Analog Thoughts on a Digital Age

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Essay: My Rant For The Week...

...im sorry, cant write anything funny for this sad pice of crap collage.
I just ran through the list of nominees for the upcoming Metro Manila Filmfest which just got released a few weeks ago in the Manila Bulletin website.

Ako Legal Wife a comedy by Joel Lamangan
Shake, Rattle and Roll by Maryo J. De los Reyes
Nasaan ka Man by Joel Lamangan
Exodus: The Tale of the Enchanted Kingdom by Eric Matti
Mulawin by Dominic Zapata and Mark Reyes
Enteng Kabisote 2 by Tony Y. Reyes
Kutob by Jose Javier Reyes

Its not that I care about these movies that much. Some of them are actually kind of promising. I just hope that they'd respect the Philippine viewing public just a little bit...

Take note, none of these movies have been shot yet. Some of them haven't even been cast yet. The film committee of the MMFF has already decided which is this year's best of the best just be reading the scripts.

"Atty. Laxa, one of the members of the executive committee of the MMFF explained that screenplays had to be chosen first before the finished product because this way it would be economical for the producers. They don’t want movie outfits making movies only to find out later that their entries won’t make it to the much-awaited December filmfest."

So, the committee kind of decides when a film gets greenlighted, right? Then this gives the studio the confidence to produce it in the assurance of exclusive distributorship on Christmas week....right?

(Excuse me while I move over to the other room and bust my gut with sarcastic laughter)

"This doesn’t mean though that producers couldn’t go on turning their scripts into full-length film features. In fact, MMDA and MMFF are encouraging producers to come out with films on a monthly or quarterly basis!"

O, yun naman pala! So why does the comittee have to decide with the scripts beforehand? Does Christmas week opening determine sure box office returns? No. You wanna know what determines sure box office returns? It's called 'Quality Movies'!!!

And, tell me, what exactly is the criteria behind the selection of nominees?

One of the scripts that they rejected was Joey Gosengfiao's Sanggalang, Badigard ng Presidente. Gosenfiao is probably one of the Philippine's brightest filmmakers (he directed Temptation Island) and it is beyond me how Enteng Kabisote 2 got picked out and not this. It just goes to show what the criteria really is.

It is pretty clear that independent digital cinema is going to be the saving grace of Philippine Cinema, because If Mother Lily keeps shelling out pieces of crap in a platter like another "Shake Rattle and Roll", These production companies are going to spend themselves dry.

"I am amenable to their request (choosing the screenplays first)," Mother Lily remarked. "I will follow them because this is the only way I can do to help keep our movie industry alive!"


The movies aren't losing money because of piracy, they're losing money because they keep making bad films. If we just keep greenlighting the good scripts that have been collecting dust in the shelves of Regal and Viva, do them on a shoestring budget (meaning digital) with no theatric attempts to equal all that Hollywood crap that's pretty tedious in the first place, and release it to a movie going public that has been hungry for great quality cinema since Ishmael Bernal and Lino Brocka died, then we might just get to turn this boat around like Korea did in 2000.


Props to Art, El Cineaste for the link!

16 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

no wonder our local movie industry is dying.

1:20 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hahaha. the filmfest. it is full of CRAP movies. cguro mga 1 o 2 lang talaga ung maganda. all are just money-generating pictures.

Enteng Kabisote 2? Ako Legal Wife? Joel Lamangan? SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL?

GOD. please help our country.

7:15 PM

 
Blogger drei said...

2 joel lamangan and a bunch of films related to mother lily? not interested. i think i've read somewhere that a few films from (promising) new directors were not accepted. the philippine movies is all about names and stars. minimal in concept. :(

9:15 PM

 
Blogger sineasta said...

joel lamangan has been a "favorite" in these last few film festivals. i believe that he should get some rest. he hasn't been coming up with truly great works.

enteng kabisote 2 was chosen just because it was the highest-grossing film last year. e.k. did quite well, i believe, but i'm so not looking forward to the sequel!

when will the organizers get to choose the entries based on the finished project and not the projected product?!

and shake, rattle, and roll?! kelan ba ibabaon sa hukay ang series na 'yan? part 1 lang naman ang talagang maayos sa lahat, e. hanggang srr 100 ba?!

still, i believe in the filmfest's desires to uplift rp movies in the highest standards. they just need to do something with their system of choosing the films. but hey, anything to stay in the business, right? kaysa naman mawala na ng lubusan ang mga pelikula natin!

11:42 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

enteng kabisote and filmfest in one sentence?

someone please pass me whatever they're smoking!

12:37 AM

 
Blogger the rocketboy said...

franchster: for every death comes rebirth. I just hope the death comes quick...

adobo: Thanks! Indie can go a long way. Truth be told. Local producers have one thing in common...they dont want to take risks.


Anonymous: clicked on it . Nice.

Sedricke: Oo, nga. Buti nga yung Sigaw got international recognition. I 've read in some international film forums na may thread na bina-bash lang yung "Bahay ni Lola". Alam lang nila yun ang pinapanood natin. Nakakahiya.

Drei and Filmphiler: I honestly think Joel Lamangan is a good director, ("Hubog" is one of my favorites) but just like any person, he also runs out of ideas. Plus, he's starting to show the symptoms of growing old in cinema....SELLING OUT! Most of the filmfest entries are his works that are most likely uninspired and half-assed (inupuan lang niya with one cheek, then off to the next...).

pimpstar: "someone please pass me whatever they're smoking!" Hahahahahahahahaha!

Jowch: Being from San Juan yourself. I think familiar ka sa interrealtion between crappy showbiz and crappy politics! Har har har...trabaho na ako....


Tenk Yu sa lahat ng nagcomment!!!

5:54 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All I can say is, its time for the old folks to step aside and let the young dudes ROCK the house! Our country is full of young smart and talented people who are itching to do their own stuff but could not be given a chance. Like what Jose Rizal said, "ang kabataan ang pagasa ng bayan!" I guess he was also referring to our film industry! ASstig talaga si ka jose! he he he! ill pass the weed now! Peace!

5:30 PM

 
Blogger drei said...

i like hubog a lot too. but most of his movies are really bad i should say. filipinas? mano po? yuck. sorry. :)

1:08 PM

 
Blogger the rocketboy said...

drei: JL is kind of 'hit or miss', tulad ni Cameron Crowe...

jowch: Ok lang. My sup always views my blog at work too. Palagi nga siyang naghahanap ng updates...heheh.

6:17 AM

 
Blogger drei said...

JL is known for overly dramatic scenes. kaya maraming nanalo ng acting awards because of him. hehe.

hmm... di pa naman pumalpak si cameron crowe sakin... though i never got to see the point in jery maguire (was it just a love story??). but then, bata pako when i watched it. :)

12:48 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

amen!

4:24 PM

 
Blogger the rocketboy said...

Ditto about JL.

People were baffled by Vanilla Sky (although I have to admit it was a n 'okay' remake). The last really good movie he's done is Almost Famous. I wonder if 'Elizabethtown' will be any good. Mala-'Garden State' daw eh.

6:15 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

although...
people make it seem like indie pinoy movies will save the day.
probably.
sana.
kaya lang, i've been to several indie filmfests and some of the movies they come up with are also crap.
for instance, yung anak ni brocka. maganda yung premise but crappy execution.

8:00 AM

 
Blogger the rocketboy said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

6:20 AM

 
Blogger the rocketboy said...

Egg: I agree. Although I never said that ALL indie movies will save the day. Like yourself, I have seen a good number of Filipino indie films, some of which are utter crap. Just because it is indie doen't mean it's good. Same thing with commercial Philippine cinema, not all of them are crap. I'm talking about the current trend of cinematic quality, spending in the movies and attitudes in viewing. The downward spiral that is the local Movie scene is very evident. At this point, we'll go for anything... Thanks for your comment. It is well appreciated.

6:30 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree that some of our film are really not that good. Though , you might want to cut back on the criticism. Also , Indi movie sucks....It doesn't matter where the film came from , what matters is the work itself. You can also try being supportive.This is one of the reasons why our country never improves. Thank you!

7:03 PM

 

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