A Pilgrimage to Cinema

Whenever there's a film festival being held here in our shores, especially if it's on its neophyte year, we avid cineastes are always ready to support. Just like the very first World Premieres Film Festival , which had its inauguration last June 30 (and is about to run until July 8 at SM Cinemas). The festival boasts of new films (in the Main Competition, at least) that have never been shown in any film event elsewhere except in this one. Here are some of the films that I was able to see thus far:  • " Romantic Nostalgia " (Iran) by Reza Azamian  This film could have been titled " Love in a Time of War and Cancer " as well. It's about a young university student who falls in love with a car mechanic/soldier-in-waiting. Despite the initial refusal of the girl's parents due to her tender age, the two eventually get married. But the sociopolitical conditions of Iran at that time (1970s-80s) would stand in the way of the couple living a bliss...

Can you just imagine? If its release had been delayed further or, worse, had not been consummated at all. If our local ratings and classification board had decided to heavily trim it down to accomodate a less strict rating. If this film had never ever happened. Then, we could have definitely missed something great. And that's not a hyperbole. I'm speaking of " The Raid 2 ", Gareth Evans' follow-up to his 2011 surprise hit and stunner.  The blurb on the film's poster says that it is "one of the greatest action movies ever made". It's a rather cliché-sounding description that we might not just pay much attention to. But more often than not, that's just how clichés work - there's a ring of truth in them. This time, we just have to believe that "The Raid 2" is indeed a great film. And just how great is it? Or, just what is it that makes for a great cinema? The matter can still be purely subjective. From the point of my own viewing e...

I was really intending to go to the French  Film Festival that day. But due to the not-that-fair weather from where I was at that time, I just decided to head instead to the nearest cinema and watch " 7500 ", the new film by Takashi Shimizu, one of the leading figures of the so-called J-Horror genre, having brought us such spine-tinglers as " The Grudge 1 and 2 " (both the Japanese original and the American remake) and " Marebito ". Unlike the more popular "The Grudge" though, this one, from the looks of it, is destined to become a direct-to-video movie-fare. B-level actors, a small budget, a single setting, a simple premise and a condensed running-time - everyone involved in the film must not  really be thinking that it would have a wider reach and a hefty box-office return.  The question that could be of interest at this point is:Given such factors, does it follow that the film is no better than your daily primetime soap? Well, not necessarily....

Without a doubt, " Noah " is Darren Aronofsky's biggest film to date, in terms of budget, visual effects and box-office appeal, not to mention the story itself. When compared to the "modesty" of his previous productions (" Pi ", " Requiem for a Dream ", " The Wrestler ", " Black Swan "), his latest film is surely miles apart from them. The question though is:Does this necessarily translate to a quality film? Does ample financial resources entail a compromise in the filmmaker's unique vision and sensibility, which were on display in his previous works? With "Noah", we may actually argue somewhat in favor of the film.  "Noah" is not a great film, let me just make it clear. In fact, it is not Aronofsky's best film. While admittedly a flawed work, it still has a number of commendable qualities that can still make it worth one's time. For one, the visual audacity that the director displayed in hi...

Come to think of it, " Edge of Tomorrow ", the latest Tom Cruise-starrer and directed by Doug Liman, who megged the very first film in the Jason Bourne series, has a highly-incredible premise, so much so that in less-skilled hands the film could have become no more than a bluff. The Earth has been predominantly taken siege by destructive alien creatures referred to as "Mimics". Any attempt by humans to launch a battle against these creatures would only amount to futility for it turns out that the "Mimics" have the powerful capability of "foreseeing" our actions and thereby hindering them. Moreover, any attempt to kill them would only bring about the opposite result - that is, it would just make them to multiply and "live" more. For these creatures are just nothing but "branches" of a much bigger "head", which virtually serves as their "life-giver".  Thus explains why the film's protagonist, William Cage...