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

( source ) Written and Directed by MICHAEL V When plans for the day did not come to fruition, dad, mom, and I decided to watch a movie instead.  We've seen most of the blockbusters, and the others were Horror Flicks(not really our cups of tea, with some exceptions, of course) so we were left with no choice  but to watch FAMILY HISTORY. Boy, were we surprised. The style and treatment were done before, but we were so impressed by the flow of the story, the acting, the injection of graphic arts, the cinematography, et cetera , most especially the direction.  The topics aren't new, and  they are all very relatable, but how the characters dealt with the different situations proves that the writer/director/producer/composer, MICHAEL V, is a genius. DAWN ZULUETA, KAKAI BAUTISTA, MIGUEL TAN FELIX, BIANCA UMALI, PAOLO CONTIS, JOHN ESTRADA, EUGENE DOMINGO, DINGDONG DANTES, MIKOY MORALES, NIKKI CO, JEMWELL VENTINILLA, VINCE GAMAD, and NONIE BUENCAMINO, pl...

From Google Images Alone Together earns P61.9 million in two days, says ABS-CBN subsidiary Written and directed by the critically acclaimed Antoinette Jadaone , Alone/Together, is a story many, if not all, can relate to.  Most of us, when we were very young and idealistic we wanted to change the world, but end up being the scum we thought we'd never be.  LIZA SOBERANO is really more than a pretty face.  She's intelligent, and a true thespian.  I love her chemistry with real life beau, ENRIQUE GIL.  Even if they are both in love with each other in real life, they made us believe they were...are...Tin and Raf.  Yes, they were Tin and Raf, who drawn to each other the instant they came across each other at our National Museum  in front of Juan Luna's Spoliarium . The two have an instant connection that if you haven't the slightest idea what this story about, you would wonder how Aly( Jasmine Curtis-Smith ) and Greg( Adrian Alandy ) became a p...

Source: ABS-CBN There is no doubt, I will miss this series.  It may have had some flaws(Remember my complaints about surgical masks, et cetera ?), but this is one series I watched from start to finish because I enjoyed it so much.  The good guys only killed when necessary like when they were defending themselves, and only as a last resort.  Thanks to i Want TV  I never missed an episode(the video above is from Daily Motion, and NOT from the said online service). Sigh. All's well that ends well.  If you missed the episode, visit iWantTV  so you could watch it in high definition. The four main characters: Aljur Abrenica (Xander/Alexander), Julia Montes (Title Role...Ana/Juliana), Paulo Avelino (Gael) and Shaina Magdayao (Samantha/Katrina) Photograph from Pinoy Exchange Cherry Pie Picache (Celeste/Ms. C Ramos), Lorna Tolentino (Miranda Ojeda), Agot Isidro (Hillary Del Mundo), Nonie Buencamino (Salvador/Buddy Del Mundo), Ryle Pao...

An elderly woman (Na Moon Hee) regains her youthful appearance, changes her name and embarks on a quest for happiness. Director :  Hwang Dong-hyuk Featured song :  Raindrop Revised Romanization :  Susanghan gunyeo Adaptations :  Sweet 20  (2017),  Sweet 20  (2015),  Miss Granny  (2018) Writers(from imdb ): Dong-ik Shin Yoon-jeong Hong Hee-seon Dong Dong-hyuk Hwang ... (adaptation) Miss Granny 2014 The Filipino version is almost exactly the same as the South Korean version.  The songs are different, the fruits are different, but it is practically the same.  It's like watching the same musical two different nights, the same script, but with different actors. Both are equally beautiful.  Of course, nothing beats the original, but the Filipino version adds a little Filipino touch to the story.  There are many montages, and instead of a Fomentation House a...

This is a poster for  BuyBust . The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the item promoted, Viva Films, the publisher of the item promoted or the graphic artist. Finally!  The much anticipated movie is now showing in theatres nationwide.  It is also a Cinemalaya entry, and I think there will be a gala night on Saturday at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. #RealityEntertainment The actors did not disappoint.  Anne Curtis did not overact and she was very convincing.  Dad said there were scenes that were too lengthy that if they cut it short, they would be more effective. There were scenes that if you think about it are very gory.  That's the harsh reality of life.  Inside the rest room the women were talking about Buy Bust like it was in a dystopian setting, like a Zombie Apocalypse or something. The people inside the theatre, including us, likened the people from Gracia ni Maria to the walking d...

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...

( source ) Written and Directed by Irene Villamor Without giving the whole story away, I must say we, my parents and I, love the ending.  We may not have applauded, but it etched a lot of good memories in our hypothalami. Carlo Aquino has honed his craft and is more appealing, but his character is smug and the first time  they(Celeste and Jesse) parted ways(sorta kinda a spoiler), Jesse should've convinced Celeste to stay, but he just allowed her to hail a cab. After several years they see each other again(spoiler alert again), he was "in love" with another, he didn't even look for her, but since he found out he filled her senses he was smug again, then when she told him to go, he left...if I go on then I'll give the story totally away. I would rather people run to the cinemas to find out what I mean. Dad and I planned to watch this a day before a close friend told me that we were going to watch this today.  I didn't want to watch that po...

From Google images For non-Filipino speakers, there are English Subtitles # contramundum   # defytheworld   # showlarawansomelove The 1965 movie was in full English with some Spanish and it left a deep mark in my heart.  Even if I was never deprived of love lives through the years, right now, I am over the hill and considered a spinster by a lot of condescending and "caring" people alike, so I really found Tony Javier's character deplorable.  In the musical movie that almost was not shown during the Metro Manila Film Festival 2017 even if it was critically acclaimed elsewhere, Tony Javier is still an a-hole, and that same a-hole was personified by Paulo Avelino. The Late National Artist Rolando S. Tinio's Screenplay makes the audience feel that every scene is real, so what if a character breaks into song once in a while?  There were funny and witty lines too.  Even if it was faithful to the National Artist, Nick Joaquin's origi...

It's not as great as Kita Kita, and the buildup and flow of the story is not seamless(like it was not shown how Bela and Coco fell in love etc.), but for a first directorial job for the big screen, Dennis Padilla does have a future.  Empoy Marquez and Shy Carlos are good actors.  Empoy is even very graceful and he's such a natural. Shy Carlos who is NOT in any way related to Sarah Carlos(well, at least that's what I think---they do have a great resemblance so people often mistake Sarah for Shy....Shy or Schai is Schirin Grace Sigrist in real life), is beautiful inside and out.  Regarding the many kissing scenes she had with Empoy she said, "Pogi naman si Empoy at hindi na kailangan paghandaan yun." (Empoy is charming and I don't need to prepare for it)  One newspaper even misquoted her regarding what she said about her imagining kissing Piolo Pascual.  When I heard and read her REAL quote, she was just saying that as actors it's the same when you ki...

SM Southmall Cinema One ( source ) #AMustSeeMovie #HeneralLuna2015 #KeepHeneralLunaInCinemas #JohnArcilla #JerroldTarog Heneral Luna (biopic) Wikipedia Heneral Luna Official Facebook Page Official Website We were divided, so they conquered us! A debacle with myself is what I am having.  Should I publish this is the vernacular or should I just publish this in English? I'll just let my thoughts flow.  If I think of something in the vernacular, then I would just inject it. When I was a little girl I wondered why we weren't just annexed to the US of A because a lot of my countrymen were dying to get a US Visa anyway.   My formative years were spent in the USA and I memorized "I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag..." first before I learned about the " Panatang Makabayan " so I was one of those who were complaining why we didn't remain a  Commonwealth or something. There was a time that I was even ashamed to ...