Winners!!! Mmff 2003

[musicpark]

Peeps,
Dito tayo for the updates on tonight's awards night. This is I think the biggest and most star-studded Filmfest in the entire Philippine Movie history!!! Ang gaganda ng mag pelikula..SOBRA!

Let's support the local entertainment industry! Go ahead peeps, you can cheer, applaud for your bets for the most coveted awards...

in alphabetical order:
Bridal Shower
Captain Barbell
Crying Ladies
Fantastikman
Filipinas
Gagamboy
Mano Po2

Post the updates here:

[Vipguhrl]

best child performer- Julio Pacheco, Crying Ladies

best float- mano po 2

[experiment]

Best in Cinematography - Mano po 2

[Vipguhrl]

best supporting actress- Hilda Koronel, Crying Ladies

[experiment]

Best Theme Song - Homecoming

[Vipguhrl]

3rd best picture - filipinas
2nd best picture- mano po
best picture- wala pa ( wish ko at feeling ko Crying Ladies)

best screen play- filipinas

best actress people's choice- sharon cuneta, Crying Ladies
best actor people's choice - richard gomez, Filipinas

[experiment]

Best Musical Score - Malikmata

[musicpark]

Aba..pumalo kagad yun Crying Ladies ah!!! Nagbabadya as top winner eto ah...
Julio Pacheco is one talented boy.

[experiment]

Best Sound - Malikmata

Best Editor - Malikmata

[musicpark]

Best child performer - Julio Pacheco, Crying Ladies

Best Supporting Actress- Hilda Koronel, Crying Ladies

Best Supporting Actor- Victor Neri, Filipinas


Well deserved awards ito...hands down...

[bee_jolly]

best float - mano po 2
best production design - rodell cruz, mano po 2
best make-up - fantastic man
best visual effects - dodge ledesma of roadrunner, malikmata
best child performer: julio pacheco, crying ladies
best story: lily monteverde at roi iglesias, mano po 2
best cinematography: j.a. tadena, mano po 2
best theme song - isang pagtanaw, homecoming
best musical score - francis guevarra and ferdie marquez, malikmata
best sound recording: mike idioma, malikmata
best editing: vito cajili, malikmata

yan yung mga napanood ko...

[avonlea]

from FLASH REPORT

Best Actress - Maricel Soriano
Best Actor - Eric Quizon
Best Director - Mark Meily
Best Picture - Crying Ladies

CONGRATULATIONS TO CRYING LADIES!!!

CONGRATULATIONS din kay MARICEL SORIANO, ERIC QUIZON, HILDA KORONEL, VICTOR NERI & JULIO PACHECO...

[experiment]

People's choice- Best Actress - Sharon Cuneta
- Best Actor - Ricahrd Gomez
- Bets Movie- MAno Po

[ilovepink]

sbi sa saksi
best actor - eric quizon; crying ladies
best actress - maricel soriano; filipinas

[experiment]

Congrats to all!!!

[musicpark]

AWARDS TALLY:

Mano Po2: 5
Crying Ladies: 4
Malikmata: 4
Filipinas: 2
Homecoming: 1

Go, go guys! Crying Ladies bagged the major acting awards...
Maria is the best actress...

[bee_jolly]

best supporting actor - victor neri, filipinas

[bee_jolly]

best supporting actress - hilda koronel, crying ladies

[PApAmpAm_pAmPaM]

hi bee_jolly!!! evaluation na po ng dec ish!!! hihi...

[Ernestina]

who are the judges?!

[Vipguhrl]

best actress - maricel soriano, Filipinas
best actor- eric quizon, crying ladies
best director-mark meily, crying ladies

congratulations sa lahat ng nanalo.

to all the fans of maricel soriano, congratulations!! i feel sad na hindi nanalo si sharon pero ok lang, ganyan talaga, you can't have it all. :)

[diamond_fish]

wow! thanks Vipguhrl!!

galing galing ng Diamond star!!!

congrats MARICEL SORIANO!!!

[experiment]

I agree Vipguhrl. Congrats to all the winners!!!

And i feel sad that Sharon didn't win but well...

Once again, Congrats to Ms. Maricel Soriano and CRYING LADIES!!! :)

[pollywog]

Deserving lahat ng nanalo...sana walang magprotesta.

[JENSIE_G]

i told you guys maricel will win!

tama ako from the very beginning! *okay*

[Johnston]

grabe, ang saya.. panalo si Ms. Mary *okay*

[blueapple]

congratz to Crying Ladies!!!

[bee_jolly]

di ko rin alam kung bakit, pero may ganitong award!

gender-sensitive award: homecoming

[bee_jolly]

best screenplay: roy iglesias, filipinas

[banshe1981]

the more reason for me to watch crying ladies and mano po2 before filipinas...wahehehee...

[dyne_chelle]

congrats ms. maricel soriano!!!!!!

[musicpark]

The HONOR Roll:

Best Picture: Crying Ladies
2nd Best Picture: MANO PO2
3rd Best Picture: Filipinas

Best Actress: Maricel Soriano, Filipinas
Best Supporting Actress: Hilda Koronel, Crying Ladies
Best Actor: Eric Quizon, Crying Ladies
Best Supporting Actor: Victor Neri, Filipinas
Best Child Performer: Julio Pacheco, Crying Ladies
Best Director: Mark Meily, Crying Ladies

Best Story: Mano Po2
Best Production Design: Mano Po2
Best Cinematography: Mano Po2
Best Production design: Mano Po2
Best Editing: Malikmata
Best Sound Recording Malikmata
Best Theme Song: "Isang Pagtanaw" Homecoming
Best Visual Effects: Malikmata
Best Make-Up: Fantastikman
Best Musical Score: Malikmata
Best Float: Mano Po2
Best Screenplay: Filipinas
Gender-Sensitive Award: Homecoming

TOTAL AWARDS:
Mano Po2 : 6
Crying Ladies: 5
Malikmata: 4
Filipinas: 3
Homecoming: 2
Fantastikman: 1

[JENSIE_G]

musicpark: thanks for the list! :D

[musicpark]

The HONOR Roll:

Best Picture: Crying Ladies
2nd Best Picture: MANO PO2
3rd Best Picture: Filipinas

Best Actress: Maricel Soriano, Filipinas
Best Supporting Actress: Hilda Koronel, Crying Ladies
Best Actor: Eric Quizon, Crying Ladies
Best Supporting Actor: Victor Neri, Filipinas
Best Child Performer: Julio Pacheco, Crying Ladies
Best Director: Mark Meily, Crying Ladies

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD:
Best Picture: Mano Po2
Best Actress: Sharon Cuneta, Crying Ladies
Best Actor: Richard Gomez, Filipinas

Best Story: Mano Po2
Best Production Design: Mano Po2
Best Cinematography: Mano Po2
Best Editing: Malikmata
Best Sound Recording Malikmata
Best Theme Song: "Isang Pagtanaw" Homecoming
Best Visual Effects: Malikmata
Best Make-Up: Fantastikman
Best Musical Score: Malikmata
Best Float: Mano Po2
Best Screenplay: Filipinas
Gender-Sensitive Award: Homecoming

TOTAL AWARDS:
Mano Po2 : 6 (more on technical awards)
Crying Ladies: 6 (bagged major awards)
Malikmata: 4
Filipinas: 3
Homecoming: 2
Fantastikman:1

[kikaypaLs]

DESERVING LAHAT ng WINNERS..and most of all

DESERVING ANG NANALO NG BEST ACTRESS AWARD!!

none other than the ONE AND ONLY BRIGHTEST GEM...MARICEL SORIANO...SUPERB acting in FILIPINAS!! Hurray!!!

:flower: CONGRATULATIONS ATE MARY..I:heart:YOU so MUCH! :flower:

[renz]

Sino ang nakakuha ng Gatpuno Award? Bakit may peoples' choice awards pa? May botohan bang nangyari? San ba nila binase ang people's choice?

[fuchiyaya]

congratulations to ms. maricel soriano

nung mapanood ko talaga yung mga pelikula, malakas ang pakiramdam ko she will win. napakahusay niya sa isang scene ng malaman niyang ikakasal si Daniel Fernando. yung pain, mapi-feel mo talaga, napaiyak ako sa scene na iyon. :lol:

congrats....sana GRANDSLAM BEST ACTRESS naman ang makuha mo....

[pinoystar]

wow looks like magaling nga si ms. maricel soriano! it made me think kung when ako manonood ng filipinas and mano po 2 na din...btw, congrats to her!

[b0otiful_mizzd]

BEST ACTRESS: Ms. Dina Bonnevie - Bridal Shower

[joshdxb]

Originally posted by kikaypaLs
DESERVING LAHAT ng WINNERS..and most of all

DESERVING ANG NANALO NG BEST ACTRESS AWARD!!

none other than the ONE AND ONLY BRIGHTEST GEM...MARICEL SORIANO...SUPERB acting in FILIPINAS!! Hurray!!!

:flower: CONGRATULATIONS ATE MARY..I:heart:YOU so MUCH! :flower:
congrats ate maria

in behalf of all the sharonians i know u deserve this award!!

bravo diamond star!!!

[crunos]

Congrats sa lahat ng mga nanalo *okay*

[benj20_ph]

did ms. maricel soriano attend the awards night?

[alias_bristow]

CONGRATS sa UNITEL for winning the BEST PICTURE AWARD

talagang dekalidad na pelikula. Rated 'A' ng Cinema Evaluation Board.

Tama si Itlogmo, ito yata ang first ever COMEDY FILM na nanalong best picture.....talagang dapat panoorin





:flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:

[fenn]

Parang ang galing naman ng mga judges this year!

Natumbok nila at parang lahat yata deserving!

Congrats to Crying Ladies, Maricel Soriano, Eric Quizon, Hilda Koronel and Victor Neri!

[McMah0n]

benj20_ph, yes, maricel attended the awards night. she was one of the emcees :)

I think her speech went, "Thank you thank you...Buti na lang hindi pa ako umuwi...." :D

Now I want to watch Filipinas and Homecoming!

[JENSIE_G]

congratz uli to maricel soriano! :D

a well-deserved victory indeed! :handsdown:

[aynidyubak]

Originally posted by alias_bristow
CONGRATS sa UNITEL for winning the BEST PICTURE AWARD

talagang dekalidad na pelikula. Rated 'A' ng Cinema Evaluation Board.

Tama si Itlogmo, ito yata ang first ever COMEDY FILM na nanalong best picture.....talagang dapat panoorin

:flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:


CONGRATS sa lahat ng nanalo.

CRYING LADIES ......... the best :)

[byuti_mae]

Buti na lang di nanalo si Dina Bonnevie, nayayabangan ako sa kanya.

Pero di rin nanalo si LT, nag-away pa sa isa raw award winning role. :lol:

:cheers: to Marya.

Di naduplicate ng Mano Po 2 ang success ng Mano Po 1,artistic and commercial success.

[JENSIE_G]

byuti_mae: you saw how bitter dina bonnevie was after maricel's acceptance speech? hahahaha! PRICELESS! :glee:

[dellmon_chuvs1]

congratulations to Ms. Maricel Soriano! you really deserved the award.

[baby_vampira]

Congrats to Ms. Maricel Soriano! And also the jurers of MMFFP for making a wise decision. Basta congrats to all the winners especially Mark Meily, kahit debut film palang niya ang Crying Ladies.

[itlogmo]

Galing talaga ni Mark Meily....

His directorial debut (for a movie, dahil commercial director din sya) is the MMFF best picture and it was Rated A by the Cinema Evaluation Board.

The best ang CRYING LADIES



Again CONGRATS sa lahat ng winners !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jonruiz]

Hanga ako kay Mark Meily, kudos!

But siyempre saludo naman ako sa Filmfest Best Actress - Ms. Maricel Soriano. She did only one movie this year and its reaping her recognition and award/s (with "s" as I know its just the start of harvest time)

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by renz
Sino ang nakakuha ng Gatpuno Award? Bakit may peoples' choice awards pa? May botohan bang nangyari? San ba nila binase ang people's choice?

Yung Gatpuno Villegas cultural chenes (sorry, di ko alam actual title :*) ) sa Filipinas.

Text votes ata yung People's Choice.

[TAJ903]

wow! congratulations to ms. maricel soriano. galing talaga ni Maria!

congrats din sa MANO PO 2 casta & staff...maganda ang movie. teka muna, ang akala ko ba si Judy Ann Santos ang mananalo sa best actress dahil yan ang sinasabi ni Alfie sa article niya, na kesyo malakas ang balita na baka daw si monay ang manalo...(nyek!)..eh, best supporting actress nga ata di siya nominado eh, best actress pa kaya? tsk..tsk..

hay naku..basta congrats talaga kay Maria...YOU ARE THE BEST..DIAMOND STAR!

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by musicpark
The HONOR Roll:

Best Picture: Crying Ladies
2nd Best Picture: MANO PO2
3rd Best Picture: Filipinas

Best Actress: Maricel Soriano, Filipinas
Best Supporting Actress: Hilda Koronel, Crying Ladies
Best Actor: Eric Quizon, Crying Ladies
Best Supporting Actor: Victor Neri, Filipinas
Best Child Performer: Julio Pacheco, Crying Ladies
Best Director: Mark Meily, Crying Ladies

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD:
Best Picture: Mano Po2
Best Actress: Sharon Cuneta, Crying Ladies
Best Actor: Richard Gomez, Filipinas

Best Story: Mano Po2
Best Production Design: Mano Po2
Best Cinematography: Mano Po2
Best Editing: Malikmata
Best Sound Recording Malikmata
Best Theme Song: "Isang Pagtanaw" Homecoming
Best Visual Effects: Malikmata
Best Make-Up: Fantastikman
Best Musical Score: Malikmata
Best Float: Mano Po2
Best Screenplay: Filipinas
Gender-Sensitive Award: Homecoming

TOTAL AWARDS:
Mano Po2 : 6 (more on technical awards)
Crying Ladies: 6 (bagged major awards)
Malikmata: 4
Filipinas: 3
Homecoming: 2
Fantastikman:1

Not quite. Production design at cinematography lang ang technical awards ng Mano Po 2. Malikmata actually received more technical awards. Ayoko sana panoorin yon dahil sa mga artista, hehe, but now am curious to see it.

Btw, based on this tally, Filipinas should have 5 awards plus the Gatpuno Villegas cultural ek-ek, so 6 din dapat. :)

Was there no award for costumes?

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by alias_bristow
CONGRATS sa UNITEL for winning the BEST PICTURE AWARD

Was that Tony Gloria who accepted the Best Pic award along with Mark Meilly? I thought his acceptance speech was a riot. Mukhang bitter pa siya na walang technical awards ang Crying Ladies. He said something like "from what I know, when you get Best Picture that means you have the Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography..." :lol:

I'm really so excited to see this picture.

[JdelaCruz]

I've always thought that Maricel Soriano should have also won an award last year for Mano Po 1. Will watch Crying Ladies, can't wait for Bridal Shower.

[jonruiz]

Originally posted by nailbiter
Not quite. Production design at cinematography lang ang technical awards ng Mano Po 2. Malikmata actually received more technical awards. Ayoko sana panoorin yon dahil sa mga artista, hehe, but now am curious to see it.

Btw, based on this tally, Filipinas should have 5 awards plus the Gatpuno Villegas cultural ek-ek, so 6 din dapat. :)

Nailbiter, you are right based from that tally Filipinas has 6 awards namely

Best Actress - MARICEL SORIANO
3rd Best Picture
Gatpuno Villegas Cultural Award
Best Supporting Actor - Victor Neri
Best Screenplay
Best Actor - Richard Gomez (People's Choice)

The last one I don't think we need to count it as its just text votes and we're legitimately counting only the decision of the jurors. I am not against those People's Choice award but the topic is MMFF winners and not People's Choice's winners. Its just my own opinion.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by jonruiz
Nailbiter, you are right based from that tally Filipinas has 6 awards namely

Best Actress - MARICEL SORIANO
3rd Best Picture
Gatpuno Villegas Cultural Award
Best Supporting Actor - Victor Neri
Best Screenplay
Best Actor - Richard Gomez (People's Choice)

The last one I don't think we need to count it as its just text votes and we're legitimately counting only the decision of the jurors. I am not against those People's Choice award but the topic is MMFF winners and not People's Choice's winners. Its just my own opinion.

True. Pero mukhang binilang din yung People's Choice sa count ng Mano Po 2 kaya dapat patas lang :p Actually, I wouldn't count Best Float or the Best Picture runners-up either. Yung Best Picture, yun na yon. Pero bilangan lang yan, di naman yan importante. Di naman ako ang kasali :D

Tidbit: Best Screenplay was finally recognized as a major award. (Has this ever been the case with any of the major non-festival award-giving bodies? Di ko ma-recall e.) Pero ang Best Story hindi. Curious.

[greggytorned]

Wow nanalo si Maricel Soriano! Galing! Actually I haven't seen any of the films but I'm curious to watch na especially Crying Ladies.

[Wolfe]

Well deserved ng mga nanalo yung awards...

Victor and Ms. Hilda
and of course...

Crying Ladies and MARICEL SORIANO!

[irene1214]

congrats sa aking idol.....ms. maricel soriano for winning the best actress award, it's about time!

sidelights: wento nmn kayo jan tungkol sa awards night, meron isang entry ** na nagkwento ng konti about dina b.'s reaction dun sa acceptance speech ni marya.......kwento nmn o.....

[Wolfe]

very very very well-deserved Maricel!

[SunnySideUp]

magaling si ate sharon kaya lang nasapawan siya ng technical merit ng pelikula. superb kasi ang pagkakagawa kaya iyon ang nakatawag pansin and it's not surprising it garnered the major awards.*okay*

congrats to all the winners.:bounce:

[estilo]

Congrats to Maricel Soriano!! *okay* a well-deserved Best Actress award.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: MANILA BULLETIN, dated 12/28/2003
by Crispina Martinez-Belen

By the way, following very closely “Captain Barbell” in the box-office performance on the first day of the filmfest was “Fantastic Man,” OctoArts’ entry starring Vic Sotto, Ara Mina and Michael V.


No. 3 was Regal’s “Mano Po 2,” No. 4, “Malikmata,” No. 5, “Crying Ladies,” No. 6 “Filipinas” and No. 7 “Homecoming.”


On the second day, the ranking was changed a little, with “Filipinas” going up to dislodge “Malikmata” as No. 4, we were told.

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by estilo

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: MANILA BULLETIN, dated 12/28/2003
by Crispina Martinez-Belen

By the way, following very closely “Captain Barbell” in the box-office performance on the first day of the filmfest was “Fantastic Man,” OctoArts’ entry starring Vic Sotto, Ara Mina and Michael V.


No. 3 was Regal’s “Mano Po 2,” No. 4, “Malikmata,” No. 5, “Crying Ladies,” No. 6 “Filipinas” and No. 7 “Homecoming.”


On the second day, the ranking was changed a little, with “Filipinas” going up to dislodge “Malikmata” as No. 4, we were told.

Ang Daling mag-imbento. SHOW SOME PROOF
:rolleyes:

[estilo]

:lol: @TJ&ME

i pity for you. if i were you, magbasa ka ng online newspaper at ng makita mo na "hinde sa akin nangggaling" at lalong hinde ako ang nagsabi ng pinost ko. hinde ka ba nakakaintindi ng salitang "SOURCE"? :rotfl:

[Corrics]

u know. parang sawang sawa na ako manood ng joel lamangan film ..

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by Corrics
u know. parang sawang sawa na ako manood ng joel lamangan film ..

MANO PO 2 at CRYING LADIES mas maganda :D

[dellmon_chuvs1]

I love the FILIPINAS movie....congratulations to Maria.

[renz]

panoorin niyo ang Filipinas para malaman niyo kumbakit nilampaso ni Marya ang mga kalaban sa pagka best actress. hehehhe.

seriously, it's good that they gave the award to her dahil she deserved this noon pa. Three times na sana sa MMFF.

during her era, Nora Aunor was the festival Queen, now it's Marya. two greatest actresses of all times. here's wishing good luck to nora aunor on her upcoming movie(s). and a movie together is A MUST!

[joshdxb]

Originally posted by alias_bristow
CONGRATS sa UNITEL for winning the BEST PICTURE AWARD

talagang dekalidad na pelikula. Rated 'A' ng Cinema Evaluation Board.

Tama si Itlogmo, ito yata ang first ever COMEDY FILM na nanalong best picture.....talagang dapat panoorin





:flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:



ur right...CRYING LADIES..WATCH NA TAYO

[SunnySideUp]

Originally posted by Corrics
u know. parang sawang sawa na ako manood ng joel lamangan film ..
this means napanood mo lahat ng Joel Lamangan films.:glee:

[luciam124]

*grand entrance with Vera Go looks*

panoorin niyo muna ang FILIPINAS tsaka niyo husgahan kung deserving ang Mano Po2 na maging 2nd Best Picture.

hinde pa nagkamali ang bolang kristal ko. ako ang nagsabi dito na hinde madu-duplicate ng Mano Po 2 ang success ng Mano Po1, at hinde ako nagkamali..... *flick ng hair*...

[jj9527]

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Pure leasure

By Mario E. Bautista
The Philippine Star 12/28/2003


We can’t comprehend why the Metro Manila Filmfest screening committee did not include Bridal Shower as one of the top seven entries when it is undoubtedly better than most of the other entries we saw. It is also certainly one of the three best films we’ve seen during the entire year. Local comedies usually depend on low brow slapstick where the characters hit and insult each other. A farce on women who are so desperate to have a man in their life, Bridal Shower is that rare comedy film that really succeeds in tickling our funny bones without insulting our intelligence, the kind the late Ishmael Bernal used to do in Salawahan and Working Girls.

Peppered with witty lines, hilarious situations and a gay sensibility truly worth a guffaw, the film debunks our usual notions of romantic love. This is a gleeful sendup on dreamy romantic films and the perfect antithesis to such fairy tale love stories as Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan in Hollywood flicks and Pangarap Ko ang Ibigin Ka and Till There Was You in local films.

The film centers on Tates (Dina Bonnevie), Katie (Cherry Pie Picache) and Sonia (Francine Prieto) who all work in an advertising agency. Tates has a boyfriend, Mickey (Christian Vasquez), who is separated from his first wife and has a son. She spends her own money so Mickey can have his marriage annulled in the hope that he’d marry her later on. She even tries to humor Mickey’s spoiled brat of a son just to please him.

Katie has a weight problem and has no suitors. She finds romance in the Internet but refuses to face her cyber boyfriend in person, afraid he might reject her. The scene where she finally agrees to meet the guy is really hilarious. She initially mistakes an old man to be her friend and insults him for deceiving her. Later on, when the real guy finally shows up, it’s her turn to be insulted by him for her excess weight.

Sonia has two boyfriends. Bryan (Douglas Robinson) is a poor painter who adores her so much he even had her name tattooed across his chest. Juancho (Juancho Valentino) comes from a very rich family. When she gets pregnant, she is not sure who the father really is but she chooses to marry Juancho for financial security.

At the bridal shower given to Sonia by her friends, Katie befriends one of the macho dancers they hired for the event, Joebert (Alfred Vargas.) They end up in bed and Katie even takes Joebert to her relatives in the province (who are all fat like her) but she is ashamed to introduce him as a macho dancer so she tells them he is an insurance agent. Later on, she even helps Joebert take a seminar to be an insurance salesman. When Joebert borrows P50,000 from her allegedly for the medical expenses of his father, she thought he just deceived her when he didn’t show up again. She is about to have him arrested by cops, but it turns out Joebert was telling the truth and his dad just died. He feels bad that Katie failed to trust him and their relationship goes sour.

Dina, Cherry Pie and Francine are all exceptionally good in their respective roles and they all deserve to be nominated as Best Actress (and maybe one of them should win.) The truth is they all play pathetic characters because they all have to make humbling compromises and even swallow their pride in their personal pursuit of romance. But in the end, this is a feel good movie as each character somehow finds the proverbial silver lining behind the clouds. The scene where Sonia learns that Bryan has found another girlfriend who is also named Sonia is very amusing. As Sonia, Francine is able to hold her own against her more experienced co-stars.

Dina as Tates has the most number of buffoonish moments. The scene where Sonia throws away the bridal bouquet and Dina fights tooth and nail to make sure she gets it, in the belief that she will be the next bride, is funny and pathetic at the same time. She is also involved in a running gag showing her meeting her previous casual lovers every now and then, including a lesbian on a motorcycle who even runs after her and shouts "I love you!" She has a riotous suicide scene where, like her, her pet dog overdoses on sleeping pills. The succeeding sequence in a hospital emergency room is really a big howl. She is already frothing in her mouth and yet the clerk is more concerned about asking for her health card than attending to her.

Another rollicking scene shows her lighting a candle for her dead dog when she suddenly hears a dog barking and she thinks her pet is haunting her. Even Dina’s dramatic scenes come out funny, like that one where Mickey is dumping her and she tells him while in tears: "Masyado ka namang honest". They even haggle on how many months or weeks they will have a cooling off period. It seems that Dina’s being junked from the cast of Mano Po 2 is a blessing in disguise since her role here is definitely much more challenging, something she has never played before, and she surely shines in it while making a clown of herself doing some crazy antics.

As usual, the always reliable Cherry Pie is wonderful and superb as Katie. She has a rollicking bedscene with Joebert where she insists on turning the light off because she does not want him to see how fat she is, but he keeps on turning the light again. In the end, you’ll surely cheer for her after she has lost weight and does some ballroom dancing, something she said before was only for matronas. The final sequence where Katie and Joebert dance the tango while the end credits are being flashed is pure pleasure, a real delight.

Rodel Velayo gives splendid support as the three women’s mutual best friend who could very well earn the title Sukahan ng Bayan. His interpretation of his gay role here is much more relaxed and natural than the one he did in Liberated.

Among the male newcomers, Alfred Vargas as the macho dancer who falls for the fat Cherry Pie is the most competent of all, but he doesn’t photograph well on screen and looks better in person. Douglas Robinson as Bryan has a more engaging presence and he’s quite effective in that scene where he hits his own head with a beer bottle after confirming that Sonia is all set to marry Juancho. Juancho Valentino is better off as a ramp model as he lacks star quality and is not really movie star handsome.

The film has many other humorous touches, like the two macho dancers who turn up to be gay and end up kissing each other when they are left alone in Dina’s room. When Sonia delivers twin babies, it turns out the nurses who attend to her babies are also twins, and so are the babysitters they later hire to take care of the babies.

The script of Chris Martinez is a real gem, laced with wit and sharp dialogue. Bridal Shower confirms that Jeffrey Jeturian is truly one of the best filmmakers of his generation. The cinematography, though, is uneven. There are scenes in the film’s earlier parts that are too just bright and overlighted. Dina looks so young in some scenes but there are also unflattering shots of her. Is this the reason why they have two cinematographers for the movie?

Jesse Lucas’ musical score and Raymond Bajarias’ production design are both fine, but the editing can stand some improvement. Tara Illenberger needs to further tighten some sequences (like that scene in church where Dina dreams she’s a bride walking down the aisle) to make the pacing more brisk. The best way to clear up your lungs with laughter is by watching this highly entertaining movie that is really worth the price of admission.

[luciam124]

Sharon Cuneta in Crying Ladies

Congratulations to Sharonians for winning the Best Picture award.

with regards to sharon's acting.. well, bago ang pinakita niya para sa kanyang mga followers pero hinde ko siya "naramdaman". maraming scenes na hinde siya ganon ka-effective or hinde ka makikisimpatiya sa kanya dahil unang-una si "Sharon" ang makikita mo sa pelikula at hinde yung character niya.

Hilda Koronel was very impressive. Walang kupas talaga.

Deserving na manalo si Mark Meily for Best Director dahil kung hinde naging maayos ang pagkakadirehe niya lalong magsa-suffer si Sharon Cuneta. Hinde kayang dalhin ni Sharon ang buong pelikula (Crying Ladies), kumpara sa performance ni Maricel Soriano sa Filipinas na talagang masasabi kong nagdala sa Filipinas.

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by luciam124
Sharon Cuneta in Crying Ladies

Congratulations to Sharonians for winning the Best Picture award.

with regards to sharon's acting.. well, bago ang pinakita niya para sa kanyang mga followers pero hinde ko siya "naramdaman". maraming scenes na hinde siya ganon ka-effective or hinde ka makikisimpatiya sa kanya dahil unang-una si "Sharon" ang makikita mo sa pelikula at hinde yung character niya.

Hilda Koronel was very impressive. Walang kupas talaga.

Deserving na manalo si Mark Meily for Best Director dahil kung hinde naging maayos ang pagkakadirehe niya lalong magsa-suffer si Sharon Cuneta. Hinde kayang dalhin ni Sharon ang buong pelikula (Crying Ladies), kumpara sa performance ni Maricel Soriano sa Filipinas na talagang masasabi kong nagdala sa Filipinas.

kakatawa tong darling kong si LUCIAM.
SHARONIANS pala ang nanalo ng best picture award, hindi yung CRYING LADIES ng UNITEL..:glee:

At saka walang dapat na dalhin ang isang artista kung talagang maganda ang pelikula.

Pero kung talagang pangit ang pelikula gaya ng FLIPINAS, iyon talagang dapat dalhin ng artista. bwahahahahahhhaaa:glee:

[AmazingRace]

Originally posted by alias_bristow
CONGRATS sa UNITEL for winning the BEST PICTURE AWARD

talagang dekalidad na pelikula. Rated 'A' ng Cinema Evaluation Board.

Tama si Itlogmo, ito yata ang first ever COMEDY FILM na nanalong best picture.....talagang dapat panoorin



If you go as far back as 1979 Metro Manila Filmfest, the Best Picture that year was a comedy with Nora - Boyet - Rudy Fernandez - Alma Moreno called KASAL-KASALAN, BAHAY-BAHAYAN.

Congrats to all the winners especially to Maricel Soriano and Hilda Koronel. After her Best Actress for Insiang in 1976, pang ilan na ito kay Hilda?

[CellSeeker]

I personally think Crying Ladies was a better movie than Filipinas although I also think Maricel is more deserving to win that Best Actress award than Sharon. Sharon is a good actress and so is Maricel so it depends na sa role na gaganapan nila.

[luciam124]

@TJ&ME

kahit anong gawin mo bakla, hinde ka kasing-ganda ko. :rotfl: :rotfl: natatawa ako sa iyo dahil ipinapakita mo rito na "BAO" lang ang laman ng ulo mo. :rotfl:

kung gusto ko palang "batiin" ang Sharonians dahil sila ang nakikita kong nagpapakahirap mag-promote ng movie ni Sharongga at hinde ang Unitel ay poproblemahin ko pa? :lol:

dahlin, kaya nga may tinatawag na artista eh. kung walang artista, wala ring pelikula. may mga artistang kahit hinde mahusay ang pagkakagawa ng pelikula ay nadadala nito ang kabuuan ng movie dahil sa napakahusay na pagganap.

pangit ang FILIPINAS? bakit napanood mo ba? wala kang sariling pag-iisip di ba kaya paano mo nasabing pangit ang isang pelikulang hinde mo naman napapanood? aber?

:rotfl: :rotfl:

[starczamora]

Originally posted by bee_jolly
di ko rin alam kung bakit, pero may ganitong award!

gender-sensitive award: homecoming

that was in accordance to the recent pro-gay law na pumasa.

[starczamora]

Originally posted by b0otiful_mizzd
BEST ACTRESS: Ms. Dina Bonnevie - Bridal Shower

actually, dina doesn't expect to win an award naman eh.

sabi nga niya, "has an award been given to an actor or actress in a comedic role?" she's refereing to the local scene huh, not hollywood.

[luciam124]

talagang hinde mananalo si Dina Bonnevie dahil kay Cherrie Pie Picache pa lang talo na siya sa Bridal Shower. :lol:

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by luciam124
@TJ&ME

kahit anong gawin mo bakla, hinde ka kasing-ganda ko. :rotfl: :rotfl: natatawa ako sa iyo dahil ipinapakita mo rito na "BAO" lang ang laman ng ulo mo. :rotfl:

kung gusto ko palang "batiin" ang Sharonians dahil sila ang nakikita kong nagpapakahirap mag-promote ng movie ni Sharongga at hinde ang Unitel ay poproblemahin ko pa? :lol:

dahlin, kaya nga may tinatawag na artista eh. kung walang artista, wala ring pelikula. may mga artistang kahit hinde mahusay ang pagkakagawa ng pelikula ay nadadala nito ang kabuuan ng movie dahil sa napakahusay na pagganap.

pangit ang FILIPINAS? bakit napanood mo ba? wala kang sariling pag-iisip di ba kaya paano mo nasabing pangit ang isang pelikulang hinde mo naman napapanood? aber?

Darling, napanood ko ang movie na gusto and talagang pangit.
Kaya kailangang dalhin ni Marya.

:rotfl: :rotfl:

Darling(brainless ka pa rin), napanood ko ang movie na gusto and talagang pangit sya. Sayang lang ang oras at pera ng manonood.
Kaya kailangang dalhin ni Marya.

:glee:

[starczamora]

Originally posted by nailbiter
Was there no award for costumes?

sa MMFF Awards Night, it's under Production Design. although sa ibang awards may hiwalay na award for that.

[luciam124]

@TJ&ME a.k.a JENNY888

:rotfl: :rotfl: u tell that to the marines... hoy green blood, hinde ako ang tipo na puedeng lokohin - based sa mga nabasa kong mga post mo, alam ko na nasa abroad ka. :rotfl:

kung ako sa iyo umuwi ka muna sa FILIPINAS ng gumanda ka. :rotfl: :rotfl:

[pinoymovies]

Originally posted by renz
panoorin niyo ang Filipinas para malaman niyo kumbakit nilampaso ni Marya ang mga kalaban sa pagka best actress. hehehhe.

seriously, it's good that they gave the award to her dahil she deserved this noon pa. Three times na sana sa MMFF.

during her era, Nora Aunor was the festival Queen, now it's Marya. two greatest actresses of all times. here's wishing good luck to nora aunor on her upcoming movie(s). and a movie together is A MUST!

Thanks renz. May 7 Best Actress awards si Ate Guy from the Filmfest. Although this is only Marya's 2nd filmfest Best Actress, at least almost every year may entry siya tulad noon ni Ate Guy. So Festival Queen na rin si Marya para sa akin. Congratulations!

Next year na ang NAGLALAYAG ni Ate Guy. Abangan!!

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by luciam124
@TJ&ME a.k.a JENNY888

:rotfl: :rotfl: u tell that to the marines... hoy green blood, hinde ako ang tipo na puedeng lokohin - based sa mga nabasa kong mga post mo, alam ko na nasa abroad ka. :rotfl:

kung ako sa iyo umuwi ka muna sa FILIPINAS ng gumanda ka. :rotfl: :rotfl:

Darling Luciam, pwede kitang idate ngayon dahil nandito ko sa PINAS. ;)

[starczamora]

Originally posted by renz
panoorin niyo ang Filipinas para malaman niyo kumbakit nilampaso ni Marya ang mga kalaban sa pagka best actress. hehehhe.

seriously, it's good that they gave the award to her dahil she deserved this noon pa. Three times na sana sa MMFF.

during her era, Nora Aunor was the festival Queen, now it's Marya. two greatest actresses of all times. here's wishing good luck to nora aunor on her upcoming movie(s). and a movie together is A MUST!

Actually, Maricel's award is long overdue. Dapat last year pa siya nanalo for Mano Po.

The jurors, probably realizing from their mistake, gave the award this year to Maricel.

I'm not saying that she didn't deserve it, but IMO sharon made a better performance. sharon portrayed a role never done in her entire career, and she did it without much OA (which is the sickness of most actors here).

Besides, hindi ba kayo natuwa sa mga panggagantso niya?

[starczamora]

Originally posted by jj9527
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Pure leasure

the title is Pure Pleasure, although isang P lang yung ginamit for the layout. check mo.

[starczamora]

Originally posted by luciam124
deserving na manalo si Mark Meily for Best Director dahil kung hinde naging maayos ang pagkakadirehe niya lalong magsa-suffer si Sharon Cuneta. Hinde kayang dalhin ni Sharon ang buong pelikula (Crying Ladies), kumpara sa performance ni Maricel Soriano sa [b]Filipinas na talagang masasabi kong nagdala sa Filipinas.

Ang pelikula ay hindi parang basketball team na kayang mag-rely sa isang shooter lang. it's teamwork.

sinadya talagang hindi iangat si sharon kasi yun ang dikta ng pelikula.

[sailor]

congrats MARIA for a well-deserved award.. in fairness with Shawie, she's good in her movie but doesnt she looks glamorous for her role.. i just dont find it believable that she's s a struggling mom in that movie but i do laugh a lot on her funny lines... again congrats to MARIA, same with CRYING LADIES and the rest of the winners of this year's filmfest

[starczamora]

Originally posted by luciam124
talagang hinde mananalo si Dina Bonnevie dahil kay Cherrie Pie Picache pa lang talo na siya sa Bridal Shower. :lol:

the post was about yung "bitterness" reaction ni Dina nun nanalo si Marya. Sana binasa mo di ba?

[luciam124]

granted that Sharon portrayed a role that she never done in her entire career - it doesn't necessarily follow that she made it with aplomb.

yun din kasi ang isang problema sa sistema ng pelikulang pilipino, kapag nakita nilang "bago" sa paningin or ngayon lang ginampanan ng artista ang isang role - binibigyan na nila ng sobrang atensiyon kahit hinde deserving. Sharon was good in Crying Ladies but that's all.... walang "laman" eh. and she was even eclipsed by Hilda Koronel.

natutuwa ako dahil nagsisimula ng kumawala si Sharon sa mga pacutie-cutie roles and acting niya pero IBIGAY NATIN ANG AWARD SA KUNG KANINO ANG MAS KARAPAT-DAPAT and that is MARICEL SORIANO (Filipinas). Maricel's performance in Filipinas was SUPERLATIVE.... you could really feel her pain...at talagang pumasok siya sa character ni Yolanda Filipinas...

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by luciam124
granted that Sharon portrayed a role that she never done in her entire career - it doesn't necessarily follow that she made it with aplomb.

yun din kasi ang isang problema sa sistema ng pelikulang pilipino, kapag nakita nilang "bago" sa paningin or ngayon lang ginampanan ng artista ang isang role - binibigyan na nila ng sobrang atensiyon kahit hinde deserving. Sharon was good in Crying Ladies but that's all.... walang "laman" eh. and she was even eclipsed by Hilda Koronel.

natutuwa ako dahil nagsisimula ng kumawala si Sharon sa mga pacutie-cutie roles and acting niya pero IBIGAY NATIN ANG AWARD SA KUNG KANINO ANG MAS KARAPAT-DAPAT and that is MARICEL SORIANO (Filipinas). Maricel's performance in Filipinas was SUPERLATIVE.... you could really feel her pain...at talagang pumasok siya sa character ni Yolanda Filipinas...

o BAKIT BIGLANG DEFENSIVE KA. i-DEDATE NA NGA KITA EH... Kahit talagang pangit ang movie mo.:rolleyes:

[SunnySideUp]

Originally posted by starczamora
Actually, Maricel's award is long overdue. Dapat last year pa siya nanalo for Mano Po.

The jurors, probably realizing from their mistake, gave the award this year to Maricel.

I'm not saying that she didn't deserve it, but IMO sharon made a better performance. sharon portrayed a role never done in her entire career, and she did it without much OA (which is the sickness of most actors here).

Besides, hindi ba kayo natuwa sa mga panggagantso niya?
magaling si ate sharon pero nasapawan ang performance niya with the movie itself. Iyong technical merit ng pelikula mismo ang nakakatawag pansin kaya it was not surprising it bagged the Best Picture award.;)

[luciam124]

originally posted by starczamora
the post was about yung "bitterness" reaction ni Dina nun nanalo si Marya. Sana binasa mo di ba?

sana binasa mo rin na opinion ko na mas mahusay si Cherry Pie kesa kay Dina Bonnevie. :)

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by SunnySideUp
magaling si ate sharon pero nasapawan ang performance niya with the movie itself. Iyong technical merit ng pelikula mismo ang nakakatawag pansin kaya it was not surprising it bagged the Best Picture award.;)

SunnysideUp, walang nakuhang technical award ang CRYING LADIES ni isa. Ika nga ni TONY GLORIA"di ba pag best picture dapat best in sound, cinematography, etc..."
:rolleyes:

Pero talagang magaling ang CRYING LADIES

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by luciam124
sana binasa mo rin na opinion ko na mas mahusay si Cherry Pie kesa kay Dina Bonnevie. :)

Darling luciam kailan mo pinanood ang Bridal Shower???:rolleyes:

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by SunnySideUp
magaling si ate sharon pero nasapawan ang performance niya with the movie itself. Iyong technical merit ng pelikula mismo ang nakakatawag pansin kaya it was not surprising it bagged the Best Picture award.;)

SunnysideUp, bumabalimbing ka na ha? dati sabi mo FLIPINAS ang bet mo for best picture

[dickies69]

Mejo mababaw ang story ng Filipinas. Cute tsaka refreshing yung story ng crying ladies. ;) Deserving sya na best picture.

Pero honestly, magaling talaga si Maricel, Bagay sa kanya yung role. Sharon was also good, di ko inakalang kaya nga pala yung ganun pero at least she is now maturing as an actress. ;) Pero magaling din talaga siya, should have been a tie between Sharon, Maricel and Lorna Tolentino, that's what I think. ;)

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by dickies69
Mejo mababaw ang story ng Filipinas. Cute tsaka refreshing yung story ng crying ladies. ;) Deserving sya na best picture.

Pero honestly, magaling talaga si Maricel, Bagay sa kanya yung role. Sharon was also good, di ko inakalang kaya nga pala yung ganun pero at least she is now maturing as an actress. ;) Pero magaling din talaga siya, should have been a tie between Sharon, Maricel and Lorna Tolentino, that's what I think. ;)

Maganda talaga ang CRYING LADIES at MANO PO 2

and pangit ang FLIPINAS, mas dapat pa ngang maging 3rd best picture yung BRIDAL SHOWER eh.

IKA nga ni Ate VI " IYAN ANG TOTOO, Perfecttttttttttttt" :munch:

[luciam124]

as if naman itong si TJ&ME ay nasa FILIPINAS at napanood niya ang mga entries. :rotfl: :rotfl: magtigil ka green blood, buko na ang baho mo rito.

:lol:

[dickies69]

Originally posted by TJ&ME
Maganda talaga ang CRYING LADIES at MANO PO 2

and pangit ang FLIPINAS, mas dapat pa ngang maging 3rd best picture yung BRIDAL SHOWER eh.

IKA nga ni Ate VI " IYAN ANG TOTOO, Perfecttttttttttttt" :munch:

Mukhang maganda nga yung Mano Po 2..

Filipinas kasi maganda yung trailer pero di naman talaga ganung kaganda yung pelikula. ;) Yun e, opinion ko lang naman.

[luciam124]

@dickies69

mukhang "kagagawa" mo lang ng "username" mo. :)

anong basis mo kung bakit mo nasabing hinde maganda ang FILIPINAS. nabanggit mo kasi na "mababaw" ang story ng movie. how old are you? ....

[SunnySideUp]

Originally posted by TJ&ME
SunnysideUp, bumabalimbing ka na ha? dati sabi mo FLIPINAS ang bet mo for best picture
really, I hope you could provide me the link.;) what I can remember was that I stated: "I could bet my money on Maricel (to win the Best Actress Award) check this link page 6:http://207.44.234.62/~admin1/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=4103851#post4103851 ".;) It's absurd to bet for best picture without seeing the movie first, so I don't do this. Unlike sa best actress, kahit one scene palang you could already gauge who gave the best performance.:yum:

anyways, nobody can change the outcome already, so accept na lang natin. well-distributed naman ang awards eh.:)

[pollywog]

Nung makita ko yung commercial ng Filipinas na "ang hindi maiyak, bato" tawa ako ng tawa!!!

[renz]

tapos naiyak ka? heheh.

[capuy]

Congratulations to all the winners especially to Ms. Maricel Soriano. it was a wonderful performance from maricel and she deserved it 100%.

Here's wishing for a GRANDSLAM. *okay*

[bubbles03]

CONGRATULATIONS sa lahat ng winners! especially sa MANO PO 2! :handsdown:

[chino]

karma to joel lamangan!

you can fool all the pipol some of the time; and
you can fool some pipol all the time; but
you CANNOT fool all the pipol all the time!

so you made maricel win as best actress :rolleyes:
but you did the same to ara mina last year
who was lionized for a few days and was never heard again. :lol:

[renz]

you havent heard of ara mina after she won the best actress in mmff 2002? on the news si ara dahil kay aiko, right? heheh.

tapos may cory quirino movie siya. tapos, nanalo siyang best actress sa mff 2003, right? tapos may pelikula siya and one of the topgrossers ngayon. so you havent heard of her?

chino, there's something wrong with your premise. nyahahah! try better next time.

[ohsome]

A lush, sensous triumph for MARICEL SORIANO (Filipinas)!! :up:

Maricel Soriano shows real brilliance in style; a powerful and haunting performance.

Congratulations!!!

[chino]

Originally posted by renz
you havent heard of ara mina after she won the best actress in mmff 2002? on the news si ara dahil kay aiko, right? heheh.

tapos may cory quirino movie siya. tapos, nanalo siyang best actress sa mff 2003, right? tapos may pelikula siya and one of the topgrossers ngayon. so you havent heard of her?

chino, there's something wrong with your premise. nyahahah! try better next time.

i was referring to ara mina's "victory" as best actress for mano po.
not a single award-giving body validated her victory by giving her another award.
bokya siya kahit sa famas! 'yung sa MFF ibang movie 'yun. :p

[bluechips]

I'm happy bout the winners (having seen most of the entries)...although I thought Sharon deserved the Best Actress better, I had a feeling the winner would come from a DRAMA movie because mahirap naman talaga manalo ang comedy sa Philippines. Among the "drama" actresses, Maricel did alright though.

Crying Ladies for BEST PICTURE...now that's well deserved indeed.

Disappointed ako sobra sa Filipinas...maybe because ang taas ng expectations ko...yung trailer kasi...i expected a combo of Tanging Yaman + Dekada...pero IMO, kulang sa thug to the heart yung Movie....it was refreshing to see Dawn again, though

[Renthead]

Mark Meiley's 'Crying Ladies' is a joy to watch because of these factors: (1) the script is humorous; (2) the director understands his medium, which is film; and (3) the film showcases an outstanding ensemble acting in the tradition of P.T. Anderson's award-winning film 'Magnolia.' The film has a narrative focus which is absent in competing film 'Mano Po 2.' The film offers editing, narrative, and visual surprises, which are unfortunately lacking in Gil Portes' 'Homecoming.' Although much has to be improved on its sound quality, and musical scoring, 'Crying Ladies' brings a spark of hope to our local film industry. And hopefully the success reaped by first-time full-length feature film director for 'Crying Ladies', Mark Meily, will pave the way for other independent filmmakers to break into the mainstream. Fresh, less melodramatic materials have to surface to revive interest in our local films. Megastar Sharon Cuneta delivers a fair portrayal of her character 'Stella.' She may be cheesy from time to time, but her character's emotional travails and determination make her performance very much in touch with reality. Hilda Koronel's portrayal of a former 'artista' during 'Darna and the Giants' era is very funny - unpredictably very much the opposite of her legendary portrayal of Ligaya in Lino Brocka's 'Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag.' Angel Aquino's character is a stereotype, but complements with Cuneta and Koronel. Eric Quizon represents the new generation of 'tsinoys,' which is very crucial in setting the tone of the story's time and place. Congratulations to Unitel Pictures and the production team of 'Crying Ladies.' You guys really know what has been wrong with commercialism/politics of filmmaking and brave enough to break lose from its bondage. (but do you think it would be better that you completely do away with those Alaska and McDonalds' placements?)

[p_atp]

Originally posted by bluechips

Disappointed ako sobra sa Filipinas...maybe because ang taas ng expectations ko...yung trailer kasi...i expected a combo of Tanging Yaman + Dekada...pero IMO, kulang sa thug to the heart yung Movie....it was refreshing to see Dawn again, though

maybe because combo nga ng Tanging Yaman at Dekada '70 ang Filipinas... kaya nde ganun kaganda. parang hodge-podge lang ng iba-ibang plot ng mga previous films. plus, ang mga pagkakuha ng eksena ay very similar sa tanging yaman... mas maganda pa nga yung family confrontation scene sa tanging yaman.

ganda ni dawn!

[jonruiz]

Originally posted by bluechips
I'm happy bout the winners (having seen most of the entries)...although I thought Sharon deserved the Best Actress better, I had a feeling the winner would come from a DRAMA movie because mahirap naman talaga manalo ang comedy sa Philippines. Among the "drama" actresses, Maricel did alright though.

Crying Ladies for BEST PICTURE...now that's well deserved indeed.

Disappointed ako sobra sa Filipinas...maybe because ang taas ng expectations ko...yung trailer kasi...i expected a combo of Tanging Yaman + Dekada...pero IMO, kulang sa thug to the heart yung Movie....it was refreshing to see Dawn again, though

Let's just respect the decision of the jurors. And Maricel Soriano is very much deserving of the award.

[shucks]

Originally posted by luciam124
granted that Sharon portrayed a role that she never done in her entire career - it doesn't necessarily follow that she made it with aplomb.

yun din kasi ang isang problema sa sistema ng pelikulang pilipino, kapag nakita nilang "bago" sa paningin or ngayon lang ginampanan ng artista ang isang role - binibigyan na nila ng sobrang atensiyon kahit hinde deserving. Sharon was good in Crying Ladies but that's all.... walang "laman" eh. and she was even eclipsed by Hilda Koronel.

natutuwa ako dahil nagsisimula ng kumawala si Sharon sa mga pacutie-cutie roles and acting niya pero IBIGAY NATIN ANG AWARD SA KUNG KANINO ANG MAS KARAPAT-DAPAT and that is MARICEL SORIANO (Filipinas). Maricel's performance in Filipinas was SUPERLATIVE.... you could really feel her pain...at talagang pumasok siya sa character ni Yolanda Filipinas...
Agree...Sharon's role was a complete deviation from the usual but that doesn't mean she did it with much aplomb....She could have done better, or somebody else could have done it better than her....I was seeing Sharon herself and not so much the character she was portraying....And she was still visibly glamorized for the role compared to her costars....Hilda, though, was so apt for the role, she was effortless at being so good....

[nychotrod]

maricel soriano deserved her award. galing talaga. although ok din sana kung si zsazsa padilla ang nakakuha ng best actress kasi magaling din siya sa mano po 2.

i really think the best actor award should have gone to christopher de leon for his role in mano po 2. eric quizon is good in crying ladies but christopher de leon is much much better in mano po 2. even the range of his acting/role is much wider in scope than that of mr. quizon. baka ka ko na politka siya dahil nag-walk out siya last year.

was elizabeth oropesa nominated for best supporting actress? kung ganun, dapat ata sa kanya napunta ang award. grabe siya sa morgue scene ng homecoming. but then, di ako sure kung saan siya na nominate.

as far as technical awards go, congrats to the rodell cruz and j.a. tadena for winning the best prod. design and best cinematography respectively. galing talaga ng work nila for mano po 2.

i believe that mano po2 should have won the best musical score also. i saw malikmata. the music was a turn off. honestly, it was trying too hard to sound like the soundtrack of "the ring". the use of a "tribal" chant was good. but some music cues were placed in the wrong scenes. pati yung solo piano cues paulit-ulit, kinsan mali pa ang pagkakalagay. if you've seen mano po 2, alam mong pinag-isipan ng mabuti ang pagkakalagay ng music down to the last orchestral instrument. may mahahabang scenes na walang nagsasalita...music lang ang nagpapatakbo ng drama! minsan nga parang foreign film pa ang dating ng score. really beautiful and effective musical scoring. i watched the premiere of mano po 2, and heard joel lamangan and armida siguion-reyna congratulate the musical director of mano po 2. ang ganda-ganda daw ng gawa niya. this coming from the director and one of the leads of a "rival" film na "filipinas" ha.

minsan talga, di mo alam kung anong klase ng "ganda" ang gusto ng jurors. probably sa kagustuhan nilang mahahati-hati ang awards (para maiwasan ang injtrigues brought about by mano po 1's award sweeping last year) nagi na silang subjective at hindi objective sa pag decide. tipong, "tutal na nanalo naman na yang mga yan... sa iba na lang ibigay ngayon"..."ibigay na lang natin ang award sa mga baguhan para maengganyo silang mag trabaho pa uli"..."uy nakakatuwa itong movie at kakaiba...gusto ko siyang manalo."

paano nga kaya sila nag judge? point system kaya?

[Vlestat]

Well maricel deserves the award ...being the central character in Filipinas she managed to transform her character to something really felt by the viewers. I can say that she did it with justice. I love the scene whe she tried to say " Walang Bagong Taonnn!!!" and confronts everyone ... she is really good and I dont think anyone can deliver that lines that well except her. From a very meek and weak person to a a very angry woman in pain... thats something really challenging.

I watched sharon also ... I like the movie as a whole ...love the crying scenes in the wake ... I love the way sharon pays her fare in the jeepney scenes...and I like her most in trying to make people laugh and cry thru her weakness as a mother. But I guess the character is not as strong as with Maria in Filipinas. Sharon delivered well but theres something lacking specially in her moments alone crying ... Its sharon style ... nothing really changed from her previous movies... i remember madrasta ...she made it there because you can see how sharon transformed to a very matured actress crying without being hysterical...or overdoing the scene. I guess it will depend on the director's taste on how she can manage sharon as an actress. Comedy wise ...still there are moments that delivery is not that strong considering the script is so good. Maybe the timing is the problem... but overall she is good... I can say that she chose the right movie for her. I love Darna and the Giants ... its really so funny!

Filipinas is something too complicated ...too many plots ... the director wants it to be a collage of all the events in the Philippines ...all the issues about our society ... very lino broca but the problem is it became weak. WHY??? too many issues and very limited time lolzzz... the family itself is an issue already ...and it made the movie more complicated sometimes dragging coz you are just waiting for the next scene which connect the central plot of the movie which is the family itself... the real saving grace in this movie is the casting ... they are well acted and really good... though some characters should be eliminated ...coz it can make the movie less complicated. Well Sarah Geronimo is also good in this movie .

Mano PO ... the script is good ...I love the character of Zsazsa lolz.... She is so good that you will find her character so amusing... sorry for Dina ...she should accepted that role coz its even better than Lorna's role hehehehe. I like the character of Juday too ... and I like Christopher de Leon here ...he managed to take the role very well. He is not over acting hehehe. Stlll there are some problems with editing I guess and how the story should be presented ... the flashbacks are sometimes not so strong to make a mark in each scene ... Sometimes you just wish that the story was narrated before making the flashback ...hehehehhe. anyhow the shots are really good too. But there are times the movie is dragging too ... I also think that the movies has too many characters ...

havent watched Malikmata.... is it good?

[jj9527]

Business lessons from ‘Mano Po 2,’ ‘Filipinas’ and ‘Bridal Shower’

By Wilson Lee Flores
The Philippine STAR 12/29/2003

Can the Philippine movie industry (with luminaries such as Dolphy, FPJ, Erap, Mother Lily and Sharon Cuneta) someday help spark a cultural revolution that would set the whole Philippine archipelago afire with economic, social, cultural and moral reforms instead of just being the breeding ground for senators, mayors or political leaders? What should be the role of the industry in building a better economic future for the Philippines? When will the government undertake measures to save the industry from financial ruin and obsolescence – such as cutting down the grossly exorbitant taxes and by providing financial aid for high-quality film projects that could be exported worldwide?

There is indeed no business like show business, especially its huge untapped potential for propagating ideas and values that could subvert the semi-feudal socio-economic/political and Spanish-influenced Philippine society. Our movie industry is still alive and kicking, despite our moribund economy, as well as the non-stop exploitation by politicians who use showbiz for electoral campaigns but milk local films via high taxes. The industry is still alive, despite director Jose Javier Reyes’ pronouncement in the Asian Wall Street Journal that the Philippine movie industry is a "cancer patient."

Three entries for the 2003 Metro Manila Film Festival premiered recently (Mano Po 2: My Home, Filipinas and Bridal Shower). Here are our reviews of these films using a business and economic point of view. ‘Mano Po 2’ – A Rags-To-Riches Saga, Life Insurance And Mismanagement Of Three Wives
Mano Po 2: My Home is not yet the definitive film on Chinese life in the Philippines because it was told not from a Chinese point of view, but it succeeds as a well-crafted and entertaining soap opera on a grand scale. Leading the cast is Christopher de Leon who masterfully plays the poor Chinese immigrant Antonio Chan. He overcomes poverty to become a taipan with assets worth P800 million pesos. In the beginning, Antonio and his wife move into a big house in Binondo, with his wife wondering if they could afford it. Antonio replies that access to capital would not be difficult. Then the camera zooms into a ‘20s-era China Bank building in Binondo, showing Antonio applying for a loan at China Bank in order to start a new business. Years later, the wealthy taipan wisely takes out a P200 million life insurance policy from First Guarantee Life Assurance Co. Inc. (First Life) with his wife Sol (Susan Roces) and eldest son Lean (Cogie Domingo) as beneficiaries.

First Life president Peter G. Coyiuto reportedly paid several million pesos to add this portion to the script, hoping to help propagate the gospel of life insurance as a means of saving and obtaining financial help. A graduate of Wharton Business School and La Salle, Coyiuto laments that the Philippines has one of Asia’s lowest national savings rates, which includes very low life insurance coverage nationwide. He adds that a high national savings rate is required to build up domestic capital needed to fund Philippine economic development.

Since this is a two-hour movie focusing on the immigrant taipan’s three squabbling wives, it is unfortunate that not much is shown about his early years of blood, sweat and toil.

Did Antonio encounter failures similar to the two bankruptcies of the young Lucio Tan? Did Antonio experience the same searing tragedy as John Gokongwei Jr. whose father died young and whose family home in Cebu was foreclosed by creditors? Did Antonio suffer experiences similar to the young Gokongwei’s rejection by a top Chinese-owned bank in his first loan application, but only to be later accommodated by China Bank under Dee K. Chiong and Albino SyCip? Did Antonio endure the same hardships as Henry Sy, whose father became bankrupt due to the burning of a sari-sari store and the looting of another store in Quiapo during World War II?

Antonio is good in business but causes the near-collapse of his clan because he fails on three things: in managing his three wives, in managing his kids, and in preparing for succession in case of his death. His only wise decision is to protect his estate and heirs by purchasing a P200 million policy from First Life.

Sol, Antonio’s first wife, is a Filipina played exceedingly well by Susan Roces and Kris Aquino (as the young Sol). Equally great performances from Zsa Zsa Padilla as the long-suffering second wife Lu Shui (a Chinese), and Lorna Tolentino as the mistress (a Chinese-Filipina mestiza), a savvy businesswoman named Belinda. The scheming and ambitious Belinda is not depicted as the traditional all-evil villain, for she helps her late husband attain success. Rather, she is portrayed as someone fighting for her rights.

Other stars in the cast are: Judy Ann Santos (the sister who disrupts the harmony by giving her corporate shares to her martyr mother, the first wife); Carmina Villarroel who is married to Jay Manalo (a modern-day westernized Chinoy, a spoiled brat who plays golf and silently schemes to steal the family business without honest hard work); Cogie Domingo (the distraught eldest son who grew up fatherless); Richard Gutierrez (the whining spoiled brat son of Belinda who lacks the character of his immigrant Chinese dad); Alessandra de Rossi (another disobedient brat); Karylle (the filial daughter), plus Zoren Legaspi, Chynna Ortaleza and Angel Locsin.

Mano Po 2: My Home is a well-made film epic by director Eric Matti, based on the screenplay of award-winning writer Roy Iglesias with story contributed by executive producer Mother Lily Monteverde, who reveals that the tale of the taipan with three wives was loosely based on the life of her late father-in-law, the patriarch of the prominent Dy-Monteverde Chinese business clan. However, she refuses to reveal which parts of the movie are based on fact and which are pure fiction. ‘Bridal Shower’, Three Crying Ladies, A Car Salesman, & A Failed Insurance Agent
One of the surprises of the 2003 Metro Manila Filmfest is the well-crafted, witty and hilarious sex comedy Bridal Shower produced by Asian Institute of Management (AIM) graduate Robbie Tan, directed by Jeffrey Jeturian and scripted by advertising man Cris Martinez, under the supervision of award-winning writer Armando "Bing" Lao.

It tells the wacky love and sex lives of three female friends working for an advertising agency: the sensuous Dina Bonnevie as an aggressive and wild executive; Cherrie Pie Picache as an overweight, kind-hearted and lovelorn woman; and the voluptuous bold starlet Francine Prieto as the woman who confuses lust with love.

Francine’s character is torn between her true love for Douglas Robinson, the financially struggling jologs painter, and her other suitor Juancho Valentino, a rich mama’s boy with fancy cars. When Francine gets pregnant and is unsure who between her two lovers is the dad, her gold-digger mom played by Gina Pareño nags her to choose the Ayala Alabang kid. Francine ends up as a young matron who wastes her idle time on shopping and gossiping. An encounter between the lower middle-class social-climbing Chabacano-speaking mother (Gina Pareño) conversing in pidgin Spanish with the haughty Spanish-mestiza cacique mother of the groom (Boots Anson Roa) is one of the film’s funniest moments.

Dina Bonnevie’s character is a highly paid, fast-rising and assertive executive hoping to marry her boyfriend Christian Vasquez, an unsuccessful car salesman. Dina not only pays for Christian’s annulment from his wife, she even pays for the P50,000 bribe to hasten the process. When the boyfriend can’t commit to marriage and asks for a cool-off, Dina throws away her successful career and corporate promotion by attempting suicide but ends up accidentally killing her beloved dog!

This widespread phenomenon of failed sales people in Philippine society is again shown in Cherrie Pie Picache’s young macho dancer boyfriend played by Alfred Vargas, whom she urges to switch professions by going into life insurance.

Christian and Alfred are bumbling failures in selling cars and life insurance, but are great lovers – still bad for the Philippine economy! Both of them should never give up and should seek non-stop sales training in order to stop their financial dependence on their girlfriends! Many local salespeople do not view their work as a great profession, do not develop the character to withstand the rigors of sales as well as the constant rejections, and often fail in after-sales customer service.

The movie reflects the tragedy of many families, with enterprising Filipinas subsidizing idle or unsuccessful guys. Dina spends for the needs of Christian while Cherrie Pie goes to an Indian loan shark for the P50,000 cash her boyfriend Alfred desperately needs to borrow! Women should not tolerate their boyfriends becoming spoiled bums! Lack Of Responsible Parenthood In Pinoy Film Families
In Cherrie Pie’s conversation with her macho dancer boyfriend, the man recounts the sob story of financially supporting eight siblings in the province! May this story remind the public that responsible parenthood is one important way to prevent poverty. If you cannot support kids, have the social conscience to refrain from giving birth to so many kids, who will just end up unschooled, malnourished and jobless youths detrimental to national economic and social progress!

In the recent blockbuster movie Tanging Ina, the mother (played by Ai Ai de las Alas) is perennially struggling to support her 12 kids! In Mano Po 2, the taipan has six kids from three women, but this is a small number compared to the macho dancer’s eight siblings in Bridal Shower, Ai Ai’s 12 kids, and Armida Siguion Reyna’s seven kids in Filipinas.

Will these movies help impart the fact that responsible parenthood is ideal not only for the mother’s physical health but also crucial for a family’s economic well-being and financial security? When will our political leaders raise the issue of responsible parenthood into a national priority policy for economic progress and social justice? Are the Catholic bishops, who oppose contraceptives, doing their share to promote responsible parenthood through the rhythm method and proper health education using their vast network of parishes in poor communities nationwide? Leftist Unions, Rotten Onions, P2.6 Trillion In Stinking Corruption
In the socially relevant and politically courageous film Filipinas directed by award-winning Joel Lamangan and scripted by Roy Iglesias, the matriarch of the family surnamed Filipinas is Armida Siguion-Reyna. She worked as an educator but failed to practice responsible parenthood. The surviving six of her seven children is led by eldest child Maricel Soriano, a home economics graduate who sacrifices her own personal happiness to care for her aging mother, helping the family financially by cooking and selling food items. Maricel often gives money or loans to the wife of her activist younger brother played by Victor Neri, who spends more time staging labor strikes to cripple industries or joining political rallies than feeding his own family!

We disagree with the common depiction of radical labor union leaders in Filipino movies as all-good saints or heroes, such as in the award-winning box-office flop Sister Stella L. Victor Neri is convincing as the leftist labor union leader who eventually goes underground after the government accuses him of blowing up a factory. He is a misguided idealist and a menace to Philippine free enterprise, but he is an honest labor leader (unlike some of his peers here and even in America who receive huge bribes). When will a major Filipino film present the other side of the truth – how the radical Left impoverishes the country by scaring away domestic and foreign investments from our economy by mixing legitimate labor issues with illogical socialist political sloganeering?

Ironically, ideologically socialist and leftist governments in China and Vietnam do not allow strikes by radical labor unions, leveraging their decisive no-strike labor policy as one of the irresistible attractions for the massive inflow of foreign investments into their booming economies.

Armida’s second child Richard Gomez is her favorite. He fails financially after losing his white-collar computer job in California and is forced to return home because he can’t afford to raise his kids in America. How many untold tales of overseas Filipinos becoming failures or endlessly struggling in the fabled land of milk and honey, but who continue to send hard-earned dollars to feed their unemployed relatives in our republic who think their balikbayan relatives are mining gold?

Third child Dawn Zulueta is a caregiver working in Israel who survives a terrorist bombing which kills her friend. The government refuses to aid her friend’s family because a bureaucrat says she is unlisted as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) mainly due to her illegal labor recruiter. Dawn’s husband, played by Richard Quan, dreams of migrating to the US and is a jobless bum, while their daughter grows up a stranger to her OFW mom. In the end, Dawn stays home to care for her comatose mom Armida, and her once bum husband finally changes heart and finds work as an OFW in Libya.

May this aspect of Filipinas shame our many corrupt and inept political leaders, for their failure to solve the massive problem of about 12 million people jobless or underemployed today, which is the reason why 2,700 Filipinos leave our republic daily to work overseas, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. The politicians even have the nerve to hide the unemployment failure, by claiming to be the champions of OFWs!

Fourth child Aiko Melendez is a self-centered entrepreneur. She weds an Indian businessman played by Raymond Bagatsing. Aiko can’t stop the steady decline of the Filipinas family’s onion business, due to the government’s failure to stop the flood of cheaper onion imports. Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry director Henry Lim Bon Liong says that import restrictions can be adjusted according to the supply situation of Philippine onions, rice and other agricultural products, but we should not allow total opening of the country to the deluge of cheap imports and smuggling of agricultural products which may financially ruin our poor farmers, bankrupt small traders like the Filipinas family and further impoverish our rural regions.

The government should protect the country’s 12 million farmers in our rural regions as a priority national policy, similar to the Bush government’s protectionist policy for its agricultural sector, as well as similar policies by Japan, China and Europe to help their farmers. Idiotic political leaders who have no wisdom or true patriotism had years ago signed the death warrant for the country’s industries and agriculture by making the Philippines one of the earliest members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), succumbing to Western pressures for the fast-paced opening up of the Philippine economy to globalization.

Why didn’t they learn from the nationalistic and no less business-minded leaders of Malaysia or China, who only agreed to open up their economies to globalization but in stages and according to their own terms?

The youngest child played by Wendell Ramos is a soldier fighting rebels in Mindanao, and he is a Trillanes-like reformist who files a formal complaint on military corruption. Though his superiors fail to act on his complaint, Wendell has no chance to be persuaded to join a military coup because he is killed, possibly liquidated by fellow military officers to shut him up. How many other similar cases are there in the Philippine military?

Will Filipinas’ tale of the killed idealistic soldier complaining about corruption awaken the apathetic public on the decades of non-stop systemic corruption in government, the judiciary, national police and military organizations? Civil Service Commission Chairman Karina David estimates that the Philippine government lost $48 billion or P2.6 trillion to corruption over the past 20 years! How many tens of thousands of public schools, provincial roads and hospitals could have been built, how many millions of textbooks and medicines could have been bought by the money stolen by our political leaders in the past two decades of corruption which has impoverished the Philippines despite our abundance of skilled labor, our amazing wealth of natural resources and vast arable lands?
* * *
Thanks for all your great messages to wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@newyork.com or wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig

[SiDarnaAko]

I'm so glad that maricel soriano took the best actress award. a very deserved award indeed. She's brilliant in the scene when she finally met her bf after long years. It was a heartbreaking scene. FABULOUS!!!

For the 2nd Best Picture (Mano Po 2) - How can a movie win Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Gatpuno Award and end up not taking the 2nd Best Picture Award? It should have gone to Filipinas.

Best Director - Mark Meily (Crying Ladies - what a deserved win. kaya lang super haba ang speech niya.

[mintymalone]

Parang gusto ko ng panoorin yung Crying Ladies instead of Mano Po 2. Mukhang maganda talaga now that nanalo pa itong Best Picture.

[avonlea]

mintymalone >> go ahead... the movie's worth watching

[jonruiz]

Board of Jurors sa MMFFP 2003, ito ay kinabibilangan ni Mayor Rey Malonzo bilang chairman at Director Eddie Romero bilang vice-chairman. Ang mga myembro naman ay sina USEC Robert Nacianceno, USEC Robert Rivero, Ric Camaligan, Dr. Orly Molina, Rustica Carpio, Wilson Tieng, Nini Valera, Director Marietta Tamondong, Nestor Torre at Clodualdo del Mundo.

[moonshine]

i've seen mano po 2... much, much improved siya compared to mano po. much tighter script, ala-joy luck club ang dating. even the chinese speaking lines were much better rendered. kris aquino was even less annoying, and she didn't have her *smirk*, so she really has improved. zsa zsa did very well, surprising since she doesn't act regularly. if this was karylle's coming-out movie, medyo sayang kasi konti lang ang parts na assigned sa kanya, mas meaty pang di-hamak iyong kay richard gutierrez na part. same for alessandra di rossi, nasayang ang talent kasi di naman na-explore ang character niya...basta sinabing disobedient daughter siya. (duh?!) i appreciated the more realistic script, the premise of the three wives--- sana tinuloy tuloy na nilang realistic lahat, di naman kelangan na puro happy ending ang bawat pelikula.

my brother who saw both mano po 2 and crying ladies recommends crying ladies (he found mano po 2 dragging daw).

my sister says mano po 2 is an improvement over mano po, but she found it dragging as well. (she found malikmata's script more tightly written. come to think of it, so do i.)

thus far, i have seen only malikmata and mano po 2... i was not disappointed with both. suwerte ata tayo this year, majority of the films were really good: as in, pinag-isipan ang script, story and character driven, at di lang umasa sa hatak power ng mga artista.

mamya naman, crying ladies ang papanoorin ko. :D

[p0tipie]

congrats to victor neri... *okay*

[hot_x]

magaling yung batang nanalo ng Best Child Performer.. da best talaga ang CRYING LADIES :)

[aynidyubak]

yung bata sa Crying Ladies, sya yung gumaganap na kapatid ni ANgelika sa SANAY Wala Nang Wakas ng channel 2

talagang THE BEST ang :flower:CRYING LADIES:flower:

its a small budgeted film na talagang dekalidad at maganda.

Its the best film of 2003 ;)

[jj9527]

Board of Jurors sa MMFFP 2003, ito ay kinabibilangan ni Mayor Rey Malonzo bilang chairman at Director Eddie Romero bilang vice-chairman. Ang mga myembro naman ay sina USEC Robert Nacianceno, USEC Robert Rivero, Ric Camaligan, Dr. Orly Molina, Rustica Carpio, Wilson Tieng, Nini Valera, Director Marietta Tamondong, Nestor Torre at Clodualdo del Mundo.


Kadudaduda ang credentials ng karamihan sa hurado. Buti na lamang at pinanalo nila si MARICEL. Last year, ang kapal ng mukha nilang di sya papanalunin sa Mano Po.

Rustica Carpio? Yuck. Ham Actress. Bogus PhD. Si Rivero, Camaligan, Molina, Nacianceno, Tamondong..ano ang alam nila sa film making?

[musicpark]

Ang ganda nga talaga ng Mano Po2..nung nag_megamall kami..eto lang yun may pila (other than Captain Barbell and Fantastikman)...Zsa Zsa was splendid!!! Stnading pa kami sa loob...grabe...but its worth it...very entertaining indeed...you'll never get dissapointed.

[Sono sono]

Does anybody have pictures or screenshots ng awards night?

[willy72]

'Filipinas' relevant
without being preachy
Posted: 9:38 PM (Manila Time) | Dec. 30, 2003
By Bien Lumbera
Inquirer News Service


Dramatic narrative

"FILIPINAS," Viva Films' entry for the Metro Manila Film Festival, is Joel Lamangan's dramatic narrative about a disintegrating contemporary Filipino family that leaves no doubt that the director has intended it to be read as also the state of the Filipino nation as it is wracked today by economic difficulties, political squabbling and moral contradictions.

The domestic drama and its allegorical implications have been so intricately interwoven by Roy Iglesias' screenplay that even as one is emotionally caught up in the dramatic confrontations within the family, one is effortlessly made aware of their social and political references. The outcome is that rarity in the local film industry-a "relevant" film that spares us from preachiness but frankly alludes to vital issues of the day, indeed a truly cinematic rendition of its multi-faceted social content.




Lamangan and Iglesias tell us about a provincial upper-middle class family ruled by an ailing matriarch (Armida Siguion-Reyna as Florencia) with six children in disparate occupations and situations: an accountant employed in the US (Richard Gomez as Samuel), an idealistic soldier seeking reforms within the military (Wendell Ramos as Narciso), an activist in full-time dedication to the labor movement's aspirations for social justice and liberation (Victor Neri as Emman), a nurse employed in Israel as a caregiver (Dawn Zulueta as Gloria), a trader engaged in the family's agribusiness (Aiko Melendez as Vicky). Holding the family together is a home economics graduate (Maricel Soriano as Yolanda) serving as a nurse to her mother and surrogate mother to a niece.

Risky project

The script provides each member of the family with a sub-plot, and the interplay of the various plots unfolds a narrative of ideals, aspirations, frustrations and resentments that mirrors the national situation in our time. In the tradition of purposive theater of the 1970s, the film addresses issues beyond personal drama and makes the members of the family representative of political positions currently at work in society at large.

Only a director with Lamangan's background in the activist theater in Martial Law years and cinematic craftsmanship acquired through sustained experience in the industry would have the daring and the vision to undertake such a risky project as "Filipinas," that could very well drag him down in the estimate of profit-conscious Filipino film producers.

With its multiple plots, the movie could have sprawled in many directions, and the diversity of the talents featured in each story could have allowed many irrelevancies to slip through the director's control. Lamangan has proved himself equal to the challenge of his material and cinematic form, and we are made aware in no uncertain terms that we have in him an artist who has earned the right to stand on his own, no longer simply a Brocka wannabe that was his image when he began making serious movies like "The Flor Contemplacion Story," "Death Row" and "Hubog."

Domestic explosion

Yolanda is the central sensibility of the narrative, drawing the various strands of the story of the Filipinas family into a tight unity. She is the archetypal dependable old maid of the family who has sacrificed her youthful days nursing an ailing mother. Samuel the eldest having migrated to the US with his family, Yolanda finds herself charged with the responsibility of keeping the family intact.

All the siblings have a life of their own except Yolanda. As a young woman, she was in love with a youth from the lower classes but she had to give him up. In the aftermath of a violent incident that would have endangered Samuel's getting a visa for the US, the boyfriend found himself taking the rap and going to jail, when the family insisted that Yolanda suppress the truth about her lover's innocence.

Although it is Gloria who has a degree in nursing, it is Yolanda who has to nurse Florencia, because Gloria has taken a job as a care-giver in Israel. And when Samuel and his wife go to the US, leaving behind a sickly daughter, Kathlyn (Sarah Geronimo), again it is Yolanda who plays mother to the girl. And now that the businesswoman of the family (Melendez) is getting married to her Indian boyfriend (Raymond Bagatsing), the economic burden weighs heavily on Yolanda's shoulder, for the two other males in the family are in the service of causes larger than family-one (Narciso) in the military and the other (Emman) in the labor movement.

In the season of Christmas, when the family gathers for a reunion, a domestic explosion is bound to break out, with Yolanda confronting her siblings with their sins of commission and omission.

Deserving performance

As Yolanda, Maricel Soriano has taken on a role carefully drawn by a sensitive scriptwriter and molded by an expert director, and she makes the complexities and the nuances of characterization work for her as an actress, delivering a performance that fully deserves recognition for its power and insight. To be sure, she gets excellent support from the actors playing her brothers and sisters (notably Gomez, Neri, Zulueta, Ramos and Melendez), the rapport building up in a series of confrontations that is quite mesmerizing.

Viva Films has not spared anything to give "Filipinas" superior production values. Cinematography by Rolly Manuel, editing by Marya Ignacio, and musical scoring by Jesse Lucas have been most responsive to the intentions of the director, giving audiences a film memorable for going beyond gripping the emotions toward engaging their minds on issues confronting Philippine society today.


As an allegory testing the foundations on which our society stands at present, "Filipinas" has distinguished antecedents in Philippine theater and filmmaking. Gerardo de Leon's "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo" in film and Aurelio Tolentino's "Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas" and Severino Reyes' "Walang Sugat" in theater readily come to mind. What distinguishes Lamangan's movie is its timeliness and unapologetic advocacy for a nationalist view of contemporary Philippine society. At the same time that we follow the situations within the Filipinas family, we are asked to face up to the realities of the anti-Bush protests, the rumblings of rebellion within the military, the depredations on the national economy by global capitalism, the OFW phenomenon of Filipino professionals taking menial jobs abroad, and the rankling of resentments over remnants of feudal values and practices even among families that have been liberalized by modern education like the Filipinas family.

Colonial vestiges

At the conclusion of "Filipinas," Florencia is rendered comatose by a bad fall when her remaining sons exchanged blows over matters of principles after the death of Narciso in Mindanao. Samuel as a name for the eldest Filipinas suggests the vestiges of the colonial and feudal values in the family while Emman memorializes a young poet-turned NPA warrior as a liberative force. It is uncertain how long Florencia will remain alive.

Yolanda, symbolic of the citizenry that made personal sacrifices for the country in hopes of keeping the country in shape but felt betrayed and unappreciated by our leaders, vents on the Filipinas her grievances and resentments that have made her a passive, even impassive, member of the family. When a group of military men call on the Filipinas to make inquiries about Narciso's complaints about the armed forces, Yolanda wrathfully turns them away without answering their questions, in her defiance uniting herself with Emman who, at this point, has joined the guerrillas in the countryside.

Indeed, Lamangan's MMFF movie is testing the festival's announced bias for films that seek to make the film industry a partner in the building of the nation.

[PEXchubMALE]

isa lang masasabi ko....................

magaling ang pagkakapili ng mga nanalo!

[pac_maniac2]

ANO BA KAYO?

bakit niyo pinag-aawayan ang walang kakwenta kwentang award giving body? :D

ano ba ang track record ng tinaman ng lintik na MMFF na yan at kailangang pagtalunan kung ano at sino ang dapat na nanalo? isang malaking patawa ang institution na yan. hindi bat ilang taon na tayong nililinlang ng MMFF sa pagsasabing ito'y showcase ng kahusayan ng Filipino sa paggawa ng pelikula?

Sige, sabihin niyo kung anong klaseng pelikula ang mga kasama jan ng mga nakaraang taon at kung ito ba'y nagpapakita ng husay ng Filipino.

MMFF has been a big joke. :D and this year is no exception. sa tingin niyo bakit hindi nakasali ang bridal shower sa magic 7 at sa halip ay hinayaang ipalabas ang walang kakwenta kwentang "superhero" movies? kahit karapat dapat manalo ang crying ladies bilang best picture hindi nangangahulugan na prestihiyoso na ang MMFF.

dapat lang na i-abolish yang MMFF. dahil hindi na sila nakakatuwa.

[mac326]

Maganda talaga ang Crying Ladies! Congrats!

Pero bakit kaya walang nakapansin kay Carmina sa Mano Po 2? Her performance was superb.

[luciam124]

In my opinion, di hamak na mas maganda ang FILIPINAS sa Mano Po 2. Visually appealing lang naman ang Mano Po 2 pero "walang tinutumbok at walang laman" ang mga characters na bumubuo sa pelikula.

The 2nd Best Picture or Best Picture award should have gone to FILIPINAS. Agree ako sa sinabi ng isang Pexer na pagdating sa technical na awards ay mas maraming nakuha ang Filipinas so how come na ang Mano Po 2 ang nanalo ng 2nd best picture eh considered as "Minor Awards" lang naman ang mga napanalunan nito?

[luciam124]

Best Actress - Maricel Soriano (FILIPINAS) here's wishing for a GRANDSLAM BEST ACTRESS Award. Napakahusay ni maricel sa Filipinas. Solid ang performance na pinakita niya. Mula sa simula hanggang sa katapusan ng pelikula, siya si Yolanda Filipinas...

Best Director - Mark Meily (CRYING LADIES) Deserving siya at sana gumawa pa siya ng mga de-kalidad na pelikula. Fresh ang approach na pinakita niyang pagkakadirihe sa Crying Ladies pero mas OK sana kung ginawang "tie" na lang w/ Joel Lamangan ang award na ito. Naniniwala ako na sa lahat ng drama entries, pinakamahirap ang ginawa ni Joel Lamangan sa FILIPINAS....

[pac_maniac2]

filipinas... this is directed by joel lamangan. that pretty much tells you what kind of a movie filipinas is.

para kay joel lamangan, filipinas is a microcosm of the philippine society. si pop lola bilang inang bayan na katakot takot na problema ang hinaharap. si richard gomez representing the filipinos na may colonial mentality; who think america ang sasalba sa bayan natin. si dawn naman represents the ofws. bagong bayani kuno. si victor neri bilang mangagawang pilipino na patuloy ang pakikipaglaban sa kapitalistang sistema. si wendell naman para sa military sector. si marya, hindi ako sure pero siguro siya ang karamihan sa mga filipinong nagtitiis sa kalagayan ng ating bansa na any monument ay aalsa at makikibaka... tama ba ako sir joel? si sunshine... nirerepresent niya ang milyun milyong kabataan na nag-aaspire maging sex bomb dancer!

at teka muntik ko ng malimutan si aiko... ano nga uli role niya?

anyways, wala ako masabi sa filipinas. bawat minuto may highlight. bawat karakter, may moment. bawat eksena may climax. kung may award lang na most socially relevant film with the most number of socially relevant issues tackled in two hours, unanimous choice ang filipinas. sabi sa trailer ang hindi maiyak, bato. buti na lang naiyak ako... sa katatawa.

parang may nakalimutan si sir joel... bakit hindi represented ang lesbian/gay community? para san nga ba ang kindatan ni father at ng punkistang bagets in one of the scenes? tama... religious scandal... ops ops... hindi bading si fader... anak niya ang bagets na yon!

hay kakapagod ang filipinas. no wonder dami gusto umalis ng bansa... ng sinehan pala!

as for maria winning the best actress plum, she probably deserves the award... from the award giving body who gave the same recognition to ara mina, melanie marquez... sino pa ba? pati ata si irma alegre! :D

SIGE mag-away kayo... and may the FARCE be witrh you... :D

[blackpiscean]

pacmaniac2,

just a quibble, why pick on this movie?

[pac_maniac2]

it's a baaaaaad movie. maybe not as bad as fantasticman or capt barbell pero at least ang fantasticman at capt barbell ay walang tinatago. pangbata. mababaw. hindi mananalo ng award. (ewan ko lang pero baka si ara mina umaasa manalo bilang best actress sa role niya sa fantasticman) . filipinas? it's the most pretentious movie i've seen in a long time. pa-social relevant is an understatement. is lamangan trying to outdo brocka? maybe not but if he wanted to make a statement, he failed miserably. OVERKILL. ang script. ang acting. ang direction.

perhaps they're taking the MMFF award so seriously. kaya ang acting nilang lahat parang gutom sa award. (the only performer na matino sa pelikulang yan ay si raymond bagatsing. he's the only one who does not seem to take his role seriously. so his performance albeit short turns out to be the most effective) pati script, halos mangilo ang ngipin ko sa sobrang eeeooowww... social relevance has never been sooooo romanticized.

nasabi ko na ang opinyon ko sa ibang entries sa kabilang thread (2003 mmff box-office chart). i hate filipinas for what it is trying to be. the last thing this country needs is a baaaaaaaaaad pa-socially relevant movie.

[pac_maniac2]

so why take a movie that takes itself seriously seriously? ;)

[nailbiter]

I disagree. I was worried that it might go that way when I saw the trailer, yung parang lahat nga sila may moment, lahat kasi pinakitang umiiyak. And I really hate that tagline, "Ang hindi maiyak, bato." I fault Viva for that.

But when I did see it, I was pleasantly surprised. I think Bien Lumbera's description is accurate, Filipinas is relevant without being preachy. In this board, the film was called a Tanging Yaman/ Dekada '70 wannabe. Well I thought Tanging Yaman was overly preachy and if this film didn't quite get there, well and good. I liked Dekada '70, but I credit the novel for that, and as with most books brought to the screen, I thought the novel was much, much better. In that sense, Filipinas, as an original as opposed to an adapted screenplay, is all the more impressive.

The way I see it, Filipinas is not at all pretentious. I count Portes' Munting Tinig as the most pretentious Pinoy film ever. (Trivia lang: The director went so far as to invent a story about a relative who had students that really had to share a uniform -- I'm sure several Pinoy kids have to share a uniform -- but there's no doubt in my mind that this bit from his film was taken from Majidi's Children of Heaven. When Munting Tinig was shown in the Visayas simultaneously with Zhang Yimou's Not One Less, the similarity was obvious. The director reportedly said yung Not One Less daw ang nanggaya sa kanya, not the other way around. Whaaat??!!!) I think Diaz-Abaya's Bagong Buwan is another highly pretentious film, hardly representative of the conditions it hopes to shed light on. Add to that the whole slew of Carlitos Siguion-Reyna-Bibeth Orteza celluloid sins. Lamangan's own Mila was also a disappointment, though it's supposed to be based on a real person's life and I suppose you have to remain faithful to that. Their pictures were all touted and hyped as truly socially relevant films but rather than soundly exposing and explaining the ills of Philippine society, they appeared to create more confusion in the process. What's worse is that some filmmakers are out to project themselves as the saviors of Philippine cinema. To his credit, I don't believe I've seen Lamangan take that promo blitz route. As to whether Lamangan is trying to outdo Brocka, I don't think so. The fact is they just share the same beliefs, remember that Lamangan was also imprisoned as an activist during Martial Law.

Yes, Filipinas is allegorical and yes, it is propaganda. The filmmakers are espousing a cause, a relevant cause which deserves examination and discussion. If anything, I think we don't see enough of films like Filipinas, which must be why some of us appear to be afraid of it. The irony is that Filipinas is not even being marketed as "a socially relevant film." The producers are projecting it more as a family drama, which it is. Bitter emotional scenes, melodramatic dialogue, you'll find them here, but nothing so heavy it'll weigh you down. Others may disagree and observe that so much drama can't possibly go on all at once. Well, it really didn't. A lot of those things burdening the Filipinas family happened over time. Take note as well that this is allegory. And well, perhaps those who really find it irrational deserve congratulations for having healthier family ties than most.

I still think Brocka's films and de Leon's Sister Stella L and Aliwang Paradise are more polished and powerful social commentaries, not to mention better films. But Filipinas is a welcome addition to the genre. I'm not absolutely raving about it but I was surprised and impressed. I do believe and am truly grateful it didn't go over the top. I disagree that it's a bad film.

And I think Crying Ladies deserved the Best Picture win, too.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by Vlestat
havent watched Malikmata.... is it good?

slooooooowww :bigyawn:

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
I disagree. I was worried that it might go that way when I saw the trailer, yung parang lahat nga sila may moment, lahat kasi pinakitang umiiyak. And I really hate that tagline, "Ang hindi maiyak, bato." I fault Viva for that.

But when I did see it, I was pleasantly surprised. I think Bien Lumbera's description is accurate, Filipinas is relevant without being preachy. In this board, the film was called a Tanging Yaman/ Dekada '70 wannabe. Well I thought Tanging Yaman was overly preachy and if this film didn't quite get there, well and good. I liked Dekada '70, but I credit the novel for that, and as with most books brought to the screen, I thought the novel was much, much better. In that sense, Filipinas, as an original as opposed to an adapted screenplay, is all the more impressive.

The way I see it, Filipinas is not at all pretentious. I count Portes' Munting Tinig as the most pretentious Pinoy film ever. (Trivia lang: The director went so far as to invent a story about a relative who had students that really had to share a uniform -- I'm sure several Pinoy kids have to share a uniform -- but there's no doubt in my mind that this bit from his film was taken from Majidi's Children of Heaven. When Munting Tinig was shown in the Visayas simultaneously with Zhang Yimou's Not One Less, the similarity was obvious. The director reportedly said yung Not One Less daw ang nanggaya sa kanya, not the other way around. Whaaat??!!!) I think Diaz-Abaya's Bagong Buwan is another highly pretentious film, hardly representative of the conditions it hopes to shed light on. Add to that the whole slew of Carlitos Siguion-Reyna-Bibeth Orteza celluloid sins. Lamangan's own Mila was also a disappointment, though it's supposed to be based on a real person's life and I suppose you have to remain faithful to that. Their pictures were all touted and hyped as truly socially relevant films but rather than soundly exposing and explaining the ills of Philippine society, they appeared to create more confusion in the process. What's worse is that some filmmakers are out to project themselves as the saviors of Philippine cinema. To his credit, I don't believe I've seen Lamangan take that promo blitz route. As to whether Lamangan is trying to outdo Brocka, I don't think so. The fact is they just share the same beliefs, remember that Lamangan was also imprisoned as an activist during Martial Law.

Yes, Filipinas is allegorical and yes, it is propaganda. The filmmakers are espousing a cause, a relevant cause which deserves examination and discussion. If anything, I think we don't see enough of films like Filipinas, which must be why some of us appear to be afraid of it. The irony is that Filipinas is not even being marketed as "a socially relevant film." The producers are projecting it more as a family drama, which it is. Bitter emotional scenes, melodramatic dialogue, you'll find them here, but nothing so heavy it'll weigh you down. Others may disagree and observe that so much drama can't possibly go on all at once. Well, it really didn't. A lot of those things burdening the Filipinas family happened over time. Take note as well that this is allegory. And well, perhaps those who really find it irrational deserve congratulations for having healthier family ties than most.

I still think Brocka's films and de Leon's Sister Stella L and Aliwang Paradise are more polished and powerful social commentaries, not to mention better films. But Filipinas is a welcome addition to the genre. I'm not absolutely raving about it but I was surprised and impressed. I do believe and am truly grateful it didn't go over the top. I disagree that it's a bad film.

And I think Crying Ladies deserved the Best Picture win, too.

not one less is an excellent film and i didnt see munting tinig. if indeed portes said na ginaya siya ni Zhang Yimou, what a shame but i give him the benefit of the doubt. as for diaz-abaya's bagong bayani... yeah i agree it's pretentious. isama mo na din ang muro ami.

pero hindi ata ako sang-ayon na pretentious ang mga pelikula ni siguion reyna. maybe some of them are. but most are downright melodramas. walang humpay na sampalan, iyakan... minsan may duraan pa. they are not great pero masaya namang panoorin. yes they get preachy in the end. pero madaling patawarin kasi it's nothing but camp. walang pagkukunwari.

tungkol naman sa ibang lamangan films... may matino na ba siyang nagawa? teka... lemme think... ah, there's one i enjoyed though just as convoluted as his other films... the one with alice dixon, donna cruz etc... kalimutan kona title.

now back to filipinas... i don't mind that it's propaganda... don't mind either that it's allegorical. and still i don't mind that the filmmakers are espousing a cause. i have seen a lot of films that do all that and they are very good if not excellent films. ikaw na mismo ang nagbigay ng halimbawa.

you said filipinas is not preachy? kailangan ko pa bang isa isahin ang mga eksena? yung litanya ni dawn sa owwa administrator... hindi ba matatwag na preachy yon?

and there's nothing ironic if filipinas is not being marketed as a socially relevant film. i think the slogan "ang hindi maiyak bato" is a clever ploy to condition the viewer's mind that theere's nothing lofty about filipinas. in spite of its so called "socially relevant" allusions, ito'y isang mababaw na melodrama. walang humpay na iyakan. sampalan. at nguy nguyan.

it didn't go over the top? sabi nga ni maria... walang pagbabago... walaaaaaaaa!!! o sige na nga hindi over the top yan.

[irene1214]

basta ang masasabi ko lang, deserving si marya as best actress, walang duda yun. kung pangit man ang kabuuan ng movie, for sure na justify ni marya ang role nya kaya sya nanalo. congratulations to the one and only diamond star!

[renz]

palagay ko nandito si edsa77 sa tabi tabi kaya merong ganyang rebyu. hehehe.

[nailbiter]

pac_maniac2, you're entitled to your opinion, of course, as I should be to mine. Sinabi ko lang naman I disagree and I don't think it's a bad film. I don't even think it's a great film but I don't think it's as awful as you make it out to be. My standards are different from yours. (Case in point, nasisiyahan kang manood ng mga pelikula ni Carlitos, ako sumasakit ang ulo ko. It's camp, for sure, but they want us to believe Inagaw mo ang Lahat sa Akin has dislodged Kisapmata as being THE film about incest, Tatlo...Magkasalo is THE film about lesbians, and so on. I call that pretentious.) I still think Filipinas didn't go over the top and I still don't find it preachy. Kahit yung eksenang binanggit mo. Dawn's character was feeling guilty about her friend's death and was frustrated that she still couldn't help make things right. It was she who broached the idea to the mother that they should approach OWWA, tapos wala rin pala silang mapapala. I've seen and experienced enough of the bureaucracy to know how people react to similar situations. I will not say talagang natural ang dating ng eksenang yon but it's believable.

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
not one less is an excellent film and i didnt see munting tinig. if indeed portes said na ginaya siya ni Zhang Yimou, what a shame but i give him the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, come on, man. Not One Less came out in 1999. Nagkasabay lang sila ng showing dahil sa Pelikula at Lipunan filmfest.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by nychotrod
i saw malikmata. the music was a turn off. honestly, it was trying too hard to sound like the soundtrack of "the ring". the use of a "tribal" chant was good. but some music cues were placed in the wrong scenes. pati yung solo piano cues paulit-ulit, kinsan mali pa ang pagkakalagay.

I agree. I thought the score was annoying, actually.

[4MER_Pexer]

pac_maniac

About the movie of Alice Dixon, Donna Cruz and Agot Isidro (forgot her), it's Kadenang Bulaklak

[pinoystar]

i just watched filipinas recently and hands down to ms maricel soriano...galing galing...at least this years MMFF wala mashadong intriga and the winners deserved their awards.....

[5eleven]

I'm not a film critic huh... moviegoer lang ho ako...comments ko lang....

-----------------

i don't know about the others but of all the MMFF entries, i like FILIPINAS a lot. i watched Filipinas this afternoon and i find it relevant. There's no such thing as perfect movie, maraming tanong din ako but in totality, i like it. It's a Thinking movie...

Maricel Soriano deserved her best actress award. she's extremely good as the eldest sibling of Filipinas family and i think her performance in the film will make havoc come next year's award season, a grandslam best actress award perhaps...

hinde mahusay ang pagkaka-promote ng VIVA Films sa Filipinas pero maganda ang story nito.

CRYING LADIES's totality should be credited to Mark Meilly's fresh and excellent direction.

MANO PO2 is visually appealing. The performances of the actors are not enough to sustain the excitement in the film. Zsa Zsa Padilla is OK but that's only because of her dialogues.

Maricel Soriano should have won for her performance as Vera Go in the 1st Mano Po. Na-maintain ni maricel ang "excitement" sa kabuuan ng Mano Po 1 na hinde ko nakita sa kahit kaninong artista sa Mano Po 2.

Just my two cents...

[jj9527]

http://www.mostradelcinemadivenezia.tv/en/articolo.php?a=22
***
'Bridal Shower' most
welcome surprise in MMFF
Posted: 8:54 PM (Manila Time) | Dec. 31, 2003
Inquirer News Service
Not just a sex comedy

WE viewed all of the nine entries in the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival before the film fest opened last Dec. 25. However, since we were a festival juror, we have refrained from commenting on the films until after the awards night last Saturday.

We start our MMFF movie rundown with "Bridal Shower," which begins its film fest run (along with "Gagamboy") Thursday. Truth to tell, we can't understand why the movie's showing was deferred, except possibly for its sexy orientation. But this didn't bother the MMFF in past years, so the mystery remains.


In any case, the film should click with viewers because it's both well-made (by Jeffrey Jeturian) and entertaining. To our mind, it's the biggest and most welcome surprise in the MMFF.

At first glance, it's "just" a sex comedy -- but the production soon serves notice that it has much more than laughs and skin going for it.

"Bridal Shower" quickly and effortlessly involves moviegoers in its amusing and bemusing story of three women looking for Mr. Right -- in a modern world where so many men are so terribly wrong. It's a quandary that quite a lot of women face these days, so audience empathy is strong. Also involving are the lead performances of Dina Bonnevie, Cherry Pie Picache and Francine Prieto, with Picache pacing the gifted and spirited field.

These and other plus points result in a film that keeps the laughs coming while also sharing insights about love, lust, low self image, desperation, "practicality," mutual exploitation, cyber sex-etc.!

Keeping all of these elements in proper focus is filmmaker Jeffrey Jeturian, who confidently and at times masterfully keeps the production interesting and fascinatingly revelatory of human nature.

His storytelling was so engaging that, when we needed to go to the toilet while watching the movie, we had to postpone the trip as long as possible because we were afraid we'd miss something particularly interesting or important.

We were also impressed with the confident performances turned in by the relative newcomers in the movie, led by Alfred Vargas as Picache's macho-dancer lover. Among the supporting performers, Boots Anson Roa, Pinky Marquez and Rodel Velayo stood out. Here again, Jeturian's guiding hand was clearly at work.

We like "Bridal Shower" because it depicts its characters' sensuality and erotic lives without being smarmy, gross or visually gauche. Even better, it shows sex as just a part of life, instead of the excessive, compulsive and obsessive flesh fetish it is in many cheapie, quickie sex flicks.

That's quite an improvement, so Jeturian's film should be appreciated for bringing wit and sophistication back to local sex comedies.

"Bridal Shower" calls to mind Ishmael Bernal's "Working Girls," "Mister Mo, Lover Boy Ko" and "Pito ang Asawa Ko," as well as the '70s sex comedies of Danny Zialcita-pretty good company for Jeturian's movie to be in!

***
Lucky combination of plus
factors in 'Crying Ladies'
Posted: 9:23 PM (Manila Time) | Jan. 01, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Fresh concept

WHY, some viewers ask, did "Crying Ladies" romp off with the Best Picture, Best Director and other top plums in the 2003 Metro filmfest?

First, it has one of the freshest concepts among the festival entries. It isn't about the usual glamorous and exquisitely suffering heroines of high-strung movie dramas. It's about three losers whose "ordinary" lives turn out to be every bit as fascinating as the emotionally over-the-top stories of the grandest divas of local TV-film melodramas.


The unexpected casting is a major attraction -- Sharon Cuneta being cast as a hustler and ex-con really comes out of left field, and makes people curious enough to see the movie.

It's also quite impressive that "Megastar" Sharon would agree to play an offbeat role in a "small" film, but she and producer Tony Gloria go back a long way, so the casting coup wasn't all that difficult to effect.

Another major surprise is Gloria's decision to give writer-director Mark Meily his big movie break. But again, this turns out to be not all that improbable since Gloria believes in encouraging new talents, and Meily and his cinematographer-wife Lee have done commercials for Gloria's Unitel outfit.

In any case, the felicitous combination of innovative producer, young filmmaker and major star has made "Crying Ladies" emerge as the Metro filmfest's best bet, so everyone should see it.

This goes double for people who keep bemoaning the local film industry's self-destructive predictability. Here's a movie that effectively debunks that cynical view, so the least nay-sayers can do is to view Meily's movie.

Which is not to say that it is a glisteningly perfect gem of cinema. Truth to tell, the movie initiates more moves than it finishes, and Sharon's "deglamorized" portrayal stops short of completely subsuming the Megastar's stellar persona in the protagonist's "loser" character.

There's also the fact that the "mourner for hire" syndrome that the film builds its story on isn't really as prevalent today as it used to be, so it lacks contemporary resonance.

And director Meily stages mostly small scenes that don't build and complicate as much as they should as the movie progresses to its climax -- which makes the film not quite as convincingly cumulative as it aspires to be.

Still, the movie has plus points to involve and delight viewers, like Hilda Koronel's "stage mother" and ex-starlet characterization, which deserves the Best Supporting Actress plum that Koronel received. And child actor Julio Pacheco's performance is pleasingly natural and bereft of the usual pa-cute antics and gambits of most local kiddie performers.

But the movie's best suit is its relative freshness and daring. If, aside form winning awards, it also makes good money at the tills, it could encourage the production of other unconventional projects.

This would further enliven the local movie scene, give breaks to other deserving new filmmakers, and provide veteran stars with thespic challenges to "stretch" their capacities as film artists.

Keep those innovative movies coming, folks!

***
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

Pure leasure

By Mario E. Bautista
The Philippine Star 12/28/2003


We can’t comprehend why the Metro Manila Filmfest screening committee did not include Bridal Shower as one of the top seven entries when it is undoubtedly better than most of the other entries we saw. It is also certainly one of the three best films we’ve seen during the entire year. Local comedies usually depend on low brow slapstick where the characters hit and insult each other. A farce on women who are so desperate to have a man in their life, Bridal Shower is that rare comedy film that really succeeds in tickling our funny bones without insulting our intelligence, the kind the late Ishmael Bernal used to do in Salawahan and Working Girls.

Peppered with witty lines, hilarious situations and a gay sensibility truly worth a guffaw, the film debunks our usual notions of romantic love. This is a gleeful sendup on dreamy romantic films and the perfect antithesis to such fairy tale love stories as Pretty Woman and Maid in Manhattan in Hollywood flicks and Pangarap Ko ang Ibigin Ka and Till There Was You in local films.

The film centers on Tates (Dina Bonnevie), Katie (Cherry Pie Picache) and Sonia (Francine Prieto) who all work in an advertising agency. Tates has a boyfriend, Mickey (Christian Vasquez), who is separated from his first wife and has a son. She spends her own money so Mickey can have his marriage annulled in the hope that he’d marry her later on. She even tries to humor Mickey’s spoiled brat of a son just to please him.

Katie has a weight problem and has no suitors. She finds romance in the Internet but refuses to face her cyber boyfriend in person, afraid he might reject her. The scene where she finally agrees to meet the guy is really hilarious. She initially mistakes an old man to be her friend and insults him for deceiving her. Later on, when the real guy finally shows up, it’s her turn to be insulted by him for her excess weight.

Sonia has two boyfriends. Bryan (Douglas Robinson) is a poor painter who adores her so much he even had her name tattooed across his chest. Juancho (Juancho Valentino) comes from a very rich family. When she gets pregnant, she is not sure who the father really is but she chooses to marry Juancho for financial security.

At the bridal shower given to Sonia by her friends, Katie befriends one of the macho dancers they hired for the event, Joebert (Alfred Vargas.) They end up in bed and Katie even takes Joebert to her relatives in the province (who are all fat like her) but she is ashamed to introduce him as a macho dancer so she tells them he is an insurance agent. Later on, she even helps Joebert take a seminar to be an insurance salesman. When Joebert borrows P50,000 from her allegedly for the medical expenses of his father, she thought he just deceived her when he didn’t show up again. She is about to have him arrested by cops, but it turns out Joebert was telling the truth and his dad just died. He feels bad that Katie failed to trust him and their relationship goes sour.

Dina, Cherry Pie and Francine are all exceptionally good in their respective roles and they all deserve to be nominated as Best Actress (and maybe one of them should win.) The truth is they all play pathetic characters because they all have to make humbling compromises and even swallow their pride in their personal pursuit of romance. But in the end, this is a feel good movie as each character somehow finds the proverbial silver lining behind the clouds. The scene where Sonia learns that Bryan has found another girlfriend who is also named Sonia is very amusing. As Sonia, Francine is able to hold her own against her more experienced co-stars.

Dina as Tates has the most number of buffoonish moments. The scene where Sonia throws away the bridal bouquet and Dina fights tooth and nail to make sure she gets it, in the belief that she will be the next bride, is funny and pathetic at the same time. She is also involved in a running gag showing her meeting her previous casual lovers every now and then, including a lesbian on a motorcycle who even runs after her and shouts "I love you!" She has a riotous suicide scene where, like her, her pet dog overdoses on sleeping pills. The succeeding sequence in a hospital emergency room is really a big howl. She is already frothing in her mouth and yet the clerk is more concerned about asking for her health card than attending to her.

Another rollicking scene shows her lighting a candle for her dead dog when she suddenly hears a dog barking and she thinks her pet is haunting her. Even Dina’s dramatic scenes come out funny, like that one where Mickey is dumping her and she tells him while in tears: "Masyado ka namang honest". They even haggle on how many months or weeks they will have a cooling off period. It seems that Dina’s being junked from the cast of Mano Po 2 is a blessing in disguise since her role here is definitely much more challenging, something she has never played before, and she surely shines in it while making a clown of herself doing some crazy antics.

As usual, the always reliable Cherry Pie is wonderful and superb as Katie. She has a rollicking bedscene with Joebert where she insists on turning the light off because she does not want him to see how fat she is, but he keeps on turning the light again. In the end, you’ll surely cheer for her after she has lost weight and does some ballroom dancing, something she said before was only for matronas. The final sequence where Katie and Joebert dance the tango while the end credits are being flashed is pure pleasure, a real delight.

Rodel Velayo gives splendid support as the three women’s mutual best friend who could very well earn the title Sukahan ng Bayan. His interpretation of his gay role here is much more relaxed and natural than the one he did in Liberated.

Among the male newcomers, Alfred Vargas as the macho dancer who falls for the fat Cherry Pie is the most competent of all, but he doesn’t photograph well on screen and looks better in person. Douglas Robinson as Bryan has a more engaging presence and he’s quite effective in that scene where he hits his own head with a beer bottle after confirming that Sonia is all set to marry Juancho. Juancho Valentino is better off as a ramp model as he lacks star quality and is not really movie star handsome.

The film has many other humorous touches, like the two macho dancers who turn up to be gay and end up kissing each other when they are left alone in Dina’s room. When Sonia delivers twin babies, it turns out the nurses who attend to her babies are also twins, and so are the babysitters they later hire to take care of the babies.

The script of Chris Martinez is a real gem, laced with wit and sharp dialogue. Bridal Shower confirms that Jeffrey Jeturian is truly one of the best filmmakers of his generation. The cinematography, though, is uneven. There are scenes in the film’s earlier parts that are too just bright and overlighted. Dina looks so young in some scenes but there are also unflattering shots of her. Is this the reason why they have two cinematographers for the movie?

Jesse Lucas’ musical score and Raymond Bajarias’ production design are both fine, but the editing can stand some improvement. Tara Illenberger needs to further tighten some sequences (like that scene in church where Dina dreams she’s a bride walking down the aisle) to make the pacing more brisk. The best way to clear up your lungs with laughter is by watching this highly entertaining movie that is really worth the price of admission.

***
The price tag of love in ‘Bridal Shower’
By Kaye Villagomez


The film that challenges the minds of those who buy their way to love is now a comedy of hilarious proportions from Seiko Films. “Bridal Shower,” an official entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), features the story of three women who, at desperation speed to find Mr. Right, invite more mistakes into their lives.




Dina Bonnevie, Francine Prieto and Cherry Pie Picache play the funniest roles of their careers as Tates, Sonia and Katie respectively. Desperate plight No.1: Tates is financing her lover’s annulment case on the promise that he’ll marry her as soon as his slate is clean. Problem is when it’s time for the guy’s end of the bargain, he bails out from it to Tates’s shock so she slaps him with an itemized bill of every single peso she spent on him.


Desperate plight No. 2: Sonia, who maintains two boyfriends (one rich and the other a struggling artist), finds out she’s pregnant. To whom does the child belong to? She decides to go for security and tells her wealthy lover about the child while she goes against the will of her heart.


Desperate plight No. 3: Katie knows all the downsides of being unattractive like the back of her hand because she’s overweight. She finds out women in her matrona form can only enjoy the highs of a relationship if they literally pay for it.


At the center of these plights is director Jeffrey Jeturian who seems to have taken the MMFF (Metro Manila Film Festival) decision to move “Bridal Shower” to the Jan. 1 showing lightly nowadays. “It’s a blessing na rin na na-move kami kasi lesser yung competition. Kung nauna na kami baka kami pa yung matanggal right after a week so at least we have extended time to promote the movie.”


Jeturian calls “Bridal Shower,” “the exact opposite of what romance/comedies are supposed to be. It’s the opposite of the likes of ‘Pangarap Ko’y Ibigin Ka,’ and all the other comedy love stories that have made the formula work for these kinds of movies which scares us,” he revealed.


And he has reasons to feel so because, “It’s harder to make people laugh than to make them cry. Definitely, mas mahirap ang comedy. Kasi pag nagpaiyak ka at hindi naiyak ang tao, ok lang. Pero pag nagpatawa ka at hindi sila natawa, failure yon.”


But “Bridal Shower” is a thousand miles away from failure; to those who’ve seen it, it’s declared the funniest movie they ever saw this year. “If you think about it, walang komedyante sa cast namin pero nakakatawa talaga yung pelikula. Because the comedy here are the situations the cast got themselves into.”


At two hours, Jeturian swore to his acclaimed name that every scene counts and that boredom doesn’t figure anywhere in the film. The main reason? “Mabusisi si direk, sobra!” says Dina. “He is very meticulous about anything and everything. It’s given na mabusisi ka sa acting but hanggang sa damit talaga, detailed siya. I have worked with him once when he was still a production designer so I guess this is why he’s like that.”


The director could only agree: “Oo, kasi nadaanan ko lahat yan eh. Nag-P.A. ako for the longest time for Viva. Mga projects ni direk Leroy Salvador na mostly Sharon (Cuneta) movies. Takot ako noon masigawan ni direk kaya I try to do my best para maiwasan maging subject ng temper niya.” Jeturian started on movies as a P. A. for “Baby Tsina” in 1983. He went on to become a production designer but it was when he saw “Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag” (when he was in second year high school) that he decided to be a director. He hasn’t turned back on this, thus, the fulfillment of this dream led him into doing such acclaimed film “Pila Balde” and the URIAN-winner “Tuhog.” Although those two films were drama/sex in genre, Jeturian noted that they already contained elements of comedy, “Nakapag-inject na rin ako ng comedy sa mga pelikula ko before.”


Three women chasing love in the wrong people, places and situations do make for an apt comedy. We asked the director what similar film ticks the same way “Bridal Shower” does. “Parang ‘Working Girls’ (which is his favorite local comedy) but the difference is that iba na ang panahon ngayon. There are a lot of desperate things women don’t resort to then na ginagawa na nila ngayon.”


Awards or box-office? “I know for a fact na mas favored for awards ang mga drama kaysa sa comedy so hindi na ako masyadong umaasa doon although I’m really praying na manalo sila (Dina, Cherry Pie and Francine) dito. But if I were to choose kung awards or box-office, I’ll settle for box-office so more producers will be encouraged to do films like this na nakakatawa pero may kurot sa puso. I like movies like this na satirical and pokes fun at conventions. Sabi nga nila baka raw bading na bading lumabas ito but anyone can really relate to any of the characters or the situations here.”


Indeed, the changing times have long commercialized love and these are the questions “Bridal Shower” posts according to its director: How far can you go for love? When you’ve done everything, was it worth it? Are you really not complete by yourself? Is love (in all its ideal sense) still possible? “From the outside, the movie looks romantic but it’s really three women mercenaries who needed to confront the question if they are running after the kind of love they deserve.”


With everything that we’ve heard from the people behind “Bridal Shower” and those who’ve seen it, the film is positive for a sleeper best picture. That is if comedy earns proper merit.


(Seiko has finally wriggled off their for-bold-only tagline because “Bridal Shower” is rated R-13 by the MTRCB and showing this Jan. 1 for the ongoing MMFF.)
***
Business lessons from ‘Mano Po 2,’ ‘Filipinas’ and ‘Bridal Shower’

By Wilson Lee Flores
The Philippine STAR 12/29/2003

Can the Philippine movie industry (with luminaries such as Dolphy, FPJ, Erap, Mother Lily and Sharon Cuneta) someday help spark a cultural revolution that would set the whole Philippine archipelago afire with economic, social, cultural and moral reforms instead of just being the breeding ground for senators, mayors or political leaders? What should be the role of the industry in building a better economic future for the Philippines? When will the government undertake measures to save the industry from financial ruin and obsolescence – such as cutting down the grossly exorbitant taxes and by providing financial aid for high-quality film projects that could be exported worldwide?

There is indeed no business like show business, especially its huge untapped potential for propagating ideas and values that could subvert the semi-feudal socio-economic/political and Spanish-influenced Philippine society. Our movie industry is still alive and kicking, despite our moribund economy, as well as the non-stop exploitation by politicians who use showbiz for electoral campaigns but milk local films via high taxes. The industry is still alive, despite director Jose Javier Reyes’ pronouncement in the Asian Wall Street Journal that the Philippine movie industry is a "cancer patient."

Three entries for the 2003 Metro Manila Film Festival premiered recently (Mano Po 2: My Home, Filipinas and Bridal Shower). Here are our reviews of these films using a business and economic point of view. ‘Mano Po 2’ – A Rags-To-Riches Saga, Life Insurance And Mismanagement Of Three Wives
Mano Po 2: My Home is not yet the definitive film on Chinese life in the Philippines because it was told not from a Chinese point of view, but it succeeds as a well-crafted and entertaining soap opera on a grand scale. Leading the cast is Christopher de Leon who masterfully plays the poor Chinese immigrant Antonio Chan. He overcomes poverty to become a taipan with assets worth P800 million pesos. In the beginning, Antonio and his wife move into a big house in Binondo, with his wife wondering if they could afford it. Antonio replies that access to capital would not be difficult. Then the camera zooms into a ‘20s-era China Bank building in Binondo, showing Antonio applying for a loan at China Bank in order to start a new business. Years later, the wealthy taipan wisely takes out a P200 million life insurance policy from First Guarantee Life Assurance Co. Inc. (First Life) with his wife Sol (Susan Roces) and eldest son Lean (Cogie Domingo) as beneficiaries.

First Life president Peter G. Coyiuto reportedly paid several million pesos to add this portion to the script, hoping to help propagate the gospel of life insurance as a means of saving and obtaining financial help. A graduate of Wharton Business School and La Salle, Coyiuto laments that the Philippines has one of Asia’s lowest national savings rates, which includes very low life insurance coverage nationwide. He adds that a high national savings rate is required to build up domestic capital needed to fund Philippine economic development.

Since this is a two-hour movie focusing on the immigrant taipan’s three squabbling wives, it is unfortunate that not much is shown about his early years of blood, sweat and toil.

Did Antonio encounter failures similar to the two bankruptcies of the young Lucio Tan? Did Antonio experience the same searing tragedy as John Gokongwei Jr. whose father died young and whose family home in Cebu was foreclosed by creditors? Did Antonio suffer experiences similar to the young Gokongwei’s rejection by a top Chinese-owned bank in his first loan application, but only to be later accommodated by China Bank under Dee K. Chiong and Albino SyCip? Did Antonio endure the same hardships as Henry Sy, whose father became bankrupt due to the burning of a sari-sari store and the looting of another store in Quiapo during World War II?

Antonio is good in business but causes the near-collapse of his clan because he fails on three things: in managing his three wives, in managing his kids, and in preparing for succession in case of his death. His only wise decision is to protect his estate and heirs by purchasing a P200 million policy from First Life.

Sol, Antonio’s first wife, is a Filipina played exceedingly well by Susan Roces and Kris Aquino (as the young Sol). Equally great performances from Zsa Zsa Padilla as the long-suffering second wife Lu Shui (a Chinese), and Lorna Tolentino as the mistress (a Chinese-Filipina mestiza), a savvy businesswoman named Belinda. The scheming and ambitious Belinda is not depicted as the traditional all-evil villain, for she helps her late husband attain success. Rather, she is portrayed as someone fighting for her rights.

Other stars in the cast are: Judy Ann Santos (the sister who disrupts the harmony by giving her corporate shares to her martyr mother, the first wife); Carmina Villarroel who is married to Jay Manalo (a modern-day westernized Chinoy, a spoiled brat who plays golf and silently schemes to steal the family business without honest hard work); Cogie Domingo (the distraught eldest son who grew up fatherless); Richard Gutierrez (the whining spoiled brat son of Belinda who lacks the character of his immigrant Chinese dad); Alessandra de Rossi (another disobedient brat); Karylle (the filial daughter), plus Zoren Legaspi, Chynna Ortaleza and Angel Locsin.

Mano Po 2: My Home is a well-made film epic by director Eric Matti, based on the screenplay of award-winning writer Roy Iglesias with story contributed by executive producer Mother Lily Monteverde, who reveals that the tale of the taipan with three wives was loosely based on the life of her late father-in-law, the patriarch of the prominent Dy-Monteverde Chinese business clan. However, she refuses to reveal which parts of the movie are based on fact and which are pure fiction. ‘Bridal Shower’, Three Crying Ladies, A Car Salesman, & A Failed Insurance Agent
One of the surprises of the 2003 Metro Manila Filmfest is the well-crafted, witty and hilarious sex comedy Bridal Shower produced by Asian Institute of Management (AIM) graduate Robbie Tan, directed by Jeffrey Jeturian and scripted by advertising man Cris Martinez, under the supervision of award-winning writer Armando "Bing" Lao.

It tells the wacky love and sex lives of three female friends working for an advertising agency: the sensuous Dina Bonnevie as an aggressive and wild executive; Cherrie Pie Picache as an overweight, kind-hearted and lovelorn woman; and the voluptuous bold starlet Francine Prieto as the woman who confuses lust with love.

Francine’s character is torn between her true love for Douglas Robinson, the financially struggling jologs painter, and her other suitor Juancho Valentino, a rich mama’s boy with fancy cars. When Francine gets pregnant and is unsure who between her two lovers is the dad, her gold-digger mom played by Gina Pareño nags her to choose the Ayala Alabang kid. Francine ends up as a young matron who wastes her idle time on shopping and gossiping. An encounter between the lower middle-class social-climbing Chabacano-speaking mother (Gina Pareño) conversing in pidgin Spanish with the haughty Spanish-mestiza cacique mother of the groom (Boots Anson Roa) is one of the film’s funniest moments.

Dina Bonnevie’s character is a highly paid, fast-rising and assertive executive hoping to marry her boyfriend Christian Vasquez, an unsuccessful car salesman. Dina not only pays for Christian’s annulment from his wife, she even pays for the P50,000 bribe to hasten the process. When the boyfriend can’t commit to marriage and asks for a cool-off, Dina throws away her successful career and corporate promotion by attempting suicide but ends up accidentally killing her beloved dog!

This widespread phenomenon of failed sales people in Philippine society is again shown in Cherrie Pie Picache’s young macho dancer boyfriend played by Alfred Vargas, whom she urges to switch professions by going into life insurance.

Christian and Alfred are bumbling failures in selling cars and life insurance, but are great lovers – still bad for the Philippine economy! Both of them should never give up and should seek non-stop sales training in order to stop their financial dependence on their girlfriends! Many local salespeople do not view their work as a great profession, do not develop the character to withstand the rigors of sales as well as the constant rejections, and often fail in after-sales customer service.

The movie reflects the tragedy of many families, with enterprising Filipinas subsidizing idle or unsuccessful guys. Dina spends for the needs of Christian while Cherrie Pie goes to an Indian loan shark for the P50,000 cash her boyfriend Alfred desperately needs to borrow! Women should not tolerate their boyfriends becoming spoiled bums! Lack Of Responsible Parenthood In Pinoy Film Families
In Cherrie Pie’s conversation with her macho dancer boyfriend, the man recounts the sob story of financially supporting eight siblings in the province! May this story remind the public that responsible parenthood is one important way to prevent poverty. If you cannot support kids, have the social conscience to refrain from giving birth to so many kids, who will just end up unschooled, malnourished and jobless youths detrimental to national economic and social progress!

In the recent blockbuster movie Tanging Ina, the mother (played by Ai Ai de las Alas) is perennially struggling to support her 12 kids! In Mano Po 2, the taipan has six kids from three women, but this is a small number compared to the macho dancer’s eight siblings in Bridal Shower, Ai Ai’s 12 kids, and Armida Siguion Reyna’s seven kids in Filipinas.

Will these movies help impart the fact that responsible parenthood is ideal not only for the mother’s physical health but also crucial for a family’s economic well-being and financial security? When will our political leaders raise the issue of responsible parenthood into a national priority policy for economic progress and social justice? Are the Catholic bishops, who oppose contraceptives, doing their share to promote responsible parenthood through the rhythm method and proper health education using their vast network of parishes in poor communities nationwide? Leftist Unions, Rotten Onions, P2.6 Trillion In Stinking Corruption
In the socially relevant and politically courageous film Filipinas directed by award-winning Joel Lamangan and scripted by Roy Iglesias, the matriarch of the family surnamed Filipinas is Armida Siguion-Reyna. She worked as an educator but failed to practice responsible parenthood. The surviving six of her seven children is led by eldest child Maricel Soriano, a home economics graduate who sacrifices her own personal happiness to care for her aging mother, helping the family financially by cooking and selling food items. Maricel often gives money or loans to the wife of her activist younger brother played by Victor Neri, who spends more time staging labor strikes to cripple industries or joining political rallies than feeding his own family!

We disagree with the common depiction of radical labor union leaders in Filipino movies as all-good saints or heroes, such as in the award-winning box-office flop Sister Stella L. Victor Neri is convincing as the leftist labor union leader who eventually goes underground after the government accuses him of blowing up a factory. He is a misguided idealist and a menace to Philippine free enterprise, but he is an honest labor leader (unlike some of his peers here and even in America who receive huge bribes). When will a major Filipino film present the other side of the truth – how the radical Left impoverishes the country by scaring away domestic and foreign investments from our economy by mixing legitimate labor issues with illogical socialist political sloganeering?

Ironically, ideologically socialist and leftist governments in China and Vietnam do not allow strikes by radical labor unions, leveraging their decisive no-strike labor policy as one of the irresistible attractions for the massive inflow of foreign investments into their booming economies.

Armida’s second child Richard Gomez is her favorite. He fails financially after losing his white-collar computer job in California and is forced to return home because he can’t afford to raise his kids in America. How many untold tales of overseas Filipinos becoming failures or endlessly struggling in the fabled land of milk and honey, but who continue to send hard-earned dollars to feed their unemployed relatives in our republic who think their balikbayan relatives are mining gold?

Third child Dawn Zulueta is a caregiver working in Israel who survives a terrorist bombing which kills her friend. The government refuses to aid her friend’s family because a bureaucrat says she is unlisted as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) mainly due to her illegal labor recruiter. Dawn’s husband, played by Richard Quan, dreams of migrating to the US and is a jobless bum, while their daughter grows up a stranger to her OFW mom. In the end, Dawn stays home to care for her comatose mom Armida, and her once bum husband finally changes heart and finds work as an OFW in Libya.

May this aspect of Filipinas shame our many corrupt and inept political leaders, for their failure to solve the massive problem of about 12 million people jobless or underemployed today, which is the reason why 2,700 Filipinos leave our republic daily to work overseas, according to the Department of Labor and Employment. The politicians even have the nerve to hide the unemployment failure, by claiming to be the champions of OFWs!

Fourth child Aiko Melendez is a self-centered entrepreneur. She weds an Indian businessman played by Raymond Bagatsing. Aiko can’t stop the steady decline of the Filipinas family’s onion business, due to the government’s failure to stop the flood of cheaper onion imports. Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry director Henry Lim Bon Liong says that import restrictions can be adjusted according to the supply situation of Philippine onions, rice and other agricultural products, but we should not allow total opening of the country to the deluge of cheap imports and smuggling of agricultural products which may financially ruin our poor farmers, bankrupt small traders like the Filipinas family and further impoverish our rural regions.

The government should protect the country’s 12 million farmers in our rural regions as a priority national policy, similar to the Bush government’s protectionist policy for its agricultural sector, as well as similar policies by Japan, China and Europe to help their farmers. Idiotic political leaders who have no wisdom or true patriotism had years ago signed the death warrant for the country’s industries and agriculture by making the Philippines one of the earliest members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), succumbing to Western pressures for the fast-paced opening up of the Philippine economy to globalization.

Why didn’t they learn from the nationalistic and no less business-minded leaders of Malaysia or China, who only agreed to open up their economies to globalization but in stages and according to their own terms?

The youngest child played by Wendell Ramos is a soldier fighting rebels in Mindanao, and he is a Trillanes-like reformist who files a formal complaint on military corruption. Though his superiors fail to act on his complaint, Wendell has no chance to be persuaded to join a military coup because he is killed, possibly liquidated by fellow military officers to shut him up. How many other similar cases are there in the Philippine military?

Will Filipinas’ tale of the killed idealistic soldier complaining about corruption awaken the apathetic public on the decades of non-stop systemic corruption in government, the judiciary, national police and military organizations? Civil Service Commission Chairman Karina David estimates that the Philippine government lost $48 billion or P2.6 trillion to corruption over the past 20 years! How many tens of thousands of public schools, provincial roads and hospitals could have been built, how many millions of textbooks and medicines could have been bought by the money stolen by our political leaders in the past two decades of corruption which has impoverished the Philippines despite our abundance of skilled labor, our amazing wealth of natural resources and vast arable lands?
* * *
Thanks for all your great messages to wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@newyork.com or wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig

***
‘Bridal Shower’ is Seiko’s first offering for 2004
Crispina Martinez. Belen

From the pigeonhole:

Seiko Films starts the year 2004 on a high note with the release of an honest-to-goodness cinematic masterpiece— “Bridal Shower,” the first project of director Jeffrey Jeturian for the once-controversial film outfit.

Named one of the official entries to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), “Bridal Shower” casts Dina Bonnevie, Cherrie Pie Picache and newcomer Francine Prieto in the lead roles, with Gina Pareño, Boots Anson-Roa, Pinky Marquez, Christian Vasquez, Rodel Velayo, Douglas Robinson and Juancho Valentino as co-stars.

Bridal Shower will be shown on Jan. 1, during the second week run of the MMFF.

A “comedy of manners” about three women who just can’t seem to find the right man, “Bridal Shower” is a departure from the quickie bold flicks with naughty titles that Seiko has become known for in the past. As part of the plan to reinvent his company’s image, Seiko boss Robbie Tan began by tapping critically acclaimed directors for his projects, starting with Mac Alejandre (who directed “Liberated”) and now, Jeffrey Jeturian for “Bridal Shower.”

Aside from Jeturian — who has been nominated as Best Director by the Urian, Star Awards for Movies and the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) and who has also won international acclaim for his movies at the Houston World Film Festival, the 1999 Cinemanila International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival — Robbie also brought on board seasoned performers like Dina and Cherrie Pie to add to the movie’s artistic merits.

This early, people are expecting Dina and Cherrie Pie to scoop up acting awards for their performances in the movie, not just from the MMFF, but from other awards-giving bodies as well.

Recently, the movie was screened in a press preview and met with unanimous approval from the movie press and film critics. They hailed “Bridal Shower” as one of the best films ever produced this year. According to them, the movie will change the way people in the industry view comedies and proves that local producers can come up with intelligent, potentially awardwinning feel-good films that people will talk about even years after they’ve been shown.

“Everything about the movie is outstanding,” said one film reviewer. “From the direction to the writing, to the acting — I wonder what took Seiko Films so long to come up with a project like this!”

“Bridal Shower” is a production of Seiko Films, with direction by Jeffrey Jeturian and script by Cris Martinez (with script supervision by Armando “Bing” Lao).
***
Film fest about politics, cries director

Updated 10:53am (Mla time) Dec 14, 2003
By Jocelyn Valle, Nini Valera
Inquirer News Service

"A SHAM."
That was how acclaimed director Jeffrey Jeturian called the selection of the seven movies that will be shown when the Metro Manila Film Festival opens on Christmas Day and the two others-including his own "Bridal Shower"-on Jan. 1.
"The film fest has never been about good movies," Jeturian declared last Friday at the press conference for "Bridal Shower" from Seiko Films. "It's all about politics. And this year is no exception."
Jeturian's movie is a sex comedy starring Dina Bonnevie, Cherry Pie Picache and Francine Prieto. Jeturian is also the creator of the award-winning, highly praised "Tuhog."
"They (film fest committee) don't want to admit it but they had other considerations," the young filmmaker told Inquirer Entertainment. "Who are in the committee and who are in the casts (of the other entries)? If they considered the genres, they would have been fair if they chose two dramas, two comedies two fantasies and one horror."
To open with "Bridal Shower"
on Jan. 1 is Erik Matti's "Gagamboy" from M&Q Productions. The seven others open on Dec. 25: "Captain Barbell" about a comic book superhero, Premiere Productions; "Crying Ladies," a black comedy, Unitel Productions; "Fantastic Man," Octoarts Films and M-Zet Productions; "Filipinas," a family drama, Viva Films; "Malik-Mata," a suspense-horror movie, Canary Films; "Mano Po 2," another family drama, Regal Films, and "Homecoming," yet another family drama, Teamwork Productions.
Caloocan City Mayor Rey Malonzo leads the screening committee that assigned the playdates to the movies. His son Christopher is featured in "Captain Barbell," "Fantastic Man" and "Homecoming."
As in last year, the two movies that earned the least money among the first seven would be pulled out of the theaters on Jan. 1 to give way to "Gagamboy" and "Bridal Shower."
A slot in the first week of the festival is very much coveted by the participants, since the Christmas season traditionally means the biggest box-office earnings.
After the announcement of the playdates of the nine entries last Friday, director Joey Romero explained to Inquirer Entertainment that the screening committee, of which he's a member, abided by these criteria: creativity and style, 50 percent; commercial viability, 30 percent, and exemplifying Filipino culture and history, 20 percent.
"We also considered having a balanced lineup," Romero added. "It turned out that we had similar choices. 'Bridal Shower' was medyo adult. As for 'Gagamboy,' there are already three fantasy movies and we don't want any of these to suffer. It doesn't mean, though, that they are inferior."
Aside from Romero, eight other entertainment industry figures decided on the playdates: Caloocan City Mayor Rey Malonzo, who's also the overall festival chair; Manuel Nuque of the Philippine Motion Pictures Producers Association; Dominic Du, Greater Manila Theaters Association; Marcus Ng, Metro Manila Theaters Association; Ma-an Hontiveros; Serge Remonde, RPN-9; Caloy de Leon, Film Development Foundation Inc., and professor Orly Molina.
Regal Films' publicity and production consultant, Dolly Guevarra, said the people behind "Gagamboy" had expected that the Vhong Navarro starrer would get Jan. 1.
"As shown in the last film fest, it's a good playdate," said Guevarra. "Mother (Lily Monteverde) likes Jan. 1."
M&Q Productions, which produced "Gagamboy," is a sister company of Mother Lily's Regal Films.
In the previous festival, the Jan. 1 openers "Lastikman" and "Spirit Warriors" out-grossed those shown on Dec. 25, with the exception of "Mano Po."
"Dec. 25 is still the best playdate because Christmas Day is really for the whole family, especially the kids," said "Lastikman" producer Orly Ilacad of Octoarts. This year, he has another superhero flick, "Fantastic Man," again starring co-producer Vic Sotto. He's also crossing his fingers for the success of "Malik-Mata," since its producer, Canary Films, is Octoarts' sister company.
Perennial film fest participant Bong Revilla agreed with him.
"It's on Christmas Day that the family goes out to watch movies together," said Sotto, who plays Captain Barbell.
Dina Bonnevie of "Bridal Shower" prefers Jan. 1 for different reasons.
"Ayokong tapatan ang movie ni Vic," she said, referring to her ex-husband. "I also don't want to have friction again with 'Mano Po 2' (where she was supposed to play a major role)."
Jeturian said he hopes the situation will be a blessing in disguise.
"Compared with other productions, we had the least time to prepare," he said.
The original main cast had Rosanna Roces, Rufa Mae Quinto and Diana Zubiri. Since Francine is the only sexy star in the final cast, the treatment changed a bit. "It's still a sex comedy but it's not erotic anymore," he said.
In the previous festival, "Spirit Warriors II" and "Lastikman" were shown on Jan. 1, when "Mano Po," "Dekada '70," "Agimat," "Alamat ng Lawin," "Lapu-Lapu" and "Home Along da Riber" had been showing for a week.
But just like the last two movies last year, "Gagamboy" and "Bridal Shower" will still compete with the other entries for this year's awards. Last year, "Spirit Warriors II" won the third best picture award, beating even the other movies shown on the regular festival playdate.
Last year, the decision to show "Spirit Warriors II" and "Lastikman" later than the rest drew criticisms.
Malonzo said the playdates could be beneficial to "Bridal Shower" and "Gagamboy" since many Metro Manila residents spend the holidays in the provinces during Christmas.
Last year, "Lastikman" and "Spirit Warriors II" reported higher revenues than the entries shown earlier. "Lastikman" had the highest opening day gross.
With a report from Edson Tandoc Jr

Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Serna: ‘Bridal Shower’ movie, feel good sexy comedy
By Roger Serna
Sounds and images
SUNSTAR CEBU

Since last year, another activity was added to the already long list of holiday-related celebrations that Cebuanos and those in other major cities of the country can look forward to year after year. Hopefully, this will go on notwithstanding who are at the helm of government considering that the election period is already very much around the corner.

What I’m referring to is the expansion of the Metro Manila Film Festival that counted Cebu as one of the places where some or most of the official entries will be shown simultaneously with those in Metro Manila.

One of the major attractions is the parade of stars where floats carrying some or all of the members of the cast of the entries are paraded through the major streets of these cities. In last year’s outing, the number of people lining the sides of the streets looked like a preview of the consistent crowd-drawing festival, the Sinulog, which Cebu celebrates three weeks after the New Year celebration.

ab

In this year’s filmfest, one of the official entries is Bridal Shower by Seiko Films. As observed through the years, Seiko Films had been churning out sexy films and had discovered new talents along the way.

Bridal Shower, however, tends to be different from the film company’s previous projects in the sense that it is not merely sexy but a comedy as well. Josie Pereyra of JSP Ads & Promotions hastens to add that Bridal Shower is a feel good movie.

Considering the social, economic, political and all the types of problems we feel these days, we really need a feel good movie to at least help lift our spirits especially at this time of the year.

This Seiko project boasts of an impressive line-up of artists, the likes of Dina Bonnevie, Seiko’s new find Francine Prieto, Cherry Pie Picache, hot hunk Christian Vasquez, Seiko’s dependable property Rodel Velayo, veteran actresses Boots Anson-Roa and Gina Pareño and new discoveries Alfred Vargas, Douglas Robinson and Juancho Valentino.

Juancho, in case you don’t know, hails from Cebu, most specifically, Lapu-Lapu city. I’ll give you more info about Juancho next time (hopefully with an accompanying photo).

At the helm of this sex-comedy is young but talented and promising Jeffrey Jeturian. Make the movie part of your holiday list and pave the way for an enjoyable yuletide celebration.

***

[ariel madrid]

Originally posted by 4MER_Pexer
pac_maniac

About the movie of Alice Dixon, Donna Cruz and Agot Isidro (forgot her), it's Kadenang Bulaklak

no,it isnt.it is"Pangako ng Kahapon".Kadenang Bulaklak starred Donna Cruz,Angelu de Leon,Anna Roces and Vina Morales(as the eldest of the 4 siblings) with the late Nida Blanca as their mother.

[vida]

Congratulations to Ms. Maricel Soriano - MMFF2003 Best Actress (FILIPINAS)!!!

Thank GOD you won. I would have really cried had you not won it this time. :lol: Your talent is so wonderful that each time there is something to observe in you.

Don't let that fire burn out. *okay*

[zhelle]

Mga kapatid, column ni Mr. Billy Balbastro sa Abante, jan 03 2003


Nadismaya ako, 31 lang kami sa sinehan sa Filipinas!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I always pontificate here that New Year’s Day is the second biggest day in local movie theaters as far as the box office and moviegoers are concerned. It is next to Christmas Day, the biggest day in theater attendance.

With a hectic two-day stretch which I spent out-of-town, I decided to have a quite New Year’s evening. I wanted to spend it in the theaters to catch up with my viewing of the MMFF films.

I decided to see Filipinas and Mano Po 2, the third and the second best films, respectively. Since I reside in the University Belt, I tried Gotesco Cinema at Recto. I found to my dismay that the two films weren’t in Gotesco Recto anymore.

So Isetann at the corner of Recto and Quezon Boulevard was my next stop. But the guards told me that the last full show was 7:30 p.m. and it was already 7 p.m. That meant I could not view two movies as I planned that evening.

I took a chance by proceeding to SM Manila (near City Hall) and surely, the theaters and their employees there are always spectators-friendly. They have this 8 p.m. screening with a 10 p.m. last full show.

So I decided to take in Filipinas first. Only two ticket booths are serving five theaters but after dinner, there was no pila, much to my surprise. Was 8 p.m. too late for regular theatergoers on New Year’s Day?

What greeted me was an almost empty theater -- with 19 seated spectators in the orchestra and 12 at the premiere (loge) section. I could not be wrong -- I counted them, including myself.

In fact, at one side of the Premiere section, a janitor probably with a big plastic was cleaning up by picking up plastic things from the floor.

But I liked what I saw. Filipinas is a beautiful, at times hard-hitting movie, well-acted and well-crafted. Sure enough, like the jurors, we feel it deserves its Gatpuno Villegas Cultural Award. Personally I feel it deserve a higher than third best film slot.

But like the jurors, I appreciate the theme song (Paano Kita Mapapasalamatan) but I am now bored with Sarah Geronimo’s belting.

At nearby cinema, I took it Erik Matti’s Mano Po 2. Again the almost empty theater. Di bale, last full show naman. But I remember the last full show of Tanging Yaman and Hubog some years back.

Again I counted: 17 in orchestra, 12 in premiere section where I was by my lonely self. The janitor was also cleaning up beside me while the show was going on.

I like the shots of Mano Po 2 and the story but I found the acting somewhat “tortured,” too stagy and the story flow convuluted. But as a whole, Mano Po 2 was impressive with its production design.

Mano Po, the original was more simpler.

With six more days of the MMFF 2003, I wish to continue the campaign for us to patronize all the local movies now showing in the theaters. This way we can help the movie industry and its people.

Instead of complaining about the kind of movies we produce, why don’t we see the movies we have in the festival. Incidentally, at SM last time, Bridal Shower had a full ticket container in both theaters at SM Manila. Better than the other films. After all, was its opening day. Yes, we spent an enjoyable New Year’s Day evening.

Again, we urge you see a movie so that we can believe the MMFF 2003 press releases that this current festival is a huge success.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[zhelle]

Billy Basbastro's column, Abante-Tonite Jan 03 2003

Kahanga-hanga si Maricel Soriano sa kanyang pagganap ng papel na Yolanda Filipinas, ang panganay at taongbahay ng dating principal na si Florencia Filipinas (Armida Siguion Reyna) sa pelikulang Filipinas.

Napanood namin ang Mano Po 2 at may moments of brilliance ang pag-arte nina Zsa-zsa Padilla ("Ako, legal wife"), Lorna Tolentino at Kris Aquino. Pero mas gusto namin ang butangera’t palabang Stella ni Sharon Cuneta sa Crying Ladies. Pinaghalo ni Sharon ang comedy at pathos sa pagganap niya. Maganda.

Pero mas maraming ranges ang acting ni Maricel, bilang panganay na naiwan ng biyahe ng buhay sa Filipinas. Ang ganda-ganda. Unpredictable siya. It’s a joy to watch. Congrats, Marya!

[jj9527]

2003 Metro Manila Film Festival Postscript
...or What I Did During My Christmas Vacation

By Professor Paolo Manalo, UP Diliman
Literary Editor, Philippines Free Press
1st Prize Winner, 2002 Palanca Awards (Poetry)

Ranked from worst to best:
9. HOMECOMING--Blatant didacticism + barangay
histrionics seem to be the formula for this Gil Portes movie.
Not even Alessandra de Rossi's acting can save this one.

8. FILIPINAS--It's...a Filipino family, the Filipinases (blatant
attempt to make the family the microcosm of Filipino
society). Lamangan's also working on a Portes formula
except that in this movie, histrionics is domestic. The movie
teaser says that if you're not moved or touched by the
movie, then you're stone. It touched us alright...for about
thirty minutes, then we walked out.

7. MANO PO 2: MY HOME--If you've seen the first movie
and lived, this one might just kill you. The actors here can't
even pretend to be Filipino-Chinese...not even with
transparent tape on the sides of their eyes. Not even
Alessandra de Rossi's acting can save this one.

6. FANTASTIC MAN--All this movie needs is Ruby
Rodriguez, FrancisM, Gladys Guevarra, Pia Guanio, Toni
Gonzaga and Tony Rose Gayda and you have Eat...Bulaga.
This is definitely a bad thing since you don't need to pay 66
pesos for Eat...Bulaga, you get it for free six days a
week...and you get it with the Laban o Bawi portion with a
greater amount of Sexbomb Dancers minus Ara Mina and
the ever-annoying Leo Martinez.

5. MALIKMATA--The present didactic editorializing that
Jose Javier Reyes can't seem to resist in his movies spoils
the potential for a psychic detective subgenre in Philippine
movies. They marketed this wrong. They said this was a
horror movie. "Handa ka na ba matakot?" If this is a horror
flick, the last word should read "matulog". Still, nothing
beats that bloodied mirror in terms of visuals.

4. GAGAMBOY--Oh, my god! It's the Marvel Spider-Man
clone made Pinoy! Just kidding. A good hero is made by a
good alter ego, which is what Vhong Navarro should be
doing. Luckily, Elvis Presley-wannabe Jay Manalo was there
to save the day as the villainous Ipisman. Plus points for Ate
Glow.
-------------------------------------------------
3. CRYING LADIES--Exceptional movie but Mark Meily didn't
seem to know where to end this one. The story (as my
friend Allan Chua puts it) should have ended when the dead
guy was buried. Hilda Koronel and Bella Flores steal the
show. We're shown a different Sharon Cuneta, true...but, she has so many unconvincing moments. Di pa niya kaya.

2. BRIDAL SHOWER--If it's from Seiko, it must be good. If
it's from Jeffrey Jeturian (who now directs Daisy Siete) and
Chris Martinez (Last Order sa Penguin) you expect good to
be better. It is better, but not the best. At least the humor
isn't as pilit (forced) as in CRYING LADIES, but somehow we
expected more non-sequiturian leaps from Martinez. Joi
Barrios and Flora Gasser are scene stealers. It helps that
Francine Prieto and Alfred Vargas are in it.

1. CAPTAIN BARBELL--The Mars Ravelo legacy is saved...by
Bong Revilla. Before you start doubting, yes...I'm serious.
This movie caught me by surprise. Plus the Darna (Regine
Velasquez) and Lastikman cameos were well-earned. Good
chemistry helps in the Ogie Alcasid-Regine Velasquez-Bong
Revilla relationship. Yes, the special effects are awful, yes
we've still a long way to go to achieve Gollum-level special
effects...but this movie actually adds something to the
Filipino superhero subgenre. It raises questions and doesn't
attempt to answer all of them. After a long time, we finally
have a movie in the tradition of those Vilma Santos Darna
movies.

[SiDarnaAko]

Billy Basbastro's column, Abante-Tonite Jan 03 2003

Kahanga-hanga si Maricel Soriano sa kanyang pagganap ng papel na Yolanda Filipinas, ang panganay at taongbahay ng dating principal na si Florencia Filipinas (Armida Siguion Reyna) sa pelikulang Filipinas.

Napanood namin ang Mano Po 2 at may moments of brilliance ang pag-arte nina Zsa-zsa Padilla ("Ako, legal wife"), Lorna Tolentino at Kris Aquino. Pero mas gusto namin ang butangera’t palabang Stella ni Sharon Cuneta sa Crying Ladies. Pinaghalo ni Sharon ang comedy at pathos sa pagganap niya. Maganda.

Pero mas maraming ranges ang acting ni Maricel, bilang panganay na naiwan ng biyahe ng buhay sa Filipinas. Ang ganda-ganda. Unpredictable siya. It’s a joy to watch. Congrats, Marya!

I agree with Billy Balbastro. When Maricel acts, you can feel a supernatural presence in the room. Hinde ako halos humihinga kapag siya ang nasa screen. :lol:

I really wish that she score a GRANDSLAM.

[renz]

kawawa naman pala tong up professor na ito, hehehe. mahilig sa mga pambatang pelikula. tsk..tsk..

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
[b](It's camp, for sure, but they want us to believe Inagaw mo ang Lahat sa Akin has dislodged Kisapmata as being THE film about incest.)



sabihin mo sa akin kung sino nagsabi nito... si carlitos? si bibeth? kung totoo man claim nila yan, ang kapal naman ng mukha nila... pero siguro mas maigi kung papatunayan mo muna.

with regard to tatlo... magkasalo, hindi ko napanood ang pelikulang ito. di ba si ara mina bida dito? sayang... katawa tawa din siguro ginawa niya dito. but isn't the film about lesbians?

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by SiDarnaAko
I agree with Billy Balbastro. When Maricel acts, you can feel a supernatural presence in the room. Hinde ako halos humihinga kapag siya ang nasa screen. :lol:

I really wish that she score a GRANDSLAM.

OA kasi :D

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
sabihin mo sa akin kung sino nagsabi nito... si carlitos? si bibeth? kung totoo man claim nila yan, ang kapal naman ng mukha nila... pero siguro mas maigi kung papatunayan mo muna.

with regard to tatlo... magkasalo, hindi ko napanood ang pelikulang ito. di ba si ara mina bida dito? sayang... katawa tawa din siguro ginawa niya dito. but isn't the film about lesbians?

We're going off topic here but no, I've no idea whether those exact words did escape their lips. But if you followed their press releases around the time the film was shown, you could sense that was what they wanted to project. I'm sorry but I don't keep newspapers or recorded newsclips from that far back.

Tatlo...Magkasalo was peddled as a film about lesbian struggles but instead turned out to dwell once again on negative stereotypes and in fact proved to be lesbophobic. If you rent it, I'm pretty sure you'll have a good laugh. Again, I don't find myself laughing from having seen it.

I salute the Siguion-Reynas for being film industry activists. They appear to be very articulate and when asked to champion their cause, they know their stuff. Can't say the same for their pictures, however.

[kuchiwara]

I watched Filipinas last night. :)

The Diamond Star Maricel Soriano deserved her Best Actress Award.

The scenes with her long-lost boyfriend (Daniel Fernando) are excellent as they watch and wait, unsure exactly how to deal with one another. The sparks during their exchanges illuminate the screen and Maricel embrace her character completely giving power and depth to her performance. It's a difficult role and Maricel Soriano along with her performance in Mano Po 1 proves that this is indeed her time.

Congratulations!!! *okay* I'm dying to see maricel receiving her long-overdue GRANDSLAM BEST ACTRESS AWARD.

[kuchiwara]

I also watched Bridal Shower. :)

I can't relate to the main characters but i find the film funny and entertaining. Cherry Pie Picache was endearing.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
We're going off topic here but no, I've no idea whether those exact words did escape their lips. But if you followed their press releases around the time the film was shown, you could sense that was what they wanted to project. I'm sorry but I don't keep newspapers or recorded newsclips from that far back.

Tatlo...Magkasalo was peddled as a film about lesbian struggles but instead turned out to dwell once again on negative stereotypes and in fact proved to be lesbophobic. If you rent it, I'm pretty sure you'll have a good laugh. Again, I don't find myself laughing from having seen it.

I salute the Siguion-Reynas for being film industry activists. They appear to be very articulate and when asked to champion their cause, they know their stuff. Can't say the same for their pictures, however.

hmmmm kasi when i judge a film, i evaluate it based on its own merits. hindi ko masyado pinagpapapansin ang press releases. i hardly read them kasi sino ba may pakana non? what else do you expect from a press release? e di pambobola. hindi ako madaling bolahin ng press release.

and who said that carlitos is a brilliant filmmaker anyway? :D no f-----g way! but unlike lamangan, he's very good at what he does. he may not be as brilliant as jeturian but undoubtedly he's very good at camp. he's soooo in touch sa feminine side niya.

[DapHnes_wOrld]

@kuchiwara

super inggit ako... :cool:

u know what, i've noticed that there's probably a side effect which comes with being a film critic in the first place, I don't like the idea that there might be people out there who think I'm an utter fool. :rolleyes:

Which, come to think of it, is probably the best reason of all why I shouldn't be a film critic. :lol:

I thought the main objective of a film critic is to help the audience understand the film better. It is imperative that a good film critic assesses the qualities of a film and points out the flaws and not to insult the person who made the film....

Good critics bring something to you that you haven't seen yourself... i hate wannabes...

:taas_kilay:

[jonruiz]

Originally posted by DapHnes_wOrld
@kuchiwara

super inggit ako... :cool:

u know what, i've noticed that there's probably a side effect which comes with being a film critic in the first place, I don't like the idea that there might be people out there who think I'm an utter fool. :rolleyes:

Which, come to think of it, is probably the best reason of all why I shouldn't be a film critic. :lol:

I thought the main objective of a film critic is to help the audience understand the film better. It is imperative that a good film critic assesses the qualities of a film and points out the flaws and not to insult the person who made the film....

Good critics bring something to you that you haven't seen yourself... i hate wannabes...

:taas_kilay:

Well said kafatid na Daphne.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by DapHnes_wOrld
@kuchiwara

super inggit ako... :cool:

u know what, i've noticed that there's probably a side effect which comes with being a film critic in the first place, I don't like the idea that there might be people out there who think I'm an utter fool. :rolleyes:

Which, come to think of it, is probably the best reason of all why I shouldn't be a film critic. :lol:

I thought the main objective of a film critic is to help the audience understand the film better. It is imperative that a good film critic assesses the qualities of a film and points out the flaws and not to insult the person who made the film....

Good critics bring something to you that you haven't seen yourself... i hate wannabes...

:taas_kilay:

blind item... pwede ka maging movie reporter :D

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by jj9527
2003 Metro Manila Film Festival Postscript
...or What I Did During My Christmas Vacation

By Professor Paolo Manalo, UP Diliman
Literary Editor, Philippines Free Press
1st Prize Winner, 2002 Palanca Awards (Poetry)

Ranked from worst to best:
9. HOMECOMING--Blatant didacticism + barangay
histrionics seem to be the formula for this Gil Portes movie.
Not even Alessandra de Rossi's acting can save this one.

8. FILIPINAS--It's...a Filipino family, the Filipinases (blatant
attempt to make the family the microcosm of Filipino
society). Lamangan's also working on a Portes formula
except that in this movie, histrionics is domestic. The movie
teaser says that if you're not moved or touched by the
movie, then you're stone. It touched us alright...for about
thirty minutes, then we walked out.

7. MANO PO 2: MY HOME--If you've seen the first movie
and lived, this one might just kill you. The actors here can't
even pretend to be Filipino-Chinese...not even with
transparent tape on the sides of their eyes. Not even
Alessandra de Rossi's acting can save this one.

6. FANTASTIC MAN--All this movie needs is Ruby
Rodriguez, FrancisM, Gladys Guevarra, Pia Guanio, Toni
Gonzaga and Tony Rose Gayda and you have Eat...Bulaga.
This is definitely a bad thing since you don't need to pay 66
pesos for Eat...Bulaga, you get it for free six days a
week...and you get it with the Laban o Bawi portion with a
greater amount of Sexbomb Dancers minus Ara Mina and
the ever-annoying Leo Martinez.

5. MALIKMATA--The present didactic editorializing that
Jose Javier Reyes can't seem to resist in his movies spoils
the potential for a psychic detective subgenre in Philippine
movies. They marketed this wrong. They said this was a
horror movie. "Handa ka na ba matakot?" If this is a horror
flick, the last word should read "matulog". Still, nothing
beats that bloodied mirror in terms of visuals.

4. GAGAMBOY--Oh, my god! It's the Marvel Spider-Man
clone made Pinoy! Just kidding. A good hero is made by a
good alter ego, which is what Vhong Navarro should be
doing. Luckily, Elvis Presley-wannabe Jay Manalo was there
to save the day as the villainous Ipisman. Plus points for Ate
Glow.
-------------------------------------------------
3. CRYING LADIES--Exceptional movie but Mark Meily didn't
seem to know where to end this one. The story (as my
friend Allan Chua puts it) should have ended when the dead
guy was buried. Hilda Koronel and Bella Flores steal the
show. We're shown a different Sharon Cuneta, true...but, she has so many unconvincing moments. Di pa niya kaya.

2. BRIDAL SHOWER--If it's from Seiko, it must be good. If
it's from Jeffrey Jeturian (who now directs Daisy Siete) and
Chris Martinez (Last Order sa Penguin) you expect good to
be better. It is better, but not the best. At least the humor
isn't as pilit (forced) as in CRYING LADIES, but somehow we
expected more non-sequiturian leaps from Martinez. Joi
Barrios and Flora Gasser are scene stealers. It helps that
Francine Prieto and Alfred Vargas are in it.

1. CAPTAIN BARBELL--The Mars Ravelo legacy is saved...by
Bong Revilla. Before you start doubting, yes...I'm serious.
This movie caught me by surprise. Plus the Darna (Regine
Velasquez) and Lastikman cameos were well-earned. Good
chemistry helps in the Ogie Alcasid-Regine Velasquez-Bong
Revilla relationship. Yes, the special effects are awful, yes
we've still a long way to go to achieve Gollum-level special
effects...but this movie actually adds something to the
Filipino superhero subgenre. It raises questions and doesn't
attempt to answer all of them. After a long time, we finally
have a movie in the tradition of those Vilma Santos Darna
movies.


jj, nalinlang ako nito. naniniwala ka ba sa mamang ito?

i agree that filipinas is one of the worst, if not the worst, films of the farce festival. and i can buy that bridal shower is better than crying ladies pero to say capt barbell is the best?! naman!!!

don't get me wrong pero i'm not being judgemental just because fantasy comedy ang genre nito. i went inside the theater with an open mind... pero 15 min into the film e gusto ko ng isuka ang popcorn na kinakain ko. ang CORNY ni Ogie! mas nakakatawa pa siya sa SOP. pag walang script na sinusunod. si Regine kala mo umaarte sa magpakailanman. the film is made even worse when sarah geronimo launches into "and if... forever's not enough..." ENOUGH na nga...

bakit nga pala gay lingo ang lenggwahe ni enteng dito? dahil ba confused siya sa identity niya? pilit na pilit talaga. wala akong makitang ganda sa pelikulang ito kundi si... ruffa mae! (just like uma thurman as poison ivy who's the only saving grace in the worst batman movie ever)

tingin ko lang e nagpapaka-DIFF itong si prof paolo manalo. sa hangaring maging unconventional ang views niya... ayun sinabing best ang capt barbell! ok lang sana kung sinabi niyang pangit ang bridal shower o ang crying ladies. kaso pinuri pa niya e.

sige na nga opinyon niya yan e

[luciam124]

@Daphnes_World

:wave: nag-react si Pac_Maniac2 sa "blind item" mo. Guilty siya. :rotfl:

[jj9527]

i disagreed with some of his points, mr manalo's, i mean. i disagreed especially with his choice of captain barbell as the top film but i agreed with him in regard to bridal and crying. bridal, for me, is the best picture.

i posted his article because i know very well that his statements will lead many of us to react.

[jj9527]

A REVIEW OF 'CRYING LADIES'
AUTHOR:MARIO BAUTISTA
SOURCE:PEOPLE'S JOURNAL
DATE:JAN.2,2004

UNBELIEVABLY THE BEST

ADJUDGED BEST PICTURE in the MMFF is CRYING LADIES.

Let's stress that for a first timer,Mark Meily's debut film is better than usual.if the filmfest jurors thought it deserves to win,then that's their opinion,but we've talked to many scribes who think otherwise.the story of 3 women hired as mourners during the 5-day wake of a Chinese businessman,Sharon Cuneta's megastar status dictates she gets the most exposure as Stella Mate,a 32-year-old ex-convict who cons people,like the passengers inside a bus from whom she asks for donations,jeepney drivers.while in jail for estafa,her husband,Guido(Ricky Davao),has found another woman,Cecille(Sharmaine Buencamino).she is crushed when Guido tells her that he and Cecille are moving to Cagayan de Oro with her son(Julio Pacheco).Doray(Hilda Koronel) is a starlet who appeared in 'Darna and the Giants' where one of the giants step on her.she now forces her daughter(Jem Estrada) to take screen tests.Choleng(Angel Aquino) is a church volunteer who feels so guilty for having an affair with a man(Raymond Bagatsing) who is the husband of her best friend.she tries hard to ward him off but as much as her spirit is willing,her flesh is weak and cannot resist temptation.

SINCE THE MATERIAL IS TREATED AS COMEDY,THE FILM TRIES SO HARD TO BE A CROWD PLEASER TO A FAULT.some scenes do work.the most hilarious one shows Hilda who previously brags about method acting,applying Vicks Vapor rub on her eyes so she can cry and hurt herself in the process.but there are scenes that appear too TH(TRYING HARD) to make viewers laugh.the best example involves Bella Flores who cries beside Winston,but it turns out she has entered the wrong funeral chapel.this has been used in other local comedies before.the film's epilogue also tries hard to give us a feel-good resolution to the stories of the 3 women.Choleng has become a marriage renewal councelor,something that will not happen in real life because facilitators in such renewal seminars are married couples,not someone like her who is still single.we should know because my wife and I are involved in this kind of apostolate.Doray succeeds in making a comeback as the mother of Darna.MOST UNBELIEVABLE OF ALL IS STELLA BEING HIRED AS A VIDEOKE MODEL.

we've seen enough sing-along music videos to know that the models used here are all young and sexy because they are often asked to appear in skimpy swimsuits.the scene where Stella finally tries to pay a jeepney driver but he drives her away because his vehicle figures in an accident is NOT convincing because it is so easy to reach for the payment that Sharon repeatedly tries to hand out to him.even the dream sequence showing.BECAUSE THE STRUCTURE IS NOT THAT TIGHT,THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PARTS THAT DRAG AND MAKE THE PACING QUITE TEDIOUS.SHARON IS GOOD IN HER OFFBEAT ROLE AS STELLA THAT DEVIATES FROM HER USUAL HEROINE ROLE.BUT HER STELLA AND EVEN THE THE OTHER CHARACTERS ARE NOT REALLY THAT WELL-DEFINED IN MEILY'S SCRIPT.there is no reference at all about her background that can help us understand why she turned out to be the way she is.in the case of Doray,we don't know why her film career didn't prosper,who fathered her childand why he's not with them.Hilda plays a basically a caricaturish role.they kept on repeating that Darna and the Giants bitlike they're afraid we might miss the point,but it is never really made clear if she has done other movies.later on,when Bella Flores recognizes her and professes to be a big fan of hers,you'd think that Hilda's Doray has played many other roles that's why Bella remembers her well.despite this,HILDA GIVES A SOLID PERFORMANCE AND SHE HAS THIS TOUCHING SEQUENCE WHERE SHE LOOKS AT HER REFLECTION ON THE TV SCREEN THAT SHE HAS JUST TURNED OFF AND YOU CAN FEEL THE TINGE OF MELANCHOLY THAT ENVELOPES HER BEING.technically,the film is also way above average,particularly the cinematography of Lee Meily(the director's wife)and her effective use of the Milo motion control system in one key sequence.the imaginative opening credit titles also deserve to be commended.BUT WE STILL FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A FILM THAT HAS UNABASHED PLUGS OF PRODUCT BRANDS THAT SHARON ENDORSES CAN WIN BEST PICTURE.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by luciam124
@Daphnes_World

:wave: nag-react si Pac_Maniac2 sa "blind item" mo. Guilty siya. :rotfl:

sino ba nagsasabi na critic ako? yun ba ang tingin ninyo sa akin? wow!

sa totoo lang i'm just a regular filmbuff. just a regular pexer. sabi kasi dito speak your mind. i'm doing just that. :D

sabi nga ni cherry pie sa bridal shower... "P...ng ina naman walang personalan!" :D

[sojourner]

Watching Maricel Soriano's performance as Yolanda Filipinas is truly amazing. She effectively portrayed the role to the hilt and I do agree that Joel Lamangan did bring out the best in her in this movie. For me, this ranks along with Ikaw Pa Lang ang Minahal, Hinugot sa Langit, Saan Darating ang Umaga and Kaya kong Abutin ang Langit in terms of excellence in her acting.

Maricel truly deserves the accolade given her.
Here's hoping she gets the long overdue, Grand Slam title.

[actorjep]

Hi guy, ito ang sa akin...

Best Picture should have been Bridal Shower (ANg galing galing....)
2nd Malikmata (ang ganda ng over all presentation... kaya lang gamit na ang twist at story.... may depth din compare sa mga horror/thriller flick natin)
3rd Crying Ladies (well made... maganda sana ang script kasoparang napakaabrupt ng ending na parang yun lan... after all na pinagdaanan ng mga character)
Best Director Jeffrey Jeturian
Best Actress Maricel Soriano (hands doen... kasi pareho nga silang magaling ni Cherrie Pie pero mas challenging ang role niya... Sharon is aldo good pero mababaw ang Character niya)
BEst Actor Christopher De Leon
Best Supporting Actress Zsa Zsa Padilla (dapat dito siya ninominate)
Best Supporting Actor Victor Neri
Best Screenplay Bridal Shower
Best Prod design Mano Po
Best Story Filipinas
Technical awards... MAlikmata...\

As a Filipino Chinese myself... Mano Po 2 is better than Mano Po 1... mas magaling magchinese ang mga artista ngayun... Prof Manalo hindi kabilib bilib ang comment sa Mano Po 2...

[jj9527]

I think maraming values ang BRIDAL SHOWER pero hindi ito naka spoon feed sa viewer.

For instance, it teaches us not to be judgemental about selecting partners. All three women may have gotten the guys they love. But we all determine what should make us happy.

Happiness varies. We choose our state of "happiness."

The term is problematic. But who are we to judge others. Dahil ba macho dancer dati ang choice ni Cherry Pie ay hindi sila bagay sa isa't isa?

Maraming so called "moral lessons" ang pelikula pero hindi ito sinusubo sa audience.You problematize about it within yourself.

Kung hindi mo makuha ang point ni direk, either iba ang type mong mga films o mahina talaga ang ulo mo.

[wonder_chaser]

pac_maniac2 tanungin ko lang, may pac_maniac1 ba? :glee:

ito lang ang gusto kong sabihin sayo ok? tumigil ka na sa pang-iinsulto mo kay Maricel Soriano, pwede? kasi naman siya ang nanalo di ba? kasi deserving sya, marami'ng nagsabi, di lang mga PExers :) sabihin mong masahol pa ang MMFF sa Famas, tsk tsk bat ba ang laki ng galit mo ha? tapos na di ba? kung di sya manalo ng Grandslam, fine ok lang pero kung manalo, mas ok :)

gusto ko lang mag-post, pero sabi mo nga rin, walang personalan :D

[pac_maniac2]

ako din si pac_maniac1. sadly i never get to use it kasi nakalimutan ko ang password. happy ka na?

well i said maricel is a good actor. but she is so baaaaad in filipinas. kung sa tingin mo insulto yon sa pagkatao ni maria, pwes malaki ang problema mo sa buhay.

bakit ang ipokrito ninyong mga *****-hanga ni maria? may narinig ba ako when i repeatedly said, crying ladies is good in spite of sharon cuneta?

tsk tsk kitang kita tuloy kung sino ang makitid ang pag-iisip. hirap kasi tanggapin maria never really had a chance to even match sharon's accomplishments. i myself think maria is the better actress pero not once did it bother me na sharon has more acting awards. kasi wala akong bilib sa mga award award na yan. (save for a couple of award giving bodies like young critics cricle and well urian)

at saka ano ba problema mo? i myself said she is deserving. the same way ara mina was deserving and melanie marquez was deserving to be recognized by the METRO MANILA FESTIVAL OF FARCE.

walaaaaaaaaaaaa. walaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang pagbabago ang mga ***** hanga ni maria. :D

[pac_maniac2]

sabi ni conrad de quiros sa column niya sa inquirer, the problem with filipinas is that it tries hard to say too much but ends up saying little. (or something to that effect)

pero sabi niya rin, it's still worth seeing. hmmm i had fun watching aiko trying to make her presence felt in the film. i never realized she could act that bad. she used to be very good. having earned well deserved comparisons with the great hilda koronel.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by jj9527
I think maraming values ang BRIDAL SHOWER pero hindi ito naka spoon feed sa viewer.

For instance, it teaches us not to be judgemental about selecting partners. All three women may have gotten the guys they love. But we all determine what should make us happy.

Happiness varies. We choose our state of "happiness."

The term is problematic. But who are we to judge others. Dahil ba macho dancer dati ang choice ni Cherry Pie ay hindi sila bagay sa isa't isa?

Maraming so called "moral lessons" ang pelikula pero hindi ito sinusubo sa audience.You problematize about it within yourself.

Kung hindi mo makuha ang point ni direk, either iba ang type mong mga films o mahina talaga ang ulo mo.

JJ, obviously luciam, renz and the gang belong to the latter.

ang moral na hinahanap ng mga *****-hangang ito ay kailangang ipagduldulan sa kanila para maintindihan nila.

after all they are used to watching marimar, mula sa puso, pangako sa yo, at kung anu ano pang kaputahang telenovelas.

bridal shower is a comedy, a tragic one at that. sadly, akala ng iba ang pagpapatawa ni jeturian and martinez e tulad ng pagpapatawa sa kaya ni mister at kaya ni misis. teka... nakakatawa ba ang sitcom na yan in the first place?

[wonder_chaser]

:looking:

di ba sabi ko sayo tumigil ka na :?:

[DapHnes_wOrld]

originaly posted by pac_maniac2
blind item... pwede ka maging movie reporter

thank you... i'l take that as a compliment.. :)

[Paern79]

i don't understand why some people are getting affected by the comments made by some pexers.
an opinion is an opinion, whether it's good or bad.
who cares if this person doesn't like sharon's or maricel's acting or if they don't like their respected movies, you can't please everybody.
to all the fans of maricel (i am assuming), she got the award, so be happy, most people liked her performance, but for few like pac_maniac2, he didn't like it....again that was his opinion.
i wouldn't comment on any of their movies and performances because i haven't seen any, i wanna see them first before believing all the press releases, awards and comments from people, i know some of the comments are biased due to different reasons

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by wonder_chaser
:looking:

di ba sabi ko sayo tumigil ka na :?:

takot ako :D

[Addam]

I've had the opportunity to re-watch Filipinas here in Iloilo. The moviehouse was 3/4 full and on it's 3rd week of showing? I think that's somthing to think about. Although i must agree with pac-maniac that indeed, the movie is lacking, Maricel's acting is simply flawless. pac-maniac2, ur right to self-expression ends where the right of others begin kaya pwede ba, keep ur lousy opinion to urself. Manigas ka!

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
hmmmm kasi when i judge a film, i evaluate it based on its own merits. hindi ko masyado pinagpapapansin ang press releases. i hardly read them kasi sino ba may pakana non? what else do you expect from a press release? e di pambobola. hindi ako madaling bolahin ng press release.

and who said that carlitos is a brilliant filmmaker anyway? :D no f-----g way! but unlike lamangan, he's very good at what he does. he may not be as brilliant as jeturian but undoubtedly he's very good at camp. he's soooo in touch sa feminine side niya.

Re: evaluating a film based on its own merits, no argument there. But when you do get to see the interviews and press releases, you're clued in to what the filmmakers claim they were trying to say. And when you finally get to see the film, you find out whether or not they succeeded. From what I've read and seen, I'm pretty sure the camp effect of Carlitos' films is an accident. Sa totoo lang, seryoso sila. If you've seen their movies, you could tell Jeturian's Tuhog was not just about your Mauro Gia Samontes and Tata Estebans, it laughed both Carlitos (scene reminiscent of Ligaya, along with other signature Carlitos shots) and even Lamangan (scene reminiscent of Warat) in the face.

Going back on-topic, haven't watched all the pictures in the filmfest, but this is how I would rank those I've seen so far:

1. Crying Ladies - Nasabi nang lahat, it's fresh, funny, upbeat, visually appealing, maganda rin ang pacing. Ganda ng opening credits at title sequence at editing nung scene na inaantay nilang sunduin ng ama yung anak ni Sharon, saka yung transition nung nagbabasa siya ng sulat onto the videoke shoot. Liked the first scenes with Eric, too. Iba talaga pag masipag mag-storyboard. Some parts could've been better cast, though. Hilda was perfect.

2. Filipinas - Like I said in a previous post, I think the negative reaction to this film comes from those who are alienated from the reality and consciousness it portrays. The fact that Filipinas was made, while not quite at par with other notable films of this genre, is still admirable. I think we need more films like Filipinas. Dawn did very well here, too.

3. Mano Po 2 - Way better than the first one. Unlike the first Mano Po -- which I feel is an affront to the Filipino-Chinese community -- this one makes no claims saying "ganito kaming mga Tsinoy." Erik Matti didn't really have much to work with pero nadaan niya sa treatment. Favorite Boyet scene: nung bigla siyang mapangiwi nang mapansin niyang nakita ng dalawang asawa ang pakikipag-flirt niya kay Lorna. I'd love to see him do a well-written comic role again, like his pictures under Mike de Leon.

4. Fantastic Man - I'm a proud Eat Bulaga fan and really, I think the cast is a good enough reason to see this picture -- minus Ara Mina and your token teenagers, of course. It's a dumb movie, sure, but I laughed aloud a lot. Kudos to Michael V for the costumes.

5. Malikmata - Nabanggit ko na rin sa previous posts, masyadong mabagal. Imbis na ma-tense sa suspense e inantok lang ako. OA yung score at sound effects.

6. Captain Barbell - I had to see this cause I knew someone from the crew who did all the work pero inapi sa billing. I really didn't want to, having seen last year's Agimat after all the hype. Ang masasabi ko na lang sa pelikulang iyon e napakahusay ng nag-edit ng trailer niya. Back to Captain Barbell, sinadya lang talaga itong pang-box office. Dinaan sa artista, sa rumored sweethearts na sina Ogie at Regine, Bong at Rufa Mae, at sige na nga, bagamat wala na sa panahon, sina Albert at Snooky. Walang kwenta ang script, ang corny ng dialogue. Meet the villains: you have Penguin via Dagampatay, Poison Ivy via Freezy (what a name) and you just had to have Darth Vader via Lagablab. Plus your annoying Disney villain sidekick via Lobo. You have your Superman 'Can You Read My Mind?' flying scene, too. You also have Nuclear Man's death scene from the worst Superman movie. This flick was no good.

Di ko pa napapanood ang Bridal Shower but I've seen Sana Pag-ibig Na, Pila Balde and Tuhog, even Jeturian's now defunct afternoon dramedy (ito ba ang tamang term?) on Channel 7, sayang limot ko na title. Gusto ko yon lahat. Still intend to see his latest one of these days, sana magkapanahon. How about Matti's Gagamboy? Kumusta yon?

[taray queen]

pac_maniac2, hindi kawalan sa mga tao na lubos na nagmamahal at humahanga sa nag-iisang diamondstar. if you dont like maricel's superb acting in filipinas, that,s your opinion, but i should say, that, that's a super duper mega bias opinion.

[pac_maniac2]

super duper mega bias... nice word(s?)

sabi ng mga ***** hanga ni maria she's superb in filipinas... and that's not super duper mega bias? ;)

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by Paern79
i don't understand why some people are getting affected by the comments made by some pexers.
an opinion is an opinion, whether it's good or bad.
who cares if this person doesn't like sharon's or maricel's acting or if they don't like their respected movies, you can't please everybody.
to all the fans of maricel (i am assuming), she got the award, so be happy, most people liked her performance, but for few like pac_maniac2, he didn't like it....again that was his opinion.
i wouldn't comment on any of their movies and performances because i haven't seen any, i wanna see them first before believing all the press releases, awards and comments from people, i know some of the comments are biased due to different reasons

closemindedness. these people get so affcted they resort to personal attack. they could've reacted with flair, and with wit and they would've made their arguments convincing... sadly they have neither. so they call you names. naghahanap ng kakampi. and they gang up on you. but what good is number if they would only stoop that low?

but i'm having so much fun. call me mababaw or jologs or pathetic, i'm still gonna be here to say my opinion. yes, without batting an eyelash, i would still say filipinas is a baaaaaaaaad movie!

in the meantime, bridal shower i heard is doing very good business. that's great news. bridal shower only proves you don't have to take your film so seriously ta make a seriously great movie.

kung tawa ang hanap mo, go see bridal shower. it makes tanging ina's humor sound like bubble gang jokes. the latter's funny, all right. but leaves you nothing but... kabag. as for bridal shower, ikaw na bahala maghusga.

just relax and see a GREAT movie. :)

[5eleven]

ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng "bad movie"? :lol: ako kasi, gusto ko ang FILIPINAS. at first i thought its a bad movie tulad ng ibang sinasabi dito.... na kesyo "pangit" daw yung pelikula. but when i watched it, nagulat ako... it's not a bad movie at all.... FILIPINAS is WORTH WATCHING....hinde rin "preachy" ang film...klarado at diretso ang mensahe na gustong ipakita ng pelikula...

[pac_maniac2]

klarado at diretso ang mensahe ng capt barbell.... ang kasamaan kailanman ay di magtatagumpay.

ang ganda ganda ganda ganda ng capt barbell no?

united maricelian ka din no? ;) nyahahaha

[5eleven]

@pac_maniac2

:lol: bat capt. barbell ang tinatanong mo? interested ka bang malaman if i have the same bulges of Capt. Barbell? :lol:

I am just finding it amusing that you are getting in an uproar over something so small. You seem rather spoiled and selfish in my opinion, instead of taking my thoughts lightly you went hysterical. That in my opinion shows you are one who cannot take criticism or anything not to your liking.

Just grow up kid and get on with your life. Such a LOSER... tsk..tsk...

[pac_maniac2]

grow up. loser. again, how unoriginal.

no i don't suppose you have the same bulges as capt barbell... sa tingin ko you have darna's bumpers. at dun napunta braincells mo kung meron man :D

5eleven, you've got the height. pwede ka sumali sa calendar girl ng MTB.

[5eleven]

@pac_maniac2

:rotfl: i pity for you dre. u mentioned my height and now Captain Barbell... it goes to show that u are no longer interested in Filipinas .. u are now interested in my "bulges". :rotfl:

GET A LIFE faggy!!!

[pac_maniac2]

you pity for me? nyahahhaha stop me!!! :D

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter

2. Filipinas - Like I said in a previous post, I think the negative reaction to this film comes from those who are alienated from the reality and consciousness it portrays. The fact that Filipinas was made, while not quite at par with other notable films of this genre, is still admirable. I think we need more films like Filipinas. Dawn did very well here, too.



so you are actually suggesting i am "alienated from the reality and consciousness (filipinas) portrays"... tell me does it really take a genius to see that the film is indeed allegorical? e halos isubo na sa bawat manonood na si pop lola ay si inang bayan at mga anak niya ay ang iba-ibang sektor ng society.

conrad de quiros said it best: The movie's weakness is that it tries to say too much, and ends up saying little.

Filipinas is pretentious which is made even worse with all those screaming, slapping, and whining.

we need more films like filipinas? sorry pero masyado na maraming sampalan, ngawaan, at sumbatan sa pelikula at telebisyon. what we need are films like bridal shower. proof that you don't have to take your film too seriously to come up with a really great work.

[Addam]

etching. Ba't di mo pa aminin na ilang ulit momg pinanood ang bridal shower cuz of that scene sa gaybar where Alfred Vargas danced? King daw o..hahahha.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
so you are actually suggesting i am "alienated from the reality and consciousness (filipinas) portrays"... tell me does it really take a genius to see that the film is indeed allegorical? e halos isubo na sa bawat manonood na si pop lola ay si inang bayan at mga anak niya ay ang iba-ibang sektor ng society.

conrad de quiros said it best: The movie's weakness is that it tries to say too much, and ends up saying little.

Filipinas is pretentious which is made even worse with all those screaming, slapping, and whining.

we need more films like filipinas? sorry pero masyado na maraming sampalan, ngawaan, at sumbatan sa pelikula at telebisyon. what we need are films like bridal shower. proof that you don't have to take your film too seriously to come up with a really great work.

Whoa, dude, not everything is all about you. I'm saying the subject can be a turn-off to some people. Another PExer earlier said his/her officemates refused to see the movie just because there was a rally shown in the trailer. Who said anything about geniuses? I'm saying those who are immersed into that sort of reality -- your laborers, your small local agribusiness traders, your OFWs, just about anyone who can grasp what that situation is like -- will truly appreciate the film. I agree that it said too little, it did not say enough. And that's why I feel we need more films like Filipinas. Enough of the cheesy loveteams and mindless shoot-em-ups and massacres, enough of the toilet humor and nasty flesh fests. I know Filipinas is flawed and hilaw in several respects but it's still a noble attempt at presenting truths people would otherwise shut out. Filipinas pales in comparison to Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, Orapronobis, Sakada, Sister Stella L, and the like, that's true (I also recommend Mel Chionglo's Lucia, a film even larger in scope than Filipinas but better written and better acted, though it also ends up slightly uneven), but what makes it important when viewed alongside these pictures is that it shows there's been no significant changes in our national situation since 20 or 30 years back. Hence, as you have oft quoted, walang pagbabago. It's only gotten worse. That's an important statement, that's something most of us refuse to see but ought to. It's high time we see more films of this type. Film is too important a medium to always be used for escapism.

I don't enjoy endless screaming and whining in movies either. I didn't get that viewing experience from watching Filipinas. As far as I'm concerned, most of the characters' actions and reactions were appropriate, but that's just me. We see it different, God, I so get that.

I haven't seen Bridal Shower yet so I can't comment on that. Most of the reviews already posted do say that there really is more to this film than what the trailer shows. I do intend to see it when I have the time.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
i had fun watching aiko trying to make her presence felt in the film. i never realized she could act that bad. she used to be very good. having earned well deserved comparisons with the great hilda koronel.

haven't seen a lot of aiko's movies. can you tell me where she was compared to hilda? curious lang.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
Whoa, dude, not everything is all about you. I'm saying the subject can be a turn-off to some people.
I haven't seen Bridal Shower yet so I can't comment on that. Most of the reviews already posted do say that there really is more to this film than what the trailer shows. I do intend to see it when I have the time.


you wrote: the negative reaction to this film comes from those who are alienated from the reality and consciousness it portrays.

review your post and see if you didn't make a sweeping generalization.

in the mantime, go see bridal shower. if you have the time to post here often, surely you have two hours to spare for bridal shower?

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
haven't seen a lot of aiko's movies. can you tell me where she was compared to hilda? curious lang.

there was nothing in particular. when she was just starting observers felt this young woman showed promise which they didn't see in her peers. young and newbie as she was, she showed depth people noticed.

apart from that promise, i think she was compared to HK partly because she looked like her. well a little.

i thought after may minamahal, she'd be big. she did. but only literally.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
you wrote: the negative reaction to this film comes from those who are alienated from the reality and consciousness it portrays.

review your post and see if you didn't make a sweeping generalization.

in the mantime, go see bridal shower. if you have the time to post here often, surely you have two hours to spare for bridal shower?

O sige, I can accept that it may read like a generalization. But I do feel that if you don't come from or are not exposed to the same background as the characters in the film or what the characters represent, you just won't get it. In fact, if you've been sheltered from all that, you won't even believe it or you might even reject it. To some people, the subject is taboo. I have friends and relatives who roll their eyes, shake their heads, politely change the subject or laugh and walk away once a person starts to talk about politics. If you say you do get it but just think that it was poorly done, okay then. Again, I don't even think it's an excellent film. Pero para sa akin kasi, the fact that these films are made and released is already a triumph.

And please don't presume to know what I can or can't do with my time.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
O sige, I can accept that it may read like a generalization. But I do feel that if you don't come from or are not exposed to the same background as the characters in the film or what the characters represent, you just won't get it. In fact, if you've been sheltered from all that, you won't even believe it or you might even reject it. To some people, the subject is taboo. I have friends and relatives who roll their eyes, shake their heads, politely change the subject or laugh and walk away once a person starts to talk about politics. If you say you do get it but just think that it was poorly done, okay then. Again, I don't even think it's an excellent film. Pero para sa akin kasi, the fact that these films are made and released is already a triumph.

And please don't presume to know what I can or can't do with my time.

hmmm i dont know but i think digging the message of a film is not dependent on whether or not you "come from or are exposed to the same background as the characters" in filipinas or any film for that matter. do i have to be an ad exective or do i have to have loose morals (as one pexer puts it) to appreciate bridal shower? do i have to be an ex-con to understand stella in crying ladies? i think it has a lot to do with one's open-mindedness or the lack of it.

i don't like filipinas not because i can't relate to the characters. (i was once an OFW). i understand all the angst shown in the film. but the problem is... how they're shown or dramatized. yes i think filipinas is too pretentious. too preachy. it's..overkill. i don't have a problem with political films. i like bata bata and dekada 70, they are not great, and compared with the novels, the film adaptaions are wanting.

and there's an even greater crime than having a "close mind."

you dismiss bridal shower (not that you do) as a film that has no moral values, you do not only show ignorance. it's hypocrisy. (to quote j. zafra: "...anyone who thinks art should show only the good is the kind of moron who thinks greeting card rhymes are poetry... denying ugliness won't make it go away. hypocrisy is also obscene.)

filipinas is bad. maybe not in the sense that fantasticman is. surely you can make a political film without ramming its message down our throats?

lastly, i'm sorry for presuming what you can or can't do with your time. really sorry.

[lastdance]

Congratulations to FILIPINAS group !!.. Frankly, the movie is doing good of the tills. I watched it again last monday w/ some friends and we were amazed of its audience attendance. "PUNO ANG SINEHAN". Yesterday, a friend texted me and she said that she watched Filipinas in Caloocan Mall and there's an impressive audience attendance also...

Thank GOD... at least, hinde man FILIPINAS ang naging topgrosser, happy na rin kaming mga supporters ni Ms. Maricel Soriano dahil kumita ang pelikula. Kung ang pagbabasehan kasi ay yung trailer ng pelikula na ipinapakita ang mga nagra-rally, hinde talaga papasukin ito - its a big turn-off to the potential moviegoers dahil alam nating lahat na ang mga ganitong scenes ay ayaw na ayaw ng Filipino movie afficionados....

Pero kumikita ang pelikula at extended siya sa mga sinehan. Magandang senyales ito na nagkakaroon ng pagbabago sa panlasa ng mga manonood.

and for Maricel's winning the best actress award - YOU DESERVED IT...and pls... don't stop...the movie industry needs an actress of your caliber... *okay*

[zhelle]

Kerek ka lastdance, hayaan na lang natin ang mga talunang diva-ding na mag-cry a river their heart out.

Basta, tayo hapi for Marya and Fiipinas. Let's not spoil our joy dahil lang sa mangilan ngilan ang hindi hafi sa buhay. O diva, nagmamagaling ang ibaaaaaa diyan dahil naiiba ang kanilang taste. Yuck!

Criticism is always welcome pero kung destructive na ang dating ng mga diva-ding, pwede sanang di patulan dahil baka sumikat (at sumisikat na sila, diva ding?) pero dapat pagsabihan siguro dahil kelangan nilang ng magpa checkup dahil baka lumala ang sakit nila.

Uy, di ako galit mga kafatid dahil am so much hapi to be angry. Babu!

[pac_maniac2]

some pexers have been trying so hard to make it appear as if their favorite film was a monster hit. malinaw naman na hindi man ito flop e obvious namang napag-iwanan na ito ng 4 o 5 entries. :D

sana nga irelease na ang totoong figures para magising sa katotohanan ang mga hunghang na ito :D

[damntrish]

originally posted by lastdance
Congratulations to FILIPINAS group !!.. Frankly, the movie is doing good of the tills. I watched it again last monday w/ some friends and we were amazed of its audience attendance. "PUNO ANG SINEHAN". Yesterday, a friend texted me and she said that she watched Filipinas in Caloocan Mall and there's an impressive audience attendance also...

Thank GOD... at least, hinde man FILIPINAS ang naging topgrosser, happy na rin kaming mga supporters ni Ms. Maricel Soriano dahil kumita ang pelikula. Kung ang pagbabasehan kasi ay yung trailer ng pelikula na ipinapakita ang mga nagra-rally, hinde talaga papasukin ito - its a big turn-off to the potential moviegoers dahil alam nating lahat na ang mga ganitong scenes ay ayaw na ayaw ng Filipino movie afficionados....

Pero kumikita ang pelikula at extended siya sa mga sinehan. Magandang senyales ito na nagkakaroon ng pagbabago sa panlasa ng mga manonood.

and for Maricel's winning the best actress award - YOU DESERVED IT...and pls... don't stop...the movie industry needs an actress of your caliber... *okay*

oo nga @lastdance. in fact, this afternoon lang i watched it again with my siblings and my Mom.. nakakatuwa na maraming nanonood. yung Mommy ko iyak ng iyak. :lol:

[jonruiz]

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Postscript to the Metro Filmfest
STARBYTES by Butch Francisco
The Philippine Star 01/08/2004

The screening of most of the Metro Manila Filmfest entries ends today. At this point, I would like to give each of the entries and the film festival organizers a one-man standing ovation for the rousing success of this annual movie event.

There was a time (especially in the latter part of the ‘80s) when the Metro Manila Filmfest was nothing but a Christmas farce – with most, if not all, of the entries of very poor quality. In some instances, in fact, the members of the board of judges had to scrape the very bottom of the barrel just to come up with a list of winners for the awards night. Looking back, I laud the decision of the 1986 board (chaired then by Tingting Cojuangco) for refusing to give the first and second best picture prizes because none of the entries that time deserved such honors. Mercifully, all that are in the past.

Starting in 1998 – during the time of Marilou Diaz Abaya’s Jose Rizal – the quality of the festival entries began to improve once again and we had Bulaklak ng Maynila, Tanging Yaman, Death Row, Markova, Hubog and last year, Dekada ‘70 and the original version of Mano Po.

In the recently-concluded Metro Manila Film Festival, most of the entries actually deserved to win Best Picture and I’m happy there was no major furor (unlike last year and the previous year) over the results of the winners in the Gabi ng Parangal.

Of course, some film reviewers were not very happy about the fact that Bridal Shower didn’t figure prominently in the awards race. I see their point and I respect their opinions, but judging films is really a matter of taste. Maybe I have the same taste as the judges in this year’s Metro Filmfest because I agree practically 100 percent with their choice of winners.

Some reviewers and members of the press say they got bored with Crying Ladies. Most other viewers (and this includes majority of the members of the board of judges obviously), however, are raving over this film by new director Mark Meily.

The way I see it, the board of judges must have been impressed with the fresh approach and material utilized by Meily in this film. Besides, there’s no question it’s an intelligent movie that isn’t concerned with commercial viability. If I were part of the panel of judges this year, I too would have reserved my highest scores for this film.

That it was the only film among the entries given an A rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) only affirms the fact that the filfmest jurors made the right decision in declaring Crying Ladies the festival Best Picture.

Mano Po 2 could also have been worthy of the First Best Picture prize because of its grandness. But then, its having been so grand must also have been she reason why it slipped down to Second Best Picture. You see, a movie as big as Mano Po 2 sometimes can’t help but have loopholes and the judges must have noticed all these gaping lose-ends in the picture and relegated it to second prize honors.

Personally, I don’t feel comfortable about the fact that it was only the character of the first wife Sol (Kris Aquino/Susan Roces) that grew old on the screen. Perhaps they should also have done the same thing with the character of Zsa Zsa Padilla. Maybe they could have gotten again Laura James who played the young Zsa Zsa in Batang PX to play the second wife in the earlier part of the Mano Po 2 story.

I also found disconcerting the suicide scene of Richard Gutierrez (with Lorna Tolentino standing helpless outside the car) which actually was well-staged, brilliantly acted. But it was supposed to have taken place on New Year’s Eve. But then, it was raining hard – as in really hard. Now, I’ve had so many New Year’s Eves behind me, but I don’t remember any New Year’s Eve when it rained that hard. And where were the fireworks? Why were there no fireworks in the background, considering that it was New Year’s Eve?

But inspite of all those loopholes, I still consider Mano Po 2 a very good picture – with great performances. If it had won First Best Picture, it would have been perfectly acceptable in my book.

The Third Best Picture winner, Filipinas, was certainly also of festival quality and deserved to be in the Top 3 list of winners. But why the hell was everyone quarreling in this movie? (Like Mano Po 2, which had a subtitle My Home – Filipinas could very well have been called Filipinas: War Freaks ).

Filipinas is undeniably well-made – with a strong social message. The performances of the cast members are all way above average – even excellent. It could very well have won First Best Picture if only the viewers had a moment of peace while watching the film.

Why Bridal Shower didn’t get in the Top 3 is understandable as far as I am concerned. While I consider it as one of the most intelligent local comedy films in the history of Philippine cinema, Bridal Shower really failed in making the viewers laugh in the film’s early part. But by the time the laughs got rolling toward the second half, the fun was non-stop. With this film, I have to say that Jeffrey Jeturian is unquestionably the best director in his generation.

As for his Bridal Shower, it could easily have won Best Picture – but only if you take away the film’s first half.

Unfortunately, Homecoming went by practically unnoticed in the film festival and I feel sad. It is a finely-crafted film that has a lot to say about our society. Maybe it could have at least taken a spot in the list of Top 3 best picture winners. But then, the race was really tough and the contest right. It only shows what a success the 29th Metro Manila Film Festival was.

[jonruiz]

Strange casting choices
Posted: 10:17 PM (Manila Time) | Jan. 07, 2004
Inquirer News Service

SOME directors believe that correct casting is 80 percent of good acting. By that yardstick, the latest edition of the Metro film fest showcased some strange and ornery casting choices.

Leading the hapless pack is the decision to cast Snooky Serna as the mother of Ogie Alcasid in "Captain Barbell." Snooky is one of the best actresses we have, but even she couldn't successfully pull off that improbable thespic challenge. For one thing, she and Ogie must be approximately the same age, and no amount of aging make-up and hair whitening for Snooky could distract viewers from that obvious fact.




Then there's the fact that Snooky is mestiza, while Ogie has distinctly Asian features. So, their mother-son relationship was extremely dubious from the very start.

In "Mano Po 2," the most glaring instance of miscasting was Richard Gutierrez's being made a member of a Fil-Chinese clan. Richard's strong mestizo features just couldn't be ignored or mitigated by make-up, so the believability of his entire portrayal was seriously compromised. We can surmise that Richard was cast in the movie because he's popular, but physical credibility is a major requirement that cannot be overlooked just to enhance a production's star value.

"Mano Po 2," has other characters who suffer from a similar lack of physical credence. For instance, not many years separate the three wives in the movie, but when the storytelling gets to current times, the most senior wife (played by Susan Roces) looks much older than Wife 2 (Zsa Zsa Padilla) and Wife 3 (Lorna Tolentino). The "fault" isn't Susan's. Both Zsa Zsa and Lorna should have been made to look older for their 2003 scenes. Perhaps they didn't much relish the idea?

The visual and chronological disparity was distracting, because Susan ended up looking like the two other wives' mother.

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
hmmm i dont know but i think digging the message of a film is not dependent on whether or not you "come from or are exposed to the same background as the characters" in filipinas or any film for that matter. do i have to be an ad exective or do i have to have loose morals (as one pexer puts it) to appreciate bridal shower? do i have to be an ex-con to understand stella in crying ladies? i think it has a lot to do with one's open-mindedness or the lack of it.

Granted. But that doesn't necessarily mean what I said won't apply to others, as far as the subject of said film (or similar films) is concerned, at least.

I can tell you this much, I walked into the theater with very few expectations. I'm always skeptical when it comes to viewing political films. Plus I've seen Lamangan do his worst and Roy Iglesias is a big non-favorite. The trailer's parade of dramatic highlights and that tacky tagline was a turn-off, the huge all-star cast too commercial. But I saw it anyway, and that may be why I took more out of it, having expected the worst.

i don't have a problem with political films. i like bata bata and dekada 70, they are not great, and compared with the novels, the film adaptaions are wanting.

I was so disappointed with Bata Bata. The fact that the very author of the book penned the screenplay makes it worse! I can understand the desire to update the story but I think they took out everything that was political out of the novel. Lea Bustamante's character as a strong, liberated human rights activist was reduced to a woman who cowers at the thought of not getting laid. Bata Bata the novel is a personal favorite, so to me that dumbed down movie is a major offense. More director trivia: at a presscon for the movie version of Edgardo Reyes' Laro sa Baga (didn't get to see the movie or read the book, but I read the screenplay), the director, the same man behind the Lualhati Bautista adaptations, was asked to explain why they "sanitized" the screen version of the novel. His response, "Wala namang nae-L sa social relevance na yan e."

(to quote j. zafra: "...anyone who thinks art should show only the good is the kind of moron who thinks greeting card rhymes are poetry... denying ugliness won't make it go away. hypocrisy is also obscene.)

Nice.

lastly, i'm sorry for presuming what you can or can't do with your time. really sorry.

Alright, apology accepted.

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
Granted. But that doesn't necessarily mean what I said won't apply to others, as far as the subject of said film (or similar films) is concerned, at least.

I can tell you this much, I walked into the theater with very few expectations. I'm always skeptical when it comes to viewing political films. Plus I've seen Lamangan do his worst and Roy Iglesias is a big non-favorite. The trailer's parade of dramatic highlights and that tacky tagline was a turn-off, the huge all-star cast too commercial. But I saw it anyway, and that may be why I took more out of it, having expected the worst.




pareho lang tayo. i expected the worst too. i knew the film is from the director who gave us mano po, huling birhen, sidhi, ikaw naman ang iiyak, to name a few. aasa pa ba ako? well i did somehow only to be let down again.



I was so disappointed with Bata Bata. The fact that the very author of the book penned the screenplay makes it worse! I can understand the desire to update the story but I think they took out everything that was political out of the novel. Lea Bustamante's character as a strong, liberated human rights activist was reduced to a woman who cowers at the thought of not getting laid. Bata Bata the novel is a personal favorite, so to me that dumbed down movie is a major offense. More director trivia: at a presscon for the movie version of Edgardo Reyes' Laro sa Baga (didn't get to see the movie or read the book, but I read the screenplay), the director, the same man behind the Lualhati Bautista adaptations, was asked to explain why they "sanitized" the screen version of the novel. His response, "Wala namang nae-L sa social relevance na yan e."




pareho tayo, bata bata the novel is a personal favorite. lualhati's best for me. and like i said, the film adaptation is wanting. true it is less political than the novel. but i don't know if it's the problem at all. sa akin kasi there's more to the novel than the political milieu. i read one review of bata bata and i was really disgusted don sa sinabi ng reviewer na walang magandang values na tinuturo ang bata bata sa kababaihan. what hypocrisy! just like the novel, maraming tanong ang pelikula tungkol sekswalidad ng kababaihan. (after all the novel is unabashedly feminist.) sa tingin ko hindi iyon ang problema ng bata bata, the movie. wala itong focus. the film tries to say too much kaya nawalan ito ng malinaw na direction. the filmmakers probably learned their lesson kaya dekada turns out be the better film adaptaion.

sa tingin ko kulang sa vision ang director. napaisip tuloy ako. paano kaya kung si mike de leon ang director or what about a female director like laurice? then jeturian for dekada? it would've made a lot of difference. saka i'm not really that impressed with bautista as a screenwriter. she should've collaborated with the likes of lacaba or even lao and come out with a different perspective.

but still i think the two movies are worlds better than filipinas.

[jj9527]

medyo bano magreview si Butch Francisco. not worth your while.

sabihin ba naman na best picture ang BRIDAL kung i co consider lang yung 2st half of the film kasi hindi raw nakakatawa ang first half.

ang concept nya ng comedy ay yung slapstick na tawa ng tawa all throughout.

Wala syang sense of sophistication.

Yung TO DIE FOR starring nicole kidman and directed by gus van saint ay classified as comedy--a black comedy. hindi ka naman matatawa throughout the film.

obviously, hindi nya alam ang terms tulad ng IRONY, SARCASM, WIT atbp.

very 1950s to 1970s pa rin ang mode nya

[TJ&ME]

Nangulelat ang mga pangit na pelikula sa MMFF na FLipinas at Homecoming :lol:

FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
The Philippine Star 01/10/2004


Curtain-raisers:

• And here’s the official ranking (no figures available) of the nine movies in the just-concluded 2003 Metro Manila Filmfest: 1) Captain Barbell, 2) Fantastik Man, 3) Crying Ladies, 4) Mano Po 2, 5) Malikmata, 6) Bridal Shower, 7) Gagamboy, 8) Filipinas and 9) Homecoming.

[pac_maniac2]

TJ, nangunguna at nangungulelat.

i thought crying ladies would end up no. 2 kasi on its second week e dami pa ding nanonood. the fact that it's the only film na pinalabas sa 2 theaters (in some malls) during it second week run proves na malakas ito.

as for bridal shower, one week pa lang pelikula. hahabol pa yan. due to strong word of mouth i won't be surprised if it ends up in the top 5.

as for filipinas, sana naman matahimik na ang nagsasabing ang lakas lakas ng pelikulang ito. the only thing na malaks sa pelikulang ito e ang sigawan at iyakan ng mga characters. :D

[TJ&ME]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
TJ, nangunguna at nangungulelat.

i thought crying ladies would end up no. 2 kasi on its second week e dami pa ding nanonood. the fact that it's the only film na pinalabas sa 2 theaters (in some malls) during it second week run proves na malakas ito.

as for bridal shower, one week pa lang pelikula. hahabol pa yan. due to strong word of mouth i won't be surprised if it ends up in the top 5.

as for filipinas, sana naman matahimik na ang nagsasabing ang lakas lakas ng pelikulang ito. the only thing na malaks sa pelikulang ito e ang sigawan at iyakan ng mga characters. :D


correct ka dyan.

malakas ang Flipinas sa mga fans ni MAricel pero sa mga manonood, KULELAT dahil di sila naloko ng pangit na pelikula :lol:

[luciam124]

originally posted by lastdance
Congratulations to FILIPINAS group !!.. Frankly, the movie is doing good of the tills. I watched it again last monday w/ some friends and we were amazed of its audience attendance. "PUNO ANG SINEHAN". Yesterday, a friend texted me and she said that she watched Filipinas in Caloocan Mall and there's an impressive audience attendance also...

Thank GOD... at least, hinde man FILIPINAS ang naging topgrosser, happy na rin kaming mga supporters ni Ms. Maricel Soriano dahil kumita ang pelikula. Kung ang pagbabasehan kasi ay yung trailer ng pelikula na ipinapakita ang mga nagra-rally, hinde talaga papasukin ito - its a big turn-off to the potential moviegoers dahil alam nating lahat na ang mga ganitong scenes ay ayaw na ayaw ng Filipino movie afficionados....

Pero kumikita ang pelikula at extended siya sa mga sinehan. Magandang senyales ito na nagkakaroon ng pagbabago sa panlasa ng mga manonood.

and for Maricel's winning the best actress award - YOU DESERVED IT...and pls... don't stop...the movie industry needs an actress of your caliber...

good one @lastdance....at least ang mga fans ni Maricel Soriano ay realistic... alam niyong harapin ang totoo at hinde tulad ng mga ilusyunado... .. :)

Congrats to MARICEL SORIANO... favorite actress kita and i do believed that you are one of the Best Actresses in Phil. Cinema..

Napanood ko ang Filipinas at Lahat ng entries... isa lang ang sasabihin ko. NAPAKALAKAS NG LABAN MO FOR BEST ACTRESS AWARD. Isa ako sa mga nanalangin na makuha mo ang GrandSlam Best Actress kung hinde man.... sana manalo ka uli...

*okay*

[joshdxb]

Originally posted by TJ&ME
Nangulelat ang mga pangit na pelikula sa MMFF na FLipinas at Homecoming :lol:

FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
The Philippine Star 01/10/2004


Curtain-raisers:

• And here’s the official ranking (no figures available) of the nine movies in the just-concluded 2003 Metro Manila Filmfest: 1) Captain Barbell, 2) Fantastik Man, 3) Crying Ladies, 4) Mano Po 2, 5) Malikmata, 6) Bridal Shower, 7) Gagamboy, 8) Filipinas and 9) Homecoming.



wow!no 3 ang crying ladies huh...compared sa laki ng casting ng mga kalabang movies super kita na ang unitel nito..
watch out na lang sa next movie ng unitel starring the comedy king ..dolphy produced ito ni mega!!

[joshdxb]

Originally posted by TJ&ME
Nangulelat ang mga pangit na pelikula sa MMFF na FLipinas at Homecoming :lol:

FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
The Philippine Star 01/10/2004


Curtain-raisers:

• And here’s the official ranking (no figures available) of the nine movies in the just-concluded 2003 Metro Manila Filmfest: 1) Captain Barbell, 2) Fantastik Man, 3) Crying Ladies, 4) Mano Po 2, 5) Malikmata, 6) Bridal Shower, 7) Gagamboy, 8) Filipinas and 9) Homecoming.



wow!no 3 ang crying ladies huh...compared sa laki ng casting ng mga kalabang movies super kita na ang unitel nito..
watch out na lang sa next movie ng unitel starring the comedy king ..dolphy produced ito ni mega!!

[TJ&ME]

nasan na yung mga nagsasabing naungusan na ng Flipinas ang Mano Po 2 at Crying Ladies sa box office????????? :lol:

:bounce: naungusan na ng bridal shower at gagamboy ang Flipinas....at yan ay official.......:bounce2: nyahahaha

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by pac_maniac2
true it is less political than the novel. but i don't know if it's the problem at all. sa akin kasi there's more to the novel than the political milieu. i read one review of bata bata and i was really disgusted don sa sinabi ng reviewer na walang magandang values na tinuturo ang bata bata sa kababaihan. what hypocrisy! just like the novel, maraming tanong ang pelikula tungkol sekswalidad ng kababaihan. (after all the novel is unabashedly feminist.)

Oh, I don't exclude feminism when referring to the politics of Bata Bata. Kahit sa aspetong yon, let down ang pelikula para sa akin. Parang ang characterization lang ni Lea sa pelikula, basta mahilig. Pag sinabi bang komportable ang babae sa kanyang sekswalidad, yun lang ang ibig sabihin non? When she says, "Ang pag-ibig hindi dini-divide, minu-multiply," it's a witty retort and in a sense, a statement, true, but it's not necessarily a life choice. Hindi ibig sabihin non e promiscuous na siya. Of course she wanted her relationships to work out. Pero umalis nga si Raffy kahit nagpaiwan siya, dahil hindi siya marendahan. At naghanap si Ding ng iba. Hindi niya kasalanan yon. She wanted to be loved but that's not all she wanted. Kaya nga hindi niya iniiwanan ang trabaho niya kahit sinusumbatan siya ng mga tatay ng anak niya -- at bakit nga ba siya ang inoobliga? Nanay lang ba ang gumagawa ng bata? Si Lea, alam niya kung anong gusto niya sa buhay at hindi siya basta-basta makikipag-compromise. That was not the Lea in the film. Lahat ng dialogue at eksena na binigyan ng weight, yung tungkol lang sa sex. Just because a woman tells a man she wants sex or asks another woman, albeit a nun, if she thinks about sex at all, that doesn't mean it's in her head or she's all about sex :shakehead: You're right, Chito Roño was not sympathetic to the material. A woman should have handled it. As for Lualhati, she wasn't in the same place as she was when she wrote the novel at the time she wrote the screenplay. Nag-mellow na siya, obviously. Ilang taon na ba si Hati? Maybe Vilma's crying fits in the film came out of the writer's menopause :glee: Bad joke, sorry, couldn't resist ;) Then in come her two kids bringing her a "Happy Women's Day" cake. Way too absurd -- laughed aloud at that -- but rather hostile in my opinion.

Singit: I remember a review of The Vagina Monologues by a guy from The Probe Team. From his script and from the way he edited the segment, his observation is that the biggest thing about the monologues is that the women can freely say "vagina" (or "****" in the Filipino version). And he salutes that. Well, sure, that's great. But the vagina bit is symbolic. There's more to the monologues than the one word. They're about women's struggles against oppression, harassment, abuse, violence, they're out to educate and break barriers and stereotypes, question unfair practices and beliefs. People who were unaware of this but only came to know of the play through this segment told me they didn't want to see it because it's bastos.

Haay, it's such a crime when people who read the text wrong attempt to translate it to others :hopeless:

[pac_maniac2]

like i said i think bautista isn't a great screenwriter. that a woman should've handled it? i'm not so sure. would diaz abaya have done a better job than rono? maybe. would guillen have made the film adaptaion more cohesive and insightful? i would think so. but i must say that mike de leon or jeturian would have given the film a different perspective.

as for vagina monologues being bastos... i tell you this thread alone has no lack for narrowminded people. their views on bridal shower alone prove so.

by the way, have you seen it?

[nailbiter]

Bukas ko balak, promise. Palabas pa naman, ano? Ran into a friend who recommended it as well. Surreal daw. Curious observation, is it accurate? Doesn't seem to match any of the comments on the Bridal Shower thread.

[Karen4]

i think until now showing pa rin ang Crying Ladies, Malikmata, Mano Po 2 at Bridal Shower. So, hindi mo pa rin masasabi kung number one nga talaga ang Captain Barbell at number 2 ang Fantastic Man, so that means hindi pa tapos, sna antayin na lang hanggang lahat nga entries ay hindi na showing para mas reliable talaga di ba? Ewan ko lang sa ibang sinehan but the movies mentioned above are still showing sa SM North Edsa as of yesterday kasi nakita ko pa and marami pa rin ang nanonood.

[princess_hayes]

sino pong top-grosser?

may nakakaalam ba?

[pac_maniac2]

Originally posted by nailbiter
Bukas ko balak, promise. Palabas pa naman, ano? Ran into a friend who recommended it as well. Surreal daw. Curious observation, is it accurate? Doesn't seem to match any of the comments on the Bridal Shower thread.

i thought tuhog was more surreal... i mean the movie within that movie. :D as for bridal shower, i don't think it is. actually yung simula mejo surreal. there are a few juxtaposition of scenes that one may consider surreal. but overall it is a comedy about the sad realities of life.

i went to mega and it's still showing.

[joshdxb]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by TiNyCuTiE
eto daw ang ranking sa mmff narinig ko lang last friday kay ogie diaz:

1. captain barbell
2. crying ladies
3. fantastikman
4. bridal shower
5. mano po 2
6. malikmata
7. filipinas
8. gagamboy
9. homecoming

correct me if i'm wrong ah kung sino pa nakinig sa kanya last friday..wala pang announcement kung magkano kinita nila
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





its confirmed!!!!inanounce na ni mega sa "sharon" na no2 na nga ang crying ladies sa box office rankings ng mmff!!!
happy bday and congrats unitel and d megastar!!!

[renacu]

FILIPINAS is a thinking film. I don't know about the others but for me i liked it; not only becoz Maricel Soriano was there but mainly becoz of the characters and scenes - its real... "buhay na buhay".. nakikita natin sila sa pang araw-araw na buhay natin.. and one thing i've noticed, bawat characters sa film merong nire-represent sa society natin... pero yung pinaka-bottom line "the family is the most important institution" at dito sa aspetong ito talagang naniniwala ako... Maricel Soriano gave a "fantastic" performance as the spinster Yolanda Filipinas - she made me cry in a confontation scene with her bf. It was a heartbreaking scene. Yung pain niya mararamdaman talaga. *okay*

CRYING LADIES this is a well-directed film by Mark Meily.. Hilda Koronel is outstanding. Tawa ako ng tawa sa kanya. I find it good yun nga lang parang Anti-Filipino siya... well, just my two cents..

BRIDAL SHOWER super duper mega tawa talaga ako. Jeffrey Jeturian is really one of the best directors of his generation. Parang Ishmael Bernal ang style niya sa movie na ito. The movie is funny and entertaining but i can't relate that much with the characters. Ang tingin ko sa mga lead characters - foreigners sila. Of the lead roles, Cherry Pie gives a very good performance.

MANO PO 2 visually entertaining siya. Naguluhan lang ako dahil si Kris Aquino tumanda at naging Susan Roces pero sina Zsa Zsa and Lorna, pareho ng itsura...pero yung mga anak nilang tatlo, halos magkakasing edad...

[joshdxb]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by TiNyCuTiE
eto daw ang ranking sa mmff narinig ko lang last friday kay ogie diaz:

1. captain barbell
2. crying ladies
3. fantastikman
4. bridal shower
5. mano po 2
6. malikmata
7. filipinas
8. gagamboy
9. homecoming

correct me if i'm wrong ah kung sino pa nakinig sa kanya last friday..wala pang announcement kung magkano kinita nila
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





its confirmed!!!!inanounce na ni mega sa "sharon" na no2 na nga ang crying ladies sa box office rankings ng mmff!!!
happy bday and congrats unitel and d megastar!!!

[pac_maniac2]

yet another review of filipinas from the inquirer ....

Excerpt from Postscript to a film festival by Jo-Ann Maglipon

"... it asked us to sit there and take in the relentless, unlrelieved, punishing political schooling... Filipinas told the panorama of the family, but ended up explaining nothing about the family and everything about the politics. every character represented an issue: every conflict, a maliase; every scene, a confrontation. Halfway through the film, I truly couldn't see the people for the cause. At the end of it, i could barely empathize. It was like being made to embrace all of humankind but none of the human beings because they werent there."

[renz]

Date Posted: 01:49:05 01/12/04 Mon
Author: bisoy
Subject: Lito Zulueta's review

Fantasia and carnival,
not a film festival
Posted: 10:34 PM (Manila Time) | Jan. 11, 2004
By Lito B. Zulueta
Inquirer News Service
Idiotic movies

THE 2003 Metro Manila Film Festival may have represented the strongest lineup of serious movies in recent years, but they are overwhelmed by the flagrant number of fantasy movies that makes the festival a carnival, not a showcase of the best of Philippine cinema.

Of the nine entries, at least four belong to the fantasy-horror genre. Although serious filmmaking remains strongly represented, it is noticeable that the festival has more and more accommodated fantasy movies that cater to the general audience of parents and their children.
It cannot be otherwise, since the Christmas season is generally a season for family bonding and togetherness. In short, it is a season for family entertainment.

Of course, it is quite a stretch of the imagination to classify such inanities as "Fantastic Man," "Captain Barbell" and "Gagamboy" as family entertainment, much less as wholesome family entertainment. But even Filipino parents and their brood have a right to inanity. They have a right to escapism.

Which brings us again to the issue of the film festival as inherently a protectionist, anti-consumer imposition. As I have said before, it is totally unfair of government to force Filipinos to spend their hard-earned 13th month pay and Christmas bonus on the inanities of Philippine cinema.

At the least, they should have the freedom of choice to consider the other option-the glossy inanity of Hollywood cinema.

Surely, there is a way for Filipino fantasy movies to be played alongside the glossiest Hollywood fares that are usually released for the Yuletide. If local cinema considers the issue a matter of survival, then some regulatory measures could be adopted, such as checking the number of foreign movies to be shown so as to give local movies a competitive breathing space.

And since part of the proceeds of the festival goes to Mowelfund, the local industry's social security fund, tariffs can be imposed on foreign movies so that part of their income will go to the fund. The tariffs are justified, since they can be a condition for foreign movies to have a slot in the lucrative Christmas season.

Meanwhile, the festival can be moved to another date that can best enhance its character as a showcase of serious cinema. As it is, Christmas is hardly the proper time to show serious (read: dramatic) movies because the holiday ambience goes against the earnest, resolute nature of artistic cinema.

The dead-serious entries that try best to respond to the festival's dead-serious criteria have to compete with the holiday revelry and idiocy of the more commercial entries.

And the tale of the tape shows they can hardly compete because year in and year out, the box office has always been dominated by the happily idiotic movies.

Hardly the best

Gil Portes's "Homecoming," a dead-serious movie about SARS, is dead in the box-office water against "Barbell" and "Fantastic Man." And it was made to suffer the ignominy of having to join the parade of floats as a concession to the holiday mood.

SARS on a festival float? You must be kidding.
The abolition of the festival will at least abolish the fiction that the festival is the showcase of the best that Philippine cinema has to offer. This year, despite the strong lineup, the three pictures chosen by the jurors as the best of the best could hardly be called that.

The third best picture, "Filipinas," is a sprawling domestic drama that echoes "Tanging Yaman," which swept the 2000 festival awards. It could be seen in fact as the nationalist and non-sectarian version of Laurice Guillen's highly fervent spiritual drama.

The trouble is that it has none of "Yaman's" rich characterization and seamless weaving of plot and subplots. It attempts an allegory of the contemporary Filipino nation in unabashed tabloid fashion so that the characters are basically stereotypes, representing certain motifs, in this case, of current events such as military corruption and adventurism, leftist activism, the government's uncritical pro-Americanism in the Iraq question, etc.

When the matriarch (Armida Siguion Reyna) understandably gets a headache from all of these issues invading her formerly serene domain, she pours her grief at the parish priest (Tony Espejo), who proceeds to dump on her another headache-causing current event: he beckons to a handsome teenager in hip-hop regalia, introduces him as his son, and tells her he is soon to leave holy orders to face the music. (Thank God, the padre is not a pedophile!)

The problem with the movie is quite obvious. If the movie were a newspaper, it would be one with several glaring banner headlines trying to bump one another out. If it were a dish, it would be sinigang, with ketchup thrown in.

Without a doubt, however, "Filipinas" is an important movie. It tries to make sense of the dizzying swirl of contemporary events that continues to unhinge the national sensibility and expose the tenuous scaffolding of illusions that tie the national fabric together.

It is a highly flawed film that decades from now will remain a strong social document of the way we were-or the way we have always been.

It could be said that the second best picture, "Mano Po 2," is better than its predecessor, "Mano Po," which dominated last year's derby. But it is misleading to call it a sequel since it is an entirely different story altogether, with an entirely different set of characters.
Sino-Pinoy saga

Thus, one cannot say Eric Matti's movie is an improvement on the Joel Lamangan original, which, however wobbly, was politically significant since it was the first "Sinoy" (Sino-Pinoy) saga.

At best, one can say "Mano Po 2" prolongs the franchise, considering the Sinoy skill at the business of franchising.

If the first "Mano Po" broke the taboo on the Sinoy straight or crooked business dealings in the face of Filipino native harassment of the Chinese, the second "Mano Po" breaks the taboo on Chinese concubinage.

The topic is at best intriguing. Matti mines fully the complexity of the issue in rich images, and he is stopped from his propensity to go overboard with his trademark fancy but disembodied camera work by Roy Iglesias and Lily Monteverde's chatty but engaging storytelling.

What keep the viewer from getting lost in the fascination of it all are the big-name stars and the garish Oriental makeup and art direction.

Just about every who's who in Philippine entertainment is here, with Susan Roces playing one of the wives and Kris Aquino, quite amusing again in her attempt at minimalist acting, playing a younger Roces in elaborate, overextended flashbacks.

And all of them sport the trademark slinky eyes, an ophthalmologist's grand vision and defining moment.

'Mano Po 3'
Ah, but the first best picture, "Crying Ladies," should have been titled "Mano Po 3."

It tells the story of three hard-up, quirky women who are recruited by a well-mannered and sensitive young Sinoy to cry on cue during the long wake of his father.

The movie holds our attention because of the comical situations, the absorbing glimpse on quaint but colorful Chinese customs, and the sophisticated film language of the writer-director, Mark Meily, and his very able crew.

But the movie is even more deeply flawed than the rest of the "best pictures." It may even be, I suspect, anti-Filipino.

The heroines are comically, even sardonically, portrayed as "crying ladies": Stella (Sharon Cuneta) is an estafa ex-convict who cheats her way through jeepney rides, gambles the little money she has, attends singing auditions even if she does not have the vocal goods, and tries to bond with her son, who is on cruel loan from her estranged husband and before whom she casually justifies her deception and depredations.

Doria (Hilda Koronel) is a stage mother and a frustrated actress whose 15 minutes of fame consisted of being trampled on screen by one of the ogres in Vilma Santos's campy 1970s movie, "Darna and the Giants"; and Chayong (Angel Aquino) is a Church volunteer who is a fixture in the confessional box for failing to resist the charms of a married guy.
Cardboard-thin characters

The three characters are cardboard-thin and deeply caricaturish. There is nothing liberating about them. They remain enmeshed in their illusions and banalities: Doria in her Norma Desmond illusions of screen immortality, Chayong in her spiritual naivete, and Stella in her sorry attempts at being a mother.

Against these caricatures is presented the Sinoy character played by Eric Quizon: businesslike in his grief as he arranges every detail of the wake and funeral of his father, for whom he harbors ill feelings because of the deceased's philandering and abusive ways.
But before the interment, he reconciles with the memory-and mistress-of his father. Even his mother, who in a previous scene lashed at the criers for laughing during the wake, becomes a benign, conciliatory figure, offering friendship to the mistress and apologizing to the criers for her impatience.

The ending is quite droll and comical, but again, at the expense of the Filipino characters. After her son leaves her, Stella gets a call from the Sinoy, tipping her of an audition conducted by Japanese recruiters.

Partly because of his endorsement, and partly because she has acquired acting skills after a week of lachrymal bravura, she passes the audition-not as a singer, but as a videoke actress. She becomes a videoke superstar, and her face graces just about every videoke screen. She becomes the face that launches a thousand videoke matches.

She becomes, in short, the ultimate crying lady. When the videoke fanatic sees her face, it elicits the bawls, wails, sobs and blubbers of a trivial race that cannot get out of its frivolity, escapism and idiocy.

[joshdxb]

quote:
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Originally posted by TiNyCuTiE
eto daw ang ranking sa mmff narinig ko lang last friday kay ogie diaz:

1. captain barbell
2. crying ladies
3. fantastikman
4. bridal shower
5. mano po 2
6. malikmata
7. filipinas
8. gagamboy
9. homecoming

correct me if i'm wrong ah kung sino pa nakinig sa kanya last friday..wala pang announcement kung magkano kinita nila
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its confirmed!!!!inanounce na ni mega sa "sharon" na no2 na nga ang crying ladies sa box office rankings ng mmff!!!
happy bday and congrats unitel and d megastar!!!

[josaustria]

TO PAC_MANIAC2
This is my first time to post to this thread.

Sino ka bang pac_maniac2 na putak ng putak?
Puro ka satsat. We heard you loud and clear. Filipinas is a baaaaad movie for you. Sino ka ba? Are you important part of the society or are you one of the FIlipinos na nagdudunungdunungan? You want us to believe na pangit ang Filipinas eh hindi nga! Filipinas got mixed reviews and that's healthy.

Go to Mayor Malonzo and speak to him about your qualm about the filmfest.

Appraoch Mother Lily, Tony Gloria, or Charo Santos. Maybe they will give you a chance to make your own movie.

Better yet, go to one of the undiscovered islands in the Philippines and create your own filmfest.

IKA NGA NI ATE MARY....BRIGHT BLESSINGS!!!

P.S. IF YOU PLAN TO REPLY TO THIS POST, BAHALA KA!

[pac_maniac2]

another rabid fan on the loose :lol:

again filipinas is a baaaaaaaad movie. and i'm not going to make you belive that. kayo pa e sarado utak niyo. ;)

[princess_hayes]

ay... pang-8 lang ang gagamboy.

kala ko kumita ng malaki...

[nailbiter]

Originally posted by nailbiter
I'm saying the subject can be a turn-off to some people... I do feel that if you don't come from or are not exposed to the same background as the characters in the film or what the characters represent, you just won't get it. In fact, if you've been sheltered from all that, you won't even believe it or you might even reject it. To some people, the subject is taboo. I have friends and relatives who roll their eyes, shake their heads, politely change the subject or laugh and walk away once a person starts to talk about politics.

Got curious over 'Babae sa Breakwater' after YCC gave it their Best Picture nod. Read a post on another forum that reminded me of what I posted above.

Of Breakwater, this guy said: "got to catch it coz there was nothing interesting to watch... turns out to be one of those "socially relevant, the philippines is so d**n poor" films again... walked out halfway thru the film"

Sorry, I know it's not exactly related to MMFF 2003 but I'm so disappointed with this type of reaction, just felt like venting it out.