2008 Entertainment Blog of the Year: Lilok Pelikula

Yep, this is the time of the year when I pick three blog sites that deserve a million hits and call them “Blogs of the Year.” There are three categories: Entertainment, Socio-Political and Personal.  Most of the time, I put so much weight on how often I visit the blog, how well it’s written, and how much it has influenced me.

Why am I doing this? Gaah. I dunno. Because I want to. And I just noticed that most of my favourite blogs don’t even get noticed by any award-giving body, who mostly depend on polls. And it saddens me a bit because hey, the quality of writing is sometimes overlooked and set aside, making it a contest of who’s got the biggest online circle. (Hey, I said sometimes.)

So to recognise noteworthy bloggers who are able to express their experiences and opinions through their excellent writing (be it humourous, emo, sarcastic or fatally nosebleeding), I took the liberty to play God and pick what I think are the bests in Philippine blogosphere. I choose the blog I feature according to my personal taste so there’s nothing you can do about it. Haha.

Anyway, last year’s Blogs of the Year are:

• Entertainment: Berg’s Berg Loves Pizza
• Socio-Political: David Llorito’s Philippines Without Borders
• Personal: Ilaya’s Insert Witty Title Here

I have to admit that I don’t usually find his taste in films delightful, hehe. Most of his reviews are either too harsh, too kind, or completely what-the-heck for me. Hell, he gave The Dark Night 2 stars out of 5. Boy was that sinisterly unforgiving! But we may not have similar takes on movies, it still doesn’t change my opinion of how good his reviews are. I mean, how they are written and how he manages to come up with a thematic review that almost convinces me to cross over to his side. Haha.

The Blog: The author claims, and I quote, “the idea of starting this journal dates back almost two years ago when he wanted to found a magazine that focuses on film criticism during his college days. The magazine never happened, so here is the alternative.”

The Blogger: Richard Bolisay succinctly described himself as “addicted to films, books, and music.” He got his degree in Film from UP Diliman. I just wish that this guy finally starts his own Film magazine. He deserves it.

Excerpts: Parts of his best reviews.

Love of Siam (2007) Review:

…I admit the film itself is not great – - but above average, fleshy, schmaltzy, coolly observant, sensitive, and the controlled handling of the material makes up for the overlong sequences…

When it fades out, there is that painful realization of that distinct human disability, of wanting love and pushing it away, of not only wanting love but needing it, of needing it and pushing it away, of sacrificing individual happiness for the two of you thinking that it will be a better resolution, that if you are really for each other, then fate has its way of bringing you two again together, but what if fate has Alzheimer’s, what if fate is the evil bully who tortured you when you were a kid, what if fate wants you to suffer because he’s Catholic? No matter what, there is nothing more intimate than someone’s head resting on your shoulder, you two are thinking about each other, that same moment, that comfort in strangeness, the future ahead of you no matter how narrow this world has become through the years, and the hell other people care….

And here’s another.

Ngayong Nandito Ka (2003) Review

…Ngayong Nandito Ka suffers from an absolute lack of riboflavin — its muscles too weak, its bones too brittle, nothing so much you could really get hold of — and if there’s any consolation in watching this film, as little as it is, I am afraid I can’t think of any.

If you watch this film when you’re bored, you get twice the feeling — and what’s scary is that you might get the idea of hanging your friend who lent you the copy of this salty, uninspired, effortless effort which could permanently damage your kidneys for life. Thank god I’ve seen it on free TV….

What’s so great: The content, of course. The reviews. His writing style. More often than not, his reviews are far more beautiful than the films he reviews.

What’s not-so-great: The layout, ehehe. And I know that breaking a paragraph into several paragraphs somehow ruins the train of thought, the stream of consciousness, the flow of ideas, or whatever you wanna call it, but puhleaze break ‘em. A paragraph the size of the Soviet Union against a black background isn’t very inviting. And oh, he stopped indicating his grades. Weird.

That’s it. Yoshke.com’s Entertainment Blog of the Year for 2008. Lilok Pelikula (Sculpting Cinema). Next up, my pick for this year’s Socio-Political Blog. Have to go now.

If you liked this post, you might want to check out:

• 2007 Personal Blog of the Year:
  Insert Witty Blog Title Here
• Movie Review | Miss You Like Crazy (2010)
• Movie Review | ‘The Hangover’ and the Headache That Didn’t Come With It
• Movie Rundown | Star Cinema (January – June 2009)
• Movie Rundown | 2009 Oscar Contenders (Part 2)
• Movie Rundown | 2009 Oscar Contenders (Part 1)
• Doubtful Girlfriends
• Movie Rundown | Batman Edition
• Movie Rundown | July 2008
• 2007 Socio-Political
  Blog of the Year:
  Philippines Without Borders