Lately, Philippine action films have been serving up grit, grime, blood, and tough as nails action heroines. We had one in Anne Curtis’ Nina Manigan in “Buy Bust”, and here, in “We Will Not Die Tonight”, we have Erich Gonzales’ stuntwoman Kray. Shot in only eight days, this film has an interesting premise, a great… Read More Movie Review: We Will Not Die Tonight (Spoilers!)
Robot themed Korean dramas have been around for some time, but seem to have picked up steam last year, and it doesn’t seem to be losing steam yet. Earlier this year, we had MBC’s romantic-comedy “I’m Not A Robot”, which had a science fiction premise but didn’t really focus on it; and this time, we have KBS’ “Are… Read More TV Review: Are You Human Too? (Spoilers!)
August is the month in which the entire Philippines celebrates our national language, Filipino, and at the same time, the rich cultural heritage of the country is also celebrated. So, it is no wonder that I’ve been trying to put more emphasis on Filipino films this month, especially as two big local film festivals- Cinemalaya… Read More Movie Review: On the Job (Spoilers!)
In the past few years, there have been several Korean remakes of American and British television shows, but it looks like they are on a remake spree this year, and it doesn’t look like they’ll stop anytime soon. To be honest, I haven’t seen all the remakes, but from what I’ve seen with the Korean… Read More TV Review: Life on Mars (Korea) (Spoilers!)
The magic of childhood and nostalgia is very hard to beat, and sometimes comes in handy when remakes, reboots and revivals of childhood favorites are done well. This time around, instead of giving us a straight up adaptation of “Winnie the Pooh”, Disney decided to ask the question as to what would happen to Pooh… Read More Movie Review: Christopher Robin (Spoilers!)
Action is a film genre that comes in many forms, and every country has their own version of the action film, from fast car chase scenes to epic fight sequences. It can have a complex plot which sets up and whose narrative weaves through the action sequences; or the entire movie can just be about… Read More Movie Review: Buy Bust (Spoilers!)
In life, and nowadays, when it comes to choosing what to watch next, sometimes, taking that leap of faith and choosing something that you are not sure with is definitely worth the risk. As mentioned before, even though I’m a little bit of an old hand when it comes to watching Asian dramas, I still… Read More TV Review: Miss Hammurabi (Spoilers!)
Every year, I make it a point to attend at least one fan convention. This year, so far, Asia Pop Comic Con is the only one I have attended as of late. This year, aside from the usual Hall M (Marvel) and Hall N (Netflix booth), they upped the ante by bringing in Hall D… Read More The Kat’s Con Chronicles: Asia Pop Comic Con 2018
Starting today, dozens of fans of pop-culture are celebrating their favorite fandoms at Asia Pop Comic Con, one of the biggest pop-culture fan conventions that happens annually in Manila, Philippines. I have been attending Asia Pop Comic Con since it began, and since then I have eased my way into cosplaying. This time around, I… Read More The Kat’s Cosplay Chronicles: Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Dramas that talk about healing from one’s past, and that deal with facing particularly traumatic past events in order to move on with one’s life is definitely something that isn’t uncommon when it comes to Korean drama fare, as we’ve seen with dramas like “Just Between Lovers”. However, this time around, in MBC’s “Come Here… Read More TV Review: Come Here and Hug Me (Spoilers!)
Asian dramas that feature food prominently in their show (not counting the hearty or high class meals that are featured in almost every Asian drama) are not that uncommon, but having food based shows sometimes becomes a comforting calm in the midst of the usual tropes, while making you want to either make or… Read More TV Review: Wok of Love/Greasy Mello (Spoilers!)
Lawyers, gangsters, rogue agents, detectives and judges are several things that Korean dramas have been rife with recently. When it comes to the legal/thriller/crime genre, many times, we try to look for something new, whether it be a new concept or a tightly written plot that surprises the audience all the way until the end.… Read More TV Review: Lawless Lawyer (Spoilers!)
Aside from the “Ant-Man” films being interesting stand-alone films in their own little corner (pun intended) of the MARVEL Cinematic Universe (MCU), “Ant-Man and the Wasp” also has the distinction of being the first MARVEL movie to come right after “Avengers: Infinity War”. While the film is a great palate cleanser from “Avengers: Infinity War”,… Read More Movie Review: MARVEL’s Antman & the Wasp (Spoilers!)
More often than not, regardless of whether it is a Western or Asian movie or a Western or Asian television show, we viewers are often presented with premises or synopsis that, on paper, make you wonder if it’ll be any good or if they’ll be able to pull it off well. And sometimes, the title… Read More TV Review: I’m Not A Robot (Spoilers!)
Aside from original offerings and ideas, there have been a lot of remakes of American and British television shows hitting kdramaland as of late. Among those is the Korean version of the American television show “Suits”, which aired under the same title and ran for sixteen episodes on KBS. Now, many things can go wrong… Read More TV Review: Suits (Korea) (Spoilers!)
Move over, Danny Ocean, there’s a new crew in town, and headed, by no other than Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett! Fans of the “Ocean’s Trilogy” franchise had a field day when it was announced that these two A-list actresses would be headlining the sequel movie of sorts, with an all female powerhouse cast. While… Read More Movie Review: Ocean’s 8 (Spoilers!)
Before superheroes came into their own in the cultural zeitgeist of today, fourteen years ago, audiences were treated to a different kind of superhero movie with Disney Pixar’s “The Incredibles”. At the time, the notion of superheroes reigning supreme was just something that happened just once in a while, allowing us to be witness to… Read More Movie Review: The Incredibles 2 (Spoilers!)
Every now and then, amidst the myriad of Korean dramas that crop up every year, there are a handful that are good solid dramas that are not only timeless, but a precursor of things to come and that mark a milestone in the evolution of Korean dramas. tvN’s “Forest of Secrets/Stranger” was definitely one of… Read More TV Review: Signal (2016) (Spoilers!)
Ever since the last season’s finale, with the knowledge that the series was going to end with its third season, and with the announcement that “Trollhunters” was just the beginning of a three series shared universe, fans of “Trollhunters” have been wondering how the series would end, and what the future would be for this… Read More TV Review: Trollhunters S3 (Spoilers!)
Over the past few years, the independent local film scene has been booming with well made, well acted, and meaningful films. It has come to the point in which movies like “Birdshot” have become available for streaming on Netflix, and to the point in which smaller local film fests are attended by more and more… Read More Movie Review: Citizen Jake (Spoilers!)
People watch television shows and movies for different reasons, and sometimes, one does watch a mixture of things based on different reasons at a given point in time. Sometimes, we watch things to be entertained and to escape from reality, sometimes we crave more realism and would rather be confronted by the harsh realities of… Read More TV Review: Something in the Rain/Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Food (Spoilers!)
Having the main saga stories come out every other year is a smart move as it allows them to explore parts of the galaxy that hasn’t been touched upon before, while it gives us a nice little break from everything happening with the Skywalker clan. In 2016, we had “Rogue One”, which nicely filled in… Read More Movie Review: Solo:A Star Wars Story (Spoilers!)
Whether it comes to the films or their tv shows, MARVEL is not only on everyone’s mind thanks to “Avengers: Infinity War”, but they are also doing well when it comes to their television shows. When it comes to MARVEL shows, many will no doubt mention their Netflix shows, which are on a league of… Read More TV Review: MARVEL’s Agents of SHIELD S5 (Spoilers!)
It takes a special kind of cast and crew to pull off a successful movie about a heist or a con, and it takes guts to be able to pull off an entire series based solely on the premise of different cons. In recent years, there has been USA’s “White Collar”, with an infamous white… Read More TV Review: Switch- Change the World (Spoilers!)
It didn’t take long for the first season of NBC’s “Timeless” to strike a chord in viewer’s hearts and minds, as it was the power of the fans (and social media) that enabled the show to come back for a second round of time traveling adventures after NBC decided to cancel the show after the… Read More TV Review: Timeless S2 (Spoilers!)
Recently, Netflix has been acquiring Korean dramas aggressively as of late, and interestingly enough, they now have several tvN dramas that aired in 2018. First up was the black comedy with heart “Prison Playbook”, then there was Lee Seung Gi’s fantasy romance “Hwayugi”, and now, the all to real human drama that is “Live”. “Live”… Read More TV Review: Live (Spoilers!)
When it comes to watching tv shows, whether it be a Western show or an Asian show, there are moments when one wants to see something and different, but there is also a slight comfort on falling back to shows with the usual tropes one expects from that particular genre. However, there is something immensely… Read More TV Review: Fight for My Way (Spoilers!)
In all my years of experience watching Korean dramas, I have never tried watching a weekend drama, let alone a family drama, as these usually tend to be over fifty episodes long. However, while I was looking for a fun drama to watch, I decided to try out a family drama that I have heard… Read More TV Review: My Father is Strange (Spoilers!)
To be honest, it has been quite some time since I’ve seen an Asian movie that wasn’t Filipino or an anime movie. In fact, the last time I watched a Korean movie was years ago, when I watched “The Thieves” at a local Korean film festival with a friend, and it still remains a favorite… Read More Movie Review: V.I.P. (Spoilers!)
Korean dramas usually don’t get second seasons. More often than not, most Asian dramas have one season. If they do get greenlit for a second season, they come in a variety of froms- a spiritual or anthology sequel with the same spirit as the original but with a completely different cast; or a sequel with… Read More TV Review: Queen of Mystery S2 (Spoilers!)
“Avengers: Infinity War” is probably one of the most anticipated films of the year, not just because of the sheer magnitude and ambition of this film, but because everything that MARVEL Studios has been working hard on for the past ten years now all comes to a head with this film. This film is also… Read More Movie Review: Avengers: Infinity War (Spoilers!)
Relying on old formulas are always safe things to rely on, but they become refreshing when you put an interesting and unexpected twist to it. Such is the case with the KBS drama “Queen of Mystery”, as it takes the old tropes of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson and gives it a new spin.… Read More TV Review: Queen of Mystery S1 (Spoilers!)
As we are now ending the month of April, and with it, Autism Acceptance Month, this will be my last post for now in which I review a movie that deals with autism or characters with autism. And for this, I have decided to take a look at “My Name is Khan”, a Hindi film… Read More Movie Review: My Name Is Khan (Spoilers!)
Reboots of shows that have left a legacy and a fan base are quite hard to do as the reboot would have to live up to and go the extra mile to go above and beyond to be the best it can be. Aside from that, rebooting a science fiction show is hard because it… Read More TV Review: Lost in Space (2018) (Spoilers!)
When it comes to genres in Korean dramas, interestingly enough, we rarely get pure comedies. Most of the time, its mixed in with other genres such as drama or romance. Because of this, and even if there was romance mixed into it, JTBC’s “Welcome to Waikiki” or “Laughter in Waikiki” is a rarity as it… Read More TV Review: Welcome to Waikiki/Laughter in Waikiki (Kdrama)(Spoilers!)
For my fourth entry for my Autism in Film series for April’s Autism Acceptance Month, I have decided to shift gears and focus on a documentary that is quite special to me, personally. So, for my fourth entry for this series, let’s take a look at a real life group of four individuals with Asperger’s… Read More Movie Review: Asperger’s Are Us (Documentary)
On March 30, 2018, the second season of Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” dropped all of its ten episodes on Netflix. Many fans of both the books and the series had been eagerly waiting for the second season due to the success of the first season and because we could not wait to… Read More TV Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events S2 (Spoilers!)
I had a very different post in mind for today, but a couple of days ago, I was notified by WordPress that I have received a big milestone…or what I consider to be a big milestone for my blog- I’ve finally hit 100+ followers! So, to all of those who have followed by blog, both… Read More Update: Thank You, 100 Followers!
For the month of April, as it is Autism Acceptance Month, I have decided to review movies and other forms of media that have autistic characters or that deal with autism. However, as I am still doing my usual fare in terms of reviews for this blog, for this month, I have decided to just… Read More Movie Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Spoilers!)
Last week, in celebration of Autism Acceptance Month, I decided to mix in some reviews of films and other media that deals with the subject of autism, with my usual fare. I kicked things off with a review of Denzel Washington’s “Roman J. Israel, Esq.“, and this time around, I chose an underrated claymation gem… Read More Movie Review: Mary and Max (2009) (Spoilers!)
As soon as Ernest Cline’s novel, “Ready Player One”, was released in 2011, it flew off the shelves almost instantly, especially as it hit the sweet spot of ’80s nostalgia before “Stranger Things” came along. As soon as it was announced that there would be a movie adaptation of it, many waited in eager anticipation… Read More Movie Review: Ready Player One (Spoilers!)
Over the years, the film industry, whether it be Hollywood or International Cinema, has changed and has become more progressive, even though it took some time for it do so. The movie industry, especially in Western cinema, has only become more inclusive and diverse as of late, and movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have… Read More Movie Review: Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Spoilers!)
Recently, streaming giant Netflix has been quite aggressive in expanding their database by adding and acquiring Asian television shows and dramas. However, just a few days ago, Netflix made history once again by acquiring the critically acclaimed film “Birdshot”, making it the first Filipino piece of content to be added to the streaming giant’s huge… Read More Movie Review: Birdshot (Spoilers!)
Just recently, tVN just finished its run of their (Korean) remake of the 2010 Japanese drama “Mother”. Before watching the Korean version, I decided to take a look at the eleven episode Japanese drama first to get a feel for it, and as I wanted to see the differences and the similarities in the two… Read More TV Review: Mother (Jdrama) (Spoilers!)
As soon as it hit the shelves, Ernest Cline’s science fiction young adult “Ready Player One” was an instant hit, as it came out in a time in which pop-culture was becoming mainstream, and it hit the sweet spot when it came to nostalgia which hadn’t yet reached its peak. And while I would never… Read More Book Review: Ready Player One
In the midst of all the prosecutors, time travel, and supernatural romances, there were two notable science fiction Korean dramas that graced (k) dramaland in 2017- tvN’s ambitious “Circle” and OCN’s “chase thriller” “Duel”. Thankfully, both “Circle” and “Duel” delve upon different thought provoking concepts, and are very different from each other, with “Duel” also… Read More TV Review: Duel (Kdrama) (Spoilers!)
Just like any genre, the realm of science fiction allows it to appear in many forms, from exciting genre movies with a lot of flash bang special effects, to slow moving art house think pieces. In recent years, although there have been many thought provoking science fiction movies, many have gotten used to science fiction… Read More Movie Review: Annihilation (Spoilers!)
Adapting a beloved book into a movie is no easy feat as not only will it have to please the general public, but it also should be able to satisfy fans of the book as well. Among the more notable book to film adaptations is Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, which… Read More Movie Review: A Wrinkle in Time (2018) (Spoilers!)
Everyone has their own favorite stories, television shows, and movies; and while some of these might be subjective, there are some that are universally acclaimed to be classics. The same is true for Korean dramas. However, it seems as if JTBC managed to create a new modern classic with the romantic melodrama “Just Between Lovers”.… Read More TV Review: Just Between Lovers (Kdrama) (Spoilers!)
Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time”, ever since it was published in 1962, has been capturing the imagination of readers young and old alike, and now, it had been turned into a movie by director Ava DuVernay. Regardless of whether you have seen the movie already or not, let us take a moment to take… Read More Book Review: A Wrinkle In Time
