I was almost going to miss the live streaming of this year’s Academy Awards, but thanks to certain sudden adjustments, I was able to stay at home for the entirety of the show. Fortunately, the Disney+ streaming didn’t encounter difficulties … Continue reading Anora’s Ascendance and Other 97th Oscar Highlights
It’s been said that awards are losing their luster, if not their significance altogether. The consensus has to do with the results reflecting that of a biased elite, rather than the general public. For me, it’s just a matter of … Continue reading Picks for the 97th Oscars
The praise was never universal from the get-go, notwithstanding the initial accolades and the fact it’s now the most Oscar-nominated non-English film in history. For one, it angered the trans community, the very group it wanted to champion, by depicting … Continue reading From Acclaim to Atrocity: The Curious Trajectory of “Emilia Pérez”
When it comes to commonly-tackled subjects, there’s always the question of what sets one apart. There was never a shortage of Bob Dylan films. In fact, they’ve been churning out documentaries since the start of his fabled career. The earliest … Continue reading “A Complete Unknown”: Not Completely A Fresh Dylan Story, But Still Works
Come to think of it, Osgood Perkins II has always been low-key horror royalty. His father, Anthony Perkins, is forever etched in memory as Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). In fact, Oz’s first role was in the 1983 … Continue reading “The Monkey” Sustains Perkins’ Scare Streak
At 75, Pedro Almodóvar just keeps outdoing himself, and to think he already managed to film Parallel Mothers at the thick of COVID-19. In late 2024, he released his first book, a short story anthology entitled “The Last Dream”. The … Continue reading Mundane Mortality in “The Room Next Door”
Avengers: End Game already made it clear that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) was due to take over. It even took the entirety of 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to provide further build-up. That’s where we met Joaquin Torres … Continue reading Captain America: Brave New World, Ambivalent New Lead
It’s not a Bollywood production, but a co-production among five countries. India’s on board, of course. It joined forces with France, with Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands also chipping in. Yet, despite all the acclaim and the splash it made … Continue reading The Luminescence of “All We Imagine as Light”
You’d think you’re up for another Odd Couple reboot once the airport banter begins. But, truth be told, Jesse Eisenberg’s sophomore turn is anything but. He was always a multi-hyphenate. Since his widely-panned turn as Lex Luthor, the actor has … Continue reading “A Real Pain” is a Real, Low-Key Tearjerker
As a filmmaker, Sean Baker always had a knack for the unthinkable. 10 years ago, he shot the entirety of Tangerine with three smartphones, a creative decision which surely raised purist eyebrows then. But, nevertheless, it was revolutionary, despite the … Continue reading Disillusioned Damsel: A Review of Sean Baker’s “Anora”
Creator Nick Park hinted that he was done with full length. In 2008, the British animator shared the challenges of making the first Wallace and Gromit feature, 2005’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The most glaring, perhaps, was being told … Continue reading Stop Motion Vindication (A Review of “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”)
I wasn’t exactly the most immersed in MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) before. That changed in 2018, when I landed that social media manager stint in Solar Pictures. Two entries were under their distributorship then. There was the RC de … Continue reading My MMFF Re-Immersion (Part 1)
It’s not a remake of the 1972 John Boorman caper, as one might be led to believe, though it does aims to scare just the same. Yet apart from the gratuitous addition of the article “The”, there’s really a world … Continue reading The (Non-)Deliverance of Scares
It might as well be narrative; with how it poetically pinpoints every nuance and gently basks in the emotional highs and lows. We don’t always see this in documentaries. But rest assured, nobody’s acting. Everything you see here is real. … Continue reading Reunited Behind Bars: A Review of “Daughters”
VIEWING DATES: November 27 to December 1, 2023 #76 – CITY LIGHTS (1931)D: Charlie ChaplinS: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers, Al Ernest Garcia Subtitled A Comedy Romance in Pantomime, Charlie Chaplin’s second entry is, therefore, the grandfather … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited (#76 to #73)
VIEWING DATE: November 26, 2023 #77 – AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)D: George LucasS: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers It’s not the film that comes to mind … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited: #77 – “American Graffiti”
MARATHON DATES: November 20 to 25, 2023 #83 – PLATOON (1986)D: Oliver StoneS: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe After three decade-spanning directorial stints, Oliver Stone finally “arrived” with Platoon – his first of three Vietnam War movies. And in … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited (#83 to #78)
VIEWING DATE: November 15, 2023 #84 – FARGO (1996) D: Joel and Ethan CoenS: Frances McDromand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Kristin Rudrud, John Carroll Lynch The tagline described it as a “homespun murder story”. But really, it’s … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited: #84 – “Fargo”
VIEWING DATES: November 6 to 14, 2023 #93 – THE APARTMENT (1960)D: Billy WilderS: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurry Shortcuts up the corporate ladder often lead to graver hurdles. That’s the moral lesson at hand in this offbeat classic. … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited (#93 to #85)
VIEWING DATE: November 5, 2023 #94 – GOODFELLAS (1990)D: Martin ScorseseS: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, Lorraine Bracco It’s not that Martin Scorsese planned to go head-to-head with Francis Ford Coppola then. In the first place, … Continue reading AFI Top 100 Revisited: #94 – “Goodfellas”
Planet Chuckie 