She May Be the Fate I Can't Escape

L-R: Jennifer Tilly in Bound, Nicole Kidman in To Die For, and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," as the saying goes. In short, never mess with a woman — especially a femme fatale — unless you want some serious trouble.

According to Wikipedia, "a femme fatale (/ˌfæm fəˈtɑːl/ or /ˌfɛm fəˈtɑːl/; French: [fam fatal]) is a stock character of a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art."

Just like Delilah, Catherine Tramell, and Mrs. Robinson, these enigmatic ladies cast their wicked spell on men (and, for some on the list, women), making them as vulnerable as a newborn baby.

Seductive. Mysterious. Dangerous. Behold some of my fave femme fatales.

(In chronological order.)

Phyllis Dietrichson, Double Indemnity
Played by Barbara Stanwyck

To score some huge money, insurance salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) conspires with Phyllis Dietrichson. Having a bad wig day, Phyllis gives Walter an indecent proposal, so indecent it involves Phyllis' husband being dead. (Oh, and about that wig. I thought I was watching George Washington in drag.)

Evelyn Mulwray, Chinatown
Played by Faye Dunaway

She's very reminiscent of those femme fatales in film noir. A tragic character, Evelyn Mulwray is seemingly stoic until her disturbing secret is finally revealed during the iconic "sister daughter scene." Evelyn's vulnerability is what makes her a femme fatale. Evelyn's defenses down, suave P.I. Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) does every deadly thing just to save her. Miss Dunaway's performance is one of the film's remarkable moments.

Hollywood's Gift of Remakes

Fueled by repetitive remakes, Hollywood now gives us The Gift. No, it's not that movie wherein Katie Holmes bares it all. This one is a blatant remake of Caché, Michael Haneke's 2005 film about a man's vengeful past.

Made ten years after Haneke's film, The Gift borrows quite a lot of plot elements from Caché: the videotapes are now a series of gifts, the Paris neighborhood turns into a Los Angeles suburb, Daniel Auteuil is now Jason Bateman (they kinda look alike though), Maurice Bénichou is now Joel Edgerton, and Juliette Binoche is now Rebecca Hall.

Haneke Ranked

At its best, film should be like a ski jump. It should give the viewer the option of taking flight, while the act of jumping is left up to him.

– Michael Haneke

Along with Schubert, Romy Schneider, Helmut Berger, Christoph Waltz, and vienna sausage — I refuse to include The Terminator — Michael Haneke is one of Austria's national treasures.

(Just some trivia: Haneke is somewhat related to Waltz.)

I often recognize a Michael Haneke movie every time I see one. Abrupt transitions. Random shots of mundane things. Static shots. Isabelle Huppert. Susanne Lothar. Juliette Binoche. The names "Anne" and "George" and their variation. Long shots. And no music, because according to him: "usually music is used to hide a film's problems."

Fave Movie Posters: Le cercle rouge

"Fave Movie Posters" is a new portion on this humble a-blog of mine. It features some of my fave movie posters, either theatrical ones or those intended as DVD or Blu-ray disc covers.

I'd be honest here, most of the posters I might feature are those by The Criterion Collection, because I find their posters very innovative while still being loyal to the film's thematics.

Paving the way for this new portion is the Criterion poster for Le cercle rouge, Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 heist movie. This stylish Frenchie starred Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonté, and Yves Montand as thieves who conspire a huge heist.

(A remake starring Orlando Bloom was said to be on the way. Apparently it's still on the way, or maybe it's already off the way.)

Cinematography: Suspiria

SUSPIRIA (1977)
Director: Dario Argento
Cinematographer: Luciano Tovoli

Lately I've been an avid viewer of Pretty Little Liars. The show got me hooked since I watched its fifth season. What attracted me to the show is its giallo effect. Pretty Little Liars ("PLL" to its fans) is very reminiscent of those giallo movies, also known as Italian horror movies that incorporate "psychological themes of madness, alienation, sexuality and paranoia." Giallo movies — especially those directed by Dario Argento (aka Asia's dad) — also employ "candy-colored" cinematography, eerie music, and exaggerated performances. In short, campy.

Without further PLL-ing, and since I've mentioned Argento, here are some of the best frames from Suspiria — Argento's well-known film, and probably the most popular of all the giallo movies. (The word "suspiria" is Latin for "sighs.")

Suspiria is a 1977 gialli about Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), a ballerina who goes to a ballet school in Italy. After experiencing macabre occurrences in the school, Suzy finds out that the campus is actually a coven of witches. Therefore, Suzy has to do everything she can to get out of there; otherwise she'll be kaput.

Trapped Cinema

"As long as we know we're trapped, we still have a chance to escape."

– Sara Grant, Neva

What do you do when you are trapped inside an enclosed space? Cry? Cry some more? Cry for help? Cry until your eyes are dry? Stare into nothingness? Call mom? Perhaps you'll just laugh it all off.

Paranoia can really set in during immurement. Cinema has been able to show us the brutality of being trapped — letting us experience claustrophobia, making us question our own freedom.

Without further blah blah blah, I listed down some of my fave films that trap us inside their trapped plot.

Fave Movie Moments: Garde à vue

Romy Schneider was approaching her final years as an actress and a human being when she filmed 1981's Garde à vue. A year later, the Austrian-born actress died of cardiac arrest.

Romy is Chantal Martinaud. Appearing 52 minutes into the film, Romy was barely in the movie yet her lingering presence is probably the film's biggest draw.

Fave LGB-Themed Movies

And the song goes: "Measure your life in love." In celebration of SCOTUS' historic decision on same-sex marriage, I compiled my ten favorite LGB-themed movies.

(In no particular order.)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Jon Avnet, 1991

An all-time fave movie of mine, Fried Green Tomatoes is a delicious film about the struggles and triumphs of women. To appeal to a wider range of audience, the film discusses lesbian love in a very discreet manner, presenting Ruth and Idgie (Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson) as BFFs more than lovers. (I suggest checking out the novel to get a clearer picture of Ruth and Idgie’s love story.)

An Epic ROFL-Fest

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3
Leigh Whannell, 2015


"Hahahahaha!" is what resonated inside the movie theater as our fellow moviegoers watch Insidious: Chapter 3. The profusion of laughter is courtesy of the audience, not the supernatural villain in the film.

"You smell funky. And I think I'm gonna need some neck brace."

- Quinn

Insidious: Chapter 3 is a prequel to the first two movies. It follows the story of a teenager named Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott), an aspiring theater actress dealing with the death of her mother, whom she wishes to talk to via psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). The rest of the film deals with Quinn's possession after her what-the-f*ck-inducing accident.

The Dilemma That is Philippine Cinema

Gone are the days when Brocka et al. reigned Philippine cinema. It would probably take another master filmmaker for our nation's cinema to recover and be given the kind of international recognition it once had.

Himala (Miracle).

That's probably what our cinema needs. A miracle.

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Although we often have entries to international film fests like the recently-concluded Cannes Film Festival, Philippine cinema still has a long way to go in terms of identity and originality.

Once our cinema has established a particular trademark, Filipino films will finally be put back on the map of international cinema — alongside cinematic benchmarks like the German cinema, Italian cinema, Japanese cinema, and French cinema.

Cinema should not be a piggy bank

We don't make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.

- Walt Disney