MMFF2024: Review of THE KINGDOM: Politics of Pride

December 16, 2024

The country of Kalayaan was a monarchy led by their royal family led by Lakan Makisig Nandula (Vic Sotto). He had three children, namely Magat Bagwis (Sid Lucero), Dayang Matimyas (Cristine Reyes) and Dayang Lualhati (Sue Ramirez). One day, armed secessionist rebels led by Wigan (Archi Adamos) sowed chaos in broad daylight as her convoy was crossing a bridge en route to her wedding to the Prince of Thailand.

Meanwhile in a remote province in the north, there was a farmer named Sulo (Piolo Pascual) who lived with his grandfather Lolo Kip (Soliman Cruz). Because his father Sigwa (Arnold Reyes) was executed for committing a crime, Sulo had no markings on his skin, the sign of a Tinatwa (Banished), the lowest caste in society, poorest of the poor. His father's death scene scarred him and his palm to the present time. 

The main concept of this film was a bold reimagination of what the Philippines would be like if it was never colonized by foreign powers from since the dawn of her history. The main peg is Thailand, a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliamentary government. The code of laws, ceremonial dress, and formal language has remained basically native Filipino, with foreign influences only as a result of more modern globalization. 

In fictional Kalayaan, the Lakan was essentially a dictatorial strongman, with a puppet prime minister. The soldiers of his military are called Bagani. His royal guards are called Kalasag. His decisions are guided by his Punong Babaylan (Ruby Ruiz), a shaman who can divine the future. It is already 2024, yet ancient forms of capital punishment for crimes and duels challenged via the law of retribution ("tugmaan") are still being practiced.  

We see a very different Vic Sotto here. His Lakan Makisig was unsmiling, serious, restrained, dignified as king should be. Piolo Pascual imbued his peasant Sulo with a rare intensity and palpable pride.  Sid Lucero gave his Bagwis a strong anti-hero vibe, as his usual. Cristine Reyes's portrayal of Matimyas was reminiscent of her Imee in "Maid in Malacanang" (2022). Sue Ramirez's breezy Lualhati gave us something to smile about amidst the intrigue. 

You can clearly see the efforts of director Michael Tuviera, scriptwriter Michelle Ngu and production designer Nestor Abrogena Jr. to build this alternate reality within which our country existed in the film. They were advised by professors of history and anthropology to guide their world-building. They were meticulous in details of fashion, ornaments, tattoos, and interior decor. Direction, screenplay, production and costume design merit award consideration. 8/10

Review of KRAVEN THE HUNTER: Beastlike Bravado

December 12, 2024

Russian crime lord Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe) always brought his two sons along on his big game hunting trips. In one such trip, the elder son Sergei was attacked by a lion and was left for dead. Unexpectedly, Calypso, a random girl on a safari trip with her parents, saw the mortally-wounded Sergei and gave him her grandmother's secret healing potion to drink. After being declared clinically dead for three minutes, Sergei came back to life.   

16 years later, Sergei (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who had long been estranged from his family, was a deadly vigilante who sought out and executed game poachers and other notorious criminals with his beast-like strength, agility and invincibility.  One day, his gentle, artistic younger brother Dmitri (Fred Hechinger) was abducted by henchmen of a powerful, thick-skinned hybrid human who called himself Rhino (Alessandro Nivola).

Kraven is another character from Marvel Comic, who was identified as Spider-Man adjacent, like Venom, Morbius, and Madame Web. The films of this Sony Pictures's Spider-Man Universe featuring these characters all had middling to bad reviews from critics. "Morbius" (2022) and "Madame Web" (2024) were box-office disasters. That did not stop foolhardy Sony from pushing through with this latest one about "Kraven the Hunter."  

In the comics, Kraven the Hunter is a supervillain and adversary of Spider-Man since he was first introduced in 1964. In this movie, he considered himself a hunter with super-human abilities who went after criminals, especially those who endangered wild animals. Spider-Man was not even mentioned in this film, but spiders and subtle references to the friendly-neighborhood web-slingers did make cameo appearances, which fans would recognize.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson was solidly built and skilled in martial arts as a superhero was expected to be. Like Tom Hardy as Venom before him, Taylor-Johnson seemed in on the dark humor of his character and this movie. He came across as cool and likable, even if he did resort to some pretty vicious and violent kills (which gore fans would enjoy). If rumors are true that Taylor-Johnson is a top choice for James Bond, he certainly proved his mettle for action here.

As the father with whom Kraven had a conflicted relationship, Russell Crowe was believably cold and heartless. Christopher Abbott's mesmerizing villain Foreigner was very well-executed. However, the rest of the supporting actors were so campy that they're laughably bad (probably not on purpose). Worst offender was recent Oscar winner Ariana de Bose, whose portrayal of the adult Calypso was just so flat and out of whack.  6/10

Review of HERETIC: Ruminations on Religion

December 5, 2024

Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) were missionaries from the Church of the Latter Day Saints. One day, they knocked on the door of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), who wanted to learn more about their religion. It began to rain, so Mr. Reed invited them to come in. As per their rules, they said they can only enter when there is another female in the house. Reed assured them that his wife was inside, baking blueberry pie.

Even as early as this point where nothing has really happened, there was already a feeling of foreboding in the air. We knew that these two young women should not really enter the house. However, the weather was bad, and Reed was being very friendly and charming, and he did say that his wife with in the house with him. When girls did accept to enter the house, right off, we immediately felt that they had made the worst decision of their lives. 

After that suspenseful buildup of impending danger in the first act, the meat of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' film was laid out in the second act. Reed turned up the level of tension further by lecturing them about "Iterations" -- how pop songs (like "The Air That I Breathe" by the Hollies) or board games (like "The Landlord's Game" by Elizabeth Magie) were overtaken in popularity by subsequent products which were only copies of these originals. 

Everything only made sense when he made a further connection by using these iterations as a metaphor to the world's biggest religions, before further making a connection to them as agents who need to go house to house to promote a much smaller religion, like Mormonism, which is also yet another copy of the bigger religions. Reed even went further to enumerate figures in other religions all over the world who shared the same story as Jesus Christ

Reed wanted to subject the missionaries to an experiment where they can conclude for themselves what the main purpose of organized religion was. Once the girls decided to enter a door into the unknown, this was the point when the movie went from psychological thriller to full on horror mode. This was also the point when the movie began to lose my interest. I was actually hooked when they were just talking, than when there was already bloodshed.

Casting Hugh Grant as Reed was a stroke of genius. He had to project an innocuous image that was beyond suspicion. He should be able to make even the most cautious of young women feel safe to engage in his philosophical conversations.  Who knew that the actor we knew best for his romantic comedies during his heyday in the 1990s can also convincingly portray a sick sinister character?  A nomination for acting will not be surprising. 6/10. 

Review of GLADIATOR 2: A Rabid Retread

December 4, 2024

16 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius,  the Roman army under General Acasius (Pedro Pascal) attacked Numidia. Hanno (Paul Mescal) was a warrior of the Numidian army who bravely fought back but lost, costing the life of his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen). Hanno was held captive and became a slave. After he proved himself to be a fighter, he was trained to be a gladiator under the stable of Macrinus (Denzel Washington). This brought Hanno a step closer on his quest for vengeance. 

Ridley Scott's first "Gladiator" was released in 2000. It was about a Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius who became a gladiator after his beloved emperor Marcus Aurelius was murdered by his own son Commodus. It was a both a major box-office hit; as well as a critical darling. It earned 12 nominations from the Academy, and won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor for Russell Crowe, plus Visual Effects, Costume Design and Sound. 

Memorable scenes from the first film were depicted in the artwork of the opening credits of this sequel. Rome also defeats a foreign country at the beginning of the film. Maximus and Acasius both wished to go home to family. Maximus and Hanno were both sold to slavery and became gladiators plotting revenge. Like Commodus, the twins Geta and Carcalla were ruthless emperors who resorted to gladiator games to keep the citizens of Rome happy.

The famous shot of Maximus's hand gliding over a field of tall grasses was also recreated for the sequel with Hanno's hand. Both of them were also seen picking up gravel off the ground and rubbing his hands with it before a crucial fight. A wooden sword was given to a gladiator as a symbol of his freedom. Maximus's line "Strength and Honor" is heard several times during the sequel, notably intoned by the gladiators at the very end. 

Two actors from the first film play their roles again in the sequel. Derek Jacobi is back as the ever-contrarian Senator Gracchus. The more prominent comeback was Connie Nielsen as Lucilla. In the first film, we knew her as the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, sister of Commodus, widowed mother of 10 year-old Lucius, and secret lover of Maximus. In the sequel, she is introduced as the wife of Acasius, who had angry initial meetings with both heroes.

Oliver Reed's gladiator mentor Proximo was acted with more dignity and gravitas than Denzel Washington's wily Macrinus. While Joaquin Phoenix had a subtly internal attack on the cruelty of Commodus, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger were outrageously lunatic as Geta and Carcalla. More egregious though was the dull, uninspiring performance of Paul Mescal as Hanno, a very far cry from the sincere noble heroism of Russell Crowe as Maximus. 

As for the fights, they were more bloody and gory than before. The first film had tigers. In the sequel, owing to improvements in CGI technology, they had wild baboons, sharks and even a rhinoceros. Spectacular to watch, yes, but these were totally crazy unrealistic, very fake-looking. However, how can they fill the Colosseum with sea water deep enough for the sharks to swim in and for battleships to sail on? Inconceivable. 6/10. 

 

VMX: Mini-Reviews of PUKPOK, BOSS MA'AM, SILIP

December 3, 2024

PUKPOK

Director: Christopher Novabos

Head Writer: Maya Diaz

Writer: Mark Norman Boquerin

Company secretary Jennilyn (Allison Smith) turned heads of all the men around when she passes by. Using her feminine wiles, she always got her way with the security guard Malana (Ace Toledo), the new construction worker Randy (Mon Mendoza), or even the boss's brother Sir Richard (Seon Woo Kim).  Soon, she also targeted their main boss Engineer Christian (Rash Flores), who was getting frustrated with his wife Amanda (Arah Alonzo).  

This could have been a star vehicle for a more competent lead actress. However the opportunity was wasted on newcomer Allison Smith, who doesn't exude a femme fatale aura. Anyhow, the level of acting of everyone else in the cast was so dismal all around, she fit right in. Rash Flores was the veteran in this cast, but he had not yet improved as actor at all -- with his awkward attempts of drama turning out unintentionally comedic. 3/10

BOSS MA'AM

Director: Iar Arondaing

Writer: Zane Mendoza

Junior sales associate Charm (Vern Kaye) is a patient assistant of Ms. Vern Andrea Dixon (Jenn Rosa), a judgmental slave-driver senior sales manager of Spice City Holding Company. One night, Charm got fed up with Vern's insults and boldly answered back, resulting in her firing. Meanwhile, Vern would have secret meetings with new maintenance guy Jojo (Aerol Carmelo), when Vern let him boss him around during their dalliances. 

This was actually quite an entertaining romp of corporate intrigue between two female bosses of a company. Jenn Rosa did her best to approximate the late Cherie Gil in her portrayal of the sarcastic Vern.  Vern Kaye matched this with a transformation of Charm from a mousy subordinate to a power-tripping boss. More seasoned actresses could have given more nuanced performances, but theirs were quite adequate for VMX standards. 5/10.  

SILIP

Director: Bobby Bonifacio

Writer: Quinn Carrillo 

Rose (Rica Gonzales) was a prostitute who lived and worked at room 302 of Ligaya Apartments. Joel (Karl Aquino) worked at the store selling "pares" (braised beef stew with garlic fried rice) across the street. His co-worker Candy (Lea Bernabe) had a crush on Joel, but he only had eyes for Rose. One day, one of Rose's customers, Edrick (AJ Oteyza), dropped by Joel's store to buy food, and accidentally left his clutch bag behind. 

This was run-of-the-mill story about yet another prostitute and the toxic life she led, a theme VMX had peddled in its films several times already. This is already Rica Gonzales's 8th film this 2024, but she has not really progressed too much as an actress. Karl Aquino gave Joel that love-struck innocence vibe, which turned out to be idiocy with all the stupid decisions he made (the rotten food, really?). At least, Joel and Candy's final scene was a good ending. 2/10. 

Review of HERE: House as Home

December 1, 2024

This was released so quietly, I would not have thought of watching this if I did not see that it starred Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as well as written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. It turns out that this whole film was a 40th anniversary reunion of the creative team of "Forrest Gump" (1994), including co-writer Eric Roth, cinematographer Don Burgess, composer Alan Silvestri, sound designer Randy Thom, and costume designer Joanna Johnston. 

The title "Here" refers to the one spot where the camera was steady for 99 percent of the film. It caught everything that was happening in front of it, from the dinosaurs and the Ice Age, to the regrowth of flora and fauna. We then see Native Americans, then the building of a colonial mansion by an illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. By 1900, across the street from this mansion, a new house was built, which was a setting for all the stories to follow.

The first residents of this house were pioneer pilot Thomas Harter (Gwilym Lee) and his wife Pauline (Michelle Dockery). In the 1940s, it was occupied by lounge chair inventor Leo Beekman (David Flynn) and his model wife Stella (Ophelia Lovibund). After World War II, Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose (Kelly Reilly) Young moved in. Later, the house also became the residence of eldest son Richard (Tom Hanks) and his wife Margaret (Robin Wright). 

Zemeckis would tell the stories of the Young family interspersed with the stories of all the other past couples who lived in the house. After the Youngs, Devon (Nicholas Pinnock) and Helen (Nikki Amuka-Bird) Harris also lived in that house, through the COVID pandemic. This inter-generational storytelling may be Zemeckis's conceit, but it can be confusing, and ultimately disappointing when some of these stories don't really make an important impact. 

68 year old Hanks and 58 year old Wright played Richard and Margaret from age 18 all the way to their twilight years. Whatever technology they used to attempt to an illusion that they were teenagers did not really work. This made the scenes where they were supposed to be young adults unconvincing and awkward, no matter how hard Hanks and Wright tried. Their best scenes were those when they were middle-aged, and especially the final scene.

Actually, even the central story of the Youngs was not extraordinary or unique. Their family went through things as would any family -- marriage, birth, death, disability, career, sacrifices, financial problems, in-law problems, marriage problems. Zemeckis wanted their audience to see themselves in this family and connect emotionally. Because of this reason, this film will likely resonate more with Gen X (like me) or Boomers, than Gen Y and Z. 6/10.