MOVIE REVIEW: Maybe This Time

Director:

Jerry Lopez Sineneng

Cast: 

Sarah Geronimo (Steph Asuncion aka Tep-Tep or Tep)
Coco Martin (Tonio Bugayong)
Ruffa Guttierez (Monica T. Valencia)

Synopsis: 

Steph (played by Sarah) met Tonio (played by Coco) in one fateful summer. Steph was a young girl from the city who went to Tonio's small town for a community service on English literacy. After Tonio's persistence, Steph fell in love with him. That love was doomed when Tonio suddenly left without a word to board a ship as a seaman. Seven years later, their paths crossed again, however, this time Tonio is already with Monica (played by Ruffa) who happens to be Steph's boss.What happens next is a series of events where they try to live their present lives behind the shadow of the past.

Review:

     This romantic-comedy movie delivered some laughs, a good cry, however, predictable plots and inauthentic script.

     The scenery that was shot in Bataan is majestic. I think that is one of the strongest part of the movie. The breathtaking, natural beauty is perfect for the movie's small town, young love, simple life theme. One cannot help but hold their breath as they show the aerial view of the hills overlooking the beach.

     While the main cast, Steph and Tonio are portrayed well, it still does not offer anything new aside from the cliche rich girl-poor boy-who-are-in-love-but-cannot-be-together that the Philippine cinema is saturated of. The script is sub-par offering very common plots, cheesy lines like the use of the different meanings of MU (from mutual understanding to misunderstanding to mag-usap), which is an old concept and is really hard to deliver without sounding gaudy despite the actors' great acting chops. 

     I enjoyed Tonio's hopeless romantic, probinsyano vibe. Coco Martin showed why he is one of the country's most sought after star because of his genuine portrayal of roles and that very charming smile. Sarah's portrayal of Steph was very natural, light and comfortable. It is a jarring contrast to Ruffa's very uncomfortable, pretentious character as Monica. I feel that they could have casted somebody closer to Sarah and Coco's age group. Whether Ruffa's casting was intentionally meant for a cougar-ish relationship or for marketting, I do not think it worked in a movie targeting the younger audience. Mama Mae (Ogie Diaz' character) is a special mention as he kept the movie going and was actually very successful in delivering his punchlines. I loved how he kept the movie alive and actually put the comedy in this rom-com.

     The soundtrack is the very 80's title of the movie itself that Sarah Geronimo sang, and although a well-loved classic, I was hoping for a more 21st century song that is new (or fairly new) and fresh. There is nothing really spectacular about the soundtrack, other than, of course, Sarah sang it well as always.

     Although the movie doesn't check some boxes on my checklist for a one of a kind rom-com, I do applaud the message that comes with the film. And that is, being true to oneself, embracing what and who you love and how you want your life to be. Personally, I believe that a lot of people try to pretend to be this other person that they want themselves to be and in the end, totally lies to themselves and hinders their own happiness. It is good that a movie actually tells people that it is ok to be a probinsyano and yes, it is ok for people to know that you were/are poor. 

     I am not going to lie, I did shed quite a few tears and some giggles. It is a short, feel good summertime movie that will give you a high but something that will easily slip your mind in the next couple days. Aside from the scenery of course. That one is nostalgic. 

Rating:

3/5

-ecy casiano

Caramoan, Camarines Sur, Philippines

       When you see this much beauty,  your amateur photography skills become professional and the need for filters becomes unnecessary. These, my friends, are the pristine beaches of Caramoan - unedited and unfiltered.

  Seeing the islands from the boat.

  Uncrowded beach? How about the entire island all for yourself? Yes please.

 The hidden lagoon.

How breathtaking is nature?

-ecy casiano

 

     Have you travelled the Philippines lately? Submit your photos or travel article to filipinounlimited@gmail.com and we will feature it on the blog so other people all over the world can admire and virtually experience its beauty.

BOOK REVIEW: Kite of Stars and Other Stories

Title: Kite of Stars and Other Stories
Author: Dean Francis Alfar

     This is the first book written by a Filipino author that I have read after some 7 years of hiatus since I came to the United States. For what can be considered as my reintroduction to Filipino literature, I couldn't be happier with this choice. 

     This book is a collection of the author's works throughout the years as a fictionist. It contains 16 short stories of fiction. Each story has different characters, different style and different message. 

     There are a myriad of things that I enjoyed about this book. But what really stands out is how well the stories are written: true to the Filipino culture in every bit of way. Throughout the book, one will stumble upon the major and minor characters that are a very interesting mix of ordinary humans, half humans, supernatural humans, royalties, reptile, spiders, wooden dolls and many more with special participation and mentions of manananggal, duende, tiq'Barang (tikbalang), dijuata (diwata), cerena (sirena) and other Philippine mythology characters that we all grew up knowing from our folks. Although these characters may be known to other people from other cultures, reading about them takes me back to my wonderful childhood years of reading and listening about alamat and kwentong bayan.

     There are also discussions of our well-loved recipes (i.e. pinakbet, adobong baboy, pancit luglug,dinuguan) of which the author described so sumptuously one can be inspired to cook it for their next meal (especially if you live overseas with an intact Filipino appetite and stomach). 

     Like a fair journalist, the author also did not spare the not-so-pretty side of Filipino culture which includes our poverty, slavery, patriarchal society and our love for gossip. After all, those are embedded in our culture, truth be told. 

     Like any alamat, fables or kwentong bayan, the stories offer a lot of wisdom and insight. Of course, it is not explicitly told, one has to get past the mystery, the fantasy and the countless genius uses of the figures of speech, to fathom them. I admit, some of the stories I had to read twice or three times to finally "get it."

     Although the book seems to be kid friendly,  it is, however, not something that i would give as a gift to anybody younger than 18 years old (or older). Some of the stories are mature in nature and I cannot imagine any young niece or nephew of mine reading it. The good news is, a lot of the stories are harmless enough to be shared to the younger population. So you can pick and choose which ones you can read to them.

     Overall, although speculative fiction is not my favorite genre of book, I had a great time reading this one and I found myself being constantly engaged in the short stories. I can only hope that a Philippine network would make this book come to life in at least a teleserye of WANSAPANATAYM (once-upon-a-time)  in nature for I really believe that this book is a magical piece of Philippine literature that deserves to be put out there for a wider audience to appreciate.

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy: http://amzn.com/B00ARFNCMG (Kindle edition, also available in i-books)

- ecy casiano