Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 43

The genius of Get Out is treating benign racism as the horror.

Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams (Marnie from Girls) star in Jordan Peele’s Get Out You need to see this movie. It’s genuinely scary and funny AND it tackles oppression without once mentioning oppression. It’s consciousness-raising without the lecture. People who fancy themselves broad-minded think that because they voted for Obama, idolize black athletes and have […]

The Money Diaries of famous people will make you feel less inept about your finances

It’s heartwarming, discovering that clever people whose work we admire can be just as stupid about money as we are. Richard Linklater, the director of Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight and many other movies we love, explains why he’s glad he got downsized. Anthony Bourdain seems to have all the answers, but when he […]

Now you can watch Trippies online!

Watch our travel show TRIPPIES on PhilStarTV. Answers to questions you might ask: 1. Yes, it is completely unscripted and spontaneous. 2. Yes, Pepe and I were acquainted but we never hung out until we started filming Trippies. 3. Yes, we have no make-up or styling because we have enough to do without worrying about […]

Why do the arrogant and obnoxious become popular?

Possibly because the arrogant and obnoxious have no problem doing what most people would not allow themselves to do. Most Urapmin spend their lives trying to find balance between wilfulness and lawfulness. Moving back and forth between their two values, most people never realise either one completely, but at the same time, they never fail […]

Weekly Report Card 10: An upteenth movie reboot, and a truly original novel

Movie: Kong: Skull Island Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ reboot of King Kong is not bad—it’s an entertaining way to pass two hours plus, and the monsters are properly monstrous. Samuel Jackson is just parodying himself now—I guess he’ll only bring it for Quentin Tarantino—but the extended hommage to Apocalypse Now is amusing, down to the name of […]

Get enough sleep, people! Sleep problems can make you sick.

If you caught the first episode of Trippies (Thank you! Replays on CNN Philippines today at 1230pm and Saturday at 11am), you may recall how Pepe and I, two non-athletic people, wondered what Olympic-level skills we have. Mine is sleeping. I can sleep through anything. Sometimes on long-haul flights I’m asleep before take-off. I seriously […]

Weekly Report Card 9: True story movies and The Smiths of contemporary lit, Zadie and Ali

Natalie Portman in Jackie Movies I’ve seen in the past month Logan – A (See review) American Pastoral – D. For his directorial debut Ewan McGregor had the nerve to adapt a Philip Roth novel, but not the grasp of Roth’s fury or the chops to do the material justice. Devoid of Roth-ness, American Pastoral […]

20 years ago, Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered and told us that nothing is as scary as real life.

Fourteen years after its final episode, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is still my favorite TV series and essential viewing in tires of dread and distress (I’m watching it again). My top 5 episodes: 1. Once More With Feeling (The Musical) 2. The Body (Joyce Summers died) 3. Hush (The one that was totally silent) 4. […]

Our travel show, Trippies, premieres on Sunday, 12 March at 7:30pm on CNN Ph. Watch it!

Photo by Royd Santiago Filmmaker Pepe Diokno and I talk our way around the world in a weekly half-hour show. TRIPPIES premieres on Sunday, 12 March at 7:30pm on CNN Philippines. Replays air on Tuesdays at 1:30pm, Thursdays at 12:30pm, and Saturdays at 11am. Trippies has conversation, food, history, and an international cast of dogs […]

Logan is Wolverine unleashed on the big screen for real, for the first time

The more I read about how bleak and wonderful Logan is, the more I put off watching it. Was I ready to see an old, weakened, weary Wolverine scraping by as a limo driver? Or worse, an old, fragile Professor Xavier with dementia? Or a broken-down world of the near future where the other X-Men […]