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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...

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 ...

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...

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 di...

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...

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...

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 w...