A New Era in Philippine Cinema Begins: First 4 Official Entries for 51st MMFF Unveiled

 A new era in Philippine cinema has officially begun as the first four films of the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) were formally announced during a grand launch held at a mall in Makati City today, July 8.

The launch event was nothing short of spectacular. Hosted by Enchong Dee and Kaladkaren, the celebration was further energized by lively performances from PBB Collab housemates Klarisse De Guzman, Ralph De Leon, Esnyr, River Joseph, and Brent Manalo

The first official entry to be announced was Call Me Mother, starring Vice Ganda and Nadine Lustre. The film is a collaboration between ABS-CBN Film Productions, Viva Films, and The IdeaFirst Company, and is set to be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jun Robles Lana.

Next in line was Reconnect from Reality Studios, featuring a powerhouse cast led by Gerald Anderson, Carmina Villarroel, Zoren Legaspi, Alexa Miro, and Miss Gloria Diaz. The film will be helmed by director Jade Castro.

The third film features Piolo Pascual in a historical drama set during the First Quarter Storm of the 1970s. Produced by Cignal TV Inc., the film will be directed by Ray Red.

Finally, after failing to secure a spot in MMFF 49, Shake, Rattle & Roll: Evil Origin—Regal Entertainment Inc.’s iconic horror anthology is set to make a massive comeback for MMFF 51. This highly anticipated three-part film will feature a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Francine Diaz, Janice De Belen, Manilyn Reynes, Ivana Alawi, Loisa Andalio, Ashley Ortega, Ysabel Ortega, Carla Abellana, Elijah Alejo, Fyang Smith, Kaila Estrada, Richard Gutierrez, Ryan Bang, Seth Fedelin, JM Ibarra, and Dustin Yu.

The three segments of the horror trilogy will be directed by Shugo Praico, Joey de Guzman, and Ian Lorenos.

The MMFF executive committee also announced the calendar of events of this year's film festival, with the next four movies set to be announced on September 30, a Mediacon set for October 30, the Parade of Stars happening in Makati City on December 19, and the Gabi Ng Parangal on the 27th of December. 

And the Breadwinner is... Top MMFF 50 Box Office. Green Bones came in second.

The 50th Metro Manila Film Festival wrapped up its extended screenings last January 14 and again, the Unkabogable Star Vice Ganda has reclaimed the top spot for the box office success of their movie, And The Breadwinner Is.. 

As announced on the official social media accounts and new site of ABS CBN, the Star Cinema and Ideafirst Company's collaboration have earned more than 400 million pesos on the last day of screening of MMFF 50.

GMA Pictures' award-winning movie Green Bones, starring Dennis Trillo and Ruru Madrid, came in second place in the box office race, while Vic Sotto's The Kingdom finished third.

The MMDA as the governing body of the Metro Manila Film Festival announced on their social media platforms that this year's film festival reached its quota with a total earning of Php 800 million on its 21-day festival.

With the resounding success of the December Film festival, are we going to see another Summer Film Festival in April? 

Review: Strange Frequency: Taiwan Killer Hospital: Best For Thrill Seekers

Strange Frequency: Taiwan Killer Hospital tackles the journey of a group of celebrities led by Enrique Gil and Jane De Leon, their aim is to get 3 million views as they enter and explore the haunted killer hospital of Xinglin where numerous vloggers got victimized by the entities inside the building. 

I must say that the movie was super intense and thrilling! The use of found footage style in a Pinoy horror movie is somewhat new and they were able to pull it off as they were able to produce this movie that definitely left me at the edge of my seat. 

Although the movie was already an adaptation of a Korean movie, Strange Frequency made sure that it will offer something different and far from the original one. 

The movie felt like I entered a horror house, I felt I entered the Asylum Manila again (If you remember that escape room type of horror house in Quezon City pre pandemic days.) The movie made me feel the rush, the adrenaline, the thrill, the jumpscares really did catch me off guard at times. Watching Strange Frequencies was an experience.  

Alexa Miro stood out from the group, she irked me big time haha and I think she was very effective in annoying the audiences with her antics, I love her for doing what she had done in the movie. Zarkaroo could’ve had a good story to tell in the movie, sadly his character was really short lived. Enrique’s character was a slow burn, Rob Gomez is literally dripping wet all over his scenes, Jane did a great performance. 

I love the whole concept of the movie, except for the ending. I wish they would end up all alive and decide to make a group that will be venturing and will be exploring the most haunted places on Earth. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Topakk: Solid and Action Packed

 

Topakk follows the story of a former special action force soldier that ended up having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after their group got ambushed leaving him the sole survivor, after being diagnosed with PTSD he ended up working as a Security Guard in a warehouse where he meets Weng and her brother, two drug mules who escaped mass killing ordered by the drug enforcement unit. 

This is one action movie you shouldn’t miss, Topakk probably is the best action movie I’ve seen after We Will Not Die Tonight of Erich Gonzales in 2018. The storytelling was very fluid and direct to the point, I just love how they made this movie, the story flowed in one night.

Arjo Atayde left me in awe with his performance, he was just poker face the whole movie, no emotions whatsoever, his voice was monotonous, no expressions at all, yet he delivered a superb performance when it comes to doing his fight scenes. 

I just love every bit of the fight scenes in this movie, Arjo using a flashlight as a weapon was one of the best fight scene I’ve seen, also the final battle between him and Sid Lucero is going to be one of my favorite fight scenes, well performed, well acted, I’ll give it an A+++ rating. 

Julia Montes was heavily deglamorized in this movie and goodness it made the movie even better, she did every scene bloodied or not the best. 

I love the cinematography, the fight scenes were shot perfectly, all fight scenes were executed and choreographed really well. 

The only thing I didn’t like about this movie is the color grading, some scenes tend to shift on the warmer side making the artist too contrasty red. 

For a complete Topakk Experience you should opt for the R-18 version of the movie, no holds barred, ready to bare and ready to be gory.  

Review: And the Breadwinner Is..: Vice Ganda Wins It

 

And the Breadwinner is.. delves into the story of Bamby, a breadwinner of her family, she works tirelessly as an OFW in Taiwan not only to provide for her family, but as well as to build her own dream house, only to find out that coming home to her family will be the biggest nightmare of her life. 

First things first, the movie was actually good, it could’ve been better if the story revolved around Bambi as a Breadwinner OFW in Taiwan. I would love to see Bambi’s sacrifices working with different jobs overseas rather than watching the whole movie with her berating her family over their failures. 

Exploring Taiwan would’ve been a great idea, I prefer to see Bambi working hard rather than dying slowly. I just felt bad that there was no redemption given to the character despite all of the hardship that she has been through, too morbid if I may add. 

Vice Ganda delivered a Kabogerang performance in this movie, indeed it was his best movie so far. Although I just found it absurd that she has to dress up and rekindle all the characters he portrayed in the past, I mean again they could've used the hardworking OFW in Taiwan subplot to fill in the story. 

I wish they had a huge one on one confrontation scene between Vice Ganda and Eugene Domingo to fuel up the main family confrontation scene. 

Speaking of the main confrontation scene, I just love how that confrontation scene was masterfully done, the one camera setup made it look like the audience are also there watching them berate and cuss each other throughout that long and heavy confrontation scene. 

Lastly, I wish they gave Lassy’s character more importance and longer exposure, Jun lana’s movie are always better when there’s a friend that will support the main character in the story, just like Barbs and Trisha or Becky and Badette. 

Review: The Kingdom: Great and Grand

 

The Kingdom tells the story of Lakan Makisig, the chieftain of the land of Malaya (a fictional uncolonized version of the Philippines), the Lakan has ruled for quite sometime and he needs to pass on the crown to his next worthy successor between his eldest son Magat Bagwis, eldest daughter Dayang Matimyas, and his youngest child Dayang Lualhati. 

Conflict rises when the Tiwalag’s captured Dayang Lualhati while she’s on her way to the Royal Wedding, although Lualhati was successful in escaping his captors with the help of a vanished, Sulo, things gets even more complicated as Sulo was the son of the Lakan’s former chief security who he killed because of the traditional barbaric law. 

I could say that The Kingdom is one of the grandest Filipino movies I’ve seen in my 13 years of blogging, obviously the movie was well budgeted, well planned, and well executed. From the concept down to the costumes and props up to the smallest details it was meticulously made. 

The vision of the movie was well raised and it does show a version of an uncolonized Philippines, a Philippines where catholicism wasn’t the dominant religion and every law and punishments were based by the guidance of the Bathala. 

Story and Production wise, The Kingdom was an A+++. 

Vic Sotto delivered another exceptional performance in The Kingdom, he was actually way better here than his performance in the 2019 movie Mission Unstapable: The Don Identity and also at 70-years-old Vic Sotto still was able to make a beautifully shot fight scene with Piolo Pascual who by the way was equally great in portraying the character of Sulo. 

I would like to commend Ms Iza Calzador for a very beautiful cameo performance in the movie, I felt she actually deserved to have a much bigger role in this movie rather than just having a cameo role. 

Overall, The Kingdom is a great movie. I just wished that they used a bigger venue for their finale scenes to make it grander and make it more cinematic. The story is out of the box and well written, I hope we see more movies like this in the future. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Review: Espantaho: Confused if it's Drama or Horror.

Espantaho, follows the story of Monet, things get a little weird after his partner left an oddly looking painting of farmland with an Espantaho in it, one by one the people inside their home began to disappear after a plague like scenario that took each one of them. Monet along with her estranged step mother Adele look for answers on what is happening only to find out that it was her mother, Rosa’s ex lover painter who painted the cursed painting, throughout the movie Rosa was with Monet guiding her despite the fact that she has long been dead. 

The movie was marketed as a horror movie, but after watching Espantaho I felt that rather than being a horror movie it felt like the movie was more of a family drama with a bit of horror. The issues within the family of Monet overshadowed the Espantaho, I was actually puzzled why the painting is taking the lives of people. The backstory was quite shallow although I felt that it tried to be as folkloric as Feng Shui, it wasn’t giving anything.  

Noticeably some scenes from the movie lacked consistency and continuity, obviously there were scenes that were shot on a different date, but was edited together, you;ll notice it because the tone and reaction of the characters differs from the last scene, this might be minor mistakes but it does change the mood of the scene and the movie. 

The use of flashback wasn’t utilized completely well to match the story, there was a scene where Chanda Romero and Janice De Belen are arguing inside a room and then the next scene they were already inside the car on their way to the house of Judy Ann. 

Although Espantaho got a very promising storyline as it tries to mimic a more Filipino version of Feng Shui, the movie wasn’t able to again establish its story well, it wanted to do so many things but failed to deliver. 

There were cringe worthy scenes like that of the ballroom dancing couple in the middle of Donna Carriaga’s scene, the backstory-less kids that wanted to play, the poor special effects used in the plagues, the low quality CGI;s for the pestilence. 

Despite the Best Actress worthy performance of Judy Ann Santos in Espantaho, the movie felt flat and lacking in establishing its own identity as a horror flick. 

Rating: 1.5/5

Review: Green Bones: A Great Narrative of Hope, Goodness, and Second Chances

Green Bones follows the story of Xavier Gonzaga and Domingo Zamora. 

Xavier, a young and newly minted jail guard was assigned to the San Fabian Penal Colony where he will meet Dom. Being a victim of heinous crime, Xavier grows suspicions of Dom and his gang plotting something not good inside the colony, little by little he slowly unearthed the secrets that Dom hides through the years of his imprisonment both in Central and in San Fabian. 

Dom on the other hand, a self confess criminal, has a soft spot for his sister and his deaf-mute niece, he changed for the better, but things turned out differently as her sister was killed by the syndicate that he once belong, as a promise to his sister, Dom tried to protect his niece at all cost from the hands of the syndicate that was led by the father of his niece. Dom sacrificed even his own freedom just to hide his differently abled niece where he learned how to communicate through sign language. 

Green Bones is probably the best movie this MMFF 50, the story was beautiful, the storytelling was very straightforward, they did not complicate things so that you will know where the story came from and where it is going. 

I also like that the characters are narrating their stories during the flashbacks as it smoothen the transition of the story making it easier to relate and to understand. 

Cinematography wise, it was on point, the beautiful location matched the beautiful scenes, and even the visual effects matched the vibe of the movie, serene, calm, and full of redemption. Although somehow I felt that I am watching Firefly with their location. 

Direk Zig really did a great job in doing Green Bones, it was heartfelt, it even left me teary eyed after watching it specially the ending, the scenes matched the theme song Nyebe, I have no more words to describe how I felt over that scene, it was beautifully done, a true masterpiece. 

Dennis Trillo and Ruru Madrid deserved their Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards, they delivered their characters with flying colors, Ruru proved that he is not just for action series, he can do great as an actor, Dennis is probably one of the greatest actors of this generation, hands down, he owned his character. 

Overall I super enjoyed watching Green Bones, it was a drama, yes, but not full of drama. It teaches us a lesson about not judging a person based on the surface and that nobody was born bad, it's the circumstances around them that dictates who they will be. 

The story of the movie was simple and fluid, Direk Zig masterfully turned a great story into a great movie. Green Bones is a must watch. 

Rating: 4.5/5