Nothing’s wrong with it

But the kid is not my son

The Filipino audience is a bit complacent with how most of the pink films have been aggressive towards showing gratuitous sex and nudity. But it is not all vulgarity that we have produced; there is a couple in this genre that is more decent namely: Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros and Maling Akala. Maling Akala is also one of the five films in competition in the last year’s concluded Cinema One Originals. Although it gives the impression of being a low-budget work, it relies on how effective the two main actors’ naturalistic acting approach.

JP (Victor Basa) runs from a crime he has committed and travels north. By coincidence, he gets to sit next to Teta (Jodi Sta. Maria-Lacson) who is nine months pregnant. When Teta gives birth, JP accompanies the mother and child home to their fishpond in Sasmuan, Pampanga. Teta impulsively introduces JP as the father of her child, surprising both JP and her parents. When JP and Teta agree to play-act as husband and wife, their queer, dysfunctional tale begins.

Basa and Sta. Maria-Lacson are great choices for actors to play these characters. They are natural actors that inhibits an aura of genuineness even when minimalist acting has been employed. Although the film has built-in flashback scenes mainly regarding the crime committed by JP, it has been a comedown to the tension between the two characters. The story is intriguing and the flashbacks could have been minimized. The desired effect of the director could be more potent.

The river of Sasmuan adds to the highly-flavoured characteristics of the film. It could be deceiving in a way since it seems to be calm. Like the river, the characters are well composed but have desires that surpass the remoteness of its location. Teta begins to feel affection for JP but JP has adored the male physique even more with the presence of local fishermen. When Teta caught JP having intimacies with another man, Teta’s supposedly conceived thoughts of a future relationship with JP dissolves.

Maling Akala secernates itself from the usual love story tragedies. It gives us no restrictions with what might occur between these two characters. They promised to see each other again after a year. It’s probable that one might not show up or they are both present in the place. It takes courage to commit your heart to your beloved. But it also takes courage to be true to your heart. The heart is not always right. The correctness of the heart does not lie in the truth of reality but just the truth of the human consciousness.


Charlie Koon's Rating:

Too Much Drama

Futuristic look

First and foremost, how could we gage the success of a Sci-Fi film? It must be visually superior above anything else. Filmgoers have this perception that this kind of genre has fascinating production designs. Its special effects must be really spectacular. It is simple as that. I am not saying that Filipinos have no potential to make one, but it is so obvious that we lack the financial resources to put all together the splendor of an alternate reality. With Xenoa 2: Clash of the Blood’s ambition, I could say that the movie is doomed to failure.

Xenoa 2: Clash of the Bloods is the second part of this sci-fi trilogy. The first part has a straight-to-video release. There is a flashback on its opening scene from the first film. Briefly, Queen La’ian gives birth to the heirs of the Xenoan throne. But due to a conflict with the Zephyr, she decides to send her triplets namely; Eli (Isabel Granada), Zeus (Paolo Ballesteros) and Drix (Rey Talosig) to Earth. Unfortunately, Zephyr’s General Norak found Drix after some decades. General Norak tries to persuade Drix to acquire the Xenoan Trinity from Eli and Zeus.

With the story’s progression from the first film, I have sense that its concept has taken place as expected. Its attempt to make a sci-fi story and translate it into film is discernible but it has resorted into a drama featuring the struggles of the siblings. It is obvious that there is a major constraint in executing the sci-fi aspect of the film and the audiences get a little dosage of it relying more on its dramatic component. With the second part which is the Clash of the Bloods, Lim embarks again on a journey which is light years away with the very concept of it. It is an ambitious project and yet again, a good source of funding is the key to make this happen. Perhaps it is inevitable to criticize the inadequacy of the special effects. To this limitation, the director must find other means of compensating. But even the progression of the story, it is not engaging.

Clash of the Bloods is now focused with Drix’s son, Clyde (Victor Basa). Before Drix left the planet Earth, he had a short relationship with Amanda (Elle Velasco). Drix did not know that Amanda is a Zephyr. Their son Clyde is a hybrid of Xenoa and Zephyr and he is known to be more powerful. Clyde has the ability to control minds and this resulted to the killing of three men in their campus. The police start to investigate. With this happening, Amanda’s long overdue plan to conquer Earth with the help of her son Clyde begins. But the Xenoan Empire will do with all their might, to save and protect Clyde for this not to occur.

The film occurs in the year 2028. It shows some flying spaceships along the Metropolis. The cars look like a hybrid of Whirlpool Microwaves and Sony Flat screens. The cellular phones are so high tech – I can’t explain how amazed I am. And if you are a beggar, you simply swipe the card to another device and you have immediate funds – so true. It all sounds great. Anyway, I have no doubts that this is a thesis film made by a production company from a multimedia arts school. It’s too flashy anyway and unfortunately, it did not save the film from shame. With limited budget, they simply strive to make dramatic sequences. The film’s dramatic moments, is terrible. It is annoying to hear those dialogues. Good thing they have integrated this dialect from another galaxy, it cleanse my sense of hearing from all those superfluous dialogues. It did help conceal how badly it was acted.

Xenoa 2: Clash of the Bloods did not reach even the Earthly skies in its attempt to make a sci-fi film. They are more challenged in creating backdrops and gadgets which they think will exist on that particular period. Good thing they have created two clashing worlds and perceived Earth as a battle ground. It has some good ideas but it needs more time and money for this particular genre be of great success. Well, at least they tried.


Charlie Koon's Rating: