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

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

Must-see: Sleeping Beauty(2011)

Circa midyear of 2011, I have watched Zack Synder's Sucker Punch which was created in a very promising style similar to 300 and Watchmen. Having said that, the combination of blue and orange in the screen of these films has been a plus for a moviegoer like me. 

 

See?

Pleasing to the eyes, I never wonder why Zack Synder's original style of painting a movie has helped him strolled his way to the best directors of 2011 effortlessly. (I apologize for digressing from the subject of this entry).HAHA. 

Emily Browning, a leading actress in Sucker Punch, has been changing character's clothes from a perky child actress to a full-grown and matured goddess actress. Again, she consistently showed this new skin to another masterpiece entitled, Sleeping Beauty. This independent film took a different perspective in portraying a classic story excluding the usual happily-ever-after, prince charming, and evil witch. Nevertheless, the concept of an innocent lady sleeping has been retained, I think. Surprisingly, this movie was even submitted as an entry to THE Cannes Film Festival. Yeah, BIG. Also, it means some scenes are NSFW to watch. 

Here's a movie info from Rottentomatoes.com:

"Lucy (Emily Browning) is a young university student possessed by a kind of radical passivity. She lets a flip of a coin decide the outcome of a random sexual encounter and she displays an uncomplaining patience when facing the repetitions of her various menial jobs that fund her studies. One day she answers an ad in the student newspaper and interviews for a job to be a lingerie waitress. But she is secretly being initiated into a world of strange new work; one where she will have to give into absolute submission to her clients by being sedated; becoming a Sleeping Beauty. Eventually this unnerving experience begins to bleed into her daily life and she finally develops the will to break the spell by discovering what happens to her while she sleeps."

MOVIE TRAILER:

First movie review: Sarong Banggi (One night)

This is my first movie review (as seen in the title above). I hope I will nail this one:D

Well, I’m not really a fan of watching Pinoy movies because I look at it as cheesy and dull. I guess 80% of these films are created for television with fancy love teams and predictable premises just to satisfy the fix of the mass. It happened that I saw this movie from a pile of DVD’s my aunt has sent from abroad (I didn’t know that there are retailers of filipino movies outside the country). This may be the first and the last movie of its kind that will be featured in this blog (except for deserving independent tagalog films). haha

 Lahat ng tao ay may kwento.Naglalakad na kwento. (Everyone has a story. Stories that walk)

The story is about a narrated night of a middle aged masseuse (Jacklyn Jose) and how it changed her life.  The first few takes reveal a group of adolescent boys driving their way to the lighted streets of beachwalk to celebrate the birthday of one of their friends (Angelo Ilagan) and transform him from boyhood to a fully grown man.  The movie progresses as it discloses the twisted fate of the two characters.

In conclusion, The movie has poignantly moved me. However, the first thing that I didn’t like is the slow pacing of the story. I even forwarded some scenes. You know the feeling of watching a movie and there are scenes that you want to scrape out from it or take a nap instead. The second thing that I noticed is the poor acting skills of some casts except for Jacklyn Jose who proved that she is a versatile and timeless actress despite her age. The plot, which is similar to the Oedipus tragedy, is uncanny and interesting. Nevertheless, the ending is a bit of disturbing.

Personal rating-6.5/10