I was at the French Film Festival a couple of weeks ago to see one of my all-time fave films “The 400 Blows,” directed by the French New Wave director that I more than worship — Francois Truffaut. It was the nth time I’d seen it; I lost count already.

The night before, Shy Guy and I went to see L’Esquive, and we really enjoyed it. Waaah. It’s such a shame that the French Film Fest is over. I guess I just need to wait for Eiga Sai 2009 (Japanese Film Festival) this July. I’m a sucker for foreign film festivals like that. Coz the films are really good. And it’s one of the rare times that I go back to my Film roots. And yeah, coz it’s free most of the time.

Anyway, so now that I’m film-happy and since we’re talking about national cinemas here, I’ll be listing the local films that I have seen this year and what I think about them. These are not film reviews, just some random thoughts.

BFF: Best Friends Forever (2009)
Genre: Comedy; Director: Wenn Deramas
Stars: Sharon Cuneta, Ai-ai Delas Alas, John Estrada

Have you seen the trailer? If you have, then don’t bother watching the film. Once you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen it all.

Seriously.

It’s funny, alright. But in between laughs you wonder, “My God, why am I laughing? Am I that shallow?” When the laughter subsides, you realize that the joke is empty, the scene is pointless, the movie is insulting you, and yeah, you’re shallow. I certainly laughed. But then again, I’m always shallow.

Sayang, after Crying Ladies, I was sooo excited to see Sharon Cuneta do comedy again. But the word “disappointment” won’t even match the way I feel after seeing it.

Somebody should really brainwash Wenn Deramas into quitting showbiz. I still don’t forgive him for ruining “Dyosa,” a TV series concept that could have been good but turned out insufferably ridiculous because it fell in the hands of a director who just loves slapstick and DJ Durano.  1.5

…

T2 (2009)
Genre: Horror; Director: Chito Rono
Stars: Maricel Soriano, Derek Ramsay, Mica Dela Cruz

Arguably the weakest among the Chito Rono horror trilogy, T2 started strong only to reach an anti-climactic twist. It was oh-so-well until the characters arrived at T2. That’s when it all came crashing down.

Sayang din. I like it’s horror road-trip feel. I love the entire going-to-Samar-and-back sequence. But gaaaah, why do they have to enter the Engkanto world?!

Even Maricel Soriano’s flawless acting can’t save the last parts of the film — especially the “school” finale; that was really lame and lousy.

Something is lacking in T2 that Sukob and Feng Shui have. No, it’s not Kris Aquino. 3.0

…

You Changed My Life (2009)
Genre: Romantic Comedy; Director: Cathy Garcia Molina
Stars: John Lloyd Cruz, Sarah Geronimo, Rayver Cruz, Joross Gamboa, Mikee Cojuangco

Eeeeeeh. Eeeeeeh. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. Sorry, got carried away.

Better than the first.

More entertaining. More engaging. More relevant. And more substantial. Er, not that “A Very Special Love” has substance. Hehe.

This movie makes it official that Sarah Geronimo is the next superstar to watch out for. Isn’t she yet?

Just for its entertainment value aka how much kilig it gave me, darn, it’s just oozing with it. And no one complains. 4.0

…

Love Me Again (2009)
Genre: Drama; Director: Rory B. Quintos
Stars: Piolo Pascual, Angel Locsin, Ricky Davao, Dimples Romana

The first thing that came to mind after coming out of the theater was, “This is an Angel Locsin film.” It’s obvious that Star Cinema really wanted to relaunch Angel as a dramatic actress. The question is, did Angel really prove her worth as an actress with this romantic drama?

To a certain extent, yes.

There are great, great scenes. Surprisingly, in those heavy scenes, Angel actually delivered — moving and believable. But aaargh, I love Angel but in light scenes, it was sooo unnatural. You can easily see the effort she’s exerting to play the role. She is “acting.”

The movie — er — not good. The cinematography is not bad. Editing, not bad. Production design, not bad. That’s the problem, “not bad” is not good enough. It is also criminally overscored, like most Star Cinema flicks. Olivia Lamasan’s “Milan” is better by 1000 lightyears.

But who cares? Piolo is hot. 2.5

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