The best Tony Mabesa’s 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.
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.
Heatseeker
4.1/10
A kickboxing champion is forced to fight cyborgs in a tournament when the company kidnaps his fiancee.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Past Tense
6.6/10
A woman's future self is nothing like she expected herself to be.
Maybe This Time
6.6/10
"Steph Asuncion and Tonio Bugayong were once in love. Back then, she was a young girl who wanted a simple life and he was older, more ambitious than she was. Tonio was a small town guy who wants to board a ship to provide for his family’s furniture business. Sarah was a Manila girl who spends the summer in the province for community service. What might have been a sweet relationship ended sourly when Tonio left without saying goodbye. Steph was heartbroken and it taught her to dream bigger to be worthy of love. Will their paths cross again? Will they overcome the pains of the past to give love a second chance? This is a story between two people who will be reminded about the importance of being true to one’s self in order for true love to happen."
Mila
6.9/10
An intelligent and witty teacher offers hope and inspiration to people around her, even though she fails to find happiness in her own life.
Bagets 2
7.1/10
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.
Soft Hearts
7/10
When Annie sets her sights on her co-worker Ron she gets a few drinks in him at an office party and then has her way with him in car. A few weeks later she's expecting and is ready to set up housekeeping. Only problem? Ron's boyfriend Nick doesn't like the idea
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.
Niño
7.4/10
The once illustrious Lopez-Aranda family has faded. Celia, once the darling of Philippine opera, and Gaspar, a distinguished ex-congressman, lacked the shrewdness to maintain their once elegant status. Saddled with a failed marriage, a vanishing career and mounting debt, Celia sold her share of their house to Gaspar, now bedridden. She managed to stay for free in exchange for being Gaspar’s caregiver. Gaspar loves listening to Celia’s arias. This idyllic arrangement is shattered when he slips into a coma. His daughter, Raquel, comes home from the US, determined to sell the house to salvage her own economic woes abroad. This signals Celia’s impending homelessness. With only a few heirlooms to sell, she is at her wits’ end. A fervent believer of the Sto. Nino, she hopes for a miracle. She dresses up her grandson, Antony, in Sto. Nino robes to prepare him for the coming fiesta.
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.
Rosa Mistica
6.9/10
A Filipino fantasy/horror anthology starring Snooky Serna. In "Mga Puting Rosas ni Rosalie", Rosalie dies in a freak accident on the day of her wedding to Mike, who's only after her money. With the help of the white rose, she comes back to earth to correct what is wrong. In "Mga Pulang Rosas ni Rosanna", Rosanna is the daughter of a mausoleum caretaker who happens to be the soulmate of the mysterious heir, Ramil, the victim of a curse of Satan's disciple, Lucila. In "Mga Dilaw Rosas ni Rosario", Rosario or Osang, a maid with an ugly facade, falls in love with a man named Dio.
Abandonada
6.9/10
After finishing prison sentence in Canada and came back to the Philippines, Gemma wants to recover her son after she was abandoned by her husband, Edwin. To do so, she worked as a nanny and was hired by Cindy, new wife of her husband. Being closer to her son in this household, she plans to escape with her son.
Bride for Rent
6.3/10
On the eve of his 25th birthday, the day he’s set to receive money from his trust fund, Rocco (Xian Lim) parties, gets drunk and loses all his money on a poker match. His dilemma: He has to produce the amount, otherwise he will lose the client he needs to defeat his father’s TV commercial production company. Meanwhile, Rocky (Kim Chiu) also needs money to pay the rent, otherwise her family will be homeless. There’s only one way for Rocco to be able to get money from his trust fund: Fulfill the conditions set by his grandmother and that is to get married. Rocky agrees to act as Rocco’s pseudo wife in exchange for a “talent fee.” They seal the deal. As they live like a married couple, Rocco and Rocky face one problem after another, forcing them with no alternative but to reconcile their differences and work with each other. Complication arises when they start to feel for each other, with their bond getting closer.
Bugbog Sarado
6/10
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.
Tayong Dalawa
6.9/10
Carol is a career woman determined to prove herself in a male-dominated corporate world. Her life suddenly changes when she falls in love with a carefree repairman Tonchi.
