I didn’t have much time to wrap up my year the way I did
before. Too much happened during Christmas season (family stuff mostly) and the
only time that I was able to stop and reflect was last night, an hour before
the clock hit 12.
Marami akong sinabi sa sarili ko before 2015 ended and I was
so hopeful about so many things in 2016 but most of it didn’t happen. I don’t
know why but I didn’t dwell on it anymore kasi in retrospect, mas malaki pa ang
nakuha ko. 2016, I must say, was the year that I got to know God a little
better and though I know that I still have a long way to go, the things that I learned
this year greatly strengthened my faith in Him and in all things that are good.
There were unanswered prayers but I feel as if He took the year to gear me up
for something great this 2017. Excited? YES! VERY!
Today is the first day of the year at kung totoo ang
sinasabi ng iba na kung ano ang ginawa mo sa unang araw ng taon, most likely
yun ang gagawin mo the whole year, then I must have started it right. I’m so
glad that I have spent this day doing three of the things that I really love
doing – praying, watching movies and writing. I hope I could do more of this
ngayong 2017.
For some time, I thought I unintentionally put out the fire (my longest
writer’s block ever) but today, I found myself writing for 4 hours straight. It’s
still here. Yung dating pakiramdam, yung trance-like experience when I write my
thoughts, walang nagbago. The short hiatus from writing gave way for me to
discover new things about myself and the things that I want. It gave me a
chance to chase after my other dreams but just like before… pagsusulat ang binabalik-balikan
ko. So this year, the fire right here in my heart will definitely reignite. I even think it’s going to be bigger than before.
Change is coming? Actually change is always coming. I guess
some people just aren’t ready to welcome it. For me though, I’m embracing it
this year. Hindi ko kakalimutan ang mga nangyari sa’kin last year. Wala akong
galit sa 2016 at sa ibang taon pa na lumipas. I want to make peace with all my
mistakes, shortcomings, bad decisions and stubbornness and just start this year
dropping all the regrets and whatnot. This year, I want to finally call myself
an adult and face everything head on. With a little room for fear, yes, but
with God in my heart, I will carry on anyway. I will continue to love the
people around me and try my best to show them a glimpse of “heaven” so they would
crave for it and eventually seek the Big Guy up there because He's the only One who could give more.
We have 350 plus plus days ahead and this is only Day 1. Ready
ka na? Tara!
Disclaimer(and I might paste this part a lot sa mga susunod kong
isusulat na mga reviews para iwas bashing :p) I am not an expert film critic so
everything na mababasa niyo ay pawang opinyon lang ng isang ordinaryong
moviegoer. I have great respect for other people’s opinion so I hope
readers/visitors of this blog will not take it negatively kung may part man
that you don’t agree with. I will try my best to write unbiased reviews so if
some of you don’t share the same opinion, peace tayo! Hehe! ;)
Direk Jun Robles Lana is one of the directors who I look up
to. I met him once when I applied on his scriptwriting workshop last year. He
wowed me then and he amazed me again now. Kung pwede lang na sa isang salita ko
lang ma-describe yung pelikula niya, ito lang:
NAPAKAHUSAY.
Mula sa direksyon hanggang sa pagkaka-edit ng pelikula up to
the flawless performance of Paolo Ballesteros and Christian Bables. I read so
many reviews of Die Beautiful and so far, I never came across one that was
negative. Because of that, lalo ako nacurious. Pagka-announce pa lang that it
was one of the finalists in 2016’s Metro Manila Film Festival, naaatat na ‘ko
mapanood.
I expected it to be good but not this much. Awards garnered by this film are all well-deserved.Paolo did an
amazing job as Trisha Echeverria, so did Christian as he played the ever loyal bestfriend,
Barbs. The way they portrayed their characters were compelling. The movie was
well written. Kahit hindi ka beki, makaka-relate ka. The lines weren’t tacky at hindi pilit. Kudos to Die Beautiful's screenwriter, Rody Vera. As a viewer, para akong
tsismosa na nag-oobserve at nanonood sa dalawang beki sa kanto. That’s how real it felt.
Some non-linear movies that I watched in the past left me
confused at some point, but not this one. The film editor, Ben Tolentino, did such
a brilliant job and the idea na it jumps from one timeline to another, yung
pagkakatahi at pagkakabuo ng pelikula, it all made sense. As a viewer, hindi
niya ko nilito. The way the movie was edited, in my opinion, was one of its
strengths.
(The first part is
for my followers. If you want to read the movie review right away, go straight to
the Disclaimer. Happy new year everyone!)
I have always been a big supporter of MMFF. As a family, we had
this tradition since I was in grade school that we watch at least 2-3 movies
during Christmas Day at may pagpaplano pa kaming ginagawa kasi expected na namin
na maraming tao. As soon as the mall opens, nandun na kami. Talagang
nakikipagsiksikan kami ng mga kapatid ko at wala kaming pakialam sa haba ng
pila. As a kid, I never understood why we were so excited with this annual movie
festival when we can just wait for the entries to be available on VHS (back in
the 90’s) or DVD (nung medyo techie na). I realized na that family tradition
played a big part on why I became so engrossed with local films. Una ko
talagang minahal ang pelikulang Pilipino bago ko nasimulang ma-appreciate yung
mga gawang banyaga.
Anyway, why I’m telling you this is because a friend of mine
gave me an idea the other day. I’m not really good in writing reviews kasi pag
nanonood ako, ineexperience ko siya at ninanamnam to the point na ang hirap ng i-narrate.
Basta naramdaman ko and I can’t put it into words. But since I babble a lot
about the movies and TV shows that I watch when we talk, sabi niya “Bakit kaya
hindi ka na lang sumulat ng reviews para di nasasayang yung mga mahahabang
komento na sa’kin mo lang sinasabi?” At naisip ko bakit nga ba hindi. This isn’t
just to let my thoughts out but to help other people na rin to decide what to
watch. I’m not sure, of course, if we have the same taste but if you think my
thoughts could be useful, go ahead and peruse. :)
So… aside from random musings (see blog description on top), I
might write about reviews on movies (and maybe TV shows) that I discuss with a
few friends who are huge movie junkies like me.
Disclaimer (and I might paste this part a lot sa mga susunod kong isusulat
na mga reviews para iwas bashing :p) I am not an expert film critic so everything
na mababasa niyo ay pawang opinyon lang ng isang ordinaryong moviegoer. I have
great respect for other people’s opinion so I hope readers/visitors of this
blog will not take it negatively kung may part man that you don’t agree with. I
will try my best to write unbiased reviews so if some of you don’t share the
same opinion, peace tayo! Hehe! ;)
So ayun na nga… first movie review this 2017 is the first MMFF
entry na napanood ko.
It was only on December 30 that I had the time to visit the mall
so unlike the past years na talagang December 25 ako nakakanood, it took me 5
days after pa to finally watch though I read movie reviews in my free time. The
movies that I really wanted to see on this year’s MMFF are Die Beautiful and Saving
Sally. I only had 3 hours max to spare last Friday and it really pissed me off
that I came late for the 10:40am screening of Die Beautiful while Saving Sally’s
first screening was 4pm. Paano? Haha! The only movie left for me to watch on
that day was Vince & Kath & James since the rest were screening on the
other side of the mall at mauubos ang oras ko. I haven’t read any review of VKJ
so I have no idea what to expect basta Star Cinema siya at romcom.
I have watched tons, if not all, Star Cinema movies na romantic comedy
ang genre since late 90’s so I didn’t expect anything surprising because they seem
to follow a formula. There was nothing special on the story. It was typical and
very predictable but what made me like it is yung treatment. When it’s supposed
to look pabebe, to my amazement, it didn’t seem that way at all. Para niya kong
binalik sa pagkabata at naramdaman ko yung kilig nung mga panahong nakikita ko
yung first crush ko. No overdone cheesy scenes but only cheesy lines na for
some reason eh imbis na magcringe ako eh naaliw ako. Props to the writers, Daisy Cayanan, Kim Noromor and Anjanette Haw.
In all fairness to
Julia Barretto, she has improved a lot. I watched Para Sa Hopeless Romantic and
I wasn’t really impressed by her performance there so it was really nice na
nagcomplement sila ng leading man niya dito. She looks stunning on cam and she
did well in the comic scenes. She and Maris Racal were believable as
bestfriends and Maris, though I’m not a fan of uber kikay characters, did not
come off as annoying.
Ronnie Alonte... hmm.
Dead eyes. :( There were some scenes pa na nahuhuli siya na napapatingin sa
camera. He's an eyecandy, yes, but they could have chosen someone else to play
his role. Fit naman as a rich boy varsity player – looks, tindig and all – but in
terms of acting, medyo kulang pa. Forgivable naman since he’s a newbie. I haven’t
watched Seklusyon yet so I can only base lang dito sa movie na ‘to. Maybe he
did better in that film, I’m not sure. Joshua Garcia, as expected, did an amazing job as Vince. Since marami na nagsabi na kaabang-abang siya sa movie, hindi na ko nagulat. You can really see the potential in him. Yung mga seryosong scenes especially the confrontation ones with Ina Raymundo, gusto ko yung hindi over the top yung pag-iyak niya kasi ganun usually umiyak ang lalaki. Pigil. Hindi hagulgol pero ramdam mo na nasasaktan talaga. Hindi dinaan sa pagsigaw. Humikbi lang pero tatamaan ka. Given the right projects at kung maho-hone pa yung talent niya, he could be the next big thing.
When I saw some of
their promotional shots, hindi ko masyado nakitaan ng chemistry si Julia and
Joshua but during the movie, lalo na sa sinok at talyer scene… sparks. Marami. Yun
na lang. Haha! They unexpectedly look great together onscreen.
Cinematography is
nice. Sarap sa mata ng mga kulay and gustong gusto ko mga close up shots ni
Joshua and Julia. Overall, na-enjoy ko yung movie. I can’t really compare it to
the book/textserye on Facebook because I haven’t read it yet but the movie
itself was entertaining and just the right mix of everything. Though it wasn’t
as deep and intense as the other MMFF entries, parang ito yung naging “buffer”.
Hindi sinayang pera ko. The kilig element wasn’t over the top. Sakto. Easy to
watch. Based on the portrayal of the two lead actors, yung simplicity ng script
at treatment ng story, if you want to see something light, you will appreciate
this one.
By the way, may
hangover ako sa soundtrack ng VKJ. Whoever thought of using “O Pag-ibig” of
Bailey Mae and Ylona Garcia, good job! Ang lakas maka-LSS.
I’ll be writing a
review of Die Beautiful tonight as well since napanood ko na siya kanina. Hope
I could find time tomorrow to watch Saving Sally or any MMFF entry. As much as
I intend to watch all of it, I’m not sure if I have the time pero sana. :)
And… may I just say…
my goodness NAMISS KO MAGSULAT!!! :p
