Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 73

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Overachieving New Yorker abandons the big time to follow Pinoy ex to California

Doctors and aswang are the two things most often associated with Filipinos on prime-time American TV. In the ’80s hospital drama St. Elsewhere, doctors were boggled by a weird sickness called “ba-ngyoo-ngyot”; more recently a doctor in House was supposed to be Filipino-Korean. “Ass-wang” have turned up on CSI, Grimm, and recently on The Strain, […]

Definitive proof that Julianne Moore is the greatest actress in the world

But we already knew that, when she screamed at the drugstore clerk in Magnolia with her mouth in a perfect rectangle shape. Here she cries on command and delivers her monologues for a buck. Walang buwelo! The shocking part: People don’t know who she is. Hey Elmo, take a hard look at a real redhead! […]

Slade House is a terrific haunted house story and a companion volume to The Bone Clocks

Available in hardcover at National Bookstores, Php1049 We were not expecting a new David Mitchell novel so soon after The Bone Clocks, so when our friend pointed to the good-looking volume with the cut-out cover, we almost did not associate it with one of our favourite authors. Yesterday we made the same mistake we always […]

Watch The Hunt, Antichrist and other great movies for free at the Danish Film Festival

Denmark has produced some of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema, from Carl Theodor Dreyer to the instigators of Dogme 95 and after. Starting tomorrow you can see the work of recent Danish filmmakers at the Danish Film Festival in Shang Mall. If you have not seen The Hunt, we recommend you […]

Profiling the voters: What your choice of presidential candidate says about you

Your choice for President is Jejomar Binay. You think that the administration of President Benigno Aquino III has been a flop. You have become more discontented with your lot in life since 2010. You see that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and every day the gap grows wider. You […]

Chris Hemsworth, the sea, and a bunch of cats

"The Man Who Dreams Only of Surfing" starring Chris Hemsworth from Bruce Weber on Vimeo. Thanks to Juan for the alert. After this last weekend, we have decided to hole up in the house until the holiday madness passes. This will make us stir-crazy, so everyday we will walk to the mall and back. Walking […]

It’s time for our favourite holiday special

Totally captures the mood of the season. A thousand times better than that Star Wars Xmas special. Speaking of Star Wars: Are we excited about the impending opening of The Force Awakens? No, we refuse to buy into the hype. Until we are certain that it is not The Phantom Menace all over again, we […]

Podcast: Moira, Juana and Jessica talk about A Second Chance

Moira Lang and Juana Change When we recorded this podcast last Thursday, A Second Chance starring Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz was already the top-grossing Filipino movie of 2015. Is it everything it’s cranked up to be? How does it stack up against the much-loved first movie, One More Chance? The cast of this […]

Deadwood: Guns, Goons, Gold and Genius

Before you read our column this week, listen to our introduction. “Pain and damage don’t end the world. Or despair, or fucking beatings. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then you’ve got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man and give some back.” — Al Swearengen The temptation is to go on […]

Your choice: Beautiful stairs, or unbroken bones?

These stairs give new meaning to “suffering for beauty.” Read The World’s Most Beautiful (and Terrifying) Stairs. Thanks to Noel for the alert.