Moron 5: Comedy with a twist

We can’t think of a better comedic pairing on today’s boob tube than that of Luis Manzano and Billy Crawford. They provide a breath of fresh air as co-hosts of Pilipinas Got Talent with impromptu dance moves, and healthy servings of corniness and ham. They call each other Billy Boy and Lolo Boy, proof of ease with one another and the camera. In Sarah G Live!, the two were the most spirited co-hosts yet, to have enlivened the show still undergoing birth pains.  

When Viva Films announced Billy and Luis were in the cast of something incredibly called Moron 5 & The Crying Lady, we clapped our hands with glee. Working together since 2005 in ASAP, the two were part of Kanto Boys, co-hosts in Panahon Ko ‘To! Ang Game Show ng Buhay Ko and Pilipinas Got Talent, which made them shine at the 25th PMPC Star Awards for TV.

Moron 5 tells of five childhood pals (including Martin Escudero, DJ Durano and Marvin Agustin) whose strong points are their friendships and less their IQs. In comes John “Sweet” Lapus, the wealthy contrabida, dead set on framing up the entire barkada for the murder of her father. And she succeeds since being dim-witted makes up the plot of the film. Rather than seek out a lawyer, the Moronics go about the law in their own way: Dress up in drag to escape, paint themselves white to blend in with surroundings, the more complicated and inane, the better and the funnier.

What is it about mentally-challenged males that audiences in Hollywood find so appealing? Adventure had Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as empty-headed teens who needed to pass history, used a time machine to bring Socrates and Einstein from the past for cameos in their history presentation. Far-fetched? Perhaps, but the movie still enjoys a cult following. In 1995, Hollywood released Tommy Boy, about immature, stupid and adorably obese Chris Farley who is ill-prepared to take over the family factory when his dad suddenly dies. David Spade helps Chris prevent the factory from closing, saving hundreds of people whose jobs depend on it, before conniving relatives are able to usurp Chris’ inheritance. Dumb & Dumber, 1994, thrived on low-brow humor and slapstick (shades of Dolphy and Panchito, Pugo and Togo), banking on two high-grossing names: Jeff Daniels and Jim Carey. It raked in close to $250M worldwide — topping the season as the highest-grossing film.

We watch Moron 5 and wonder why it is apparently succeeding in the low post-Holy Week season. What does the flick have that others don’t? One blogger suggests, “when was the last time we had such a sexy bunch of comedians together?” And let’s not discount Sweet’s contribution. An alumnus of UST’s legitimate theater group, Sweet is no dumb actor. He has tucked in close to 40 movies, 30 TV appearances and several awards. His performance close to the movie’s end is worthy of an award.

And best of all, there’s director Wenn Deramas whose monumental box-office success is Praybeyt Benjamin with Vice Ganda, as the highest-rating Filipino film of all time. Wenn has stated that he would like to experiment on a non-stop gag-after-gag concept for Moron 5. We ask ourselves if slapstick and corniness would still work in today’s animé-bred generation? Judging from the first day crowd at Megamall, it appears to still be working. Never mind if the jokes are private ones only Pinoys will understand; never mind if we cringe at what to us are extreme kakornihan. The discovery that Billy Boy and Martin make beautiful cross-dressers makes up for everything.

Hunger Games starring Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth features real-live people in a competition to the death

The last word on Hunger Games

We simply have to sneak in our feelings on Hunger Games as the ultimate in feeding man’s addiction to savagery and brutality. Reviews spoke of how successful it was in translating the book to the screen, the discovery of a new leading lady in the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence, an answer to Twilight and Harry Potter’s domination of the box office. But the latter two were fantasies that used magic, werewolves and vampires. Hunger Games featured real-live people in a competition to the death. Much as the gallery applauded heartily for their candidates, it doesn’t change the basic premise of violence. 

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