The White Lady and Philippine Movies
The only reason we watched Regal Film’s thriller movie, The White Lady was because Joel Nunez (writer for the movie) is a batchmate of my husband at the College of Law. “Let’s show some support to my friend’s endeavor”, my hubby goes. After watching Sadako in “The Ring“, no other hororr movie beats it. Scary for means literally holding on to your seat. Inspired by the famous urban legend about the ghost that haunts Balete Drive, “White Lady” has been reinvented and relocated to some liberal arts school in UP Los Banos. There, the school’s most popular students meet horrific fates one by one, realizing that they are the target of a vengeful ghost. “The White Lady” plot was predictable for me and the “computer graphics” needed a bit more tweaking. Some of the animated CG’s came out too stiff. I’m so out of the loop when it comes to young Filipino movie stars. I recognized Boots Anson Roa only. This new half-Korean starlet, Iwa Moto had too much makeup for a school setting but she played the bitchy role to the hilt. Now I can’t imagine how college students could be so mean. The plot reeks of high school’s mean Queen Bees. The urban legend “White Lady” in Balete Drive seemed more spooky than this remake. However, if you’re looking for entertainment, the movie gave enough of that .
It’s a rare occurence for me to watch Tagalog movies. I think the last Filipino movie I watched was Cesar Montano’s Visayan movie, Panaghoy sa Suba. Being a Cebuana, the Visayan dialect brought so much childhood memories. Every scene flowed smoothly into the next, thus allowing audiences to further appreciate the film’s captivating cinematography. Much as I want to support Philippine movie industry, the plot is just not interesting enough to hold my attention. During the mid seventies, Filipino films were at its best. Remember, Lino Brocka’s Maynila: Sa mga kuko ng liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Light) in 1975? The movie was picked by 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a fantastic resource for film lovers. That’s how excellent the movie is. The acting was not that remarkable, but the simple plot and storyline made each character as memorable as the next. Those were the days when the plot was character driven . Too bad, the Philippine Culture and Information official website did not classify the movie as “World Class Filipino Movie” (as of 1997).
In this new millenium, which movie classifies as world class Filipino movie?
This is about me ( a 
hmmm… sayang, i planned to watch that pa naman… probably sukob na lang….
for me, the best pinoy film ever to grace my eyes is Oro Plata Mata…. soooo breathtaking… and ala ko maynakitang nagbebente nito…
it’s ironic na yung mga films that are classics are not being sold here in the country (himala, oro plata, bona, etc.)
Small world, Joel Nunez is my tito!
It’s his first big project and we’re so happy that his script got picked up. I haven’t seen the movie yet (I guess that makes me a “bad” niece) but according to my sister, along with some reviews from newspapers, some of the actors were also a wrong choice. Iwa Moto is half Japanese, if I’m not mistaken. The role she’s portraying is Fil-Am (I think) but I heard she’s not very convincing.
Some if not all recent Filipino movies are baduy and generic, but I still like watching them for a good laugh.
@Juls- it’s still worth watching . It’s just that I compared the scariness factor to “The Ring”. Quite entertaining naman. Just watch.
@ Jessica: Oh you’re tito is talented. I hope you watch it just so your Tito gets all the support. It was entertaining .
In this new millenium, which movie classifies as world class Filipino movie?
The sober answer…NONE
it depends on what you mean by world class. by world class, do you mean hollywood standards? personally i do not use the same benchmarks among movies of different countries. each national cinema and genre has its own distinct aesthetic. mainstream filipino movies, as a form of mass entertainment, has its own set of principles different from other genres and national cinemas.
if by world-class you mean to say recognized in other countries, there are a lot of non-mainstream filipino movies are coming out which are really good. it’s a shame it has become chic for some people to bash philippine cinema just like that. i doubt they’ve even seen a handful of filipino movies the past year.
this is my first comment here! keep it up!
@Bikoy- welcome to my bog. The standards as based on the Philippine Culture and site. I am not in a position to judge films . I also have no idea how they classified those films as world class.
Oro Plata Mata– sheer genius. One hell of a masterpiece. The best pinoy movie I’ve ever seen. Props to Peque Gallaga and Jose Javier Reyes for the brilliant work.
Has anyone seen “Nasaan si Francis?”. I know the plot is not that great but hey the film was a crosswise rabbet at the end of the board.
owww…. pardon the ignorance
can’t believe i have been throwing that word around without really understanding what it means. *sigh* would you believe i never knew that word before i met you?
dear author,
it says there its a rare occurence for you to watch a Filo-flick. exactly when was the last time you watched one? and if that’s what you state, what kind of films do you like then?
(ps: i no longer watch Filipino flicks; last time was in ‘96. i live in canada.)
Hi all,
email me: cobiz@yahoo.com.. thanks a million!
anyone know the theme song for this movie “White lady”.. like the rhythm..
Hello..
There is a movie here in U.S. the title is “Touch By An Angel”. It is a nice movie. I haven’t seen an movie from PI since I left. But, anyway see talk you all later. bye now.
Lovemenot