This document provides summaries of three Filipino films: Kabisera, Shift, and Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?. Kabisera is about a fisherman named Andres who discovers crystal meth in the sea and decides to sell it, getting deeper into the drug business. Shift is set in a call center and focuses on the friendship between two employees, Estela and Trevor, and whether it could develop into a love affair. Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? is a film from Eddie Romero that tackles what it means to be Filipino through humor and performances about different characters.

1. Justine Sarene L. Centeno
BACR 2-2
FINAL PAPER
KABISERA
A film directed by Alfonso “Borgy” Torre III. Cast: Joel Torre (Andres), Arthur Acuña (Jose), Bing
Pimentel (Dindin, Andres' wife), Bernard Palanca (Pablo Sandejas, the senior police officer), Meryll
Soriano (Ana, Andres' daughter), Ketchup Eusebio (Kulot, the dealer), Jomari Umpa (AJ, Andres' son),
Carlo Cruz (Ramon, Ana's fiance), Glenn Jumalon, Edmund Santiago (PDEA agents).
This film is about a fisherman who lives in a coastal town, zambales province north of metro
manila. One morning Andres, (Joel Torre) finds two water-tight containers floating in the sea containing
100 kilos of crystal meth. These crystal meth was abandoned by the Malaysian traffickers due to patrols
by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency or PDEA. Andres decided to keep the meth to use if for a
living or the so called “easy money”. He went home bringing the crystal meth and showed them to her
wife Dindin (Bing Pimentel) and told her that this might be their lucky break. Jose Romualdez (Arthur
Acuna), his friend. They both agree to sell the meth on streets to know if people will buy or in short, to
test the market. With this monkey business, PDEA became aware that meth are on the streets. Andres
as the head of the family, needs a bigger income to fulfil all the financial needs. Andres asks jose for a
bigger cut of the action. Jose agrees to take a 50-50 split if Andres takes more active role in the business.
Andres agrees despite the danger of being involved in a capital crime. Then one day, AJ is run over a car
and requires an operation. Andres suggests finding a big distributor to move the meth in bulk, and Pablo
arranges a meeting. But as the pressure mount, distrust starts to grow between Andres, Jose and
Pablo.
Blue Bustamante
i was expecting this to be a laughable Power Rangers spoof, but it turns out to be a heartfelt
father-and-son film. It’s slightly predictable but there a lot of genuine moments that made this story
engaging. Everybody knows how hard it is to leave your loved ones and work abroad. It’s a lot harder
before because there’s no Skype or Facebook. Why should i stress myself with super dramatic OFW
stories if i could just watch a fun but realistic one? This movie will make those OFWs feel at home,
where one can still smile even he’s in a lot of pressure. About the humore, i was worried at first because
there were plenty of bromance (brother romance) jokes in the first 15 minutes. Glad i was wrong.
The film could linger more on that nostalgia but hat it had was enough. The Japanese-style
musical score is fantastic. Cinematography is remarkable but it’s pretty to look at and there are some
cool shots.

2. SHIFT
“shift” is set in ubiquitous world of call centers and its employees. Estela is a quirky, carefree
young lady with red hair. Trevor, is tall, dark handsome guy, and by the way gay. Outside work, estela
has a persistent suitor Kevin, while Trevor had an Australian boyfriend. But at work, the two connect
very wellwith each other with their many things in common. Question is, will this friendship lead to a
real though unconventional love affair?
The language used in the film was so young and hip, perfect to convey a story so young and hip.
I confess i would not have caught it all out with the help of those very well-made subtitles. Towards the
end though, the momentum of the film shows down when the director did not seem to know how the
film should ed properly. The main drawn back, i would think, is that the story is so simple that it could
have been an episode of a TV drama anthology. Fortunately, Director Siege Ledesma enjects enough
personality to lift it up to deserve to be a feature film. This is a pleasant yet lightweight endeavour, but
not bad at all.
GANITO KAMI NOON, PAANO KAYO NGAYON?
When i first saw Eddie Romero’s Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon, i liked a lot about it,
loved the literate, sophisticated world-weary tone, loved the tongue-in-cheek humor, loved the fact that
it tackled a weighty issue (who is the Filipino) without being weighty or (worse) dull. Loved many
performances, from Leopoldo Salcedo’s relentlessly self-dramatizing Mang Atong to Gloria Diaz’s
thespically ambitious Diding Patron to E.A Rocha’s ever-irritated Padre Corcuera. Loved the many songs
and music, which sometimes make sly commentary on the screen action.