What is Cinema?

Regardless of the timeline, the message being brought forth by a good war film will always remain universal and relevant: that of the senseless brutality and destruction of war and that in war, all will be just losers in the end. And a truly good war film is the one that shuns any form of propagandistic heroism, but instead depicts the horrors as close to reality as possible. " Paths of Glory ", " Full Metal Jacket ", " Come and See ", " Platoon ", " Saving Private Ryan " - these are some such films that can be mentioned. On that point, " Fury ", written and directed by David Ayer, is worthy of note. Otherwise, the film offers nothing new in terms of behavioral and social psychology in times of war. Yet, one can't fault the film for some of its daring choices.  "Fury" is set in 1945, at the time of the Second World War, when the Allied Forces have well advanced into Germany to defeat Hitler's Nazi regime. Amo...

After the Korean Film Festival  now came  Pelicula: Spanish Film Festival (Oct. 10-19, Greenbelt 3). Yet, for this one, I was only able to see two films. Even so, those films can be considered as worthy of one's time.  • " 10,000 Nights Nowhere " ( 10,000 noches en ninguna parte ) by Ramon Salazar (2013, 113 mins)  This film tells the story of a 27-year-old man (portrayed by Andres Gertrudix, who's nameless throughout) who's living three "parallel" lives: as a son who's burdened with taking care of an alcoholic mother in Madrid;as a drifter who meets his childhood friend in Paris;and as a run-away who lives with a painter, together with her bohemian friends, in Berlin. The title refers to the "equivalent in hours" of the man's age - 10,000 nights (27 years) of a seemingly purposeless life. The film evokes the metaphysical dramas of Terrence Malick and Krzysztof Kieslowski in terms of mood and style. Thus said, it may not appeal to every...

Films about drummers are a rare thing in cinema. More so, unless probably you're a die-hard music aficionado, such films would likely arouse little interest from the viewers. One thing that drew me to " Whiplash ", the Grand Jury Prize winner (U.S. Dramatic) in this year's Sundance Film Festival , written and directed by 29-year-old Damien Chazelle, was that, uhm, I was a frustrated drummer some time back. I was somehow able to join just a few gigs as a "substitute" drummer for some struggling bands playing at some second-rate night watering holes. Probably hard to believe, but I did that not for the money (which was really just a mere sum) but only for the heck of it (experience and exposure, such things you know). But then the hard truth: sticks and cymbals were not really that kind to me. I wasn't just cut out for it, so to speak. It was high time to stop fooling myself. And after seeing "Whiplash", the realization that I was a musical idio...

Previously, we took note of the 2014 Korean Film Festival , one of the best foreign-language film festivals to be held in our country this year. Let's now go to a couple of films shown on a regular run in our theaters this past week.  • " Gone Girl " by David Fincher (RT: 150 mins)  David Fincher is one American filmmaker who's always exciting to watch out for. There's always a distinct quality in each of his films. His latest work, "Gone Girl" (based on a novel by Gillian Flynn, who adapted her own book for the screen), is no exception. What I find of particular note in the film is how it toys with audience sympathy in the most mind-bending way possible. When Nick Dunne's wife Amy, once the subject of a best-selling book, mysteriously disappears at the film's start, viewers are made to turn their suspicious eyes on the husband (portrayed by Ben Affleck) who may have something to do with his wife's disappearance, especially that not a few thi...

This past week has proven to be another productive and rewarding week at the cinemas: we had a couple of films shown commercially in our theaters and a Korean film festival. And it never really came to a point wherein we thought there were so many films, yet there was only so little time. The dedicated and enterprising cineaste will always find a way.  Let's take a look first at the Korean Film Festival (SM Megamall, Oct. 8-12): • " All About My Wife " by Min Kyu-dong (2012, 121 mins) This romantic comedy that is somehow an "anti-rom-com" is over-the-top loony and irrational, something that brings to mind the works of Pedro Almodóvar and John Waters. Yet, in its own charming way, this seeming senselessness works because it just fits into the milieu. There's a certain kind of wicked appeal in how the film lulls us into believing early on how fate and chance must have conspired beautifully for the two strangers to become a loving couple. Yet, just right after ...

Last time, I noted how the Filipino documentaries shown at the 1st Cine Totoo  (at least those that I was able to see) were not strictly defined by the conventions of a documentary feature but instead crossed over into the domain of a narrative feature film (for one, those four docus that I saw had no "talking heads"). On the festival's last day, I was able to watch two documentaries from the Southeast Asian Section - Thailand's " By the River " and " Boundary ", both directed by Nontawat Numbenchapol (who was present during the screenings). I was pleased to find out that the two docus were likewise being governed by the rules and principles of a traditional narrative film. These two are once again an out-of-the-box viewing fares, not to mention that they are relevant as well.  Nontawat's documentaries are in fact deceptive. They are characterized by images that are calm, static, observational and contemplative, very much akin to a Buddhist zen...