San Lazaro

 

Odd and yet surprisingly insightful, with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek commentary about life, love and Youtube as a learning tool, Wincy Aquino Ong's San Lazaro peddles itself as another Asian horror movie that makes you assume that its focal point is a supernatural entity when in fact, it's all about inner demons---the kind that reside within, the kind that's powerful enough to disregard one's conscience, the type that can gnaw at one's being.

Going by the trailer, it's quite easy to tell that San Lazaro is not the type of  film that is capable of generating the same buzz as Cinemalaya entries like Ang Babae sa Septic Tank or Rakenrol. Neither does it have the mainstream draw of the adaptation of the Eros Attalia novel, Ligo na U, Lapit na Me. And while the premise of having two old schoolmates embark on a road trip to a far flung provincial town with the primary objective of taking a demonically possessed sibling to be treated by an exorcist may trudge on B-movie territory, the film manages to achieve a well-orchestrated dissonance, one that defies genres and intentionally throws off viewers but not without some satisfying revelations.

It can be likened to your uncle's trusty Volkswagen Beetle that's old, personally put together and full of character. Old, not because there's anything unoriginal about the script or the story, but rather old in the sense that it's the best vehicle available given budgetary constraints and its novelty. It's a bumpy and unpredictable ride but what's important is that it gets you to your destination.        

Aptly described as a horror flick, a road movie and a buddy comedy, San Lazaro gives its viewers a weird, disjointed journey into the lives of three individuals haunted by personal ghosts. There's awkward Sigfried (Wincy Aquino Ong) who's never had a girlfriend since birth, brassy Limuel (Ramon Bautista) whose bravado comes with a cache of tranquilizers [strong enough to put down an elephant] and troubled Biboy (Nicco Manalo) who may or may not be under the control of a malevolent spirit. 

Armed with a quirky selection of storylines which include a white collar crime and a woebegone search for Captain Barbell, told alongside the ill-advised transport of an unstable passenger who's spent too much time talking to an antique garden ornament, this is one film that revels in its geekiness and yet manages to tap into certain uncomfortable truths that are funny but not entirely laughable. The horror aspect of it has a distinct Filipino flavor; the random topics that make up the conversations between the characters can come across as either glib or smart but not to the extent of grating, verbal diarrhea, as can be seen in other productions. There's also a general sense of unease that accompanies the staggered flashbacks given the characters' seemingly close-eyed determination to suppress unwanted memories. The deadpan delivery of both Ong and Bautista effectively blurs the comedic and dramatic, while Manalo's commitment to the role serves as a reminder that there are greater forces at play that should not be ignored. 

All said, San Lazaro is not your typical horror flick; it's predominantly a dark comedy with some jarring and amusing turn of events. With special appearances by Bianca King, Julia Clarete, Ely Buendia and Kean Cipriano, and spot on performances from the likes of Allan Forte, Tony Gallano and Earl Ignacio, it's a film with a number of interesting sequences, some even shot with an obvious nudge and wink to make you in on the joke. Hammy, creepy and sobering at one go, from the minute the award-winning opening sequence by Burnwater Design Studios rolls alongside original music by Mikey Amistoso and Jazz Nicolas, you know that you're in for an adventure.

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Miss You Like Crazy

Two people in a ferry boat, an annoying litany of "what ifs" and a lot of stones scattered around the metro.  It's a movie that aspires to be something more than your standard love story but falls short by reason of its flippant treatment of time and destiny-- this best summarizes the much-hyped and much-awaited comeback of the John Lloyd and Bea tandem to the big screen through Cathy Garcia-Molina's latest bid for another box office hit in Miss You Like Crazy.

"What if you never loved her? What if you never met just so you can erase her from your memory? What if, when you met, you were a different person? And she was too?"

The year is 2005, Allan Alvarez (John Lloyd Cruz) is a young professional who seems to have everything going for him - a beautiful, socialite girlfriend, an upcoming promotion as finance manager and a newly acquired property under renovation. But beneath his well-crafted life and veneer of success, Allan is in truth lonely. Furthermore, he begins to doubt the choices he's made in life but unable to voice it.

     While on board the Pasig River ferry, he meets Mia Samonte (Bea Alonzo) in your typical it-only-happens-in-the movies scenario, wherein Allan rushes out to the deck to prevent her from jumping overboard. What gave him the idea that she would be ready to hurl herself into the murky waters of the Pasig River, you say?  Well, prior to the said encounter, Allan noticed her as the girl who would cry her eyes out one day and be unusually perky the next. He also picked up a few stones that Mia had the habit of leaving behind, and  each one happened to contain Mia's thoughts or feelings conveniently through the use of a permanent marker.

And so begins their week long romance which began with what is perhaps one of the most banal conversations ever written for the big screen. Fueled by their undeniable attraction for each other, we see Allan and Mia accompany each other as they go shopping, attend mass, have coffee and walk in the park. Basically, they do everything that a normal couple does except that Allan is still with his girlfriend and Mia is scheduled to return to Malaysia after her brief holiday. 

By day three, the two can no longer deny their feelings for each other and thus become more than friends the moment they share their first kiss. But all's not well in paradise because Allan is all but married to his girlfriend of four years who just happened to be out of town when he met Mia. Despite being hurt  upon discovering that she's been cavorting around the  metro with someone's boyfriend, Mia decides to surrender herself to him anyway before going their separate ways.

Unfortunately, everything is not that simple. When Allan accidentally bumped into Mia at a hotel while he was accompanied by his girlfriend, he realized that his bond with Mia was stronger than he expected. After much deliberation, he decides to make a choice. He asks Mia to wait for him the following day at the ferry station, vowing to make things right.

 In a different situation, different place, a different time.There are things that only time can teach you. Like how much you love a person. Often you realize how much you've loved another only when you lost her.

Fast forward three years later, Mia is already back in Malaysia with a steady job and a Malaysian boyfriend  (Hans Isaac) when fate brings Allan back to her. This time the tables are turned,  as Mia is torn between rekindling an old romance and forging on with her current flame.

Pegged as love story that places a huge premium on the concept of destiny and time, Miss You Like Crazy follows Allan and Mia's love story as they spend five years just to find the right time to be together. The theme is rather straightforward as it depicts time and chance as variables in the game of love.

The film showcases a slew of examples to show that love does not follow a single equation-- as exemplified by the caretaker (Jun Urbano) who waited decades to pursue an old sweetheart; the younger brother who ditched his girlfriend of seven years in order to marry a girl he's only known for three months; and Mia's father (Bembol Roco) who had no qualms about leaving his family in order to be with his mistress. Even Allan's girlfriend placed a strong argument on how relationships required effort and time to build. And yet, despite all this exposition, the movie inadvertently fails to follow its theme to its logical conclusion. It's as if Star Cinema is dead set on giving you the requisite happy ending even though it supposedly pushes for a new approach or structure in telling love stories (e.g. And I Love You So, One More Chance and Love Me Again).

In Miss You Like Crazy, the notion of waiting for love is heavily romanticized, such that fate starts to live and breathe as if it were a character on its own. And it just so happened that fate, as portrayed in this movie, had as much subtlety as a sledgehammer. Apparently, the writers weren't content with  its deft hand bringing two people together, otherwise  they wouldn't have gone through all that trouble to spell out what has been fairly obvious at the get-go. The use of the stones as a narrative device to move the story along reeks of lazy storytelling and the overuse thereof was more than mildly off-putting. It fails to replicate the success of Ikaw Lamang Hanggang Ngayon  in using an inanimate object as a central component because, unlike that bench in front of the Manila Post Office, the stones were clearly a cheap marketing gimmick. (Seriously, who carries around stones and pentel markers for the sole purpose of writing down one's thoughts? It would've been a lot more acceptable if Bea's character were filling her pockets with them in preparation for a watery grave.) And as if the stones weren't enough to clue you in to the fact that Mia and Allan should be together, they had to throw in a chance meeting with a fortuneteller (a cameo by Noel Trinidad) and his grandson (Sid Lucero), and of course, who could forget-- the Petronas Towers. Talk about overkill. 

Miss You Like Crazy tries too hard to mimic the style of its Pan-Asian counterparts to disastrous results. Everything from the way the characters first met to the random inclusion of elements to heighten the story suggests that its creators had been more than inspired by a Korean movie or two. One only has to see the sequence leading up to the movie's love scene to know that the tight shots and the lingering silence (as lifted from countless Asian dramas) were executed without restraint, as the simple shot of a hand tentatively reaching out to another turned downright frisky, quickly pummeling romance into foreplay. And this is where the main problem lies-- in its indiscriminate borrowing. Too many things were incorporated in it without  thought as to how all these pieces would meld together to present a cohesive whole.  Too many things were borrowed without any understanding of why these elements (when used properly) work to full effect in the first place. It's all about moderation, folks. And the movie has none of it. So while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Miss You Like Crazy ultimately misses its mark. 

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