tanging ina niyo rin!

dahil tinyaga ko siyang panoorin, tinyaga ko ring sine chichiryahin. itey:



ANG TANGING INA NIYONG LAHAT
(2008)

d. wenn deramas
p. star cinema
s. a bunch of star cinema suki writers
c. aiai delas alas and a bunch of star cinema celebs of non-voting age (or pretending to be of non-voting age)

pitch:

another sequel about that single mom who has 12 children and has to cope with life, this time the coping stems from her need to "be important" in the lives of her kids, going as far as becoming the president of the philippines to achieve this goal. (hey, i am not making this up, pramis)

catch:

pang-ilang sequel na nga ba to? baka kelangan nang i-retire. nagte-threading na ang gulong ng katatatawanan, mga chong, sa pagka-pudpod...



when a film lists a lot of people in the credits for scripting, you know there'll be a problem in the final product of the film. pero hindi rin. minsan it works, especially in assembly-line filmmaking industries like hollywood and france.

pero sa pinas, lalo na sa star, parang hindi. parang pass the message ang pagsusulat nila ng storya. isang major konsepto mula sa isang utak na ibang kamay ang susulat, na pag dumaan na ulit sa original na may utak at dadagdagan niya ng sulat ng kamay na nya, haller na ang labas, puwera na lang siguro kung genius yung utak at kamay.

but this is an MMFF film, so should i be surprised at my disappointment? the answer is, yes, kasi i expect more from this group this time of the year, na minsan naman i-suspend ko ang disbelief ko na they are just making hair-brained screwball comedies just for the money. of course, the content is another thing.

i particularly hated one scene there where the gay son of the ina was in love with a hunky actor, and he wanted to ask his ina, who became the president of the philippines (i am not inventing this stuff!) to pass a law so the gay son and the hunky actor could get married. ang sagot ng ina "huwag naman anak, baka pareho tayong makulong diyan." homophobic. even if it was used in a candycoated comedy way, IT'S NOT FUNNY. HOMOPHOBIA IS NEVER FUNNY. and i am disappointed because some of the people behind this film are gay. gay to the max, gay to the core. saklap.

at a time when the world is reeling in fundamentalist backlash (giyera sa gaza, proposition 8 passed in california), the LGBT community doesn't need to laugh at the fact that they/we are not allowed this basic human right of getting married to the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with. and no, it cannot be dismissed as "it's just a joke" because jokes -- and comedy, in general -- has its deep, deep roots at the realities of our lives, na pinapakita lang in a humorous way, kaya matatawa tayo, pero pagkatapos matawa, dapat mapapaisip din tayo kung ano nga ba yung tinatawanan natin.but the joke on gay marriage here didn't make the audience think; and that was not the intention of the joke, actually. the intention was to make the gay son appear silly in his wants and needs. since when was equality a silly want and need? homophobic.

i'm disappointed, because these kinds of jokes i associate with the likes of ISKUL BUKOL, kaya di ko pinanood iyon at ito ang pinanood ko. kainis lang.

the only consolation in watching this film is the fact na sinubukan nilang saksakan ng women's rights discussion chenelyn, especially family code rules on the single mother's employment rights, and the occasional funny moments delivered by ai-ai and eugene domingo. other than that, ipangkain niyo na lang ang 130 pesos ticket price niyo, or ipamalengke at magluto ng ulam. may ganansya pa.

but wait! there's more. i also can't let go one shot there, yung nag-dolly in ang cam from close-up to semi-extreme close up ng mata ni ai-ai nung malaman niyang nakidnap ang kambal niya. teng, nag-defocus. kamusta naman ang pag-rack focus ng cam movement na toh! and worse, nilagay pa rin nila sa final edit!!! taena ang unprofessional. ginagago nyo ba kami, ha, kala niyo forgivable ang techncal flaws na ganun ka-obvious? my god, hindi ito TV na puwede siyang palampasin! actually, kahit sa TV, di dapat ito pinalalampas, but that's another discourse altogether.

and the thing about star cinema comedies lately, at least in the past 5 years, is that it has a habit of referencing to scenes in past star cinema movies, making it full of "inside jokes." the problem with this is, hindi lahat ng tao napanood lahat ng star cinema movies in the past! writers, please go out of the conference room and breathe fresh air and see the world outside ELJ building, so you could write in more universal jokes and scenes there. ha? i'm just saying. payong kaibigan lang.

hay. next!