Oggs Cruz

CINEMALAYA 2011: FABLE OF THE FISH Review
Adolfo Alix, Jr.'s Isda (Fable of the Fish) appears to be just another movie set in the overexploited slums of Manila. Lina (Cherry Pie Picache) and Miguel (Bembol Roco), a childless couple despite several years of being married who have... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: I-FUNERALS Review
Isabel (Glaiza de Castro), a promising mass communications student, has just landed an internship that none of her classmates, who are interning in television stations and film production outfits, would envy. I-Libings, a company that specializes in covering wakes and... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: BABY FACTORY Review
A pregnant woman, notably without a husband to keep her company and more notably with hardly an emotion on her face, walks to the maternity hospital. She arrives at the hospital, revealing a queue of other pregnant women, waiting for... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: AMOK Review
Opening with a montage of faces, scenes, and sounds of Manila scored by street children rapping about street life, Lawrence Fajardo's Amok immediately captures opposing yet strangely coexisting facets of city life, disconnect and the scarceness of distance.   The... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: BISPERAS Review
Set on Christmas Day's eve in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood, Jeffrey Jeturian's Bisperas (Eve) details a family's return from the traditional panunuluyan, a re-enactment of Joseph and Mary's search for a place to stay involving the members of the parish,... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: THE WOMAN IN THE SEPTIC TANK Review
Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), directed by Marlon Rivera from a screenplay written by Chris Martinez, earns most of its laughs from the misadventures of director Rainer (Kean Cipriano), producer Bingbong (JM de Guzman),... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: GAYUMA Review
Gayuma (Pilgrim Lovers) is a film borne out of love and sheer dedication. Armed with a budget that is minuscule even if pitted against other independent productions, director Alvin Yapan and producer Alemberg Ang ventured on to mount a film... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: PATIKUL Review
There is no denying the sincerity of veteran director Joel Lamangan in making Patikul. Education is after all an issue that can never be overemphasized. It needs to be talked about because there is an alarming lack of it especially... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: NIÑO Review
The Lopez-Aranda family has fallen far from grace. Gaspar (Tony Mabesa) was a promising statesman during his younger years but his political ambitions were thwarted by Ferdinand Marcos' sudden rise to power. Celia (Fides Cuyugan) was an opera star whose... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: TEORIYA Review
An airplane flies past an anonymous Zamboanga cemetery. Outside the city's airport, reporters are waiting. Passengers from the most recent arrival scramble out of the airport. A man, donned in running gear, is approached by the reports. He won a... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: MASKARA Review
There's one scene in Laurice Guillen's Maskara where Ina Feleo, playing Anna, the illegitimate daughter of accomplished actor Bobby (Tirso Cruz III) who recently passed away, suddenly weeps. Guillen does not opt for an extreme close-up of her daughter's face.... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: THE DANCE OF TWO LEFT FEET Review
Ambiguity is such a beautiful thing. It is what makes art free from its artist, allowing the observer of the art part of the art-making. It is what breaks the boundaries of the literal, allowing art to traverse the infinite... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

Cinemalaya 2011: BUSONG Review
Busong (Palawan Fate) is the summation of Auraeus Solito's artistic life, so far. Its devotion to folklore and its insistence on it being told through the usage of practical effects as opposed to sleeker and more popular digital effects is... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

THE TREE OF LIFE Review
Life is such a peculiar thing. It is regarded as the most precious of things by humanity. However, it is also the one thing that humanity shares with other creatures, from the tiniest bacteria to the largest whale. That exact... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

FOREVER AND A DAY Review
Their love's on a rush. Eugene (Sam Milby), a shoe designer who insists on always being on top of his game, is always on the go. Raffy (KC Concepcion), on the other hand, is making what remains of her life... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

JEONJU 2011: CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS Review
It is almost as if the paintings were waiting for the film to get made. The Chauvet Cave in Southern France suffered a cave-in several thousands of years ago, blocking its entrance and effectively preserving the paintings and everything else... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

IN THE NAME OF LOVE Review
The first fifteen minutes of Olivia Lamasan's In the Name of Love is that sort of uncharacteristic greatness that comes from an otherwise unspectacular director. Hinting of a narrative that is darker than what is expected from a mainstream studio,... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

KANO: AN AMERICAN AND HIS HAREM Review
The easiest thing to do is to inform. What Monster Jimenez does in Kano: An American and His Harem may be the hardest thing to accomplish. She first informs, of the life of Victor Pearson, an American war veteran who... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

DEADLINE (THE REIGN OF IMPUNITY) Review
In the morning of November 23, 2009, a local politician who was on his way to town to file his certificate of candidacy for the upcoming elections, his family, his supporters, lawyers, and several journalists were ambushed and cruelly murdered.... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  

KOMMANDER KULAS Review
Khavn de la Cruz's Kommander: Kulas: Ang Kaisa-isang Konsiyerto ng Kagila-gilalas na Kombo ni Kommander Kulas at ng Kanyang Kawawang Kalabaw sa Walang Katapusang Kalsada ng Kamyas (Kommander Kulas: The One and Only Concert of the Amazing Combo of Kommander Kulas and... More »
By Oggs Cruz   
  
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