Richard Somesâs Liwanag sa Dilim enacts a battle between good and evil, the timeless adventure of friends joined in defeating a villainous being, tykes assembled in lieu of the common task of slaying the monster under the bed. And although the film is elusive to the delineation as a children’s
Author: Armando Dela Cruz
The Virtue of Naivety: the romantic dramedies of Antoinette Jadaone
Antoinette Jadaone is on the crusade of deciphering loveâthe great mystery she synonymizes to âkatangahanâ or naivety, so indulgently she chews in and spits out, and with which she ultimately wins the collective heart of the peoples. When she appears the vindicator of this laughable anomaly, she comes out a noble
Before Midnight
Time is a consistent fascination for Richard Linklater. Friend or foe, time in his films is always depicted for being the most humanizing aspect of lifeâwhich it is. Everyone seem lost in its evanescence, compelling transports away and back to the present, and daring to bend its ephemeral and often
The Taking of Deborah Logan
The collective torment in The Taking of Deborah Logan creeps back to an unenviable happenstance, one that does not enter Adam Robitelâs frames but reverberates to consequences just as sweeping, back in the rise of switchboard answering machines, when data and information are tantamount, and entrusted, with no legal bounds whatsoever,
The ABCs of Death 2
The ABCs of Death anthologies do not necessarily invite to winnow of treasures on a proverbial pile of manure; they encourage its viewers, instead (for the lack of a daintier term), to dig right into the said pile-oâ-shit, for there to discover rewarding and beautiful oddments. The finds are unusually
Yam Laranas announces new thriller Abomination
Yam Laranas have had quite a space of time to bring in his next picture following the widely successful The Road (’12)âa generation-leaping horror-thriller following a young man’s unbecoming. If it is all-texture, as critics note, I rest with the inarguable fact that it is a great texture, which makes the utopia in justice finding itself
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death
The well-oiled mechanics of James Watkins‘ The Woman in Black (’12) see an unintentional “advent” of the so-called “modern tactics” in ghost stories of markedly classicist forms. Taking note from the minimalist flair of Robert Wise‘s The Haunting (1960), whilst remaining cautious to service the modern spectator’s customary jolts, the film and its often wobbly framework may
American Sniper, Blackhat, M open this week in Philippine theaters
This week finds the release of American Sniper and Blackhatâtwo films I have already watched during the Awards, a.k.a. screener season. The former is a Clint Eastwood film perfectly fitting the Oscar mold; the latter being Michael Mann‘s under-sung work, which some imagine if titled “American Hacker” would have had ‘better chances’ in the awards
Tragic Theater
Rape is a difficult subject of conversation, but demonic possession is not. In fact there is a glut of stories and accounts concerning the occult on which people savagely gorge, and with which few and certain people make corporate enterprises. G.M. Coronel, the author of the same-name novel Tragic Theater published some years
Shake, Rattle & Roll XV
Of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, since the film seriesâ awakening from its lengthy dormancy until â05, Shake, Rattle & Roll is bestowed upon the most daunting task, which is, to present three horror âfeaturettesâ per volume. The scriptwriters has since considered their limiting obstacles, primarily runtime, which, on
The Year in Horror: 15+ Best Films of 2014
Time has struck into the annual season of lists, where selectionis spontaneously divorced from apt and valid criterion; where unjust remarks are made; and people deeming one list fallacious, some reducing others as cheaply formatted posts of embedded film trailers. Amid (and despite) all this commotion, it has become my
Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2
A modest slice of entertainment, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2” is a return to the communal fun of adventures like Gagamboy (â03) and Magic Temple (1996).
The stylistic cunning of Magkakabaung
If you are not fond of spoilers but seek a considerably insightful piece on the film, Iâd redirect you to Jonell Estillore‘s review here; the interview I conducted with filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana is a supplement of insight on the backend of things, but contains major spoilers, as are my
Gemini
The oversimplified definition of film noirs has long been reduced to stories of extreme cynicism and ambivalence, a test, if you will, in perception of the truth. Naturally, my main attraction with Ato Bautistaâs neurotic thriller Gemini roots from the film noirs repetitively played (but with different sets of actors)
Jason Paul Laxamana on his film Magkakabaung, Hanoi, and local cinema
Babagwa (eng title. The Spiderâs Lair) is a modest triumph for Jason Paul Laxamana, a marked leap from his debut feature Astro Mayabang. But both films will seem backdrops to his success, documents of the becoming of the maker of Magkakabaung (eng title. The Coffin Maker), the film that finally makes
This yearâs Sineng Pambansa has been reissued âFrightfest,â playing right now in select Ayala Cinemas
This yearâs government-backed film festival has not been particularly good. In my report of the fest, I expressed my contempt for three-quarters of the whole lot, which premiered only four films including Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyesâs remake of their own 1988 cult-favourite Tâyanak. It is the only film that
6 films released this year that are inspired by John Carpenter
I still hold that his latest film The Ward (2010) is not a John Carpenter film; he is not involved in both the script-work and music, which in itself is pretty self-explanatory. I think it as an unthought-of plunge to quickie horror by a legendary director who has made terrific
Watch: Trailer for Terrence Malickâs new film Knight of Cups, starring Christian Bale
Terrence Malickâs new film Knight of Cups, starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman, has a first-trailer released, and, as most Malick trailers do, they do not give away too much of the central plot but manages to shake the earth beneath you. An official synopsis has not been
Five on fiveâMMFF 2014 New Wave entries
Aside from the primaryâessentially mainstreamâline-up of films, the annual Metro Manila Film Festival has also committed to an âindieâ section called New Wave, which will run starting tomorrow, December 17th thru 24th. We have asked the five directors of this yearâs competing films to send us their own best
Watch: Cinemalaya 2014 award-winning short film Lola debuts online
Kevin Angâs entry about a disillusioned grandmother (portrayed by Erlinda Villalobos) won all Best Director, Best Screenplay and Audience Choice awards at the recent Cinemalaya Film Festival. Titled Lola, the film is centred on Villalobosâs character who keeps and feeds her undead family at home, ignorant of the outbreak that had
Starry Eyes
Starry Eyes begins with a deceptively auspicious startâan obsessed starlet (played by Alex Essoe) stumbles to her first acting jobârelying on studious atmospherics that evoke very much the work of David Cronenberg. There is a brooding sense of mystery in the film that is well-built up, and also almost Lynchian,
WATCH: “Too scary” â MTRCB bans trailer for Tragic Theater
The above trailer for the new film by Tikoy Aguiluz (director of Segurista) is banned, for some reason, and was given an âX ratingâ by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). There are dark forces behind this ban, I feel it. The production took to YouTube, which is
Watch: The trailer for David Robert Mitchellâs It Follows is genuinely unsettling
David Robert Mitchell launched It Follows at Cannes to thunderous raves, with critics already honouring it one of the best horror films of recent. We have the trailer for the film, which, if it serves any indication, makes a great promise and, taking into account the critical acclaim, fulfils with a
We are spilling details on the upcoming J.J. Abrams sci-fi featureâitâs top-secret!
The modest success of lo-fi found-footage Cloverfield has launched Matt Reeves to the world as an able storyteller, succeeding with much bigger projects such as Let Me In and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. J.J. Abrams who eyed the up-and-coming talent, hopes the same to happen to music
Watch: This Wes Anderson cut of the Star Wars VII teaser-trailer is c’est drĂ´le
Remember the first three Star Wars parody trailers we shared? Well apparently the internet simply could not move past them because someone has made a Wes Anderson version of the now-viral teaser-trailer, and it is c’est drĂ´le. You may watch the Wes-cut trailer above. Star Wars Episode VII is directed by J.J. Abrams (Super 8)