The collective effort that The Walking Dead took in order to up the ante for its fifth season is, it can be said, squandered, with such a ridiculous conclusion that leads to yet another tragic death. What the fuck, Scott M. Gimple? Lost your senses? I read in Facebook posts
Author: Armando Dela Cruz
Genre apologist. Coffee enthusiast. All-around good guy.
Bond 24 debuts official title ‘Spectre’; unveils cast
The twenty-fourth Bond film, alternately referred to per accustomed tradition as Bond 24, has unveiled its official title. The upcoming film directed by Sam Mendes is going to be called Spectre; following the odd clever of 2012’s Skyfall, the film is suggestive of an arc involving the villainous same-name organization and confirming Christoph Waltz‘s
Grace of Monaco
According to the crimson text that opens it, Oliver Dahan’s Grace of Monaco is “a fictional tale inspired by real events,” and in sitting through what pompous catastrophe that it precedes, you finally arrive at the purpose that it serves. Dahan, who previously made La Vie en Rose, expressed his
Onto our worthwhile procrastination of the week: ‘Star Wars VII’ parody trailers
Cards on the table: at this point, any Star Wars film not-directed by George Lucas is goldmine. There is an unspoken and collective frustration felt about him as there is an overt annoyance for Jar Jar Binks. That is why when J.J. Abrams boarded the Episode VII project, much excitement
#TWD 5.7: “Crossed”
The fifth season of The Walking Dead has so far been a whirlwind, with consistently solid episodes that keep formidable emotional groundings. It helps that Scott M. Gimple understands the need for a faster pace, and in the process, takes the previous season’s few achievements to great use. Episodes from
The Fog
John Carpenter, a known conjurer of fright and respected genre figurehead, refers to his 1980 shocker The Fog as a ‘children’s film.’ The campfire scene early on is perfectly attuned to this notion, so as the number of scare scenes sprawled in the film; yet Carpenter, as ever, exudes a
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
It is from the fest circuits of ’04 and ’05 that Paul Etheredge-Outzs’s film Hellbent is unwarrantedly announced as “the first homoerotic slasher.” However, cultists who are actually familiar with the sub-genre’s history, argue in unison, championing a film more deserving of the title and that has already existed some decades
Nightcrawler
It is interesting that when Rick (Riz Ahmed) nervily assesses his employer—“your problem is you don’t understand people,” he notes—Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), the employer in question, would only feign him a bug-eyed sympathetic look while coating a condescending grin. Rick has not a lick of sense how Bloom, at
Attention, aspiring screenwriters! Jun Robles Lana is offering a free screenwriting workshop this coming January
Jun Robles Lana, alongside The Idea First Company, is hosting a screenwriting workshop free for aspiring screenwriters ages eighteen to forty. The writer-director of the acclaimed Bwakaw and Barber’s Tales, Lana is a terrific storyteller and taking advantage of this free workshop looks like a smart move for anyone who
Watch: Official trailer for Dan Villegas’s ‘English Only, Please’ debuts online
The three consecutive films released this year under the direction of Antoinette Jadaone—Beauty in a Bottle, Relaks, it’s Just Pag-Ibig and That Thing Called Tadhana—are all triumphs. They are works that punctuate on their genres (comedy and romance), while refusing insistent conventions. They are products of a refinement that is
Hindi Sila Tatanda
Malay Javier’s Hindi Sila Tatanda is an indulgent play at sonic and visual euphoria. The film has earned that merit. It is technically subversive, too; beginning as an innocuous slice-of-life coming-of-age with scenes that are mistakably Sundance-mold, until it plunges to a more sci-fi/genre film vibe, and finally pulls back.
Two Cents and Too Cents: On an unspoken dilemma in film criticism
The world we live now is at an age for free-thinkers. Liberals, the fancier folks call them. There are good and bad sides to that. Both make very long lists. But when this privilege to free self-expression is threatened or lambasted, it guarantees the inflictor abysmal doom. A recent article
Four hours of bonus content to come in upcoming ‘Ang Nawawala’ DVD release
Digital distribution in the Philippines is at a depressing point where home video is alarmingly scarce. Case in point: if you walk in a video store, you’d find six to seven racks of Hollywood titles and only one dedicated for local films. That rack, as you may have guessed, has
Two new Lana Del Ray songs in Tim Burton’s ‘Big Eyes’
That Oscar snub at Lana Del Ray’s soundtrack contribution to Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby robbed her track “Young & Beautiful” due recognition. But that is a thing in the past, and if she isn’t front-lining the soundtrack for the next Bond film, she can always find work elsewhere, as she has now in Tim
#TWD 5.6: “Consumed”
Carol’s transit from small to major character is, as is the normality in the series, especially ugly, having to witness the true death of her daughter as a walker. There is a precious moment in this week’s “Consumed,” which resonates that loss deeply but the show is past the naiveté
Red
There is no description for Jay Abello’s Red more apt than a ripple, making circles within circles and telling a story about stories. In the whole it is a well-meaning reminder of the true role of an audience to a story, of the unspoken symbiosis between the teller and the
“Set Me Free” by Dillon Francis & Martin Garrix
The title of the album from which the terrific electro-house banger “Set Me Free” is released could not be any more apt: Money Sucks, Friends Rule. From all far-across corners, I can almost hear snorts lilt and drone: “You listen to that music,” this and that, that and this. Yet,
The Babysitters
Being a film about a pair of swindlers, Paolo O’Hara’s The Babysitters begins with an auspicious prelude in which a caroller drones sarcastic lyrics to those who would not spare him loose change. The scene, whilst not the most striking starter, sets the film thematically well. In the world that
Violator
For an audience as discerning as the “Dodo” Dayao—his film writings, after all, are compiled in his expansive blog titled “Piling-Piling Pelikula“—the expectations for his film are naturally high. The man, known to a large sample of readers a prolific film critic* and ardent enthusiast, operates with a sense of cutting-edge
#TWD 5.5: “Self-Help”
The Riddle of Samson—“out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet”—is cited towards the end of “Self-Help.” It can be a portentous build-up to Eugene Porter’s inexorable reveal, an homage to Stephen King’s third Dark Tower, or both, but the scene in which the riddle
Watch: Teaser for Erik Matti’s ‘Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2’
We have been itching to share this with you; this statement being inspired by so much hair in this teaser. Erik Matti’s Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles pushed past budgetary constraints and made for a thrilling, full-on asuang film. The backdrop is entirely blue/green-screened, the majority of its environment added in-post. It is fair to describe
#TWD 5.4: ‘Slabtown’
At last we arrive at Episode Beth (Emily Kinney)—the arc for which you and your meme generators have been in keen anticipation. The episode, titled “Slabtown,” opens in a hospital ward, peeping through a now-desolate Atlanta. Who took her is naturally our first inquiry: The last time we saw of
#SinengPambansa Horror Plus Film Festival is no Oz, all Kansas
Be cautioned of three-quarters of this year’s edition of Sineng Pambansa Film Festival, brazenly subtitled with ‘Horror Plus’ like it had been last year with ‘Master’s Edition.’ Those who saw last year’s lineup of films will hear the vivid sarcasm to this statement. And if that previous fest had lost
Halloween Watchlist: 13 of Our All-Time Favorite Horror Films
The most important holiday of the year is upon us. A busy number of horror films–good and bad–are being released. And if history of late is to be trusted, I am inclined to believe that we stand a better chance in looking back.But then again, if you insist spending the
T’yanak
Of the plethora of think-pieces that John Carpenter’s Halloween has inspired over the decades, one thought remains most astute of the masked killer Michael Myers. He is not the predator, nature is—because it has allowed his existence, this err. The scene towards the film’s end perfectly illustrates my point: Myers,
