HERE'S A LIST OF LOCAL MOVIES SHOWN IN 2014:
JANUARY: “Bride for Rent”, “Mumbai Love”, “Sa Ngalan ng Ama, Ina at mga Anak”. – 3 movies
FEBRUARY: “Basement”, “Starting Over Again”, “Luhod sa Harapan”, “Mana”, “ABNKKKBSNAPLAko”, “Third Eye”, “Unfriend”. -7 movies
MARCH: “Cattleya: An OFW Story”, “Kabaro”, “Tatlong Beses Isang Araw”, “Kamandag ni Venus”, “Private Show Tonight”, “Flying Fish”. – 6 movies
APRIL: “Echoserang Frog”, “Diary ng Panget”, “Bang Bang Alley”, “Dota”, “So It’s You”, “Dagta”. – 6 movies
MAY: “Full Moon”, “Maybe This Time”. – 2 movies
JUNE: “My Illegal Wife”, “Bagong Dugo”. – 2 movies
JULY: “Overtime”, “Kamkam”, “Magtiwala Ka”, “She’s Dating the Gangster”, “Island Dreams”, “Trophy Wife”, “Once a Princess” – 7 movies
AUGUST: “Somebody to Love”, “Mga Kuwentong Barbero”, “Talk Back and You’re Dead”. And the Cinemalaya Director’s Showcase entries: “Hustisya”, “Asintado”, “Hari ng Tondo”, “Kasal”, “The Janitor”. New Breed entries: “Separados”, “Mariquina”, “#Y”, “Ronda”, “K’Na, The Dream Weaver”, “Dagitab”, “Bwaya”, “Children’s Show”, “Sundalong Kanin”, “First Ko si Third”. – 18 movies
SEPTEMBER: “The Gifted”, “Maria Leonora Teresa”, “Dementia”, “Tumbang Preso”. – 4 movies
OCTOBER: “Beauty in a Bottle”, “The Trial”, “Dilim”, “Firefighters”, FDCP Horror Plus Filmfest entries: “Bacao”, “T’yanak”, “Hukluban”, “Sigaw sa Hatinggabi”. – 8 movies
NOVEMBER: “Relaks, It’s Just Pag-ibig”, “Moron 5.2, The Transformation”, “Past Tense”, Quezon City Filmfest and Pink Filmfest entries: “Bigkis”, “Mauban: Ang Resiko”, “Wala na Bang Ibang Title?”. Cinema One Originals Filmfest entries: “Lorna”, “Esprit de Corps”, “That Thing Called Tadhana”, “Hindi Sila Tatanda”, “Soap Opera”, “Violator”, “Red”, “The Babysitters”, “Bitukang Manok”, “Seoul Mates”. – 16 movies
DECEMBER: “Gangster Lolo”, Metro Manila Filmfest New Wave entries: “Magkakabaung”, “M, My Mother’s Maiden Name”, “Mulat”, “Maratabat”, “Gemini”. Mainstream entries: “”Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo”, “Shake Rattle & Roll 15”, “English Only, Please”, “Feng Shui 2”, “My Big Bossing”, “Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin”, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”, “Muslim Magnum .357” – 14 movies
That’s a total of 87 local movies shown during the entire, most of which are independent films that are entries to the various local film festivals.
AND these are our personal choices as the year’s best films, based on the movies we saw. “Lorna” by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo – An entry in the Cinema One Originals, this is a stylized and life-affirming dramedy about a single woman who continues to rise above the many heartaches she encounters in life.
“Mga Kuwentong Barbero” by Jun Lana – Set during martial law, this is a story of self discovery and women empowerment about a lady barber who finds the courage to defy the dictator in their town and joins the rebel movement.
“Magkakabaung” by Jason Paul Laxamana – Filmed in Pampanga using the Kapampangan dialect, this is the touching story of guilt, loss and pain after a single dad, whose job is to make coffins, suddenly loses his only child due to his own ignorance.
“The Janitor” by Michael Tuviera. The thrilling and action-packed story of a bank robbery gone wrong and the consequences of a lie.
“Kamkam” by Joel Lamangan. A tale of the evils of patriarchy and patronage set in an impoverish slum area, where the local kingpin has three wives.
For supporting actor – Lav Diaz as the old flame who returns late in life to the heroine’s life in “Lorna”, Derek Ramsay as the scalawag cop in “The Janitor”, Nicco Manalo as the tortured informer in “The Janitor”, Jim Pebanco as the devoted gay assistant and ex-lover of a kingpin in “Kamkam”, JC Santos as the aggressive corp commander in “Esprit de Corp”, Ricky Davao as the gay dad who comes out the closet late in life in “Separados”.
For supporting actress- Gladys Reyes as the conscience stricken mother in “Magkakabaung” and as the fecund baby making machine and very supportive friend in “Mga Kuwentong Barbero”, Isabel Lopez as the happy-go-lucky and free spirited matron who’s actually hurting from an unfaithful husband in “Lorna”, Carmi Martin as the alcoholic mom who pays dearly in “Feng Shui 2”, Chanda Romero as the creepy housemaid from hell in the “Ulam” episode of “Shake 15”, Barbie Forteza as the young girl abandoned by her mom in “Mariquina”, Jaclyn Jose so hilarious as herself in “Echoserang Frog”, Jackie Rice as the feisty third and youngest wife of a kingpin and Elizabeth Oropesa as the “kunsintidorang ina” to his polygamous son in “Kamkam”, Iza Calzado as the lonely, enigmatic mayor’s wife in “Mga Kuwentong Barbero” and as the girlfriend in “Starting Over Again” where she appears only in a few sequences but manages to shine on her own.
For lead actor - Allen Dizon as the angst and guilt-ridden father and coffin maker in “Magkakabaung”, Dennis Trillo as the cop assigned to liquidate the culprits in a bank robbery in “The Janitor”, Derek Ramsay as the heartbroken Fil-Am from New York who goes to Manila to get even with the girlfriend who jilted him and finds new romance in “English Only, Please”, Robert Arevalo as the aging tycoon who goes back to his roots in “Hari ng Tondo”, Sandino Martin as the young soldier who resists the gay advances of his superior in “Esprit de Corp”, Buboy Villar and Migz Cuaderno as the street fighting brothers from the school of hard knocks in “Children’s Show”, Nathaniel Britt as the leader of the boy soldiers in “Sundalong Kanin”, Robin Padilla as the father of Katipunan in “Bonifacio, Ang Unang Pangulo”.
For lead actress- Shamaine Buencamino as the lonely senior citizen who goes through an incredible range of emotions while looking for love in “Lorna”, Eugene Domingo as the very restrained, toned down lady barber in “Mga Kuwentong Barbero”, Eula Valdes as the college professor accused of having an affair with her student in “Dagitab”, Nora Aunor as the provinciana who becomes a crime lord in “Hustisya”, Anne Curtis as the manipulative scheming bitch in “The Gifted” and Angelica Panganiban as the overweight actress in “Beauty in a Bottle” and as the lovesick balikbayan in “That Thing Called Tadhana”.
Here's hoping the Cinemalaya will still go on this 2015. We're praying they can find new funding so the annual filmfest of indie films will continue. We're also hoping a really good mainstream film will be produced next year. Our choices this year are mainly indie films because we honestly didn't find any mainstream film in 2014 that is of best picture quality
