The idealized image of a docile Filipina wearing a venerated baro’t saya has been embedded in all facets of Philippine culture, heritage, and history. From books to films, pictures and drawings mostly depict a naive, demure, and subservient Filipina against a backdrop of a rural setting. The air of sophistication and aplomb is somewhat absent. For centuries, this… Read More »

Watching a slew of stand-up comedians delivering their sets for an hour is hilariously side splitting. Nothing beats a group of performers whose creative juices spontaneously flow during a live show. The level of entertainment they bring certainly triggers the spectators’ beaming serotonin.    The recently concluded episodic Netflix show, “Funny AF with Kevin Hart”, became the newest competition… Read More »

The floodgates to international stardom are finally unlatched for the eight members of the Filipino girl-group, BINI. Each of their names reverberated on Coachella stage pitching introductions in diverse Filipino dialects (Batangueño, Bicolano, Cebuano, Ilocano, and Manila Tagalog). That historic moment indelibly etched BINI’s own niche in mainstream music industry: Bini Aiah, Bini Colet, Bini Gwen, Bini Jhoanna,… Read More »

The irresistible lure of the city of Paris, with its inimitable backdrop of art and fashion, substantiates an inevitable cinematic grandeur of sorts. Paris Fashion week boldly speaks of its ostentatious spectacle of apparel display on runway. With an A-list of celebrities flocking to either watch or grace the catwalk during this event, it is just an overflowing… Read More »

The customary onslaught of promotional materials reassuring a tear-jerker movie continues to thrive in Philippine movie industry. Even if the line-up of cast is imposing enough to grab one’s curiosity, this overdramatic strategy keeps on resurfacing inordinately just to pull off the box office bottomline. No wonder this pitch has been deeply inveterate in Filipino psyches that often… Read More »

Depiction of women in film affixes the ubiquitous mindset of the masses about the female species. Every image projected on screen accedes to the audience’s percipience to freely redirect and validate them into cultural norms and beliefs. The efficacy of cinema creates a ripple effect on societal practices. Hence, the contretemp rests on whether the filmmaker takes the… Read More »

Over time, movie audiences have been treated with multitudinous films specifically made “based on a true story.” This claim often sparks interest to analogize how the film breathes life into the lead characters and recreates scenes that may seem unimaginable to many. Whether the cinematic attempt lends credence to the real story or not, the obligation rests solely… Read More »

The concept of Catholicism interspersed with the pursuit of Rizalism proffers a stark contradiction, notably if one is drawn to the historical facts that led to the martyrdom of the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. Delineated images of oppressive friars during the 19th century elucidated by Rizal himself in his novels do not seem to augur a… Read More »

…”We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment You know together we’re glowin’, gonna be, gonna be golden”… When these lyrics of the song, “Golden,” played in my ears for the first time, every word persisted in my memory. “Golden” is the theme song of the animated feature film, “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” which was nominated for the Golden… Read More »

“…To The Victory” is a unanimous choice for this year’s “Platform award” amongst a very strong selection. Bringing cinematic language to its roots and at the same time masterfully playing with audience expectation, this film dismantles convention to reveal deeply resonant universal emotion. Director Valentyn Vasyanovych has choreographed a mise-en-scène, rendered with masterful precision, arriving at the kind… Read More »