Lilo & Stitch & Halina Perez with hardly a stitch on

Lilo & Stitch is about an orphaned little girl name Lilo being raised by her 19-year-old sister Nani (superbly voiced by Tia Carrere) on the island state of Hawaii. Raising the difficult child that is Lilo and making sure that the girl isn’t taken away by the state is actually already tough for Nani. Making matters worse is the arrival into the household of Stitch, a horribly ugly creature who is the result of a bungled experiment by a mad scientist from outer space, Stitch is destructive and anything he touches turns into a mess. But Lilo insists on keeping the creature and–together–they create havoc on just about anything around them.

Lilo and Stitch must be the two most incorrigible characters ever created by the Disney company. Although they are the protagonists in the story, the viewer is just tempted to squash them out of the frame because they are such troublemakers. Any adult viewer watching this film should be a child psychologist to be able to empathize with this destructive duo.

Disney, of course, doesn’t put these two characters just to annoy the audience. They’re there to make us better understand problematic kids (mostly from dysfunctional families) having a tough time dealing with this world and the rules and standards set by this society. But in the case of Stitch, even a person as patient as Mother Teresa would probably resort to murder just to get rid of this diabolical character. Believe me, I’d rather tame the convicts on death row than deal with something as impossible as Stitch.

As an animated feature, Lilo & Stitch boasts of impressive visuals and vibrant colors that are appealing well, mostly to adult viewers. Actually, I’d like to think that Lilo & Stitch is an adult cartoon–what with its rather "mature" theme. Local kids may have a difficult time comprehending the presence of the social worker in the film because having the state look after the welfare of youngsters–sadly is not really part of our system in this country.

Although Lilo & Stitch is enjoyable in great parts, I have to say that I’ve seen more entertaining Disney features in the past. And despite the fact that Lilo and Stitch turn out to be lovable after all in the end (what did you expect-this Disney, remember?), give me Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse anytime.

Not just another sex film

Biglang Liko is the usual tale about country folks trying their luck in Manila, only to end up disillusioned with city life.

In the story, Gerald Madrid does a Julio Madiaga in search of his Ligaya Paraiso (the characters in the Lino Brocka classic Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag). Other characters aside from Madrid are Harold Pineda, a male prostitute fancied by a gay cop (Simon Ibarra) who makes a sex slave out of him and Halina Perez, who is the kept lover of a lesbian newcomer (Stella L).

Biglang Liko is several notches above most other sex films in terms of quality. The technical aspects of this movie are above average. The cinematography by Romy Vitug realistically captures the ugliness of the city and the music of Sunny Ilacad effectively heightens the mood of every scene, but without necessarily being obtrusive.

Unfortunately, the script is a mess in some parts and there are directorial lapses everywhere in the film. The director Joven Tan, however, should still be commended for his efforts to make this film rise above the usual run-of-the-mill sex movies. For instance, there is this old woman character (played by Anita Linda) who pimps her pre-teen grandaughter. The grandmother and child keep popping in and out of the movie and the viewer does not even know why they are there in the first place. In the end, however, the audience eventually appreciates this device used by the director in showing the characters played by Anita and her grandchild. Too bad, I can’t tell you why and how the director does it because this will spoil everything for those who have yet to see the film. But I assure you that it is quite heart-rending to some extent.

Biglang Liko actually stands out because of the performances of the cast members–particularly Harold Pineda, who gave the most difficult (but certainly the most challenging) role in the movie. But to his credit, he does very will in his every scene.

Nina Lopez, who is being introduced in the movie, also comes out like a seasoned performer. Even Halina Perez comes alive here–surprisingly. In her past films, you see, Halina churned out one lifeless performance after another–to the point that she already started to establish a niche for herself as the chief proponent of the Halina Perez School of Driftwood Acting. But in Biglang Liko, she was obviously motivated properly by her director and–mercifully–manages to come up with a reasonably good enough performance.

The biggest surprise in this film is actually Stella L. who puts a lot of life and color into her role as a broadcaster with a dark private life. Given better and more important parts (hopefully) in the future she can be an asset to the film industry.

Disappointing is the performance of Gerald Madrid, whom I once hailed as an acting find, based on his sterling performance in Sana Pag-ibig Na. In a way, I can’t blame Madrid because his character isn’t well developed here in Biglang Liko (aside from the fact that he is bored stiff with this kind of role–having played it many times in the past).

Having done the lead but unimpressive role in Biglang Liko was probably a wrong turn in his career.