King Kong & Aslan Tombstone the MMFF

The Metro Manila Film Festival is over in its wakes it has left a trail of puwede na, so-so and what in heaven's name were they thinking of movies. It, the MMFF, has spawned a series of controversies and personalities acting out a tragic comedy before the public's eye. It would seem that only Behn Cervantes is talking sense when he said that if only two movies were to qualify as movie entries then only have two entries do not allow mediocre and awful Tagalog films to enter the contest. I still believe movie industry has to adapt with the times and improve its craft. No amount of subsidy will revitalised not so worthy pieces of work. Work and craft should be enough to revitalize the industry of film making just look at Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blooming of Maximo Oliveros) and the other films from non-mainstream film producers. It would be interesting to see the movie Big Time, which will be opening this week.

Movies that made a comeback after the retreat of the MMFF:

King Kong

The movie stays true to the orginal story of the movie. Its a miracle Jackson did not change the story that much. He did, however, extend a part of the movie from 15 minutes to an hour. If it weren't for the shots of New York during the 1930s it would have been a sleepfest. Fortunately, things get going once they reach the island and end up again in New York. Unfortunately, there was that interlude Jackson provided designed to establish the rapport between Kong and the woman in New York. It was totally not needed. They had already established on the island. Still it is a minor thing.The last two parts of the movie was exciting and thrilling. Overall it was not a bad remake of the original King Kong movie from the 1930s. It might be worthwhile to get a DVD of the movie, If you get one remember to skip the first part and proceed to the island.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

CS Lewis' fantasy classic has been re-adapted to film. At last Narnia has come to bigscreen. The adaptation stays more or less loyal to story with some minor changes and no embellishments. This take on Narnia is somewhat more brighter in mood than the Lord of the Rings. It is a deal more brighter and the creatures though fantastic do not seem to be more visceral or "rough" than the creatures of Middle-Earth. In this sense it suffers from comparison to the LOTR movies. This is an unfair comparision. Narnia is more similar or related in theme to the Hobbit than to LOTR. There was one particular scene that seems to have been toned down and in the process robbed the film of becoming a spectacular movie. The scene between Aslan and the White Queen before the battle was subdued. It is not a powerful scene. One just has to back to the original chapter in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Read the chapter again and imagine the passage of this article faithfully brought to life on the silver screen. It would have been a powerful scene! The film though was nice, it could have been spectacular, but it was just nice.

Statler & Waldorf are back

If you were a fan of the Muppet Show. You should check the Statler & Waldorf From the Balcony at Movies.Com . The two Old Codgers responsible for the funny but nasty remarks and the bane of Fozzie Bear is back and they do what they do best and they do it to the movies.

Movie Reviews and Muppet humor. They also have Pepe the Prawn, Bobo the Bear and Sam the Bald Eagle.

One of the more enjoyable ways of watching film reviews.

Bile and Vinegar from the Metro Manila Film Festival 2005

Metro Manila Film Festival 2005 has ended. The annual siege of cinema houses and the viewing public has ended. Yesterday, the local cinemas began showing the film adaptation of CS Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Imagine a world in permanent winter and with no Christmas. It would seem that it would be a perfect description of what happened after December 24, when the film festival descended on the public.

There were times when one looked forward to the Metro Manila Film Festival. Did this not produce notable films like the Crying Ladies or lofty goaled movies like Rizal? Unfortunately, this was also the festival that produced a lot of duds with too much suds.

As expected the awards night there were a lot of controversies regarding the winners. In particular voices were raised against the choice for best actor, best director and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award. For nearly full details (?) read the article immediately below this paragraph.

The following link will take you to INQ7.net:
CHEERS AND JEERS: Smiles during the MMFF awards, and protests right after


The two most outspoken persons against the awards were Lily Monteverde (who one way or the other produced bulk of the films in festival) and Joel Lamangan (who directed two of the films in the festival). Accusations are accusations; well at least they should provide proof. And you even have the mother of Aguiluz of Mulawin saying out load and in the press the Monteverde did not handle properly the movie of Aguiluz. Proof is important here more than mere insinuations - at least in the Manila Film Festival, which saw the downfall of several celebrities, the cheating was caught on tape. Proof! Proof! Evidence!

Then again why go to the bother. There are several award bodies set to distribute awards this year. Surely, there will be a trophy or two or three or even a grand slam for a movie.

Lily Monteverde, Mother Lily, stated that if this system continues she might not just enter the film festival next year. Is that a promise? At least you will have other producers, hopefully people like Raymond Red, Tony Gloria and the people responsible for Ang Pagdadala ni Maximo Oliveros, who might be able to bring in something new.

I was particularly touched when Monteverde said that she sacrificed not using the air-conditioner for a year to finance the movies they imposed on the viewing public. Oh! Such sacrifice I almost worthy of praise. And Lamangan's comment about at cabinet full of trophies is likewise priceless. Such acts remind us of the theatrics of an enfant terrible, one bereft of talent. Although he did this not manage to muck up Blue Moon, which so far seemed to best film among the set of films flung on the public like a bad Christmas Party Presentation at the office party. Thankfully, there are Vacs, DVDs about and a lot of other things to do during the Christmas break.

Well, I guess that is that for the 2005 Metro Manila Film Festival. This year was a so-so mix of films that were shamelessly self promoted to the public, and most of them were without originality and cliché-infested to the terminal point. In the end some of spin-doctors and promoters began to believe their own spin, a bad sign. Yet there seems to be some justice in that development. These films would not have survived the blows from Jackson's King Kong or the roar from Narnia's Lion. Maximo would have and it has done something these so-called festival films could not do, the film was invited to join the Sundance Film Festival.

Blue Moon?

There may be hope yet for the Metro Manila Film Festival. Two friends of mine gave favourable reviews for Joel Lamangan's film Blue Moon. A love story that bridges across time and is based on a critically acclaimed story or was written by a critically acclaimed writer. I cannot remember.

Let see.

Phrases used to describe a movie during the Metro Manila Film Festival that should serve as a warning that one must not watch it.

Do not have high expectations. This is probably the biggest excuse or cop-up for a really bad or mediocre film. One does not have high expectations for film released during the rest of the year, but for a movie festival?

Maganda yung effects or the effects are good. I guess one can be happy if we have actually achieved a new technological feat, but a movie is more than just effects it is an ensemble piece.

Pang Buong Pamilya, equates to formulaic, unoriginal, cliché driven, slap-stock humour and probably done with the least amount of effort.

Metro Manila Film Festival 2005

In a few days the Metro Manila Film Festival will come to a close. There are times when the festival comes up with really great films like Crying Ladies and Rizal. Then there are times when the festival comes up with films not so great - they tend to be formulaic and predictable. Unfortunately, this year seems to be that.

Save for one or two people, the feedback about the film festival is not that good. More than one friend advised me not to have any high expectation of the film. And that seems to be the prudent attitude another would be the just stay home rent or buy VCDs or DVDs of really good movies.

Do not get me wrong, Foreign film producers are as or even more guilty than local film producers of churning out formulaic and predictable films. And there is nothing wrong with imitating a style or even a story, the proper word should be adopting, but one has to do it with panache. Not just copying for the sake of copying.

However, if one were going to produce film for a holiday at least make them exciting. And not just a simple rehash or mishmash of films that came before it.

In this film festival there are at least three stories with Dragons blatantly copied from the recent Harry Potter Film. One film I watched , was not so bad, but I left wondering how it got a high rating from a locally-based movie review group. Mulawin, is OK, and the fans of the series will like it because they want to see how the story is finally settled, but an A? As I said they , the one who reviewed it, must have been grading on a curve.

Exodus for all its fluff is just that full of fluff. Enteng Kabisote is a rehash of last year's Enteng Kabisote with a dragon. Ako Legal Wife is the last manifestation of the Mano Po series and ironically it attempts to spoof its own movie-ancestor. Kutob is a washed down version of Ruffa Mae Quintos and Epi Quizon's Radyo. Shake, Rattle and Roll is just a pale shadow of the First Shake, Rattle and Roll.

The only reason these movies are making money is that they do not have any other competition during the holiday season. And film is still the cheapest form of entertainment for Christmas. If they were up against international fims, that may also be full of fluff, these films may just loose. However, even if the said films have a monopoly on our attention for a week or so, like a really awful Christmas presention one has to sit through and smile, in due time such an advantage will fade. As the cost of a seat in a cinema house goes up, people will eventually look critically if it is really worth it. There will always be VCDs and DVDs available for rent or purchase - and they need not be pirated.

It would really be interesting to see how they would fare during a regular commercial run.

No amount of fluff and marketing will cover-up bad story-telling. And a film for the family or pang pamilya is not a synonymous to movies for the dumb. People learn and alternative forms of entertainment are becoming more and more available.

Unfortunately, none of the films showing at the Metro Manila Film Festival is as good as the independent film "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros". This film has a story to tell, it tells it well and it has a soul. It is a story without the fluff and the cliches.