MMFF Day 1: The return of the cheese-tastic all-star melodrama (Updated)
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, a Regal production written and directed by Jun Lana, starring Maricel Soriano, Gabby Concepcion and many others.
Best line in the movie: When the hot young personal trainer (Dennis Trillo) protests that he didn’t ask for the stuff that the fabulous older woman (Agot Isidro) gives him, she says, “Hindi mo hiningi, pero hindi mo tinanggihan.” You didn’t ask for them, but you didn’t reject them either. Applause!
Verdict: Very entertaining, probably not for the reasons the filmmakers had hoped (They may have thought it was a tearjerker).
We were supposed to open our MMFF binge with the 330pm screening of Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story. When we got to the cineplex Manila Kingpin wasn’t showing at all, and no one could say why. We asked Tikoy Aguiluz, the director who has disavowed the final product, if he’d taken out a restraining order on the film. Aguiluz said the film could be shown IF his name was removed from the credits. Our guess is, the credits were still being revised. Waiting for official explanation.
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Day 1: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
1. Regal’s official entry to the MMFF is one of those all-star melodramas about rich people and their romantic crises. In other words it’s Mano Po 25 except that the actors don’t have to pretend to be Chinese.
1.1. The film is divided into sections introduced by the title adverbs followed by Desiderata-type quotations, the kind that are personally cross-stitched onto throw pillows by your aunt after her husband has his name changed to “Divina”. This way you know that writer-director Jun Lana is not going for subtlety.
1.2. The rich family in the movie owns and operates a media network headed by the eldest daughter, a super-bitch who makes life miserable for everyone. It is a work of fiction; any resemblance to characters living or dead etc.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 26th, 2011 at 00:33
Dapat may appearance si Agot Isidro tuwing (of regular occurrence?) may Senate hearing on a corruption case para lang sabihin ang linyang yan.
December 26th, 2011 at 01:51
See you Chusday!
December 26th, 2011 at 05:29
“Hindi mo hiningi, pero hindi mo tinanggihan.” – wow.
December 26th, 2011 at 08:36
From Jobert Sucaldito’s fb wall (he’s one of the publicists for the Asiong Salonga movie) as to the reason why the movie wasn’t shown in most theaters yesterday:
“kahit sinabotahe ng SQ Laboratories and other producers ang Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story, sa 17 out of 51 theaters na pinaglabasan nito today, natalo pa ang dalawang entries sa kita. Bukas ay mapapanood na normally sa 51 theaters ang Asiong Salonga movie na ito. Puno ang lahat ng pinalabasang sinehan kanina. May awa ang Diyos – hindi magwawagi ang may masasamang hangarin. Nakakaloka, di ba? 17 prints lang ang natapos ng SQ Lab na ito ang supposed to be’y 51 prints. At ang nakakaloka pa, yung 31 vacant theaters ng Asiong Salonga ay na-fill in ng ibang entries gayong SQ rin ang gumawa ng prints nila. Saan sila kumuha ng extra prints aber? Obviously, sinabotahe talaga ang Asiong. Kaloka!”
December 26th, 2011 at 14:06
Had the sudden urge to hang myself after looking at the poster’s font. So this is the cheesy staple in this year’s MMFF? At least it’s not Mano Po all over again. Wait, maybe they’ve used up all the big names stars ng “Pelikulang Pilipino” for wannabe chinoy roles in all of the Mano Po movies. I bet they’ll find the shallowest way to recycle that crap and the Pinoys will still lap it up. Or baka Korean version na yung susunod.
Is it just me o wala talagang “and” yung movie title? Or is it a typo with that eyesore font from hell?
I find the whole director vs producer and all other MMFF related news hard to believe. Might be just a publicity stunt. Poor Pinoys, indie cinema sucks, mainstream cinema sucks. I can’t wait til this filmfest is over. Baka naman pwede isabay na lang yung foreign movies next time.
December 27th, 2011 at 12:34
there already is a movie called ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’. it starred ate vi, snooky (who never again will make a film like this as she is now religious), maricel, gabby and richard. i wonder if maricel and gabby realize they’re in two different movies with the same title.
speaking of gabby, his role in almost all his post-regal baby movies (and in some of his regal baby movies) are similar : there are at least two women fighting over him, which is a reflection of his real life. his role in the original ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’ had snooky and ate vi fighting over him. i have no plan to see this new ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’ but i would be surprised if his role were any different.
here’s a clip from the original :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwtbxzIJ62Q
December 27th, 2011 at 17:19
Gabby Concepcion + MMFF. I can’t wait for the awards night. Are we sure hindi part si Lolit Solis dito? Just asking.
December 27th, 2011 at 21:38
@Onyx lol! di na siguro naman, di naman kasali si Rupa.
December 28th, 2011 at 13:31
@onyx — LOL! Sana hindi na lang umattend si Gabby nang awards night ng MMFF no?
December 28th, 2011 at 16:01
this just in.
the movie has just been disqualified from the festival.
so gabby can’t even be nominated.
in fairness to gabby, i think he’s an honest guy.
December 28th, 2011 at 19:42
disqualified movie nina maricel &gabby sa mmff awards night daw
December 29th, 2011 at 02:20
I agree with Jessica’s review. This YTT was very entertaining… for the wrong reasons. Half the audience, including us, were laughing during key moments of the movie… especially Jericho Rosales wailing over the dead indeed.
(SPOILER ALERT) And ang panalo lang ng lindol. Kahit wallpaper napupunit nya without destroying ung wall.
Maricel is my favorite local actress because of her acting ability as well as her versatility (comedy, drama, horror). However, she was just supremely bad in this.
She seemed to be channeling the Jaclyn Jose School of Acting. And only Jaclyn Jose can pull that off and be good at it. Kay Maricel, hindi bagay, mukha syang constipated. There also seems to be something wrong with her face; I suspect she had botox and was having a hard time moving her facial muscles around (seriously), so there was something off-putting with her facial expressions.
Now I believe she just won Best Actress. I may be a fan, but I think this was not well-deserved in YTT. Both Carla Abellana (of whom I’m not a fan) and Agot Isidro did better than Maricel in YTT. Eugene Domingo, who won Best Supporting Actress, probably deserved it most.
In other news, I wanted to throw things at Lovi Poe, though that’s pretty much a given in whatever thing I see her in, and I sure wish they’d shown more half-naked Paulo Avelino, which should be a given in whatever thing he is filming.