Segunda Mano

When I arrived at the cinema, I was expecting a lesser crowd since its the second week of the film festival. But surprisingly, there were a lot, so I intended to watch the segunda mano first because it seems like people were really interested with the film obviously because of their long line and i wanted to watch horror movies with people around so that it will decrease the intensity of the "scariness" of the film.

Well after watching it I felt like I had been cheated to the point of getting the money i paid for the film. It was suppose to be horror right but all i got was suspense and comedy. I really was expecting much from this film knowing that Kris Aquino is the main character. But it was like Bangs Garcia, with her slapstic lines, dominated the whole film. It was really obvious that she overshadowed the quiet-pa"virgin"-na-di-naman Ms. Aquino. I think it would be a lot better if the real intention of the film retain because it was made for that genre. Believe me or not, once you've asked the audience right after the film, the would recall Bangs Garcia more than Kris Aquino or even Angelica Panganiban.

However, I commend Dingdong Dantes for his good acting. It was really effective and I can say that he really is suitable for that role. His image of pagiging tweetums vanished as he became the suspect of the crime.

Overall, I wasn't really pleased with the film but it was entertaining and yes shallow.

Rating:
2/5

Himala

Himala (1982)

Director: Ishmael Bernal
Writer: Ricky Lee
Cinematographer: Sergio Lobo

*Para maiba naman, gusto kong maging tagalog ang blog entry na ito.


Synopsis:

Tahimik na naglalakad noon si Elsa ng napadaan sa isang burol na kung saan sa tuktok ay may isang malaking puno at sa kanya daw ay nagpakita si Birheng Maria. Matapos ang insidente, nagsimula na si Elsang mang-gamot. Noong una ay ayaw maniwala ng mga tao sa kanya ngunit pinatunayan niyang may kakayahan nga siyang taglay upang manggamot. Kinalaunan ay sumikat si Elsa at ang mga taong akala niya'y tinutulungan siya ang siya ring sisira sa kanya. Simula ng hawakan siya ng pinagkakautangang amo ay pinagkakitaan na ang kanyang pang-gagamot. Naging tampok din si Elsa sa mga dayuhan at nagsimula ng pumunta ang mga dayo at turista na naging dahilan ng pag-unlad ng Baryo Cupang. Bumalik din ang matalik na kaibigan ni Elsa na si Nimia, isang GRO at nagtayo ng sariling kabaret mula sa kinita niya sa kanyang trabaho. At naging pugad din ng mga reporter ang istorya ni Elsa. Isa sa naging interesado sa kanya ay si Orly na isang direktor na kinukunan lahat ng ginagawa ni Elsa. Lumaon ay sinubukan ang katatagan ng paniniwala ni Elsa at ng mga tao sa Cupang ng ginahasa si Elsa at nawala ang kapangyarihan niyang manggamot na nakunan ni Orly. Nawala na ang tiwala ng mga tao kay Elsa kasabay ng pagkawala ng kanyang kapangyarihan. Sa huli ay pinatunayan ni Elsa na hindi kailangan ng himala para magbago o mapagaling ang isang tao dahil ang himala ay ginagawa ng tao sa pamamagitan ng kanyang paniniwala at gawa.

What do I like about the film:

Ano ang ineexpect mo sa pelikula ni Nora Aunor? Syempre ang napakahusay niyang pag-arte. Sobrang galing ni Nora magportray ng pagiging isang tahimik na aping mahirap. At kahit ganun pa man alam mong intelehente siyang tao sa kanyang tindig at postura kahit ang napuntang role sa kanya ay mahirap.

Pag dating naman sa kwento, naging maganda din naman pero dahil sa hindi ko tipo ang mga pelikulang may pagkarelihiyoso, masasabi ko namang maganda din ang kinalabasan ng kwento dahil kapupulutan mo ito ng aral.

Sa dating naman ng pelikula gusto ko yung parang documentary feel ng pelikula. Para siyang photojournalism in motion. Dahil sa isa akong photojournalist, isa itong naging factor para magustuhan ko yung pelikula.

Sa pangkalahatan, maganda naman ang pelikula. Puno ng drama at ironic scenes lalo na kay Elsa at Nimia. Pinapatunayan lang ng pelikula kung gaano kabilis maniwala ang mga Pilipino sa himala at kung anong kultura at paniniwala tayo na nakikita pa rin naman hanggang ngayon. Siguro natackle yung common focus na kahirapan pero ang maganda dito ay natest din ang relihiyon ng isang tao. Na hindi ka kailangan magpaapi sa iyong relihiyon at magpaniwala sa sabi sabi bagkus dapat ikaw ang manindigan para sa iyong sarili dahil ikaw ang magtatakda ng iyong kapalaran.

Ratings:
3/5

Let Me In

Director: Matt Reeves
Screenplay: Matt Reeves
Cinematographer: Greig Fraser 


Synopsis:

Let Me In is a story about a boy meets girl fell-in-love plot but the twist is that the girl, no, i mean, the little girl is a vampire. The boy named Owen has a simple life: in an apartment with parents divorced, bullied by the most notorious kiddie group at school and practically he can't swim. What a life, until he met Abby the vampire. She gave meaning to his hopeless life by appearing with no slippers on, in thick, ice-cold floor of their meeting place the playground, playing rubix cube and eating candies that were never tasty for her. But this little girl taught Owen how to love and be affectionate. In the end, he accepted the fact that the girl he loves is a blood sucking monster and later realized that he want to spend the rest of his life protecting the girl that he never taught will bring him happiness.

What I like about the film:


There are a lot of things to be appreciated on this film especially the writer worked on the genre of horror-romance. This movie kinda remind me of Twilight but in a much subtle way and in a much awesome storyline minus the kissing and the take-off-your-shirt thing. This is way way better than Twilight (so please don't kill me because of hating Edward-Bella tandem). The way the writer and the director showed the escalation of the plot, the characters, the climax, the twist and the ending makes us, the viewer, feel very excited and at the same time confused of who the killer of the story was and how the attachment of Abby to that killer paved way to resolve the issue. I also liked the background stories of each character and how it contributed to the twists of the story.

At first I thought that this film is all about giving the audience the tense feeling because of how the director set the mood of the film. Our hearts were pounding very hard when the film goes on the first few minutes and we were like "Where are the ghosts?" and some of us kept covering their eyes may be because they are frighted that a ghost would suddenly appear in the screen. And by saying that, I salute the director, the lights men and the cinematographer of the film for keeping every moment intense but on the end having the sigh of awe because they are able to penetrate our hearts by showing the delicate side of love.

I don't really liked the ending that much but comm'on, its a happy ending and we should be satisfied with that. I can never think of any other alternative ending for that film. How about you?

Ratings:
5/5

PS:
I recommend this film to those who loves horror movies. (Ha!, to disappoint them, c:)

Kisapmata 1981

Synopsis:

Kisapmata is a 1981 film of the brilliant mike de leon. It is about a girl named Mila (Charo Santos) who works at a local bank and eventually had fallen in love with her co worker Noel (Jay Ilagan). After getting pregnant, the couple finally decides to tell Mila's parents that they will be getting married. The first meet together became the start of a relationship bound by fear and anxiety as the ex-policeman (Vic Silayan) do everything to make the wedding difficult. When the mother (Charito Solis) hears that her husband has given his permission for Mila to marry, she is shocked and preoccupied. Just after the wedding, she pretends to be sick, forcing the newlyweds to spend the night in her -- and her husband's -- house. It quickly becomes clear that the father is not going to let his daughter leave the house again -- and his ruthless dominance is unbalanced enough to indicate that Noel cannot take Mila as his wife. Meanwhile, flashbacks and dream sequences provide some clues as to who fathered Mila's baby -- an injustice in itself that merits some sort of retribution. The irrational tyranny of a retired policeman over his abject wife and family emerges as a powerful force in this story of incest, abuse, and pervasive, internalized fear -- apparently based on a true case history. 

What I actually like about the film:

Director: Mike de Leon

I was slightly familiar with some of the films directed by Mike de Leon like Sister Stella L., since I already took film appreciation when I was second year. And based from what I had observed, he will really gave the actors and actresses equal rights to unleash their acting prowess in every scenes of the film. He will make sure that every lines will give a full distinction of the character by more exposures. I guess he really wanted to establish the mood or the feeling of the audience once they have seen the movie in order to convince them that its not just about how to entertain an audience whose hungry about movies but also to imply culture and values to create moral lessons for them. Since he bloomed from the time where Ferdinand Marcos is on power, no wonder his films has diverse topics on social realism and pain from different social issues that time.

So let's see how Mike de Leon handled the film. As I mentioned awhile ago, de Leon never forgets to give chance to his characters to shine in their own rights. Although we know that the main characters are Mila and his dad, he made it to a point that the audience will feel also the other remaining character. Compare to the films we are making right now, I guess the difference is that films today often give the limelight to the protagonist alone, the common structure the "bida" strived, hurt and comes back again with revenge and ends up happy. That's what I hate about our films today. The film makers always focuses the story on the protagonist, so much that they already forgot that they casted so many good talents but unequal amount of exposure had hinder that from them. And its like the story has lesser twists and the plot is so shallow. Unlike de Leon's film, he established the characters so well that it gave you chills whenever Vic Silayan is on the scene or pity Charito Solis for being a helpless "under-the-husband"  mother. He also amazed me by the way he showed the backstories and dreams of Mila. Well, its really weird and erry for me, and he managed to create that feeling through good lights and cinematography (Rody Lacap). The editing (Jess Navarro) and the music (Lorrie Ilustre) were also good considering the fact that they are deprived of editing softwares that we are using now. 

I think I can compare his works to Lino Brocka though Brocka is really a legend. I like de Leon's movies as much as I like Brocka's. This is the reason why I wanted to live on their era where films are highly respected not only as profession but as a documentary of our real life that says this is the our way of life, accept it and create change to make our country a better place to live. 

Writers: Mike de Leon, Nick Joaquin, Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr. and Raquel Villavicencio

The film was based on the story of Nick Joaquin's the House on Zapote Street. It was a case of multiple murder by Cabading 

I salute these script writers because they had able to make a concise story out of their inspiration and make it more dramatic. They also created so many twists which makes the story more interesting to watch. You know that they had work hand in hand and they really dedicated their time and efforts to make the film at its best. No wonder the film is a success because of their brilliant minds.

Actors and Actresses:

Charo Santos (Mila)

Mila is the main character of the story. Fragile and the "daddy's little girl" until she met Noel (Jay Ilagan) and this changed her life forever. She really proved that she deserves to be in this role because of her great acting skills. My favorite one is when she confessed that she wants to escape her hell life and tried convincing her mother to go with her but her mother rejects the idea. Talk about complete darkness and great cinematography and lighting there. 

Jay Ilagan (Noel)
I'm not really a fan of this guy but because of his subtle acting I guess it paved way for Mila and Dadong to shine. :)

Vic Silayan (Dadong)
Man, he's freaking scary like on the nth level! I was really afraid of all his scenes with matching eerie music. But the acting was way way too good for not be commended. Applause for you sir vic silayan! :))

Charito Solis (Dely)
Her acting is really good. I don't really know how to describe her as an actress but she is really really good.


Favorite scenes

Mila's dad used to drive her on her way to office (that sucks!)

Noel visited Mila's dad to seek confirmation and approval of their wedding and instead his dad showed his disagreement by holding worms (which is by the way their business) and explaining that life would be rough on them.

The awkward dinner of the two families where they discussed about the date of the wedding and the "dote" to be given by Noel. The part where Dely had the courage to say her suggestion leads the audience to think that she is under her husband's spell because when Dadong shut her up, she never talked again and the pressure around the table is really devious. 

The clue. I guess you know what this means. 

I so love the dream sequence. I never thought that they will actually do this. Best part ever!!! :))

Clue again to who's the father of the baby. 

Wicked father just have to leave the party because he can't take the scenery. Damn I so hate you, haha. :))

Ratings:

4/5