Rebuild of Kontr@diksyon 4.20 this is (not) a review

this is... actually not a bad poster

If you've read this blog in any meaningful capacity you'd know that the vast majority of pro-EJK films are badly made pieces of shit. This time however, we have someone different at the helm: multi-hyphenate Palanca award winner Njel de Mesa, co-writer of films such as Respeto (!!). Aside from preferring to use the title "Direq" (yes, that is a thing) he also has two giant pieces of tape on his face like he's covering up third and fourth face nipples. I guess given MTRCB standards this is acceptable.

in the future he's going to use DIREQCHKHCKHKKHCHKHC

And the result? Well of course it's trash, but besides that.. you guessed it, it's still pretty much a film written with the logic and reasoning of an angry six year old. (Apologies to all the six year old children I know.) At a whopping two hours and thirty three minutes, it is an absolute slog to go through. It is, however, a nice glimpse into the complicated mental gymnastics performed by these people - gymnastics so convoluted Nadia Comaneci looks like the QWOP guy in comparison. It made me wonder if someone can retroactively take back a Palanca award. It made me thank all the deities Treb Monteras changed Respeto into what it eventually became, otherwise the film might have made Ang Guro Kong Di Marunong Magbasa and Requited look like Citizen fucking Kane.

What happens when a semi-competent person tries to make propaganda? Let us begin a journey into the insanity that is KontrAdiksyon.

Chapter 1. A Home Invasion

Jake Cuenca, an otherwise decent actor who keeps getting drafted into terrible films, plays Alexis. Thankfully, he doesn't jack off into a rock here. He is a staunch supporter of human rights, and the movie begins with some sort of press conference with him saying something to that effect. The film treats his speech like a spongebob meme, because fuck human rights.

All is well and good. Alexis goes home to his hot wife and two kids (one of whom is dressed like an angel, which in Palanca-award winning playwright terminology means... *ruffles through pages* EPIC FORESHADOWING.) 

Suddenly, his front door is blown open by what looks like explosive charges. At once, I thought these couldn't be drug addicts, because these people should have the mental coordination needed to plant explosive charges properly. But since this movie makes little actual sense, of course they are.

In walks a gang of thugs in masks making cartoonishly stupid poses. To further push the point, they do drugs on the dining table, just to emphasize that yes, they do drugs.

So they do the Michael Haneke Funny Games thing, but like if Funny Games was directed by Dinky Doo. Hot wife gets raped, with implication the kid's also getting some premature D. Head gang member (who curiously doesn't do any drugs) gives Alexis a gun, daring him to shoot, then unbuttons his leather jacket because it's hot and there are no electric fans anywhere... revealing that he too, wears a *gasp* anti EJK t-shirt! Now if this were a stupid film, Alexis probably wouldn't have the guts to shoot because the lead gang member is an ally and he "sHoulD reSpeCt hUmAn RigHts." of course he doesn't do that because...

oh wait, he does that. He hesitates shooting because he respects human rights or something.

sigh let me repeat this for the people in the back

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DEFEND YOURSELF

THIS ISN'T ABOUT PROTECTING VIOLENT CRIMINALS FROM _ANY_ REPERCUSSIONS

VIOLENT CRIMINALS DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED/INCARCERATED

VIOLENT DRUG ADDICTS DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED/INCARCERATED

of course the film/filmmakers are morons, so this goes over their heads. All that duct tape must be sucking out important nutrients for the brain. Instead, as if to mock the critics, his wife cries out "pAaNo nA AnG AdBoKaSiYa mO?" while she is raped.

The official mascot of KontrAdiksyon

Fear is a giant factor in the mentality that goes behind these things. The middle class fear of a home invasion, the fear that makes one lock the doors when an insane-looking or dirty person walks by the car. Can you blame people for losing their mental capacity because of that fear? I don't know. Ask spongebob.

II. DIRE((KAYAKO NOISES)) NJEL DE MESA

Meanwhile a call center agent (Kris Bernal) sidelines as a pusher. She brings over some drugs to a hotel party where everyone's in their underwear for some reason. One of the partygoers (the woman who got the drugs in the first place) overdoses. This is important later, but for the meantime, boobies.

Alexis wakes up in a pool of blood. He's naked in the bathroom. Unlike in Nuwebe, he thankfully doesn't jack off in the shower. Directors need to stop telling Jake Cuenca to jack off in random places, for fuck's sake.

It looks like he's being framed for the crime, but the justice system in this movie is actually quite competent. He has a solid legal defense, and DNA evidence points to his innocence. Despite that, he ignores the lawyer and becomes a full fledged vigilante.

Alexis goes back to the scene of the crime and broods like a two-cent batman when one of his co workers at the anti-EJK advocacy group meets him. He tells him that they won't act on this because the police didn't kill this person. Alexis, not understanding how human rights groups actually work, gets angry. Yeah, because crimes like this are INVESTIGATED BY THE POLICE, you absolute bellend.

III. Direくくくく　Njel de Mesa

Alexis walks into a classroom (?) where drug addiction is being taught as a chronic brain disease that irreversibly changes a person's life. This is a very generalized statement that seems to imply that rehabilitation is a waste of time. But whatever, right.

IV. Jesus take the bong

There's a church scene now. Lou Veloso is saying that killing is bad (generally true) because of the commandments but Elizabeth Oropesa goes total DDS mode, saying that the old testament has been superseded by the new testament's two great commandments, even quoting the first one: "love God with all your heart, etc etc."

This is evidence that the direQCHKCHtor that made this film didn't exactly read his bible because he kinda neglected to understand the second great commandment: "love thy neighbor as yourself." Maybe he was too busy choreographing dances to attend Sunday school.

So if we think killing our neighbor is okay, are we in the self hating business now? Do drug war supporters want to kill themselves or something?

Elizabeth Oropesa's character shyly raises her fist. Might as well've put that fist in her mouth.

V. real assholes wear pink

A guy wearing a pink bonnet kills a bunch of people in a drug lab while grooving to classical music. Because... REASONS???? (okay, maybe he was eliminating competition, but we don't know this... yet. This is straight out the Dinky Doo filmmaking playbook.)

I'm actually surprised he's the same size jacket as the guy he killed, cause that dead guy was kinda fat.

Meanwhile, Alexis becomes a PDEA asset. He's psychologically unstable, but PDEA director Katrina Halili gives him a pass, because we don't need stringent psychological standards for our law enforcement. We need a couple more vengeance obsessed psychopaths to protect us I guess.

Also, boobs.

The mastermind behind the whole thing (someone called "the President") is arranging a deal with a foreign guy, who is explicitly not Chinese, but a westerner. In the background, there's a zombie...? This will become relevant later.

VI. Jesus take the meth pipe too while you're at it

"Separation of church and state!" one pro-admin priest spouts as he defends extrajudicial killings, completely misunderstanding the term. He seems to think that "the church should keep out of the government's business" means "the church should turn a blind eye when thousands of people are being killed." Are these guys on drugs? Do you, DireQ, ever think about the words that are coming out of your screen play?

Do you think about what those words mean?

Do you think?

The film pushes for killings to happen, the subtext isn't that deep. Most of the addicts in this film are portrayed as either unpredictable insane people, or violent subhumans. Curiously there aren't a lot of poor addicts depicted in this film, as if the film is trying to evade that notion. Guess how many poor addicts are killed a day in this country. Not that they matter, right? Because according to this film, they aren't people.

Like any good propaganda piece the film deflects the blame onto drug people. OF COURSE it's the drug lords who do the vigilante killings in order to eliminate the competition.

VII. Left 4 Dead is a fun game but I don't have any teammates huhu

After having a dream where his dream wife berates him for having no spine and not killing her rapists because he's a "hUmAn rIgHtS AdVoCaTe", Alexis wakes up. Also, boobs.

Alexis visits an internet cafe, believed to be the base of a drug supplier. Beside him, kids are playing Left 4 Dead, which is actually a fun game. Too bad he didn't start a round, because I'd rather watch that instead. 

Drug lady with shotgun-cane Odette Khan (okay, I admit that was kinda cool) says that the supply is going down, which is, I think, reflects the thinking behind this war. If no one does anything about demand, people are still going to find ways to drugs anyway. Alexis faces off against a duo wielding nailed bats and beats them up. Eventually he kills Odette Khan and her minion... right in front of Kris Bernal's character. Whoops. 

He chases Kris Bernal down and stops her, and that is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

pAaNo nA AnG AdBoKaSiYa mO?

VIII. Dire((white noise)) Njel de Mesa

pro-admin priest guy and altar boy does Tokhang-like activities in what is obviously an upper middle class subdivision which is totally not poor at all, because reasons. The tenant of the house, upon being told to surrender her child, refuses.  Some random guy on a motorbike kills priest, because...?

Oh no poor defenders of the drug war huhu thoughts and prayers

Meanwhile, a minority politician is making anti-EJK legislation. He plans to bring the case to the International Criminal Court. Another "minority" politician steps in and calls bull, saying that even the minority supports the administration. lol.

IX. quiet in the library

Alexis and Kris Bernal go to meet her supplier, a blonde young adult who apparently hangs out in a library and smokes weed. Does no one smell the smoke? Does the supplier have invisibility powers?

She runs from Alexis and his new squeeze, and Alexis chases her. A bunch of security guards fire on them and Alexis uses the supplier's body as a human shield. For a film that treats druggies as objects, I found this par for the course and also hilarious.

After this, Alexis whines because he got splattered by spaghetti sauce, not at all caring about the girl he hurled into the path of several bullets. This is, of course, on brand.

Alexis and Kris Bernal decide to do the dirty because boobies. Of course he stops because he remembers the death of his wife and his PTSD cockblocks him.

X. 1+1 = 420

The film says that these motorcycle riding in tandem killings aren't done by the government, so they aren't extrajudicial killings by definition. But Lou Veloso protests the priest's death, saying that it is an EJK??? Okay whatever

XI. Fake news

Alexis is chased by a drug goon disguised as a MEDIA person riding a motorcycle. If we consider how this administration treats media persons that don't toe the line, if that subtext isn't screaming in your face, I don't know what is.

Alexis finally has a standoff with the guy, who happens to be pink bonnet guy, who happens to be the guy who led the attack on his house. He reveals that he really wasn't after him for being an anti-EJK guy, he was after his wife (!!).

As it turns out, pink bonnet guy (whose name is monster, very subtle, 10/10 palanca award winning writing) was boning a nurse at the local rehab facility to... spy on people I guess. He gets access to this because he was boning the nurse.

So, like in a porno video, Alexis' wife walks into the nurse's office and sees the two of them doing the horizontal tango. The wife has no context of what's going on, and the whole thing could be alibied away as some sort of tryst. The wife doesn't know that Monster is connected to drugs, or drug lords or anything like that but because reasons, Monster decides to make a little visit to Alexis' house.

While Monster is delivering dialogue, Kris Bernal aims her gun at him, and Alexis tries to stop her. Of course, this leads to Kris Bernal failing miserably and Monster escaping. This was, of course, for them to be able to pinpoint the "President's" location.

XII. Yup, they went there

Alexis and Kris Bernal finally meet with the "President", and to the surprise of no one, he is actually THE MINORITY ANTI-EJK POLITICIAN WE SEE EARLIER IN THE FILM.

They did it

They actually fucking did it

They blamed anti-EJK politicians from the political opposition for extrajudicial killings

These dense ass motherfuckers

Why did he do it? Well, because he had to be an asshole to enact change. So... if it's not the current president instead of this guy, it's not okay? Or is he okay? What the hell is he on about? The film struggles to give a logical reason why this guy does what he does, including sending a drug over to a drug rehab facility which turns the docile rehabilitating people into freaking Zombies.

IS THIS INSPIRED FROM LEFT 4 DEAD??? WAS THAT ALSO FORESHADOWING? LOL

kimochi warui

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the movie has turned into a zombie movie. Head PDEA guy tells his men not to use their guns, and in a speech with the ambition to rival the stirring of the riders of Rohan, but with the tepidity of a bag of wet noodles, they all bring out their zip ties.

THIS

FUCKING

SUBTEXT(aboutdrugusersbeinginhumanzombiesbecauseofcoursethatshowtheyactandhowrehabisuseless)

RIGHT

HERE

A PDEA agent hugs a drug addict zombie with a grenade, while rehab workers are trapped inside. Instead of throwing away the grenade from the crowd of people like he is supposed to, he does nothing, and the building explodes, killing everyone inside and rendering his effort completely useless.

XIII. 

Alexis and Monster kill each other, and he is visited once again by dream wife. At least here dream wife isn't spongebobing her husband. Also boobies

22 people died in the zombie attack - mainly people who died not because of drugs, but because some idiot forgot how to neutralize a grenade.

The end of the film is a bookend of sorts. There's a press conference, but it's held by PDEA guy. His speech? Stop criticizing the government because it hurts huhu and we know best. Also it's not our fault. Even though we've done everything to paint everyone else in a bad light we want (((unity))) and peace.

Right. If someone made a shot for shot remake of Birth of a Nation and tacked on a scene at the end about blacks and whites living together in harmony, I'd call bullshit too.

I FUCKING KNEW IT

In closing, KontrAdiksyon is just like most of the other films out there that try to present a worldview that doesn't really hold up to logical scrutiny: it's smarmy garbage that doesn't know the depths of its own stupidity. Perhaps it's multihyphenated DireQQQQQQQCCHCHCHCHCHCtor should stick to writing dated, shitty plays about the complexities of using umlauts when writing text messages.

Sunshine Family

Sunshine Family's production and aesthetic involves a lot of international intersections. The film has a Filipino cast headlined by powerhouse acting couple Shamaine and Nonie Buencamino. It has a Korean director best known for directing dramas about taxi drivers (not the one you expect, probably.) It's a story based on a 1992 Japanese film. And, the promotional materials seem to be referencing an American indie darling also with Sunshine in the title. The end result? Something unique and quirky, though not perfect.

When breadwinner Don (Nonie Buencamino) accidentally runs over a woman after a drunken night out, his wife Sonya (Shamaine Buencamino) decides to hide the incriminating car inside their house and dispose of it piece by piece. But there are curious neighbors and other problems in the family that need to be addressed as well.

The film skips out on a lot of exposition, rushing its way through its first third and beginning as if it started in medias res. This leads to a lot of missed character development, and certain emotional scenes later on fail to land because of this. We get only the slightest background on husband and wife, and the two children (played by Marco Masa and Sue Ramirez) fare a bit worse, with their own side stories relegated to relatively inconsequential storylines. Anyone looking for any deeper examination of this particular family unit will not find anything substantial, but the film does teach a few lessons about acceptance and family solidarity, in that a family is always stronger together.

Thankfully, things pick up during the second half and there is enough charm and quirk to wash away the failings of the first half. The film is genuinely funny, and from an entertainment standpoint the film delivers in spades. It's also a treat to see the Buencaminos act together in a husband and wife role - as their already strong acting chops are augmented by their natural chemistry as a real life couple.

Sunshine Family is a fun, entertaining experiment, and a cross cultural project that deserves attention. It manages to pull together all its diverse artistic talent to create something unique in the landscape of local cinema.

A very busy May/June Week in Cinema 2019 (2 of 2)

Quezon's Game follows Manuel Quezon in the late thirties as he tries to save Jewish refugees from extermination at the hands of Hitler and the Nazi party. The Philippines has yet to join the fight; the attack at Pearl Harbor is still years away.

Despite being set in the past, Quezon's Game is also about the present. It is a call for empathy and understanding in the face of overwhelming bigotry and apathy. Throughout the film Quezon tries to outmaneuver political foes and allies alike, who try to stop Quezon because of their internalized prejudice or their own political interests. And here's Quezon, his health fading, wanting not to be remembered by statues or plaques, but by the goodness of his actions.

For a film that is composed almost entirely of meetings, the film is relatively engaging. The film's two hour run time is barely felt because of a capable edit. There's a bit of old fashioned hokeyness to the dialogue, but the film's tone calls for it, in my opinion. This could have been a very staid, bland film, but there is personality in Quezon's Game's earnestness, and it shows.

The film shows its limitations early on but it does the best it can with the limited resources it has. The camerawork is mostly simple with a couple of inspired shots, though one could argue that you can only shoot a meeting scene so many times.

My mother, who typically doesn't watch movies (local or otherwise), really enjoyed the film and the messages it contains, and that's a testament to the reach of this film. Quezon's Game is a timely plea for humanity in a world that is quickly becoming isolated, tribal and self-centered.

Note: Implied spoilers for Godilla: King of the Monsters.

Picking up five years where the previous movie left off, Godzilla: King of the Monsters feels like a distillation of the semi-serious Heisei-era Toho Godzilla films, where Godzilla has to face off against a number of monsters while being assisted by the relatively insignificant humans on the ground. Off the top of my head, it reminds me a lot of Godzilla, Mothra & King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001).

This movie seems to have heeded the audience reaction to the first movie, in that it focuses more on the monster fights than the human characters. However, that decision leads to even more problems. Yes, there are more monster fights, but you can barely see them, since most of the action takes place at night, or during a storm. The human character arcs that are left are not that interesting, either, save for one or two characters, notably Charles Dance's ecoterrorist character and Ken Watanabe's role as Dr. Serizawa.

While I enjoyed the spectacle of the film, something did bother me about it. Godzilla has always been a symbol of the neuroses and anxieties that Japan faced at the end of World War II. In this film, however, Godzilla's origin and motivations are tweaked to say he was there from ancient times, even giving him an ancient radioactive power source (instead of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.) There's also a scene where the sole Japanese character in the movie seems to pass on the torch to the next generation. There's a sense that Godzilla is no longer of Japan, but of a larger world, and I have to ask: if we take away the Japanese-ness of Godzilla, what else is left?

A very busy May/June Week in Cinema 2019 (1 of 2)

By any objective metric. Banal isn't exactly the best of films. It's your usual teen horror movie about a group of teens doing really stupid things in a sacred mountain, with one teen in particular embracing the sunken cost fallacy wholesale. The acting leaves much to be desired, with probably only Bianca Umali turning in a decent performance.

With all that said, Banal is relatively enjoyable in a sense, mainly because of two things. First, it consistently delivers an atmosphere of horror without depending too much on cliched horror tropes. Second, like in any horror movie where loads of stupid characters die off, there's a certain amount of catharsis seeing them kick the bucket in creative ways. That "earwax" scene is worth the price of admission in this reviewer's honest opinion.

There's a tacked on message at the end about the social responsibility we all have in taking care of natural resources, but the real meat of Banal is its depiction of western society and Catholicism versus indigenous culture and paganism, drawn in clearly gendered lines. It takes a traditional approach to that depiction, but I think it's still worth looking into why exactly that is the case.

Banal will undoubtedly turn a lot of people off, but for what it's worth, its the local horror film I've enjoyed the most since 2019 began.

A tip for everyone planning to watch Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;Surrection: this film is a sequel to the three part film series that reimagines the original anime TV series. People who go into the movie who have only watched the TV series (like myself) will be confused as to the fate of certain characters.

The film follows the ending of Code Geass (which is basically the same in both the movie and TV versions). The peace created by the events of the finale has reverberated around the world. However, the Kingdom of Zilkhistan, who profited from the endless war isn't having any of it, and decides to kidnap two of its top officials.

The film is pure fanservice, containing all of the things people loved about the original TV show: mecha action, high stakes chess matches, witty strategies from our titular character, overall weirdness and lots of lore. Sadly, there is not a single Pizza Hut in sight.

I'm not sure non-fans will see this as anything other than an incoherent mess, but for fans of the series, this is a definite recommendation.

Speaking of incoherent messes, yipes. This film. I desperately wanted to like Finding You, and the fact that disappointing is the most flattering thing I can say about it makes that feeling even worse.

Nel (Jerome Ponce) has hyperthymesia, a sort of super autobiographical memory where he can perfectly recall every moment he's ever lived. However, when he finds mysterious messages posted in the past on his social media account that he cannot recall, this creates a mystery that is too tantalizing to ignore. Conceptually, the irony in having a man who does not forget dealing with repressed (?) memories is intriguing. Unfortunately, this does not pan out.

The film's timeline flits from past to present, but this is not adequately covered by the film's editing. The whole affair is mostly confusing. Nel tries to confront his previous lovers in the hope that they could shed light on his mystery, and that only serves to lampshade the fact that he is an unlikeable character, reflecting the worst aspects of hugot culture. He pines over what is clearly an impossible choice and deals with the situation like a spoiled child. His condition is used as a gimmick more than anything else, and later scenes in the film play fast and loose with reality - a particular scene using electroconvulsive therapy is completely science fiction, and is used solely for dramatic effect.

Finding You is confusing, headlined by a completely unlikeable main character, and the worst part is that there is a far better recent local film out there about memories and hugot culture: Nakalimutan Ko Nang Kalimutan Ka.

The Last Interview is a piece of... work

It is perhaps one of the greatest pitfalls of a biographical film that it becomes a hagiography - in that it portrays its subject as a saint and not as a flawed human being. The Last Interview: The Mayor Antonio Halili Story does not fall into that trap, because it seems to be actually tailored to make you not like the character; the man in the film is portrayed as a well meaning douche. One could think that this film is a mean spirited attempt at character assassination, but then again, the original intentions seem to be to portray its subject as a good guy, so we'll chalk this one up to general incompetence on the filmmakers' part and a glaring lack of self awareness.

Like last year's sylvan masterpiece of wooden acting Ang Misyon: A Marawi Siege Story, director Ceasar Soriano  has once again chosen a topic about a relevant event and  predictably botches the landing like a drunk chimpanzee landing a 747. Last year, the Mayor of Tanauan, Batangas was shot and killed during a flag ceremony. The man had a penchant for parading drug suspects, and although he was publicly supportive of the country's drug war, he was linked to illegal drugs himself (even though no evidence to that effect ever came out to the public.) His killers have never been found.

The film is framed as a pseudo-documentary: most of the movie is a flashback to Halili's life and his journey towards political leadership. John Estrada takes the lead role. Director Soriano himself takes a role as the interviewer, as if the movie was an episode of his PTV show Magandang Gabi, Pilipinas. Again, someone used to Filipino biopics would perhaps expect a hagiography, portraying its subject as a virtuous person - but there is a disconnect between what the film wants to show us and what we really see. If anything, it says a lot about the logic and mindset of people supporting the drug war.

The flashbacks literally start with an elementary school age Halili beating up another kid. The film tries to justify this in an unconvincing scene where his father tells his mother that it's okay that Halili beat up that kid, because that kid was a bully and his son was protecting other people. In any other situation, this kid would be seen as a violent thug and not as a valiant protector. Lesson #1: it's okay to inflict violence on other people, as long as it's against the right people. This theme is maintained throughout the flashback sequences as we see Halili beat up people a few more times. The second time we see this, we are not given a reason why he is beating up said person - we are just led to believe that since it's Halili doing the beat down, that person deserves it.

A sideplot involves Halili's cousin being raped and tortured by a number of nameless bad guys, but we don't know who they are, and the cousin is used as an excuse to justify Halili's tough stance on crime. Shame, then, that we don't really know what happened to that case, and the dead cousin is promptly forgotten. Lesson #2: It's enough to be angry at injustice, and that anger takes precedence over the actual dispensation of justice.

Halili finds his sweetheart (portrayed at different ages by Kate Alejandrino and Ara Mina) by aggressively courting her. (And by aggressive, I also mean that they bond through Halili beating up several people. It's kind of a trend at this point.) They eventually get married, but then the film inexplicably shows a scene where Halili cheats on her with another woman. Halili is clearly caught in the act, but it's somehow solely the mistress' fault. This is also played up for laughs, considering the accompanying soundtrack. The rest of the film forgets this scene and emphasizes their great romance. Lesson #3: when a man cheats, it's always someone else's fault, and it is just a case of men being men, with no negative impact to their character whatsoever.

When Halili finally does become mayor, he makes good on his promise and cracks down hard on criminality. We get anecdotal footage of people telling us that hey, the mayor's methods kinda work. Soriano frames Halili as an action star, actively taking part in these operations with an M-16 slung over his shoulder, even though there isn't any reason to believe he actually participated this deeply. Lesson #4: "tough guy" politicians see themselves as the action stars of their own movies, a fantasy that seems to be a way to compensate for some psychological complex.

This leads to the parading of suspects that Halili was famous for. The film's 'logic' holds true up to this point. Since these alleged (emphasis on alleged since they haven't been convicted) users and pushers are the bad guys, it's okay to disregard their human rights, even though ironically the film shows footage of a prisoner saying yeah, we have rights too. That doesn't matter, of course. The film does address that there are people that criticize Halili's methods, but this is dismissed quickly, with our erstwhile mayor stating that the people who criticize him must be involved in drugs, too. In this context, this feeling of self-righteousness and entitlement makes sense. Lesson #5: Elected officials are the official, unassailable arbiters of what's right and wrong, and if you criticize them, rightfully or not, you must be an enemy as well and deserve no rights.

This proves to be ironic as Halili himself gets tagged in the administration's narcolist. It's unclear how or why he is involved in said list, as the film chalks it up to "political blabla" (an actual line in the film) and political persecution (by whom, the film never says.) Faced with the possible end of his political career, there's a scene where Halili sees a political future for his daughter, but only because she's his daughter. Nothing in the movie tells us why she deserves that position, she apparently deserves it because of Lesson #5. Lesson #6: Political dynasties are justified. I guess. Considering that his daughter did eventually win as mayor during the recent election, that says a lot about how people think about it.

Soriano uses mostly competent actors this time, which only exacerbates the the fact that it makes the non-actors even worse by contrast. Imagine award-winning actor Noel Comia Jr. delivering his lines alongside a couple of human shaped robots and you'll get an idea how ridiculous it looks like. And it's not hard to see why these non-actors lack the direction needed to give a convincing performance: Soriano himself has the acting prowess of a damp sponge. On the technical side, the film is actually a giant step up from Soriano's previous film, but that's relatively speaking.

The film ends with actual footage of Halili's death, which feels overly graphic and insensitive to its subject. I personally never knew the former mayor; all I know is what the film tells me. For all I know he might have actually been a truly upstanding individual, a respectable public official and a model citizen, who did good by the citizens of Tanauan. It's just that this tone-deaf failure of a biopic doesn't do him or his legacy any favors. It's poorly made, poorly directed, and comes from a place of smug condescension and a total lack of awareness. Whether one is for or against the drug war, there's nothing in this film that caters to either audience, because it sucks. And given that literally no one saw this film (I saw this film alone in an otherwise empty theater) I think audiences picked up on that, too.

Kuwaresma (spoilers)

Note: major spoilers for Kuwaresma.

Set in the year 1985, Kuwaresma follows Luis (Kent Gonzales) as he returns to his home in Baguio to attend the funeral of his recently deceased sister. It becomes clear that something is not quite right in the house, which leads to all sorts of complications. Luis' dad, Arturo, is a controlling, hypermasculine soldier who believes in survival of the fittest, while his doctor mom is subservient to her husband's whims.

There's no question that Kuwaresma creates an interesting atmosphere. Things are off-kilter at just the right amounts and the weirdness is unique compared to other contemporary horror films. Thankfully, the film decides not to rely on cliched horror tropes to deliver its scares (at least, not too much). Like most of Erik Matti's recent films, the film can also be enjoyed at multiple levels, and there's a decent amount of subtext going on.

While the film does do a number of really good things that work on their own, when working together as parts of a greater whole the results are not as effective. Kuwaresma tries to juggle several things at once, and each of those little things affect the others in negative ways. 

The film can be seen as a critique of toxic masculinity, but the demonic possession angle of the film dilutes that message, because now the reason for all the evil acts in the film are can be blamed on a demon, and not solely on the man and the evil built into his character. The film tries to champion the power of a woman, but at the same time the film also conveys the message that when good people do nothing, evil flourishes, inadvertently putting some blame on the woman in what is an obviously abusive relationship. In its construction, the film tries to espouse these messages without thinking too much of the history and power structures that created this situation in the first place.

In its most meaningful twist, it is revealed that Luis is a woman all along, and that his choice to become a man stems from his father's actions, but the suspension of disbelief is too hard to maintain. It's strange to think that Luis would just conveniently forget that he doesn't have a penis, especially every time he goes to the bathroom. How would he take a piss in comfort rooms? Would he mess up his pants trying to piss standing up? And while gender reassignment surgeries were available as early as the sixties, it wasn't widely available in the Philippines (and it still isn't), and there is no indication that any surgery ever happened. It could have been a powerful statement on how sexual identity is sometimes forced upon us by others, but it doesn't stick the landing.

Kuwaresma is not a bad film per se, but it ends up being a victim of putting too much on its plate. While it is entertaining on its own, it collapses under its own complexity and that ultimately detracts from the overall experience.

Between Maybes (mild spoilers)

The latest in a slew of not-quite-romances by Black Sheep, Between Maybes is a peculiar entry in Jason Laxamana's body of work. Like his 2017 film Fallback, this film also explores a side of show business (though not as deeply) and like his other romantic films such as To Love Some Buddy (2018), the overall tone is light and surprisingly funny in its first third.

At the center of the film are Louie and Hazel (Gerard Anderson and Julia Barretto), who meet each other by chance in Saga, Japan. Hazel is an actress struggling to do something more, and Louie is a Filipino residing in Japan. Their characters are two sides of the same coin: Hazel yearns for independence from her overbearing family, but is only escaping the inevitable truth that other than acting, she can't do much else, and Louie is already independent, but yearns for the parental affection that he has been desperately searching for since his childhood.

An unlikely friendship blossoms, and there is the hint of romance, though it's a romance that feels tentative (this is not a bad thing). Hazel and Louie try to live in the space between what could be - but this feeling is short lived. Reality is always peeking around the corner, and while they help improve each other over the course of their stay, they are aware that this arrangement is fleeting. 

There are some weird choices, especially in the first half. Anime-related storytelling devices pop up occasionally in the first third, bringing about a jarring, but temporary, shift in tone. But these same devices are used in the ending of the film to great effect, signifying a hopeful continuation of a not-quite-love story that can't really take off... for now.

Notes on Man and Wife

Laurice Guillen's Man and Wife is the tragic story of a couple, Carding (Gabby Concepcion) and Luisa (Jodi Sta. Maria) who are repeatedly cockblocked by their unsuspecting child. The unfortunate interruptions of sexy time (tm) are punctuated by a thunder storm, which seems to indicate their horniness is a supernatural trigger for adverse weather phenomena. This all comes to a head during the final moments when, during the third such instance of potential cockblocking, said couple locks their child out of their room as they do the deed, traumatizing her for life thanks to 1) the thunderstorm that isn't going anywhere and 2) the sounds of their lovemaking.

But enough of that, there's actually a story in between the first cockblock and the last. The film is actually based on characters from the long-running radio drama series/teleserye Gulong ng Palad, which has been running intermittently in one form or another since the seventies. The setup is simple enough: Carding and Luisa are two lovers, but their respective families aren't shipping this OTP, so shenanigans ensue. In this iteration of the story, Carding and Luisa have settled their differences with their families by not settling them (ha) and running away to America. As the film begins, Carding is then compelled to return to the Philippines because his estranged mother Menang is sick. He brings along his family for the ride. When they return, shit seems to have hit the fan in their small community: Mayor Menang is sponsoring a mining establishment that is wreaking havoc on the local population, and has killed or maimed several people, including people in or close to Luisa's family.

The film feels VERY dated. This is a film that would have been halfway decent in 1982, but it's 2019 and soap operatics like this don't really click anymore. That isn't even including the cheesy voiceover and the old fashioned sexual politics. For some reason, the film isn't marketed as based on Gulong ng Palad - maybe the added marketing would have sold a couple more tickets, or...?

The plot points of the movie seem appropriate given that it's election season, but it does carry with it a number of unfortunate implications (so townsfolk can't solve their own problems unless the collective action is headed by a rich outsider?) And the central conflict between Carding and Luisa feels too much like an Idiot Plot. Maybe this lack of communication stems from the fact that the kid cockblocked them too much over the years.

Man and Wife isn't a bad film per se, and it's actually decently acted. The film is just very old fashioned. In a cinematic landscape where there are limited resources for making films, I'm finding it hard to justify its existence.

Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon [Spoilers]

Note: some spoilers for Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon. Watch the movie first, then come back here.

When I and a couple of friends talked to director Nestor Abrogena about his follow-up to the sleeper hit Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa, he told us about two words that defined the visual language of the film: flight, and orbit. How appropriate, then, that in this film the theme is arguably gravity. Things that fly fight against it; orbiting planets compromise with it to keep from falling into the sun. And its meaning also makes sense with gravity-as-presence, something that is invisible but is powerful enough to change trajectories and perturb celestial bodies.

Like Abrogena's previous film, the approach is subdued, quiet, a slice-of-life. We see Sam (Nicco Manalo) and Isa (Emmanuelle Vera) five years after the events of the first film, having settled with other partners. For most of the film, there are no histrionics, no dramatic moments. It's an approach that is almost experimental in its execution. The film deftly explores contemporary relationships in a manner that is realistic and grounded. The proceedings sound mundane, but they are immersive, helping reacquaint us with old friends.

The film revels in its stillness, aware that this stillness will not last: Isa is ready to begin a new life with her boyfriend in America, and Sam is ready to take the next step with his girlfriend and fellow teacher. The new year then represents upheaval, a permanent change in status quo. But so far these four characters are traveling unimpeded in space. And there is notable space in between these seemingly normal events: things left unsaid, or only implied. Teary faces, perhaps filled with regret. An uncertain "maybe" to a test of commitment. Resentment towards an invisible sibling. 

When Sam and Isa meet again, it is deep in the third act, but this one minor event changes the movie entirely. The camera spins around them at the point of their reunion: these are two celestial bodies affected by each other's gravity, orbiting each other once more. This perturbation sets the rest of the events of the movie in motion - this time in a fantastic long take with characters going to and fro, like billiard balls careening though a table post-break. The musical cues thereafter are subtle, but the chords remind one of Quest's Walang Hanggan - the theme of the first movie. The stillness is soon shattered, and bubbling emotions reach the surface.

This is the consequence of gravity - the invisible presence of a love story left unfinished, like a script whose ending is erased, like the hollow facade of a relationship that once was, yet one that still stands and holds sway over everything else. Perhaps the film could have fleshed things out a bit more, but there is merit in ambiguity, in things left unsaid. There is no spoonfeeding going on in this film, and we are left to piece the puzzle together ourselves. Whether you ultimately like it or not, Tayo is the kind of film that sticks with you, the kind that can leave you stunned as you leave the theater: a low-key, quiet film that packs a lot of surprises.

Notes on Maledicto

Although its structure is similar to many Filipino movies about ghostly possession, the world of Maledicto treats the supernatural with a heavier dose of skepticism than usual. That skepticism is also reflected in the film's protagonist (Tom Rodriguez,) a priest who ironically specializes in exorcisms. 

This is a world where legitimate supernatural activity is waved away as either mental illness or the effect of drugs, a plot point that, when interpreted in a certain way, has some unfortunate implications. For one thing, what does that say about legitimate mental illness and drug related cases in the real world? Does the film inadvertently trivialize that? In a film where an archaic, corrupt institution sacrifices human lives for the sake of modernization, could that be interpreted as an argument for fundamentalism? Maybe. Maybe not.

Either way, even if viewed under a superficial lens, the film suffers from a number of inadequacies. The film's atmosphere through visuals doesn't quite work thanks to a baffling decision to blur most of the frame. It's as if someone smeared the edges of the camera lens with vaseline. This focal length (or whatever camera setting made these images) is suitable for closeups, but wide shots are particularly unwatchable, with more than 2/3 of the screen a blurry mess. I'm willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a projection problem, but other, similar reports make me wonder.

Rodriguez's Father Xavi is portrayed as a cynical, sometimes smug, maybe even sexist priest, who immediately dismisses the claims of Sister Barbie (Jasmine Curtis). Sister Barbie, though herself a more interesting character than Xavi, is pushed to the side. She possesses supernatural powers that are quickly glossed over and are mentioned only once. Her character is a mix of persistence and weak-willedness. Throughout the film she is ridiculed for her opinions and actions (and Xavi even renames her without her consent, a playful move to be sure, but one that is rife for misinterpretation).

Maledicto feels like the pilot episode for a TV series turned into a feature film. Conceptually, the idea of a demon-slaying priest-nun duo sounds pretty good. But given what Maledicto has shown us, I'd be game watching a sequel to this only after major adjustments are made to the storytelling and visuals.

A quickie review of Friend Zone

The Thais sure make really nice mainstream rom-coms. They kind of remind me of Star Cinema, but better in some aspects. These films are carefully calculated to appeal to as many viewers as possible. They even operate with the same tropes. Make a movie in an exotic location? Surprise, Friend Zone is all about traveling to several locations! There's product placement, and the film even lampshades it! There's even a blooper reel at the end that reminds me of several Star Cinema films. What ends up so fun about Friend Zone is that, even though its premise is super flimsy, it somehow manages to work.

Like the title says, Friend Zone is about two best friends, Palm and Gink. Palm has been carrying a torch for this lady for ten years, but part of the blame is also on him: he's content to be a friend instead of risking it all on romance, even though it's clear that he likes her a lot (and she, him.) Gink at this point in time is taken, but she always turns to Palm for emotional support.

It's a loopy relationship, and it's no surprise that this leads to all sorts of tension, some of it sexual. The film knows this too, and I wish it would have gone more into their thoughts, especially during the scene where they pour out their real feelings."Both of you, just get a room!" is basically the premise of the film, and it's stretched out a bit thin for two hours. However, it's still pretty entertaining. Of the two leads, it's Baifern Pimchanok who gets the meatier role and she does it well.

 

Otherwise, Friend Zone is a pleasant experience. I personally hope more Thai movies make their way to our shores (and vice-versa), because it could be an interesting learning opportunity for our two countries.

Love; Life's roughness becomes its downfall

So yeah, I'm spoiling the hell out of this movie. Spoiler warning I guess.

It's clear that Love; Life is a bit rough around the edges production-wise. Well, even that's a bit of an understatement. Shots don't match up, the timeline is a bit confusing, and some of the acting leaves much to be desired. It means well, but its storytelling flaws destroy any enjoyment I might've had in watching this disaster.

Most of the story is told as a flashback. When a hotshot music exec (Dino Imperial) learns that his daughter is writing suicidal messages on her notebook, he confronts her and she gets angry at him. This isn't some "life is pain" shit, it's literally "I want to Fucking Die." (The "fucking" is obscured, perhaps to earn a lower MTRCB rating.) He then leaves a video message on his computer, with no indication that his daughter will watch it, that tells the story of... him finding himself?

As it turns out, way back in the past, after a proposal gone wrong, music exec decides to jump off a bridge, where he meets a girl (Sachzna Laparan) who is planning to do the same thing. Calling each other by pseudonyms, the guy (now named Elvis) decides to take the girl (now Madonna) along on a little road trip. Yes, this movie rips off plotlines from other, better movies and does it terribly.

Madonna seems to have a backstory, but since this is viewed through the man's point of view, we don't really know much about her. As for Elvis, "yipes" would be a perfect descriptor of the guy. We see that Elvis' would-be fiancee rejected the proposal for a reason: Elvis is a complete asshole. He's the perfect example of an overdramatic, toxic, insensitive man who treats women as objects of desire that should act according to his whims. He romanticizes these things in his descriptions of his ex, but the flashbacks tell a different story. One would think that by the time he meets Madonna, he's changed for the better, but no, it gets worse. As it turns out, he brought Madonna on his little road trip because he wanted to dress her up in his ex's clothes and take Madonna to all the places where he and his ex spent their time together, all before killing himself.

I don't think I have to say it, but since people can be dense sometimes, THIS PREMISE IS FUCKING MESSED UP. Madonna is horrified to be used this way, and understandably so. She leaves, he follows (? the editing is really bad in this part) and he gets hit by a car.

Unfortunately, he survives, and the first thing he does is hit on his nurse, who becomes the mother to his suicidal child.

The film eventually reunites Elvis and Madonna in an unexpected way, but why should I be rooting for these two? There is no reckoning or indictment of Elvis' actions. He gets away scot free for dragging this poor lady along for the sake of his own self healing. And no wonder the child wants to kill herself, she reads books about men psychologically abusing women to comfort his own hugot. It's fucking ridiculous.

Maybe there is something in this film about loving what life has to offer (...?) But thanks to bad storytelling, it becomes a tale where men can be as assholey as they want while women exist as magical creatures that help solve their problems. It's horrible. But hey, love life!

Stranded

If you've seen the trailers for Ice Idanan's Stranded, you'd know it's based on an interesting conceit: during a particularly nasty typhoon, two strangers bond, even though they seem like polar opposites. Julia (Jessy Mendiola) seems sure of her path in life, even though it has led to her missing out on important things. Spencer (Arjo Atayde), on the other hand is aimless, and even though he's chugging along, he's doing so on the backs of his friends.

The actual stranding acts as the movie's meet-cute, though there's a catch. Julia's taken, and Spencer is smitten and somewhat flirtatious, even though he'd be shut down with just one "I have a boyfriend." It's a fine line between charming and creepy, and I think Arjo Atayde pulled it off. One would expect, following rom com tradition, that Julia would leave her controlling boyfriend immediately and take a chance on this guy, but that doesn't really happen. The film is grounded in reality and once the giddy glow of that meet cute ends, things kinda return to the status quo.

What sets Stranded apart from other conventional rom coms is that it expands on its central conceit. Though Julia and Spencer return to their lives after that event, it's clear that they have profoundly affected each other's lives. It's a two-fold expansion of Idanan's earlier film Sakaling Hindi Makarating (2016), where the romance is tangential to self-discovery and self-improvement.

Ultimately, Stranded is a pleasant experience, and fans of Idanan's lush cinematographic work will not be disappointed.

Sinag Maynila 2019: Jino to Mari

Jino to Mari begins with shots of meat, all lined up and ready to be sold. Perhaps one would expect the rest of the movie (about two sex workers tasked with filming a porno) to show how, through the commodification of sex, people are turned into nothing but pieces of meat to be bought and sold.

But the film does not start with sex. Nothing really salacious happens for most of the film. Instead, the film establishes its two titular protagonists' humanity before getting into the details. These are not just bodies, these are flesh and blood human beings, with loved ones, hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. As stated in Oggs Cruz's review of the film, Gino and Marie assert their rights by creating personal boundaries for themselves. Consent forms a major part of the film.

There is considerable build up to the eventual sex scene, and it feels ritualistic. Gino and Marie both take baths - part of standard procedure before doing sex work, but depicted here as a sort of ablution and viewed through voyeuristic framing. The sex begins, and the rights Gino and Marie have established are challenged. The directors of the scene try to take Gino and Marie's dignity away, but they doggedly hold on to it, though there is slight compromise for the sake of earning money. This reminds one of films like Brillante Mendoza's Masahista (2005), whose titular masseur exchanged sex work for cash. (Also an appropriate comparison, considering Mendoza also wrote the story for this film.) There is a kiss in the middle of the climax that signifies either a final surrender, and the completion the process of Gino and Marie's degradation, or a final defiant act of humanity.

Multiple interpretations emerge from behind the frames, carefully and meticulously crafted by Altarejos and DP Mycko David. The radio broadcasts heard during bus rides or at home lampshade the toxicity of Filipino culture and our tendency to objectify, from the highest office of the land down to its most lowly citizen. The camera's focus tends to drift towards bodies: an extension of our characters' eyes, and even our own, making us aware of our gaze. The film's music is mostly classical, its central motif arguably Leo Delibes' Flower Duet from his opera Lakme. Lakme is an opera about doomed love, ending with a defiant death to preserve honor. Classical music in itself feels ethereal and pure, providing a disturbing level of contrast when used during the film's most extreme scenes. 

The casting of a Japanese man as the director of the pornographic film, juxtaposed with historical accounts of their occupation of our lands, perhaps signifies a broader, political meaning, depicting a history of colonialism that continues to this day. And in a metafictional sense, considering that this ostensible Japanese porno is a film within a film, it is curious that the title of this movie is in Japanese. Is this Altarejos placing himself in the shoes of the Japanese director, saying that, in the making of such a steamy film, he too may be no different, his effort to humanize his characters serving as some sort of atonement? The film also asks the question: in the creation of art, how should the creator treat the performer? Should they treat them with respect, or merely as glorified props who spout lines?

Dense with meaning and open to interpretation, Jino to Mari will not be to everyone's taste, but I personally consider it one of Altarejos' better works.

Sinag Maynila 2019: Jesusa, Shorts A

To what lengths will a viewer stomach suffering on screen? The cinema of misery will always find a place with viewers, but to this reviewer, I've come to the conclusion that miserablist cinema isn't for me. I feel that the process of making a film's protagonist an endless vessel for degradation walks hand in hand with the removal of their dignity as characters.

This endless train of suffering defines Jesusa's plot. Its titular character (played ably by Sylvia Sanchez) is unloved by almost everyone else in her life, even though she herself has so much love to give. While the story's setting definitely indicates poverty, it would be simplistic to call this poverty porn, as Jesusa's misery isn't directly impacted by her social condition - her misery is a function of her character flaw to love every asshole who comes into her life. Of course one could argue that  indirectly, yes, a few aspects of her life would have been easier had she not been poor, but Jesusa the character, with the same masochistic tendency to seek abuse, would probably be miserable in other ways regardless of social standing.

The plot of the film segues into drug use as Jesusa turns to them to lessen her misery. Drugs are everywhere in this film; it is depicted as an unkillable pest that pervades society. There is merit in trying to find out Jesusa's motivations, as people turn to drugs to escape the stark realities of everyday life, but the execution of that idea comes up a bit short.

And perhaps Jesusa the film's greatest failing is the lack of redemption in Jesusa the character, which also serves to undermine any message the film might have with regards.to rehabilitation. Granted, Jesusa lacks the emotional support systems to prevent a relapse, but the ending of the film just feels mean-spirited about the whole thing. Hopelessness and cynicism, like illegal drugs, are tempting to come back to in the realm of the cinema of misery. But in this reviewer's honest opinion, I don't think it necessarily makes for great cinema.

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Shorts A

Lawrence Fajardo's Memories of the Rising Sun is set during the Japanese Occupation, where a woman saves a Japanese soldier's life, creating a bond between the two. There are occasionally interesting ideas in this short, but they don't come out fully formed, and the ending has too many loose ends.

A sudden spurt of violence underlines Marian, a story about the monsters we create through abuse. It's decent enough and pretty straightforward stuff.

Based on a true story, Kilos feels like sketches, bits and pieces of a larger film. As it is, it feels relatively incomplete.

Bisperas feels like an advocacy film, but it is an advocacy worth sharing. There are also some pretty great shots in this film, which is pretty remarkable considering how short it is.

And finally we have Kiss, which is well-written, quirky and self contained. It doesn't go deeper into the specifics of its central idea, but it doesn't have to, and the way it ends creates a pleasant little loop. 

Sinag Maynila 2019: Persons of Interest

I'm going to talk about the plot of this film in depth, so if you haven't watched it, this is your warning. Better yet, don't read this. Haha.

Let me begin this review (?) by telling you a story. I'm a relatively big fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and one of the episodes of that series is a murder mystery. Episode 139 is titled Aquiel, about a mysterious streak of deaths in a remote space station. Aquiel is one of the apparent casualties, and a prime suspect in the case. But surprise surprise, the culprit turns out to be the dog all along! Yes, you read that right, the dog was actually an alien that murdered the victims, and also Aquiel is actually alive.

Let's just say that Aquiel isn't exactly one of the most well-regarded episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's a boring mystery with annoying or bland characters, but the resolution was pretty neat.

Now I don't know if Ralston Jover watches Star Trek, but when I was watching his latest (?) film, Persons of Interest, I caught myself wondering: did this film just perform an Aquiel? As it turns out, the answer is yes and no, and I'm going to tell you all why.

Jover's filmmaking modus operandi seems to be to make a quirky, interesting character and build a story around him or her. In this case, it's Ramil (Allen Dizon), a blind cook living with his geriatric live-in partner somewhere in Pampanga. Their relationship has taken an acrimonious turn, as Ramil was caught "cooking some dishes" (if you'll forgive the lame and out of place metaphor) with his lover's maid, Doray. Shortly after that, he is accused of food poisoning, as a party held by his lover's daughter turns deadly as they consume food apparently prepared by him. Meanwhile, his son Tristan has been seeing an apparition of a man who looks exactly like Ramil, but this version of Ramil can apparently see. Did Ramil really kill all those guests? If not him, then who?

Now you all may be wondering, is this film really going to do what we think it's going to do? Does it have the balls to say that Ramil 2, Tristan's IMAGINARY FRIEND, was the actual perpetrator of the crime?

The subsequent courtroom drama takes us into Ramil's past: how he met his lover and what could've led him to commit the crime, even though there seems to be no indication that he did it. Even though Ramil checks every box of the "strange quirky character" checklist, he just doesn't come off as a compelling character. Allen Dizon does his best, but his character is simply written as too unsympathetic and bland for us to root for his legal victory. There are also some weird clues along the way. Before his alleged poisoning spree, Ramil somehow solves a Rubik's cube, even though HE'S BLIND. Did he just channel Spider Noir or could he really see?

In all honesty, I would've loved it had the film had the balls to pinpoint the imaginary friend as the one who did it. It would have made absolutely no sense. It would, in retrospect, probably be a bad idea, but I would have championed this film. But alas, we are to judge films as they are, and not as what we want them to be. The culprit turns out to be Tristan all along. Why he did it, I don't really know, since the film doesn't tell us. Was it really because he resented Ramil for cheating on [not his mom] for [also not his mom]? Once his testimony exonerates Ramil, the film ends...

...which brings me back to Aquiel. Aquiel was a boring mystery with an interesting resolution. Even then, it ended up being a forgettable episode. This film was a boring mystery with a mundane resolution, and (at least for me,) it ended up being an equally forgettable film.

Sinag Maynila 2019: Pailalim, Akin ang Korona, Shorts B, Documentaries

Bangis (Joem Bascon) and his family live in a cemetery. He hustles a lot of side jobs but his major source of income comes from grave robbing. When his only child gets sick, Bangis considers desperate measures to save his child.

Pailalim is a movie that draws from a lot of previous social realist films: its milieu has been explored before with films like Ralston Jover's Da Dog Show (2015), and the juxtaposition of the living among the dead draw some comparisons to Magkakabaung (2014), Oros (2012), and Purgatoryo (2016). In this case, the people living among the dead feel like walking dead themselves, shunned and rendered invisible by society at large.

The film delves into some interesting topics such as the behaviors that drive people into drugs, the economies of corruption in small and large scales that perpetuates these communities and even heath seeking behavior influenced by poverty, lack of knowledge and other societal conditions. Ultimately, however, the tale that Pailalim tells is very simple and doesn't quite coalesce into something more profound. We are made to experience their suffering, and that's it.

The work is elevated by a committed performance by Joem Bascon and some decent camerawork. While Pailalim is stuff we've mostly seen before, fans of the social realist genre will have something to chew on.

Zig Dulay's Akin ang Korona opens with a sequence much like the local reality TV show Face to Face, where two groups of people have at each other after revealing some scandalous secret. Face to Face itself was patterned after US shows like Jerry Springer, whose "reality" is itself suspect. As it turns out, this fuzzy line between real life and reality is the beating heart of this film, reminiscent of the works of the late Francis Pasion, especially his 2008 film Jay.

When Nanong's Akin ang Korona confrontation catches the eye of the producer of the show, he is offered a chance to reconnect with his father. Nanong isn't exactly warm to the idea, but the promise of seeing a long-lost parent soon becomes tantalizing. But cinema verite this ain't: Nanong is made to act and reenact his journey, which leads him to some truths about the "reality" we consume.

That in itself can be interpreted as commentary on how television content is produced in human interest programs (such as... well, name your pick), but it can also be interpreted as a subtle jab towards works of social realism, the kind of artistic work that wouldn't feel unwelcome in a festival like Sinag Maynila. Throughout the film Nanong is instructed to stop smiling, as if he is not allowed to feel anything other than misery. He is subtly pushed towards a narrative controlled by the filmmakers. And when reality strays from that narrative,Nanong is forced back to the path... sometimes by force.

This blatant manhandling of narrative is not only counterproductive, as this film shows, it's also dehumanizing towards its subjects, a sort of objectification where flesh and blood human beings are reduced to objects to be pitied and occasionally rewarded with a nice token (only within the show's budget, of course.) But the people behind the program do so only as a consequence of economic realities (you gotta put on a good show, after all) and on Nanong's part, it partially addresses a conversation earlier in the film when he is asked, in a particularly hilarious way, if he would eat a bowl of shit for a million pesos.

The film builds on its awkwardness, as it starts from hilarity and descends into legitimate discomfort. Akin ang Korona highlights the tightrope artists must walk when depicting their fellow human beings in their art - and it shows us, in very adroit fashion, that sometimes, they fall off that rope.

We now take a look at some shorts (not hanging from some clothesline, mind you.)

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Shorts B

While on an objective level Dana Jung comes off as a little rough, it's full of quirkiness and heart as it tells the story of a dad who isn't ready to be a dad and his little girl who just wants to fly (metaphorically this time.)

Panaghoy starts off really weird as we follow what seems to be the Most Oblivious Woman In The World, as she takes what seems to be the Most Obvious Spawn of Satan on a little trip around town. But then the story takes us on a little ride and shows us that things aren't what they seem. I'm not 100% sure it's effective, but points for trying.

The best film (short or full length) I've seen today has to be Dude Pare Bro, a stoner comedy about a struggling architecture student who tries to recruit the services of his stoner (but apparently high-achieving) friend so that he could pass his course. It escalates quickly, and even that feels like an understatement. It's cleverly built on this level of awkwardness that builds up as it goes, making hapless viewers (like myself) laugh out loud and cringe at the same time. It's a glorious feeling.

Nagmamahal, Sal is also rough and scattershot at an objective level, but it does at least come off as heartfelt. Its depiction of a romance that matures over time gives us the highlights, but its disparate parts fail to cohere into a meaningful whole.

Ngiti ni Nazareno checks all the boxes for a grand old miserable time at the cinema: a poor child with a quirky backstory just wants his eccentric, drug-using, criminal mom to smile, so he smiles. Of course, that doesn't happen, because reality is a thing. If you're a fan of this kind of film, kudos to you, but at this point, I was out of it.

Sinag Maynila 2019 Short Documentaries Short Reviews

At Home tells the story of Christian Apolinario, who won an award abroad for his short film. Apolinario contracted polio at an early age, which left him disabled. He recounts his experiences as a PWD in Australia (and how the country accommodates people like him) and his experiences in the Philippines (and how we really have a long way to go in terms of accommodating PWDs.) It's great stuff, even though it goes a little bit too long.

Entablado functions more as reminiscence than documentation, as it looks back at the grand old Manila Metropolitan Theater, currently undergoing a multi-million peso restoration. The footage and interviews are enlightening, and we get a look at the theater as it is being restored, a glimpse at a place we haven't been allowed access to for some time.

Last year I saw a film about professional wrestling in the Philippines, The Good, The Bad, and the Fabulous, about three PWR women wrestlers. Hope Spots tackles the same subject, though it views its subjects through a broader perspective and doesn't delve into the personal lives of the people involved like the former film does.

Andap is about a woman living with Alzheimers, and it is full of really powerful, poignant moments especially near the end. However, it feels overproduced and doesn't quite know when to end (I counted two credits sequences!) I think it's still worth a watch.

Tata Pilo tells the story of its titular character, a craftsman who makes a special type of hat called a Kattukong, most prominently worn by famous figures such as Diego Silang. While it does raise a number of important questions regarding the preservation of cultural traditions and identities, it's full of problems: the staged parts feel silly at times, the film meanders and feels unfocused, and it ultimately feels repetitive.

Hyatt: Mga Kuwento, Lihim at Katotohanan tells the story of the ill-fated Hyatt hotel in Baguio, which collapsed after the 1990 earthquake that shook most of Luzon. Filled with interviews of people present during the tragedy, it's tantalizing stuff, though I wish that the material could be expanded into a feature length film.