A Pilgrimage to Cinema

Though it wasn't explicitly stated in the film, " Unfriend ", directed by Joselito Altarejos and written by Zigcarlo Dulay, appears to have been inspired from a disturbing news many months back about a teenage boy who, unable to cope with a failed relationship, shot his teenage lover (a boy) inside a shopping mall and then afterwards shot himself. In the film, a 15-yr-old boy (portrayed by Sandino Martin), having been left by his 17-yr-old boyfriend (portrayed by Angelo Ilagan) for another guy, becomes depressed, unstable and eventually, suicidal. The film essentially chronicles the last day - or hours - in the life of this ill-fated boy, all happening on Christmas day. While the subject matter (or the news material on which the film was based) is arguably sensational, the director's treatment of the matter is far from it. Eschewing the potentially lurid and tabloid-like aspects of the material, the director opts for a deliberate and moody piece that puts emphas...

" Mana ", written and directed by Gabriel Fernandez and produced by De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, has everything that you could ask for from a Filipino family drama. A dying parent;family bickering and sibling rivalry;tightly-guarded secrets and haunts from the past;a once-powerful clan now on the brink of downfall;a provincial hacienda as a setting;and a wealth to be bequeathed (the film's title). It now appears that everything is set to proceed accordingly to the requirements of the genre. But then, the director's screenplay is peppered with supernatural elements and ominous figures, and appears to strangely meld together two (or even three) different kinds of genres and Lawrence Fajardo's editing constructs the film like pieces of puzzle being put together that the viewers might become perplexed as to what exactly is going on. It gradually becomes clear that everything is not what it appears to be. Though there are already clues that hint at somethi...

In cinema, it does happen that there comes a good, old-fashioned movie that evokes in us such bittersweet and melancholic memories that we can't help but wonder where has such style of filmmaking gone. What's even more wondrous is that such an exceptional encounter, even with its sad nostalgic tinge, turns out to be such a beautiful experience. Alexander Payne's " Nebraska " is that kind of film. Shot in evocative and astonishing black-and-white, the film tells the story of an aging and alcoholic patriarch (portrayed by Bruce Dern) who, upon receiving one day the "good news" of winning in a million-dollar lottery, becomes stubbornly intent in travelling all the way from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his "fortune", even if it means literally walking down the far road, no matter how it may be debilitating to his deteriorating health (the film's opening shot just shows that). Accompanying him in the trip, albeit not wit...