Pelikula at Lipunan 2004 Noel Vera The 2004 edition of Mowelfund's "Pelikula at Lipunan" (Film and Society) emphasizes recent independent works, with a...
Julia Roberts' Rictus Noel Vera Mike Newell's "Mona Lisa Smile"--a paean to passionate individuality and spontaneous nonconformity, to finding your own way,...
This thing called love Noel Vera The NCCA's 2004 edition of "Cinema Paraiso" has a definite "love story"-type slant (it's February, after all), from the Nora...
Sword and cinematic sorcery Noel Vera King Hu's "A Touch of Zen" differs from his earlier "Dragon Gate Inn" and later "The Valiant Ones" in that the film...
The Ass Samurai Noel Vera Edward Zwick's "The Last Samurai," starring that wonderful Hollywood star Tom Cruise, is hilarious crap. Cruise doesn't even begin to...
Film Comment January/February 2004 issue features an article titled "Terra Incognita--Unknown pleasures that made our 10 Bests." Included in the article are...
PRESS RELEASE YCC bares winners of film awards MARIO O'Hara's "Babae sa Breakwater" and its lead actress in the title role, Katherine Luna, lead the top...
Kill swill (Vol. 1) Noel Vera Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" is about as basic a movie as you can get--The Bride (Uma Thurman) was once upon a time...
Return to sender Noel Vera Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" ends what may be the single most massive production in recent cinema, a ...
Unknown soldiers Noel Vera Charles Haid's "Buffalo Soldiers" is an attempt, however imperfectly, to do justice to a little-known chapter in U.S. military...
Manila, at the edge of water Noel Vera Mario O'Hara's "Babae sa Breakwater" (Woman of the Breakwater) is about the community of people living along the Manila...
Two fantasies by Gerardo de Leon: "Sanda Wong" and "Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo" Noel Vera Gerry De Leon's "Sanda Wong" (1955), has been lost for years; only ...
Tolerable comedy Noel Vera Joel and Ethan Coen's "Intolerable Cruelty" is the brothers' latest, more-or-less sincere attempt at mainstream acceptance, a...
Looney toons Noel Vera Perhaps the best compliment one can pay to this latest film of Joe Dante ("Gremlins," "Small Soldiers") is that it evokes, more than any...
In the navy by Noel Vera Despite the rather dry title, "Master and Commander," Peter Weir's uncommonly good adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey novels ...
Delhi drizzle Noel Vera Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding" is that blandest of the bland: a generic, feel-good, conventionally-shaped-and-told catchall of an ...
Life is but a dream Noel Vera Shinichiro Watanabe's "Cowboy Bebop" is, I think, a bit different from most anime out there (had to add an "I think" because...
The quite American Noel Vera Graham Greene nowadays never seems to dominate our attention, yet never seems to totally leave it, either. After a recent major ...
Recipe for horror Noel Vera Singer-songwriter-impresario turned filmmaker Rob Zombie's debut film "House of 1,000 Corpses" is famous for having been shelved by...
Dumb and dumberer Noel Vera You wonder why they ever made a sequel to "American Psycho," Mary Harron's screen adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' infamous...
Ordinary People By Noel Vera (Please note: plot discussed in close detail) Roberto Rossellini's "Rome, Open City" begins with a précis of Roman life under...
One too many times in Mexico Noel Vera Robert Rodriguez's "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" is supposed to be the sequel to his previous action flick "Desperado"...
Men from Mars, women from Venus Noel Vera Ray Lawrence's "Lantana" is a strange, hothouse creature: like the plant that gives it its title, it holds delicate...
Mortal combat Noel Vera "The Medallion" is all about, well, this pair of medallions that when put together grants eternal life (superhuman powers included at ...
Sinbad the Snowboard Dude Noel Vera Dreamworks' "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" tells of a young pirate named Sinbad who attempts to steal a glowing blue...
Kiddie rides Noel Vera One thing you can say about Robert Rodriguez, he has the courage to push his basic concept to its logical conclusion: since the films ...
The Mickey Mouse Club Noel Vera I haven't read Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (comic books are an expensive hobby), but I have read enough...
Comatose women, non-stop parties, and more Noel Vera From August 7 to 13 it's Cinemanila time again, and again the organizers have come up with a whole...
Baa Boys Noel Vera Okay. The deal went something like this: two movies were opening this week: Hideo Nakata's "Dark Water" and Michael Bay's "Bad Boys 2." For...
Little girl lost By Noel Vera (Note: plot of film discussed in close detail) Hayao Miyazaki's " Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi" (Spirited Away, 2001), about the...
