FILM AND TV FEATURES
Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival redefines Southern Tagalog cinema through diverse and fearless stories from seasoned filmmakers to up-and-coming talents.
Taking the first episode of ‘Dune: Prophecy’ at face value, there is great potential to expand the Dune franchise to the small screen and develop its undeniably captivating universe.
In ‘Love in the Big City,' memory is more than just the past; it’s an active force that shapes the present.
For 16 years, the Pandayang Lino Brocka Film Festival has championed critical films that highlight the struggles of marginalized Filipinos. With Lupang Sinira as this year’s theme, the festival amplifies issues of land rights, labor exploitation, and environmental justice.
Invisible and often overlooked, Carlito Piedad’s work, as captured in Invisible Labor, goes beyond archiving the past—it is a powerful act of resistance, preserving the struggles of a people and safeguarding the truth, one rewind at a time.
After a two-year break, the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival is back with a trove of fantastical stories from all over the regions and Asia.
Faraz Shariat’s No Hard Feelings captures the inherent uncertainty and vulnerability of both the coming of age and the immigrant experience in a simple, yet honest and emotional film
As the 12th edition of the Active Vista Human Rights Festival draws to a close, we imagine how cinema transforms art into resistance.
A Cebuano documentary about pottery, an absurdist Chavacano tale of animalism, and a Fil-Am filmmaker revising her script in the middle of production are some of the best shorts featured in the Binisaya Film Festival 2024.
FILM REVIEWS
‘Room in a Crowd’ utilizes what is essentially a collective scattering of fragmented thoughts and musings to deliver an incredibly ethereal experience.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Netflix Christmas special is filled with nice holiday performances featuring special guests, and naughty sketches — all decked with her witty, flirty double entendres.
‘Lost Sabungeros’ suggests through interviews with insider whistleblowers that the criminal mastermind behind the violent disappearances within the e-sabong industry is the notorious gambling tycoon, Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Khavn’s new film, ‘Makamisa: Phantasm of Revenge,’ about the fragments of Jose Rizal’s work, is shot on expired film. It’s an acknowledgment of the faded, collective memory that plagues pre-war Filipino film history.
‘Gladiator II’ serves its purpose by harkening back to what made the first film resonate, with a story fueled by familiar tropes of vengeance, redemption, and an expected underdog narrative.
Across genres ranging from heartfelt drama to biting satire, the longing for acceptance, and the weight of class struggles, these local shorts continue to prove that QCinema is a lighthouse for talent and razor-sharp reflections of the national condition.
A tense, cerebral, yet crowd-pleasing chamber piece, ‘Heretic’ stacks tantalizing theological disquisitions and moments of primal terror on top of each other to create one entertaining thrill ride.
‘Simon of the Mountain’ should be an interesting film, given that its subject is rarely explored, but it falters in its execution because what's in the frame is far less interesting than what's not.
Delicatessen seamlessly fuses a urine-dyed post-apocalyptic world with the whimsy of humanity’s dispositions. It’s smart, zany, and fresh — just like a deli.
TV REVIEWS
‘The Perfect Couple’ encapsulates all that we love about celebrity scandals, fueling our eagerness to know more about the case without actually caring for the people involved. Now streaming on Netflix.
For its third season, The Bear still makes room for fantastic television. But it’s clear-cut that it has experienced some errors in the kitchen for a string of episodes.
From Joko Anwar, the mastermind who turned Indonesian horror cinema on its head, comes ‘Nightmares and Daydreams’: a sci-fi series that will delight diehard followers and introduce new audiences to the mind of one of the most intriguing Asian filmmakers today.
Crawling out through the fallout of video game adaptations with much aplomb, Fallout sets its eyes on unexplored horizons, delivering a fresh perspective on the source material that genuinely surprises without losing the charm that made the games so iconic.
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ is a cinematic retelling of the original animated series that finally gives justice to the story that audiences grew up with. Now streaming on Netflix.
This television adaptation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith took the 2005 movie’s basic premise and elevated it to new and bold heights, creating an espionage-filled universe that is intriguing and compelling.
HALUHALO
Mad Child Productions’ ‘Nagkatuwaan Sa Tahanang Ito’ raises thorny questions and feelings about family. Three people orbit Kendra’s preferred definition of family, even if Kendra is forced to examine what it really means to keep a family close.
With a limited run until December 15, Repertory Philippines’ ‘Going Home to Christmas’ spotlights Paskong Pinoy and stories of homecoming.
The ending of Sandosenang Sapatos ultimately seals the show’s overall thesis: unconditional love can never be broken, no matter how many storms test its strength.
As a twin bill, ‘Emulsyon’ makes perfect sense of how both plays are centered on a mother and son and the impacts of the Martial Law era in the Philippines, but contrasting in the tone and how the characters grapple with their realities.
Ultimately, Nanay Bangis is a timely and thought-provoking adaptation that breathes new life into a Brechtian classic.
This December, Mad Child Productions proudly presents Nagkatuwaan Sa Tahanang Ito, a Guelan Varela-Luarca translation of This House Is For Laughing by Sam Walsh. Directed by the award winning and seven-time Palanca Awardee and Hall of Famer Guelan Varela-Luarca, this production offers a heartwarming and comedic reflection on family, loneliness, and labor—a perfect watch for the upcoming holiday season.
NEWS
PRESS RELEASES
LOCAL NEWS
LISTS FEATURES
There are fears that rely on elaborately built sets and tension-building soundscapes, and there are those that sit quietly in their overwhelming presence. We’ve compiled a list of horror movies that do more than scare you.
It’s spooky season! Time to shake your fears, rattle your bones, and roll with the chills as we list down our ten favorite episodes from the iconic Philippine horror anthology.
An introductory watchlist to better understand the issues and narratives surrounding the century-long Palestinian cause from the perspective of different filmmakers in the region over the past century.