You can’t be a film buff if you aren’t familiar with Mark Strong’s cinematic oeuvre. As versatile as he is prolific, the British actor boasts a body of work that has as many award-winning films (“The Imitation Game,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “1917”) as it has blockbuster titles (“Kingsman: The Secret Service,”...
Category: Film/TV
Post
Why Dolly de Leon sought Sister Mary John’s advice for her role in Nicole Kidman series
Dolly de Leon generated much buzz for her portrayal of an overseas Filipino worker on an ill-fated luxury yacht in Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness.” Her performance in that Palme d’Or-winning 2022 dark comedy clinched the homegrown Filipino actress a best supporting performer trophy from the LA Film Critics Association and best supporting actress nominations...
Post
To open a critical space, a room for everyone, in making video and film art
At a time when the world is on the verge of collapse, when news reports demonstrate the regressive directions to which many countries are turning, the necessity of creating critical spaces becomes more urgent. The latest decision of the UK Supreme Court defining women as purely biological is just one of the cultural, political and...
Post
Viola Davis packs a mean punch as a crime-busting US president
Long before Hollywood actress Viola Davis turned the quasihistorical 2022 film “The Woman King” into a No. 1 blockbuster, she was already looking for “Die Hard”-channeling action heroines to portray onscreen. In a statement released last week, Davis recalled meeting with the filmmakers behind “G20” for the first time in 2016. Helmed by Patricia Riggen,...
Post
No sophomore slump for CinePanalo film festival
Indie productions have always been a source of pride and storytelling innovation for Philippine cinema. When the mainstream industry was having a hard time keeping its head above water in the early aughts, it was indie filmmaking that lifted it out of the creative doldrums, especially after Cinemalaya was launched in 2005. Without the indies,...
Post
Golden haul: Strong lineup boosts 50th edition of MMFF
The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has been fielding better-than-usual lineups since the Covid-19 pandemic began turning moviemaking tradition on its head in 2020. It kept counterproductive scandals at bay by awarding the coveted best picture prize to worthy winners (“Fan Girl,” “Big Night,” “Deleter” and last year’s “Firefly”) and runners-up (“The Boy Foretold by...
Post
‘Isang Himala’: adapting an adaptation
Let’s be clear about this. “Isang Himala,” an entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival, is not a remake of the original film in 1982. It is a film reimagination of the theater musical first staged in 2003 which was based on the film. An adaptation of an adaptation. If there are crossover artists, Ricky...
Post
The business of the Metro Manila Film Festival
The Metro Manila Film Festival is now 50 years old, and my memories rush in. When I was a young movie fan in grade school, I considered its precursor, the Manila Film Festival (MFF), a grand fiesta of Filipino films. I anticipated the event, reading about it in the weekly Manila publications Philippines Free Press,...
Post
How are seniors in show biz coping?
When journalist Lolly Rivera Acosta invited me to guest on her daily radio show “Sulong na, Bayan” over dwIZ, I quickly said yes. I was ready to talk about senior citizens in show biz precisely because I am one of them. I marked the milestone in 2014, in time for my presidency of the Lopez...
Post
‘Batang Quiapo’: Behind the ‘teleserye’ scenes
Apo Manuel and his fake gold bars will haunt me for a little more time. If you don’t get the reference, that only means you are busy with life, and that’s fine, too. Apo Manuel is the name of the character I played in the phenomenal teleserye, “Batang Quiapo,” now on its third year. The action-drama...