DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

It is quite redundant, so to speak, that a film about the untold story of a notorious figure such as Asiong Salonga, has an untold version (which may never see the light of day). But enough of that for now. The version circulating in theaters as of this writing, as you will vividly notice, is missing a directorial credit. You will not see Direk Tikoy's name, and yet traces of his directorial brilliance can be felt all over the place, at least during the early scenes. Rumor has it that the latter part is the " inepal " (bastardized) version. There were scenes that did not make sense, and another rumor circulated that not only were there edits made without Tikoy's consent, some scenes were even reshot by another director. All sanctioned by Governor E.R. who exercised his authority over the production. So I'm making the most out of my viewing of the abridged version of MANILA KINGPIN. In respect, the film has a lot of angst faithful to the gangster sub-genre of ac...

ENGKWENTRO comes as a huge surprise. It is a violent, bleak, and unforgiving film and yet it flourishes in beauty; the handheld shots are visceral and they add depth and intensity to what’s happening onscreen. The story, which is THE most important element, succeeds in delivering a representative documentation of an actual phenomenon in the Philippines, which is the prevalence of state-sponsored vigilante killings. Pepe Diokno’s script, co-written with four others including lead actor Felix Roco and scribe Jerry Gracio (LIGO NA U, LAPIT NA ME) manages to compel because of the human element at the center of the story, which is the strained relationship between siblings Richard (Roco) and Raymond (Daniel Medrana). Set against a backdrop of urban decay, a suppressive legal system that is blind to reason, and real characters that are caught in between, ENGKWENTRO delivers a solid, suspenseful action story within its 60-minutes running time. Within that short span of time, Pepe Diokno, in...

My hesitation with ZOMBADINGS before, is that it can easily fall into the mainstream cliches that people have become tired of, like over-the-top performances and what-have-you. Make no mistake. I am not talking about Roderick Paulate. His piercing stare alone elicits shivers. As the gay who cursed the film's main character Remington (Martin Escudero) early in the story, Paulate is highly effective; his iconic status in Philippine cinema and comedic talent bring credibility to the character. ZOMBADINGS 1 starts off fine enough. A young boy pokes fun at homosexuals he encounters, until one of them hexes him, turning him into a homosexual when he grows up. Fast forward to present time; a spree of killings victimizing gays abound the town of Lucban, Quezon. Remington is all grown up and masculine now. His mother (Janice de Belen) is a police officer investigating the murders. His father (the comeback role of John Regala) mans the eatery. There goes your role reversal. Then Remingto...

The beauty in the films of Adolf Alix is that they enable you to meditate on their elements, the minutest details even— the color of a blanket, the arrangement of furniture in a house, or the mood changes on a character’s face. Alix likes to start his films by establishing his location. In KARERA, we see the Sta. Ana race track and a nameless figure watching by. Then we see Laurice Guillen as she attends worship at El Shaddai, a religious group convening every week in Parañaque, from night till dawn. Later on we learn that Guillen’s character is named LV, who runs an illegal betting scheme and seems to be influential within the race tracks. People know her, and she commands this implied reverence that probably comes with how long she’s been connected with the race tracks. We also see that LV is superstitious, and does not seem to have the makings of a career criminal. In a way it could imply that there are a lot of people like LV, everyday people, who are good-natured but pressured...