Author Topic: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival  (Read 22883 times)

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Offline Verbl Kint

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #30 on: Nov 26, 2016 at 03:25 AM »
Has anyone seen any previews? Which ones are you feeling good about?



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Offline oweidah

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #31 on: Nov 26, 2016 at 05:55 AM »
wala shake rattle n roll at bossing ?

beh buti nga 😜

Offline jas

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #32 on: Nov 26, 2016 at 06:39 AM »
Erik Matti's SEKLUSYON Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw5kUvIDePc

Offline JeromeA

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #33 on: Nov 26, 2016 at 06:44 AM »
Sa november 30 nalang ako manonood.hahaha

Offline jas

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #34 on: Nov 26, 2016 at 06:44 AM »
KABISERA Trailer (Starring Nora Aunor):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzPl-41yNxA

Offline Verbl Kint

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #35 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 05:42 AM »
Confessions of a former MMFF Selection Committee Member





It’s probably best to get this out of the way: there is nothing particularly sinister going on in the selection of films for the Metro Manila Film Festival. There are probably some potential conflicts of interests here, given the relationships between some of producers and the committee members, but any accusations of graft or patronage are ultimately barking up the wrong tree. The problems of this process are much more basic.

No, the process is too absurd to be sinister. There’s no room for corruption when nothing actually matters.

There isn’t really much to the selection process. The committee meets a grand total of two times. The first meeting is solely for the purpose of explaining the rules of the selection, which are hardly followed. We are told that while there are rules, we can’t too rigid about them. In the end, what matters is that the right films get in. The second meeting happens after all the scripts have been read. In theory, this is a deliberation session, with the committee discussing the merits of each script in detail, hoping to ascertain what film is worthy of the coveted position as one of the eight films exclusively shown in our cinemas during Christmas time.

In practice, it’s about an hour’s total of talking about nothing. It’s an exercise in empty rhetoric. The committee hardly seems to care about what’s actually inside these screenplays. Hardly any of the scripts are discussed. The largest chunk of the discussion is devoted to classifying each of the films under a specific genre. This is meant to ensure that the committee doesn’t select too many similar films. A good long time is spent arguing whether a certain film is a horror/comedy or a comedy/horror. The debate over that distinction goes on for quite a while.

But this doesn’t really matter, either. If the committee really wants a movie in the lineup, then it’ll be in the lineup. The committee will go through all sorts of semantic gymnastics to argue that one romantic comedy is actually more of a comedy while the other romcom is more of a romance.

Because all that matters is what the committee believes will draw. It probably should be mentioned that the interest most represented in this committee is that of the theater owners. Their representatives seem to dominate the discussion. And this is reasonable to some extent. The theaters are burdened with a lot of the risk that comes with the MMFF. If they are to give up screening Hollywood's big holiday releases, then it follows that they should have some say in what gets screened. They stand to lose a lot of money if no one comes out to see these locally made productions.

They will happily cop to how the MMFF is a commercial exercise, and how their goal is to raise revenues year after year. And this selection process really is all for show. The theaters are part of corporations, and corporate thinking tends to favor known quantities. It doesn't matter what's in the script. All that matters are the names attached to those scripts. Vice Ganda, Kris Aquino, and Vic Sotto are automatically accepted, regardless of how good or bad the scripts are. Some of the committee might opine, even, that the Kris Aquino script is really terrible. But it has to go in, because Kris Aquino is a known quantity.

And so there is no real incentive to submitting a quality script to the MMFF. In fact, most of these screenplays feel like placeholders. They are first drafts at best, and just loosely assembled garbage at worst. And this committee doesn't really care. In the first meeting, it is explicitly said that the potential profitability of a film trumps the quality of the script. We are told that even if we get a script that isn't technically completed, it is okay to let it through if it's got the right stars.

Where this should actually get more interesting is in the selection of the bottom four films. Since these films aren't expected to do as well as the others, then the pressure should be off to find the most "profitable" picture.

But the discussion here is equally as pointless. At one point in the process, the committee is made to decide between two historical pictures. It is actually in the rules that the committee should try to find films of cultural value, and this has been interpreted as a basic quota for historical period films. There has to be just one.

On one side, Lakambini, a film about Gregoria de Jesus by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil and Jeffrey Jeturian. On the opposite corner, Hermano Pule, a film about Apolinario de la Cruz by Gil Portes. Lakambini is by far the better script, and I fought for its inclusion. I was told that Lakambini is just a small film, and that Hermano Pule, with its battles, is the film more deserving of inclusion.

I argued that the largeness of the production is a point against Hermano Pule. Since these films aren't expected to make any money, it would be better for the festival to pick a film that has a lot less to lose. And then it was pointed out that Gil Portes has a history of not completing films, which was inexplicably put forward as an argument for Hermano Pule and not against it. It was suggested that Lakambini, since it was already in production and likely to be completed, should be placed as a backup in case Portes repeated history.

Baffled, I argued that we should probably just pick the film that’s going to be completed. Rather than discuss this further, the matter was put to a vote. I was the only one who voted for Lakambini. As predicted, Gil Portes did not complete Hermano Pule. Lakambini did not replace it, because they weren’t able to complete the film, either. Lakambini might have gotten the money they needed to finish production if it was included in the lineup. But it wasn’t, so it didn’t. So after all that hullabaloo, there isn’t a historical period film in the lineup. Given how the theaters have treated historical period films in the MMFF, this might have been the plan all along.

Because right now, there is no incentive for anyone to put in their best effort in submitting a film to the MMFF.

After about an hour into the second meeting, the committee has a full lineup of eight films. It is then that the process gets truly absurd. The rules of the selection outline a procedure for voting. We are to score each of the submitted scripts individually, broken down into several criteria. An accounting firm is even hired to tabulate the scores, maintaining the legitimacy of the process. But of course, this is all nonsense. The committee has already decided what the films are supposed to be, and are just told to score accordingly. I ask what would happen if the scores didn’t reflect the list that was already written, and I’m told it would be unlikely, unless someone on the committee was trying to sabotage the process.

This is the reality of the MMFF. It isn’t that people are trying to put together a bad festival. It isn’t that we are trying to pick bad films. It’s just that the only thing this committee as a whole cares about is repeating past success. There is a lot of talk about how much money this festival makes, how the revenue targets are growing every year. There is not much talk about which of the scripts are actually good. There is no arguing for quality, or against a script with a star attached, no matter how dismal it is. Selection is a matter of numbers. The committee’s got it down to an absurd science.

The MMFF could be a good thing. It could be a place to showcase the best of Filipino cinema. It could launch careers and foster a healthier, more competitive film industry in this country. It could be the place to raise the discourse of Filipino cinema. But that would require thinking in the long term. That would require letting go of the numbers for a little while, and trusting that Filipino audiences will gravitate towards quality in the end. Because right now, there is no incentive for anyone to put in their best effort in submitting a film to the MMFF. Without the right names attached, there’s a good chance it won’t even factor into the discussion.

I died a little in that room. I had no illusions coming in of being able to change anything, but I still emerged disappointed. To be in that room is to stare into the void, to understand that nothing means anything, and that all action and passion are ultimately useless. We are up against an entrenched absurdity. There is no fixing it. To save the MMFF, we must destroy it. We have to start over.


http://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/arts-and-entertainment/confessions-mmff-selection-committee-member-a1527-20161125-lfrm

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Offline JeromeA

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #36 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 06:25 AM »
sabi na eh. eto ang pinaka masaklap na part jan eh

Quote
wn quantities. It doesn't matter what's in the script. All that matters are the names attached to those scripts. Vice Ganda, Kris Aquino, and Vic Sotto are automatically accepted, regardless of how good or bad the scripts are. Some of the committee might opine, even, that the Kris Aquino script is really terrible. But it has to go in, because Kris Aquino is a known quantity.

na duterte ata tong mga to.hahahaha

Quote
Because right now, there is no incentive for anyone to put in their best effort in submitting a film to the MMFF. Without the right names attached, there’s a good chance it won’t even factor into the discussion.

I died a little in that room. I had no illusions coming in of being able to change anything, but I still emerged disappointed. To be in that room is to stare into the void, to understand that nothing means anything, and that all action and passion are ultimately useless. We are up against an entrenched absurdity. There is no fixing it. To save the MMFF, we must destroy it. We have to start over.

Offline neilc

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #37 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 07:01 AM »
Mixed feeling here. Although I agree to the line up for the MMFF, Vic, Vice and other commercial movies are the ones the kids look forward to. The kids Christmas movie watching will never be the same without those.


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Offline oznola

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #38 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 07:41 AM »
^well thats a scary thought for the future generation if kids now look forward to movies by those people mentioned.


Offline fattyacid

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #39 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 10:18 AM »
^well thats a scary thought for the future generation if kids now look forward to movies by those people mentioned.



Agree. We never watch movies during Metro Manilas Mindless Films. The kids can watch garbage TV at home, so why pay for it?
Be better than the Theater.

Offline traveler69

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #40 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 11:05 AM »
Quoting an item where actress Mercedes Cabral, one of the lead stars of the official MMFF 2016 entry “Oro,” who, in her outrage, recently called out Regal's Mother Lily not just on the issue of selection process:

“Nakaka-awa ang mga bata??? Sabihin mo lang e ang habol mo lang e kita ng pelikula mo. Saka bayaran mo ng maayos mga tao mo. Ni hindi ka nga makapag bayad ng matino sa mga taong nagtatatrabaho sayo e. At kayo lang ba ang may karapatan magpalabas ng pelikula tuwing pasko? F*****g idiot,” she wrote.

http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/mother-lily-gets-flak-for-saying-indie-films-not-for-christmas/
« Last Edit: Nov 27, 2016 at 11:17 AM by traveler69 »

Offline Ashburndaride

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #41 on: Nov 27, 2016 at 01:06 PM »
I think I'll watch 3 MMFF this year (I normally pick one). Saving Sally, Seklusyon and Sunday Beauty Queen.


Offline deweyfinn

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #42 on: Nov 30, 2016 at 01:03 AM »
Mercedes Cabral calls Mother Lily ‘idiot’ for saying ‘indie films not for Christmas’

http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/mother-lily-gets-flak-for-saying-indie-films-not-for-christmas/

 ;D

My kind of girl...hot yet outspoken

At least she's no glorified shill unlike Anne freakin' Curtis

Offline shoktongxxx

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #43 on: Nov 30, 2016 at 07:30 AM »
My kind of girl...hot yet outspoken

At least she's no glorified shill unlike Anne freakin' Curtis
pwede nga hot thread yan. ;D

Offline jas

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #44 on: Dec 12, 2016 at 03:38 PM »
SAVING SALLY (MMFF 2016) Short - "The Girl and the World":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npY67nu-SV0

Offline jas

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #45 on: Dec 12, 2016 at 03:48 PM »

Offline anya618

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Offline jas

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #47 on: Dec 26, 2016 at 05:37 PM »
Saving Sally - As a fan of comics & animation, I have to say that I enjoyed this movie quite a lot. The story is mainly a typical boy-meets-girl structure, but the way it is told is creatively fantastic. Blending live action & imaginative drawn animation, the production design & effects are great; even competitive with international efforts. I would say that this is arguably the best visual effects I have seen in a Filipino movie.

Offline Verbl Kint

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #48 on: Dec 27, 2016 at 01:42 AM »
Anecdotal reports from a couple of friends in the industry is that, overall, box-office receipts are down this year.  Benchmarks were also supposedly lowered but that these targets have been reached, though.

I hope this doesn't discourage the board and the cinemas from pushing through with only allowing quality content in the coming MMFF years.

And btw, I also heard that cinemas in the provinces have pretty much shunned most of this year's MMFF entries.  Can anyone confirm this?

Offline msgt16

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #49 on: Dec 27, 2016 at 06:50 AM »
^ Yes, sir. Pagtiningnan mo yung SM Cinema website, palabas yung movies ni Vice, Bossing at Mano Po 7 sa probinsya.

Offline jerix

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #50 on: Dec 27, 2016 at 12:56 PM »
So guys. whats the best so far?
Samsung65MU6303/TCL4kPS49TV/OnkSR608/OnkTXNR676/Marantz/Akai/Sansui/PrjEssential-II

Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #51 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 01:28 AM »
Sunday Beauty Queen (Baby Ruth Villarama) ***1/2 - This is the first of a series of reviews of films from the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) which has now undergone a serious revamp is now screening films I actually want to watch. This is a documentary (unheard of for this festival before now) that follows a group of Filipino domestic helpers working in Hong Kong who participate in beauty pageants and talent competitions every Sunday. Even though the documentary didn't say anything that I don't already know, the film does have a way of sneaking up on you. I did not expect it would be as emotional as it was. A truly exemplary piece of work. If you're a Filipino and you want to see a film of substance this is the one to see.

Seklusyon (Erik Matti) ***1/2 - Before they finally take their vows, a group of young priests do their "seclusion", a sort of religious retreat of fasting, prayer, and trying to ward off the temptations of the devil. Then a mysterious young girl with mysterious healing powers show up. This is another MMFF entry and it's from Erik Matti, one of the best mainstream Filipino directors out there. Here, he has created a slickly made, genuinely creepy, thought provoking and disturbing religious horror film in the vein of such films as The Exorcist, The Omen and most recently, The VVitch. I had some problems with the ending but overall, this is a scary, gnarly ride.

Offline JeromeA

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #52 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 09:29 AM »
wala atang nanood ng MMFF dito? hehe

Offline coastal

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #53 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 09:44 AM »
Birthing pains itong 2016 MMFF. Sana tuloy tuloy na yung pagpili ng matitinong pelikula instead of the crap na pera lang ang nagiging motivation for their inclusion.

Offline Nelson de Leon

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #54 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 10:06 AM »
Die Beautiful
Interesting story how the leading man found true love only to find out later that it was p**y that drove the married guy to search for the leading man.



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Offline Papaber

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #55 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 11:30 AM »
We do not usually watch MMFF films but this year we are trying our best to watch and support all the entries. So far, 2. 6 more to go. Sana MMFF will be like this every year.

Offline JeromeA

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #56 on: Dec 28, 2016 at 12:20 PM »
gusto daw ng misis ko vince and kath and james. sino na nakanood ng film na to? pang teenager eh nuh?haha

Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #57 on: Dec 29, 2016 at 12:58 AM »
Oro (Alvin Yapan) ***1/2 - This is yet another MMFF film entry. (Notice how I'm actually bothering to see a lot of them this year?) Based on a true story about the murder of a group of miners in a poor village in the Philippines. Though the film is far from perfect, one can't help but get swept up by the emotions of it all: Sadness, frustration and anger at the unfair situation these people had to suffer though. This is largely thanks to the wonderful cast especially Irma Adlawan and Mercedes Cabral who nails their key scenes. Even though, I knew what was going to happen, the film also manages to create suspense so extra points for that. Yet another solid MMFF entry.

Saving Sally (Avid Liongoren) ***1/2 - A high school senior who loves drawing comics falls in love with the geeky inventor girl next door Yes, this sounds like a twee romantic-comedy and in many ways, it is. It follows the narrative beats and character tropes of your typical teen rom-com but this one's a little different. For one thing, the entire film blends live-action and animation, creating an entire visual palette on which this romance plays out. It is funny. It is sweet. It also has a dark edge and depth to it. This ambitious film took 12 years to make and it really shows. All the heart and ambition is up there on the screen. I thought the fact that even though it's a Filipino film set in the Philippines, the dialogue is largely in English will be detrimental but it's not! If you're in Manila, be sure to check this MMFF entry out.

Offline halvert

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #58 on: Dec 29, 2016 at 08:55 PM »
Disappointed with Ang babae sa septic tank 2. Most of the jokes were shown in the trailer, and not as funny as  part 1

Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival
« Reply #59 on: Dec 30, 2016 at 02:20 AM »
The Woman in the Septic Tank 2: #ForeverIsNotEnough (Chris Martinez) *** - This is yet another MMFF entry. This is the sequel to The Woman in the Septic Tank, a hilarious satire on Philippine independent cinema. This pretty much follows the same formula. After the success of their previous collaboration, the filmmaker reunites with actress Eugene Domingo (once again playing herself) to make a sad film about a marriage breaking up but she starts giving "suggestions" on how to make it more commercial with often funny results. It's not as fresh or as good or even as funny as the first one but as usual Eugene Domingo kills it with her performance.

Die Beautiful (Jun Robles Lana) ***1/2 - A transgender woman drops dead after winning a Miss Gay Philippines beauty pageant. We then flashback to her life leading up to that as well as her funeral. I'm surprised I liked this as much as I did. This is probably in the top five best films about transgender women I've seen. First off, the film is often a hilarious riot but when it veers into tackling serious issues and themes, it didn't lose a beat. Paolo Ballesteros gives a revelatory performance in the lead role and he carries this film, well, beautifully. Yet another high mark for the MMFF this year.
« Last Edit: Dec 30, 2016 at 02:21 AM by Klaus Weasley »