Ang Panday 2 (2011)

Ang Panday 2 (Mac Alejandre, 2011)

English Title: The Blacksmith 2

The malady caused by the proliferation of loud but predominantly empty Hollywood blockbusters in Philippine shores is most evident in Mac Alejandre’s Ang Panday 2 (The Blacksmith 2). The bombardment of special effects has never been this harmful to the eyes and to the mind. This sequel to the 2009 reincarnation of one of Fernando Poe, Jr.’s most beloved cinematic alter-egos is hardly a film. Its characters which are proudly advertised as based on Carlo J. Caparas’ creations actually reflect the weakness of Caparas’ imagination which seems to be fuelled only by stereotypes and derivations. In Alejandre’s hands, Flavio (played by Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.), who transforms into the heroic Panday with his elongating dagger that detects evil, is a hollow vessel, a tool for ambitious Revilla to transform his political ambitions into something as simple as a battle of good against evil.

Its story is nothing more than an excuse to chain together scenes that are supposed to inspire spectacle, the special effects of which are sometimes delightful to look at but are mostly just numbingly repetitive. After defeating Lizardo (Phillip Salvador), Flavio decided to settle with fiancée Maria (Iza Calzado) in a little town whose citizens are more than grateful to the hero for getting rid of their oppressor. However, Lizardo is hardly dead. Awakened by Baruha (Lorna Tolentino who braves to wear make-up that makes her look like a subpar version of Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch), who opts to wreak her brand of evil from atop an ominous looking peak, Lizardo begins his quest for world domination, first, by kidnapping the town’s female folk including Maria, second, by murdering the men folk through his many minions, and third, by attempting to disarm Flavio by stealing his magical dagger.

Along the way, he discovers that his pet dragon is in fact a foxy lady (Marian Rivera) who is a member of an ironically peaceful race of people who can transform into powerful dragons. He also meets a couple of his friends from his first adventure. All this is of course a bunch of nonsensical filler. The film has lost all ambition to entertain beyond its brainless showcase of what it intends to be as international-caliber computer-generated extravagance. Every now and then, jokes are cracked, slapstick happens, or hints of a probable darkness beneath all the fakery are exposed. However, all those attempts are quickly shelved as soon as Revilla, who seems to have lost all humanity in his exertion to be an effective action hero despite his age and his unwieldy heft, sucks all the possible fun with his mug of contagious indifference.

Alejandre horribly mistakes pageantry with aesthetics. From the small town and its colorfully costumed townsfolk to Lizardo’s grimly dressed monstrosities, the film looks like a hodgepodge of miscommunicated pegs and influences. Like a zombie in search for a living human brain to feed on, the film gnaws on your sanity. It actually forces you to wish for random calamities that would salvage you from the misfortune of sitting through a confused and disastrously taxing film.

By the film’s end, when Baruha announces that this is just the start of the reign of evil, the aches stopped with the promise that this part of Flavio’s saga will finally close. But then, Revilla, donned in his heroic garb and flicking his symbol of being macho for all the world to see and mouthing cryptic words that may or may not be his battlecry for the next elections, appears in another one of Alejandre’s painfully pretty backdrops that are too reminiscent of every torturous episode of TeleTubbies to be taken seriously. Baruha indeed has played propher. This, ladies and gentlemen, is really just the start of the reign of evil.

(Cross-published in Twitch.)

2011 year in review

I did a lot of new things this year. 2011 has been a surprise to me and it's helped me grow personally and professionally. I got to travel a lot this year! It's a first! I was very blessed this year and all I can say that it's been an awesome ride! Here are my highlights of 2011! No ranking in particular!

Click on READ MORE to see :)

To all you loyal followers of this blog, wishing you all an awesome 2012!!! :)

Switzerland w Misha

Being in a long distance relationship was something I wasn't ready for. I've heard of horror stories from friends but as we Filipinos like to say "sa awa ng Diyos", everything turned out ok. I was fortunate to have been allowed by my parents, Misha's parents, (and my boss) to visit Misha in Switzerland. It was a good breather for the 2 of us. It was good to have quality time after some time being in a long distance relationship. I got to see the headquarters of my company, I got to visit a chocolate factory, and most important of all, I got to be with Mish :)

San Diego Comic Con

It was Disneyland all over again or getting that satisfaction when you open Santa's gift on Christmas morning. Comic Con gave me that blissful feeling that will forever remain in my heart. I got to meet Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Jonathan Hickman, etc. I got to see the most awesome and coolest things in the Geek World. Comic Con is something that should be done by geeks on a yearly basis! Everything that you ever dreamt of seeing or want to see, it can be found in Comic Con!

Boston Trip

Jonty and I did our other pilgrimage by visiting the place where our family lived for 3 years as political refugees. Boston or Beantown as we like to call it. I personally enjoyed this trip as we got to visit the house on Commonwealth Avenue that our Grandparents lived in. My Mon says that it was te happiest 3 years of their lives. We also got to visit the home of our beloved Boston Celtics, the TD Garden! It was my Mecca of Basketball. Seeing the 17 banners was amazing. We also got to see a live baseball game of the Boston Red Sox! Even though they lost, it was still awesome watching in Fenway Park!

Nescafé Dolce Gusto

I was blessed to have been given a good assignment from work. I was tasked to launch a new product in the market. Being a coffee lover, it was just sheer joy to be handling a product I love. NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto was launched in September (sa awa ng Diyos) :) I really believe in this new product and it is just absolutely awesome! I got myself one on the first day in the market and I get to make cool and delicious beverages! Cappuccinos, Latte Macchiatos, and even Hot Chocolate! I wouldnt be putting this on my blog if I didnt believe in it! :) this is awesome stuff!

SKY Broadband

I got a call one day from an ad agency representing SKY Broadband and was asked "Jiggy, can we talk to your manager?" I said that I didn't have one. Next question was "OK, what is your TF?" and I asked what TF was and then I immediately say "Oh! Talent Fee! Uh... I don't have a Talent Fee either, can I get back to you?" After that call, I asked help from my Mom and my Tita Kris. After that I talked to them and a couple of weeks later, I was shooting my very first TV commercial! Never in a million years did Inthink I'd be in one. Of course I got a lot of Star Wars jokes after. I have never been so happy with my Internet connection at home! It's sooooo fast! It's just fantastic!

Young Star

Doing things in tandem with my brother had been cool. Surprisingly. You see, just like any other pair of siblings, we fought a lot when we were little. It was comics that brought us together. Though I have this loyalty to Marvel and his loyalty lies with DC, there's still that competition between us geeks! Haha! Jonty and I are now lifestyle writers for The Philippine Star! We have been blessed and we're writing a lot of Geeky things for Young Star! Our articles come out Fridays! :)

Singapore F1 Grand Prix

Vroom Vroom! Another surprise I got was getting chosen as a SHELL V-Power Champion. I use SHELL gasoline and I tweeted during the time SHELL had problems with their gas lines that I'd rather wait the next day to fill up my car with gas just as long as it's SHELL. I was used to it and Ive been loyal all these years :) Little did I know that they were following me online! I was supposed to be in 3 trips. London, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi were spread throughout the year. My schedule only permitted me to go to Singapore. The F1 race was loud! Really LOUD! But I loved the sessions SHELL had for us about engine health! It was a once in a lifetime experience!

Malaysia 

I went to a new country this year and it was the first time Misha and I traveled outside the country. Mish had work in Malaysia so my friend Ben and I tagged along for the weekend in Kuala Lumpur! It's always nice visiting new places and trying new food! Malaysia was a country that was just so clean and developed! The Petronas towers were pretty cool too! 

The Hundred Islands

As a Filipino, YOU MUST see the hundred islands! How can a hundred islands be in one place? It's astounding! It will be one of the coolest things you'll ever see in your life! Do you live in Manila? It's just 3 hours away! You don't have to ride a plane! Go on a road trip! When you meet foreigners, you'll have something to brag about! I'm telling you, astig na astig! The hundred islands is a must see!

Hosting Comic Book Events!  

2011 had a lot of surprises for me. One of the biggest and pleasant surprises was that National Book Store and Komikon got me to host for them! I'm really not a host mind you but for some reason unknown to man, National Book Store and Komikon believed in me! I hosted the launches of Trese: Last Seen After Midnight and the 2nd Edition of ELMER for National Book Store. It was cool getting to interview Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo, and Gerry Alanguilan LIVE! After that I hosted the 2011 Komikon awards at the Bayanihan Center. Thank you very much to Mr Miguel Ramos and Ms Sherry Zamar for getting me to host your events! It was an honor! :) 

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2011)

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Jun Lana, 2011)

Its prologue, which briefly introduces its bouquet of characters and their curious relationships and situations, is divided into three parts, all of which are introduced by the three words of its generic title followed by sayings that would do better on greeting card than in a movie. Jun Lana’s Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is very convinced of its complexities that it utilizes these needless storytelling devices that are in reality are just ornaments to a narrative that is as elementary and straightforward as a daytime soap, only cramped within two hours. It is a film that does not say anything about anything, except perhaps to offer a glimpse of the sort of problems a Filipino upper class family, as imagined and fictionalized to cater to the masses, would be involved in.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is essentially about the Montes family, owners of the country’s largest television network and a sort of hyperbolic representative of the famously wealthy and influential clans whose members’ lives we can only pretend to know. Tackling the sordid lives of the members of the Montes family and the people that are close to them, the film mines entertainment from tragedy, enjoyment from the manufactured tears of its embattled characters, and delight from the all the entanglements and estrangements brought about by the peculiarities of its very many narrative conceits.

Paraplegic Donald, the Montes patriarch, believes that he has a stable family. Agnes (Agot Isidro), his second wife who is decades younger than him, is secretly having an affair with Derek (Dennis Trillo), her personal trainer. Celine (Solenn Heussaff), Donald and Agnes’ daughter, is starting to get bored with Vince (Paulo Avelino), her clingy boyfriend. Mariel (Maricel Soriano), Donald’s eldest daughter from his first marriage and head of the family’s television network, has turned into a sad and mad woman after being separated from Gary (Gabby Concepcion), her ex-husband who is about to be wed to Charlotte (Carla Abellana). Jacob (Jericho Rosales), Donald’s son, is trying to balance the demands of being a family man and an executive for the family’s network. Lory (Lovi Poe), his bored wife, sneaks out of the house at night to sing with her band, leaving their baby with the household help.

After a disastrous earthquake, secrets are revealed, relationships are threatened, and emotions are questioned, further complicating these characters’ already complicated lives. Ex-wives are turned into mistresses. Mothers are turned into romantic rivals. Lana crafts a topsy-turvy world in Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow and attempts to pass it off as a glossier and noisier version of reality, dealing with feelings and circumstances that are beyond belief despite the strange circumstances that they are evoked from. This is unabashed melodrama, spending more effort in mercilessly pitting its characters against calamitous events to allow tearful montages and dramatic exchanges of dialogue than anything else. Lana’s characters seem to be there only for their eye sockets that spew off tears of depression and frustration and mouths that sound off phrases that sound devastating but actually mean nothing. Their motivations are questionable. Their existences are negligible.

Moreover, Lana does not have the eye to make Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow more visually appealing or distinctive. The cinematography, although apt in the sense that scenes are sufficiently framed and lighted, is characterless, contented to only the service the narrative without doing anything else. The result is pretty much a visually uninteresting picture, salvaged only by performances that are consistently competent although out. The film, which is essentially just an expensively mounted “move on” note, is all dull gloss and glitter. Despite the film’s many flaws, there’s satisfaction in the way Lana manages to juggle his sprawling account of a fictional family to its open-ended conclusion, the way he attempted to break away from the expectations of a neatly packaged ending with all loose ends tied together in a lovely knot. It is not all bad. It is just not all good, either.

(Cross-published in Twitch.)

Shake, Rattle and Roll 13 (2011)

Shake, Rattle and Roll 13 (Richard Somes, Jerrold Tarog & Chris Martinez, 2011)

In Chris Martinez’s Rain, Rain, Go Away, the final episode of Shake, Rattle and Roll 13 which was touted by its producing studio as the last and the best of the horror franchise, water, more than the predictable ghosts that appear every now and then, is the main source of chills. Martinez, who is probably the cleverest writer and director actively working for the mainstream today, mines the collective paranoia of floods brought about by the horrific experiences during recent rain-related calamities the country barely survived from.

In the episode, reliable comedienne Eugene Domingo plays the wife of Jay Manalo’s businessman whose plastics business moved from its former flood-prone factory to a safer location. Brought about by experiences from the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy which caused her a miscarriage, among other traumas, the littlest instance of abnormal weather causes her to wilt in terror, forcing her to fear even the most unlikely and ordinary of objects.

Martinez’s episode is most likely to be the most relatable, considering that while it still deals with supernatural elements and relies heavily on the easy shocks of sudden apparitions of stock ghosts, it stems from a horror that is very close to home. Martinez has a knack for creating stories around very real experiences in the screenplays he writes like in Chito Roño’s Sukob (The Wedding Curse, 2006) where the sordid entanglements caused by marital infidelity is the actual curse. With Rain, Rain, Go Away, Martinez has crafted a predictable but effective ghost story that has greed and guilt in the midst of calamity as its heart.

Dealing also with greed, not by the upper-middle class businesspeople of Martinez’s morality tale but by people who are desperate for survival, is Richard Somes’ Tamawo. Somes’ episode, which opens the film with the type of otherworldly fantasy that usually dictates the franchise, is inspired from the Hiligaynon myth of elf-like creatures that inhabit strange places. Somes masterfully creates a rural landscape that serves the setting of both the coming of age of a young boy (a very expressive Bugoy Cariño) who struggles to win the affection of his stepfather (Zanjoe Marudo) while taking care of his blind mother (Maricar Reyes) and the horror tale of the titular creatures who would do anything to take back what the human occupants of their town have taken from them.

Irresistibly pretty at times, with sequences that are intelligently shot and directed, the episode shows a master craftsman at work. There are certain scenes, such as when the blind mother is being stalked in her house by the tamawo and Somes only reveals the monsters’ eerily white faces and menacing bodies partially, that emphasize the very raw horror of being absolutely vulnerable. And the episode is really about vulnerability, of the young boy who only wishes to belong to a family, of the mother whose lack of sight makes her more prone to danger, of the stepfather whose desire to provide for his family forces him to make questionable decisions, of the tamawo whose existence is being threatened by humanity’s interference.

Jerrold Tarog’s Parola (Lighthouse), the middle episode in this triptych, is also about vulnerability brought about by adolescence. Lucy (Kathryn Bernardo) and Shane (Louise de los Reyes) are best friends whose friendship is suddenly threatened when during their school trip to an abandoned lighthouse, two rival witches (Julia Clarete and Dimples Romana) decide to use their bodies to continue their feud. The plot, while admittedly convoluted, is thankfully just a frame for an otherwise atmospheric and moody exploration of teenage paranoia.

Tarog, through telling scenes that are remarkably observant of juvenile conflict, creates an atmosphere of subtle disturbance that is only enunciated by the premeditated acts of cruelty that the witches’ interference allowed the young girls to do. Tarog successfully turns what essentially is the normalcy of high school life into something seductively sinister, like a Freudian nightmare. Immature infatuations, corridor-set insults, chemistry experiments, menstruation, and friendship bracelets are fascinatingly turned into threatening objects and occurrences.

Sparingly paced and ominously quiet, Parola weaves the commercial intentions of the franchise’s shrewd producers with Tarog’s creative integrity and exquisite craftsmanship to create what possibly could be the entire franchise’s crowning achievement --- a truly harmonious mix of all the bad (the hackneyed storylines and stretches in logic) and all the good (the surprising invention some of the intrepid directors manage to sneak into their films) that Shake, Rattle and Roll is most known and loved for.

(Cross-published in Twitch.)

Yuan Xiang Seafood Restaurant @ Port Dickson

In the earlier post, i was mention, we didn't get to have our breakfast, since all of us woke up late and the breakfast at the hotel is lousy, we save our stomach for the lunch.

After checked out from the hotel, we went nearby to have our late lunch. This is our first time at this restaurant, this restaurant is inside/next to a temple, in PD, you sure won't missed that the big temple, this is where the restaurant located.



Yuen Xiang Seafood Village


lala in clear soup, they add some chili paid in the soup, to give that an extra kick. Nice.
But the lala, a bit small.


ok, i forgot what is this. hahahhaha..i think is chicken fillet?

marmite chicken, this is nice.

kangkung belacan

omelette for the kids.

small squids

butter prawns..

sweet and sour meat for the kids..

spicy steam fish, taste good.

and last with this very miserable chicken. No, no one has take the chicken, this is how it look when they serve. tsk tsk tsk.

Overall food was ok, service a bit slow, and you have to keep waving at them to get the service. Since we all are super hungry, we didn't complain much and in PD hardly can find something which is really really nice. We don't mind to go back to this place again.

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story (2011)

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story (2011)

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story is a film that is as hotly contested as post-war Tondo. The first film of what was hoped to be a peaceful collaboration between Laguna governor E.R. Ejercito (who uses the name Jorge Estregan, Jr. when acting in films) and acclaimed director Tikoy Aguiluz, the film quickly gained momentum when a seductively pretty trailer went viral in various social networking sites, giving an impression to most of who have seen the trailer that the Filipino action film, long dead because of the proliferation of the more lucrative romantic comedy in the market, is soon to be revived.

A month prior to its release, relationships suddenly got sour with Aguiluz insisting that his name be dropped from the credits of the film that was going to be released commercially and that he be given the opportunity to create and release his director’s cut, claiming that Ejercito shot several new scenes and re-edited the film behind his back. Ejercito, on the other hand, claimed that Aguiluz’s cut was too slow and subpar. Demand letters were sent, cases were filed in court, temporary restraining orders were issued, and eventually, Aguiluz got one half of his two wishes, and had his name stricken out of the film that he deems was bastardized by its producers. The bastardized film, actually, is not as bad as it seems.

Undoubtedly, Ejercito, who is well beyond his 40’s, is miscast as Asiong Salonga, who ruled the streets of Tondo as a benevolent gangster before being gunned down at the age of 27. Brooding alongside actors like Baron Geisler, Ketchup Eusebio and Yul Servo who are decades his junior, he sticks out like a fogey in the middle of an amusement park. Notwithstanding the very obvious attempt by Ejercito to evoke some sort of inner youth in his performance, he more or less communicates Asiong’s authoritative swagger with expert ease. Pitted against John Regala, who plays Asiong’s nemesis Totoy Golem with equal parts cunning and savageness, he impresses because of his vulnerability, his ability to ache and bleed.

Unfortunately, Asiong aches and bleeds in a story that is haphazardly told, jumping from either one action set-piece or one narrative milestone to another with hardly any rhyme or reason. Edited like a music video presumably for the sake of fast pacing, the film suffers even more. It is a film that desperately needs to breathe. Its many vivid action sequences could have been rendered more poignant with a pinch of quietude and serenity. Its documentation of lives enveloped by corruption and violence could be more meaningful with some intelligent characterization from the film’s writers. As it is, the spare and unimaginative story seems more perfunctory to the visual spectacle and the shameless grandstanding. It is definitely quite a shame because its present form shows shades of glory, traces of the film Aguiluz had in mind --- stylish but somber, brutal but human, and entertaining but artful.

Jessie Lasaten’s musical score is most of the time obtrusive. Carlo Mendoza’s cinematography, however, is quite sublime in its masterful use of monochrome. With only light and shadows to play with, Mendoza concocts images that are admirably composed and expertly framed, which lend the film that has been fractured by its disconnected storyline and lousy cutting reliable crutches to walk with. The production design is also quite notable especially with the efforts to recreate post-war Tondo from Ejercito’s hometown of Pagsanjan.

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story is an undeniable mess of a film. Sometimes, it promises greatness. At other times, it sinks into an embarrassing slump reminiscent of the reason why action films have died in the first place. It seems to be ignorant of what it wants to be or what it wants to say about the testosterone-dominated world it vividly portrays. It is only during one vehemently illogical and anachronistic but miraculously effective sequence that the film, with all its chaotic storytelling and never-ending fistfights, knife matches, and gun battles, manages to say something coherent. Men fight men. Friends kill friends. And in the climactic, slow-motioned and revenge-fuelled orgy of sweat, blood, and bullets, it becomes apparent that the world we live in, as the glaring instrumentals of the pop song the film curiously borrows to set the scene’s action in music forces the audience to sing, is a mad world.

It’s definitely not an awful film. There are still hints of greatness in this haphazardly edited abomination to render it watchable, if not enjoyable. Now that Ejercito had shown the Philippines what he’s capable of, fairness only dictates that Aguiluz be given the opportunity to cut the film his way.

(Cross-published in Lagarista as 'The Strange Case of Asiong Salonga')

Un año 2011 para el recuerdo

Nos deja el 2011, y con mucha pena despedimos un año que nos ha aportado miles de satisfacciones. Espero que no pase mucho tiempo para dejar en el recuerdo 12 meses repletos de experiencias, y de proyectos que han salido a la luz como en este 2011, en salas y eventos muy importantes, para cualquier profesional del sector de la imagen. Haciendo balance, hemos podido estar presentando “litio”, nuestro último cortometraje, en el Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM), en la sala polivalente, donde ver el recinto repleto de gente, vio recompensado todo esfuerzo y sacrificio, ante un proyecto tan complejo como el de un cortometraje de presupuesto reducido. Posteriormente me anunciaban la emisión del mismo, y para toda Canarias, en Antena 3 Televisión, toda una oportunidad de exponer nuestro “cine”, en la pequeña pantalla. El TEA Espacios de las Artes, en Tenerife, también fue lugar de emisión de "litio", en este caso junto al estreno del cortometraje "Rota", de Daniel León Lacave. Pero si esto fuera poco, desde principios de año preparábamos una serie fotográfica, denominada “Mi Interno Dolor Diario”, donde la Galería de Arte de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, nos aprobaba el proyecto y nos cedía una de la mejores salas que ahora presenta esta ciudad para el mundo del Arte.
No éramos conscientes de la magnitud, hasta el día de la inauguración, en donde aun estando ausente, por encontrarme en Barcelona, las imágenes que me llegaron y las llamadas de teléfono de muchos amigos y familiares, me hicieron pasar una noche mágica en la ciudad Condal, encontrándose la florinata completa de este mundo del arte en dicha inauguración. Aunque no pudimos ver la obra colgada, posteriormente la XI Bienal Internacional Fotonoviembre nos daba la oportunidad y nos selecciona entre varios artistas para exponer la obra, a la que si pudimos acudir despidiendo el año con gran satisfacción personal.

Nuestra estancia en Barcelona, me aportaba la experiencia de realizar un rodaje en tierras catalanas, y de trabajar junto a grandes profesionales, e impregnarnos de la sabiduría de directores de la talla de Daniel Villamediana (La vida sublime) entre otros, en una de sus escuelas donde recibimos unas jornadas de Analisis Fílmico y Dirección Cinematográfica, que hizo las delicias de los que amamos este séptimo arte.

Con todo ello no sabemos si el 2012 será tan enriquecedor o tendrá los frutos que hemos recibido en este año que ya termina, pero de lo que si estoy seguro, es del trabajo y la dedicación. Muchas gracias a los que me han apoyado y animado a seguir haciendo esto que más me gusta, el vicio de crear.

Feliz año 2012 para todos. 

Adrián González Barreto

www.adrianimagina.com

 

Segunda Mano (2011)

Segunda Mano (Joyce Bernal, 2011)

Joyce Bernal is more famous for the charming romances and comedies she made that took full advantage of her actors and actresses’ celebrities. For instance, in Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw (I Need You, 2000), she concocted a movie that pits Robin Padilla’s undeniably manly swagger with Regine Velasquez’s streetwise sweetness. In Booba (2001), Ruffa Mae Quinto’s voluptuous mammaries and seemingly lacking mental resources are the running gag of the movie. In Kimmy Dora (2009), Eugene Domingo’s unlikely star looks and impeccable acting skills are utilized to depict twin sisters whose personalities are as different as night and day.

Quite interestingly, Segunda Mano, Bernal’s latest and notably her first foray into horror (D’Anothers, while featuring ghosts, is more comedy than horror), has her evidently struggling with Kris Aquino, an actress who has claimed for herself the crown for having the most sellable scared face in the Philippines. Aquino plays Mabel, a simple woman who runs an antiques shop. One fateful rainy night, she runs into Ivan (Dingdong Dantes), an architect who was recently left by his philandering wife and is now left alone with his young daughter, Angel (Sofia Millares). They eventually fall in love, leading to mysterious apparitions by a bloodied woman (Angelica Panganiban) who seems to be linked to both Mabel and Ivan.

Written by Joel Mercado, who has penned or co-penned the screenplays of other horror films like Rico Ilarde’s Villa Estrella (2009), Frasco Mortiz, Enrico Santos, Ato Bautista, Nick Olanka, and Cathy Garcia-Molina’s Cinco (2010), and Dondon Santos’ Dalaw (The Visitor, 2010), the film initially tells the story of a woman who seems to have contented herself with second hand objects and persons. Ivan has been used previously by his previous wife, Angel by her absentee mother, her mother (Helen Gamboa) by her sister who drowned in the beach while she was still young. The film then sadly settles into a prolonged mystery derived from the many psycho stories told since the birth of cinema that has a twist that has been prematurely telegraphed by bad acting, predictable cinematography, unreliable editing, and uncreative writing.

The biggest problem with Segunda Mano is that there’s incongruence in Bernal and her lead star’s intentions. Obviously, Bernal, who has always been an intelligent and witty filmmaker and could not have allowed herself to be relegated into an overused genre, doesn’t take the film’s terrorizing stance seriously, what with a silly haunted designer bag, a ditzy social climber (Bangs Garcia) for an annoying sidekick, a loon for a spirit medium, and even a cameo appearance by the iconic Lilia Cuntapay as an unfortunate bag lady who meets death via a murderous hand springing forth from red patent leather.

Unfortunately, Bernal can’t seem to control Aquino. While the film erupts into a parade of self-conscious nonsense, Aquino remains drowned in boring seriousness. She is too concerned perfecting her unsubtle looks of terror to get into the joke of the film, rendering Bernal’s attempts to graduate the film from being droll derivative horror into something irreverently fresh frustratingly unsuccessful. The sorry result is this miserably confused film that at times attempts to subvert the tired genre by injecting a bit of humor into its proceedings but most of the time just satisfies itself with being just a knock-off bag full of second hand scares.

(Cross-published in Lagarista as 'Second Hand Scares.')

Magnifico (2003)

Magnifico (Maryo J. de los Reyes, 2003)

Curiously snubbed by the Metro Manila Film Festival during the same year the festival had films like Boy Vinarao’s Hula Mo... Huli Ko, Tony Reyes’ Lastikman and Enrico Quizon’s Home Along da Riber competing for the top plum, Maryo J. De los Reyes’ Magnifico was eventually released the following year to much critical recognition. Unfortunately, the film failed miserably in the box office. Nonetheless, the film, despite its very traditional filmmaking style, was way ahead of its time. In a way, it preceded the independent films of today in the sense that the story, more than the famous actors and actresses that lend their names and talent to the film, was the very vehicle that drove the film to acclaim. However, its unsuccessful local commercial run also preceded the mostly unsuccessful attempts of today’s independent films to break into mass consciousness.

Written by Michiko Yamamoto, the film is about the titular young boy (then newcomer Jiro Manio) who attempts to give his ailing grandmother (Gloria Romero) a decent funeral. Along with his best friend, he naively goes around town, talking to various personalities or finding ways to earn money, to piece together his grandmother’s funeral, from the coffin that he constructs from the extra plywood he gathered from the local crafts factory to the actual lot wherein his grandmother would be buried.

Yamamoto crafts an entire town populated with quirky individuals with realistic intentions and motivations. Gerry, Magnifico’s father (Albert Martinez) who works as a carpenter working for the local crafts factory, seems to be content with his family and their modest lifestyle. Edna (Lorna Tolentino), Magnifico’s mother who is mostly left in the house to take care of both her sick mother-in-law and her daughter (Isabella de Leon) who is suffering from cerebral palsy, takes her lot in life with a lot less of her husband’s optimism. Magnifico’s elder brother, Miong (Danilo Barrios) has just returned home from Manila after losing his scholarship and is now trying to court the daughter (Girlie Sevilla) of the factory owner (Tonton Gutierrez) in an attempt to escape his family’s fate.

Around town are a bevy of similarly complicated lives. Domeng (Mark Gil), the town’s bus driver, still morose and mourning months after his mother’s demise, is oblivious to the charms of Cristy (Cherry Pie Picache), the town’s primary source of gossip and as a result, the rival of Tessie (Amy Austria). Ka Doring (Celia Rodriguez), the owner of the town’s lone funeral parlor, has turned into the town’s laughing stock because of her seemingly incurable hoarse speaking voice.

De Los Reyes’ directs with precision, making sure that each character adds up to the emotional heft of the story. Although brimming with acting talents, he never allows any of the supporting cast to overshadow Magnifico or his younger sister, whose heart-warming interactions turn out to be the centrepiece of this finely tuned drama. Lutgardo Labad’s beautifully composed score is probably one of the very few in recent Philippine cinema that is truly memorable and hummable. It is quiet and subdued at times and swells whenever necessary, allowing the film to sink deep into the hearts of its audience. Magnifico is a masterfully orchestrated tearjerker. Each of its individual elements are weaved perfectly to create an emotionally rousing experience that never feels slight or ill-conceived.

Magnifico is that rare children’s film that tackles mortality, the inevitability of death. It buffers the seriousness of its subject matter with levity and humor, allowing the children to create for the film an atmosphere of endearing innocence amidst the drollness of the affairs of the adults.

By portraying life as a colorful tapestry of relationships affected by small acts that are fuelled by good intentions, it emphasizes its value while underlining its fragility. It is hardly an empty product that exploits Filipino sensitivity for shocks and tears, like the many melodramas that populate the Metro Manila Film Festival that unfairly neglected it because of its lack of commercial appeal. It is genuinely moving, as it makes you familiar with its characters, allowing you to understand instead of merely witness their virtues, flaws, and humble ambitions. Undoubtedly, Magnifico is a film that will be remembered far longer than any of the films that made it to that miserably misinformed film festival that year.

(Cross-published in Lagarista.)

Admiral Cove @ Port Dickson

Time flies, another one more week, school will re-open again. :( *sigh*

During this school holidays, we didn't bring the boys to anywhere, it is a busy month. Beginning of the month, we brought the kids to a short holiday at Port Dickson, the nearest.

We are at this hotel again, Admiral Cove Port Dickson, we sign up as a member of Avillion, we got complimentary room voucher at Admiral Cove too.


The hotel lobby area over look the beautiful sea.

They upgrade our room to Deluxe room this time,bigger room , but i still like their superior room on our last visit, their air cond is super cold.


twin bed room...

got a day bed near the window..

Shower room....

We arrived quite late in the evening around 6pm, kids can't wait want to go for a swim.

evening view at the pool side.....

After spending one hour + in the pool, we all are hungry and went out for dinner. To the restaurant that we visited often, food as usual are good, no pictures, because i am too hungry and have to taking care the four kids, ( one of my sister in law didn't go, as she is still in confinement, i have to help her to take care her kids on the food) . We had a birthday cake cutting session there too to celebrate my hub and my second brother in law and his son birthday, all are December babies!!

Guess what, while on the way to the dinner place, we saw this fun fair, kids are all excited want to go to fun fair. After dinner, we decide to stop for a while, it is already pass 10pm, but it is still a lot people.

This is my boys first time to fun fair, they are so excited!!

first ride on the "mini roller coaster" hahahhahahha....oh..it run quite fast you know!

second ride, some spinning things, fly fast, i so worry my two skinny boys will fly out!!!

all the kids get ready, 7 of them!!

it "fly" high and fast!!! tsk tsk tsk

then some of them went to "ghost ride"

Me and Cruz the scary cat, we didn't go for the ride, but surprise Fearles went with the daddy. All of them had a good laugh, said the "ghost" very funny!! :S

this is the "ghost train" they ride, veyr short, it just make a turn and come out, but it keep turning like 7-8 rounds, in and out from the house.

and they went for another spin. :S

Fearles and her favourite Ester jie jie...

Cruz and his favourite cousin brother..

We spent almost an hour in the fun fair, then we went back to hotel and rest. All of us are dead tired.

Next day, we all woke up late, and we skip breakfast as the breakfast at this hotel is horrible, i don't know why the management didn't do anything to the breakfast, even thought they have received a lot complain from the guests. :( We get the kids eat some cookies and drink some milk and cup noodles and let them had a good time at the pool and beach side.

my boys can't wait to dip into the pool again....it is freezing cold.....bbbbrrrrpppppp...

They spent about an hour in the pool then we proceed to the beach and had some water sport. One thing about this hotel beach, we need to walk quite a distance to go to their private beach. *sigh*

all of them went for banana boat!!! My hub and younger brother in law and two maids and the kids all are on the boat!!!! Wow!

all ready to go.......

Fearles was crying!! Hub is naughty, he told the banana boat man to make them all drop into the water but nearer to the beach, at least not deep, all not prepare, Cruz was excited, but Fearles un-prepare, and once he fall he is cried. Ok, he is not as Fear-less as his name, heheheh..he took after me, scary cat. kekeekekkeke

after the banana boat ride, they went for this "air head" things. tsk tsk tsk

while waiting for his turn, he found this live shell and want to take a picture with it.

i do nothing, just taking pictures around...

We spent another hour at the beach, then time to check out the room and we went for a late lunch! This is our short holidays at the beach and stay tune on what food we had on that afternoon.