Cinemalaya Day 2: Baby Angelo, Huling Pasada, My Fake American Accent

Cinemalaya Day 2. I was able to scree 3 full length features in competition.

BABY ANGELO (by Joel Ruiz and Abi Aquino) centers on an investigation that ensues when an aborted fetus is found in the dumpster of a run-down apartment complex. The lives of the tenants—a reclusive old man with curious ramblings, a landlord with overzealous thirst for justice and a young couple whose past threatens to unravel their marriage—are suddenly exposed in the hunt for the perpetrator of the baby's death.

"Baby Angelo" is not a film on abortion. It is a film about hidden secrets and rotten personalities. As the characters dig into the aborted fetus' case...the deeper they go within themselves, revealing their imperfections. The film was able to convey its message, but I felt that there are a lot of loose scenes that either dragged the movie or made us confused & bitin. Almost there, but not enough.

HULING PASADA (by Paul Sta. Ana) follows the creative process of Ruby, a prolific writer, abandoned wife and protective mother. She writes about Mario, a taxi driver and father figure to a street child. As she tries to resolve Mario's story, she seeks refuge in her own creative output and the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Mario's past becomes entangled with her own inevitable future.

I admire the film maker's decision to take the risk of asking us to follow two stories (which, aside from all those taxi scenes, "appeared" so exclusive from each other). Good that the ending was well made that the two plots suddenly fitted each other perfectly like jig-saw pieces. Risk paid off. I admire the film's editor. He was able to put the proper pace to the film, making two stories easy to watch. Sana lang the link between the stories was made earlier, para naman early namin na feel na may sense yung pelikula.

Photos: "Huling Pasada" cast


MY FAKE AMERICAN ACCENT. (by Onnah Valera and Ned Trespeces) is a slice-of-life workplace comedy following the lives of technical support call center agents in the span of six months. Speaking with a fake American accent is a prerequisite for the job. This ensemble comedy is an inside look into the maddening, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fuelled lives of those who ply their trade in the call center industry.

Congratulations to the cast and crew, but I'm sorry, I didn't like the film. It was on the line bewteen being humorous and being irritating. Acting was sub standard, and the plot had "twisted" twists that brought me to the brink of insanity. I would however like to commend the filmaker for bringing to the screen a very relevant part of Filipino pop culture today...the call center industry.