Author: Wanggo Gallaga

MOVIE REVIEW: The Dis-united States of America; a review of ‘Civil war’

No stranger to the genre of science fiction, novelist, screenwriter, and director Alex Garland has been imagining the dark side of humanity in extreme conditions. In his screenplays for ‘28 Days Later’ and ‘Sunshine’ as well as his second directorial outing ‘Annihilation’ his movies have always raised a mirror to humanity and showed it for its ugliness when the pressure starts to kick in.

While his latest film is a dystopian science fiction imagining of an America in the midst of the second civil war, some articles quote him as saying it will be his last directorial effort as he plans to concentrate solely on writing. Despite this, the film operates very much in the contemporary mode. There are no zombies here like in ‘28 Days Later’ or aliens like in ‘Annihilation’ or AI like in the excellent ‘Ex Machina.’ No, this film is set in a future where America is at war with itself, a third term president-turned-dictator is battling the military might of secessionist states. There is no hi-tech equipment here. This is just a prediction of things to come based on an artist’s interpretation of where the United States of America is going if it does not fix itself any time soon.

‘Civil War’ follows four journalists as they make the trip from a war-torn New York down to Washington DC where they hope to interview the President. The group is led by Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), a renowned war photojournalist, followed by the journalist Joel (Wagner Moura). They are joined by the senior journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a sort of mentor for the two. Rounding up the cast is Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a young photojournalist who looks up to Lee as her “hero.”

The trip to the nation’s capital is wrought with danger and against her better judgment, Lee becomes a sort of mentor to the inexperienced Jessie. The weariness and jadedness that Dunst encapsulates into her portrayal of Lee Smith really sells the rich and vivid imagery that Garland adorns his film. ‘Civil War’ is wonderfully shot and the ways by which he imagines a ruined America – open air stadiums filled with graffiti, the highways filled with broken cars and families walking along the road moving their things with shopping carts, set pieces that look like universities used as a war zone – it’s such striking imagery because these are the same images used to depict wars in other countries with American soldiers coming in as heroes. In ‘Civil War,’ the tables have been turned. The majority of Hollywood movies have always positioned America as the heroes in any war story. Here, they are at war with themselves.

The film is extremely political yet, as some critics have pointed out, this is not some commentary on Trump or wokeism or any specific political issue in the United States now. Without any real backstory as to how this narrative has reached this point – that the film begins right at the zenith of the civil war – it’s a snapshot of how horrible things are going to be if the things that are tearing up the United States now isn’t fixed, this film looks more like a primer than a fictional depiction.

It’s an anti-war film even though it has long sequences of really riveting battle scenes. But none of it is glamorized or romanticized. It’s bloody. It’s ugly. People get hurt. People die. It’s merciless and there’s no joy in any of it. Regardless of how meticulously it is done. Through the eyes of Dunst, Spaeny, Moura, and Henderson, we see it how it really is – senseless and devastating.

But as journalists, they have to remain detached. They need to get the story so that they can get it out there so that the people can be moved to action. And that’s where the film finds its second layer because as Spaeny’s Jessie starts to find the means to detach, Dunst’s Lee Smith begins to show signs of the cracks splitting open, years of exposure to this sort of imagery tearing her up inside. It’s fantastic counterpoint performance for both actresses.

This is a brave and demanding film. It subverts years and years of Hollywood propaganda in depicting the United States as “the greatest country in the world.” It’s a fictional setting but it is pointed in the ways that it highlights all that is wrong in America today. Much like the journalists in the movie, we are being made to move, to act, to feel. If it’s true that Garland is done with directing movies, then it’s a powerful way to end his directing career. It’s a triumph in every aspect.

My Rating:

Civil War is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

April 11, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘The First Omen’ starts strong with excellent use of horror imagery until its cliched finale

Setting itself up as the sequel to the 1976 horror classic ‘The Omen’ by Richard Donner, ‘The First Omen’ surprises by being more than just a franchise cash-grab. Director Arkasha Stevenson is not above using jump scares, but she never relies on it (I was counting and only counted three, and all of them were organic to the scene and not gratuitous at all). Instead, she layers her horror with intricate camera shots that takes full advantage of the mise-en-scene and context of the narrative. The horror is born out of understanding the sheer malevolence that is happening within the story and juxtaposes this with terrifying imagery to remind us that there are forces out there who will do anything to bind us to their will.

Set in Rome in 1971 during a large-scale protest and rally against the police, the government, and even the church, an American novitiate Margaret (Nell Tiger Free) goes to an orphanage run by Father Lawrence (Bill Nighy) and a cloister of nuns. Here, Margaret will serve to care for the young girls while awaiting to take her vows. The older nuns, led by Sister Silvia (Sonia Braga), are a dynamic group of women, who have lives before and after taking on the habit (which is a welcome change). Margaret is enticed by her roommate Luz (Maria Caballero) to go out and enjoy the night life so that she understands what it is she is sacrificing as Margaret has lived with nuns her whole life having been raised in an orphanage herself.

(Left): María Caballero as Luz in 20th Century Studios’ THE FIRST OMEN. Photo by Moris Puccio. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

But nothing is right here in the orphanage. There is a young girl, Carlita, who draws strange pictures and is frequently punished and put into “the bad room” and has strange interactions with Sister Angelica (Ishtar Currie-Wilson), a nun who seems not all there in the head. Margaret takes to Carlita, as she reminds her of herself but when a priest from a different cloister, Father Brennan (Ralph Inneson) corners Margaret and tells her that there is a sect of priests and nuns who believe that the church is losing its power over the people and have conspired to bring the antichrist into the world as a means to bring the people closer to god, Margaret must find it within herself to battle her own demons and discover the truth behind the secrets hidden in the orphanage.

(L-R): Nell Tiger Free as Margaret and Nicole Sorace as Carlita in 20th Century Studios’ THE FIRST OMEN. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

What Stevenson does well in setting up her world is that she takes the time for us to really get to know Margaret and how she feels about the world around her. While she is laying down the groundwork for the story, she finds the most horrifying means of showing us that the devil is just at the periphery and that for all its religious adornments, there is such a close link between good and evil. One cannot believe in God without believing in the devil and Stevenson wonderfully intersects all the religious paraphernalia and rituals within the film and subverts it and turns it into something insidious and scary.

Nell Tiger Free as Margaret in 20th Century Studios’ THE FIRST OMEN. Photo credit: Moris Puccio/20th Century Studios. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

There are the usual tricks – using darkness and the silhouette of a nun’s habit hanging on the wall to create a scary moment or bring about a moment of tension – but it is in the way that Stevenson creates a narrative that allows Margaret to question what it is that she is seeing (a story point that is related to her own past) and the way that it twists and turns in her mind and how we are able to see it on screen.

The scariest things in ‘The First Omen’ are the things that the characters are imagining and seeing – a demonic hand coming out of a human body at the most inopportune moment is one of the most striking horrific images of the film – as the darkness and the evil of the conspiracy is closing in on Margaret.

Nell Tiger Free as Margaret in 20th Century Studios’ THE FIRST OMEN. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

And it is here that the film finds its strongest piece because Nell Tiger Free manages to keep it all together and give us a person we are interested in and invested in. She brings a certain everyman quality to Margaret that brings us to her side but when the film hits its third act and the film makes physical demands from her performance, she is way more than capable of delivering a fully fleshed out performance. As the conspiracy reaches full swing and she is caught into it, there’s a scene that is both physical and transformative and she does an excellent job at physicalizing it.

The first hour and a half of ‘The First Omen’ is actually terrific horror. It only loses its strength when it shifts from indie horror to a mainstream narrative where the main character must find a way to “defeat the beast.” It is a narrative trap that is often used by Hollywood to keep the protagonist active but in the face of what they are having to contend with in this story, it makes no sense for them to be so gung-ho. It becomes prosaic and loses its magic by the third act. Its finale undermines the first two acts that have so carefully created this world of horror amidst the backdrop of faith and revolution.

My Rating:

The First Omen is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

April 10, 2024
REVIEW: The show is on in Solaire; ‘Miss Saigon’ comes at full force in the new touring cast production

The last time I saw ‘Miss Saigon’ was at the CCP sometime in the early 2000s when Lea Salonga had just returned from a triumphant run both in Broadway and the West End and won the Laurence Olivier award in London and the Tony in New York. She performed alongside Leo Valdez (as the Engineer), and it was the first time (as I recall) that the revolving stage was constructed and used in the CCP Main Theater.

Ever since, the music of ‘Miss Saigon’ by Claude-Michel Schonberg has always been anthemic. The songs (with lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr and Alan Boublil) are catchy. They have a gorgeous melody that really flows from song to song. It’s also a spectacle, demanding that the stage transform into a seedy, girly bar in Vietnam, and then later on to transform into the gates of the American embassy in Saigon where a helicopter takes away the soldiers as they flee the war – it’s an iconic moment in the play and grand spectacle that makes the play truly unforgettable.

Miss Saigon AU – Abigail Adriano | Photo by Daniel Boud

This would be my first time to revisit the musical since I saw it almost 25 years ago and time has changed both the play and me, as I’m watching it with more grown-up, more world-weary eyes.

This new 2024 touring cast production, first and foremost, with the orchestrations of William David Brohn really sell how gorgeous Schonberg’s compositions are. They are stirring and with the live orchestra just hitting every note wonderfully, showcases the great hooks of ‘Miss Saigon.’ On the other hand, the direction by Laurence Conner (with musical staging by Bob Avian and Asian tour production is directed by Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy) leaves no space for subtlety. Everything is big and loud and frenetic. There seems to even be a direction that every should sing big and loud and at the strongest volume. The performances, at times, can feel more like they are singing for a concert rather than a play. This overall feel has advantages and disadvantages depending on the number or the character.

Miss Saigon AU – Abigail Adriano & Nigel Huckle | Photo by Daniel Boud

The popular love duet ‘Sun and Moon’ has an unnecessary tension because the direction has both Kim (Abigail Adriano) and Chris (Nigel Huckle), the star struck lovers who have spent a night together, wrapped in each other’s arms by the stairs of their little room. It is intimate and personal, but they are singing so loudly at each other when, visually, they are right in front of each other. The moment is transformed from one of tender recognition of each other as a place of safety into a concert-level performance. Singing loudly here, would have benefitted from being on the opposite ends of stage and filling that gap with their voices. Huddled so closely demanded a softer delivery of the popular song.

Miss Saigon AU – Photo by Daniel Boud

But while this direction distorts a lot of songs like ‘Sun and Moon,’ it does great wonders for Seann Miley Moore, who plays the Engineer. A lot of his songs are flashy and showy and this big, non-nuanced direction allows him to treat each of his songs – “If You Want to Die in Bed,” “What a Waste,” and “The American Dream” – as big showstopping numbers. He gets to infuse each number with so much verve and personality (of which Moore has a lot of) that he easily steals this entire production. It’s great to see such a dynamic performance of The Engineer.

Moore’s Engineer is coy and flirty and then he’d burst into an act of cruelty out of the blue. It keeps his Engineer so unpredictable that he adds his own danger to the role that truly makes it take center stage. You’re always waiting to see what he will do next.

Kiara Dario, who plays Gigi, is the only one I noticed who was able to find a space between the loud, extravagant performance and the drama of her character as she sings ‘The Movie in My Mind.’ Her solo is full of heartbreak that feels both authentic and powerful at the same time.

Photo by Andrew Beveridge

To match all that on-stage energy, the stagecraft of the whole production is a well-executed dance of moving sets, projections, and lighting. The stage design by Totie Driver and Matt Kinley is dynamic and mercurial, turning in one moment into the seedy girly bar Dreamland and then, in less than 5 seconds, becomes a bustling street in Saigon, and then in another moment turns into the gates of the American Embassy in Vietnam for the famous helicopter scene. Despite the size of it all, Driver and Kinley keep everything busy, cluttered, claustrophobic that gives the feeling that the collision of these diverse worlds – the US and the Vietnamese – was inevitable in this situation and forced upon by these circumstances. Everyone here is just a victim. The lighting design of Bruno Poet never fully illuminates the stage, turning everything into a spotlight that matches with the performative direction of the cast. It’s dark at the fringes, it is always about to be covered in darkness and highlights the plays refusal to ever just be a love story. This is a war story, and you can tell from the lighting.

Photo by Daniel Boud

I don’t know if it’s my age or my own experiences but watching this version of ‘Miss Saigon,’ I do not see any sort of American propaganda in the subtext of this story. There’s no whitewashing in this production of the fact that America’s presence in Saigon at this time was both unwelcomed and unwarranted. The way by which the Engineer sings about America highlights America’s capitalist tendencies and manages to not paint it in the good light; and when the suffering that is left behind by the Americans come to the fore – like in the way that Kim’s life is turned upside down by Chris’ affections – it becomes really ironic when Huckle, as Chris, sings out “I’m an American how can I fail to do good?” The irony falls hard when the play, in this version, shows Chris to be either ignorant or oblivious to the hurt the has caused.

Photo by Daniel Boud

It’s a very different from the play that I saw in the early 2000s that had a more heroic positioning of America and I appreciate it a lot more for it. This production does not treat the Americans as heroes, nor does it treat Thuy (Laurence Mossman) and the communist party as the bad guys – they are just agents in a war that is happening in Vietnam (of which the Americans had inserted themselves in).

Photo by Daniel Boud

Miss Saigon AU – Laurence Mossman | Photo by Daniel Boud

I was looking for a fight, coming into this show but instead was once again charmed and wowed by the sheer spectacle of the material and the timelessness of the music of the play. Adriano, Huckle, Moore, Dario, and the rest of the cast are such great singers and really pull out all the stops to make ‘Miss Saigon’ the theater event that it is. It was not meant to be subtle and that may not be such a bad thing.

My Rating:

Miss Saigon is currently running at The Theatre at Solaire until May 12. Tickets are available exclusively through TicketWorld.

April 8, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: Big Laughs, Bigger Heart: a review of the Chinese blockbuster film ‘YOLO’

The first thirty minutes of ‘YOLO’ was a little difficult to jump into – the first act takes its time to establish the world of its main character Leying (performed by Jia Ling, who is also the director and co-writer of the movie), an overweight bum, who lives with her parents and does not have a job. In the first half-hour, the film is filled with jokes and jabs that are meant to shame Leying for being overweight and lazy, oftentimes bordering on jokes that are insensitive and in the general area of fat-shaming. She gets into a fight with her sister while also discovering her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend. While some jokes are funny – the ones not centering around her weight or laziness – it’s mostly a difficult first half hour to stomach.

When Leying finally leaves home, sets out on her own, to get a job and distance herself from her family and friends who have treated her with so much disdain does the film find its footing and begins to soar. Lying meets up with a boxing coach just across her place of work and a series of hilarious mishaps puts them together and she finds herself motivated to get her life in order. The remaining three-fourths of the film is a hilarious, inspiring story about a woman taking charge of her life having felt like a loser for the past decade.

‘YOLO’ is Jia Ling’s sophomore directorial effort after the popular and successful debut outing ‘Hi, Mom.’ In preparation for this film, Jia Ling gained 20 kilograms to play Leying and then lost just so much more in the film. The film took over a year to shoot because it included Leying’s incredible transformation in setting her life straight. If all stories are centered around a change, this is the most cinematic of changes that happens in ‘YOLO’ because it does not involve any sort of camera tricks or special effects. It’s all practical real-world transformation that goes in step with the film’s story beats for its full effect.

Jia Ling’s directing is quite sophisticated and underscores her training as a comedian. She knows how to set up the camera and edit to maximize the comedy. There’s a subversive way that she uses the conventions of the romantic comedy to land a punchline and really set up the story that really pushes Leying to the wall and force her to make the necessary changes that would improve her life. There’s an excellent use of music, of mise-en-scene, and an unpredictable way the narrative shifts and turns that keeps ‘YOLO’ from being run-of-the-mill or predictable.

At its core, the film is an underdog story that takes its time to really amplify Leying’s lot in life. It never takes the time to underscore how she got into the rut in the first place. It’s not the point of the film. It does not judge her for it. What the film is interested in are the factors that motivated her to make the change. Despite its brutal first thirty-minutes, the last hour and a half really turns around, much like Leying, and delivers the comedy while creating an emotional investment with the character and then allowing it to reach a satisfying ending that feels earned and offers some catharsis.

Jia Ling is captivating as Leying. She is unafraid to make her so bereft of charm at the beginning of the film but manages to pull it out mid-movie as she plays off the equally wonderful Lei Jiayin, who plays her boxing coach Hao Kun. The way they play off each other as a very unsuspecting rom-com couple is used for all its comedic magic and it works very well in establishing the film’s rather triumphant second act. But the way by which the film keeps shifting and turning and moving to unexpected places is what keeps ‘YOLO’ from being what you would think it is. This is what makes Jia Ling so exciting. This is her sophomore directorial effort and she already is exercising such precision and control of her craft. I’m very much excited to see what else she sets out to do. There’s no question as to why ‘YOLO’ is the biggest blockbuster film in China for this year. It has all the laughs but still manages to present a tender heart beneath all that comedy.

My Rating:

YOLO opens in PH cinemas April 17 with sneak previews on April 8 and 9. Check screening times and buy tickets in advance here.

April 5, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’ is way over the top and we like it that way

The first twenty minutes of ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire‘ was a struggle for me. The movie – set later in the future after the events of ‘Godzilla versus Kong’ and explores the lore that was established by the Apple TV series ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ – departs from the previously established characteristics of both monsters and works to humanize King Kong even further. He is now living in the Hallow Earth but will go back to our world as he is suffering from something as mundane as an infected tooth. This large-scale sequence of King Kong having his tooth removed by the humans is big, outrageous, and so silly that it was jarring for me at the start. This was all necessary set up to let us know the full shift in tone of this film.

Once I was able to finally align myself with the movie did I start to enjoy how unserious it was about everything. This iteration of the world manages to create futuristic technology despite having huge monsters destroy cities in mere minutes. Monster attacks are commonplace, and Godzilla always comes to fight them. But the world is in shambles, but it also isn’t? Okay. All the power and majesty that both King Kong and Godzilla possessed in previous films have all gone as the humanization of them has just turned them into loveable spectacles of power. When they fight, it gets crazy enough that there are some wrestling moves that get sneaked in and they come from the weirdest characters to boot. When one monsters manages to do a suplex, it’s so left of center that the whole cinema I was watching in went insane (and so did I) and I just knew that I had to throw everything out the window. This movie, directed by Adam Wingard and written by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater, were going for the spills and thrills.

After all, after the first two movies and we were faced with Mechagodzilla, where else can you go? How serious can you get?

So all the human stuff – played by Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Bryan Tyree Henry, and Kaylee Hottle – is just context to help us understand why the big fight scenes are coming. They attempt to create a mother-daughter story between Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews and Hottle’s Jia, the last survivor of the Iwi tribe of Skull Island, but it never really flies because it has no real connection between the upcoming battle between King Kong and the film’s main antagonist, Skar King.

To heighten the film’s over-the-top nature, the fight scenes between King Kong and Skar King almost look like clips of a Tekken match. It’s fast paced and brutal. It’s acrobatic. They use sophisticated weapons. And there’s one scene that manages to defy gravity (literally) and on the big screen, it’s a blast.

In a way, all the human stuff is dispensable. It’s just needed for us to be able to follow through with the story, to have people explain things out loud what we are seeing – thankfully, King Kong, Godzilla, Skar King, and a younger ape don’t talk because that would be too much – so that we can properly contextualize all the big fight scenes that we’re waiting for and so that we can see how King Kong ends up with a mechanical arm (as seen on the trailer).

The fight scenes are cinematic. They are loud and big and brutal. It’s bloody and gruesome and it’s what you come to the cinema to see. It leans into the silliness of the exercise so that it can utilize all possibilities for large-scale monster fighting that we have come to expect in a movie like this.

After all, we’ve seen Godzilla fight monsters on different cities already in the first installments and we’ve even seen Godzilla and King Kong duke it out against each other and then Mechagodzilla in the last one. Where else can they go? They went silly and we are all the happier for it.

My Rating:

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

April 2, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ is a feel-good film that doesn’t stray too far from the formula

I knew nothing of the 2017 hit film ‘Wonder’ or the graphic novel of the same name that it was based on, so I was coming into the sequel/prequel ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ with a clean slate. I didn’t know the context as to why the Julian (Bryce Gheisar, who reprises his role from the first movie) has moved to a new school due to, what we later find out, is an incident of bullying from his previous one. To my surprise, they never expounded on Julian’s past. Apparently, that was done in ‘Wonder.’ For ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story,’ the story revolves around Julian’s grandmother (Helen Mirren), an artist from Paris, who has come to New York as a gallery is giving her a retrospective exhibit. She takes the time to bond with her grandson and shares her story with him, to help him understand what he did that was so wrong.

The grandmother’s story is one set in World War II, a young Sara (Ariella Glasser) witnesses her town slowly change as the Nazi presence gets stronger and stronger within her peaceful, picturesque town in the French countryside. When the Nazis come in full force and try to roundup all the Jews, her teacher and principal try to help her, and the other Jewish kids escape. The boy she likes, Vincent (Jem Matthews) gives them up and while all the other kids are taken, she manages to escape and with the help of the school outcast, the polio-stricken Julien (Orlando Schwerdt), she manages to flee and hide in his barn with the help of Julien’s parents.

As the Nazi occupation in France tightens, Sara’s world becomes extremely small. Her whole life revolves around the empty barn and the regular visits from Julien, who has become her lifeline. To pass the time, Julien shares his schoolwork with her, and they both engage in make-believe games that opens up both their worlds in fantastic ways that cinema can exploit so wonderfully through special effects, camerawork, and great acting.

Gillian Anderson as Vivienne and Ariella Glaser as Sara in White Bird: A Wonder Story. Photo Credit: Larry Horricks

‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ benefits from strong performances by its young cast. Glasser and Schwerdt are the grounding force that keeps the film charming and engaging. The way their friendship blossoms into love was portrayed with youthful innocence amidst the tension-filled backdrop of Nazi-occupied France. Mirren is always a solid performer, bringing charm to an otherwise standard characterization of the French artist-grandmother figure. Despite the role being that of a narrator to the main story told in flashback, there are hints of a loving, concerned grandmother in the way she relates to Gheisar that adds a little something to the mix. Gillian Anderson doesn’t get to do much as Julien’s mother other than the standard fare of a film of this tone and subject matter.

Gillian Anderson as Vivienne and Ariella Glaser as Sara in White Bird: A Wonder Story. Photo Credit: Larry Horricks

There’s a timeliness to the story about the kindness that bloomed in the face of the Nazi fascist regime. The way people went out of their way to help the Jews during this time of brutal persecution. I can see how the story relates to Julian’s own story from ‘Wonder,’ which I only read about after seeing ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ but the way it echoes the current global climate regarding the destruction of Palestinian lives and way of life does not go unnoticed. The film is a straight-up, standard feel-good film that director Marc Foster has quite some success in with films like ‘Finding Neverland’ and ‘A Man Called Otto.’ He manages to take these almost formulaic plot lines and mines them for all its cinematic potential and delivers a film that can be quite predictable but still hits the right buttons.

Orlando Schwerdt as Julien and Ariella Glaser as Sara in White Bird: A Wonder Story. Photo Credit: Larry Horricks

Orlando Schwerdt as Julien and Ariella Glaser as Sara in White Bird: A Wonder Story. Photo Credit: Larry Horricks

This is not a subtle movie with its cheesy lines about kindness and how light can conquer the darkness. It even ends with Mirren’s grandmother character making a speech at the exhibition of her retrospective that allows her to underscore the core message of the film just in case anyone may have missed it. The timing of this film’s released is suspect but for anyone looking for something hopeful, something magical to watch during these dark times, ‘White Bird: A Wonder Story’ is offering itself fully to the audience to address this lack.

My Rating:

White Bird: A Wonder Story is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

March 26, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Exhuma’ is an intelligent well-crafted horror film steeped in Korean culture and history

As horror films go, Jang Jae-hyun’s ‘Exhuma’ takes a different approach to frightening its audience. At a 134 minutes, director and screenwriter Jang Jae-hyun takes his time to unravel his rather simple story of an exorcism gone horribly wrong. He presents his characters – the charming and very competent young shamans Hwa-rim (Kim Go Eun) and Bong-gil (Lee Do Hyun) – as confident, maybe even cocky, as they take a case involving a rich Korean-American client living in Los Angeles, whose baby seems haunted by an evil spirit. In their initial inspection, they discover that the haunting spirit is an old one, one that is passed from generation to generation and that the ancestral spirit may be back in Korea. This powerful spirit, one they call ‘A Grave’s Call,’ requires a bigger team and they employ a veteran geomancer, Sang-duk (Choi Min-sik) and his partner Yeong Geun (Yoo Hae Jin) to join the ritual. It’s only when the four spiritualists arrive at an unmarked grave atop a deserted mountain that they realize this is far more sinister and evil than they could have imagined.

This whole set up takes over half an hour to put things in motion. What makes it so riveting and fascinating to watch is the way that tension and dread pervades each scene without spilling out into cheesy cheap scares. Director Jang allows his characters – Hwa-rim and company – to be so serious about the work and yet calm and casual outside of it. It shows off their familiarity with each other and uses their relationship dynamics to establish them as human beings that we come to like as an audience. We know something bad is coming and now, 40 minutes into the movie, we like these characters a lot that we don’t want anything bad to happen to them.

Without any huge frightening scenes, director Jang builds the tension using very detailed, very precise dramatization of the shamanistic rituals for cleansing spirits and for exhuming the buried dead to transfer to more auspicious grave sites. Those familiar with these rituals from watching Kdrama will know there’s a lot of music, chanting, and dancing and the film isn’t shy of showing the whole process and captures it for its full cinematic appeal. Kim Go Eun and Lee Do Hyun are exquisite and all they are doing is dancing or dancing with knives (Kim) or drumming and chanting (Lee) but they do it with such conviction and the camera work, quick editing, and exquisite sound designs turns each into such a spectacle that you are overwhelmed by the severity of the rite. It underscores the seriousness of the undertaking. Without showing a single scary image, the ritual alone in full display is enough to create this feeling of dread and fear. Somehow it manages to impress upon you that “damn, I hope it works” and you are actually more attuned to the outcome of all of this.

And when things go south, it takes an unexpected turn. Past the one-hour mark, you realise the story is much deeper, much richer in its exploration of South Korea’s history. This is not just some simple exorcism movie. It’s about past trauma that has yet to be resolved.

It is in the simplicity and the straightforward execution of the narrative that makes ‘Exhuma’ such a joy to watch. It is frightening but it does not rely on jump scares for it. It does so by creating set ups, allowing us to recognize the danger and see it unfold within the story. It does not try to surprise us. Instead, it allows us to follow it as it compounds and compounds.

Unfortunately, the final act feels drawn out and over-extended. Everything leading up to it is so strong, so exciting. When the grand finale happens, there’s a lot of unnecessary talking, actions are repeated, and the pacing suffers immensely. It could have been fast and quick but Jang Jae-hyun is having too much fun with his elements all coming together. But the final image still makes it landing and does not undermine all the fantastic work that set everything up.

‘Exhuma’ is an intelligent horror film that takes its time to build its horror and dresses it up in the full effects of Korean shamanism. It’s culturally and historically rich and steeped in its folklore. The cast, especially Kim Go Eun, is terrific and it can be surprising in its narrative turns.

My Rating:

Exhuma premieres this March 20. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

March 16, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: The unreality of ‘A Glimpse of Forever’

There is an in-your-face manner by which prolific director and screenwriter Jason Paul Laxamana uses his filmmaking in his latest movie, ‘A Glimpse of Forever,’ so that he can talk about mental health, most specifically social anxiety disorder. It’s a style that comes off very literal, very straight-forward, and very unlike Laxamana’s older works. His past films like ‘Between Maybes,’ ‘To Love Some Buddy,’ or ‘The Day After Valentine’s’ tackled trendy subject matters but did them in an organic manner with a fully fleshed-out world and a solid dramatic premise. The thought that Laxamana would be directing his lens towards the concept of virtual dating and the prospect of dual lives in ‘A Glimpse of Forever’ is quite intriguing but the first ten minutes of the film, things just don’t feel like one of Laxamana’s stronger works.

https://youtu.be/oHFG7YE3jLI?si=HXgBcnUazr51TbVN

It opens in a very bare, brick themed office. Charles (TJ Valderrama) is asking his boss played by Andrea Del Rosario to let his friend Dante (Jerome Ponce) to take his place in the virtual dating company, ForeVR. So as to not be undermanned, Charles offers Dante, a trained theater actor, who unfortunately suffers from a severe case of social anxiety disorder. He has to cover his face (with a mask, and maybe a cap or a beanie) if he tries to socialize with others. But, at ForeVR, Dante would be working as a motion capture actor, acting alone in a green screen room, bringing to life virtual characters on a live “date” with their clients. It would be a perfect job for someone suffering from his condition.

What makes all this feel so inorganic and so unlike Laxamana’s stronger works in his filmography is how blatant the exposition is in this movie. The film begins in medias res and just as Charles mentions that Dante has a mental condition, Dante walks in and it’s in slow motion and the music becomes dramatic and it feels a little heavy-handed because nothing has happened yet. This happens a lot in the movie. The camera work gets dramatic as does the music for scenes that haven’t quite earned it just yet.

Dante proves himself to be great at playing any of the four characters that ForeVR offers their clientele – a bad boy, a classy and rich gentleman, a salt-of-the-earth laborer, and a bikini-wearing gigolo – and he slowly becomes a threat to the other motion capture actors already at the company. All of this unfolds in a straight-forward manner where all the ins-and-outs of the process is explained in an elementary manner. Immediately, you can see the subplot of Dante’s new co-worker’s jealousy comes to play and that – for someone who has no social capacity due to his condition – he seems to have a complete understanding of what women want.

And this is where the film is at its weakest. A quick montage shows the four characters in action, and the effect that it has on its clients. There’s no profound thought or understanding of what it seems that women want by this whole exercise. They come to a room to have a virtual date with a man that addresses archetypal, cliched ideas of what women want from men.

It’s not until twenty minutes have passed when Jasmine Curtis-Smith walks in (again with the slow motion and dramatic music) and breaks all the rules to book a virtual date with a character that is not on the menu: the boy next door called Kokoy (Diego Loyzaga).

Strangely enough, the staff assign Dante to take the role of Kokoy. None of the current roster can seem to get Kokoy right but in one try, Dante seems to have it down pat. So, even if it’s not on the menu, they allow Jasmine’s Glenda to book the date and the real story begins.

Glenda and Dante (as Kokoy) go through their first date, and it is hostile and violent. Glenda treats Kokoy mean but Dante handles it without missing a beat. He understands the boy next door as someone the client has known for a long time, there’s no pretension here so his approach to the character is not to baby her or flatter. Glenda gets so mad she storms off not finishing the session. Dante is about to lose his job except Glenda gives him the highest rating possible and a huge tip. And then she comes again.

Image Source: Viva Films FB Page

What’s strange is that the film’s idea of a boy-next-door seems to be that of a slob (his room is a mess) and he seems to be a lazy slacker. What makes it work is that Diego Loyzaga plays him with such natural charm that I haven’t seen in any of his previous works that I’ve seen. As Kokoy, Loyzaga is attentive and oozes with natural charm. The way he confronts Jasmine Curtis-Smith’s hostility as Glenda creates very interesting sparks.

So interesting that Dante begins to fall for her. But Glenda is another curiosity as well. When the camera moves in to show her side of life, we can see that she’s in an unhappy marriage but she’s extremely wealthy (someone says she’s the daughter of an extremely wealthy family) but she sells tie-dyed t-shirts in an open store in a plaza. There’s a sort of disconnect by the world that she supposedly comes from and how it operates.

While the story tries to play out a love story/love triangle narrative complicated by the idea of fake and surrogate identities, as the story rounds up towards the third act, it reveals itself to really be a story about dealing with and trying to overcome extreme mental disorders – the social anxiety disorder of Dante and that of another character that plays off of Dante’s own struggles – it’s a bait and switch that doesn’t exactly transition well. Unlike Laxamana’s other works, ‘A Glimpse of Forever’ has no clever storytelling style that allows the story to play out organically. For Dante, his struggle is mediated by scenes with a psychiatrist (played by Katya Santos) that is so literal and prosaic that it feels like a public service announcement or a product placement.

And unlike his other movies, ‘A Glimpse of Forever’ has quite a number of one-dimensional characters. Even the leads can be quite monotone except that Ponce and Curtis-Smith are good enough to add a layer of humanity underneath them. Loyzaga is also quite strong but as Kokoy, for he plays another character (they try to keep it secret but it’s so obvious on its first appearance because Loyzaga’s physique is so evident) and that one he seems to struggle with.

There’s a way by which Laxamana trains his camera on all the dramatic moments of suffering from the condition. It’s effects and how it makes the characters suffer because of it is front-and-center and feels exploitative. Everything feels directed towards the struggles and not towards building a believable world where all these things come into collision – why women go into virtual dates, how people with these conditions live (we don’t see them in everyday normal situations, we only see them struggling with their disorder as if nothing else happens but that), or how the economics of a company like ForeVR exists. It’s an intriguing premise and it has all the elements needed to make it work. Unfortunately, ‘A Glimpse of Forever’ comes off as fantastical and as unrealistic as the virtual dates that was at the center at the start of the film and kind of disappeared by the second act.

My Rating:

A Glimpse of Forever is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

March 8, 2024
REVIEW: Repertory Philippines’ ‘Betrayal’ puts you in a vise of repressed emotions

I have heard a lot about the playwright Harold Pinter but never actually got to read or see any of his plays produced until now. Repertory Philippines through New York and London-based director Victor Lirio has brought Pinter’s classic 1978 play ‘Betrayal’ to the Carlos P Romulo Theater at the RCBC. A three-hander, the roughly 90-minute production is a story of an affair unraveling backwards through time. It has all the qualities that have come to define what a Pinter play is: characters in enclosed spaces, the barest minimum of plot, and dialogue that is meant to highlight the changing power dynamics between the characters as they struggle to pick each other apart as they try to derive a semblance of truth.

What makes this production more appealing is that Lirio has decided to bring in three British Filipino actors – Vanessa White, James Bradwell, and James Cooney (with Jeff Flores and Regina De Vera as understudies) – and to approach the production through a British-Filipino lens. During the talkback after the opening night, Lirio says that not a single line of dialogue was touched or changed. The essence of the play that Pinter originally wrote in 1978 is intact, the only difference is that it centers now on the character of Emma and that the emotional core of the performances are tied to the actor’s understanding of the British-Filipino experience.

‘Betrayal’ is the story of an affair that happens between Emma (White) and Jerry (Cooney), the best friend of Emma’s husband Robert (Bradwell). The affair lasted seven years and as the play opens, Emma reveals to Jerry that her marriage to Robert is ending, despite the fact that affair had ended two years prior. She tells him Robert has just discovered “last night” about Emma and Jerry’s affair while revealing his own infidelity and this leads Jerry to meet with Robert. In their scene together, Jerry discovers that Robert has known for four years now and that Emma had told him back then, and now Jerry is left to wonder why Emma would “betray him” like that.

REP Philippines’ Betrayal features a cast of London-based Filipino actors

The play that moves backwards in time, to key moments that reveal the many lies that were told to maintain such a long-standing affair and the layers of deception that were at work as who knew what at what point in time starts to show the utter complexities of human relationships and dynamics.

There is a straightforwardness to Pinter’s dialogue. Surprisingly, Lirio makes a decision to remove all displays of histrionics and fiery tempers from this production. At its highest emotional points, Jerry (James Cooney) raises his voice twice while Bradwell’s Robert has a drunken moment where he almost reveals his inner thoughts and feelings. These were the most gregarious displays of emotions that the show is able to muster for the audience. It keeps things restrained, all emotions held back and kept in, and fills the show with an aura and atmosphere of repression and imprisonment.

REP Philippines’ Betrayal leads with critically acclaimed actor and theater director Victor Lirio

Lirio and the cast discussed that the British-Filipino perspective that came into the approach of this play and its characters meant that they had to draw from the attitudes of dignity and pride. Being of Asian descent meant the pressures to fit in so strongly and since the threat of racism hangs over these characters’ heads, it was important for them to be better, to be dignified at all times. It’s why there is much in the direction that everything is measured out in such small doses. And nothing is ever revealed.

It is an interesting perspective that has a double-edged effect for the audience. On one hand, there were many that enjoyed the more dignified presentation of people who are coming to terms with an affair. It is so far removed from the Filipino experience of loud, passionate displays of hurt pride and grief and loss. On the other hand, it can also keep the play from reaching any real point of catharsis. It’s a mental game rather than an emotional one, and one can leave the theater feeling very cold.

Bradwell and Cooney manage to thrive in this environment. Both actors manage to humanize their characters underneath Pinter’s measured dialogue and Lirio’s restrained direction. As they try to keep all the rage and anger and confusion inside, what they are able to telegraph from their posture, the shift of pitch and tone of their voice as they deliver the lines, betray the thoughts that are simmering inside them (pun intended). The weight of the lies play out so evidently in Bradwell’s gait and posture. Cooney, on the other hand, gains and loses his character’s sense of confidence and self-depending on the scene. Unfortunately, White seems unable to push Emma’s interiority out for us to chew on. She is so restrained, so repressed that nothing escapes. Her delivery and movements are so mannered, so precise that it looks rehearsed, bordering on the inauthentic.

I am so glad to have finally seen a Pinter play. ‘Betrayal’ is such a cerebral endeavor. It’s hard-hitting and doesn’t pull back any punches. Its non-linear narrative structure demands your full attention. The structure points to an inevitability that can be read as cynical and it can make you question the ways by which we interact with the people around us and, most importantly, the way we see ourselves. Rep’s production is different, maybe refreshing, definitely daring but not without its disadvantages. There’s no catharsis here. No release from the pent-up emotions. It’s a study on repression and it entraps its audience in its vise.

My Rating:

BETRAYAL is currently running at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza until March 17. For tickets, please contact REP Philippines at 0966-905-4013.

March 8, 2024
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ stands on its own and opens new possibilities for future sequels

Funnily enough, I have a soft spot for both ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda 2.’ I am a fan of Jack Black and his humor and I’m a sucker for the world of kung fu and martial arts. I’ve come to appreciate the characters from both films so it’s so funny to me that I remember watching ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ but as I was stepping into the cinema to watch the latest installment, I could not for the life of me remember a single detail of ‘Kung Fu Panda 3.’ I don’t remember the villain. I don’t remember any fight scenes. I just know that Po (voiced by Jack Black) meets up with his family.

Luckily, I didn’t need to see the third movie to understand the fourth. Po is still the Dragon Warrior and he has not lost any of his fighting skills, his humor, his down-to-earth character, nor his appetite. He now has two dads – Mr. Ping, his adoptive goose father (James Hong), and Li Shan, his biological father (Bryan Cranston) – while Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) is still frustrated with him despite not questioning or diminishing Po’s stature and position. It’s a welcome dynamic that is familiar and yet honest. There is growth in Po and he has risen to the task of becoming the Dragon Warrior.

Po (Jack Black) in DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4, directed by Mike Mitchell.

But as ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ opens, we discover that he must now find a suitable successor to the role while stepping up as a spiritual leader for the Valley of Peace. This is a role Po does not feel ready for, especially since he loves being the Dragon Warrior. He’s not ready for change and this becomes the central theme of this movie.

(Center) Chameleon (Viola Davis) in Kung Fu Panda 4 directed by Mike Mitchell.

Ironically, the villain that comes to threaten peace and order is The Chameleon (voiced by the formidable Viola Davis). A sorceress with the ability to shape-shift, The Chameleon has climbed up the ranks to become a powerful criminal force and seeks to rule and plunder with an iron hand. Po must venture out of the Valley of Peace to the city where The Chameleon has her stronghold to stop her. Leading him to the fortress is a fox called Zhen (voiced by Awkwafina). Zhen is a petty thief and is the type to get under your skin and push buttons. Zhen constantly questions Po’s intentions and moral center and effectively becomes a foil for Po. Both are orphans and yet Po turned out moral because he was adopted by Mr. Ping while Zhen grew up amoral because she was raised in the streets and had to fend for herself.

(from left) Po (Jack Black) and Zhen (Awkwafina) in Kung Fu Panda 4 directed by Mike Mitchell.

As the story unfolds, it’s very clear what is transpiring in the film. Narratively, it’s pretty predictable if you’ve seen enough fantasy and adventure stories. The twists and turns are nothing new. There’s a lot of physical and visual comedy, though, and some rambunctious fight scenes spread out through the film to keep it enjoyable and fast-paced.

There’s a really funny fight scene in a bar situated precariously at the edge of a cliff. The physical comedy on this fight alone is quite entertaining. The banter between Black and Awkwafina as Po and Zhen can get dry and overdrawn sometimes, but there’s a purpose to it as the film slowly sets up its pieces to create dynamics that are reminiscent to the first film. You can see the set-up miles away but there’s an earnestness and sincerity that carries it through.

(from left) The Chameleon (Viola Davis), (right) Tai Lung (Ian McShane) in Kung Fu Panda 4 directed by Mike Mitchell.

Interestingly enough, when Po and The Chameleon finally face off, we discover another layer of comparisons that are made – this time between the hero and the villain – and the theme of change and growth are finally fully realized. Like Zhen, Po and the Chameleon also have similar backgrounds and we see how the two are the opposite sides of the same coin.

Three bunnies in DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4, directed by Mike Mitchell.

Po (Jack Black) in Kung Fu Panda 4 directed by Mike Mitchell.

There are some very interesting new developments in the story and in the characters that it makes ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ not feel like a tired franchise trying to go for a quick cash grab. While there is a glimpse (the description is apt) of the Furious Five in the movie, their absence is really felt (they were in other missions). A lot of the jokes land, there are a good deal of fight scenes that are fun to watch, and the story is set to push the franchise to new possibilities (as the producers have said they can extend the characters and narratives by two more films, completing the whole set at six). It’s a solid release that can stand on its own – I don’t remember the third film at all, but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this one – though it isn’t a grand slam and reinvents the wheel.

My Rating:

Kung Fu Panda 4 is now showing. Check screening times and buy tickets here.

March 7, 2024