Philippine social realism is a beaten track. Poverty has been overexposed. Class inequality is old news. Corruption is a social sickness Filipinos have been immune to. The contemporary challenge to socio-realist art is knowing not what to tell but how to present prevailing realities to a society jaded from hearing the same old message. Jeffrey…
Last July 30, indie rock darlings The xx brought their unique minimalist sound to Manila for the first time. The London based trio of twenty year-olds is coming off the successful release of their second album, Coexist, the follow-up to the Mercury-Award winning album, xx. In a short Asian tour that includes dates in South…
In this season where cinema houses are plagued by eye-catching international movie posters, what would make one spend his or her bills on seeing a locally crafted film? Worry not. Tuhog is a ride-all-you-can bus ticket that will take one to the many avenues of life. The film starts with a bus accident causing the…
On a ninja rampage. Not quite Jackman. Marvel once again aimed to set the bar high for the return of our beloved anti-hero Wolverine in the sixth instalment of the X-Men series. Set within the confines of aesthetic Tokyo, famed actor Hugh Jackman reprises his ageless role with the same passion and poignancy as he…
Anne* posed for the perfect pout. She put her hand over her lips, suggestive of a kiss she will be blowing soon. Seconds of silence were dedicated to looking intently at her only audience. And without delay, she did it. She then declared it good. Later, 28 other people thought it good too. Guessing…
For all you hard core gamers out there, as you may or may not have heard, Valve’s Dota 2 has exited the Beta testing stage and is already available for free on Steam starting July 9, 2013. The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game was in the Beta testing for 2 years until Valve decided…
After a star successfully makes a mark in Broadway, it seems that the logical next step is to star in a hit TV show. For most Broadway fans, talents like Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff and Matthew Morrison have made television a brighter place when they played colorful and award worthy turns in Glee,…
What is the most logical thing for humanity to do when a leviathan suddenly bursts out from the ocean and attacks major Pacific cities? Well, build huge robots of course! This is the main premise of Guillermo Del Toro’s latest brainchild, Pacific Rim. Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnman) is a former Jaeger pilot, men who drive…
Every now and then, an American Company decides to remake a foreign movie, hoping to cater the idea to Western audiences. Unfortunately, more often than not, the original spirit and charm of the movie gets lost in the adaptation, leading to a hollow film, and plenty of annoyed and disgruntled fans. So, when the…
From exploring possibilities to entertaining repossession in Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, Richard Linklater is bent on de-familiarizing love next. The 2013 sequel Before Midnight destroys the idealistic romance built by its predecessors. And yet simultaneously, the film does piece a romance — one that is made strange by uncomfortable realism but made familiar by…
