“The words are not good for the secret meaning, everything always becomes a bit different, as soon as it is put into words, gets distorted a bit, a bit silly—yes, and this is also very good, and I like it a lot, I also very much agree with this, that this what is one man’s treasure and wisdom always sounds like foolishness to another person.” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
The 2026 film The Odyssey is quite controversial for some reasons -- mostly the director Christopher Nolan's insistence on his own personal interpretation of the classical mythological story of Odysseus or Ulysses and the Trojan War. I have my own misgivings about his interpretation.TROJAN HORSEFirst off, the iconic Trojan Horse as depicted in the film… Continue reading The Odyssey: The Disconnect Between the Myth and the Movie
Finally saw the somewhat controversial film Quezon (2025), the 3rd movie in the Bayani (Hero) series of E.A. Rocha and Fernando Ortigas, Executive Producers and Jerrold Tarog, Director of the films. The controversy arose when one of Quezon's grandsons Ricky Avanceña questioned the director during a Q&A forum on the film. He asked if the… Continue reading The debunking of the Quezon hero image
Just saw Magellan (2025). I have never been a fan of Lav Diaz. Once, I had to sit in a theater to watch a 7-hour Diaz film. It was required watching for one of my film studies graduate courses. It was one of the worst films I had seen. Magellan (2025) was a re-imagining of… Continue reading Magellan (2025): Filipino Self-Bashing
David Lynch, the iconic filmmaker, artist, and cultural pioneer whose work pushed the boundaries of storytelling and surrealism, has passed away five days before his 79th birthday. Known for his ability to marry the dreamlike with the nightmarish, Lynch’s career spanned decades, earning him a devoted following and cementing his legacy as one of the… Continue reading David Lynch: Visionary Filmmaker Who Redefined the Surreal, Passes Away.
FB reminded me of a blogpost I wrote in 2015 about the movie Heneral Luna. At that time, FB had a section for blogposts. I wonder why this blogpost is still in FB memories when the Blog or Notes section on FB had been deleted already. Since the Blog/Notes section of FB had been deleted,… Continue reading Luna, Mabini, the Cojuangcos and the Philippine Revolution
Looking for something to watch that is out of the ordinary? Something fantastic, something surreal and something romantic? A film with handsome and beautiful stars who can act? A film that can encourage you to ponder upon life's mystery? Aronofsky's cult film The Fountain could be just the film you are looking for.… Continue reading The Fountain: Of Love, Life, Death and Immortality
