DEATH OF TRADITIONAL CINEMA

When you go and see biopics, especially those wherein you are not much familiar with the subject, you take the filmmaker's vision as truth, like what I did with Mark Meily's BALER. I found out soon enough that the main characters were fictional. I've learned my lesson since. Make no mistake. BALER, a film from the Philippines (and I am proud of it) is a marvelous achievement, and a colorful take on the historical Siege of Baler which took place during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines.  David Fincher's THE SOCIAL NETWORK, from a script written by Aaron Sorkin, feels too close to reality.   You take look at the happenings in Fincher's film, then reflect on what might have transpired in the inception of Facebook, and the striking likeliness is unshakable.  The Mark Zuckerberg portrayed in the film is a cold, unapologetic opportunist who developed saw a breakthrough and wasted no time creating it, even if it means sideswiping countless piles of bodies in the...

SECRET WINDOW opens decently enough, with Johnny Depp up to his usual quirky character. It won't be long until you realize that no other actor can play Mort Rainey, the eccentric writer and main character from Stephen King's story. The role was destined to be for Johnny Depp.  There is also enough mystery to propel the movie forward. The appearance of a shady character named John Shooter (played with much gusto by John Turturro) who accuses Mort of plagiarism gives SECRET WINDOW an enigmatic feel. The plot however becomes predictable by the second half, and you'd already figure out who is doing the killings. Saved only by a haunting finish that keen viewers will have seen coming miles away, thanks to some foreshadowing, SECRET WINDOW I guess would have been enjoyed better in print.  Nevertheless you'd be quite mesmerized by the effort they've given to the setting, production design, and musical score. Depp is good here, but the material really is hokey.  One thi...

Before Kathryn Bigelow had people's jaws dropped when she bagged the Oscar for Best Director for her testosterone-filled THE HURT LOCKER, she was already making films catered mainly for the male crowd, such as POINT BREAK, an edge-of-your-seat thriller that showcases Bigelow's able hand at directing action sequences; hell, she can even beat the most known male action directors around! POINT BREAK is more than an action film-it is a moral study, where characters are neither one-sided nor flat offshoots of the action genre. In here, Keanu Reeves who is the hotshot cop arguably gives the best performance of his career, and Patrick Swayze as the surfing bank robber Bodhi is pure charisma and character acting so much that he absorbs the bank robber persona and projects it with much energy and moral dignity.  Gary Busey co-stars as Reeves' partner, and here he gives maybe the most memorable performance of his career. Having said that, I don't recall any of his films at all...

Watching a Coen Bros. film is like going to Jollibee when we were still kids-it excites you like hell. Watching a Coen Bros. movie for the second viewing is like awaiting for your salary on payday- the shit cannot be contained.  This is the first time I have seen a Coen Bros. film for the second time- I saw THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE in the technicolor version, and when I found out the Coens intended it to be B&W, I quickly got hold of a copy of the original B&W. So far such copy is sitting at home. I also want to watch A SERIOUS MAN sometime in the future for the second time; that film is so hideously deep in meanings I did not fully understood everything. I have yet to watch for the first time BLOOD SIMPLE, BARTON FINK, and RAISING ARIZONA. My next on the list is THE BIG LEBOWSKI, since I quickly became a Jeff Bridges fan upon seeing TRON LEGACY. Oh wait, I did see NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN twice. See I hated it upon first viewing-I thought it was boring. I favored P.T. A...

I love war films and spy thrillers. Put them together and my attention is all yours. ENIGMA is a encoder/decoder machine used by Nazi U-Boats during WW2. It is also the title of a film directed by a man you recently hated for messing up Narnia. It is also the characteristic of the female in question: Saffron Burrows, whose character you'll be guessing whose side she really is on, until the very end. Dougray Scott is marvelous as a British codebreaker who gets jilted by his lover (Burrows). Scott really embodied all the sorrow of his character, projected onto his somber face. He teams up with a "glorified file clerk" played by Kate Winslet in a very notable performance, in order to unlock the secrets, and along the way, they stumble onto a huge government conspiracy that could affect the outcome of the war. My criteria in films such as this is simple: do not take me for a fool. I liked this the same way I liked Bryan Singer's VALKYRIE, but VALKYRIE is a bit self...

I loved the crazy humor. There was one scene here involving Gnomes that I was literally kicking in laughter. However, the ending was rushed. I wanted more. RATING: 3/5

AN EDUCATION delivers a very promising material- a young girl who meets an older man, gets educated about life in a very different manner, and eventually she learns the importance of a proper education. This is a period piece in which the role of women in society, and education's part in shaping women's lives and aspirations is center stage. It is also filled with imperfect characters whom you will come to love as the story threads on. Carey Mulligan is adorable as Jenny. She perfectly played the part of a teenager in a crucial crossroads in her life. Peter Sarsgaard is charming and unapologetic for his character; Dominic Cooper is a prick (I meant his character). Olivia Williams plays Jenny's teacher, and there is a knowing aura in her that credits authority for Jenny's knowledge-hungry and somewhat reckless nature. Emma Thompson has a brief moment but very powerful presence.  Alfred Molina is a real thespian, and he can maintain to be funny even when he's angr...

It has been about three decades since the first TRON came out in theatres; I just saw it some couple months ago for the first time, and it got me excited about the sequel. Last night I saw TRON LEGACY alone, surrounded by some 20 people in a cinema that seats 300, a month after its first showing, and all my expectations were met. TRON LEGACY delivers the goods. TRON LEGACY picks up 20 years later, with a short premise informing the audience that Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) already has a young son. Shortly thereafter Flynn goes off to work, and that is the last time anyone ever heard of him. Present day. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) is a rebellious, adrenaline junkie on a mission to make a statement at ENCOM, the company of which he is a major stockholder. He rides his Ducati at full speed, and cops are all over his tail. The ensuing chase sequence set to the tune of Daft Punk's electric house soundtrack is arresting. Meanwhile, Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), Kevin Flynn...

The first 20 minutes of Richard Kelly's THE BOX is quite intriguing; the premise is worth unraveling- what if you are given the option to acquire 1 million dollars, tax free in exchange that someone, somewhere whom you do not know- will die? Will you take the offer? After that, the plot spirals into a neverending maze of vague Sci-Fi references, particularly alien invasion and government conspiracies. I wanted to like the film, really but the presence of too much plot elements is just too hard for one sitting. Unlike similar mind-bending philosophical SciFi films such as INCEPTION and SPHERE, THE BOX fails to elicit even the smallest hint of empathy for its main characters, played by Diaz and Marsden. The plot is so preposterous you'd think Shyamalan somehow co-directed it. INCEPTION had stunning visuals and Ellen Page as eye-candy, whereas SPHERE had a kickass open-ended conclusion; THE BOX had neither.  For the exciting opening mentioned above, it could be credited to Rich...

So that's how it feels like watching a movie you've read from the source material. You find great details in the novel that you wished the filmmaker did not omit. But then again, include such details from Charles Frazier's highly-illustrative novel and you get a running time of not less than five hours, especially if Terrence Malick will direct, or Cecil B. De Mille, if he was still alive.  Of course I do not mean include all the detailed descriptions of the Poplar leaves, the figures of the mountains, Nicole Kidman's character Ada sleeping in the woods which took an entire chapter, or the passing of seasons.  Director Anthony Minghella obviously took liberties with the material; it is as close as you can get to a book adaptation (people were complaining about the third NARNIA movie because it is unrecognizable from the C.S. Lewis beloved source material) since the most important parts are present, but there were vital scenes omitted, and/or replaced.  A crucial det...

Urban drama is a very sensitive material; nowadays, there is a pressing need for authenticity, especially for people who are cohabiting with the urban landscape's woes day in and day out. Luckily, TIRADOR by Brillante Mendoza succeeds in dishing up the city's rawness and in the process, there are humorous encounters that we cannot deny it would be damn funny if we actually saw it in real life. TIRADOR focuses on a particular slum community in Manila around the Quiapo area, known to most people as the home of the Black Nazarene and one of the pillars of the Catholic religion in the country; it is also the thriving place for petty criminals who are hidden in every corner, blending with the regular passerby. We follow several interconnected vignettes that sum up the story's stance on the relationship of politics, religion, and poverty. Most notable is Kristoffer King, who plays a snatcher addicted to drugs. The ensemble cast also features indie regulars Coco Martin, Jir...

A German boy befriends a Jewish one; an electric wired fence divides them; neither one of them has any idea what the heck is going on around them, or the fact that they cannot be friends. Heartbreakingly genuine, like fresh out of a beautifully-written book (and it is based on a book, really) THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS retells the holocaust in a toned down but equally powerful manner, through the eyes of children. Asa Butterfield who plays the German boy Bruno is exceptionally talented. He knows how to dra wout his emotions; same goes for Jack Scanlon who plays the Jewish kid Shmuel. David Thewlis is also magnetic as an SS Officer and Bruno's dad, but it is Vera Framiga (the mom) who steals the show, as always.  About twenty minutes before the credits roll, I figured out the plot twist, and my mouth was wide open for like twenty minutes for such disbelief.  Having seen this I felt like I was able to have vengeance on the Nazis, even if I am not Jewish. But this ...

It was a fun ride. Like what I felt at the end of THE POLAR EXPRESS, which is another Zemeckis animated film, I was joyful, but this adaptation of the popular Dickens book lacks exposition. Nevertheless, where it needs more story details it makes up for the pretty visuals. Jim Carrey is an able actor, even when he's just doing voiceover. For what it's worth, this movie made me want to read the book. RATING: 3/5

I have been on a wild goose change scouring for the Nobel-prize winning novel by Jose Saramago on which this movie was based. I haven't found a copy yet. The movie was very thought-provoking that I was compelled to buy the book; Julianne Moore and Gael Garcia Bernal give powerful performances in this stylistic adaptation, as well as Maury Chaykin who plays The Accountant. The story is about the disease called "White Sickness" which makes people go blind, seeing only pure white instead of total darkness. At first it was a single person, then eventually everybody had it. Julianne Moore, who plays the wife of a doctor (Mark Ruffalo) is the only one who was unaffected by the plague. As they were rehabilitated in a rundown mental facility, she keeps her gift of sight a secret as she guides the people in a makeshift existence. It wasn't soon before people went down to their most basic instincts, such as survival and libido; one group of people claims supremacy, even...

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU is one fresh surprise. The story is compelling enough  to glue you to your seat, and Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda have a radiant chemistry, like soulmates finally in touch with one another. Though this film has been released over a decade ago, it still has timeless charm that defines the term "feel-good film" in all aspects. Discussing issues of ambition, luck, and fate, though at times the story feels too convenient to the point of being contrived, IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU involves a good-hearted cop, a good-hearted waitress, an irritating wife, a lottery ticket, and an enigmatic narrator. When Cage's cop character has no money left to leave a tip to Fonda's waitress character, he tells her if he wins the lottery he will split the proceeds 50/50 with her; otherwise, he will return the next day and leave a tip. The expected happens: he wins! The cop's wife played by Rosie Perez screams in joy, but not until she learns of the waitress....

People who have seen SKYLINE and dissed it either disliked the ending, or felt that much of the movie was borrowed from CLOVERFIELD, and a subpar version at that, but SKYLINE is much more than a rehashed alien movie; the film creates an air of claustrophobia, and those blue lights are pretty amazing.  I knew that aliens will triumph in the end (as if you haven't heard it already!) but the Strause Brothers conjures a final act twist reminiscent of District 9, and is equally disturbing, too.  More than just an alien Sci-Fi movie, SKYLINE proves to be a successful tale of humanity and survival, of death and rebirth.  RATING: 3/5 

I thought it was going to be the best in the series. I was wrong.  MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME starts off as okay, then ventures into bizarre, until it proves to be totally irritating, all thanks to the Lost Boys redux and the Savannah character and all those attempts at trying to be an authentic futuristic period film.  The THUNDERDOME scene was gripping, though.  RATING: 2/5

Now this is how you do a post-apocalyptic thriller. Ruthless, relentless, and imaginative. I haven't really appreciated the second film in the MAD MAX trilogy, but as I saw it again after so many years, I realized it is a timeless classic, and could have been the forefather of our present road rage films, especially the Jason Statham-starred DEATH RACE, which bears heavy references to ROAD WARRIOR.  Mel Gibson drifts the wasteland in search of gas and gets pitted in a conflict between savages and a community encamped in the middle of the unforgiving desert. When people are not shooting each other, a deeper humanistic philosophy is revealed. Oh, and RESIDENT EVIL EXTINCTION so borrowed elements from this film.  Having watched all three MAD MAX films (I heard a fourth one is upcoming), I derived that each can be viewed separately, and not as a single continuous story, and it works that way since the endings are never smoothly tied with the beginnings of the succeeding films....