Halfway through one of Philippine cinema’s most memorable films, Anak, Vilma Santos and Claudine Barretto find themselves in the middle of a confrontation; Barretto sobs as the scene unravels unspoken tensions and escalates to a climactic mother-and-daughter conflict. “Siguro ang talagang gusto kong sabihin, mas malaki ang nawala sa amin noong iniwan mo kami,” she…
Tag: Feature
Omar Cabillan was just an adolescent when he saw a dead body up close for the first time. His father, an embalmer, took him under his wing and taught him the trade of embalming at a young age. His key takeaway? Attention to detail. Now 42 years old, married, and with children, Omar is one…
It was the morning of November 23, 2009 when Esmael Mangundadatu sent his women with dozens of journalists to file for his certificate of candidacy to the heartland of the Ampatuans. That Monday morning later came to be known as the heinous Maguindanao Massacre, the unspeakable slaughter committed on a hill in a place called…
It looked like a typical post-siesta afternoon for Johnny “Mang Jun” Montemayor as we approached him. Lying on his wooden bed under the shade of an old Feng Shui-blessed tree, he conversed with his friends in front of one of the numerous mausoleums or kapilyas in the cemetery. It was not an occasional visit to…
The streets of Quiapo are paved with a precarious aura. The air reeks of a bygone era once Manila’s finest, but has since become home to an ineffable assortment of characters, obscurities, and gems unique to the historical district. It is ironic that the grounds, which the venerated Quiapo Church stands on, is also home…
Films such as The Sixth Sense, The Conjuring, and The Blair Witch Project, have piqued interests regarding the belief of those returning from the afterlife as ghosts. These movies portray ghosts as entities who try to haunt us, send us messages, or tell us to stay well away from certain places or things. But while…
It’s that spooky time of the year again and your socials are gonna be flooded with pictures of everyone putting on their scariest and most ironic costumes. Don’t worry if you don’t get your fill of spookiness from the parties you’ll be attending, there’s always everyone’s masochistic treat of choice—horror movies! As the years go…
The concrete prevalence of literature continues to breed a whirlpool of timeless imagery and a tableau of entertainment, while being fixed on the pulpit of human understanding and the access of truth. This art form reflects the broad ensemble of cultural differences, which reverberates the very core of our diversity. The celebration of not just the…
The bullet that almost pierced through the chest of Francis “Jay R” Santiago Jr. during an alleged buy bust operation last September 13 at Aldecoa St. in Malate, Manila could have easily added him to the long list of drug suspects slain in the name of Duterte’s relentless war on drugs. Jay R, however, managed…
It was the year 1976–the magnum opus era in Philippine Cinema that saw the birth of Lino Brocka’s Insiang, Eddie Romero’s Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?, and Ishmael Bernal’s Nunal Sa Tubig, to name a few. There were no oversaturated plots of hacienda love stories, or marriage scandals with the housekeeper–mainstream films that capitalized…