Sinag Maynila 2026: Review of PINIKAS: Halved Hopes

March 24, 2026

Mayanmar Piit (Angela Villarin) and her two younger siblings Rona (Ella Mae Cuaton) and Luis (Arvin Cabajes) lived in the seaside village of Pintuyan, Southern Leyte. Their drunkard father Mario (Michael Bacalso) did nothing all day but tend to his precious rooster Pacman, so Maya had to be the one who earned a living. One day, she met a newcomer long-haired fisherman Nilo (Jade Makawili), and became his business partner, selling the squid he caught. 

The ultimate dream of the young ladies on their island was to be able to meet a foreigner who can rescue them from miserable poverty. A "celebrity" of their village was Michelle (Jolaica Amiana), a girl who left their island years ago to marry a German guy. So when Nilo began to court Maya after he broke up with his girlfriend, Maya was not sure if she should accept Nilo as a future husband, especially after she met Canadian guy Luke (Kevin Reams) online.   

The title "Pinikas" referred to the "dried butterflied squid" which was the way Maya prepared the squid, a metaphor for a whole being halved.  This term is in the language of Southern Leyte which is Cebuano, the main language of the whole film. This film premiered at the Oroquieta Film Fest in Misamis Occidental, and was the closing film of the 15th Binisaya International Film Fest in Cebu, held last year August 23 and 24, 2025.

The story was set in 2006, so the concept of the internet was still new in remote islands like that where Maya lived. The island ladies, and even Maya's gay make-up artist friend Briana (Randolph Valmoria), were all frequenting the new internet cafe (smartly called Hope) in order to meet and hook a potential foreigner husband. The script can be quite frank when it came to sexual matters because of this prevailing activity. 

This may be Angela Villarin's first leading role in a feature film, but she definitely carried the film squarely on her slim shoulders. Even if she lived in a remote village, Villarin's Maya is a symbol of a modern young woman. She is smart, resilient, resourceful, unafraid to speak her mind to the men around her, even her father. That scene where she confronts her father after she was able to bail him out is just one of her best scenes in the whole film. 

Jade Makawili only has "Pinikas" in his IMDB resume, but with the natural, confident way he portrayed Nilo, you'd never think this was his first ever film. Because of their easygoing chemistry together, every scene with Nilo and Maya was a joy to watch -- from the awkward start of their courtship to their philosophical conversations reflecting their opposing points of view. Also, "Plano," that song playing over the closing credits, was written and sung by him.

Despite being a drunk and a gambler, Michael Bacalso played the father to be a patient guy. He never seemed to get angry even when Maya spoke very frankly about her frustrations with him. He was very much a comic relief in several scenes, especially those when Luke arrived in the Piit's humble abode. His efforts to speak to Luke with his broken-style English was hilarious, becoming uncomfortably raunchy when their conversation was about Pacman.

This film is written and directed by Cris Fuego, himself a native of Pintuyan, who has now migrated to Canada. DP Neil Angelo Briones captured the scenic beauty of the island, including those haunting scenes of the gigantic whale shark with the smaller fish swimming around it. Music is very much an integral part of this film -- with three original songs by Winset Jacot and a musical score composed by Marie-Luise Calveros. 9/10

Sinag Maynila 2026: Review of SWEET ESCAPE: Chocolate-Coated Complexities

March 24, 2026

Candy (Arci Munoz) was a Manila-based doctor who was involved in a case that led to a career-ending legalities and getting pregnant by guilt. Dave (Kang Dong-gun) was to be the heir to a leading chocolate factory in Korea, but his foolishness led to his being disowned by his CEO father.  One day, the paths of Candy and Dave met in Bohol when they joined the same snorkeling tour. By coincidence, they were both renting rooms in the same rest house. 

Dalareich was a chocolate shop near the house that Candy and Dave rented. It was owned and run by Fred (William Lorenzo), his daughter Bel (Matet de Leon) and her single but pregnant daughter Nat (Ayeesha Carandang). Business was not doing very well, but Candy and Dave expressed interest to learn about their business and help anyway they can. Candy and Dave began to develop feelings for each other, but their pasts were getting in the way.

This is not the first film directed by Rommel Ricafort that had a Fil-Korean connection. His second feature film "You With Me" (2020) had a Filipina leading lady (Devon Seron), two Korean leading men (Hyun Woo and Jin Ju-hyeong) and was actually shot in Seoul. Both screenplays were written by the director's wife Shine D. Ricafort, about lead characters trying to escape from stressful circumstances that limited their freedom.

The film uses the picturesque scenery of Bohol -- mostly the beaches and the Chocolate Hills -- as the backdrop of this story. I have to commend the house they have chosen as the AirBnb Candy and Dave shared. It had an open railing-less terrace with a floor made of bamboo that looked out into the ocean. Those romantic scenes of Candy and Dave lying down looking up the starry sky shot by drones above looked great on the big screen. 

Arci Munoz was an in-demand leading lady since 10 years ago when she starred in "Always Be My Maybe" (2016). However, during the pandemic after news of her plastic surgery surfaced (which she did not deny), her career had been lower key. As Candy, she did have light moments of cute rom-com, as well as heavy moments of dark drama. I believe Munoz deserves a comeback vehicle soon as leading lady, and this may be the first step.

Not much information is available online about the career of Kang Dong-gun as an actor, but if this was indeed his first feature film, he was actually quite good as Dave, despite some awkwardness in English. As exemplified by that sunset scene by the beach, he had romantic leading man charisma. As exemplified by that tense confrontation scene between Dave and his father in Korean, he can definitely deliver in the dramatic scenes as well. 

This film tackles some pretty heavy themes of medical malpractice and abusive parenting -- things people would keep as skeletons in their closets. Nevertheless, the overall mood is light and engaging, with some commentary about the difficulties of local businesses and the gossip culture in small towns. With all the coincidences in the story, the romance angle can be rather predictable, but the final resolution still manages to spring a surprise. 7/10

Review of PROJECT HAIL MARY: Gosling's Gravity

March 18, 2026

 

One day, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) woke up from a medically-induced coma on board a space ship, totally disoriented. When he got his bearings straight, he realized that he was the sole survivor of their three-man crew. Based on his calculations, it would take more than 100 years to get back to Earth. Grace soon recalled that their mission was a veritable suicide mission to go a planet called Tau Ceti to gather specimens for a crisis back on Earth.

Ever since he gained notoriety because of a controversial paper he published, molecular biologist Grace taught science at a local middle school. One day, Grace was invited by a government official Eva Stratt (Sandra Huller) to join a team of scientists studying an infrared line from the Sun to Venus, apparently caused by alien microorganism called "astrophage" which was eating up the Sun. Tau Ceti was the only star spared by these organisms.

This is the latest film produced and directed by the team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, noted for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "The Lego Movie" and "Spider-Verse" movie franchises. Their work is marked by a humorous approach to various nerdy sci-fi subject matter, which make them ideal storytellers for outer space adventures like this. This is their return to directorial work after "22 Jump Street" 12 years ago.

Like the 2015 Ridley Scott film "The Martian," the story of "Project Hail Mary" was based on a novel by Andy Weir, and adapted for the screen by Drew Goddard. The basic plots of the two films are practically similar -- about the extreme challenges faced by one scientist to survive in outer space after being left behind by his teammates. Goddard's script also had the same style of telling the backstory in flashbacks, with a mix of humor and sentimentality.

Unlike "The Martian" where botanist Mark Watney had only himself to rely on, Grace met an unexpected alien friend along the way, his own "E.T." This new friend, whom he called Rocky because of its bodily form, proved to be a vital partner in Grace's sanity, health, as well as his mission. Of course, Grace was able to develop a program to turn Rocky's echolocation signals into English, with the calming voice of its lead puppeteer James Ortiz. 

Ryan Gosling's likeable, charming personality made the 156 minutes of the film fly by in a most entertaining manner. We rooted for him to accomplish his difficult mission even if Gosling's Grace did not exactly project the gravitas of a serious scientist like Damon's Watney convincingly did before. However, Grace was presented here as an unwilling member of the team, which gave his dedication to the accomplishment of his mission more substance.

Acclaimed German actress Sandra Huller is back after her major international breakthrough in 2023 for her two Oscar-cited films "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest." As her Stratt was the team leader of a mission to save the Earth from another Ice Age, Huller had to play it cold and distant most of the time. However, she also revealed her humanity in conversations with Grace, and that surprising karaoke scene with Harry Styles" "Sign of the Times."

Aside from that song, there were more popular songs in the soundtrack, like "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis, "Winds of Change" by Scorpions, and "Two of Us" by the Beatles among others, also not unlike "The Martian." The visual effects, sound, film editing, and musical score all seem to be bound for awards consideration next year, with Ryan Gosling's winsome performance not a long shot for Best Actor. 9/10. 

Ranking This Year's OSCAR BEST PICTURE NOMINEES (2025) & MY OSCAR BETS

 March 12, 2026

With the Oscar Awards coming on March 16, 2026, Monday morning (Manila time) live streaming on the Disney+ app, it is time for me now to make my fearless Oscar predictions.   

(My Oscar predictions of previous years were posted on these links: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013).

Here is how I would rank this year's 10 nominees for Oscar Best Picture based on my own personal opinions when I first saw them (not based on probability that I think they will win):

1. SINNERS (MY FULL REVIEW)

Writer-director Ryan Coogler certainly took his time in telling his story. The entire first hour was spent on building this world of the Moore twins Smoke and Stack, introducing them and all the characters around them, so that we will care about what happens to them in the second half of the film.  At first, we needed clues to distinguish the twins -- Smoke wore a blue beret, while Stack wore a red fedora. Later, Jordan made sure we could tell which twin was who.

From the very beginning, we already knew that music was going to play an important role in this movie. The narrator tells us how cultures all over the world all believed that music could have supernatural powers. When Sammie told his pastor father that he was going to play blues music, he was warned how this music could bring him towards danger. Blues music is laden with sensual melancholy as derived from Afro-American work songs and spirituals.

2. FRANKENSTEIN (MY FULL REVIEW)

Those familiar with Del Toro's work knows his penchant for all things macabre and monstrous. While the whole film dripped with these dark and disturbing elements, the highlight will have to be that sequence of scenes of Victor carving out various body parts from different dead soldiers, then connecting them together to build his 3-D jigsaw puzzle of a Creature. It would take a strong stomach to sit through this fascinating process of anatomical construction. 

3. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (MY FULL REVIEW)

Anderson was able to mix character study, social commentary, political satire, family drama, crime action all together in in perfect harmony. The comedic elements were more prominent, while the dramatic elements were decidedly more subtle. After giving us so much chaos in the first two hours, Anderson saved the best sequence in the closing minutes, executing what could be one of the best shot, most heart-stopping car chases that I've seen.

4. HAMNET (MY FULL REVIEW)

The pace of the storytelling may be slow (in true Chloe Zhao style), and things do get quite overwrought at one point, which may make some wonder where the critical acclaim was coming from. It did feel like a typical family melodrama about a housewife dealing with three kids, spousal abandonment and an insidious plague. However, the real magic began in the last 15 minutes at the premiere staging of "Hamlet" (Noah Jupe in the title role). It was here that we feel the true heart of this film and finally get what the buzz was all about.

5. TRAIN DREAMS (MY FULL REVIEW)

Joel Edgerton gave a sensitive performance here, as Robert lived up to 80, An Oscar nom is not unlikely. He spoke very little in the film, but his sad weathered face said it all. Director Clint Bentley evoked Terence Mallick here. With his cinematographer Adolfo Veloso, editor Patrick Laramie and narrator Will Patton, he had created a poetic portrait of a man and the difficult life he went through. We are moved. 

6. BUGONIA (MY FULL REVIEW)

This was a very uncomfortable watch from beginning to end, as it involved taking advantage of a mentally-challenged individual and acts of violence against a woman, all in the name of apparently delusional conspiracy theories of one very emotionally-disturbed individual. Teddy and Michelle were both unlikable characters as written, and as twistedly portrayed by Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone (who really had her hair shaved off). As both of them played off each other wickedly at full blast, award noms are surely forthcoming. 

7. SENTIMENTAL VALUE (MY FULL REVIEW)

Renate Reinsve played a stage actress with a severe stage fright. Her most intense scene here was that opening sequence of her Nora struggling to get into the proper frame of mind to mount the stage was very tense as the clock was ticking past curtain time.  Even if her acting style would be subtler that this for the rest of the film, Reinsve is right in the thick of Best Actress race at the Oscars this year for her performance here. 

8. THE SECRET AGENT (MY FULL REVIEW)

Writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho did not tell Armando's story right away from the start. He took his time, even taking time to show us a man's leg found inside a dead shark first, before introducing us all these side characters around him. Mendonça Filho told his serious story with dark humor (a hairy leg attacking gays in the park), as well as unbearable suspense (hired killers and their hired killer tracking Armando). I liked it when the story connected to a present day history researcher Flavia (Laura Lufési), which expanded the scope of the story. 

9. MARTY SUPREME (MY FULL REVIEW)

Like "Uncut Gems," the mood of the film was very highly stressful as the unscrupulous central character getting involved in a lot of very tight, precarious situations, on or away from the pingpong table.  Because of his annoying sense of self-importance, Marty Mauser was not a particularly likable title character, so Chalamet had to draw a lot from his own personal charisma and goodwill to get the audience on his side through this 150 minute film.

10. F1 (MY FULL REVIEW)

F1 is the latest project released by Plan B, and it does not seem farfetched that it will attract Academy Award attention as well. The story is simple and frankly, quite familiar, so may find yourself predicting what will happen next in the strained relationship between Sonny and Joshua, and likely guess a lot of things right. The star power of Brad Pitt was a big factor to make the dramatic redemption story of Sonny Hayes pop out on the big screen, enhanced by awesome production design by Ben Munro and cool costumes by Julian Day.

 **********

FEARLESS FORECAST:

Which of the nominees do I think WILL win (NOT necessarily who I WANT to win):

Best Picture: SINNERS

Nominees: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme,One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Train Dreams

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Nominees: Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)

Performance by an actress in a leading role: Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Nominees: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Emma Stone (Bugonia)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

Nominees: Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another), Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), Delroy Lindo (Sinners), Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Nominees: Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners), Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)

Best animated feature film: KPop Demon Hunters

Nominees: Arco, Elio, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Zootopia 2

Best animated short film: Retirement Plan

Nominees: Butterfly, Forevergreen, The Girl Who Cried Pearls, The Three Sisters

Achievement in cinematography: One Battle After Another (Michael Bauman)

Nominees: Frankenstein (Dan Laustsen), Marty Supreme (Darius Khondji), Sinners (Autumn Durald Arkapaw), Train Dreams (Adolpho Veloso)

Achievement in costume design: Frankenstein (Kate Hawley)

Nominees: Avatar: Fire and Ash (Deborah L. Scott), Hamnet (Malgosia Turzanska), Marty Supreme (Miyako Bellizzi), Sinners (Ruth Carter)

Achievement in directing: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Nominees: Chloé Zhao (Hamnet), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value), Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best documentary feature film: The Perfect Neighbor

Nominees: The Alabama Solution, Come See Me in the Good Light, Cutting Through Rocks, Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Best documentary short film: All the Empty Rooms

Nominees: Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud, Children No More: Were and Are Gone, The Devil Is Busy, Perfectly a Strangeness

Achievement in film editing: One Battle After Another (Andy Jurgensen) 

Nominees: F1 (Stephen Mirrioni), Marty Supreme( Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie), Sentimental Value (Olivier Bugge Coutté), Sinners (Michael P. Shawver)

Best international feature film: Sentimental Value (Norway)

Nominees: The Secret Agent (Brazil), It Was Just an Accident (France), Sirāt (Spain), The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)

Achievement in casting: Sinners (Francine Maisler)

Nominees: Hamnet (Nina Gold), Marty Supreme (Jennifer Venditti), One Battle after Another  (Cassandra Kulukundis), The Secret Agent (Gabriel Domingues)

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling: Frankenstein (Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey)

Nominees: Kokuho (Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu), Sinners (Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry), The Smashing Machine (Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein), The Ugly Stepsister (Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg)

Original Score: Sinners (Ludwig Goransson)

Nominees: Bugonia (Jerskin Fendrix), Frankenstein (Alexandre Desplat), Hamnet (Max Richter), One Battle after Another (Jonny Greenwood)

Original Song: "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters; music and lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park

Nominees: "Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless; music and lyric by Diane Warren, "I Lied to You" from Sinners; music and lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson, "Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdi!; music and lyric by Nicholas Pike, "Train Dreams" from Train Dreams; music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; lyric by Nick Cave

Achievement in production design: Frankenstein

Nominees: Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sinners

Best live action short film: Two People Exchanging Saliva

Nominees: Butcher's Stain, A Friend of Dorothy, Jane Austen's Period Drama, The Singers

Achievement in sound: Sinners

Nominees: F1, Frankenstein, One Battle After Another, Sirāt

Achievement in visual effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Nominees: F1, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus, Sinners

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): One Battle after Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Nominees: Bugonia, screenplay by Will Tracy, Frankenstein, written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro, Hamnet, screenplay by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell, Train Dreams, screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Writing (Original Screenplay): Sinners (Ryan Coogler)

Nominees: Blue Moon (Robert Kaplow), It Was Just an Accident (Jafar Panahi, Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian), Marty Supreme (Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie), Sentimental Value (Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier)

Review of MARTY SUPREME: Pride and Pomposity in Ping-pong

March 2026

It was 1952. 23 year old Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet) worked as a shoe salesman for his uncle Murray (Larry "Ratso" Sloman) in New York City. However, his real passion was table tennis. By hook or by crook, he booked himself a trip to London to join the British Open. He defeated defending champion Bela Kletzki (Géza Röhrig) from Hungary in the semi-finals, then faced deaf Japanese player Koto Endo (Koto Kawaguchi) in the thrilling final round.

Marty was involved in a number of other unsavory activities. With his best friend Wally (Tyler Okonma), he hustled unsuspecting guys at ping-pong to earn extra cash. He had a sexual affair with his married childhood friend Rachel (Odessa A'zion). He also seduced elder actress Kay Stone (Gwyneth Paltrow) so that he would have opportunities for sponsorship with her ruthless pen tycoon husband Milton Rockwell (Kevin O'Leary). 

This is Josh Safdie's first project as a solo director. He began film directing as a team with his younger brother Benny, with "Uncut Gems" (2019) as their best-known film. Benny's first solo project is "The Smashing Machine" (2025) about a real-life pro wrestler Mark Kerr. Josh's film is also about an athlete, but a fictional one, albeit inspired by a real-life 50s ping-pong player Marty Reisman, also a hustler and an opening comedy act for the Harlem Globetrotters. The screenplay is co-written by long-time Safdie collaborator, Ronald Bronstein.   

Like "Uncut Gems," the mood of the film was very highly stressful as the unscrupulous central character getting involved in a lot of very tight, precarious situations, on or away from the pingpong table.  Because of his annoying sense of self-importance, Marty Mauser was not a particularly likable title character, so Chalamet had to draw a lot from his own personal charisma and goodwill to get the audience on his side through this 150 minute film.

While Timothy Chalamet is very much in the Best Actor conversation so soon after his SAG win for "A Complete Unknown" (2024), Odessa A'zion and Gwyneth Paltrow are both in the thick of the Supporting Actress race. True New Yorker supporting actors, like Fran Drescher (as Marty's mom Rebecca), director Abel Ferrara (as dog-loving gangster Ezra Mishkin) and designer Isaac Mizrahi (as publicist Merle) gave the film a genuine NYC vibe. 8/10

Review of THE SECRET AGENT: Plight of a Politically Persecuted Professor

March 12, 2026

It was 1977 in Brazil, during its military dictatorship. Armando Solimões (Wagner Moura) drove towards the town of Recife during the time of the Carnival holiday. There, his young son Fernando (Enzo Nunez) is living with the parents of his late wife Fatima (Alice Carvalho). His father-in-law Sr. Alexandre (Carlos Francisco) worked at the local movie theater as a projectionist. However, he would not be staying with them because of safety concerns.

Using the name Marcelo, Armando stayed in the residence of Dona Sebastiana (Tania Maria) who housed political activists like the dentist Claudia (Hermila Guedes) or refugees like Angolan Theresa Vitoria (Isabel Zuaa). He worked at the Identity Card office, where he met the corrupt police chief Euclides (Robério Diógenes). Meanwhile, hitmen Bobbi (Gabriel Leone) and Augusto (Roney Villela) are hired by Henrique Ghirotti (Luciano Chirolli) to kill Armando. 

Writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho did not tell Armando's story right away from the start. He took his time, even taking time to show us a man's leg found inside a dead shark first, before introducing us all these side characters around him. It was only when we reach a scene when Armando met resistance leader Elza (Maria Fernanda Candido) that we slowly learn the full story of exactly who Armando was and why Ghirotti had sent out a hit against him. 

At Cannes 2025, this film won Best Director, Best Actor, FIPRESCI Prize and Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai. It has also won Best International Film at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.  Currently, it had been nominated for four Oscars in Best Picture, Actor, International Film and even in the new category of Casting, which is exciting as it matched the Oscar nomination haul of Brazil's acclaimed classic "City of God" (2002). 

Mendonça Filho told his serious story with dark humor (a hairy leg attacking gays in the park), as well as unbearable suspense (hired killers and their hired killer tracking Armando). I liked it when the story connected to a present day history researcher Flavia (Laura Lufési), which expanded the scope of the story. However, Mendonça Filho did an unexpected major time jump at the end as if he purposely left out the part about Armando's actual fate. 8/10

Review of THE BRIDE!: Feministic Frankenstein

March 10, 2026

The spirit of author Mary Shelley (Jessie Buckley) was caught in limbo, venting her frustration of her early death at age 53, which prevented her from writing a sequel for her masterpiece "Frankenstein." Impulsively, she possessed the body of young woman in the year 1936 named Ida (Jessie Buckley also!), a moll partying with kingpin Lupino (Zlatko Buric) and his gangsters in a Chicago club one fateful night. After causing a scandal, Ida fell down the stairs and died.  

At around the same time, Frankenstein's monster, who went by the name Frank (Christian Bale), sought out the institute of reinvigoration scientist Dr. Cornelia Euphronius (Annette Bening), requesting her to create a female companion for him as he had been very lonely existing alone for the past 100 years. They dug up the most recent female corpse buried in the local cemetery for Dr. Euphronius to reanimate. That body turned out to be Ida's. 

Jessie Buckley's film career is on a roll. She is well on her way to winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as a long-suffering mother in "Hamnet" (2025). She may well be on her way to another Oscar nomination next year as she went totally to the opposite extreme this time around. Her Ida was a wild, uninhibited character, with that distinctive splatter stain on her right cheek when she coughed out crystalloid solution upon waking up. 

Christian Bale gave us his unconventional interpretation of a more mature Frankenstein's monster, a century after his creation. While he still had a violent streak within him, Bale's Frank was charming as he was shown as a fan of movies, particularly those starring his idol Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal). One of the most memorable scenes here was an all-out dance number to the tune of "Puttin' on the Ritz" in a New York City hotel ballroom. 

This over-the-top, off-kilter film, only the second film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, with rich Hollywood references, from Astaire-Rogers musicals to "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Aside from her brother Jake, she also cast her husband Peter Sarsgaard as Detective Jack Wiles. Her character's names reflect her inspiration with Ida Lupino, an actress who also became a director. Gyllenhaal's feminist bent is quite apparent with liberated females like Ida, Dr. Euphronius, aspiring detective Myrna Malloy (Penelope Cruz) and Mary Shelley herself controlling the narrative.  7/10

Review of HOPPERS: Animal Avatars

March 7, 2026

Rebellious youngster Mabel Tanaka grew up with her nature-loving Grandma (Karen Huie) in the city of Beaverton. The two of them sat daily on a rock beside a big pond in a peaceful forest glade which plenty of animals called home. After her Grandma passed away, Mabel (Piper Curda) became a passionate activist that fought against the plan of Mayor Jerry (Jon Hamm) to build the final segment of his bridgeway which will close down the glade for good. 

The "Hoppers" in the title refers to a secret technology developed by Mabel's biology professor Dr. Sam Fairfax (Kathy Najimy), where human consciousness can be transferred into a robotic animal for research purposes. This sci-fi concept was suspiciously very similar to the mind-transporting technology in the "|Avatar" film franchise, to create human-Navi hybrids.  However, Mabel directly name-dropped that film in her very next line to give it credit. 

As a beaver hopper, Mabel was able to meet another beaver called King George (Bobby Moynihan), representative of the mammals in the Animal Council. This was a body that was composed of the kings of other animal classes, which included birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects. Mabel's reckless impulsiveness resulted in a series of unfortunate incidents that put Jerry and the whole of Beaverton in grave danger.

As you'd expect from Pixar, there were major comedy and action moments involving the cute beavers for kids and adults to enjoy. Death was dealt with frankly in the "pond rules" and the "squishing" scenes. However, younger kids may find hungry Ellen (Melissa Villasenor) the bear, alpha predator Diane (Vanessa Bayer) the shark, and especially Titus (Dave Franco) the megalomaniacal son of the Insect Queen (Meryl Streep!), even if they were played for laughs. 

Like "Robot Dreams" (2023) and "The Wild Robot" (2024) before, this was another animated film that featured emotional connection and bonding between robots and animals in this decade. Like those previous films, this bond lent itself to some touching moments between Mabel and George about friendship, trust and how "we're all in this together" -- a concept that extended beyond themselves, but also involved all of nature around them. 9/10 

Review of SCREAM 7: Ghostface Galore

March 4, 2026

To get away from her traumatic past experiences with masked serial killer Ghostface which made her a celebrity of sorts, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) moved from Woodsboro, California to Pine Grove, Indiana. She owned a coffee shop, and was married to a policeman Mark Evans (Joel McHale). They had a teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May), currently in high school with her friends Chloe (Celeste O'Connor) and Hannah (Mckenna Grace).   

This is the seventh installment in the slasher horror film franchise which kicked off with Wes Craven's "Scream" (1996). After an 11-year break after the 2011 fourth sequel, "Scream" (2022) and "Scream 6" featured sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. However, with actresses Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega both out this time around, producers brought back the character of Sidney Prescott, the original "final girl," instead.   

Neve Campbell has apparently settled her salary dispute with the producers that forced her to opt out of "Scream 6." Her Sidney remained to be strong-willed and smart, especially when it comes to protecting her carefree 17-year old daughter Tatum. When she answered that very first threatening phone call from someone claiming to be the late Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) come back to life, she was ready to drop everything to get to her daughter's side.  Isabel May looked to mature to be credible as an over-protected high school teen Tatum. 

Continuing her unbroken streak of Scream appearances was Courtney Cox as the never-say-die TV news reporter Gale Weathers. Ever since the 2022 reboot, Cox's very obvious plastic surgery on her face has been very distracting, and same is still true this time around.  This time she brought with her the Meeks twins, Mindy (Jessica Savoy-Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), as her apprentices in the journalistic beat. Well, they had to think of what to do with these two, since Sam and Tara were out of this film (and never mentioned at all). 

All "Scream" films began with an opening kill sequence where Ghostface (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) called people by phone and would kill them if they failed to answer his trivia questions about horror movies. The very first and most memorable of these in 1996 featured Drew Barrymore. In this present installment, a foolhardy couple (Jimmy Tatro and Michelle Randolph) rent Stu Macher's house in Woodsboro converted to an Ghostface-themed AirBnb -- the most meta, self-aware part of this film. 4/10 

 

Review of SISA: A Madwoman's Mettle

March 4, 2026

A strange woman (Hilda Koronel) wandered into an American camp led by Commander Harrison (Kuya Manzano). Her odd behavior made everyone assume that she had gone insane probably due to severe trauma she experienced during the war between Filipinos and their American oppressors.   The American school teacher Ms. Warren (Isabel Lamers) suggested that she stay in the house of townswoman Delia (Eugene Domingo) and her precocious 13 year-old daughter Nena (Angellie Sanoy).

The woman did not know her name nor where she came from. Nena suggested that they called her Sisa, after the woman who went mad in Dr. Jose Rizal's novel. Sisa worked with Delia and the other women of the town, like Rita (Barbara Miguel), Cedes (Jorrybell Agoto) and Gloria (Janina Mendoza) in keeping the garrison clean. She also met Ofelia (Tanya Gomez), the wife of the imprisoned town captain Cardo, and Leonor (Jennica Garcia), a pretty young widow whom Harrison ("Eddie" for her) had taken as a mistress. 

With that iconic name as the title, the automatic assumption is that this movie would be about the tragic character on Dr. Jose Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere," the mother who went mad when she could not find her two altar boy sons named Basilio and Crispin. Within a few minutes from the start of the film, we realize it was not about that familiar Sisa at all, but another mad woman just named after her instead.  The story was also not set in the correct time period in Philippine history as this Sisa existed during the American occupation.

It is best if you go watch this film without knowing more about who Sisa was, so I won't go any further. Suffice it to say that the story revolved around the indignities suffered by Filipinos under the American regime, and there was a secret revolutionary force being organized in the mountains to fight back against the enemy, and restore their lost independence. Writer-director Jun Robles Lana told his story in the point of view of these women who were being treated as lowly slaves, as they were still mourning the deaths of the men in their lives.

Prior to this one, Lana had once already told a fictional historical story from a female perspective with "Barber's Tale" (2014), which was set during Martial Law. His star in that film Eugene Domingo is back with an intense dramatic role as Delia. Jennica Garcia followed up her star turn in "Sunshine" (2025) with her subtly nuanced portrayal of the tainted Leonor. Former child star Angellie Sanoy stood out as young impressionable Nena who was learning to speak English, as she was wooed by a American soldier Smith (Kobie Brown).

Of course, the centerpiece of the ensemble was none other than Ms. Hilda Koronel as Sisa. Ms. Koronel had been on an extended hiatus since her last film "The Mistress" (2012), so her return to the big screen this year is very big news. Because of Sisa's condition, Koronel had to rely mostly on her facial expressions to get her emotions across at first. However, as Sisa was not really mute, Koronel did get to deliver lines as she interacted with and gained the trust of the other women in town, doing so much within the limits of her character. 8/10

Review of CRIME 101: Jinxed by Jewelry

February 24, 2026

Mike Davis (Chris Hemsworth) was a methodical jewel thief who worked alone, always making sure no blood was shed when he did his robberies along the 101 freeway. He was almost shot in the face in his latest $3M diamond heist, causing a small wound which really shook him up. Mike informed his fence Money (Nick Nolte) that he will pass on the next robbery planned, which led to the job being passed on to an impulsive new guy Ormon (Barry Keoghan). 

The policeman working on this diamond case was LAPD Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo). He was very frustrated because his lone wolf theory for this series of jewel heists was not being given much consideration by his bosses. The insurance agent assigned to this big payoff of a case was Sharon Coombs (Halle Berry). She was also very frustrated because she was being bypassed for partnership in her firm even after 11 years of service. 

The release of this film was so low-key, and with such a generic-sounding title, it could have just slipped by unnoticed. However, those A-list names in the cast -- Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry -- were simply too big to ignore. In addition, Barry Keoghan, Nick Nolte, Monica Barbaro and Jennifer Jason-Leigh played supporting roles. It is impressive that, except for Hemsworth, all of them had been Academy Award nominees before.

This is the third film of BAFTA-winning British filmmaker Bart Layton, who debuted with a true-crime documentary "The Imposter" (2012), and followed it up with hybrid crime docu-drama "American Animals" (2018) which also starred Barry Keoghan. Staying with the crime theme, Layton wrote and directed this new film "Crime 101," which he adapted from a 2020 novella of the same title written by Don Winslow, who specialized in crime narratives.

There were exciting car and motorcycle chase scenes and a particularly intense store robbery scene here, but Layton also took his time in telling and intertwining the stories of the three protagonists, building them up together, then giving each one a satisfying, albeit rather ethically- questionable, closure. There were moments of self-deprecating humor, budding romance, caustic society jabs and midlife crisis drama, with yoga music and voiceovers in between the action. Overall, a very engaging watch. 8/10.