Cinemanila Week

Yesterday was the official closing day of Cinemanila Film Fetival.  I'm glad that I was able to catch 3 films from this year's festival.  I would have love to have seen those films in a span of more than a day but Howie and I decided to do a Cinemanila day-marathon.  So that's 4 films all in one day.  Addict!!

First Film: Talenttime
Country: Malaysia
Synopsis: A talent show competition makes Melur, a Malay-Muslim girl and Mahesh, an Indian male student crosses paths.
Verdict: Howie said he's recommend it to others.  There were some pretty interesting shots, funny moments but overall I wasn't a fan.  I think the really cheezy subtitles ruined it for me. "Why won't the sun shine as bright?!?!"

Second Film: Little Zizou
Country: India
Synopsis: Set in contemporary India, it tells the story of Zizou as he deals with the chaos that his prentend-prophet of a father brings to their little community.
Verdict: Love love love.  Very modern.  Has tons of light funny moments.  And though the movie deals with a rather heavy topic, it's not laden with the usual third world sentimentality that clouds most directors from the region's works.

Third Film: Chengdu, I Love You
Country: China
Synopsis: Two love stories, set in 1976 and futuristic 2029.
Verdict: CRAP! Ok it had really awesome technicals so at least for film students there are some things to look forward to.  But storywise - it was just such a bore.  Too bad because this was the first film the fiance got to see (busy with errands during the screening of the first two films) :O  We needed to wash away the stain this film left hence we run around Market Market to be able to catch the 9:25 screening of 500 Days of Summer.  (Less than 5 minutes from one film to the other..Addict!)

Fourth Film: 500 Days of Summer
Country: USA, not part of the festival but again, we needed to wash away the feeling of eww-ness that Chengdu, I Love You left us with.
Verdict: Probably one of the best non-love stories I have ever seen.  Crisp funny dialogues.  Very witty lines.  Believable characters played exceedingly well by Joseph Gordon Levitt (Mr. Cobra Commader himself hehe) and Zoey Dechanel (whom this girl's fiance loves)

Spoiler

Favorite heartbreak line.  This was the first time Tom (Joseph) and Summer (Zoey) saw each other after she got married.  This after swearing to the high heavens that she wasn't the commitment-marrying type.

  Summer: I woke up, and I realized
  Tom: You realized what?
  Summer: What I was never sure of with you.

  OUCH!

 This is the guy's version of a chick flick.  Only with soooo much more to offer.