Review of MARRY ME: Offhand Obligations

February 14, 2022

Superstar singer Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) was all set to marry her boyfriend fellow singer Bastian (Maluma) on the stage of their major joint concert to the tune of their latest hit song together "Marry Me." However just as Kat was getting dressed in her elaborate wedding gown for the ceremony coming up next, someone posted an incriminating video online showing Bastian canoodling with someone else that immediately went viral.

Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) was a regular strait-laced math teacher and coach of their school's math competition group. He was divorced and was single dad to his 12-year old daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman). One night, his colleague, gay guidance counselor Parker (Sarah Silverman) gave him and Lou tickets to go watch Kat's concert with her. As a desperate Kat broke down on stage, she asked Charlie to go up onstage to marry her. 

The very premise of this film was totally unrealistic. Imagine a tearful Kat telling her audience about how she was only in love with an idea of who she wanted that person to be. In a major non-sequitur, she then wanted doing something different for the first time. Upon catching a glance of an unsuspecting Charlie in the audience carrying a "Marry Me" sign and Kat told him yes, she would marry him. What can be more absurd and illogical than that?

That initial part of the plot was really very hard to swallow. Fortunately, there was rom-com veterans Jennifer Lopez ("The Wedding Planner," "Monster-in-Law," "Maid in Manhattan") and Owen Wilson ("Wedding Crashers," "How Do You Know," "Marley and Me") to save the day. Cheesy as it may seem, they actually succeed to charm audiences into believing that such a far-fetched relationship could actually happen. 

This movie was almost totally Lopez's show, as Kat explored the whole range of her emotional roller coaster as she faced a life of extreme popularity without earning critical acclaim or finding genuine love. Kat was the one who faced the challenges, while Charlie just acceded to her decisions. Lopez was totally in her element her as she was playing a meta version of herself and how she may be yearning for a simple life away the klieg lights. 6/10. 

Vivamax: Review of THE WIFE: Unlikely Understanding

February 11, 2022

Mara (Louise de los Reyes) and Cris (Diego Loyzaga) had a serious snag in their marriage when Cris had an affair with his college friend Lee (Cara Gonzales). An apologetic Cris tried his best to appease an inconsolable Mara to no avail. One day, he suddenly received bad news from their doctor (Lander Vera Perez) that he had cancer and had to receive treatment. Upon hearing the bad news, Lee suddenly showed up at their doorstep, offering to help. 

Denise O'Hara got her start in showbiz as a writer for Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual's soap opera TV series "Sa Piling Mo" (2006). She would later be head writer of more successful TV dramas like "Maria la del Barrio" (2011-12), "Mundo Man ay Magunaw" (2012) and "Please Be Careful with My Heart" (2012-14). She later transitioned into films, co-writing with Joseph Israel Laban for indie films like "Purgatoryo" (2016) and "Baconaua" (2017). 

The first film which she wrote by herself was "Mameng"  for the Cinemalaya film festival in 2018, which was also her debut as a feature film director. She won the Gawad Urian award for Best Director for this film, and her screenplay was also nominated. In 2019, she wrote and directed "Tayo Muna Kahit Hindi Pa Tayo" for the CinemaOne Originals film festival. This present project "The Wife" is the third film which she had both written and directed.

This story was told from a female character's point of view. The martyr wife is a common character in Filipino melodramas, either in film or on TV. What makes this Mara different from other martyr wives was that she was not quiet about her suffering at all. Living up to her name, Mara means "bitter" in Hebrew), she was very vocal about her anger to Cris with her daily emotional outbursts. She was never going to let him live it down -- until the Big C intervened. 

When Mara was at her wits' end about her difficult situation, here comes Lee with her offer to help care for Cris. This was the main crux of the story -- how an unlikely cooperative partnership grew between two women who were supposed to be mortal enemies. The premise was good, but unfortunately, the execution was unsatisfactory. You knew where progression of the script was heading, but the way it took to get there was unconvincing.

Owing to the awkward exchange of dialogue during this key part of the film, the chemistry of de los Reyes and Gonzales never really gelled in a genuine friends. Maybe it was the relative inexperience of Gonzales as an actress, or maybe it was the way her character was written, but Lee's sincerity was suspect. An actress of more depth and experience was needed to be able to effectively transition this challenging character from foe to friend. 

For those curious, yes, there were gratuitous sex scenes, with breast exposure for both actresses here, while Loyzaga kept his pants on. But these prurient scenes were only peripheral, not front and center like the typical Vivamax feature for the past year. Since this film was written and directed by women for a female audience, these sex scenes were rather surprising, especially since they were not even really necessary to be there at all.  4/10. 

HBO Go: Review of KIMI: Paranoid Panic

February 11, 2022

Kimi is the name of a built-in voice-controlled personal assistant developed by Amygdala, much like Siri is for Apple or Alexa for Amazon. Bradley Hasling (Derek DelGaudio), CEO of the Amygdala Corporation, states that the difference between Kimi and the other AIs is that there is a human component that monitors Kimi for its continuing improvement of service. Angela Childs (Zoe Kravitz) is one of those human tech workers

While reviewing the random data streams of Kimi to spot service errors to correct them,  one day, she hears a disturbing stream that sounded like a woman being assaulted. In order for her report to be addressed, she needed to meet her superior Natalie Chowdry (Rita Wilson) in their headquarters to submit her evidence. However, Angela is agoraphobic, so going out is a big problem. However, there are even bigger problems up ahead.

Zoe Kravitz gives an arresting performance as Angela, with all her little quirky mannerisms brought about by her mental health issues. Physically waifish and delicate, Angela tried to be cold and distant to protect herself emotionally. The Covid-19 pandemic even added further to her feelings of anxiety and dread that prevented her from venturing outside. She likes her neighbor Terry (Byron Bowers) from across the street, but could not go out to meet him. 

Writer David Koepp also wrote big blockbuster Hollywood films such as "Jurassic Park" (1993), "Mission: Impossible" (1996), and "Spider-Man" (2002), all of which evolved into major franchises. However, his more recent output had not been too successful, with Razzie fare like "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" (2008), "Mortdecai" (2015) and "The Mummy" (2017). His work here on "Kimi" is lower key, but it was a solid story for acting and action. It had elements reminiscent of Koepp's previous work on "Panic Room" (2002).

Steven Soderbergh's debut film "Sex, Lies and Videotape" (1989) won the Palme D'Or at Cannes. In 2001, he competed with himself at the 73rd Academy Awards, being nominated for Best Director for two separate films "Erin Brockovich" and "Traffic" (for which he won his Oscar). This pandemic, he still came out with interesting films like the experimental "Let Them All Talk" (2020), period thriller "No Sudden Move" (2021) and now "Kimi." 

The introductory buildup of Angela's world was a slow burn as Soderbergh used camera movement for audiences to feel her intense paranoia in Hitchcock tradition. The chase scenes in along narrow building corridors and on the streets of Seattle were nerve-wracking. The climactic showdown in the apartment may be a bit over the top, especially with Devin Ratray (better known as Buzz McCallister from "Home Alone") there in a guest role, but it was executed with masterful editing for maximum suspense. 7/10. 

Review of DEATH ON THE NILE (2022): Murders Most Melodramatic

February 8, 2022

Jacqueline de Bellefort introduced her handsome but penniless fiance Simon Boyle to her wealthy friend Linnet Ridgeway. However, it would turn out later that Simon dumped Jackie and had married Linnet instead. So when the newly-married couple went on a grand honeymoon in Egypt, the rejected Jackie stalked them the whole way, even booking herself on a cruise of the Nile on the river boat Karnak, on which the Doyles were also booked. 

One night, there was a murder onboard the boat, someone had been shot at close range on the forehead. When famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot began to investigate, every other passenger on the cruise with them seemed to have a reason to kill the victim, who it turned out was not exactly the congenial type. A couple more murders were still to be committed before Poirot was able to finally piece together the complex plot. 

In the original 1978 film version of "Death on the Nile" directed by John Guillermin, Peter Ustinov played the inimitable Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, taking over from Albert Finney who played Poirot in "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974). Just like first film, the murder had been committed in a confined location (this time a river boat). It also had an impressive array of actors playing the suspects for the murder of Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles). 

The all-star cast included Bette Davis (as the grand dame Marie Van Schuyler), Maggie Smith (her stern nurse Ms. Bower), Angela Lansbury (flighty romance author Salome Otterbourne), Olivia Hussey (her anxious daughter Rosalie), Jack Warden (the defensive Dr. Bessler), George Kennedy (the unscrupulous Atty. Andrew Pendleton), Jane Birkin (Linnet's maid Louise), Mia Farrow (Jackie), and Simon MacCorkindale (Simon).

In this new film remake, Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) was investigating the case of Linnet Ridgeway (Gal Gadot). Simon (Armie Hammer) was her husband, Jackie (Emma Mackey) her friend, and Louise (Rose Leslie) her maid. Some characters had the same names but different relationships. Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders) was now Linnet's godmother, with Ms. Bowers (Dawn French) her nurse. Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okenedo) was now a blues singer, while her niece Rosalie (Letitia Wright) was Linnet's close friend. 

There were also characters whose names and relationships with Linnet were changed. The lawyer character is now Linnet's cousin Andrew Katchadourian (Ali Faizal). The doctor character is now Linnet's ex-fiance Linus Windlesham (Russell Brand). Instead of David Niven's Col. Race, the role of Poirot's friend went to Bouc (Tom Bateman), who was also in the previous case on the Orient Express. Bouc brought his artist mother Euphemia (Annette Bening) along, and was in a romantic relationship with Rosalie. 

Gal Gadot fit the bill of the glamourous heiress to a T. However, she did not project Linnet's haughtiness that well, unlike how Lois Chiles did it. Emma Mackey (whom I never knew before this film) had a more challenging role as Jackie. However, she looked quite strong and confident, unlike how Mia Farrow gave her Jackie a weak, clingy, needy vibe the character needed. Armie Hammer's screen presence seems diminishing with his every film, even in a big role as Simon. Tom Bateman even upstaged him in the more minor role of Bouc.

Aside from a prologue (why Poirot grew his fancy mustache) and an epilogue (how Poirot may be falling in love again), the basic plot of the novel remained the same with significant alterations to promote present-day concerns like multi-racial and LGBTQ representations. The production design was rich with 1930s aristocratic glamor and exotic Egyptian antiquities. With a much darker color palette and serious mood, Branagh's approach tended to be quite melodramatic, especially at the climax, without the campy humor of the original. 

Death of the Nile (1978): 7/10. Death on the Nile (2022) 6/10. 

KTX: Review of MINSA'Y ISANG ALITAPTAP: Emerging from Estrangement

February 6, 2022

After being estranged for many years, a middle-aged Lucia (Teresa Loyzaga) came back to her family home with her three adopted little boys. Her old mother Amelia (Gina Pareno) was already suffering from dementia, and kept on calling for Luisa even if she was standing there right in front of her. When a trusted farmhand Abel passed away suddenly one day, his adopted son Abner (Ron Macapagal) began to ask questions about the mother he never met. 

The rest of the story was told in flashbacks to Lucia's childhood, when she was obsessed with looking for fireflies. She repeatedly requested her mother to tell her the legend of how these interesting flying insects came to be. There was a  boy named Darcel, the son of her father Alberto's business partner Domeng, with whom she shared a close friendship growing up. However, the paths of the two people apparently did not wind up together. 

As the story went back and forth in time, each of the central characters were played by more than one actor. There were four actresses playing the role of Lucia (Loyzaga, Patricia Cadawas, Jenica Mae Mores, and Hasna Wahood) three actors playing the role of Darcel (Ron Macapagal in a second role, Rob Torres, and Jaden Pambuan), two actors playing Lucia's father Alberto (Lito Capino and James Lomahan) and two actresses playing Lucia's mother Amelia (Pareno and Gladys Bernardo Reyes).

Teresa Loyzaga is already a veteran actress so it was no surprise that she was able to portray her conflicted character very well. The scene of Lucia grappling with her mother's dementia was a highlight for her, and of course Pareno could do this scene blindfolded. Newcomer Ron Macapagal tried his best here playing two distinct roles, but his limited acting experience was still apparent. The big dramatic moment between Loyzaga and Macapagal felt weaker than expected, can't help feeling that it could have been better written and executed. 

The film ran for a compact one hour and 10 minutes, and that was just enough for director Romm Burlat to tell his full story. Despite being a short feature film, there were still a few scenes that did not feel entirely necessary, like the odd inclusion of a distracting scene featuring the special guest appearance of Diego Loyzaga as an unidentified farmhand. For the clarity of the scenes shot in darkness, the cinematography by Marvin Gabas (who also co-wrote the script with Paola Villena) deserved commendation. 7/10. 

KTX: Review of ILOCANO DEFENDERS: WAR ON KIDNAPPING: Crusading Congressmen

February 6, 2022

A valiant family of congressmen (father Michael Say and his two sons Solomon and Morgan) calling themselves the Ilocano Defenders, have made it their mission to help and provide protection to the weak and downtrodden. When there was a rash of kidnappings of children going on in Northern Luzon, the Defenders were in the forefront of the fight even as the syndicate expanded their operations to other regions of the country.

These three incredibly noble representatives of the Ilocano Defenders Partylist were portrayed to be the pinnacle of political perfection. They were fearless (defeating the bad guys with only their martial arts skills), generous (giving up their own salaries to help the poor), principled (refusing a bribe of three million pesos a month) and very receptive to the needs of their constituents (shouldering their funeral and hospital expenses). 

There were no professional actors in this film, so the whole thing had a stilted, self-conscious vibe going on. The three Says can deliver their idealistic lines (their advocacy on VAT on basic goods and vocational requirement in public schools) well, but were still very camera-conscious. The villains were especially over-the-top and hammy, so they were unintentionally funny, especially Gov. Armand Guzman Jr. (Reynaldo Samaco), his personal aide Roel (Narciso Dizon), the kidnapper Mr. M (played by director Marvin Leyson himself) and his affect-less assistant Jesser (Jayzer Abao). 

There were several scenes emphasizing how dangerous their line of work was, not only from their enemies, but also from the women, like Morgan's secretary Myrna (Ana Mariz Terrejos) and Rochelle (Rutchelle Borbajo) and Solo's girlfriend (?) Casey (Grace). Therefore, the Says also had repeated scenes telling each other to take special care of themselves. They also stated that they were willing to face any issues thrown at them, be it misusing public funds or accusations of sexual misconduct.

The production seemed to have gone all out with their location shoots, going to Cebu, Baguio, Vigan, Ifugao, Paoay, General Santos City, and Jolo. However, the overall pace was too slow, the editing was lackadaisical and the direction was unfocused. The three Says may be blackbelts in taekwondo in real life, but the choreography of their fight scenes lacked excitement, which may work against their aim to revive martial arts in Filipino films. 

Review of MOONFALL: Emmerich's Extreme Exigencies

December 28, 2022

Disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and his former work partner, now NASA deputy director Jocinda "Jo" Fowler (Halle Berry) reunite to respond to a pressing apocalyptic emergency announced by eccentric conspiracy theorist "Dr." K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) who discovered that the Moon has gone out of its usual orbit and was moving closer to Earth, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, gravitational and atmospheric anomalies.

Ronald Emmerich is very well-known for all the mega-blockbuster disaster movies he had written and directed before, like "Independence Day" (1996), "Godzilla" (1998), "The Day After Tomorrow" (2004), "2012" (2009) and "Independence Day: Resurgence" (2016). In his latest movie, the Earth is again being bombarded by destructive calamities, this time brought about by a most outrageous circumstance involving the Moon.

There was also time spent following the story of one family as they try to survive. This time, we follow Harper's estranged son Sonny (Charlie Plummer) driving to Colorado to meet his mother Brenda (Carolina Bartczak) and her new family with second husband Tom Lopez (Michael Pena). Their eyebrow-raising, eyeball-rolling adventure include a shoot-out with bad guys and a jumping a car over a chasm through a snow storm. 

Patrick Wilson always made a good flawed hero figure. His Brian Harper was doing some fancy spaceship counter-maneuvering against a space monster even after 10 years of forced retirement, yet somehow he makes us believe that he can still do it. On the other hand, an uncomfortable Halle Berry looked awkward and unconvincing in her role as Jo Fowler, as an astronaut, and even more so as a top NASA official. 

My favorite cast member was the delightful John Bradley, whom I only knew before as Samwell Tarly in "Game of Thrones." His Dr. Houseman was an astronaut-wannabe who sincerely believed that the Moon was an artificial megastructure created by alien intelligence. I felt his jumble of conflicting emotions at that moment when he was called to join Harper on his mission, as well as in his final scene with his cat Fuzz Aldrin and his grandmother.

To get through this movie, you need to just let all those fancy highfalutin astrophysics theories and jargon fly over your head and simply go with the flow of the action. There may have been no logical scientific basis to anything happening on Earth or on the Moon in this excessively CGI-overloaded film, but it was very consistent with Emmerich's grand vision of entertaining and exhilarating his insatiable adrenaline-junkie fans.  6/10. 

KTX: Review of YORME: A Scavenger's Success Story

February 5, 2022

Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso, also known by his screen name Isko Moreno, had also been called by the monicker of "Yorme," flipping the syllables of the word "Mayor" around as he was wont to do to make catchy slang words of his own. With an impeccable sense of timing, director Joven Tan had crafted this new movie musical to tell about his life in songs. Yorme is, after all, one of the top 5 aspirants running for the Presidency of the Philippines in the upcoming May 2022 national elections. 

The film is divided into three parts based on his age: child, teenager and adult, with a different actor playing Mr. Domagoso at each age. Scenes of the honorable Mayor telling his life story himself in his distinctively colorful language style were interspersed within  the scenes of the film which depicted the highlights of his dramatic rags to riches coming of age, from a scavenger in the garbage piles of Tondo, to a teeny-bopper screen idol on TV and films, all the way to being a popular man-of-the-masses politician. 

Called "Scott" by his parents, child Isko (Raikko Mateo) began scavenging in garbage at age 10. While his mother (Tina Paner) disapproved, his father (Ramon Christopher) admired his son's "diskarte" (or streetwiseness). He also had risky capers sneakily collecting empty bottles of mineral water left by passengers on provincial ships that were docked on the pier. An amusing anecdote the mayor shared in this part was his experience with Mang Baldo (Keempee de Leon), the fearsome "mantutuli" (traditional circumciser) of Moriones. 

Teenage Isko (McCoy de Leon) had the bright idea of washing leftover chicken parts he would pick up in the garbage and frying them into his own culinary creation called "batsoy" which he was able to sell among his neighbors in the slum. He also experienced bullying among his classmates. Because he was a scavenger, they teasingly called him "Mayor" after Mayor Lopez's garbage project. He was discovered by a talent scout (Jestoni Alarcon) who brought him to audition for "That's Entertainment" TV show of German Moreno (Janno Gibbs).

Adult Isko (Xian Lim) eventually graduated from teen romance movies to the more daring ST films which was all the rage in Solar Films where he was signed. Later on, he married a supportive wife (Mary Jane Lastimosa) and decided to enter the world of politics. From the start, he was criticized for being a mere high school graduate who cannot speak English. He used his first-hand experience of poverty as proof of his sincerity that he was one with the masses, rising from being a councilman to a vice mayor, and eventually, mayor. 

Aside from the script, director Joven Tan also wrote the music and lyrics of 15 songs telling Yorme's story, from his scavenging days, his gold medal at school, his batsoy business, his J-S prom, "That's Entertainment" days, to his political advocacies. There were three inspirational songs about trusting the Lord for a better tomorrow. This musical biopic put Yorme in an ever-positive light. It was quite entertaining overall (and fun to see several former "That's" actors in cameo roles), but it can be a tad too saccharine and over-idealistic at times. 6/10. 

Netflix: Review of ALL OF US ARE DEAD: Virus of Vengeance

February 4, 2022

Spurred by the critically-acclaimed box-office hit "Train to Busan" (2016) with Gong Yoo, South Korea had been producing a number of zombie films and TV series. Most notable among the movies were: "Rampant" (2018) with Hyun Bin and  "#Alive" (2020) with Yoo Ah-in. Among the TV series, there was "Kingdom" (2019) with Ju Ji-hoon and Bae Doo-na, and just very recently, "Happiness" (2021) with Park Hyung-sik and Han Hyo-joo. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic now entered its third year, another Korean zombie series is gaining a lot of international attention -- "All of Us are Dead." The main focus of this new series was Hyosan High School. Because his son Jin-su was always the target of cruel bullies, a science teacher Lee Byeong-chan (Kim Byung-chul) developed a virus which made his son into someone who could stand up to the bullies, even if he turned into a monster.

In the school, we follow the fates of 12 students in Class 2-5. The four lead characters were Cheong-san (Yoon Chan-young), his crush On-jo (Park Ji-hu), class president Nam-ra (Cho Yi-hyun), and both girls' crush Lee Su-hyeok (Park Solomon). At odds with the other students was Lee Na-yeon (Lee Yoo-mi), a rich girl with a snooty character. Elsewhere, archery champ Ha-ri (Ha Seung-ri) led a smaller group of students also trying to survive. 

One distinct innovations of this series in zombie lore was the phenomenon of the "hambie," or a half-zombie. They were some people who have been bitten by the zombie horde, but did not turn into a full-fledged zombie. They have undead qualities of zombies (indestructible, super strength, super hearing) yet still held on to their human sensibilities. It was these hambies who provided the unpredictable moments of this series. 

The situation of the community outside the school were also tackled, with stories of On-jo's father, veteran rescuer Nam So-ju (Jeon Bae-soo), Cheong-san's mother Mrs. Lee (Lee Ji-hyun) who just opened her new chicken restaurant, assemblywoman Bae Hae-sun (Park Eun-he), police detective Song Jae-ik (Lee Kyu-hyung), teenage mother Hee-su (Lee Chae-eun), among others. The governmental response to the crisis added further tension to the story. 

It seems that much budget of this Netflix web series was earmarked for those mind-boggling original zombie effects. Aside from main cast who became zombies with more detailed make-up, there were hundreds more extras who had their own individual zombie makeup. There were some pretty imaginative ways that people turn into zombies -- the most memorable one should be that girl folded her body on itself in the MRI machine. 

All sorts of emotional subplots had been inserted into the main zombie story line. There was major attention paid to the very real problem of physically and psychologically brutal bullying in schools, which was actually scarier than the zombies. Side stories of young romance, tests of friendship, filial devotion, social status conflicts, social media obsession, political privilege, and military brutality filled up the 12 episodes, which could've been shorter. 7/10. 

Vivamax: Review of KINSENAS, KATAPUSAN: Teenage Temptress

February 4, 2022

Conrado Alonzo (Joko Diaz) was a happily-married family man and bigshot real estate businessman. One day, his high school age daughter Ana (Madelaine Red) introduced him to her new transferee classmate Beth (Ayanna Misola). Beth soon began texting Conrado, enticing him with spicy messages and nude pictures. Soon they would have an arrangement to meet each other every 15th and 30th of each month for their secret sexual rendezvouses. 

The main plot is quite slim, littered with several sexual encounters between very nude Beth and a fully-clothed Conrado. Director GB Sampedro fluffed up the running time with various other sex scenes. Aside from his voluptuous wife Melba (Jamilla Obispo), Conrado would also have careless dalliances with his employee Karen (Janelle Tee).The lusty Beth also engaged in intimate lesbian canoodling with her friend Carla (Angela Morena). 

The acting was not really something to talk about. Joko Diaz's character Conrado was the one being tempted, but it did not really take much for him to give in to it so there wasn't really much mental torment. Ayanna Misola was only 20 year old in real life, because she looked more mature than that with all that makeup. Being only in her second film, she was not still not able to make the most of the psychiatric aspect of her character. 

We see several of Joko Diaz's contemporaries in the 90s here, like Kier Legaspi (as Conrado's partner Mike), Jojo Abellana (as Conrado's star salesman Miguel), Jao Mapa (as Beth's father) and even Jeric Raval (as a murder victim in the opening scene). Much time and dialog was focused on Conrado's loyal, strict, old-maid secretary Sita (Marissa Sanchez), but this character actually went nowhere. 

Underlying all the sex scenes were serious mental health issues which led Beth down her road to hell. She was not very discreet that she was taking pills for depression. There were recurrent flashbacks to a certain very traumatic event in her past that would haunt her for the rest of her life. There wasn't much psych explanation about Conrado's inability to resist having an affair with a minor, perhaps suggesting that men are naturally weak that way. 2/10. 

Review of SCREAM (2022): Robust "Requel"

February 2, 2022

Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) was home alone when she received a phone call from a creepy man who wanted to engage her in a trivia quiz about horror movies. Ghostface soon revealed himself and attacked her with a knife. She somehow survived the attack and was hospitalized. Tara's estranged older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) returned home to Woodsboro to be with her. After suffering from an attack by Ghostface herself, Sam revealed to Tara the truth about her real father which caused their family to break up.

This is a sequel (the fifth) and reboot (or as a character in the film called it, a "requel") of Wes Craven's 90s slasher horror classic about a woman Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her encounters with Ghostface, a serial killer wearing a rubber Halloween mask depicting the face of a screaming ghost (inspired by Munch's painting "The Scream") who was going around killing people in Woodsboro, California. Sidney would always count on local policeman Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) for help. 

This new film basically followed the formula of the original 1996 film. The opening sequence with Tara on the phone was very similar to the memorable guest performance of Drew Barrymore in the first film as Casey Becker, who was also on a phone with a  man playing horror film trivia games while threatening violence. Casey's boyfriend was killed outside her house when she got a question wrong. Ghostface appeared and chased Casey with a knife, ending in her grisly fate, being gutted and hung up on a tree. 

Like in previous "Scream" films, there was always a character who was very self-aware that their dire situation was similar to being a classic slasher horror movie, and that they should obey a list of "rules" in order to stay alive. Those who have sex, do drugs or say "I'll be right back" will never make it out alive. In the original film, these rules were enumerated by Randy Meeks. In this latest sequel, the honor goes to Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy-Brown), the niece of Randy, daughter of his sister Martha (Heather Matarazzo). 

Like "Spider-Man" and "The Matrix" just before it, "Scream" (2022) also gets a lot of points for the nostalgia factor as it brought back tropes and characters (played by the same actors) from the original film. I am not a fan of slasher films, so I did not follow beyond the first film, but that was enough for me to appreciate the efforts of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to excite the franchise's loyal fans. The crazy stabbing scenes were quite over-the-top as expected, so it was crazier to see those victims actually surviving those stabs. 7/10.