A Clockwork+Noir

Tuesday | June 21, 2011 | 11:54 am

Geologic in Cinemetropolis (Seattle’s Spike Lee (Reference previous Spike Lee Photo)

Tuesday | June 21, 2011 | 11:52 am

Early 90’s Spike Lee

Tuesday | May 17, 2011 | 11:16 am

Soundtrack to your NW Life!

Blue Scholars - Cinemetropolis (2011)

Wednesday | March 30, 2011 | 10:06 am

One of my favorite comic books returns just in time for my birthday in June. STOKED!

Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips Criminal : Last of the Innocents dropping at your local comic book shop June 2011!

Tuesday | March 29, 2011 | 7:01 pm

reblogged from phatlip

phatlip:

sapagitan:

“Filipino men, 1920s.”

i wonder what they’re saying, where they’re going.

So fuckin dapper! They’re heading to the billiards hall and dood is saying “Naglaingen ti outfit mo.”

Wednesday | February 9, 2011 | 5:28 pm

reblogged from nclrmrz

nclrmrz:

SHOTS: Photographs from the Underground Press
(R) Ronald Reagan, 1968 by Jeffrey Blankfort
(L) San Francisco State College, 1968 by Nacio Jan Brown

“If it takes a bloodbath, let’s get it over with. No more appeasement.” - Ronald Reagan

Sunday | January 30, 2011 | 4:00 am

Bonus Features: Signed Lino Brocka

Here is a clip from Director Christian Blackwood 1988 documentary about the life and work of the late Phillipine Director Lino Brocka (1939-1991).

Thanks to @prometheusbrown for posting it on YouTube.

Saturday | January 29, 2011 | 7:30 pm

Lino Brocka Great Films

Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975)

aka Manila at the Claw of Brightness (Dir. Lino Brocka)

Write up for the Film From 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

” Lino Brocka’s low -budget hit was a breakthrough for Filipino Cinema and is still often regarded as the best Filipino film of all -time. Julio (Bembol Roca) , a poor fisherman from the country, comes to Manila to look for his lost love , Ligaya (Hilda Koronel). Working at a construction site, he encounters unfair labor practices, dangerous working conditions, and a range if attitudes and politics among his fellow workers. He also becomes involved with a male-prostitution ring. Finally , he finds that Ligaya has been recruited by a brothel. Julio’s attempt to free her and himself from the hell of Manila ends in tragedy.

Manila in the Claws of Brightness captures the harshness of urban poverty through an assaulting soundtrack in which industrial noises , traffic sounds, and a crowd of hubbub are prominent , the crudeness of the recording and mixing contributing to overwhelming tension, not lessened by the faux-Ennio Morricone songs and synthesizer music. The images of urban entrapment and pain are sharply contrasted with intermittent flashbacks to the lovers’ coastal idyll in a direct manner that demonstrates Brocka’s commitment to melodrama. The surprisingly strong quotient of homo-eroticism- heightened by clips of Nicholas Ray’s King of Kings (1961) , which the heroine view in a movie theater anticipates Brocka’s Later Macho Dancer (1988)

- Chiara Ferrari

I’ve always considered myself a cinema-buff loving the films of Kubrick, Scorsese, Wenders, & Wong Kar Wai and the genre of film noir. However i knew nothing about the cinematic prowess of my own country the Philippines until reading this piece on Manila: The Claws Of Brightness five years ago. Since then i’ve made it a mission to watch, learn, and discuss the films of Lino Brocka, Mike De - Leon , Ishmael Bernal and countless others with anyone and everyone who would listen.

These directors often working with limitations not only in technology/equipment but under scrutiny of an oppressive government (Marcos regime) where able to create works that cement them as true “auteurs” in the cinematic landscape but also help gave us a harsh unflinching look at the realities of third world living , good and the bad.

Now I share to you the film considered one of the best pieces of Filipino cinema with the following 9 Links attached. (English subtitles included) This is the best quality of Manila: The Claws of Brightness i’ve seen yet and very grateful that someone put in the time and effort to post the film on YOUTUBE to be seen by others. I hope for legitimate DVD/ Blu- Ray release of not only this film but many of the films in Brocka’s catalogue in the near future hit the states ( Criterion where you at?) so we can reach a much bigger audience. I hope the film as well as Chiara Ferrari’s write-up peaks your interest as much as it did for me, and help spread the word on Lino Brocka and Filipino auteur cinema.

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-j8Mj4ts6w&playnext=1&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny4wObob-LI&feature=bf_next&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF&index=2

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MH15IhiD1w&feature=bf_next&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF&index=3

Part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MH15IhiD1w&feature=bf_next&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF&index=3

Part 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YARD5V9qI6A&feature=bf_next&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF&index=5

Part 6:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcviR2UWJnY&feature=bf_next&list=PL29B3863EB80742FF&index=6