Ligalig

Ligalig

Cesar Montano, Sunshine Cruz, Johnny Delgado, Celia Rodriguez

directed by Cesar Montano

Uhmmm…. Okay, so Cesar, what's your point? I actually watched this movie first, may balita kasi sa tabloid that Cesar let the actors signed a clause of agreement for none of them to reveal the movie's ending. Unfortunately, I was somehow disappointed. A regular movie-goer could very much guess what the ending would be miles away.

The Filipino audience is certainly not ready for this kind of movie. Cesar Montano made a brave attempt in doing this one. It was actually refreshing though, given the unique style that was applied by Montano in this film.

Robert Rodriguez's SinCity and as well as some of the styles used by Baz Lhurmann are very much visible in this film. A Quentin Tarantino treatment could have made this film even better. More gore, more violence, more blood, darker, … they should have maximized it na lang, given that they already made an attempt in going through this genre. I like the treatment that was used in the car scenes… If you have seen "Sa North Diversion Drive", both in the movie and the stage play, you would surely remember that with how Montano used the car in this movie. 

Quality is good! But to satisfy movie-viewers, certainly not. Visually good, treatment was very much detailed and scenes were perfect. Acting is intense. Theatrical in much cases. Monatano plays a schizophrenic, he was able to play it well, but i have seen him doing that before… at parang nasa talent portion siya ng isang contest. Johnny Delgado is a natural in his character, short screen time, no efforts need to scare people.

Celia Rodriguez's comment during the filfest is actually notable. Comments are very much respected but I think she should not expect for this movie to get too much credits or awards. For this to get the Best Picture award is more scandalous. It deserves some awards for the technical aspect. Cesar could've joined this film in an Independent Film Festival and they would surely reap much of the awards.  

The movie is about 1: 20 mins, really short but you would really wish for it to end sooner. Not much to be excited about . It is a suspense thriller but the movie is at par to satisfy that genre. It lacks the suspense to be called a suspense thriller! heheh… Pramis.. papasok sa eksena ang kiler at papatay na lng ng papatay and that's it! Cesar could have tried to develop those scenes. Nasayang ang material. this could be a great movie. Sana sineryoso na nila, tinodo-todo na! Kung talagang ginawa pang mas grabe ang chasing scenes at mga killer scenes dito, it would be better. Kung nilagyan pa nila ng more element of mystery, kung ginawan pa sana nila ng paraan na mas mabigyang climax ang ending… pasok na sana! 

Nicely though, I heard that some foreign producers are interested in making an international version of this film. One thing that this movie could be very proud of. They should not level themselves with the other films in this film fest. They require an audience that could very much welcome their innovativeness. 

Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, Sakal, Kalokah

Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo

Judy Ann Santos, Ryan Agoncillo, Gina pareno

Directed by Jose Javier Reyes

Good thing we have this movie for the festival. Something nice and something good that would surely not put your money to waste.

Juday  started this year with a bang with her movie with Piolo Pascual (Dont Give Up on Us) , and she ended the year as well for Star Cinema with this movie together with her real life sweetheart Ryan Agoncillo. (i used 5 withs in this sentence, whoa!)

The movie is great. But of course it is far from perfect, I just think that it is better among the rest. It doesn't require too much. Very light, you just have to go through with them. You are outside watching their lives, laugh, cry and actually share some basic emotions with them. Simple narratives. You wouldn't be exhausted by too much conflicts. No demons, no giant frogs, no killers, no ghosts, no space shuttles, no fairies and most importantly… no half-filipino half chinese!

Joey Reyes's style is very much visible on this one. His screenplay and his script has that signature mark of spunk and reality. You would actually laugh because the narratives does happen in reality. 

Gina Pareno is superb on this one. She really deserves to get the award. It is certainly her year. After Kubrador, this follow-up is definitely a great move. She is an actress and undeniably a good one. She is the only actress i could imagine that could do justice for the role. Soliman Cruz, a great actor, was actually underused on this movie. His character has so much and he  shouldve been given  more speaking parts. Gloria Diaz is also perfect.

 Juday got her first best actress trophy for this movie for MMFF. She got an acting award before for her Movie Sabel and supporting actress award for Mano Po 2. There are no competent actress either to get that as well for this festival. She deserves it, by default! heheheh… Let's just wait how she would fair with the other award giving bodies for this year. Maricel Soriano for Inang Yaya would surely sweep it so she better enjoy what she has right now.

Ryan Agoncillo is monotonous in this film, but I very much like him. I prefer Ryan getting the best actor trophy instead of Cesar. His acting is actually a revelation. It is monotonous, but he is so natural and was very much in character. His acting is actually much bearable than Montano's theatrical piece.

I am actually fine with almost everything. The punchlines are great and the actors are good in delivery and timing. For Star Cinema, pls not try to include almost everything in your trailers. All of the good parts were actually shown in your trailers that we are actually left with no surprises or anything new in watching the film. For direk Joey, the movie could survive without you dividing it to three parts. Na carried away ka lang siguro sa Karma na hinati mo rin sa tatlo.

We've seen this story before. So nothing original. I happened to watch the Aiko-Aga movie years or ages ago also directed by Joey Reyes. It also deals with Marriage and two oppossing families. Boots Anson Roa vs. Ronaldo Valdez plus Agot Isidro as Aga's socialite sister. But it doesnt matter. This movie goes through the same story but it has been adjusted to suit this time that we are actually living in.

Zsa Zsa Zaturrrrnaaaahhh!!

 Ako si Ada na nagiging si Zaturnnah. Hindi si Zaturnnah na nagiging si Ada

Rustom Padilla as Ada 

Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah

Zsa Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez, Rustom Padilla

directed by Joel Lamangan

After the novel and Ze Muzikal, now comes the movie. Carlo Vergara's Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah published few years back and still visible and still making waves.

The movie was too marshmallow like for me. Too colorful, too vibrant, too milky. Very much likely… gay!  It was able to capture that spirit given the nature of the material. But this movie, (hich was directed by a gay director, that has a lead gay actor, with gay characters, based on a book that was made for the gay community) cannot equate with what I actually hope it to be. 

I like Joel Lamangan, and he surely didn't shine on this one. The opening scene is to weak. Really awkward! It is too bland. They cant even get actors who could deliver intensity with what they are doing. It is like a high-school play with adult characters. Joel Lamangan could've  tried to consider the details on this one. I am not saying that they should have Christopher de Leon as the balot vendor, but they should've at least considered getting people who could actually act in making this scene. 

The movie was fine and was actually fun and Joel Lamangan should not settle with that. He is making an adaptation of a great material, and he should not settle with mediocrity. There are a lot of chances to make this a superb film but Lamangan wasnt able to maximize the utilization of those chances.

It was a good thing that they used most of the original songs. I don't know if they could actually do something better than those. One thing that I don't like would be the abrupt transition from the narratives to song and dance. The fight scenes are lame, good thing I didn't expect too much on this aspect.

Annoying would be Pauleen Luna's character. Her character is not included  in any part of the novel. The movie could get through without her as well as the other additional characters. The amazonas were not maximized at all. They actually had a miscast for this 4. What was Say Alonzo doing there! She even gets bigger credits that the other three when they actually share equal screentime and nevertheless didnt do anything. I had a great laugh while reading the novel due to these characters and the movie wasnt able to utilize them, one of the chances that Lamangan didnt consider.

One good thing would be the scene where Pops narrates the story of their becoming. I actually love the execution of that scene. Nicely done. If you have seen Sin City and and as well as the trailer for another Frank Miller adaptation 300, they are actually comparable to what they have done on this scene.  

As for the actors…. Chokoleit is fun! It is better seeing him/her/it there than Allan K. Chokoleit wasnt able to give justice to the character though. Nagmukhang cheap si DD. Rustom as Ada I could say is perfect for the role. He is actually stunning in his scenes (except for the close-ups, where you could actually see how big his veins are). Funniest thing about the movie is that mas mukhang bakla si ZsaZsa Zaturnnah kaysa kay Ada. Isnt it serendipitous that ZsaZsa Padilla was given the heroine's role? She actually has the same first name with the character and she and the lead actor share the same last name. Aside from those, she actually has nothing to deserve the role. Her boobs are few cups away, few levels below from what the real ZsaZsa should have. 

Pops was great in doing her role. She actually has the face, the body and the accent. Perfect for Queen Femina. Alfred Vargas was also good, though he was actually abused in most of his scenes.

Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah cant fly, unfortunately, it is the same thing with the movie, it cant soar high!