Twitter
Facebook
Flickr
RSS
Shot back in February, Bamboo performs "Hallelujah" live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bamboo performs "Hallelujah" live
Shot back in February, Bamboo performs "Hallelujah" live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Bamboo performs "Masaya" live
Shot back in February, Bamboo performs "Masaya" live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Bamboo performs "Englishman in New York" live
Shot back in February, Bamboo performs "Englishman in New York" live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Bamboo performs "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" live
Shot on February 23, 2007, Bamboo performs live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Bamboo performs "Tatsulok" live
Shot back in February, Bamboo performs "Tatsulok" live in Teatrino during the launch of their third album "We Stand Alone Together".
Monday, September 17, 2007
Trainspotting
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Drama |
Mark “Rent Boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor) is one of a group of friends in Edinburgh, the majority of which just so happen to be heroin addicts. Spud (Ewen Bremner) and Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) are just as hooked as Renton is, while Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) aren’t addicts yet have their own quirks as well. Most of them enjoy living in a perpetual heroin-induced fog, aware that the drugs give them a greater sense of happiness than what the real world usually does. Despite Sick Boy and his girlfriend losing a baby due to neglect caused by being high, they still continue with the habit. Even as Renton and Spud attempt to get clean, something always seem to happen that brings them right back in.
Director Danny Boyle weaves a manic story of fast dialogue that will oftentimes have you trying to read the subtitles, yet also cringing at the various ways that Renton and his “mates” sink deep into heroin in the mid-1990s. The reality of their pathetic addiction contrasts with the dreamy nature of the scenes when Renton or the others are high and existing in a virtual dream. It had been argued when “Trainspotting” was first released that it glorified drug use, however Jo and I found the contrary to be true. As someone who can’t stand seeing needles, I had to turn away from the tube a number of times as McGregor and the other actors were in various states of preparing to ingest the drug.
I also found out that the term “trainspotting” is British slang for trying to find a vein to intravenously inject drugs. Eww. Anyway, this is the film that first got Ewan McGregor the acclaim that he has since mined into a very successful film career. It is easy now, in hindsight, to see how good Ewan was even then. The rest of the cast don’t disappoint either. Perhaps setting the tone for being a villain in most of his recent movies, Carlyle’s Begbie is psychotic, in-your-face, and as paranoid as can be. Jonny Lee Miller’s Sick Boy channels Sean Connery in some scenes while playing tortured drug addict/negligent father in others. Ewen Bremner’s Spud comes across as the weakest of their group, even defecating in his girlfriend’s bed and resulting in one of the grossest scenes I’ve ever seen on film.
However, a personal delight for me was seeing Kevin McKidd’s role as Tommy. As a fan of the HBO series “Rome” I only saw McKidd as the powerful former centurion Lucius Vorenus, someone who is loyal to a fault, to the point of alienating his family. Seeing the actor ten years before he took this role is something indeed as one notices the changes in him. Apparently, he once had long curly blond hair, and was always pretty physically fit. As Tommy goes from drug-free to addict and loses all sense of self-worth, almost mirrors Vorenus’ descent after Niobe’s death in “Rome”. It’s nice to see that even though McGregor was the clear breakout star of this particular film, a lot of the other actors have made names for themselves in recent years too.
I must admit that there were indeed times when Jo and I were cringing from either fear of needles (me), or gross scenes (the “worst toilet in Scotland” scene). Still, I’m happy to say that I finally see what all the hype was about regarding “Trainspotting”. Together with “Snatch”, “The History Boys”, and “Hot Fuzz”, there seems to be a pattern of British filmmakers who come up with slightly off-tangent movies with well-developed characters, rapid-fire dialogue, and lots of innovative jumpcuts and editing. To say that “Trainspotting” was the first in this group to have those elements would be a great compliment, and the only other compliment I can add for now is that is stands up remarkably well for a film shot over 11 years ago.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Porco Rosso
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Animation |
Originally released in 1992, “Porco Rosso” (or “Kurenai no Buta”, literally translated as “The Crimson Pig”) tells of World War I fighting ace-turned bounty hunter Porco. Once a human named Marco Pagot, some unexplained curse turned him into a human-pig hybrid. He still retains his unbelievable piloting skills however, and becomes the scourge of sea pilots across the Adriatic and Mediterranean. Porco shares a non-romance with the beautiful Gina, the wife of his late friend Bellini. When an American named Donald Curtis shoots down Porco’s plane, he also believes he’s killed the pig. Instead, Porco hides in Milan where he wants the plane repaired by Piccolo the mechanic. Instead, Piccolo entrusts his granddaughter Fio to fix Porco’s plane. Hesitant at first, Porco eventually finds Fio to be an excellent mechanic and earns his respect.
Even as Curtis tries to convince Gina to leave with him for America, she reveals that she awaits the day when Porco will come to her garden and whisk her away himself. The other sea pirates force Porco to square off with Curtis for a price: if Porco wins, Curtis will pay off his debts but if Curtis wins, Fio must marry him. The ensuing dogfight leaves both pilots out of ammo and desperate, eventually settling on fisticuffs. Can there be a resolution before the Italian air force crash their little gathering of sea pilots? Is there any hope of returning Porco to his human form? Will he end up with Gina or with the young Fio?
In a change from the usual Miyazaki fare, “Porco Rosso” has a clear historical and geographical setting in our world. Set between the first two World Wars, Porco is shown as a hero of “the Great War” and is shown fighting Austro-Hungarian forces. As we have come to expect from this fantastic creator, the animation is beautiful, clean, and still stunning. Before he adjusted to the age of computers, Miyazaki had already mastered traditional animation, and it is evident here. The dog fights are a marvel to behold as the planes, the pilots, the bullets, and everyone in between moves realistically and smoothly. Longtime Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi gives us a soundtrack reminiscent of the old Hollywood romances, only fitting as Porco clearly has a little Humphrey Bogart in him.
Since Disney and John Lasseter secured the American distribution rights for Studio Ghibli, the American voice actors have proven to be excellent. The meticulous attention to detail such as trying to use words to match the lip movement of the animated characters shows me a devotion that Miyazaki must really appreciate, thus continuing his partnership with Disney. Michael Keaton as Porco is clearly channeling his inner Bogart while also portraying a tortured soul. Susan Egan’s Gina knows how much power she has over the sea pirates, and isn’t afraid to flaunt it. For Brit Cary Elwes to play Texan Donald Curtis is a fine nod to the actor’s chameleon-like ability behind the mic. Cindy Williams went for a higher pitch to play the young Fio, and she pulls that off with ease.
As we’ve come to expect from every masterpiece from Studio Ghibli, the story is always what really carries the film. Beyond the beautiful animation, the sweet soundtrack or even the perfectly cast voice-acting, without a strong story to tie it all together, it would be for naught. Thankfully, “Porco Rosso” has all of these elements, with the story being the strongest among them. Porco’s plight has made him bitter toward humans yet he still values his flirtatious arrangement with Gina. This despite his bitterness of being a pig and being an object of ridicule. The arrogant American Curtis falls in love with every woman he meets, utterly convinced that they should all bow at his feet and that he has a grand destiny. Beautiful Gina holds power in a male-dominated field yet pines for the one male who refuses to be swayed by her. Vulnerable yet capable Fio looks up to Porco, though he fears abusing the trust she places on him.
Again, Hayao Miyazaki does not disappoint. There seems to be no let up in this man’s continuous quest to craft finely written Japanese animation that can be appreciated by anybody at any age. For someone to excel at his craft for so long, and to be admired the world over by so many, it’s amazing to think that Miyazaki keeps producing great results with every film he makes. I for one am glad that he’s still in the game, still keeping us fans satisfied after all these years.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Kobe Bryant Supernatural Tour in Manila, September 5, 2007
Notice the spelling error?
The best basketball player in the world returned to Manila after 9 years to promote his new Nike Zoom Kobe II shoes and to conduct a basketball clinic at the Philsports Arena. Luckily, good buddy Jude got us seats. Kobe is still da man!!!
Monday, September 3, 2007
Knocked Up
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Comedy |
Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a slacker, stoner, and porno-lover. That sentence alone should get most guys to love him. Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is a production assistant on E! Television who suddenly gets to be an interviewer. Just as her career is on the rise, Alison and Ben get hammered and have a one night stand. Eight weeks later, Alison finds out she’s pregnant and their lives are about to change forever. What follows is an attempt by these two seemingly polar opposites to try and make a relationship for themselves in light of the baby that they’re about to have.
Director Judd Apatow has done two of my favorite comedies of all time: “40-Year Old” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” Whereas those two films had huge laugh out loud moments for me, scenes that literally had me grabbing my stomach due to laughter, “Knocked Up” completely lacked those. I don’t know if the premise of a Katherine Heigl actually falling for a Seth Rogen is just so incomprehensible to me, but I believe it’s more of an unimaginative and relatively unfunny script that kept this movie from being a great comedy. The dialogue was alright, but nothing crisp or really, really funny.
Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation that removed the funny from this flick. I mean, it’s okay to see Ben and his stoner friends smoking their bongs and peddling porn for a while, but it also got old relatively fast. It was funny when Ben and Alison tried having sex while she was already pregnant, but it still lacked an extra dose to get me laughing. In the end, maybe Apatow, Rogen, and company also wanted to tell a story about gaining maturity and taking responsibility for one’s actions. Seriously, who wants to see maturity and responsibility in a comedy? Not me!
Overall, “Knocked Up” wasn’t a bad film, it just wasn’t a great film either. Considering the track record of the director, writers, and actors, that’s quite disappointing. But hey, it’s not like it was ever shown on the big screen in the Philippines anyway. You gotta love free downloads.
Reign Over Me
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Drama |
In a rare dramatic role, Adam Sandler plays Charlie, a man who seems to have lost everything (including his mind) after the events of September 11, 2001. Don Cheadle plays his old college roommate Alan Johnson. Now a successful dentist, married and with two kids, Alan bumps into Charlie after a long time, and is surprised his old friend barely remembers him. Even as Alan tries to balance his life with wife Janeane (Jada Pinkett Smith), an inappropriate sexual advance by a patient (Saffron Burrows), and his medical partners, he also wants to check how Charlie is now. Unfortunately Charlie doesn’t act like he even remembers his old life, instead fixing and destroying the kitchen in his condo every few weeks. Can Alan bring his friend back to the real world without opening up old wounds?
When I picked up this DVD, I’ll admit that the first thing that got my attention was its stars. I’ve long been a fan of Sandler’s comedy and I really like Cheadle’s acting choices. I was a bit surprised at how heavy the subject matter turned out to be, but it was a pleasant kind of surprise. Cheadle and Smith again bring on the acting that has gotten them attention in the past. Their story of a marriage that looks ideal, but is actually dominated by the wife provides both actors with material to mesh with each other. Even cameos by Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon as Charlie’s estranged in-laws gave us strong performances, particularly when Charlie attempts an awkward reconciliation with them late in the film.
I’ve never really been a Saffron Burrows fan, but her manic and depressed dental patient here was quirky enough that you actually sympathized with her plight. Liv Tyler plays Alan’s friend and Charlie’s new psychiatrist Angela Oakhurst, and we are treated to the acting that once made Tyler one of Hollywood’s hot new actresses. Though she has noticeably aged since then, her quiet, controlled acting serves as a good counterpoint to Sandler’s necessary over-the-top neurosis.
More than any other actor in this film, it is Adam Sandler who provides the good stuff. For a man who is more famous for punching Bob Barker and playing a semi-retarded football player onscreen, this was truly a shocker from “The Waterboy”. All the pain that Charlie has chosen to bury or forget just explodes out of Sandler the second he even thinks that somebody is trying to psychoanalyze him. It’s raw, it’s uncomfortable, and it feels real. When Charlie opens up to Alan and realizes that this man may be the only real friend he has, you’re riveted to the screen as he recalls how his life and loved ones were taken away in a flash.
Director Mike Binder gives us a funny, poignant, and painful account of how the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could literally shatter a person’s life. As Charlie’s psyche seems irreparable, even as his in-laws and Alan try to reach out to him, we get the sense that Charlie would rather not live in the present, preferring instead to live when his loved ones were still close to him. I heard from a friend that Adam Sandler almost got Oscar consideration for this portrayal, and it’s easy to see why. Yes, I still love seeing him acting like a retard making funny voices or trying to be charming in romantic comedies. However it’s also nice to know that this guy’s actually got a little more depth in his acting repertoire and is doesn’t look like a forced effort.
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Invasion
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Mystery & Suspense |
The premise is simple enough. A remake of the classic 1956 horror film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, the 2007 version tells of alien parasites taking over humans through physical contact. That’s mostly done by disgusting acts like puking or sneezing on people, inoculation, or worse, puking on people’s drinks. Yes, those parts were probably the grosses parts of this film and director Oliver Hirschbiegel had the difficult job of trying to merge this old plot with the actors and a less than imaginative script. Unfortunately, it really comes across as just another “alien movie”.
Just as Kidman’s ex hubby Tom Cruise remade “War of the Worlds”, here she goes doing the same thing with “The Invasion”. To her credit, I actually found her film more enjoyable despite it having very little special effects. Jo and I were properly tense in the parts we were supposed to be, and the premise that the only way to be “turned” by the aliens once infected is by falling asleep keeps the anxiety level high. Kidman is still stunningly beautiful despite settling into more mother-like characters these days, while Craig (who got his gig as the new James Bond while shooting this film) shows the roughness that made “Casino Royale” such a success last year.
Why then did we feel that the film still fell flat on its face? It could be a number of reasons. Maybe because, although I never saw the previous “Invasion” flick or its remakes, this plot has been used numerous times since then. It could be that I was expecting more malevolence from the aliens, even just one like Jeremy Northam’s Tucker Kaufman character. Or it’s quite possible that this was really just a paper-thin plot that tried to masquerade itself into a blockbuster film.
Whatever it was, “The Invasion” is enjoyable if you want a decent thriller that will give you the creeps. This is particularly true in the scenes where the aliens are moving in emotionless groups, or when they’re puking left and right and trying to assimilate others. But do yourself a favor and just catch it on DVD. You can do better with the time and money you’ll be spending if you watch it in an actual cinema.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Waitress
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Drama |
Ok, now for the film itself. Jenna (Russell) is a small-time waitress at a pie diner. She learned how to bake pies from her own mother and always seems to come up with new and exciting pie recipes through the emotions she’s feeling at the time. Unfortunately, Jenna is also married to the most controlling, domineering, pushy chauvinist on the planet, a blowhard named Earl (Jeremy Sisto). When Earl got Jenna drunk one night, he also got her pregnant. Jenna goes to her gynecologist but is surprised that she’s now semi-retired and her practice has been taken over by Dr. Jim Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). For all of Pomatter’s quirks and nervous chatter, Jenna is strongly attracted to him and they have an affair (despite both of them being married). Meanwhile, Jenna’s fellow waitresses Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (writer/director Adrienne Shelly) also look for love and get it in varying degrees.
As expected for a small, independent film, you were going to get a lot of dialogue, focus on character, and no gigantic explosions or special effects. Trust me, that’s a good thing. “Waitress” was so well written by writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly that I sometimes wonder why we don’t get more movies like it. The acting was brilliant, the script superb, and the story was rich. Every actor was cast perfectly from Russell and Sisto to the smaller parts of Ogie (Eddie Jemison) and Old Joe (a great surprise seeing Andy “Matlock” Griffith here). It was easy to hate Earl for the way he bludgeoned Jenna’s ego, and you could easily sympathize with Jenna’s desire to be free of him and to truly be appreciated.
SPOILER ALERT!!! I guess that the most unfortunate thing about “Waitress” was the fate that Shelly met right before it was released. She was murdered by an Ecuadorian illegal immigrant and construction worker who got into an argument with Shelly in her Manhattan apartment. A seemingly random act of violence has taken somebody whom I just found out to be a brilliant storyteller and actress. Though I never saw any of her other films, for all intents and purposes, Shelly was a strong voice in the independent film scene and was quite popular. Thus, with “Waitress”, we are left with one last look at a person’s true masterpiece, something she literally finished before she was taken from the earth.
Again, I’m all for the noise and fury that movies like the “Rush Hour” series and “Transformers” provide as far as adrenaline rushes go. But, there is, I believe, always room for quieter, more introspective pieces such as “Waitress”. Even though Keri Russell is now years away from her star-launching turn as the cute, frizzy-haired Felicity on TV, she seems to be quite comfortable in being more of an actress with substance nowadays. Here’s hoping that “Waitress” won’t merely be a blip on her path towards real acting greatness. I personally think that the mouth-watering pies that were constantly onscreen also helped me like this film even more. Then again, that’s just me.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Evan Almighty
| Rating: | ★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Comedy |
News anchorman Evan Baxter just won a seat in Congress. He uproots his whole family to a nice area in Virginia and gets a cushy new office thanks to Cong. Long (John Goodman). His life is thrown for a loop when God appears (like he did to Jim Carrey’s Bruce in the first film) and tells Evan that he must build an ark. No matter how he resists, Evan is forced by God to build the ark even as pairs of animals begin gravitating toward him and his family slowly move away from him. Eventually completing the ark and getting his family back, Evan prepares for the coming flood even as Cong. Long is revealed to have cut costs in building a nearby dam.
This film was weird. That’s the consensus Jo and I came up with after we watched it. I mean, it wasn’t as horrible as the reviews I had heard, but it wasn’t great either. With its large number of special effects, it is best seen on the big screen, but I have a hard time justifying paying P180 to catch it in a cinema. All in all, Jo and I agreed that it was “just okay”, and was probably wrongly advertised as a straight up comedy.
I remain a fan of Steve Carell despite this film and we’re still Morgan Freeman fans, it’s just that the film lacks a certain oomph required of a film to get us to really, really endorse it. I get that there are certain parts that were a bit preachy and a bit too religious, they were necessary for the film’s plot. But there were times where I kind of felt like the “God” character of Freeman was a bit too insensitive to Evan’s plight to the point of forcing him to build the ark and effectively rendering him impotent at work. Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, and Jonah Hill give a few funny lines as Evan’s staff members but they weren’t particularly memorable. In fact it was Carell’s “The Office” co-star Ed Helms who stole the most scenes with his newscaster Ed Carson character.
When “Evan Almighty” had finished and Jo and I were leaving the cinema, we agreed that it was a weird film. A day after, we still couldn’t agree on a better term for this film other than “weird”. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not a great thing either.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Rush Hour 3
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Inspector Lee (Chan) is back as Ambassador Han’s (Tzi Ma) bodyguard while Det. James Carter (Tucker) has been relegated to traffic cop duty. An assassin makes an attempt at Han’s life just as he is about to reveal important information on the leadership of the Triad. Lee chases the assassin, only to find out it is his long lost “brother” Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada). Lee can’t kill Kenji, who promptly escapes. To protect Han and daughter Soo Yung (Zhang Jingchu), Lee and Carter entrust her to the head of the World Criminal Court, Varden Reynard (Max Von Sydow). Eventually, the trail leads them to Paris and the mysterious performer Genevieve (Noémie Lenoir). Both Soo Yung and Genevieve are in danger and it’s up to Carter and Lee to protect them while also surviving the perils of the Paris underworld.
Brett Ratner has long ago stated that he was born to do “Rush Hour” films. With Chris Tucker’s last film being “Rush Hour 2” back in 2001, he can probably say the same thing. Like in the first two installments, both Tucker and Chan end up lost or missing in a strange place, in “the City of Lights” no less. Chan, for a 53-year old man, is still a phenomenal martial artist and stuntman. Oliver and I were wowed by the risks he takes and the stunts he continues to pull off throughout this film. As before, Tucker’s loud motormouth serves as a nice compliment to Chan’s fast hands and feet. It’s always entertaining to see these two in action as their onscreen partnership has clearly developed into an offscreen friendship.
This is by no means rocket science, it’s just a “Rush Hour” movie for crying out loud. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect any overcomplicated plots or overly serious storylines. The mere fact that Sanada gets to square off against Chan in this film already had me sold. I’ve been a Sanada fan since I saw him in the original “Ringu”, and his performances in “The Last Samurai” and “Sunshine” just made me a bigger fan of his. It was fun seeing him display some of his martial arts abilities and squaring off against a legend like Chan.
Yes, it may seem like a waste of time for such a great actor like Von Sydow or even director Roman Polanski (as a smarmy French cop) to appear in this kind of film, but they still chose to do it so don’t blame them or Ratner for joining a relatively light action flick. Besides, I, like most guys, enjoy our mindless action films every so often. The formula for a good “Rush Hour” film has long been established, and I personally don’t mind seeing the formula hit the cinemas every few years.
Disturbia
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Mystery & Suspense |
Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf) has become a troubled teen since he survived the car accident that cost his father his life. He punches out his Spanish teacher for insinuating his dad’s disappointment in his study habits, ending up under house arrest. His mother Julie (Carrie-Anne Moss) cancels his Xbox Live and iTunes subscriptions, then cuts off his cable TV to further punish him. He enjoys peeping at his sexy new neighbor Ashley Carlson (Sarah Roemer) and eventually develops a sexually-tense relationship with her. However, Kale notices disturbing thins about his neighbor Mr. Turner (David Morse). Suspicious of Turner, Kale, Ashey and his pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) dig up stuff on him, only to find Kale under more suspicion from the authorities. Is it all in his head, or is Turner more dangerous than he lets on?
LaBeouf is clearly becoming more of a lead actor with this film. After the success of “Transformers” and with a fine acting performance in “Disturbia”, the kid seems to have a good enough head on his shoulders to pick quality projects. He doesn’t come across as a whiny, annoying kid here, just somebody who’s got issues and has an overactive sex drive and imagination. Roemer plays the young ingénue who gets the boys’ blood running perfectly. Morse (who I’ve been watching since his “St. Elsehwere” days) has matured to the point that he can play creepy older men with aplomb. I’m just disappointed for the former Trinity, Carrie-Anne Moss. Apparently she’s gotten to the age where she can be tagged to play mother to a near-twenty year old. How quickly she’s fallen from Hollywood’s good graces!
Director DJ Caruso gives his own distinct spin to the “Rear Window” concept here, and does so quite successfully. He still has a good looking cast who just so happen to be good actors as well, and luckily his scriptwriters have come up with a well-paced, frenetic thriller. In this age where voyeurism via webcams and powerful telescopes are a reality, it’s kind of creepy how one’s neighbors, particularly in the suburbs, can just open their windows and learn all kinds of things about you. This could also lead to all kinds of wrong assumptions and assaults on one’s privacy, but that’s what helps lift “Disturbia” from the rest of today’s run of the mill slasher flicks.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Blades of Glory
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Comedy |
Figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) are archrivals. They tied for the men’s gold medal at the Winter Olympics, but are both banned for life from men’s figure skating after fighting during the medal ceremony. Three years later, MacElroy has been disowned by his adoptive father while Michaels is a drunk, oversexed buffoon on an ice skating show for kids. Finding a loophole in their lifetime ban, they approach Jimmy’s old coach (Craig T. Nelson) and join the competition as a pairs team. Despite plotting by the top pairs team in the world Stranz (Will Arnett) and Fairchild (Amy Poehler) van Waldenberg, Jimmy and Chazz qualify for the Nationals. Coach is convinced that they must perform the legendary “Iron Lotus” to earn the gold, but can they co-exist long enough to make it?
Though it may seem that Ferrell keeps making sports-based comedies nowadays, “Blades” stands out from the rest of his recent work because of one thing: it’s actually really funny. Heder is in arguably his funniest work since “Napoleon Dynamite” and their contrasting personalities and styles help the comedy in this film. Real-life husband and wife Arnett and Poehler give off all kinds of creepy vibes as Stranz and Fairchild, giving us a good set of villains to root against. As their long-abused sister Katie, Jenna Fischer gets to play somebody a bit different from her secretary role on “The Office”. She’s little more than window dressing here, but it’s still nice to see her outside her sitcom.
Ferrell really works the slobbering, sex addict role to perfection. His initial dance routine and his subsequent appearance at a sex addicts symposium were reminiscent of his previous work on “Saturday Night Live”. Heder plays the effeminate, goody-goody MacElroy well. At least he’s better here than in “The Benchwarmers”, and the contrast between him and Ferrell is very welcome. Of course, this isn’t an intellectual piece by any stretch, yet it is still a funny flick that was good enough to watch on fake DVD on a lazy Friday. Like I told Jo after, this was like watching a sick and twisted version of “The Cutting Edge”, and we still liked it!
So to the future Mrs. Neva Santos, bilhin mo na fake DVD nito! Jo and I thought it was way funnier than “Talladega”, although “Anchorman” and “Old School” are still better in my view.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
InterWorld
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| Author: | Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves |
Joey Harker is an average high school student. He lives with his parents and siblings, muddles through school, and has a crush on Rowena Danvers. While conducting a social science assignment, Joey gets lost. Not just lost like being lost in a mall. More like lost and ending up on another completely different reality. Joey Harker is about to find out that he’s actually a Walker, one of a near infinite number of “Joeys” who have banded together to protect the Altiverse and all the realities within it from the opposing forces of science (or the Binary) and magic (or the HEX). Joey has to find it within himself to lead a team of “Joeys” against these menaces and unleash the power residing within him.
One of the many amazing things about “InterWorld” is it’s simple enough premise: there are all of these realities and you exist (or an aspect of you exists) in all of them. One earth might have you as female, another may have a cyborg version, you could be forty years older in one earth, or just a teenager on another, still another could have you as a werewolf, or a centaur, you get the picture. Now imagine joining forces with these other “yous” and literally walking between realities, trying to maintain the balance between magic and science. It’s pretty overwhelming yet still intriguing, isn’t it?
Gaiman and Reaves draw you into Joey Harker’s anxiety as he realizes that his life will never be the same once he walks into InterWorld. Trained and educated by “Old Man” Joe Harker, he joins a team composed of Jai, Jakon, Jo, J/O, and Josef, all “Joeys” on a training mission that goes horribly wrong. Trapped by the villainous Lord Dogknife, the mesmerizing Lady Indigo, and her henchmen Neville and Scarabus, Joey ends up leaving his team and facing a virtual court martial from the Old Man. Faced with returning to his peaceful old life or facing danger and rescuing his team, Joey must decide if he’s willing to take that risk.
It’s an engaging, if short read, yet still very entertaining. Though not a typical Gaiman piece in the sense that there are hardly any fairies or magic or dreams involved, it remains a fun read. The authors’ descriptions of the realms of the In-Between, taking a Walk between dimensions, and entering portals to new worlds will likely leave you dizzy while still sparking the imagination.
Through all the dimension-hopping and dealing with mudluffs and fantastic creatures, “InterWorld” remains the story of adolescence evolving into adulthood. The things Joey sees are amazing to say the least, but the decisions he ends up making will prove to be even more substantial as he faces a painful departure from his comfortable home because he knows that he can’t leave his friends in evil hands. Just joining forces with different versions of yourself is already a great idea, adding all of this adolescent angst and insecurity just made it better.
This would probably never make it as far as a live action film, but the potential for an animated movie is clearly there. Here’s hoping somebody from Hollywood picks up on this latest brilliant piece from Gaiman and writing partner Reaves. But if they don’t, I’m pretty satisfied with the writing done here already.
Monday, August 6, 2007
10 Items or Less
| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Independent |
Directed by Brad Silberling, the movie tells the story of a once-popular Hollywood actor (never identified by name but played by veteran actor Morgan Freeman) who is researching for his next possible part. While at the local community market, he meets feisty checkout girl Scarlet (Paz Vega). She runs the “10 items or less” counter and, in effect, runs the market more than the store manager does. Freeman is fascinated by Scarlet’s personality and learns that she’s up for a job interview later in the day. When he can’t seem to find a way to get home, he instead volunteers to help her prepare for her interview. What follows is a humorous take on what might happen in the span of one day between two strangers, something that could quite possibly happen as unlikely as the situation may be.
This was a fun yet different approach from the many movies that we are usually exposed to from the U.S. Freeman, now often cast in venerable roles as either a high government official, an army leader, a police investigator, or even as God, seems to really enjoy playing the has-been actor who is slowly trying to get back in the game. After four years of being out of work, Freeman the character sees his DVDs with Ashley Judd being sold at 50% off in the bargain section of the supermarket. I couldn’t help but feel that Freeman the actor was able to relax a bit more in this portrayal and he looked relaxed in the scenes where he’s at the community market, at the car wash, and shopping in Target.
After seeing Vega as the struggling Spanish-speaking single mom in “Spanglish”, it’s nice to see her play an even more assertive type of character here. Though there are times when it is difficult to understand what she’s saying, her performance still comes across as genuine, as someone who knows and feels she is better than what life has given her. This is a beautiful woman who comes across as someone who wants her acting to be taken seriously, as evidenced by the roles she has taken.
As fun as this movie was, I also couldn’t help but feel that it was a bit incomplete, if not rushed. In the scenes where Freeman has Scarlet’s car washed and where they are teaching each other songs, it almost feels like an extended music video. It also made me feel like they were trying to stretch the film to make it run close to one and a half hours. As it stands, the movie runs at one hour and 22 minutes, an unusually short film that’s even shorter than most animated films released nowadays.
Still, if you should ever find the desire for a change or a healthy replacement from the loud and oftentimes inconsequential films from Hollywood, this little movie might just be the film for you.
License to Wed
| Rating: | ★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Romantic Comedy |
Ben Murphy (John Krasinski from “The Office”) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) have been dating for just a few months, yet decide to get married. Sadie’s dream has always been to marry in their local church since her grandfather helped build it. She’s also dreamed of asking their local pastor, Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) to officiate her wedding. Frank seems like the type of priest who his parishioners would love. Too bad for Ben that he’s also overprotective of Sadie and will do anything to make sure she’s marrying the right guy. If that means putting their relationship through the wringer and spying on the lovebirds, Rev. Frank will do it. Can their love survive Frank’s unorthodox tests?
This film is one big ball of confusion. John Krasinski and Mandy Moore look like a good couple, yet they don’t seem to have any real chemistry onscreen. Robin Williams is his usual manic self, but his character of Rev. Frank is just way too annoying. What concerned priest in his right mind would go through such lengths (even resorting to planting bugs to eavesdrop on the couple) to break up a relationship? His equally annoying choir boy (Josh Flitter) was both creepy and ridiculous. Those disgusting robot babies that Rev. Frank dumped on Ben and Sadie seemed like rejects of molds made for Yoda in “Star Wars”! Mandy’s Sadie comes across as such a flighty airhead that she was willing to call off the wedding just because Ben hadn’t written his wedding vows with just one day left till the wedding! How stupid is that?!
For me, the only redeeming factor in this film was a small one. Krasinski became a star on the U.S. version of “The Office”. So it was a pleasant surprise to see a few of his co-stars on the sitcom pop up in this film. Brian Baumgartner, Mindy Kaling, and Angela Kinsey all had little cameos, while the Sandals Resort in Jamaica (where Steve Carell’s character Michael Scott vacationed on the series) was also featured. I consider these as shoutouts to us “Office” fans who want to see John Krasinski do well in his first starring role. After all, director Ken Kwapis directed 9 episodes of the show himself.
As nice as that little touch was, they couldn’t save this horrible disaster. As Jo said, the beginning and end were okay, it’s just that the middle was pretty bad. It wasn’t just bad, it was unwatchable and completely devoid of logic at certain parts. I pray that this does not hinder John Krasinski from getting any more starring roles in the future. For Robin Williams, the days of good acting in films like “Good Will Hunting” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” seem like distant memories now. And for Mandy Moore, here’s more proof that she should just stick to the singing and stop trying to cross over into films. It just isn’t working.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Ratatouille
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Animation |
The latest in the long line of collaborations between Disney and Pixar Animation, “Ratatouille” tells the tale of Remy, a rat who wants to be less of a scavenging thief, more of a chef who prepares food for fine dining. Voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt, Remy teaches himself to cook by reading Chef Auguste Gusteau’s book “Anyone Can Cook”. Gusteau (Brad Garrett) died after a stinging review from food critic Anton ego (the great Peter O’Toole) and his restaurant has been suffering since.
Under the supervision of Gusteau’s former sous-chef Skinner (the equally great Ian Holm), the Gusteau name has been used for selling ready-to-cook meals. When janitor Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano) tries making soup (with horrible results), Remy intervenes to fix the recipe. The result is a tasty delight and Linguini agrees with Remy to keep preparing meals under Remy’s supervision. However, Remy’s dad Django (Brian Dennehy) doesn’t trust humans, warning Remy that they kill rats. It turns out that Linguini is actually Gusteau’s long lost son, and he inherits the restaurant. Now Ego wants to sample Linguini’s cooking, looking to close down the restaurant once and for all.
As one would expect from a Disney/Pixar collaboration, the animation is phenomenal. Just when you think that these movies can’t get any better visually, the people from Pixar always manage to outdo themselves and elevate the medium even further. The images of Paris seem so alive, the movements of the characters so fluid, and the food really looks good enough to eat! If there is a negative to this film, it’s probably the scenes that feature so many rats scampering about on the floors, in the sewers, and particularly in the kitchens! But that’s only because rats, as we all know, aren’t the most pleasant animals to say the least. Kudos to director Brad Bird and his staff for not resting on past animation laurels.
Of course, with luminaries like Peter O’Toole and Ian Holm providing voice work, you get nothing but the best. Holm’s Skinner is creepy, demented, and French in every way imaginable. O’Toole’s smarmy, arrogant, aristocratic Ego truly feels like the food critic from hell, someone you don’t want to disappoint when he orders off your menu. Janeane Garofalo is virtually unrecognizable as Colette as she puts on a very convincing French accent that convinced me she grew up wearing berets and eating baguettes. The same can be said of Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame. Oswalt and Romano, though they’re the lead characters, don’t stand out from this crowd, perhaps due to the experienced actors who share screen time with them.
Clocking in at almost two hours of running time, “Ratatouille” is a bit long compared to traditional Disney animated fare. However, no scene is wasted, no dialogue is useless, as they all serve to advance the story of “little chef” Remy and hapless Linguini. My favorite of the Disney/Pixar collaborations has long been “Finding Nemo” with “Cars” coming in at a close second. After watching “Ratatouille” however, I might have to squeeze this latest masterpiece right near the top of my list. Bon appetit!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Ateneo-La Salle UAAP Season 70 round 1
Ateneo renews it's old rivalry with La Salle after the Archers were suspended in Season 69. Entering the game as underdogs, the Blue Eagles took the lead then held off a fiery La Salle rally to win 80-77 in overtime. Jai Reyes, Chris Tiu, and company gave coach Norman Black his first win over DLSU. One big fight!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| Author: | J.K. Rowling |
As time went on, Harry matured in every book and we, his audience, saw him grow up. Even as the movies featured Daniel Radcliffe wearing Harry’s glasses and robes, we were allowed to attach a real face to Rowling’s words. When it was then announced that there would be 7 books in this series, anticipation for every succeeding volume grew. More people got on the Potter bandwagon, and those of us who were there early would brag that we were ahead of the curve. Still, one couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness when Rowling completed “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. For her series finale, J.K. pulls out all the stops, resolves every hanging plotline, and gives us the final fate of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lord Voldemort.
SPOILER WARNING!!! I might as well put this up now because I don’t think I can avoid writing any spoilers from here on. “Hallows” ties in directly with volume 6 of the series so it is advisable that you read “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” again right before reading volume 7. After the death of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the wizarding world is in a state of panic. Lord Voldemort has made his full-fledged return and is consolidating his power. Nothing would give him greater pleasure than the capture and eventual death of Harry Potter. Of course, Harry and his friends are a clever lot and they aren’t going to go down without a fight.
Within the first few chapters, a few of Harry’s friends have already been killed, namely Hedwig his owl and the auror Mad-Eye Moody. Although Ron’s brother Bill Weasley is able to marry Fleur Delacour and give some measure of normalcy, everything is torn asunder when Voldemort’s Death Eaters attack. Forced to run and complete the task Dumbledore left to him, Harry must find the Horcruxes that hold parts of Voldemort’s power. Even with Ron and Hermione by his side, the task seems impossible and tedious yet with a little luck, and with some help from unlikely sources, the trio gain hope.
Though they are betrayed by Luna Lovegood’s father Xenophilius (since Luna was captured and only the capture of Harry would gain her freedom), Harry and friends learn of the Deathly Hallows. This opens their eyes to another of Voldemort’s plans to cheat death and be the most powerful wizard ever. With a battle to end all battles within Hogwarts itself, Harry must summon the courage and the wisdom necessary to defeat the Dark Lord while also saving his friends and the wizarding world in the process.
As arguably the most anticipated book in history, “Hallows” proves to be a fun, frenetic, and fearful finale to Rowling’s Potter adventures. Most of the books leaves you guessing, whether it be “Who died?” or “Where is the next Horcrux?” or “Was Dumbledore more sinister than we thought?” With all those mysteries as part of the plot, Rowling masterfully keeps the reader glued to each page, hurriedly going from chapter to chapter while hoping that Harry and his friends figure everything out before it’s too late. I had once feared that Dumbledore’s death would render this final volume as anti-climactic but instead, Rowling makes the late headmaster’s mysterious past another delight that we must slowly unravel. The result is that where once we saw a grandfatherly genius of a wizard, we end up seeing a once-ambitious, still brilliant, yet all-too-human man.
Rowling doesn’t kill off characters just because she feels like it. You clearly feel pain when each of these people (some we’ve known since book 1, others we meet right here in “Hallows”) meet untimely ends. Particularly painful for me were the deaths of Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks. Fred, after all, was one of the eternally joking Weasley twins, a staple of the series since “Philosopher’s Stone”. Lupin and Tonks were finally married and just had a son, yet they sacrificed themselves so that little Teddy Lupin might actually have a future. These deaths make Harry’s final confrontation with Voldemort all the more dramatic, particularly after Rowling shows that the Dark Lord’s hubris and arrogance all serve to be his undoing.
The epilogue, set 19 years after the fall of Voldemort, gives us readers a proper farewell to Harry and his merry group. It is the quintessential “happy ending” as Harry is married to Ginny, just as Ron and Hermione have wed. I found it particularly poignant that Harry’s second son was actually named “Albus Severus”, named after one wizard whom Harry always admired, and another whom he actually loathed. I always felt that there was more to Severus Snape than met the eye, and his thoughts in the pensieve proved me right. I can’t wait to see the great Alan Rickman play him once this final novel is translated to film.
And so, we bid a sad farewell to Harry Potter and his magical adventures. From a scared boy of 11, we see him mature, to even become Head Auror at the Ministry of Magic at the age of 36. “The Boy Who Lived” proved that he indeed was the hero that everybody hoped he would become, as he was the one wizard who toppled “He Who Must Not Be Named”. As I closed the pages on “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, I was very satisfied with the ending, yet, like most everyone who has followed Harry from the start, there was a tinge of sadness in the air. Such is the feeling we inevitably have when one great series comes to its end, and it is the same feeling we have when we bid goodbye to good friends.
The Simpsons Movie
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Animation |
As has been the case in their long-running series, this film revolves around Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) and his family bumbling their way through life in America. In this instance, Homer finds himself saving a pig from being killed, then proceeds to cause the death of the Springfield river by dumping pig excrement while rushing off for free donuts. Along the way, Lisa (Yeardley Smith) meets an Irish boy who’s as big an environmentalist as she is, Bart (Nancy Cartwright) thinks about moving to the Flanderses, and Marge’s (Julie Kavner) patience with Homer is tested like never before when the family is forced out of Springfield and head to Alaska. Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, but can we expect anything less from “The Simpsons Movie”?
I’ve been a fan of “The Simpsons” as far back as I can remember. I have the season recap books (from season 1 leading all the way to season 14), and I’ve watched a whole plethora of the series over the years. Like many, I’ve become familiar with Homer’s brood, as well as what seems to be the thousands of Springfield residents and guests. From Professor Frink to Comic Book Guy, Krusty the Clown, Cletus the Yokel, Mayor Quimby, Carl and Lenny, Bumblebee Man, Kent Brockman, Mr. Burns and Smithers, and so many others, these have been characters that have made “The Simpsons” the longest running situation comedy in history. Therefore, when the Simpson family finally got themselves a movie, I was eagerly anticipating it. Now that I’ve seen it, I found myself enjoying it, yet at the same time feeling a bit disappointed.
Call it having high expectations, call it expecting too much from one of your favorite TV shows. Call it what you will, but I really expected more from this film. Sure, it was great seeing Ralph Wiggum tooting along to the classic 20th Century Fox theme and logo before the film, and it was cool to see each character painstakingly drawn with shadows and with more depth than before. Simpsons creator Matt Groening, producer James L. Brooks, and the rest of their cadre of writers have written so many great episodes through the years that I fully expected them to hit a homerun with this motion picture. However, I must admit that I was a bit underwhelmed.
SPOILER WARNING!!! I don’t know, maybe I felt that the “giant dome” that Russ Cargill (voiced by Albert Brooks) and President Arnold Schwarzenegger (one of Harry Shearer’s many voices) placed around the environmental hazard known as Springfield was a wee bit over the top. Or maybe Homer actually uprooting the family and moving to Alaska was what got to me. It all just felt a bit forced since the filmmakers knew that they would be given more than just a half hour to tell their story.
Please don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed watching this film and continue to be a “Simpsons” fan. It’s just that, after thinking it over, I felt that it was lacking. Maybe I was too much of a fan in the first place, that it left me looking for loopholes rather than enjoying the film for itself. If that’s the case, consider this review useless. I do hope that was the case, but I doubt it. Still, I remain a fan of the show and will continue to watch it whether they be new episodes or trusty old re-runs. “The Simpsons” is a television institution and I’ll always love it, movie or no movie.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
In his fifth year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter is troubled. Not only did he witness Voldemort’s murder of Cedric Diggory, he’s also attacked by Dementors outside the campus, in “the Muggle world”. Even his mentor, Prof. Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is under scrutiny from the Ministry of Magic due to their own paranoia. When the Ministry appoints Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) to teach at Hogwarts, Harry and his classmates are reduced to learning basic defense, far less than what is needed to face the Dark Lord. Thus, Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) convince Harry that he must teach them how to defend themselves. In doing so, they don’t just practice wizardry, they unwittingly start a rebellion which leads to a battle that will ultimately seal the fate of someone close to Harry’s heart.
As each “Harry Potter” movie has been shown, each director has proceeded to place his respective stamp on his particular installment. For this film, director David Yates was tasked with compressing over 800 pages of source material into a two and a half hour picture. It was no easy task, and fans of the books will undeniably point out the disappearance of the Quidditch matches as well as greater explanation behind Dumbledore’s Army and the gathering of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Since I last read the novel version of “Phoenix” over two years ago, I was still surprised with how some scenes came across on film. Still, even as Jo and I filled in the blanks on how some scenes progressed, I couldn’t help but wonder how non-Potter fans would react to those same scenes. Something tells me they may end up more puzzled than enamored.
Undoubtedly, Radcliffe and his crew have taken this acting thing quite seriously since they started. With more depth to their acting comes a sense of desperation and anxiety as the shadow of Voldemort slowly rises once again. Surprisingly enough, it was a newcomer to the series who steals the scenes where she is in. Evanna Lynch was perfect as the eccentric Luna Lovegood and her portrayal really does do justice to Rowling’s original idea. If not for Cho Chang (Katie Leung) and Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright), one would think that Lynch’s Luna might have a shot at stealing Mr. Potter’s heart.
It really was a treat to see Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) interact with Harry for longer stretches. SPOILER ALERT!!! Thus it was even more painful when Sirius is taken away at film’s end. In that sense, Yates succeeds in capturing the essence of the novel and translating it onscreen. Still, I found myself yearning for longer scenes to capitalize on Oldman’s talent and mesh that with Radcliffe’s rising acting ability. END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!
Despite these drawbacks, I still feel that “Phoenix” has been the best book-to-film translation of a Potter novel so far. When the Order comes to recruit Harry and flies across London, you get the same sense of awe as in Disney’s classic “Peter Pan” when Peter first took the kids to Neverland. The culminating fight scene at the Ministry of Magic is the closest we’ve gotten yet to a “Star Wars-type” of fight between wizards and witches. For this scene alone, the movie is a winner. To see Voldemort and Dumbledore throw down like the bad asses they are was a great adrenalin rush that I felt cemented this film’s coolness factor.
I’ve come to realize that rarely are these Potter films as good as their original source materials have been. That being said, I still feel that “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is the best of the five Potter movies to date. The combination of darker shades, deeper story, and underlying dread all add to this film’s mystique and gives me hope that when “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” comes out next year, that film will be just as good if not better.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Prime Time
This is actually Convoy, the Japanese name of Optimus Prime
One of my favorite toys as a kid was the old Optimus Prime toy from "The Transformers" series. My dad got me this around 1985 and it was one of the few toys I kept when we moved houses in 1991. Now that "Transformers" is a blockbuster live action movie, my original Optimus just got cooler. I even bought a new Optimus so I could compare. After 22 years, it's still one of the coolest cartoon characters ever!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Bobby
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Drama |
Set in the historic Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the ensemble cast represents different ethnic groups and social classes in the United States. This comes across as poignant when one considers how RFK gave such importance to race relations and civil rights during his lifetime. The cast includes veterans like Anthony Hopkins and Harry Belafonte, Sharon Stone and Martin Sheen, as well as relative youngsters like Shia LaBeouf, Nick Cannon, and Lindsay Lohan. With such an eclectic cast, it is quite a surprise that Estevez (more well-known for his acting as well as dad Martin and brother Charlie Sheen) was the driving force behind it.
It’s even more surprising that Estevez and his crew pull it off. Apparently, Martin’s love for RFK during the 60s also affected young Emilio, so much so that Emilio was obsessed with making this film. It took him seven years to get the film made and he had to sell some original artwork and other items to finance the picture. If there was ever a labor of love, this was it.
Make no mistake, “Bobby” is a fictional account of the events that occurred on the night of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. The cast are mostly fictional characters, amalgamations of other people or prevalent notions of the time. Still, Estevez was able to come up with a film that captures the tensions, the anticipation, the fears, and the social upheaval of 1968.
It might be too much of a stretch to say that one man could have changed history or the way America would progress if he had lived. That hasn’t stopped fans and people who have always loved the Kennedys from thinking that way for over 40 years. Although Robert F. Kennedy never ascended to the White House like his brother John F. Kennedy did, his tragedy was in some ways more painful for the United States. People back then saw in Bobby a solid chance to fix the racial divide and heal the country over the disaster of Vietnam. When he was gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan, hope seemed to just dissipate for an entire nation.
Estevez’s cast runs the gamut from old hotel employees to LSD-using junkies and FBI agents, from has-been entertainers to baseball-loving Latino busboys. Each person reflected an archetype, an issue that America faced and RFK was supposed to change if he won the election. We aren’t shown what happened to them after the assassination, this was a fictional account after all. We are only left with the haunting audio of Bobby Kennedy’s speeches, echoing across time as a sad farewell to a time of innocence and of hope unfulfilled.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Live Free or Die Hard
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
In “Live Free or Die Hard”, McClane has become a senior New York police detective. His wife has left him, and he hardly has any interaction with his kids. When he’s assigned to fetch computer hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long), he’s caught in a plot that sees hackers and techno-freaks sending the United States into a frenzy. The “fire sale” plans to bring down the economy and send America back to the Stone Age through computers. Of course, the terrorists didn’t count on John McClane.
Most everyone thought that Bruce Willis was way past reprising the John McClane character. After all, he had lain dormant for over a decade already and Willis wasn’t getting any younger. However, it seems Willis was convinced he still had some kick left. This fourth installment of the franchise delivers the flat out big explosions, flying vehicles, and kick-ass action that the first three once gave us. To return to the action adventure genre meant that Willis had to compete with much younger stars and the fact that the explosions have progressively gotten bigger in part because of Willis’ first adventure in 1988. Still, with the genre seemingly getting stagnant, I wondered if it would take an old veteran to shake it out of the doldrums.
Lucky for us, Willis and his trademark smirk reminded us what good old fashioned blockbusters are all about. This is John McClane at his grimy, in-your-face, trash-talking best. I miss his interactions with actors like Reginald VelJohnson and Samuel L. Jackson in the first films, but Justin Long is funny enough that his exchanges with Willis come across as more than mere father-son ribbing. A nice cameo by Kevin Smith helps the humor quotient as well. Perhaps my main beef with “Live Free” is that villain Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) just didn’t seem sinister enough. Give me Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons any day, because Olyphant was like your typical run-of-the-mill actor who just happened to play a villain. He just lacked the creepiness of the other big bads in the series.
For the most part, the film was fast-paced with the expected explosions and fight scenes placed right where you expect they should be found. Maggie Q as the evil Mai Lihn gave us a view of what a female Terminator from Asia might look like as she proceeded to open a can of whoop ass on McClane. I for one think she was an even better villain than Gabriel was. It was an interesting plot device to use a technological attack to bring America to its knees, yet I couldn’t help but feel that this has been used before. I guess we should just be thankful that Willis even agreed to do another “Die Hard” in the first place, but there were times when I felt this film lacked the John McTiernan directorial touch that was in the first and third films. Len Wiseman (who directed the “Underworld” films) lacked enough oomph to push this film as far as it could go.
Jo told me that she thought the ending was a bit anti-climactic and I tend to agree. I won’t spoil that here for you, but with all the buildup and action in the first three quarters of the film, I was expecting a bigger pay off with the conclusion. Still, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy seeing old man Willis still chugging along with all the dirt and grime we’ve seen him put on as every “Die Hard” film progresses. But in the end, I believe it could have been done better.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Hot Fuzz
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is London’s most prolific police officer. His arrest record is 400% higher than any of his contemporaries. In fact, he’s so good that he’s making his bosses look bad. Thus, he’s promoted to sergeant but reassigned to the countryside, in Sandford. Here, the crime rate is low but the accident rate is surprisingly high. For a small town, Angle starts noticing that they have some rather large secrets. Partnered with the overeager Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), Angel tries to solve a series of murders in the village, all while trying to prove Sandford isn’t as clean as people would have you believe.
Director Edgar Wright re-teams with Pegg three years after the huge success of their horror comedy “Shaun of the Dead”. If “Shaun” was their tribute/satire of horror movies, “Hot Fuzz” is their love letter to the big budget blockbusters which most of us grew up watching with a decidedly English slant. Nick Angel is an over-the-top portrayal of the supercops in those films, someone so superhuman that when he interacts with regular people, everyone sees him as odd. It’s Frost’s Danny who serves as the audience’s reference point, after all, he’s the one who has a mundane life and who longs to have some excitement like he’s seen in the movies.
Wright’s quick editing mixed with graphic shots and witty dialogue keep one on edge when taking in “Fuzz”. With a great cast of veteran actors like Timothy Dalton and Jim Broadbent (and blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos from Cate Blanchett and director Peter Jackson), Wright seems to now have a bigger budget at his disposal than in previous works. The humor, though very dry and British, is quite funny and hits at the right spots. The action and the whodunit mystery are necessary elements to push the story forward and none of them are sacrificed in favor of other elements.
In crafting a film tribute to Hollywood’s action monsters, Wright, Pegg and company have come up with something uniquely their own. Though not working with as big a budget as those blockbusters, the end results is a funny movie with sharp dialogue, great action scenes, and an actual plot that you oftentimes wished the Hollywood equivalents had in the first place.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Transformers
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
Some were excited at the prospect of the heroic Autobots and evil Decepticons actually being rendered beside normal human actors. After all, today’s movie-making technology could possibly finally make that scenario a reality. However, there were also those who wondered out loud if their childhood memories might be tainted by Hollywood tampering with these great robotic icons. Producer Steven Spielberg was a popular choice of course, but director Michael Bay left “Transformers” fans with a bit of a bad taste in their mouths. This is of course the same Michael Bay who gave us explosive testosterone-fests like “The Rock” and both “Bad Boys” films… as well as stinkers like “Pearl Harbor”. I’m glad to report that for his version of “Transformers”, Bay redeems himself.
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is a geeky guy who finally convinces his dad to buy him a car. With their meager savings, they get a beat-up, used 1978 Camaro. Sam starts noticing strange things about his car (including changing radio stations automatically to set the mood for him) but isn’t prepared when the yellow car actually transforms into a giant robot. Sam then finds himself being hunted by another robot disguised as a police car as he and friend Mikaela (Megan Fox) meet more robots who have been sent to Earth to both protect humans, stop the evil Decepticons, and destroy a cosmic device known as “the Allspark”.
I’ll say it now and I will keep saying it: “Transformers” was very, very, very cool. There is no other way to say it. This is the film I and my fellow fanboys have been waiting over 20 years to see hit the big screen. Bay didn’t overextend himself with the action scenes and the plot actually moves at a fast pace. Actors like LaBeouf, Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, and Anthony Anderson do enough while they are onscreen, but they are keenly aware that the real stars of this film are the Transformers themselves. A big part of what made this film work was getting original Optimus Prime voice actor Peter Cullen to reprise his role. Hearing Cullen’s voice coming from Prime’s ultra-cool CGI-body gave a lot of credibility to the film, and he looked awesome too!
Though I was among those who were apprehensive about Prime as a blue Peterbilt truck with red flames, I was completely swept up in seeing Prime, Megatron, and the rest of the Transformers moving and interacting with each other, as well as the humans. The animation was seamless, and the gears that were constantly in motion made you believe these robots could actually exist and work in this day and age. Though Sam and Prime provide crucial to the story, it is Bumblebee (voiced by Mark Ryan) who steals the movie. Therein lies the secret of Bay, and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman: they made you care about Bumblebee and his fellow Autobots like they were living, breathing human beings.
The premise of alien robots trying to conquer Earth while having the ability to change into CD players, cellphones, or stealth fighters is really out of this world. However, that’s why the old “Transformers” cartoon and comics worked in the first place. In the realm of science fiction, anything is possible. To finally be able to translate all of what we grew up with to a three-dimensional computer-generated character left me breathless at certain points of the movie. Indeed, when Prime and company first show up and change from their vehicle modes, all I could recall saying was “Cool!”
This film was so cool that it got me to dust off my classic Generation One Optimus Prime toy (actually the Japanese variant known as “Convoy”) from his box and play with one of my favorite childhood toys. I’m even thinking of going out and buying the new version of Optimus Prime being sold at toy stores today! The old toys with the tagline “More than meets the eye” promised us almost two toys for the price of one, so the new ones have to live up to that. If this film is any indication, “Transformers” are going to be a successful film franchise for the foreseeable future, and I couldn’t be happier.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Ocean's Thirteen
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
I thought that “Ocean’s Twelve” was a bit of a mess, quite honestly. The numerous twists and the irreverent banter between characters sometimes made me feel like the filmmakers were trying to be too smart or too cool for their audience. Perhaps taking the characters out of Las Vegas and putting them in Europe affected the film’s dynamic, but that film was, in hindsight, a disappointment. Still, I was willing to give Soderbergh, Clooney, Pitt, and their gang another shot with this third installment.
Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) invests money in a new Las Vegas casino. Despite warnings from his friends, he still decides to trust Willie Bank (Al Pacino), a notorious developer who always stabs his partners in the back. Reuben is no different, and he suffers a heart attack. Danny Ocean (Clooney) and company decide that they must get justice for Reuben by any means necessary, even if that means bringing down Willy’s new casino, “The Bank” by rendering it useless. Each member of this motley crew plays their part to perfection, even as they join forces with old enemy Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) for added cash. What follows harkens back to the coolness of the first “Ocean” without the over-convoluted explanations of the second film.
Some might say that “Thirteen” suffers from not having both Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts( and Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in it, instead being essentially replaced by Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin). While that both Tess and Isabel were referred to by Danny and Rusty (Pitt), they’re never seen, and Barkin comes across as a poor substitute. Still, whereas the first film revolved around Danny, the second had Rusty at its center, this one focused on Linus (Matt Damon). It seems to follow the seniority of the three actors playing the characters.
With a return to Las Vegas, the film returns to the bright lights and gambling background of “Eleven”. The twists we’ve come to expect are still there of course, as well as the montages that Soderbergh uses to heighten viewer anxiety and increase the drama. Compared to “Twelve” however, this latest chapter has less of the melodrama that revolved around Zeta-Jones’ character, and focused on a simple tale of revenge and oneupsmanship. That’s what makes it work.
The ensemble cast is pretty much in full force this time around too. The Amazing Yen (Shaobo Qin) gets to act a bit more, Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) isn’t just languishing in some prison, while the Malloy Brothers (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck) are back at their bickering best. It’s still fun to see Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) conning his way through the casino, as well as watching both Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) and Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) do their thing. With Reuben as their rallying point, Danny’s crew delivers revenge in a classy, witty package that will make you wish you were in Vegas playing the tables with them.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure |
I was thus pretty surprised to learn that a sequel was being made. Happily, director Tim story and his writers used one of the most popular storylines in comics: the arrival of the Silver Surfer and Galactus. In the 1960s, this story arc marked a milestone in comics as never before had heroes dealt with a character who could easily be an analogue for god. Because that is essentially what Galactus was: an all-powerful being who is far beyond our understanding and who, on a whim, could wipe out all existence on the planet. The Surfer was a mere harbinger of doom, someone who prepared the way before the big, bad Galactus made his entrance. Which brings us to the movie in question.
There is no denying that I had low expectations for this film, particularly after the first one. I agree that all four heroes were cast pretty well (even though Jessica Alba isn’t blue-eyed or blonde, the producers just needed a hot girl who could reel in the male crowd). Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Alba), The Thing (Michael Chiklis), and Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) all returned as the Fantastic Four, more comfortable in their roles as New York’s heroes. So comfortable in fact that Reed and Sue finally decide to get married.
This being a big-budget action film, of course things don’t go as planned. When a silver alien starts popping up in the atmosphere causing all kinds of ecological damage, the FF are brought in to intercept and stop him. Things get more dicey when the team’s old enemy, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) resurfaces, showing no ill effects from his last defeat at their hands. Will Doom help the Fantastic Four stop the Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne)? Why is the “Sentinel of the Spaceways” here in the first place? Will Reed and Sue ever get married?
I actually liked this film better than I did the first FF movie. I’ll admit that seeing the Surfer went a long ways into my enjoyment of it, but it also helped that the actors now seemed so much more relaxed in their roles. In the first, Evans was the guy who everyone clearly saw was into his character. Here, Gruffudd, Chiklis, Alba, and even McMahon have settled in. Doom was actually malevolent this time around, not just some freak in a big green hood. The pace was faster, the action louder, and the cheesy dialogue was kept to a bare minimum.
Effects-wise, I’m more than content with the way Doug Jones was motion captured for the Surfer, as well as the scenes between the Surfer and any or all of the Four. SPOILER ALERT: The one drawback in my view was the fact that Galactus was merely shown in shadow and silhouette, never in his full purple and blue glory. Then again, it might be difficult to show Galactus in a live action environment without eliciting laughter from the audience.
This isn’t the best of the superhero movie genre, but it is also clearly far from being the worst. I would even go to say that it is above average and was pretty good. For a film that clocks in at a little over an hour and a half, the action and story were packed tight enough that I can’t really remember any big lulls to draw my attention away from the screen. Now that the Fantastic Four have proven to be box office gold twice over, I’m waiting to see what Marvel and the crew they’ve assembled will do for an encore.
