MMFF New Wave Shorts (slightly nonsensical reviews)

The holiday season in the Philippines is home not only to an extended period of Christmas cheer, family time and celebration, but also to... I almost can't say it...

The Metro Manila Film Festival.

While in its heyday the festival produced some of the country's best films, lately the festival has been host to a variety of inane, creatively bankrupt movies, often following some formula or serving as a sequel, designed specifically to be watched then disposed of. In the realm of food, fast food won't even serve as an appropriate metaphor. Unless if the fast food execs shat and pissed directly into our open mouths.

This doesn't mean the MMFF guys aren't trying. Recently they opened up a New Wave section featuring some lesser known directors. There was actually some creative spark in these productions. They also opened up a short films and animation category which gave the chance to a number of aspiring filmmakers.

So here's what I think of the Shorts/Animation I saw. (WARNING: I may not make a lot of sense)

Ang Lalong ni Kulakog is about a master and his rooster. It's nice. Students made this? I'm actually quite impressed. It's a shame that this is the only short of the competition that I've managed to see.

Tagad is not listed in the official program. It's about a group of skateboarders living in Cebu. There are a lot of nice shots of these guys skateboarding, but mostly it's a documentary style thing. The people interviewed are mostly young males in their twenties, but there are some older guys too. It's a bit short, but what else is there to say? It's an OK film.

Hintayin Mo Sa Sequence 24 is like the epitome of a student film. It's emo and a bit heavy on the cliches.  There's a bit of pretension in there too. A lot of the fantasy sequences are either confusing or unnecessary. But hey, it's got heart, and there are a few good ideas in there, so I can forgive its flaws. Like the title said, wait for Sequence 24.

#NoFilter starts out pretty innocently, with a girl taking a lot of selfies and WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!? NO NO NONONONONONONO AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL googly eyes DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL 
DEATH WILL COME FOR US ALL 

...oh. I guess there's some kind of message in there about how we should appreciate our true selves. Again, it has this student film feel to it.

Up next, a couple of feature films.