Cinemalaya 2012: Quickie Thoughts

The Animals.  A day in the life of middle-class teenagers. Party, beer, drugs, power play, sex. There is this sense of dread, which is kind of hard to pull off if you ask, anticipating what’s going to happen at the party and to the characters. And those girls’ restroom sequences are classic. (2.5/5)

Bwakaw. An old man and his dog and his musings of a life that could-have-been. The cinematography is sleek. Eddie Garcia is hilarious and terrifying in his madness. Some of the scenes look like a rehash of films past (the terrific ‘Jay’ comes to mind) but they still got guffaws from the audience. I did. (3/5)

Intoy Syokoy ng Calle Marino. A young man is left by his parents – the father to an accidental drowning, the mother to another man. The first half of the film felt like it was trying to find its footing. There wasn’t any coherent plot but there are some really good sequences particularly Intoy crying – in the middle of the sea (lake) and in the living room after his mother abandons him. The second half is endearing and credit probably goes to the love story between Intoy and a childhood friend. That last sequence is a beauty. (3.5/5)

Kamera Obskura. This was the film I was really excited on watching, aside from Aparisyon and Ang Nawawala and Sta Nina. This is a film by Raymond Red, the guy who directed Kamada which is one of my favorite GMA-7 telesines,  but I was disappointed. I could not wrap my mind on what it was really about. The ending was a big huh? Perhaps the film was a symbolism of sorts and I’m not very fond of symbolisms. (2.5/5)