It is a yearly tradition for me to watch all the entries of the Metro Manila Film Festival. Call it willful torture, if you will, because the MMFF, traditionally, is full of horrible movies made for commercial purposes. (Read my MMFF 2015 review here.)
This was why I was very happy when it was announced that the line-up for this year's MMFF will only include quality films. The usual producers of the cash-grab movies complained, it was fun to watch their bitter, bitter tears.
Anyway, I'm done with all eight entries for this year. I watched all of them in four days, and I could say that I'm satisfied with what I've seen. Here's my ranking:
At the very top of my ranking is Jun Lana's Die Beautiful. It fits well in MMFF because it's a huge crowd-pleaser, but it is also artistic. Strong performances from Paolo Ballesteros and Christian Bables anchor the film anchor the movie from its light to its tragic moments. 5/5
Next is Saving Sally. Outstanding in scope and vision but meets all of it and more. It's a visual feast. Animated scenes are an eye-candy. Non-animated ones have remarkable production design. Lots of things happening in the background too and I wanna see the film again just to watch just that. 5/5
Sunday Beauty Queen is third. The first documentaty in MMFF history is surprisingly good. Drama is organic and not forced. The message is not presented heavy-handedly and never preachy. My only gripe is that the pageants are more of a framing device, so there are unanswered questions about it. 4.5/5
Vince & Kath & James takes a while to get rolling but once you settle in it becomes enjoyable and fun. Strong acting performances from Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto. Ronnie Alonte lacked energy (but oozes charm) while Maris Racal had too much she annoyed me. Production design is top-notch. 4/5
Seklusyon is a good psychological horror that unfortunately loses coherence in the second half of the film. It may be a contender for best cinematography and best actress for the demon kid, Rhed Bustamante. 3.5/5
Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2 was a letdown for me because I expected a lot. Sadly, most of the good jokes were in the trailer and the plotting is also too busy--shifting from the scenes at the spa, to the fictional film, to the director's marital problem. The parallelism between the movie and the crumbling of the marriage is a stretch. 3/5
Oro had a good theme but ending was eh. Two problematic scenes near the end: Irma Adlawan recorded a video but the shot was like she was preaching directly to the audience, who has her sympathy anyway. Mercedes's breakdown scene beside the coffin was too melodramatic. Then what happened to Leticia? But what I can't accept is that it seems like they killed, burned and gutted a dog on cam. Killing an animal for a movie is unethical. 2.5/5
Finally, the only film that I truly detested in this year's line-up: Kabisera. The movie squanders the talent of its cast on a weak script and bad direction. Dialogue is clunky and cringe-worthy. People do not talk like that in real life. I only liked the unintentionally funny Leila de Lima copycat. 0.5/5
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All in all, I think MMFF 2016 is a success, from an artistic standpoint. I hope next year brings more of the same quality films to the theaters. No more commercialized fare please.
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