LibreViews

Hairspray

2008-11-24T01:14:00.001+08:00

(review in Filipino)
(longer review in English at rvives.wordpress.com)

Ang haba ng hair!
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre November 11 2008

Direksiyon ni Bobby Garcia
Music & Lyrics Marc Shaiman, Lyrics Scott Wittman
Starring Michael de Mesa, Madel Ching
Palabas hanggang December 7 sa Star Theater, CCP Complex

Big, bright and beautiful ang local staging ng Atlantis Productions ng sikat na Broadway musical na Hairspray. Pero ang may pinakamahabang hair ay si Michael de Mesa na gumaganap na Edna Turnblad, ang big momma ng bida na si Tracy (Madel Ching).

Traditionally, ang role ni Edna ay ginagampanan ng lalaki mula pa sa original na pelikula ni John Waters noong 1988 hanggang maging musical ito sa Broadway noong 1998 at maging musical movie last year kung saan si John Travolta ang gumanap sa role ni Edna.

Set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962, ang Hairspray ay tungkol sa mga pangarap ng malusog na teenager na si Tracy Turnblad na makasali sa paborito niyang teenage dance show sa TV sa kabila ng pagtutol ng marami dahil sa kaniyang timbang, una na rito ang mapagmataas na producer ng show na Velma Von Tussle (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) at kaniyang beauty-pageant daughter na Amber (Christine Allado).

Hindi rin nakatulong ang pakikipag-kaibigan niya kina Seaweed (Nyoy Volante) at Inez (Lee Viloria) at ilan pang Afro kids sa record store ni Motormouth Maybelle (Dulce) sa panahong hindi pa rin tanggap ng maraming Amerikano ang kanilang kulay. But of course, happy ending ang masiglang musical na nag-uumapaw ang sugar-coating sa saya.

Naturally fun ang musical dahil ang setting ay 1960’s; makulay ang set and costumes ng designer Gino Gonzales at masigla ang musika ng filharmonika sa baton ni Archie Castillo. Fabulous si Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo sa kaunting scenes ni Velma. Makapanindig-balahibo ang soulful na “I Know Where I’ve Been” ni Dulce, kung saan isinalaysay ni Motormouth Maybelle ang matagal na pakikibaka ng mga African Americans tungo sa equality, na lalong naging makabuluhan ngayon sa pagkapanalo ni Barack Obama bilang pangulo ng U.S.

Surprising si Nyoy as Seaweed at overall, mahusay naman ang baguhang si Madel Ching as Tracy kahit na minsa’y parang nauubusan siya ng hininga o kaya’y nahihirapang ibigkas nang mabilis ang mga mabibilis na kanta, lalu na sa ending na “You Can’s Stop the Beat”. Honorable mention sina Enchang Kaimo, Noel Rayos bilang Corny Collins at ang Dynamite girls.

Pero ang korona best performer ay kay de Mesa bilang hebigat na Edna, in particular sa waltz nila ni Wilbur (Leo Rialp) na “You’re Timeless To Me” kung saan pinapatunayan nitong mga veterans na hindi kailangan ng malaking costume at movements para ipakita ang stage presence at chemistry.

Sa kabuuan, isang masigla’t masayang staging ang Hairspray, na pwedeng early Christmas treat for the family. Pakipaliwanag na lang sa kids ang issue ng racism at kaunting sexual innuendos. Kung ganito kasimple ang mga issue sa buhay, pwedeng idaan na lang sa sayaw (at taas ng hair-do) ang mga problema gaya ng ginawa ni Tracy. Ang sabi nga ng isang shampoo brand, believe you can shine.

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-24T01:13:00.002+08:00

Never say never
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre November 5 2008

Directed by Marc Forster
Starring Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko

In Quantum of Solace, Agent 007 returns in a revenge mode, seeking the people who blackmailed Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) into betraying James Bond in 2006’s Casino Royale. Consider this a summation of the previous Bond film, but more importantly, Quantum of Solace gives James Bond true human form – with more emotion, more action, but never the same as before.

While interrogating Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), Bond (Craig) and M (Judi Dench) discover that the organization behind Vesper’s betrayal runs far more complex and powerful. White escapes with the aid of a double-agent who nearly kills M and Bond. MI6 traces the traitor’s bank account to Haiti, where Bond meets the mysterious Camille (Olga Kurylenko). Camille introduces Bond to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a billionaire philanthropist and member of a secret criminal organization known as Quantum. Greene and Quantum conspire to control the natural resources of various third-world nations by means of economic and political sabotage.

Risking life, limb and license, Bond allies with former Casino Royale contacts Mathis (Giancarlo Gianini) and CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) in a mission that brings him from Italy to Austria to Bolivia and tests the limits of his personal and professional relationships in the pursuit of truth.

In 2006, I complimented Casino Royale as a “great movie, a successful reboot of a franchise, like it was an edition of the Jason Bourne series,” (Ante-Bond, Inquirer Libre, November 2006.) Don’t expect more of the same Bond, if more of the same means the usual, clichéd Bond who looks perfect even after a fistfight. Expect a real movie, but not the usual Bond movie. Of all the James Bond films, this may be one of my favorites.

Credit director Marc Forster (Stranger than Fiction, Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) and the writers led by Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby) for continuing on this trend and giving Bond a fleshier character. This way, not only does QoS resolve Bond’s emotional turmoil in Casino Royale, producers can now take the franchise into any direction they want, given that Bond is now free of “personal issues”. No longer is James Bond a caricature of the ultimate male fantasy, James is now a real movie character.

Needless to say the action is packed and knuckle-baring, blood staining Bond’s dapper suits more than half the time. What’s also interesting is that QoS has a sly political significance, in the sense that (spoilers beware!) Quantum’s criminal plot to control natural resources, in particular fresh water under the barren soils of Bolivia, represents what may truly happen in the real world when the time comes that natural resources, particularly potable water, become scarce and nations protect their own interests. We already know petroleum oil will run out in a few decades. The next battle for supplies will be for drinking water, when the water tables under the earth run dry due to climate change. All of a sudden, Quantum of Solace becomes an important environmental movie, one that features a billionaire villain disguised as an environmentalist (note that in 2010).

There’s a reason why the James Bond series has survived 22 outings throughout the years and that is because it has always worked around its definition as a mere spy movie. Quantum of Solace shuts the door on Bond’s self-doubt that began in Casino Royale and becomes the movie when Bond fully understands and accepts his license to kill.

Babylon A.D.

2008-09-23T14:44:00.002+08:00

Oh really?
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre

Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Written by Mathieu Kassovitz, Eric Besnard
Based on Maurice George Dantec's sci-fi novel "Babylon Babies"

Somebody tell French director Mathieu Kassovitz to quit it. No matter what he says, or what the studio says, this is still their movie. And it sucks, big time.

Kassovitz publicly disowns the movie, which he says was edited to death (estimated somewhere between 15 and 70 minutes) by studio Twentieth Century Fox. Even if crucial pieces were taken out (which I doubt), what remains onscreen are a confusing jumble of story parts, bad dialogue and emotionally unappealing characters.

Based on the 2005 futuristic tale Babylon Babies by French punk rocker turned novelist Maurice Dantec, Babylon A.D. is a convoluted mess about cloning, corporate religion, human trafficking, psychic powers, cybernetic genetic manipulation and quasi- Christian second coming of the Messiah. Heads were shaking in confusion after the press screening.

The root premise sounds compelling: in the future, various religious sects vie for control of the post-apocalyptic world. Veteran mercenary Toorop (Vin Diesel) is hired by the Russian mafia to secretly transport a young woman from a convent in Kazakhstan to New York at all costs. The young woman, Aurora (Melanie Thierry), presumably carries something important for the salvation of the world. Joining them is Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), a nun from the convent who has taken care of Aurora since she was a child. Rebeka also acts as Aurora’s protector.

It goes without saying that mercenaries of another sect are chasing them to get Aurora. Pregnant through genetic manipulation, Aurora is to be presented as some sort of a new Virgin Mother pregnant with the new Messiah by immaculate conception. Whoever holds Aurora controls the world, or something like that. But not without much gun fighting, and exploding bombs and missiles. There’s a happy ending to all these, but I’m really not sure what for.

Vin Diesel is subjugated to perform largely the usual action pieces he has done before, including act as babysitter to an annoying ward who occasionally puts the trio in harm’s way as a result of her paranoid schizophrenia. The rest of the minor characters are flatly one-note stick people, so sad considering these characters are played by respectable artists such as Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling (as the High Priestess), Lambert Wilson (as Aurora’s creator), and Gerard Depardieu (as Russian mafioso Gorsky). It’s unclear who is fighting what, and what happens after the big explosion towards the end is downright mind-boggling. Rushed ending doesn’t even begin to explain it.

The only thing going right for this series of unfortunate scenes is a proper post-nuclear sci-fi look achieved by cinematographer Thierry Arbogast and production designers Sonja Klaus and Paul Cross. I didn’t say it’s great, just proper. The rest, to use the phrase in a different way, is history.

Quicktrip

2008-09-03T21:06:00.002+08:00

Pantawid
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre September 3, 2008
Review in Filipino

Written, Directed and Produced by Cris Pablo
Sept 3-9 sa Robinson’s Galleria IndieSine
Rated R, gay film

May karapatan bang lumigaya ang breadwinner na bakla? Ito ang gustong sagutin ng pelikulang Quicktrip ni producer-director Cris Pablo, isa sa mga pinakaunang filmmaker na nagrelease commercially ng digital film sa isang sinehan nang itanghal ang Duda/Doubt sa SM Megamall noong 2003.

Masasabing isang unresolved study ang Quicktrip tungkol sa sitwasyon ng mahirap na bakla na hindi nakapaglaladlad dahil sa pangangailangan ng mga taong umaasa sa kaniya. Isang hamak na waiter si Cris (Topher Barreto) na pinagkakasya ang karampot na kinikita para sa gamot ng sakiting ina, upa sa maliit na bahay, pagkain, pamasahe at pambaon ng dalawang nakababatang kapatid. Hindi nila alam na bakla si Cris. Kung may tira sa sahod, ipinanlilibre niya ito sa call center agent boyfriend na Dexter (Ian Atocador).

Magse-celebrate sana ng monthsary ang magboyfriend, pero dahil sa financial situation ni Cris, hiwalayan ang kalalabasan ng dalawa. Bago matapos ang araw, maghahanap ng kapalit ni Dexter si Cris, maghahanap ng pansamantalang kalaguyo kung kailan sana masaya sana niyang kasama ang kasintahan. Makikilala niya si Andro (Andro Morgan), na akala mo’y hulog nang langit kay Cris. Ngunit sa huli, babalik si Cris sa bahay, uuwi nang mag-isa at sugatan

Simple lang ang paglalahad ng kwento, baguhan ang lahat ng tauhan sa pelikula kaya wala namang expectations nang manood ako. What is impressive ay ang pagka-natural ng mga pangyayari, walang malalaking drama kahit na sabihing over-acting ang ilan sa mga actors dito. Makatotohanan ang dialogue, kahit na minsan hindi convincing ang delivery ng mga baguhang actors. Promising na rin ang bidang si Topher Baretto for a first-time actor. Technically, may improvements na si direk Cris Pablo from previous movies (gaya ng CinemaOne comedy, Metlogs: Metrosexual Jologs), at mas malinaw na ang storytelling niya ngayon.

However, there is nothing exemplary in the movie, at wala akong nakitang dahilan kung bakit kailangang itago ni Cris ang kaniyang seksuwalidad sa kaniyang pamilya.

Sa Quicktrip, makikitaan ng improvements si Pablo in terms of directing and treatment, pero masasabing variation lang ito ng mga nauna niyang tema tungkol sa identity at relationships ng mga bakla. Hindi naman ito pelikulang hubaran lang, although may isa itong love scene na integral sa premise ng kwento.

Pero hindi dahil gay film ito’y hindi na pwedeng irebyu sa pahayagan. Dahil ba gay, bawal na? Ito ang tanong ng katauhan ni Cris sa lipunang pumapalibot sa kaniya. Kung nangyari, walang pinagkaiba ang pagsasantabi ng gay film sa mainstream newspaper sa pagtatago ni Cris ng kaniyang seksuwalidad sa kaniyang mga kamag-anak.

Tuloy, ang isang simple at cheap na pelikula tulad ng Quicktrip ay nagiging makabuluhan dahil sa honesty ng filmmaker na maghayag ng punto de bista. Gaya ng sinasabi ng titulo, sandali lang ang malisya dito.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2008-08-26T22:21:00.004+08:00

Forcing the series
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 26, 2008
(English version)

Directed by Dave Filoni
Lucasfilm Animation/ Warner Brothers

There’s a different Anakin Skywalker here. He’s not as uptight like before. Maybe because it’s computer animation. At least there’s no Jar Jar Binks.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the first animated movie of the series and the first movie from Lucasfilm Animation – the studio that George Lucas established a few years ago which has a unit in Singapore. This is also the first time Yoda isn’t voiced by Frank Oz, and the first Star Wars not to use original music from John Williams. One can almost say this is outside the Star Wars universe if George Lucas hadn’t produced this movie.

The good news is it’s a movie meant for kids. The bad news is that it may have one too many action pieces to make it appropriate for them.

In this version of The Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic under Chancellor Palpatine is engaged in an all-out-war with the separatist Confederacy under Count Dooku (still voiced by Christopher Lee). The events in this movie are between the stories of Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. After liberating one planet from occupying separatists, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are sent by the Jedi Council to search and retrieve Jabba the Hutt’s kidnapped infant child.

Unknown to the Council, Count Dooku and his assassin Asajj Ventress are behind the kidnapping, designed to instigate a three-way war between the Republic, the Separatists and the Outer-rim planets controlled by Jabba’s crime mafia. Helping the two Jedi Knights in this assignment is a new Padawan learner, Ashoka Tano, Anakin’s incessantly annoying young apprentice.

The CGI movie as a theatrical event is not entirely awful – maybe noisy and juvenile (just like its target market) – but decently executed by the same director of Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, this CGI version pales in comparison in storytelling, action, music and characterization to (and should not be confused with) the 2D hand-drawn animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series by Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory creator Genndy Tartakovski aired in Cartoon Network in 2003. Let’s just say that one was targeted for older kids.

The Clone Wars is one giant videogame which doesn’t add anything new to the entire Star Wars saga, save for the introduction of Ashoka. She’ll fare better in terms of story line and character development in the upcoming series – she does nothing here but annoy Anakin like a pre-teen sister would. Apparently Padawans can be disrespectful to their Masters as long as they’re good with the lightsaber.

Having proven time and again that film franchises are the most lucrative in the business, it’s not surprising for the producers of Star Wars to stretch its merchandising to the furthest reaches of its universe. Star Wars: The Clone Wars the movie is basically a theatrical advertisement for the upcoming CGI animated series on Cartoon Network, the resulting videogame titles for Xbox, Playstation, PSP and Wii, and a lot more action figures.

Here’s one loud reason how Star Wars has become the cartoon that it is. The Force may not be strong in this movie, but somewhere inside, it’s still there.

Death Race

2008-08-26T18:40:00.002+08:00

Road killer
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Review in Filipino
Inquirer Libre August 26, 2008

Written and Directed by Paul WS Anderson
Based on the movie Death Race 2000 by Roger Corman

Kung banggaan nga sa EDSA mapapalingon ka, sa isa pa kayang pelikulang walang preno sa salpukan at pagpapasabog ng mga sasakyan? Turbocharged ang action sa Death Race na parang walang krisis sa gasolina.

It is the year 2012 at bumagsak na ang ekonomiya ng lahat ng bansa pati na ang sa U.S. Malalaking korporasyon na ang nagpapatakbo ng mga utilities pati na mga kulungan. Isang ex-racecar driver si Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) na na-frame up at nakulong sa Terminal Island maximum security prison na mahigpit na pinatatakbo ni warden Claire Henessy (Joan Allen).

Kapalit ng kalayaan, kailangang makipagkarera ni Ames against other prisoners sa isang karera kung saan unahan sa finish line na buhay. Dahil sa Death Race, may nakakabit na machine gun, missile launcher, armor plate at kung anu-ano pang armas ang mga sasakyan. Katunayan, patay na ang 4-time champion na si Frankenstein, pero para mapagpatuloy na exciting ang labanan, pinasusuot kay Ames ang maskara nito. Pasimuno ito ni warden Henessy na pinagkakakitaan ang karera by broadcasting it pay-per-view style sa internet.

Kung nakalilito ang kwento deadma na, kailangan lang naman ng kaunting dahilan para magkaroon ng kaganapan ang matinding aksiyon ng Death Race. Walang social realism ek at superhero angst dito. Titulo pa lang, kuha mo na kung anong gusting patunguhan ng pelikula. Sa pagkakataong ito, tutoong action speaks louder than words.

Parang video game ang Death Race - konting intro sa bida, masamang kalaban, ilang extra characters – tapos puro bakbakan na. No use expecting Jason Statham to do drama, since the close-ups of his shoulder muscles are enough evidence that he’s capable of knocking out a taller guy using his bare hands. Built for action, ika nga. Oscar-nominee Joan Allen is quite amusing to watch going all-out campy as the cold-blooded bitchy warden. Paminsan-minsan nakakatawa si Coach (Ian McShane), ang hepe ng team ni Frankenstein/ Ames. At knockout sa ganda si Natalie Martinez bilang navigator na si Case.

What makes Death Race effective is that it doesn’t promise anything else except what its title says – lots and lots of death in a deadly, violent car race – which it delivers loudly with a bang. Sometimes, kailangan i-turn off ang utak para mag-save ng brain cells. Tapos sit back, relax, and get your motor running.

The X Files: I Want to Believe

2008-08-19T22:18:00.003+08:00

Want no more
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 19, 2008

Directed by Chris Carter
Starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson

In technical terms, it’s properly treated and smartly made (I didn’t say it has an intelligent script). David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are back in the roles that made them famous in The X Files: I Want to Believe. The good news is, just like the hit TV series this movie is based on, these two are the best parts of the show.

This is supposedly a stand-alone story that non-fans of the series can reasonably understand, but I guess a good knowledge of the TV show helps in better appreciating this movie. Pwera rito, I Want to Believe is just an okay drama-thriller tungkol sa dalawang tao who have supposedly matured in their relationship, but start questioning their beliefs in each other when extraordinary challenges face them again.

Six years after their last X Files adventure (the series ended in 2002) and ten years after the last movie (Fight the Future, in 1998), Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) are no longer agents of the FBI. Si Scully ay isa nang duktor sa isang Catholic hospital tending a child dying from an incurable brain disease. Mulder is in protective hiding to avoid further charges from the government whom he has accused of many conspiracies.

The two are forced out of “retirement” when they are enlisted by agent Dakota Whitney (Amanda Peet) to help the FBI locate a missing female FBI agent by aiding a pedophile priest who claims to have visions of the victim. Wala sa mga agents ang gustong maniwala sa pari, lalu na ang very rational at devoutly Catholic na Scully, except Mulder, whose interest in the case can be linked to his personal search for his missing sister. Science and faith are tested with and against each other, pero sa huli, lahat ng uri ng paniniwala nila ay masusubukan bago malutas ang kaso.

The best part of I Want to Believe is seeing Duchovny and Anderson relive their on-screen characters with true chemistry as if the relations between Mulder and Scully have truly aged through the years. The movie’s title is most appropriate with Scully and her terminal patient, on how she can make herself believe that she can still save the kid’s life even if her faith and her science deny her that possibility.

I would even dare say that up to a certain point, it’s a relatively smart, moody semi-creepy thriller more sophisticated than some blockbusters. Unfortunately for director Chris Carter, the mystery plot is just too thin for the big screen (Russian experiments, nanaman?) and the entire movie just feels like an okay edition of the series, which has had better episodes. In that sense I don’t see the point of I Want to Believe being on the big screen rather than being a made-for-TV-movie, which is what it is.

There’s good musical scoring and a few creepy surprises here and there, but overall I Want to Believe is no big deal – a better drama than a thriller but only a mild combination of the two. However, if Scully’s last line and the last image at the end of the credits mean anything, fans should see this movie as a proper closure to the beloved show.

WALL-E

2008-08-13T22:16:00.003+08:00

Pixar's perfect
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 13, 2008

Written and Directed by Andrew Stanton
Pixar Animation/ Walt Disney
(Original review in mixed Filipino and English)

Whatever the praise, I'm not sure if people will easily like WALL-E, especially if another hyperactive comedic adventure is expected like recent animated features from Hollywood. The last half of WALL-E is standard Disney family entertainment, which by itself is reason to see the movie – but it’s not the reason why it’s great. The first half of the movie is an absolute masterpiece.

Like a Charlie Chaplin pantomime or a classic romance from the days of Cary Grant, WALL-E is an emotional, almost melancholic homage to many things cinema. And like its Japanese-studio counterparts who take anime seriously, Pixar takes storytelling back to its original, basic roots – visual storytelling.

Make sure to watch this movie in cinemas; I don’t think small screens will do this justice. Half of the show is silent (take note: silent) – so don’t spoil other people’s experience with its incredible sound design. Also, that means don’t go in the theaters late, there's a funny short animation called Presto! right before WALL-E screens.

WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class) is the last functioning robot trash compactor on Earth, 700 years after humans filled the planet with garbage and left it for space. Day in and day out he collects garbage, alone except a pet cockroach he keeps as companion. At nighttime he watches a warped VHS tape of the musical Hello, Dolly!, hoping one day he will hold another being's hands like the dancers in the show do. That's 30 silent minutes of robot loneliness.

One day a giant spaceship lands, and out comes EVE (or Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) -a sleek shiny new robot - to search for signs that Earth can be habitable again. In other words, it's love at first electronic sight for WALL-E – but the catch is catching how WALL-E catches EVE's attention. How their romance develops is truly touching, but the ways by which the emotions are evoked are truly magical. (Emotional robots - yes, it's magical.) As for the rest of the movie – which involves lazy, obese humans, uncontrolled consumerism and lots of crazy robots – that’s your standard Disney. The real gem of the movie is the heartwarming romance between WALL-E and EVE.

While the romance is a throwback to classic black-and-white Hollywood, WALL-E the movie makes obvious references to movie science fiction – from Short Circuit to Tron to 2001: A Space Odyssey. A small bit of trivia is that the sound of WALL-E is made by the same person who designed the sound in Star Wars. That’s why WALL-E the robot sounds like R2D2. Stay during the end credits, the images feature the evolution of art from cave-paintings to classical to renaissance to modernist and finally the digital age.

The last work of animation that moved me emotionally was Isao Takahata’s heartbreaking Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka), possibly one of the most depressing films of all time (Pixar’s Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. also come close). Fireflies initially wasn’t made for kids, although its story centered on two young siblings struggling to survive World War II. In a way this Hollywood animation approaches that milestone – it is foremost a work of genuine art, and then a piece of entertainment after.

Some people will complain that WALL-E is too slow. However that is the point of the movie: to make humans pause and look at the big picture again – quit the rush, because there's no second chance at opportunity.

The Dark Knight

2008-07-25T21:47:00.003+08:00

Wow, heavy
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre July 25, 2008
Review in Filipino and English

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Based on characters created by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson
Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

It’s a thoroughly well-crafted, well-written, thought-provoking Hollywood blockbuster. Pero andaming issues. It’s still a superhero movie. In fact it presents quite a number of themes, mostly moral ambiguities and duality of characters, na siniksik nang maigi at ipinagkasya in two and a half hours. Sabi nga ni Joker, why so serious? Spoilers beware.

In Christopher Nolan’s sequel to the critically-acclaimed 2005 mega hit Batman Begins, Batman (Christian Bale) unofficially joins forces with the police, led by by Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in cracking down Gotham’s criminals, to the point when hundreds of them are indicted in court en masse. The crackdown seems to be working, until a strange creature comes along and introduces chaos in the streets.

Enter the unpredictable madman Joker (Heath Ledger) who, in a few days’ work, is able to raid Gotham National Bank, force the mafia into his service and kill many civilians including police Commissioner Loeb and Judge Surillo. It’s not about the money, the Joker explains to one mobster boss. It’s about the message, he says, just before lighting a huge mountain of stolen cash into flames.

At the heart of TDK is a bone-chilling lunatic who thinks he can turn the city upside down and make demons out of angels in the city of goth. Before Joker’s appearance, the Batman was a mere elevated vigilante and the new District Attorney was the city’s moral knight in shining armor. Para kay Batman, Dent represents a real person that the citizens can pin their hopes to, di tulad niya na kailangang magtago sa likod ng maskara at gumamit ng mga illegal na methods (gaya ng wiretapping) para sa katarungan. It even came to the point that Batman almost revealed his true identity. Pero ang tunay palang pakay ni Joker ay siraan si Batman at sirain si Dent. Sabi nga ni Alfred (Michael Caine), some men just want to see the city burn.

The Dark Knight represents a high point in Hollywood’s attempt at making serious, character-driven superhero movies that resonate strongly with big audiences in these days when governments tend not to be populist. There are at least three story threads – the Bruce Wayne-Rachel Dawes-Harvey Dent love triangle (only a minor element in the movie); the Harvey Dent-Batman white knight vs. dark knight thesis on which hero Gotham deserves more; and finally the Batman-Joker-Two Face moral yin-yang about who gets to be right in a world that tends to be wrong. The last two themes make up most of the movie, especially in the last half when these themes begin to resonate. Apparently, the Joker’s plans are very elaborate.

Let me be clear, it’s a well-made movie and it’s very well written. But it’s not the best movie in the world. The first half is clunky, disarranged and takes too long to prepare. But as soon as the Joker appears in Bruce Wayne’s penthouse, the movie starts to make sense out of its many story threads. Central to the movie is the belief that a madman can do all these things in a frightening way, to which Ledger delivers forcefully. Maybe it was the way the movie was written, or maybe because historically the Joker is indeed Batman’s greatest enemy, but without the Joker in this movie, the Batman is just a hero.

Whoever plays the Joker next has some huge shoes to fill.

Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-13T00:49:00.002+08:00

Kung ‘kay tabatchoy
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 13, 2008
review in Filipino

Directed by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Featuring the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan

Galit ako sa mga tamad. Sa mga panahon ngayon, bawal ang katamaran. Pero sa mga panahon ding ganito nakakatulog ang kaunting aliw.

Si Po (boses ni Nacho Libre Jack Black) ay isang matabang panda na parang Juan Tamad - maghapong nangangarap maging pinakamahusay na Kung Fu fighter sa buong China, mas mahusay pa kaysa sa Furious Five na kaniyang iniidolo. Kahit na sa gitna ng pagwe-waiter niya sa maliit na noodle restaurant nila ng kaniyang ama, nangangarap pa rin siya. Kaya nang marinig niya ang announcement na pipiliin na ni Shaolin Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) ang Dragon Warrior na magiging tagapagtanggol ng Valley of Peace, agad binitawan ni Po ang mga hawak na bowl at kumaripas patungong templo.

Doon nag-e-exhibition ng martial arts ang mga estudyante ni Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) - ang Furious Five na sina Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) at Monkey (Jackie Chan). Sa pagkagulat ng lahat, idineklara ni Oogway na ang susunod na Dragon Warrior ay ang patid-paang bundating si Po. Walang magagawa ang lahat kundi sundin ang Shaolin Master, sa kabila ng pagtutol ni Shifu na mistulang ininsulto dahil hindi mga estudyante niya ang piniling tagapagtanggol laban sa malakas na rebeldeng fighter na si Tai Lung (Ian McShane).

Sa madaling salita, mapatutunayan ni Po na karapatdapat siyang maging Dragon Warrior, at sa huli, maibabalik ang katahimikan sa Valley.

Luma na yung theme na "believe in yourself and prove your detractors wrong" na siyang tema ng kwento ng isang biluging Panda na nangarap maging shaolin master. Pero hindi dahil luma ay hindi na pwedeng gamitin, lalu na kung pwede pang retokehin. Nakaaaliw na ang mga residente ng Valley of Peace dahil karamihan sa kanila ay mga animals sa 12 Zodiacs ng Chinese astrology. Panda si Po, turtle si Oogway, may Viper, Monkey, Crane at Tiger, merong mythical Dragon, at maraming pigs at storks (si master Shifu ay isang red panda, samantalang snow leopard naman si Tai Lung).

May limang dahilan kung bakit maganda ang Kung Fu Panda. Una na dito ang visual style - kapag animation ang pinag-uusapan, importante ang technique dahil parang shaolin, kailangan mag-improve ito sa paglipas ng panahon (take note, Urduja). Pangalawa ang mga exciting na action sequences na kasing galing ng mga pelikula ni Jackie Chan. Meron pang running over the rooftops ala Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon at makapigil-hiningang confrontation ng Furious Five versus Tai Lung sa gitna ng mataas na rope bridges. Magaling ang voice acting ng cast, na hindi nagpapansin kung sino silang artista. Siyempre pa ang nakatatawang comedy, parang Shaolin Soccer, pero animals. Na-master na yata ng Hollywood ang pagpapatawa sa animation.

Pero ang pinakamahusay na desisyon ng mga gumawa ng Kung Fu Panda ay gawing Panda ang bida ng pelikula. Cute na, hindi mo pa aakalaing may pakinabang pala ang umuumbok na katabaan nito para matalo ang kalaban.

May lesson na matututunan dito sa Kung Fu Panda, at ito ay: kung ikaw ay masaya, tumawa ka.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-06-11T23:44:00.003+08:00

Prince charming
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 5, 2008
Review in Filipino and English

Directed by Andrew Adamson
Based on the book by C.S. Lewis
Starring Ben Barnes, Wiliam Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes

Kamukha ni Prince Caspian si Albert Martinez. Yung bagets version. Yun yung una kong napansin sa The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Yung next ko na napansin, nagmamature na yung mga kids ng Narnia, may halo nang teen love story eh. Pangalawa ang Prince Caspian sa The Chronicles of Narnia series of books and films, matapos ang The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, last seen in 2005.

Sa chapter two ng Narnia series, an assassination plot will force Prince Caspian (played by Brit actor Ben Barnes) to hide from his scheming uncle Miraz (played by Sergio Castellitto) who has declared himself king of Telmarine and taken the throne para sa sarili niya. Mapapadpad si Caspian sa kagubatan ng Narnia kung saan nagtatago ang mga magical creatures, na sa mga panahon na iyon ay kaunti na lang pagkatapos patayin ang kanilang uri ng mga tao, sa pangunguna ng mga Telmarines.

One year after their first adventure, mababalik ang magkakapatid na sina Peter (Wiliam Moseley), Susan (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) at Lucy (Anna Popplewell) sa Narnia, pero 1,300 years na pala ang nakalipas dito at kakaiba na ang mga lugar at mga hayop na kanilang nakikita. Parang wala nang magic sa Narnia. Hindi magtatagal at magtatagpo sila nina Prince Caspian, at magtutulungan sila kasama si Aslan (boses ni Liam Neeson) upang maibalik ang korona sa prinsipe at ang kaharian ng Narnia sa katahimikan.

Mature ang handling ng kwento ng Caspian, at may ilang intense battle scenes na masyadong marami ang body count para maging tunay na pambata ang pelikula. Babala sana na patnubayan ng mga nakatatanda ang maliliit na manonood.

It’s interesting that the filmmakers approached Caspian in a realistic sense. Bawas ang mga “magical” moments dito pero hindi ibig sabihin na bawas na rin ang effects nito. After all, may mga nagsasalitang hayop at naglalakad na puno sa Narnia. But what the filmmakers did was approach the story as if it’s another tale from Old England, inclusive of palace politics and struggles for the crown.

The movie also retains C.S. Lewis’s very Christian messages and symbolisms, with a very strong moral about staying true to one’s beliefs even if time and change passes. This moral is laid by two threads in the story – first in the backstory, as told by other characters that humans no longer believe in the existence of the magical creatures of Narnia, particularly because humans have killed most of them; and second, with Peter’s character (finally made significant, thereby explaining why he is High King and called The Magnificent), who believes the only way to save Narnia is through their own actions, despite Lucy’s repeated claims to have seen Aslan. One special effect in the river almost literally reinforces Christian symbolism. Even for non-Christians, at least the kids in the movie have positive values.

Caspian also has scenes quite reminiscent of Lord of the Rings – but that only reinforces the story that Lewis and Rings creator JRR Tolkien were best friends in Oxford, and must have shared notes very often. Reepicheep the swashbuckling mouse (voiced by Eddie Izzard) appears for the first time, he and Prince Caspian return in the next installment, Voyage of the Dawn Treader scheduled in 2010.

Overall, the kid actors are okay, the thin storyline moves slowly, the effects are good, but there’s just too many intense sword fighting and arrows hitting bodies for comfort. Lastly, the hinted love story is likely intended to make Ben Barnes a charming heartthrob; but it’s just typical Hollywood cheese. Then again the Pevensie kids are growing up. Hormones are hormones, even in Narnia.

Across the Universe

2008-03-10T20:34:00.004+08:00

Happiness is a warm gun
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre March 5, 2008

Directed by Julie Taymor
Featuring music by the Beatles
Starring Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess

Usually, songs for movie musicals are written around the same time the movie is made, but in Across the Universe the songs have existed before the story was written. It’s not a musical about the Beatles, there’s just a lot of Beatles songs along with the simple story. So it’s not surprising if you find yourself singing along with the songs inside the theater.

The entire movie is a series of music videos strung together by a thin narrative called a love story between Brit dock worker Jude (Jim Sturgess, who was probably cast in the role because he sounded like Paul McCartney) who goes to the States in search of his dad, but ends up falling for high school senior sweetheart Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood, who actually sounds good.) Pretty soon the movie is populated by persons with names taken from Beatles songs. Narratively it drags, visually it’s psychedelic (Taymor was responsible for Frida and the Broadway staging of The Lion King.) Real-life superstar rock stars make surprise cameos every now and then, as if to show its young stars how it’s done. Bono, Joe Cocker, Eddie Izzard, to name a few.

At least “Come Together” and watch it for “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Let It Be,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” As the Beatles put it, happiness is a warm gun.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Based on the novel by Ron Hansen
Starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck

“Hudas not pay” is true in this nicely assembled piece of cinema, maybe a little bit overdone on the narration’s prose, but overall it’s a solid piece of character study, with breathtakingly beautiful cinematography by Roger Deakins and great performances from Brad Pitt (as Jesse James) and Casey Affleck (as Robert Ford). Jesse James’ character has been put onscreen many times, this isn’t the first Western to feature the outlaw. This movie is less about how Bob Ford killed Jesse James, but more about why James became probably the first Old West celebrity, and how the 19-year old Ford became the first celebrity stalker.

I’ve heard people complain about how slow the story progresses, but that’s not the fault of bad editing. It’s a deliberate pace for The Assassination, culminating in freeze-frames depicting the last moments of Bob Ford’s life, as if it intends to freeze these two legends of old America in postcard-perfect moments in time. But if this explanation doesn’t convince those with short attention spans, consider these running time calculations: at 160 minutes (or 2 hours and 40 minutes) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not too far off Forrest Gump (142 minutes), The Godfather (175 minutes) or JFK (189 minutes) and is far shorter than The Godfather, Part 2 (200 minutes), Lawrence of Arabia (216 minutes), Gone with the Wind (226 minutes) and the entire Lord of the Rings extended edition series (Fellowship, Two Towers and Return of the King combined) at 682 minutes or 11 hours and 22 minutes.

It’s not always about the ending, sometimes it’s how it gets there.

There Will Be Blood

2008-02-21T20:33:00.000+08:00

Fire and brimstone
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre February 21, 2008

Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!”
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis
Nominated for 8 Oscars

As the title promises, there will be blood. There is a pervasive sense that something scary or terrible is about to happen in the movie, even if nothing ghostly ever does. It’s not a horror movie, but it can get so creepy it’s close to being one. There is something scary in P. T. Anderson’s latest work, and it’s the creature called Daniel Plainview who is a monster of a human if there is one, a soulless brute of anger spewed from the depths of evil.

In Daniel Plainview’s own terms he is an oil man, a self-made prototype American businessman who literally broke back and bones picking for silver in rocks before drilling for crude oil in the deserts of California in the early 1900s. For the first 11 minutes of the movie, not a word is spoken, only the sound of Daniel’s pick and an unsettling music which indicate the 2 hour-plus movie isn’t going to be an easy watch. Daniel knows one thing and one thing only – that he wants no one else to succeed except himself. Two, if you count that he hates most people.

It starts in 1898, and then moves on to 1911, which is the most part of the movie. That’s when Daniel the successful oil man meets young Eli Sunday of the small desert town of Little Boston. Eli is an upstart preacher, whose youthful looks mismatch his mastery of the Holy Scriptures. In exchange for the town’s prosperity, Eli barters for a bigger town church – and the relationship binds so long as oil flows. But the movie isn’t a contest between the bible and black gold; though many times when it feels like so, it’s a fascinating clash. There Will Be Blood is really about the avarice inside Daniel Plainview. To that Daniel Day-Lewis rises sublime.

With a voice pulled from beneath the earth and a tired crooked limp that grows with age, Day-Lewis’s Plainview is a disturbing madman – a force of nature cold and articulate in front of the people he intends to take land from but rains fire and brimstone against any who slight the manner by which he raises his dear son H.W. And when he does, the earth trembles to the core. Paul Dano, who plays Eli, establishes a praiseworthy performance of his own, particularly in that scene where he exorcises the demon of arthritis, but the young actor can’t hold up to Day-Lewis’s searing mockery of salvation, as evident in the final climactic scene. In contrast, newcomer Dillon Freasier (as young H.W.) has a screen presence and angelic face that humanizes Plainview’s monstrosity, even with the bare use of words.

By sheer genius, the movie stays most compelling by remaining mysteriously incomplete. As far as a movie is concerned, it is either a character study that lacks a proper back story, or dramaturgy with missing arcs. There Will Be Blood is another P.T. Anderson declaration (after Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia) that cinema need not be ordinary.

“I am the Third Revelation,” Plainview thunders to Eli at the end with such power he might as well have been giving the first commandment to Moses. Daniel Day-Lewis is the burning bush.

Gone Baby Gone

2007-12-14T20:32:00.000+08:00

Brothers in Arts
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre December 14 2007

Directed by Ben Affleck
Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Starring Casey Affleck

In Ben Affleck’s world, people matter. Families matter. That’s why in his directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, establishing locations and beauty shots of lower Boston don’t matter (they’re in the movie, but they’re not emphasized). It’s quite noticeable that people are always talking in Gone Baby Gone, many times in close-ups, because that’s what matters – people communicating, interacting and dealing with each other. And because family is important, Ben hired his brother, Casey, to star in his show.

The movie deals with the kidnapping of four year old Amanda McCready and the search and investigation that followed her disappearance. Ben’s younger brother Casey Affleck plays Patrick Kenzie, the private investigator hired by Amanda’s aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) to investigate the case, despite the best efforts of the police, led by Capt. Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman).
The entire movie rests on how Patrick and his partner Angie (Michelle Monaghan) piece together information that they have gathered one shocking twist after another, even if the investigation means casting the neighborhood’s most trusted residents into serious doubt.

The big deal about this movie is that it proves Affleck’s Oscar for screenwriting (for Good Will Hunting) was not a fluke. Tight as mystery movies can be, Gone Baby Gone’s most noticeable achievement is a very impressive performance from an ensemble cast, particularly that of Amy Ryan, who plays Amanda’s foul-mouthed, lowlife of a mother Helene. Here Affleck the director shows a certain level of confidence in dealing with fine actors, and also a great deal of guts to cast his own brother in a very challenging role.

This is not your Pinoy style melodrama, where the main character needs to shed a tear, close-up, in order to win an award. In contrast, Helene has the very internalized struggle of proving to others she is a worthy mother to her missing child even if the way people see her say otherwise. Patrick, too has to prove he has the moral fiber to finish the investigation even when law excludes him from doing so. This mystery movie is very much character-based rather than plot-driven, and the filmmakers pulled it off quite very well.

Gone Baby Gone is Ben Affleck’s thesis on responsible parenthood, his polemic on why some people deserve to be parents (as expressed by Patrick’s defense of Helene as Amanda’s rightful caretaker, despite her “unmotherly” outlook), and why some people don’t (as expressed by Patrick’s final debate with Capt. Doyle). Maybe this is a result of Ben being a first-time dad. Maybe not. But this drama does have strong opinions about parenting.

Visually the piece has a confident urban look, not too glossy but not stylized, and thanks to the low budget, the frame is almost always reserved for the characters’ almost continuous dialogue, which is the most important thing in the movie. However, there is a side trip in the plot (about the search for a boy believed to have been kidnapped by a child molester) which tends to fortify Patrick’s character but doesn’t push the main story along. That part could have been structured better, but then Affleck is still a rookie director, so that is forgiven.

Ben could’ve easily directed a romantic comedy or an all-star heist which could have been easier or more enjoyable to work on. Instead he and his staff have carefully pieced together a tightly-woven drama about child abuse and parenting. For both Affleck brothers this is a commendable collaboration. As Casey gets recognized with each film outing, particularly in the coming The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Ben’s first project as a director only shows he knows what he’s doing.

Kating-kati sa Magic

2007-11-30T20:31:00.000+08:00

Reviews by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre Nov 30, 2007

(The first paragraph was edited out from the print version due to lack of space)

I’m not sure if these films are still out in local cinemas, masyadong maraming pwedeng panoorin – mag-monkey, monkey na lang kung ano ang uunahin. I have yet to see the John Lloyd-Bea starrer One More Chance, but I figure it will stay in theaters for two or more weeks. Palabas na rin ang Pasukob nina Rufa Mae at AiAi at ang The Kingdom. Para dun sa mga napanood ko, first there’s Superbad which should be in its third week or so of successful run, if it’s still out. Now I’m wondering why it took me too long to see it.

Superbad, Directed by Greg Mottola
Similar to American Pie pero mas mahusay ang pagkakasulat at kung minsa’y nakakabaliw sa kalokohan, mas marumi ang bibig nito patungkol sa kalibugan pero hindi kabastusan ang punto ng dialogue. Tatlong magbe-bestfriend na nerdy-nerdy students have arranged their way into attending one of the last parties of their high school lives. Gagawin ni Seth (Jonah Hill) ang lahat makaiskor lang sa party ng crush niya na si Jules (Emma Stone) kung saan nandun rin ang crush ni Evan (Michael Cera) na si Becca (Martha MacIssac).

Ang tiket nila sa party ay ang fake I.D. ni Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), which says he is 25 years old kahit na mukha siyang 12. Sa Amerika, 21 ang legal age para makabili ng liquor and alcoholic drinks, at yung ID ni Fogell ang gagamitin nila para makabili ng drinks para sa party ni Jules. Great script is maximized by the movie’s incredible casting, particularly of Mintz-Plasse as ultra-nerdy Fogell/ McLovin’ who enjoys the time of his life with his friends too. Superbad is actually a super-good comedy.

Enchanted, Directed by Kevin Lima
This is like a spoof-of-a-spoof idea kung saan pinaglalaruan ng musical-comedy ang mga Disney characters na Cinderella at Snow White kahit na Disney mismo ang gumawa nito. Panalo si Amy Adams bilang Giselle, a cartoon damsel who is magically transported to real-life New York by the wicked witch (Susan Sarandon), who is the stepmother of Giselle’s Prince Edward played by James Marsden. Complications arise when Giselle meets and falls in love for single dad Robert (Patrick Dempsey), pero dahil Disney movie ito, they live happily ever after.

Potential LSS (last song syndrome) ang production number in Central Park na How Do You Know, pero pwede ring ma-addict sa main love theme nitong True Love’s Kiss. Be ready to tap your glass shoes dahil in our cartoonish world, even reality deserves some fantasy.

The Namesake, Directed by Mira Nair
(exclusively in Ayala Cinemas)
Very Pinoy in America itong The Namesake, o kaya’y Joy Luck Club pero Indian family. Based on Jumpa Lahiri’s novel, The Namesake is the story of two generations of the Ganguli family (hindi ba kanta yun noong 80s? Ging gang gooli?) that begins in the 70s with the marriage of Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) to the point when they migrate to America in the 80s and then finally to the time their Americanized son Gogol (Kal Penn) marries. The title refers to Gogol’s rejection of his Indian name and background, even if his name comes from his father’s favorite author, Nikolai Gogol who is Russian.

The story is laid back and has funny moments to counter the overall seriousness, both Khan and Tabu performing solidly to keep the movie interesting. But replace the actors with Filipinos and you get American Adobo, or change to Chinese or Taiwanese and you get Joy Luck Club. It’s the same story about the children of immigrants who are slowly forgetting the original life and culture of their parents. It doesn’t matter that Kal Penn is in it (as the son), the role could have been played by somebody else.

Hitman, Directed by Xavier Gens
Going the action hero career path is Timothy Olyphant, who is a relative unknown, but appears in his first starring role as agent number 47, an ultra assassin-for-hire hitman trained by a secret organization. Why and what for, who knows, walang point talaga ang kwento pero as a movie this is decently-produced, even if the low budget shows and the storyline is overused and cartoony. Parang yung unang The Transporter, manipis ang kwento, kaunti ang action for an action movie pero hindi masagwa. Well, hindi sobrang masagwa. At may nagpapanggap pang character play sa katauhan Nika (Olga Kurylenko) na obviously love-interest ni Hitman kahit na resist-to-death si lalake sa advances ni sexy girl. Trabaho lang daw, walang personalan.

Not good, but not bad, pero yung ganitong pelikulang walang dating yung tipong madaling malimutan, kahit hindi man umabot sa punto na ikaw mismo ay gusto na ring barilin si Hitman.

Beowulf

2007-11-20T20:30:00.000+08:00

Mr. Bombastic
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre November 20, 2007

Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Based on the Old English epic poem
Written by Neil Gaiman, Roger Avary
Starring Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie
Warner Brothers/ Shangri-La Entertainment
3D in IMAX

Beowulf will do to 3D what Lord of the Rings did to fantasy – champion the genre as its innovator and make it as popular as the rest of the blockbuster pack, though in a smaller scale. Pag-ipunan na ang P400 tiket ng IMAX, ito na marahil ang magiging pinakasulit na P400 na tiket sa balat ng pinilakang tabing dahil hindi ito pang-small screen. Warning lang, masyado itong nakakatakot for very little kids.

I remember Beowulf as a 2nd year high school English class topic (do kids these days get their English classics in grade school? I wonder.) Story of a guy who kills a monster. Hindi siya ganon ka-interesting noon, but it was a required topic (we tried reading it but it was in Anglo-Saxon.) Anyway, its significance was in the fact that the epic poem is one of the oldest Old English manuscripts in history. Ah, the original Neil Gaiman.

It is A.D. 6th Century, in the Danish Kingdom of Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), a gruesome giant monster-demon called Grendel (Crispin Glover) terrorizes the halls of Heorot – butchering and killing (eating!) anyone who gets in its path. A Geat (or Goth, Swedish) hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone), arrives in Heorot with a platoon of warriors to help rid the people of Grendel’s horrific menace. To cut the story short, Beowulf defeats Grendel, pero may kabayaran ang kanyang katapangan. Grendel’s demon-mother (Angelina Jolie) takes revenge and massacres Beowulf’s army the next day. Thinking he can defeat her the same way he defeated Grendel, Beowulf enters the demon-mother’s cave, only to be seduced by its beautiful deceit. Beowulf is the tragic story of a valiant hero disgraced by his pride.

I’m a fan of the director, Robert Zemeckis, but that doesn’t mean I like everything he does necessarily. What I do like is that he has a good command of storytelling and the itch to push the techniques of filmmaking to higher levels (compositing archival footage with new material in Forrest Gump, the famous mirror scene in Contact, and his groundbreaking first attempt at motion-capture animation in The Polar Express.) In a sense he is more of an artist of the medium than the message. It was the technology in Polar Express which convinced him to make Beowulf using motion-capture technique.

The animation is very impressive, the visuals are crisp most of the time. Meron lang ilang pagkakataon na parang lumalabo yung images, humihiwalay yung 3D, lalu na pag sa gilid-gilid o kaya pag mabilis ang panning ng camera. Mahusay rin ang rendering ng mga hitsura ng mga tao, malapit na sa photorealism. Music is also appropriate, kapansin-pansin yung paggamit ng electric guitars sa main character theme.

Pero ang nakagugulat is that Beowulf has solid storytelling from start to finish, and an emotional heft that was unexpected from the computer-generated characters, particularly the monster Grendel, na nagmukhang nakakaawa dahil sa kundisyon niya sa pandinig at dahil parang gutay-gutay na muscles ang kaniyang katawan. Hindi nakakahilo kahit na the entire movie is in 3D at may pagkakataon na mapatitigil ka sa upuan mo dahil parang kasama ka sa eksenang nagaganap. There’s male and female nudity (at minsan nakakatawa kung paano takpan ang nudity sa pelikula), pero maraming adult innuendos at religious themes which are not topics for kids younger than 10. Merong isang bata na umiyak at nagsabing, “ayoko na, natatakot na ko,” sa mga magulang niya sa press screening last week, dahil hindi talaga pambata yung pelikula.

The modernistic language and approach to characters including Beowulf himself gives the old poem an accessible appeal to a 21st century audience, but sometimes the language is too modern it sounds corny. Beowulf is best seen in 3D because that’s the way to enjoy the new technique, plus the fact that the final action sequence with a beautifully rendered dragon looks so alive up-close.

Beowulf may not be the innovator in its class, but it offers a heightened degree of experiencing a very promising format in cinema, with good storytelling to boot. The future looks bright in 3D, and you gotta wear shades.

30 Days of Night

2007-11-06T20:29:00.000+08:00

Notice of Blackout
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre November 6, 2007

Directed by David Slade
Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith
Starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa George
Columbia Pictures

See vampires. See vampires run. Replace with bantay and that was the reading exercise back when I was a kid. Anyway, 30 Days of Night is a vampire movie pumped-up with concept but anemic in story.

The story is set in the small town of Barrow, Alaska ang pinaka-northern settlement sa US mainland. Sa sobrang layo nito sa hilaga, every year during winter the sun sets below the horizon and doesn’t reappear until after 30 days (ayon sa Wikipedia, yung tutoong Barrow experiences darkness for 67 days).

It is on this one occasion that a group of vampires invades the sleepy quiet town and butchers it, killing almost everyone within hours of the first night of darkness. Sheriff Eben Olemaun (Josh Hartnett) and his ex-wife Stella (Melissa George) lead the few who survive in hiding. Their goal is to survive the cold winter while vampires roam the town for 30 days until the sun comes out again. Lots of blood, head-chopping and a few instances of humor.

If this movie doesn’t make you jump from your seat for sheer fright, its ear-piercing sound will. The movie is so loud I thought it should be a health hazard.

I admit to be unfamiliar with the artwork of Ben Templesmith (who personally introduced the movie at the preview), but the artwork in the movie (meaning the production design) neither looked like it came from a graphic novel nor did it look creepy enough. For some reason, the town reminded me of Home Alone, set during happier days at Christmas time.

Typical relationship problems stalk Eben and Stella even as they scamper away from the lightning-speed vampires – which happen to look like zombies more than the usual leather-clad sexy vampires of Blade or Underworld. The vampire scenes are reminiscent of 28 Days Later – jarring handheld camerawork (for cameramen the terms are under-cranked, strobed and sharpened with tilted shutter angles.)

Oddly, the vampires speak in an unknown language, which indicates some back-story that’s probably intended for a future sequel. But there is one issue with 30 Days of Night which makes it less than scary than it already is: the moonlight is so bright the town is hardly dark at all.

Stardust

2007-10-27T20:27:00.000+08:00

Old Refrain
Review by Vives Anunciacion
(print title: Once upon a star)
Inquirer Libre, October 27, 2007

Directed by Matthew Vaughn
Based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Charles Vess
Starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer
United International Pictures

“Sometimes I wonder why I spendThe lonely night dreaming of a
song.” Stardust, words by Mitchell Parish

A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" That’s how Stardust begins, as narrated by the voice of Ian “Gandalf” McKellen. Now this isn’t a philosophical movie, rather it’s a fairy tale romance. Once upon a time, movies told stories. Stardust is like one of them.

A hundred and fifty years ago in the English town called Wall, there lived a simple store clerk, Tristan (newcomer Charlie Cox), who promises to retrieve a fallen star to impress the pretty girl he loves, Victoria (Sienna Miller).

But across the stone wall of Wall, in the magical realm of Faerie, three witch sisters as well as the surviving princes of Stormhold all witness the falling star at the same time. For the old witches, led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), the star’s heart meant several hundreds of years more of beauty and youth. For each of the princes of Stormhold, whoever retrieves the star and transforms it back into ruby becomes the next king.

So between Tristan who wants to take a piece of the star back to Victoria, a trio of witches who want to eat its heart in the name of vanity, and a group of ruthless princes out to kill each other for their father’s crown, a small twinkling star falls into Faerie land and transforms into Yvaine (Claire Danes).

Little does Tristan know that his quest to get the star would yield him the love of his life, a piece of immortality, and, as it turns out, the throne of Stormhold. Just like old fairy tales.

However, Stardust isn’t exactly old-style fairy tale. It has a little bit of wry adult humor, a little bit of bloody violence, and the cross-dressing, Can-can dancing sky pirate Captain Shakespeare played by Robert De Niro. A “fairy” tale, indeed.

I watched this movie to see the return of Michelle Pfeiffer – you actually get your money’s worth with her and her alone. Some characters are unnecessary, the music tends to overwhelm, and the effects are a little less magical. But the main reason Stardust works is that it has fairly clear and determined storytelling, and a lot of earnestness that comes along with it, as it shows onscreen. Those who worked on this movie seemed to have had lots of fun making it.

So Stardust may not be an instant classic, nor is it magical romance of the Arthurian order. It’s still staged enthusiastically, with a little bit of charm. After all it starts with “Once upon a time” and ends with “happily ever after” just like old tales before bedtime, before the lights go out and the stars start twinkling in the night.

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

2007-10-19T20:26:00.000+08:00

The Googler
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre October 19, 2007

Directed by David L. Cunningham
Based on the book by Susan Cooper
20th Century Fox

There’s virtually unlimited information available on the Net, which is where I got my 4-1-1 on the (here) little-known The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. Published in the 1960s, the children’s books are about the battle between good (light) and evil (dark) based on the Arthurian legends set in the British Isles.

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising is the first movie based on Cooper’s series, which follows the emergence of the Seeker, a guardian and warrior of the Light tasked to find the circle of six Signs to be used in the battle against the Dark.

The Seeker in the movie is Will Stanton (a very Aryan-type Alexander Ludwig) – the seventh and youngest son of a seventh son – whose American family just recently relocated to rural England. A few days before Christmas, Will is about to celebrate his normal teenage 14th birthday when the mysterious Merriman (Ian McShane) tells him that he is the chosen Seeker who must find the six Signs within five days or else the Dark will envelope the world.

Will, Merriman and a group of other Light warriors known as the Old Ones then travel back and forth through time collecting the Signs in order to restore the power of the Light and defend the world against the Dark. One by one, Will manages to find the Signs in time for the showdown against the ultimate baddie, the Dark Rider (Christopher Eccleston), but as always with youth adventures, not before a few obstacles he must endure.

As far as the movie goes, it’s a little bit of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings and Hardy Boys put together, but from what I gather from Wikipedia the books are largely different from the movie, which isn’t always the case with children’s fantasy adaptations. Most interesting is the movie’s large departure from the book’s Arthurian themes (unless they were so subtle no one outside London can recognize them.)

Unlike Narnia or Potter which manage to explain why the bad guys want to inherit the earth, The Seeker wants its audience to take the Old Ones and the Dark Rider for granted, because the better movie is intended for the expected sequel. Ah, but the problem is whether there will be enough interest in the Seeker left for the audience to wait for part 2. Technically though the movie is decent.

While Will was properly presented to struggle between being a normal kid and being a magical Seeker with a few supernatural powers, the search for the Signs itself was almost effortless to the point that they render Will’s heroics stale and uneventful.

Ludwig as Will is a capable normal kid, but not so much as the Seeker especially in the final battle scene with the Dark Rider. The Old Ones don’t do much in the movie, which means the audience can care less about them.

Interestingly, Will learns about the battle between Light and Dark not from the Old Ones but from a successful Google search. I wonder if he would have found the Signs sooner if he Googled them as well.

The 11th Hour

2007-10-11T01:52:00.000+08:00

Global warming, take 2
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre October 11, 2007

“You've heard it hundreds of timesYou say you're aware, believe and you care,
but...Do you care enoughTo talk with conviction of the heart?”
- Kenny
Loggins, Conviction of the Heart

Directed by Nadia Conners, Leila Conners Petersen
Documentary presented by Leonardo Di Caprio

Kung kinulang ka pa ng impormasiyon tungkol sa global warming at climate change, baka makatulong kung si Leonardo Di Caprio na ang magpaliwanag ng sitwasiyon sa The 11th Hour.

Global warming and climate change are already big issues in many countries, lalu na sa China, the US and India which are the biggest air polluters in the world. Since last year’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, ipinaliwanang na that human activity in the last 100 years has caused severe damage to the earth’s atmosphere, putting life on the planet, specifically human life, at risk.

Wasting no time to preach the doom of environmental degradation, Di Caprio and a diverse group of some 50 experts – scientists, authors, activists, scholars, politicians – take turns lecturing on the extent of damage caused by pollution, overpopulation, overfishing, deforestation and other human activities, which all began sharply during the Industrial Revolution. Towards the end The 11th Hour makes repeated calls for humans to take positive action.

At 95 minutes, the movie is a continuous stream of factoid after scary factoid all meant to drive a point that if humans do not act immediately the dangers of ignoring the problem would be catastrophic on a global scale. As such, the actions that humans must make should also be global in effort. As the movie stresses, not only is it the 11th hour, it’s 11:59.

However important and dire its messages may be, The 11th Hour as a movie is but an extended advocacy advertisement with an endless barrage of talking heads and loosely edited images, frequently without audio-video lock. Unlike An Inconvenient Truth which had a digestible volume of information, The 11th Hour threatens to overwhelm its audience with information actually already available months or years before.

Worse, the movie offers no hard-line solutions even if it tangentially attacks the powers that be. Solar power, wind power and hydrogen-fueled cars are mentioned solutions. As they were10 years ago. What about the vast tracts of forested land converted to cattle grazing pasture to supply beef to multinational burger chains? Or the human addiction to oil?

Watching The 11th Hour is but a small part in the process of finding solutions, but watching it inside a large air-conditioned mall powered by petroleum is ironically part of the systemic problem.

The 11th Hour is released in limited theaters beginning October 10.

Joshua

2007-09-24T01:46:00.000+08:00

Child's play
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre September 24, 2007

Directed by George Ratliff
Exclusive at Ayala Cinemas

Remember the original The Omen? Not the remake last year. That movie (which wasn’t really scary back in 1976 but then so was the remake) was first to show how a creepy mop-top kid can make a movie creepy. Or was it the 1956 classic The Bad Seed? That had a girl in pigtails. Anyway, Joshua has strong references to horror movies of old (hence, the mop-top).

Joshua isn’t a horror movie though. It’s possibly psychological, but damn if it’s thriller; although it does offer a thing or two for post-movie discussions. It’s a little suspenseful. That’s it.

Joshua (Jacob Kogan) couldn’t care less the day his new baby sister Lily arrives at their upscale Upper Manhattan condo. Each day that passes something bizarre happens (in case you miss the days, there’s a day counter onscreen). One day baby Lily starts crying and doesn’t stop. On another the dog mysteriously dies. On another Joshua disembowels his stuffed toys.

But Joshua lights up whenever Uncle Ned (Dallas Roberts) arrives and they do a showtune together on the piano, which Joshua plays very well.

Mom Abby (Vera Farmiga) suffers from double post-partum depression, if there is one, since she hasn’t overcome her first bout after Joshua’s birth. Daddy Brad (Sam Rockwell) is being stressed out, working and taking care of the family while mommy is going loony. (Spoilers onwards) One night Brad watches the family videotapes and discovers the reason why the baby keeps crying. Joshua is one bad kid.

It’s interesting to watch how Rockwell believably tries to control the situation, as a father suspecting his own young son of doing horrendous acts. But Brad’s fate at the end is no more twisted than the final scene, where Joshua, in his squeaky young boy’s voice, sings to his Uncle why things happened as they did.

The movie is interesting and nonsensical at the same time: it plays like a former film-student’s clever homage to old-style psycho suspense thrillers, minus the terror. The movie’s main conceit is that Joshua’s killer instincts are taken for granted upon Lily’s arrival. Nowhere is it even implied that he had that tendency prior. Damon, the bad seed in The Omen at least had a supernatural source.

Clues point everywhere as to how the movie plays out, but it repeats its theme – that of Joshua’s psychopathic reactions upon the arrival of Lily – until the climactic father-and-son confrontation at the park. At which point the movie lands on that incredibly creepy ending with the Uncle.

Rockwell has a firm grasp of his character, offsetting the rest of the cast’s overzealous portrayals. Farmiga, portraying a mother teetering on a nervous breakdown, has an Abby that borders on the funny. And Kogan’s Joshua has one look plastered on his face. But that’s likely directorial, not the actor’s.

The most interesting part of Joshua is not the ingenious plot or the killer ending (although the movie’s ending outweighs the rest of the proceedings, called a McGuffin or a plot that pushes the story forward but has no relevance otherwise).

(More spoilers!) It’s more interesting to understand how the filmmakers developed this disturbed story about a psychopathic kid with some sort of a homo-incestuous Elektra-uncle complex. Is Joshua an unprocessed behavioral condition of the writer? What drove them to make this madness? Somewhere in this movie is the portrait of the artist as the character.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

2007-09-19T02:38:00.000+08:00

Pride chickens
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre, September 19, 2007

Directed by Dennis Dugan

Here’s a “gay” movie for straight people minus the homophobic guilt. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is the everyday man’s attempt to understand what gay people in the West have been fighting for for many years.

Best friends Larry (Kevin James) and Chuck (Adam Sandler) are typical Brooklyn firefighters who do very manly stuff everyday. Chuck is the playboy ladies man while recently widowed Larry raises his two kids by himself.

An insurance loophole prevents Larry from transferring his dead wife’s benefits to his children, so he asks Chuck to pretend to be his gay domestic partner so he can still apply for the benefits.

Enter a very nosy anti-fraud investigator Fitzer (Steve Buscemi) who’s dying to prosecute the two as soon as he proves the partnership is a fake. Larry and Chuck then hire lawyer Alex (Jessica Biel) to help them prove their gayness to the City, except Chuck has the hots for super sexy Alex. Worse, their firefighter boss Capt. Tucker (Dan Aykroyd) wants Larry and Chuck to spill the beans.

The mixups are cleared in time for a straight ending to the tune of George Michael’s Freedom, but not before Chuck and Larry declare their undying love in front of a courtroom full of people. Openly gay celebs Richard Chamberlain and former ‘N Sync Lance Bass make cameo appearances.

The movie is filled with homophobic slurs and takes aim at stereotypes and then retracts the insults to preach tolerance in the end. As a message movie it only skims the surface of gender politics. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is less about gay marriage and more about name-calling.

As a comedy it is only funny in a freshman level; you’ll laugh at the physical comedy and sometimes at the verbal ones, and in case you missed a point – like the vampire and fruit costumes – they’d be glad to explain it overtly in the same scene.

Producer Adam Sandler miscasts himself as the studmuffin chick magnet – something Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn might have pulled off more convincingly. Sandler even gets to touch Biel’s breasts while pretending to be gay about it. How believably funny is that? Ving Rhames steals the show at some point as the muscular big guy grinding his hips and singing I’m Every Woman in the locker room shower while the rest of the firefighters stare in shock.

Nowadays it’s everyone’s big business to know whether Piolo or Sam or whoever is gay. Some weird pandemic curiosity to put a tag on everyone. That’s exactly what I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is about. Tagging everyone. This movie is not about gay marital rights, it’s more like a straight comedy gone a little askew.

Go ahead and laugh. It is funny, in a thoughtless, juvenile way. Just don’t pretend the prejudice wasn’t there – it’s hidden deep inside your closet.

The Brave One

2007-09-12T02:36:00.000+08:00

The subversive

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre September 12, 2007

Directed by Neil Jordan
Starring Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard
R13/ 119 minutes
Warner Brothers/ Silver Pictures

She was 12 years old when she portrayed a prostitute in Martin Scorsese’s classic Taxi Driver. She won her first Oscar as a rape victim in The Accused. Jodie Foster is known to take on strong roles, even as she traded barbs in Inside Man, between Clive Owen and Denzel Washington. A French director once compared her to God’s perfect acting machine.

So what is she doing in The Brave One? She becomes an action star. Foster plays radio commentator Erica Bain who spends her off-time recording everyday sounds of New York City and then makes romantic observations of the city’s decay in her show called Street Walk.

While walking her dog in Central Park one night, Erica and her fiancé David (Naveen Andrews) are violently mugged. She wakes up after three weeks in a coma only to find out David dead. Erica becomes introverted, afraid of the city she once called “the safest big city in the world.” She buys a gun and slowly devolves from a law-abiding citizen into an out-of-control vigilante who has found a new source of power that can eliminate her fears.

Complicating things, Erica develops a unique friendship with police detective Mercer (Terrence Howard) who is helping her find her fiancé’s killers. It is only a matter of time before Erica or Mercer finds the killers.

It is always an event to watch Foster in any role. Foster is riveting as a traumatized Erica Bain whose struggle to cope with her loss and her fears are so internalized they are expressed through her bloodshot eyes, her lowered voice and the faint wrinkling of her brows.

Does her hand shake after she pulls the trigger? No. Near the end when she exacts her ultimate revenge, Bain has mutated from shaking victim into a tight-lipped machine. Her transition makes The Brave One a fascinating watch.

But it is a weird watch, one that has a subject matter that bravely opens the narrative to controversial territory, except much of director Neil Jordan’s deliberately slow treatment keep Erica safely on likeable ground. Except for Mercer, whose sympathy with Erica lies on his guilt of failing to catch her attackers, the rest in the movie belong to demographic stereotypes whose characters are casually forgettable. It’s unclear whether the movie is outside looking in on Erica or attacking white supremacy. The treatment doesn’t seem to be brave enough to push the envelope further.

Yes it has a happy ending, to the music of Sarah McLachlan. This exploration into a character’s darkening psyche ends in a satisfying manner, one that Pinoys would usually like. But do remember this is a revenge movie where the main character takes the law into her own hands.

Either rule the law, or the law rules.

Day Watch /Dnevnoy dozor

2007-09-07T02:35:00.000+08:00

Russian Cooler
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre September 7, 2007

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Based on the novels by Sergei Lukyanenko and Vladimir Vasiliev
R13/ 132minutes
Fox Searchlight/ Channel One
Dubbed in English

Can the forces of darkness prevail over the forces of light? Can Russian filmmakers make a horror fantasy movie as gritty and stylized as Hollywood can make them? Can you say Timur Bekmambetov faster than you can say Wachowski Brothers?

Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor) is the second part of the Russian mega-hit horror-fantasy series ala The Matrix and Underworld beginning with Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor).

In the series, the supernatural forces of the world known as the Others are divided between light and darkness, and an ancient truce guards the balance between the two. To preserve the truce, the Light Others conduct the Night Watch while the Dark Others conduct the Day Watch so neither side tips the balance. An inquisition set up by both sides punishes those who break the truce.

A prophecy predicts the emergence of a Great Other who can tip the balance to its favor, except that its very emergence would plunge the world into another supernatural war.

Night Watch followed the story of Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) who sought the aid of a witch to kill his wife’s unborn child which he suspected was not his. Twelve years after, Anton has become a Night Watchman and the child has grown into the boy Yegor (Dyma Martynov), who shows signs of being the Great Other. At the end of Night Watch, Yegor learns that his father Anton tried to have him aborted, and Yegor takes the Dark side to spite his father.

In Day Watch, Anton is secretly covering up Yegor’s attacks on normal people, a violation of the truce, leaving the Night Watch unable to prosecute Yegor. Realizing that Anton is the only person who can influence Yegor to convert to the Light side, the Day Watch led by Zavulon (Viktor Verzhbitsky) makes several attempts at framing Anton for the murder of several Dark Others.

Their last attempt succeeds, despite the efforts by Light side leader Geser (Vladimir Menshov) to hide Anton in the body of Light side sorceress Olga (Galina Tyunina). Anton’s redemption rests on the posession of the Chalk of Fate, a legendary magical chalk that can rewrite history.

On Yegor’s 13th birthday, Anton loses the Chalk to Zavulon’s minions, Zavulon poisons him and Yegor unleashes his powers battling the Light side’s Great Other, Svetlana (Mariya Poroshina), destroying Moscow in the process.

Day Watch has the feel of a live-action modern gothic graphic novel, depicting the dim, cold streets of post-Cold War Moscow intermittently lit by the glowing neon lights of its newfound wealth. With so many characters and diverse motivations involved, Day Watch is more busy pushing effects-driven action than ironing out its encyclopedic narrative. Then again, that is always the challenge with adaptations. Once it gets there, though, the action really kicks in.

Stripped of its Russian identity, Day Watch is your typical big-budget summer blockbuster that’s all spectacle and little emotion. Lengthy, dizzying, fast and fantastically silly, Day Watch is a strong Russian statement that Hollywood doesn’t rule the cinematic world. That’s why it’s interesting that Hollywood is financing the third part, Dusk Watch (Sumerechniy Dozor).

Let’s do some math. Day Watch was made with a budget of $4.2 million (approx Php195 million in our money) and earned more than $31 million in Russia alone – at 25 rubles to a dollar, that’s more than RR790 million in their money.

For once the Ruskies rule the day.

The Bourne Ultimatum

2007-08-31T22:59:00.000+08:00

Bourne great

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre August 31, 2007

Directed by Paul Greengrass
Starring Matt Damon, Julia Stiles
Universal Pictures
*** ½ (3½ stars)

Some things have just got to end. Like this guy, Jason Bourne, who’s been running around the globe for some years now trying to hide from people trying to kill him; he’s just, well, plain tired.

From the moment he gained consciousness inside a Russian fishing trawler in The Bourne Identity to the thrilling car chase in the streets of Moscow in The Bourne Supremacy, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) never stopped hunting the specters of his fragmented memory. Quite literally he had fought his way, with his bare hands, to restore the humanity that was taken from him.

In the final chapter of the successful action franchise, Jason puts an end to the chases and the killings and finds his identity in The Bourne Ultimatum at last.

From Moscow, Bourne jumps to London to track down the source of a series of newspaper reports leaking the existence of the secret assassination program which Jason is the product of.
In the first nail-biting sequence in the movie, Jason escorts the reporter through a jam-packed Waterloo train station teeming with operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency.

This incident starts another deadly cat and mouse chase between Jason and the CIA in Paris, Madrid, and the rooftops of Tangier, Morocco, at all times with Jason surviving the attacks. His last clue brings him back to where it all started in New York, and a face-to-face confrontation with Dr. Hirsch (Albert Finney) would restore the conscience that was removed from his being.

Matt Damon isn’t your typical action movie star but he makes sense as Jason Bourne, especially with this last one. Where his Jason was an unreadable, robotic killing machine in parts 1 and 2, Damon (or is it credit to Paul Greengrass, who directed United 93?) makes this Jason pensive, vulnerable and even devastated.

Joan Allen and Julia Stiles reprise their roles (as Pamela Landy, one of CIA’s superiors and Nicky Parsons respectively), but this time on Jason’s side as they uncover the dirty little secrets that their organization hide. David Strathairn is the new bad guy as CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen who has the simple role of getting rid of Jason in order to keep those secrets hidden.

Building up on the backstories and action set up by the first two movies, Ultimatum has the elements of the classic spy thriller, gripping its audience with an engaging lead character plus non-stop old-school style bone-crushing action scenes, particularly the car chases and the fist fights. The best part is not how realistic these stunts were done, but how suspenseful they are shot and edited together, for as long as the scene can last. With other action movies, the thrill always ends once the big explosion is done.

There is always something good to remember in a good movie. In this series, it’s Jason Bourne himself.

Deathproof

2007-08-30T22:58:00.001+08:00

Todo Tarantino

Review by Vives Anunciacion

After declaring Manila his second home, there’s little to doubt that Quentin Tarantino, or QT in the world of movie fandom, pretty much enjoyed his ride in a lowly padyak on his way to Malacañan last week to receive a lifetime achievement award from la Gloria. Hooray for Pinoy hospitality.

Tarantino was clearly in high spirits when he introduced his most recent project, Deathproof, to a throng of cheering fanboys and cinephiles. The most urgent objective, as he explained, was to film the most spectacular car chase in film history sans CGI. Whether he achieved this or not is the icing on the cake, because the movie’s suspenseful highlight car chase is indeed spectacular and a whole lotta fun.

In the movie, a former movie stuntman (Stuntman Mike, gamely played by erstwhile action star Kurt Russel) hunts, stalks and murders groups of seductive women using his “deathproof” muscle stunt car.

The first group of victims lists upcoming poster girl Jungle Julia (Sydney Tamiia Poitier), Arlene/Butterfly (Vanessa Ferlito) and Pam (Rosie McGowan) in a gory head-on collision with Stuntman Mike’s killer car. While none of the girls survive, the deranged stuntman manages to survive and lives to stalk again six months after.

He next stalks a group that includes Abernathy (Rosario Dawson), Lee (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Kim (Tracie Thoms) and Zoe (newcomer and real-life stuntwoman Zoe Bell as herself). Unaware that the adventurous group is composed of movie workers themselves, Stuntman Mike gets a dose of his own medicine when stuntwoman Zoe and the rest decide to fight back.

Deathproof, rated R-18 for the festival but would have otherwise seen a harsher rating from the MTRCB, is according to the filmmaker himself a throwback and reference to grindhouse movies or those popular exploitation B-movies made in the 70s and shown in theaters of ill repute in the States. It’s a modern grindhouse movie made by a grindhouse fan who simply wanted to show to a new audience what made them popular back then.

Complete with wrong splices, double cuts, bad acting, bad dialogue, fake discoloration, extreme close-ups of female curves and a thorough lap-dance by Vanessa Ferlito, Deathproof is a roaring, testosterone-induced wild ride most enjoyed by the group of QT fans in Gateway.

The movie’s death-defying car chase points a new star in Zoe Bell, who combines charisma and physical strength which makes her Zoe a real winner. If there’s anything new to this grindhouse movie, it’s making its women their own heroes. And that makes it so Pinoy.

Cinemalaya 2007

2007-08-30T22:57:00.002+08:00

Batch review by Vives Anunciacion

The organizers of the third Cinemalaya Film Festival declared it the best and biggest the festival has ever been. True, and maybe: it has earned its biggest boxoffice since the first festival but “best” tag is up for debate. This year, none bore the mark of transcendence the way Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros made people outside the festival look at “indie” the same way they did mainstream.
Consider eight full-length competition films, down from the original ten after the former two finalists, quote-unquote, failed to finish on time. One of the two, it was heard from the vine, had the most promising script of the lot. Should it be produced independently, it shall uphold the very essence of the festival outside the festival. Such is the festival’s irony, for independents can exist outside the “indie” festival.

Among the eight, however, only two entries are solidly constructed from beginning to end: Endo (written and directed by Jade Castro), winner of the Special Jury Prize and produced by the team behind Maximo Oliveros, and the batch’s Best Picture, Tribu, written and directed by Jim Libiran.

The best thing about Endo (short for end-of-contract) is that it doesn’t promise anything to its audience except tell a solid story. By comparison, Tribu’s compelling conflicts aren’t told in subtlety but in graphic hip-hop. Tribu’s hallmark is its sheer authenticity.

Pisay, recipient of the Audience Award and the trophy for Direction (for Aureaus Solito), is a roaring feel-good nostalgia trip that could easily have won Best Picture were it not for its cliched characters and an episodic structure that made character development very difficult.

Kadin, Adolf Alix Jr.’s second Cinemalaya movie after last year’s Donsol, is akin to Mes De Guzman’s Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong. This was my choice for Direction, because it showed restraint where it could have gone overboard, to think Alix directed the Ivatan kids via translator. Kadin’s weak point is a forced happy ending involving the only (obviously) non-Batanes residents in the movie.

Tukso, Dennis Marasigan’s screenplay-winning entry, has great performances, memorable lines, commendable setups and a very good score. But its story, ironically, is nothing new.

Diametrically opposed in theme, aesthetic and treatment from Tribu, Sockie Fernandez’s Gulong is a parable-of-talents-type children’s story that’s simply not my cup of tea but worse, treats its audience like kids. Jay Abello’s Ligaw Liham, while visually stunning, is nostalgic for nostalgia’s sake. The movie begins one hour after it starts. Lastly, Still Life by Katski Flores has a very good performer in its lead character, Ron Capinding, but gets trapped in the falsehood that all indie movies should have “twist” in the story.

The festival’s true gem was a non-competition exhibition Ilonggo film by Rey Gibraltar called When Timawa Meets Delgado – a knee-slapping satire-slash-commentary on the reasons why many students take up nursing in college.

As a batch, the films of Cinemalaya 2007 tend to be crowd-pleasing types eager for a general release. Many of the themes discuss youth and youth concerns that many can identify with. That is not to say the batch is the most mainstream in the festival’s history. It just means the movies know their market.

The Simpsons Movie

2007-08-30T22:50:00.001+08:00

Itchy & scratchy
Reviews by Vives Anunciacion.

Directed by David Silverman
Based on the TV characters created by Matt Groening
PG13 / 87 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Gracie Films
*** ½ (3½ stars)

After being on TV for 18 years, The Simpsons jump to the big screen with big jokes, big set-ups and a cute Spider Pig. Suddenly, Springfield comes to life. Spoilers ahead.

In this edition of the famous show, the Environmental Protection Agency quarantines the town of Springfield after Homer Simpson dumps a silo of his pet pig’s waste into the already polluted Springfield river. President Schwarzenegger orders the town to be encased in a giant dome of glass, sending the entire town into chaos and thirsty for Homer’s blood.

The Simpsons flee to Alaska, where they hear the news that Springfield will be nuked. Marge decides to split with her husband to force some sense into half-smart Homer. An Inuit native helps Homer find his epiphany (and define it for him), and Homer treks back to Springfield just in time to save the town from destruction.

For the first time in some years, 2-Dimension animation looked refreshing, compared to the almost generic computer generated 3D animation seen everywhere.

As in the TV show, nothing is spared from ridicule, from politics to religion to pop culture and even Bart’s relationship with his dad. But that is the movie’s strength and weakness – the movie is just like an episode of the famous series, only longer by 30 minutes. The movie relies on familiarity with the beloved characters that the few persons who aren’t familiar with them may find them strangely crass and unapologetic. The story is bland, the jokes are fast and furious, the voices are reassuringly the same – but overall, it’s one big crazy family reunion.

Ratatouille
Written and Directed by Brad Bird
Featuring voices of Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Peter O’ Toole
GP/ 110 minutes
Disney Pictures/ Pixar Animation Studios
**** (4 stars)
Fancy a movie about a gourmet rat, which receives an unlikely defense from a food critic. Pixar’s latest animation is as much a delicious family entertainment as it is a crash course on art and criticism.

Remy is a country rat who is inspired to become a chef like his cookbook idol, Chef Gusteau. After being separated from his colony and chased into the underground sewers, Remy emerges above ground and finds himself in the middle of romantic Paris, exactly inside the kitchen of Gusteau’s restaurant.

There he meets flat-footed garbage boy Linguini, who messes up a pot of soup until Remy comes in to cook up a solution. The soup becomes a hit to patrons, who then ask for repeat servings. Realizing that they must develop a unique method to prepare food to save both of their meager lives, the duo resorts to hair pulling to communicate.

When food critic Anton Ego hears of the revival of Gusteau’s restaurant, a challenge is made for Linguini to prepare the best food he can serve, or else the restaurant is doomed again by the critic’s deadly words. Remy and Linguini busily prepare for the challenge, except that Linguini develops feelings for chef Colette, Remy’s colony invades the kitchen, and the nosy chef Skinner smells something ratty under Linguini’s toque hat.

Delicously directed by The Incredibles author, Brad Bird and impressively voiced by a group of not-so big Hollywood names, Ratatouille is a flavorful animation overflowing with detail and resonant with poignancy. Never before, in a movie, has an artform defended its essence; and never has a critic defended the very artform he normally pillages.

As is the hallmark of every Pixar animation to pursue the limits of the technology of computer animation, so is the story of Remy who persists to fulfill his dream, implausible it may be to hear a rat become Paris’ finest chef. Eat, drink and be merry, merry.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-12T23:30:00.000+08:00

Growing order
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre July 13, 2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Directed by David Yates
Based on the book by JK Rowling
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
GP / 138 minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures
*** (3 stars)

It’s been four movies since Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001: Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is now binata. How time flies. Or in this case, like a Phoenix: time stops in the middle and resurrects towards the end of the fifth and most information-laden Harry Potter movie. Order of the Phoenix represents a crucial point in our pop-cultural lives: the beginning of the end of Harry Potter.

In the movie, the Ministry of Magic flatly denies the return of the Dark Lord (Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes) while Harry and Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) desperately try to convince it otherwise. Harry returns to Hogwart’s for the fifth time, and finds Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) interfering with Hogwart’s affairs under the ministry’s authority.

Harry and his gang of followers secretly form their own Defense against the Dark Arts class, calling themselves Dumbledore’s Army, in response to Umbridge’s tyrannical methods. But they get exposed, and Dumbledore is charged with treason and is replaced by Umbridge as Hogwart’s headmaster.

Meanwhile, Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) recruits Harry into the Order of the Phoenix, a group devoted to fight Voldemort’s Death Eaters who are in search of a mystical object containing a particular prophecy. A climactic confrontation by Dumbledore’s Army and the Order of the Phoenix against the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters ends with terrible consequences. And the skies grow even darker.

To say that the series is becoming darker in story, look and tone with these final episodes is to repeat what the previous movie (Goblet of Fire) already meant. Also I think the publicists expect every reviewer to say so, so there: Order of the Phoenix is the darkest, most condensed Potter movie yet.

Relying heavily on the audience’s familiarity with its plot and characters, the movie lays the groundwork for the series’ inevitable conclusion. It is a plot-laden tale whose character development highlight involves a kiss with a fellow Hogwart’s student. Key word: series.

Visual effects still are great as money can buy, the music is atrocious, the river Thames is used as a background, and the staggering roster of acclaimed actors are practically underutilized – no thanks to the 800-page novel that had to be condensed into a 2-hour-plus movie that has to include as much information it can so the succeeding installments can still make sense.

Emma Watson has one great performance in the scene where Hermione and Ron (Rupert Grint) ask Harry about his first kiss. Newcomer Evanna Lynch makes an impression as Luna Lovegood, but it is Staunton who stands out as the bedimpled tyrant Umbridge. Children will no longer look at pink the same way as before.

Order of the Phoenix represents a new paradigm for the remaining Harry Potter films – that the sixth and seventh movies are now critic-proof. Whatever happens, audiences who have grown with Daniel Radcliffe will necessarily see Half-Blood Prince and the finale, Deathly Hallows. Stop calling it a kid’s movie, the star is no longer one.

Whether directors Alfonso Cuaron (Azkaban) or Mike Newell (Goblet) made the best of the series or whether another director could have made the difference with the fifth no longer matters. At this point, several years after the first movie, the sum of the series’ parts is becoming the order of the day.

For the moment, Order of the Phoenix is a competent addition to the previous installments, neither greater nor weaker; it’s a necessary supplement to a long and familiar story that’s now drawing to a close.

But for the love of God, finish this series on the seventh outing, and let the actors – as well as the audience – take on new lives. I can’t imagine Radcliffe holding his own kid in his arms.

Die Hard 4.0 review

2007-07-06T01:50:00.001+08:00

McToughie
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Die Hard 4.0
Directed by Len Wiseman
Starring Bruce Willis, Justin Long
PG 13/ 130 minutes
20th Century Fox
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

Seems like old times. It’s been twelve years since detective John McClane last appeared to shoot ‘em bad guys. He just keeps going.

On the Fourth of July weekend, computer hackers attack the main networks of the US infrastructure grid, shutting down its transportation, communications and power. Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is on a routine assignment to bring computer hacker Matt Ferrel (Justin Long) to the FBI when McClane discovers that Ferrel is one of the hackers hired by a mysterious organization out to topple the US financial system.

As the federal government scrambles to restore order while figuring out who the perpetrators are, tough guy McClane and tech geek Ferrel emerge as the unlikely dynamic duo who will stop the terrorists’ plans at all costs, even risking the life of McClane’s daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Timothy Olyphant plays the hacker ringleader Thomas Gabriel.

I could have easily given it a higher score because, implausibility aside, it’s a decently made action flick, flying cars, jet fighters and all. Willis is so comfortable playing McClane it’s almost impossible to tell them apart. And Justin Long, more popularly known as the Mac guy in the Apple Mac ads, pleasantly doesn’t play the annoying sidekick. But this isn’t an acting movie, it’s an gun-enforced action flick reeking with nostalgia.

At more than two hours of almost non-stop chase, explosion and gun-shooting scenes, the movie’s real conceit is its main selling point: that the fourth Die Hard movie is an old fashioned 80s style action movie not much different in theme, in language and in politics from the last Die Hard, With a Vengeance.

What is wrong isn’t its un-use of computer effects to do real stunts by real stuntmen the way action movies were shot years ago. That’s actually a good thing, particularly the stunts by the French baddies doing parkour jumping.

What’s wrong is that its storyline belongs to the 90s, like a Dirty Harry movie under the Reagan administration, where the bad guys want to overrun America as if it’s the only country in the world. Its sentiments are old-school, to the point that in order to annoy his nemesis, McClane insults Gabriel by calling his girlfriend as “another dead Asian hooker bitch.” Those lines belong to the pre-Politically Correct world, implying how “old world” the mindset of the writers are.

Die Hard 4.0 makes sure it’s a throwback to the old Die Hard movies by making quick references to them all the time. That doesn’t make it a classic movie series, it only means DH 4.0 is related to the old ones. And if the old stuff works just as fine today, that’s okay. It just means it’s a tried and tested formula.

Been there, done that.

Transformers review

2007-07-06T01:47:00.001+08:00

Roll out!
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 29,2007

Transformers
Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen (voice)
Based on the toys and cartoon of the same name
GP/ 143 minutes
DreamWorks, Paramount, Hasbro
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

It only happens to a few films: at the end of the press screening, the audience exploded into cheer. Transformers is entertainment to a perfect T and filmmaking of impressive proportions. Make way for the first bona fide summer blockbuster of the year.

Based on the extremely popular 1980s cartoons and action figures from US toymaker Hasbro, Transformers is Michael Bay’s most action-packed popcorn movie since the smart sci-fi, The Island and the Will Smith action-comedy Bad Boys II.

In Transformers, Earth becomes the battleground between Autobots and Decepticons locked in an ancient battle for the possession of the all-powerful cube and planet Cybertron’s source of life and energy, the Allspark, which landed on Earth thousands of years ago.

Beginning (and ending) with a narration by Autobot leader Optimus Prime that explains the reasons why the alien robots are on earth, the Autobots find a human ally in the teenager Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), whose great grandfather happened to discover the Allspark during an Arctic expedition.

When the opposing sides learn of the location of the Allspark, Sam becomes entangled in an interstellar tug-of-war that would also involve the firepower of the US military. As the Decepticons, led by the ruthless Megatron, leave a trail of destruction, the Autobots, fewer in number, in turn protect the humans from their evil counterparts. In the end, only one side would stand while the other falls.

Mixing a proper blend of introductory storytelling and fan-pleasing robot smackdowns, Transformers is filled to the brim with scene-after-scene of high-octane action (or should I say energon-induced?). Shia LaBeouf is perfectly cast as an ordinary teenager enjoying his first car, a yellow Camaro, which turns out to be the Autobot, Bumblebee. A movie tie-in with General Motors explains why the Autobots are specifically GM cars, so fans of Bumblebee shouldn’t complain much why the Bee isn’t a Volkswagen Beetle.

Newcomer Megan Fox is Sam’s beauty love interest, Mikaela, while John Turturro and Jon Voight provide appropriate characters as Agent Simmons and defense secretary Keller, respectively. Good casting too in retaining the original Optimus Prime voice actor, Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving who vocally adds menace to the already menacing Megatron. Lots of thrilling action, but also very loud sound and intrusive musical scoring especially in scenes involving too much explosions.

While some plotlines aren’t clear why the good guys are good and the bad guys are repeatedly mistaken for cold-war communists (Russia? China? North Korea?), and why some things are different from the cartoons – those are left for the eventual sequels to resolve. For the most part, the story isn’t its strength. Transformers’ stars are obviously the robots and the very impressive CGI by Industrial Light and Magic. The transformations are such a sight to behold it is probably impossible to be awed if seen on a small screen; at some point, the audience unanimously sighed. This is an action movie, through and through.

Now troop to the cineplex and hear the words repeated by legion. All hail Optimus Prime.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

2007-06-18T23:47:00.001+08:00

Flotsam and jetsam
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 18, 2007

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Directed by Tim Story
Based on the characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Starring Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis
GP / 92 minutes
Twentieth Century Fox/ Marvel Enterprises
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

There are many things to like in Rise of the Silver Surfer – the Surfer, the Torch and Jessica Alba. But there are also as many things not to like in it – Alba’s makeup, the dull action, and of all things, Galactus. Behold – a very nice bad movie.

Manhattan’s fabulous foursome reunite in a more action-oriented, plot-driven sequel to the 2005surprise hit, Fantastic Four. In Rise of the Silver Surfer, the Fantastic Four battle an intergalactic threat that is about to swallow the earth whole.

In the movie, superstar superheroes Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) and Susan Storm (Invisible Woman played by Jessica Alba) are about to exchange “I Do’s” when a strange being from space barrels across the sky, creating weird climate changes and electrical disruptions from Japan to London.

The US military intervenes, enlisting the aid of the Four for the being’s capture. A resurrected Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) offers his mega-corporate help, despite the Four’s objections. The being gets captured all right, but not before Susan telepathically learns that the Silver Surfer is merely the servant of a planet-eating cosmic entity known as Galactus. At the same time, Von Doom plots to acquire the source of the Surfer’s cosmic powers for his greedy self.

Realizing that Galactus can only be stopped by its servant, the Fantastic Four rescue the Surfer from the military and battle a more powerful Von Doom just in time to convince the Silver Surfer to save Earth from his master.

Like the first movie, The Thing (Michael Chiklis) and the Human Torch (Chris Evans) are the more engaging members of the Four, despite an uneven share of screen time mostly devoted to the Surfer and the Torch. The Silver Surfer steals the show outright thanks to a good mix of CG and performance capture from Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne’s voice.

Featuring an opening sequence straight out of Superman Returns, a surfing Von Doom that resembles the Green Goblin and a Silver Surfer that is only marginally different from the Terminator’s T1000, Rise of the Silver Surfer is an action flick for toddlers, a simplified superhero story meant to condescend to its audience in the firm deceit that comic book movies need not be “layered” to make bankable money. And oh, the brand placements.

What is disappointing about Rise of the Silver Surfer is not Jessica Alba’s atrocious makeup, not Gruffudd’s reed-thin acting nor the insufficient story on why, where and how the Surfer came to be. It is the sense of the perfunctory, a sense of the superficially naive that director Tim Story has consistently played since the first movie even with the introduction of a morally ambiguous character as the Silver Surfer. I sense a separate spin-off movie for the Surfer, and another for the Torch to explain the origins of Galactus and the Surfer.

The most annoying thing, really, from someone familiar to the comics, is how the mighty Galactus – Devourer of Worlds, third force of the universe aside Eternity and Death, wielder of the Power Cosmic, the very entity which granted the Surfer a mere fraction of its powers – was defeated by the help?

Ocean’s Thirteen

2007-06-18T23:44:00.000+08:00

Oh the charm
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Ocean’s Thirteen
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Al Pacino
PG 13/ 122 minutes
Warner Brothers
*** (3 stars)

They should be put behind bars, for what they are really is a merry band of slick thieves. Somebody tried to do so in Ocean’s Twelve, but Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his merry band are way too fashionable for the slammer. Third time’s the charm for the new rat pack in Ocean’s Thirteen.

In the movie, hotel czar Willie Bank (Al Pacino) defrauds one of the original Eleven, Reuben (Elliott Gould) from ownership of a new hotel casino in Las Vegas. Danny Ocean gathers the entire gang, including Rusty (Brad Pitt) and Linus (Matt Damon), to exact revenge against greedy Willie.

Their plan is to bankrupt Willie’s new casino on its opening night to the tune of $500 million by staking their most elaborate heist as thieves. To do so, as Danny and Rusty so intricately explain to a prospective partner, they must rig all the tables and machines on the gambling floor; tamper with the dice used in the new casino by infiltrating the factory that makes them in Mexico, sabotage the hotel’s review by giving a specific hotel critic the worst experiences of his life, outsmart the hotel’s ultra-high tech computerized security system; and lastly, artificially generate an earthquake to shake the hotel towers.

When the cost of disrupting Willie’s hotel casino runs higher than what Danny and the gang can handle, they forge an unlikely partnership with erstwhile nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). With the grand plan in motion, Ocean’s thirteen accomplices will do what they can to make sure that on its opening day, Willie Bank’s new hotel casino will shut down.

Featuring a parade of A-list Hollywood stars visibly enjoying their smart witty characters, Ocean’s Thirteen is a glamorous, sometimes very funny caper on how to beat the casino. This is not a character driven movie and it’s not about their romances (which were what Twelve was all about, unsuccessfully). Thirteen is a jazzed up rundown about the process and not the end product. It is sleek entertainment, like watching a real Vegas show, and is meant to be enjoyed to look at than thought about.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt are wonderful making a fool of themselves while looking very dapper in tailored suits. The best part of Ocean’s Thirteen is when Danny delivers his reply to Willie’s mega-threat near the end of the show, plus a surprise cameo by Oprah Winfrey which will definitely bring the house down.

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Also showing until June 17th is the 12th French Film Festival at the Shangri-La Cineplex Cinema 3, featuring a very interesting mix of French-produced movies, shown for free. The festival opened last June 7 with the hit James Bond parody, OSS 117. Call 6332227 for inquiries.

Zodiac

2007-05-30T01:03:00.001+08:00

Horror scope
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre May 30, 2007

Zodiac
Directed by David Fincher
Based on the book by Robert Graysmith
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr.
R13/ 158 minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

Most suspense thrillers attempt to satisfy their audience with non-stop action chases, quick cross-cutting scenes, mega plot-twists and rising music. Meet the anti-thriller thriller.

Director David Fincher is best known for reshaping the crime thriller in the groundbreaking 1995 drama Se7en starring Brad Pitt. In that movie, two detectives (one of them played by Pitt, the other by Morgan Freeman) are thrown into the darkest pits of human behavior while on a chase to find a serial killer, known only as John Doe, who uses the seven deadly sins as MO.

In Fight Club (1999), Fincher vented suppressed male aggression when an unknown office employee (Edward Norton) and a soap salesman (Brad Pitt) start an organization that erupts into global anarchy. In both movies, the core of the narrative is a nameless person whose obsessions are hidden from the audience.

Unfortunately Fincher is also known to make typical Hollywood thrillers like Panic Room and the 1997 pseudo-reality thriller The Game starring Michael Douglas. So it is not surprising that a director who rarely makes movies would again try something different in the genre he is most literate with.

Zodiac is a retelling of the investigations on the Zodiac killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s, and the lives of the policemen and a certain newspaper cartoonist whose quest to find the Zodiac would obsess them for many years. YEARS. That means this movie’s narrative takes long to unfold (2 hours and 38 minutes to be precise), and the director doesn’t intend to rush things. Nor does he reveal the identity of the criminal.

Robert Downey Jr. plays San Francisco Chronicle’s star reporter Paul Avery, who gets assigned to the story after the newspaper receives cryptic puzzles from the killer who calls himself Zodiac. Taking an interest in the puzzles is the Chronicle’s resident editorial cartoonist, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who seems to be very good at solving puzzles. Mark Ruffalo leads the investigations as police Inspector David Toschi.

The investigation, which would last for decades and remain unresolved, would so consume Graysmith, Toschi and Avery that their relationships, their professions and even their physical health will surrender.

Utilizing a minimum of flair but still exuding a strong sense of foreboding, Zodiac is a very quiet, talky (meaning no big action sequences) almost CSI-like procedural on how the police would investigate such crimes. And since the investigation lasted for years and affected so many people, the filmmakers most likely wanted to make the audience feel the desperation, the madness and the loss of hope the main characters experienced, hence the slow, very deliberate revelations.

Downey is on fire as ace reporter Paul Avery, who seem to be an alter ego of the actor who himself famously battled substance addiction. A nomination for his portrayal isn’t surprising. Ruffalo is equally intense as Toschi, whose passion as a professional gradually erodes as years pass and failure sinks in.

But the highlight of the movie is when the investigators confront their number one suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen (played by John Carroll Lynch). In that crucial scene, Allen coldly dismisses each accusation with the most believable of alibis, his detachment to the crimes so chilling, the creepy crawls under your skin. That scene will stick with the audience until the end, when Graysmith finally finds him working in a small hardware shop and looks him in the eye.

This is not the ordinary thriller. This goes beyond.

Mr. Bean’s Holiday

2007-05-27T22:31:00.000+08:00

(review in Filipino)

Bean there, bean that
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre, May 28, 2007

Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Direksiyon ni Steve Bendelack
GP/ 90 minuto
Universal Pictures/ Studio Canal
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

Kung tutuusin, isa siyang salot na may kasunod na disgrasya saan man siya mapadpad, anuman ang kaniyang gawin. Nakatatawa man si Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) sa TV, hindi ibig sabihin ganoon din iyon kaagad sa pelikula. Buti na lang, pwedeng tiisin.

Sa Mr. Bean’s Holiday, panalo sa raffle ng trip to France si Mr. Bean (first name, ayon sa passport niya, ay Rowan). Dying to see the dagat si Mr. Bean, kaya tuwang-tuwa siya nang manalo. Pero gaya ng nangyayari sa kaniya sa TV, sangkaterbang kamalasan ang kanyang matitikman marating lang ang mainit na buhangin ng Cannes, France. Malamang hindi pa nila naririnig ang Boracay.

Gamit ang kaniyang handheld video camera, malilibot ni Mr. Bean ang magagandang tanawin sa France bago niya marating ang Cannes. Sa kanyang paglalakbay, makakasama niya ang isang batang lalaki na nahiwalay sa ama (dahil na rin kay Mr. Bean), pero buti na lang sa Cannes din sila lahat magkikita.

Halos walang dialogue ang Mr. Bean’s Holiday kaya konting tiis ang kailangan sa pagitan ng mga patawa at pangyayari. Mahusay na physical comedian si Rowan Atkinson kaya nga sumikat siya bilang Mr. Bean, pero sa mga panahon na wala masyadong nangyayari sa eksena, lalu na’t wala itong dialogue ay medyo nakakaantok ito. Ang ilang gag ay may kalumaan na, gaya ng pagsayaw niya sa gitna ng kalye sa iba’t ibang tugtog, at ang ilang sitwasyon naman ay hindi nakakaaliw, gaya nang mapadpad siya sa gitna ng shooting ng isang commercial.

Sa ilang sitwasyon naman, lalu na sa ending, masaya naman ang kinalabasan, dahil gaano man ka-weird si Mr. Bean, palaging happy ang ending sa kaniya. Hindi man nakabubusog ang kwento, busogin na lang ang panonood sa magagandang tanawin sa isa sa pinakamagandang bansa sa mundo.

[Not in the published review: It plays out like a traveler's nightmare, a murphy's law for tourists until it becomes some weird filmmaker's joke about becoming an attraction in the Cannes Film Festival. Tepid, tiresome and tragically inane, Mr. Bean's Holiday is better off as a sideshow short film in family-oriented theme parks than a commercial release. Parents, take your kids to the museum instead.]

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

2007-05-25T01:16:00.001+08:00

(review in Filipino)
Yo ho, suki!*
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley
GP/ 168 minutes
Walt Disney Pictures
*** (3 stars)

Tuloy ang pamimirata sa ikatlo at pinakamaaksiyon (pero malamang hindi pa huling) Pirates of the Caribbean kung saan magsasanib ang mga pwersa ng mga pirata laban sa East India Company. Huwag aalis ng sinehan hanggat hindi tapos ang end credits, dahil ang bonus na eksena’y malamang wala sa pirated dvd.

Nagpapatuloy ang mga adventures nina Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Kiera Knightley) at Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) sa isang magulo, maaksiyon at makwelang palabas na magsasara sa mga kwento ng Pirates 1 at Pirates 2, pero magbubukas naman ng posibilidad para sa Pirates 4.

Sa At World’s End, magkikita sina Barbossa, Elizabeth at Will sa Singapore upang hingiin ang tulong ni Sao Feng (Chow Yun Fat) at ng lahat ng mga panginoon ng pirata para bawiin si Captain Jack Sparrow mula sa mala-purgatoryong Davy Jones’ Locker, at sa gayon din ay matanggal ang sumpa sa ama ni Will na si Bootstrap Bill Turner (Stellan Skarsgård).

Pero ang kanilang pagsasanib-pwersa ang maglalagay sa kanila sa kapahamakan dahil ang Royal Navy at ang East India Company, sa pangunguna ni Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander), ay susugod upang tuluyang burahin ang pamimirata sa karagatan, gamit ang makapangyarihang barkong Flying Dutchman sa ilalim ni Day Jones (Bill Nighy).

Tulad ng mga nakalipas na Pirates, convoluted pa rin ang malawak na kwento, makulay pa rin ang pananalita ni Barbossa at may pilantik pa rin ang mga daliri ni Jack Sparrow. Nagbabalik ang lahat ng nakagisnang karakter mula pa nang Pirates 1 at karamihan ng mga elemento ng Curse of the Black Pearl at Dead Man’s Chest ay bibigyan ng magarbong kahulugan (at katapusan?) sa At World’s End. Bida rin ang mga Asyano dito dahil mahusay ang labas ni Chow Yun Fat bilang pirate lord Sao Feng, pero huwag kaligtaan ang Fil-Am na si Reggie Lee bilang si Tai Huang na sidekick ni Sao Feng.

Di tulad ng Dead Man’s Chest na pantawid lang para iset-up ang ikatlong Pirates, mas may kabuluhan ang mga pangyayari at mas malaki ang aksiyon na parang walang katapusang amusement ride ang At World’s End mula puno hanggang dulo. Pero nagbabadya pa ang isang Pirates 4 na malamang may kinalaman sa Fountain of Youth. Kung ganito kasaya ang mga franchise movies, ok lang magkaroon ng ilan pang kasunod. Basta masaya. Sabi nga ni Beckett, “It’s all business.”

*my review for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003 was titled "Ahoy, dibidi, dibidi"

just saw pirates of the caribbean: at world's end

2007-05-23T19:31:00.000+08:00

yo, ho! that was a fun ride! will write the review for friday, but for now..

aaaargh!

Zodiac

2007-05-21T19:37:00.000+08:00

oh my gods i just saw David Fincher's latest movie Zodiac and it's in-effing-credible. wow. well done. will write about it next week, i'm seeing At world's End on wednesday and am writing about that for a friday review.

meanwhile, next week's sched of screenings seem to be Mr. Bean's Holiday, Ocean's 13, and then first week of june will be Transformers, then Rise of the Silver Surfer, then Borne Ultimatum.

28 weeks later

2007-05-09T09:27:00.000+08:00

my next review will be about 28 Weeks Later, opening today in the Metro. Pretty good direction from relative newcomer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, thematically an improvement of the first and technically better (although it's already known that the first was successfully shot using a Canon XL2, the sequel uses Super16 celluloid most of the time). Better bring your barkada or any form of protection, you cannot be too sure that the person sitting next to you is not an infected zombie.

pray that the avian flu will not mutate like this. lordy.

Spider-Man 3

2007-05-06T22:00:00.000+08:00

Measure for measure
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre May 7, 2007

Spider-Man 3
Directed by Sam Raimi
Written by Sam and Ivan Raimi
GP/ 140 minutes
Columbia Pictures
*** (3 stars)

No, Spider-Man 3 isn’t the best of the series, no matter how entertaining it is. But if this is the third of a trilogy, then it deserves a fourth installment – if only to save a series that shouldn’t end with a loser. Spoilers beware, so proceed with caution.

In the movie, Spider-Man is the toast of New York City, Peter Parker (also Tobey Maguire) is getting noticed as a photographer, and he is about to propose marriage to Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) when three supervillains appear to change all that.

An escaped convict (Flint Marko, acted by Thomas Haden Church) literally jumps into the middle of a scientific experiment, becoming Sandman. In a few short lines, Flint’s wife explains his condition to the audience (“You are a convict, you are being chased by the police, and I don’t like you anymore”). Why he doesn’t have a job isn’t explained, but because he stole money for his sick dying daughter, we just have to accept this shortcut in the story that Marko is really a good person.

New Goblin (aka Harry Osborn, both played by James Franco) reappears in the movie’s first action sequence to settle the score between Spidey and Goblin Sr. Their brief tussle ends in Goblin getting a big bump in the head and a strong dose of amnesia. In the morning, Harry wakes up with no notion about the friction between Spider-Man and Goblin. Just like a Pinoy teleserye, Harry and Peter are best friends once again, setting up the next twist in the story.

Mary Jane’s career flops after critics pan her Broadway debut (wonder why), but Spidey is too busy with his New York popularity that Mary Jane finds a shoulder to cry on Harry.

And then a black blob of alien goo drops from the sky and mysteriously attaches itself to Spidey’s suit while he is sleeping (wonder why he sleeps with his suit on). The black suit amplifies the host’s power and dark side (check out the Peter Petrelli-style hair bangs). I think I’ve seen this in Superman 3.

At this point Peter learns about Marko being responsible for his uncle Ben’s death, a new photographer threatens Peter’s professional career as well as Spidey’s as Venom (both Topher Grace), and Harry and Mary Jane are hooking up. How does Peter cope? Thanks to the black suit, by dancing. Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) magically appears to give him inspirational messages (“I knew something was wrong when you called…”). And in one quick scene, Sandman and Venom unite to fight Spider-Man (Venom: “I know you hate him, too, Marko, that’s why I’ve been tracking you for weeks”).

Full of clichés, narrative shortcuts and terrible, terrible acting, one can only wonder how this could go wrong considering the same team made the first two installments. To top it off, literally every character cries or sobs in the end as if it’s a Hollywood version of Filipinas. Yes it’s entertaining and the effects are, as usual, way cool, but so is Firehouse Dog.

A few instances are indelibly inspired comic-book style, as when Marko eyes are shown close-up and when Sandman first appears, but the final battle scene is merely an extension of the first.

Spider-Man 3 suffers from being too busy all the time, having to weave so many storylines that any emotion is sacrificed simply because it has to cut to the next villain. Is that good editing for the sake of running time and the so-called pace? Definitely not.

What is most disappointing is that it’s a rehash of story one, plus Superman 2 and 3. By contrast, the Ghostbusters had more New Yorkers cheering for them.

El Laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)

2007-05-03T22:05:00.000+08:00

Look inside
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre May 4, 2007

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
R 13/ 112 minutes
En Español, with English Subtitles
***** (5 stars)

"If you're listening, God,
Please don't make it hard to know if we
should believe the things that we see."
- Home, The Wiz

Esperar el inesperado. Metaphorically profound yet brutally literal at the same time, Pan's Labyrinth is ultimately a soul-stirring elegy on the coldness of reality and the comfort of fantasy. Believe what you want to believe in this impossibly heartbreaking adult fairy tale from Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro. Expect the unexpected.

Set in a military outpost in the mountains of 1944 facist Spain under the tyrannical rule of Francisco Franco, a recluse, twelve-year old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) escapes the horrors of war and her sadistic and brutal stepfather (Capitan Vidal, deftly played by Sergi Lopez) when she discovers a magical world within a stone labyrinth where a faun (Doug Jones) reveals that she is the daughter of the King of the Underworld.

To claim the title of Princess, Ofelia is assigned three magical tasks involving a giant toad and a monstrous pale-skinned man. Ofelia narrowly fails to accomplish all tasks, in part because of her mother Carmen’s (Ariadna Gil) difficult pregnancy and the growing countryside insurgency, participated in by the outpost’s mayordoma Mercedes (Maribel Verdu).

Ofelia succeeds but terribly pays the price for her fantasies while the real world around her lights up in the red flames of revolution.

Complemented by Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro’s metaphorical play on light and darkness to stress the narrative’s clash of truth and non-truth plus Javier Navarrete's haunting 7-note lullaby, which has been playing in my mp3 player repeatedly for several weeks now.

Pan’s Labyrinth tells two parallel tales of horror and hope clashing within the imaginations of young Ofelia.

The last shot of a single flower opening to full bloom is a poetic symbol on how myths and legends begin.

The ending of Pan’s Labyrinth doesn’t ask its viewers a question, but offers a middleground to those who cannot reconcile whether one, both or neither of the parallel tales are true.

Believe what you want to believe in the stories of Pan's Labyrinth, it humbly offers a compromise to cynic realists and romantic idealists: either lose yourself in its happy fairytale ending, or accept a sad, cruel, and sometimes violent, real world.

Escapism and cynicism are both facts of life.

Still showing in cinemas this week, Pan’s Labyrith is the real fantastic tale.

The Hills Have Eyes 2

2007-04-22T21:09:00.000+08:00

Eyes sore

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Martin Weisz
Written by Jonathan Craven, Matrin Weisz
R18 / 89 mins
Fox Atomic
* ½ (1 ½ stars)

From the trailer I thought Wes Craven directed this, so I thought Hills Have Eyes 2 was promising. The trailer looked promising. I forget that promises were made to be broken.

The original Hills Have Eyes, directed by Wes Craven in the 1970’s, was read as a statement on the US’s nuclear weapons program. Last year’s remake, directed by French newcomer Alexander Aja, was less of a political statement and focused more on bringing horror onto the screen.

The Hills Have Eyes 2, co-written by Wes Craven and his son Jonathan, tried to do both: it’s a loose statement on the US policies on the war on terror (the main characters are National Guards on training for deployment in Kandahar) and it’s a horror movie trying to replicate Aja’s successful remake. Didn’t our mommas tell us never to do two things at the same time?

In the movie, a group of trainee National Guards are sent to the New Mexico deserts to deliver supplies to a military-scientific detachment. On their arrival, the soldiers discover that the site has been eerily deserted and they immediately investigate. No sooner than they set off to the nearby hills that they are picked off one at a time, butchered, axed, like in Part 1, in all manner of death the filmmakers can conjure, by the mutants living in the hills. Quite a few survive by the movie’s end, but only after some very fierce violence.

The actors are forgettable, the characters are forgettable and 5 minutes after the start, the audience couldn’t care less if at least one of the soldiers survived the cannibalistic massacre by the mutants. Thanks to the previous movie, the sequel need not bother to explain the whys and the wherefores of the mutants – which only means this movie cannot stand alone by itself. Would there be a part 3? You betcha.

Yes some scenes are scary, if scary means seeing someone’s head get smashed into pulp bits like a watermelon. But mostly it’s the surprise-gulat kind. I almost jumped in the Portalet scene, but after a few seconds I realized something – the movie isn’t scary, it’s disgusting.

Sunshine

2007-04-22T21:08:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Lux aeterna
Directed by Danny Boyle
Written by Alex Garland
Starring Chris Evans, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh
PG13/ 98 minutes
Fox Searchlight
*** (3 stars)

When the sun goes dark, it’s the end of trips to the beach. That’s enough reason to rage against the dying of the light.

In a million million years the sun will bloat into an enormous, fat red dwarf, before collapsing into a small lifeless mass called a white dwarf. In Danny Boyle’s new sci-fi thriller Sunshine, there are no million million years but only fifty – in 2057, eight astronauts are sent into space on a mission to detonate a fission device that will re-ignite the already dying sun. Pass muna, Boracay.

Tweaking science a little in order to make an exciting space oddity, crewmembers of the space station Icarus 2 must overcome personal doubt and cosmic challenges in order to deliver their mission. At the core of Sunshine’s journey is the way humans deal with separation and loneliness, especially when you’re millions of miles away from your loved ones.

The movie begins with the mission already months into space, cabin fever and nerves getting into each crewmember of Icarus 2. Hiroyuki Sanada (The Ring) is Kaneda, captain of the multi-racial team of scientists composed of mission physicist Capa (Cilian Murphy, from Batman Begins) pilot Cassie (Rose Byrne, from Troy), engineer Mace (Chris Evans, of Fantastic Four) biologist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger), comm officer Harvey (Troy Garity), doctor and psychologist Searle (Cliff Curtis) and navigator Trey (Benedict Wong). Interestingly, the movie’s website explains why Corazon is called Corazon – she is of Chinese-Filipino descent.

(Spoiler warning!) Midway into the mission, the crew of Icarus 2 intercepts a radio signal from the failed first Icarus mission – which disappeared years before. The horror begins as soon as the crew of Icarus 2 decides to intercept Icarus 1 as accident after accident test their skills for survival and sanity in space.

It’s not the first time that Boyle tackles morality and religion in his movies. His last movie, Millions, featured a boy who can talk to saints and a luggage full of money literally falling from the sky. Most memorable sci-fi movies deal with the same issues, and it’s not surprising that Sunshine melds a little of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the original Solaris and Contact into the story. But overall it’s still a thriller more than a philosophical space trip, which makes it more like the horrific Event Horizon. A little too much like it, to be exact.

Of the eight crewmembers of Icarus 2, the interactions between Capa, Mace, Cassie and Corazon are the most narratively significant, and the clashes between Capa’s passiveness and Mace’s physical aggression are the most developed characters in the story and the most emotionally involving. Evans in particular delivers strongly, only because his character is the most pronounced. But that means the rest of the show is thin character-wise, its drama is in the characters’ suffering.

Visually, as with most Danny Boyle movies, lighting is out of this world. The design is disappointing for a sci-fi movie, as it looks great with the outer space scenes but bland with the interior Icarus scenes.

Sunshine may not be the best sci-fi adventure/ thriller to come out in years but is still a strong addition to Boyle’s splendid resume.

On a particularly beautiful day, this is just an ordinary okay movie. But on an ordinary day, Sunshine is a particularly good one.

Call the doctor

2007-04-22T21:07:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Ang Cute ng Ina Mo
Directed by Wenn Deramas
G / 102 minutes
Star Cinema/ Viva Films
**1/2 (2 ½ stars)

The industry is ripe for an Ai-Ai – Eugene showdown. Wenn Deramas’s lucky cast is still making people laugh in the latest permutation of the “Ina” shows. All hail the queens of (pinoy) comedy.

In this movie, Georgia (Ai-Ai de las Alas) is separated from her Australian love interest, Jack (I didn’t get his name, sorry), and their daughter Christine at the height of the EDSA revolution. While trying various ways to get to Australia, Georgia adopts boy orphan Val, who takes the place vacated by Christine.

Fast forward 20 years and Jack’s unhappy relationships in Melbourne force him to reconsider taking Georgia back. Christine (Anne Curtis), convinced that Georgia abandoned her and Jack before, flies back to Malabon with her Nanny (Eugene Domingo) to tarnish Georgia’s reputation and stop Georgia’s and Jack’s reunion. It’s Malabon versus Melbourne when the nanay meets the nanny (complete with Ozzie accent.)

Absurd as absurdist humor goes, but funny as funny can tell, the narrative is a badminton game of this goes here and that goes there and by the end it’s just a mess and a redundancy of Tanging Ina mother’s concerns and ingrate children. But Ai-Ai and Eugene out-shouting each other is side-splitting, they deserve another movie, hopefully not another nanay one.

Stomp the Yard
Directed by Sylvain White
PG 13/ 110 minutes
Screen Gems/ Columbia Pictures
Showing only in Ayala Cinemas
* (1 star)

We rarely see dancing like this on local entertainment, except maybe with the Streetboys in ASAP every Sunday (in SOP they sing, in ASAP they groove). Great dancing (called krumpin’, but they safely call it stepping, as if it’s a form of riverdance) but what’s the story for?

Young, misunderstood but talented guy gets thrown into a new environment (read: school), meets beautiful and interesting girl who happens to be the girlfriend of the guy he first gets into a fight with, defies peer pressure to perform his way to salvation and becomes the school sensation. Hmm, sounds like a rundown of previous talent shows: Step Up, Footloose, Drumline, even, God forbid, Flashdance.

If this were singin’, we’ve heard it before and no, couldn’t care less.

Rocky Balboa

2007-04-22T21:06:00.000+08:00

Gonna fly now

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Written, Directed and starring Sylvester Stallone
PG 13/ 102 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Columbia Pictures/ Revolution Studios/ MGM
*** (3 stars)

Rocky Balboa is saying goodbye. Hats off, sir, and thank you for doing it.

Rocky is old but he isn’t tired. In fact when a computer simulation pits the old-time champ with the current heavyweight champ, Rocky finds himself compelled to move the few stuff still left “in da basement.”

In Rocky Balboa, a TV show simulates a fight between Rocky and the current but unpopular heavyweight champion, Mason Dixon (boxing athlete Antonio Tarver) where the aging people’s champion emerges as the winner. The simulation intrigues both camps, resulting in a scheduled 10-round exhibition game in Las Vegas.

The fight, just like the movie’s concept, sounds like a joke – but it’s actually the centerpiece of the movie. Stallone wants Rocky VI to be the ultimate underdog movie – we think we believe that Rocky is too old a story and Stallone too old an actor to portray a combatant. Stallone, like Rocky (there is no distinction between the two) begs to differ. And just like in the old Rocky movies, he sweats it out and throws punches to prove that it’s never too late to try again.

Some characters are back and some actors return to reprise their roles, most importantly Burt Young, who plays Paulie again (Rocky’s best friend and manger) with such sincerity that he doesn’t have to act to say he is. In this movie people don’t hide the wrinkles on their faces, and the streets are cracked and dark. The beauty of Rocky Balboa is that it is shamelessly nostalgic, and for viewers familiar with its background it is one sentimental trip. Rocky’s mornings are long and his nights longer, as he begins and ends each day visiting the ghosts of his past. He misses his departed wife Adrian dearly.

Yes the movie has its corny setups and yes it has its obligatory crying moments and big speeches. And at some point the boxing match was in fact implausibly exciting. But that’s because Rocky VI is a throwback to the old Rocky days when people were still inspired by simple words and humility and not by bombast and computer effects. Such is the significance of the bar scene where a young patron talks disrespectfully to the champ, compared to the way older people of Philadelphia regard the icon. Rocky belongs to the age when glory was earned through sweat and tears, when the word still held its meaning and not aided by bling.

Simple, sincere and heartfelt, Rocky Balboa shows the most romantic meaning of being a champ – the one that means win or lose, people will still run up those famous steps and raise their arms just like he did, with Bill Conti’s music in the background. Way to go.

Iron ego

2007-04-22T21:03:00.000+08:00

war movies

Review by Vives Anunciacion

“Never say die” is the mantra of these war movies dealing with homeland security. Somebody out there is getting rich with these war machines.

Letters From Iwo Jima
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Based on the novel Picture Letters from Commander in Chief
*** (3 stars)

Clint Eastwood seems to have put everything corny in the earlier film Flags of our Fathers and devoted his mind to artistically express Letters from Iwo Jima. Centering on the fates of the soldiers defending the last island at the borders of Japan in the final days of WW2, Iwo Jima recounts the last days of the soldiers on the ill-fated island as their leader, General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) desperately makes strategies despite the odds.

It is very interesting how Eastwood differentiates the companion movies. Flags dealt with the definition of heroism, while Iwo Jima deals with the notion of the enemy. The former is bombast with big sounds and melodrama; the latter is quieter, more introspective – a more honest presentation of emotions.

While Flags was an average street parade for the Stars and Stripes, Iwo Jima makes humans out of the soldiers of the Red Sun. But such is the weakness of the two movies, which presents our “liberators” less heroic while Iwo Jima presents our “invaders” as more human. For this movie, saints exist even in hell.

300
Written and Directed by Zack Snyder
Loosely based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller
* (1 star)

This is a videogame and not a movie. Loud, proud, shallow and violently profane, this adaptation of Frank Millers’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae makes certain its macho inclinations by a) making most of its actors, particularly Gerard Butler as Sparta king Leonidas, growl their lines; b) showing beautiful women’s breasts once in a while, and c) referring to the (impliedly weak) philosophers of Athens as “boy-lovers”. Lest it becomes any more historically inaccurate than it already is, pederasty was commonplace in Europe and Asia before the spread of Christianity, so that remark is hypocritical. But that is the subject of a different article.

The movie didn’t promise to be profound, so my friend said after the screening. Yes, let’s celebrate mediocrity once more. Cardboard underwear models contrasted with a very ugly Persian army led by the transvestite Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). When the two leaders confront, the taller, more dominant multi-pierced Xerxes places his hands on the shoulders of bearded cod-piece wearing Leonidas and exclaims, “There are other things to fear!” to the laughter of myself and friends. Nowhere was the movie more homoerotically codified than in that scene.

Confused whether it is plot-based (which it really is) or character-based (starts with Leonidas, but actually tells more about being a Spartan soldier than delving with Leonidas’ character). Over the top everything (including the narration) except for one very crucial ingredient – a cohesive story. It’s just a storyline about the defense of 300 Spartans against 250,000 invading Persians. Looking good does not make a good movie. In fact looking good also doesn’t necessarily make a good person. Maybe we as a race have forgotten bravery, honor and glory, that’s why we invent it artificially in our fantasies all the time. In this case, spray-painted 8-pack abs.

Pathfinder
Directed by Marcus Nispel
Based on an earlier movie of the same title and theme
* ½ (1 and a half stars)

Marginally better than 300 if only because it is a) less violent and b) less over-the-top, Pathfinder has everything similar in 300 – the missing cohesive story, cardboard characters, no actual climax but a series of action scenes.

About the legend of a stranded Viking boy adopted by native Americans somewhere in north America who grows up (Karl Urban) to be their protector when the invading Vikings return. Like 300 this one is beautifully photographed and very literal in presenting its thin storyline. Fortunately, Pathfinder fares better than 300 because of a central character.

If there’s one reminder that summer blockbusters are nigh, there’s a lot of skin and beaches shown in these movies.

Back into love

2007-04-22T21:01:00.000+08:00

VALENTINE'S REVIEWS

Reviews by Vives Anunciacion
More of a comedy than a romance, Music and Lyrics is the surest date movie this year, unless one is a womyn who likes womyn, in which case, Rome and Juliet is the sweet choice. Whether it’s the cutesy Music and Lyrics, the deeply poetic The Fountain, or the female love story Rome & Juliet, siguradong may date movie opening today na bagay sa girls, sa boys, bakla man or tomboys.

Music and Lyrics
Written and Directed by Marc Lawrence
Starring Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore
*** (3 stars)

The Fountain
Written and Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

Rome and Juliet
Written and Directed by Connie S. Macatuno
Starring Andrea Del Rosario, Mylene Dizon, Rafael Rosell
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

Although Music and Lyrics features a fictional icon from the greatest decade of music, the movie doesn’t actually play any 80s song. The movie is about a former 80s pop icon who struggles to revive his musical career but instead finds romance unexpectedly.

Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) formerly of the 80s pop band Pop, is asked to compose a hit song for the current pop diva within three days, otherwise he can declare his musical career laos. Enter Alex’s talky plant attendant (taga-dilig ng halaman) Sofie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), who helps Alex marry her rhyme with his rhythm. In short, they’re a match made in musical heaven.

What makes Music and Lyrics work is Grant’s spot-on comedic timing, despite the bland screenplay and uneventful storyline. You can pair Barrymore up with anyone and she will still be as cute as the day she appeared in E.T. A romantic comedy with an 80’s reference but with absolutely no real 80’s music (this so NOT 13 Going on 30), Music and Lyrics is melodious to the everyman’s funny bone.

Conversely, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is almost a conceptual love story with the barest storyline and an excess in interpretative visuals. The story, spanning thousands of years, is about the search for the legendary Fountain of youth.

Hugh Jackman plays Dr. Tommy Creo who is in search of a cure for his dying wife’s (Rachel Weisz) cancer, but the movie crisscrosses between a Spanish-era conquistador’s search for the tree of life in Guatemala, the present day Creo and the future Creo who is in a bubble spaceship on his way to a dying star. Sounds confusing? Not so, it simply isn’t that easy to understand. Pretend it’s a music video with random scenes minus the music. What a disappointment from one of the most promising US directors in many years.

Lastly, Rome & Juliet is a light drama, light lesbian romance (well, light everything) from newbie director Connie SA. Macatuno and CinemaOne Originals.

Andrea del Rosario plays pre-school teacher Juliet engaged to marry a young politician (Rosell), when she meets and falls for the wedding planner Rome (Mylene Dizon) (or more accurately, the bride-to-be seduces the female wedding planner). Family and friends collide when the all-female couple decide to fight for their all-female love.

Unconventional the concept may be, Rome & Juliet plays out like an L-Word version of the OC where beautiful people abound (check out how many tisoy guys there are in this movie) and gender issues enumerated (stereotyping, labeling, gender specification of roles, etc.)

Good performances abound from Dizon, del Rosario (even Rosell) and Tessie Tomas, who plays Juliet’s conservative mother. Yes, the conservative mother wears eyeglasses and ganchillos. A movie against stereotyping actually needs stereotypes to tell its story.

King koopa

2007-04-22T20:56:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Last King of Scotland
Directed by Kevin McDonald
Based on the novel by Giles Foden
Starring Forrest Whitaker, James McAvoy
R13 / 121 minutes
Fox Searchlight
***1/2 (3 1/2 stars)

Today is Oscars day and Forrest Whitaker will most likely win the golden statue as The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker plays Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who was responsible for the death of 300,000 of his countrymen during his bloody reign.

The story is told through the eyes of fictional character Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young doctor from Scotland who brings his youthful ideals to the countryside of Uganda. Nick meets Amin when he is called to treat the president after an accident. The young doctor’s straightforward conduct pleases the new president, and the two instantly bond as the best of friends. He is so Scottish, Amin says, that he can be the last king of the Scots.

The president introduces Nick to a life of privilege very much unlike the average life of a Ugandan. What Nick fails to see is that President Amin treats his fellow Ugandans differently. When the British government exposes the atrocities of Amin, Nick finally realizes the realities of his situation. He makes a thrilling escape, but only after suffering terribly.

Documentary director Kevin McDonald’s first foray into narrative filmmaking is a very interesting success, although the Golden Globe-winning movie is not without some failure. Whitaker benefits from the documents of history for being able to portray the bloodthirsty dictator with such power and intensity, he owns the film as soon as he appears.

Unfortunately, the narrative is confused and is neither character driven nor plot driven. Character-wise, Amin’s is defined by historical references and is not elaborated in the story. We really don’t know why he is slaughtering so many people or why he behaves like a madman in some points – as if it’s understood that all dictators are. Neither is the movie Nick’s, no matter how appropriate McAvoy’s portrayal is of a doe-eyed Scotsman in Uganda. We simply take him for granted as the bida, because he is the white man in Africa. As a political thriller, the thrill part only comes in the last third of the movie, so it really isn’t one.

However, whatever the insufficiencies of the narrative, The Last King of Scotland will be remembered for Whitaker’s pulsating, feverish act so visceral you can smell the sweat glistening on his dark skin.

History lessons

2007-04-22T20:50:00.000+08:00

Reviews by Vives Anunciacion

History figures prominently in recent releases of movies, with period pieces such as The Queen and bio dramas like the upcoming Last King of Scotland figuring significantly in the awards season. The History Boys and Curse of the Golden Flower, both opening this week, are both worth the watch despite the few recognitions they have.

Curse of the Golden Flower
(Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia)
Directed by Zhang Yimou
Starring Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat
R13/ 114 mins
Sony Pictures Classics/ Beijing New Picture Film Co.
*** 1/2 (3 1/2 sttars)

Nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design, Curse of the Golden Flower takes the costume drama genre to the extreme, literally dressing up thousands of extras whether live or computer-generated.

Set at the height of the Tang Dynasty, China’s golden age of poetry some 1000 years ago, Curse of the Golden Flower is a family drama about intrigue, in-fighting, deceit and murder within the fabled walls of the Imperial Palace.

Asia’s most famous actress (Gong Li) plays Empress Phoenix, the Emperor Dragon’s (Chow Yun Fat) ailing second wife, whom the Emperor suspects of having an affair with the Crown Pince Wan (Liu Ye), his son from his first wife. When the Empress discovers that the Emperor is clandestinely poisoning her through her daily medicine, she plots for the Emperor’s overthrow on the night of the Chrysanthemum Festival by means of their favorite son, Prince Jai, played by China’s pop prince Jay Chou.

Opulent, lavish and bloody gory to the end, Curse of the Golden Flower takes its theme of beauty on the outside and rotten on the inside to extravagant levels, at times reaching Shakespearean tragedy but told in uniquely Asian cinematic flair. Costing more than $45million (or P2.25 billion), China’s most expensive picture is ten times more colorful and twice more intriguing than Zhang’s last costume epic, House of Flying Daggers.

However, no amount of lavish sets and costumes can outshine Gong Li, who was probably robbed of Oscar acting nomination. Li asserts herself Asia’s premiere actress, combining beauty, fragility and deviousness – she is at once terrible and magnificent to behold. The movie should have been nominated for more awards than just for costume, but who cares, it’s one glorious opera.

The History Boys
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Based on the Tony-award winning play by Alan Bennet
Starring Richard Griffiths, Frances de la Tour, Russell Tovey
R13/ 122 minutes
Fox Searchlight/ UK Film Council/ BBC
*** (3 stars)

Very much like previous inspirational classroom dramas such as Dead Poets Society, Emperor’s Club and Mona Lisa Smile, The History Boys is Britain’s stage equivalent translated to the screen and directed by Nicholas Hytner, also known as Lea Salonga’s Tony-award nominated director in the West End production of Miss Saigon.

Sharp, witty and full of energy, The History Boys features the original Tony-nominated cast as a group of smart but mischievous high school boys prepare for the collegiate exams for Oxford and Cambridge (equivalent to our UPCAT and Ateneo entrance exams).

The best part is that History Boys doesn’t make its drama pilit, even if its coming-of-age themes of sexuality, belonging, purpose and meaning present themselves in intelligent banter. There’s no need to shout O Captain, my Captain, here – but it does make me sorely miss my high school theater life. O high school, my high school, indeed.

Blood Diamond

2007-02-05T00:19:00.000+08:00

Bloody bling
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Edward Zwick
Written by Charles Leavitt
Starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly
R13/ 138 minutes
Warner Brothers
*** (3 stars)

In the 1990s, rebels in the African country of Sierra Leone illegally mined and traded diamonds to finance their war against their government. In Blood Diamond, Leo DiCaprio plays a gem smuggler engaged in the trade and Djimon Hounsou plays one of the rebels’ mining slaves who discovers a rare pink diamond. Both actors deliver brilliant performances, even if the movie’s storytelling requires some polishing of its own.

Against a backdrop of poverty and Africa’s beautiful landscapes (captured in beautiful cinematography), Director Edward Zwick melodramatizes (quite commonly with his message films like Glory, Courage Under Fire and Last Samurai) the issue of “conflict diamonds” – diamonds mined in war zones then sold illegally to finance and sustain the insurgency.

DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a former soldier of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) who engages smuggling in, at that time, war-torn Africa. Danny is caught smuggling conflict diamonds across the border and is sent to prison, where he meets Solomon Vandy (Hounsou), a farmer captured by the local revolutionary army (Revolutionary United Front) and forced into slavery as diamond miners. The illegal mine site is raided by the government and the slaves are sent to prison along with the rebels.

Danny promises to help Solomon find his family if Solomon will tell Danny where he hid the pink diamond. Half action movie and half human drama, Blood Diamond highlights the conflicting interests of a smuggler separated from society and a slave separated from his family.
Between them is a rare diamond worth the price of their freedom, and an idealistic journalist (Jennifer Connelly) who can actually change their lives.

At more than two hours the “action” movie runs slow and the message over-dramatized. Connelly’s morally-inclined role is the spirit of the movie, but her romantic role is unnecessary in the scheme of things. Despite the real issues and the intense performances, Blood Diamond is an artificial gem that put more carats in its bling than actual storytelling.

eragon

2007-02-05T00:18:00.000+08:00

Enter the dragon
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Stefen Fangmeier
Based on the novel by Christopher Paolini
Starring Ed Speleers, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Guillory
G / 104 minutes
20th Century Fox
** ½ stars (2 ½ stars)

It’s like Star Wars and Harry Potter with a little Lord of the Rings, and instead of riding x-wings or broomsticks it’s riding dragons. Eragon, at the very least, has marvelous costumes. Lots of it. Behold the most fasyon fantasy adventure for kids.

An orphan teenager, Eragon (newcomer Ed Speleers) discovers his destiny as Alagaesia’s last dragon rider after he finds and raises a blue dragon, which he calls Sephira (voiced by Rachel Weisz.) Jeremy Irons plays his mentor Brom, who trains Eragon to be a rider and instructs him on his quest to join the rebel force Vardens and free Alagaesia from the dark rule of lord Galbatorix (John Malkovich.)

First, Eragon must rescue the elf princess Arya (Sienna Guillory) who was responsible for teleporting the dragon egg to Eragon, from the clutches of Galbatorix’ minions. Eragon manages to accomplish this with a heavy price that forces Eragon to bring Arya to the Vardens. Galbatorix’s army arrives and a brief battle ensues, but in the end the good guys win – until the last shot when Galbatorix thrashes his throne room to reveal his deadly secret and the prelude to Part 2.

If the story reminds you of Star Wars except that it’s set in Hobbiton, don’t run for the exits yet because the highlight of the movie is when Eragon rides Sephira while training. After all, we’ve never seen a dragon rider before. The CG effects are well done and the visuals are beautiful, not surprising since the director is a former visual effects supervisor.

But that is Eragon the movie’s main problem – it’s easy on the eyes but not on the ears as the story suffers from bad dialogue, bad character development, stone-cold acting and clichéd ideas, as if only the effects mattered. A teenager may have written the original novel, but the screenplay has no excuse to sound amateurish. One thing’s for sure: those black leather pants on Eragon are sure smashing.

To err is human, to Eragon, derived.

Little Miss Sunshine

2007-02-05T00:17:00.001+08:00

Little darlin’
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell. Abigail Breslin
99 minutes/ R13
Fox Searchlight
Exclusive at Ayala Cinemas
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

I found this movie uproariously engaging for many reasons, but mainly because there on the screen was an exaggerated version of my own crazy family. In the movie, the Hoovers are a nutty bunch of unfulfilled losers on the brink of disintegration. Little Miss Sunshine is an irreverent road trip of dysfunction as a family struggles to keep itself intact despite the seemingly unending series of misfortunes that comes in its way.

Daddy Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a failed motivational speaker who can’t motivate his own self to get a real job. Alan Arkin delivers the most memorable and hilarious lines as the foul-mouthed, heroin-addicted Grandpa. In contrast, the talented Ms. Toni Collette is underutilized as a former divorcee and Richard’s new wife Sheryl. Funnyman Steve Carell (The 40-Year Old Virgin) plays
Sheryl’s suicidal gay brother Frank. Playing the nihilistic teenager who has decided not to talk is Paul Dano.

Last but not the least is little chubby Olive, whose dream of joining the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant forces the bankrupt family to take a 700-mile road trip from New Mexico to California. Seven year-old Abigail Breslin plays the Hoovers’ ultra-cute bunso Olive with natural charm and innocence and rays of light in her eyes.

Along the way, the family deals with road mishaps and relationship bumps, but it’s at the beauty contest when the message takes a literal turn. It appears that there are far more freakier families than their own.

Sunshine’s best assets are its zippy quotable dialogue, catchy music and the excellent ensemble cast. Kudos to Arkin, who deserves a nomination somewhere, and Kinnear who may be the only actor who can warmly smile at the audience after playing the asshole the entire trip.

Sunshine is an enjoyable commentary at how we unconscionably put premium on winning, even if the winning makes the winners look like losers. Unlike her entire family who can’t get into proper terms with their own freakiness, Olive embraces her inner superfreak to show her family what winning truly means.

In the end it’s not about the winning or the losing, it’s the getting there that counts – even if the getting there means riding the bus with the only family that can take you there, no matter how crazy they can get.

Casino Royale

2007-02-05T00:16:00.001+08:00

Ante-Bond
Review by Vives Anunciacion

Directed by Martin Campbell
Based on the character created by Ian Fleming
Starring Daniel Craig, Eva Green
144 minutes/ PG 13
Sony Pictures/ Columbia Pictures
*** 1/2 (3 1/2 stars)

After 21 outings, it still represents the grand male fanstasy – crisp clothing, hot cars, lots of gadgets and hot women. But Casino Royale also reshapes James Bond to a new level of seriousness since Timothy Dalton played a darker Bond in License to Kill (1989). Welcome the lean, mean, but emotional, machine.

Of all actors who delivered the introduction, “The name is Bond, James Bond.” Daniel Craig’s physique makes him the most believable person to accomplish the physically demanding missions of Agent 007 (let’s see – Pierce Brosnan was too pretty, Roger Moore too stiff; Sean Connery was great too, but first we had to understand his Scottish. That leaves George Lazenby who quit after On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) and Timothy Dalton who’s as charismatic as a grandfather clock onscreen.)

But credit Dalton for creating the darker side of Bond, who in Moore’s time was a bumbling chick magnet, then a gadget freak in Brosnan’s. For the longest time, the image of the dapper, gentlemanly super Secret Agent was established by Connery even in the first James Bond flick, Dr. No in 1962. Craig only had to improve on Dalton’s inner assassin to make this version of Bond the most emotionally vulnerable (but such is the trend with virtually all male bidas in recent movies.)

In Casino Royale, Bond’s first mission as a double-o agent takes his bomb-terror trail from the Bahamas to a high stakes poker game in Montenegro, resulting in the crackdown of a worldwide agency of terrorist money. Eva Green plays MI6 accountant Vesper Lynd, the only woman that matters in this edition of James Bond. This Bond barely uses any gadget, drives a car once only to smash it in a few minutes and sleeps with only one woman. Sheer mind and muscle.

Great movie, and a successful reboot of a franchise, like it was an edition of the Jason Bourne series. Too bad it had to glamorize gambling.

An Inonvenient Truth

2007-02-05T00:14:00.000+08:00

Wala nang next time
(in filipino)
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion

Documentary ni Davis Guggenheim
Featuring Al Gore
100 minutes/ GP
United International Pictures
Showing exclusively at SM Megamall and Mall of Asia
**** (4 stars)

Hindi pa uso sa Pilipinas ang global warming, pero base sa pelikulang ito, walang lugar sa mundo ang hindi apektado nito, at tayo ang dahilan kung bakit ito nagaganap. Manood at makinig, dahil ito na yata ang pinakamahalagang mensahe para sa ating henerasyon.

Unti-unti nang umiinit ang klima ng mundo at tao ang salarin. Sa pamamagitan ng mga chart at graphs, pinaliliwanag ni Al Gore, muntik na presidente ng US, ang pagtaas ng temperatura sa atmosphere at ocean surface sa nakaraang ilang taon, dala ng pagdami ng carbon dioxide at iba pang greenhouse gases. Kumakapal ang mga ito sa atmosphere dahil sa masibang paggamit ng tao ng fossil fuels (langis, gas at uling) pagkakaingin at pagsasaka. Amerika ang pinakamalaking salarin, na nagbubuga ng 36% ng total carbon dioxide na tinatapon sa atmosphere, kasunod ang China at India.

Sa isang clip ipinakita ng satellite image kung paano lumakas ang bagyong Katrina nang dumaan ito sa mainit na karagatan ng Gulf of Mexico bago tumuntong sa lupa. Ipinakita rin ang ilang lugar na dati’y balot sa yelo at glacier at ngayo’y tuyo na na parang disyerto. Dala ng mas mainit na atmosphere at karagatan ang pagtunaw ng yelo sa Antarctica at Greenland, pagtaas ng sea level, mas malakas na bagyo tulad ng Katrina at Milenyo, paglipat ng mga hayop at sakit sa mga bagong lugar, tagtuyot, fresh water shortage at ang pagkamatay ng maraming ecosystem.

Malinaw ang paglalahad ng pelikula at simplified ang pagpapaliwanang ni Al Gore. Ang An Inconvenient Truth ay isang dokumentaryo ng lecture ni Gore tungkol sa climate change. Nililibot ni Gore ang ibat ibang bayan upang iparating ang babala at ipaalam na hindi pa huli ang lahat. Madalas nakakagulat ang mga datos na ipinapakita niya para ipaliwanag na tao ang may kagagawan sa global warming.

Ang mahalaga ay may panahon pang nalalabi para aksiyunan ang problemang ito. Ayon nga kay Gore, hindi ito political issue kundi isang moral imperative. This is a very important film, with a very important and urgent message. Ang nakataya dito ay kaligtasan ng buong lahi ng tao. Parents, bring your children; teachers see this movie with your students.

Maaaring narinig na natin dati ang global warming o climate change, pero hindi natin ito pinansin. Ano ba naman ang malay nating mga Pinoy doon. Pero ang masakit na katotohanan, dapat nating aksiyunan ngayon ang mga paninirang ginawa ng ating henerasyon bago natin masasagot ang susunod na henerasyon kung ano ang ginawa natin sa kalikasan nila.

Walang excuse, walang pass muna dahil wala nang next time na darating.

Coolio!

2007-02-05T00:13:00.001+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Happy Feet
Directed by George Miller
Featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams
98 minutes/ GP
Warner Brothers
**** (4 stars)

It started with Madagascar and then with March of the Penguins (locally known as Penguin, Penguin, Paano Ka Ginawa? – by god, who on earth thought of that title), penguins are now officially the cutest animals on earth.

In ice-covered Antarctica, Mumble Happy Feet (Elijah Wood) was born to dance and not to sing. His parents (Norma Jean, voiced by Nicole Kidman, and Memphis, voiced by Hugh Jackman) know that he will find it difficult to fit in with the rest of the penguins in Emperor Land, much less find his true love, if he doesn’t find and sing his heart song. Realizing that Mumble’s oddity can disrupt their harmony, Noah the Elder (Hugo Weaving) banishes Mumble from Emperor Land, accusing him of being the reason why the fish has become scarce.

Travelling across Antarctica in search of his heartsong and the true reason of the fish shortage, Mumble bands with the Adelie Amigos led by the flippy Ramon (Robin Williams) and the Rockhopper penguin Lovelace (also Robin Williams). In the end, Mumble will find whatever he needs and much more, in time to come back to his true love Gloria (Brittany Murphy).

Part National Geographic, part Broadway and American Idol, more than half of the time feeling like it’s the American Music Awards, Happy Feet has showstopper after showstopper of song and dance numbers that will rival any Disney animated musical. Heck, it may already be better than any of them.

The animation is gorgeous, the characters adorable, Robin Williams is side-splittingly funny, Happy Feet’s achilles heel is an ice-thin storyline involving identity crisis, a long search and an abrupt and hurried recital on the disasters of commercial overfishing by aliens (that’s us, humans). Important and relevant may these themes be, they don’t add that many layers to the cake full of icing. Nevertheless, the movie overflows with melodious and hippity-hoppity soul.

Hands down (or should I say, feet up?) the best animation this year. Jump and move and jump and move and stop. You got it?

Borat natin

2007-02-05T00:12:00.000+08:00

(in filipino)
Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Sacha Baron-Cohen
R:18 / 82 minutes
Twentieth Century Fox
**** (4stars)

Barok siya kung mag-Ingles, pero parang tayo rin pag dinurugo na sa tainga kakausap sa mga dayuhang bisita dito sa atin. See Borat. See Borat movie film. Pwede na ba Ingles ko?

Si Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron-Cohen, mas kilala bilang Ali-G) ay isang TV reporter na inatasang mag-observe sa kulturang Amerika at gumawa ng documentary para sa ikauunlad ng bansang Kazakhstan (dating probinsiya ng nasirang U.S.S.R.) Mula New York hanggang Los Angeles, maghahasik si Borat ng lagim at katatawanan upang ipapakita ang ibang anyo ng pamumuhay sa Amerika na di madalas ipakita ng Hollywood o ng CNN.

Isa itong mockumentary o isang pekeng dokumentaryo na pinapakita ang “normal” na kulturang Amerikano sa mata ng isang foreigner. Sa isang banda maaaring ganito rin ang maging karanasan ng isang Pinoy na mapapadpad sa Amerika na walang karanasan sa kanilang kultura. Ilang pelikula na nina Dolphy at Chiquito ang may ganitong tema para gawing kakatawa ang nagtutunggaling lenggwahe at pamumuhay, culture clash kumbaga.

Ang mas mahalagang punto ng palabas ay hindi lang ang ipakita ang mga kakatawang gawain ni Borat kundi ang pagpapakita sa natural na reaksiyon ng mga ordinaryong Amerikano sa isang weird na dayuhan tulad ni Borat.

Tinatawid ng Borat ang linya kung alin ang kakatawa, bastos at shocking pero ang mas nakakabilib ay si Cohen na kung tutuusin ay isang matapang na performance artist, at kahit alam niyang hindi na siya igagalang na tao sa mga pinaggagawa niya, naitatawid pa rin iyon.

Watch na the Borat, is very funny. Pero watch it more so because it gives us, non-Americans a good reason to laugh at Americanisms.

Ceremonial flag

2007-02-05T00:11:00.000+08:00

Review ni Vives Anunciacion

Flags of Our Fathers
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by William Broyles Jr., Paul Haggis
Starring Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
DreamWorks/ Warner Brothers
** (2 stars)

A picture is worth a thousand words, pero sa Flags of Our Fathers kulang ang one thousand words dahil paulit-ulit na tatanungin ni director Clint Eastwood kung ano ang tunay na kahulugan ng kabayanihan. Paulit-ulit hanggang matapos ang pelikula, may sermon pa. Actually mas kasalanan ng mga writers.

Based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers is Clint Eastwood’s lavish deconstruction of the famous photo taken by Joe Rosenthal depicting the raising of the star spangled banner by American soldiers on Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945. More than what it means to the American public, Flags of Our Fathers dissects the true meaning of heroism sa katauhan ng tatlo sa anim na sundalong nagtaas ng bandila.

Sina Doc Bradley (Ryan Philippe), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) at Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) ay tatlo sa mga sundalong nagtaas ng bandilang Amerikano sa Iwo Jima sa ika-limang araw ng may 40-days na pakikipagdigmaan ng US laban sa mga Hapon noong World War 2.

Kaagad naging sikat ang mga flag raisers matapos ilathala ang larawan sa mga pahayagan, kaya hindi nag-atubili ang gobyernong iuwi sila sa Amerika para maging poster boys sa kampanya para makalikom ng 14 Billion dollars pantustos sa gastusin ng digmaan. Binansagan silang Heroes of Iwo Jima. Hindi nahirapan si Rene na mag-adjust sa bago niyang kasikatan, samantalang hindi matanggap ni Ira ang bansag sa kaniya bilang bayani. But the story is told through the experiences of Doc as the attending medic of the fallen GIs.

It’s easier to like Flags of Our Fathers than say how contrived it truly is. Don’t get me wrong - it’s a handsomely made film, beautifully photographed and light-handedly guided by Eastwood, as most Eastwood films are. Will it receive many Oscar nominations? For sure. But what it truly is is a sappy, repetitive and preachy no-brainer of a story that condemns idolatry but glorifies the idol at the same time.

There’s no need for Flags to repeat its theme in every scene, but in case somebody misses it, there’s even a sermon at the end defining what heroes are. Heroes are but our creation, it says, but they are heroes nonetheless. For once, Dirty Harry blinks on his politics.

If it’s arrogance to call this a literal, spoonfeeding, no-brainer drama, it’s because the movie condescends to its audience and makes sure it gets its message in the most melodramatic manner possible. War Movies for Dummies New Illustrated Edition.

Tricky treat

2007-02-05T00:10:00.001+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Prestige
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson
Touchstone Pictures
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

At more than two hours, the movie is slightly (just a little bit) difficult to finish – there are so many twists and turns and revelations, one can’t wait for the ending to come. But it’s this anticipation that makes the movie The Prestige a rousing success – just like a great magic act, one can’t wait to see the magician reveal his trick.

In this case, the magician is director Christopher Nolan and his tools are Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine and a cleverly adapted script from the novel by Christopher Priest. The Prestige is more about two magicians’ obsessive pursuit to create the ultimate magic trick and not about the trick itself. Look closely, they didn’t use digital effects in this movie. This is old-school filmmaking at one of its finest.

Christian Bale (formerly Batman) and Hugh Jackman (formerly Wolverine) play Alfred Borden and Robert Angier respectively, young rivals engaged in a bitter personal war to become the supreme magician in Victorian-era London. Borden is the better inventor of tricks, while Angier is the better showman. The movie shifts the story between the two with flashbacks and flashbacks-within-flashbacks, until, like a magic trick, it reaches the ultimate reveal in the end.

The movie’s strongest point is how Nolan’s treatment manages to play on the audience’s sympathies, made even more effective by strong performances from Bale and Jackman. In the beginning, it’s easy to sympathize with Angier and get mad at Borden. This reverses towards the mid part. By the time the movie ends, both characters are chest-deep in dirt. Walang bida dito, dahil pagdating sa dulo, pareho silang kontrabida. From this standpoint masasabing magaling ang pagganap nina Bale at Jackman sa kanilang mga karakter kaysa sabihing flatly obsessed ang mga karakter nila from the start. Support acting, cinematography and costumes are also top-notch in this period-thriller, with a notable appearance by rock idol David Bowie as the inventor Nikola Tesla.

The Prestige is compelling to watch as a psycho-thriller, but deep inside its handsome exterior lies a story that relies significantly on a few “electrifying” tricks as its main device. So much for well threshed out characters, the devices are not as inventive. That maybe is the only weak link to an otherwise mind-blowing illusion.

America the beautiful

2007-02-05T00:09:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

World Trade Center
Directed by Oliver Stone
Written by Andrea Berloff
Starring Nicholas Cage, Michael Peña
Paramount Pictures
** ½ (2 ½ stars)

I always get mixed reactions from an Oliver Stone film. But it’s a personal thing, a matter of taste. In fairness, the set-ups and the acting in World Trade Center are never too showy nor over-dramatic. But it is erratic – beautiful and ugly, poetic and literal in various places. World Trade Center is Stone’s intensely dramatic dedication to the families who survived the 9/11 tragedy.

John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña) are two of the hundreds of Port Authority police officers called in to rescue the people trapped in the collapsing towers of the World Trade Center when the walls crash in and they themselves get trapped in the rubble.

The movie follows the stories above and below ground, between John’s and Will’s physical and mental struggle to stay alive beneath layers of twisted metal and concrete of the fallen towers and the story above ground as their families resolve to keep believing that their loved ones are still alive. In this emotionally charged movie, Peña comes out more sympathetic and out-performs Oscar winner Cage.

There’s no question the visuals and the design recreating the horrific images captured on CNN that day are remarkably stunning. Even more stunning is the scene from inside the concourse when the towers implode. And then there are Stone’s jarring intrusive images typical of his vision, whether it’s a stoplight representing authority in absentia or a shot of the earth from up in space or a Christ figure holding a water bottle representing, what else, salvation. In these instances the movie roller coasters from sublime to paralytic.

Moreso, the movie plays out like a recruitment movie for the US Marines, and is most annoying to progress slowly to a happy ending, how, as Sergeant Karnes (Michael Shannon) puts it, “it’s their mission.” World Trade Center’s mission is to unearth from the rubble the cracked American ego. It could have easily ended with a shot of the American flag fluttering in the wind with God Bless America playing in the background. Interestingly, I distinctly remember CNN showing a certain city celebrating the Sept. 11 attacks. That is not even insinuated in World Trade Center.

September 11 didn’t have a happy ending, because if it did, then we should all move on and stop the war on terror.

The gang’s all here

2007-02-05T00:07:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Departed
(3 stars)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by William Monahan
Starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg

The Departed by all accounts is a reworking of the 2002 Hong Kong megahit Infernal Affairs, never mind if director Martin Scorsese says his movie isn’t a remake.

Leo Di Caprio and Matt Damon play two sides of the Boston State Police. Leo’s Billy Costigan is an undercover cop hired to uncover the illegal dealings of the Irish Mafia led by kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), while Matt’s Colin Sullivan is a hotshot rookie detective who serves as Costello’s inside man. When the police and the Mafia suspect a spy in their ranks, Billy and Colin devise ways to keep their identities secret from within their groups, while they individually try to expose each other.

Jack Nicholson’s zesty Costello is enough for him to snatch the lead acting nomination away from Leo, though his role opens the debate on what is and what isn’t a lead role. If Jack gets it, Mark Wahlberg deserves the support nom for playing hardball cop Dignam.

Overall, The Departed is Scorsese Lite, a very audience-friendly movie that ‘s a departure from the director’s usually expansive vision (The Aviator, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas, Raging Bull). It’s a top-notch thriller all right, but it’s still just a remake of one of the best Asian films ever made.

Green Street Hooligans
(2 stars)
Directed by Lexi Alexander
Written by Dougie Brimson, Lexi Alexander
Starring Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam

Football hooliganism is a serious issue in the U.K. and Lexi Alexander ‘s Green Street Hooligans tries to explain parts of the phenomenon the best it can without romanticizing the addictive thrill of violence. Part brilliant and part amateurish, Green Street Hooligans is mostly emotionally inconsistent. But when it works, it works well.

Elijah Wood is Matt Buckner, a promising journalism major who is kicked out from Harvard. Moving to London, he meets his brother-in-law’s brother Pete, who introduces him to the Green Street Elite (GSE) firm – a radical gang of football fans which takes the fanaticism in “fan” to deathly ends. Matt’s presence in the GSE reignites the violent rivalry between GSE and another Firm, leading to the expected tragic end.

The movie works more than half of the time, although almost every character is stereotyped. There’s no question on Elijah Wood’s acting abilities (kilay pa lang acting na), it’s just that he isn’t physically convincing to morph into a street thug. Plus, putting another pretty boy beside him won’t help making him macho – Sam and Frodo are still fresh on people’s minds.

For the moment...

2006-07-07T00:09:00.000+08:00

in the meantime i have yet to write the reviews for the following films currently released...

United 93 is very good. i should say it's not a thriller in the sense that what happened in September 11, 2001 should be least trivialized (or overdramatized, for that matter). Great handling from Paul Greengrass.

I Wanna Be Happy, from Seiko films, is producer Robbie Tan's first venture into family-oriented films. He said he's tired of producing ST films, and he's more interested in making family movies now. This very talky movie has snappy, and many times funny dialogue. Keanna Reeves is a scene stealer, Cherry Pie is great as ever, and veterans Gloria Romero and Eddie Garcia are funny as a comic tandem ala a mature desi & lucy. surprisingly entertaining, even if it's not that cinematic.

yet to be shown is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - the sequel to the 2003 phenom Curse of the Black Pearl. In a word - TIRING. it's got great stuff improving on the first POTC, it also has rehashed stuff from the first movie. a few great moments with Capt Jack Sparrow, great visuals and effects, great costumes and design... but it just goes on and on and on and on... at some point, the story is pointless. really. just take the ride and forget it as soon as you leave the door. too bad i just love the first movie, now i'm not excited for the third part.

Superman Returns

2006-06-28T01:49:00.000+08:00

Icon
Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 28 2006

Directed by Bryan Singer
Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Based on the comic book character created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
Starring Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth
G / 153minutes
Warner Brothers/ Legendary Pictures/ DC Comics

Call me a sentimental idiot. Christopher Reeve will always be my Superman, and when he died I thought he brought the Man of Steel with him for good. Many others will wear the suit, but Reeve will always be the only Superman, right? Wrong.

So how was Superman Returns? Kate Bosworth is a little off as reporter Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey shifts from great to good as a brooding Lex Luthor. The surprise is Brandon Routh who practically owns Superman. He is the new Man of Steel. By default, I’m now a fan.

I didn’t expect to like Superman Returns that much – no, I didn’t expect to love it. I was reduced into a giddy kid again, amazed at how much magic this movie has taken hold of me. Is it that good? It still could be better, but right now it’s already breathtaking.

At the heart of Superman Returns is a strong emotional core about a man who must assert his significance to a world in denial that it needs him. Yes, there are spellbinding special effects but this superhero is all about emo.

The magic starts as the screen bursts into a kaleidoscopic space travel from Krypton to Earth with the familiar laser blue credits design marching to the crescendo of John William’s legendary musical score. That by itself is a show worth the price of admission.

In the years during Superman’s absence, criminal businessman Lex Luthor is out from prison and has found a rich benefactor to fund his evil schemes. Lois Lane has won a Pulitzer Prize, is a mother, and engaged to Richard White (James Marsden), nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella). In other words, the world has conveniently moved on without the Man of Steel.

On his return to Earth, Kal-El (Brandon Routh) learns the world didn’t seem to miss either Clark Kent or Superman. Only Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) welcomes him back warmly in Metropolis. After a showstopping airplane rescue reintroduces Superman to the world, the superhero quickly resumes his role as savior of his adopted home. But on top of these is a protracted relationship with Lois that needs closure.

Great performances abound, but then no movie’s perfect. The movie soars in all of its Superman scenes, especially each time Supes uses his powers to save people. Routh is magnetic as Superman, a joy as Clark Kent, but looks unsure as Kal-El. Maybe because those characters are developed differently, Superman having the best scenes and Kal-El having the least – if only Clark had more scenes in the movie. Routh may remind people of Chris Reeve, but this Superman is definitely his own. Great job for an absolute newcomer.

Plotwise the weakest points are Luthor’s real estate plans and the thing with the kid, which take elements from Superman I and II, but tries to make its own story regardless of any clear backstory. However, Spacey’s lines are potential cult quotables. Least effective is the average musical score, which underwhelms as a superhero’s accompaniment and never soars when Superman does.

The Jesus/ Superman messianic parallels are not an accident. Singer elevates the Blue Boy Scout to the status of divinity, both in imagery and text, as he does when Superman descends to the earth unconscious in a crucified pose or when he floats in space to listen to the events down below; and most especially in the recurring “the son becomes the father, and the father the son” theme as Kal-El repeats the voice of the father inside him in Routh’s best performance at the end of the film.

While the Dark Knight shows that people can overcome their personal demons, and those mutants prove that politics is what we make of it, when the going gets really tough, it is never a crime to look up and seek comfort from the guy in the sky.

This is no mere fantasy - no careless product of imagination. Superman Returns is a spellbinding amalgam of the hero created in 1938 and in the Richard Donner movies, and pays grand tribute to the sentimental favorites for existing fans while rebooting the super franchise for the next generation of believers.

There will be many versions of Superman; other Reeves and Rouths will wear the suit and cape. It is not the person or the actor, but the unpolluted spirit within the suit that is legend. Superman Returns resurrects the original superhero in all his glory.

And he shall live forever and ever.

Thinking men

2006-06-20T22:53:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 21 2006

There’s the French film festival currently ongoing at Shangri-La for the subtitle-addicted; for the rest who simply crave for Hollywood movies that are a little outside of the box, here are two worth thinking about.

Inside Man
Directed by Spike Lee
Written by Russel Gerwitz
Starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen
PG13 / 129 minutes
Universal Pictures

Dalton Russel (Clive Owen) and his accomplices carefully execute the “perfect bank robbery” in the middle of Manhattan. They hold up the bank, take everyone inside hostage and demand a getaway plane from the police. They do everything very fast, but they hesitate and stall the ending. In this crime caper, everything about the movie is taking control – control over events, over actions, over emotions and even control over fate.

The NYPD negotiator is an upcoming detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) who takes the rule books seriously and tries to keep his cool at all times, even though Russel out-cools him most of the time as they try to outwit each other’s actions in Russel’s carefully-planned operation.

A few complications arise on the appearance of Madeline White (2-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster), a power broker for the elite who is hired to secure from Russel extremely sensitive documents owned by Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), the bank’s owner. Mr. Case doesn’t want his secrets revealed to the world at all costs, so he hires Madeline to secure these for him from the bank robbers. Ms. Foster looks like she’s enjoying her role as she catwalks in front of armed men double her size – in a movie about male biases, Madeline personifies the phrase “the powers that be.”

This is a dream cast for Oscar addicts, and to watch the three main actors in their elements isn’t only a delight but a marvel. Great ensemble acting, great cinematography. The story plays out like a game of chess between Russel and Frazier, and retains an element of calm as the narrative gently unfolds towards the inevitable end. Now if that hurried ending only made sense…

Kinsey
Written and Directed by Bill Condon
Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Peter Saarsgard
R18 / 118 minutes
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Exclusive At Ayala Cinemas Only

Dr. Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson) is the first American to publicly study human sexual behavior and in 1948 created sensational uproar over his book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Kinsey’s methods and findings were the stuff of controversy, but it was these studies that forced America, and the world, to talk about their sexuality in the open.

The movie by God and Monsters director Bill Condon delicately, if at times lightly, looks into the life of the man whose sole obsession was to put a statistical number beside a person’s bedside manners. So consumed was Kinsey was with his sexual research that he often took the people beside him for granted, especially his wife Clara (Laura Linney), who easily represents the perfect partner any person can dream of. Both Neeson and Linney thresh out their roles with spirit and verve, as Neeson’s Kinsey is remarkably quite different from his Oscar Schindler especially as the character ages in the film. Great music, great editing and another great ensemble cast.

These two movies are worth seeing if it means citing examples of movies that can make the audience think first before giving their opinions. While Inside Man excites as a clever crime thriller, it is also Spike Lee’s more pedestrian presentation on how Americans, New Yorkers at least, deal with everyday prejudices about race, religion and politics. Kinsey on the other hand would want its audience to leave their sexual prejudices and politics outside the cinema and take a clinical watch on how humans enjoy themselves.

Zoom, zoom, zoom

2006-06-20T22:52:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Cars
Directed by John Lasseter
Written by Dan Fogelman, Robert L. Baird
Featuring the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt
GP / 116 minutes
Walt Disney/ Pixar Animations

Who knows how far a car can get
Before you think about slowin' on down
- Aretha Franklin, Freeway of
Love

America’s love affair with the automobile turns hilarious with Cars, the latest model to emerge from the Disney-Pixar factory of adorable animation. Get your motor runnin’ for a fun journey with Cars.

The Disney and Pixar tandem so far has produced the best collection of studio animations (outside Japan) since Toy Story in 1995. Cars is a worthy addition to this collection, but it’s definitely not Pixar’s best since the studio raised the animation bar too high with the amazing The Incredibles in 2004.

Cars begins in the middle of the Piston Cup race where rookie Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is preparing to take the championship from his idol, Strip “the King” Weathers (voiced by NASCAR Nextel Cup champ Richard Petty), who retires at the end of the season. Forever at the heels (bumper?) of the King is Chick Hicks (former Batman Michael Keaton), who will do anything in his means to be the champ.

Despite Lightning’s positive appeal, he is too self-centered to care for other things except win the trophy. His vanity quite literally causes his tires to burst, forcing a surprising three-way tie between The King, Hicks and McQueen. On the way to the championship race in California, Lightning gets sidetracked into the dusty old town of Radiator Springs, which sits along historic Route 66 (kinda like our National Hi-way, but longer). Once there, the story screeches down to cruising speed.

At Radiator Springs, Lightning meets a fleet of old-school cars – the town simpleton Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), sexy Sally (Bonnie Hunt) the Porsche lawyer, and the serious vintage Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), who seems to hide a secret past. Lightning’s accident forces him to stay in Radiator Springs until he fixes everything he damaged along the way. It is this extended stay in Radiator Springs that teaches Lightning how to take things on a stride and discover that life is more than just reaching the finish line.

There’s no doubt that Pixar’s animation and storytelling techniques are still miles away from competition. Compared to other Pixar animations featuring toys and cuddly animals, it is quite a challenge to make metallic cars as adorable as the fish in Finding Nemo. Cars looks very impressive.

But storywise, there’s an obvious similarity with the 1991 comedy Doc Hollywood starring Michael J. Fox, wherein a city doctor gets stranded in a backward town while serving community sentence. Youngsters won’t find anything wrong with this similarity, but those familiar with Doc Hollywood may be scratching their heads as to how Pixar failed to come up with something more substantially original. Funny lines do not make a movie memorable, most of the time characters do. Cars’ humanized cars are a little bland, no amount of shiny paint can make Lightning as cuddly as a bear.

Cars wants its audience to remember the glory days of the Highway, when people moved around to see places and meet people, instead of hurrying along the expressway in the pursuit of the metaphorical deadline. Maybe the animation Cars is trying to boost the stagnant US auto industry, which is why there are barey sny Japanese cars in the roster.

Filipinos can’t obsess with automobiles the same way Americans have since the T-Model Ford put them on wheels in1908 – not with weekly gas price increases and snarled EDSA traffic. But these Cars are an exception.

Ober da bakod (review in Filipino)

2006-05-22T20:07:00.000+08:00

Rebyu ni Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre May 21, 2006

Over the Hedge
Direksiyon nina Tim Johnson, Karey Kirkpatrick
Panulat nina Len Blum, Lorne Cameron
Base sa cartoon strip nina Michael Fry at T Lewis
Tampok sina Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell
GP/ 83 minuto
DreamWorks Animation

Nakaramdam na ba kayo ng sugar rush? Yung mapa-palpitate ang puso niyo at makakaramdam ng pangangailangan para kumilos ng mabilis. Parang ganun ang Over the Hedge – malasa, mabilis at mapapangiti kayo sa saya.

Si RJ (boses ni Bruce Willis) ay isang maabilidad na raccoon na nasanay na sa junk food at kagamitan ng tao. Sa tindi ng gutom isang gabi ay madidisgrasya niya ang inipong pagkain ng isang nagha-hibernate na oso (si Vincent, binosesan ni Nick Nolte). Bibigyan ni Vincent si RJ ng isang lingo para mag-ipon ng kapalit na pagkain, kundi’y si RJ ang kakainin ng oso.

Samantala, magugulat na lang sina Verne (ang seryoso at mabusising pagong na binosesan ni Garry Shandling), Hammy (ang neurotic at hyper-active na squirrel, boses ni Steve Carell) at iba pang taga-gubat na mga hayop na may misteryosong bakod ng halaman ang bigla na lang lumitaw sa isang dulo ng kanilang kagubatan. Yun pala’y isang malaking subdivision ang sumakop na sa kabuuan ng dating malawak nilang tirahan.

Mapapadpad si RJ kina Verne samantalang pinagtatalunan ng mga taga-gubat kung ano ang nasa kabila ng bakod. Gamit ang kaniyang kaalaman sa buhay ng mga tao, gagantsuhin ni RJ sina Verne na tulung-tulong silang mag-ipon ng pagkain mula sa subdivision ng mga tao, pero hindi niya ipagtatapat na ang iipunin nilang pagkain ay para kay Vincent. Natural, kataku-takot na gulo ang mangyayari dahil dito bago maayos ang lahat.

Mahusay ang animation at mabilis ang mga pangyayari, kaya nakaaaliw panoorin ang Over the Hedge, na mula sa comic strip nina Michael Fry at T Lewis na unang lumabas sa Amerika noong 1995. Ayon sa mga gumawa ng pelikula, maituturing na parang prequel ang pelikula sa mga kaganapan sa comics dahil sa pelikula pa lang nagkakilanlan ang mga karakter. Maganda ang pagkakaboses ng mga aktor, kabilang na si Avril Lavigne bilang Heather na teen-ager na possum. Paborito ko ang super-bilis na si Hammy, na ang pangalan sa comics ay Sammy.

May kanipisan ang kwento ng Over the Hedge (kailangan lang nilang mag-ipon ng pagkain, gaya ng kwento ng Antz at A Bug’s Life noon) kaya siguro masigla ang paglalahad ng naratibo. Sa isang banda’y mariin nitong inilalarawan kung paano unti-unting inuubos nga tao ang natural habitats ng mga hayop. Pero hindi nito pinalawig ang sermon kung paano masama sa katawan ang pagkain ng puros junk food lang. Mahalaga sana itong health topic para sa mga batang manonood. Sa isang banda’y may mahalaga itong environmental message (pero lumang tugtugin na), sa kabila nama’y may isa pa itong mahalagang mensahe na hindi naman nito pinangatawanan.

Simula nang ipalabas ang Toy Story noong 1995, binakuran na ng Disney at Pixar Animations ang trono ng Animation hanggang sa huli nilang palabas na The Incredibles noong 2004 (liban nung 1998 at 2001 noong hindi sila nanalo ng Oscar para sa Best Animation). Depende kung gaano kaganda ang susunod na animation ng Disney at Pixar na Cars na ipalalabas ngayon ding taon, pwedeng agawin ng Over the Hedge ang tronong ito na huling nagawa ng DreamWorks Animation sa Shrek noong 2001.

Pero bago iyon mangyari, mag-exercise muna tuwing umaga para iwas-atake sa puso kakakain ng matatabang pagkain.

T.E.O.T.W.A.W.K.I.

2006-05-17T00:44:00.000+08:00

(This review came out in May 24, 2004. It's one of my personal favorites and I'm reposting it in conjunction with Time Magazine's recent special issue on global warming. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't written the last paragraphs of the review so ominously. As stated on the cover of the said Time issue, "Be Worried. Be VERY worried.")

T.E.O.T.E.W.A.W.K.I.
Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Day After Tomorrow
Written and Directed by Roland Emmerich
Starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Sela Ward
PG13 / 124 minutes
20th Century Fox

“Urgent: HQ Direction," began a message e-mailed on April 1 to dozens of scientists and officials at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "No one from NASA is to do interviews or otherwise comment on anything having to do with (the film)," said the message, sent by Goddard's top press officer. "Any news media wanting to discuss science fiction vs. science fact about climate change will need to seek comment from individuals or organizations not associated with NASA." (New York Times, April 25 2004)

The film in contest is Roland Emmerich's US$125-million The Day After Tomorrow. In recent weeks, NASA has decided to help discuss the issues of climate change, stemming from the public interest raised by the film. The New York Times reports last May 12 that environmental advocates in the US are using the film's release as an opening to slam the Bush administration's policies on global warming. While in Washington a coalition of industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, is working to make sure that the movie does not contribute to the passage of a bill limiting carbon-dioxide emissions.

The Day After Tomorrow is a sensationalized, science fiction account of sudden climate change and the instantaneous shift to the ice age brought about by global warming and greenhouse gases. In the movie, a gigantic superstorm threatens to wipe out the entire northern hemisphere and send the earth to the next ice age. Paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) teams up with a number of scientists worldwide to warn the White House of the imminent danger, which like in all disaster flicks, gets ignored. Meanwhile, his son (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is trapped in New York where the eye of the superstorm is headed.

After Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich comes up with another spectacular reason why we should be scared of our future. In The Day After Tomorrow, it's The End Of The World As We Know It. TEOTWAWKI. Tornadoes wipe out Los Angeles, hailstones batter Tokyo and snow falls heavily in India.

The movie is swarming with plotholes and is a conglomeration of previous disaster movies like The Perfect Storm, Towering Inferno and even Titanic. Characters are so ordinary they're practically forgettable, until you realize that in situations like these, no one gets to be a superstar. In that sense, everyone acts out what was needed sufficiently. Even Ian Holm's brief screentime ends poignantly - you get to miss his character at the end of the film. This is Emmerich's most emotional spectacle, if it means anything.

There are a number of spectacular effects sequences. But most enjoyable are the numerous potshots thrown against US foreign policy, conspicuous consumption and greed for energy. This movie surprisingly turns out to be a rallypoint for Third World Agenda and environmental sensitivity. In a curious paradigm shift, this Hollywood summer movie shows a tornado wiping out the famous Hollywood sign in California.

However, it must be stressed that a lot of things in this movie aren't supported by scientific fact. Climate change simply cannot happen that fast. But one illustration of sudden climate change is shown in this movie which was also discussed by National Geographic - that of the remains of a Mammoth instantly frozen while grazing. Incidentally, the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica featured in the opening scene, really did break off and fall into the sea in March 2002, a few weeks after Emmerich wrote the scene in the movie.

Implausible may be many of the events in this movie, it is hard to ignore the signs that the world's weather is going awry. The Day After Tomorrow is fictional grand entertainment not in any way near the truth, thankfully. Pray to God it stays that way for a long, long time.

And start being mindful of greenhouse gases, just in case.

Wild, wild wave

2006-05-12T02:54:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre
May 12, 2006

Poseidon
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Written by Mark Protosevich
Based on the novel by Paul Gallico
Starring Josh Lucas, Kurt Russel
PG 13/ 99 minutes
Warner Brothers/ Virtual Studios

In its first 20 minutes, I had my hand over my mouth completely awestruck. Okay, maybe not completely, but surprised to be impressed. Poseidon, god of the seas, has edge-of-your-seat excitement to the last second. Hold your precious breath; this has water, water everywhere.

It’s actually a remake of the 1972 cult classic The Poseidon Adventure that started the disaster flick craze. When the trailer for Poseidon first came out earlier this year, I overheard people quickly dismiss it as another Titanic rip-off. Poseidon Adventure: 1972. Titanic: 1997. Kung ginawa bang pelikula ang MV Doña Paz tragedy, tatawagin pa rin bang Titanic iyon? In Poseidon, Wolfgang Petersen improves on and combines the tragedies of two of his previous waterborne films, Das Boot and The Perfect Storm.

The giant luxury cruise ship Poseidon is sailing the oceans on New Year’s Eve when a rogue 100-foot wave rams it on the starboard side and turns it upside down. Within moments, passengers and wreckage are tossed around and turned like a huge washing machine. Those who survive this nightmare consequently must ease their way out from burning debris or falling objects while the sinking ship gradually fills up with water.

The ship’s captain instructs many of the survivors to stay in the ship’s large ballroom, where they were previously gathered to celebrate the night. Some people simply can’t wait for things to just happen, and decide to take matters into their own hands. Eventually, eight strangers band together to save their own lives while the ship remains afloat – professional gambler Dylan (Josh Lucas), Robert (Kurt Russell), a former mayor vacationing with his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum) and her fiancé Christian (Mike Vogel), retiring businessman Richard (Richard Dreyfuss), beautiful divorcee Maggie (Jacinda Barrett) and her son Conor (Jimmy Bennet), and stowaway Elena (Mia Maestro).

Their plan, according to the group’s reluctant leader Dylan, is to find their way up (or down, the ship is overturned) towards the ship’s propellers where they can jump overboard and escape the sinking ship. But each path they take would present a different obstacle they must hurdle, and as all disaster movies go, not all of them will make it alive in the end.

The main attraction of Poseidon is its dramatic staging of (incredibly believable) devastation. We’re talking about a bigger than Titanic, Queen Mary type ocean liner here, and I can only mouth, “holy ****” as soon as the giant wall of water appears onscreen, slams Poseidon big time and rolls the ship upside down. That sequence alone is a showstopper. After a short introduction to the mainly obligatory set of characters, Poseidon surges relentlessly with scene after scene of tension as Dylan and his group race towards the ship’s keel as the water swells behind them.

As for each of the survivors, there is no point in belaboring characterization here. Poseidon simply cuts away what would naturally drag the narrative slower. And so, a credible cast plus simplified characterizations are enough to push the story forward. In real life, we hear survivors narrate how a stranger saved them, or how an anonymous arm pulled them out of the water. It’s only afterwards when the survivors are interviewed that the tragedy gets a human face and a name.

Great effects and believable set-ups make for an engrossing adventure, it’s not surprising if an Oscar nomination for art direction came along. Fans of the original should be warned that this Poseidon is remarkably different.

Then again this review could all be wrong. I may have had an unnatural enthusiasm assessing Poseidon as a result of seeing the full trailer of Superman Returns. Ahh, Summer.

Muy delicioso

2006-05-10T02:27:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
May 10, 2006
Inquirer Libre

Mission: Impossible III
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J.J. Abrams
Starring Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman
PG13/ 126 minutes
Paramount Pictures/ UIP

Ten years after his first Mission Impossible movie, Tom Cruise is jumping over taller buildings and dodging more lethal bazookas as Special Agent Ethan Hunt in the most explosive version of the M:I series. Popcorns please! M:i:III delivers slam-bang block-buster action bursting to the seams.

Credit must be given to M:i:III’s director, J.J. Abrams, who created the phenomenal TV series Alias and Lost. M:i:III flows kinetically the same way the actions and the storyline progress in the said TV shows, maybe trademarks of the successful director. But this aesthetic style is both its strength (compared to previous Mission movies) and weakness (compared to other movies in general).

M:i:III begins at its climax - Agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is strapped on a chair being tortured by ruthless arms dealer Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), who is in search of a biological weapon known only as the “Rabbit’s Foot”. When Ethan refuses to submit the information, Davian threatens to kill Julia (Michelle Monaghan), Ethan’s fiancée, whom Davian has also captured. Ethan pleads with teary eyes, Davian points a gun at Julia – and then the story backtracks where it should start.

Ethan is enjoying his peaceful semi-retirement with his new wife Julia, who thinks he works for some sort of traffic engineering. One night, as the couple celebrates their marriage with friends, Ethan receives a message from his superiors for another Impossible Mission. Fellow agent and former protégé Lindsey (Keri Russel) has been kidnapped by Davian for information on the Rabbit’s Foot.

Ethan and a team of experts are immediately sent to rescue Lindsey in Berlin. In the movie’s first of many explosive action scenes, the team’s daring rescue is somewhat a success – they manage to retrieve Lindsey from Davian’s minions. But it ends with her tragic death.

Ethan’s team is then sent to the Vatican where Davian is captured in one of the most effective scenes in the movie, involving multiple disguises and acrobatics that will remind audiences that teamwork is one of the hallmarks of this series (though it’s impossible not to say it remains a Tom Cruise movie.) But as in the first operation, this one ends unsuccessfully as well. On route to the IMF headquarters in the US, Davian escapes his high security blanket in one of the noisiest action scenes on a bridge, and in a short time arranges the kidnap of Julia.

The chase leads Ethan to a building in Shanghai, where he must, if he must, throw himself and freefall hundreds of feet into the air to get his hands on the Rabbit’s Foot, which he must trade with Davian for Julia’s freedom. And then it’s back to where the movie started.

M:i:III has all the ingredients of an exciting, popcorn summer blockbuster – great action sequences, great visual spectacles, zero story coherence. The movie belabors the fact that Ethan must conquer insurmountable emotional odds and show Tom Cruise in several teary-eyed shots, because, in the previous M:I movies, we have already seen him surmount all forms of physical odds. A great part of the movie hinges on Ethan’s relationship with wife Julia, so the story about a crazy arms dealer and the friggin’ Rabbit’s Foot is actually just a lengthy sidetrack to what appears to be an intro to M:i:IV – Mr. & Mrs. Hunt.

Michael Giacchino’s music drowns in the avalanche of sound effects. On the other hand, this may mean an Oscar nomination for sound editing. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s acting is dead-on, if only his Davian had more backstory, he played enough for too little. Telephoto close-ups may be okay for TV, but too much of these detach the audience from every scene’s emotion. It’s not cinematic for cinema’s sake – the action set-ups may be big, but not composed for the big screen.

Overall, this Mission is worth the admission; just don’t expect mind-bending story twists and surprises. Get two buckets of popcorn and a giant drink, and then say, “On with the show!”

Desperately seeking suspense

2006-05-10T02:25:00.000+08:00

Reviewed by Vives Anunciacion
(unpublished)

The Sentinel
Directed by Clark Johnson
Written by George Nolfi
Based on the novel by Gerald Petievich
Starring Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria
PG 13/ 108 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Regency

At 61, Michael Douglas should probably retire from making any more action movies, his long filmography has apparently taken the better of him. Or, to put it in another way, we already liked him when he played President Andrew Shepard in the romantic comedy, The American President way back in 1995.

In The Sentinel, Douglas plays Secret Service Agent Pete Garrison, who is directly assigned to protect US First Lady Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger), although this is no Guarding Tess, the comedy about a retired First Lady and her bumbling Secret Service bodyguard starring Shirley MacLaine.

Anyway, back to The Sentinel. A secret service agent is mysteriously killed and the agency’s top agent, David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland), investigates the murder. He is joined by a fresh academy graduate Jill Marin, played by Eva Longoria, who was likely cast here in her first movie for no other reason than to grab the attention of the millions of Desperate Housewife fans.

Breckenridge’s investigation leads him to former best friend Garrison, who, despite having a respected career behind him, now appears to be behind a serious plot to assassinate the US President. Garrison suspects he is being framed-up, and goes into hiding while trying to prove his innocence and trying to save the President’s life at the same time. Breckenridge has reasons to distrust Garrison – he suspects Garrison to have had an affair with his now ex-wife. What he doesn’t know is that Garrison is having an affair with the First Lady. Things untangle in the end, and the agents cooperate in the nick of time to save the President.

The Sentinel is such a mishmash of old thrillers The Fugitive, In the Line of Fire and a little CSI and Basic Instinct - at some points the movie becomes exciting and irrelevant at the same time. The Fugitive worked the first time in that it was an innovation at the time, which partly explained why its sequel, US Marshals, wasn’t as successful five years after. Same theory holds with Basic Instinct. In contrast, In the Line of Fire, starring Clint Eastwood, is still relevant in a post-9/11 age. Come to think of it, all of the stars in those movies are past the usual prime.

The problem with The Sentinel is that it belabors to show the intense security that a US president receives on a daily basis, only to show how lax it becomes, what little mistakes can cause outside the White House. That simply doesn’t bode well if the movie serves as a Hollywoodized recruitment video for possible agents of the Secret Service. Sleek production value doesn’t compensate for an outdated concept and an aging lead actor who simply can’t walk the walk when the scene asks him to make a run. Sutherland, combining Tommy Lee Jones and his own Jack Bauer in 24, makes a commendable attempt to bring flavor to his scenes, but it still isn’t his movie.

We’ve seen this before, though it’s not as bad as it seems. It’s just that The Sentinel has no point in the history of things.

The hills are alive

2006-04-09T23:11:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Hills Have Eyes
Directed by Alexandre Aja
Written by Alexandre Aja, Gregory Levasseur
Starring Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Emilie de Ravin
R18/ 107minutes
20th Century Fox

Here’s a dare for horror movie regulars who think they’ve seen them all: try to see The Hills Have Eyes all by yourself. Or simply try not to cover your eyes and actually watch this remake of horror master Wes Craven’s 1977 classic. It has the ingredients to scare people out of their skins.

There’s a recent epidemic of extreme violence in movies, especially horror movies which have no choice but to explore the unspeakable lurking in the darkest corners of our collective imagination. Hostel had its victims’ fingers cut off by pliers. In Venom, the killer’s favorite weapon of human destruction was a crowbar. In The Hills Have Eyes, a family traveling through the dusty New Mexican desert is terrorized by sadistic, bloodthirsty creatures, who turn out to be the mutant victims of WW2 nuclear warhead tests. They eat humans.

French director Alexandre Aja reanimates the 1977 cult classic for the trendy call-center generation with complete disregard for what manner of sadism the audience can stomach, nor for the oft-required “characterization.”

The title credits explain the existence of the mutants in the radioactive regions of New Mexican desert. In the short time before the Carter family is introduced, the audience is given an initial taste of how the mutants deal with outsiders, and so the horror is planted even before the main dish is severed, er, served.

When the Carters do appear, they make a pit stop on the lone gas station in the desert. Big Bob (Ted Levine) and Ethel (Kathleen Quinlan), recently-married eldest daughter Lynn (Vanessa Shaw) plus her new husband Doug (Aaron Stanford) with their baby Catherine, the teenage siblings Brenda (Emilie de Ravin) and Bobby (Dan Byrd), plus the two German Shepherds Beauty and Beast – are traveling through the desert on their way to California, where Bob and Ethel intend to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They are a picture of the average suburban conservative family.

As they whine and whimper about the desert heat, the old, hillbilly gas station attendant suggests to Bob a shortcut through the hills. Bob, uncharacteristically the former police detective that he proclaims he is, accepts the attendant’s suggestion and takes the “alternate” route. In a few minutes, their truck and trailer would crash into the dirt, stranding the entire family in the middle of nowhere.

That’s when the jumping-in-your-seats start. Big Bob decides to walk back to the gas station to get help, while Doug investigates what is further down the road, leaving Ethel, the kids and the baby at the mercy of desert sunset. For protection, Big Bob and Bobby each have hand guns. Doug doesn’t believe in using one. And then the mutants appear, thirsty for the blood and guts of normal humans who have conducted the nuclear tests that deformed them and their parents. What ensues is plain shocking madness. But it does have a happy Hollywood ending.

The Hills Have Eyes is short on narrative arch – it is after all a standard horror movie, which means most of the time it’s the ususal cat and mouse chase between killer and victim. It’s the times when the cat catches the mouse which will make you squirm in your seat, even for the most seasoned horror fan. The blood and gore in The Hills Have Eyes can be very nasty at times.

Good performances from the cast, especially from Stanford and Shaw and the main mutant Pluto (Michael Bailey Smith), great sepia look and mood from cinematographer Maxime Alexadre add to the effective narrative preparation and suspense build-up, but it remains a standard horror flick which improves on the original only in production value. At the end of the show, the survivors are exhausted, and so is the audience. Which means the pay-off is rewarding.

The original The Hills Have Eyes was an artistic and commercial success in the 70s because it visualized the innate fear of the strange, at height of the US-Russian Cold War. The horror in the new The Hills Have Eyes still works because it taps into the current age of terror, especially when the unknowns are lurking just beyond the hills.

Ice, ice candy

2006-03-30T17:52:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Written by Peter Gaulke, Gerry Swallow, Jim Hecht
Voices by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah
GP/ 90 minutes
20th Century Fox
Opens March 29

Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth and Diego the Sabretooth Tiger return onscreen to escape global warming in the second installment of the hilarious 2002 animation. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown has more characters, more amusing gags and the memorable Scrat is still trying to catch that old acorn.

In Ice Age 2, global warming is melting the world’s ice, threatening to flood the valley where Manny, Sid and Diego are peacefully living with the rest of the prehistoric herd. News of a “big boat” where the animals can take refuge convinces the herd to leave the valley before the ice dam breaks.

Meanwhile, the happy trio of Manny, Sid and Diego are finding out they have new issues to deal with. Manny (again voiced by Ray Romano) yearns to discover another mammoth and refuses to believe he is the last of his kind. Sid (John Leguizamo), who was the crack of jokes in the first movie, yearns for a little respect from the herd. Diego (Denis Leary), the metaphorical cat out of the bag, discovers that his fear of water, and the coming flood is only making that fear worse.

Things get warmer when they accidentally meet Ellie (Queen Latifah), a female mammoth and her two pesky possum brothers Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck). Manny isn’t sure he’s happy to find another mammoth, since Ellie thinks and acts like she’s a possum. Before he can convince Ella to like him, he must first convince himself that he likes her and then convince her that she’s a mammoth. Sid and Diego help along in order to save the mammoth species from extinction.

Still funny and irreverent as the first outing but more character driven, The Meltdown sheds its evolutionary background and mixes biblical metaphors with mass extinction. Scrat the proto-squirrel provides side-splitting intermission, the same funny antics that made him the main attraction in the first movie. However, kids who were too young to see the first one will still find this a fun introduction to mammoths and mammals, as this version can stand alone regardless of the first Ice Age.

Great animation and visuals and a lot of funny stuff especially an update to the first movie’s “dodo” sequence – Sid gets to inspire a tribe of very impressionable mini-sloths. As soon as the animals reach the “boat” of salvation, though, the narrative and the comedy stand to a halt.

The first Ice Age may get the bigger share of laughs, but give no cold shoulder to this one – Ice Age 2: The Meltdown has lots of fresh stuff to cool down any globe-sized warming.

Ultraelectromagnetic violence

2006-03-30T17:50:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

State of the art horror in an obscure European hotel beats the crap out of a futuristic, effects-filled battle between humans and pseudo-vampires. Two movies exploiting the use of violence – and miles apart in quality, story and style.

Hostel
Written and Directed by Eli Roth
Starring Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson
R18/ 95 minutes
Lions Gate Films

Three American backpackers spend their after-college vacation touring Europe, when they are informed that a specific town in Slovakia is populated by beautiful women lusting for American men. Libidinously incensed, the three scurry to the obscure town and check in an equally obscure youth hotel where guests share rooms co-ed. After a night of pleasure, two of the Americans, Paxton (Jay Hernandez) and Josh (Derek Richardson) discover that their friend Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson) is missing the next day. Things get out of hand when Josh becomes missing as well, and Paxton suspects that the town has dark secrets that would explain the absence of his friends. What he discovers, at the expense of his two fingers, is a horrific torture-for-fantasy modus hatched by the town’s populace.

Ultraviolet
Writen and Directed by Kurt Wimmer
Starring Milla Jovovich, Cameron Bright
PG13/ 88 minutes
Screen Gems

Set in the future, an unsuccessful military biological experiment to create the super soldier unleashes a deadly virus that spreads worldwide. Infected humans, called hemophages, mutate into vampire-like beings with heightened senses and physical abilities. Designated as threats to the survival of normal humans, the fascistic medico-military establishment has developed a biological weapon to exterminate all the hemophages. Their chance for survival is to fight back as rebels, led by ultra-assassin Violet (Jovovich). But Violet’s objectives are thrown into a conflict of interest when she discovers that the biological weapon is hosted inside the body of an innocent boy and she decides to save him.

Vile, Violet and Violent

In terms of filmmaking execution, Hostel is very effective as a horror movie, with a mild weird-Asian-horror flavor. Once the tortures start, the movie doesn’t flinch in depicting 1001-ways-to-torture-the-hotel-guest in all manner of blood spurts and metal tools and well-made prosthetic effects. Effective camerawork help build up tension, complimented by proper music scoring and editing.

Comparatively, Ultraviolet has more body count and wields guns and swords ceaselessly but refuses to show blood to keep its PG13 rating. A cross between Underworld and Aeon Flux, Ultraviolet is amateurish in plot and in execution, drowning everything in “style” but draining it elsewhere. Technically, the only thing commendable in this obviously Hong Kong production is the music by Klaus Badelt, who also did Pirates of the Caribbean and Constantine, and the lone arnis action sequence near the beginning.

Hostel feels like the teen-slasher movie for horny male geeks that producer Quentin Tarantino missed out making 20 years ago, but in contrast, Ultraviolet looks like it was made by a group of inexperienced teenagers with enough budget for chroma-effect computer-aided filmmaking.

Ironically

What is surprising is that no matter how bad Ultraviolet is as a movie, it represents a certain Asian incursion into Hollywood filmmaking (or specifically, distribution) that Filipinos filmmakers should look into. Hostel, disturbingly violent as it is, apparently is against violence. Unlike other movies which glorify violence in beautified, glamorous shots, Hostel purposely makes its audience squirm in order to remind people that violence is vile and disgusting

Ultraviolet was supposedly shot in High Definition (HD) digital video, which is important in terms of producing a movie for Hollywood distribution, especially here where digital movies are making waves. The lesson is that Hostel, with a budget (US$ 4.5M) minuscule compared with Ultraviolet’s (US$30M) and shot decently in more expensive celluloid, is lightyears better as a theatrical experience. It’s not the budget, nor is the technology used that matters – garbage in is garbage out.

Children of the revolution

2006-03-17T00:14:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre
March 15 2005

V for Vendetta
Directed by John McTeigue
Written by Andy & Larry Wachowski
Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore & David Lloyd
Starring Natalie Portman, Hugo weaving
R 13/ 132 minutes
Warner Brothers/ Silver/ Vertigo

“No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a
means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard
a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.
The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The
object of power is power.” – George Orwell, ‘1984’

Beneath the futuristic storyline there is more than just spectacular action and effects. There is an idea, and the idea is of fundamental significance: “People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.” V for Vendetta is the year’s The Matrix – visceral, verbose, volatile and very good.

Fourth in a series of graphic novels by visionary Alan Moore translated to the screen (From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Constantine), V for Vendetta envisions a futuristic Britain overshadowed by dictatorial rule. An enigmatic masked persona declares war against the authoritarian government in order to bring hope back to the nation, even if it means blowing up its Parliament.

Codenamed “V”, the masked terrorist aims to free the people of England from their corrupt government by carrying out the failed November 5, 1605 plot to bomb the Parliament building. On the eve of November 5 1605, Guy Fawkes, an avowed Catholic, was discovered by government troops preparing 36 barrels of gunpowder in a tunnel beneath the House of Lords. Sentenced to death by the anti-Catholic English government of King James I, Guy Fawkes and 12 other conspirators of the “Gunpowder Plot” were tortured, hanged and quartered. Today November 5 is known as Guy Fawkes Day in England.

In commemoration of that day, V plans to blow up the Parliament on November 5, 2020, spread chaos and ignite a revolution that he hopes will eventually replace the despotic government. His unlikely accomplice is Evey Hammond, an ordinary office girl working in the government-controlled TV network, whom V saves when she is attacked in an alley by abusive policemen. V gradually politicizes Evey each time they interact, seeing in her the face of the sleeping citizen who must awaken to the realities of their abused world.

From the makers of The Matrix trilogies come a surprisingly political movie about terror as a means to free people from their manufactured fears. V for Vendetta is a rhetorical ambiguity: the idea of a terrorist as a hero fighting a terrorist government is un-Hollywood at least, the movie might as well have been made by Al-Qaeda.

Terrific performances from the entire cast, especially Hugo Weaving who must articulate all manner of V’s nuanced machinations despite the macabre mask through voice and mannerisms. Natalie Portman saves her bad English accent by revealing a veiled strength under her fragile looks; she gets better after her head gets shaved in her torture scenes. John Hurt is every bit the raving dictator as he appears in huge screens (ala the 1990s Apple Macintosh TV ad also inspired by George Orwell’s 1984).

Great music, great design, great cinematography by Adrian Biddle (who died last December) and great editing help propel the sharp, lashing dialogue (except for Evey’s last monologue at the end of the movie), at some point Shakespeare is quoted in Twelfth Night.

V for Vendetta is no ordinary Hollywood popcorn movie (it isn’t exactly an action movie either); at its core is a chilling warning of a future when the survival of a nation’s people does not depend on whoever holds the mace.

Integrity above all

2006-03-05T17:02:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Feb 27, 2006
Inquirer Libre

"We must not confuse dissent from disloyalty. We must remember always, that
accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due
process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven
by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and doctrine and
remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to
write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the moment
unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape
responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to
abdicate his responsibility."
- From the March 9, 1954, "See It Now"
television broadcast on Senator Joe McCarthy.

Relevance and revolution are major topics in this year’s batch of Oscar hopefuls, all of them benefiting from spectacular performances. The first story is about America’s greatest writer and the birth of the non-fiction novel. The second is about a CIA agent caught in a global moro-moro between the US government and Arab oil. The last is a tribute to the newsman who fought a US Senator on the air and introduced broadcast journalism to the world.

Capote
*** 1/2
Directed by Bennet Miller
Based on the book by Gerard Clarke
Nominated for Picture, Direction, Acting, Support Acting (Female) and Adapted Screenplay

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays America’s greatest of writers, Truman Capote in this moody, contemplative story about the relationship Capote develops with one of the murderers of a Kansas City massacre.

In what is probably the best performance this year (my bet for Best Actor), Hoffman delivers a spellbinding, unforgettable portrayal of the colorful New Yorker, Truman Capote as he unhurriedly delves into the mind and soul of a man who admits to murdering an entire family in Kansas, eventually inventing a modern genre in literature. Unhurriedly is not a euphemism, the movie is decidedly lethargic and slow, Hoffman’s acting saves the movie.

Syriana
*** 1/2
Directed by Steven Gaghan
Suggested by the book See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism by Robert Baer
Nominated for Original Screenplay and Support Acting

Uncompromising in its message and provocative in intention, Syriana doesn’t flinch to repeat, in George W. Bush’s own words, America’s addiction to oil. George Clooney plays CIA field operative Robert Barnes who becomes a pawn and the fall guy in a global multi-government, multi-business conspiracy to keep the Middle East in chaos as the US drains its oil resources dry.

Syriana is choppy and relentless, a disfigurement resulting from its multi-character narrative and the sheer scope of information. Despite this, Clooney and co-stars Matt Damon and Jeffrey Wright manage to squeeze out unforgettable human characters made vulnerable by the powers that be. Great ensemble cast, editing, music and sound. The ending is almost shocking.

Good Night, and Good Luck
****
Directed by George Clooney
Nominated for Picture, Direction, Acting, Original Screenplay, Art Direction and Cinematography

Beautifully shot in color and rendered black and white in post-production and a marvel of economic storytelling at only 93 minutes, Good Night, and Good Luck pays tribute to the days when professionalism and integrity survived hand in hand with conviction and honor.

Practically channeling the spirit of Edward R. Murrow, David Strathairn makes an indelible, stirring performance as the TV anchor who exposed and clashed with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s infamous Communist witch-hunting and unfettered inquisition in the name of national security. Good Night and Good Luck seamlessly combines archival footage and elegant photography to pit journalist Murrow against Senator McCarthy in a moral boxing match about truth, human rights, and freedom of speech. Sounds contemporary? The movie is set in the late 1950s.

No nonsense, no hype, except a clear purpose to remind the audience that democracy is everybody’s responsibility and not the government’s sword. By intention, message and make, Good Night and Good Luck is the best movie of the year.

The bright side of life

2006-02-26T22:59:00.000+08:00

DVD review by Vives Anunciacion

Everything is Illuminated
Written and Directed by Liev Shrieber
Based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer
Starring Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz
105 minutes/ Region 3
Warner Home Video

Comedy/ Drama
DVD Features: Additional Scenes, Theatrical Trailer, English and Thai Language
Widescreen version
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
DVD: P499 VCD: P275
Now available in video stores

Recently the tv show Wish Ko Lang ran an episode about a woman who has been searching for her biological mother for 22 years. The show helped her track down the mother’s whereabouts and mother and daughter were reunited eventually. Nangyayari rin ito sa ibang lahi, sa ibang bansa. Isang universal force ang paghahanap natin ng pinagmulan ng mga tao man o ng mga bagay. Ito rin ang pwersa ng kwento ng Everything is Illuminated.

Batay sa short story at nobela ni Jonathan Safran Foer, ang Everything is illuminated ay tungkol sa paghahanap ng isang Jewish American sa babaeng nagligtas sa kaniyang lolo nang lusubin ng mga German Nazi ang Ukraine noong WWII. Maglalakbay sa kanayunan ng Ukraine si Jonathan (Elijah Wood) sa tulong ng kaniyang interptreter na si Alex (Eugene Hutz), ang hip-hop na Ukrainian na nagpupumilit mag-Ingles at ng lolo nitong drayber na si Alexander Sr. (Boris Leskin) na nagpapanggap naman na bulag. Hanap nila ang lumang bayan ng Trachimbrod kung saan huling natagpuan ang babaeng si Augustine (Teresa Veselkova), ang babaeng nagligtas sa lolo ni Jonathan.

This is a road movie kaya sa kanilang paglalakbay, maraming nakakatawang cultural interactions ang magaganap sa magkakasama. Si Jonathan na isang writer sa Amerika ay nagongolekta ng kung anu-anong bagay bilang remembrance, si Alex naman itong nagpapaka-Amerikanong Ukrainian kahit saliwa mag-Ingles. Pero higit sa mga nakatatawang interactions, mauungkat nila Jonathan ang ilang mahahalagang piraso ng nakaraan sa kanilang mga buhay.

When they do find Augustine, maraming sikreto ang mabubunyag at isang mahalagang detalye ng nakaraan ang mag-uugnay sa kanilang tatlo at magpapaliwanag kung bakit ganun ang trabaho ng lolo ni Alex at kung bakit napadpad sa Ukraine si Jonathan.

As a first film by actor-turned writer/director Liev Shrieber, Everything is Illuminated is a commendable attempt to translate to the screen a very complex and compelling novel about keeping our memories and giving closure to them.

Maganda ang music at nakatatawa ang lenguwahe at ilang eksena. Most of the time the movie looks good, thanks to Fil-Am cinematographer Matthew Libatique (who also photographed Phone Booth, Gothika, and the definitive Requiem for a Dream.)

Pero pwera sa magagandang shots, madalas hindi swabe ang pagsalaysay. This may work for the narrative structure of the book, pero hindi ito madali sa pelikula lalu na kung nilalagyan ito ng dramatic points. Hindi dynamic ang salaysay ng pelikula na pagkaraan ng 30 minutes, alam mo na ang saan na ito sisikot-sikot.

Performances are generally more than good, lalu na mula sa baguhang si Eugene Hutz na talagang nakakatawa bilang isang interpreter na nagma-masaker ng wikang Ingles. Kelan ba kayo huling kumausap ng banyaga na nagkaintindihan kayo ng deretso? Swak naman si Elijah Wood bilang isang binatang detached sa mga surroundings niya.

Overall, nakakaaliw ang Everything is Illuminated, pero mas nakaaaliw ang aklat. Kung bibilhin ang dvd, maganda rin kung sasamahan na basahin ang aklat nito para mas maaliw. Pero orig lang ha.

And the band plays on

2006-02-26T22:58:00.001+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Munich
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Tony Kushner, Eric Roth
Based on the book “Vengeance” by George Jonas
Starring Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz
R13/164 minutes
Dreamworks/ Universal Pictures
Opens February 8

Thirty years ago the world watched as the “Olympics of Peace and Joy” became the “Massacre in Munich.” Munich is a gripping action thriller that provokes a host of questions but shies away from any valid answer. Serious stuff from Steven Spielberg.

In the early morning of September 5, 1972 eight men dressed in tracksuits sneaked into the dorm compound of Olympic Village at Munich, Germany, killing two Israeli delegates and taking nine hostages. The group, belonging to the Palestinian Black September demanded the release of 234 Palestinians and non-Arabs jailed in Israel as well as the release of two German Red Army terrorists. After 21 hours of failed negotiations and a botched rescue attempt, the drama ended in a bloodbath at Fürstenfeldbruck Airport that killed all Israeli hostages and five of the 8 kidnappers, seen live on international television.

The “official” Israeli response four days later was the bombing Palestinian training camps in Syria and Lebanon. In truth, Israel had secret plans for retaliation. Prime Minister Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen) and the Israeli cabinet “Committee X” devised “Operation Wrath of God” designed to track down and assassinate the 11 Black September masterminds responsible for the Munich massacre.

In the movie, the Israeli Intelligence Agency Mossad recruits one of its young officers, Avner (Eric Bana) to lead the assassination team. He is joined in Frankfurt by four other operatives – Robert the toymaker turned bomb maker (Amelie’s Mathieu Kassovitz), Hans the document forger (Hanns Zischler), getaway car driver Steve (future James Bond Daniel Craig) and Carl the cleanup expert (Ciaran Hinds).

The humorless Mossad officer Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush) strictly relays their missions, which, over the next months, would take them from Italy to Paris, London, Athens and Beirut. Mathieu Amalric plays the Parisian contact, Louis, who provides vital information about the targets for a large sum. But as the group tracks down its targets, doubts about their missions real objectives and their safety mount increasingly.

In a rare definition of “sleeping with the enemy”, Avner and his group find themselves sharing a safehouse with a Palestinian covert group like theirs. Mistaking Avner’s group as European spies, the Arab group openly shares the reasons for their struggles. This encounter shakes Avner’s convictions, as he realizes their actions are no different from the Arabs’. In the end, only five of the 11 targets are taken down, but the missions are deemed successful. Avner, unsure of his own security in the land for which he risked his life, exiles in New York with his wife (Ayelet Zurer) and his daughter.

Munich is probably Spielberg’s most thematically complex movie, and maybe his most daring. The theme that grays the line between terrorism and counter-terrorism is repeated with each member of the assassin group, especially when they begin to question their purpose when the safety of innocent lives are risked. It doesn’t end when the targets are eliminated, since new ones are hired to replace them. At what price really is revenge? The retaliator receives retaliation, and so on, violence begets violence. But at nearly 3 hours, this repetitive theme is indulgent, if not excessive.

The color palettes and patterns of the 70’s are beautifully recreated in Janusz Kaminski’s photography and in Rick Carter’s design, the edit by Michael Kahn is inspired to excite. Music is understated, uncharacteristically John Williams.

While Munich vividly dramatizes the human costs of Israel’s hardline policy against terrorism, it is only a subtle reminder of a world that has conflicted righteousness with retribution. “Forget peace,” Meir reminds her cabinet. Munich repeatedly asks whether the end truly justifies the means, but it also does not pretend to have the answers to its own questions.

Munich stands as a thoroughly crafted thriller, but fails to debate the realities of justice in the age of terror. Spielberg places his last arguments for peace in the final frame of the movie – as Avner and Ephraim go separate ways in1973, the doomed twin towers of the World Trade Center stand in the hazy background. “There is no peace at the end of this.” Avner declares, and the movie’s polemics also end there. The bloodbath continues to rain.

Blackbird

2006-02-26T22:58:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Walk the Line
Directed by James Mangold
Written by James Mangold, Gill Dennis
Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
PG13/ 136 minutes
20th Century Fox

Tinawag siyang man in black dahil simulat’t sapul naka-itim siya na suit kapag nagperform sa harap ng audience. Si Johnny Cash ang pangunahing country/western singer ng Amerika sa loob ng limang dekada. Walk the Line is a resounding tribute to the legendary performer who sang the country blues.

Ang Walk the Line ay tungkol sa sikat na country/western singer na nagsikap makaahon mula sa pinanggalingang cotton farm sa Arkansas hanggang maging matagumpay na performer kasabay nina Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis at Carl Perkins.

The talented Joaquin Phoenix (previously seen in Hotel Rwanda and The Village) gives an impassioned performance as the legendary singer dressed in black, Johhny Cash. Reese Witherspoon plays country crooner and comedienne June Carter, who becomes the object of Cash’s deep affection.

Ang pelikula ay pinaigsing salaysay ng makulay na buhay ni Cash mula sa kahirapan ng Depression Era 1930s sa Arkansas hanggang sa makasaysayang konsiyerto niya sa Folsom Prison noong 1968. Ipapakita rito ang maagang pagkamatay ng nakatatandang kapatid na si Jack na magkakaroon ng malaking epekto sa paglaki ni Johnny.

In 1955 at the age of 23 kasama ng dalawang kaibigan, nag-audition si Johnny kay Sam Phillips, may-ari ng Sun Records Studio sa Memphis kung saan nirecord ni Elvis Presley ng kaniyang debut single na “That’s All Right” isang taon ang nakalipas. Hindi nagustuhan ni Phillips ang audition ni Johnny at sinabihan itong umuwi. Naglakas-loob si Johnny at kumanta ng orihinal na kanta. Ang kinalabasan ay ang “Cry, Cry, Cry” na nag-debut sa country charts ng Billboard sa #14.

Kinaibigan siya nina Elvis at ng iba pang recording artist at napabilang sa promotional tour ng mga banda. Doon niya makikilala ang singer na si June Carter, na matagal nang hinahangaan at pinakikingggan ni Johnny noong bata pa lang siya. Johnny is instantly enamoured with June, at hindi tinago ang pagtangi nito kay June kahit na may asawa’t anak na si Johnny.

Most of the movie is about how Johnny rose to fame while trying at the same time to raise an unappreciative family and letting June understand his appreciation of her. In the end his music, his love and his soul triumph, which is why he is an American legend.

The movie is a quaint tribute to the legendary performers of American country and rock music, but suffers unintentionally as a historical pop-culture narrative. Hindi masyado makaka-relate ang mga Pinoy viewers sa kasikatan ni Mr. Cash maliban na lang yung henerasyon na sumubaybay sa kaniya at sa mga kasabay nitong naglalakihang performers. Maliban dito, halos isang karaniwang dramatic biography lang ang Walk the Line tulad ng Ray o kaya ng The Aviator na pinapakita ang pagsisikap, trahedya at pag-ahon ng isang historical figure, lalu na ng mga rock star na halos pare-pareho ang pinagdaanang pagsubok. Manipis ang build-up ng love story sa pagitan nina Johnny at June, parang taken for granted na lang dahil alam na ng karamihan na nagkatuluyan sila. Pero pwede ring hindi na pinalalim ang masalimuot na isyu ng pag-iibigan ng dalawa sa kabila ng pagiging kasal nila sa ibang tao dahil ito’y isyung moral na maaaring magparumi sa imahen ng mga singer na binibida ng pelikula.

But there are gems within the story of Walk the Line and in the strong performances coming from Phoenix and Witherspoon who both shine as struggling artists and lovers in the time when the legends of rock still roamed the earth. Walk the Line is an entertaining musical that derives strength from the stellar performances of its leads, but more so because the legend behind the movie is bigger than the movie itself.

‘Once’ again

2006-01-29T16:15:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Once on this Island
Musical
Directed by Bart Guingona
Written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens
Featuring Raki Vega, May Bayot, Jett Pangan, Menchu Lauchenco-Yulo
Choreography by Denisa Reyes
Lighting by John Batalla
Musical Direction by Rony Fortich
Actors’ Actors Inc. / Silang
Onstage at the CP Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Towers
Feb 3, 4 and 5 at 8pm

The first time it was magical; the second was sheer joy. Actors’ Actors Inc. hits the high notes again in the third staging of the wildly successful musical Once on this Island. This time it’s pure fun.

Ti Moune (Raki Vega) is a peasant orphan in the care of adoptive parents Tonton Julian (Bodjie Pascua) and Mama Euralie (May Bayot). Her simple life is turned upside down one day when she discovers young Beauxhomme aristocrat Daniel (Gian Magdangal) in a car crash.

The gods of Earth, Water, Love and Death lay a wager on whether Love or Death would determine Ti Moune’s life. Believing the island’s gods have answered her request for a change in destiny, Ti Moune saves the injured Daniel and nurtures him back to his health, instantly falling for the dashing young man. Obsessed with her new love, she commits her soul to the god of death Papa Ge (Jett Pangan) if only to save Daniel’s life.

At the Beauxhomme Hotel where Daniel is revived, Ti Moune and Daniel develop real feelings for each other. But the fairy tale ends when Ti Moune discovers that Daniel is betrothed to fellow aristocrat Andrea (Cathy Azanza). On Daniel and Andrea’s wedding day Ti Moune attempts to kill Daniel to save her own soul from Papa Ge. But the goddess Erzulie (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) reminds Ti Moune of her love for Daniel, and she spares Daniel’s life. Ti Moune is thrown out of the hotel, where she pines for Daniel to her death.

The story of a poor peasant girl who saves the life of an aristocratic boy in the name of love, Once on this Island’s third staging is a triumph of talent and passion – the ensemble is so energetic on stage they must be having the time of their lives. And it’s only a small show.

It’s amazing how the stage is utilized to the maximum, considering the number of performers and the size of the stage. The four island gods are scene-stealers without meaning to – among them are the most experienced and powerful performers onstage. Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo is afire in dance and in song as Erzulie. Jett Pangan and Bituin Escalante’s powerful voices as Papa Ge and Asaka are practically larger than life. Michael Williams is playful as Agwe, and May Bayot is devastating as Ti Moune’s mother, Mama Euralie, particularly when she sings in Pray and in Ti Moune.

But there seems to be a slight imbalance with the young lovers’ cast. While Raki Vega confidently fills the auditorium with her sweet and powerful voice as Ti Moune, Gian Magdangal surprisingly appears unsure and nervous as Daniel in the song Some Girls. Considering his stellar performance as Willard in the recent staging of Footloose, it’s a wonder where the excitement went. Nevertheless the performance is still pulled off satisfactorily.

Choreography however is either confusing or inconsistent. For the stage’s size it was effective to make the cast play different roles, but movement in the dances is understandably limited and therefore comparatively less imaginative. Sometimes the stances are too Javanese or Indian for the Caribbean setting. Music is infectious as Madonna’s, especially in And the Gods Heard Her Prayer, and Mama Will Provide.

The story of Once on this Island is simple enough for kids, it’s like Little Mermaid on shore. The performances are generally superb – even from minor roles featuring Michael De Mesa and Gala Sanchez. The show’s popularity and feel-good theme practically makes it critic-proof. Once on this Island is a happy, colorful tale anyone can gladly listen to over and over again.

Wonderland

2006-01-18T19:04:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Directed by Andrew Adamson
Written by Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson
Based on the book by C.S. Lewis
Starring Tilda Swinton, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell
GP/ 140 mintes
Walt Disney Pictures/ Walden Media

Lion kings and closets and queens rule in this magical children’s tale about an enchanted kingdom hidden behind the doors of a wardrobe. C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe gets a triumphant big-screen adaptation from the magicians of Shrek and The Lord of the Rings.

For more than a hundred years, everything is frozen cold in the magical world of Narnia by the icy touch of the white witch, Jadis (Tilda Swinton), who declares herself the queen of Narnia. Always winter, never Christmas, as the inhabitants would say. The great lion Aslan, rightful ruler and creator of Narnia, gathers his army for the fight against white witch, but he needs four individuals to fulfill the prophesied task – two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve. The humans will help win the war against Jadis and restore peace and freedom in Narnia.

Enter four curious children – the Pevensies – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) and a mysterious wardrobe that leads into a wintry wonderland where animals talk and Father Christmas (Santa Claus) lives.

Edmund is entranced by the white witch by the magic of Turkish Delight and mistakes her veiled hospitality for friendship. When the siblings discover the white witch’s plans and decide to help Aslan and his army, Edmund instead goes to Jadis and betrays his siblings.

With the aid of Aslan’s soldiers, Edmund is rescued and brought to Aslan’s keep. But his treachery comes with a price: immediately after Edmund’s rescue, Jadis arrives at Aslan’s camp and demands Edmund’s life. It appears that an old magical law forfeits the life of a traitor to the white witch. As Peter prepares for the war against Jadis, Susan and Lucy are horrified to discover that Aslan has offered himself to be sacrificed in behalf of Edmund. But the sad fact is only brief. Spoiler warning: When the war is finally waged, Aslan rises from the dead in time to defeat the white witch.

The second book of The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a tender tale of faith, forgiveness and magic set in epic proportions. Director Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2) and his New Zealand team faithfully adapt the classic children’s tale of faith and magic with spellbinding visuals and impressive effects.

But Adamson may be more adept with animation than with live actors, as practically all humanoid characters deliver frigid lines out of character. Only the immeasurable Tilda Swinton delivers spot-on chills as the icy white witch Jadis. The last time she surprised everyone with her character was when she played the Archangel Gabriel in Constantine.

The Christian undertones of Narnia are lightly handled (Aslan’s sacrifice and reincarnation for the “sins” of man, the female “logic” always in Susan always interrupting the male “reason” – Adam and Eve stuff; etc.), which is good for non-Christian viewers who don’t expect religious undertones in their shows. However, the themes are decidedly for young viewers and those expecting heavy action sequences may feel shortchanged.

The worst part of Narnia is the musical score – perfunctory, crass and forgettable – that it never seems to fit the frame or the moment. It feels out of place. Unless that was the intention, then it succeeds squarely.

Comparisons with Lord of the Rings are justified. Lewis and LOTR creator JRR Tolkien were best friends in Oxford University. It was Tolkien who convinced the atheist Lewis towards Christianity, hence Narnia and the Christ-like Aslan.

Narnia is the latest British series overrun by overhungry Hollywood (after four Harry Potters, three Lord of the Rings and twenty-odd James Bonds.) Fortunately this one is not a letdown. Narnia may not be as expansive or as colossal as Middle-earth, but it’s still one land full of many wonders.

Shoe shines, Stones cold

2005-12-27T19:29:00.000+08:00

Double review by Vives Anunciacion
(unpublished)

Two stories about relationships and broken heels and the unusual ways people deal with challenges called the family.

In Her Shoes
Directed by Curtis Hanson
Written by Susannah Grant
Based on the novel by Jennifer Weiner
Starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Colette, Shirley MacLaine
PG13/ 130 minutes
20th Century Fox/ Scott Free Pictures

It’s Imelda’s favorite movie, she’s seen it 3500 times! Okay, maybe not. At nearly two and a half hours, In Her Shoes manages to be an engaging resolution story between two characteristically differing sisters who simply can’t live without each other.

Rose Feller (Toni Colette) and Maggie Feller (Cameron Diaz) are sisters on the opposite sides of the spectrum. The first is a workaholic lawyer secretly having an affair with here boss, while the latter is the typical blonde party girl who can barely read her letters. The only thing common between the two is their shoe size, but it’s Rose who collects shoes as an emotional blanket. Maggie just borrows the elder Feller’s shoes (without permission) most of the time.

In fact Maggie ruins many things in Rose’s life, forcing Rose to send Maggie away to fend for herself. Maggie transfers to Florida, where she finds their maternal grandmother Ella (Shirley MacLaine) in a retirement community. Rose quits her job and starts over, finding romance where she least expected to see it. Through Ella, Maggie discovers her real strengths and independence, even learning how to read. But the sisters realize that their new lives aren’t complete if they still don’t have each other. Eventually Rose and Maggie patch up.

The Family Stone
Written and Directed by Thomas Bezucha
Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Claire Danes
PG 13/ 102 minutes
20th Century Fox

An open-minded New England family receives a visit from the eldest son’s uptight fiancée – it’s Sex and the City and Meet the Parents combined. Tempered performances save this lukewarm comedy from freezing over. The Family Stone is an amusing family comedy but becomes forgettable immediately afterwards.

Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) is taking his fiancée Meredith (Sex and the City’s Sarah Jessica Parker) over to New England to meet his family for the Christmas holidays. What the uptight, reserved Meredith didn’t expect was to meet a very progressive family that’s not quite ready to let go of eldest son Everett. Everett’s mother Sybil (played by Diane Keaton) thinks Meredith doesn’t deserve the Stone family’s prized diamond ring heirloom.

Everett’s bohemian brother Ben (Luke Wilson) thinks otherwise, believing Everett isn’t really in love with Meredith (for whatever reason, it’s vague. But I digress.) It seems Ben has something for the sophisticated Meredith.

An emotional quadrangle occurs when Everett meets Meredith’s sister Julie, whom Meredith has asked to come over for support. Meredith ends up with Ben, Everett marries Julie, and the rest is happily ever after, in general.

Family Secrets
At certain points in the narrative, both films deal with family secrets which eventually get resolved.

In Her Shoes deals with the loss of the sister’s mother, who suffered from a mental illness that led to her own suicide. It is through Ella’s revelation about this tragedy that brings the sisters closer.

In The Family Stone, Sybil tries to keep her terminal illness from her children. It’s through the family’s acceptance of the fact that emphasizes the great bond they have together.

Hot and Cold
The great thing about Shoes is a sincerity to flesh out characters that makes the audience accept the change in personalities in the end. Both Colette and Diaz benefit from fully-realized characterizations, and though the film starts out clichéd and typical, it eventually transforms into an honest portrayal of intertwined lives absolutely co-dependent with each other.

Keaton is excellent in Stone, but there’s really nothing new with a mixed-up love story. Half of the time it’s slightly funny, the other half was seen before in other movies.

Direction-wise, both films are treated lightly – no scene feels overwrought, forced and rammed into the audiences’ throats. Great performances on either film, but Shoes has the better story. It has the warmth of authentic antiques, good enough to have around even after seeing it, while Stone feels like a McDonald’s Happy Meal teddy bear – mass manufactured and artificial, interesting only until the next toy comes along. For a Christmas tale, it isn’t warm enough.

The beast is beautiful

2005-12-19T22:46:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
December 14, 2005
Inquirer Libre
(English version)

King Kong
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens
Based on the story by Merian Cooper and Edgar Wallace
Starring Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Andy Serkis
PG 13/ 187minutes
Universal Pictures/ Wingnut Films

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld.” – Carl Denham

It's said that originals are always the best. But the remake is better this time around. Visceral, visually amazing and surprisingly heartbreaking, King Kong 2005 may very well be the mother of all monster movies.

Based on the 1933 original by Merian Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, King Kong tells the story of a gigantic beast forcibly taken from its island kingdom and made into a Broadway attraction in 1933 New York.

Jack Black plays obsessed filmmaker-producer Carl Denham, who tricks his crew to shoot an adventure movie in an unknown island in the South Pacific. Set in 1933 New York at the height of the Great Depression, Denham literally saves vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts, Oscar nominee for 21 Grams) from starvation and hires her to play leading lady to bumbling matinee actor Bruce Baxter (Kyle Chandler).

On their way to the location, aboard the vessel Venture, romance blooms between Darrow and the movie’s nerdy writer, Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody, Oscar winner for The Pianist.) But this love story is short-lived once the crew sets foot on mysterious Skull Island, where hapless Ann is captured by fierce island natives and offered across a wall of fire to the island's de facto ruler, Kong.

Driscoll and the rest of the crew attempt to save Ann from Kong's massive grip at all costs while Denham and film crew continue filming despite the dangers. Meanwhile, Ann begins to understand her captor's beastly behavior, developing a special friendship with the giant. Kong is enamored with his new friend, becoming its protector more than its captor. But in the end, Ann is rescued by Driscoll and Kong is violently captured by the crew, at a great loss from the group. Kong is inhumanely taken to New York where Denham makes him into a show attraction. Like the original, the King meets his tragic doom atop the Empire State building.

Director Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings team recreate the 1933 classic romance in breathtaking full-color grandeur, and also making it longer by 87 minutes. Despite the 3-hour running time, there’s practically no letup in the emotionally-sweeping narrative. Every minute counts as the filmmakers take time to develop characters and relationships, especially those between Ann and Driscoll, and Ann and Kong. By the time Driscoll rescues Ann from Kong’s hands, the love-triangle is believable, even sympathetic.

1933 New York is spectacularly recreated, the detail very impressive. Even the dialogue pays homage to the original, when Denham and his assistant are choosing replacement actresses, Fay Wray is mentioned, referring to the original Ann Darrow in the 1933 RKO movie. The look, the lighting and the sets are reminiscent of old Technicolor movies. This King Kong combines Jurassic Park, Titanic and An Affair to Remember in truly epic proportions.

The biggest achievements of the latest Kong are none other than Ann and Kong, who bring onscreen amazing, heartbreaking intimacy, made more amazing because a real human plays one part (Watts), while the other is computer generated imagery. In the end, when the audience gives a collective sigh, the tragic romance is complete.

King Kong is a gigantic achievement, hands down the best spectacle of the year. Forget seeing this movie in dvds or videos (unless you have a 120-inch screen at home), this is the stuff cinemas are made for.

So this is Christmas

2005-12-19T22:45:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre

Joyeux Noël/ Merry Christmas
Written and Directed by Christian Carion
Starring Benno Fürmann, Diane Kruger, Guillaume Canet
PG 13/ 115 minutes
Nord-Ouest / Senator Film/ Artemis/ TF1
English Subtitles

“War is over, if you want it”
- Happy Xmas (War is Over), John Lennon
It was known as the Christmas Truce of 1914, a few months into World War 1, when hundreds of French, Scottish and Belgian soldiers left their posts and peacefully mingled with their German opponents on Christmas Day in the northern borders of Flanders, France. Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) revisits that miraculous moment 90 years ago when goodwill was shared among the weary souls of men.

Tenor Nikolaus Sprink (German actor Benno Fürmann) leaves the opera behind when he is drafted to serve the German army. His wife and fellow opera singer Anna Sörensen (played by German-born Diane Kruger, from Troy) abuses her aristocratic title in order to save Sprink from being sent to the trenches.

Father Palmer (Gary Lewis, the dad in Billy Elliot) becomes a medic and a morale booster for the Scottish troops on the British side. Lieutenant Audebert, (Guillaume Canet, previously in The Beach) leads the French contingent in that area of Belgian France. Audebert’s wife is about to give birth to their first child, he would rather stay home like any soldier wished.

Finally on the German side, Lieutenant Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl, Goodbye Lenin!) would rather have the war done and over with, even if it means putting up the Christmas trees sent by the Kaiser to the deployed troops.

On the night before Christmas 1914, Sprink bursts into singing while the British respond with bagpipes. Officers of each contingent find themselves outside their trenches discussing ceasefire. Where there should have been war, the soldiers converge in No Man’s Land and begin to shake hands, exchange stories, distribute chocolates, cigarettes and wine amongst themselves. In a strange turn of events, three warring sides attend together an impromptu mass held under the cold December sky. In the morning of Christmas, they play football and bury their dead.

Far from war epics and war dramas (like All Quiet in the Western Front, Saving Private Ryan or even the French A Very Long Engagement), Joyeux Noël poignantly retells the Christmas day truce of 1914 from different sides. Told with simplicity and underhandedness that prefers to preserve the bonds created by the fraternizing soldiers instead of overemphasizing the difficulties of the soldiers in the trenches, Joyeux Noël demonstrates the achievability of the universal desire for peace.

There are no specific bidas, no outright central character buildup in Joyeux Noël. Except for the singing, which could have felt deeper if the actors themselves sang them, acting is elegant and sufficient. Joyeux Noël is not exactly plot driven either – there’s barely a climax to a seemingly loose story. Every so often French filmmakers throw away conventional narrative and present a simple story without any frills, without forgetting historical subtext or contemporary context. No wonder Joyeux Noël is the French entry to next year’s Oscars.

What it does have is a very powerful message against the pointlessness of war but at the same time give testament to the spirit of brotherhood.

Christmas songs usually search for peace on earth and goodwill towards men. Ninety years ago in Europe, hundreds of unnamed soldiers proved it can be done.

Death in the form of a Rose

2005-12-19T22:43:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre

The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Written by Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson
Starring Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Jennifer Carpenter
R13 / 119 minutes
Columbia pictures/ Screen Gems

A rose by any name it’s not – either it’s a supernatural court drama or a trial by horror. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is an intelligently interpreted battle between the realm of the supernatural and the rule of human law.

Based on the story of Annelise Michel (the real Emily Rose) of Germany in the 1970s, The Exorcism of Emily Rose focuses on the trial of Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) who is accused of negligent homicide after performing exorcism on the young girl Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). Laura Linney plays Father Moore’s ambitious defense lawyer Erin Bruner who turns the trial upside down when she presents elements of the exorcism itself as evidence supporting the priest.

Director Scott Derrickson fuses horror and court drama in this creepy tale about a priest on trial for the death of a young girl who believed she was possessed by demons. As Father Moore’s trial progresses, Emily’s actual possession is rationally questioned by the prosecution, which convincingly presents Emily as too sick and delusional to know otherwise. Meanwhile, the agnostic Bruner begins to experience inexplicable encounters on her own.

The filmmakers may have derived the name Emily Rose from William Faulkner’s short story A Rose for Emily, about an old spinster’s grotesque secrets revealed in the ruins of her decaying mansion. Emily Rose has similar patterns with the short story, specifically dark secrets, infernal smells and psychosis haunting the female character.

There are two movies in Emily Rose – one is a supernatural thriller that’s decidedly not The Exorcist, and the other is a courtroom drama that takes its questions seriously. The flashbacks on Emily’s possession are effectively creepy and only a few times borders on the cheesy. Emily’s possession is presented with a rational afterthought – to the viewers she may still be experiencing epileptic episodes rather than demonic contortions.

The courtroom proceedings have the same clever approach. As the case is evaluated, questions from the lawyers of either side expand the storyline to sensible conclusions.

What Emily Rose succeeds in doing is traverse the line between supernatural belief and rational skepticism and back. This approach to the story is maintained throughout the movie. Depending on what scene in the movie is playing, one may either believe Emily’s demonic possession (as we Pinoys are familiar with all sorts of sanib) or disbelieve all accounts of the supernatural. Similar to The Exorcist’s Father Merrin, Emily Rose’s Bruner experiences this crisis in integrity – like the movie’s recurring theme, whether to believe or not depends on one’s stability.

But what it fails to do is deliver an emotional journey with certainty. The double-identity in the narrative actually thins out both approaches, and the implied holy sacrifice in the ending makes sure the captive audience accepts Emily’s fate. Which is why in the end, The Exorcism of Emily Rose doesn’t make converts out of skeptics in the audience – believers are well taken care of, no matter what.

Can’t hardly wait

2005-11-20T23:21:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre 16 November 2005 page 6

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Directed by Mike Newell
Written by Steven Kloves
Based on the novel by J.K. Rowling
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes
GP / 147 minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures
Opens Nov 16

Dark times haunt Harry Potter at Hogwarts this year as he battles fiery dragons, terrible Death Eaters and… puppy love? Horror and hormones abound in the fourth incantation of the Potter series, the most elaborate so far.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is buffeted by nightmares about the dark Lord Voldemort on the night he joins Hermione (Emma Watson), Ron (Rupert Grint) and the rest of the Weasleys before their trip to the Quidditch World Cup. Even before the event would reach its climax, Death Eaters appear and terrify the campsite, presumably in search of something or someone in the crowd. Harry survives the attack and gets a glimpse of the perpetrators, which he reports to the authorities.

A quick train trip the next day and they’re back in Hogwarts, where headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) explains that Hogwarts is the year’s host to the Triwizard Tournament, a sort of quiz bee meets fear factor for wizards. The Goblet of Fire chooses Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson) to represent Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour for the visiting French Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian superstar seeker from Durmstrang.

To everyone’s surprise, including Harry’s, the goblet churns out Harry’s name as a fourth Triwizard champion, throwing the entire school into commotion. Ron resents the turn of events, suspecting that Harry cheated on being chosen. Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, takes care of the rejected Harry.

Meanwhile, in the annual Yule Ball, everyone is expected to get a dance partner, including the visiting champions. Harry has his eyes on Cho Chang (Katie Leung), who instead goes with Cedric. Ron finds difficulty asking a girl out, visibly irking Hermione, who decides to go with Viktor. Harry and Ron end up taking the Indian Patil twins to the ball, even if none of them enjoyed it.

In the first task of the Triwizard, each of the champions outwits a dragon to retrieve a golden egg; in the second they better the mermaids in swimming to save their friends under the lake. The third and final task is the deadliest, when they try to survive a maze of devouring shrubs. Harry and Cedric literally fight for the trophy towards the end, but the trophy transports the two to an unknown graveyard, which Harry recognizes as part of his nightmares.

The graveyard yields Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), resurrected into near full physical form by his servant Wormtail (Timothy Spall). Once again Voldemort and Harry confront each other face to face and the confrontation claims the life of… somebody. Everything is changing in Harry Potter’s world.

A year after Alfonso Cuaron’s successful Prisoner of Azkaban, Mike Newell directs a darker Goblet of Fire, foreboding death and violence in many of its scenes, particularly with the Triwizard tournament and the Death Eaters. A word of warning – this isn’t the same Potter movie like years before.

Newell puts some level of “real worldness” to Goblet – the Death Eaters are as much terrorists as hooligans gone berserk in a football match. For once Hogwarts feels like a real school, where kids bully and bicker, and the boys try to charm the girls – the Weasley twins get their own show. Dumbledore even gets more screen time, a proper preparation for his roles in the next Potter installments. More importantly, Harry, Hermione and Ron act their age. Hogwarts meets bagets.

A lot of things are also gone in Goblet – no Dursleys nor giant spiders or any house elf, Dobby included. The changes are welcome, considering the scope of Goblet the novel. However, the movie likewise crams as many details as it can (therefore the lengthy summary of this review). At two and a half hours, Goblet attempts to cover the usual Potter mystery elements, new characters, a budding love triangle, Voldemort’s resurging menace, everyday Hogwarts studies, the Triwizard tournament, etc one can almost scream, “I survived Goblet of Fire.” The movie suffers from the same malady that Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets shared – cramming as many elements it can take from the novel, although Goblet makes necessary improvements in the adaptation, something neither Sorcerer’s Stone nor Chamber of Secrets did.

From start to end, Goblet takes a serious tone, maybe a tad too serious for small fans of the books, though the book is decidedly darker still. But overall, no matter how excellently executed it is, Goblet suffers from its sheer weight. With too much going on, and three more movies to wait for, kids may choose to remember only a few things in the series, or adults may simply start caring less. Can’t hardly wait for the ending sounds like an option rather than anticipation. After all, wizards and muggles grow up just the same.

Off course

2005-11-11T01:00:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Flightplan
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Written by Peter Dowling, Billy Ray
Starring Jodie Foster, Sean Bean, Peter Sarsgaard
PG 13 / 93 minutes
Buena Vista International/ Columbia Pictures
Opens November 9

A Jodie Foster movie is a required viewing simply because she’s in it. As Sommersby director John Amiel put it, “if God had designed a perfect acting machine, it would be pretty close to Jodie.” Flightplan may not be a top-notch thriller, but Foster’s performance in it is first-class, as usual.

Flightplan carries the story of jet propulsion engineer Kyle Pratt (Foster), who is flying from Berlin with her daughter Julia (Marlene Lawston) to bury her late husband in New York. Midway through her trans-Atlantic flight, Julia disappears without a trace. Kyle’s fears mount as she makes a frantic search for her lost six-year-old child.

Insisting that something wrong has happened to Julia, Kyle manages to ask flight Captain Rich (squarely played by Sean Bean) to instruct the entire crew to search the plane. But no one else remembers seeing Julia being on board. Without a name in the flight manifest and without a boarding pass to prove Julia was ever on board, everyone begins to suspect that Kyle is having a delusional nervous breakdown. To calm her down, air marshall Carson (Peter Sarsgaard, recently in Skeleton Key) offers his help to look for whatever it is Kyle is really looking for.

But her smarts and her maternal instincts know better. The more Kyle looks for her daughter, the more she is convinced that something devious is responsible for the disappearance of her child, that Julia is somewhere in the plane, and more importantly, that she is not losing her mind.

Set almost entirely inside a passenger plane (as was Wes Craven’s thriller Red Eye shown a few months back), Flightplan is a combination of David Fincher’s Panic Room (which also starred Foster) and suspense master Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938). Flightplan is a well-crafted thriller that delivers the excitement, if only for a few weaknesses in the plot.

That an entire passenger plane manages to miss one small child, without anyone seeing her, is a little farfetched. Why an airplane engineer such as Kyle Pratt was considered a proper alibi for the real terror besieging the plane is a huge risk and miscalculation on the part of the criminals. However, the movie manages to suspend the viewer’s disbelief with perfect-pitch acting, cleverly set-up characters, and suspenseful timing.

Flightplan’s plot rests on how Kyle can convince an entire airplane full of people that her missing child is real, despite looking having all the facts pointing against her and her sanity. Foster was so convincing as a mother in the cusp of a nervous breakdown, it wouldn’t have been surprising had the story ended with a “delusional” angle.

Thankfully for the actors of Flightplan, they add to the believability of the story where the plot takes terrible turns.

Flightplan may not have a foolproof premise, and it may not reach the levels of classic thrillers – but proficient directing, sharp editing and intelligent acting keep the shaky story above the clouds. Fasten your seatbelts, Flightplan is a thrilling ride.

Screaming pagod

2005-11-11T00:59:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Ispiritista: Itay, may moomoo!
Directed by Tony. Y. Reyes
Written by RJ Nuevas, Tony Y. Reyes, Antonio Tuviera, Nino T. Rodriguez
Starring Vic Sotto, BJ Forbes
GP / 105minutes
Regal Entertainment, APT Entertainment

There’s so much noise from all the screaming and shouting in Ispiritista, it should be enough to scare audiences away from the hammy horror comedy. Alas, it’s making money at the tills. Apparently, what’s keeping the local movie industry alive is the same reason that’s killing it. Formula.

Vic Sotto plays Victor Espiritu (how inspired), a sulking widower and lonely father to Tom Tom (BJ Forbes.) By day Victor pretends to be a spirit medium (ispiritista), conning people who have problems with the paranormal. But it is Tom Tom who can commune with the departed, it takes a while for Victor to understand the situation.

For the most part, Ispiritista is a collection of Victor’s slapstick antics as a quack medium and chick magnet, aided by two sidekicks Jose (Manalo) and Wally (Bayola). The remaining one-fourth of the movie is split between Tom Tom’s ghost sightings in school, and a very nasty haunted house that starts and ends the movie. The movie is populated by Eat Bulaga! mainstays.

Ispiritista is reminiscent of Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners (1996), but since the original Ghost Busters (1984) there have been numerous ghost buster adaptations and spoofs in local and foreign movies. Ispiritista’s storyline is dated, as if it was made in the 80’s. Even the performances are overused, not since the Tito, Vic, and Joey days have a movie had so much slapping and hysteria. Wally gets hit in the face many times, at the back of the head several times, and at one point, is hit on his bald forehead by a pair of small pliers. So much for physical comedy.

From start to finish, everyone practically screams. There’s a ghost – scream. Another ghost, flail hands in air – scream. A slap in the face – scream. It’s the movie with the hammiest acting in the world, almost, BJ Forbes has a natural knack for acting.

These are superficial encounters compared to what really ails Ispiritista. Sotto’s character, Victor, is a self-centered, spineless dickhead who risks his own son’s life at the haunted house so he can help the aunt of his love (lust?) interest (played by Cindy Kurleto). Victor is portrayed as a stud chick magnet who gets catcalls even from ghosts (though off-screen, Bossing somewhat projects the same image.) Victor dates sexy girls while he is moping over the death of his wife (played by Iza Calzado).

Victor ignores Tom Tom most of the time, and when he finally does, lets Tom Tom do the job he can’t do himself. In the end, Victor doesn’t save the day, the ghosts do that themselves. Victor doesn’t go to jail, and instead is rewarded for his simple supplication. Victor is overwhelmingly forgiven by the people (and the ghosts) he offended and gets the girl.

The disturbing part is the accepted practice to reward a mediocre life (or a mediocre movie) – is it really culturally ingrained in Pinoys to blankly forgive offenders no matter what the offense? It’s one thing to forgive an offender, it’s another to pretend as if nothing has happened at all. Now that’s worth screaming at.

Eating the artist, starving the art

2005-11-11T00:58:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Ilusyon
Direction, Editing and Animation by Ellen Ramos and Paolo Villaluna
Written by Jon Red and Paolo Villaluna
Starring Yul Servo, JC Parker
R18/ 117 minutes
Digital Viva
Adult content and themes

Hunger pangs of different sorts illustrate the struggling painter’s desires in this adult period drama about passions and palettes.

Ilusyon stars Yul Servo as provincianic Miguel. He visits his starving artist of a father Pablo (played by digital movie favorite Ronnie Lazaro) at his humble home in Manila only to discover that Pablo has ventured on his own soul searching following the death of his wife and Miguel’s mother. Miguel stays in Manila and takes a painter’s job – house painting that is.

Miguel meets Stella (JC Parker) one humid day in 1958. Stella is a nude model scheduled for a painting session with Miguel’s father. Instantly infatuated with the lady in red, Miguel assumes his father’s identity and pretends to be a portrait artist. Meanwhile, Stella develops deeper feelings for Miguel, who hides his chicken scratch from Stella however he can.

When Stella develops a skin disease, their attractions begin to fade. Miguel the inexperienced artist begins to lose his intense feelings with his muse, while the cold shoulder turns Stella away from the moody “artist”. Eventually Stella discovers Miguel’s true identity and the breakup becomes final. But Stella has more reasons to flee from Miguel, and she vanishes without a trace.
Miguel tries to look for Stella, and when he does, he doesn’t. Let’s say the movie enjoys double-meanings.

Ilusyon is the first movie to get an “A” from the Cinema Evaluation Board since La Visa Loca and Santa Santita and only the first digital and the first R-rated feature to receive the said rating. Ilusyon actually deserves the merit.

While it doesn’t have the ingredients of a mass-market Pinoy film Ilusyon offers a few new approaches worthy to be seen by most viewers. Let’s just say the movie has no intents to entertain in the usual sense.

Decidedly stylized and obsessively designed (almost screaming 1958), Ilusyon has very warm tones and textures reminiscent of 60s and 70s movies, with visual reminders of Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love and Taymor’s Frida. Music varies from fiery strings to canned songs, sometimes the scenes feel unnatural and overwrought, sometimes incredibly depressing. The movie could have been shorter too. As with recent Viva releases there are mandatory love scenes, Ilusyon however successfully makes these tasteful. Performances are generally acceptable, with Anita Linda’s cameo as the most intense short performance in recent years.

Ilusyon’s triumph comes from its earnest portrayal of an artist as a lover and a son. There are few Pinoy movies that present an artist’s temperament, let alone his angst and frustrations. Ilusyon illustrates these and more. Ilusyon’s other side paints a dull culture unappreciative of artists and disrespectful of the arts.

For honor

2005-09-18T22:53:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Cinderella Man
Directed by Ron Howard
Written by Cliff Hollingsworth
Starring Russell Crowe. Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti
PG 13/ 144 minutes
Universal Pictures/ Miramax Films
Opens September 14

There’s a movie about a people’s champ that’s inspiring to see. It’s not Lisensyadong Kamao. Cinderella Man, starring former Roman Gladiator Russell Crowe is a rousing fairy tale if it is one.

Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) is a promising heavyweight boxer who is forced to retire early due to a disabling wrist injury. Out of work during in early years of the Great Depression, Braddock struggles every day to feed his young family. Temporary work in the local wharf restores his physical strength, but the pay isn’t enough to keep the kids warm in winter.

Jim’s tough talking manager Joe Gould, passionately played by Paul Giamatti (from Sideways), enlists him for a one-time supporting bout, which Jim wins much to everyone’s surprise. The win earns Jim recognition from his former ring employers and the admiration of his fellow workers in the docks. A few more fights and Jim becomes a local legend, as an ordinary man given a second chance at being great during the most difficult time in America’s economy. He ‘s given the moniker Cinderella Man, whose fairy tale return to boxing greatness is supported by the masses.

Eventually Jim reaches the championship fight against heavyweight titleholder Max Baer (Craig Bierko), whose deathly blows are infamous for literally killing his opponents in the ring. This fact scares Jim’s loyal wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger), who would rather see Jim working peacefully in the docks rather than find her husband lifeless after one round. Jim stands his ground, and fights Baer for all his worth, even his life, for the honor of all those who believe in him.

Ron Howard reunites with his A Beautiful Mind team to make this Depression-era historical drama about second chances and the human will to survive. Russell Crowe, best remembered as Maximus in Gladiator, reenters the fighting ring as American boxing legend Jim Braddock, who fought Max Baer for 15 historic rounds in 1935. Paul Giamatti deserves an Oscar nomination for his role as Joe Gould, though nearly everyone in the cast gave commendable performances.

However, casting Renee Zellweger as Jim’s loyal wife Mae is the chink in Cinderella Man’s formidable acting power. She is simply off in this movie, partly reprising her technique as Roxy Hart in Chicago and partly not exerting any effort at all. Zellweger and Crowe don’t make chemistry onscreen, crucial for the strong bond between husband and wife Jim and Mae Braddock. Too bad for the otherwise superb ensemble acting. Camerawork is impressive, and editing is excellent.

At more than two hours, the Depression-era drama is slow in the first hour, while the remaining second half is predictable, no thanks to 2003’s feel-good Depression drama, Seabiscuit. Then again there’s always a need to discover everyday heroes anywhere.

Cinderella Man is a thoroughly well-made, feel-good boxing movie, maybe even excellently made, except that it lacks the stamina to last until the final rounds of Oscars fight. We’ve seen Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, The Champ, and an entire Rocky series. Cinderella Man is Seabiscuit in a fight ring, where gloves are more important than the shoes.

Modesty aside

2005-09-18T22:52:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Sky High
Directed by Mike Mitchell
Written by Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley
Starring Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston
G/ 100 minutes
Walt Disney Pictures
Opens August 31

You don’t need super powers to appreciate this family movie about self-discovery and self-importance. Sky High is a light-hearted high-school comedy that mixes Harry Potter with The Incredibles and X-Men with a little 80’s Pretty in Pink.

Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano from Seabiscuit and Almost Famous) is worried that he’s about to start freshman high school at Sky High. He’s not worried about school bullies. He’s not thinking about pimples. He’s worried that his super parents Steve Stronghold (Kurt Russell) a.k.a. The Commander, and Josie (Kelly Preston) a.k.a. Jetstream plus the rest of the super academy will find out that he doesn’t have super powers. At least not yet.

His high school troubles begin with Power Sorting. The school separates all freshmen into Heroes and Sidekicks (ala Harry Potter sorting hat) depending on the student’s super ability. A weak super power fates a freshman to eternal Hero Support assignment while an impressive display of powers makes brands the candidate as a Hero. Unlucky Will, who is yet to discover his super powers, is demoted as a humble sidekick. He forms a gang of other non-performing mutant freshmen together with his eco-friendly kababata Layla (Danielle Panabaker.) This version of superhero apartheid upsets Will, until he discovers his super strength.

Suddenly, Will becomes the popular guy everyone expects from the son of superheroes, and catches the eye of beauteous senior Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Transferred into Hero status, Will is separated from his gang of Sidekicks. While Will is struggling with his new-found superiority, he still has to deal with everyday teenage life.

High school crushes, super-annoying bullies and peer pressure make Sky High a typical teen movie dealing with typical teenage concerns except with a superhero twist. The first thirty minutes of the movie is drowse-inducing, and only picks up when Will discovers his powers. From there it’s smooth sailing for Sky High as it manages to cruise safely on the border of camp and serious comedy while lightly tackling common teenage school issues. The 80s new wave music helps set up the teen romance theme. Costumes are geeky-perfect.

Tons of references and parodies from other superhero movies, plus a few new story elements makes this movie an easy view. Wonder Woman Lynda Carter makes a cameo as the super school’s luminous Principal Powers, while Bruce Campbell shouts around as Coach Boomer.

Disney marries the high school coming of age genre with comic book comedy to dish out a surprisingly entertaining teen movie fun enough for kids and amusing enough for the young-once.
Sky High doesn’t aim for Incredibles-high magnificence, but is conscious enough not to drown itself on too much mediocrity.

Shakespeare may have asked whether it’s better to be born great than made great (in Twelfth Night), but Sky High does say it’s better for most people to achieve it.

See more evil

2005-09-18T22:51:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Red Eye
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Carl Ellsworth
Starring Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy
PG 13/ 85minutes
DreamWorks Pictures
Opens September 7

The phrase “flying the friendly skies” may no longer apply in these days of terror, especially if the threat would come from the person sitting next to your seat. Veteran horror filmmaker Wes Craven successfully crosses genres and makes his first decent psychological thriller set in a jet 30,000 feet in the air.

Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Notebook) plays hotel manager Lisa Reisert, who is flying back to Miami after attending her grandmother’s funeral in Dallas, Texas. At Dallas International Airport, she meets the charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy, last seen as Scarecrow in Batman Begins).

The two immediately establish a friendly bond, as lonely strangers are wont to do while waiting for their delayed flight. They even share a drink at the airport bar. The friendliness would cease as soon as their plane would take off.

Jack tells Lisa he is part of an elaborate political plot to assassinate the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, Charles Keefe (played by Jack Scalia) who is set to stay in the hotel where Lisa works. The plot is to have the Secretary transfer to a specified room where the terrorists can kill him easily. Unless Lisa cooperates to change the secretary’s room reservations, an assassin waiting for Jack’s go signal will kill her father. With no where else to go, Lisa tries all she can to stop the assassination without endangering her own father’s life.

McAdams and Murphy, two very promising young Hollywood actors, square off convincingly as each opponent tries to outsmart the other through charming teeth. Brian Cox, playing Lisa’s father Joe Reisert, doesn’t do much as required by his token role.

Red Eye, which either means an overnight flight, a danger signal or an inferior whiskey, is a tightly paced, technically well-made thriller that has all the good ingredients. Despite having an airplane full of passengers, the film’s tight framing confines the tension between Lisa and Jack only, creating a claustrophobic and suspenseful atmosphere throughout the movie. Craven knows this; after all, he’s behind A Nightmare On Elm Street and the Scream series.

At 85 minutes, the film is fast-paced, but the feeling only takes off literally only after the airplane lifts off, nearly 20 minutes into the show – by most conventions that’s too slow for any movie to set up the premise.

Finally, despite the effective thrills and surprising plot twists, the story is really is a corny one. Such a grand plot resides on the decision of a hotel reservation at 30,000 feet. If it weren’t for the good points, I’d take the next flight out from this one. Don’t blink on this one, Red Eye good enough to see.

Boo bayou

2005-09-18T22:50:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Skeleton Key
Directed by Iain Softley
Written by Ehren Kruger
Starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard
PG 13/ 140 minutes
Universal Pictures
Now showing

Lots of skeletons hide in this supernatural thriller from the writer of The Ring (US version). Skeleton Key is a decently-made workable thriller with a twisted twister ending that can scare the bones out of any screenwriter.

Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days) plays caregiver Caroline Ellis, who is hired to take care of ageing stroke victim Ben (John Hurt.) To make her work easy, Ben’s elderly wife Violet (Gena Rowlands) entrusts to Caroline a skeleton key that can open all the doors in the 30-room plantation era mansion – except for one door.

Caroline is suspicious of the mysterious locked door, which even more mysteriously, Violet prevents her from opening. Determined to discover the secrets behind the door, Caroline’s investigation would lead her from missing mirrors to strange symbols to hoodoo incantations.

For a mystery thriller, Skeleton Key has rudimentary structure, decent shots and sufficient editing enough to give obligatory suspense. Design is underutilized, not taking advantage of Louisiana’s intrinsic beauty and weirdness. Acting is permissible, with Rowlands making a nastyViolet, while Hudson is convincing enough as a very curious caretaker. Music has enough New Orleans ambiance to enhance the movie’s overall feel.

In short Skeleton Key has almost all the elements of a technically efficient thriller. All except the twister ending that’s one part unsurprising and one part inventive. The ending isn’t wrong; in fact it’s a good cap to tie all the subplots and the narrative together. One can say that this movie’s ending has similar intentions as other Asian horror movies with female protagonists. It’s just that the story elements take a painstaking reveal, the ending is almost unacceptable after all the fuss.

Skeleton Key maybe worth the watch on dark rainy days, better on video while home alone than in a theater full of uninterested watchers eager to scramble to the nearest open door as soon as the credits roll.

Spell check

2005-08-14T23:27:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Bewitched
Directed by Nora Ephron
Written by Nora Eprhon, Delia Ephron
Starring Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell
G/ 102 minutes
Columbia Pictures
Opens Aug 10

In Nora Ephron’s latest comedy, award-winning actress Nicole Kidman plays a friendly witch trying to live a normal mortal’s life until a very famous mortal tricks her into living every mortal’s fantasy life – as an actress in a famous TV show. Bewitched is an example of how all of Hollywood’s star power isn’t enough to conjure a spectacle.

Actor Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrel, recently in Wedding Crashers) is looking for a publicity blitz to revive his waning fame. When network executives decide to remake the classic TV sitcom Bewitched, Wyatt is cast as the show’s unassuming husband Darren. What the production doesn’t realize is that the person they cast as Darren’s wife Samantha (Kidman, playing the innocent Isabel Bigelow), is in fact a real witch.

At first, Bigelow is just excited being able to find work in a normal, mortal environment. Plus she’s getting a weird interest in Wyatt. Little does she know that Wyatt is using her charms for the show’s ratings. With a few hexes and some help from friends, Wyatt and Bigelow eventually realize that they have more than just an on-screen relationship going on.

Bewitched is Kidman’s first romantic comedy and it’s obvious that she had fun making the movie. If Kidman can play light and bubbly, well, she’s luminous all right. It’s her second time to play a witch, which she last played in 1998’s Practical Magic, opposite Sandra Bullock.

Why on earth Kidman was paired with Ferrel, who’s practically in every comedy these days, is a mystery. No amount of Hollywood magic can brew a believable chemistry between the actors, who, in fairness, both do a great job in their own roles. On screen though, they just don’t look appealing together.

There’s a few instances of pure fun and magic – Shirley MacLaine’s appearance as Endora, Michael Caine’s cool and suave Nigel Bigelow reminiscent of the original Alfie. Kidman wiggling her little nose. Great music.

Surprisingly, Bewitched’s biggest blunder is it’s writing – the dialogue is just lame and the set-ups amateurish, almost obligatory. What makes this surprising is because it’s written and directed by the makers of Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail – by now celebrated epitomes of the romantic comedy genre. Bewitched simply hasn’t got enough story magic for its stars to work on, but it’s fun whenever Kidman and Ferrel aren’t together in a scene.

Sad but true.

Pure imagination

2005-08-14T23:26:00.001+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by John August
Based on the book by Roald Dahl
Starring Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore
G/ 115minutes
Warner Brothers Pictures
Opens August 3

Director Tim Burton cooks up a visually delectable treat for the sweet-toothed that’s halfway between jaw-dropping and criminally insane. Don’t fear – we’ve come to know Burton’s movies to be like that all the time. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a satisfying family tale about wishes coming true.

Based on the 1964 children’s book by Roald Dahl, the film opens with gigantic factory machines busily churning boxes and boxes of chocolate candy bars. The world’s largest factory of candy is opening its gates to the public for the first time in many years. But only five kids and their guardians will be allowed entrance by the factory’s very reclusive and unusual owner, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). Five Golden Tickets are to be found under the wrappers of Willy’s wonderful chocolate, and those who find them shall be granted a tour of the mysterious factory. One lucky kid will win a secret extra prize.

Each of the five kids who find the tickets (or four, technically speaking) ordinarily represent an aspect of child behavior. Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz), the first kid to find a ticket, never seems to stop eating. Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb) is the achievement addict who intends to include marathon gum-chewing to her treasure of records. Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) is Paris Hilton amplified, spoiled to infinity. Couch potato and gaming freak Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry) is also a technology geek. And the kid who finds the last ticket is poor little Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), who’s so poor all his family eats is cabbage soup.

Together with their like-minded guardians, the kids are toured in the magical factory by Wonka himself. One by one, the true nature of the kids are revealed to Wonka, who seeks a worthy winner of his “surprize.” As each unworthy kid is excluded from the tour, tiny and strange Oompa Loompas (played by one actor, Deep Roy) sing and dance in spectacular fashion to explain why the meddlesome kid is being punished.

In the fourth collaboration between Burton and Depp since Edward Scissorhands in 1990 (the others being Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow), the uncanny pair once again profuse wonders onscreen. It’s the second adaptation of the magical tale of Charlie and Willy Wonka, this time more faithful to Dahl’s captivating children’s tale about a simple kid who not only wins a fantastic trip, but the hearts of everyone around him as well.

What clearly stands out from this version is Alex McDowell’s spellbinding design of Willy Wonka’s amazing factory and Charlie’s creaky home. I bowled over in the TV room scene, laughing my heart out to the Stanley Kubrick reference. Composer Danny Elfman trashes specific musical themes and goes all-out in playing with the Oompa Loompa numbers. This interpretation has an updated, edgier appeal compared to the sugary songs in the 1971 movie.

Freddie Highmore is simply a picture of utter cuteness, there’s no question to his likeability as Charlie. Depp on the other hand, like his character, is an enigma – either his was another great performance, or a misinterpretation of the character. Nevertheless I prefer his version of Wonka than Gene Wilder’s, whose version scared me as a kid.

There’s a sense of the inevitable that takes away some of the magic that should stay until the movie’s end, but it can’t be taken away as it is the structure of the narrative. Overall, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a visual marvel and an absolute fun to watch. But the emotions don’t stay with the story, one forgets to care about Willy’s intentions unless he’s interacting with Charlie. Kinda like a multi-flavored candy that’s unsure of itself, this one intends to be sweet all throughout, but sours in a few places in the middle.

Attack of the clones

2005-08-14T23:26:00.000+08:00

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Island
Directed by Michael Bay
Written by Caspian Tredwell-Owen
Starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson
PG 13/ 127 minutes
Warner Brothers/ Dreamworks Pictures

In this futuristic action-thriller, director Michael Bay fires his usual arsenal of spectacular stunts and flamboyant camerawork to tell a surprisingly engaging story about human survival. It seems that for the first time, Mr. Bay understands the word Emotion.

In the mid-21st century, humans live in a controlled-environment facility that protects them from a polluted world. The high-tech antiseptic facility supervises each person’s daily living on a 24-hour basis. Every person wears the same uniform every day, distinguishing the inhabitants from the personnel. Everything is controlled, resources are shared, all is healthy.

Large video screens scattered around the walls of the facility display community bulletins and programs. A community bulletin announces the winner of the day’s Lottery, which gives one or two inhabitants the rare chance to relocate to and repopulate the last uncontaminated natural environment in the planet, modestly called The Island.

One of the inhabitants, an individualist by the name of Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor), discovers the true nature of the facility’s operations. He takes his close friend and most recent lottery winner Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) and escapes from the facility. The two are relentlessly pursued and hunted – but for a more sinister reason: the inhabitants of the underground facility are biological clones, “products” serving as medical spare parts and “insurance policies” of earth’s rich and famous.

Director Michael Bay attempts to take himself seriously, reducing the amount of signature Bay action for more plot points and narrative screen time in The Island. About a full hour is fleshed out to explain the workings of the containment facility, unconventional in Bay terms and boring for Hollywood’s blockbuster attention span.

But it seems Bay was making his own sci-fi masterpiece, mixing elements of Michael Anderson’s Logan’s Run and George Lucas’ THX 1138 about humans (not necessarily clones) on the run from a crazed utopian society. One scene involving “spiders” is reminiscent of Minority Report, while a few CGI scenes are remarkably stunning. McGregor is interesting as a confused being deprived of soul and humanity. Johansson looks stunning yet gives a perfunctory performance to a narrowly written character.

Bay reinforces the notion that he is one of America’s best action directors especially with the spectacular action sequence involving large metal dumbbells rolling off the freeway during a high-speed chase. But as I have said, Bay attempts to put more than just action to this two-hour plus movie.

There’s the age-old rumination about the morality of cloning humans, especially now that it is seen as technologically possible. The Island may not be the most original concept on the subject of cloning, but it does present a humanizing aspect to the debate. The time will come when clones will exist with other humans, but by then none of the ills the present society (like poverty and racial slur) should be alive.