The MMFF tradition

My cousin Joanne and I didn’t think the lines to the movie theater would be long on Christmas Day, but they were, at least to some of the Metro Manila Film Festival movies that were a tad bit more interesting than others, like I Love You, Goodbye and Shake, Rattle and Roll XI. We had to rush to another more upper-class mall to catch the last full show of Shake, Rattle and Roll, but even that was crowded. Thank goodness for guaranteed seating—even if it meant forking over a few more pesos than we had intended to spend.

Well, actually, outside of getting to continue a tradition my cousin and I had started years back, before she even moved to America for 10 years, I’m not really happy about the spending extra money on Shake, Rattle and Roll. Not even her screaming out loud once or twice in the small cinema we were in made up for the fact that all the short films in the franchise were bad this year.

None of them were original; none of them were ambitious. Even “Ukay-Ukay,” the campy segment starring former controversial sweethearts Ruffa Gutierrez and Zoren Legaspi, while funny in many places and my definite favorite among the three, failed to do what 2008’s “Nieves” did, which was save the entire film festival entry.

The first segment, “Diablo,” started out creepy enough. New local horror films seldom tackle the concept of demonic possession, so I was really looking forward to it. Claire (Maja Salvador), a young barrio doctor, is possessed by demons. Her ultra-religious aunt (Gina Alajar) brings her to Father Ronnie (Mark Anthony Fernandez), who turns out to be Claire’s former boyfriend. The film ends in typical “WTF?” fashion, with Father Ronnie confessing to still having feelings for Claire, dying for her, and rescuing her in the process. For what reason is beyond me.

“Diablo” would be downright scary if “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” hadn’t already been so embedded in the movie-goers’ consciousness. Most everything in this segment had been done already—and better. Still, props to Maja for her acting chops. I just wish they had done a better job at the prosthetic makeup of her alternate.

That, and I wonder what happened to Mark Anthony’s voice? I had no idea we were still dubbing. Seriously.

The second film,“Ukay-Ukay,” was the horror-comedy third of the trilogy. I am of the opinion that Ruffa is better off doing comedies or romantic comedies instead of drama and I’m happy to be proven right. She was a capable lead as the bride-to-be Kayla despite the less than stellar script and her oftentimes less than stellar delivery. She managed to be deliberately hilarious in some scenes—like when she fights off the haunted vintage wedding gown when it accosts her as she walks down the aisle and battles it out for her dream wedding.

I also enjoyed this film because of the cinematography. The locations were rather interesting and I was glad to see the photogenic Cubao X again used as a location in a film. I think the special effects were also better this time around.

I’ve come to anticipate John Lapuz’s Shake, Rattle and Roll roles because he almost always dies fabulous deaths. This time is no different. As the fashion designer Basty who tries to refashion the vintage gown for Kayla’s wedding, he meets his bloody demise after a daring battle with the gown.

The most realistic of the three, “Lamang Lupa,” relies heavily on prosthetic makeup and no special effects to tell its classic barkada story. City friends who go on a camping trip, Shiela (Jennica Garcia), Archie (Rayver Cruz), Lianne (Iya Villania), Ryan (Mart Escudero), Bong (Dominic Roco), Kiko (Felix Roco), and Chari (Bangs Garcia), have to deal with elementals living in the woods that they disturbed after being disrespectful to their homes. It’s a thriller—but nothing new either. What’s most interesting about this is that it probably casts the new Regal Babies, the most exciting of whom are the Roco brothers.

What did pick me up in watching Shake, Rattle and Roll were the Easter eggs hidden in it, like Janice de Belen’s cameo role, in which she poses before an open refrigerator, and the Cubao X cinema marquee reading “RIP Alexis and Nika” in tribute to the film critics who would have had so much to contribute to Filipino cinema.

I hear Shake, Rattle and Roll would be airing its final trilogy next year. Sorry to have to say this, but I hope it would be the end of the MMFF as we know it as well.

We can do better. The New Year brings new hope!

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