Boobies and Buns Galore

Yeah-boy

What do you get if male fantasies are unleashed? Sumpa. This film summarizes men’s desire to have sex with a pretext of love being only a remote option. It’s just the work of the imagination to get our desire with a huge consequence to follow. Surprisingly, this femme fatale horror film has the idea of what they might probably want to showcase. But it lacks the deep commitment to make a story more compelling and credulous to the audience. Sumpa has the only aspiration to make men look weak and cheap and women as threats.

Sumpa is the debut film of Carlos Agustin and Melvin Brito. Raymond (Joross Gamboa) is a horny guy who needs to take a break from his chaotic lifestyle in the metro. He is advised by his sickly uncle Dennis (Mark Gil) to go for a vacation in his resort in Laguna. Upon his arrival in the resort, a mysterious woman (Mocha Uson) appears and instantly seduces Raymond.

Despite copious naked female bodies on display, the film garners a mild rating from the board of censors. Or maybe the MTRCB is just being more permissive in general. The surprising part is it is shown in the principled domains of SM Cinemas. And the other catch is the theatre is nearly vacant. Let’s put it this way; if you neglected this film, you just made the right choice. If they could have refined the story to its orgasmic condition, it could have been a passing film.

Sumpa aims to engage the audience with femme fatale archetype characters. Although this element equates with the ideas to be found appears to lack some flavor of a wholly pleasurable film experience. The characters are like androids which are only automated to copulate with each other. The level of testosterone could be so high which made the film acquire a predominant disease that deteriorates the quality of the film.

The technicalities of the film are worse as expected. The only thing executed correctly is when the camera is able to record the scenes as well as the sounds. There are also irregularities in some scenes that happen within the day but instantly shift to night. Gamboa has adequately portrayed his character without hints of difficulty. He just gets laid the entire time with different female creatures.

Sumpa stretches the male’s sexual desire to a point wherein they get bored and then ends up getting more bored. Its sexiness might illicit a bit of interest to some people especially for males who know or are infatuated by the sexy songster Uson. I know the difficulty to entice the audience to watch films without special effects or romantic formulaic stories. But if you have the special weapon, just like a typical femme fatale, the audience will possibly be enticed by the charm of a film. But the big BUT is that it is not enough, as this film portrayed.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

Cheap Labor of Love

Best way to start the day

Pasang Krus (Affliction) is a film that lives up to its title; to the one who will go to see it. It is nearly two hours and it is as if I am watching it with my knees on the ground while struggling my way up to Mount Eternity. Watching this film is synonymous to perpetual agony. I don’t care about the allegory of the film or even the payoff that could have been installed along the course of the story. Apparently the efforts of some of the actors are discernibly sufficient. But Pasang Krus as a whole is pretty much an addition to the indie film’s bandwagon of pretentiously self-proclaimed masterpieces.

Rosanna Roces plays the role of Herminia, a poor mother whose fate brings her to unfathomable misery. Her husband got killed fifteen years ago. Her eldest son and her only daughter got lost along the way when they try to escape from the murderers. Presently, two of her sons have become criminals; one is a murderer (Christian Burke) and the other a kidnapper (Ketchup Eusebio). The other one played by Beejay Morales is a teenager who is always with Herminia in times of despair. She hopes to see two of her lost children but is stacked-up with more gruesome events.

The intentions are there and yet I could not convince myself that it deserves the praise. I have seen the story unfold and I could not imagine some illlogical things that are happening in Herminia’s life. I could forgive that along the way two of her children got lost. But to have two criminal sons doesn't hold up to the film’s depiction of a mother who only wants the best of her children. How did she nurture them? The way she acts does not correspond to the outcome of her children’s outlook in life.

But don’t fret; Roces gave her best to the performance. There is the infamous crucifixion scene which she had done in actuality. I could only blame the direction on parts wherein Roces did not give the intended meaning to some scenes. She could be the sole reason that this film is watchable. Morales also gave a decent performance unlike the other actors in this film. Eusebio for example did not adequately portray the character with the correct tone. His facial muscles tweak every time he shells out discontent. The acting could have been guided more.

I have seen Tan’s body of work in the past and it suffers the same mistakes. It could have been the taste the filmmaker has in mind and it just underscores the indie films’ supposition that it has more artistic panache than any mainstream film could offer. Even the social commentaries and poverty issues layered therein do not even uplift the status of the film to film artistry. Its usage has no merits in terms of making the film more engaging. It just offers something that has been achieved decades ago by our most prolific filmmakers. But now, it is getting more boring and hollow.

Hopefully the films slated for this year will offer something that could gain interest to the audience whether works are intended for a more commercial market or for the more intelligible artistic works. As for Pasang Krus, it just made its way for the audience to feel the title of the film in an unappealing gesture. Bit by bit it has promise, but once it is knitted together, it looks an unlovely piece of work crafted without any hint of creative advantage.

Charlie Koon's Rating:

All Night Fun

Am I thinking?

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It is hard to make me laugh. I have no reservations in showing how sarcastic I can be once I am not pleased with any kind of joke delivered up front. One Night Only is an engaging sitcom that lets me out of my shell for a moment. It is surprisingly funny and sexy. It is a mixture of farce comedy and grotesque situations, equipped with a risqué story and we get to laugh even if it did not intend to be funny. I think the entire film is the punch line.

One Night Only gathers five of the gutsiest female stars (even male) in a comedy riot that will certainly intimidate other big budgeted, star-studded comedy films included in the Metro Manila Film Festival 2008. This is the version of a mainstream film when it comes to real time storytelling. One Night Only happens in a day (not only in one night) with numerous characters that were intertwined in multifarious and far-fetched scenarios in a motel called Lovers Hideaway.

There are four major scenarios within the film that will capitalize on the shambles-in-the-making during their stay in the motel. Jasmine (Katrina Halili) tries to make amends with her lecherous and hot-blooded benefactor Congressman Facundo (Ricky Davao). They decided to have a quickie before Jasmine leaves for a vacation in Macau. Jasmine’s friend Vivian (Diana Zubiri) is playing it hard-to-get to a hunky advertising executive named Pons (Jon Avila). Vivian tries to give-in to Pons. Pons is stuck in a bloody meeting and has already an early set rendezvous with Vicky (Valerie Concepcion). The two girls have some domineering tendencies and tries calling Pons the entire time. In effect, they both get to the same motel at the same time.

The other characters to this twist-of-twist oeuvre are the matinee idol Diego Ravago (Paolo Contis) and Angela (Alessandra de Rossi). Angela is an extra in a shooting where Diego is the main star. Diego is determined to hook-up with any girl he likes and ends up getting Angela to have a one-night-stand. The last addition (this is so crazy) to this zany scenario is the tandem of two pairs of queer lovers: Edward (Chokoleit) a beautician and a patron to a yuppie boytoy Nestor (Joross Gamboa), and George (Manilyn Reynes) a dyke who wants to commit suicide unless her beloved Elvie (Jennelyn Mercado) will talk to her.

One Night Only is written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. I was flabbergasted with the film’s output. I personally crave black comedies and it is until now that I have seen a decent film that has explored this chic and campy genre. They performed the characters effectively which could have attributed to the typical casting employed by Reyes.

One Night Only meets its objective to give fun to the audiences. It has an appeal even to the elderly even if the scenarios are teasing. The awkward-grotesque situations employed as a major element of the plot is agreeable and even if it there is chaos, the story has a solid direction and a good surprising ending. This is the best film of 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival. It is funny. It is sexy. It is cleverly written. I too was surprised. Comedy is our finest element. We should stick unto this because we are capable to deliver the best we could put forward.
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Charlie Koon's Rating: