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LANGIS at TUBIG... Husband and Wives
It’s clear while watching Langis at Tubig (Sining Silangan, Inc., 1980) that try as he may, director Danny L. Zialcita and his cast can’t quite capture what makes studies of love and desire so...
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Sex and the City in ESOTERIKA: MAYNILA
Elwood Perez's Esoterika: Maynila (T. Rex Productions, Film Development Council of the Philippines, Tribute Entertainment, 2015) is funny, shocking and spectacularly turbo-charged. It creates a scary...
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The Power of 'MERIKA
In 'Merika (Adrian Films, 1984), director, Gil M. Portes and screenwriters, Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr. and Jose Gil Quito did something quietly daring and very different. The framework is refreshingly...
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DABIANA... No Shrinking Violet
In Arsenio Bautista's misconceived comedy, a confused plea to look beyond appearances and see the overweight for their inner beauty, Dabiana (Seven Star Productions, 1977) lurches from sensitivity to...
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MIDNIGHT SHOW... Tired and Defeated
If Midnight Show (HPS Film Productions, 1979) is not among the worst of its kind, because its kind is among the worst of any kind. This is a bloodless murder thriller laced with very little sex. The...
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SUGAR DADDY, Meet Sugar Baby
In Elwood Perez's Sugar Daddy (Regal Films, Inc., 1977), irony, altruism, instantaneous blindness, overt sexuality and modernist interior design are all ladled onto the narrative frame without so much...
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PAGDATING SA DULO... Climbing to the Top
Regardless of artistic intentions and ingenuity, young directors were subject to the norms of the industry, the demands of producers, the caprices of stars, the wrath of critics, the law of the box...
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SOLTERA... Looking for Mr. Right
In Jerry Lopez Sineneng's Soltera (Star Cinema Productions, Inc., 1999), Eric (Diether Ocampo) is revealed to be highly admirable despite his lower-class manner and Sandra (Maricel Soriano) is shown...
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PADRE de FAMILIA... A Mother's Sacrifice
A memorably bitter highlight in Adolf Alix, Jr.’s Padre de Familia (CCM Creatives, 2015) was the coruscating funeral scene. The tone of this disastrous wake is set by Noel (Coco Martin), whose...
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ANG DALAWANG MRS REYES... All Too Familiar
Jun Lana's Ang Dalawang Mrs Reyes (ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc., Star Cinema, Quantum Films, The Idea First Company, 2018) does a fine job of rendering its characters’ emotional journeys. Lianne...
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Feel Good Romance in KUNG MANGARAP KA'T MAGISING
Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising (LVN Pictures, Inc., 1977) comes close to perfection. Inspired casting and performances, exquisite design and photography, a witty and well-crafted screenplay, empathic yet...
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NAGALIT ANG BUWAN SA HABA NG GABI... Longer Days, Even Longer Nights
Captivating while remaining unvarying in tone and pace, acted with seamless naturalism and attention to detail, elegantly photographed (by Felizardo Bailen), edited (by George Jarlego) and costume...
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LUMAYO KA MAN SA AKIN... Showdown Between Style and Story
Lumayo Ka Man sa Akin (Seiko Films, Inc., 1992) plays like a showdown between its style and story. Johnny Delgado is Jaime, a powerful, brutal man surrounded by killers and henchmen who lowers his...
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Total, Mutual Understanding in KASAL?
Romance, so I’m to understand the term (and I don’t), is predicated on petite, strategic lies. It’s the confluence of many different slightly altered postures and highly self-moderated presentations,...
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Immediacy and Distance in KASAL
The difference between Sherwin (Arnold Reyes) and Paolo (Oliver Aquino) form the dramatic backbone of Joselito Altarejos'Kasal (MahusayKolektib, 2014). It is not just that they disagree about gay...
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Corruption is Everywhere... WHISTLEBLOWER
Whistleblower (Unitel Productions, Quento Media, 2016) may not be as dramatically coherent or gripping, but its revelations are, if anything, more devastating and far more immediate than the dirty...
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CAIN at ABEL... Brothers at Odds
Empathy comes naturally to Lino Brocka, director of the overpoweringly intimate Cain at Abel (Cine Suerte, Inc., 1982). Working with screenwriter Ricardo Lee, he skips among his two protagonists...
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Love and Grief in NASAAN KA MAN
Conditioned by a wealth of less imaginative and empathetic movies, one awaits the histrionics as a tension breaker. But the actors and director Cholo Laurel understand grief as a great, often...
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MARIA’S Lifeless Gamesmanship
Maria (Blackops Studios Asia, Viva Films, 2019) paints its setting in broad strokes. The film’s action takes place in a generic space occupied by stilted characters. Two assassins, Kaleb (Ivan Padilla)...
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TATLONG TAONG WALANG DIYOS... Maiden of War
The heroine of Mario O'Hara's Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (NV Productions, 1976) is a creature of contradictory attributes that isn't easy to imagine in the flesh. Rosario would seem too oversized to...
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