Cast: Kristoffer King, Paolo Rivero, Perla Bautista, Jeff Luna, Anita Linda
Synopsis: Rene (Paolo Rivero) is supporting his ailing grandmother by running the family business. His grandmother’s friend is constantly trying to set him up with various women, hoping that he’ll finally settle down. What she doesn’t know is that Rene is gay and that he’s in love with his driver, Levi (Kristoffer King). Rene is far too shy and reserved to ever admit his love, but one weekend, his inhibitions go away as he takes a trip to the seaside with his beloved driver, who might be hiding a secret of his own. When they return to the city, neither is prepared to deal with the consequences of his actions. (Click the City)
Running time: 95 mins.
Trailer: Not available
Reviews:
2.5 Cathy Peña (Make Me Blush)
“Salo is a surprising work. Unlike most pink films, Jacinto engages and dives into his narrative – frame after frame – with hardly a spoken word. In fact, most of the spoken lines are left hanging, i.e. there’s hardly an exchange of words. This eventually creates semblance of mood and nuances.” (Read full review)
1.5 Philbert Dy (Click the City)
“Salo just isn’t trying hard enough. It apes the appearance of the pink films of yesteryear, but offer none of the substance. It offers up an intriguing if well trod premise that challenges social convention and personal identity, but it doesn’t have the wherewithal to really explore the issues.” (Read full review)
Cast: Jeorge Estregan, Philip Salvador, Carla Abellana, John Regala, Baron Geisler, Yul Servo, Dennis Padilla, Ketchup Eusebio, Ping Medina, Gerald Ejercito, Amay Bisaya, Archi Adamos, Soliman Cruz, Ronnie Lazaro, Joko Diaz, Jaycee Parker, Paloma, Valerie Concepcion, Roi Vinzon, Jay Manalo, Dante Rivero, Robert Arevalo, Perla Bautista, Marissa Sanchez, Roldan Aquino, Jerico Ejercito
Synopsis: In the slums of Tondo, one man would rise in a wave of violence as the kingpin of crime. That man, Asiong Salonga, would become public enemy number one, earning the wrath of both the lawful and the lawless. (From Click the City)
Trailer:
Reviews:
4.0 Ihcahieh
“Tikoy Aguiluz is really making a statement here with how he shot those scenes. In short, kinareer niya ‘to. No wonder he is pissed off.” (Read full review)
3.5 Oggs Cruz (Twitch)
“As it is, the spare and unimaginative story seems more perfunctory to the visual spectacle and the shameless grandstanding. It is definitely quite a shame because its present form shows shades of glory, traces of the film Aguiluz had in mind — stylish but somber, brutal but human, and entertaining but artful.” (Read full review)
3.5 Philbert Dy (Click the City)
“Manila Kingpin is heavily flawed, but it’s at least flawed in an interesting way. The film had a lot of story to tell, and it ends up breezing through many of the details of its subject’s life. It only has the bullet points, and in the end, the film does little to expand on the legend of Asiong Salonga.” (Read full review)
3.5 Nicol Latayan (Back to the Frying Pan)
“The art direction is spot on, and it really gives you the 50s feeling of it. Costumes and make up were slick, and choreography of fight scenes was well executed. I have some reservations with the lead star (he’s too old to play a 25-28 year old character, and no amount of make up can conceal that), but I understand that this is his passion project, so I won’ focus on that.” (Read full review)
3.0 Jessica Zafra (InterAksyon)
“Given the opportunities for overacting in this movie, the performances are surprisingly subdued. Unfortunately the characters are all two-dimensional. We do not know what motivates them. We do not know why Asiong turned to crime in the first place.” (Read full review)
3.0 Mario Bautista (Showbiz Portal)
“It’s apparent that the priority is to come up with a slambang action gangster flick, not an in-depth character study… Asiong has God-fearing parents (Robert Arevalo and Perla Bautista) and an older brother who’s a cop (Phillip Salvador), but how and why he went astray, we aren’t even given a clue.” (Read full review)
3.0 Nestor Torre (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
“For all of its artifice and myopic moral compass, it still has a visual energy that’s more arresting than many of the play-safe, formula flicks showcased in the MMFF. Just don’t expect it to hit the heights of authentic significance and substance.” (Read full review)
3.0 Rowena Joy A. Sanchez (Manila Bulletin)
“The remake would’ve been an excellent opportunity to delve deeper into Asiong’s character, his real aspirations and intentions behind going after criminal gangs and secretly donating robbed riches to his ‘kababayans’ in Tondo. However, it felt that the action was given more priority than the backbone that could’ve further solidified the entire film.” (Read full review)
3.0 Macky Macarayan (Death of Traditional Cinema)
“There is a palpable amount of style in cinematography and production design; the shootout in the rain executed in slow-mo a la John Woo is impressive, if it did not rip off Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmasters.” (Read full review)
2.5 Jansen Musico (Pelikula Tumblr)
“Hints of Quentin Tarantino, Danny Boyle, Wong Kar Wai, and, more blatantly, John Woo might jolt the nerves of discerning moviegoers. Fleeting smoke silhouettes, slow motion gunfire, and sliding on the floor on one’s knees may look spectacular in moderation, but too much of these make scenes cartoony.” (Read full review)
2.0 Rolando Tolentino (Pinoy Weekly)
“Ang elaborasyon ng Robin Hood na buhay, lalo na sa unang bahagi ng pelikula, ay “walang puso” at nakakakuha lang ng atensyon dahil sa black-and-white na kalidad ng pelikula at ilang piling eksena, tulad ng shoot out na gamit ang kalesa.” (Read full review)
2.0 Cathy Peña (Make Me Blush)
“Manila Kingpin is all gloss and cinematic posturing. The story is pretty trite and uninsightful. It offers a plot that might as well be another henchman’s story. There’s nothing distinct about its narrative. More importantly, it forgot to tell the story behind what we already know: Which family reared him? What made him who he became? We needed to understand the genesis of a mobster – but this wasn’t on the cinematic plate.” (Read full review)
2.0 Ria Limjap (Spot.ph)
“There are flashes of brilliance buried underneath the pile clichés of the Pinoy action-melodrama in this version of Asiong. The latest reincarnation—shot in black and white, production designed to the hilt, and featuring an original song by Ely Buendia—could have been really cool, only it isn’t.” (Read full review)
2.0 Carl Papa (Whatever, Carl)
“My biggest dilemma while watching the movie was that the sequences never quite add up to create a bigger picture. Some sequences are either slow or way fast. And some parts are just disjointed.” (Read full review)
1.5 Katrina Stuart Santiago (GMA News)
“While I admit that it looked beautiful, and the fight scenes were enjoyable, there is no getting lost in this film at all—something that every action flick lives off of, even more so a period action film. But there is no suspension of belief in this film, no getting lost in the cinematography and sets, no matter how well done these were, too.” (Read full review)
Capsules:
4.5 Manuel Pangaruy (Taga-ilog Special)
“Ang guwapo n’ung pelikula. Hindi ko masabi na na-enjoy ko s’ya sa paraang ini-enjoy ko ang isang Pinoy action movie noon. Dati, parang ginagawa ang action movie dahil may demand sa kita. Ito, may demand din sa aspetong baka kailangan na nating ibalik ang mga action movie. May demand sa kawalan at paghahanap. Isa itong tribute. Given na na maganda ang cinematography. Halata naman talaga ‘yung effort pero wala namang vision na magpaka-realistic o academic ‘yung pelikula (wala s’yang details masyado ng date, etc.) In fact, parang popcorn film pa rin ang peg n’ya. I can’t comment sa editing kasi malay ko naman d’un pero kahit hindi orig na version, mahusay ang pagkakadirek nito. Medyo na-appreciate ko si ER dito. Mas gusto ko s’yang Best Actor, sa totoo lang. Pero hands down, si John Regala talaga ang Best Supporting Actor (pwede rin si Ipe dito).”
4.0 Json Javier (Cinephiles)
“It’s one big hot mess and I love it. You can actually see glimpses of brilliance from this mutilated product. Estregan is miscast in the lead but everyone else is perfect (it has the best ensemble cast in this year’s festival). I hope the Director’s Cut will still see the light of day.”
4.0 Carlo Cielo (Cinephiles)
“Actually natripan ko yung ‘cut down’, ‘back to basics’ approach ng pelikula. Yung fact ng pagiging incidental nung asawa’t magulang sa trajectory ng karakter at sa buong takbo nung action. Mahalagang break ito sa nakagawiang tradisyon, sadya man o hindi. Madalas, kelangan muna magpaalam nung bida sa a.) magulang, b.) asawa, c.) pamilya, d.) simbahan, e.) gobyerno, at kamakailan, f.) sa mga hipster na burgis, bago makapangahas. Tsaka lang sila makakapag-’action star’. At sa puntong iyon, wala nang sipa ang mga bagay-bagay, kasi walang credibilidad. Sobrang ipinasailalim ang mga action aspects sa pagyuko sa nanunungkulan, hindi na sila nagmukhang ‘action movie’. Lalo’t hindi sa paraang naiintindihan ng sandaigdig.”
4.0 Arsenio Tan Liao (Cinephiles)
“Tikoy’s use of black and white cinematography is close to perfect. Ensemble acting is also good. Problem lies in editing though. Loved the use of ‘Mad World’ in the movie. It could have been better if real footages of Asiong Salonga were used in the end credits since this is a biopic. However, the movie’s poignancy does not quite at all stay with the viewers.”
4.0 Chuck Pablito (Cinephiles)
“I like the cinematography. Reminded me of City of God. The use of ‘Mad World’ was a pleasant surprise I thought of The Walking Dead promo. Overall the movie is like a love letter to that forgotten genre.”
3.0 Nico Quejano (Cinephiles)
“Hated George Estregan here. Parang hindi bagay. Nawalan ng charisma si Asiong Salonga. And i have a weird feeling nag-a-adlib si ER dito. Ang daming lines (unfortunately, not only ER’s) na parang kung magsalita sila parang wala sa 1940′s, probably it’s not the writing, since John Regala, Ketchup and Ping speak very old Tagalog. ER’s break down scene was hilarious… that turned awkward when it went longer than it should. The rain scene was amazing, pero parang out of place. Love the ‘Mad World’ scene, in fact, one of the the few scenes i really loved. (Kalesa chase scene is another.)”
2.0 Skilty Labastilla (YCC Film Desk)
“All gloss, no emotional core. By stripping Salonga of his personal and social historical context and putting premium on John Woo-style bullet ballet, all the film does is glorify violence.”
Synopsis: A morbid turn of events brings Haruo (Jacky Woo) to the squalor of Manila. A prized asset of the feared Yakuza in Tokyo, Haruo, aka Tadano Hayashi, escapes the criminal syndicate with bountiful cash, a helpless Filipina bar girl (Nina Kodaka) – and tragic consequences. Now solitary, he has uprooted himself to the railside slums of the metropolis, wistfully fending for himself. Still hiding from his past, he rents out a small room, seemingly lost in the clutter of wandering souls desperate for survival. There, he spends his days anonymously roaming the congested streets selling food, and even giving them away for the hungry. But he mostly keeps to himself, even to the inquisitive Edna (Rosanna Roces), an aging bar girl with whom he occasionally shares his bed. (From Cathy Peña’s review)
Trailer:
Reviews:
5.0 JPaul Manzanilla (Young Critics Circle)
“The film’s excellent cinematography captures our character’s movement away from the world of crime only to be pulled back into it. There is a scene where the old railways of Manila are shown as Haruo is traveling to another side of the city. This moment of pure movement, when nothing yet is definitive concerning Haruo’s (literal and lifelong) direction, deftly mesmerizes one’s vision.” (Read full review)
4.5 Ian Urrutia (Pinoy Cinema Tumblr)
“Haruo is a spectacle of visual merit, a slam-bang of a stylish noir that pays homage to South Korean revenge thrillers championed by the likes of Park Chan-Wook and Ji-woon Kim. Adolf Alix Jr. avoids tackling aesthetic violence and visceral torture porn here though, and dealt instead on framing a lyrically poignant narrative.” (Read full review)
4.0 Cathy Peña (Make Me Blush)
“With a bristling narrative and the calculated manipulations of its color palette, smartly doing away with those shaky handhelds, Adolf Alix, Jr.’s Haruo (Springtime Man) plays out like a blank canvas that gradually unravels right before your eyes, peeling veneers of its story in delectable stages of unrelenting tale, way until the full story is laid out like a masterpiece.” (Read full review)
4.0 Rito Asilo (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
“There are loose ends that need tying up, but Albert Banzon’s crisp photography and Alix’s oddly relatable characters bring the film’s cautionary tale to pulsating life.” (Read full review)
4.0 Macky Macarayan (Death of Traditional Cinema)
“Despite its flaws, Haruo as a whole feels like a genre film, clearly inspired and passionate.” (Read full review)
2.5 Carl Joseph Papa (Whatever Carl)
“The movie has Alix written all over it, most especially in the silent moments and in the beginning. But things got a little off as it progressed along.” (Read full review)
Comments:
3.5 Manuel Pangaruy (Taga-ilog Special)
“Almost a 4 or 4.5 kung hindi r’un sa (spoiler alert) presence ng isang character sa dulo. I think pwede nang wala ‘yun, gan’un pa rin ang dating. Ganda ng work dito ni Albert Banzon at may mga panning si Adolf dito. Pwedeng pwede nang action film director. Na-remind ako nang konti ng History of Violence at, ewan pa kung bakit, ni Jim Jarmusch.”
3.0 Arsenio Tan Liao (Cinephiles)
“Since this is produced by Jackie Woo who happens to be the lead star in the movie , I understand that he has to be given the moments in this Adolfo Alix’s movie. Good cinematography and effective acting from some cast though.”
Synopsis: It is a few days before Christmas at a women’s correctional facility. One of the inmates has just died, but the rest of the women continue to prepare for the upcoming holiday. An elderly former actress jailed for dealing drugs (Anita Linda) has her hopes pinned on receiving a presidential pardon. A timid inmate (Ina Feleo) quietly suffers under the heel of a prison boss. Another inmate (Jodi Sta. Maria) does laundry in the prison, trying to make enough money to support her family while fending off debt collectors. The films follows these women and a few others as they live out their existence behind bars, hoping for some measure of salvation as the holidays roll around. (From Philbert Dy’s review)
Trailer:
Reviews:
5.0 Macky Macarayan (Death of Traditional Cinema)
“The story itself is gripping – each of the characters are alive, memorable, and dynamic. The picture of the prison that Alix paints is that of a humanistic one. We get a slice life of what Correctional environment feels like, and we get to sympathize with each character.” (Read full review)
4.5 Nel Costales (The Persistence of Vision)
“’The fantastic finale elevates the fine film into a great film. Amidst the bevy of memorable performances, the artistry of Anita Linda shines brightly during the breakdown scene and the shooting segment.” (Read full review)
2.5 Cathy Peña (Make Me Blush)
“It’s such a delight that we witness this gathering of talent on screen, but it could have been a more fulfilling experience for us if there were a single story that actually made us care. But when such snippets of stories feel nothing more like an afterthought, then you are left with something that’s essentially inconsequential.” (Read full review)
2.0 Philberty Dy (Click the City)
“The film is committed to accurately depicting the everyday life of female inmates in a medium security prison. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the film goes a bit overboard. In its attempts to avoid melodrama, the film accidentally sidesteps drama altogether. A great cast provides moments of clarity, but the film mostly feels unfocused and inconsequential.” (Read full review)
Verdict: Proceed with Caution
February 11, 2012
SCL
Na-remind ako nang konti ng History of Violence at, ewan pa kung bakit, ni Jim Jarmusch.”
