DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

English title: "Trap" Tragedy is a very delicate subject matter for film. If done inappropriately, the filmmaker is prone to either sensationalism or emotional detachment. "Taklub" borders closer on the latter. The film opens with a tracking shot of the typhoon Yolanda aftermath in Tacloban, and cuts to a fire consuming one of the refugee tents in the makeshift "Tent City" community. People scamper to put the fire out with pails of water, as we see a familiar figure emerge in the dizzying darkness. It is Nora Aunor, who plays one of the displaced residents during the storm. Filmmaker Brillante Mendoza exhibits early on his penchant for visual irony, when a fire causes the death of an entire family of storm survivors, sans the patriarch. Fire, as opposed to water. Water, which is supposed to give life, yet caused the deaths of thousands.  Slowly, "Taklub" introduces us to its assortment of characters. Bebeth (Aunor) runs a run...

HENERAL LUNA Directed by: Jerrold Tarog 2015 There has never really been an extensive chronicle about Antonio Luna. Even during history class, teachers do not talk much about him — and it’s not entirely their fault. Majority of us only know one thing about Luna: that he is short-tempered, egotistic even. Yet in Jerrold Tarog’s latest feature,  Heneral Luna , it is revealed that Luna played a major role towards Philippine independence, on a par with the greatness of Andres Bonifacio, or even Dr. Jose Rizal. In  Heneral Luna , Tarog reveals that the ill-fated general shares a bigger connection with Bonifacio. A disclaimer at the beginning of the film could not have been more fitting, since Tarog is well aware of Filipinos’ fixation on fact-checking everything. While the film is based on historical facts, some of the scenes were fictionalized for dramatic purposes, the warning read. Heneral Luna  should make for an interesting topic for lengthy discuss...

* International English title: "Ruined Heart" You've seen this film already, Khavn says during the Philippine premiere of his latest feature. The tagline even reads "another love story between a criminal and a whore," yet Khavn's take on one of the most known (and heavily overused) cinematic sub genres is anything but ordinary. Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano (Ichi the Killer) is the "criminal," in love with Mexican actress Nathalia Acevedo (Post Tenebras Lux) who plays the "whore." They cannot go public with their affections for one another lest incurring the wrath of the "godfather," played by Vim Nadera.  Meanwhile, Russian-German actress Elena Kazan is the "lover," whose undying love is pivotal in the film's later part, while Andre Puertollano is the "friend," who in one scene defends the "criminal" against an army of thugs, using his skills in Muay Thai (Puertollano teaches...