Dateline v. Citizen Jake

Citizen Jake (2018)

Rated R-13: For Strong Language

Genre/s: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Running Time: 137 minutes (2 hours and 17 minutes)

Released on May 23, 2018 (PH Release Date; Limited Release Only)

Presented by Cinema Artists Philippines, through Solar Pictures



Writers: Mike De Leon, Atom Araullo, and Noel Pascual

Director: Mike De Leon

Starring:

• Atom Araullo as Jake Herrera
• Adrian Alandy as Jonie
• Teroy Guzman as Jacobo Herrera, Sr.
• Gabby Eigenmann as Roxie Herrera
• Max Collins as Mandy

Our dear friends at Solar Entertainment Corporation have cordially invited us on the twenty-fourth of May, 2018, to see a special screening of director Mike De Leon's latest feature at the luxurious VIP Cinema 2 of Evia Lifestyle Center in  Las Pinas City. Starring real-life journalist Atom Araullo, it promises to be an eye-opening look at the controversial political climate of the Philippines. Does it live-up to its massive cinematic potential, or does it disappoint at the lowest order? Welcome back to Dateline Movies, and film court is officially open for the case of Dateline v. Citizen Jake!

Some secrets are left buried, and if you have not seen this film yet, that includes spoilers.

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What is the movie about?

Jake Herrera, played by Araullo in his film debut, despises the corruption that now defines his family name. His malevolent father, the "honorable" Jacobo Herrera, played by Guzman (If You Leave), and his bigger, more dimwitted brother Roxie, played by Eigenmann (Swipe), have carried on that legacy, while he has since attempted to step away from it, and settle as a teacher, living with his childhood friend and family servant Jonie (Anino Sa Likod ng Buwan).

However, Jake's peaceful existence has been disrupted when a student of his and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Mandy, played by Collins (The One That Got Away), has been murdered. With no one talking, it is now up to Jake to bring the murdered to justice, even if it means having to reopen old wounds once more.

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What we think of the movie?

The Defense:

• Atom Araullo proves himself a spectacular leading man, and the rest of the cast are also absolute scene stealers!

Atom Araullo is on a roll these days, with him even having a television show on AXN, on top of potentially having a worthwhile film career. In case the heading above is not straightforward for you, Araullo does, indeed, have the capabilities of a serious actor. I am not just saying that because of his background in the world of reporting, but he really is able to convincingly portray a man who is constantly haunted by the sins of his father, no matter how much he tries to escape its shadow. The scene that absolutely showed me just how capable Araullo is in the moment when he realizes that his best friend, Jonie, is unwillingly a spy for his corrupt family. His breakdown at the revelation, as well as his off-the-wall reaction to the discovery that his mother, played by Dina Bonevie (Magdusa Ka!), has been secretly sending letters, is awesome. I really do not understand what director Mike De Leon said about Araullo being disappointing, and I do respect his take on his work, but for me, Araullo delivers.

Also, Cherie Gil (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) is here, playing the seemingly decent wife of a politician, who is secretly running an illegal escort business, is only here for one scene, and she absolutely nails it by showing us just how the cycle of revenge can be. Besides, it is Cherie Gil. She is a brilliant, versatile actress, and I very much enjoyed her performance, despite having extremely limited screentime. And since we are talking about actors playing corrupt politicians, Teroy Guzman and Gabby Eigenmann are very much intimidating. For me, Guzman's performance is, hands down, one of the best in the entire film, as he effortlessly catches my attention whenever he is on-screen meddling with Jake's life. Plus, even if Eigenmann's character is played for laughs often, as evidenced by Roxie's somewhat cartoonish obsession with The Godfather Trilogy, he still proves himself a menacing, albeit insecure, presence on-screen.

Max Collins is also great being the hope that Jake desperately seeks, and I enjoyed how she portrays Jake's voice of reason, even if she is only in a couple of scenes. And of course, Adrian Alandy actually manages to get a little of my sympathy in his performance as Jonie.

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• It is an almost perfect allegory for corruption.

One of the lines of the film states that people from "two classes can never be friends". When I heard Jake mentioning that near the climactic moments of the film, it got to me, because it pretty much sums-up the message of the entire film.

The film centers around the murder of a girl named Grace, played by Elora Españo (Baconaua), who is forced to be an escort due to financial problems. Jake himself has three servants taking care of him, including his best friend Jonie. Jake is also unknowingly a servant to his own father, because he is supposed to be keeping the sacredness of their family name in-check. Heck, Jake is even an unwilling servant to his own mother-related trauma. Jake, despite being of a different class, chooses to consider Jonie as his one true friend, only for him to learn that Jonie is coerced to become a spy for Roxie and Jacobo. The sinister family bodyguard Enchong, played by Richard Quan (White House), is made into a bodyguard because his father was one. Cherie Gil's Patricia Medina was once a call girl to satisfy a former president's desires, only to now be the one to making other young girls other men's unwilling servants. Mandy is also making Jake her reasonable servant by convincing him to investigate the murder.

All of this culminating in the tragic reality that the people in power will do everything they can to remain in power. And while there may be some who are willing to humble themselves, the stereotype of the all-powerful, all-corrupt elite figure will surely prevent any potential relationships to bloom.

I am not going to lie that I did not like the inclusion of too many references to the Philippines' unsettling history, and the movie would have been way better had the amount of references be set to a minimum. Regardless, the film's exploration of the relationship between the master and the servant is very thought-provoking.

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The Prosecution:

• Despite an intriguing premise and theme, it feels tamer than it should have been.

While Jake and the rest of his main supporting cast do get their own respective character arcs, both Jacobo and Roxie are reduced to stereotypes. The movie has established from the beginning that Jake's father and older brother are both corrupt, but other than just being plain annoying by having Enchong and Jonie spy on Jake and attempting to make a new property over Jake's mother's old home, not a single scene shows Jacobo and Roxie being exactly as such. That is, unless you count taking vices like a cliched gangster straight out of the movies, even if that might have been the point in Roxie's case, being corrupt.

The movie did hint some unique character motivations for both of them, with Roxie admitting to Enchong that he sees himself as if he is the "Sonny Corleone" of the family, referring to their father's potential favoritism, but we never really get to see Jake and Jacobo have any moments of father-son bonding, excluding all of the scenes where they argue over the house. I also do wish that the film could have dug deeper on how Jacobo might have been abusive towards Victoria, because that would have fleshed-out Jake's character a whole lot more. Besides, if we really do get to actually see how Jacobo and Roxie have treated Jake over the years, prior to the House of Herrera dividing, because that would have made Jake's entire crusade all the more personal.

Patricia Medina could have completely subverted all of these problems, if only she could have been introduced way earlier, and if only they could have given her more than just a single scene. This is so because, unlike both Jacobo and Roxie, "Patti" Medina's motivations for running an illegal escort service are interesting and sensible. In fact, I might actually enjoy the film much more if Patti Medina really is the main antagonist. Alas, Citizen Jake only ever explained her backstory in a single scene, with Jake and Mandy just reading it from a book.

The third act also felt very, very forced-in. I call this so because, well, Jonie, killed by Roxie in broad daylight, had absolutely no reason to die, other than to probably show just how incompetent Roxie is. It does earn some of my praise for giving Jake a complete character arc, as he learns that even he, a do-gooder, is completely capable of killing, the movie would have been great already if it just ended with Jake coldly accepting that he can never win against his family. 

Also, that plot "twist" that it was the Herreras who placed the hit on Grace's lover and frequent customer, a judge, played by Nonie Buencamino (Maalala Mo Kaya), just to blackmail him, is so predictable, I would have been much more surprised if it was not really them. If you are setting-up a plot twist, I really do insist that they should keep the huge number of cliches at a minimum.

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• Frequently mentioning the exact same point does not make the film insightful, but preachy.

One of the golden rules of filmmaking is that visuals must be allowed to speak for themselves, so if narration included. How Citizen Jake used it to plot dump the audience on characters and basically all of the other moments that need no explaining is next to inexcusable. This is probably, what I see, as the film's biggest problem, and it somewhat slowed down the movie for me. One instance of this is when Mandy, and Mandy and Jake's professor colleague Lucas, played by Lou Veloso (The Bourne Legacy), are first introduced to the audience, with Jake explaining through voice-over his relationships. Dude, I do not even need you to explain that scene. All I needed to do is just pay attention.

There are also these parts when Jake is more or less breaking the fourth wall explaining various behind-the-scenes happenings, such as him revealing that a real-life forensics team, who were extras, had to pull-out of the shooting after a dead body was found during the production. These somewhat creative, somewhat oddly placed quasi-documentary style narration from the main protagonist, are actually pretty interesting. My only problem with this is that sometimes it tends to ruin emotional vibe of a scene. One scene with Max Collins explaining to a bunch of extras that they are shooting for the movie almost felt like I was watching a reality show instead of a film.

But the thing that truly bothers me about these narration segments are its numerous, unnecessary references to, no less, the Martial Law era in the Philippines. Yes, I know that the film is aiming to remind people that history can repeat itself, which I completely understand, but seriously, I do not need to be beaten on the head over and over again. The character Lucas, a survivor of the horrors of the Martial Law, after giving-out on-the-nose political commentary through a poem, never even came back until the very end of the movie, and it is evident that the character was only created for exposition.

One reference is alright, and it is way better if it is a subtle one, but if you are just constantly bringing-up history lessons, which in-turn only slow down the movie even more, and which takes huge amounts of screentime for various characters, it all just makes the experience a cinematic lecture. Most great, social commentary-filled films did not even have to really go overboard with the references, unless it is a historical adaptation. 

Also, if you are going to be taking shots at the current administration, which I myself would really do if I would be writing a screenplay for a political film, I do not recommend just name-dropping. I thought that moment when one of Grace's friends, Heidi, played by Anna Luna (Changing Partners), mentioned that two of their customers look a lot like Senators Revilla and Sotto a little funny, but really, they could have done better than that. Showing the same image of former President Ferdinand Marcos twice, or practically editing-in too much images from all throughout history, also does not help.

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The Ruling: Not Guilty!

Anchored by strong performances from the cast, Citizen Jake goes above and beyond the call to show the dark side of the Philippine political scene, even if the film is not as fresh nor as thought-provoking as it could have been.

Even with its flaws, Citizen Jake is still a must see for everyone. Come and see it at selected theaters in the Philippines while it is still showing! And with that comes the end of yet another movie review. Be sure to also check-out his own television show, "Adventure Your Way", where he goes to various locations all over the country, and do various things based on the suggestions of viewers online. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!

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What Will Happen in Avengers 4? (A Spotted! Tie-In)

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Avengers: Infinity War is just the beginning. With a lot of people making a bunch of speculations, we decided to hop on the bandwagon, and made our own speculations. Forget about going back in-time and rendering all previous films effectively meaningless, and instead of directly copying another certain Marvel movie that followed that same premise, here are Earth's Mightiest Heroes ... trying to rebuild the Infinity Stones? Welcome back to Dateline Movies, and get ready for a mildly long post, because it is time for us to show you what we believe is the "official" plot of the Untitled Avengers Sequel!

Just remember that this entire post is primarily based on OUR speculations, as well as speculations made by various other Internet theorists, so the plot below being "official" is a huge stretch. And since we are not sure if any of our and others' predictions might really be correct, be wary of some potential spoilers!

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The Beginning of the End

Thanos' genocidal plans for population control have come to fruition, as half of reality is disintegrated out of existence, and now the entire universe is in a state of disarray. Endangered species all across the cosmos are now also effectively extinct. His infamous "snap", however, resulted in the destruction of the Infinity Stones, as the energy released was too strong for the stones and the Infinity Gauntlet to handle. The destruction of the Infinity Stones resulted in each of their respective energies scattering to different locations everywhere, from the Dark Dimension, to the Quantum Realm. Some such as the dread Dormammu are attempting to remake the stones for their own uses.

Thanos finds his initially stable agricultural life in the "Soul World", the pocket dimension stored inside the Soul Stone, shattered. The souls of those who were killed, including James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes / White Wolf, T'Challa / Black Panther, Samuel "Sam" Wilson, Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Groot, Mantis, Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Doctor Stephen Strange, Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Nicolas "Nick" Fury, and Maria Hill, have started to wander around aimlessly as the afterlife is running out of places for the dead, to the point that dying is impossible. To keep the balance in-check, Thanos assembles the latest incarnation of his Black Order.

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Five Years Into the Future!

(The Infinity Crusade Begins)

The remaining Avengers, as well as Emil Blonsky / The Abomination, Samuel Sterns / The Leader, Adrian Toomes / Vulture, Helmut Zemo, and Karl Mordo, all who wish to extend as much help as they can, head straight to space in the latest of Tony Stark's inventions, "Damocles Base", a sword-shaped, fully upgraded S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. The vessel, made with the use of the Time Stone, which has been duplicated by Doctor Strange prior to his own death, is able to move across time and space, and remain hidden from any potential threats.

Tony built the spaceship as a larger, portable particle accelerator, complete with upgraded technology provided by the current queen of Wakanda Shuri, for the remaking process, and it resembles the one Tony used to make his own element, humorously dubbed "Badassium". They also plan on making use of the compressed nature of the Quantum Realm in order to make the energies easier to contain.

Tony, Steve Rogers / Captain America, Bruce Banner / The Hulk, Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Clint Barton / Ronin, Lt. Col James Rhodes / War Machine, Brunnhilde / Valkyrie, Nebula, Rocket Raccoon, Wong, Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Hope Van Dyne / The Wasp, Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Shuri, Korg and Miek, and Okoye / Black Panther guard Damocles Base. The station orbits over Vormir, as Tony notes that the energy signature in the area is enough to power-up the particle accelerator.

Thanos unleashes a massive energy surge in Vormir and generates a field of electricity around the planet, preventing anyone else from also harvesting the power of the Soul Stone. The blast interrupted the heroes and villains' remaking process. The experiment fails, and the blast teleports almost each of them to random locations.

At this point, the story unfolds through three specific perspectives, with the first one being aboard Damocles Base, the second being in Vormir, and the third being on Nidavellir. Each of the six founding members of the Avengers get to have their own subplots. Each group is able to keep in-touch through their handheld communicators.

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Anthony "Tony" Stark / Iron Man 

- Space Stone (Howard Stark's Journals)

 His team includes Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Shuri,
and Lt. Col. James Rhodes / War Machine. 

Tony, reverting back to alcoholism due to his traumatic experience on the planet Titan, makes use of his "Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing (B.A.R.F.)" technology to search for any hints from past adventures on how to defeat Thanos. Eventually, he learns that his father, Howard Stark, who researched on The Tesseract, the artifact that formerly housed the Space Stone, based the chemical makeup of Badassium on the incomplete structure of the Space Stone itself. His discovery of this, and the recreation of the Space Stone, is what leads the heroes and villains one step closer to victory. Its creation also made Thanos aware of their base's location by the climax of the story.

Tony and his team are one of the two teams that were not teleported elsewhere, and handles much of the science needed to keep their mission going, and they guide Steve and Clint's groups on their respective missions.

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Bruce Banner / The Hulk 

- Power Stone (The Dark Dimension)

His team includes F.R.I.D.A.Y. / Jocasta, Karl Mordo, and Wong. 

Bruce butts heads several times with The Hulk over the course of his adventure, as The Hulk's fear of being defeated again by Thanos remains an obstacle for the group. During his journey to obtain the energy needed to make the Power Stone from the Dark Dimension through a portal on Vormir that is made by Dormammu, who is tasked by Thanos to devour the other souls into oblivion. The Hulk and Bruce eventually learn to work together, on the condition that Bruce can never revert back to his normal form again, which he readily accepts.

Bruce and his team are one of two groups trapped in Vormir due to Thanos' intervention. After no longer becoming Bruce, The Hulk manages to gain the intelligence of Bruce, while preserving his enhanced strength.

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Clint Barton / Ronin 

- Mind Stone (A Mysterious Sattelite)

His team includes Brunnhilde / Valkyrie, Helmut Zemo,
and Okoye / Black Panther 

Suffering from a mental breakdown after watching his entire family disintegrate in front of him, Clint embraces the darker persona of Ronin. After retrieving the energy for the Mind Stone, Clint and his team battles the resurfaced, and newly enhanced Ultron, whose consciousness has been preserved in a mysterious space satellite prior to being destroyed on Earth in 2015. Together, they fight to eliminate Ultron from Damocles Base in an isolated area of the ship, while also having to deal with Ultron's newly controlled "Iron Legion".

Clint and his team are one of two groups transported elsewhere, and they have been gone for almost five years, but Tony and the rest only thought he disappeared for an hour. His team unknowingly retrieves Ultron's consciousness at the beginning of the movie, and it is their actions that lead to Ultron controlling a small portion of Damocles Base.

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Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow 

- Reality Stone (Nidavellir)

Her team includes Adrian Toomes / The Vulture, Nebula,
and Rocket Raccoon. 

Still suffering from survivor's guilt, and finally looking forward to completely redeeming herself, Natasha and her team find themselves at the mercy of Tanaleer Tivan / The Collector, the original keeper of the Reality Stone whose tampering with the stone resulted into him gaining reality-warping abilities. He is now completely deranged after Thanos, who also held him captive after seeing some use for him, destroyed his entire exhibit, his life's work, and he seeks to cope with the losses by turning Nidavellir into his latest "museum". They must now secure Eitri's second Infinity Gauntlet, and bring it to Vormir.

Natasha and her team are one of two groups transported elsewhere. Their deus ex machina-like arrival at the near-end of the film is what finally closed this story.

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Steven "Steve" Rogers / Captain America 

- Time Stone (Doctor Strange's Duplicate)

His team includes Emil Blonsky / The Abomination, Hope Van Dyne / The Wasp, and Samuel Sterns / The Leader. 

Having a hard time letting go of the many things that transpired in his life, Steve and his team are given the duty to protect Tony and his own team from Johann Schimdt / Red Skull, the former guardian of the Soul Stone who has now regained his freedom, and is aiming to exact his vengeance on Steve once and for all. Steve argues with Tony over their communication relays due to past differences, while he also has to deal with Red Skull tampering with the Time Stone, which causes Steve to revisit flashbacks from way back when.

Steve and his team are one of two teams to not be transported elsewhere. They also hunt down Red Skull in another isolated area of Damocles Base. In addition, Blonsky and Sterns make a failed attempt to betray Steve.

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Thor Odinson

- Soul Stone (Vormir, Entrance to Valhalla)

His team includes Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel, Korg, and Miek.

Fueled with rage for Thanos' crimes, Thor and his team set-out to recover the Soul Stone energy that is hidden beneath Vormir. Thor eventually learns that the planet is also the gateway to Valhalla, and he and his comrades seek out allies in the form of the undead to help them in their fight against the Mad Titan. He and his friends have to deal with a mind-controlled Gamora, who has forgotten about her heroic life thanks to Thanos' machinations. Their secondary objective is to also slay Thanos.

Thor and his team are one of two groups trapped in Vormir due to Thanos' intervention. Thor successfully assembling an army is one of the factors that lead to their victory.

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The Final Battle

With The Collector, Dormammu, Red Skull, and Ultron defeated, the Reality, Power, and Mind Stones are successfully rebuilt with the particle accelerator. Tony makes a last-minute discovery through the Space Stone, but the powerful blast of energy from the stone alerted Thanos to their location, and he sends-out all of Dormammu's forces to haunt him and his friends. Tony and the rest battle their way with the use of Damocles Base to Vormir, and they eventually crash to where Hulk and Thor's teams are fighting Thanos. Despite not having any stones for enhancements, Thanos is able to hold-up.

As the Soul World is already full of spirits, therefore no longer accepting any sacrifices, Carol makes use of her energy-based powers to absorb and disperse the Soul Stone energy. Because of her knowledge of the Quantum Realm's mechanics, she is able to compress all of the energy into one stone, finally rebuilding the Soul Stone. Carol is eventually tired-out, and is no longer able to continue battling.

The stones still need the Infinity Gauntlet to officially perform their functions. Natasha and her team make it in a nick of time, and it is the Hulk, taking Carol's place, who manages to undo everything that Thanos did, at the cost of his own life. Steve, after mending fences with Tony, also dies in the line of fire when he, deemed worthy of Thor's powers, sacrifices himself to distract Thanos, who crushes his head. Natasha dies on her team's ship that crash, dying with dignity knowing that she has wiped "the red in her ledger" away. Nebula is also among the casualties, as she willingly sacrifices herself for Gamora to snap out of Thanos' control. Tony, by overloading his Arc Reactor to cosmic levels, kills a remorseful Thanos, who only feels guilt for his treatment of his favorite daughter, and himself in the process, finally putting an end to the "Infinity War".

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Tying-Up All Loose Ends

(Avengers Disassembled?)

Everyone that disappeared during Thanos' original attack have returned, seemingly with no memory of what they have experienced in the afterlife. However, the heroes who died but not due to Thanos' reality-warping genocide, except for Gamora, whose soul was trap in Soul World, remain deceased. The heroes and villains return to Earth through Thor's "Stormbreaker" weapon, which allows teleportation. Everyone is grateful for everything the heroes did, but they also saw what it cost. Only two of the founding members of the Avengers remained, and the world mourned.

Yet the world still needs saving, and the New Avengers are formed. The effects of Clint's apparent "time travel" had an effect, and as such, Wanda's brother Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver is alive and well. Bucky is now the new Captain America, Rocket returns to the reassembled Guardians of the Galaxy, his family, Thor gathers the last of the Asgardians to form a new Asgard in Norway, Doctor Strange embraces his role as the official Sorcerer Supreme, Clint returns to his Hawkeye persona and acts as the mentor to the New Avengers, Peter Parker returns to his Aunt May.

And there you have it, our entire lengthy post on how we believe the Untitled Avengers Sequel will go down. I would personally like to give credit to these three sources, especially to the users at Reddit whose number is just too many to mention here. Be sure to listen to one of the best songs from the official score of Avengers: Infinity War before you leave, and stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!

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Movie Spotlight: Citizen Jake

Citizen Jake (2018)

Rated R-13: Strictly for Thirteen Years of Age and Above

Genre/s: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Running Time: 137 minutes (2 hours and 17 minutes)

To Be Released on May 23, 2018 (PH Release Date; Limited Release Only)

Presented by Cinema Artists Philippines, through Solar Pictures

Writers: Mike De Leon, Atom Araullo, and Noel Pascual

Director: Mike De Leon

  
Starring:

• Atom Araullo as Jake Herrera
• Teroy Guzman as Jacobo Herrera, Sr.
• Gabby Eigenmann as Roxie Herrera
• Max Collins as Mandy

After a series of movie reviews and story pitches, we have returned with yet another spotlight just for you.

Is truth stranger than fiction? This film, starring real-life journalist Atom Araullo of ABS-CBN, offers to answer that question, in this political crime thriller. In a world filled with fictional superheroes inspiring countless lives, take the time to witness a story that is also fictional, but instead of focusing on heroes with unique abilities or access to state-of-the-art devices, here is a film that explores the life of an everyman. This particular movie aims to provide a distinct movie viewing experience, which you might say is in the vein of a somewhat similarly titled film, Citizen Kane. Welcome back to Dateline Movies, and this is Citizen Jake.

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What is the movie about?

Journalist Jake Herrera, played by Araullo in his film debut, aims to step out of the corrupt shadow of his heritage, especially his estranged senator father Jacobo Herrera, Sr., played by Guzman (Seklusyon). His older brother, Roxie Herrera, played by Eigenmann (Asintado), on the other hand, is a congressman.

In a bid to start again as a blogger and college teacher in Baguio City, even going as far as to start a relationship with English teacher Mandy, played by Collins (Bamboo Flowers), Jake unfortunately finds himself drawn back to the place he thought he would never be back. A female student of his is brutally slain, and Jake embarks on a dangerous journey of murder and conspiracy that his family might be involved in.

The story is not the only reason why you ought to check this flick out. An entire ensemble of talented individuals, including Cherie Gil, Dina Bonnevie, Adrian Alandy, Nonie Buencamino, Lou Veloso, Richard Quan, Allan Paule, Anna Luna, Victor Neri, Raquel Villavicencio, Nanding Josef, Ruby Ruiz, Elora Españo, and Cholo Barretto are all involved. With this amount of experienced, and up-and-coming actors and actresses, you know that this movie could really be something huge!

“My film may be fiction, but it is based on truths we ignore at our own risk. It should be seen by its audience in its original version, without cuts and without compromise. The film is not perfect, far from it, but it is a good honest film that is seeking an audience that I am convinced is out there. May you allow me to ask for your support?”, co-writer and director Mike De Leon, after an eighteen year hiatus, implored the moviegoers of the nation to view his second work to be distributed by Solar Pictures, with the most recent being Bayaning Third World.

Also, just a little trivia before officially concluding. The poster for this film was almost not going to be the final product. Long story short, it all happened because of a little "beautiful mess" giant splatter, a result of artist Tom Estera taking a quick break.

Be sure to check-out Citizen Jake, which will be released to a wider audience on May 23, 2018. Seriously, do see it, since from what I am reading from the initial reviews, it is really good. For more updates on the movie, be sure to check-out their Facebook page by clicking here. Feel free to tune-in to Solar Pictures for interesting developments through Twitter and Instagram by clicking here, and here, respectively. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!