Pen Medina

Pen Medina

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Pen Medina

Movies

Ang Pangarap Kong Holdap
A bumbling crew of friends aspires to be known as the town's best thieves but plotting their first big heist seems more difficult than pulling it off.
Mang Kepweng Returns
Ingkong Kapiz
A remake of a funny quack doctor who was originally portrayed by the late comedian Chiquito in 1979. Its a story of the quack doctor's son and his adventures with the magical bandana.
Gangster Lolo
Five Aging ex-cons are trying to go straight after being release from prison. But unable to find work, they pin their hopes on a treasure map left to them by an inmate.
10000 Hours
Iago
Senator Gabriel Alcaraz is preparing to deliver a privilege speech alleging corruption in the highest levels of government. On his way to the Senate, he gets wind of a plot against him. The police seek to arrest him for his part in an operation decades ago. Suspecting that the administration isn’t willing to give him a fair trial, Alcaraz goes into hiding abroad, hoping to find a way to clear his name and eventually return to his family. Back home, an old colleague is put in charge of finding him, and his family suffers under the pressure of public scrutiny.
10000 Hours
Senator Gabriel Alcaraz is preparing to deliver a privilege speech alleging corruption in the highest levels of government. On his way to the Senate, he gets wind of a plot against him. The police seek to arrest him for his part in an operation decades ago. Suspecting that the administration isn’t willing to give him a fair trial, Alcaraz goes into hiding abroad, hoping to find a way to clear his name and eventually return to his family. Back home, an old colleague is put in charge of finding him, and his family suffers under the pressure of public scrutiny.
Hello, World
Long-time friends, Jeff and Johan have just graduated from high school. The former refuses to join his mom to move to the U.S. while the latter resists going to college. Filmmaker Joel Ferrer nostalgically captures the trials and joys of teenage love in an offbeat dramedy for his debut feature.
Himala Ngayon
A 2012 documentary about the making and the legacy of the 1982 drama masterpiece directed by Ishmael Bernal that ended up being one of the greatest Asian films of all time. The revelations about the theory of "Who killed Elsa?" will be answered and also, the impact of the film to the Filipino culture and society.
Kamera Obskura
The title “Kamera Obskura” is a Filipino spelling of the latin “Camera Obscura” which simply means “dark room”. The film’s concept adheres to formalist cinema, where the filmmaker’s thesis is to make a semblance of a vintage film seemingly produced sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s in the Philippines. The thesis is to conjure up a film from a period that did not really exist in Philippine cinema’s historical cultural heritage as we know it, such as a pseudo-expressionist / experimental Filipino cinema of the silent film era. It is a film within a film. The narrative plays with the idea of a retro-futurist world where a prisoner locked away in a dark chamber for over two decades only sees the reality of the world outside through the small hole in his cell, which projects an image of the city on his wall, the phenomenon of the “camera obscura”.
Layang Bilanggo
Paul
An aging assassin hides in a facility for abandoned senior citizens to protect a daughter he left years ago.
Ishmael
Nestor
An ex-convict who is ostracized by his neighborhood. Little does he know that this neighborhood he once knew is set to awaken his past. Ishmael decided to come back home to find peace and solitude in a place familiar to him. But his dream of rebuilding his shattered past is shaken when a mysterious innocent girl ends up in his front yard. A powerful religious cult headed by an enigmatic leader known as the Ama, is running the town.
Shake Rattle & Roll XI
Diablo (segment "Diablo") (voice)
Claire is a young interim doctor in a provincial hospital. Once, she encountered a female patient who is suspected of carrying a deadly flu virus. Afterward, she began to experience demonic visions, eventually, one demon entered her and began to take control on her. Claire's aunt brings her to Father Ronnie, who evidently was Claire's ex-boyfriend. Their relationship rekindles as they battle the demons out of Claire's body.
The Blood Trail
Danilo Marquez
Laya is a young professional photographer who has drifted away from her family. Her father has fallen ill, but she hasn’t once come to visit him at the hospital. Her mother, who left their family when Laya was a child, returns to urge Laya to make amends with her father, but Laya’s pain goes deeper than her mother suspects. Laya is sent to the provinces to document a ritual of a disappearing indigenous tribe, and there, she inadvertently comes face to face with her own demons as she observes the relationships of the last remaining members of this dying culture.
I.T.A.L.Y. (I Trust and Love You)
Destiny's Father
Destiny. Is it beyond our control? Or do we make our own? These questions and other musings about the past and the future set the tone as we sail into the year's most anticipated film about love and life. Six people are brought together on a seven-day cruise that will change their lives forever.
Casket For Rent
Tata Islaw
Ataul for Rent is a narrative social satire movie depicting the lives of the slum dwellers of "Kalyehong Walang Lagusan", a very narrow, congested, miserable alley/compound in a typical squatter's area. The story revolves around the lives of a live-in couple who owns a small-time funeral parlor renting out coffins of four different sizes, small, medium, large and extra small. Guido, the owner, doubles as the embalmer, while his partner, Pining, does the make-up and uses the same implements for both the dead and the living and is the jueteng kubrador of the neighborhood. Gossipers, gamblers, drunkards, drug addicts, ex-convicts, prostitutes, snatchers and other notorious characters regularly hang out in the funeral wake/s of the alley either drinking alcohol, in the gaming table, or just gossiping around. These personalities, having been born and growing up in this kind of environment, see themselves as having the right to abuse their own bodies and cause untold miseries to others.
Ang Cute Ng Ina Mo!
RP President
Christine frantically flies back in the Philippines to gather evidences that will convince his Australian father not to marry Georgia her estranged mother, who she thinks has abandoned them. She takes with her Ninonu, her nanny for 20 years. Georgia, clueless of her daughter’s dark plans prepares the whole town with all excitement. Meanwhile, Christine cannot believe that Georgia is a successful Patis manufacturer in her town and is well-loved by her neighbors
Image Nation
(segment "Mistulang Kamera Obskura")
Imahe Nasyon is a groundbreaking, conceptual omnibus film by 20 alternative filmmakers who were tasked to present their personal visions on national issues. Renowned line producers Jon and Carol Red hatched the idea of revisiting the 1986 EDSA revolution, challenging directors to answer the question "What happened after 1986?" with a short film not longer than five minutes each. Despite individual techniques, the same goal is shared: to depict a truthful image of the nation at present.
Tuli
The daughter of a circumciser rebels and challenges the status quo when she is asked to take over her father's job.
Baryoke
Sexually frustrated Perla wants out of her marriage; servant Lea yearns for power; streetwalker Joan has a secret; and Diana is lost in grief. They find escape and salvation in the only place that inspires hope: the karaoke bar. Music is the only way they're able to feel whole once more, but will it work in the long run?
Bcuz Of U
Tatay
This movie encloses three intertwining love stories of six different people through a vintage car: Ria and RJ share the perfect relationship until she chickens out on their wedding. Years after, she decides to win him back. But the indecisive and the new RJ is now the most sought-after model in town. He wants nothing of her anymore. Will their love prevail over the pain they cause each other? Cara never takes a chance on falling in love because she believes that it will only break her heart. That was until she meets Roni but only to find out that he is the kind of man she's been trying to avoid. Will she take the risk this time? Louie, a tourist guide, meets April a Korean girl who gets lost in the city and is left with no choice but to pretend that she is a famous actress in her hometown only to survive. Will it be possible for two very different individuals find home in one another?
Evolution of a Filipino Family
Kadyo
An intimate epic made with uncompromising and austere seriousness that patiently and methodically observes the collapse and hopeful revival of a poor farming clan.
Naglalayag
Pacio Garcia
After a chance decision sends her home in a taxicab, Dorinda (Nora Aunor), a widowed judge, strikes up a friendship with the young and charming driver, Noah (Yul Servo), who's overcome with respect for her profession. But soon enough, their fondness for each other results in love -- and an unexpected surprise: At 47 years old, Dorinda becomes pregnant. Will her scandalous romance ruin her future?
Bertud Ng Putik
Dodong
The sin of the past is the tragedy of the present. The year is 1953 and Gabriel de Dios, a man who lives a simple and happy life with his family, possesses the good half of a powerful amulet while Damian Buenavista, a black-hearted scoundrel, who intends to rule the world own the bad half. But Damians plan to take control of the world will not be successful without the other half from Gabriel. Damians plans, however, turn futile when Gabriels bertud, as the amulet is called, saves Gabriel and brings him to the year 2003. Gabriel thinks he is already safe from the greedy Damian... until he realizes the battle has just began.
Till There Was You
Frank Boborol
Joanna meets single father Albert and his baby Pippa on a bus. When she gets off the bus, Joanna accidentally leaves her photograph behind with her book. Over the years, Pippa comes to believe that this picture is of her mother's. Years later, Pippa meets Joanna again, and Albert hires her to act as Pippa's mother. Eventually, Albert and Joanna become romantically involved.
Agimat, Anting-anting Ni Lolo
Fr. Tolon
Pao is a young schoolboy who inherits an amulet from his grandfather. butt before he can use its power, he must first past three formidable test to prove his strength and determination. After passing the two test , Pao comes face to face with Paolo his grown-up alter-ego and battles him in a difficult duel. Although bruised and weak Pao still manages to pass the last test. With the power of the amulet no on his side Pao must fight the evil creatures led by Queen Manananggal, Evil Queen and Ancient Evil. Together Pao and Paolo must ruin these evil beings' plan of destroying mankind.
The Life of Rosa
Lupo
Crime does not pay, so the adage goes. But feisty and outspoken Rosa (Rosanna Roces)--however sharp-witted--does not know any better. Doggedly out for bigger money, she is quick to rebuff even her lover Dado's (Diether Ocampo) pitch for a new life. What will they risk to succeed? What will they give to taste the sweet pleasure of living peacefully and not running away from law and the syndicate anymore? Will their love for each other endure in the end?
Lagarista
Jimmy
Gregory bikes his way through the streets of Manila and transports film reels from one theater to another giving “extra service” to its patrons. He lives with his grandfather whose dementia worries Gregory, but whose stories of local movies being friends with Rogelio dela Rosa, Carmen Rosales, Leopoldo Salcedo, and other film stars fill him with inspiration.
Deathrow
Gabino
A neglected and unloved orphan raised by poor relatives in the slums of Manila is wrongfully convicted of murder that resulted from a heist he was compelled to join. Unable to prove his innocence and his minor age, he is thrown into the cruel, perilous and horrifying world of death row where he is introduced to other inmates all awaiting their execution by lethal injection. One of them is a 70-year-old man who detests the jungle of jail and is feared by all the convicts. He would serve as the boy’s protector and savior and in the process touch and shape enormously the violated youth’s life in prison and beyond.
Muro-ami
Fredo (Cesar Montano) is a fisherman who has endured more than his share of hardship in life; his wife and child both perished in a boating accident, and today Fredo approaches each trip to the sea with the angry determination of a man out for revenge. Fredo commands a crew of young people from poor families as he takes his rattletrap ship into the ocean in search of fish that live along the reefs, snaring catch with an illegal netting system. Not all of Fredo's youthful sailors are willing to put up with his abusive arrogance, however, and even his father Dado (Pen Medina) and close friend Botong (Jhong Hilario) have grown weary of Fredo's tirades. Fredo's body is beginning to betray him as well, and as he and his crew damage the sea's reef beds in search of fish, no one is certain how much longer he will be able to continue.
Kahapon, May Dalawang Bata
Terio
It is the time of El Niño, a season ruled by superstition and fear. The rain is long in coming, the ground has cracked up dry. The ricestalks are thin and sickly. Villagers go hungry. And a boy dies from a snakebite. The adults splinter. Some pray. Others join a cult to appease earth spirits and wait for the ada, the ricefield spirit goddess of bountiful harvest who dances naked on moonlit nights and signals the need for a virgin’s sacrifice. There are fence sitters, equally pro-church and pro-cult. A landlord’s steward enforces his master’s usury on hapless farmers. A self-righteous priest says rain must first be deserved. Two young women fight for the right to do with their bodies as they please. A bastard boy and a blind girl come of age. Yesterday, they were children.
José Rizal
Paciano Mercado
Accused of treason, Dr. Jose P. Rizal awaits trial and meets with his colonial government-appointed counsel, Luis Taviel de Andrade. The two build the case and arguments for the defense as significant events in the central figure's life prior to his incarceration unfold. Upon hearing Rizal's life story, Taviel begins to realize that the accused not just is innocent but exhibits in fact all the qualities of an extraordinary man. When the mock trial unreels, Taviel is all set to act as the prime advocate for his client as Rizal himself is about to give an earth-moving speech to defend his honor and address his countrymen. Meanwhile, the Spanish authorities have worked out the vast political machinery to ensure a guilty verdict. A revolution waits in the wings.
In the Navel of the Sea
In a remote fishing island in the 50's, Pepito grows up learning the trade of his mother, Rosa, the only midwife capable of delivering the newborn babies of their community. At first, the young son doesn't mind the unusual arrangement, but as he grows older, he begins to resist the role traditionally meant only for women. In time, Pepito's coming of age intersects with the lives of the other islanders, whose beliefs and struggles become critical impetus to his maturity.
They Call Me Joy
Tikyo
When asked for her real name, the feisty woman in a rural whorehouse would quip, "Ligaya. It means joy. And that's what I sell." Yet the small-town prostitute is not resigned that she would be in the flesh trade forever. She still harbors the dream of getting out of the job someday. She saves money and fancies that someone would come and marry her as if she were clean and never been a whore. That becomes almost a reality when a hardworking farmer enters her life. Under some problematic circumstances, her chances get blown away-but not exactly of her sole doing.
Abot-Kamay Ang Pangarap
The film is based on the true story of a maid who was either seduced or raped and made pregnant by her Chinese employer; the baby was either killed by the employer's wife or by her own hand, depending on who you talk to.
Mumbaki
Ramon Atiwan
Joseph is a young doctor who returned to his hometown in the Mountain Province to bury his father, an Ifugao chieftain, who was killed during a tribal dispute. While there, he discovers his rich heritage and acquires pride in his being an Ifugao. Though the lure of a career in America remains strong, he is unable to resist the urge to help his village, which has resisted modern medicine and is now in the midst of a pneumonia epidemic and a civil war.
Utol
Mang Kanor
A Filipino crime drama film directed by Toto Natividad.
Dead Sure
Pepe Moreno
In the daytime, Karen is an insurance saleswoman in Manila, but in the evening she works as an escort in a club.
Leon Cordero
Tito Miroy
Iligpit si Bobby Ortega: Markang Bungo 2
This film is based on a true story of Baguio City police officer Bobby Ortega.
Unsung Heroine
The heartbreaking plight of the overseas contract workers is dramatized in the tragic tale of Flor Contemplacion - the Filipino domestic helper in Singapore convicted of murder and condemned to death. Accounts culled from reports of Amnesty International as well as classified info gathered in the Asian city-state itself are combined with actual footages and recreated scenes of events leading to the heroine's execution.
Loretta
Prosecutor
A movie about Loretta and her struggles as a woman.
Darna: The Return
Barangay Captain
Valentina, Darna's snake-haired arch enemy, is trying to take over the Phillipines through subliminal messages on religious TV shows. Darna has her own problems, however, as she has lost her magic pearl and with it the ability to transform into her scantily clad super self. Trapped as her alter-ego, the plucky reporter Narda, she must try to regain the pearl and foil Valentina's plans.
Sakay
Col. Lucio de Vega
Sakay is a 1993 Filipino historical drama film directed by Raymond Red. The film stars Julio Diaz, Tetchie Agbayani, and Leopoldo Salcedo. The film covers the life of Filipino patriot and hero Macario Sakay, who was declared an outlaw and a criminal for continuing hostilities against the United States after the "official" end of the Philippine Insurrection.
Aswang
Screenplay
This Filipino vampire film co-directed by Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes tells the story of an aswang, the traditional shape-shifting creature of local legend. Here, the vampire makes appearances as a giant snake, a young woman (Alma Moreno), and a withered old hag (Lilia Cuntapay). The aswang has a lengthy cinematic history, having been the subject of the first sound film ever produced in the Philippines (1932's Ang Aswang) and migrating, in somewhat altered form, to films in Hong Kong, India, Japan, and, in 1994, to the United States. Aiza Seguerra co-stars with Janice de Belen, Aljon Jimenez, John Estrada, and Alma Moreno.
Aswang
Nato
This Filipino vampire film co-directed by Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes tells the story of an aswang, the traditional shape-shifting creature of local legend. Here, the vampire makes appearances as a giant snake, a young woman (Alma Moreno), and a withered old hag (Lilia Cuntapay). The aswang has a lengthy cinematic history, having been the subject of the first sound film ever produced in the Philippines (1932's Ang Aswang) and migrating, in somewhat altered form, to films in Hong Kong, India, Japan, and, in 1994, to the United States. Aiza Seguerra co-stars with Janice de Belen, Aljon Jimenez, John Estrada, and Alma Moreno.
Heroes
Independent filmmaker Raymond Red's first crossover to full-length feature is a highly visual chronicle of the rise and fall of revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio. Noted for its heavy stylistics and painstaking attention to filmic detail, the biopic also tackles the momentous events surrounding the Philippine struggle against Spanish colonialism. The historical epic is a most fitting cinematic memorial to the centenary of Philippine independence.
Shake, Rattle & Roll III
Fr. Salazar (segment "Ate")
A Trilogy-Horror. In "Yaya" a young couple hires a mysterious nanny for their baby. In "Ate" a young woman discovers that her sister has been dead and been made alive again. In "Nanay" a student unwittingly brings home from a beach field trip the egg of a horrible alien monster.
Fatal Vacation
A pleasent trip to the Phillipines is turned into tragedy when the tour bus is kidnapped by a group of rebels that want to exchange the prisoners for the Rebel Leader's brother...
Demonstone
General (as Crispin Medina)
Two U.S. Marine investigators looking into a series of grisly murders in Manila discover that the crimes are tied to an amulet with a 400-year-old curse on it that has unleashed supernatural forces.
Isang Araw Walang Diyos
Pfc. Nelson Galang (as Crispin Medina)
A cult called Wakwak headed by Papa Mundo is ready to kill and be killed to fight for their beliefs. It is a religious battle for their leader, clad in priest's robes, who they believe has supernatural powers to extinguish life out of anyone. Outnumbered, Lt. Cary Altamonte's group fights for the safety of the civilians. The situation unfolds in a battle of faith.
Fight for Us
Chef 'Sparrow'
Set during the post-Marcos regime in a remote village of Dolores, chronicles the life of Jimmy Cordero, a political prisoner who have just been freed from prison after the decline of the Marcos dictatorship. From his revolutionary past, he got himself into human rights activism following his prison release. He and his wife’s brother once conducted a fact-finding mission to Dolores only to find out the terror brought about to its residents by the Orapronobis, a government backed anti-communist paramilitary troop deployed in the town of Dolores.
Saigon Commandos
Quy (as Crispin Medina)
A series of drug-related murders haunt Saigon. Ex-Green Beret Mark Stryker and his MP's must find the culprits. With the help of Jean Lassiter, a nosey reporter covering the crime beat, Stryker uncovers the involvement of corrupt politicians in the heroin trade and in the killings. But before he can pin them down, Stryker is framed for the murder of his commanding officer and now he must clear his name, free Lassiter from her captors, and stop his men from carrying out their own kind of vengeance before it is too late.
Once Upon a Time
The "Tikbalang" Puga searches for the magic crystal which will restore peace in his land. His dangerous quest leads him to earth where he meets three young men.
Unfaithful Wife
Villa
The film concerns the attempts of Fidel to resume a normal life after the devastation wrought by his wife's death. He returns to his old friend Crispin and wife Irene. A tentative effort with another woman fails, and Fidel finds himself in Irene's arms. That same evening a young girl is brutally murdered. Fidel, unable to account for his whereabouts, is named the principal suspect, which later leads to his imprisonment. Crispin, meanwhile, learns of Irene's infidelity; his friendship is put to the test when Fidel escapes, gets wounded, and asks Crispin to kill him and put him out of misery.
Scorpio Nights
Barkada
In a crowded, multi-appartment house, a young student peeps on his neighbours making love and subsequently develops a steamy affair with the neighbour's wife. The affair slowly becomes an obsession and spins out of control.
Virgin Forest
Macabebe
A story set in the Philippine Republic in the 1900s where a lass, a Spanish mestizo, and a fisherman are caught up by Macabebe soldiers who are trying to capture Emilio Aguinaldo.
Shake, Rattle & Roll
Shake, Rattle and Roll is the first of the popular series of Filipino horror movies composed of three episodes. 'Baso' talks about the adventure of three friends who performed Spirit of the Glass and discovered the tale of a tragic love triangle. 'Pridyider' revolves around a refrigerator that seemed to be "alive". 'Manananggal' is about a teenager who courts a barrio lass without his knowledge that this lass is a monster. She eventually causes chaos to his family.
Sister Stella L.
Nes
A nun who acts as a counselor in a home for unwed mother undergoes political awakening when her friend and namesake belonging to the same congregation as hers inspires her to get involved in the struggle for justice and freedom of striking workers in a cooking oil company.
Of the Flesh
Menardo
When Narcing brings home his wife Puring to their hometown Mulawin in the 1930s, it sets off a series of events that include parricide, infidelity, betrayal, guilt and redemption.
Himala
Pilo
When plain orphan Elsa begins having visions of the Virgin Mary, the rest of the residents of her isolated village find themselves questioning their own beliefs and values. Soon, Elsa is healing people with a variety of ailments. As word of this phenomenon spreads, tourists, pilgrims, patients and a documentary filmmaker all arrive on a quest to partake in the miracle.