tripxyde Reviews

World War Z (2013)

Simple Yet Very Kinetic

[6/10 · 19 June 2013]

Simple and typical may be what I may describe this movie. World War Z is good enough not to fall on the classification of lousy or awful. At least it does not drag; the movie is engaging and never ever slows down to cause the slightest bit of boredom. At best, it feels like what I imagine would be a perfectly well-made zombie video game adaptation. I'm sure that the movie has some intellectual or subliminal message hidden in and around the movie, or whatever message the writers want to convey. Whatever it may be, we could not really notice that since the pace of the film is fast and hyperactive. But at least it's never chaotic and messy.

On the horror aspect, it effectively does generate some screams and shouts. The scares are moderately efficient, and the zombies do indeed manage to be horrifying, even though they did not need to be extra disgusting and/or gory.

Although this may be considered as a zombie movie, it never crosses beyond its PG-13 rating. Meaning, it does not have the usual gore and violence other zombies have. Whatever violence the movie has is never focused or highlighted. It's a horror movie that may be considered "pretty safe" for a younger audience.

The problem with World War Z is that it's blown its wad by showing some of the best money shots of the movie on its trailer. The flooding stampede of zombies is the film's most impressive and unique eye candy. We've already seen fast zombies, we've also already seen extra-strong zombies (in "I Am Legend" they're not exactly zombies, but they have similarities with the zombies in this movie), but we've never seen them like this, the way World War Z presents them. On one point of view, it's refreshingly unique, on another point of view; it's a childish, over-bloated exaggeration of the concept.

But the flooding, stampeding zombies; that's the movie's one ace card. Aside from that, the movie is pretty simple horror suspense. What happens in the end is not your typical summer blockbuster climax scene; there's nothing extraordinary, like a big boss fight of some kind. With the way it was executed in the end, it felt like an indie horror movie.

But just because it has a quiet ending, it does not mean that it was a bad movie. The ending is consistent and fluid. It's not something impossible, incredible, explosive, or cartoonish. It's simple, and it makes sense that way in a manner consistent with the movie's tone. Overall, World War Z is a moderately good zombie movie; entertaining enough to be worth your money and time. But you will not be missing out on anything if you happen to skip it.

Mirror Mirror (I) (2012)

MIRROR, MIRROR is Immensely Fun!

[10/10 · 17 March 2012]

MIRROR, MIRROR is a fantasy adventure movie adaptation of the fairy tale SNOW WHITE (AND THE SEVEN Dwarfs) It's directed by Tarsem Singh, who directed "The Cell", "The Fall" and "Immortals", and stars Lily Collins as Snow White, the ever-funny Nathan Lane, Armie Hammer, and Julia Roberts as the wickedly amusing Evil Queen.

This movie is something that has a little too many of almost everything you can get from a movie that promises pure fun and entertainment. It's got funny bandit dwarfs, evil magic, a monster that haunts the forest, and swashbuckling action. It is one of those movies where all the elements of the movie work so harmoniously. From the acting, to the lavish and pleasantly bizarre costumes, to the special effects, the concept, the story, and the direction itself. All these factors complement each other to create such an enjoyable masterpiece.

Lily Collins is so effortlessly adorable and so natural, that she does not look like she's acting at all; she just simply is cute. My favorite scenes with her is when she joined with the bandit dwarfs; I loved it when she was doing some swashbuckling action, because even though she's wielding a sword, somehow she still maintains that very princess-like poise.

Nathan Lane is ever amusing, Armie Hammer is great in playing a prince who goes through non-stereotypical circumstances, and all the dwarfs played by Mark Povinelli, Danny Woodburn, Jordan Prentice, Ronald Lee Clark, Sebastian Saraceno, Martin Klebba, and Joe Gnoffo were all hilariously amazing to watch, and they were pretty much my favorite characters in the movie.

And then there's Julia Roberts who played the evil Queen Clementianna. This time, as she plays the villain, and looks like she's deliciously enjoying every moment of it. She does give the role more than enough spice. Her hilarious wickedness, with great little twisted lines, and the degree of wit she personally delivers to the role are precious cinematic moments that make this movie so fun to watch.

That one song attached with the movie, which is being played at the end credits of the movie; I really have to say that that is a stupid song. But the movie is so good and so effective, that it got me playing that song in my head over and over again hours after the movie.

MIRROR, MIRROR's script is excellently-written; so rich with wit. Its script makes it more comedy than fairy tale. The movie preserves the essence of the original, but injects new elements to make it more timeless and interesting. Granted, there might be unexpected changes, but it all works in the context of the story, and it's not as drastic as to completely change the feel of the source material (like what they did in the other movie where they made Snow White look like an iron-clad Conan the Barbarian) The costumes are so lavish, stylish, and positively weird; it makes you feel like you are watching a music video from Bjork. The movie's genre is not centered only for one demographic, as it also has some action on it; what with the swashbuckling bandits, and the gigantic creatures sent by the Queen to kill Snow White, there are sword-fights and awesome action scenes to balance out the comedy and the fantasy.

MIRROR, MIRROR is perfectly fun-filled, and quirkily weird in a very positive manner. This is the kind of movie that can give you a big smile even hours after you've seen the movie!

Corazon: Ang unang aswang (2012)

Does this deserve to be a classic?

[5/10 · 14 March 2012]

The movie itself is highly impressive, and if you count on a comparative scale, there are very very few Pinoy mainstream horror movies that are this good. That is why I will not be surprised if this joins the ranks of the top ten best Pinoy horror movies ever made. My judgment on it is partially on a level that considers the mass audience and was slightly adjusted to fit Pinoy cinema standards.

But in my own personal direct judgment, the movie was indeed initially going to be that timeless classic that I would have wished it to be; but it was ruined by the atrocious ending. After I have done watching the movie in its entirety, all the little flaws (that were ignorable at first) were like tiny wounds that had infectiously swollen into large sores. I could not help but think of a meddling by producers (or studio executives) in the creative process; the way the story was heading into one direction, and suddenly detouring into what seems like a forced "mainstream-friendly" ending. I will discuss this on the final part of this review.

CORAZON: ANG UNANG ASWANG (written and directed by Richard V. Somes) seemed like it was going to break grounds in the field of Pinoy mainstream horror movies the same way YANGGAW did. The vibrant cinematography which enhanced the various moods of the movie, Somes' directorial approach which is clean and un-awkward, and the concepts that the story was presenting; they were high points that made the film engaging to watch. There was a degree of heavy religious eeriness in the scenes with Maria Isabel Lopez, and the montage where Corazon (Erich Gonzales) went on an unusual pilgrimage for fertility. Those were scenes that cleverly built up to the horror of the middle act.

The story's progression in the middle was moderately impressive. The tragedy of Corazon's "becoming an aswang" was one that was nicely done and, in a good way, reminded me of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" that Francis Ford Coppola directed. The aswang montages were savagely direct and were indeed a re-visit to Somes' own "Yanggaw". The use of the boar head (and skin) was a brilliant touch (and yes, I was wrong about it on my "initial reactions" article). The film was looking good, and as a comparison to the usual Pinoy mainstream horror movie, this was looking like it was going to be one of those bound to be timeless classics.

There were some few things that bothered me initially. The acting of both Derek and Erich would sometimes miss the mark, but that was pretty ignorable. I could have easily forgiven and ignored to mention Derek's stupid "modern" necklace, bracelet, and haircut that are demerits to the story's post-WW2 timeline. And why, as a sacada, is he wearing combat boots? It was also not easy to ignore the overlong scenes of passion. Yes, I know they're in love; we get it. I don't think you would have to need steamy scenes accomplish that point.

But the worst and un-ignorable thing about the movie is the MAKE-UP department. Erich Gonzalez does NOT look like an Aswang. She does not look like she has been living insanely in the forest. But what she clearly looks like is a woman with cosmetics around her eyes. She looks like a freaking goth teenager or some grade school student in some kind of grade school Halloween party. It's the first big negative thing that sticks out in the movie. Whoever was in charge of the make-up should not be hired to work on movies again, as he/she does not know how to make things believable.

The movie eventually goes on directions of what may be an unforgettable origin story of what an Aswang is. It certainly melded many theories about Aswangs, with Somes' own interpretation and imagination. CORAZON: ANG UNANG ASWANG is a movie that I could easily recommend to those who are not too strict when it comes to what is quality cinema. But to those who are looking for the Pinoy movie that will break new grounds on the mainstream, this is not it.

The ending pretty much ruined the movie for me. The film's happy ending seemed like an obvious forced ending just to please the audiences. The movie sets Daniel and Corazon to be tragic characters. Do you think if Romeo and Juliet had a happy ending, it would have been a story that had become buried and forgotten a long time ago? Corazon was already eating children and Daniel was being a grandmaster jerk, even to his closest friend, and you expect the audiences to still root for him? I am hoping that Somes shot an alternate scene for this, and am sincerely crossing my fingers that a director's cut with a better ending would be released on DVD later on. Was this movie good? First let me forget about how the movie ended, and I might give you a different answer.

The Woman in the Septic Tank (2011)

A Must-See, Brilliant, & Thought-Provoking Satire

[14 August 2011]

Somewhere in the downtrodden slums of Metro Manila lives Mila, a miserably struggling mother living in sheer poverty with her 7 (or was it 9?) children. Because of their miserable condition, she decides to sell one of her children to a foreigner. But Mila is merely a character in the indie film that producer JM De Guzman, director Kean Cipriano, and production assistant Cai Cortez set out to make. They are inspired and are bent to achieve Film Festival glory. In doing so, they employ the ace under their sleeves; actress and superstar Eugene Domingo.

ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK is actually a brilliant, thought-provoking satire of the current Indie Film Industry & the hypocrisy in the minds of those who only wish to become Film Festival Superstars. Those who might think this is the usual Eugene Domingo wild and zany comedy (coz the abs-cbn trailer makes the movie look like a wacky comedy e), I'm just reminding you that this one is more of satire than comedy, meaning most of the stuff that's funny here are funny coz these things are real. It's a "Bato-bato sa Langit" sort of movie.

At the very core of it, the film-makers are three rich kids who never really care about the misery of poverty, for which their film touches on. Their film is entitled "Walang Wala" which is supposed to lament on the desperation of a mother who would sell her child just for some relief. At one point, they even contemplate on trying to find a real-life subject matter. The characters' hypocrisy is given a spotlight as the film shows us the glaring irony when we see how the three kids actually live a materialistic, worry-free, urban rich lifestyle. It is clear that the main characters don't care too much about the people stricken with poverty; they're merely interested in becoming film festival superstars.

You can say that it does not become preachy because it did not dwell too long on the film's serious moment, it did not spell out or give too much emphasis on what's unpleasant about the characters, and the character's enlightenment was not even clear if they did get some sense of wisdom or realization in the end. All it did was show us what does exist, and despite its subtlety, you can see all the obvious bad things about the industry.

One could say that the character of Mila exists in real life Manila, somewhere, there are two or more Milas who are going through the same fate. I think that angle is depicted in the movie; in its first few sequences wherein Eugene Domingo acts out who or what the real life Mila could be like. This sequence, which is in the intro, is the serious tone in the movie, where Eugene Domingo is indeed given a chance to show off her serious acting side.

The film exposes many of the industry's unpleasant habits in a single blow; it parodies not only the indie film scene, but the mainstream film industry as well. Later on as the story progresses, when our three main characters meet the "real actress" Eugene Domingo, they are put on a difficult position when Domingo uses her influence to alter the script. And the result of it is what usually happens in reality: impressive screenplays are reduced into corny melodrama or commercial garbage. There is a sequence here that shows us what really is wrong with commercial mainstream cinema; the treatment, as if it was made for idiots and the blatant product placements are all what mainstream media has been feeding its audiences. In the movie, Domingo uses her dominant influence, and the indie filmmaker is left with nothing but to bow down, if not make risky compromises.

If there was one thing that I complained about the movie is that it ended all too abruptly without some kind of grand closure, be it physical or dramatic. Perhaps the movie was all too conscious of how they parody filmmakers who inject immensely dramatic impact on the climax, to the point that when the story went to the direction that we expect the main characters to have some sort of realization, it does not happen, the film was over-conscious not to be a victim of its own parodying. But then again, the running time that played within the minimum 1 hour and 30 minutes was noticeable because the story never had a dragging moment; each moment was amusing, interesting, and thought-provoking.

ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK is a must-watch in order to understand what really is wrong with the film industry. This is one movie that I would urge everyone to see.

Green Lantern (2011)

Green Lantern: Loved It. But Were Our Expectations Too High?

[7/10 · 16 June 2011]

Green Lantern is one of DC comics' most popular characters, and its role in the DC universe is prominent enough that it is considered by DC as its space epic. So, the anticipation for GREEN LANTERN is so much high that satisfactory is not good enough.

The story begins with the death of Abin Sur, who is a Green Lantern, a warrior entrusted with a power ring in order to protect his sector in the universe, from the wickedness of evil. Abin Sur's ship crashed to Earth, and there he let his ring choose his successor. The ring chose pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) to become the new Green Lantern. But Hal's assumption of Abin Sur's ring could not have come in a worst time as an entity known as Parallax is set out to destroy the Green Lanterns, specifically the one who bears the ring that once defeated it: Hal Jordan.

I love the universe of the Green Lantern as created by DC comics, and I did love the movie. But inasmuch as I wanted this to be flawlessly good and wished to be blinded by love for this movie, I could sadly point out that it was far from the perfect movie I wanted it to be.

It is also noted that the director of this movie Martin Campbell rejuvenated the James Bond franchise twice by directing the first Pierce Brosnan Bond movie "Goldeneye" and the first Daniel Craig Bond movie "Casino Royale" not to mention that he directed "The Mask of Zorro" so it played with all expectations. It made me wish that I never knew this, because even though that I did love the movie, I could clearly point out its many flaws.

The characterization and the explanation of the villain Parallax, for instance, was not given sufficient detail and clarity. Even though there was a flashback about him, it was still unclear as to what this creature is and what its true motive is. It quickly becomes this one-dimension cardboard character that generates very little impact. The scenes in Oa, and the process of getting to know the aliens felt rushed and gravely insufficient.

The universe of the Green Lantern storyline is indeed complex, but not impossible to capsulate and explain with sufficient clarity within a few scenes. I think the shortcoming of the film was its failure to ensure that its audience flawlessly understood the world it tries to create in the film. What is more surprising is that it did not invest on a long running time. Epic summer movies of late have been gradually standardizing the practice of extending the running time of movies well beyond the less than two hours a regular feature film has. It was sad that Green Lantern did not do this, as it could possibly have made the overall film better.

It suffers from the same flaw as the Transformers movies had; that which it gives too much weight on the human focus and less on the alien aspects, but that human focus was not compelling enough, impressive enough, or worthy enough to waste too much time on. On the other hand, the Transformers movies are too extreme as a lousy example. But I do dread to admit that the animated movie "Green Lantern: First Flight" tells a better Green Lantern origin than this.

In this movie, the story dwells too much on Hal Jordan's self-pain and lack of self-confidence to become the hero that is expected of him. The movie dwells on his feeling of failure, of his painful memory of his father's death, and his romantic relationship with Carol Ferris (Blake Lively). It was difficult to appreciate Reynold's performance as Hal Jordan because I felt that he was not funny when he intends to be, and whenever he is serious, I am not sure if he's kidding around. I still think he was gravely miscast for this role (and believe that he's more fit for The Flash).

Despite Reynolds as usually a great performer and Campbell as a potentially efficient director, the characterization failed to be impressive and emotionally effective. The failure was more on the script and the sequences of the story. While the movie starts strong, somewhere in the middle it felt like it got messy and awkward. There were sequences that felt like they should have been cut off the movie and there were also instances that felt like it needed several missing sequences. An example of that is when Hal went to speak to the Guardians; a scene which felt like Hal was in an entirely different character mindset from the scene directly before it.

On the other hand, I did love the movie despite its shortcomings. It is the magnificent visuals that make this movie shine like the Green Lantern that it supposed to be; the aliens, the backgrounds, the overall visuals that surely blow audiences, especially ones that are not yet familiar with the Green Lantern mythology. I may have enumerated things that make this movie less than perfect, but there's no denying that I still am going to watch it again.

Additional Note: Yes, there is an extra scene in the middle of the end credits

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

A Typical Voyage

[4/10 · 8 December 2010]

While the first and second Narnia movies pretty much had a very war epic element; this new one is more of just plain adventure. The closest comparison to it may be the old (60s and 70s) Sinbad movies. If you are expecting this to catch up to how good the first two movies were; you may end up horribly dissatisfied. Perhaps if you were not in the mood, you could sense some degree of blandness in this movie. This felt like just another chapter to the Narnia series; a bridge episode, which one may choose to skip or ignore. On the other hand, many of my friends who actually read the book did confess that this was the more duller Narnia books, and it seems that nothing really great happens.

At first, I thought the movie was just too simple, but I later realized that it lacked some details in the storyline aspect which could have spiced up the movie. The story just lazily jumps to the adventure with not much of a dramatic and character build-up. At least it sticks true to its intention as a children's adventure movie. It looks like it tries to inject in some wisdom and deeper themes, especially in scenes where Aslan is present, but I felt that these were not executed well enough to prove a point, and failed to be meaningful. I most certainly did not even get what the big deal is behind "Aslan's country".

The two main characters Edmund and Lucy are all grown up now, and are most certainly making way for the new character, Eustace. This new main character is very unique because, for a main character, he doesn't look like the typical angel-face child actor. And for a kid, he certainly effectively acts like a grumpy old man, which is appropriately what the story requires him to act. His rants and complaints are amusing, and he does become a character that is fun to watch.

Reepicheep, who was, in many ways, too little for the second movie, had a chance to shine in this movie. Despite the fact that he is a rodent, he is pretty much the bad-ass of the film. It was amusing that Lucy's character was supposed to be almost obsessively craving to be as beautiful as her sister Susan. But the actress who plays Lucy obviously looks more beautiful. I felt that the scene looked like a Drew Barrymore wanting to look like Alanis Morrisette.

The 3D of the film was good enough to be satisfactory, but never impressive. The special effects were also satisfactory as well. Everything that you see in this movie is not as surprising as one would want it to be. As far as visuals would go, I'm sure female audiences would be ecstatic enough to see Prince Caspian. My female companion was herself having convulsions at every moment Caspian was on screen.

I guess it's okay if you were to watch this with your children; this is good for being childishly fun and colorful. It's good enough to satisfy some craving for the fantasy of dragons and sea serpents. My expectations were actually too low, that's why it did not bother me. All in all, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a simple adventure movie. It's not exactly awful; it's just not impressive.

My Amnesia Girl (2010)

A Most Romantic Movie that should Never be Forgotten

[9/10 · 30 November 2010]

Apollo (Pol) and Irene were the best, sweetest couple around, but fate had them drift apart. When Pol stumbled upon her again, he was surprised that Irene could not remember him; she then explains that she had amnesia. Pol is now bent to make Irene fall in love with him again. From the simple synopsis the movie presents via its trailers, this movie had many of my friends guessing that this is a rip-off of (the Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore movie) "50 First Dates" or the more cerebral (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet film) "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". No. This is not a rip-off of those movies. Sure, it may have some aspects of this movie here and that movie there, but not enough to constitute a blatant rip-off like some Tagalog mainstream films do. This is actually not much of a surprise because this movie was directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. And I have watched quite a number of his movies to say that this is one of those rare Tagalog mainstream directors who exercise quite a degree of originality, and such a large dose of respectable quality in her movies; the kind that is capable of commercial success and an excellence that ensures her film's timelessness. "Mabenta sa Masa; pero hinde Baduy" The script is smartly written; rich with clever lines and dynamite wit. This is the better comedy than what other local comedies claim as funny. The two main characters have the habit of throwing pa-cute, pa-sweet, funny little lines which are charming enough that you'd wanna memorize one or two of those little lines they have. These are the moments that I consider as intentionally corny; yet ticklingly charming.

The film shines as a romantic movie. Molina has perfected the genre that she uniformly does, but then again, she has perfected this even long before this movie (Maybe Molina has to experiment in action or sci-fi. On second thought, no she doesn't; I love her for what she already does). Just the mere idea that Molina's skill in creating romantic movies is already in such a godlike degree, is enough for anybody to just trust this movie and leave all skepticism.

Just as the movie wants you to fall in love with both characters, I found myself fixated and in love with Toni Gonzaga too. I am not usually a fan of Toni Gonzaga, her TV game show charisma is ignorable to me. But her on screen acting presence in this movie drives me back to adoring her. Not only is she damn cute with those chinky funny eyes and cute bunny smile, her character's personality complements that as well, with a fun-lovingness and childlike giddiness. Speaking of things that are really nice to watch, Beatriz Saw was also fun to watch, she has that "the main girl's friend" chemistry perfectly executed; and she's also such a a hottie. (yum!) John Lloyd Cruz is also great as the main character. He is the quintessential male bida; the kind of everyman that every guy can easily identify with because he is so human, so honest, so true, and so candid. Unlike other typical male protagonists in mainstream tagalong cinema, he is the only one who does real acting and never seems to consciously or ridiculously make an effort to make "pa-cute" antics. Whenever he does indeed try to do pa-cute antics, he does it IN CHARACTER—and UNTO THE OTHER CHARACTER he's addressing; he does not do it to the audience in a sort of toothpaste commercial sort of way.

The chemistry between John Lloyd and Toni blend perfectly. Both characters have a very playful and witty sense of humor that makes for a great dramatic, comedic, and romantic interplay between the two.

And then there's the other characters. Usually, when mainstream tagalog movies put in a group of good-looking male supporting characters acting as barkada in their movies they tend to be either pa-cute or corny. In this movie, Molina throws in a barkada that actually acts like a barkada; they goof off, they're ridiculous, and they act like they really care for their buddy. Where these chick-magnet clowns are usually annoying in other movies or in TV, this time, the supporting actors actually act like a typical barkada; perhaps it is again Molina's directorial eye that keeps his actors flawlessly act IN CHARACTER.

The movie is near perfect; but I must confess that it kinda took me down at the near end of the movie when the characters react to a supposed problem, when there should not be any problem at all anyway. It's as if the character took the most ignorable thing and create a problem out of that; it was an obvious ploy just to make a tension at the near end, to give way to the obligatory climax. Ultimately, though, it is not such a big deal because this little issue is still arguable anyway. Another thing that (well not exactly bothered) bothered me was how John Lloyd's character (Apollo) was able to pay for all the elaborate "romantic stuff" that he does in the movie. Is this guy Bruce Wayne, or what? But again, these are all minor things that does do much to shake the film's near flawlessness.

This movie is very much worth full price. A perfect date movie at the tail end of November. If romantic movies is your cup of tea, this movie is a definite must-see. MY AMNESIA GIRL is hands down, the most romantic movie I've seen this year. And that's counting the international movies.

White House (2010)

Lousy and Idiotic

[22 October 2010]

In White House, a Reality TV Show challenges its 6 contestants to stay in the White House for five days, but it looks like all of them may not even survive a single night on it, when they are being killed by the entity that haunts the place. On their side is a spiritual psychic who seeks to interpret the hauntings and hopes to save not only the contestants, but the soul of her daughter as well.

At the beginning of the movie, there are documentary-style interviews shown about the hauntings in this White House in Baguio, implying that what is about to be portrayed in the movie is based on actual accounts or well-researched facts. Yet when you finally get into the meat of the storyline, it all ends up being suspiciously nothing more than Hollywood rip-off fictionalization. To create a cartoonish fantasy about real places and real people (a badly-made fantasy at that) is just plain disrespectful.

Topel Lee's White House reeks of clichés, filled with cardboard stereotype characters. Predictable, one-dimensional and childishly-conceived. You could tell that the characters are lifeless because they are put into the movie's dramatic situation and they never really act out like they were in there, except for what is programmed by its poorly-conceived script.

Nobody acts realistically conscious about being inside a Big Brother-type "haunted house", nobody kids around about the fact that they are supposed to be scared by this contest, nobody questions if that kid (the kid character who is the brother of the probinsyana) is qualified for the reality TV contest, nobody gives a reference if there are actual rules, precautions, and objectives of the supposed Reality Show. Basic little details are absent to make the movie coherent and sensible.

Common Sense is also absent. If it's supposed to be about a reality show on a haunted house, it is obvious that they should have more than one back-up camera around. Likewise, there should be numerous security personnel and first aid medic teams ready to burst in at the slightest instance of real danger also. That is the problem with mainstream film-makers; they assume their common folk audience to be ignorant. When in fact, their common folk audience is way smarter than that.

Topel Lee has no sense of creativity in this film; everything in this movie feels like it is ripping off old overused lousy techniques in horror. He likes to rely on visual effects and jump scares. Jump-scares are always cheap. And in mainstream tagalog horror flicks, this is extremely overused, to the point that its nauseating.

The direction here has no sense of timing. It was too eager to scare you before it could even create a build-up. It is too desperate to show some neat camera tricks; sure some of the visual work may be impressive; but it is nothing if it does not come with a good build-up or a good storyline and directing.

All in all, WHITE HOUSE is nothing more than the same garbage that makes mainstream Tagalog horror films extremely embarrassing. Another movie that adds more stink to the reputation of local mainstream cinema.

I Do (III) (2010)

I Don't

[22 October 2010]

Up from the start of the movie, you could tell that the screenplay was excellently done; witty and amusing. But it was the actors and actresses that was destroying the movie initially. Regardless of great lines, the first 30 to 45 minutes was atrocious because of the performances. Clever dialogues gone straight to the toilet because the performances were either too slapsticky, or just pure corny. I saw no chemistry between Enchong and Erich. While Erich looked like she was trying hard to be Meg Ryan-ish, Enchong was stiff and bland like a pale wooden puppet. The characters which were the friends of Erich's character looked cheesy in the way they act.

The male friend Janus Del Prado looked awkward in delivering his lines, and the thin lady friend Melai Cantiveros was acting like she wants to be the next Pokwang or Ai-ai; channeling on the "old Tagalog format of comedy" that relies more on funny looks than funny performances. Do we really need to continue this old slapstick format? Allyson Lualhati seemed to be the better of the three; her timing seemed to be on target.

Fortunately, the film picks itself up later on and gradually becomes more edible; the performances were gradually getting better. The saving grace really relies much on the script, the story, and on Veronica Velascos' direction. I am surprised that just of this writing moment did I find out that Velasco was also the writer and was the one of the two directors of the movie INANG YAYA, which is one of the finest dramatic movies I have ever seen. No wonder.

The storyline was able to tackle the usual ups and downs of getting married; especially one that involves the romance between a girl from a typical (seemingly lower middle class) family and a boy from a wealthy old-fashioned Chinese family.

The performances were better around the second half of the movie. Enchong and Erich's chemistry seemed better when they were not intentionally acting sweet. I must say, however, that Enchong's on screen appearance often looks silly. He is usually dressed in these prettyboy clothes that look very very gay. It's distracting how silly he looks. And that pompadour-ish hairstyle of his. We laugh now how Eddie Peregrina or Tirso Cruz looked silly decades ago, someday in the very near future, people will be looking back at how ridiculous Enchong Dee looked in this movie.

The wit and the humor was also getting better. Erich was indeed able to slightly channel a Meg Ryan-ish vibe, but she does it in a slightly sloppy manner. It's safe to assume that Erich can still refine her acting (the last movie I saw her in was NOY, and her acting there was horrible there. this was an improvement for her). The other characters did well also; Dennis Padilla, Isay Alvarez, Che Ramos, Jun Urbano, they all did great. It was good that Pokwang was not overdone here; she is funny enough delivering simple performances, no need to amplify the slapstick factor. It disgusts me how many of the audiences were laughing at Pokwang at a scene where we see her genuinely crying over something bad (crying while talking on the phone); she may look ugly but it's still a scene with a woman crying over something unpleasant.

Janus Del Prado's character was amusing in the sense that he loves to make metaphorical comparisons of just about anything. I thought it was clever at first, but this one was overdone up to a point that it does not become funny anymore, and the character dilutes into being just a lousy joke. There is a moment in the near end where he confesses something to Erich. The scene is not effective anymore because the integrity of the character has already been destroyed. In addition, it could have been an interesting scene or a subplot that could make the character more sympathetic to audiences.

All in all, "I DO" is mid-level good. High points on the storyline, the direction has a little above average score and a barely passing grade on the acting. The movie is not bad. If you are used to the typical mainstream Tagalog movie, then I could recommend this to you. "I DO" is pretty average; but I could never deny that it was enjoyable.

In addition: I was immensely relieved that I did not see the trailer for this movie before I got to watch it; I would not have given it a curious chance. Star Cinema should (if not, then maybe gradually) change the format in which they make their trailers.

Only Yours (2010)

Powerful and Flawless

[9/10 · 2 September 2010]

Sa 'Yo Lamang is an atom bomb of a tearjerker and a brilliantly made film. Honestly, this may be the first movie I have watched in the theaters that I really have no idea what it is about; I have not seen the trailer for this, I have not even read the synopsis for this. I just watched it because I knew that it was directed by Laurice Guillen. And I was indeed in for a cinematically pleasant surprise. I loved this movie very much, and I consider it one of those rare Tagalog Mainstream movies that are extremely excellently well made, with an almost flawless quality. Obviously, movies like this are destined to be classics.

This movie is quite solid in the manner of drawing very impressive and powerful performances from its actors and actresses, and is able to achieve a very effective storytelling, so much so that each dialogue is profoundly meaningful, the characters have real depth in their personalities, and the situations are truly challenging. There is an incredible degree of coherence in Laurice Guillen's directing, given the fact that the story introduces numerous characters and still is able to give them abundant character development, even though some of their screen times are only brief.

I am also glad that this movie is devoid of awkward acting, unlike many Tagalog movies that tend to have that pattern of possessing one, two, or twenty scenes with awkward acting, script, and sequence.

Sa 'Yo Lamang bombards you with powerful performances; extremely high powered dramatic performances that just come one after the other. And not in a very exaggerated manner, but with a disciplined good pacing. The story has a bittersweet sensibility and it lays a feeling of hope, optimism, and redemption by the time you're done with the afterthoughts about the movie.

Excellently and brilliantly weaved together into a dramatic masterpiece, Sa 'Yo Lamang is something that will surely become a Timeless Filipino Classic.

The A-Team (2010)

"A"-Grade Explosive Fun

[8/10 · 10 June 2010]

Some fans of the original and Mr. T himself have expressed displeasure over the film, citing that it was unfaithful to the original. But then again, the original was made in the 80's, when it was almost pure taboo for a primetime TV series like the A-team to contain some gunfight "violence", and also lacked a certain level of budget that allows some real action. You have a story that involves a crack commando unit, unjustly accused for a crime they didn't commit, turned soldiers of fortune... you think you can pull off turning that concept into a movie with only fistfights and gunless action? Not unless you're aiming to make a joke of a movie that wouldn't be funny to begin with. The A-team, in my opinion, is ripe for a needed rehash. And not unless you really are a purist of the original TV series, I believe this movie adaptation gives it justice.

The A-team is wild action and fun-filled comedy rolled into one hell of a ballistic adventure. Surprisingly, even though this movie does have more than enough gunfights, the violence is almost unnoticeably kept to a minimal (kinda like the original TV series).

What I loved about this A-team movie is that even though it had some ridiculous stunts and action sequences, it compensates for attempting to inject some brains on it, and never does surrender itself into being just something that is dumb action. It does not have the Michael Bay format that relies too much on MTV-style, John Woo-rip-off, action hero vanity shots. It never becomes a lazily derivative parody of itself the way the 2000 and 2003 Charlie's Angels movies were. Instead, it took the concept of the original and, in my opinion, took a step forward to improve it and interpret it in more cinematic and spectacular standards.

Sharlto Copley as Murdock was the comedic energy behind the movie. He manages to make the team hilariously appealing. At the same time, he does it well enough not to draw too much attention unto himself to the point of being a Jack Sparrow clone. No, he is beyond cloning Jack Sparrow; he's crazier. The breakthrough star of the breakthrough movie District 9 is having another memorable role on this one; a successful second Hollywood appearance that is quickly upgrading him into superstardom.

Even though I initially felt Liam Neeson couldn't fit in as Hannibal Smith, the leader of the A-team, I now consider his casting as a perfect fit. Expect from an actor like him to have an effortless yet smooth transition from his former serious and fatherly mentor roles (Ducard from Batman Begins, and the father from Taken) and into a team leader who acts with a rugged "boss-man" personality.

Bradley Cooper as Face does it well, with all the charm and arrogance of somebody who has that "pretty-boy James Bond of the group" persona. And filling in for the B.A. Baracus role is UFC fighter Quinton Jackson. It must be a nightmare of a responsibility to fill the shoes of Mr. T, the character who pretty much carries the banner of the original A-team. Jackson did well. But he needs to be grumpier like Mr. T was, and should learn to erase that gentle emo facial expression he has (if ever he comes back for a sequel to be made).

What is so refreshing here is that up from the beginning till the middle portion of the film, there is no clear villain. Lt. Sosa (Jessica Biel) and her unit are just doing their roles in trying to bring the outlaw A-team to justice, the CIA agent Lynch (Patrick Wilson) may be such an asshole as he may be but he seems to be just doing his duties as a tricky little spymaster, and the A-team are just trying to clear their name while they're on the run and kicking ass. I could not help but be impressed by their three-way game of semi-espionage. But then, as expected, the second half of the movie is predictable, but still fun.

The one thing I did not like was the introductory part of the movie which felt like it lacked some sense. I'm talking about a part in the movie wherein all the main characters are introduced to each other, which was sloppy and sort of confusing. The kind of intro that makes you doubt if you missed out on an earlier scene. But once the clumsily horrible introduction got out of the way, the movie marches well fluidly.

The blend of comedy and marvelous action drives the energy of the movie. The fun action it has kinda reminds me of how fun the earlier Indiana Jones movies were; quirky, inventive, and explosive. Nowadays, it's not easy to plot out an impressive action sequence anymore, it seems like all the good ideas have already been taken. This movie breaks expectations as it goes on to the next level and resorts to the silly and the batshit crazy ones. And using insane stunts is quite in tune with the concept of the A-team, as one character from the movie puts it: "They specialize in the ridiculous" This movie was quite a roller coaster. A definite full-price movie, especially if you're watching it with friends or family. The A-TEAM is indeed back for a new generation to love.

Emir (2010)

A Golden Brown Bravissimi!!!

[8/10 · 10 June 2010]

Because this was a musical, initially, I was actually expecting and was ready to allow for this to be a little bit silly, a little too colorful, and to be a little too flamboyant. I was ready for this to have its flaws. But the movie eventually impressed me with how minimal the flaws are. Basically, it just tells how it is to live a life of an OFW; both the ups and the downs are exhibited well in such an artful interpretation.

The songs are brilliantly written, to the point that many of them would cause the hairs in my arms to stand up in such glee, and there were also times when they would make my eyes watery in such Filipino golden brown bravissimi. Both lyrics and music blend well in such powerful combinations. For me, it stands out with the scene where Ester (played by Dulce) and Amelia (Frencheska Farr) have a musical exchange, Dulce delivering a hair-raising musical speech about duties and bittersweet retirement from work. There is also a song about rats which has a familiar element of rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar style. And also there's that song, when translated in English, is about the deceitfulness of the moon's beauty; such song has lyrics that have a haunting uniqueness delivered in wondrous sorrow. There is also a song which counts the many Christmases these OFWs spent away from country and family, a surely memorable Christmas anthem for Filipinos working abroad.

Almost all the songs here have a memorable factor; excellent is such an understatement for such musical spectacle. The cast did absolutely well. Frencheska Farr is very much fitting for the role because she has that very "everyday Filipina" look. Her look in the movie was fittingly glamourless, it feels as if you could see how untouched by cosmetics she is, her simple looks makes her a convincing Filipino for just about anybody to relate to. The make-up and wardrobe also did a remarkable job in molding Amelia's look at various ages of her life (she indeed looked exactly as a teenager at one point and when looked like she's around the age of 30 at the later portion of the movie). Dulce, Julia Clarete, Liezl Batucan, Kalila Aguilos, Beverly Salviejo, and Melanie Dujonco were very charming in their roles as Amelia's OFW companions in the royal palace. Jhong Hilario and Sid Lucero also had important roles, but the film left me wanting for a longer, more significant male song (ala "Who Am I" from Les Miserables) and it also left me wanting for a villain song, because everybody in the movie seemed to have great chemistry. Even the extras that have minimal singing roles performed as good as the main characters. I was surprised that even the elderly women in a 3 second scene (weaving some native garments) are skillfully on cue. Song, dance, and cinema is a great formula for Pinoy artistry to indulge in.

The story was also well-written and tackles relevant aspects of the life of an OFW. The usual internal conflicts (jealousy, insecurities at work), relationships with foreigners, relationships in foreign lands, culture clash, how yayas (babysitters/caretakers) tend to culturally influence their alaga (child they take care), and the twists and turns in the story that seemed to be unpredictable at times.

Now for the very minimal flaws. There were a mere one or two scenes wherein which the transition felt a bit awkward. But what stood out as a downer for me is the ending part of the movie which lacked a sort of encore to close it up. Both story-wise and direction-wise, the movie seemed to not know how to end the thing. It just ended without a bang. I would have hoped for a grandiose epilogue song number, maybe an end that would look like the Les Miserables ending wherein all the characters including those who passed away emerge in spirit to sing a final song that formally ends the musical. Instead what we got was a sudden end credit sequence with a mediocre video from a song that does not involve any of the movie characters. Regardless of the same, the movie still remains a strong musical and a Filipino movie to be proud of.

I am upset that the local networks and media have not marketed this masterpiece of a movie the way it should. Not many movies like this come along that does pull up the reputation of Filipino cinema and it saddens me that there is no strong marketing campaign for this. Regardless of such, I am confident that this one will become a landmark in Philippine cinema. A true work of art that has the potential to please all its audiences as immensely possible. Without a doubt, a true obramaestra.

Noy (2010)

Poorly Executed but Socially Relevant

[6/10 · 3 June 2010]

20 minutes into the movie I was already loving it for the social relevance and the questions it poses. The cinematography was topnotch, with shots that are artfully done and makes creative use of the visual impact of the slums. Kudos also to the music which perfectly captures the mood of the story all throughout the movie. Halfway into the movie, I was actually impressed about the questions that it poses and the reality it exposes. The realities that the typical everyman Filipino (usually living within the poverty line) usually does not immediately give much of a damn who becomes president, because what only matters is the interest of his family. It's a bitter reality, but genuine nationalism is really quite rare, and usually it is the law of "every man/woman for her/himself (or his/her family)" that prevails. I love the exchange between the character of Noy (Coco Martin) and his editor (Baron Geisler) and how he attempts to enlighten Noy's uneducated views on society and politics, but eventually is greeted by stubbornness. I love that the main character is one who is sort of a jerk and an annoying idiot, but one that mirrors many of us, and that we expect his character to eventually have a point of enlightenment in the movie. I also love the metaphorical reflection of Noy's family to what is going on in the Philippines (and in many of Filipino families struggling to survive poverty), I also found depressingly fascinating the bleakness of the setting of Noy's home, a slum area in Metro Manila which is now seemingly a permanently flooded area, as an effect of the Typhoon Ondoy flood calamity that struck in 2009. Halfway through the movie, there were some minor awkwardly edited sequences, but it never did demoralize the movie...yet.

The second half of the film, on the other hand, was just a mess. After setting up some interesting points and questions, up from there, the movie looked like it went to various directions at a horrible pace. Many of the questions opened by the first half felt unanswered without any decent closure. It was not at an intentional manner but one that reveals the clumsiness of the scriptwriting and the direction. There is a scene where a child does a sort of "history background monologue" which would have been a really nice touch to the movie, but its editorial location in the movie felt misplaced.

The editing along with the direction was a disaster. There is no fluidity in the progression of the movie. One example that stands out is the gad-awful love story in the movie. Why is there even a love story subplot in here that is needlessly spotlighted? That was the first major fail-bomb that crippled the movie. The director obviously does not know how to shoot a love story because what I saw in there was a mixture of corny dialogue, corny acting, and an overall corny execution as to how the scenes should work out. I felt like I was watching a parody of an over-sentimental romance telenovela. The movie started to stink like manure when all of a sudden a torrid love scene occurred in the middle of this film which, by the way, should be a socio-political drama.

The film did not succeed on giving ample background on the other details of the movie. There wasn't much explanation why the area where Noy lives in is in a flooded state. Sure, we are aware of this right now, but audiences of this movie who are from other places outside manila or from another country or is watching this movie 15 years from now might be rendered clueless as to this background detail. Giving your audience background information is important in filming a movie like this which attempts to define the current reality situation. It was also not clear as to how Noy got into pretending as a media man. It felt like it relied on an audience who has already read the synopsis or seen the trailer. An audience who has not read or seen the trailer may not have a full understanding of what is going on in this movie.

In the first half I could understand the relevance as to why this was shot side-by-side the Noynoy Aquino campaign for presidency, but as the film went on, that link got lost, and the movie began to lose its consistency in effect.

The real meat of the story really lies on the plight of Noy's family struggling to rise from poverty, and the problems and miseries that haunt them. What is being shown in this movie does happen in real life. But the problem is that the film was not subtle in depicting it. During the lowest, most depressing part of the movie (when Noy and his brother argue over something), the main characters are suddenly being bombarded with problems that seem to have ridiculously popped up out of nowhere at the same time with a lack of basis to support the problem's existence. It felt like it diverted from making an honest depiction of harsh realities and exposed itself as an obvious attempt to make its audience cry.

But sure, there were moments that did manage to make my eyes watery. Because even though the execution of the story was bad, this was still a story of the Filipino people. And apart from other movies that pretend to be nationalistic or relevant, I could tell that this one had some sincerity in it. As a critic I should point out the movie's flaws, but I'm sure that other people will love this movie despite its technical flaws. To the naive, this serves as an eye opener to the bleak shadows of society, and this also serves as a prayer that hopes that a new administration will solve these bleak aspects of society.

Shrek Forever After (2010)

Shrek 4: A Flawed Comedy but a Perfect Final Chapter

[7/10 · 20 May 2010]

When I found out that a fourth Shrek movie was being made, it made me frown because it seemed pretty needless, especially that the last movie was such a bore. But then again, if you take the storyline into consideration, this becomes a fitting final chapter to formally close the Shrek series. The movie is originally entitled SHREK FOREVER AFTER, but in other regions of the world including ours, it is entitled SHREK: THE FINAL CHAPTER, so it's obvious.

First we go to the more unpleasant aspects; this movie works more as a fantasy-adventure movie rather than a comedy. That's because the humor factor of Shrek has gone old already. This movie seems to squeeze the very last drop of what is left of the Shrek series' dried out desert of humor. Sure, it may make us give out a chuckle here, a chuckle there, but this Shrek movie cannot make us laugh out loud anymore. When you look back at its title "Shrek the Final Chapter" you would realize that this movie does seem to apologize with the fact that this'll be the last and probably an admission that they could not squeeze any more decent thing out of the Shrek saga after this one; it's a final effort to make one last buck.

On the other hand, Shrek's main story aspect is a little more interesting than its humor. As I said earlier, this movie is better as a fantasy adventure because we do get to see an alternate reality where Shrek is back into being an outcast Ogre and everybody else who was originally part of his circle of friends has not met him yet. Eventually, they get into an adventure wherein he must face a new enemy, a new problem, and he even gets to meet other ogres and an ogre resistance army that pretty much reminded me of Warcraft (the old-school Warcraft 2 to be exact). In this bizarro world, Donkey has not met him, Puss has become obese, and Fiona is the leader of the Ogre resistance. Shrek must go through this alternate universe and survive it before the day passes and a curse will consume him for good. Shrek gets to have some action with a horde of witches and must face the dragon once again. I could not say that the action was impressive but it has its little cool moments. I particularly loved the chain skull weapons that the witches use.

In addition, this movie works also as a family domestic drama where it maturely deals with the simple family issue of boredom and being sick of how repetitious family life can be. I daresay that the film can work as a satire or perhaps a metaphor that some married men can learn from. There is one sequence in the movie that does capture this crisis; I am talking about the scenes where we see Shrek realize that despite the fact that he does live a happy life, it can get pretty dull and annoying at times, but then again that's life.

Perhaps it becomes boring because many of us choose not to grow up; many of us choose to not let go of what our past lives were. That is what happens to Shrek in this movie. To escape the mediocrity of a family life, he wishes to relive the moments when he was still just a normal ogre again. And because of this, he puts his family life in jeopardy. Shrek 4's tale comes full circle in the sense that it questions if Shrek did have a "happily ever after" ending in the past three movies, and puts one last fantastic circumstance to let him live out a reality that this never happened.

And lastly, Shrek 4's main potential lies in its romance. With an alternate reality story, Shrek faces a Fiona that has never met him. Therefore, Shrek must find out some way to make Fiona fall in love with him all over again. If you ask me, the romantic aspect of this movie is as innovative as the first Shrek movie, in ways that it tells mature subject matter in the guise of fantasy. The Fiona of the alternate reality mirrors the plight of women who gave up on romance, and one scene certainly negates the falsity of most fairy tales with a line that goes something like: "a mere kiss does not solve everything" It negates other fantasies like "Sleeping Beauty" or "Snow White" because it destroys the superficial aspect of those obsolete fairy tales with a more realistic approach, because indeed, a kiss is nothing if there is no true love that goes with it. In my opinion, Shrek 4 succeeds in this aspect.

Shrek may not be the best movie this summer, or it might not be the funniest Shrek movie, but it certainly is one that is very rich story-wise. Just as his line in the first movie went "I have layers" and there certainly are deeper layers to this story rather than one that will just make you laugh. Of course, this works out as a great family movie, but it is certainly perfect for couples, most especially married couples, and parents alike. I give SHREK FOREVER AFTER a.k.a. SHREK: THE FINAL CHAPTER a Matinée rating for single serving; and a Full Price rating for family servings.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Energetically Spectacular

[8/10 · 30 April 2010]

I thoroughly enjoyed IRON MAN 2. But there are some very minor stuff that sort of bothered me. First off, I did like the character played by Mickey Rourke, which is Ivan Vanko (which seems to be a combination of the comic book characters Whiplash & Crimson Dynamo). But I felt that the details of the character were too underdeveloped. We got to see his some of his quirks and a little bit of back story which we thought was going to be spotlighted later on in the movie. Only to realize that the back story which felt like a teaser was not fully satisfied in the end anyway, and we walk off the movie not really having a full grasp what his character was all about. If the story wanted him to be a mysterious "force of nature" villain, the film should not have heavily teased on a back story in the first place, and should have gone with the fully mysterious psycho all the way. Basically his character was out to have vengeance on Stark, accusing his family of stealing an idea his (Vanko's) father pioneered. But in the end, it really was not clear what that "stealing of idea" was all about, or how Vanko's father was allegedly betrayed by the Stark family.

You cannot dismiss the movie as just a superhero movie because like any good superhero movie, the story focuses on the story's characters rather than on just the superhero. The film does not solely rely on action, but much on humor. There were moments in the middle of the movie that made me forget I was watching a superhero movie, or an action movie. Much of the movie centers its focus on Tony Stark's relationship with his friend Rhodes, his assistant Pepper Potts, and his rival Justin Hammer. The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow is very sparklingly attractive and fun to watch.

Don Cheadle was fine as Rhodes, Tony Stark's friend. But the fact that he is not physically consistent with Terence Howard, the actor he replaced for the role, messes up what should have been a fluid consistency with the previous Iron Man movie. In the end you forget about it (and he is, in comparison, as good as a replacement as Maggie Gyllenhal was in replacing Katie Holmes in the Dark Knight movie).

Robert Downey Jr. is magnificent in his role. His Tony Stark is like the new role model; girls throw themselves at him & guys wanna be like him. His humor is always on the spot and his charms are flawless. His screen presence and how he makes a scene come alive is the major battery that makes this an enjoyable film.

And then there's Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. Which reminds me of the other nitpick detail that hated about the movie, and that is Nick Fury's first appearance in the movie. For a character which is supposed to have some degree of importance, his first scene looked like it lacked impact. Fury, appearing and having a conversation with Stark, in morning daylight, while wearing that shiny coat, made him look like a joke. And then we see the first costume appearance of Black Widow in the same scene, which also made her appearance have no impact at all. In fact, it was a scene that awkwardly made Nick Fury and Black Widow look silly and indeed looked like two people wearing costumes for some Halloween party. Even though the first line of Fury was indeed very funny, I still stand by the opinion that it was one scene that was just poorly conceptualized.

Comedian Garry Shandling also appears in the movie, and although his role is not a major one, I consider him to be a highlight of the movie. He plays a Senator who is very skeptical and critical of Tony Stark and seems to have a shady background. His role was deadpan serious and almost villainous that he instantly feels like an un-ignorable beloved "other villain". From the moment he appears you can tell that he's supposed to be a big A-hole, and he does a great job with it.

Jon Favreau who is both a great actor, comedian, and is also the director of the movie did a great job in making this sequel spectacular and continuously fun to watch. Despite its flaws, the movie was very enjoyable. It was well-paced, and designed never to bore its audience. The dialogues are very witty. And its performers do a marvelous job with their lines. It also had interesting non-cliché comedy gold moments. One of the funniest scenes that I enjoyed involve Robert Downey Jr. and one of those office decorations (you will know by the time you watch the movie). Although I felt that there would have been many interesting stunts or refreshingly new action tricks that can be made with the new villains (especially one with a super-powered whip), I cannot disregard the fact that the film invested more on the storyline aspect so to not make this movie just a mere "dumb action flick" that wants to appeal to all audience demographics.

All in all, IRON MAN 2 is a High Matinée movie. Although greatly flawed, these flaws are only noticeable from a critical point of view. Even I came out of it with a full-bar fun movie experience, and only realizing its flaws hours later. If you love a movie with witty characters and some cool heavy metal robot action, then this movie is definitely for you. And let me remind you that there is an additional scene after the end credits, so if you don't wanna miss it then you might wanna stay awhile for it.

Ninja Assassin (2009)

The Return of the Ninjas

[7/10 · 26 November 2009]

For centuries, the ninja has been haunting the shadows, and have been the most dreaded assassins that have survived throughout history. Our story centers upon Raizo, a wayward ninja who met an international police agent named Mika who has been investigating the existence of these assassins. And then, after a while, in the middle of the movie you get lost in where the original storyline is going. You realize that you're just there to see some martial arts.

Almost too self-explanatory, NINJA ASSASSIN is a martial arts movie involving ninjas, and is set in the real world. This is produced by Andy and Larry Wachowski (better known as the Wachowski Brothers) who created the iconic Matrix universe, and is directed by James McTeiguie, director of V for Vendetta (also produced by the Wachowski brothers. Ninja Assassin has that 80's corny style of an action movie that focuses more on the action, the incredibility and the exaggeration of the violence, and a laughably lame back story. And that is the reason why I love this movie.

In order to really enjoy this, you should have a love for B-movie ninja flicks (like "Way of the Ninja" or "American Ninja"). McTeguie tends to be a more mellow version of Tarantino when he works on movies like this; in a sense that while Tarantino loves to pay homage to classic action movies and emphasizes on the more stylistic and the more absurd aspects in order to create a semi-comedic effect that amuses its audience with some element of quirkiness, McTeguie, on the other hand, pays homage but does it in a style more adjusted to today's audience, so much so that it does not look like an homage because it does not wink at you (with exaggerations and jokes) and indicates it as an homage. In this movie, for instance, one may think that it lacks a good plot, or some aspects may be silly, but what you may not easily realize is that all this is intentional because it takes its reference back from the cheesy ninja movies of the 1980s.

Because of the fact that this pays homage to old b-movie ninja movies, it's easier to ignore some of the movie's flaws. Rain's acting, for instance is just plain awful. He is as corny as that shampoo commercial he was in. It's a good thing that he looks great as an action hero. His stances, the way he looks when he's all battered up, bruised, bleeding, and still kicking ass... he has a stunning iconic presence in this movie. That is just it, though, don't let him act a dialogue because it discourages any other future acting career he might have. But on the other hand, I might add that Rain's acting was at least good enough to erase his somewhat effeminate, boyband image on interviews and in other media appearances, note that Rain is a Korean pop star. But as the ninja named Raizo, he does shed off that pop star image and transforms himself into this "manly man" brooding action hero, one which action barbarians can root for.

It was almost such an ecstatic joy to see Sho Kosugi in a ninja role once again. To action junkies and to true ninja movie fanatics out there, you may remember Sho Kosugi as the original 1980's icon for ninja movies. Kosugi was the ninja movie icon, as like Bruce Lee or Jacky Chan was to Kung-fu movies. And I remember him being one of my movie heroes when I was a kid.

NINJA ASSASSIN is one of those movies that you feel is quite a superb action movie and then 30 minutes after you've watched it, the effect runs out and you realize it was not really that much of a great film. There wasn't really anything all too special about the movie. It could have at least added some humor in it to at least give it some more appeal, because for a movie that pays homage to a cheesy genre of film, it was just too serious. Even the hardcore aspect of the characters lacked some hardcore soul. It was like trying to cook the same recipe of the movie 300, but this one seemed like it needed to be brought back to the oven. On the other hand, its shortcomings does not change the fact that it was indeed a worthwhile and entertaining action movie. Visually impressive and is well packaged with action. McTeigue smartly uses his control of motion speed, CGI, and fight choreography in a manner that makes ninja movies of the 80's be revived with today's advances in cinema, and reintroduced to a new breed of action film junkies. Ninja Assassin is an enjoyable movie for action and martial arts junkies. It is certainly not for those who are looking for a serious movie. Because this appeals more to the comicbook, superhero crowd or the film geeks familiar with ninjas. Though it is not destined for greatness, but it sure is worth the money and the time.

Astro Boy (2009)

an ATOM BOMB of Spectacular Goodness

[7/10 · 13 November 2009]

ASTRO BOY is a full-length CGI animated American adaptation of the massively-popular Japanese manga (comic book) and television series fictional character of the same name ASTRO BOY, created by Ozamu Tezuka, who is considered as "the God of Manga". Its manga series was first published in 1952 and its television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963.

Basically the storyline of Astro Boy is a sort of futuristic version of Pinocchio, but is extended by story lines of action, adventure, and pure sci-fi. Astro Boy is a robot boy, who initially has gone through an identity crisis, but later on, serves as more of a superhero who gets into various adventures and is consistently bent on promoting peace in his society wherein robots live side-by-side human beings.

Arguably, Astro Boy is the quintessential children's action hero because he is an ideal mix of pure innocence, a loving heart, and an explosive little dynamite when the going gets tough. Although he shoots lasers, and has weapon turrets from his butt, he is always doing his best to resolve things with a more friendlier approach, and always has that cute optimism that even the darkest of villains may possibly be persuaded do good things instead.

This recent Astro Boy movie is indeed, in my opinion, a good way of reintroducing Astro Boy to a younger generation. Spectacular and fun-filled, the movie is never a waste of time. The eye candy aspect is high; it almost reaches the level of Pixar quality. The action is moderately impressive, on the other hand, it has the best "I can fly" sequence (I'm talking about that sequence when the main character discovers he can fly or do superhuman things and goes out in a self-indulging fun trip) and is superior in comparison to those in movies like Spider-man, Superman and Iron Man. It may be just animation but when Astro Boy is having fun in the sky, his joy radiates unto the audience.

Although this is not all comedy from start to finish, the humor was enough to make the movie enjoyable. There are only a few punchlines placed here and there, but no matter how few they are, they pack a punch of solid laughter. I was really amused at the three robots that referred to themselves as the Robot Liberation Front. They were probably my favorite characters in this entire movie. From their quirkily hilarious character designs up to the overall portrayal of these robots, they easily got me tickled pink.

While voice actors Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy and the rest of the voice cast such as Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, and Eugene Levy were all generically good, it was Nicholas Cage, voicing Dr. Tenma, Astro boy's father, whose voice acting complemented excellently with the animation. It was as if it captured Cage in one of his best acting moments. It would not have been easy to bring the character of Tenma to a full-length movie version without altering it. In the original manga (Japanese comics) version and in the TV series, Tenma is portrayed as more brutal and has certainly a darker character, as he deliberately abandons and sells Astro boy, and in one other interpretation, he goes insane. The Tenma portrayed in this new movie version is a more positive version, as he is still bound by love for his creation, Astro Boy. Inevitably and obviously you expect this Tenma to do the morally upright thing.

The storyline aspect was pretty solid. Simplistic to be family-friendly, yet it has some plot and characterization elements that appeal to adults as well. It ends up as a movie that is both young at heart yet mature in content. Enjoyable for kids, interesting for adults. The story does not treat its audiences like idiots, and manages to tell the story without applying unnecessary restraint that can hinder a writer's creativity. In addition, the writers and the rest of the crew have an enormous pressure to make this project become perfect. That is because Astro Boy is like a national figure in Japan, as much as how Mickey Mouse is towards Americans. And in my opinion, the Americans did deliver a good script for him.

Inevitably, the movie keeps itself faithful with the source material on Astro Boy's origins but there are indeed many little alterations made in order to update this Astro Boy as being this generation's version. Rife with enough heart, humor, and spectacular explosive action, this movie has a storyline that easily pleases its audience. It is indeed worth your time & your money if you are looking for a family-friendly movie this week.

2012 (I) (2009)

2012 & the Not Too Serious Apocalypse?

[6/10 · 13 November 2009]

Most of Roland Emmerich's movies have been mostly reminiscent of the 70's disaster movies like The Towering Inferno or Poseidon Adventure. These disaster movies are essentially survival horror, wherein we are introduced to main characters that we are supposed to root for and follow as they try to survive a peril or perils that could kill them. This movie more or less combines all of it for something which can be referred to as the ultimate disaster movie because this one deals with the end of the world. As what the movie portrays, 2012 is the year wherein changes in the Earth and in the overall atmosphere of the planet (that's as far as I can understand about the scientific aspect of the movie) will cause the Earth to experience global cataclysms and destruction, and basically may be interpreted as the end of the world as we know it.

The doomsday theory of 2012 is one that is very paranoia inducing. Unlike the doomsday conspiracies of the year 2000 or previous end-of-the-world theories which were more religion-based or literary prediction-based, the 2012 concept is based on the Mayan calendar which is regarded with some degree of accuracy. That is why it is very interesting to watch a movie like this. On the other hand, do not expect to go into details on the Mayan calendar detail because there is only about half a minute of reference of that concept in the movie. Everything that is explained is more on the science aspect. In addition, the science aspect is laid down, but never dwells on the explanations. If you plan to walk on this movie and expect to delve into the deeper and more thought-provoking issues about why the world is about to end or how this prediction has come to become real, you may not be satisfied because it really focuses more on the plight of our main characters to survive the cataclysms. Most of the movie is focused on running from earthquakes, running from lava, running from flood. Even the drama takes a backseat.

The movie felt like it needed a couple of more minutes of character development. There are pretty good characters here to work with. The old friends in the cruise ship, for instance, the movie needed more quiet moments with them. Every time the scenes simmer down, and you think there was going to be some character development about to happen, a great big special effect all of a sudden steals the moment and makes way for another destructive scene.

It was not easy to walk into another Roland Emmerich movie, after his previous movie "10,000 BC" (pattern-wise is also a movie title referring to a date in time, one that he ignorantly altered by his fictionalized interpretation) made itself as one of the worst movies ever made, in my opinion. But it was a good thing that 2012 was not as bad as I feared it to be. In fact, it was really worth my money, and if I may add, a movie I recommend for the big screen. The visual effects are awesome and the stunts were exhilarating.

The thing about this movie is that it takes this serious plausible concept and quickly turns it into a roller-coaster adventure. And that is one of the things that have given me this dual reaction; first I was upset with it because it takes this concept of paranoia and a plausible global cataclysm, and does not treat it with a very serious approach. It was a bit hard to swallow some action scenes which injected some humor because at one hand we are being shown scenes of extreme disaster and calamity, naturally the scene implies the horrific death of millions, yet elements of comedy are making its way unto it. If this was sci-fi involving alien invasions, it would have been forgivable to mix apocalyptic scenes of mass death with a sense of adventure.

But on the other hand, by the middle of the movie, you realize that the light, somewhat comedic, moments were needed to be injected to please a wide audience. Otherwise, we could have ended up with a movie too serious and too depressing that, by the middle of the movie, may have caused people to walk out in just sheer displeasure.

If you are one of those people who even remotely considers the 2012 doomsday conspiracy as plausible, this movie is indeed for you. It will both amaze and horrify you. Although it is indeed so ironic to refer to Emmerich's movies as a form of entertainment. I guess many of us Filipinos will be affected by this movie emotionally because of our experiences in recent unusual cataclysms. Many might hate it or many might relate to it.

The concept of the end of the world is the ultimate horror movie concept to work on. Emmerich could have made the ultimate horror movie. I would have been impressed if such bold approach was made. But I could understand him not doing that and opting to make an audience-friendly movie instead. I just hope that this movie would have something similar with his other movie "10,000 B.C." …and that is hoping that this will purely be all fiction.

Patient X (2009)

Patient X is Not Quite Healthy

[4/10 · 29 October 2009]

According to press releases for this movie, Patient X shows us director Yam Laranas' take on the Aswang folklore (an Aswang is a vampire-like creature of Philippine folklore), and puts it in the storyline that asks "What if we ever caught one of these aswangs?" The movie does show that, but it quickly becomes this survival horror about a group of people stuck inside a rural hospital that is being attacked by a group of aswangs.

PATIENT X is a movie that many Pinoy horror audiences will definitely enjoy. Preferably for the same audiences that had made movies like Feng Shui or the Shake Rattle & Roll movies a hit at the Philippine box office. Because Patient X does provide the jumps, the scares, and the monsters, all enough to make its mainstream audiences scream. It is the kind of movie that will preferably be enjoyed by a large mainstream crowd (preferably not film critics) who just want to have a good time, brains left outside the theater doors preferably.

Now that is the extent of what little praise I have for the movie. I am really sorry to say this because I am a fan of his works, but Patient X is probably Yam Laranas' weakest movie. The movie has a good premise to begin with. The idea of an aswang held in captivity is something that can create a far more interesting film than what was made. The story never does a good job in covering its loopholes. For instance; none of the characters seem to think of using their cellphones or their mobile radio communicators to call for outside help. This error just makes the film's characters look like idiots. The policemen in the movie felt like cardboard horror victims, their characters are almost too cartoonish. It's like they all wore a bright yellow t-shirt that says "filler character" or "victim no.1". The flow of the film is oozing with predictability. One could even easily guess the sequence of who dies first and who survives at the end.

I feel that the monster design on the aswangs looked awkwardly-placed. It was as if they just came off a Halloween Party, what with faces too white and outlandish. Sure their make-up was intricate, but there were moments that they looked silly. It was also a bit inconsistent that at an earlier scene the aswangs could talk to each other coherently, and the next scene, they appear and act orc-ish (communicating in growls and snarls and acting animalistic. Even though one could justify that they were in their "aswang mode" it still felt so inconsistent with their earlier scenes. As if they were taking on a completely different character all of a sudden). But this is just a very minor factor, because what really made a difference in the movie was Richard Guttierez's acting, which is really unbearably bad.

I felt that it really is unfortunate that Guttierez plays the lead role in this movie. No matter how many times he's had movie and TV appearances, it seems to never have any progressive effect on his acting. His performance looks like it is only equivalent to some high school actor in a classroom play. In some scenes he looks like he's too conscious of how he looks, and in most of the scenes, I feel like the director should inject him with some heavy narcotics just to get him to do some real acting. Somebody better either get him into some military-type acting workshop or get him into substance abuse. But then again, some people are just born to be really bad actors.

Despite these bad factors that plague Patient X (pun intended), the film does have its great points. A Yam Laranas film always looks great. His direction makes sure that the cinematography is outstanding. As harsh as my review seems to be, I still urge true lovers of cinema to watch this because of how Laranas executes beautiful lighting and stylish scenes. His use of the lightning effects on some characters, the use of shadows and darkness in a scene, the blurry silhouettes that gives way to creeping anticipations. These are things that make Patient X worthwhile to watch despite its flaws. I also love the concept of how the aswangs hold their victims using their mouth, as if how a wolf carries around their victims: held tightly in their mouth.

Critiquing Laranas is not a simple task because his skill has already gone beyond just local filmmaker borders. Laranas is to be judged alongside international mainstream-friendly directors, like Paul Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil), James Wan (Saw, Death Sentence), and even Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell). You just can't compare Laranas' works to the typical Philippine mainstream films. Patient X is not a movie that I liked. But at least in comparison, this was a great, spectacular horror movie compared to what is usually released by the mainstream local film industry. As I have said earlier, this is a film recommended for mainstream audiences, preferably in large crowds. If you and your friends are out to watch a movie where you can just scream or maybe laugh at, this is for you.

The Echo (I) (2008)

A Ghost Story

[5/10 · 6 October 2009]

The ECHO is the Hollywood remake of the Filipino horror movie from director Yam Laranas entitled "Sigaw" which is also released in the international market with the similar title "The Echo" The story begins when a young ex-con comes home to the apartment where her mother who passed away, lived. He curiously tries to find out what happened to her and why she died. He discovers that the apartment he lives in is having strange occurrences. He finds drops of blood, hears noises of things that are not there, and at the same time, he is also concerned about his apartment neighbor; a mother and daughter who is being victimized by an abusive live-in partner. All these things that haunt him soon affect his life, his work, and his relationship. He even begins to question his own sanity. Soon enough, he must face these things so that it will bring him peace.

Supposedly one that should be categorized as something which is more of a Ghost Story and Psychological Drama, THE ECHO is rich in stylistic visual images. An artful blend of bleak beauty in terms of cinematography and atmosphere, with the eerie vibe created by its storyline. The moments of horror may not be too bloody (except perhaps for one scene that had me biting my own finger) but they indeed transmit the sense of gloom well into its audience.

Jesse Bradford obviously did a better performance than Richard Guttierez (in the original version). His fear and sense of paranoia can communicate well with the audience. Iza Calzado is as haunting as she was in the original. I actually felt that the movie needed more focus on Iza whose role in the original was underlined well, and was very relevant with real world issues of abuse.

The Echo takes a lot of time to build up the horror. The slow build-up is reminiscent of old horror movies like The Exorcist, which takes its time to make its characters whole and establish a familiarity with the audience before it spills out the full extent of the horror.

The minor problem with The Echo is that if you have already watched the original Echo movie which is known here in the Philippines as "Sigaw" and you already have an idea what these hauntings are all about and why they occur, you might feel that it tends to drag and bore, because the surprise is already spoiled for you. Much of the movie's appeal relies on not knowing why these things happen.

As much as my heart goes out to the director, though, I am sorry to say that I felt that the build-up just dragged too slowly. Some sequences felt like it was just an exercise of waiting for something to happen. I feel that this needed to be re-cut, just to delete off the sequences that are horribly unnecessary. The subplots in between the horror sequences sometimes feel uninteresting. There is a good pay-off at the end but its pay-off is not as satisfying as, say, The Exorcists' final act which all goes off to hellish chaos. Instead, its pay-off is still storyline-based. It does not go off in a whimper, no, it does unleash some hell. But not enough to get it off its track, as it maintains its disciplined pace, leading to an appropriate end which makes the story go full circle. You will soon realize that this is NOT the Exorcist; this is a Ghost Story.

If you watch this movie, do not expect this to be like your run-of-the-mill slasher flick or torture horror; you should just expect a good ghost movie. There is some violence and gore in it, but this is no monsterfest. It is never goofy and it treats its own story in a very serious manner. It feels like something that may have happened in reality. That is actually its beauty because many other horror movies out there tend to overblow their stories to a point that it feels bogus and cartoonish. The Echo takes its time and is more or less grounded in reality. Quiet, but eerie. Just like the ghosts that live around us.

Surrogates (2009)

GOOD SCI-FI STORYLINE, but not unforgettable

[6/10 · 25 September 2009]

Surrogates is a sci-fi movie about a future where every human being can connect their bodies into machines & they instantly live a different life through their robotic human-looking surrogates. Anybody can just stay home all day while they are connected online with their surrogates that can just easily live outside in the real world. But when a surrogate was killed along with its user, FBI agent Greer unravels a conspiracy that can lead to the death of billions of lives.

The storyline of this movie falls somewhere around the categories where movies like Blade Runner, Minority Report, and I-Robot belong. A movie that talks about how future technologies can affect human life and provide some philosophical point-of-view that is worth pondering on. The idea of technology progressing into and reaching the boundaries that it becomes an abomination of nature. The movie tends to be thought provoking, but does not make it good enough to be worth an entire evening of discussion.

There were some moments that seemed preachy, but could have been delivered more effectively if given a proper execution or interpretation. I am talking about the moments when our main character realizes the beauty of a world free from technological complexities. We also have the minor subplot of a corporation just concerned about safeguarding their own products. And a main character coming to the realization that these products eventually diminish the humanity of a person.

It is surprising that the weaker point of this movie is the action. The terminator rip-off scenes seemed bland and there was a chase scene with a female surrogate that looked goofy because it employed a "superhero" type of action. To make it worse, there are some visual effects that look like they've been rendered 15 years ago.

With the main character of Bruce Willis running around in his actual human form for most parts of the movie, we realize that he basically is the weaker person in this world of robotic mannequins, and yes we do see him bleed a lot in this movie (it is funny to note that Willis is one of those actors that just look cooler when he gets more scars and bruises, it's like John McClane only without the crazy action). With him being the frail character, that alone clearly reminds you that this is not your regular Bruce Willis action flick. The movie just basically starts out as a futuristic detective-type movie then progresses into the same mood as Willis was in films like "Unbreakable" where he stumbles around a maze that leads him to some enlightening truth.

The high points of this movie lie in the storyline. Second is the way the movie creates this amazing-looking world of a future inhabited mostly by surrogates. The surrealism of the movie is not too far-out that most of what you see seem like they exist in the present world; there are no flying cars or rockets everywhere; its just the simple existence and presence of mannequin-like robots everywhere. The storyline may be good enough to be enjoyably satisfying, but it certainly is not the best, or perhaps not good enough to be groundbreaking.

All in all, SURROGATES is one of those good sci-fi movies that will simply entertain those who are fans of smart sci-fi movies. Action junkies may be a little disappointed though. This is a far cry from Blade Runner, but this certainly gives you a cheaper version of that kind of enjoyment. I loved it. But it is definitely not unforgettable.

Villa Estrella (2009)

Would've Been Better If Served with Simplicity

[4/10 · 3 July 2009]

VILLA ESTRELLA had a good plot to work on, yet it falters in the execution. At the earlier parts of the movie, the musical score just needlessly goes up trying to scare its audiences with cheesy horror-music but fails to do so because there is no build-up, no reason enough to back up the scare yet. One minute into the film, and you start scaring your audiences with shock-sound effects? What do you think your audiences are? Paranoid retards? I hate it when movies like this heavily underestimate its own audiences.

Its premature scare tactics are a liability to the film. The lack of build-up made one of the main monsters of the movie, which is the zombie-like ghost of a little girl, comes off as silly, ridiculous, and funny. Because there was no subtlety in her first appearance, as a consequence, her first appearance looks like a parody, this character becomes a walking joke, extinguishing her scary image.

The film swindles its audiences in a lousy kind of way that it only comes off as bad storytelling. It builds-up this creepy ghost child as its main villain, and then all of the sudden changes its course and completely forgets about that character, not giving her proper explanation or closure. Even if we were to assume that she was being prepped for a sequel, it was still a sloppy confusing exit for her. Then we immediately turn our attention to another villain. It feels like it attempts to look smart by trying to confuse its audiences, but we can clearly see that the story was just badly told, and comes of as stupid instead.

It was also silly to see the main villain at the end come off as something that looks like a villain from Darna or X-men. The storyline did not really need for the main villain to be thickly immersed in prosthetics. A good horror movie, especially with the kind of storyline this movie has, would be great enough if it were executed with simplicity and a little constraint. This is a fine example of a good horror story ruined by additives.

The cast did well. Shaina Magdayao was great as the main protagonist. Maja Salvador, who I found to be alluringly pretty, is excellent as a mysterious girl who also lives in Villa Estrella, Jake Cuenca did also quite well. The rest of the cast from Liza Lorena to the guy who played the comic relief of the movie were really good. The weakest link was Geoff Eigenmann, his acting was not really that bad, but there were scenes where his acting feels so B-movie. There was a scene where I feel like I would like to ask him: Are you dying? …or are you just constipated? Truly the saving grace of the film is that it has a great storyline. The story is not very original, but at least it does not come off as a copycat (as far as I know of anyway, that's because I have not watched any of the other horror movies lately). In fact, the main storyline is a good one. Sure, it's a recycled storyline but it still holds up. The love triangle sub-plot is quite interesting, and for a mainstream tagalog movie, it is refreshing to find a love triangle that does not easily define which side the audiences root for. Shaina's character does not come off as a typical protagonist because she was basically cheating on her boyfriend (arguably, of course), that is why Jake's character is also the one other audiences sympathize with.

It is indeed frustrating to think that this movie could be so much better if only it had more constraint, and a bit more polished direction. If I was to give it a food analogy, this movie is not delicious, but at least, it is quite edible.

The Happening (2008)

Enigmatic Terror

[6/10 · 12 June 2008]

After "Lady in the Water" has disappointed critics and audiences alike, M. Night Shyamalan rebounds and reclaims his dignity as a filmmaker with "The Happening". I really do not like talking much about a good Shyamalan movie because the power of his movies usually come from the revealing surprises it gives audiences; his movies tend to scare you with something you cannot immediately understand. And Shyamalan is the master of mysterious threats, which is quite clear with this movie. All you need to know is that there is an unexplained phenomenon that is inexplicably exterminating human beings in and around the North American region.

This movie is such an enigmatic horror movie that reminds me of Radiohead's music video for "Just" and also mirrors classic horror flicks of the 60's, specifically much like Alfred Hitchcock's many works, it also has that Stephen King feel to it. Shyamalan has gone back what he is good at; tapping at the power of fear. And fear is what you get, as The Happening creates a realistic state of imminent threat creating a paranoia that easily infects the audience. The film actually belongs to the Twilight Zone sort of sci-fi suspense; it is freaky and frighteningly mysterious, injected with a B-movie appeal but with a strong sense of realism.

The music was also an excellent mood-setter that appropriately enhances its very unsettling setting. The cast gave a convincing performance, with Mark Wahlberg, and the very charming Zooey Deschanel on the lead; they are supported by explosive performances by John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, and a very disturbing role played by Betty Buckley. Shyamalan's direction of making the movie simplistic, non-flashy, and just lets its realistic storyline simply unfold without any unnecessary visual gimmicks. The story simply doesn't even attempt to make a detailed accurate scientific explanation, because the main character in this sort of movie is the fear, not the science. The fear feels real up to the point that I feel like I couldn't just wait till the main characters overcome this threat they're facing.

Maybe it was just because I expected so little, but The Happening really took me by surprise, and if you ask me, this movie was way scarier than Sixth Sense. If you want a really good scare or a really good scream, and get to learn a little something as well, THE HAPPENING is something you should watch.

Ghost Rider (2007)

Better LOWER Those Expectations

[3/10 · 15 February 2007]

GHOST RIDER is an adaptation of the Marvel comics series of the same title. Since I grew up with comic books, I am a big fan of comic book movies. And of course, I was excited to see the GHOST RIDER movie adaptation. Sure, I lowered down my expectations because the storyline of "Ghost Rider" has been used and overused in numerous films with vaguely similar story lines. I expected for it to be a movie loved with the highest tolerance to criticism. But a disappointing film is a disappointing film. And if it has too little redeeming factors, then there's no reason not to talk about it.

Don't get me wrong, GHOST RIDER would not necessarily make you feel like you're throwing away your money on crap. GHOST RIDER has its moments of utter coolness. The fiery transformations with Gothic angelic chorals on the background, the bits of humor, that hellishly radical bike he rides. I would not have even cared if the storyline would be considered over-used & cliché, because I already did expect that. But just the overall delivery of the movie itself was purely bland. The movie was fun but disappointing.

It's no surprise, this film was directed by Mark Steven Johnson, the same guy who directed the Daredevil movie, which also could be considered a failure. well, I guess that's STRIKE TWO! & I don't want to see him directing a superhero/comicbook adaptation movie again. I can appreciate Daredevil with the highest tolerance, and would admit to liking it a little. But it still goes out the same that it was crap, & badly needed to fall on a new director.

There was no question of the choices for Nicholas Cage to be Johnny Blaze, Peter Fonda to be Mephistopheles, and Eva Mendes to be Roxanne Simpson. They are all superior performers, and very fitting for their roles at that. But the script never seemed to work well with the direction of the film. Many of the lines looked cheesy, mostly due to the editing which had bad timing and monotony of angles, so much so that Nicholas Cage's supposedly memorable lines end up looking like scenes from a bad B-movie. Same with Peter Fonda, who by the scarcity of film projects made him look like a struggling has-been in this movie. There were moments when Eva Mendes was comedically adorable. But her charm (that usually leaves me lovesick) could not save her from ending up looking like a cheap "face" in a sad project. At least Wes Bentley was spunky for the role. But his entire look for the film did not carry on a sense of overwhelmingly cool villain. His costume looked like he was spoofing each and every cliché from each and every badly-made superhero and vampire movie. His hair & make-up looked more metrosexual than demon, he could not intimidate me and I swear I could easily ward him off with smelly feet and a bad fashion sense.

The fight scenes were pathetic. Sure, the "minion" villains known as The Hidden were cool. But the fighting scenes with them did not excite me. In action movies, nothing's new these days when it comes to fight scenes. But one should at least make it either interesting or at least sensible for the audiences to get a sense of response. Many of the fight scenes in this movie makes you end up mumbling "Huh?" or "What?!" It's as if some characters were too dumb to stand and wait for a punch to hit them. Giving it credit, the film does make the effort to breakthrough with some kind of originality (with scenes like how he beat his enemy made out of the wind), the problem is, they don't really convince me, as far as I'm concerned anyway.

CGI or Computer animation is this movie's main Ace card. The thing which it heavily relies to. But one should not really be strict in CGI judgment because in the long run, this technology will get old. It is actually how a film uses its technology to create a good movie. Ghost Rider may have fabulous CGI, but there isn't too much innovative and impressive scenes for it to be a step ahead of the usual eye candy.

I cannot deny that there were moments when this movie made me laugh and cheer. But overall, it was a failure, that will stand aside other disappointing classics such as Blade Trinity, Daredevil, and a bit better than that awful Spawn movie adaptation. Oh well, I hope a sequel with a new director could redeem it.

Mother Nanny (2006)

A Delightfully Light-Hearted Drama that is actually a MUST SEE!

[9/10 · 30 November 2006]

It's no big surprise that INANG YAYA is such a beautiful movie with a quality that can match Hollywood movies, it's a film from Unitel Pictures, which is known for its topnotch quality movies like "Crying Ladies" and "Magnifico" Over the years of its existence, Unitel is known for gradually breaking the cliché of Tagalog movies. They redefine Pinoy movies, slowly removing its common ugly characteristics such as "baduy", "corny", or "kopya". Instead, they have introduced movies that are beyond the expectations of many viewers. Movies that indeed have originality, art, style, impact, beauty, and depth. When the movie was announced, it was a sure bet that this one will be right on the money. Even though I had free movie passes, I proudly did not use them and paid to watch this movie on the first day. And indeed, INANG YAYA is a champion. I enjoyed the film, with no regrets, and even an urge to watch it again.

The film is directed by Pablo Biglang-awa, Jr. and Veronica Velasco, who also wrote the script. They have both weaved such a wonderful light-hearted drama that does touch the very depth of a viewer's heart and probably generate a more positive kind of tear-jerking. Yes, this film is a tearjerker, but it does not resort to the overused cliché used and abused by other big-studio Tagalog movies. In other movies, they'd have to kill a handful of important characters, subject the protagonist to extreme domestic maltreatment, and make her life a living (oftentimes obviously-fabricated) hell, in order to just call itself a tearjerker. Inang Yaya will have none of that garbage. This movie is a tearjerker because of the real emotions and the simple little dramas of life as a nanny. It taps into issues that any of us might encounter, and give us an impact of a jackhammer, no matter how simple it could be. The conflict of a mother's love towards her own daughter and her love serving as a mother-figure-nanny to her employer's daughter. It never seems complicated, but it carries deep emotional impact. Inang Yaya is tear-jerking in a positive light. It makes you shed tears, not because it has a sad and/or dark theme. It makes you shed tears because of the feel-good emotions that it gives off to its audience.

Right from the beginning, the film has breathtaking cinematography. The scenes in the rural setting were well-polished to make the backgrounds seemingly unintentionally scenic. The set design for the interior shots of the house, which is the main setting were attractive. The camera work was superb, as it is executed with high-definition cameras that made each-second-of-a-shot photographic. There is a very brief underwater scene which shows the prowess of the film's cameras.

The chemistry between Maricel Soriano, Tala Santos, and Erika Oreta is incredibly beautiful. The three characters really stuck it true to the drama of the story with a gold standard performance. Marita Zobel, Sunshine Cruz and Zoren Legaspi also gave good performances. But Liza Lorena's role as a slightly villainous grandma, Lola Toots, gave the movie its balance of darkness. Her role does work, and gives it a similarly realistic touch, not making her too much of an absolute villain of sorts. Maricel Soriano, who is the title character, is indeed brilliant in this movie. I have only seen a couple of her performances in other movies but it is in subtly-plotted drama that she gives all the more deeply moving performances. It is in her slight gesture of emotions that she portrays a character that does connect to the emotions of the viewers. But even though she is the title character, the real superstars of this movie are the two children who both share the love of Norma, the Inang Yaya.

Both young actresses Tala Santos and Erika Oreta are brilliantly adorable, giving a performance of unblinking realism, with Tala Santos slightly more charming than the other because of her more dramatically active and oftentimes funny character. She plays Ruby, the daughter of Norma, who has a stronger and slightly mature personality than her counterpart. Erika Oreta plays Louise, the daughter of Norma's employer, who grew up a rich girl, who is a bit more naive and a bit spoiled, but nevertheless, innocently goodhearted. It's almost unbelievable to find two young actresses that can stir up a chemistry which is highly engaging and delightfully charming to watch.

All in all, I would say that INANG YAYA is the year's best Filipino movie. It has the slight social relevance, the charm of an entertaining piece, and the drama that can make tears flow. It is balanced by equally excellent visuals, with a cinematography that implies discipline and innovation. The overall direction is well-executed. No sloppy continuity errors and not even the musical scoring may bring it down. And the impact of Inang Yaya is cerebral and extremely emotional. A drama of delight that should not be missed, INANG YAYA is a must see. If you rarely watch Pinoy movies, now is the time to do it. Movies like this are very rare, don't miss it.