Ricky Lo interviews Brillante Mendoza

fresh from his recent Cannes win for directing "Kinatay." The interview is here.

Archie picks Veronica

Stop the presses!

Kiko Pangilinan = Martin Luther King?

Dean Jorge Bocobo just made that comparison. OMFG!

if the guy is running on the issue of credibility and integrity, he can start by explaining his "screwup" (that's putting it charitably) in 2004, then apologize to the voters who got hosed.

he can do it now. i'm not buying his line that this is "old news".

Noli de Castro to run in 2010?

Some people said, let Arroyo stay, because we don't want Noli to replace her. Tutal hanggang 2010 na lang naman si GMA eh.

But it seems like Noli de Castro will run for president in 2010, and he's the favorite to replace Arroyo.

Remember Miguel Estrada?

Sonia Sotomayor will become the first Hispanic nominee appointed to the US Supreme Court.

But Miguel Estrada could have been there "first".

Scandals in the British Parliament?

Small potatoes lang yan. Our local administration politicians look at what their british counterparts are facing, and laugh.

"Kinatay" wins Cannes best directing prize

hilarious.

UPDATE: Ebert's reaction: "The 2009 feature film jury awarded some reasonable prizes, and then lost its mind."

Previous: Kinatay ni Ebert si Mendoza.

Noel Vera has a few not-so-nice things to say about Ebert the critic.

UPDATE: Why hilarious? Either the Cannes media critics who gave Kinatay the lowest average score of 1.2 out of 4 got it wrong (Antichrist got 1.6), or the jury panel made a fool of themselves. Either way, Brillante Mendoza is the big winner here, and will now be a force to be reckoned with in Philippine cinema.

I wish the quiapo people will come up with the DVD of "Kinatay" so I can easily skip past the boring parts like the 45-minutes devoted to a car ride if i have to. Reading most of the Kinatay reviews, sa tingin ko I won't have the patience to finish the film without a fast forward button. (I once walked out of Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris sa UP film center, bored out of my skull. This was the final straw.)

Awardsdaily looks at the crowd reaction during the awards ceremony.

I wonder kung may Kinatay torrent na available na?

Embattled Ex-SKorean president jumps to his death

over corruption scandal.

What Hayden Kho should do

he should seek professional help and admit himself into a rehab center for his sex addiction. ala david duchovny and pat o'brien.

Sen. Bong Revilla wants to smash Alec Baldwin's face

for making a joke about Filipina mail-order brides.

I saw that letterman clip when it first came out. i did not think much of it but i predicted somebody will make a big deal out of this.

Roger Ebert skewers Brillante Mendoza's "Kinatay"

The Philippine film representative for this year is called the worst film in the history of cannes by ebert.

There are few prospects more alarming than a director seized by an Idea. I don't mean an idea for a film, a story, a theme, a tone, any of those ideas. I'm thinking of a director whose Idea takes control of his film and pounds it into the ground and leaves the audience alienated and resentful. Such a director is Brillante Mendoza of the Philippines, and the victim of his Idea is his Official Selection at Cannes 2009, "Kinatay." Here is a film that forces me to apologize to Vincent Gallo for calling "The Brown Bunny" the worst film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival.

After extensive recutting, the Gallo film was redeemed. I don't think editing is going to do the trick for "Kinatay." If Mendoza wants to please any viewer except for the most tortured theorist (one of those careerists who thinks movies are about arcane academic debates and not people) he's going to have to remake his entire second half.

read the whole thing. i report, you decide.

Mike D'Angelo offers some nice words for Kinatay:

I admire Kinatay for its uncompromising rigor—the lengthy van ride, which constitutes nearly half the film, is a tour de force

yes, read the whole thing rin.

Wesley Morris wrote that unlike Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist," "Kinatay" had a lot of the viewers walking out.

UPDATE: Inquirer: ‘Kinatay’ draws raves, rants in Cannes

And roundups re the film.

Video excerpts of Kinatay.

Hmmm... a 45-minute car ride in the film... parang ayaw ko na.

UPDATE: Brillante mendoza wins Cannes best director award.

Dirk Nowitzki's 37 yr old girlfriend arrested

Dirk's black GF arrested. (photo included) More here.

video of dirk and cristal.

Rainy season arrives early

lakas ng ulan kanina.

The MSNBC host who shall not be named

bill o'reilly or laura ingraham at FOXNEWS refuse to even mention Keith olbermann's name when referring to certain offensive shows on MSNBC. that's what i notice.

Instead of talking about Pacquiao Hatton

let's list down the celebrities who were there and the politicians who tried to capitalize on the event.