One year old and what have we achieved?

Today we celebrate our first year anniversary; and every year gained in the real world, the celebrant, amidst the fatty foods and diabetes-inducing cake eaten on the day of celebration, almost always looks back at the year that was in nostalgia: What the heck did I do this year that I let it pass?

So what have we done aside from the insulting and name-calling? Is there really such an effect as to bring about a gigantic development in the current state of the entertainment industry? After a year, has anything changed?

In the year that went, I was able to review/insult a few duds: the horrible soap opera remake of Kampanerang Kuba, the witless reality shows Qpids and Pinoy Big Brother, the ultra-paradox-confusing Etheria, the kiddie-karate show Sugo, and the ho-hum movies Ako Legal Wife and Mourning Girls. Where are the positive reviews?

I slugged it out with a reader this year regarding my offensive critiques. Some of them claimed that I was too negative and was only looking at the bad factors of the production. Others, on the other hand, agreed with my views. I mirror the ideals of one Simon Cowell (of American Idol fame) when he was asked if he felt guilty about what he says to the contestants, he said, "What I am doing is kind by telling people who are useless 'Do something that you're good at'. So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible."

Then this 'Wowowee Tragedy' occured. This incident, I believe is the penultimate judgment to those who play poker with the lives of those who are in need. Now because of their greed and stupidity, the dead will forever haunt the memories of those who are responsible.

People tend to quit while they are on top; when they realize that they have reached their pinnacle, they subconsiously weaken their effort thinking that their lives could not get any better than what they have. I believe that this industry needs a really painful wake-up call from its fantastic sleep, and the only way to do this is to push it to the limits and make their mistakes known to them by shoving it in their faces. As long as they make these very same mistakes over and over again, then there will be no steps forward; the industry will be eating the same problems again and again.

They cry of piracy. They cry of bankruptcy. However, if they look honestly within their minds they will realize that their stupidity has gone full-circle. Ang basurang itinapon mo (pito-pito movies and cliche plotlines) ay babalik din sa iyo. This is a lesson waiting to be learned by all concerned.

One question left: will we still be around for another year? HELL YEAH. It is a beautiful thing to play devil to an industry such as this.

Review of "Blue Moon": Historical inaccuracies, painful unrealism, and laughable absurdity destroys viewing experience

Photo Courtesy of cbcpworld.com

How can producers go far into a story in order to make a sure-fire blockbuster chick-flick? How much absurdity and inaccuracy can one take in one movie-viewing? All These questions and more will (or will not) be answered by watching the Metro Manila Film Festival Entry entitled 'Blue Moon', a Danielle Steel-esquire romantic epic starring Mark Herras, Jennylyn Mercado, Eddie Garcia, Christopher de Leon and Dennis Trillo.

The story revolves around an aging Manuel (Eddie Garcia) and his search for his lost love named Corazon. What follows are is a series of plot twists which involve decades of family relationships straight out of a Danielle Steel novel. After all of the trials and hardships thrown upon the main characters, they triumph over impossible the odds; never mind the historically inaccurate portrayal of World War II Philippines and the absurdity of certain circumstances, all that matters in the movie is that it made the audience cry.

It was not hard to feel for the characters in the movie, most effective portrayals include Christopher de Leon and Dennis Trillo, the only actors who carried the movie all the way. The only hindrance for a total enjoyment of the film was the World War II sequences of Mark Herras and Jennylyn Mercado, whose bland-to-overacting acting can easily be noticed, which utterly destroyed the viewing experience. The flashback scenes are creamed with over-the-top impossible and historically inaccurate scenes such as the pre-Air Force Filipino pilots, unbelievable training scenes, stinky CGI of aerial dogfights, and laughable teenybopper scenes obviously written in to attract a younger audience. In my humble opinion, I believe that the movie could have been a lot better without the cheesy flashbacks and the full concentration was centralized on the present time, through the character portrayals of Eddie Garcia, de Leon, and Trillo.

All in all, the makers of the film could have made "Blue Moon" a great film, almost in the same level of Abaya's "Jose Rizal" if they had only avoided the clichés of the common romance epics and instead focused on character and plausible plot development.

Review of 'The Mourning Girls': Confusing and ridiculous

Photo Courtesy of tfc-online.com

'Mourning Girls' is exactly what would happen if a movie outfit attempted to emulate a Mano Po-type movie while dumbing the story down and inserting some unfunny comedic scenes into it. Please bear with this critique if it suddenly parallels the review for 'Mano Po' because the resemblances with this one and the other is quite uncanny.

'Mourning Girls', like 'Mano Po 2' before it, is the story of a family's patriarch Fernando (Ricky Davao) dying of a heart attack, and three wives emerging (Glydel Mercado, Chin-Chin Gutierrez, Assunta de Rossi) to claim his fortunes. The only difference is that Fernando goes around the funeral wake as a roving spirit, for reasons very unclear. The difference between MG and MP3 is that there is a weak attempt at a comedy, which audiences will find slightly amusing to utter ridicule.

'Mourning Girls' was created obviously without effort, with the actors sleepily walking through the dialogue without any sweat; obviously the curiosity built up during the beginning of the movie will be stepped on and destroyed during the viewing process. The same can be said of the story and script, which felt as if it was written while playing chess; the writers just tapped a few words onto the keyboard, printed it, and submitted in to the producers without a care on whether or not the story would work or suck. The story, which counts as the greatest element of any movie, was just utterly confusing. The plot revolved mercilessly at the premise of the three wives' fighting against each other with the occasional boring twist every now and then.

It was not anymore a surprise why 'Mourning Girls' flopped at the box office; though I believe the failure of this movie did not affect the producers and actors in any way. It was obviously made with a small budget and only an inclusion to a film festival in mind. It is quite amusing how producers beg Filipinos to save the movie industry by going back to the movies when they produce filth such as this.

Long-time-no-update

I am terribly sorry for not updating the page for quite a while. A lot of things got in the way. I do promise, however, to update immediately; as you can see I've changed my profile photo which means that I will be delivering more critiques in the next few days. Here is a list of critiques:

1. Bituing Walang Ningning (the ABS-CBN soap)
2. I Luv New York
3. Mourning Girls
4. Dubai
5. Majika

... And a few more still in the works. I'm definitely back, folks. So don't be sad.