Biga-on!

Thanks Ben Padero for upsounding! Original blog entry here.

the thank you girls review

i missed the opportunity to work as designer for this movie since it was shooting the same time with serbis. also, i was held back by tvc work from leaving for mindanao ergo i missed working on a fantabulous movie by emotistic centerstage colleague, charliebebs gohetia

yesterday was the thank you girls’ premiere at the UP and carlo and i headed for the theater on the invitation by writer-editor-director bebs. we of course expected the tongue-in-cheek comedy fished out from gay beauty pageants and we were taken in for a roll!

haskang grabe ka-juker! bibo gyud siya, never laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. the great part of this film was how natural the dialogue, both scripted and impromptu, twittered out of the cast’s lip-shimmered mouths. of course in the beginning it takes a bit of time to get used to bisayan gay linggo. hearing them speak in their native tongues and acting out along the billboard-less highways of mindanao, the bantering and witty exchanges felt right at home as if we’ve worn red satin gowns everyday of our lives. lighting and sound technicals aside, this movie is fantabulous from fake diamond tiara to flattened-out yellow spartan flipflops.

among the cast, we laud mommy paula’s natural and realistic approach to her role, her gay mamasan was never sashaying and contrived. i particularly loved both scenes that featured mommy paula and son, chris, driving on the freeway and the backstage scene after the bukidnon pageant. being a bisaya, i enjoyed hearing the dialogue come as natural as air, her exchanges with chris were spot on and their emotions on check and never overboard.

of course, a large part of the movie lived on the glorious top of the jeep, called taplod (top load) in bisayan linggo. the script featured a loadful of MG (miss gay) pageant scenarios, here the thank you girls (linggo for contestants who didnt make it to the semi-finals round, ergo “thank you, girls”) reenact opening spiels and the quintessential question-and-answer round, rehearse, playaround and just about anything they could do there. sometimes witty, sometimes effortlessly stupid, totally laugh-out-loud moments for us and the audience. nagkini-at ang mga bayot sa atop sa jeep bwahaha

the pace and energy of the film were infectious so kudos to bebs the editor. i loved that final scene in fictional cagayan de oro (bebs ha!) with the mirrors, great editing. even the first act of the movie was ultimately made more energetic with the editing and the shifting to and fro scenes from davao to the pageant. the soundtrack was also very chika bibo. all the thank you girls’ characters were wonderfully developed, so kudos to bebs the writer. loved each of the characters and their plight in life and in love. the actors’ performances were right on so kudos to bebs the direction.

bebs is on cloud 9. after his success with writing adolf alix’s daybreak and being solely acknowledged in singapore for editing tirador (tama ba?) plus the pending urian nomination for both tirador and foster child’s editing, he’s soon off to ********* for the city’s international filmfest for thank you girls in september. i cant wait to see what else bebs has up his fuschia colored bead encrusted silk sleeve. dili ni atik-atik gang ha, congrats! ikaw daog, imoha ang korona. rampa bayot! lovett!