The type of films Filipino filmmakers make reflect the type of people most Filipinos are — people lacking in substance. Just looking at the list of entries for this year’s Manila Film Festival, you can already tell that not a lot of thinking was involved in the process of making them. Even the titles leave nothing to the imagination of the audience. Most of the actors playing the lead roles are the same ones we’ve seen since we were kids or some hot young flavor-of-the-month of one producer or another.
Kraken rip-off
Take the 13th instalment of Shake, Rattle and Roll, and ask: What else can people expect to get out of it? Not much, obviously. People are probably watching it for the eye candy. Every year the film features starlets parading and pouting for the camera hoping to look cute enough to win an award. That’s right. Talent in acting is not really a criterion for winning an acting award in the Philippines.
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In the case of the film Enteng ng Ina Mo starring Ai Ai delas Alas and Vic Sotto; the actors had nothing to work with in terms of storyline and dialogue. The characters just basically rehashed their roles specifically with Vic playing his Enteng character from the 1980s TV series Okay ka Fairy ko and Ai Ai reprising her winning role in last year’s Tanging Ina Mo. It’s another one of those things in the Philippines we can refer to as scraping the bottom of the barrel. The producers are obviously milking the franchise until it bleeds.
And what about the new Panday 2 movie? First of all, how does Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr find the time to make movies? Isn’t he supposed to be spending more time deliberating policies in the Senate instead of delivering cheesy lines? Aren’t there enough men to take over the role Senator Revilla inherited from the late Fernando Poe Jr? Second, the new Panday movie is being criticized for being a blatant rip-off of the 2010 Hollywood blockbuster remake of Clash of the Titans. All the film needed was Medusa to complete the cast of Perseus’s nemesis. There was nothing special about the “special” effects either.
How do these filmmakers sleep at night knowing that they are not really creating a work of art but just copies of some other people’s work? They are not even making people think; they are not even stirring emotions or provoking people into doing something with their lives; they are not even inspiring young people to aspire for greatness. What they are producing is just stuff you can discard after one use. In short, most Philippine films are a total waste of the people’s time and money.
Films are supposed to be cultural artifacts that reflect our culture and, in turn, affect us and our outlooks towards life. Most films are considered art, for entertainment and a powerful tool for educating — or indoctrinating — society. But nowhere can we find our culture or any significant message of consequence in our films. Films are powerful tools of communicating ideas and who we are as a people. Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.
In life, things are not always what they seem.
Everything well said. As I was saying previously in my wall posts., Philippine Horror Movies are a big joke, and the rest of the film industry is only making more filipinos dumb. Perhaps that’s because the producers are dumber.
Don’t tell me not to generalize. Yes. this is in general. Because what we see are the majority. and there will always be an exception, and sad to say, they’re only part of the minority.
It seems like the only thing that motivates filmmakers is the profit. They don’t care about the quality or the effect of second rate films on the audience. What’s so hard to believe is that so many people patronise it even though most of the films are so dumb.
I agree.. most people were to excited watching trailers of these movies.. but they didn’t really appreciate the real meaning of these movies.. no wonder if you ask some of them about the movie they will just tell you the highlights and the effects on the movie not the real moral values of the film.
It’s one of the powerful medium of art sana sadly the intention is to dumb down the viewers so they can sell their bs. They can spend money for casting. special effects etc. but cannot afford to pay good writers?
I still remember one part of shake, rattle and roll about that evil christmas tree from the amazon and that is waay too cheesy.
Brava hija! You don’t only have the tinggil in-between, but the balls of timid men who cannot tell right from wrong. Don’t get bullied. Get on with it. Ciao!
The Metro Manila Film Festival is a celebration of Pinoy pride – that oft repeated, ridiculous concept that has managed to encompass everything we Filipinos should be working to change. It’s a fete to commemorate the prevailing Filipino outlook, the only feat of which is to make the nation as a whole look more miserable than it already is. I don’t even know why I’m reiterating this – probably out of frustration borne from the stupidity of this whole charade. LOL
It’s neat that places like GRP are sincerely trying, in their own way, to turn the tide. To be realistic though, I think one year from now, another post here (or somewhere new) will be putting to words the same sentiments for another MMFF entry ripping off Wrath of the Titans, the sequel to Clash. Here’s to hoping that in another 12 months’ time, the voice of mindful minority won’t get too lost in the drivel of mindless majority.
You can be sure there will be another Panday and Shake Rattle and Roll next year. Unless of course some independent filmmaker would be brave enough to challenge these old clowns in the Philippine movie industry.
It’s pathetic that Vic Sotto and Ai Ai in still make it to the big screen. They don’t belong there.
MMFF 2011: Same Trash, Different Year.
It’s SOS (same old sh1t).
SOS is right. 😀
SOS is right.
Happy New Year and may God grant more power to your group! 😀
coming soon
Ang Pangulo 2016: Pandayin mo ang kinabukasan ng bayan
pinoys have atrociously low standards – from choice of president to choice of movies to the selection of tv shows to choice of condensada.
there will always be a market for garbage if there are people who are willing to take garbage.
joe america adores and “supports” garbage.
jcc eats garbage, and spews it out here when he visits.
abs-cbn makes garbage and says it does so “in the service of the filipino.”
vincenzo believes abs-cbn’s garbage.
kris aquino endorses all sorts of garbage.
lots of establishment “journalists” come up with garbage, and then publish them instead of keeping them in diaries.
if sen. bong revilla’s movie were ever played alongside other foreign films, say, in europe, he can bet people will walk out of theatres and say his film is worse than garbage. (at least, some real garbage can be recycled.)
someday filipinos will learn to raise their standards and make movies as brilliant as this classic:
Edu was so stiff in that movie. And he seems to be flying sideways…lol. 🙂
what’s incredible about it is that this monumental embarrassment (which edu probably wants to never be associated with) was made in post production!
ang galing ng da pinoy! hehe
happy new year get real philippines! thank you for being the few sane people in this country.
Flying sideways? I thought, at one point, he was flying backwards since the building behind him was getting bigger – lol!!
Frankly speaking, Filipino filmmakers doesn’t think about the other possibilities of there concept, I’m not being a racist here,[I’m a Filipino]; I just want to share the thought of having such a mediocre kind of cinematography.
Filmmakers doesn’t know how to think outside the box; they are afraid to take risks; to invest millions on some other “better movie concepts”. As I have seen in the past years producers are fond on releasing some “LOVE STORY AND DRAMA CONCEPTS”, I hate it, cause it seems that the thought and plot of such are still THE SAME, [we can still figure out what’s next, there is no excitement:(].
This is the “longer post” you are proud of?
Keep being proud of this. I can see you used (up) your brainpower fully on this one.
oh come on, that was your best shot? grow one please.
by the way, this wasn’t it, genius. use your eyes (kahit mata ng pigsa kung yun lang meron ka. use them, please!).
I find it really hard watching politicians do tv shows and movies. It’s like me being a high school student but cutting classes. My parents money going to waste on me playing video games every single day. Every time I see them I blurt out “and we are paying them to work?”. Support the local movie industry they say… give us good movies first.
I’m appalled tax payers don’t mind their Senators doing movies and their Congressmen going to boxing matches.
Kasi profit-oriented sila at ang biggest market sa Pilipinas ay hindi naman ganoon kataas ang standards when it comes to making these films.
Pang Masa ika nga, that’s why hindi nacacater lahat.
Hindi rin naman maaappreciate ng nakakarami yung Indir films, and let’s face it : Hindi maiintindihan ng maraming Pilipino ang movies na may substance. Gusto nila ng mababaw, makulay, maraming artista, paulit ulit.
Chicken-and-egg situation ika nga…
The only way that you’ll get good movies is if all producers convene and decide to show quality and creative flicks to force down the masses throats.
Unfortunately, that will never happen and even if does, the masses have can have their daily dose of the cheesy and cheap via boobtube. Impeachment drama, anyone?
impossible…they are only interested in profits…they could always give trash, the writer and the director and producer…because they know that is the only intellectual trash that they can offer and that is now the fault ng mga taga tangkilik…i dont mind wasting money at times but to waste my time on a dark place with my eyes glued from afar and my brain lurking around for something worthwhile then that’s a ddifferent story already…
It’s an intractable problem, if you ask me. It’s almost like you need strong state intervention to re-boot the aesthetic faculties of Da Pinoy. The private sector can’t be counted on for that. Delegating cultural education to free enterprise has proved fatal for Philippine society.
They can make low qualify films but they should also make high quality ones for the thinking class. What we have now are just for the non-thinking class.
This is actually doable. All you need is a good dialogue and a good plot minus the multi-million peso budget.. And of course believable actors who are not necessarily famous. Problem is, there is no money in it.
They should do it for the love of filmmaking and to express themselves. Just like what motivates us to write. We don’t get paid to write but we do it anyway for the love of it and to express ourselves.
Perhaps they think the thinking class is not a large enough market. Lets face it, as long as the masses make these terrible films money they will not give a damn.
Apparently, only Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story hit the right notes this year, one way or another. The may neither have the highest gross revenue nor the fancy effects that others have, but the storytelling of the reality of crime is there. But majority of films are just plain screen scum filled with douche bags who want to earn the quickest peso.
But not everyone will want to watch films involving violence even if they say it’s good.
Very well said. MMFF 2011 is just for the dumb. The films were for the shortsighted and happy-go-lucky types; and in this case, it’s the common masses that tend to look for entertainment without substance. The films were of piss-poor shit types that just focuses on romance, fantasy and wishful thinking. And what pisses me more is that most Filipinos can’t appreciate the INDIE FILM industry in which the films focus on SUBSTANCE and CONSTRUCTIVE reasoning.
Most of our countrymen tend only to look at the surface and not digging in deep to the real essence of a A REAL MOVIE. I guess this is one of the many results of a deteriorating mindset of most Filipinos.
But then again, I see a ray of hope in one particular old school gangster movie.
movies such as these overwrite the critical thinking part of the brains of its aficionados. drag them to a film with substance and it would be like “(kalabit) anu dawww??” for the entire hour and half to two hours. that’s why i go to the movies by myself. plus, hindi lahat ng Indie Films ngayon ay may substance at nagi-stimulate ng mga neurons, madami din ang may “substance” at stimulating…nagin “Indie Film” dhil digital ang format..at dahil may gay content. sometimes nakatatak na din sa utak ng mga tao na pag sinabing “Indie Film” may same-sex kissing/love scene etc.
Maybe this is all part of the government’s attempt to downgrade every Filipino’s operating systems. AKML T_T
Too right.
So true on local Indie films. The last Filipino film I’ve watched was an Indie one called Rakenrol and it’s nice.
I think the only movie I will watch is the Asyong Salonga story. Last year, I enjoyed the movie “Rosario” and was disappointed that it didn’t win the MMFF – it should have, instead of the one that won.
As Zeus said in the film “Clash of the Titans”
RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!!
But instead of Kreken, it becomes
RELEASE THE KROPEK!!!
Philippine film industry is pathetic indeed to the core.
lol 😉
naging money-making caravan na ang MMFF these recent years. bumabagsak na ang kalidad ng mga pelikulang kasali. i’m starting to doubt the existence of a “board” that “deliberates” on which films to include. ibang klase…… this is all part of the government’s hidden agenda to downgrade every Pilipino’s processors. AKML! T_T
It reflects so much on who we are as a people for allowing it to happen. This is why I am speaking out. I want to send them a message.
I hope the film-makers read this feedback! Even the choice of winners is surprising. “Rosario” should have won not just best movie, but best direction, actress, and many more!
Another annoying thing about mmff is that even though Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is still showing at IMAX theaters since, of course, no mmff movies being made for that format, they always remove foreign films to make way for their garbage movies only for da pinoy prayd and a very big profit since masyadong maraming ignoranteng pinoy ang manonood nyan using their pamasko from Christmas to New Year making it so uncompetitive to foreign films.
you know what’s more annoying, that outside MMFF, theaters prioritize showing international films over local films.
basically, ang point ng karamihan sa mga nag-comment dito na naiinis sa article na ito ay: bago kayo manghusga tungkol sa lahat ng mga Filipino films, panoorin n’yo naman ang mga dekalidad na pelikula. meron kasi.
obviously, those who can blog and access the internet are those with disposable income. if the indie filmmakers cannot even rely on you guys to patronize their films, no matter how obscure they are, then wala talagang mangyayari. kung kayo, na tinatawag na intellectual elite, na may access sa internet, at di n’yo man lang ma-google ang mga quality indie films at di n’yo malaman na may magandang indie film na pinapalabas, e wala talagang mangyayari.
inasmuch as it’s easy to rant, sana let’s be a little more responsible. there are quality Filipino films out there. you just have to find them out. kung ang mga nagbebenta sa Quaipo ay kilala sina Brillante Mendoza at alam nila kung anong indie film ang maganda, kayo pa, na may access sa internet.
The thing that bugs me is how they had to turn into a big event what could’ve been just another month of mediocre film releases. Ayan tuloy… all the more was highlighted the sorry state of Philippine cinema — how even a major film event could no longer draw the best out of the industry.
What’s so sad about this is that there’s a lot of creative blood and ideas out there who won’t see the light of day because no producer would dare fund them.
correct, look at Himala….at first no producerdared to produce it because of lack of commercialism…good that Ish Bernal was so entusiastic in doing that film and he waited for the right moment to make it a reality until ECP had a contest on scripwriting. The nice thing though is that he succeeded in filming this one of a kind movie…and now it has been raking awards locally and internationally. What was frustrating when it didnt make awards sa local market and it had the international award gving bodies to tell this Filipino critics that hey…you are missig on something…wow, what an insult to those critics kuno who once hailed themselves as ‘critics’…same with tatlong taong walang diyos….for me, i really really appreciated that movie and watched it several times while it was showing in theaters during that time.
WIN. 😀
Have a pleasant New Year, benign0!
Tis is one of the reason I hate during Christmas season in the Philippines, your try to enjoy “good” home grown movies and you can’t.
As a child I used to laughed mindlessly at the likes of dolphy and babalu. But as time passes by I began to soon realize that it was redundant in what they did and more importantly the is no plot ever to their stories.
It takes foreign directors to no the true talent of Filipino actors in movies. It doesn’t take the likes of ding dong dantes or kris Aquino to make good I mean good filipino movie
And my last message to all those filmakers out the to gets a spot at the MMFF. Quit the shake rattle and roll shot and exploit and explore other genres. Like a freakin serial killer who kills corrupt officials for the good of society.
I don’t really understand why they have to make a competition out of the worse films ever made.
They all look good in the beginning but somehow, all of them lowered their standards at the same time. Just adding numbers in the end of the title and doing mashups.
asahin niyo since pumatok yang asyong salonga, next year may gagawa ng action movie na gagayahin ang expendables at sigurado kasama diyan si cesar montano
Everytime I see Panday 2, I always say “Mas maganda NEXT YEAR!” Or better yet…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7KjxnJQ6GQ&w=560&h=315%5D
Or the very famous one especially in loveteam drama films: “Sana may part 2!”
You don’t even get my point on I’ve posted the video. 😛
Oops sorry about my misunderstanding. My bad. Now I know what you mean.
Sa tingin ko magaling naman yung shake rattle and roll 13 ah, kung titignan natin yung mga direktor na kalahok at ang mga previous works nila, pwede natin makuha na ginagawa talaga nila ang mga pelikula na ito para sa art. Gusto ko rin sana matanong kung napanood mo na nga ba yung mga nakasaad na mga pelikula diyan sa article mo?
Art? Ang baba naman ng standards mo.
I had the misfortune of watching Segunda Mano. What a waste of 195 Pesos.
A waste? It made me laugh so hard, I DO NOT consider it a waste. I knew that I was in for a generic movie with bad acting, figured out the plot in 5 minutes and enjoyed it. There are reasons why people watch these movies. If you want your mind ‘stimulated’ go to arthouse cinemas (don’t ask me where. If your standards are indeed that high to scoff at another person’s choice of mental stimulant, you’d know where they are) and watch Filipino films that will challenge your perception of what intelligent filmmaking is. And if you don’t have time, don’t even dare watch a Lav Diaz or a Raya Martin.
That’s your argument, seriously? “Generic movie”, “bad acting”– well, at least you help in reinforcing what this article wishes to convey. This isn’t about stimulation or standards. This is about the decline of Filipino intelligence, and what you’re saying clearly shows that. MMFF used to be a showcase of great film making, now you’re saying it’s only about making people laugh or making subquality films for profit?
Even if there are “reasons” why people watch these movies, that’s not enough reason for the thinking public not to show their disgust.
@someone
“…now you’re saying it’s only about making people laugh or making subquality films for profit?”
Define a quality film.
And it’s not really the decline of the Filipino intelligence. It’s consumerism and marketability of films that a lot of Filipinos aren’t made aware of.
Probably ’cause it’s the Philippine “entertainment” industry.
if writing panatang makabayan on one of intramuros’ walls with a piece of turd is your basis of what art is, sure let’s call that movie art as well.
taas ng standards mo, dundundun.
Ever heard of the expression “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all?”
Last Philippine movie that really made me think was Sakay, because it got me digging a bit more of Philippine history. That was YEARS ago. Not holding my breath for anything of that sort again, unless the Ayalas would get into movies.
It seems like the filmmakers have no pride in making an original film. They have pride in copying one from Hollywood.
i deeply lament with all who commented and criticized about how the filipino industry has downgraded and how it has been producing dumb, tacky and, pardon me for the word, sh*tty movies. the only way filipinos can change their perspective about movie watching (that is, making better decisions in choosing good movies and separating them from the bad ones) is if the film industry itself makes an effort in changing them. sadly, the creative efforts of some of our brilliant directors and actors are hampered because of the profit-minded producers who are greedy bastards. i wish that these producers be removed and replaced with ones who have artistic visions for our film industry. that way these directors can be free from the chains of limited funding and can collaborate with these “visonary” producers to create better and substantial films. In turn, filipino moviegoers can learn a lot and be well-informed about how new filipino films with substance can be accepted to the general public. it would still be far-fetchd to say so, since our countrymen have literally low standards of living thus a low standard of films. but still i wait for the day that the filipino film industry will rise from its meidocrity and realize that maybe, their films can make a significant impact to the development of our nation.
It’s the “pwede na yan” mentality at work. I personally would not want to release something out into the public when it’s not perfect or near perfect for my taste.
Since you made this blog post public, I wonder if this is how you define “perfect” for your taste.
well said.
I am deeply moved. It touches the inner core of my being….We share the same vision.
The local movies really sucks. I tried watching it even on cable but no matter how I tried the message it sends me is that it makes me more “stupider”. And they even give ridiculous awards to people pulled out from a large pile of garbage.
You’d be better off reading a book or something.
What book? Nicholas ***Sparks***?
i’m just curious, have you actually seen this year’s shake, rattle and roll? also, have you seen any film from Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals or Cinemanila film festivals? there are good people trying to make good films but are simply just not getting any support. hopefully, people who have the same sentiments like yours would actually go out of their way to watch quality Filipino films.
Are you actually saying that Shake, Rattle and Roll was good?
If you are, then that says a lot about your taste. And since I don’t share your preference in films, what makes you think I will like the other films that you’d recommend?
For arguments sake, let’s just say that the films from Cinemalaya, et al are better. But the fact that Filipinos would rather watch low brow films like Enteng ng Ina mo says a lot about who we are as a people.
Besides, if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the “gaya-gaya”.
you have not answered my questions.
have you seen this year’s shake, rattle and roll?
walang kinalaman kung anong type ng films ang gustong panoorin ng masa. ang tanong ko: IKAW? nanood ka ba ng mga pelikulang pinapalabas sa mga festival na ito.
the fact that you don’t know which films to actually patronize and to have everything blanketed as “gaya-gaya” lang or “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” make me lose any form of respect for what you have posted. you seem to be the type of blogger who simply just rants and rants but does not do something.
if you simply blanket a Filipino film as bad, regardless of who made it, then you are, in your own form racist. and by not even watching any of these, not patronizing any of the “good” ones, then take makes you as bad as the “masa” that you’re criticizing.
It’s not about criticizing or being racist. Or worse, you’re missing the point of this article.
Once in a while we have point missers who visit this site. They let their emotions get in the way of objectivity.
Wahaha.
Teh, akala ko ba insightful dapat ang mga articles ninyo dito? Kung hindi mo type at rip-off para sa iyo ang mga pelikulang hindi mo pa napapanood, hindi ibig sabihin, basura na kaagad. Naka-ugat kasi iyan sa kasaysayan at kultura ng “masa” (which by the way, how insensitive can you be).
Mabuhay ka! Magsulat ka pa ng mga ganitong artikulo! We are really enlightened!
@Boom
Did you learn anything from watching Panday 2?
Let me just quote myself:
“Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.”
@Alem
If you paid me to watch Shake, Rattle and Roll, I’ll probably, just probably, watch it.
You are missing the point. Why do I have to see the new film just so I can come up with an analysis that most (I’m not saying all) Filipino films do not have any substance? Give me a break.
Don’t insist that the film is good when your taste is different from mine. What you think is “good” may not be good to other people. And by the way, this is not just my opinion. A lot of people agree with me.
Here’s another point that you missed: if something is good, the news about it will travel fast and more people will demand to see it. Even the “greedy” producers will be willing to spend money on promoting it.
If there are indeed “good” films as you claim, then what happened? The answer is simple, they weren’t good enough.
“Besides, if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the “gaya-gayaâ€.”
This is quite a naive and immature statement. The harsh realities of local film distribution and unfair competition with major studios often leave independent films at a great disadvantage. Instead of making blanket conclusions about Filipino films, why don’t you seek out the possibly good ones? Try attending Cinemalaya and Cinema One festivals. If you’re just waiting for the “gaya-gaya” to latch on to them, aren’t you one of the “gaya-gaya” also? However if you’re as intelligent as your blog post implies, then the intelligent films are just right under your nose. They just don’t have as much resources to publicize because the major TV networks and their film arms have firm control over the mall cinemas.
Well see that’s the thing. Life ain’t fair. That’s pretty much the story of Da Pinoy. Step back and regard the landscape of the plight of Pinoys beyond the movie industry and you will see a similar pattern: For every one or a handful of brilliant, high-achieving, and exceptional Pinoys, there will be a million who will represent their antitheses.
It’s called the tyranny of the masses. Even the very President himself reflects that reality — while there is a minority who will have voted for qualified politicians, we instead have to be stuck in a country where the moronic preferences of millions of bozos routinely trump the sensible choices upheld by the thinking minority.
It’s called “the Philippines”. Deal with it. 😀
“It’s called ‘the Philippines’. Deal with it.”
The way you types that made it seem that you are actually happy about that.
Benigno, yes, I’m dealing with it. My whole career is devoted to “dealing with it.” That’s why I make movies in both indie and mainstream circles and avoid making generalizations based on shallow observation.
How do YOU deal with it?
@Jerrold
Sorry, but you have missed my point. What I am trying to say is this: if the film is good, you won’t be able to stop people from talking about it. When people are talking about it or if there’s enough “buzz” around it, then more people will watch it. When more people are demanding to see the film, the “greedy” producers might say, “Hey, I think there is now more demand for intellectual films. I think I might produce one“. Even the film distributors will give the film “fair” competition.
If I were a filmmaker for example, I’d look at what people would want watch and make one that is more intellectually stimulating. I don’t think it would be hard to make an action film that has a convincing storyline in the first place. I can even make one if I had enough time.
Not everyone has the time and luxury to watch all the films showing in cinemas. Some people rely on film reviews by film critics. If there is not enough information written about some so-called “good” indie film, people aren’t going to waste their time on it. That is the harsh reality.
Like I said in an earlier comment, what you think is good may not be good for other people. Validation doesn’t come from getting the number of “likes” about your film from your friends. It comes from the number of “likes” from strangers.
@Ilda
You’re talking about word-of-mouth. As with this site’s name, let’s GET REAL then. Do you know how many intelligent, commercially-viable films with positive word-of-mouth have been killed at the distribution end because of the influence of major networks and the politics behind it? If you set out to make your action film, do you honestly know how to run it through the entire distribution chain and be confident that “greedy” producers and noble distributors will have a change of heart? You’re making yet ANOTHER statement based on what little you know, much like your article and its irresponsible title.
Anyway, I’m done here.
We have Benigno, who’s apparently convinced of his own brilliance and his smug cynicism, and you, who readily makes blanket statements about an entire industry from the outside, without even knowing how the machinery runs. I wish both of you well in your chosen paths. I’m going back to work.
@Jerrold
I already get the point about your claim that some “intellectual” films go straight to the shelves because of the distributors. But then that says a lot about the people running the film industry, doesn’t it? And if they say that they are only catering to the what the people want, then that says a lot about the people, doesn’t it? Shallow and superficial.
You gotta make more commercially acceptable films that can make people think. It doesn’t have to be the opposite extremes.
There’s the false dichotomy at work there — the flawed notion that a high-quality work of art cannot also be a commercial success.
Aaaand your last paragraph says a lot about you, especially the emerging fact that you don’t even watch films from Cinemalaya or Cinema One.
If you do, you’d know that some of them are commercially-viable and not “intellectual” at all. These films are just not given the chance by major studios AND mall chains. Once again, politics.
Please do yourself a favor and educate yourself so your next articles about Philippine Cinema will have some measure of authority. “A consumer’s viewpoint” is not an excuse. You have a mission statement in this site. Panindigan niyo.
I hope Benigno does the same. I get that he’s goading the trolls by playing the jerk but, with little exposure to Philippine Cinema, well…sad to say, he’s just being a plain jerk.
Okay? Nood kayo ha. We’ll be waiting for you. 🙂
Precisely the point I make. You guys are the insiders and therefore are in the better position to push change. We’re outsiders and only comment on what we see. That said, the customer has spoken — and it is not a pretty message for you guys obviously. The solution is a complicated one. But we’re on the same side, you see — just different industries. We are a small blog up against Media behemoths that are force-feeding drivel into the gaping mouths of the Pinoy masa. You are small “indie” film makers with quality on your side but lacking in industry political clout and jolog-appeal.
Obviously you and your peers need to get a bit more creative with the way you step up to challenge Goliath. You need to find yourself and get in bed with the equivalent of a Miramax to channel your work into the mainstream. Your disdain for “jerks” is an obvious hindrance to getting that fire into the way you push your work to a wider audience. The Weinstein brothers certainly aren’t the non-jerks you seem to prefer to consort with.
If we apply what you suggest to our line of work, that will be tantamount to appealing to our readers to “educate” themselves in the detail of the politics we analyse here so that they can better “appreciate” the work we do. That won’t fly of course. We need to take it upon ourselves to both analyse the politics and deliver it in a more intuitive form that can be digested by our readers.
@Jerrold
I didn’t say they are all “intellectual”. Someone referred to them as such. I just repeated it.
You answer this question then: why do you think the major studios don’t give them a chance?
You should be able to answer that one. If you blame them for not getting any attention, then you should accept that there is something wrong with our culture.
@Ilda (and I suppose this applies to Benigno as well)
Read carefully:
I’ve long accepted the fact that something’s wrong with Filipino culture. I’ve never denied that. This acceptance is even evident in the cynicism of some of my screenplays. But that’s also the exact reason why some of us directors have chosen to work in BOTH mainstream and indie circles. We’re trying to change things bit by bit in our own ways. It’s not easy and it won’t come fast. If you’ve seen indie films and some notable mainstream works by our local directors, you’d KNOW that there have been some improvements amidst the sludge.
The major studios don’t always give intelligent, commercially viable films a chance because, much like local politics, they have institutionalized views on what passes for entertainment and audience taste.
A film is only as smart as its producer, not its director. And a smart film’s chances in the cinemas is only as large as its marketing campaign’s reach (exactly why even lousy films get big audiences).
That’s as far as I’m willing to explain at this point.
All I’ve been saying is that you CANNOT generalize about things you know little about, especially in your position as a writer. It’s plainly irresponsible. You’re taking the side of the fed up consumer, fine. You distance yourself from the masa. Fine again.
But you’re also a writer who’s supposedly intelligent and open-minded. Hence, it’s your responsibility to know what else is out there besides the obvious. It’s your responsibility as a writer not to make sweeping conclusions when you don’t have all the facts. The worst excuse is to say you’ll only watch films that you’re paid to watch or those that you’re interested in. That may be true. But then DON’T write articles like this. It’s naive and reveals how narrow your viewpoint is.
It’s always your article we return to.
@Jerrold
Thanks for taking the time to explain things. But you gotta accept where we are coming from. The general impression of people is this: most Pinoy films (that get more exposure) and the patrons of those films do not have substance. Some film-goers are tired of the same old formula in the local films. It’s as simple as that.
As an independent filmmaker, you say that your problem is not getting the right exposure. But in this age of books being self-publicized and shameless self-promotion (lady Gaga), you now have the ability to create your own buzz so people will start talking about your film and others wanting to see them. Who needs all this film execs when you can promote your film yourself? All you need is to get the information out there because I am telling you, most people are lazy to research. They just want to follow what’s “in”. So you have to make it look like your film is the “in” thing so those who are just fond of riding band-wagons will ride on it.
I am not being irresponsible. I am helping you get noticed. It’s about time someone said something about the pathetic situation of our film industry. Some people need a wake-up call because most Filipinos are not used to criticism. Criticism should help people improve their craft.
If you are, then that says a lot about your taste. And since I don’t share your preference in films, what makes you think I will like the other films that you’d recommend? — this made me raise my eyebrows. Let’s try to be nice and respect those who comment to our blogs 🙂
@Ilda
That’s where you’re logic of a good film fails. FYI highest-grossing films are most of the time not “intellectual”. The taste for films of the filipino audience is cultivated over time. When the television, the politicians, the church, and other institutions tell them that these crappy films are supposed to be “good” they will watch them. When all you hear on the television is about some Kris Aquino film, people are gonna think “oh, this must be a good film since its featured on the tv”. The reason that these crappy films you speak of are feature on the media is because of power relations. The good filipino films are left out is because most of the time filipinos won’t even check if the television is saying crap, or check out other ways to hear about other films.
@Brian:
That’s essentially the point of the article.
ARROGANT SON OF A *****
Tsk tsk…what’s the matter? Can’t handle the truth? 😉
Anyway, the movies stated in this article, from which the basis of being “unintellectual” was rooted, are basically mainstream movies. The point of the first guy was that it is an injustice to just generalize the Filipino Film Industry by looking at only a very constrained sample of movies.
You and independent film makers share the same sentiment: that these films don’t make us think. This was the exact same reason why film makers started doing their own movies, to break the formulaic system followed by most if not all mainstream movies.
Because of this, maybe the author should try watching our independent films. They are not profit-oriented, and are aimed at showing the “art” that is supposed part of every film.
Hahahahahaha. The Filipino masses do not need good movies because there is already enough drama in everyday news. #pseudosarcasm
mas maganda pa yung mga films noong ’90s at nung early 2000s… and honestly speaking,nakakasawa na talaga mukha ni Vic Sotto, pati ni Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. and totoo nga sabi nila, mga entries ngayon sa MMFF, parang di na pinag-isipan, i mean, what’s up with the title “Enteng ng Ina mo”?? seriously, parang nagmumura na, at yung panday nman puro nlang special effects. Mabuti sana kung mkatotohanan ung mga effects na yun.. kaso hindi eh….
@Envy1994
Instead of improving, it seems like it is deteriorating.
LOL This is so true. We watched Panday 2 and I have already captured its very essence. Last night I watched The Dark Knight for the fourth time and still haven’t completely understood half of it.
Or maybe you’re not into Christopher Nolan’s Batman films or you’re so dumb about it. 😛
my point is simple. before blanketing ALL Filipino films as stupid, immature or does not make us think, I challenge to watch a Cinemalaya movie. or a John Torres, Raya Martin, Khavn Dela Cruz movie. Or any of the poems we featured in our movie. kung nakuha mo siya sa isang panonood lang, bilib na ako sa iyo!!! but before dismissing ALL Filipino films, I suggest you start watching them first. not the ones you see in theaters, but those that are actually making waves internationally. MMFF is an easy target. but try Cinemalaya, Cinema One or Cinemalaya. or even a UP thesis film. try it. see if these films can actually match Christopher Nolan’s films.
Try nyo panoorin Buenas Noches, Espana. Tignan natin kung tawagin nyong “dumb” yon. Or baka naman kasi wala syang narrative kaya tatawagin nyong dumb?
The point of the author is most of Filipino films are stupid (take the present MMFF for example) but Ilda didn’t say that ALL of them. MOST of them.
So are you saying that all “gaya-gaya” Filipino films are good? That’s what the article is pointing. Most Filipinos watch “masa” films instead.
i actually am already reacting to what she wrote as her comment to mine. she is obviously branding everything as one. that is what makes her racist. branding all Filipino films as bad.
Tsk tsk. Obviously you guys don’t know the difference between (1) making a generalisation and (2) making an assertion about all the elements in a set.
For example, we can say that the Japanese are an industrious people. That is a generalisation — like “German engineering” and “Italian style” are also generalisations. But that does not mean all Japanese people are industrious, or that all Germans are great engineers, or that all Italians have a great sense of style.
It is the collective character of Philippine cinema we are making a commentary on here. And as far as we can see, every new Pinoy film made is very likely to be mediocre. That’s not to say that ALL of them will be mediocre. Only very likely — to the point that the money is on the next Pinoy film being the same rehashed piece crap that the typical Filipino movie tends to be.
Daido, her blog title says “Filipino films: they don’t make us think.” She means ALL.
Benigno, you can call it what you want, but Ilda’s article is one big–and questionable–generalization.
Benigno, you can call it what you want, but Ilda’s article is one big–and questionable–generalization. And as far as you can see? Ilda’s article shows that she doesn’t even make the effort to see the films. That’s just poor and irresponsible judgment.
“It is the collective character of Philippine cinema we are making a commentary on here.”
You can’t put a collective character on Philippine cinema without taking those produced outside studio outfits into consideration. Failure to do so amounts in a badly-researched assumption about the local film industry.
It’s as if you’re saying that what matters is what is being constantly shoved in the limelight. Not to mention a “typical” Filipino film is highly dependent on the films viewed by a person.
That’s the very nature of a collective character of a system. It is an emergent property aggregated from the individual behaviours of the elements that make up said system.
That collective character will, of course, be strongly determined by the properties of the majority of the elements that it incorporates — kind of like how in a democracy, the character of a society’s politicians reflect the people who voted them into office.
And, again, it’s like my Japanese example. Industriousness is a collective character of the Japanese people even if there are, in their midst, individual instances of underachievement. The fact that there are winos and bums in Japan does not significantly diminish the overall cultural character of Japan as an intense, hard-working, and excellence-focused society.
there are only 7 films in the MMFF, while there are 25 new films from cinemalaya, cinema one, and cinemanila. since the mid-00’s, independent films outnumber studio-produced films every year. how can the 7 MMFF films be the majority? and why is the blanket generalization of philippine cinema based on that?
@Juggernautsen
Exactly. I’m not saying all Hollywood films are excellent. They make crappy ones too. I’m just saying that they have filmmakers who inspire people to aspire for greatness.
Hollywood. I want you to scrape the bottom of the barrel about the issues and realities of film distribution and then milk it until it bleeds. 😀
Dear Ilda,
1. Do you think Hollywood films make us think?
2. Do you think Hollywood films don’t rip off Asian films, use Filipino talent?
3. Seriously, judging Filipino films based on the MMFF? It’s like judging the Philippine fashion industry by what’s available at Starmall.
4. These may not be “good films,” but you cannot say that our culture is not embedded in them. Maybe you cannot see beyond the cheesiness, the genre, the personalities, but these films are products of our time. You may not like the manner of delivery, but they say something.
5. If you’re really interested in making generalizations about the Philippine film industry, at least try to watch films outside the MMFF. It’s a big industry, and it is irresponsible to make judgments like that based on one week’s worth of movies.
See you at the movies,
Edgar
“These may not be “good films,†but you cannot say that our culture is not embedded in them.” Probably the best statement I’ve heard about Philippine cinema for a long time.
Judging the entire Philippine movie industry based on the MMFF alone. Wow.
If Ms. Ilda here starts watching movies from Cinemalaya or CinemaOne Originals (or any other films outside MMFF) then returns here to repeat her statement that the entire industry is indeed substandard, then that is the only time I’d be willing to listen to what she has to say. At least she has gained more credibility at that point.
I don’t buy excuses such as “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” Such excuse is only used by lazy people, those who only complain yet do not take the time to study and increase their knowledge regarding Philippine cinema.
@Will
When I said, “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them allâ€, I was referring to the Shake, Rattle and Roll sequels.
Obviously, I will only watch films that interest me. I don’t get paid to watch all the films in the cinema. If the film is about gay people for example, it’s not going to interest me because I am not gay (not that there is anything wrong with gay people).
i’m not an insect but i watch “A Bug’s Life.” nor am i a lesbian but i saw “Boys Don’t Cry.” i’m not a gangster, but i saw “Asiong Salonga.” your reasoning, for all your points, is quite flawed. and that’s what makes me sad. kung mahal mo talaga ang Pilipinas at sa iyong palagay ay may pag-asa pa ang Philippine Movies, sana may gawin ka about it.
i will pay for your FESTIVAL PASS para lang manood ka ng Cinemalaya. i’m sure i’ll be able to find people who will be willing to pay for your time just to watch Cinemalaya. magkano ka ba? i’m sure i’ll also be able to find people to pay you to watch Shake, Rattle and Roll 13.
@Alem
Well then, you have all the time to watch all these films. Good for you!
I don’t want to watch some films because I find some of them “malaswa” or done in bad taste. It’s as simple as that.
Saying that I have to watch shake, rattle and roll so I can prove to you that I love the Philippines is totally wrong.
I want the film industry to improve because I know we can do it. Those who are running the industry are just too lazy to do it because they are so used to getting praises. It’s high time somebody told them the truth.
Just hear us out, will you? Please go and see a film from Cinemalaya, Cinemanila and Cinema One. Then go write your article.
If you still think that Filipino films are still “shallow and superficial”, GTFO.
@PhilippineCinemaISGREAT: you’re a piece of work, aren’t you? “hey i want you to like this stuff or gtfo!”
is this how you persuade people?
are you stupid or something?
simple lang ang gusto kong patungkulan. sinasabi mong pangit ang SRR 13. e di mo pa naman pala napapanood. so ano tawag mo sa sarili mo? how can you judge something as bad if you haven’t seen it? why don’t you admit that? that you haven’t seen ENOUGH films to actually say and generalize this. manood ka muna bago ka humusga. ‘yan naman ang point ng karamihan sa mga tumututol sa iyong sinusulat dito.
BTW, it’s very prejudicial of you to judge all gay films as malawa. unless for you, all gays are malaswa.
@Alem
What makes you think I was referring to “gay” films?
Simple lang rin ang point ko. I don’t have to watch SRR 13 to know what I am talking about. If you think a film is good, then it doesn’t mean I will find it good.
Please refrain from repeating what you’ve said over and over. I hate repeating what I’ve said too.
@Ilda
Alem’s not repeating what he said over and over because he’s being redundant, he’s repeating what he said because you cannot get his point. And still, as your reply suggests, you still haven’t understood what most of us are saying.
“I will only watch films that interest me. I don’t get paid to watch all of the films in the cinema.”
– This only proves you article moot. Sure, you can always say that you’re taking the masa point of view, but that only speaks of your lack of ascendancy to even make such strong statements with such flimsy arguments to begin with.
The Philippine Cinema SHOULD NOT be summed up in a week-long festival. Please be sensitive and critical next time you post.
This article is worse than the industry you’re claiming to “not make us think”.
Ilda,
How can you judge a film without watching it? It’s one thing not to watch a film, it’s another to not watch a film and write about it as if you did.
And how can you say that the Shake Rattle & Roll movies are all the same? They’re done by different different directors, writers and actors from different decades. Surely, each film is different. In the same way that if you’ve seen one James Bond film, you haven’t seen them all.
You seem to have watched Clash of the Titans, yet are you a titan?
There’s nothing wrong with being a Philippine Cinema snob, but please don’t write about the industry as if you know better. Just keep your thoughts to yourself and leave the commentary to those who actually give a shit about the subject at hand.
I noticed you keep “defending” your precious Shake Rattle and Roll but so far haven’t provided us any basis for selling its good points across.
So tell me. What exactly in your opinion are, say, three good reasons why we should watch Shake Rattle and Roll. Reading reviews, for example, all I find are summaries and synopses of the movie and not an actual critical review (note that by “critical” I mean an analysis in both positive and negative aspects of the movie using a critical objectivity). Of course the reviews I’ve seen are all on mainstream media where the writers there are all part of the clique of inbred industry “commentators”.
So are you up to the challenge? Sige nga. Give us your pitch.
Here’s a good example of an actual opinion about SRAR and its implications to the MMFF as a whole:
(Full article here.)
Why would one watch a movie that is at its 13th sequel? Even the three prequels of the original Star Wars trilogy paled in comparison to the originals.
See, that’s what makes a salesman’s job hard — selling products that they don’t believe in. Rather than whining about why people don’t watch Shake, why don’t you step up and make a pitch — tell us why we should see it.
“When I said, ‘If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all,’ I was referring to the Shake, Rattle and Roll sequels.”
@Ilda
Yes. I was also referring to the Shake, Rattle and Roll sequels. 🙂
Indeed, I agree. These “films” indeed have Filipino culture “embedded” in them and they do “say something” about the culture they reflect.
As I said in a comment earlier, this may as well been just another week or even month of typical movie releases. But then this is no ordinary week, is it? It’s the “Metro Manila Film Festival” and, as such, it implies that we are here seeing a cross-section of the industry that can be reasonably construed as representative of the Philippine film industry.
So like it or not, there are judgments that can be made on the basis of what we see here.
Do you watch Pinoy independent films? Do you know how many indies were produced in 2011 compared to studio films? The MMFF’s handful of entries simply CANNOT be construed as representative of the film industry.
I’m sure Ilda doesn’t know who Jerrold Tarog is. No Googling.
But they CAN be construed because they are entries in the MMFF. Tough luck. It is a Film Festival organised under the name of the city that happens to be the CULTURAL CAPITAL of the Philippines.
Perhaps then have a word with your local Congressman and take up this little tragedy of yours with them.
Next time you have a “film festival” that is given the name of the capital city and made out to be the cultural event of the year, MAKE SURE you put in entries that represent the country’s best foot forward.
Life ain’t fair dude. Most people get only one shot at a job interview. If they don’t get the job, they can whine all they want about having “qualities” that the iterviewer failed to see. But that whining will be mere farting in the wind.
As the character of Sean Connery said in the excellent American film The Rock:
“Losers whine about doing their best, winners go home and f**k the Prom Queen.”
Benigno, so if we follow your reasoning, the Miss Universe pageant is representative of all the beautiful human females in the entire UNIVERSE? Or the World Series in US Major League Baseball actually involves the entire World?
I repeat: the MMFF DOES NOT represent the entire Philippine film industry. It only represents a small facet of studio filmmaking, as influenced by politics, economics, and other factors unseen by people like you.
You appear to be a smart individual, DUDE. But your reasoning and “life ain’t fair” argument is weak. Re-read Ilsa’s article then try watching indie films from Cinemalaya and Cinema One. Then tell me, honestly, who’s really fucking the prom queen.
As far as the public is concerned, the independent films don’t exist. And the major distributors are not the only ones to blame for that. The filmmakers have to find a way to make the public aware of their existence. A commenter made a valid point about this. He said the only indie films he saw are the ones that were heavily advertised:
Majority of the moviegoers are lazy to do their own research. You need to hand the information to them.
Yes. I agree with you there, benignO. Sadly, there are still people out there who judge something based on face value.
If you have the slight inkling of what the MMFF is, you’d know that the films there are, at best, representative only of MAINSTREAM Philippine cinema.
MMFF is not representative of the Philippine film industy, in the same way that Sundance is not representative of the American film industry, and Cannes is not representative of the world film industry.
Of course. The quality of the mainstream in an industry does represent the character of the society more than the eclectic minority of said industry. And that is the message of this article — for that matter, the message of the entirety of GRP.
The mainstream reflects the society. Given that the mainstream sucks (to compare the Philippine mainstream film industry with that of Hollywood — America’s mainstream counterpart) is still an exercise in comparing Apples to to Durians.
We can whine all we want about the existence of an infinitessimal number of “good” Pinoy films. But ultimately we will be judged by what is readily evident.
The mediocre mainstream of Pinoy film overwhelms the minority “good” films by an order of magnitude far more vast than the way Hollywood films outnumber Sundance entries, just like the sad reality of how a country of 100 million can produce such such a tiny amount (if any) of world-class films that are actually recognised by international awarding bodies (or voted for at the box office by international audiences).
Tough luck. It’s called “the Philippines”. 😀
If you choose to believe that Kris Aquino horror films represent your society, you are free to do so. And if you do a little research, you’d find that there are more indie films produced locally, which makes what you call “the mainstream” the minority.
Money ultimately is the best score keeper, as Bill Gates suggested. The fact that a people who, on the average, cannot afford to buy an entire pack of cigarettes (and instead have to rely on the tingi trade) will fork out half a day’s wages to watch Ai Ai de las Alas and Vic Sotto behave like morons in living colour is where the rubber hits the pavement.
The argument you use is similar to this tired old rah-rah around the Philippines being the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. The more you emphasize it, the more you highlight what a big failure the Catholic Church actually is in the context of its self-proclaimed mission to turn their followers into “good” people.
Perhaps there are a lot of these nice “indie” films circulating around in a futile effort to find acceptance in a society that routinely fails to grasp even its most basic ironies. That then is the failure of Philippine Art — an abject failure at embedding itself into the psyche of Da Pinoy.
Nobody is “whining”. We are pointing out the irresponsibility of this article that makes absurd generalizations about Philippine cinema when it appears that she hasn’t even seen most of the entries and doesn’t even follow indie cinema. The title is irresponsible and the comment about the indies only being a valid entity if subscribed to by the “gaya-gaya” crowd are naive, at best.
Also, your smug, hipster-ish cynicism about “the Philippines” is already out-of-fashion, my friend.
It may be out of fashion, but the fact of the dysfunction of Pinoy society never will go out of style, my friend.
Wow, from the failures of “Philippine cinema” to the dysfunction of “Philippine society”.
Here’s a little exercise: Watch more films that are locally produced, and look at it in the local context. Or maybe you haven’t realized that what’s wrong with this article to begin with is the hasty judgment about Philippine cinema using Hollywood aesthetics.
That’s more uneducated than being spoonfed with “films that don’t make you think”. 😀
Philippine society has been dysfunctional since the Spaniards came. If your idea of dealing with it is being smug, self-satisfied and convinced of your own brilliance, then you’re part of the problem. Tough luck on the rest of us, indeed.
“If you choose to believe that Kris Aquino horror films represent your society, you are free to do so.”
It shouldn’t. THAT’S THE POINT.
“you’d find that there are more indie films produced locally, which makes what you call “the mainstream†the minority.”
This is like the iOS vs Android debate. Sure you have more Android phone manufacturers but at the end of the day who has the biggest slice of the smartphone market pie?
@Iida, benign0: perhaps an inclusion of MMFF 2011’s earnings at the end of the festival is needed to convince everyone what “mainstream” really means? A quick Google I did showed that Enteng grossed 91M after just 3 days. 😉
@Edgar
1. Not all Hollywood films make people think. But they have a lot more films that make people think compared to ours.
2. Of course there are Hollywood films that are based on some Asian or even European films. One of them is the film The Departed, which was a remake of the Hong Kong film Internal Affairs. Another one is the The Girl with a dragon Tattoo. But most of the films included in their film awards are original unlike Filipino films that are included in our film festivals. Obviously, the Panday franchise has been remade so many times already. I don’t get why it is still included in the film festival. There is something wrong with that picture. Pardon the pun.
2.1 When you said “use Filipino talent”, I’m sure you are talking about Filipinos who were either born in the US or those who are already migrants. I don’t really see the point why you had to mention this.
3.If your so-called Indie film is not included in the Manila Film Festival, our version of the “Oscars”, then that says a lot about your film – it’s probably not good enough and there’s something wrong with people who run the Philippine film industry. And more importantly, there is something wrong with the audience.
4. Well clearly, if our culture is embedded in the popular films like you said, one can be forgiven for concluding that our culture embraces mediocrity.
5. What makes you think I haven’t seen a film outside of the MMFF?
The Metro Manila Film Festival is not our version of the Oscars; the Luna Awards is.
Dear Ilda,
1. Hollywood has a lot more films, period. I’m sure you know how much bigger that industry is compared to ours. They also have immense production budgets in comparison to the local industry. So you shouldn’t argue as if there’s a level playing field, because there isn’t. It’s like saying there’s a lot more fish in the Pacific Ocean than in the South China Sea.
2. It gets included because the studio producing it decides to. Convincing big studios that Pinoys deserve better, more original fare is a gargantuan task. (Which is why there is a much more vibrant indie scene now.)
2.1. Because, Ilda, you bash “the Filipino people” so much, you fail to see that the industry isn’t as simple as your simplistic arguments.
3. The Oscars are not a film festival. To make that kind of judgment, you should watch the films nominated in the Urian, or at least the Luna awards.
3.1. The MMFF isn’t an award-giving body. It’s just a festival for the big studios, and they’re free to screen what they want–usually family-oriented fare to maximize profit. There are other festivals which base their selections on artistic merit, like the Cinemalaya and Cinema One festivals. You should watch those instead to know the film industry better.
3.2. It is simplistic to say that it is the audience’s fault that they are the cause of bad filmmaking.
4. No, that is not what I meant. What is embedded in these films are contemporary issues, the filmmakers’ (or studios’) ideological beliefs. Horror films like “Shake, Rattle and Roll” can point to actual social horrors. Fantasy films are mythicized narratives rooted in real issues. Rom-coms like “My House Husband,” for example, reflect a picket-fences white-feminist picture of gender so prevalent in middle-class society. Instead of dismissing these films as “mediocre” (and surely, many mainstream films are), perhaps it would be more productive to go beyond the technique and see, not what they purport to say, but what these films actually say.
5. Your article implies that you don’t really watch Philippine films. If you do watch outside MMFF, I’d be interested to know what you’ve seen. And more importantly, what new films (even non-Filipino) you believe to be “good films.” Then we wouldn’t be discussing in the abstract.
Dear Edgar
Hollywood being bigger is not a valid excuse for some Filipino filmmakers to keep making crappy films. If a filmmaker is really passionate about what he is doing, then he should be able to use his creativity to make a really good one. Hollywood didn’t start out with a big budget, they started out small too.
Since that is the case, the independent filmmakers should organise themselves and form a bigger organization so they don’t have to depend on the people currently running the film industry. Something has to be done. If you recognise there is a problem, then you need to do something about it.
I don’t just bash the Filipino culture just for the heck of it. My article has a valid point and a lot of people can see it.
Those are your words, not mine. I’ll repeat this comment of mine again:
As far as the public is concerned, the independent films don’t exist. And the major distributors are not the only ones to blame for that. The filmmakers have to find a way to make the public aware of their existence. A commenter made a valid point about this. He said the only indie films he saw are the ones that were heavily advertised:
Majority of the moviegoers are lazy to do their own research. You need to hand the information to them if you want them to watch you. If you think that you’ve already made the effort at exposing your films and the audience still prefers to watch the likes of Panday 2, then obviously they don’t have any substance.
“Manila Film Festival, our version of the “Oscars ”
I think one of my synapses broke. This is your “I can see Russia from my backyard!” moment Ilda. And no, don’t google that.
di ba, ang enlightened nila? muntik din akong mahulog sa upuan ko nu’ng nabasa ko ‘yun e. pero ayan, 14 hours later, andito pa rin ako. ginagawang misyon ang i-enlighten ang sinumang nais ma-enlighten sa site na ito.
btw, kilala ko ang nagsabing “i can see Russia from my backyard.” ‘yung orig na nagsabi pati na ‘yung nanggagaya sa orig na sobrang funny!
It may as well be. The Oscars are a big media event in the US. Its counterpart in the Philippines languishes in obscurity. You know why? Because good quality films have a bigger shot at being commercially lucrative in the US, far more than the prospects faced by supposedly “good quality” films in the Philippines.
That is why you have the MMFF and its pseudo-awarding process, and other more snobby award bodies which, unfortunately can only make a claim to fame via the old “we did our best” platitude. 😀
It may not be our Oscars but the people are forced to watch crappy films during the holiday season so it might as well be.
@working girl
Umm.. How so? If Luna Awards is the real “equivalent” of the Oscars for the Philippines then why isn’t there the same media mileage for it?
Second, I am your typical consumer, I know both of the MMFF and the Oscars yet I don’t know of the Luna Awards, why is that?
And after searching for just a quick bit in google, well, apparently, Luna Awards was not done for the past 2 years, and resurrected in 2011. I’m sorry, I haven’t heard of the Oscars suddenly stopping for a year or two. Have you?
Point is, when you win Oscars, you put in your posters to add hype and awe to the film. It works the same with MMFF awards right? Although, the sad state is, the movie is practically done after the MMFF as the monopoly of the local films in the cinemas are removed. So basically, it amounts to almost nothing winning the MMFF, but you get that small shot at prestige once you do win it, with enough time to have hype before the MMFF finishes, as such the same effect as the Oscars.
I know, the Luna Awards are done by the FAP, a local film academy which is the counterpart, but still, how come we don’t know that? Begs the question right?
I know for a fact that producers and distributors also “campaign” to get their movies nominated and well considered for an Oscar award. There’s also politics in the Oscars, but the fact that the Academy’s choice of awardees is still very much an anticipated and respected barometer of what is good speaks of the impeccable discretion they apply to selecting their awardees.
Indeed, as Mr Sphynx points out here, industry insiders can’t just go around whining about not being appreciated. You need to be savvy with the way you package your product and shrewd in the way you market it. The competition being big and tough is a convenient excuse. But that’s what separates the men from the boys. Little boys simply run aways screaming. Men, on the other hand, man up and face the challenge. (Nothing sexist intended, just using figures of speech).
Alam naman natin kung gano ka-bulok ang big studio system ng film industry. Kung gano sila ka-gago pagdating sa pag-swindle ng mga tao. Pero may mga filmmakers dito outside the studio system na sobrang naghihirap makabuo lang ng films that actually say something, that prods moviegoers to think, na mas makabuluhan pa kaysa sa pinagsama-samang releases ng Star Cinema.
Ang hasty lang ng generalization about our local film industry. If you really look around, the “underground” is spilling into the mainstream. Example na dyan yung “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank”. Kahit na flawed yung film, it had a lot to say about local films and not just the big studio productions.
Para sa last paragraph mo, punta ka sa video stores tapos bumili ka ng films from the previous golden age ng Philippine Cinema. Pwede din na mag-research ka, ang daming magagandang Filipino films from the past decade, lalo na yung mga small films that deserve a larger audience. Subukan mo panoorin yung films ni Lav Diaz, Raya Martin, Sherad Sanchez. Yon mapapaisip ka. Art kung art!
Feeling ko tamad lang siyang panuorin ‘yung iba. Kasi kung nagbubuhos siya ng panahon sa panonood ng gawang Khavn de la Cruz, Raymond Red, Lav Diaz, hindi niya mabibitawan ‘tong mga salitang ‘to.
Responsibilidad din natin bilang miyembro ng blogosphere na magbigay ng edukadong tugon sa mga isyung tulad nito. Apparently kapos sa research eh, saka hindi pinag-isipang mabuti ang pagbrand sa kakarampot na seleksyon ng mga pelikula bilang “national cinema”.
There is a big difference between blogging and ranting. Guess which one this is? And by the way, there’s a fine line between being an educated writer and an arrogant schmuck who doesn’t know how to respect other people’s taste.
What’s there to “respect” in other people’s “taste” if the best that said “taste” can come up with is the typical Pinoy movie?
Okay. typical kung typical. Pero wala kayong karapatang gumawa ng article na ganito kung hindi ka pa naman nakapapanood ng maraming pelikulang Pilipino. The title generalizes the article diba? Then maka-explain ka ng generalizing dyan, eh yun naman talaga ang ginagawa niyo. Ms. Ilda made use of Filipino “films”, so it means she’s referring to all Filipino films. And making a comment just looking at the entries? What, are you dumb? She also said na ALL filipino films are bad, without even knowing much on the topic. And she proceeded to say that indie films are just as bad, simply because no mainstream producer would take them. Hindi naman dahilan yun para mag-dikta ng quality. Kaya nga indie diba, independent, so self-produced, self-marketed, pero kailangan pa rin ng studio na mag-pipick up nun for distribution. And some indie movies tackle topics that major producers think that is not bankable. Because these major film studios think with profit in mind, they will not consider the quality anymore for they just want to make money. They will not tackle a film about sex, drugs and society for it’s not their taste. They will only pick-up indie films if they think they can generate money from it, like Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, which is picked-up by Star Cinema.
Gumawa ka nga article ng hindi man lang halos nag-research? Really? Yung facts na ginamit niya eh yung common na diba, so dapat nag-research pa sya. We have the power to change the world with our words, so sana nilakipan niya ito ng tamang research kasi gusto mong i-educate ang society pero kung yung article mo naman ay senseless, lalo mo lang pinalalala yung kondisyon ng society. Okay thank you
That’s life. Money is ultimately the best scorekeeper and lots of projects with noble causes get buried by investors who flock to easy-money investments. We reap what we sow. The Philippines is a free-market economy and the freedom you enjoy also has a way of coming back to bite.
What does this mean? Simple. You need to become commercially creative as well and comepete. Whether you like it or not, the only way to grab an audience in the Philippines is to play in the same field as where the big boys play. If you think your products are under-appreciated in the domestic market, go for the foreign market. Oh yeah, I forgot — Filipino products in general have a very flaccid track record of competing in global markets. Hey look, a generalisation. 😀
What makes you think that there are good films out there? Just because you like them doesn’t mean they are good. And if there are good films out there, why aren’t they getting picked up by the distributors? Your answer can lead you to the same conclusion as the article: that most Filipinos lack substance.
that’s why we’re asking you guys to watch. pero ayaw n’yo naman. mas gusto n’yong mag-wallow sa inyong self-righteous mode na tama ako at pangit lahat ng mga Filipino films. period. ni ayaw n’yo mang mag-research nang kaunti about it. what’s 2 hours of your life? this is already a number of us telling you that they are good. and i can list a good number of websites and reviews, both locally and internationally saying they are good. pero, bakit natatakot kayong manood?
Okay hello, Ms. Ilda. Yes, there may be good films but then we can’t help but whine for producers will choose a bankable movie than a good one.We all know that the whole industry revolves around money, but then we can change it. And yes, you are correct in saying that most Filipino films lack substance. I encourage you to watch indie films for they are the ones that are good, as reviews say so. Saka tama si Alem. You should not be afraid to watch so you will know.
Good job making a commentary “just looking at the list of entries.”
Word. LOL
I love that your randomly generated icon looks like a giant middle finger. Sweet.
@all-you-butthurts-out-there, especially edgar allan paule:
if you’re a filmmaker, indie or otherwise, and your entire industry’s reputation is marred by the key players’ formulaic, unimaginative, at times ripped-off output, do you blame those who actually perceive it as it is or do you blame your peers for making your work look like a waste of good money before it ever gets played in theatres? (for the politically correct, kindly replace the word “blame” with “hold responsible”)
if your product is actually good but you weren’t giving it good enough marketing (you know, the 4+1p’s: product, place, price, promotion, positioning, that sorta jazz), do you blame people for not getting interested in your product? do you blame consumers for not agreeing with the price of your product (because the risk is high that it’s gonna be a waste of good money and time they’ll never get back)? do you blame consumers for not finding your “good” work appealing enough to part ways with their money or their already limited time? do you blame people for thinking that they have better things to do than even consider your film? would you hate people for ignoring your theatrical trailers?
you have to factor in that your product might be good, but until people get interested enough to give up something else to watch it (like i said – in terms of money, or time doing something else or watching something else), which is basically what we call paying the price, your work is subject to the reputation the entertainment establishment has built for it. if you don’t see that reality, then you’ll really need to keep taking prozac.
but then, i don’t expect those who consider themselves highbrow filmmakers to understand how the marketing separates their work from every other work that competes with theirs. (fyi, “the harsh realities of local film distribution and unfair competition with major studios that often leave independent films at a great disadvantage” is STILL about marketing, and how you’re losing to the major studios.)
it’s so typical of pinoys to go butthurt that they go out screaming “huwag nyo naman lahatin!” it’s one thing to be earn recognition, it’s quite another to beg for it, and da pinoy seems to be quite the expert at doing the latter.
stop being crybabies. especially you, edgar.
sadly your opinion just points out that cinema can’t be of the masses because you’re talking about it from its economic perspective.
and don’t say that highbrow filmmakers don’t know how to understanding the marketing of their work–if you don’t know that its actually part of the production process. the harsh realities of local distribution is about marketing, yes, but it’s also about the proper distribution of intellectual property rights and resources–which if you know, doesn’t really happen in the philippine “entertainment industry”
so much for your highly educated comment
exactly, my dear watson! “the proper distribution of intellectual property rights and resources–which if you know, doesn’t really happen in the philippine entertainment industry” is among the things you can attribute the problems filmmakers, small ones specifically, are facing.
does da pinoy consumer give a hoot? no.
that’s the problem.
smart consumers won’t give the kind of garbage we’re served by the big outfits any chance to prosper (like the way chowking couldn’t succeed in binondo).
sadly, our society isn’t made up of such smart consumers.
i do get your point.
“smart consumers won’t give the kind of garbage we’re served by the big outfits any chance to prosper” –> we’re talking about taking down oligarchies here :))
do you know how many killings have happened just by attempting to fight these outfits? :))
Congratulations, I finally found it. Let me just say that it’s very easy for people who only have an vague idea about how things are run, like political pundits on American TV, to be suddenly in the know about such when these things become trends.
Most of my arguments regarding marketing, the independent filmmaker, and the mainstream producers who equate money with dumb flicks are in my first reply to this article. Please find the time to read them, unless you consider every argument that opposes this article a waste of time.
I’m tired arguing. Bash this all you want, because I can see we won’t respect each other’s side of the argument anyway. Good night and never darken my door again.
I clap at you Mr. Parallax! This, and Alber Wesker’s reply in the latter part of the thread should actually close the debate.
When I was reading the article, all I thought of was the multitudes of shake rattle and rolls, chick flicks with titles borrowed from cheesy love songs and Joyce Jimenez. indie films never really crossed my mind until the indie filmgoers began commenting.
To prove Parallax’s point, I’m what you would call an average/casual moviegoer. I go and visit the cinema when I want to unwind or if I have nothing else to do. I’ve had my share of watching indie films (does Kubrador count?) but most of the time, what I get to watch are the ones which are heavily advertised i.e. via movie banners or pre-movie trailers and are shown within the vicinity I’m in. I don’t even know where they screen the Cinemalaya films though I’d love to see those movies should I have the time to do so.
Not only indie filmgoers, but also indie filmmakers, are the ones who keep posting here. Perhaps you can see where all these began 🙂 And here goes a recap of everything that has transpired.
The article wasn’t written with indie cinema in mind. That didn’t concern us at all in the least, because most of the indie circle also believe in what the article said about the lack of ingenuity of mainstream movies. However, the article proceeded to rate ALL Filipino films as unintelligent – and of course, indie is automatically included, because even though it might not have been mentioned at all, it is still part of Philippine cinema, right?
Next. (Now this is a part that might be very hard to explain. I hope not.) Representatives of the indie scene started popping and saying, “May maganda naman sa indie ah! And since part ng Philippine cinema ang indie, hindi pangit lahat ng pelikulang Pinoy!” Now we would have been satisfied with a simple “oo nga ano, pasensya na kayo. tungkol lang ito sa mainstream, ladies and gents” from the author. But she proceeded to say that indie films are just as bad, simply because no mainstream producer would take them. As if being picked by greedy corporates is the reason for a film’s quality! You have to know that the term “indie film” means that a production is not made by a studio or other mainstream producers. Baka kasi may assumption kayo na indie = poverty, gay, porn, etc. Kaya lang naman naging ganun kasi walang mainstream producer na tatalakay sa mga topic na yan.
And that is where the “rage” began. Hindi rin naman naawat ng author at ibang readers yung “rage” dahil hindi nagrasp ng ibang readers yung point ng mga nasa side ng indie. Ikaw ba naman, na gagawa ng pelikula sa sarili mong budget, at ipapalabas mo sa mga sinehan tapos walang masyadong manonood dahil mababa nga ang market, tapos biglang makakabasa ka ng post na “lahat ng Pinoy film nakakabobo”… you can see where the “rage” is coming from now?
Hindi rin nakakatulong dahil may mga trolls on both sides of the coin. Now biased siguro ako sa susunod na statement, pero mas justified yung pagiging troll ng nasa indie side. Bakit? For the reasons stated above.
Sana nakatulong ang post na ito. Sana rin ay manatiling bukas ang isip nating lahat. Maaari nating ibalik ang ideal na pelikulang Pilipino, kung kikilos tayong lahat. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
@Sinestro
WRONG interpretation. Please read my previous comments again. You are putting words into my mouth.
to Parallax:
uulitin ko sa iyo ang tanong ko sa author ng blog na ito: 1) napanood mo ba ang shake, rattle and roll 13? 2) may napanood ka na bang pelikula sa Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals at Cinemanila. at dagdag ko pang tanong: 3) magtala ka nga ng 10 pelikulang Pinoy na napanood mo sa nakaraang dekada para masabing Filipino films don’t make us think.
ngayon tungkol sa opinyon mo tungkol sa marketing. nandiyan na tayo. walang marketing machinery ang indie films para i-promote nang mabuti ang pelikula namin. tama ka riyan. marahil, hindi kami creative enough to find ways and means to promote our films. baka rin nga masyado kaming high brow. baka nga. pero haka-haka lang lahat ‘yan di ba? kaya mo bang i-substantiate ang mga ito? so babalik ako sa tanong na, may napanood ka na ba sa mga ito?
marami sa amin ang nagsasabing maraming magagang pelikualang andiyan. available na sila sa DVD sa mga record stores. pwede ka naming bigyan ng mahabang listahan. ang tanong ko ngayon, bibili ka ba. eto na, may nagsasabi na sa iyong maganda siya. tiyak na di mo pagsisisihan. mae-enlighten ka na, mae-entertain ka pa. at mapapaisip ka pa. ‘yan naman ang point ng buong article, di ba? o papatulan mo ba?
at, makikita ka na ba namin sa Cinemalaya sa July?
o maninindigan ka pa rin na bobo kaming indie filmmakers sa pag-promote ng film namin. na malamang ay pangit ang film namin dahil walang tumatangkilik sa aming mainstream studios at kung anupamang maisip ninyong rason. at masyado kaming high brow (na medyo taliwas ngayon sa sinasabi ng artikulong Filipino films don’t make us think).
ang punto ko ay simple lang. manood muna kayo. saka n’yo husghan. maging enlightened sana tayo sa mga comment natin.
o ano, kakasa ka ba?
Dear Parallax,
First, my butt doesn’t hurt and in the first place, I’m not the one whining that “Filipino films don’t make us think.”
An industry isn’t just films, it’s also people. Do you know that most of the people from the indies used to work in the mainstream? Surely, even from your “marketing” POV, there’s something to be said about that.
The point is, there are so many films produced outside the mainstream circuit, so many films that do not try to be formulaic and are actually worth watching. And it’s unfair for a reviewer to make generalizations about an industry as if she were some kind od pundit, when in fact she only judges from looking at a list of movie titles.
And what is with you people who love to make statements about “da Pinoy”? We’re not a homogeneous people! Your limited social network is not “the Filipino people”!
@alem: since when has anyone actually willingly subjected himself/herself to your pop quizzes? ilda has held her ground for the reasons already stated, and that stands alone. fair’s fair.
if filipino indie films have the quality but aren’t getting enough draw, it’s not because indie filmmakers are lousy marketers. i must explain to you: marketing isn’t just making promotions, making shameless plugs, having ads on trad+non-trad media, etc. (sorry if this sounds like a lecture; i don’t mean to) marketing involves everything that could be influenced to get a target to act a certain way or do something specific. how you price your product may or may not attract me. where you sell it might be more visible or less visible to me, depending on where i actually spend my time. the endorsers you use will either grab my attention or turn me off. how you get my attention will either make me skeptical (by being shown an ad) or make me consider (by being given great feedback by at least 2 friends who aren’t connected with each other). it’s a combination of factors that all have to be swung in your favor, all with the goal of CONVINCING people to go check your product out. fail at the marketing (which isn’t all about spending money to promote) and you end up with a possibly great film no one hears about.
thus, your failure to get me to part with my money, externally brought about or not, has nothing to do with how good your product is. (this applies to the mmff in the sense that their commercial success doesn’t give us any indication that they’re actually any good. they’re popular, but that doesn’t mean they’re any good. i think you understand that.)
now do you understand that i’m not calling you bobo sa marketing or anything of the sort? getting people to populate the theatres is the challenge. and if your films are good, and they may be if they’ve got people like you who are so passionate about them, then don’t beg people to see them.
this post never seemed to be meant to disparage the good works. if anything, it revealed quite vividly that for something worth fighting for, indie films remain obscure. that is the challenge facing you davids.
get me?
I get you, Parallax. 😉
@ilda:
these people don’t get it that whatever good thing you have to offer the world, you can’t hate the world if nobody buys it. that’s just immature.
and what’s even more immature is begging or forcing people to like it. they really have no understanding of the consumer buying process or any other mechanism of persuasion. all they do is insist, insist, insist. like that’s gonna work.
this flood of overreaction is truly odd in the sense that if rizal criticized filipinos for our social ills (which are still here long after he’s gone), i don’t hate rizal or flame rizal even if i’m among “filipinos” used as an umbrella term. i get that it’s not about me, so i don’t overreact.
@edgar: the criticisms weren’t aimed at the worthwhile indie films you are so passionate about. once and for all, stick that into your mind and remember (because i got it, and i don’t think you’re incapable of getting it too) from here on.
if anyone did whine it was those of you who couldn’t step back for a moment and fully comprehend that you’re not being attacked. and for whatever reasons indie films are so obscure in the philippines, don’t lash out at anyone who isn’t making fun of them in the first place. they’re obscure, so deal with it.
it’s too easy to bark at the wrong tree, and many of you people did it big time. (hats off to alem for being able to leave some proper comments, unlike the lot of you.)
about statements on “da pinoy”, you’ll want to read a lot more of the posts here to appreciate what that really means.
yes. that icon – it’s tumescent. a picture of you.
O sige na, ikaw (kayo) na ang magaling, so anong solusyon mo?! Mag-rant nang mag-rant sa blog site mo?! Bukod sa dakdak sana may aksyon din.
O nega ka lang talaga sa Pilipinas. E di umalis ka na lang dito. Problem solved!!!
Kung ayaw mo matuto e di magsawa ka sa kondisyon ng bansa natin.
O magsawa ka sa state ng ating film industry.
anong aral ang mapupulot ko sa article niya?! maging mulat sa katotohanan?!
Tono mo parang masamang mamulat sa katotohanan.
btw, sarcastic nga pala ang tono ng comment ko.
sorry sa hindi naka-gets. –> sarcastic ulit ito.
siguro naman, matagal na tayong mulat sa katotohanang pangit ang maraming pelikulang Pilipino, kahit ‘yung mga lumalabas sa MMFF, di ba? pero more than being MULAT, e may ginagawa ba kayo? ‘yan ang hamon ko. pagkatapos maging mulat, e ano na ngayon? may ginagawa ba kayo?
@alem
well, anu ba gusto mo gawin ng non-industry persons? We aren’t film makers, producers, actors and the like…
I can not recommend something if I myself do not have a positive notion on that object and therefore I cannot support it.
Btw, I am pertaining to mainstream as I am not that aware or exposed to “indie”.
I speak mainly of mainstream because it has the most means and ways to reach a broader audience like myself. As such, I am turned off and have no particular desire to watch local mainstream, be it big or small screen.
I am also the type that does not watch indie films, local or foreign, as I am not a “film buff” but I know what I want to watch.
I guess that can sum up what I am and how I really am bothered by the questions of “e ikaw, ano nagawa mo para makatulong?” It serves no purpose as most are part of target audience whose only purpose it watch or not.
ikaw, may napanood kang pelikula from Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals or Cinemanila? kami, mulat na kami, kaya gumagawa kami ng paraan para mabago ang sistema. kung itatalak n’yo lang ‘yan at wala namang ginagawa, then bahagi kayo ng sistemang namumulok. kami, ayaw namin sa ganyang sistema kaya kami mismo ang gumagawa ng paraan. this is not about indulging in the status quo. it is also not enough for us to comment about the status quo. we actually do something about it. ikaw, i dare you. watch a Cinemalaya film in July. then see if why all of a sudden, marami ngayon ang nagre-react sa sinulat ng blogger na ito.
Thanks for the invitation but no thanks because I will come into the Cinemalaya and the audience will beat me to a pulp or something.
Seriously speaking, what benign0 is talking about is the majority is embracing mediocrity through mediocre Pinoy films. I don’t count indie films as one since you’re one of the silent few. The masa is to blame BTW.
Haha Daido, we don’t bite–
Let’s stop talking about Filipino films being mediocre because they’re rip-offs of Hollywood. That just shows that our aesthetics are Westernized. Yun nga, watch more and learn more! ‘Wag lang selective. :))
That the effect of dumb flips like you who are watching too much telenovelas.
o-ok na ako. kahit walang connection sa usapan ang reply mo.
You’re seriously making commentary on national cinema just because of one “prestigious” film festival? -slow claps-
Kasi ang MMFF ang pinaka mas patok. Just plain and simple.
Di siya excuse. Napaka-kapitalista naman ng dahilan na “patok” kaya siya naging “national cinema”.
I disagree that national cinema is plain and simple. You should never look at the local film industry on a familiarity/popularity basis kasi that would mean ang gumagawa lang ng pelikula ay mga production outfits tulad ng Regal, Star Cinema, etc. Sila lang kasi ang may kakayahang mag-publicize at magbayad ng mga nagmamahalang talent fee.
Madaming films na taliwas sa formula ng “commercial Filipino film” na di nabibigyan ng recognition kahit ang karamihan sa kanila ay sumusubok sa intellect at ma-a-appreciate ng mga tao.
For instance, the rights to the distribution of “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank” were taken by Star Cinema. Hit siya sa “masa” kasi comedic siya, and as any businessman would think it’s highly profitable. Pero meron din namang bahagi ng Filipino community na nakakakita doon sa commentary nito about the state of the Filipino industry.
But no one publicizes it as a “commentary on the state of Filipino cinema”, instead it is released as “another funny Eugene Domingo film”. And that’s expected to rake in millions.
Where is Susan Hayward when you need her? Haha.
Ilda,
Try watching Insiang, Batch 81 and other Lino Brocka or Ishmael Bernal films and maybe you can develop better appreciation of Filipino films. You have to delve deeper in terms of research before you generalize.
To the haters, let’s instead celebrate the efforts of indie film makers and not be merely pessimists. We can only criticize if we’re actually playing a role to make things better.
Only Filipino Indie films are good. BTW, it was disregarded by the majority, mostly the “masa’.
Another gross generalisation tbqh.
@working girl: and your gross generalization is different why?
hindi lahat ng indie film maganda. the same way na hindi lahat Filipino film pangit. ‘yan ang generalization.
@Parallax: When and where in this comment thread did I generalise? I wasn’t the one who wrote “Only Filipino Indie films are good.”
Also, Daido and Ilda, if you guys can sweep that wide, CDO needs more clean-up volunteers. Go make yourself useful.
@working girl: that’s the pot calling the kettle black again.
seriously, indies weren’t under attack. geez.
Ilda is, of course, a **** American.
Like wow! Name calling will really help you get your point across. NOT!!!
This girl (if you are a girl) pretends to be smart…truth be told…she is just a ranting regular moron :))))))…my time was wasted reading her (his) crap hahahaha
And your use of name-calling and ad hominem makes you look smarter. Not!
Oh really? I don’t even want to live there.
The way you write and generalize Filipinos really sounds like you hate being and living here. Get real Philippines?! How real are you? Clearly you consider yourselves to be the elite by using terms like Thinking class, what you want is a culture based on your own taste (and from the way you compare hollywood and filipino prductions) is sadly american and western. I feel sad that a website such as yours is run by middle class people who have no insight and clear understanding of what the hell they are talking about. There’s always a disclaimer about their writing being an “outsider’s” point of view. You could have been more specific with your arguments and facts but because like every other spoiled middle class lazy kid out there with a blog :you chose to generalize a whole industry where you do not have a bit of insight ( and by the way, being a “writer” is you best defense I suppose) on how it works and what happens behind the scenes. Did you know that a Filipino film won Top honors in The Busan Film festival this year? If no please do more research on shit you write about (unless website hits are what you’re after you can still continue on this path of self righteous ranting) If yes, then congratulation you have just contradicted yourself. But from reading your post and your replies it seems that you are a nobody who just happens to have a computer a modem, and really american way of trying “change” all things filipino. The thing about culture my friend is that you are born into it whether you like it or not. You want change so that it would suit your taste but sad thing is: It’s not and was never about you. You just try to be a voice but the truth is you are lower than a whimper. Sayang ang pangalan ng blog niyo Ilda. You could’ve been progressive but chose the safe way and just stick writing half assed articles with little insight and just show up as rants made by a highschool kid.
The proof of Filipino greatness (and perhaps its film industry) lies in stronger evidence of collective greatness — certainly such that goes beyond the citing of rare exceptional instances scuh as a “Filipino film” that “won Top honors in The Busan Film festival this year”. For every one of those, there will be mountains of evidence that point to a contrary picture — that of the bleak profile of mediocrity that is readily evident to much of the world.
Indeed, if all this are no more than voices that are “lower than a whimper”, then it is very telling that many such as yourself would give us the time of day. And that, dude, is where we get a lot of validation that what we say is, in fact, a truth that many Pinoys find difficult to swallow. 😀
The fallacy in your argument arises from the fact that storytelling narrative, character, design, and genre are recycled continuously throughout the history of world cinema. To label this phenomenon as something uniquely “Filipino”, is quite ignorant.
Take your example of the “Kraken rip-off” for instance. While the design was absolutely an allusion to the 2010 film “Clash of the Titans”, that design itself was an allusion to the design of Ray Harryhausen in the 1981 film “Clash of the Titans”. Harryhausen on the other hand, borrowed the Kraken from Icelandic myths, which in turn was inspired by early man’s encounters with cephalopods.
What you term “rehashed” is actually the means for which storytelling archetypes in narrative continues to thrive and circulate in culture. I have spent many years studying the evolution of cinema and what I’ve come to learn is that filmmakers will always borrow and copy something from some film they’ve seen… be it a design, a camera angle, an editing point. All the great director have done it, wittingly or unwittingly. And as a critic, you should not penalize films for attempting this. This is the manner in which filmmakers grow and learn to gain confidence in themselves as artists, and it is, in its very nature, the essence of evolving literary culture.
I would have much rather you focused your article on whether or not any of these films connected with you as a filmgoer.
Very well said Ivan. Ilda, take note of that.
riiiight. allusion as euphemism for rip-off? nice try. galing nyo ivan and ryan! pinoy talaga kayo!!!
da pinoy originality: the art of hiding your source.
Actually, I’m the author of a webseries on youtube called “Premakes”. Check it out. In it, I deconstruct some very important films in Hollywood history and show you how blatantly people “rip-off” design, characters and all sorts of archetypes. And that point that I am trying to make is that it isn’t uniquely Filipino.
@Ivan
I get what you are trying to say. I think it was the blatant copying of the other film that is the issue and being a bad copycat. I even wrote about the concept you are trying to say in my previous article about plagiarism. Here are some excerpts:
Read the full article here.
Actually, Hollywood was built on ripoffs. From appropriating ideas and stories to appropriating people and markets. So if you study history, it’s actually not a very Pinoy thing. And because our political relations remain subservient to US interests, it reflects in our culture.
That highlights an even BIGGER tragedy — that even in being copycats, Pinoys suck. 😀 Microsoft also built profits on ripping off other people’s ideas. But then, as its founder say, money is ultimately the best scorekeeper. Just like the way Pinoys like to keep emphasizing that they are such a “blessed” people. And yet they are among the most wretchedly impoverished society on the face of the planet. 😀
That is a very strong statement that I do not totally agree with.
In any case, some people are good at copying and some people are bad at copying. Guess where most Filipino film makers belong?
That may be true, Mr Ivan, if evaluating that copying and rehashing is done at the elemental level rather than the overall composite work itself as a whole. It’s related to the concept of a work of art as being more than the sum of its parts. A collage is as legitimate a work of art as a piece made up entirely of elements constructed from scratch. But there are good collages and bad collages. And in the case of Pinoy cinema, we mostly see the bad ones — even ones where the parts themselves are greater than the sum total of the overall work to which it belongs (usually those are the movies where all the good parts can be squeezed into its 1-minute trailer).
As good or bad as these collages may appear to be, 30 years from now a young Filipino film student may produce a film about a sea monster-like creature, which was partially influenced by a Filipino film he saw as child. In so doing, re-invigorates the “Kraken” mythology for future audiences. I cannot find fault in that. That’s how culture functions sometimes. And as long as it does not impinge on the intellectual property rights of others, it shouldn’t be viewed as something necessarily wrong. That’s how many filmmakers learn. They learn from others.
As per your idea of elemental vs whole concept for art, how would you explain something like Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Can” painting vs an actual can of Campbell Soup? It should not matter how much or little is rehashed/copied, as long as it is purposed or re-purposed for the intention of the artist.
The case of whether or not a movie is “bad” should lie upon a film’s ability to find an audience for itself.
next time kasi teh, magresearch ka muna bago ka magsulat ha! mapa-blog man o hindi.
ikaw ang nakakabobo e.
next time basahing mabuti ang article bago mag react. da pinoy talaga emo bago makaintindi. ang hindi nagbabasa, nabobobo talaga.
and use some iodized salt, okay?
Pakisabi na lang kay Ilda, Next time, panoorin niya muna yung mga pelikula bago siya magreact. Hindi lang batay sa sinabi ng kakarampot na iba.
Ang hindi nanonood, walang karapatang mag critique!!!
@pac: you do realize that the way you’re voicing out your angst only makes the mainstream moviemakers (who are the ones mostly making money out of creating crap, while brilliant indie filmmakers are hung out to dry by being drowned out from public view) happy to see you hysterically barking at the wrong tree.
many readers, myself included, who aren’t too attached to the indie films COMPREHEND what this article means, and you only need to calm down, step back, and find the proper appreciation for where the author is coming from (with the exact same open mind you have in embracing indie films).
@Parallax
Paki sabi na lang kay Pac na basahin ulit yung article kasi na miss nya yung point. Thanks.
Sorry, but I can’t get past the fact that this faux-critique was written by someone who didn’t even watch any of this year’s films.
“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all†is a classic example of sweeping/hasty generalization. Sayang. Ilda’s intentions seem to be well-placed, but the way she presented her ideas definitely need improvement.
BTW, I’m no film buff, but I am pretty sure films like Insiang, Batch 81 and other classics weren’t even considered Indie in their time. I believe these are good examples of mainstream films that, in the poster’s words, “made people think.”
That’s looking way back. Perhaps, indeed, there were some nice ones back then. Personally, I thought Oro Plata Mata was an excellent film.
But see, this is 2011 — not the 1980’s. The way things are going, it seems progress in the Philippine film industry is stuck in Reverse gear. 😀
Aaaaand…you’re not helping 😀
I mean, talk about retrograde. Wow.
The article didn’t really offer any parameters on Pinoy films, so I felt “past” films should still be considered. Ilda also didn’t really talk about whether things were “moving forward” or “moving backward.” It seems she’s convinced things are just crap with nary a hint or glance at the progressions (no matter how miniscule they may seem) of the industry she is targeting.
Again, good intentions wrapped in not-so-good execution. Sayang.
Your comment is very vague, which makes it useless. Try to be specific next time. 😉
Ms Ilda, let me help. What he’s saying is you have a point, but you haven’t constructed your essay well.
Your objectivity is under attack because you haven’t really seen the movies you’re bashing. You really should admit as much. 🙂
If there’s something to be faulted from all your haters, it’s mistaking a simple blog post/rant for an objective critique.
Please do attend some creative writing classes, which will help you express your ideas the way you intend to be understood.
Good luck and keep writing! 🙂
I can’t get past the fact that you still don’t get the point of the article.
Just because I didn’t watch Shake, Rattle and Roll doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am talking about.
I get that you’re entitled to your opinion, and, to a certain extent, your point about many Pinoy films being substandard is valid, but it’s the way you discussed this point (chiefly using films from the current MMFF — films you haven’t seen — as representative of the industry, and having no direct reference to some films that run counter to your assertion) that seemed faulty.
“Just because I didn’t watch Shake, Rattle and Roll doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am talking about.” – This a good example of what is faulty. The fact is you used SRR (amongst other MMFF films you didn’t bother to watch) to illustrate your generalization that Pinoy films don’t make us think. It would’ve been much more credible if you had used movies you’ve seen to strengthen your position. But you didn’t. It’s classic hasty generalization.
Better research would’ve made the post more reasonable.
I believe, however, that you will never admit to this basic mistake, so I hope we can just agree to disagree. Thanks and happy new year 🙂
@Enzo
You fail to see the beauty of it: even without watching SRR 13th, I was able to make an assessment, which a lot of people agree with, that the film does not have substance. Here’s a comment from a forum on Facebook:
If you want to see more feedback agreeing with my views, click on the link : Get Real Philippines
@ilda
where did your notion that SRR only showcased bad movies come from? :)) remember, just because something lacks in “substance”, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. what substance are you so desperate in looking for anyway that you dismiss all Filipino films lack substance?
see we can only define things with what they’re not. what is substance to you? what makes a film crappy?
try looking at your standards first, and then maybe we could talk about it properly, because this “substance” you’re trying to look for in films is quite vague. know what you’re asking for 🙂 and maybe these trolls might see.
If you read the article, then you should know what I meant by substance in films:
The kind that makes people think; they stir emotions or provoke people into doing something with their lives; the kind that inspires young people to aspire for greatness.
I know not all Hollywood films have substance but they have a lot that do. Even if you say there are Filipino films with substance, majority of the film-goers do not know they exist and I blame that partly on the lack of advertising by the filmmakers. Well of course not all of them have the funds to advertise but the Internet is not that expensive. They can use it to their advantage. They really shouldn’t be satisfied with just getting the nods from their handful of patrons.
you’re a nasty ***** *****, ilda. gtfo
Grabe naman ‘yung hatred mo ATE/KUYA :)))
He doesn’t have any substance, obviously.
For more brilliant insight on the appallingly mediocre nature of Pinoy cinema, check out an article I wrote (click here) a while back that is my own commentary on the Philippine film industry. 😀
Hi benign0, your article is interesting, but it would really benefit having some specific examples… titles of films perhaps? I haven’t really seen a lot of the so-called “films for the masa,” and using your article as a basis, I would like to know more about these films.
Especially since there are a lot of comments here about the current quality of films, it would be nice to have some kind of comparison, if there really haven’t been any improvement.
Thank you very much.
so you wrote that one? i read it a few days ago and thought the person who wrote it doesn’t really watch a lot of filipino films. i could elaborate if you wish.
here’s what i thought of that article:
you make a good point on #1. although i feel it’s more symptomatic of telenovelas than movies. there is indeed a lack of nuanced representations of the upper class. however “the rich” is only one subject among many that are under-depicted or distorted.
i wish you cited film examples to illustrate your point. this lack of evidence is especially glaring in items #2 and #3. leather jackets and robin padilla are iconographies of a bygone era of action movies, which are rarely produced anymore, and therefore not the proper gauge of masculinity in movies in the present. sam milby and john lloyd cruz are evidently bigger stars than robin padilla now, and maybe vic sotto is the biggest, box-office wise, and these male figures don’t exactly fit the hunter-gatherer as you described him. in the same way, females in movies today tend to be proactive, even powerful, characters. that they’re always “searching” elsewhere for their destinies is perhaps true of any era, perhaps true of other nationalities as well, and maybe even other genders.
and this is what i meant when i said the author probably doesn’t really watch a lot of filipino movies. the arguments seem to have been built from vague, perhapse even false, impressions.
Better to keep your mouth shut and make people wonder whether or not you are fool, rather than to open it, and leave no doubt.
Some more insight on the sad state of the Philippine entertainment industry from noted thought leader Isagani Cruz which I cited in my book…
– 😀
Hey genius, are you talking about ‘Filipino cinema’, or your ******** ******** ?!?
I can detect a sense of desperation from you. Tsk tsk. You can’t handle the truth.
OK. Your opinion or critique is not the truth. I’ve seen a lot of Hollywood films that turn out to be really crappy. In every country, there are films that are merely for entertainment purposes. Even the films that win Oscar’s aren’t that great, too. There really are some people who would scrutinize element about the Philippines just so that they can hate it or make themselves feel that they have taste.
Don’t get me wrong. I agree with you that there are a lot of Pinoy films that suck. But there are also a handful that don’t. It’s just a matter of preference…like with any other movie, foreign or not.
The Philippines is still far from where we want it to be. But, sometimes, it needs a break from people like you who think that they are saying something relevant when, in fact, they don’t.
Obvious troll is obvious. Where did your life go so wrong?
Wow, someone’s so awed by their own “brilliance.”
That’s because, said brilliance is, in fact, so. 😀
Dude, your article sucks.
Sure. Because you said so. So tell me then what specifically about it do you think “sucks”? Up to the challenge? 😀
Which is why we’ve been asking you and at least Ms. Ilda to point out what specifically about Filipino films that make it “bobo”–since that was the title and the thesis statement of this article.
Don’t tell us that these Filipino films are mere Hollywood rip-offs, because you can’t read a Filipino book with English grammar in mind.
See but that’s exactly what I do — “read a Filipino book with English grammar in mind”. The trouble with Filipinos is that we try — to the point of tackiness — to emulate Western culture: the way we dress, build our houses, speak English, etc. And yet we balk at being judged using Western standards of excellence. Therein lies the pathetic confusion that underpins the underbelly of Pinoy culture. 😀
“The trouble with Filipinos is that we try — to the point of tackiness — to emulate Western culture: the way we dress, build our houses, speak English, etc.” We don’t try; our Western influences are so deeply embedded that it’s far from noticeable. And the fact that you opt to “read a Filipino book with English grammar in mind” doesn’t help the culture flourish when national cinema should be searching its own identity through us having this supposed intellectual conversation.
Watch some Kidlat Tahimik. And, please, stop skirting around the question. We were only asking for what you think “sucks” about Filipino films that “render us as shallow and superficial”, as pointed out in the article. Talk will always be talk.
I also want to know what is it you’re looking for in Filipino films that may actually make it smart. Kasi, baka ‘yung “smartness” ng isang pelikula ay blatant Hollywood rip-off din, diba. 🙂
****** mo teh!
Aray ko po!
congratulations! the way you butthurt point-missing crybabies are reacting to this post easily illustrates the characteristics of the exact audience da pinoy really is and why da pinoy is fed crap for entertainment.
keep it up proving the point of this article. 😀
Nawala si Ilda, hindi na nakahirit. Malamang nanonood ng Buenas Noches Espana at nagno-nose bleed; at na-realize na hindi naman pala gano’n kataas ang kanyang taste.
@jerry, you expect her to be online 24/7. Eh sukat madaling araw ka mag komento tapos hahanapin mo yung blogger. Lol.
ms. blogger: what are your top 10 foreign films of 2011? (I’m assuming they’re all foreign) just curious.
I’M VERY VERY interested to know. Please oblige us with a list. Please! Even the imminent Mr. Benign0 with a zero for an O (which is really, really clever… Before the first tech bubble burst).
sabi ko, di na ako ko-comment, pero di ko napigilan. sige nga, ano ang top 10 films n’yo of 2011. game!!!
Here is some of my brilliant movie commentaries for your reading pleasure:
The genius of Blade Runner. One of my all-time favourites.
2010: we should have been travelling to Jupiter by now (not exactly a movie commentary but brilliant nonetheless…)
Ano? Oks ba? 😉
Which part of “what are your top 10 foreign films of 2011?” did this imbecile did not understand?
I bet you liked Transformers : Dark Of The Moon…
Fact is, folks, Philippine society is a society that embraces mediocrity like a religion. And the gods of that mediocrity are right there flickering on the silver screens hosted by those airconditioned citadels of shallow consumerism where people go to to forget that the Philippines is, in fact, a Third World country.
Fact is, you’re a jerk. And a bastard.
I get the feeling that you don’t like me…
Seriously Benigno?! You’re non sense.
another hasty generalization brought to you by yours truly…
so the audience is to blame. do something about it rather than taking pride in your own elitist bourgeoisie conclusions
Tough luck. But you should give yourself a bit of credit. After all, it’s really not our fault that we were born Pinoy. 😀
so is being “pinoy” a good thing or a bad thing?
dude, care to look at things in their cultural context :)) and yes, i give myself a bit of credit. being “Pinoy” is not half as bad as you’re implying
Umalis ka na lang ng Pilipinas !
Obvious troll is obvious.
Kung ayaw mong matuto e di magsawa ka na lang sa kondisyon ng bansa natin.
speaking of “natutuo”, ikaw, mr katsumo, may napanood ka na bang magandang indie film in the past 5 years? nakapanood ka na ba ng pelikula mula sa Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals or Cinemanila? may ginagawa ka ba para matuto?
I’m just talking about the TROLL who is a typical spineless Pinoy and not you, sir. 😛
I’ve watched some indie films and they’re good, especially ung tungkol sa bata na gustong mag-artista. At least that story is enjoyable.
AT siya ayaw matuto because that guy wants to dwell on mediocrity, as seen on the mainstream Filipino films. Not including the indie ones.
At tapos he changed the subject sa politics naman, maybe blaming Gloria on the downfall of all Philippine cinema. Di ba kabobohan iyon? 😛
I get that you are essentially disowning Filipino films in general based on your idea of what Philippine cinema consists of – basically, the MMFF.
What I am not getting is why you complain about the state of mainstream Philippine cinema when you yourself are trapped in the notion that Philippine cinema is only limited to its mainstream component… and why you are doing nothing about it except rant and complain, when you can always watch alternatives to mainstream films, such as independent films.
It’s like complaining about the taste of pork every time you eat it, when you could always order beef.
It is not a question of taste. It is a question of elitism.
SWAK! Thank you Mr. Janssenn Mascharilla! I’m your biggest fan HAHA
“Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.”
I take it that Ilda really means it when she states we are all shallow and superficial, then, by not doing something to change the system.
You might want to check out our Mission Statement. Happy reading! 😀
I’ve just finished reading it, and I am saddened because this particular article does not adhere to your vision of “critical thinking”.
Take note that I said “this particular article”, not “all the articles in this site”, because unlike what Ilda did in this article I don’t judge based on generalizations.
Generalisations are necessary to make a judgment – specially when one is “judging” at a society level, which is what GRP is all about. So you not only need to live with generalisations, you also have to understand what it means to generalise. Generalisation is made out to be a bad thing by people who misunderstand it. Don’t be one of them.
Generalizations are not good when people get labeled and marginalized.
@J. Marsharilla
What do you mean, “I am not doing anything?” Complaining is doing something. It’s about time someone said something about the appalling condition of our film industry. If you are part of the film industry and you are not happy about how the independent films are being neglected, then you should appreciate what I’m doing. I’m giving you a voice and a chance to be noticed.
As I said earlier, I don’t have time to watch all the films that are showing. I don’t get paid to watch them. I am a big fan of films though but I am only going to watch films that interest me. You guys can’t insist that something is good when it hasn’t even gone viral. You let the market be the judge of how good a film is.
vice ganda goes viral and trends on twitter. so that’s your gauge of what good is? because it goes viral? education is not something that will be handed to us on a silver platter. we have to go out there to find out about it. learn for pete’s sake!!! open your eyes and learn. and not just rant.
I didn’t say that going viral is the only measure of how good a film is. Some films can be highly acclaimed but don’t do well in the box office. They are the ones that get the awards. I know what it’s like. I am a writer. There are times when before publishing an article, I am confident that it would go viral but then I realise after that only a few intellectuals get my point. But I don’t get disappointed. Writing the article is part of the process of enlightenment. My enlightenment. I write because I want to understand things. If there are people who get enlightened along the way because of what I write, then that is just a bonus.
There are times when I write something that gets passed around a thousand times but there are times when it only gets passed around less than a hundred times but that won’t stop me from writing. There are things that need to be said and I have to write it. And that should also be the case for filmmakers. They should satisfy themselves first. What is happening is that there are some filmmakers who are only after making money or being popular. They let others affect their work. They don’t care about the quality anymore.
Sadly, you’re not the first one to complain about the appalling condition of the film industry. This is what we have been doing for years, thru our independent films and our non-mainstream filmfests. How can you give a voice and the chance to be noticed to a group of people you yourself don’t even notice?
Also I am saddened as to why you keep making hints that you would only watch films if you get paid. That is what your “shallow and superficial” mainstream filmmakers keep doing: they only do things if they get paid. And what makes them get paid is making films that are indisputably bad. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out you write articles here because you get paid. Do you think we get paid to watch films? Do you think that we even get paid when people watch our films?
What if something doesn’t go viral because the system is not accommodating enough? The market should never be a judge of how good a film is, because films should NEVER be commodities. Okay, I’ll make an argument on this basing on how you wrote the article:
“Okay, I’ll let the market be the judge of how good films are. Our current market states that films such as Enteng are good. Therefore, Enteng and co. are good films.”
Now I am left wondering why you said these films are bad. It’s the market that decides after all, right? Therefore let them win all the awards they can!
Citizen Kane, when it was released, was widely panned because there is no market for a film criticizing the biggest media magnate in the land then. Now tell me what the greatest American film, as stated by the AFI, is, and I’ll send a letter of complaint there because the market decided Citizen Kane is a bad film, by God!
My last note: complaining only does public good if you propose solutions to the problem, not just whine about it. A very happy new year to you, Ma’am.
@J
Hay naku. Please lang, you are missing the point again. What I meant was, I am not a paid film critic. Which means, I don’t get paid to watch all the films in the cinema. If I were a film critic, of course I will watch all the films. Try not to be a time waster.
Wow ha. You are comparing some of the indie films here to Citizen Kane. Pleeeease!
I do have a solution: make better films. Major studios might give you a chance eventually. If not, then there is something wrong with them and there is something wrong with a culture that only celebrates mediocrity. Get it na ba?
“I do have a solution: make better films. Major studious might give you a chance eventually.”
see, this is your problem. you ASSUME na walang magandang Pinoy film na nagawa recently. kaya ayaw siyang tanggapin ng mainstream studios. this is where you are so dead wrong!!! isang malaking fallacy for you to insist on your point.
sige nga, to make your point more credible, name 10 films you’ve seen over the past decade that you say it’s pangit. and does not make the audience think. may pinanood ka bang pelikula over the past decade? you must have seen them ha. not heard about it or watched its trailer.
@Alem
See, this is your problem: you keep insisting on your point of view. If you love the films so much, then go ahead and be happy deluding yourself into thinking that they are good. You can’t force people to agree with you.
You’re just a time waster.
Don’t label people you don’t understand, or people who misunderstand you, as time wasters. Does it seem I intend to waste your time by wasting MY time writing something which took me ten minutes to do? I am not a film critic, nor do I aspire to be; I am just the same as you when I only watch the films I like. But I respect the process. And I hate it when people miss the point of what independent cinema is.
I am not comparing the indies here to Citizen Kane. I am comparing THE PROCESS. Since you didn’t get that bit, am I right in assuming that you are also a time waster? (Of course not.) And yes, I do say that there are indie films that are, even though they might not be at par with Citizen Kane, good. Or at least better than what MMFF provides us annually.
And what purpose does making better films serve if, using your words, “the market” wouldn’t buy them anyway? To them, if it’s not money-generating, it’s not good, let alone better. I think you would have learned by now, given the status of this year’s MMFF, that no major studio would gamble on indies, good or bad, because indies are NOT what the general public want. And to comply with what they want would get our creative vision for the project replaced with the idiotic antics you yourself despise. I think you are familiar with what happened in the production of the Manila Kingpin Movie.
There is nothing wrong with beef if the general public are brainwashed every day to eat only pork.
@J Mascharilla
Time wasters are those who use the same arguments over and over.
I think you already know the point of the article anyway. Obviously, there is something wrong with our culture when in the first place, the major studios do not help distribute so-called independent films. If there are indeed good films out there that do not get the right exposure, then something needs to be done.
You guys cannot keep praising our culture while blaming the blatant disregard by studio execs for what you consider to be better films. You have to accept that there is something wrong with a society that is happy with the “pwede na yan” films.
Just look at this commenter, Alem. He keeps insisting that SRR 13 is good. Give me a break.
Anyway, I have to sleep. I’ll just check your comments when in the morning.
ito lang naman ang gusto kong gawin mo: bago manghusga na pangit ang mga pelikulang ito, PANOORIN mo muna. huwag husgahan dahl hindi nga pare-pareho ang lahat.
di ko ipinipilit na maganda ang mga pelikula ng Cinemalaya at Cinema One Originals. ang sinasabi ko, manood ka muna bago mo sabihing pangit sila. iba kasi kung napanood mo sila saka sabihing pangit sila. tapos, iginigiit kong maganda sila. iba ‘yun. ang point ko ay panoorin mo muna, bago mo ipagduldulang pangit sila. magkaiba ang sinasabi natin. ang point ko: manood muna bago maghusga. gets?!
btw, have you seen ANY ONE version of Shake, Rattle and Roll? may napanood ka ba? kahit anong version? 13 na sila ha. may napanood ka ba? di ko sinasabing maganda lahat sila. ang tinatanong ko lang ay may napanood ka ba sa isa man lang sa kanila?
‘yun ang point ko. manood ka muna. bago ka manghusga. di sapat na sabihing alam mong pangit kaya di ka nanonood. it’s like saying walang pag-asa ang Pilipinas dahil Pilipinas ito. pero di naman inaalam kung ano talaga ang mga nangyayari.
so ‘yun lang. manood ka muna. panoorin mo ang alinman sa mga Cinemalaya o Cinema One Originals na may DVD available sa record bar. kung mahal mo talaga ang Philippine Movie Industry, MANOOD KA!!!
yes, i am wasting my time, telling you TO WATCH!!! watch any. just watch one. i’m telling you and wasting my time telling you this, because i am very passionate about what i am doing and what i am saying. and because it is important for me to enlighten people who have dismissed the movie industry as all bad. because it’s not. but don’t believe me. believe in the films. SO WATCH. okay? WATCH!!!
@Ilda,
this would also be my last shot since I have class in the morning.
If using the same argument over and over is a sin, then I am a sinner. But then, according to some, generalization is a sin also. What does that make you?
Sorry for that offensive question up there. Point is, we seem to repeat the same arguments BECAUSE every debater has a main topic of discussion that is emphasized by using supporting arguments. Surely every person who has participated in a debate knows this.
We know that there is something wrong with a society that is happy with the “pwede na yan†films. Of course we do; we are the ones in the losing side, after all. Ang masakit lang kasi, Miss Ilda, ay yung condescending tone ninyo na “kung walang market para diyan, pangit yan”. Para na rin kasi kayong nag-condone sa idea na maganda nga ang mainstream trash. Para na rin kayong nag-condone na hanggang ganito na nga lang ang kaya ng ating pelikulang pambansa. And it hurts because you are in a position to help us, by being a writer in this site, and yet it seems that rather REALLY help our cause by helping spread better film appreciation and better film knowledge among your readers, you instead condemn all Filipino films as stupid, and throw us into the mix.
mr. j has a point. it’s not like we aren’t aware of the situation. the fact remains that bigger mechanisms play a larger role in the film industry so where does that put us small-time filmmakers with our films that don’t support the “pwede na ‘yan” insight you say filipinos share
“Just look at this commenter, Alem. He keeps insisting that SRR 13 is good. Give me a break.” <– smug hipster comment, unnecessary. talk about taking pride in attitude rather than substance. no one's insisting that SRR is good, they're just saying that you should watch it before you make an assessment. you can bash it afterwards. you can't call it a waste of time because you haven't spent a second watching it. diba. a point badly missed.
what makes a good film for you anyway?
i think a lot of filipino films suck because the plot is predictable, the effects are shit, the plagiarism is obvious. but i don't go to the extent that all of them are bad. that's not what a critical thinker does. critical thinkers assess the sinews of situations, or maybe you don't have time for that so you just jump to conclusions.
thus, why not watch some Filipino film that interests you? what interests you in a Filipino film? then don't waste making commentary on something you aren't even interested in.
supporters don't make you right–they just show that you share common beliefs. the majority can be wrong, and you should know that quite well 🙂
@sky
@J Macharilla
Actually, Ms Ilda is right. Given this is her blog/post, she can comment on it repeatedly to react. However, someone who keeps on insisting the same repeatedly without understanding what someone else is saying is technically a “time waster”.
I got Ms Ilda post of what “paid” meant. Meaning she has other stuff to do which includes her work, but if her work was being a film critic, then she could happily oblige everyone’s request to watch every movie, indie or mainstream. But sadly, she is not and doesn’t have the time and as such, she is limited to watching films she wants to watch. Emphasis of course on films she WANTS to watch, not what is being TOLD to watch. Cheers!
@Sphynx
OMG!!! You got what I meant. Some people here took what I said about “not being paid to watch” out of context. They thought I was soliciting money or something. Geesus! And I always thought that filmmakers were smarter than the average schmoe. I seem to be mistaken.
You are a breath of fresh air. Good to know there are some more sensible people out there aside from the regular commenters here. 🙂
@ Ilda
I love going to GRP, I actually only found this site 2-3 months ago. I just didn’t want it to be a “flame fest” here and it was really getting irritating.
I just think, they put too much in your words and it ended up stacking up more and more which caused mayhem to break lose.
Seriously, I just wish they take in what is being said. If they don’t agree, that’s okay, but don’t add more to what wasn’t said.
For me, they could have just said that, “I agree with what you said, but I would like emphasize that there are gems in the Philippine scene that I wish more would learn to appreciate.”
Then we could get into discussion of how they could promote themselves, and it becomes something constructive and helpful for everyone, not bickering and name calling.
I still wouldn’t go see Indie Film though of whatever origin, unless I was really enticed/interested to find out the whole story or pulled by a family member/friend to go with them. So it goes to show, they need to reach my type of consumer some way if they want me paying to see their film. The question is then how?
@Sphynx
I really don’t understand why some seem to be offended by the article because most people agree (including them) that the films that get exposure are of low quality.
They don’t even appreciate an outsider’s perspective and any recommendation on how to increase their audience. It seems like some are letting their emotions get the better of them. I think some people need to work on their ego before we can have a proper dialogue.
“Once in a while we have point missers who visit this site. They let their emotions get in the way of objectivity.”
Don’t forget the ad hominem trolls. They’re starting to roll in as I type…
Sad that people don’t realize this article isn’t so much an attack on the movie industry as it is a criticism of the Filipino consumer.
“Sad that people don’t realize this article isn’t so much an attack on the movie industry as it is a criticism of the Filipino consumer.”
I didn’t see a single instance of THAT point being raised by the author in the whole article… except maybe in one or two replies in the comments section, upon realizing that her article was a pointless exercise and not wanting to outright admit it.
perhaps because you’re too busy being butthurt to get it, mmm?
I gnash my teeth whenever people resort to low blows during an argument. You’re not helping the intellectual discussion, mate. You want to defend your side (assuming you’re not just a random troll)? Please do so in a way we’ll all understand.
Paraphrasing the author, do not let your emotions get in the way of objectivity.”
oh, but i have. check my longer posts way above.
as for my other one-liners, take what you dish out.
@J Mascharilla
Actually, the main gripe is the consumer of the mainstream media. And it shows. Just as how it is demonstrated with supply and demand.
There is a demand for mediocre/bad mainstream films, then the studios will produce it. As such, it reflects on how/what the society is.
I actually watch some local mainstream media (big/small screen) and it really rattles my brain that I just want to scream. Sometimes for the fun of it, I try to make the story more irrational that it already is to make it fun for the “audience” (me and my sister).
Sample? Well, apparently getting hit by lighting can cure a hard blow to head that caused you to be mentally retarded. And removal of said “retardation” allows you to keep up with your actual age and not your present mental age. =)
I think there was also an article by Mr. John Lapuz (I’m not 100% sure if it was him and I can’t find the article), but it basically points to how writers keep on rehashing storylines and how the “masses just eat it all up.
Really? That was pretty much what I had in mind while reading the article.
You’re not the only readers of your articles so expect all sorts of opinions coming your way.
Not to mention that your supposed tirade on the Filipino consumer exhibits how embedded the Western influences are because things that are seen as “Filipino” are taken out of their national context.
Despite the first line and the last paragraph?
“You’re not the only readers of your articles so expect all sorts of opinions coming your way.”
Thanks for stating the obvious. Opinions are welcome (clearly).
“Not to mention that your supposed tirade on the Filipino consumer exhibits how embedded the Western influences are because things that are seen as “Filipino†are taken out of their national context.”
Western influences?
Shallow Filipinos patronize shallow movies. I don’t see what’s difficult to understand about that.
Which is why people here are attacking it. And rightly so.
Simply because it is unjust. It stigmatizes those who support Filipino filmmaking, while its author is being a ****** scoundrel.
Also, this article is an attack on Filipinos. That is apparent from the very beginning. Is it because Gloria is in jail ?
Ayan na, balik na naman sa pulitika. Typical…
oh come on “name withheld.” for someone so feeling-righteous (and missing the point obviously) you’re just not equipped with the maturity to handle the core message of this article.
leave it to your nephew to read and comprehend this for you first, okay? pa-gloria gloria ka pa dyan.
Your argument has gone haywire. We are only talking about Filipino films and you seem to be blaming it again on GMA. Gees…get a grip.
“Which is why people here are attacking it. And rightly so.
Simply because it is unjust. It stigmatizes those who support Filipino filmmaking, while its author is being a ****** scoundrel.”
WTH?
“Also, this article is an attack on Filipinos.”
Indeed it is.
Now whatcha gonna do about it?
“Is it because Gloria is in jail ?”
Seriously, WTF?!
Another one misses the point. What’s new?
So true, WTF ang Manila Film Fest. Films that makes it in the mainstream all lacks substance, if not, most probably it’s another story copied from other countries or a plot repeated from time to time. Indie films on the other hand tend to look like porn films, most of them are about sex, homosexuality, prostitution (some have substance, some don’t) films shown sa cinemalaya are the best filipino films. it’s such a shame ln tlga na mas tinatankilik ng masa ang Manila Film Fest. Wala na un magagandang clasics like Magnifico, Anak, Manila by Night, Temptation Island (better un luma, although almost the same ln sila ng remake) etc. Pero somehow I think filmakers are sort of bound to create those type of films. kasi nonsense rip of fantasies, meaningless comedy, sex; are exactly what most filipinos want specially those who belong in the class C and Bellow which makes these type of films marketable.
The way you wrote your article is like writing a thesis paper with urbandictionary.com as the only source. YOU CANNOT MAKE GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT PHILIPPINE CINEMA WITH ONLY MMFF AS YOUR BASIS.
YOU ARE ONLY AS SMART AS YOU ARTICLE, YOU ARE NOT AS INTELLIGENT AS YOU THINK YOU ARE.
Lemme quote what auiga said:
“Sad that people don’t realize this article isn’t so much an attack on the movie industry as it is a criticism of the Filipino consumer.”
Then why is the title “Filipino Films: They Don’t Make Us Think”?
Is it some sort of deep,ironic,paradoxical article that only those who do not support Philippine cinema can understand?
They’re talking about the MAINSTREAM, and not the whole film industry.
It talks about mainstream, which qualifies for the majority/most.
And as some have also pointed out, it also hits the right notes with SOME indie films as well, but again NOT ALL.
Cheers!
Since the author is only talking about the mainstream industry, then “Filipino films: they don’t make us think” should NOT have been the title of this article. This is what caused people to react negatively about this article, fueled by other baseless arguments from the author. And I say baseless because what is an argument without evidence gathered through valid research? And in this case, one form of research will take the form of actually watching the film, and making comments based on what she had gathered by watching that film.
So tell us then. What do you think may be written differently about these movies if for example the writer had actually watched them? Sige nga, tell us what you propose should be written if, for argument’s sake, the writer wrote the article after watching these films.
I’m betting that it won’t be any different from what is already written in this blog.
@Bulaklak
What “baseless arguments?” Please be specific or follow what you preach, kung baga. 😉
and the indiscriminate use of capital letters clearly tells us you’re really not as mentally stable as you think you are.
And the way you argue clearly tells us you’re very willing to insult the critic, and not his criticism.
i already have, buddy. look higher on this thread for the long one. care to dance?
Funnily enough the only post I saw you make is this:
“congratulations! the way you butthurt point-missing crybabies are reacting to this post easily illustrates the characteristics of the exact audience da pinoy really is and why da pinoy is fed crap for entertainment.” Essentially, you did the same thing.
Espousing critical thinking, indeed…
@j. mascharilla: if you’re going to act blind may i suggest you don’t waste people’s time. there’s a longer one. but then again, no use expecting intelligence from someone acting like a blind stump, eh?
@PhilippineCinemaISGREAT: what do capital letters mean? chest beating? sorry i can’t hear you. speak nicely and you’ll be spoken to nicely.
MISTER PARALLAX, I AM SOOO SORRY THAT I DIDN’T FIND YOUR EARLIER POST. I ONLY DID A MANUAL SEARCH WHICH IS WHY I MISSED YOUR LONGER POST, APOLOGIZES FOR NOT USING THE FIND BUTTON, AND WISHES THAT YOU POSTED A LINK ON YOUR COMMENT SINCE OTHER PEOPLE DO THAT. ALTHOUGH PART OF ME THINKS THAT YOU DID NOT PUT A LINK HERE ON PURPOSE BECAUSE YOU ARE EXPECTING MY “BLIND-STUMPED” MIND TO MAKE A MISTAKE, WHICH IT DID. SORRY FOR WASTING YOUR TIME, WHICH IN RETROSPECT SEEMS ENTIRELY WASTE-WORTHY, SINCE YOU ARE STILL SPENDING TIME COMMENTING ON HOW LOW MY INTELLIGENCE IS.
Does that make your ego happy?
Congratulations! In order to respond to you in a way you’ll understand I had to sink to your level. I am ashamed of myself.
could you repeat that i was just sipping a warm cup of tea and i couldn’t hear the sound of your whimpering.
you’re obviously upset. here, have a nice cup of tea.
(btw, “my level” vs “your level”? that made my day.)
take what you dish out mister j.
or miss j.
(bonus: use your eyes.)
@J Mascharilla: kulang ka raw sa iodized salt. ang talino mag-comment noh? bumabaling sa personalan. huwag mo nang patulan siya. sayang lang ang oras mo.
@Alem It was not time wasted. Thanks to Parallax here I am finally convinced of the infallibility of this article… because its argument about Filipino stupidity pertains to people like him (or her).
@J. Mascharilla: you’re not above the behaviour you so detest. enjoy life in denial.
@Alem: happy new year, buddy.
And what does your comment have to do with this article?
Here’s one casualty. One that can be used as proof for the article.
I agree with this article. I think it’s about time that mainstream movies focus more on substance rather than special effects. Originality and innovation rather than half-baked rehashes and formulaic plots. I do not have a vast and thorough knowledge of the Philippine cinema industry compared to the other comment posters here, and I am aware that there are lots of brilliant Pinoy films made this year. But the point I would like to put across is that the Pinoy industry should make most of the average Filipino moviegoers appreciate more substantial movies rather than these ones being repetitively seen by everyone. Manila Kingpin is one example of a movie which I think is good. But did a good number of people see it? I don’t think so. The average Filipino moviegoer should be able to see a really good Filipino mainstream movie that was created through art and with resolute passion, and appreciate it with praise that it deserves. How the Philippine cinema industry will do it come hell or high water I do not know.
very true. however, this is a very difficult battle to win from. nagkalat na ang kabobohan sa buong Pilipinas… it will take the unity of the real intelligentsia in order to solve all the problems that we are facing (including what this article says), all of which, is a result of the prevalence of idiocy in this country. nagiging pera-pera na ang labanan. daming bobo talaga. lalo na sa media.
As I wrote further in my book…
what you cited here is indeed one good way of capturing the state of the film and entertainment industry of this country. i guess i was just being too brash.
it’s not about being harsh in your criticism of philippine cinema. it really boils down to having an enlightened one as opposed to one that makes sweeping generalizations without backing them up with either evidences or better yet, experiences. kung di ka naman nanonood ng pelikulang Pilipino, kahit gaano ka-chaka pa ito, wala kang karapatang tuligsain ito dahil di mo alam kung ano ang pinag-uusapan mo.
@ Alem
The question is, doesn’t the generalization fall true for mainstream media? Yes or no?
Your only defense is it is not true for the “indie” films that also abhor the way mainstream approach it.
So doesn’t that in fact show that the mainstream media does not in fact make us think fall true?
What I am saying is that, you are all bickering with Ms. Ilda and others of GRP because you believe she hit on everyone when her statement/post hit on MOST not ALL.
See the difference? And also, you are agreeing inside when it comes to mainstream but because you are hurt that it may have included the “indie” category, you want to deny the whole of the article so you bash its whole credibility, eventhough you yourself tend to agree that mainstream sucks, correct?
So what then are we arguing about?
Ms Ilda, things are not always what they seem. 🙂
LOL. Natawa ko na sorta ~sinermonan~ si Jerrold. Great job, guyths!
Please read the article by F. Sionil Jose, it’s quite connected:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=726155&publicationSubCategoryId=79
Most Filipinos are shallow because they cannot accept criticism. They think they are already great or perfect, which is why they fail to see that there is still a lot of room for improvement in their personality or work.
Filipinos become emotional when they get criticised. They get very defensive and lose their objectivity.
apparently, writers, too. they sometimes don’t write well and are called out on it.
As long as the critics can back up their criticism intelligently, that is fine. Judging by the way some spew out ad hominem here, it seems that some have a problem rebutting the point of the article.
When people resort to attacking the writer instead of the message, you just know that they have lost their objectivity.
Amen!
the article could be longer to be honest and could do less with the general comments on the MMFA servings, on telling us things most people on the internet would already know (or personally, comments and statements I’m already aware of). And I definitely would benefit on research based on why film companies insist on limiting the viewing choices of the viewership and their own perception on their tastes. or rather answering the question, ” do these companies actually know the mental capacity of filipinos to appreciate film (or any other medium)or do they simply stick to what they ‘think’ the filipino audience is capable of.
the article has a lot of potential, just a bit more focus and less ranting to become very informative.
PREACH. You are exactly right. While Filipinos seem to have an unlimited amount of tongue power when it comes to criticizing someone else’s work, we (and I use “we,” since I also am guilty of this) tend to have the least amount of patience, and as you put it well, get overly emotional and defensive when criticized, be it the biased or the constructive kind. Really pisses me off when I try to give constructive criticism on YouTube towards Filipino-made home videos and I get attacked by the person who uploaded it and the videos’ hordes of defensive Filipino fans–one, they’re putting the video on YouTube for other reasons than sharing; the commenting system is another form of free speech. It just drives me nuts when they get butt-hurt from all the criticism when they should realize that it is a package deal to these social network/sharing sites.
@Rob
Exactly! When you put something out there, be ready for both praises and criticism.
Hahaha i was about to suggest that: to read F. Sionil Jose’s article. My son and i are film addicts. We spend most vacations together watching (sorry) foreign films and american tv series (on dvd). We really enjoy watching them, because we learn something from each film or episode, in the case of a tv series. But if we want to really relax without much effort, meaning pahinga pati brain, we watch Enreng movies hahaha!!!
hi ma’am! if i may suggest, please catch any films in this year’s Cinemalaya from July 20-29, 2012 at the CCP. there may also be a Greenbelt and a QC theater screening. i believe you and your son will not only enjoy the films but will also have much to talk about. lines may be long and some shows may be sold out so i suggest attending the festival earlier in the week. i guarantee you that most, if not all, the films in the festival will be of equal value or even better than the foreign ones you’ve seen. thanks and i hope to see you in CCP.
do you have trailers to show for them prior to screening for consideration of potential viewers?
Sana tayong mga edukado at mas nakakaalam sa katotohanang nangyayari sa bansa ang gumawa ng paraan para mabago ito.
Let’s all be part of the soultion.
Arrticles (and websites) like these are not helping at all.
Hindi na uso ang cynicism sa panahong ito.
But these articles ARE enlightening for Filipinos. The only reason you said that it’s not is because you’re living up with emotion.
Kaya nga patuloy na hindi gumagawa ang Philippine entertainment industry ng mga tila ba hindi pinag-isipang pelikula ay dahil sa kawalan ng “cynicism” eh. Hahahaha
I would rather call this as a constructive criticism more than cynicism. One must need to hear it in order to outgrew immaturity and stupidity, and believe me… they need it.
Constructive criticism is the right term… Apparently, most of the Filipinos can’t take that…
In order to give constructive criticism one must first know the constructs involved to know what can be fixed.
It may be just me, but basing the local film industry solely on the released film is the worst thing to do when criticizing the level of intellect involved.
So since that’s the only thing apparent, it’s pretty much a good excuse, right?
ok lang talaga ang constructive criticism. pero Chris A, ni hindi nga nila napanood ang current Shake at di nila alam ang mga indie movement sa PInas, paano naman masasabing credible sila? kagabi pa namin silang sinasabihang manood sila ng isa man lang sa mga indie film. isa lang. pero ayaw talaga e. so, ano laban namin? so paano naging constructive iyon?
You agree that the Philippines is unintellectual yet you want to censor out those who say so. That’s quite ironic isn’t it? We have every right to criticize per our freedom of speech, even without helping (we did not sign any contract binding us to be held accountable for these crappy films).
If we must follow what you said, then an engineering firm, which is being criticized for substandard dams and poor working conditions, may simply shrug it off and say “Your argument is invalid. Go make your own dam. Oh wait you can’t. Fuck off.”
This website is exceptionally helpful to many Filipinos who have the same viewpoint and understanding of what genuine talent and artistry is. I do not believe in calling it cynicism based on the harshness of the criticism used, especially on merits of originality (the COTT Kraken is feeling very offended) and ingenuity (Sotto and delas Alas are delivering old lines from previous moneymaker movies AS VERBATIM).
To the point: A lot of people who read this may not immediately stand up and do something about it, but there are people who will persist in reclaiming the true quality of Filipino art.
Kailangan natin mayanig mula sa ating kinauupuan kung nais natin umusad at umunlad.
EXACTLY! Some people in the industry are so used to getting nods from their peers that they get defensive when they receive criticism.
Brace yourself Ilda…. But some really needs to be shaken… Some should realize that “Hindi sila magaling, mahina lang ang nakakararami”. Best of mediocrity.
I may not be a film critic but I’ve seen some Cinemalaya films during their earlier years. Still quite far from their CineEuropa counterpart… Strive harder Filipinos…
@Coxy
Thanks for your comment. No amount of foot stomping by some people can change the fact that their so-called “good” films are not sharing the limelight with the other really good foreign films or even locally made rehashed one. And that says a lot about their work and our culture.
see coxy, we don’t mind being told our films are bad by people who’ve seen it. like for example, you say that the films in the earlier years of cinemalaya are far from cine europe. definitely. and because YOU HAVE SEEN THEM, we would now like to hear what made you say that. which films have you seen that made you say that. in this way, we will grow. and we will learn. and that’s constructive criticism. and i’m really serious about this. what made you say that the films are still inferior that their european counterparts?
and don’t worry, we will not bite your head for saying negative things about what YOU HAVE SEEN. and not what you have surmised. promise ‘yan.
It will be a dig in hole if we continue to dispute on which films have we watched and this may not be the right site to discuss specific criticism about the film. But for your own dose, I’ve watched “Halaw” last year during my short visit in Mla. I cannot remember the others aside from Kubrador as they were not really remarkable. Most of the plot were good but the quality tends to give Indie film makers an excuse that it is a low budget film. With technology, this shouldn’t be an excuse anymore.
We should focus on the bigger picture that this blog is trying to discuss. This is to challenge the mainstream film makers to educate the masses by producing better films. And for Indie film makers,I know you guys are striving hard but keep going… We’re still far from making good films like Il Postino, Y tu mama tambien, Elsa Y Fred,Chocolat, Life is Beautiful and the likes…
you’re right coxy. marami pang bigas na kakainin para marating natin ang level ng il postino at e tu mama tambien. kaso, kung kung di tatangkilikin ang mga taong nagsisikat na iangat ang industriya, walang mangyayari. that’s why when we were proposing to the author to watch any of the indie films, and she quickly dismissed our points, that made me thing twice about her sincerity in her blog. she even went to criticize my taste for liking SRR 13, even if she hasn’t seen it. and she went to say so many nega things about the indie films which she does not know anything about. so, that for a lot of us, is problematic. iba kasi ‘yung kagaya mo na nagsabing napanood ko and i didn’t like it. but to blankly say na pangit ang mga ito at di ko kailangang panoorin ang mga ito para sabihing pangit is very ignorant and bratty, if you think about it. that’s really the beef i have with this blogger. i actually agree with what she said. unfortunately, she killed her credibility in how loosely she answered a lot of the questions people from the indie world are throwing at her.
in effect, she herself cannot accept criticism. and would probably enjoy the likes made by people like her. and outrightly question everyone who questions her writing.
the reason why this article is being branded as plain cynicism is because 1) the blogger has not seen any of the films she his lambasting. (btw, i’m not saying her comments are wrong. i’m just saying she’s not credible in her comments because as i’ve repeated said, she hasn’t seen any of the films.) 2) she refused to accept that there is a sliver, an ounce, a minuscule percentage of good Filipino movies out there. she even went on to call some of these films malaswa even if she has not heard of them or seen them. that’s why she is being branded a cynic. and when she is asked to watch any of these, she goes on to say that it’s either a waste of her time or that she knows naman that these films are ugly. that’s why she is being branded a cynic.
As I mentioned earlier, rather than whine why not provide a persuasive pitch to convince people to see these supposedly great movies. So far all I see is whining about how “unfairly” the indie folk are being treated by the mainstream. Make a pitch. Highlight a value proposition. Otherwise move on to the next project and TRY AGAIN. 😀
dude, simple lang pitch ko. manood ka. manood ka ng kahit isa lang. may listahan akong ibinigay sa iyong post. panoorin mo ang isa kanila. let our work speak for ourselves.
btw, the whole post/blog is just plain and simple whining. why? kasi she can’t even substantiate her points. kami, alam namin ang faults ng industriya kaya may ginagawa kami about it. kayo, bukod sa pag-whine sa inyong blogs, may ginagawa ka ba?
i think the pitch of most commenters is very clear: they like the movies. these are recommendations from strangers who watch and love movies. i’m baffled by this unshakable wall of indifference from ilda, benign0, and their colleagues, to be honest.
teka, mall lang ata ang alam netong puntahan. XD
This comment is intended for PARALLAX.
Parallax, you’re not helping the discussion.
Why is it when people like “name withheld” post replies that seem to be off-topic, you and everyone else on your side of the argument gang up on him (or her) because according to you, what he posts are irrelevant to the discussion. But why is it when people from our side post meaningful commentaries, you just dismiss our arguments as empty-headed trash?
I don’t take arguments personally. As you can see I refrain from insulting people based on their side of the argument – when I can. Sadly, you broke my limit, and me take this particular argument personally, as you can now see. Congratulations. I hope you’re now happy.
@J. Mascharilla:
(1) i’ve been in the discussion, and you found where it is, haven’t you? nobody could rebutt (well, “sky” tried, but unraveled a supporting argument for me), and neither does anyone acknowledge. time to troll trolls then.
(2) we don’t gang up. we just happen to be aligned.
(2.1) by the way, i’ve never told anyone his/her post is irrelevant. check it again. use the eyes.
(3) i don’t dismiss your arguments as empty-headed trash if they ARE meaningful. check my posts again. you’ll even see that i was nice to sky when he/she replied with some emotional restraint (though failed at the end, but then i practiced my restraint because he/she managed to raise an important point).
(4) pardon me if i broke your limit. take what you dish out. if i pissed you off, maybe you weren’t being entirely proper somewhere in the thread. this isn’t my blog, but i get it. so if i itroll trolls, too bad if it’s you. otherwise we can co-exist. limit or not, i don’t care what any of you do.
so better read AND UNDERSTAND FIRST before going emo all over the place. (and this i say to everyone of you.)
Funnily enough, when my arguments ARE meaningful, you don’t participate in them. You only participate when I seem to be all berserky, and the only reason for that is because during those cases, you reply like a moron. So if I am guilty for not acknowledging your “longer”, argument-worthy post, then you are also guilty for not reading mine.
You might not have said directly that our arguments were irrelevant, but your snide comments and provocative insults provide the necessary semiotic clues.
The fact that an argument is not being acknowledged is not a reason for its author to be a jackass. If you also take time to understand this, there would be no need for people to “go all emo”.
Please. All I want to do in this thread is to sustain a very intelligent argument, which as I read before is the mission of this very site. If this be denied me, I would leave this site with the impression that all of its members are dicks. All for generalization.
“Funnily enough, when my arguments ARE meaningful, you don’t participate in them. You only participate when I seem to be all berserky, and the only reason for that is because during those cases, you reply like a moron. So if I am guilty for not acknowledging your “longerâ€, argument-worthy post, then you are also guilty for not reading mine.”
hey, if you’ve made sense, why should i object? i leave the good points alone. but then, to be honest i was looking for the bad stuff you bring to the table. if you were doing alright i wouldn’t step in and mess it up. like i said, if i find anything you were being a dick about, i will set you straight. and i have. you’re just a glutton for punishment. (and honestly, for my oh-so-very-moronic replies i seem to have put your panties in a twist.)
“You might not have said directly that our arguments were irrelevant, but your snide comments and provocative insults provide the necessary semiotic clues.”
well, like i’ve told you (which applies to everybody else), take what you dish out. no use whining about it.
“The fact that an argument is not being acknowledged is not a reason for its author to be a jackass. If you also take time to understand this, there would be no need for people to “go all emoâ€.”
the author wasn’t being a jackass. read the entire thread again and see which people initiated being a jackass. emo ka kasi eh. take what you dish out.
“Please. All I want to do in this thread is to sustain a very intelligent argument, which as I read before is the mission of this very site. If this be denied me, I would leave this site with the impression that all of its members are dicks. All for generalization.”
there are all sorts of butthurt dicks who’ve been trolling this site (this article especially), and i don’t see you telling them off or asking them to pipe down and behave. i see you as no different for tolerating them. so tell me again this “all i want to do” thing when you’ve cleaned up your act.
understood?
“the author wasn’t being a jackass. read the entire thread again and see which people initiated being a jackass. emo ka kasi eh. take what you dish out.”
I wasn’t referring about ILDA THE AUTHOR, I was referring to YOU and ME and EVERYBODY WHO CAN WRITE. I believe the word “author” is not restricted to article writers, am I correct? And please don’t misinterpret “WRITE” for the ability to write letters. I was taught that in this site, people who misunderstand are “time wasters”.
“like i said, if i find anything you were being a dick about, i will set you straight.”
Setting me straight by using sophomoric and insulting snide comments? You’re just as bad as the producers of MMFF films. Like you, they also don’t give a shit to the people who labor upon their films.
“there are all sorts of butthurt dicks who’ve been trolling this site (this article especially), and i don’t see you telling them off or asking them to pipe down and behave.”
Heh, we have different ideas about who’s trolling, then. I am led to think that you believe some of my decent posts are disguised trolling. I wouldn’t be spending eternity arguing with you about our subjective differences, since going by what you did to my attempt to stop our digital battle of wits, you won’t go down without a fight… even if it means attacking my apology.
(1) oh, so sorry. i meant to be a jackass to you. so, no defense there. (hope that saves you time.)
(2) setting you straight “by using sophomoric and insulting snide comments”? heavens, no. just some tough love, if that means anything.
(3) “You’re just as bad as the producers of MMFF films. Like you, they also don’t give a shit to the people who labor upon their films.” do the letters E, M, and O mean anything to you? and does it look like you’re doing a good job about making me care about your supposed plight? gooood job.
(4) “I am led to think that you believe some of my decent posts are disguised trolling. I wouldn’t be spending eternity arguing with you about our subjective differences, since going by what you did to my attempt to stop our digital battle of wits, you won’t go down without a fight… even if it means attacking my apology.” i don’t care what you’re led to think. and you did a poor job at “stopping our digital battle of wits” because you’re wrong at so many levels it cannot be left as the last word (though feel free to reply again, please). regarding attacking your apology, if you’re planning one, let’s see if i do attack it. (you just love to speculate. you need some tea.)
I love to watch Pinoy movies because it is sentimental to me ,but honestly, I think they are shallow and stupid, too much slapstick! But then again, I watch them over and over again!
I’ve watched independent Filipino films and I think they have more substance than the movies for the “masang Filipino”.
I hate the fact that Bong Revilla can shoot movies as a Senator while too much shit is going down in our country. How the hell can you shoot movies when the country is in deep sh*t? We’re spending our taxes for him to help run our country while he’s also being paid to act in a movie.. hay mga pinoy talaga, learn to vote wisely..madalas porket sikat and kilala nananalo.
Don’t judge my grammar. I’m no expert, but i’m sure you get my message. To those hurt from the article, I think you just have to respect the writers’ opinion. If you can’t and think that she’s just being stupid on this article, don’t waste your time debating.
BTW, I watched most of the MMFF movies, only movie I loved watching was Manila Kingpin. Others were pretty stupid. Just understand too that on the money-making side, shempre most film makers will get the appeal of the masses. Just my 2 cents..yung debate going on here is too much flame. The guy is right, they’re also just commenting as a viewer. I hope we can make better movies that can really compete internationaly..
i also saw the MMFF movies, and i hated Manila Kingpin. but to each his own. and we can make these statements because WE ACTUALLY SAW THE FILMS.
The critics are missing the point. The point of the article is to provide a general observation of Filipino society. Science does this all the time; observing general characteristics of a group of samples.
The point of the article is to show that the Filipino society is GENERALLY shallow in terms of the stuff they watch. It so happens that the variable used to come up with this conclusion is mainstream media, which happens to be more or less the face of the Filipino film industry.
Don’t argue based on emotion. It’s up to you if you want to be offended. If you think indie films are good, why make a fuss over an article that talks about mainstream cinema?
“If you think indie films are good, why make a fuss over an article that talks about mainstream cinema?”
It’s because in a reply to a post, the author dismissed independent cinema to be just as bad as the mainstream trash screening on Philippine theaters, simply because “no studio takes them; therefore they’re bad”. And that’s the problem. In a film industry where bad films make money, then of course, in the eyes of the public, good films would suck!
And that, I believe, is the point of the article. The bad films make money. People watch bad films. The article simply made a general observation which states that Filipinos, based on mainstream media (which is more or less the face of the Filipino film industry), are generally shallow.
As I’ve said before, Say’s law states that supply creates its own demand. Thus, what the film industry offers in general is, in general, the reflection of the Filipino taste. I hope you get my point.
Oh by the way, nice name. Where is your brother, CHRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSS
Hello Albert. :))
I got your point. I got the point of the article. The only thing I disagree with it is that she’s ranting about the state of Philippine Cinema, while doing nothing about it except complain… when there are many other alternatives to mainstream cinema, indie films for example. Also she dismisses indie as not good simply because the mainstream market does not believe in independent films.
Your use of Say’s Law is completely free of any other intent than expressing the reason why the market for Philippine films is stupid. When Ilda uses Say’s Law as an argument, she adds that therefore, indies suck for the sole reason that Say’s Law says it is so.
You misunderstand the tenets of Say’s law, Chris. The Say’s law does not describe the QUALITY of the variables. It merely shows the relationship.
In the case of indie films, the obscurity of indie films reflect the TASTE of the general Filipino populace. It does not say that indie films suck. It says the Filipinos think they suck.
This corroborates the view of the article that the typical Filipino is shallow. I hope you see my point.
Oh, and don’t associate Ms. Ilda with my argument. I’ve only validated her article’s logic in my own way.
By the way, “not being able to do about something” does not nullify your right to complain against it. She simply recognizes the mental bankruptcy of the Philippine majority for buying into the crap that is mainstream media.
I hope that settles it, CHRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSS
THAT’S THE PROBLEM, ALBERT! Yung akala mong argument ko regarding Say’s Law? Yan ang exact argument ni Miss Ilda.
Sabi niya sa isang previous post: “…if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the ‘gaya-gaya.'”
Another one: “You guys can’t insist that something is good when it hasn’t even gone viral. You let the market be the judge of how good a film is.”
In essence, sinasabi niya na pangit ang mga indie films simply because walang kumukuha sa kanila na mainstream producers. Flawed ang statement na yan dahil hindi pa ripe ang market natin for indie aesthetics (kaya ako agree sa usage mo ng Say’s Law). Sistema ang may kulang, tapos sisisihin ba naman yung marginalized?
I only repeated what she said. Yan siguro ang namisinterpret mong statement ko about Say’s Law and the QUALITY of the variables.
I see where you’re coming from, actually (although there seemed to be quite a confusion a while ago, so sorry about that). However, your statement now proceeded to the topic about your direct sentiments to the author; something beyond my reach, as I’m not entitled to speak on her behalf.
Do not think that this is an excuse, because I really am NOT entitled to speak on her behalf. That is all.
I know you’re not entitled to speak on your behalf. I’m just educating you as to the context of the argument, in repayment for you educating me on the point of this article.
And of course the author is aware of where we’re coming from. All we did last night was to make her aware through our arguments. Sadly she does not take too kindly to being told off…
In other words, I am not in the position to interpret her statements beyond the article. However, within the confines of the article itself, I have held my ground quite sturdily.
“Science does this all the time; observing general characteristics of a group of samples.”
Mali ata yung intindi mo ng Science. If or when you take up Statistics courses, you’ll understand na not every “sample” is valid to make conclusions and generalizations. At sa science, may logic yung pag-gegeneralize. Yun lang.
Tama naman na may mga movies sa MMFF na talagang hindi kagandahan. Medyo si Ate Writer kasi, jumping into conclusion si Ate kung mag-generalize tungkol sa Filipino films. And if you’re argument is may right sya na magbigay ng opinyon bilang viewer, pwede mo ring sabihin na may right din ang mga readers to comment against or not against her views dito sa article nya — which is public naman.
Siguro ang challenge ay: panoorin nya muna yung iba’t ibang uri ng movies para maging valid yung arguments nya. Panoorin nya yung Manila Kingpin or mga Cinemalaya films tulad ng Kinatay, Ang Babae sa Septic Tank. Ganon. Pag mas okay na yung sample nya, saka nya balikan yung topic na ito.
Mainstream cinema and indie films are both films, and can be collectively referred to as such. Since mainstream cinema comprise the majority of the Philippine film industry, the conclusion of the article is sound and legitimate.
I mean, seriously. You can’t expect people to pinpoint every single exception in their conclusions just to satisfy your ego. The article concludes that Filipinos are GENERALLY shallow. It does not follow that ALL Filipinos suck, or that ALL Filipino films suck. You’re jumping to conclusions.
I never attempted to revoke your rights to speak, by the way.
I wasn’t jumping to conclusions. Ni-reiterate ko lang yung sinabi nung writer. At bilang dinifend mo yung right ng writer na magsulat ng whatever na gusto nya, dinidifend ko naman yung right ng mga nagko-comment kung bakit hindi sila naga-agree sa kanya.
As for sa pagdescribe mo ng film, I was not stating just one or two na exception lamang. I am talking about a set of films na may quality talaga gaya na lang ng Lino Brocka at Brillante Mendoza films. Hindi sila exception to the rule ngunit isang grupo ng mga tao na gumagawa ng magagandang film.
At yung pag-gegeneralize ni Ate, kung gagamitin mo yung science nga na sinasabi mo, it’s a crappy job. You don’t make a conclusion mula sa isang nafeel mo lang na sample.
“At bilang dinifend mo yung right ng writer na magsulat ng whatever na gusto nya, dinidifend ko naman yung right ng mga nagko-comment kung bakit hindi sila naga-agree sa kanya.”
Uh, yeah. I can clearly see that. Since when did I say I have problems with your right to defend the article’s critics?
It’s not crappy job, by the way. It’s normal. If you’re faced with 99 samples of which you can extract a solid conclusion, and there’s a single sample that deviates from the rest, what do you conclude?
You keep on insisting your arguments about the underrated beauty of indie films, but the fact is that the Filipino film industry is:
G.E.N.E.R.A.L.L.Y bad, as shown by mainstream cinema which comprise the majority of Filipino films.
You can note about the existence of a deviation from your data, but statistics will tell you that your conclusion will still remain the same; the Filipino film industry is G.E.N.E.R.A.L.L.Y bad.
When you say that a basket G.E.N.E.R.A.L.L.Y has apples, it doesn’t imply that there are no other fruits there. There’s a possibility that there are a few oranges, bananas, etc.
Do you see where I’m coming from? You must grasp the essence of generalization and deviation. Generalization does not negate the existence of a deviation.
Please keep that in mind.
I guess one of the points is…why make it about Filipinos when there are shallow audiences everywhere else in the world. The fact that quality foreign films make money here just goes to show that the Filipino public is not as shallow as you think. When it comes to the producers…it’s also like any other group of producers in the world. there are those who aim to offer social relevance and there are those who merely aim to make money.
If Enteng had the same kind of effects as Avatar’s, would you still see it as crappy? I think you can figure it out why we can’t have that kind of quality. It’s too expensive.
What makes you think I liked Avatar?
You don’t need special effects to make quality films. Why limit yourself to films using special effects in the first place? A good storyline and superb dialogue won’t need special effects.
Imagine The Curious Case of Benjamin Button without special effects. Or Inception. Or Harry Potter, even.
They had amazing storylines and superb dialogue but the special effects made it real.
Avatar was a good film because of its special effects. It’s pretty shallow if your basis of a good film is solely on storyline and dialogue. When analyzing a film, you have to take note of all the aspects. It was said in an article from the Guardian (UK newspaper) that Avatar was such a milestone in film, it can be put on the same historical page as Citizen Kane, or the Great Train Robbery.
Also, I’m sorry if the Filipino people are not as smart as you and still enjoy these MMFF films and look forward to them every year. Probably if they had the same level of education as you, maybe they wouldn’t be as shallow. If you want to fix that, help out, instead of ranting. Make your posts substantial and educational, and just maybe we can fix mainstream cinema.
@Just saying
I just watched the film Blue Valentine last night and it was really good despite not having any special effects.
Since most people spend a lot of time watching films in the Philippines, Filipino filmmakers can use their films as a tool for educating Filipinos. They can actually influence the behaviour of the people.
You don’t say. Blue Valentine didn’t require special effects in the first place.
Exactly, good you understand how we filmmakers see our medium. Now, who’s to say filmmakers don’t try to do that? CinemaOne Best Picture Ka Oryang was a way for the director to tell us about Martial Law and re-educate the youth on our country’s history, AND it was done in a feminist perspective. Cinemalaya’s Patikul educated us about the current situation in Patikul, Sulu. So many people were inspired by this film, saying it humanized the situations in Mindanao, it inspired teachers in Manila to really strive because they’re well-off compared to the teachers portayed in the film.
So I don’t understand how you could say, “They are not even making people think; they are not even stirring emotions or provoking people into doing something with their lives; they are not even inspiring young people to aspire for greatness”
Ok, what else? Just one? Obviously it didn’t make a big enough impact due to the problem in Mindanao still persisting and the new generation still not enlightened.
And obviously, you haven’t been down there to research on its recent situation. Okay, basic thing here: Nothing can be change overnight.
Also, I gave you two examples, not one.
Might as well give you another one. That makes 3. Have you heard of Halaw? 2010 Cinemalaya. It’s about human trafficking. It was screened in numerous places in Tawi-Tawi, it received full support government because it raises timely issues in that are relevent to their area. It’s also being contacted by various anti-trafficking NGOs to be screened to help raise awareness on human trafficking.
Here’s a quick 4, 5 and 6. Bahay Bata was a commentary on the hospitals and lack of government intervention in the Philippines – a good commentary on the RH Bill. Cuchera, a film about drug mules and recruiters going on today. Happyland is about the young kids of Tondo who play soccer – the futkaleros. Very inspiring and eye-opening films.
Again, how could you have generalized Filipino filmmakers saying that we don’t try to inspire young people, or make emotionally stirring films? I’m a young filmmaker, I’m part of this new generation, now was it right for you to say that I’m not pumped to help our society? Or to say I’m not doing anything to deepen the understanding and appreciation of the Filipino masses? I’m sure there are many more like me. Just because you aren’t inspired by Philippine cinema (which I am very optimistic about), doesn’t give you the authority to go ranting about how you remain jaded and cold towards the developments Filipino filmmakers are trying to make because you refuse to open your eyes to the changes some people are so kind to try and do to our country.
Help the country out, not rub in its face with your, dare I say, shallow rants. You are a writer, or blogger, whatever you prefer, and you have a powerful medium. Why don’t you also use this as a tool for educating the Filipino people and influence the behaviour of the Filipino people – for the better.
Sorry for the typos. Just had a lot to say.
“I guess one of the points is…why make it about Filipinos when there are shallow audiences everywhere else in the world.”
Oh, it’s the monkey-see-monkey-do argument.
“The fact that quality foreign films make money here just goes to show that the Filipino public is not as shallow as you think.”
The fact remains that local mainstream movie producers make shallow movies and said shallow movies earn big bucks. Why?
You are basically saying that there is a demand out there for quality films but the filmmakers would rather make crappy ones. That still says a lot about our culture: we celebrate mediocrity or “pwede na yan” workmanship.
“Open your close mind. Close your open mouth.”
I wish you a Happy New Year and I hope you can consider the suggestions and comments of the film makers and film enthusiasts who commented on your blog and not just relying on your own beliefs. Its practically a right vs. right situation but you need not say things about what you haven’t watched or got enough information about. Research babe. It’ll not do you wrong. I kid you not.
parang di kitang ma-imagine magmura? hahaha!!!
Sorry, makasabat lang. Natuwa ako sa mga comments dito hehe! Actually, mas may entertainment value pa nga ito kesa panuorin si Kris Aquino making her tired monotonous scary-gulat faces sa Segunda Mano (one of the MMFF entries).
Tapos parang Kris aquino lang tong si Manay blogger Ilda. As in, parang Kris Aquino lang, basta lang may masabi ng ‘di pinag-iisipan, para lang pag-usapan. 🙂
Naku ‘teh, sorry wag na wag mong makanti-kanti si Alem (producer ng Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa) at si Jerrold Tarog (loved him since his Carpool short film days), hanggang hindi pa naipapalabas yang sinasabi mong action film na gusto mong gawin, at habang hindi mo nililista yung top 10 films mo this 2011, wala kang K mag-generalize tungkol sa Philippine Cinema. Che!
But i still love you for the entertainment value, ‘te! keep it up 🙂 para may sense ang susunod na article mo, manood ka naman ng Pinoy films. malay mo, pag nanood ka, e tubuan ng sense ang pinoy cinema (i know it does not follow, pero ewan ko, nahawa lang siguro ako sa’yo? hehe)
Gonna wait for your action film ha! Will comment after, pramis, AFTER. hindi before. 🙂
I think that a distinction between Indie and Mainstream films should be noted here. The whole of the Filipino Film industry is not too bad. Note Brillante Mendoza, Auraeus Solito, Lino Brocka and so many other brilliant filmmakers in the past and present.
The comments posted by the “blogger” in response to the people who questioned her blog post’s substance (or lack thereof, based on other comments posted above) has just proven why she should not be writing in the first place.
I won’t comment on how the text was written or how it was or was not researched before it was posted. I’ll save my piece for the “blogger” who posted this text.
Ilda, notice that I referred to your material as mere “post” or “text” and to you as a “blogger”. I can’t bring myself to call what you created as an article or a reading material at the very least. I also cannot bring myself to call you a writer, because I think you chose the wrong field. A lot of writers are misunderstood, but the true ones never attack the intelligence of their critics (at least not publicly). What separated you from Benigno (who’s also defending your text) is class. At least Benigno’s responses to comments are based on what other people said and not on assumptions of who they are.
One piece of advice: since you can freely post whatever text you want online without judgment, please extend the same courtesy to those who would like to say their piece. If you can’t give us that opportunity, then maybe start thinking of something else to do that won’t generate opinions from others. Try being a hermit.
@marked man
Your comment is pure ad hominem. Nothing of consequence to the point of the article.
call it whatever you want. just give the people here the opportunity to say what they want to say without questioning whether or not what they’re saying has consequence to your “text’s” point.
@Marked man
Do you have a point at all? It seems you are just good at attacking the writer and not the message.
BTW, a blogger is someone who “writes” entries on blogsites. So I have no problem with you calling me a blogger. It does not change the fact that you cannot address the point of the article.
So does Parallax’s, and by extension my comments, now that you come to think about it.
Person gives you advice on how to write, you dismiss said person as irrelevant. Okay good luck with accepting constructive criticism.
“How do these filmmakers sleep at night knowing that they are not really creating a work of art but just copies of some other people’s work? They are not even making people think; they are not even stirring emotions or provoking people into doing something with their lives; they are not even inspiring young people to aspire for greatness”
Ouch. Well, this is pretty personal.
You can ask if she has watched it, but her answer will in no way discredit or strengthen the arguments encapsulated in the article. The question, while harmless, is a red herring.
My friend, Say’s Law states that “supply creates its own demand.” It’s a legitimate economic principle. This simply means that the products more or less reflect the demands of the consumer, and vice-versa.
From this principle, we can formulate a general observation of Filipino society. Mind you, general. As I’ve said before, science always does this; stereotyping and generalizing.
The evidence in the article’s assertion lies in that very principle. The Philippine market reflects the Filipino taste. More or less.
So far you guys have been emotionally driven in an unhealthy. You have been eager in bashing and ranting, when your points hardly clash. The article talks about mainstream cinema; you guys talk more about indie films. I hope you see my point.
It’s not good to see your peers swearing, by the way. Whether you like it or not, it ruins your collective credibility.
*unhealthy way
This comment seems misplaced (must be an internet bug), so I’ll just let this comment address all the critics.
The article talks about Philippine cinema IN GENERAL. The funny thing is that the author seems not to have thought about independent cinema, perhaps even dismissed it as not being part of the whole Philippine cinema, as she was writing this piece. That’s what makes this article a magnet for your so-called “emotionally-driven”, “bashing” and “ranting” representatives of the indie scene.
The article describes modern Philippine cinema in general using the general “face” of the Philippine film industry; the mainstream cinema. The problem is that you tend to associate indie films with mainstream cinema as though they are one, when the article didn’t allude to indie films in the first place. This conjures the illusion that the article bashes the good Filipino indie films, when it’s just making a general assumption of the Filipino society based on what the typical Filipino watches; mainstream media.
As I keep on telling you guys, it’s up to you if you’ll take this article as offensive material.
This misinterpretation of the article by the critics brought forth their emotionally-driven rants.
You see, the indie-film-centric arguments of the critics hardly clash with the article’s, because they tackle different subjects.
The article formulates a general observation of the Filipino society using a tool which more or less encompasses the typical Filipino’s taste; the mainstream media. This methodology is validated by Say’s law, since supply creates its own demand. In other words, what we have in our market is more or less the reflection of what people want.
From this point, it is valid to conclude that the Filipino taste is generally shallow within the context of mainstream media, which happens to be the de facto “face” of the Filipino film industry.
The article then proceeded to criticize this “face” our industry donned, because it degrades the quality of the Filipino culture.
I’ll just reiterate:
People are offended not because nalito sila kung tungkol ba to sa mainstream o sa indie. It is because indie films were not taken into account when this article was written – therefore, nadamay sila sa generalization na naganap. Even Ilda and benignO said as much.
Which brings us back to my earlier point; it’s up to you if you want to take it as offensive material.
Careful, Albert: baka mabansagan ka nilang “time waster” kapag paulit-ulit mong sinasabi mga argumento mo.
I’m not exhausting my arguments. It’s just that the situation calls for me to reiterate one of my points. Re-emphasizing an argument is not scrapping the bottom of the barrel, as long as the deed is justified rationally.
HUMANITY REQUIRES JUDGMENT =))
*scraping
Well, isn’t the mere fact that it is called “indie” (for independent) automatically exclude it from Mainstream?
dear mr albert wesker:
since you seen to be more rational in your comments, i want to show you why my posts are less emotional but more logical.
“Are you actually saying that Shake, Rattle and Roll was good? If you are, then that says a lot about your taste. And since I don’t share your preference in films, what makes you think I will like the other films that you’d recommend?”
so my question to her kasi was napanood ba niya. how can she judge my taste as bad if she hasn’t seen this year’s version.
“Besides, if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the “gaya-gayaâ€.”
again, she’s making generalizations na mali. i wanted to prove that so i posted on my FB wall and on an FB group her article. and look at the comments from these people. see, she’s making assumptions and generalizations na mali. she’s claiming na walang following ang indie at ang mga indie film fests.
“If something is good, the news about it will travel fast and more people will demand to see it. Even the “greedy†producers will be willing to spend money on promoting it. If there are indeed “good†films as you claim, then what happened? The answer is simple, they weren’t good enough.”
so her assumption is that these films are not good enough to be distributed. that’s why i keep insisting has she seen them? and as you can see, this is already about indie films and not just mainstream.
“If your so-called Indie film is not included in the Manila Film Festival, our version of the “Oscarsâ€, then that says a lot about your film – it’s probably not good enough and there’s something wrong with people who run the Philippine film industry. And more importantly, there is something wrong with the audience.”
see here’s the problem, in proving her point, she also disparages other groups. in the first place, she claims that getting into the Metro Manila Film Festival is the be all and end all of good Philippine cinema. it’s NOT!!!. but she goes on in insinuating that indie films are not good enough because they’re not accepted in the MMFF. that’s the problem.
see, ok lang naman to assert what you think she’s asserting. but does she have to insult everyone along the way? that’s probably what irked a lot of people and rubbed them in a wrong way.
again, i want to insist on this: MANOOD KAYO!!! lalo na kung alam n’yong maganda ang isang pelikula. kayo ang may disposable income to change the system. so WATCH!!! support what is good. that’s all i want to say. and please, before making judgment and generalizations, manood muna kayo. bakit, may scientist bang gumagawa ng generalizations without conducting an experiment first? so kung di kayo manood, then people can question your credibility in making generalizations.
Your sentiments go directly against the author rather than the article. My reason for being here is to dispel the apparent misunderstanding between the emotionally-driven critics and the message the article wants to impart.
I am not in the position to answer that post of yours. Only Ms. Ilda can fully respond to your questions.
that’s the problem. you seem to know what the author’s intentions are. but based on her comments (on negative reactions of readers), it reveals her faults as well. so, inasmuch as you accuse us as being emotional, may point din naman ang mga nagpo-post ng negative reactions dito. hindi porke’t di kami naniniwala sa post n’yo e sasabihan n’yo na kaming nagiging personal, mapagmura at emotional. kasi, may gumagawa rin naman niyan sa mga sumasang-ayon sa inyo.
so, again, maganda sana ang punto niya, kung ang mga napili niyang sample ng pelikula ay ‘yung mga karapat-dapat na laitin. kahit sinong scientist na gagawa ng assertion o generalization, di ba’t maganda ring tanungin sa kanila kung ano ang basis nila? and from there, we judge their generalization as credible or not. in this case, nawala ang credibility niya sa hindi niya panonood ng mga Pinoy film. ‘yan lang naman ang hinihingi ng iba rito e. magbigay kayo ng pelikulang napanood niya an pangit. at hindi ayon lang sa mga sabi-sabi ang paghirang na pangit ang mga ito. (marami sila ha so hindi ito trick question. hinahanap ko lang ang kredibilidad ng blogger na ito sa kanyang mga generalization).
I have been arguing solely on the contents of the article, and I’ve defended its logic quite well.
Now, since your issues concern the author specifically, I am no longer legitimate to address your questions. I invoke my right not to speak.
I didn’t say you’re emotional because you don’t agree with the article. I said so because most of you misinterpreted the article and went swearing and stuff like that.
Once again, I reiterate my position; my arguments are limited to the article alone. I am not in the position to outright justify Ms. Ilda’s statements.
nawala post ko. or di ko lang mahanap. uulitin ko. eniways, here goes…
ayon sa artikulo mismo:
Take the 13th instalment of Shake, Rattle and Roll, and ask: What else can people expect to get out of it? Not much, obviously. People are probably watching it for the eye candy. Every year the film features starlets parading and pouting for the camera hoping to look cute enough to win an award. That’s right. Talent in acting is not really a criterion for winning an acting award in the Philippines.
how can she judge SRR13 as such if she hasn’t seen it. see, that’s my point, really. inasmuch as her assertions are correct, the points she raised to prove her assertions have been baseless. why? dahil di naman pala niya napanood ang Shake tapos kung anu-anong generalization na ginagawa niya. so, ganito ba ang pagiging “scientific” sa pagbuo ng generalization.
Dude, I’m not the right person for you to tell all of that. My purpose is restricted to clarifying the message of the article. Tell those stuff personally to Ms. Ilda. :/
i already did, but she just called me as someone wasting her time kasi paulit-ulit lang ako. unfortunately, she’s not answering my questions and keeps making these assertions. simple lang ang tanong ko. napanood ba niya ang Shake. oo o hindi. pero kung anu-ano na ang sinasabi niya.
ngayon, tinatanong na KITA MISMO. IKAW? ano ang iyong palagay. tama ba na gumawa ng assertion tapos ang ginamit na halimbawa ay hindi pala substantiated. so bale, tama ba ang paggamit niya sa mga pelikulang binanggit niya bilang walang katuturan nang di naman pala niya pinapanood. scientific pa ba ito? tinatanong kita as a defender of this article.
What kind of impression will twelve mediocre SSR films give you?
What kind of pattern can you discern from films which are amalgams of prior mediocre films?
The article discerns a pattern; it formulates a prediction based on the films’ trailers, marketing and history. And discerning patterns as well as drawing inferences from them is a scientific process.
Empiricism is not the only source of knowledge, you know. After all, you don’t determine the properties of a black hole by going in it.
My point is, just because you haven’t watched the film, doesn’t mean you’re completely incapable of producing a sound judgment.
Ilda’s assertion is quite substantiated enough to make an inference.
“Empiricism is not the only source of knowledge, you know. After all, you don’t determine the properties of a black hole by going in it.
My point is, just because you haven’t watched the film, doesn’t mean you’re completely incapable of producing a sound judgment.”
nobody could have said it better. thank you, albert.
12 mediocre SRR? see, that’s your problem e. may napanood ka ba ng kahit 1 SRR? kasi maraming SRR episodes na maganda. lalo na ‘yung first.
My point is, just because you haven’t watched the film, doesn’t mean you’re completely incapable of producing a sound judgment.
this would be true if the author said “the trailers are bad, and the marketing is bad, and I’m not interested in watching the films.” but she said “the films are bad.” (i’m paraphrasing, of course.) or “the films don’t make us think.” there’s a big difference. one is sound reasoning, the other is jumping to conclusions.
@Alem: I won’t question your personal tastes.
@thebaklareview: If you’ll read the contents of the article, you’ll see that it’s actually of a speculative nature. The author EXPECTS that the movie will be bad, based on the unsatisfactory history of MMFF. I’ve explained earlier that such inference is sound. Now, if you’ll raise quotes from the author in the comments section, then don’t bother, as I’m not supposed to interpret them without her consent.
The title is meant to be provocative and eye-catching. Proof? All of you (no offense).
You’re very gallant to be an avid defender, Mr. Wesker. Congratulations, then, to you and Ilda for an article that’s speculative and offense-seeking.
(By the way, I’m not offended. If not for the topical discussion, I rather thought the article itself was empty and ineffectual.)
Another red herring. And you expect me to take you seriously?
Stick to rebutting the points of the article.
At this point I already know you won’t take any comment seriously, unless it’s to defend you. I’m saddened by this, but I guess ganoon lang talaga.
The fact that you are sad means you are taking all this too personally. Chill. Read the article again and you might feel better. 😉
By the way, Economists do not see people as individuals rather than just mere numbers. I suggest for you to read Anthropology (lalo na Economic Anthropology) — there’s a whole argument in that field na hindi tayo pwedeng basta-bastang mag-generalize tungkol sa human behaviour lalo na pag nag-iisa lamang ang sample natin.
Which is why it’s explicitly stated that the conclusion in the article is based on the tastes of the majority of Filipinos when it comes to movies.
Haven’t you noticed that we’ve been arguing WITHIN the context of the article’s central point, which is the G.E.N.E.R.A.L mediocrity of the Filipino film industry?
The methodology employed by the article is like evaluating a portion of human behavior based on his eating habits. A man eating mostly vegetables can be considered to be disciplined, since he manages to abstain from eating meat. You get the point.
In this case, the mediocre nature of the majority of mainstream films and how most Filipinos buy into such films tell us one idea: that most of the Filipinos must have somewhat mediocre taste in films.
It is true that you can’t fully characterize a population’s true behavior if you have few bases, but are we doing such thing here? The article merely pointed out a prevailing nature in the Filipino society (mediocrity in taste), but does it encompass the entirety of the Filipino personality?
In determining the entirety of Filipino behavior, we must consider the socio-political background of the Filipino society, the market structure, the literacy rate, unemployment, hunger and crime rates, prevailing cultural trends, and a whole bunch of factors; is this what you actually want? You want a dissertation?
Besides, pursuing this line of reasoning will defeat your purpose, since you will start to argue beyond the context of this debate, so abandon that path as soon as possible. Friendly advice. ^^
The point of the article is to give us a glimpse into the Filipino behavior within the bounds of the film industry, and it has served the purpose well.
@Ilda: You should watch Jerrold Tarog’s Mangatyanan. It’s really good. And Tulad ng Dati by Michael Sandejas. I’m sure there are other good indie films in the Philippines, which I really want to watch but I don’t know where to find them as I wasn’t able to catch them in the cinema. Hope they would release DVDs.
Oh btw, I’ll treat you to one movie in the next Cinemalaya (sorry, that’s all I can afford). 🙂
PS.Maganda rin daw pala yung Sayaw ng Dalawang Paa (sabi ng friend kong nagtuturo ng literature) kaso didn’t have the chance to see it. 🙁
Saka nga pala, seryoso akong ililibre kita ng isang movie sa Cinemalaya. Para lang ma-experience mo.
Peace out.
hi kert! i’m actually offering to give her a festival pass for the whole festival e. kaso, mukhang matigas talaga ang ulo. kung ano lang ang gusto niyang isipin, ‘yun lang ang kanyang paniniwalaan. pero salamat sa special mention. hehe!
@Alem: No worries. Yung friend kong nagtuturo sa Ateneo lagi nyang minimention sa conversations namin yung film na ‘yon. Sadly, didn’t have the chance to see it. Hindi maganda ang class schedule ko last sem. 🙁
As for author na ito, siguro talaga kung seryoso sya sa mga sinusulat nya ay manonood sya ng kahit isa man lang na film sa Cinemalaya (free pass na nga sya sa buong festival eh. Swerte).
@Ilde: Ano bang tipo ng tao yung pinapaniwalaan mo? Yung nanonood ng Oscar’s? Halos napanood ko na rin po iyon. French films? Sorry, but I prefer the depth of Japanese films. Karapat-dapat na ba akong magsabi sa iyo na manood ka ng Cinemalaya? Actually, ang swerte mo nga eh. Bibigyan ka na ng free pass.
Sige po, I shall move on with my life.
maganda pa ung mga pelikula nina tito vic and joey at ung mga ginawa ni dolphy.. tae mga artista ngyn puro papogi nlng wala na ung mga natural..
naku xyrus! mukhang walang napanood na TVJ o Dolphy film ang mga nagsusulat dito. kasi para sa kanila, pangit lahat ng mainstream films. case closed. napanood man nila ang mga ito o hindi.
Ilda, salamat sa iyong pagsubok na gamitin ang iyong posisiyon bilang manunulat upang ipamulat sa madla ang kasalukuyang estado ng industriya ng pelikula sa Pilipinas. Salamat, ngunit alam na ng karamihan ng “cultural elite” iyon, alam na ng mga intelehente at edukadong minorya sa bansa.
Matagal na tayong tapos sa ganyang moda, ang tanong ngayon, kung hindi ka mapalagay sa nakakalungkot na estado ng MMFF at mainstream na mga palabas, paano mo gagamitin ang kapangyarihan mo bilang manunulat upang MABAGO ang estadong ito? May responsibilidad ka bilang kasapi ng media dahil sa readership ng getrealphilippines blog niyo; kung maglalabas ka ng artikulong nagra-rant lamang, hindi ba katulad ka rin ng mga pelikula ng MMFF? Ang sinusulat mo ay “rip-ff,” “copy of other people’s work,” tulad ng sinabi mo tungkol sa mga palabas sa MMFF; mga nabasa na ng iba mula sa ibang manunulat. Kung seryoso ka sa responsibilidad mo bilang blogger, ano ang bagong masasabi mo tungkol sa estado ng mga pelikulang mainstream ngayon?
Alam na naming lahat na kaawa-awa na ang mga pelikulang isinusubo sa masa. Ang tanong, ano ang gagawin mo para mabago ang sitwasiyon?
Hindi ba, kung inuulit mo lang ang alam na ng karamihan, ang komento mo ay katulad rin ng mga “rip-off” na “stuff that you can discard after one use?”
GUSTO KITA IILDA! YOU MAKE ME SMART! *************************
***************************
Go back on watching your porn utak squatter.
Ilda, sana sagutin mo ang mga puntong nabanggit nina j magsaysay at alem. Di ko na siguro kailangang icopy and paste pa sila dahil nasa taas naman. I am very curious to see what your response will be kasi they raised valid points.
Magcocomment lang ako sa sinabi mo sa isang nagcomment suggesting you watch indie films. Nasabi mo na hindi ka naman manonood ng mga ito kasi they don’t interst you or meron ka ring nasabi na hindi ka naman binayaran para panoorin sila. Una, sayang naman, kasi they (meaning the commenters) had the good intention of showing you quality Pinoy films. Pangalawa, bakit kailangan bayaran ka? Pangatlo, nakita mo na ba yung trailer ng mga nasuggest sayo na films para masabi mo na they don’t interest you? hindi kita inaaway dito. I’m just hoping na you’d think again and maybe take the suggestion of the commenters.
Para sa mga nagkukumento na emo ang mga bumabatikos sa artikulo, nagkumento ang mga taong ito dahil may nais silang iparating sa gumawa ng artikulo, and they were passionate enough to type what they were thinking na sana binasa talaga ng may akda at hindi lang dinisregard just because they don’t agree with her.
Kung sasabihin niyo na this comment of mine is missing the article’s point, no need. Ang kumento ko ay patungkol sa ibang isinulat ng may akda at iba pang commenters sa comments pages. Hopefully pwede naman yon.
bakit kahit anong anyaya namin sa inyo na manood ng Cinemalaya, Cinema One o Cinemanila, wala sa inyong, pro-Get Real Philippines supporters ang gusto kaming patulan sa aming offer? bakit takot na takot kayong mapatunayang meron din namang magagandang indie film? bakit may allergy kayo sa mga taong nag-iisip ng matitinong paraan para mabago ang sistema. (kahit matinong gay film na hindi n’yo pandidirihan, meron din ‘yan. dahil hindi naman poke’t may kabaklaan, kasuklam-suklam at kasuka-suka na siya e. promise!)
bakit din, bilang mga intellectual elites na may disposable money, bakit wala kayong ginagawa para tulungan ang industriya? di n’yo man lang alam kung ano ang Cinemalaya? (sa CCP pala siya ginaganap tuwing July.) na may mga pelikulang gawang Pinoy na pinararangalan abroad pero di naipapalabas sa Pinas. at nilalangaw pag pinapalabas sa sinehan. kung may concern talaga kayo sa Philippine cinema beyond ranting and criticizing about them, sana may gawin kayo concretely. and one thing you guys can do is to help promote quality Filipino films and support them. there are a lot of us out there trying to change the system. and we don’t need nega people like you to mock ALL of us. and call our films malaswa. evan if you’ve never seen any of them.
kanina ko naisip na tigilan ang pagpost dito. pero 4am na e. at andito pa rin ako. siguro, nanaig ang pagiging guro ko. at sana, sa dinami-dami ng mga ni-raise kong puntos dito, may ma-convince man lang akong isang nagbabasa ng blog na ito na manood ng isang Cinemalaya film ngayong Hulyo, i’ll be a happy camper. pero hangga’t di ninyo inaamin na sinulat ninyo ang artikulong ito na may kaunting pagkukulang sa inyo part to help the industry, di ko kayo tatantanan. unless siguro kung i-ban n’yo na ako.
Di rin ako makaalis dito Sir Alem. haha. Benta kasi di rin ako nakatulog.
Okay lang din saking i-ban niyo ako, wag niyo lang burahin posts ko. Mas dadali buhay ng mga kapanig ko by not having to repost everything I said. 🙂
di ko talaga ma-gets ang allergy ng blogger sa panonood ng indie film. tuloy, nagmumukha siyang isang petulant brat na ayaw makinig sa mga sinasabi ng iba. although ako ‘yung na-brang as time waster. e gusto ko lang naman malaman ang sagot sa unang 2 tanong ko. sa dinami-dami ng nilakbay niya, di pa rin niya sinasagot ang aking 2 tanong. though nainsulto na ang ating komunidad nang katakot-takot. ganoon ba talaga maging REAL? get real don!
Well, I got a simple answer, and it reflects on myself as well.
Even if I’m invited, even for free, if I don’t feel like watching it, I won’t.
I’m not drawn to it and therefore, why should I spend my time sitting through something I did not like to begin with.
This applies not only to local movies, but also to foreign films as well.
For Mr. Alem and Mr. J, I do not watch indie films really as they do not draw me in to watch me, be it local or foreign. And no, just because it is foreign, doesn’t mean I will watch it. Also, no, effects are not a draw to me.
For the record, I also did not like Transformers DOTM. I only liked the first one. I liked the first Matrix and not the rest. See my point?
I watch what I want to watch, simple as that. As it is my time and no one else’s and I will choose how I spend it not because some one tells me to, unless of course it is work related (ordered by boss).
So I think, you have to respect Ms. Ilda’s wishes if she doesn’t want to go see the films, unless you give her a reason to.
One is, do you have trailers she could skim through and see whether or not a movie may interest her? That goes the same for everyone else here, do you have trailers for the next indie film festival that maybe people here can look at prior to the film festival as part of your exposure campaign?
Clap, clap, clap to Sphynx’s comments. Very, very smart, indeed! You definitely get me.
Ay ganon po pala? Sana po kung hindi nyo naman po pala talaga trip yung mga Indie films ng Pilipinas sana po hindi na lang kayo nagblog tungkol sa Philippine Cinema.
Hindi ko po maimagine ang sarili kong magbibigay ng isang article against, kunwari, snuff films ng Japan na hindi ko naman talaga alam kung anong laman ng mga movie bilang ayoko syang panoorin. And therefore, hindi ako makakapagbigay ng generalization tungkol sa Japanese film dahil hindi ko marerepresent ang bawat aspect nito.
hi sphynx!
ang problem ko lang naman sa kanya ay hindi niya alam ang mga sinasabi niya. may mga magagandang pelikula, mainstream or indie. halimbawa, last year, ang ganda-ganda ng RPG: Metanoia. it’s one of the best animation i’ve seen in years, foreign or local. i even dare say that it’s the Philippine animation i’ve seen. it was “mainstream” film dahil kasali siya sa MMFF. pero kung sa tingin nina Ilda at ibang tao rito na porket Pinoy film ay pangit, di na nila ito panonoorin, e wala talagang mangyayari. so ang sinasabi lang ng ilan sa mga indie community ay simple lang. bigyan sana ng pagkakataon manood, kahit isa lang sa mga pelikulang ito at huwag sanang sabihin agad na waste of time siya kahit wala ka naman na kaalam-alam tungkol dito. in short, paano mo nasabing pangit ang last Transformers kung di mo naman ito napanood? di ba, kung gagawa ng opinyon, make sure na enough knowledge ka about it.
ngayon, ito ang mga trailer na hinihingi mo. i’m sure di nila ito panonoorin dahil pangit ang mga pinoy for them. but for your sake, i wish to check them out. tinitiyak kong marami pa rito e.
trailer ng RPG Metanoia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBwqmt5bjA. ang favorite scene ko sa pelikula ay ‘yung paglalaro ng iba’t ibang larong pinoy like patintero, tumbang preso, etc.
ito ‘yung nanalo sa Busan this year: Nino. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9El2qb6icI. it’s a black comedy on the state of Philippine middle class families. as you can see, it features the countries top cinematic and theatrical actors.
ito ‘yung Babae sa Septic Tank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4LrcK7dwQ. it’s already spoofing the indie film industry. in other words, meron nang ka-ispoof-ispoof about it dahil marami nang developments about it. hindi siya fly-by-night.
Dinig Sana Kita: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0au9w213FA. love story ito between a deaf guy and a rocker chick who’s losing her hearing.
6 Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpJR1v9VrJg. it’s a mockumentary about an “extra” in horror films.
2 of my own films:
Ang Panggagahasa kay FE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBh5jYaVmmQ. it’s co-produced with the Women’s Crisis Center that deals with violence against women but we infused Philippine folk lore and a little horror into the story.
Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDg4NekqfMA. we used feminist poetry to discuss issues about third world artists and homosexuality.
ito by Jerrold Tarod, director of episode 2 of SRR13: Confessional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8E3ZU4SMOM. mockumentary rin tungkol sa isang interview ng isang pulitiko.
marami pa akong pwedeng ipakita sa iyo. if you’re interested let me know. pero ang point lang kasi, huwag lahatin until you’ve done your research and actually know what you’re talking about. make generalizations if you know enough.
Right. I don’t watch something that doesn’t interest me either. But see, you and I didn’t write this article. Ilda did. I believe there are requests for her to watch films because we want to read articles by writers who are less ignorant.
@ Alem
It peaked my interest a bit. I have also heard of RPG Metanoia. But I was saddened by the framerate/”lag”. I want to think that it is possibly due to compression of the video but I think it is less than 30fps, maybe even lower than 24 fps.
Second, I am turned off by voice actors who “dub” rather than act it out. I know, it’s still relatively a fledgling industry here compared to other countries, but I am after quality in that as well.
My example is simple. Take DragonBall Z. compare Japanese voice acted against the american dubbed garbage. You clearly see the difference in how the voice actors “portrayed” their characters. There are also low quality dubbed American media so I don’t care to watch it as well. It ruins the experience for me, you are supposed to ingest both audio and video at the same time. If one is not in unison with the other than it is ruined for me.
I have gripes about these CG stuff because I have seen quite a lot, some resort to “Silent short films” because they know they can’t do it with the proper voice acting, but you can clearly see the message. This is of course, not limited to the digital shorts of Pixar and/or Dreamworks, but independent animators from all over the world. You can actually see their works as their thesis from Film Schools posting it on youtube and they are great. Some aren’t as good, but good nonetheless. A sample is VancouverFilmSchool, you may also want to consider looking at the CG short/movie Sintel that was done for free using the free 3d software Blender. I compare the shorts/trailers against these works by students or independent endeavors by groups or individuals and I feel the local ones still fall short, even with funding from big studios. So I’m sorry, but I still feel we lag in that regard. There was even an issue with the Hoodwinked movie that I came across. I have read quite a few gripes about it, and this was supposedly done and animated locally as well for international release.
http://www.philmug.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=10976
I watched the movie and it was ok. So you can at least know RPG Metanoia wasn’t the only full feature film that was done in 3d.
I do have some gripes about it’s animation quality as some have said that Toy Story 1 is even more “fluid” than it (which I noticed) but it didn’t bug me as much.
Ikaw na ang cool Ilda.
And just stick with your strengths.
Just my 7 cents.
well trolled, madam. well trolled.
Well-written, Ilda! And I wholeheartedly agree with you. This is sad but true; Ignorance pervades the nation, and art of films is broken into a doggerel garbage. I’m probably going to write an article in response to this on http://www.fliprap.com . Add me on FB, man- facebook/hyperviper . Keep writing the truth. Good job
LOL… Parang Mainstream VS Indie ang diskusyon dito ah! hanep!
Ms Ilda, I got your point, pero hwag naman i-generalized lahat. Alam mo ba na kaming mga taga Mindanao may Indie-Film na rin.
It’s annoying that these trolling flips are like Uwe Boll who wants to summon the critics for a boxing match only because of the massive criticism of his movies when in fact they do suck.
They can’t handle criticism.
can you?
so, intellectual piracy ehh? 😀
Was asiong salonga really good? Baka naman naimpress lang kayo sa black and white look nung movie?
Pag labelled “indie” ba automatically good? I find a lot them quite pretentious.
I agree with you. A lot of “indie” films get a lot of excuses kasi “indie” sila. Awkward camera angle, INDIE. Bad lighting INDIE. Fuck that. I’m sure there are exceptions (i’ve seen a few) but maaaan.
As for Asiong Salonga movie, sure it was a break through technically. Black and White, Slo mo scenes, awesome sets (as far as MMFF movies go), and really good lighting.
But the story? Very very jumpy. No build up. The movie felt rushed, at dinaan nalang sa “cool gangster scenes”
Hay. But then it’s a step taken naman. I hope they make better ones this year.
Cheers
That’s another explanation why some people here are being defensive. They think that they are the “creme de la creme” of the Philippine film industry just because they get the approval of their peers.
Hindi naman po. Hindi po kasi din sufficient yung mga arguments nyo. Saka po pinapagtanggol lang naman po namin ang mga taong hindi nyo marinig dahil ayaw nyong pakinggan. Ganoon na po ba talaga ang journalism ngayon — kung matatawag man itong journalism.
Sige. Tama na po. Bahala na lang po kayo sa buhay nyo — if you want to stay in your ivory tower. Then so be it.
I totally agree. It’s just sad the way things are going & these actors & film makers still have the guts to complain that less & less people are watching local movies. People says that media serves them crap. Media says crap is what the mass wants. Hopefully everyone in the industry will read this.
I see this as a challenge more on the audiences than the producers. The biggest hit of 2011 is Praybeyt Benjamin and this will most likely be challenged by Enteng ng Ina Mo. This means that millions of people contributed to the almost 500M combined gross of both films. The sad part is movies like Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa played to almost empty theaters that prompted cinemas to pull them out after just a few days. In an industry such as ours, producers will cater to what is being watched so as to sustain their business. We can keep complaining that producers are coming up with the same type of films every year but until the audiences start supporting the few quality movies being produced, then we can expect more Enteng and SRR films in the next few years.
And that highlights the challenge. Kung baga sa Mission Impossible, “your mission if you choose to accept it” is to become visible in a field that is rigged against your favour. The character played by Tom Cruise is a “hero” because he does — and succeeds — precisely in that kind of endeavour.
Based on the sort of comments I’ve seen so far, it seems the people who lament the marginalised place “indie” films hold in the Philippines are better at whining than stepping up to said challenges.
The reality is that the entire content dissemination infrastructure of the Philippines is held by private enterprise who are accountable to shareholders who expect financial returns from their investment. And even more unfortunate is that the majority of the audience who are willing to cough up hard-earned dough to consume said content are quite happy being fed crap.
That’s the mission. It is “impossible” only because we lack the sort of innovation that makes billionaires out of nerds and outcasts like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
It’s called “the Philippines”.
“The type of films Filipino filmmakers make reflect the type of people most Filipinos are – people lacking in substance. Just looking at the list of entries for this year’s Manila Film Festival, you can already tell that not a lot of thinking was involved in the process of making them. Even the titles leave nothing to the imagination of the audience. Most of the actors playing the lead roles are the same ones we’ve seen since we were kids or some hot young flavor-of-the-month of one producer or another.”
Indie film enthusiasts, calm down… The article reflects the mainstream media and the keyword is “most”. It will not be indie film if most ppl watched it… And this is all about our society and not just merely about film industry… Dig dipper people…
Like Cinemalaya, GRP is an indie blog and this is not a mainstream blog that has to please the general public.
By the way, just a reminder to those who plan to misbehave here, check out the brilliant Terms of Service of our awesome site.
You will get flagged as spam, and doing so is entirely within the discretion of the administrators of this site. Believe me, you don’t want to end up in a spam data base as said database is also used by other blog sites and will, in many cases, also affect your ability to post comments in other blog sites.
Enjoy! 😀
How can you judge a movie just by looking at the titles and who’s starring? Unfortunately I haven’t seen any of the MMFF entries yet but according to friends and relatives they enjoyed the films. Some are even surprised that Enteng ng Ina Mo is really funny and entertaining from beginning to end. And despite the obvious likeness to the Kraken, Panday 2 is an achievement in terms of sfx judging from the trailer.. My Househusband is a film by Joey Reyes so I’m sure may sense ito.. YTT reminds me of the glamor movies of the 80s. The list goes on but until I have seen them tsaka ko masasabi kung basura nga ba o may kabuluhan. But I won’t write an irresponsible article about these films without seeing them first. Miss Blogger, tanong lang po.. ano na po ba ang napanood nyo sa mga entries?
@Oliver
As far as I’m concerned, I’m not being irresponsible because I am actually making people think. 😉
Think outside the box. The filmmakers you say that make good films obviously haven’t done enough to gain more exposure. As far as the public is concerned, they don’t exist. If they can’t rely on the people running the show, then they have to take it to another level.
The public knows they exist. That’s the problem. The public is aware of them, but there’s no competition with mainstream flicks because, as Albert Wesker said above, his friend Say’s Law says so.
Our goal is spreading awareness. So far, so good – this year’s Cinemalaya showed more audience turnout than the past years’. STILL, like I believe you do, most people wouldn’t bother to watch indies because of their preconceived notions of it being too intellectual, too radically different, too pornographic for their tastes, and so on. The only difference between you and them is that YOU realize that the quality of mainstream films are not very good.
Which is why we are asking you to help place the alternative cinema where it should be, by using your blog as a tool for dissemination. Instead we get told that our films also suck because the market dictates our films are unwatchable, and other such things that we can’t really control as of the moment.
The system is at fault. Not us. We’ve been trying to change the system ever since mainstream films turned loco. Of course, our reaches could only go as far as the system allows. This is why we are pissed when you say we aren’t trying hard enough.
J. mukhang kahit anong sabihin natin, ayaw talaga nilang panoorin man lang ang anumang pelikulang indie. may nag-offer na sa kanyang ilibre siya sa isang pelikula sa Cinemalaya. ako, gusto ko siyang bigyan ng festival pass. pero matigas talaga ang ulo e. ayaw talaga.
mukhang masaya na sila sa kanilang mga paninindigang wala namang basis.
btw, who are you. imessage mo naman ako sa FB. curious lang kasi ako kung sino ka. hehe!
@J. Marscharilla
I appreciate your efforts but you can only say you’ve tried hard enough once you’ve succeeded. Until then, you aren’t really trying hard enough.
Well then, you should agree that the audience is lacking in substance.
BTW, a film doesn’t have to have nudity to be considered artsy. I personally don’t like films that show too much flesh.
I don’t like receiving favours from anyone because it might compromise my objectivity.
The films you mentioned were made for kids, of course they lack substance and twists (I know what you’re after, movies like Nolan’s, Kubrick’s and Lynch’s).
Sadly, most producers don’t want to invest in these “intellectual” type of movies because only few would watch them. They’re afraid Pinoys couldn’t handle a simple brain exercise so as a result, we have Panday 2 and Enteng ng Ina Mo.
But fear not, we do have creative talents in the current movie industry. Zombadings and Ang Babae sa Septic Tank are examples. The Road, although I’ve never seen it, heard was good.
Clash of the Titans is also based on a Greek novel, and it was also a movie remake, yet you’re looking up to it as an original? What a stupid post! Kung Amerikano maglalagay ng monsters ok lang? Pero pag Pinoy na gagawa sa pelikula gaya gaya na? Really stupid. Your post does not reflect the bad state of Philippine movies but your colonnial mentality.
It’s not so much as including monsters in movies but the very evident computer manipulation OF the very same monster from that foreign film ONTO ours, I’m an art student studying graphic arts, I know what I’m talking about
There may be some similarities with the looks of the monsters in both movies. But it was NOT the same frame that was altered. Our moviemakers are NOT THAT stupid to infringe on copyrights. The Panday monster may be based on that movie. But the Kraken is a Greek mythological creature. Even your beloved American movie created that computer animation by basing it from someone else’s illustration. Just look over the internet! Nobody owns The Kraken! Don’t take it against your fellow Pinoys for using that kind of monster in its film because those Americans used an entire Greek Mythological story.
rip-off
rip-off
rip-off
hey did anybody hear the word rip-off?
😛
Wow, that means I can actually copy-paste writings from the Internet and claim them as my own! Nobody owns ideas! They are just based on past ideas anyway!
Thanks so much for justifying plagiarism! Now I don’t have to quote or acknowledge sources in my research, since nobody owns them! They’re just as good as mine!
Never mind if I sacrifice creativity or even my imagination; what’s important is that I can randomly copy someone else’s work without any consequence!
…What?
This post gave me cancer.
I just couldn’t stop myself from commenting on this post.
The monster, from the trailer alone and the very first time I saw it was a complete and blatant rip off of the COTT Kraken (latest). It is the model/concept of the monster itself that was copied and I could clearly see it from the trailer.
It was not to say that putting monsters into a movie/story is a rip-off but rather the actual “monster” to begin with.
I think YOU need to think more clearly first before labeling the statement as colonial mentality.
Thank you! At least someone gets it
The Kraken is a mythological creature from the Greek culture. Nobody owns it. I have no doubt in my mind that the author is just a colonnial minded fool who thinks everything foreign is better.
Looked like a rip-off to me (I accidentally saw the trailer). This land full of freaky native monster tales, and some bozo had to ctrl-v one from another show.
They could have created something more original. They could have used magnificent Filipino monsters, such as the Berkakan in the Biag ni Lam-Ang, for example. It should not have looked like the Kraken from the Clash of the Titans. Funnily enough, we’re on 9gag because of this.
Well the kraken is a mythological creature from Greek Culture, and I agree.
But see, here is where you can clearly see a line. Pirates of the Caribbean also has the Kraken, shown in CG first before the latest COTT Kraken. But you couldn’t see any resemblance can you? Why is that? Because COTT didn’t copy the monster look.
COTT or PoC could’ve called it Godzilla/Kong and they still wouldn’t have been a complete copy/rip-off in design concept to another mainstream monster right?
See, what is lost with your thinking is you say that is automatically labelled as a copy just because your movie has a monster. That is and was never the case to begin with which is why I can not help but try to enlighten you on the matter.
It was a blatant copy of the monster with quite possibly a local name for Panday. I don’t need to know the name, I just needed to see the trailer to see that it was a copy. Simple reasoning right?
Baaa baaa baaa. Ayan, I went with the flow na po. You happy now?
bakit na “dislocate” itong comment ko? (dapat dun sa cynic thread comments to)
Check out the latest brilliant article from Yours Truly where the major points of contention expressed by commentors here are ultimately resolved.
Excerpt:
(Click here to read the full article).
I completely agree with you and I can’t be more disappointed with the line of movies in our Metro Manila Film Festival. They don’t practice the art of film-making but rather they do it for the sake of ‘milking’ money, so to speak. This is really one of those rare shameful work of Filipinos.
I’ve always felt the same way, Not only are the ‘story lines’ if you could call it that, way overused,they have no artistic value at all whatsoever, as an art student, I appreciate movies as one of the highest forms of art, given that they do not only appeal visually but audio sensory as well. However, I must say, it’s been a while since I’ve found a filipino movie that lives up to this artistic standard, None of our ‘acclaimed’ directors have even utilized the most basic camera angels and movements, none have attempted to write something without violence, hysterical crying, and cliche romance, the characters are all very 2 dimensional and the story lines flat flat flat as a board, Thank you for having the courage to finally post a real critique!
everyone’s a critic.
too bad.
hope they take an arrow in the knee
haha! skyrim. never gets old. 🙂
Have you seen ANY of these films?
http://pelikula.tumblr.com/post/15077649832/2011-the-year-in-filipino-films
I HIGHLY doubt that.
Do you even know the basic elements of film?
AGAIN, I HIGHLY doubt that.
Yes, the MMFF movies sucked. BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT to generalize the whole film industry.
Honestly, sa Filipino movie, pag di ka napaiyak, don’t expect to receive any notice. The talented are rarely ever recognized. Maganda nga pero parang asong umaalulong kumanta. Our movie industry is nothing but a big joke. We need creativity on the side of the makers, and an open mind on the side of the Filipino viewers. Makes me so sad.
filipino cinema is dross for the masses.
it serves a purpose but is hardly art, creative or memorable.
escapism, and nothing wrong with that, just a pity there is not some talent around, and that is both borne out by and influenced by the sad state of tv programming.
let the peasants enjoy it but dont try to elevate it into a discourse on art or the theatre.
“Ilda on January 2, 2012 at 1:30 am
Once in a while we have point missers who visit this site. They let their emotions get in the way of objectivity.”
WOW! Hanep! Coming from someone who ranted about movies she herself didnt bother watching. Magsara na kayo ng tindahan!
Ganda mo teh! Bakit hindi ka maglayas!
Ayan, dumating na mga jologs.. 😛
Back up your arguments with logic, theory and use the proper language of film when making a critique. Know first what you are talking about before trying to sound smart. Be academic in your discourse and please avoid logical fallacies.
Ilda, Your article is immature and your arguments on the comments part are hypocritical and self-depreciating. You are not making Filipinos any more critical with hate speech like this.If anything, you are showing the world how some Filipino (self-proclaimed) intellectuals love the sound of their own voices, nevermind the content.
Argumentum ad hominem. The question is, how specifically do you suggest the author frame the message she tries to bring across? I was looking for a counter-argument above. All I found is a long-winded whine. Typical. Keep on trying though. 😀
dude!!! we have been posting comments, questions and even challenges here. but you seem to just refusing to cite factual evidences. you have quoted wikipedia and cited international indie films. bravo! pero ang sariling atin, may alam ka ba? and here you go throwing accusations of fallacies.
eto, anong fallacy rito: “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” tapos, ano namang fallacy dito: “if these films are really good, then mainstream producers would lap them up and make them gaya.” sige nga!
all we’re challenging you is to watch one of these. you are being enlightened now. why do you refuse to acknowledge it?
Just a wild guess. They really don’t wanna learn more about our film industry, the whole FILIPINO film industry but they just wanna “TALK ****” about it. Sad isn’t it?
@deadpool: and you wonder WHY you people couldn’t persuade other people to watch EVEN IF YOU’RE PAYING? aren’t you getting it yet?
it’s not that good indies are being branded as no good; it’s really a matter of persuading people to not take the alternative (like something they THINK would be a better use of their time or their money), and you guys aren’t reaching those whom you’re seeking attention from. the defensiveness doesn’t help; the anti-chip tsao style indignation certainly doesn’t make anyone want to run out and watch the indies.
No, that Ilda part wasn’t meant to discredit the article. I was telling her about the manner by which she writes. Her discussion was rant-like and as much as I respect her freedom to rant, she should’ve backed it up not with assertions of intellectual superiority but actual theory. I’m sorry if it sounds too academic, but no one will take you seriously if you argue that way.
I’ll tell you this, you should give your writers writing lessons. I get the point that Ilda wants to drive, but employing tactics like that: generalizing, going berserk, using guilt (the guilty dreams thing), using only her own framework for aesthetic and content excellence (which she also did not define. What is good? What is aesthetically pleasing? Is it a universal agreement, a detached ala Kant/western definition, or a socially-relevant/modern discourse? Or something like a synthesis?) and de-familiarizing oneself from the conditions of the industry (I was hoping that she considered this as much as her feelings. We do not make assertions without proper knowledge of a situation), it won’t do you any good.
The article felt barren. I’m not here to flame her or your site, I just want you guys to notice how childish this post is and how it lacks much discourse.
super final point: Go watch films before criticizing them. Know what you’re criticizing (and what to criticize) before condemning society because of the quality of films which you did not see, because if anything, blogs like this reflect another kind of decay in our country. We need to know what we’re saying.
Flair without substance, not a good thing.
@benigno, I hope I cleared that out. I was supposed to comment twice (one for the article, other for the author) but I have other things to do a while ago. Sorry about that.
exactly. the writing is awful and the poor defense of it so far is worse. commenters have been talking way too much about cinema, but the real problem of this article is (bad) journalism.
Sorry, but a comment on the author’s writing style doesn’t fly with me as such opinions are themselves subjective. I’d probably take more out of what you say if you provide real counter-arguments. Otherwise, your comment simply comes across as a rant which is ironic considering ranting is what you rant about. 😉
@raymond: what’s really glaring as far as pinoy social decay is concerned is how easy it is for pinoys to overreact before understanding what they’ve been told. we’ve seen the chip tsao thing happen. your rant is no different. you think your buttons were pressed so hard you just had to attack the author without realizing that good indie films aren’t being disparaged.
seriously, can anyone here quote the author an exact line where she spells out how our proper indie films suck? go ahead and find it. (and don’t give me the excuse that you couldn’t get her to join you at cinemalaya or something. not being able to draw larger audiences isn’t the target audience’s problem; it’s their prerogative, and your failure to convince.)
for you people to overreact the way you do while other readers (like myself, and albert, among others) actually GET IT that it isn’t an attack on ALL films or good indie films, is telling that you’re the ones on a rant. you’re the ones coming across as having no substance, emo, and stubbornly insistent (whoops, redundant) about what you think other people should like. if the use of fanboys were the true answer to drawing larger audiences, good indie films wouldn’t have such a hard time reaching people wouldn’t they? yet, here you are attacking the author like an upset fanboy.
i don’t see how attacking her will make anyone want to run out and see an indie. i don’t see how your comment has any substance, or flair. and i don’t see how her writing style is in more need of improvement than your reading comprehension skill really does. same goes for you, thebaklareview.
Who is attacking what? Read my comment before you accuse me of attacking the writer. I have written down solid reasons why you should reconsider taking this article in as an article. I am not simply ranting, I have stated examples in her writing and pointed out flaws that were big and undeniable. Writing is an art and a discipline, don’t go around waving your sub par journalism as anything professional because there are proper ways in giving a critique, proper methods you employ, proper points you point out, and a proper language you use.
I’m sorry but it’s disappointing how instead of taking in everything as advice, you take it as “ranting”. If you guys don’t listen to critique from other writers, then what kind of writers are you? This flagrant promotion and irrational defense of your own is biased and is rendering the integrity of your website questionable. Is this really the site you want? A closed-minded site that relentlessly defends its authors rather than discusses ideas and provides solutions? Let’s be productive. If you want general change, try to brush up on Hegelian dialectics, learn from other people, you’re not the only ones with an opinion. Hey, others even have facts and theories to back theirs, you may want to do the same.
@Parallax. Did I say anything about indie?
No.
Moving on. Want to know why people from the film community are so worked up about this? It’s simple, really-your Ilda posted something about film without knowing anything about film or the state of the industry or even how to write a critique. It is an offense both as an article (the manner which she presented her opinions were generally shameful and, again, rant-like) and as a social commentary (do you talk about economics without knowing anything about it? Please have the same respect for film.) I know this is a blog site, but please, be a bit professional.
And the last thing I need is flair. I’ve been doing nothing but pointing out the most basic of flaws in her writing and you go here defending her by citing the “we’re not attacking indie” and “sales define things” rhetoric where the real issue here is how she wrote the article and how she wrote an article regarding something that she does not know well enough. A writer must know what he or she is talking about. That ‘s basic. Elementary, even.
Re what Raymond said here:
I don’t think so. I think the people from the “film community” got all “worked up” because the truth kinda drove a hot sword right through their artistic sensibilities. As I highlighted in an earlier comment, the market for indie films is composed of people with very sophisticated tastes and, as such, the products you guys are competing against are also coming from the high-end of town. If you want to play in that field — and sell your product to the set of people who have the open minds, the leisure time and the disposable income to risk giving a chance to an obscure indie film when they could instead go for a safe bet like Mission Impossible 4 before dining on their medium-grilled rib eyes — you need to compete at world-class levels.
Perhaps indie films are, in substance, better relative to mainstream Pinoy movies. But being better relative to Pinoy standards is not enough. You need to be good in absolute terms to make a dent in the world market. And unfortunately for you guys, the world market is where the high end of town shops.
i promised myself i will not comment anymore pero mukhang kailangan kitang sagutin:
sabi mo PARALLAX: seriously, can anyone here quote the author an exact line where she spells out how our proper indie films suck?
sabi ni ILDA:
“Besides, if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the “gaya-gayaâ€.”
“If there are indeed “good†films as you claim, then what happened? The answer is simple, they weren’t good enough.”
to PARALLAX: hindi niya sinabi ang salitang “suck” pero andiyan ang gist.
@raymond:
(1) i don’t know what corner of the universe you came from, but on earth your rant that went “I’ll tell you this, you should give your writers writing lessons” is an attack.
(2) “You are not making Filipinos any more critical with hate speech like this.If anything, you are showing the world how some Filipino (self-proclaimed) intellectuals love the sound of their own voices, nevermind the content” is also an attack. (what, you were expecting readers to be so naive not to notice the manner by which YOU write?) sounded like you were describing yourself.
(3) i did read your comment, and it had ad hominem all over it. peppered with a somewhat subdued academic flair, of course, which you claim you don’t need (but employed anyway, so clap-clap-clap).
(4) you went “Writing is an art and a discipline, don’t go around waving your sub par journalism” – still an attack. you know, for someone so high and mighty with writing as an ART and a DISCIPLINE, your gifts have been wasted on you for your lack of reading comprehension. (take what you dish out, baby.) fortunately for you, what you lack in reading comp you make up for with ranting flair. sorry but people can tell. so much for your so-called “discipline.” obviously you’ve flushed the “art” part goodbye.
(5) thank you for the advice on hegelian dialectic. now we know your “art” and “discipline” are just euphemisms for manipulation. that was very revealing.
(6) re: “Did I say anything about indie?”, sorry i didn’t realize you were defending the garbage portion of the film industry*. too bad for the good, worthwhile, well-thought-out indies. nice touch on the “moving on” thing; it was a clever excuse not to expound on your affinity. (i should have taken the ad hominems as cue.) (*as well, if not exclusively.)
(7) it’s too easy to tell somebody “you don’t know anything about so and so”, and for someone who presumes to know better, you only managed to fling ad hominems. that, my friend, is where you really screwed up. you can try to hide your attacks behind your crafty “advice” or “critique”, but really, you actually expected that to work? emo teenagers yell a variation of what you say, like “you just don’t understand!” or “you don’t know anything!” (what, only film insiders can critique?)
(8) “A writer must know what he or she is talking about.” newsflash, einstein: she does. we readers (well, those of us who aren’t emo) get it. too bad you’re stuck on your high horse for all the wrong reasons.
@benign0: you beat me to it. the hot sword was a nice touch.
hi alem. “they’re not good enough” is quite polite compared to “they suck.”
you have to let it go. what you think is there will no longer be there when you stop being upset.
what I don’t get from your post is, we all know Ms. Ilda is not a professional film critic, how then is she supposed to use “the proper language of film”?
Her blog is a blog. It has valid points and some who are against her also say they are true. They just cannot accept because they feel slighted by the “apparent” inclusion of indie films even though the word MOST and not ALL was used.
I really see no purpose to the clamor by the other side as the words used were generalizations of the majority, again not ALL.
Cheers!
A lesson for Ms. Ilda:
Next time, be more specific
🙂
Filipinos were just learning from others. From that learning, “WE”(Filipino) intend to show it and from that showing, we realize that we made something wrong, that is, we made some copies from others. Given that mistake, we are not ashamed on it and we don’t hide it from others.
Although, I got to admit this, almost of ARTISTS of GMA 7 are not talented yet. Watch Party Pilipinas to prove it. However, almost of ABS-CBNs’ ARTISTS are very talented. Watch ASAP to prove it.
Filipinos were just late – in technology, learning, industry, environment, politics, etc. That’s why we couldn’t do best IMPROVEMENTS yet.
Agree?
That’s why i don’t watch MMFF. The same old stories and the same people.
Its not about art and talent but more on people popularity.
We won’t excel in this industry if films we make are not carefully planned and think of.
I DEFINITELY agree.
CGE NA NGA, kudos sa mga animators! ang galing nilang nagaya yung effects. PERO, Di singaling ng ORIGINAL! kaya tayo nag mumukhang Cheap eh! instead of honing and producing our own craft para maging at par with the world standards, mas pinipili ng mga tamad at ayaw mag-isip na mga pinoy na gumawa ng sariling likhain. kumbaga > “We have the skills that’s why we make good EMPLOYEES!” kesa sa maging “Out of this world,out of the box thinking, religion bashing,kick-ass, bad-ass, kupal, creative thinking EMPLOYER!” in short…nasanay na maging ALILA kesa maging BOSS kasi tinamad mag-isip!
My final word for Ilda:
I’m humbled that you think your article is finally giving us poor filmmakers a voice but the only thing it’s doing, especially if we add in your subsequent comments, is underline the EXACT reason why your article is naive and ill-informed.
You congratulate yourself on making a sweeping generalization when common sense dictates that, in order to form a credible opinion on something as multifaceted as the Philippine film industry, one must have, at the very least, an idea of what that industry is comprised of.
The day you learn to watch something first (or at least to do some basic research) before judging is the day I start taking your opinions on Philippine Cinema seriously. Until then, congratulations on the page views. I hope the publicity is worth it.
But this article, and your insistence on the propriety and superiority of your generalization, is far from “getting real.” It actually belongs to the very same Pinoy mentality you and your colleagues abhor. Your anti-Pinoy stance is very Pinoy.
See you at the movies. Someday, I hope.
Actually, re:
One can say the same of the lack of any observed ability to make a compelling pitch for people to watch these movies and to cite specifically why, say, Shake Rattle and Roll for example is worth seeing. All I see (and I say this for the umpteenth time) are appeals and cajoling for people to watch them without making a compelling pitch as to any value one could gain from actually doing so.
And that is what is real about Pinoys and their consistent inability to make a mark in the global market not just for art but for any product for that matter. Rather than sell, we appeal.
dahil tulad ng maraming Pinoy na tamad at di man lang marunong mag-research (kahit napakadaling gumamit ng Google), ito ang mga links ng mga review para sa SRR13. hindi lahat ‘yan positive pero merong mga noteworthy points ang bawat episode:
http://oggsmoggs.blogspot.com/2011/12/shake-rattle-and-roll-13-2011.html
http://entertainment.inquirer.net/25973/knock-offs-retreads-and-rehashes-at-mmff-2011
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/243101/showbiz/pep-review-shake-rattle-roll-13
http://lagarista.com/site/entry/the_last_horror_show_shake_rattle_and_roll_13_review
http://www.reeladvice.net/2011/12/shake-rattle-and-roll-13-movie-review.html
http://www.pisara.me/2011/12/shake-rattle-roll-13-review-no-spare.html
http://www.esquiremagazine.ph/culture/phil-hates-everything/my-mmff-awards
and [same author]
http://www.clickthecity.com/movies/?p=13534
ito negative review ng Shake by Jessica Zafra:
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/20757/jessica-zafra-day-3-at-the-mmff—unshaken-unrattled-unrolled
okay, kung gusto mo pa, pwede pa akong mag-google. at kung gusto mo rin ng ganito for the recent Cinemalaya films, kaya ko rin ikaw bigyan. galing pa sa Variety ng US (na nagre-review from Hollywood), Cannes at Venice. magsabi ka lang at magpapaulan ako. ayoko ko lang kasi magtaas ng sariling bangko pero kung kailangan, why not. di kita uurungan.
grabeng spoonfeeding! ang gusto, mag PITCH ang filmmakers sa kanila na manood! writers ba talaga ito? paano kaya nila sinulat ang term papers nila sa school? wait for information to fall on their laps? in fairness, ang sipag mo, alem.
Goes to show it is you guys who don’t know your own industry. The fact that you feel that the movies you recommend are entitled to an audience explains a lot.
That is fine, Jerrold. You can take my article with a grain of salt or you can do something else with it. It’s all up to you. I don’t really expect you to appreciate this article. But you should look at it as how people from the outside see the Phil film industry.
I don’t really agree that the I am naive and ill-informed. You just don’t get my point. My point is that, most of the popular films being patronised by the public or being promoted by what you call film distributors lack substance and I am not the only one saying this. Likewise, the films tell us and everyone else that we, as a people are shallow and superficial. If you don’t believe me, just look around you. Most of what you will see are done poorly or sub-standard.
It doesn’t really matter if you and your colleagues make “good” films. The majority still don’t appreciate it or don’t know they exist. And that says a lot about your efforts at getting more exposure for it and the people running the film industry.
Cheers and good luck!
i hope you define “majority” because from where i’m standing, people do know they exist. you know, it’s dangerous to proclaim as complete truth your narrow field of experience. you’re outdated and you’ll sound ignorant. you call yourself a writer, so for your own good, catch up.
If there are indeed people who know these movies exist, obviously they are not impressed enough by these movies to be spreading them by word-of-mouth. Perhaps the producers and distributors of these movies need to brush up on their marketing skills. Then again there’s the small matter of the quality of the movies themselves, which could go down to the fundamental reason why those people you speak of who “know they exist” are not spreading the word.
Kimmy Dora and Zombadings 1 were successful largely because of word-of-mouth marketing. (Indies usually can’t afford the exorbitant rates of TV spots, which network-produced movies can, obviously.) I’m surprised the news of those two movies haven’t reached you. Plenty of movies get good buzz, usually straight out of the movie premieres or festivals where they debuted, igniting lots of recommendations (such as from some commenters in this blog who mentioned a few titles and festivals to try out). But the buzz can get killed by factors such as (most crucially) lack of accessible venues for them. You’ll be surprised to know people from the regions clamor for some films to be shown in their provinces, usually from educators and film enthusiasts who read about film but deprived of them by their local theaters. (The reasons why theaters don’t show some films include politics, the booking organization, distribution oligarchies, limited theaters, limited prints, power play by big studios, etc.) So you see, that the news of a particular film has not reached your ears is not proof of its quality. In the same way that popular films that get talked about by your neighbors and on television all the time may not actually be any good, either. This is the reason why many film enthusiasts have learned to prick up their ears and develop a radar for where and how they might find good stuff, and to not believe everything they see on television. It’s also the reason why many journalists and bloggers, such as in media giants like The Philippine Daily Inquirer, offer their support in spreading the word as best they can. Maybe someday you will, too. I love movies, and I try to do the same.
@thebaklareview: As I said earlier, the buzz will be spread if there is something to work with — a value proposition. Your target audience is more discriminating, which means the competition will include foreign films. That means, in turn, the quality of the films competing in that arena will also have to be world-class and no longer rated using Philippine standards. If you want to compete at the high end of town (i.e. the people with the aesthetic sensibilities to actually fork out cash for indie films) then be prepared to compete among high-end products as well.
The fundamental flaw in the arguments I see here is that the main point is around “there are nice Pinoy movies naman e” along with a reference to production outfits like Cinemalaya. But see, the market indies are competing in, also have a more acutely discerning taste for foreign films as well — many of them indies themselves. So you can’t go into that market using Filipino standards as your benchmark. You need to step up to the big league standards and compete at that level, just like athletes who aspire to compete in the Olympics cannot train at Lola Basyang’s standards.
True, about competition. But it doesn’t explain why “Praybeyt Benjamin” is 2011’s top-grosser. Have you seen that film? It’s not exactly at par, technically or even aesthetically (though this is debatable, sure) as, say, “Bridesmaids”, which is also a 2011 comedy, albeit made by Hollywood. Obviously, the market thinks there is value in it, Olympic standards or not. In the Philippines, Hangover 2 made more money than The Hangover, and an argument can be made for one being better than the other. I can’t grasp why you believe box office returns signify quality (or quality based on “non-Philippine standards”). Some films take years before they find their audience or make their money, such as cult films that become hits only after they become flops, recouping eventually through sales in video, cable rights, reruns, etc. Who’s to say it was a bad film when it flopped, and became a good film when audiences belatedly noticed?
I agree with Ms. Ilda, there are a lot of Filipino Movies which really lacks substance. However, there are few that are worth watching and would be instilled in the minds of the watchers.
But we must accept the fact that the movies nowadays are not as good as they were before. Most of the times, I enjoy watching movies from 80’s and 90’s rather than the new ones. I like the new indie movie’s stream however, let us not deny the fact that they dont have much exposure.
I hate to compare but watching the movies produced by other countries (I am not saying US – Hollywood), filipino movies really needs an overhaul. I believe our movie industry must look more closely at how we can build up our culture. These movies, sad to say, have a huge impact on people. So I understand what Ms Ilda meant. I wish how her critics understand the main point of the article and not just “bash” the whole of it
“Just because I didn’t watch Shake, Rattle and Roll doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am talking about.” — ILDA
Question:
WHY doesn’t it “mean I don’t know what I’m talking about?” I saw SRR13 and for me, not all of it is good, but parts of it are smart. The third one, in particular, had a different, more emotional approach to scaring people compared to the other SRR films I’ve seen (not ALL of them, only 8/13).
Some (or a lot) may disagree.
But I SAW the movie, and that is why I am able to say these things about it.
So now, I would like to know where your statements are coming from, especially about SRR13, if you didn’t see the film.
I personally would find it very difficult to write about something if I haven’t seen it at all. What do you do (professionally, in society, as a hobby, etc.), Ms. Ilda, beyond writing? Do you cook? Are you a fashion designer or a mother? Like I would find it difficult to say “Ilda is a bad mother,” if I haven’t seen or met any of your kids (and even if I have). But that’s just me.
I promise I’m not being rhetorical, Ms. Ilda, nor am I “hating” on you. I just honestly would like to fully understand all this, and find out where you are coming from before I share my opinions, hence my question.
The discussion is all over the place now and it’s become a better read for me, haha (sorry).
Thanks for your reply!
“The third one, in particular, had a different, more emotional approach to scaring people compared to the other SRR films I’ve seen (not ALL of them, only 8/13).”
Sorry, I meant the third EPISODE of SRR13, and I meant compared to the 2 other episodes and to all of the SRR films I have seen.
I’ve seen it and it’s horrible.
The concept of the third one is good… it discusses the issues that are prevalent, yes. But they could have done better with it.
So, I daresay, the people who made these movies should hang themselves. And you, most especially, should think deeper.
@Anne Forgive me for being a simpleton.
@Prue Disimulado
Just read the article again and you might get the point. It doesn’t really matter if I saw SRR13 or not. What matters is that the filmmakers keep making the same kind of films every year.
What made you say some “parts” of the movie are “smart”? You are happy just “some”? I guess we don’t have the same standards. It doesn’t bother you that instead of making original films, they just keep doing sequels? I know that in Hollywood, they also make a lot of sequels but they are not used as showcases for the country’s film festival. There’s a big difference.
It’s simple, really. I don’t know why you guys don’t get it. Is the country a first rate nation? The answer is no because our culture is dysfunctional and this reflects on the kind of films we have.
The question is what is original? Almost everything have already been made and tackled into film. What is advisable is for movies to make something that is captivating, interesting and worth watching. They can make a variation of a used concept and make it into something special. With the hundreds of years humans have existed in this world, nothing is no longer original. We just have to accept that truth. I am not saying that this is a good excuse for the Philippine film industry to make crappy films, but this is enough reason to not ask for originality when every concept has already been taken (on a global scale); that plus the Philippine film industry considering that the Philippine movie going public are worth taking seriously by making quality films, then we might not be so critical and cynical about films coming out.
Yes. I agree that many of ideas for movies have already been used over and over again. People are very innovative. We can take something that was already used and make it into a better idea. There are many movies that have similar concepts and plots but what we can do is to make a movie that touch the heart by improving the dialogue the emotions. 😀
maybe “Almost everything have already been made and tackled into film”; i would like to think that the breadth of the human experience has left some unexplored territory. for example, “mano po” was original a few years ago, but then they rehashed it to death.
but even granting your premise, it would be nice if filipino producers would at least pretend to give a frak and try to come up with something that doesn’t have a version number at the end
Chris A,
So your excuse for recycling ideas in a poor manner is “everything’s been done before”? Seriously?!
According to you, there’s no such thing as “original” anymore, so there’s no reason to try to come up with one. That’s stupid! It’s like acknowledging you’ll eventually die so you might as well end your life early on.
There are stories yet to be told, perspectives yet to be viewed, and possibilities yet to be explored!
There’s no shame in revisiting old stories, premises, or plots PROVIDED THEY’RE WELL EXECUTED! The problem is the Philippine film industry takes good ideas and turn them into stupid, watered-down, expository, condescending shit. Filipinos gobble it all up saying “this piece of shit tastes great, can I have some more”!
Filipino film makers receive accolades for the repetitive crap they make year after year, emboldening them to churn out the same crap the following year! All because, as you said, “nothing is no longer original. We just have to accept that truth.” BULLSHIT!
The laws of probability is a guarantee that we have barely scratched the surface of original ideas! Even if we ignore that, I say that a well-executed amalgamation of 3 or more ideas is way better than swallowing the sad pieces of shit that the Philippine film industry keeps shoving down our throats along with your sorry-ass excuse!
Ilda,
I’m with you on this. There’s a thin line between inspiration and plagiarism, but there’s a clear, thick line between a good movie and a shitty one!
I love this article! Don’t mind the dumb fucks here who can’t understand your point.
You know, the whole MMFF thing should be illegal. Though only for a brief time every year, it’s still a monopoly on movies. It’s one of the reasons why big Filipino film studios aren’t driven to be globally competitive. There’s no need to make great films when you’ve got the audience by the balls!
Thanks, Ms. Ilda, I will.
“Smart” means the people were given a longer-lasting, more thought-provoking scare than the usual “gulat” that is expected from SRR. The third episode was about karma, what goes around comes around. Again, I compare it to all SRR films I’ve seen.
No, I’m not happy with “some,” and I didn’t say that, either. I love watching movies, I always want more of and out of them. The Film Industry and its filmmakers are flawed. But I will always hope for the best for Filipino film industry because I believe it can be done. This country has so much talent. Not all filmmakers only want to make or have to share SRR…53, Enteng ng Lola mo sa Tuhod or what not.
Thanks again! Re-reading now.
I believe his problem lies not with the issue at hand, but with the manner your argument was presented. Topic-wise, consider that comment null.
you know what’s wrong with us filipinos and our movie industry? we tend to go for the visuals, not the substance of the story. and admit it or not, our movies are sort of done wrongly for the chosen audience. example, panday. they advertise it like for the kids, but during the actual movie, inappropriate words were used. and they tend to discuss using deep tagalog words that the kids lost interest in watching. yes, the special effects made up for it, but that’s all there is. in the case of enteng, same. reused lines, scenes, but yes funny though. but the movie doesn’t have its lasting effects. i cannot blame people who are ranting about the 2 weeks break w/o int’l films. because i also wouldn’t want to waste my money watching these recycled rubbish. for me, i choose the indie films over these mmff. yes, the truth is, the caliber of indie films are way better than mmff.
That’s a good way of explaining what I meant by lacking in substance.
Ilda, I also raised the issue last year here >> http://thephilguild.weebly.com/2/post/2010/11/mmff-2010-a-promise-of-reinvention.html << where I also cited that Bong just rehashed Riddick to produce his old filmfest entry Resiklo.
Hi Philippine Guild
I don’t know why some people defend blatant copying of ideas. There’s no pride in doing something original.
The “shallow” Filipino – F. Sionil Jose. His case can rest.
This discussion has become really interesting.
Let’s say that not all Filipino films are great: mainstream, nor indie. There’s always something to improve on. For instance, Enteng ng Ina Mo is, by all means, an unnecessary revamp of the 1980 TV series and the “Ina” franchise. It doesn’t further the plot of “Tanging Ina Mo” nor “Okay Ka Fairy Ko.” The dialogue was intended to elicit laughter but it fell short with the punchlines.
A huge chunk of SRR 13 sucked and it made me wonder how it got 4 out of 5 stars. However, Parola, one episode in SRR 13, was layered with tons of subtext about the psychosexual development of two adolescent girls, and it deserves some merit for “attempting” to bring something new to the table. Pero it wasn’t that good pa rin–nandun ‘yung sobrang cheesy flashback, tapos yung awkward special effects, and we’ve seen that before and it REALLY isn’t good. But that doesn’t mean we dismiss the film as bad just because it failed here.
And a lot of indie films aren’t that good either. Napanood ko ‘yung Gayuma ni Alvin Yapan at sumakit talaga ‘yung mata ko. Ang pangit ng camera work, at pinilit kong intindihin na low-budget siya pero, wala talaga eh. Masyadong shaky at parang di pinag-isipan ‘yung shots. Inintindi ko ‘rin yung acting ni Kalil Almonte kahit na may lebel ng pagka-mediocre, kasi hindi required na “out there” ang acting skills lalo na para sa gaganap na sakristang in love.
Sana isang masusing pag-aanalisa at pananaliksik ang ginagawa natin dito. Hindi man tayo pare-parehong filmmakers or film buffs, hindi siya excuse para magkaroon ng unsubstantiated claims tungkol sa mga pelikulang di pa napapanood. I try to look at the points as constructive criticism, but that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be affirmative criticism–kasi bashing lang eh. Is there really nothing good about it? Then that’s cynicism.
And talking about the quality of films that are locally produced requires a grip on the history of filmmaking in the country, the politics involved, and most importantly, the process on how to make films. Just because we have to adjust to the “level” of our readers, it isn’t an excuse to make empty assumptions. Kung tayo ang nakakaintindi, kailangan nating ipaintindi sa mga di nakakaintindi kung ano talaga ang nagaganap.
Matatalino naman tayo. Huwag natin babawan ang pagtingin natin sa mga pelikula. Critical thinkers nga, diba–thus nothing has to be taken at face value. Kung ang MMFF ang mukha ng filmmaking dito sa Pilipinas, eh di ipunto niyo kung bakit ang pangit ng mga films. Be specific and on point.
At dagdag ko lang siguro, about patterns. Oo, ang daming patterns ng mga Filipino films na sinusunod. Mainstream films have become quite predictable. But you have to know that films go through tons of revisions and sometimes the creative intent behind it is compromised. Iba ang vision ng scriptwriter sa director, sa producer, sa editor, sa distributor, sa exhibiting bodies na bumubuo sa media oligarchies. You get the picture.
At kung ginagawa ‘yung mga films to adjust to the level of the “masses”, ‘wag nating i-assert ang mga Pilipino as babies spoonfed with bull. Out of place lang ‘yung homogenization. Hindi lahat ng Pilipino nanonood ng pelikula. What’s your concept of the masses anyway? Is it the assimilationist bourgeois, or the informal settlers, or the petty posers?
Kaya nagtataka ako kung bakit may komentaryo tungkol sa pagtingin ng masa sa mga pelikulang hindi naman sila ang target audience. Hindi pang-masa ang pelikula, so stop obsessing about society’s perception on Filipino films because not everyone can afford to watch a film in the moviehouse–which is what famous production outfits capitalize on. Para sa upper middle class ang pelikula: ‘yung may kakayahang magbayad sa sinehan dahil nababayaran naman nila ‘yung necessities nila.
Chad, sana napanood mo ang Sayaw para naman gumanda-ganda ang opinyon mo sa amin. hahaha!!! aware naman kami sa pagkululang ng Gayuma. but really, thanks for watching.
Jayclops, matagal-tagal pang magkakaroon ng DVD ang Sayaw dahil pag may DVD na, mapipirata na agad ‘yan. chances are, we will have screenings in Cinemalaya this year. try to catch it there. mas masaya sa CCP manood kasi game na game ang audience.
Sir Alem! I watched Sayaw and it was good. Siguro as a moviegoer masyado akong nalunod sa mga metaphors. Pero okay naman. Ang galing ng portrayal ni Jean Garcia.
May isang shot po doon na pinapanood ni Miss Jean si Rocco at si Paulo na magpractice ng choreography. I’m big on symmetries, so sana ‘yung choreography ng sayaw nagwork din within the line of symmetry.
Ayos po ‘yung paggamit sa mga tula. Pero sensya at di ko siya masyadong na-gets. I needed to watch it a second time para maintindihan nang mas mabuti.
Agree, re: masa. This blog mentions “masa” a lot and I think it needs to be defined. You’re right about movie studios making movies for people with disposable income. They usually target what they call the “night market” or people who go to work at day, and spend at night. Hence, the opening of new Filipino movies on a payday week.
I actually like this year’s SRR.
FILMS FOR YOU (not just ilda) TO WATCH:
Kisapmata – Mike de Leon
Kakabakaba Ka Ba? – Mike de Leon
Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang – Lino Brocka
Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag – Lino Brocka
Busong – Auraeus Solito
Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa- Alvin Yapan
Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay – Antoinette Jadaone
These are just off the top of my head. I would include a Lav Diaz here, but I sadly, I haven’t seen any of his films. Because you see, I would only recommend films that I’ve actually seen.
Sana may DVD release yung last 3. di nakaka-abot ang festivals dito sa ‘min eh. The first 4 are in my best Filipino films of all time. Maynila being no. 1.
All your arguments are invalid, Ilda, because you did not see the films you brought up. Your knee-jerk response of a blog entry is uninformed and shallow, and sounds like a sad ploy to milk the currency of this year’s festival for a little traffic to your blog. A little research into Filipino cinematic tradition would show you that the MMFF films are typical of Pinoy culture and function very well as artifacts, if they are read properly. From the sound of it, your analyses of films (that you’ve seen, that is) stops at “the message” that the film’s story delivers to you in big bold educational letters. News flash: films aren’t “supposed” to make you do anything; they don’t even make you watch them, in your case. If you do watch them, they might thrill you, depress you, elate you, puzzle you, or rouse you to action, depending on what the filmmakers set out to achieve. The MMFF films follow the long-standing tradition of films as escapist entertainment, which we received from Hollywood and blended with our own pre-cinematic forms of escapist entertainment. As such they offer insight into the Pinoy mindset at specific points in history, if you can see beyond the superficiality of the story and its “message.” But to do this you need to watch the films first. One final way of looking at your problem is that you’re barking up the wrong tree. There are all sorts of films being made in the Philippines today, and there is room in the cultural landscape for all of them; you just need to know where to look. Get an education before you call out escapist fare for not being something that it has no intention of being.
Yes, that is what I said about most Filipino films. But a lot of foreign films can “thrill you, depress you, elate you, puzzle you, or rouse you to action”.
You have to accept that most people are either lazy or don’t have the time to find out which indie films are good. In my case I am really, really busy. I spend a lot of my spare time writing. Two hours of wasted time is two hours I won’t get back.
There is a reason why there is such a thing as advertising. If you do not promote the films, it will not get the right exposure. You are also competing with Hollywood films that Filipinos have come to expect to give them good value for their money. You need to step up to the challenge of getting people’s attention away from the competition. You can’t just simply shrug your shoulders and say, “because they have big budgets”. Use your imagination and creativity in getting attention for your film.
You can’t rely on people discovering your so-called “good” films on their own. You have to give them a good enough reason to watch it. Saying “it’s good” won’t be enough.
yes, dapat talaga all our local film should learn from the foreigns. Did you like Happy Feet poh Ilda? NOw that’s a good film. entertaining with good moral values.
Your excuse for not watching independent films is that your busy? Moreover, busy writing? Writing what? This sort of thing?
Hindi na excuse ang pagiging busy.
Hindi rin tamang argument na sabihing kulang lang sa advertisement and indie films. Matiyagang nagtatrabaho ang mga sumusuporta sa indie para sila’y bigyang pansin. Sadyang hindi lang nabibigyan/binibigyan ng nararapat na atensyon ang mga independent films. Kung talagang concerned ka sa sine at mahal mo talaga ito para makapagsulat ka ng isang article, maghanap ka at manood. Kung talagang mahal mo ang sine, hindi ka lang tatanga at papanoorin kung ano ang hinahain sa iyo.
I don’t have to tell you what else I do that keeps me busy. You just have to take my word for it.
WRONG. You do not seem to understand human nature. People tend to follow what’s popular. Just look at your President. He was voted into office only because he is popular. Because I am busy, I tend to read a lot of film reviews to save me time from watching crappy films. I also watch films that get bad reviews but only because the storyline interests me and they sometimes surprise me.
So you need to advertise your films to get noticed. If you don’t believe me, watch the TV series Mad Men.
Don’t expect mana from heaven to fall on your lap. You have to work hard at getting it.
“You have to accept that most people are either lazy or don’t have the time to find out which indie films are good. In my case I am really, really busy.”
Then for goodness’ sake don’t mouth off about it. You clearly don’t know enough about the topic to form a sensible opinion. Again, all your arguments are invalid.
What’s most awful about your writing is that it reeks of an arrogance that rests on intellectual laziness. Take your site’s own advice, and get real.
Your responses to my as well as other people’s comments reveal you to be just as shallow as the filmmakers you criticize and the audiences they cater to. You are just as content to take in whatever is fed to you by advertising and other received burgis notions like “all Filipino films are bad bad bad” without thinking. If Pinoy films indeed don’t make us think, it’s because people like you don’t want to think.
You really should watch a Pinoy film. Something tells me you would enjoy yourself.
Re: “Then for goodness’ sake don’t mouth off about it. You clearly don’t know enough about the topic to form a sensible opinion. Again, all your arguments are invalid.”, cite specific examples of what you claim to be aspects of the article that are “invalid” plez. Last I heard this is a free country and everyone with an opinion has the right to express it, just as everyone here is free to express an opinion on said opinion in the form of a comment on this blog.
So rather than whine about the article being, in your opinion, made up of “invalid” arguments, why don’t you come up with what you believe are “valid” counter-arguments. Up to the challenge?
@BKG
Just because you don’t agree with my views doesn’t make them invalid.
I am being realistic here. Most people do not have the luxury of time to “research” on films. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can do something about promoting your films. Get Real!
It seems that you are the one being elitist. Just because some people do not seek out your indie films it doesn’t mean they are not cool. If you are happy with the handful of people who accidentally stumble upon your film then don’t complain about not getting enough exposure.
If you know you can’t rely on the distributors then do something more proactive by promoting it yourself. The Internet can help you.
“The type of films Filipino filmmakers make reflect the type of people most Filipinos are – people lacking in substance.”
I honestly RESENT that statement. Please don’t stereotype. Thank you.
It’s not a stereotype. It’s a generalisation. 😉
Ok, so please avoid making generalizations.
Just to paraphrase Mr. Mascharilla, generalizations are never good when groups are labeled and marginalized.
How can she not? Doesn’t it have a semblance of truth to it?
It is a true and valid generalization for me and I also agree with it.
I love this websites like these. Hey Ilda you really hit the nail with the hammer of this article. Please everybody stop whining already and do something right now! Every article in this website is the best view of Filipinos in the world. Pass it to your friends and families. All the articles of Ilda are the best. Benigno is not so good based on his comments, pero he owns yata this website? SOrry poh! I learned a lot to be an intellectual! ty
Thank you, ryan. Good to know you can handle the truth.
Amen! Lahat kayo makinig kay Ilda para wala na away please?
i agree ryan. we might not agree with everything ilda writes (as in the case of ‘generalization’ issue) but it really touches us where it should hurt. I’m not at all for measuring our film vs. hollywood or foreign film, but we must indeed raise it to a higher level. Yes, the films of Brocka and Bernal deserve to be commended, but they were made long ago. Ano, wala nang improvement after that?
=)
tama! ang hindi sumunod sa amin hindi nagiisip… >.<
Hay, comments pa lang sa blog na ito, obvious nang napaka-defensive nating mga Pinoy kapag naapakan ang paniniwala natin. Mano bang gawin na lamang itong hamon diba? By hamon, I mean ‘challenge’, not the edible stuff which will be misunderstood (read:trolled) by others. Aasenso ang Pilipinas once tigilan natin ang kayabangan sa sarili nating paraan. Sorry medyo off-topic ang comment.
Hi Batang Cubao
Exactly! “Hamon” or challenge is ultimately how the filmmakers should view this article. They need to prove to us all the they can conquer even the “masa” crowd not just their peers if they are really as good as they say they are.
I think the filmmakers are and have been aware of the challenge. It’s just, this article didn’t do much to challenge them further. Sa lahat ng ginagawa ng mga filmmakers para tulungan ang lipunan gamit ang pelikula, it’s articles like these, media giants like…, and stubborn elitists like…, that bring them back to square one. At medyo kayabangan (on your part – colonial mentality) din po ata ang pagsabi na walang matinong pelikula ang nagagawa ang Pinoy.
You’ve got to be kidding me? You mean instead of inspiring them to do better, the filmmakers will just stop making films when they read criticisms? Going back to square one is good. There’s always room for improvement.
You simply can’t dismiss aspiring for greatness as “colonial mentality”.
The main problem with indie films is the lack of exposure.
If they need it, the internet is a way of getting their message across, through trailers on various websites like vimeo, youtube, etc.
You can then use social networking sites to spread the word about the film or film fest at little or no cost to you other than time most likely.
With the trailers, synopsis of the movie, you can at least give your target market an idea as to what you are going to show, and add interest to a film or the whole festival to add traffic as well as revenue.
Through my years of being a member of facebook or friendster in the past, I have never seen of heard of any trailers or link posted that would lead me to said indie film festival site to provide a gateway for me to look into it if it at least can peak my interests.
As such, using the various mediums available for maximizing exposure has not been utilized and therefore, it shouldn’t be a complaint.
Greatness that is patterned after the success of another country’s film industry is, in a sense, colonial mentality. “Gaya-gaya”, even in the sense of greatness.
No one’s stopping from making films because of criticisms. That’s what the independent film movement is for: to create a discourse contrary to what’s notably “a Filipino film”. You’re a good case of the Filipino consumer: you don’t give a hoot about the process of filmmaking because you’re too busy–just like “da Pinoy” you are referring to–to read on this.
If I didn’t give a hoot about filmmaking, I wouldn’t even bother responding to filmmakers defensive comments.
I love films. I even want to be a filmmaker one day. That’s why I hate it when most Filipino film makers keep doing the same thing over and over.
@ Chad
Wait, as a consumer you are only meant to do a few things. To patronize what you like and to criticize what you don’t like.
What else is there as a consumer?
We as consumers of these media either show or not show support. Plain and simple. Sometimes with our wallets through ticket purchases and/or time spent finishes/consuming the media being presented (applies to big/small screen).
I don’t think that there was anywhere in the blog/post that said we should “gaya” our foreign counterparts in what we present. Where did you get that?
I think though, the mere fact that they tried to imitate and presented it badly shows that they can’t even do it properly for the sake of showing something good, wouldn’t you agree? Now how is that colonial mentality?
I am a consumer, and yes, I can’t be bothered to be enticed to see something I have no clue what it is about. No trailer, no synopsis. How am I supposed to even know it exists or what I am to expect if I were to go there and spend/waste my time, right?
If you want people to go, you have to find ways to entice as sir benigno keeps pointing out. Give us something that will make us go see it or maybe think about seeing it. It means there is something about your “marketing” that struck a chord with us.
Don’t blame us being ignorant if your “marketing” didn’t reach us. It isn’t our job to know, it is the job of the “promoter/marketer” to let people know.
If there were no ads, not one, for the new Sherlock Holmes movie, would I even bother to look for it? Hell no! I’m a consumer, why would I look for it when I don’t even know about it.
So a consumer doesn’t have a job per se in that whole world of cinema other than the option to consume or not to consume. What else is there for the consumer?
@Ilda – I kid you not, you kid yourself. You see, what I meant was that those things keep pulling them down, making it harder and harder for them to be heard every time they try to get back up. Keep closing your eyes and ears to the developing side of Philippine film industry, their voice is lost. Good Filipino films are doing so much to be heard, and you say it’s not enough. Maybe you just have to stop lazing around waiting for things to come to you. If you look, you certainly will find, many have.
@Sphynx – I don’t know about your Facebook circle of friends, but I barely see mainstream trailers hit my Newsfeed, but I’ve seen hundred upon hundreds of short films, and trailers to indie films appear. There are fan pages, event pages, Facebook groups everywhere for these. Maybe you’re just in the wrong crowd. Don’t be as mindless as what you claim the Filipino masses to be. I’m certain you’re educated enough to think for yourself and find good films for yourself. Look and you will find.
My bad. “Keep closing your eyes and ears to the developing side of Philippine film industry, and they’ll ultimately lose their voice.” Now we don’t want that. No one does.
@Sam
Well, actually, no trailers hit my newsfeed, or if they do, very few trickle down the line. I get most of my trailers on youtube, sometimes on yahoo. But it goes to show, there are ways to reaching my type of audience.
I have seen a few short films on youtube though (they were mostly animated though but not limited to the US – some from Russia, France etc).
But what I am trying to point out is that there are ways, not limited to just facebook, multiply, youtube, veoh. These are just some of those that I know, and I think these are just scratching the surface of it. The online medium is a very potent means to reach a wide audience, the question is, what will suit best for your needs, a shotgun approach or a precise one? It depends, but you can’t argue that it will hit some notes with the audience it finds and create a bit of buzz. A little buzz goes a long way, that much I know.
But I have never exerted a means to find a movie which I didn’t know already existed or is going to be shown. The information was brought to me first, before I took on the effort to know more. Which is I think we must at least accept as a fact most consumers would do as well.
@Sphynx – There you go! You’re on your way to finding these treasures in Philippine Cinema. Look!
Indie filmmakers are utilizing whatever they can to be heard. Smart audiences search out for them because they thirst for good films. They lack exposure because these corporate giants controlling our media refuse to give them a voice because it won’t benefit them.
To be searched out for, I think, is one nature of indie films. The point being raised that indie films aren’t good enough because they don’t generate a buzz is against what indie films are. The independent cinema was made as an alternative to the mainstream, naturally it won’t be as popular as mainstream because it’s not trying to be mainstream. Basic definitions here. Now, if what a lot of you are saying that since indie films don’t generate a buzz that means they’re not good enough is rubbish. Why set the standards of mainstream to indie?
Anyway, there are plenty of venues of exhibition for these independent films, and because they aren’t mainstream, one has to make the extra effort to look. Sir Alem is even giving out a free pass to help the search.
@Sam
Well, in my case, I do not agree that just because there wasn’t a buzz doesn’t mean it wasn’t any good. I do want to point that out.
If I remember correctly, the issue of buzz against quality of film was that it wasn’t what the majority would watch which reflected poorly on the majority at large (that majority were happy with mediocrity or something below that).
But again, not everyone feels that way which is again why I know there are indie films.
I am just the type of consumer who you need to “poke” first as to what I can expect, via trailers, synopsis and the like before I even think about going to see it.
The difference also with a short film on youtube (good or bad) and going out to see an indie film is I see youtube from the comfort of my home and I can multitask, pause and close should I choose to.
For me to actually go to a screening to watch would demand a greater amount of time from me, so I believe, it is the job of the promoter to figure out a way to entice me to leave my place of comfort to go see something that peaked my interest for an hour or two. This I believe, is not in any way part of what my type of consumer is.
I am the type that would like to know a selection beforehand so that I can opt in or out.
I am the type of consumer that eats at restaurants that I have already tried or that were recommended to me (and after reading a review of it after it was recommended to me by someone I know).
This is the type of “marketing” that my type of consumer is, and I think it should be noted that information reaches us as a first step, not the other way around, in order for a possibility of contact to be established.
I am not saying every consumer or majority are like me, but I would believe there are quite a lot of those who are similar to me who do not take the first step to find a possible movie to watch that they had no idea of beforehand.
So in order to reach us, the promoters should find a way first around our non-desire to explore blindly. =)
So maybe we can change that? The whole Ghandi thing that I want to be the change in the world shiz. Don’t leave it all to the promoter because sometimes the promoter is controlled by a greedy corrupt giant who thinks nothing more than to earn money. I understand your side very well, it’s just, come on. I guess we’re going off topic now. Try new things and don’t be afraid to go out. That’s what I see the problem is with the Filipino mass. They get what is handed to them by corporate giants and can I say we both agree on that? But there’s you and I who can step up and change that. The indie film industry needs audiences to help spread the word, but if you wait for them to reach your doorstep, that’s a million individual doorsteps they have to go to and they simply don’t have enough money.
Basically, a good understanding of the industry would’ve helped this article and its readers. Ideas like yours, about the exhibition, market side and all, has already been taken into account, no doubt. You have no idea how hard these indie filmmakers are trying to do what you say. Easier said than done.
@Sam
Well, I do believe it is the majority of the mass media has its way of handing out this brainless drool to the public and the masses it eat up every single time.
But sadly, you have to understand. I am a consumer, how and what I consume is my decision. I do not approve of what the mass media is feeding me so I look for something else.
We can agree that we most probably don’t watch the same things, offline or online but these people manage to reach me in one way or another yet the local indie films don’t.
I still think the online medium has not been utilized to its most effective state in terms of promotion of these indie movies you speak of.
I have heard of some like ang pandadalaga ni maximo oliveros (forgive me if I got the title wrong) but it is not my cup of tea type of movie (based on what the trailer I saw showed). But at least for that, I saw the trailer, the other films on the indie seen, I haven’t even seen a trailer, let alone heard of the movie title, which goes to show that most likely, the online media is not maximized. I understand it is not easy, but we can at least agree, that this is a fact.
A regular consumer (not really a film buff) wouldn’t go out of his way to research what is next to be screen. He needs to be fed this information first to be enticed, and that is what is needed as a first step, not to expect the “normal” consumer to execute the first step.
This is sad… But it’s true…
Filipinos should start making NEW, LOGICAL, and MEANINGFUL movies. Let’s not stick into comedy and the so-called “filipino drama” and start with at least something new for the country. Problem with our directors and writers is that all they care about is the money that they’d make. Indie directors and writers should stop complaining saying that the Philippine media is trash, you guys should actually do something about it.
Anyway, I just want to see, even once, a MODERN Filipino movie that actually has a decent story line and not just the visuals. Hope that ever happens.
uhm, yun na nga yung point ng mga comments above. na there are NEW, LOGICAL and MEANINGFUL movies out there. Movies that doesn’t “stick into comedy and the so-called filipino drama”
kaso nung sinabihan ng mga tao itoing si Ilda, ang sagot hindi daw maganda kasi walang buzz. (buzz na pala ang test ng kagandahan ng pelikula)
if you actually look for good filipino movies, you will find them for sure. pero parang hindi naman kayo naghahanap. kumbaga, hindi namin kasalanan na mang-mang kayo sa mga bago at magagandang pelikula dahil tamad kayo.
Paulit-ulit na lang. Kung ikaw marami kang oras mag-hanap at panuodin lahat ng films eh hinde lahat ng tao katulad mo. At hinde mang-mang ang tawag sa mga taong walang time mag-hanap. Marami sa kanila katulad ko “busy”. Mahirap ba intindihin yun?
Kaya kung filmmaker ka, ikalat mo ang impormasyon tungkol sa pelikula mo para yung mga “busy” maisipan din panuodin. Entiende?
What you don’t understand is that it isn’t so easy to advertise/start a “buzz” for indie films. It’s not that film makers are making excuses for not getting exposure. It isn’t an excuse because the film giants are not giving them the exposure, no matter how hard the film makers try.
your excuse: i’m busy.
wow, everyone is. you’re not the only one with activities.
you expect the “product” to advertise itself to you. then don’t make a criticism about the quality of a film when the greatness of one, according to you, is only reliant on its marketability
like this: if you aren’t aware of Koji-san soap, and there’s no publicity, then one can assume it’s not good enough? if it’s not good enough why is it still being produced? because there’s a market. supply creates a demand. bakit walang publicity ang Koji-san? tinalo ng Safeguard. does that make Safeguard better than Koji-san? no.
it’s all about the palate of the viewers. you may share the same sentiment with other “consumers” but that doesn’t make your point any stronger
@sky
This is going back to you:
Your statement applies to you too.
Not everyone is busy. Apparently some people here have the luxury of time to “research” about indie films. Ohhh…they must have cushy lives. 😉
Unfortunately, not everyone has the time to do “research”. DEAL WITH IT.
@x
I think that is an excuse. You can generate your own buzz especially that everyone nowadays is connected in one way or another to the internet.
Like I’ve said in an earlier comment, do these indie films you speak of (in itself or during a film festival) have trailers to each movie that will be shown? Any write ups on the internet to give a brief synopsis of the plot/storyline?
It informs the possible viewer as to the possible content(s) of the film/film festival and will entice him.
How do people know of new products/companies nowadays? Don’t these new products/companies launch themselves through social media to create the so called “buzz” or “hype” you covet? Why can’t it be done to an indie film/festival? Surely there is a way to reach a larger group of people with the least amount of cost and time through these online mediums? You just have to let people know what you are offering them.
I think that applies not only to products but to films as well. Agree?
kung alam mo kung pano magdistribute…
Gusto mo magfilm di ba?
sana magfilm ka, para alam mong mali ka.
Hello Ilda! I find it encouraging that somebody calls it as it is for a change. I know that we’re all passionate about our country and everything that it stands for, and opinions that go against this notion will never be popular, but there are times when we just need to start realizing that the bus has left the station and we’re not on it!
I’m not an expert in film-making, but I do watch movies and I know what I like. Personally, I would like to see Philippine cinema try to catch up with the leading edge of the industry, wherever that lies. Worryingly though, the industry seems to be happy with the awards and the praises that it heaps upon itself. It doesn’t help that the public with the means to comment on these things, and simply for the sake of sounding pro-Filipino, tries to be agreeable with the kind of films that not many of us seem to be willing to pay to watch anyway.
If people do watch these kinds of films then how come Hollywood films still rule the box-office anyway? Is it because of the drawing power of Hollywood actors? If so, hasn’t it occurred to anyone that it might be possible that these actors are globally popular because they read the lines and act in the stories of people who actually know what they’re doing? Marketing is always a factor but with social media and the internet, it is hardly an excuse anymore.
The Philippines and Filipino culture is a very rich source of stories, the only reason why it’s not up on the big screen is because everybody just wants to be agreeable. The problem, I think, is that the people with the means to make good cinema happen to have no talent, but nobody has the guts to tell them. It’s a farce to say that the Filipino will not buy into a good quality movie with a real story and good dialogue. I see them lining up for foreign drama and intellectual suspense-thrillers all the time!
The Philippines has been embroiled in revolutions and counter-revolutions for the past few hundred years, there have been tragedies, lost love, and inspiration through all these times, if we can’t sell these stories or write the lines that will make the Filipino weep and laugh at his own folly and achievements – perhaps it is time to look for a job outside of the movie industry.
Thanks for your comment. I hope the filmakers will take your suggestions on board.
Maganda pa yung pelikulang Manila Kingpin: Asiong Salonga Story.
I’m still hoping for a local (post)apocalyptic movie
Neither do most American movies, but this is true. That’s why I barely watch movies anymore.
Hi ilda,
thanks for calling out the rampant foolishness and rank stupidity in our cinematic culture 🙂
http://myshrinkingvocabulary.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/redemption-the-metro-manila-film-fetish/
Thanks for the link to your article. We seem to share the same views.
It is with great sadness to read your blog. Dapat sayo e kinakaibigan at nililibre ng hatid/sundo sa UP Film Institute para sa isang libreng dose ng classic at sensible na pinoy film. Or kung alam mo kung saan iyon e pumunta ka nalang don. The MMFF films are shitload of Shit. Yes. They are. They have been. If you were kind of generalizing the way MMFF seems to be the pinoy’s cup of coffee in regard to the pinoy industry, well you got that wrong. The people in Baguio just might shove up in your desk their very own film festivals. Indie and the not so indies. The reason why Independent Cinemas are not so popular in the commercial cinemas is because of people like you. You think you know better, then you should do more research. I haven’t seen any of the films in MMFF because I’d rather watch a Lav Diaz film instead. It may take me 7 hours to finish one but I don’t care. I’d rather watch a copy of his film which I got for even less than a ticket price of that Enteng Kabisote shit.
Whether or not the author knows there are good independent films in our country is not the crux of this article. She is attacking the MMFF, the biggest and arguably the most popular film festival in our country, for wasting huge opportunities to showcase quality Filipino films. The author laments this and berates the idiotic, repetitive, and uninspiring trait of the films they show.
There are a lot of good Filipino filmmakers out there who can make quality films that can strike genuine and lasting emotions to the audience. It just a pity that they get shoved aside by big film companies to cash in on tired and overused scripts.
BTW, not everyone can go to UP or Baguio just to watch some indie film. Please be realistic.
and not all filmmakers can show their films in free tv.
@peter
but you can post your trailers on vimeo, veoh, crunchroll, youtube or some other video hosting site right? It’s a start.
You can then embed these links to a webpage where the contents of the present, and maybe even past indie films were shown. Then you would simply have to disseminate information about the film/festival schedules through various networks online. Right?
Did you even know you can set youtube to be a location based video site that only showed strictly Philippine only uploaded content, with only a few outside Phils content?
Independent films aren’t only available in UP and Baguio.
Please be realistic.
Geez, how low can you get just to make an argument?
Heck, there are even independent films/classic Filipino films online. Instead spending time writing about things you clearly have no knowledge about, why don’t you just watch some independent films on the Internet?
You say you’re busy, but it seems to me that you’ve spent almost two days now arguing with the people who comment on your article.
And if you’re going to say that I have done the same (two days arguing with you people), at least I admit to that and not make some excuse like being busy.
@X
Ayan na naman. You took what I said out of context just like some people here.
I only mentioned UP and Baguio because Princess mentioned those venues. I didn’t say you can only watch indie films at UP and Baguio. Hay naku. This is why I feel like I am wasting my time with some commenters. Some of them read too much into what I’m saying or put words into my mouth.
You have no idea how busy I am. Of course I have to try and respond to some of the comments on my blog even if it’s taking up some of my free time. Would you rather I didn’t?
Obviously writing for me takes precedence over watching movies, which means that I’d rather write than look up what independent films are showing. Busy people like me would appreciate something handed to them on a silver platter. You guys seem to have a problem accepting this fact. You can’t seem to put yourselves in other people’s shoes. Use your imagination. Picture someone busy. What can you do to make her movie going time easier?
You know it’s so easy for me to end this discussion. I can choose to say, “Ok, I have seen the films” or “Ok I will watch them”. Hasn’t it occurred to you that I might just be playing a devils advocate here? I want you filmmakers to understand what your typical customer is like. If you are trying to sell something and no one is buying it, it’s either the product sucks or you’re not trying hard enough to sell it. Either way, you cannot force people to buy it.
@ILDA
If your arguments are just full of fallacies and inconsistencies (like what they are now), I’d prefer that you didn’t respond.
You may not respond to do this, you don’t have to. Go watch a film.
You don’t think others aren’t as busy or even busier than you are?
Go watch a film.
..|..
Funny how the argument of choice now is to force people to watch certain films. It’s no wonder Pinoy products are a global laughingstock.
Dear X
If you have nothing new to add, I’d prefer that you didn’t comment at all or at least quit the ad hominem.
You’ve got some nerve dictating the terms and conditions of the comment section of this blogsite. You are the visitor here just in case you forgot.
What are the fallacies and inconsistencies you are talking about? Please be specific.
It’s not my problem if you can’t accept the personal circumstances of other people. That’s the trouble with Da Pinoy. They tend to speculate and believe in their own “haka-haka”.
@Princess
You don’t have to make me watch the so-called “classic at sensible” Pinoy films. That is not really the point of the article. I don’t even know why you feel “great sadness” to read my article when you also said that “The MMFF films are shitload of Shit”.
Please read the article again and try to understand the point. You agree that there is a problem in the film industry but when someone speaks out about it you get disappointed? I don’t understand that.
When the so-called “good” films have to be “researched” then there is clearly something wrong with the Philippine film industry. You can’t pin the blame on me.
i mean, tanging ina, anong klaseng movie ba yang Enteng Kabisote na yan? eh parang mas maganda pang gawan ng movie yung pagtae ko sa kubeta.
It’s the popular movies that suck, I guess. It’s probably because they stick to the same old tired formulas. Those with formula-breaking ideas tend to be unfilmed, or something found in the indie zone. I want formula-breakers.
One formula-breaker I imagine is, instead of an underdog hero struggling against an overdog villain, the hero is already the overdog. He can beat everybody. But the thing is, people around him are fault-filled and lazy. So he goes around teaching people how to change and do things right. Of course, he can’t force ’em, and this can be the conflict.
can’t tell if trolling
it’s bad to generalize about the whole industry when there are people, a number of them, who’s really making an effort to improve Philippine cinema. and these people are not limited to just watching/making the MMFF films. there are infinitely better films shown during Cinemanila, Cinemalaya festivals and CinemaOne Originals public screenings such as 6 Degrees of Lilia Cuntapay and Big Boy by shireen Seno people should also make an effort to go search for the cinemas that screen these films and they’re not in hiding anymore, they’re being plugged on youtube, and social network sites and blogs. you should also do yourself a favor and watch the films/movies being shown at the festivals i’ve mentioned and rave about them, otherwise you’ll just be stuck lazily ranting about the obvious.
if you need a guide, read the blogs and reviews of Noel Devera – http://criticafterdark.blogspot.com/2011/10/sa-ngalan-ng-ina-mario-ohara-10311.html and Dodo Dayao – http://pelikula.blogspot.com/ so you wont jump to tired arguments and generalizations.
Seriously, the time I saw the movie titles and the trailer sa tv parang alam ko na ang mangyayari except for SRR. I dont have a stomach to think about it.
Mga nakakadiring tao kayo is all I can say.
Name-calling and foul language will be sent to the spam folder. Thank you.
Tssss nagbaban lang pala ng mga tao dito e.
Unless you will be coming up with something better than the above comment, you’re next.
Better than what? Your “I wanna help the philippines with my american taste” stance? Puh-lease. Better? Anything I say is better than this article and your pretentious shallow views.
I for one agree that mainstream doesn’t even make me think.
The quickest example is what is being shown on TV on primetime. It’s the same formula, with very little change here and there, with different actors playing the same characters with different names. They just mash various minor plotlines together to create an episode arc that hopefully doesn’t stray too far from the mainplot and voila, it’s a show!
We don’t have anything to the caliber of shows especially comedy where it’s stuck in slapstick era here for the mainstream and making one of your co-actors look ridiculous. Haven’t they gone tired of that?
I don’t think that’s being shallow. It just shows we want something more, and we also know what we want.
If you don’t agree, then you don’t agree. Plain and simple. We agree to disagree. End of story then move on.
@Supremo: There now, that wasn’t too hard, was it? Carry on. 😀
@Supremo
Try mong mag name-calling at mag-kalat ng foul language, maba-ban ka din. 😉
And you, I read your crap and all you can write about are self-righteous trying to be progressive articles and pretentious little tweet that do not mean anything. Gloria lover, pnoy hater… whatever. everything’s just about you bitching about how much you’re better than everyone else. But it is us the masa that you hate oh so much that will show you one day how your lack of insight will be your demise. You are just a cog in this reactionary system that will be bought down be cause we the masa are being educated in ways different than your mainstream, corporate media. There will be a day when this will all come crashing down in front of you, and we’ll still give you a hand to help you get up.
(crickets)
“And you, I read your crap and all you can write about are self-righteous trying to be progressive articles and pretentious little tweet that do not mean anything. Gloria lover, pnoy hater… whatever. everything’s just about you bitching about how much you’re better than everyone else.”
AHEM.
“Better? Anything I say is better than this article and your pretentious shallow views.”
The pot calling the kettle black, hmm?
All fingers are pointed to YOU. Yes, the masa was ‘educated’ *AHEM* BRAINWASHED by the mainstream, corporate media like mostly ABS-CBN. And yes, blaming Gloria for everything that is happening BAD in the Philippines is very good and cowardice is a very good thing. 🙂
So much for being ‘educated’ and that. So who’s the shallow one now? 😛
hehehe! – ano ka, CPP-NPA-NDF propaganda writer?
its true..
peru what more can i expect form this movie making industries?
minsan naiisip ko na may gender bias sila.. yung movies ng star cinema puro pa-cute (gerald, sarah, john lloyd) and i dont really have interest on those kind of movies (hindi sa pangit kundi dahil im a cool guy and those are so baduy!)
sa mainstream lang naman ako may hinaing eh… alam kung pera lang habol nila.. wala na silang budget para magresearch at gumawa pa ng unique or may makabuluhang plots….
This is very true. If only I had so much money, I won’t waste it in making such lousy movie. Instead, I would be making a movie worth watching for the viewers experience. The movie making industry here in the Philippines are not that serious.
parang safe na ngang sabihing, all modern filipino mainstream movies are all piece of sh*t.
Most people are on the same boat. Why would they spend their hard earned money on films they already know won’t be good?
The thing is, some filmmakers don’t even attempt to disguise rehashed films with a different title. If they didn’t use SRR over and over, maybe more people would be inclined to watch it.
I can’t agree more. Honestly, as shameful as it is on my part, I don’t watch Filipino movies because of the reason you said. There are only a few Filipino movies that could be exempted, though.
Let’s just hope that “quality Filipino movies” would be more rampant.
I can’t agree more. Honestly, as shameful as it is on my part, I don’t watch Filipino movies because of the reason you said. There are only a few Filipino movies that could be exempted, though.
Let’s just hope that “quality Filipino movies” would be more rampant after these filmmakers get a wake up call.
Actually, Pati mga ‘Telenovela'(AKA That shit excuse for entertainment) ganito rin eh. It’s the same recycled, dumbed-down, predictable bullshit all through out the year. Takot mag take risks ang mainstream entertainment natin, that’s why they still spoonfeed the masses with their conjured crap.Sadly, on the other side of the wall, There are a lot of indie films and music that are completely ignored.
EDIT – There are a lot of GREAT/Intelligent/Makes your-brain-work indie films and music that are completely ignored.
+1
For indie music, thank goodness there’s bootleg-radio.com. But yeah indies are so underrated sadly.
what can we do, majority of the Filipino people are poor and uneducated.. those slapstick and one-two punch lines “clicks” with the masa. that is why those who are educated feels alienated and would rather prefer watching on cable since they can afford it. let’s face it, it’s the masses that brings in the ratings.. they won’t even know the difference from international copied movies because more often than not they haven’t heard nor watched it because most are illiterate and can hardly speak, more so, understand english.
Agreed. Tested and proven formula right there! I was unfortunately forced/dragged to watch ‘Mamarazzi’ and ‘Private Benjamin’ with my friends last time. Almost everyone else in the theatre was having a good time, laughing. while I was face-palming the whole time, occasionally spewing out forced laughter to show my friend that I was ‘enjoying’.
guys lets start a revolution! wag na taung umasa sa star-cinema, abs-cbn, etc! lets make our own!alam kung mahirap, peru mahirap talaga..hehe.. kung pwede nga lang eboycott sila eh.. hmppp
in the case of senator bong revilla, he is using this annual movie appearance to make sure that people remember his name and fame so that the next election they will never forget about the “hero”, oops hero only of the silverscreen… whereas in real life he is no hero… he cuddles killers in the form of his half brother and sister, he helped his half-sister escape then suddenly became doble-kara after her ramona is safe from the long arm of the law. blood is indeed thicker than water, sadly at the expense of the justice and the Filipinos.
Sorry I was not able to respond to all the questions. I will try to respond to them when I find the time. Thank you.
Hi,
You nailed it. When we all think about it, the film fest should be a showcase of great Filipino films. Dare I say, it should be the breeding ground for future classics. Sad thing is, it’s not.
Our film and music industry suffer the same disease – lack of originality. It’s all about remakes and ripoffs. Sino’ng may kasalanan? People who patronize these things have very limited exposure to what is considered GREAT. Now the responsibility of upgrading the audience’s taste falls on the creators and producers. Vicious cycle no?
I’ve always wondered, how come nobody thinks of brilliant storylines and plot twists when we regard ourselves as some of the best in the world?
well, i couldn’t blame those film makers.. kung ang suporta na natatanggap nila ay gaya ng supporta na natatanggap ng mga nasa ibang bansa in terms of film making and adding those special effects, maybe they could produce a better outcome..
Its one thing to express opinions about these films. But, we are doing exactly what they want people to do. Talk about them. They’re selfish and smart, Sadly they produce films that sells to the masses…if you get my drift. So they really wouldn’t care if there’s depth to what they are making as long as they’ll make money out of it.
I agree sa mga sinasabi niya. I mean, I hate to compare our movies with hollywood’s but there is just something na feeling na gusto kong ulit-ulitin panoorin yung mga pelikula nila. Actually, kung nanonood ako ng mga movies na ginawa sa labas, inuulit-ulit kong panoorin ito kasi hindi ko nafe-feel na napupunuan akong panoorin.
At tama, parang bang hindi pang matagalan ang mga pelikula natin ngayon. Kung ikukumpara nman ito sa mga pelikula noon, mas na-eenganyo akong panoorin yung mga ginawa noon. Our movies in our country today is somewhat categorized only in a few genres. Why won’t they try to widen their genres para nman exciting.
But then, on the other side, mostly of the Filipino audiences are very closed minded to watching movies na “out-of-this-world”. I would like to see movies with less or no special effects. Yung maantig yung puso ng bawat manonood or ma-eenganyo sila because of the plot of the movie not just because starring yung paborito nilang artista. Sana rin nman, yung mga film-makers natin would try to make more NEW movies, wag yung laging sequel na lang palagi.
wow. and i thought ako lang ang nag-iisip na walang ka-sense-sense ang mga mmff moives particularly enteng chu-chu and panday.. gosh, binabastos nila ang alaala ni Da King!! if i may say, they should get real, or better yet gumawa sila ng animated movies like Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia if they want to tickle and catch children’s attention.. market pala ang mga bata, gagawa-gawa ng mga pelikulang nakakabobo.. copy-paste pa..
yup, most of them are crap. only Manila Kingpin is good enough for my taste and Rosario from last year. Why cant producers/directors make films that are socially relevant, with sense and can educate people or move people.
they should make films that will educate the “masa”.
There are really some negative and positive with MMFF.
One thing na napansin ko sa Filipino films is minadali ang paglalagay ng Visual Effects, that is why the fantasy films got kinda crappy. Well obviously minadali ang mga films sa MMFF kasi given lang sila ng short time para gumawa.
I think that historical movies could have been a better entry sa MMFF at the same time kasi educational siya. (e.g. Rizal, Baler), these are the kind of films that i liked sa MMFF before.
Pero syempre MMFF is politics din, palakasan. Kaya alam na…
Regarding the marketing side of filipino films, they should consider POSITIONING their movies first kung anung Target Market nila, at kung anong gusto nilang maregister sa utak ng manunuod. If they positioned it well, I think there will be no problem on marketing their films. Regardless kung ano mang Class yan, basta may objective ang mga movie na kaya nilang maaccomplish, kaya pa siguro umunlad ng Filipino Films.
I like Indie Films in Cinemalaya, but some of them are not that great, and are getting hyped too ng wala sa lugar, kasi medyo naaffect ng pagka mainstream yung mga ibang films. But Indie films are limitless which is good kasi it promotes being open minded.
Hollywood films have crappy films too, hindi lang sa pilipinas may ganyan, if you go to rottentomatoes.com hindi lahat ng hollywood mataas ang ratings.
im friends to a lot of “filmmakers”… 98% of them eh mayabang. feeling “artist” kumbaga.
sa totoo lang, nakaka umay na yung style ng mga indie films sa atin. parepareho na lang. at napakabagal pa ng kwento.
dont blame us kung bakit hindi napapansin ang mga indie films. ang pinoy handang sumuporta sa kpawa pinoy kung alam nilang may ibubuga ang sinusuportahan nila. dito pa naman sa internet, konting click dito click doon, madali kang sisikat
From what I’m seeing, I agree that the quality of the filipino movies, even if these are far behind from the hollywood films, were not yet taken so seriously. Probably because the filmmakers wanted the movie as simple as possible, so that it can be viewed and understand by general audience.
Pero di ako agree about sa “filipino films dont make us think”. Hindi naman kasi lahat ng filipino nakakaranas/nakakapanuod lagi ng hollywood films. Kaya kahit mga simpleng bagay, minsan malaking impact na sa iba. Let’s just appreciate na meron filipino films na nabubuo, to help our fellow kababayans realize something.
Ano kaya yung “something” na na-realize ng mga fellow kababayans watching Panday and Entend ng Ina mo?
Sorry, but your comment just proves that people like you are satified with mediocrity. The Philippine film making industry is not new. They have enough resources and the country has enough talent to produce quality films. Why would you settle for anything less?
SA DVD BA NG PANDAY ANDUN SA DELETED SCENE UNG RAMGEN SCANDAL?
Very nice discussion here. My two cents? All hope is not lost sa industriya. Ngayong taon nakakita ako ng iilang pelikulang Filipino na maganda sa MMFF entries; halimbawa, ang mga Cinemalaya films tulad ng Busong, Dalawang Kaliwang Paa and even the sold out Septic Tank. Hindi sell-out tulad ng MMFF. I even noticed mainstream movies such as No Other Woman and Zombadings also better than MMFF movies. Opinyon ko lamang po.
sayang, gusto ko rin mapanood yung zombadings na yun…
mas mabuti pang indie films nalang pinapalabas nila kesa yang mga yan na walang mga pride at originality. wlang k sense sense pro bumebenta. tsk tsk
pero kasi kung iisipin ko ung experience ko sa panunuod ng fil movies, napakapredictable ng mga mangyayari. di ko masyado maappreciate ung fil movies kasi walang “twist” or “bago” sa mga scenes. pero kung icocompare ko ang fil indie films sa mmff entries, much appreciated ko pa ang indie films, kasi proven na ang nagdirect nun ay may “pinag-aralan” at ang output ay maganda. kasi very limited ang budget nila eh, mas nabibigyan nila ng focus ang storyline.
problema rin kasi mga selected cast & crews, lalo na ang director. masyadong mataas na tingin nila sa sarili nila, nabigyan lang ng pangalan sa film industry. tingnan muna sana nila ang achievements nila.
“Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.” – Right. But what if we are?
What if the level of comprehension, analysis, and understanding of Filipinos aren’t high enough to produce a wittier, funnier, and better movie?
If these kinds of movies appeal to the Filipino crowd, then it means that Filipinos need to get smarter in order to appreciate movies that won’t exude us as shallow or superficial.
To be a bit honest, I do admit that our comedy focuses on physical-jeer, our romantic comedies are nothing more but tragic “tearjerkers” that leave educated people rolling their eyes out of severe IQ reduction. Horror movies? It’s just not for us.
@Dante
I think that a lot of Filipino filmmakers underestimate the Filipino audience. The fact that most Filipinos appreciate quality foreign films means that most Filipinos will appreciate qualify films by local filmmakers.
Here’s another analogy: in buying a toy puzzle, you don’t choose one that you already know how to solve. You choose one that will challenge you and make you think. It’s part of the entertainment. Watching a film should be the same thing. At least it is for me.
Namulat ako sa sinulat mo!!! Ano nang gagawin natin Ms Ilda?
Para sakin tama lahat ng sinabi ni Ms.Ilda..
for e.g yung panday 2, halatang medyo ng gaya ng concepto ng graphics,, then try to think again, panahon pa ni fpj naglalaban na si lizardo at panday and then eto na nga si panday 1 and panday 2 na still si lizardon pa din ang kalaban, i doubt to this movie na siguro kung pag dating ng panday 3 si lizardo pa din ang kalaban.. parang pacquio marquez lang eh.. binago lang ng konti yung story and na upgrade ng konti ng graphics but at the end umiikot pa din ang storya kay lizardo at panday.. tama si Ms, Ilda dapat lagyan nila ng puso at tunay na diwa ng art of movies making ang isang pilikula hindi yung paulit ulit lang.. sa totoo lang dream ko din makapag produce ng isang adventure movie.. di naman siguro galit si Ms. Ilda sa mga movie makers and producers natin, siguro gusto lang nya ipamulat sa lahat ng wala na bang iba di ba pwedeng new flavor naman and madalas napapansin ko din na nang gagaya lang tayo ng konsepto sa iba.. sana magising tayo sa katotohanan.. madaming producer jan basta makagawa lang ng pelikula ang importante kumita sila.. di nila ginagawa un para mainspire ang iba.. Salamat kay ms. Ilda.. i will here to support you… Spread it..
Thanks, Badong!
Check this out if U have BRAINS::
http://www.manunuri.com/the_manunuri
Hey, if you think it’s worthless don’t waste your time and money. If you want to change something change yourself. If you belong to a rich family wag mong kalimutang ang mga tanga na Pinoy ang magpapayaman sa atin. Well, Kung ayaw mong mag hirap keep it that way.
She’s trying to change it right now, but since you don’t seem to get it, you don’t understand the real power of blogs like this, thus you belong to what you call “tanga”
No, in fact you and ilda are *****. I can’t believe you can blog. Please think harder. we are a third world country, there are a lot of poor people, producers cater for them, the more people that watch these crappy movies the more money. That doesn’t mean all the people in the phils. are all morons. Just like if you go to U.S. if you ask say a person from texas area, most people would wanna watch cowboy movies. It’s business and how to make more money. That’s why people who would wanna watch movies that is worth every cent don’t watch pinoy movies. So, please think harder. You are certainly insulting a lot of people!
…So you’re saying we should be satisfied with the status quo.
E, a##hole pala yang Sith and Rommel na yan. Obviously, they are the market for these cheap so-called art. Marami sila. No wonder we’re going down the drain. I-compare pa sa Texas cowboy movies? At least mas may substance pa mga yun. And may diversity pa rin kahit paano. And hello! Kailan ang last na cowboy movie napanood mo? Nasa Aliens vs Cowboys na tayo hijo!
Insult? By this post? Yan ang hirap sa inyo, ayaw magpa-critique. You consider it an insult. How shallow! You are insulting yourselves.
there’s nothing wrong with few no-brainer movies.. i mean, who doesnt want to have a good laugh .. but when it’s the same “movie recipe” over and over and over and over and over.. there’s definitely something wrong! i agree with Ilda.. these movie makers do not make us think and they do not do much thinking themselves.. we all know something is not right when any art form prioritizes money over passion, creativity and originalty..
@Rommel
I can’t believe you wrote that comment! Please think harder.
We are a third world country and there are a lot of poor people. Producers don’t help make the poor be more enlightened because they just want to make money out of the crappy movies.
I didn’t say all people in the Philippines are morons. Please think harder before insulting other people!
Typical response of the proud ones. And already penning the author as rich. Pft. Ignorant dreg. Why are you even hurt with the article? Is it because it’s so true, it’s unbearable for you? Yumaman tayo because of those thoughtless films? And you’re proud of it? You proved the article right with every word you uttered right now! =))
Very narrow-minded, indeed. They already paint a picture of who I am and my standing in society. It shows that they have not fully grasp the concept.
Truth hurts huh? you are a selfish good for nothing citizen of this country, your mom should be ashamed by having a sibling like you not alone our country of having a kind of people like you! you are contented because your getting something out of it, you are not thinking about the others or our country as a whole.
pft. The author has a POINT! Philippine films are always the-same predictable romance, low budget vfx(take PANDAY franchise for instance), horror(that isn’t horror anymore, except “SUKOB” that film blew me away we need films like that), suspense that isnt suspense anymore, action(that is ALWAYS PREDICTABLE). there’s no surprises anymore. that is why I ALWAYS prefer foreign films because there’s nothing to look forward to anymore, no spark whatsoever. this should change. My Filipino brothers pls OPEN your mind we NEED TO EVOLVE. P.S. I hated MMFF for taking 121611-010912 bc I cant watch SHERLOCK HOLMES 2 yet…
Ok. My mom is not my sibbling. I’m her daughter and she is very proud of me.
lol! That was funny. Carl there was a typical loser. Going way off the topic insulting the person because he knew that his arguments were invalid and illogical.
Anyway, i agree with this one. And sadly to say, it is now necessary for someone to critic and expose the negative things that the country has been doing in order for the country to improve itself on these certain things.
we already change our self thats why we want other to change too! get it?
I couldnt agree more. Well written Ilda, I hope this one takes flight because people who idolize those movies should know better.
Thanks, Ella!
Good evening Miss Ilda.
Know that I have read your post and most of the comments you have posted in all the threads that have elapsed from this article.
To be honest, I have been bothered since last night, even deciding that I should just keep my thoughts to myself because I see that a lot of the discussions taking place in this post leads to unhealthy arguments and bickering.
Anyway, I became very interested in one of your specific comments which said: “If I didn’t give a hoot about filmmaking, I wouldn’t even bother responding to filmmakers defensive comments.
I love films. I even want to be a filmmaker one day. That’s why I hate it when most Filipino film makers keep doing the same thing over and over.”
I am really glad that you say that you give a hoot about filmmaking and that you love films. You even say that you want to be a filmmaker one day! Well, that makes the two of us! I am actually a college student majoring in film and it is also my dream to be a filmmaker someday.
What bothers me, however, is that you seem to think that filmmaking is a craft that is as easy as you make it seem it is. But I hope you realize how much effort and hardwork is put into the production of a film — and I can attest to that.
To further prove my point, I hope that you will take the time to read this: http://interaksyon.com/article/13514/jessica-zafra-stars-vs-zombies
It is a very elaborate article that exposes the problems the Indie filmmaker faces; in this article, it talks about the many things the film Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington (which I may have to point out, is one of the notable and most successful films of the year) and its production team experienced in distributing the film nationwide.
I understand some of your points, and those other people who support your notion that yes, in this day and age, it might be very easy to promote your film without the help of the bigger production houses and film companies. But then, as I am also saddened by this truth: the Internet will never be enough to accommodate a filmmaker for the promotion of his/her film. I belong to an organization that brings to UP Diliman the Cinemalaya and CinemaOne Originals festival and boy is it hard to promote the films belonging to the roster of said film fests. Yes, the Internet is a very helpful avenue to advertise one’s film but then, as I have also observed, people have different circles of friends and networks and it is saddening that some circles and networks will not be able to have access to some of this information.
It is not the filmmaker’s fault that his/her film does not reach your Facebook news feeds or Twitter timelines because as I have said, the Internet can only do so much.
In the case of your argument that Filipino filmmakers tend to be unoriginal and superficial when it comes with their films, I believe it is also not the entire fault of the filmmaker. I wish that you realize how difficult it is to please the people heading the film giants (which also is existent in television — if you have the luxury to read Jose Javier Reyes’s confession re: the reality of television politics, etc. in Rogue magazine’s October issue, then please do, so as to educate yourself how tough it is to be “original” with your craft nowadays).
Lastly, I am bothered that your defense in not researching films that may make you think is that you are busy. What makes you so busy that you cannot take a few minutes typing in your Google searchbar when the upcoming Cinemalaya or CinemaOne Originals festival is going to be? If you claim to love films — and even dream of becoming a filmmaker one day — it is part of being a film enthusiast and a filmmaker to educate one’s self by watching films as much as he/she could. If you love films that much, I hope you do not dismiss a film with negative remarks if you haven’t even seen it yourself. How would you feel if people would comment on your writing negatively, seeing that you call yourself a writer, when these people haven’t even read one of your works? Tell me, how would YOU feel?
I have so much that I still want to say, but I prefer that I just end my thoughts with the hope that one day, if you ever do decide to pursue your dream to become a filmmaker, you realize how difficult it is to be part of this industry that you think doesn’t make the Filipinos think anymore.
@Petersen
Thank you for your comment. I am quite aware of the fact that filmmaking is not an easy process. We made a couple of animated videos in the past and it took us 2 months to finish a 2 or 4 minute video partly because we were amateurs; we were only doing it on our spare time; and partly due to the unsophistacted software we were using. Anyway, the views on Youtube hasn’t even reached 5000 the last I time I checked. But we didn’t really expect much because the videos have a political and environmental message, which will only interest a few activists. But part of the fun was in process of making it.
The validation we got from the viewers who appreciated it was just a bonus. At least it is out there and we share it on our fanpage from time to time. Having done some animated videos in the past made us realise what the market wants and now we know what adjustments we need to make if we ever have time to create a video again.
I read the article from Jessica Zafra and came to the same conclusion as before: that we have a dysfunctional culture.
When you have film executives snobbing budding filmmakers who offer alternatives to the same tired formulas, then it is proof that they do not have vision and prefer a, for lack of a better word, dumb audience. And unfortunately, the audience does not even care to demand quality films, they just accept it as “ganyan talaga”.
You don’t have to know what makes me so busy that I do not even have time to “research” on the Indie films. What’s important is for you to accept that there are people like me who are “busy”. I find it hard to believe that some people cannot accept that.
Please read an explanation from Sphynx about the type of consumer he is because I agree with him: http://getrealphilippines.com/2011/12/filipino-films-they-dont-make-us-think/comment-page-3/#comment-17256
Filmmakers should study their market if they want more people to watch their films.
Promoting films and other creative products on the internet, in tandem with data management, is actually a very effective way of creating awareness for very specific audiences. The only downside is that it’s not a “hit-or-miss†kind of thing, you’ll have to work with people who actually know what they’re doing. Posting things on Facebook and other social and media sites is just a small part of internet marketing, as you all probably know. It should be a collaboration between creatives and technicals in order to create a presence that is capable of pulling in interest and creating a personal association between the target audience and the film (or creative product). It sounds like a lot of work, but like filmmaking, it’s actually easy.
Talent makes any kind of creative work easy. Creative output is only hard if one has to depend solely on educated skills in order to create. The thing about working in creatives, it’s usually the people who don’t have a clue about what they’re doing that makes things more complicated than they should be. These are the people who love meetings and meetings in preparation for meetings. In reality, creative people don’t need more than a pencil, a sheet of paper, and around 15 minutes to come up with a good story. Good writers can churn out 10,000 words of good dialogue in one day, and this has nothing to do with inspiration, this is just pure talent working overtime. On the technical side, it’s my experience that the more complicated a production person makes it sound, the less he knows about his job. As the 13th century Sufi Mystic Rumi once said, “The more we know, the less we need.†This is very true in the creative business.
I realize that the process of making films has a lot of nitty-gritty on the side, not just creative and technical. I know it can get very difficult to explain things to producers and management, but this is where the concept of competitiveness comes in. In order to compete in any industry, don’t we always have to ensure that we have the most competitive people in our group? Not just in the creative and technical department, but also in the administrative component of the work. It has to be a winning team through and through. Everybody who steps onto the set, or sits in on a production meeting, should have to be VERY good at what he does and has complete understanding of the objective of the project or he has no business being there. In this regard, and for the sake of advancing our local film industry, we need to ditch the concept of pandering to people who seek to affect creative output by the sheer weight of his influence or financial contribution. I realize also that there will be many who will say that there is no way a film can get off the ground without the help of people like these. The truth is we’re just not talking to the right people. Perhaps we’re just not hungry enough to step out of our comfort zones and really go out and look for the right people to work with? Many prefer to work within the norm, because it is easy and because it is convenient. Afterwards, we complain that the product is not good. The product CAN be good, it’s just that we’re not good enough to make it happen.
Myles Delfin
That seems to be the case. I get the general impression that some people’s world have become smaller. This is probably because they hang around with the same people everyday. Usually when you are always surrounded by the same people who look up to you, you end up living in some kind of bubble. This is because your friends tend to refrain from giving you honest feedback for fear of offending you. This is more so the case when you are highly respected in the industry. Your fans tend to treat you like a god or something. It’s probably the reason why some people here are so offended by the article. They are not used to receiving criticism.
People need to think outside the square. They have to find a way to promote their product. Social networking sites have worked for a lot of celebrities. I’m sure it can work for their indie films.
I’ve never heard of your animated video so I know it’s bad. If it were really good, there would be word-of-mouth and I would know about it.
Sorry, I just had to make that point. Actually I would like to see your film.
Hello thebaklareview, I find it incredible that you can assume something is bad just because you haven’t heard of it. I’ve met people who are in a much better position than any of us to make that judgement call, and yet they never do. In the creative business, if you’re really familiar with it, you should be nervous of the things that you haven’t heard of, not the ones that everybody is already talking about.
You are absolutely right, Myles Delfin, thank you. Please tell that to the author of the article, Ilda, who said in a comment that indie films must be bad because she hasn’t heard of them.
@Mr Bakla
I’m not surprised at all that you haven’t seen our animated videos. I won’t call you “mang-mang” for not being aware of its existence. And I am not even going to demand that you “research” about it. I can even forgive you if you say that it’s probably not good enough.
The difference between you and I is that I do not take criticism personally. It makes sense not to take things personally especially when you know that someone hasn’t seen your work. And if you believe in yourself and what you do, anyone who says “it’s probably not good enough” won’t affect you. You have to look up the word “probably” to understand where I am coming from and you gotta believe in yourself more.
Ciao
The Manila Kingpin deserves to be called the BEST PICTURE because there was no “COMPETITION”. Period.
MOST of its opponents were made for the ones who are willing to spend their cash to have their wishful thinking and fantasies satisfied. A very thin ice in which does not stir up people’s deep emotions and thinking.
And this is what these “profit minded only” thinking producers are exploiting. A ploy to get rich fast at the cost of wasting the talents of the bright stars of our local movie industry.
Take what I’ve said this way; it’s like making a talented F1 driver drive a garbage truck.
Yes I didn’t watched the other entries because I’ve expected that the crap from the previous MMFF’s would be repeated. And as it turns out, I’m not the only one that was thinking this way. I’m not advocating people to watch Manila Kingpin but I really appreciated this piece of art.
Going on, pardon me for these words but as I see it, most of the movies were aimed to the rapidly deteriorating mindsets and tastes of the masses on local movies… And adding more dumb movies like some of MMFF 2011’s entries would only fuel the fire.
I mean, would you ever see someone who is an above average salary earner and well educated enough watching these films? Well if you see one, I believe that they did it for the sake of their not-so critically thinking peers/family members who are willing to waste money.
“Oo sira na nga panlasa ng masang Pinoy sa lokal na pelikula, sisirain pa lalo ng mga gahaman na producers…”
Call me a racist or a social climber or whatever but I will stand up for what I’m posting right now.
For the record, I’m not bashing the whole Philippine film industry as a whole because after I watched the Manila Kingpin, I still believe on our local film industry. That maybe, just maybe some producer reads this blog and the comments by the consumers. That he/she can be openly minded enough to take the constructive criticisms on this blog and from those who commented.
I hope that some of our local film makers would create a patriotic and historically accurate movie. Or something that deals with true stories of love or friendship or anything that stood against the test of time… Movies that can stir up ones emotions and also at the same time make an impact in the hearts and minds of the viewers.
“I hope that some of our local film makers would create a patriotic and historically accurate movie. Or something that deals with true stories of love or friendship or anything that stood against the test of time… Movies that can stir up ones emotions and also at the same time make an impact in the hearts and minds of the viewers.”
On this one, I’ve seen lots of local movies before which made me proud of our history. Which made me proud of our culture as a family and as a nation. And, like what I’ve said, I believe that the local film industry can change for the better ‘coz they’ve made movies like this before.
@Eli sy. i agree with you re no other woman. i believe it is one of the best filipino films ever. maganda pagkakasulat. hindi kinailangan ng malaking budget para gawin ang movie na yun. basta maganda ang kwento, magugustuhan ng pinoys.
sa mga filmmakers, why not do a movie about the boy scouts of 11th jamboree?
Or the fallen Filipinos who served in Korea during the Korean War? Or the PA soldier who was medal of valor recipient by taking out single handedly almost a hundred rebels?
There are other stories that can be made to become a movie by the way; it only needs attention and dedication and investment by our local film industry to make it a blockbuster.
And you just reminded me why I don’t watch filipino films and tv shows in general.
Kaya lang lahat ng pilipino pinapanood ang mga simpleng gawang movie is because ang babaw ng kaligayahan.
And most importantly, this stupid “Pinoy Pride”.
Just because we have done simple things like making a movie doesn’t mean we’re already the best. I mean seriously, our camera for making movies always looks like it’s still the 90’s version. How about some improvement?
And pride is one of the first of the seven sins, why would Filipinos take on pride when it’s a sin?
Seriously, this is another proof that Philippines is a 2nd China Machine.
To be frank, films with substance often ended up as sleeper hits, just like now, the Manila Kingpin (though garnered like 11 awards), and RPG: Metanoia (2010 MMFF animated movie, garnered like 4~6 awards).
Worse is that due to those movies, some of our genres are like closing their doors on us already due to our narrow-mindedness.
But Manila Kingpin is only at 6th place in the box office, out of 7. And RPG has reportedly yet to recoup its investments. Technically, they’re not hits. This suggests there is little to no correlation between perceived quality and audience size.
Every year there’s this MMFF, then WTF! We’re watching the same movies over and over again. With just part 2,3,4, and so on. Or maybe a revised edition of an old film like “Panday”. It’s true that the thought of the film is not there.
Sorry but “Panday” is a great example of them all. Liked the great old “Panday” by FPJ more than the latter.
It’s just that the 3D effects of the movie is somehow more concentrated than it’s thought.
A hero fighting a villain is there but, yeah, we’ve seen how the hero with his story there way back when I was still a fetus. XD — just like Enteng thing. I loved the show when I was kid, but I’m no longer a kid guys and I’m sure the same goes to others. Kids nowadays may love the fantasy but we shouldn’t taught that kind of things to our kids.
I’m not a writer with a great concepts of movies but watching these movies on trailers just makes me think , “Ah! may part 13”
This is why i dont watch a majority Phil. made films, same actors, crappy storyline, trashy CGI etc etc…
these producers are just after money who got suck to they’re cheap movies, no offense but its true, why make a potentially crappy movie and release it to the public? simple profit. profit from the masa i would say, people with the right education or mere common sense would notice it right away. that’s why there are so many haters here. and people who otherwise because film makers have reasons and other BS that hinder them from making a decent movie. WHY MAKE THEM AT ALL? if your gonna make a movie make do it good create better storylines, hire actors who actually act and not the ones who are just after for publicity. ang dali dali ng mga sagot dyan, kaso matitigas tlga mga ulo ng mga film makers natin, pera lng lagi iniisip, because they know that if make the same movie again (like shake rattle or whatever the name is) they would generate income from the masses.
Nice writeup. Just my personal opinion, hope movies remain for entertainment purpose and not a message board for politics, religion, etc.
I like easy to watch movies. Those like “inception” just give me a headache.
Repeat movies like shake/rattle/roll are probably aimed for those who will see it for the first time (younger generation) and not oldies like us who saw it a long time ago.
Happy New Year!
Clash of the Titans = 1981
Ang Panday = Novel in the 70’s, movie in 1981
So who copied who?
Let’s not assume Filipinos always copy from others. Maybe it’s others that copy from Filipinos. Were are well known worldwide as a very creative nation.
@Joel
Mythical themes have been in Hollywood since the beginning of film (film industry started in the US, not in the Philippines)
Since the special effects days of Ray Harryhausen (using stop motion, i.e. “practical effects”) and then digital effects, Hollywood has been a source of inspiration and imitation by local filmmakers. Quality of US and other foreign films, even in just simple color-grading, are way superior than those of local cinema. The Philippines rely very much on US and other foreign made products and technologies to produce its own local cinema.
In fact, we are known to be the least creative among most nations. Just take a quick comparison between copyrightable and patentable products in the Philippines and other countries. Their trade and patent offices are flooded with way more diverse arrays of products and ideas (especially functional and useful products), while ours tend to be focused on gimmicks and cute slogans.
While other countries show-off their amazing electronics, mechanical, administrative, and other innovations and inventions, we still proudly present the jeepney and karaoke as example of this so-called pinoy creativity that you are touting.
Generally, Pinoys are the best though when it comes to “payabangan” (magaling lang mga Pinoy sa payabangan at pagbuhat ng sariling bangko)—pero di pa rin asensado.
ei i think your blind as a bat, the rip-off was the CG effects used in panday2 clearly kahit sa trailers anyone that watched Clash of the titans eh makikita na kinopya lng yun mga monsters. I think your example sa comparison was way off talaga…Clash of the Titans was based on Greek mythologies was thousand of years ahead of carlo caparas and bong revilla food for thought lang peace
@ Joel:
Mali ang pagkakacompare mo! Pinanood mo ba yng Panday? Or atleast nakita mo manlang yung trailer? Ginaya nila ang VFX ng Clash of the Titans – from monsters to characters. Kulang nanga lang si medusa eh daling dale na. It’s not about the history or which one came first. Ansarap magbasa ng thread na to dahil maraming nagiisip kaso pagnakakaita ako ng mga comments na tulad ng sayo napapakamot ulo ako.
@Joel
Wow ha. First you rip-off someone’s idea and then you believe your own lie and tell everyone that you were ripped-off! Nice one. NOT!
There are good Filipino movies, and they do get noticed, however do not make enough money to make it worth the while.
This however is the same in the industry, it is rare to see one make money.
What is sad is that the good ones end up being nothing but ripped off from other countries.
Originality no longer exist.
Blame the pirates, they nag about how lame the movies are but keep on downloading them. Tough luck on Filipino Cinema eh?
Btw, they only “rip-off” movies that has potential for a successful formula. You also see the colonial mentality here. Why focus on Filipino cinema? The following are in the same genre as Shake, Rattle and Roll with franchises as well. Final Destination, Friday the 13th, Holloween and Nightmare on Elm’s Street, Jaws, Saw and even Piranha are but a few examples of use and re-use of plot. Don’t forget that there are not only sequels and prequels made but also reboots. There are a LOT of Hollywood movies with senseless plot too so stop comparing our movies with theirs. It’s just more noticeable here because the number of movies we release are only but a fraction of Hollywood’s.
Want to know what’s more superficial? Those people who think movies are good because they have almost realistic special effects but poor plot and scripts. *Cough* 2012 *Cough* Transformers *Cough*
Way to go brown Americans! Mabuhay kayong lahat!
“Why focus on Filipino cinema?”
==> Because the topic is about the MMFF.
“The following are in the same genre as Shake, Rattle and Roll with franchises as well. Final Destination,….”
==> The difference is, they recognize themselves as nothing more than popcorn movies and not masquerading as an obra-maestra. Do you even hear about these films vying for an award???
Last time I heard, Mother Lily (producer of the Shake Rattle and Roll series) doesn’t really care for awards either. I was also eating popcorn the last time I saw an MMFF movie.
@Ignorance
I know you are happy with mediocrity but please do not justify the blatant copying of ideas. You are just proving you do not champion excellence.
And nowhere in my article did I praise Transformers.
i cant deny the fact i watch filipino movies.
i watch it because my dad keeps buying those copied movies from the chinese shop here in Australia. i know i have a choice to watch it or not but for some reason i like to watch it not because of the stories but because of the actors in it and also i want to say on my status on facebook that ive watched it.
for that i can say im shallow.
for watching all those filipino movies, i can agree about lacking in substance. i jus shake my head about the mistakes where the actor was wearing different shoes on the next scene, fake rain, wigs, fighting scenes, bruises, black eye, blood etc.
and the never ending scene how police comes at the end part.
Admit it people. Our films suck. It’s the same crap that they made a year ago. It’s like Noche Buena leftovers recycled. But it doesn’t mean it’s a reflection of the people. We have grown more intellectual over the years and we watch those things coz we just want plain dumb fun for our entertainment. But make no mistake, we know our films for what they really are. I think daily tv soap operas have better story writing.
If I would create a film, i would have always wanted a World War 2 setting featuring the Filipino’s who fought for freedom in the corregidor, i truly believe that our history is very rich, and shows a lot of good filipino qualities such as bravery and courage in times of despair. Besides, who does not want to see an early Philippine setting where the citizens used to live their simple life in search for freedom, freedom that we nowadays have easily taken for granted, well its just a thought.
Hi Ilda,
I understand where you’re coming from. I am a Film graduate myself, and one of our constant discussions in our past classes was the hopelessness of the situation.
I agree, MMFF is a festival for commercial, brain-dead films. But there’s a big picture out there why this persists. And it’s not only the responsibility of people in the film industry. This also goes for distributors, movie cinema owners and most importantly, educating the people on what makes good films. Most of all, we need to create our own Filipino identity/cultural identity in our films.
However I think that as a writer, you should have done your research first. That is your responsibility as a writer/media practitioner. Also, please be open-minded. This is just a venue for discussion. Discussion is healthy, it means people are thinking. Through these, we can come up with solutions. It’s sad that a site like this becomes a place for bashing, and not an open-minded healthy venue for discussion.
Hi Ali
Thanks for your comment. I hope that the discussions here can help you in your future career as a filmmaker.
I just have to disagree with what you said that I should have done my research first. What you said in your second paragraph is enough proof that I didn’t have to:
And BTW, I am open-minded. But there are others who were arrogant enough to insist that I had to do “research” first before saying that the films are lacking in substance. Never mind that someone like you, who knows a lot about the industry, arrived at the same conclusion.
If I showed you the number of personal attacks directed at me that were moved to the spam folder, you will realise who were engaging in “bashing” and it wasn’t me.
I completely agree with you! You forgot to mention that it doesn’t only apply to films but to TV as well. Everything is a rip-off of those Western TV series or films.
Anyway, if you all have the same sentiments as the author, heck, let’s just all support indie films! At least we know those DON’T LACK SUBSTANCE. 🙂
@Miss Black
I already wrote about Filipino television shows in the past: Filipino TV shows like Willing Willie make Filipinos dumber
dude. have you even watched any of the films you have mentioned?
Do I have to see a Transformers film to know that it’s rubbish? Or any film made by Rob Schneider for that matter? Some people can just tell apart what a stupid film is and what’s not.
Thank goodness for rational commenters! I hope Mr Alem can read this. Paging Mr Alem!
it’s a vicious cycle. the masses are being conditioned into thinking that a movie should be just that–glittery, forgettable, and shallow. it’s the only kind of films they are catered with. while the producers are under the impression that the masses actually want only those shitty films.
saddening.
agree! I’ve seen indie films better than those in mmf, nung makita ko ung trailer ng panday, sure na akong di ko papanoorin, haay,
if you can’t make it awesome, can you make it suck less??
agree?
To be honest, I dont think the state fo Philippine movies reflect who we are as a people. I think your USE of the state of Philippine movies as a reflection of us as a people IS the proper reflection of us as a people. Confused yet? Let me explain. Some way, some how, the Philippines gave birth to YOU, a person wreaking with hyper-generalisms like a dog peppered with garapata. You represent our people’s innate ability to shoot ourselves in the foot by blabbing about things we know very little of. Sure, I agree that the movies the Philippines produces are shallow and the actors we have lack depth or dimension…but to say that we are a shallow people based on the givens is a travesty. The better given would be that we are a shallow people because we have and continue to puke out foot shooters like yourself – quick to hyper-generalize that, WE, as a people, are never good enough. Sad, very sad indeed.
So you’re saying Filipinos are not “shallow”? Have you taken time to ponder why the Philippines ranked up there as being a happy people despite all the natural and man-made calamities?
Actions speak louder than words, or are you just in denial?
“quick to hyper-generalize that, WE, as a people, are never good enough. ”
===> You probably failed reading comprehension. Where in the article did it say that Filipinos are never good enough? The tragedy is Filipinos are capable of being the best and we have proven it time and again. But sorry arses like yourself would rather settle for mediocrity. Of course you can’t take constructive criticisms either – why? I bet your low self-esteem can’t handle it.
Jim, your pretentious use of ARSE is utterly despicable haha. Brit ka ba bro o aussie. Sorry I’ll leave you to your attempt at sounding non-pedestrian and wont pick at that.
Tagalugin ko na ng maintindahan mo. Ang sabi ng may akda: “Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.” Translation: Ipinaglalantaran ng ating mga sine sa atin at sa ibang tao na tayo ay mababaw. Kahit na isang daang siglo ng hinagpis at kalamidad, ang pagiging masayahin ng Pilipino ay hindi dahil sa tayo ay MABABAW. Ibig sa sabihin lang nyan ay tayo ay MATIBAY madaling sumabay sa daloy ng alon kung saan hindi tayo malulunod.
YUN NGA LANG, may iba sa atin na medyo likas na Bobo, tulad mo Jim. May pa arse arse ka pa…umayos ka nga. Nakakadiri ka bro.
🙂
@Henry
It’s very sad, indeed that a lot of Filipinos cannot handle the truth. That is precisely the reason why we remain who we are today: a nation of braggarts and show-offs. Like I said in my previous article Being average is NOT being resilient
My child, the real sad truth is that a lot of Filipinos DO NOT know the truth about themselves. Braggarts and show-offs, thats a luxury only for the middle class. Step away from suburban luxury where you eat four meals a day as you sculpt words meant to spit at your own race, culture and country – in the guise of ‘spreading the truth”. Try spending a week with the sagadas, or even overnight with garbage pickers near the old polymedic. Nothing to brag nor show off, just trying to survive a world raped by the upper class. There you will see how hard working, generous, and deep real Pinoys are. They do not have the luxury to have an opinion, to appreciate art, that luxury is relegated to intellectuals such as yourself who waste no time in stripping the Pinoy down. Lastly I’ll leave you with this, 200 Heroes versus 200 Criminals, who do you think built a better country? Answer: The one who did not think they had any other choice but to rely on each other and survive. Peace.
Sorry, but your comment is way off course already. Try reading the article again so you can go back to the original point. Thank you.
@ Henry
Um… what? Sorry, your post has lost me completely.
But I was intrigued by the 200H vs 200 C. It made me remember a post in a forum I go to. Stranded on an island, which group of 3 among 4 would you pick for survival, a lawyer, a scientist, an engineer and a teacher.
My answer was simple, as long as the lawyer was out of the picture, we’d all be fine and dandy.
So my answer with your 200H vs 200C is, the one with no lawyers in them =).
But still, what was said about sagada/the garbage picker doesn’t change the fact that masses/majority would still prefer to watch movies mediocrity/no brainers.
So the fact/truth of the post/blog still remains which is why I can’t for the life of me understand what all the negativity is about when we are all on the same page.
If the are just after the exclusion of SOME indie films, it was never said that it was ALL indie films. So what is the problem for everyone? Non-acceptance of a truth in our society? Just because we say a truth which is negative means we are unpatriotic and should leave? What logic is that?
what a snob.
.
you can’t blame mainstream movie outfits to make movies for money. you want a thought-provoking movie? watch more pinoy indie movies.
.
And that is not just for movies, same goes for music and games. for tv, not so much, because of the very nature of tv.
.
try mo minsan bumababa sa trono mo.
@margar1ne
I don’t consider clamoring for quality films to be more commercially available being a “snob”.
I think being satisfied that only a few can view the “indie” films is what I would consider being a “snob”.
In addition, I won’t mind watching indie films. But even those, i feel like it’s all the same plotlines. Some even go under the guise of “indie” when all they actually are are disgusting sex flicks. I’m very sure there are very good indie filmmakers here. They should be championing the same things thatnthis blog is harping on: give us better movies!
Okay, then I ask you this. Is showing indie films limited only to film festivals? Do indie films need be an upfront paid endeavor?
What I want to let you know is this, go to youtube and search for Scarlet’s witch. It’s an indie film about 16 mins long. And it’s free to view and easy to reach.
Here’s their channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/fcrabbath
Now, they keep on producing these indie films, how do they sustain themselves then to continue producing their works?
I know youtube has a way of paying out to “popular” channels in terms of percentage to ad revenue and it looks like it works for this format as well.
Reaching out to the various audiences doesn’t need to be limited to the traditional medium and go to the big screen and pay to watch. You can do it online nowadays, and it is exposed to a bigger audience, not limited to just the Philippine market.
And what I would also like to point out is the quality of not only the story but also of the shots of the camera (focus, fade in/out, sound etc) Why can these individuals or group do them differently (in that level)? (I am of course comparing mainstream movie quality with these)
On the part of CG, I posted here that the first locally made full feature CG movie was not RPG Metanoia but rather Hoodwinked. But again, even with the backing of the studios, I feel it somehow falls short. My example, Sintel by Blender http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRsGyueVLvQ
This was done using free software and not a paid film released online. Now tell me the difference in quality against those locally produced with Big Production Companies as backing?
Other samples? Go to VFS (Vancouver Film School) to see works/shorts done by student in the field of 3d animation. These are students who are not paid to do these shorts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONqgaVU_XPk
The Switch – Animation short by a student of theirs
(Even at low res 240p, the animation is more fluid compared to the trailer of RPG Metanoia)
How about effects only with real actors? VFS also has them but I can redirect you to two other links.
StreetFighter Legacy – Fan Film (again non profit and released online only)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONqgaVU_XPk
Naruto Shippuden – Dreamer’s Fight Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAl2DWNukbs
For the naruto thing, I was not that picky about how they did the lip movements with the audio dialogue because the actors didn’t really speak japanese. This was also done non-profit and of course releasing part 2 and 3 is still pending as they have other stuff to attend to.
But you can clearly see what can be done, even if it is non profit. How come we get the garbage we get from mainstream then? Can you give me a valid arguement or reason?
Hi..
I’m not a professional movie maker nor am not a certified critic, I just love to watch movies. Movies that touches my heart, makes me fall out of my chair from laughing, makes me grind my teeth and feel the pain or anger that the actors are portraying, or movies that makes me stop and think for a while and say “WOW this sh** is good”. With all these said, I’ve never felt any of these in our local films for quite some time now. Watching them sometimes brings trauma and makes me not wanting to watch another local film ever again. But because I just think this industry is just polluted with so much “money makers” and just a handful of “artists” still am not giving up hopes for this country’s film industry. I try to pick and watch some of the local films that has potential.
For this year’s MMFF movie entries, there are only 2 movies that I thought have potential. one of them is the Manila Kingpin Asiong Salonga story. When I saw Asiong Salonga’s trailer early December, I had high hopes for it. Comparing this film to other MMFF entries, for me is no contest, so I’ve decided to watch it as soon as it came out.
After watching the film, I was not really disappointed but I was not truly satisfied. Everything was great except it lacks something. Maybe it lacks feelings I think, or maybe that was done on purpose I don’t know. I just think it still needs improvement. I also thought they should’ve gotten a younger version of Asiong Salonga. Asiong died when he was 28 years old, the actor George Estregan Jr. looks 40+ and it didn’t feel right whenever he kisses Carla Abellana, but overall it’s a great film.
Oh wait… Why is the Kraken in Panday? haaaaaay!!
@Beep
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I wish more people could be as objective as you are. I’ve heard some positive things about the film, Asiong Salonga. The only problem is, it’s not for everybody. Let’ s just hope they don’t make a sequel. That’d ruin it.
people defending crass commercial rubbish as though it is innovative, creative or artistic.
reflective of society and indicative why the country is in a mess.
no standards, or ability to differentiate.
soak up whatever is fed to them.
what insular idiots.
i find the comments more interesting to read than the article lmao! ^_^
You fail to appreciate the fact that it was the article that made people think. 😉
i know it is futile to ask, but what films would you classify as the kind that makes you think?
You are right. It’s futile. Because what you are asking is beside the point of this article.
I’ll give you a hint anyway: the kind that would make me think does not include the ones in the MMFF. 😉
Here’s one I wrote about Blade Runner and another I wrote about 2010. 😉
i also agree with what’s written here, as for those who has another opinion on filipino movies i respect their views and the way they defend it. actually its obvious and lets admit it, kht sa pagppkita ng trailer same old banana. even the tv series. when it comes to originality?? its been an issue way way back then.
janelle – ramgen video
award winning
bong wanted a small part but no dong
Filipino movies are the “social sedatives” for the masses. It sedates thinking, emotions, culture, creativity, values, and all the other characteristics that are important for us to move forward into prosperity and success not only in our movies scene but also in our country.
I hope with the deluge of criticism from this article, it will make you think.
Publishing what we write is baring the core of our being. A thought that is shared with the public is also a way of enriching our soul by reaching out to others. What to be shared should be pondered upon deep within the core. What is in the core is a life formed from the choices we make based on what we SEE and EXPERIENCE.
Fact shows that the other side is steaming hot, too malaswa for your core values to merit further exploration. A choice is made, that it is too steamy so end of discussion. But there are those who choose to challenge their core values and dip their fingers into the water to EXPERIENCE how hot or malaswa things are. Then proceeds to discover why it is malaswa, what makes it malaswa … You see, in SEEING only, you close a door. In EXPERIENCING, you gain a SOUL by living your life the way it was designed for us all.
Same as filmmaking. One’s soul is bared for a specific purpose. The choice is ours to make which soul to watch and listen to.
@Tawe
I hope the deluge of comments who agree with my views will make you THINK. As far as I’m concerned, the “deluge” of defensive criticism and personal attacks only says one thing about some people in the film industry: they can’t handle criticism.
You make it sound like I have to watch nudity or people “getting it on” to be moved. There are a lot of films that do not show sexually explicit scenes but successfully give the audience a complete picture. The problem with some filmmakers in the Philippines is that they think their work has to show nudity to be considered risqué and artful. That idea when done so many times loses its novelty in the long run. People tend to get desensitized when they see the same thing again and again.
Just because I don’t have a taste for certain films doesn’t mean my life is incomplete. This goes back to you:
“The choice is ours to make which soul to watch and listen to.”
Check the Manunuri if u have a brain:
http://www.manunuri.com/the_manunuri
Naku po. Pasensiya na nene pero hindi ko naman sinasabi na kailangang ma develop mo ang taste mo sa malalaswa para maging complete kamo ang iyong buhay? Yung pag-gamit ko ng salitang malaswa, tawag dun metaphor. Pwede ring palitan ng violent, o kaya sintunado depende sa mood mo.
Ano ka ba, wag kang malungkot. Kasi lahat ng tao na humihinga pa ay INCOMPLETE pa ang buhay. Katakot kung complete. Huwag mong titingnan na personal na atake ito against you. Pwede naman maging masaya at tingnan natin ito na TIPS.
This really go back to us.
“The choice is ours to make which soul to watch and listen to.â€
We both choose to listen to each other by responding.
Comment way off course already. Go back to original point of the article, please.
Sorry Mam.
The point is you made a fatal mistake in writing a critic.
You did not research.
The point is you don’t get the point of the article. Please read it again.
Definitely true, that is why I hate watching Filipino films nowadays, they just continue to make a sequel of one movie over and over again. Worse is it doesn’t even have quality.
I also despise the people in the industry showbizz for they are so biased and continues to show the outside appearance stands on top and I really hate it for they influence the minds of the ignorant which is really rampant nowadays in the Philippines. Not because those ignorant didn’t study but they just don’t use their minds at all.
I’m sure those filipino producers can make something better than those films. It is just that they are just too lazy to think. Ika nga “Juan Tamad” and we always see that around.
I really do love Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga movie though. It is the best filipino movie I’ve seen so far since One More Chance.
a director once said in a conference. na tinawanan lang niya yung no other woman and the following film that star magic made. kasi obviously they’re only in it for money na they don’t care about the substance. all they think about is Money.
Just saying. =)
lahat naman ng filmmakers gustong kumita ang pelikula nila. sino ba naman ang hindi? pero sa tingin ko maganda ang storya ng no other woman. i bet kapag hollywood ang gumawa ng movie na yun, marami nang pumuri dun. hmmm, im sure inggit lang ung direktor na yun, ganyan naman kasi ang reaksyon ng karamihan sa kanila. mayabang, mataas ang tingin sa sarili.
just saying =)
let’s put it that way. maganda kung maganda yung No other woman. but to think that star magic makes movies na parang commercials lang. tignan mo ngayon meron nanaman sila yung A mother’s story ni Pokwang then pag nanood ka ng cinema today hindi pa pinapalabads yung movie ni pokwang meron nanaman movie yung star magic. isn’t it a sign that star magic is only doing typical movies to make money? think about it. =)
ewan ko kung may nagpost na nito, hindi ko na binasa lahat ang haba eh.
hindi lang clash of the titans ginaya ng panday 2, marami pa:
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Eragon (yung dragon)
3. Batman (si Philip Salvador gusto yata gayahin si Heath Ledger or si Chris Nolan bilang si Joker) 🙂
I totally agree with this blog entry, Ms. Ilda. Pero we have to suck up the truth that the movie industry was, is, and will still be, a business. They cater to what the masa (majority of the people) WANT to see, which is more often than not comedic relief from their life of misery, poverty, etc. Lalangawin ang pelikula nila pag ang tema ay masyadong seryoso, so I think you can’t totally blame the movie makers who’re in it for the profit (that’s why they entered the industry in the first place, I’m assuming). A good example of rule breakers are indie films with actual substance. But lo and behold, sila yung kung mabawi lang yung puhunan sa pelikula ay sobrang swerte na. Another good exemplar ay yung indie films na may pseudo substance pero kumita, like Zombadings and Babae sa Septic Tank. Notce anything? Yep, parehong comedy ang front ng dalawa.
Film making is business, but business is not an excuse for turning out bad work. It’s not a question of the Filipino masses not buying into something higher than toilet humor, it’s just that it’s cheaper for producers to come out with garbage rather than actual films. The reason why the film industry churns out bad work is because there is no consequence for their inability. Unlike say if Airbus Industrie decided to use tin sheets instead of aluminum on their aircraft, or if General Electric decided to use home-made components for their medical equipment, the results would be catastrophic and would result in class action suits. In the filmmaking industry, they can condition the minds of an entire generation that the garbage they turn out is all that we’re good for, and it’s perfectly alright! In fact, they even have awards that they give to themselves for whatever hoop-la and ballyhoo that mediocre work can generate. Indie Films on the other hand, are not able to generate profits because they’re not yet there themselves. Indie Films may be the hope for some aspects of our filmmaking future but they also need to get over the dread and dreary themes that we often see. It doesn’t actually have to be comedy for films to work, its just that there are no other alternatives on the table. It’s always about kidnapping, rape, and poverty or slapstick humor, as if that is all that there is in the world. Us Filipinos, we love it when our heart strings get a tug every now and then, somebody just has to know how to play them. Case in point is a short film by Portuguese filmmaker Nuno Rocha that doesn’t even have dialogue:
. Simple, yet effective. Simple, yet it puts all our excuses to shame.
Actually the problem lies with the general population NOT YET READY to absorb new stories, WHICH WE DO ON A REGULAR BASIS, we watch foreign films or independent philippine cinema, just like the indie music scene here, IF IT DOESN’T become a ‘fad’ they will not patronize it
As a filmscorer/composer/arranger, IT ALL STARTS with a GOOD SCREENPLAY, we just have to think of better stories to tell the people
YES, i’ve heard A LOT of positive reviews for MANILA KINGPIN, the score of the trailer was also good
WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE INDIE SCENE (music and film) TAKE THIS AS A CHALLENGE. Isa kami sa mga sundalo na sumusulong sa mas maganda at mas masagana na mundo ng sining. This is our advocacy. There are BETTER stories to be told. WE JUST HAVE TO SHOUT IT OUT LOUD.
@musicman
Just to repeat my earlier comment, I think that a lot of Filipino filmmakers underestimate the Filipino audience. The fact that most Filipinos appreciate quality foreign films means that most Filipinos will appreciate qualify local films.
Here’s another analogy: in buying a toy puzzle, you don’t choose one that you already know how to solve. You choose one that will challenge you and make you think. It’s part of the entertainment. Watching a film should be the same thing. At least it is for me.
That’s what I have been saying from the beginning. The average person just goes with the flow. Some people here did not even consider the fact that I was playing a devils advocate. I was trying to make them think outside the square.
They were insisting that people should go out of their way to “research” on the good films. But there are a lot of people who rely solely on feedback. They are not necessarily dumb or stupid, they are just preoccupied with more important things in their lives that take precedence over little luxuries like watching a film. Which is why it is up to the filmmakers to bring the information out there to as many people as possible. They have to make it convenient for more people to see their films.
True. You can choose not to watch. You can even choose to be ignorant. You can choose not to listen to the many recommendations of your peers. But if you didn’t go out of your way to know your subject, then don’t write about it.
Here’s the thing: I know Filipino culture like the back of my hand. I’ve been writing about it for a few years now. The quality of the films available to the majority of the public and the problems indie filmmakers whine about only confirms what I’ve known for a long time: that the Filipino culture is dysfunctional.
You can choose to accept the truth or you can choose to ignore it. You can also choose not to listen to the many recommendations of the people outside the film industry. But if you don’t go out of your way to know your market, don’t complain about not getting enough exposure for your films.
You assume I’m a filmmaker. Apparently you don’t know everything, which is why there is this rush of comments eager to inform you. It’s okay, I don’t know everything either. We’re better writers when we’re handicapped, because then we go out of our way to equip ourselves. Truth is elusive. I’m worried that you think you already know it like the back of your hand.
Which part of what I said made you think I “assumed” that you are a filmmaker?
Excuse me, I would like to raise a point or two in this.
But before I start, treat what I will say with an open mind.
The blog/post/opinion was written from a consumer standpoint? Can we at least agree on that?
Therefore, being a consumer, you are not expected or supposed to know every facet of the film industry right?
When you use the term MOST or MAJORITY, what do you mean? Does it automatically encompass everything or does it exclude a FEW?
See, we, as consumers are here to consume (support/criticize/complain or what have you). But as consumers, you should learn to seperate that line which entails us to research when something is not exposed. Consumers are expected to be mostly exposed to the mainstream, be it products like electronics, clothes, tv media, papers and even this topic which everyone is commenting on (I don’t want to use the word arguing as I want to keep this positive).
That being said, consumers aren’t expected to go out of their way to consume something non-essential for them. Let alone what has never once peaked their interest.
Example, if there was no initial marketing kick/ploy that reached the masses, would we have known of the existence of an iphone?
The mere fact that these indie films never reached a broader audience goes to show that not everything has still been done to reach out to a greater market.
I will not argue with figures that there was a bigger audience that came to the indie film festival. If there was, then that’s great. But that bigger audience still is no where near the majority crowd you would like am I correct?
So you are on your way there, the question is when would you get there and how do you plan to get there quicker and better to let more people know of these so called indie films.
As I wouldn’t like to but have to, I need to reiterate, give us something that would entice us, or at least make us consider possibly going to see it. An invitation is not it. An invitation here is not a marketing campaign. So you reach that person to try and prove her wrong. What does that accomplish? It is not a big picture action, am I right?
What then is a big picture action? Well, if the previous marketing ploy attracted a bigger crowd, then maybe you did something right to get better exposure. But that doesn’t mean it should stop there. Don’t you agree?
The object of the indie films is to be an expression of the direction/writer/producer etc. It is to be shown or seen. The more people that end up seeing it, the better as it means profit as well which gives an incentive to make more movies of similar or better caliber correct?
But if you can’t reach your target audience, they you will be stuck running around in circles. Telling us we don’t know about these past indie films isn’t going to help. You know why? Well, if ever they will be show, it most likely will be a special screening, someplace we might not be able to get to. Secondly, it is not our job to know.
Remember, the first step comes from the production company to entice the consumer to go in or invest their time/money towards you/the film. To consumer does not go and ask the production company, “excuse me, do you have anything new coming up next week or the week after?”
I repeat, we are consumers, casual movie goers at that, not film buffs so you can not expect the same action from us as “regular consumers”.
If you want to appeal to our interest, you have to try and poke around first and entice us.
It can be a compelling storyline, an intriguing trailer, a good poster with a catchy tagline. I don’t know what would appeal best, but it’s up to those that make indie films try, not force us to go or call us ignorant because we don’t know about their films.
So I repeat, you are talking to a regular, casual consumer and it is not up to us to know and find out. Once we have an initial interest in it, we can then say the consumer is interested to find out more ok?
Oh and for those that may say consumers research about the products they consume, I would argue that they will research about it if it is a necessity for them. Each one’s necessity is different as some may view the newest and best model of cellphone in their grasp as a necessity while other may not. So researching a product because is a person’s life necessity is not applicable with indie films for regular consumers.
Cheers!
I’m beginning to understand now why Pinoys suck at customer service and, consequently, fail to develop world-class products and brands.
With attitudes such as the ones I’ve seen here over the past 24 hours (i.e. people behaving as if their movies are entitled to an audience and whining about their products being under-appreciated), it is hardly surprising why we have the sort of atrocious regard for the art of making a marketing pitch underpinned by a solid value proposition for our products and services.
It could be the reason why most of our products (including our movies) never take off — because we seem to have ingrained lack of regard for customers and are disinclined to make a conscious effort to understand their preferences and tastes.
This has been a revelation, indeed. Now we know that there are filmmakers who do not even try to do some “research” about the market. But isn’t reaching out to the consumers included in marketing 101? I cannot believe they would insist that viewers do their own research. They even label those who don’t “mang-mang”.
They accuse me of being elitist, arrogant and ignorant but guess what? They are the ones who complain about not getting enough exposure and at the same time not doing enough to reach their audience. They don’t even listen to consumer feedback. Hayayayay!
Even in supermarkets, it’s been said that the products that are within eye level are the best sellers. That’s why supermarket owners strategically place all the products they can fit near the cashier to entice people to buy it while waiting in line.
And I thought filmmakers knew more about human behaviour. I guess I was wrong.
That’s what they call “Para kumita lang”.
Movies are for entertainment. Meant to be serious, sad, funny and otherwise. There’s a wide spectrum of film. From cheap in concept to grandiose. Nothing’s wrong with all the films available in the Philippines. The problem is distribution. Where can a regular Pedro watch a good Tribu, a classic Brocka, a vintage Rogelio Dela Rosa in a town? Better yet, in Manila? None. THe playing field of filmmakers are not even. Given a fair chance to all filmmakers – mainstream to indie – It is now up to the viewing public what film they would choose. Here in LA, independent movie houses can fill several pages of the LA Times. Its abundant. Because people support it. Because it is available. Yet the mainstream will always be a blockbuster.
Quality is another story, though.
The problem is the availability and distribution of wide subjects of movies.
Nakakatawa kayong lahat kasi tingin ko feeling niyo ang ku-cool niyo mag-isip. Parang hipsters lang. Haha.
I forgot to post this against the arguement of the crowd that preaches “You didn’t see it, therefore you don’t know what it is”
For one, the preview is the job of the trailers. It gives you a glimpse/teaser of what is being offered (like how we know the monster in Panday is a blatant ripoff of COTT Kraken eventhough we didn’t see the movie).
Given that initial data which we already took in, what then can we make out of it? Well, we compare it with an already existing set of data which we already have which are the past iterations and it various copies, if any. This allows us to formulate a sound hypothesis which is not far from the truth.
Case in point, jumping from the 2nd floor of a house. “Well you haven’t jumped yet in your life, how do you even know if it will hurt you?” “you can’t say it will hurt if you’ve never tried it?” Given the logic that was presented as arguement for SRR13, then we can say, “That’s true, I should jump because I didn’t experience it!”
See that? It’s valid isn’t it? I mean, I know that it will hurt from other people experiences and/or data I have in my mind, but because I lack the actual experience, am I not allowed to have foresight or a valid presumption already of what is to come at me?
So there is now this stigma for media in general which falls true for majority of what is being produced. If you want to change the stigma in individuals, you have to present a valid arguement, to do that, you have to reach out to the audience first. The audience doesn’t reach out to you to erase that stigma, ok?
Hope that sums up what I keep on reiterating to those who want regular consumers to “research” about indie’s when we were never reached out in marketing to begin with. An invitation is still not a valid argument, even if it means having a free screening. As Benigno keeps on repeating, entice us, give us something that may possibly interest us.
What example? Well, how about this…
http://www.radikalchick.com/on-asiong-salonga-from-one-of-the-few-tunay-na-lalakes-i-love/
The write up itself made me interested in Asiong Salonga as a movie. The witty write up by that “consumer” or “critic” appealed to me. However, it doesn’t mean I will see it, but it struck a few chords already. It peaked my interest, and it is a start. And that is what I want to tell those who say they are on the other side. There are various ways to reach the public, you haven’t exhausted it all. =)
That small interest is a start, create build up. So the next hopefully is of the same caliber or better. That interest will grow that might actually bring me to the theater to watch a local film of my own accord, not by anyone else’s. As for now, it is never by my own choice that I see these mainstream local movies.
Cheers! (from a consumer who is just saying what he believes is)
Even in teleseryes, we SHOULDN’T give a damn. We learn nothing good. Violence, polygamy, unwanted pregnancies- these are some but major issues that are always present. How many minutes per episode is devoted to the promotion of good deeds? Almost none.
Ma’am, to a certain extent I see your point. I felt that way before. However, don’t you think its unfair that such judgments were made even though you haven’t watched the films mentioned? If your only reason is the rehashing of the theme, then I think it borders on being shallow, as films can have the same “characters” but a completely different way of story-telling and delivery. Just because you hated the dinuguan (my favorite dish) in one filipino restaurant does it mean that you’ll hate all the other dinuguans in the other filipino restaurants? Same recipe but different way of cooking it. I guess what i am trying to say is that you judged Shake, Rattle and Roll 13 even before watching it, saying that it’s bad because it’s the 13th movie in the franchise. No mention of the director, cinematogapher, writer… just because its a shake rattle and roll film franchise pangit na siya. So in a way, you are becoming part of the problem why the film industry does not grow. Kasi pre-judged na kaagad sila kahit na hindi mo pa napapanood. 🙂
@ Chris
I think there is a bit of a flaw here, just a bit.
You made the example of the dinuguan being a dish you liked but just didn’t like in a specific iteration or restaurant.
Now I would like for you to explore this thought process. SRR Franchise, we can call it sinigang. You’ve never tried it before in your entire life. So you tried it, once, twice and a third time. In all occasions you never once had that inkling that it offered you something of value. What then would make you think for the nth time, that sinigang on the 13th try would be any different? What then is the pitch for sinigang? What makes it different from the context that is the essense “sinigang”Isn’t that the question that should be asked?
See it is a movie franchise. Like the Matrix, 1, 2, 3.. that all didn’t change, the main plot was getting the answer as to what really is the Matrix or the world. In essense the franchise of the Matrix didn’t change it’s overall plot, just that it stuck to its story with a few tweaks here and there.
You could also say the same for Transformers 1 to 3 as well as Ironman 1 and 2. Presentation might be a bit different, but the flavor/nutritional value stayed the same.
The prejudgement is a fact. Based on pre-existing evidence and you can not deny that.
For example, you didn’t like Transformers 1, and you pushed yourself to go to 2 and hated it more than 1, would you even bother with going to see 3? If you would still despite screaming evidence of your own experience, then kudos to you but that doesn’t apply to the rest.
The job then lies with promotion and materials. How then is it an entirely different dish altogether from what I already know and wouldn’t care to experience again?
That is what I am trying to say on my end.
It’s kind of like makng my analogy of sinigang into then a generic horror film in general, but adding “fusion” elements to make it an entirely different dish from “sinigang only” and in essense no longer the same sinigang we once knew yet still sinigang/SRR.
Even when sinigang dishes have diappointed me before if I hear that it’s being cooked by this up and coming chef (director, screen writer, cinematographer), I would not instantly say that it is going to be a bad sinigang. At least, I’ll be polite enough to try the dish first.
If we want to give Filipino dishes a break, judging every thing as casually as how Ms. Ilda did does not help. Pano kung ito na yung successful attempt to give us a remarkable sinigang? Put to waste lang ba dahil ayaw mo ng subukan? The same argument was made for Panday 2 and Enteng ng Ina Mo. She critized those films even before watching them. Pangit daw dahil rehash lang. Do you get my point?
@ Chris
Well as a consumer, you can do that can you not? You can have preconceived notions that may be changed by other peoples reviews, a new flavor in the trailers etc. Just because the chef change doesn’t mean the sinigang is already different. That is the premise of the consumer who didn’t like the first few tries already.
It is as I would like to point out.
Okay I saw enteng’s before and the some of the previous “ina mo” movies. I would automatically say that the “ina mo” franchise uses old dramatic dialogue from past movies and delivers them in a comedic scene when it pertains to romance or family issues. As for enteng, it’s just a bit of magic with a bit of slapstick and ridicule or the other cast members. Did I at least get the two franchises right in that regard, based on the previous ones?
The point is, a consumer can already make predictions about the output based on a preconceived notion and set of data he/she already has from own/other’s experiences. Let’s not think this is not possible.
And also, when you do stick with a certain franchise, you tend not to stray too far away from the already set design elements that make it what it is. That is the point of the franchise right?
How can you call it sinigang if it isn’t sour to begin with? It’s already nilaga if that were the case right? Meaning, because the “brand” itself was Panday, SRR, and Enteng/Ina Ma brands, you can already gather the elements that make it what it is.
My main gripe about Panday is the actual copying and claiming as its own. I mean, that for me is just wrong. I believe there is a line between having pride in one’s work and lying to one’s self that it is original to begin with. Let’s not kid ourselves, it is what it is and we shouldn’t be proud of it.
Originals have and can be done locally. I do not discredit that, but did they have to resort to what they did?
I get your point, but you also have to understand my point. I am the type of consumer who has likes/dislikes. If I didn’t like it in the first few instances, something should drastically be different for me to even consider it again (as such the reason for teasers/trailers).
I know some will brave the negative mindset and go against their judgement and eat this “new sinigang” eventhough it looks the same, but you have to understand, most would still not. There needs to be something that draws them in, and that is seeing a drastic change in how it is really different from the get-go.
@Chris
Is that your way of justifying films that have been rehashed over and over?
Hello Author,
Well just reading the comment made me think that theirs a lot of idiots out there no wonder we don’t work as a country. Well I approve of your article and I wish our senator can read this oh how he work so hard to serve our country. And ahh.. I’m still wishing for a beautiful Filipino film, made from the heart of a true pinoy… hah someday 79 years from now.. Anyways I will try to forward this post.. And for all you ignoramus out their your all idiots, its because of you we don’t progress, and thank God for auto correct spelling..
As long as these kind of movies are generating money, nothing matters. Not even this post. Sad!
@ SineMindanaw
Okay. One, the blogger Ms Ilda never said she was a film critic, but as a consumer offered/told her gripes which is clear.
Second, what then does manunuri have to say about the recently concluded MMFF 2011? Was it to their liking?
How about what they think of what is majority that encompasses majority of Philippine media? What do they have to say about it?
@Sphynx
Read again the blog and comments of the writer. Then read again my recent comment. Don’t you get it? Geeezz!!!
For some reason, I couldn’t reply to your post. 🙂
Saying that “Well as a consumer, you can do that can you not? You can have preconceived notions that may be changed by other peoples reviews, a new flavor in the trailers etc. Just because the chef change doesn’t mean the sinigang is already different. That is the premise of the consumer who didn’t like the first few tries already.” is exactly my point in saying that this mentality does not help. Complain tayo ng complain about films pero, hindi naman natin binibigyan ng chance kasi may judgment na agad tayo. Also, my point is hindi mo pa nga napapanood, already you have criticisms. Take for example the Superman franchise. I’m not saying it’s a great franchise but the new one has a completely different handling. In short ibang film talaga. Yun ang point ko kanina pa. She pegged those films as panget and does not make us think, hindi pa naman nya napapanood. Just because consumers can have preconceived judgments, it doesn’t make it right, right? 🙂
My point is as a consumer, it doesn’t make it wrong either.
My point is, the blog/post was done from a consumer standpoint or as a CONSUMER. Most however are elevating it I believe to the level of a established FILM CRITIC which I have to disagree. There is a line there and most of you will agree with me I believe.
Ms Ilda is not a professional film critic, we all know that as a fact. Her gripes is shown in the light of a CONSUMER, there was no misrepresentation on that, yet I feel most keep adding more meaning to what is being presented, plain and simple.
Well, as per the Superman franchise you know the difference, Brandon Routh’s wasn’t Superman 4 to begin with. I’m not saying I liked it, but the mere fact it, it wasn’t Superman 4 to begin with. It was a restart, to show something fresh, which was reflected in the marketing of it.
Again, CONSUMER ang nagsasalita. Now if it was a FILM CRITIC who said what she said, then I would understand all the problems that are spewing out. There is a difference here, and I wish others would notice it as well.
The complains are reflected on what was also marketed to me as a consumer, that is fairly easy to understand.
If the ads showed you a phone that appeared flimsy or weak, would you still consider buying it just for the sake of buying a new phone? That then is my point in the regard of not seeing the actual product and just the preview. Same goes with how the “franchise” system works. If you know say that Brand A has poorer quality while Brand B already present better quality for the same time and money, you would stick to Brand B.
Quick example, Hyundai and Kia have turned there fortunes around. They were almost like the laughing stock brand here in the Philippines before, look where they are now. They managed to reshape their own image properly. Some still have preconceived notions about the brand, but other have changed their mind, even without actually owning one, why is that then?
So you are right when you say it is not right to have preconceived notions about a “product” but it is also not wrong. Because we are in the shoes of a CONSUMER, which I always want to emphasize.
If I really wanted to get a film review, I wouldn’t be going here right? I go to imdb for one and search elsewhere because that is where it is done. Yahoo movies also shows reviews for movies sometimes, so I read up on that because of critic’s reponses are separate from consumer responses which I like about it.
@SineMindanaw
Read also my comments about it and try to see the objectivity of the article.
I get what you are saying, but I believe it is straying away from what the post/blog is about. It’s not a news article, not it is a formal film critique. It is a blogger’s opinion. An opinion piece, which used words such as but not limited to MOST, MAJORITY but never used ALL, EVERYTHING. So it left room for the indie films that do make us think and it also left room for the gems that sometimes pop out from the mainstream.
We are all adults here being civil and I just want the discussion to return to its civility without name calling, character bashing and remove the negativity.
ay sus! pina-iikot lang kayo ng mga PR writers na ito! mga tuta ng senator na tinutulak ang charter change! kadiri!
Classic! Why not add Pro-GMA, bayaran ni Gloria, tuta ni GMA, Anti-PNoy, etc etc on the list? I’m sure they haven’t heard of those ones before.
Oh wait, they have.
FACT: Mas kadiri ang mga taong ayaw umitindi and loves to embrace mediocrity. And loves to blame someone in order to hide their faults just like what Noynoy did.
Mas kadiri ang RED HERRING.
FACT: hindi mo pwedeng sabihing pangit ang isang bagay na hindi mo pa napag-aaralan, napanood, nabasa, etc.
btw, OPINION ‘yung sinabi mo. hindi siya FACT. tanong mo pa sa Grade 4 teacher kong nagtuturo sa amin ng difference between FACT and OPINION. pero kung FACT ‘yan sa iyo, ok lang. kasi i value other people’s opinions.
Perhaps, rather than insist that we see the beauty in something that we simply fail to see, why not articulate in specific terms the properties of this beauty you claim said products possess? That would be a more productive way to move this discussion forward.
I totally agree about this post. Sana mamulat na yung ibang producers na gumawa ng sariling atin. Nakakalungkot lang. Hindi talaga ako maka-get over dun sa “kraken” ng “Clash of the Titans” na ginaya ng Panday tuwing pinapakita sa commercials. haaays…
charter change na lang pag-usapan. yun ang expertise n’yo di ba?
Si Orion Dumdum yun. CoRRECT movement is separate from Get Real Philippines.
Wow. I envy you guys. You have LOTS of time.
Yes, I agree with you that Philippine movies are going down the drain; movie producers and directors create movies that don’t make you think nor do they make movies with originality. This is true but I won’t put the blame solely on the creators of these movies after all, they only cater the needs of the public. The sad truth to this is that Filipinos watch and love these kinds movies, why else would the producers make them if they won’t make money out of it. Film makers have a part in this situation but more so do the Filipino people. Every now and then, we get this one really good Filipino Movie that can make all Filipinos proud, but most often we have these shallow movies that have the same story line made up from 20-50years ago. Filipinos watch them because they enjoy what Filipinos have. We have shallow jokes that foreigners might consider corny, but we laugh on it anyway.
Movie makers are limited with the money they can probably make from these movies. To make an entirely new and original movie that they’re not sure will go with the public is a risk. And at the end of the day, money does play a huge role in decision making. So here we have film makers wearing their comfy pj’s on their sofas watching their teledramas from their childhood. Soon they recreate those Filipino movies that are guaranteed to make the audience laugh and cry despite the fact that everyone sees it coming. Filipinos are a homey people, we enjoy our traditions and we never resist. It has been mentioned many times how Filipinos are like bamboos, we don’t really go against any wind, we just follow the breeze where ever it goes. To change the movies, first you have to change the nature of the Filipino.
Be aware that there are more Filipinos out there have no access to internet or have any idea how a blog even works. The content and opinion of this article only represents to a number of people in this country. The rest are the Filipinos who enjoy their Filipino movies. What ever they have to say about this opinion is more than I can probably say since they themselves know why they enjoy their Filipino movies. They can give you the details of how they fell inlove with their heroes and heroines.
For someone who is used to watching Hollywood movies, Filipino movies might seem unworthy of your time and attention. Why else would you watch Filipino movies when there are Hollywood movies like Inception and Transformers, that not only has great visual effects, it also has the contents that drive people to think and be greater individuals?
Yes, Filipinos watch those movies too. We relish the Hollywood movies and then compare them to our homey Filipino creation. This really can’t be helped, especially since out of 10 cinemas only 1 of those releases a Filipino movie. To watch a Filipino movie is not to watch a movie because you want to think, you watch it because you want a taste of Filipino, especially the Filipino humor.
Everyone and everything have their specialties. Same goes with jobs. You don’t want a Filipino Doctor (no offense) but you will certainly hire Filipino Nurse because you know the Nurses are really good. Will Filipino be ever good doctors? Maybe, in due time when the country and its people are ready. Same goes for the movies. If you want to watch a movie that will make you think, then you have about 9 movie options, but if you want a movie that has the Filipino heart into it, then here are your Filipino movies full of Filipino cliche and Filipino humors.
The public NEEDS more quality films that would make them think.
That’s the same as saying that they lack substance. Thanks
“Every now and then” IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. But thanks for confirming that most of them are shallow.
Here’s what most Filipino filmmakers fail to realise: since most Filipinos appreciate quality foreign films, it means that most Filipinos can appreciate local quality films. I don’t know why they keep insisting that they have to stick to sequels or rehashed films because they think that’s the only thing that the audience wants.
Yes it tells everyone that we are shallow. Looks like you agree with what I said anyway.
I personally like movies that make me think. I cannot accept the way some filmmakers depict the average Filipino as loud and crass. That’s not who I am and I don’t like the way they represent Filipinos to the rest of the world.
Hi. I am new to this site and I must say I am quite impressed with the debate that is going on here. Alot of opinions being expressed is similar, if not, exactly how I view alot of things. THUMBS UP! Do you have a blog ILDA? I would love to read it.
Hi Jenna
Thanks! Here’s a link to the rest of my articles: Ilda
Very well said. Thumbs up!
here are some things i want to clear out:
1) i actually agree with your sentiments in your article. never in all my comments did i say i disagreed with them. NEVER. tingnan mo ulit ang mga pinost ko. i would go out on a limb and tell you that ALMOST EVERYONE here who “defended” indie films also NEVER said na mali ang sinasabi mo. in fact, i have colleagues who have written academic treatise on the low state of Philippine Cinema. the difference between these people and you and your fellow writers here is that they have seen the movies while you have not. i will also state here that i can PROVE what you wrote TO BE CORRECT. that a lot of the MMFF films do not make people think. i can actually cite films that i’ve seen that do so. can you?
2) you call a lot of us emo, whiner, etc. look at my VERY FIRST post in your site. i asked:
“i’m just curious, have you actually seen this year’s shake, rattle and roll? also, have you seen any film from Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals or Cinemanila film festivals? there are good people trying to make good films but are simply just not getting any support. hopefully, people who have the same sentiments like yours would actually go out of their way to watch quality Filipino films.”
you answered:
“Are you actually saying that Shake, Rattle and Roll was good? If you are, then that says a lot about your taste. And since I don’t share your preference in films, what makes you think I will like the other films that you’d recommend?”
so your answer to my very simple question kung napanood mo ang SRR13 ay pangit ang taste ko. now, would you consider that a “personal” attack on me? or is that still constructive? is that a logical response to my question or is that already being defensive on your part.
mind you, YOU HAVE NOT seen SRR 13 (have you seen ANY SRR film?). but you already judged my taste as bad. (BTW, at this point, i have not stated where or not i find SRR13 good. i just asked you if you have seen it.)
then you added:
“For arguments sake, let’s just say that the films from Cinemalaya, et al are better. But the fact that Filipinos would rather watch low brow films like Enteng ng Ina mo says a lot about who we are as a people. Besides, if those indie films were really good, it would have an underground following and would eventually catch the attention of the “gaya-gayaâ€.”
if you stopped at sentence number 1, you would not hear anything from our community. kasi totoo naman ang sentence number number 1. but…
you further added:
“Here’s another point that you missed: if something is good, the news about it will travel fast and more people will demand to see it. Even the “greedy†producers will be willing to spend money on promoting it. If there are indeed “good†films as you claim, then what happened? The answer is simple, they weren’t good enough.”
so there is an implicit comment that Filipino films (mainstream man siya or indie) are bad because there is a low demand for them. therefore, you assume that: few people demand to see indie films = these films are bad. don’t you think there’s a fallacy there?
then a colleague of yours went on this lecture about marketing. di ko na siya papatulan about his comments. instead, i want to point out something to you guys. ALL newspapers (and i can prove this) has written about Cinemalaya, et al. a number of newspapers would even put on their front page winnings by indie filmmakers abroad. glossy magazines have featured indie filmmakers. inquirer honors indie filmmakers by providing a separate section in their anniversary issue for the past 2 years already. if you google “Cinemalaya” or even pinoy indie, you fill find thousands of postings, news, etc about them. you can also find people sharing trailers of these films. yahoo news cover Cinemalaya. pep and spot also does. click the city, where info on movies can be found also cover Cinemalaya. we have also gone on TV, from morning shows to noontime shows to showbiz talk shows to even news and current event shows on GMA News TV and ANC. there was even a controversy about cat food and Skyflakes. CNN and BBC also have featured in one form or another Filipino indies. we also have plugged Cinemalaya and some of our films on radio, both AM and FM. in the 2011 version, screenings in Greenbelt and CCP have been sold out. that means ALL venues in CCP have been filled to the rafters. so marami-raming tao ‘yun ha. pati sa Greenbelt.
so the point i want to make here is, why have you not heard about it. the fact that these info do not reach your news feed or your FB wall may be a reflection of the kind of people you are associated with and the kind of news that you read. maybe. i don’t know. and i’m not implying or judging you about it.
now, don’t brand me asking you why you have not heard about is as whining. it’s not. don’t also misinterpret it as me complaining why the masses are not watching our movies. it’s not. it’s me complaining why you guys, who make sweeping generalizations about Filipino movies, don’t know Cinemalaya. and why are you so stubborn to actually find out more about it.
3) the passion of the different people who have posted and commented on your site defending indies is a clear sign that there is a following. in fact, it’s not even underground anymore. so please don’t say that there’s none simply because you don’t know about it. and the beef of most, if not all, who commented defending Pinoy indies is NOT that they DO NOT agree with your post. their beef with you is that it’s very clear that you don’t know what you’re talking about. and therefore have no credibility in stating the obvious. (yes it is obvious and we actually know this 10 years ago.)
sana, the passion steaming from so many people here will actually motivate you to watch one indie film. you claim to know Philippine culture like the back of your hand, but you don’t watch Filipino films? and you don’t know what’s happening with Philippine indies? seriously?! (aside: i now wonder if you’ve actually been to the CCP. have you actually seen any show there? or any PETA or TP or DUP play? a Filipino ballet or opera? hmm…now i think i’m judging you.)
at first, i thought you were my target audience. but on second thought, you’re not. and i don’t make my movies just to please you. i make my movies because i believe there is hope. and in the past 5 years, you can actually see that there are improvements happening. i make my films to the people who also believe that there is hope. to the people who actually watch Filipino films, indie or mainstream. to people who care enough to go out of their way to actually see a good film. because there are people who would seek out good films, even if they have to go on leave from work or if it’s out of their way. obviously, hindi ikaw ito. you’d rather write about it.
4) final words. you have kept me awake for the past 3 years. your callous statements have incensed me gravely. you see, unlike you who are so busy in earning a living that you cannot spare a few hours of time to actually check these films out, i’m actually doing something about than writing about something i do not know much about. like many other filmmakers here, we have given up opportunities of earning a decent, even a lucrative living, just so we can make out films. we have spent our own money because we believe that there are Filipinos out there who want to want to watch good quality Filipino films.
why?
because this is us being real. totoo kasi kaming tao kaya sa totoong buhay may mga totoong bagay kaming ginagawa para mabago ang sistema. that is us getting real.
Being one who was mentioning about marketing, i would like to say, i know about cinemalaya and that no, my life does not revolve around wall posts. I am however the type of consumer who is connected which is why if you read my posts, my suggestion to approaching marketing is more towards the online medium rather than print, tv or radio. That is the type of consumer i am.
The point is i know there exists a cinemalaya but i am mostly wired to have exposure to the mainstream. As such, if you need to reach me, there should be a way. Knowing about the existence of cinemalaya is different from actually being shown or informed about a film/films that will be shown in cinemalaya.
I am the type that looks at trailers and synopsis of movies. Trailers sometime show how much depth i can expect from the movie and if it tickles my fancy. If it doesn’t, then it just points that i am not really the audience for it.
So i have no disrespect for indie films, i just think there are other ways of presenting ot nowadays and the means of earning from it have radically changed to not being limited to just hard ticket sales now.
Online ad revenue and exposure of indie films are being done by various filmmakers now yet i haven’t seen yet that it is being utilized locally or it just evades me.
would you believe me if i tell you that everything you’ve suggested we’ve done it? anyhow, if you’re really interested in talking about marketing an indie film, i would love to sit down with you and discuss our experiences vis-a-vis your suggestions. my email addy is available from Ilda. seriously, i want to sit down with you and discuss this matter. nakakapagod na rin kasi na paikut-ikot lang tayo.
btw, would you acknowledge to a certain degree that our marketing strategies have been more or less successful if we’re able to sold out screenings in CCP and Greenbelt? even if you’ve not seen a trailer or read a synopsis from Cinemalaya?
I have acknowledged your efforts in marketing. Im just saying that maybe the approach to my type of consumer is different.
But i do believe there is still just a limited few that maximizes the revenue potential of mediums like youtube. This is not through trailers, but actually showing indie shorts online, as some groups or people do internationally.
I m not the regular moviegoer. I think for year 2011 i only saw 3 films in the theaters and i chose to view flicks on youtube such as some shorts i mentioned. The rest i got frm downloaded media and i zip thru them. Sometimes just having the movie playing in the background while i wok and even stepping out.
Im also not saying all movies need to be deep, you need the light hearted ones from time to time.
I did however give my reason for not even considering SRR. I think of the franchise ive watched a total of 3. So i had a frame of reference as well as stigma for it.
Cheers!
Again, not bashing or flaming and thank you for the response. At least the discussions are being more civil now (not pertaining to your comments).
alam mo, nagulat talaga sa sagot ni Ilda sa tanong ko e. sa unang tanong ko ha. sobra talaga akong na-taken aback. kasi, tinanong ko lang naman kung napanood niya. tapos, binash na niya ang aking 1) taste at 2) aking passion — na hindi pa niya napapanood at walang kaalam-alam about it. nagulat talaga ako e. tapos, patuloy niyang tinatawag na nagiging emo kami. na nagiging whiners kami. at di namin nakikita ang mali sa lipunan. when you actually think about it, that’s really what got most of the people from the indie come out fo the woodwork to protect and defend it e.
anyhow, i’m serious about chatting with you. i’m also game to show you some of our films. this has become my advocacy over the past 3 years kaya i really just want to change people’s minds and perceptions. let me know if you’re game. i’ll bring the movie, you bring the popcorn.
Well, the way you tell me now i understand and it is presented in a civil manner. I just didnt like the excessive name calling though.
I know it ended up coming from both sides which i wish stopped sooner.
Thank you for the invite. When is the next cinemalaya? Any links i visit?
@alem
Accidentally pressed the comment button.
Any links i can visit? If i see a movie that catches my interest then maybe ill consider going.
Cheers!
dude, as childish as this may sound, she started it! my first post and most of my posts have been civil. and yet, she called me a time waster. and said i have bad taste in film.
anyhow, the next cinemalaya is still in July. http://entertainment.inquirer.net/23923/15-cinemalaya-bets-named. more details in the coming months, most likely by May mas may details na at isa-isa nang magkakaroon ng trailers sa youtube.
these films have come out on DVD and i suggest you check them out:
Confessional
Yanggaw (can’t find trailer in YouTube)
Jay
Here Comes the Bride
Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros
Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe (all biases included kasi film ko ito)
check out their trailers on YouTube.
other good films to watch (that are not from the festivals)
Magnifico
Jologs
Bayaning Third World
Tuhog
personally, i’m most proud of our latest movie, Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa and that’s the one i would want to show you if you’re interested.
@Alem
We have proof in our spam folder of name-calling and ad homimens plus “malaswa” attacks coming from your side.
pahabol: Crying Ladies at La Visa Loca
@alem
Okay, when i have time, ill try looking at trailers. 🙂 maybe one will peak my fancy. It may also depend on my mood.
Right now, asiong salonga peaks my interest just becuse of that write up i read on radikalchick. I dont know still if ill have time to see it but that write up was witty and just funny for me without trying hard.
Well, if it happens again, i hope we keep civil with each other and not stray too much. Ive been ridiculed in forums myself but i keep with the saying ‘ pag binato ka ng bato, batuhin mo ng tinapay (na may palaman)’ hehe!
Thanks for your time and happy new year. 🙂
honestly, i didn’t like Asiong. pero maraming naaliw sa kanya. if you like radical chick’s review, you should read this: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=328699357149115. SUPER FUNNY!!!
i would want you to consider watching SRR13. not for the scares but for the story. especially the one made by Jerrold Tarog. ganda talaga ng storytelling kasi nu’ng mga episode ngayon sa SRR. and the last episode will make you think. alam mo, of all the SRR kasi na lalaitin ni Ilda, ang pinili pa niya ay ‘yung may substance. kasi this year, Mother Lily actually hired indie filmmakers to direct all three episodes. that’s a first!!! and i think that’s worth giving credit to both Regal and the indie directors. that’s why a lot of people went gaga and super enraged by her comments. lumalabas talaga na hindi siya aware sa movements ng film industry. anyhow, i’m ranting again. but you get my point.
also, reread the comments of the matino ones like Jerrold Tarog, the bakla reviewer and so many others pa. may sense talaga ang mga sinasabi nila.
It’s funny that the only time Ilda replies to your long post, Alem, is to simply refute that she didn’t start it.
hahahaha
@yappie
It’s funny how you make such useless and irrelevant comments. Go scroll up and down so you can see the rest of my responses. It’s not my fault if Alem has a habit of flooding the comment thread with repetitious comments. I don’t have to respond to all of them lest I be labelled “defensive” again. Geez
sir alem, if i were you, i won’t spend your precious time and energy in engaging with these PR writers. they are paid to instigate, provoke and engineer consent . this site, as well as benign0’s sites are commissioned mainly to promote charter change. habang detained, inaaliw nila ang kanilang mga sarili. obvious ba na very surface ang alam nila sa current state ng local cinema. umaasa lang sa writing skills, logic at higit sa lahat sa google at wikipedia.
salamat sa iyong concern. siguro dala ng pagiging guro ko ng 10 taon at dahil sa lahat ng ginugol at pinaghirapan ko over the past 3 years, naging bahagi ng advocacy ko ngayon ang pagpropagate ng mga indie films.
salamat sa suporta!
I think you shouldnt disregard because of that ‘logic’. For one, the people you call PR writers are still a target market. It might not be a target maket for 1 director/producer/film but it maybe for another.
As a general consumer, we are of course limited to what we know, come across and/or find. But with these, we can still make opinions and post them. The blog was made not as a film critic but as a frustrated consumer.
Just because you have you main specialty being politics, does that exlude fom having an opinion on movies? How about doctors? Teachers? Engineers?
Everyone has their opinions, and the generalization made for MOST movies i feel was valid. i would however disagree with ms ilda if she used the word ALL.
@bistado
Another “haka-haka”. No one is paying us to do what we do and this site is not about charter change. Please read the mission statement.
Way to ad hominem. A misinformed and ignorant one at that.
Haha. Ayos. 🙂 As a writer myself, parang may mali nga sa write up. Mejo may generalization na sinasabi, at parang di okay na idea ang i-review ang isang movie na di pa napapanood. haha Anyway it’s New Year. Let’s just be happy! 🙂
Parang mali ata ang comment mo. Mejo di mo na getz yung point at parang kailangan mo uling basahin yung article.
Anyway, Happy New Year din. Let’s not be too happy though because the country has so many issues we need to discuss seriously.
Dear Alem
I am not snobbing you. I have limited time to respond at the moment. I will get back to you later with a lengthier response.
Ciao
@Alem
Our discussion could have been friendlier if you did not “release your hounds”. It appears that you and your peers initially came in here to ridicule me. This is evident in the number of personal attacks I had to put in the spam folder. I can tell that a lot of your fans and Jerrold’s fans were on the attack.
It was also difficult to know where you were coming from because you are saying now that you totally agree with my view that a lot of the MMFF films do not make people think while earlier you were insisting that I should watch the MMFF films first before judging them.
You should never have felt insulted when I said “And since I don’t share your preference in films, what makes you think I will like the other films that you’d recommend?â€
My statement clearly meant that your standard or taste is different to mine. And since it is different, then there’s a big chance that I will not like what you like. I apply the same mentality to my friends. When one of my friends who is into love stories and happy endings recommend something, I always view it with a bit of skepticism. But when someone else who share my taste for films recommends something, I do not even think twice about watching it.
I did not say your taste is bad. It’s just different to mine.
You kept asking me if I’ve seen SRR13. For me, there were two ways of interpreting that. Either you did not read the article properly (but you were already judging it) or you were trying to be sarcastic, which did not help create a healthy discussion. In my article, I was very clear about it. It’s so obvious that I haven’t seen it and have no plans of seeing it. I even said in my article,”People are probably watching it for the eye candy.
It doesn’t really matter if Mr Jerrold directed one story in the film or not. In fact, I could even rephrase my statement by saying “People are probably watching it because Jerrold directed one story.” But then again, some people might not even bother to watch it despite Jerrold directing one story for the simple reason that they would have to sit through the rest of the film without Jerrold in it. I hope you are getting my point here.The fact remains: most MMFF films do not make people think.
Look, I have been publishing articles for a few years now. I know what I’m saying when I talk about stuff going viral. I know that when I write something a bit too much for the average person, only a handful of people will appreciate it. I’m ok with that. I try to experiment once in while and “dumb down” (no offense to anyone) the way I write so more people can understand what I’m saying. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. There’s no real formula in getting a hit. You just have to keep churning them out. Which is precisely the reason why you indie filmmakers have to keep churning more good films out and keep working harder at promoting it.
People have short attention spans nowadays. People do not like long winded articles. They want you to go straight to the point. If you think that this article is incomplete and needs more “research”, it’s because it’s not a research paper. Obviously, I made a lot of general statements that can be refuted. That’s fine too as long as people can back up their arguments and not go emotional or too defensive. That is the beauty of blogging. People can be part of the discussion. It’s not one way.
I did not even include indie films but you came on so defensive from the very start. It highlighted the fact that majority of Filipino audience are not aware of your existence. I know I’m probably being harsh to some of you when I said that if you haven’t succeeded in drawing awareness to your films, it means you haven’t tried hard enough to promote it. Like it or not that is the reality. I don’t want you to get discouraged. My statement was not meant to put you down. It is meant to encourage you to strive harded.
Ms. Ilda, don’t you think that the mentality you have, having a sweeping generalization of the industry, is unfair and does not help your cause? How would you know kung nagbago na ang film making industry kung hindi mo man lang susubukang panuorin uli. You follow this pre-conceived judgment of a film dahil lang sa title nya. I understand that you’re at the point of being fed-up, and you’ve lost hope in the industry, but complaining like this and making an uneducated criticism of a film you haven’t even watched, I feel, further hinders the betterment of the industry dahil maraming nagbabasa sa inyo ang magkakaroon ng same mentality: panget yan before, so kahit hindi ko pa yan napapanood at kahit iba ang director, writer, atbp ngayon, alam kong panget ulit yan. Gets nyo po ba?
@Chris
First, you give me too much credit for influencing people. Don’t you realise that I only wrote down what some people were already thinking? That is the main reason why they quickly agree with my views.
Second, you underestimate the intelligence of GRP readers. Most GRP readers can think for themselves. Most of them clicked on the like button of the GRP fanpage because they are realist to begin with. They know and understand where I am coming from. They are very smart people.
Finally, just because they read my article doesn’t mean they already think that all Filipino films lack substance or won’t patronise original works. Chill.
Just give Filipino films a chance, Ms. Ilda. Tulad nga ng sabi ni Chris, “How would you know kung nagbago na ang film making industry kung hindi mo man lang susubukang panuorin uli.” Manood ka, at ibase mo ang opinyon mo doon. Ganoon lang naman yun eh. Marami nang magandang nagbago, at makikita mo ‘yun kung pinanood mo lang ang mga ito.
Gaya ng sabi ko: I wonder where you got the idea that I don’t even want to give Filipino films a chance?
How do you know I haven’t tried watching a Filipino film?
Ms. Ilda, I read your article. You mentioned films that are not worth watching. What makes is problematic for me is that such judgments were made even when you haven’t watched those films yet. If you got to watch those films and found them crappy, then I can’t do anything about it. You are entitled to your own opinion. But to see you diss films that haven’t even watched, I find unfair.
“How do you know I haven’t tried watching a Filipino film?”
because you have never answered any of these questions that i and the rest have asked:
1) napanood mo ba ang SRR13?
2) nakapanood ka ba ng Cinemalaya, et al. film?
3) anong 10 pelikulang napanood mo para sabihing Filipino films don’t make us think?
4) ano ang iyong top 10 films for 2011?
5) anong SRR version ang napanood mo.
paulit-ulit ko siyang tinatanong. pero di mo naman siya sinasagot. so para naman di isipin ng lahat na hindi mo alam ang sinasabi, klaruhin mo sa aming di kasintalino mo. paki-sagot naman ang mga tanong na ito. just for clarity sake.
Mr Alem. I already wrote a lenghty response to you earlier. I don’t know why you are asking me the same questions. It is on record that you already agreed with my general views.
FYI, a fellow GRP blogger, Mike Portes actually wrote a piece called Minsan may isang puta that was featured in one of the short stories in Ganap na Babae. That should be enough proof for you that I am aware of Cinemalaya’s existence. Here’s the link to her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/222577004473096/?notif_t=group_activity#!/minsan.may.isang.puta.
I will paste my earlier response to you again just in case you did not read it:
Like what I said to Mr Baklareview earlier, people shouldn’t take criticism personally. We also learn from the people who disagree with us.
Anyway, if it will make you happy. I will watch one of your films and give a review. I’ll do it in my own time though.
ciao
alam mo naman pala e. then how come you said this?
“Here’s another point that you missed: if something is good, the news about it will travel fast and more people will demand to see it. Even the “greedy†producers will be willing to spend money on promoting it. If there are indeed “good†films as you claim, then what happened? The answer is simple, they weren’t good enough.â€
anong point na gusto mong patunayan dito.
“Anyway, if it will make you happy. I will watch one of your films and give a review. I’ll do it in my own time though.”
alam mo ILDA, from the very beginning, ito na ang sinasabi ko sa iyo. but instead of saying i’ll try, you gave so many different responses like: [i paraphrase]
busy ako.
di ako binabayaran to watch a film.
you filmmakers feel entitled.
all Pinoys feel entitled.
why should i, i never heard of them.
prove that they’re good first.
you don’t know how to market your films.
your films are ugly because we’ve never heard of them.
etc etc.
e kung sinabi mo ito from the very beginning, e di natapos ang usaping ito. we’re telling you to watch them tapos iinsultuhin mo pa kami?
[SORRY KUNG PAPUTUL-PUTOL ANG PAGSAGOT KO SA COMMENTS MO. i only get them via email so i respond only when i get an email.]
@Alem
I didn’t say the following:
And you took the following out of context:
Stop misinterpreting me just to appeal to other people. I’m disappointed because I am trying to make an effort to turn the discussion around. I’m willing to start over if you are.
I never said that your taste or your films are bad. Stop playing the victim card.
Maybe the reason why you misinterpret what I’m saying is because you only get them via email from other people. I can understand why it can get taken out of context.
I already offered to watch and review your film but you are still on the defensive. I don’t know how to appease you anymore. Frankly, I don’t even have to but I just thought it would make you stop repeating yourself.
@alem:
“e kung sinabi mo ito from the very beginning, e di natapos ang usaping ito. we’re telling you to watch them tapos iinsultuhin mo pa kami?”
exactly what did she say that insulted you? smacks of arrogance that line of yours.
PARALLAX: go up to this thread and read what i wrote on #1. tapos, marami pa akong posts sa page 1 inviting her to watch. even giving her a free festival pass to Cinemalaya and paying her to watch them. that was on page 1 of the comments section.
so to reiterate, she called my taste to be bad and accused the indie film festivals of having no following and not good enough. that was in her first 2 replies to my comments.
when we invited to watch, she said she was busy, etc etc. she gave a lot of comments even insinuating that indie films are malaswa, even if she hasn’t seen them. that was also on page 1.
btw, after our invitations, we even got a lecture on marketing, accusations of whining why people don’t watch our movies, and all sorts of accusations against filmmakers. those are all on page 1. some may have sprinkled onto page 2.
@alem:
(1) the thread’s too effing long. copy and paste it here. you’ve got too many posts and i don’t have all night.
(2) if the indies have a following as big as you say it is, what plight of the indie filmmaker was it you people were complaining about? make up your mind – is it woe is me or is it damn we’re good?
(3) if she really told you your taste is bad for liking a certain so and so, say, srr13, so would i. there’s no accounting for taste, and we live in a grown-up world where we have this supposed democracy to say “pangit ng taste mo p’re.” how much you’re letting that affect you is more the issue than anything else.
(4) you can’t force anyone to watch a film if she has something more preferred to do. (that’s what i told you people about marketing. what, you think you can just insist, insist, insist?) people have a choice. you should know, you choose the path less traveled by embracing indies. if you don’t get that dapat kang batukan ng maid nyo.
(5) you really need the lecture on marketing, i shit you not. you can’t just insist, insist, insist. people who choose not to see your recommended films do so because of things that you’ll only understand if you understood marketing. and trust me, YOU DON’T. marketing is all about motivations, persuasion, incentives, influences, and buying behaviour.
(6) what accusations against filmmakers? quote them here, don’t make me dig through all this (i’m not updated via email).
geez, alem. i know i can talk to you as you can be proper if you wanted to, pero pare if you’re gonna be arogante pasensyahan tayo coz i will tell you off.
of all the things you mentioned, ito lang ang gusto kong sagutin:
(3) if she really told you your taste is bad for liking a certain so and so, say, srr13, so would i. there’s no accounting for taste, and we live in a grown-up world where we have this supposed democracy to say “pangit ng taste mo p’re.†how much you’re letting that affect you is more the issue than anything else.
the reason why i am questioning this (and yours na rin) is that SHE HASN’T SEEN THE MOVIE. how can she and you say i have bad taste if you HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE. that’s my point. see the film first then judge me. btw, in my first few comments i didn’t say that i liked it. but she assumed as much. i only asked her if she saw it.
NOW, kung HINDI KA UPDATED, STOP JUDGING ME. and calling me arrogant. if you don’t care enough to “research” about what you’re commenting about (in this instance, all of my posts and ilda’s response to mine), but quick to judge me as arrogant, then that says so much about you.
RESEARCH is not a bad thing, people. PLEASE DO IT FIRST BEFORE MAKING JUDGMENTS AND ACCUSATIONS.
now i ask you the same question i’ve been asking everyone here who is quick to judge my taste. have you seen SRR13 to judge my taste?
The point of the article? to describe an oft-remarked topic about Filipino film. What’s with all these comments? Criticisms should not be thrown back to the critic, it must be taken with style, just as great men and women take insults with strides of gracefulness
@flax
Thank goodness for more rational folks like you. Your tribe should multiply!
You should’ve specified if it’s mainstream or indie.
This is the last sentence of your article:
“Unfortunately, our films tell us and everyone else that we are shallow and superficial.”
Next time you guys create an blog entry, be sure you know what you’re talking about.
Whether mainstream or indie, fact is Philippine cinema collectively fails to make a cultural mark in the world stage. Considering we are a country 100 million strong, that’s a real pipsqueak of an achievement considering the sheer number of movies churned out by our industry.
Trouble with people is that they cannot handle the truth. 😀
@Targrod
What don’t I know? Even Alem agrees with me:
Next time you make a comment, be sure you know what you are talking about.
@Ilda and Benigno
Since I can’t reply to your replies. Let me reiterate what I just said.
I just followed through with what you’ve said that you didn’t include indie films in the article yet you did say “… our films and eveyone else that we are shallow and superficial.”
I see what you’re doing here. Namimili lang kayo ng gusto niyong reply-an na word, comment, phrase, or what-not. You’re looking for loopholes on how you can / could get back to the comment-er.
You started with a heated post, expect heated arguments. And you guys aren’t going to back down, obviously.
Tell me, why create such a post?
I mean hindi naman siya political. You just complained and opened the eyes of those people who dropped by on your site. Pero that’s it.
No help from you guys. No suggestions. Only negative reactions.
And again, ang point ko regarding the part where you don’t even know what you’re talking about (and I am referring to Filipino films in general) is you guys aren’t even film aficionados. why are you having a say with it?
And going to Benigno, you said that the Philippines has failed to make a cultural mark in the world yet you denounce people on the different awards that they get world wide.
Contradicting na din kasi ang sinasabi niyong dalawa. And hindi naman ako tumambay masyado dito sa comments section niyo. I only saw snippets of it.
Look, if you really want to help the film industry, you guys should be diplomatic enough to make your point.
Hindi yung gagawa tayo ng separate article na whiners ang nasa film industry.
And to add, you treat the other comment-ers in this article as fans of those filmmakers? Seriously?
Just like Ilda’s point regarding GRP readers. May utak din naman kami teh, mahal nga namin ang pelikulang Pilipino kaya kami nagre-reply ng ganito sa inyo.
I know it is really fun to be bitchy and getting hostilities from people. But seriously, you’d want this in your lives?
More power to you guys. Hooray for the hate.
Mr Targod
Please read the article again and the rest of our comments on the comment thread because they are full of suggestions from us. Unfortunately some people just don’t want to accept our suggestions that’s why they think there’s none.
Unfortunately I had to remove some of the nasty comments from the indie supporters because they were inappropriate. But had you read them, you will realize they do not have any manners. So stop accusing us of being negative.
You only think the article is useless but hundreds of people think it is. Just look at the reaction from some people on twitter:
Just because you don’t agree with it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
BENIGN0: curious din ako. at pinost ko ito sa 2nd article mo. paki-sagot any one of these questions:
1) napanood mo ba ang SRR13?
2) nakapanood ka ba ng Cinemalaya, et al. film?
3) anong 10 pelikulang napanood mo para sabihing Filipino films don’t make us think?
4) ano ang iyong top 10 films for 2011?
5) anong SRR version ang napanood mo.
actually, i dare you to answer ALL. you see, i’ve had a very enlightening discussion already with Mr SPHRINX. i still have yet to have one with you.
Nah. That’s not gonna fly with me. The onus is on you to prove the assertions wrong by presenting a prospectus outlining the value proposition of Philippine movies in its current state. If you want people to invest their time to even at least consider watching them, then you need to come across with a value proposition. Forcing people to see things your way will not get you anywhere.
A lot of us here grew up in the Philippines and have seen at least one Pinoy movie or another to form a good enough opinion about them that governs how inclined or disinclined they are to see the next one. You are dealing with a legacy of disappointment. Unfortunate, and perhaps unfair. But there it is. It is the reality of the market. What separates the men from the boys is the ability to deal with that reality, dude.
Brillant!
BENIG0: that said, gusto ko pa rin malaman kung anong films na napanood mo na masasabing mong pangit. give a list. watching one or two then forming an opinion is not enough, in my humble opinion. so give me a list.
Sorry, I don’t owe you any of what you ask for. Deal with it.
@alem: da pinoy’s overwhelming sense of entitlement is a b1tch, isn’t it?
BENIGN0: i am trying to engage you in a nice conversation about the sad plight of the Philippine movie industry. tapos sasabihin mo sa aking DEAL WITH IT. tapos pag minumura kayo ng ibang tao, magagalit kayo. I AM ENGAGING YOU IN A DECENT CONVERSATION HERE. yes, you do not owe me anything. but isn’t this site created to open discussions about the Filipino people? or this just for people who like minded to pat themselves on the back and say to each other, “good job. you wrote an excellent piece. i agree with you 100%.” e kung ganoon, e di ba, wala ngang kwentang makipag-usap sa inyo.
i appreciated my discussion with SPHINX. kasi matinong discussion siya. no name calling or statements like yours. but if you prefer to keep it “intellectual” like what you are doing, then fine. i need not talk to you.
i will deal with it.
oh by the way, in a court of law, the prosecution (the one making the case, which in this case is you with your assertions on this post) has to prove their case first. the defense may not even put up a defense if they believe the prosecution have not done so. they may not even call the accused to the stand. so, when we ask you guys to prove your assertions, i think that’s just fair, don’t you think?
now, i have written in some other responses why i believe na maganda ang ibang indie films. but the best judge is to watch them. pero ayaw n’yong maniwala. E DI HUWAG. marami na kaming ibang level-headed, thinking and rational people na na-convince. kaya nga ang daming nag-defend sa indies sa blog na ito e. pero kung gusto mo panatiliing maging mangmang sa usapin at ayaw namin mag-engage in an intelligent discussion, e di huwag.
I WILL DEAL WITH IT. promise. as i leave you to deal with yours.
Brillant talaga ni BenignO. Idol!
FROM BENIGN0:
“Whether mainstream or indie, fact is Philippine cinema collectively fails to make a cultural mark in the world stage.”
see, this goes to show that you don’t know what you are talking about. did you know that there are international books written about Philippine cinema? that articles in Asian, European and American magazines that have discussed Philippine cinema extensively?
did you also know that a good number of festival programmers from the top film festivals in Europe and Northern American have come to Manila to seek out these filmmakers?
did you know that a lot of film festivals from South America, to Europe to Asia have dedicated segments and tributes to the Philippines?
i have personally accompanied a French man last year as he is writing about Philippine cinema around Manila.
all we’re saying here is be careful with your statements especially if you do not know what you’re talking about.
No I didn’t know. I haven’t heard of these instance you cite above. Does this mean I am ignorant? Hardly. It means they have not made their mark in the general public awareness of which I am a part of. What you are doing is basically whining that I haven’t gone out to seek those itty-bitty pieces of information you cite above. Well, you fail to see how this lack of awareness is more an accountability of those who produce and market your products than that of the consumer. Deal with it.
token standouts don’t define or represent the COLLECTIVE of philippine cinema, genius.
a basket of 195 bad apples with 5 good ones is still a basket of bad apples.
try to google the word COLLECTIVE, mmkay alem? that’s a good boy.
“What don’t I know? Even Alem agrees with me:
…i will also state here that i can PROVE what you wrote TO BE CORRECT. that a lot of the MMFF films do not make people think.
Next time you make a comment, be sure you know what you are talking about.”
what i am asserting that you don’t know is the state of philippine cinema today. especially your inability to quote specific films that YOU HAVE SEEN to prove your point.
please don’t quote me as PROOF to your points and thesis. i’d rather you cite specific films that you have seen.
thank you very much!
@alem:
“NOW, kung HINDI KA UPDATED, STOP JUDGING ME. and calling me arrogant.”
arrogance is easily discernible from your tone, your words, your posturing.
or did you just forget that this is exactly how you force-interpreted ilda’s article and shoehorned it into something hateworthy? (which it never was for those of us who understood) reap what you sow, buddy.
and about this being “updated” – sorry but i still see you as getting more arrogant by the minute.
i don’t have to waste my money on srr13 crap to earn the right to tell you it comes across as crappy to me (and i have the same opinion about your taste, which, if we were friends, i would hate to say so). i’m a smart consumer. i dunno why you have to shoot yourself in the foot to know it’s gonna hurt. maybe you should google FORESIGHT as well.
you left my item #1, #2, and #6 hanging. pasensyahan tayo pero your reply was weak.
the reason why i only chose to answer 1 is because i’ve answered the others na.
you reap what you sow. tama ka riyan. so don’t blame me if a lot of haters post here. you reap what you sow. it became “hateworthy”? talaga? bakit kaya? you reap what you sow.
i’ve been called worse by people with better breeding and intelligence. but i know may basis sila. ikaw, you hate SRR13 pero wala kang kaalam-alam tungkol sa kanya. ano tawag sa iyo?
i already know what i need to know, and i keep my money. that’s what you call a smart consumer.
simple lang hiling ko, then you go out of character and suddenly refuse to back up what you say. sorry but it only means you couldn’t back them up. somebody who does nothing all day but flood this blogpost with the same tired old message suddenly feels too lazy to cut and paste his own supposedly strong arguments? fake.
arrogant and fake. quite the perfect qualifications to grandstand. i hope you’re enjoying yourself. you’ll be monologuing the rest of the night.
as for “you reap what you sow”, the context in which you apply it is clearly emo vengeance. check your comment again and see how it comes across – E M O. you’re no different from those emos who raged against chip tsao and adam carolla.
“i’ve been called worse by people with better breeding and intelligence. but i know may basis sila.”
alam mo naman pala eh. i completely misjudged you and mistook you for someone reasonable.
have a nice life, emo fake.
@Parallax
Exactly!
ILDA: when i read your article and asked those comments, i didn’t mean anything by them AT ALL. only when you started giving crappy comments (because in your own words you were assuming i were either antagonizing you or being sarcastic). i really just want to know the extent of your knowledge.
the attack dogs were released, so to speak, only to prove your assertion that there is no underground following for these festivals. CAN YOU PLEASE ACCEPT THAT YOU WERE WRONG IN THIS ASSERTION (just this one)? will you be humble enough to acknowledge what you do not know and that you may have reacted without knowing all the details. (i am only referring to my questions to you.) if you answered with a little humility and less insinuations, i think this whole mess would have been avoided and other people would not have been affected as gravely as they have.
until now, you still have NO PROOF that we do not have the same taste in movies. why? because 1) i did not even say that SRR 13 was good in my first few comments. i only asked if you saw it. 2) you assumed i liked it and you assumed you wouldn’t. (DO YOU THINK THIS IS A FAIR STATEMENT?) also until now, you have not stated which films you liked. nor have i, except the ones from Cinemalaya plus a few other films that i have recommended here. (have you seen any of those?) SO HOW CAN YOU ASSUME ALREADY, in just 2 comments from me that we do not have the same preference? WILL YOU BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU MAY BE WRONG IN THIS ASPECT? or will you still be hardheaded to claim that we have different tastes in films, even if we have never corresponded about the films we liked and did not like.
ALSO: you have said that you know Pinoy culture like the back of your hand. is it possible for you to prove this? do you mind sharing your credentials regarding Pinoy culture? WHY AM I ASKING THIS? because, in all the years i’ve taught my students, i have told them to be more critical in reading articles and publications. and one crucial thing that they can do before passing judgment is finding out who wrote the article and then assess the credibility of that person’s assertions. so i hope you will not think ill of me when i keep asking for your credentials.
RE GOING VIRAL: don’t you think that we should be given a little credit given the number of people who posted here who defended Philippine indies? (would you have the time to count those who agreed with you and those who do not? i have a feeling there are more people who disagreed with you. you know, i don’t have a blog site like this nor do i write for one. all i did was post it on my Twitter, FB wall and on an FB group wall. and i posted your answers to my questions. that’s all i did. and yet, it seems that the whole indie community found out about this. e sino ba naman ako compared to Get Real Philippines?
may i ask how many views or readers do you think your posts got? honestly, until now, i have never heard of you. so does that mean you may not be that “VIRAL” as you say you are? and i only saw you because one of my students mentioned about not wanting to watch Pinoy films. that got me curious. if this were another topic, i’d most likely ignore it since that particular student of mine is apparently a regular reader of your site. it is very narrow-minded to gauge one’s ability to reach a wide audience based on just your own personal experience. or even the people around you. that said, i will state this with almost 100% certainty: IF YOU WERE TO COMPARE THE NUMBER OF READERS AND VIEWERS OF YOUR BLOG POSTS VIS-A-VIS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE SEEN MY MOVIES (THERE ARE ONLY 3) AND THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS OF THIS SITE VIS-A-VIS THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS OF CINEMALAYA (DON’T EVEN INCLUDE CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS AND CINEMANILA), I BET YOU THAT WE HAVE MORE VIEWERS HANDS DOWN. i am almost sure of this.
UNSOLICITED ADVICE: next time someone asks you a question or comments on your blog, especially if the person seems to be contradicting you, perhaps you could be a little nicer. don’t assume. don’t be overly defensive. and just hear them out. i noticed in your other blogs that you keep attacking people who got insulted or affected by your posts. you assert highly sensitive generalizations. expect that people will be provoked. and so, for you to get to them or for them to get your point (and not keep on missing them as you have claimed so many people who have commented in all your blog posts), you may need to be nicer. just a little bit.
as a teacher for over a decade, i have learned that when a student of mine fails, it is most likely his fault. he didn’t study. he didn’t do his requirements well. he was disruptive in class. etc. but i also learned that i have a hand in him failing. perhaps i didn’t motivate him enough. understand him enough. etc. it’s always good to reflect on our actions. lalo na ngayong nagbabagong taon pa lamang.
perhaps point missers (if that is really a word) missed your point because of your own doing. perhaps. especially if there are a lot of them. and a lot of them missed the same points and missed them the same way. it’s like when i teach my class and gave a test and a number of students got one item wrong. i then look back at how i taught that topic and why the students got them wrong. baka magandang gawin mo rin iyon. instead of ATTACKING THEM and accusing them of all sorts of things. “you can catch more flies with honey…”
(yuck!!! ang cheesy ng lost quote ko.)
THIS COMMENT BY ALEM IS A MUST-READ.
@Alem
Gosh, you are so long winded. There is a skill that involves the ability to drive a point succintly using just a few sentences. It’s a good skill to have. Unfortunately, not a lot of people possess that skill. It can be learned though. People just have to get rid of this need to keep saying things that’s already been said over and over.
Some of your statements are mostly red herrings and ad hominems. They don’t deserve a response. What’s ironic, according to Alanis Morissette, is a good advice that you just can’t take.
This article has proven that not a lot of people know about the alternative to mainstream films. And even if some know about it, they are saying that they are not satisfied with what indie filmmakers have to offer. So my advice to you is listen to them; keep on improving on your craft and do more to promote your films.
Just some tidbits:
Your statement doesn’t make any sense. If you’ve read my article and understood it, you’d know that I haven’t seen SRR13. Therefore, there was no point in asking the question over and over.
I do not recall giving crappy comments at all.
So you admit that you asked your fans to wreak havoc on the comment thread. Nice one. The difference between you and I is that I do not ask people to help me defend my views. The comment thread is where I find real validation for my articles. If I see someone getting my point and even expounding on it, it confirms my stand. I don’t have to strong-arm anyone to side with me.
When you asked them to attack the writer, you already gave up on having a civilised discussion from the very start.
I have to dig back into the comment section but at some point you said that it was one of the better ones out of all the SRRs because of Mr Jerrold.
Be happy then. I don’t mind. I didn’t write about them to begin with. Maybe Benign0 did, but not me.
I’m not into that kind of activity. Neither of us can be sure of what the number of silent readers are thinking. I’m not PNoy who always hires SWS just to check his popularity. I usually move on to my next article quickly. I’m just giving you my time because you might think I’m snobbing you.
A blogsite vs a film festival. Hmmm…not apples to apples. But we have something in common. We are only as good as the next article or film. so keep churning them out. I can tell you are a very passionate person. I like passionate people. You just have to chanel that passion into something worthy. 😉
I’m not the one writing long winded comments; I’m not the one who released his attack dogs. And guess what? Responding to comments is not being defensive. It’s called responding.
Cheers
Ilda
it’s a must-read because it fall flat on so many levels.
@alem – things you have to learn in the grown-up world:
(1) any bozo can call someone’s replies crappy when he couldn’t measure the extent of her knowledge of a certain subject. nothing to write home about.
(2) butthurt emo trolls will always see themselves “attacked” whether by dogs or lampposts or blogposts. typical.
(3) you can’t demand an apology by suggesting that not doing so is the absence of humility, especially when you’re wrong. you only come across as arrogant.
(4) a comment like “if you answered with a little humility and less insinuations, i think this whole mess would have been avoided and other people would not have been affected as gravely as they have” could only come from someone deluded with some sense of standing on higher moral ground without comprehending first. maybe if you knew what humility actually means you’d notice the stench of your own arrogance.
(5) proof whether you both have different tastes in film was never necessary. your using it as a centerpiece to counterargue already indicates how you will not agree on criteria is liking a film. so you can yap about srr13 and how you love or don’t love it. it’s moot, but keep yapping.
(6) some people do know pinoy culture like the back of their hand, and your being a “teacher” (supposedly, like it matters) is leaning on some credentialist sense of entitlement. please, if you’re too lazy to think and depend on the messenger’s credentials rather than his/her message, don’t infect your students with that same propensity to ignore valid but unpopular opinion. what you do is intellectual in-breeding, and you should be ashamed of yourself for closing their minds.
(7) re: going viral, i’ll ask you the same question you couldn’t answer – which one is it really? make up your mind – is it “woe is me” or is it “damn we’re good”? because if your beloved indies are really as huge as you say they are, then it makes no sense for you to act like you’re marginalized and oppressed. you contradict yourself without ever noticing. keep it up.
(8) was there any real relevance in how popular get real phils is versus local indies? eh nang-iintriga ka lang pala. you’re pitting one against the other when neither was against each other in the first place. as i’ve told you earlier, “token standouts don’t define or represent the COLLECTIVE of philippine cinema, genius. a basket of 195 bad apples with 5 good ones is still a basket of bad apples. try to google the word COLLECTIVE, mmkay alem? that’s a good boy.” go ahead, chest-beat some more, prof yabang a. rogante.
(9) unsolicited advice (and i know you’re too full of yourself to take it): next time you go high and mighty and act like you stand on higher moral ground, ask yourself first whether you’re missing the point or not. your students can probably tell that you have been missing the point this entire time, and i hope they don’t get infected with your lazy preference for credentialist shortcuts so that you can skip the thinking part. a teacher for over a decade? for shame.
real teachers who are truly brilliant don’t feel the need to brag about their teacher-ness. in your case, you’re waving us your name tag like it’s a trophy. so go ahead. be the typical pinoy and blame the author for the point that YOU missed. some kinda teacher you are, alem.
On (8): I feel compelled to reply because it’s repeated often. Actually, in pop culture, “token standouts”, as you call them, do define a collective. There are thousands of movies produced in a year, yet we remember, say, 1994 as the year of Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, and that may be enough to give us a picture of what kind of year it was at the movies. It’s most clearly true in fashion, wherein we can’t account for all the pieces that are produced, but the few essential trends eventually define our era. We’ll remember 2011 as the year that “Praybeyt Benjamin” broke box office records. To me that phenomenon, coupled with a few others (such as “Ang Sayaw Ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa”, “Zombadings 1” and the gay sensibility in hits like “No Other Woman” and “Temptation Island”) describes the year as a gay-friendly year in Philippine movies, even though there were also films that portrayed gays negatively but didn’t have enough impact, and there may be more of those than the few I mentioned! The importance is qualitative. The indie successes are great, you really have to admit. They’ve been creating shifts and ripples since the dawn of independents, even though you may not be aware of it because you don’t follow it and you don’t care anyway. Besides, I doubt you counted how many indie films were liked, made money, or were news items versus the number of films that were produced but noticed by zero individuals. That’s hard to quantify. To find that percentage would be a futile exercise.
On the subject of Mr. Ang as a teacher, I think it’s wonderful and brave that someone is putting himself openly out there. It’s refreshing in the internet age of default anonymouses. Besides, he brought it up because it’s relevant. Also, based on his comments, he sounds like a competent, patient, and engaging educator.
@thebaklareview: in PR speak, that may be how the word “define” is used. it’s a euphemism. in blunt evaluation of the ENTIRE collective, token standouts don’t raise the level of the flunkers. they only make the gap in substance far more PRONOUNCED. but i do understand where you’re coming from. thanks for that explanation.
as for alem, “putting himself out there” is “not minding privacy issues involved in having a public profile” and “it comes with the territory” in his present line of work. nothing admirable about that (but i’m not stopping you; just saying i don’t). he might be competent, though his reading comprehension leaves much to be desired. he is truly patient, determined, and just about as engaging as a stone in the shoe. supposed “educators” still need to keep in mind they cannot stop learning and wave their credentials like a badge.
@Parallax
I just realised that since they have been insisting that they have done a lot to promote their films as evident in what was stated here:
Then it seems like the problem is not the lack of exposure of indie films anymore but something else…hmmmm…
@ilda: yes, two things are revealed, actually.
first, if they’re so damn well marketed and appreciated everywhere they claim, then something else is the problem. we can leave it to everyone’s imagination to figure that one out. haha
second, these exchanges have only proven that as usual, pinoys will whine about effort to justify the lack or absence of results. it’s time to rationalize not having f*cked the prom queen. after all it’s more fun in the philippines, right alem?
@Parallax
I don’t know why they seem to be annoyed. Can you imagine me getting annoyed after finding out that Angelina Jolie hasn’t heard of me yet? Geez
@ilda: oo nga eh. they’re just so butthurt.
and at some point alem compares how much larger their indie films’ following is compared to getrealphilippines’ (like it matters). it’s lame, immature, and pointless (especially for someone who tells people “hey i’m a teacher”). i suppose that’s just him chestbeating after running out of possible arguments (he likes to rehash quite a bit, doesn’t he?). gumagawa pa ng intriga pitting grp against indie films and filmmakers, when in actuality neither is opposing the other. it was just him and his butthurtness being expressed in circles (never mind that his arguments have been torn to pieces already). such a piece of work. way to go, “teacher”!
I don’t like that you tend to generalise the Filipino films. I guess you are talking about mainstream Philippine movies. News flash — US mainstream movies are no better. They maybe glossier and with better effects, a lot of them are also a big pile of horse manure.
Speaking of MMFF, don’t blame the filmmakers, blame the organisers. I think that we have enough good movies especially with our flourishing indie cinema, but MMFF nowadays is more into profit than art.
Reading your post about the MMFF entries this year, and how general your statements are, it feels like you haven’t even seen the movies that you were criticizing.
“News flash — US mainstream movies are no better. They maybe glossier and with better effects, a lot of them are also a big pile of horse manure.”
Er… SO?
That US mainstream films are “a big pile of horse manure” is irrelevant to this debate. And your argument is pretty much no different from “monkey-see-monkey-do.”
The writer was putting down Filipino movies and making statements about it. I am just simply stating that this problem is not unique to the Philippines. As an example, I cited that Hollywood with all its huge budget produces a lot of “movies that don’t make me think”.
This might be irrelevant in your eyes but this is my opinion. Opinion that I formed after reading the article. Unlike the author who criticized and made judgments to movies that she hadn’t seen and made blanket generalizations about a topic without having much knowledge about it and not doing much research.
Yes it is your opinion.
However you basically excuse the poor quality of Filipino mainstream films simply because poor quality films also exist in other countries. Like I said: monkey-see-monkey-do; it is a problem which persists in other countries but that should not be an excuse for our flaws. “Everybody is doing it” is just not a logical argument.
Your argument would be valid if Ilda claimed that films from the US (or any other country) are ALL of good quality. She did not.
buti na lang at si asiong salonga ang nanalo.
dati yung mga indie movie OK pa. pero lately basura na rin dahil puro kabaklaan ang istorya.
Thanks for the enlightening comment.
seriously, how can you find that enlightening? when no data was given. no figures, movie titles, etc. i can prove that person wrong with actual figures. he didn’t prove anything? except give a sweeping generalization. how can you find that enlightening? seriously, i would like to know.
for example:
did you know that it was the gay indies that started the digital revolution of recent past?
did you know that in the past decade there were a lot of gay indie films that came out. BUT, if you look at the number last year, that has already dwindled? the number of gay indies have already dwindled as compared to other indie films.
you agreed with that person’s statements when he hasn’t given any facts. similarly, you gave sweeping generalizations but you haven’t seen the movies you were mentioning. is that really a trend here?
@alem: now this (your comment) is arrogance confirmed.
never mind my earlier question to you. i was wrong about you. courtesy is wasted on you. people should just have at it when they tell you off.
go ahead as you were. you’ve just made my list.
really parallax? i thought you were one of the rationale ones here. tsiko gave a sweeping statement not backed by facts. alem simply gave the facts that debunked that statement. now i have no way of knowing if those are actually true, but he gave a valid argument. and i’m sure he can give specifics when asked, which is more than i can say for the other people commenting here, whether for or against the issue.
and this is not?
“try to google the word COLLECTIVE, mmkay alem? that’s a good boy.”
dude, kung wala kang intelehenteng maidadagdag sa usapan, stop with the snide remarks. i’d rather you give concrete facts and evidences. things you simply cannot google or find in wikipedia because you have to have experienced them.
I think that was a pertinent comment. As I keep emphasizing (which you seem to fail to get consistently). Collectives possess emergent properties that can be attributed to it at an aggregated level. However, said properties are not necessarily true for all elements of said collective. It’s a fundamental principle that underpins the concepts I try to bring across to you.
that’s all i’m asking from the very beginning, validate your thesis and argument with facts. hindi naman dapat siya mahirap kung supposedly, alam naman ng lahat na pangit ang Pinoy films at kabobohan sila lahat. ang daming pelikulang naipalabas na. sa loob at labas ng MMFF. i’m just asking for specific examples.
please, PARALLAX, stop name-calling and giving snide remarks every time you’re pushed to a corner.
@ryan: people get impressions from whatever form of media gets to them. from the collection of tv programs one sees his family follow everyday, to the radio programs he hears on the way to work, to the billboards he sees while the bus traverses edsa, to the ads that pepper the inside of the supermarket, to the things he receives on facebook, all these generate impressions some stronger than others. and what stands oout to him is puno ng kabaklaan, in his words. don’t get too caught up with facts. even you are capable of basing judgment on impressions because your brain tries to simplify the deluge of messages you’re bombarded everyday. anyway, he’s entitled to his own observations; insulting ilda on how she casually responds is something else, to which i felt like saying something.
@alem: now you know what it’s like to be given attitude. you reap what you sow.
quit the arrogance and maybe i’ll stop as well. at least ryan talks to me properly. check how i spoke back to him.
i invite you to lose the attitude. otherwise, pasensyahan tayo.
(btw, don’t demand people to apologize or retract. assholes do that. and they never get sincere replies if they demand it anyway.)
@parallax, i guess that’s fair. though honestly i don’t sense arrogance as much as exasperation. 😀
anyway, i think what’s really wrong with most arguments here is that they are based on impressions, rather than facts… which is totally fine when you’re just “making tsismis.”
but things are getting really out of proportion, the original “article” really just reads like an ordinary rant, not a thesis nor a serious article, or whatever else the haters think it is, and doesn’t deserve to be analyzed/ taken apart this way.
anyway, goodnight everybody. i am neither a teacher nor a debater, and don’t have the energy for this. hahaha.
@ryan: yes it can get draining. (except for alem who feeds on all this)
alem’s supposed exasperation is translating rather well as arrogance, and it shows.
anyway, i really don’t care if he ever gets it. poor myopic kid. i’m just here to use his drivel as ammo against him.
sige, i think i’ll get my z’s as well. alem has a lot of solo grandstanding to do pa. can’t get in the way of his monologuing.
Parallax says “don’t get too caught up with facts.” because “impressions” make better basis for judgment. OMG I can’t believe he actually said that.
it’s called CONTEXT, genius.
it seems too complex for you, but hopefully you’ll get it someday.
malakas pa din ang testosterone levels nya. 😉
Anything that supports your flawed reasoning is enlightening.
missing a dose can be tough, yes? read my reply to ryan for some relief, retsnom.
minahal na kita restnom kahit di kita kilala.
eto na si PARALLAX na nagko-comment e inamin naman niya sa akin na hindi niya binabasa lahat ng comments dito. so wala siyang kaidi-idea kung ano na ang nangyayari at bakit nagagalit ang mga tao. and yet, ang lakas niyang manghusga at manlait.
hay…di na ba talaga uso ang mag-research?
@retsnom: you’re welcome
@alem: i guess it was too much to expect that you would actually cut and paste your supposed proof regarding various accusations and claims you’ve made. this way nobody will know whether your claims are exagerrated, false, unsubstantiated or weak. you’re a prolific commenter and then you suddenly don’t feel like showing off your wares? hah. clever, clever you.
good luck to you and your love for grandstanding alem.
Ang sakit naman po ng salitang “basura.” Tanong ko lang po, at huwag niyo pong mamasamain, ano-ano po ang mga pelikulang ito na “puro kabaklaan ang istorya”? Baka sakali lang po na napanood ko ang ilan dito, at maganda sana kung magbigay tayo ng diskurso ukol dito para mas maintindihan ng ibang tao ang pinanggagalingan natin 🙂
Hell to the blogger , mainstream is mainstream
Translation: To hell with mainstream films, they don’t make us think. 😉
I just want to remind everyone again:
Comments with foul language, name-calling and excessive ad hominem will be moved to the spam folder.
Yeah right, excessive name calling? I wonder why some of PARALLAX’s comments are still here. Maybe because he agrees with the blog and the blogger. Just saying. 🙂
it’s because i actually make sense, pilar. the butthurtness, the arrogance, the repetitive emo, the massive point-missing of some people i’ve just slammed heads with – they are accurately described the way i have described them. not name-calling. just calling it like it is.
(note to grp admin though: please remove the part above where i responded to retsnom’s rude reply to me. it was an eye for an eye, but then now that his attack is in the spam box my reply looks like i’m name-calling. thanks.)
There are too many comments already. Sometimes I can’t keep up with reading all of it. Just saying.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/243319/lifestyle/top-25-proud-to-be-pinoy-moments-in-2011
11. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank makes it to the Oscars short list.
17. Three Fil-Am producers celebrate an Oscar win for God of Love.
24. Local films Halaw and Busong are recognized in international film festivals.
to quote this guy: “to expect golden eggs to come out of lame old ducks is naive. to conclude that golden eggs therefore don’t exist is just plain stupid.”
That’s a good outcome for the exceptional film makers who produced those films. But to use these exceptional instances of achievement as a basis for saying the Philippine film industry as a whole is world-class is not too different from the way we trumpet “Pinoy pride” on the basis of Manny Pacquiao being a world champ.
no one said that the Philippine film industry as a whole is world-class. the same logic should also go to saying not all Filipino films make us bobo and does not make us think. therefore, you don’t like Filipinos making generalizations about Pinoy pride. we don’t like you making generalizations about the Philippine film industry. why can’t you get that? why do you always assume the one-sidedness of your argument to be acceptable but everyone else is not? can’t you be a little bit more open to what others are saying?
Making a generalisation about a set is not the same as making an assertion about ALL the elements of said set. I think it is you who don’t get certain fundamental concepts at work here.
Kudos! But being included in the Oscar shortlist doesn’t change the fact that most Filipino films don’t make us think.
BTW, do you only consider someone a success when they make it to the Oscars?
Just like Manny Pacquiao and Charice Pempengco, Filipinos have to go abroad just to get a big break. That’s because most Filipinos only consider someone a success when an international community gives them a nod of approval. How disappointing.
Translation: Most Filipino films don’t make us think.
Please let me know which part of the article claims that “golden eggs” don’t exist. Thanks
“…Filipinos have to go abroad just to get a big break. That’s because most Filipinos only consider someone a success when an international community gives them a nod of approval. How disappointing.”
–That’s because people like you won’t even give Filipino films a chance. How can you give them a nod of approval if you haven’t even watched them?
@Malaya
I wonder where you got the idea that I don’t even want to give Filipino films a chance?
I know that Filipinos are capable of greatness but it seems like most Filipinos are satisfied with mediocrity when they are dealing with fellow Filipinos. Just because the film is going to be shown in the Philippines doesn’t mean they have to stick to showing films that don’t make us think during the MMFF.
nakuha niya ung idea na yun sa mga comments dito. ayoko magpaste. magbasa ka ulit…ganyan ka naman eh…
btw, ilang beses ko na binabasa ung article mo, para lang mapunta ako sa side mo. pero, hindi talaga eh. mali ka talaga.
11. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank makes it to the Oscars short list.
Can someone call out GMA news about this? The Academy hasn’t released their shortlist for the Foreign Language category yet. All they have on their press release are the foreign movies that are deemed eligible to be shortlisted and be picked as final nominees for the said category.
http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013.html
There is a difference between being shortlisted and being considered eligible and Septic Tank is just on the latter. The “shortlist” of the Academy consist of just 10 or so films and from then on they will pick the 5 nominees.
Interesting…it says on the site: “Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.”
The operative word is “submitted”. My interpretation of that is, the film wasn’t handpicked by the academy but “submitted” by the filmmakers for consideration. There is a big difference.
I could be wrong about my interpretation though. But like what you said, the academy hasn’t even chosen the films that would be included in the shortlist yet but GMA has already reported it as being included in the shortlist. Hmmmm….
Ano ba dapat ang mauna para umangat mula sa pagiging shallow at superficial ang Filipino people as a movie-going audience? Ang makagawa ng mga may substance na pelikula o ang mamulat muna ang manonood? Hindi na siguro natin mahinhintay na mamulat ang mga manood kaya heto na ang mga indie filmakers na nagsusumikap gumawa ng mga pelikulang may substance.
Pero, Ilda, by calling the Filipino people superficial and shallow, I assume na mas mataas ang pagtingin mo sa sarili mo at natawag mo silang ganon. Pero kung ikaw, na hindi superficial at shallow ay hindi mahikayat na manood ng Filipino indie film, eh ano pa kaya ang chance ng mga filmakers na mahikayat ang nakakararaming tinatawag mong “superficial and shallow”. Ikaw ang nagpapatotohanan sa sarili mong statement, that the Filipino audience (or people, you included) are shallow and superficial. In fairness to you, “we are shallow and superficial” nga naman ang sabi mo sa article.
Pwede bang mag-request as mga indie filmmakers? Sana bawas bawasan nyo naman ang mga sex scenes and films about homosexuals. Nakaka-turn off.
Why do you assume that people will like it? Just because Brokeback Mountain was a hit doesn’t mean you need to keep copying it.
Seriously, baka kaya walang nanunuod ng indie films kasi nga puro lang kabadingan. Mag-isip naman kayo.
This is what would turn off people like me to watch filipino films regardless whether indie or mainstream, because choices are so limited- they both cater to niche audiences. Even the so-called ‘masa’ isn’t representative of your filipino audience.
My friends and I alone don’t even recognise ANY filipino films in our conversations because they just don’t concern our point of views. The ones I meet often watch a lot of Hollywood produced films (not the Transformers type- that’s another ploy to undermine this writer’s article). We are also lovers of cartoon animation.
I’m a fan of Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki- even if they’re animated, they got that ‘wow’ factor and that is, they just know how to unfold a narrative in such a way that one would forget they’re watching just movies.
This is what lacks my liking for filipino films. Even if you’ve got cool film techniques, or you show-off by putting a ‘controversial’ topic as your theme if you’ve got actors who emote like Winona Ryder or Keanu Reeves or goddamn pantomime actors or just someone without the subtlety and charisma of Tony Leung Chiu- Wai (Happy Together, In The Mood For Love)or Gary Oldman (Sid and Nancy), then you know it wouldn’t bother us to hurry down to watch our own.
Other issues I have with our own cinema (based on what I saw from Anak and The Caretaker) is the way the characters just react with each other or in a certain situation. I couldn’t genuinely feel for these characters even if they’re so good at, ahem, just crying and raising one’s voice. The dialogues are not fully naturalistic nor quirkily relatable (the people I’m surrounded with have more interesting quips than the ones onscreen).
Look, I hate films that are not subtle or layered in narrative. Why can’t someone ever make something like ‘The Lives of Others’ ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ ‘Amores Perros’ ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ ‘Andrei Rublev’ or something like the films of Ken Loach and Peter Kosminsky? Why can’t someone just make a film that’s awe-inspiring, or upholds universal moral values that my friends and I can finally pay attention to?
I tried watching ‘Manila Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag’, and uhm, to be honest with you, it didn’t engage me enough to empathise with the main character or even compelled me to like the story. It reminded me with another disappointing film experience in Audrey Hepburn’s ‘Paris When It Sizzles’ and ‘Funny Faces’. Not bad, but the acting style was just outdated and it takes me away from the film. If I want better told stories about poverty and the marginalised then I’d rather just read them in a Charles Dickens novel, or experience reality for that matter.
If you use tired themes then at least surprise us with acting chops and characterisation that can floor us and make us fall in love with that character.
Look, the only way to persuade or launch a new wave in our local cinema is to think first your audience. Look at Thailand for example, their new wave came when they made a horror that can reach a broad audience (who watch a lot of Hollywood films), specifically young people who are in highschool and/or in college. Then later on, it allowed these said audience to explore more and that just didn’t stop. ‘Love of Siam’, ‘Bangkok Love Story’ even ‘Ong Bak’ became popular favourites from that country (even Western audiences became attracted to these films). Then finally came ‘A Crazy Little Thing Called Love’, which connected well with even indonesian and filipino teens. You get the drift now? For once they acted all ordinary and quirkily relatable at the same time without overdoing it.
Here’s hoping that my brother and some of my friends will be doing something against the grain but at the same time taking their time to perfect their crafts- and picking the right people to act.
@Christy
Thank you for a very insightful comment. It seems like we have similar taste in films. I still have a long list of films I have to watch. Which is why people should understand that I would never waste my time on rehashed films.
One of my idols is the late Akira Kurosawa. Most of his films were made in the ’50s but none of our filmmakers can match his ability to tell a story.
even Akira Kurosawa was criticized by fellow Japanese as too Western or too elitist in his approach (lack of peasant-stock as protagonists in most of his films). I just don’t seem to get why commenters here can’t take criticisms as something that can motivate them to do better.
hi christy! thanks for providing a list of films that you actually saw. and therefore, your comments and your opinions seem more credible. kasi you’ve seen enough.
i do hope you will give the indies a chance. especially these past few days. you mentioned In the Mood for Love. our latest indie film is actually inspired by Wong Kar Wai’s techniques and subtlety in storytelling. other indie filmmakers are also learning from foreign directors and we are improving our own style of storytelling. for example, you mentioned A Crazy Little Thing Called Love. i would dare say that Dinig Sana Kita which premiered in Cinemalaya 2009 is much better than the Thai film. i would like to invite you to join us in Cinemalaya at the CCP from July 20-29. we have had a lot of converts over the past years and i sincerely hope you will give us a try.
thanks!
hmmm, thanks for the suggestion. The film you recommended me reminds me of a touching western indie film called ‘once’. I’ll ask my friend to download this film for me.
Hey Christy!
saw your post and wanted to comment, too. Regarding Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, I do believe that it’s not a film for everyone. I mean, I also saw it a few years back when I was in high school and unfortunately got bored. hehe.
If you’re still up for it, I do suggest you should see so many other classics. The first film I saw, also directed by Brocka, “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” is an excellent film. It was the film that actually made me stop and say, “Wow, I did not know we made films like these.” Another favorite director of mine, if we’re talking the same era of films, more or less, is Mike De Leon… who has sadly ceased to make any more films. Check out his Kisapmata and Batch 81 if you can. Those’re my 2 favorites. If you’re into love story, his film Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising is also an interesting watch.
Hope to get word from you soon. Cheers!
It’s a bit disappointing that people have to keep referring back to old films by past directors in recommending “good” Filipino films. It seems their calibre is still unmatched.
@Ilda
Umm. Hi. No, I simply gave some of my classic favorites since she mentioned Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag.
There are a lot of good new films too out there right now. Off the top of my head, I’ll name some recent favorites. I’ll start with 3 more popular ones that I ABSOLUTELY love. There’s No Other Woman… then I’m a John-Lloyd fanboy: One More Chance & My Amnesia Girl.
Then, there’s Raymond Red’s Himpapawid. Mark Meily’s Donor. Jerrold Tarog’s Senior Year. Also really liked the recent Cinemalaya films like Bisperas, Amok (LOVED THIS), Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, & Nino. and just last month I was able to watch Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria, a Cebuano film which was shot in one-take, and I thought it was really well done. Lastly, there’s Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay! 😀
^ all just some films people should try to check out! 🙂
Oh ok. I just noticed that the old classics are mentioned more often than the new ones. A recently made good film can make people forget about the old ones, you know. The best advice is for filmmakers to keep making good films so Filipinos will have more to choose from. 🙂
Who told you that indie cinema is completely analogous to gay sex scenes? Either you don’t watch indies and are just basing your comments on hearsay like Ilda here, or the only indie films you watch ARE films with gay sex scenes. Or maipipilit mong may hidden gay sex scene sa Mababangong Bangungot?
Speaking of taste, hindi lang naman straight people ang pwedeng manood ng pelikula… unless you find an article in Wikipedia saying it is so, since very insightful nga naman ang Wikipedia to the authors of this site.
We are not “whining” that NOBODY watches indie films. Rather, we are raising the point that MOST audiences wouldn’t watch indies because they have been conditioned to love the formulaic narratives of the mainstream. Just go to your nearest Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals or Cinemanila screenings, and then come back here and tell us nobody watches indies.
“Generalization without knowing the whole context, they don’t make us think”
these ‘controversial’ films are unfortunately louder to many. Only film fans and elites know much about this other alternative cinema you’re talking about, which doesn’t help bring a lot of awareness from the public.
Seriously, make a film that is at once meeting the standard of Hong Kong, Thailand and Korea for a start (that is, stop it with this nonsense about mainstream vs indie). Make a film that is of the middle class filipino (neither rich nor poor), create interesting, relatable quirks to the characters (make them complex, well-rounded, not acting like kabuki actors), stop it with the unnecessary crying and raising nagging voice or a passive boring voice (I’m now nitpicking), pick someone who has charisma onscreen when he acts around (pretty face doesn’t necessary spell charisma), make a plot that is layered and both emotionally and intellectually spellbinding, and finally, make worldclass cinematography. Market a film like this wisely if you want others to pay attention. That’s all the suggestion.
SUSMARYOSEP! I just realized I read thru all the comments in one sitting! Para na akong nanood ng isang movie, minus the popcorns nga lang.
At least the article made people think.
bilib ako sa iyo ha. nabasa mo lahat! hahaha!
i hope it’s making everyone on both sides of the fence think.
Actually hindi na ako nanonood ng mga pinoy movies tuwing december parang nakakatamad na panoodin.. inaabangan ko na lang yung mga cinemalaya or kahit anung Indie films…
paulit-ulit na lang kasi yung mga MFF.. walang nagbago… wala na ba silang ibang maisip na palabas kundi Panday, Enteng, SRR, etc.. puro recycle.. nakakaumay…
pero marami akong kakilala na ngustuhan yung Asiong, maganda daw yung story at sana mas brutal daw.. curious tuloy ako… mapanood nga mamaya wehehehe
wala na ba tayo paghuhugutan sa filipino myths and culture that we have to resort to blatant ripoffs like these, especially in this day and age? for shame revilla. maybe you should stick to your senatorial job instead.
Ang problema kasi sa mga indie films ngayon, masyado na sa kabaklaan, kahirapan at kapokpokan umiikot ang mga istorya. Sorry po pero ayan po tlga observation ko s mga indie films ngyun.
tama ka rin naman diyan. buti ikaw, napanood mo at aware ka sa mga ito. ‘yan kasi ang hamon namin sa nagsulat ng artikulo. kung may napanood nga ba para magbigay ng kuru-kuro.
btw, kung gusto mong makapanood ng makabuluhang indie film na hindi puros sex at poverty, try mong manood ng mga Cinemalaya at Cinema One Originals films. although meron pa rin namang sex at poverty ang ibang films dito, tiyak kong may mapupulot ka rin namang makabuluhan sa mga ito.
again, my point is that hindi naman sila nanonood kaya wala silang karapatang maghusga. sa akin lang naman ‘yan.
Ms. Ilda,
I’m just a regular girl who likes watching movies may it be mainstream or indie. I respect your blog and yes i do hope this could be an eye opener for everybody, for the film makers and the consumers. But based on my experiences, you shouldn’t judge a movie just by its trailer, recommendations or critics. Because I’ve been proven wrong many times. Sometimes trailers can be misleading. That’s a fact. I’ve read most of the comments here and you said that we all have different tastes. I just think that before you give out an opinion, you should have given the movie (panday,SRR etc.) a chance first. I know the people behind these movies have worked hard too. Kahit na some are saying na kinopya lang from some hollywood movie or whatsoever. Still, credits to them for pulling it off. Honestly, i haven’t seen any MMFF movie this year. Parang gusto ko na nga panoorin tuloy all the movies that were mentioned. At least i have a basis and be more careful what to say. Who knows, it might suprise you, all of us. 🙂
If you really read all the comments, then you should have realised that Mr Alem also agreed with me. Here’s what he had to say:
and this:
Enough said.
I get your point and yes, SOME of it is correct. I’ve seen a lot of crappy movies local and FOREIGN. It happens everywhere mind you. Also, i said, “i have read MOST of the comments” not ALL. But are you just going to let other people speak for yourself. I mean, for example, blue cheese. One look, gross right. And many people say it doesn’t taste good either. But are you gonna settle for that? just because they said that it doesn’t taste good and looks gross? You won’t try even just a little bite? Baka mamaya maging favorite mo pa. You can never tell unless you try it yourself. Everything/everybody deserves a shot. I suggest you watch those movies first and if it did not make you think, even just a little bit, i’d stick a needle in my eye. 🙂
Ms Pilar
I’ve said this earlier but you seem to have missed it. Not everyone has time to watch or try out all the films just to see if they will like it. Some people lead busy lives so they rely on film reviews and trailers. Why would I waste my time on something that I know doesn’t have any substance? Even indie filmmakers already agree that most of the films showing during MMFF are crap so what else is there to argue about?
Some people lead busy lives AND STILL find time to watch films, without basing their judgments on the film’s TRAILER.
Kung sa trailer ka lang magbabase ng quality ng pelikula, Ms. Ilda, better yet be a film TRAILER critic.
Good on them! They are not very picky and might not be too busy after all.
If we are talking about rehashed Filipino films, that would be an easy job, indeed.
Yah, i guess there is no point because no matter how hard I try to convince you, i think, even if you have have the time, you still wouldn’t watch it. You said YOU KNOW it does not have any substance. I haven’t seen Panday or SRR and do not have any plans on watching it either. Although I was willing to watch it if you were going to. But I guess were never gonna meet in the middle. I just wanted to base it on facts. So i can concede wholeheartedly. Well, i tried though. Thank you for the entertainment. 🙂
What was that? You don’t even know me. And you guys think I am being too judgmental?!? Gees…
I said i think. Prove me wrong then. 🙂 Im sorry if you find it offensive. Didn’t mean that really. I apologize.
I don’t have to prove anything. It’s simple, really. You either agree with the article or not. People speculate too much about my motives but the article is pretty straight forward. There is nothing to read between the lines.
Ilda says “You either agree with the article or not.” OMG no room for discourse? Kaya pala eh.
Wrong interpretation again. It means you can state your opposing views but don’t force it down other people’s throats. OMG!
“It means you can state your opposing views but don’t force it down other people’s throats.”
Then stop forcing YOUR opposing views into OUR throats. Even if you belong to this site and I don’t.
Take it or leave it. I’m not forcing it.
Shared this article because of the comments. Haha!
Upon reading this, I think it really isn’t an article meant to promote good/great Filipino films. It’s an article meant to bash our bad films. And that’s okay. Ilda’s writing style is that of the Black Hat. And we need these type of articles, really.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Thinking_Hats
But hey, this is http://www.getrealphilippines.com , what do you expect!? Every article here is about bad things about Filipinos.
Keep the good and bad comments going.
I don’t know how you arrived at that conclusion.
The glass is not half-full if it isn’t half-empty.
Following the usual logic of your arguments here, I guess we don’t have to read all the articles here to conclude that “every article here is about bad things about Filipinos.”
That’s certainly your prerogative.
Well, I just thought that if you are part of getrealphilippines, then that automatically makes you a believer of “getrealismâ€, “AntiPinoy-ism”. You write articles in Antipinoy.com is it not? Being negative about Filipinos supports your objectives right? The bad things about Filipinos fuel your writings, correct?
Please do correct me if I’m wrong.
irrelevant post. all this seriousness is making me puke.
http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_laxew6QOew1qzh0seo1_400.jpg -> well if i could take an “empty” glass to outer space it would still be 100% full with dark matter.
It seems like most Filipinos are incapable of handling serious issues, which is why the country remains one of Asia’s basketcase.
@Francis
I used to write for AP but not anymore. I just didn’t bother to remove my articles there when I moved to GRP.
What makes you think that the articles are negative? We are merely pointing out what people do. If they are negative or bad to you, then that means the people are doing negative or bad things.
Hello again, this getrealphilippines thing is becoming a daily habit. Makes me contemplate about my own disappointments with our country while walking down the road or waiting for my jeepney. Makes me think everyday more about the taxes that I pay. And it’s very very stressful to think about that.
About the articles being negative, i think and feel that the articles are really more of bashing and criticizing. Maybe you can write about the bad points, then i todo mo ng how to improve the bad stuff? But that’s just me.
Anyway what the hell were you doing in antipinoy.com?
@Francis
I really don’t consider the articles here as “bashing”. They are just telling it like it is.
Anti-Pinoy website is not about being anti-Pinoy per se. Here’s what the website is about:
teh, sikat ka na! gawa ka pa ng ganitong mga artikulo – very insightful kasi iyong mga opinyon mo. i suggest sabihin mong rip off din ang noli ni rizal sa count of monte cristo. pero basahin mo muna ulit ha. para may comparative points ka. congrats!
one more thing (though this seems to used by me a lot already so hindi lang siya one more. hehe! i digress…)
when we asked you if you’ve seen SRR13, do not automatically assume that we didn’t get your point. that we do not agree with what you have said.
we are curious to know if you’ve seen it and passed judgment on it (as using starlets parading and pouting for the camera hoping to look cute). because the said “starlets” in SRR13 were good.
so again, do not assume that we disagree with your entire thesis if we ask you about SRR13. do not judge us. and hopefully, you do not miss our point or cut our heads off when we’re pointing to you your flaw. which, in my opinion, is that you have judged things that you may not know much about. that’s all. sana you’ll be humble enough to accept it.
FROM BENIGN0’s article somewhere in this website:
Perhaps, rather than succeed in its mission to “uplift†the standards of online news “reportingâ€, Rappler may instead further validate the emerging credibility of those of us who simply get on with it without making a big fuss about what our “credentials†(if any) entitle us to. Considering that many appalling ideas are already being spread by what are supposed to be our most “respected†opinion shapers, we may actually need to learn to rely less on what tradition dictates.
MAHALAGA NAMAN PALA SA INYO ANG CREDIBILITY E. so bakit nu’ng tinatanong namin kayo tungkol sa sources, credibility n’yo, etc. ayaw n’yo kaming sagutin? and you tell me pa to “deal with it?” humihingi kami ng research findings and actual proofs of bad films, pero di n’yo maibigay.
sana naman panindigan naman natin ang mga ibinibintang natin sa iba.
Dude, you were asking me to give you a list of movies that I’ve seen. And we’re not even on a date. 😀
Stupid Filipinos. Walang mangyayari sa pakikipagtalo natin sa mga writers ng blog nito; matagal na naman na nilang hinayag ang kanilang kolonyal na punto de vista. Sa mga Filipino film lovers, keep the fire burning na lang; hayaan na natin ang kabobohan ng iilan nating kababayan oki 🙂
Ang bobo talaga natin tsk… tara paalipin ulit tayo sa mga Kastila Kano at Hapon! Mas magaganda naman pelikula nila eh!
Ilda, may point ka, parang ang galing galing mo nga eh.. kaya kaw na gumawa ng pelikula na gusto mo na sa tingin mo ay para sa mga kagaya mo, kaw ng sumulat at mag direk. kaw na din mag cast kung sinong artista na gusto mo. aabangan na lang namin kung ano ang “substance” meron ang pelikula mo..
When I have the time, I will.
Grabe; sa lahat ng pwede mong sabihin, “‘kaw na ang magaling!” lang ang nahirit mo?
What a way to showcase your close-mindedness.
From the tone of Ilda’s most recent comments, I sense she has softened a bit, and that she’s actually learned things she didn’t know before, even though she won’t admit it, and even though her defenders won’t either. Good job, friends. (Even though we may not know each other personally.) We won. Haha. (May giyera pala? Haha.)
Triumphalist behaviour is behaviour in which an individual celebrates his perceived victory excessively even when there is hardly any evidence of success.
Go ahead, keep deluding yourself, Mr baklareviewer.
I guess none of you are ready for a real dialogue. Tsk tsk
Yes I’m deluding myself. How good it feels to know I’m right even though there is no evidence! See, I learned from you too! We’re practically allies now! Peace time, yay!
chestbeating much for nothing? wahoo! emo is so in fashion.
@mr bakla
are you saying that most Filipino films make us think?
Aw, but I wanted my final comment to be about winning and peace.
But okay, I’ll answer the question.
I forget who it was that said it in the comments section, but I agree with him: It is up to the audience to think or not, regardless of a movie’s intention, which is hard to guess and near-impossible to prove anyway. Movies can’t “make you” do anything without your participation. It’s not hypnosis, and we’re not puppets. That you came up with your thoughts on this article was done by you, even though it was inspired by bad movies you saw (or didn’t see, as the case may be). Put in another way, there are intelligent movies and there are dumb movies, but any movie by its very nature is a dialogue with its audience. In short, from my observations and experience, Filipinos do have thoughts after watching Filipino movies, more often than not. (Thinking is the nature of man anyway! Even Filipinos!) I recently saw Shake Rattle and Roll 13, and I overheard a boy and his father discussing it afterwards. While peeing in the urinal, I too was left with some enjoyable pondering: about the sad state of stay-in, locked-up laborers that played a major role in one of the stories. And I love the kind of thinking that goes with discussions among viewers immediately after screenings at festivals like Cinemalaya, Cinema One, and Cinemanila.
Oh, and since your question pertains to the quantity “most”, I will have to make a guess and say that the ratio of intelligent to dumb Pinoy movies I see in a year is about half and half.
Mr bakla
Translation:
1. I am entitled to my opinion and people like you cannot blame me when others agree with my views.
2. You are happy with mediocrity. A lot of people are not, so please do not attempt to stop them from doing something about it.
3. There was one scene in SRR13 that made you sad. It seems like, that is all. And it appears like you are having a hard time praising the film.
4. You loving the alternative films doesn’t change the fact that most of the films are lacking in substance. Your measurement of half-half is not acceptable because it is only a guess. I’d still say it is “most”.
That’s just a lot of nonsense. Most films have synopsis so it’s not “near-impossible”.
Stay in denial about the sad state of the Phil film industry and see where it gets us.
I like ur comments. Uv raised the level of discourse in this space! Good job!
Mr. Baklarev, I agree w this 100%.
Wow, you really do jump to all sorts of conclusions.
4. Your “most” is also a guess.
Goodbye, Ilda.
Then take it or leave it.
It’s simple, really. But not for the small-minded.
I’ll leave it.
On the subject of synopsis and intention:
Synopses are invented; they can be spun. Notice how a synopsis is written for an art festival programme and how it is in a chismis magazine. They are written for a desired effect. Intention? Good luck. Real intention is ineffable, in the mind of its creator. Ask him? He can lie. He may not even be articulate enough to describe it in words even if he wants to. You can’t really prove it. You, Ilda, who “wants to help people realise things aren’t always what they seem” ought to know better. In film criticism, intention matters little. A work should stand on its own.
With that, goodbye na talaga.
That’s probably your romantic side talking. And it’s inconsistent with what you have been doing here in the last few days – judging me for my views. I thought you said that it is impossible to know someone’s intentions? Follow what you preach then and let people carry on with their views.
Most things in life are pretty straight forward. Some people just complicate their lives by reading too much into it. This article is a classic example of something that is straight forward. Some independent filmmakers just read too much into it.
“… I will have to make a guess and say that the ratio of intelligent to dumb Pinoy movies I see in a year is about half and half.”
smart consumers save the money you devote to dumb movies. they figure that they know what they need to know based on what info reaches them, decide not to spend the money on the crappy movies, thus keep the money. even if some people keep insisting hey go see this and go see that, smart consumers already know that popularity isn’t always an indication that you’ll like it as well. so for least dissonance the smart consumers simply dismiss offers and invitations that really don’t appeal to them.
good luck with wasting more money on more dumb movies.
Hear, hear!
Some people probably have too much time on their hands, which is why they can afford to watch rehashed films. I’d rather read a book or do something more interesting than watch something like Panday.
Indeed, watching these typical Filipinos movies is an insult to my intelligence. These movies are designed to make money and not art. If you want to watch a Filipino movie that moves you or does not insult your intelligence, go for the indie films, they’re 100% better than these mind numbing waste on time and money type of movies.
PARA MATAPOS ANG USAPAN:
gusto kong panoorin n’yo ang ilang mga indie films na sa aking palagay ay maganda. i’ll show you one of my films and then i’d like you to choose another from the synopsis and trailers i can present to you.
libre ito. di kayo magbabayad. posibleng makakuha ako ng libreng venue. pwede rin namang sa office ninyo. ang kailangan lang naman ay isang LCD projector at sound system. kung gusto n’yong magdala ng popcorn at tsitsirya, di ko kayo tatanggihan. bring your friends and anyone who would want to come. let’s set a time and date for this na pwede lahat. walang pilitan. kung ayaw nina Benign0 at Parallax na pumunta, ok lang. di natin sila pinipilit. pero wish ko sana sina ILDA at SPHINX ay andu’n. wish ko lang naman ‘yun.
halos 1 linggo na ako nandito. nagga-grandstanding na nga raw ako at nagiging long winded na ang mga sagot ko. ayoko nu’n. i will no longer read comments here nor reply to any. i don’t think it’s healthy anymore for me. i have a facebook page, my full name is Alemberg Ang. i may not add you up but we can exchange correspondence there just send me a message. i also have a twitter account: mister_angst. pwede rin doon though mas public siya. kung may gusto kayong pag-usapan tungkol sa indie films o anupaman, you can just reach me there. miss ILDA would have my email so the GRP people can actually email me personally. at kahit mura-murahin n’yo ako, di ko siya ilalagay sa SPAM folder. pramis!
so MISS ILDA, tara nood tayo ng sine. email mo na lang ako. at sa iba pang interesado, i-PM n’yo na lang ako. salamat sa pagbibigay buhay sa simula ng aking bagong taon! kakaibang kulay ang ibinigay n’yo.
MABUHAY ang Pelikulang Pilipino! At sana, sama-sama tayong mag-isip at gumawa ng paraan para maiangat ito. tama na dakdakan. let’s go out and make the changes we want to see.
Sayang, Mr. Ang, hindi mo na mababasa ang comments ko, pinuri pa naman kita, haha. Ako rin, nag final goodbye na kay Ilda. Nakakapagod dito at nakaka-bobo pa nga minsan, but the real work is out there. See you.
“… I will have to make a guess and say that the ratio of intelligent to dumb Pinoy movies I see in a year is about half and half.â€
“Nakakapagod dito at nakaka-bobo pa nga minsan, but the real work is out there.”
maybe if you skipped spending good money on dumb films which you admit to seeing on average, maybe hindi ka mabobobo like you do. good luck with that.
Of course they won’t accept your invitation, Alem. These people are already scared of what others might say or do to them if they expose themselves in public.
And no matter what we all say, Ilda and benign0 will never change their stands. They have already arrived to conclusions. They do not want to admit that they are wrong. They are deaf to opinions.
Plus, no matter what Ilda writes or says, benign0 will always be there to the rescue. After all, they’re both writers of Get Real, so bakit nila kokontrahin ang isa’t-isa?
It’s useless.
Sorry ka na lang, dude. Goes to show even in the numbers with which you guys descended upon our little blog, you guys exhibit a collective clulessness that comes across as quite poignant. Of course we will defend our position. So the onus is on you to present your arguments in a way that reveals the points you want to make clearly. And guess what: thinking is required in such an exercise.
@Yappie
Another red herring. It seems like a lot of the indie supporters are just scraping the bottom of the barrel just for the heck of saying something.
I nominate this for the lamest comment on this thread. This guy doesn’t even realise that we can easily delete unfavourable comments if we wanted too. But the fact that we don’t says a lot about our sportsmanship.
@Alem
Thanks for the invite. I have no problem watching your films except for lack of time. I’ll try to find a way to obtain a copy of your films on my own.
Please write down the list of the films you want me to watch. I will try to write a review when I find the time.
If you have an event or something in the future, we can even announce it on our Facebook fanpage.
I hope you do not regret being involved in this activity because it has drawn awareness of your plight to other people outside of the film industry.
Cheers!
Since the entire discussion has already gone out of hand. Let me cross some boundaries to say this.
I pity you, Ilda. I pity your children (if you have one) who will be growing up under your care. Your children who will grow up under your influence. poor them.
Actually, what is pitiful are all the children who continue to be raised and imbued with the dysfunctional Pinoy values that are reflected in Philippine cinema.
One of these dysfunctional values is the one you exhibit in that very comment you make above.
Tough luck. 😀
I pity the poor children of the Philippines who have no more chance at uplifting their status in life because not only is higher education so out of reach for them, our media, which includes television and films, do not help inspire the youth to aspire for greatness. Most of their shows and films don’t even make people think.
You are right between the eyes…. Nothing is new with our films..add to that the telenovelas, music, and almost everything is copied and remake of what they did before… It’s very disgusting and could make you puke…
Because, starting from the parents, school, and environment, there is not that much that can challenge the children to strive to create their own originalities…
Back to the movies, I like what you said that movies should mold the children’s attitude, character, and everything. And since what they see is all junk, they act, and think like junks…
And since millions of people went to see those movies, you are again right that Most Filipinos have a very SHALLOW KALIGAYAHAN and thinking. The result? WALANG ASENSO! And it reflects with their attitude…see, kaunting di pagkaunawaan, nagbabarilan, nagsasampalan, at nag-iiyakan at di matapos tapos na dramahan…. It’s just good that in the movies, people in distress learn to help one another in time of calamities, thus it also reflects during times of Sendongs….
GREAT JOB!
Thanks for the comment czar
I hope the indie filmmakers will take note.
czar
Yeah, it’s a real tragedy that we are swimming against the tide. A lot of Filipinos are still in denial about the true state of the film industry. They underestimate the intelligence of the viewers and think that the viewers can only handle slapstick and low quality films.
If you don’t introduce new concepts to Filipinos now, then when? I don’t care of I get all kinds if negative attacks for what I say. The truth needs to be said.
“A lot of Filipinos are still in denial about the true state of the film industry.”
–Well, I think it’s not about being in denial, it’s about not acknowledging, or possibly, not recognizing the gradual upward shift in the quality of the films being made, especially in the independent film scene.
People have become jaded because they have been so used to watching “crappy” films one after another. And the effect of this now in the current times is that they don’t give the new films a chance and watch them. They depend on trailers and make judgments immediately, and deduce that nothing has changed, though efforts have been made to change the system. This is the sad truth.
It is hard to change how things are run in the profit-oriented mainstream industry. And you can’t blame people if they only know of the mainstream films because that’s just the nature of things: the mainstream industry is dominant and the independent industry is overshadowed and is oftentimes ignored.
Now, if you’re going to watch a film, I recommend that you watch an independently produced film. After all, one of the reasons why the independent exists is because the mainstream is not giving them what they are truly looking for.
Watch a film from Cinemalaya, Cinema One Originals, or Cinemanila. Films produced here made me think and awed me as well because I never expected that we can make films of such caliber, that have been successful in delivering the content without compromising much on the form. Yes, they may not be perfect, but they delivered well. It is in these festivals that I have seen a GREAT change in the industry. And honestly, because of these festivals, I have high hopes for the future of the Filipino film industry.
Until we see more quality films being shown in MMFF and big cinemas on a regular basis, the impression will remain: most Filipino films don’t make us think.
The article has a valid point. End of line.
But I do find the comments very amusing. Good job, people, keep the mud fight going. I’m pretty certain nobody’s going to win, anyways. Ever heard of the phrase “you can’t please everybody”? Heh.
Thanks for the free entertainment, though. Oh, how I love how over-sensitive kiddies always turn comment boxes into venues for flame wars. It’s like Yahoo! and YouTube all over again.
And the winner is…..
Get Real Post for almost hitting 1000 comments without resolving anything. Now that is marketing. Throw in a sensitive subject based on preconceived notions, no research needed kaya nga tinawag na ka-blag. Then let all intelligence daw bask in its own glory- intelligence that will serve their ego not mankind. Take advantage of the mud fights. Sundot pa ng konti at marami pa ang sasali. Ending, ito lang yata so far out of 3 featured Glitz & Glamor section ang me pumatol, so tama na. Kikita na sila sa advertisers naka-Quota na ang mga bagets.
I spam na ang site na ito and let’s go make films kids!
@Tawe
Tingnan mo naman talaga ang ugali ng Da Pinoy.
Alem and I are already trying to have a decent discussion but you just had to butt in with your wisecrack. Real classy.
See. This is proof that the unhealthy comments were initiated by the indie supporters.
Nice one, dude!
Tsk tsk. And you guys wonder why your films don’t fly in the market. You have this quaintly pompous air of cultural superiority that makes you disdainful of hitting the trenches to market your films. And then you blame consumers for not being aware of your stuff when the onus is on your sector of the industry to increase awareness through clever marketing and promotions — it’s what businessmen do.
How can a prospective investor in your work take you seriously if said investor sees that you consider the field of marketing to be beneath you. Investors fork out money and expect a return. If they don’t see a drive in the person or entity they are investing in to do whatever it takes to make good on that return, then they will go elsewhere with their cash.
Thing with you Mr Tawe is that your comments (including the way you derail what, to me, seems to be some evidence of progress in the dialogue between Ilda and Alem) reveal the sort of character that accounts for much of the failure of the industry that you supposedly are here to defend. Ironic isn’t it? Then again, people like you have a long tradition of failing to grasp irony.
Maam! ang galing mo! naunahan mo akong tirahin tong panday 2. parang template yata yung ginamit sa ala-kraken tsaka giant Scorpion eh. nakakahiya talaga! panay nang gaya ang mga pinoy producers tapos ang lakas nang loob magsabing “tangkilikin nyo po ang sariling atin! isang obra maestra ito” nakakasuka tuloy!
It’s a shame some of the members of the Phil film industry are not even a bit disgusted about the blatant copying of ideas. I would have thought they’d be up in arms about it. They are good at turning a blind eye to this. They even hate me for talking about it.
@Alem
Putragis, pinagtiyagaan kong panoorin eto. Watching these vids to the end are a chore—para sana di masayang pera. Napa-iling nalang ako. As usual, ‘alang kakuwenta-kwenta. Corny. Aksayado sa oras. Eto na ba pinagyayabang mo?…Haynako…bulok! These films did really nothing else but celebrate human depravity and encourage pinoy fatalistic outlook or mentality.
“Haynako…bulok! These films did really nothing else but celebrate human depravity and encourage pinoy fatalistic outlook or mentality.”
and these are based on? synopsis, trailers, and inbred discussions?
You should go here – a symposium on Philippine Cinema: https://www.facebook.com/notes/roland-tolentino/a-symposium-on-philippine-film-history-and-criticism-in-honor-of-nicanor-g-tiong/211516078937045 . Venue: University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication. Date: Jan 13, 2012.
Sample ng ipe-present na paper:
“10-10:20 Jay Jomar F. Quintos: Toward a Cinema of the People
This paper aims to present the shift in the general perception of film as an imperialist apparatus to a medium of resistance and rebellion against the status quo. The independent cinema, or “indie film,†which has been around since the 1970s, is a voice for the voiceless, space for the marginalized, and weapon for the weak. It is an art form that is used by third-world filmmakers as a medium of resistance against hegemony and thus may be regarded as a cinema of the people.”
Sana makapunta ka.
Thanks for the info, Kert.
@Kert
That’s the goal at least. But the question is whether they are succeeding in realizing that goal? Nagustuhan ko lang na locally made indie yun “Minsan May Isang P-u-t-a”—yan panoorin niyo. Otherwise, mga foreign films (mainstream or indie) nalang ako.
Here Comes The Bride…
1% funny + 99% garbage = 100% FACEPALM
Don’t forget, mostly all filipino films ay may kidnapping .It is applicable to Filipino soaps/teleserye.
Most filipino films are mostly mga non brainer romantic films na puro patweetums at loveteams.
Some Filipino films that are recognized abroad or even had won awards, are usually box office flops when it will be shown in the Phils.
I have yet to hear of Filipino films that tackle our society’s issues. There are no films showing the rise of the Aquinos and their influence on the Filipino people. Somebody should make a film about how this current government is turning the Philippines into a vindictive society.
I hate it when people pretend to be critical and progressive thinkers when, in fact, they are just being a bitch. Yes, I’m talking about the pseudo-critic and author of this post.
Re: “I hate it when people pretend to be critical and progressive thinkers when, in fact, they are just being a bitch. Yes, I’m talking about the pseudo-critic and author of this post.”;
More so people who make dabog without providing a counter-argument of substantial consequence..
ohmigash. you so conyo talaga. haha.
I can’t help but agree. It’s hard to show support for something I know is a product of mediocrity.
before you skim and delete this comment please read it fully till the end. thank you
3 things for the author.
1st: “Think clearly before you state something and claim it as a fact.”
that is not just etiquette but proper journalism as well. “Hasty Generalizations” is all over your article. which is a kind of fallacy actually. and due to the overwhelming “fail” you’ve done on this article you decided to commit another fallacy. “squirelling”. Let us analyze your idea…
filipino films = sucks
sucks = not causing poeple to think
mainstream films = filipino film
indie films = filipino film
therefore mainstream films and indie films do not cause people to think.
see the logical inconsistency in your thinking?
let us look at another angle of you idealogy.
films = cultural art aimed to change our outlook(x1)
x1 = should talk about real-life issues(x2)
x2 = politics, crime, non-fiction stuff
films not adhering to this standard are already bad.
another hasty generalization. Did you know that the first moving picture was actually irrelevant, weird, and senseless? it was a video of a person sneezing.
let us look at another logical angle of your argument.
people disagree = idea is not wrong as long as (b1)
b1 = some people like it
People like it = idea is correct despite (b2)
b2 = people disagree with the idea
see how this logic is lopsided? when a third possibility is still unstated?
people like it = idea may still be wrong
the amount of people liking an idea is not a measure of its correctness or wrongness. same goes for disagreeing with it.
The point of this 1st point is simple. You hastily posted without properly re-evaluating the presuppositions that could be generalized from your own words and statements. in short. minadali. hindi gaanong pinagisipan at prinoofread.
2nd:”Experiencing is the best Immersion.”
2nd argument is direct. You can’t claim facts about a certain idea, object, or film in this matter, without first experiencing it.
No one would believe you that you found your favorite food the tastiest and best of everything else because you read about it and looked at it without eating it yet.
Please. Assumptions are not Arguments. It’s like comparing quacks and doctors. they are just not the same. They claim to be the same. but they are just not.
point here. For a critic to be objective, the critique provided should be holistic and not one-sided. meaning you need to see all the point of views before stating your stand on the matter. Its like raising war over south korea just because kim jong il(RIP) said so.
3rd and last:
“A proper idea, if not properly delivered, is not the same idea.”
honestly, I get your idea after careful analysis and backreading. but maybe it’s just me and my optimism. but the problem is not entirely on your idea or belief system. but rather on how you delivered it. as you can see, people were pushed-back by your statements which could have been stated in a clearer and less ambiguous way.
sincerely trolling.
BoyKidlat
ps. if you need another insight and a healthy discussion regarding films, you can reach me at my twitter, @akosiboykidlat
Addressing your first point:
“filipino films = sucks
sucks = not causing poeple to think
mainstream films = filipino film
indie films = filipino film
therefore mainstream films and indie films do not cause people to think.”
Your argument is valid in form, but does it address anything at hand? Check thy premises.
– The article based its conclusions within the context of the current nature of mainstream films, which comprise a big majority of the Philippine film industry. Generalization does not negate the existence of a deviation (in this case, the existence of good indie films).
– The article is simply pointing out a prevailing characteristic in Filipino society based on the de facto “face” of the film industry; the mainstream movies. A hasty generalization is simply saying that every single Filipino movie is bad, without providing a standard for drawing inferences; something the article didn’t do. It merely stated that Filipinos have generally bad tastes when it comes to the movies, a conclusion provided by mainstream films which make up most of our local film industry. Sorry if I’m being too verbose; I just want to make my statements as understandable as possible.
– The article didn’t even allude to indie films in the first place. The whole issue was entirely brought up by the critics (not that I have any grudge).
“films = cultural art aimed to change our outlook(x1)
x1 = should talk about real-life issues(x2)
x2 = politics, crime, non-fiction stuff
films not adhering to this standard are already bad.”
Uh… where’d you get that?
“people disagree = idea is not wrong as long as (b1)
b1 = some people like it
People like it = idea is correct despite (b2)
b2 = people disagree with the idea”
How did you come up with that deduction?
My point is simple. Your arguments are highly questionable to say the least.
Addressing the 2nd point:
And you can’t determine the properties of a black hole without living in it. Just kidding!
The point is that just because you haven’t watched the films yet doesn’t mean you are not capable of producing sound judgment. Of course it’s a big plus if you’ve watched the films, but upon close inspection, you can deduce the speculative nature of the article; it aims to predict based on trailers, marketing and the inelegant history of the MMFF entries. The article expects the films to be bad based on observable data.
“What else can people expect to get out of it? Not much, obviously. People are probably watching it for the eye candy.”
The article’s assertions are backed by the MMFF’s reputation; a satisfactory ground for argument. Empiricism is not the only source of knowledge and grounds for arguments. Modern physics was founded mainly on mathematics and logic. Physicists didn’t discover stuff by touching neutron stars and stuff.
Of course you can assert that the author could’ve watched the film, but that would be a red herring, as her assertions still stand despite not watching the films.
Addressing your 3rd point:
So the blame for misinterpreting the contents of the article falls solely on the author… right. I believe the author herself can provide the best response to this particular assertion of yours, but let me remind you that it is also the responsibility of the reader to take anything he reads with a grain of salt. He needs to approach things with a critical mindset.
Yours truly,
Albert Wesker
Title of the article: Filipino films: they don’t make us think
first sentence: The type of films Filipino filmmakers make reflect the type of people most Filipinos are – people lacking in substance.
not wanting to nit-pick on the nitty-gritty stuff but those there can easilly be mistaken as hasty generalization even though the focus of the article is the MMFF films.
my point is simple. I understand the reason for the the revolt in this article. But what I don’t understand is that the author, and her supporters, also played a huge part in this revolt due to ambiguity, logical inconsistencies, and squirrelling.
I do understand the article. I wouldn’t have come up with the analysis for it if I haven’t read it.
But If I were to judge this article based solely on the “title” then that would be the same as judging the entire philippine film industry based on MMFF.
ps. the second and third calculations are not based on the article but based on the assumptions stated and presented as follow up by the author.
“first sentence: The type of films Filipino filmmakers make reflect the type of people most Filipinos are – people lacking in substance.”
Which is exactly why it’s important to read the whole thing first before reacting. Not reading the whole thing and understanding its message will surely lead to misinterpretations. Not that I’m accusing you, but this just shows that it was not the author’s intention to generalize hastily.
“my point is simple. I understand the reason for the the revolt in this article. But what I don’t understand is that the author, and her supporters, also played a huge part in this revolt due to ambiguity, logical inconsistencies, and squirrelling.”
They were rebutting the arguments from the critics. Normal cycle in the world of ideas. I can’t speak on behalf of my fellows here, but their arguments in my point of view are, so far, sound.
“But If I were to judge this article based solely on the “title†then that would be the same as judging the entire philippine film industry based on MMFF.”
Nice analogy, but no. The former is “hasty generalization.” The latter is drawing an inference to get a a rough estimate of things based on the major component of the Philippine film industry (MMFF and mainstream films). It’s just a “generalization.” To reiterate, a generalization does not negate the existence of a deviation.
“ps. the second and third calculations are not based on the article but based on the assumptions stated and presented as follow up by the author.”
I figured as much. Well, the author is the only who can sufficiently address those accusation of yours.
*the author is the only one
*accusations
Sorry, I just can’t help but edit my posts for typos. 😛
I’d rather watch foreign films (Japanese mainly) if I want to watch quality films. I agree in every line you said. And sad to say, it doesn’t only reflect in the Philippine movie scene, it also happens on TV (dramas, shows, sitcoms, even the news).
Everything in the Philippines belongs to swindles now.
ps. Film industries is not a case of 80% bad apples and 20% good apples.
Its more like 80% of coal and 20% diamonds.
If you keep looking at the coal you will surely miss out the gems.
It’s just saddening to see and hear people downing our own industry when the rest of the world is praising it already. talk about “Crab Mentality” and “Elitista Mentality”.
Haha, snide remarks won’t get you anywhere hotshot.
Anyway, just to clarify; if international film authorities praise indie films, are they praising the whole Philippine film industry in general?
question:
if international film authorities do not praise all filipino films does that mean all filipino films are bad?
your arguing with logical loopholes again.
non of your argument is mutually exclusive.
the point is simple.
the basic argument of the opposition(you) is that all filipino films, including indies, are generally bad apples.
which is clearly contradictory in nature because you, yourself accepted the fact that indie films are praised internationally.
never deal with absolutes unless you can properly defend it. DEAL WITH THIS.
“if international film authorities do not praise all filipino films does that mean all filipino films are bad?”
Oh? You’re putting words in my mouth? :3
“which is clearly contradictory in nature because you, yourself accepted the fact that indie films are praised internationally.”
Oh? Do you understand the word “generally?” Your point of contention makes it look like I used the word “all.” 8D
“never deal with absolutes unless you can properly defend it. DEAL WITH THIS.”
Wow. So bold… 8D
Swak na Swak!
Hi Ilda,
Just saw your article from Tumblr.
I’m a mainstream girl ever since. I only watched two good indie films (Ang babae sa septic tank and six degrees of separation by lilia cuntapay) and it made me love Indie films. I have read the comments here and made me realise how shallow my so-called love for indie films is.
So this comment is really not related to the above article (and I dare not to comment about it) but more like of an inquiry. Could you give me a list of the indie films that you like? as well as the writers behind it. (this query goes out to ALL the people who may came across my post)
I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Better late than never…
@Len
Thanks for the comment.
May I ask why you want a list from me?
Len, just skim through all the comments here. Search particularly for YouTube links that connect to the trailers.
@len
don’t bother asking from them. they haven’t watched anything because it’s bad for their health and self-esteem and over-all fashion sense. JK!
if your looking for good indie films check out Cinemalaya, CineMagis, MindanaoFilmFest, CinemaOne Originals. there is a lot of sources. too bad it’s too “indie” for the close-minded “elitist”‘s taste. *cough* but I think you’ll like what you’ll find.
@boykidlat
Thanks for the response. I feel somehow important. hehe. I also saw your twitter, I’ll follow you later.
of course you are important. everyone is supposed to be important and not given unfair judgement before getting to know that person first. *wink*
Indie films are starting to flourish, thanks to the directors who create art for art’s sake. give them the financial support and they’ll create much better films, in my opinion. sad to say, some of the mainstream movies are already ingrained in the pop culture of our masa that movie producers do not even try recreating them for them to sell to people. shake rattle and roll, ohmygosh. it does show our myths, filipino tales and culture, but it does not elevate them into something more substantial. and by substantial, i mean take for example ang panggagahasa kay fe, which still shows our very own kapre but elevating it. what producers are afraid of is that they won’t make money. sadly, it’s a greater priority for most of them. the more tickets they sell, the better their movie is. and some people argue that it’s also the filipinos’ fault that producers make these films, it’s because they continue watching them. i think producers are in the better position change the perspective of filipinos with films. theyre the ones responsible to recreate our culture in filmmaking.
The last time I watched a tagalog film was Rizal. Ever since then, Filipino movies keeps on going down the drain. As a customer, how will the indie film makers reach their movies to the general audiences? Because all I can see from movie houses are movies made by big companies that always doesn’t make sense. Their movies always makes us “think” with our emotions rather than our brains. I agree with the author that generally, our films are crap.
Ang Babae sa Septic Tank reached the general audience. that’s one step. but quite often, people watch these films without really knowing what’s it about. would people know that the said film is a satire of how movie producers exploit the lives of poor filipinos? i don’t think they watched it because of that. it’s a vicious cycle of blaming who’s fault it really is why most our mainstream movies are devolving. to be fair, hollywood still produces crappy movies once in a while. but i think that ‘once in a while’ is how often we produce good movies. can’t compare it with hollywood though. but really. i think one of the biggest reasons why we haven’t reached the ‘art for art’s sake’ in films is that producers want to make money. they’ll just tell us all that art for art’s sake is bullcrap. the general audience likes it. but i beg movie producers to create something new, something substantial.
@haw
I wondered one thing about the “Rizal” movie. Why did there have to be a scene with the “prayle” and the devotee in bed? I mean, what significance did it serve really in the portrayal of Rizal’s life? There were other ways to show the “evil” that were the prayles other than that, yet they opted for that direction… odd for me.
As for indie films making a profit, well, I always wondered, why no local indie film director/producer has posted FOR FREE a indie short online. It could be 5 minutes, 10 minutes to 15 minutes. I’ve seen numerous channels by groups/directors/producers that continuously churn out quality content.
Not only is it a way to expand to an online audience their craft, there can also be a critique there from the audience as well as other film makers of the same. The revenue for “popular” channels would come from the ads being shown before the actual video is played or the ones posted on the side of the page.
An example I posted in one of my comments here is Scarlet’s Witch by fcrabbath. They have churned out more than 100 indie films/shorts on youtube and still continue to do so.
But other than that, you could see how they do the filming and even editing the film. It is still not perfect but way better even compared to mainstream .
I’ve already posted some links as to CG animations done for free by artists/directors/etc as well as effects driven live action ones and they are still of high caliber.
They are just out there, available on youtube. And they keep on continuing their works. I just hope to sample a local one there someday that is of the same caliber or better. Can’t help it, it’s where I get my alternative to mainstream media fix nowadays and it has how it has become today.
I guess, we’re talking about the Rizal film starring Cesar Montano. That scene is based on a huge revelation in Noli me Tangere. It’s what happened before the events in the novel.
Got it? Or do I have to give spoilers? (Although I don’t think you haven’t read Noli yet.)
Yup. Well, for me, since it was meant to be shown to everyone, then I would have preferred that they need not put in that part and depict it differently other than in an intimate moment.
I guess I was just taken aback by that scene and my mind was just going “TMI” although my mind already knew some prayles did do it back in the day.
I agree with almost all of the points Ilda wrote in this blog – all but one.
Granted that all the entries in this year’s MMFF (actually even the previous entries in the previous years) are, for lack of a better word, worthless, NOT ALL Filipino films are “a total waste of the people’s time and money.”
Several, countless even, Filipino directors have made their mark/s in the Indie Film Industry creating films that does not insult our intellectual capabilities. These films, as opposed to ‘Enteng ng Ina Mo’, ‘Segunda Mano’, ‘Panday 2’, etc. can be considered “cultural artifacts that reflect our culture and, in turn, affect us and our outlooks towards life.”
@ Doc Dan
Hi sir. I think what I would only like to disagree with you is the word ALL was never a concept that was indicated in the article/opinion/blog.
It does not discredit the Indie Film Directors or mainstream Directors who really try to make a difference.
But as you can also speculate, it is also the MAINSTREAM that MOST AUDIENCES defer to for references.
Cheers!
Hmmm…countless?
@Ilda
After reading your response, the redneck voice (no racist intentions meant) in me just wanted to say:
“Nah that’s jes funny right dur.” =)
Just wanted to say it.
lol
And some people have the nerve to tell me not to generalize. Tsk.
Apologies to all those I have not responded to. I also have a life so I have limited time to respond to all of you. I appreciate your effort and will try to get back to you.
Short comments are preferred over long winded comments, please. Thanks
Mya napansin lng din akong kulang s mga films ntin ngayun, ung soundtrack ng mga films ntin ngayun, kahit s US ung mga indie films nila dun kahit papano meeron yang mga soundtrack, example n dyn ung “500 days of summer” which i think is one of the best films of 2009 when it was released. Isa kaya sa tumutulong sa pagpaganda ng mga pelikula eh ung soundtrack. Dito puro cover n lng ginagawa natin s mga foreign songs na ginagawa nilang title s mga films nila. Wala nang original music.
I JUST WANNA ASK WHAT DO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THAT WOULD QUALIFY AS A GOOD FILIPINO FILM?
We’ve been commenting on the subject for how many days already. I WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWERS.
@musicman
It’s not the WHAT, it’s the HOW. People have different taste in films. What you like might not be the same as what I like. So it is pointless for me to list down all the films that would qualify as good. But as long as it is original, with a good storyline, dialogue and cinematography, it would be qualify as good.
So it’s more about the quality of how a film was made. Which is why I don’t understand why some people have been demanding that I list down all the films that I like. It is beside the point of the article.
nagtatanong ang mga tao kung ano yung mga pelikulang iyong nagustuhan ay dahil nais nilang malaman kung saan nag-ugat ang pagbubuod mo na “Filipino films: they don’t make us think”
nais lamang nilang malaman kung ano ba talagang pelikula ang pinag-isip ka, anong pelikula ang nais mo.
minsan kasi hindi din kasalanan ng mga film makers iyan. minsan nakakahon ang dapat gawin ng mga direktor halimbawa dahil sa pagpupumilit ng mga producer o artista na pumatok sa takilya ang gagawin nilang pelikula. halimbawa na lang ang nangyari kay Tikoy Aguiluz sa Asiong Salonga kung saan ang likha niya ay nabago sa pagpupumilit ng producer/artista
Are you saying that Filipino films do make us think?
@Ilda
That’s not what Vinci was trying to imply. Just answer the question on what films do you like/ have had an impact on you. Because by doing so we the readers will get to have an idea on what you mean by “films that make you think.” It’s not enough for you to say “as long as it is original, with a good storyline, dialogue and cinematography, it would be qualify as good.” Cite a list of films, or even just 2 or 3 films that made you think (heck, give one film okay na yun), then let’s analyze from there on.
Let’s just wait for Vinci to clarify what she means. I already said earlier that her request is not relevant to the point of the article.
Okay lang, hindi na, we don’t need to wait for Vinci to clarify, ako na mismo ang curious sa kung anong pelikula ang tumatak sayo. Ang dami kasing aspeto ng pelikula ang pwedeng mapag-usapan, form-wise and content-wise, kaya maganda na maging specific na tayo from hereon. What film made you think?
Marami and I don’t have the time to list them down. Why can’t you accept that it’s beside the point?
I quite agree that the mentioned films were bad. REALLY BAD! But to generalize that Filipino Films don’t make us think seems jumpy. Film as an art form caters to our senses, like walking into a gallery and looking at paintings. Our Film industry has its hits and misses, just like ANY films produced anywhere. There are GOOD films, there are BAD films, and the moment that we decide that what we are watching is crap is a critical THINKING process. To sum it all up, Filipino films makes us THINK and discern which ones are good and worthy of our time.
@Joni
Hits? According to who? Indeed, Enteng ng Ina Mo was a hit to people who lack substance.
I do make a conscious decision not to watch rehashed films. You do agree with what I said my article after all.
@joni: what separates a smart consumer from the not is how the former thinks BEFORE spending her money on something, NOT AFTER.
if filipinos thought of spending money judiciously that way, sellers and producers would shape up. right now, they get rich selling pinoys crap.
some people don’t realize that apart from art and entertainment, film-making is also a business. and for a business to succeed, producers won’t just make movies out of sheer desire to produce artistic ones. rather, they produce taking into consideration the taste of moviegoers. i guess it boils down to education. we can walk through the whole nine-yard of this discussion, but in retrospect it is easy as saying: bad education produces crap taste; and if you got bad taste… well, you do the math.
Dami nyong cnsabi. gawa kaya kayo ng sarili nyong entry.
people have better things to do.
[like]
ilda makes a good case. the matter in question is idiots supporting idiotic movies ..
Hindi ka lang naman papasok ng sinehan para mag isip. 90% of the time, papasok ka ng sinehan para mag enjoy/malibang/mag relax.Katarantaduhan na siguro kung sa tuwing papasok ka ng sinehan sasabihin mo sa sarili mo “Andito ako para mag mental exercise”. Hindi ako laging nanonood ng pelikula, mapa indie man o tagalog o foreign pero isa lang naman ang goal ko tuwing papasok ng sinehan (na siguradong goal din lahat ng manonood) : gusto ko lang mag enjoy at kalimutan ang stress ko sa trabaho. Aminin na natin, minsan nakakapagod mag isip lalo na kung masyado kang madaming iniisip. Hindi ko to sinasabi para sa sarili ko, dahil kung titignan mo ang karamihan ng mga tao sa atin, karamihan sa amin, hindi petiks mode. Krisis ang buhay. Kaya sana wag na natin masyado gawin komplikado. Hindi ko rin ito sinasabi dahil ayaw ko mag isip. Hindi na rin siguro ako nag trabaho at nagpaka tambay na lang ako kung ayaw ko.
Ang gugulo nyo eh. Sa bandang huli naman, hindi naman big deal sa amin kung napatawa o napaiyak o napa bobo kami nung pelikula.
Hindi naman masama yung may logic. Hindi din naman lahat ng bagay dapat may sense. Movies = entertainment at kung gusto namin mag mental bungee jumping mag susudoku na lang kami.
Sana ang pinag didiskusyonan nyo e kung bakit mahal manood ng sine at pano ba magiging abot-kaya ng masa ang manood para kahit papano mabawasan ang piracy. Maganda pa siguro yung epekto sa industriya ng film dahil mas kikita sila sa palagay ko (dahil mas marami ng manonood at hindi aasa sa “hintayin ko na lang yung pirated, mas mura pa.” May maganda ring magagawa para sa konsumer dahil sa wakas makakapanood na din kami ng magandang quality na film (yung walang may biglang tatayo sa screen at biglang mawawala yung isang scene. malabong kopya. tabingi yung kuha sa sinehan.) Para kasi sa mga taong kagaya ko, imbes na ipang sine ko, ipambibili ko na lang ng makakain ng pamilya ko at aaminin ko nanonood ako ng pirated films dahil mas mura na, kaya ko pang ulit ulitin.
Sinasabi mo ms ilda na walang substance ang filipino films, ergo, walang substance ang nanonood. Pasalamat ka na lang at sa internet ka nag post nito, Dahil kung sa madla mo nilabas to, dun sa madla na nag eenjoy ng sinasabi mong walang substance na filipino films, tignan natin kung saan mapupunta yang “substance” mo kuno. puro ka reklamo, ano ba nagawa ng reklamo mo? napapaunlad mo ba yang kapwa mo. Sa totoo lang hindi nakakatulong yung post mo, well, makakatulong din siguro. Pero sa kabuuan nanginsulto ka lang ng kapwa mo Pinoy.
Speak for yourself, thank you very much.
Sana nga mas marami pang makakita. Paki kalat na lang. 😉
actually kinalat ko na sa opisina namin hanggang sa mga kakilala ko sa NCCA. napapa face palm na lang mga tao sa post na ito. hindi convincing. pano mo susuportahan ang post mo ni hindi ka nga nanonood ng filipino films? niyayaya kayo ng mga film enthusiasts na manood para naman kahit papano maging kapanipaniwala ang pag “critique” mo kuno at may basehan ang mga paratang at reklamo nyo. hindi pang masa ang post mo. at masyado mong minamaliit ang sarili mong lahi. nakakahiya ka at ang mga followers na nagpapaka elitista. get real philippines pa pala ang website na to? kung magagaling kayo edi kayo gumawa ng pelikula. puro kayo reklamo. kaya bumagsak ang industriya ng pelikula dahil sa mga katulad mo na kahit minsan at hindi ata sumubok manood kahit man lang ng cinemalaya. ikaw ang naglulugmok sa sarili mong kalahi. kaya anong karapatan mong magreklamo? hindi nga din kami masyadong nanonood ng pelikula pero hindi kami kagaya mo na tila walang kabusugan sa buhay. at least kami kahit papano, kahit pakonti-konti nasusubukang makipila sa sinehan kahit sa ccp makapanood lang ng mga pelikulang inaakusahan mong trapo. at sa maniwala ka man o sa hindi may mga pelikulang pilipino na mapag iisip ka. hindi mo siguro napanood yung Boundary o ng babae sa septic tank o kaya ng dinig sana kita. wala akong alam sa indie pero pano ko kaya nalaman na may ganitong palabas? dahil gumawa yung mga indie film makers ng paraan para umabot sa masa.
at uulitin ko. (at hindi lang to galing sa akin. pati na rin sa mga kakilala kong nakabasa ng post mo.) Nakakahiya ka.
Hindi kelangang panoorin ang mga pelikulang gawa sa Pinas. Sa treyler palang halata na agad na walang kwenta. Ba’t pa ako gagastos sa produkto na sa advertisement pa lang halata nang walang kwenta. At isa pa, kung ganun talaga kaganda ang pelikulang Pinoy, e di may nagrekumenda na sana sa akin na panoorin ito. E ano nakikita natin dito, mga taong tulad mo ang nagrerekomenda. Paano kaya ako gaganahang manuod?
Ganun lang kasimple yan ‘day. Kung maganda talaga ang produkto di na kelangang piliting panoorin. At ang pangit na produkto ay di kelangang kainin para tawaging pangit kung sa amoy palang e laglag na buhok mo sa kilikili.
@ benignO
unang una hindi ikaw ang kausap ko.
“E ano nakikita natin dito, mga taong tulad mo ang nagrerekomenda. Paano kaya ako gaganahang manuod?”
– e anong nakikita natin dito? mga napaka judgmental ng mga tao kagaya mo. sino gusto mo magrekomenda? Presidente ng Bansa? sino ka ba? napaka special mo ba para pakiusapan kang manood? at para lang malaman mo hindi ka pinipilit na manood. sinasabi lang namin na bago ka manghusga sana inaalam mo muna yung hinuhusgahan mo. napaka superficial ng trailer. bakit hindi ka magbasa ng reviews para malaman mo kung maganda nga. ganun ka na ba kahirap para hindi man lang sumubok manood kahit isang pelikula lang? may oras ka para pumuna ng isang bagay na sa totoo lang wala kang kaalam alam.
nababasa mo ba yang sinusulat mo malignO? este benignO? hindi ka ba kinikilabutan sa sinasabi mo? mga hirit yan ng mga salot sa lipunan eh.
nakaka awa kayo. dahil umpisa pa lang ng post na to alam na ng lahat na puro basura lang ang sinasabi nyo. walang kredibilidad ang pagpuna ng isang taong walang kaalam alam sa pinupuna nya.
Sori ka na lang ‘day, ako kausap mo na ngayon.
Spesyal talaga ako na di pwedeng pakiusapang manood ng pelikula ng kung sinu-sino lang – dahil di lang kung sinu-sino lang ang pinagkakatiwalaang kong magrekomenda ng paraan ng pagkakagastusan ng aking oras at kwarta.
Siguro para sa mga tipikal na Pinoy na katulad mo, di talaga mauunawaan ang ganyang kasimpleng konsepto. Dahil talagang makitid ang pag-iisip ng mga tipikal na Pinoy. Kaya nga ang kikitid ng mga type na cine ng mga Pinoy at kaya tuloy panay basura ang pinagkaka-abalahang i-produs ng industriya. Hanay lang sa ugali ng manonood.
Salot nga talaga ng bayan. Mga ugaling tipikal na Pinoy ang salot. 😀
Masyadong kang nahihiya para sa akin/amin. Don’t worry. I’m not worried. Mas nakakahiya kasi ang mga pelikulang pinapalabas sa sinehan.
The films do not represent me and I do not like the way some of the filmmakers represent the Filipinos to the world. I’d like to think that most Filipinos are not loud and crass but they are always being depicted that way in most Filipino films.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: complaining is good. Complaining is a way of giving feedback about a particular work or product. Now that the filmmakers know what some audience want, they can hopefully improve on their craft and make even better films.
You are free to give your money away but don’t force other people to do the same.
Ok. Sige na.
hmm may i but in? well speaking like a communication theorist because i am taking up ab mass communication. well first of all we already know that media now is not anymore about art, it’s all about the papers or what we call money. well as we can see, yes you are saying the truth and i agree with you but did you know that any type of communication can form our subconscious mind and according to Marshall Mcluhan “we shape our tools and they in turn shape us”.
Sorry about replying to a very old post but this comment really made me laugh. Sir, just to say people think everyday, there is no such thing as “not thinking”(well maybe for you:D). Its true that people go to the movies to sit back and relax but you cannot just throw thinking out of the game. Thinking is automatic for most people (I dont know for you though); you think even though you do not want to think; you think even without knowing it @.@ so it is extremely important that the things we do, including watching movies, will make us think.
Now this…things that do not make sense is…? (I’ll leave it to you to fill in the blanks)
Now i agree with Ilda on this matter:D. Filipino movies are too predictable. Filipino producers and directors create these movies for the sake of doing it. They think they give honor and pride to the Philippines, but they dont. Believe me producers have this habit of thinking they have done a great job even though they did not.
Sir, i hope that you THINK before posting something.
How many times did i write the word THINK? xD
AY SIR TULOY. MAM PALA:D PEACE:D DI KO TINIGNAN UNG PANGALAN XD
You prove Ms. Ilda’s point, milady; your useless rant is evidence to the fact that some Filipinos are truly shallow and superficial.
You reflect the poor standard of the Filipino society. I can say this because I have seen better. And looks like you don’t know the fine line between good and bad movies. Speaking about movies, movies are not all glitter and sparkle; movies are much more. It makes you think, its like a puzzle; without it, is boring and that’s the trick on how we can say it is boring. That my dear is the real thrill of the movie. And the verdict is….Filipino movies sucks. Why? because it is made for people like you that is appealed to simpleness or rather to SIMPLETONS. You are one of the typical Pinoys, closed-minded. Try reading “Filipinos are not book lovers” that I read in highschool, which Im currently still in. You’ll find yourself there! I recommend it!
There’s a definition for people that protect their own country in spite of its countless flaws, people who ignore the dirt on their faces just because they are in fact their own fellow countrymen. They immediately become angered when the truth is thrown at their face or maybe they think it is an insult because they are not aware of their own flaws. People need to open their eyes and see the cruel reality being spoon-fed to them.
I know Im being a bit cynical on Filipinos here but that’s just the truth.
Viewers of Bad quality movie
= Bad quality people
PERIOD
Viewers of bad quality movies
= Bad quality people
Persistent viewing of bad quality
nonesense movies for the sake of fun
and not appreciating its art
= The obvious shallowness of mind
greatly expressed in the laughs
Try watching movies from Vietnam
Thailand, Malaysia
Cinematography alone
would shift Filipino viewers
Bakit andaming nanood ng ONGBAK?
ng Thailand?? kahit walang subtitle
pinanood?
SIMPLE.. it has a good story
and showcases the Thai martial arts
and the value of respect for nature
animals etc..
Ano ba tema ng typical Pinoy movie?
Wala katatawanan.
PANSAMANTALANG.. TAKAS SA HIRAP NG BUHAY
” Hindi pelikulang tulong para solusyonan ito ”
Sino man babatikos sa komento ko
ay isang mababaw at MANGMANG at INUTIL
OO MANGMANG at INUTIL PA
Kahit ang mga bansang mas mahirap
sa Pilipinas
ay nakakagawa ng makabuluhang pelikula
Pinoy movie
Cinematography at Acting BAGSAK NA!
Pano pa ung TEMA ng ISTORYA?!
Mag ISIP!?! Ay oo nga pala
You DONT LIKE THAT!..
Kaya di umuunlad ang bansa.
Tamad kayo mag isep.. PWEH!
tama! walang sense mga films ngayon! kaya kung sa trailer pa lang pangit na, what’s the use? mabuti pa yung may theme talaga, tulad nuong aishitemasu, blue moon, rizal…yung may sense..dahil hindi lang love story ang pinapakita, may history pa. mas maganda kapag ginawang pelikula yung mga librong nanalo ng Palanca Awards.
not all films that hollywood cough out are citizen kanes, like all those films that rip off other films, and dont even get me started on twilight, BUT nonetheless you raise a very good point about this sheepishness that we Filipinos have, too easy to manipulate, its almost funny.
2 cents, please dont hate haha 🙂
That already goes without saying. But they have more good films than bad. Likewise, even their rehashed and sequels are still better than ours. And besides, the article is about Filipino films not American films.
“But they have more good films than bad. Likewise, even their rehashed and sequels are still better than ours.”
There are film criticism courses offered in some films schools in the country. Then you’ll learn that there’s much more you can learn from the statement I cited.
Things aren’t always as they seem. There’s a big difference between content and form.
Ok. Something is definitely wrong when people keep mistaking this post for a film review. FYI, it is an article about the state of the Philippine film industry in general.
You might need to take a course in Understanding the point 101.
I agree with this article. Most of the films stated on this article are crap. Some are just sequels of a very used (and abused) films and/or tv series. Nakakatamad na minsan panoorin dahil paulit ulit lang yung format at takbo ng story and most of the time, start pa lang ng movie pero alam mo na yung ending.
Pero maganda ngang tanong yun: What movies made you/us think? Since most filipino films don’t really make us think, what movies made you think?
Off the top of my head, one film that made me think: The Road with Viggo Mortensen.
oh no nagkakamali ka ate..mas madami silang pangit na films….
Wow what a post! It’s interesting how I read a lot of different perspectives. I like films that speak to me, and even television can speak well with both my heart and mind. Just don’t assume that because a lot of people here don’t watch any filipino film they would turn to the crap of hollywood. I have not watched even a Hollywood film since 2001. The film I watched was just Monsters Inc. because I was ten and having fun with my lil’ cousins. And the only even time that persuaded me to watch another one was in 2008 because of ‘The Dark Knight’, because, apparently, it’s creating so much buzz worldwide even in Australia, where I’m currently living. The draw to that film was just universal- and though it divided people to turning into catfights just because…it succeeded in sparking up debates on its ideas on the hero problem and well of its technichal aspects (I even hear American film fans bemoaning the degradation of their cinema- so it’s also a universal problem). The end of a decade of great American cinema was the start of the 2000s. Some great works from their last decade doesn’t constitute great filmmaking of the overall industry. Even some of their indie fans complain about the lack of creativity in form or storyline in their non-hollywood films- and how they’re also recycling stuff too. So, I’m being fair here for pointing these out. And the funny thing is, life sucks for the gen y person like me. Perhaps these lacklustre form of films reflect the attitudes of today’s society in general? I can’t even communicate with people around my age. I talk to people who are well around in their late 20s, 30s even 60 year olds. There’s just something shallow, self-absorbed, non-reflective about my generation. Perhaps why I resort to watching old films and music (never bought into the Backstreet boys and the Britney Spears around the time they were hitting high). My family likes watching those John Hughes films i.e. Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Home Alone 1 and 2, or The Terminator 1 and 2. They don’t like much of today’s pop culture (the overexposure of sex in the form of Bratz dolls is beyond appalling). They even laugh at JLO chick films which are baduy and can be comparable to our cheesy light flicks.
I know a little bit of Anne Curtis’ family and some relatives here in Australia. I even met her sister who’s really nice and down-to-earth. i didn’t even know her sister was a star until i watched this film ‘And Cute ng Ina Mo’. And my GOSHNESS! She was a terrible actress and the whole film (from a cousins’ place in the tube) that ran through was just cringeworthy and so awkward. It did not even grudge a laughter except of course, her sister and her cousins.
Well, they’re really great people, but that doesn’t mean Anne is to be held in great esteem in terms of acting skills. Because that film really traumatised me from watching any other local mainstream flicks that has come out since. So this validates further Ilda’s point on why these films don’t make us think. That film alone could hurl me out of a room like a tornado because it was just so baduy and beyond awkwardness. OK she’s forgiven for that because I could see some potential there but the horrible storyline, dialogue and directing perhaps killed that potential in that film. I don’t even know if she’s still acting in films? Then again, I don’t update myself with film cinema generally these days. I just believe it’s not worth it. I am also not fond of Korean dramas and music (Ah cry me a river, over…YOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!!! Hehehe). Melodrama schtick of any form is beneath me. And music is like Britney Spears minus the overexposure of sex and more scary cutesyness. What’s scarier are even their fans, who are downright deluded, and would give anyone a death threat for insulting their fave cutesy stars and musicians. Well, I’ve gone really OT but at least you get the idea of why some of us can’t be bothered pulling our bums out to go see one of our own films.
@Christy
Thanks for your input. It’s obvious that you get my point. It’s quite disturbing though that some people cannot seem to understand a simple concept. They can’t even accept that I have a busy lifestyle, which is part of the reason why I would not spend any precious time on something like SRR13.
Tonight I will be watching I am love with Tilda Swinton. 🙂
i love planes, trains, & automobiles! especially the pillow scene. 😛
Every year, I always try to watch at least one entry from the MMFF. I’ve enjoyed all of Ai-Ai’s past Tanging Ina movies but will not watch the new one in the big screen. I saw last year’s Panday, and yes, it’s very cheesy and crappy, and yes, I also question how Bong Revilla could schedule everything, including monitoring his half-brother’s murder case. I failed to watch Rosario — that was one film I really wanted to watch. This year, I watched Asiong Salonga — which made me think that there is a very thin line (or if there’s any line at all) dividing showbiz and politics in our country. I did not really like Asiong Salonga, but it did make think: MMFF gets crappier as the years go by.
One MMFF film that really moved me though was Filipinas.
lol
filipino films before edsa revolution are the superior films i.e. batch ’81, kakabakakaba ka ba, itim, and the like…i like these films much…i see your point, ma’am…current filipino films are cliches…i’m very unfortunate that i was not born earlier…the last time i went at the theater was when my family forced me to join them watching ENTENG NG INA MO…i thought, i wasted 2 and a half hours of my life…the asiong salonga film though made me think…
I would also like to address the problem with our cinema in both indie and mainstream. Portrayals of people (upper and lower classes) are simplistic and especially with the portrayals of people who are underprivileged. I somehow feel that the lower classes are depicted as if in the same brush. Aren’t middle class to lower middle classes not interesting enough for these filmmakers? These filmmakers who keep making simplistic portrayals of these ‘poor’ should stop this class vouyerism. That’s all I have to say.
The films simply do not make us think.
Try to read this article guys (link below), maybe it will help you understand what Ilda is trying to say. There are too many haters here, maybe it’s just because of the way she has written it but we still can’t deny the fact that most filipino movies are really getting lousier each year.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/21488/jessica-zafra-last-word-on-the-mmff—an-audience-held-hostage?
I know. They tried to embarrass me and others who agree with me but it’s their own bad behaviour on show, actually.
This article is not just about one film. It’s about the ENTIRE Philippine film industry.
The problem with all these people who are offended by this article is PERCEPTION. They view this as an attack against Filipinos. NO, IT IS NOT!
It’s a critique of the consumerism, bad products vs hard-earned money, “puwede na ‘yan” mentality, and the way the film industry cares more about their income rather than making quality films. IT IS NOT AN INSULT TO THE FILIPINO MOVIEGOER’S INTELLECT, TASTE, OR SENSE OF NATIONALISM.
We, the people who support this article, are not questioning the creativity and talent of Filipinos! All over the world, there are Filipinos who demonstrate how creative, smart, and talented they are. From science, math, entertainment, to whatever field they are in, THERE IS NO ARGUING THAT FILIPINOS ARE, AND CAN BE CREATIVE!
Our gripe with the whole MMFF thing is that it’s driven by CORPORATE GREED, and not by the desire to entertain Filipinos with films that evoke emotions, intellectually stimulate, and be an overall good movie while inspiring creativity and pushing the entire industry to make better films!
It could be argued that this is an idealistic view. BUT it could also be argued that one can make a film with idealistic motivations limited by realistic conditions/boundaries AS BEST AS HE CAN, and without compromising the quality of the film!
And to those who are still against this article, DO NOT TELL ME THIS CANNOT BE DONE. If you do, then you are saying that the Filipino is not talented or creative enough to circumvent these limitations in order to create a quality product that is also internationally competitive!
Why settle for “puwede na” when you can get “puwedeng, puwede talaga”?
@Vanilla
Thank goodness for more people with common sense speaking out. We could have used your input last week when all these “offended parties” were insisting that I should watch Shake Rattle and Roll 13 first before writing this article. Never mind that they do agree that most Filipino films don’t make us think anyway.
shake rattle and roll is a good movie….
what makes it bad is that mediocre na kasi mga tao eh. may nagsasabi he goes to the movies to keep himself entertained and keep the stress off, and then what? pagkatapos nyan, me masasabi ba xa? sa mga films that make one think, ang sarap i-narrate sa iba, kasi may sense, at nandon ang emotions. tapos, sa isip mo, parang tsinachallenge ka minsan kun ano ang dapat mong gawin sa buhay mo after watching that film. films with impact kumbaga…
Just like everything here. It all boils down to politics. That’s why most writers and (good) directors go indie. There are a lot of creative people here in our country. We just lack support because it’s not what the “masses” would want, or understand for that matter.
Yes, we don’t go to theaters to “think” we go for leisure. But isn’t reading a good book considered a leisure too?
How many times have i seen an “action star” hold a gun wrong. i.e. a calibre .45 straight in the cheeks. As if it was a sniper rifle. Good luck doing that in real life. Or a female “kontrabida” in a teleserye coming up to 9 people and they all run away when they could have just ganged up on her. Simple things that seem to insult the audiences i.q.
Movies should be created to incite ideas. To affect and open up ideas to the viewers, even when we aren’t asking for it. Why did this happen? What’s the deeper meaning? or… I know how that feels. Things like that.
The biggest problem is the sort of ideas that supposedly inspire the viewer. Because having seen ‘The Caregiver’ or something like ‘Bagong Buwan’, aren’t much of an idea that’s really exploded into other ideas than presenting yet another picture which I have seen in some other film before. I really don’t like filmmakers who keep going back to the likes of Brocka to make such ‘important’ films. What I would like to see is a mature film, and not something obviously made by a film student, that makes up a character that has nuance and speaks sensibly, who is a mature person when he/she deals with his/her situation, show that this character is paired sensibly with the other right characters (that is, avoid miscasting them, in general). Be specific in what they are, and don’t make events unfold for me as if just episodic and choppy, create something whose values go beyond any stamp of whatever a ‘pinoy’ is (here’s another flaw I feel that it has to be that certain pinoy immature attitude that I gotta see onscreen).
You know why Wong Kar Wai films affect me much? Or any Ozu film for that matter? Well, it’s certainly not because I have affinity for the Chinese culture or Japanese culture, which to the viewer supposedly, is very irrelevant.
An engaging narrative has to at least elevate beyond nationalistic tones and onto an atmosphere that is more universal, but should surprise, amuse the viewer in such a way that makes one view it maturely and intelligently. In this way, it might help a filipino viewer expand in his/her Weltanschuung, and that will never come to be unless we overcome this nationalistic mode mentality, which doesn’t even speak truth to all. The masa spoken of might learn something for once, I believe, when you give them a new refreshing idea and an outlook that actually would enlighten.
(Haha I like this topic too much and I can’t shut up about it because I do care about changes in our film industry, weird or what?)
It’s not that the Philippines does not have good films, it’s just that, somewhere along the way, we’ve stopped making great films. Despite crappy rom-coms and rip-off fantasies, keep in mind that we do have films like “Perfumed Nightmare” (Kidlat Tahimik); “Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag” and who can forget Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal? So I guess what we have to think about is how can our films reflect a genuine Filipino experience. But don’t get me started on “A Mother’s Story” because “Anak” already did its job.
Also, the audience, the “masa”, is not inertly stupid. It’s a kind of stupidity conditioned by an industry and (surprise!) by ourselves. If we can make the audience think, who knows what great things a Filipino can do?
i just have to comment on this one! i love filipino movies… WHEN I WAS STILL 10!!! damn it its been 19 years and still these movie plot are still the same!! you make sense ilda, alot of sense!!
cheers and keep posting!!
You have common sense, francis.
Agree.
you need a new one, then send me a mail and i will tell you. this is much different from a conventional phil movie but it may have something interesting with a treasure hunting of our history being at this present country. So much pf our history were altered that the present philippines doesn’t know. it is the freemasonry agenda…. Where is the Biggest Invisible Statue of Liberty in the world, that is the puzzle…facebook account, Carlodelio Ramos
may you be interested if I tell you that sites of Great Treasures left by the WW1 & 2 might be released when the people get ideas on the guidelines that I may reveal. I want movie companies to promote this movie of my ideas and researches, But I want it for the betterment of All the Filipinos, I want to stop their exodus being slaves in the other countries. I am just so afraid that many greedy people will intervene that is why I want it first to be published so that no greediness will come over. because this is for the people of God. He put these treasures into his providence for the time he wants to rebuild this world. You know, satan is always there and send intruders.
Yet it’s true that we watch movies to relax, to have fun, etc., but i find it better to have a movie challenge me somewhere at the beginning/middle/end and/or anything in between, something that could stir up my mind and educate me whether morally, historically, psychologically, emotionally (this is way overused in our country but still it counts), knock on my critical faculties, we can watch non-sense movies anytime (yes, i’ve shared some of having watched non-sense films) but there’s already a lot out there that the movie industry shelves are running out of space to make as such, more. Most of the Filipinos out there are already one wind push off the cliff from being brain-dead from the rotten products of the greedy corporations, and supposed-to-help-us-improve-our-lives-technological-gadgets, people nowadays lacks vision, bigger and sensible vision.
I’m an artist, I finished with a degree in fine arts and witnessed the disrespect of our government to our art culture by awarding such crown to one undeserving artist, take note: I consider him as an artist, it’s just that in my humble opinion he doesn’t deserve it and many of my fellow artists would support my stand. It takes one to know one, and it takes some good and intelligent enlightenment to understand something even one doesn’t pursue the same path.
I apologize for stating my level of education, i just believe that some Filipinos only believe one’s thought or opinion when he/she lays out some proof of credibility as to what he/she is saying.
MAN UP PILIPINAS!
correction
**It takes one to know one, and it takes some good and intelligent enlightenment to understand something even IF one doesn’t pursue the same path.
kaka sad naman ng story but very encouraging.mahirap malyao sa family pero kailangan nating magsakripisyo para sa magandang kinabukasan.I know how you feel.mahigit 10 yrs na rin ako sa abroad at miss ko na rin family ko.Good luck .entry mo pala ito . i like ko nga sa fb.
Hello All,
I feel compelled to come to Ilda’s side of things.My name is Whilce Portacio and as a US-based working Pinoy Proffessional of thirty years now I must inform all that the question is not if there is talent among fellow Filipino’s. Just look at recent international pop culture and you’ll find Pinoys in key positions everywhere. Pinoy talent is respected here in the international creative circles. The question is why isn’t the local Manila based entertainment industry trying to attract the talent back to Manila? Why aren’t they scouring the local talent for the best before they are invited abroad?
Let me put it as a challenge to the local industry…today Pinoy Professionals are raking in millions for foreign companies, millions they could be making for the local industry and with that also raising the Pinoy banner around the world.Why isn’t this happenning? And please remember money isn’t the only currency to entice with, a good businessman can find a way. Plus there are vast numbers of local talent that can do the job (shall I point to the advertising industry?) so why aren’t our best being sought after and enticed? As a businessman why be content with earnings of millions of peso’s when the potential is millions of dollars and putting the Philippines on the entertainment map where we belong…..
I would like to believe (and Ilda can obviously speak for herself) the writer of this article is asking in point blank terms why are we (the local entertainment industry) not making the product we should be making?
***A quick point-the question should not be a general quality versus cheap entertainment. The point of “good movies” is are our local movies a good, realistic, exxagerated true representation of the true every day Pinoy life style. In other words when we watch a Pinoy movie are we watching characters that we recognize from life all around us in the Philippines or are they shallow examples molded from what others think are popular international characterizations? The true test of a “good Pinoy Movie” is if you recognize the characters and situations from your own life experiences and therefore then “feel” the point of the movie…
…sorry for my long post…I will now evaporate back into the internet ether…
@Whilce Portacio
Thanks for your insightful comment. Unfortunately, your message might just fly over some people’s head. I’ve tried very, very hard to explain my point but as you can see, some also have a hard time getting it. I don’t know if it’s arrogance or ignorance but whatever it is, they try to shift the blame on others for their inability to understand.
It is obvious that most of our filmmakers are happy with mediocrity. They probably try to justify this by saying “mababaw naman ang Pinoy eh, so pwede na yan.” It is really a shame because it is ok for them to produce inferior products for Filipinos.
i agree with you sir. We just hope that more talented filipinos like you will have the courage to change this trend that we are in. By the way, I’m a huge fan of your work back in highschool.I have read wetworks back in the days 🙂
Off topic, but Mr. Portacio: I love “Stone.” 🙂
Hi Ilda,
I remember that when this article first came out, you stirred up a hornet’s nest, predictably, with many onion-skinned Pinoys who shoot first, and read later. If they weren’t taking bits of your article out of context, they were busy getting offended by the slap in the face that they think it is. Nowhere did I read about any personal attacks on anyone within the article. It just so happens that telling it like it is, is a concept lost upon many Filipinos.
I prefer to see this article, and many others here in GRP, as a splash of cold water. Less painful, and not as humiliating. And I also see that the points you mentioned above are not only applicable for films here in the Philippines, but other media as well. The recording industry is a good example.
Shallow movies, I think, can be likened to medicine. Sooner or later, the patient will become immune to them. I hope the “doctors” wise up, and soon.
@FallenAngel
Spot on. In other words, they were being defensive.
Thanks!
Supply and demand. This is what Filipinos want proving that the biggest part of the nation is brain dead.
I cannot agree more with Ilda. It’s either the local entertainment industry produces garbage that’s why we appear shallow and superficial or, we are shallow and superficial that’s why the industry produces garbage. Either way, if one of them produced intelligent material or behaved intelligently, I believe that’ll change everything.
@dg
You are correct. We just don’t have enough filmmakers who can make realistic films that would appeal to everyone. We need something that will inspire Filipinos to aspire for greatness.
Major just article. May read on…
PEOPLE saying that Filipino films are bad isnt the same as “DAMN, dont ever make another film again bro, cuz u suck like ****.” If people were not to critique on the works of their fellow brothers then how will they know that they are doing bad. Isnt it our obligation to help our fellow pinoy brothers improve on what they are doing? Sometimes people need a slap to wake up. You should be thankful someones doing that for us. Thank You Ms. Ilda and may you continue to state the truth.
Thanks for getting the point, Yoyo!
Great article. I came across this webpage through a cross-reference by yet another infamous article, “Why We Are Shallow”, written by F. Sionil Jose that I’m certain most of you know already.
First off, I just want to say how bold and precise you are to write such an inciting piece here. Let the haters hate. You must’ve struck a vital chord that perhaps is a living principle in every Filipino. (hint: It’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and as well as the original and root of the other six) Truth hurts. Doesn’t it? I couldn’t have surmised it more accurately Ms. Ilda. I was never into our flicks. I will say that NOT all Filipino movies but MOST are. I have heard quite a few that stands out but the majority of what I’ve looked up, are hands down horrible – in every aspect: acting, plot, narration, script. But STILL, why do a lot of Filpinos enjoy it? It’s as simple as in Sionil Jose’s article: we are just shallow. We don’t like complex stimulus that has several or many intriguing elements found outside of the box. No, we’re totally just fine with simple and repetitive interaction. It’s not that we’re afraid to tackle or immerse, as you’ve mentioned, we’re simply okay with mediocrity. Mediocre forever it is.
You have a physically attractive facade? You’re in! You’re half-British/Filipina? You’re in! You were born in The States? You’re in! (sorry, I can’t leave nepotism out on this, it wouldn’t be fair) You’re related to ‘insert-a-famous-actor-here’? You’re definitely in! Basically its 2 things to guarantee you a free pass to be a member of the stardom club in the Philippines: superficiality and or partisanship. Talent, substance? Don’t worry about it, those factors are out of the question. A pretty face and six-pack abs will garner enough revenue from the masses for us. After all, you’ll be playing characters that are one-dimensional and delivering cheezy Taglish lines so I wouldn’t really worry about these so-called talent and substance these (*sarcasm*) ‘anti-Filipino’ folks blog/twit about. They can criticize all they want, denigrate however they wish to – they are not Filipinos, they are a DISGRACE.
First of all, that’s totally fine with me. Whether I’m a Filipino or not, all that matters to me is I’m human. God never stated that our souls have ‘colours’. I for one do not feel that this article is nothing but a blatant criticism about Filipino movies (or people) but from my perspective, it is constructive criticism. Understand the difference? Sure, the offensive message is there, but it was written with careful observation and contemplative research. It’s not like the author just wrote this article to rant or vent out. Names and titles were given there with supported thesis statement(s) and indication FOR YOU (reader) TO ADDRESS IT, NOT TURN A BLIND EYE ON IT. Articles like these are published because WE WANT TO EXPRESS THAT WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOU. We like being outside of that damn box. We want some form of sophistication every once in a while. We like the influence/creation of other interesting cultures around the world. What’s wrong with that?
I don’t need to criticize, because I’ve already realized that a long long time ago…
Worthy material Ms. Ilda, I couldn’t agree more. I’m damn proud of people like you and Mr. Sionil Jose for being honest and dauntless to express yourselves in such a controversial subject. Kudos to you Ms. Ilda, take care always.
@X
Thanks for expounding on the topic. Indeed, one of the reasons why I wrote this is to express my disappointment as a customer over our film industry’s lack of originality. I was even more disappointed that some indie film-makers and their supporters think that just because I haven’t seen the films I mentioned, it means I do not have the right to express my opinion about the Philippine film industry. It’s quite lame of them to say that considering they themselves agree that most Filipino films suck.
Thanks also for the compliment!
@Ilda
“complaining is good. Complaining is a way of giving feedback about a particular work or product.”
The word complain is something that a lot Filipinos feel eecky about. It is perceive as something negative. Criticism perhaps–sounds more educated? I dunno–but what the heck, it is still negative for them. But the way people reacted to this post, they obviously missed the point of the need to produce more palpable films that properly educate our children.
Harsh lang ang dating sa kanila nang pagkakasabi. Manipis ang balat e. LOL.
To her critics:
As for relaxation, yes, we go out to enjoy a film, but is it wrong to suggest that after each film, we learn something positive? Just like when we were kids. We all enjoy fairy tales, but in reality, there are lessons. Don’t we find fables entertaining and relaxing to read/hear? But underlying that “fun” there are moral lessons. And just like what Idla said, that is missing with our films.
Relaxation is good, but too much of it, heck ewan ko na lang if tama pa un.
The last Tagalog film I’ve seen was “Sukob” which actually left me wondering where that concept really came from. It was a good film but the “history” of that so-called curse was never discuss. The film could have given its viewers a more concrete idea why it is in our culture.
It is not so much relevant but I wonder if those who’ve seen that film have that bit of “curiosity” I have. Trivial? Yes.
Filipinos in general don’t want to be at the receiving end of criticism. They’ll brand you unpatriotic or being a crab if you so much as say that “Filipino films: they don’t make us think”. 😉
Some of them think they are already “great”. Hence, they do not feel the need to improve.
Thanks for the comment, itchyBB
I agree because Filipino movies don’t make us think. It’s a matter of viewing discernment.
It’s a no brainer. Filipino movies lack substance.Why can’t people just accept the fact that we do have alot of shortcomings as an individual and as a nation. Why can’t we just improve instead of denying those facts? Kaya tayo di umuunlad kasi ang daming taong kuntento na sa mga nakikita nila e.
That’s why I don’t watch such crap anymore.
Money makes the world go round. It’s not what you know, or in this case what you can create, but who you know. Politics and money.
The committee that chooses who gets to be in the Manila Film Fest are all friends or share some sort of connection with the guys that made all of those films. So the only way that some indie film producer will get his or her work featured during that special movie time is to click with some powerful person in the entertainment industry and most likely sell out, cheapen his or her self.
As for not making us think…why in the world would these greedy big bastards want us to think? We can all bitch and whine about the state of the entertainment industry, we can even try and do something about it. But unless we can find a way to oust those already in power, short of having them assassinated, we won’t be saving the entertainment industry from itself.
I was having this chat with a friend I recently made regarding the blatant lack of Filipino made cartoons. Its been a while since the anime-craze hit the world, more people -yes people!- prefer anime over Western cartoons. The Japanese view these cartoons as something worth being proud of, they are creative, imaginative, and make a lot of money as well as promote the country that is Japan. Why can’t we have something like that produced? We tried it sometime before, a long long time ago, we even tried it with that RPG movie…though in that RPG movie things were noticeably just recycled from things many gamers recognized as having already been owned by someone else and were just tweaked a bit to seem original.
Ok…it seems I’ve lost my train of thought. The End.
The problem with the Filipino movies is that they’re like shallow books that every concept is handed out to you. No reading in between the lines anymore. Even before I realized the total mediocrity of Filipino movies I have always sensed that there was something missing. One thing I can never seem to avoid noticing is that dialogues always push the plot forward. I think that’s the main reason why these films don’t make us think because everything about it has already been said. Given a shallow plot and extensive dialogue, there’s no more room for a lack of a better word, “reading between the lines”. It’s sad to know that it would take a while before I could see a Filipino film maker make something akin to Jaco Van Dormael’s “Mr. Nobody”.
Jem, I know exactly what you mean. Problem is like anywhere else films need financing. People who finance films usually want a return . So you have this vicious circle anywhere really. But it is very pronounced here when they have their annual embargo to only show Pinoy films in theaters. 90 % of it formula crap. The thing is films here are a reflection of what the audience wants. The audience wants love teams and Vic Sotto and other stuff. The Pinoy movie goer will not watch a pinoy Woody Allen or David Lynch type. Since the audience for that does not exist, those movies don’t get made.
mga pinoy talaga ayaw umamin ng kabulukan. masyadong balat sibuyas kaya bulok ang kultura. totoo naman na puro kababawan ang pelikulang pilipino. pinagloloko lang kayo ng mga artistang puro pa-cute.
Galing ni mam ilda. nalaman nya ang sagot sa problema ng pinas dahil sa mga pelikula naten. bobo ba ang pinoy? oo (ayon kay mam) kasi bobo ang tingin nya sa mga pelikula naten. galeng. may lohika. ung ibang comment na predictable masyado ang pinoy movies, galeng nyo ren kasi naisip nyo na pilipino kasi ang mga writers kaya alam na ng mga manonood ang tatakbuhin ng pelikula. obvious e. kung foreign film, spanish o french halimbawa. o amerkano, syempre hindi predictable kasi nga naman iba ang kultura natin sa kanila. aprub. may comment den na gone are the days of lino brocka etcetera etcetera, oo nga naman quality films ung mga un kasi malamang dun sila nabuhay sa henerasyon na yun. walang kwenta ang pagbabago. mahalaga ang panahon nila para sa kanila. okey manghusga ng makabagong henerasyon kasi mas bobo ang bago sa luma. tried and tested na kasi.
Oh look! Another dumb flip with da pinoy prayd.
wala rin tayong magagawa dahil bobo karamihan ng pilipino. kahit gumawa ka ng pelikula na malalim di nila ma-appreciate at lalangawin lang kase mga mabababaw ang pag-iisip. nasa genes yan ng mga pinoy. sino bang alam nyong kamukha natin na mga malalim mag-isip? wala. magkakalevel lang—malaysians, indonesians, laosians, cambodians, pacific islanders, thais…nasa genes nga ng mga tropical people! Sorry but it is the truth. Ang mga tao na nanggaling sa mga lugar na may snow or malalamig, mga deep thinker yan sila at mga genius. Yup.
hmm… thesis ko po ang Filipino Film, 2nd year student..ABPsychology De La Salle University, base po sa initial survey namin, hindi lang po nila magustuhan ang Filipino Film because anticipated na daw po ang mangyayari specially sa Love Story.. Regarding naman po sa Comedy, ok naman po..meron mejo confuse po ako sa mga naging sagot nyo 🙂
sakin kasi ayaw ko ng IBANG movies sa hindi ko malamang dahilan.
Ilda, same thoughts myself. I commend you for the bravery to express this opinion. But internet is a media where you can get the least respect from. I do my advocacy in person where you can bash the person in the face in case they become as disrespectful as these internet bullies. haha. kidding. I was once a film-maker, i made and got involved in a couple of short films that me and my friends made just for past time but i shelved that ambition because of every thing that you said. the film industry here is gimmicky, sellout, majority for the money and devoid of innovation and artistry. I gave it up and turned to writing literature instead because there is absolute creative control there. in film making, you have to spend a lot of ur own money to do that. For the haters of this post, before you say that she’s wrong, answer these questions first? how are Filipino films nowadays compared to foreign films especially the most artistic ones (not Hollywood)? 2. do you know great pinoy films like moral, oro pro nobis, oro, plata, mata, nunal sa tubig etc? 3. can u compare them to the films nowadays both indie and commercial? 4. do you know films by kurosawa, coppolla, jean renoir, orson welles etc? 5. do you know what really, really makes a great film and how does it change the society? last question: is it really wrong to long and yearn for something better than the current indie and commercial pinoy films nowadays? is it really wrong to long for something really great and majestic to behold? is it wrong to ask for glory? is it wrong for something that can tear our hearts out and make us feel goosebumps inside out? is it wrong to stop wallowing in the mud and start marching proud on the grass? is it wrong to be artistic? is it wrong to long for something pure, something fresh, something worth living for and dying for? is it wrong to go up higher? is it wrong to get out of prison and escape and tumble all along the wide open field? is it wrong reach for the stars instead
of the empty threshing floor? is it wrong to eat the world instead of peanuts? for once in our short, short lives, is it wrong to live than just to survive? now answer them.
@michael farelli
Thank you very much for your input. It’s too bad people like you had to give up because of the politics in the Philippine film industry. Unfortunately, those who tend to disagree with this article might not be able to give you rational answers to your questions. They seem happy with what the local filmakers offer every year.
It’s a pleasure Ilda. Keep on posting these things, it might seem futile but a blood spilled for a noble cause is a noble blood. And if the Filipino people disappear from this earth after thousands of years and literature such as this is found they’d realize that at least we some of us still dare to live and not just survive; that someone like you is aware and care. But for now, Philippines, artistically speaking, is a hopeless case, it’s every artist’s worst nightmare–Bayani Fernando as mmff chairman, mmff winners, a handful of films a year etc. film industry is just the tip of the iceberg, we’re not yet talking about other things in the obituary: literature and publishing industry dead, music industry dead and many more. Cynthia Alexander, one of the most important musical figures right now left the Philippines because of lack of local support, and Filipinos welcome a half-filipino Jessica Sanchez and Pineda with open arms, not because just they’re good but because they’re famous abroad. It’s a sad scenario. it’s intellectual poverty at its extreme. Continue voicing out these sentiments, it shows that we are not fattened cattle, that we are at par with thinking people, just not all of us, just not all of us, but someday, after two hundred years, when there is already such a thing as world culture, who knows? 🙂
haaaaaay we’re so superior pinoy films are beneath us apir!!!
TROLL. 😛
So I guess you support all those romance, comedies produced locally. If you really do fine. If you are making yourself though to be some pseudo patriot just to be contradictory guess your boss has to be more creative.
what does support all means? hehe. not all philippine movies are like shake rattle n roll 13 as ilda claims, there are many great pinoy movies. why would that film be used as representative of the entire industry
Let me make it simple for you to understand jaks2. I already said it in this post any my Olympic post. The Filipinos unfortunately in the box office support bakya, baduy, slapstick, love teams etc. There are quality film makers here except the movie going public does not care. Since the standards are low and the market demands low then we will get Shake Rattle Roll 42. In this blog and my own blog the pinoy wants Willing Willie not Masterpiece Theater. So that is what sponsors will support. Its a vicious circle. Maybe you are a discerning gourmet when it comes to Filipino cinema but you seem very alone. In the box office anyway. They want Vice Ganda. That is what our local movie goers want. Not sure why you think anybody else is the poster child. LOW STANDARDS = LOW PRODUCT. Works for Pinoy movie industry and works for Malanang. We get the government we deserve.
It’s unfortunate but the idea of the article is true. Gone are the days of the Nilo Brockas, the O’Haras, the Borlazas, the Gallagas, etc. Majority of the movies being made now are the tried and tested tearjerkers, recycled horror stories, stale action pictures, cut and dried love teams genre and the usual b-movie.
While we can beat ourselves to smithereens for wallowing in mediocrity, we’re not alone on this sad situation. Other countries suffers the same fate too. Aside from computer animation and super hero genre which are not really novel categories, trashy movies abroad are a dime a dozen too.
This stagnation is not only confined in video entertainment. The deterioration also extends to music industry. The music nowadays is bird poop compared to those music that came out in the ’60s up to late ’80s.
Laziness, cowardice and apathy are the reasons why so great a proportion of Filipinos long after nature has realized their birth, choose to remain gladly in lifelong immaturity. This explains why it is so easy for others to produce and dispense of things in account of them and act as their guardians.
It is so easy to be immature. Too lazy to think, let others think for them. Too docile to live with conviction, let others find the conviction and deliver on it. Too lazy to think of what really matters, what needs to be done, how life should be lived, how our local movie industry could be better, too lazy for anything. To hell with it, let’s just all consume whatever sh!t and garbage they fling at us, they say. Why bother to criticize, to find solutions, to hope for something better?
It isn’t surprising really. Such a laid back culture is inclined to resort to dismissals as “Relax, it’s just entertainment.” No isn’t, it is the Metro Manila Film Festival, and it is supposed to showcase the best of what the Filipino film industry has to offer.
If it is so easy for so many to generalize a culture as Filipino culture is, one that is tempted to characterize as lazy, mediocre, small and fatalistic, then there must be some truth to those generalizations. There must be definitely something ‘wrong’ with Filipino society. And if a great number of Filipinos fall into any or all of those characterizations, then there is little hope for this country ever achieving collective greatness any time soon.
If Filipinos only have the media to serve as their understanding, the priest to serve as their conscience, the opportunists to serve as their government, and so on, they probably would think they need not exert themselves at all. They need not think, if only they can pay with the little money that they have, others will undertake the irksome work for them.
The Filipino film industry is an expression of those bad qualities, and the negative reactions to Ilda’s article are the extensions.
After all, it is not our fault if we were born ignorant, but it is our fault if we died ignorant.
Agree that most mainstream fare are trash, though many, mostly from the indie side of things, are really thought provoking, entertaining (not in a stupid way), good Filipino Films such as “Yanggaw”, “Babae sa Septic Tank”, “Zombadings”, “Kimmy Dora”, “Sa North Diversion Road”, “Still Life”, “Jay”, “Magnifico” from the top of my head. From the mainstream side, “One More Chance” was good up until the ending ruined its feel. Problem really is that nobody wants to fund/produce these kind of films as it is deemed unprofitable.
Okay first of all
-Not all Filipinos are stupid or shallow.
-I am an Igorot born and raised in the Phillipines. My race has been the subject of ridicule by the Filipino lowlanders and thus I do not have a real deep attachment to being called a Filipino. I am still a Filipino by citizenship.
-There is nothing wrong with brown skin. It is a wonderful color and so is black, white, red or yellow or any combination thereof.
Now on to a rambling:
I agree that most Filipino movies are shallow in content and most actors and actresses in them do not have the right skills…focusing mostly on cuteness or any other physical attribute. I have seen really good filipino movies…but those are rare and when I do get to see them, it is a treat.
Another thing to note is the blatant stereotyping of characters in filipino movies. For example…among many more, plain looking filipinos are almost always casted as the bad guys. Worse they are depicted as stupid and idiotic. Good looking fair skinned ones get to be the good guys. It is as if the plain looking filipinos are incapable of doing good and great things since those are the avenue of the fair skinned, good looking filipinos/mestizos. It is interesting to note that in filipino cinema and showbiz in general, the dark skinned filipino is somehow depicted as inferior compared to the fair skinned mestizos looking or half breed counterparts. Where is the filipino pride in that?
Reading the comments, it appears that many are offended when the article pointed out that many Filipinos prefer shallow movies that “do not make them think”. In my opinion, this response is understandable but it is also a knee jerk defensive reaction.
Instead of becoming defensive, I think people should think more deeply why Ida made this statement. I think she has a point but lumping the Filipino people as shallow is also wrong-If I misunderstood, I apologize. I believe there are many great and intelligent Filipinos but they have better things to do than just watch a movie.
The article should have read “Filipino Films: They do not Make Filipino Movie Consumers Think”. Why did I propose that? It is because, I firmly believe that not all Filipinos are stupid. Just like any other country, western or not, industrialized or not, people have varying degrees of intelligence. To say that Filipinos are stupid as a race is, in itself, a moronic statement.
Back to my comment about the articles’ title: It is said that a business is controlled by supply and demand. If a product is what was wanted by the consumers, the business owners would do well to keep producing that product. It only makes sense-It makes more money. If the majority of the Filipino movie consumers prefer shallow unintelligent films with sub par actors. It only makes sense that the producers make more of the same. What does this reflect on the intelligence of the majority of the Filipino movie consumers? Does it reflect accurately that they are shallow and ignorant? Probably so.,,but I hope not. Really, hopefully not. Otherwise, they will continue to receive what they always wanted=crappy, stupid movies…and they say “garbage in, garbage out.” What we sow, that is what we reap. But then again, intelligence is a multifaceted trait…just because a person is into stupid movies does not mean that he is stupid in everything.
Who is going to educate the Filipino movie going masses? It is the movie goers himself of course…but the movie producers also have a responsibility. They can choose to make comedy, action, drama and any movie genre that have real substance and meaning with great real actors that the masses can better relate with-not with some pouty pretty faced mestiza or hybrid. That way, they can help elevate the “tastes” of the Filipino movie goer. Can this happen? Sure it can. If one has tasted a real good dish…better than the one you have previously had…ever..would’nt it be natural for one to want it again?
If this does not happen…it will be a very long while before we see significant improvement….meanwhile, I will continue to look for a well reviewed Filipino film for me to watch.
True. It is easy to predict what could happen in the coming scenes, or even how the movie may end. It does not really make us think critically. I wish the movies being churned out by our filmmakers match the quality of movies like Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, just to name a few.
I admire you Ma’am Ilda for writing this article. This is realistic and true. And I think Bob Ong’s Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin is a mockery of the Filipino movie industry also. May mga movies kasi na hindi napag-aralan, mahirap gumawa ng movie, yes. But some parts are either copied, shallow and corny most of the time. Movies are supposed to be sources of lessons, if not, at least, people should be left thinking after you watching the show. There should always be a conclusion at some point and not just a mere source of laugh or entertainment. It should be beyond that. We should understand though, that we are people with different interests and perspectives about things. And I guess, the challenge lies on the hands of the film makers. Its up to them to come up with a sensible story that should be able to catch the attention of everybody.
@Sai
Thanks! Glad you got the point. There are so many Pinoys who are still in denial that “Filipino films don’t make us think.” 😉
The challenge is also in the hands of the viewer. If there weren’t so many people shelling out their hard earned money for the drivel our movie industry cranks out, there wouldn’t be a surfeit of crap.
Thank you ilda! I thought i was the only person that felt this way. I dont even know where to start. Some of the responses to your blog are pretty funny. “You dont go to the movies to think, you go to relax and enjoy” WTF! I thought that’s what spas and resorts are for! These people actually DEFENDING the philippine movie industry justifies everything you just said in your blog. Pinoy movies really lack substance. As sad as it may seem, I dont think the philippine movie industry will ever reach the standards of other countries like the U.S. or the U.K. Heck! Japan, South Korea, Thailand, etc. are matching the standards of the U.S.
Excellent blog! have a good one!
ang magaling na senator bong revilla junior. anti-piracy and sinisigaw pero kopya lang ng ng clash of the titans ang latest panday film nya. yan ang senator!
you know what, i agree with you miss ilda. filipino movies SUCK BIG TIME. even the teleseryes are plain DUMB. it’s very depressing to see Thai/Indian movies that are way better than ours because WE CAN make movies, just not good ones. nakaka-BOBO talaga ang mga palabas sa pilipinas kaya tuloy ang mga tao dito na-BOBO din. waaah! tingnan mo nga naman ang trend ng mga palabas ngayon… PANGANGALIWA/PANGANGABIT…maganda ba yun??? kung di naman ganon, KABADINGAN kasi ang mga sikat ngayon BADING. everything’s messed up. we have to change kasi kawawa naman yung mga batang nanonood…they will get the wrong values.
What’s far more worst is that these garbage mmff films are all being shown in cinemas every Christmas to the next days after New Year without the foreign films (except for those on IMAX). It’s a proof that these garbage mmff films are noncompetitive only for the sake of da pinoy prayd and more greens.
Let’s face it. (Almost)everything @Ilda said was true. There are still other talented people in our industry though. Appreciation from the “masa” and funding lang ang kailangan nila. And besides, this phenomenon is not just limited to our country’s film industry. Yun nga lang, it seems na yung sa mainstream cinema ata talaga natin ang walang sense of originality….
I’m with you on this one m’ Ilda. Yes, we watch movies to relax but not to make ourselves stupid. Why can’t people just face the fact that we make such crappy movies? nagrereflect din sa kung anong klaseng mga tao tayo e. Yung “pwede na yan” mentality. “Pwede na yan! Mababaw naman ang mga manonood nyan e!” diba? sayang lang ang isat kalahating oras sa mga pelikulang aabutin pa ata ng 1000th intallment.
The average Filipino is, inter alia, a shallow, superficial Philistine. If this year’s MMFF is any indication, it’s most likely going to be “Same Crap, Different Year.”
In the grim darkness of Modern Philippine Society, there is only shallowness.
Palibhasa kasi ang mga iba dyan eh pag hinainan ng tae, kakainin agad.
HooOOOOOO…..
Yah! I agree !!!
As a 15 year old student!
Filipino films are “LAME”
this post is nothing but reality!
Wow! This board is really active! More hoots to that. The year is nearly closing and mmff will still showcase their line of crapola for the hungry brain dead to feed on. Cheers everyone.
You took the words right out of my mouth! This is exactly how I’ve felt about our movies since grade school! All you need is a pretty face to cry on cue and then BAM you’ve got a blockbuster movie in the Philippines. I’m sorry to say but our movies definitely dumb-down its audience. It’s sick and it’s gross and it’s the reason why I never watch Filipino movies. I would never ever be caught dead lining up in a cinema to pay for a ticket and sit through one.
Madame Ilda nailed it again!
You think “El Presidente” and “El Supremo” are good to watch for this year’s MMFF entries?
Gone are the days of critically acclaimed films of by L.Brocka, I.Bernal, G. De Leon..yet i feel B.Mendoza, A.Alix are bringing back the old glory of the Philippine Films.
Thanks, juansikolohista!
Bawat bansa naman po ay may kanyang uniqueness kaya hindi po kailangang icompare ang movies ng Pilipinas sa movies ng ibang bansa. Ang hindi ko lamang po maintindihan ay kung bakit ang mga Pilipinong dapat suportahan ang mga pelikulang isinilang dito sa bansa ay may pinipiling yakapin ang mga pelikulang banyaga. Oo maganda ang mga ito kaysa sa pelikula natin pero sino, sino po ang inaaasahan niyong tatangkilik sa mga pelikulang Pilipino? ang mga taga ibang bansa po ba? Sa bandang huli bilang mga Pilipino may tungkulin tayong makabayan. Nasasadlak na sa putikan ang Pilipinas bakit tayong mga Pilipino tinatalikuran ang bansang pinagmulan natin? Nasadlak na ang Pilipinas di ko maiisip kung bakit mayroon pang mga pilipino na mas sinasadlak ang sarili nilang bansa sa putikan. Patuloy mo mang ikahiya na ikaw ay Pilipino baliktarin man ang mundo hindi pa rin magbabago na ang dugong nananalaytay sa iyo ay Pilipino.
@via
Is it wrong to ask for something better? If di kaya ng aming sikmura yung pagkain, kailangan pa rin ba namin kainin? No. We hope for something better, something to make us think and stimulate our senses. Kung nabasa mo yung mga naunang kumento, may iilan dito na nagbanggit din naman ng magagandang pelikulang Filipino. Ang problema kasi sa lipunan natin eh “Pwede Na Yan”. Sa palagay mo ba, kung yung mga pelikula natin sa Pilipinas ay comparable sa plot lines ng mga pelikulang gaya ng “The Road” (na nabanggit ni Ms. Ilda), Sin Nombre at Voces Innocentes (pawang mga Hispanic films ito at hidi Hollywood na nirerekomenda ko na panoorin ninyo) ay di namin papanoorin?
Let’s put it this way, take the title. Disprove that. Pinoy movies cater to an audience that does not require much of a cerebral process. Then of course the idiots that produce that drivel end up becoming senators. Sorry , the Pinoy film industry is an albatross
Nagpapa-awa effect at pabiktima ka pa e da pinoy. So what if I don’t watch those pinoy movies of mmff? I’m still a Filipino. The point about this article you redneck is that the majority of the pinoy movies are nothing but cliches, ripoffs and monotonous plot. Hell, they’re as worst as some horrible Hollywood movies like, let’s say, The Three Stooges remake. So I’m sorry you dumb flip. I will never watch any of the mmff movies this year because once again they’re nothing but garbage and they are uncompetitive as well due to the fact that during that “festival”, foreign films are always being removed from the theaters nationwide (except on IMAX though but I can’t afford to watch a 450 peso IMAX movie) which I why I already watched The Hobbit last Thursday. You want us Filipinos to watch Filipino films? Then make them better. Simple as that. And don’t you ever say that we are whining because we are, after all, the customers who pays an expensive 200 pesos for watching a movie that we want to watch, make it Filipino or foreign.
@via
Ang labo mo. You agree that films from other countries are way better than ours but you still wonder why we don’t “support” lousy films made by most local filmmakers. Why in the world should we waste our time and money on cr@p?!? One can pretty much tell a local film is cr@p from the title or the trailer alone.
I refuse to give a single cent to a filmmaker who only produces unoriginal works or have kabaklaan and kalaswaan themes.
And I quote.
“I refuse to give a single cent to a filmmaker who only produces unoriginal works or have kabaklaan and kalaswaan themes.”
The only “original works” I’ve seen so far from film makers are from local indie films…well some of them like Rome and Juliet (explores dealing with lesbianism).
In terms of films with themes of “kabaklaan”, I don’t know why Filipino’s (I mean PINOYS) are humored by the senseless, tactless, and annoying these homo actors portray. At times, it’s comical, but most of the time, it’s annoying.
Why can’t we have a homosexual actor, or actress who acts with class? Why can’t we have a change of pace on how homo actors and actresses are portrayed in the movies?
The thing I hate about movies portraying homosexual is that they are usually ridiculous and the idea that they’re always mataray and sh!t.
I almost forgot to mention, some Filipino films aren’t the only films that do not make us think. Hollywood does a good job on this too.
Remember Transformers 1, Revenge of the Fallen, and The Dark Side of the Moon? You know what I mean.
Ask a typical Pinoy what he liked about the movies stated above and they’ll say, “SPECIAL EFFECTS!” F%^& that sh!t!
Hay nako its a business lang yan no!!! hehehe :/ 🙂
20 years old ako na nagaaral ng multimedia communication sa ibang bansa, i was a fan of philippine movies, pero habang napapagaralan ko bawat bits of techniques sa paggawa ng films, how film plots works, and how every aspects of cinematography affects the overall scenes. I then realized how crappy our films are at gaya nung namention sa taas.. no thrill kasi maprepredict mo na ung plot ng movies natin.
Isa pa, theme genre ng filipino movies:
1. LOVESTORY (with paulit ulit at nakakasawang storyline, sometimes too predictable. Psychologically speaking, nagiging emotional na mga pinoy at ganun kapossess sa pagibig)
2. HORROR (they are so concentrated in visual effects na kung minsan baduy na.)
3. COMEDY (mga jokes at banat na ubod sa corny)
4. ACTION (kung makasigaw ang mga action star bago magpalitan ng bala, halatang scripted – khit saan naman eh haha)
5. FICTION (with boring effects and pirated cultural fictions from other countries)
n-a-k-a-k-a-s-a-w-a. sa pagkakaalam ko ito lang naproproduce nating genre.. marami pang genre ng films katulad ng tragic, mystery, psychological, historical, epics.. etc! pero puro na lng eto ang genre na prinoproduce ng bansa natin.
The sad reality is that majority of Filipinos can’t simply handle films that doesn’t fall in the five genre you’ve listed. No wonder the movie industry simply gives what the audience wants.
Good thing I’m not forced to watch that, too bad some people in the family are just hooked to it. One of the reasons I got rid of the television in my room.
I’ve always wondered what do they actually learn from this? Or I guess this is just entertainment..but is it really entertaining? Does entertainment need to a mindless mindfucking experience?
I’ve seen pretty good films back then that did not involve those common themes, some had those but they created a really good piece out of it.
Nowadays its like, you’re going to see everything that will happen in the trailer so you’ll pretty much know how it will end already. I’m not gonna waste my hundreds of pesos for an hour and a half lost of my life. If that’s what other people do, then so be it.
Well anyway, I guess that’s not my cup of tea. I know I’ve seen even worse from international films but ours is a bit too much it is as if we’re not even trying. lol
Kung pwede lang maging director o producer ang tulad kong walang tinapos ng pag-aaral.magagawa ko pang gumawa ng movies na suspence,kahit walang graphic effect,yung isang mistery na may kakaibang secrets sa bawat story na hango sa bagay,tao,lugar etc…nagkataon lang na madami nga silang nagagamit na pera,pero kulang sa ideas at tricks,mas maganda pang manuod ng old comedy movies mas napapakinabangan pa ng mata ko 🙂
I can only imagine the GMA Films and Star Cinema Board Room before they make a movie…
Person A: What movie should we make?
Person B: Ah dapat yung may social issue, magtatackle ng real life family problems or political problems or problems na makikita mo araw araw.
Person C: That’s a load of shit, wala yun ano matutunan ng mga tao nun?
Person B: No but……
Person A: I agree with C I guess we have to make something really good and educational…
Person D see’s as script of One More Chance
Person D: Hey why not make a love story?
Person A and C: YES!
Person B: What? Why?
Person C: Shut up B!
Person A: Yeah we rehash the script add a 3rd party sa story, change the name, change some situation at dapat masmaraming kilig moments
Person C and D: YEAH
Person A: Ok hanapin si Binibining J.B. para magdirect…
Person C: kokontakin ko na si (piolo, richard, john lloyd, ding dong etc.)
Person D: Kokontakin ko din si (angelica, bea, heart, marian etc).
Pahabol lang most of our movies are the type of movies that will make both Ethan Hunt and James Bond betray the United States and the United Kingdom and build bombs for the terrorists. Most of our movies are the type of movies that will make Chuck Norris cry!
Step up movie producers we’re tried of your same old shit!
This may be spot on. December is like MMFF right? If I’m not mistaken..please correct me if I’m wrong.
Anyway, it’s bound to happen again..the term “paulit-ulit” and “cliche”.. Well too bad, what can we do..even the ‘indie scene’ is infected by it. :))
first, the problem is that our producers, directors, and others involved in film-making here are not able to find concepts, styles and ideas that makes film fresh even if the thing is not really fresh…
for example, “500 days of summer”. its genre supposed to be will fall under romantic-comedy and coming-of-age, genres that is prone to cliches, yet, marc webb and company proved that it can really be great film. watch the film and reply to me…
second, all those above-mentioned individuals do not really realize things that you can’t imagine. I mean things the are unfilmable that can actually be filmable…
for example, 127 hours… again, watch the film…
In short, these are the things that our filipino film-makers and company do not possess and our so called “madlang people” does not realize…
I wish that our fellow country (madla) will open their minds and realize these things.
tama, mangilan ngilan na lang ang mga de kalidad at may silbi na palabas sa Pinas, Shake Rattle and Roll you can appreciate the effects and materials pero ano ngayon ang ending puro hanging pero wala namang sequel parang nagsasabi ng lagi nananlo ang masama, ang TITIK the chronicles isa ring walang kwenta, puro kagaguhan, may mga comercial pa pero sa promotion nila parang ang ganda… mabuti pa ang I witness nalang o mga documentary and ipalabas nila may natututunan pa ang mga tao…
I Witness FTW bro. gustong gusto ko din yan at iba pang docu
“How do these filmmakers sleep at night knowing that they are not really creating a work of art but just copies of some other people’s work? They are not even making people think; they are not even stirring emotions or provoking people into doing something with their lives; they are not even inspiring young people to aspire for greatness. What they are producing is just stuff you can discard after one use. In short, most Philippine films are a total waste of the people’s time and money.”
I’m sorry to say, but I find this very silly. Who said a movie has to make aspire for greatness? Yes it CAN and that would be great but it’s not a requirement. Also these filmmaker sleep very well because they don’t claim what they make is art or original, just the way a fish ball vendor does not claim what he sells is healthy or gourmet. Movie making is also business. Businesses aim to make money. To many people, films are entertainment, a way to relax after a grueling work week. Walang basagan ng trip : )
*make people aspire for greatness
A movie should always aspire to be great. It doesn’t mean the movie will end being great but the goal of doing so guarantees that the film makers are trying to make the best movie they can possibly can.
There’s a fundamental difference between movies and the movie business. Yes there is a need to turn a profit in films but movies should not just be about making money. Movies and Film is an art form a form of expression to leave an impression to the audience whether its an action film, drama, or historical picture. That should be the primary concern in film making, not the money since a great movie will always make money.
Nothing should be always about “only making money” no business should operate that way. It’s about giving value to your product and service first then money will come in later.
Regarding your fishball vendor comment. No it’s not gourmet they are in the business of selling fishballs. But what happens if they take short cuts in sanitation so the minimize cost and maximize profit.
So sorry saying that “a movie doesn’t have aspire to be great” makes film in general insignificant. But it’s not.
And this now comes from a personal point of view. I have grueling work weeks also but time is short so I don’t want to waste my time on movies that doesn’t take the art of film making seriously. I want too see a movie that tries to value the time of its audience and not just some throw away trash cinema. Unfortunately the latter is what most mainstream local films fall under.
” But what happens if they take short cuts in sanitation so the minimize cost and maximize profit” – pasensya na, pero medyo saliwa yung analogy. Kasi usapang entertainment ito. Walang magkakasakit sa panonood ng MMFF at Star Cinema films. Kung “mental health” ang tinutukoy mo, hindi yun responsibilidad ng pelikula. May value naman itong mga pelikulang tinutuligsa ng article na ito. These films gave families something to watch together. These films created jobs. And most importantly, karamihan ng nanuod, nagustuhan yung napanood nila. Kumita sila Vic Sotto at natuwa ang mga tao. So ano ang probelema? Walang basagan ng trip 🙂
Just because many people are watching these movies doesn’t mean they should just stick to the status quo. Evolution of industry requires the ability to challenge what is the norm.
I applauded that MMFF decided to include Thy Womb as part of their selection, personally it wasn’t a great movie for me but I can see there was an effort put by it to make a statement. But the industry went one step forward and two steps back and movie theaters decided to pull the movie in cinemas. Why? Because it didn’t make much money initially? If all you can think of is $$$ signs that you lose sight of why are you in the movie making business to begin with.
Movies are a representation of our society. What does it say about our society when studio execs what movies dummied down to the masses?
The Philippines is one of those countries that has the freedom of expression through art (which film is apart of). The people who are in this industry must bear the responsibility to, not just give the audience what they want, but also give them something they didn’t know they want in hopes that we can be better for it.
Shooter as noble as your sentiments may be, you only need look at Avid’s explanation for why things are the way they are. The local film business is simply feeding an audience that adores their love teams and their slap stick. Then again that audience also responds to tele novellas, Willie R and elected Erap and Noynoy. Everything is related. That is why there is GRP. An attempt to breakdown what is there and maybe shine some light. In no way does it guarantee that people will see regardless of the light.
With the things Get Real Philippines is trying to say through it’s articles. Don’t you think it would be great if films are there to relay these messages?
In a country where we have problems with government, politics, poverty, religion etc. I would think movies would be that avenue that opens the eyes of people.
I don’t know if you saw Give Up Tomorrow in the theaters. But it was documentary about the problems with The Philippines legal, justice, and political system as well as the media. Why is a movie that speaks about The Philippines and where we are as a people and country produced by foreigners? Why couldn’t Filipinos do this story themselves?
“If all you can think of is $$$ signs that you lose sight of why are you in the movie making business to begin with.”
Noble but naive. Have you been involved in a big film production ma’am/sir? Spent your own money on a project & not cared you made your money back? If no, then that explains it. If yes, then I commend you, keep going because as a film maker who experiences the reality of things, I would love to be wrong about this.
I am going to take a little offense of calling my naive. Not because it hurts my ego but you it shows how it’s become acceptable to trivialize the art and craft of film.
And I never said the industry should not be concerned about making money. But it should not be the sole primary objective. Film bears a great responsibility being a window to our society as well as shaping it. And once people start to appreciate it then the money will come.
Take Pulp Fiction, that was risque film. It wasn’t a mainstream film but it found an audience and became a hit. The film was a risk to make but it was rewarded financially. That’s the kind of film people didn’t they wanted but when they saw it they loved it.
This is my insight on this issue because I saw two movies that are unrelated but seems to speak one message. “God Bless America” a Violent Black Comedy about the deterioration of American society due to what the media sees as entertainment. “This is Not a Film” a documentary from Iran and how the country suppresses free speech making it difficult for artists and filmmakers to express themselves.
Why are these two very different films relay one message? It’s because you have one country where artists are censored and they risk going to prison if they make a film deemed inappropriate by the censors. While you have another that has all the freedoms in the world but creates nothing but trashy entertainment to dumb down audiences.
The Philippine Film industry has that freedom use it right.
“If all you can think of is $$$ signs that you lose sight of why are you in the movie making business to begin with.”
Noble but naive. Have you been involved in a big film production ma’am/sir? Spent your own money on a project & not cared if you made your money back? If no, then that explains it. If yes, then I commend you, keep going because as a film maker who experiences the reality of things, I would love to be wrong about this.
Shooter, let’s put it this way. The same people who come to GRP are usually not the first ones in line for whatever love team movie comes out. Nor do I suspect do they watch that show that comes on daily around 1130. There is a saying when the student is ready the teacher will appear. I don’t know what millennium the students in this country will be ready.
But you cannot deny there is a market for movies like that. If a website like this can become so popular and viral through (and controversial) through WOM it’s possible movies that share a similar goal will find an audience. It’s the studios and industry that need to take that risk for that to happen.
“But irresponsible and complacent with keeping the status quo.”
Seriously, since you feel so strongly about this, help break it then. Between this year’s Cine Filipino & Cinemalaya entries there are at least 15 films in production that could use extra funds. Do your research, I’m sure you will find more than one that fits your category of a “smart” film, bring out your check book & help these films out 🙂
I am completely aware of these film festivals. But that alone isn’t going to change things if these films are kept in the film festivals. They need to be made available to the public and studios need to market these films so people can be aware of them. Some do make it to theaters (and I have supported them) but I still don’t see an effort for studios to support these films.
Also if they studios do manage to get these talented film makers to work for them they don’t give them freedom to work on the films or shows they like. It’s all about studios dictating the films because of the what the “masa” wants. I have friends in the industry who say this is what happening backstage.
So yeah these film festivals showcase talented film makers, their creativity is stifled if they end up working with these studios.
“but I still don’t see an effort for studios to support these films. ”
Kaya nga put your money where your mouth is & withdraw your savings and help fund a “smart” film. If you don’t want to do so because it’s not your “duty” then that is the same answer a studio exec would give you.
No that’s a stupid rebuttal. I’m sure most people want to improve education so why not open their own school right? Really by your logic that is what DEPED would tell these people. I do what I can by paying for a ticket for these films when given the opportunity.
Seriously I still don’t know why you are such an apologetic for studios that don’t raise the bar for local films. That’s the point of an industry progression not regression. If technology was like The Philippines we would never have had the tablet since people were already contented with PC’s and Laptops before right?
“No that’s a stupid rebuttal. I’m sure most people want to improve education so why not open their own school right? Really by your logic that is what DEPED would tell these people. I do what I can by paying for a ticket for these films when given the opportunity. ”
No. Not open your own school but help pay for the education of deserving students. Get your analogies straight. And don’t be so quick to say my rebuttal is stupid, I didn’t even say “make your own film” I said “help fund quality films”. Again put your money where your mouth is. You want studios to take a risk, then take a risk yourself. Studios don’t want that risk.
“Seriously I still don’t know why you are such an apologetic for studios that don’t raise the bar for local films.”
I’m not apologetic for studios, I’m just trying to point out to you & the writer of this article that your concerns about films that make people think are none issues to the producers since their main goal is turning a profit, not making art.
“If technology was like The Philippines we would never have had the tablet since people were already contented with PC’s and Laptops before right?”
Your analogy sucks because most people are never contented with their gadgets while many Pinoy movie patrons are contented with what they watch, hence the status quo. Technology is different from movies.
Apples and oranges you are trying to challenge me which I have no financial capability to. Well except maybe kick starter so yeah know what, how about this find me a local film maker that needs funding for their indie movies via kickstarter. Than I can contribute some money so there I did my part.
Also no technology and movies can be similar. Remember the I-Pad, yeah the thing everyone wants so badly? As I recall people were making fun of the I-Pad or heck the I-Phone. So yeah one example there people thought they didn’t need a tablet, Steve Jobs and Apple decided to make people want it. An evolutionary moment in technology. Movies is also a product and service of art, it also has the same evolutionary path except studios need to push for it.
This is what I learned at work. Never be complacent always try to find ways to do new things and make yourself better. Find new ways to give value to your customer. Why is this principal found in every industry except the film making business then?
“Apples and oranges you are trying to challenge me which I have no financial capability to.”
That’s the same answer film producers give. In different scales of course… but at least producers don’t claim to support the arts. In more prosperous times, Regal produced films for Lino Brocka, Mike de Leon, and Ishmael Bernal. They made “thinking films” & those films made money. Now they just churn out Mano Po’s & Shake Rattle & Rolls. They validly say that sales are much lower due to the economy & piracy. They release a film & a few days later it’s already on dibidi dibidi. You are so sure that it’s the studio that dictates what people wants when it is far more complicated than that. Thy Womb was a test & it failed in the Pinoy mainstream, thankfully Brillante Mendoza won;t stop doing those kind of films, but bigger studios wonn’t get into that kind of risk for now.
Star Cinema churns out a lot of silly films but they are also responsible for restoring classic films like Himala & Oro Plata Mata & giving them wide releases… which very few people watched but the current project to restore classic films continue. Have you seen This Guy’s In Love With You Mare? It’s a serious look into gender politics wrapped in the Star Cinema formula. My Amnesia Girl can kick the ass of any Hollywood made Rom Com & I can recommend it over any Micheal Bay film. There is Zombadings (independently produced) which made people laugh but was also deep & thought provoking. There is Buwakaw which deserves to be seen by the world… these are all very recent films. My list could go on & on but maybe/probably you don’t watch much local cinema & is just content in dissing it. It’s stupid to compare Hollywood to Philippine cinema because we have very different economies, but one thing is for sure though, the ratio of crappy films to quality ones would be just about the same.
“how about this find me a local film maker that needs funding for their indie movies via kickstarter. Than I can contribute some money so there I did my part.”
Ako pa talga ang pinaghanap mo ano? Parang wala kang access sa internet. Yan ang problema sa maraming Pinoy, ang gagaling mag complain, pero pag binigyan mo ng pagkakataon at paraaan tumulong sa solusyon, ang hina ng initiative.
Since you are too lazy to search Google & ask around… here are a few links:
http://www.artisteconnect.com/ – the local Kickstarter type site, take your pick what project appeals to you.
http://www.savingsally.com – an indie animated feature film about love & monsters.
Peace out.
That was uncalled for calling me lazy, FYI I did make a quick search in google and kickstarter and couldn’t find anything.
So yeah how dare you … calling me lazy is a harsh thing to say. Who the f*** do you think you are. So you deserve a smack in the head for your comments. Hope you get your ass kicked since apparently agreeing to disagree involves name calling.
Made a pledge … so there. But calling me lazy … still warrants an apology.
You said “find me a local film maker that needs funding for their indie movies via kickstarter. “, if it had been posed as a question or along the the lines of “I can’t seem to find a local project that can be crowdfunded via kickstater” then I would not have assumed you were lazy but you said “Find me…” it wasn’t name calling, it was an observation based on the context of your sentence.
The act of finding (which I said I did) means that I tried to look at places like Kickstarter, does it not?
Let me reiterate:
It wasn’t name calling, it was an observation based on the context of your sentence. Only you know what you meant exactly but you can’t deny that “find me a local film maker that needs funding for their indie movies via kickstarter.” sounds more like an order, than a request. Based on the sentence, how is one to know that you have actually attempted to look for a project to support?
Regardless, you’ve made a pledge (thank you) & producers don’t care about art as it does not guarantee money. I never challenged the noble intention of putting art before profit, it’s just not realistic in mainstream cinema (but this is the thrust of art house films) Unlike poetry & painting, mainstream films require lots of money to make, so profit concerns will take precedence. As an artist, do I like this? No, not at all, but this is reality. If I had 40M of investors money to spend on a film project, I’d have to assure these people that they will make their money back. But if the money were an consequence free artistic grant , then profit is not a concern.
That is all.
I doubt people in Star Cinema, Cinema One, Seiko, Regal or whatever use GRP as some reference to frame their material. Not to self promote too much but read my stuff when I discuss values. Yes I saw Give Up Tomorrow. Marty and I go back a way. Pinoys do not value justice and I explore in that things I write.
“Take Pulp Fiction, that was risque film. It wasn’t a mainstream film but it found an audience and became a hit. The film was a risk to make but it was rewarded financially. That’s the kind of film people didn’t they wanted but when they saw it they loved it.”
Pulp Fiction came out 19 years ago. How many films have we had like that since? Compare it to the number of mindless blockbusters with explosions & robots. How many films like Himala or Oro Plata Mata have been made. If they are the recipe for success why aren’t they being replicated? Because those great films were risks that paid off but unnecessary risks nonetheless from the point of view of those who sign the check. It’s their private money. I love all sorts of film & on a personal level, I’ve put all my savings into a none mainstream film, I support my friends who work hard on their indies & I watch as many festival films as much as possible but I see nothing wrong with what the major studios are doing. Just as these producers are free to fund what they know will make money, you are free to produce your own films. So do so, if you really want to change the mind of producers, prove that the money will come.
Pulp Fiction is a freak of nature success but doesn’t mean other films that took a risk afterwards didn’t pay off.
Just to name a few:
Fahrenheit 9/11, Midnight in Paris, The Descendants, (500) Days of Summer, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Kids Are All Right, Brokeback Mountain, The Wrestler, Slumbdog Millionaire, American Beauty, Election, Sideways and Once
Were all these movies smash hits? No but did they make money relative to their budget? Yes.
In the case of the US Film Industry yes they clog their films with summer tent poles but, more often than not, there’s a relationship between the actors, film makers and the studio. That they make these “safe” movies so they can fund their own ambitious pet projects or at least help these kind of movies get funded. In The Philippines this is not the case, even MMFF, which supposed to show the best of Philippine cinema, usually half of the line up produce generic films.
And were not just talking about moderately budget films. Even what may seem safe blockbusters now weren’t the case before. Star Wars was a huge risk done by the studio, Toy Story was one too, as was Lord of the Rings. These films could have easily bankrupted the studio if these films bombed. But they didn’t and paved the way for motion pictures.
I am not saying what the studio’s are doing is wrong. But irresponsible and complacent with keeping the status quo.
“That they make these “safe†movies so they can fund their own ambitious pet projects or at least help these kind of movies get funded. In The Philippines this is not the case”
Sorry ma’am/sir, pero sobrang mali ka sa puntong ito. Paki kilala muna ang industriya at mga tao invovled dito before you make uninformed generalizations.
In my 35 years on earth, nothing has changed with Filipino films. It’s often crappy, predictable and in fact rip-offs from foreign films. While we are a country full of talent, the mainstream movie industry has conditioned the mind of local movie goers to stick to the same formula and as a result there are very few Filipino films that met my expectations. Specifically, the majority of the local audiences have not developed a sense of depth in knowing and understanding what films are worth watching. For instance if the plot of the films require period settings, most audiences tend to get bored take for example the movies Rosario and Baler. During the 80s and the 90s, local actions films carry the same revenge stories that by watching the trailer, you can easily predict the ending. Romantic films over the years always have happy endings and if you ask why this has been the “norm”. So I have doused myself with a colonial and neo-colonial mind but what can I do? What are the options? Often it’s either the movie goer chooses a romantic flick with an overly recycled story line, a comedy that uses the same punchline and a horror film that repeats the same conflict. On the other hand, the only saving grace we have right now are the Indie films and Indie film makers who create ground-breaking and unconventional stories, and stories that stick to reality.
The Philippine mainstream media, where the movies belong has never intended to educate the public it’s all solely for the profit, with the movies as a way to temporarily sedate the society from its problems, to momentarily numb the audience from reality. While we need every now and then a dose of entertainment, having to altogether rely on this method will not bring change. Truth is, ours is a perennially sick culture.
Wala namang problem kung gumagawa ang mga film makers natin ng mga pelikulang sabihin na natin na hindi “de-kalidad”. Films how crappy they are, are still films. Predictable storylines, over-used punchlines, american rip-offs e.t.c, hindi naman natin pwedeng sisihin dyan ang mga director at writters dahil siguro gusto rin naman nilang gumawa ng mga pelikulang magbibigay sa kanila ng dangal. Of course if you happen to be movie producer, you don’t make bad investments, Negosyo eh diba? at kung ikaw ay manonood ng pelikula tuwing MMFF syempre hindi ka manonood ng mga pelikulang nakaka-depressed na magpapa alaala sayo kung kalunos lunos ang buhay dito sa pilipinas.
Ang problema lang ay sobrang dami na! taon-taon nalang ganitong klase na lang ng pelikula ang nakikita ko, kahit pa sabihin nila na “tangkilin ang sariling atin” pucha nakakabadtrip at sayang lang ang pera ko, kahit once-in-awhile man lang gumawa sila ng pelikulang pwedeng ipagmalaki natin sa ibang bansa. Kung basura ngang maituturing ang pelikula natin ngayon, malamang naglalangoy na tayo sa estero ng mga pelikula. Nakakalungkot lang isipin, na wala na tayong na proproduce katulad ng mga pelikula ni Lino Brocka at kung buhay sya ngayon siguradong badtrip yun at madami dami na syang minurang mga direktor.
Filipino cinema is definitely predictable in terms of plot. It’s the same formula used all over again just being revised in a way that smart people won’t spend their money’s worth of watching the movie. Usually I never liked watching the movies released in Manila Film Festival because I know what kind of movies are gonna come out. What I would like to see is a unique plot, twist and turns that you won’t expect, characters that are actually likable. Filipino’s just don’t appreciate movies that are related to the society, the realism, the suffering of many, the people who doubt their beliefs, people who sacrifice for survival and etc. even it has to be simple. Even today I still can say that other asian cinemas are better than ours, I mean Indonesia and Thailand have awesome action movies and some good love stories that some of them simple. It just blew my mind I mean the Filipino Cinema can do that too it’s just the goddamn producer for me, I mean is it actually that hard just to make a movie with a simple plot but the acting, choreography,and the execution is just top-notch… Well no, they make sappy commercial love stories that is just …ugh… insane in many levels. I mean the best spot for the Filipino cinema is the “indie films” selection. Filipino movies have to step up they do not need Special FX they need to be wow the audience make their movies feel alive for its quality… you do not have to stick to your target market because it is you’re pacemaker… you have to extend to the other audiences I could tell that whether they suck or just plain awesome I mean internet fanfilm makers are better than them… Do not follow the what the masses always want it makes most of the filipino cinema basically for me looks like a joke of logic. As long as they play safe I’ll just stick with the gems of the filipino “indie film” cinema instead and just keep on hoping for that to happen.
Yes, you’re totally right about Indonesia and Thailand being now waaay ahead of us in terms of “mainstream filmmaking”. Now, our indie films are indeed gems; rare diamonds in the rough, but my God! Why are the ones in our big studios sooo inherently vapid and degrading? I somehow wanted to even kill another lovebird couple onscreen when I spotted some of its trailers alongside the indie films in youtube.
I somehow wished that for once, someone’s gotta kill John Lloyd Cruz and all the producers of schlock romance in a parody film, someday, if someone out there who’s got money shoots a story like this (no pun intended).
If only filipino mainstream filmmakers have the wit of Hal Hartley, my God, John Lloyd Cruz won’t be the hottest s#*t anymore- hello art, goodbye trash entertainment!
Here’s a brilliant film clip by Hal Hartley from his dark comedy, “Trust” (1990):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTok_lIkHPc
And this is how romance in films should be done.
With simple plots, I could only think of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiRZhDEo8A
I know this was originally a book but it’s plot was very simple and yet it could hit you very hard and will leave you ruminating about several aspects in your life.
What’s sad is that most Filipinos can’t even take to watch something that isn’t instantly gratifying. A lot of Filipinos today (especially the youth and the masses) are extremely anti-intellectual that they find no pleasure in watching films about social strife, issues and cold technology.
What’s worse is that our film makers seem to feed that kind of behaviour and milks their oblivious audiences out in return. I don’t know if this situation can still be salvageable because it requires an entire culture shift for this to happen. The average Filipino nowadays is quite shallow in terms of appreciating art that presenting a film of substance might just make their brains explode.
Also, we really need quality scriptwriters and producers who will support these scripts. I don’t believe that they can’t make money out of “substance”. It’s already the problem of their marketing and advertising team.
Another observation: I think most of the Filipino films are made to fit a certain actor/actress and it’s a bad thing. Ever heard of a movie actor/actress audition for a role here? Nope.
Very simple.
The quality of film addresses
The quality of the audience.
How can you expect Thinking movies when the majority of the audience just needs ti get away from their decrepit realities?
dont get me wrong i love my country but i hate our pirated movies so ill make a telenovela…hmmm…heres the short summarized story there will be a poor girl who is destined to fall with a very rich guy then the evil rich family of the boy will destroy their love and life so the girl will be encouraged to make herself rich and get back on the evildoers and in the end everyone is happy..ill make hundreds of episodes and movies and sequels of these only ill change the title…so any takers? amateur actors/actresses or professionals can apply hehe…
My dad started out doing visual effects and eventually transitioned to directing TV shows and commercials. He eventually wanted to direct films. I remember growing up with him working at home late, late at night. I’d help him out with his storyboards when I couldn’t sleep and he’d tell me about all his wonderful ideas and how they were never approved because of budget concerns, plus he was always told “hindi bebenta sa masa”. He was always so frustrated, because he believed that the masses can be educated through media and that they can be taught to appreciate nicer entertainment, but no one wants to take the risk. He, like many others, was forced to work in other countries where producers/ad people are more adventurous.
“hindi bebenta sa masa”
I disagree, the “masa” will eat anything you serve them. They will believe anything you tell them….. that is why we have Pnoy as president.
I believe that moviemakers should make more effort in feeding the “masa” with movies with more substance.
Like a parent feeding kids with junk food because that is what the kids want is just wrong, serve healthy food to kids then that is what they will eat.
The problem with feeding the “masa” with more substance could be..constipation. 😀
Because it will be hard to digest..hell they might even choke.
I once indulged in a lot of junk foods, a lot of oily foods that in the end I got sick..I got gallstones and a liver problem..but I was able to recover thanks to my own realization that what I’ve been eating was garbage all this time hence the balanced diet that I’ve been doing since then…the same way with other people..they themselves must realize that first..but until then..they will keep on with it.
but many Pinoys appreciate hollywood films, as evidenced by the likes of Transformers, Harry Potter, etc. Guess the producers really just do not have the budget, or is afraid to take risks on investment.
in the case hollywood films like Transformers and Harry Potter, they can at least provide good story-telling. At least they are trying to be different with how they do their films, even if there’s a certain formula or trope they may do but they are able to make it at much better than here.
the producers here have budgets and deep pockets, although i know some are just about as starving as anyone but still..it is a rare case where you’ll get a good story which at least you’ll learn something from it.
risk-taking here..is kind of a foreign concept, and those who have the balls to do it are ridiculed.
most people watch movie during MMFF it’s not that they like the movie but because they were bored and tired to roam around so, watching movie is the only way to spend some time with their family/friends. after watching the movie they just forget it. but for me if the movie is not that good then don’t watch, it’s a waste of time and money.
Filipino Movies = Bread Crumbs
this just proves how simple filipinos were. kahit ‘di ganun kaganda ang mga films na pinapalabas, still they will be happy and excited to watch it.
sa tingin ko nagiging generic na mga movies na hango mula sa ibang films abroad… adapt-adapt tagpi-tagpi ng mga eksena at pinag-isa sa pelikula… hayyy
One of the best Filipino films of the year was Ang Turkey Man ay Pabo Rin. That is a Pinoy film that was different in terms of story.
I was about to point out that MMFF is not the sole scope of Philippine Movies but while reading the comments, I think there’s no need to.
Maybe we should stop talking about what is crappy and start talking about what is great. If film studios won’t dare, then let’s just do it ourselves. If we keep on talking about great movies, maybe we can change the mindset of the masses regarding movies. The way I see it, these producers follow what the mass want; if we succeed, we will have great mainstream movies.
The masses will probably demand something like, they want famous actors/actresses, upcoming child stars, love teams, love triangles, love quadrilaterals, cheating spouses, pre-marital sex, some nudity from the newest and hottest sexy starlet that may have graced FHM, some cliched action scenes where the villains suffer some marksmanship failure in which they can never hit the protagonist even with a scope, someone has to die so that the other will take revenge, and of course dapat maputi or balak magpapaputi because there’s somewhat a discrimination going on for those who aren’t half-this and half-filipino…
I could go on and on..but that is possibly what the masses could want..after all..when I hear something like “Now on its 2nd week” and they are interviewing people, the people will talk about the actors..and not the movie itself..
Right now, it’s an uphill struggle to present that to the masses. There was once a very interesting documentary that was shown in the theatres..and you know the majority who watched it? They were sleeping the entire time. Their brains may have fried up or gone BSOD which needs to restart but can’t.
Even the indie films are getting infected by such..but I still believe that they can do quality movies though it will take a lot of time and possibly forever for it to become true though.
We just need the brightest and most creative people here in the Philippines who doesnt care about the money to collaborate and break the habit., someone who has an only goal of delivering quality entertainment. Something thats never been done before here. The only problem is that our skilled professionals migrates to a different country and contribute there.
My real concern is that , this limited amount of variety and genre in our film industry does reflect the behavior and the philosophy of the younger generation , therefore results in the lack of creativity and inspiration that they can digest from this kinds of movies.
Too bad, thanks to the limited amount of opportunities here for those certain brightest and most creative people they really have nowhere else to go except out of here. Maybe if our country had better opportunities..oh well.
I guess looking at how the entertainment scene is right now..it is more of quantity is the new quality..and that’s why we get shitty programs and the lot.
The problem with the current genre of programs now is, they are “tried-and-tested-that-sells-tickets” so in their minds, they really have no reason to expand their horizons.
As long as it puts butts to seats and makes money that’s just about it. No one really cared about the story..they only cared about the acting, the actors, how the people who watched will react, how these same people will try to connect it to their own miserable lives and quote some quotable quotes to post in facebook because it becomes somewhat of a food for thought even if it’s not.
And then trying to “preach” the word/paragraph just because some movie star said so and yet after a few months or years they forget what they said or whatever it actually meant and in the end …it was all just words. Empty words. 😀
Mga co newbie let’s try new story who wants to have a change in movie industry??? contact me for us to think new stories na makabago and I have an idea contact me here justine_palero@yahoo.com
This might be oversimplifying things a bit, but some people watch movies merely to be entertained, not to think.
I’m a film maker but I don’t make big films…I just do short skits and upload them to YouTube and yes…I agree with the writer of this article. Every Year we have the same Enteng thing and Shake Rattle and Roll,Can’t they just start something new? Are they running out of ideas? and why is Senator Bong Revilla Jr. Acting and not “Politic-ing”?
infairness, at times, they are still able to make quality films like On The Job – this is one of a kind. they should create more of these.
I do not perhaps appreciate how I stopped upward here, on the other hand thought this particular post once was good. I don’t understand individual preference could be however undoubtedly you are likely to any well-known blogger when you are not really already. Cheers!
Seriously dude? You like parodies and plagiarized work? And what the hell is that grammar?! It’s like you’re talking to a 6-year old with your poor attempts at trying to impress us that you’re some kind of scientist or something.
Hahaha those are the target market of these kind of films.
We’ve been so dumb down by the noontime shows and all the stupid tv shows/movies in pinas that most of us couldn’t recognize what’s “good” anymore, and the lack of creativity and originality shows. The media is flooded with cheesy/corny old school appeal and it’s just so out dated. It seems to me that the pinas media is run by certain execs/groups who are scared to step out of their comfort zones so they stick to what they’ve been doing for the past 30-40 years. Pinas has so much to offer in the movie business, we have such interesting culture and lifestyle that are very specific and alluring to foreigners and I’m so glad that we’re finally finding our niche with Briliante and Matti’s films…We need the squeeze the culture out of pinas and cater it to the world. It is beautiful and elegant in it’s on way.
TV shows entertain the people. Entertainment is the nature of their existence. In an ordinary circumstance, to ask more beyond this function is perhaps asking too much. However, the country is in a difficult circumstance. It needs all sectors to chip in.
TV shows must keep on giving prizes away but should also help fight ignorance. TV shows are in a unique and powerful position to affect change on the people who listen and watch them. With a creative twist, TV shows can effectively share information on the country’s political systems, history, languages and world opinion. In a way TV shows can create a mirror for people to see themselves.
Good looks and humour are important and hence must stay, but TV personalities must also demonstrate their intelligence and project a well informed citizen that their viewers can relate and aspire to. When the educational sector is able to carry the fight against ignorance on its own, then TV shows can go back to doing things they do best: entertainment.
Well first of all, the number 1 criteria to become an actor in the Philippine movie business is good looks. Much to a Filipino standard, that means very light skin. Their ability to act does not matter. At all. The Filipino audience have been groomed to be comfortable enough to cheesy, predictable storylines with everyday shows and soaps. The movies they call “indie films” are promising quality films that could cover as the hope and/or pride for Philippine cinema.
May mga exemptions naman rito for instance yaong RPG Metanoia.Sadly,ang mga shining gems of filipino cinema are ignored
Sorry but that pinoy animated movie sucked. I’m not being a graphics whore but the movie’s frame rate is choppy.
RPG metanoia? That hardly qualifies as an animated film when it isn’t even “animated” in the first place.
Choppy framerates and a really really retarded excuse of a plot shouldn’t be called “a shining gem”.
agree. the film was probably rendered on a pIII at a staggering 10 fps.
the story? what plot? absolutely no research involved. the writers probably saw a few eps of .hack and told themselves “letsdudis!” and ended up with “pwedenayan!”
I really liked RPG Metanoia and I know the company and team behind it. To start with, doing animation is really expensive.
The firm who made it poured it so much company resources to make it. It also took plenty of overtime hours for the artist to arrange frame by frame for the picture.
Now if anyone here can do a movie like that. Thats the problem with Philippine Culture (as compared to Japanese Common Sense) we don’t see the people behind it working.
Toyota has sucky, smoking, flimsy cars but their countrymen supported them.
The only ones who liked it are the people who worked on it. That’s why the local vfx community frowns at it.
No matter what, people have different taste, each to his own level. Whether it is a copy cat, or a revolutionary idea, if you wish to be entertained, then watch it. It is a choice. If you’re the analytic type, everything will seem to be boring to you. We need to relax and refresh ourselves especially in this country of ours, always plagued by typhoon and other natural calamities. We need not impose our ideas to everyone. Relax, relax lang pag may time.
Entertained? i rather be entertained with quality and has artistry to it. Instead of learning something educational, you would prefer to let your kids watch those mindless comedy slapstick movies. Even in our film industry, compared to other Asian countries like China, Korea, and Japan, we were so behind in terms of making great quality films with the exception of Kisapmata, Himala, Brutal, and Oro Plata Mata. Since then, we have not moved on. We have been stuck creating these worthless overly dramatic or trashy comedic movies. Read link below:
http://pilipinothecrabmentality.weebly.com/
Doing the “people have different taste” excuse = playing the victim card. Then consider yourself an idiot from wasting your precious time and money from watching too much shows and films that doesn’t make any sense.
The “films” shown in the Metro Manila Film Festival are MOVIES. If there’s one thing I learned in college, it’s that movies and films are different. Filipino producers make movies during the Metro Manila Film Festival, and they make films during Cinemalaya! 🙂 CINEMALAYA IS THE BEST, HONESTLY.
Hi guys! hindi rin talaga maganda kapag animated ung mga movie ng pinoy hindi swabe compared sa ibang bansa lalo na pag dating sa special effects, pero makikita mo naman ung progress na unting unti nang mas nagiging maayos kumpara dati.you can buy filipino movies here https://www.goods.ph/category/online-shopping-filipino-movies-861-1127.html
I agree with you, Ilda. Very well said. Bravo!
I happen to have some folks who seem to enjoy watching this shit. We can forgive kids for their poor taste, but, what I’m talking about are educated adults here who should know better. I mean, they’re supposed to be educated but, *sigh*…