I went to Mega Mall on Christmas day to watch a few films on opening day of MMFF 2017. As expected, big crowd filled the cinema lobby but luckily I managed to buy 3 tickets without having to go through the long queues. How did I do it? I used my old trick which still works.
The first movie I watched was Paul Soriano's "Siargao" starring Jericho Rosales, Erich Gonzales and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. The film is about a twenty something vlogger Laura (Erich) who went to the island of Siargao to temporarily escape from a heartbreaking experience and move on after making a major decision in her life refusing to marry her boyfriend (played by Enchong Dee). Laura turned down her boyfriend's marriage proposal that shocked their followers online. They are just one of those so called millennials who turn to social media to tell their love woes unmindful of what people have to say. On her way to the island, she meets Diego (Jericho), a beleaguered rockstar, who was visiting his hometown Siargao. The two hit it off easily and formed a certain bonding though not necessarily as lovers. As the story progressed, they both crossed path with Diego's old flame Abi (Jasmine). Each protagonist has their own story to tell with one common denominator i.e. searching for a sense of belongingness brought about by their failed relationships and endeavors in life.
The movie has a nice storyline, a good cast, good music, soothing themesong ("Alon" by Hale) and great locations which were beautifully shot that makes you want to see and visit the place. Jericho, as usual, is competent, as for Erich, I don't know if it's just me or what, but Erich looked like she was there to vlog, interviewing people around with her getup looking like more of a fashionable tourist than someone who had just ran away from a bad break-up. Jasmine has the making of a fine young actress. I had high expectations for the film.....but it isn't that bad (at least by local standard).
Siargao is a beautiful island with pristine white sands. It's kinda laid back place where tourists and the locals hang out in a more intimate and laid back nightlife atmosphere aside from its main attraction of course being the surfing capital of the Philippines. It's also interesting to note that movie touched the subject of preservation of environment showing the locals' initiatives by organizing activities on how they can preserve the island's eco-system. Siargao Island is a favorite subject of travel vloggers. There's a bunch of them, mostly foreigners like Finn Snow, Christian Le blanc and half-pinoy travel vloggers like Will Dasovich and Daniel Marsh. Will had a cameo role in the movie (playing himself) and Daniel Marsh was supposed to be in the movie as well but was replaced by Canadian vlogger Bret Maverick due to conflict of commitments.
Next stop: Haunted Forest
I was impressed with the turnout of moviegoers for Regal Films horror flick. Cinema 2 at Mega Mall was full, something that has not been seen in any of Regal produced films of recent. The visuals are impressive but the sub-plots somewhat messed up the story. The audience patiently waited for thrills and scream that they expected and it only happened during the last 15 minutes of the film.
The third movie I watched was Star Cinema's Comedy Fantasy Film "Gandarappido: The Revenger Squad." What can we expect from a Vice Ganda movie? "Wala lang, basta masaya ang pelikula kahit corny pero ang daming nanood." I wanted to watch this movie after "Siargao" but we were told that tickets were sold out for 6:00 and 8:00 screenings so I had to settle for the last screening at 10:20 pm. Daniel Padilla is paired with 2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach. Pia registers well on screen and has a flair for comedy. I dunno but I had the feeling that Pia's boyfriend Marlon Stockinger and Kathryn Bernardo (Daniel's GF obviously) would appear in the movie and they actually did at the end of the movie. Of course your Ate Vice would not want to be left out, he had Zanzoe Marudo in his arms to add "kilig" to the audience.
I could only watch 3 movies for the day but I may watch a few more entries in the coming days. MMFF officials has issued a press release on their Facebook page stating that this year's MMFF broke box-office records as it surpassed the 2015 first and second day gross but there were some films who had to be pulled out from theaters due to poor ticket sales. There's nothing new here as it always happens every year.
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