jiritwist
Weaker acting
I guess I shouldn't have seen Selda twice before this next Pinoy movie. The film faltered not so much in the story or the sound, but rather in the acting (perhaps, but only very partially, except for the mother) and processing (unrealistic erotic scenes - sometimes less is more, the "murder" of Jonbert). Even so, it is a slightly above-average film of Philippine production, which I recommend to all those who are able to understand and perceive a different view and mentality of this part of our planet on film production...Was this review helpful to you?
Brutaly real
A two-and-a-half-hour Filipino film, and it's a blast. Anyone who likes dramatic stories will find something to their liking. And also an excellent concert of well-known Filipino actors (and very nice!!) in the main roles ... and in general, the first part - the prison part - was played very well by the other actors. Cruel, raw, real. Dirt, betrayal, violence. Friendship, feeling, tenderness, love. Dismemberment, death, hatred. So much goes into few films, only the child victims bothered me there, and therefore a step lower than the highest rating ... Very good, Rommel (Sid Lucero) and Esteban (Emilio Garcia) ... the film is absolutely BRUTALLY REAL, portrays life without embellishments in this island nation, which is also a Christian island in a sea of Islam and Buddhism, and that just got me, even though I'm more of a lover of romance and non-violence. And the fact that the film lacks a higher meaning is something we who want to understand Asian or Pinoy productions have to get used to, that's just the way it is ...Was this review helpful to you?
"Loss of Innocence" is the story of Leo
"Loss of Innocence" is the story of Leo (a near-physically perfect Ran Domingo) who lives a quiet life in a province by the sea until he is discovered by "talent scout" Lester (a likable Paolo Rivero, who has starred in several gay-themed films) and offers him a "movie star" job in Manila. This picture is not so much a typical Pinoy product, even though it looks like it. It differs primarily in that Leo partly re-arranges his life. Excellently chosen sensitive music. Solid, Filipino, slightly sad, to educate the spirit ...Was this review helpful to you?
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Interesting Movie
The film is due to its time of creation and especially to the place of its creation. Taking all of this into account, I can't just judge by condemning, say, "terrible" sound just because it's some copy from a videotape. A cruel story of several human beings, Harry, who was abused by his American father as a child, until Harry was whisked away from home to Manila, and later, as an adult, his own Filipino mother did not recognize him and offered him all her available narrow body holes for money. Harry's friend James, with whom he eventually "worked" as a dancer in gay clubs, providing their bodies to both women and men. Both friends were nice actors, you can't escape the typical Pinoy twisting of naked bodies (as I call "twisting earthworms"), but at least the bodies are attractive, I've seen a movie where pigs were twisting. Harsh, for the viewer who understands the Pinoy world of the time, as well as instructive and engagingWas this review helpful to you?
This short film has a lot going for it
This short film has a lot going for it, it features a young man who is gay and can't hear yet, which are two big handicaps against the intolerance of a part of society. Erotic, the absence of hearing, first sex, flare-up, desire, hope, disappointment ... who can do it, who wants the "something" that the creators of this Korean short offer, will take, will take .. simply this short does not play a fairy tale , it is LIFE itself ...This short film has a lot going for it, it features a young man who is gay and can't hear yet, which are two big handicaps against the intolerance of a part of society. Erotic, the absence of hearing, first sex, flare-up, desire, hope, disappointment ... who can do it, who wants the "something" that the creators of this Korean short offer, will take, will take .. simply this short does not play a fairy tale , it is LIFE itself ...
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I value Lakan ....
I value Lakan mainly because he took us to places unknown to tourists in Nueva Ecija, Luzon. Beautiful nature, primeval forest, homesteads and closed communal communities. Also, that this area is often "visited" by typhoons and monsoons, often with the loss of human lives, which actually happened after the third episode, when filming had to be stopped due to the devastation of the local area. The third episode was marked as 3.1 and was additionally shot, apparently outside the original script, episode 3.2 about this natural disaster, where at the end of the closing credits there is also a short demonstration of how the filming area was affected.In the first parts, everything develops slowly, the main pair of Caloy-John boys, who are a gay couple in real life, act between the two monsters, the nanny (grandmother) and the niece as two beautiful princes. However, the nanny played her role flawlessly and the monsters gradually "disappeared" from the screens. The music was beautiful, there were a few nice songs throughout, unfortunately I couldn't find them anywhere except the theme song. I think that the series suffered from the forced interruption due to the typhoon and the subsequent presentation of two or three episodes without any subtitles, and a lot of reviewers resented it, and that it is not only for this reason that it is underappreciated on world servers. I thank Karcikarl for "scaring" the subtitles for all the works. We can look forward to both boys in the upcoming project Turbulence, where two gay couples from civilian life will actually play the main roles - from Lakan and BoysBand Love (Gus+Louie).
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One of my favorite Pinoy movies
One of my favorite Pinoy movies, it has plot, tension and it doesn't even have to be the highest rating of all to make a person, if they are tuned to such a chord, hit and remember the movie.And even though it is a drama, the nicest feeling in the world is nicely portrayed here, nice music and it seems that this director makes above average movies in the flood of gay and bi pictures from this corner of the world.
The piece is shot with the famous light Asian naivety and that makes it more acceptable for me, I recommend it to a narrower group of those who like gay Pinoy movies.
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Excellent movie
In the beginning, I watched a "politically motivated" movie, the communist faction, and I thought that it wouldn't be for me. And damn it was.You have to work your way through that beginning. Politics gradually disappeared from the screen during the story and the deep life story of Jun (the great Sid Lucero, whom I also know from the excellent Filipino film Selda) came to the fore, as I followed him gradually over the years and other main characters include Errol and Roland (here on MDL, these characters are not mentioned by mistake) and the other secondary roles are also etched in my memory. When I thought about the political development of the Philippines and watched the GAY LINE OF THE STORY in particular, and we all know that in the past people of minority orientation did not have it easy (often even today), it was quite a strength, a deep experience. I understand that, for example, older generations will be put off by the "communist" beginning and or the heterosexual gay line, when the actors had to submit to quite sexually explicit scenes (somewhere I'm confused whether the Philippine censors didn't even ban or cut out a part in 2010), which were very convincing, I didn't mind that the creators couldn't "age" Errol more towards the end of the film, it didn't detract from the deep story, after all, Errol's older son at the end of the film was actually a year older than his "dad". A really powerful experience for me and it's a shame that 13 years ago technology wasn't at such a high level and the film has an "old" look ...
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About Kaleb and David
I didn't find this "Secret" as great as the one rave review here on MDL and the many comments on YT. Wide-faced Kaleb and David were trying, but everything felt stilted, fast. It's as if the creators said ... well, now we'll make a short that will impress everyone. It did not move me precisely because of its speed, simplicity and purposefulness. I was only surprised by a slightly above-average Pinoy movie with quite pleasant music.I didn't find this "Secret" as great as the one rave review here on MDL and the many comments on YT. Wide-faced Kaleb and David were trying, but everything felt stilted, fast. It's as if the creators said ... well, now we'll make a short that will impress everyone. It did not move me precisely because of its speed, simplicity and purposefulness. I was only surprised by a slightly above-average Pinoy movie with quite pleasant music.
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This series is very good
I can say for myself that this series is very good and it can't be affected even by the sudden ending, which the audience probably won't expect (I can't reveal more) and many may be disappointed if the viewer doesn't understand what the creators wanted to imply. Very good acting performances by both boys, especially Porsche (real name Karn), when at the age of 18 he handled this adult role perfectly (at the beginning and at the end he plays a professor at the university, where he addresses issues of the LGBT community in lectures with students). In addition, both main actors are beautiful and masculine (the second of the pair - Nueng was five years older than Porsche at the time of filming - 23 years old). They are not students walking slowly through the school corridors with affine hair on their heads, cut according to a pot. I was also impressed by the processing. It was not so slow by Thai standards, the school is less concerned, in the second half we find ourselves in the countryside around the capital of northern Thailand - Chiang Mai and on an elephant farm owned by Nueng's parents. I don't mind that there is not so much physical contact between the main characters (apart from the "rape" of Porsche by a foreign attacker), the series is about two friends and their journey to love each other, and I see the meaning in that love WITHOUT BOUNDARIES and TIME, as opposed to the fate of each individual (I would probably understand the "strange" ending here). The music is pleasant, the overall impression is sadly romantic ... and six years later, both main actors played the main role in the mystical series Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul ... !!!Was this review helpful to you?
I appreciate this movie
The film is very similar in theme to another Korean film, Suddenly Last Summer, which is repulsion and attraction. But here, the director of such excellent and award-winning films as Night Flight and No Regret, this theme is upgraded almost to the maximum. Two young men have an intimate relationship during their military service and release their sexual energy. Youn Young has now left the army and is not so sure of his orientation and no longer wants to be in the presence of Gi Tae-ho, who has to stay in the army and is very uneasy about losing Young-a. A psychological drama ensues, the plot of which I will not describe, but I want to highlight above all the good work of both actors, they reached almost to the bottom, not only by being naked, but also by rolling in disgusting mud. Life is often cruel and when we lose someone, how often does it make us act desperate, and for that I appreciate the film.Was this review helpful to you?
Repulsion and attraction
Repulsion and attraction ... that's how I would characterize this "long" short film. However, forcing favor in such a way was too much for me, and I did not celebrate the very end in my mind as much as the other viewers. But it was played very solidly, above all I appreciated the character of the teacher, who found herself in a rather unsolvable situation. The second cheeky character of the student was also portrayed very well, but I didn't trust the "minor" so much when in reality he was ten years older. An above-average film for its time.Was this review helpful to you?
Sensitive and gentle
The film is successful and very different. And you really need to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions right away. All three characters were engraved in my soul, and not only because of the way the actors portrayed them, but also thanks to the fate of Pol, I raised the original rating of the story from 8 to 9.The music was sensitively chosen and perfectly suited to the style and character of the project, the processing was very fine and its highlight was the scene of Pol and Migs making love. Beautiful experience.
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WONDERFUL SERIES
This very special, visceral series, elaborated in detail, caught my attention right from the beginning. Processing one or two levels higher than other series from this area, especially the fights seemed more than precise, truly. Sky and Sun, two young men, so different in origin, in addition to the side couple Bank - Pitch and neither the two girls who did not act like bushes in the series - even though they actually played the poor girls (and with Toktaeng, almost no one would have guessed her real age , partly also at Pitch-e ?, that's the "secret" of the Thais...). I evaluate comprehensively how the entire series affected me, I overlook the little things compared to the whole (the "bad" mobster, the final completely unnecessary separation of several years) which are unimportant, I don't need to prove my smallness by constant criticism. On the other hand, Sky, who is controversial as an actor for some viewers, also attracted me, in an original way, in a different way, with his strange facial expressions, the fact that he actually looks completely ordinary, I believed him. Absolutely great experience for me.Was this review helpful to you?
