“Essential Truths of the Lake” is the last thing most people would expect from Lav Diaz: a direct follow-up to his previous film, “When the Waves Are Gone.” It’s not a sequel, per se (this one actually comes earlier), but they are connected, with a third movie featuring the same disillusioned police detective in the works.
The Filipino filmmaker, whose pokey social critiques run anywhere from three to 11 hours, established the character of Lt. Hermes Papauran (John Lloyd Cruz) in “Waves.” Described there as “arguably the greatest Filipino investigator ever,” he’s Diaz’s version of “The Singing Detective”: a tortured enforcer afflicted with a skin condition that reflects on the surface the conflict and cynicism roiling within him. He’s a good cop in a corrupt country, furious with how Rodrigo Duterte mishandled the war on drugs.
It’s a basic rule of dramaturgy that it...
The Filipino filmmaker, whose pokey social critiques run anywhere from three to 11 hours, established the character of Lt. Hermes Papauran (John Lloyd Cruz) in “Waves.” Described there as “arguably the greatest Filipino investigator ever,” he’s Diaz’s version of “The Singing Detective”: a tortured enforcer afflicted with a skin condition that reflects on the surface the conflict and cynicism roiling within him. He’s a good cop in a corrupt country, furious with how Rodrigo Duterte mishandled the war on drugs.
It’s a basic rule of dramaturgy that it...
- 8/12/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Lav Diaz is “concerned” about the situation in his native Philippines. But it doesn’t mean he will stop making films.
“If you do any kind of cultural work, you can be branded as a ‘communist’ and it’s a reason for them to kill you,” he says.
“There aren’t many venues to show my films, so we basically give them away for free. Listen, I am aware of the danger. But you have to accept the reality, confront these issues and continue to make things. And be careful, because we know what happened to Salman Rushdie.”
Diaz, speaking to Variety at Armenia’s Golden Apricot festival, where he headed the jury, also opened up about his upcoming Locarno world premiere “Essential Truths of the Lake.”
The film, which contends in main competition for the Golden Leopard, sees him returning to investigator Hermes Papauran from “When the Waves Are Gone,...
“If you do any kind of cultural work, you can be branded as a ‘communist’ and it’s a reason for them to kill you,” he says.
“There aren’t many venues to show my films, so we basically give them away for free. Listen, I am aware of the danger. But you have to accept the reality, confront these issues and continue to make things. And be careful, because we know what happened to Salman Rushdie.”
Diaz, speaking to Variety at Armenia’s Golden Apricot festival, where he headed the jury, also opened up about his upcoming Locarno world premiere “Essential Truths of the Lake.”
The film, which contends in main competition for the Golden Leopard, sees him returning to investigator Hermes Papauran from “When the Waves Are Gone,...
- 7/19/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Celebrating the10th anniversary of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo's partnership as a love team, and also their comeback film after their 2010 hit “Miss You Like Crazy”, “The Mistress” was one of the most commercially successful titles in the country in 2012, becoming the highest grossing non-mmff of the year while still retaining a spot on the list with the highest grossing Filipino films of all time.
Architect Jd is the sole heir of his father's company, but their relationship is not exactly ideal, with him thinking that Rico never accepted him as his son, and Rico accusing him of cowardice in the face of the crisis the family and the company faced some time ago. Seamstress Sari is the owner of a small boutique, and tries to make ends meet for her family, including her grandmother, Lina. She is also the long-time mistress of Rico, who has helped...
Architect Jd is the sole heir of his father's company, but their relationship is not exactly ideal, with him thinking that Rico never accepted him as his son, and Rico accusing him of cowardice in the face of the crisis the family and the company faced some time ago. Seamstress Sari is the owner of a small boutique, and tries to make ends meet for her family, including her grandmother, Lina. She is also the long-time mistress of Rico, who has helped...
- 4/8/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
When President Duterte first began talking about extending police powers and taking his War on Drugs to the streets, horrified onlookers around the world knew what was going to happen but felt powerless to prevent it. In this slowly unfolding Filipino drama, the experience of the viewer is similar. Tragedy is signalled at the outset; horror is almost omnipresent; and yet there is still an awful momentum, a grip exerted by the sense that something worse is to come.
At the centre of it are two troubled men: Hermes (John Lloyd Cruz), a police detective, and Macabantay (Ronnie Lazaro), once his superior officer, who has just completed a ten year spell in prison after Hermes helped take him down for corruption. Naturally, the emergence of the latter is not good news for the former, but this...
At the centre of it are two troubled men: Hermes (John Lloyd Cruz), a police detective, and Macabantay (Ronnie Lazaro), once his superior officer, who has just completed a ten year spell in prison after Hermes helped take him down for corruption. Naturally, the emergence of the latter is not good news for the former, but this...
- 3/2/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
When the Waves Are Gone (2022).Over the span of almost two decades, Lav Diaz has established himself not only as one of the most prolific filmmakers working in the realm of arthouse cinema—being perhaps the most acclaimed adherent of the slow expression—but also as a consistent observer of the political landscape of the Philippines. His method of work abounds in slowness, as well as the poetics of excess: long formats, politically-driven allegories, maximized genre capacity. The excessiveness appears in his preference for the independence of the film economy, too. Diaz not only directs and writes his films but oftentimes also designs, shoots and edits them, maintaining control over the final outcome—a whole universe of dark morality tales that encapsulate a gloomy here-and-now and down-to-earth scrutiny of the Philippine milieu. This rigidity in approach to medium translates to the choice of aesthetics. Diaz has embraced his favorite canvas: a grainy,...
- 1/26/2023
- MUBI
Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” was named best film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. The film’s lead actor Happy Salma was on hand to receive the award at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Australia, on Friday.
The film recounts the story of a young woman who escapes an anti-Communist purge and leads a quiet life as the second wife of a wealthy man. But her past traumas resurface in her dreams.
Although the win is the first time that an Indonesian title has been named Apsa’s best film, and the first time that a woman has claimed the prize, it is the third time that Andini has won a feature film Apsa. Previously, she won the best children’s film prize with “The Mirror Never Lies” in 2012 and collected the youth feature film prize with “The Seen and Unseen” in 2017.
Other key prizes...
The film recounts the story of a young woman who escapes an anti-Communist purge and leads a quiet life as the second wife of a wealthy man. But her past traumas resurface in her dreams.
Although the win is the first time that an Indonesian title has been named Apsa’s best film, and the first time that a woman has claimed the prize, it is the third time that Andini has won a feature film Apsa. Previously, she won the best children’s film prize with “The Mirror Never Lies” in 2012 and collected the youth feature film prize with “The Seen and Unseen” in 2017.
Other key prizes...
- 11/11/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Lengthy running times have largely confined the films of Filipino director Lav Diaz to the festival circuit: His breakthrough “Evolution of a Filipino Family” was shot over 10 years and clocked in at over 10 hours, and subsequent features like “Melancholia” and “Norte, the End of History” followed suit. Diaz has been categorized as a practitioner of “slow cinema,” and this has made his work sound even more forbidding outside hardcore cinephile circles.
But “When the Waves Are Gone,” his current feature, is surprisingly approachable and engrossing, especially in its dynamic first third when we are introduced to our two protagonists: Hermes (John Lloyd Cruz), a cop and instructor at a police academy, and Primo (Ronnie Lazaro), a former cop who has just gotten out of jail after 10 years and is seeking vengeance against Hermes for helping to get him sentenced.
Hermes is known as a master investigator, and he has a...
But “When the Waves Are Gone,” his current feature, is surprisingly approachable and engrossing, especially in its dynamic first third when we are introduced to our two protagonists: Hermes (John Lloyd Cruz), a cop and instructor at a police academy, and Primo (Ronnie Lazaro), a former cop who has just gotten out of jail after 10 years and is seeking vengeance against Hermes for helping to get him sentenced.
Hermes is known as a master investigator, and he has a...
- 9/5/2022
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
The 79th Venice International Film Festival has just announced the line-up for the next edition. The 79th Venice International Film Festival is organised by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera. It will take place at Venice Lido from 31 August to 10 September 2022. The Festival is officially recognised by the Fiapf (International Federation of Film Producers Association).
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. The Festival also organises retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Here are all the Asian Titles on the Programme:
Competition:
Love Life
Director Koji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi,...
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote international cinema in all its forms as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and dialogue. The Festival also organises retrospectives and tributes to major figures as a contribution towards a better understanding of the history of cinema.
Here are all the Asian Titles on the Programme:
Competition:
Love Life
Director Koji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: “This reflects our high regard for the originality of contemporary Southeast Asian cinema.”
Thai high-school thriller Bad Genius will open this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff, June 30-July 15), marking the first time that a Southeast Asian film has opened the festival.
Directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, the film stars newcomer Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as a straight-a student who starts making money by helping her classmates cheat on their exams. When she gets caught and loses her scholarship, she plots to undermine the Us university entrance system.
“We’re really stepping off the beaten path of the ‘big three’ of Asian cinema: Japanese, Korean and Chinese-language cinema,” Nyaff executive director Samuel Jamier said. “This reflects our high regard for the originality of contemporary Southeast Asian cinema, following last year’s awards for the Philippines’ John Lloyd Cruz and Teri Malvar.”
The director and cast will both attend the film’s international premiere at Nyaff, which is co-presented...
Thai high-school thriller Bad Genius will open this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (Nyaff, June 30-July 15), marking the first time that a Southeast Asian film has opened the festival.
Directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya, the film stars newcomer Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying as a straight-a student who starts making money by helping her classmates cheat on their exams. When she gets caught and loses her scholarship, she plots to undermine the Us university entrance system.
“We’re really stepping off the beaten path of the ‘big three’ of Asian cinema: Japanese, Korean and Chinese-language cinema,” Nyaff executive director Samuel Jamier said. “This reflects our high regard for the originality of contemporary Southeast Asian cinema, following last year’s awards for the Philippines’ John Lloyd Cruz and Teri Malvar.”
The director and cast will both attend the film’s international premiere at Nyaff, which is co-presented...
- 5/22/2017
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
There are few filmmakers more influential to their nation’s cinema than Lav Diaz. Arguably the world’s most well known Filipino auteur, he has become the bed rock for what is the third Golden Age of Philippine Cinema and a master filmmaker whose impact is felt across the globe. A master of what is known to most as “slow cinema,” Diaz is best known for epic, quietly profound pictures that near double digit hours in their length, and has been a festival darling throughout the world.
And his latest may be one of his most interesting works yet.
Entitled The Woman Who Left, Diaz returns with a story that’s a touch less political than one would imagine coming from the auteur. Instead, Diaz introduces the viewer to Horacia Somorostro, a former teacher who has just seen her release from prison after spending 30 years locked up for a crime...
And his latest may be one of his most interesting works yet.
Entitled The Woman Who Left, Diaz returns with a story that’s a touch less political than one would imagine coming from the auteur. Instead, Diaz introduces the viewer to Horacia Somorostro, a former teacher who has just seen her release from prison after spending 30 years locked up for a crime...
- 5/15/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Conventional limitations on cinematic runtimes, often driven by basic practical and commercial concerns, are at once arbitrary and enduring. Under 90 minutes is short; over 150 minutes is long. Short films lie on one end of the spectrum and Andy Warhol on the other. But even limiting discussion to non-experimental feature films reveals a wide variation in the use of massive duration, discussions of which tend to be obscured by the hyperbole (in both directions) that such films often elicit. (This hyperbolic tendency also extends to trilogies, multi-part films, or even novels and literature in general. Just ask anyone who’s seen Sátántangó or read Infinite Jest.) Nonetheless, such films tend to be fascinating opportunities for exploration, both in their justification for and use of such length. And on the occasion of Mubi’s retrospective of Lav Diaz’s filmography (the body of work that most consistently makes use of duration), three vastly different 2016 films,...
- 11/29/2016
- MUBI
This year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) will feature five unique Filipino dramas. The Philippine Entertainment Portal reports that Die Beautiful, I America, Birdshot, Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis and Shiniuma will be part of the festival’s 29th year.
Die Beautiful stars Paolo Ballesteros as a transwoman and beauty pageant veteran whose dying wish is to be dressed as Lady Gaga for her funeral. The film is directed by Jun Lana. It is the only Filipino film included in the main competition. This marks Lana’s second run at Tiff. His 2013 freshman entry Barber’s Tales won the Tiff Best Actress award for its star Eugene Domingo.
Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis or “A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery” is Lav Diaz’s eight-hour epic for Tiff’s World Focus Section. Anchored by Philippine superstars John Lloyd Cruz and Piolo Pascual, Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis is a fantastical meditation on Philippine literature,...
Die Beautiful stars Paolo Ballesteros as a transwoman and beauty pageant veteran whose dying wish is to be dressed as Lady Gaga for her funeral. The film is directed by Jun Lana. It is the only Filipino film included in the main competition. This marks Lana’s second run at Tiff. His 2013 freshman entry Barber’s Tales won the Tiff Best Actress award for its star Eugene Domingo.
Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis or “A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery” is Lav Diaz’s eight-hour epic for Tiff’s World Focus Section. Anchored by Philippine superstars John Lloyd Cruz and Piolo Pascual, Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis is a fantastical meditation on Philippine literature,...
- 10/10/2016
- by Ella Palileo
- AsianMoviePulse
Lav Diaz’s Golden Lion winner from this year’s Venice Film Festival feels like something of a surprise because, for all its extended shots, luminous black-and-white photography, and socio-historical weight, The Woman Who Left is ultimately an unostentatious work. Compared to, say, Norte, The End of History’s remarkably grim ending, with its reaches into fantasy / metaphysics (don’t forget that Tarkovsky-esque levitation), there doesn’t seem to be quite the same need to impress or belabor the point.
At a relatively brisk runtime for Diaz (only 228 minutes) there still, with such length, feels some kind of need to prescribe a lumbering weight to this project. It’s set in 1997, the political context of the Philippines at the time established from radio broadcasts throughout. That year’s hand-over of Hong Kong from Britain to China still casts a shadow over the poor country as rich Filipino-Chinese citizens are repeatedly...
At a relatively brisk runtime for Diaz (only 228 minutes) there still, with such length, feels some kind of need to prescribe a lumbering weight to this project. It’s set in 1997, the political context of the Philippines at the time established from radio broadcasts throughout. That year’s hand-over of Hong Kong from Britain to China still casts a shadow over the poor country as rich Filipino-Chinese citizens are repeatedly...
- 9/15/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Starting with the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the mid-16th century, the country was under the colonial rule of four different foreign powers for nearly 400 years. Independence gave way to two decades of vicious dictatorship and a democracy severely compromised by corruption and extensive external influence. As a nation that encompasses a staggering number of ethnicities and languages, the Philippines’ centuries-long experience of oppression has engendered an enduring identity crisis. It’s this crisis that has brought forth the films of Lav Diaz. They are dedicated to an excavation of his country’s turbulent past in search of its identity; the simultaneously chimeric and vital nature of this endeavor constitutes the emancipatory dialectic that drives his cinema. Having addressed Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship from a variety of angles in several earlier features, Diaz turns his attention to the Philippine Revolution of 1896-97 with A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery,...
- 2/22/2016
- by Giovanni Marchini Camia
- The Film Stage
Somewhere around the 300th minute of Lav Diaz’ immaculately chiseled glacier, the two most prominent characters have a discussion about art. Isagani (John Lloyd Cruz) believes that it is too romantic a notion to think that art can save the world, but Simoun (Piolo Pascual) encourages him not to give up writing poetry and singing lullabies because only through art can true emancipation be achieved. In the context of “A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery,” this emancipation is directly linked to Pilipino liberation from an oppressive Spanish rule of over 300 years. In a 480-minute sea of conversations, it is one of the more jolting discourses because of its meta nature. The core of Lav Diaz’ intention with his most personal film to date is unmistakably shackled to the idea of emancipating the spirit of his homeland through art. To get even more poetic about it, you could take it even...
- 2/19/2016
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
It doesn’t rank up there with his longest feature, but Filipino director Lav Diaz‘s latest film, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery, is likely the most epic experience one can have at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival this year. Clocking in at 485 minutes (just over 8 hours), if all goes according to plan, we’ll have a review later next week, and today brings our first look.
For his latest feature, which is competing for the Golden Bear at the festival, Diaz examines the history of his native land through the story of the father of the Philippine Revolution, Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro. Starring Piolo Pascual, John Lloyd Cruz, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra De Rossi, and Joel Saracho, check out the synopsis, poser, stills, and poster below, and check back for our review.
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro is considered to be one of the most influential proponents in the...
For his latest feature, which is competing for the Golden Bear at the festival, Diaz examines the history of his native land through the story of the father of the Philippine Revolution, Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro. Starring Piolo Pascual, John Lloyd Cruz, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra De Rossi, and Joel Saracho, check out the synopsis, poser, stills, and poster below, and check back for our review.
Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro is considered to be one of the most influential proponents in the...
- 2/14/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As if new films from the Coens and Jeff Nichols weren’t enough, the 2016 Berlin Film Festival has further expanded their line-up, adding some of our most-anticipated films of the year. Mia Hansen-Løve, following up her incredible, sadly overlooked drama Eden, will premiere the Isabelle Huppert-led Things to Come, while Thomas Vinterberg, Lav Diaz, André Téchiné, and many more will stop by with their new features. Check out the new additions below, followed by some previously announced films, notably John Michael McDonagh‘s War on Everyone.
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
- 1/11/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
New titles from Thomas Vinterberg, Mia Hansen-Løve, Danis Tanovic, Lav Diaz and Gianfranco Rosi among line-up.Scroll down for full list
Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has added nine titles to its Competition line-up, bringing the current total to 14 (the full Competition programme will be announced soon, according to the fest).
The new additions include The Commune, marking the first time Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt, Far From The Madding Crowd) has been in Competition at Berlin since Submarino in 2010. The film centres on a Danish commune in the 1970s and will be released in Denmark this weekend (Jan 14).
French director Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden) has been selected with her drama Things to Come, starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman embarking on a new life after her husband leaves her for another woman. The film will world premiere at Berlin.
Another world premiere will be documentary Fire at Sea, capturing life on...
Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has added nine titles to its Competition line-up, bringing the current total to 14 (the full Competition programme will be announced soon, according to the fest).
The new additions include The Commune, marking the first time Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt, Far From The Madding Crowd) has been in Competition at Berlin since Submarino in 2010. The film centres on a Danish commune in the 1970s and will be released in Denmark this weekend (Jan 14).
French director Mia Hansen-Løve (Eden) has been selected with her drama Things to Come, starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman embarking on a new life after her husband leaves her for another woman. The film will world premiere at Berlin.
Another world premiere will be documentary Fire at Sea, capturing life on...
- 1/11/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis
Director: Lav Diaz // Writer: Lav Diaz
The most notable auteur out of the Philippines in the last decade is Lav Diaz, whose beautiful films often test audience stamina (his 2008 film Melancholia is seven and a half hours, while 2011’s Century of Birthing is six). Recently, he’s enjoyed a higher profile thanks to 2013’s Norte, or the End of History premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes (and snagging Us distribution), and then winning Locarno’s Golden Leopard a year later with From What is Before. He’s recently completed his latest, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, a film simply described as concerning the search for the body of Andres Bonifacio (a man known as the Father of the Philippine Revoluton).
Cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Piolo Pascual, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra de Rossi
Production Co./Producers: Bianca Balbuena, Epicmedia, TEN17P, Sine Olivia
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.
Director: Lav Diaz // Writer: Lav Diaz
The most notable auteur out of the Philippines in the last decade is Lav Diaz, whose beautiful films often test audience stamina (his 2008 film Melancholia is seven and a half hours, while 2011’s Century of Birthing is six). Recently, he’s enjoyed a higher profile thanks to 2013’s Norte, or the End of History premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes (and snagging Us distribution), and then winning Locarno’s Golden Leopard a year later with From What is Before. He’s recently completed his latest, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, a film simply described as concerning the search for the body of Andres Bonifacio (a man known as the Father of the Philippine Revoluton).
Cast: John Lloyd Cruz, Piolo Pascual, Hazel Orencio, Alessandra de Rossi
Production Co./Producers: Bianca Balbuena, Epicmedia, TEN17P, Sine Olivia
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.
- 1/10/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
It's shaping up to be a busy year for On The Job director Erik Matti, with multiple projects on his slate. Up first - and now in production - is crime thriller Honor Thy Father, the story of a family caught in financial ruin due to their involvement in a ponzi scheme. John Lloyd Cruz takes the lead in the picture and while there's no trailer as of yet we do have a gallery of the first stills from the set. Take a look below!...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 3/4/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Unless you speak Tagalog, chances are you're not well versed in the on-again, off-again, tepidly romantic escapades of twentysomething Filipino media mogul Miguel "Miggy" Montenegro (John Lloyd Cruz) and former executive assistant Adelaida "Laida" Magtalas (Sarah Geronimo), as seen in 2008's A Very Special Love and 2009's You Changed My Life. The final leg of director Cathy Garcia-Molina's exceptionally broad, partly English-dubbed cockles-warmer of a trilogy outright apes Hollywood rom-com formulas with a personality so affably lobotomized it wouldn't dare frighten delicate tastes. Suddenly the black sheep of his family's empire due to a poor investment two years prior, Miggy is demoted to mere top dog of Flippage Publishing, a magazine company that produces glossies cal...
- 4/24/2013
- Village Voice
Cathy Garcia-Molina's My Amnesia Girl has all the trappings of detestable formula. Like all of the romantic comedies that preceded it, the ones that have given Star Cinema the ill-repute of dumbing down its followers with rehashes of the same story, by the film seems to be relying solely on kitsch, on star power, on everything artificial. There is no denying the film's use of kitsch. In fact, the film is quite unabashed with it, with characters strangely enveloped by a culture of love reigning supreme over everything else. It is adamantly unpretentious, relishing on the obvious fact that it has in its service of fun an abundance of cute and hip. It does not aspire anything more than to recharge its audience's thirst for spritely romance, the one that is less attached to reality, the one that mines on the mysteries of fate to add magic to it.
- 12/20/2010
- Screen Anarchy
I enjoyed "In My Life." The Stars Cinema film had its U.S. premiere last weekend courtesy of Abs-cbn International, where yours truly can be seen every Friday at 5:30pm in the U.S. in their newscast called Balitang America.
The newscast can also be seen in the Philippines on Anc. The Friday edition runs every Saturday at 6:30pm in the Philippines. Check out their site right here and the Abs-cbn International site right here.
Here's my review, hope you like it, and you can read about "In My Life," after the vid. Have fun!
Redwood City, CA, September 9 2009 . On the occasion of Tfc.s 15th and Star Cinema.s16th anniversaries, Abs-cbn International.s Starry Starry Store brings to the U.S. the much awaited comeback of the Philippine entertainment industry.s Star for All Seasons: multi-awarded actress and current Batangas Province Governor Vilma Santos in the comedy-drama,...
The newscast can also be seen in the Philippines on Anc. The Friday edition runs every Saturday at 6:30pm in the Philippines. Check out their site right here and the Abs-cbn International site right here.
Here's my review, hope you like it, and you can read about "In My Life," after the vid. Have fun!
Redwood City, CA, September 9 2009 . On the occasion of Tfc.s 15th and Star Cinema.s16th anniversaries, Abs-cbn International.s Starry Starry Store brings to the U.S. the much awaited comeback of the Philippine entertainment industry.s Star for All Seasons: multi-awarded actress and current Batangas Province Governor Vilma Santos in the comedy-drama,...
- 10/4/2009
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
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