January 8, 2025
This year is the 50th anniversary of the Metro Manila Film Festival, so expectations were running high about the 10 entries which will comprise the lineup of this milestone edition.
On July 16, 2024 when the first five entries, accepted based on scripts alone, were announced -- "And the Breadwinner is…," "Green Bones," "Strange Frequencies: Haunted Hospital,""Himala: Isang Musikal," and "The Kingdom." (Note how some of the titles have changed since then.) Five more films, judged based on finished film submissions, were revealed on October 23, 2024, to complete a list of 10.
I was fortunate to have been invited to three press previews prior to the first day on December 25 -- all of which turned out to be the 3 of the 4 films cited as Best Picture. I was away during the final week of 2023, so I was only able to watch the rest of the 7 films when we came back home after the New Year. This is how I ranked them based on the ratings I gave each of them:
Laxamana added a touch of the supernatural to explain how Lynlyn got her mysterious ability, but its full mechanics were rather unclear. Suspension of disbelief aside, it does provoke you think critically about possessing such a talent. Is it really good if you can predict your future with a certain person? If you can sense that someone can someday cause you pain, how would you decide to abandoned him if this person is making you feel happy now?
This movie is Jun Lana's unsubtle way to tell these families to wake up to the plight of their relatives working their bones out abroad. Bambi's dramatic highlight was a monologue saying that he needs to rest once in a while. In return, the family back home have to make sensible investments to make the money grow. Watching his parasitic family making all sorts of lame excuses and throwing spite at Bambi was appalling to watch.
I watched the R-18 cut, so there was certainly a lot of bloody graphic violence. When bandits cut the necks, they don't just slash it once and it's over. Their knives must've all been dull that day, so we had to watch them sawing back and forth, as the blades were ripping skin and muscle open. Queasy folks will probably need to watch through their fingers to be able to get through this and other similarly brutish scenes involving cutting heads off.
Dan Villegas comes back as director for the first time since 2018 in a genre as far from his rom-com comfort zone as can be. A crime thriller with melodramatic sensibilities, "Uninvited" could be the most mainstream script of horror writer Dodo Dayao,. The film is good-looking no doubt, but there were big plot holes, too-convenient clues, lucky coincidences, impossible scenarios, and a lack of Lilia's background that made it feel like it could've been done better.
Each deaths this time feature various farmland pests -- giving these scenes a definite squeamish feeling of disgust. Chito Rono's execution of these scenes prove that he is a master of the genre. Fans can still catch the sassy witticisms of writer Chris Martinez peppered among his juicy convolutions and stunning revelations. This was especially true in the scenes featuring the shaman Georgia, played by Eugene Domingo.
Writer-director Crisanto Aquino intertwined the Lex-Karen love story with the stories of their respective families, which apart from the other timeline films before it. Stories that involve time are very tricky and prone to plot holes, especially when several characters are involved. Aquino crafted his tale with so much care and heart that even the most jaded viewers will be moved so much that little questionable details won't matter anymore.
A remake of the Korean horror film "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" (2018), this was supposed to be the first meta found-footage Filipino film ever. This whole film was a high achievement in cinematic technical elements -- film editing, production design, visual effects, musical score and especially the award-winning sound design -- all of which director Kerwin Go successfully used to create an immersive, realistic experience of fear for audiences.
You can clearly see the efforts of director Michael Tuviera, scriptwriter Michelle Ngu and production designer Nestor Abrogena Jr. to build this alternate reality within which our country existed in the film. They were advised by professors of history and anthropology to guide their world-building. They were meticulous in details of fashion, ornaments, tattoos, and interior decor. Direction, screenplay, production and costume design merit award consideration.
Ricky Lee and Anj Atienza told this crime story from two perspectives -- Gonzaga's first, then Dom's. Director Zig Dulay's knack for visual storytelling was topnotch as he riveted our attention from beginning to end. The scenic island location for the penal colony, complete with stately lighthouse and an old tree with a dramatic crown of leaves, was surely a dream come true for cinematographer Neil Daza. Nominations are forthcoming for all of them.
A solar eclipse occurred over the cursed town of Cupang. That day, a 29 year-old country girl named Elsa (Aicelle Santos) said that she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary who granted her the ability to heal. The parish priest (Floyd Tena) was skeptical, but Elsa went on with her mission, assisted by her mother Saling (Bituin Escalante), best friend Chayong (Neomi Gonzales), grateful neighbor Sepa (Joann Co) and local socialite Mrs. Alba (Sweet Plantado).
Director Pepe Diokno grabbed the formidable material by the horns and made sure all its key plot and message points come across clearly and engagingly to the audience. Vincent de Jesus's big dramatic songs transitioned very well onto the big screen. Ricky Lee's religious debate of a script, with its biting socio-political commentary, remain as complex and thought-provoking as it did before, proof of its timeless and lasting significance.
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