Movies

  • You’re Still The One Movie Review

    I had high hopes when I first heard that Dennis Trillo will be making a movie for Star Cinema (co-produced with Regal Films), and with Maja Salvador no less. Star Cinema has been making quite satisfactory films recently and I wondered how they would utilize Dennis. I had always wanted a good romantic-comedy material for Dennis. I’ve been a fan since his Twin Hearts and Mulawin days by the way. I’m also a fan of Maja. I’m not fond of the fact that she has an album and a singing career, but I do love her acting. I’m also sad that Gerald Anderson broke up with her. Tsk!

    Anyway, the movie You’re Still The One was promising at least looking at Dennis’ Instagram posts. I was excited about how they would bring us back to the 90s. His Nick Carter haircut. The university setting. I had really high hopes. But sadly, I was just disappointed. I almost walked out of the movie house not because of the performances of the two leads but because of the bad writing and poor direction. There seemed to be a disconnect among all the elements of the movie. Nothing was jelling. I didn’t feel that I was transported back to the 90s at all. I guess the director just decided to put a pager and some old peso bills in some scenes and called it a day. The supporting characters did not support at all. They weren’t utilized well. They were just there.

    I’m not gonna make this post long because I already wasted my time tonight. (Mind you, I’m very patient with movies especially local ones.) Dennis and Maja were good (as always) though their dialogue could have been MORE natural. Maybe it’s the script. UGH. Just recalling the terrible storyline makes me want to barf. I don’t know.

    Sorry, but Dennis and Maja deserve better material than this. Watch it, just so you’d know what I mean. Or like me, watch it just to support Dennis and Maja.

  • The #SinagMaynila Experience Part 1

    , ,

    When I first saw the teasers of Sinag Maynila last year, I thought that it was just one of those movie festivals that would come and eventually would go. To add, I hated disliked the teasers. They portrayed the most common themes in the independent movie industry (and in black and white too). Women crying. Children being wrongfully accused of theft. You know the drill. The scenes were just a bit over-the-top for my taste. However, whatever my first impression was, I was proven wrong. After watching the five films claimed to be “significant”, I laughed and cried. I was moved and inspired. I was changed. I was a different person each time I went out of the movie theater.

    poster

    More than a week ago,  the first Sinag Maynila Film Festival was launched. Knowing that it only showed five movies and that internationally acclaimed film director Brillante Mendoza served as a the festival director, my inner indie film fanatic curiosity was switched on. I ran to the nearest mall after work (SM Aura) and to my surprise, the gala screening for three of the films were going to be held there. I literally ran to the ticket booth. There, I saw a familiar face. It was Junjun Quintana (Quick Change, A Philippino Story)! Junjun originally played the role of Rodel in the play version of the Virgin Lab Fest entry with the same title. I wanted to take a picture with him but he disappeared before I could gather the courage to do it. After buying tickets for Balut Country and Imbisibol, I went to the food court area and there he was, just sitting with other indie film people. I was too shy to directly approach him there and there so I did something ridiculous and a little stalkery-ish. I sat on the bench adjacent to where he was sitting. So we were sitting back to back. I could hear them talking but I wasn’t listening of course. My mind was too busy rehearsing how I would ask him for a photo.

    WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

    (more…)

  • Remember Her Name: Lilia Cuntapay

    ,

    “Kilala mo ba kung sino si Lilia Cuntapay?” 

    Lilia Cuntapay (KOON-tah-pie) may be an unfamiliar name, but if you grew up watching the earlier movies of the Shake Rattle and Roll franchise, her face has haunted you at some point in your life. So you better remember her name.

    Now an award winning actress (Cinema One Originals 2011), Lilia Cuntapay stars in Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay (written and directed by Antoinette Jadaone), a mockumentary of her journey leading to a fictionalized awards night. Along the way, we discover the story of the woman behind the mysterious persona we’ve grown to fear. Her motivations and aspirations. Her professional ethics. The highs, glamor, and prestige. The trade-offs, sacrifices and disappointments.

    What does it take to be the most iconic bit player of Philippine horror movies?

    I was lucky enough to have caught the movie (together with Dagitab) in a special screening in Teatrino last January 17, 2015. The movie surpassed any of my expectations. Each scene was effectively executed. It garnered genuine laughs and tears (at least from me). More than a comedy, (also according to the makers) the film is an inspiring tale of an underrated personality who values her craft more than anything else.

  • Perci Intalan’s Dementia #DementiaHorror

    High caliber acting, a stunning background and a solid plot. These are a few of the things that you can expect in watching the directorial debut of Perci Intalan.

    Mara (Nora Aunor) who suffers with dementia is brought to her ancestral home in the beautiful islands of Batanes. Her family is hoping that being in a familiar environment would bring back her memories. However, during their stay, Rachel (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) begins to sense things that are unexplainably shared with her sick aunt Mara.

    Catch Dementia in still showing in selected cinemas. Watch it now before it’s gone!

  • #CineTotoo #Mananayaw

    Mananayaw (Directed by Rafael Froilan) travels on a path taken by few yet strong and passionate individuals. A profession that is stigmatized by social mirrors still unfortunately haunting our beloved country. It tiptoes on highs and the lows of the lives of Filipino male ballet dancers. One of which is the director’s very own father Nonoy Froilan, arguably the most successful danseur in the Philippines.

    Catch it today in Trinoma cinemas at 6:30PM!