REVIEW: Amorosa: The Revenge

Title: Amorosa: The Revenge
Director: Topel Lee

Producer: Skylight Films

Distribution: Star Cinema

Date of premiere: August 29, 2012

The first minutes of Amorosa: The Revenge are fascinating. The spate of jump cuts and rough editing make the film feel like a dream, or a memory carefully recalled to confront the present.

Sadly, director Topel Lee cannot sustain this style, and so his latest horror film takes a turn to narrative hell.

Angel Aquino plays Amorosa, mother of two sons, Rommel (Enrique Gil) and Amiel (Martin del Rosario). Several tragedies force them to live in an inn haunted by a vengeful ghost. But the ghost is not the biggest concern Amorosa has to face.

The main issue with Amorosa is that there are too many things going on. It is also too bad that several conveniences are introduced just to move each of them along.

Aside from the lead character's story, the ghost's story is also told in flashbacks. Her name is Sandra (Empress), and she was raped years ago in the same inn, when it was still an abandoned property.

There's also the story of a group of three drug addicts-turned-rapists, an over-eager policeman who harbors a secret, and an old gardener who may be magical.

Much narrative logic is sacrificed just to bring these stories together. For instance, the workers of the inn suddenly decide to go on a vacation towards the film's climax, just when a killer is coming along.

The film is also hampered by the worst of horror movie conventions: stupid characters who actively seek danger. In one scene, Angel Aquino opens the door to find a dead policeman out in the porch. When the killer haunting her turns up behind her, she runs up the stairs, completely forgetting that she is still holding the door open.

What saves the film is the strong performance from Angel Aquino. Enrique Gil's acting can also be as solid, until he goes into hysterics. Martin del Rosario is okay, while Empress feels miscast.

If you're a fan of any of the cast, then you may like this film. Other viewers should look elsewhere.

RATING: 2 stars out of 5
SUMMARY: Amorosa is not boring, and some scenes are scary. Narrative logic is what's lacking here.

REVIEW: I Do Bidoo Bidoo

Title: I Do Bidoo Bidoo

Director: Chris Martinez

Producer: Studio5 and Unitel

Distribution: Studio5 and Unitel

Date of premiere: August 29, 2012

I Do Bidoo Bidoo is one of those rare mainstream movies that triumph in all aspects. It is almost perfect, sans the abrupt ending.

Unlike other mainstream productions, which make do with maskipaps technique, I Do Bidoo Bidoo looks high-end--every aspect looks polished well-thought-of. No wonder the film took five years to conceptualize.

(Maskipaps: maski papaano/whatever works. Seen in almost every mainstream production, where production is done where it saves time and money. Examples: Production design materials are composed of whatever's available, shots are at the most minimum, extras are not given time to rehearse and the director does not care even if they make mistakes.)

The story is simple: Poor boy Rock (Sam Concepcion) and rich girl Tracey (Tippy Dos Santos) are getting married at an early age, after the girl got pregnant. Both of their parents are against the idea, but the kids are intent on pushing on with the marriage. When Rock's family goes to meet Tracey's family over lunch, their social statuses clash, thereby threatening the promising relationship.

What's not simple is how the story is handled: there are efforts to keep the storytelling from too much exposition. For example, notice how Tracey's wealth was revealed. Instead of characters speaking about it, there were hilarious scenes about long drives, gates, and main mansions.

Helping the story stay fresh are musical numbers with high production values. Set to timeless music from the APO Hiking Society, each number is a delight, and viewers' favorites will highly vary.

Personally, I like the Blue Jeans number the best. The number starts out slow, then turns into a great flash mob in the middle of some school's grounds. 

The Blue Jeans number shows how much the cast and crew worked on this movie. The number looks rehearsed, and is shot from many different angles. You'd wonder how many times it (and the other numbers) were shot and performed just to get the perfect takes.

Set and production design are also as excellent. Rock's house, for instance, is full of backdrops that look meticulously-planned: from the curtains and wallpapers made from quilted rags, to movie posters and other curiosities. Other sets had other curiosities that need mention, particularly Tracey's "main mansion," which had ballerina-styled maids.

It is a good thing that the actors cast actually know how to sing. Sam and Tippy are perfect in their roles, and you'd wonder why they have not reached lead star/idol status in their networks yet. Breakout performances come from Jaime Fabregas, who plays Tippy's grandfather, and Neil Coleta, who plays Rock's best friend.

The only thing I did not like is how the movie ends. There are no strong build-ups to the two of the ending scenes. (SPOILER below)

[SPOILER: One is how Sam suddenly appears in Tracey's window, to convince her to elope.]

But all in all, I Do Bidoo Bidoo shoots up at the top of my leaderboard of the top mainstream films I have seen this year.

EDITED TO ADD: This article may help explain away the abrupt ending: Inquirer interview with Chris Martinez

"Meron bang song na masama sa loob mong tanggalin?
“Huwag Masanay Sa Pagmamahal.”  That’s one sequence na natanggal due to the total running time. We had to take out one scene where Ogie and Uge are taking care of a drunken Sam. They’re trying to sober him up while singing, “Huwag na huwag masanay sa pagmamahal. Kapag nasanay ka naku kawawa ka.” Editing decision yun na talagang masakit. Ganun talaga, you really have to be ruthless sometimes. Ilalagay yan sa DVD bilang deleted scene."

RATING: 4.5 stars out of 5

SUMMARY: I Do Bidoo Bidoo is a charming musical movie with high production values. 

(Original post has grammar errors, brought about by typing only in 15 minutes.)

Meanwhile in social media...

REVIEW: Guni-Guni

Title: Guni-Guni

Director: Tara Illenberger

Producer: Regal Films

Distribution: Regal Films

Date of premiere: August 22, 2012

Guni-Guni is only scary because you'd think it would never end. You should avoid this movie.

Guni-Guni tells the story of several people living in a boarding house. Each has their story. 

Jaime Fabregas is Tatay Nanding, a senile old man who keeps burying raw meat under the plants in front of the house, supposedly as food for his dead loved one. 

Gina Alajar is Mrs. Arevalo, a lonely middle-aged woman who lives alone, and refuses to talk to anyone. She waits for her son to come back for her.

Julia Clarete is Vangie, the yaya of an autistic kid. She pines for Eddie, played by Neil Ryan Sese, who doesn't return her affection.

Empress is Joanna, a medical student who can communicate with paranormal entities. 

But the story is focused on Lovi Poe's Mylene, Joanna's best friend and fellow medical student. She's skeptical on all things supernatural, and has many secrets. But are these secrets tied to what is happening to the house, and all its occupants?

(Another boarder is Benjamin Alves's Paolo, Mylene's boyfriend, who moves in the house near the film's ending.)

[SPOILER TAG: From here on out, I will write about the secrets. Beware of spoilers.]

The main problem with this movie is how Joanna's secrets are rolled out. Her main secret is that she was born with a twin connected to her body. Her mother and the doctors then decided to save only one of the siamese twins, so one of them was killed.

From the onset, the viewers are already given clues to this secret. The movie even starts with Mylene in class listening to a lesson about siamese twins.

If this information was so obvious, why does the movie need to take a long long time before officially revealing it? Telling the secret piece by piece just makes the movie sluggish. 

The same thing happens with the stories of the other characters. An early seance session with Joanna at the lead is ill-timed, as it reveals all the mysteries the plot holds.

The final shock moment is badly established as well. Mylene is shown to take home body parts from the hospital where she interns, keeping all of them in her closet. The film tries to build this up as a shock, but it's all too familiar that it just fizzles. (Still wondering what it is? Try googling the film May. For the lazy: trailer below.)

The storytelling is frustrating as well. After two boarders die violently, why won't the remaining house members move out? If they have sleepless nights due to persistent nightmares, surely they have thought that the house is the problem?

There's also nothing to see in the horror department. The scares are few and far between, and when they come, they are either shoddily executed, or predictable.

You might also be annoyed at the cast's performances. I like Lovi Poe, but I felt like her subdued acting does not work in this movie. Her slow and sexy way of speaking adds to the bored feeling I got from watching this film.

Benjamin Alves is forgettable, and his character only works once he's shirtless. Empress is under-utilized as the chief psychic. 

Once again: avoid this movie at all costs. If you want to see a Filipino movie, be notified that Jose Javier Reyes's Mga Mumunting Lihim is showing alongside Guni-Guni. You might want to take a look at that.

RATING: 1 star out of 5
SUMMARY: Tedious, boring and predictable. It takes ages to reveal the plot twists that are visible from a mile away.

POSTER BATTLE: Alone vs Guni-Guni

Alone (Banjong Pisanthanakun and Parkpoom Wongpoom, 2007)

Guni-Guni (Tara Illenberger, 2012)



















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If you think the two posters are similar, it is because one is an obvious copy of the other. Guess which?

REVIEW: Just One Summer

Title: Just One Summer

Director: Mac Alejandre

Producer: GMA Films

Distribution: GMA Films

Date of premiere: August 15, 2012

A lot of questions were formed in my head after watching Just One Summer. The following are some of them:

1. Masarap kayang maging tatay si Joel Torre? (Will Joel Torre be a good dad?) Because that scene where he tries and succeeds to wake up a defiant Elmo Magalona seems strangely succulent.

2. Why is this film too formulaic? On the first meeting of Beto (Julie Anne San Jose) and Daniel (Elmo Magalona), I knew something chaotic will come up. And I was right: Beto vomited on Daniel's shirt. Spell cliche.

3. Isn't Daniel too young to go abroad to study medicine? He looks like he has not yet finished high school.

4. Why is the film insisting on building up minor characters? Several actors playing these parts come up laughingly-bad, particularly Sef Cadayona. His character could have been done away with.

5. Is Beto too smitten that she very easily forgave Daniel after he sexually harassed her? One scene he was trying  to abuse her crush for him by kissing her forcefully, the next scene they're washing carabaos by the lake.

6. Why bring up Beto's scholarship and tuition money, when this is not anymore mentioned after Daniel falls in love with her. Did she even go back to school, or is schooling chucked away from her life goals after she attracted the haciendero's son?

7. Who is this film's production designer, and scout locator? They did a good job. The nice shots of the farm and well-designed sets made the film tolerable to watch. Eye candy everywhere.

8. It's a good decision to cast award-winning actors around the newcomers Julie Anne San Jose and Elmo Magalona. Whatever they lack in the acting department, the senior actors make up for it.

9. Too many kissing scenes, but all of them are chaste. Have they ever kissed before, or are they still too underage to do it onscreen?

10. Is this a better film than The Reunion? Yes, but only by a hair.

RATING: 3 stars out of 5
SUMMARY: The plot is too formulaic, but the cast's acting and the production design make up for it.

REVIEW: The Reunion

Title: The Reunion

Director: Frasco Mortiz

Producer: Star Cinema

Distribution: Star Cinema

Date of premiere: August 15, 2012

Make no mistake: The Reunion is a mess. For a film based on music, this one has no rhythm.

Produced by Star Cinema and directed by newcomer Frasco Mortiz, The Reunion tells the story of four young men who go on a journey to find their high school sweethearts. The desire for closure convinces them to do so, as well as the mindset that their present lives are messy because their former flames broke up with them.

The Reunion serves as a vehicle for ABS-CBN's up-and-coming male stars: Enchong Dee, Xian Lim, and Enrique Gil. They also threw Kean Cipriano into the mix, perhaps so the cast has a legitimate singer. This movie is supposed to be a tribute to Eraserheads, after all.

There's something quite jarring on how Mortiz executed the story. The first half serves a lot of flashbacks, done in a frenetic whatever-works kind of editing. This technique breaks the film overall--whatever rhythm the scenes from the present are trying to form gets discarded every time a flashback unexpectedly comes in.

Besides, whatever kinetic energy the film is going for in the first half is halted by the second half's attempt at drama. Things slow down, and scenes drag on. There are four stories in this movie, and viewers are bound to care only four one or two. The rest seem like fillers.

What stories are the best then? The answer is, any scene with actors who turn in great performances.

It comes as a surprise that the women are better actors here, because it is not even their movie. Most notable are Jessy Mendiola, Cristine Reyes, and Julia Montes.

But the best performance comes from Bangs Garcia. When she was first introduced as a high school girl, she carried a naivete never-before-seen from her. I had to rub my eyes to clear my head, since I couldn't believe it was Bangs that I was seeing. She should star in more movies.

The acting of the women made the film tolerable to me. 

RATING: 3 stars out of 5
SUMMARY: Watch this for the excellent performances from the female cast.

Just One Summer/The Reunion

I have already seen Just One Summer and The Reunion, and I have already written reviews. Now I'm waiting for PEP to publish them so I can post my thoughts in this blog.

By the way, I just realized that whenever GMA Films releases a movie, Star Cinema seemingly releases a quickly-made movie to battle it. This happened with the commendable My Kontrabida Girl. It battled Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang, which felt like a rushed production.

Just my thoughts.

P.S.: I'm seeing The Ring 3 later this afternoon. I am excited.

Movie weekend: The Bourne Legacy, Into The Mirror, and District 9

I found the plot of The Bourne Legacy (Tony Gilroy, 2012) straining from its own complexity. That ending is also a cop-out. (3/5)



















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Into The Mirror (Kim Sung-Ho, 2012) had an interesting premise, but the other themes, particularly the police drama, hindered its development. Twist is hokey. (2/5)


















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The director of District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009) adequately handled this film's good execution. I would have preferred more explanation on the aliens' brains and biology. This is sci-fi after all. (4/5)

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Movie weekend is about the movies I saw last weekend.