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
Category: Reviews
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
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
An aggressively bonkers espionage film, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, has breached into comic book territory by amplifying its level of outrageousness in this sequel. The main attraction remains to be its bombastic action designed for viewers with an attention span of a Boomerang app (the delirious cab chase at the
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
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,
Logan Lucky
It’s interesting to see how after a sort-of drought in the heist genre, we get two quality entries this year with Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and — the brought-back-from-retirement — Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky. Both are stylized takes on the classic genre: featuring smart quirky dialogue, charming leads, and a
It
There is a certain kick in watching gushes of blood, split-second glimpses of monsters, and jump scares accompanied by irreverent denotations of sound and music – as it is the collective appeal of horror films. It also allows us a breather, whether in a scene or two following a scare,
Death Note
Adaptations are a tricky business. There’s much to consider. At one end, originality must be injected to make the familiar unfamiliar (well, any self-respecting creative would feel the need to do so). On the other hand, one can’t stray too far or risk being accused of dishonoring the source material.
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
Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B
There’s something inherently gothic in the pairing of romance and the supernatural — that notion of the taboo, the alienation that results from the “forbiddenness” of an affair, “you and me against the world.” There’s an idealistic purity that comes out from this subgenre of love; funny how it is
Baconaua
As dawn starts to creep in the horizon, we see the silhouette of Divina (Elora Españo), with a spear on her hands, standing in a the sea waist-deep. She’s sizing up the water, cautious not to make any unnecessary commotion. But no amount of concentration can make this a day
Kiko Boksingero
Family dramas often have the dire need to verbalize emotions via heavy-handed dramatic confrontations. Thop Nazareno‘s coming-of-age drama Kiko Boksingero spares its audience of this embarrassing rehash and instead sustains a light tone all throughout. The result remains to be a fully-fleshed earnest story efficiently utilizing its modest screen time.
Baby Driver
Baby Driver opens with car chase perfectly synced to “Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. We see the titular Baby (Ansel Elgort) align every move to the music — timing a heist to the song’s bluesy riff, flooring the pedal as the same song explodes into a cacophony of frantic garage
Dunkirk
The beach is cinema’s favorite battlefield. Muddy trenches are best left for exposition. And once you’ve seen a desolate, run-down town, you’ve seen them all. But the shorelines are where war has been depicted at its best. And therefore its worst. In Normandy, wave after wave of American forces were
War for the Planet of the Apes
NOTE: It’s assumed that the previous movies in this series have been seen by the readers (must I expound?). Anyhoo, light spoilers from the previous films follow. What I like about good war movies is not the spectacle of seeing big sweeping, epic shots of a battlefield — bullets and
Spider-Man: Homecoming
The struggle of a new beginning is evident in Spider-Man: Homecoming. It cannot be ignored that there have already been five movies preceding it (or four, as I would like to remember), and two beloved Peter Parkers under their tow. We have seen our friendly neighborhood web-slinger struggle numerous times
Wonder Woman
Growing up, I loved superheroes. I’d spend my Friday nights all cuddled up in front of the TV excited for the weekly episode of Batman: The Animated Series. In grade school, I’d beg my parents to bring me to the then monumental Spider-man 1. I’d also buy TV Guides just
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Guy Ritchie must have been so excited with the idea of adapting a classic tale of knights and kings that he did not know exactly what to do when he finally laid his hands on it. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was an origin story of some sort, but
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Whoever said “Nothing lasts forever” didn’t live long enough to see the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For better or worse, this lean, mean, money-makin’ machine is gonna be churning out sequel after sequel long after Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Evans’ muscles hang up their capes — figuratively speaking.
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell is basically what’s wrong with big Hollywood adaptations. In its attempt to distill the original’s heady concepts into forms that are more palatable and, in their heads, more enjoyable to the general audience, what we get is something that is The arteries carrying blood into ordering
Get Out
An addition to the many great horror films with socially conscious themes, Get Out is a film worthy of everyone’s viewing. Rich with thrills, a budding mystery, and a sharp script, this intense debut feature from writer-director Jordan Peele has all its hype well-deserved and its enormous success duly-earned. The
