"What took you so long?"
"I don't know."

Fascinating to see early work from not only Topper Fabregas and JC Santos, but also director Gino Jose, screenwriter Luigi Gonzalez, editor Carlo Manatad, and colorist Timmy Torres. A simple film set in the midst of a water festival. It doesn't dwell on the spectacle of the festivities, but instead finds pockets of silence where friendships are rekindled between John (Fabregas) and Trey (Santos).

It's also ittedly ingenious to set an adult…

There is much to love about Martika Ramirez Escobar's debut feature film "Leonor Will Never Die."

But the thing that strikes me right now is how it introduces non-Filipinos to the specifics of Philippine culture and entertainment: the pirated DVDs being sold cheaply on the streets, the gatherings of strangers around a television screen at hospitals, the near-universal love for action heroes, the perpetual desire to burst out into a karaoke song and dance, and so much more. In many…