Archive for category reviews
REVIEW: And I Love You So
And I Love You So borrows its premise from a few familiar movies: how to cope with the loss of a beloved, with the help of the deceased lover’s soul. We need not look to Hollywood as this premise shows up on at least one Filipino movie: Honey, Nasa Langit na ba Ako? featuring Janno Gibbs and Regine Velasquez. While the latter is a comedy infused with some fantasy, the former (and the topic of this review) is grounded on reality, with most of the dialogues between the departed and the bereaved happening on another, more private space. Read the rest of this entry »
Off to the Movies ;-)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (from Wikipedia)
I’m off to the movies tonight! I got myself free tickets to a special screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (a.k.a. Harry Potter 6, if you prefer the numbers). This will be a fundraiser, so I’m assured that proceeds from the tickets go to a worthy cause.
I hope I could get to complete a review by tomorrow. I can’t say if I’ll avoid spoilers because, by this time, some viewers should have re-read the entire book to prepare themselves for the movie. (At least, I know a good number who did.)
Half-Blood Prince is one of the best books in the entire series. This proves to be a disadvantage, because any reservations or comments I may have about the movie may be tinged with a bias for faithfulness to the text. I’ll try to avoid these biases for the sake of those who haven’t had the chance or the time to read through the entire Harry Potter series.
REVIEW: My Fake American Accent
Promo poster for My Fake American Accent
My Fake American Accent (2008)
Dirty Kitchen Productions
Director: Ned Trespeces
Writer: Ned Trespeces, Onnah Valera
Starring: Mailes Kanapi, Jonathan Neri, Martin de la Paz, Cherry Mae Canton, Miro Valera and Tracy Abad
Screening at Robinsons Galeria (IndieCine Cinema 
until June 23, 2009
When a movie about call center agents made by ex-call center agents gets screened, what’s an ex-call center agent got to do? Naturally, watch it, if only for old times’ sake. Having long retired from the trenches, I got interested after spotting My Fake American Accent on the movie listings. You don’t often get to see movies set in call centers, and this one promised to be unique.
True to its promise, Accent does begin with a newbie agent’s first day at work, memorizing his spiels while doing push-ups and between tooth brushes. The rest of the movie then details the stories of the other members of his team mates, including his team leader (Miss Seva), whose is motivated by her desire to become the next operations manager. This motivation, pit against each team member’s situation, drives the impetus for most of the story’s conflict; each character has to contend with both his/her own personal dilemma and their team leader’s micromanagement (for example, two characters had to endure a 20-hour shift). Read the rest of this entry »