Present Confusion Awards 2015

It's the end of the yeaaaaaar! 2015 was a very interesting time for movies, with strong offerings from world cinema. Hollywood continued its trend of releasing franchise films that earned them decent bucks, but the industry overall in a slump. It took freaking Star Wars, the first new movie from the franchise in 10 years, to pull them out of that slump.

As for local cinema, well. This was certainly an interesting year. One notable absence from this year was the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, whose full length section took a 1 year hiatus to focus on developing the feature film participants for the festival's 2016 edition. The festival seems to have learned some lessons from the problems of previous editions. We'll see how this plays out.

In its place, the two most high profile film fests to take its place were the Cinema One Originals film festival and the QCinema International Film Festival. Both had really strong lineups for their competition films, and festival programmers brought over some of the best in world cinema, including a 3D screening of Gaspar Noe's Love(!) Joining them were the first edition of Sinag Maynila, the World Premieres Film Festival and the New Wave section of the MMFF, which was the little mini-festival that could.

There were some landmark moments this year that stood out for me: A large number of local releases inundated our theaters during the months of September and October, including religious biopic Felix Manalo, Nora Aunor starrer Taklub, and runaway box office phenomenon Heneral Luna, whose streak at the box office and positive response from both critics and audiences alike hints that sometimes a film really needs time to find its audience. At its peak, there was a time at my local cinema where all the films that were showing were local films. I haven't seen that kind of lineup in a long time.

Mainstream commercial films were also hugely successful in 2015, including Etiquette for Mistresses, Ex With Benefits and the massively successful A Second Chance, which may be the largest grossing Filipino film of all time. The recent controversial events with the MMFF, however, put a bit of a damper on what was a very positive year. The story is still developing. My thoughts on that are in the previous post.

With that said, here are my completely subjective, somewhat arbitrary  

Present Confusion Awards 2015.

Top Ten Favorite Filipino Films in 2015 (in no particular order)

1. Imbisibol (dir. Lawrence Fajardo) - this strongly acted drama about a group of illegal immigrants in Japan's Fukuoka Prefecture got me with its dark atmosphere and tone, as well as its amazing final few frames.

2. That Thing Called Tadhana (dir. Antoinette Jadaone) - I didn't manage to see this film during its initial run in the 2014 edition of the Cinema One Originals Film Festival, so I watched it during its very successful commercial run this year. While probably one of the lightest films in this list, it oozes with charm, and it did help pioneer kilig's emo twin brother, hugot.

3. Manang Biring (dir. Carl Joseph Papa) - a triumph of storytelling complemented with animation, this film treads new ground (at least locally) in creating a unique narrative. Its depiction of a woman's fight against cancer is dealt with dignity (despite being a black comedy in many parts.)

4. Bambanti (dir. Zig Dulay) - This social realist drama is a telling look into our society and the hypocrisies that are closely tied into it. Alessandra de Rossi's performance makes the film work well.

5. Heneral Luna (dir. Jerrold Tarog) - a historical biopic unlike any other, fictionalized in some places but done to serve a greater message. If not for its quality, it's important in the sense that it helped start a conversation about ourselves, our past, present and future history, and our local film industry in general.

6. Baka Siguro Yata (dir. Joel Ferrer) - a Filipino comedy I genuinely like. I honestly enjoyed this almost as much as Star Wars. No kidding. It's thanks to good comedic timing from the lead actor, a witty script and a decent story (that shares similarities with Knocked Up, but with a very Filipino flavor to it.)

7. Apocalypse Child (dir. Mario Cornejo) - Immediately after I saw this film, I knew I had to process it a bit first. In hindsight, I think that this solidly directed character study is one of the best things to come out of QCinema.

8. Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo (dir. Mihk Vergara) - somehow I felt that the director/screenwriter and I had similar vibes, since the references and the way the film was made really resonates with me. It's nostalgic, dynamic and fun at the same time.

9. Ari: My Life With A King (dir. Carlo Encisco Catu) - if it were up to me, I would give this film MMFF's special Cultural Award. It is poetic, elegiac in a sense, lamenting the slow death of our regional languages and culture.

10. Honor Thy Father (dir. Erik Matti) - I have seen this film three times now, and while I admit it does have flaws, to me it is remarkable simply because it doesn't fuck around. A solidly directed story filled with tension and anger, multifaceted characters, amazing acting performances and a relevant message are more than enough to merit its inclusion in this list.

Alternate/Runner-up Films

1. Water Lemon (dir. Lem Lorca) - Deeply affecting character study. Lorca's best so far.

2. Miss Bulalacao (dir. Ara Chawdhury) - Storytelling and ideas with panache. Brave and bold regional cinema.

3. Sleepless (dir. Prime Cruz) - In some aspects, superior to its predecessor That Thing Called Tadhana, but flawed in other aspects. Still very good.

4. Tandem (dir. King Palisoc) - Noir in a quickly developing noir genre established by films like On The Job. One of Nico Antonio's best performances.

5. Anino Sa Likod Ng Buwan (dir. Jun Lana) - While I think it is not as strong as his previous two films Bwakaw and Barber's Tales, this is still a capable film that will keep you guessing until its final gunshot.

Films that I Didn't Completely Watch So I Couldn't Include Them In Any Lists Award

1. Matangtubig (dir. Jet Leyco) - If I had watched this film completely, I think it has a strong chance of being in at least the alternate lineup.

Top 4 Non-2015 Local Films 

1. Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria (dir. Remton Zuasola) - a remarkable achievement of logistics, storytelling and filmmaking.

2. Iskalawags (dir. Keith Deligero) - nostalgic, but in a wistful sort of way. A chronicle of the loss of childhood innocence in a small town.

3. Lorna (dir. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo) - A sort of companion piece to recent films like 1st Ko Si 3rd. A very personal film from the director, and one that is bolstered by a terrific lead performance.

4. Barber's Tales (dir. Jun Lana) - A very capable exploration of politics, gender or otherwise, in a small town setting. Like Lorna (above), it is enhanced by the performance of its lead, Eugene Domingo.

Basagan ng Bote Award - Apocalypse Child

Dissonant but Weirdly Appropriate Award - Macarena, (Toto)

Most PG-13 Rape Scene Award - Angela Markado

National Artist for Ridiculousness Award - Angela Markado

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Most Enjoyable Franchise Popcorn Movie Award 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - It's Fucking Star Wars.

Most Badass Action Spectacle Award

Mad Max: Fury Road - this would have won the award above if not for Fucking Star Wars

Favorite Documentary of the Year

The God of Ramen - this portrait of a simple man's decades-long devotion to being the best damn Ramen cook around is genuinely affecting.

Favorite Indian Mass Entertainer

Rabhasa - local critics called the story a bit cliche. Since I'm new to Telugu cinema, this somewhat convoluted story was fun to unravel.

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I want to watch more Asian Films next year. I've been stockpiling my stash. I need to watch a couple (or ten) sooner or later, and new releases will keep adding on to that. And I have a ton of unfinished reviews or whatever you call these things (whoops, TFA Spoiler Review where are you). Whatever. Happy New Year. I'm going to sleep.

p.s. in the spirit of fairness I'm going to try to watch the rest of the MMFF entries. Emphasis on try (depending on schedule).