I am NOT a critic. I'm merely an observer. (Books, movies, plays, musicals etc.)

CLICK TO SEE THE LIST OF CINEMAS WHERE IT IS STILL SHOWN Mike De Leon said that this is only a film.  Let it speak for itself. I beg to differ.  It's not only a film.  It's a beautiful one, but mundane at the same time.  The very sordid truth is presented as a work of fiction.  As Jake quipped, "If truth is stranger than fiction, mas kapanipaniwala ba ang fiction?" (not verbatim) It is greatly directly, awesomely acted, exquisitely written and so much more. Nevertheless, I sort of know where he is coming from and what he is driving at.  I sort of understand.  These are the Mike De Leon Films that I loved and still love before watching Citizen Jake: Hindi Nahahati Ang Langit Sister Stella L (viewed at St. Scholastica's College, Manila) Batch '81 (viewed at St. Scholastica's College, Manila) Kisapmata Kakabakabakaba? I now add to my list CITIZEN JAKE.  It is very controversial because even i...

After watching this again, I am REPOSTING an old short piece that I've written in 1989 .  Since it was banned here,  I watched it via the LaserDisc version months after it was shown in the Cannes Film Festival.  I just updated it a bit.  The movie's claim is that the events are real.  They just changed the names, the places and the exact locations. Source In a rural town dun by a cult leader, the film explores the murder of a foreign priest who gave last rites to a rebel.  -WWW Initial release: 24 May 1989 (France) Director: Lino Brocka Screenplay: Jose "Pete" F. Lacaba Production company: The Cannon Group, Inc. Music composed by: Hugo Crotti, Hubert Bougis If I am not mistaken this is real the reason our beloved President Corazon C. Aquino did not approve of Phillip Salvador not only as her daughter's lover, but as a person.  (added 5/18/2018) I know a lot of people who think that our dear President Corazon C. Aquino took advantage o...

‘The Significant Other’ review: Hilariously awful   (Rappler Article by Oggs Cruz) Maybe I agree with the above article around 90%, but since I am writing about this, maybe I found something good about this story, so let's just talk about that.  After all, I am NOT a critic, just an observer. Lovi Poe, Erich Gonzales, Snooky Serna, Alora Sasam, Matet De Leon, Bernardo Bernardo, Ricci Chan and Dina Bonnevie did quite well, but what about Tom?  Well, he's a good and handsome actor, but his character was quite loathsome.  Gagawa na nga lang ng kalokohan, di pa ni-lock ang pinto. Hay naku! Ito naman si Lovi...I mean, Maxene, di pa sinugod yung asawa niya at yung "significant other"...kaso kung ginawa niya yun, baka natapos na ang kwento doon pa lang.  Tapos alam na niya palang di alam nung isa, di pa in-approach heart-to-heart talk :-p  Kung anu-ano pang masasakit na salita ang binitawan.   At least Edward got his just deserts.  Th...

Official Trailer When I heard Alice Dixson utter the classic infamous line, "Nandiyan ba ang asawa ko, na asawa mo, na asawa ng buong bayan?" in the trailer of WHEN THE LOVE HAS GONE,  I said to myself, "Wait, I've heard that line before!" Or something to that effect.  I was not wrong.  Something similar to those lines were uttered by Laurice Guillen as Delza in NAGALIT ANG BUWAN SA HABA NG GABI (click to read the story written and directed by Danny L. Zialcita...Since the blogger doesn't know the name of the actor who played Antonio Almeda aka UP Boy, I'll tell you that his name is Tommy Alvarado)---more below Alice Dixson, Gabby Concepcion, Cristine Reyes, Andi Eigenmann and Jake Cuenca Source Except for the very long title(in terms of syllables), the movie this one was based on, is very beautiful.  When Janice de Belen played the role of Jenny, I felt her pain...her agony. All of the members of cast f...