balintataw

balintataw

I wish to be cut from the reel of reality

Favorite films

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  • Late Night with the Devil

  • Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End

  • Hello, Love, Again

  • Monster

Recent reviews

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  • Parasite

    Parasite

    Much has already been said and written about how this is a masterpiece to be seen before one's death, and unless you have been residing under a rock, chances are you are already familiar with Parasite, so I will not further delve into the specificities of the plot nor examine its thematic aspects. Instead, I would share my short experience of how a rewatch made me realize that the film is too perfect, and why that negatively affected my second…

  • The Old Man and the Sea

    The Old Man and the Sea

    With its ethereal ingenuity and profundity, this gorgeously animated rendition of a classic astonished me with its unique approach of reinterpretating Hemingway's voice without straying far from his original ambition.

    The Old Man and the Sea embraced the freedom afforded by the animation process to craft stunning imagery that did justice to its medium, the way Hemingway's words did for his, as shown by the dream-like sequences and minimal dialogue.

    Several have said that they would have preferred a runtime…

Popular reviews

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  • Nightcrawler

    Nightcrawler

    When I see a film featuring a villain as a protagonist, I usually see it in a way that tries to elicit sympathy from the audience. That was not the case with Nightcrawler.

    Seeing Lou Bloom's manipulation of everyone around him never failed to make my skin crawl, and I felt tremendously uneasy when I, the viewer, was also manipulated into rooting for him. Jake Gyllenhaal's acting was extraordinarily authentic, and as a result, everything about Lou - his actions, gestures, and words made me wonder what exactly he was capable of doing.

    The ending, unfortunately for his victims, answered my question.

  • Ernest & Celestine

    Ernest & Celestine

    A film giving homage to the beauty of life through an unusual friendship, every single detail in Ernest & Celestine served as a watercolored eulogy on the discovery of one's self through the eyes of a true friend.

    Despite the messages of social issues hidden beneath the plot, it was both sincere and warm in its delivery. The delicate visualization of this adaptation served its purpose in the short-lived resurrection of my childhood awe as I escaped reality for a moment.…