just Movie Rants

Ditsi Carolino's 'Minsan Lang Sila Bata' is a documentary film about child labor in the Philippines. It tackles about how and why these children work at a very young age.

When I was watching the film, I thought it was a really old film because it was in black and white all throughout the film. But eventually I learned, it was released on 1996 and I'm sure colored video has already been used at that time. I guess the black and white filter was used because it was introduced as a documentary story gotten from taking photos and we all know the beauty of mono images. With black and white, there is nothing else to distract the scene and more subtlety of tones to the emotions of your subject. 

I can say it's a well-made documentary film. I tried making a documentary film before for one of my subjects and it's not easy at all. It's hard in a way you don't know where your story is going. You can know your concept but not what will be the next scenes and stuff. 'Minsan Lang Sila Bata' tells a story that is not easy to make a story about. One wrong point in your film and it can be a protest against the government or an insult to these children's parents. 

The narration of the story is, as well, very smooth-flowing. They have random children's stories from different parts of the country weave into one story of child laboring yet it never felt messy. These different experiences shared by the children are great eye-openers to the viewers, like me. I realized how hard must this be for these child workers but got no other choice because of poverty. I am not rich but at least, I am able to go to school unlike these children who must have missed all the friends, the fun and the learning in school. It gives me a reason to not complain about what I eat today because somewhere out there, there are children who work ten times harder than me just to have food to eat. 

"Ang ugat daw ng child labor ay ang kahirapan. Totoo, pero nalilimutan ng mga magulang na habang hindi nakakapag-aral ang mga anak nila dahil sa trabaho ay lalong lumalabo ang kinabukasan nila."

You can watch the docu film on youtube:

West Side Story, a 1961 film about two people with a forbidden love. The story tells about a young Puerto Rican man, Tony who fell in love with the American lady named Maria. However, coincidentally, Maria is the sister of the leader of the Sharks, the group Tony formerly has a rivalry with. Both struggle to fight for their love for each other amidst the conflict between the Sharks and Jets.


It's a musical in the 60's! Who would not be interested in this? The retro moves and old music, the wardrobe, the setting, all were very interesting to watch. Sometimes, it felt funny though how they suddenly start dancing out of nowhere, especially when they are supposed to be intensely chasing each other. And I also felt like the dance scenes are so loooong (if you compare it to today's musical films) but it was still interesting, especially how can these men dance better than a female like me. I can hardly see those kind of moves from the men nowadays, they're just all about hiphop or cramping. It's refreshing to see 'old' dance moves from this movie!


I am not familiar with the music/songs used except Mambo which I used to only hear from as an orchestra piece. It's a fun music and I love it when played with instruments. Anyway, as with the other songs, I think they fit well to the scenes. That song, 'Tonight' is well-chosen for Maria and Tony's lovestroy definitely, because well, they fell in love within a night.

One thing I also noticed while watching the movie was Maria's amazing voice! I would think she's an opera singer. She has that unique voice that opera singers have, she's crazily good. That kind of voice is definitely something you rarely hear these days. So, talent, check!

I kinda thought the movie wasn't all about the love between Tony and Maria. I thought it also tackled racism between the two ethnic groups. It shows how prejudice among different race can hurt the people around us. Just like Bernardo, Maria's brother, who hates the Jets because they're different, only end up hurting her own sister and himself as well.


West Side Story is worth the watch. It may not be like today's musical films and may be cringe-y at first but once you'd get engaged with the story, you'll definitely enjoy the watch.

Here's the trailer for you:

I love period films, especially if it's set during the elegant Victorian era. Pride and Prejudice is no doubt, a classic. The book it was based from, penned by Jane Austen received so much love from bookworms and considered it a must for readers like me. Unfortunately though, I haven't read it but I've watched the movie a long time ago. Hmm, now this reminds me to begin hunting for the book copy.

Tbvh, I thought their lovestory is average, ha-ha! But Mr. Darcy is so swoon-worthy, it makes up for it! Maybe it must be because I've seen somewhat the same plot prior to the time I watched this. You know, the ordinary kind female protagonist falls in love with the 'jerk-but-actually-kind' male protagonist is kind of a typical Cinderella story. But unlike Cinderella, our female protagonist here, is not a damsel-in-distress. She appears strong and very outspoken. She will not let others, no matter who they are, to stamp on her or her family. And that's what I really love about Lizzie.

I also commend the production design of the film to make a very believable 19th century setting. The cinematography is very beautiful that every scene is so, can I say instagram-able! I'm no expert in history but I can say what they did with their costumes and make ups fit for what it was like in the past.

I've seen Kiera Knightley in her other works, most notably, Atonement (a very good movie I surely recommend) which is a period movie as well. I think one reason why Kiera was cast in this movie is because of her classic beauty. I've always felt she suits more in the past era than the modern time, ha ha. Meanwhile, Matthew Macfadyen is totally new to me. I don't know him or his filmography. At first, I thought he was not handsome, at all, even with those dashing suits! But as the story went on, I was appreciating him more and more and totally fell for him by the end of the story. To be able to recreate the infamous Mr. Darcy and make it his own, I admire Macfadyen's acting ability.

Love, indeed, is beyond what the eyes can see. What we thought of a person is not all the time who he/she really is. Oftentimes, they turn out to be the exact opposite.

Check out the trailer!

First thing first, I'm not really a fan of shaky camera movements used on indie films. It's nauseating and simply annoying. But this film did it so well that I believe it actually added up to the rawness of the movie. The movie's plot is neither my cup of tea, I rarely watch gay films but I love, love, love coming-of-age stories. Good thing, this ends up being an enjoyable watch.

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros is a Filipino indie film directed by then rookie Auraeus Solito. It was Solito's first full feature film and gave him the opportunity to bag 15 international awards. It stars Nathan Lopez as the titular gay character, Maxi, who falls in love with a cop. Driven by poverty, Maxi's family gets involved with criminal acts. The cop, played by Jr Valentin, is in charge to investigate the family.

One thing that made this film really enjoyable to watch was the characters, especially the gay teen, Maxi. Maxi is just entertaining and endearing that you couldn't help but love and cheer for him and his love for the cop, Victor. Thank God, Maxi, despite being a homosexual, did not feel prejudice from his family. And it's what sets this movie apart from the other gay films. Maxi's gender confusion isn't really the focus of the film but the injustices towards poor families and how these families struggle hard to the point of committing crimes.

Other characters are equally lovable as well, I couldn't really identify who is the antagonist because as I was watching the film, I realized that the characters are not total black and white. They are good but they make mistakes and sometimes, these mistakes only result to unfortunate circumstances. No one is bad bad (okay maybe except the chief of police) or good good.

By the end of the film, I thought it was a really heartwarming masterpiece of growing up and the love for family. It may have the typical family-oriented concept we Filipinos usually have in our films but this one is told differently... and I mean that as a compliment.