Cinemalaya Goes to UP part 2

Yay, I finally got to watch one of this year's Cinemalaya entries. Yesterday I got a text from one of Dear Fiance' friends, who happens to be my favorite (yeah I know bad girlfriend, cause I like to play favorites) saying that he has extra tickets for the "Colorum" and "Dinig Sana Kita" UP screenings. Since it was my mom's birthday I could only catch one movie, the 5pm "Colorum"

Verdict: I thought Lou Veloso was brilliant. He delivered an extremely authentic performance. I really believed that he was this hard-up ex convict who's heart is in all the right places despite shitty circumstances. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for Alfred Vargas. Maybe it's because I couldn't shake off the image of him in my mind - that of a macho dancer in the film "Bridal Shower". Everytime I see him in his tight fit shirt, I half expected he'd rip it off and start grinding to the tune of Careless Whisper... But beyond my whacked memory of him, looking with normal eyes, I prolly'd say he hold his own against the more senior Lou.


"Colorum" is like a road trip movie. It takes you from the streets of Metro Manila to obscure provincial towns, from Naga all the way to the Leyte province. The movie centers around Simon (Alfred Vargas) a cop with a sideline - that of an illegal FX driver, hence the title. During one of his trips he encounters the newly released ex-con Pedro (Lou Veloso) who was desperately trying to get in touch with his son. And out of a sincere act of kindness bore an unfortunate faithful incident that links both characters until the end of the film.

The movie questions the notion of morality and goodness, albeit not so subtly at times. The string of characters they meet along the way gives them plenty more time to tackle opposing beliefs and corrupted values, the power of despair and the irony of fate. It doesn't always work IMO though (I hate that suicidal writer for one thing.)

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It sucks that I wasn't able to catch "Dinig Sana Kita" (apparently the indie-kilig film of the year). Howie loved this film and even watched it for the second time that night. Really hoping that Galleria does it's glorious bit in promoting indie films and screen this in the near future.