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If this is your first visit, welcome! This site is devoted to my life experiences as a Filipino-American who immigrated from the Philippines to the United States in 1960. I came to the US as a graduate student when I was 26 years old. I am now in my mid-80's and thanks God for his blessings, I have four successful and professional children and six grandchildren here in the US. My wife and I had been enjoying the snow bird lifestyle between US and Philippines after my retirement from USFDA in 2002. Macrine(RIP),Me and my oldest son are the Intellectual migrants. Were were born in the Philippines, came to the US in 1960 and later became US citizens in 1972. Some of the photos and videos in this site, I do not own. However, I have no intention on infringing on your copyrights. Cheers!

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

The Mole Agent-One of the Best Documentary Film this Year


I finished watching this film on Netflix a few months ago. It made me cry and I can fully identify with the story and sentiment in this film being an octogenarian myself. I highly recommend this 2021 Oscar nominated documentary to all and specially to Senior Citizens and their relatives. 

Here's a short write-up from Wikipedia.

The Mole Agent (Spanish: El agente topo is a 2020 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi. It was screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. At the 93rd Academy Awards, It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature  and was selected as the Chilean entry for Best International Feature Film, making the shortlist of fifteen films.

A private investigator (RĂ³mulo) hires an elderly man (Sergio) to go undercover in a nursing home in Chile. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2020. In August 2020, Gravitas Ventures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and set it for a 1 September 2020, release. The film will be broadcast on PBS on 25 January 2021, as part of their POV program. It was released in the Netherlands on 10 December 2020, by Cinema Delicatessen.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 51 reviews, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The critical consensus reads "Warm and funny, The Mole Agent offers audiences a poignant reminder that it's never too late to forge new connections and embark on new adventures." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Glenn Kenny of The New York Times gave the film a positive review commenting: "The film’s people are moving, and the payoff is compassionate, humane and worth heeding.". Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com rated the movie three stars out of four writing: "The documentary succeeds with its tenderness, while vividly reminding us how easily society can forget its elders.".

Awards and nominations

The Mole Agent has received several awards and nominations, the documentary was the Chilean entry for the Goya Award for Best Iberoamerican Film, achieving the nomination being the eighteenth Chilean nomination in that category since its creation and the second for Alberdi after La once was nominated in 2015. At the 93rd Academy Awards, the film made the shortlist for two categories, for Best International Feature Film becoming the third Chilean entry to make the shortlist after No and A Fantastic Woman made the shortlist and received a nomination with the latter winning, though The Mole Agent did not received a nomination for this category, it achieved one for Best Documentary Feature, the other category where it was shortlisted.

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards 25 April 2021 Best Documentary Feature The Mole Agent Pending
Goya Awards 6 March 2021 Best Iberoamerican Film Nominated
Independent Spirit Awards 22 April 2021 Best Documentary Feature Pending
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards February 8, 2021 Best International/Foreign Language Film Nominated
National Board of Review January 26, 2021 Top 5 Foreign Language Films Won
Cinema Eye Honors 9 March 2021 Audience Choice Prize Maite Alberdi Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score Vincent van Warmerdam Nominated
the Unforgettables Sergio Chamy Won

Meanwhile: I just finished watching another movie, Philomena. I enjoyed this movie very much and I also recommend it. Here's the trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjt8DWo9F8

Philomena is a 2013 drama film directed by Stephen Frears, based on the 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by journalist Martin Sixsmith. Starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, it tells the true story of Philomena Lee's 50-year search for her adopted son and Sixsmith's efforts to help her find him.

The film gained critical praise and received several international film awards. Coogan and Jeff Pope won Best Screenplay at the 70th Venice International Film Festival while the film was also awarded the People's Choice Award Runner-Up prize at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was nominated for four Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (for Dench), and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.

Fact: My Teacher-the Octopus won the Oscar for best documentary this year. I have also seen this documentary and I really enjoyed it very much.

 

 

2 comments:

Agnes L. Apeles said...

Thanks for sharing. We’re not a Netflix subscriber. Just watching regular TV channels and TFC channel. Take care. Heard that there’s typhoon in Marinduque today.

David B Katague said...

Thanks for taking time to read this posting. I found Netflix or Hulu good channels for excellent TV programs. The dollars you pay for subscription is worth it if you enjoy excellent Movies, and documentaries. The typhoon did not leave much damage from what I heard- just strong winds and lots of rain! Take Care and thanks again for reading my blogs. Regard to Flo!!!

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