I had a wisdom tooth removed a few weeks ago, so I also had a fuckton of free time to do absolutely nothing. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t exercise, and I couldn’t go outside lest the world discovers my sore, swollen face worthy of a Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho feature (“Kilalanin natin si Jolens, mga kapuso, ang babaeng diumano kalahati pisngi, kalahati noo!”).
I was stuck in bed the entire time so I plopped the laptop on my chest and did my favorite slacker hobby: I watched movies.
Never Not Love You is Antoinette Jadaone’s best film to date — a seemingly unanimous opinion among critics and casual moviegoers alike. Unlike the annoyingly sophomoric That Thing Called Tadhana, NNLY does not bank on being quotable and viral. The movie tackles romance beyond the hugot banter and contextualizes falling in (and out of) love by exploring the characters’ struggles against feudalistic familial dynamics and reverse social mobility. It also juxtaposes the volatility of middle class success with the precarity of romantic idealism. The film ends with a bittersweet nod to Mike Nichols’ The Graduate, a graceful way to conclude a love story about taking risks and confronting uncertainties.
Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love starts and stretches to what feels like a lengthy but hesitant exposition that deliberately conceals the characters’ precise motivations. This evokes a subtle tension all throughout the movie, and the viewers are implored to make assumptions and wait for answers. Slowly we get more details but there is no dramatic crescendo to the climax — instead we hear a constant steady whir until all of a sudden, a loud bang. The credits roll just as the shit hits the fan, and the movie’s exquisite exploration of love and trust flows and fades to the tune of the Ella Fitzgerald track.
I thought Dan Villegas’ Always Be My Maybe was going to be a feel-good movie but Arci Muñoz’ babyspeak idiolect negated the few things that I enjoyed about this film, none of which I could recall weeks after the initial viewing.
Sion Sono’s Antiporno is a film that is as titillating as watching paint dry, unless of course you have some sick-ass fetish (I’m not judging; I stand against kink-shaming charaught). Nudity and violence are portrayed through colorful and surreal images that border between quirky and outlandish, like a music video that is part-Björk, part-SDN48, and maybe part-Die Antwoord too. Antiporno reiterates a singular message that many of us already know — being a female in a conservative and patriarchal society is tough, all right — but Sono’s powerful imagery further disturbs the viewer’s senses and repeatedly slaps us awake.
I tried watching a few more movies but ended up binging How I Met Your Mother instead. I was also able to read a number of books and a few short stories, but I will talk about those later.
Now my cheeks have puffed back to their normal size and I have also started a new job. I’m back to doing the 8-to-4 grind and I’m hoping, fingers crossed, that this means I get more time to write.
sure. wait. what? 
Sa susunod pag di ka busy rerecommendan kita ng movies na na-enjoy namin ni Kyx 🙂
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Hindi na ako super busy Isla! Amin na, ano magagandang movies? 🙂
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Okay bat ba ako nagpresinta HAHAHAH kinabahan ako bigla kasi baka yung standards namin ni Kyx eh hindi pang sayo HAHAHA pero oh well, eto.
Korean movies kasi ang ganda, parang ang galing nila manghimasok sa emotions mo.
panoorin mo yung I Saw the Devil, Cold Eyes, The Man From Nowhere, The Chaser 😀
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Sige hahanapin ko ‘yang mga ‘yan!! Hindi naman mataas standards ko, jusme; mahilig lang talaga akong magkukuda hahaha. Thank yooou!!! 🙂
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Nako yung movies na yan parang sobrang yung attention namin ni Kyx andon talaga sa movie. May movies kasi na parang gusto mo magtwitter while watching eh. Yan hindi ganoong klase haha
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Bet, gusto ko ‘yang mga ganyan! Chikahin kita ‘pag napanood ko na hehehe. 😀
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That’s what I call a productive sick leave haha. Standard question about NNLY (dahil ‘di ko parin napapanood ang The Graduate): how do you interpret the ending? Ano’ng nangyari at mangyayari sa kanilang dalawa?
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Faux-‘happy ending’ ‘yung dulo para sa akin. Mukha lang happy kasi na-resolve ‘yung conflict on distance, pero obvious naman that Joanne and Gio had bigger problems. Distance even became a (temporary) solution to their new issues because it allowed them to skirt around their differences and disagreements.
But now that they’re back together in the same city, they lose that cushion. And I think that’s what the ending was trying to show. That after the initial euphoria of being reunited, they now have to face the fact that maybe they’re just not perfect for each other anymore. That’s why the scene doesn’t end when they were smiling while driving by their favorite spots in the city. The shot continues even when they started tearing up, aware that this could be the start of the end. Juju.
Ikaw ba, ano basa mo?
PS: Panoorin mo The Graduate! 🙂
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Ooh. Medyo baliktad basa ko! Kunwari lang na sad ending ang nakita ko. Definitely iba na ‘yung relationship nila, and yes they’re not perfect for each other anymore—but that’s the point of all the difficulties they encountered in the last part of the film, na all couples, no matter how perfect they are at the start, will change. So at the ending, they’re faced with the choice of accepting this, and accepting a more mature kind of love and relationship. ‘Yun ‘yung nakita kong point ng flashbacks sa last scene, na they’re looking for a reason to continue. Hindi happy ‘yung tone nung ending for me e, and even the reunion at the airport, hindi euphoric ‘yung dating, parang ‘meh’ lang. Kaya ang nakita ko, presented as sad ang ending, pero happy talaga because I feel like they’re choosing to continue their relationship. Pyrrhic victory nga lang.
But then again, with that argument it can also go the other way. Real sad ending ba. Optimistic lang yata talaga ako, and this is one of those half-empty half-full stories. Naniniwala lang ako when they said “I will never not love you” (to each other o si James Reid lang ba ‘yun?). 😀
Will do!
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Ay sheght, pwede rin! Haha. Na-sense ko lang ‘yung celebratory tone ng ending sa “renewal of vows” sa tattoo shop. ‘Yung pina-darken ulit nila ‘yung singsing? So feeling ko may kunwaring resolution, na ah eto na, magkasama na ulit tayo sa wakas. Haha.
Pero oo nga, kumporme sa pananaw mo sa buhay kung paano mo babasahin ang ending. Pero sad pa rin, tama ka — malayong-malayo sa ideal na happily ever after. Huhu. 😦
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Minsan pangarap ko rin yung “fuckton of free time”, hehehe. At oo, nag movie marathon din ako nung minsan nag sick leave ako. Ok naman, gumaling naman yung trangkaso ko. (Shit, kelan kaya tutubo ang wisdom tooth ko?)
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‘Yung akin hindi naman tumubo, nakita lang sa x-ray na patagilid ‘yung orientation so sabi ng dentista ipabunot ko na. Sasakit daw ‘yun balang araw e, so tanggalin na raw habang maaga pa hahaha.
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