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term="Zagreb"/><category term="Zambales"/><category term="Zhongsheng"/><title type='text'>ihcahieh: Depressed | Demented | Deranged</title><subtitle type='html'>How do you vanquish the enemy when the enemy is yourself?</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default?start-index=26&max-results=25'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>2769</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-8771786461615075111</id><published>2025-09-14T20:00:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-15T22:33:14.837+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="European"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Filipino"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><title type='text'>Magellan</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_(film)" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5C1UX72ZekQqj_gTpKsdpjZKMAKiEsOmGIHWQJ73qhJVaJgh38bqiiaNFXpMsjNY_HlURrve572a40BxzX-TpQZ9Pjgid4sWru-uPFFKuzc2Z1ZpI31RFMR_yyh3qP5GLnN_VnZ6OjOVWHZ681RsITPkx7_Onm0indlPMEJ4YucKer9syqDm9ANXLltC/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães (Gael García Bernal) is stuck in Melaka with conquistador Afonso de Albuquerque (Roger Alan Koza) but sets his sights on his dream islands of gold. Before heading back home to Lisbon, he purchases local Enrique de Malaca (Amado Arjay Babon) as slave and interpreter for his return journey to Asia. Back in Lisbon he meets his wife Beatriz (Ângela Azevedo) who eventually bears him a son, neither of whom he will meet again when he finally sets sail. Using his knowledge of the location of the spice islands of Moluccas, he manages to convince the monarch of Castille to fund his trip after he falls out of favor with Manuel I of Portugal. The voyage is not without challenges but they finally dock on the island of Limasawa in the Visayas in 1521. There they befriend the locals and convert them to Christianity, but Rajah Humabon (Ronnie Lazaro) has a different idea.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Have I seen a Lav Diaz film before? I don’t think so. The guy is notorious for making films that are four hours minimum in length. Ain’t nobody got time for that. When Magellan was first announced the rumor was that it’d be an eight hour movie, spawning memes saying that we just want to watch the movie not join Magellan in his journey. Hilarious. This cut is two hours and 45 minutes long and serves as my first foray into the world of slow cinema. I must say that I was impressed, from an artistic perspective. Even then, I believe this is art for art’s sake. Films like this will never be the norm given how cinema nowadays leans more towards profit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">What I observed is that Diaz, and I suppose other filmmakers of this genre as well, really take their time establishing scenes, letting the camera linger for minutes in a single frame. Unlike typical box office fodder which prioritize rapid plot development, slow cinema really immerses you in the scene. In a way, I feel like the focus is not really on the characters themselves but rather the immediate vicinity they find themselves in, within the camera’s frame. It’s a unique cinematic experience that gives you a lot of stills that look like exquisite paintings. This, I believe, is cinema as an artform.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">What I enjoyed the most about Magellan is the bevy of languages at play. Aside from Magellan’s native Portuguese being the dominant language featured in the film, you also hear what I suppose is Bazaar Malay in the Melaka scenes as well as Castillian and Binisaya later on. My only complaint is that some characters are speaking Portuñol. Magellan in the Limasawa scenes is understandable. After all, he was on a 2-3 year journey halfway across the world with a predominantly Spanish speaking crew. Language mixing would’ve been convenient and unavoidable. And yeah, we know Gael is Mexican anyway. However, the character of Afonso de Albuquerque in scenes in Melaka a decade earlier played by Argentine film critic Roger Alan Koza kept on saying “nuestra” instead of “nossa” in his Portuguese monologue. Like, dude?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As for history, Diaz did say early on that he might face some&nbsp;</span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">accusations</span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">&nbsp;of historical&nbsp;</span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">revisionism when this film is released, and not without reason. The main argument here is that there was no Lapu-Lapu. He didn’t exist. He was just an urban legend crafted by Humabon and Enrique to prod the colonizers and have a reason to butcher them. Lapu-Lapu’s place in history might be dodgy and lacking in terms of primary sources that could prove his direct involvement in Magellan’s death, but the guy has earned a mythical reputation in history as a Philippine hero, so this alternate take might not go down well with a Filipino audience.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">If there is a character I find intriguing, though, it wouldn’t be Magellan himself but rather Enrique de Malaca. Perhaps it is just my affinity with languages but historical figures who used their linguistic talents to foster understanding between two cultures have always fascinated me. To add to that, Enrique is rumored to be the first person ever to circumnavigate the globe. The official record holder is Juan Sebastián Elcano, one of the survivors from Magellan’s crew who made it back to Spain. The only thing making the claim that Enrique did circumnavigate first weak is the lack of records proving that he was able to make it back to Melaka from Cebu, which was supposed to be the last leg of his around the world journey. Oh well, no documentation no prize.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-iffCUFhyK8" width="320" youtube-src-id="-iffCUFhyK8"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/8771786461615075111/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/magellan.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8771786461615075111'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8771786461615075111'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/magellan.html' title='Magellan'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU5C1UX72ZekQqj_gTpKsdpjZKMAKiEsOmGIHWQJ73qhJVaJgh38bqiiaNFXpMsjNY_HlURrve572a40BxzX-TpQZ9Pjgid4sWru-uPFFKuzc2Z1ZpI31RFMR_yyh3qP5GLnN_VnZ6OjOVWHZ681RsITPkx7_Onm0indlPMEJ4YucKer9syqDm9ANXLltC/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6070593879616704971</id><published>2025-09-13T22:27:00.019+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-15T22:46:31.626+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="PETA"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Theater"/><title type='text'>Walang Aray (PETA)</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://petatheater.com/walangaray" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAa8zh37PdaxY7A9mBqqBcQ2zDf0ZNYKkZg_mLdvg6oxm-92xUvRxpENLkkAQTj5tvAWppzWiFTe4HTB6w3b7g74fqt84n3BaEw0fUghc9gJS-wp1eUcIBBBwU6x6kcqC3OCVNMeRDKhs2gV9aRCAxXahhobXKmf2SojhqXf-PDuPm0eXnYGqUfHQb6u2/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Stage superstar Julia (Lance Reblando) uses her powerful voice to tantalize an audience through song, as evidenced by her horde of fans. She is in love with boy-next-door Tenyong (Gio Gahol) but in secret, because her mother Juana (Gold Villar-Lim) has a different plan for her altogether. The widow is eyeing metrosexual ilustrado Miguel (Rendell Sanchez), the most eligible bachelor in their town and son of a wealthy widower, to be her daughter’s husband. When the revolution begins, Tenyong decides to join after his parents are victimized by cruel friar Padre Alfaro (Roi Calilong). While they can’t bear to be apart, the lovers maximize their roles with her serving as his spy as he plans their attack from afar. When push comes to shove and Julia almost falls for the dashing Miguel, she asks for the assistance of her household help Monica (Kiki Baento) and Tenyong’s caretaker Lucas (Carlon Matobato) to find him so he can rescue her from the clutches of arranged marriage.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I’ve heard about this musical a few years back but never really bothered to check it out because PETA is just too far. What? I live in the south. Don’t judge. Finding out that they are doing a rerun with a lot of playdates, I thought, yeah, maybe we can go on a pilgrimage up north. It was worth it. Walang Aray is a modern take on the popular Tagalog zarzuela Walang Sugat by Severino Reyes, imprisoned by American colonial authorities who considered his zarzuela as one of several plays that are too subversive for public consumption. You know something’s up if the authorities are banning something! And so we watch.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Walang Aray is a modern retelling heavily tweaked to be palatable to a younger audience who would otherwise not have any vested interest in watching it. Because, honestly, would you watch a zarzuela? Personally, I wouldn’t. This particular genre of musical theater is just too alien for me, pretty much like opera. And then you have the subject matter. Colonialism. In the late 1890’s. It’s been over a century, and Filipinos have really short memories. How do you entice them to be interested? This is where this rendition succeeds, because it was adjusted for a modern audience instead of the other way around which would’ve made it too niche.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">What adjustments are we talking about here? The musical numbers are a diverse mix of genres that offer pop, doo wop, and even semi-rap. The dialogues are peppered with one-liners that poke fun at current events, witty improv which makes the audience go wild from time to time. After all, that’s what zarzuelas are supposed to be, critiques of socially relevant themes veiled through song and dance. There is also some variation in language such as different idiolects used, code switching, etc. I believe the best way to describe Walang Aray’s style of comedy is that of a mix between a musical and live comedy skits. It’s so fun!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But of course what really sells this show are the musical numbers and the talent of its ensemble cast. Julia and Tenyong get most of the songs. That there are two actors and three actresses alternating in those two roles feels like the rewatch value of this musical is quite high, because each show will be different and each pairing is bound to have a distinct rapport. In my case it was Gahol/Reblando. Gahol, I already know via his earlier&nbsp;</span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">theater&nbsp;</span><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">works. The guy is a veteran and reliable, especially in the voice department. In any case, it was Reblando who really blew me away with her vocal chops and impeccable comic timing onstage. I’m a fan!</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As for production design, we all know how small PETA’s stage is, but they manage to maximize the little space they have. The staircase stage left and its two-floor landing became its own unique stage, albeit secondary. The mini platform stage right was less utilized but added to the unique geography of the play. And then the props are minimal and mostly related to Julia’s showbiz career. The versatile use of lighting really helped set up the mood while gimmicks here and there like the slow-mo scenes in the background while the spotlight is on a certain character really helped in keeping the stage busy and the audience’s attention occupied at all times. No dull moments. This is social satire done right!<br /></span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6070593879616704971/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/walang-aray-peta.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6070593879616704971'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6070593879616704971'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/walang-aray-peta.html' title='Walang Aray (PETA)'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCAa8zh37PdaxY7A9mBqqBcQ2zDf0ZNYKkZg_mLdvg6oxm-92xUvRxpENLkkAQTj5tvAWppzWiFTe4HTB6w3b7g74fqt84n3BaEw0fUghc9gJS-wp1eUcIBBBwU6x6kcqC3OCVNMeRDKhs2gV9aRCAxXahhobXKmf2SojhqXf-PDuPm0eXnYGqUfHQb6u2/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-682693421421736597</id><published>2025-09-09T21:07:00.004+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-09T21:11:43.269+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="British"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Tolkien J.R.R."/><title type='text'>The Hobbit</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DmUsqm-qS_rBj3OxUlXQdUw7LoTRMC7qu6asKDcAKPUBGNvO_YYH7pFW021OvZEODiw1Hj_bmWizBoQb_SAehV4JCnR6Enxmx7Uje2tXmX1QiCew9FKAkYVqk7YIvvS_FZS1lbySeGoNC6kS8ztvYxpyWLn6v6ue90SQe7nLH24rkoOzUup3uvYu3Hdx/s1600/123456789.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Living his life as a typical hobbit, Bilbo Baggins enjoys multiple meals a day residing in a little hole he calls home. However, this life of tranquil existence is turned upside down with the arrival of a wizard named Gandalf who takes 13 dwarves with him to the hobbit’s humble abode. The proposition is an adventure far in the Mirkwood mountains where the old domain of the dwarves is now occupied by a fire-breathing dragon named Smaug, who has taken hostage not just their ancestral home but also their riches. Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of this band of dwarves is determined to reclaim his ancestors’ throne, but not without Bilbo’s help. His contribution? As a burglar extraordinaire, he is expected to find the dragon’s lair in exchange for a 14th of the wealth they’ll discover there. What Bilbo doesn’t expect to find, though, is a ring that makes its wearer invisible, paving the way for a longer journey far ahead for his nephew Frodo.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I’ve heard about The Hobbit and it’s been on my bookshelf since 2008 along with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Silmarillion. Of these books, I’ve only ever read The Silmarillion. Twice to date. The trilogy I haven’t really bothered to tackle for the longest time because the film adaptation left a really powerful impression that will be hard to surpass. As for The Hobbit trilogy movies, I never really watched them either, but upon reading the book I must admit that it did pique my curiosity because how the hell did they make a trilogy out of this material? For a novel at just a few pages over 300? Should I go watch and find out? Why are Galadriel and Legolas in the trailers when they aren’t even mentioned in this book?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Anyway, the films are its own beast. The Hobbit is your typical adventure narrative where the characters go on a journey and encounter various challenges. This seems to be a common storyline followed by many adventurous lore, and most of the time it works. For The Hobbit, we encounter mostly beasts like giant spiders, wolves, etc. And then there are Elves. Men. Goblins. It’s like a free-for-all, to be honest. Each encounter serves as a stage for a character to achieve something, whether an important object or admiration from his companions. This is what makes The Hobbit a light and fun read.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Even then we must address the elephant in the room. As a standalone novel, The Hobbit is a fun adventure, seemingly harmless and all. Yet as part of a bigger body of literary work, it is quite obvious that The Hobbit’s purpose is to set up the events leading to The Lord of the Rings. That single event? Bilbo gets the ring from Gollum. Ah yes, Gollum. My Precious. Apparently, he makes his debut here. For us who haven’t been that acquainted with the literary side of the LOTR universe, this character serves as an interesting link to the film franchise from a decade ago.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">And now I wonder how the ring is passed on to Frodo, although it already seems obvious how this happens. Hmm, that makes me want to start reading the trilogy, but let’s hold that thought for a second. What I really didn’t understand here in The Hobbit is who the narrator is? The narration is third person omniscient, so I thought at first that it was Gandalf, but apparently not. I also thought that it was Bilbo himself at first, the book forming part of his memoirs but there are many scenes narrated there that he couldn’t have known.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Anyway, my final verdict is that I enjoyed reading The Hobbit. Since I’ve only ever read The Silmarillion, it serves as the only point of comparison I have with regards to literary style, even though I’ve heard that The Hobbit was not entirely written by Tolkien himself. Anyone who has read The Silmarillion would know how fascinating yet tedious it is to read, which is well within the territory since it serves as a creation story and early history for the entire LOTR literary universe. It IS heavy. The Hobbit, on the other hand, is light, and we are already familiar with the world and some characters, which makes it easier to read.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/682693421421736597/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-hobbit.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/682693421421736597'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/682693421421736597'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-hobbit.html' title='The Hobbit'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DmUsqm-qS_rBj3OxUlXQdUw7LoTRMC7qu6asKDcAKPUBGNvO_YYH7pFW021OvZEODiw1Hj_bmWizBoQb_SAehV4JCnR6Enxmx7Uje2tXmX1QiCew9FKAkYVqk7YIvvS_FZS1lbySeGoNC6kS8ztvYxpyWLn6v6ue90SQe7nLH24rkoOzUup3uvYu3Hdx/s72-c/123456789.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-1827565449419228899</id><published>2025-09-08T19:29:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-10T19:32:36.287+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>The Conjuring: Last Rites</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Conjuring:_Last_Rites" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eDxJdfENCOt3QppZw7Bg1Tkfb5tyXekLi4lBkiQdBQm_N7SwCco1wD3rAIs7TRRZVEne1fHxo-vCiPPUrvYfCN9N8ivRgy-WK0PhebDYSaYGQPeKoRK5IPAX-e7uDgdORZ5ubacfgS0K8uefwfT5WVRSUV1j6rTGxzSCCchvLpIxSxTRKtT2NfrbGImb/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">1964. Paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) tackle a case involving a demonic mirror. Heavily pregnant, Lorraine is taunted by the supernatural entity and is rushed to the hospital after having contractions. She eventually gives birth to a stillborn baby almost declared dead by the doctor until her prayer serves as a miracle that revives the child. They name her Judy. Two decades later, Judy (Mia Tomlinson) is now a young woman and takes her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy) with her to her father’s birthday party, which ends in a wedding proposal. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, the Smurls family are now being terrorized by the same mirror from twenty two years ago. The Warrens try to distance themselves given Ed’s hearth condition but are eventually lured in and discover that the demon’s unfinished business doesn’t really have anything to do with the Smurls, but rather with them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Annabelle, my dear, you’ve already had three movies all to yourself. Should you really shoehorn yourself into this one as well? While I understand that it is the MO of this film’s demon to somehow use that strategy, it just feels like a desperate shot at relevance through name recall, as if they decided to just remind people of the franchise’s peak in lieu of a solid storyline. If they really wanted to conjure supernatural villains of old, then they should’ve just gone ahead and written every one in, like some sort of Dark Avengers kind of team-up so they can all pull one another’s hair onscreen, supernaturally. I don’t know.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The actress who plays Valak does appear in a cameo but as a wedding guest, not as the Nun. I guess this is one of the downsides of having a franchise blow up to this level of fame. When The Conjuring was released in 2013, it revitalized a tired genre by reimagining jumpscares and constructing a cinematic universe with characters that complemented one another. But how long can it keep on running until imagination and creativity are replaced by lazy writing and cash grab ambitions? That’s why I find The Conjuring: Last Rites to be disappointing. It’s supposed to be a sendoff of a successful franchise, not a soulless cash grab.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Another pattern I’ve noticed emerging is how what started off as paranormal eventually segued to some sort of hero narrative. They did this with The Nun II, with the protagonist seemingly becoming some sort of religiously supercharged nun who will save humanity from the evil clutches of demonic Valak. We see the same schtick repeated here with mother and daughter kind of attaining superpowers to defeat the villain, made vague through a flurry of CGI distractions. The appeal of paranormal narratives is that as a human being, you are helpless and only your tenacity can save you. When it becomes a literal battle between good and evil, it just feels corny. If I want a superhero flick, I’ll watch an MCU movie.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Another thing I find dissatisfying is the absence of credible backstory for the demon du jour. Unlike Valak or Annabelle who became popular because they kept adding onto their established lore, this mirror demon is simply forgettable. Does it even have a name? What does it want? What are its motivations? Why prey on Judy? Why was the mirror breakdancing towards the end? Nada. We get nothing. What I despise even more is how in the end, the demon is revealed to actually be targeting the Warrens, as if they were some legit force of nature to deal with, some sort of paranormal superheroes needed to be silenced.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I don’t know, it just feels delusional, especially considering the real-life counterparts the characters are based on and the not so good reputation they have. Paranormal narratives are scary because if you throw logic out the window and just go along for the ride, the premise is that this kind of supernatural torture can happen to anyone. But if the family involved is revealed to just be collateral damage of a battle between evil and the holier-than-thou Warrens, then why the fvck should you, as a moviegoer, care?</span></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/1827565449419228899/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-conjuring-last-rites.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/1827565449419228899'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/1827565449419228899'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-conjuring-last-rites.html' title='The Conjuring: Last Rites'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eDxJdfENCOt3QppZw7Bg1Tkfb5tyXekLi4lBkiQdBQm_N7SwCco1wD3rAIs7TRRZVEne1fHxo-vCiPPUrvYfCN9N8ivRgy-WK0PhebDYSaYGQPeKoRK5IPAX-e7uDgdORZ5ubacfgS0K8uefwfT5WVRSUV1j6rTGxzSCCchvLpIxSxTRKtT2NfrbGImb/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-3969389943284836936</id><published>2025-09-01T23:16:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-01T23:22:16.066+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="European"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><title type='text'>The Roses</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roses_(film)" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6d2uPncI3DZGiFwXbQVB52TJDVmvXuwOwNtaKeh1QW4w9dmA-VaHEATkZup4J11QZk9wVKkut_j5sp0D6BV7e_Vk1PKEi77Z9s8WOmmaBe5xZOYKmdBVzDH_nwFM47UbsQYA1r4bla4ujGx_ytoYsFrT6TROOhiuyC_zu4J2qPSAjl5hZ0OMHqqO99XNw/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Architect Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) and chef Ivy (Olivia Colman) first meet as disgruntled employees whose potential for greatness is curtailed by their respective bosses. 10 years later, the Roses are married and have relocated to California where he is busy with his career and she is doing a great job raising their two children. A reversal of fortune occurs when a freak storm serves as a career ending challenge for him after a museum he constructed collapses. The resulting spliced viral video ensures that nobody in the world of architecture will take him seriously ever again. Meanwhile, the same storm strands a reputable food critic at her shabby restaurant which turns her and her cuisine into an overnight sensation. As her career prospers and she becomes the provider of the family, he nurses his bruised ego by being a stay-at-home dad. The dynamics in the household change and the married couple begin to despise one another.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Oh, look. Our favorite Brits made a movie. Let’s go watch. To be honest, I admit that there were literal laugh-out-loud moments for me in the cinema. While the narrative is set in California, the main characters are Brits, which resulted in some sort of clash between British and American humor. Both work just fine, although I ended up enjoying the dryness and deadpan delivery of the Brits more. As for the American counterpart, most of it is courtesy of Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon, which means that it might make you laugh if you are amenable to SNL’s brand of comedy.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Either way, this is clearly a tag team effort between Colman and Cumberbatch. They really give justice to the witty script which would’ve been useless in the absence of clever comic timing. I also find it amusing how the style of humor seems to change from being heavily verbal in the first half and eventually devolving into a more chaotic physical variation as the movie enters its second half. Somehow it also serves as some sort of visually stimulating metaphor for the dissolution of a marriage. The further you are in, the more destructive and absurd it all gets. A riot, it is, indeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The theme is as old as time. We already know the drill. Romantic comedies usually insert conflict by virtue of a third party, so it’s always cheating. And then there is the other way where there is no legit third party but the couple compete with one another instead. They both have careers but only one can pursue glory because, to borrow Ivy’s words, the other one needs to be sacrificed at the altar of marriage. I guess this kind of storyline is common because it really happens. In effect, The Roses is just a black comedy reimagining of Marriage Story; a deconstruction of marriage and modern relationships made more palatable through humor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">What else can we say about this film? I found out that it is a remake, and hardcore fans of the original are obviously defending it. Since I had no idea, there is no point of comparison. Given how I had a really good time at the cinema, I don’t think I even care. Colman and Cumberbatch might not have the chemistry, which they don’t really need much of given the storyline. As two actors sharing the spotlight, though, they do have good enough rapport to bounce off each other. Their banters are really what make this film fun, while the few moments of drama here and there are moving enough for you to root for the characters.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The ending is rather tragic, even though we do not really see it onscreen. I guess it’s all part and parcel of the dark humor prevalent all throughout. Perhaps the consolation here is that we’ve seen how dysfunctional these two characters are, so maybe that is the only kind of rest that they need to actually be at peace. Oops, last word. Allison Janney is only in one scene and her exposure is rather short, but the kind that really leaves a strong impression. Even then, I feel like she just ripped off Laura Dern in Marriage Story, to be honest.</span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XkgMaS5gbaA" width="320" youtube-src-id="XkgMaS5gbaA"></iframe></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/3969389943284836936/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-roses.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3969389943284836936'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3969389943284836936'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/09/the-roses.html' title='The Roses'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6d2uPncI3DZGiFwXbQVB52TJDVmvXuwOwNtaKeh1QW4w9dmA-VaHEATkZup4J11QZk9wVKkut_j5sp0D6BV7e_Vk1PKEi77Z9s8WOmmaBe5xZOYKmdBVzDH_nwFM47UbsQYA1r4bla4ujGx_ytoYsFrT6TROOhiuyC_zu4J2qPSAjl5hZ0OMHqqO99XNw/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6650805256782530724</id><published>2025-08-29T21:22:00.016+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-03T21:36:20.413+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Vivo R.S."/><title type='text'>Narkokristo, 1896</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228232416-narkokristo-1896" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPwW6knUtzGlV4owHe4uIFhbgRORuejfgsz0dpR9liX6UKDT0I52GRrJLtZrPaqdXwRPre_5yW2YpyGZUJ-Bq95g475Je4IgF8AlZkZi9O_NGVfwNSq7YTB2CNBChovZQ1_IejP7PpaXRgH_Kg2UwXCZV0xqm-OGSsY2DVeV7shPPvhVhnBZu0Px2tNfH/s1600/Untitled.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">1896. Panahon ng Kastila. Ang Pilipinas ay malapit nang makalaya sa kamay ng mga dayuhang mananakop ngunit kailangan munang dumanak ang dugo upang ito ay makamit. Payak ang pamumuhay ni Isaak na nakatira sa isang kubo kasama ang kanyang mga magulang na sila Tata Selo at Aling Oropia. Sila ay mga mag-iitik na ang pangunahing suki ay ang mag-asawang Kastila na nakatira sa malaking bahay at may kaibigang manggagamot na dumadalaw galing Alemanya. Sinasama si Isaak ng kaibigang si Domeng sa malaking bahay na iyon kung saan marami silang matutuklasang likim. Hawak naman sa leeg ni Padre Blas si Domeng dahil nasa mga kamay nito nakasalalay ang tadhana ng kanyang kapatid na si Francisca. Gaya ng sa iba pang mga Pilipino, matindi at hindi makatao ang pinapataw na buwis ng pamahalaan at simbahan subalit lahat ng panggigipit ay may katapusan. Gawa na tayong lahat ay sa abo nanggaling, sa abo rin tayo lahat babalik.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang Narkokristo, 1896 ay ang pinakabagong akda ni Ronaldo S. Vivo Jr. na magiging simula ng panibagong tatluhang aklat na kanyang tinaguriang Arson Trilogy. Kung mapapansin, ganito rin ang naging pagkakagawa sa kanyang tatlo pang libro na tinawag namang Dreamland Trilogy. Tila ito ang unang sabak ni Vivo sa kathambuhay na pangkasaysayan at marahil isa na rin ako sa mga hindi makapaghintay kung saan niya dadalhin ang mga tauhan at kung paano mag-uugnay ugnay ang kanilang mga tadhana. Mailki lamang ang akdang ito ngunit gaya ng karamihan sa mga aklat ng may-akda, talaga namang paiinitin niya ang ulo mo hanggang dumating sa dulo at makamit ng mga tauhan ang paghihiganti, kahit panandalian lamang.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Matapos makabasa ng tatlo nang akda ni Vivo, tila nakakikita na ako ng tularan na kanyang sinusunod sa kanyang mga salaysay. Ang mga pangunahing tauhan ay laging aping-api at kung mapapansin ay ganito naman talaga ang mga uri ng tauhan na madalas maibigan nating mga Pinoy. Nais nating masaksihan ang matinding pang-aapi dahil alam natin na bibigyan tayo ng may-akda ng kaluguran kapag nakamit na ang matagal nang hinihintay na paghihiganti. Gayunman, pansin din na tila ba ang mga tagumpay na ito ng mga api ay panandalian lamang dahil alam naman natin o marahil ay nararamdaman natin na hindi rin magtatagal ang kasiyahang ito. Sa pamamaraang ito naman tayo binibitin ng may-akda.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Mahirap din kasi marahil magbigay ng tiyak na katapusan kung saan magtatagumpay ang mga tauhan kahit alam naman nating hindi ito magtatagal. Subalit hindi naman ito tunay na buhay, ito ay panitikan. Kaya ang tagumpay nila Domeng at Isaak ay tagumpay na rin natin. Hindi rin naman pahuhuli ang nakaugalian na ng may-akda na paggamit ng dahas sa kanyang makukulay na paglalarawan. Sa aklat na ito ay laganap ang paggamit ng apoy upang makamit ang mga layunin. Marami pa rin namang mga tagpo na dumaranak ang dugo at talagang mapapangiwi ka na lang sa karahasan. Mahalaga ito upang gisingin ang iyong diwa at magliyab ang galit sa iyong dibdib.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang mga ilang kapintasan ko lang ay ang paraan ng paggamit ng mga wikang Kastila at Aleman, mangilan-ngilang kapintasan lang naman gaya ng hindi paggamit ng malaking titik upang simulan ang mga pangngalan sa Aleman at hindi paggamit ng Subjunctive sa Kastila kapag kailangan. Hindi rin naman ito kapansin-pansin maliban kung napag-aralan ng mambabasa ang mga wikang ito. Gayunman, nakapagdagdag ang paggamit sa mga wikang ito upang mabigyan ng mariin na pagkakaiba ang mga tauhan at mabigyan ng linaw ang magkaibang daigdig na kanilang ginagalawan kahit na bahagi silang lahat ng iisang lipunan.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Kailangan mo bang basahin ang Narkokristo, 1896? Hindi naman, ngunit masasabi ko na paminsan-minsan ay kailangang tangkilikin ang mga ganitong uri ng panitikan na hindi lamang nagmumulat kundi nagpapaalab din ng damdamin ng mambabasa. Kahit na isang daantaon na ang nagdaan mula noong 1896 ay kapansin-pansin naman na ganitong mga uri pa rin ng kasakiman at kasamaan ng ugali ang sumasalanta sa mga taong-bayan hanggang sa ngayon. Nagbago lamang ang mga anyo at pananamit ng mga mananakop subalit nandito pa rin sila at sa mga panahon ngayon ay tayo-tayo na rin ang pinahihirapan.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6650805256782530724/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/narkokristo-1896.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6650805256782530724'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6650805256782530724'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/narkokristo-1896.html' title='Narkokristo, 1896'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPwW6knUtzGlV4owHe4uIFhbgRORuejfgsz0dpR9liX6UKDT0I52GRrJLtZrPaqdXwRPre_5yW2YpyGZUJ-Bq95g475Je4IgF8AlZkZi9O_NGVfwNSq7YTB2CNBChovZQ1_IejP7PpaXRgH_Kg2UwXCZV0xqm-OGSsY2DVeV7shPPvhVhnBZu0Px2tNfH/s72-c/Untitled.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-7061998893844044691</id><published>2025-08-26T22:39:00.007+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-26T22:45:59.524+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Pineda M."/><title type='text'>Isang Milyong Piso</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17376065-isang-milyong-piso" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDQCv4kkBpRTTiDspMf1BKvJPlHomZLr3-TcuvS5_m7_IQl_I67tjacJ5VSbDXSS-1UNmKFMRUX2eB3Vf7ZqmzMLwTwWrXBBiw9iihVfineZLyGhZtucM2-hiWYy6e2qkk9NMI7ciz0otLUTpm5qSR1PWRkgFRrdjchCObyI8xQHfi4QJyA8ptkhqtgD7/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Maghihiwalay ng landas ang magkasintahang Jose at Selya sa pagsiklab ng ikalawang digmaang pandaigdig kung saan sasali si Jose sa himagsikan laban sa mga Hapon. Doon ay maililigtas niya ang buhay ng isang Amerikano na pawang bilanggo rin ng mga kalaban. Matapos magpagaling ang dalawa ay babalik na sa kanyang bansa ang Amerikano ngunit masugid na tatanungin ang bagong kaibigan kung paano siya makatatanaw ng utang na loob. Pabirong sasabihin ni Jose na bigyan siya ng isang milyong piso kung sakaling yumaman ang kaibigan. Hindi naman kaaya-aya ang naghihintay na kapalaran ni Jose pagbalik sa Bulakan lalo pa ngayon na napinsala na ang kanyang bisig at kakayahan na maghanap-buhay. Ipapasok siya ng mga pinsan sa mga gawaing hindi naaayon sa batas at dito ibubuhos ng binata ang lakas at panahon matapos malaman na si Selya ay nililigawan na ng isang Major Alfredo Lozano na higit na makapagbibigay sa kanya ng maginhawang buhay.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Maraming pasikot-sikot ang may-akda at mahusay ang kanyang pagsasalaysay. Maraming mga bagong pangyayari na kagulat-gulat at marunong din ang may-akda na mambitin at pag-isipin ang mambabasa kung ano ang maaaring susunod na magaganap. Ang buong akala ko ay magtatapos na ang lahat sa nangyari sa Maynila kaya naman nagulat din ako nang mailiko pa ng may-akda ang mga pangyayari. Marami ring pagpapalit-palit ng kapalaran ng mga tauhan at marunong ding magkubli ng kaalaman ang may-akda upang ilabas ito kinalaunan at maging pambulaga sa nagbabasa.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Wala mang pinag-aagawang lupa ay nabanggit pa rin naman ito at naging paraan pa nga upang magkalapit muli ang loob ng magkasintahan. Isa rin ito sa mga paksa na nais ipatalakay sa mga tanong na matatagpuan sa likod ng aklat. Magmula nang ang lupa ay ituring na ari-arian sa lahat ng sulok ng daigdig ay talaga namang ito na lagi ang nagiging sanhi ng kung anu-anong kaguluhan magmula sa mga mamamayang nag-aagawan hanggang sa mga bansang nagsasakupan upang mapalawak lamang ang kanilang lupain. Sa akdang ito ay nabanggit lamang ito ngunit hindi naman din naging pangunahing paksa.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Mahuhulaan din naman sa pamagat kung saan iikot ang takbo ng mga pangyayari kung matalas ang iyong isipan. Isang Milyong Piso. Hindi ko alam kung maaaring ituring ito bilang Chekhov’s Gun na nagsasabing ipakikilala lamang sa simula sa nanonood o nagbabasa ang isang bagay, kaalaman o kung ano pa man kung ito ay gagamitin kinalaunan bilang mahalagang bahagi ng pagtatapos ng mga pangyayari. Kung ito ang pagbabatayan, ang tanong na lang talaga na papasok sa iyong isipan ay kung sa paanong paraan makukuha ng pangunahing tauhan ang isang milyong piso at kung paano nito babaguhin ang kanyang buhay.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Gayunpaman ay hindi naman ito ginawang halatang halata ng may-akda. Ang dami pang pagdaraanan ni Jose upang makuha niya ang salaping ipinangako na iyan at talaga namang ang dami ring pagbabago sa kanyang pagkatao. Ang ilan pa nga rito ay talaga namang tila lubos na kabaliktaran. Una ay naging bayani sa paningin ng marami dahil sa kanyang pagsanib sa himagsikan bago maging walang kinabukasan dahil sa pinsala ng kanyang bisig hanggang maging pinuno ng mga tulisan. Lagi ko na lamang itong sinasabi ngunit tila nanonod na naman ako ng Teleserye. Ayaw bang gawing palabas ito ni Coco Martin?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sa kabuuan ay naaliw naman din ako sa pagbabasa ng Isang Milyong Piso. Bukod sa pagpapalit palit ng kapalaran ng pangunahing tauhan ay naibigan ko rin ang paglalarawan ni Macario Pineda sa panahon matapos ang ikalawang digmaang pandaigdig. Karamihan kasi ng aking mga nababasa ay kung hindi man nasa kasalukuyang panahon ay ukol naman sa Batas Militar. Bihira lang din ang mga nahahanap kong akda na tumatalakay sa pangkaraniwang buhay ng mga Pilipino matapos ang digmaan. At dahil taga Bulacan din ang aking ama, natuwa naman ako kahit paano na makilala ang lalawigan na kung tutuusin ay aming pinagmulan subalit hindi ko lubusang nakilala dahil hindi naman ako tumira doon. Sa ibang panahon nga lang.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">At huli na, tila itinatangi ni Macario Pineda ang salitang MALUWAT na talaga namang paulit-ulit kong nababasa dahil madalas niyang gamitin. Hindi ito pangkaraniwang ginagamit sa Tagalog ng Maynila ngunit naunawaan ko na rin naman ang ibig sabihin. Ito rin marahil ang isa sa mga kinatutuwa kong talaga sa pagbabasa ng mga akdang Tagalog dahil marami akong natutuklasan tungkol sa aking inang-wika.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/7061998893844044691/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/isang-milyong-piso.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7061998893844044691'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7061998893844044691'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/isang-milyong-piso.html' title='Isang Milyong Piso'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguDQCv4kkBpRTTiDspMf1BKvJPlHomZLr3-TcuvS5_m7_IQl_I67tjacJ5VSbDXSS-1UNmKFMRUX2eB3Vf7ZqmzMLwTwWrXBBiw9iihVfineZLyGhZtucM2-hiWYy6e2qkk9NMI7ciz0otLUTpm5qSR1PWRkgFRrdjchCObyI8xQHfi4QJyA8ptkhqtgD7/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-7331337219926743231</id><published>2025-08-25T21:34:00.000+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-31T20:12:53.556+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Trampe F.E."/><title type='text'>Ang Larong Nagwakas Sa Atin</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43887844-ang-larong-nagwakas-sa-atin" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNcfLr3hkeMTwyhMKrMakERxRGfJY22ARI_VRQg1NGcYUWLwgb0UVo7wxsk7y5Y5xTfFbfLZoWcAKTDqe6TwwSmCKHbkG6Fo5S2kLyvJ9sio8Q9MVh3ftCQHu9YosTYeFBD_B0np-mYgk6XFJKTayrR8iqrN_hIL2xuR6cC9-6t9esk5ktEeTqtDFGO6S/s1600/43887844.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Magmula ng lumipat galing Quezon City patungong Las Piñas ay sa laro na ng Chess umiikot ang daigdig ni Dennis Manansala kahit na wala gaanong pagkakataon upang laruin niya ito dahil tila ba hindi ito ganoon kasikat bilang laro sa bago niyang paaralan. Magbabago ang lahat nang mapasama ito sa taunang palaro ng paaralan kung saan mapipilitan sumali si Esther Pamintuan na tinguriang pinakamatalino sa kanilang buong pangkat. Mula sa pagiging walang alam sa laro ay magiging bihasa si Esther sa tulong na rin ni Dennis sa loob ng apat na taon na kanilang ilalagi sa kanilang paaralan. Habang umiigting ang kanilang pagkakalulong sa laro ay titindi rin ang kanilang pagtitinginan sa isa’t-isa. Maraming pagkakataon na ito ay makabubuti subalit mayroon ding mga panahon na ito ay makasasama sa kanilang dalawa hanggang sa umabot na nga ang lahat sa huling laro na siyang magiging tuldok ng kanilang apat na taon sa High School at magwawakas sa kanila.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Hindi ko napansin na Anvil Teens pala ang tatak na nakalagay sa aklat na ito nang aking bilhin kaya naman inakala ko na pawang kilig lang ang kanyang nilalaman. E iyun na nga, di ba? Sa mga panahong ito, hindi na tayo kinikilig, nirarayuma na lang. Kaya naman hindi ko naiwasang matuwa dahil naaliw naman ako sa pagsasalaysay ng may-akda. Ibinalot niya sa isang huling laro ng Chess ang buhay High School ng dalawang pangunahing tauhan. Nakakalat sa buong aklat ang larawan ng Chess Board at bawat galaw ng dalawang magkatunggali habang nagbabalik-tanaw sila pagkatapos ng bawat tira.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sa ganitong pamamaraan, hindi lamang ang buhay High School nila kundi ang huling laro rin nilang dalawa ang iyong susundan bilang mambabasa. Aaminin ko na biglang nanumbalik ang aking pagkaaliw sa Chess. Matagal na rin kasi akong hindi naglalaro dahil wala rin namang kalaro. Mahusay ang pagkakahabi ng may-akda sa mahusay na pamamaraan upang manalo sa laro at sa bawat hakbang ng bawat tauhan pagdating sa kanilang buhay pag-ibig pati na rin ang kanilang kanya-kanyang balak ukol sa kanilang kinabukasan. Buhay na buhay at damang dama ang tunggalian di lamang ng utak kundi na rin ng puso.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sa aking palagay ang tunay na dahilan kung bakit naibigan ko ng labis ang akdang ito ay dahil matagal tagal na rin mula ng ako ay nagtapos ng High School. 2003. Lampas dalawampung taon na ang nakalilipas kaya naman habang binabasa ko ang aklat na ito ay talagang nanumbalik din ang mga alaala. Ganito lang marahil talaga tayo habang tumatanda. Dahil wala na gaanong bagong karanasan na talagang makapagpapaliyab ng iyong damdamin, lilingon ka na lang talaga sa nakaraan noong halos bago pa lahat ang iyong mga karanasan at matindi pa ang ambag nito sa iyong buhay.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sa kabilang dako, nakatutuwa rin isipin na kahit tapos na ang panahong inilaan sa atin upang maranasan ang mga bagay-bagay na iyan, ay patuloy pa rin at lagi pa ring mayroong bagong salinlahi ng mga kabataan ang pagdaraanan din ang masayang yugto na yan ng buhay. Bukod sa pagbabalik-tanaw ay tila ba hinihimok din tayo ng buhay upang magbigay kaalaman sa mga kabataang ito at maging gabay nila sa pagbaybay sa mababangis na alon ng kabataan.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang isang napansin ko lang ay kung paanong ibang-iba rin talaga ang titig lalaki sa titig babae pagdating sa pagsusulat ng mga ganitong uri ng akda. Marahil ay may kinalaman din ito sa pangunahing paksa. Kapag pinaghahambing ko kasi ang mga tulad ni Ronaldo Vivo Jr at Fe Esperanza Trampe kung paano talakayin ng kanilang mga tauhan ang mga paksang pag-ibig, malaki rin talaga ang pagkakaiba. Kaya lang, panitikang Young Adult din kasi talaga ang akdang ito ni Trampe, kaya marahil iba ang dating dahil nakikita natin ito mula sa pananaw ng mga kabataan na hindi pa gaanong nagagalusan ng tadhana.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Harinaway magsulat si Trampe ng kasunod na akda 10 mula ngayon. Nais kong makita kung paano ang magiging pagbabago nina Dennis at Esther kapag nasa totoong daigdig na sila at humaharap sa mga hamon ng buhay na sa aklat na ito sila’y may pagkakataong iwasan sa pamamagitan ng pagtatago sa loob ng paaralan. Nais kong masaksihan ang isa pang laro ng Chess mula sa dalawang ito pagkatapos nilang maranasan ang kaguluhan ng buhay kung saan wala na gaanong kilig.</span></div></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/7331337219926743231/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/ang-larong-nagwakas-sa-atin.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7331337219926743231'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7331337219926743231'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/ang-larong-nagwakas-sa-atin.html' title='Ang Larong Nagwakas Sa Atin'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQNcfLr3hkeMTwyhMKrMakERxRGfJY22ARI_VRQg1NGcYUWLwgb0UVo7wxsk7y5Y5xTfFbfLZoWcAKTDqe6TwwSmCKHbkG6Fo5S2kLyvJ9sio8Q9MVh3ftCQHu9YosTYeFBD_B0np-mYgk6XFJKTayrR8iqrN_hIL2xuR6cC9-6t9esk5ktEeTqtDFGO6S/s72-c/43887844.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6430928102851557077</id><published>2025-08-24T20:11:00.012+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-31T20:42:04.159+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Theater"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Theatre Group Asia"/><title type='text'>Into the Woods (Theatre Group Asia)</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.theatregroupasia.com/into-the-woods-casts" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt38sU_DEWh_LOU3n-vLwLt_WFQrNp1jfTsCJGd3d6iFOH-Erq25Gq9QpZfblIp9UxzHE_HqlzE4Y7vMx4On9MrJwFW5WWhRbeRGwkBOLqCMC-Ht2H50omCqKxqH75GnBgRJFbx7ifLqtfRk0FbEvZNeLqrvhGC1nShmdwc2JUK83qdoo-fjGf_9qvDYU5/s1600/1234567890.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">A childless Baker (Nyoy Volante) and his Wife (Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante) are visited by the Witch (Lea Salonga) from next door with a confession. The reason they can’t have children is because she cursed them along with their house. She offers them a deal which involves collecting ingredients for a spell that will make her young and beautiful again: a cape as red as blood donned by Little Red (Teetin Villanueva); a cow as white as milk owned by Jack (Nic Chien), who is now being asked by his Mother (Eugene Domingo) to sell it at the market; hair as yellow as corn, maybe from Rapunzel’s (Joreen Bautista) long locks; and a golden shoe worn by Cinderella (Arielle Jacobs). Each and every one of them has a wish and sees that wish being granted, which makes them happy for a while… until they’re not. And then comes an enraged Giant widow out for vengeance.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Tickets for Into the Woods sold out in a matter of days. Social media was abuzz, even more so after the gradual revelation of the cast members led by Lea Salonga herself. The musical suddenly turned into a must-see event, which is quite rare in Philippine theater. And so the question that eventually came to mind was whether the finished product could live up to that kind of hype. Personally, I wasn’t amazed, but I wasn’t disappointed either. But then again this is coming from someone whose only knowledge of the material comes from the 2014 film adaptation. Hardcore fans might have a different opinion altogether. Ask them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The production design is unique but also one of several bones of contention among those in the know, at least based on online chatter. The Capis windows lend the material a distinct Filipino flavor, which is nice and cool but rather out of place. Perhaps it has something to do with the narrative itself which is a collection of western fairy tales that are already too popular and imprinted on the everyday Joe’s psyche for them to be easy to localize? In the end, while visually appealing, the production design makes you question whether the local flavor really adds anything to enrich the material or does it, on the contrary, just serve as a distraction.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I read my more than a decade old review of the film adaptation and I’ve noticed that my opinion about the soundtrack remains the same. Into the Woods just doesn’t have a lot of memorable songs, despite some of them being catchy. Since there seems to be a dearth of powerful showtunes, unless you are big fan, Stay With Me easily stands out probably due to the emotion involved in that song. That aside, Agony, serving as a duet between two Princes lamenting their respective love lives, is also memorable thanks to the humor and presentation of that musical number. And then maybe the Prologue/Into the Woods, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The Broadway imports are effortless. Along with Salonga, Jacobs and Josh dela Cruz as her prince deliver a performance that is of worldwide caliber. Among the locals, Villanueva and Bradshaw-Volante outshine almost everybody else with their powerful and equally funny portrayal of Little Red and The Baker’s Wife. Domingo, and Rody Vera as the Narrator are 50-50. You can feel the sincerity of the performance and there is definitely heart to it, but there is just something that makes them feel out of place, as if they’re exerting too much effort to be there, or something to that effect.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As for Nic Chien and his nepo baby issue, I would’ve been harsh had his involvement ruined the show and ended up being similar to that of Kim Kardashian’s spawn scoring the lead role in some unfortunate restaging of The Lion King. But Chien can act and Chien can sing. With his mother’s industry connections, he can surely blossom into a theater thespian because there is talent there. Nevertheless, I understand the backlash. After all, there is no shortage of local talents who could’ve benefited from the role and the exposure, like Omar Uddin, for instance.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">In the end, I guess what I actually enjoyed about Into the Woods is its subject matter, that of wishes and wants vis-a-vis the idea and reality thereof. Been there, done that. All of us wish for an alternative life that we believe would make us happier, until we finally get it and are, unexpectedly, left with the feeling, “Wait, that’s it?” Be careful what you wish for, indeed, or so the cliche goes.</span></div></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6430928102851557077/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/into-woods-theatre-group-asia.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6430928102851557077'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6430928102851557077'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/into-woods-theatre-group-asia.html' title='Into the Woods (Theatre Group Asia)'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt38sU_DEWh_LOU3n-vLwLt_WFQrNp1jfTsCJGd3d6iFOH-Erq25Gq9QpZfblIp9UxzHE_HqlzE4Y7vMx4On9MrJwFW5WWhRbeRGwkBOLqCMC-Ht2H50omCqKxqH75GnBgRJFbx7ifLqtfRk0FbEvZNeLqrvhGC1nShmdwc2JUK83qdoo-fjGf_9qvDYU5/s72-c/1234567890.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-8575079699755545569</id><published>2025-08-18T21:37:00.004+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-18T21:43:48.375+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>Together</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Together_(2025_film)" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbDoIzVF2Rkh2b83_zO9rNk9dKOrNiyXu90LK7ZLCZ48_D1aEZ2mVQUXCqW4Qhvsllx3SQffEt7MhjoRNo6_AHLUL1vRB-QlFK2VLVPCA-v-8m74ofmS4bLdnQ-S4IKZfIX4g9pItUrxZwfSLT9XsBvVviyEizII-o8c8jhwdOWQAZ8Cddb0tvqEiLoFw/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Teacher Millie Wilson (Alison Brie) and aspiring musician Tim Brassington (Dave Franco) have been together as a couple for a decade now and all that is left for them to do is get hitched. However, Tim has his doubts. He still decides to move in with her to an area a few hours away from the city so she can accept a teaching job at a smaller school. The two are welcomed by her co-teacher Jamie McCabe (Damon Herriman), who Tim suspects is interested in Millie. The house is great and the area is surrounded by nature. One afternoon they decide to go trekking and get lost as what started out as nice weather becomes a mini storm. Tim falls down a sinkhole and Millie is dragged down with him as her attempts to help fail. Trapped for half a day down there, they let the storm pass and drink from the mini pond. Strange things start to happen afterwards.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">What in the The Substance am I watching here? Aside from the film’s poster which shows Brie and Franco holding hands, their forearms seemingly blending together, I haven’t really seen any trailers or spoilers about Together. The experience of going in blind paid off, eventually. The film is a good mix of body horror and cult thriller, with a lot of hints about the supernatural but left vague, perhaps intentionally to avoid having to explain the lore? So, no, we don’t really get any answers about who or what is pulling the strings and causing all the supernatural occurrences. In any case, it’s still a good thriller worth the admission ticket.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">We seem to be having a good run lately when it comes to these new thrillers on offer. Weapons also succeeded in somehow reinvigorating a tired genre by being its own weird new take on the modern thriller. With the release of Together, we are on a winning streak. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t break that streak. Also not unlike Weapons, there are moments of comedy to be enjoyed in this film, most of them thanks to some humorous dialogues along with deadpan delivery. The premise itself appears to be a critique of marriage and relationships in general, taken quite literally as the title suggests.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The prologue with the dogs serves as a good hook to grab the moviegoer’s interest and give a clue as to what the movie will be about. The supernatural aspect is introduced early on, while Tim’s trauma that has something to do with his parents is used as a diversionary tactic to lure you away from the real deal. The scenes that are supposed to be horror appear supernatural at first, but when analyzed, you realize that they fall under the body horror category more than anything else. The film could’ve leaned more on its supernatural aspect, but maybe that’s just not the point. Instead, it is just used as justification for what’s happening.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As a metaphor for everything that has to do with relationships, though, Together is fun to dissect because there are so many possible interpretations. The literal fusing of bodies can be a playful jab on the complexity of being together as a couple, on how one usually gives way and loses himself or herself in order to lift the other up. It can also be interpreted the other way around by arguing that what is happening is a convergence between the two, finding a common ground where they can be together, literally. Taken as any of these metaphors, one can really just dismiss the supernatural elements as creative license.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As for the twist, I believe I kind of figured it out halfway through when Jamie was explaining Plato’s theory about the missing half. The ambiguous couple photo that Millie sees in his house is a dead giveaway and as you get nearer to the ending, some suspicions begin to make sense. Of course, this is not without complications. Since neither the lore nor its mechanics is fully explained, there are some questions left like what happened to the other couple who got lost in the woods before them. Why didn’t they fully integrate? It’s fun to speculate, but this is, perhaps, what the narrative is missing. I still had fun, thanks to many references that are too literal, like the Spice Girls’ 2 Become 1, as well as the title itself.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aSR8mOPBa0I" width="320" youtube-src-id="aSR8mOPBa0I"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/8575079699755545569/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/together.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8575079699755545569'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8575079699755545569'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/together.html' title='Together'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZbDoIzVF2Rkh2b83_zO9rNk9dKOrNiyXu90LK7ZLCZ48_D1aEZ2mVQUXCqW4Qhvsllx3SQffEt7MhjoRNo6_AHLUL1vRB-QlFK2VLVPCA-v-8m74ofmS4bLdnQ-S4IKZfIX4g9pItUrxZwfSLT9XsBvVviyEizII-o8c8jhwdOWQAZ8Cddb0tvqEiLoFw/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-3988606247759026521</id><published>2025-08-12T19:50:00.005+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-19T20:00:41.397+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Arceo L."/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><title type='text'>Canal de la Reina</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_de_la_Reina" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ45s-1y0gp7mx2A99O6jrf5TtL95ZZug2nPYM9BEAmc3OjbLy4FBPjgrRCdp9b3dwNyJfi66MSTYFDTqSMnLHUaFgFb7s0qjPxej7eoUr8iFlcChw9vOXjvI5wBnG1i1vfNBeugHVGas5Sji-83KVNHTFkniCmQYf5XHyOy3tsjpocBTvos4KqIXCrdFC/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ikagugulat ni Caridad ang kanyang daratnan sa Canal de la Reina pati na rin ang kinahinatnan nito, ang pook na kinalakihan niya at ng kanyang kapatid. Ipinamana sa kanya ng kanilang mga magulang ang lupa. Kasama ang asawang si Salvador at ang mga anak na sina Leni at Junior, magbabalik si Caridad upang tignan ang lupa na dapat ay nasa pangalan niya, subalit ang bubulaga sa kanya ay ang pagsalubong sa kanila ni Nyora Tentay na magsasabing siya ang may-ari ng lupa at ng bahay na nakatayo roon. Ipinagbili raw ito ng mga katiwala nila Caridad at may hawak siyang titulo. Isang matinding laban sa hukuman ang susunod na magaganap kung saan maglalaban ang dalawang panig upang maibigay ang lupa sa tunay na may-ari. Ngunit dahil maliit ang daigdig na ginagalawan, hindi rin inaasahan na may mga landas na magtatagpo mula sa magkabilang panig. Sino kaya ang magtatagumpay sa huli na magiging totoong tagapangalaga ng lupang pinag-aagawan?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">At may nag-aagawan na naman nga po ng lupa. Nang aking malaman na ito ang pangunahing paksa na tatalakayin ng Canal de la Reina, agad na pumasok sa aking isipan ang isa pang akda na nabasa ko ilang linggo pa lang ang nakalipas. Kahit na tila magkatulad ang paksang tinatalakay, ang pinagkaiba ng Canal de la Reina sa Luha Ng Buwaya ay ang antas ng pamumuhay ng mga magkatunggali. Sa Luha Ng Buwaya kasi ay magkalaban ang ubod ng yaman at ubod ng hirap samantalang ang mga naglalaban naman sa Canal de la Reina ay ang binansagan ng may-akda na mga nabibilang sa gitnang uri na hindi mayaman o mahirap ngunit maituturing na maginhawa ang pamumuhay.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Isa pang akda na nanumbalik sa aking isipan ay ang Dekada 70 ni Lualhati Bautista. Sa palagay ko ay dahil ito sa pamamaraan ng pananalita ni Caridad at ng mga anak nito kung saan kanilang pinaghahalo ang mga wikang Tagalog at Ingles. Hitik din sa mga ganitong uri ng wika ang akda ni Bautista at makikita sa pagsasalarawan ng dalawang may-akda na marami ang pagkakatulad, isang dahilan upang tayo ay mapaniwala na marahil ay sumasalamin nga ang uri ng wika na ito sa talagang ginagamit noong mga panahon na iyon na hanggang ngayon ay buhay na buhay pa rin lalo na sa mga paaralan ng mga kabataang may kaya.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Bukod sa uri ng wika ay makikita rin ang mga pagkakatulad sa mga iba pang suliranin na napag-uusapan ng mga pangunahing tauhan. Inilimbag kasi ang mga akda na ito bago ang&nbsp; panahon ng Martial Law kaya tila pangkaraniwan na lang na masaksihan ang isang anak ng pangunahing tauhan na lumalahok sa mga pagtitipon na laban sa pamahalaan. Magkagaya rin ang pagsasalpukan ng magkaibang saloobin ng ama at anak kung saan makikitang ang ama ay tila ba ayos lamang sa lagay ng bansa noon at pagpapatakbo nito habang ang pananaw naman ng anak ay higit na makabago at nagnanais ng tunay na pagbabago.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Kung ibabalik naman ang paghahambing sa Luha Ng Buwaya, kapwang mahusay magpainit ng ulo ang dalawang may-akda. Kung si Amado Hernandez ay may Donya Leona at Don Severo, si Liwayway Arceo naman ay may Nyora Tentay. Talaga namang kaiinisan ng mga mambabasa ang mga tauhang ito na sa aking palagay ay naging pangunahing halimbawa kung paano ang pagsasalarawan ng mga ganitong uri ng tauhan sa iba pang uri ng sining kinalaunan. Gaya ng kinahantungan ng mag-asawang Donya Leona at Don Severo, malupit din ang magiging tadhana ni Nyora Tentay subalit magkatulad ang dalawang akda sa pambibitin sa mambabasa. Nais pa natin silang makitang magdusa ngunit doon na rin magtatapos ang akda.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Masasabi ko naman na kinagiliwan ko rin ang pagbabasa ng Canal de la Reina. Gaya ng una kong pakiramdam bago basahin ang Luha Ng Buwaya, akala ko ay hindi rin ako matutuwa sa pagbabasa ngunit pinatunayan ng mga may-akda na kaya nilang aliwin ang kanilang mga mambabasa habang nagbibigay din ng mga mahalagang kuro-kuro ukol sa mga nangyayari sa lipunan. Ito marahil ang dahilan kung bakit tinuturing na mga pangunahing halimbawa ang mga akda na ito pagdating sa panitikang pilipino. Ang kalungkot lungkot lang ay kung ihahambing ang lagay ng bansa noon sa lagay nito ngayon na tila ganoon pa rin naman kahit lampas limampung taon na ang lumipas. Marahil ay hindi lang talaga madaling matuto ang mga Pinoy.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/3988606247759026521/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/canal-de-la-reina.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3988606247759026521'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3988606247759026521'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/canal-de-la-reina.html' title='Canal de la Reina'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ45s-1y0gp7mx2A99O6jrf5TtL95ZZug2nPYM9BEAmc3OjbLy4FBPjgrRCdp9b3dwNyJfi66MSTYFDTqSMnLHUaFgFb7s0qjPxej7eoUr8iFlcChw9vOXjvI5wBnG1i1vfNBeugHVGas5Sji-83KVNHTFkniCmQYf5XHyOy3tsjpocBTvos4KqIXCrdFC/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-7337463541433683084</id><published>2025-08-11T16:19:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-11T16:19:11.370+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Vivo R.S."/><title type='text'>Ang Kapangyarihang Higit sa Ating Lahat</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/25120918-ang-kapangyarihang-higit-sa-ating-lahat" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimT2vuCKtGNjT_faMQgAf0of3iBWbM0m-lIEjC38BKHuxyYMzdmFsmzVKS3zR0piRRnjThBnWsEopSO7XyyMyocrIAFpncbLZM7GNWkoeeGEHGto81T1RY2P8bcEh_vabGVuXhw1eXh3qvgXOsaU8fzXYvEZ3uPRs1TWKI696QCuXCOXpaVYaekzDWrtsx/s1600/1234567890.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Magkasama na nangungupahan ang magkaibang Dodong at Buldan sa isang pook malapit sa Dreamland. Walang matinong hanapbuhay ang dalawa at kadalasan ay nandurukot lang upang makaraos. Ang kasintahan ni Dodong na si Che ay namamahala naman ng isang pook aliwan kung saan nagkikita ang mga naghahanap ng aliw at mga babaeng naglalako ng laman. Pagbabantaan ang buhay ni Che dahil sa panibugho ng isang suki niya na may hawak na kapangyarihan at ibibintang ito sa kasintahan. Si Butsok naman ang panganay ng mag-asawang Delfin at Marife. Magsasabay-sabay ang kanilang mga kasawiang-palad sa buhay sa pagsulpot ng mga bangkay ng mga bakla na mapapag-alamang kinikitil ang buhay ng isang di pa kilalang may galit sa kanilang uri. Habang abala ang mga kinauukulan sa paghahanap sa salarin, patuloy ang buhay sa paligid ng Dreamland kung saan matatagpuan ang mga nasa laylayan ng lipunan, isang kahig isang tuka at pinaglalaruan lang ng mga nasa kapangyarihan.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">PUTANGINA. Iyan lang yata ang katagang naiwan sa aking isipan matapos kong ilapag ang aklat na ito. Masalimuot. Karimarimarim. Halos hindi ko yata kinaya ang karahasan at kahindik-hindik na mga pangyayari at pambababoy sa mga tauhan ng akdang ito. Gayunpaman, hindi ko rin ito maibaba-baba. Ito na marahil ang tatak Ronaldo Vivo Jr. gawang ganito rin ang naging karanasan ko sa pagbabasa ng Ang Bangin sa Ilalim Ng Ating Mga Paa. Mahusay ang may-akda sa pagbalot ng mga masalimuot na katotohanan ng lipunan gamit ang mga nanggigitata at masisidhing paglalarawan na talaga namang mapapailing ka na lang habang nagbabasa.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Tatak ng isang magaling na manunulat ang himukin ang mambabasa na talagang buklatin ang akda at naising mabilis na tapusin ito upang malaman kung ano ba ang kahahantungan ng masalimuot na buhay ng mga tauhan. Kung gagawing palabas ang Ang Kapangyarihang Higit Sa Ating Lahat malamang ay mahanay ito sa tinatawag nila sa wikang Ingles na Poverty Porn, kung saan talaga namang hinahalukay ang buhay ng mga nasa laylayan at talagang mapagtatanto ng mambabasa ang kawalan ng mga ito ng kapangyarihan at kung paanong tila ba pain lamang sila na kinakasangkapan ng mga nagpapaikot sa lipunan.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ito rin ang ginagamit ng may-akda upang gawing kawili-wili ang karanasan ng mambabasa. Ano pa nga ba ang aasahan mo kung ang mga tauhang sinusundan mo ay tuluyan nang nawalan ng pag-asa at tila ba hindi na maililigtas pa mula sa simula? Ano pa ba ang maaaring mangyari? Ito ang talagang aabangan ng mambabasa at kahit na tila ba hindi ganoon kapani-paniwala ang nagiging matagumpay na pagtakas ng mga wala nang pag-asang tauhan, may bisang mapagpalaya pa rin kahit paano kapag nasaksihan ng mambabasa na kahit kahit pansamantala lang ay nakaranas ng tagumpay ang aping wala namang ibang pagpipilian.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Isa sa aking mga kinagiliwan sa paglalatag ng may-akda ng mga pangyayari ay ang pagpapalit ng pananaw pagdating sa gitna ng aklat kung saan bigla na lamang maglalaho si Dodong at biglang si Butsok na ang ating magiging mata sa loob ng akda. Mapapaisip ka na lang kung ano na ba ang kinahinatnan ng tauhan na ating naging gabay at ano nga ba ang magiging kaugnayan ng bagong tauhan na ngayon ay ating sinusundan. Sa kalagitnaan din papasok ang salik ng hiwaga dahil bigla na lang nating malalaman na may gumagala palang mamamatay-tao at tuloy lang ang paghula kung sino kaya ito kahit na may mangilan-ngilan na ring pahiwatig.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Gaya ng paraan ng pagtapos ng manunulat sa Ang Bangin Sa Ilalim Ng Ating Mga Paa, bukas din ang pagtatapos ng Ang Kapangyarihang Higit Sa Ating Lahat sa maraming dalumat. Ikaw na bilang mambabasa ang bahala kung paano mo nais wakasan ang talambuhay ni Dodong at Butsok. Maaaring sabihin na madaya ang may-akda dahil umiiwas siya sa batikos kung sakaling hindi man maibigan ng mga mambabasa ang katapusan na isinulat niya subalit kung tutuusin ay tuso nga ang pamamaraan na ito dahil hindi lamang niya maiiwasan na mangyari nga yun, bagkus binibigyan pa nga niya ng pagkakataon ang mambabasa na mag-isip sa sarili. Kumbaga, bahala ka na diyan sa buhay mo.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang Ang Bangin Sa Ilalim Ng Ating Mga Paa at ang Ang Kapangyarihang Higit Sa Ating Lahat ay dalawa lamang sa tatlong akda ni Vivo na bumubuo sa tinatawag niyang Dreamland Trilogy. Ang pangatlo, ang Ang Suklam Sa Ating Naaagnas Na Balat ang pinakamakapal sa lahat.</span></div></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/7337463541433683084/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/ang-kapangyarihang-higit-sa-ating-lahat.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7337463541433683084'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7337463541433683084'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/ang-kapangyarihang-higit-sa-ating-lahat.html' title='Ang Kapangyarihang Higit sa Ating Lahat'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimT2vuCKtGNjT_faMQgAf0of3iBWbM0m-lIEjC38BKHuxyYMzdmFsmzVKS3zR0piRRnjThBnWsEopSO7XyyMyocrIAFpncbLZM7GNWkoeeGEHGto81T1RY2P8bcEh_vabGVuXhw1eXh3qvgXOsaU8fzXYvEZ3uPRs1TWKI696QCuXCOXpaVYaekzDWrtsx/s72-c/1234567890.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-3370917512445582372</id><published>2025-08-08T23:09:00.015+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-14T23:21:46.925+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>Weapons</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_(2025_film)" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAaJQuhJD3rDIurnIH5ybeNy6SntLQW1Lvw81-DoPYGaeJF8nJjxDbODm3SOX7hUQ2AyvCpVLQ-46D1dMjrjzvvdLCFBgkAcFqfDGDx0KLgDqf8bkgS_gL2lBM-BElxVNvlbPv57y34XYN_Xga-Cx7lx3J_UT7seqoO2JlQnJXDGo40jj1FfOuGzUt0dX/s1600/1234567890.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Elementary school teacher Justine Gandy (Julia Garner) finds herself in hot water when all of the students in her class, save one, disappear in a strange fashion. All of them wake up one night at 2:17 AM and exit the front door of their homes, running into the night with arms spread, never to be seen again. Archer Graff (Josh Brolin), father of one of the children, tries to pin the blame on the teacher but finds out meaningful clues on his own after analyzing several CCTV footage. Alex Lilly (Cary Christopher), the only child not to disappear, is transferred to a different group but is constantly pursued by Justine, much to school principal Marcus’ (Benedict Wong) disapproval. Despite reassurance from her old flame and now police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich) that investigation is in full swing, Justine takes matters into her own hands and launches her own investigation starting at Alex’s house, where she discovers some weird things.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I’m sorry, but what the actual fvck? Rest assured that I mean that in a very good way, because this film has been quite an amusing watch. I first stumbled upon Weapons when I stalked Julia Garner and Alden Ehrenreich online and found out that they have a film together, which led me to a Reddit spoiler thread where someone who saw the movie in advance nonchalantly divulged the twist. I dismissed it right then and there because it felt corny. So imagine my surprise when the film was finally released, to glowing reviews and an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. And so I gave it a chance, and I’m glad I did.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Perhaps what that spoiler reveal got wrong is that it didn’t capture Weapons’ clever execution. I have a thing for narratives that unfold in a non-linear way. The experience is akin to being handed pieces of a puzzle at a leisurely pace and slowly building up momentum as you anticipate the whole picture that you are trying to form. The film is told from the perspective of different characters, each one coinciding with another at some point until they all end up in one cathartic ending that just dismembers you like a dying witch in a bright orange wig. In the end, you go out of the cinema with satisfaction instead of questions.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Or maybe you still have questions. I know I do, but let’s veer away from spoilers for now. Weapons, in the entirety of its two-hour run, maintains an air of mystery and seriousness that clearly puts it under the wide umbrella of horror. The fun thing, though, is how there are so many scenes, mostly thanks to the characters’ behavior, that end up being unintentionally humorous. By funny, we don’t really mean that of Drag Me To Hell proportions, but almost getting there. The odd mix of seriousness, creepiness, and accidental humor just makes the viewing experience a really enjoyable one, all while making your brain work over time trying to guess where the story is taking you.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">While Garner is front and center as far as marketing is concerned, Weapons is really an ensemble effort, with each actor contributing a lot to the finished product. In terms of exposure, all of them end up getting almost the same amount of screentime since they all get a chunk of the runtime through their own perspective. The late introduction of one pivotal character also catches you off guard as she just appears out of nowhere. The good thing is that the screenplay really gives her time to develop, justifying the late arrival, and serving as the glue that holds the interweaving storylines together.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Overall, the film scored a win BOTH at the box office and among critics, and it looks like word of mouth is good. Now rumors of sequels and prequels are swirling around. While I personally want more of what this movie universe still has to offer, I hope whatever related spinoff would not trade quality for a quick cash grab. If you haven’t seen Weapons yet, I suggest you go in blind and just enjoy the ride. I’m sure you won’t regret it.</span></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OpThntO9ixc" width="320" youtube-src-id="OpThntO9ixc"></iframe></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/3370917512445582372/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/weapons.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3370917512445582372'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/3370917512445582372'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/weapons.html' title='Weapons'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAaJQuhJD3rDIurnIH5ybeNy6SntLQW1Lvw81-DoPYGaeJF8nJjxDbODm3SOX7hUQ2AyvCpVLQ-46D1dMjrjzvvdLCFBgkAcFqfDGDx0KLgDqf8bkgS_gL2lBM-BElxVNvlbPv57y34XYN_Xga-Cx7lx3J_UT7seqoO2JlQnJXDGo40jj1FfOuGzUt0dX/s72-c/1234567890.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6211473863331518087</id><published>2025-08-07T18:36:00.001+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-12T18:46:28.944+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>Materialists</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialists_(film)" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3ZWlD4Btfw_6Nm_-VW1AF9AL02opMIFnK0evPg7sIxyDNKI3hW6C5S8A3MQHMS58_SKZy8wjOEXRZMx1GymlUBJmisO4UD72KtXFJ-e3esxm9jqBaSGg6uQBWbzoLCdSwjwSU9yxmIh_uq7KP5SL61M0ntfb2qcL7xPu9fJgUcQqUgpyJPrlPIVa0CcD/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Lucy (Dakota Johnson) has made a name for herself as one of the most sought-after matchmakers in the industry, holding the record in her company for nine matches that eventually led to marriage. At the wedding reception of her latest match she meets the groom’s brother, which is what they refer to in the industry as a unicorn. Harry (Pedro Pascal) is tall, good looking, working in finance as well as being born rich and still rich. She attempts to recruit him but he is persistent in wanting to date HER instead. She reluctantly agrees and is wowed by the opulence on display even though she can’t fully commit because she stumbles upon her ex with whom she is still in love. John (Chris Evans) hasn’t really changed since they broke up due to him being broke. Nowadays he moonlights as a server in a catering company while pursuing his dreams as a theater actor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The last Dakota Johnson film I’ve seen was Madame Web, so the bar isn’t really that high here. Materialists is easily her best work to date and she carried the film really well. Sure, she still has that bedroom voice that makes it sound as if she’s too lazy to be there but at least we can now feel some emotions that she is trying to convey through the screen. Perhaps the only complaint I have which is not even a valid one is that she looks so much like Anne Hathaway here, even more so when she wears her hair in a ponytail. Not that it’s a bad thing, though. I specifically love the scenes where she has to show contempt or disgust. It comes naturally.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Chris Evans hasn’t really hit the jackpot yet when it comes to films that could turn his career from that of a box office draw into a critical darling. He and Chris Hemsworth seem to have been left behind by the original Avengers, most of whom already have an Oscar or at least a nomination under their belt. Starring in a Celine Song movie helps to at least introduce him to Oscar bait directors and materials, but if we base it all on his performance, it just feels bland, which is saying a lot considering most of his scenes are with Dakota Johnson. If you can’t even outshine Dakota, then we’re sorry to say…</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Pedro Pascal has been everywhere lately and he should have already been ostracized for being overexposed, but he seems to be the rare case of everyone being just okay seeing his face everywhere. The danger here is when people start nitpicking about his performance. I last saw him in Fantastic Four, JUST A WEEK AGO. Luckily, his role as Harry is far from his take on Reed Richards. However, the acting style is a bit similar in terms of demeanor and intonation. Even then, I can’t really complain because his John convinced me that he is a different person and made me feel the gravity of his life’s dilemmas.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Given that, it seems as though Pascal’s role is just that of a subplot, one of two, actually. The main storyline revolves around the Lucy/John pairing. Harry is just the sidequest used as a plot device for Lucy to realize that she’d rather be poor but in love than be a filthy rich trophy wife. The other subplot, albeit a minor one, is that of Lucy’s client relationship with Sophie, whose one mismatch becomes the focus of Lucy’s guilt as her matchmaker. Had either subplot been scrapped, then we would’ve gotten a typical romantic comedy with money as the main root of all their conflicts.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Where Materialists pales in comparison is with Celine Song’s 2023 film debut. Past Lives has a certain je ne sais quoi that gives off a silent and intimate vibe, like a slow burn could-be love story that plays around with the emotions not just of the characters but also of the moviegoers. Materialists has its own thing going on but this is definitely a mainstream rom-com, which is probably one factor as to why it didn’t end up with the same indie vibe that just draws you in. Even then, it’s unfair to say that Materialists is a disappointment. It’s not. It’s actually a decent rom-com that serves as a deconstruction of the dating scene, a nuanced critique that ends up being the very thing it is criticizing, but makes you ruminate about the topic anyway.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4A_kmjtsJ7c" width="320" youtube-src-id="4A_kmjtsJ7c"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6211473863331518087/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/materialists.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6211473863331518087'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6211473863331518087'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/materialists.html' title='Materialists'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn3ZWlD4Btfw_6Nm_-VW1AF9AL02opMIFnK0evPg7sIxyDNKI3hW6C5S8A3MQHMS58_SKZy8wjOEXRZMx1GymlUBJmisO4UD72KtXFJ-e3esxm9jqBaSGg6uQBWbzoLCdSwjwSU9yxmIh_uq7KP5SL61M0ntfb2qcL7xPu9fJgUcQqUgpyJPrlPIVa0CcD/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6571986525765334456</id><published>2025-08-06T21:13:00.006+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-06T21:13:27.015+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>Freakier Friday</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakier_Friday" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicVWVSF2QmTlkNuqTPAHcGsCeeoFBxiFwG6Oq0fjI7SPEtH1cNhZEIjy77s96-9s-9Dw_ZPabxRef7uqroxgJpzZzW25pXvKHOAsd9YQ9MV2sLDZLEZPGlliAavwrsXujyyKoXmv691NlwJILml9gWxZ7WjNl9TAr-AMhmjgNxN05cI4k9A2Vu7bH9O4c/s1600/1234567890.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Anna Coleman (Lindsay Lohan) is back after two decades, this time as a single mother to teenage Harper (Julia Butters) who is always in loggerheads with her high school classmate Lily Davies (Sophia Hammons), a British transferee whose single dad Eric (Manny Jacinto) just opened a restaurant in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) is now a book author and struggling to launch her own podcast while dealing with the onset of old age. An altercation between the two teenagers land them, and their parents, at the principal’s office where sparks fly and a relationship is formed. Half a year later, Anna and Eric are getting married and arch-enemies Harper and Lily are about to become stepsisters. When a twist of fate leads to a switching of bodies between Anna and Harper and Lily and Tess, the two teenagers, now in adult bodies, realize that they can sabotage the wedding by using Anna’s ex Jake (Chad Michael Murray).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Freaky Friday came out in 2003. Legally Blonde and The Princess Diaries in 2001. The Devil Wears Prada in 2006. We are all getting sequels/threequels to these movies within the next two years. The early aughts are making a comeback and whether we like it or not, this only means one thing. We old. And yeah, it still weirds me out whenever I realize that the early 2000’s was 20 years ago. The people behind these films are probably Millennials like us who now have a say in greenlighting nostalgia-driven films. The nostalgia is there alright, but there’s always something amiss in the execution. Luckily, Freakier Friday is just as entertaining as its predecessor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Butters and Hammons got the boring parts because they just had to act like adults with a lot of regrets in life. In the case of Tess in Lily’s body, most of the comedy will likely appeal to Millennials and earlier generations currently being ravaged by body aches and all that jazz when it comes to aging. Butters gets a more interesting subplot as Anna in Harper’s body, because she gets to embody the existential crisis that Millennials who have settled down might be facing. You know, all about giving up aspirations and settling down and passing the baton of bristling idealism and daring to dream to the younger generation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Lohan just joins Curtis in playing the role of a clueless adolescent in an older woman’s body. In this regard, Lohan gets to have most of the emotional scenes as her onscreen daughter sees her as well as her struggles through her own body and, thus, perspective. It is Anna and Harper’s subplot that has more material to explore because it tackles child-parent relationships. Teenagers who were teenagers with Lohan in 2003 are most likely already parents too nowadays, dealing with their own teenagers at home. It’s nice to “grow up” with the character and see her deal with the same issues in raising kids that you’re probably also having now.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But perhaps the one who ended up with the most enjoyable role is no other than Jamie Lee Curtis herself. Technically, this is just a repeat of her role in the 2003 film, except that she is two decades older and the teenager she is swapping bodies with is not really someone that her character could have a good subplot with. They are just step-grandma/daughter in laws here, so the connection is not that strong. Even then, the actress mentioned in one interview that they really had fun filming, and it shows in the finished product. This sequel really wouldn’t have worked without her, and it’s nice to see her having a blast.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Overall, I didn’t expect Freakier Friday to be as fun as it is, because I significantly lowered my expectations. With the deluge of nostalgia driven sequels from a decade or two ago nowadays, it’s hard to expect too much because most of them just end up being money grabs. This sequel is worth the watch, though. It utilizes the same shaky premise of body switcheroos to its advantage all while maintaining the emotional core that made the first film just as memorable. While we would’ve expected the brother and the grandpa to be the ones to switch next based on the ending of the first film, it is made clear that the idea just isn’t viable. It’s nice to see the same actor as the younger bro making a short appearance, though.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pHvMhKFBn54" width="320" youtube-src-id="pHvMhKFBn54"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6571986525765334456/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/freakier-friday.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6571986525765334456'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6571986525765334456'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/freakier-friday.html' title='Freakier Friday'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicVWVSF2QmTlkNuqTPAHcGsCeeoFBxiFwG6Oq0fjI7SPEtH1cNhZEIjy77s96-9s-9Dw_ZPabxRef7uqroxgJpzZzW25pXvKHOAsd9YQ9MV2sLDZLEZPGlliAavwrsXujyyKoXmv691NlwJILml9gWxZ7WjNl9TAr-AMhmjgNxN05cI4k9A2Vu7bH9O4c/s72-c/1234567890.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6373627565368531449</id><published>2025-08-05T22:53:00.007+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-06T12:38:50.095+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Filipino"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><title type='text'>P77</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P77_%28film%29" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAKbWaIWAf1ZkeXZcR8Fm95R-gwNUd-gQeqez-1i7XbNCc4GOtLEmnMmdx_myOXR0k4-nsbIZgf4NIaCY3J5fTFO8lgUDJY2V9X3a1gFOmfATT5jUbLrMBANQ7huWNSMUd87TntKQHUzUs8m5fo8Fr1PGo4L1FypZo7eTuHjUxQp-gznS6tu2n6_6PNkI/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Luna Caceres (Barbie Forteza) makes a living by cleaning graves at a local cemetery, her constant companion being her asthmatic younger brother Jonas (Euwenn Mikaell). Their mother Natalia (Rosanna Roces) disappears from time to time, her excuse being that of finding side jobs to make ends meet. One day she comes back with documents that will permit her daughter to work onboard a cruise ship. Hesitant at first, Luna eventually agrees, videocalling her brother regularly when time and signal would permit. When Jonas calls one day and has an asthma attack after finding out that his inhaler has run out, Luna is forced to witness her brother fighting for his life over the phone. She decides to come back and take care of him full time. In the absence of a steady source of income, she finds a temp job as cleaner at a posh 7th floor penthouse of a luxury condo, where she starts being haunted by malevolent entities.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sometimes you just want to watch something fresh, but it’s not as if Philippine cinema were teeming with speculative fiction. Hit me with an intriguing premise; a good twist. When I “discovered” writer Enrico Santos during an MMFF run through his twin projects Rewind and Mallari, I became a fan, no matter how weird his ideas end up being. After all, his wild imagination kind of matches my crazy. The mindfvck continues in P77, a simple tale of grief peppered with horror elements that are far from coherent, but then again it’s not as if the main character weren’t snacking on prescription antidepressants like they're Tic Tac.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">That’s where my justification of the storyline is hinged upon. Luna is mentally disturbed due to a potent combo of guilt and trauma. She is an unreliable narrator. Her mind is obviously playing tricks on her. As to why the psychological prison she decides to imprison herself in is laden with horror elements that draw heavily upon religious lore is anybody’s guess. Maybe this is just the writer’s way of telling us that she has a hyperactive imagination? But then again, the human brain has always been a mystery, and it is always a wonder how far mind and imagination would go by distorting reality to shield its owner from trauma.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Surreal is one apt adjective to describe P77. The film feels like an acid trip from start to finish and somehow I have this gut feel that it could get even weirder than it already is should you watch it while on LSD. The cinematography does its job in cultivating imagery that feels like a fever dream, while the musical score completes the equation by jolting the audience with an adrenaline rush not that dissimilar from waking up in the middle of the night from that same nightmare, palpitations, cold sweat and all. The disjointed scenes are akin to a puzzle that is mind boggling at first, but starts to make sense as you put the pieces together.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The acting is stellar. Forteza offers a vivid picture of a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown. The sudden shifts in facial expression are a masterclass in acting, something she shares with the supporting cast. The thriller aspect of the film relies heavily on this. Instead of the typical over-powdered Asian ghost, we get characters with heavy eyebags and twisted facial ticks which, in a way, are far more effective in unsettling the moviegoer. In this regard, P77 is really a psychological thriller, so it’s kind of weird how it is being marketed as a haunted house story of sorts. Maybe because that’s what sells to Pinoy moviegoers?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Anyway, P77 is Derick Cabrido’s second thriller this year after Jodi Sta. Maria’s Untold, unless I missed any other projects? I like his style. I like how his stories prod you to think all while having a jolly good time. It’s just a pity that Filipino moviegoers seem to be sleeping on him and his movies. Hopefully, he’ll continue making more thrillers. Philippine cinema needs to innovate especially now that streaming seems to be killing cinema attendance, and I believe Cabrido has a lot to offer to salvage his chosen genre.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bVeOi_YNhd8" width="320" youtube-src-id="bVeOi_YNhd8"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6373627565368531449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/p77.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6373627565368531449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6373627565368531449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/p77.html' title='P77'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYAKbWaIWAf1ZkeXZcR8Fm95R-gwNUd-gQeqez-1i7XbNCc4GOtLEmnMmdx_myOXR0k4-nsbIZgf4NIaCY3J5fTFO8lgUDJY2V9X3a1gFOmfATT5jUbLrMBANQ7huWNSMUd87TntKQHUzUs8m5fo8Fr1PGo4L1FypZo7eTuHjUxQp-gznS6tu2n6_6PNkI/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-7866297512572946646</id><published>2025-08-01T21:13:00.006+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-07T20:13:58.720+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hernandez A.V."/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Philippine"/><title type='text'>Luha ng Buwaya</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luha_ng_Buwaya" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuw4JurwJHbKClaYVIcLIui_nIFsWQuZhNnoCaPc6ggiqvN7xWAA9TImc3P1rHbQRtcaq_0E4yUxsHr1BwUv2V7AQBkRFHYi2bNaBNCdcG_Nse6dLgac2IGn9cR3H_0kTPM_4S6K8Fxzj0GjjX1VbXoQ6ZEVulH8tYH0X8luN6yLAdd8-VcQbPkoVypjl/s1600/123456789.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang bayan ng Sampilong ay pinaghaharian ng mag-asawang Don Severo at Doña Leona Grande na nagmamay-ari ng mga lupain kung saan nagsasaka ang mga manggagawa. Mayroon ding pook doon na tinatawag na Tambakan na pinamamahayan naman ng mga mahihirap na walang mga sariling tahanan. Isa sa mga ito ay si Andres at ang asawang si Sedes na lumipat doon mula sa Maynila matapos lumisan ang mga Hapon. Si Mestrong Bandong naman ay tumatayong pansamantalang tagapangasiwa ng paaralan sapagkat siya isang guro. Ang pag-ibig niya ay iaalay sa marikit na dalagang si Pina na pinagnanasahan naman ng kanang-kamay ng mga Grande na si Dislaw na kanilang inuutusan upang sikilin ang mga manggagawa. Sa gitna ng pagmamalupit ng mag-asawa ay matutuklasan ni Andres na may habol ang kanyang mga kanunu-nunuan sa lupain ng mga Grande dahil kinamkam lamang ito ng lolo ni Leona na Kastila. Handa na ba silang makipag-agawan ng lupa?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sa totoo lang ay kinabahan ako nung una dahil iniisip kong baka hindi ako malibang sa pagbabasa ng Luha Ng Buwaya kaya naman natuwa ako na magaling naman ang pagkakasalaysay ng may-akda. Ang pagbabasa ng aklat na ito ay maihahambing sa panonood ng isang Teleserye. May mga mayamang gurang na kumakamkam ng lupa. May mga mahirap na inaapi na nais makaangat at maghiganti. May mga nakaupo sa pamahalaan na kakampi ng mga kalaban. Napanood na natin ito. Nabasa na natin ito. Nasasaksihan pa rin natin ito sa kasalukuyan. Wala namang bago ngunit maiinis ka talaga dahil mahusay ang pagkakalatag ng mga pangyayari.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ang tanging daing ko lamang ay kung paano nagtapos ang lahat. Hindi naman ganoon kahaba ang akdang ito subalit pinamihasa tayo ng may-akda na manggigil sa mag-asawang Grande. Isa sa mga talagang aabangan mo at magmamadali sa iyo na magbasa ay ang alamin kung sino ba ang mananalo. Magtatagumpay ba ang mga api sa huli? Dito na tayo tila ba minadali ng may-akda sa labis na kaiklian ng pagtatapos. Marahil ay nasanay lang din tayo sa mga palabas kung saan talaga namang gigigilin muna ang madla bago balikan ng bongga ang mga nang-aapi. Ibibigay naman ito sa iyo ng aklat na ito ngunit tila ba kulang na kulang pa. Wala na bang higit na mabagsik o karumal-dumal?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Yun din marahil ang isa sa mga hindi kapani-paniwala. Hindi naman ito totoong buhay at ang kagandahan ng panitikan ay ito ang nagiging daan upang makamit ng mga api kahit man lang sa nakasulat na salita ang katarungan. Kaya nga tayo nawiwili sa pagbabasa, hindi ba? Dahil inilalayo tayo nito pansamantala sa tunay na buhay. Kung susuriin kasi ang mga katulad nito na nagaganap sa totoong buhay, talaga namang ang katarungan ay para sa mga mayayaman lamang. Kahit paano ay naibigay naman sa kanila ito sa pamamagitan ng aklat na ito. Yun nga lang, hanggang sa nakasulat na mga salita na lang.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Kahit na gasgas na ang paksang tinatalakay ng Luha Ng Buwaya, nairaos din naman ng may-akda na bigyan ang mambabasa ng isang larawan ng bansa matapos ang pangalawang digmaang pandaigdig. Ang mga anak ng mga Grande na sina Ninet at Jun ang ating gabay sa buhay ng mga mayayamang kabataan noong mga panahong iyon habang sila Pina at Bandong naman ang sumasalamin sa mga nasa kabilang bahagi ng lipunan. Kung susuriin ang mga pangunahing paksa, makikita na wala naman talagang pinagbago ang lipunan. Nag-iba lamang ang anyo ng pamumuhay ngunit ang mga suliranin ay ganoon pa rin naman. Ang mga naghahari ay sila pa rin. Hanggang ngayon.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Yun lang. Ang mga kagaya nila Mestro Bandong ay bihira namang magtagumpay sa tunay na buhay. Dahil matagal nang nakakiling ang katarungan at magandang buhay sa mga tao na ipinanganak na may tamang pangalan. Kaya mahalaga rin talaga ang panitikan dahil dito na rin naibubuhos ang mga pagkabigo sa tunay na buhay. Nakaiinis man ay napakikinabangan pa rin ito at nagiging sining. Ang Luha Ng Buwaya na yata ang naging halimbawa at balangkas ng mga ganitong uri ng salaysay. Kung mapaninindigan lang ng may-akda na pukawin ang damdamin ng mambabasa, kahit paulit-ulit lang ang paksa at daloy ng mga pangyayari, ito ay madarama pa rin at matatalakay pa rin.</span></div></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/7866297512572946646/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/luha-ng-buwaya.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7866297512572946646'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/7866297512572946646'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/08/luha-ng-buwaya.html' title='Luha ng Buwaya'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTuw4JurwJHbKClaYVIcLIui_nIFsWQuZhNnoCaPc6ggiqvN7xWAA9TImc3P1rHbQRtcaq_0E4yUxsHr1BwUv2V7AQBkRFHYi2bNaBNCdcG_Nse6dLgac2IGn9cR3H_0kTPM_4S6K8Fxzj0GjjX1VbXoQ6ZEVulH8tYH0X8luN6yLAdd8-VcQbPkoVypjl/s72-c/123456789.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-1128197047967050934</id><published>2025-07-31T21:39:00.013+08:00</published><updated>2025-08-01T21:49:03.361+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Adeyemi T."/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="African"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><title type='text'>Children of Virtue and Vengeance</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Virtue_and_Vengeance" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp93aX2ss8w6fTW4X-dR8PBhXjMUVdghe7V20wXk8xgRc6oh9plG4OlALRQh2r6LbAadCIeSyhCM-WVkizlbT6UVEAppDcymGeUKLooQY67Vb72S5Xx2_UOIEhrnEGTlabdvki8T7ecAtxY7RjW2_i9cyzmqYeRVEPr9k5Vaw_eNLwX4PxTSUvN66l35TP/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Zélie, Amari, and Tzain bring magic back despite some initial doubts about the success of their mission. However, there is a catch. Magic is reignited not just among the Maji but also among the political elite who have magical ancestry. With just a streak of white hair as opposed to the Maji’s whole head of white locks, the Tîtáns do not need incantations to unleash their unrefined magic, a fact made obvious to the trio when Queen Nehanda turns out to be a Tîtán herself, ambushing her daughter’s political rally and intimidating everyone by absorbing the life essence of the other Tîtáns around her. Not all is lost, though, as Zélie, Amari, and Tzain are taken in by the Iyika, a group of Maji dwelling with their clan leaders on an ancient mountain range commune built by the first Maji elders. Together, they form a rebellion, but will their combined powers be enough?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Luckily enough for us, Children of Virtue and Vengeance is no sophomore slump. The author manages to expand the lore by introducing more magical beings. In the first book we only had Diviners and Maji. Now we are introduced to Tîtáns and Centers. I guess the only thing that disappoints me about this development is the lack of explanation or additional mythology regarding the origins of these new magical beings. Even then, their introduction paves the way for more action and some sort of equilibrium. After all, it would’ve been a lopsided and boring fight if only one side could use magic.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Nonetheless, there are also some downsides as far as storytelling is concerned. Or perhaps this just has something to do with the main characters being teenagers? The dillydallying and change of heart in almost every other chapter is exhausting to read. Yeah, we know that these relationships are complex and raging hormones do not help, but it just drags down the plot at some points. The good thing is there are many set pieces that involve a lot of action. The author hasn’t shied away from using death as a plot device, either, but it is getting quite gimmicky at this point, along with the cliffhanger ending.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ah yes, talk about yet another cliffhanger ending. In the first book, it was a cliffhanger indeed because magic’s comeback was hanging in the balance. Hungry for answers, you are forced to read the sequel immediately. After the epilogue, there is a two-chapter preview of the final book in the trilogy, and it appears the author will be introducing more foreigners to the mix. Skulls or something. I find it disappointing because the story just enters soap opera territory at this point. In the span of two novels we’ve been stuck in the Kingdom of Orisha eager to know what will happen to it. Why take us out of the motherland?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Of course, from a writer’s perspective, this helps buy time as the final book in the trilogy is being written. But then again maybe the author just needs some leeway before bringing the story of the kingdom to a close. Now that the monarchy has been effectively dissolved, then what else can happen that will intrigue us, right? I guess I will just miss the effect that crown had on the power dynamics among the group. Much of this second novel’s conflict between Zélie and Amari had something to do with an unmentioned rivalry about who should be queen. It looks like they will be starting the final chapter on equal footing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">All in all, Children of Virtue and Vengeance manages to maintain the excitement ever present in the first book. With more elders and more characters wielding magical powers, we witness how raw power can be used to subjugate and oppress. Alongside the political game of thrones happening in the background, we get to realize how fickle power can be, especially in the hands of teenagers who have yet to experience life in all its glory. I already have the third book of the trilogy at hand, but I guess I will just postpone reading it. I just hope that the author would be able to provide a satisfying ending for this fun ride. Let’s cross our fingers, then!</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/1128197047967050934/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/children-of-virtue-and-vengeance.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/1128197047967050934'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/1128197047967050934'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/children-of-virtue-and-vengeance.html' title='Children of Virtue and Vengeance'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp93aX2ss8w6fTW4X-dR8PBhXjMUVdghe7V20wXk8xgRc6oh9plG4OlALRQh2r6LbAadCIeSyhCM-WVkizlbT6UVEAppDcymGeUKLooQY67Vb72S5Xx2_UOIEhrnEGTlabdvki8T7ecAtxY7RjW2_i9cyzmqYeRVEPr9k5Vaw_eNLwX4PxTSUvN66l35TP/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-8300612797552329608</id><published>2025-07-30T22:06:00.009+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-31T12:36:36.084+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_What_You_Did_Last_Summer_(2025_film)" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5L6m3cGCinM_J8yWTUHds2Wgw0S3iRHWNZE57mid7TWtJvSCvHiMV4ddbm2AaJk7SZZkNtVRMi6E1FyH9q2Ar3EvtE8OgTt84Y-n6g0sERHtogY0qWNMUr1U8Ar3Iuvx3UNmuSy3QehYYP7L4eFNNJ6J9t5e512COX9ZZPs98CXEpcPk5SoCF9nm_cBQ/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders) comes back home to Southport for the engagement party of her best friend Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline) and high school buddy Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers). There she is also reunited with Milo Griffin (Jonah Hauer-King) who has always had a crush on her. They are also reunited with Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon), yet another one of their high school buddies with whom they’ve lost contact when they all went away to college. What is supposed to be a fun night ends in a tragedy as the five of them figure in a road accident that sends a stranger and his car careening towards a cliff before completely diving down to the rocky waters below. A year later, the gang is all back in Southport for Danica’s second engagement party when she receives a note which says “I know what you did last summer”. Then, people close to them start to die. Murdered by a masked assailant with a fish hook.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Jennifer Love Hewitt returns as one of two survivors from the 1997 film, now the legacy character reluctant to help but helps anyway. Freddie Prinze Jr. returns as one of two survivors from the 1997 film, now one of the two new killers; a character arc that doesn’t make any sense. Sarah Michelle Gellar returns despite her character dying in the 1997 film, now in a dream sequence that also doesn’t make sense and obviously just there for the sake of nostalgia. Ryan Philippe doesn’t return because his character died in the 1997 film, although his presence is felt thanks to plenty of photos and news clippings. Brandy returns as one of three survivors from the 1998 sequel, appearing in a mid-credits scene that is hinting at a sequel. Lord, have mercy on us.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Maybe this is what they refer to as a REQUEL nowadays? It’s supposed to be a remake, closely following the plot structure and style of the original but cannot really be considered as a reboot because legacy characters appear, usually in the form of secondary characters who are just there for nostalgia and as a plot device to move the story forward, which makes the film, technically, a sequel. I Know What You Did Last Summer just follows the lead of the Scream franchise. The sad thing is that whoever wrote the screenplay didn’t really know how to neatly tie up both storylines, ending up with this half-baked whatever it is they want to call it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">If you are just after two hours of fun, then I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025 can indeed promise a good time. Slasher flicks like this are really all about the gore and the brutality of the death scenes. In this regard, the film will surely tickle your inner psychopath all while making your inner serial killer squeal in delight. Another enjoyable factor of slasher flicks is the mystery surrounding the killer’s identity, which can usually make or break the narrative. This film fails in that aspect. We are not buying the logic involved, or lack of it. And then there is the guessing game as to who dies next which, in this movie, has been delightfully unpredictable.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Maybe that’s just one of the advantages of a remake. You can expect some of those who watched the original to come in and see this new iteration with the assumption that they already know what’s going to happen, only for their expectations to be subverted. This film does a good job in accomplishing such a task. The characters ending up as the final girl(s) are an odd mix of the predictable and the unpredictable, and I honestly don’t know how to feel about that. Tweaked for a Gen-Z audience, this film might not sit well with more traditional millennials, even though we can also blame the underwhelming screenplay for that.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">At the end of the day, the return of these movies from millennials’ growing-up years two to three decades ago is a puzzle that I simply don’t understand. It doesn’t seem to cost a lot of money to make these films, but they do not make a lot of money at the box office either. Maybe these are all passion projects after all? Pitched by millennials for millennials who are now entering that phase of their lives where they begin to look back to the past because they are now old enough to be taken advantage of for fast cash through nostalgia?</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/8300612797552329608/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/i-know-what-you-did-last-summer-2025.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8300612797552329608'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/8300612797552329608'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/i-know-what-you-did-last-summer-2025.html' title='I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT5L6m3cGCinM_J8yWTUHds2Wgw0S3iRHWNZE57mid7TWtJvSCvHiMV4ddbm2AaJk7SZZkNtVRMi6E1FyH9q2Ar3EvtE8OgTt84Y-n6g0sERHtogY0qWNMUr1U8Ar3Iuvx3UNmuSy3QehYYP7L4eFNNJ6J9t5e512COX9ZZPs98CXEpcPk5SoCF9nm_cBQ/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-4947200872683193186</id><published>2025-07-24T22:20:00.004+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-24T22:28:55.790+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Filipino"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><title type='text'>Sunshine</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_(2024_film)" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XjzipFSzVNQbFdeF6fE_rq0spNzmWLJPCkMYg7Pue5KNsnPoTdeOy67sVY5K960tVWza0NaVnsTDLfUl_0YmIYV4ZfL6WejJLFhVFyQGoTMp2fsP6g1hSGvdWX0bQtmMboeiLTcdhlfdupN0pp4wFDVSpPDvOm4gGuCtK2e2wEzXo3M9oiCaEQ1mcsXb/s1600/1234567890.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Young gymnast Sunshine (Maris Racal) has made a name for herself not only in the local sports scene but also in the region. Having won gold medals at the SEA and Asian Games, her next target is Olympic glory, a path to which is opened for her with a sure slot in the national roster competing at the World Championship qualifiers. Sunshine’s dreams suddenly turn into an important crossroads in her life when she finds out that she is pregnant with her Boyfriend’s (Elijah Canlas) baby. When he immediately decides to dodge responsibility, he leaves Sunshine to her own devices, scouring the alleys of Quiapo for illegal abortifacient drugs to get rid of their baby. There she is ambushed by a Young Girl (Annika Co) who seems to know a lot for a child her age, serving as the voice of reason urging Sunshine to reconsider her decisions in life.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sports is a field rife with gender issues, although nowadays the focus seems to be on the participation of trans men in women’s sports. Sunshine offers another aspect which zeroes in on a woman’s natural disadvantages in such a highly competitive world. If two athletes, a guy and a girl decide to have unprotected sex, the risk is always higher for the one who is expected to carry and bring the baby to term. While the boyfriend in this film is not a competing athlete, we can easily imagine him to be one, as well as how his life and sports career wouldn’t be hindered in any form by a pregnancy that he had an active participation in creating.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">And maybe that is the real issue this film is trying to shed a light on. In a world where sexually active teenagers have a wealth of options to avoid teenage pregnancy, it still remains to be a big problem in the country. Ask why? Well, we’re Catholic, aren’t we? That’s your answer, plain and simple. When you reside in a country where the whims of devout worshippers more concerned about their place in an imaginary afterlife than actual living conditions affecting the here and the now are given more leverage, you get these issues. It’s some kind of a package deal, to be honest. Worse, the issue remains taboo, as if it would go away if we pretended it didn’t exist.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">In this regard, the people behind Sunshine make a brave move by making their stance on this topic pretty clear. That penultimate scene where she practices alone in an empty gym could’ve been a vague open ending if they wanted to be safe, but adding the final scene to conclude the story is, in itself, a bold statement. I can already imagine the boomers with biblical quotes on their Facebook cover photos suffering from a collective heart attack. I know that seems like an idiotic scenario for the crowds at the western film festivals where this movie was screened, but we are in Manila. You know the drill.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Sociopolitical issues aside, one pleasant surprise that caught me off guard is the solid support Racal got from her co-actors, mainly Meryll Soriano as the coach and Jennica Garcia as her older sister. I was amused because they didn’t really have to go that hard on their acting, but they did, and in so doing helped Racal’s own performance stand out even more. The emotions! The eyes! I find such commitment impressive when we all know they could’ve just cast some randos for those roles since their only purpose seemed to be just as emotional support for the main character. What we get instead is a potent acting ensemble that made the relationship between the characters genuine.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">And of course, we also have Co who holds her own against Racal. Aside from bringing some much needed levity, her character, which appears to be a figment of Sunshine’s imagination, a ghost-from-the-future kind of manifestation for her unborn child, is unique and ends up tugging heartstrings, especially that penultimate scene where mother and potential daughter eventually reconcile. It just comes across as a creative and poignant, somehow also positive metaphor for Sunshine’s choice, considering how such decision almost always suffers from bad rep as a necessary evil of society.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BxWHDgUs20c" width="320" youtube-src-id="BxWHDgUs20c"></iframe></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/4947200872683193186/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/sunshine.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/4947200872683193186'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/4947200872683193186'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/sunshine.html' title='Sunshine'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XjzipFSzVNQbFdeF6fE_rq0spNzmWLJPCkMYg7Pue5KNsnPoTdeOy67sVY5K960tVWza0NaVnsTDLfUl_0YmIYV4ZfL6WejJLFhVFyQGoTMp2fsP6g1hSGvdWX0bQtmMboeiLTcdhlfdupN0pp4wFDVSpPDvOm4gGuCtK2e2wEzXo3M9oiCaEQ1mcsXb/s72-c/1234567890.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-951538523896542909</id><published>2025-07-23T20:23:00.020+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-24T14:22:01.471+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>The Fantastic Four: First Steps</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq-CMy953Lcw42ATXODNKsctheEgJoraQxJH8NZrVP2WulF8mpeLFt2_I_LwBdq_Z5ogFd9IYL0aCpQ56kd9YDxirkNMqfS9YTci-2ttwfMBZI-Bda8lX2rsFj7GzIErJ7zL5Alm382rh3n2NNin30pcA_Ey5hzfWLei0LArat0wm5KPdKhKe5_P2cVbw/s1600/1234567890.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">A quartet of astronauts lands back on Earth-828 imbued with superpowers. Scientist Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) can stretch his body parts to great lengths. His significant other Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) can manipulate light to create force fields and render herself invisible. Her brother Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) can control fire and, in effect, fly. Pilot Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) has been physically transformed into layers of rock, granting him superhuman strength. Four years later, the team is established as their Earth’s SOLE protectors and they are treated as celebrities, amassing significant economic and political clout. They even have their own animated series immortalizing their heroic travails. Things change when Sue finds out she is pregnant, which coincides with the appearance of a silver surfer named Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner) heralding the arrival of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a devourer of planets who has his eyes set on Earth-828 as his next target.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The easiest way to summarize The Fantastic Four: First Steps would have been to simply dismiss it as the quartet’s origin story in the MCU, except that it really isn't. Besides, do we really need yet another introduction? This is the IP’s third reimagining in my lifetime, for crying out loud. So if this isn’t a Fantastic Four origin story, then what the heck is this? The introduction of the MCU’s latest McGuffin extraordinaire: *drumroll* Franklin Richards. A decade to set up Infinity Stones? Nah. Darkhold? Nah. Let’s just pop a kidnappable superpowered deus-ex-machina baby from Invisible Woman’s vajayjay. Franchise saved.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">At this point, those of us who are ignorant of the comics do not really have a clue what this baby can do, because they do not bother to show us. All we get is hype of his future potential. Even then, that single scene where he unwittingly uses one of his abilities seems to hint upon his pull as a cosmically powerful being. The entire film’s plot is focused on him and how he is being stalked by several powerful villains. The mid-credits scene is a faceless cameo directly linking to Doomsday and, while brief, gives us some ideas as to how Doomsday’s storyline might play out.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The final post-credits scene is nothing more than an easter egg, clips of the quartet’s cartoons being watched by an unknown viewer on an old TV set before it is turned off by a robotic hand, presumably H.E.R.B.I.E.’s. The lengthy post credits scene of Thunderbolts* shows the F4’s spaceship entering that Earth’s airspace, but there is no indication in this movie as to when that supposedly happens. The assumption before was that Earth-828 would be lost to Galactus, except it really isn’t. Of course, we can just assume that perhaps that world is yet to be destroyed, but by another villain. Doom, perhaps? Otherwise, things do not really add up.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Talking about Galactus and his Silver Surfer sidekick, the way they are temporarily “disposed” of just feels too convenient. Hey, at least they didn’t die. But still, when would they appear again and could they still command the same level of sinister when they do? They were not easy to get rid of but I was expecting something more, from them at least. For now, they are out of the picture, and considering the MCU’s track record when it comes to their one-off villains, I am not really going to hold my breath for this one. If we see them again, then good. Maybe after the timelines are reset?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As for aesthetics, The Fantastic Four: First Steps benefits from its distinct optics. The MCU is no stranger to galactic soap operas thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor, while period dramas are few and far between with the first Captain America and, to some extent, Captain Marvel, representing the genre. This film is a mix of both and they do take advantage of the distinct 60’s setting to make the scenes easily Instagrammable. In this regard, I also love the costumes, looking suave and comfy with what looks like a mix of wool and felt, as opposed to the common latex in most MCU features.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">As a standalone film, expectations should be low given the first two Fantastic Four cinematic outings in the last 20 years. Don’t believe any millennial telling you that they loved those, that’s just nostalgia talking. Most of you DESPISED those films. Don’t delude yourselves. We are just holding onto childhood memories now because we are getting old. In that regard, this latest iteration sets the bar a bit higher with top notch graphics and impressive CGI. The acting is decent, not groundbreaking, while the humor falls flat from time to time, even though they manage to balance the fun and the gloom well enough for the movie to be enjoyable.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/18QQWa5MEcs" width="320" youtube-src-id="18QQWa5MEcs"></iframe></div></div></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/951538523896542909/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/the-fantastic-four-first-steps.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/951538523896542909'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/951538523896542909'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/the-fantastic-four-first-steps.html' title='The Fantastic Four: First Steps'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq-CMy953Lcw42ATXODNKsctheEgJoraQxJH8NZrVP2WulF8mpeLFt2_I_LwBdq_Z5ogFd9IYL0aCpQ56kd9YDxirkNMqfS9YTci-2ttwfMBZI-Bda8lX2rsFj7GzIErJ7zL5Alm382rh3n2NNin30pcA_Ey5hzfWLei0LArat0wm5KPdKhKe5_P2cVbw/s72-c/1234567890.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-2666362359566718714</id><published>2025-07-14T20:48:00.012+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-14T21:04:23.441+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>Superman (2025)</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(2025_film)" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_4GSLjb45OZLwc5NDpsdIrkOZ_vkEdi1wXdx7fVOHA5jPodpnR7YnEmTDrbNUKZMinorw1yknp7Oy49W8fCim6XGbj8kgHNlRZ77bp78WU7FYjBaMwpvUNR1M2VapXsq52aDYWO343OQAcuiL2oxIAgpO1susxnpccwlNmo-IsgIJZ30yBpwJVuKORBE/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">In a world inhabited by ordinary people and superpowered metahumans, nothing seems to surprise anyone anymore, until a doctored video of the parentage of Superman catches them off guard. Clark Kent (David Corenswet) is busy with his journalistic career for most of the day, but disappears to save innocents whenever necessary. His arch nemesis gazillionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has studied his every move and now has an entire team shuttling antagonists, both super and not, back and forth through a black hole powered pocket universe. When Luthor catches Superman in a weakened state and holds him against his will in the pocket dimension, reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) who also happens to be Clark’s girlfriend asks the help of a trio of corporate sponsored heroes of the Justice Gang to intervene: half human/half bird Hawk Girl (Isabela Merced); high tech gadget inventor Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi); and Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">For an MCU fan boy like moi, Superman 2025 just feels so familiar. Is this a simple case of “if you can’t beat them, join them?” Of course, that doesn’t make sense, because it was James Gunn who crossed over and “joined” DC but he also took with him his quirky vision and style that has been representative of the MCU for almost two decades now. Back in the day it was Marvel that was colorful and humorous while DC acted as the dark and brooding counterweight. If Superman 2025 is any indication of what’s to come in the DCU reboot, then I guess we’ve just lost that balance as moviegoers, because both franchises now look and feel the same.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The post credits scenes do not really contribute to any worldbuilding efforts. Both are simple clips that do not really move the story forward. On second thought, maybe that’s how these post credits scenes should be after all, a bonus for staying put as the credits roll. As for future films, Milly Alcock’s Supergirl makes a cameo appearance not in a post credits scene but rather before the movie ends. Apparently, she is the owner of Krypto the dog. As for questions regarding her background, it seems like her standalone film will be the next to be released next year. Her quick guest appearance here is really just a teaser.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Talking about the dog, Krypto does steal Superman’s thunder from time to time and he isn’t just there for a display of cuteness. Rather, he actually contributes to plot development. This is also the case for the three other superheroes introduced thus far, with Mister Terrific hogging a big chunk of the spotlight as Superman’s unofficial sidekick. Hawk Girl and Green Lantern have their own moments but seem more like a combined plot device in a film that isn’t supposed to be about them.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">In a way, this is what’s really different with Gunn’s approach. We are almost tempted to say that Superman 2025 is a wannabe Justice League movie, what with the presence of other heroes. Even then, most of those heroes are not really that popular, except perhaps for Hawk Girl and Green Lantern. Introducing them in this film establishes Superman as a team player from the get-go, which wasn’t always the case in his other previous iterations. Lex Luthor is not alone either, given how he is assisted by several metahumans, but then again most of them we don’t really recognize.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Overall, the pacing of the first half is just fine but the final act is just too busy, as if the entire material just imploded no thanks to the weight of all the intersecting subplots. There is a clone duel. A blackhole going haywire. A war between two countries. There is just so much going on that it all ends up as a big mess. Somehow they manage to consolidate everything to come up with a viable ending, but those final 20 minutes or so are simply exhausting to watch.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The final verdict? Will you enjoy Superman? If you are a Snyder Bro without much going on in your life, you probably won’t. If you are an MCU fanboy okay with this kind of formula, then the familiarity might translate to enjoyment. If you are looking for an interconnected web of storylines, it is far too early for that. As a standalone Superman film, though, it is worth the watch. The political undertones are not even subtle, but justifiable, given how they have always been part and parcel of Superman’s personality and MO as a superhero. If this is the definition of “woke” then there’s no argument here, because this immigrant, a literal alien, has always been and will always be like that. If you're conservative, there's always Homelander.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ox8ZLF6cGM0" width="320" youtube-src-id="Ox8ZLF6cGM0"></iframe></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/2666362359566718714/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/superman-2025.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/2666362359566718714'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/2666362359566718714'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/superman-2025.html' title='Superman (2025)'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_4GSLjb45OZLwc5NDpsdIrkOZ_vkEdi1wXdx7fVOHA5jPodpnR7YnEmTDrbNUKZMinorw1yknp7Oy49W8fCim6XGbj8kgHNlRZ77bp78WU7FYjBaMwpvUNR1M2VapXsq52aDYWO343OQAcuiL2oxIAgpO1susxnpccwlNmo-IsgIJZ30yBpwJVuKORBE/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-6919035489746914554</id><published>2025-07-11T21:26:00.009+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-22T21:28:26.491+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="British"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Conrad J."/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><title type='text'>Heart of Darkness</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9b_V10FnDYpKs5jOBtLjWaPVSguR_wEhwLx-DNPIPabffO2VeNDol_RU2uLzmGzrEfYUPRDS9N8qhd5ot5AcTYIite9Ypir27TWMB_tXdkciisnf845gvcXW1qEA32MC6_WN86nDgvMgIs2L32os-Qr5s-Wp_O0XRl1eeArk00xzwhzbaJHTmVX1WQNys/s1600/71BC-YraF7L._SY425_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Charles Marlow finds himself reminiscing along the Thames about his misadventures in Africa. He then narrates his story as he recalls how he went on his way to the continent via steamer. What he finds there is the shocking living conditions in which the natives are being treated, particularly the deplorable slavery they find themselves in. He also finds out about a certain Mr. Kurtz who seems to enjoy a polarizing reputation, admired by some and loathed by a few. When he finally meets the legendary Mr. Kurtz, Marlow discovers the ins and outs of colonialism in Africa like the lucrative but exploitative ivory trade, the way the natives are subjugated based on various belief systems when it comes to race and the like. As the two meet and navigate Kurtz’s eventual death, Marlow takes back with him to Europe, a different perspective about colonialism and the clash of cultures that it entails.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I did not enjoy this that much. Sorry, Joseph Conrad fans. To me, the novel felt a little bit something like: “I’m so sorry that the culture I chose to affiliate myself with pillaged yours in the guise of civilizing y’all. I’m so guilty on their behalf and at the same time so offended on your behalf that I ended up writing a 101-page novella about it. Go read.” Like, okay. Cool story, white boy. Or perhaps I just prefer my post/colonial literature from the perspective of the colonized, myself coming from a country that belongs in that category? I just find it weird reading stories like this from the point of view of the aggressor, as if we even owe them a debt of gratitude for telling us their version of what they did to us.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But then again Conrad is Polish, and which better country to represent white-on-white aggression than Poland, no? I don’t know. It still doesn’t feel appropriate. While I understand that history is written by the victor and that there is a shortage of voices from the side of the colonized because part of the “civilization package” is the purging of anything related to the native culture, I still empathize better with those few writers. Who else better to describe the exploitation than the exploited themselves, no? Novels like this just feel like grandstanding about collective secondhand guilt, as if an elaboration of such is enough of an excuse for the atrocious acts themselves.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But then again maybe this is better than nothing. Epiphanies like this are the luxury of the privileged, though. A lot of modern day versions abound nowadays involving immersion in the third world by those from the first world. It does expand the world view, after all, at least until you realize that even that privilege of getting to know the world with all of the good and the bad is only extended to them, because the very world order we find ourselves now is the very result of the exploitations their countries are guilty of centuries ago that rigged that world order in their favor at present.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Even then, Heart of Darkness is not all that bad. What stands out is Conrad’s powers of description, which would’ve been more admirable had his prose not been so damn vague. Reading this novella is hard, which is telling considering you only have 101 pages to read. However, those 101 pages felt like forever to finish no thanks to the very slow plot development and instances where an entire page is covered by just a single lengthy paragraph. In the end, you just get lost in Conrad’s words, sometimes not even realizing what is going on. I felt like I was on that damn boat and Marlow’s narration was a thick fog rendering everyone on the boat blind. That’s perhaps the best way to describe the reading experience, like brain fog.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/6919035489746914554/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/heart-of-darkness.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6919035489746914554'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/6919035489746914554'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/heart-of-darkness.html' title='Heart of Darkness'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9b_V10FnDYpKs5jOBtLjWaPVSguR_wEhwLx-DNPIPabffO2VeNDol_RU2uLzmGzrEfYUPRDS9N8qhd5ot5AcTYIite9Ypir27TWMB_tXdkciisnf845gvcXW1qEA32MC6_WN86nDgvMgIs2L32os-Qr5s-Wp_O0XRl1eeArk00xzwhzbaJHTmVX1WQNys/s72-c/71BC-YraF7L._SY425_.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-275481094249365777</id><published>2025-07-10T14:39:00.008+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-20T17:37:05.513+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Adeyemi T."/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="African"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Literature"/><title type='text'>Children of Blood and Bone</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Blood_and_Bone" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqajKPKVUYlWrM7GBjMT3zicxl-2T6uObRwZUzd1diIYsgFYWmXbjrZA6dQ-6qEPHoUZvThlciV5PTKKsl1DlKFwCeUg0nzxeAV2i5XEDnxQe7kPXh5MpWq88fZCaOpwWHfMNVX3oH_xJcRY8rm3-uafkl2V3tfhqW_urR8XbaULcm9Vl5uR74lLbXd5-/s1600/Children_of_Blood_and_Bone.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Once upon a time in the kingdom of Orïsha, a magical divîner can turn into a maji when s/he reaches the age of thirteen, which is when his/her powers manifest. Everything changes when the non-magical kosidán discover majacite, a rare metal that renders the maji powerless. After the Raid, basically a purging of the kingdom’s magical inhabitants, divîners are referred to as maggots, hard to miss due to their distinctly white hair. When a magical scroll discovered on the shores of Ilorin awakens latent powers of divîners who touch it before they are massacred by the royal guards, there is hope for magic’s return. Princess Amari, daughter of merciless King Saran steals the scroll and runs away, stumbling upon divîner Zélie who is about to be sent away to slavery when the scroll ignites something within her. The princess’ brother, crown prince Inan, is ordered to give pursuit. Together with Zélie’s brother Tzain, the trio must travel to a magical temple to reawaken magic before it is gone for good.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">It’s been a decade or so since I've dealt with a YA franchise that involves magic and worldbuilding. I’ve stayed away for a while because I just didn’t know how my current worldview as a jaded adult would either help or deter my enjoyment of the genre. After all, I’m no longer a teenager bristling with idealism, now am I? The key is to just let your imagination fly without limits, and AVOID searching for discussions of the story’s real-world metaphors until you have finished reading the book. That’s where my reading experience got hijacked by political and social discourse. I would’ve given this five stars otherwise.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Most of the discussions focus on the divide in reception between the pedestrian reader and the Nigerian in Nigeria whose country serves as an alternative fantasy world in which the novel is set. While the book is well received in America and beyond, Nigerian readers in Nigeria do not seem to be as happy. My take away from the online chatter is that this would’ve ended up as cultural appropriation if only the writer weren’t half-Nigerian. Tomi Adeyemi was born in Chicago and grew up there, and there are claims that most of the local flavor you find in this novel are stereotypes meant to make the material appear exotic.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">I cannot contribute to that discussion since I’m neither Nigerian nor Nigerian American. Even then, I understand the sentiment. This whole fiasco involving a member of a diaspora in search of his/her roots and ending up writing something skewed or somehow misinformed about the motherland is not new. The friction always comes from the natives actually living there witnessing their culture and heritage being used to push a certain exotic image of that country abroad to sell a book. This can be an entire thesis, to be honest. My suggestion is just to read the material knowing that it was written for an American readership. Take the local flavor you encounter with a grain of salt for the sake of enjoyment.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">But let’s not discuss that anymore. As for worldbuilding, I’ve noticed that the elements of fire, water, and air are always indispensable when it comes to storylines that involve abilities. In the case of Children of Blood and Bone, the author manages to push those skillsets to eleven, coming up with powers linked to other concepts such as mind, death, and clairvoyance, among others. Each ability is tethered to a specific god, and there is a brief mythology in there somewhere to explain such magic’s first manifestation on Earth. Much of the action unfolds within the borders of Orïsha, even though three former kingdoms apparently referring to Britain, Spain, and Portugal are also mentioned.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The chapters are short and easy to read, each told from the perspective of one of three main characters: Zélie, Amari, and Inan. The author is not afraid to use death as a plot device, killing off characters without much fanfare just to move the story forward. Much of the intrigue that keeps you reading lies on the premise of magic being restored in the kingdom and rooting for the underdogs. The ending is vaguely worded although what they are hinting at is clear. It is a cliffhanger that will leave you hanging for sure due to the unclear fate of some as well as what appears to be a sort of pyrrhic victory that raises more questions.</span></div></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/275481094249365777/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/children-of-blood-and-bone.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/275481094249365777'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/275481094249365777'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/children-of-blood-and-bone.html' title='Children of Blood and Bone'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBqajKPKVUYlWrM7GBjMT3zicxl-2T6uObRwZUzd1diIYsgFYWmXbjrZA6dQ-6qEPHoUZvThlciV5PTKKsl1DlKFwCeUg0nzxeAV2i5XEDnxQe7kPXh5MpWq88fZCaOpwWHfMNVX3oH_xJcRY8rm3-uafkl2V3tfhqW_urR8XbaULcm9Vl5uR74lLbXd5-/s72-c/Children_of_Blood_and_Bone.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8879518290175104767.post-4918681741576862003</id><published>2025-07-09T21:37:00.009+08:00</published><updated>2025-07-09T21:51:15.207+08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Film"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hollywood"/><title type='text'>The Old Guard 2</title><content type='html'>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Guard_2" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8Iz7Rwb7NLrpUak_hfTHqgmQkdPq2kjGlQaqyqwbTbCTGtIl4l2Jrn_OF5m2ljx0dO-ARxAAi0EH1PyJEbkvyXBRFmeZF6Ki3Of98_jCN331g_GtizIa3AYKItcF8SQuy6sEpZzzqvnwVXSyOYpbrAmKnBhBII2BQTIzzn4NvgKLNKByJl4ghnnGvEc4/s1600/1234567890.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;">♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣</div></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Andromache (Charlize Theron) has lost her immortality and has been living under the threat of death for half a year now. Despite the fact, the team are still fully booked with their mercenary activities. James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is now part of the group as well, mostly intel, while Joe (Marwan Kenzari), Nicky (Luca Marinelli), and Nile (KiKi Layne) act as frontliners. When the first immortal who now goes by the alias Discord (Uma Thurman) locates and rescues Quỳnh (Veronica Ngô) from her 500 year old coffin submerged in the ocean, the latter kidnaps exiled Booker (Matthias Schoenarts) to get to Andy. As Discord’s sinister plans come to light, the team must reflect on the idea of fighting her with Andy being mortal. Enter Tuah (Henry Golding), another immortal who has spent his centuries as a scholar instead of a fighter, proposing a solution based on folklore that might just bring Andy’s immortality back.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Are you kidding me, Netflix? Are you seriously kidding me right now? The Old Guard was one of the few bright spots in the dark mess that was pandemic lockdown. It ended on a cliffhanger which left us wanting more. Five years later, the sequel finally arrives without much fanfare and ends on a similar note. There isn’t even a The Old Guard 3 project anywhere on IMDB, which means it is quite possible that we’ll never get a third film to wrap this all up. Or maybe, given Netflix’s track record, they will start shooting The Old Guard 3 when Charlize turns 70. I don’t know. Fack Netflix and these open endings they torture us with, like, respectfully.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">And maybe this is one reason why this sequel felt dull. We missed these characters, but this direct continuation of their story suffers from an evident sophomore slump, as if the movie is just there to set up something bigger for part 3, which might not even see the light of day. They manage to make the lore a little bit more intriguing by introducing ways of losing and regaining immortality, but the mechanics are not really explained. Instead, they are just used as a plot device to move the dragging flow of the storyline forward.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">The biggest cliffhanger of the first film was the return of Quỳnh. I was fascinated by how diabolical her 500-year punishment has been. Imagine drowning to death over and over again for five centuries. Damn. Even a saint would be pissed off when you finally break free. As such, I should understand where she is coming from but, somehow, her revenge story arc here seemed really petty to me. Maybe because we waited for five long years and wanted to see the story advance even more, only for her to be insufferably yet justifiable petty for almost two hours? This is why I suggest watching the two films back to back.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Anyway, one comment I had after watching the first film was why become warriors when you can be scholars? Imagine the knowledge you could amass if you could live for centuries! Well, Golding’s Tuah is the answer to that question. He even has his own library with books and scrolls from the past centuries. While I laud the inclusion of this character, I wasn’t as impressed with Thurman’s Discord. While it is a delight to see her wield a katana once again two decades after her roaring rampage of revenge in Kill Bill, she is just so underutilized here. This sequel simply serves as her introduction, perhaps with more exposure and backstory in a part 3 that might never come. Pity.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white; font-family: arial;">Should there be a part 3, I’d love to get some answers and maybe some justifications for the plot device used here. What is the relationship between the first and the last immortal? How did Discord lose her immortality? Why are there immortals anyway? Where did they come from or how did they end up being immortal? I believe we already got a good dose of the philosophical angle given the clash of beliefs between Andy and Discord as to how their immortality should or should not be used to interfere in human affairs. Obviously, there are two clashing ideologies here, which I suppose will be settled through violence. Even then, I won’t hold my breath. See you in five years for part 3, maybe?</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lyivgZ074PY" width="320" youtube-src-id="lyivgZ074PY"></iframe></div></div></content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/feeds/4918681741576862003/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/the-old-guard-2.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/4918681741576862003'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8879518290175104767/posts/default/4918681741576862003'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ihcahieh.com/2025/07/the-old-guard-2.html' title='The Old Guard 2'/><author><name>ihcahieh</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/03679524174484441585</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='//blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nYFbB2KFfGvXBwz4G6YUkdAA1l9U-l1XsQvMgsAtzrJZ7ue-wZdvgwwo2BmqBwbsbFS7SwEqTe9DoTHsj4icAvpbysDxqV2u5burN0D9aCj7eKYkTXaEMxFOZkc0aJU/s151/*'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8Iz7Rwb7NLrpUak_hfTHqgmQkdPq2kjGlQaqyqwbTbCTGtIl4l2Jrn_OF5m2ljx0dO-ARxAAi0EH1PyJEbkvyXBRFmeZF6Ki3Of98_jCN331g_GtizIa3AYKItcF8SQuy6sEpZzzqvnwVXSyOYpbrAmKnBhBII2BQTIzzn4NvgKLNKByJl4ghnnGvEc4/s72-c/1234567890.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>

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