Vivamax: Review of LITSONERAS: Ribaldry at the Rotisserie

July 28, 2023

Eloy (Joko Diaz) and his daughter Elria (Yen Durano) ran a popular lechon shop in Laloma called "Litsoneras". One day, his estranged wife Minerva (Jamilla Obispo) suddenly came home from working in Dubai for several years. She made it clear to Eloy that she was not about to forgive him for his past unfaithfulness, and their relationship was over. She wanted to reconnect with her daughter, but to no avail.

Minerva began exerting her influence around the shop, interfering with the way Eloy dealt with his employees. She accepted a new employee into their shop named Jonas (Victor Relosa), who quickly got into the good graces of his employers. Unexpectedly, Elria saw her mom's boarding pass in her bag and realized that her mother had already been in the country two weeks before the day she showed up at their shop. 

In the opening sequence, director Roman Perez Jr. immediately immersed his audience behind the scenes in the traditional process of lechon making in Laloma district in Quezon City, the hot and smoky setting which served as the backdrop for this sordid family drama. Behind the store front and roasting areas, there were makeshift bathrooms with hardly any privacy, as well as dark little rooms to accommodate quickie trysts. 

18-year old Elria, who was portrayed by new Vivamax siren Yen Durano. At first, it was not easy to see her as Diaz and Obispo's daughter because of her prominently almond eyes. Her ultra-sexy school uniform which she wore with black stockings felt contrived, and made her look more mature than her age. However, Durano would eventually overcome all that when her character reached the peak of her arc -- a promising debut as lead star. 

Perez's story was interesting and he told it well, channeling a "Brocka-esque" realism. Joko Diaz gave his Eloy a nuanced portrayal, down to that defective right hand, that made him a sympathetic character. Jamilla Obispo youthful looks worked against her being Elria's birth mother, but contributed to the disconnect between those two characters. Victor Relosa's Jonas was such a major jerk that his shocking comeuppance felt completely deserved. 6/10. 

 

Review of LITRATO: Deficient Dementia Drama

July 27, 2023

Lola Edna (Ai-Ai De las Alas) had been left by her relatives at the home for the aged called Tahanan ng Kalinga. She was already suffering from the symptoms of dementia, both intellectually and behaviorally. Easily irritated, she frequently quarreled with her caregivers and fellow residents, especially Lola Camilla (Liza Lorena). However, there was one cheerful man Lolo Charles (Bodjie Pascua) who tried to befriend her, to no avail. 

Whenever she talked with someone, Edna will ask for any photographs of any person, even complete strangers which she collected and posted on the wall beside her bed. She kept on holding on to the hope that one day she would see the photograph of her daughter and grand-daughter, whom she has not seen for a long time. One day, she had a feisty new caregiver named Angel (Quinn Carillo) with whom she seemed to get along better than any other.

This drama opened with a scene which may already turn off many viewers. It showed Lola Edna loudly bawling for help as she had been locked in the supply shed when she went in to find rope. The noise level of this contrived scene was sheer cacophony. Ai-ai de las Alas's caterwauling sound was irritatingly artificial and painful to the ears. To be completely honest, it was only the price I paid for admission kept me in my seat. 

Edna's cantankerous attitude in the home did not make it any easier to watch. I understand that this was about her dementia, but Edna's was not consistent. There were scenes when it seemed she was in complete command of her senses, yet she still behaved very badly on purpose. The worst instance was when her caregiver Janette (Weam Ronquillo Ahmed) was flunked for her OJT because Edna willfully lied that the poor girl strangled and pinched her, which really did not happen. 

The storytelling by director Louie Ignacio from the screenplay by Ralston Jover here felt disorganized, which worked against its climactic dramatic reveal. The scenes did not flow smoothly one after the other, with some scenes not quite related to the one before it.  There was even an extraneous scene of a woman (Lui Manansala) left by her daughter (Cristine Saquing) at the gate of the home, but we never see her again for the rest of the film.

I believe this could have been an effective drama had Ai-ai de las Alas' attack on her role been more restrained. However, Ignacio chose to have de las Alas perform in a big, flashy manner.  Anyhow, Ignacio had guided de las Alas to her Best Actress awards before in indie film like "Area" (2016) and "School Service" (2018), so I guess he knows what he's doing. 

It was good to see Quinn Carillo out of Vivamax for a meatier role, and she did well to keep up with de las Alas, even with the dreadful costumes they made her Angel wear. Ara Mina played Divina, a 35 year-old street food vendor with a headstrong daughter, whose exact role only becomes apparent in the final act. Bodjie Pascua was very charming as Lolo Charles, which ultimately turned out to be a thankless role. 4 /10

Netflix: Mini-Reviews of THE OUT-LAWS, BIRDBOX BARCELONA, THEY CLONED TYRONE

 July 26, 2023

THE OUT-LAWS

Directed by: Tyler Spindel

Written by: Evan Turner, Ben Zazove

Owen Browning (Adam DeVine) is a bank manager who was about to marry yoga instructor Parker McDermott (Nina Dobrev). Parker's parents Billy (Pierce Brosnan) and Lilly (Ellen Barkin) were way too cool for Owen's nerdy line of activities. One day, Owen's bank was held up by a notorious pair of bank robbers who had long been the targets of FBI Special Agent Roger Oldham (Michael Rooker). However, the observant Owen picked up certain odd clues which made him suspect that his in-laws to-be were actually the thieves!

When the film tells us that Owen had never met Parker's parents every before, you knew very well that this was going to be another one of those "Meet the Parents" types of comedy films. However, they threw in a surprise twist midway when it seemed that Billy and Lilly may actually be involved in crime instead of anthropology. These comedy of errors parts were a lot of foolish stupid fun, with DeVine and Brosnan portraying the two hilariously clashing characters. Things just went a bit too farfetched in the final act. 5/10. 

BIRD BOX BARCELONA

Directed by Álex Pastor, David Pastor

Written by Álex Pastor, David Pastor

Barcelona, and apparently the rest of the world, was being terrorized by mysterious beings which can cause people who see them to commit suicide. Sebastian (Mario Casas) and his young daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard) were in hiding, trying to survive the threat outside. When they saw another group of survivors, Sebastian approached them and convinced them he was trustworthy
. However the next morning, Sebastian crashed a bus through the wall, catching everyone without their blindfolds, exposing them to the entities.

This film is a spin-off of "Bird Box" (2018) starring Sandra Bullock that dealt with alien creatures that cause people who see them to commit suicide. This new film introduced the concept of "seers," those who were not be affected by the compulsion caused by seeing the beings. However, these seers are emotionally manipulated to cause others to remove their blindfolds, promising them a glorious freedom. Playing one such seer haunted by his daughter, Mario Casas portrayed this intense moral dilemma very credibly.  6/10. 

THEY CLONED TYRONE

Directed by Juel Taylor

Written by Tony Rettenmaier, Juel Taylor

One night, pimp Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx) saw drug dealer Fontaine (John Boyega) shot dead by rival. The next day, Fontaine surprised Slick by showing up to visit him again, despite what transpired the previous night.  Together with prostitute Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), they investigate a trap house into which Fontaine saw an injured man enter last night. There, they discovered a laboratory where sketchy experiments were being conducted. Fontaine was shocked to see his lifeless body lying on one of the tables, riddled with bullet wounds.

To be completely honest, if not for the subtitles provided by Netflix, I would not have been able to understand to the ghetto slang being spoken by the characters at all. The weird story may not have been easy to get into at first, but once Fontaine, Slick and Yo-yo discovers the lab, you will definitely stay on to the end see how it all goes down. The chemistry between the three leads was so funny, all of them Blaxploitation stereotypes but with a twist.  Being an over-the-top sci-fi comedy, plotholes are likely, but just ride along and enjoy the trip. 7/10. 

Review of HAUNTED MANSION (2023): Spirit Shrieks and Snickers

July 26, 2023

A single mother, Dr. Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and her son (Chase W. Dillon) just moved into an old mansion in the outskirts of New Orleans. On their very first night, they realized this mansion was haunted and were able to immediately drive off. However, no matter where they went, the house and its multiple spirits still compelled them to come back. They contact exorcist Fr. Kent (Owen Wilson) to help them with their big problem. 

Kent in turn contacted Ben (LaKeith Stanfield), a cynical tour guide who had invented a camera that can take photographs of ghosts. They then invited Ms. Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), a psychic medium to communicate with the spirits. They also called in Bruce (Danny de Vito), a professor familiar with the history of that locality. They make contact with a spirit of Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis), a previous medium who has been trapped in her crystal ball. 

This is a reboot of "The Haunted Mansion" which Disney released in 2003, based on their popular theme park attraction. It starred Eddie Murphy as a real estate agent whose family was trapped inside the haunted Gracey mansion one stormy night. The only hold-overs from the original film were Mr. Gracey and Madame Leota (still inside her crystal ball), all the other characters and the whole story is totally different. 

One of the biggest differences between the original and this reboot is the over-reliance on computer-generated special effects for the ghostly appearances and events in this new one, while the first movie had more practical stunts and effects.  One of the highlights of first movie was the mausoleum scene which had Murphy and his kids being attacked by skeletal zombies, all designed by no less than Academy-award-winning makeup artist Rick Baker. 

While the comedy of the first movie mainly relied on Eddie Murphy and his facial expressions, the comedy of this new film was an ensemble effort, with Wilson, Haddish, De Vito and Curtis taking the lead. Stanfield was not obviously not a natural comic, but his dramatic scenes certainly connected.  While Dillon was excellent in "Underground Railroad," but here, he, at 13, looked and felt too mature to be 9 years old child. 

Overall, this film was a lot more fun and entertaining than I was expecting. It feels like a theme park ride at times with the ghostly voice-overs and all the dimensional shifting involved, and that is just how one should watch this. It was also able to give the characters some closure with the issues in their lives. One would wonder why a movie like this is being released in summer instead of Halloween when its theme seemed more appropriate. 7/10. 

Vivamax: Review of BISYO!: Snuffed Sneaker Sense

July 22, 2023

While campaigning for his reelection, Vice Mayor Rodrigo "ViceRod" Garcia (Mark Anthony Fernandez) says he only has two vices -- his constituency and his shoes. He did not mention his fondness for threesomes with his girlfriends Orange (Jenn Rosa) and Maiko (Maiko Ortaliz). ViceRod was also a very corrupt politician who has his dirty fingers dipped into all sorts of illegal businesses -- guns, alcohol and drugs. 

James (Gold Aceron) was a young man who worked in the shoe warehouse of ViceRod, but was also his drug courier on the side. However, James seriously wanted to quit his dangerous job in order to establish his own sneaker store called Legit. His girlfriend Lisa (Ataska), ViceRod's son Zach (Aerol Carmelo) and Zach's girlfriend and James's ex Tin (Angelica Hart) are all out in support of James' dream store. 

I just recently learned about how exciting the community of sneakerheads is in this country, so the topic should have been a great idea.  There was even a mystery character introduced from the very first scene -- a hooded guy who sold unique and expensive sneakers on his website calling himself OG Supremo. It would have been interesting if we knew more about his shoes, his sources and his rise to online popularity - but there was none of that.

However, since this was a Vivamax film, the main story had to give way to a very old-hat story of political corruption and sexual infidelity, practically the content of each and every feature film on this streaming app. Having a VICE mayor as the main antagonist was because the film was about vices (groan). The exploitative sex scenes here were too long, tiresome, and devoid of class, with the guys seemingly drugged out of their minds. 

Gold Aceron should really be given a more substantial material than this one. His role as James could have been better developed, but pity that it was just rushed carelessly.  Ataska is being built up to be the next Vivamax It-girl, and she was even given a chance to sing an original song here. Meanwhile, isn't Mark Anthony Fernandez getting tired playing a lecherous dirty old man in all his Vivamax films? Typecast but with fringe benefits, I guess. 1/10. 

     

Review of JOY RIDE: Amusing Asian-Americans

July 21, 2023

Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park) was adopted as a child from China by a loving white couple from Seattle. She had always been an achiever at school and was now a successful lawyer. Her best friend since childhood best friend was Lolo Chen (Sherry Cola), whom she met on a playground when they just moved in. Lolo grew up to be a bit of a slacker who would rather spend her time creating naughty art work. 

One day, Audrey was sent to Beijing to close an important deal with a Chinese businessman Chao (Ronnie Chien) in order to make partner at her firm. Tagging along with her on this trip were Lolo and her socially-inept cousin nicknamed Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). In Beijing, Audrey met up with her college best friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu), now a popular actress in TV dramas. Lolo and Kat did not hit it off very well when they first met.

Asians female actors and raunchy comedy is certainly not a combination anyone would think of for a Hollywood film. Yet here we have four young Asian-American actresses going all out in foul-mouthed, naughty gags. At first, you'd think it would only go as far as dirty language. But everything got more physical at the hotel with the basketball players, reaching a climax during that scandalous dance at the airport.  So shocking yet oddly liberating at the same time.

Ashley Park has a thriving career on Broadway musicals (Tony-nominated for "Mean Girls") before she ventured into TV ("Emily in Paris", "Beef") and now film. Stephanie Hsu is fresh from an Oscar-nominated role in last year's best picture "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu started off their careers doing stand-up comedy and this is their breakthrough film. Some comedy parts were rough, but generally quite entertaining.

It is remarkable that the creators of this film were all Asian women as well. The script was written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, both of whom had written for "Family Guy." The director is Adele Lim, a Malaysian screenwriter most noted for writing the screen adaptation of "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018). "Joy Ride" marks her directorial debut, and she was able to tell and balance the cringe-y raunch with a palpable heart. 

Above all the shenanigans, "Joy Ride" is about a child who grew up in another country with a different culture discovering her roots in her motherland. In this light, it shares the spirit of "The Farewell" (Lulu Wang, 2019) about a girl who migrated to the US as a child reconnecting with her family back in China. In contrast to the loud, over-the-top comedy elsewhere in the film, Director Lim and lead Park handled this drama with subtlety, and it stuck its landing. 8/10. 

Review of MARY CHERRY CHUA: Vindictive Victim

July 21, 2023

Mary Cherry Chua ( Abby Bautista) was a topnotch student in Regina Coeli Academy in 1965. One day, she was found dead in the pool area by a janitor, Emilio Baldonado (Rolando Inocencio), who was blamed and convicted for her murder. Since then, the matter of her brutal death and stories of her ghost haunting the school grounds had been an urban legend among the students over the years.

30 years later, second year high school student Karen Dimaranan (Ashley Diaz) was particularly curious about the mystery surrounding Mary Cherry Chua. She chose to investigate the case further as the topic of her term paper for her English class under Mr. Manzano (Joko Diaz). For her partner, the teacher assigned class bully Paco (Kokoy de Santos). Unfortunately, no one among the senior staff or faculty was willing to be interviewed. 

An old school had always been very commonly used as the setting of a horror film, where a restless ghost of a deceased past student would sow terror among the current batches.  A fairly recent example would be Mikhail Red's "Eerie" (2019) which was also about a Catholic school haunted by female students who had previously died in the campus. It was likewise set in the 1990s so that the students would have to visit the library instead of the internet. 

However, writer-director Roni S. Benaid injected surprising plot points along the way to distinguish it from prior films of the same sub-genre. There was only one ghost in the whole film, so effort had to be made to vary the ways how Mary Cherry would haunt Karen, with varying success. This led to plot holes (why haunt someone who is trying to help, instead of the perpetrator?), some simply led nowhere (what happened after the induced heart attack?).

Ashley Diaz is a tall, mature-looking 19 year old, so it would have been better to make Karen a senior instead of sophomore. She dwarfed co-stars Lyca Gairanod (as her BFF Faith) and Krissha Viaje (as her nurse elder sister Lena). With the benefit of hindsight, the casting of Joko Diaz as the teacher of his daughter Ashley was a stroke of genius. Rascally Kokoy de Santos as Karen's reluctant partner lent humor and "kilig." 5/10. 

Review of OPPENHEIMER: Prometheus Physicist

July 18, 2023

J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cilian Murphy) was a renowned theoretical physicist who was credited for bringing quantum mechanics from Europe to America. He rubbed elbows with renowned, Nobel-winning scientists of that time -- Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh), Werner Heisenberg (Matthias Schweighöfer), Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett), Enrico Fermi (Danny Deferrari) and Edward Teller (Benny Safdie).

In 1942, Oppenheimer was chosen by Col. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) to head the Manhattan Project, develop atomic bombs in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and finish them in time to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end the war and secure American victory. Oppenheimer was celebrated as a hero, and was then offered directorship of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton by Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.). 

Oppenheimer's main claim to historical immortality was of course the main story of this massive cinematic masterpiece. Also weaved in were Oppenheimer's relationships with his girlfriend Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and his wife Kitty Harrison (Emily Blunt), Oppenheimer's controversial politics and the aftermath of the bomb on his conscience. This is a whole different level of cinema, 180 intense minutes that grips you all the way.

Being a Christopher Nolan work, this was far from a typical biopic. So like other Nolan films, the audience needs to pay close attention because every little detail -- words, images, color, sounds -- mattered. It had multiple characters (scientists, communists, military men, lawyers, and politicians) in events which were not told in chronological order.  For those who do not know the history, there was even a twist that Nolan springs on the 11th hour.

As early as now, this film's Oscar prospects include Best Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, as well as for a slew of technical categories -- Cinematography (Hoyte Van Hoytema), Film Editing (Jennifer Lame), Musical Score (Ludwig Goransson) and Sound Design. Downey, Damon, Pugh and Blunt also stand a good chance to nab Supporting nominations. Calling it, Christopher Nolan will finally win his first Oscar. 10/10. 

 

Review of BARBIE: Feministic Fervor

July 19, 2023

Stereotypical Barbie (Margo Robbie) and the other Barbies lived in Barbieland, a land where women dominated society, serving as the president, supreme court, doctors, writers, and so forth. On the other hand, all Ken (Ryan Gosling) and the other Kens did all day was to hang around the beach bumming around. Ken had a crush on Barbie, and only felt his day was complete when she noticed him. However, Barbie would rather spend her nights with her fellow Barbies. 

One night at a dance party, Barbie was suddenly stricken by thoughts of dying. The next day, she woke up feeling out of sorts, her daily routine all not going right. The last straw came when her feet could not remain on tiptoes as they were expected to after removing her shoes. Upon consultation with Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), Barbie was told that she has go to the Real World to find her owner Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt), who was responsible for her depression.

The history of about how the advent of the Barbie doll revolutionized dolls for little girls was effectively executed via a witty beginning sequence inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey." When we finally see Barbieland, we were enthralled by all its brightly and stylishly-dressed residents representing different races and occupations, and all its delightful, mostly pink infrastructure, vehicles and household appliances.  These are shoo-ins for Oscar nominations in art direction, costume design and hair and makeup.

The screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach told a story which was likely furthest from the shallow childish plot most viewers were expecting. At the beginning, everything was all fun and games, but when Barbie suddenly became self-aware at that party, the story was just beginning to get much deeper than what the trailer would make you believe. The message of sexual politics was serious, but director Gerwig maintained the delightful absurdity and over-the-top foolishness both in Barbieland and the Real World. 

Margot Robbie was definitely perfect for the role of Barbie, and she also nailed the dramatic arc her character would traverse in this film. Ryan Gosling may look too old to be Ken, but this Ken was a richer and more intense character, and he also got to sing.  Simu Liu felt miscast as a Ken, but seeing Kingsley Ben-Adir (previous Malcolm X and current Gravik) as another Ken was an even bigger surprise. Will Ferrell did his Mattel CEO role as he always did well with his previous quirky characters with heart. Helen Mirren gave a chipper yet calming narration. 

The closing credits was fun to watch as it confirmed that all the Barbie and Ken dolls shown, and the costumes they wore were actually based on real dolls. The same was true with other less popular (or discontinued) characters in the Barbie cinematic universe, like the pregnant Midge (Emerald Fennell) and Allan (Michael Cera), among others. Not to mention, it was also in the closing credits that we hear Aqua's iconic "Barbie Girl", albeit only aa a sample in Nicki Minaj's "Barbie World." And yes, the 9-dash line controversy was a non-issue here. 7/10. 

Vivamax: Review of HOME SERVICE: Misuse the Masseuse

June 14, 2023

Happy (Hershie de Leon) was an on-and-off nursing student, who resorted to being a freelance home service masseuse to earn her tuition and boarding house rental.  She would even go all the way as extra service if the client requested it so she can earn more, but she drew her line at kissing lips to lips. She spent her days walking around the streets of the University Belt, pulling her red suitcase that contained her massage paraphernalia behind her.

One day, Happy was picked up by wedding planner Precious (Angelica Cervantes) who hired her to give her a massage at her house. Precious complimented Happy on her beauty and encouraged her to be a model under her company. She called her business partner and photographer Leo (Mon Mendoza) to conduct Happy's photo shoot. When the photos were ready for pick up, Leo called Happy over to give him a home service massage as well.  

Since the three main actors were newbies, the thing that caught my attention about this particular Vivamax film was the name of the director -- Ma-an Asuncion Dagñalan. This is actually Dagnalan's follow-up project after winning Best Director in Cinemalaya 2022 for her excellent last film "Blue Room." This is her first film for Vivamax, with a script by no less than her Palanca awardee husband Michael Angelo Dagñalan.

Perverse as it sounds, the plot about an attractive couple luring unwary money-strapped college students to become unwitting participants in viral porn videos was actually a cautionary tale. How this sneaky sleazy modus eventually climaxed in violence fit right into the Vivamax formula. With her DP TM Malones, Dagñalan captured the bustling atmosphere of downtown Manila as Happy walked along familiar streets like Recto and Mendiola. 

As for the sex scenes, which are the trademarks of a Vivamax film, Dagñalan unexpectedly had a good eye for blocking and choreographing them compared to other male directors.  However, Dagñalan's overall execution of the script was more miss than hit. Aside from the slow, prolonged sex scenes, there were also several repetitive scenes and long-winded scenes that bloated the film's running time to an interminable two hours. 

At least, De Leon, Cervantes and Mendoza, plus the relative veteran Vance Larena (as a corrupt police officer), looked like they were having fun during the filming, Dagñalan probably telling them not to take things too seriously. That final confrontation scene of Happy, Precious and Leo in the car was dead serious on paper, but the campy, over-the-top manner the three neophyte leads were delivering their lines was just inadvertently hilarious. 4/10. 

   

Review of OFW THE MOVIE: Insidious Informercial?

July 13, 2023

School teacher Ofelia Santos (Sylvia Sanchez) decided to become a domestic helper in the Middle East when her father became bankrupt and suffered dementia. She was employed in the household of Khalid (Mohamad Helmy) and Bahar (Hilda Gomez), who depended on her to do everything in their house. 

Josie Hermosa (Kakai Bautista) from Samar decided to become a domestic helper in Singapore to support her three other siblings who were not able to have any education like her. She was employed in the household of a popular celebrity Yuan Ji (Uno Santiago) who was as messy as he was handsome.

Feliza Gonzaga (Dianne Medina) was nursing school graduate who was forced to seek work in Canada as a caregiver because of unfortunate family circumstances. She was employed by Carlo (Mark Neumann) to care for his elderly, cantankerous and physically-impaired father Papa Jannsen (Bob Hamilton). 

Norman Rosales (Rafael Rossell) and Oscar Malabanan (Christian Vasquez) were skilled workers who both worked construction jobs in the Middle East (separately), while their wives took care of their growing children back home. The two had big dreams on what businesses to invest their savings in when they returned home for good.

Neal "Buboy" Tan began his directorial career in the mid-1990s with quickie flicks with naughty titles. His best-known work came a decade later, with films like "Ataul for Rent" (2007) and "Tarima" (2010). He also had films that tackled social issues like HIV in "HIV: Si Heidi, si Ivy at si V" (2010), maternity hospitals in "Bigkis" (2014), or street beggars in "Homeless" (2015). He tackles another advocacy in this, his latest film. 

For this film, which was produced in cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Tan told the stories of five Filipino individuals who had decided to try their luck of earning more money working abroad. This, admittedly, is already a very common topic tackled in several local films, usually sad stories of abuse and tragedy. Another common storyline was about two OFWs who fall in love with each other.

However here, Tan does something different as he spun his own positive take on the OFW saga. The tone of the whole film was so earnest and idealistic, at times saccharinely so. The humor can be corny and old-fashioned, except for Kakai Bautista's hilarious Josie segments (which had a "Sunday Beauty Queen" vibe). To his credit, Tan also added a little suspense before the final outcome of each story so things won't be totally predictable. 

The name actors in the cast do their best to carry their scenes with neophytes or non-actors, with varying success. A most distracting casting choice was that of the late John Regala as the father of Sylvia Sanchez when he was only 3 years her senior. There were awkward accents all over the place as spoken by a lot of minor characters playing foreigners. There were supposedly "Chinese" or "Singaporean" characters spoke unintelligible Mandarin. 

The poster says that the script was based on "true stories", but the film itself was not too clear on that claim. These characters felt real when their full names were all cited when given "OFW Awards" in one scene, and they were shown with their successful businesses afterwards. I was expecting Tan to show their real photos and how they are doing now over the closing credits as was usually done in biopics, but that did not happen. 

A most un-cinematic decision was having Arnell Ignacio, a past deputy administrator of OWWA, give short lectures about Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower, or how to work as a registered nurse in Canada. If not, he would spout trite inspirational platitudes, like how hard work would pay off. His talking head scenes made the whole film feel like a promotional ad for OWWA. Its message may be misconstrued. Is this film giving potential OFWs false hopes of a rosy future? 3/10. 

Review of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE:

July 12, 2023

The mission of IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), which he chose to accept, was to retrieve one half of a special key from Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) before she was captured by bounty hunters in the Namib Desert. With his skill in infiltration and disguise, Hunt learned that this key, when assembled, would give its owner the power to control a powerful AI technology called "The Entity" which had gone rouge and had wormed its way to sabotage digital security systems all over the world. 

That is the bare bones plot of this seventh installment of Tom Cruise's 27-year old "Mission Impossible" film franchise which started in 1996. Hunt, together with his computer-tech team of Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), was caught in an intense web of danger which involved charming pickpocket Grace (Hayley Atwell), glamorous arms dealer "White Widow" (Vanessa Kirby), silent killer Paris (Pom Klementief) and the "invisible" terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales). 

Christopher McQuarrie, who directed, wrote or co-wrote the last two MI adventures -- "Rogue Nation" (2015) and "Fallout" (2018) -- continues his brand of engaging storytelling of intricate espionage plots and breath-taking action sequences with amazingly conceptualized stunts. Both these aspects levelled up in this current film with its unseen main antagonist that subverts reality and wild stunts that make Ethan Hunt defy death several times over.

While Tom Cruise's real age is more evident now in his close-up shots, he is still a very credible action film hero here. Knowing that Cruise did all these dangerous stunts by himself gave them extra star points. That awesome scene where he rode his motorcycle off a ramp-like rock protrusion into mid-air had been seen since the first teaser it seems, but it never lost its exhilarating power, especially when seen now in its full context on the big screen.

We see Cruise riding a horse in the howling desert  sands while being chased by bad guys. We see him steal a police motorcycle to elude pursuers in Rome. He would later drive a yellow Mini-Cooper while handcuffed to Grace, a tricky scene which also tests Cruise's skills in physical comedy. The most heart-stopping scenes would take place on a runaway train as Ethan and Grace scrambled for safety before their train car plummets into the river below.

Stunts aside, it was the mind games -- hatching the plans, analyzing the situation, reading other people's thoughts --  that captivates discerning audiences. These had been the signature of "Mission Impossible" since its TV series days in the mid-1960s up to the present. Things were made more complicated this time around because their enemy was not human and can distort data to throw even the best set plans into disarray. Getting the key now was just the beginning, the rest is for Part 2. 9/10. 

Netflix: Review of SEASONS: Platonic Problems

July 10, 2023

Charlie (Lovi Poe) worked in post-production of films, and also sang acoustic sets in bars. Her best friend for the past 14 years was Kurt (Carlo Aquino), a businessman who was in the process of opening his own bar. Calling each other "Pangs" (short for "pangit" or ugly), they always went to parties and events together, and were in constant touch. However, despite what others thought, she insisted that their very close friendship was strictly platonic.

One day, Charlie decided to set Kurt up with Jane (Sarah Edwards), a baker who whipped up a killer carrot cake, Kurt's favorite. However, when Kurt and Jane hit if off and started going out regularly, Charlie began to miss her daily interactions with Kurt. It eventually came to a point that Charlie realized that she was actually in love with Kurt. Now, she was willing to swallow her pride and do whatever it takes to get Kurt to love her back.

The title does not refer to climate or spices. According to Charlie's mom, a "season" was a type of man who only entered her life for limited periods of time -- longer than a "fling" and shorter than a "lifetime." For a part that was supposed to explain what the title meant, that montage where Charlie talked about her various exes and classifying them into these types was written and executed in a very disorganized manner, even its subtitles. 

This story was by Lovi Poe and developed into a screenplay by Dwein Baltazar. Despite the rom-com treatment of director Easy Ferrer at the start, the film would soon go to very sad places. We only hear the story from Charlie's point of view, never Kurt's -- so we only know her flawed insights. This whole story only came about because of Charlie's unexplained friend-zoning of Kurt, but we don't really know what Kurt felt about her at all. 

Fortunately for this movie, the charisma of the lead actors save it from being a total loss.  According to Charlie, Kurt was always the ideal guy who did everything right. Romance movie staple leading man Carlo Aquino can definitely play Mr. Perfect effortlessly. Despite her character's very uncomfortable insecurity and self-loathing, the lovely Lovi Poe still managed to give a sympathetic enough portrayal that sort of redeemed Charlie at the end. 5/10. 

Vivamax: Review of BUGAW: Siblings Sell Sex

July 10, 2023

With his trusty mobile phone and notebook, Abraham (Raul Morit) managed the career of his 22-year old daughter Dolores (Alexa Ocampo) as an on-demand prostitute in their barrio. She had set her limits as to what she was willing to do and not, and her father made sure her tricks would toe the line. Their earnings supported the education of younger siblings Isaac (Clifford Pusing) and Gloria (Juharra Zhianne Asayo). 

When tragedy struck, enterprising teenager Isaac had to take over from where their father left off. Isaac would soon discover that his father answered to a corrupt policeman only known as Ser (Jay Manalo). When Dolores became sickly, Ser was already targeting another nubile village lass Lydia (Ataska Mercado) to exploit. Unlike Dolores, Lydia was not going to be a willing participant in Ser's sordid schemes. 

The topic of poor young women (or men for that matter) going into prostitution is very commonly done in Philippine cinema. The unique thing about this particular one was that Dolores (and later even Isaac) seemed to be a willing servant in her father's skin trading to fulfill her duty as a child to earn money for her family. If not for their prostitution business, Abraham's family was actually a model of respect and filial devotion.  

Films about prostitutes are a popular choice among Vivamax filmmakers because with such a topic,  any number of sex scenes can be inserted which are "essential to the plot." However, writer-director-cinematographer Yam Laranas was actually able to give this Vivamax film a touch of class despite its inherent sleaze. The writing and storytelling were above average, the overall look was slick, and its social commentary was on point.

Jay Manalo can deliver this despicable role of Ser with his eyes closed. What is more remarkable here was that Laranas was able to elicit respectable performances from his young neophyte actors who played the lead roles. Ocampo, Mercado and Pusing all have promising acting careers even without resorting to baring their bodies. Even MJ Cayabyab gave a scene-stealing turn as Dolores's closeted customer Jovie. 6/10. 

Review of INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR: Fathers in the Further

July 10, 2023

Lorraine Lambert, mother of Josh (Patrick Wilson), had passed away, bringing with her secrets about Josh's past supernatural encounters. Josh was now divorced from his wife Renai (Rose Byrne), and his relationship with his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) was not going smoothly. To try to improve their bond, Josh agreed to Renai's suggestion to bring Dalton to settle in at the university where he was taking up Arts.

In his class, Dalton's professor (Hiam Abbass) instructed him to look deep within himself and draw the thing he sees inside. This led Dalton to begin to paint a picture of a red door. Upon the insistence of his roommate Chris (Sinclair Daniel), Dalton reluctantly attended a party at a frat house, where he began to have ghostly visions. Meanwhile, Josh was also being terrorized by a spirit whom he realized was his father. 

This installment of the "Insidious" franchise is the direct sequel to "Insidious: Chapter 2" where we saw a possessed Josh trying to kill his whole family. Nine years later, both Josh and Dalton were unaware that they had been subjected to memory suppression to help them deal with their traumatic experiences in both the Further and the real world. This time around, these astral projection memories are coming back up to haunt them again.

The original actors who played the Lambert family in the first "Insidious" (2010) -- Patrick Wilson as Josh, Rose Byrne as Renai, Ty Simpkins as Dalton and Andrew Astor as Foster -- are all back. The boys literally have grown up before the eyes of those who have followed this franchise. Simpkins is now 21 years old, Astor is 23. The way Simpkins was styled here, he looked quite mature for his age, looking a tad too old to be Wilson's son.  

This is Patrick Wilson's directorial debut, and he did well balancing family drama with the horror. There was a lot of nostalgia seeing Lipstick-Faced Demon (Joseph Bishara), Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson (as Specs and Tucker) and of course, the beloved Lin Shaye (as Elise Rainer) back. The jump scares were good (especially that one in the CT scan). However, the frat house humor was annoying and the final resolution felt too simplistic. 7/10.

Review of MISSING: Technological Tracking

July 4, 2023

June Allen (Storm Reid) lost her father James (Tim Griffin) to a brain tumor when she was 6 years old. Since then, she was raised by her mother Grace (Nia Long) as a single parent. Her mother would ask her lawyer friend Heather (Amy Landecker) to babysit June if necessary. When June became a teenager, her relationship with her mother became strained because Grace always wanting to know where she was at all times. 

Recently, Grace met a man named Kevin (Ken Leung) on an online dating app and they hit it off quite well in the next few months. One day, Grace and Kevin went off to a weekend vacation to Cartagena, Colombia, leaving June behind to watch the house. When June went to the airport to pick Grace and Kevin up at the Los Angeles Airport, they never showed up. Panicked, June went online on various apps and websites to look for them.

"Missing" is another example of a recently-developed visual technique in films called "screenlife," which told its story using only images displayed on monitors of a desktop computer, laptop or mobile phone.  This term was first coined by Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov in 2015 to describe his film "Unfriended," a horror film about a dead girl getting even with her bullies told via screencasts from a MacBook. 

In 2018, Bekmambetov produced a film directed by Annesh Chaganty, entitled "Searching," a thriller about a distraught father looking for his missing daughter, also told only using computer and phone monitors. Even if the characters and plot are not similar, "Missing," which is written and directed by Will Merrick and Will Johnson, is a sequel of sorts to "Searching," the second film in a planned screenlife anthology. Chaganty was one of the producers.

Like "Searching," the basic story also a took lot of twists and turns as June went hacking through email accounts, social media sites, security sites owned by both Grace and Kevin, against the advice of Heather and FBI agent Park (Daniel Henney). Using an app, she was able to hire Javier (Joaquim de Almeida), a courier in Cartagena, to do various errands for her. Everytime she thought she had a breakthrough, something else happens to stymie her again.

The start did not grab me right away, especially with June's teenager angst. When the main story of Grace's disappearance began to unravel, you get hooked in with June's tech skills coming into play, even if I did not exactly understand how she's doing it. However, the plot twists do became too farfetched as the violence goes over the top. Then, that final twist just so shocking, too good -- until the plot holes reveal themselves afterwards. 7/10.  

Netflix: Review of NIMONA: Dispelling Discrimination

July 2, 2023

The Institute for Elite Knights had been training warrior knights, all descendants from the original knights of legendary Gloreth, who vanquished a great monster that terrorized the kingdom 1000 years ago. The current Queen Valerin (Lorraine Toussaint) made a controversial decision to knight a commoner Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed), together with his lover Ambrosius Goldenloin (Eugene Lee Yang), a direct descendant of Gloreth.

At the ceremony, a green laser light emitted from Ballister's sword which killed the Queen. Ballister went into hiding and was shunned by the Director (Frances Conroy) and all his fellow knights, including Ambrosius. He was visited by a boyish teenage girl named Nimona (Chloe Grace Moretz), who wanted to be the sidekick of a villain. Using her shape-shifting abilities, Nimona helped Ballister get away and solve the mystery of the Queen's murder.

This is the first animated feature by the animation arm of Annapurna Pictures, the indie film outfit which produced Best Picture nominees like "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012), "Her" (2013), "American Hustle" (2013), and "Vice" (2018). It is based on the 2015 graphic novel by ND Stevenson, adapted by Robert Baird and Lloyd Taylor, directed by the team of Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, who was also responsible for Blue Sky's "Spies in Disguise" (2019).

A futuristic Middle Ages was a very interesting setting for this beautifully-designed and animated murder mystery film. The whodunnit is not that challenging, as you could easily guess the perpetrator. However the thorny relationship between Ballister and Nimona was a strong fulcrum around which the story turned. The theme may be quite dark, but the fun sense of humor and the animation of Nimona's pink animal forms balanced things out very well. 

The plot held within it multi-layered conflicts, tackling several forms of discrimination. The LGBTQ aspect (which actually delayed the production of the film as Disney balked) was revealed right at the start. That Gloreth was depicted as white and blonde suggested a Nazi-like supremacist ideology among her blind followers. The beautifully sad segment telling of  the story between Nimona and Gloreth was the emotional core of the film. 8/10.