Review of BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY: Honoring Heroes

September 4, 2025

Once upon a time, two good friends went to the Philippine National Police Academy. Ricky Mapa (Martin del Rosario) followed the footsteps of his father, a retired police general.  His girlfriend Anna Jacob (Maxine Trinidad) finished at the top of their class Sinag Lawin. Meanwhile, their close friend Daniel Bartolome (Paolo Gumabao) went to the Philippine Public Safety Academy to become an officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection. 

The most notorious crime organization operating in the country was the one led by kingpin Victor Salazar, a.k.a. Bungo (Jeffrey Santos). When Bungo was arrested and jailed after a bungled jewelry heist, his younger brother Carlo (Mark Neumann) took over leadership to continue their next big bank heist. They run a very sophisticated modus operandi, which involved computer hacking by their cunning tech expert Jade (Bella Thompson). 

The first film directed by Jose JR Olinares under his own production outfit Pinoyflix was "The Buy Bust Queen" (2022) about brave female PDEA officers. This latest film of his basically follows the same advocacy to highlight the heroism of crimefighters, this time about police officers who graduated from the PNPA. Ricky led the Special Weapons and Tactics team, while Anna led the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, both in the QCPD.

There are parts of this film that felt like an informercial for the Philippine National Police. There were scenes shot in the impressive-looking PNP Command Center. There were key cameos by the PNP Maritime and Air Units, as well as state-of-the-art investigation robots. Also highlighted was the PNP LAB (Love and Blessing) Virus Program, an initiative for female empowerment by the PNP Officers' Ladies Club (OLC) Foundation, Inc.

The passion to honor heroes was admirable, even if the budget was visibly limited, especially when it came to fire and explosion special effects. The writer can be good with inspirational sentiments, like "I know there is hope, because we are hope." However, his dramatic scenes can be awkward and jarring, In the lovers' quarrel scene, Ricky accused Anna of only "playing dress-up" -- a misogynistic remark completely out of his character. Another questionable scene was when Bungo was confronted by Anna who was holding a pencil -- simply so wrong.

The saddest aspect of this film was its treatment of Daniel and the firemen. They were depicted only as an afterthought, such that everything about them could have been edited out and not mattered. In sharp contrast with the modernity of the PNP, this film showed how poorly-equipped our firemen are. They were only using regular surgical masks when entering a smoky building to rescue victims, not a single gas mask or hazmat suit in sight. Sad. 4/10

Review of THE CONJURING: FINAL RITES: Malevolence in the Mirror

September 2, 2025

In 1964, young Ed and Lorraine Warren were investigating the case of a haunted full-length mirror. It had a heavy wooden frame, with carvings of three faces adorning the top part. When Lorraine was heavy with child at that time, and her mere touch of the mirror surface cracked the glass and sent her into immediate labor. As her emergency delivery was underway, Lorraine was seeing demonic visions around her. When her baby came out, it was stillborn. 

In 1986, the Smurl family of Pittston, Pennsylvania were celebrating the confirmation of one of the daughters. Her grandparents' gift was something they bought at the flea market -- a big mirror with a heavy wooden frame with three faces carved on the top part. From that time on, various inexplicable things were happening around the house. These were innocuous and seemingly harmless at first, but soon, they became more and more sinister.

This is the 9th film of the Conjuring Universe, which also includes the Annabelle and the Nun films. It is the fourth film in the main Conjuring series about real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren: James Wan's original (2013) about the Perron family, and sequel (2016) about the Entfield poltergeist, Michael Chavez's "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" (2021) about the Ann Cheyenne Johnson case, and this new film about the Smurl family. 

Consistent with the Conjuring tradition of horror, this latest film was also had excellently-executed creepy and startling scare scenes involving a haunted house, children, and toys. This time around, one of the younger girls had an ugly crawling baby doll that kept on calling her mother that can really get under your skin. Those scenes involving the priest Fr. Gordon (Steve Coulter) in the Smurl basement and in his superior's office were also very well done.

To appreciate the film more, better not put too much thought about the ghosts that the Smurls and the Warrens were seeing and fighting. A number of ghosts were technically not directly from the mirror at all, including the madman with the axe, the crone in the hall of mirrors-type fitting room and even Annabelle on the rocking chair.  The final showdown between the Warrens and the mirror went on a bit too long, that it felt over-the-top than truly scary.  

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have really settled into their characters comfortably. The scene where young ex-cop Tony (Ben Hardy) was asking for Ed and Lorraine's blessing to marry their daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) was light and comic. A lot of time was spent on the family life of the Warrens, which some may feel went on with more humor than scares. Being the final installment of the Conjuring franchise, the ending was sentimental as expected. 7/10

Review of OUTSIDE DE FAMILIA: Treasuring Time

September 2, 2025

Glenda (Sheila Francisco) was a wealthy widow. However, despite having all the comforts in life, she was disappointed that her son Greg (Luis Alandy) was always very busy at his job. Whenever they were supposed eat out together, he would frequently stand her up because of meetings. Whenever they were supposed to be eating together at home, he would be rather be tinkering his phone than talk to her. 

Elena (Ruby Ruiz) had never been well-off financially since she was young. At present, she made a living as a small-time loanshark. Elena brought up her daughter Noemi (Gelli de Belen) as a single mother. Noemi already had her own son Totoy (Dwayne Garcia), but she still ran back to her mother frequently when she fought with her abusive deadbeat partner, and would even get food and cash from her.  

Written and directed by Joven Tan, "Outside de Familia" is about the solid friendship between these two senior ladies.  Glenda and Elena had been best of friends since high school and up to the present. They may be miles apart in behavioral finesse and financial status, but they spent a lot of time having fun together in coffee shops, restaurants and even cocktail bars. They found their happiness outside their respective families.

Sheila Francisco had her roots in musical theater, most notably as Bloody Mary in a West End revival of "South Pacific" (2002), and Tiya Dely in "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (2018).  Ruby Ruiz got her humble beginnings in indie films like "Ekstra" (2013) which snagged her a Best Supporting Actress award at Cinemalaya. Since then, she worked her way up patiently to lead roles, even making her Hollywood debut in "Expats" (2024) with Nicole Kidman. 

Francisco and Ruiz convinced us that Glenda and Elena were really bosom buddies. The ebullient happiness of their fun scenes together felt sincere and real. They traded caustic comments and naughty jokes as only true friends could. Emotions reach a peak in that scene where they celebrated Mother's Day together. Their characters may be drunk, but I'm sure there was no dry eye in the theater as they professed their undying loyalty to each other. 

I watched this film on a Tuesday afternoon with a theater full of senior citizens enjoying their free movie of the week. I noted that that the audience were reacting to the topics in the this film. It could be about old classmates dying one after the other, or perhaps about having testy relationships with their children. They clapped after Sheila Francisco sang "Kailangan Kita" at the karaoke scene. The grandfather beside me enthusiastically said that all Filipino senior citizens should go watch this film, and I agree wholeheartedly. 7/10