So long, farewell Sinag Maynila Film Festival 2019! We were invited by Keith Deligero, Lawrence Ang and company thru Contagious Inc. to discuss the Sinag Maynila Film Festival. Forgive our shyness, here’s hoping you guys join in the discussion too! We don’t bite, although you can always bite us if you don’t
Category: Features
Festival Report: Notes on Sinag Maynila Film Festival 2019
Before we kick off towards a new film festival (QCinema??? PPP??? Cinemalaya??? CinemaOne Originals!??), we’d like to give a shout out to the last one we’ve been to. We even had a video version of our usual podcast route, courtesy of Contagious Inc. and perhaps this would open more episodes like
LIST: 9 films to look forward to this 2019
We’ve only just hit the third month of this year and yet the slate of films that came out in the first quarter had us elated. From local releases such as Alone/Together, Born Beautiful, Elise among others to Hollywood blockbusters like Captain Marvel and Alita: Battle Angel have made great returns in
Ten films and shows on Netflix that are worth your time
Admit it. You’ve googled this before. Terms like “What to watch on Netflix?” or, “Best romantic comedies on Netflix”, “Horror movies netflix”. Well, worry no more. As an expert procrastinator and couch potato lady, I’ve done all that and for the past years (as well as recent ones), here are ten
Where did all the critics go?
I wrote this for an hour, but this may take about two to three minutes to read. And I propose this question to the wind, to you, and to everyone else reading this: Where did all the critics go? When I ‘started’ out on this industry as a member of
Spring Films celebrates 10th anniversary with film screenings at UPFI
Our friends at Spring Films are celebrating its 10th year anniversary by showcasing some of the best from its roster in a series of special screenings at the Cine Adarna theater in UPFI. Spring Films is the film outfit behind beloved titles such as “Kimmy Dora: Kambal sa Kiyeme” and
‘Oda sa Wala’: the morbid fragrance of emptiness
An unsettling portrait of death—of the body, and more so of the spirit.
The FPR United Festival Report: QCinema International Film Festival 2018
Editor’s note: the following reviews are originally posted from each author’s blogs by permission. All opinions are ours, as per usual. Pauline Kael once said, “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.” This October
Cinema One Originals 2018 Festival Guide
Cinema One Originals 2018 is just a few days away. This year, with the theme “I Am Original”, the long-running fest is slated to serve nine new feature films, twelve shorts, and premieres for the restored versions of two of the most iconic movies in Philippine history. || Related: Cinema One
QCinema 2018 gives homage to french cinema classics
[Editor’s note: This is a press release from QCinema.] The QCinema International Film Festival pays tribute to French cinema’s richness by highlighting classic titles for the Filipino cinephile. The sixth edition of QCinema casts a spell with Diabolique, And God Created Woman, and Five and the Skin. All films were all
QCinema 2018 unleashes Asian Next Wave competition entries
[Editor’s note: This is a press release from QCinema] A new breed of Asian filmmakers emerges in the third edition of the Asian Next Wave (ANW), a section of the coming QCinema International Film Festival (QCinema). All works are of promising Asian directors who have less than three feature films
QCinema 2018 reveals colorful line-up of LGBT Films for RainbowQC
W[Editor’s Note: this is a press release from QCinema] QCinema International Film Festival (QCinema) gives visibility to noteworthy cinematic craftsmanship with a wide array of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) films from across the globe. Co-presented by The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), RainbowQC presents a stellar lineup of
Viddsee announces finalists for second annual Juree Awards Philippines 2018
[Editor’s note: This is a press release from Vidsee] Ten bold and emotionally stirring stories have been selected as the finalists for the second Viddsee Juree Philippines, a festival of short films that celebrates and supports filmmaker communities in Asia. The nominated films were submitted by a range of independent
The Things You Need to Know About Salamindanaw
The fifth edition of Salamindanaw Asian Film Festival starts in seventeen days (November 27 – December 1, 2017). Here are some of the things you need to know about the Festival. The name of the Festival is a play on three words: salamin (mirror), salam (peace), and Mindanao. The redesigned
A Guide to the 13th Cinema One Originals Film Festival
The 13th Cinema One Originals is just around the corner and it’s promising to come into our theaters more fearless than ever. This year’s fest brings about a wildly eclectic selection composed of restored Filipino classics, a hype-worthy foreign line-up of 2016-2017 award nominees and winners, and, of course, the highlight
2017 Viddsee Juree Awards Top 10 Finalists Announced
Fresh, innovative and inspiring stories have been chosen to vie for top honors at the Viddsee Juree Philippines, a festival of short films that aim to celebrate and support filmmaker communities in Asia. The nominated films are by upcoming talents from different schools such as the University of the Philippines,
Neomanila: Earned Redeption Failure
Warning: Full spoilers below. Neomanila has the uncanny ability to disorient. The film initially posits that in the underbellies of Manila, its inhabitants learn how to hold on to whatever light they can manage to get their hands on. It makes its audience believe that optimism is its endgame, that it
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KYLO: Regarding that Star Wars Trailer
Unless you’ve been living in a galaxy far, far away, you’ve no doubt heard about The Last Jedi trailer that dropped earlier this week. There’s also an overwhelming chance that you’ve seen it. Multiple times. Despite the director’s warnings not to. You scruffy-looking nerfherder. To your potential disappointment, this isn’t
QCinema fetes five years with strong roster of films
The Quezon City International Film Festival (QCinema) 2017 opens with a major splash with the advance Philippine premiere of “Loving Vincent” and digital comeback of Mike De Leon’s “Batch 81.” In “Loving Vincent,” dubbed as the “world’s first fully painted feature film,” directors Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman paint the
Respeto: The Futility of Resignation
Warning: Full spoilers below. There’s a mislead inherent to Treb Monterras II’s Respeto. By its sheer inclusion of the rap battle subculture — one whose foundation in itself is competition — there’s the immediate perception that it falls under the underdog sports movie genre. But instead of following tropes akin
Birdshot: An Allegory of Paradise Lost
Warning: Full spoilers below. For the past three days I’ve been thinking about what part of Birdshot leaves me so unsettled, restless with a feeling of dread hovering above. Just like a gumshoe with an inkling he’s obsessesing over, I’ve been thinking, re-watching the film, trying to get a hold of
And He Too Was 2cool 2 Be 4gotten
By now, thousands of people may already have seen 2 Cool 2 Be Forgotten, a gay coming of age story set in the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo’s explosion in the 90s. The film was lauded by critics and audiences alike that it nabbed the Best Film Award in the 2016
Jason Paul Laxamana on filmmaking in the Philippines
The director of The Third Party, the newest Star Cinema offering starring Angel Locsin, Sam Milby, and Zanjoe Marudo, has agreed to do a sit-down with yours truly to talk about filmmaking in the Philippines. [dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he cynicism in Jason Paul Laxamana’s films, scathing as they may, are far too doting
Brillante Mendoza: Capturing spontaneity of moments in film
Avoid telling your characters their future; let them discover it on their own. [dropcap size=big]B[/dropcap]rillante Mendoza has a new featurette playing at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival; the featurette, titled “Shiniuma (Dead Horse)”, follows an old immigrant (Lou Veloso) who returns to the Philippines decades after being deported from
Philippines’ bet for Academy’s Best Foreign Language
Granted that Filipino indie films can now easily sneak into the mainstream, several films this year got recognition whether in the local box office or in the international arena. Still, that won’ an assurance to be our entry at the Academy Awards. As we get closer to the Oscars season,
