In an alternate world, one conceived by Chito S. Roño out of Julie Yap Daza’s bestseller, Kris Aquino rules a kind of an exclusive clique. I realize this doesn’t sound surprising at all—this is just Kris being Kris—but the world in which her prude restaurateur Georgina exists is less ideal
Author: Armando Dela Cruz
Genre apologist. Coffee enthusiast. All-around good guy.
Listen to our playlist of the music from ‘The Martian’; you know you want to
You’re no less of a person if you turned up during Ridley Scott’s latest, The Martian. Scott, aged seventy, is still able to make his work feel so vibrant and youthful it’s able to recognize the timeless magic Gloria Gaynor has on people. Admit it: you strut away with funk
Resureksyon
Any hint of country idyll is lost at the very opening of Borgy Torre’s Resureksyon. In its first ten or so minutes, the film introduces the monster born from within its rural milieu: an impoverished woman (Isabelle Daza), emboldened by the promise of a better life working abroad, decides to
Rising Indies! Tokyo-Manila runs from October 3 to 6
If you’re around for a great lineup of experimental gems, take note of this upcoming event: Happy Tent’s Rising Indies! Tokyo-Manila is kicking off October 3 thru 6 at Los Otros and Green Papaya Art Projects. The four-day film experience is screening some of the best of Philippine and Japanese experimental cinema. If that alone
Jim Libiran’s ‘Ninja Party’ screens at UPFI this October
UPDATE: ‘Ninja Party: Director’s Cut’ will also be screening at the Isetan Cinerama and Market Place, Mandaluyong starting September 30. Jim Libiran’s Ninja Party is having a limited run at UPFI Videotheque this October. To the uninitiated: no, this is no hacking-and-slashing type of ninja film. Many have tried and failed. The
‘The Jungle Book’ Trailer: Trust in ScarJo’s serpent
Jon Favreau’s update on the Disney classic animation The Jungle Book is upon us. The first peek into the film is in the form of a teaser-trailer released online, to a kind welcome by general audiences. Mowgli (portrayed by newcomer Neel Sethi) looks to trace darker territories, which is inherent in Rudyard
Notes on ‘Heneral Luna’: The piece, the orchestra, the maestro
Our Movie of the Week feature puts the spotlight on Jerrold Tarog’s terrific historical drama Heneral Luna. The film is still showing in cinemas and we encourage everyone to catch it. In this piece, Armando shares a few stray notes he has on Tarog’s latest. Spoilers ahead! Different people know Jerrold
Our next movie of the week: ‘Heneral Luna’
Here’s the thing: in one of the promotional materials for Jerrold Tarog’s new film Heneral Luna, John Arcilla, playing the role of the titular hero, speaks of “blood and sweat” and of jumping “into the abyss.” To those familiar to the film’s history (seventeen years in-the-making!), it’s easy to staple those
‘Demolition’ Trailer: Jake Gyllenhaal must break things apart
Where to even begin? Jake Gyllenhaal stars in the emotional drama Demolition, a film directed by Jean-Marc Valée (Wild). Entirely based on the prior sentence, the trailer for the film (which Fox Searchlight has freshly released) looks spot-on. “Quirky letter taking sudden dark turns? Seems characteristic enough. Much so—and this
On Freddy Krueger and the anatomy of the bogeyman
In line with the recent passing of dear horror maestro Wes Craven, we are taking up his film A Nightmare on Elm Street for our first Movie of the Week. In this piece I talk about the film’s infamous villain, Freddy Krueger, his history, methods and everything that makes him a most relevant maniac
Take a peek at ‘Heneral Luna’ with these character posters
Heneral Luna, the new film from Jerrold Tarog, is a recounting of the life of the famous military general, loosely based on Vivencio Jose’s “The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna”. Tristan Zinampan writes in his review: “Heneral Luna is a tale of how a dissenting voice can get swept away
Filipino movies on a roll this Sept: ‘Luna,’ Taklub,’ and more!
It’s a busy month for Filipino movies this September. Gino M. Santos’ Ex with Benefits is already killing in box office, while critical reception is looking to be a bust. I’m yet to see the new film from the director of #Y, which I liked if only for its candor observations on millennials, but as yet
Eddie Redmayne transitions in first trailer for Tom Hooper’s ‘The Danish Girl’
At the heat of the Awards season, the first trailer for Tom Hooper’s transgender biopic The Danish Girl is released, seeping out generous reactions from the public. The film frames Eddie Redmayne, fresh from his Best Actor win for his role as Stephen Hawking in James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything, in a poignant
Guns and aswangs in trailer for Borgy Torre’s new film ‘Resureksyon’
When Erik Matti isn’t busy making films about swindlers, he continues to explore Filipino vampirism. This time, he fills the shoes of a producer to director Borgy Torre’s new film Resureksyon, a vampire thriller starring Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Isabelle Daza. Paulo Avelino stars too, as a detective who investigates a freak
Our first Movie of the Week: ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
With what does one define Wes Craven’s career? Under every circumstance, we’d be pointed to his 1984 slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street, an undervalued film that echoes an icon whose greater contributions to cinema remain unsung. If for some reason you wish to front with the fact that Craven catapulted Johnny
Piolo Pascual-starrer ‘Silong’ gets nationwide release
Silong is the debut feature of Roy Sevilla Ho and Jeffrey Hidalgo, the latter perhaps familiar to many as an actor and musician. The film premiered at the recently concluded Cinemalaya Film Festival and to positive reviews, including our own Kenneth Borlan, who notes: “The layers in Hidalgo-Ho tandem remove the patented
The Vatican Tapes
We snag exorcism films time and again—like toiletries from hotels. Post-The Exorcist, the sub-genre maintains only a shy list of films that actually carry weight: Scott Derrickson ponders on the subject in his 2005 quasi-doc The Exorcism of Emily Rose; and Adam Robitel furthers the conversation on exorcism with an elderly woman diagnosed with Alzheimer’s showing signs of
Trailer for Robert Eggers’ visceral period horror ‘The Witch’ is here
Much buzz has been going around The Witch, the Sundance standout directed by Robert Eggers. Of course there’s Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England that precedes it, and of course a film about the Salem witch trials doesn’t promise anything new. The generous reviews, of course, are encouraging, much more with A24’s confidence in
Kyel
There are no clocks in hell according to Frank Ferguson Jr.’s unnamed druggie, who we only know through his (possibly drug-induced) fits of rage and breakdowns. The dark room where this scrawny persona holes in doesn’t have clocks, either; but if need be the space looks just the part. We find
Teaser for Roddy Piper’s final film ‘Portal to Hell!!!’
Roddy Piper’s recent passing breathes the upcoming feature-length version of Portal to Hell!!! a bittersweet air. The 11-minute short is the wrestling icon’s final film, financed via the Harold Greenberg Fund’s Shorts to Features program. However the full-length feature comes out, it will, sadly, have one less HotRod. The short finds The Great Old One
Wawa
If you come in to Angelie Mae Macalanda’s short film Wawa, expect anything but the myth of Bernardo Carpio enduring two mountains apart or the enkantada who entrances unsuspecting male tourists. The heart of the film, while it dwells in darkness, is something far more familiar to us—perhaps all too vividly—than folklore. Its
Film Police Primer: Cinemalaya 2015
Onward we keep rolling through The Film Festival Season—undoubtedly the most stressful months every Filipino cinephile goes through, chasing a spree of screenings of worthwhile films, some of which if we’re being honest we will probably end up torrenting anyway. READ MORE: Complete screening schedules of Cinemalaya 2015 Cinemalaya, one
DLS-CSB hosts John Torres film retrospective Aug 6-7
If as yet you’re unfamiliar with the works of John Torres, you’re missing out on some of the best that Philippine cinema has to offer. The experimental filmmaker is a ways away his breakthrough short Salat (2004)—truly an indescribable feat of distinctly alarming immersion—enough to make up more than a day of looking
I. Am. A. God.: Revisiting Dodo Dayao’s ‘Violator’
As first features go, Eduardo ‘Dodo‘ Dayao’s Violator (’14) is leaned more towards the introduction of a voice rather than the solidifying of a statement. I saw it the first time during its auspicious run at the Cinema One Originals Film Festival last November where it won, rightly, Best Picture; wrote a verbose,
The enduring action hero of Tom Cruise
It’s not that Tom Cruise is post-humanly impervious nor invincible; he, as an actor (billed by Anthony Lane “the Dorian Gray of action movies”), is really just risk-taking and daring. This risque in project choices has pointed him to some of the greatest talents in Hollywood (De Palma, Spielberg, among
