Contact

For suggestions and inquiries, you can get in touch via the following contact details:

JONAS DIEGO

E-mail Address
admin(AT)jonasdiego.com

Mobile Numbers
0906.574.6779 (Globe)
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Metropolis

The Philippine independent movie scene might just save the Philippine movie industry.

Pinoy indie movies continue to delight critics and audiences around the world with its diversity, vitality, and creativity. Anyone who has ever caught an indie film screening can attest to the breath of fresh air that the scene brings, far from the tired old formulas that the Filipino masses get on a regular basis.

Get a taste of what you been missing at the Indie Sine at Robinson’s Galleria on Saturday, November 21 for Metropolis, the first installation in a series of indie film screenings.

Click on the thumbnail on the left for a bigger image.

The event is being presented by Anahata Foundation and the UN Millennium Campaign with a live musical performance by The Brockas.

Metropois will be screening Iskwaterpangk, Batad: Sa Paang Palay, and 24K.

Metropolis is made possible through the assistance of the Indie Filmmakers Multi-purpose Cooperative (IFC), the Cultural Center of the Philippines Media Arts Division and Cinemalaya. Session times are at 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 6:30 PM with featured filmmakers dropping by to introduce their films and share industry insights.

Tickets are available for Php 150.00 and proceeds will go towards supporting Anahata Foundation’s community based projects involved in movement, performance, fashion, media, visual arts, and concern for the environment. For reservations and inquiries please call Indie Sine at landline number (02) 395-2038, SMS/call (0929) 694-4138, (0908) 756-8699, and (0927) 874-8789, or e-mail anahatafoundation (AT) yahoo.com.ph.

Indie Sine is located at Level 4 of Robinson’s Galleria along EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Pasig City. Screening times are 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 6:30 PM, Saturday, November 21.

Jennifer's Body Soundtrack

One thing that was going for Jennifer's Body was definitely it's soundtrack (click here for the earlier movie review I wrote).

Check it out!

MOVIE REVIEW: Jennifer’s Body

Jennifer's Body is an over the top dark comedy/horror movie starring Megan Fox in the title role, Amanda Seyfried, and Johnny Simmons.

Written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, Fox portrays Jennifer Check, a possessed teenager who has to kill and eat her victims to sustain the demon inside her. Her classmate and best friend "Needy" Lesnicki, played by Amanda Seyfried, has to stop her before Jennifer succeeds to eat the town’s entire male population.

More (and some SPOILERS) after the jump.

The Plot

Jennifer and Needy are best friends despite their apparent differences in appearance and social status residing in the sleep old down called Devils. Jennifer is the popular cheerleader type and Needy is geeky and somewhat of a plain Jane. One night Jennifer drags Needy along to some tavern to watch Low Shoulder, an indie rock band that Jennifer is currently infatuated with.

A fire starts in the tavern killing several of the people inside. Needy and Jennifer manages to escape. Outside, they discover that the members of Low Shoulder also manage to escape and convince Jennifer to come along with them leaving Needy to fend for herself.

That night, Jennifer appears at Needy’s house bloodied and seemingly out of her wits. She initially tries to attack Needy but resists and vanishes into the night. She returns the next day in the pink of health like nothing happened and this is where things start getting ugly.

Jennifer starts murdering the students and feeds on them to sustain her inner demon. She’s at her most powerful when she’s full (freshly feeded) and looks horrible (aw, c’mon...it’s Megan Fox! How horrible can she actually look!?) when she’s hungry.

Apparently Low Shoulder, the indie rock band that abducted her during the night of the fire, was planning to sacrifice her to Satan for fame and fortune because he thought she was a virgin though how they could ever think that (considering how Jennifer was behaving pre-demon possession) is beyond me. With the slight issue with the tissue (i.e. her hymen) the ritual doesn’t go quite as planned and Jennifer comes back with some extra baggage.

It’s up to Needy to stop her ex-best friend. If you’re looking for a climactic battle between good and evil, don’t hold your breath. It’s more like a catfight than a decisive battle between the forces of light and darkness.

Needy however does get sent to the local mental institution implying that she was blamed for all the murders that happened. It was found however that she got some of Jennifer’s supernatural abilities when she was bit at one point during the fight. She broke out of the joint, found the knife that Low shoulder used to kill Jennifer, and hunted the band down and butchered them.

The Skinny

The movie was entertaining over all but kinda disappoints in terms of showing Megan Fox’s flesh (or maybe it’s the R-13 rating here in the Philippines? Let’s see what the DVD will have to show us...). I was actually surprised when I saw that they marketed this as a dark comedy/horror movie because I don’t really remember anything funny.

Still, it was an entertaining movie and you have to admit that Needy getting powers is kinda cool only instead of being bitten by a radioactive insect she got bit by a demon possessed ex-best friend.

But hey, that’s high school!

RATING: 3 out of 5

MOVIE REVIEW: Taken

The movie stars Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. It's directed by Pierre Morel and written & produced by Luc Besson.

In the film Liam plays Bryan, a divorced, former US intelligence agent who retires early to be able to spend some time with his daughter, Kim. Kim takes a trip to Europe to follow a rock band and effectively gets kidnapped.

It's at this point that Bryan's expertise as a former US intelligence agent comes into play.

The film is fast paced and brutal. It pulls no punches and definitely not for the weak of heart. I particularly relate to Bryan's predicament as any parent will, I'm sure.

Rating: 3 star out of 5

UPCOMING: Dayo

Got a chance to visit Cutting Edge Productions earlier this morning and meet with other bloggers for a chance to see a lot of behind the scenes action of Dayo, the Philippines' 1st All-Digital full-length animated feature film.

Met with the film's director, Robert Quilao whom I had the chance to share the limelight with during the Kustaa Saksi event in CCP which we both participated in back in May 2008.

Click here for the entire story.

Robert and the rest of the staff of Cutting Edge Productions was kind enough to give us a tour of their studio and show us how Dayo was made. It is truly an inspiring tour!

Expect more features here and on my other blogs about the Dayo movie.

Meanwhile check out the movie's site.

INCOMING: Fast and the Furious

Official trailer for the new Fast and the Furious movie.

Check it out!

MOVIE REVIEW: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Managed to watch Hellboy 2: The Golden Army last night (late review...yes, I know).

It was a treat watching this movie but my favorite part of the movie has got to be the scene where Hellboy and Abe Sapien get drunk on beer over their respective relationship. Aside from the comedy and the sing-along time, the scene gave us insights on the kind of relationship Hellboy and Abe Sapien has.

After watching this movie, I can't wait for the sequel.

And oh yeah...Guillermo del Toro is now officially up there as one of my favorite directors of all time.

Rating: 3 star out of 5

MOVIE REVIEW: Bangkok Dangerous

Finally got the chance to watch The Pang Brothers' Bangkok Dangerous starring Nicholas Cage last Saturday.

I'm a big fan of Nicholas Cage but this remake of the brother's original 1999 movie, well...it seemed to have missed the mark. The action scenes were okay, I suppose but the interaction between the characters seemed forced.

All that and the fact that I hated Nicholas Cage's hair in this movie. I mean it is absolutely horrifying. Hitmen are supposed to blend in and be invisible but with a do like that, Nick just stuck out like a sore thumb.

Rating: 1 star out of 5

REVIEW: Fight Quest

I just finished watching the first season of Fight Quest and I must say that I enjoyed the show immensely.

The show basically follows "Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson as they travel around the world learning different styles of martial arts". They're given five days to train with a master of the martial art a particular episode is featuring and, at the end of the five days, they will face off with the best fighters of that martial art.

The show is brutal and definitely not for children and especially for the faint of heart. Their episode on Krav Maga is especially painful to watch (if it hurt me to watch that episode what more for Jimmy and Doug who had to go through the hell that is a crash course in Krav Maga?).

I especially love their feature on the Filipino Martial Arts but then again I'm a Filipino so that probably means I'm biased.

Great show!

Rating: 4 stars out of 5