Review of DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE: Guffaws, Gore and Guests Galore

July 24, 2024

Six years after the events of "Deadpool 2", Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) had separated from his fiance Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), retired from being Deadpool and was working as a used-care salesman instead. One night, Wade was celebrating his birthday when he was abducted by Time Variance Authority (TVA) agent Mr. Paradox (Matthew MacFadyen) and sent on a mission to find Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to restore order to his timeline. 

This is a highly-anticipated film because it welcomes two popular Marvel characters from 20th Century Fox into the Marvel Cinematic Universe under Disney Studios. It is also notable that Disney maintained the R rating of "Deadpool," so the "strong violence and language throughout" which audiences enjoyed before will definitely stay. And stay they did, as blood and guts were already splattering around right at the opening credits!

Along with Deadpool, also making their MCU debuts are his friends from the last movie -- co-worker Peter (Rob Delaney), elderly roommate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), and X-force members: Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), her girlfriend Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna), steel-bodied giant Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) among others. Many more stellar superhero characters will show up, but those you just have to see for yourself, and cheer out of nostalgia!

Deadpool's hilarious signature "breaking of the fourth wall" went way into overdrive here than before. He would literally stop in the middle of a scene, and step away to talk to the audience, even grabbing the camera at one point. There was a scene where called Hugh (Jackman) by his real name and mocked his Australian accent. He was even talked about the downfall of 20th Century Fox and the fatigue over 'Multiverse"-themed superhero movies.  

The main driving force of this Shawn Levy film is the terrific interaction between the two title characters who both have the power of regenerative healing, which meant that they can slash, stab, impale, shred through each other with their Adamantium blades and survive to inflict more. On a more humorous vein, there was a generous dose of gay bromance gags between the two guys, peaking in that climactic costume-popping "Time Ripper" scene. Both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman went all out for this, and fans love them for giving their all.

The main antagonist was the telepath Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), who can literally gets her hand in her enemy's head. My one beef would probably be that long street fight scene with multiple iterations of one character which petered out in a weak ending. The music choices for the brutal fight scenes -- from N'Sync to "The Greatest Showman" to "Grease" to Madonna -- were very surprising. It is difficult to discuss this film without going into spoilers, but suffice it to say that it was definitely bloody fun all the way, with exciting guest cameos to thrill Marvel film fans. Non-fans, however, may find the relentless self-aware fan service a bit too overwhelming. 9/10. 

Netflix: Review of MORO: Fraternal Fissure

July 20, 2024

Moslem mother Mangindra (Laurice Guillen) had a dream about her two sons Jasim (Piolo Pascual) and Abdel (Baron Geisler) with shirts drenched with blood as they were wielding machetes in a cornfield. When she saw her deceased husband Kamad (Christopher de Leon) welcoming Abdel to ride his boat, she woke up very disturbed. She immediately told Abdel to go bring her to visit Jasim for a heart-to-heart talk. 

Jasim and Abdel were estranged following a serious argument about a land title that their late father left behind for them. Because of her nightmare, Magindra thought that her two sons should already forgive each other and bury the hatchet between them. However, while Jasim was serious and industrious, Abdel was reckless and impulsive. Their brotherly conflict was deep-seated and steeped in ego and pride. 

As the rift between the two brothers was revealed, it immediately drew brought to mind the conflicts between biblical brothers, like the Prodigal Son and his elder brother, or Cain and Abel (to a lesser degree). The bone of contention varies in various tales of such fraternal conflict, but the animosity involved is none the less bitter. A parent will intervene in an attempt to broker peace between her two sons. This problem is universal, not uniquely Moslem. 

The second half veers away from the central family to immerse us in violent encounters between Moslem rebels and government military forces. The way Mendoza staged these shootouts were brutally realistic, with nerve-wracking gunfire and splattering bloodshed. As the brothers were caught in the crossfire, the focus returns to them and their mother, who struggled to make sense of her family's fate. 

The lead triumvirate of Laurice Guillen, Piolo Pascual and Baron Geisler was stellar and is the main draw to watch this intense 80-minute film, all spoken in the Maguindanoan tongue. Christopher de Leon, Joel Torre, Beauty Gonzales all make their mark in smaller roles.  Mendoza still told the story (written by Honeylyn Joy Alipio) with his signature hyper-realistic style, but this time it was effectively integrated with flashbacks and dreams for more dramatic heft and emotional connection. 6/10. 

Review of TWISTERS: Thrill of Tracking Tornadoes

July 17, 2024

Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) had been fascinated by tornados since she was a child. In college, she led a "Tornado Taming" team with her boyfriend Jeb (Daryl McCormack), and friends Addy (Kiernan Shipka), Praveen (Nik Dodani) and Javi (Anthony Ramos). She wanted to prove that decreasing the moisture inside the tornado using their super-absorbent polymer can make a tornado collapse. An unfortunate outcome left Kate scarred. 

Five years later, Kate was now working as a meteorologist in New York City. Her old friend Javi met up with her, and told her that he had access to technology that could create a 3-dimensional scan of tornados. Javi invited her to go back home with him to Oklahoma, believing that only a natural storm-chaser like Kate could bring him and his team close enough to a tornado in order to set up his radar equipment around the tornado. 

The first "Twister" (1996) was a disaster-thriller film co-written by Michael Crichton (on a hot writing streak since "Jurassic Park") and directed by Jan de Bont (fresh from the success of "Speed"), starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. This film was memorable for its practical yet very realistic special effects that immersed audiences right in the middle of a violent tornado. Seeing that cow being carried off by the strong winds was instantly an iconic image.

This new film reboots the tornado experience for moviegoers 28 years after the original. The technology of special effects have progressed so much over the years, plus IMAX and 4DX screenings. We feel the exhilaration of the reckless storm-chasing, as well as the tragedy of seeing loved ones being sucked into the violent vortex of whirling winds. Director Lee Isaac Chung ("Minari") made sure that the sense of danger was never lost on us.

As she was in "Where the Crawdads Sing," Daisy Edgar-Jones has that gentle beauty that reflected Kate's sincerity. As he did in "Top Gun Maverick," Glen Powell (as charismatic tornado-wrangler Tyler Owens) exuded an effortless masculinity ladies gush over and men respect. Anthony Ramos's Javi found himself caught in a conflict between Kate's sense of social responsibility and his business partner Scott's (pre-"Superman" David Corenswet) selfish financial interests.  6/10. 

Vivamax: Mini-Reviews of MALIKO, HIRAYA, KAULAYAW

July 16, 2024

MALIKO

Directed by: JR Frias

Headwriter: JR Frias

Co-writer: Kiko Soto

Sweetie (Eunice Santos) was a medical representative carrying "surgery drugs" like pain killers and anesthesia. She just drove in from Manila to the village of Maliko to promote her products to the doctors and pharmacists there. She was ready to do anything so her products into the formulary of the hospital. One day, she met a barrio lass Leng (Sahara Bernales) and her buff boyfriend Nardo (Chad Solano), both of whom had caught her fancy. 

Vivamax had already bastardized a number of occupations by insinuating that offering sex can get you ahead in your job. Now, the med reps of the pharmaceutical industry are on the hot seat, as well as the doctors and pharmacists they cater to.  Of all the life-threatening diseases out there, Leng's father Otay (James Lomahan) had to suffer from an infected boil in his axilla. The story was so thin, there was even an orgy party from out of nowhere. Terrible. 1/10. 

HIRAYA

Directed by Sid T. Pascua

Screenplay by Quinn Carillo

Kap Danilo Adlawan (Apollo Abraham), barangay chairman of San Roque in La Union. He was now grooming his youngest son James (Nathan Rojas) to run next, but the young man did not want to. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman who called herself Hiraya (Rica Gonzales) was being nursed back to health by Manang Flor (Tabs Sumulong). However, the men in the village were all tempted by her feminine wiles, and she does not resist their advances. 

Writer Carillo attempts to blend politics and with the supernatural here, but this mix was not smooth. It was more an indictment of toxic masculinity in a rural town than anything else. The corruption of Kap Danilo and his eldest son Rommel (Itan Rosales) and the fake sincerity of niece Diana (Carillo) were just incidental. Rica Gonzales was not ready to play the central role of Hiraya. Her acting was so weak, it came across as comical instead of ominous.  4/10.

KAULAYAW 

Director: Iar Lionel Arondaing 

Headwriter: John Carlo Pacala

After Ella (Micaella Raz) just got laid off from her job, she tried doing online live sex shows on Pleasure Hub to earn dollars. One night, Ella's best friend Cara (Rob Guinto) walked into Ella's room while her camera was on. Cara had just learned that she lost her scholarship right after she got betrayed by her rich boyfriend Migo (Matthew Francisco).  Ella's viewers got excited seeing the two girls together and clamored for a collab.  

The three lead actors already look too old be college students, so hearing them so concerned about the student council and their scholarships made me chuckle. Being among the more senior Vivamax babes, Raz and Guinto had an electric chemistry together, especially in that scene with the neon glow-in-the-dark body pain. In contrast, the scenes of Guinto with Francisco looked more painful than ecstatic, perhaps on purpose.  4/10. 

Review of LONGLEGS: Serial Satanic Spells

July 15, 2024

New FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) had been diagnosed to possess clairvoyant abilities. She was then assigned to a long unsolved cases of serial killings in the state of Oregon. In each case, the father would inexplicably kill his wife, his children and himself. There would be a note with a coded Satanic message left behind, and signed Longlegs in a penmanship not belonging to any member of the family.  

Before its local release, this film had been showered with positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, which sparked much anticipatory enthusiasm.  The local poster had buzzy blurbs from critics, like "Most terrifying horror movie of 2024" and "Scariest film of the decade. It even proudly stated that "Audiences just can't stop screaming throughout the movie." With these superlative claims come very high expectations. 

This film was written and directed by Osgood Perkins. If you thought that surname sounded familiar, you'd be right to assume that he is the son of "Psycho" star Anthony Perkins. He has been writing and/or directing films since 2010, all of which were thrillers or horrors. His "Longlegs" was a very well-made film, worthy of its acclaim. Unfortunately, the overblown publicity surrounding it had painted it out to be something it was not. 

It was definitely a good horror film, but definitely not something where audiences were "screaming throughout". It was simply not that kind of horror.  Perkins' storytelling style here was deliberately slow-burn, and that was why it was chilling all the way through from beginning to end. The images of those creepy-looking dolls were the stuff of nightmares. The way it subverted the safety of family and the sanctity of religion was very sick. 

Scream-queen Maika Monroe's Lee Harker here had astute detective skills but was obviously psychologically disturbed. Nicholas Cage, with his effortless knack for portraying over-the-top camp and absurdity, was truly disturbing as the diabolical, white-faced serial killer. Perkins was able to limn the best talents of his two stars, plus Alicia Witt in a twisted turn as Lee's mother, from that bleak ominous opening scene, right down to that tense uncertain ending.  8/10. 

 

Review of FLY ME TO THE MOON: Tackling Truth and Trust

July 12, 2024

Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) was the no-nonsense launch director of the Apollo 11 mission. Davis was a top-notch decorated military pilot himself, but was unfortunately disqualified from being an astronaut due to health reasons. He had been involved with NASA since the ill-fated Apollo 1 in 1967, for which he still felt so much remorse. He was pouring his whole heart and soul to make sure this planned moon landing would go on without a hitch.

Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson) was a pretty, bright and sassy advertising expert from New York City who had been hired to "sell" the Apollo 11 mission to the American public. It was the 1960s, and the Vietnam War was very much in the news. It was a challenge to drum up public support for the space program because a number of politicians objected to it, saying how this was a wasteful major expense for the American people. 

This movie written by Rose Gilroy (on her first feature-length screenplay) and directed by Greg Berlanti (former showrunner of "Dawson's Creek" and developer of several DC comics series on the CW from "Arrow" to "Superman & Lois"). From the get-go, it clearly followed the typical rom-com formula. Two protagonists with clashing personalities who were forced to work closely together, eventually falling in love, until a conflict arises.

The stakes of their fictional conflict were huge, as it involved the real-life Apollo 11 mission. The film not only claimed that Omega watches the astronauts wore was nothing more than a sponsorship x-deal, it also dared touch on a controversial conspiracy theory that the moon landing seen on TV was nothing more than a movie shot on a sound stage by a film crew and actors. This was entertaining, yes, but God forbid some viewers would believe this as fact.

The success of a rom-com depends on the romantic chemistry between its stars, and definitely it percolated between Tatum and Johansson. Johansson really played up her seductive character to the hilt, charming the socks off NASA's toughest critics. To this, Berlanti balanced in the goofiness of Jim Rash's film director, the mystery of Woody Harrelson's secret agent, plus the historic glory of Apollo 11, all in one fine and fun mix. 7/10. 

 

Review of THAT KIND OF LOVE: Coaxing the Coach

July 11, 2024

Milagros "Mila" Maharlika (Barbie Forteza) was a therapist who specialized in love affairs. She earned extra cash by extending her services as a love coach or dating adviser. She believed that she can make love happen. She loved love and she knew she was good at it. When she entered a room, she would immediately scan all the people and figured out their personalities based on how she read them.  

Adam de Dios (David Licauco) was the CEO of their family-owned shipping and logistics company. He was not inclined to commit when it came to matters of love, setting very stringent expectations from girls. At his wedding, his cousin Noah (Ivan Carapiet) introduced Adam to his love coach who happened to be Mila. Adam proposed to Mila that he will hire her as a personal assistant to help him with his relationships.  

This film, written by Ellis Catrina and directed by Cathy Camarillo, was a rom-com in the most typical sense. Two people with very different lifestyles had a meet-cute, with a slight twist. Even if they initially hated each other's guts, they had to spend a lot of time together. The whole audience already knew they were falling in love with each other, but then, in comes a third wheel Sofia (Kaila Estrada).  This was very familiar plot indeed.

Even if we can already see the ending from afar, audiences will hang on through its entire 2 hour-18 minute running time mainly because of the romantic chemistry between the two lead stars. As expected, Barbie Forteza was sassy and funny as Mila, especially in her scenes with Divine Aucina (as her BFF Aya). Not surprisingly, David Licauco effortlessly fit into the rich boy mold to a T as Adam, who conceitedly extolls his own perfection. 

We are treated to scenes showing off Adam's rich and famous lifestyle, with the seaside restaurants, golf courses. yacht cruising and private jets, as well as pretty and picturesque locations in Seoul, South Korea.  Mila gave the impression that her parents (Al Tantay and Arlene Muhlach) led a hard life and she dreams of giving them a dream home. However, when their "old" house was shown, it looked so grand and dreamy already.  7/10.

Review of KUMAN THONG: Mother in Mourning

July 10, 2024

Online English tutor Clara (Cindy Miranda) was a single mother raising two energetic kids -- Katie (Althea Rueda) and Isaac (Emmanuel Esquivel). One fateful day, Isaac suddenly passed away in a freak accident. Clara could not move on from her extreme grief, and would always brought the urn with his ashes with her everywhere she went, even when she travelled to Thailand with her Thai boyfriend Sai Chon (Max Nattapol).

Sai Chon had proposed marriage to Clara, so he brought Clara and Katie with him to visit his mother Khun Nam (Jariya Therakaosal) in his home country. They wanted to ask for her blessing so they can get eventually get married in the Philippines. While out shopping in the market, Clara saw a crazed laughing woman (Pateharaporn Tongtiva) carrying a doll of a baby. The stranger said she how Clara could get her dead son back. 

Movie star Xian Lim dons his director's hat for the third time, after "Tabon" (Cinemalaya 2019) and "Hello, Universe!" (2023).  Lim also co-wrote the script with Iris Lee, who was also an associate producer in this project. Troubled personal life aside, this film does prove that Lim does have good directorial aptitude for this horror material. His camera angles, lighting decisions, suspense build-up and startle techniques were not bad. 

The story was actually better than what I thought. Kuman thong is a real item in Thai folk culture with roots in black magic, so that is interesting.  However, the script was not too good. Clara bringing the urn to Thailand and carrying it in her arms around the market was just too weird, a screaming red flag. Also, I get that a dead person can be revived if a spirit possessed it, but why would the body remain alive and normal, if the spirit had left? Absurd.  

It is very good to see Cindy Miranda out of Vivamax, but too bad that her Clara only had two moods here -- either depressed or angry.  Lim may need some more experience in directing child actors so they do not come across as annoying brats. This is Thai actor Nattapol's first feature film after starring in several TV series since 2016. He did well in his challenging role of a man caught between his gloomy lover and his clingy mother. 5/10. 

Vivamax: Mini-Reviews of NURSE ABI, HUWAD, TOP 1

July 2, 2024

NURSE ABI

Director: Dustin Celestino

Writer: Dustin Celestino

Roy (Vince Rillon) is the only graphic designer left working in their company after the other two resigned. Since then, Roy had been overworked, still very much underpaid, but he never complained to his boss Shiela (Heart Puyong). One night, after working very late swamped with rush projects, Roy fainted. He woke up in the clinic of their building, being tended by a pretty nurse, who introduced herself as Abi (Alessandra Cruz).

It was hard to believe that one wrote the cheesy dialog exchanges in this film was the same guy who wrote "Ang Duyan ng Magiting." I did like Celestino's use of voice-overs so we can hear what shy Roy really wanted to say. Newcomer Cruz has one of the prettiest faces in the Vivamax harem, so she should be getting more lead roles soon. One remarkable detail of Roy's condo unit were three seven-level, ceiling-to-floor shelves containing his massive collection of DVDs and VHS tapes. Too bad Roy never got around to talking about his love for films like I thought he would.  5/10

HUWAD

Director: Reynold Giba

Writer: Arriana Martinez

Romina (Azi Acosta) has been noticing that her security guard husband Lando (Aerol Carmelo) is always not in the mood to make love to her. Her mother Trinidad (Katrina Paula) told her that she suspected Lando to be having an affair. When she caught Lando at the house of ex-Japayuki Sue (Chloe Jenna), Romina hired the services of herbalist healer Antonio (Simon Ibarra) to help her make a charm to get her husband back to loving her. 

The story was so old hat, it did not really need to be a full-length film. This time around, director Giba did not only stretch time with numerous useless sex scenes. A lot of time was also used up for very long sequences showing Mang Antonio's process of concocting his potions  -- one for conjuring love, one for darker purposes. While Carmelo sleepwalked through this, Acosta was wasting her time and talent. 3/10.   

TOP 1

Director: Temi Cruz Abad

Head Writer: Maya Diaz

Writers: Zane Mendoza, Temi Cruz Abad

Azi Lalu (Christy Imperial) was the consistent topnotcher of her graduating Senior High School class. Her main competition for Valedictorian was Dexter Morabe (Armani Hector), who can't seem topple Azi from first place.  His girlfriend Misia (Mariane Saint) suggested that Dex could pretend to court Azi in order to seduce and distract her from her studies. As if the stars aligned for this plot, Azi picked Dex's name as her partner for their final research paper. 

Being Senior High students, Azi, Dex and Misia should still only be 16 or 17 years old. Showing these minors very actively engaged in sexual hijinks in the library or restroom of the school! That scene where Azi and Dex were solving a complex math problem on the board was impressive, for both Imperial and Hector. Christy Imperial gave a very good, realistic portrayal of class genius Azi. However, her childlike mien made her transition to sex siren tough to watch. 5/10. 

Review of DESPICABLE ME 4: Nixing a Nefarious Nemesis

June 30, 2024

Together with his Minions (Pierre Coffin), Felonious Gru (Steve Carell) attended a reunion of Class 1985 at his alma mater, the prestigious Lycee Pas Bon School for Villainy, still run by old wheelchair-bound Principal Übelschlecht (June Squibb). His real mission as an agent of the Anti-Villain League was to arrest his old nemesis Maxime Le Mal (Will Farrell), who had developed destructive super-insect powers.  

However, his involvement with Maxime's arrest eventually put Gru and his family -- wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), Agnes (Madison Polan), and his infant son Gru Jr., under a severe security threat. The AVL, under their boss Silas Ramsbottom (Steve Coogan), relocates the whole family into a new community where they all had to assume new identities. 

I admit that I am not exactly the target demographic of these movies. There was even a direct dig against Boomers (not that I'm one) in one of the jokes. In the first two acts, I hardly had the patience to sit through all the silly (euphemism for "annoying") shenanigans of everyone, especially the naughty Minions. Introducing here were the five Mega-Minions, whose inept use of their super-powers spoofed the Marvel superhero films. 

Everything turned around when the tiresome inane comedy switched gears to frenetic action mode. Gru reluctantly agreed to abet a criminal plot of his young BTS-fangirl, villainess-wannabe next-door neighbor Poppy Prescott (Joey King). The hilariously exciting heist sequence in the Lycee Pas Bon reenergized the whole final act. It reached two climactic showdowns between Gru and Maxime, one on a building rooftop, and another in prison.

Incredibly, this is already the sixth film in the "Despicable Me" franchise, including the two spin-off "Minions" films. I feel the franchise has run its course, but I can foresee perhaps at least one more Minions sequel about the Mega-Minions. DM4 was about Gru trying to connect with his Junior. Unfortunately, this was not done in the same heartwarming fashion how Gru connected with his girls, which made DM1 extra-special.  6/10.