It's the most wonderful time of the year ♫ ...Christmas! And of course it's time to see what the best (?) of what mainstream Philippine Cinema has to offer.
Feng Shui (2004) is arguably one of the best Filipino horror movies of the past decade, so when I learned that Chito Rono was making a new one, I decided to grit my teeth (because ew Kris Aquino) and watch it.
The new Feng Shui (that's the official title, no '2' after the title) begins with a great sequence, giving us a quick rundown of the events of the end of the original movie then going straight to the action in a creepy yet effective horror sequence, showing us that the curse of the bagua has not slowed down in the past ten years. We then see how this cursed Feng Shui tool manages to get itself into the hands of a new victim, Lester (Coco Martin). Soon everything heads towards an inevitable, horrifying conclusion.
Feng Shui takes after trends in contemporary Asian Horror by placing the horror in the context of societal problems. Like many protagonists in Asian Horror, Lester's family situation is less than ideal: his father is absent, his mother is a drunkard and he becomes a breadwinner by doing shifty jobs. When the curse kicks in under the pretense of neatly solving all these problems, we find that the semblance of a nuclear family and financial prosperity are artifices if acquired illegitimately.
As always, the (mostly jump) scares are potent enough the first time around thanks to excellent sound design and blocking that is, for lack of a better term, genius (the whole sequence at the house near the end of the film comes to mind.) The plot is relatively well conceived and although it can be appreciated without seeing the first film, it certainly helps. Thankfully most of the film veers away from Kris Aquino in favor of the new characters, who get to show their chops. Things heat up at the end as the death and destruction ramps up a notch - and the ending gives us a possible sequel hook, perhaps?
While the scares may wear off after a few viewings, Feng Shui deserves the overwhelming response it has gotten so far.
I'm mostly allergic to romantic comedies, but I decided to give English Only, Please a try. After regretfully missing both Relaks, It's Just Pagibig and That Thing Called Tadhana this year, I desperately wanted to see something from Antoinette Jadaone before the end of 2014, especially after having seen the entertaining Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay last year. I'm pleased to say after watching the film that this lighthearted film oozes charm from start to finish.
The premise is simple: Julian (Derek Ramsay) is a heartbroken dude from America who gets Tere (played with manic gusto by Jennylyn Mercado) to translate a very bitter letter from English to Tagalog, and teach him recite it, in 30 days. Sparks fly, love ensues.
The movie hits the right comedic notes without being corny, and the film takes its sweet time to help us connect to the characters. The conflict near the end is a bit forced (and could be solved with a single conversation) but does not influence the film enough to impact it negatively. The dialogue flows really well and is full of nice comedic tidbits.
English Only, Please is enjoyable light watching. Don't expect anything too profound, but in the bigger scope of things, that's not really a problem.
I think Muslim Magnum .357 is best explained by one of the scenes within the movie itself, where Jeorge Estregan and Roi Vinzon, two dinosaurs of the now-comatose genre of Philippine Action Movies, are duking it out. The choreography, while halfway decent, seems like it could be better served by someone else. They both look old and tired. The both look like they are pulling their punches. And by the end, neither of them really wins.
The movie is based on a 1986 movie of the same name starring the legendary Fernando Poe Jr, which is basically about a Muslim police officer with a big gun. There's something about a illegal weapons trading, corrupt police officers and kidnapping, but it's all lost in the noise (a.k.a. Jeorge Estregan's ridiculously fake beard.) With his fake beard, tons of foundation and a bit of bronzer, he goes forth, acting badly where no actor has gone before and lecturing random young people on the different kinds of Magnums.
The bad acting runs in the family as Jeorge's real life son Jericho plays a sympathetic police officer. His nuanced delivery as he looks at the contents of a folder is unparalleled and not seen in the annals of cinema since my 2nd Year High School Video Project. The plucky child who was chosen to be some sort of kiddie sidekick gets to show his acting (pork) chops by being one of the best actors in the film, and that's saying something.
It is Roi Vinzon who wins the best actor award (only within this movie) for being such a great villain. He has a few really good lines that he delivers with the snidely panache only a seasoned actor of villanous roles can do.
The action is not very exciting for an action movie, many scenes are too dark to make anything out or to be even artistic, and the fake blood looks like it came from a 1970's Chinese Wuxia film.The effects are not that great either, with one glaring scene where a character "fires" a gun without a muzzle flash - something I haven't seen since... well, my 2nd Year High School Video Project.
The problem with this movie is that it's not as fun as Jeorge Estregan's three previous entries to MMFF. It isn't as serious/silly as Asiong Salonga and El Presidente, and it isn't as well made and over the top as Boy Golden. The most fun I had while watching the film was hearing the three or four dudes behind me totally riff on the film with quotes such as "Asiong Salongpas" and wondering when our protagonist will bone his random leading lady (this time it's Sam Pinto, and thank the heavens there was no kissing scene.)
Muslim Magnum .357 is a poorly thought out concept and a generally boring film, which is a shame since the past few MMFF entries from Jeorge Estregan have been at least entertaining to watch.
I hope they win best float.
(A suggestion for the makers of this film: take a look at South Indian cinema with their ridiculous over the top action, larger than life action heroes and clear cut good versus evil battle. It may be crude and defy all the rules of logic, but it's at times very well made and most often damn fun to watch. I'd like to see a Philippine Action film take on some of the staples of Tamil or Telugu cinema and see what they can come up with.)
As always, the (mostly jump) scares are potent enough the first time around thanks to excellent sound design and blocking that is, for lack of a better term, genius (the whole sequence at the house near the end of the film comes to mind.) The plot is relatively well conceived and although it can be appreciated without seeing the first film, it certainly helps. Thankfully most of the film veers away from Kris Aquino in favor of the new characters, who get to show their chops. Things heat up at the end as the death and destruction ramps up a notch - and the ending gives us a possible sequel hook, perhaps?
While the scares may wear off after a few viewings, Feng Shui deserves the overwhelming response it has gotten so far.
I'm mostly allergic to romantic comedies, but I decided to give English Only, Please a try. After regretfully missing both Relaks, It's Just Pagibig and That Thing Called Tadhana this year, I desperately wanted to see something from Antoinette Jadaone before the end of 2014, especially after having seen the entertaining Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay last year. I'm pleased to say after watching the film that this lighthearted film oozes charm from start to finish.
The premise is simple: Julian (Derek Ramsay) is a heartbroken dude from America who gets Tere (played with manic gusto by Jennylyn Mercado) to translate a very bitter letter from English to Tagalog, and teach him recite it, in 30 days. Sparks fly, love ensues.
The movie hits the right comedic notes without being corny, and the film takes its sweet time to help us connect to the characters. The conflict near the end is a bit forced (and could be solved with a single conversation) but does not influence the film enough to impact it negatively. The dialogue flows really well and is full of nice comedic tidbits.
English Only, Please is enjoyable light watching. Don't expect anything too profound, but in the bigger scope of things, that's not really a problem.
I think Muslim Magnum .357 is best explained by one of the scenes within the movie itself, where Jeorge Estregan and Roi Vinzon, two dinosaurs of the now-comatose genre of Philippine Action Movies, are duking it out. The choreography, while halfway decent, seems like it could be better served by someone else. They both look old and tired. The both look like they are pulling their punches. And by the end, neither of them really wins.
The movie is based on a 1986 movie of the same name starring the legendary Fernando Poe Jr, which is basically about a Muslim police officer with a big gun. There's something about a illegal weapons trading, corrupt police officers and kidnapping, but it's all lost in the noise (a.k.a. Jeorge Estregan's ridiculously fake beard.) With his fake beard, tons of foundation and a bit of bronzer, he goes forth, acting badly where no actor has gone before and lecturing random young people on the different kinds of Magnums.
The bad acting runs in the family as Jeorge's real life son Jericho plays a sympathetic police officer. His nuanced delivery as he looks at the contents of a folder is unparalleled and not seen in the annals of cinema since my 2nd Year High School Video Project. The plucky child who was chosen to be some sort of kiddie sidekick gets to show his acting (pork) chops by being one of the best actors in the film, and that's saying something.
It is Roi Vinzon who wins the best actor award (only within this movie) for being such a great villain. He has a few really good lines that he delivers with the snidely panache only a seasoned actor of villanous roles can do.
The action is not very exciting for an action movie, many scenes are too dark to make anything out or to be even artistic, and the fake blood looks like it came from a 1970's Chinese Wuxia film.The effects are not that great either, with one glaring scene where a character "fires" a gun without a muzzle flash - something I haven't seen since... well, my 2nd Year High School Video Project.
The problem with this movie is that it's not as fun as Jeorge Estregan's three previous entries to MMFF. It isn't as serious/silly as Asiong Salonga and El Presidente, and it isn't as well made and over the top as Boy Golden. The most fun I had while watching the film was hearing the three or four dudes behind me totally riff on the film with quotes such as "Asiong Salongpas" and wondering when our protagonist will bone his random leading lady (this time it's Sam Pinto, and thank the heavens there was no kissing scene.)
Muslim Magnum .357 is a poorly thought out concept and a generally boring film, which is a shame since the past few MMFF entries from Jeorge Estregan have been at least entertaining to watch.
I hope they win best float.
(A suggestion for the makers of this film: take a look at South Indian cinema with their ridiculous over the top action, larger than life action heroes and clear cut good versus evil battle. It may be crude and defy all the rules of logic, but it's at times very well made and most often damn fun to watch. I'd like to see a Philippine Action film take on some of the staples of Tamil or Telugu cinema and see what they can come up with.)
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