Esoterica Sundate with Jessica Zafra

I am 6th from the left joining the crowd queuing for Jessica's signature.

I joined my friends to Solidaridad Bookstore in Manila where Jessica Zafra would have her book signing. Little did I know that the book signing is part of Elwood Perez's movie, Esoterica. To cut the story short, I joined the cast as part of the crowd queuing for Jessica's book signing. I could just imagine the thrill of extras with speaking lines, because I was thrilled enough just being part of a crowd. To top it all: credits rolled with our names, albeit not on the movie, but on Jessica's blog Worked All Weekend.

Photos from behind-the-scenes of Esoterica:

Confessions (Kokuhaku)

Directed by         :        Tetsuya Nakashima

Awards               :        Jury Choice, 14^th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival

                                    TV Taro Award (Best Film), Elan D'or Award

                                    Best Picture, 53^rd Blue Ribbon Awards

                                    Best Supporting Actress, 53^rd Blue Ribbon Awards

                                    Picture of the Year, 34^th Japan Academy Prize

Director of the Year, 34^th Japan Academy Prize

Screenplay of the Year, 34^th Japan Academy Prize

Best in Film Editing, 34^th Japan Academy Prize

Best Asian Film, 30th Hong Kong Film Awards

Black Dragon Audience Award, 13^th Udine Far East Film

My Movies Audience Award, 13^th Udine Far East Film

Best Picture, 2nd Theater Staff Film Festival

Best Leading Actress, 2nd Theater Staff Film Festival

Confessions is the second of the three films I have watched on this year's Eiga Sai at Shangri-La Cinemaplex. This film is Japan's official entry to the 83^rd Academy Awards, and was shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film.
Click on this link for the screening schedules of Eiga Sai.

[Spoiler Alert]

Eiga Sai 2013 Screening Schedules (July)

In celebration of Philippines-Japan Friendship Month and the 40th year of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation, Eiga Sai 2013 showcases 17 mostly award-winning Japanese films produced between 2005 and 2012. This year's Japanese Film Festival takes place at the following venues:

• Shang Cineplex Cinema 2, EDSA Mandaluyong City from July 3 (Wednesday) to 14 (Sunday)
• FDCP Cinematheque, Davao City from July 19 (Friday) to July 28 (Sunday)
• Abreeza, Ayala - Davao City from July 20 to 21 and July 27 to 28
• Ayala Center Cinema, Cebu City from August 7 (Wednesday) to August 11 (Sunday)
• University of the Philippines Film Institute, Quezon City from August 19 (Monday) to August 25 (Sunday)

The Festival is hosted by Japan Foundation Manila in cooperation with the Japanese Embassy of Manila, Shangri-La Plaza and the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

As in all other foreign film festivals, Eiga Sai is FREE. Tickets are distributed 30 minutes before the screening time, but lines queue up an hour before.

The screening schedules are:

Le Prenom (What's In a Name?) and the Philosophy of Names

[Spoiler alert.]

Le Prenom was this year’s opener for the 18th French Film Festival held at Greenbelt 3 in Makati. The film revolves around a dinner invitation by Elisabeth to her brother Vincent, who is expecting a baby boy. Everyone is in high spirits trying to guess the name of the baby until Vincent reveals the name is going to be Adolphe. Chaos ensues after the announcement. Bickering brings forth shocking revelations in their lives.

But what’s in Adolphe that had caused such a pandemonium?

A Guide to the 18th French Film Festival

I cannot remember when I started watching foreign films in festivals, but I know why I did: they were FREE. Some of the festivals I have seen were French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Korean. These events are included in my anticipated events each year. And dear am I glad when I stumbled upon the schedule of the French Film Festival this year? Most definitely. 

The French Film Festival is on its 18th year and will be open to the public on June 7 to 9, 2013 at the Greenbelt 3 cinemas. 

The line-up of films includes:

Click on the film titles to view the trailer in Youtube.

My Pick: 10 Quotes from The Great Gatsby

The movie adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of the same title is theatrical in depicting the tale regarding the American Dream. Set in the era of the Roaring Twenties, the story revolves around the title character, Jay Gatsby, a self-made American man seeking to live an affluent life he believed was his. The themes of idealism, decadence, excess and social upheaval put a greater drama on Gatsby’s shady past and marriage-marring rendezvous with Daisy Buchanan.

But what makes Jay Gatsby great?

My Pick: 13 Movies from May to December 2013

The first trimester saw blockbuster movies in Philippine cinemas such as Gangster Squad, Zero Dark Thirty, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Warm Bodies, Beautiful Creatures, Jack the Giant Slayer, Oz: The Great and Powerful, The Croods, GI Joe: Retaliation, and Iron Man 3, which broke box-office record for the biggest weekend opener. Two movies which are supposed to be shown last December but was postponed due to the annual Metro Manila Film Fest became this year's openers: Les Miserables and Life of Pi.

With two more trimesters to go, 13 more blockbuster movies are coming up before 2013 ends. These are:

1. Star Trek Into Darkness

Release Date:     May 16

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.

The Avengers

Ridiculously funny. It should have added the by-line “when egos meet”.

The Avengers was a huge treat to satisfy my craving for clashes of superpower abilities. I have always been amazed with how mighty powers can inspire or corrupt its bearer. And so I loved X-Men since I was a kid. But what X-Men did not achieve in carefully giving each superhero a time of its own to shine, The Avengers thoughtfully balanced the showcase of abilities. There was never a scene when one character seemed to be dominant over another. There was always a tug of war between two or more egos. And this is usually the core of the fight scenes: a fight for one’s vested interest (not even “for the good of everyone” until they realized it was how it was supposed to be... and we still call them superheroes).

I found Captain America, Iron Man and Thor very proud and egotistic. They have high regard for themselves and are easily pissed by each other’s air of authority. The slightest comments of one are never taken lightly by the others. Hence, ego-battles between and amongst these three are not uncommon. Funny that I see these three representing our biggest leaders and their egos: the government (Captain America), science (Iron Man) and religion (Thor). There were scenes when each asserts superiority over the other, and the film was intelligent enough not to make it appear that one won over the other.

Meanwhile Black Widow, Hulk and Hawkeye are equally magnificent but are not as self-absorbed as the former three. I see them as representations of magnified human follies: cunning & deception (Black Widow); blind obedience which is in stark contrast of his archery precision (Hawkeye); and intelligence and rage (Hulk). Loki could represent vengefulness which is a folly of both the humans and the leaders. Each of these characteristics was clearly developed in the film. In fact, each superhero character is rich in irony.

While The Avengers is far from being a psychological (or a sociological) film, its characterization of superheroes spelled out basic psychological statements to me. And although there were six superheroes in the film (seven, including Loki), there were no redundancies in their characterizations. It was a bonus I did not expect from green-screen movies, and so I enjoyed the film to a great extent. The comic timing of Iron Man and his witty lines were undeniably the source of many of my loud laughs in the cinema. Their magnificence and valour vis-a-vis their impulsiveness and primal reflex made them ridiculously funny, (if not irritatingly similar to our leaders and bosses who are self-indulgent and self-dignified supposed-to-be-better-at-decision-making heroes). It was not until a “fan” of these heroes was killed that they got their act together and lived up to their group name The Avengers.

I would definitely watch this film again in the cinema after my exam.