Pop Auteur

Man with Movie Camera ( Dziga Vertov, Soviet Union, 1929 ) SYNOPSIS: A man travels around a city with a camera slung over his shoulder, documenting urban life with dazzling invention. (SOURCE: IMDB ) WRITER: Dziga Vertov STARS: Mikhail Kaufman RATING: 5/5       Lucy ( Luc Besson, USA, 2014 ) SYNOPSIS: From La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. (SOURCE: Rotten Tomatoes ) WRITER: Luc Besson STARS: Scarlett Johansson , Morgan Freeman , Min-sik Choi RATING: 3.5/5   Only Lovers Left Alive ( Jim Jarmusch , UK/Germany, 2013) SYNOPSIS: Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, an u

I always wanted to make my own mixtape since the first time I tuned in to Ellies's Wicked Wednesday Mixtape on Jam 88.3. However, at that time, I didn't have any resources like internet connection and of course, songs. Right now, EWWM was already canceled on air because of the radio reformat, but you can listen to her mixtapes on her Tumblr site. My first mixtape supposed to be about the weekend. However, because of the local film festivals that I attended this November, I decided that I should make a mixtape from my favorite movie soundtracks. I was supposed to include some songs from Pulp Fiction, Billy Eliot, Rakenrol, and August: Osage County; but I realized that 11 songs are a lot for me. I'll make another movie mixtape next year. For now, I hope you enjoy this mixtape. Don't forget to leave a comment if you have any suggestions. Click  this link  to listen. The cover for this month's mixtape is the still from the movie, La Vida Util (The Useful Li

Esoterika: Maynila (Elwood Perez, Philippines, 2014) SYNOPSIS: Drawing from his personal adventures, film director, Elwood Perez veers away from standard-issue plot conventions in this paradoxically moral tale of a young man en route to becoming a creative artist. (SOURCE: Cinema Crush ) WRITER: Elwood Perez , Jessica Zafra STARS: Ronnie Liang, Vince Tañada, Federico Olbes RATING: 3/5 Violator (Dodo Dayao, Philippines, 2014) SYNOPSIS: Manila is caught in the worst typhoon in its history, and the world feels like it’s coming to an end. And when 5 men find themselves stranded inside a local police station, a mysterious prisoner is brought in, and the men discover that he may or may not be the devil. (SOURCE: Rappler ) WRITER: Dodo Dayao STARS: Joel Lamangan, Victor Neri, RK Bagatsing, Anthony Falcon, Timothy Mabalot, Andy Bais RATING: 5/5 Red (Jay Abello, Philippines, 2014) SYNOPSIS: After a drug bust goes terribly wrong,a local fixer named Red becomes the fa

      

Mauban: Ang Resiko (Lemuel Lorca, Philippines, 2014) SYNOPSIS: "Resiko" is the term used by folks of Mauban, Quezon—a portion of one's salary earned by wine-makers, set aside for a treat or blow-out. A family in Cagbalete island make a living out of wine-making, fishing and charcoal-making. Matriarch/widow Susan moonlights as a resort masseuse, her second son Junior is into lapu-lapu fish-raising, while her daughter Lota and husband Dudut are into wine-making. A daily fare, 'resiko' treat has become a threat to the family's fight for survival. (SOURCE: The Movie DB ) WRITER: Lemuel Lorca STARS: Alessandra de Rossi , Sid Lucero , Jess Mendoza RATING: 2/5 In Darkness We Live (Christopher Ad Castillo, Philippines, 2014) SYNOPSIS: Director Christopher Ad Castillo’s latest film is less of a horror flick and more of a slasher-thriller involving a bank robbery gone wrong. The perpetrators go into hiding and find themselves in a dilapidated house, occup

La Jetee (Chris Marker, France, 1963) SYNOPSIS:  Chris Marker’s La Jetée is one of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made, a tale of time travel told in still images. (SOURCE: Criterion ) WRITER: Chris Marker STARS: Jean Négroni , Davis Hanich ,   Hélène Chatelain RATING: 5/5 Frank ( Lenny Abrahamson, UK/Ireland, 2014 ) SYNOPSIS:  A young wannabe musician, Jon, who finds himself out of his depth when he joins an avant-garde pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank, a musical genius who hides himself inside a large fake head, and his terrifying bandmate Clara. (SOURCE: Rotten Tomatoes ) WRITER: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan STARS: Domhnall Gleeson, Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal RATING: 3.5/5 Pina ( Wim Wenders, Germany/France/UK , 2011 ) SYNOPSIS:  A tribute to the late German choreographer, Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations. (SOURCE: IMDB ) WRITER: Wim Wenders STARS: Pina Bausch, Jo