My 2016 in Books, Films, and Theater

2016 edition of my annual recap:

BOOKS

1. "Before Sunrise & Before Sunset' - screenplays
2. "A Raisin in the Sun" - screenplay
3. "To Kill A Mockingbird" - novel
4. "Kill Your Darlings" - screenplay
5. "10 Short Plays" - plays
6. "Write Here. Write Now." - autobiography/memoir
7. "Steal Like An Artist" - autobiography/memoir
8. "Gagamba" - novel
9. "Humans of New York" - photography, anthology
10. "Of God and Men" - memoir
11. "Brokeback Mountain" - short stories
12. "Princess Maryam" - screenplay
13. "Waiting for Godot" - play
14. "Biography of Mother Theresa" 
15. "Martin Luther King Jr.: History Maker" - biography
16. "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" - novel, self-help
17. "The Vagina Monologues" - play
18. "Dear Distance" - short stories
19. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - novel
20. "Humans of New York Stories" - photography
21. "Letters from Father Christmas" - letters

MOVIES

Foreign

1. The Revenant - drama
2. Sisters - comedy
3. 50 First Dates - rom-com
4. Macbeth - drama
5. Room - drama
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - action, comedy
7. Trumbo - drama
8. Diary of a Teenage Girl - drama
9. The Danish Girl - drama
10. Steve Jobs - drama
11. Kung Fu Panda 3 (because of my job!) - action, comedy, animation
12. Big Hero 6 - drama, comedy, animation
13. Eat. Pray. Love. - drama
14. Midnight in Paris - drama
15. Angry Birds (twice!) (because of my job!) - comedy, animation
16. X-Men:Apocalypse - action
17. Captain America: Civil War - action
18. Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice - action 
19. Families (from French Film Fest) - comedy
20. The Very Private Life of Mr. Sim (from French Film Fest) - drama, comedy
21. Dead Pool - action, comedy
22. Ant-Man - action
23. Kingsman: The Secret Service - action
24. Alice Through The Looking Glass - drama, fantasy
25. Guardians of the Galaxy - action, animation
26. Ghostbusters - comedy
27. Looking: The Movie - drama
28. Nerve - drama, suspense
29. Suicide Squad - action
30. Don't Think Twice - drama, comedy
31. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - fantasy
32. Sausage Party - comedy
33. Dr. Strange - action
34. Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - fantasy
35. Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Concert in cinemas - drama, musical
36. Across the Universe - drama, musical
37. Moana - animation, adventure, comedy
38. AMY - documentary

Local

1. Buy Now, Die Later - horror, suspense
2. Walang Forever - rom-com 
3. Just the 3 of Us - rom-com
4. Imbisibol (from French Film Fest) - drama
5. Imagine You and Me (because of my job!) - romance, drama
6. Lando at Bugoy (from Cinemalaya 12) - drama
7. Ang Babaeng Humayo - drama
8. Apocalypse Child - drama 
9. Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa - romance, drama
10. Toto - comedy
11. Kabisera - drama (#MMFF2016)
12. Saving Sally - animation, romance (#MMFF2016)
13. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2 - comedy (#MMFF2016)
14. Sunday Beauty Queen - documentary (#MMFF2016)

THEATER

1. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Prinispe Munti" - musical, puppetry, drama
2. "Open The Door" - political satire, comedy
3. Red Turnip Theater's "Constellations" - play
4. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Tito Vanya" - play
5. Virgin Labfest sets A-D
6. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Sandosenang Sapatos" - musical, drama
7. Tanghalang Pilipino's "Pangarap sa Isang Gabi sa Gitnang Tag-Araw" - play, tragedy-comedy
8. Ballet Manila's "Cinderella" - ballet

TV SERIES

1. How To Get Away With Murder (season 2, season 3 fall finale)
2. Empire (season 2, season 3 fall finale)
3. Mozart in the Jungle (seasons 1 and 2)
4. Looking (seasons 1 and 2)
5. Stranger Things (season 1)

"Borrowed Time"

Pixar brought us some of the most remarkable animated films like Inside Out, Wall-E, Finding Nemo (then Dory), Brave, and The Toy Story and Cars franchises, which made us yearning to be kids again! 

Unbeknown to many, behind the entertaining characters, fanciful production value, and mostly lighthearted storylines, are cartoonists who believe that animation is a genre not exclusive for, and defined, by kids.

Take the case of Lou Hamou-Lhadj and Andrew Coats, co-writers and co-directors of the award winning animated short film, "Borrowed Time." They have been generating a lot of attention recently for their story about "a weathered Sheriff who returns to the remains of an accident he has spent a lifetime trying to forget. With each step forward, the memories come flooding back. Faced with his mistake once again, he must find the strength to carry on."

This aptly titled six-minute film (which you can watch HERE) echoes the time tested principle that our time on earth is limited. So short that we need not spend it sulking over the past (i.e. things we could have done the other way; mistakes we could have avoided; and choices we wish we made).

To live with grief, remorse, and sorrow, is part of the 'moving on' process but if they consume you for the rest of your finite life, expect to become worse than your former self. 

Let us learn from the Sheriff who unintentionally faced his demon--his uninvited ghost--after all these years. He proved to us that no matter how hard the challenge was, how long it has been, and how old you've become, "you can turn things around.*" He also showed us that forgiveness is a generous gift that we can offer ourselves.

The best part about the short film is knowing that Lou and Andrew developed the story in a span of five years, collaborating between their breaks at Pixar to do something compelling and meaningful out of their 'borrowed time.' :)

If you want to learn more about the creators' motivation behind making the story, watch their interview on Vimeo, here.

*Part of the emotional speech of Joan Rivers when she won a Daytime Emmy for her morning show in 1990, few years after her lowest point inHollywood--following the cancellation of her Late Night show and the suicide of her husband. You can watch it HERE.