Laughter will rule in the Metro Manila Film Festival

Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theater. — Roman Polanski

Why should people go out and pay money to see bad films when they can stay home and see bad television for nothing? — Samuel Goldwyn

This writer’s fearless forecast for the forthcoming Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) starting on Christmas Day is that it’s going to be an enjoyable laugh fest, and the box office hit will be a tossup between comedy flicks Iskul Bukol…20 Years After and Ang Tanging Ina Ninyong Lahat.

With all the surfeit of bad news in our real world plus so many bad jokes in our corrupt politics, thank goodness some of our local filmmakers are playing Santa Claus by offering us a good laugh in the reel world.

Here are the eight entries to the MMFF and what my crystal ball says:

• Baler by Viva Films and Bida Foundation, starring Anne Curtis and Jericho Rosales. Director is Mark Meily; scriptwriter is Roy Iglesias.

I highly recommend this movie not only because young actress Anne Curtis is pretty, not only because we generally enjoy love stories and sweeping war epics with enthralling sceneries, but also because Baler is a laudable effort to promote historical remembrance.

Thanks to the passion of Senator Edgardo Angara for his beautiful seaside hometown Baler and its rich history as the setting of the Spanish colonial regime’s 1898 quixotic last stand in the Philippines, we now have a big-budget period movie of love in the time of war.  

• Iskul Bukol…20 Years After by OctoArts Films, M-Zet TV Productions and APT Entertainment, starring the veteran trio of comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon. Director is Tony Reyes.

I believe this comedy will be the monster hit in the MMFF, reuniting the legendary 1980s TV comedy trio of Tito, Vic and Joey. Apart from its long list of supporting actors and actresses, Iskul Bukol also has Megastar Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan, Senator Bong Revilla and boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in cameo roles.   

• Ang Tanging Ina Ninyong Lahat by Star Cinema, starring Ai Ai de las Alas and a colorful array of talented supporting cast, directed by Wenn Deramas.

This will be the biggest challenger to Iskul Bukol for box office champion. It’s about a single parent of 12 kids who zanily ends up as the next female president of the Philippines.

Watch out, President GMA! Ai Ai is set to do a movie as the love partner of your foe, deposed President Erap Estrada, and also now even dares to show the general public that it’s possible to be an effective president without compromising one’s principles and integrity. Is this a fate worse than being the unpopular American president who had two shoes thrown at him by an irate journalist?

• One Night Only by OctoArts Films, starring Katrina Halili, Jennylyn Mercado, Diana Zubiri, Valerie Concepcion and Alessandra de Rossi. Director and scriptwriter is Jose Javier Reyes.

One reason I think this sex comedy is the dark horse for box-office winner is the track record of Jose Javier Reyes as a good writer and talented director.

• Magkaibigan by Maverick Films, starring Jinggoy Estrada, Christopher de Leon, Dawn Zulueta and Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan. Director and scriptwriter is Jose Javier Reyes.

This writer believes that this movie inspired by Senator Jinggoy Estrada’s friendship with the late actor Rudy Fernandez is going to be one of the most well-made, poignant and sensible films in the MMFF.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jinggoy, Christopher de Leon, Dawn Zulueta and Jose Javier Reyes win awards and bolster box office receipts in the latter part of the festival.

• Desperadas 2 by Regal Films, starring Marian Rivera, Ruffa Gutierrez, Iza Calzado, Ruffa Mae Quinto and Ogie Alcasid. Director is Joel Lamangan; scriptwriter is Roy Iglesias.

One unintended consequence of arch rival ABS-CBN 2 showbiz talk show The Buzz helping spread Marian Rivera pregnancy rumors is its further fueling the popularity of the GMA 7 star who should win a best actress award for her recent crying scene at a Regal press conference.

• Shake, Rattle & Roll X by Regal Films, directed by Mike Tuviera and Topel Lee, scripted by Ellen Estrada, Cheryl Narvasa and Penny Tuviera. This is the only horror flick in the MMFF. Can it grab this niche market?

• Dayo by Cutting Edge Productions. Director is Robert Quilao; scriptwriters are Temi Abad and Eric Cabahug.

We should support Dayo as it is the first purely digital and entirely locally made cartoon flick competing in the MMFF. It introduces us to and reinvents Filipino heroes and folklore. The movie’s theme song, Lipad, is interpreted by Lea Salonga. I cannot wait to see how one of the characters — a vegetarian manananggal — is played.

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I do not agree with the age-old tagline “Let’s support Filipino movies.” We should only support well-made and entertaining Filipino movies, not witless, dull or vulgar trash even if they’re studded with stars!

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