Red Quickie: Baby, Baby, Baby!

With its declining birth rate, Japan isn't churning out babies like it used to. The Japanese seem to be either too busy to start families, or view the whole exercise as too expensive to get into. 2009's Baby, Baby Baby! takes a very mainstream Japanese look into the whole business of getting pregnant. Feisty protagonist Yoko (Arisa Suzuki) is a career woman who realizes she is pregnant, the result of a somewhat crazy evening. She decides to keep the baby and we follow her into her journey of self discovery.

The movie unfortunately does not subvert any societal expectations; Yoko, like many Japanese women, quits her job to focus on the baby full time, while the baby's father, Tetsuya, faces the prospect of abandoning his relatively carefree life to be able to become the breadwinner. There is no rebellion against social norms, no attempt by Yoko to hold onto her career, instead, all of the characters slowly fit into their pre-assigned societal slots by the end of the film.

The film also touches on issues on reproductive health, such as infertility, contraception, managing a large family, and other minor issues. However, the film doesn't really go deeper into these issues, nor does it address the larger picture behind Japan's declining fertility rate. Instead we get a somewhat ridiculous scene where everyone gives birth at the same time. I guess symbolically there's something in that. Baby, Baby Baby! is light fare, and unfortunately that's all it ends up being.

Sinag Maynila 2016 Festival Report!

Sinag Maynila is now on its second year. Last year was great in terms of output; what does this year have in store for us?

Set in the snakelike roads of the mountainous North, Dyamper is part slice of Northern life, part tale of redemption - in a manner of speaking. Our three main characters make a living stealing stuff from the backs of trucks. For most of the film our protagonists mope around, get high on mushrooms and fool around the countryside.

The mountains (like the 'healing Forest of Fire' in the film) serve as a place of rebirth, where one can discard their old selves and become someone brand new. For one of our protagonists, Tinio, this rebirth is hardly gumdrops and sunshine - one can almost interpret the new life as purgatory, a stark new reality that one initially rejects, but comes to accept. He does learn later on that his past will always be part of him, for better or worse.

The film is not perfect; it tends to meander a bit, and the pace is deliberate, much like De Guzman's earlier Diablo (2013.) The film's character development is a bit undercooked in some parts, and Tinio's two companions are relegated to supporting characters.

The ending is ambiguous, yet ominous - the very act of jumping in this film is, in a way, a mechanism of change - our characters jump into uncertain futures, to end life or to begin life anew.

What seems like a mundane domestic dramedy quickly evolves upon viewing Adolfo Alix's Mrs. In the context of the film, "Mrs." takes on different translations - that of the sole master of a dilapidated house, as a mother of a lost friend, and as a sister. 

Elizabeth Oropesa delivers a fantastic performance as Virginia, a mother tethered to her old family house - a sentiment that is half stubbornness and half a sense of wanting closure for her desaparecido son. Her heart and soul embody themselves in the old house: rickety pianos and furniture, ceilings of water-stained wood, deep cracks in the walls like cracks in her own heart. And yet, even during earthquakes of emotional turmoil, her heart - and the house -  still stands.

In contrast, Oropesa is joined by Lotlot De Leon as Delia, whose character tends to the house and keeps Virginia company. Her childlike naivete leads her into her own pit, and she has her own burdens to bear.

These two women are not alone: throughout the film we meet women who bear the pain of loss and women who try to seek meaning in their lives - which is another way the title can be interpreted. I'd like to think there's a strong feminist current in the film, but all of the characters' scars can be traced back to the loss of a man in their lives, so it's not as clear if the notion holds water.

The film's narrative structure is a bit abstract; it may be more a slice of life (and death) than Dyamper was. It does paint an emotional picture of these women, but it just stops, leaving the ending ambiguous, perhaps leaving the task of resolution to us instead.

The jazzy soundtrack of Expressway gives it a noir kind of feel. Its narrative territory is a place where we've been before: it's the classic  story of two assassins, an old veteran and an eager newbie, which has been addressed in some way in films like On the Job and to a lesser extent, Tandem (with robbery instead of assassination.) The plot is quite predictable, knowing how these kinds of things go. Half the fun of Expressway is, however, the ride itself.

First off, our two characters are interesting, and not in the usual ways. Ben, the old veteran, is haunted by his past actions; the ghosts of his victims are catching up to him. His apprentice Morris, on the other hand, breaks the stereotype of the naive rookie - Morris is extremely narcissistic, even psychopathic in some aspects. In no way is he painted as a sympathetic character. And yet, thanks to Ben's attachment to his deceased son, a weird father-son dynamic forms.

Expressway visually oozes style. It paints its frames in lurid Christmas lights of red and green, or in the warm orange of highway streetlights. Its style is punctuated with brutal explosions of violence and sex, more often than not, perpetrated by our two hitmen. Its main cast is also capable. Though I did enjoy Aljur Abrenica's psychotic character, he tends to oversell it sometimes, which gives away the twist of the film around 20 minutes in.

Expressway is overall an enjoyable ride. For me, it's reminiscent of Ato Bautista's early DV films in the mid 2000s. 

From the start, Lila throws every horror filmmaking technique at us: clever blocking, jump cuts out of nowhere, the random audio cue here and there. It probably won't leave an impression except to the horror rookie. It's mostly well shot, but none of the scary images really stick. It tries to create tension, but there isn't much of that, either. It has a mystery that is predicated on the protagonist's complete lack of curiosity (and an elementary-grade reading speed.)

The film foreshadows a lot of things so heavily, that you know something is up about five minutes into it. Then again, our main characters are painfully oblivious to the fact that bad things are happening around them, so we are left to watch, frustrated, as our protagonists wander around helplessly until the bloody climax.

The one thing I did like about the film was the caretaker character, played by Sherry Lara. She has a great moment at the climax of the film, which with its quick cut revolving camera is smothered in cliche, but Lara makes it work really well, making it the best scene of the movie for me.

Lila is a movie that would have worked better as a short film. It would have solved a lot of the pacing problems and mitigated some of its glaring plot holes.What we got, unfortunately, feels like a bad episode of Shake Rattle and Roll instead.

In contrast to Expressway, where the violence is overt, TPO (Temporary Protection Order) hides its violence and the aftermath, framing it behind walls, windows, even glass. In one scene, where Miguel beats his wife Teresa, we see the violence as if we are staring from the outside, placing us as voyeurs (on the positive side, perhaps the film puts us into the shoes of a concerned neighbor.) A similar technique was done with Jay Altarejos' 2014 effort Kasal.

Kasal depicted a gay couple striving for the right to get married and seeing their own relationship fall apart. This time, in TPO, we get to see the other side of the fence - a straight married couple, their marriage slowly disintegrating. We view this disintegration through a fractured timeline that flits between flashbacks and real time, showing moments from that marriage that ultimately contributed to its end.

The main cause of the marital strife stems from domestic abuse, but the factors that caused the end of their marriage go far deeper - conflicting desires for children and sex, a controlling, overbearing family,  cultural and societal factors - all come into play in this marriage's destruction. In particular, Miguel's father (played by character actor Menggie Cobarrubias) is a domineering, controlling presence in the couple's life. In many scenes he is positioned at the top of the frame, whether visually or through his voice, and at times he enters the scene from above like an overlord approaching his subjects. His outdated philosophy - that of the completely subservient wife that belongs in the kitchen - is passed down to his son, who takes out his frustrations on his wife.

The film possesses a trove of long shots, but it is the composition of these shots that deserve merit. Altarejos knows how to block his actors in a scene. While long, his shots are dynamic, splitting characters through inner frames, and having them move from background to foreground to emphasize their importance in a scene (the sequence with the school principal near the end being the prime example of this.) The angular architecture of stairwells and windows creates an oppressive, claustrophobic feeling, nooses around our characters' heads.

In the end, Miguel and Teresa's marriage lay autopsied and bare before us, and in that moment, the movie leaves us rather abruptly. The lack of true resolution may be a turnoff, but I guess that's the point - separations like this seldom end cleanly. It is a war that no one wins, as everyone involved incurs scars of some kind.

***

That's it for this year. There were two films I liked, two that were okay, and one that wasn't ok. I liked last year's program a lot more, but I do appreciate the variety they are attempting with these films. There's a shorts program for Sinag Maynila, however for some reason there's only one venue screening these films, and only for a short time. I hope as the festival grows, more attention could be paid to the Shorts section.

Short Reviews April 2016

Whistleblower makes it a point to declare that it is a work of fiction (twice, even - there's another mention during the closing credits). Of course, Filipinos will no doubt recognize the real life inspiration for this particular film. Right off the bat it's an interesting premise; unfortunately the film doesn't do much with the material.

At a very lean 82 minutes, the film feels incomplete. Characters come and go, with some characters existing solely to appear in one scene, never to appear again. Our two main characters, Zeny and Lorna, are the most fleshed out among the cast, but even they suffer from a gross lack of development. Zeny's relationship with her family seems perfunctory and limited to a few phone conversations; and while Lorna's character has some good moments, the script doesn't let her character grow. This culminates in an anti climactic resolution where one of the core moral dilemmas of the film is resolved in its last twenty seconds. We don't see the repercussions of any of the actions taken in this film - the film just decides to end itself and we are left hanging.

Then again, perhaps the goal of the movie is not to shed light on the act of exposing the truth, but rather to shed light on the rotting system itself, where people like Lorna and Zeny are made pawns in a machine of corruption that they are either unwilling or unable to truly escape. To its credit, the film did make me wonder what the hell happened to the real life court case this was based upon. It seems like most of it has been swept under the rug... at least until the upcoming elections are over and done with. But even this interpretation of the film is too gracious, in light of its many problems. Whistleblower is built upon an interesting foundation of ideas, but sadly comes up short when you get to the details.

I'm not going to beat around the bush for this one: I think 10 Cloverfield Lane is great, and it's best watched going in blind. Thanks to superb acting and a tightly scripted plot, it manages to create tension and fear in many creative ways.

While the very small cast (of only three main characters) collectively deserves praise, John Goodman's character practically steals the show. Over the course of the film your perception of his character will change, and Goodman makes it work really well. He manages to inject his imposing character with a bit of humanity, without becoming too weird or silly.

There's a vibe in this film that definitely evokes classic Twilight Zone episodes, in that the core mystery unravels itself in such a way that the payoff at the end feels right, at times chillingly so.

Bear McCreary, whom I know best from his work on the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series, does the soundtrack, which feels effective, while at the same time, pays homage to its spiritual predecessors (admittedly limited) score. As most of the movie is shot within an enclosed space, Jeff Cutter's DP work can switch from making the bunker look like an open, welcoming space, to a claustrophobic dungeon.

It makes for effective filmmaking, and it's one of the better films coming out this week.

April Fools Day 2016

We're almost up to 11 years now with this blog; unfortunately, I no longer have the time or resources to carry on. That is why I have handed over the reins of my blog to new authors who will continue maintaining the site. A number of inaugural posts have already been posted.

to access the site, click the link below:
NEW Present Confusion 2.0

thanks for 10 great years and May The Force Be With You.

Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis

A Case for Art in a Darkened World

Anyone who has heard of Filipino Independent Cinema will most likely have run into the name Lav Diaz. His films, often sprawling multi-hour black and white epics, are lush with ideas and a clear, persistent love for our country. However, his body of work can often be challenging to watch (though not impenetrable). His filmmaking style is not conventional in the least, breaking the shackles of what we normally think about when we watch movies. There are no Hollywood-style visual or audio clues. We get pure story in Diaz's unique style instead. Before his introduction to new audiences with Norte, screenings were sparse, and  even then, only people in the industry, film students, and the most dedicated cinephiles would attend and stick it through to the end.

This is why it's something of a minor miracle that his latest film, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery) is being shown to packed theaters, distributed by one of the largest film distribution companies in the Philippines, known more for producing and distributing formulaic rom coms and comedies. The release of the movie was accompanied by a campaign framing the task of watching the epic movie, which clocks in at over eight hours, as a challenge. Of course the movie is far more than a simple ordeal;  Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis is more of a ritual, an experience that one shares with other people.

The story is is composed of multiple plot threads, but there are two that stand out. On the whole, Hele is basically a sequel to Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo: following on the heels of Simoun's failed plot to eliminate the ruling elite during a wedding, he is despondent and on the run from authorities. Isagani, who was responsible for foiling Simoun's plan, is beside himself with guilt, lamenting every Filipino loss to the Spaniards in the ensuing revolution to be partly due to his actions. This continuation of fiction is framed within the historical, as our protagonists learn of the impending death of Jose Rizal, and later mourn his passing - immortal literary creations lamenting the death of their mortal God. Meanwhile, Gregoria de Jesus searches for the remains of her husband, the revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio. She is joined by three other characters, each with their own reasons for helping Gregoria in her quest. 

Throughout the film we see a mix of the historical, the fictional, and the mythological. In the world of Diaz's Hele, all three are real - all of them are stories that we create from truth or or own selective biases.We use stories, fictional or not, to teach ourselves, to learn, to get over past mistakes. In a way, the film represents an evolution towards an end of history, though not in the exact sense that Marx and Fukuyama intended, but rather a paradigm shift from a traditional way of making sense of the past into more postmodern forms, something that was touched upon in Diaz's earlier Norte. 

Film has a way of emotionalizing and personalizing history, in the words of historian Robert Rosenstone (whose work, The Historical Film as Real History, has been cited in this blog before.) He continues: "The aim is not to tell everything, but to point to past events, or to converse about history, or to show why history should be meaningful to people in the present." Also, on the experimental approach to historical films: "Experimental films may help to revision what we mean by history. Not tied to «realism,» they bypass the demands for veracity , evidence, and argument that are a normal component of written history and go on to explore new and original ways of thinking the past."

Through this melding of stories both fictional and real, the film posits the problem of our country's curse of being oppressed by foreign entities, and later by our very own people; and our subservience to a ruling class - an oligarchy rather than a true democracy. And it places the solution into our hands, with one such solution expressed through the very notion of freedom as expressed in our literature, our art, our music. The film is filled with art through its frames, music (very uncommon for Diaz's films, which usually have no kind of soundtrack at all) and poetry, punctuated by Jose Rizal's very own Mi Ultimo Adios, which is told in two voices: that of Rizal's version in Spanish, recited by Simoun, and that of Andres Bonifacio's translation to Tagalog, recited by Isagani.

The film also shows how this art can be taken from us, destroyed like a Guardia Civil throwing a wrecked guitar into all consuming fire. It also shows us how art can be privilege rather than right - where only the elites and the antagonists of El Filibusterismo view the newly birthed power of the Cinematheque, expressing mirth at the plight of the indio in frames within frames. The power of stories and art is also a double edged sword. We have a tendency of selectively forgetting the past, denying it, even glossing over it to serve our own biases. We have a tendency to create our own stories and delusions to search for supermen and heroes that can save us from our problems, only to realize that no such supermen exist - only we have the power to elicit change through our own actions - to make people remember our past mistakes.

And Diaz seems to be taking these lessons to heart himself: despite being eight hours long, Hele is easily one of his most accessible films. There's a certain kind of musicality to the film that his other films didn't have in abundance. His long meandering shots are less indulgent, and the editing on the whole is now mostly restrained, perhaps so that people can focus on the frame and the emotion without being too distracted by anything else. 

The acting is great across the board: dialogue-wise, the meatier roles are that of Simoun (Piolo Pascual) and Isagani (John Lloyd Cruz), though Gregoria de Jesus (Hazel Orencio) is amazing as well. Props have to go to the three tikbalang characters that pop up every so often, especially Bernardo Bernardo as the male tikbalang. There are some weird technical moments, such as one sequence where there was something in the side of the frame (a finger perhaps?) Though the editing means that there aren't many distinctive long travel shots as before, there are some really gorgeous scenes that are further enhanced by the monochrome palette: one scene in particular, a tracking shot where Susan Africa's character walks in mud, evokes (at least in tone) shades of Tarkovsky.

People seem to have responded to the campaign and the marketing of the film: the theater I attended was packed (and I would later learn that the theater was sold out, despite the fact that a wildly popular mainstream Hollywood film was up against it.) These weren't just film students or people working in the film industry, these were people from all kinds of backgrounds.  Imagine that - from sparse screenings with an attendance of five or less to now - we've come a long way.

People who have seen other films from Lav Diaz's filmography may not find this film to be their favorite (mainly due to its speculative fiction properties, my personal favorite is still Hesus Rebolusyonaryo). But for people just getting into the man and his unique brand of cinema, this is a good place to start.

Cinefilipino 2016: Ned's Project, Ang Taba Ko Kasi, 1st Sem, Forever Bridgeless, Shorts A/B

Set in the quiet town of Sampaloc, Quezon, Lem Lorca's Ned's Project is a finely made character drama, going forward from last year's Water Lemon. The premise is simple: Ned, a lesbian tattoo artist, wants a child of her own, and sets off to try to get pregnant through natural and artificial means.

Her desire to have a child stems not only from an innate sense of motherhood, but also out of a fear of being alone. Ned's friend and mentor, Max, tells her that people like them are destined to die alone, and this statement haunts Ned for the rest of the film. We see this throughout the film as Ned goes through the relationships in her life, breaking some while strengthening others.

Her determination to get pregnant leads to her auditioning for a local talent contest. The contest itself sort of reflects how the Philippines views its LGBT population: relegated to the fringes and treated as some sort of side show. Throughout the film characters look down on lesbians like Ned, their prejudices rooted in old cultural ideas and religion. Ned's performance tries to counter that, and it's a way of saying that she isn't some freak or oddity, she's a real person with her own hopes and dreams.

All in all it's a character study that's handled competently, and while it has its fair share of drama it manages to balance it with some lighter moments. 

As an overweight guy myself, much of what Ang Taba Ko Kasi says hits close to my (cholesterol-choked) heart. I appreciate the fact that it portrays relationships between people that are different from the usual hunky and sexy types. It can be viewed as a companion piece to Jason Laxamana's Love is Blind, where in both works, people are treated as people with their own positive and negative qualities and not as stereotypes, for good or worse.

The film is enjoyably funny, and overall it's light fare. There is the issue of the development of the relationship between Olga and her swim teacher Noah.  It develops too fast to be believable and I'm not totally sold on it. The points raised during certain dramatic confrontations in the film show (at least for me) that fat people can think and judge superficially too and that not every negative thing in a person's life is necessarily due to how fat they are.

There's nothing too remarkable in the technical side of things, in any case it's decently made. Ryan Yllana and Cai Cortez are great in their respective roles and they have great chemistry together. Of all the lighter films in the festival, this is the best one.

The last feature film in the Cinefilipino lineup is 1st Sem. It's an odd beast - it mixes drama and comedy but I can't reconcile the two. It features a plot that could have been solved if the main characters would just sit down and just talk to each other. I guess this lack of communication between parents and children is kind of the film's point.

While the film's framework looks solid I'm not sure if the end result works. The film could have delved a bit more into the mother-son relationship, but the scenes consist mostly of the two of them fighting. The film then suddenly extends the relationship drama from just the mother and her eldest son to all three kids, which indicates a lack of focus.

The film meanders into a conclusion that, in the context of everything that happened, is relatively satisfying, but the film muddles through a lot to get there. I'm not really sold on this one.

***

The simple lack of a bridge that connects a remote barangay to the town center creates ripples that resonate throughout the small town of Suba. While the case looks open and shut (meaning: just build the damn bridge already,) the documentary film Forever Bridgeless shows us that things are far more complicated than it seems.

If I wanted to show outsiders how the byzantine machine that is Philippine politics works, I'd show them Forever Bridgeless as a case study. Arguments for and against the building of a bridge are presented via interviews with townsfolk. If a bridge were made, travel to and from the town would be cheaper and easier compared to the riskier use of boats. People would get better access to health care and education. The place may even be viable as a tourist spot, boosting the local economy. But decades have passed and no bridge is in sight. It all boils down to conflicts of personal interest and opposition from parties that benefit from the status quo.

What's missing from the film is the perspective of the local government, the one entity that technically has the power to have this bridge built. Any answer would be helpful. In fact, even a statement of declining to comment would have strengthened the film's central thesis.

The film ends with a personal justification from the director for making the film that could have been fleshed out and integrated with the rest of the documentary, but ends up feeling tacked on, like a footnote. I feel the docu could have ended more conclusively if it had been succinct.

***

We Want Short Shorts Cinefilipino 2016 Edition

This year's shorts program features a very strong lineup; I even think that based on the collective quality of all the shorts, I like them more compared to this year's full length features.

Shorts A:

Oktopus: 4/5
Really funny, despite the film having someone die. It's poignant in some moments too. I want a longer version of this with the grannies going on awesome senior citizen adventures.

Kung Ang Ulan ay Gawa sa Tsokolate: 4.75/5
From the makers of last year's Sleepless comes this gem. It's just my kind of thing because of the genre and the way the story and themes (which, if you are a parent, are universal regardless of circumstance) are adapted for the genre. Out of all the films in this fest, short or long, this is my absolute favorite.

Katok: 4/5
It's very effective, even with no dialogue. (Although when someone asks for alms in traffic I do jazz hands instead.)

Dipa ning Alti: 4.5/5
This fascinating film is relentlessly dark, and by dark I mean pitch black. It made me regret the fact that I haven't seen Dayang Asu yet.

Saanman Ngunit Dito: 3.5/5
I felt a bit lukewarm on this tale of moving on and climbing mountains together. It's still nice anyway.

Luna 3.25/5
I liked the film and thought it discussed its central theme well. It almost feels like a poem in the way it was constructed. However I'm a bit iffy on some aspects of the presentation and I wanted more from the film that what it gave me.

Shorts B:

Aki: 3.5/5
First of all, this was directed by Milo Tolentino, who is known for a making a different kind of film. This cannot be further in tone and subject from those films. I liked the idea of the two parallel narratives, but I think the connection between them is too tenuous, making their pairing almost random.

Chicboy: 4.5/5
I laughed. The film is short, but it has a point.

Not Applicable: 4/5
This is one of those films about a situation where everyone loses. There's so much subtext under the table (pun intended...?) with these two characters that it enriches the experience.

Punla: 4/5
It's really well done. There's a tinge of sadness to the whole thing, and luckily the film doesn't delve into cutesy theatrics just because the protagonists are kids.

XXX: 4/5
I liked the way the narrative was executed via radio broadcasts. The voices sounded more or less the same sometimes, which can either be a bad thing, as it indicates a lack of variety or a good thing, as it emphasizes the fact that the showbiz gossip industry is this amorphous beast that judges everyone under a grotesque eye.

That's it for me and this year's Cinefilipino festival. I was unable to watch all of the films, and there's a good reason for that. Next: my overall thoughts on the festival itself and its films. 

Cinefilipino 2016: Buhay Habangbuhay, Van Damme Stallone, Straight to the Heart

Buhay Habangbuhay begins with an ending - the sudden, tragic death of Sandy (Iza Calzado.) While her physical body has passed on, her spirit remains, tethered to the house she shared with her husband Joel. She tries to move on, and meets several characters along the way. That's more or less the premise of the whole film. The magic lies in the way it is shown to us.

The film relies on strong visual storytelling to tell us these things; a lot of plot points are shown rather than expressed through dialogue. it helps that the film's source material is a graphic novel, a medium where a few succinct panels are better than numerous speech bubbles explaining everything.

Sandy meets fellow spirits along the way, and thanks to the way everything is done, a lot of it is implied and we can fill in the blanks and tell their backstories in our own thoughts and words. A silent ghost could either be a grandparent watching over a beloved grandchild or a teacher looking back at her cherished job; a child spirit could be fixated on happy days in school even after death.

Sandy's ghostly exploits are filmed with a mixture of underwater greenscreened shots (to give the impression of a floating spirit), normal greenscreened shots and cleverly blocked normal shots. The effect is overall okay, but I wish the floaty and normal shots would be a bit more consistent in which is used where.

The ending of Buhay Habangbuhay makes the whole thing feel like an origin story. In a way that makes it all the more interesting. In fact, so far it's my favorite of the festival. Buhay Habangbuhay shines exactly because of its simplicity and in the breadth of its images.

Star Na Si Van Damme Stallone, a tale about the struggles of a mom and her son with Down Syndrome, was advertised as a light drama-comedy through its trailers. And in many ways that's right: there are numerous comedic elements that respect its subject matter.  But above that, the most powerful scenes in the film are its dramatic moments, where the film delves into the darker aspects of its subject matter.

Raising a child with special needs is extremely taxing, financially and emotionally. Children with Down Syndrome don't only have varying levels of learning disabilities, they are also at risk for other things like heart disease and leukemia. Multiple times throughout the film Candy Pangilinan, who plays the mother, struggles with this fact. It's partly out of worry of the inevitable fact that she will not be able to take care of her son forever. Sometimes she wonders what it would feel like if her son didn't have the condition. Many times she is pushed to the breaking point, and Pangilinan brings out those feelings in a standout performance. Her battle is full of dark paths, but hers is obviously not the only battle. Vanvan's brother Tano also wonders what it would be like to have a sibling without the syndrome, and sometimes he grows resentful of the extra attention and love his brother is getting from his mother.

On the other hand, these moments of doubt and bargaining give way to a sense of immense love and dedication. It may stray a bit into being overprotective, but it's a very human reaction. Her anxieties are perfectly framed in one of the last sequences (the buttoning of the shirt scene), as it shows the wish that every parent has to protect their child from the outside world, regardless of his or her condition. 

There's a lot to like in Star Na Si Van Damme Stallone, and as someone in the medical field I think it's a topic that needs to be discussed. Its heavier emotional moments are balanced with moments of levity, and it respects its subject matter.

Straight to the Heart seemed straightforward, but it felt more like a zigzag. While it's nice that it tries to address a few topics on gender identity, its story often left me lost by the wayside.

The premise starts off promisingly: a gay hairdresser has an accident and suddenly turns straight. While it could be done as a light comedy with some drama, the movie quickly turns into heavy, angst filled, unnecessary drama. It ended up leaving me lost and disappointed at the result.

There's also the (unintended?) implication from this story structure that being straight makes one into a hypersexual, amoral person. Of course that isn't true, and the ending of the film counters that by emphasizing that you are what you are regardless of orientation. It's confusing.

The film often segways into random subplots and random affairs that come out of the blue. Characters come out of nowhere, are introduced long after we wonder who they are and their interactions with our main characters feel shoehorned in. It's distracting from the central plot and in the greater scheme of things it's not necessary. In many ways, just as Buhay Habangbuhay mastered making things simple and making it mesh well, this film tries to overcomplicate every single thing about itself that it ends up being a confusing mess.

The film tries to discuss some interesting topics. There's a short part in there about the gay community having support groups for people with HIV. Traditional gender roles in things like relationships, jobs and marriage are also discussed. But all of these things often feel like out of the way detours rather than stops along a straight road. The thing is, with a premise like what this film had, there's no need to keep making it as complex as it is.

Cinefilipino 2016: Ang Tulay Ng San Sebastian, A Lotto Like Love, Sakaling Hindi Makarating

Ang Tulay ng San Sebastian opens strongly, with a premise similar to that of Cinema One’s Bitukang Manok: our two protagonists are seemingly trapped in an endless loop, unable to cross the titular bridge. The atmosphere is built up right as effective camerawork bathes the frame in darkness, forcing us to scan the frame for ghosts that may or may not be there. The soundtrack, a dissonant mix of conventional horror sounds and the Koto (a Japanese stringed instrument) really gives off a vibe that echoes Akira Yamaoka’s work in Silent Hill.So far so good. 

However, during the middle third of the film, things get really weird. The film loses much of its narrative focus and the story is reduced to our characters going from one seemingly unrelated situation to another. One idea, which I found tantalizing, turns out to be a red herring. Sometimes the individual scenes work, sometimes they don’t. The CGI is a mixed bag, but on the whole it doesn’t hold up compared to other horror films (I do commend the VFX team for at least trying given budget constraints.)

From a metafictional standpoint, in its first third, the film makes a point about the power of individual stories. Stories, urban legends, what have you – they grow and vary over time, but are rooted in the same narrative soil. The same can be said of horror movies in general – most of them can be categorized into the same familiar varieties. It takes a new tale, perhaps what this film is trying to do, to figuratively cross that bridge. Unfortunately, this point is soon left by the wayside, and the overall attempt is only partially successful.

The search for a missing lotto ticket; vomiting passengers and the fear of pointy things; sudden romance. A Lotto Like Love feels like a story out of Wattpad: the banter between the two characters feels familiar, there's a modicum of comedy with some drama stuffed in, and the female heroine is probably one of the most histrionic characters I've ever seen. The comedy and the dramatic aspects of the film were lukewarm for me, but the film does have some nice touches nevertheless.

Itot's relatively calm demeanor serves as the foil to Kayela, and in a weird sort of way they balance themselves out. To be fair, I liked Kayela's character a lot more when she acted less crazy. When I got to know these characters better, I surprisingly found myself relating to some of their troubles. It also made a certain dramatic scene the most effective scene of the film.

The lotto numbers, part of the film's central point, are used as a narrative device to develop both characters. Every number has a special significance to each character's respective pasts. It's a good idea, but these individual scenes don't mesh as well and the end result feels a bit clunky. The film finds its footing during moments of  introspection, when the usually wild and boisterous characters dial down their antics. A Lotto Like Love has a few good ideas, but the execution falls a bit short.

At the outset, Sakaling Hindi Makarating looks gorgeous; it's the best local DOP work I've seen this year. Cielo's roadtrip in search of a mysterious postcard-sender, rife with scenery porn, could almost be called It's More Fun In the Philippines: The Movie.

The cinematography works not only with wide sweeping shots, there's also an eye for composition in many of the shots in this film that take place in closed spaces, in rooms lit with paintings, in characters separated by the space of the frame itself.

Of course, the movie is much more than that. There's something romantic in the way the story unfolds, with the film using the lost art of letter-writing as a central concept, the process of self discovery and change in Cielo's trip, and in the stubborn hope of the anonymous postcard-sender. 

Road movies are often a means for characters to recover their identity, or find connections to others that were invisible before. The quest like structure of the road trip is often done for characters to search for truth, or in other cases the truth may be irrelevant in the face of the journey itself. In this case, the road trip serves not only to find connections, but to break them; through a constant state of travel, one finds their true home.

The film is not perfect; some of the sound design choices are iffy, and acute ears can hear artifacts, obvious dubs and the lack of background sounds in some scenes. The film suddenly takes an abrupt change in its last third, robbing the mystery's conclusion of some emotional heft. But these are minor nitpicks to what is otherwise a very entertaining film.

Garm Wars The Last Druid

It's far too easy to dismiss Garm Wars: The Last Druid as incomprehensible fluff, and I can't blame you for thinking that way: the barebone essentials of its fictional world are dumped on us in the first fifteen minutes, the film (while clocking in at a brisk 90 minutes) drags at some points and the film lacks a definite beginning or end. It may understandably come off as frustrating.

However, we are talking about Mamoru Oshii here, and his works should rarely be taken at face value. For example, Ghost in the Shell can be seen as a reflection on our evolution of 'self' in the modern age; Sky Crawlers can be viewed as a critique of otaku culture. Garm Wars is a movie that needs to be seen more than once; getting through the seemingly impenetrable plot and deciphering the meaning of the film is where half the fun lies.

Garm Wars takes place on a planet ravaged by war. What once was eight tribes has been reduced to three thanks to endless battles waged by soldiers who live, fight, die and are redownloaded unto new bodies. One day a mysterious man, an even more mysterious figure, and a dog are intercepted by a cruiser belonging to one of these tribes. This sparks a journey by an unlikely group of characters to find the secret of the Garm and the reason their people fight.

Oshii's motifs and themes from previous films abound in this movie. The dialogue hints that the film takes place in a virtual construct, perhaps a world related to the settings of previous Oshii live action films Avalon (2001) and Assault Girls (2009) - for all intents and purposes, this may be a shared universe. The movie tackles themes of identity, evident in his adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (1995); as well as its main theme: the burden of neverending conflict as seen in Sky Crawlers (2008). There are also a ton of Judeo-Christian religious symbols through both visuals and dialogue, and Oshii's favorite motif - the Basset Hound, makes an appearance, almost as a supernatural, godlike figure.

The war is hardly personal to us viewers, as we are not invested in the conflict of these tribes. Instead we look at the war as a concept. Garm Wars approaches the theme of war in that it robs us of our identity as a people or culture. The collective memory of the tribes makes them homogenous, making them lose their individuality. A query about a certain clone's first memory is met with derision. As we learn during the climax of the film, the war itself can have no intrinsic meaning; the Garm are basically fighting for nothing. The movie concentrates instead on how war dehumanizes its participants, forcing them to become literal machines of war, (in our protagonists' case) becoming living weapons that "reload" themselves with literal metaphors for ammunition.

Oshii's movies usually frame homeostasis, whether societal or not, as one of its principal antagonists. The Garm tribes' focus on war has stagnated their society, degrading it slowly. Our main characters search for the truth in the hopes of changing the balance, just as the Kildren fight to defeat the Teacher in Sky Crawlers, or how the Major evolves with the Puppet Master in GITS, or how Ash achieves access to Avalon. The results in all of these films are pretty mixed.

Without any true ending, the film takes a very eastern storytelling approach - with the journey, including all questions asked along the way, being more important than the destination. It's more esoteric compared to Oshii's other works and more in line with his experimental stuff. Still, it's quite interesting fare and it's something of a miracle that local distributors picked this one up.

Cinefilipino 2016 Schedules (Per Venue; Updated)

Cinefilipino is finally coming next week! The schedules that Cinefilipino released were kinda hard to plot  (and sometimes contradictory) so I made tables.

(Update: Gateway Schedules now included. It may have a lot of mistakes since the source is a bit confusing, so check with the local operator before you start planning.)

(Update 2: apparently Robinson's Place Manila is no longer a venue, so I removed the corresponding image.)

(Update 3: Additional schedules for the following venues: Eastwood, Festival Mall, Shangrila and Robinsons Galleria. This is now accurate as of 3/10/2016 4am)

(Update 4: Corrected a mistake with the schedules for the Robinson's Galleria schedules. If you are downloading the pictures, the filename should be rob galleria_rev_2 and for reference, the earliest March 16 showing should be Kulay sa Labas ng Linya.)

Note that schedules may change without warning and may not be final.

I color-coded the features as well:
Blue is for Feature Films
Green is for Documentary
Yellow is for Short Films

Robinson's Galleria (click to Enlarge)

Eastwood Mall (click to Enlarge)

Festival Mall (click to Enlarge)

Shangrila Plaza (click to Enlarge)

Greenhills Cinemas (click to Enlarge)

Robinson's Metro East (click to Enlarge)

Newport Cinemas/Resorts World Manila (click to Enlarge)

Gateway Cineplex A (click to Enlarge)

Gateway Cineplex B (click to Enlarge)

Singkuwento International Film Festival: Partee, Ligaw, Shorts

Singkuwento International Film Festival has entered its third year, and today it reached the end of its run in the NCCA theatre, though it will still be showing at UP Diliman next week.

I managed to catch a few films from their shorts category (which I think is the main program for the festival) as well  as a few full length feature films. So is it worth it? Did I enjoy myself? Let's find out.

***

Partee, the first feature length film by Jill Singson Urdaneta, is the story of a wild night of drugs between three people. The story unravels through overlapping flashbacks that slowly reveal more details about the characters and their pasts over time. The non linear narrative is supposed to reflect the disorientation and loss of time and place that accompanies taking drugs, and I think it works in this context.

I'm a fan of movies that take place mostly in one location, and this one does not disappoint. It helps that the limited setting gives us a claustrophobic feel, our characters trapped in a deadly rat maze with no way out.

Soon the events of the film become even more surreal, and we begin to question the reality of some of the events of the movie. A traumatic event may or may not have happened at all. Visions and mysterious figures periodically haunt the characters. The pasts of the three characters could either be real or be attributed to drug-fueled paranoia. The camera pops up as a metaphorical lens where we see the characters in different contexts, though even the visions seen through the camera lens are as distorted by the drugs as the rest of the film.

It's a more than worthy first effort from a promising director, given the limited resources of the project. It's a short but bewildering ride from start to finish.

We managed to catch the world premiere of the extended cut of Ligaw the other day. It's been going around the festival circuit and this was the first time it had a Manila showing. And man,  I never wanted to walk out of a movie theater so fast.

The first five minutes made me realize that this is a faith based film; the trailer kind of made me think it was something like a creepy thriller. Nothing in the movie is remotely thrilling, but there are a lot of creepy things going on.

After the ridiculously epic opening scene (complete with credits wreathed in fire), we get a story that is best described as Maalaala Mo Kaya on horse steroids: our lead character, Criselle, is a child from an extramarital affair (the story doesn't clarify either way) who is mistreated in every manner possible: physically, emotionally, even sexually. This understandably messes up the kid and she grows up with a lot of issues and a huge chip on her shoulder. Soon, after the line is crossed multiple times, she begins thinking about committing bloody revenge against the family that wronged her. An evil demonic being begins to convince her to do just that. At this point, given the ridiculous amount of abuse the girl endured over many years, I was rooting for that to happen. When you have a faith based film and you're siding with the bad guys, there's something terribly wrong somewhere.

The film is even a tease about it, with Criselle getting into arguments with her family with nothing substantial really happening, but with the prospect of bloody revenge right there, slightly out of reach. The parties close to Criselle, who have the ability to whisk her away from her abusive family, decide to pray for her, instead of, you know, calling the DSWD, the police or even getting their pastor to talk to Criselle directly. And when certain unscrupulous elements try to KILL the girl inside her house, instead of taking her to the police, they take her to a pastor instead. This assassin is rarely spoken of again, and we never see him apprehended for his attempted rape and murder. Criselle's problems are treated as some sort of demonic possession and not as some sort of mental or traumatic problem, which sets a bad precedent should people use the film as an excuse not to get psychiatric help.

Do note that this is based on a true story.

The film fails to give any sort of emotional satisfaction. Criselle's problems are solved by a literal Deus Ex Machina - God FINALLY listens to her after more than 10 years of suffering and decides to help her out because, you know, whatever. There is no catharsis in Criselle's forgiveness, and the rest of the movie where she makes up and sings kumbaya with her long time tormentors is more perfunctory than uplifting. People who had abused Criselle left and right for years suddenly change, turn over a new leaf and we are supposed to feel good about it. There is no context, and we are left groping in the dark.

"Gee, I know you repeatedly raped me and treated me like a subhuman and all for all those years, but that's all in the past. Yay God!"

Again, based on a true story. I can say that this goes for a lot of Filipinos as well.

The uncut version of the movie drags really badly, pacing of any sort is thrown out the window, and the movie could have ended half an hour early without losing any impact. To quote Criselle herself "Pagod na pagod na ako, durog na durog na ako" - this was what I wanted to say as the movie shambled from one unnecessary ending scene to another.

To be fair, the film is shot really well, and the soundtrack, while a bad match for most of the scenes of the film (it's better suited for an actual thriller) is also done well. Some money went into the production of this film. But of all the local movies I've seen this year (not a lot, but still) this is probably the worst of the bunch, or at least the most unsatisfying.

***

Short Shorts Reviews

Caritas (Buenaventura, 2015) - 3.5/5

Surgical masks are always on for a reason - to prevent the transmission and spread of diseases, especially from health workers to immunocompromised patients like people with HIV. Other than that small nitpick, I liked this film. Russ Ligtas and Anna Luna do great jobs as their respective characters, and the irony of the last few minutes are crushing.

Finish Line (Mayuga, 2015) - 3.5/5

The film itself kind of reflects the frustration of the LGBT community with their acceptance. Also, it should be noted that thanks to various factors, the suicide attempt rate for trans individuals is alarmingly high.

Indifference (Silva, 2015) - 3/5

What is the opposite of love? In this short, that evokes films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we see that it is not hate, but indifference. It's short but it makes its point.

Kalaro (Matas, 2015) -3.75/5

Pretty effective horror. I wanted the story to go a certain way but it didn't, and the ending, while conventional, was still okay. Both leads are great, but extra points have to go to the kid, who is a really good actress.
 

The Girlfriend Experience (Gatchalian, 2015) - 3.5/5

This one is short and fun. It's the struggle of a man to get some poontang, a struggle shared by almost all men (bar the ones that are asexual). I do have to wonder about the guy with massive head trauma just lying in the street, but whatever.

The Truth as Told in Lies (Gorgetti, 2015) - 3.5/5

I thought this was really well scripted, but the sound levels were really off for some reason. The visuals were really good, and the acting was on point. Poor kid.

Glaube Sitte Heimat (Ellinghaus, 2010) - 3/5

This short, about historical German marksman's guilds, drags on a bit too long for my taste, but the subject matter was fascinating either way. I wonder why I don't mind this organization that wields guns and is bound through faith, while I look at rednecks and balk on that. I guess it's because the former thinks that guns are unnecessary, while the latter thinks that they are.

The Saviour (Nash Ang, 2015) - 4/5

 My favorite international short. The title refers to the story and its ironic twist of fate, told in one shot. It's economical but it works really well.

In this run I also rewatched Reyna Cristina (Seen in Cinema One 2015,) Mga Handuraw ng Kahilitan (Seen in Binisaya 2015) and Sukat (which I saw when reviewing 2015's best short films.)

Short Reviews Feb 2016 (3): Love is Blind, Zoolander 2, The Himalayas, Always Be My Maybe

Love is Blind's thesis is that we should not judge by outward appearances. It works, even in a meta sort of way: handsome and dashing Wade (Derek Ramsay) is a superficial jerk, and Fe (Kiray Celis), who should be a sympathetic, kind hearted person despite outward appearances, turns out to be kinda creepy and stalker-ish.

The two characters cross paths eventually; Fe's obsession with Wade leads her to seek the help of Yari, a man who sells arcana in his spare time. She eventually gains the ability to look like Wade's ex-girlfriend, and Wade is immediately attracted to the mysterious new girl.

The ideas are solid, but when you get down to the details it doesn't all work for me. The jokes mostly fall flat until the end stretch, the 'main' character is too annoying to be sympathetic, and often the movie gets too boisterous and noisy when quiet moments would have sufficed.

Thankfully the characters mature, mostly Wade, who takes even the more absurd moments of the movie in stride. His character arc is actually my favorite in the film. And I do appreciate the way the movie asks us to apply its thesis on itself - to not judge it by its superficial mainstream trappings. So I won't. The movie is overall okay.

Zoolander 2 is as stupid as its two protagonists, which is par for the course for any Ben Stiller movie. If follows on the heels of a movie that is something of a cult classic, and one of Stiller's more entertaining works.

The plot of Zoolander 2 is as absurd and convoluted as one would expect from a film like this.  The comedy usually comes from the absurd situations our protagonists find themselves in and sometimes the results are funny. It's a particular brand of humor that's hit and miss.

Zoolander 2 features cameos from the showbiz and fashion world (including a random cameo from Neil De Grasse Tyson, of all people) and for the most part they are used to full effect. But the overall impact of the film is lacking, especially compared to the first one. There's a feeling that our characters are just rushing through their scenes to get from one plot point to another, and the antagonist is presented far into the last act of the film, making the whole thing feel rushed.

It's fun for a rental or maybe an afternoon watch, but unless you really loved the first film, there's nothing much to see here.

South Korean dramas wear their hearts on their sleeves, wringing out every last drop of drama from its viewers. The Himalayas, which dominated the Korean box office last December, is no exception. The film spends a considerable amount of time developing its characters and making you attached to them, only to yank the carpet out from under you at the last minute.

The actors are all capable, although props have to go to the two leads for having chemistry together as mentor and student, and later, as friends. The cinematography is also pretty impressive. There are lots of wide sweeping shots of the peaks of the Himalayas in all their white and deadly beauty. There are some points in the film where you wonder how the hell some shots even got made. Granted, compared to Hollywood blockbusters like last year's Everest, this is not as impressive as it sounds, but they achieved a similar effect with a smaller budget.

Its climax, dramatic as it is (sometimes overly so) ends on a somber note, almost in contrast to the start of the film, where we found ourselves in a similar situation. For much of the South Korean audience, it probably reminded them of the real Um Hong-gil and the true events that shaped the movie. We don't have that context, but the film is definitely enjoyable either way. 

It's amazing how quickly Star Cinema can make an emerging rom-com idea into a formula. The good thing is, it works. Always Be My Maybe (and other movies of their ilk) work because their characters are relatable. Their love struggles are also our love struggles. It takes its sweet time developing its characters, both normal people burned by the prospect of lasting love, either due to trusting the wrong person, or because of their own personal shortcomings.

The dialogue flows well, and there are no overly dramatic moments. The film's greatest strength is that it avoids being over the top, letting us settle in with these characters and getting us to empathize with them. It helps that the two leads have really good chemistry. Arci Munoz hasn't been in a lot of movies (and I think this is her first in a leading role) but she proves here that she can tussle with the best of them. Her stint as Tintin is charming without being noisy or annoying. 

Overall I think Always Be My Maybe is better than Dan Villegas' previous movie Walang Forever, as it keeps the emotional volume just right and doesn't turn it up to eleven at the last moment. I do hope that in the future, filmmakers who now follow this emerging formula for rom-coms start experimenting more with the format, or things are going to get stale pretty fast.

Short Reviews February 2016 (2): Deadpool, Girlfriend for Hire

Deadpool comes from FOX's own cinematic Marvel Universe (the one that has the X-Men in it.) Much like the run of the comic book that made it popular, it's funny, it breaks the fourth wall repeatedly, it's self referential, it's crude, and it gives no fucks. On the other hand, its attempt at an origin story kinda slows things down, and the non-origin story scenes tended to be the better parts of the film. I'd have preferred something more imaginative and off the wall. Instead the origin story is more or less a traditional one, probably made to ease newbies into the new franchise.

For all the action, the movie is about one guy's love for a lady and how he wants to get back together with her. In a sense, it's the perfect Valentine's Day film. There are also some great action scenes (including one very imaginative use of slow motion in the opening sequence) between Deadpool, his X-Men sorta-allies, and the villains.

Ryan Reynolds really learned the lessons of superhero-ing after his failed stint with DC's Green Lantern; Deadpool's the antithesis of that role he played. And the end effect is damn funny.

I might have been with the wrong crowd, but I found that a lot of the audience members during the screening I attended weren't getting all of the jokes. I don't know if it was a cultural thing or the last full show made the audience sleepy.

There are a lot of shoutouts to X-Men and the Deadpool comic that the film is based on. Vanessa, Deadpool's girlfriend, is the mutant superhero Copycat in the comics. There are also references to the creators of Deadpool, (in)famous artist Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza (in the form of a Starbucks coffee cup and a road sign, respectively.) Of course the requisite Stan Lee cameo is in there too (as an announcer at a strip club, no less.)

So it's a fun film. It's definitely different than any comic book movie that's been out for the past decade. I have high hopes for the sequel, since that film won't be constrained by the narrative limitations of being an introductory film.

(If you've been watching the Marvel stuff, I recommend Jessica Jones which just finished its run recently. I might write something about that in the future.)

And here we have yet another Wattpad adaptation. Girlfriend for Hire stays true to a formula that has progressively gotten stale for the past few years. But dead horses need to be beaten, so here we are.

Our Heroine is 17 year old Shania Nami San Jose (or Nami Shania San Jose, the film can't make up its mind and interchanges the two), a spunky college student. She runs afoul of rich kid Bryle Stanford (who the hell makes up these names?) and they form a weird relationship that could only exist in a bad Koreanovela or a Shoujo Manga.

The main characters seem to be written haphazardly. Bryle is either a jerk or a jerk with a heart of gold. Andre Paras tries to evoke his dad's signature mannerisms into his character and succeeds, but it's something I don't think was necessary and it makes it seem like he was miscast for the role. Nami is spunky, but she gives in to everything Bryle says... for the sake of money? She isn't even 100% into the guy until the last half, since she has a crush on a hunky chef from next door. And yet a relationship is formed, complete with implied sexy time on the beach. You may remember that our heroine is 17. Have fun with that thought.

The film inserts conflict (tm) in the last half, and the strange thing about it is, she does all the work for both characters. Bryle doesn't even fight for his woman, he kinda just stands there in the last scene and doesn't say anything. Nami goes into a slapping match, but its not for Bryle's sake, it's more for her own, and that's really all we get out of it (and if we are to believe her, she'd rather forget the relationship in the first place.)

Wattpad stories have always been stories of fantasy wish fulfillment to me, presenting the most unlikely relationships through idealized, rose tinted glasses. On closer scrutiny there really is no reason to get into a relationship with a bad boy with lots of money and endure abuse and unfair treatment, other than for the sake of that money. And relationships like this seldom work out in real life. But tell that to the makers of schlock like 50 Shades of Gray, who are currently rolling in beds of money. I don't know. Women have cooties.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of interesting stories on Wattpad. Like I said way back in December '14, some stories are better written than others, and it's to the benefit of all if the filmmakers involved  innovate or improve on the stories presented. The dead horse doesn't have to be dead. It could be prancing around in the sky like an alicorn farting rainbows.

And with that nonsensical statement, I will end here.