Thursday, July 26, 2007

My Favorite Movies: BIYAYA NG LUPA


Director: Manuel Silos
Year: 1959

Biyaya ng Lupa is my favorite Filipino film. I love this movie because I think it represents us very well. It shows the values we hold dear the most, and also our negative ones. And the movie looks and feels very Filipino, like an Amorsolo painting that came to life, albeit in black and white. Written by Celso Al Carunungan, Biyaya ng Lupa is a national treasure that deserves the world's attention.

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My Favorite Movies: THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR


Director: John McTiernan

Year: 1999

A witty, stylish, romantic, entertaining -- not to mention cool -- remake of the 1968 movie starring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen, The Thomas Crown Affair is a movie that never becomes tiresome even after repeat viewings. How cool was the museum heist scene? How hot was Rene Russo, pushing middle age? And was Pierce Brosnan ever better? (Sorry, Moneypenny.) I also totally dug the musical score, especially the one during the museum sequence.

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My Favorite Movies: HORROR OF DRACULA


Director: Terence Fisher
Year: 1958

I'm not a fan of contemporary horror films. To be honest, I think they're a waste of time. Why would I pay to be scared? I especially hate the horror trend nowadays, which involves torture, decapitation, and dismemberment (so much for subtlety!). However, I have a soft spot for zombie movies, because I think they're not just about cadavers that inexplicably came back to life. I'm also fond of vampire movies (not the video game variety though with the electronica soundtrack), because they're almost always glamorous and sexy, and have great atmosphere.

Horror of Dracula is certainly one of the classic vampire movies, starring Christopher Lee in his first portrayal of Count Dracula (he reprised the role several times) and Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing. With its bombastic musical score, great cast, production design and cinematography, the film put the legendary British horror factory Hammer Films on the map, and became a template for gazillions of vampire films to come. Watch it or I'll bite your neck.

(Do also check out George Romero's zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series, and the first two versions of House of Wax, the 1953 version of which starred Vincent Price. Stay away from the Paris Hilton version).

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Monday, July 23, 2007

My Favorite Movies: PISAY



Director: Auraeus Solito
Year: 2007


Remember when you first saw Bagets? Or Joey Gosiengfiao's Blue Jeans or the 1986 Regal movie The Graduates, even Joey Reyes' Pare Ko? Remember how you felt when you listened to the Eraserheads' first three albums for the tenth time, when you knew you've stumbled upon something very vital, very contemporary and familiar yet it took you to a new place entirely? That's how it felt watching Pisay, the new Auraeus Solito movie. Something tells me we have a new classic in the making, that a few years from now, people will be reaching for their copy of this movie the way they reach for Circus or Cutterpillow every now and then. Pisay tells the story of the Philippine Science High School's Batch '86, from their freshman year up to graduation, the difficult lessons they had to learn on their way, and their personal, social, and political awakening. What struck me most about the movie is its authenticity -- the situations, the dialogues (a screenwriting tour de force), most especially the acting. When the characters, especially the kids, mouth arguments about science and politics, you just know it's coming from them, not fed by somebody off-camera. You just believe that the characters belong in Pisay, and in extension, UP (I could imagine them arguing in AS Lobby during a sit-in). Everything flows naturally, nothing contrived or pretentious. The attention to detail and verisimilitude is astounding (the Pisay alumnae in the audience certainly got a kick out of watching it).

Most importantly, Pisay is another reminder to all Iskolars ng Bayan that, having been privileged to be plucked to be schooled with the best, with money from the nation's hard-earned cash, we are expected to excel and to step out of ourselves when necessary to fight for what we believe in and for the common good.

I think Pisay is a classic. A more accomplished work than Solito's own Maximo Oliveros, it is a prime candidate for the distinction of being the best Filipino film of this decade.

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Saturday, July 21, 2007

My Favorite Movies: TOUCH OF EVIL

Director: Orson Welles
Year: 1958

I think Orson Welles once described Touch of Evil as a B-movie. Indeed, this film is chock full of crime, sweat, intrigue, twisted characters and semi-naked people to make the folks at the grindhouse weep. But it's also a classic (no, the classic) American film noir crime flick. What I liked most about this movie is its manic energy (absent in most movies of the film noir genre) and the fact that you can almost smell the characters in every frame. Charlton Heston as a Mexican was quite a stretch, but Orson Welles as a corrupt cop was believable, and Marlene Dietrich's cameo memorable. An obvious influence to such classics as Chinatown, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction, Touch of Evil is the badass granddaddy of cool crime films this side of James Cagney.

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Monday, July 16, 2007

My Favorite Movies: HIGH FIDELITY

Director: Stephen Frears
Year: 2000

Perfect casting, perfect adaptation of a Nick Hornby novel, not to mention a very cool movie over-all, High Fidelity is about a record store owner, his string of girlfriends, his neuroses, and his buddies. However, what keeps me coming back to this movie is THE SIGHT OF ALL THOSE VINYL LPs. I'll be writing about my obsession with vinyl later, but I'll put on record (RECORD!) that VINYL LPs MAKE MY KNEES WEAK. There. Where was I? Jack Black is a genius. Stephen Frears is tops. Joan Cusack reliable as ever. And John Cusack finally had another perfect role deserving of his skills after Say Anything.

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My Favorite Movies: VERTIGO


Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Year: 1958

Vertigo was coolly received by critics and moviegoers when it came out; I felt the same way when I saw it the first time. One: on the surface, it's not as exciting as some of the most popular Hitchcock movies like Psycho, The Birds, or North By Northwest. Second: you have James Stewart, or St. James for fans of his early movies, playing a horny, middle-aged guy. But the catch of Vertigo is that somehow you want to see it over and over again because it's intriguing. It's a tale of obsession at the highest level, with that unmistakable Bernard Herrmann score, fantastic camera work, and Kim Novak's titillating blond hair. Generations of critics and filmmakers have been so intrigued that Vertigo now sits at no. 2 of Sight and Sound's list of the best films of all-time (next to Citizen Kane).

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My Favorite Movies: THE LORD OF THE RINGS


Director: Peter Jackson
Year: 2001-2003

The Lord of the Rings megamovie as a whole is an astounding masterpiece and an instant classic, but if I would have to choose just one among the three chapters, The Two Towers would be it. I'm not ashamed to say that I completely lost it inside the movie theatre when the elves arrived to help the beleaguered humans during the Battle of Helm's Deep. The Two Towers may not be as perfectly crafted as the first one, or as "epic" as the third one, but it is the beating heart of this cinematic behemoth.

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Saturday, July 14, 2007

My Favorite Movies: ANAK DALITA


Director: Lamberto Avellana
Year: 1956


What I really liked about this Filipino film classic was how it was able to effectively transport me to Manila circa the 1950s. It was able to capture the landscape, the vibrancy, and perhaps the mood of the era, more than any other film from that period, maybe because while the movies coming out of LVN, Sampaguita and Premiere at that time strived to project glamour, Anak Dalita was closer in spirit to Italian neorealism. There were scenes in the movie that can be considered glamorous, yes, but that's mainly because of the stars, more specifically Rosa Rosal, who was truly a bombshell at that time. Manila was portrayed in the movie both as a city of dreams and nightmares, almost twenty years before Lino Brocka did the same for Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Truly a masterpiece, Anak Dalita deserves a new generation of admirers.

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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

More photos from the Namfrel 2007 OQC

You may see the other photos here.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

My Favorite Movies: Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN


Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Year: 2001

Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mama Tambien is his love letter to his native Mexico, and it also happens to be a raunchy road flick. I remember a few years back, my former boss (a septuagenarian Hispanic guy) came to the office and told me that his daughter lent him the DVD and he thought it was "porno!" and "the language they used!" Whatever. Can't think of a better buddy movie with an excellent script, great camerawork, and memorable performances especially from Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdu (also of Belle Epoque and Pan's Labyrinth fame).

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My Favorite Movies: LA STRADA


Director: Federico Fellini
Year: 1954

This was for the longest time my favorite film ever, which I attribute largely to the unforgettable performance by Giulietta Masina (Mrs. Federico Fellini for you), in her most well-known work as the immortal simpleton, Gelsomina. She remains my favorite actress of all-time, and anyone who watches La Strada and experiences her straight-to-the-heart performance will understand why.

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My Favorite Movies: LAGAAN


Director: Ashutosh Gowariker

Year: 2001

Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, this unbelievably entertaining and astonishing Bollywood epic is also the most exciting sports movie in ages. Try to watch it especially in a theater. You do not know what you're missing!

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My Favorite Movies: SUNSET BOULEVARD

Director: Billy Wilder
Year: 1950

One of the most bizaare and cynical films ever to come out of Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard remains one of the best movies about the business of making movies. A struggling writer stumbles upon the decrepit mansion of a faded star. From there unfolds a stinging satire of delusion, ambition, and broken dreams. Double Indemnity was hot, and I haven't seen The Apartment, but I'm not sure if Billy Wilder ever did a better film than this. Gloria Swanson delivered one of the most memorable performances of all-time as Norma Desmond, the quintessential has-been. The film got nominated for 11 Oscars, but maybe because it hit too close to home, it won only three, one for its dark and carefully observed screenplay.

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Monday, July 2, 2007

My Favorite Movies: TALK TO HER

Director: Pedro Almodovar
Year: 2002

I love The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It was a masterpiece, the emotional core of a bigger masterpiece. But I have to concede that it wasn't the best film of 2002. It was Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella). Colorful, funny, dramatic, risque, familial, outrageous. Yes, it's a typical Almodovar film, and then some. The cast was brilliant, the production sterling, the scenes suffused with emotions indescribable. My favorite scene here is that part wherein Brazilian cantante Caetano Veloso sings Cucurrucucu Paloma to a roomful of women who seem to fall in love with him with every delicate lyric. In a corner, a man weeps. We look at the English translation of the song in the subtitles, and we weep with him.

Te amamos, Pedro!

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My Favorite Movies: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Director: Elia Kazan
Year: 1951

Fifty six years after it was released, A Streetcar Named Desire remains as electrifying as ever. The film is credited for introducing Marlon Brando to a wider audience, and giving birth to method acting on film (mainly Brando's performance). Before Streetcar, acting on film was very theatrical and a bit detached (exemplified by Laurence Olivier and virtually everybody before 1950). Brando put a lot of grit and instinct and sex into it. Some people even claimed that Brando's performance was solely responsible for the decline of morality in the arts (those '50s folks were a conservative lot). See Vivien Leigh and Brando, two icons who epitomized two different Hollywood eras and type of acting, duke it out throughout the movie. They were meant to clash, and we are thrilled to observe.

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My Favorite Movies: DEVDAS


Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Year: 2002

The biggest stars. The most expensive sets. The most heart-stopping musical sequences. The most extravagant costumes. The time-worn storyline. The lack of irony. Everything on the brink of collapse, but doesn't. The tears in your eyes. Could Devdas be the ultimate Bollywood extravaganza? Pure bliss.

AISHWARYA RAI

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My Favorite Movies: RASHOMON


Director: Akira Kurosawa
Year: 1950


Rashomon remains my favorite Asian film of all time. Based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa's 1922 short story "In A Grove," this film effectively shows the nature of truth (i.e. that it is relative; that it probably doesn't exist). This movie introduced Akira Kurosawa to the world, as well as actor Toshiro Mifune, with whom the master director had many legendary collaborations, including The Seven Samurai and The Hidden Fortress. (As if an essential team even in death, Kurosawa died of natural causes in 1998, several months after Mifune died.) Rashomon is a certified masterpiece, and therefore essential viewing.