Panic Mode

I feel like I am.. Choking!!!

Reality is like this, it is either you laugh because you can relate to it or extremely dislike the entire aesthetics of the movie. Status: Single stars none other than the sonsie Rufa Mae Quinto as the thirty-year-old virgin. It gives Quinto a new comic outfit that could defy her trademark style.

The believability of the story does not worry me as I have seen worse situations in real life. Status: Single is a romcom film written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. The film’s dexterity makes it way to make you laugh for its hyper-realistic circumstances. It is about the life of the vivacious Doris, an ordinary working class girl. One by one, her friends started to get married until she reaches thirty and gets deadlocked on her supposedly abnormal situation. Although she is contented, she has a steady boyfriend for two years, she gets to be pressured by her friends and family into marrying. One day, her boyfriend makes a disclosure to end their relationship. She gets a hold of her reaction for a moment until she gets hysterical.

It is a wise decision for Reyes to make use of comedy in bringing about the dilemma of modern women without being too cumbersome. Comedy is a great proposition to alleviate the stiffness of certain topics. It is safer and it is almost a passage or even the starting point before we delve into deeper implications regarding a woman that is towards infecundity. In modern times, women nearing their late 20’s are prone to delicate pregnancies.

Anyway, these juicy topics are handled with such ease without sounding too artificial in its rendering. An ordinary moviegoer might just laugh without much thought given to it. Although it is marketed as a romantic comedy, there is a familiar blend of the genre we call comedy of humours. The supporting casts in this film gives us a unique overview of characters that has an overriding trait of absurdity in their personalities and conduct. As for the women in the film, it gives us a brief outlook on how each handles love and relationships in their lives. The liberation is a great factor in providing what is best to be done in single-hood catastrophes. Poor Doris, if she only knew what to do. But that is a fact of life. At some point of her hysteria, she becomes fatuous, but there is a rebound from her grubby state.

We can gain knowledge from Doris plight. Even the love she tries to achieve might have led to hollowness but the film has been very blatant about being true to oneself. She is not deaf. Her hunky gay friend has been indiscreet about it. But one thing is for sure, watching this film is not entirely a waste. There are deeper meanings to it. The satiric flavor to it and its realistic undertones gives us an idea that this could be further tackled in future comedies and even in dramas. Interweaving love within the movie is just ample for kilig intentions. There is crisp sound to this film.
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Charlie Koon's Rating:

Not Clever

Dude, punch me

Magkaibigan is a film written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. The inevitable theme of death is protracted within the friendship of two middle-aged men where the other acquired cancer. We cannot underrate the rationale of most people on how repulsed they are towards this film. Probably skipping this film is not entirely missing a phenomenal film. I understand their grounds. They know better the hardships of everyday life.

Seriously, I am not confused with the intentions why this film is made. It is a tribute to Rudy Fernandez. It is such a shameful tribute with all the gimmickry in full might. It is just a scratch from the surface of the lives of the people surrounding a person who had cancer. They have greater advantage since they have a source and most of us are now internet savvy, research is almost trouble-free. But of course actual experience is irreplaceable. I am not entirely anticipating a discussion of the disease as this could be a saunter to the traverse. But on how the scenarios progress and how the characters behave and react, it does not offer something edifying. The scanty story treatment is revealed on how manipulative the film is. It has actuated in every lighting effects, gross prosthetics and even the acting.

Atoy is played by Christopher de Leon, a successful family man who happens to have been diagnosed with pancreas cancer. He is also given three months to live the same prognosis with Joyce in the film 100. But in 100, it is discussed that the cancer could be the advanced type so it has spread to most of the organs. Magkaibigan treated it like some sort of a curable type of pancreatic cancer (they could have crossed-fingers). Despite the mortality rate, together with his chubby friend Ruben (Jinggoy Estrada) they dealt with it like any man could.

I am thinking if that sounds inspiring. Undergo stomach-churning treatments despite how terminal the disease was. They could have patterned it with Rudy’s case which is peri-ampullary cancer although I am not sure if after a year or so of his treatment, the cancer cells spread in other organs. This is one of the films downfalls because accuracy is imperative in any kind of story they are trying to pitch. Especially on this case, this has lots of medical innuendos, facts are undeniably vital in the progression of the story.

The same thing with the characterization which I think in this case is more remorseful than witnessing a death of a loved one. Estrada’s character sounds too childish most of the time; I could have commended Atoy for being patient with him. Most of his outbursts are with his rapport with his equally nagging wife played by Maricel Laxa. But when the time comes to be serious, they sound too cliché with their affection. I certainly believe in de Leon’s portrayal. I also think that the wife of Atoy played by the lovely Dawn Zulueta made a decent portrayal of an anguished spouse caring for her husband.

The passage of dying that film has gotten into is meritorious apart from its other components. There are misleading instances in the script which tackles the subject with less sensibility and maturity. Albeit humor could also help ease the pain, it is not what I am pointing a sore finger at. It is mostly on how they have forgotten to acknowledge first the condition, their own emotions, and their sense of being there for the one they love. Yeah, I certainly understand that this is their first time to encounter such a dreadful event. But isn’t it central to have written it with much more forethought? Better insights could have been mentally synthesized.

Everything that is given to us whether it is of hardship will always be accompanied by opportunities. Magkaibigan could have just tackled it with less effort to make it more insightful. Even the ideas thrown upon us are confusingly to be of a good influence in making ourselves a better and enlightened individual. I have recently watched three films with similar themes on illness and death. And boy, it is mentally exhausting and it is emotionally unbearable. For those who are experiencing this kind of predicament in their life, you might need to watch something else that could help you uplift your well-being. Not unless you are succumbed to a clichéd way of dealing with death.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

Critics Note:
The mental and emotional torture I am talking about is just a paradox. I would personally recommend those three films and it is way better than Magkaibigan. 100 is a film by Chris Martinez about a woman who also has pancreatic cancer. It is like a cake that is sugar-coated with dozens of humor; you will never be bored to death. Motorcycle is the recent work of Jon Red about the relationship of a father who has lung cancer and his son. Motorcycle is poignant film narrated in a non-linear mode, and with a multitude of secrets revealed on its climax. Lastly, Ron Bryant’s recent film entitled Alon. This is a film that knows how to demonstrate unconditional love, a finer way to understand someone who has illness and how we would let go of our emotions being neither overly dramatic nor indubitably pretentious.

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: