Popcorn Manila

I was able to secure an original DVD of Sarah Polley's "Away From Her." I thought to myself, oh no, not another senile woman!



But I was gratified to see the small film with a big heart. For once, it wasn't for hysterics nor dramatic grandeur, but rather an insightful look into geriatric depreciation and long-term marriage.

So Julie Christie tops them all.

Judi Dench shined too in "Iris," as a writer stricken with the same disease.



Gena Rowlands sadly, in a more saccharine material, suffers from it too, in "The Notebook."

And our very own Gloria Romero received raves locally for her senility in Laurice Guillen's "Tanging Yaman."



What made Christie's performance riveting was the one who bore the brunt as well, her husband, as portrayed by Gordon Pishent.

Unforgettable tandem indeed. The grace of Madame Christie shows us what lacks now in our celebrities, decency and a sense of regal air, borne out of being a true lady. And Pishent matches that with subliminal complexity.

After "Away from Her", I doubt if there's another Alzheimer's movie as unforgettable as this one. It's now on DVD, so make sure you get a copy.

If I age more, and get stricken will Alzheimer's, I hope the first memory to go me watching "The Notebook." It's too chick-flicky for me.

Now that Star Cinema reigns supreme in moviedom, unfortunately, it reminds me of the years Viva Films lorded them all. It follows the glossy cinematography, and resplendent settings. It also takes on the love story genre in highly melodramatic fashion.



Glory doesn't necessarily mean outstanding. But give it to Viva for providing magic out of love tandems, comics serials and songs as titles.



It catapulted Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon to box-office heights. Those sweeping love tales ranging from "Paano Ba ang Mangarap, "Minsan Pa Nating Hagkan ang Ating Nakaraan?", they fell in love against all odds. They lighted the screen with their chemistry. And, they aren't offscreen lovers. These were the days when a Vilma-Boyet movie was an event to watch out for.

Of course, Viva was built on Sharon Cuneta. Teaming up with Gabby Concepcion, they took the country by storm. The snobbish upper class viewers were also caught watching Filipino films, then a taboo for their kind.





Both Vilma and Sharon carried Viva's mighty gloss to become the 80's prime movie studio. And they were paired off with other men. Vilma with Richard Gomez, Dindo Fernando, Aga Muhlach, Gabby Concepcion and others. Sharon with FPJ, Robin Padilla, Richard Gomez, Rowell Santiago, Tonton Gutierrez and Christopher de Leon.

Viva milked these glossy drama trend so well. And along the way, they produced the biggest teen craze of them all that defines the times, "Bagets."





Sadly, Star Cinema now is just a convenient extension for their multimedia monopoly. Viva was about films.

Now it's distant history.

More from my memory bank, again, I can only name performances I like from the movies I've seen.

LORNA TOLENTINO in Laurice Guillen's "Moral"



As Joey, the drug-addict in a movie about four women, Lorna Tolentino sinks into the character and makes it her second skin. She yearns for the wrong guy, an activist. She struggles with her Mom, a liberal woman. She puts down her pride and doesn't care if she comes off too aggressive. She finds out the guy is married. The wife comes to her for protection since they are threatened by the military. From obssession to her baptism into societal and ideological issues, Lorna shines and makes the character believable and true.

BEMBOL ROCO in Lino Brocka's "Maynila Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag"



A country boy, provinciano yearns for his childhood flame Ligaya, who has settled in Manila. He looks for her and what he discovers is the decadence of a big city, specifically Chinatown. Worse, his girlfriend has become captive inside a Chinaman's house as a mistress. Too much to handle for a country boy, he sinks deeper until that harrowing finale where's he's caught in a corner, with nowhere to go, except his imminent death.

HILDA KORONEL in Mark Meily's "Crying Ladies"



The Brocka alumna has graced cinema with the finest dramatic performances, but it is a rewarding discovery for us when she turns comedic in "Crying Ladies." As Rhodora Rivera, a bit actress in a long-forgotten movie, she claims she's famous and prides herself in her 15 seconds of fame, where she screams and is trampled by a giant. Hilda Koronel steals the show. A stage mother, who tries to fulfill her acting dreams through her kid, and when she gets recognized, finally, by an old lady, her face shines and feels validated. Up to the last moment where she proudly shows her neighbors that "scene" when the movie was shown on television, Koronel has done us proud, this time, giving us laughs instead of her Brocka tears.

DOLPHY in Lino Brocka's "Ang Tatay Kong Nanay"



This time, the King of Comedy dabbles into drama and gives his best performance as a drag queen who has to behave like a man after becoming an adoptive father to a son sired by his former lover. Dolphy rollercoasters from the joys of fatherhood, to the yearnings for love and his quest for queer glory and beauty and moves us to tears when he realized the kid he has grown to love has to be returned to his mother who can give the boy a more comfortable life.

CELIA RODRIGUEZ in Maryo J. De Los Reyes' "Magnifico"



No role is too small for a fine actress. Celia plays the snooty spinster of a town, believed to be a witch. She's a female Scrooge who scares away kids playing in her funeral territory. And yet, she amazes us with a display of humanness, and turns out to be a loving woman with deep compassion and appreciation for acts of kindness rarely coming her way.

MONA LISA in Lino Brocka's "Insiang"



This is her defining film. She swings from a flirty old woman to a wicked mother and wows us with a aging grace and self-dignity in spite of her appalling behavior and a miserable milieu. She smells filth as she plays naughty with her lover. She oozes with cruelty as she chooses love over truth at the expense of her raped daughter. And she screams like a wounded lion when she discovers her daughter and lover's dangerous liaison until she kills her boyfriend. Then she turns stone cold dead when Insiang seeks remorse and forgiveness in the end.

CHERIE GIL in Peque Gallaga's "Oro, Plata, Mata"



Noted in spite of the more hyped performances of her other co-stars in this landmark film, it's Cherie Gil's underrated performance as a girl awakening to her desires in a least unlikely time of war which actually becomes a landmark performance in the movie. She plays like a child and witnesses sex with awe and curiosity. Her curiosity further leads her into a tryst with a wounded soldier. And when chaos and violence ensue within her damned wealthy family, she becomes stronger and less decadent, a silent observer stance as if learning the ways of life, and not overtly, transforms into an adult after the 3-hour trip downhill of her otherwise distinguished family. She rises to declare without words that her family deserves their fate, every tragedy it faced, every drop of blood shed, and every moment the glitter of gold became as low and dirty as mud.

RIO LOCSIN in Butch Perez's "Haplos"



How can a ghost act? Rio shows us how. As a victim of the Japanese when they pillaged our land and women, she resurrects when present-day couple discovers her old house. She falls in love again, and she also remembers the horrors of war. She doesn't scare us as a ghost, but she relates effectively her old tale, and she shows us she's a woman made of flesh and blood, and permeates us not as a paranormal occurrence, but another sad love icon in a sad chapter of our nation's history.

I've never seen movies from the 50's and 60's, so I can only remember from what I've seen in local cinema from the 70's onwards.
I cannot rank them since I feel they're all worthy performances, anyway.

NIDA BLANCA in Jeffrey Jaturian's "Sana Pag-Ibig Na"



From the usual wife you won't notice, she's just being there, dutifully being a good mother and a wife until after her husband's death, she breaks out into a monstrous rage upon discovering the philandering ways of her spouse. Worse, her only son has befriended the mistress. You can only imagine the kind of acting it requires for a small film whose core is Miss Nida Blanca at her best.

VIC SILAYAN in Mike de Leon's "Kisapmata"



Traditional father who controls the house like a militaristic Chief-Of-Staff, Vic Silayan's haunting presence fills the movie with fear. His deep bass voice booms in a small house who's silence becomes its tragic downfall. Nothing can ever match Mr. Silayan's oppressive stance in an incestuous family drama which up to now remains chilling in my mind.

JAY ILAGAN in Marilou Diaz Abaya's "BRUTAL"



A drug addict and a wealthy wayward son, Jay Ilagan remains the scariest and uncontrived rapist of them all. His innocent boyish chubbiness is replaced by an addict who knows no mores and becomes perverted in a claustrophobic apartment where Amy Austria remains helplessly caged.

GINA PARENO in Jeffrey Jaturian's "Kubrador"



Blending into the urban slum maze, the aging Miss Pareno drops the dramatic excesses of the 70's and walks through the myriad of streets collecting bets for a living in effortless fashion. She breathes and coughs like a woman trapped in poverty and pollution. She charms and wins over the neighbors with her down-to-earth friendliness and salesmanship. And she pines, and goes into deep thoughts about her son's loss and her measly existence.

MARICEL SORIANO in Carlitos Siguion-Reyna's "Inagaw Mo Ang Lahat Sa Akin"



Dumb and feeling ugly, Maricel Soriano yearns for attention and affection from her father who seems to have the other daughter, Snooky, as his favorite. Later, this sibling rivalry turns out to be an explosive family secret so sickening, Miss Soriano pulls it off in pathetic anger and pain, crucial to shock the audiences on the real reason why this is no ordinary envy, and that moment we learn what truth is, Maricel Soriano plays it perfectly in riveting display of acting prowess.

PIOLO PASCUAL in Mel Chionglo's "Lagarista"



Like an innocent boy caught in the underbelly of Manila, Piolo Pascual affectionately alternates naivete and lovestruck feelings as the biker who delivers movie reels in between screenings. Rising above his good looks, he breezes through the film like a bright spot in the midst of ethos, and manages to make us hope he is not devoured by the realities of a stench-filled city. When all hell breaks loose, Mr. Pascual becomes wounded, fragile, and oppressed by the cruelty of the world he lives in. It's a far cry from the movies he delivers and sees with the eyes expressing wonder of celluloid fantasy.

CHARITO SOLIS in Marilou Diaz Abaya's "Karnal"



To be a movie's point of view and narrator, while at the same time be a part of its scenes without being the center of its action, Charito Solis proves a role like that can disappear within an intense story if handled by a lesser-skilled actress. As she delivers the movie story's punch, she pauses in fear, when the violent murder happens. Then she pulls off the rug, saying she's Dora. The mystery is revealed. She, as a narrator identifies who she is in this cursed family. It's one of Philippine Cinema's most classic moments.

GLORIA ROMERO in Mario O'Hara's "Condemned"



Nasty, bitchy and merciless madam of the underworld, Ms. Gloria Romero sheds off her glittering star status to portray a loathing character who combines perversion and crime in one persona. It's one of local filmdom's shocking turnaround for a much revered icon of our cinema-going times.

VILMA SANTOS in Mike de Leon's "SISTER STELLA L"



No it's not "Relasyon," where Vilma swept all acting awards where she was at her most chalenging best. It's her transformation from a goody-two-shoes, idealistic nun into a fiery, vigilant activist in "Sister Stella L" where she proves she's just no second best to Nora Aunor.

Even her mannerisms as a sheltered nun, and her hesitation to pick up a placard in the middle of a picket line remains to be her shining silent moment, born out of suggestive gestures rather than kilometric monologues. When she rebuts a statement made by the factory owner to the press, you can just imagine how far she's evolved from her obedient, apathetic nun scenes.

NORA AUNOR in Ishmael Bernal's "Himala"



There's an unforgettable scene where the much-talked about Nora Aunor eyes display its finest best. It's a reward for a writer who cannot express with words in his script what a character is going through. This is when her blind followers dress her up for another healing session, right after she was raped in the miraculous hill. The eyes were able to tell pain, shock and loss of faith in her mission, all in one swoop!

Of course, her fantastic monologue at the end before she was shot remains to be Nora's quintessential moment.

INA FELEO in Jade Castro's "Endo"



The newest in this list, it's our answer to discovering Ellen Page in "Juno." If it wasn't Ina Feleo and a Star Cinema teen idol took on this contractual worker's role, then the whole film could have crumbled into another bubblegum offering. Her beauty is unpretentious. Ms. Feleo flirts without being cheap, romances without being a whore, and delivers love dialogues without being cheesy. Even in the film's iccky moment where the guy kneels in front of her to plead, she quickly saves the scene from becoming another teen flick out to churn out giggles from the audience.

SHARON CUNETA in Emmanuel Borlaza's episode in "Tatlong Mukha ng Pag-Ibig"



The film is a trilogy, all starring Sharon in its three stories, yet, it's where she plays the battered wife of Christopher de Leon that Miss Cuneta shows she's got thespian skills in her waiting to be unleashed. Trapped by her wholesome megastardom, here she is bruised, physically abused, mentally tortured, and foolishly hangs on to a marriage gone violent.

Aside from the physically demanding scenes, it's when Sharon forgives her man, and stays on and pats him like a kid, where she assaults our senses, conveying blind martyrdom, if not, she has relished and imbibed and looks forward to more abuses coming her way. Bravura performance.

CHRISTOPHER DE LEON in Lino Brocka's "Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang"



Undisciplined, pure rawness and youth, it's where Christopher started when he was at its best. This was way before he acted more consciously in a moment, reminiscent of Al Pacino's latter days, way before he knew he was an actor's actor. Here he plays an urbanite well aware he'll be a welcome addition to a rustic, boring town. Yet, he unravels the town's allegorically doomed lovers, the leper victim and his mentally-challenged fellow misfit, and De Leon managed to carve a performance outside the more obviously made-for-acting tandem of Lolita Rodriguez and Mario O'Hara.

It is almost equalled yet not surpassed by Aga Muhlach's venture into real acting in another Lino Brocka drama, "Miguelito." De Leon managed to keep this freshness, unstudied acting too, in Eddie Romero's "Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?". Still, first good acting never dies. This is still multi-awarded De Leon's finest acting piece to date.

ZSA ZSA PADILLA in Joey Javier Reyes' "Batang PX"



A good-for-nothing mother who just wants to live her life in spite of the responsibility of rearing her now-grown-up son, Zsa Zsa Padilla was a surprising revelation in this anti-heroine role. She drinks, she curses, she makes decadent decisions and gets into unfulfilling relationships. Yet she doesn't become as villainous as "Mommie Dearest," and in spite of her unlikeable character, she makes us empathetic to her misunderstood character. And yes, unlike all singers venturing into a movie, she doesn't portray a singer' role here, thank heavens for that!

There must be more performances in my mind, but too bad, there's not much time for me to think about it, nor is there much bearable space and length for you to read on. To the finest from our Filipino actors and actresses, bravo!

I had to drag myself all the way to Robinson's Galleria to check out what Philippine independent cinema has to offer. Two indie films were showing simultaneously so watched them one after the other.

A sticker saying one of New Society's propaganda slogans "Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa" pasted on those big-sized curvy-edged cars pass me by. Running with bandage on his head, like a wounded militant, a man chases that retro car. In it is the girl of his life who's carrying his child. She is held captive by the fascist father, dead set on keeping away his daughter from his nephew. Yes, the ill-fated lovers are cousins.

It's Christopher de Leon and Vilma Santos folks, sans the benefits of face-chiselling now. When Belo then was Dr. Mathay of Makati who reigned supreme in cosmetic surgery. It's seeing Christopher with his not-so-refined nose, and Vilma, with her cheeky cheeks and not so deep-set eyes then.

As this highly intense chase occurs, a doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo music accompanies the drama. That doo-doo-doo so arabesque, European feeling. It also made me seek out for the Ray Conniff back-up vocals of "I Love How You Love Me" days. Or perhaps when Brazil '66 was then part of Sergio Mendes' vinyl record hits. Then it transforms into a Madrigal Singers route, a sort of a kundiman in unison.

"Tag-Ulan Sa Tag-Araw", now on DVD, directed by Celso Ad Castillo not only reminds me of how films were scored, shot, edited, acted and made in the 70's... it also resurrects the objects and places I see, and the sounds I hear during my childhood years.

Like an Alain Delon Italian film from the same decade, a lot of shots are focused on the eyes of the actors. They go close, zoom out, then close in again on the eyes' expression, while a Peter Nero or Mantovani or Ferrante and Teicher type of piano instrumentation plays. The reaction shots linger, and linger, oftentimes without a dialogue.

A shot of Vilma on the balcony, with Christopher climbing the ornately designed cemented columns which was a hit in house design of Magallanes and San Lorenzo Old Makati days, is shot from the heads of those on the ground. Those heads belonged to Vilma's parents in the movie, who can't wait to beat Christopher down and mangle him to pieces for the sin of impregnating their daughter.



Lovers who are first cousins are doomed to fail. They are not allowed in the courts of law nor the church divine.

Their summer of beach strolling, as Guy's Bell-Bottomed Pants and Girl's Mou-Mou dress sweep away the sand and their level of wetness on their hemlines tell you if it's high tide's waves crashing on the shore.

In a dinner scene, before the explosive revelation that Santos and De Leon's zygote has formed within her womb, more memories fill my head. Their dining set brings back to life the Buendia Street type of furniture, where DOMUS showrooms prevailed. Now, I think what's left of that street going Taft Avenue are Nida's type of lamps. I am not quite sure.

The intersection of Ayala by the way, and Buendia, captured in one pivotal confrontation scene between the lovers, show sparse presence, if not, no building in sight. It's that view where we're supposed to see the Makati Post Office and Fire Station now, with The Columns by Ayala buildings now fully-erected across it.

Then, a shot of our couple, without words, grasp each other's hands a lot, first as a feeler if they are romantically sparked, then as affirmation that they'll face the music against all odds.

Then we go back to the close-up of faces recurring in focus-defocus fashion, alternately for the two leads.



Oh, I was even able to identify a very 70's actor, Joseph Sytangco, and a sex siren so 70's named Nympha Bonifacio as I watched the movie. Alma Moreno, in fact, was just in a cameo role. If you remember them, too, welcome to my age range! Ironic, though, she becomes a Regal sex siren eventually, in the remake of "Nympha," originally, also a Celso Ad Castillo ouvre.

The 70's Reborn, in all its tacky splendor. Thanks to this film. It reminded me too, tasteless that decade must have been, how good my childhood feelings were.

I felt comforted by the film. Though exaggerated drama was the norm of Tagalog films then, "Tag-Ulan Sa Tag-Araw" is a return to my childhood joys.

I was so young to remember this decade, but not too young to relate to the 70's feeling again. Tragic the film may be, I felt so good.

There's warmth sustained in my heart and mind when the past, for almost two hours of watching, momentarily, became part of the present, right in my own bedroom, way into Monday's dawn, hours before I get back to work.

Sean Penn does "Into the Wild." Ben Affleck makes "Gone, Baby, Gone." Both get some critics' raves. Now available in original DVD's, I got to watch them both.

They both do well in making their actors act. Surprising for Ben Affleck who's not much known to be a great actor. Maybe, his acting know-how shines when he instructs his cast rather than doing it himself.



Sean Penn gives us that "kneeling while screaming in anguish scene, top view." This is the moment where William Hurt feels hurt towards the last few scenes of the movie. It made me remember Sean Penn's top-view moment in the film, "Mystic River," when he realizes his missing kid is dead.

In terms or real directing, other than making actors act, I strongly attest to the fact that Sean Penn has more filmic mastery, and gift.

Ben's "Gone, Baby, Gone" wasn't bad either. But the scope of panorama required in "Into the Wild" gives Sean Penn room enough to show his directorial skills.



As for Ben, his maiden voyage into directing is more than passable.

It should give him a hint. Stay behind the camera, rather than in front of it.

Luckily, I have seen all 2007's Oscar Best Picture nominees. Proudly, I should say, I saw all of them from legal, non-pirated sources.

"Juno," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Atonement" and "Michael Clayton."

Allow me to rank them accordingly, in my opinion, from great to greatest. I am sure most of you will disagree with my rankings.

5. "Atonement"

Sweeping cinematography, sweeping ill-fated love story. But somehow I got the feeling, do these types of motion pictures still merit the highest honors in a year of good film harvest?



It feels like "Reds" of the 80's, or at its worst, chick-flicky "Pearl Harbor."

Shot after shot, it screams, "I want an Oscar!"

Among all five nominees, this one was playing to the usual Oscar-friendly picks. It had the elements called love and war, a taste of epic once again. But sadly, outdated compared to the fresher independent produce churned out in numbers in our recent New Millenium era.

4. "Juno"

Fresher than "Atonement," but not the kind that defines great cinema. It's the audience-pleaser which, fortunately, didn't make a moron out of its viewers. In fact, among all five nominees, since this is the least cinematic of them all, you can watch it on the small tube that comes with your Singapore Airlines economy seat. It's script-driven, a good script.



Without it, watching the other nominees will make you depressed. This small film that made it big, gave us air to breathe, rather than the rest of the suffocating, thought-provoking "heavies."

3. "Michael Clayton"

It's this year's "The Insider." That corporate cover-up movie which landed on yesteryear's Oscar Magic Five. More notches above than "Juno" and "Atonement," definitely. But if it's up against a more intense line-up of the grand two pictures left on this list, then, this film's good performance, artistically, gets drowned out.



In a better year, without "No Country" and "There Will Be Blood," it will win Best Picture. Right film, wrong timing.

2. "No Country for Old Men"

It was hard for me to pick my own Best Picture. Both remaining films, to my mind, were great. Just for sheer Coen signature stamp, "No Country for Old Men" is like the finer version of their past works. And they just got better and better.



This is too good to pass up merely as 2nd best. But by the body of work the Coens have produced, I would rather go for the more flawed, but at least different, than the rest of Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography. Sorry Coen Brothers, "No Country" is too familiar a territory for you. It is your best work so far. But you're made for it, the way coffee was made for cigarettes.

1. "There Will Be Blood"

By sheer ambition alone, this film, albeit not perfect, is what true great cinema is all about.It wins with a much deeper theme than the rest of the other nominees, with intensity that's been gone for years in our moviegoing fare.



It brings back theatrical cinema to the fore. It debunks the simplistic movement ushered in by Independent Cinema. What a great way to treat us once more to grandeur without glitter. Mean to the core, dark like "No Country", but a Greek tragedy at its best.

Others have branded it as too self-conscious, the film, and Daniel Day Lewis himself. But it's one hell of good self-conscious narcissism, and it deserved that style.

By default, since I just had to pick one, I chose "Blood" over "No Country." If I had my way, they both deserve the top honors, really.