One of my grandmothers turned 90 years old in January. We took her on a trip to the Philippines for Christmas so that she can celebrate her family back on her homeland, and although it almost seemed nice to see her happy to be back home for probably one last time, a thought of sadness hit me as I came to remember something she once told me. I've lived inside of a pessimistic shadow and the thought that she might…

I remember the first viewing of Frances Ha well enough and how it treated me then. At the time, I was unfamiliar with Greta Gerwig and my first impression only had me thinking that what I was watching was cute and funny. The more I watch Greta Gerwig, I slowly realize what it is about the way she writes her characters that keeps me watching them as their stories are being told for us on the screen, and what I…

The very idea of Gone Girl would already suggest one thing, but the actual film suggests another right from Ben Affleck’s opening narration: “When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.” In a story that would traditionally place emphasis on the first-person perspective of the husband, who is also a prime suspect in the murder of Amy Elliott-Dunne, you would…

Pyaasa (or Thirst in the English language) is perhaps the best-known film of director Guru Dutt, who also plays the lead role and serves as producer. Having already enjoyed a reputation as a classic Bollywood film, it’s not hard to see why the film has managed to make such a name for itself because this is the work that an accomplished artist could pull off, but I’m amazed already thinking about the many responsibilities that Dutt had in putting something…

Before I begin, I would like to say that this is not going to be a proper review and I want you to keep the one person behind it in mind.

My name is Jaime Rebanal, and I am a hopeless individual who has suffered through depression and extreme anxiety. I think saying that can already get a load off my chest for the time being.

But why say this in front of an entry about Ikiru, you say? I…

Damien Chazelle's ode to the classical era of Hollywood's musicals in La La Land takes his viewers on a nostalgic trip for a good two hours - and while it runs, the pleasantness can be felt all the way through as if there were anything much more to ask. Where it needs to succeed, La La Land certainly manages to achieve its goal for Damien Chazelle's aspiration to bring his own viewers back to such an era for Hollywood comes…