A new year

As we ring out 2017 tonight, let us take a moment to remember families with empty seats at the table as they gather for media noche, family members lost to conflict and violence, to calamities natural and man-made. Let us remember too those who lost their homes to typhoons and floods and war and fire, who are in temporary shelters and evacuation centers.

2017 has been a difficult year, but as the birth of the Christ which we celebrated a week ago brought hope to mankind, let us face the coming year with hope, with faith and with a determination to – together, kapit-bisig – triumph over whatever challenges may come. A blessed New Year to all.

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I bumped into my friend Betty at lunch one day last week and after a quick “Merry Christmas” she said with great urgency, “We have to support ‘Larawan’!” She was getting together a group to go and watch the movie at Power Plant mall that afternoon; if I didn’t have to work I would more than gladly have joined them. I was scheduled to watch the movie the next day at the Promenade in Greenhills. “You better check if it’s still showing there,” she warned. “Seven theaters have already pulled it out.”

My neighbor the sports editor also lamented that “Ang Larawan” was no longer showing in some theaters in the metro area which carried the movie when the Metro Manila Film Festival opened last Monday. Nationwide, I was told over 90 cinemas had discontinued the movie run after less than a week. Poor showing at the box office was the reason for this. Sadly, it seems the mass of moviegoers are still not weaned off silly slapstick, sappy romance and chaotic kapow flicks, even though more filmmakers are striving to craft movies with decent – sometimes really good – storylines and dialogue, beautiful cinematography (MMFF entry Siargao is one such movie, I am told; I must make an effort to see it).

I’m not a movie buff and I haven’t watched a movie in the sinehan in over five years, but “Ang Larawan” must not – can not – be missed. For all the times you have raved over a foreign movie, blockbuster or indie, over how carefully and beautifully it was made, how well thought out the plot was and how well crafted the dialogue, how no expense was spared for sets and scenes and costumes and locations, you can lavish all your praises on this movie.

Intermittently over the last four or so years we would jokingly ask, “Natapos na ba yung pelikula ni Loy (Is Loy’s movie finished)?” The answers would be, “Di pa yata (Not quite)…” “Malapit na (Almost)…” “Konti na lang daw (Just a little bit more)…” Then we would all chorus, “Ay naku, si Loy talaga! (I think this expression defies translation)”