Sorry State Of Local Films: Viewers Prefer Watching Established Love Teams Than Unlikely Pairings

AFTER “ALONE TOGETHER” hit it big at the tills, some quarters quickly predicted “tapos na ang kamalasan ng local films since the year started na puro flop ang mga pelikulang ipinalalabas.” But they spoke to soon and this turned out not to be true. The movie’s success was just a fluke.

First it starred an established and popular love team known as LizQuen, which has a good track record of past hits at the box office. It’s also from the biggest local film company we have these days, Star Cinema, who has the machinery to show its trailer repeatedly on ABS-CBN shows. It likewise opened in time for Valentine’s Day and the Feb. 15 payday when people go out dating.

The movie confirmed that the moviegoing public is looking for stars and pairings that are already familiar to them. The local films shown recently have unlikely pairings, Xian Lim and Louise de los Reyes in “Hanggang Kailan” from Viva, Janine Gutierrez and Enchong Dee in “Elise” from Regal, Winwyn Marquez and Enzo Pineda in “Time and Again” and before that, Christian Bables and Cora Waddell in “Recipe for Love”. They have not been seen by the public together before even on TV. So what do you expect would happen? Their films quickly vanished from movie houses.

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Roma: Alfonso Cuaron's Proust In Remembrances Of Things Past

ALFONSO CUARON is an acclaimed Mexican director whose breakout movie is “Y Tu Mama Tambien” in 2001, a road flick about two sexually obsessed young men that got several Oscar nominations. But before that, he has done more commercial projects in Hollywood like “A Little Princess” in 1995 and his own version of Dickens’ “Great Expectations” with Ethan Hawke in 1998 which he himself considers a failure. His other films include “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” in 2004 and “Children of Men” in 2006. In 2013, he became the first Hispanic director to win the Oscar for “Gravity” starring Sandra Bullock.

Cuaron’s latest film, “Roma”, won him the best director award at the recent Golden Globes and the movie itself won the best foreign language film award. It was first shown at the Venice Filmfest last year and won the Golden Lion best picture award. It had a theatrical release then was shown streaming on Netflix. When you watch it, it immediately becomes apparent that it is the director’s ode to his own personal experiences while growing up in the Roma district of Mexico in 1969 to 1971.  Cuaron is the true auteur here as he also wrote, produced, lensed and edited “Roma”.

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AURORA movie review: a horror flick that fails to accomplish its intention to scare audiences

“AURORA” is a horror movie set in an isolated island. It was shot in Batanes but this is not really established as the movie’s setting. So we're wondering: why go to a remote, more expensive location and not even show that this was shot there? This could very well have been shot on any scenic beach town in Batangas or Zambales and it will not really make much of a difference. If they shot it somewhere nearer, Viva Films would surely have spent much less for the location shoot.

Instead of giving more weight to the location, the filmmakers should have focused more instead on the script and the way the narrative is developed. As it is, the “boringga” factor in the movie is so very high. There are just many tedious stretches that really test your patience. There is no doubt the movie has good visuals, but after a while, all those frequently repeated shots of the angry sea and its rampaging waves become cumbersome.

The musical score is also too loud, too intrusive, calling attention to itself instead of just subtly heightening the mood or atmosphere of a scene. It’s good for a movie to have superlative technical aspects, but if the storytelling itself leaves so much to be desired, then the movie will be such a big bore to watch, which is what happened to “Aurora”.

Aurora is the name of a ship that was wrecked near the island, killing all of its passengers. When the movie starts, the search for the missing victims has officially ended. You can see the shipwreck from the shore amidst the sharp rocks where the vessel crashed, lying on its side.
The bodies of many of the victims have not yet been recovered. Anne Curtis plays Leana, the keeper of the production designed inn where the relatives of the missing passengers are staying while the search is going on. Now that the coast guard has ended its search, the relatives requested Anne to continue the search and she’ll be paid P50,000 for every body that is recovered.

Only an elderly couple talked to Anne about this and made that offer. And they don’t even look like rich types who can easily afford to pay such a huge amount for every body that is recovered. Sa totoo lang, mukha silang poor. Anne agrees and later enlists the help of a boatman (Allan Paule) and her ex-boyfriend (Marco Gumabao) to help her in the search.

Soon strange things start to happen. There’s an apparition of a ghostly presence peering through the window and there’s another one who actually gets inside the inn through the window. Then Anne’s sister, Rita (Phoebe Villamor), also begins to act strangely, like she knows there are some unwanted ghostly tenants staying in the rooms at the upper floor of their inn which, when seen from the outside, is obviously just made of cardboard.

But for long stretches, nothing earth shaking is really happening. You keep on waiting for something exciting to happen, but it’s not worth the very long wait. The true measure of a good horror film is if it provides spine-tingling, lingering scares. “Aurora” doesn’t have that.

The real problem is that the material is really so flimsy, but they keep on stretching and stretching it and the bad fillers show. It turns out there's a survivor from the shipwreck, a character named Philip (Arnold Reyes), who’s a first hand witness to what actually happened inside the ship before it sinks, but his very vital testimony as a survivor is needlessly delayed until the very end.

And when finally, what transpired inside the ship is actually re-created on the screen, with Anne and her sister witnessing everything as they are suddenly transported there at the time the ship is sinking, the effect is very underwhelming. Anne learns the ship is overloaded. When she and Rita get back to the inn, all the bodies of the missing passengers are there, intact, good as new, not even bloated or disfigured at all considering they’ve been underwater for several weeks.

The movie cannot be saved even if they tighten the editing because of the badly written script. The suspense quotient is zero as tension is not even created while you’re watching, simply because the lives of the lead characters are not even threatened.

A horror film will be effective only if we emphatize with the lead characters totally and we become afraid for them that they might not survive the evil that is confronting them. But there’s a scene where Anne sees a woman on fire passing right in front of her, and it was not even terrifying at all as it just ignores her.

Yam Laranas first gained attention for his “Sigaw”, a 2004 filmfest entry that produced some genuine scares. But since then, he has yet to make another horror film that really works. His “The Road” hangs on an incredible plot contrivance. The character of Alden Richards, a murderous psychotic, finishes college and becomes a policeman played by TJ Trinidad who turns out to be a serial killer. We hope he will be more successful in scaring audiences in his next horror project.

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Movie Review: 'Mary, Marry Me': The Winning Performances Of Sisters Toni & Alex Gonzaga Not Enough To Save The Film From Its Shortcomings

‘MARY, MARRY ME’ capitalizes on the fact that it’s the first movie together of sisters Toni and Alex Gonzaga. Toni is an established TV host who has done several successful romantic movies with Sam Milby and this is also the reunion of their love team after a long time. Alex has a huge following in her own youtube channel and her earlier solo movie this year, “Nakalimutan Kong Kalimutan Ka”, was an unexpected hit.

The script capitalizes heavily on their relationship as sisters. It starts by establishing how close their bond is, with Toni shown even personally cleaning Alex’ ears and the extracted earwax or tutuli is grossly exhibited on the big screen. Then their parents suddenly both perish in a car crash and Toni’s character, Mary Jane, is forced to give her younger sister, Alex as Mary Anne, to an aunt who lives in the U.S. for adoption.

It would seem that they have no communication through the years after that, as they drifted away from each other, even if Toni keeps on saying she loves and misses her sister so much. In this day and age of texting, email and social media, the long distance is no longer a problem as it’s so easy to maintain communication with your loved ones even if they’re abroad. So why did they not resort to that?

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Movie Review: Jack Em Popoy, The Pulis Credibles: Very Commercial But One Of Vic Sotto's Better Action Comedies To Date

VIC SOTTO’s filmfest entries before were all sloppily made fantasy comedies but still, people flocked to them. After Vice Ganda started eclipsing him at the box office, he’s been trying to come up with more sensible filmfest entries like “My Little Bossings” with Kris Aquino in 2013 and “My Bebe Love” with AlDub love team in 2015.

In 2016, he gave Enteng Kabisote one last try in “The Abangers” and it became obvious that Enteng has really lost its magic as it was buried in the avalanche of Vice Ganda’s highly successful “Super Parental Guidance”. Both films were rejected by Metro Filmfest screening committee so they were actually shown before the festival proper.

Last year, he did “Meant to Beh” that is a fairly entertaining family comedy with Dawn Zulueta but still clobbered by the entries of Vice Ganda and Coco Martin. His entry this year, which pairs him now with Coco and with Maine Mendoza, is “Jack Em Popoy: The Pulis Credibles”. This offers a truly different and fresh casting combination of stars from the two top rival networks.

It’s a case of “Eat Bulaga” meets “Ang Probinsyano”. It works even better than Vic and Coco’s entries in last year’s filmfest, “Meant to Beh” and “Ang Panday”, with its more engaging storyline involving the three leads as they engage in serious daddy issues about missing fathers and adopted babies which was well integrated into the narrative.

It’s still far from being perfect and flawless, but we’re glad that the use of senseless gags and silly off-putting jokes they rampantly resort to before in the “Enteng Kabisote” franchise have been consciously minimized. Vic plays his real age as the dad of Maine Mendoza, but there’s a twist here that gives him the chance to do some sensitive dramatic scenes that, in fairness to him, he was able to handle very well.

In the case of Coco Martin, he turns on his full star wattage with his charming and dashing best as a dedicated cop who fights a drug syndicate alongside with Vic and Maine. He also gets to do some pa-cute singing and dancing scenes when he joins a contest in the movie that’s a segment in “Eat Bulaga”. As an action star ala-”Probinsyano”, he’s given the chance to do many obligatory daring stunts and fight scenes in his many action sequences.

Maine is also quite endearing as the dutiful daughter and likewise gets to acquit herself in both her comedy and action scenes. She is without her perennial ka-love team, Alden Richards, in this movie and this certainly will boost her stock as a solo artist not depended on a love teasm.

Providing good support as the bad guys are Ronaldo Valdez, Tirso Cruz III, Ryza Cenon and Arjo Atayde. The movie will surely also cater to action fans as it tries to bring back the hard slambang action scenes done during the heydays of Lito Lapid (who makes a guest appearance) and the late FPJ where there is a big body count from all the gunfights.

It’s all very commercial, but thanks to Mike Tuviera’s fine direction, we can honestly say that is one of Vic’s better action-comedies to date.

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Review Of Vice Ganda's Metro-Manila Filmfest Entry, The Fantasy-Comedy 'Fantastica'

AS OF today, Vice Ganda’s “Fantastica” remains to be the number one topgrosser at the Metro-Manila Filmfest box office. A lot of people are complaining that it’s a bad movie (and we agree) but they can complain all they want and still, people will flock into it. The simple reason is that it’s Vice Ganda’s era today. It’s his season.

There was a time when the late comedian Dolphy’s movies are ruling it at the filmfest box office with movies like “Facifica Falayfay” and “Fefita Fofonggay”, but toward the end of his career, his attraction at the tills also waned. His films like “Nobody Nobody But You” in 2009 and “Father Jejemon” in 2010 failed to pull in the crowds.

 The same goes for Vic Sotto, who succeeded Dolphy. His films like “Lastikman” and ten “Enteng Kabisote” movies are all blockbusters. People complained that his movies are badly made and not really funny, but viewers still went to see them in droves. Take note that both Dolphy and Vic are both certified ladies men who have kids with different women, which makes Vice Ganda (VG) so unique as the first outed gay who is accepted by the viewing public as a big box office star.

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Rainbow’s Sunset Movie Review: Touching Drama About Two Gay Senior Citizens And A Very Patient And Understanding Wife

EDDIE GARCIA won international acting awards in 2012 for portraying the role of an old gay man caring for his dog in “Bwakaw”. He’s now predicted to win more acting honors for playing another aging gay in “Rainbow’s Sunset”. We also won’t be surprised if the film would run away with most of the awards come Metro Filmfest awards night simply because, content-wise, it is the one with more significant substance among the 8 entries. This is the only serious family drama and also addresses other valid issues such as love in its various forms, acceptance, interpersonal conflicts between family members, forgiveness and reconciliation, promoting fundamental family values in the process.

Written by Eric Ramos and masterfully directed by Joel Lamangan (this is one of his best films of late), the story concerns a former senator who’s now an octogenarian, Ramon (Eddie), who’s married to Sylvia (Gloria Romero), but also has a lifelong secret relationship with his lover from way back, Fredo (Tony Mabesa). When Fredo is diagnosed to be dying of cancer, Ramon throws all caution into the wind and decides to come out of the closet. He leaves his home with Sylvia to keep Fredo company.

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Don't Miss Watching The French Classic Films And Digitally Remastered Hollywood Musicals In The Current QCinema Filmfest

THERE’S A SECTION IN the ongoing QCINEMA Filmfest called French Classics and lovers of good films should not miss these treasures of French cinema as they are certainly worth watching. These are: Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Les Diabolique” - This is a 1955 thriller starring Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Merisse. This is about a man who is murdered by his wife and his own mistress who worked together in conspiring to kill him. But then, his body disappears and some strange happenings follow to spook them. This movie is said to help inspire Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror-thriller, “Psycho”. This was remade in Hollywood in 1996 starring Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani but it’s not as good as the original.

Roger Vadim’s “And God Created Woman” - This 1956 was a big hit when shown in Manila. It starred French sex kitten Brigitte Bardot and directed by her lover then, Roger Vadim. This made her an overnight sensation. When the film was released, it was heavily censored. We hope they’ll show the uncut version this time. This was also remade in Hollywood in 1988 starring Rebecca de Mornay but was not as successful.

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QCinema Filmfest Has An Impressive Lineup Of Foreign Films That Have Won Awards & Acclaim In Various International Film Festivals

QCINEMA FILMFEST will start on October 21 and, aside from the local entries, they offer a wonderful lineup of first rate foregin titles that film lovers everywhere will surely love. The opening film is “Shoplifters”, by Hirokazu Kore-eda”, a Japanese film that won the prestigious Palme d’Or award at the 71st Cannes Film Festival. It tells the story of a family who earn their living as criminals in downtown Tokyo. Their story takes an interesting turn when they adopt a little girl despite their impoverished livelihood. This honestly sounds like the Cinemalaya entry, “School Service”.

The closing film is “Piercing” starring Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska, an acclaimed film by Nicolas Pesce based on a novel Ryu Murakami. This is a horror-comedy that tells of a man who checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish his long-time dream, which is to execute a perfect murder. But then, he meets this mysteriously unhinged call girl played by Mia.

In the Asian Next Wave section, the entries are:

Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined” - Winner of the Golden Leopard Award for best film at the Locarno International Filmfest, it’s about a lonely construction worker from China goes missing at a Singapore land reclamation site, and a sleepless police investigator investigates what happened.

Bi Gan’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” - A Chinese film that won the ICS (International Cinephile Society) Cannes Award, it’s a man who returns home to Guizhou and recalls the summer he spent with a mysterious woman 20 years ago.

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Exes Baggage Movie Review: A Familiar Material Brought To Life Anew By The Scintillating Performances Of Its Lead Stars

DAN VILLEGAS’s latest fim, “Exes Baggage”, as the title connotes, is about ex-lovers and the respective baggage they carry. It’s about a man and a woman who meet, fall in love, break up, and reconcile. Of course, this is not something new for Dan as this is also how the basic matuerial of his past films like “English Only, Please”, “Breakup Playlist”, “Walang Forever”, “Always Be My Maybe”, “How to Be Yours” and “All of You”.

As a matter of fact, there are several scenes in “Exes Baggage” that make you recall similar scenes from these other past films, even the final scene where Carlo follows Angelica in the car is the same as the final reconciliation scene in “All of You” where Derek Ramsay also follows Jennylyn Mercado in the car. The stories of his previous works are the same and only the stars and some little details change.

“Exes Baggage” is not told in the usual chronological manner but starts in the present when they see each other by chance in the opening of a new bar. Then how their love affair starts after having bad breakups, blossoms, develops, predictably ends in another breakup and eventually leads to reconciliation, is told in a series of insightful flashbacks.

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Two Local Films That Sadly Flopped At The Box Office

WE FEEL SAD for two local films that were shown last week but quickly went out of the theaters, “The Hopeful Romantic” and “Wander Bra”. We think it’s a case of very bad timing for them since three local movies that preceded them are all big hits and are still extended in several theaters: “Goyo, Batang Heneral”, “Miss Granny” and “The Hows of Us”.

Aside from those, two blockbuster Hollywood films are also extended, “Crazy Rich Asians” and the horror franchise “The Nun”. Then there’s a new sci-fi action flick also opened, “The Predator”. So what do you think are their chances against those blockbusters?

Both “The Hopeful Romantic” and “Wander Bra” starred fairly new actors with no proven clout yet at the box office. Pepe Herrera and Ritz Azul for the former and Myrtle Sarrosa and Kakai Bautista in the latter. So you can’t really blame the bookers for being biased against them. How sad, really, and all we can say is better luck next time.

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Goyo, Batang Heneral: One Of The Year's Best Films, Better Crafted And More Polished Than 'Heneral Luna'

AFTER ‘CITIZEN JAKE’ and ‘SIGNAL ROCK’, “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral” is the third local film we’ve seen this year that is of best picture calibre. This is a better crafted, more polished work compared to “Heneral Luna” (a sleeper hit) and Jerrold Tarog once again affirms his reputation as one of our most dependable young filmmakers today. We’ve seen all his works since “Confessional” and he doesn’t disappoint.

Although “Goyo” is meant to be a sequel, it is so different from “Luna” in terms of tone and temperament. “Luna” is hot-headed and bursting with energy. This one is more contemplative, exploring serious themes about warped loyalty, self-centered leadership and the fear of one’s mortality.

The short film “Angelito” shown a few months ago serves as a bridge in the transition from “Luna” to “Goyo”. After the murder of Luna, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s cohorts are searching for the Bernal brothers who have remained loyal to Luna. Angelito is the younger brother of the Bernals and he is captured and tormented by Goyo and his men to find out where his brothers are hiding. This brings them to Dagupan and they manage to get hold of Manuel Bernal (Art Acuna) who they torment and eventually kill.

“Goyo’s” first half dwells on the five months of peace and quiet while Aguinaldo (Mon Confiado) tries to sustain his revolutionary government up north after the Americans forces have occupied Manila. Gregorio del Pilar or Goyo (Paulo Avelino) , at 24, is one of Aguinaldo’s most trusted men and he’s promoted to the rank of general. He is a rock star in the eyes of the people, especially young maidens who swoon in the presence of his dashing good looks. He is said to have left a sweetheart in every town, like the sister of Aguinaldo, Felicidad (Empress Schuck.)

But in Dagupan, Goyo meets his match in Remedios Nable Jose (Gwen Zamora), who is obviously also attracted to him but knows how to play her cards close to her chest since Goyo’s reputation as a ladies man precedes him. She seems coy and distant and this makes Goyo more intrigued about her. But although Goyo seems enjoying his popularity and is busy with his tentative romance with the elusive Remedios, the film also delves into Goyo’s psyche while he’s haunted by visions of his own mortality after he had a near death experience in the battle at Kakarong de Sili.

Alongside the story of Goyo, we see the Americans preparing for their subsequent face off with Aguinaldo, who is obviously a tyro when it comes to handling affairs of the state, with members of his cabinet also quite incompetent. Apolinario Mabini (Eppy Quizon) has no qualms in criticizing him for his ineptitude. Tarog utilizes Mabini as the voice of reason who makes the most relevant comments about Aguinaldo and his actions.

Another unbiased observer who makes his own justified comments on the historical goings on is Joven (Arron Villaflor), the 19-year old assistant of his photographer uncle who was first introduced in “Heneral Luna”. Tasked to take photos of del Pilar and his men, he gets to see them up close and questions the validity of all their actions, including the blind adulation and patriotism of some people and the effects of fame on Goyo who, for a while, seems to drown in his own popularity.

One can’t help but see the obvious parallelism betwen Aguinaldo and today’s Duterte in that they both seem to give more weight to the perceived loyalty of their cronies to them than their true worth or capability in being able to serve the country efficiently. Aguinaldo had Luna, and also, even Bonifacio, murdered instead of trying to win them and getting their cooperation for the good of the country. Isn’t this also happening right now? Talk about the mistakes of history being repeated over and over again. So more than being a character study of Goyo and Aguinaldo, the film is meant to be a slap on our faces and an outright call for us Filipinos to open our eyes and not put much of our hope and expectations on our leaders who feel entitled and are just hungry for power rather than being true good leaders who will give us exemplary governance that will make our country really move forward, otherwise, we’ll never have a happy ending simply because we’re politically immature up to now.

This film really deserves our support not only because of its insights, but also because it is so well made. In terms of scale and scope, the production values are unparalleled in local cinema. The expensive period production design of the set and the costumes, nothing is spared to make sure that it will really transport you to another era.

Pong Ignacio’s superb cinematography, Tarog’s fantastic musical score, his insightful screenplay with Rody Vera, and the way the battle scenes is staged where you actually feel the bullets whizzing by around you (the death of Goyo is so quick, without any premonition or drama), they’re just all awesome. And the acting of the huge ensemble cast is also uniformly splendid. From Art Acuna in a short but unforgettable role, Eppy Quizon as Mabini and Gwen Zamora as Remedios, to Mon Confiado as Aguinaldo and Paulo Avelino in the title role, they all deserve a hug and a pat on the back, along with the producers who bankrolled this project that honestly doesn’t seem to have the potential to recoup their investment at the box office.

Don’t leave right as there’s a short preview of what might be next in store for us shown during the middle of the end credits. We all know they intend to do a movie on Manuel Quezon as the culmination of their planned trilogy. In the poster shown in the short preview, Quezon looks so Castillian with his prominent Spanish mestizo features, nothing like Benjamin Alves who appeared as Quezon in “Luna” and “Goyo”. Wonder what they’re planning to do.
#ShowbizPortal #GoyoBatangHeneral  #PauloAvelino #movie ##TagalogMovie

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Signal Rock Movie Review: The Year's Best Film So Far

CHITO RONO’s new opus, “Signal Rock”, with script by noted playwright Rody Vera, is an endearing movie about life in a small island. The title refers to a rocky promontory that juts out into the sea and it’s only there where the island’s residents can use their cell phone to connect with their loved ones abroad.

One of the film’s strengths is the powerful sense of place or setting that it evokes as it was filmed on location in the quaint island of Biri, less than an hour from Catarman in Northern Samar, where Chito hails and where the electricity is cut off at night. And this is surely his personal homage to Biri. It might be dull and provincial to urban dwellers but it appears in the film as a wholesome refuge, where the natives are warm and friendly. It’s peopled by a group of lovable, idiosyncratic characters played by an equally likeable and engaging cast quite unaffected in their performances.

This film about simple folk is somehow reminiscent of the Manuel Silos-LVN Pictures classic, “Biyaya ng Lupa”. The lead character is Intoy (Christian Bables) and the film is a chronicle of his and his kababayans’ simple life in the island. He is shown playing basketball with his friends, going to church with his family, trying to see his girlfriend Rachel (Elora Espano) on the sly since her dad obviously dislikes him, running errands for his folks, acting as emcee in their social affairs, sometimes mischievously poaching their neighbor’s chickens to be “pulutan” for their “inuman”, and communicating regularly with his sister Vicky, who is working as an OFW in Finland (voice by Judy Ann Santos).

We also get to meet other people in the island: Intoy’s mom (Daria Ramirez), dad (Nanding Jose), and parasitic elder brother (Arnold Reyes), also the mayor (Menggie Cobarrubias), his wife (Ces Quesada), the store owner Loida (Sue Prado) and her son Jasper, the jail warden (Dido de la Paz), the parish priest (Lao Rodriguez), the gay municipal clerk (Joel Saracho) and the habal-habal driver Damian (Mon Confiado) and his brother Paeng (Starsky Dulalas) who’ll meet a very tragic end.

We can’t help but think while watching the film that these characters are actually based on real people that Chito Rono has encountered in the island. Intoy is well liked by everyone, even by the mayor who confides to him that he’s really the father of Loida’s son, Jasper.

The people in the island are poor and most of the families expect to get help from their female members who can find work in Manila or abroad, like Mommy Chi (Keana Reeves), whose life improved after working as a japayuki. They’re considered luckier if they could get married to a rich foreigner who could help improve their lives, like what happened to Gina (Mara Lopez), the girlfriend of Kiko (Jomari Angeles), a friend of Intoy, who marries an old German named Helmut, yet still expects to continue her affair with Kiko. Intoy’s own girlfriend is also later sent away by her dad to work in a club in Olongapo.

The otherwise unruffled existence of Intoy is somehow rocked by this, but even more so by his sister,

the battered wife of her foreigner husband who decides to leave him. His sister then battles for custody of their daughter named Sofia and Intoy must seek the help of their kababayans to prove that she is capable of supporting and raising her child by herself.

The usual situation in OFW films, where the family member abroad is the one who helps her relatives, is reversed here. This time, it’s the ones who are left behind who do everything to help their relative who’s having problems abroad. Intoy forges documents that will show his Ate Vicky has enough properties and investments in the island and everyone cooperates with him. Ironically, the generosity of one of Intoy’s friends leads to a grisly crime triggered by sibling rivalry.

The film is about island life we rarely see in local movies. Movies like this are hardly ever made at all so we can consider “Signal Rock” as a precious cinematic miracle, just like Chito’s “Badil”, also set in a small island showing how easy it is to corrupt people during election time. These films are aeons away from Chito’s horror flicks like “Feng Shui” and “Ghost Bride”.

One of the amusing aspects of the film is the weird kind of relationship of Intoy’s parents. They live separately but Daria still cooks Nanding’s meals for him. Daria steals a number of scenes with her one-liners. The embassy man assigned to investigate the case of Vicky refuses to go to their island because of the huge waves on the way there. Instead, he asks Intoy and his parents to go to the mainland to see him.

Daria brings the house down with her quip: “Bakit, mas maliit ba ang mga alon papunta roon?” The sequence showing them while their boat is being dangerously tossed by the waves (Chito say it’s CGI) really made us genuinely fear for their safety. And Daria’s plea on behalf of her daughter is really touching and later proves to be very effective. She deserves a best supporting actress nomination for her affecting performance.

Christian Bables proves his splendid acting in his breakthrough role as the crossdressing Barbs in “Die Beautiful” is not a fluke. He is deglamorized as Intoy, sporting dark make up, and shows that he can also be very effective in a masculine role. His farewell scene in a motel with his girlfriend who he meets again in the city is somewhat reminiscent of a similar heartbreaking scene between Julio Madiaga and Ligaya Paraiso, conveying the same pain and frustraiton but minus the vigorous pumping of Intoy’s naked butt.

But the entire cast deserves to be commended for giving excellent ensemble acting. Chito’s direction that is a personal labor of love. He makes the material accessible to ordinary moviegoers as well as the arthous sphere where it will be hailed as an unpretentious but effective bit of storytelling. Kudos to Neil Daza for capturing the beauty of the film’s milieu. After all the ruckus brought about by Intoy’s unseen sister who doesn’t show at the appointed that she’s supposed to visit, life just goes on for everyone. As it does for all of us.

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The Day After Valentine’s Movie Review: A Movie With Tortured, Tormented Characters That Is The Perfect Antithesis To Feel Good RomComs

THERE ARE TWO kinds of love stories, the feel good happy romcoms and the sad ones that end in heartbreak. Now, it’s the season of star-crossed lovers and filmmakers for whom a bright ending should be avoided at all cost. We’re referring to films like “Kita Kita”, “Camp Sawi”, “12”, “Meet Me in St. Gallen”, “Mr. and Mrs. Cruz”, “100 Tula Para Kay Stella”, where the characters seem to wallow in heartache and turmoil amd make their experience emotionally draining for the poor viewer.

There are no happy couples in these movies about imperfect relationships and they’re obviously the perfect antithesis to manipulative romcoms. The fact that most of them did well at the box office is living proof that most millennial viewers today are suckers for tortured and painful relationships with flawed characters. Maybe viewers now really prefer sad, heart wrenching endings to happier ones.

Now comes “The Day After Valentine’s”, from the same writer-director, Jason Paul Laxamana, and stars, Bela Padilla and JC Santos, of “100 Tula”, who once again dilly dally and just cannot commit to each other. JC is Kai, a Filipino Hawaiian who’ve been staying in Manila for almost three years after he fell head over heels in love with a girl called Anne who has since dumped him. He can’t get over her and he cuts his arms to punish himself.

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What We'll Remember The Most Among The Entries Of The Recent Cinemalaya Filmfest

TODAY IS THE last day of Cinemalaya and here are some of the lasting impressions its entries leave with us. Former child star Therese Malvar shines in two totally different roles: as the college student who harbors ill feelings against her lesbian mom in “Distance” and as the jaded teenager who offers blowjobs to passersbys in “School Service”. Therese is so good in her confrontation scene with her mom in the former and in the scene where Ai Ai de las Alas reprimands her for brazenly selling her body in the latter.

We have a hard time watching the over the top cruelty inflicted to the child actors in “School Service”, particularly the child actress who played Maya. She’s repeatedly hit on the head and insulted all throughout the movie. The other kids are made to deliver offensive lines like “nakita ko ang titi mo”, “blowjob, P50 lang”. We’re really curious if a psychologist was on hand to debrief them after the shooting.

Joel Lamangan’s no hesitation, no shame scene undressing to show off his “curvaceous” body after killing his lover in “School Service”.

Lesbian and gay characters are properly represented: Iza Calzado and her lover Max Eigenmann, her daughter Therese Malvar and Therese’s own love interest Adrianna So in “Distance”. Andres Vasquez as the gay killer ion “The Lookout”, where sodomy scenes are so rampant (even Rez Cortez was sodomized). Ketchup Eusebio as the gay teacher in “Mamang”, Joel Lamangan as the gay older brother in “School Service”.

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Pinoy Showbiz

Distance Movie Review: Well Crafted Movie About A Dysfunctional Family Done With Deliberate Restraint

‘DISTANCE’ is a fairly well crafted movie with above average technical and production values, but after watching it, one realizes that it’s sensibility is definitely so not Filipino. In Pinoy dramas, it’s the mother who is traditionally patient, sacrificing, forgiving. Here, the situation is reversed, as it’s the dad (Noni Buencamino) who is the “martir, matiisin, mapagbigay, mapagpatawad, ulirang asawa at ama.”

The mom (Iza Calzado) suddenly left him and their two daughters some years ago, making their family a dysfunctional one. In past local films, the mom did this because she has no choice but to work as an OFW for the sake of her family, like Vilma Santos in “Anak” and Nora Aunor in “Flor Contemplacion”. But here, Iza leaves to run away to London with her lover, Max Eigenmann (yes, this is a lesbian-themed flick, in two ways not just one).

The movie opens in cold London, with Iza looking so forlorn and lonely walking on the beach after her lover has died. Then Noni suddenly shows up in her flat to fetch her and she is seen going home to her daughters from who she’s been separated for five years.

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Harry & Patty Movie Review: Very Entertaining Romantic Comedy With Competent Performance And A Surprising Big Twist In The Story That Will Please The Crowd

‘HARRY & PATTY’ is a romantic-comedy that is reminiscent of the big hit “Kita-Kita”, where the plain looking Empoy Marquez figures in an unlikely love story with the pretty Alessandra de Rossi. This time, the situation is reversed. It’s the girl who’s a plain Jane, as played by comedian Kakai Bautista, who’s really a great singer who has shone in stage musicals. Her leading man is the good looking hunk, Ahron Villena, with whom she was earlier rumored to be in a relationship, but which he denied, causing a rift between them for a while.

We went to the movie’s premiere night at SM The Block without expecting anything. But to our surprise, “Harry & Pretty” proved to be quite entertaining, thanks to the pretty witty direction of Julius Alfonso who didn’t disappoint after his auspicious debut in “Deadma Walking”. The audience was laughing a lot all throughout the movie.

They say unlike poles attract each other and this is the film’s premise. Ahron is Harry, a handsome young travel executive, while Kakai is Patty, who earns a living by being a cab driver. As in romantic vehicles of this sort, they start on the wrong foot in their first meeting but you know romance will eventually blossom between them. How they go about making it convincing for us is up to you discover.

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I Love You, Hater Movie Review: The Sheer Charisma And Winning Likability Of The Two Lead Help Carry The Movie

‘I LOVE YOU, HATER’ is the usual formula romantic comedy from Star Cinema starring a popular love team, this time, Joshlia, and as usual, they start as foes and eventually end up as lovers. Joshua Garcia is Joko, who’s working as a bus boy in a restaurant but his family in the province, who’s dependent on him, believes he has migrated to New York. What they don’t know is that he’s been duped by an illegal recruiter and now stays with a gay couple, Mark Neumann and Markki Stroem.

Julia Barretto is Zoey, the illegitimate child of a top lawyer (Ricardo Cepeda) who hides her from his legal family. Her mom has gone abroad and has a new family, so she just lives with friends. She just got her college diploma and now targets the position of being the personal assistant of the so called Digital Empress, Sasha Imperial (Kris Aquino.) But before she even gets to be interviewed by Sasha, as luck would have it, Joko already got the position.

Zoey won’t take this sitting down and makes a protest , saying she’s more fit for the job since a girl and reminds Sasha that she once said she won’t hire a man but only gays. Since the job comes with so many benefits and a huge monthly salary, Joko then pretends that he’s bading. Sasha then decides to take them both on a probationary basis and she’ll choose who the better assistant is after three months.

As maybe expected in this familiar kind of vehicle, the two protagonists eventually fall in love with each other. All the engineered plot machinations point to this. Sometimes, the manipulative techniques in the script are not convincing, like Kris Aquino hiring Joko instantly when he’s someone who she just met inside the elevator on the way to her office. But you have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy the ride.

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Pinoy Showbiz

What Are The Reasons Why Local Movies Are Flopping One After The Other Lately

LOCALLY PRODUCED movies have lately been flopping at the box office one after another. As one producer laments: “Walang mga taong nanonood sa sinehan.” Viva has had the most number of flops, from “Fangirl/ Fanboy”, “Mr. & Mrs. Cruz”, “Amnesia Love”, “Pambansang Third Wheel, “Squad Goals”, “Cry No Fear” to “The Maid in London”. Some of them were first day/last day when shown in mall theaters.

For Regal, their flops include “Mama’s Girl”, “My Fairy Tail Love Story”, “So Connected” and the recent “Walwal”. It’s good Viva has “Never Not Love You”, “Meet Me in St. Gallen” and “Sid and Aya” for blockbusters and Regal, “My 2 Mommies”.

For Star Cinema, their biggest flops are “Single/Single”, “Misyon: Marawi” and “Sa Panahon ng Halimaw” which lasted for only a couple of days and quickly went out of the theaters. Their other so-so releases are “Sin Island” and “DOTGA: Da One that Got Away”. But they have three releases that did pretty well: “Dalawang Mrs. Reyes”, “My Perfect You” and “Kasal”. All three reportedly earned P100 million plus each.

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Kasal Movie Review: Derek Plays An Asshole But Love Eventually Conquers All For Bea And Paulo

NOTE: If you’ve not seen “Kasal”, don’t read this review as it contains spoilers.

‘KASAL’ opens in of those movie wonderland scenes showing 10,000 roses that light up, where a handsome young man proposes marriage to his beautiful girlfriend. But it is actually a love triangle melodrama with a sensational twist where the prospective groom, Paulo Avelino as Philip turns out to have a deep dark secret which is discovered by his rival, Derek Ramsay as Wado, who then starts blackmailing him as he still has the hots for Bea Alonzo as Lia, the girl he left behind when he worked abroad and got someone else preggers.

The story is told in predictable stages. First is Bea’s acceptance of Paulo’s proposal and the preparation for their wedding even if Paulo’s parents, Christopher de Leon and Cherie Gil, obviously favor Paulo’s ex, Kylie Versoza as Eunice, over Bea.

Next is the introduction of the other guy, Derek, who enters the picture to help Paulo build a bridge that will help boost his chances of winning as Cebu mayor in the coming election. But then, Derek meets Kylie and learns about Paulo’s deep dark secret.

The next stage is the revelation scene, followed by so much unhappiness on the part of everyone. But since this is from Star Cinema, of course, it won’t just end with the characters being so sad. As you may expect, there’s an epilogue where Bea and Paulo meet again and there’s a hint of acceptance for them to face together a brave new tomorrow.

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