FOR MANNY C. ON HIS 70th BIRTHDAY

Dear Manolet: 

You would have turned seventy this 20th day of August.

It took me more than a month before I could write this blog.  Somehow, I needed the time and the distance to digest everything that happened.  It was not easy that in about six weeks, two people who are so close to my heart left this life that resulted this gaping hole in my existence.  

I had a really bad feeling when I saw you during that dinner held at my house when the friends decided to get together for no reason at all aside from getting together.

I had warned the others who arrived earlier not to react to how you looked because the previous time we saw each other was on the set of a series I was doing --- and I did not have the guts to tell you that you did not look good --- or even ask you if anything was wrong.  That was less than a year ago --- and when you arrived at my residence, we were all shocked at the physical deterioration that had taken place.

You said you were not feeling well --- and we knew you are not well at all.  That was why our friend Erick literally dragged you to the hospital the following Monday to make sure that we knew what was wrong with you.

And find out we did.

We were convincing you to have yourself further checked ... but you were hesitant.  I knew you well enough to know what went on in your mind when you displayed this kind of behavior. And I knew that the more I insisted, the more you would stand your ground.  Despite all the cajoling from both Erick and I, you always found an excuse for delay.  You said you will have yourself confined when you were ready.

That was why a little after a month from the dinner I received word from your nephew that you already died.

Manny, I did not know how to react.  I was about to give a speech when I got the text message stating that they found your lifeless body perhaps more than twenty-four hours after you expired.  We always warned you about living alone ---   but you always had fifteen thousand reasons why you did not want a live-in housekeeper or domestic companion.  After much argumentation I would mutter in exasperation, "Bahala ka."

So even to the very end you never wanted anyone living with you 24/7.  You asked me if I knew of someone who can be your part-time companion with a specification: "Gusto ko yung lalake na mauutus-utusan. Ayoko ng babae. Maarte." And I laughed.  

I did not know that that was the last conversation we would ever have.

Even if more than a month has come to pass I still have not fully absorbed the fact that you are gone.  Although we would not talk for stretches of time ... for one reason or another ... it was different when I knew you were just a text message or a phone call away.  When our schedules got all messed up or I was too preoccupied filling my days with work, we could waste months with absolutely no communication.  But then each time we find ourselves in conversation, it was as if the time that elapsed did not matter.  Every encounter was only the continuation of a timeline of friendship.

As it should be.  Everyone who knew us were aware that we met when we were eight years old.  

You just moved three houses away from where I lived in Pasay City ---- and one fine day you saw me playing cards by myself and you pushed open the gate of my house to ask if you could join me in a game of ... Old Maid.   How were we to know that this would be a premonition of sorts.

It was years later when we saw each other again at the canteen of then De la Salle College.  Again, one of our favorite shared anecdotes was how we reacted when our eyes chanced on each other and you went, "Joey?" and I tentatively asked, "Manolet?" and what followed was an ear-piercing scream that was heard all the way to Taft Avenue.  

Ever since then we were inseparable.  It was always Joey and Manny. We laughed the same laugh.  We had a delicious way of sharing stories.  We swapped opinions --- and, boy, did we really bitch in a manner that our lacerating wit can conceive.

Now when I look back, I realize that in all the major moments of my life, you were there.  

You were in the cast of my very first successful professional endeavor as a writer in The Boys in the Band in Taglish, directed by Tony Espejo and staged in Hotel Mirador, running close to two years.

You were in the cast of the very first sitcom I wrote for then BBC Channel 2, directed by the late Quito CuUnjieng entitled Sandy's Cousin, starring Ronald Bregendahl and meant as the launching pad for a beautiful new talent named Sandy Andolong.  Remember how you and I together with Benggot PeBenito would spend the day in school then take a Love Bus ride all the way to Broadcast City because our taping started at 12 midnight to about seven the next morning?  Then we would just go home, change clothes then go back to school for the classes we taught?

You were in the most important movie of my writing career: I remember asking Peque Gallaga if I can create a character for you and I was overjoyed when he agreed.  Shooting Oro, Plata, Mata was a joy because you, Don Escudero and I were together in one frenzied night when we shot the opening party scene.  The following day we shot the ending of the movie --- I wrote the role of Emilio based on the idea of Gallaga to show the change of power in the sexes as a result of the devastation of the war.  You were in the opening and closing of the movie --- but more important was the fact that the three of us ( you, Don and I) were together for that once in a lifetime experience.

And you were cast in the very first movie I directed.  I do not remember how many movies I have written and directed that you played one role or another ... but it was the comfort of having you on the set ... or the fact that there was always someone there to infect everybody with laughter.

Or the time when I decided to move out of my parents' house and asked you to accompany in my house hunting where we ended up in the South Syquia Apartments in MH del Pilar suddenly awed by the beautiful art deco architecture.  That was when you impulsively decided to move out of your family home as well: I remember the day we moved into Syquia in our separate residences --- you on the second floor of Building 2 while I was on the fourth.  And some people actually thought that we were living together because we had the same address.

There were too many memories to share. I mean, it could not be helped.  We have known each other for sixty-one years which was more than a lifetime for unfortunate others.  We both lived through the Remedios Circle days when that was the most fashionable area of the city: we survived Coco Banana, Subway and all the other clubs where it was a weekly ritual to party from Saturday evening until sunrise of Sunday.

There were the New Year's Eve parties you hosted in your apartment where you actually dedicated time and effort to cook a terrific meal for your friends as we greeted each passage of yet another landmark in our lives.  You would take out your best silver and flaunt your culinary talent --- something about you that very few people knew.  We had spent so many new year's eve together that I wrote a song to celebrate those unforgettable occasions: "Isang Taong Lumipas" was made even more unforgettable by the music of Ryan Cayabyab.

We lived through all that.  And later those vacations in Boracay, those crazy trips to Hong Kong and Bangkok.  I got to see how you viciously collected those Versace plates that you carefully arranged in a buffet cabinet that came crashing down during an earthquake.  I remember how you were in a state of shock after finding a dozen or so plates diminished into shards and how you casually and non-challantly shrugged your shoulders and said, "Oh, well." 

That was so much like you for you never show others how you felt or what went inside your mind.  You never wanted anyone to catch your vulnerabilities or make others feel responsible for your problems ... down to the very end.

Yes, these past few years we had our differences because of choices we made.

But despite the arguments we had about politics, we never really let that create a crack so big that it could become irreperable. We may not agree on a lot of things to the point that I unfriended you in Facebook because I found your online ranting toxic ----and hurting the feelings of so many people we knew. But, in the end, we just never talked about it.  You never asked me why I cut my social media connections with you.  There was more to our friendship than the ramblings of politics to put an end to a lifetime of camaraderie.  

That is why even after so many weeks that you have left, I am still not used to the fact that you are no longer there.

We will soon have another dinner in my house --- and that empty seat will remind all of us that this space was reserved for you... only you.

We will miss you as we are missing you now and I know that all my life I will be missing my best friend.  But to quote a line from that song, "It is the laughter that we will remember ..." because that was something you gave me for sixty-two years.

And I know that you are somewhere out there (with Don) chattering endlessly, bitching at your best and perhaps remembering too ... remembering the best of years when Don, you and I shared the same table and lived our lives like no other.

Only a few remember that your nickname was not Manny but Manolet.

Happy birthday, Manolet.

FOR MOTHER LILY ON HER 85TH BIRTHDAY

 An era in Philippine cinema ended on 04 August 2024.

The passing of Lily Monteverde, more popularly known as Mother Lily, was felt like a blow that hurt the heart the movie industry in our country.  Regardless of what you felt or thought of her, the woman was and will always be one of giants who showed the direction and shaped cinema in our country.

It is hard to underestimate the value of Mother Lily's contribution to our culture.  The film library of Regal Films stretches not only through decades but generations of movie productions handled by Filipino directors whose voices have become benchmarks in the history of our popular culture.

Yes, there are the works of National Artists for Film like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Ricky Lee and Marilou Diaz-Abaya ... but also included are the films of the popular and commercial icons like Luciano B. Carlos (known as Tatay Chaning), Mike Relon Makiling and, of course, Elwood Perez and Joey Gosiengfiao.  One cannot run through the films made in the seventies straight throughto the nineties without pointing to Regal Films as one of the the epicenters of popular culture.

For if there is Mike de Leon's Sister Stella L., then there is the iconic Temptation Island of Joey Gosiengfiao. Regal was the home of the most important films of Ishmael Bernal ( Relasyon, Broken Marriage, Hinugot Sa Langit ) Even to this day, the works of Pablo S. Gomez turned into popular movies like Tatay Chaning's Inday trilogy ( Inday Bote, Inday, Inday sa Balitaw and Super Inday and the Magic Bibe) are still being talked about and used as points of reference in studying what and how it was the latter years of the past century.

Without Mother Lily there would be no Regal Babies.

The names of Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna, Dina Bonnevie, Gabby Concepcion, William and Albert Martinez are still familiar because they belonged to that generation of stars who were not sparks in the dark.  They had lasting power and credibility because they represented more than popularity but more of talent.

Then of course the roster of Regal Stars must including Gina Alajar, Rio Locsin, Alma Morenom, Lorna Tolentino and  the late Cherie Gil who all donned that magic kamison used in posters and promotional materials to sell films like Disgrasiyada, Diborsiyada, Separada and even The Rape of Virginia P and Waikiki.  How could anyone discuss 20th century Philippine movies without addressing these names and faces who defined popular entertainment of that time?

What is little known to the larger audience is just how much Lily Monteverde laid the ground for the blossoming of young filmmakers but believing in their talent but more so by being a major movie fan herself.

Mother Lily never shied away in admitting that she started out as this rebellious kolehiyala who joined the throngs waiting outside the gate of Sampaguita Pictures in Gilmore Avenue just to catch a glimpse of her favorite movie stars.  That movie fan mentality translated to a sincere and deep love for movies --- which gave this producer the sense of trust and even bewilderment to the creativity and the need for independence of screenwriters and directors.  

Back in those days there were no creative committees, no creative managers : there was only the producer with the director and his writer --- and for Mother Lily, that was enough.  She believed in the importance of creative identity, leaving each director the right to issue his thumbprint on his work ---- so that no two movies can ever sound and look alike.  Under Mother's productions, you would know the Elwood Perez movie from that of a Gosiengfiao. You can see the personality of a Maryo J. de los Reyes movie or that of Mel Chionglo. 

Even on the first ten minutes of the film's viewing you will know that this is a Rono movie ... or a Lamangan. Or an Erik Matti.

Yes, Mother was far from perfect.  As a matter of fact, it is safe to call her beautifully insane.

Her unpredictability, her mood swings from hysterical laughter to ... uh, pure hysteria are all that she was and will always be remembered.  But it is that ability to be completely unpredictable that made her both unnerving as well as endearing.

Yes, there are all the complaints about working conditions but only those in her inner circle were fully aware of what she was going through in terms of the financial struggles in certain periods of Regal's history.  Mother Lily would never shared that with anyone her trials and woes because by being a fighter, by being a survivor she succeeded in keeping Regal afloat to become the oldest existing movie studio today.

Although many know Lily Monteverde by name ... only those who had been given the opportunity to know her personally can vouch that her public persona fell short of showing what kind of a person she was.  Simply put, the term mother was most appropriate because she was exactly that.  If you had won her trust and heart, then you would have been shown the generosity and care that she gave her closest friends and associates.  She was not a mother only by name ... because she took the role seriously in quietly and privately caring for people who she knew cared for her and her children.

People may remember Mother Lily as a producer ... but for some of us who have shared a substantial part of our lives with her, the woman shall and will always remain as irreplaceable and in so many ways incomparable.

I have said it so many times before and I will say it again: if it were not for Mother Lily, I would not be here where I stand and speak and write today.

I have been blessed to have her as a part not only of my professional life ... but as a second mother who took care of me when  all the rest have given up on me.  She was a rock of strength for me ... and by her memory alone I am sure there are so many others who find fortitude by the sheer example of her life.

Thank you once again, Mother. Happy birthday and may you have found the eternal peace and happiness that you so deserve,

You will never be forgotten because there are so many who will always love you.

RED FLAG FOR FILIPINO MOVIES?: HAVE WE LOST OUR AUDIENCES IN CINEMAS? PART 2

 Yes, we do have a problem.

But the decline in cinema viewership is not a phenomenon unique to our country.  All over the world there are still so many countries which have not yet fully recovered from the effects of the pandemic.  Audiences have not yet returned to cinema in the same numbers that they did in 2018.

In our region, only Indonesia and Malaysia are doing well.  Even Korea has a major backlog. First World countries like Germany has not yet recovered from the nearly three year hiatus brought by COVID.

However this does not mean that our problem is but normal.  The fact that local movie productions are struggling because of imminent loss of revenue in cinema exhibition has resulted to even more dire problems.  

Why would a producer invest so much money in a project when the chances of return of investment --- or even profit --- are practically close to nil?  The only option is to produce projects at a much lower budget --- nay, the lowest budget possible --- to minimize the damage of loss.  The logic behind this is that cinema exhibition only becomes a side bar because the greater bulk of recovery comes from selling the ancilliary rights ( television, streaming platforms or, if lucky, finding a distributor abroad to screen in certain territories) within and outside the country.

Lowering the budget means diminishing the production value.  Whereas years ago movie budgets range from P15 - 25M with grand scale projects hitting as high as P40 - 60M, nowadays the running rate for films (to give a stronger chance for recovery and lesser damage of loss) ranges from P6 - 12M. With this sort of budget, the number of shooting days have been greatly diminished and, as one colleague said jokingly, "It is the return of the pitu-pito!" since the number of shooting days have been drastically cut from a normal eighteen (18) to twenty-five (25) calendar days to ... uh, six (6) with a maximum of ten (10) to live within the budget. 

Then there is the complex taxation of films in our country.  To explain the mathematics involved would take an entire blog, so it is best to simplify the computation.  Bluntly put, for a movie to make money for the producer, it must earn three times the amount spent in the production.  This means from pre-production (conceptualization, preparation for filming), production (principal photography), post-production (editing, color grading, sound engineering, musical scoring, etc.) and marketing and distribution.  For every P100 paid for a movie ticket, approximately one third goes to the goverment (for taxes which include VAT and income tax), another third goes to the theater owner and only the final third goes to the producer.

Solutions have been made to exempt Filipino movies from the amusement tax posed by local governments.  This has been agreed upon earlier this year with certain cities in Metro Manila: this is a moratorium requested by the movie producers and facilitated by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) to ease if not alleviate the financial burden left on the shoulders of certain stakeholders.

But still, the problem is not only the price of ticket ... or the taxation but the movies themselves.  

Why are Filipinos not watching their own movies?

The Waiting Game

In the earlier blog, explanations were given about the very short window between a movie's cinema exhibition before it migrates to the platforms.

Because of the very limited window between public screening and private streaming, audiences tend to wait for the products until they are made accessible to their homes or even their cellphones and tablets.  There are certain mainstream movies that have lukewarm box office performances but achieve astounding popularity the moment they are streamed. And, as mentioned before, return business in cinemas is practically gone because people would rather wait for the movie to be seen on Netflix or Amazon Prime rather than to pay another P350-400 to catch another screening of something they have already seen before in a cinema.

A recent survey commissioned by FDCP revealed that certain genres are preferred to be seen in cinemas by Filipinos.  These include action  (understandably so because of its need for an immersive experience ), horror  (who wants to watch a horror movie alone at home or much less on a phone?) , comedy and romance.  However, one thing is most noticeable: the once highly sellable romantic comedy has been relegated to streaming  --- which means because of the overload of romcoms coming from all sources (including Korea), the genre is no longer prioritized for cinematic viewing: it has been pigeon holed for the small screen.

Moreover, so much change has happened in understanding who are still watching movies in cinemas nowadays.

Perhaps a good indication is to review the top grosser of the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival: the winner was a millennial horror movie ( Mikhail Red's Deleter) and not the usual comedy movie that would usually lord over the festivals.  This year the same observation can be made about the quality of production and themes of the movies that made it to the top of the heap in the December fest:  a family movie, another horror movie and a historical piece.  All shared one thing in common: evident production value, significance of theme but most of all relatability to a specific demographic of the audience.

It is predominantly if not exclusively the Filipino middle class who is still capable of allocating money for watching films in cinemas which points out how and why they choose or where they will spend for entertainment.

Rewind was well-made melodrama.  Mallari was a technically-polished piece while Gomburza carried the heaviest gravitas among all the entries as it eventually looked like a prequel to Marilou Abaya's Rizal.  Firefly, deemed as the Best Picture of last December's festival, also carried a theme of family and resilience: the awards received by the movie dramatically boosted its sales.

But even if December has become the best (if not the safest) dates to release Filipino movies in cinemas, there is still such a great risk that the movie will not make money for the producer. Truth: not all the MMFF entries make money.  It was and will never be that way: more than the trophies handed out two days after Christmas, there are only a few winners as far as the box office results are concerned.

Times may have changed but some things remain the same.

 Again, unlike before, the pangkaraniwang manonood would not watch one ... or even two ... but three or more entries in the festival with some others aspiring to watch all eight of the Christmas movies.  With the present price of tickets, the enthusiasm of the moviegoer has been sedated by the practicality of economics: it requires a certain thickness of the wallet to watch more than one movie ... much less, all the entries.  

Not only has the repeat business been squelched but the potential of the market has shrunk because people watch fewer movies within the duration of the festival.

Is it Really About the Ticket Price?

The most common complaint is that the price of movie tickets has become untenable.

The usual moan and groan of filmmakers, producers and the audiences point to the price of movie tickets which have literally cut off the masa who used to be the very cornerstone of Filipino cinema consumption.  It is assumed that as long as ticket prices remain within the existing range, audiences will opt to find their happiness in streaming or the internet.

But wait ---- let's rethink this argument.

Just last Wednesday ... when Inside Out 2 harvested close to P90M, there was a quiet but significant change in the price of movie tickets.  The two Filipino films were selling at a much lower ticket price compared to the foreign movies! At P230 per ticket, this was a price that approximated if not revived the 2018 rates of seeing a film in a cinema house.

If that is so, then how come people still preferred to watch the more expensive foreign movie?  How come they still chose a Thai movie with subtitles over two Filipino movies being sold at a cheaper price?

So it  could not possibly be just the price of tickets alone, right?

Yes, yes ... not too long ago, a mall celebrated its sixty-fifth anniversary and all movie tickets were sold at P65 ... and near chaos ensued.

What was evident was the hunger of the audiences to experience cinema again. All the screenings, regardless of what was showing, were filled to the rafters.  Then again, this was another unique situation. Realistically speaking, operating a moviehouse cannot be sustained if ticket prices are drastically slashed to levels below P100 considering the overhead required daily to keep the cinemas going.

Then you have the Independence Day results that showed the ticket-paying audiences willing to dole out more money for the foreign movies rather than the lesser-priced Filipino films.  Again, the audiences opted for a Thai film on its third week than two brand new local films with relatively marketable stars on the marquee.

Could it be because of the so-called negative publicity attributed to the lead star of one of the local films as to why the cinemagoers refrained from watching?  Could it be that impressive ensemble of the other movie was not maximized because of the lack of publicity and promotions of the movie?

Or could it be the core branding of Filipino movies that has completely thrown our products off the radar because of the pre-conceived notion of many --- or maybe a hasty generalization for that matter --- that if it is a local production, then it must not be worth the money?

The Negative Brand

Is it possible that the mere mention of Filipino movies elicits an automatic negative reaction brought about by what has already become an embedded prejudice?

Filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana came out with a most interesting reel expressing his take on the present scenario.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1540632766532516

Laxamana offers an interesting insight into what he proposes as the case of a "damaged brand" brought about by a consistent output of inferior movies thereby resulting to an aversion of the audiences.  And he is very correct,

In other words, because of a rather exhausting experience of being given particularly inferior movies, the audiences have come to a question that all Filipino films are not worth their money. Of course the generalization is so damaging --- but denying that (well, yes) we have given the public subpar works will not and can never solve the problem.

Blaming just the ticket price and not assessing what the stakeholders have given the audiences is being in denial.

Yes, audiences automatically equate Filipino films inferior to their foreign counterparts which was most likely why they would rather pay a higher price of a foreign film (especially part of a popular franchise or a movie retaining its clout because of thunderous word of mouth) than see a local one --- thinking that what is Pinoy is bad and can never be any good.

So where does that lead us?  How can we possibly reverse this negative branding that has become the major burden  of all those who make a living out of this industry?

TO BE CONTINUED

RED FLAG FOR FILIPINO MOVIES? : HAVE WE REALLY LOST OUR AUDIENCES IN CINEMAS?

 Independence Day 2024. Wednesday.

Three movies opened in cinemas all over the country.  There were two local productions and a monolith sequel of an animated franchise.  And, yes, there was still that Thai movie that opened two weeks earlier which people were still talking about.

On its first day of showing, Inside Out 2 grossed approximately 90M in the local box office.  Hesusmaryosep!  These are numbers which audiences delivered in the pre-pandemic age: ever since COVID19 became very much a part of our lives, moviegoing never fully recovered to render such digits on a single day.  Not even the hottest ticket in the most recent Metro Manila Film Fest harvested an audience that came close to that feat.

What was even more surprising was that How To Make Millions Before Granny Dies was already on a limited run, entering its third week.  And yet on that same day, the movie still made 2M in the box office even if it had but a handful of cinemas screening and with some on a sliding programming, meaning it was only showing for two slots on a single day.

How did the two local films do?  

To call it dismal is an understatement.  The better performing of the two Filipino movies allegedly earned P350K nationwide.  The other film hit about a hundred thousand less.

Upon hearing these numbers, the stakeholders of the local film industry had to reckon with more than just broken hearts --- but more so with broken spirits.

Yes, it is easy to concede that a local film was going on a kamikaze mode going head on against a Pixar franchise.  That was expected but not that much.  What was even more disturbing was that How To Make Millions ... on its third week, requiring the art of speed reading subtitles ... scored so much higher than the two Filipino movies' combined box office return.

At this point it is not helpful to merely mope and shake one's head and marinate in self-pity: industry cannot move on if we merely see the results and not look far deeper into the real root of the problem.  The elders and leaders of the film industry cannot be paralyzed by such dismaying results without going into action and trying to find out why and then sort out what can be done.

We Had It Coming

The signs were already there even before the pandemic hit us and kept us in our homes for almost three years.

Even before anyone knew (or cared ) about Yuan, the status of watching movies in cinemas was already waning.  There was the threat of the streaming platforms and other possible engagements for entertainment in the internet.  What cable channels failed to neutralize, streaming giants like Netflix succeeded in slicing a substantial chunk from the TV viewing public and, yes, even the moviegoing audiences.  

The pandemic only hastened what was already being seen as slow but sure changes in the ecosystem of entertainment.  Streaming services offered the option for audiences to watch the films and even tv series that they want to consume at their own time, place and pace.  Cable channels were still locked in with their daily programming but not streaming platforms. You can binge watch an entire tv series in a day or two without having to wait for a specific time or day.

Moreover, the migration to screen to stream makes movie watching less practical and more expensive.  For instance, if a streaming platform charges a little over P500 for a month why would anyone spend anything within the vicinity of P250 to P400 to watch a movie in a cinema.  Aside from indulging your viewing pleasure in the comfort of your home, catching your movie in a more practical source exempts you from having to dress up, brave the legendary Manila traffic and spend for other incidentals just because you want to see a movie on the big screen.

But these are all givens. We knew that Netflix, Viu, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and even Vivamax are slowly but sure drawing our viewing audiences away from cinemas.  Moreover, these same platforms acquire movies for their own broadcasting license with a window of forty-five (45) days --- yes,  only a month and a half before a movie showing in the cinema will eventually filter into the tv screen or computer or even one's cellphone at one's time and convenience.

No one questions that the pandemic has changed the way we live, the way we conduct our business --- and the manner by which we entertain ourselves.   After almost three years of being locked up in our homes, even when it was deemed safe to go back to the cinema --- it still took time before people really felt assured that they are safe in that confined space, immersed in darkness just to watch a movie.  Even when cinema doors were finally reopened, audiences still felt uncomfortable because --- let us face it --- watching a movie wearing a mask seems to take away the fun --- especially when one cannot consume popcorn or gulp down a drink while watching a movie.

So even when we all went back to the way of the normal --- it was not normal any more to make cinema viewership as part of the way we lived. We have found other ways of getting our entertainment --- whether through the platforms or even YouTube.

So What's the Problem?

There are so many theories as to why our cinema is dying.  Everyone has something to say. Any one from the industry has a thing or two to say as to why Filipinos are no longer watching local movies.

The first complaint is what many feel as the exorbitant cost of movie tickets.

At P350 to P400, the average moviegoer finds this pricing as beyond one's reach.  In simple mathematics, a minimum wage earner who takes home about P600 a day will not spend nearly two-thirds of his salary just to buy a movie ticket.

Moreover, even those who can afford the price range offered has also limited the amount of business he will give cinemas.  Return business or watching the same movie twice or even thrice has ceased to be an option.  Instead, if one is enthralled by a film, there is always the little bit of wait before it streams. Or if one feels that he cannot afford to watch a movie in the cinema --- the month and a half wait is not all that bad. 

Worse is the choice of succumbing to the temptation of watching the film on a pirated channel --- or in links sold or freely distributed in social media.  This new form of rampant piracy using popular social media sites has become more practical than the peddled DVDs of the past.

Do we then accept that the primary reason why audiences are not watching Filipino movies is because of the price of tickets?

There was a valid argument against this.

Please explain why the top grosser of last year's MetroManila Film Festival earned over P500M?  

That means that people had the money and went out of their way to watch this movie.  

Does this also mean that all those who flocked to the cinemas to watch Rewind were only those enabled to spend money for watching movies on the big screen?

Analyzing the phenomenon of Rewind reveal why this MMFF entry had all the right ingredients and conditions to make it big --- or better yet, very big:

(a) It was Christmas. Everyone is in a celebratory mood.  Christmas is for the family --- and Rewind is about "family" as some other entries of the Festival delved into that same territory but ...

(b) The stars of Rewind are a popular real life couple whose personal lives gleam with all the qualities of domestic bliss including two beautiful children. Better yet, they have not appeared together again in any movie within memory's reach plus the fact that ...

(c) Rewind was about the triumph of love and sacrifice, about preserving the sanctity of the family ---- then throw in Jesus for extra measure but most of all, one must not forget that ...

(d) It was Christmas. Regardless of economic class and buying capability, everybody had money because of the company or employer's bonuses --- and, for some, watching a movie became the highlight of their Christmas celebration of the family.

Two or three other films in last year's roster of ten entries in Festival made money.  A number also failed to do good business but there was Rewind that literally hit the jackpot and took home the lion's share of the sales.

Of course there are so many other variables to be factored in --- but since no other Filipino movie made money after the MMFF, are we to conclude that Philippine cinema has been diminished to two weeks for every year? That means 14/365 which does not speak much of an industry that is about to last any longer.

At the rate that the industry is moving, is this an ominous sign that unless the stakeholders face the problem head on, Philippine movies will wither away and be relegated to the business of providing content to streamers?

What is the real root of the problem?  

What can be done not only to save Philippine cinema but bring about its lost vibrancy?

TO BE CONTINUED

  

SEVEN GOOD REASONS TO WATCH THIS YEAR'S MMFF MOVIES

By the time this blog is posted the winners of the MetroManila Film Festival would have been announced.

After two days of marathon watching the ten films weeks before the festival opened, each and every juror has found his and her preferences.  What is interesting is the assortment of professionals and personalities assembled to constitute the panel to assess the films and to decide on who deserves the accolade to be given on  the night of the 27th of December.  One thing is for certain, all ten films will be shown in Los Angeles as part of the first Manila International Film Festival near the end of January of next year.  That, in itself, is a reward.

As one of almost a dozen jurors, I had the privilege of sitting quietly in exclusive screenings of the ten entries.  This gave me time to properly assess and appreciate the effort invested by the finalists  --- from producers to the cinema artists involved in the projects.  There are entries which rise heads above the others because of their originality and excellence in craftsmanship.  There are others which succeeded in marrying commercialism with commendable calibre in production value.

And it cannot be helped that there might be some which you ask yourself, "Teka, bakit napasok yan sa sampu?"  Whatever.  That was the job of another committee.

So here are but seven  reasons why the Filipino moviegoer should really make an effort to see at least one and at most almost all the entries of this year's Christmas festival.  My reasons are personal --- and I am not saying that my words should be taken as Bible truth.  At this point, I am just a moviegoer with a dash of experience in filmmaking assessing the works of my peers.

(1) Zig Dulay's Firefly breaks your heart without being in-your-face with over the top acting that has become an exhausted tradition in Pinoy teleseryes.  That is, Firefly is a magical story that brings tears to your eyes without the stars on the screen screaming, "Umiyak ka, umiyak ka ... nakakaiyak ang ginawa at sinasabi ko!"  Why?  Because the emotions captured by Dulay are real and not like they were being squeezed from an old toothpaste tube.  And with that ending, how could you fail? The magic in love through people and time is so neatly summarized without being sweet to the point of a diabetic coma and so real with performances so touching. This perhaps is the most honest and genuine film of the ten --- and I am giving Zig Dulay a standing ovation for such restrained and controlled direction.

(2) Needless to add, child actor Euwenn Mikaell carries most of the movie Firefly on his shoulders.  But it is the delicately honest performance of Alessandra De Rossi as his mother that reveberates throughout this film.  There was never a performance moment in De Rossi's portrayal of unconditional maternal love so much so that even in her absence, she solidifies the journey undertaken by her son to find the Island of the Fireflies.  Similar credit should be given to Epy Quizon who makes the most out of the limitations of the role given to him ... but one cannot help but appreciate the sensitive and controlled portrayal of Dingdong Dantes as the narrator of the story.  Somehow this supporting performance of Dantes supersedes the much larger role he portrayed in another entry for it is here that you see his maturity as an actor who imbibes emotion through nuances of characterization rather than indication or physicalization.  I wish Mr. Dantes can be given  more roles that demand this kind of intricacy of character that he proved to be most capable of embodying.

(3) Pepe Diokno's Gomburza could serve as a prequel to Marilou Diaz-Abaya's Rizal, another MMFF entry in 1998.  Chronicling the events that led to the martyrdom of three Filipino priests ( Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez and Jacinto Zamora), Diokno threads events as they have been recorded, showing the significance of the movement towards secularization in the Philippines as well as the initial sparks of the Filipino rebellion against the centuries of oppression of Spain.   Admirably, the key role of Fr. Burgos was given not to a big name star but to theater actor Cedric Juan --- which added credibility to what the film had to say about the significance of the character rather than the actor being highlighted by the film.  Juan's performance was formidable as he embodied the intellectual Burgos. The film makes no controversial statements (much like the original Rizal )  but instead shows how the martyrdom of the three priests affected the young Pepe Rizal because of his older brother's affiliations with Fr. Burgos.  Somehow the strength of that historical link provides the significant conclusion as to why this film had to be made and be seen by the younger generations of Filipinos.

(4)  For me, there is one very good reason to watch Mae Cruz Alviar's Rewind: that is Marian Rivera. Despite the highly derivative plot ( for how many second chance movies and a return to the past to correct mistakes have we already seen --- in this case, Gil Junger's 2004 film If Only), the restrained and sensitive portrayal of the suffering wife and mother by Rivera makes the film worth the time and the ticket price.  Whereas other actresses would have gone the route of hysteria, Rivera chose quietness in her character's resolve thereby giving greater depth and pain to her portrayal.  Hers was not only one of the most beautiful faces to grace the local screens but a talent that, when properly honed, creates such intense and definite effect on audiences.  Real life husband Dingdong Dantes also delivers a commendable performance but, as I mentioned earlier, I still prefer him in Firefly where he did not have go through the rituals of hystrionics or highlight acting. 

(5) Let it be said: the tandem of Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon is the pairing that has outlasted the changes brought by time and taste of generations. Till I Met You in Tokyo could have been retitled as Autumn Love --- about two people who did not realize the emptiness and loneliness in their lives as they live through their senior years in a foreign land working as migrants. There is nothing earthshaking about the story of this movie: it is your color by number romance with some things you wish were there and others that you wish they had cut shorter. But then this is all about Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon showing this generation of actors and audiences why they are living legends.  Here they have proven that they can make an otherwise ordinary movie special by sheer power of talent --- and, yes, stardom. It is beautiful to see these two icons portraying roles that only age and years and experience can capture so delicately, sincerely and honestly.  There can never be anyone like them.

(6) Why else would you watch Becky and Badette except for the glaring fact that it stars Eugene Domingo and Pokwang.  This one-two punch of an over-the-top film is pegged on familiar machinations: the personalities of the comediennes --- and the sudden recitation (no, incantation) of familiar lines from old Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta movies. But there are downright laugh-out-loud moments that stick to your mind more like memorable gags than part of a much larger story.  Pokwang's re-enactment of the dying scene of Christopher de Leon in Relasyon or ... at its hysterical best, the invitation for Becky and Badette to be celebrity endorsers of an oyster bar sent me falling off my seat.  This is Jun Robles Lana of Ten Little Mistresses at work ... not About Us But not About Us. You pay four hundred bucks for the laughs ... and that is what you will get.

(7) What makes Kampon different is what makes it seemingly not-so-festival.  That comment came from critic who caught the premiere of the film and observed that this is not your jump out of your seat horror movie but something meant for Cinemalaya --- whatever that meant. King Palisoc's direction was characterized by such restraint: no jump scare here but a prevailing feeling of dread and eeriness that prevails throughout the movie.  As someone who caught the special screening commented, "Mataas siya!"  But then again since when was that a demerit in assessing the credibility of a film? The mood and tempo approximated Ari Aster's 2018 film Hereditary where the dread comes quietly and slowly until you finally get the wallop in the end.  In other words, Kampon is not your jump-out-of-your-seat screamfest but one that capitalized on mood and tension.

All ten represent the spectrum of taste adored by the Filipino audiences.  What is important is that we go out and watch these films and give due appreciation to the hard work put in by our film creatives and workers.

Of course there are more reasons to watch the other films: the production design, music and cinematography of Mallari, the sensitive performance of Miles Ocampo in Family of Two or for that single scene when girlfriend and mother have a heart-to-heart talk when the movie went into quiet intensity than nerve-wrecking melodrama. And there is the deconstruction of the entire Pedro Penduko narrative into Jason Paul Laxamana's attempt to redesign an entirely different mythology to a pop culture hero.  All these must be appreciated and placed in proper context to define the significance of this year's MMFF.

The MetroManila Film Festival should be a showcase of what can be done with Philippine cinema. With this year's assortment of entries, a glimpse of that promise has been fulfilled with the hope that 2024 will offer greater opportunities for producers to make great films that the Filipino audience will support with pride.

A FESTIVAL OF TEN FILIPINO FILMS: AFTERTHOUGHTS ON THE MMFF 2023

Christmas in Manila means the annual MetroManila Film Festival.

Yes, I had the good fortune of sitting as one of jurors (again) of the annual festival of Filipino films when local cinema is brought out like the star of a Christmas tree and the Grinches of the world are lamenting why their much awaited foreign movies have to be pushed as far back as the first week of January of the following year.  

Given the present state of cinema patronage in our country, we are only too lucky that it is by law that Filipino movies are given ten days in a year to be shown exclusively in Metro Manila cinemas (and not even in provinces).  

For the rest of the year one only hopes that a movie or two (maybe three) will make money in the remnants of the box office.  Indeed, let us face the sordid truth: bihira nang manood ng pelikula sa sinehan ang tao ngayon. With the advent and rise of streaming platforms and even hastened by the conditions of the pandemic, moviegoing has ceased to be the cheapest and most accessible form of entertainment.

(Consider the mathematics.  The Filipino minimum wage earner takes home P570.00/day for his hard work --- without subtracting the cost of transportation and food.  The average cost of a movie ticket nowadays is between P350.00 to P400.00.  It is quite clear that Aleng Tacing and Mang Juaning together with their offsprings Letlet and Junjun can no longer afford to watch movies.   

Consider this equation again.  If Juaning and Tacing together with their two kids decide to watch a entry at the MMFF, the Tatay needs to dole out between P1400 to P1600 para makapanood lang ng isang sine. Joskuday.  That means that together with transportation expenses and food (kahit man lamang popcorn), he would be spending over P2000.

So there goes the dream of binge watching MMFF movies like what we used to do in the past. 

The annual Christmas celebration of a family is to watch two to three movies on Christmas day or during the stretch of the festival.  You either try to cover as many of the entries you desire in seeing or you re-watch a film that you find as your favorite either by yourself or with new company.  But with the somewhat expensive price of cinema tickets, this has become a luxury and only permissible to the few who can afford to spend close to if not P400 a ticket for each viewing.)

The truth of the matter is that people have become highly selective in the films that they watch in moviehouses especially if they are living on a budget.  

Yes, there will always be those with money to burn or who do not consider the price of tickets as an impediment to their earthly pleasures.  However, a nice question to ask: is this the Pinoy moviegoing crowd? Is this the same crowd who gets excited when a new Kathniel movie is on the rise in the horizon?  Or are these the exceptional few who watch Past Lives or Aftersun in exclusive micro-cinemas?

Having considered all that, the hope is that this year's Metro Manila Film Festival scores as well if not better than last year's edition.

Yes, 2022 was a good reboot from the dearth of two years due to the pandemic.  But still it did not (and could not) come close to the numbers yielded by 2019.  It was like weaning a child to get back to his original form although realizing that nothing can bring back the pre-pandemic age.  

More important is that the box office results of 2022 already indicated a major change in the preference of the market.  

When Viva Films' Deleter of Mikhail Red, starring Nadine Lustre nudged out a Vice Ganda movie to be the top grosser of the festival, something was already said without being openly declared.  The market who spend money for the festival was no longer the masa who loved a good old traditional comedy but opted for a horror film about technology and the dark web, about call center agents who turn nights into days and the lurking dangers in the computer screen.  In other words, this is a completely different audience from what used to be considered as the familiar moviegoer of the past... especially those who feasted on the annual MMFF.

So where did the regular Pinoy moviegoer go after the scourge of the pandemic and the rise in movie ticket prices?

For those who have access to the internet, they are into streaming and YouTube and all the other available platforms that you can have at a slice of the ticket price without having to worry about dressing up, paying for transport or even eating out.  No, they have not migrated to commercial television as well since it seems like even most popular tv shows (by that we refer to the teleseryes from the major networks and now content providers) have also found their secondary platforms through access to the internet-based venues like YouTube.

With all these drastic changes taking place, where does the MMFF hope to bring Philippine cinema?

The curated entries this year have more of the same categories selected through their genres: family-friendly, comedies and horror.  But instead of the usual eight finalists, now it was expanded into ten to give more chances to producers to exhibit during that annual window where no foreign movies are shown in MetroManila.

Whether the addition of two more movies to the roster is good or bad will be revealed after all the ticket sales have been gathered and reported.  By law of averages, only three (or at miraculously most perhaps four) of the original eight finalists make money.  Two or three at the bottom end of the list will collapse due to the sheer weight of competition expressed through uncontrollable funds for the campaign.  Far worse, if a movie reveals a dismal performance in the box office, chances are (as most likely) that it will be pulled out of screenings and replaced by the better performing movies --- or reduced to alternate screenings with equally underperforming entries thus reducing the number of showings by half.

It is a myth (if not an urban legend) to think that all MMFF entries make money.  

The truth of the matter is that it is still a producer's gamble.  Big, small and independent film companies scramble to get into the roster of finalists hoping that their movies will stand a chance of making ample money through cinema screenings.  Otherwise, showing one's films on a regular basis has become a Herculean challenge: last year, for instance, only three Filipino films made a lucrative amount of money to earn profit if not break even.  All the rest of the Filipino movies, although improving in patronage since the moviehouses reopened, still fell short of return of investment.

But regardless, having seen the ten entries of the festival assured me that it would be worth the time, money and effort to see a bunch of them.  The curation of this year's festival gives a glimpse to all possible choices and interests for the cinematic experience way beyond the reductive pleasures of streaming.  More important than that, the road map of Filipino cinema in the year to come can be assessed by the patronage of the local audiences to go out and see their Christmas movies again.

At this point in time, it is not only a question of economics --- but that of survival. Filipino producers must not be dispirted by the lackluster performance in the box office of their products but instead see this as a challenge --- and as a demand for change.  We cannot be diminished to being content providers for streaming platforms: otherwise we will lose the very essence of our national cinema.

Instead we should look over and beyond what we limit as parochial taste and cater to an audience over and beyond the margins of our national territory.  We should stretch the boundaries to an international market, turning our popular culture into an integral part of the soft economy of  the country with the hope of globalizing our cinematic output.

But before we can do that, against all odds, Filipinos must first patronize --- even love and respect Filipino cinema --- before we can proudly flaunt our version of the art form to the world. If we cannot support or even love our own, how can we expect others to give our cinema the respect that it is so deserves.

So this is with the hope that Filipinos do go out of their houses and rediscover the joys of moviegoing.  

Yes, it has become more difficult and inaccessible if not impractical BUT there is no greater satisfaction than stepping out of a moviehouse after a screening and realizing that there is so much of life that can be said in two hours or less captured by a beautiful film.

HORROR MOVIES FOR CHRISTMAS: SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL --- NOT JUST A FRANCHISE

What people are not quite aware is that SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL as a movie franchise did not originate with Regal Films.

In 1984, the first of what evolved into one of the longest (if not the longest)  running movie franchise in the country was produced by Athena Productions and distributed by Regal Entertainment.   The film has become iconic --- even legendary, written by three giants of screenwriters of the time: Jose Carreon ("Baso"), Amado Lacuesta ("Pridyeder") and Uro de la Cruz ("Manananggal").

Moreover, each of these classic episodes was directed by equally iconic directors:  Emmanuel Borlaza megged "Baso", National Artist Ishmael Bernal did "Pridyeder" while Peque Gallaga handled "Manananggal".

For even if almost four decades had passed since its initial exhibition, the maiden presentation of SHAKE has become embedded in the collective consciousness of Philippine popular culture fans.  One cannot talk about Pinoy horror cinema without referring to Janice de Belen --- slithering in front a carnivorous refrigerator and bathed in its electric light or Irma Alegre flying across coconut trees with a young and bewildered Herbert Bautista ( playfully named Douglas in the episode in honor of the irreplaceable Douglas Quijano who put together the project) parrying the attack of a half-bodied visceral monster with a blessed pagaspas.

What was astounding about the first Shake movie was that it did not enjoy all the flourishes and advantages that technology offered at that time.  The effects were all practical without the aid of any computer (which in the mid 80's was merely a concept or a technological dream.)  This writer precisely remembers Don Escudero, production designer of the Manananggal episode narrate how Irma Alegre (with bat wings attached to her back) was mounted atop a jeep and shot from an angle as if she were flying.  Now that was innovation at its best.  

(Later on, Gallaga put Vangie Labalan to stand on a platform mounted on a crane to simulate that she was floating seen through the second floor window of a provincial house.  No rigging involved but just ... safety in balance.)

Since then, SHAKE has produced some of the most unforgettable adventures into local horror including monsters and creatures of the underworld that were redesigned to create innovative versions of fear.

Pinoy movie buffs can never forget the two Manilyn Reynes episodes in separate editions of SHAKE.  How can a timeline of the franchise be complete without her encounter with the lake creature Undin. Or perhaps how can one refer to terror in local cinema without mentioning the Aswang episode where Manilyn is lured into a town by her classmate, Anna Roces --- only to find out that she will be the sacrificial meal for the entire townfolk of cannibal monsters led by Rez Cortez and Vangie Labalan.

One can go on and on running through the years with annual editions of Shake mostly directed by Peque Gallaga.

It was Gallaga who casted Lilia Cuntapay in the Kris Aquino episode entitled Yaya ... or what about Janice de Belen who sought for her Ate (portrayed by Gina Alajar) as a living dead conjured by the late Subas Herrero and Armida Siguion-Reyna.  Or that episode with Eddie Gutierrez and Eric Quizon in an isolated house in Baguio where the ghosts of unborn babies from the scalpel of an abortionist come to haunt the residents.  Or what about that creature that lives atop a tree in a park across a typical middle class subdivision that seduces children ...

The list goes on and on as various editions of Shake Rattle and Roll have evolved through the years and in the hands of generations of filmmakers who represent the moment in popular culture's timeline when the production was concocted and released.   From a tradition that was started by Borlaza, Bernal and especially Gallaga, you have a roster of directors interpreting horror that is a reflection of the audience's changing taste and preferences.

Now you have Jerrold Tarrog, Richard Somes, Perci Intalan, Chris Martinez and so many other new generation directors continuing not merely a franchise but what has become a tradition.

Shake went into a hiatus for nine years and is back to reassert Regal Entertainment's interest and excitement in reviving the series.  But for the first time. Shake will not be a part of the Christmas Filipino movie festival: it is showing a few weeks earlier (side by side with another interesting film starring Maricel Soriano and Roderick Paulate) creating a festival feeling  all of its own.  

With Iza Calzado and a troop of new actors and actresses filling the cast of the trilogy, Shake has reinvented itself again to cater to the post-pandemic audiences and exploring new territories of horror.  

But as earlier mentioned, Shake has become more than just a franchise.  If something lasts for almost four decades, there must be something in these materials that find their places in the collective consciousness of the Filipino audiences.  And because this is so, Shake Rattle and Roll has ... above everything else ... become a tradition that is truly Filipino and curiously embedded in the very groundwork of our culture.