Jigz Recto's "Binatilyo" - A Caterwauling Fete (An Unpublished Post from 2012)

Vintage Blush? Well, this is an article we weren't able to publish for some reason, but this had an original post date of November 8, 2012 - 4 long years ago. It had Jao Mapa too. It was one of those pink films that flourished that time. I am sure some of the followers of this blog have missed the spunk and irreverence we've dedicated towards the exploitation and vapid film-making that proliferated back then. I didn't really care about the associated metrics, but when each post was being read by between 8,000 and 18,000 people, you realize that you must have done something right. After all, this is a text-heavy blogsite so I know that my readers aren't illiterates. They also have impeccable taste. Tee hee. So here goes.

STORY

TJ (Norris John) is infatuated with his classmate Karla (Lili Montelibano). But TJ isn't the school’s most popular student. In fact, he gets brickbats for his father Dading’s (Jao Mapa) effete ways: “malamya, malambot, kumekendeng”. A few days before Karla’s birthday, TJ gets a reprieve from Karla’s snootiness. If TJ can provide her with a new smart phone - as gift, of course - for her birthday, then he’s welcome to court her! Quite the opportunist, isn't she? So what’s a guy to do? His very own cell phone is ten years past its prime and held together by an adhesive.

At home, he badgers his impoverished, albeit hard-working parents for the fashionable gadget. Truth to tell, TJ’s foible is a vice his family can’t afford. But his attentive and persevering father works even harder and appropriates a good chunk of his earning, much to the consternation of TJ's mom  Elma (Angela Ruiz). The boy is getting impatient because Karla’s birthday is close by. TJ turns to his best friend (Winston de Dios, “Sulot“, “Rigodon”) who moonlights as an exotic dancer and hustler. Lulu (Lorraine Lopez), TJ’s classmate and overt admirer, is only too happy with this development. She wants a piece of TJ’s inches as much as she enjoys his best friend’s. Little did TJ realize that Lulu is a nefarious henchman’s girlfriend. This gets TJ into trouble.  

Karla’s birthday comes, but Dading’s hidden stash is confiscated by his wife. What’s a father to do? Will TJ ever find the acceptance from Karla? Will there be enough cellphones in the Philippines in time for the opportunist's birthday? I shiver.

TJ (Norris John) despises his father.

Director Jigz Recto once again weaves another unctuous and exceedingly mawkish mixbag of melodrama and Pink-leaning narrative. “Binatilyo” is, in fact, one of the most painful films to watch, reminiscent of the protracted scenes from “Dulas” and “Kasalo”, both directed by the same director.  These films stretch the dramatic scenes much longer than you can say "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis". 

Just when you thought the protracted aria has been delivered, the emotive gravity resumes again with another set of caterwauling that burrows deep inside your head. I have been sensitized to these cinematic punishments, but this flick has tested my patience. I was this close to walking out. 

Clueless directors believe that they could milk their dramatic tableau by expanding their dramatic scenes. This isn't a case of “the longer, the better”, or is it? Norris, who isn't a tall guy, would surely not agree either. The boyish actor works hard and though he succeeds to personify the spoiled rotten juvenile, his characterization is hobbled by the non-expository ethos of his cinematic persona. It’s hard to swallow how a once-loving son has transmogrified into this insensitive brat. 

Elma and son TJ (Angela Ruiz and Norris John)

DEUS EX MACHINA

It’s quite apparent that the ministrations fueling the narrative are meant as deus ex machina. The inclusion of Lulu’s gun-toting beau and TJ’s best friend is perplexing. When prodigal TJ comes home, he learns that his father died looking for him (TJ saw him in a gay bar and thought that his father has come out of the closet when, in fact, he was there to work as a waiter so he could earn more money to buy a new phone for his son). He further learns of his mother’s ornery past: When she got pregnant, his boyfriend ditched her. Kind-hearted Dading comes to the rescue and assumes the responsibility as husband and father. This he did despite being as queer as a three dollar bill, so to speak.

After Elma’s confession, TJ gets a 30-minute crying spell. It was night time. The next day, he visits his father’s grave and another lachrymose caterwauling arises. You wonder where prodigal TJ went that he didn't even catch the loooong wake – and the burial. Did he maybe peddle his flesh overseas? Like Okinawa or Antananarivo, maybe? But he was just enjoying a staycation with his classmate. Why wasn't he told? But the most blatant antagony is the crux that fuels the story: What guy in his right mind would purchase a smart phone for a pompous girl who isn't even his girl friend yet? The story is riddled with holes the size of the supermoon.

The Pink element appears when, one night, a drunk TJ gives Winston’s a visit who then “attends” to his friend's drunken stupor, undressing him and giving him a diligent, thorough, and refreshing sponge bath. Ayayay pag-ibig, coos Ara Mina. What are friends for, debah? By sunrise, TJ finds himself glisteningly speckless and exfoliated. 

“Binatilyo” is one of the most excruciating flicks I’ve seen this year. It’s a “buwis buhay” experience. Someone deserves to be tied on a tree teeming with fire ants. Either that - or he deserves to be shipped somewhere where transport only comes once every 50 years. No... make it 70!

TJ daydreams of Karla (above) then rollings in the hay with Lulu.

Gay husband Dading and wife Elma.

Lulu

Winston de Dios and Norris John

Norris John

Norris John

Note:

Read our feature Cinema Bravo and Web Criticism? :
- http://makemeblush2.blogspot.com/2016/10/cinema-bravo-film-criticisms-execrable.html


#pinkfilm   #binatilyo  #norrisjohn   #jaomapa

Ipaglaban Mo's "Riding-in-Tandem" - Vetting Stories and Scraping the Narrative Bottom

I was waiting for Mang Ruben, my driver, who was unusually running late because of an earlier errand he had to run for my mom. I decided to kill time by scouring the television for any interesting show. The first that caught my attention was this beautiful cherubic face looking so forlorn - Albie Casino's.

THE ALBIE CONUNDRUM

Albie Casino's career resurgence is something of a miracle. The erstwhile baby-maker rascal turned out to be a convenient fall guy of a not-so-palatable situation sometime in the past. 

The itchy bitchy one was so confused with her bedtime frolics she couldn't tell who the real father was. Either that or she was just using someone so people would sympathize with her. That prematurely ended a flourishing career and destroyed Albie. Even I was so disgusted with him.  Why am I discussing this? Somehow there are lessons to be learned from his situation, particularly now that he's successfully staged a comeback. Perseverance pays off. He's in indies; in mainstream flicks, in teleseryes, in drama shows, in deodorant commercials. Heck he's even in the scandal sheet for flexing his wares and flashing his magic wand. Indeed, Milton and Mrs. S. Hall were right:"There's a silver lining to every cloud that sails about the heavens if we could only see it." These days, Albie is back with a vengeance.

in "Riding-in-Tandem", Albie plays the role of a reluctant petty thief Fredo (Casino) who's being coerced by the shady Domeng (Jao Mapa) to assist in his dubious deals, i.e. driving a tandem motorbike to snatch bags from unsuspecting pedestrians. 

The VOD (victim of the day) would be Hazel (Ingrid dela Paz), a hard-working girl who has a bratty sick mother to take care of. To cut the long story short, Hazel's bag gets snatched by Domeng who's in a bike driven by Fredo. A concerned taxi driver, Mang Conrado (Smokey Manaloto), who was himself a holdup victim, decides to pursue the tandem. The result was tragic for Fredo, but Domeng was apprehended by the cops. He was charged with "robbery with homicide", due to Fredo's death.

As legal proceedings go, this seemingly petty crime took faster to litigate than most. Domeng was eventually convicted, not of "robbery with homicide" as he didn't directly cause the death of Fredo who was, for all intents and purposes, accomplice to the crime. 

Domeng was eventually convicted of simple "robbery" that will get him imprisonment between 6 months to 4 years and 2 months depending on the judge's decision, circumstances considered.

The story is rather hackneyed and under-developed, but with an hour to tell its story, they have an excuse for its paltry character development. But think "Maalaala Mo Kaya"! They have almost similar running time, yet the series is usually braver and adept in expounding convoluted, albeit difficult stories. So you see, length shouldn't be an excuse. Another point of reference is King Palisoc's "Tandem" (2015) starring JM de Guzman and Nico Antonio. Now that was particularly stirring - with great turns from its more-than competent cast. 

Was Fredo really a victim himself? From the way the snatching was executed, this is highly unlikely. Check out a Youtube  trailer and you will observe that their motorbike was actually driving towards Hazel. Fredo was on the wheel. How can he not know? But that's just how this particular scene was set up. The story is based on real events so the film could have been tweaked for cinematic purposes.

ALBIE ENGAGES

Since "Ipaglaban Mo" is a legal drama that plunges into situations involving crime and punishment, it would sit well if they vet their crime stories more meticulously, instead of this narratively gaunt tale. On point of performance, Albie Casino was particularly engaging. I was going to channel-surf but ended up staying put, not the least of reasons included that gorgeous face. Dear Mr. Casino, if you ever decide to steer clear from doing tandem rides, mirror selfies and self-gratification videos, my house welcomes you for your eternal vacation. Love, Catherine. Tee hee. 

Jao Mapa is rather intense but I have this sneaking suspicion he was trying too hard to don the bad guy's hat. 

Such roles require a dash of subtlety to be truly street-smart credible. Jao on the other hand was loud and livid (see left photo). An insightful perspective isn't borne out of glaring eyes and loud barks.

Smokey Manaloto does better, but this comedian has always been dependable, thanks to his years of experience in the business. As for newcomer Ingrid dela Paz, who plays Hazel, she seems promising. She even reminds me of Shaina Magdayao. Unfortunately, her character isn't particularly momentous,is it? Regardless, may her appearance jumpstart a successful career in the business.

Cathy writes, "Dear. Mr. Casino...

#IMtandem   #jaomapa   #albiecasino   #ingriddelapaz

     

Balang Araw - Hopeful Cinematic Effort

After another threat of getting fired from work, Paul (Carlo Cruz, photo below), a call center agent, impulsively buys a ticket for New Zealand and quits his job much to the consternation of his boss. Jubilant from his departure, Paul hails a cab with a chatty driver (Jao Mapa). But before he gets home, he asks to pass by a convenience store for a pack of cigarette. Meanwhile, Jeric and Benjo, a couple of street thugs (Shielbert Manuel and Alex Vincent Medina) concoct a fast heist. As Paul steps into the store, he inadvertently plunges into the pillage. Inside the store, he joins a pregnant woman (Aleera Montalla) and the two store clerks.

While the robbers muster their haul, a cop leisurely saunters inside the store. Will the victims be able to get the latter’s attention?

Archie Dimaculangan and his co-directors Franne Cheska Ramos and Jono de Rivera come up with a solid work that baits you from the start as the film gradually introduces their characters in narrative vignettes, one strain more interesting than the other. The cinematography (Ice Idanan) is quite decent. But it somehow bogs down while maneuvering for an appropriate conclusion. The earlier story telling vigor eventually loses steam and unfortunately slides into an anti-climactic epilogue – or the lack of it. In fact, you somehow feel that it’s an uncompleted work; that it deserves a better ending. What was the taxi driver’s weight into the story if he were to be made aware of a robbery and he instead drives away without doing a thing about it? Is this a depiction of the moral vacuity that pervades this society? I doubt if this is such case. Not when the running time isn’t quite 60 minutes yet. Budget, probably?

Among its performers, it’s Carlo Cruz (playing call center agent Paul) who registers strongly. In fact, you root for him way before he gets inside the convenience store. Tarhata Rico, the nursing student who sidelines as a store clerk, could do well in the business too. Aleera Montalla plays the pregnant woman, but she could have fared better with a less meretricious character. If you recall, she played the creepy Amor in Richard Somes’ “Yanggaw”. It’s unfortunate that the film wasn’t able to enveigle more sinister antagonists - bumbling but willful enough to be believable - that the film sorely needed. In fact, the concluding scenes felt more lost than intended.

A taxi driver and a couple of thugs with nothing better to do.


A feisty call center agent (Cruz) and a store clerk (Rico).

“Balang Araw” (Bullet Day) is one of the three winning scripts that won half a million grant from the first Big Shot Festival, sponsored by SM Group of Cinemas. Besting 50 other hopefuls from colleges and universities all over the country, the film clearly makes the grade. Alongside mediocre independent commercial releases, it’s a testament that there’s hope for local cinema if we produce film students like these. But is it groundbreaking? Far from it. Surely there should be better ouvres to come out from this student film festival. But this one rightfully earns its stripes.

A pregnant woman (Aleera Montalla) and a couple of store clerks (Juan Miguel Severo and Tarhata Rico).


Tarhata Rico


Alex Vincent Medina


Aleera Montalla

Tumbok - Exhaustingly Marooned in Cliche

When I was a child, I had a yaya who flourished in her fantastical stories. It was a childhood replete with the most vivid tales of folk lore and superstitions. She loved scaring me until I was blue and shaking under my sheets. But then she would smile and assure me that bad things happen only to bad people. How naïve, right? But it was sweet, and I soon learned to cope. Children are resilient and learn to adjust in time. I still get my goose bumps when watching horror flicks, but I can now sit through a marathon of them wearing a poker face, seemingly without care, but with toes curled down below.

“Tumbok” is one of those superstitions that I’ve come across early on. It’s when a street or two converge, and this focal point becomes the epicenter of bad luck. This is the point of contention in Topel Lee’s “Tumbok”.

Young couple Ronnie (Carlo Aquino) and Grace (Cristine Reyes) inherit a room in a doddering, ramshackle building right where three streets converge. Most of its tenants have all but deserted this tenement, except for the few occupants in the same floor as Grace and Ronnie’s. The transfer has been smooth as the couple is being ushered into their new abode, with great help coming from their landlord Mark (Ryan Eigenmann). But things go bump in the dark, and Grace is plagued by visions and sounds that don’t quite exist on second sight. Gradually, a series of mishap characterize the fate of the building’s inhabitants: an explosion at the students’ room; a constantly bickering couple (Wendy Valdez and DJ Durano). Moreover, there’s a ghostly child named Yumi who vanishes just as quickly.

Furthermore, cataclysms seem to follow the couple. Ronnie develops a non-healing wound where worms crawl out of and Grace starts dreaming of being taken advantaged by Mark. Even job opportunities where Grace has already been accepted disappear (the employing officer dies). Are these things related to their present home? Lumen (LJ Moreno), the couple’s cousin, soon confirms this, albeit fatally so.

CONGESTED THOUGHTS

Early on, the story is congested with recurring scenes set to establish an atmosphere of dread: an off-kilter music that suddenly turns into loud bangs saunters along with visions of ashen faced children – peeping through doors, gazing from the foot of the stair, morbidly dipped under water in a tub, or gliding sideways behind their backs. How much mood do you need when you find this gimmick nauseatingly repeated 5 times in the first 20 minutes of the movie! Does it get scarier the more we repeat it? The element of surprise dissipates as quickly after the 5^th appearance-disappearance and this “contraption” becomes exhausting. You end up getting sensitized - and it isn't even half way through the whole movie.

Unfortunately, there are more derivative scenes you can easily identify from ten dozens of horror flicks: doors suddenly opening (this happens 4x or so); the protagonist waking up from a bothersome dream (this happens 3x); invisible creatures creeping under the bed; crawling hands moving under the blanket then sliding through the hair; ghouls posturing behind Cristine or Carlo like they are about to devour them, but when they look behind, there’s no one there. Yup, all of the above, with nauseating regularity.

Where is the T in T-junction?

At some point in the film, you realize Topel Lee is stuck in a narrative plateau. Yes, the director has an enviable cinematic eye. He creates images that reek with mood and an impending doom, but he has, of late, been victim to the “horror checklist”. He dutifully enumerates them in his cinematic pad, then peppers the whole story with “lots of it”. We are seeing him in an unflattering light. The realization becomes clear: Topel Lee is not a competent story teller. In this movie, he is completely at a loss. Desperately!

I once rationalized this suspicion and pointed the blame to mainstream film making because I have seen his “Dilim” (2005, with Mario Magallona and Rica Peralejo) and the “Ang Manunulat” segment of the omnibus project “ImaheNasyon”. These two films were progressive and entertaining works from Lee. But let’s check out his last 3 movies: the execrable “White House”, the vomit-inducing “Wapakman” (with Manny Pacquiao, and one of the worst films of the decade), and the uneven “Sundo” (with Robin Padilla and Sunshine Dizon). Clickthecity reviews have been kind to Mr. Lee, but after several movies, I just do not understand a statement like “…but he's capable of so much more.” More what? More of “My Kuya’s Wedding?” After making these last three films, Topel Lee has indeed shown what he is capable of doing. And this isn’t much!

Is there really an immense talent behind someone who shamelessly imitates Yam Laranas’ “ghosts in the tenement” tales? Are people really so forgetful of Laranas “Sigaw” (with Iza Calzado) and its American incarnation “The Echo” (Jesse Bradford and Iza Calzado)? Some of the characters in "Sigaw" included an abusive cop and his battered wife. Lee updates this in "Tumbok" with an abusive security guard and his wife (Durano and Valdez), which is a demotion since, heck, it’s just DJ Durano playing the part, and we don’t want to upstage Carlo Aquino who is the police department’s official photographer, do we? These “trapped characters” keep re-experiencing these events in vicious cycle. Wasn’t that the delectable conceit in Yam Laranas’ movie’s epilogue?

Even the details are indolent. When Ronnie bangs at the door of the rambunctious students to ask them to pipe down, they just ignore him. So he pulls his police badge out from somewhere under his shorts! When he visits a hospital to see his wife, he once again flashes his badge when all he needs to do is ask for the room number since he is the patient’s husband after all. His badge is glued somewhere in the recesses of his ass, and he's just too happy to flash them when he can.

Once again, we turn “medical”. In one scene, Aling Elsie (Malou de Guzman) points out, “Buntis ka? Ang lakas ng pintig ng leeg mo eh.” Distended neck veins are a sign of pregnancy? You better rush that girl to the hospital because such distention is synonymous with right-sided heart failure more than pregnancy. I have never heard of such hogwash! When Ronnie unfolds the bandage from his arm wound, he finds it throbbing and growing, with worms crawling out of a hole, yet we don’t exactly see him rushing to the doctor. He treats it like it's a pimple waiting to be squashed. Cash strapped maybe? “Naubos ang savings ko sa libing ni Lumen,” he reasons later.

Cristine Reyes is an engrossing presence, making this cycle of clichés a wee bit tolerable, and Carlo Aquino makes the most of his low-ranked police officer with an adumbral past. Unfortunately, pairing Reyes and Aquino together was like lighting a torch filled with water, instead of petrol. There isn’t any spark to speak of. Ara Mina and Jao Mapa’s cameos (a side story that supposedly explains Ronnie’s past) feel incongruent to the idea of "tumbok". After all, how can Ronnie forget everything about his origin? A coping mechanism to forget? Was he an amnesiac in the vein of Toni Gonzaga (“My Amnesia Girl”)? Ryan Eigenmann renders the flick some gravitas, but his incubus (a demon who descends upon people to have sexual intercourse with them in their sleep) feels too manipulated a character to be believed, a plot device that doesn't quite hold water. Are we still talking about “tumbok” (“poison arrow” in feng shui) here or is this a separate entity? The devil's child, perhaps? These fusion of ideas clutter around in confusion. But, hey, at least we have a lot of atmospheric shots, di ba?

Finally, just to lay out the concept of “tumbok” on the discussion table, check out our diagram of “tumbok” above (courtesy of www.cavitehomes.com) and compare this with the “other” entity called “Curved Knife” road. Then compare this with the building used in the movie (see the photo above). It hardly describes a “T-junction” to me, does it? Maybe they should have re-titled this one with something more appropriate. Like “Hilo”?

Bonamine, anyone?

Cristine Reyes - engrossing presence

Cristine Reyes

Cristine Reyes

Ryan Eigenmann - enough gravitas

LJ Moreno as Lumen discovers that Ronnie and Grace live right in the heart of superstition.

Derivative Slasher Flick in Logic-Challenged "Pilantik"

Argel Joseph used to do a lot of tv dramas back when I was a child, but with the untimely death of advice guru Helen Vela, Director Joseph took a protracted sabatical!

And it seems he must have overdosed on a lot of slasher flicks during his hibernation that eventually resulted in a derivative flick that's "Pilantik". I wanted to write a haiku about the pervading mediocrity that's become synonymous with Filipino Indie Films, but I realized I'd rather reserve that for when I get more inspiration. Because after all, this film deserves my rant for being horrible. This deserves the wrath of the demigoddesses for wasting my dad's hard-earned cash just so I can watch another trash disguised as an indie cinema.

Spoilers ahead!

Ysmael (Mon Confiado) is a transvestite who turns into an irresolute avenging marauder by night. He carries around an axe and hunts for copulating lovers, then bludgeons them to their death. He then chops off an arm and keeps them at his fridge! Flashbacks show him as a physically abused child whose effete demeanor provoked his stepdad (Pen Medina) and stepbrother to macerate his right fingers, thereby getting rid of his "pilantik" (light feminine flick of the fingers). Meanwhile, his emotionally inferior mother (Ma. Isabel Lopez) is shackled in her room. During a violent altercation, young Ysmael gets hold of the axe, killing his evil stepdad and evil stepbro!

Fast forward to the present! We see Ysmael cooking for his family, until we realize later that the people sitting at the dinner table are rotting corpses. Meanwhile, authorities are in a bind over a recent spate of serial killings. Is it the benz-driving Ysmael? Apparently, it is - coz we see him gallivanting in the night, hacking lovers in a state of pre-orgasm (first one to go is eye candy Jeff Luna).

From out of the blue, we get an entirely different string of characters introduced into Ysmael's life who, it seems is an upright member of the community. (He operates a beauty salon. We also see him comfort a perturbed friend Frida - Kuya Germ's counterpointer Shalala who was funny but misplaced in a dramatic action-thriller!)

While Ysmael and Frida were on their way out of a bar, they met Alfred (Kris Martinez) and his friends. They've apparently heard of Ysmael's riches. So they invite themselves for a rendezvous at Ysmael's crumbling home, setting themselves up for what would become the ultimate gorefest! Just about this time, I have already taken a 2 minute nap, regurgitated my lunch out of predictable tedium and dismay, and narrated to my friend Kyle (who loves his gay Galleria flicks) how the movie was going to end - right down to the letter!

Not only is the storyteller confused, he is also helplessly unimaginative - with scene after scene wallowing with predictability! Mon Confiado performs as though this were his very last movie project. He has to remember that less is more! Watching Confiado as Ysmael was painful. It always does when you see someone pretending to be gay! It reminds me of Jao Mapa in Joel Lamangan's "I Love Dreamguyz". Kyle and I were squirming in our seats.

And here is my uber-question - why was Ysmael targetting copulating lovers - unless its Joseph's homage to all those slasher flicks that irreverently kill off horny lovers everytime? You'd think they would illuminate on this salient point in one of their numerous flashbacks, but oh no, they conveniently forgot! I bet so they could show perky nipples flopping about. That's a valid reason, isn't it? ;->

At some point, I overheard a moviegoer ask, "So there are two serial killers?" Exactly, honey! In this film, there were 3 sets of dingbats running around with half a brain - Ysmael, the gay-baiting lotharios, and the filmmakers selling crap to gullible moviegoers who continuously patronize dregs such as this one!

Jao Mapa as Kevin becomes last victim. (Why he would forcefully sodomize a reluctant tranny before he robs off him is beyond me- unless he was really gay in the film, which he obviously wasn't?) Kris Martinez (right) as gay-baiting Alfred who eventually gets his lovely head dismembered!

Ay Ayeng - The Travails of Watching an Indie

I have always patronized local films. I must have seen most of the local film releases, both mainstream and indie. Do I find them better than the U.S. releases? Are you kidding? There's just a few Pinoy films that's worth their admission fee of P150-160. But hope springs eternal every time; that I always hope to stumble upon a gem, like Jerold Tarog's "Confessional" - thus i keep watching these local drivels. Unfortunately, a majority of these local and digital flicks are turning out to be real turkeys!

Consider this: When you watch a digital film, aka indie film, these new film makers have made use of the digital medium as a convenient excuse to dole out shoddy filmmaking, no-budget productions, galunggong-cheap technicals and visuals that remind one of films from the 60's. A movie viewer is suddenly forced to lower down his expectations, his standard of appreciation, solely because, hey! this dud had a shoestring budget!

Yet - you queue at the ticket booth and you pay the same amount. They don't necessarily give you a discount when you watch these films - even if they admit to having a budget that won't feed my retriever! LOL. When I shell out P140 for a movie, I shall have acquired the right to voice out what I feel about the movie. Did it deliver? Did it entertain? Did it tell the story well?

Yet sometimes, when you lay down your critique in the confines of your own blogsite, there are morons who would impose "appreciations" on their misdirected films! And i say, HONEY, you pay for my movie watching and I won't say a word. I-uutot ko na lang kung di ko nagustuhan. But as long as i am paying for my movie admission ticket, my opinion is free from anybody's censure. Pera ko, opinion ko. Simple.

Now let me head to another indie film that has crossed my path - Edd Palmos' "Ay Ayeng".

Ayeng (Heart Evangelista) returns to her community in the Mountain Province "a long time ago" (yes, the director had illusions this was a fairy tale). She has endured the big city and is one year short from graduating as a teacher. However, life is hard and the money that her local community used to send for her studies has ceased from coming. Moreover, a nasty band of military bandits has set up harsh dominion over the villagers. Local girls are suddenly taken away for the trolls' pleasures, and able bodied male villagers are surreptitiously "eliminated". In the midst of all these troubles, Ayeng has taken upon herself to teach the children and some willing adults, writing the alphabets and numerals on her dirt board. With the help of a visiting childhood friend Karen (shrill voiced Sheena Joy), she has built a makeshift classroom for her pupils.

SPOILERS!

As fate would have it, some greedy businessmen have bribed the local politicians to clear the area for a business project. Along the way, more villagers are killed, houses are burned - and finally, Ayeng herself gets abducted and eventually, raped. As an aftermath of all these, the villagers still had the gall to blame Ayeng! What gives? Even her mother Umay (Maria Isabel Lopez) became oblivious to her sacrifices. What's a girl to do?

This is supposedly based on the life of Macli-ing Dulag, a tribal leader who, during the Marcos era, fought against the destruction of the Chico Dam. Adapted from the novel by Abdon Noviza and Liza Lazaro, the narrative is uninterestingly told in a slew of close-ups that makes viewing a discomfort. Some shots are even as hazy as a pencil drawn image (like the Honolulu scenes). As I said earlier, it was like watching a 1960s flick with misfocused directions and unfocused lenses.

The morning after Ayeng gets raped, we see her wake up from the shanty fully clothed. Did a fairy godmother clothe her? She stands up and opens the door in front of her. Then she cries in wild abandon in full view of everyone from the soldier's camp - instead of shutting her wide mouth and planning an escape! Luckily, she escapes and walks back not to her house to seek the comfort of her family, but to the classroom, where she further cries before a morose mother-and-son. Yet these idiots just stared at her without a reaction. They would have reacted better from ant stings! LOL. There was just no hint of consolation or sympathy! Then without rhyme or reason, they walk out on her! Like idiots!

Another misdirection was when Ayeng leaves the village with Karen. Just a minute prior, her mother along with the rest of the villagers (composed of 4 people - LOL) told her off. "Pabayaan mo na kami, Ayeng." So - she does exactly that. She packs her bag and leaves.

As she walks into the sunset, the kids scatter all over the crevices of the hills - in pairs of twos! They start singing "Ako ay Pilipino" a la "We Are the World". Each distributed lines carrying a different pitch from the last one!!! It was hilarious! Like witnessing an amateur children's program. Only, the St. Paul's kinder students are much much better. No wonder Ayeng was crying her heart out! The punishment was too much to bear!

Now, what made the villagers suddenly change their mind? Search me. It was a spur-of-the-moment change of heart that took 3 milliseconds. Once again, with no rhyme nor reason! What ever happened to the character of Ayeng's lover, Sadek (Jao Mapa); or Ayeng's father and brother? Were they ever reunited? The epilogue conveniently forgot all these other characters. Like they were just figments of her nightmare!

The movie's sole redemption rests on someone's shoulder - Heart Evangelista! This girl carries her character with earnest sensitivity all throughout this crappy film! She is such a lovely presence that when she cries, your heart will melt like butter. There are physical presences that are easy to empathize with. Evangelista has it. It is obvious that Star Cinema has done her good in her training as an actress! Or maybe her former beau Jericho Rosales was simply an effective mentor!

Too bad she had to endure starring in this outdated, disjointed, misdirected, haphazardly mounted film! Brillante Mendoza's "Manoro" was a better realized project about literacy and scholastic dedication - by leaps and bounds!

As I made my way out of SM cinema, I shook my lovely head. Gosh! There was only Kyle and myself populating the whole cinema! If this were my first time to watch a digital indie film, you can bet it will also be my last. Good thing I'm a masochist. I love punishing myself!