12 Days of Christmas Movie Review: Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 2

Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 2: Forever Is Not Enough
Director: Marlon Rivera
Screenplay: Cris Martinez
MMFF 2016

Talagang may mga milagrong nangyayari sa panahon ng kaPaskuhan. Biruin mo, sinamahan ako ni Papadoms manood ng Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 2: Forever Is Not Enough! Last full show pa ang kinuha naming screening time at 30 minutes bago magsimula ang sine, nakapila na kami sa entrance gate ng cinema.

Syempre, nangunguna ako sa pila. At may nakakatawang kuwento bago kami nakapasok sa loob ng cinema.

Me to Ticket Lady: Miss, nagpapasok na ba?

Ticket Lady: Saan po?

Palibhasa, dalawang cinema kase ang binbantayan niya.

Me: Sa Septic Tank 2.

Ticket Lady: Nililinis pa po.

Wagi ang aming exchange of conversation, di ba? Tawa naman si Papadoms nung marining niya ito. Sapul. Senyales pala ito ng mga katawatawang eksena ng pelikula. Bukod sa katatawanan, makabuluhan rin ang pelikula at napapnahon. Tumawa kami at nag-isip.

Nag-isip, bes. NAG-ISIP.

Kaya heto ang top 5 na nagustugan kong mga eksena at aspeto sa Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 2.

1. Eugene Domingo. Syempre, fan ako. Pero, bes, ang galing talaga ni Eugene dahil arte sya kung kailangang ang lungkot, saya, pagkadismaya, ka-bekihan, ka-kikayan, lahat na! Panalo sa akin ang tatlong levels ng hugot. Consistent si Eugene sa delivery ng lines sa eksena nila ni Jericho Rosales. Ang gagaling rin nina Joel Torre (walang kupas!), Cai Cortes at Agot Isidro, kahit pa kaunti lang ang role niya dito. Siya pa rin ang ideal na BFF ng bidang babae. She doesn't over run the lead, but makes her presence felt. Ganun din ang naramdaman ko habang pinapanood ko si Cai Cortes.

2. Ang talino ng script. Ang meta. Ang sharp ng dialogue at para sa aking pandinig, ang poetic ng language ni Cris Martinez. Lalo na sa eksena kung saan pikon na pikon na si Kean Cipriano kay Eugene Domingo.

3. Yung mga quiet moments sa movie, ang lakas ng dating. Enough na yung empty room sa condo ni Direk Rainer na magbigay ng hiwatig na olats na si direk kahit marami siyang trophy sa shelf niya.

4. Si Facundo. Need I say more?

5. Ang cover version ni Eugene ng Forever Is Not Enough. Ang organic. Hindi pilit. Authentic.

Ito ang mga dahilan kung bakit masasabi kong wagi ang sequel na ito para sa akin.

Rating: 4.5

Movie Review: Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles

Titktik: The Aswang Chronicles
GMA Films and Agosto Dos
Directed by Erik Matti

I saw the full trailer of GMA Films' Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles a month back when my family and I watched an APO Hiking music inspired movie. All four of us were impressed of the powerful visuals of Tiktik that we have the movie scheduled for a Halloween viewing. We did as planned and we were not disappointed.

For one, it's the kind of movie that did not make us think. I mean this in a good way.  For me and hubby, it was a perfect leisurely watch since we both work in places were thinking is the name of the game. For Nico and Zoe, exams had just ended, so goodbye thinking cap.

It was hard not to enjoy the movie. We  marveled at the visual texture the movie evoked since it made the setting, time and place characters too. There were scenes that grossed out our youngest (Zoe) but the campy tandem of Ramon Bautista and Joey Marquez made her forget the gory scenes. By itself, it is a good movie with a decent script since we shared our aswang stories to our kids' undivided attention and interest before retiring for home. I can't endorse it as an aswang movie for all families, but it will definitely rekindle old horror tales from long ago. The conversations that come after watching a movie is precious. This sharing of after thoughts rarely happens (in families) anymore.

Two days after watching Tiktik, my daughter asked me this, "Ma, talaga bang may aswang?" (Are aswangs real?)

I replied, "If you can think about it, what makes you say it is not real? The thing is, an aswang can be a metaphor or a symbol of evil. It can be the evil inside of you or in your environment. And like Makoy and Nestor in the movie, you just don't surrender to evil easily. You have to fight it to overcome it. Sometimes, it takes a while to fight it out with our aswangs and the aswangs that dwell around us."

She has not asked me since then. Happy Halloween!

Photo source: http://kapusocentral.blogspot.com/2012/08/tiktik-aswang-chronicles-full-trailer.html