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Dukun (Malaysia, 2018) [NYAFF 2018]
Dain Iskandar Said’s Dukun might be confusing at first, due to its choice of narrative style. The film presents itself in a non-linear way as it strives to bridge genres. At first, the narrative seems to pivot on Karim (Faizal Hussein), who’s looking for his missing daughter. The narrative structure becomes rambling as he meets Diana Dahlan…
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Liverleaf (Japan, 2018) [NYAFF 2018]
Eisuke Naito’s adaptation of Rensuke Oshikiri’s cult manga Liverleaf (more popularly known as Hepatica) continues the theme he’s been exploring since his debut – high school students in extreme situations. What makes his new feature different from his former works is that this time the apocalypse is brought to a quiet town. Unfortunately, this is where also the…
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A or B (China, 2018)
A or B plays with game-like mechanisms that make it comparable to Saw (2004) or even the terrific Thai horror 13: Game of Death (2006). Only with less blood. We see Zhong Xiaonan (Xu Zheng) participate in the game where he’s only allowed to choose between two things which will both affect him negatively. While admittedly, none of the high…
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The Sacrament (Japan, 2017)
In a time when self-referentiality is no longer a theoretical symptom of the time, but its actual mode of existence, it is hard to convince one’s self of any more grand mythologies if one’s not in a mode of nostalgia. Which is why it is not hard for any cultural material of contemporary times to…
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On Binge-watching
I just finished Kokkoku (photo above) by watching it as it is released. I talked to a friend and told him that I do think that the experience I had watching the series is worth it on the weekly set up than it is on binge-watching. It’s not that I don’t have an option on…
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Smaller and Smaller Circles (Philippines, 2017)
Watching Smaller and Smaller Circles can be fruitful once you get past its formal lapses. Inconsistencies in tone are the first thing one notices from the film. At first, it feels like a dark, edgy thriller, then, later will seem to become an episode of an afternoon telenovela. Perhaps these lapses can actually be helpful in understanding…
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Marginal Notes on Cinema and Nation
As our Film 240 class wrapped-up earlier, I’m still trying to come into terms of how should I approach the topic of both Cinema and Nation. Prof. Deocampo said to me that the way I wanted to approach my topic, which is Cinema under the Aquino Administration, is something most students (if I heard him…
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Jesus is Dead (Philippines, 2016) [Reel Asian 2017]
When her former husband, Hesus, dies, Iyay (Jaclyn Jose) assembles her children Jude (Chai Fonacier), Jay (Melde Montanez), and Bert (Paul Vincent Viado) for a trip to their previous home in Dumaguete. The misadventures of the family on their way from Cebu follows, with every conflict of each character unfolding as the trip goes by…
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Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino in Dialogue
submitted as a paper for Media 220 – Media Literacy under Prof. Nathan Rondina
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Two Ways of Alienation
on TBA’s I’m Drunk, I Love You