Although Philippine Cinema has been going through rough and tough times lately, the recent spate of good quality entertaining films (read: digital) indicate that Pinoy filmmakers and producers are on the right track in reviving the dignity of our dying industry. Young filmmakers independently making those digital films and earning accolades left and right from critics is a good sign that cerebral maverick filmmaking is getting its share of attention. A fact that is most welcome especially for cineastes who crave for quality features and for the movie going masses that is always on the lookout for good entertainment.

Filipino films in its existence, in my opinion, have provided the variety that caters to all types of moviegoers. A film for the bakya crowd, for the intellectuals, for the artists, for the teenagers, for the riche noveau, for the sex-starved, for the barkada crowd, for the bohemians, etc. has been manufactured by the Pinoy Silver screen at one time or another. While I wish to discuss all film modes, what I will present is a chatterbox study that aims to sate and inundate my craving to create a shameless popcorn-bubblegum magazine article. Save for the overdubs and pretentious critique, the following is a product of an overzealous and failed attempt to create a cool and decent dissertation on pinoy movies. Enter at your own risk…

Ang bakya mo neneng…

Yes, I must admit that I am a part of the bakya crowd. And boy, we must also admit that pinoy inanities have been exposed, presented and laughed at in the movies. Consider the musings of Pilosopo Tasyo transposed in the many one-liners of Eddie Garcia, acerbic yet smart and funny, it captures the whole essence of pinoy humor with philosophical subtlety also inherent in the dialogue rich Danny Zialcita movies. Be it comedy or drama, Zialcita's oeuvre has that fantabulous concoction of street language and witticisms delivered matter-of-factly by his terrific actors that includes Tommy Abuel, the aforementioned Garcia, Elizabeth Oropesa, Gloria Diaz, Amy Austria and others.

No one can also fault the melodramas that consistently brought tears to the movie going public; those tearjerkers that broke many-a-heart had the imaginative titles and stories and were conjured primarily to make money. The Sharon Cuneta musical sagas like Bituing Walang Ningning, Sana'y Wala nang Wakas, Bukas, Luluhod ang mga Tala, Kaputol ng Isang Awit are just a few that made us hold our breaths for the finale when the Hero/Heroine justly wrecks havoc to the life of the Kontrabidas.

Who can forget that water splashing scene accompanied by the legendary lines, “You're nothing but a second-rate trying hard copycat!” That scene along with other memorable sampalan, iyakan and sumbatan melodramatic pastiches has become a part of Pinoy consciousness and popular culture.

Filipinos are sentimental in the true sense of the word, we laugh and cry with the movies we see, we grow with the characters, and we interact in the world that the movies have created. That is why telenovelas, koreanovelas, chinonovelas, telefantasyas and others of the same ilk thrive in this country, it is more than just a form of entertainment for many, it is a tool for escaping the harsh realities of life. So, whether we like it or not, melodramas will continue to drown us with the resins of our own tears. Bring on the tissues…sob…

On the opposite side of the stick is the slapstick comedy. Yes, if we cry at Filipino films, we also laugh hard at the walang kawawaang komedya that our local clowns serve us. We cannot fault ourselves at laughing, corny or not, because it is the timing of the punch lines, the poker faced expressions and of course the opportunity to laugh at our own iniquities that makes the Pinoy brand of comedy kind of unique. Not only does it celebrate our inimitable brand of humor and pays tribute to our legendary cheerfulness trait but more importantly it creates lasting impressions on Pinoy culture and modifies our bleak view on everyday events. It makes fun, however silly, of our foibles and makes every single person a caricature in hilarity drawn into endless and mindless situations thinly veiled as a parody of life's absurdities.

There has been no shortage of comedic talents in our landscape, those who have the fast wits and the funny faces who always put in their minds that their sole purpose is to make people laugh. Many of them have come and gone, the likes of Chiquito, Babalu, Panchito, Cachupoy, the legendary Pugo and Tugo, Balot, Tange, Bayani Casimiro, Teroy de Guzman, Rene Requiestas and others who in one time or another made us roll up with laughter and forget the troubles of the times. Still, many are still here, Redford White, TVJ with Eat Bulaga and their comedic brood, Andrew E., Michael V and the new kind of comedy that they bring.

But of course, no one can claim the crown of King of Comedy from that nonpareil and evergreen Pinoy comedic giant, Dolphy. He has become the barometer, a masterpiece and living legend. Who can forget the characters that he made famous and exhibited, we remember the gay Dolphy in Facifica Falayfay, Pepita Popongay and Jack & Jill, but we most remember and adore him more for that quintessential embodiment of Pinoy everyman, John Puruntong and for the younger generation, Kevin Cosme.

Pinoy humor and comedians will always be here, watch the news and you'll see. Think hard of what our great leaders are saying and you'll understand what I mean…

If comedians are the sidekicks, can the kick-ass action heroes be far behind? Yes, they may not be Schwarzenegger, Willis or Stallone but they surely killed, maimed, exploded and kissed many beautiful women which we cannot count with our fingers. I'm talking about the Pinoy action films and their place in our machismo laced society. Those with two guns blazing under the hot sun complete with the leather jacket and a smoking cigarette coolly annihilating bad guys with efficiency. Cold blooded and hot in bed, the Pinoy action stars are truly so damn blessed.

Consider this premise, our hero tills the land he inherited from his ancestors, the bad guys with the guns, goons and gold will try to get all his possessions including his beautiful wife. He will try to leave it all up to fate and God but in the course of his penitence, his real self that he tried to cover up will rise up from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix. In the case of our action films, our hero is and will always be a former decorated policeman, an ex-rebel or a war veteran experienced in the art of killing, he takes revenge and all hell breaks loose. In the end, like a battle scarred cowboy in the Old West, he walks off into the sunset.

Our action films do not try to be pretentious; the plot is always simple and is driven by the macho image of Rudy Fernandez, Bong Revilla, Ronnie Ricketts, Philip Salvador, Robin Padilla and other Pinoy action heroes. Their purpose is easy, to kick ass and entertain the public with their pinoy brand, good vs. evil action adventure. I think they have succeeded in sating the fantasies of many a Filipino action fan throughout the years. We have cowboy-themed, police-themed, military-themed, gang-fraternity-themed, outlaw-themed, agimat-themed, fantasy adventure-themed, hell, even gay-themed action movies! We have it in all sizes and shapes, the action heroes are also interesting to watch.

We have seen the matons, astigs, barumbados, black sheeps, suidical cops and others for heroes. But nothing can compare to the action villains, Paquito and Romy Diaz, Johnny Monteiro, Vic Diaz, and a host of others that made our viewing, what can I say, enjoyable. We adore the action films so much that we made one of their own our President because we see them as an extension of our fantasies and ambitions. What we cannot do in life, they do for us, albeit, only in the silver screen.

We cannot leave this topic without giving a salute to the late great Fernando Poe, Jr. FPJ created fantastical characters, meek ordinary human beings which when pushed to the wall metamorphose into a one-man army capable of annihilating hundreds, nay, thousands of bad guys, demons and mythical creatures. Da King's influence still reverberates in our movie industry, his untimely demise at a time when the industry was neither here or there certainly created additional problems. Throughout his career, he has shown a soft spot for the movie workers and an unflinching compassion for the movie going masses. He virtually reinvented the Filipino action genre and the Filipino action hero, from the sword wielding Flavio of Panday fame to the tough and committed cop Isagani Guerrero, he has fashioned movie heroes that are still being imitated and has influenced countless actors and ordinary people who at one time or another wished that they were him. A true blue Filipino icon, FPJ truly is the Man…

We now go to the dark side, not the Darth Vader type but the Twilight Zone kind. I am talking about the favorite fodder of pinoy audiences today, the horror film. Blame it on the Japanese Ringu series. The horror film has been a staple in the varied Filipino film industry for a number of generations now. This genre has never really died, pardon the pun, but it has through the years flourished and improved. From its crude beginnings, it has transformed into a special effects laden spectacle that caters mostly to the hot-blooded teenage crowd who more often than not just likes to scream their hearts out just for the fun of it. Many sweethearts have made the horror film an excuse to dally on their uber-sweetness to each other.

From the black and white terror of Gabi ng Lagim to the never-ending rollicking Shake, Rattle & Roll series, our horror auteurs have mined the rich landscape of the Philippine lower mythology to create terrifying creatures and aberrations, interlined with flimsy storylines, to shock the audience. Aswangs, manananggals, tikbalangs, kapres, duwendes, and other lamang-lupa half-breeds have walked the earth thanks mostly to the Filipino horror films. Not to mention the descendants of that reviled Prince of Darkness, Count Vlad Tepes a.k.a. Count Dracula.

A part of this trend is the rise of the psychological horror film. Movies like Feng Shui, Pasiyam, Sigaw, Pamahiin and the like is popular to audiences today mainly because of the scenario it presents, that supernatural happenings, even in modern times, can strike anywhere to anyone. It also depicts the decay of old traditions and beliefs in the wake, and in favor of, urban transcendence. Influenced mainly by the Asian Horror films, our filmmakers have fashioned out a new way to release their creative juices and concoct cinematic rendering of their innermost fears. Basically, they just want to scare the hell out of us with a dash of Filipino folklore and creepy modern technology on the side.

In hindsight, the bakya films made us understand and appreciate Filipino culture & talents and created bridges to help us traverse and breach social boundaries. Succulent and mundane, the bakya films have inspired and generated allusions, imageries, and deeply penetrated the Pinoy psyche. The sound of a thousand hands clapping with one foot dangling on the edge must be given to honor this entertaining section of Filipino society.