Cherry Pie Picache Movies

Director Brillante Mendoza tells the affectionate tale of a poor family living in the Philippines that is hired by a local Foster Care Facility to provide temporary care and shelter for abandoned babies. Thelma and her husband Dado live in Manila with their two teenage sons Gerald and Yuri. Despite the fact that her family lives in abject poverty, Thelma receive a fair amount of fulfillment in life by serving as a surrogate mother to abandoned children who are awaiting adoption. A young three year-old named John-John is Thelma's latest charge. Now, as the kind-hearted foster parent prepares to turn the child over to his adoptive American parents, every moment spent with the precious youngster becomes something to be cherished. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Five Filipino-American friends living in New York City deal with love, sex, friendship, careers, and cultural identity in this romantic comedy-drama directed by veteran Philippine actress Laurice Guillen. Tere Sanchez (Cherry Pie Picache) is an accountant who is in her early forties, single, and not especially happy about it. Tere is an excellent cook, and often throws dinner parties for her friends, and the arrival of her old friend Lorna (Sol Oca) from Manila is all the reason she needs to invite her friends over for a feast. Mike (Christopher De Leon) is a former political journalist who is now enjoying the fruits of a lucrative career as a newspaper editor, but he wonders if he left his principles behind along the way; he's also feeling unfulfilled in his marriage to Gigi (Susan Valdez-LeGoff). Gerry (Ricky Davao) is a advertising copywriter who is afraid to tell his friends and family that he's gay, though circumstances may well drive him out of the closet. Raul (Paolo Montalban) is a good-looking ladies' man who prefers to date Caucasians, and lacks a certain amount of emotional maturity. And Marissa (Dina Bonnevie) is on the surface a well-to-do social butterfly; however, deep inside she's woefully insecure, and is afraid to confront her boyfriend Sam (Randy Becker) about his constant infidelity. Meanwhile, Lorna confesses that while she's married to a wealthy man in Manila, she's terribly unhappy, and is considering staying in America as an illegal alien. American Adobo was the first American-Philippine co-production to open in three major American cities at once (New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco); incidentally, adobo is a spicy chicken or pork dish popular in the Philippines. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A woman struggling to make a better life for her family finds that her efforts have caused a rift between her and her children in this downbeat family drama. Josie (Vilma Santos) is a mother of three from the Philippines who took a job in Hong Kong, working as a nanny for a wealthy couple for several years. Josie knew she could make far more money in Hong Kong than she could at home, but she also had qualms about how this would effect her children, especially when her husband died not long after she left. When Josie returns home, she has gifts for everyone and has saved a large percentage of her salary, which she plans to use to start a business; but her children don't welcome their mother with open arms. The younger kids, Daday (Sheila May Alvero) and Michael (Baron Geisler), are guarded around Josie, and while in time they are able to mend their relationship with their mother, the oldest, Carla (Claudine Barretto) does nothing to disguise her resentment for what she sees as a callous abandonment of her family. Carla openly challenges Josie's authority, starts dating boys she knows her mother would not approve of, flaunts her burgeoning sexuality, and begins using drugs. Anak received its American premiere at the 2001 San Francisco Asian-American Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This cautionary melodrama from the Phillipine's warns women against trying to escape the safe confines of their rigidly defined "feminine" roles as it tells the tragic tale of Elena, a young woman who is first seen accepting a suitcase full of cash from a sleazy lawyer who promptly beats her up and rapes her to ensure that she keeps the cover-up to herself. Afterward, Elena stumbles home with a terrible case of amnesia. Fortunately, her mother understands her daughter's plight and helps her regain her memory. Elena's story of how she became a surrogate mother for a wealthy family headed by a pushy and ruthless female doctor then unfolds via flashback. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi