by Jennifer Marie G. Castro

LIKE EVERY Atenean, I’ve seen them perform at halftime, participate in cheer dance competitions, or hang out at their bench. Donning blue and white uniforms at UAAP games, with enough spirit to liven up the crowd, they roam amongst the Atenean sport fans encouraging them to cheer for one big fight. They are the Blue Babble cheering squad and for one day, I got to train with them.

What it takes
I arrived at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center at 6:00 pm, ready to join the squad for four hours of training. Lucky for me, in lieu of their usual conditioning regimen, they were having a light training day and were, instead, focusing on their stunts for the Blue Eagle’s first UAAP game.

We started out by jogging around the gym for twenty minutes. After catching my breath from what seemed like an hour of jogging, I stretched and got ready to learn some of their routines. Not even half of training was done, and I was already tired.

Joining Babble is a commitment, as the dancers and lifters train from Monday to Friday. “Kapag nagcommit ka (when you commit), you have to commit a lot. When you get home, you’re physically and mentally tired. It’s really hard. You know you’re a student athlete. You really have to balance everything,” says Arriane Serafico (IV AB MEco), who has been a cheer dancer for four years now.

Balancing training and schoolwork is an arduous task, and according to Mary Dizon (IV AB Psy), one of the team captains, you need heart to become a Babble member. “It all boils down to how much you love what you’re doing,” she says.

Two sides to the coin
The new steps for the “Fight, Fight, Blue and White” cheer were taught first. For the cheer dancers, it only took a few minutes to memorize the new routine. I, on the other hand, stumbled through the steps, often copying moves of the ones in front of me and ending the routine a few seconds after everyone else.

After they finished memorizing the new routine, I joined the rookie members in learning the steps for “Fabilioh”. Needless to say, I stumbled through that routine too.

From the tiring training sessions to the numerous routines, I wondered what the members loved so much about being in Babble.

“The best part [is the] friendship, [but] it’s very time-consuming. It is hard since my course also has a very high QPI requirement. I have to juggle not only my assignments and readings, but also trainings and games,” says Alexis Aquino (II AB MA PoS).

For Mary, “[The] best part [is] yun mga tao (the people). Sila yun parang family ko sa Ateneo (They’re like my family in Ateneo). The other best thing about it is performing. I really love performing in front of the crowd. The worst part is the very late night training.”

They don’t even get to watch games. “We get the free ticket but we’re not allowed to watch the game because we’re facing the crowd,” says Mary. As it is their job to make the crowd cheer, they are fined if they are caught watching the game.

With all of this in mind, Mary believes that her good experiences in Babble outweigh the bad. “I’ve come to experience more positive things and in that sense, the happiness and satisfaction I get from being a part of this group makes me forget the difficulties I endure,” says Mary in Filipino.

Risky business
By 8:00 pm, what was left of my one-day training stint comprised of me watching the cheerdancers and lifters perform their new stunts. I witnessed the dangerous side of cheerleading firsthand as I saw one of the lifters go down in pain.

“Feeling kasi ng mga tao na dali lang ang mga ginagawa namin (others think our routines are easy), pero (but), actually, sa America ata (in America, I think), third ito sa (it ranks third in the) most dangerous sports ever,” says Mary.

However, practicing such stunts is necessary for them to reach the top. “We’re hoping to get into the top three this year. Before, we usually went for safe stunts, pero ngayon (but now), [we’re taking] risks,” says Arriane.

After training, we all felt tired but nonetheless, satisfied. As an experience, “Babble has been a roller coaster ride. All the ups and the downs made my Babble experience highly unforgettable,” says Alexis.

Even if it was just for one day, I can’t help but agree.

by Jennifer Marie G. Castro

IN WANTED, James McAvoy (Atonement) plays Wesley Gibson, an apathetic accountant who inherently has the skills to become a top-notch assassin. The film is loosely based on a comic book miniseries by Mark Millar. Director Timur Bekmambetov gives viewers plenty of sharp-shooting, car-twisting, and impossible feats in this action thriller.

Gibson is a nobody who passively endures a nagging boss, an ignorant best friend, and a whiny girlfriend. One day, he encounters Fox (Angelina Jolie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and joins the Fraternity, a group of skilled assassins led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby).

Wanted’s plot in itself is ridiculous. The story of how the Fraternity came to be is too unbelievable. Also, its narrative and script do not really bring anything new to the table as it resembles many other action thrillers. Fortunately, its stunts and cast salvage the plot by bringing action—and lots of it.

From his voice-over narration to his unaffected demeanor, James McAvoy plays his part perfectly. The transition from an indifferent accountant to a deadly assassin is believable, if not remarkably smooth. In his first venture into action, McAvoy effectively balances likeability with killer instinct. Although the stunts are the main attraction, he still manages to make an impact on viewers and will undoubtedly have a future in action thrillers.

As mentor and companion to Gibson’s foray into the world of cold-blooded murder, Fox has the attitude and physique that complement his naiveté. Jolie plays her role well by showing a caring and semi-idealist side to the naturally strong and serious assassin. Her approachability allows her to be more than a woman who can handle a gun.

As the leader of the Fraternity, Freeman adds credibility to the ludicrous plot through his calmly dictatorial demeanor. He gives viewers a glimpse of both sides of the coin: a compassionate mentor and a power-hungry killer. While his character does not call for the greatest of acting skills, Freeman makes a strong impression and even steals some of the limelight from McAvoy and Jolie.

Wanted definitely delivers on the action. Between the car chases and shooting sequences, the audience barely manages to catch its breath before the next action stunt begins. The film does not only showcase the suave and cool side to being an assassin, but also highlights the dirty work involved. There is a lot of blood shed in the movie, more so than in recent assassin flicks like Hitman.

Wanted’s strongest point lies in its stunts and special effects, but the cast brings in good performances as well. The film isn’t for the faint-hearted, but it does make for a decent popcorn flick. If you’re watching it for the action, it’s one of the best films this year. If, however, you’re hoping for a good plot, Wanted will leave you wanting.

Rating: 4 out of 5 g’s

by Anna Patricia G. Valerio

TWO SEEMS to be a lucky number for Huling Pasada, one of the finalists in this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. Touching on the parallels between two completely different realms—the sphere of the writer and that of her characters—the film is a collaborative effort of two Ateneans, Paul Sta. Ana (AB Philo ’99), a former lecturer at the Filipino Department, and Alvin “Vim” Yapan (BS LM ’97), an associate professor at the Filipino Department.

From real to reel
Paul is no stranger to the idea of the interplay between two realms. Inspired by films that make use of this concept, he wrote a screenplay about how Ruby (Agot Isidro, Lobo), in the process of writing a story about taxi driver Mario (Neil Ryan Sese, Kubrador), gets tangled in the plot that she herself has created.

Paul’s efforts in writing a screenplay paid off when he found out that the film had entered the competition. “It was the moment I’ve been waiting for,” he says.

Although Vim’s Rolyo already won Best Short Film in the Cinemalaya last year, he says that this was his first time to direct a feature-length film.

“Paul just invited me [to help him direct the film] when they were already doing production. [The film is] really not my proposal,” says Vim. “But of course, since he’s my friend, I’m always very glad to help,” he adds in a mix of English and Filipino.

Upon hearing this, Paul immediately turns to Vim and asks, “[But] what [did] you think of the material?”

Vim replies, “Maganda naman (The material was good).” He goes on to add, “Even if he is [my] friend I wouldn’t just accept the directorship if I didn’t find any substance or merit to the screenplay.”

Reality bites
Although such candor is refreshing to hear, these directors admit that things didn’t always go smoothly for them during the production process.

Paul, whose mother passed away while he was writing the screenplay, recalls how he was submitting the script to Cinemalaya during his mother’s burial rites. “[That was how] badly I wanted to be part of this festival,” he says.

The first shooting day even had problems for the two directors. “It’s actually just a misunderstanding. Since we’re both directing the same film, we divided the sequences [and assigned these to each other beforehand],” says Vim. On the day of the shoot itself, however, they were surprised to find each other directing the other person’s set of sequences. It turns out that their assignments got mixed up.

Still, they were levelheaded enough to not blow the whole thing out of proportion. Looking back on that experience now, the two directors can’t help but laugh and joke about the whole thing. “It’s inevitable,” says Paul. “Pero magkaibigan pa rin kami ngayon (But we’re still friends now),” he says with a laugh.

The power of two
Vim was also quick to point out that creative differences had never been a problem for them. Having worked together as Heights members back in college, he says that they both valued each other’s input and easily resolved whatever differences that arose between them.

“Bilib na kami sa isa’t isa noon pa man (We already believed in each other’s abilities since then),” says Paul.

One of the concerns that they had while directing the screenplay, Vim recalls, was whether the sequences would make it apparent that two directors actually worked on the film. Looking at the finished product, the directors are both convinced that they have nothing to be worried about.

“[Working with each other has] made us realize that our [filmmaking] styles were different,” Paul says in a mix of English and Filipino. “Pero nagtugma naman (But they still complemented each other),” he adds.