The Philippine Movies Thread
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Holypunq — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 03:14 PM)
The Third Party (2016)
Sorry, no. Girl meets her ex-boyfriend, only to also meet his BOYfriend. Pretty cheesy stuff. Zanjoe Marudo, once a TV bad boy, now playing homosexual for the nth time, with Sam Milby, who always looked like he'd fit such a part, joining him, while us heterosexuals mourn over Angel Locsin's youth and sex appeal gone.
2/10 -
plsletitrain — 9 years ago(December 05, 2016 05:35 PM)
I didn't watch it (and no plans of watching) but yes, I know its cheesy. Especially if you've got Sam Milby there. Angel Locsin cannot pull off a rom-com. She's best left in a drama where her drama prowess is showcased.
Remembrance-
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plsletitrain — 9 years ago(December 26, 2016 09:45 PM)
I know that basically everyone here has had enough of my Paolo Ballesteros fangirling that its entirely a given that I will like this movie no matter what. But I'm not saying this just because I'm his fan, but Paolo really nailed it big time. He waited 16 looong years for this point in his career to come and his time has arrived. Its his time to SHINE.
I wasn't prepared for what I saw. I only have the trailers to observe and from that, I took that the movie would be a light-hearted movie filled with gay humor. Yes, it was light-hearted to some extent and yes, it was filled with colorful gay humor. But what I didn't expect is that it was filled with drama! Wow, give Paolo comedy and he can make you laugh. Give him a make-up kit and he'll transform himself almost perfectly into international celebrities such as Beyonce, Angelina Jolie, Miley Cyrus, etc. Give him some drama scene, and hell give you that crying look. It was so surreal watching him do all those roles in one movie.
What might be the biggest barrier for this movie to finally reach its peak sales is that it is Rated-13 by the cinema evaluation board. Which means only those 13 up can watch it. And rightfully so. And because Im a 12 year old fangirl who believes that her idol is a virgin who only exudes innocence and sweethearts, I wanted to scream Paolo dont do that! when that scene of him doing simulated butt sex was being shown. For a while I wanted to cover my eyes and ears and did not want to hear and see him making that face of someone so immersed in sex the first time. And I didnt want to hear him say those profane words. But then I thought to myself that this is part of his career calibration. He needs to do all these stuff, no matter how unconventional of him, because the role calls for it. And then the next scene follows, he was being
raped
. And there, he once again proved that he is a versatile actor. That he has so much more to him than his looks.
The movie tells the story (and struggles) of Trisha Echevarria (Paolo Ballesteros), a transgender who was disowned by his rich father and survived on his own by joining beauty contests. He adopted a young girl and raised the family by the meager amounts he get from joining these pageants. Typical struggles of transgenders were given emphasis in the film: discrimination from the family, from the community, and from men. The title is Die Beautiful because it shows his life in throwback form: he starts dead here. He instructed his bestfriend that in case he dies, he should be shown beautiful in his coffin. He has to be someone in all the 7 days of his wake.
I have to give a shout-out to the other lead star in the film: Christian Bables. He was perfect in his role as the bestfriend of Trisha. I never heard of him before and seeing him here, wow, the guy has potential! He should win Best Supporting Actor.
If Paolo doesnt win Best Actor in this Metro Manila Film Festival, I say sabotage and Im waging waaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!!!!!Remembrance-
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clayton-12 — 9 years ago(December 27, 2016 10:57 PM)
Thanks for the review - this one looks like it doesn't deserve to be thrown unseen into the
My Amnesia Girl
basket!
If Paolo doesnt win Best Actor in this Metro Manila Film Festival, I say sabotage and Im waging waaaaaaaaaaarrrrr!!!!!
Sounds a bit harsh can't you just have a Senate enquiry?
I take it that the fact film played at Tokyo a few months back won't prevent it from picking up acting awards at MMFF? -
plsletitrain — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 12:05 AM)
Haha!
Well, yes of course Paolo Ballesteros not winning the Best Actor Award in the MMFF is an issue of NATIONAL CONCERN for me so yes, it deserves its own Senate inquiry.
Honestly, one can't be certain. This present committee at the MMFF is a species of its own. The usual "suki" of MMFF movies such as the tried and tested Vice Ganda, Vic Sotto, Mano Po movies were all declined. So while I'm optimistic and of course, one can't discount Paolo Ballesteros' portrayal here as short of a Best Actor award, I don't know if his Tokyo win will give him some more credit than the others.
This is actually the first time I cared about the MMFF to be honest. lol.
But to be honest, I'm interested to watch almost all the movies in this year's MMFF. Except for the Vince and Kath and James which is Star Cinema's $$$$ entry. But I really have to push Die Beautiful's ticket sales that I have to sacrifice watching the other entries. The things I do for fangirling.
Hey clayton, honestly most movies in the MMFF are worth a watch. If any of these films are showing in theaters near you, give it a try.
Remembrance-
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plsletitrain — 9 years ago(December 29, 2016 05:05 PM)
The update that no one asked for from me:
Last night was the MMFF Awards night.
Paolo won Best Actor!
And Christian Bables (the one I also wished to win the Best Supporting Actor) also won! :)))
And Die Beautiful won the Audience choice award (same as with the Tokyo Film Fest). :)))
Words can't explain how happy I am.Moment of Peace-
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plsletitrain — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 12:37 AM)
9/10
So much has been said about John Lloyd Cruz's acting prowess. I think its no question that he can bring all the tears and the emotion in every scene. This movie is one of them.
Erik Matti starts to impress me. He might just make it into my favorite directors list.
Having said that, the movie is not one for the lists. At least for me, that is. The reason being, story-wise, we've seen it all. And it didn't help that it had a near-2 hour runtime. From the start I think I know where the movie will lead me to. I'll make a summary and you decide for yourself:
The story is about the unfortunate plight that struck the family headed by Edgar (JLC). His wife, Kaye (Meryll Soriano) got herself into trouble by engaging in a scam (which was unknown to her to be a scam) started by his own father. His father died (committed suicide or probably killedthe movie wasn't clear on that) and so the creditors went after her. Their life savings were used to pay up but were still insufficient. They started getting death threats, creditors were harassing them here and there, they got cases filed against them, so Edgar was forced to bring their daughter to his family in a mountain province and seek help there. His own family earns by mining and digging earth to find gold (gold digging??? Gong! lol).
Kaye was involved in a sectarian religion called The Church of Yeshua which collects massive amounts of tithes. Edgar sees this religion as a money-making scheme and although he supports his wife, he starts to question the sincerity of the church leader. They tried to borrow money from the Bishop but was refused. Edgar starts to become violent.
A couple-creditor gave them an ultimatum to give them the money on a certain date. The date is nearing and Edgar still can't come up with the money being asked. Kaye was abducted. He then asked the help of his brothers to make a passageway to the house of the church where the tithes were kept. They stole some money but it was still lacking. And so he was forced to do the unspeakable.
That's it.
If only for Tirso Cruz's portrayal of an annoying Bishop, this one is gold. To be blunt about it, the movie was brought about by JLC. And that's not saying much because as I've said its already a given that JLC will cement every scene he does. But if there's one thing I could commend this movie for, its the guts. In a country where different sectarian churches gets established by the day, this movie was not afraid to show the wonders of how a church gets established and how "legitimate" can a church be.
To clayton: Don't get discouraged by my review. I think you're going to love this.Age of Loneliness-
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plsletitrain — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 05:02 PM)
If you can't find a subtitled copy, just tell me, I'll make a transcript for you on my free time (which is almost always lol). If I start today, I can give the transcript to you by next week. Just inform me.
Age of Loneliness-