ADVOCATING children’s rights and mainstreaming classical music is not that easy.
Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, however, has done just that through her film “Boses.”
Boses is a story of a battered child, Onyok. Abused by his own father, he later finds solace in a shelter. Onyok also learns the violin through his “wounded” mentor.
The film is a story of friendship between two wounded people: one physically after being beaten up by his father and the other wounded due to the passing of a loved one.
The film’s music – mostly coming from the violin — sets the tone of story.
MANILA, Philippines—A spellbinding victory indeed for Philippine cinema.
Visitors to the Cable News Network entertainment web site voted Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala,” which starred Nora Aunor as a simple provincial girl turned faith healer, as the Best Asia-Pacific movie of all time, outclassing such greats as Akira Kurasawa’s “Seven Samurai” and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
The Filipino classic, originally released in 1982, emerged as the top online vote-getter in the popular vote that ran in October.
CNN announced “Himala” as its Asia Pacific Screen Awards Viewers Choice Award winner on Tuesday in a ceremony in Gold Coast, Australia.
This hypnotic tune complemented that booty shaking dance of the funny foursome—Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the giraffe. Even local stars are mesmerized and can’t decide which character to pick as their favorite. Watch in the video below.
MARIKINA City, Philippines— Renei Dimla, creator of an animated 6-minute film Anomi, recently shared her masterpiece, which is a painted glass animated film about the irrelevance of social structure.
The short film focuses on the promotion of social consciousness as characterized by the scavenger who collects flies to sell to the rich.
The flies symbolize the decay that can ruin everyone, thus stressing the point that everyone will eventually “decay.”
Dimla’s Anomi won the first place in the Student Category of .MOV’s Silvershorts Awards last October 2008.
Dimla showed her short film to the public at the Magnet: Katipunan together with the other short films provided by the event organizer of .MOV (pronounced “dot-mov”), International Film Festival and Cinekatipunan.
JUST as mysteriously as he came into the American movie industry as “The Man With No Name” in his “Spaghetti Western” trilogy and as Dirty Harry in the landmark cop drama “Dirty Harry,” reports have been leaking over the Internet that his latest starrer, “Gran Torino” (originally thought as a last sequel to the Dirty Harry franchise) would be his last film as an actor. Might I mention again that word, actor.
I found this official trailer for “Gran Torino” on YouTube:
For Eastwood has, in his storied career spanning over 40 years, been not only an actor, but a director who has had to work his way up the ladder for recognition, culminating with his Oscar wins in 1992 as Best Director for “Unforgiven,” and in 2004 for “Million Dollar Baby.”
Once dismissed as a “lazy” actor, most of us now know better that Eastwood’s technique is minimalist in nature, using gesture instead of words to convey meaning. And being lumped in with Charles Bronson and Burt Reynolds did not exactly help, but Eastwood eventually proved critics and fans alike wrong. As one of my personal heroes and directors/actors, the notion that Eastwood, at the ripe young age of 78, would be retiring from acting is quite sad. He still has the presence and capability to act, and a physique that tells you instantly that he could probably beat you up with his fingers even if you were a third of his age.
