There are projects that beyond their flaws you’ve got to praise for brazenness, the amount of love put into their creation. There’s this air of faith, of passion, that permeates all aspects, smoothening out whatever rough patches the material may have. Ang Larawan is this sort of project. Ang Larawan,
Category: News
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” First Screenings Start 5pm this Wednesday, Dec 13
Opening three days earlier than in the US, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins its roll-out in Philippine cinemas on Wednesday, Dec. 13 with screenings starting at 5 in the afternoon. Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets in now at their favorite theaters to avoid missing out to be one of the
Smaller and Smaller Circles
Serial, Making a Murderer, The Keepers, deep dives that have sprung forth from the recent death of Charles Manson; a jarring insight commonly seen in this renaissance of the true crime genre is that it adds another layer to how we look at crime and the so-called monsters that commit
Salamindanaw 2017 Winners Announced
A Nepalese short film emerged as the winner of the Golden Durian Prize for best Asian film in the recently concluded Salamindanaw Asian Film Festival. Dadyaa (Woodpeckers of Rotha), directed by Bibhusan Basnet and Pooja Gurung, bested 14 other entries in the Asian competion for a “powerful cinematographic work that
Don’t miss Batch ’81 at the Cine Adarna this Dec 1!
“History is being blatantly rewritten and the martyrdom of countless martial law victims is denigrated as stupidity and a dictator is given a hero’s burial in the dead of the night. In this situation, what can one film do? Nothing much … in fact, very little. But there are still
Call Me By Your Name
In “The Heptaméron”, Marguerite of Navarre asks the question: is it better to speak or to die? It’s a question that cradles us back to that thrilling, self-destructive, sweat-leaking-out-of-our-palms moment of professing our yearning for someone. Nevermind that it was merely a “special friendship”, which means everything and nothing at the same time.
Changing Partners
In the first minutes of Changing Partners, Agot Isidro’s Alex (don’t be confused, there’ll be two Alex’s here — that’s kind of the concept of the whole film) expresses her excitement over watching the new season of her favorite prime-time musical soap opera. Her much younger boyfriend Cris (Sandino Martin, one
Nervous Translation
People often say “see the world through the eyes of a child,” acting as if these words are the remedy to cynicism. Somehow this phrase is charged with what we imagine childhood to be: innocence, authenticity, joy and tears (somehow our emotions back then feel purer), wonder, etc. And yet
Paki
About two-thirds into Giancarlo Abrahan’s sophomore feature Paki, almost the whole of its ensemble start to gather around a table for a meal. This is the first time the family’s matriarch Alejandra (acted to a tee by Dexter Doria) will face once again her then not yet present and newly estranged
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
In social psychology, there’s this concept known as moral self-licensing. Moral self-licensing is what we call the tendency of man to succeed an act of goodness with something we can, in simple terms, label as “bad.” In an episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s satiating podcast Revisionist History (which I strongly urge
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
Thor: Ragnarok
Every so often, Marvel would release a collection of comics known as the ‘What If’ series, in which a cosmic being named The Watcher peers into a darker, oftentimes wackier, alternate universe. Some notable stories include What If The Punisher Became Captain America, What If The Fantastic Four Had Not Gained
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
The Chanters
There’s a certain nostalgia that James Mayo’s The Chanters exudes even though set in the present, with social media frenzy playing a part in its story. The film evokes simpler times — times when it was commonplace for neighbors to gather around a shared TV screen after dinner just to catch the
Loving Vincent
There’s this scene from the Doctor Who episode “Vincent and The Doctor” back in 2010 where the titular doctor takes Vincent Van Gogh himself to modern day Paris to visit one of the exhibits in his name. Van Gogh, the epitome of the tortured artist, stands bystander as the curator
“Battle of the Sexes,” C1 Originals’ Closing Film, Exclusive at Ayala Malls
Emma Stone and Steve Carell star in the exciting and moving new film “Battle of the Sexes,” which is based on true events and revolves around tennis legend Billie Jean King’s historic 1973 match against Bobby Riggs. Oscar winner Emma Stone stars as King; Oscar nominee Steve Carell plays Riggs,
“4 Days” Opens October 18 Exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas
Adolf Alix Jr.’s LGBT themed film “4 Days” starring indie actor Mikoy Morales and Sebastian Castro that made its debut at the 2016 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival will now screen at exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas’ Greenbelt 1 and Trinoma starting October 18. “4 Days” takes on the struggles of a
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
PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival at Ayala Malls Cinemas’ Greenbelt 3 Now Playing until October 15
Currently on screen until October 15, PELÍCULA-PELIKULA, the biggest Spanish film festival in Asia, will be featuring the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas, Makati. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain-AECID, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Ayala Cinemas, the 16th edition of
Blade Runner 2049
Let’s set expectations first. Full disclosure, I am in love with the original Blade Runner. It’s up there with Oldboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Fight Club (I was a hormonal teenager) in the list of films that changed my life. Given my adoration (and of course, Blade Runner 2049 being a sequel
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
mother!
There’s this scene in Ex Machina where Domhnall Gleeson explains to Alicia Vikander’s Ava the allegory of Mary’s Room. He tells the story of how Mary, a scientist, knows everything that’s possible to know about color — spectrums, theories, etc. She though lives, as well as was born and raised,
