WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the Cinemalaya 2020 Main Competition Shorts Entry “Tokwifi”. Read at your own risk.   Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya REVIEWER’S RATING: 9/10 SYNOPSIS: A 1950s mestiza star, trapped inside a television that fell from the sky – dreams up a romantic romp with a Bontok Igorot man who does not know how to kiss. The film is set in the beautiful fields and mountains which are home to the Igorot Tribe. The opening scene tells us a fact, according to a book written by Dr. Albert Jenks in 1905, that the Igorot do not kiss,...

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the Cinemalaya 2020 Main Competition Shorts Entry “Living Things”. Read at your own risk. Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya REVIEWER’S RATINGS: 8/10   SYNOPSIS: Kints and Charles have been together for almost a decade. One day, Kints wakes up and discovers that her lover has changed, literally. Although troubled at first, she eventually understands that what happened is a natural phenomenon. Through this, she is reminded that people change all the time and love can change people. The film introduces the two main characters, Kints and Charles, at the opening scene. The following scenes let...

This is not a drill, The Itchyworms is finally set to launch their new album, plus a virtual event, happening on August 17, 2020, Monday, from 7:30 PM onwards, only via The Itchyworms Facebook page! A few hours before the release of the album, The Itchyworms will be hosting their very first virtual launch with online listening and live commentary party to celebrate their highly anticipated quarantine-themed fifth album, entitled “Waiting For The End To Start,” which consists of 9 songs. “It could mean whatever,” stressed The Itchyworms guitarist and vocalist Jugs Jugueta during their interview with ABS-CBN about their...

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the Cinemalaya 2020 Main Competition Shorts Entry." Read at your own risk. REVIEWER’S RATINGS: 7/10   SYNOPSIS: A closeted gay man in his 60s has been living with HIV for 10 years. His monotonous life takes a sudden turn when he receives an old vinyl record from his dead ex-lover. The short film opens with a statement from UNAIDS that in the Philippines alone, there are about 77,000 people living with HIV (PLHIV), and that only about 62,029 of those have been diagnosed and reported. This is followed by a powerful statement, “HIV doesn’t kill,...

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for the Cinemalaya 2020 Main Competition Shorts Entry “Fatigued”. Read at your own risk.   Photo courtesy of Cinemalaya REVIEWER’S RATING: 6/10   SYNOPSIS: One night, you overslept because of too much work. Now, you must wake up before your nightmare becomes a reality.   Fatigued is an “interactive film” by Director James Mayo, where you play as yourself, a tired and overworked employee, who overslept one night. How do you wake up? How do you know what is real? The film has a really eerie feel to it from the start. It claims to...