"RESPETO" TOPS CRITICS' POLL FOR BEST FEATURE FILMS OF 2017

Treb Monterra II's "Respeto," a movie about a young rapper in a Manila slum who dreams of hip-hop greatness tops the poll carried out by authoritative blog Pinoy Rebyu (Filipino film aggregator). 32 respondents (mostly film reviewers and bloggers) were asked to name their top choices for best feature films of 2017. The movie also topped the polls in 6 other categories that includes Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best First Feature, Best Supporting Performance, Best Editing and Best Scene (ending scene).

"Respeto" also won the Best Feature Film in last year's Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Mikhael Red's "Birdshot" which is the Philippine's official entry to the Oscars Best Foreign Language film ranked 7th. On the other hand, 2017 MMFF Best Director award winner Paul Soriano ("Siargao") was literally snubbed by the 32 respondents however "Siargao" received citations in two categories (best cinematography and best supporting performance for Jasmine Curtis-Smith).

Interestingly only one mainstream movie made the cut ("Love You to the Stars and Back" at no. 13) and the rest were produced by independent filmmakers.  It's a pity that a number of these films never get to be screened nationwide due to some constraints specifically in securing playdates and stiff competition with mainstream movies as such, they only get to be shown in local indie film festivals on limited theater run.

Here are the Top 20 Films as voted by 32 respondents: Please click this link to see how the respondents voted 

1 – Respeto 

2 – Kiko Boksingero 

3 – Balangiga: Howling Wilderness

4 – Ang Larawan 

5 – Paki 

6 – Changing Partners 

7 – Birdshot 

8 – The Chanters 

9 – Smaller and Smaller Circles 

10 – Neomanila 

11 – Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember 

12 – Motherland 

13 – Love You to the Stars and Back 

14 – Bliss 

15 – Nervous Translation 

16 – I’m Drunk, I Love You 

17 – Kita Kita 

18 – Haunted: A Last Visit to the Red House 

19 – High Tide 

20 – Patay Na Si Hesus 

Of the 20 films listed above, I have only watched 3 films namely "Respeto," "Birdshot" and "Love You to the Stars and Back".

Joana Ampil  ("Ang Larawan")  and Noel Comia, Jr.  ("Kiko Boksingero") received the highest votes for Best Lead Performance while Dido de la Paz and Yayo Aguila got the highest votes best supporting performances for "Respeto" and "Kiko Boksingero," respectively.  

To see the complete list of winners please visit Pinoy Rebyu blog. 

For those who missed the regular run of the films mentioned above, you may still catch up and watch at '76 Cinema in San Juan.   Just  check  out  the  latest schedule of movies showing on their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/cinema76fs/