Cheesy Pizza

Lovely

Perfect love does not exist. And if it did, Mother Nature will be so pissed; she will make a way to counteract it. The idea of perfect love is the premise of the film And I Love You So. The marriage between Lara and Oliver is shown in montage so as to hide their little dirty secret of unimpeachable love. But hey, five months is too long, as we too have seen so much, this has got to stop.

And so it did - good heavens. We do love to see people being forever ‘in-love’; redundancy is still not enough to accentuate this horrifying notion. Monotonous cuddling and those perfect cheesy pepperoni dialogues could make its way to a collection of flimsy love quotes. It’s a death-defying act just like what happened to Lara who at the age of twenty four has become a member of the widows support group. Her husband Oliver dies of an aneurysm a few months after their marriage. But life goes on as usual. But the writers (Vanessa Valdez and Jacqui Franquelli) are persistent. They want to use a story device that could test love and that is by mounting a good conflict.

The increasingly gorgeous Bea Alonzo plays Lara, a happily married pre-school teacher to a saintly but devilish looking husband Oliver played by Derek Ramsey. But the setup changes after Oliver dies exactly on Lara’s birthday. Seven months have passed, Lara still mourns on the death of her husband. She grows desperate as she needs money to pay for the condominium unit and the rental fee for her pre-school site. So she was advised by her brother-in-law to have her own condominium for rent. Then the story segues to another man named Chris (Sam Milby) who is quite liberated and does a lot of flirting.

It is a long row to hoe for Lara and to be convinced that she has other duties to fulfill is quite difficult. If you will notice, she talks about her husband in present tense. It is as if the departed and the living live side by side. And the film did it to an extent which could be a little spooky. But admirably, the risk it has done looks rather authentic and heart pounding. Surrealism is a crucial element in the film that gently interweaves exchanging of dialogues between Lara and the deceased Oliver. We could not guess if the dead has emotions. But if they do show some tenderness, we could not help but reciprocate it. But don’t freak out, ghosts have no tears.

The character of Chris is the ultimate seducer. The weeping beauty is the perfect victim nonetheless. But the catch is Chris did not make an offense. He might have been appreciative for other good things life could offer. Isn’t that startling from a sexually-driven man to articulate such a decent thought. That is also for you to find out. Anyway, Chris helps Lara to cope not just with the advance rental payments but something more personal. Lara needs someone that is her obverse, someone who is bold and lighthearted. Chris is the unfortunate prey. But soon the concealed intentions dissolves as there really is a potential for love to flourish through these two people.

If watching films in our recent years have been reduced as a commodity, then I won’t argue. It is almost unlikely that most of you could be convinced by critics to watch the greatest films that were actually made. I could not even let my own mother to watch Dogville, Andrei Rublev, Cries & Whispers, Rashomon, 400 Blows and not even Amelie for art’s sake. It’s easier to keep things to myself more so on serious matters. And I Love You So conjures up people’s fantasies. Its love could still be quite a mess but what would you expect from a grieving widow? It’s hard for her to be subtle but at some point she was able to compose her thoughts. She should be at an advantage since most would have depended on anti-depressants with that condition. And I Love You So is nicely written and direction by Laurenti Dyogi is fairly meritorious. I would not mind if people will flock to view it. If the love formula will be used again and again, I don’t mind either. That is why it’s called a formula.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

Salt Supremacy

Pssst... Your hair.

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Chito Roño’s T2 (Tenement 2) has the right qualities of a horror story that is uniquely Filipino. It’s script written by Aloy Adlawan derived the story from local myths and folklores. I remember in my Sundo review that our culture itself could ignite inspiration for a good horror story and this is what T2 is all about. This film is neither an all-out gore fest film treat nor does it aim for the usual creepy eerie plot. The film elevates and defines how fright was derived and combines it with supernatural phenomena that are still prevalent in our belief-conscious society.

T2 was able to articulate the film’s story wherein other factors of fear could be felt. In the story, Claire (Maricel Soriano) is forced to deal with a trial separation prepared by her husband Jeremy (Derek Ramsey). She is distraught and maddened by the completion of all the legal papers concerning that matter and decided to replace a fellow volunteer at Save an Orphan Foundation by bringing a young boy to Samar. On her way back to Manila, mysterious events occur when they get to stay at a nearby orphanage. Claire meets Angeli (Mica dela Cruz) a young girl who exhibits strange aspects surrounding her behavior. She has this mannerism to look someone straight in the eyes. In that way, she will know if someone is either good or bad.

T2 is about the Engkantos. We might not be aware but in the film, it was depicted that we live side by side with them unnoticed. There are also local beliefs that are used within the film which for me are interesting. There are a couple of scenes that hit the eye of reality scare. First, the stairways scene works for mechanical reasons. Secondly, the unknown traps and accidents which occurred in the film leads to an assumption that it was the Engkantos who caused it. I could not complain for some artificial computer-based effects on the film. What matters is that the effort is there and the story they are telling is an interesting story.

Claire may have negligible beliefs concerning the world of Engkantos. And if she might have given some curiosity to it, she would still end up dumbfounded. It’s interesting to notice that there she is currently experiencing an emotional dilemma on the present status of her marriage with Jeremy. The tension between the couple boils even more since she constantly rejects all forms of communication. The fear Claire shows has a base to make it believable for someone who has no interest with myths and the unknown.

The film is also well supported by characters that make the story more credible, such as details that some writers miss. Elias played by Eric Fructuoso engages with his comic relief antics while the urban enchantress Rita played by Tetchi Agbayani has brief moments of thrill and importance. Dela Cruz as Angeli gives out a good portrayal as a child haunted with a mysterious past. Soriano of course is a fine actress. She’s able to portray a woman who’s confronting her panic of a failed relationship and the fear of the unknown mystery she’s forced to face with.

Scares build up along the way and even the trifling events are well placed and it tries to make you feel more emotionally distressed. This film mixes reality with the lives of Engkantos. And these Engkantos tries to contrive our lives through their power. It is really incredible since a horror story is not only layering drama but actually stressing real emotions and distress to people. It is an interesting mix and it gives credibility to a story that might exist through our imagination and create the fear of something we could not perceive.


Charlie Koon's Rating: