Author: Wanggo Gallaga

Movie Review — ‘Ex Ex Lovers’ Nails Its Ending and Shows That the Marvin and Jolina Tandem Is as Magnetic as Ever

There is an unmistakable pandering nature to JP Habac’s ‘Ex Ex Lovers,’ a film that reunites the classic love team of Marvin Agustin and Jolina Magdangal back in the big screen. The undeniable chemistry of the leads is the foundation that keeps the film afloat despite how the film seems to cater to revisiting the same energy they have established in previous films, almost two decades ago, like ‘Labs Kita… Okey Ka Lang?’ If nostalgia is all it was going for, I suppose that’s fine. It would be a fluffy film and that’s okay but underneath it all is a gorgeous film about marriage and accountability, and beyond its nostalgic temperament, Agustin and Magdangal showcase a maturity that is something completely refreshing and new and it’s a potential that is only reached in the final act of the film.

The story is about Joy (Magdangal), a single mother whose daughter, SC (Loisa Andalio), has just been proposed to by her boyfriend Joey (Juan Karlos Labajo). Wary of their young age, Joy tries to dissuade her daughter from marrying so young. After all, her husband, Ced (Agustin), is nowhere to be found and has left Joy with taking care and raising SC all by herself. When SC insists that her mom flies to Malta to fetch Ced so he can walk her down the aisle, Joy has to revisit all the pain and resentment brought upon by her marriage to Ced, while he still carries all of his love for her since then. Joy tries to get Ced to agree to delaying the wedding while Ced has his own agenda into getting back together with Joy.

It’s the perfect rom-com premise but the film’s set up can be quite cruel. Because Magdangal is charming and has that quality to draw you in, you’re on her side when she talks about the hardships, she’s faced having to raise SC alone because Ced just went up and left them. When she gets to Malta, she finds a hardworking man who is apologetic but still treats her as if time hadn’t passed and life hadn’t come and gone. Agustin lets lose all the old 90s energy, acting cute and ends up making Ced annoying and downright insensitive. It’s played for comedy – everything from the shots to the direction of the acting, to the music – but from the audience’s seat, it’s just an uncomfortable moment. All of Joy’s misgivings are valid but neither Ced nor SC seems to care.

Image from Project 8 Projects FB

So much so that when Joy acts up and treats Joey unkindly, she’s really meant to look like the bad guy despite how everybody is expecting Joy to just go along with everything that they want. At some point, I was getting very angry for Joy.

It’s the perfect rom-com premise but the film’s set up can be quite cruel. Because Magdangal is charming and has that quality to draw you in, you’re on her side when she talks about the hardships, she’s faced having to raise SC alone because Ced just went up and left them. When she gets to Malta, she finds a hardworking man who is apologetic but still treats her as if time hadn’t passed and life hadn’t come and gone. Agustin lets lose all the old 90s energy, acting cute and ends up making Ced annoying and downright insensitive. It’s played for comedy – everything from the shots to the direction of the acting, to the music – but from the audience’s seat, it’s just an uncomfortable moment. All of Joy’s misgivings are valid but neither Ced nor SC seems to care.

So much so that when Joy acts up and treats Joey unkindly, she’s really meant to look like the bad guy despite how everybody is expecting Joy to just go along with everything that they want. At some point, I was getting very angry for Joy.

Image from Project 8 Projects FB

Then the film turns in the 3rd act of the film, when screenwriters Antonette Jadaone and Kristine Gabriel switches things around and gives Joy a chance to speak up. The whole movie abruptly shifts tone, and Magdangal and Agustin step up to the plate to play the grown up and mature characters that feels more honest to who they are today, and the film ends up tackling bigger themes that it could have been wrestling with earlier. Maybe the shift of tone allows for a bigger impact in the third act? I don’t know. But it sure made it difficult to get hooked in until the film started to take Joy’s side of the matter.

Because Marvin and Jolina are just oozing with charisma and talent. There’s no question about that. But in the film’s attempt to harken to the nostalgia and old-school charms, it made them feel childish and silly, which made their characters and the struggles they faced seem trivial when it’s not. When the film allows the two to grow up and be adults, the humor is still present, the chemistry is still palpable, but they are able to accomplish so much more, including some very powerful statements about divorce.

I found the whole first two acts quite messy and chaotic. It’s appeal to nostalgia undermined a beautiful movie that still managed to find center stage at its final act. One thing is certain, though: and that the power of Marvin and Jolina is enduring and could really use another go.

My Rating:

Ex Ex Lovers is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

February 21, 2025
Movie Review — Life and Death in Full Bloom: A Review of ‘The Room Next Door’

A poignant meditation on death and life, ‘The Room Next Door’ is a daunting film that tackles the idea of euthanasia head-on. It is not a bombastic film filled with histrionics and unnecessary drama (though there are some scenes that lean into the melodrama but more on that later), the Pedro Almadovar directed and written movie, based on a novel by Sigrid Nunez called ‘What Are You Going Through’, is just a series of moments, of conversations between its two protagonists. Their lives are unfurled until a request, almost halfway through the film, turns everything into an ongoing negotiation.

Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is a successful author, who has written about her fear of death in her books. During a book signing event, she bumps into an old friend who tells her that another friend of theirs, Martha (Tilda Swinton) is struggling with stage 3 cervical cancer. Not having seen each other in a long time, Ingrid takes time out to visit Martha and the two reconnect and Ingrid becomes her closer friend in these trying times. She’s there as Martha experiences her worst and her best days during treatment and it’s a bond that allows Martha to make a request: she wants Ingrid to be in the room next door when she decides to kill herself with a suicide pill (hence the title).

The first half of the film is just the two of them talking, reconnecting, with Martha sharing her strongest memories of her past and shares why she is estranged from her daughter. The film shifts to flashbacks of these moments and, strangely enough, guided by the intricate music composed by Alberto Iglesias, the film takes on many genres. When Martha shares her story of how she met her daughter’s father, Fred, the film shifts into a period teen romance but when she continues to tell us how he returned from the Vietnam war, it becomes a drama about PTSD and letting go. The film shifts genres occasionally, made seamless by a shift in the pervasive musical score that grounds the film.

It shifts and transforms because Ingrid is torn by Martha’s request. She loves her friend, but she finds death “so unnatural.” The movie is anchored by Swinton and Moore’s incredible performances. Moore is constantly at the brink, trying to understand but also trying to be supportive and this struggle is so clear in her looks, gesture, posture, delivery of lines. Swinton, on the other hand, is a powerhouse, considering her character is frail and at the brink of death. The make-up and lighting make her look gaunt and her physicality is riddled with pain yet there is a vibrant spirit behind her who is trying to reclaim any sense of dignity she can muster before cancer takes it all away.

And through their navigation of this choice, Almadovar creates a wonderful little film about the wonders of life and the inevitability of death.

It’s a quiet film that is not afraid to get silly (one scene details what happens to Fred that feels like a scene out of a Isabel Allende novel, complete with the melodrama aesthetic) even in the face of death. While the narrative structure is solid and tight, the dialogue can feel stunted and read like its scripted and unnatural. I’m not sure if Almadovar is a fluent speaker of English or if he had a translator involved but even with Moore and Swinton at the helm, the dialogue can sometimes fall under the level of being trite or contrived. Yes, both characters are very literate (Martha is a war correspondent and is very well-read, loves Faulkner and Fitzgerald) but there are instances when the dialogue can get too pretty that it feels off.

But the visuals are exquisite. Even if it’s just two women talking, at times, Almadovar brings his camera really close to their faces, their inner worlds just bubbling under their faces. He then brings the camera back out to capture the two in a lush backdrop of nature when Martha and Ingrid take a vacation in a summer home 2 hours from the city. Life in full bloom while Martha is at her last steps and Ingrid is hoping for a change of heart.

‘The Room Next Door’ does not have the urgency or the passion of Almadovar’s older works which I love – ‘Talk to Her’ and ‘All About My Mother’ – but it has a tender heart that truly manages to capture in no uncertain terms the breadth of a human life. It’s a relatively quiet film that will charm you if you let it.

My Rating:

The Room Next Door is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

February 19, 2025
Theater Review — An Exquisite Total Theatrical Experience, ‘Sintang Dalisay’ Is Must-See Theater

‘Sintang Dalisay’ is a marvelous work of sheer genius – from the immersive direction of the late Ricardo Abad and Guelan Varela-Luarca, to the adaptation and translation of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by National Artist Rolando Tinio, the exquisite choreography of Matthew Santamaria (and fight choreography by Brian Sy), and the stirring musical direction of Jayson “Dyandi” Gildore – as it reimagines the tragic story of the star-crossed lovers in an imagined Muslim community in the Southern Philippines. Romeo and Juliet are transformed into Rashiddin and Jamila and the entire experience is told through dance and song and the poetry of Shakespeare’s words adapted into the most lyrical of Filipino verses. It’s a total theatrical spectacle the trims down the original play into a tight 2 hours filled with joy and sadness, love and loss.

Taking all the narrative beats from the original, Rashiddin and Jamila are from two rival families, Mustapha and Kalimuddin, who are constantly feuding in the town. During a forced truce, Rashiddin sneaks into a feast held by the Kalimuddin family for Jamila and in brief instant, they fall in love. They secretly marry despite Jamila is betrothed to another. They elope with the help of the Imam, the spiritual leader, who hopes that their union may broker peace but when a duel goes awry and Jamila’s cousin, Taupan, accidentally kills Badawi, Rashiddin’s friend; Rashiddin takes vengeance and slays Taupan in retaliation. With the Kalamuddin putting the blame on Rashiddin, the two lovers hatches a plan to leave home and start anew but it does not go their way.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

Rolando Tinio’s adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (and a 1904 poem by G. D. Roke), which sets it comfortably in a Muslim community plays into our colonial ideas of a war-torn and hostile Muslim land. The constant bickering of the Kalimuddin and the Mustapha plays into that hegemonic ideology. But while that’s at work, Tinio gives us a chance to also witness the beauty of that world – the songs and the music and the dancing – that amplifies the rich and deep culture of the Muslim people. This adaptation creates a space to humanize them and turn them familiar as many people who are not given a chance to engage with this community may have a distant understanding of their world. ‘Sintang Dalisay’ makes it very easy to connect with them.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

It’s Dr. Abad’s and Guelan Varela-Luarca’s stage direction that keeps the energy from dipping, allowing us to feel the imminent danger of that rivalry that always seems ready to burst. At the same time, there are moments of levity but, most importantly, there are moments of pure, innocent beauty in the form of the growing love between Rashiddin and Jamila.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

It’s the intricate choreography that adds that layer that makes ‘Sintang Dalisay’ such a delicious show. The dancing enlivens the scenes, but it also amplifies the emotions of each character. So, while Taupan and Badawi speak loud and tough, Rashiddin is somewhat soft and fluid, not a fighter at all but one that feels more romantic, just based on the movements alone. So, when Jamila and Rashiddin first meet each other at the feast, in the midst of a great dance performance, everything stops the moment their eyes meet. The choreography adjusts to them. While no words were uttered, we believe that it’s love at first sight. It’s the power and magic of theater and I haven’t seen it so elegantly done and in such a surprising way.

The music is also extremely note-worthy. This cast are incredible singers and the live band playing kumintangs, flutes, and other indigenous instruments create a sonic landscape that really enhances every scene and transports the audience to that place and time.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

Unfortunately, Karl Borromeo, who plays Rashiddin, is drowned out by the largeness of the play’s scope and design. Borromeo tends to shout instead of projects, so it removes the nuances of Rashiddin’s scenes. His quiet scenes, his comedic scenes, and his fight scenes have all that same tonal quality. Borromeo is an incredible dancer, and he shines completely when performing with Maliana Beran, who plays Jamila. Their duets are impeccable. But in his scenes with Jerome Dawis as Taupan and Roldine Ebrada as Badawi, Borromeo gets lost under all that excellence. Dawis and Ebrada (as well as James Reyes as the Imam) are just fantastic. They fill the stage with their presence.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

But the real star of the show is Maliana Beran. As Jamila she is charming and innocent and commanding. You can see why Rashiddin falls in love with her at a glance and her movements are so precise that it’s as nuanced as her performance. She’s radiant and is capable of creating so many layers for Jamila to exist in this play.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

With the gorgeous designs of the late National Artist Salvador Bernal and Tata Tuviera, the richness of the Filipino Muslim culture, the intricacies of Tinio’s translations, and the creativity of Abad and Varela-Luarca, ‘Sintang Dalisay’ is an unforgettable theatrical experience that you must see, at least once.

My Rating:

Sintang Dalisay will run until February 23, 2025 at the Hyundai Hall of Arete, Ateneo de Manila University. Get your tickets here.

February 19, 2025
Movie Review — Still Not His World: A Review of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’

I was actually excited for ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’ I really, really enjoyed ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ on Disney+ and I personally believe that Anthony Mackie is the new Captain America. Yes, Chris Evans was amazing in that role. He will always be the original MCU Captain America, but time has moved on. And so should we. And I can’t believe that this is how I’m beginning a movie review because the politics and the emotions surrounding this movie is just out of this world. It is also a clear example of the power of the movies and the image.

Now with all that said, why is Harrison Ford as Thaddeus Ross stealing the movie from Anthony Mackie? It’s because unlike previous Captain America movies or in his own show, ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier,’ our protagonist isn’t having a crisis of faith or identity. As Sam Wilson, the new Captain, he’s just out there trying to unravel a complex conspiracy that threatens the very leadership of his country. He’s trying to stop a world war, but he doesn’t have any conflict of self throughout this whole movie. The one who has this arc is Ford’s Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. And I feel that it was such a great disservice to the character of Sam Wilson and the actor, Anthony Mackie.

(L-R): Prime Minister Ozaki (Takehiro Hira), Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.

From Phase 2 onwards, we know that Sam Wilson and Thaddeus Ross are not in the best of terms. Ross has even put Wilson in the brig for joining Steve Rogers during the events of ‘Captain America: Civil War.’ Ideologically, they are not in the same team. But Sam is the captain now and Ross has just won the presidential election. He’s trying to create a legacy by brokering a treaty among other nations to cooperate in making full use of Celestial Island (the Celestial in the Indian Ocean, which formed during the events of the film ‘Eternals’). Wilson and Ross agree to work together but a failed assassination attempt at Ross by Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) puts the two back in the opposition and Wilson must figure out what’s happening and who’s pulling the strings as Ross tries to keep the treaty from breaking down.

(L-R) The Falcon/Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.

The film introduces a whole new set of characters from Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, who takes over the mantle of Falcon. Ramirez is a breath of fresh air and gives the movie the comic-book energy the fill needs. He’s charming and draws you in and does a wonderful counterpoint to Mackie’s Wilson, who is carrying the burden a little too much. Giancarlo Esposito is always amazing, and he shows up as the assassin Sidewinder, who is more than a match for Captain America. It’s always fun to watch Esposito work and this is no exception. Shira Haas plays Ruth Bat-Seraph, a former black widow who is now the security officer of Ross, and plot-wise, acts as Ross’ muscle to face off Wilson and Torres when they must come at odds.

(L-R): Director Julius Onah, Xosha Roquemore, and Anthony Mackie behind the scenes of Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.

Directed by Julius Onah, there’s a sort of realism to the fight sequences (especially at the beginning) because it sorts of underlines that unlike the rest of the Avengers, Sam Wilson is a not super soldier. He gets tired. He gets badly hurt. And he’s not as fast. The film has its fair share of fight choreography, though the best parts are when both Captain America and the Falcon are in the air in a dog fight trying to stop two nations from killing each other. It’s pretty exciting. But that happens mid-way and all the stuff that happens after feels a little less thought-out. As seen on the trailer, we know that Ross turns into the Red Hulk, and then the film shows a ton of US military coming at him as if they think they can make a dent. It feels so counter intuitive. You have Captain America in the scene. It’s a hulk. Shouldn’t you just run? It doesn’t help that the film is known for its reshoots and you can see it in full glory in the final scenes. The CGI and the green screen effects look dodgy and rushed. It’s a far cry from the first half of the film where everything looked good (except for the folding of the wings).

(L-R) Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Joaquin Torres/The Falcon (Danny Ramirez) and Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.

While I appreciated the attempt of the film to hold on to its thriller/intrigue tone, the person who is actually pulling the strings is a little to all-encompassing to accomplish what he has at this point in the film. You can say that Hydra did the same in ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier” but Hydra is an organization and they’ve been fully established in the first Captain America movie. While this is not an unknown character, what this character is able to do is equal to that level of far-reaching circumstances. It just felt so convenient.

Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 MARVEL.

The thing about it is that ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ is not a bad movie but it’s not a great one. I felt more invested in Ross’ story because Ford did such a good job with it and his character had the most character development. Everything Sam Wilson was problematizing on an individual, character-level he’d already managed in his own series. In the end, it felt like an episode of a tv show rather than a movie of its own. Steve Rogers had a crisis of faith and patriotism in his second and third movie. I guess I wanted the stakes to be that high for Sam Wilson too, because he deserves it. Mackie has earned that shield and we’ve seen him grow into it in his own show. I wish the movie pushed him further.

My Rating:

Captain America: Brave New World is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

February 16, 2025
Theater Review — Inside the Bi-Polar Mind: A Review of The Sandbox Collective’s ‘Next to Normal’

I had no prior knowledge about the Tony award winning musical ‘Next to Normal’ before I came to watch The Sandbox Collective’s open rehearsal first and then the show at Circuit during preview night. As someone who grew up with traditional musical tastes from Rogers and Hammersteins to Sondheim, Kander & Ebb to Ahrens and Flaherty, I’ve always had a resistance to contemporary musicals (though that’s changing now). But to hear a musical that’s rooted in rock music and tackling such a heavy topic like mental illness and grief the way that ‘Next to Normal’ does, and with such fervor, it’s quite a shock to the system.

Written by Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music), the play is about a family that’s falling apart. Diana, the mom, is suffering from several mental conditions brought forth by an extreme sense of grief. Trying desperately to hold it together is Diana’s husband, Dan, while their kids, Gabe and Natalie are growing up and dealing with their mother’s condition in unique and different ways. While Natalie meets the stoner Henry, who has taken an interest in her, she’s afraid to commit because of the trouble at home while Diana decides to get off her meds which leads to disastrous results. When Diana switches to a different doctor, Doctor Madden, she goes into a journey that threatens to shake the very fabric of this family and forces them to face the demons they’ve been avoiding for years.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

Under the direction of Toff De Venecia, the play sort of exists in some liminal space that is both the family’s home and also Diana’s mind and mental state. The stage is practically bare except for several chairs and a piano bench and one box that can be a sofa or a table that is constantly being arranged and re-arranged depending on the delicate balance of the relationships in the home. This is De Venecia’s best directorial effort, in my opinion, where the busy-ness of the stage movements find themselves in synch with Diana’s decline in her mental health. Constantly, characters are fixing the chairs and putting them down and standing them when making large declarations that the whole space is in a constant state of flux. The few moments when Diana has any semblance of lucidity and peace, is when the play gets to calm down and go quiet. The play’s direction and the choreography of Stephen Vinas and production design of Mark Dalacat, allows us to see this narrative through Diana’s point-of-view.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

The cast does everything else. The cast that I got to see are all exceptional singers, acting through the performances, and really hitting the emotional notes in each of the songs. Shiela Valderrama shines as Diana (alternate Nikki Valdez), who is constantly just trying to keep it together. Her clarity as she is emoting through each of her songs is incredible; she’s breaking down, but each word is getting across to the audience even as her world is crumbling around her. OJ Mariano plays Dan (Floyd Tena alternates) with so much heart; a man that is trying his best to keep that family from breaking, but you can tell he is at his wit’s end. Vino Mabalot plays Gabe (alternate Benedix Ramos), who has some of those most emotional songs (second to Diana) and he can sing the hell out of these moments. But the ones that really stole the show in the performance I saw was Shiela Belarmino as Natalie (alternate Jam Binay) and Omar Uddin as Henry (alternate Davy Narciso). Belarmino and Uddin manages to create a space for their character’s romantic subplot to wonderfully contrast the heavy parts of Diana’s struggle. The counterpoint breathes some fresh air into the piece and Belarmino and Uddin’s comedic timing, charisma, and joyous approach to their scenes creates a wonderful layer that keeps the show from tilting completely into dread and doom. Belarmino manages to amplify Natalie’s narrative without taking away from Diana’s struggle, which is at the heart of the play. It would be very easy to direct everything towards Diana and have everyone’s individual arc be in service of Diana’s, but Belarmino suffuses Natalie with so much spirit that their story feels intertwined. Diana’s journey informs Natalie’s.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

My only gripe is that the venue does not lend well to musicals and large productions. The sound system was off, with the microphones not giving the clarity that the show needed. The full band set-up, directed by Ejay Yatco, could sometimes drown the singers (except Valderrama) and I hope that they can fix the audio problems for future shows.

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This is not an easy play to digest. While it can be funny and charming, it is also alarming and scary and honest and authentic. The way it shows the full extent of how difficult bi-polar disorder can be, how grief can be so destructive when left unchecked, and how the people who are caught in the crossfire can feel so defenseless. All of this is in full display in this musical and De Venecia’s direction brings it all out for us to come to grips with and even enjoy.

My Rating:

Next to Normal will run until February 23, 2025 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater. Get your tickets here.

February 11, 2025
Movie Review — Someone Else’s Story: A review of ‘Gitling’

I missed ‘Gitling’ when it came out during Cinemalaya and all of its little pocket screenings around the metro and I’ve wanted to see it on the big screen. Fortunately, the film returns to the cinemas from February 5 to February 11 in Ayala Cinemas and FDCP Cinematheques around the country (take note that sometimes it’s labeled with its English title ‘Hyphen’). Written and directed by Jopy Arnaldo, ‘Gitling’ is a quiet, intimate film about two people in the midst of flux who come together for professional reasons but bond over the personal and in the process, find some form of resolution for their own issues.

Makoto Kanno (Ken Yamamura) is a Japanese film director who finds himself in Bacolod City to screen his film at a film festival. Jamie Lazaro (Gabby Padilla) is the local who is hired to act as his interpreter and translator for his new film. They bond over language and movies, they discuss Makoto’s film, which leads them to opening about their own troubles. Makoto is separated from his wife and some scenes show his awkward, strained phone conversations with his wife while Jamie just ended her engagement with her fiancé under difficult circumstances. One is trying to repair a broken relationship while the other is trying to unburden herself from the fallout of the breakup.

This is a story that can only be told in a movie because it’s told in five languages – Japanese, English, Filipino, Hiligaynon, and a made-up language that Jamie invented – and the subtitles play a big part in this, each translation coloured to signal what language is being used in what is being said. The two leads navigate their character’s feelings as they tiptoe around potentially difficult conversation topics jumping from Japanese and English, with Jamie having to shift to Filipino or Hiligaynon when she’s speaking to the world outside of their little intimate space, and later on, as Makoto begins to study and learn Jamie’s language, they speak to each other creating even more walls to shut them out from the world around them.

Arnaldo emphasizes this isolation by his exquisite use of extreme close-ups and his preference to shoot his characters from behind or at their profile. Makoto and Jamie are tearing away any sort of awkwardness by getting through the small talk and pushing deeper and deeper into who they are inside, vulnerable and bare, and Arnoldo, by way of Mycko David’s brilliant cinematography, pushes us away by focusing on their hands, the food they eat while talking, the back of Jamie’s neck, Makoto’s jawline, the blaze of the hot coals that grill their orders of chicken inasal. Arnaldo makes us voyeurs, trying to keep us away from this intimate moment that is entirely theirs to keep for themselves.

And here is where I find myself conflicted as I love the piece on an intellectual level. The performances of Gabby Padilla and Ken Yamamura are pitch perfect. It’s natural and nuanced and it feels so unscripted, so real and authentic. The script is verbose, wordy but these are two people who love language and are trying to connect, to talk about difficult things and finding the words to describe the wealth of emotions they have but also keeping some of it to themselves because this connection is creating complications. Then, at some point, the film that they are both working on, becomes the film that we are watching – the conceit of subtitles transcribing the subtext, the things unsaid on screen for the audience to mull over – and this whole exercise of the film in the film being somewhat the film we are watching. It’s an intellectual exercise that is so enjoyable to sink your teeth into.

But on an emotional level, I feel quite distant from the characters. Their stories, their struggle, I feel the film didn’t give me permission to enjoy it. Their release, their insights were kept at a distance from me. The film protected their safe space. It’s wonderful to take note of as an outsider but as someone watching a movie about healing and relationships, I felt like an intruder. It’s an interesting feeling to have while watching a film, especially one in the romantic drama genre. Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, great direction, and excellent music by Emmanuel Aguila, ‘Gitling’ is an intelligent movie that made me feel like an unwanted visitor in someone else’s story. There are no easy answers in ‘Gitling’ and the film will make you work for the resolution for yourself but it’s done so beautifully that you should just give in.

My Rating:

Gitling (Hyphen) is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

February 7, 2025
Disney+ Streaming Review — ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ Justifies Why We Need Another Spider-Man Show in Its First Six Episodes

Another Spider-man on the screen? Sure, it’s not a movie, but we’ve already had three in the last two and half decades (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland) on the big screen and we even have Miles Morales in the two brilliant, animated films ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’ There are probably even more on streaming networks for series that I’m not aware of. But with Disney+ spending quite a bit on the marketing of their latest release, ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’, there was something about the animation style and the innocence of the trailer that got to me.

Luckily, I was able to catch the first 6 episodes of the first season and I was very much charmed by the whole alternate timeline.

Not set in the “sacred timeline” of the MCU, ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ shares a different origin story for Peter Parker and how he becomes the web-slinger. As young high school freshman, the show really emphasizes his youth and innocence. The relationships he builds in school and the way that he juggles classes, his internship at Oscorp, and crime-fighting are what makes Peter such an interesting character. Oftentimes, you could get annoyed at how someone so young could put so much unto his plate, but you forget that that is power of youth: the idealism and hope that pervades into their every being. This Peter is the epitome of that.

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

But all versions of Spider-Man reflect different approaches to this idealism and explores different ways by which Peter Parker is a hero. What is refreshing in this presentation is how Peter Parker is not suffering alone, not completely. As the episodes unfold, we see a surprising number of people who figures out his identity early on – and they are really surprising bunch – and all of sudden, Peter Parker has the support that he needs; something he never really got from the different versions of the story except Tom Holland’s. But while Holland’s support and mentor comes from Iron Man himself, this iteration has him mentored by someone whose story is being rewritten by this alternate timeline. It’s just as complex as Tony Stark but adds a new layer and sheen to the show.

(Second from Left-R) Pearl Pangan (Cathy Ang), Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) and Nico Minoru (Grace Song) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

Also, the support cast is quite engaging: from his best friend Nico Minoru and his crush Pearl Pangan (yes, she’s Filipina!) to his surprisingly refreshing jock-lab partner Lonnie Lincoln. The Osborns are definitely in the show – both Harry and Norman – but the way their characters are written here are completely out of type (or so it appears).

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Hudson Thames) and Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo) in Marvel Animation’s YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Animation. © 2024 MARVEL. All Rights Reserved.

The whole DNA of Spider-Man, at least when I was collecting comics back in the 80s and 90s, was that Spider-Man was always the hero who had to support himself. He worked at a job that despised his alter ego (J Jonah Jameson of The Daily Bugle) and he always had to juggle work and surviving while being so powerful and funny and carefree as the Spider-Man. Some of that changed with the MCU version, with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man being given support from Iron Man. But here, seeing the support that Peter Parker gets from his friends and the people who end up knowing about him is quite a different variation that feels more aligned with the times.

The world is so crazy now and the younger generation seem more adaptable to change and to strangeness. The way that Spider-Man seems to interact with this world feels so at pace with where things are now on a social spectrum. Before, Spider-Man was easily defamed by J Jonah Jameson. Here, Jameson is nowhere in sight and Spider-Man seems loved by the people. Again, this feels right up this world’s alley.

I’m excited to see how all of this unfolds, especially knowing how some of these characters are going to be in the future. From their names alone, you know who they are going to end up, if you are savvy with the comic book world. I was expecting to question why the need for another Spider-Man show or movie but this one, much like Miles Morales in the ‘Into the Spider-verse’ Spider-Man, justifies its own existence by showing us what it is that this character can be representative of. That young man who wants to do so much to fix the world that really isn’t his problem to fix.

My Rating:

Swing into action! Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is now streaming on Disney+.

February 3, 2025
Movie Review — An Assault to the Senses, ‘Dark Nuns’ Is Bombastic Filmmaking but Lacking in Scares

Considering its stellar cast – Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been, Lee Jin-wook, and a breakthrough performance from young star Moon Woo-jin – there’s a lot that feels missing in the horror film ‘Dark Nuns’ by director Kwon Hyeok-jae. The filmmaking is flashy: lots of extreme close-ups, quick cuts, loud sound design, and imagery that’s meant to be dark, vague, and disturbing. All this is great in the first twenty minutes of the film but as the film unfolds, it cannot substitute the lack of genuine scares or the absence of a stronger, compelling story.

Song Hye-kyo plays Sister Junia, an unordained nun who performs exorcisms for a sect within the Catholic Church. She is known as the “dark nun,” who is knowledgeable in all matters of demonic possession. It opens with her arriving at a home where a priest is struggling to exorcise a demon possessing a young boy named Hee-joon (Moon Woo-jin). We know she’s tough and experienced because she doesn’t go straight to the scene on her arrival. She first has a cigarette and bides her time before she makes her move. There she battles the demon and while she rescues the priest, she only manages to force the demon back into hiding. Hee-joon is transferred to a hospital where Sister Junia finds opposition from Father Paolo (Lee Jin-wook), a priest who is also a doctor, and he frowns upon exorcisms, insisting that these are psychological issues that can be fixed medically. Caught in-between is Father Paolo’s protege, Sister Michela (Jeon Yeo-been). Sister Michela is also a doctor and a nun, but she also has visions and has the potential to be a shaman

The two sisters must find common ground to save Hee-joon from the demon inside of him before… well, this is where the film becomes sketchy because it never really underlines the stakes. Yes, we know the child must be free of the possessing spirit, but the film muddles the cost. Will the child die? Will the demon – a personification of something called “the 12 manifestations,” an idea that is never really explored in depth – become more powerful after a certain point? What is this “12 manifestations” and does it have any effect on the world outside of this child?

The film skirts through most of the story elements. We know Sister Junia is not well, but we don’t know of her life before this. Sister Michela has an implied history with the supernatural, which seems to have caused someone’s suicide. But this is not fully explored either. Aside from saving the boy’s life, we don’t really know what this exorcism means for the two women, and it sort of diminishes the sense of accomplishment one may feel from this whole exercise.

The whole film, from the very opening scene, until it’s conclusion, is completely centered on this one possession. What is wonderful is how, on the orders to save this boy by “any means necessary,” Sister Junia employs shamans and include shamanistic rites to aid in the exorcism creates a wonderful intersection of cultures. Western prayers spoken in Latin (or is it Italian, I’m not sure) while the colorful, energetic rituals of Korean shamanism are playing in the foreground and in the background is such an exciting imagery that is at work.

But the film has no genuine scares. The boy is restrained, he’s shouting expletives and saying vulgar and disgusting things – with an excellent performance by Moon Woo-jin who delivers this with such commitment – while the two sisters are praying over him and demanding him to leave the body. It’s dramatic for the first 20 minutes or so but as the film progresses (and the film is almost two-hours long) it starts to get repetitive. And you start to realise that there’s no inherent danger here.

Despite it being a horror film that isn’t horrifying and with characters that I feel distant and indifferent towards, I do appreciate director Kwon Hyeok-jae’s approach to filming this religious aspect of the film. There’s no reverence or mystery to how he captures the Catholic faith. In fact, he’s not afraid to show the in-fighting within the sects and battles of ideology that is happening inside the church. All of the religious aspects of the film are really just decoration here, juxtaposed side-by-side with Korean shamanism, not favoring one over the other in an imagery sense, Kwon Hyeok-jae creates a battle not between a demon and religion but that of a demon and a human being, who just happened to be a nun. Sister Junia could have been a plain doctor or a shaman or a Filipina witch doctor and it would have been the same movie. The de-mystification of the Catholic faith feels refreshing and new. I wished the film just took less time trying to impress us with its mood shots and dramatics and explored a bit more of the characters to give us something to chew on.

My Rating:

Dark Nuns is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

February 1, 2025
Movie Review — ‘Companion’ Succeeds with Its Expert Mix of Comedy and Thriller

I went into the cinema to watch the thriller ‘Companion’ without any knowledge about the film. I didn’t watch a trailer. I didn’t read any notes or reviews. All I know was that it was marketed as “from the creators of Barbarian,” which is one of my favourite films of 2022. ‘Barbarian’ was written and directed by Zach Cregger and he produced ‘Companion,’ which is directed and written by Drew Hancock. The film is a creepy thriller that is a refreshing take of the genre of films populated by films like ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and ‘Blink Twice.’ Watching the trailer now that I’ve seen the movie, it’s safe for me to say that the film involves the power struggle between a woman and a man but is further complicated by the commodification of AI and the human form.

Sophie Thatcher is incredible as Iris, a woman who is going out of town for the weekend with her boyfriend Josh (Jack Quaid). They are going to a secluded mansion in the woods to spend a weekend with Josh’s friends. There she meets Eli (Harvey Guillen) and his boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage), Kat (Megan Suri), and her partner Sergey (Rupert Friend). Iris is not comfortable in that crowd, her attachment to Josh seems weak and laughable to Kat, and it triggers her anxiety and discomfort. But things turn chaotic and murderous when Iris inadvertently discovers that she is a companion robot and that Josh is not the man she thought he was.

Much like the uneven ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and the brilliant ‘Blink Twice,’ ‘Companion’ explores how women are manipulated and controlled by men. But unlike both movies, ‘Companion’ finds its own voice by being whimsical, funny, irreverent, and takes pleasure in giving space for the woman in question – here, represented by a robot – to find her revenge. Unlike the other two movies mentioned that focuses on the depravity of the men who do these things and the imperative of women to fight for their freedom, ‘Companion’ is more geared towards entertaining us with the thoughts of getting back at the people who did this to her.

It is riding a wave of a political discourse that is fighting oppression with the same fire that has fueled the oppressors. This has the same tone as the eat-the-rich films that have sprouted in the past few years, but this film has set its sights on the men who abuse and dominate women. In this sense, the film feels related to even the recent MMFF film ‘Uninvited’ with the way that it stirs the audiences and gets them to cheer for Iris when she takes the reigns and fights back. The way that Hancock has maneuvered his plot, and his character development allows the audience to actually cheer when the tables are turned and the robot finds their power to enact their vengeance.

And that’s really the power of comedy to use humor to allow us to embrace darker themes and ideas. By making us laugh, we lower our guard and allow us to cheer for what is essential murder but allowing us to justify it by focusing on the heinous actions of the perpetrator. We leave the cinema entertained but the film has planted that seed that we will think harshly of anyone who will be caught doing these acts in real life. Hopefully, not murder, but we will take it seriously.

Thatcher is incredibly arresting as Iris. The nuance of her performance becomes even more apparent as we see her at the point of discovery that her life is a lie. Every look, every reaction is connected to her character being a sentient robot. The other stand out here is Guillen, whose comedic timing is pitch perfect.

Surprising at every turn. If you like bloody gore, violence, and female-driven movies, ‘Companion’ is the film to watch and it’s best to not see the trailer coming in. It’s best to be surprised.

My Rating:

Companion is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

January 30, 2025
Movie Review — ‘A Real Pain’ Makes an Excellent Case for the Return of the Mid-Budget Dramas and Comedies

I genuinely miss the mid-range and small budget dramas and comedies like ‘Sideways’ or ‘The Holdovers.’ These are personal, intimate stories that’s completely character-driven and while the story feels contained, the writing and the performances expand the scope that makes it feel universal and authentic. This is where the Jesse Eisenberg written and directed film ‘A Real Pain’ falls under and it does so quite well.

On the surface, it’s about two Jewish cousins, polar opposites of each other, who travel to Poland to reconnect with their recently passed grandmother and with their heritage. They join a tourist group for a holocaust tour and in the process the cousins collide as their personalities clash and their histories are dug up and strung out for everyone to see. It’s funny but also painful and embarrassing at times but it’s also honest. But deep down, the film really is a study on mental health, but it also explores the burden and weight of the immigrant narrative, how the stories of their grandparents and the struggles they had in coming to America can sometimes spark a sense of responsibility and, in the other, a sense of guilt.

(From L-R): Kieran Culkin, Jennifer Gray, Jesse Eisenberg, Kurt Egyiawan, David Oreskes and Will Sharpe in A REAL PAIN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

While the film feels so far removed from our own experiences here in the Philippines, I got to see shades of these emotions bubbling over all my cousins and friends who are first generation immigrants to the United States, and even some in the second-generation. We may never have suffered the ranks of genocide the way that Jewish people have during World War II or the genocide that one of the characters in the film shared, as he was from Rwanda, but we Filipinos have also seen the horrors of war.

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin in A REAL PAIN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

And this is the magic of Jesse Eisenberg’s script. The story is so rooted in the cousins – the anxious David (Jesse Eisenberg) and the charismatic but also destructive Benji (Kieran Culkin) – and their story and their connection to the holocaust but the way they interact with each other, the way that David is scared to call out Benji when he’s being rude or destructive and the way that Benji can’t help but be disappointed that his cousin did not grow up to be the person he thought he would be. These little dynamics of their relationship and the precision of Eisenberg and Culkin’s performances convey these nuances really remind us of our interactions with our family. We have siblings or cousins that are like this, and we tiptoe around them while others just bulldoze over us and it’s all out there for us to see in this lovely little film.

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A REAL PAIN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

It’s wonderful to be in a dark, cold cinema and seeing these seemingly ordinary lives struggling through a life moment but seeing it on full screen. It’s so humanizing. This is the cinema that I miss. Sure, the blockbusters are fun. They are a feast for the eyes but as the studios release one big tentpole blockbuster after another, one sequel after the next, it all gets muddled and boring. But movies like ‘A Real Pain’ helps me get back to myself and to my own little issues and personal demons.

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin on the set of A REAL PAIN. Photo by Agata Grzybowska, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

There’s no question as to why Culkin is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the current award season rush, including winning the Golden Globe. It’s a bravura performance that truly encapsulates Benji’s issues. The film never openly states it but, from my experience, his manic followed by depressive and confrontational states is just representative of bi-polar disorder; as I’ve seen it in family members, friends, and even co-workers. Eisenberg has played this character before so we know he does it well but the rest of the cast – Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes, and the ever-reliable Will Sharpe – help fill out this world and gives the two leads a space to really play out their character’s inner worlds.

Director Jesse Eisenberg on the set of A REAL PAIN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

I really want more movies like this to return to the cinemas rather than just immediately sending them over to streaming. These intimate; personal stories are elevated by putting them on the big screen. It reminds us of our humanity in the most surprising of ways.

My Rating:

A Real Pain is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.

January 30, 2025