Flipped (2010)

I have flipped.

I don't really dig films about puppy loves and vintage clothes, but this made me think twice.

A delicate film directed by Rob Reiner ( a veteran of romantic films), Flipped doesn't only offer a story of friendship and love, but it also tackles the importance of family in the life of a teenager. It was narrated in a two-person linear fashion during the 50's, a very rare technique for a coming-of age film.

Personal Rating-6/10

Hunger Games (2011)

"May the odds be ever in your favor"

Seriously, this film wouldn't let you blink for seconds.

I honestly got attached to the whole story. I mean the writer of the novel made a nice move by devising a concept that fans wouldn't get tired of reading..and watching. However, I think it isn't necessary that the director made it child-friendly. It has stingy action-filled scenes and gore.

The nation of Panem has established a tradition for decades, the 12 districts must sacrifice a boy and a girl ages 12 to 18 for an annual event called the Hunger Games. All of the contestants must fight their chance to be recognized as the sole winner by surviving in the wilderness. They must win over physical limitations and emotional attraction.

Personal Rating-7/10  

The Ghost writer (2010)

Do you really want to be a ghost writer all your life?

An old haunting question hard to answer. 

"A ghostwriter stumbles onto a secret that places his life in danger as he takes down the life story of a former U.K. prime minister in this Roman Polanski-helmed adaptation of the Robert Harris novel. Convinced by his agent that he's been granted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, talented British screenwriter "The Ghost" (Ewan McGregor) agrees to aid British prime minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) in completing his memoirs after the leader's former aide dies under mysterious circumstances. Almost immediately after The Ghost arrives at a remote mansion in the U.S. to begin working with the prime minister, Lang is accused of committing a war crime by a former British cabinet minister. Amidst a deluge of protestors and reporters, The Ghost delves into the unfinished manuscript and comes to the terrifying conclusion that his predecessor died because he discovered a link between Prime Minister Lang and the CIA. The more information The Ghost uncovers, the more convinced he becomes that his life could be in danger as well."(source)

Personal Rating-5.5/10

Must-see: Life of Pi(2012)

One of Ang Lee's masterpiece, Life of Pi, will soon fight its standing in film festivals and screenings to surpass the success of Crouching tiger, Hidden dragon and Brokeback Mountain. Based from a novel written by Yann Martel,  the story is all about survival and responsibility. A young indian boy under the pressure of nature, makes close contact with fear for him to win against unacceptable death. 

"Based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel, is a magical adventure story centering on Pi Patel, the precocious son of a zoo keeper. Dwellers in Pondicherry, India, the family decides to move to Canada, hitching a ride on a huge freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival." (Source)

Sorry guys, but we have to wait until its release in theaters on the 21st of November.

Here's a quick peek:

Mysterious Skin (2004)

Mysterious Skin, a disturbing drama film about pedophilia and its detrimental effects to victims. It starred the young Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil along with Brady Corbet as Brian and Michelle Trachtenberg as Wendy. Rottentomatoes.com gave it a fresh score of 84% and positive remarks from critics. "Bold performances and sensitive, spot-on direction make watching this difficult tale of trauma and abuse a thought-provoking, resonant experience" as quoted. (Source)

Two boys with different characters, Neil and Brian, shared the same abusive experience from their baseball coach. However, the former remembered it exactly what and how it was, while the latter interpreted it as an encounter with aliens. Neil was devastated by the incident, believing that it made a major impact to his orientation. He sought sexual attention from men older than him, generally relating all of them to his coach. Brian, on the other hand, was trying to patch every evidence he could find to truly prove his alien encounter and his weird condition of nose-bleeding. To have a clearer view of what really happened, Brian contacted Neil . The two met at the exact place it occurred and they both reminisced the disturbing incident.

Personal Rating: 7/10

LOL(2012)

A big LOL to this movie.

Ok. I normally don't like crappy flicks of overrated teen stars for obvious reasons-the plot sucks, a lot of spooning and groping, and..I have to stop right here. Pardon my whining.HAHA.

I know some would ask, "So why the heck did you feature this crap movie?"
Here's the answer. I'm just trying to make this blog versatile, a hodgepodge, for it not to appear too biased and bland.

Let's backtrack. I didn't actually finish the whole movie.Well, in fact, I only survived the 20 minutes of it. I had to pee, so I paused it and what I can remember was I went to the kitchen and browsed my facebook account instead.

In conclusion, the plot was weak-after 10 minutes, I was not following anymore. Basically, It was about a teenager who had sex for the first time and was too afraid for her mother to know.

On the bright side, every little girl who wishes to be Miley Cyrus will certainly love this.

Personal Rating: 3/10

Inception (2010)

I was having strange nightmares lately. I mean really strange ones. I think the most weirdest is I was bitten by a dog and when I woke up, I could still felt the excruciating pain on my hand where the dog bit me. Strange, isn't it? This afternoon, while seated lazily on the couch aimlessly switching between channels, the idea of watching a film related to dreams hit me. I only have one film on my mind, it definitely is Inception.

In the film Inception (directed by the same director of the Batman trilogy and where Bane, Robin, and The Scarecrow are all in the same movie aside from The Dark Knight Rises), dreams become real. The viewers enter into another layer of substrate of the reality. The complexity of the plot tries to become playful to the mind, provoking the thoughts it has and sometimes leaves it perplexed as pitch black. The film is also visually appealing, specially when it introduced pretty amusing optical illusions which technically contributed to the cleverness of the film. The film ended with an inconclusive ending, it didn't show whether the totem stops or not. "Open" endings make me feel frustrated sometimes.

On a side note, The mind is so powerful, it becomes infinite. The edge of boundaries is getting farther and farther. I couldn't intellectually grasp what the mind can and cannot do. Because of it, we become limitless. We can build and at the same time destroy anything; and there are still a lot of possible ideas in the horizon that soon to be uncovered.

Personal rating: 8/10

Call Me Maybe Parodies

While looking for movie updates on youtube, I saw this video with 6million plus views and IT WAS HILARIOUS!! I decided to share it to you guys. I also included some funny videos of its like:)

Enjoy!

This one just made my day:

Chatroulette version

Barack Obama parody

Call me Gaybe.HAHA

Rate that movie!

To solicit your own movie rating to every featured movie, I have recently added reaction buttons found at the  bottom of an entry. With it, viewers of my blog will know what movies are public's favorites. The reaction encapsulates everything about that movie-plot, cast, cinematography,setting,etc. If you have something to say about a certain film, feel free to comment. 

Here's the legend:
 ★ -rubbish
 ★ ★-good
 ★ ★ ★-satisfactory
 ★ ★ ★ ★-very satisfactory

Lasers and Minions

Remember the tagline "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!"?

The news spreads like fire all over the internet. Despicable Me 2 will be out next year along with Monster Inc. 2.

Excited?

Despicable Me, starring the voices of Steve Carell (40 year-old virgin) Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Russel Brand(Arthur), is a 2010 comedy/drama animation about family and cool lasers and badass villain wars. This movie simply disproves that a stoned heart of a mad scientist has no soft part for kids and yes, a villain has a heart too. For the second time, Gru, with his three lovable girls, will soon embark on another mission of saving the earth...or is it? 

Enjoy this addicting short teaser shared to me by a friend :)

Novels-turned-Movies

Novels-turned-movies of  vintage and new x generation, both The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and On The Road  will surely give honor to the writers of its respective novel adaptations.

The Perks of Being A Wallflower, written during the 1990's by an american novelist Stephen Chbosky when Kurt Cobain was still alive and recording mix tapes was still the best gift to give. The whole story was generally a compilation of letters addressed to an unknown stranger by a kid named Charle, who narrated his experiences as a freshman in their school and his struggle to fit in the society through drugs, booze, and premarital sex. I already finished reading the whole novel to clearly understand the movie when it is released in public theaters (Hopefully). I cannot understand why America banned school libraries to have a copy for their students to read.

I'm hardly starting to read the first few pages of the novel On The Road. It seems that I couldn't find time to read it entirely even though I own my time now. Nevertheless I'm still looking forward to see the film.   

Movies Coming Soon

The year of the so-called doomsday, 2012, not only delivers worries about apocalyptic predictions and public catastrophes, but also brings fresh and artsy action/thriller movies. I have scribbled some of these movies of their genres on my A-list to personally see them however, new movies keep on releasing and continually added on my list. I guess it would be impossible to watch them myself. A lot of beautiful movies, but so little time. 

Here is a list of action/thriller movies I've been eyeing to see. Hope you'll enjoy it as well. :)

1.The Bourne Legacy

The reason why I'm currently waiting for this movie to be released is that some scenes were actually taken in the Philippines. I hope it will bring pride to my country when the whole world sees it.

"The narrative architect behind the Bourne film series, Tony Gilroy, takes the helm in the next chapter of the hugely popular espionage franchise that has earned almost $1 billion at the global box office: The Bourne Legacy. The writer/director expands the Bourne universe created by Robert Ludlum with an original story that introduces us to a new hero (Jeremy Renner) whose life-or-death stakes have been triggered by the events of the first three films. For The Bourne Legacy, Renner joins fellow series newcomers Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach and Oscar Isaac, while franchise veterans Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn reprise their roles". 

2. The Imposter 

A new psychological thriller of its own kind, The Imposter is said to have an eerie, untoward after-feeling once you see it.

"Nicholas was 13 the day he disappeared (June 13, 1994). He would have been 16 and 8 months when he was reported found in Spain (October 7, 1997)... In 1994 a 13-year-old boy disappears without a trace from San Antonio, Texas. Three and a half years later he is found alive, thousands of miles away in a village in southern Spain with a story of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed to bring him home. But all is not quite as it seems. The boy bears many of the same distinguishing marks he always had, but why does he now have a strange accent? Why does he look so different? And why doesn't the family seem to notice these glaring inconsistencies? It's only when an investigator starts asking questions that this strange tale takes an even stranger turn".

3.Looper

I was shocked to see the full transformation of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's facial features from a wimpy gentleman to a sleek and manly young version of Bruce Willis. Looper, a postmodern sci-fi action film of time travelling, will soon make the audience in awe of its radical premise.

"In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a "looper" - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good... until the day the mob decides to "close the loop," sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination".

Movie Infos courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

Let me hear from you guys. What movies are you eyeing this year?

Rainy Tuesday

The dominating monsoons have hit the Philippines for a couple of times this year. We Filipinos become accustomed with similar scenes like inundated highways and streets, mass blackouts, landfalls, alerting sirens for evacuation and annoying traffic jams. Most people would even see it as a normal weather despite the heavy rain showers and killing winds.  

Consequently, these phenomena have made us prepared all the time. To prevent problems to arise, canned goods and noodles must be packed for future consumption, medical kits and safe drinking water should be secured, and a bunch of fun-filled movies to relax with. There is nothing to worry unless everyone stays inside of the house seated on the cozy couch with hot buttered popcorn enjoying the movies on this list.

I recommend this list of movies to everyone staying in their flats while waiting for the rain to stop. Here it goes:

1.HARRY POTTER FILMS 1-8

This long epic story of fantasy and magic will kill your time literally. Filling the house with flying pixies and brewing potions would be a better idea right? Start your magical journey now.

2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS FILM TRILOGY  

An original novel of J.R.R Tolkein adapted in films by the director Peter Jacksons, The Lord of the Rings offers a surreal world of war and drama for the family. My Precious!

3. STARWARS SEQUEL AND PREQUEL

Starwars is an epic sci-fi film by George Lucas. It became a big hit in theaters for years until now and some fans have adopted the film into their lives. Some even made parodies and fun products for this film canon. These set of movies will reveal out the force in you. 

Any movie/s to add to the existing list? Leave a comment :)

The Incredible Shrinking Man(1957)

Scott Carey: I looked up, as if somehow I would grasp the heavens. The universe, worlds beyond number, God's silver tapestry spread across the night. And in that moment, I knew the answer to the riddle of the infinite. I had thought in terms of man's own limited dimension. I had presumed upon nature. That existence begins and ends in man's conception, not nature's. And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears melted away. And in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And then I meant something, too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something, too. To God, there is no zero. I still exist! 

One confession that I need to make is that I fond watching old movies. Movies that are older than me or anyone else. These preserved movies need to regain their shine because they shared a crucial contribution to the development of our films nowadays. 

As one of the best science fiction film of all time, The Incredible Shrinking Man has a fresh tomatometer of 88% and an average rating of 7.6/10 in rottentomatoes.com. I was stunned by the special effects in general. I expected it to be crappy, but I was proved wrong. The miniature effect that the movie used was rendered perfectly in black and white. Personally, it is the most realistic old sci-fi movie I have seen so far. Also, the script was profoundly written with thought-provoking lines to create a serious tone of the whole concept. 

The fuss started when Scott Carey (Grant Williams), married to a beautiful and sensitive wife Louise (Randy Stuart), was exposed to a radioactive cloud when having a vacation with his wife in a yacht. As months have passed, he noticed that he's losing his height inch by inch until he became smaller than a matchstick. Struck by the events, he sought help from an expert. The scientist was surprised of what he saw and directly revealed to Scott that there is no known antidote for his condition. Becoming less and less hopeful, he accepted his fate and lived in a dollhouse. Unattended by his wife, Scott faced a heart-pounding encounter with a provoked cat and managed to escape by jumping off the basement. When his wife discovered that the dollhouse was empty and the cat was licking its paws, She apparently considered it as the end of her life with Scott. The death of Scott was mistakenly reported to the public. Once again, he fought for his survival against a taunting spider and a rapid flood. In the end, he never returned to his normal size and started a new life with his new form.

Personal rating: 7/10

Shame (2011)

Dubbed as the most provocative and compelling film of the year, Shame is a scandalous story of a pressing issue on addiction to sex. It was directed by Steve Mcqueen, one of the renowned kings of controversial films of this generation.

The subtle and explicit world of a New York bachelor, Brandon (Michael Fassbender), was presented as he battled against his strong obsession to carnal satisfaction from sex workers or any girl in the way. His mundane cycle was disturbed by the arrival of his little sister named Sissy (Carrie Mulligan) to his life. Regardless of place and time, Brandon never won over his aggression despite the fact that it was only temporary. He was out in the wild, hunting for pleasure and  chasing for inner satisfaction. As he tried to create intimate connection to a co-worker, who is now his real-time girlfriend, he was haunted by the opposed force of his addiction. In this scene, it was revealed that he didn't have long-term relationships with women, four months as the longest of all. As the darkness of his addiction gradually taking over his life, it became a problem.  Pornography and stranger sex were his escape from the taunting predicament of his past and present. He could not determine his own dilemma, until he discovered that his sister also needed attention. He felt self-abused. A prisoner of his own cell, Brandon cannot leave the pandemonium that his addiction has created. At the end of the story, Brandon still became unaware that he needed to seek professional help. 

Some of the scenes in the movie, full frontal and creative sexual encounters, were profane and disturbing. Hence, the reviews committee decided to give it a rating of NC-17, only allowed to be premiered in some adult theaters worldwide. Most of the movie critics gave it positive reviews. Well, fair enough.

The leading actor, Michael Fassbender, known as the young magneto of X-men: First Class and the military officer with fake German accent in a war film Inglorious Basterds, invested his career for the success of this movie. He shifted his interest from Hollywood mainstream films to independent works. That was a risky move.

Carrie Mulligan, driven by her beauty and acting prowess, became known for her roles in critically acclaimed films An Education and Never let me go, alongside top-dog actors Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Garfield, respectively. Her attributes as having an innocent and angelic face never became a hindrance of her change of characters.

In conclusion, Shame offers an introspective view of one's weaknesses and shortcomings without the feeling of disgust to self. It is an eye opener to society's filth of human becoming.

World's Greatest Dad (2009)

 The month of June had already passed, but celebrating fatherhood doesn't need a specific day of the year.  Let me show my gratitude to every doting father of any age through this entry. As the saying goes, it is better late than never.

A movie of rebellion and acceptance, World's Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams, is considered as the contemporary epitome in film of unconditional fatherly love. The story revolved around the jaded life of a single dad with his vulgar son and the attempts to save the father-son relationship once they had. As the course of events played with them, specifically the shameful accidental death of the son due to erotic asphyxiation, the father made a plan to avert his son from ostracism of schoolmates and neighbors even in death. He fabricated the whole incident by writing a suicide note allegedly created by his son before killing himself. However, sympathy preceded popularity. Ever kid in the campus thought his son was a hero, longing to be understood and loved. The father acknowledged his growing guilt as he recounted the real incident of his son's death in front of the public. He lost almost everything, his career and loved one, in exchange for a clear conscience.

I only have two points for this teenage angst-themed film.

First, the plot was carefully stitched. You cannot find a story similar to this. Despite being a low-budgeted film, it still surpassed the picky conventional taste of the viewers. Second, the movie is a reflection the social world as it is, judgmental and unpredictable.

Personal rating: 6.5/10

Movie Review: The Batman Trilogy (2005.2008.2012)

I apologize for not posting entries lately. My life turned apparently busy over the past weekend.

Christopher Nolan has done it again. I think the word WOW is an understatement of another brilliant film from the director. Enough said. The Dark Knight Rises, the last sequel of the batman trilogy, has been kicking asses these past few days on the screen. It also made a huge controversy during its first premiere in Colorado, which the movie per se is not really relative to what had happened, a shoot-out inside a cinema killing 12 innocent civilians and some injured. Probably the perpetrator was a bit excited to see the movie and was carried away by the action-filled scenes. Just trying to put it on a lighter tone.

Alright. Where do I start? I'm quite lost for words while writing this review because the trilogy didn't disappoint me. 

I actually saw the last strand of the trilogy before the other two. I didn't plan to see the movie, but I was curious for hearing positive remarks from those who have seen it already. Luckily, I made the right choice. The powerhouse cast and the eminent production team were perfectly matched for their roles. The subtle plot has given the audience a ride of emotional roller-coaster and twists-and-turns. The jaw-dropping cinematography has offered the genuine facade of a real batman movie, in this case, dark and gloomy, unparalleled to the previous flop batman redux. I said it. Perhaps, the batman "like" film adaptations were only produced to save someone's career or whatnot, but no one has succeeded expect for Christopher Nolan. He gently lured the deserved attention from the viewers to bring back the hit-bottom spotlight of the famous DC superhero. 

Moreover, the movie tried to give an in-depth take of what is really happening behind the mask of Batman, seeing the real face of Bruce Wayne. His overall predicament showed how he balanced his sorrows and guilt in hopes of rising the dark knight from a cold death. Though, at some point, he became self-centered and hopeless. Devoured by the emotional turmoil that the death of Rachel and the vexed treatment by the Gotham citizen, Bruce still became penchant to see the light, regardless of how little it was, from some good people of the city who believed in him. 

Needless to say, the actor who played the hero, Christian Bale, proved his part. He gave the Batman a face. A face of courage, invincible strength, and  honor. His dedication to his work has paid off. 

After seeing the two other sequels, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I acclaim the acting performance of Heath Ledger, who played the role of the playful Joker. He really deserves the posthumous awards and achievements under the hood of this trilogy. Truly a legend.

P.S. I didn't like the fact that Katie Holmes turned down the role of Rachel in the second movie. Hello? It made her less cheap in terms of experience as an actress. Maybe, I was disappointed about it because I never fancied Maggie Gyllenhaal. 

I almost forgot. Anne Hathaway...Ah, nevermind.

Personal rating: 8/10