Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Moments Of Love

Moments of Love (2006)
GMA Films


"I don't find the movie exciting," were the words of my friend when I asked her to see this movie with us. The truth is, I don't blame her. I have the same feeling when I first saw its poster and then its trailer. To add insult to the injury, I realized that it is somehow an "adaptation" of one of my favorite movies called Il Mare. I'm not a fan of Pinoy "adaptations" because, sad to say, Pinoys don't usually make adaptations but mere copycats of the original. But then, I made the wrong assumption with Say That You Love Me which was able to produced a decent romantic movie out of My Sassy Girl. So I thought that GMA Films might be able to make something different out of this one despite the obvious similarities in the movies that tackle the same theme. It might able to make the theme its "own". Needless to say, I watched it with Biboy.

To my surprise, it was bad! Yeah, I was still surprised because of the numerous praises it got from those who saw its premiere. Imagine, some people have the guts to put the words "Moments of Love" and "world-class" in one sentence?! Some even said that it should be seen internationally! Oh no! It shouldn't go way pass the Philippines shores, parang awa n'yo na!

Like what Jessica Zafra said, Moments of Love is a mere TV-movie blown out of the big screen! With all the close-up shots, sino ba naman ang hindi mag-iisip na pang-TV ang tirada nito? All those in-your-face shots are extremely irritating! As if the cinematographer (or the director himself!) didn't realize that they were making a film and not a teleserye! Those shots just magnified even more the two-dimensional acting that the major (and minor - uh, Isabel Oli! Kairita ka!) actors gave. The actors mostly gave facial expressions and not feelings to what is happening on the screen. I blame it on the badly-written script na mukhang minadali at hindi man lang pinag-isipan ng husto. I blame it on the director who I felt didn't care about how the story was going. I blame it on the fact that GMA Films might have wanted to explore this idea first before the Philippine audience gets to see the Keanu-Sandra version. Pero naman? Bakit pinabayaan nang ganito?!

Moments of Love is a mix-mash of different movies: Frequency, Il Mare, Sky of Love, Somewhere in Time, Titanic. I blame it this time on the Pinoys love for halo-halo! The thing is, I wouldn't care about the mixture only if they were done in good taste. I can imagine how the script was done:

Writer 1: Ay, ilagay natin 'yung lightning churva sa Frequency para may pagka-scientific!
Writer 2: Lumang phone na lang gamitin natin kaysa letters. (Not knowing it was done in Sky of Love/Ditto, I assumed.)
Writer 3: Uy, let's have them meet in the present time kaya lang matanda na si Divina. Magkakatuluyan pa ba sila?
Writer 1: Hindi. Bigyan natin siya ng apo! 'Yun ang makakatuluyan niya! Destiny ito!
Writer 2: Sympre, wag natin kalimutan na magiging Rosa ang pangalan niya after the ship accident! Magkaka-amnesia siya sa dami ng tubig dagat na nainom!
Wardrobe consultant: Dapat 'yung kapitan laging naka-uniform ha? Para ma-emphasize na kapitan siya! Kasehodang hindi fit 'yung uniform niya, wa ako care!
Writer 1: Dapat meron ding character na into paranormal! Siya mag-eexplain ng mga nangyayari! (Kailan ba naman nawala ang mga 'yun sa mga ganito klaseng movies o 'yung mga horror natin?!)
Wardrobe consultant: Meron pala akong chipipay na antique necklace! Pasuot natin kay Karylle!
Writer 3: O, di ba? Winner talaga!

It must have been a blast writing the script! Only if you are doing a SPOOF!

What else is bad? Oh my, the soundtrack that seemed to be out of sync! Tama ba namang tugtugin ang theme song nang unang magkahawakan ang kamay ng mga bida?! In full volume! Ano ba yan?!

I wonder, how could GMA Films compete with Star Cinema if they keep coming up with such smorgasboard films? Kailangan pa ba ng isang Marilou Diaz-Abaya muli para mapatunayang kapuri-puri sila? I hope that they'd realize that film is a very different medium from TV. They may be doing wonders in TV but they make us wonder in film!


Related Post:
Il Mare
To Adapt is Human; To Pay is Divine

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Jheck! Sorry if I didnt text. Sobrang weak lang kasi after the operation I stayed at my lola's house the whole time until we went back to Singapore.

Anyway, fully recovered na ako ngayon =). I wanted to watch 'Moments of Love' when I was there pero hinde ko naabutan eh. And walang palabas na Tagalog when I was there! Sobrang unlucky, and I didnt wanna watch 'Close to you' anyway. Looks real cheesy.

sineasta said...

It's ok. I do understand the situation you were in while you were here. I wanted to send you a text message sana but I was wondering whether it'd still cost a peso since you're using a Globe-Singapore sim, di ba?

Sayang, you should have seen "Close To You"! I didn't do any reviews here but twas a good movie! It is a romantic movie yet devoid of cheesiness. Nakakatawa at nakakatuwa siya! Anyway, the video will be release anytime this month. Kaya pabili ka na lang dito. :-)

Anonymous said...

HEY! DAMM YOU!! HOW COULD U EVEN SAY DAT..R U U OUT OF UR MIND..? WELL, CRAZY MAN LYK MUST NOT BE "KNOWN" BY OTHER PEOPLE..HEY, BEWARE OF DIS BLOG..D MOST UGLIEST BLOG I EVER SAW.. FOR UR INFO..MOMMENTS OF LOVE GOT ITS HIGHEST SCORE ON PHILIPPINE CINEMAS.. I NEVER THOUGHT WE CAN COME UP WITH THIS KIND OF MOVIE..ORIGINAL!!! I'VE WATCHED THE MOVIES U SAID WAS SOME "COPYCATS".. THINK TWICE U FREAK!BETTER YET..GET LOST!

Anonymous said...

jheck david?..d comment above is merely correct.. ur such a freak!!! irereport kita sa gma 7..ewan ko lng..may lisensya ka ba para magsabi ng ganito..pwede ba..think of another leisure..not PAMBABASTOS..ok?

Anonymous said...

d one who made dis blog is a capital "L_O_S_S_E_R!!!"

sineasta said...

thank you for dropping by my blog, guys! :-)

anonymous 1, what do you mean by "highest score on philippine cinemas?" so you mean, frequency, il mare, ditto, sky of love were mere copycats of "moments of love"? OK. how about twilight zone's episode of the same theme back in the 70's-80's? copycat din 'yun? OK. sabi mo, eh.

anonymous 2, di po ako nambabastos, fyi.

anonymous 3, mali ata spelling mo. try using www.dictionary.com next time. ito kasi nakuha ko:

No entry found for losser.

Anonymous said...

masyado namang gago ang david na ito. cguro kapamilya ka kaya ganyan.

"anonymous 1, what do you mean by "highest score on philippine cinemas?" so you mean, frequency, il mare, ditto, sky of love were mere copycats of "moments of love"? OK. how about twilight zone's episode of the same theme back in the 70's-80's? copycat din 'yun? OK. sabi mo, eh."

sinabi ba ito ng mga nag comment? hindi naman eh diba? gago ka talaga. paano naman kokopyahin ng mga lumang movies ang bago?

kapamilya ka nga kasi paninira ang ginagawa mo sa gma at obvious naman na prinopromote mo ang close to you.

Anonymous said...

where is the twist sa movie??? watching it from the start u would know what will b the ending! they should have concentrated more on dingdong-iza-gloria romero. ala na sana ung apo idea. mas maganda sana kung marco-divina pa rin til sa ending. cuz when it comes to love the heart never grows old!

sineasta said...

I agree with you, asygurl. Or it doesn't have to be Marco-Divina till the end. Basta something different than what was presented. O siguro, Karylle would have to come in only the end - tipong open-ended ang dating. But anyway, it has been done. We just have to deal with it.

Thank you for dropping by, asygurl. I appreciate you not throwing flames at me. ;-)

Have a good day!

Anonymous said...

I watched the movie. Many people watched it but I thought they were just carried away by what the people said in the primier night of the movie. There`s nothing special with the movie. Actually hindi sya nakakakilig! Puro etching lang ang nandoon. How could you imagine Marco (Dingdong)get fall in love with Divina (Iza) for a very short time, if im not mistaken its 3 weeks.They even dont have an intimate relationship with each other tapos they showed in the movie that Lola Rosa (Divina) sacrificed her life for Marco.Hahahahahahahaha, How could you relate to the Movie Title "Moments of Love" where is the love there the characters felt infatuation only but not love!!!!!

sineasta said...

^
Is this Margie? Hey, thank you for your post! Nice one! :-)

Did the people you watch it with had the same reaction when Divina & Marco met in the end? It was weird 'cuz you don't know whether to laugh or get kilig by it.

Anonymous said...

wow. wala akong masabi. is the whole network wars in RP this bad? I expect this in the forums (although in my opinion it's an utter waste of time), but on a personal blog?!? Ibang level na talaga.

you got lambasted, intimidated, and threatened for your personal opion. grabe. haha. more power to you man. nice blog you got here.

Anonymous said...

kaya naman pala, it has to be approved pa ba the author, kaya pala puro mga pabor sa iniisip nya ang comments, well my compadre, the movie is okay. Maganda sya, yun lang.

sineasta said...

^^
thank you for visiting. actually, i wasn't into the network wars. it was the people who posted their comments that thought i was anti-kapuso, pro-abs-cbn. i was just stating my opinion re the movies that both studios have made. if they just had read my other posts, they'd realize that i ain't anti-kapuso esp with my "lovestruck" review posted on my other blog.

^
i beg to disagree with you. i do not moderate the comments just so i could print what's good and what's bad. yours is posted, right? if indeed what you said was true, you won't read any of the flames posted. anyway, thank you for stopping by. :-)

Anonymous said...

to tell u straight.. i don't lyk dis NON SENSE blog.. As a filipino, i felt so embarassed dat another filipino is making and having much tym wid dis blog.. KAWAWA K NAMAN.. siguro kulang ka lng sa pag-aaral ng movies or beter yet talagang WALA KANG ALAM.. nakakahiya ito, really, i dont want to post a comment pero cant help it lalo na pag truth na ang pumoporma.. u know wat i mean..ah..bka d mo naintindihan.. A MOVIE LYK MOMENTS OF LOVE IS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF..i've never seen a movie lyk dis b4..oh, well..di ako kapuso nor kapamilya but for d VERY FIRST TYM,..natuwa ako bcoz we can come up wid a movie lyk dis dan uh..wat u call dat/.."TANGING INA!??!", "CLOSE TO YOU?!?!", etc. sorry pero, panget cla eh.. Sandara Park?..magaling ba yun? o umaarte ba yon?..la nmn ka feeling feelings ..I COMPARE M NMN KAY IZA CALZADO..well, i dont know wat kind of thoughts u hav pero im not pushing u 2 appreciate wat ive written kc im sure against k dto.. i juz want to say dat d only truth about ol dis comments and ur comments is- HINDI MO MAKITA ANG TUNAY NA MENSAHE NG MOMENTS OF LOVE AT SA MGA SUMUSULAT NG MGA COMMENT AGAINST DITO KULANG PA KAYO SA PAG-CRITIC NG FILM.."

FROM: AN INTERNATIONAL MOVIE CRITIC

Anonymous said...

I wonder, how could GMA Films compete with Star Cinema if they keep coming up with such smorgasboard films? Kailangan pa ba ng isang Marilou Diaz-Abaya muli para mapatunayang kapuri-puri sila? I hope that they'd realize that film is a very different medium from TV. They may be doing wonders in TV but they make us wonder in film!

* and guys out there, tell me straight..hindi sya kapamilya?

bayas o unfair b cya?

2 d ol d people especially sa mga crew?

well, patunay na madya ang gmawa nto..

yna said...

Funny how this movie has been applauded and honored at the Chicago film fest. Filipinos provide negative critic, international scene recognizes Filipino films. 6 years ago this film was negatively criticize and 6 years after this film is still visible and honored not in the Philippines but to other country. I myself ashamed of downplaying this film and learned that there is something lacking rather wrong on the way we critic films.