TOMORROW, all cinemas nationwide will not screen any Hollywood and local commercial films to give way for qualified local films of the weeklong Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP), rolling on its second year.
For the cinematographic intellectuals and its deviants, this is considered to be the deserved alternative to the commercially-ridden Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) during the holiday season.
For that matter, the Turf thought out loud for this QuOP: “Why don’t we have a critics’ score on our local films just like in Rotten Tomatoes?”
If only we had enough sophisticated film critics here, this project could get along.
This question is different from the bilingual MTRCB ratings (classified for audience suitability and displayed in the booth and before the film proper) and the Cinema Evaluation Board’s grading system (classified for the quality and corresponding rebate of amusement taxes).
The user ratings from Google and Internet Movie Database (IMDb) are deemed not counted as they are mere “armchair” film analysts that don’t consider deeper details of cinematography.
I know what you’re thinking: our local films are cheap in general cinematography and lackadaisical in diversification.
Most of you, dear readers, would start pointing fingers at Star Cinema, now celebrating its silver jubilee. Initially, yes, they took the flight but time takes its toll and loses its brightness. Well, I can’t blame you amidst the floods of rage from bandwagoning, clueless, die-hard fans of artists involved with the production company.
However, this year is marked with a patch of versatile cinematography worthy to be commercially released, such as Citizen Jake (dir. Mike De Leon), currently, BuyBust (Erik Matti) and by next month, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (Jerrold Tarog).
Okay, maybe, one film is perceived to be not worthy — ahem, Jacqueline Comes Home (Ysabelle Peach Caparas).
The Answer and The Backlog
The answer can be found on Quora, in which the question was originally asked by an Indian, by someone who worked for Rotten Tomatoes:
First, I think you would have to make sure that you have a plentiful and reliable enough sources for quality film reviews.
I think of the unremarked qualities of Rotten Tomatoes is the support and coverage that we have from professional film critics. In order to qualify for the Tomatometer, critics (or their publications) have to meet a minimum standard that includes a minimum number of film reviews per year and accreditation in a film critic society. This is possible because free-ranging film criticism is one of those odd, historical legacies made possible by the likes of the great Pauline Kael and Roger Ebert where their writings are venerated and subsidized even if they have critical opinions of films which are advertised in big page-size ad in the very same newspaper.
In addition, the expert posed two rhetorical questions before building our own RT (adapted for Filipinos).
- Are there enough high-quality film review sources who are reliably covering a high quantity of movies and are unafraid to unleash critically, but fair opinions?
- Are there enough Filipino film fans who are actually interested in seeing quality ratings for films?
Answering the first question, we have notorious film critics such as Rogue Magazine‘s Philbert Dy, Rappler‘s Oggs Cruz or ClicktheCity.com‘s Wanggo Gallaga but it’s not enough. In addition, a conflict could arise, especially if a resident film critic currently works for ABS-CBN. For the second, it seems to be on the rise, arising two factors both from social media: from being autodidactic and employing Twitter’s thread functionality to put their words coherently without losing track.
Assuming we had enough number of critics to be hired by newspapers and news sites, the critics’ rating can now be calculated.
On RT, their meter is on the percentage scale — the number of critical thumbs ups divided by total critics participating. It needs at least 60% to be classified as “Fresh” or else it will be declared “Rotten.” In order to be “Certified Fresh,” it must be at least 75% and must be approved by at least five Top Critics (applies only by wide-release).
What will our classification be if anyone wants to start up that project? What will be a “Certified Fresh” equivalent? Well, that depends on you.
Accessing recently for the critics’ rating of any Filipino films registered in their database, Heneral Luna (2015, Tarog) was rated 71% (5 out of 7 reviews) and BuyBust at 73% (8 out of 11 reviews). Both records are not declared “certified fresh” since it lacks the required number of top critics.
Imagine if Jose Rizal (1998, Marilou Diaz-Abaya) were to be assessed, it could point towards fresh while Star Cinema’s typical rom-com and its recent blockbuster MMFF entries, despite the constant stream of domestic box office success, would be tilted near to 0%, due to the tried-and-tested story model to rake even more profit but not taking any artistic risks reaped from that proceeds.
Potential implications & reality check
Just like the American counterpart, the potential impact of this ambitious project would threaten the marketing of our Big 3 major film studios (Star Cinema, Viva Films, Regal Entertainment); if their pieces were praised, they could go on and take better risk and if they were called out, they must shape out or get ditched.
The second would be the multitude of awarding organizations (e.g. FAMAS, PMPC, Guillermo Mendoza). Their awarding could be swayed from its ratings but sometimes, they defy it and favor any inherent yet obscured lobbying — remaining both unsurprising and eyebrow-raising.
In reality, the materialization and its sustenance could be hindered by an obvious, describable word: tribalism. That term has been tackled so far on television and radio here on The Turf but in this concerned form, it would arise from the colleagues — particularly on exposing the raise of pride at the expense of other stakeholders.
What do you think: would starting up this endeavor do better for a better Philippine cinema?
Photo courtesy of Disney/Pixar
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ABS-CBN’s primetime fantasy series Bagani faced criticisms before its premiere on March 5. On casting, it was particularly over Liza Soberano (hold her “sinigang” quip) and on the portrayal of the namesake came from historical societies, indigenous groups and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). While it is too late to change casting for the former, to appease the latter, a disclaimer was incorporated to recognize the indigenous peoples using the term and drew inspiration.
