Mini-Reviews of THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE and ARCADIAN

April 21, 2024

THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE

Director: Guy Ritchie

During World War II, the UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) secretly supported a mission commanded by Brigadier Colin Gubbins (Cary Elwes), to be executed by Gus March-Phillips (Henry Cavill) and his team, along with Special Operations agents Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and Marjorie (Eiza Gonzalez) . Aside from the danger from the German navy led by SS commander Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), they also faced arrest by the British navy if they were caught plying restricted areas, as they were not really authorized to be there. 

The true-to-life story based on Operation Postmaster, Guy Ritchie as director, plus the array of big-name actors in the cast, made this film very highly anticipated. The true history was modified for more cinematic tension and entertainment value, that's understandable. However, there were times when the comic relief went too far or the espionage details too complex.  The massive physique and screen presence of Alan Ritchson (as Danish naval officer Anders Larssen) stole the thunder from his bigger-name glamour-boy co-stars like Cavill, Henry Golding, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Alex Pettyfer.  7/10

ARCADIAN

Directed by Ben Brewer

In a post-apocalyptic future, Paul (Nicolas Cage) has been raising his twin boys Joseph (Jaeden Martell) and Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) since they were infants. He had been able to keep them safe for the past fifteen years in his remote farmhouse. It had been their routine to lock and board themselves up in their house when night falls, as there were deadly creatures on the prowl. One day, the impulsive Thomas met and had a crush on pretty Charlotte (Sadie Soverall) from Rose Farm nearby, and he got more reckless, exposing himself and his family to mortal danger.

We never really learn too much about what happened at the beginning to cause the desolate and desperate world there Paul and his sons lived. The film also does not tell us how the black, hairy monsters of the night came to be. The beginning set-up took a bit of time, but once the night-time terror made itself known by the deep scratches it left on walls, director Ben Brewer kept the audience on edge with his brand of tension. The creature design was wolf-like, but with frenetic seizure-like ferocity. Shaky cam was used a lot here, perhaps thinking it would add to the grittiness of the scenes -- I am not a fan.  5/10. 

Review of LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL: Telecast of Terror

 April 19, 2024

The ratings of late night television show "Night Owls" starring Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) and his sidekick Gus O'Connell (Rhys Auteri) had been lagging very badly. Even an episode that featured Jack's cancer-stricken wife Madeleine (Georgina Haig) was not enough to attract audiences.  Jack really needed this latest episode to do very well during the critical Sweeps period in order for his show to survive. 

For this Halloween show, Jack invited psychic Christou (Fayssal Bazzi) who claimed to be able to receive messages from the dead: a magician-turned-skeptic Carmichael (Ian Bliss), who relished the chance to debunk claims of supernatural events; and best-selling author / parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon) and her ward Lilly (Ingrid Torreli), a young girl who can channel an evil entity she called Mr. Wriggles.

This film began like a documentary to introduce the "Night Owls" TV show and how it could not keep up with the competition at its time slot (specifically Johnny Carson). This served to set up the desperation of host Jack Delroy and the depths he was willing to scrape just to keep his show on the air. The main part of this film was supposedly surviving footage of that infamous October 31, 1977 episode when Delroy dared to air a show with the devil himself.

Dastmalchian's Jack was an unscrupulous showman who would do anything for ratings. Auteri's Gus spoofed subservient talk show sidekicks.  Gordon's June was a professional whose expertise was difficult to take seriously. Bazzi's Christou faked so obviously that he could not convince people when it was real. Bliss's Carmichael was arrogant and tactless, but authoritative. Torreli's Lilly was pretty, but something felt off from the first time we see her. 

Writing-directing partners Cameron and Colin Cairnes built things up steadily but surely. Things escalate from Christou's sham act, to that Lilly's possession by Mr. Wriggles, onto Carmichael's wormy mass-hypnotic rebuttal, before climaxing in total head-splitting, neck-ripping and face-melting Grand Guignol mayhem. All this, plus the deplorable off-camera behavior of the production crew, make for a darkly comic and terrific horror spectacle. 8/10. 

Vivamax: Mini-Reviews of STAG, SWEET RELEASE, WANTED: GIRLFRIEND, DAYO

April 19, 2024

STAG

Written and Directed by: Jon Red

Gold (Gold Aceron) is going to be the best man at the wedding of his best friend Karl (Aerol Carmelo). While he was driving on a mountain road on his way to the stag party, his old beat-up car overheated and stalled. There was no phone or internet signal in the area, so Gold could not call for help. While we was walking around to ask for help, he saw a house.  Living inside were a strange couple (Yda Manzano and Allan Paule) who would not let him go.

This has got to be the most bizarre Vivamax feature since its inception. The whole film was just one long roller-coaster nightmare for Gold while stuck in the house of a weirdo family. The titular stag party, which did not even really matter in the story. Interesting quirky scenes include Yda Manzano's recitation of a vulgar poem and Jaime Fabregas sharing his wisdom. The effort to be different and darkly comic is appreciated, even if did not really make too much sense. 4/10. 

SWEET RELEASE

Directed by: Pancho Maniquis

Written by: Pancho Maniquis and Alex Blanco

Rian (Ataska) called it quits with her boyfriend Tim (Nathan Cajucom) when she accepted that he was gay. Xan (Dyessa Garcia) had just separated from her boyfriend Nato (Anthony Dabao) who has to leave indefinitely to take care of his ailing father. They planned to take a long road trip together to "find themselves." They bring along Xan's neighbor Lucas (Mhack Morales), who also feeling very miserable about something. 

The premise about taking a road trip to do soul searching may sound very old hat, but this film actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Outside those distracting sex scenes and stilted acting of the supporting actors, the scenes where the three main characters were just driving around and talking with each other were actually good, especially with the easy, natural chemistry among the three main actors: Ataska, Dyessa and unexpectedly, even newcomer Mhack. 6/10

WANTED: GIRLFRIEND

Directed by: Rember Gelera

Written by: Frederick Castro

Axel (Yuki Sakamoto) was a sex addict who enjoyed having sex with his partner in places where other people can catch them in the act. His current partner nurse Athena (Shiena Yu) could not stand this habit anymore, so she decided to break up with him. It did not take long for him to find a new girlfriend in Nica (Reina Castillo), even as his old girlfriend Jel (Ayra Salvador) still called him for virtual sessions. 

This has got to be the lowest of the lowest in the whole history of Vivamax. At least in other Vivamax features, there's somehow an effort to craft a story, no matter how slim the plot. This one had absolutely no coherent story to tell -- just a series of unappealing sex scenes, meaningless conversations and overacting bad actors. Athena's worst scene was when she and her fellow nurse Francis (Seonwoo Kim) had a wild go at each other right there in their clinic when the doctor was away. This was downright trash. 1/5

DAYO

Directed by Sid T. Pascua

Written by Sid T. Pascua and Quinn Carrillo

Club dancer Elsa (Rica Gonzales) has had enough of living in the house of her abusive auntie Mameng (Sue Prado) and her leech husband Bhong (AJ Oteyza).  She went to La Union to live with her best friend Kakai (Audrey Avila). Elsa met delivery boy Eddy (Calvin Reyes), a friend of Kakai's boyfriend Fredo (Nathan Rojas). However one day, a vindictive previous dissatisfied customer Marc (Marco Gomez) showed up and harassed Elsa. 

The story of a prostitute trying to escape her past has been told and retold in many Vivamax films before. By the time drugs entered the story, it was already quite clear where the direction of the plot was going. However, writer-director Pascua gave each of his four main characters a difficult moral dilemma to decide on, making the ending less predictable than we first thought. The setting of La Union was beautiful, the use of Ilocano lines added more grit, but the actors could've done better. 5/10. 

Review of UNDER PARALLEL SKIES: Harboring Happiness

April 18, 2024

Bhuritparin or Parin (Win Metawin) was a young wealthy Thai man who was looking for his mother. Unhappy about her life, his mother Pimchan (Duangjai Hiransri) decided to secretly leave their home. She had already gone away for one month before anyone in their busy household even noticed that she was not there. When Parin got a tip that she was in Hong Kong, he flew there to find her. Stressed out, he was always angry, rude and drunk. 

Iris (Janella Salvador) was the Filipina receptionist on duty in the hotel that night when Parin checked in.  He was dead drunk when he arrived, so he passed out while Iris was attending to him. As the hotel was short-staffed, she had to be the one to pull him across the hallways to get him settled into his room. The hotel supervisor (Marj Lorico) was advised by Parin's father to take special care of his son, so she assigned Iris to be his personal assistant. 

Janella Salvador gave a very open and natural performance as Iris and this was the film's trump card. Her Iris was like a friend we all knew, bubbly and friendly, very relatable. We rally for her optimism and care about what happens to her character. Win Metawin's Parin started off as an annoying spoiled drunk brat, not easy to like. But as expected, the magic of Iris's personality was able to transform Parin into a totally new and improved person. 

The lead characters were Filipino and Thai and the story was set in Hong Kong, so the script had three languages in it. The international cast came from the Philippines (Salvador, and Lorico who had a touching scene as Iris's boss), Thailand (Matawin, and Hiransri in a sublime performance as Parin's mother) and Hong Kong (Lee King Lok as Ho Yin, a smiling fisherman fond of Canto-pop on cassette, and Juliana Wong Pui Chun as Cynthia, a friendly realtor). 

This new film written and directed by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo could have been just another romance film. It started with a meet-cute with initial antagonism, which eventually developed into real love, as familiar romantic story formulas go. However, the inter-cultural  perspective that Bernardo took in her story-telling, together with the winsome chemistry of her two lead stars Metawin and Salvador, gave this film a distinctive dimension of its own. 7/10

Review of SUNNY (2024): Gathering a Gang

April 16, 2024

Back when they were in high school in 1996, Annie (Heaven Peralejo) was a new transferee fresh from the province and being bullied by the mean girls. Chona (Bea Binene) welcomed her into their gang called "Sunny." The members included: fake eyelashes fan Dang (Abby Bautista), shopaholic Gwen (Ashtine Olviga), nerdy writer Janet (Ashley Diaz), beauty queen wannabe Becky (Heart Ryan), and icy magazine covergirl Sue (Aubrey Caraan). 

In the present time, Annie (Vina Morales) learned that Chona (Angelu de Leon) had cancer and little time left to live. Chona requested Annie to gather their gangmates together for a long-overdue reunion. Annie gladly accepted, and found most of her friends. Dang (Candy Pangilinan) sells insurance, Gwen (Sunshine Dizon) married a rich playboy, Janet (Tanya Garcia) and Becky (Katya Santos) fell on very tough times. Sue can't be found.

This film was an adaptation of a hit Korean film (yes, another one) with the same title released way back 2011. Written and directed by Kang Hyeong-cheol, the original "Sunny" wound up as the second highest grossing Korean film of 2011, and still holds as the 13th highest grossing Korean film of all time. The story about dynamics of female friendship is universal, and could easily have been made by a Filipino filmmaker as well, but alas that was not the case. 

Just earlier this year, "Road Trip" (Andoy Ranay, 2024) also tackled basically the same themes of friends gathering together upon the death of one of their gang mates. The writer and star of "Road Trip" was Candy Pangilinan, who was also one of the stars here in "Sunny" which also gathered together young stars of the 1990s to play the middle-aged characters. Morales and de Leon never lost their touch for drama despite a long absence on the big screen. 

The high-school flashbacks were basically the same old stories about teen foolishness, beach outings, puppy love, adolescent angst, senseless bullying and gang rivalries. The stars, especially Peralejo and Binene, were effusively energetic, but there was nothing really new. Writer Mel Mendoza-del Rosario and director Jalz Zarate could have trimmed off some excess fat, like the labor rally bit or the repetitious scenes with bad girl Ellen (Andrea Babierra). 6/10

Netflix: Review of A JOURNEY: A Therapeutic Trip to Tasmania

 April 15, 2024

Shane (Kaye Abad), Bryan (Paolo Contis) and Kristoff (Patrick Garcia) had been the best of friends since their childhood. Kristoff became a famous film matinee idol and a playboy bachelor. Shane married Bryan and the two were very happy together, until she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After an arduous treatment regiment, she eventually recovered, but this toxic and stressful experience had caused them to be childless. 

Five years later, it was discovered that the cancer had metastasized to her lung. Afraid to undergo the same ordeal, she decided that she did not want to undergo chemotherapy all over again. Instead, she listed down a number of things she wanted to do with the remaining time in her life, calling it her "Magic List." While sad that Shane seemed to have surrendered, Bryan and Kristoff go all the way helped her check each item off her bucket list.

The pacing of director RC delos Reyes was quite fast in the first act, and kept the atmospehre light despite the serious topic. Within the first ten minutes of the film, Shane was seen coughing blood out, clearly indicating a seriously ill protagonist. At this point, I dreaded that this would just go the usual lugubrious of most dramas about terminal illness. However, screen writer Onay Sales-Camero sprung several surprises on us along the way. 

By the 30 minute mark, the three friends were already driving along the streets of Tasmania on their healing road trip. It was in this exotic island that the film took its time to let the drama simmer and overflow. It was delightful to see a Tasmanian devil, baby penguins, and a heartwarming surprise comeback by Jimmy Santos (as Shane's estranged father Mr. T). That beautiful scene set inside the church was the melodramatic highlight of the whole film.  

Abad, Contis and Garcia were all graduates of the 90s teen series "Tabing Ilog" and that would explain their easy natural chemistry with each other that made this film work perfectly. Abad has not been onscreen for five years already, but she has not lost her touch for drama. Contis was able to show off the range of his talents in playing the distraught husband Bryan. As Kristoff (or "Tupe"), Garcia was still his old charming self with his easy smile.

To further remind us of this "Tabing Ilog" connection, there were actually scenes of the three hanging around and having fun on a riverside dock. There was a surprise cameo of another "Tabing Ilog" actress in the epilogue. The song playing over the closing credits was the theme of "Tabing Ilog" originally written and sung by Barbie Almalbis as Barbie's Cradle, but this version is a cover by Vanessa Garcia.  

This film talks about cancer and who decides on what to do about it -- patient or family? In the midst of all the tearful declarations of love, there were uncomfortable statements made about selfishness. Is a patient selfish for choosing not to undergo any treatment? Is a significant other selfish for wanting the patient to undergo the painful surgery, radiation and chemo that he does not like? Surely, these are difficult decisions no one wants to have to make. 7/10

Review of CIVIL WAR: Photojournalistic Processes

April 14, 2024

The United States is embroiled in a violent war where the federal government was going against a strong secessionist movement from the states of California and Texas. The lame duck President (Nick Offerman) was still making statements on television that he had things under control, even as violent bombings and civil unrest beset major cities.

Veteran war photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura) and mentor Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) drive from New York to Washington DC to interview the embattled US President. Along with them on this ride was Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), an aspiring photojournalist who idolized Lee. 

This epic war drama film was written and directed by Alex Garland. Before his directorial debut with sci-fi film about AI "Ex-Machina" (2014) that earned for him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay, Garland was first known as the writer of the apocalyptic zombie film that made Cillian Murphy a star -- "28 Days Later" (Danny Boyle, 2002). 

Stars Dunst, Moura, Henderson and Spaeny make a tight ensemble as we joined their perilous road trip and the various stops they made. Dunst played Lee as a grizzled veteran who has reached the point of saturation about war violence. While Henderson's Sammy had the calmness of experience, Spaeny's Jessie had the annoying brashness of youth.  The most chilling moment was care of an uncredited cameo by Jesse Plemons as a right-wing fanatic. 

It depicts a fictional situation set in the near future, something which still seems unlikely to happen at this point in time.  We join the story with the civil war already ongoing. Despite the title, the film did not really tell us what led to the secession movement that led to this civil war. While the war was there as the setting of the story, it was not about the war. Garland still made this war look and sound horrific just to push the advocacy that war is needless violence. 

The film only concentrated about telling the story of the road trip taken by four photojournalists to the heart of the war zone to get the scoop they want. Their dedication to their dangerous job may be seen as sheer recklessness and fool-hardiness by regular folk. However, without them, how would the world see the drama and atrocities of these wars? These intrepid souls provide humanity a precious service to document and warn against the stupidity of war.  8/10

Review of YOUR MOTHER'S SON: Vile Venereal Venom

April 12, 2024

During the pandemic, attractive middle-aged woman Sarah (Sue Prado) earned a living mainly by cooking native desserts and tutoring students online. She lived with a slacker young man Emman (Kokoy De Santos), whom she introduced as her son. In the afternoon, Emman would to the house of Amy (Elora Espano), the girl who helped Sarah with her food business. They would do drugs, which would invariably lead to rounds of sex. 

One day, Sarah brought home a younger lad Oliver (Miggy Jimenez), whom she introduced to be the son of her eldest brother. Oliver was being physically abused by his father, and Sarah thought it best to take the boy away from his home and bring him home with her. Ever since Oliver moved in, the insecure Emman could not help but feel paranoid that Sarah was getting closer to the new boy, while he was being pushed aside and taken for granted.

"Your Mother's Son" was one of four films written and directed by Jun Robles Lana released 2023, along with "About Us But Not About Us," "Ten Little Mistresses," and "Becky and Badette." It was first shown in Toronto, and a couple more foreign venues, before finally premiering in the Philippines tonight as the opening film of the IdeaFirst filmfest, launched to celebrate their 10th anniversary in the local film landscape.  

Indie film goddess Sue Prado always had this sensual screen presence, and she played it to the hilt here as earthy mama Sarah. With roles like Amy, Elora Espano seems to follow the same career path Prado took. With his tousled curls and big round eyes, Kokoy De Santos projects crazy and recklessness in all his roles. Often shrouded in clouds of his vape, De Santos captured the precarious imbalance of Emman's psyche. Miggy Jimenez has that air of innocence about him, which made his turn as Oliver feel more corrupted.

Lana's original cut of this foray into the erotic film genre first got an X-rating from the MTRCB. He was able to somehow make judicious cuts to make it R-18 for a commercial release. The story about perverted sex and its link to violence was the stuff of Vivamax erotica. However, Lana showed here how a such a sick sordid tale could be richly spun with layers of simmering steam and danger before its inevitable conclusion. 7/10. 

   

Review of GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE: Cold Continuation

April 9, 2024

Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), her boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace) were now running the Ghostbusters operations in New York City. Their missions were so destructive such that their nemesis, now NYC Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) wanted to close them down. Peck also found out that Phoebe was only 15, so they were forced to sideline her. 

Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Podcast (Logan Kim) now run a business dealing with cursed objects. One day, a guy named Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) brought them a brass ball that he found among his late grandmother's things. Their messing with the item set off paranormal energies that damaged of the Ghostbusters' 40-year old ecto-containment unit and released the giant ice monster Garraka confined within it. 

This new film is a sequel of the reboot film "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" (2022) which introduced us to the family left behind by original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler. In this one, the Spenglers, together with Gary, have moved to NYC to be the  new Ghostbusters. I admit I felt Callie Coon was very boring, Finn Wolfhard was quite annoying, Mckenna Grace was so angry -- these new Spenglers were not really that fun here than in "Afterlife."  

Of course, it was always great to see the original Ghostbusters -- Stantz, Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) and Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) -- back together on the big screen, even if it felt like they were only playing for laughs. However, their parts were longer than the cameos they had in "Afterlife," but they were still basically there to make fans happy. They did not even factor in significantly in defeating the enemy at the end.

Kumail Nanjiani was funny as Nadeem, but it felt so random and contrived how he could have a hidden superpower which of course would be instrumental against Garraka. Emily Alyn Lind had an interesting role as Melody, the teenage ghost Phoebe "met" while playing chess at the park. As for those classic all-time fan-favorite ghosts, Slimer and the cute little Stay Puft Marshmallow Men, they still got a lot of scenes to delight their fans.  6/10.

Review of THE FIRST OMEN: Delivering Damian

April 7, 2024

It was 1971 when American novice Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free) went to Italy to take her vows as a nun. Upon recommendation of her mentor Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy), she was assigned to go to a convent led by Abbess Sister Silvia (Sonia Braga), that was also an orphanage for exclusively female children. A priest there, Fr. Brennan (Ralph Ineson), warned Margaret to stay away from an orphan named Carlita Scianna (Nicole Sorace).

This new film is a prequel to a classic horror film from the 1970s -- "The Omen" (1976). In that first film, the newborn son of politician-diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) passed away right after he was born. Hoping to spare his wife Katherine (Lee Remick) from this trauma, Thorn agreed to replace his dead son with another baby boy also born on the same day, June 6 at 6 am, whose mother died giving birth to him. They named him Damien.  

This original film, directed by Richard Donner from a script by David Seltzer, was remarkable for its suspenseful storytelling and diabolical twists and turns. It was a solid 10/10 in my book, even upon repeat viewing now. It won an Oscar for its eerily atmospheric yet propulsive musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Its theme song "Ave Satani" was a left-field nominee for Best Original Song. It had memorably ghastly death scenes, two of which were actually remade in this prequel, but not as scary.  

Being a prequel, it goes without saying that we already know that a baby boy was going to survive at the end of this film -- the baby boy who will be offered to Robert Thorn in the 1976 film, who turns out to be the Antichrist. It is the mysterious identity of the mother which will keep you guessing. There was also a controversial side plot about a faction within the Church which wanted Antichrist to exist in the world for misguided reasons.

This film was released right after Michael Mohan's film "Immaculate," with which it uncannily shared a lot of common elements. Both start with an American novice nun sent to a convent in Italy to take her vows, and end with a difficult birth scene. There would also be a mentor priest, a suicide scene, a bad-influence fellow nun, even a climactic fire. But while "Immaculate" used a science fiction device, "The First Omen" stuck with the good old supernatural route. 7/10.  

Vivamax: Mini-Reviews of KASALO, TL and CHEATERS

April 4, 2024

KASALO

Directed by HF Yambao

Writer: Nigel Santos

Head writer: John Carlo Pacala

Lanna (Vern Kaye) was constantly having tense arguments with her husband Joaquin (Rash Flores). Rudy (Albie Casino) just broke up with his girlfriend Tricia (Mia Cruz). One day, both of them wound up booking the same car on the online app Kasalo. When the car they were sharing had a flat tire, the two of them decided to go into a nearby bar to drown out their respective relationship problems. From the bar, the two ended up in a motel. 

Both original pairs here -- Kaye and Flores, and especially Casino and Cruz -- had absolutely no chemistry. They were so mismatched, you can easily see why their characters were not compatible at all.  Try as she may, Kaye cannot do much to salvage her inherently problematic character. Casino does not seem to take his acting seriously here (or in any of his Vivamax films), coming across as lousy as ever. 1/10. 

TL

Directed by Jay Castillo

Written by Rijel Reyes

Head writer John Carlo Pacala

Brenda (Jenn Rosa) was the most productive agent in her team. When she was bypassed for a promotion to the SME position, her OM Joem (Manu Respall) recommended her to vie for the same position in the team led by TL Carl (Nico Locco), known to be a loyal family man with an environmental advocacy. While she still had daily trysts with her boyfriend Phil (Armani Hector), Brenda decided to butter up her TL to earn her promotion. 

Since its inception, Vivamax has certainly made a point of telling its audience that anyone, especially women, could always use their bodies to get a leg up in their careers. From real estate agents and cosplayers before, "TL" now brings us into the world of call center agents. Aside from Brenda, there were two other girls who were being rumored to be sleeping with their TLs, so this film does not exactly enhance their moral reputation of this profession.

As the lead actress, Jenn Rosa is a pretty girl, but she clearly still a neophyte actress. The unnaturally affected way Rosa spoke English to her American clients went against Brenda's supposed commendations for eloquence and speaking skills. These are nothing that a good acting workshop could improve. Nico Locco's Filipino language skills were much better, he looked ill at ease as TL Carl. His acting here was painfully mediocre. 2/10. 

CHEATERS

Directed by Dustin Celestino

Written by JC Pacala

April (Angeline Aril) was architect working in the firm of her boyfriend Mark (Jhon Mark Marcia), the son of the owner. In her desperation for a promotion, she thought she had to use her feminine wiles to land clients, with disastrous results. Meanwhile, Jonie (Aerol Carmelo) was the head chef of a restaurant owned by the company of his rich girlfriend Mae (Kara Fernandez). One day, April and Jonie met each other in a bar, and got along too well.

Since they were written by the same writer JC Pacala, "Cheaters" was practically a reworking of "Kasalo." Two individuals having problems with their significant others hook up for a secret affair, and then they contemplate whether they are doing the right thing or not. As before, Carmelo had a natural easygoing vibe in his acting. Aril is quite attractive, but her playing April as a dumb bimbo a bit too well may give viewers the wrong impression about her. Fernandez did not look like the type who'd bare in a Vivamax film.

Director Dustin Celestino had just proved his excellence as a director with "Sa Duyan ng Magiting," my #1 best Filipino film of 2023.  However, this new project of his was a disappointing follow-up. There wasn't much he could do with this lame story and script. During their few dramatic scenes (in between the numerous sex scenes), the limited acting skills of his neophyte cast here cannot save the pretentiousness of the script. 4/10

Review of EXHUMA: Ghouls from the Gravesite

April 4, 2024

Rich Korean-American Park Ji-yong's newly-born male son was suffering from a mysterious malady which Western medicine could not figure out. He hired Korean shaman Lee Hwa-rim (Kim Go-eun) and her assistant Bong-gil (Lee Do-hyun) to intervene. Hwa-rim diagnosed the situation as a case of  "Grave's Call," where an enraged spirit of an ancestor vented his vengeance on the eldest son of every generation after him. 

Upon their return to South Korea, Hwa-rim called on geomancer Kim Sang-duk (Choi Min-sik) and mortician Ko Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) to help her with her mission. They found the unmarked gravesite of Mr. Park's grandfather to be located on top of a mountain. They exhumed the ornately-carved coffin out of the ground, and Mr. Park wanted it cremated. However, they had to defer this because it was raining very hard.

The two feature films which Jang Jae-hyun had both written and directed, namely "The Priests" (2015) and "Svaha: The Sixth Finger" (2019), are in the mystery-horror genre with elements of religion. This new one is along the same vein, but more concentrated on Korean traditional beliefs and practices that deal with death and the afterlife. This one also touched on the deeply-rooted historical conflict between Korea and Japan.

To be completely frank, I went to watch this film mainly because of the presence of veteran actor Choi Min-sik, the star of such iconic films like "Oldboy" (2003), "I Saw the Devil" (2010) and "The Admiral: The Roaring Currents" (2015). I must say, that even if he is now in his 60's, his magnetic screen presence has not diminished at all. Choi's portrayal of Mr. Kim Sang-duk was convincing and authoritative. When his Mr. Kim spoke of feng-shui, we'd believe him.

It actually took me completely by surprise to see other familiar Korean actors in the cast.  I knew Yoo Hae-jin from his films "Luck Key" (2016) and "Confidential Assignment" (2017). The others I knew from K-dramas -- Kim Go-eun from "The King: Eternal Monarch" (2020), "Yumi's Cells (2021) and "Little Women" (2022); Lee Dong-yeun from "Sweet Home" (2020) and "The Glory" (2022); and Kim Sun-young (who was a senior shaman here) from "Reply 1988" (2015), "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019) and "Crash Landing on You" (2019). 

It is not hard to imagine why this is currently the top-grossing film of South Korea for 2024 so far. Even in local cinemas, "Exhuma" is still going quite strong even at one month in its run, likely due to good word of mouth. Surely, the all-star cast was a factor. Hearing Kim and Lee chanting spells was quite memorable. The eerie atmosphere and ghostly effects had us at the edge of our seats. That giant wire-bound coffin was terrifying sight in itself, but more so when we see the samurai creature inside rise up to its full towering height.  8/10. 

Review of DEARLY BELOVED: Frustrated Formalities

April 2, 2024

Subic Bay Yacht Club acting front manager Deo (Baron Geisler) and band singer Shel (Cristine Reyes) were living together with their two sons. Gelo (Tyro Gabriel Daylusan) was their biological child, while junior high student Nathan (Charles Law) was Shel's son from her ex Keith (Felix Roco). On some weekends, they are joined by two more kids -- Levi (Robbie Wachtel) and Trixie (Althea Ruedas), Deo's kids from his ex Rhoan (Phoebe Walker).

This complicated family drama by co-written and directed by Marla Ancheta. She had an auspicious directorial debut in 2020, when her "Finding Agnes" premiered on Netflix, and was actually my #1 Filipino film of that year (MY LIST). Her third film "Doll House" (MY REVIEW) became very popular when it premiered on Netflix in 2022, starring a newly-reformed Baron Geisler and child actress Althea Ruedas, both of whom are also here in "Dearly Beloved." 

Geisler's Deo was a proud man, loyal and dedicated at work, mild-mannered and sweet to his wife, and a responsible father to his children. It was very easy for audiences to side with him when life started to deal him bad cards and things started to fall apart. Geisler was very natural in his performance, playing Deo with dignified restraint. That one scene when Deo finally released the emotions he had been holding back will get Geisler cited for awards.

Cristine Reyes's mettle as a dramatic actress had already been proven before many times, and her turn here as Shel was no different. Her singing scenes were also a pleasant surprise. At one critical point, Shel declared what she wanted from Deo, and stood by her tough decision. This act of empowerment may come across as unreasonable and may be difficult for some audiences to understand why Shel's demand was that important for her

Ancheta set up the intricacies of the inter-personal relationships very well at the start. Everyone was supportive and got along very well, at least most of the time. The main conflicts lay in Deo and Shel's past baggage, and the effects brought about how they procrastinated to close those open doors. The only real villain in the story was Zach, a crass, ill-mannered, finger-snapping nepo-baby, played with annoying consistency by Benj Manalo. 

However, like many melodramatic films in the past, the main problem of this film was borne out of a lapse in communication. It could have just taken Deo a few seconds to mention what happened at work that day so that Shel would know where he was coming from. Instead, it was only mentioned much later only as a desperate plea for understanding, when the relationship was already handling by a thread. It did not have to reach that point at all. 6/10. 

Mini-Reviews of IMMACULATE and IMAGINARY: Twisted Terror Tropes

March 31. 2024

IMMACULATE

Directed by Michael Mohan

Sister Cecilia (Sidney Sweeney) accepted an invitation from Fr. Sal Tedeschi (Alvaro Morte) to join a convent in Italy which offered hospice services to sick and dying nuns. One day, she was called in by the Mother Superior (Dora Romano), the Cardinal (Giorgio Colangeli) to answer accusations of impropriety with men. An ultrasound examination revealed that Cecilia was with child, but she claimed to be a virgin. 

Sidney Sweeney first gained prominence in HBO series "Euphoria" and "White Lotus," which earned her Emmy nominations for her acting work. For this 2024 alone, we've seen her in "Anyone But You," "Madame Web," and now this one, playing very different characters and genres.  At age 26, she worked as producer in two of her latest films, so it looks like this young lady is well on her way to becoming a serious filmmaker.  

Some of the most intense horror films have been Catholic-themed, most notably "The Exorcist" and "The Omen," in which Catholic rites and beliefs were played up to provide a creepy atmosphere and plot points. In this film, the mystery of the Virgin Birth (not the Immaculate Conception, mind you) was given a modern, pseudo-scientific spin, ultimately giving the whole film a sacrilegious overall vibe. Sweeney gave her all to that brutal, bloody, single-take childbirth finale until its abrupt fade-out. 6/10. 

  

IMAGINARY

Directed by Jeff Wadlow

Jessica (DeWanda Wise) married a musician Max (Tom Payne) with two daughters: bitter teenager Taylor (Taegen Burns) and sweet curious Alice (Pyper Braun). Aside from problems getting along with the girls, Jessica was also troubled by nightmares about her mentally-ill father Ben (Samuel Salary). When they moved into Jessica's childhood home, Alice found an old teddy bear in the basement who became her imaginary friend Chauncey.

The imaginary friend of a child character has been a common trope in several famous horror films in the past, like "The Exorcist," "Poltergeist" to "Annabelle." The evil entity would possess an innocuous toy to get closer to a child, which it would then use to gain control of the family living in its house.  This vibe was very familiar here in "Imaginary" as well, although there some surprises along the way as the characters find themselves in a surreal maze of childhood horror.

Wise as Jess and child actress Braun as Alice both did well to maintain the likability of their respective characters. However Burns, as petulant eldest daughter Taylor, was certainly a very annoying character, as she kept fighting Jess and all her efforts to connect with her. It was very good to see Betty Buckley (70s "Eight is Enough" star and 80s Tony-winning original Grizabella) back on the big screen again as nosy neighbor Gloria. 5/10.