CINEMALAYA 2017: Review of REQUITED: Purposeless Pap

August 6, 2017

Cinemalaya Film Festival year 13 opened last Friday August 4, 2017. It will run up to Sunday August 13, 2017. Aside from various venues in the CCP, the 8 feature films in competition will also be shown in selected Ayala Mall theaters in Greenbelt, Glorietta, Trinoma, UP Town Center, Fairview Terraces and Marquee Mall (in Angeles, Pampanga). I doubt if I can catch everything. I'm just watching them in no particular order or preference, only as my schedule allows. This film "Requited" (written and directed by Nerissa Picadizo) is the first that I have caught this year.

Matt was a young but down and out architect, coping with a health problem. Sandy was a volleyball star, forced out of her sport by another rare health problem. One day, moody Matt embarked on a solo trip to Mt. Pinatubo via bicycle. By surprise, perky Sandy meets up with him with her bicycle and rode alongside him on his trip. Through their stopovers and injuries, the two bickered all the way on the road and up the mountain.

This film is basically a two-hander, with only Jake Cuenca and Anna Luna as Matt and Sandy as its backbone. I have to commend them for their bravery for riding their bikes on highways with actual traffic whizzing dangerously close by. During the scene when they biked across the welcome bridge into Tarlac, one impatient SUV even overtook them from the wrong side, right on the dirt shoulder of the road.

Cuenca is physically compatible with the role. We know he could really do this backbreaking long-distance bike ride for real. On the other hand, it was hard to believe that Luna could make it all the way, given her physical stature and her character's previous health history. It also somehow strained belief that Luna was a star volleyball player with a killer spike. 

But performance-wise, Anna Luna is simply so winsome here as Sandy. She is the life and soul of this film with her cute smile and vibrant personality. She was believable as a star celebrity that people admired. Jake Cuenca did what he can to bring his one-note character to life, but he struggled because of the perpetual abject misery Matt was made to wallow in. 

This is one of those movies that is simply so maddening. Slowly but surely, it seemed to be building up so well. So many questions were being set up waiting for answers to be revealed. After hearing all their petty arguments and despite their annoying nature, I was already actually beginning to be interested to find out what those answers were. 

Were these two people ever an item before? How does Matt really feel about Sandy when he seems so angry with her over the most petty things, like her tiger print helmet? How does Sandy really feel about Matt, now that she already had a foreigner boyfriend Chris? Why was Matt so insecure about Sandy's popularity with her fans? Why was Sandy making brazenly suggestive sexy moves in front of Matt? What was wrong with these two people to make them so miserable?

And then came that out-of-this-world ENDING! That ending that was came as a total shock. That ending that felt like a sharp slap to the face. The ending that threw all my questions out of the window. That ending that will make you shout curses. That ending that made absolutely no sense. That ending that squandered everything I invested into this. The ending that made everything before it make no sense. The ending that sadly reduced this whole film into a purposeless waste of my time. 

Oh by the way, did I tell you I hated the ending? 2/10.

Review of KIDNAP: A Thriller on Tenacity

August 4, 2017

Ever since Halle Berry opened the Oscar Best Actress door "for every nameless, faceless woman of color" for winning the elusive plum prize for her role in "Monster's Ball" (2001), her career seemed to have taken a down turn instead of up. Aside from her regular appearance as Storm in the X-Men movies before the First Class reboot, she had nothing else quite memorable. She even got a Razzie for Worst Actress in "Catwoman" (2004). 

Quite by coincidence, Berry's last film of note was also a film about a kidnap incident, entitled "The Call" (2013) (MY REVIEW), where she played the 911 operator who receives a distress call from an abducted girl. The topic of her newest film is quite apparent from the title alone which reeked of a pulpy potboiler. I went in not expecting too much. I just wanted to see Ms. Berry in action in the lead role again.

Karla Dyson worked as a waitress in a diner as she struggled to support her six-year-old son Frankie while dealing with her divorce from her husband. One day at the amusement park while her attention was diverted by a call on her cellphone, Karla realizes that Frankie was missing. In her distress, she caught sight of an old green Ford Mustang driving off, with a big woman stuffing her boy into the car! Karla rushed to get her own car and gave chase to the couple who kidnapped her son.

This film is all about Halle Berry and her intense portrayal of the never-say-die Mad-Max of a mother who never gave up chasing down the car that had her abducted son in it. She was doing incredibly brave and dangerous things no ordinary woman (or any ordinary man for that matter) could have done in real life. To say that Karla was relentless is a gross understatement. Berry made sure we feel the despair and vulnerability of this mother as she stuck to her chase no matter how many times she cheated death doing so.

The two kidnappers Terry and Margo Vicky were portrayed as crazy redneck hicks by Lew Temple and Chris McGinn respectively. These are one-dimensional bad guys who were not the typical crooks who tries to get away as fast as they can from those chasing them. These guys were bold and confrontational. They had Karla pinned in several precarious situations from which she was always lucky and superhuman enough to escape from. This kept the excitement level of the film going.

Director Luis Prieto made the most of the limitations of the script by Nate Gwaltney. With the panicking Halle Berry on the wheel, the car chase sequences were made to feel exciting and heart-pounding. It was no joke trying to extend a car chase for over an hour and engage the audience the whole way, and Prieto did not always succeed. If you suspend disbelief and just ignore some of its illogical details and improbable situations, this thrill ride was quite entertaining, if you have 95 minutes to kill. 5/10. 

Review of WIND RIVER: Wicked Wyoming Winter

August 3, 2017

This film is being shown in local theaters with hardly any advertising, no trailers, newspaper ads, posters nor social media posts. However, since it stars an actor I admire, Jeremy Renner, I made sure I'd watch it before it silently disappears from local circulation before long, as was the usual fate of poor box office performers on the first days of release. 

The Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming is in perpetual winter. While tracking a mountain lion killing cattle, US Fish and Wildlife Service agent Cory Lambert discovers a body of an 18-year old Indian girl on the slopes of a snowy mountain. The FBI was called in, but they can only send a young inexperienced agent Jane Banner. Jane conscripts Cory's skills to help her track down the killer in this inhospitable wilderness.

Jeremy Renner gives another excellent performance here as Cory Lambert, as I fully expected him to since he broke into the big time on Oscar Best Picture "The Hurt Locker" (2008). His character Cory is not only a skilled animal tracker and hunter, he was also a man haunted by a tragedy in his family. Renner portrays the action and the dramatic aspects of his character with realistic skill and sensitivity. 

Renner's "Avengers" co-star Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch to his Hawkeye) plays wide-eyed FBI rookie Jane Banner. Olsen was able to maintain her character's credibility and hold her own amid the rough tough blue-collar men she had to deal with in this case for which she was totally unprepared for, not only in her inadequate winter gear but also in her limited investigative ability. 

I was not surprised to see Graham Greene in the cast as the Sheriff Ben. Greene seems to be the first go-to actor when there is an Indian character, most notably "Dances With Wolves" (1990) where he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Raven-haired Gil Birmingham (popularly known as Jacob Black's father Billy in the "Twilight" films) had such a memorably touching stand-out performance as Martin Hanson, father of the victim.

I was surprised to see Jon Bernthal in a third film within these past few weeks, since he was also in the casts of "Shot Caller" and "Baby Driver." Here he plays Matt, the older White boyfriend of the victim, one of the logical first "persons of interest" in the crime. 

I did not know beforehand that this film actually had a strong credentials. It turns out this film had premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It also competed in the Cannes Film Festival under the Prix Un Certain Regard category, winning Best Director for Taylor Sheridan in his directorial debut. 

Taylor Sheridan gained critical acclaim in the past two years because for writing the screenplay of two excellent films -- "Sicario" (2015, Dir: Dennis Villeneuve) (MY REVIEW) and "Hell or High Water" (2016, Dir. David Mackenzie) (MY REVIEW), both of which were nominated for Best Original Screenplay in the Writers Guild. "Hell or High Water" was not only nominated for an Original Screenplay Oscar, but also as Best Picture last year.

This time, Sheridan actually directs his own script for the first time and the product is both impressive and engaging. The crime story was told straightforwardly and logically in 111 minutes. The deliberately slow pace reflects the bleakness and difficulty of the milieu for all the characters, but it never gets tedious. The brutal survival of the fittest among the wildlife echoing the issues of Indians living in a desolate reservation made a strong social statement. The snow here was as pristine and pretty as it was dreary and deadly. 8/10. 

Review of ATOMIC BLONDE: Stylish and Sexy Spy

August 1, 2017

Charlize Theron is one of those actresses whom I think can do no wrong. She is consistently good, whatever role she gets herself into. If she is in the cast of film, she will undoubtedly be one of the actors who get noticed for her performance, even if the film itself was not so well received, like "A Million Ways to Die in the West" (2012) or "The Huntsman: Winter's War" (2016). 

Since her incredibly dynamic turn as Imperator Furiosa in "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015), Theron has shifted gears into the action genre, following this up as Cipher in "The Fate of the Furious" (2017) and then this one where she is the title character.

It is 1989 in still divided Berlin. A Soviet defector code-named Spyglass had obtained and memorized a list of spies working in the USSR. The list was stolen by a KGB agent Bakhtin. Top British MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton was sent into East Berlin through her contact agent David Percival, Her mission is to recover the list and to assist Spyglass gain safe passage into West Berlin. Of course, it was not going to be that easy.

As you can see in the trailer alone, Charlize Theron was like an action beast unleashed in this film. Her fight scenes were incredibly executed, so bone-crushingly realistic and bloody! All the fights were so breathtaking with fast destructive moves and weapons both real and makeshift. That scene when Lorraine was fighting several Russian goons in the old building was the one that can really punch the breath out of you and make you cringe in pain. Theron is 41 years old this year, but her ageless body is lean and taut as ever, and she has nude scenes here to show it all off.

James McAvoy is another one actor who seems consistently good in any film he does, like "Atonement" (2007), "X-Men First Class" (2011) and just earlier this year "Split" (2016). He balances the typical stoic spy attitude of Theron with his gregariousness and sense of humor to liven up the pace. John Goodman (as CIA agent Kurzfeld), Til Schweiger (as The Watchmaker), Eddie Marsan (as Spyglass), Toby Jones (as Eric Grey, Lorraine's boss and interrogator) and Roland Møller (as rich gangster Bremovych) all do well in their roles.

Action is really the forte of director David Leitch, who first gained fame as a stuntman and coordinator in many action films, some pretty iconic ones like "Fight Club" (1999), "Mr. and Mrs. Smith| (2005) and "300" (2006). He also did time being second-unit director in films like "The Wolverine" (2013), "Jurassic World" (2015) and "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), and co-director in "John Wick" (2014) for which he was not credited. "Atomic Blonde" is technically his feature film debut as solo director. 

The action scenes were no doubt the best parts of the film -- car chases, foot chases, gun fights, fist fights, and everything in between. However, some of the in-between convoluted double-crossing set-ups between all the agents of multiple loyalties can feel slow and familiar, impeding the film's pace. Anyhow, Theron's Lorraine has the potential to become another spy film franchise, like James Bond, Jason Bourne and Leitch's own John Wick. Lorraine's sexy tryst with French agent Delphine (played by Sofia Boutela) echoes of Bond.

One of the aspects I enjoyed are the various references to the 1980s (to early 90s). There are celebrity name-drops like Sinead O'Connor and David Hasselhoff and that killer soundtrack of 80s power anthems, like "Major Tom," "99 Luftballons," "Father Figure," "Der Kommissar", "Voices Carry," "I Ran" and "Under Pressure." I even recognized the song over the opening credits as "Putting Out the Fire with Gasoline" by David Bowie (from the 1982 film "Cat People").  There was an action scene interestingly set inside a a movie theater showing "Stalker" (Tarkovsky, 1979), but I am not sure why this film was chosen, 

Overall, I liked the actors, especially Charlize Theron in the lead role, and the blaring catchy 80s music soundtrack. Leitch could have been told the story (based on a 2012 graphic novel by Antony Johnston “The Coldest City,") in a little more streamlined way, but I also felt Theron's stylishly brutal fight scenes made up for the pacing issues. 7/10. 

Review of SHOT CALLER: Prisoner Psychology

July 27, 2017

This particular film is not getting any buzz at all. With a nondescript title and only a couple of known actors in its cast, it looks like just another B action movie. However, I am glad I did not allow this first impression to stop me from checking this film out. This was actually one well-written prison drama which gives us insights about how big time criminals think and operate within the prison system. 

Jacob Harlon is a well-off businessman with a happy family. One night, he figures in a bad DUI vehicular accident which caused a fatality, causing him to get convicted for some jail time. Immersed in the brutality in prison, he gradually gets hardened up to become Money, one of the most ruthless, most feared inmates inside. When he finally gets paroled, he discovered that he still could not get away from the "friends" he made inside. Could he keep his wife Kate and son Josh safe, or will it be better just to lose them?

Danish actor Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, whom we better know as Jamie Lannister on "Game of Thrones," played the challenging role of Jacob Harlon. At first, I thought he was playing double roles here as this film did not tell the story in a linear manner. First we see Coster-Waldau either as a tattooed tough jailbird with an intimidating handlebar mustache or as a mild-mannered executive as the story flashed back and forth between these two guys, until it was clear this was the same guy at different times in his life.

The rest of the cast were mostly tough-looking character actors playing criminals either in cahoots with or working against Money. Jon Bernthal played Shotgun, a crook caught between loyalties to crooks and cops. Holt McCallany played an Alpha prison head honcho aptly named "The Beast" who interestingly loved philosophy books. The final fates of these two men were some of the most intense scenes in the whole film.

The script and direction of Ric Roman Waugh is, for me, the best part of this film. Waugh was first known for his stunt work in several actions films, from "Lethal Weapon 2" (1989) to "Daybreak" (2000). Later, he would also write and direct his own films, mostly dealing about crime, starting with "In the Shadows" (2001), "Felon" (2008) and "Snitch" (2013), and this one. After "Shot Caller," he is working on "Angel Has Fallen", the third film after the Olympus and London terrorist attack films.

I liked how Waugh expounded on the criminal thought processes in and out of prison through the eyes of Jacob Harlon -- a family man, an unintentional inmate, a reluctant gang member, an eventual crime boss. The story telling was engaging as Waugh brought his compelling script to life with strong imagery and interesting editing choices. Despite its unmistakable B-movie vibe, I actually found this film to be an unexpectedly good find. 7/10. 

Review of AFTERMATH: Double Dose of Depression

July 27, 2017

Arnold Schwarzenegger gained fame in the 1970s as a bodybuilder. He was, and still is, the youngest person to ever win Mr. Olympia, when he snared the major title in 1973 at the age of 23. He went on to win Mr. Olympia six more times -- the last one in 1980, when he was already in training for his big screen debut as "Conan the Barbarian" (1982). 

After the success of "Conan," Schwarzenegger became an action superstar of the 1980s in films like "Commando" (1985), "Predator" (1987), "Total Recall" (1990), "True Lies" (1994) and his signature role as "The Terminator" (1984) and its subsequent sequels (1991, 2003 and 2015). He also made a number of successful comedies like "Twins" (1988), "Kindergarten Cop" (1990) and "Junior" (1993). 

As his acting career waned in the 2000s, Schwarzenegger turned to politics. Like fellow actor and Republican Ronald Reagan before him, Schwarzenegger became the Governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Unlike Reagan though, he could not run for the Presidency even if he wanted to because he is not a natural born American citizen. After this political stint, Schwarzenegger returned to acting.

Schwarzenegger is already pushing 70 by July 30 this year. He has slowed down and could not do his former intense action hero stunts anymore, as can be seen in his comeback efforts like "Expendables 2" (2012) and "3" (2014) (MY REVIEW) and "Escape Plan" (2014) (MY REVIEW). He is expanding his range to drama now, like the post-apocalyptic drama "Maggie" (2015) (MY REVIEW), and now this new one this year.

Flight AX122 from New York City collided with another plane in midair and crashed. This film followed the experiences of two men whose lives were shattered by this tragedy. Construction foreman Roman Melnyk had his wife Olena and pregnant daughter Nadiya on board that ill-fated plane. Air traffic controller Jacob Bonanos was the one on duty at the tower when the accident happened. 

People expecting some action from Schwarzenegger will be disappointed. His character Roman was passively just waiting for an apology for the whole duration of the film while he slept at the foot of his loved ones' graves. He did spring to life for that one split second in the final act, but the violence of that key scene felt neutered as it was bathed in eerie silence. Like he was in "Maggie," Schwarzenegger was subdued and restrained all the way.

Playing the embattled airport official Jacob is character actor Scoot McNairy. He had been in films consistently since 2001 in minor supporting roles until this one puts him up there in a major role, and he made the most of this opportunity. His features are nondescript enough to render him open to play any character. Here, McNairy's gaunt face reflects the inner turmoil of guilt that was eating up the very soul of his character. I just wished the writer had given this character a different fate.

Aside from a short gratuitous funny scene of Schwarzenegger taking a shower that we did not really need to see, the mood of this  film was relentlessly morose given the very tragic event that caused all the heavy drama to ensue. There were very long stretches of running time that were devoid of any dialog, with director Elliott Lester letting sad images and maudlin music sell the story. The double dose of depression we get from the two threads of this film can be too much to bear. 4/10. 

Review of CARS 3: Weary but Wise

July 26, 2017

In the whole hallowed canon of Pixar animated films, "Cars" (2006) has generally been considered one of its more lightweight offerings. In fact, the sequel "Cars 2" (2011) usually gets called the worst Pixar film. However, despite this reputation among film critics, one cannot discount the immense popularity of this series, and its star character, Lightning McQueen. It is so popular that instead of giving up on it after the "Cars 2" (MY REVIEW) debacle, here comes another sequel this year.

Threatened by the new, faster generation of race cars (exemplified by the haughty Jackson Storm), our hero, now fading racetrack star Lightning McQueen was desperate to find a way to train himself back into shape and to regain the mojo to win races again. His sponsor Rust-eze sold their operation to a new owner Sterling who owns a high-tech car training facility. complete with car treadmills and a race simulator. 

McQueen did not like the upbeat motivation style of his new trainer Cruz Ramirez. He bolts out with Cruz to find and train in all the previous tracks where his late mentor Doc Hudson raced. He found Doc's old trainer Smokey who tried to get McQueen ready for the Florida 500 with his old-fashioned techniques, using Cruz (a frustrated race car herself) as his training partner and pacesetter. 


This new film is directed by Brian Fee (moving up from being storyboard artist of the first two "Cars" films), and features voices from the old cast like Owen Wilson (as Lightning McFee), Bonnie Hunt (as Sally), Larry the Cable Guy (as Mater) and even the late Paul Newman (as Doc Hudson, from his previously recorded lines). New characters are voiced by Armie Hammer (as Jackson Storm), Cristela Alonzo (as Cruz Ramirez), Chris Cooper (as Smokey), Nathan Fillion (as Sterling) and Kerry Washington (as racing statistics analyst Natalie Certain).

After the missteps of "Cars 2" (making it a James Bond-like spy caper featuring McQueen's rusty tow truck sidekick Mater), "Cars 3" returns to familiar territory focusing back on racing and on McQueen himself and his character's development. This time, he faces the challenges of getting older and being outclassed by more powerful, more aggressive and more arrogant younger competition. Mater is still in there, but in a very small part that does not mention anything about his adventures (nor knighthood) in "Cars 2".

"Cars 3" brings back the all-American old-town nostalgic vibe that it totally lost when "Cars 2" transported the action to that World Grand Prix in Tokyo. On McQueen's road trip in the wild west, we see the dusty American desert outbacks, like those of Radiator Springs of the first "Cars," once again. In one part, we see McQueen and Cruz enter another kind of motor event that was born in the USA -- a wild and dirty demolition derby. 

The suspenseful and dramatic thrill of the final race is still very much there, like the first "Cars". You may think that you already know how that climactic race will end, but most likely you will not expect what actually transpires. Maybe like me, you will also want to look up the NASCAR rule books if what happened can actually happen in a real car race. Better watch it to see for yourself.

Yes, you will feel that certain scenes in "Cars" were just refitted for this new sequel -- mostly about how McQueen's ego and pride gets him into trouble with himself and his friends. More importantly, the heart of that made the first Cars film beloved is back -- the essence of respecting your mentors and honoring them, of trying your best in everything, of realizing your mistakes and making up for them, of recognizing your limitations and doing something about it. 7/10.

Review of BABY DRIVER: Gung-ho Getaways

July 25, 2017

Tall, blond, baby-faced young actor Ansel Elgort first hit the big screen in 2013 with a supporting role in the remake of "Carrie." This was followed by a role in the"Divergent" trilogy, which kept busy from 2014-2016. By his third role, he was already playing the co-lead in "The Fault in Our Stars" (2014). To continue his rise, this year, he gets to play a title role in "Baby Driver". Admittedly, because he looked bland and awkward, I did not expect his career to flourish so fast.

Baby worked as a getaway driver for a gang of crooks led by Doc in Atlanta, Georgia. Because he suffered from severe tinnitus because of a tragic childhood accident, he constantly wore earphones to listen to his music, but this made the thieves who worked with him feel uncomfortable. Just when he completed his last job for Doc to repay a big debt, Baby meets and befriends Debora, a lovely girl who worked at the diner. However, Doc had plans for Baby to drive for him for one last big heist.

Here in "Baby Driver," the innate awkwardness of Elgort played a big factor to charm the audience to side with him and to root for him as Baby. His traumatic past and innocent face made him a special child for us to care for, albeit all grown-up now. He was a natural playing it cute in his romantic scenes with Debora. However, in the bad-ass driving scenes, Elgort was also able to pull them off convincingly, as unbelievable as those incredibly fast and clever car stunts looked.

Kevin Spacey can play gangsters like Doc like second nature. And so can Jamie Foxx play wacko violent killers like Bats. I remember seeing them do these kinds of roles before. John Hamm is remarkable playing another thief named Buddy. He is best-known for his character Don Draper in the long-running Emmy-winning TV series "Mad Men", a show I had never watched despite it running from 2007-2015. Buddy's partner-in-life and in-crime is Darling, played by sexy Eiza González. It was surprising to see musicians like Flea and Paul Williams have some screen time playing criminals.

The vivacious friendly diner waitress Debora is played by Lily James, whom I first knew as "Cinderella" in the Disney live action version (2015). This lead role was followed by another lead role as Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" (2016). I thought her chemistry with Elgort was delightful, and the two worked very well together as a pair.

From the get go, we immediately follow an amazing car chase sequence to the tune of "Bellbottoms" (by John Spencer Blues Explosion) that set the adrenaline-pumped pace for the whole film. All the car sounds and action melded perfectly with the rock beat of the song. Just as impressive was continuous tracking shot of Baby buying coffee to the tune of "Harlem Shuffle" (by Bob and Earl) that played over the opening credits. 

Music is a key element throughout the whole film, and the soundtrack from Baby's iPod collection was loud and dope, featuring acts as diverse as Beach Boys, T. Rex, Beck, Martha and the Vandellas, Barry White and Queen. Driving music was given a whole new dimension and because of the infectious beats led to carefully choreographed driving stunts and even gunfire and foot chases all in time with the rhythm. We are all taken in on its seemingly wild yet actually calculated ride. 

The original version of the song "Easy" by the Commodores was played earlier in the film, but towards the end, a more soulful heart-rending rendition of the same song was done by Sky Ferreira, who also played Baby's mother in the film, which packed a lot of emotion. As a bonus, Simon and Garfunkel's upbeat "Baby Driver" (from which the film's title came) is played over the closing credits.

Writer-director Edgar Wright first gained popularity with his quirky films like "Shaun of the Dead" (2004), "Hot Fuzz" (2007) and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2013). For "Baby Driver," Wright definitely knew what he was going for and he nailed it. Baby is a well-written character that wins the audience over despite his involvement with crime. With drama, action and comedy skillfully balanced with music, the whole film is very engaging,and entertaining. It had a "Shawshank Redemption" vibe going for it. Despite the violence and mayhem, the film's heart is securely in the right place. 9/10. 

Review of VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS: Visionary and Vibrant

July 23, 2017

Aside from his action classics "Nikita" (1990) and "Leon: The Professional" (1994), French director Luc Besson is also known for his stylish science fiction films like "The Fifth Element" (1997) and "Lucy" (2014). This time around, he chose to bring to life a French science-fiction comics series "Valerian and Laureline" (published from 1967- 2010). 

Beginning in 1975, people from Earth started a space station Alpha to coexist and cooperate in mutual exchange of knowledge. With the succeeding years and centuries, beings from other planets joined in, until this space station housed most of the known interplanetary races of the whole universe, making Alpha the titular "City of a Thousand Planet". The main story is set in the 28th century.

Successful with their latest mission, human police agent Major Valerian and his partner Sgt. Laureline have brought back into Alpha a rare and invaluable little creature called a "Converter". While they were there, their superior officer Commander Filitt  was abducted by a group of human-like creatures with pearly complexion (whom Valerian had previously seen in a vivid dream). Valerian and Laureline, who had earlier been tasked to secure the Commander, go in hot pursuit, even into dangerous red zone, to bring him back.

I recognized Dane DeHaan from his role as Harry Osborne in Andrew Garfield's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2". Delevingne I knew as a model before, but this is the first time I've seen her act in a major role. Frankly, it took some time for me to accept them as heroes Valerian and Laureline because of their juvenile and petty behavior when they were first introduced. The dialog between these two really verged on B-flick cheesy, campy and corny. DeHaan also did not have the wow-factor star power Taron Egerton or Tom Holland had in their big time lead debuts.

Clive Owen was not exactly subtle in his portrayal of Commander Filitt. Ethan Hawke had fun playing a naughty pimp in the red-light district Paradise Alley. Sam Spruell did not really look that convincing as General Okto-Bar, but that helped add some suspense. Chinese-Canadian actor Kris Wu, formerly of South Korean pop group EXO, had a notable role as Capt. Neza, close aide of the General. 

The most remarkable supporting performance was that by pop superstar Rihanna, who played a shape-shifting alien entertainer named Bubbles. At first I thought all she would do was that pole-dancing song number done for Valerian's entertainment. However, her character would go on to do more significant scenes after that, making this a key role.

The best thing about this film are its spectacular visuals. I marveled at the richly inventive futuristic graphic designs that I saw flood the screen during its entire 137 minutes running time. These include the unique alien creatures of all shapes and sizes (from cute to monstrous), the ultra-high technological advances in gadgets and weaponry, the absurdly over-the-top costumes and makeup of the various characters, and the colorful kaleidoscopic sights of alien planets and cities. 

The trailer was not too flattering in my opinion. I definitely liked the whole film better, and I am glad I did not let the trailer discourage me from watching. The plot may have plenty of cliches and the bad guy may have been obvious from the get go, but overall, the film was very entertaining. The artistic vision of its highly creative artists and artisans are to be highly commended for the brand new world they whipped up for us from their imagination.  7/10.

Flashback: Review of DED NA SI LOLO: Funeral Foibles

November 13, 2009

For the weekend of November 13-15, 2009, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (or PETA) will be showing three acclaimed Filipino indie films in a three day series called "C Mo Si Direk".  The three directors are Maryo J. delos Reyes ("Kamoteng Kahoy" starring Gloria Romero), Joel Lamangan ("Fuschia" also starring Gloria Romero) and Soxie Topacio ("Ded na si Lolo").

Of the three, the one the really caught my attention was the one shown tonight, Soxie Topacio's "Ded Na Si Lolo".  Honestly, I wanted to watch it because it had been given the honor to be our country's representative to the Oscar Awards for this year.  The choice seemed too unlikely, so that I simply needed to watch and judge it for myself.

The PETA theater is so near where I work, but I never really had the chance to see anything there yet.  Tonight was the first formal event I attended there, and I hope only the first among many more to come.  The entrance of P200 may be a bit expensive for a local indie film showing, but the promised chance to hear the director and cast in an open forum after the show seemed worth the price of admission.

The affair was opened by PETA President Ms. Cecilia "CB" Garrucho.  She was a memory from my childhood as the emcee of "Tele Aralan ng Kakayahan." She introduced director and writer Mr. Soxie Topacio, again familiar in my childhood memory as cast member of the TV sitcom "Duplex."  He told of how close to his heart this movie was as these were his own experiences growing up, so close that he was able to write the script in three days!


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The movie is about how a family of five adult siblings coped with the death and the wake of their father, as simple as that.  But within that bare context, Mr. Topacio was able inject very familiar Filipino situations that make us laugh out loud, and tug some heartstrings in the process.  A central theme element is the depiction of various irrational superstitions that surround death, the wake and the funeral.  It also tackles uniquely Filipino practices during the wake, including the gambling operations (saklaan).  The inter-family conflicts among the siblings are also very well-limned and very realistic.  As it is sharp, the words of the script were really very witty.  

It is very obvious that the movie also succeeds because of the excellent cast.  Mr. Topacio himself acknowledged that the secret of this movie's success is that he was able to get the actors he wanted.  The siblings were played by veteran performers Dick Israel, Elizabeth Oropesa, Gina Alajar, Roderick Paulate, and Manilyn Reynes.  

Paulate, as expected with his flamboyant role as the gay son Junie, steals all his scenes, even when he does not have dialog.  They play their comically-melodramatic roles with gusto and fun.  Their interactions are quite carefree and natural, in both funny and dramatic situations.  Another stand-out performance is by the child BJ Forbes who plays the grandchild Bobet from whose eyes this story is told.  The scene where he recalls his fond memories of grandfather was silently touching.

I am glad I watched this movie.  I think it would be a good movie for competition abroad because of its perfect rendering of the Filipino ways, very "masang Pinoy" indeed.  I was hoping they would show the subtitled version today, but they didn't. I wanted to see how the humorous Filipino dialog would come out in English, how much nuance could be lost. I am concerned that a foreign audience might treat the whole movie as an inside joke that they do not get. 

Last year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film went to a movie about death customs as well -- "Departures" from Japan.  But certainly, as the quietness of that movie made it uniquely Japanese, the noise and festivity of "Ded Na Si Lolo" makes it uniquely Pinoy.  I believe it deserves its shot at the big prize.  As part of its effort to raise funds for its Oscar campaign, this movie will get another theatrical run this December.  Do try to catch this and support this very Filipino film to win the elusive Oscar.

Review of DUNKIRK: Surrounded and Shellshocked

July 20, 2017

In the final week of May7, 1940, soldiers from Great Britain (as well as France and other Allies) were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, surrounded on all sides by land and air by the Nazi Germans. The film recounts the experiences of various soldiers caught in that desperate situation, as well as the valiant efforts taken by the British to evacuate its soldiers out of there. 

When I read that the director of this World War II movie is Christopher Nolan, I was curious at how he would make a film that dealt with a real historical event (the 1940 Dunkirk Evacuation in this case) and give it its trademark Nolan style. Knowing how Nolan tells stories, I was not expecting it to be told in a straightforward manner.

Form the start, it was clear that it won't be. The story will be told from three vantage points and from three different time frames. First, there was a scene showing a half-mile-long jetty on the beach serving as an evacuation dock for long lines of British soldiers, all 400,000 of them. This part was called "The Mole" with an indication that this had been going on for one week already. 

The second part of the story called "The Sea" told of civilian boats conscripted to sail to Dunkirk to aide in the evacuation efforts. This part started one day ago. The third part of the story called "The Air" told a small squad of Spitfire jets sent to deter the German air attacks. This part started just one hour ago. 

Nolan told these three parts one at a time, weaving them all together into one exciting cohesive narrative until all three parts converged into each other at the end. We will be introduced to a few remarkable survivors and victims in each part for us to immerse into the unspeakable trauma of their wartime experience. The film is rated PG, so I'm glad I did not have to see the explicit gore of "Saving Private Ryan" or "Hacksaw Ridge." But, mind you, the viewing is no less harrowing.

The actors playing the young soldiers and other young men involved in the rescue were mostly new and unknown talents, chosen by Nolan to reflect the youth and inexperience of the real Dunkirk soldiers. 

For "The Mole," we follow the efforts of a British Army private Tommy, played by newcomer Fionn Whitehead. It was remarkable to recognize One Direction member Harry Styles as Alex, another private who was with Tommy in his plight. Commander Bolton, the highest officer in charge of evacuation at the Mole, is played with nobility by Kenneth Branagh.

For "The Sea," we meet an idealistic young man who helped his dad sail their boat, Peter Dawson played by Tom Glynn-Carney. He has a younger brother George, played by Barry Keoghan. Their father was played by recent Oscar winner Mark Rylance in an impressively restrained show of civic duty. Cillian Murphy was also there on the Moonstone as a severely traumatized soldier the Dawsons rescued. 

For "The Air", the pilots are shown wearing their headgear and goggles the whole time, so I did not recognize who they were until they eventually removed their headgear. Jack Lowden played the pilot Collins who was forced to crashland into the sea. There was one Spitfire that was able to stay on air to shoot down enemy planes to the end, and the pilot was revealed to Tom Hardy, in a most dramatically heroic scene. 

Hans Zimmer's musical score, with those bass vibrations, heart beats and clock ticks, was soaring and unnerving when the scene called for it. Hoyte van Hoytema's cinematography was excellent in all three realms of beach, water and sky. This film is also a big success on the sound effects editing and mixing aspects, all the realistic explosions had me feeling shellshocked as well. 

As Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone won their Best Director Oscars for their war films, this may well be the film which will finally bring Christopher Nolan his first Oscar directorial nomination, and perhaps also the win. With "Dunkirk", the Oscar race for this year has truly begun. 9/10.