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DVD
DUB
Publisher: TLA
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Actors: Soliman Cruz; JR Valentin; Neil Ryan Sese; Ping Medina; Bodjie Pascua; Nathan Lopez
THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS tells the story of Maxi (Nathan Lopez) a gay, pre-teen growing up in the slums of Manila, who is deeply loyal to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and two brothers, who love and protect him in return for Maxi s devotion to completing domestic chores and covering their tracks when they commit crimes. When Maxi meets Victor (JR Val
THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS tells the story of Maxi (Nathan Lopez) a gay, pre-teen growing up in the slums of Manila, who is deeply loyal to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and two brothers, who love and protect him in return for Maxi s devotion to completing domestic chores and covering their tracks when they commit crimes. When Maxi meets Victor (JR Valentin) a well-meaning, handsome policeman, the two become fast friends and Maxi begins to learn that he can have a better life, which soon incurs the ire and disapproval of Maxi s family. The digitally-shot feature made its U.S. debut at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was the official Philippine entry of the 2007 Academy Awards® for Best Foreign Language film. The film has also garnered several film festival awards including the Teddy Award at the 2006 Berlinale Film Festival and Best Asian Film at the 2006 Rotterdam Film Festival.
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| A BOY TORN |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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I cannot say enough good about this picture from the Philippines. This story of a gay boy who bonds with the cop who is out to destroy his family is in Tagalog with subtitles. Heart rending and subtle. Please don't miss it. Particularly telling is the "long walk" ending which, I am sure, is taken from The Third Man.
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| The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Maximo is trying to find love with another guy. It never gets anywhere near the point of an x Rating, but he does find someone in an older guy who happens to be a police man. Well, the guy finds out that Maximo has a crush on him and tries to let him down easy, but Maximo is crushed/shattered. In the end Maximo does seem to get things going to here he is on his way to find a lover/friend. It's worth watching again and again, but if an x-rating is needed then this is not the one.
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| A fascinating film |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from this DVD, since lady-boys are not at all my type (much less 12yo lady-boys). But, just as a person, the 12yo lady-boy won my heart.
And that is perhaps the crucial thing about this film. Folks who come prepared to condescend will likely wind up wishing they knew more people like Maxi. Sure, he's an effeminate gay boy, and he's only 12, but... how to put it?....he's a great guy, sincere, affectionate, hard-working, and his dreams are firmly fixed on the stars. To sum it up: he's a believable character, and very sympathetic.
Now you have to get ready for the "Romeo & Juliet" part of the story. Maxi lives with a family of criminals, and he falls madly in love with an honest cop. To say any more would spoil the story, except that I will say this: the story is about love, not about sex. In the end, both Maxi and Victor have been seen in tears. The affection is very real.
Frankly, I don't regard this as a "quirky little film." It is a film about real human feelings. (When I was living in Iran, I had the same experience of a young boy falling in love with me! It happened during a vacation trip, and so it was short, but neither of us ever forgot it.) I don't think I need to repeat myself, but it was all about affection, and never about everyone's favorite subject. The last I heard, a dozen years later, Arman was in medical school --- and I was overjoyed to hear it.
In precisely the same way, Maxi and Victor come to care for one another, and to care ABOUT one another.
And that's really what life is about.
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| Bloom Already! |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Dear Reader,
I find this film hard to believe. So much of the time, till the last 10 minutes, I tried to give it the benefit. My review is based on the inconsistency of the film and how it does not manage to keep the time/day and time, place and events in proper sequence. I guess the producers thought we wouldn't notice suttle differences in what people are wearing, to what people say and do when the camera cuts and pans over to a different angle.
Overall I am disapointed with this film because I went to great lenghts to rent it from our big local movie rental places. Only one place had it in stock under the foreign sections.
The acting was slow and painful, yet the boy was easy to look at and feel compassion for, regardless of quality of film. The love romance between the two main characters is too hyped up by the reviews, it is simply a crush that flew in and didn't seem to make a difference toward the end of the film.
Bloom, bloom little one! We are still waiting!
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| Overrated, but worth watching |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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The main reason to recommend watching this coming-of-age film from the Phillippines is the main character of Maximo Oliveros, an unashamedly femininine 12-year-old boy growing up in the slums and fulfilling "wife" duties (cooking, cleaning) to his family of crooks (widowed dad and two brothers) when he unwisely develops a crush for a hunky policeman amused by his attention. Its the type of character you never see in gay-themed movies and the early family scenes and especially the scenes between the cop and the boy, basically a series of innocent flirtations which begin to take on a potentially dangerous erotic tone, are very well made. However, cinematically, the movie shows its low budget and the director's inexperience with narrative film. The plot degenerates by the third part of the film, falling into crime melodrama, and the last scene, a nod to The Third Man, is inconsistent with character development. Still, the film is well worth a rental, since the quality of TLA DVDs is really not worth the money and Im not sure about repeated viewings of this film.
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