OK, tapos na me sa Puregold Cinepanalo Film Fest. Some thoughts utots as always:
Ang daming talkies ng mga entry bukod sa thematic na familial relationships (nuclear families, extended families, chosen families, lahat na ng family) from all shorts and all full-length. Acceptable for me sa student shorts pero ang hahaba rin ng talkies sa anim na full-length. More on Show, don't tell sana but baka may factor dito ang sponsorship, kasama ng pagiging thematic ng entries.
Full-length films I liked:
Pushcart Tales: Malamang dahil nandito si Therese. LOL, hindi. Bukod sa I want to point out inconsistencies, ang haba niya for me and I think it would've been better as a stage play sa execution. But when they received the best ensemble, deserve! Best in acting lahat, pero highlight ko talaga si Therese, walang bias (hahaha). Those character transitions and natural acting, applause. (Nagtataka ako bakit hindi siya nanalo sa awarding, si Shamaine pala kalaban niya. HAHAHAHA. AKALA KO KASI NASA SUPPORTING CATEGORY SIYA AS A BOBING SA MGA CATEGORY. Deserve din naman ni Shamaine. Again, lahat sila pang best acting.) I want to applaud how all characters and their stories were weaved and stitched together. (Grabe, ang tagal kong inintay maging sapphic ulit si Therese sa film. Pushcart Tales gave it to me as a surprise maski very short.)
Under a Piaya Moon: Can also be shortened as the conflict branched out too many times as one begins with another. 'Nu raw? Ampogi ng lead actor (Jeff Moses). Ang galing nina Chart Motus at Joel Torre. Gustong sabunutan ng audience si Pau Dimaranan sa inis namin sa character niya. HAHAHAHAHA! Facial expression pa lang, eh. Girl, traditional delicacies nga, bakit tayo mag e-éclair!!!
A Lab Story: Definitely charming pero ang dami kong inconsistency na gustong i-point out. Ang pilit nung pagpasok ng social issues na nilagay tapos wala, it was left hanging (akala ko maglo-long form na ng Black Rainbow or another take on Manoro). Hope it just picked a lane to focus on or it was weaved smoothly. But na form na naman ang auteurship ni Carlo Obispo: Children are the center of his stories that tackle societal issues (pero kapos 'yung societal issues dito sa A Lab Story). Tapos same color ulit and feels sa Purok 7 at Baseball Player. Sa 123 lang ata siya nag iba ng kulay. (Bakit ko kabisado?!) Anyway, ang galing ni Donna Cariaga at Cherry Malvar. Ang refreshing makita ulit si Barbara Miguel. Love ng camera sina Uzziel Delamide at Potchi Angeles.
May mga ebas din ako sa other full-length entry pero itong tatlo highlight natin sa tagpong ito.
Sa shorts naman, these are the films I liked:
Kung Nag-aatubili: Ang ganda-ganda nito. I believe this was excellently crafted from script to execution to editing. Ito 'yung sinasabi kong hindi lang puro quotable lines at aesthetic ang pelikula, o kaya kung ano pang approach para maging grounded sa branding ang kabuuan — example, 'yung look ng poster, 'yung credits, 'yung layout or movements ng static and moving visuals (which I don't get why a lot of people are banking on visuals tapos ang problematic ng script. O biased lang ba ako kasi writer ako?). If there are things I would change in this film, 1) The way the first lines were said — 'yung voice over, and 2) GIVE THIS TO ME IN A SAPPHIC STORY!!!!! Pero, ang ganda niya talaga.
Queng Apag: This was very simple but heartwarming. It didn't have grand camera angles nor lines but it hit the right strings. Welcome home. Spoiler: It's sapphic!!!! Which is the reason why it was so much better becauase it was the twist in the story that I think not everyone saw coming. (Ito 'yung nag cross fingers ako at sinabi kong: Sabihin mo may girlfriend ka. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend.)
Si Mary may Crush kay Tess: I didn't like this one just because it's sapphic (na hindi ko pa alam at the beginning tapos hindi naman siya 'yung naging center of the storytelling). It's cute and the way the story unfolded was executed well. Bawas lang siguro sa mga sigaw.
Lola, Lola, Paano Ba 'Yan?: There's actually nothing special with this one but I liked the metaphor on doing ceramics and family relationships, especially the struggle of the mother. Gelo, the kid, is so cute, and thank god for mothers who tell their children it's OK to have broken families especially if putting yourselves back together will just cause more cracks.
Text Find Dad and Send to 2366: Ang aliw nito! What a take on Big Brother and other reality shows. A refreshing concept though may parts na na-lost ako. And I actually cannot remember if the reason why the Dad is missing was mentioned. Or what the relationship between him and her daughter looks like.
[Honorable mention] Saan Ako Pinaglihi: A crowd favorite kaya nga siya nanalong audience choice. Lakas ng mga sapphic. LOL. This gave me the Ang Ikaklit sa Aming Hardin feels in terms of storyline. Hindi siya masyadong nag struck sa akin, as much as I want it to, pero ang galing nung mga batang artista. As if they weren't acting. And yep, it was cute. I was also hoping the answer to the question was made to be more profound pero baka kapag ginawang ganon, hindi na bagay sa setting ng grade school. Or maybe, the build up to the resolution could be more profound and heart tugging because I think it could be.
Dami ko na namang ebas!!!
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What do you think, Awesome?