Film Notes: October

Tubog sa Ginto (Lino Brocka, 1971) 4/5. Daming wala sa kopyang pinanood ko, nawala yung unting mahahalagan parts, pero, ganda ganda. :)

Buenas Noches Espana (Raya Martin, 2011) - 5/5

The Turin Horse (Bela Tarr, 2011) 4.5/5. near perfection. Fuck you Bela Tarr! Your film is fucking depressing! You're fucking great, so fuck you for retiring! :p

UPFI Shorts:
Working While in Class - Mai Calapardo 5/5
D'osom 2 - Candice Perez 4/5
Austria 2011 - Geli Blanco 3/5
Padayon - Kathy Molina 3/5
Winner Winner - Jaise Cappal 5/5

Bring me my shotgun (Harmony Korine, 2011) 5/5. I don't really get this post-trash humpers hate on Korine, but I get to love his works more and more after humpers. this, is one great love story, a couple having fun in their own world.

The Adventure (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) 4/5. it's so good it made me want to hate the main characters. anlalande! sarap tirisin! lols.

Anthropo-Cynical Force (Kihachiro Kawamoto, 1970) 3/5. early short film ni Kawamoto, puppet+handdrawn animation. Medyo iba talaga ang dating ng animation kapag black and white. Medyo heavy ang feel. Iba rin ang dating sa mga latter works ni Kawamoto.

wkw/tk/1996@7'55''hk.net (Kar-wai Wong, 1996) 5/5. about love. Medyo extreme depictions ng metaphors about love saka common relationship problems. Yun bang yung solusyon ay sinisimbulo ng baril at kung saan gagamitin ito. Sa huli, kahit ano mang imperpections ni partner, susuko ka pa rin sa pag-ibig. hehe. Panalo ang visuals, courtesy of Christopher Doyle, si Karen Mok at si Tadanobu Asano ang gumanap na lovers. Panalo!

Jesus Camp (Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, 2006) - 4/5.
"As everybody likes to be honoured, so people imagine that God also wants to be honoured. They forget that the fulfilment of duty towards men is the only honour adequate to him."
- Immanuel Kant.
The line between the separation of religion and state has been blurred a long time ago, even before this documentary; even before we are aware of it. Religion is politics. And this documentary showed how religion makes its army for the utilization of the state. I pity them kids, they open their eyes blindly with their parent's belief not knowing that they are just being molded into a Republican droid.

Blood Bank (Pam Miras, 2004) - 2/5

Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978) - 3.5/5

Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick 1998) - 3.5/5

Bicycle Sighs (Sion Sono, 1991) 5/5

The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre Dardenne|Luc Dardenne, 2011) 4/5. The asshole father leaving his autistic child in the care of a single non-motherly beautician. Life sure is hard.

Come Drink With Me (King Hu, 1966) - 4/5. One of Hu's early works, the somewhat dull action sequences are forgivable since it was one of those early films on Kung-Fu cinema, the beauty lies on everything else but the fight scenes.

The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To, 1993) - 5/5. Maggie Cheung has the best character on the three. She's as charming as ever even with her comic role. That flying motorcycle woke me up.

School on Fire (Ringo Lam, 1988) - 5/5. Substitute since my Return of the Dragon Copy is not playing. Asian gangster+coming of age drama, couldn't get any better than that. Riots are riots. As chaotic as it should be. The film's an outrage, a great one though. It makes gang fights seem like a dancing flash mob.

Panic in High School (Sogo Ishii, 1978) 5/5 - It's everything that 3 Idiots wanted to say about Western education system, just more consistent and straight forward. Plus better music.

Angel Dust (Sogo Ishii, 1994) 4/5 - it has a more established feel than Panic in High School, it's like Abel Ferrera with more intense editing style. Gotta love every music Ishii choose, seems like, every film of his focused much on rhythm. An upbeat take on the psychological-thriller genre.

Iskwaterpangk (Khavn, 2008) 4/5. The day when Hapon decided to have his hair cut into mohawk was a call for celebration. There's been playing, dancing, singing, and of course, a party meal with their favorite pagpag.

Anino (Raymond Red, 2000) 5/5. Is it only a shadow or is that the devil? Is Raymond Red playing Shin Migami Tensei too or he's been reading Carl Jung? Anyways, it's always great to come back home.

Unesco World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

The Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA) joins the film archiving community in commemorating the Unesco World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

October 27 has been adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, with this year's theme "Audiovisual Heritage: See, Hear, and Learn." Thus, the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA) is one with the world in commemorating this important occasion and in bringing to the fore the importance of nurturing and preserving our rich audiovisual heritage.

SOFIA believes that as Filipinos and as a nation, we can learn more about ourselves – our identity and our culture – through the numerous films, documentaries, television programs and the like that our country has produced. The sad reality though is that a lot of these works are already lost with more in imminent danger of suffering the same fate. In face of this and other hurdles, SOFIA takes on the responsibility of building awareness to this advocacy by bringing these issues into the public consciousness through the Internet, on television, in print, and through various activities including a monthly free film screening series that has helped develop film appreciation and a renewed interest in Filipino cinema.

On behalf of UNESCO and audiovisual archive organizations the world over, SOFIA encourages the Filipino people to share in this cause before it's too late.

***

The Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (Samahan ng mga Filipinong Arkivista para sa Pelukula, Inc.) is a non-stock, non-profit volunteer organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission that is composed of individuals from different backgrounds – from trained archivists to film enthusiasts – that share a common cause for the preservation of our country’s cinematic treasures. SOFIA is an active member of the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archives Association or SEAPAAVA. For more information, please visit www.arkivista.org. We're also on Facebook and you can follow us on twitter at @sofiaphils

Unico (1981)

Father of Japanese animation and Astro Boy creator's co-production with Sanrio. Unico is the least known Sanrio character. Unico had a series that ran in the late 70's. He's this cute Unicorn, what sets him apart with other Sanrio characters is that, he never lived in a light environment with his friends solving mini life problems such as what to wear in the party. Most of Unico's TV series episodes were set on dark places, the Pilot episode was on a rat hole near a poluted lake. He was attempted to be dumped by the Gods into the Mountains of Oblivion because he's been sharing happiness with every people he touched. As the gods mentioned it, happiness should come only with "hard work" in which they force people into with their miserable lives. With this premise, I come with this theory of Unico being politically charged.

Super Mario Bros. Movie (2002)

Been searching for video art for a while now, and I stumble upon this weird piece. Super Mario Bros. Movie, or Mario Movie, was a mod for the NES cartridge by video artist Cory Arcangel. Using tilesets from the game, Arcangel made a 15 minute silent movie about a man (played by Mario) trapped in a game asking random things regarding memory.

pupfilmcritics.i.ph > film blog "review"

Yeah, first time ito!

Disclaimer, kunwari review ito, pero mangookray lang talaga ako, medyo may mga bagay lang kasi talaga na hindi katanggap-tanggap.
Isa pa, hindi ako film critic, pansin naman sa blog ko na mas mukhang personal posts lang ang nandito. Madalas, mga karanasan lang sa panunuod ng pelikula, bihira ako maganalyze dahil hindi ko talaga trip yon. Pero, kahit sino naman, alam kapag ang isinulat ng iba ay pangit o maganda, lalo kapag formal theme o school requirement.

Heto, ang pupfilmcritics.i.ph ay blog na naglalaman ng mga output ng mga estudyante ni Dean Viray ng College of Communications sa PUP sa Film Appreciation class. Di bale, binibisita ko na yun simula ng magsimula ang pasukan, at medyo matagal na rin naman nasa internet ang blogsite. Pero, hindi maalis sa paningin ko ang ilan talaga sa mga kapunapunang mga "analysis" ng mga estudyante.

Di ako kailanman nakaupo sa isang Film Appreciation class, pero, malamang sa malamang, dahil akademiko ang setting, ay malaman ito sa teoretikal na mga kaalaman na dapat maisalamin sa kung anomang output na maaaring hingin ng propesor para makapasa sa kaniyang subject.

Tignan natin ang ilan sa mga "analysis" ng mga estudyante:

"I was a big fan of films like this so somehow I did enjoy watching this; the director has really good skills in creating such a film. it is such a great movie. A person who’s a big fan of supernatural films will really enjoy this, the effects are good, the death scenes look just as realistic. I enjoyed it."
- Jinno Robles BBrc 3-3 for “Final Destination 5”

"I find this such a boring story, the cinematography and the visual effects aren’t clear, though I understand that it was made years ago, when technology wasn’t on its peak then.

I don’t like it because its black and white."

- Jinno Robles BBrC 3-3 for "Itim"

Mga kapansin pansin na detalye:

• Nagfocus masyado sa taste, nasaan ang theory?
• Mas maikli ang analysis kesa sa synopsis na kinopya sa internet (as mentioned sa facebook ni sir Noel Vera)
• Mukhang hindi pinanood ni Jinno ang Itim
• Hindi justified ang parehong views.

Heto pang isa:

"I find this such a boring story, the cinematography and the visual effects aren’t clear, though I understand that it was made years ago, when technology wasn’t on its peak then.

I don’t find the story interesting for I don’t really like watching horror films."

- Marjorie Payumo BBrC3-3 for "Itim"

Granted, you don't like the film, pero hindi kailangan ng analysis na banggitin niyo lang ang distaste ninyo at ang kawalan ninyo ng interes, kailangan himayin ninyo ang pelikula. Kailangang i-"analyze" ninyo ang pelikula. Banggitin kung ano ang maganda o hindi sa bawat aspeto, alin ang worth mentioning, ano ang mga pagkakamali, nang may kabuuang detalye. Hindi yan Kawts Kamote na personal blog na initial experiece lang ang laman. May label kaya iyang "Analysis". At isa pa, SCHOOL REQUIREMENT niyo yan! Nasaan ang itinuro sa inyo? Ito kasing output ninyo ang repleksyon kung may natutunan ba kayo o wala o kung may naituro ba sa inyo o wala.

Isang paglilinaw, hindi ako namemersonal, may basehan naman tayo sa itaas. Ang mangyayari kasi, sa mga ganiyang pamamaraan hindi nabibigyang hustisya ang pelikula gusto niyo man ito o hindi.

Hindi natatapos sa pagpuri o paglait ng pelikula at sa pagbanggit ng "cinematography", "visual effects", "directing", "mise-en-scene" at kung ano-ano pa ang isang film analysis.