The best Tony Mabesa’s drama movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Tony Mabesa’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Tony Mabesa.
José Rizal
7.6/10
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.
Kadenang Bulaklak
8.5/10
Jasmin, Violy, Baby and Daisy are sisters that were separated in their youth.
The Mistress
6.4/10
A young woman is torn between the affections of her two lovers. One is a young bachelor who brings passion into her life. The other is a married man who has kept her as his mistress for years. Architect JD has a chip on his shoulder about his father Rico never really accepting him as his son. Seamstress Sari struggles to take care of her family. The two meet by chance, and JD aggressively pursues Saris affections. Though the two are clearly a good match, there is a problem standing in the way of their bliss: Sari is the mistress of JDs father. Against his better judgment, JD continues to court Sari even after finding out this difficult fact. He hides his true identity as Ricos son, and fights to win Saris heart.
Macho Dancer
6.6/10
Abandoned by his American lover, a handsome teenager from the mountains journeys to Manila in an effort to support his family. With a popular call boy as his mentor, Paul enters the glittering world of male strippers, prostitution, drugs, sexual slavery, police corruption and murder. Teeming with sex and Asian beefcake, Macho Dancer is a searing indictment of the hypocrisy and police corruption rampant under both the Marcos and Aquino regimes.
Silip
6.2/10
Small-town waitress Tess (Diana Zubiri) is swept off her feet by dashing salesman Rico (Polo Ravales), who marries her and takes her to live on his isolated farm. When Rico goes on a sales trip and leaves her all alone, Tess fights off loneliness by befriending Celia (Francine Prieto). Suspicions that Celia may be having an affair with her husband soon creep into Tess's mind and threaten her sanity.
Bagets 2
7.2/10
Set in the immediate summer after the events of the first movie, and deals with more of the guys' misadventures as they prepare for college.
Stella Magtanggol
Femme fatale causing death to anyone she ever crossed paths with.
Bugbog Sarado
6.3/10
The story opens with Brandon and Shy, negotiating for a lease of an old room owned by Stella. Brix, a travelling salesman and Stella's live-in partner deals with the couple in behalf of the landlady. Little do they know that inside the mysterious house lies a perplexed truth. Bugbog Sarado" shapes up the frames of sadism and masochism. It intensified the sounds of pain and protest in discovering the real encounters inside the bedroom of abused women.
Kiss the Sky
5.8/10
Two professionals, Jeff and Marty, take a business trip to the Philippines. Their deep dissatisfaction with their lives leads them to forsake their friends and families for a return to the alcohol and drug-induced wanderings of their youth.
Rainbow's Sunset
7.3/10
Ramon, an 84-year-old retired politician, shocks his family with his decision to live with and take care of his gay, childhood best friend, Fredo, who’s dying of cancer. As it turns out, the two men are romantically in love.
Lihis
7.4/10
The film splits itself between two timelines. In 2006, Ada is basing her thesis on a massacre that occurred twenty years prior in a village called Acacia. Her mother Cecilia was part of a fact-finding mission into a massacre, and Ada’s inquiries bring up her history as a member of the NPA. The other timeline traces the relationship of Ka Felix and Ka Jimmy, two rebels who fall in love, despite the movement’s laws against such a pairing.
El Presidente
5.8/10
The film begins with his capture by Philippine and US forces under Frederick Funston's command in 1901, then flashes back to 1886, when an old woman gives Aguinaldo and his childhood friend Candido Tirona cryptic prophecies. Ten years later, Aguinaldo is inducted into the Katipunan and later assumes leadership of its Cavite chapter while becoming mayor of Cavite El Viejo. When the trouble breaks out in Manila in late August 1896, Aguinaldo tries to assure the Spanish provincial government of non-interference and covertly marshals his forces despite a lack of weapons. Learning that the Spanish mostly put their forces in Manila, Aguinaldo finally mobilizes his troops and take the command of the Katipunan forces in Cavite
Bulaklak ng Maynila
6.8/10
A woman who falls under the sway of a crime boss plots to bring him down after a horrible betrayal in this drama from the Philippines. Azun (Elizabeth Oropesa) is a wife and mother living in a dangerous neighborhood in Manila, where she peddles goods on the street. Azun's husband Roque (Bembol Roco) becomes involved in a burglary that goes awry, leading to a lengthy jail sentence. With few options, and needing safety and support, Azun becomes involved with Timo (Christopher De Leon), leader of a local crime syndicate. But Timo's protection does not extend to Azun's teenage daughter Ada (Angelu De Leon); Timo rapes Ada, then forces her to leave her boyfriend (Jomari Yllana) and start dancing in his strip club. When Azun learns what Timo has done to Ada, she makes plans to get her revenge.
Katawan
3.9/10
The moment the doctor confirms his wife's pregnancy Carlo felt a sign of a curse coming to life. It's the curse caused by his errant grandfather, the curse that doomed his father. The same curse that's about to destroy him. Advised by his doctor to rest, Carlo returns to his family's villa in Lucban and there, he meets Carmen, the woman destined to kill her.
Menor de Edad
6/10
High school student Jen Guilarman lives in misery with her abusive mother and her mom's lesbian lover. Looking for some escape, she aims to join an all-girl gang which first requires her to undergo a sexual rite. Jen only has one man in mind, and that is her teacher Ariel Basco who has always been sympathetic with her. Suddenly, Jen cries rape and gets her teacher arrested. But behind her tragic fate is a dark truth.
The Flor Contemplacion Story
7.2/10
The story of the Filipina domestic who was hanged in Singapore for allegedly killing her fellow maid is chronicled in a film which operates on various personal, social and political levels. Both controversial and critically acclaimed, it has brought Nora Aunor numerous citations for her intense portrayal as the fallen heroine of the story.
Filipinas
6.9/10
Florencia, the matriarch of the Filipinas family, is in poor health, and Yolanda, the eldest of the Filipinas children, finds herself in the unenviable position of keeping her bickering family from disintegration. As the tension rises, Yolanda seeks refuge in a local church. She is critically injured trying to break up a nasty fight between brothers Emman and Samuel, forcing her family to make a life-changing decision.
Mano Po
6.3/10
During the Chinese Revolution in 1949, young Chinese copra trader named Fong-Huan marries Elisa, a young and pretty Filipina. The couples children, Daniel and Linda, were raised in a mixture of Chinese and Filipino-Hispanic tradition. These richly cultured people are the ancestors of a dysfunctional third-generation family whose daughters tell their own stories of joy, struggle, and the complex realities in the life of Filipino Chinese families.
She's The One
6.3/10
A television hosts wakes up to her true desires when his best friend's video goes viral.
Mano Po III: My Love
5.7/10
Anti-crime crusader Lilia Chiong Yang seems to have everything a woman could want and need: a husband who pampers her; children whom any parent would be proud of; and the respect & admiration of the most powerful people in the land. But just as Lilia prepares for her 25th wedding anniversary celebration, a chance encounter in Thailand with her first love Michael throws Lilia's life into chaos. So begins the resumption of a relationship that threatens to unravel the delicate threads connecting Lilia to the other people in her life. - Written by regalfilms
