Musical film starring Fil-Ams opens in NY

"CO LMA: The Musicalâ is now also showing in New York at the Quad, 34 W 13th Street . The indie musical film, which features Fil-Am talents, was reviewed by The New York Timesâ Manohla Dargis. Here are excerpts:

An itty-bitty movie with a great big heart, "Colma" is about three young people on the brink of that terrifying adventure called life, but itâs al so about how we learn to give voice â joyfully, honestly, loudly â to the trues t parts of ourselves, parts not everyone else hears⦠Out of the closet to ever yone but his darkly glowering father (Larry Soriano), Rodel (Mr. H.P. Mendoza) scribbles on scraps of paper that mirror his disconnectedness and sings with as much hurt as he speaks. Heâs the familiar angry young man with the caustic wit thatâs as much shield as weapon.

About the only people who have breached his defenses are Billy (Jak e Moreno), an aspiring actor who calls himself a thespian (itâs unclear if heâs in on that particular joke), and the beautiful Maribel (L.A. Renigen), a vamp with a face as round as the moon. Together these three restlessly peer into the fog, talking smut and Emily Dickinson and, every so often, pouring their heart s out in song. (They dance, but not much.) â¦In "Colma" being young (or gay or Filipino) isnât a recipe for automatic disa ster; itâs what helps define these specific characters at this specific time. I tâs a poignantly brief moment that â much like home â they may only really know after they leave. â¦The idea of youth as a cause for self-discovery works well with the movieâs b elief in music as an intimate means of self-expression. Mr. Mendozaâs hooky son gs, both the short and semisweet and the epically narrative, look as much outwa rd as they do inward. Yet even when the songs convey a sense of the larger worl d, they remain as personal as a confession. When the three friends sing the mov ieâs opener, "Colma Stays," both separately and together, they are literally traveling through a physical space ("Everybody has their call/And eve ryone in Colma ends up at the mall") that has also shaped their interior landsc apes ("Colma stays, a place I was born/Wanting, sad, forsaken, forlorn").