Hinala - Hunches and Artistic Bankruptcy

You would think that after a good number of films released, Crisaldo Pablo would eventually come up with a decent ouvre, right? "Hinala" (Hunch) is a testament to disprove that. In fact, you come out of the cinema with a sense of loss. One is made acutely aware that the only thing great about this work is its theatrical poster: moody and provocative. But the film is anything but.

Once again, Pablo tackles his his oft-repeated theme of homosexual promiscuity as though gay men are incapable of fidelity, of being circumspect. If indeed Pablo is a champion of the Pink movement, why does he paint the third sex in livid lechery and predatory exuberance? But let's leave this rhetoric for now.

Arjay Carreon too much publicity exposure for such a menial part.

In "Hinala", doe-eyed Joeffrey Javier plays Cris who's in a 5 year relationship with Michael (Justin de Leon). Despite appearances and Michael's incessant appeasement, all is not well in the domestic front. Cris gets flustering clues that point to a profligate lover. These seeds flourish into several day dreams that keep repeating into lurid hunches, "mga hinala" if you will. Like a common friend who slips into saying that he expected Michael to leave Cris; or Michael disappearing from the face of the Earth when he was supposed to take a leave from work to celebrate their anniversary together.

These day dreams, murkily filmed like elementary vignettes of incohesive narrative strains, work their way a la "Ground Hog Day", a vicious cycle of different situations of promiscuity showing men in various stages of undress, and all leading to the fact that Cris is really given the run around by Michael.

Justin de Leon and Clyde Cruz as the cheating lovers.

We think of Joeffrey Javier as a pleasant find, with his next door good looks and very Pinoy package, but this interest isn't sustained by Javier's grave dryness of delivery. He speaks in dead monotone, in a voice reminiscent of a mistuned base - broken, hollow, lifeless. Justin de Leon is comfortable as the deceitful cad who's fickle enough to stay in a joyless relationship with clingy Cris. Clyde Cruz, in his first full length feature after his brave and "showy" stint in "Bikini Boys" plays the English-speaking lover who figures in several "bedroom wrestles" with de Leon and Javier (in one scene, he smothers Javier with a pillow during a three-way). Clyde enjoys a lengthier part than Arjay Carreon whose character comes out of nowhere to allay Cris' grief and offers himself up (though his advances were declined). Chamyto Aguedan, Pablo's eternal muse, provides comic relief, as usual.

The most basic observation in "Hinala" is its utter mediocrity - from the narrative progression (which pretty much plateaus 20 minutes into its running time) to the production values. There is absolutely no guidance by way of performance. Pablo's earlier strength ("Duda Doubt", "Circles" "Bathhouse") was his visuals, but this has long been discarded and forgotten. The focus of Pablo's works is in the coital meanderings and how he can flash the requisite genitalia somewhere in the story. This, to me, is a sad case of artistic bankruptcy - the failure to thrive as an artist.

Experience is supposed to make people better artists. Unfortunately, not in Crisaldo Pablo's case. Isn't it sad to be the pariah of mediocrity?

Clyde Cruz makes his first full length feature film after "Bikini Boys".

Joeffrey Javier, Chamyto Aguedan and Arjay Carreon clowning around.

Note:

Please read our post about Cinema Bravo and why we sometimes feel nginig about Web Criticism:
- http://makemeblush2.blogspot.com/2016/10/cinema-bravo-film-criticisms-execrable.html

Altarejos' "Laruang Lalake" - Desperation & the Pink Film Industry

The Pink Film Industry that we know today owes a lot of its existence - and notoriety - from three exponents: Crisaldo Pablo for "jumpstarting" it (though this is debatable); Joselito Altarejos who "revolutionized " it (when "Ang Lalaki Sa Parola" became such a money-making success, every indie film maker were green with envy); and Brillante Mendoza who legitimized it ("Masahista", "Pantasya") by winning prestigious awards abroad.

Fortunately for Mendoza, he was able to crossover to the "respectable" genre. Now, he's regarded as a serious filmmaker. While director Joselito Altarejos is clearly a superior craftsman, his works tend to alienate a certain population of the movie-going public as he pushes the boundaries of what's acceptable. Occasionally, he vacillates to the realm of being exploitative which is sad given his talent! And the obvious way out of this predicament is to tackle stories far removed from the genre he is known for. Unless he does this, Altarejos shall be pigeon-holed into Pink Film limbo. And that would be such a waste!

But Altarejos has been making a conscious stride to veer away from this. There were hints of such struggle in "Little Boy, Big Boy", but that was a weak movie hobbled by poor casting. Then there's "Pink Halo Halo" which failed to make it in commercial cinemas. If Altarejos wants to be taken seriously, I'd say he's in the right direction. Unfortunately, this won't make him oddles of money the way "Ang Lalaki sa Parola", "Ang Lihim ni Antonio" or "Ang Laro sa Buhay ni Juan" did! But if it's longevity and legitimacy he's after, the financial truths behind his lofty ideals have to be accepted.

"Laruang Lalake" feels like a homage to Crisaldo Pablo and the Pink Film-generating industry. In fact, Pablo is cast in the film as Eli, and his homme du jour - Arjay Carreon - is uprooted from Pablo's mediocre Queeriosity flicks to star in a more legitimate project worthy of his movie star looks.

If you've seen Cleo Paglinawan's "Indie Boys" shown a few weeks back, then watching "Laruang Lalake" would feel like dejavu. It follows an independent film outfit's making of a gay-oriented movie. The story shifts its point of view from 18 year old Samuel Dionesio (Carreon) who's desperate to become a movie star - to director Wilfredo Ligan (Richard Quan), another desperate soul on the brink of bankruptcy. Samuel joins a casting audition for Wilfredo's make-or-break film, as we bear witness to a general atmosphere of despondency.

There is palpable unease as each wanna-be actor is ushered on stage; the experience couldn't be less demeaning than a consented molestation. Before the audition wraps up, Samuel is cast alongside PJ Miranda (Marco Morales), a charismatic actor who's back from hiatus. The narrative then jumps into vignettes of the actual film making: "macho dancing" scenes with tacky choreography. When the film is finally submitted to the MTRCB for review, the narrative shifts its focus by satirizing the follies of this outdated censors body. Of course, it also serves as an avenue to spotlight what's perceived as cinematic taboos: masturbation, an "aroused genitalia" and sodomy.

When Wilfredo's film eventually gets an X-rating, we see him dejected and flummoxed. After all, his mortgage rests on the public exhibition of his film. But he seems to have forgotten the alternate avenues to make money out of it: i.e. get his film shown in CCP or U.P. Theater where they are pretentiously served up as a "work of art" instead of the trash that they really are! Then there's the lucrative video release! Heck, these are even made available online, through amazon and other websites.

Richard Quan gives "Laruang Lalake" a degree of pertinence, and Arjay Carreon as Samuel finally becomes a "real movie star"! Mark Fabillar plays the production assistant who's sympathetic to Samuel's needs. He registers well on screen though we catch moments of "softness". He would make a great protagonist in future Altarejos films (he did well in "Pink Halo Halo").

There were a few peekaboos that Altarejos had to offer as "gifts" for his pink audience: one from Carreon, another from Morales, and one from an auditionee. These were "bonuses" that reminded us that despite appearances, "Laruang Lalake" is still meant for a select audience.

While Altarejos is in search of a more universal audience - a more mainstream patron, this I'm afraid will elude him if he keeps dispensing feckless "bonuses" for his select crowd of admirers.

Far from Cabanatuan, Samuel (Arjay Carreon) shuttles between exotic dancing and the occasional film work.

Marco Morales is PJ Miranda, a former actor who makes his comeback after several years of hiatus in Macau.

Cris Pablo's "Mga Pinakamahabang One Night Stand 2" - Lessons in Self-Flagellation & Mediocrity

Education isn't always a noteworthy endeavor. If you acquire it from a brilliant mind, then all your hard work would have been worth the trouble. In Cris Pablo's acting workshops, the ultimate graduation gift is becoming part of a commercially-shown film. But such paybacks (you pay to get yourself in a movie - cool concept, don't you think?) could signal that it is indeed quite acceptable to churn up nursery-school projects then sell them to a paying public. In principle, it also lowers the standard of an already mediocre indie scene. But Leave it to Cris Pablo to make this troubling trend a money-making scheme twice over! He gets paid to be mentor which should finance his schemes, then he gets to field a film in "commercial" cinemas. But what's worse than giving false hopes to impressionable young minds? This denouement becomes a harrowing situation not dissimilar to doctors who get their medical education from quacks. Someone's gonna eventually fall ill and croak! Cris Pablo's latest abomination is such undertaking.

“Mga Pinakamahabang One-Night Stand 2” gathers four stories involving Cris Pablo’s inept but ambitious workshoppers (it would be a travesty to call them “actors”) who help Pablo bring to life (or a painful cinematic death) his boundless gay fantasies. Moreover, in his youtube workshop invitations, he pimps and parades Arjay Carreon as a "come on" - if you want to join Arjay, join our workshop! Whee!

Apparently, three of the four stories in "Mga Pinakamahabang One Night Stand 2)" (Longest One Night Stands 2) are directed by Kazan Anna Banzuela and David Mallari (“Call Center”), Julz Julia, Thor Manlangit, Maribel Argotero (“Boto Mo, Boto Ko”), and Marlon Mamungay and Jilan Babagay (“Huling Subok”), under the supervision of Pablo. Topher Barretto is likewise billed in the cast, but is nowhere found in any of the shorts.

Arjay Carreon

“Call Center” follows two repulsive English “patients” who are cast as a pair of gay call center agents cum lovers (Ronald Tacluyan, Marcus Valmadrid). One of them agonizes over his partner’s decision to quit his stable job, unaware that his lover has just been diagnosed with HIV. Not knowing this, he broods and sulks a lot, wondering why his partner doesn’t want to kiss him or get intimate with him even as he professes his love for him, while a third party (another unsightly wannabe) hits on him in the guise of giving him comfort. The two love birds clear the air after they take a shower together.

“Boto Mo, Boto Ko” (Your Vote, My Vote) is about Banjo, the gay supervisor of a gay (surprise!) local politician’s volunteers who make (romantic) life a living hell for new recruit Karl (Francis Sienes) and the apple of his eyes, Rusty (Rusty Adonis). Karl and Rusty like each other, but Banjo wants Rusty for himself, so he berates his subordinate every chance he gets. Unfortunately, Banjo’s sinister schemes only bring the star-crossed lovers together. After Banjo throws paint on Karl, the latter ends up in the shower with Rusty, and they consummate their attraction for each other, while Banjo bawls his eyes out and throws a tantrum outside the toilet.

In “Tubero” (Plumber), a gay guy (Prince Tami Ballesteros, who’s horrible and annoyingly swishy) who just broke up with his boyfriend tries to mend his broken heart by calling a plumber to fix his leaky and clogged-up pipes (pun very much intended). They end up plugging each other’s leaks instead.

“Huling Subok” (Last Trial) is the most serious—and most preposterous—of the four stories. It’s about a seminarian who must face his final test before he dedicates himself fully into the priesthood by hooking up with the good-looking Arjay Carreon, a cop who’s just been promoted in his job. The two guys/gays are former best friends and classmates who are haunted by an unfinished “business” eight years ago—they had an unexpected fling after getting carried away during a fateful get-together, after which the uglier guy vanishes on the face of the earth (he went to Singapore actually). When they meet again, they catch up, paint the town red…and take a dip in a swimming pool—then, they (again) make a go at their “huling subok” to satisfy Pablo’s craving for young men’s naked bodies and flashes of their shortcomings.

Is Cris Pablo out to outshower Hedji Calagui's "Lagpas" guys? When an exposition loses steam, he send his characters to the showers.

What is it about Cris Pablo and taking a bath?

Arjay Carreon tests his faith...and his appaluse-worthy savvy to disrobe.