Philbert Dy

Meet, Greet & Bye ('25 Cathy Garcia-Sampana): Some great acting in this, but I think it overdoes things.

The Running Man ('25 Edgar Wright): I think it kind of flubs the climax, but it's a really fun time overall.

Bugonia ('25 Yorgos Lanthimos): Still processing where it goes, but I can definitely say it's weird and fun.

Everyone Knows Every Juan ('25 Alessandra de Rossi): Script could have used some pruning, but it's formally audacious, and the performances make it fun.

'Quezon' Is Clever, Entertaining, Best Seen as a Culmination of a Trilogy <p>But it tends to explain things a little too much.</p>

My full review of Jerrold Tarog's "Quezon" for Spot www.spot.ph/entertainmen...

Quezon ('25 Jerrold Tarog): Spells things out a little too much for me, but it's otherwise a really entertaining dissection of a very flawed man.

No Other Choice ('25 Park Chan-wook): Painfully funny. A really smart dissection of the cutthroat nature of Capitalism.

All reviews tagged ‘cinemalaya-21’ by Philbert Dy All reviews tagged ‘cinemalaya-21’ by Philbert Dy

Stuff I wrote on Letterboxd about the Cinemalaya films letterboxd.com/philbertdy/t...

Paglilitis ('25 Cheska Marfori): Mostly a bummer, on several levels.

The Reviews Are In: What's Sexy, What's Fresh, What's Really Good at Cinemalaya 2025 <p>A fresh take on Pinoy lesbian relations makes for very appealing cinema.</p>

Here's the first chunk of my reviews for this year's Cinemalaya. www.spot.ph/entertainmen...

Republika ng Pipolipinas ('25 Renei Dimla): A touch overlong, but I'd still die for President Cora.

Bloom Where You are Planted ('25 Noni Abao): A great, truly moving documentary. Fully expect that the MTRCB is going to give it an X.

Raging ('25 Ryan Machado): Easy to acknowledge its considerable merits. I wish it pushed further.

Open Endings ('25 Nigel Santos): Slowly fills a sapphic powder keg, then eventually lights a match.

Cinemartyrs ('25 Sari Dalena): Not convinced that fully worked, but you have to appreciate the absolutely bonkers attempt.

Child No 82 ('25 Tim Rone Villanueva): The plot doesn't really work moment to moment, but it's fun.

Padamlagan ('25 Jenn Romano): Very well composed, though it felt slight.

Warla ('25 Kevin Z. Alambra): Its best bits reminded me of Eduardo Roy Jr. Wish it had more structure, though.

Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan ('25 Dustin Celestino): An interesting reckoning, even if it gets painfully literal at times.

The Smashing Machine ('25 Benny Safdie): A strong, very human portrait of the totally insane world of professional fighting.

Selda Tres ('25 GB Sampedro): Kind of insane? Could have a been a serious examination of the deficiencies of the Philippine legal system, but ends up being a comedy that's so much about a crush that goes nowhere.

Minamahal: 100 Bulaklak Para Kay Luna ('25 Jason Paul Laxamana): It's mostly a nothing burger. I think there might be something to this Ashtine Olviga, though.

Altar Boy ('21 Serville Poblete): Sweet enough by the end. There's a lot of it we've seen before, though.

Jeongbu ('25 Topel Lee): Gets kind of interesting in the last stretch, but it's far too late by then. Suffers from trying too hard to hide an obvious twist.

Madawag and Landas Pantungong Pag-Asa ('25 Joel Lamangan): Means well, I suppose, but it doesn't add up to anything.

A ★★★★★ review of One Battle After Another (2025) Anderson takes the bones of one of Pynchon's more obtuse novels and turns it into a story that speaks very much of the now, detailing the struggle of resistance in an American largely run by white sup...

Some thoughts on Paul Thomas Anderson's tremendous "One Battle After Another" boxd.it/ba4dSB

One Battle After Another ('25 Paul Thomas Anderson): Gigantic. Anderson reminds us that he's one of the best to ever do it.

A ★★★½ review of Kontrabida Academy (2025) Fun enough, though I would have liked it to go further. I think it's kind of a cop out that Forteza's character never really got to do anything truly awful, all of her kontrabida actions coming from a...

Some thoughts on 'Kontrabida Academy' boxd.it/b5VJmj

A ★★★★★ review of Honor Thy Father (2015) I'm happy to report that the new black and white remaster is excellent. Somehow, the lack of color pulls even more focus on Cruz's performance, and that is a good thing indeed. And when he goes down t...

Wrote a little something about the remastered Honor Thy Father: boxd.it/b5opBd

Honor Thy Father Remastered ('25 Erik Matti): An already great film made even greater.