Wednesday, January 11, 2006
For the birds (a rant)
Now that the MMFF is over, I'd like to get this off my chest. I watched Mulawin over the Christmas break and let me tell you, it's...well, it's...let's just say it's baaad! Yeah, yeah. I know. My friends (including the three who share this blog) will no doubt be wondering why I even bothered to spend hard-earned pesos on a local flick. Well, it made a lot of sense at that time.
For one thing, movies in Davao (where I went on Christmas break) only cost P55! And that's in the good seats already. Secondly, my nephew wanted to see it, so he dragged his poor tita (that's moi) to watch it with him. And third, I'm an optimist, and hence, I was hopeful that the movie would turn out to be worth watching. I'm not a snob. I'll always give Pinoy movies a fair chance. But at instances like this, I always end up wondering if I should give up on local cinema for good.
The concept wasn't bad, really. Engkantadas, bird-men, lost stones of power, a power struggle, a love story...ideas that'll make a good movie--if done right. But Mulawin wasn't. First off, there was a lot of subplots that it was hard to untangle them to understand the basic story. Two, Richard Gutierrez can't act to save his life. His version of acting is opening his eyes really wide! Three, Angel Locsin, supposedly a sugo (savior, I suppose) as well as Richard Gutierrez's love interest, doesn't know how to move. She's supposed to be a warrior but she can't even manage a straight kick! And fighting with a sword? Good lord! I wanted to take the stuntpeople aside and give them a good scolding. Why didn't they give her more lessons to make her more believable? And four, they're supposed to be bird-people, right? So why was the big battle scene taking place on the ground? It doesn't make sense! Then it occured to me that they couldn't do an airborne battle scene because our special effects suck. So why make an effects-laden movie in the first place? Good question. Wish I had an answer.
I don't even know why it got an "A" or why Annabelle Rama was ranting about why her son Richard (who plays the lead, Aguiluz, one of the sugo of the Mulawin) didn't get the Best Actor nod in the festival. It's really simple, ma'am--he can't act! This movie really makes me fear for local cinema. I know we have great filmmakers but we're not making the movies we ought to be making. Oh well, I know my snob-friends-who-refuse-to-watch-Pinoy-cinema are wondering why I'm even wasting space on this. At this point, I don't even know myself. Perhaps I'm just sleep deprived. Or maybe it's an attempt to get something out of my P55! Or maybe, it beats writing about Ako Legal Wife: Mano Po 4? You want a review of that? Thought so.
For one thing, movies in Davao (where I went on Christmas break) only cost P55! And that's in the good seats already. Secondly, my nephew wanted to see it, so he dragged his poor tita (that's moi) to watch it with him. And third, I'm an optimist, and hence, I was hopeful that the movie would turn out to be worth watching. I'm not a snob. I'll always give Pinoy movies a fair chance. But at instances like this, I always end up wondering if I should give up on local cinema for good.
The concept wasn't bad, really. Engkantadas, bird-men, lost stones of power, a power struggle, a love story...ideas that'll make a good movie--if done right. But Mulawin wasn't. First off, there was a lot of subplots that it was hard to untangle them to understand the basic story. Two, Richard Gutierrez can't act to save his life. His version of acting is opening his eyes really wide! Three, Angel Locsin, supposedly a sugo (savior, I suppose) as well as Richard Gutierrez's love interest, doesn't know how to move. She's supposed to be a warrior but she can't even manage a straight kick! And fighting with a sword? Good lord! I wanted to take the stuntpeople aside and give them a good scolding. Why didn't they give her more lessons to make her more believable? And four, they're supposed to be bird-people, right? So why was the big battle scene taking place on the ground? It doesn't make sense! Then it occured to me that they couldn't do an airborne battle scene because our special effects suck. So why make an effects-laden movie in the first place? Good question. Wish I had an answer.
I don't even know why it got an "A" or why Annabelle Rama was ranting about why her son Richard (who plays the lead, Aguiluz, one of the sugo of the Mulawin) didn't get the Best Actor nod in the festival. It's really simple, ma'am--he can't act! This movie really makes me fear for local cinema. I know we have great filmmakers but we're not making the movies we ought to be making. Oh well, I know my snob-friends-who-refuse-to-watch-Pinoy-cinema are wondering why I'm even wasting space on this. At this point, I don't even know myself. Perhaps I'm just sleep deprived. Or maybe it's an attempt to get something out of my P55! Or maybe, it beats writing about Ako Legal Wife: Mano Po 4? You want a review of that? Thought so.
// posted by terrie @ 11:30 PM 
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ay hay hay terrie. if not for maku's insistence...why oh why did you waste your money on mulawin...like i said, i've sworn off tagalog movies. di ko talaga ma-take, i'm so sorry. i don't mean to be a snob when it comes to local productions, but dialogues pa lang, di ko na ma-take. i don't understand rin naman why watching tagalog movies brings out the major movie critic in me, considering i'm not a movie buff. as many observers have said, the industry is in dire straits. well, with the stuff they're coming out these days, i don't think there's something positive in the future. am i too cynical na about local movies?
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