pelikula walang kwenta

On my flight to manila last Thursday, may ilang bagong films sa Video On Demand programs ng Qatar Airways. And so right after dinner was served, I planned on watching Wall-E or the Duchess but then I opted for Vicky Cristina Barcelona instead. Sabi ko, I should see if Penelope really deserved the Best Supporting Actress trophy she won in the Oscars.

And did she? Well, hindi para sa akin. It only proved that lobbying is what determines the winner, not the performance.

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Okay, Penelope did a great job in bringing into the screen Maria Elena, the fiery, passionate and a bit cranky artist ex-wife of Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). However, hindi ko pa rin ipagpapalit ang 10-minute moving performance ni Viola Davis sa Doubt, not even with Amy Adams na sa tingin ko eh mas magaling pa rin kay Penelope as the soft-spoken nun also in Doubt.

Besides, madaling mag-internalize ng role nya si Penelope coz real-life couple sila ni Javier. Eh di isipin lang nya na may kabit si Javier in the person of a beautiful lady like Scarlett, ang dali-dali nang ilabas ng angst ng character nya!

And the movie as a whole? Walang kwenta. I think this is an egotistical trip of Woody Allen na sa tingin ko is living out his fantasies via this film. Ano ba ang maganda sa istorya ng dalawang New Yorkers (Vicky portrayed by Rebecca Hall and Cristina by Scarlett Johansson) who went to Barcelona for a vacation and jumped into bed with the same man (Juan Antonio) they’ve just briefly met? Tapos nandyan pa pala ang may pagka-luka-lukang asawa na si Maria Elena?

So the very much virile Juan Antonio (actually Javier fit the role to a T) had a blast nong magkasama na sila sa bahay ni Maria Elena and his new amore Cristina. Biruin mo yon, two ladies at the same time. At meron pang eksenang may lesbianism dahil si Cristina at si Maria Elena are kissing suggesting that the guy in the story just got sooo lucky! Hindi na ako mag-e-elaborate dahil pang-General Patronage ang blog ko noh!

And get this - nong parehong mawala ang dalawa (Maria Elena and Cristina) sa buhay nya (Juan Antonio) eh nandiyan pa at naghihintay ang newly-wed na si Vicky who is more than willing na magtaksil sa asawa nya just to be in bed with him. O di ba naman at napaka-swerte nitong si Juan Antonio?

Darn, Woody might be a respected film-maker but I just don’t see the essence of this film. Kwentong walang kwenta. Basta, the way I see it is that Woody has these fantasies of cavorting with beautiful women na hindi nya magawa sa totoong buhay since he left the beautiful Mia Farrow for the younger but not a stunner na adopted daughter pa mandin nilang si Soon-Yi. And this film was his way of venting his frustration sa hindi na nya kaya at pwedeng gawin.

Sayang lang ang oras ko. Feeling ko talaga nabiktima lang ako ng ego-tripping ni Woody. I should have stuck to my original choice na Wall-E. O kaya yong the Duchess. Hmmpppttt…