#filipino movies

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Eva Darren - Brides of Blood (1968)

[arconinternet]

Salamamgkero aka Magic of the Universe (Video, 1986)

You can watch this Filipino fantasy-horror movie here.

You can read articles about it here and here.

@skinslip

[ask-the-pearloftheorient]

I'm in a sappy mood today so here's some really amazing romance movie recommendations from my place! I swear I've been watched these so many times already lol

[Hello, Love, Goodbye, 2019, Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards]

[She's Dating the Gangster, 2014, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla]

[The Hows of Us, 2018, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla]

Hahaha I have a favorite actress when it comes to romance films apparently :)

Do you guys have any good romance film recs?

[tambalans]

RICO YAN and CLAUDINE BARRETTO in Got 2 Believe (2002), dir. Olivia Lamasan

[nuovocparadiso]

We Don’t Dance for Nothing (2022).

Dir. Stefanos Tai.

[maya-chirps]

Filipino Horror Movies for Halloween

My friends and I watched horror movies last night a day earlier than Halloween because they had prior commitments on the day and I have to say, it was more fun than we hoped for. We decided to watch two movies: a horror horror one, and a more funny horror one. Here's some of my thoughts for each one that we watched last night and some warnings if you want to watch them yourself.

Maria Leonora Teresa (2014)

Content Warnings: dolls, homophobia, child death, child abuse, gore, graphic murder scenes, demonic themes and imagery

Maria Leonora Teresa (2014) was our pick for horror horror. It's a pretty interesting film and although there were some parts that were a little corny, the overall plot was intriguing.

The story centers around three parents who lose their daughters, Maria, Leonora, and Teresa, in a bus accident during a field trip. Grief-striken and despondent, a mysterious man with sunglasses approaches them with a solution to help ease their pain — three dolls each with their daughters' likenesses. Things immediately start going wrong for the families and they're faced with the horrors of what the dolls would bring them and their loved ones.

The production wasn't the highest of quality but even with the cheaper CGI it was still a fun time and especially how uncanny some of their more practical make-up effects were. The writing was also awkward at times with corny one-liners that break up the tension of the movie too so it's not too scary, at least in my opinion (although I'm really good with horror so take it with a grain of salt lol).

The movie does deal with a lot of child death and even child abuse and is a very very gory movie so be advised before watching.

Watch Maria Leonora Teresa (2014) with English subtitles for free on YouTube here

Shake, Rattle & Roll XV (2014)

The second pick was for funny horror and we would be doing a disservice if we didn't watch the classic horror anthology series Shake, Rattle & Roll. We watched one of their last films before the sudden hiatus of the franchise Shake, Rattle & Roll XV (2014) and it held a lot of surprises.

Shake, Rattle & Roll is, as I said, a horror anthology series. Each movie is made up of three shorter films made by three different teams, and sometimes starring overlapping cast members. This is mainly the reason why this section is far longer than the first. The short films for SRR XV are: Ahas (Snake), Ulam, and Flight 666.

Ahas (Snake)

Content Warnings: snakes, child abuse, cannibalism, gore, vore(?)

Ahas is the first of these movies and centers around a local urban legend in the Philippines. Urban legend states that a local mall chain called Robinson's Galleria hides a dark secret in its basement — the serpentine child of the Mall's founders who stalk the women's changing rooms and kidnaps them when they're alone and vulnerable. This story takes inspiration from this and focuses on a similar mall that's about to reach their 25th Anniversary and the mysterious disappearances that had been happening in the building.

This was a pretty okay film with okay writing, with the main thing really pulling it back being it's special effects. With the limited budget, the concept of the movie wasn't met and honestly it's one of those films I wished had a larger budget and more time considering that a snake lady loose in a city would probably be really cool as a concept. Because of that, the ending also felt pretty rushed which sucks.

On the other hand, my friends and I were making monster fucking jokes the whole time so there's that I guess.

Ulam

Content Warnings: light sinophobia, vomiting, disgusting food, animal death (a dog dies), lizard meat, dog meat, rat meat, child abuse, child endangerment, gore, graphic murder scenes

The word "ulam" refers to the meat or vegetable that make up the main meal in a Filipino dish that is served alongside the rice that makes up our meal staple. The closest translation to this is the word viand, which isn't a commonly used word in English. Either way, you could understand the dread I felt when that was the title of the next movie.

Ulam was a standout of the night for us because it scared most of us more than we did with MLT which was supposed to be our actual horror movie. I don't want to spoil much because of that but the visceral disgust and creepiness that I got from watching it was exactly the feeling I was expecting with horror. It was surprising too considering how the typical SRR movie isn't too serious or is corny enough to not spook you.

This movie was different. It felt like the writer and director knew they had a limited budget and they worked within that realm. The limited CGI was used so expertly that it doesn't actually look bad and adds to the horror too. This was a horror movie that felt like it was made by a Filipino indie horror movie group which is a good thing. The restrictions to the budget and the limited run-time worked to this film's advantage and I don't think extending it as much or adding more money into it would've done it too many favors.

Besides the excellent writing and the amazing direction, the cinematography and stage direction was so good! There were so many shots of the film that me and my group of artist friends would just pause and say "Oh shit! That shot looks so pretty!". It definitely helps a lot that the sombre color grading gives it such a good atmosphere.

I have so many praises for this film, it makes up for some of the issues I have with it. It relies on creepy rural province things to get the plot rolling and especially, honestly, bothers me a little bit because there was a quick reference that points to it being a Bikolano thing. There was also some light Sinophobia but specifically the stereotype that Chinese people are superstitious and this is a bit important for the plot since one of the family is Chinese-Filipino. Of course, the elephant in the room is yes, the dog dies. It's a spoiler but I'm saying it upfront. How it's revealed is more of the horror anyway but yes, the dog dies.

Other than that, it's a solid short film and it definitely got under my skin more than MLT.

Flight 666

Content Warnings: gore, hostage situations, flight turbulence, implied dubious consent/nonconsensual relationships, child(?) death, demonic themes and imagery

Flight 666 was by far the weakest of the three but was a welcome palate cleanser after Ulam freaked us out.

It's your typical bad things happen on the plane thing but like, honestly, so many things were happening all at once it was almost comical.

The movie centers around a group of passengers who were boarded on an extra flight because of overbooking on the airline's fault, now in Flight 666. One crazy thing happens after another and the next thing they know, a tiyanak (a demon baby Filipino cryptid) is on the plane and they have to survive the flight until they land safely on the ground to escape. It's such an overload of a movie that I wouldn't be surprised if it's the very reason this has really low reviews.

I've noticed that this was also the movie with a shit ton of movie cameos from big names just cuz, and it's definitely something that I think Filipinos would sorta get more but confuse outsiders?

All you need to know is that most of the quirky characters in this movie are overexaggerations of these actors' public personas. Kuya Kim, for example, plays the role of a sort of adventurer-type professor, not unlike Steve Irwin, and that's just how the guy is. His whole shtick is giving trivia, so he's also doing this in this movie.

The CGI here is used front and center which kinda works because I really don't think this film specifically was supposed to be that scary anyway. The writing was over the top, there were so many corny and cheesy scenes, and the stupid shit in the film really adds to it. It was really jarring going from the freaky ending for Ulam and then going straight into this insanity but it was a wild experience.

Watch the Shake, Rattle, and Roll XV (2014) with English subtitles for free on YouTube here

With all of that being said, both MLT and SRR do suffer from some typical iffy tropes especially with the bury your gays trope though both films are nine years old so I'm not holding it too much against it. Both films also have really awkward and bad CGI even with both being 2014 movies but that comes with the territory of local horror. Either way, I guess we had fun watching it together regardless of the quality so there was that.

If anyone wants to watch these films, and honestly a lot more movies for Halloween, Star Cinema and Regal Films who created the two respectively have it free on YouTube with English subtitles for Halloween and I've linked it under each section! It has a lot of midroll ads, so make sure to use an ad blocker to watch them uninterrupted.

We had fun with these movies, so maybe you might too so give it a try if you can!

[plasticmantalk]

Her: you better not be a plastic Man bootleg movie when I get there

Me:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ODXfbrCwdb8&pp=ygUUbGFzdGlrbWFuIGZ1bGwgbW92aWU%3D

Ha! I’d heard of this movie + character, in fact I made a thread on Twitter about it a few years ago, before the full thing was posted! I’ll have to check it out, thank you!

For those who don’t know Lastikman (or Lastik Man) is a Filipino superhero who has the same general powers as Plastic Man, and has received a few movie and tv adaptations, I think this is the 2004 movie? According to his (pretty undercooked) Wikipedia, he was originally an alien, but later versions made him get powers from a rubber tree.

I wouldn’t call the character a “rip off/bootleg”, I see him in a similar way that Mr. Fantastic or Elongated Man are in connection to Plas, inspired by him and his powers, but being their own characters. Definitely not a bootleg in the way that, say, Japanese Plastic Man was.

That all being said, I can sorta see how some would see Lastikman as that, especially with the 2003 versions costume having white sunglasses like Plas, and a more diamond-looking pattern to his costume instead of a checkerboard.

Still, I don’t know much about the character I don’t want to say anything out of turn for him, so I recommend checking Lastikman out, and talking to fans!

[jaysgg]

Himala {Miracle} (1982) Philippines TRAILER REVIEW: Nora Aunor, Gigi Dueñas, Laura Centeno, Spanky Manikan, Joel Lamangan, Ishmael Bernal

For me, this is the Greatest Filipino Movie of All Time. The trailer begins with 3 people walking up a mountainous desert. You then see a guy call out, “Elsa.” Elsa is played by A-list Filipino Actor Nora Aunor. Elsa has his hands clasped in prayer and her eyes closed in a full trance as she looks up to the heavens. The guy tries to shake Elsa, but she is in a trance. Upon opening her eyes, she said, translated in English, “I saw the Virgin Mary. There was light coming out of her. It’s like the sun made her a dress.”

You then see hundreds, maybe thousands, of people walking up a road. I think they are going up the mountain too. These are regular Filipinos of different ages. But the mood is festive. You see vendors on the side of the road. It’s very hot and humid in the Philippines. Some people have umbrellas. There’s even a balloon vendor. You see a woman with no legs walking with her hands along with the mass of people.

Elsa’s voice-over continued, “She said, the day will come that all the sick people would come to me and I could heal them.” You see Elsa touching the face of a man who looks like he has cataracts in both eyes.

You cut to a Catholic Priest conducting mass and we hear his voice-over, “God will not make a miracle to cover people’s lack of faith.” You also see Elsa praying over some oil or liquor on a bottle. Elsa was also outdoors with eyes closed praying in trance again. She is in all white along with followers behind her also wearing all white. You then see Elsa now has a crowd of people and long lines around her. She is healing the sick people in town, just like she said.

You see a man kneel in front of Elsa. He said, “I saw the Virgin Mary! I saw the Virgin Mary! The Virgin Mary is talking. There she is.” But then he laughed at Elsa’s face. Maybe the town is also 50–50 with the Miracle of Elsa. Even the priest was vague earlier. He said that God will not make a miracle if people lack faith. Is the priest implying that the town lacks faith? And if so, why would there be a miracle in town?

Elsa comes out of her Nipa Hut with 2 “disciples”, one older and one younger woman. The crowd shouted, “Elsa! Elsa!,” before running towards her. She’s like a celebrity now. Elsa’s voice-over said, “Not just the wounds of the body, but also the wounds of the soul.”

You see 2 men and a woman walking. You hear the voice-over of a woman. I believe it’s actress Gigi Dueñas. I think she’s retired now. She didn’t make movies or shows anymore after the 80s. She said, “You are selling them a miracle.” Oh, wow! Maybe Gigi Dueñas can smell the BS in all of this. Elsa is just “selling” the Miracle to people. My country, the beautiful Philippines, is a religious country. 90% of the population are Christians and 86.5 million are Catholics. However, I don’t think this is a “Christian Movie.”

Elsa responds, “We are helping people.”

“You have many followers, but you have no friends,” Gigi Dueñas said. BTW, that one hits deep in 2025 with our influencer and content creator-driven world.

The screen goes black. When it came back, the mass of people were now wearing all black. A crying woman approached Elsa, “You KILLED my child.” You see a child who is clearly in AGONIZING pain. But he/she is not in a hospital. It looks like they are in Elsa’s hut. She’s just scrubbing the child’s stomach. Oh God. This is the problem with religious healers. They promise to heal using prayers and faith. But at some point, someone would get hurt or die. But Elsa is mourning and crying like everyone else. She is remorseful. I think the child who died is someone close to her.

But then you see Elsa, with her black dress, standing in an open field. Talking to someone, her voice-over said, “You are the one who is sick, not the people.” She is wearing black. This could be after the burial. She is blaming the sick person. She is saying YOU are sick, not the people. That doesn’t sound like contrition or repentance to me, even if somebody already died.

A Series of Quick Cuts:

You see Elsa kneeling on the desert soil with her hands clasped in prayer and eyes closed as she looks up to the heavens. But then you see blood coming out of her hands.

The large crowd piling around the mountain.

You see a woman with the dead child on her lap as she looks at Elsa with suspicion and apathy.

You see actor Pen Medina in the crowd waving. Then you see actress Laura Centeno, one of Elsa’s “disciples”, smiling. Maybe that’s a B-plot love story.

You see Gigi Dueñas playing with some kids with the backdrop of a beautiful Philippine Sunset.

The next part of the trailer is a BIG SPOILER ALERT. Stop reading now if you plan to watch Himala (Miracle).

Here’s what happened. You see the large crowd gathered on the mountain. One of Elsa’s followers seems stunned. Elsa is speaking on a microphone. Elsa cried and shouted, “There is NO miracle.” It cuts to the faces of many people STUNNED in the crowd. You then see an arm holding a gun pointed at Elsa on the stage. You hear the BOOM of the gunshot as the screen goes black. You hear people panicking and crying. It’s chaos.

You see the crowd of people on the mountain gathering around Elsa. As I said, she’s like a celebrity. You hear a woman talking on the mic shouting, “Let us show our faith to the Virgin Mary!” That must have been an earlier scene.

You see Elsa kneeling on the desert sand with arms wide open. You then see her with his hands clasped in prayer but her eyes are half open.

Watch Himala (Miracle).

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[bioskoop]

[mikhayhu]

"Kung mahal mo ako bakit hindi ako ang piliin mo?"— Ethan

"Kung mahal mo ako bakit pinapapili mo ako?"— Joy

[sinethewrld]

Pamilya Ordinaryo: Mga Pinabayaan ng Panlipunan

Pagsusuri ng Cinemalaya Classic "Pamilya Ordinaryo" (2016)

Base sa kanyang pamagat “Pamilya Ordinaryo”, nais ipahayag ng pelikula na ito ang kahirapan na nangyayari sa mga lansangan ng Maynila. Napapanood dito ang sunod-sunod na mga hamon naidudulot sa batang magkasintahan na sina Jane at Ares na naninirahan sa lansangan kasama ang kanilang nag-iisang sanggol. 

Nagsimula ang trahedya ng mag-asawa nang kinidnap ang kanilang anak sa palengke. Desperado na mahanap ang kanilang anak, lumakbay sina Jane at Aries sa maalikabok na mga kalye ng Maynila at nakapag-tagpo ng iba't ibang mga katauhan at paghihirap sa kanilang pagsubok na makita ang kanilang anak. Nagbibigay ang pelikula ng hilaw at maligasgas na perspektibo sa buhay ng mga mahihirap at nagtatalakay ito ng mga isyu tulad ng kahirapan, kawalan ng tahanan, at ang malupit na katotohanan ng buhay sa urbanong Pilipinas. 

Nagustuhan ko sa pelikulang ito ang pagkuha nito na parang dokumentarya. Nakakabagabag ang sinematograpiya nito dahil nalalabas ng direktor, na si Eduardo Roy, ang pakiramdam na na sa totoong buhay ang lahat ng mga karakter at mga pangyayari. Nanginginig at parang hawak lamang sa kamay ang kamera na parang katulad sa tabingi na pag-angat ng mga paa kapag lumakad. Madalas nag-iiba ang pananaw ng pelikula sa surveillance camera tuwing may kasawian ang mangyayari. Pagpatay, pagtangay ng cellphone, at pagakaw ng isang sanggo ang iilan sa mga krimen nakikita sa perspektibo ng CCTV. Naaagaw pansin ko sa mga detalye ng pagkuha ni Roy sa mga mabibigat na eksena ng pelikula.

Ngunit maliban sa kakayahan ng pelikula talakayin ang mga isyung panlipunan sa masinang na sinematograpiya, hindi labis napakilala ng kuwento ang mga pangunahing katauhan hiwalay sa kanilang pagdudurusa. Walang makatwiran na konklusyon binigay sa mga naipon na trahedya ni Jane at Aries at nauwi lang sa wala ang lahat. Kahit na walang takot napakita ang katotohanan ng kahirapan, nagiging tanawin lamang ang mga isyung ito sa huli. 

Tanong ni Aries kay Jane sa isang eksena na “Paano kung ang buhay ni baby Arjan doon sa pamilya na iyon maaalagaan siya ng maigi, maibibigay ang mga bagay na hindi natin kayang ibigay kukunin mo pa ba siya?”. Nakapukaw ito sa aking isip nang alalahanin ang kakulangan nila sa mga bagay-bagay na dapat may karapatan sila bilang tao. Walang paninirahan, trabaho, pera, at medikal na tulong, naiiwan sila ng walang kakayahan makapagbuhay ng kanilang sarili lalo na sa kanilang anak. Sa katunayan, napapabayaan ang mga mamamayan katulad nila Aries at Jane sa Pilipinas kaya’t lumulubhang salot sa bayan ang kahirapan.

Sina Aries at Jane ang mukha ng mga mamamayan sa ating lipunan na nabubuhay sa kahirapan. Ayon sa isang UN report noong 2022, higit sa 5 milyong batang Pilipino ang naapektuhan sa sukdulan ng kahirapan. Pinipigilan nito ang mga bata na tamasahin ang kanilang mga pangunahing karapatan. Humahadlang ang kahirapan sa kanilang paglaki dahil sa impluwensiya nito sa mga oportunidad nila sa buhay. Kung walang mga panlipunang programa nagproprotekta sa mga batang ito, napapahamak ang kanilang kaligtasan, gaya sa nangyari sa “Pamilya Ordinaryo”. Nagiging lakas ng pelikula ang kaniyang kakayahan na harapin ang mga mabibigat na paksang ito upang makapukaw ng ating mga isip at damdamin. Sa pamamagitan nito, nagbibigay-liwanag sa malupit na mga katotohanan ng buhay sa Maynila ang “Pamilya Ordinaryo”.

Mga Sanggunian:

Staff, C., & Staff, C. (2023, September 25). Filipino Children in Poverty: How to advocate for change. ChildHope Philippines. https://childhope.org.ph/children-in-poverty/#:~:text=The%20Philippine%20Statistics%20Authority's%202021,harsh%20realities%20of%20the%20country.

Social policy and governance. (n.d.). UNICEF Philippines. https://www.unicef.org/philippines/social-policy-and-governance

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Gloria Hendry, Cheri Caffaro and Rosanna Oritz - Savage Sisters (1974)

[jrbustamante]

CCP and Cinemalaya 2023 Presents NewFilipinoMovies, New Venue

The best visual storytelling in competing new Pinoy movies and new venues will be the highlight of the 19th edition Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. With the CCP Main Building undergoing rehabilitation, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. brings its brand of cinematic experience to the Philippine International Convention Center, located…

[katabay]

Robin Hood and Little John walkin' through the forest--

alright! so! early robin hood ballads and narratives don't have an origin story for little john, but a later ballad (robin hood and little john) does. they fight on a bridge in it, but I like looking at illustrations, so I've swapped out the bridge for that tree peaking out of the panel in the first panel bc I enjoy louis rhead's illustrations a lot.

this is some kind of introduction scene after they fight and climb out of the river!

Robin Hood & Little John (edited by Stephen Knight & Thomas Ohlgren)

[waterghostype]

i thought this was a beautiful nonbinary lesbian but it’s just morro from ninjago

[theactioneer]

The Killing of Satan (Efren C. Piñon, 1983)