Amazon Prime: Reviews of CHEMICAL HEARTS, THE VAST OF NIGHT, BLOW THE MAN DOWN: Rustic Riddles

 August 31, 2020

CHEMICAL HEARTS

Henry Page (Austin Abrams) was a high school senior in a sleepy suburban community who aspired to be the editor-in-chief of their school paper. However, his adviser unexpectedly informed him that he was going to share the editorial chores with a new girl who just transferred into their school. She was Grace Town (Lili Reinhart), who walked to her house even if she had a limp and used a cane. She was aloof and unsociable, preferring to immerse herself in Neruda's poetry.

Smitten with her beauty and mystery, Henry purposely missed his bus to walk Grace home. She would then allow Henry to drive her car to his house since she was averse to driving a car herself. Steadily with this routine, Grace's walls slowly broke down and she began to share more of her private life with Henry. However, even as they became more intimate, Henry realized that Grace was still holding back a major secret from him. 

This was another young adult romance brimming with teenage angst that we have seen many times. The title refers to the chemicals which get activated in the euphoria of love. The damaged character of Grace was suffering from the physical and emotional effects of a terrible past trauma, and her new friend Henry was trying his naive best to help her. To make the metaphor more obvious (and cheesier), Henry just so happened to be into Kintsugi, the Japanese art of fixing broken vases with gold.

This film worked mainly because of the chemistry between the two leads actors which make their romance believable despite some weird details, especially that part about wading in a koi pond in an abandoned building. Otherwise, it was just one of several similar-themed brooding coming-of-age teen romances, nothing really new anymore. 6/10.  

THE VAST OF NIGHT

This story happened one night sometime in the late 1950s, in the remote town of Cayuga, New Mexico. There was a big basketball game going on at the school gym that night, and almost everybody in town was there watching it. However, 16 year-old switchboard operator Fay Crocker (Sierra McCormick), and her disc jockey friend Everett Sloane (Jake Horowitz) were both working at their respective panels that night.

Fay heard a strange sound that originated from her radio as she was listening to Everett's music show. Everett asked members of his audience to call in if they knew anything about the mysterious sound. Those who called about the sound included Billy, a military man picked up to do a highly classified clean-up mission in the desert, and Mrs. Mabel Blanche (Gail Cronauer), an old eccentric woman who lost her son in strange circumstances.

This compact 89-minute film looked very good with meticulous 1950s era production design and costumes. The crisp filtered cinematography gave a sense of old town nostalgia, as if this was a classic television program -- clearly the effect it was going for based on the bookend scenes. Debuting director Andrew Patterson employed some very long takes in certain scenes, like Fay's frantic duty at the telephone switchboard or that continuous scene where the camera went across town and through the basketball game from Fay to Everett. 

Some viewers may be turned off by all the meandering conversations in practically the whole first hour and fifteen minutes of the film when there was nothing actually happening yet. But the impressive style of Patterson with the camera and suspense building, as well as McCormick's electric lead performance, kept me hanging on to the jaw-dropping end. 7/10.

BLOW THE MAN DOWN

In the desolate fishing town of Easter Cove in Maine, the sisters Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) are mourning the death of their mother. The late Mary Margaret Connolly was good friends with her fellow town matriarchs, Susie Gallagher (June Squibb), Doreen Burke (Marceline Hugot) and Gail Maguire (Annette O'Toole). But unlike the others, she was still friends with Enid Norma Devlin (Margo Martindale), the powerful woman who owned the local brothel. 

The night of her funeral, an emotional Mary Beth went drinking at a bar where encountered a shady character named Gorski (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). When the guy started getting rough on her, Mary Beth panicked and killed her attacker with a harpoon. Instead of reporting the incident to the police, she told Priscilla who then decided to help her sister stuff the corpse in box and throw it into the sea. Priscilla then discovered that she left an incriminating clue at the crime scene.

Like "Fargo" and "Twin Peaks," this film captured the quirky idiosyncrasy of small American rural town, which was immediately apparent. From the very first scene, and for several interludes within, grizzly fishermen sing mournful songs about the sea, which set the moody tone for the whole film. The cinematography of the restless sea, the cold rain and the secretive townspeople was breathtaking in its melancholy. The unusual acting were all in sync with this cold remote atmosphere, particularly those of veterans Martindale and Squibb. 

The build-up of claustrophobic tension and suspense by writer-directors Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy was very effective. However when it came to the abrupt ending, it felt oddly incomplete, like it was a cliffhanger of sorts. It was as if the whole 90 minute movie we watched was just the pilot episode of a mini-series, instead of a complete film. 7/10.

Netflix: Review of UNKNOWN ORIGINS: Comics-Cloning Crimes

 August 30, 2020

There was a series of grisly murders in Madrid where the victims had been laid out to depict the origin story of a superhero. The killer was obviously familiar with the details as told in the classic comic book where this superhero first appeared. The murders were meticulously planned and carried out for a prolonged period of time in elaborate set-ups which required scientific knowledge and a considerable budget to pull off. 

Assigned to the case was an idealistic but smug young cop David Valentin (Javier Rey). Much to his annoyance, his boss Norma (Veronica Echegui) decided to partner him with geeky comic store owner Jorge Elias (Brays Efe) to investigate the case. When clues led to a connection with a 20-year old cold case involving David's parents was uncovered, the search became more intensified and personal.

Director and co-writer David Galan Galindo was obviously fans of the comics culture and it was fun to catch all the pop culture references he and his writing partner Fernando Navarro sprinkled generously throughout the course of the film. The aesthetic of the film was similar to David Fincher's "Se7en" in terms of the grotesqueness of the crime scenes. However, since the crimes were based on comic books, there was a balancing sense of silly black humor that ran throughout the whole film. 

The mismatched pair of investigators were cast perfectly. Javier Rey was the stuffed-hirt David -- handsome, fit, confident, impeccably groomed, and always smartly dressed. In stark contrast, Brays Efe was the nerdy Jorge -- overweight, unkempt, mousy, totally unmindful of the way he looked and dressed. Of course, the two did not hit it off right away as partners. The haughty David looked down upon Jorge and his colorful friends with derision, only to later be served his generous piece of humble pie.

Veronica Echegui had a blast playing David's no-nonsense superior officer Norma as an active cosplayer who had an affinity for wearing Sailor Moon and other Japanese anime costumes. Ernesto Altiero relished his role as the forensics expert Bruguera, pointing out all the gory details in the corpses and their process of dying. Antonio Resine played Jorge's father and retired detective Cosme, whose character served as the film's emotional core. 

All the previous Spanish serial killers film that I had seen all had fanatical religion as a connecting theme. These have all been dark, serious and somber affairs, as would be generally expected of such films. The odd concept of using the comic book superhero genre as the unifying theme of the crimes of a serial killer led to a witty script, campy visuals, and comic culture references galore. This brought in an ironic element of fun for a supposedly grim crime movie, actually turning out to be quite a clever idea. 7/10.

Netflix: Review of ALL TOGETHER NOW: Reaping Rewards

 August 29, 2020

Amber Appleton is a cheerful and earnest high school student, a very active member of the drama club, and would organize a variety show yearly to raise funds for various causes (this year, to buy a new tuba for the school band). She was also a talented singer, and had been invited to audition for a prestigious music school in Pittsburgh. 

Unknown to her friends though, Amber and her alcoholic mom Becky (and her scruffy little chihuahua dog Bobby Big Boy) were actually homeless. They had been living in a parked bus since they left the house of Becky's abusive partner Oliver. To save up for a decent apartment, Amber had to work as a night-school teacher, a donut shop worker and a nursing home aide.

Of course, things cannot simply go on like this forever for Amber and Becky. Their illegal shelter on the bus was found out and so desperate decisions had to be made. This led to a series of bad circumstances resulting in Amber becoming a shell of her old self as she threw herself into working full time, to the detriment of her education, her friends and her dreams.

This film introduces us to the face behind the talented young lade we only heard as the voice of Disney's Pacific island princess, Moana. Auliʻi Cravalho was a very likable performer in this, her first feature film. She projected genuine sincerity and kindness as Amber. We may not completely understand or agree with the decisions she made when she felt her world cave in on her. But then her character was a teenager after all, so angst and rebellion naturally welled in her. Cravalho managed to balance on that fine line very well.

Justina Machado played Amber's mom Becky, who seemed to be an irresponsible parent. The way this thankless role was written, there was no redemption for this unfortunate and bitter character, not even in retrospect. Rhenzi Feliz played Ty, the young man who liked Amber and constantly supported her, the ideal prince charming films like this always had for Cinderellas like Amber. Judy Reyes played Donna, the mother of Amber's best friend, who treated Amber as her own. The beloved comedy veteran Ms. Carol Burnett was in a special role as one of the seniors Amber entertained in the nursing home. 

This was a very wholesome film, language-wise and humor-wise, about teenagers for teenagers. You can see the inspirational arc of the story from the beginning, so you can sort of expect how it was going to end. However, the way Amber got to that ending was not as predictable. This film, like many inspirational fairy tales before it, assures that rewards can be reaped from the kindness that you sow to the people around you. We certainly need that reminder during these difficult times. 6/10. 

Netflix: Review of AWAY: Extreme Estrangement

 August 28, 2020

The exploration of outer space had always been a fascinating subject for movies.  There is so much drama that can be mined about our fascination about the human experience in an extreme environment full of danger and the unknown. Film like "Apollo 13," "First Man,""Hidden Figures" were based on real life events.  Films like "Gravity," "Interstellar" and "The Martian" depict astronauts in fictional scenarios. 

The only TV series which I had seen about space were only of the campy sci-fi variety like "Star Trek,""Lost in Space" or "Space 1999". This new Netflix series "Away" is a more realistic depiction of astronauts in an albeit fictional space mission to Mars. While it was the story of mission commander Emma Green and her family which is the central core of the series, each member of her team is given a personal story which was dealt with in each episode. 

American astronaut Emma Green was the leader of an international crew sent on a pioneering three-mission to Mars. Her husband NASA Chief Engineer Matt Logan had health issues which prevented him from joining the mission, and had to be left behind to take care of their teenage daughter Alexis (Talitha Bateman). While Emma trying her best to perform as wife and mother while in space, issues that arise from Matt's medical condition and Alexis' abandonment are dealt with.

While Emma had the support of her Indian pilot Ram Arya (Ray Panthaki) and British-Ghanaian Jewish botanist Dr. Kwesi Weisberg-Abban (Ato Essandoh). She faced resistance from her veteran Russian engineer Misha Popov (Mark Ivanir) and Chinese chemist Lu Wang (Vivian Wu), who both felt that Green was not fit to be mission commander. The series opens with a fiery accident which triggered the team's heated internal conflict even before they launched for Mars from their pit stop on the Moon.

Two-time Oscar Best Actress Hilary Swank leads the all-inclusive cast here as Commander Emma Green. Of all moms who worked away from home, Emma was the ultimate example. She was not only working overseas, but in outer space. Of course, she tries her best to balance her duties as mission commander (at hand) with her obligations as a mother (from a distance). So far Swank's scenes been more of drama than action. She had some scenes which displayed her physical prowess in "zero gravity" (like that space walk scene). But so far, It had been more of her dramatic muscle which had been flexed.

Among her four teammates in space, the writers have distributed all other forms of dramatic tropes, mostly dealing with estrangement from family and the various ways people try to deal with their psychological stress and their guilt feelings. Since the crew members come from different countries, there are also leeway for discussing inter-cultural differences, not merely based on their individual personalities. In the first four episodes, we had already seen the backstories of three of them, and the various personal issues they faced in the past and how they are affecting them now as they are in space. 

As a whole, viewers who were expecting more of an action-filled space adventure series may be disappointed. A lot of the conversations were being conducted as phone calls and video calls which can tend to be tedious. Actually, the space mission felt like a mere backdrop to tell a several dramatic stories -- absentee parents, physical disability, teenage rebellion, difficult family relations, LGBT issues, life-threatening disease -- none of which are particularly novel topics for a TV series, be completely honest. 

Hopefully, the last four episodes (when they finally reach Mars) can give us something more exciting to chew on. As of now, the first half of "Away" still feels like a typical melodramatic soap opera enhanced with high-tech special effects.

Netflix: Review of METAMORPHOSIS: Diabolical Doubles

 August 25, 2020

Middle-age married couple Gang-gu (Sung Dong-Il) and Myung-iu (Jang Young-Nam) have three children: two teenage girls Seon-u (Kim Hye-Jun) and Hyeon-ju (Cho Yi-Hyun) and the youngest son U-jong (Kim Kang-Hoon). When they moved into a new house in the suburbs,  it was not long when when one member of the family would be terrorized by another family member who was acting very strangely and violently.  Fearing demonic possession, the panicking family called on their Uncle Jung-su (Bae Sung-Woo), Gang-goo's brother who was a Catholic priest and an exorcist.

The first Korean film about Catholic exorcism rites that I watched was called "The Divine Fury" which was just last year. "Metamorphosis" was another exorcism film with a twist. It actually opened with a particularly grisly exorcism scene conducted by a young priest exorcist that ended badly for the possessed girl.  The mayhem of these opening scenes would set the stage for the level of blood, gore and violence for the rest of the film. The make-up and special effects were all trying to go beyond the standards for such films set by "The Exorcist" in 1973. 

I think I have may have watched enough Korean drama series now to be able to recognize some members of the cast. The father was played by Sung Dong-il, who also played one of the fathers in "Reply 1988." The mother was played by Jang Young-nam who was just recently seen as the head nurse in "It's Okay Not to Be Okay." The elder daughter was played by Kim Hye-jun, who was a terrifying queen in the zombie series "Kingdom." The youngest son was played by kid actor Kim Kang-hoon, who gave an award-winning performance for his scene-stealing portrayal as Pil-gu in "When the Camellia Blooms." 

Viewers from the Philippines will get excited to see some scenes shot in the historic San Agustin Church in Manila featuring Filipino actors. Bing Pimentel was the nun who handed the Korean exorcist Fr. Balthazar (Baek Yun-shik) the mobile phone in the courtyard. In the table discussion scene in the church, Ronnie Henares was the exorcist with a chopped-off hand, while Joel Saracho was the priest who argued with him. The priests played by Archie Adamos, Jef Flores and Nico Locco had no lines to say; but as auxillaries of Fr. Balthazar, Flores and Locco still got to fly to Korea for a couple more scenes (still wordless) there. 

The scene when the father went into their neighbor's house and saw an array of dissected animal carcasses was a an over-the-top visual shock display of guts and gore. That whole sequence of that night where the parents were assaulting their daughters with a hammer was the most suspenseful part, with the build-up of unbearable tension in those scenes very well-done. However, the oddly lackluster performance of Bae Sung-woo in the critical role of the guilt-ridden priest and reluctant exorcist Fr. Park Jung-su made all his scenes (even the final confrontation) feel awkward and anti-climactic. 5/10. 

Netflix: Mini-Reviews of THE SLEEPOVER, FRIEND ZONE, WORK IT: Lightweight Laughs

 August 23, 2020

THE SLEEPOVER

One night, Clancy Finch (Sadie Stanley) planned to sneak out of the house with her friend Mim (Cree Cicchino) to attend a party thrown by her crush Travis (Matthew Grimaldi), while her younger brother Kevin (Maxwell Simpkins) had his friend Lewis (Lucas Jaye) over for a sleepover. That same night, some bad guys came and abducted their parents Ron (Ken Marino) and Margot (Malin Akerman). The kids decided they should go rescue them, discovering that their mother was not who they thought she was. 

The four kids were typical spunky Disney Channel-type characters. Stanley's Clancy started out as shrinking violet yet to bloom, while Cicchino's Mim was her wacky sidekick. Simpkins' Kevin was a wide-eyed and quick-witted boy, while Jaye's Lewis was an over-protected Asian kid. Marino played the insecure dad Ron as the main comic relief, easily the most annoying character. Akerman did well in her action scenes together with Joe Manganiello, who played Margot's alpha male ex, Leo. 

It has been some time since I had last seen a crime action-comedy movie featuring children as the main protagonists. When my kids were much younger, I watched "Spy Kids" and "Sharkboy and Lavagirl" with them. As expected, while the dangerous situations were there, the treatment of the story were all very cute, light, shallow and humorous to be appropriate for the target kiddie audience.  Adults who watch these movies should watch them with the eyes of their inner child to enjoy them, and they will. With that in mind, I do think Trish Sie's "The Sleepover" does hit its mark. 6/10

FRIEND ZONE

Since their school days, Palm (Naphat Siangsomboon) had been harboring an unrequited love for his best friend Gink (Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon), who only thought of him as a confidante and sidekick. As they grew older over the next ten years, Palm had become a flight attendant while Gink was a music producer, both getting their fair share of romantic partners along the way. However, whenever the insecure Gink needed help at any time, Palm would drop everything and went out of his way to go rescue her. 

During its 2 hours running time, we see a repetitive pattern of Gink getting into an emotional funk and Palm going the extra mile to help her out -- but always winding up frustrated to tell her his real feelings for her. This film had a high-budget, with Gink and Palm's story crisscrossing several international cities like Yangon, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, as well as Thai destinations like Chiang Mai and Krabi. 

I think a lot of viewers can identify with Palm's predicament, although their problems will most probably not reach the outrageous extent of what he had to go through in his Herculean efforts to win Gink over. While this Thai romantic comedy was a mostly delightful romp, I just did not like the way that bathtub scene was written and executed, which felt incongruent to the general light spirit of the film. I'm sure there could have been a better way to stage this confrontation scene without getting unnecessarily sordid. 7/10. 

WORK IT

Quinn Ackerman (Sabrina Carpenter) was a straight-laced high school senior whose whole school life had been geared towards being accepted into Duke University. She maintained her 4.0 GPA, volunteered at a nursing home, joined the AV club as the lighting director and played the cello to boot. However, during her interview at Duke, the lady at admissions Mrs. Ramirez (Michelle Buteau) mistakenly thought she was a member of their school's famous winning dance team, and Quinn did not object. When Mrs. Ramirez wanted to see her dance, Quinn had to walk her talk.

We have seen this teen story done so many times before with the same predictable conclusion, like "High School Musical" for musical theater or "Bring It On" for cheer-leading. All the usual characters were there: we have dorky protagonist Quinn, the supportive best friend Jasmine (Liza Koshy), the over-bearing mom (Naomi Snieckus), the good-looking love interest Jake (Jordan Fisher) and the school diva antagonist Julliard (Keiynan Lonsdale). It followed the usual story of overcoming incredible odds to try and win the competition in the end. What do you think -- will Quinn's team win? 

The free-style dance sequences had some great moves individually and were generally fun to watch. However, the final team routines were not as clean or impressive as we have seen in other similar dance films. Even if we know how impossible it was for a group of nerdy misfits who had just barely met to do this in two short months, somehow we still wanted to see a flawlessly-executed competition-level choreography and performance in the finale, especially if they expect us to believe that this group was going to win it all. 5/10.

Netflix: Mini-Reviews of LOVE THE WAY U LIE, FINDING YOU and TIME & AGAIN: Love with Loopholes

August 20, 2020

Love The Way U Lie

Directed by: RC de los Reyes

Written by: Danno Kristoper C. Mariquit

Nathan Torres (Xian Lim) was an online business developer who still obsessively mourned the death of his wife Sara (Kylie Versoza) one year ago. Stacey Likauko (Alex Gonzaga) is a cheerful, luckless-in-love psychic who told fortunes and sold Chinese trinkets on Plaza Miranda. When the two crossed paths, the spirit of Sara would speak through Stacey to convince Nathan to let her go and move on.

For me, the best aspect of this film was its stunning cinematography by Lee Jake Mariano. It was so was clean and crisp, making Manila look bright and beautiful. Unlike how they are usually portrayed in those grimy indies, Quiapo Church, Ongpin Street, Jones Bridge, Fort Santiago, Rizal Park, Manila Baywalk, even the abandoned Manila Film Center, all looked very picturesque and worthy to revisit. 

The afterlife theme was familiar from films like "Ghost" and "Honey, Nasa Langit Na Ba Ako? (the 1998 Regine Velasquez-Janno Gibb film referenced in the script), but this had an uncomfortable twist about lying as added spice. There were no real surprises to speak of, story-wise. Alex Gonzaga was her usual wacky, kooky self whom we know from TV, sometimes going overboard. Xian Lim looked great on camera here, but was awkward when it came to comedy scenes. Kylie Versoza had a strong screen presence despite her short screen time. Stacey's over-dependent Chinoy family (Jeric Raval, Kim Molina, Chad Kinis) were mostly there for comic relief, and the occasional emotional support. 5/10.

Finding You

Written and Directed by: Easy Ferrer

Nel (Jerome Ponce) was a carefree journalist diagnosed with hyperthymesia, so his memory was so extraordinary that can recall any past event to its exact date. When he began receiving notifications about his some of his previous social media posts about a lost love, he realized that he could not recall anything about who she was. His best friend from childhood Kit (Jane Oineza) just happened to be in town for her wedding that weekend. So, Nel asked Kit to help him recall who that mysterious lost love actually was. 

Frankly, the way the story was being told, and the way Ponce and Oineza were portraying their characters, there was not really much of a surprise as to who the lost love was. Nel's scenes with the other girls, like high school sweetheart Grace (Barbie Imperial), successful career woman Ces (Kate Alejandrino) or camping enthusiast Leah (Claire Ruiz), were clearly only there to further prolong the obvious resolution.

The big surprise here was this shocking revelation as to why he lost this particular memory. This was the main weakness of the screenplay for me. Was it really possible for any radical medical intervention to actually erase one specific memory out and not affect everything else? Aside from major issues of medical privacy committed, this physiological impossibility was a very problematic plot device which could not simply glossed over. 5/10.

Time & Again

Written and Directed by: Jose Javier Reyes

Apol (Winwyn Marquez) lived with her aunt Ipang (Madeleine Nicolas) and cousin Rio (Adrienne Vergara) and worked as a cashier in a diner cafe. Despite never having any boyfriend since birth, she wrote romances on an online platform under the name of Scarlet Veronique. One day, law student Ozzie (Enzo Pineda) walked into her shop and swept her off her feet. However, he already had a beautiful girlfriend Leah (Sammie Rimando).

During the first hour of the film, this felt like a very simple typical girl-meets-boy love story and seemed destined to go and end that way. Winwyn Marquez was a very charming Apol, and we are all rooting for her to get the boy of her dreams, with the help of her family and friends. By the end of that hour, writer-director Reyes surprised us all by dropping an unexpected major hurdle that Apol would have to overcome to get her man.  

After that point, the whole story made an unexpected quantum leap into the realm of fantasy. The way Apol was written for these last 30 minutes was not the Apol we knew in the first hour. She was impatient, impertinent and even creepy in the way she was dealing with Ozzie. I did not see a compelling reason why she had to act this way, except maybe to build a feeling of suspense before the final reveal. However, what happened was that the ending became too anti-climactic and illogical, even when it was what we were expecting. 4/10. 

Amazon Prime: Review of HUNTERS: Nabbing Nefarious Nazis

  August 18, 2020

When I started watching this series, I totally had no idea what it was going to be about. The first scene was set in a colorful outdoor barbecue party sunny day in June 1977. Then suddenly, the Polish wife of one of the guests began to get hysterical accusing the affable host, Pres. Carter cabinet member Biff Simpson (Dylan Baker), as a Nazi butcher. Things then escalated into a bloody massacre -- fast.  This shocking first scene would just be the first of many over-the-top, darkly comic and sadistically violent scenarios involving Nazis in this 10-episode 2020 Amazon Prime series.

The story was told in the point of view of a Jewish teenager and math genius Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lehrmann), whose grandmother Ruth (Jeannie Berlin) was shot and killed in her NYC home. The embittered Jonah was befriended by Ruth's old friend, the mysterious millionaire Meyer Offerman (Al Pacino). Jonah would soon learn that Ruth was actually a key member of a group whose main objective was to locate and bring to justice Nazis who had secretly immigrated into the USA after the war -- the Hunters. 

The Hunters group was interestingly all-inclusive, a collection of personalities way before its time. Aside from Offerman and Ruth, they also had a rigid former MI6 operative Sister Harriet (Kate Mulvany), a master of disguise actor Lonny Flash (Josh Radnor), a sexy single-mom skilled fighter Roxy Jones (Tiffany Boone), Vietnam vet Joe Mizushima (Louis Ozawa) and an elderly husband and wife electronics and coding team Murray and Mindy Markowitz (Saul Rubinek and Carol Kane). 

The Nazi organization in the US is called Fourth Reich and was led by the sinister Colonel (Lena Olin) who had planned an elaborate, nationwide yet mercilessly insidious operation of cleansing the gene pool. Of her numerous operatives, the scariest one was this ruthlessly and relentlessly bloodthirsty American Neo-Nazi Travis Leich (Greg Austin), who consistently chilled the screen with his particular brand of crazy in all ten episodes. 

Millie Morrison (Jerrika Hinton) was a pioneering African-American lesbian FBI agent who began to suspect about Nazi presence in the US during her investigation of the death an old woman in her own shower stall which had been converted into an Auschwitz-like gas chamber. Relying on her intuitive detective skills, she was eventually able to track down both the Hunters and the Fourth Reich.

We had seen the World War II tragedy of the Jews in many other movies (like "Schindler's List") and television series (like "Holocaust") before. However, I had never seen it told from this angle or style before. There was realization of pride in Jewish traditions, told with flashbacks of atrocious tragedies and tough decisions made during the war. There was a fascinating expose on the highly-classified Operation Paperclip, a secret post-war arrangement between the US government and the scientists of the Third Reich. The last time I've heard of "Paperclip" was when it was tackled in an episode in Season 3 of "The X-Files." 

The strategy game between the Hunters and the Nazis was very well encapsulated by the opening credits sequence depicting the characters as chess pieces on a chessboard. Like many of these gritty violent crime dramas created for this millennial generation, the cinematography and production design were of high standards as story seamlessly went back and forth in time. The musical soundtrack was peppered by a number of high-energy rock and pop numbers from bands as diverse as the Rolling Stones and Velvet Underground to Roy Orbison and the Stylistics. 

Throughout the whole series was a heated debate on how to deal with these Nazi immigrants. There was a powerful scene between Offerman and Simon Wiesenthal (Judd Hirsch) that discussed that contrast solidly from both sides. This controversial issue of morality underlying the show's disturbing display of excessive cruel violence, pushing its luck all the way to the final episode and its shocking (problematic?) twist as only Al Pacino can spin it. Your own sense of ethics and politics will determine how you will like this polarizing series or not. 6/10. 

Netflix: Review of PROJECT POWER: Drug-Dependent Dynamics

 August 16, 2020

There is a popular new pill being sold on the black market in New Orleans. It is called "Power" because it can cause the development of unpredictable animal-like superpowers in the person who took it. In order to be able to match criminals who use this drug, a policeman Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) sourced his own personal stash of Power from a teenage dealer Robin (Dominique Fishback). Frank was tracking ex-solider Art Reilly (Jamie Foxx), who was tipped to be the drug source. However, Art was on his own personal mission. 

The superhero theme is a very popular trend following the box-office ascendancy of the Avengers films in the last decade. Recently, most of the major steaming platforms had one show with such theme. There was "The Boys" on Amazon Prime and "Watchmen" on HBO. On Netflix, there was "The Umbrella Academy" (now its second season), as well as "The Old Guard" (which could very well be the pilot of its own series). "Power" dealt with artificially-acquired superpowers from a pill, reminiscent of films like "Limitless" (2011). 

Jamie Foxx still had that tough action man persona he had been in several of his films like "Collateral" (2004) or "Django Unlimited" (2012). He had always maintained a fair measure of sensitivity for drama. Joseph Gordon-Levitt may be more well-known for his quirky rom-coms, most specially for "500 Days of Summer" (2009), but he also had his share of action films, like "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012). His film "Looper" (2012) coincidentally had an Ecstacy-like eye-drops form in its story-line. 

The third member of the lead triumvirate was Robin, a teenager who hated school, but loved free-style rapping. It was this character that gave a unique spin to what could have been a run-of-the-mill action flick. She served as the balancing force between Frank and Art's machismo. She wanted to be in the thick of the action, with enough of  her own street-smarts to serve her well. On the debit side, her presence may annoy hardcore action afficionados. Dominique Fishback is already 30 years old, yet was still convincing as a high school student.

Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman gave this film a very frenetic style which may feel excessive at times. The atmosphere was very dark for most of the film, many scenes set at night and in dimly lit locations. The action may be too gory and violent for some viewers, enhanced with cleanly-executed special computer-generated effects. There were certain use of these powers which were too logically inconsistent just to serve the flow of the narrative. It was confusing if these wild powers could actually be controlled by the user or not. 6/10. 

Apple TV: Review of GREYHOUND: Challenging Crossing

August 11, 2020

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant closure of movie theaters, producers of feature films have been looking for various online venues where they can stream their films, like Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, or many other options. Apple TV+ is one of the newer web TV services available only since November, 2019. This latest Tom Hanks project is one of the first high-profile films to premiere on AppleTV+.

During the Battle of the Atlantic, a convoy of 37 Allied ships, was crossing the North Atlantic to reach Liverpool. The convoy's escort ships were under the overall command of Commander Ernest Krause, who was also the captain of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Keeling, radio call sign Greyhound. It was Krause's first crossing. When they reached the "Black Pit," an area in the mid-Atlantic where there won't be any protective air cover, their convoy was attacked by relentless fleet of German submarines.  

One of the remarkable things about this film was its very short running time, very uncharacteristic for a war movie. Most war movies we see, both good like "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) or "Inglourious Basterds" (2009), or not so good like "Pearl Harbor" (2001) or "Midway" (2019) usually ran for more than 2 to 3 hours long. In stark contrast, "Greyhound" clocked in at a very economical at 91 minutes. 

Director Aaron Schneider was able to squeeze in all the naval procedure and battle drama in with no extra fuss, and that was rather impressive. There was only a short introductory flashback set on shore which featured a cameo by the much-missed 90s actress Elizabeth Shue, who was the only female in the cast. After that, the rest of the film all happened onboard the Greyhound.  Other more traditional directors would have prolonged that intro segment, and would have ended with a protracted and more flashy ending sequence. 

The mission of "Greyhound" was grand in scope. but it was a far more intimate film. It was so compact, it focused mainly on Tom Hanks' face and the tactical decisions his character made. He was the only character we recognize and remember. Everyone else were faceless soldiers echoing and following Hanks' orders. Audiences can only connect emotionally with Hanks' character and no one else's, so the film's success lay squarely on his shoulders. Tom Hanks had repeatedly shown that he can do this, and he proved that again here. 7/10. 

Netflix: Review of A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Forgiveness in the Family

 August 12, 2020

Believe it or not, Tom Hanks' last Oscar nomination was for Best Actor in the film "Cast Away" (2000). Even if he had marked roles in several recent Oscar Best Picture nominees: "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" (2011), "Captain Phillips" (2013), "Bridge of Spies" (2015) and "The Post" (2017), Hanks was never cited by the Academy again for nearly 20 years. It was only this last Oscar season when he finally nabbed a nomination again, this time for Best Supporting Actor in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (2019).

Maybe because Mr. Rogers was not as well-known a TV personality here in this part of the world as he was Stateside, I did not notice if this film ever got released in local movie houses, even if it was Tom Hanks who played him. I wanted to see why Tom Hanks was nominated for Best Supporting Actor if he was playing Mr. Rogers in a film about Mr. Rogers. Thankfully, this month, this film gets it turn to be streamed on Netflix, so my question can now be answered.

Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) was a tough investigative writer from Esquire Magazine who had an unsavory reputation of being cynical and mercilessly negative in his writing style. He was married to a public attorney Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson) and they just had a new baby boy Gavin. Lloyd had a tough childhood as his mother died when he was still a child, and he had to grow up harboring major ill will against his estranged father Jerry (Chris Cooper).

One day, Lloyd was assigned by his editor to interview and write a feature article about Fred Rogers, who was the host of the beloved long-running children's show "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" on American public television. Reluctant as he was about writing what he thought would be a shallow fluff piece, Lloyd went to Pittsburgh to meet his subject. He was about to encounter a unique man whose strength lay in his magnanimous empathy.

Okay, so technically the lead character of the story was Lloyd Vogel and it was his character who will be undergoing a transformative arc. However, there was certainly no denying that it was really the magnetic character of Fred Rogers who is the very heart and soul of this film.  It was Mr. Rogers who was in the opening scene, and it was also him in the final scene. Despite what his numerous nominations for Best Supporting Actor may suggest, Tom Hanks was definitely a co-lead, if not the main lead, in this film. 

Hanks completely dominated this film with his consistent and convincing portrait of Mr. Rogers. I may not have seen a single episode of the old TV series, but I was sold, Hanks was totally Mr. Rogers. Hanks has one of the most famous and distinctive faces in Hollywood, so he cannot really disappear into a role, we always see his face. However, for some reason, he can always make us believe that he was ship captain Phillips or skilled pilot Sully, or even iconic celebrities like Walt Disney, or this one, Mr. Rogers. 

Matthew Rhys does his best in his challenging but unlikable role, but the screen presence of Hanks was simply too luminously bright to match. Hanks' line delivery in Rogers' characteristic slow gentle cadence never became boring. His face was always with that kind smile which never rang false. The best scenes for me were those with Rogers voicing his hand puppets, Rogers being serenaded by children and Rogers playing piano with his wife Joanne (Maryann Plunkett). It was great to see long-missed actors in smaller roles, like Christine Lahti (as Lloyd's editor) and Wendy Makkena (as Jerry's second wife). 

At first, I thought I might not like this Marielle Heller indirect biopic about an icon unfamiliar to me. However, I ended up hooked from the start and watched the whole thing without let up until the very end. This was a very pleasant surprise for me, an engaging and emotionally enriching film experience. 8/10.