Ivan Fructuoso)Īnd, if you STILL need another reason to believe that Joel Torre is a cool na cool, Super Astig guy, check out this short webisode from writer Lourd de Veyra’s “Word of the Lourd: Make Your Own Indie Film” series. with Bindlestiff Studio fund director Kat Evasco, photo credit: E. To find out how you too can help keep the Bindlestiff dream alive, click here. Ivan Fructuoso)įor more information on AMIGO, click here.įor an equally epic account of the Philippine-American War and its cultural impact, check out filmmaker Angel Velasco Shaw and writer Luis Francia’s edited collection, VESTIGES OF WAR: THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR AND THE AFTERMATH OF AN IMPERIAL DREAM, 1899-1999. Fructuoso, and Ed Mabasa, photo credit: E. (Bindlestiff Studio managing director Allan Manalo) (old skool FPAC/Classified Records reunion with Winston Emano, E. to the Bay, it also served as an informal reunion for those of us who’ve been involved in the California-based Filipino American arts scene since before the turn of this latest century. Bringing together community members and supporters, old and new, from L.A. Yet, despite its stops and starts, the evening proved to be a huge success, raising over $1,500 for the upcoming resurrection of Bindlestiff Studio at its original location (185 Sixth Street), thanks to the collective efforts of artists, administrators, and volunteers over this past decade. Unfortunately, already feeling under the weather, JT appeared unprepared for the Daly City fog, forgetting that a “San Francisco summer night” requires (at least) a light jacket or hoodie. A special event to benefit Bindlestiff Studio-a Filipino American performing arts venue in the city’s SoMA neighborhood-the screening took place at UA Stonestown with an after-party at Bindlestiff’s own Rene Acosta’s latest venture, Social Kitchen & Brewery. cinematic attempts to address the oft-forgotten history of the Philippine-American War (1899-1904). This past Saturday, August 20th, JT arrived in San Francisco for the opening weekend of his latest project AMIGO, a film directed by John Sayles (forever the “underdog” proponent) and one of the very few U.S. (post-film Q&A with Joel Torre & Professor Gold, photo credit: E. As owner of JT’s Manukan Grille-a chain of roadside restos featuring specialties from his hometown (Bacolod) such as chicken inasal and batchoy, he is also a beloved figure among foodies and bloggers. And his dexterity is not limited to acting (or directing or producing, all jobs he has done in theatre and television). In March 1892 Stanford and California had played the first college foo. Rafael is forced to make the near-impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by civilians in an occupied country. A devious Spanish friar (Yul Vazquez) thwarts communication with his spiteful intrigues. With a career spanning over four decades, “JT” has starred on stage and on the big screen, in mainstream and indie films, and in both Filipino and U.S.-based productions. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. A sympathetic American lieutenant (Garret Dillahunt) learns that hearts and minds cannot be won at gunpoint. But, then again, Joel Torre is not like most actors. Scott asserted that, in orchestrating scenes, Sayles seems to have invited “his actors to find their own ways of wearing the tight garments he has designed.Not many actors would travel halfway across the world and embark upon a multi-city tour to promote a film that they did not also write or direct.

The critic then praised “Amigo,” which was shot in Bohol with a Filipino cast and crew alongside Hollywood actors-led by Oscar winner Chris Cooper-as “a well-carpentered narrative, fast-moving and emphatic, stepping nimbly from gravity to good humor.” Scott called Sayles a “left-wing, baby-boom John Ford, spinning fables of the American character out of the threads of myth, memory and ideology.” “This is not the kind of movie, and Sayles is not the type of director, to linger in the picturesque past, savoring antique details and re-staging bygone conflicts,” Scott noted.įor Sayles, Scott pointed out, “history… turns on recurrent themes of power, greed, exploitation and principled, often Quixotic, resistance to those forces.” Scott reserved the highest praise for Sayles, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for “Passion Fish” and “Lone Star.” “Amigo” is also part of the 31st Hawaii International Film Festival, which runs in October.

Quotes from amigo by john sayle