward Compilation on Christmas Eve entitled “Awkward Again – episode 03: Holidays“. This Christmas themed episode was not as comedic as their usual entries, but it was definitely in keeping with the holiday spirit. It’ll warm your heart just watching it.

You can check out season 1 and season 2 of The Awkward Compilation here!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

-phibz.

Last week, a heartwarming, heart-sinking, and heart-exploding display of love appeared on the Heroic Melon youtube channel. One member of the HMC went above and beyond to show his affection for his one and only leading lady, and the result of his efforts is something the whole world (well, maybe only the females in the world) should bow down in envy for. Our courageous and heroic Lester Calleja of the Heroic Melon Collective created an epic music video, that absolutely contains no sign of fail, and presented it to this one lucky lady for her birthday.

The Banana Times is proud to be part of Heroic Melon Collective’s:
OPERATION: BLOSSOM BOY

Only a handful of people are able to notice the various locations this music video was filmed in were places where Lester and his lady spent many memorable moments. Rest assured we tried to keep the production as authentic as possible. Lester and our lead guitarist (also HMC member) Kevin both are able to play guitar, I can also play the bass, Alex used to play the drums, and of course what made the MV look amazing was our always-awesome cinematographer, RJ. Overall, the experience was very enjoyable and even more so now that we get to see this amazing final product. We shot on no budget, got some farmer’s tans, and something great was made.

Now, the question, “Is Lester a good boyfriend?”. Well, I won’t answer for obvious biases (we used to date, too much for me in bed). But if your answer is anything less than “yes”, “of course!” or “no, he is a GREAT boyfriend”, then you are a moron. A giant one.

Enjoy!!

-phibz

Another Heroic Melon Random Antic! Lent is a Christian tradition where one gives up something  for 40 days to represent the 40 days Jesus wandered the desert resisting Satan’s temptation. This year’s lent began on February 17th and ended on April 3rd. As I am not a Christian, that is the extent of my knowledge on this religious practice. Three out of five of the HMC members took on Lent regardless of religion. Lester tried giving up drinking and caved after the first two days. Kevin and myself were more successful. I gave up eating chips, and Kevin decided to give up swearing and McDonalds.

Kevin was not entirely successful because sometimes swearing just comes naturally. For every time he accidentally cusses, he granted me the pleasure of slapping him across the face. We didn’t spend every waking minute together, contrary to popular belief, so Kevin informs me of his slip ups and I follow through by slapping him the next time I saw him. And thus, spawned this awesome Random Antic:

Heroic Melon Collective presents,
Random Antics Volume 18: Slapping Kevin

I will honestly never get sick of this episode (: This will be the third Random Antic that The Banana Times has edited for the HMC, but don’t worry, there will be many more to come! Especially if it involves inflicting slapstick pain on another HMC member (see what I did there?). I’ll leave you with this:

The day lent ended, I wanted to seal myself in my room with a wall of chips. But unfortunately, I ate the wall. Mmmm…

-phibz.

If you don’t know already, The Banana Times and I have worked frequently with the Heroic Melon Collective. The HMC’s history is a new one, and as of April 2010 it would be one year old! I am truly proud to be part of Heroic Melon for many reasons, most recently because of THIS. It’s like raising a child that breastfeeds from 5 heterosexual (for the most part) fathers. Quite an image (:

On to the main point. Even though the HMC is still in its infant stages, we managed to garner a following so numerous it can trample over the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good And Who Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too‘s model.. To that effect we present to you this amazing piece of fan art from xlithiumflowerx aka Kei-chan (that’s what I call her)!!

On behalf of the HMC, we are truly honored and ecstatic to receive this awesome token of appreciation. Go check out her deviatart site HERE! She has other amazing artwork like this Kamen Rider!! How crazy is that?! Also follow her on Twitter KOCHI!

To end off, here’s a little bit of “art” that I did, dedicated to the Heroic Melon Collective (:

(Hiroiku Meron Korekuchibu)

I ran out of magnets to make double consonants or innovative Katakana characters, but it still works! (the tail of ‘チ’ could bend a little more..)

-phibz.

I’m proud to be part of a creative group of people who are brilliant enough to create great works of awesomeoness (and otakuness), shown in the Central Squares Saga. In the name of loving martial arts, anime, and all things nerdy, Central Squares is a true testament to the power of popular youth media, both Eastern and Western.

In 2006, the first installment of the Central Squares Saga garnered over 18,000 views on YouTube with its intended slapstick cheesiness and low-budget appearance. Above all, its ridiculous humour caught the unexpected waves of the Internet. Unknown to many, the title “Central Squares” has no direct connection to the narrative (or lack thereof) of the video series, but is simply the name of the area of York University in which it was filmed.

A surprise to most, four years later, a sequel was born. With a better set of hands provided by the Heroic Melon Collective and a departure from the beloved handycam look, Central Squares II was bigger, better, flashier, and more nerdy, with a plethora of references to popular video games, anime and television shows:

Dragonball, Star Wars, Naruto, you name it, and Central Squares II pays homage to it in some way. If my nerdiness serves me right, I counted at least 9 references to popular youth media. As I mentioned on our Twitter page, “It has references up the BUTT!”, which makes it all the more epic.

It took four years before a sequel was released, do we have to wait until 2014 before we see Central Squares III? I highly doubt that. Considering the diverse body of work the HMC have created, they are more than capable (not including myself, of course) of doing one, if not two, more installments to this great fanboy saga. With that said, RJ Tumanguil (Perfect Destiny Pictures) has sacrificed blood, sweat, tears, and many nights of sleep to polish the grand display of special effects in CS2. For now, we’ll let the trooper rest. For now (:

-phibz.

It is 3:30am and I got home not long ago from a full day of covering the SuperSkillz event at The Opera House in downtown Toronto, a talent show organized by Filipino Student Associations across the city. It was a great event, especially with the ever-energetic PJ Phil Guerrero mastering the ceremony. Our (HMC) interview with him will always be engraved into my memory due to the sheer hilarity and genuineness of “Sir” Guerrero’s personality. But more on that in my next post.

In around 15 hours, the festivities for the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards will commence. Needless to say (if you saw my recent, and first, video blog), that my Oscar Fever is reaching its highest temperature. I was so ready to write my predictions throughout the day at SuperSkillz, and watching Garron and Alison post theirs only increased my anxiety. But finally I get to, at 3am in the morning.

Let’s start off with the main categories that no one really talks about:

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Up In The Air written by Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Banana’s Choice: Up In The Air written by Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner

Runner Up: Precious written by Geoffrey Fletcher

I won’t be too shocked if Precious got a surprise win in this category, but if any other of the nominees wins, there’s something wrong. First of all, District 9 is an adaptation of Neil Blomkamp’s earlier short film which has the same plot. Secondly, Up In The Air was just a better executed film than the rest, as intense as Precious was.

Best Original Screenplay

Winner: Inglorious Basterds written by Quentin Tarantino

Banana’s Choice: The Hurt Locker written by Mark Boal

Runner Up: The Hurt Locker written by Mark Boal

Sorry, everyone knows I am 100% a Hurt Locker supporter, but it seems Tarantino’s multinational/borderline-stealing filmmaking style is likely to take this one. To be fair, he hasn’t written a captivating script since Pulp Fiction, not to say Basterds was better than Pulp Fiction though. I find that in the original screenplay category, great dialogue more often than not wins you the little golden man. Second to that, is to have something intriguingly original, such as Charlie Kaufman’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (I’ll love that movie until that memory-surfing technology is invented and tested, on myself…to erase Eternal Sunshine from my memory?).

Best Animated Feature

Winner: Up by Pete Doctor

Banana’s Choice: Up by Pete Doctor

Runner Up: No such thing

Up is going to win. Just like how WALL-E was destined to win last year. Like Garron said, Up is nominated for Best Picture, so it’s kind of default that it wins this category. Still bitter that Wallace & Gromit won 4 years ago, Miyazaki got ROBBED! Howl’s Moving Castle ftw! C’mon!!

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Mo’Nique as Marry Lee Johnston in Precious

Banana’s Choice: Mo’Nique as Marry Lee Johnston in Precious

Runner Up: Vera Farmiga as Alex Goran in Up In The Air

Mo’Nique essentially began, and still is, a comedic actress, and look what she pulled out of her bag of talent. I think the defining factor for myself is the clear distinction between her humorous persona, and the disturbingly pitiful character she put on for Precious. I mean, it was frighteningly unreal how sinister and foul her character was, but somehow she found a way to get the audience to sympathize with her. Amazing. Also Vera Farmiga was friggen smokin’, and yes, her performance was very convincing.

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds

Banana’s Choice: Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds

Runner Up: Not even a little close.

To quote Matt Damon on the David Letterman two nights ago – “not a chance in hell”. That’s right. Not a chance in hell that Sir Christoph Waltz won’t win this category. Its almost on par in saying Heath Ledger wouldn’t win Best Supporting Actor last year. Never have I seen a villain in a film show so little physical and facial intimidation, and yet, inject so much malice and fear. The Joker and Hans Landa = top two movie villains of the decade.

Best Actress

Winner: Meryl Streep as Julia Childs in Julie & Julia

Banana’s Choice: Meryl Streep as Julia Childs in Julie & Julia

Runner Up: Carey Mulligan as Jenny Miller in An Education

This category has certainly caused a stir in the movie world. But this also shows a distinction between the politics versus the actual quality of actors. That, or a separation in moviegoers who can distinguish a better performance, and those who just ride popularity trends. I honestly think Bollocks is only getting so much attention and recognition because this is the furthest her dramatic acting career can go. So the Board of Shadowy Figures decided to just give her the award before she surfs the inevitable typecast actor drought. But seeing as how political things can get, Sandra Bullock would probably win, but I refuse to believe it! On the other hand I chose the wonderful Carey Mulligan as the runner-up because I lover her, and that she has a great career waiting for her. This year’s Ellen Page in a way.

Best Actor

Winner: Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart

Banana’s Choice: Jeremy Renner as Sgt. William James in The Hurt Locker

Runner Up: Jeremy Renner as Sgt. William James in The Hurt Locker

Like Garron said, the new guy NEVER wins, unless you’re Adrien Brody and you somehow edged out Jack Nicholson. Jeff Bridges is the veteran actor and he deserves a little golden man for the many years he’s put into acting in films. But to be fair, his performance was stronger than the rest. As much as I’m rooting for Jeremy Renner, Sgt. William James isn’t too much of a diversion from Renner’s regular personality. Rugged, fearless, and dangerously logical. The other nominees, such as Morgan Freeman, I think could have executed a more convincing and powerful Nelson Mandela. Honestly, Matt Damon’s performance at times overshadowed the voice of God himself. And I think it’s about time George Clooney played a villain. I mean a real villain, not Michael Clayton. Yikes.

Best Director

Winner: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker

Banana’s Choice: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker

Runner Up: Anyone but James Cameron

Even though I tend to have a Canadian bias, this time I really, really do not want to see James Cameron win, anything! Surely Avatar is going to take home Best Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and even Art Direction, but please let it be the extent of it. I hate to be sexist here, but one thing that captivated me with The Hurt Locker was that a female director brought such cinematic force in a war movie, historically embedded as a male-dominated genre. On top of that, almost the entire cast was male. This goes to show how much outer direction she gave throughout the production of the film. In a sense, Kathyrn was embodying a character unto herself just so she can mold her actors and crew to convey the right messages. Bravo, Madame Bigelow. Bravo.

Best Picture

Winner: The Hurt Locker

Banana’s Choice: The Hurt Locker

Runner Up: Any film but Avatar, The Blind Side, A Serious Man

First to explain my runner up choice(s). Like I said, I don’t want Dances With Smurfahontas, I mean, Avatar to win ANYTHING except technical awards, which it deserves. The Blind Side being nominated still baffles me. There are so many other worthy nominees that could have filled the 10^th spot e.g. Crazy Heart, (500) Days of Summer, Star Trek, Invictus even Julie & Julia would’ve been better. A Serious Man, if there were still 5 Best Picture nominees, this latest Coen Brothers film would have been left out. It was great in its innate art-film nature, but that’s as far as it took me.

An Education, District 9, Up, won’t win, but I still prefer them to the three films I just mentioned. The closest runner-up of the remaining three (Basterds, Precious, Up In The Air) would be Up In The Air in my opinion. I love realist, character-based movies that take the audience through the ups and downs of a slice of a character’s life. The cast was sewn compatibly together and the mockumentary-esque icing made it all the better.

———————-

There you have it, The Banana Times’ Oscar Predictions. I am honestly still bitter that (500) Days of Summer did not get nominated for anything! The Academy Awards still favors dramatic films and performances, leaving genuine comedies, romances, and even dramadies in the dust next to Thomas Haden Church and his crappy and redundant existence in the invisible third movie of the Spiderman film franchise. F*** I hate that movie so much I want to punch James Cameron right in the Piranhas.

-phibz.

Its been quite a February, considering it is the shortest month of the year. We had the NFL SuperBowl XLIV, the NBA All-Star Game, Chinese New Year, Valentines Day, and last but not least, the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

To celebrate this wondrous month, The Banana Times made the move to start blogging in the form of video. It is not like the usual video blogs you see, where the speaker talks and looks straight into the camera. We here at TBT love to mix things up, and like any worthy and great genre, it adapts and adopts. We hope you enjoy our little spin to the video blog style!

The Banana Times Productions presents,
BANANA BLOG 01 – TIGER! TIGER!

恭喜發財!

-phibz

On January 16th 2009 The Banana Times, as part of the Heroic Melon Collective, hosted a film screening and music event at O’Grady’s Tap & Grill in Downtown Toronto. The event was titled The Best Case Scenario. We had an audience of around 70 people, almost double the amount of our last screening, Awkward Night Out.

We showcased a lineup of films that were very diverse, to show the HMC’s versatility and varying styles. Along with our short films, the very talented Kevin Lam from Bujumed Media and others, performed several musical numbers that eased the crowd into the event.

The Banana Times screened three things on the night, A Melon’s Journey: The Beginning, a teaser trailer for our upcoming film Dry Cups and a short version of our definitive documentary Peel Me. Videos below:

A Melon’s Journey: The Beginning

Peel Me – Trailer

Other works of the night included The Homecoming from Reuben John A. Tumanguil’s Perfect Destiny Pictures, Central Squares I & II from Lester Calleja’s Lemon Meringue Productions, and the headliner Process Of Elmination from Alex Chung’s Saunica Films. Videos below!

The Homecoming

Central Squares I & II

Process Of Elimination

All in all the event very well! On behalf of the HMC, we’d like to thank everyone who came and for everyone who helped! Please tune in to www.HeroicMelon.com for more details on our upcoming projects, updates and events!

-phibz

The last of four posts for today!

Three weekends ago, the boys from the Heroic Melon Collective (including myself) took a drive from Toronto to Waterloo, Ontario. Why Waterloo, Ontario you might ask? Well, other than the being a student town and having a high concentration of studious young people (some people call them nerds, but I call them academically gifted with a side effect of being socially untalented, I’m nice that way), Waterloo really doesn’t have much else to offer – until November 21st came.

The Waterloo Festival of Animated Cinema was held that weekend, and we attended the film festival for one key reason – they were screening Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance! This was the first screening of the film in North America (if you exclude Hawaii) in its original Japanese form, with subtitles of course. The Heroic Melon crew are huge anime/manga-philes, and words can not express how excited we were to watch it, and how blown away we were afterward. Since words doesn’t do our experience justice, we’ll let the latest episode of Random Antics show you:

Heroic Melon Collective presents,
Random Antics Volume 14:
You Can (Not) Advance

There you have it. Possibly the best remake of any film or television series. I urge all of you to watch it when it is released in a theater near you. I for one know that it is already out in Hong Kong (it came out December 3rd). If my calculations are correct, Eva 2.0 will be in North American theaters by the summer of 2010 (it’ll be dubbed, but you folks HAVE to see it, one way or another). And believe me when I say, in the Academy Awards ceremony of 2011, Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance will be on the nominees list for Best Animated Feature. You heard it here first.

Eva 2.0 trailer:

“Needless to say, Rebuild of Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance was epic, legendary, divine”

-phibz.