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Summer Blues - A gay Pinoy short film definitely worth watching

In recent years, several gay short films have been produced in the Phlippines, and some of them are really worth watching. Masalimuot Ya Tiyagew Es Dayat (English title: Summer Blues in Tondaligan Beach) is definitely one of them.

The plot is simple; I'll give a synopsis, without spoiling the ending (warning: it is not happy).

Luis returns to his native town from Manila where he is about to graduate and spends a day on the beach with Federico, his childhood friend. Levi, the third friend, is going to join them later as he is still working.

Luis and Federico drink beer, smoke a vape joint, and recall their happy childhood days. Luis says that he may have to move back in with his parents for lack of money, and Federico states ”Being an adult sucks”.

They dance, wildly first, but when the music gets slow, they dance cheek to cheek. When they start caressing each other, Luis pushes Federico away, who goes swimming. Luis follows him, and they are floating on the water, getting closer, but drifting apart again. They fool around under water, again getting close.

Back on the beach, Luis seems to be scared, because something which he doesn't want Federico to mention must have happened here in the past. Luis asks Federico if there has been an offering to the sirens, which Federico dismisses as ”old wives tales”.

Then Federico challenges Luis to race to a buoy far out in the water, and only one of the boys returns to the beach.

The whole movie is set in a small area of a beach, and except for the final few minutes, there are only Luis and Federico. So the movie comes across like an open air chamber play. It's a coming-of-age story, and a beautiful one, if you ask me. The atmosphere is joyful at times, but especially Luis can't hide his fear of growing up and facing his true self which would mean facing his feelings for his childhood friend Federico. Federico, on the other hand, seems to have accepted that he is gay.

Both lead actors, Kych Minemoto (Federico) and Zeiah Mejia, are absolutely credible in personifying their respective characters. We can understand that Luis is scared when he finds himself caressing Federico, and we also understand that Federico doesn't exactly know how to deal with his friend's inhibition.

Directing, cinematography, and editing are all high quality, the pacing of the plot is good, and the setting is carefully chosen.

To sum it up: this is another example of a quality Pinoy gay short film which you won't want to miss. It's free to watch at youtube.

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An important and beautiful short film starring Elijah Canlas and Rex Lantano

To make this clear from the start - ”Ang Nagliliyab na Kasaysayan ng Pamilya Dela Cruz” ("The Blazing Hisrory of the de la Cruz Family" )is no Boyslove film, but it stars two of the most famous and best Pinoy BL actors. Elijah Canlas rose to international fame for his amazing acting in the movie ”Kalel, 15”, where he plays an HIV-infected boy, and for setting new standards in the history of BL series and movies with Kokoy de Santos in ”Gameboys the series” and ”Gameboys the movie”. Rex Lantano is well known for his outstanding performances and his readiness to risk something new in various short films like "Siphayo" and the series ”Daddy Love”, ”Meet my Angel Season 2”, as well as for co-producing and acting in ”Love at the End of the World” and the upcoming series ”Papa, what is love?”.

This short film depicts the fight of peasants in the Philippines against landowners who usually live in the big cities, using the De la Cruz family as an example. With stylistic elements of a documentary as well as fictional scenes, it shows the hard life of poor villagers, and the brutal methods of land-owners who try to steal their land by force.

Rex Lantano plays Jun, the son of a family who has joined the non-violent peasant movement in Central Luzon after his elder brother José was killed in a fight against the landowners' minions. He tries to persuade Tonio, the son of the de la Cruz family, played by Elijah Canlas, to join the movement. Tonio is reluctant, because his father doesn't want the family to be involved in the movement.

Things change when Tonio's mother eye-witnesses the killing of a neighbour. In a moving speech, she calls upon her husband to join the peasants' fight for the good of their son Tonio. The father, who was crippled by gunmen when Tonio was very young, is still reluctant, because he is afraid Tonio may face a similar fate as himself, and he has no hope that the peasants' movement can ever be successful against the minions of the landowners.

Tonio, however, agrees with his mother. During their discussion, the village is attacked by gunmen, huts are set afire, and Tonio is hit by a bullet. He dies, so this movie does not have a happy ending, just as the fight of the Filipino peasants has not come to a happy ending, but is still going on today, and with the return of the Marcos family to power, there is no hope it will come to a positive end any time soon.

The short film follows the tradition of Filipino movies that display the social conditions in the country, and it is remarkable that actors like Elijah Canlas and Rex Lantano have the courage to speak out against the inequality and injustice in their country, which is definitely dangerous in the Philippines, when they could lead the easy life of young celebrities.

The short film is very similar to the BL-series ”Padayon” (or rather the other way round, because this short film was released two years before ”Padayon”) which I reviewed earlier, and which I would recommend to everyone who is not only interested in the BL genre, but also in social and political conditions in the countries where most of the BL-series are set.

Elijah and Rex have proven their talent and skills in many other projects, and they do so here once again. Angeli Bayani and Angelo Hulip are also convincing in their respective roles as Tonio's parents, and Elijah's younger brother JM has a short cameo as Tonio's younger self.

To sum up, writer and director Miguel Louie de Guzman has created an important, realistic, in parts brutal, but still beautiful short film that has deservedly earned lots of prizes. It can be found on Miguel Louie's youtube channel.

Country: Philippines (2019)

Duration: 20 mins.

Director: Miguel Louie de Guzman

Cast: Angeli Bayani, Angelo Hulip, Elijah Canlas, JM Canlas (as young Tonio), and Rex Lantano

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A tribute to people with special needs

”Osmosis” isn't meant to be an ordinary BL series - Zeed Digital Production, the company that produced it, says it is meant to explore the life of persons with disabilities, which is quite a unique approach for a BL series, and I appreciate the good intention of the project very much.

The plot revolves around the siblings Jessica (Gezzle Marter) and James (James Ramada), whose mother died after their father, Papa Mario (Mar Soriano) left the family. When James was a little boy, he was abused by his father's friend Berto, who was killed shortly after, and Papa Mario left, because he was falsely accused of having murdered Berto (the murder was obviously drug-related). The childhood trauma makes James become mute, and he was only able to speak with his sister for a long time. When he gets older, he – secretly at first, but more and more open later - stalks his childhood friend Nic (Nic Galvez), who doesn't recognise him after their long separation. Nic even insults James for following him all the time.

One night, Nic is attacked and beaten up in front of James' house, and James and Jessica help him. After this, Nic and James get closer, and James starts talking to Nic, after they confess their love to each other. Then, however, James misinterprets an encounter of Nic and his ex-girlfriend Yasmin, and tries to commit suicide (although the reason for his seemingly unrelated suicide will only be revealed later).

One day, Papa Mario returns and meets Paolo (JC Santiago), a stutterer, who invites him to his home and later escorts him to a reunion with his son and daughter. Paolo's close friend Dave (Kiel Aguilar) later confesses to Paolo, and they become a couple, too. There is some jealousy when Dave thinks that Paolo looks too much at James, and Nic also gets jealous, but fortunately these misunderstandings are resolved soon.

All this time, Berto's son Diego/Dante, who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, vows in an obscure ceremony on his father's grave to take revenge and kill Papa Mario. When Papa Mario has reunited with his children and goes to a market with Paolo, Dave, Nic, James, and Jessica, Diego shoots at him but hits Dave's arm. Nic knocks Diego down and is furious, but Papa Mario stops him and succeeds in calming Diego down (which is not really very credible, tbh).

After Papa Mario takes Diego/Dante to a prison to meet Berto's real murderer, Diego/Dante realises that Papa Mario isn't the murderer he thought he was (which also feels unrealistic), and reconciles with him. Finally, all the protagonists gather in James and Jessica's home, and James, who has gotten rid of his selective mutism, tearfully forgives Diego/Dante, which may be okay, and his father Berto, which comes too soon, and in real life may not happen at all, and thus isn't credible.

All this may sound a little confusing, and I must admit that it is confusing sometimes, especially as there are some more subplots that I won't mention here. But then we all know that life itself is confusing, and this series is very realistic and partly feels like a docudrama similar to Filipino BL series like ”Padayon” or ”Stranger's Kiss”. On the other hand, I wonder if there isn't an overload of a) characters and b) disabilities, which makes some episodes a little hard to swallow.

On the technical side, the series suffers from the same flaws as many other Filipino low budget productions. Let's not forget that Richard Tolentino did not only write the script, but also casted the actors and actresses and directed the series, and as this is his first longer work, some of the flaws can be excused. The sound isn't always very good, and the editing is a little bumpy sometimes. I also don't like that some scenes, like the attack on Nic, are literally left in the dark. A continuity sloppiness that could have been avoided is that James has a bandage on his left arm in one scene in episode 6 instead of his right arm. I am confident that Tolentino's future work will improve through ”learning by doing”, and these flaws will be avoided.

What is much better than in many low budget series, though, is the acting. Richard Tolentino has managed to gather a bunch of talented and handsome actors and actresses. Without disrespecting the others, let me mention six of them. James Ramada has been one of my favourite Pinoy actors for some time, and he again proves that he knows what acting is. Some of his scenes were really heartbreaking.

His partner in this show, Nic Galvez, was as good as James, which was a surprise to me as I guess that he isn't as experienced as James. JC Santiago and Mar Soriano also have some very strong scenes. Harwin Medez plays Diego/Dante so convincingly that I really wouldn't like to meet him alone in a dark alley, and if I were asked who I thought was the most handsome of all these handsome young men, I must confess that for me it was Kiel Aguilar.

As I already mentioned before, I do appreciate the good intention of integrating persons with disabilities in a BL series, and this series is worth watching despite its minor technical flaws. It may have been better to restrict the number of characters as well as the number of disabilities addressed here, e.g. mentioning that Paolo's brother Ron was also mute was just too much.

If you want to watch a fluffy feelgood show, this isn't a series for you. But if you want to watch a BL series that also displays the real problems of people with disabilities, and a show with talented, handsome actors, and talented, pretty actresses, this is one for you.

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A hidden gem with Kaleb Ong and David Revilla

I must admit that I missed this short film when it premiered, but I am happy that I found it at last, because it is one of the most beautiful short films I have ever seen. So I call it a hidden gem, because a gem it really is!

The title ”Lihim” means ”secret”, and I won't spoil what this secret is, but I must warn you that it is so sad that it made me cry.

The movie tells the story of Kaleb (Kaleb Ong) and David (David Revilla) who bump into each other in a coffee shop, become friends, then lovers, and finally decide to spend the rest of their lives together. So far, so good, you might say. Sounds like a conventional love story, and in a way it is exactly that, but the script from Lawrence Nicodemus manages to tell the complete story of the various stages of their relationship in little more than 20 minutes.

There are several things that make this short film very worth watching. First and foremost, that's the lead actors, Kaleb Ong and David Revilla. I have been Kaleb's fan since ”Meet my Angel” where his performance would have deserved an actor's award. In the series ”Love is”, where he was also paired with David Revilla, his acting was quite restrained, but in this short film he shines brightly as he did in ”Meet my Angel”, and David Revilla is a perfect match for him. Both actors' performance, their timing and little gestures, are just on point. They actually draw the viewer into their characters' stories so that we are happy with them, fight for their love with them, and finally suffer with them.

This is a BL short film that touches the viewers' hearts because it focuses on the protagonists and does completely without the overused BL clichés like evil ex-lovers, shrieking yaoi girls, accidental kisses and so on. The only trope that is there is the bumping into each other at the beginning of the movie, but at least there is no accidental fake kiss in this scene.

There is another element that makes many Pinoy BL movies and series so worth watching, and that is the OST. There are scenes where only music plays, but it fits so well that we can imagine what Kaleb and David are saying.

The technical quality of this production is very good, too, cinematography, directing, editing, and sound are better than in most Pinoy BL productions.

To sum it up – if you are looking for a beautiful BL story, and you have 20 minutes to spare, this is what you should watch. You won't be disappointed. But make sure you have a box of tissues in your reach. You'll need it.

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Love it or hate it

When Migs Villasis is involved, you know you're not gonna get your ordinary feelgood BL-series. That's what many people (like myself) love him for, and that's why some people hate him. And when the title is 'Love while you can' you'll guess the final scene won't be a passionate kiss. So I was prepared, I thought. But I wasn't expecting this short film of about 35 minutes would hit me as hard as it did.

The plot covers five days, from River (Migs Villasis) and Cloud's (Kimpoy Feliciano) first to their fifth anniversary. They quarrel through the first four and decide to separate the day before the fifth, the main (but not the only) reason being that River wants to make their relationship public while Cloud doesn't. Despite this, River asks Cloud to celebrate their fifth anniversary together, spending a nice day without quarreling for once, before they finally part ways. They do spend a dream of a beautiful day, at the end of which Cloud is finally ready to come out publicly. He dies the same night in a car accident, although a letter he leaves for River indicates that it wasn't an accident.

There are only three characters in this movie: River, Cloud, and River's best friend (Mark Wei), the latter doing his best to support River and Cloud's relationship, so there is nothing to distract viewers from the essentials, i.e. story of the main couple.

All the three actors are great, absolutely on point, never overacting. Another production company may have been tempted to show more scenes of Migs' attractive body and tattoos (which one may have expected after watching the trailer), but this one doesn't, and that's good, because that's just not the point here.

The script is very good, appropriate for a short film that focuses on the relationship of the leads whose opposing characters are depicted in short sketches but still are completely credible and understandable. Cinematography is also better than a lot of Pinoy series. I didn't like part of the OST, but that's a matter of taste. I rate this 9.5 'only' because of the OST, but the rewatch value imo is clearly a 10.

This is a great little movie, but you should be warned not to watch it before you go to bed. You may not find sleep anytime soon. It will make you think, about time, about missed opportunities, about the way you treat your partner. Like always, when Migs Villasis is involved, you will love it or you will hate it. I love it.

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