MMFF 2021: Review of BIG NIGHT!: Urgent Undertaking

December 17, 2021

Dharna (Christian Bables) was a friendly neighborhood beautician. One day, a leaked document showed his real name Panfilo Macaspac Jr. to be among the suspected drug addicts in the watch list of their barangay. He learned that this list will be turned over to the Phil. National Police the next day. So for the rest of that day and night, Dharna went around to various area leaders in an effort to get his name out of the dreaded list.

Their barangay chairman Cynthia (Eugene Domingo) sent Dharna to see school principal Mr. Roja (Soliman Cruz), the president of Area 2 where he now lived. His father Lando (Ricky Davao) recommended Dharna to see midwife Melba (Janice de Belen), the president of Area 5 where he grew up. He was also told to find action star Donato Rapido (John Arcilla), the president of Area 8, the only area which allowed accusations via dropbox. 

Dharna's situation was understandably very desperate. He only had one overnight to alter an unfortunate event which will affect his life forever. There were so many people to see, and so little time. These local politicians all asked him to do them favors for their own little private businesses. On top of all that, Dharna had issues with his boyfriend Zeus (Nico Antonio), an aging macho dancer at 30 who desperately wanted to win a pageant that same night. 

The central character Dharna just had to be an openly gay guy, who just happened to have two similarly gay brothers Vholta (VJ Mendoza) and Ghalema (Awra Briguela), and they all just happened to speak Tagalog with a thick Visayan accent. These elements made sure that there was a healthy dose of humor throughout to keep things light, but not too much as to totally dispel the seriousness of the important political commentary being made. 

Christian Bables has this gay persona pretty much second nature for him, and his dramatic chops for his serious scenes remains excellent. All the big name supporting actors gamely play their wacky characters, with Janice de Belen, John Arcilla and Gina Alajar (as Dharna's sainted mother) giving most memorable turns. Writer-director Jun Lana hits a homerun once again, even if this topic of tokhang may somehow oddly dated now. 8/10. 

 

Netflix: Review of THE HAND OF GOD: A Filmmaker's Formation

December 17, 2021

It was Naples, Italy in the 1980s. Fabietto (Filippo Scotti) was a sensitive young man who lived at home with his parents Saverio (Toni Servillo) and Maria Schisa (Teresa Saponangelo) and his brother Marchino (Marlon Joubert). His extended family was very close as they spent time together gossiping at the beach or watching Diego Maradona play football with home team Napoli. A sudden tragedy forced Fabietto to seek focus in his life, planning to be a filmmaker. 

The film began with a strange episode about Fabietto's aunt Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri). Clearly standing out among a crowd of people in a bus stop with her height, beauty and perky ample bosom straining in her white dress, Patrizia was picked up by a man calling himself San Gennaro (Naples' patron saint) to meet a hooded child called the Little Monk. This whim soon shifted to reality when Patrizia arrived in her house later to face her husband Franco.

This bizarre prologue set the wheels rolling on this sprawling tale of one teenager, his family and his neighborhood. These were little random episodes of home life, family gatherings and meeting new friends, just like how it was in reality. Big Italian families getting together really make for very interesting cinema because of their quirky passionate personalities and the lively stories they exchanged about each other and their friends. 

Some colorful female characters really stood out from the rest -- Fabietto's spirited mother Maria with her juggling skills and very naughty pranks, his gorgeous but mentally-disturbed muse Patrizia with her nonchalance towards nudity, the stern-faced Signora Gentile (Dora Romano) with her ubiquitous fur coat, and the matronly Baronnessa Focale (Betti Pedrazzi) fulfilling her noble mission in Fabietto's life. 

This gorgeously-shot coming-of-age film written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino is said to be based on his own teenage years growing up in Naples. Sorrentino, who came into prominence in 2013, when he won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for "The Great Beauty," was an apprentice under local Napoli film director Antonio Capuano, the name of the brutally frank character (Ciro Capano) who will also initiate Fabietto into filmmaking. 

After winning the Jury Prize in the Venice Film Festival this year, this film had also garnered a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes. It is also the film Italy picked to enter the race for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. While the title "The Hand of God" was the nickname of a memorable goal by Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup, Sorrentino obviously had a more metaphysical meaning for it. 9/10. 

Netflix: Review of BRUISED: Rocky Road to Redemption

December 16, 2021

Jackie Justice (Halle Berry) was once a top tier MMA fighter. 4 years ago, faced with a opponent she was not prepared for, she decided to tap out and forfeit the brutal fight and got publicly ridiculed for it. Since then, she lived a down-and-out life with her incompetent manager/ boyfriend, earning a meager living as a cleaning woman. 

One day, she was offered a chance to get back to professional fighting by promoter Immaculate (Shamier Anderson), introducing her to strict methodical trainer Buddhakhan (Shiela Atim). Meanwhile, Jackie was unexpected reunited with her estranged 6-year old son Manny (Danny Boyd, Jr.) when his father, Jackie's ex-boyfriend, died in a shootout. 

Only 30 minutes into the film, you already get a sense of how the next hour and a half of this film was going to go. Career-wise, Jackie was clearly getting a major opportunity to crawl her way out of the desperate situation she got herself into. On a personal level, she was getting a chance to finally become a mother to a son she never met before. How will she fare?

Ever since she won her Best Actress Oscar for "Monster's Ball" (2002), Halle Berry had been struggling to play another role to prove her worth as a serious actress once again. This role as Jackie Justice ticked all the right boxes to bring her back into awards contention, and Berry at 55 certainly poured everything she had into this -- physically and emotionally. For additional commitment, this film is also her directorial debut. 

The story gave Jackie obstacles she needed to overcome -- lousy partner Desi (Adan Canto), negligent mother Angel (Adriane Lenox), and above all, her own inner demons. There are heartwarming scenes trying to connect with her son, who had been traumatized into silence since his father's death. There was an LGBT angle with her butch philosopher of a trainer. 

Like similar films in the sports genre, there was the requisite training montage and the pain she had to endure. There was even a little reference to "Rocky" when she jogged out of the boxing venue in a training suit with her arms raised up punching the sky. Of course, the culmination of all this was the big fight against Lady Killer (Valentina Shevchenko).

That 5-round championship match went through all the usual dramatic tropes of such grand finales in sports films. There a powerful first round by Lady Killer and underdog Jackie's Herculean efforts to come from behind to even things up. After the announcement of the winner, there was an acknowledgement by the appreciative crowd. Then again, you've probably already seen all this coming from the start.  6/10. 

Review of NO TIME TO DIE: Bond Bids Bye

December 15, 2021

James Bond (Daniel Craig) had parted in bad terms with Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) after an attempt was made on his life by Spectre agents while they were in Italy. Five years later, Bond, now retired from MI6 and working with the CIA, got involved with the case of a kidnapped scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik), who had developed a deadly DNA-based nanobot-technology transdermal poison called Herakles. 

After Herakles was used to commit mass murder at a remote birthday party for imprisoned Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) in Cuba, Obruchev wound up working for Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), a terrorist with a major axe to grind against Spectre for the death of his parents under the hands of Mr. White, Madeleine Swann's father. Bond had to go against all odds to destroy Project Herakles, save the people he loved, and save the whole world.  

A review of "Spectre" (2015) may be in order to refresh one's memory about the characters involved in this direct sequel. It that film, Bond infiltrated Spectre and located their assassin Mr. White before he shot himself. Bond then met Mr. White's beautiful daughter, accomplished psychotherapist Dr. Madeleine Swann. While fighting Spectre and Blofeld together, Bond and Swann fall in love, and happily rode off into the sunset at the end of the film. 

In this sequel, the romantic relationship of Bond and Swann was further explored after a five-year estrangement. As the main (albeit not so impressive) antagonist of this film, Safin now held the destructive power of Herakles and needed to be stopped at all costs. However, for Bond, this was more of a personal mission because Safin also had Madeleine and her young daughter Mathilde (Lisa-Dorah Sonnet) in his clutches. 

All the hallmarks of a Bond film in terms of high-tech spyware and fancy sports cars are all here, as well as the MI6 personnel, M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris). Billie Eilish exquisite title song played over the stylish opening credits. At the closing credits, there was Louie Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World" (from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), strains of which we heard in an early scene.

This is said to be Daniel Craig's final film as Bond, so this is the last time we would see that rough and rugged version of Bond whom Craig rebooted in "Casino Royale" (2005). Despite nailing all the death-defying action sequences, Craig showed more of his vulnerable side here and it was all over his troubled-looking face. That this old 007 was saying goodbye was felt all throughout. A new black female 007 named Nomi (Lashana Lynch) was even introduced. 

Under the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga, the stunts were all astounding to watch as ever, especially the thrilling motorbike jump and Aston Martin car chase scenes in picturesque Matera, Italy, the stressful chase along the mountain roads of Norway with a child inside Bond's Land Rover, and that awesome Ana de Armas fight sequence as agent Paloma in Cuba. Daniel Craig's sentimental final scene as James Bond amidst a rain of exploding missiles made a most enduring image to remember this film by. 8/10. 

HBO Go: Review of GENSAN PUNCH: Disabled Dreams

December 9, 2021

Nao Tsuyama (Shogen) was an amateur Japanese boxer from Okinawa who wore a prosthesis on his right leg which was lost after a bad car accident. This disability did not deter him from pursuing his dream to be a professional boxer.  However, he had been repeatedly been denied a professional boxing license in Japan because of a perceived safety issue. He thought of going to the Philippines to try his luck of turning pro there. 

He joined the Gensan Punch boxing gym in General Santos City, and got along well with his fellow Filipino trainees despite the language barrier. He  trained under Coach Rudy (Ronnie Lazaro), who was an international champion himself back in his heyday. In order to qualify for a professional license, he needed to win three consecutive matches to qualify. If he lost one match, the count is reset back to zero. 

It was a typical boxing underdog movie in structure, only this one was actually based on the career path of a real-life Japanese boxer who had a prosthetic leg. All the scenes you'd expect to see in a boxing film was here. There were several training montages. There was a part about a young boxer who incurred a very serious injury during a fight which would cost him his life. There was an instance of game fixing to assure a victory. 

Japanese actor Shogen had looks that reflected Tsuyama's half-Caucasian, half-Japanese parentage. He is already 43 years old so he looked older than the boxers he fought, but he made up for this with his lean fit body and youthful energy. The special effects of his amputated leg was done well, even including a full-body shot of his back side, in the nude, without the leg. As Coach Rudy, Ronnie Lazaro was being typical Ronnie Lazaro. The presence of Beauty Gonzales (as gym manager Melissa) was barely felt. 

This is director Brillante Mendoza's first stab at a sports drama movie. Even if the usual tropes of such a film were all there, the trademark social realism expected of a Brillante Mendoza film can still be seen as a side note. The boxing scenes are brutal, with each round practically playing out in real time, but some of them may feel long in the context of a film. Mendoza's "tribute to boxers" had more Japanese zen than Filipino melodrama. 7/10. 

Netflix: Review of THE UNFORGIVABLE: A Sullen and Scowling Sandra

December 12, 2021

Ruth Slater (Sandra Bullock) was convicted of murder following the shooting of a sheriff who came to evict her and her 5-year old sister Katie from their house. Now that she had been released after serving 20 years, she met a kind lawyer John Ingram (Vincent D'Onofrio), who could get her back in touch with Katie (Aisling Franciosi), who is now in college as a piano prodigy, adopted and raised by the Malcolms (Richard Thomas and Linda Emond). 

Sandra Bullock totally shed off all her Hollywood star glamor to portray a stern-faced, prison-hardened Ruth. In the whole film, Bullock never had a smile pass her lips as her character Ruth shuttled between her jobs at the fish processing center and carpentry work at the civic center. As Ruth, Bullock had to be tough as she had to face people who only saw her as a cop-killer and an ex-con, but she still managed to make her sympathetic.

Vincent D'Onofrio played John Ingram the man who now owned the house Ruth lost, who just so happened to be a lawyer who did pro-bono work. Viola Davis was a surprising choice to play Ingram's wife Liz, who did not like the idea of a cop-killer in her home. Jon Bernthal, who has awards buzz for his work in "King Richard" (2021), played Ruth's friendly co-worker Blake. It was also good to see John-Boy Walton Richard Thomas in a film role again. 

Tom Guiry began his career as a child actor as the lead character in "The Sandlot" but now at 40, he played Keith Whelan, the creepy elder son of the sheriff Ruth killed. Will Pullen played the younger Whelan brother Steve, who was having a rough patch with his wife Hannah (Jessica MacLeod). Their characters provided the suspense angle of the film, but I felt the drama of the sisters could have been explored more if they were not there.

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, this film was written by Peter Craig, Hillary Seitz and Courtenay Miles, adapted from the story of  a 2009 British miniseries "Unforgiven" written by Sally Wainwright. Its twist, revealed in a most uncompelling manner, will make it popular among Netflix fans. The ending happened all too abruptly, ignoring all the psychological build-up that came ahead. Bullock, however, manages to give this grim story ample heart. 5/10. 

Vivamax: Review of DULO: Languishing in Love

December 11, 2021

Bianca (Barbie Imperial) was an architect doing freelance work. Dex (Diego Loyzaga) was a blogger and photographer. They hit it off immediately upon their first meeting in a bar. Within two months, they already decide to live together. It did not take long for their rose-colored honeymoon period to fade and for the sobering realities of adult life take over. Will the relationship of Bianca and Dex pull through the very rough patch they faced?

This relationship was so whirlwind, it only took 7 months for it to reach a crisis. Gigs were not coming in regularly for both of them so income was limited. Then, tempting offers start coming in for Bianca. First, a phone call from Bianca's mother (Mickey Ferriols) offering a sponsored Masters course in San Francisco. Second, a chance encounter from Bianca's ex-boyfriend Gab (Patrick Sugui) offering her a well-paying job in Singapore. Will she take the bait?

Diego Loyzaga had been directed to give an over-the-top style of acting as Dex. His "happy" was cloying and childish. His "angry" was explosive roaring rage. His "sad" was a slobbering mess of tears. Right off the bat, you knew this guy had serious emotional baggage behind him. There was always an unsettling atmosphere whenever the two of them were together as the unstable Dex always exuded an air of impending trouble. 

Barbie Imperial makes us want to comfort her as Bianca. She knew she was on short end of this relationship but she cannot do anything about it. She had been a victim of emotional blackmail from the very start, as she caved in whenever Dex turned on his waterworks. She seemed genuinely happy when she was with her friends Les (Jean Kiley Manguera) and Ann (Andrea Barbiera), but there was a cloud about her when she was with Dex.  

Loyzaga and Imperial are real-life sweethearts and this was their first movie together. Unfortunately, their negative screen chemistry here was uncomfortable to watch. This film went to such extremes of melodrama, especially with predictable detours like Dex's friend Soph (Meg Imperial) and Dex's father (Jojo Abellana). It felt oddly old-fashioned even with the young actors and writer/director (Fifth Solomon), who are all still in their 20s. 4/10. 

Vivamax: Review of PALITAN: Driven by Desires

December 10, 2021

Jen (Cara Gonzales) and James (Luis Hontiveros) were preparing for their wedding when they went back to Jen's hometown in Quezon province for James to meet Jen's father Nestor (Rollie Innocencio). At the same time, Jen will be the maid of honor at the wedding of her old friend Marie (Jela Cuenca) to her fiance Al (Rash Flores). However, as Jen and Marie spent more time together, their dormant Sapphic feelings for each other were revived. 

The premise of the film was actually very simple. A major part of the film felt only like filler or padding to make it feature-length. Apart from a risky quickie in a dress shop changing room at the start, the whole first hour was practically just showed Jen and James, then Marie and Al, going about their respective wedding preparations, like the wedding dress, the wedding rings, etc... It was frustrating that nothing of any true plot significance was happening.

After the uneventful first hour, Mendoza immediately upped the ante of cinematic eroticism by throwing in two all-nude menage-a-quatre sequences, one right after the other. The first was when groom, his best man and his new friend all had a go with a lone prostitute at the same time in a cramped washroom at the stag party. The second featured the four main actors going at each other side by side au naturel on a rocky shelf of a running brook. 

Among the four main actors, it was Cara Gonzales who was given the most well-developed role as Jen, and she rose to the challenge of confidently portraying this conflicted character. Gonzales actually had easy chemistry with both lusty Luis Hontiveros and sweet Jela Cuenca. Cuenca in fact had more romantic chemistry with Gonzales than she did with Rash Flores, who looked ill-at-ease and self-conscious the whole time compared to the others. 

Mendoza threw shade about the local practices of matrimony. He showed how people would rather go into debt or depend on sponsors' cash gifts just to get the wedding of their dreams. Strict and religious fathers swore by benefits of a union sanctified by the Catholic Church, yet could not keep his own marriage intact, nor keep his daughter safe from abuse.  This may be an erotic film first, but Mendoza was still able to get his social realism in. 5/10. 

Netflix: Review of ARISAKA: Maja's Mettle

December 9, 2021

A key witness was being brought to a venue where he was about to expose critical "narco-list" information to the press. Midway on his route, his car was ambushed by a group of crooked cops who shot the target and all his police escorts. Fortunately, policewoman Mariano (Maja Salvador) had survived the bloody encounter. Despite her injuries, she ran into the surrounding mountains to escape from her pursuers led by officer Sonny (Mon Confiado).

Mariano's survival ordeal in the wilderness was alleviated by the appearance of a young indigenous girl named Nawi (Shella Ann Romualdo), who nursed her back to health with the help of her family's traditional cures. Sonny and his minions remained hot at her heels,  stopping at nothing until she was exterminated. Meanwhile Mariano braced for an inevitable showdown, getting some assistance from an unexpected source.

For historical relevance, director Mikhail Red juxtaposed Mariano's struggle to survival to the Bataan Death March which transpired on the same area where the fateful ambush took place. The first scene had a cop relating the story about how his grandfather survived the Death March already foreshadowing the events to come. The Arisaka in the title referred to the Japanese military service rifle in use during World War 2. 

Star Maja Salvador rallied us to root her on -- no matter how her repeated narrow escapes from death were practically superhuman. Hit by bullets, stabbed by a knife in the abdomen, punched on the face, asphyxiated by strangling -- absolutely nothing fazed her will to survive. Salvador obviously had to go through difficult shoots for this demanding role, which required her to fall onto concrete, rough brush, rocks, and going mano-a-mano with a man. 

Just when you thought Mon Confiado could not get any more despicable as a villain, here he is again playing another devil incarnate. The big revelation here was young Shella Ann Romualdo (first seen in short film "Black Rainbow" earlier this year) as the brave Nawi, whose youthful idealism would get seriously challenged. Martin Melecia, who played Nawi's father, imparted indigenous wisdom and frustrations to his daughter and to us, as well. 

From the very first scene, you immediately know that this is not by any means a low budget film. The ethereal quality of Mycko David's cinematography was extraordinary, and that was just in the opening credits at that point. Throughout the film, we will be treated to more shots and images taken from breathtaking angles with perfect blocking of characters, working well in dim light or with flames, for best cinematic effect. 8/10. 

Review of ENCANTO: Fitting into a Family

December 8, 2021

The members of the magical Madrigal family had a special supernatural ability. The matriarch Alma (María Cecilia Botero, with Olga Merediz singing) possessed a magical candle that remained always lit, keeping their family in good fortune. Alma had three children: Julieta (who can heal with her cooking), Pepa (who can control the weather) and Bruno (John Leguizamo, who can foresee the future, and was presently estranged from his family). 

Pepa had three children with her husband Felix: Dolores (with super hearing), Camilo (a shapeshifter) and Antonio (who can talk with animals). Julieta had three daughters with her husband Agustin: Isabela (who can make flowers bloom), Luisa (with super strength) and then there's Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). While she was cheerful and well-loved, Mirabel had no special gift, a source of her lifelong insecurity.

This computer-animated film is the 60th feature film produced by Disney. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard (the same directorial team behind "Zootopia" in 2017), this Latin-flavored fantasy family film is energized by its Latin-flavored musical soundtrack, with 8 original songs written by Lin Manuel Miranda, including my personal standout favorite song "We Don't Talk About Bruno." (His songs in Sony's "Vivo" felt more catchy though.)

The various powers of the characters make for a visual spectacle, especially the abilities of Isabela (with her colorful arrays of flowers), Camilo (when he switches identities with someone else) and Antonio (with his wonderful animal friends, including jaguar and capybara). Their beautiful house, their casita, also had its magic, with dancing floor tiles and stair steps that flow with the percussive beats. The scenes in Bruno's cave provided adventure thrills.

With so many characters and powers to keep track of, the first few parts were confusing, but you will soon get them straight. The concept of a big family and keeping it together is the main focus of this story. Of course, in true Disney formula that is bound to lead to some emotional confrontations in the middle and precious realizations in the end. The logic may be lost in the wordy explanations, but it assumes you know what it all means. 7/10. 

Review of VENOM: THERE WILL BE CARNAGE: Symbiote Showdown

December 8, 2021

Serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) sought out reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) to send a message out to his "fans" in exchange for exclusive rights to his life story.  In one encounter, Eddie's symbiote partner Venom provoked Kasady into biting Eddie's hand which caused Kasady to ingest some symbiote substance into his system. 

During Kasady's day of lethal execution, a red symbiote calling itself Carnage appeared and helped Kasady escape in the chaos it caused. Carnage proposed to help Kasady locate and free his ex-lover Frances Barrison a.k.a. Shriek (Naomie Harris) from the Ravencrow Institute. In exchange, it expected Kasady to help him get rid of Brock and Venom. 

Performance-wise, lead stars Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson both give it their over-the-top all, in darkly comical portrayals of both their human and their symbiote forms. The talkative and cantankerous Venom was of course the star of the show, with all his hilarious zingers and insults as he argued endlessly with his hapless host and other people who displeased it. That part when Venom became a sensation at the costume party he crashed was a lot of fun. 

Aside from Tom Hardy, some actors came back to reprise their roles from the 2018 film in this sequel. Michelle Williams is back as Brock's ex-fiancee Atty. Anne Weying. Her announcement that she marrying Dr. Dan Lewis (Reid Scott, also introduced in the first film) caused much annoyance for both Eddie and Venom. Sassy convenience store owner Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) also made a comeback, even hosting Venom for a while. 

Directed by CGI and motion-capture master Andy Serkis, the symbiote visual effects were messy-looking and chaotic as expected, faithful to the comics illustrations. Naomie Harris' portrayal of Frances was intense, with her supersonic scream a most formidable weapon. There is a hint of a symbiote future for Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), likely as Toxin.  A funny mid-credit scene brings Venom right into the MCU timeline. 7/10.