Michael Fassbender + Charlize Theron in W

If there's one thing Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron have in common, it's onscreen nudity. Lots of them. 

"I don’t have issues being naked," Theron muses. 

"In my movies, I’m often naked or dying," Fassbender counters.

Blame it on their good looks. In W's August issue, photographer Mario Sorrenti heats up his lens for a post-apocalyptic fashion editorial. S&M is back. Dust off your handcuffs and get that whip crackin'.  

Stylist Edward Enninful sets the mood with a Yves Saint Laurent metal chain dress, DSquared2 lambskin vest and Viktor & Rolf leather pants.. 

Essential Actors: Cinemalaya 2012

For Gibson (Ang Nawawala), it's pointless speaking unless you really have something good to say. For several years he kept his silence, biding his time, waiting for that perfect moment. 

There's no one more perfect to play Gibson than Dominic Roco: an actor with talent and charisma flowing through his veins. His twin brother, Felix, had his big break three years ago with Pepe Diokno's Engkwentro. 

The table has turned for Dominic. With Ang Nawawala, 2012 is his for the taking. 

Thai actor Ananda Everingham hardly speaks a word of Tagalog. Director Adolf Alix, on the other hand, has a strong liking for long, wordless sequences. With Kalayaan, a match made in celluloid heaven was made. Alix showcases Everingham's depth and maturity as an actor, proving he's more than just a pin-up boy for needy girls. 

It's amazing watching Everingham do so much without saying anything. His eyes convey what words could not. 

Ang Nawawala (2012)

Ang Nawawala has the pulse and sheen of a foreign movie. Of all the films in Cinemalaya, director Marie Jamora's coming of age rockathon is the most technically accomplished. Finally, a movie without shrieking roosters and earsplitting tricycles blaring in the background has arrived. 

Jamora is a savvy filmmaker and she plays to her strengths. Years of directing short films and music videos (40 as of last count) paid off.  Ang Nawawala is solid, cohesive and glossy. Elements perfectly complement each other—editing, production design and music are all faultless. 

Beyond its technical merits, Ang Nawawala offers nothing new that we haven't seen before. It doesn't have the emotional resonance of Vincent Sandoval's Aparisyon nor the scope of Loy Arcenas' Requieme!. What it does have is an irrevocable coolness factor which many viewers will find appealing—irresistible even. It may not win best picture (leave that to the big shots), but it will definitely win in the box office, which in the end, is just as important as the latter.     

Requieme! (2012)

When the lights dimmed and the film started playing, jaws dropped to the carpeted floor of CCP and stayed there. Blame Rody Vera's rip-roaring screenplay. The last time CCP reverberated with glee was during a midnight screening of Jade Castro's Zombadings. 

Film editor Lawrence Fajardo (Amok) worked his magic and turned Requieme!—a biting satire on how Filipinos deal with sexuality, grief and death—into a tight, thoroughly engaging movie. Although there were glitches during the screening (audio kept tuning in and out), that didn't hamper the movie's impact. If Requieme! were a lesser movie, people would have burned the theater to ashes.

Arcenas is developing into a fine filmmaker, displaying a flair for witty, character-driven movies. Society's double standard is none more evident in our country and Arcenas doesn't hold back in showing all its gory, thorny details.