In My Life (2009)

A longer and above average Filipino film with seven wins and 29 nominations for the film. festivals, which this time does not take place in shacks and slums, but between Manila and New York, has a stronger story dominated by the excellent Vilma Santos as Shirley, although I think she sometimes "ran away" from the role a little. But it's still a Filipino film, it could use a little editing, at the beginning it's also a lot of screaming, maddened and even hysterical.
The gay component here is indeed prominent, but in my opinion it is only a means to the film's story, however, played no less well by both protagonists Mark and Noel (John Lloyd Cruz - he collected several film awards for this role).



Delší a nadprůměrný filipínský film se sedmi vítězstvími a 29 nominacemi na film. festivalech, který se tentokráte neodehrává v chatrčích a slumech, ale mezi Manilou a New Yorkem, má výraznější příběh, ve kterém dominuje výborná Vilma Santos jako Shirley, i když si myslím, že z role někdy malinko "ujížděla". Stále je to ale film filipínský, slušelo by malinko prostříhání, zpočátku je i hodně uřvaný, ztřeštěný až hysterický.
Gay složka je tady sice výrazná, ale dle mě je jen prostředkem k příběhu filmu, ovšem zahraná neméně dobře oběma protagonisty Markem i Noelem (John Lloyd Cruz - posbíral několik filmových cen za tuto roli).

Read More

That was awful... definitely not the Filipino version of The Wedding Banquet...

I had seen this marketed as the Filipino version of The Wedding Banquet on GagaOoLala so I had high hopes for it because, as a Taiwanese-American gay man, the "original" holds a special place in my heart.

There are slight correlations between this and the TWB: someone needs a green card, there's a gay couple, etc. But that's about all that connects them.

The family dynamics are completely different, it's barely "hysterical" as GOL describes it, and the surprise death was so out of nowhere and an overused trope and unnecessary. The amount of tension between the characters was incredibly heightened too and the connections didn't resonate, especially after the scene of violence between two of the leads.

TWB was based on family obligations, figuring out what's right for each person based on those, happy mistakes, and everyone coming together as a family. This was none of those things.

Read More