Author Topic: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019  (Read 1056 times)

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Offline Klaus Weasley

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Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« on: Aug 11, 2019 at 12:21 AM »
This thread is for both this year's Cinemalaya and other non-MMFF Filipino film festivals.

Edward (Throp Nazareno) ***1/2 - A teenage boy goofs around a hospital while his father is confined. Then he falls in love with a new patient, an older girl who is admitted with mysterious injuries. This is a sweet coming of age dramedy....that contains necrophilia (how it plays into the plot is a bit of a spoiler so I'm not gonna reveal it here) which is already a sign that this is definitely not your average teen coming-of-age dramedy. It goes into surprising directions and hits you unexpectedly with something genuinely emotional. Yes, it's one of my favorite Filipino films of the year so far. Keep an eye out for it.

Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #1 on: Aug 11, 2019 at 09:38 PM »
John Denver Trending (Arden Rod Condez) ***1/2 - A teenage boy's life is turned upside down when a viral video of him beating up his classmate who was wrongly accusing him of stealing his iPad surfaces online. This is one of the best films I've seen this year so far, Filipino or otherwise. This film feels like an Asghar Farhadi film or a Dardenne Brothers film if they made a film about cyberbullying and set it in a rural province of the Philippines. It's deceptively simple but packs a punch and really immerses you into this part of the world (Oh, God. This kind of makes me glad I didn't have social media when I was in high school). I'm not even exaggerating when I say this might be one of the best films about social media ever made so far. Highly recommended.

Offline jas

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #2 on: Aug 12, 2019 at 07:29 AM »
Cinemalaya 2019 Full List of Winners:

Best Feature Film, full-length: John Denver Trending
Best Director, full-length feature film: Eduardo Roy Jr, F#*@BOIS
Best Actor, full-length film: Jansen Magpusao, John Denver Trending
Best Actress, full-length film: Ruby Ruiz, Iska
Best Supporting Actor, full-length: Ricky Davao, F#*@BOIS
Best Supporting Actress, full-length: Ella Cruz, Edward
Audience Choice, short feature film: Heist School
Audience Choice, full-length feature film: Belle Douleur
Best Sound, full-length feature film: Iska
Best Original Music Score, full-length: John Denver Trending
Best Editing, full-length feature film: John Denver Trending
Best Production Design, full-length feature film: Edward
Best Cinematography, full-length feature film: John Denver Trending
Best Screenplay, full-length feature film: Iska
Best Screenplay, short feature film: Kontrolado ni Girly Ang Buhay Niya
Best Director, short feature film: Don Senoc, Sa Among Agwat
Best Short Feature Film: Wag Mo Kong Kausapin, Josef Dielle Gacutan
Special Jury Prize for Full Length: Edward
Special Jury Prize for Short Feature: Tembong
Netpac for Short Feature: Disconnection Notice
Netpac for Full Length: John Denver Trending
Netpac Award Special Mention: Sa Among Agwat
Shorts Special Mention for Subject Matter: Hele ng Maharlika

Offline Noel_Vera

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #3 on: Aug 16, 2019 at 12:10 AM »


Thoughts on Mikhail Red's Eerie--a lowkey horror now available on Netflix

Offline thebat

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #4 on: Aug 18, 2019 at 11:15 PM »
Just watched Belle Douleur (A Beautiful Pain). It's a beautiful love story. Very nice movie. Great acting by Mylene Dizon.
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Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #5 on: Sep 14, 2019 at 11:18 PM »
PPP is this week. Here are the first two films I saw:

The Panti Sisters (Jun Robles Lana) **1/2 - After finding out he's terminally ill, a rich man summons his three gay sons and tells them whoever gives him a grandchild before he goes, inherits his fortune. When I saw the trailer and I heard the premise, I thought it was a potentially funny idea. The film is quite funny and overall entertaining. It even manages to say something about family and stuff as well as the plight of LGBTQ people. But I wasn't a fan of the serious third act turn to drive home the message. You could guess what it is. It has become a trope now in this sub-genre of Filipino LGBTQ films. I mean, mild spoilers: must there be a death in order to engender sympathy for gays? I don't think so.

LSS (Last Song Syndrome) (Jade Castro) *** - Two young people meet cute on a bus loving the same type of music and we follow them through three years of their lives as their romance develops. Frankly, I'm getting tried of Filipino romantic dramedies and this is yet another one of those. I still gave it a shot and I found myself kind of digging it since it is KIND of a musical! The format made the film fresh and I honestly found myself swept up by the ending. Though the plot isn't anything new but the performances are likable enough and the soundtrack's pretty good. It's a solid enough watch if you're still not yet tired of the Filipino romantic-dramedy formula.

Offline Klaus Weasley

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Re: Cinemalaya & Filipino Film Festivals 2019
« Reply #6 on: Sep 15, 2019 at 09:20 PM »
Saw two more:

Lola Igna (Eduardo Roy Jr.) ***1/2 - A 118 year old great-great grandmother, who is just ACHING to finally die, becomes a celebrity after it's been found out she's in contention for a big cash prize for being the oldest grandmother in the world. She re-connects with a long lost great-great grandson. This is yet another winner from writer-director Eduardo Roy Jr. (who I happen to know personally). Who knew that a thoughtful meditation on what it means to live and an introspective look into Filipino society's attitude towards death could also be pretty funny as well as thought provoking. It even manages to end in a surprising, poignant note. This is one of the best films of the festival.

(Behind-the-scenes: As I said, I know the director and a couple of his collaborators personally. I was actually wondering when this film would come out. I think either after Bahay Bata or Quick Change, I asked them what they were working on next and they mentioned something about making a film about a 100-year-old grandma in a barrio vying for a world record. I thought, "Wow, that's a good idea for a movie." I kept wondering when he was gonna make it and he finally did.)

Verdict (Raymund Ribay Gutierrez) ***1/2 - After she is severely beaten by her abusive husband, a woman decides to take him to court and seek justice and what follows is an excruciatingly matter-of-fact look into the justice system in the Philippines as experienced by both sides. As I was watching this, I thought, "This feels awfully like a Brillante Mendoza film" and when the credits rolled, lo and behold, he is a producer and creative consultant. His fingerprints are all over this film. The film feels almost like a documentary in its strictly procedural undertaking. Its approach strips down plot and melodrama to simply explore and marinate in the bureaucracy as well as the sexist and classist system we have in the Philippines. It's enough to make you angry. It's not a pleasant watch but it should be seen.