Present Confusion 2019 Rundown Part 2 - Philippine Cinema Odds, Ends and Unfavorites

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It's hard to distill the entirety of Filipino Cinema in just 15 films. There are so many other great performances and other cinema-related things that defined the year, and I'd like to share some of that here with you in the second part of this three part series.

First off, here are five films that almost made the top 15, all very good films in their own right. Here are

John Tawasil's

HONORABLE MENTIONS 2019

hindi po ito worst, best pa rin ito, baka lang maconfuse kayo

HM#1: Alone/Together (dir. Antoinette Jadaone)

Alone/Together is two dueling films in one: as a romantic movie, Alone/Together is just ok. But as a movie about a woman finding herself and achieving her full potential, I think this film is best of year material (not just favorite, but best of year.)

HM#2: Lola Igna (dir. Eduardo Roy, Jr.)

Another little gem from the PPP, Lola Igna is a tender examination of celebrity culture and old age, lifted by an amazing performance by Angie Ferro - one of the year's best performances, in fact.

HM#3: Open (dir. Andoy Ranay)

The best Andoy Ranay film is Open, a relationship drama about the breakup of two people who probably should have broken up waaaaay back. Open's not really about the openness of a relationship with a partner, but about openness of a future without them.

HM#4: Akin ang Korona (dir. Zig Dulay)

Imagine being on a film festival about social realism and making a film deconstructing and criticizing the manufacture of social realism. That takes balls.

HM#5: Metamorphosis (dir. JE Tiglao)

Though at times more melodramatic and on the nose than I personally prefer, Metamorphosis talks about something unique and in need of a voice, which I can appreciate.

So that's basically #16-20 if you prefer. Now we segue to:

John Tawasil's 

Special Citations for Philippine Film 2019

Favorite Local Film Festival - QCinema 2019/Cinema One Originals 2019 (tie)

Great lineups, more venues, better experiences. And this year they don't happen immediately after the other!

Most Horrible Film Fest-related Tragedy - loss of Gardenia over at Cinemalaya 2019

I cried when Cinemalaya downsized their food options. I was a sadboi for about 2 minutes, because I make my own damn rules, I brought my own loaf of Gardenia to Cinemalaya, bitches

I AM INEVITABLE

Most Wasted Opportunity of a Time Travel Plot - Time & Again (2019)

The most irritating part of these time travel stories is WHY DON'T THESE PEOPLE KNOW TEMPORAL  CAUSALITY. Avengers Endgame came out THIS YEAR. There is absolutely no excuse.

Most Dance Movie Thing Ever Said - Indak

And I paraphrase, "Let's show them our feelings through dance!"

Most Impressive Collection of Luxury Cars in a Local Movie - Mission Unstapabol

Seriously, this is approaching Fast and the Furious Levels. These are some impressive (and expensive!) cars. One wonders where they came from.

Saddest Disappointment of 2019 - An1: The Harvest, O

The first had wonderful worldbuilding that was ruined by an awkward edit. The second had probably the best intro of 2019 (using IV of Spades' I am a Butterfly) but was basically an incomplete film.

Favorite Movie Moments of 2019:

1) The Christmas Lights Scene (Isa Pa, With Feelings)

2) Kathang Isip (LSS)

3) Asin (Babae at Baril)

4) One Take Party scene (Tayo, sa Huling Buwan ng Taon)

Most eeeeevil villain of 2019 Philippine Cinema that is not "Cinema Operators" - JC Santos as Ethan in Open

This dude legit freaked me out. Hide your mothers, hide your sisters etc etc.

Best Horror Film - Sunod

This year isn't exactly the best in Philippine horror, but there are a few decent ones. Probably one of MMFF 2019's best entries is a horror film with an atmosphere that is unmatched among similar films this year. and great turns by Carmina Villaruel, Kate Alejandrino and Krystal Brimner. (honorable mention for Horror film has to go to Clarita, which is decent in and of itself.)

Movie Star for All Seasons - Dante Gulapa

because why not. Thanks to his amazing skill, the man has appeared in two movies this year. 

Weirdest Use of a Song in a Historical Film - Damaso

Imagine the tense meeting scenes in Heneral Luna, but instead of a tense meeting everyone's doing jazz hands and singing like it's a counterfeit Ryan Cayabyab musical.

Most Explosive Scene 2019 - I'm Ellenya L.

You know the one.

And you know I'm right. lol

Most tense moment of 2019 that worked out really well - Finding out which would be Eddie Garcia's last film after he died

For a long time it was Sanggago. Thank Cthulhu it ended up being Kalel, 15.

Prolific Director Award 2019 - Joven Tan, Jason Paul Laxamana

IIRC, Both released 4 movies this year each.

Favorite New Cinema - Ayala Malls Manila Bay

The mall itself is still a work in progress, but watching C1 Originals Films in these brand new cinemas were a 2019 highlight.

Stupidest Movie of 2019 But In A Good Way - Mystified

Mystified reunites the cast of the original Encantadia in a streaming only special effects laden extravaganza that I can only call one of the stupidest things I have ever seen, in a good way. The plot is about an exiled band of magic users trying to revive the Dark Lord Luvictus, who I can best describe as an "Arabic Chippendales Wizard."

AREOLAS THE SIZE OF HUBCAPS

Jinri Park is in this film, looking for host bodies for another evil witch. The host body, she says, is VERY Sexy, as if it were a vaunted criterion. In a hospital room (not a ward) there is the sound of a respirator, even though there is no respirator in the room.  One character unironically exclaims "Bye Felicia!" as they hurtle down to the ground. This film is the gift that keeps on giving.

***

You can't talk about the best without talking about the opposite of best, and you can't talk about favorites without talking about Unfavorites. Yes, that is a word, I claim it in the name of the Empire of Man, all hail the Emperor of Mankind. This year was home to a lot of mediocre films, but not a lot of truly vomit-inducing films. I honestly feel a little worse for the former than the latter. Say a little prayer for the mediocre films, the Pansamantagals and the Papa Pogis that will disappear from memory over time. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy some of these films, but watching bad films is hard, yo.

The Portrait of a Film Reviewer as a Filipino v3 (Tawasil, 2019)

John Tawasil's

Unfavorite Local Films of 2019

yes, these are the not so good films

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Trigonal Honorable Mention Award Certificate: Exit Point (dir. Ronnie Ricketts)

This certifiably insane film about prison cannibals, rock sock nunchucks and Where's Waldo falls into the "it's so bad, it's good" category. It ends on a cliffhanger, and since Ronnie Ricketts may be going to real prison we may not see a sequel? I'm just waiting for him to escape and join some real life cannibals and make the sequel with them as co-stars. Authenticity!

9-10. Hanggang Kailan?/My Bakit List (dir. Bona Fajardo)

Okay, these are not really that bad; they're at the very least decent tourism videos. But the romance that surrounds these thinly veiled tourism videos are really not that great, both involving toxic men. The former is a film about a girl conflicted about splitting with a confirmed cheater, the second is a film about a girl conflicted about letting go of a confirmed chea... wait a minute

8. Boy Tokwa: Lodi ng Gapo (dir. Tony Y. Reyes)

This weird, unfunny, badly shot garbage was produced by senator Tito Sotto. If this is any indication of the quality of the films we're gonna get from him (in, say, future MMFFs,) we'll be taking cues from another Philippine senator:

well, have you?

***

7. Kiko en Lala (dir. Adolf Alix, Jr.)

THIS WAS THE GUY WHO DIRECTED ISDA. And now, he's involved with making this completely uninspired film, which is probably also unfinished given the state of the special effects, which looked like they were done on my neighbor's Pentium 266 from FREAKING 1998.

6. Familia Blondina (dir. Jerry Sineneng)

Hey guys, wanna make a movie in a weekend? Let's just get a couple of wigs from the bodega, smear some shit on a script and we're all set. This is the textbook definition of a film that doesn't even try. This wouldn't even get a "You Tried" star in kindergarten. It would get something like this instead:

this makes mommy want to take little bobby back to the hospital

***

5. The Last Interview: The Mayor Antonio Halili Story (dir. Ceasar Soriano)

Aside from its artistic decision to ACTUALLY INCLUDE THE REAL DEATH FOOTAGE OF ANTONIO HALILI, a decision that I find disrespectful to the person involved, this film inserts its own director, Unfavorite film list hall of famer Ceasar Soriano, as a self-insert. Perhaps he wanted to be a heroic journalist like the guys from Spotlight, but he ended up being a Boyoyong clown made of pinewood instead.

4. Bato: The Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa Story (dir. Adolf Alix, Jr.)

Biopics sometimes lionize great men, though to at least have a bit of success in that regard the man has to have a little lion in him in the first place. But how do you lionize a jackal? I don't know what financial difficulties Alix had this year, but he must've really needed the money. A shameless (potentially illegal) political ad shown months before a major election, Bato is lifeless, mirthless, craftless and silly, especially since Jelson Bay is a much better fit for Bato and you know it.

3. Love; Life (dir. Nikko Arcega)

Love; Life isn't actually a bad film, if you read it as a film about a deranged psychopath taking an unwitting girl into his psychotic fantasy, believing that she is the reincarnation of his ex-fiancee. But if you read it as a romantic film, Love; Life seems like it was written by a rudimentary A.I. that writes romantic scripts but was ruined thanks to a 4chan raid. Or maybe this should have been called To My Alien Friend instead of that documentary, because this could potentially be evidence that extraterrestrials are trying (and failing) to find out how human relationships work.

2. 3Pol Trobol Huli Ka Balbon (dir. Coco Martin)

Proponents of the MMFF say that the reason why experiments like the 2016 edition of the fest "didn't work" was because audiences want films for the entire family, and ESPECIALLY films for kids. 3Pol Trobol is not a film for kids. I'd say it's not a film for adults either. In fact, it's not a film for human consumption; it is perhaps best shown by sadists to cattle or pigs in slaughterhouses to remind them of the cruel inevitability of death. It has three (3) attempted rapes, and the punishment (handed out by Isko Moreno, no less, which isn't a good look for the good mayor)? A slap on the wrist. It's neanderthal times again, folks. The film is full of offensive messages: 1) drag is funny and is just straight people dressing up to cop a feel (haha was that a pun) 2) Women cross dressing is weird, and proves that they shouldn't be working in male spaces and 3) almost raping someone gets you a slap on the wrist. haha but what do Filipinos care they want fAmIlY EnTeRtAiNmEnT ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1. KontrAdiksyon (dir. Njel de Mesa)

This film is every shitty Facebook post shared by your friend or family member that you probably should have blocked a long time ago, but you don't because you don't want an echo chamber or just  don't want to for the lulz. Mix that with a bunch of turds, some leaps in logic and Zombies (!) and you get a film so terrible, it made me wonder if you can retract a Palanca award for shittiness.

Okay, I guess that's about it?

Haha just kidding

SPECIAL RAGE-INDUCED DISHONORABLE MENTION

0. The second half of Pandanggo sa Hukay (dir. Sheryl Andes)

No cinematic moment has made my blood pressure shoot up like the second half of Cinemalaya 2019's Pandanggo sa Hukay. To be fair, the first half of the film is good, great even. But it then devolves into a horrible tonally deaf shitshow, as if someone took the second half of the script and urinated on it. It's arty and edgy in all the wrong ways, and deserves this star:

***

It's time to end this three parter with a handful of excellent films from the world stage and a special announcement about the future of this blog.

Present Confusion 2019 Rundown Part 1 - Philippine Cinema Favorites

So, who's top and bottom here?

2019 is coming to a close, and it's time to take a look back at the year that was. Compared to the absolutely fantastic 2018, 2019 was just... okay. It's not that there were a lot of really bad films this year; instead, average or mediocre films clogged the theaters and the tubes this year. Few films really stood out amid the noise.

Some film festivals took a break, leaving some space for moviegoers to breathe. The stalwarts of the festival circuit (Cinemalaya, C1O, QCinema) churned out some hits, though QCinema has now gone truly international with a mixed slate of local and international films. The MMFF is still (unfortunately) chugging along in its original state, victimizing four new films to sacrifice to the altar of capitalism. There are now talks of a "Summer MMFF," which is weird considering we already have the PPP for that. It looks like overly commercial filmmaking is poised to crush smaller mainstream productions and independent films in larger, mall complex cinemahouses.

Meanwhile, films are finding their second wind with microcinemas and streaming sites. iWant, Iflix, HOOQ and Netflix now all host a variety of Filipino films, and the collection is growing. The production of the first Filipino Netflix original, Dead Kids, as well as the emergence of streaming-only iWant originals, is a sign that streaming may be a potential major platform for many films in the future.

There's an influx of new blood, previous first time filmmakers are creating fantastic sophomore works, and previous indie darlings are finding themselves experimenting with mainstream studio productions. It's an uncertain world, more than it has probably ever been in the past five years, and the future looks uncertain. Who knows what 2020 will bring.

Like last year's rundown, this will be split into three parts: 1) my favorite local films of 2019, honorable mentions and my least favorite films of 2019, and notable international films of the year. This is actually a record year for Philippine Cinema: in one form or another, 132 films have been released in theaters or streaming. The number may differ depending on the inclusion criteria; mine excludes one time screenings and coproductions. Of those 132 films, as of this writing, I have seen 127, which is around 95-96 percent, a personal best.

I even saw 12 Days to Destiny. What's 12 Days to Destiny, you ask? EXACTLY.

Rules are: 1) must be a commercially released local film this year, 2) re-edits and re-releases are accepted, 3) favorites, not necessarily best. Strap yourselves in and let's get ready to dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.

Here is

John Tawasil's 

15 FAVORITE LOCAL FILMS OF 2019

15. Elise (dir. Joel Ferrer) - Elise is a polarizing film, for sure, but I really don't care. Its structure of vignettes and its depiction of a person's life as defined by other people is something rarely seen in contemporary cinema. Elise is a roughly hewn gem that deserves more attention.

14. Last Fool Show (dir. Eduardo Roy, Jr.) - The only Roy film on this list, Last Fool Show is an entertaining film that serves both as metafictional commentary and as exploration of an artist's struggle between his/her desire for art and his/her desire to earn money.

13. Babae at Baril (dir. Rae Red) - There is something tantalizing about Rae Red's solo full length directorial debut, specifically in its depiction of the genealogy of violence, a lineage of power and blood that leads men to wreak violence onto (other) (wo)men. 

12. Tayo, Sa Huling Buwan ng Taon (dir. Nestor Abrogena) - Abrogena's follow up to the surprise hit Ang Kuwento Nating Dalawa is on a completely different level compared to his previous film, depicting the inevitable pull others have on us, even over great distances and over long periods of time.

11. Sila-Sila (dir. Giancarlo Abrahan) - perhaps this year's best-written film, Sila-Sila is an intimate exploration of relationships that feels universal and inclusive. It also manages to be very profound and very funny at the same time.

10. Ulan (dir. Irene Villamor) - There's something powerful about narratives, in the stories we tell ourselves and others. Ulan explores the notion of narrative in ways we've rarely seen in local cinema. It's a departure from Villamor's previous two films, featuring the director at what may be the height of her creative experimentation.

9. LSS (dir. Jade Castro) - Perhaps the most feel good film in this list, LSS is a pleasant exploration of what art, and the mutual love of art, can do to people. As it turns out, it can bond people together, help people mend, and even change lives for the better. In a sea of crushingly depressing films, LSS is a breath of fresh air.

8. Verdict (dir. Raymund Ribay Gutierrez) - No contemporary local film, even the films helmed by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez's mentor Brillante Mendoza, has managed to capture the massive structural failings of the justice system as well as Verdict. It deservedly got the blessing of the FAP to represent us in next year's Oscar Best International Film race.

7. John Denver Trending (dir. Arden Rod Condez) - One of two Cinemalaya 2019 gems, John Denver Trending is a hard watch, because it is so heartbreaking and because it parallels real life events. In a time where the internet can ruin anyone overnight, it's also quite terrifying, because the same thing can happen to you.

6. Kalel, 15 (dir. Jun Lana) - Jun Lana has been exploring themes of sexual identity for years now, from Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes to the more mainstream Panti Sisters. His latest film talks about the way we talk about sex (we don't), and the hypocrisies inherent in one of the few support systems we have. It is a film where silence is its greatest tragedy.

5. Edward (dir. Thop Nazareno) - Edward is one of many coming of age films that came out in 2019 (and one of a handful included in this list.) What sets it apart from the others is Thop Nazareno's own bittersweet storytelling flavor, poignant and heartbreaking in equal amounts.

4. Lucid (dir. Victor Villanueva) - Victor Villanueva steps out of his comfort zone and he, along with  screenwriter Nats Jadaone, makes this fascinating film about a very specific kind of loneliness. It's also Alessandra de Rossi's best performance in a really long time. Its only drawback is the limitations inherent in the creation of festival films, but if there were no limitations, this would be a film for the ages.

3. Cleaners (dir. Glenn Barit) - Few films have managed to follow its artistic vision and captivate even casual audiences in 2019 as well as Glenn Barit's Cleaners. It's well-made, relatable, socially conscious and a pure delight to watch.

2. For My Alien Friend (dir. Jet Leyco) - Jet Leyco may be familiar to mainstream audiences by way of his horror film Second Coming, but this is the film that made Leyco one of the year's best filmmakers in my eye. It's formally creative (perhaps one of the most creative films in this entire list), playful (thus avoiding the pretension some other experimental films have by leaning into their seriousness) and intimate at the same time. For My Alien Friend is simply a phenomenal work.

1. Isa Pa, With Feelings (dir. Prime Cruz) - When I tried to compile this list, I tried to recall which film hit all the right notes, was thematically lush, and had great lead performances. This film hit all the criteria for me. Isa Pa, With Feelings is a great romantic film, and it also serves as a call for empathy and understanding and for inclusion and acceptance, in a world that is quickly running out of those things. While far from perfect, Isa Pa, With Feelings is my favorite local film of 2019.

***

In the next installment of this rundown, we'll be talking about honorable mentions, special citations and my UnFavorite film list of 2019. Stay tuned.

Kalel, 15

Kalel is 15, and sex is everywhere. People around him are touching, feeling, fucking. He learned everything about sex himself, because his body should be a temple and frank discussions about sex never really happen. Even in the space where discussion should be open, as in a literal confessional, there is only silence. Why talk about sex as if it were a sin?

Kalel is 15, and he is keeping a secret. His HIV stands out not like stigmata, but like the sores of a leper. It is ironic, considering that his messiah walked with the sick and marginalized, yet his modern day followers do the opposite. Things not discussed become things not understood, and misunderstanding gives in to fear. With fear, empathy diminishes and even disappears.

Kalel is 15, and the system has failed him. From a bureaucracy that doesn't care about him, to medical support systems that look  at only the biological side of things and not the psychosocial side, he wants to speak out, but cannot. Silence is thus forced upon him, even though he wants to talk.

Kalel is 15, and he has no one to turn to. He is trapped, suffocating, constricted by frames and frames-within-frames. His family is shaped by the same prejudices that shaped him, and they are wrapped up in their own problems. His secret keeps him away from his peers. He turns to the last support system there is, his own faith, but the men who claim God's word for themselves shun him, as a problem to be swept away, a secret to be kept under wraps. He cannot live in the house of God, because he is a reminder of sin in more ways than one. He is alone.

Kalel is 15, and he should be living life, loving others, and doing things kids his age normally do. But we have failed him in so many ways, because we live in a world where we are not encouraged to speak.

Thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker, rewatching The Last Jedi and MMFF

If you've been following this blog since its inception in 2005 (or if you just enjoy backreading) then you'd know that Star Wars has been a part of this blog since the beginning. I care about the franchise deeply, as it is part of my childhood, my adolescence and now my adulthood. (Star Trek will always be #1 in my heart, but in terms of cultural properties, this is perhaps the only right time when a man can have more than two lovers.)

Before watching the latest installment of the franchise, I decided to rewatch the previous film in the series, Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. Watching TLJ for the first time back in 2017 was a strange experience. I liked what I saw, but there was something about the film that I couldn't put my finger on. While former entries in the Star Wars mainline canon were endlessly rewatchable, I struggled to make myself rewatch this. When I looked at the film more closely, I saw the reason why: The Last Jedi is a good film, a deconstruction of the hero's journey, a democratization of the force, and self-critique of blockbuster cinema, the same kind of cinema that Martin Scorsese famously criticized as "not cinema." But as a franchise film, as popcorn cinema, as a delivery system for thrills and nostalgia, TLJ is a terrible example of that. The film is doggedly averse to providing the catharsis that audiences are used to, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but the vitriolic backlash to the film, not seen since the prequel trilogy, is understandable to a certain extent. The film is a bummer: a well made bummer, but a bummer still. It challenges the viewer, it disturbs them, but viewers are unused to disturbance. Viewers crave comfort, in as much as MMFF films in the Philippines provide similar experiences year after year for audiences willing to shell out their hard earned cash for it. It's hard to change audience expectations; blockbuster cinema has been out there for almost a century, and you can't overturn a century's worth of culture with one film.

That said, defenders who call TLJ the best film of the series only see the thematic richness of the film, and not its storytelling lapses. The Last Jedi is a film of contradictions, where character actions belie the themes it purports to champion. The film criticizes heroic sacrifices, but at the same time its biggest climactic moments are heroic sacrifices. The film is about rebellion, but at the same time it (inadvertently?) supports an authoritarian power structure that is not transparent. I still like The Last Jedi, almost as much as I did when I first saw it, but it's not a perfect film.

With that, The Rise of Skywalker should've been doomed from the start. It's clear that there was no overarching vision for the film, with Abrams and Johnson playing an intergalactic version of Telephone. Carrie Fisher's death changed the nature of this installment even before it was set to be made, and the original director assigned to the trilogy's conclusion was unceremoniously fired. The fact that this movie was even made in the first place is something of a minor miracle.

Yet as it is, it's not a film I can hate. Abrams "wins" the game of telephone by stepping back into safeness and by mostly ignoring Johnson's film. But ultimately, there are no winners. The trilogy's ultimate sin is its lack of cohesiveness. In giving its directors carte blanche without the collaboration or coordination necessary to make these tentpole franchises work, the whole thing falls apart. While it manages to tell good or at least passable individual stories, the overall work is a convoluted mess. Say what you will about Lucas' Prequel Trilogy, but that film had a concrete beginning, middle and end because one man stood at the helm of all three films. Who knows what would have happened if Johnson or Abrams had taken the reins of this trilogy from the start; arguably we would've gotten something far better out of it all. The Rise of Skywalker would've been a perfect sequel to an Episode VIII, but not the Episode VIII we got, In effect, we got a trilogy without a second act: The Rise of Skywalker is a sequel to a film that does not exist. Johnson was ambitious to lay out his ideas in that way, but given what happened to films like Solo: A Star Wars Story, it's not hard to see how his ideas would fly in the face of a megacorporation like Disney whose bottom line is to appease as many consumers as possible.

That said, somehow the film feels good. The catharsis, shallowly constructed or not, comes in waves. And that's where I realize that there is comfort in sameness, in safety, in the realization that you know the good guys will save the day, that we know the good guys will save the day, but that's okay. It's a feeling that harkens back to the serial films that Star Wars is inspired by. It also helps that the film does not exist in a vacuum, it is supported by the experiences of a lifetime: by seeing your first Star Wars film, whether on VHS, Betamax or in the cinema, by holding your first toy or lightsaber, by meeting friends with the same fandom interest as yourself, by learning that a beloved cast member has passed away.

The release of this film continues an ongoing conversation about the ownership of cultural properties like Star Wars, as well as commercial cinema vs art. There's obviously a divide between fans who just want to watch a new Star Wars film versus people who want more from it - comfort versus discomfort, a theme park ride versus a road trip to the unknown. Do fans own these cultural products? Should they be the ones to dictate what art should be put out there, or do they not know any better because of some cultural standard or vanguard? Is limiting the artistic freedom of a creator when dealing with these megafranchises an insult to artistic integrity, or a necessary evil?

I don't have the answers to these questions, and it remains to be seen what the sequel trilogy's legacy will be. Time has a strange way of changing things around. Back then, the Prequel Trilogy was hated, but now it lives on as a cultural artifact through memes, and the films are being reassessed. As it is, the Sequel Trilogy is an entertaining trio of films, an interesting experiment to see if the franchise could survive without the creative mind that birthed it. Right now, it comes off as more of a noble failure than anything else. But if the trilogy inspires even one child to look up to the stars, to challenge authority, to save the people they love, to be more than their name and heritage, then in its own special way, it has worked.

I don't have a decent title for this post but it contains a lot of "reviews"

You ever get that feeling where you used to love to do something, and technically you still do, but lately you just don't have the time? Yup, that's pretty much me for the past month or so. Not writing about film feels a bit weird after doing it regularly for the past five or so years, and semi-regularly for far longer than that. That, however, hasn't stopped me from watching lots of movies, and I guess this is my chance to catch up with the writing thing. Get ready for a long one.

A recent film that's been getting a rather cold response is Veronica Velasco's Nuuk. It was marketed as a psychological thriller, and fellow reviewers and/or critics held on to that notion, calling the film a bit too drab to be thrilling, too unremarkable to be engaging, and with a twist that only seems to exist for the sake of existing. That's fair, if one reads the film in a certain way. I approached this film with a blank slate, with little or no idea what it was all about. I found the film quite fascinating, actually.

Look at it like this: consider all the romantic films we've seen that take place in an exotic location. It's pretty much its own subgenre of local cinema at this point. In these kinds of films, two lovers find each other in a strange land, their own comfort being each other. In a world where a diaspora has caused Filipinos find comfort in their own countrymen, birds seeking fellow birds of the same feather. This film takes place in all kinds of places: metropolitan cities, scenic historical villages, beaches, mountains, and icy plains. Last year's Through Night and Day (which, perhaps coincidentally, was also directed by Velasco) is an icy example.

Nuuk is a deconstruction of these types of films: the exotic locale isn't exactly a place one aspires to live in. Nuuk feels more like an icy wasteland instead of a wintry paradise. Its main characters are unsympathetic as well: Alice Dixson's character is an alcoholic, a mother of dubious character, addicted to uppers, as messed up as one can be. Perhaps that's why Aga Muhlach's character is so enticing to her -  she's been conditioned by the very films this film is deconstructing that he's a good guy.

It's as bleak as it can be, and I found its silence and desolation fascinating, akin to Eastern European and Russian cinema in terms of the tone it sets. The mystery, instead of being in the center, just gets in the way of the unraveling of Dixson's character. I liked this film a lot, but it's valid to think it's probably just me.

Do you have a friend you really don't know that much, the kind of friend you maybe met one or two times over some conference or through mutuals? You add each other, maybe like each other's posts once in a blue moon, then forget they were your friend in the first place, until one day, you scroll through social media and you find that there's a prenup video of that friend, or maybe an SDE, or whatever fancy thing they're doing these days. You watch the video out of morbid curiosity. You can't fucking help it, and then it happens. Something reaches deep inside you and you can feel your asshole pucker from the cringe. It's awkward from the time you hit play to the time the video ends, and you do watch all of it, albeit in spurts. The human body is not meant to consume cringe in bulk and in those amounts.

Conceptually, Cara x Jagger seems enticing and full of promise. Imagine the idea of a woman who can remember everything and wants to forget (ignoring the fact that in the real world, such conditions are infinitesimally rare) and a man who forgets but wants to remember. It sounds super interesting. Local filmmakers seem to be attracted to this idea of forgetting in the context of hugot (over the last year or so, there have been 2 other films with similar premises). And why not? The pain of a love lost is tied closely to memory, the act of moving on tied to forgetting.

But the execution doesn't really pan out that well. There's nothing creative, visually or otherwise, about Jagger's exploration of his past memories with Cara. The film feels restricted, boxed into the romantic genre it should be trying to escape, and it feels like that feeling I described in the first paragraph above. To be fair, the film manages to elicit a great performance from Jasmine Curtis Smith, but even she can't carry the film on her back.

Two of the films in this very long post hearken back to the trashiness of early 2000s local cinema, and one of them is Mac Alejandre's The Annulment. Though to be fair the trashiness does appeal to certain audiences (no doubt it earned quite a lot in its two week+ run), the movie itself is hilariously bad and perhaps inadvertently irresponsible as well.

Its central romance does little to endear us to the characters. The film's relationship problems seem to stem partly from class differences between characters but these characters fall into stereotypes. Joem Bascon's character feels inferior because of his lower socioeconomic status, but he's depicted as a hypersexual, selfish asshole with few redeeming qualities. Lovi Poe is portrayed as benevolent but clueless. These characterizations are not only lazy, but boring to watch.

As for the actual annulment itself, the film tries to extract drama from the situation by making it out like the annulment is some great tragedy. but getting these people as far away from each other as possible is obviously for the best. In addition, it portrays annulment as bloodless and conflict-free which is a gross oversimplification of the process, and potentially irresponsible as well.

My utter lack of regard for this film is also partly because of the fact that Marriage Story came out on Netflix, and that film makes this film look pathetic.

Two Love You is not as glossy as Benedict Mique's previous film ML. Far from it, in fact -  the film is rather rough around the edges production wise. On the other hand, the film does address very interesting topics.

The film can be seen as an exploration of the ways gay men adapt to a heteronormative society, first, through the use of capital and their own resources, and second, by playing according to the rules the society has established.

It first addresses the idea of gay men acting as sugar daddies, where they sponsor a younger male financially, and reciprocation is not always found or required. The potential for exploitation is there, and in cases where the benefactor's motives aren't so pure, it certainly can be. But in a world where older gay men are marginalized and denied the chance to find love for themselves, it's understandable that some of them resort to things like this.

As the drama shifts in the second half, the film explores the phenomenon of mixed orientation marriages, where one or both parties are of differing sexual orientations. In fact, one of the producers of the film, Ogie Diaz, has such a marriage. This is, again, another way people adapt to such societies. This push for homeostasis instead of societal change may turn more than a few people off, but that's a whole different conversation entirely, and one I'm not fully equipped to address.

The message is there, but the filmmaking feels bland, often safe, and some parts don't do the film's message any favors. Still, it's worth trying out and I did appreciate it, if only at a conceptual level.

The Art of Ligaw is a pleasant film to watch, though I was a bit underwhelmed by the ligaw part, and I wish that it had made its setting (Davao) pop out a bit more, since it looks like an interesting place.

Epi Quizon is great in this film, and KZ Tandingan is at least decent for a rookie actress. I really don't have much to say about it other than that, but contemporary films set in Davao are hard to come by these days, so points for that.

Adan has the 2000's Filipino softcore formula down pat, it seems: it's set in an isolated village, where a virginal, pure woman discovers her sexuality and finds out that she likes girls. Sex ensues, of course. But I do have to ask, it's 2019. What use do I have for these kinds of films when I can always go to certain sites and get my fix there?

As far as lesbian films go, having seen this only a few days after Portrait of a Lady on Fire soured my experience of this film even more. It's obvious Adan was written and directed by men, as their gaze infiltrates this film down to the very molecule. It makes for some ridiculous scenes, such as one time where, because these two ladies are so horny, they diddle each other inside a tricycle. With those kinds of roads, I'm amazed they actually managed to do it, and the tricycle driver didn't even notice? Like at all?? The two protagonists aren't even that likeable, with both of them portrayed more as deviant sociopaths instead of characters people can relate to. If you go to this film looking for representation, sorry but you're barking up the wrong tree.

It makes you wonder, you know, what Adan really means. Perhaps an attempt to reference the Garden of Eden, paradise conflated with innocence? Or how such a garden would look if "Adan" did not exist - nothing good, if this movie's edgy ending even is to be believed? Thank you, next.

Damaso feels like a mishmash of many different things that Joven Tan has tried before in the past decade: like Echoserang Frog, it's self reflexive about movies and the genre it's trying to portray, like Petmalu, it's a musical, and like many of his other films, it's all done pretty lousily.

The film follows two narrative threads: the first follows a screenwriter named Damaso is trying to pitch a historical movie, while the second follows the film Damaso is writing, a musical adaptation of Noli Me Tangere. In the first narrative thread, much discussion is given to the idea of glorifying historical figures. For some reason, the movie tries to humanize the character of Padre Damaso, the book's antagonist. Making an obvious stand in for the systemic oppression of the Spanish into a flesh and blood character looks great on paper, but Tan does not have the faculties to pull it off. In making evil men human, their evil deeds are inextricably linked with the totality of who they are. Tan lazily dismisses Damaso's evil deeds by way of his lack of skill and storytelling finesse. He makes Damaso sympathetic, but in a way that his evil deeds are whitewashed. That's not only a gross idea, it is dangerous as well, considering the times we live in.

The disclaimer at the start of Ariel Villasanta's Kings of Reality Shows tells us to believe what we want from the film we are about to see; it is what it is. And that is perhaps the most fascinating thing about this movie: a lingering sense of doubt that seeps into the viewer while watching this film. For a "Reality Movie," questioning its reality or unreality is quite a big part of it.

The first half of the film shows Ariel (of the formerly popular duo Ariel and Maverick) begging  for money from friends and local politicians. You see, way back when they were still popular, they made a movie about their attempt to get into American Idol. It was never finished, and exists in the GMA vaults. The begging is for the rights to the movie. This part of the film depicts Ariel as the "struggling artist," looking pathetic as he kowtows to several politicians in a series of exceedingly awkward interviews - the politics of this film are pretty bald-faced, but again, how much of this is genuine sentiment is up in the air.

The second half is where things get more interesting, as Ariel succeeds and shows us the film that never got shown in cinemas. The film within a film turns Kings of Reality Shows into a strange amalgamation of a feature-length Ariel and Maverick episode and a metafictional exploration of filmmaking and failure ala Lost in La Mancha (2002) or an exploration of reality and fiction ala F for Fake (1973). Granted, its humor is woefully dated, its production value crude at best. But there's something addicting in parsing the film's authenticity, possessing something that is key to most reality shows - presenting staged moments as illusory reality.

Mikhail Red's Dead Kids plays with the thriller genre in interesting ways, but its messages feel skin-deep, and if one is looking for a film that perfectly captures the trials and tribulations of youth in contemporary times, we already have films like Cleaners, Edward and John Denver Trending.

It is a fun watch, but to be honest there isn't much else to it other than that. This year, the best film made by a Red was Babae at Baril.

If there's anything shocking about The Heiress, its probably the almost-unrecognizable Maricel Soriano in a supporting role. What happened? It's like someone cloned Maricel and something went terribly wrong during the process.

The film could have explored an interesting dynamic - that of the biological mother versus the mother that actually raises a child. Incidentally, such concepts are not new to Maricel Soriano films; her 2006 film Inang Yaya being a particular example.

The third act of the film is relatively enjoyable, but the whole thing is spoiled by a horror ending that was made just for the purpose of shocking the audience even more. It's goofy, but it's quickly forgotten.

And finally, faith based films ala Pureflix are coming to the Philippines by way of Kaibigan, with a special guest appearance by Worst Baldwin (tm), Stephen. Don't worry, he's not in the movie that much, and he's eclipsed in terms of performance by all of the other people involved in this movie.

The film plays out rather predictably, like a Hallmark Channel movie or an after school special. Drugs are portrayed as a serious problem of the youth and kids are led astray because of other bad kids, but no one dies or anything because everything's squeaky clean. It's all wholesome and cute, and the conservatism is there, but it's not as in your face as other faith-based films. That balance elevates it a bit above those films as it tries to appeal to a wider audience. One wonders where this production company will go from here.