MOVIE REVIEW: Vince & Kath & James

(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

Carpe diem!

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