Welcome to What to Watch Right Now, our weekly rundown of the best things to watch right now. The constant stream of shows, videos, and films to watch online can become a sludge to wade through, so here are a few things you can watch courtesy of the Rolling Stone Philippines team. Whether it’s a new film, a video essay, or even a home video release you should own (physical media is now available!), we hope it can ease the burden of selecting which streaming platform to use or discover a new cinematic odyssey.
This week, the last episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! had us wondering about the future of late night. Kontrabida Academy made us nostalgic for the villains of peak Filipino television, while Mindhunter made us nostalgic for the Holt McCallany-Jonathan Groff we’ll probably never see again. Exit 8 terrified us with infinity loops, Elijah Canlas’ “Joseph K.” music video had us contemplating Kafka, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty made us yearn (for both food and love), and crazy/beautiful brought us back to the angsty teenage romance dramas of the early aughts. Finally, Dekada ‘70 is definitely worth your movie night, especially with the anniversary of martial law upon us.
The Last Episodes of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
This was Trump’s last straw? Really?
We really should call them the “latest” episodes, but we don’t know when we’ll see Jimmy Kimmel in his late-night show again after the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company (ABC) suspended it “indefinitely.” The suspension follows the comedian-host’s comments on American right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead last week at a university in Utah, U.S.
Kimmel often targets U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies in monologues. On Monday, September 15, he said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend, with the [Make America Great Again] gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” This comes as Trump’s administration moves to temper criticism against Kirk in the media. So much for free speech. —Pie Gonzaga
‘Kontrabida Academy’
Camp with a capital K!
It takes a lot of hard work to be a kontrabida. You need to know exactly how to arch your eyebrows in disgust (the higher the better), how to end any conversation with a scathing one-liner, and how to best slap an unsuspecting bida across the face.
There is much to learn, and therein lies the premise of director Chris Martinez’s campy Netflix comedy, Kontrabida Academy. It follows Gigi (Barbie Forteza), a mild-mannered restaurant worker who’s sick and tired of being pushed around by everyone in her life. When a TV blips her into a school for on-screen kontrabidas (shh, don’t question it), she is taken under the villainous wing of her mentor, Mauricia (Eugene Domingo).
Kontrabida Academy is an ode to the kontrabidas of Filipino teleseryes, and for fans of the genre, keep an eye out for Odette Khan, Celia Rodriguez, Pinky Amador, and the best of the best. — Mel Wang
‘Exit 8’
A circuitous take on modern life… and then some
The moment The Lost Man (Kazunari Ninomiya) realizes he’s in an unending loop is a moment akin to the opening scene of another “escape room” movie, Cube. But unlike Cube, which drops us right into a moment of horror, Exit 8 takes its video game’s premise to an underlying structure that presents a circuitous take on modern life as a psychological gamble.
However, the film slaps a moralizing stance to justify the theatrical adaptation’s existence, which is its biggest mistake. Life is hell enough, and without the parenthood metaphors, Exit 8 already makes for a hellish allegory of life in late-stage capitalism. Who better understands this than the Japanese? That it is bookended by office drones walking in and out of the subway makes for a chilling visual nightmare. Get out if you can. — Don Jaucian
Elijah, ‘Joseph K.’ Music Video
A monochrome showcase of the best character actors working today
You gotta hand it to Elijah Canlas for making a chilling reference to Franz Kafka’s The Trial for the music video of “Joseph K,” his own reworking of the novel’s debased protagonist, Josef K, who is persecuted for a crime he didn’t commit. Elijah, who poses next to Kafka’s portrait in the song’s lyric video, recruits director Dan Villegas to craft a monochrome music video that showcases some of Philippine entertainment’s best actors in non-speaking roles, letting Elijah’s bars wrap their faces of despair, anguish, and confusion. Actors in the music video include Meryll Soriano, Ketchup Eusebio, Kokoy De Santos, Milo Elmido Jr., Pocholo Barretto, Benedix Ramos, and Miles Ocampo. — Don Jaucian
‘Bon Appétit, Your Majesty’
Why can’t I time-travel and find a hot, angry king?
Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is for the fanfic girlies (oh, to be isekai-ed). It opens with Ji-young (Lim Yoon-a), an ambitious, talented young woman who has just earned the title of three-star Michelin chef. She doesn’t have time for anything else but her career; unfortunately, her plans are derailed when a magical cookbook transports her back to Korea’s Joseon dynasty (hush, hush, lean into it). There, she comes face-to-face with King Lee Heon (Lee Chae-min), a tyrannical overlord who falls in love with the chef and the dishes she prepares for him.
I don’t need Bon Appétit, Your Majest, to make sense. That is not why I watch TV. I just need high-energy cooking sequences and that yummy, excruciating feeling of kilig when the show’s two leads get closer and closer to each other. — Mel Wang
‘Dekada ‘70’
Timeless and so, so important
Vilma Santos deserved so much better in this movie. In Dekada ‘70, the Star For All Seasons plays Amanda, a quiet housewife whose life is controlled by her bullheaded, misogynistic husband (Christopher de Leon) and by the whims of her five sons (yes, it is a very male-dominated household). On top of all this, martial law is declared, and Amanda must watch as the violence, brutality, and hatred of that era rob her of her family.
While director Chito S. Roño deftly balances several storylines at the same time — Piolo Pascual plays the idealistic, activist son, and Marvin Agustin is the brooding middle child who uses journalism as an act of protest — the real core of this martial law drama is Santos. She is infuriatingly submissive for most of the movie, but, like many of us, she must come to a choice: she can either speak up or continue to be squashed by her family’s heavy, authoritative, male thumb (you read between the lines). — Mel Wang
‘crazy/beautiful’
A biblically 2000s Kirsten Dunst as an angsty nepo baby
Recently added to Netflix Philippines’ movie catalog, crazy/beautiful (2001) is a teenage romance drama that reimagines the Romeo-and-Juliet trope in Los Angeles. Kirsten Dunst plays Nicole Oakley (what a Y2K-ass name), the angsty daughter of a congressman who falls for her Latino classmate Carlos Nuñez, played by Jay Hernandez (Hostel, Suicide Squad). Together, they’re a pair of “two star-crossed lovers” whose “misadventured piteous overthrows” are met with their “parents’ strife.”
There’s a lot to love about the film if you can look past its uneven, sometimes superficial plotlines. Its portrayal of raw, disheveled 2000s teenhood is strangely endearing, capturing a bygone era that pop culture seems hellbent on referencing today. Dunst’s peak it-girl energy is on full display, foreshadowing her turn in Sofia Coppola’s equally angsty Marie Antoinette (2006). And the soundtrack alone is worth the watch — a scrappy blend of grungy alt-rock and Latin hip-hop that serves as a time capsule of early 2000s California, including tracks by Remy Zero, The Getaway People, and The Dandy Warhols.
It’s tempting to sigh, “They just don’t make movies like this anymore!” But with titles like this resurfacing on Netflix, maybe we’re on the brink of a revival. —Sai Versailles
‘Mindhunter’
The crime show that got away
I feel a great sadness whenever I’m reminded that there will never be a third season of Netflix’s procedural thriller Mindhunter. The series created by Joe Penhall and produced by David Fincher and Charlize Theron follows two FBI agents (Holt McCallany and a straight Jonathan Groff) and a psychologist (lesbian Anna Torv) who launch a research project to understand the psychology of serial killers.
Aside from its stellar cast and crew, critical acclaim for the show is owed to the endearing lead characters and storylines that unspool, tangle, and twist. Never mind that the first season only has 10 episodes and the second has nine; the writing, acting, and cinematography all make Mindhunter an addictive watch, especially for those only getting acquainted with crime dramas and Fincher’s work. —Pie Gonzaga
