I love how Ikiru captures the quiet, terrifying reality of dying...and the realization that maybe you never really lived.

Classic Kurosawa storytelling,deeply human, quietly devastating, and never afraid to be cynical. I love how it tackles bureaucracy, community, and social apathy, but most of all, how it never shies away from prejudice and the ugliness of people.

A film about death that is ultimately about learning how to live.

I literally just watched Kakabakaba Ka Ba? today, little did I know it was first shown on this exact day 46 years ago. As if it was meant for me to watch it. 😂

I’ve been seeing this on TikTok, and my partner has been pestering me to watch it for the longest time. I guess he’s really hooked on Johnny Delgado. Lol. I didn’t even know Christopher de Leon was in this, so finding out it was his movie was probably what finally convinced me to watch it this morning while we were looking for something after The Impossible.

Which, by the way, I had a side comment about being a movie about insurance. Ugh. Capitalists! 😂 I remember liking it years ago, though.

Anyway, Kakabakaba Ka Ba? started slow for me. At first I thought, typical ’80s Filipino movie, this is going to be boring. Then the antics and slapstick kicked in and I was laughing. Some of the jokes would probably get the movie cancelled today, especially the racial humor. Lol.

And I LOVE that they suddenly inserted a full musical sequence in Act 3. If I hadn’t seen clips of it on TikTok, I never would’ve guessed where this movie was going.

But what really got me is how relevant it still feels 46 years later. The satire, the class divide, the colonial mentality, the ridiculousness of Filipino society...it’s all still painfully relevant. 46 years later, and it feels like we’re still laughing at the same problems.

This is a class-S Filipino film. They really don’t make movies like this anymore.

Greek mythology? I’m already sold. I went in with absolutely no expectations, just like when I watched Troy. Honestly, I think that’s the best way to watch adaptations like this. You remember that it’s someone’s interpretation of a 2,000-year-old myth, so if they change things, eh. I’m here for the ride. 😂

What really surprised me was how human Nolan made Odysseus. Reading The Odyssey, I always thought he was an arrogant prick whose own choices got him and his men into trouble. But here, there’s guilt, trauma, and the weight of everything Troy did to him. Like, what do you mean he actually cared about his men? That he knew their names? That he wept hearing his own songs? Suddenly I’m looking at Odysseus differently.

That’s probably my favorite thing about the film. It made me root for Odysseus despite all his bullshit.I think that's my favourite part of the movie... and why Zendaya works so well as Athena.

For a story I’ve always read as a cautionary tale about arrogance and the consequences of your own choices, Nolan somehow made me feel sorry for the bastard. Homer would've been proud of this.