Mana (2014)

This was a movie that I really wanted to see, not only did it struck close to home as it was shot and told the story of my home province . The characters , the family in the film , even their old house , reminded me so much of mine . Of course there have been plenty of movies that revolved around the same topic like the grand epic "Oro Plata Mata " (look it up it's a great movie from the 80's,in fact one of the stars of Mana; Cherie Gil is the lead actress in that movie) , still this one is on a different path as it adds a certain supernatural element to the old class-tale that has been retold plenty of times in the small and big screen.

Mana tells the story of an old aristocratic family in the island of Negros who have gathered around their sick Matriarch. The children who now lead separate adult lives are arguing about a mysterious inheritance . While most arguments of this nature tend to be about someone wanting the inheritance, the children are actually fighting because not one of them wants it. Things take a dark turn as various mysterious events unfold, slowly revealing how truly dark the past of this family is.

Despite being an independent production , this movie was able to gather some very big veteran movie stars to play in the ensemble cast, which includes Cherie Gil known for her iconic villain roles and for uttering one of the most famous movie quotes in south-east asian cinema , her brother Mark Gil , a long standing movie star , Jaime Fabregas, Ricky Davao , Epy Quizon a well know character actor and the son of the legendary Dolphy , and Tetchie Agbayani who not had a long career in asian cinema but also starred in a few hollywood films in the 80's . Top performers all , and did they deliver? Oh yes , above and beyond. The acting was superb , every small nuances and movement provided tensions and foreshadowed the dark events unfolding . It was fairly refreshing , usually people who gather in big old houses on horror films are a bunch of horny good-looking screen teenagers who lack any sort of amazing theatrical capability . The cinematography and production design is to be applauded as well and added well to the eerie atmosphere. And on a personal side-note it was fun to see again so many people I know on screen on this movie . Watch this if you can , even if you are not a fan of the genre , their is enough family drama and and back story to entertain without it going to the level of a soap opera, besides the high caliber actors are good enough reason as I have said. Watch Trailer

Directed by : Gabriel Fernandez

Cast
Fides Cuyugan-Asensio
Tetchie Agbayani
Ricky Davao
Jaime Fabregas
Cherie Gil
Mark Gil
Jeffrey Quizon

Pee Mak (2013)

This movie is actually based on an old thai ghost story , about a soldier who comes back from war , there he finds his wife and new born son , only to discover later on that both his wife and son had died and that he has been living with ghosts . The storyline of the film follows this basic guideline , and instead of creating a chilly and scary version like the original legend. The film makers decided to give the old tale a new take and have added a significant amount of comedy to it.

Yes this movie has a lot of cheesy moments, that is to be expected from an asian horror comedy. But I have to say they did do a lot of things right, and fun fact; this movie is the highest grossing film of all time in Thailand , and has also succeeded in the international market . It earned upwards of 1 billion thai baht or roughly around 33 million dollars (US) . Not that impressive by Hollywood standards , but trust me in southeast asia that is a very big deal .

The comedy involves a lot of slapstick humor but it is effective. No matter how absurd the jokes are , you'll find yourself laughing. The storyline is very crude , don't expect high art in this. The special effects are actually nice ,asians are good at creating visuals for ghost stories , and even though the film is more centered on the comedy , there are some scary moments -okay light scary moments. What drives the movie though is the lead star, Mario Maurer who plays the young soldier Mak, who has gone home to his wife. I've seen some of his movies , even reviewed one in this blog , you can check it out, here. Anyways Mario who is more well known for being a matinee idol , is probably one of the most talented asian actors I have ever seen. And I'm really glad he is getting a lot of success all over asia , but I really wish a director would give him another juicy role like the one in Love of Siam where he was able to showcase his skills. Anyways in this movie he shines, I really like how he is able to keep serious and still balance the funny parts in this film . I mean the female lead Davika Hoorne who plays his wife was very serious , but then that is what is called for her role anyway. While the other co-stars who plays Mak's war buddies were downright comedic. He was able to jump easily in between both, the hard dramatic parts were his and he more than delivered the goods. Even in the funny parts , he showed deep dramatic intensity , instead of playing to the slapstick, which actually made it even more funnier. I guess he was really able to make the movie work, any other regular actor would have had wrecked it . With that said Pee Mak is a good watch , it is not highly artistic or really amazing . But most likely you may enjoy yourself , it's nice, not bad.

Watch Trailer Here

Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun
Mario Maurer as Mak
Davika Hoorne as Nak
Kantapat Permpoonpatcharasuk as Aey
Nuttapong Chartpong as Ter
Wiwat Kongrasri as Shin
Pongsathorn Jongwilak as Puak