l!fe • The Philippine Star

About the author

Karl R. De Mesa

Karl R. De Mesa is a longreads journalist and photographer who has reported on stories in the Philippines, Myanmar, Hong Kong, and Singapore. His latest book is the nonfiction collection "Calling Out the Destruction—Meditations on Violence and Transcendence."

Film

REVIEW: From Hell’s Kitchen without love in 'Daredevil: Born Again'

March 8, 2025

Entertainment

REVIEW: Thrilling crime conspiracies and action in Disney+ series ‘Paradise’

January 29, 2025

Film

REVIEW: 'Longlegs' is terror worth your patience

July 17, 2024

TV/Streaming

REVIEW: ‘The Bear’ Season 3 delves deeper into the stress and fury of a fine-dining kitchen

June 28, 2024

Technology

I don’t want to be your 'Baby Reindeer': Here's how you can protect yourself from cyberstalkers

May 17, 2024

Food

Kowloon Calling: Eat at these five gems next time you’re in Hong Kong

May 9, 2024

TV/Streaming

REVIEW: FX miniseries 'Shogun' is a must-see historical drama with keen edge

April 24, 2024

Dining

BGC’s Bolero Manila serves up modern Euro cuisine by a Michelin Guide chef

December 9, 2023

Film

REVIEW: 'Napoleon' is an epic Ridley Scott return to history as spectacle

November 29, 2023

Performing Arts

Meet the Flamenco Sisters, two young women who are reviving a Spanish folk dance for a new generation

November 2, 2023

ASTROLOGY

Look out for the Sinagtala Tarot, where Filipino folklore and divination collide

October 31, 2023

TV/Streaming

REVIEW: 'The Bear' Season 2 continues its stressfully delicious romp behind kitchen doors

July 23, 2023

TV/Streaming

REVIEW: 'Succession' series finale drives home how greed warps human desire

May 30, 2023

Fitness

Here's how you can get the most out of training Muay Thai for fitness

March 11, 2023

TV/Streaming

REVIEW: Black comedy goes Eurotrashing in deliciously acerbic ‘White Lotus’ season 2

October 28, 2022

TV/Streaming

First episode spoiler-free look: How to live among beasts in the terrific 'House of the Dragon'

August 22, 2022

Movies

REVIEW: Jordan Peele's 'Nope' makes horror sci-fi great again

August 19, 2022

Books

'Imagining Manila' examines why Western foreigners think the city is an exotic, criminal wasteland

August 14, 2022

TV/Streaming

Smile for the Slashies! You’ll love the next gen of final girls in 'Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin'

July 28, 2022

Books

Streets of Rage: An interview with Filipino crime novelist Ronaldo Vivo Jr.

July 5, 2022

Travel

Walking through the tasty history of Singapore’s Chinatown

June 28, 2022

Movies

'Top Gun: Maverick' is a popcorn blockbuster built by spectacle and nostalgia

May 24, 2022

TV/Streaming

HBO’s 'We Own This City' is a hardboiled tale of criminal police with eerily familar themes of ‘tanim drugs, tanim baril, tanim ebidensya’

April 29, 2022

TV/Streaming

An Uncivil War | HBO’s 'DMZ' depicts what a conflict-divided USA might look like today

March 25, 2022

Sports

‘Slick’ Rick Marshall is a badass Fil-Am jiu-jitsu instructor slash engineer slash MBA grad: 'I feel much more violent when I eat the right food'

March 12, 2022

Movies

The top 5 fictional presidents of our time

March 4, 2022

TV/Streaming

Looking back at six seasons of ‘The Expanse’, the grandest space opera show that’s way better than Star Wars

February 4, 2022

Movies

Rewatching 'The Life of David Gale' and what it can teach us about the death penalty

January 26, 2022

Film

Fighting with Your Emotions in HBO’s ’Gensan Punch‘

December 15, 2021

Music

Rap as a vessel for truth and protest | Rapper Calix speaks up on new EP and why the 'raptivist' tag has to go

December 4, 2021

Horror/Supernatural

Fiction: Dark Kitchen

November 1, 2021

Scary Movies

Monsoon season monsters | Here are some of the best modern Southeast Asian horror movies

October 25, 2021

Music

Fiery Neo-Soul in Bisaya? August Wahh Has Us Covered with Twin-Song Release

October 15, 2021

Sports

The Ocean and the Silence: Pinay record-breaker Wei Zosa on the joys and hazards of freediving

July 16, 2021

Film

What I Fear, What I Love: Director Mikhail Red on forthcoming crime thriller 'Arisaka' and HBO's 'Halfworlds'

June 25, 2021