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Rant and Rave: Ride or Die speeds off to red flags

At the outset, Ride or Die seems to be the high-octane queer feminist story we’ve all been waiting for. Spunky and defiant, the film tackles modern-day womanhood and sexuality against the backdrop of a patriarchal society with familial expectations. The story follows Nanae (Honami Sato) and Rei (Kiko Mizuhara) who find themselves on the run…

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Rant and Rave: Malcolm & Marie crashes and burns

As the movie industry faces restrictions during the ongoing pandemic, Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie was the perfect opportunity for a back-to-basics movie-making approach—one set, two powerhouse actors, and an explosive script. Arriving home late at night after rising director Malcolm’s (John David Washington) successful movie premiere, his celebratory mood is disrupted by his girlfriend Marie’s…

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Lest we forget: Lessons from the Diliman Commune

“My memory is not that sharp anymore,” Dr. Judy Taguiwalo confesses. With her recollection weathered by time, she has taken to writing and archival research as a means to preserve her memory. For the former UP-Diliman professor, forgetting would be an unforgivable crime. And so if you ask her about the events of the Diliman…

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Rant and Rave: MMFF 2020 welcomes the old and new—Part One

For 46 years, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has been a fixture of Filipino Christmastime. Starting December 25 each year, families would flock to cinemas like clockwork for a lighthearted Christmas spectacle—you have the Vic Sotto ensemble film with the banal jokes and the revolving door of fresh-faced loveteams, the gaudy self-deprecating Vice Ganda…