CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FESTIVAL 2017 GUIDE

November 13-21: TriNoma, Gateway, Glorietta, Cinematheque Centre Manila & UP Cine Adarna

November 22-28: Power Plant Mall and Black Maria Cinema
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COMPETITION FILMS

Cinema One Originals 2017 will feature the following competition films: Haunted: A Last Visit to the Red House, Bundok Banahaw, Sacred and Profane, Si Chedeng at si Apple, Paki (Please • Care), Nervous Translation, Historiographika Errata, Changing Partners, Throwback Today & Nay

HAUNTED: A Last Visit to the Red House

"A documentary film about the Bahay na Pula in Bulacan and the stories of comfort women during the Japanese colonization."

Directed by Phyllis Grande

BUNDOK BANAHAW, SACRED AND PROFANE

"A documentary about Mt. Banahaw, its people, their culture and practices."

Directed by Dempster Samarista

SI CHEDENG AT SI APPLE
"A film about two friends who are both in their 60s. In the wake of her husband's death, Chedeng, 66, decides to come out of the closet. Her best friend Apple, 63, beheads her live-in partner in a fit of rage. Bound by friendship, the two elderly women, together with the severed head placed inside a Louis Vuitton bag, set off an adventure to find Chedeng's ex-girlfriend."

Directed by Fatrick Tabada and Rae Red
Starring Elizabeth Oropesa and Gloria Diaz
From the producers of That Thing Called Tadhana

PAKI (Please • Care)

"Alejandra, an 80-year-old woman, decides that she'd rather be an old maid. In her twilight years, she tries to face her children who forbid her to separate from her husband." - spot.ph

Written and directed by Giancarlo Abrahan
Starring Dexter Doria, Eula Valdes, Shamaine Buencamino, Ricky Davao, Ina Feleo, Paolo Paraiso, Cielo Aquino, Miguel Valdes and Noel Trinidad

NERVOUS TRANSLATION

"Eight-year old Yael, shy to a fault, lives in her own private world. Everything changes when she finds out a pen that can translate the thoughts and feelings of nervous people."

A film by Shireen Seno

Starring Jana Agoncillo

With a special participation of Sid Lucero

HISTORIOGRAPHIKA ERRATA
"We are all made to believe what the history books had told us. But what if there’s a different side to the history that is more revealing, liberating, and so downright crazy?

A mosaic of historical facts, fictions and in-betweens – human acts born out of a primeval instinct to survive under adverse conditions. Historiographika Errata paints an absurd yet brutally honest visage of a race plagued by misfortunes."

Directed by Richard Somes
Story and screenplay by Jim Flores
Starring Joem Bascon, Nathalie Hart, Max Eigenmann, Alex Medina, Rafa Siguion-Reyna and Jess Mendoza

CHANGING PARTNERS
“It's a falling-in-and-out-of-love story, in four couple pairings.”

Starring Agot Isidro, Jojit Lorenzo, Sandino Martin and Anna Luna
Directed by Dan Villegas
Based on a musical play of the same title by Vincent DeJesus

THROWBACK TODAY
"Primo is a gifted production designer who is unprepared for the harsh realities of the real world. While trying to make ends meet at the peak of his misfortunes, he experiences a technical glitch with his old desktop computer. When he gets the chance to chat with his college self, he is faced with the option to rewrite his life." - spot.ph

Starring Carlo Aquino, Empress Schuck, Annicka Dolonius, Benj Manaloand Kat Galang
Directed by Joseph Teoxon

NAY
"Martin is a rich, sheltered youth who gets transformed into an aswang by his yaya, Nay Luisa. She teaches him how to hunt the poor and the weak for food, in Manila, a city that consistently dehumanizes and neglects the marginalized."

Written and directed by Kip Oebanda
Starring Enchong Dee, Jameson Blake and Sylvia Sanchez

OPENING FILM

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh

WORLD CINEMA

BEATS PER MINUTE

"Early 1990s. With AIDS having already claimed countless lives for nearly ten years, Act Up-Paris activists multiply actions to fight general indifference. Nathan, a newcomer to the group, has his world shaken up by Sean, a radical militant."
Directed by Robin Campillo

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

"A sensual and transcendent tale of first love, based on the acclaimed novel by André Aciman."

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

GOOD TIME

"After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine Nikas embarks on an odyssey through the city's underworld in an increasingly desperate attempt to get his brother out of jail. Over the course of one adrenalized night, Constantine finds himself on a mad descent into violence and mayhem as he races against the clock to save his brother and himself, knowing their lives hang in the balance."

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

A FANTASTIC WOMAN

"The story of Marina, a waitress and singer, and Orlando, an older man, who are in love and planning for the future. After Orlando suddenly falls ill and dies, Marina is forced to confront his family and society, and to fight again to show them who she is: complex, strong, forthright, fantastic."

Directed by Sebastián Lelio

THELMA

"A Norwegian student, Thelma, moves to Oslo where she falls in love. She soon discovers that she has inexplicable powers."
Directed by Joachim Trier

LET THE SUNSHINE IN

"Isabelle, a divorcee with a child, searches for love. A true love at last."

Directed by Claire Denis

SWEET COUNTRY

"Inspired by real events, Sweet Country is a period western set in 1929 in the outback of the Northern Territory, Australia."

Directed by Warwick Thronton

NEWTON

"Rajkummar Rao plays Newton, who is trying to conduct a free and fair election against all odds. Watch the official trailer, that follows Newton deep into the jungles of Indian democracy."
Directed by Amit V. Masurkar

ZAMA
"The great Lucrecia Martel ventures into the realm of historical fiction and makes the genre entirely her own in this adaptation of Antonio di Benedetto’s 1956 classic of Argentinean literature."
Directed by Lucrecia Martel

BEFORE WE VANISH
"Three aliens travel to Earth on a mission in preparation for a mass invasion. Having taken possession of human bodies, the visitors rob their hosts of the very essence of their being, leaving psychological and spiritual devastation in their wake."
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

L'AMANT DOUBLE
"Chloé, a fragile young woman, falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. A few months later she moves in with him, but soon discovers that her lover is concealing a part of his identity."
Directed by François Ozon

ON BODY AND SOUL
"Two introverted people find out by pure chance that they share the same dream every night. They are puzzled, incredulous, a bit frightened. As they hesitantly accept this strange coincidence, they try to recreate in broad daylight what happens in their dream."

Directed by Ildikó Enyedi

THE THIRD MURDER
"Leading attorney Shigemori takes on the defence of murder-robbery suspect Misumi who served jail time for another murder 30 years ago. Shigemori’s chances of winning the case seem low - his client freely admits his guilt, despite facing the death penalty if he is convicted. As he digs deeper into the case, as he hears the testimonies of the victim’s family and Misumi himself, the once confident Shigemori begins to doubt whether his client is the murderer after all…"
Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (4K Restoration)

"After an encounter with U.F.O.s, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen."
Directed by Steven Spielberg

RESTORED CLASSICS

BEST OF C1 ORIGINALS

#WalangTakot SHORTS

CLOSING FILM

BATTLE OF THE SEXES
"The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs."
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

SCREENING SCHEDULE

Now Showing - October 20, 2017

Don't miss these fresh movies in cinemas this weekend.

Defying boundaries in selected cinemas from October 19-28, 2017.

For more info, go to our QCinema Guide

HAPPY DEATH DAY

Tree Gelbman is a blissfully self-centered collegian who wakes up on her birthday in the bed of a student named Carter. As the morning goes on, Tree gets the eerie feeling that she's experienced the events of this day before. When a masked killer suddenly takes her life in a brutal attack, she once again magically wakes up in Carter's dorm room unharmed. Now, the frightened young woman must relive the same day over and over until she figures out who murdered her. Directed by Christopher B. Landon.

THE FOREIGNER
Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love -- his teenage daughter -- dies in a senseless act of politically motivated terrorism. His relentless search to find the terrorists leads to a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official whose own past may hold the clues to the identities of the elusive killers. Directed by Martin Campbell.

BAD GENIUS

A genius level high school student makes money after developing elaborate methods to help other students cheat. Directed by Nattawut Poonpiriya.

TEN MOST ANTICIPATED FILMS OF QCINEMA 2017

Before the opening day tomorrow, here are the ten films that I look forward to the most in QCinema 2017. Take note that this list is hard to make and I had a couple of changes before finalizing because there's a lot of promising films that will be showcased this year. Click the titles below for their trailer. To know the entire lineup, go to our QCinema Guide. 

1. LOVING VINCENT (Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman) - The opening film that will surely capture the hearts of art enthusiasts. Don't miss its nationwide release on November 1, 2017

2. LOVE BITES (Carl Joseph Papa) - Another animated film about a depressed senior citizen? Count me in!

3. THE WRITE MOMENT (Dominic Lim) - Probably the surprise hit of the year with a familiar theme and charismatic leads.

ALL OF YOU TEASER

All of You is an official entry to the 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival.
Starring: Jennylyn Mercado and Derek Ramsay
Directed by: Dan Villegas

Meet Gabby and Gab on Christmas Day.

QCINEMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 GUIDE

The Quezon City International Film Festival is back on its 5th year with a strong roster of films, which will be screened from October 19-28, 2017 at TriNoma, UP Town Center, Gateway, Robinsons Galleria and Cinematheque Centre Manila.

We have four competition sections this year. we'll focus on the Circle Competition and QC Shorts while providing trailers for the Asian New Wave and Rainbow QC entries, together with the noncompeting films (Digitally Remastered, Screen International, Before Midnight) and other special screenings. Click the links for the Screening Schedule / Festival Pass Info and follow QCinema for more details.

CIRCLE COMPETITION

BALANGIGA: Howling Wilderness

1901, Balangiga. Eight-year-old Kulas flees town with his grandfather and their carabao to escape General Smith's Kill & Burn order. He finds a toddler amid a sea of corpses and together, the two boys struggle to survive the American occupation.
This is not a film by Khavn. Screenplay by Jerry Gracio and Khavn. Story by Achinette Villamor and Khavn. Starring Pio del Rio, Warren Tuaño, Justine Samson, and Daniel Palisa.

DAPOL TAN PAYAWAR NA TAYUG 1931 (The Ashes and Ghosts of Tayug 1931)
A filmmaker revisits the town of Tayug, Pangasinan in preparation for a new feature film she is making about the folk hero Pedro Calosa and the Tayug Uprising of 1931. As she revisits the actual sites in Tayug where the infamous uprising had taken place, she imagines scenes in her new film about the subject. As she goes deeper in her research at Tayug, she uncovers the memories of the townspeople about Pedro Calosa and the Tayug Uprising of 1931.
Directed by Christopher Gozum. Screenplay by Christopher Gozum. Starring Fe Ging Ging Hyde, Cedrick Juan, Perry Dizon, and Soliman Cruz.

DORMITORYO (Mga Walang Katapusang Kwarto)
Charles, an engineering student with an eye for beauty, just returned from school to a dormitory owned by Aling Linda, a strict, lonesome widow. Other occupants of the dorm include Max–now on his 7th year in college, Sheen–his reluctant partner, Steven–a social entrepreneur, Ramon–his cop lover, Alex–a call center agent, and Jenny–his attentive girlfriend. They all spend the evening tucked away in solitary rooms, talking about collective experiences, sharing a similar fate. And rent is due.
Directed by Emerson Reyes. Screenplay by Emerson Reyes. Starring Ces Quesada, Charles Salazar, Vandolph Quizon, Kate Alejandrino, Jun Sabayton, Wowie De Guzman, Max Celada, and Sheenly Gener.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

Everything in my last long review will be personal, not just to the franchise but also to my blogging experience for the past six years. I'm an MCU follower who loves the Avengers, Iron Man and Winter Soldier. Not a fan of Thor, Hulk and Iron Man sequels. I also realized that Age of Ultron was a disaster after seeing it twice.

Let's get straight to the point. Captain America: Civil War is the blockbuster movie to beat. It's the Mad Max: Fury Road that sets standards to every film that will come up this year. "Personal" is the most common word that you'll hear from critics who have seen this. It's a thank you note to the fans who stood by and an invite for things yet to come. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is far from over with Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Spider-Man coming... but more on them later.

I won't spoil any crucial information about this, and that's a Steve Rogers promise.

Most of my problems were in its opening sequence. As I said earlier, I love the Winter Soldier. However, its shaky camerawork bugged me off. Same issue with the first minutes of Civil War, most hand-to-hand fights were too close, all over the place and dizzying. Don't expect much from Crossbones.

What I love about this is how it won me over after that rough, ugly intro. It's like the Russo brothers set our expectations low to feel adrenaline in the latter part. Everything was on point once the conflict has been addressed. The only lag is the underdeveloped and kinda weird romance between Steve and Sharon Carter. I need to re-watch the Winter Soldier 'cause I can't remember how they clicked.

Now for the cool part. Those who have read the comics know how it started. There are winks and nods to the original, but the movie is full of surprises. I'll just mention five. First thing is the Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman showed a lot of his underrated acting range in here. He was the heart of the film and one of the most kick-ass superheroes in the MCU. His confrontation with Daniel Bruhl reminded me of Les Miserables.

The highly-anticipated clash exceeds expectations. Every punch, kick and blast is well-choreographed. There's humor in it but the film acknowledged its catastrophic aftermath. What happened to War Machine is kind of a huge spoiler, though.

Next is Iron Man. The movie is entitled to Captain America but the story is all about Tony Stark and his traumatic experiences that lead to his egotistical behavior. What I love about the MCU is how it humanizes its superheroes. It's easy to side with Team Cap because you've seen what the Hydra can do in the Winter Soldier. But to be fair, Tony didn't experience it first-hand. Adding to that is his guilt in the Sokovia incident and what he foresaw in the Age of Ultron. Tony Stark is a very complex character that the franchise surprisingly developed. Their final showdown is as emotional as watching your family tear each other apart. This is way too personal for people who's been following them throughout the years.

DC has better villains, Marvel has heroes. What's different with Civil War is how it illustrated that there's no clear definition of an antagonist for everyone is capable of becoming a villain. Agony drives someone to lose their principles and turn to the dark side. However, the film continuously tried to remind us from the Vision-Scarlet subplot to the Cap-Iron Man battle that there will always be light.

Last surprise is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. I love how Marvel hid him in the trailers. Tobey Maguire's iconic portrayal won't be forgotten, but Tom Holland is indeed the best Spiderling so far. Homecoming will surely be amazing if they keep this youthful energy. Marvel proved that they don't miscast. Everyone showed why they were chosen, every superhero had their shining moment. "Whoa!" to the new Aunt May.

Being part of a gigantic franchise, Civil War can't avoid plot holes and snubs within the MCU. I was disappointed that Quicksilver was not mentioned (sorry if I was wrong), because he's a huge loss to Wanda. Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. weren't involved in this monumental order, too. The film is enjoyable on its own but I recommend everyone to see Captain America: The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier first to easily follow the story and know why Bucky and Steve shares an unbreakable bond. I have a huge issue with Baron Zemo's convenient plan in the last act that I won't spoil. You'll know it once you saw it.

The film is far from perfect but it has all the elements for me to give it my highest rating. It's entertaining, it has a message worth telling, it's a movie that will forever be remembered and I can see myself enjoying this after a few decades. Lastly, one giant fight scene caught me off guard and left me with tears.

Captain America: Civil War is the epitome of blockbuster movies today for its sincere and affecting portrait of destruction. It's not just a battle of supremacy nor a debate between justice and freedom. It's the struggle against our inner demons that's way more personal than what we think. United we stand, divided we fall.

 ✮✮✮✮✮ LEGENDARY ✮✮✮✮✮

Thank you to everyone who's been there for the past six years. I'm grateful to those who read, liked, shared and helped me continue my passion. This won't be possible without them, my friends in Filmadiks & Musicadiks and idols in Spill/Double Toasted that inspired me to write. I give my utmost respect to movie reviewers who continuously promote good films and believe that cinema is still alive. The Movie Bud will end but you can still catch me in Facebook or at Twitter where I still post capsule reviews and updates.

Never stop watching.

HAUNTED MANSION

From the makers of Shake, Rattle and Roll but doesn't feel like one.

Haunted Mansion is juggling between two genres. Most of the time, it’s a typical Wattpad episode where a weird teenage girl gets bullied by cheerleaders and has crappy love triangle problems with her crush and her childhood friend. Sometimes, or when they feel like using their special effects, everything turns into a spook house. There’s no sense of danger within these characters up until the last 20 minutes of the movie. They wasted a lot of time introducing these lame people for their short, forgettable deaths. They didn’t even use Janice de Belen’s overacting skills. She’s just there. Scolding, and eventually died without her trademark scream.

There's also a lot of dumb shit to accept while watching this. How can a catholic school permit their students to stay in a creepy mansion infested with urban legends? Why did the priest allow this? Why did they not inform the parents of its location? And if the parents have been informed, why did they let their rich kids go to a dirty and terrifying mansion? Why are they talking closely to the people that they’re gossiping about?  Why did the guardians choose to let them stay for one more day rather than punish them at school? Why didn’t the ghost just fight the other ghost instead of pointing like a living exhibit in Night at the Museum? Why didn’t Adrian know about Ella’s spiritual shit when they’ve been friends for life? What the heck is with that ending?

It’s sad seeing this film go to waste because there's a lot of things to commend about it. The cinematography, lighting, production design and special effects were great. There are some locations that will look good in Devil May Cry, like the living room with a weird statue and the hallway with the swaying curtains. The flood looked great. The moving camera made the film unique from other Pinoy horror films. The flashbacks were also nicely done. It’s like Jun Lana and the team are doing the best they can from a crappy screenplay. However, I felt that there is an anti-Marcos message behind it. Take note that they shot it in the late president’s mansion in Cabuyao, Laguna. Also, the ghost cuts its victims' tongue to silence them from the truth. The message is there, but only a few will get it because they were bothered by the annoying clichés and ridiculous plot holes surrounding it.

I liked Sharlene San Pedro (Faye) but none among the cast was above mediocre. Maybe it’s because of their one-note characters. As for Janella Salvador (Ella), who they’re claiming to be a tough competitor in the Best Actress category, let the photos judge how she was so versatile in this movie.

Haunted Mansion terrorizes our money with another clichéd, teen angst horror crap. It’s very disappointing to watch because of its high production values and anti-dictatorship undertone.

ESTOFADONG DILA NG BAKA!

★★☆☆☆ 

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Thanks for reading and have a merry movie Christmas!