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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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Two Ways of Alienation
on TBA’s I’m Drunk, I Love You
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History Lessons
on Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna
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Notes on Lino Brocka’s essay 2
“The “upliftment of the motion Picture industry” should not, can never be, a package deal; it is, instead, a protracted struggle. One should work perseveringly with the material at hand, should be aware of but not stunted by our cinematic tradition, and should place one’s trust in the Filipino mass audience.” -Lino Brocka (Philippine Movies:…
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Re-reading Brocka’s famous essay
Manila Review published Lino Brocka’s “Philippine Movies: Some Problems & Prospects” back in their October 1974 issue. The essay was quite famous for its challenge to film-makers (directors, producers, also cinematographers, editors, actors) to “get over his hang-up about making the Great Filipino Film” that the film-maker should think about “developing the Great Filipino Audience”.…
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On Agustin “Hammy” Sotto
Also, a compendium of articles of him found online
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The Tale of Two Oedipi*
on Mario Cornejo’s Apocalypse Child (2015). Partly edited to finally have a proper conclusion.