HBO’s 4-part mini-series documentary on Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) and Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) in their respective training and preparation concludes with part 4 airing tomorrow (Friday, May 1) on the eve of their bout. 

While it gives us more to chew on in anticipation of the fight, Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7 isn’t as hype-building as De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7, where the high contrast between the fighters’ lifestyle and training wrote itself. Or at least was safe enough to be exploited. Though I’ve seen ads billing the fight as “East meets West,” any cultural or geographical friction between the two fighters has been muted in the series in favor of spotlight on the trainers’ styles and history. Which I have no beef with. Trainers are unheralded, unsung heroes who take little of the glory and most of the blame. Its good to see them get their shine. But some of the footage is head-scratching, such as a scene in Episode 3 where Hatton and company are sitting around watching Episode 2. (more…)

16 years after its release, its easy to look back and pick apart Menace II Society, even easier to accept it nostalgically as the dope film we all thought it was back then. But the feeling of being in your early teens watching this flick, surrounded by folks who bang (pause) or did knucklehead shit remains, and it’ll always be a classic to me. Moreso these days for being a historical document than a dope film. (more…)

The director of the film I listed at the top of my favorites of 2008, Ramin Bahrani, is in town to screen his latest, Goodbye Solo. It gets a regular limited theater run next month, but there will be a screening at the Northwest Film Forum on Wednesday (4/29) night. He’s also running a workshop on Tuesday (4/28), which I’m looking forward to rollin’ through with another Iranian American filmmaker by the name of Zia Mohajerjasbi. I can’t make the screening on Wednesday due to a prior commitment. So if you’re in Seattle, go support this dude and let me know if the film goes. (more…)

Angela Markado (1980) | dir. Lino Brocka, wr. Jose “Pete” Lacaba | 99 min | Philippines (Tagalog)

A waitress, Angela Del Mar (Hilda Koronel), struggles to support her sick mother. She gets abducted and is raped for five days by five men who tattoo their names on her back (hence the title–Angela, the Marked One) and attempt to sell her to a brothel. During a raid, she escapes and finds her mother has passed away. Tracking down her rapists one by one, she seeks vengeance for her brutal, violent violation. (more…)

Raya Martin’s 2005 digital film Maicling Pelicula Nang Ysang Indio Nacional (O Ang Mahabang Kalungkutan ng Katagalugan)/A Short Film About the Indio Nacional (Or the Prolonged Sorrow of the Filipinos) is, in form, an homage to the silent film: a series of black and white vignettes of everyday Filipino life on the eve of the 1896 Philippine Revolution against Spain. Independencia is the second part of a trilogy that began with Indio Nacional, set during the American invasion and occupation. And it is premiering out-of-competition in competition Un Certain Regard next month at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Galing!

I don’t know about you, but I officially nominate this for Best Unintentionally Hilarious Music Video  at the 2009 LMMFAO awards, where director Hype Williams is no stranger.

In the past year alone, Brillante Mendoza (Tirador, Foster Child, Serbis) has made me a believer in his minimal, ultra-realist and brutally honest slices of Philippine life. Last year, Serbis was the first Philippine film to compete for the Palme d’Or in Cannes since Lino Brocka’s Bayan Ko: Kapit Sa Patalim in 1984, and now, his latest–Kinatay–has been listed as one of the twenty films in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, alongside other directors such as Lars von Trier, Ang Lee, Ken Loach, Alain Resnais, Pedro Almodovar and your boy Quentin Tarantino.

Also kind of a big deal: two other films screening at Cannes this year from the Philippines: Manila, directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr. and Raya Martin and Independencia, directed by Raya Martin. See the entire list of 20 films in competition at Cannes here.

My reviews of Brillante Mendoza’s previous work:
Tirador/Slingshot (2007)
John John/Foster Child (2007)
Serbis (2008)

Koshikei/Death By Hanging (1968) | dir. Nagisa Oshima | 118 min | B&W | Japan (Japanese w/ English subs)

Before the movie begins, some statistics flash onscreen: 71% of the Japanese population (at the time of the poll) voted against the abolition of the death penalty. Then, a forceful narrator’s voice interrupts. “To the 71% of Japanese people,” he asks, “Have you ever seen an execution chamber?” and “Have you ever seen an execution?” He repeats the two questions. Narrator then describes, in vivid detail, the scene and process of an execution about to happen. When it finally does, the narrator leaves and documentary becomes theater.  (more…)