One last look at the Metro Filmfest entries

(Conclusion)

The 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) ended a few days ago without any scandal, recall of awards (which happened in 1977 — although no one actually returned anything) or any major complaint about the list of winners in the Gabi ng Parangal held at the Sofitel Hotel last Dec. 27 (even if it just proved to be a front act to a scaled-down Katy! The Concert).

The entries were also of festival quality and so the judges didn’t even think about withholding the First and Second Best Picture trophies — just like in 1986 (I agreed with them on that). The festival committee can claim at this point that the last MMFF was successful.

Last Thursday, I started making a personal assessment of each entry and gave one last look at Baler, Dayo sa Mundo ng Elementalia and Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat. Below, allow me to wrap up the list.

Magkaibigan — It is my favorite among the festival entries. Never mind if it tackles the issue of dying. Morbid as it may sound, we’re all going to deal with that anyway. We might as well learn how to cope with it — and Magkaibigan gives us a realistic picture of the situation without necessarily driving us into deep depression.

Magkaibigan may have only earned one award in the Metro Filmfest awards night (the Best Actor trophy for Christopher de Leon), but expect it to be in the running in the other awards races this summer. It will definitely be nominated for Best Picture, Screenplay and Direction and expect De Leon again and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Dawn Zulueta and Maricel Laxa to be competing in the acting categories.

Desperadas 2 — It may be lacking in laughs, but viewers don’t get bored with this one — thanks to the beautiful women you see on screen (they are the loveliest — and I don’t mean Ogie Alcasid in drag).

Among the divine-looking leading ladies, it is Ruffa Gutierrez who comes out best. With her doing the daily grind on I Love Betty La Fea, she has already honed her comedic timing and is now ripe for comedy. She’ll surely be the most glamorous female comic to ever grace the local screen.

Iskul Bukol 20 Years After — The perfect family affair because kids of today can relish the a la Indiana Jones adventure of Victorio Ungasis (Vic Sotto), while their parents take a nostalgic walk down memory lane as they catch up with the rest of the Iskul Bukol characters of more than two decades ago: the Escalera brothers (Tito Sotto and Joey de Leon), Miss Tapia (Mely Tagasa), Bibeth Kalumbibet (Bibeth Orteza), Tonette Macho (Anthony Roquel), etc.

The special effects of the comedy/adventure are the most impressive and it could have won Best Production Design for its mock-up set that resembles caves and ancient shrines. Iskul Bukol won Third Best Picture after the festival committee combined its merits as a film with commercial viability.

In the past, Okay Ka, Fairy Ko had been produced successfully as a Metro Filmfest entry, followed by the Enteng Kabisote series (which still followed the Okay Ka, Fairy Ko storyline). And now there is Iskul Bukol. What next — Eat Bulaga the Movie? Not a bad idea if you ask me.

Shake, Rattle & Roll X — It’s not the best of the Shake series. But it’s not the worst either. Actually it’s one of the better ones. My favorite in the most recent edition is the Nieves episode which is inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, except that it is set in Philippine rural setting where we see a panoply of characters in local folklore: The aswang, manananggal, encantos, etc.

Marian Rivera as Nieves, the encanto slayer, and her sidekick, Robert Villar, deliver energetic performances that add up to the excitement of the episode.

With the commercial success of Shake, Rattle & Roll X (it’s No. 3 among the top grossers), Shake, Rattle & Roll XI is surely in the drawing board by now.

One Night Only — The most entertaining filmfest entry — for me, I had high hopes for this film. After all, it boasts of a tightly-woven complicated script, inspired direction and exciting performances, courtesy of all the cast members.

But why did it flop at the box-office? Maybe because it’s not for kids and it is the children who rule during the holiday season. And neither did it appeal to adults because for all the implied sex in the film, there’s actually no nudity.

But I refuse to believe that the negative publicity that hounded Katrina Halili (being the third party in the Drs. Vicki Belo-Hayden Kho breakup) during the holiday season actually affected the box-office performance of the movie.

However, there’s no denying that One Night Only — after its dismal showing at the tills — was immediately pulled out of movie theaters after a few days only.