Manila Kingpin, the Asiong Salonga story

[BertR]

---

unsa kaha mas nindot sa? ang director's cut or ang producer's cut? hehehe

Wa pa man ta kitas actual nga salida pero the only way maka come up tag possibility ani is through deductive reasoning ug tan-awn nato ilang respective nga mga obra in the past. Kinsa si Tikoy Aguiluz as director ug kinsa si ER Ejercito as a producer?

Aguiluz has been directing films since 1984 among his most popular are Boatman (1984), Segurista (1996), Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), Tatsulok (1998 ), Tatarin (2001), and his last movie was 8 years ago called XXX(dot)com (2003). Therefore Asiong is a long awaited project from this director. I actually had the chance to read an unproduced script that he wrote and it was pretty good. Call what you will of his movies, IMO they are flawed pero there is always this sense of confidence plus that courage to defy boundaries sa cinema.

Now for Ejercito I don't remember any other films he produced in the past.

murag di man guro nindot..hahaha.
failure ni, i can smell it. boring pa sa tanang boring...

Well, boring is relative.. Lain2x tag concept unsay boring, pwede ang mga salida ni Michael Bay dili boring nimo pero para nako kasagaran way kwenta. hahaha

[cxtknight]

Wa pa man ta kitas actual nga salida pero the only way maka come up tag possibility ani is through deductive reasoning ug tan-awn nato ilang respective nga mga obra in the past. Kinsa si Tikoy Aguiluz as director ug kinsa si ER Ejercito as a producer?

Aguiluz has been directing films since 1984 among his most popular are Boatman (1984), Segurista (1996), Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), Tatsulok (1998 ), Tatarin (2001), and his last movie was 8 years ago called XXX(dot)com (2003). Therefore Asiong is a long awaited project from this director. I actually had the chance to read an unproduced script that he wrote and it was pretty good. Call what you will of his movies, IMO they are flawed pero there is always this sense of confidence plus that courage to defy boundaries sa cinema.

Now for Ejercito I don't remember any other films he produced in the past.



Well, boring is relative.. Lain2x tag concept unsay boring, pwede ang mga salida ni Michael Bay dili boring nimo pero para nako kasagaran way kwenta. hahaha

nice ka bay, sakto btaw, peru are jud ko sa side sa director unless mas nindot ang kang ER hehe

[long4short]

gonna so watch this movie... i hope it's not going to be an upset...

[BertR]

Sad and unfortunate news, this movie is dead or at least the director's dream project is dead.

Latest developments include Tikoy Aguiluz securing a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the screening of this movie on December 25 since his name is not being removed from this movie project. There is no director's cut only the producer's cut.

Aguiluz's long-time editor-collaborator Miranda Medina clears out on her blog what really happened with this film:
I Edited TIKOY

She clarifies that together with Aguiluz they edited the movie to leave out unnecessary elements including:
- those that had little to do with the story
- melodramatic dialogue and sappy moments
- pinoy movie action & fighting cliches
But left out elements that showed Ejercito's character as "negative" in light or "mala-demonyo" but she said could earn him a Best Actor award

The Director's Cut clocks in at 112 minutes (1 Hour & 52 Minutes).

But without the knowledge of the director, Ejercito hired another editor to put back in those elements that were left out by Medina, finishing a producer's cut at a whopping 180 minutes or 2 HOURS & 30 MINUTES!

The Cinema Evaluation Board rated the Producer's Cut "A" but noticed "underlying melodramatic tendencies," "too many fight scenes," and that "Estregan seems awkward in some scenes."

And now Ejercito is actually blaming the director and editor for the "boring" reaction from the 2 hours and 30 minute version of the film. The irony of it all.

The Producer's Cut of 2 Hrs & 30 Mins is what will supposedly be shown in cinemas. And Aguiluz had a concrete reason of having his name removed. Regardless of the TRO or not, this is no longer the movie we've been waiting. So sad to see that a very promising movie that could have saved the pinoy action genre gets obliterated. So much for the anticipation. Hays.

[R_sQuArEd]

let's all find out tomorrow...see you in the cinemas!

[Ekoydakoykoy]

epic movie entry for MMFF

[cxtknight]

epic movie entry for MMFF

kita naka bay?

[DailyCore]

Movie Review for Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story seeks to retell the tale of the legendary Tondo gunman that rose to challenge the most powerful criminals in Manila. In a certain light, it succeeds, depicting a series of big events in Salonga’s tale with beautiful imagery. But in a more conventional light, the film doesn’t have enough connective tissue to make them anything more than a series of random vignettes. But it is an interesting failure, one that might still be worth watching in spite of the flaws. If nothing else, the ambition is keenly felt, producing singular sequences that rise far above the typical MMFF movie.

Small time gangster Asiong Salonga (George Estregan Jr.) has just taken over the territory of Tondo, throwing out the various outside gangs that run their protection rackets in the slum. This attracts the attention of Manila’s crime lords, who then set out to find a way to deal with the upstart criminal. Salonga’s Robin Hood ways make him a hero among the people of Tondo, but he has to contend with both criminals and lawmen, all while dealing with dissention in his ranks and the growing concern of his wife Fidela (Carla Abellana) over his lifestyle.

Movies historically have trouble dealing with real life. Movies require structure, and reality rarely conforms to three acts. Manila Kingpin tries to compress around five years of its subject's life into a two hour movie, and it doesn’t quite work. There’s very little flow to the storytelling, the film obscuring the passage of time and messing up all sense of continuity. The film jumps from event to event, moving forward with no sense of the bigger picture. It’s just missing the connective tissue that keeps stories comprehensible. Fidela, for example, is sometimes pregnant in the picture. But we do not see any births, leaving a logical gap in her appearances. There’s also an early scene where Salonga is shot in the leg, but the effects of the injury are completely forgotten in the next sequence.

Given that, what the film does show audiences can be pretty compelling. Though it doesn’t all hold together, the sequences in isolation can be impressive. There’s a kalesa chase that’s ridiculously enjoyable. There’s a prison death match that’s pretty well choreographed. And there’s a climactic gunfight set to Tears for Fears’ Mad World that’s far more entertaining than it has any right to be. In these sequences, the film embraces a sense of absurdity and subversion that hints at something deeper going on behind the scenes. The stunning black and white cinematography gives these sequences their spark. The images alone might be worth the price of admission.

The performances are fitting so long as the film operates within its self-serious macho confines. George Estregan Jr. is quite good at acting tough, his onscreen kanto-boy swagger providing strange levels to the character, whether intended or not. He doesn’t do as well when he’s called on to emote, the governor offering up only a facsimile of tragedy. His supporting cast is pretty strong, with the villains particularly standing out. John Regala and Ronnie Lazaro bring truckloads of presence to their scenes. A lot of great young talent makes up Salonga’s gang, but they’re generally underused.

Manila Kingpin is heavily flawed, but it’s at least flawed in an interesting way. The film had a lot of story to tell, and it ends up breezing through many of the details of its subject’s life. It only has the bullet points, and in the end, the film does little to expand on the legend of Asiong Salonga. It still has him at a distance: a strange, mostly invincible anti-hero that could not be governed by any sort of rules, whether societal or narrative. In the end, while the story doesn’t quite work out, the myth of Asiong Salonga still looms large. That might be a success in itself.

Bullet Points (Movie Review for Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story) @ ClickTheCity.com Movies

[cxtknight]

Movie Review for Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story

Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story seeks to retell the tale of the legendary Tondo gunman that rose to challenge the most powerful criminals in Manila. In a certain light, it succeeds, depicting a series of big events in Salonga’s tale with beautiful imagery. But in a more conventional light, the film doesn’t have enough connective tissue to make them anything more than a series of random vignettes. But it is an interesting failure, one that might still be worth watching in spite of the flaws. If nothing else, the ambition is keenly felt, producing singular sequences that rise far above the typical MMFF movie.

Small time gangster Asiong Salonga (George Estregan Jr.) has just taken over the territory of Tondo, throwing out the various outside gangs that run their protection rackets in the slum. This attracts the attention of Manila’s crime lords, who then set out to find a way to deal with the upstart criminal. Salonga’s Robin Hood ways make him a hero among the people of Tondo, but he has to contend with both criminals and lawmen, all while dealing with dissention in his ranks and the growing concern of his wife Fidela (Carla Abellana) over his lifestyle.

Movies historically have trouble dealing with real life. Movies require structure, and reality rarely conforms to three acts. Manila Kingpin tries to compress around five years of its subject's life into a two hour movie, and it doesn’t quite work. There’s very little flow to the storytelling, the film obscuring the passage of time and messing up all sense of continuity. The film jumps from event to event, moving forward with no sense of the bigger picture. It’s just missing the connective tissue that keeps stories comprehensible. Fidela, for example, is sometimes pregnant in the picture. But we do not see any births, leaving a logical gap in her appearances. There’s also an early scene where Salonga is shot in the leg, but the effects of the injury are completely forgotten in the next sequence.

Given that, what the film does show audiences can be pretty compelling. Though it doesn’t all hold together, the sequences in isolation can be impressive. There’s a kalesa chase that’s ridiculously enjoyable. There’s a prison death match that’s pretty well choreographed. And there’s a climactic gunfight set to Tears for Fears’ Mad World that’s far more entertaining than it has any right to be. In these sequences, the film embraces a sense of absurdity and subversion that hints at something deeper going on behind the scenes. The stunning black and white cinematography gives these sequences their spark. The images alone might be worth the price of admission.

The performances are fitting so long as the film operates within its self-serious macho confines. George Estregan Jr. is quite good at acting tough, his onscreen kanto-boy swagger providing strange levels to the character, whether intended or not. He doesn’t do as well when he’s called on to emote, the governor offering up only a facsimile of tragedy. His supporting cast is pretty strong, with the villains particularly standing out. John Regala and Ronnie Lazaro bring truckloads of presence to their scenes. A lot of great young talent makes up Salonga’s gang, but they’re generally underused.

Manila Kingpin is heavily flawed, but it’s at least flawed in an interesting way. The film had a lot of story to tell, and it ends up breezing through many of the details of its subject’s life. It only has the bullet points, and in the end, the film does little to expand on the legend of Asiong Salonga. It still has him at a distance: a strange, mostly invincible anti-hero that could not be governed by any sort of rules, whether societal or narrative. In the end, while the story doesn’t quite work out, the myth of Asiong Salonga still looms large. That might be a success in itself.

Bullet Points (Movie Review for Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story) @ ClickTheCity.com Movies

mura manig balimbing bay hehe, maynta straight to the point, bati ba jud or di naa pay flwery words para ituyuk2 ang iyang review, hehe... wait ko sa mga makatan aw ani and listen if worth it ba jud ni tan awn

[BertR]

Meh... never liked reading Philbert Ortiz Dy's reviews.. Batian gid ko ana niya nga critic kay naa gid nay formula iya mga reviews:
first paragraph: initial thoughts about the movie
second paragraph: the plot
third paragraph: the movie against the backdrop of other similar movies,

and always highlighting what doesn't work in a movie and saying it in an ambiguous flowery mode to make him seem like he knows what he is doing. But to make him less of a cynical critic muana dayn na cya nga kani na part sa salida would have worked better if gi-ing-ani.. etc.

And that's no different for this review of "Asiong"