Cinemalaya 2008: My Fake American Accent

Ten reasons why I admire Onnah Valera and Ned Trespeces's call-center comedy My Fake American Accent:

1. Ned Trespeces is my friend.
2. Mailes Kanapi is an amazing actress.
3. The film's production design looks and feels authentic.
4. Ned Trespeces is my friend.
5. The tagline--"Fake it 'til you make it"--is rather cute.
6. Writer-friends making cameo appearances.
   
7. Ned Trespeces is my friend.
8. The episodic, almost Altmanesque structure suits the material quite well, I think.
   
9. The trailer looks quite intriguing.
10. Ned Trespeces is my friend. Ü
    

UP NEXT: Jay Abello's Namets!

Cinemalaya 2008: Concerto

If watching Ranchero felt like being in unwarranted solitary confinement, watching Concerto felt as if I attended a tertulia. Films set during Japanese Occupation-era Philippines are rather rare, and Paul Alexander Morales's fine film is a welcome addition to that list. It may not be as great as Peque Gallaga's Oro, Plata, Mata (1982), but it's definitely much better than Cesar Montano's earnest Panaghoy sa Suba and Joel Lamangan's unimaginatively titled Aishite Imasu 1941, both released in 2004. The film strongly reminded me of Gilda Cordero Fernando's classic war stories People in the War and A Wilderness of Sweets in its detailed chronicling of a large, middle-class family's struggle to survive the war. Interesting material, indeed, but what made it even more so (at least for me) is that it's based on true stories of the filmmaker's own family.

Concerto boasts of several plusses. Morales's assured helming is one; here's one director who obviously knows his material. The production design impresses, despite the movie's very limited budget. The actors are well cast, particularly Meryll Soriano in a performance that's more restrained than usual and Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, who very skillfully avoids reducing her character--the ever-patient and understanding matriarch--into a two-dimensional saint. And it has several wonderfully staged scenes: the fantastic sepia-toned introduction, the mother's face illuminated by mirror-reflected sunlight, the title event itself. On the downside, I have to agree with Gibbs in his mini-critique of the film: it could stand further editing.

But what really struck me most about Concerto is its strong, almost insistent pacifist viewpoint. It's so strong, the United Nations, if it becomes an award-giving body like the Oscars, would give the Best Picture statuette to the film. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong in espousing a pacifist stance. But there were instances I felt it threatened to undermine narrative logic and common sense. This is most obvious in the final scene: an American soldier, a Japanese civilian, and Filipinos all friendly with one another and enjoying themselves at a party held inside the reopened De La Torre house soon after the war ended. The mood was too forgiving. And there are some details that the director didn't account for, like the sudden appearance of Mr. Akiya at the concerto: where did he come from?

The film's point cannot be denied: one can transcend differences and maintain his/her humanity, even in a heinously inhuman time. And in this case, the universal language--music--proves to be the key. Concerto is an ultimately stirring ode to pacificism.

UP NEXT: Onnah Valera and Ned Trespeces's My Fake American Accent.

Cinemalaya 2008: Ranchero

Boy, do I really regret watching this movie first. It has plot holes as large as the ones you find at Loyola Memorial Park. And to think the fine opening scene holds such promise. A close friend, Mon Sarmiento (who conducted extensive research at Bilibid years ago in penning his Palanca-winning screenplay Maria at Magdalena), watched the movie with me, and he sighed and grumbled all throughout: where’s the sense of a regimented existence, of claustrophobia? And why is the dialogue between longtime rancheros (slang for prison cooks) Ricardo (a miscast Archie Adamos) and Miyong (a wasted Garry Lim) sounds so contrived, sounds as though they’ve just met? It’s almost criminal.

That's not the end of it. For a prison, even a provincial one, it looks disconcertingly bright and clean. And that closing, lingering image of the posters of the Good Shepherd and the Crucifixion--care for (a sacrificial) lamb, anyone?--pasted side by side on a kitchen wall simply screams of OVERSTATEMENT! But what makes Ranchero an appalling movie is Michael Christian Cardoz's violations of the basic rules in crafting drama. A protagonist viewers didn't get to know at all because the director had drawn him so poorly: they never even learn of the nature and circumstance of Ricardo's crime that slapped him with a ten-year jail term in the first place. A protagonist with no real problem to confront and overcome (he's scheduled to be released from prison the next day, for Chrissakes!). No tension at all, especially in the first half. No fresh insight offered on life behind bars. No kidding: it's that bad.

If making a bad movie is a crime, then Cardoz deserves some serious confinement.

UP NEXT: Paul Alexander Morales's Concerto.

Cinemalaya 2008: Moving Foreword

Last night, the five-member jury--film critic and PDI editor Lito Zulueta and actor Cesar Montano among them--of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival announced its winners in a less-than-polished awards ceremony at the CCP Main Theater:

FULL-LENGTH FILM DIVISION: Film: Jay. Special Jury Prize: Brutus. Audience's Choice: 100. Director: Chris Martinez, 100. Actor: Baron Geisler, Jay. Actress: Mylene Dizon, 100. Supporting Actor: Yul Servo, Brutus. Supporting Actress: Eugene Domingo, 100. Screenplay: Chris Martinez, 100. Cinematography: Brutus and Huling Pasada (tie). Film Editing: Jay. Production Design: Baby Angelo. Original Musical Score: Brutus. Sound: Ranchero.

SHORT FILM DIVISION: Film: Andong. Special Jury Prize: My Pet. Audience's Choice: God Only Knows. Director: Mark V. Reyes, God Only Knows. Screenplay: Rommel Tolentino, Andong. Special Jury Citation: Angan-Angan (Dreams).

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners, most especially to fellow playwright Chris Martinez! Ü

What a week. A week--or more accurately, ten days--wherein I managed to watch a couple of films--some awesome, others not so much, but all more interesting than what the mainstream movie industry has been churning out today--that once again strengthen one's hopes that there's still hope yet for Philippine cinema.

Unlike last year, when I watched three competing features—Jim Libiran’s Tribu, Jade Castro’s Endo and Aureaus Solito’s Pisay—and did so long after the festival ended, this year I watched seven full-length films in competition, plus two in exhibition. Sad to say, I failed to catch any of the screenings for Paul Sta. Ana and Alvin Yapan’s Huling Pasada and Francis Xavier E. Pasion’s Jay; friends and insiders I’ve talked to discouraged me from watching Joel Ruiz’s Baby Angelo. Good thing all the competing full-length features will be screened at the UP next week.

Just like what the photo posted above says, "Ano'ng kwento mo? (What's your story?)" was this year's festival theme. It's ironic in a way: all the competing films--save for one or two--suffered in one way or another from narrative problems. Like Michael Christian Cardoz's Ranchero.

Virgin Labfest 4: A General Review

NOTE: This slightly bitchy, hopefully humorous review may contain certain details that are not suitable for overly sensitive, humorless theater practitioners. Reader discretion is advised.

In one of his introductory speeches almost two weeks ago, Rody (Vera) admitted how surprised he was at how the Virgin Labfest has lasted as long as it did; he really didn't expect it to go beyond the second edition. The fact that it did is an encouraging sign, I believe. It means there are people outside the local theater community who genuinely believe in the festival, in the reputation it has earned. If nothing else, where else can you find a collection of untouched plays that can provoke your senses or challenge your intellect beyond your comfort level?

As expected, the Virgin Labfest 4 had eighteen plays of varying quality that tackled a wide range of themes, with most of them conventionally and straightforwardly mounted. Naturally, all the plays had flaws, and only a handful managed to compensate.

Bart Guingona tried but ultimately failed to match May Bayot's modulated performance in Layeta Bucoy's Las Mentiras de Gloria, which benefitted from Tuxqs Rutaquio's restrained direction. Actors, most memorably Amihan Ruiz and Nar Cabico, had a field day sinking their teeth into their roles as underworld loonies in debuting Carlo Garcia's surreal, ultimately shallow black comedy Ang Mga Halimaw. And men with a fetish for virginal and leggy schoolgirls may be the most receptive audience for the bland fluff that was Hase Hiroichi's Amoy ng Langit.

Jonathan Tadioan was ferociously good as a corrupt congressman and fraternity alumnus in Tim Dacanay's intriguing, funny (thanks in great part to that ridiculous frat chant with matching raised-fist, one-leg-stretched-back pose) and, according to National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José, sophisticated (Yeah. Fine. Whatever.) Pamantasang Hirang, which could've benefitted from a stronger sense of horror and a more assertive feminine perspective from director Hazel Gutierrez. And Allan Lopez, together with director J. Victor Villareal, giddily put his actors (Abner Delina Jr. and Katherine Sabate this time around) and the audience through brainbending hell as usual in his exploration of psychological torture in the oddly titled Masaganang Ekonomiya.

I can't really comment on National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José's "play" Dong-Ao, a sequel of sorts to the last Rosales novel Mass, because I slept through it. Ü But seriously, Hammy--I mean, Tommy--Abuel was so, well, hammy as a pompous senator that I felt as if I was at Santi's Deli Shop or at a supermarket's cold-cuts section. If I only knew, I could've brought some slices of bread, mayonnaise and lettuce. Truth to tell, this "play" inflicted more needless torture on the audience than Masaganang Ekonomiya.

Speaking of ham, meat--muscular and otherwise--are on display in George Vail Kabristante's Ang Kwento ng Menginga ng New York City na Kamukha ng Bee-stung Lips in Julia Roberts, about a Filipino tranny living in the Big Apple who had his, well, "meat down there" surgically removed so that the hunky love of his/her life can finally push his "meat" into him/her. That, or it's another hilarious Ricci Chan stand-up performance in disguise, for it sometimes felt that way. Good thing I didn't have that feeling at all in Rogelio Braga's thought- and laughter-provoking Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao, at ang Habal-Habal sa Isang Nakakabagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte. It worked onstage in a way that it never did on paper, and I must credit the first-rate performances of Joey Paras and Arnold Reyes, the erstwhile Didi and Dodong, respectively, of ZsaZsa Zaturnnah: Ze Musikal for it. As for J. Dennis Teodosio's Gumamela, it just wilted.

Thanks to Ana Valdes-Lim's appalling direction and a horribly miscast Mary Emeral O'Hara, the arguably promising ideas Debbie Ann L. Tan offered in Mga Babaeng Toobright regrettably got flushed down the toilet, along with lead actress Wenah Nagales's considerable talents. And in Koh Jun Eiow's very fascinating Ang Dalawa Niyang Libing, the cast's overdependence on Malaysian broadsheets as props unnecessarily distracted from the play's strong subject matter. Thankfully, nothing of the sort marred Floy Quintos's rich, well-realized Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna. The fabulous Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino was captivating as a president recasting herself as a queen while Tuxqs Rutaquio shone as a queen of another kind, but just as dignified and refined. I hope the playwright further develops the play into a full-length one; the material is that rich, that complex.

As for the collection of children's plays, Argel Tuason's generally diverting Bru-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, Bru-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi could've been more technically polished, while director Cats Racsag made the most out of Job Pagsibigan's brief Uuwi Na ang Nanay Kong si Darna. On the other hand, Njel de Mesa did a very commendable job in adapting, directing and scoring the entertaining, visually striking Terangati. As last year's Mga Obra ni Maestra has proven, he can truly carve out a really big niche for himself in children's theater in the country.

So, after all that has been said and done:

BEST ACTORS: Joey Paras and Arnold Reyes, in Rogelio Braga's Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao, at ang Habal-Habal sa Isang Nakakabagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte (tie). (Runners-up: Jonathan Tadioan, in Tim Dacanay's Pamantasang Hirang and Tuxqs Rutaquio, in Floy Quintos's Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna.)

BEST ACTRESS: Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, in Floy Quintos's Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna. (Runner-up: May Bayot for Layeta Bucoy's Las Mentiras de Gloria.)

BEST CAST: The cast of Carlo Garcia's Ang Mga Halimaw: JK Anicoche, Amihan Ruiz, Kristine Balmes, Alvin Obillo, Nar Cabico, Isab Martinez, and Oscar Garcia.

BEST EYE CANDY: Male: Diogenes Alejandro, in George Vail Kabristante's Ang Kuwento ng Menginga ng New York City na Kamukha ng Bee-stung Lips in Julia Roberts. (Runner-up: Joselito Riguerra, in George Vail Kabristante's Ang Kuwento ng Menginga ng New York City na Kamukha ng Bee-stung Lips in Julia Roberts.). Female: Mica Froilan, in Hase Hiroichi's Amoy ng Langit. (Runner-up: Tara Cabaero, in Hase Hiroichi's Amoy ng Langit.)

BEST PROP: The crown in Floy Quintos's Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna. (Runner-up: the wooden paddle in Tim Dacanay's Pamantasang Hirang.)

BEST REPRESENTATION OF A BODY PART: Gem Padilla, as the Menginga in George Vail Kabristante's Ang Kuwento ng Menginga ng New York City na Kamukha ng Bee-stung Lips in Julia Roberts. (Runner-up: Vera's stiff cock, in Allan Lopez's Masaganang Ekonomiya.)

BEST USE OF MUSIC: Njel de Mesa, for his musical score for Terangati. (Runner-up: Floy Quintos, for his use of Judy Garland's Somewhere Over the Rainbow in his Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna.)

BEST DIRECTOR: Floy Quintos, for his Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna. (Runner-up: Njel de Mesa, for Terangati.)

BEST PLAY: Floy Quintos's Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna. (Runner-up: Layeta Bucoy's Las Mentiras de Gloria.)

Plus, a special award from a well-known food company:

THE PUREFOODS FIESTA HAM AWARD FOR ACTING: Tommy Abuel, in F. Sionil José's Dong-Ao. (Runner-up: Charissa Litton, in Debbie Ann L. Tan's Mga Babaeng Toobright.)

MABUHAY sa mga organizers at participants ng Virgin Labfest 4!