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Tag Archives: viva films

Jowable and the Nature of Feature-Length Films

10 Thursday Oct 2019

Posted by cinetactic in Video Essays

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Cai Cortez, Candy Pangilinan, Darryl Yap, film criticism, Jowable, Kakai Bautista, Kim Molina, Movie review, philippine cinema, pinoy films, short films, Vincentiments, viva films

Jowable, like much of the films of Darryl Yap and the Vincentiments team, is undeniably problematic. It needs a closer look and examination in order to understand why it remains popular with their audience. Aside from issues of political correctness and awkward visual story-telling, Yap’s films have supported questionable politicians and ideologies. In this video essay, we identify how watching the full-length film adaptation of the short film Jowable has become more unbearable to watch. In this discussion, we touch on the nature of feature-length movies and how they may be different from online short films. You may find this discussion relevant to the current debate on the definition of cinema.

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Girlfriend for Hire: An overzealous romcom

13 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by cinetactic in Movie Reviews

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Andre Paras, comedy, film review, Girlfriend for Hire, Jose Javier Reyes, Movie, Movie review, romance, romcom, Vanessa de Leon, viva films, Wattpad, Yassi Pressman

By Heinrich Domingo

Eugene Domingo, in the critically-acclaimed Babae sa Septic Tank (2011), enumerates three types of acting, ‘elevator’ – low to high range intensity of acting, ‘TV Patrol’ – over the top acting, and as is acting. There, she showed how performance varies depending on the character portrayed. Girlfriend for Hire employs TV Patrol acting and stops at that. At the center are Andre Paras and Yassi Pressman who unnecessarily gave too much in an apparent effort to win the crowd. Whispers became shouts, smirks became grins, and giggles became laughter. The message of the film (if there is any), was lost by the overzealous main characters flashed on the big screen.

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Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin: If you can’t beat them, join them

18 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by cinetactic in Movie Reviews

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2016, action, Antonette Taus, Benjie Paras, Bob ong, Candy Pangilinan, Christine Reyes, comedy, Herbert Bautista, Horror, Jason Gainza, Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin, Maricel Soriano, Movie review, Paolo Ballesteros, parody, philippine cinema, philippines, romance, viva films

By Heinrich Domingo

Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin brings to the big screen a myriad of tales mocking the rotting aspects of Philippine cinema. Its imitation is flattering. But as it further immerses itself into the quicksand of clichés, expected endings, and unconvincing editing, it loses its grip on its real purpose. The film ironically ended to be just like the materials it ridiculed and laughed at.

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Nilalang: Unapologetically full of itself

17 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by cinetactic in Movie Reviews

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2015, cesar montano, film, Horror, maria ozawa, meg imperial, metro manila film festival, mmff 2015, Movie review, nilalang, Review, thriller, viva films

by Lei Landicho

As an official entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), Nilalang claims that it is offering something new to the table. It declares that it can even pass international standards of filmmaking (relatively, though, to the MMFF trends from previous years). In all fairness, Nilalang truly knows how to please a crowd. It has blood, sex, and Maria Ozawa. The problem however is, when you strip it off of its appealing veneer, we see a half-baked, run-of-the-mill paranormal action film that admires itself as something more than it actually is. A work of art that gives too much labor on one of its elements while overlooking the others, then regards itself as excellent, is arrogant to say the least.

Nilal

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Felix Manalo: Preaching to the choir

12 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by cinetactic in Movie Reviews

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

biopic, Dennis Trillo, Felix Manalo, film, film review, Iglesia ni Cristo, INC, Joel Lamangan, Manalo, Movie, Movie review, religion, viva films

by Heinrich Domingo

The subjectivity of art in cinema can be construed as having the freedom to interpret and understand. But, as any filmmaker would attest, the notion of independent thinking ceases when the camera starts rolling. The lens zooms in to specific shots, frames are selective of certain environment, and lighting is used to overemphasize characters. Yet, no forewarning was sufficient to prepare us in the three-hour agony of watching a self-glorifying, history-mutilating, sect-promoting film that is Felix Manalo.
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