Jessica Zafra's Blog, page 88

Hannibal is cancelled, and you-know-who is not dead.

Gillian Anderson as Hannibal’s psychiatrist and Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter Critics have long come to terms with the fact that reviews have little impact on audience numbers: it may even be argued that lousy reviews translate to stupendous box-office, as demonstrated most recently by Jurassic World. A couple of weeks ago, Hannibal returned for […]

SWOT Analysis: Do we like The Break-Up Playlist?

The “Let Blaine Die” SWOT analysis is priceless. The toughest movies to review are those that you neither hate nor love. When someone asks what you think of the movie, you reply, “Okay lang.” I don’t like saying, “Okay lang” because I trade in opinions and that is a cop-out. Therefore, I will apply a […]

Now they tell us: Drink only when you’re thirsty

Photo from Wikimedia Commons Remember when you were a kid and all your coaches and camp counselors and those vaguely hippie-ish guys who took your youth group hiking would tell you to drink, even when you weren’t thirsty? Turns out they were trying to murder you. The Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine published new guidelines […]

Bibliophilia is like endless polygamy

A private library of good size is an insolent form of riches, and the desire to have more books is difficult to rationalize, especially in view of the fact that you do not or cannot read them all but, as Bonnet makes clear, still you might. The bibliophile is, after all, like a sultan or […]

Tama the station cat dies, is elevated to goddess

A lavish funeral has been held for a Japanese cat which became an international star when she was made a station master in western Japan. Tama, which was made a railway official eight years ago, was credited with putting the rail firm back on track financially after drawing in thousands of tourists. Her custom-made cap […]

Now Roger Federer is showing us how to age gracefully

Excerpts from Brian Phillips’ wonderful essay in Grantland Four years ago, trying to comprehend the phenomenon of Federer’s late career, which even then seemed like it had lasted an astonishingly long time, I wrote that the best athletes usually have a “still” phase. First they’re fast. Then they’re slow. In between, there’s a moment when […]

The Stranger seen from the other side

The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, Php555 at National Bookstores Here at last is a retelling of an important novel from the perspective of another character, and if you were thinking Grey, the latest product for people who dream of getting chained, flogged and electrocuted in their privates by weird rich guys but would never […]

Silicon Valley: The geeks have still not inherited the earth.

Created by Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, Silicon Valley was reportedly inspired by Judge’s stint as a software engineer in the 1980s. It was, by his account, a soul-crushing experience. “The people I met were like Stepford Wives,” he said in an interview. “They were true believers in something, and I don’t know […]

We plan to review every play at Virgin Labfest XI

Reviews of Set A. Everyone’s looking forward to Nick Pichay’s Macho Dancer: The Musical. Get your tickets now at the CCP Box Office or Ticketworld, Php300 per set—just Php100 per play. Cheaper than a movie, but conversation fodder for days.

It’s less fun in this hotel

Owing to a mix-up, the Cebu Literary Festival organizer had to find us hotel accommodations at the last minute, and the guests from Manila were billeted at a hotel called Center Suites. The owners of Center Suites are members of Opus Dei, the ultra-conservative Catholic group, and our party included Carlos Celdran, celebrated “offender of […]