Review of THE LOVED ONE: Breakup Blues

February 12, 2026

Eric (Jericho Rosales) was an IT specialist who spent all day in his cubicle working on his codes. He still lived his mother (Jackie Lou Blanco) and supported the education of his two college-age siblings (Ian Pangilinan and Ara Davao). One day, Eric went with his best friend Greg (Luis Alandy) and his girlfriend Kyla (Max Eigenmann). There, Eric met and fell in love at first sight with Ellie.

Ellie (Anne Curtis) was a pretty and vivacious girl who effortlessly caught admiring attention of every guy around her.  She lived a privileged well-to-do life with her parents (Mari Kaimo and Joyce Burton). She and Eric met each other again during Greg and Kyla's wedding, and that's when their mutual attraction really bloomed into what seemed to be a perfect relationship. That is, until it wasn't.

This new film written and directed by Irene Emma Villamor, whose whole filmography consisted of films that intimately explored various romantic relationships. Most of her films have been practically two-handers just focused on a central couple, from "Meet Me in St. Gallen" (2018) and "Sid and Aya: Not a Love Story" (2018), to "Only We Know" (2025). All these films had a sleek, classy look, credited to the skills of cinematographer Pao Orendain. 

Villamor chose to tell Eric and Ellie's story in a non-linear manner, as if we were seeing the mix of memories that entered their heads when they reunite in that coffee shop some time after they split up. At first, we see those idyllic and ideal times, with seemingly random mentions of things that seemed had no context yet. Then gradually, we see those less pleasant moments creeping into the picture, those with hurtful words and careless actions. Only then do we see their 10-year long story completed. 

We hear Eric's side first -- how he loved Ellie more so he was willing to wait for her.. Jericho Rosales played Eric as the responsible type of guy, with old-fashioned sensibilities. He was the type that can could get promotions at work, and win the rich girl's parents over. However, when Ellie did things outside his strictly-planned route, his composure unraveled, which then led to uncharacteristic carelessness (Catriona Gray). 

Anne Curtis played Ellie with such quirky vibrance, life of the party. She was a girl who believed in astrology and painted outside the lines. We loved her when she gamely rode Eric's motorbike in a long dress. We believe her when she said that she had a talent for raising funds and donations for children's charities, and taught English to Nepalese kids. We shared in her desperation for her life to make sense. 

If you scan the list of Villamor's films, the topic of breakups is certainly not new for Villamor. She's had films with titles like "On Vodka, Beers and Regret" (2020) and "Five Breakups and a Romance" (2023). Here, Villamor wrote about becoming angry people who become destructive storms, unmindful of hurting others. She wrote with a bitter truth which cuts deep in everyone who is (or was) in a relationship

Despite its February release, "The Loved One," however well-written, well-acted, and beautifully-shot, may not exactly be a film to cuddle up your partner with on Valentine's Day. 8/10

Review of SONG SUNG BLUE: Delivery via Diamond

February 5, 2026

Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) was an auto-mechanic who also accepted gigs as a singer-performer under his stage name Lightning. One night in 1987, he walked out on the Legends show at the Wisconsin State Fair because he wanted to perform as Lightning, and not Don Ho as originally planned. There, he met and was smitten with pretty hairdresser Claire Stengl (Kate Hudson), who did a mean impersonation of Patsy Cline. 

Because of financial difficulties, Mike took up singing the songs of Neil Diamond upon Claire's suggestion since nostalgia sells. On their first date, they work up a partnership with Mike singing, and Claire on keyboards and back up vocals. Mike proposed calling their act "Lightning and Thunder -- The Neil Diamond Experience." Claire sealed that name with a kiss, and they soon got married. Terrible events would soon disrupt their fairy tale.

Writer-director Craig Brewer adapted a 2008 documentary film of the same title by Greg Kohs telling the story of  Mike and Claire Sardina, and their Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder. The biopic followed typical musical band story points of how they met and how they formed their band. However ideal their partnership, this couple went through very tough times. Hard to believe that these things really happened, not mere fictional melodrama. 

Of course, the stars of the film were all the Neil Diamond songs  that peppered the soundtrack. These were all performed by the lead stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, both known to be powerhouse singers aside from acclaimed movie stars. You bet "Sweet Caroline" was in there. But as Mike always emphasized, Neil Diamond was more than just that song, and this film made sure we heard his best -- from "Play Me" to "Holly Holy" to "Soolaimon." 

My personal favorite song number was "Forever in Blue Jeans" -- the song Mike chose to sing when they opened for the Pearl Jam concert. It reached a peak when Eddie Vedder (John Beckwith) himself joined in at the rousing chorus to the big surprise of the youthful audience. Aside from their duets, Jackman had an introspective solo with "I Am... I Said," while Hudson had her own heartfelt moment singing "I've Been This Way Before." 

Mike and Claire were both divorced with kids (King Princess as Mike's daughter Angelina, Ella Anderson and Hudson Hensley as Claire's kids Rachel and Dana), so there were also issues tackled about that blended family life. Veteran character actors played their bandmates: Jim Belushi as their manager Tom, Fisher Stevens as Mike's manager and dentist Dave, and Michael Imperioli as Mark, their guitarist who used to be a Buddy Holly impersonator. 

Mike was only 35 and Claire 25 in 1987, so Jackman (57) and Hudson (47) were both much older playing them. That aside, these two actors really committed to portraying the couple through their extremely good and terribly bad times. Kate Hudson had earned Best Actress nominations at the Oscars, SAG, BAFTA and Golden Globes.  Admittedly the roller-coaster of melodramatic scenes can get cringe-y at times, but good thing the song numbers would come in at the right time and save the film from sinking in emotional quagmire.  7/10

Review of MERCY: AI Adjudication

February 3, 2026

In Los Angeles 2029, there are already Mercy Courts where AI judges have replaced human judges to deliver logical, unbiased and mistake-free verdicts in trials of individuals accused of heinous crimes. The accused had access to various web-based applications, video footage and databases to prove his innocence within 90 minutes. If he failed to do so, the Ai judge would execute him right there on the seat where he was strapped into. 

One day, Nicole Raven (Annabelle Wallis) was murdered in her home. Prime suspect was her police detective husband Chris (Chris Pratt), so he had to prove his innocence in front of presiding AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). Chris was an alcoholic and had a bad temper. Based on available evidence, the initial probability of guilt was judged to be 97.5%. Can he lower this to at least 92% for reasonable doubt to be spared execution?

The futuristic premise bout the justice system is very interesting, especially that this scenario is set only three years from today. The mechanics of the Mercy Court do sound very idealistic though, especially that authoritarian mandate requiring the devices of all individuals and organizations have to be connected to a so-called Municipal Cloud, the servers of which the AI judge had full access during the hearing in order to reach his verdict. 

The accused directed the investigation of his case. He was the one who chose whose devices to access, and the AI judge would grant him access to them. Of course, Chris was in a position to make full use of these digital resources to their full capacity to help him. He is a trained detective who he knew how to run the investigation. He also had his partner Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis) and his other friends in the police department to help him at critical moments.

This latest film by Kazakh filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov is an extension of the "Screenlife" filmmaking style that he pioneered with films like "Unfriended" (2015) and "Searching" (2018), telling stories via images from gadgets. Chris Pratt played his flawed lead character to edge of being hammy. Rebecca Ferguson fared better, playing emotionless AI judge Maddox to the point of self-awareness. Supporting cast were rather amateurish in their acting. However, this was not as bad as its dismal 22% Rotten Tomatoes score would imply. 5/10

Review of IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: Maze of Morality

January 31, 2026

One night, a man with a prosthetic leg (Ebrahim Azizi) stopped by an auto repair shop to have his car checked. A mechanic named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) heard the clicking sound of his prosthetic leg and believed that this man was the same guy who previously tortured him in an Iranian prison. The next morning, Vahid abducted this man and took him to the desert to be buried alive. However, the man denied that he was the notorious interrogator known as Eghbal. Vahid decided to bring him back to town to confirm his identity. 

Book shop owner Salar (Georges Hashemzadeh) declined to verify, and referred photographer Shiva (Mariam Afshari), who thought he was Eghbal by his smell. She was then taking prenuptial photos of couple Ali (Majid Panahi) and Goli (Hadis Pakbaten). Goli revealed that she had also been Eghbal's victim, but was likewise unsure. Shiva's ex Hamid (Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr) felt sure about this was Eghbal after touching the man's leg, and wanted to kill him at once. However, the others wanted a confession and apology from him first. 

This film was written and directed by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who reportedly made this film without permission from the Iranian government. Panahi's other open act of defiance to authority was the inclusion of two female characters who were not wearing the hijab, which is compulsory for women in Iran. Despite these controversies, this film competed for and actually won the Palme D'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival. 

This film is a shoo-in to be nominated in the race for Best International Film Oscar, as the submission of France. There is also very loud buzz that this may also make it to the final 10 of the nominations list for the Best Picture Oscar. In the recently-announced  Golden Globe nominations, it is vying for Best Picture Drama, Director, Screenplay as well as Foreign Language film (The languages used in the film were Persian and Azebaijani.)

The first part was not clear outright. Why was Vahid very wary of this customer, and why did he stalk him all the way to his house? As more people were involved in Vahid's darkly humorous road trip did we learn about Vahid's true personality and realize that we will need to stick it out to the very end to know the answer to the mystery of prosthetic guy's true identity. Panahi's enigmatic ending involved a very subtle sound effect to create tension. Listen!

The title was mentioned twice in the opening sequence, where prosthetic guy was driving home with his pregnant wife and young daughter. Their car hit a stray dog on the road and killed it. The wife calmed their daughter down by saying that this was just an accident. In the end, you would think back about this innocuous opening and try to connect this as a metaphor for the events that happened in the film. Was anything really just a simple accident? 7/10