Author: Wanggo Gallaga

MOVIE REVIEW: Movies as Memoir: a review of ‘Aftersun’

Written and directed by Charlotte Wells, ‘Aftersun’ is her feature-length film debut and weaves a story that she calls “emotionally autobiographical.” She uses the language of film to recreate memories (while talking to other critics, it was mentioned that the film is not unlike Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ or even Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’). Told in a non-linear narrative structure and occupying two timelines and one figurative one, ‘Aftersun’ grapples with the strained relationship between a father, who may be suffering from depression, and his eleven-year-old daughter on a holiday in Turkey during the late 90s.

Told in varying formats, the film unfolds through moments of this pivotal holiday between Sophie and her father Calum and then interspersed with footage taken from a video camera that either Sophie or Calum uses to record parts of their trip. Later, we discover that Calum has separated from Sophie’s mother and is in-between jobs. There is a lot of love and affection between the two but there’s a chasm that’s between them as well – an unspeakable and unamiable thing that also hinders them from completely being there for each other.

While the movie seems innocent enough, there is always an element of danger hanging on every scene. While Sophie is well documented by the camera – she’s always in full view, her face and every gesture and reaction she makes is open for us to see – it is Calum who never seems to be in focus. He’s almost either turned away from the camera or is never at the center of the frame. It feels as if he’s always just at the periphery. He tries to be close to Sophie but also can’t completely connect. The camera will linger on Sophie but not so much with Calum.

The dangers come also in different forms. Sophie also befriends older English teens who are also vacationing in Turkey. She forms a friendship with another boy her age while playing arcade games, while from the teens, she watches them as they flirt with each other, drink, and talk about sex. Sophie is growing up and while there’s nothing in the filmmaking that highlights this danger – not the camera angles or the musical score – it is evident and always looming. Wells knows exactly what each scene could potentially lead to and she lays it out there, even if she doesn’t do anything with it. It’s always there inhabiting and permeating each moment of Sophie’s very observant nature, capturing and processing every thing she’s seeing.

So much so, that while she doesn’t exactly understand what her father is going through – this was the 90s, of course, so any discussion on mental health was veyr minimal and not at all prevalent amongst the younger generation – she sees it and this is another element of danger. From Calum’s inability to connect and bridge distances, in scenes where you feel like it is the last time you will see him, like in the way he walks into the darkness while getting drunk one night, or the way that he swims deeper into the ocean trying to rescue a diving mask. Charlotte Wells never says it, never names the monster, but deep down inside, just from the performances and the way naturalistic way Wells sets up a scene, it’s there.

What elevates the material even more is the exquisite performances by Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio. The bond between the two actors is palpable and makes each moment seem more real. Their banter and their little fights throughout this trip makes the relationship authentic and true. It’s why the emotional weight of the finale is so strong even if Wells chooses to never define anything so clearly.

When the film’s main timeline intersects with the future timeline, the older Sophie finding the video camera and you realise she’s remembering this holiday she had with her father, the story reaches full circles, and more questions open up that deserves our scrutiny and thoughts.

‘Aftersun’ is not an easy movie to take in. It’s every bit as funny and painful as any trip down memory lane. It carries with it unresolved feelings and unanswered questions. It’s about love sometimes not being enough and settles and lingers in the gray areas that are formed when dealing with people undergoing a hardship we don’t understand. The film makes full use of the medium of film and deservedly received some of the highest praise when it was released last year.

My Rating:

AFTERSUN is opens August 23. Check the screening times and buy your tickets here.

August 22, 2023
MOVIE REVIEW: Quiet, intimate, and deeply moving, ‘Past Lives’ is an exquisitely made film propelled by great performances

There’s something poetic and lyrical about the way ‘Past Lives’ unfolds as a film. Writer and director Celine Song shows off her theatrical background by weaving a story that is so elegantly paced and designed that it could almost be a play, but the first-time director uses the camera to really get into the intricacies of these characters’ feelings and inner worlds that pushes against its theatrical mode and into the realm of cinema. It’s a very delicate three-person story that spans for 24 years and teases upon hundreds of past lives before.

The narrative follows the basic three-act structure and does it with such precision. It shows us only exactly what we need, and it never dawdles. It’s a tight story at 106 minutes. We begin with Na Young and Hae Sung, two classmates living in Seoul. They are best friends who compete over who gets the highest grades in class but also confides with each other and play all the time. They are undeniably each other’s first love but when Na Young’s family immigrates to Canada, the two must say goodbye. Twelve years later, the two reconnect. Na Young, who has changed her name to Nora is now working towards being a writer while Hae Sung just finished military service and is back in school. They communicate online, adjusting to the time differences and the connection is as strong as ever (though the internet connection isn’t always so). Life happens and they have to go their separate ways again until another twelve years has passed and this time everything has changed. Nora is now married to Arthur (as shown in the trailer) and is living in New York but Hae Sung is finally coming to visit and all the loose ends of their relationship will be tugged to test its limits.

‘Past Lives’ thrives in the personal and intimate. It has no sweeping statements about love or the immigrant life, which is a strong factor that plays out in Nora’s relationships with these two men: the man she knew when she was living in another country and the man she is now married to in her new home. The dialogue can sometimes play out like a piece for theater except that the actors – Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro – throw them out with such ease that it is believable. Their delivery has so much spontaneity that it feels real, even if it is so eloquent and articulate.

Photo credit: Jon Pack

And while the film is really just moments of talking, director Celine Song is very aware of how to use space and the camera to place these characters in the midst of their milieu. Song is so confident as to just let a quiet scene unfold like when Nora arrives at a writer’s residency in Montauk, and she explores the empty house she’ll be writing in. The textures of the production design play off with the lighting, the music, and even Greta Lee’s presence. Nothing majors is happening and yet it’s so importantly contextually for where Nora is at that point of her life – when she is finding space away from Hae Sung and the arrival of Arthur into her life.

As a director, Celine Song ensures the camera captures all the magnificent work her actors are doing. As a writer, she gives them an amazing amount of thoughts to articulate that never quite says what they really want to say in the first two acts. Much like real life, these characters are saying something but are desperately wanting to say something else. The subtext hangs heavy in the air but you can see it in the way each actor physicalizes their character’s inner world. It’s only in the final act that things that need to be said are finally let loose and it happens in the most powerfully staged scene possible – Nora, Arthur, and Hae Sung are seated at a bar and the two childhood friends can be honest with each other in Korean while the American husband can only wonder – and then, the big finale of the film, its one that is done in absolute silence but the emotions hang heavy in the air and in the stellar portrayal of Greta Lee.

‘Past Lives’ is a quiet, intimate, and very personal film. But it’s the way by which Celine Song treats the material that makes it feel big and universal. Honestly? It’s the kind of movies that I miss seeing in the cinema. A quiet, unimposing film that manages to find breadth and grandness in the most private of desires and dreams of individuals. There is a poetic elegance to ‘Past Lives’ that is amplified by an incredible musical score Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen and by the impeccable acting of Greta Lee, John Magaro, and Teo Yoo. I’d love for the three to get nominations in every award-giving body with Celine Song getting a nod, at the very least for screenwriting.

My Rating:

PAST LIVES opens on August 30. Check the screening times and buy your tickets here!

August 19, 2023
MOVIE REVIEW: Fighting against superhero movie fatigue, ‘Blue Beetle’ manages to stay fresh and delightful

I’ll be honest and say that I’m a little tired of superhero movies. There’s one or two every other month, if not in the big screen, there’s one on a streaming site and just the huge amount of it has started to make them all look and feel and sound the same. Now, every studio is trying to push for the next insert-minority-here superhero and so when the trailer for ‘Blue Beetle’ came out, with a very Latino-centric trailer, it really looked and felt to be just another attempt to cash in on the superhero craze and progressive trend of minority representation.

I came into the theater preparing to be bored, maybe even hate it, but I found myself charmed by the movie at the end of it.

And this had everything to do with the charm of its lead actor, Xolo Mariduena, and the way the film never strays too far from its emotional core, which is that of the importance of family. It balances the humor and the fun with all the dramatic beats that are necessary to propel an origin story into something that is enjoyable to watch, even if it’s the nth origin story of yet another superhero in a cinematic landscape that has been overrun by superheroes in the past decade.

‘Blue Beetle’ is the story of Jaime Reyes, the first from his family to graduate from college. He returns to Palmera City to reunite with his family only to discover that his father isn’t healthy and they’ve lost their family business and their homes. In an effort to help out his family, he finds himself working as cleaner for the Kord family, owners of Kord Industries who are heavily invested in developing hi-tech weapons for the army. He bumps into Jenny Kord, who offers him a job after he is fired by Jenny’s aunt, Victoria, when he tries to stop her from threatening her niece. When he tries to cash in on her offer, she ends up handing him an alien artifact that merges with Jaime’s body and turns him into the Blue Beetle.

The first ten to fifteen minutes, we are introduced to Jaime and his very boisterous family that is filled with characters that have their own quirks and eccentricities. It properly sets up Jaime’s idealism, his values (which he gets from his family), the tight and close-knit nature of Latino families (which is very, very similar to Filipino families – so it feels just right), and it amplifies the marginilization of the Latinos from the rich, financial district of Palmera City. Jaime is of working-class origins while the world of the Kords is full of high-rises and neon hologram signages plastered on buildings.

When Jaime gains his powers, he’s against it. What is wonderful about his character is how much he doesn’t want it, exemplified by a very simple line halfway into the movie when he says, “I just wanted a job.” All the trouble he gets into is because Jenny Kord, without options, gave him the scarab to guard and the scarab, being a sentient entity of its own, chose Jaime to bond with.

For a good thirty or forty minutes, Jaime is learning how to use his powers and to differentiate himself and the alien entity known as Khaji-Da. But Victoria Kord wants it, and she threatens his family for it. And whether Jaime wants to be or not, he has to find it within himself to become a hero and save his family from a potential fascist.

What makes ‘Blue Beetle’ so enjoyable is that it sticks to the core values of its hero, and they are things that are very relatable. He’s not out there to save the world – even if his family, after they realise his potential, thinks he could/should – he only wants to keep his family safe. Through this, he bonds with Jenny, who doesn’t have the same close bonds with her family. Her aunt Victoria is ready to kill for the advancement of her company, and Jenny’s own father, Ted Kord, has disappeared and may have abandoned her.

While Jaime discovers how to properly use and work with Khaji-Da, we get some interesting superpowered fight sequences, but more importantly, we see such powerful imagery of Victoria’s plans of making a private security service that feels very fascistic and imperialist by imagery and ideology. No one outright says it, but it’s there for you to pick up on (and there’s a joke that comes out later that highlights the fact, by obliquely).

Add to that is the imagery in one pivotal scene where the security force herd Jaime’s family out of their house, it has all the visual marks of American discrimination against Latinos and Hispanics. With Susan Sarandon playing Victoria Kord, she’s the only white character in the whole movie (Jenny Kord is half Brazilian and is played by Bruna Marquezine) and the white imperialist imagery is completed (though never forcefully underlined except in a joke or two).

All the politics are evident and at play but never highlighted because at its very core is the story of Jaime Reyes, who finds himself with a power that he must decide how he will use moving forward. He has a family to protect but with it, comes a community as well. And interestingly enough, the film also puts that same family at the center of it all. When Jaime needs them, they come running and they have their own moment to shine.

While there’s a lot of things to enjoy, ‘Blue Beetle’ does suffer from a few things as well. There’s a love story that never full develops and feels forced by the end of the film. The seeds have been planted, it could have been something that can develop over the sequel but rushing it in this movie felt forced. Sometimes, the family feels too much like a comic relief that it can get cloying (but that’s just a personal observation).

Overall, ‘Blue Beetle’ is fresh and delightful and does not try to be over ambitious in setting up its character. It’s grounded by its emotional core and never strays too far from it no matter how much fun the film tries to have. Xolo Mariduena has a charm that can hold an audience’s attention but is also supported by a supporting cast who are all willing to pull their weight.Even after superhero movie fatigue is in effect, ‘Blue Beetle’ still manages to be refreshing and enjoyable and that’s no easy feat.

My Rating:

BLUE BEETLE is now showing nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

August 17, 2023
Movie Review: Easy to Enjoy, ‘The Moon’ Can Also Be a Rallying Cry

Director and screenwriter Kim Yong-hwa is no stranger to the big budget, special effects heavy narratives with a strong emotional core. He did ‘Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds’ and ‘Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days,’ which features both aspects of his strengths. He capitalizes on these qualities again on his latest film ‘The Moon’ with Do Kyung-soo (more famously known as D.O. of EXO), Sol Kyung Gu, and Kim Hee-Ae. Very reminiscent of similar trapped-in-space stories like ‘Gravity’ or ‘The Martian,’ Do Kyung-soo plays Hwang Sun-woo, a former Navy Seal turned astronaut, who is one of the three Korean men sent to the moon. When an incident leaves Hwang Sun-woo stranded and alone in space, the ground command of the Korean Space program must find a way to help him back to Earth.

While the film has its share of exciting thrills and spills – it features quite a number of amazing set ups involving meteor showers and exploding space crafts – it also has its fair share of touching emotional moments and some exciting suspense plot in terms of the inner workings of competing space programs.

While one can find a lot of fun with just the survival aspect of the movie alone; Kim Yong-hwa adds more to the plate by adding a dramatic layer for Do Kyung-soo’s character to chew on. Hwang Sun-woo has a personal tie to the mission and it informs on his drive to complete the mission despite everything going against him. The same with Sol Kyung Gu’s Jae Kook, who also has a personal relationship with the whole endeavour. After all, he was the first director the Korean space program where the astronauts who were sent to moon did not make it alive.

From these events comes a story that contextualizes the power that it gives any country that manages a successful space program. ‘The Moon’ manages to give us insight over a country’s determination to be considered at par with the superpowers around them. As Filipinos, we’ve already succumbed to the soft power of South Korea. We help sell-out their Kpop concerts and fan meets with their actors. We’ve helped push their media into the top 10 of any streaming site and we’ve become familiar with their food, some famous phrases, and such. The world is starting to see South Korea in a separate light but ‘The Moon’ helps us contextualize things that I’ve also seen in other Korean dramas and movies and read in some articles: that South Korea also has a form of colonial mentality of their own. Much like how a number of Kpop acts look to America for recognition (like The Grammy awards) or appearance in music festivals like Coachella or how the Academy Award win for ‘Parasite’ was such a big thing for them, there seems to be an underlying message that is familiar to us Filipinos: that the west (and recognition from the west) is a powerful thing.

What’s great about ‘The Moon’ is that the film aspires to go beyond that and that it sends a clear message that South Korea has the capacity to do it on their own. From the strong images and the narrative choices that the film makes: how NASA is a competitor, not an ally (and in some ways, they are the bad guys, which is a welcome change); how politicians can still be a hindrance to the growth of any country (as played by Jo Han Chul, who is excellent in these kinds of roles); and how South Korea can come together and save one man trapped in the moon.

The film is so tonally precise that it employs great epic music to really push the emotions of the viewers to where it wants it to go, it can be manipulative the way commercial films always are and can promise a great time. I do have issues with certain emotional scenes that were not set-up properly. There is a third act subplot that is introduced, which may have benefitted from an earlier set up as well as a story point that becomes morally objectionable that isn’t resolve in a satisfying manner (in my opinion).

But overall, ‘The Moon’ is a film that is easy to enjoy and appreciate with a dedicated call for its viewers to dream bigger and to unite for humanity’s sake.

My Rating:

THE MOON will be shown in cinemas nationwide starting August 16. Buy your tickets here.

August 15, 2023
Movie Review: Cinemalaya Reports ‘Ang Duyan ng Magiting’ is a masterclass in tension and nuanced acting

With barely any music, nor complicated camera movements, director and screenwriter Dustin Celestino deftly manages to build a suite of duets to weave a story of a country falling apart at the weight of its own history and corrupt systems. ‘Ang Duyan ng Magiting’ uses theatrical elements – articulate and eloquent dialogue, a set frame, impeccable blocking – to unfold a story about the cycle of hate and anger and fear. Despite its use of theatre conventions, the film remains cinematic because the proximity of the camera is part of the storytelling; the framing, the minimal use of cuts (if at all), and the vivid production design.

The movie revolves around a bombing of a church in a remote province and the two students who were found in the scene of the crime. Within the film’s two-hour running time, the movie manages to capture the people that surround the two students and this incident: a teacher (Jojit Lorenzo), who may be the cause of their radicalization to the extreme left; a social worker (Dolly De Leon), who questions the illegal detainment of the two students; the police chief (Paolo O’ Hara), who is so sure that the two teens are behind the bombing; the police chief’s wife (Frances Makil-Ignacio); a lawyer (Bituin Escalante), who takes interest in the case; the two students (Miggy Jimenez and Dylan Rey Talon); and the mother of one of the students (Agot Isidro).

The powerhouse cast deliver incredibly nuanced performances and play off of their scene partners with incredible precision. The camera is primarily still in most of the scenes and, at the most, the scene is always covered in only two angles. Sometimes its close, sometimes its far but the actors perform with the full ferocity that the scene requires. You cannot single out any one actor here – everyone was working at an elevated level. It was wonderful to watch.

But what made it even more entrancing was that the story unfolds through the dialogue and in the process, the world gets bigger and bigger with each line delivery. The conflicts become more pronounced with every word that is uttered and the camera, remaining still, captures and builds on this tension that it feels electric. Without any music, a scene just begins to expand. From Paolo O’ Hara’s rage to Dolly De Leon’s quiet strength, from Miggy Jimenez’s fragility to Bituin Escalante’s flippant amusement, each actor fill each scene with the intended emotion that reverberates within the camera’s frame.

It also helps the Celestino and production designer Josiah Hiponia dress every sequence in such a way that makes the shot feel cluttered, claustrophobic. Each scene is just ready to explode and even when it does, it still feels like it could just keep setting off.

And what is released is a whole bunch of ideas and emotions, there are questions that is asked about nationhood, about revolution, and whether it is lost cause or something that is still worth fighting for. What is great about the writing of ‘Duyan ng Magiting’ is that it is full of anger and hatred and grief and pain but it is also undirected, unfocused. So while the enemy is clear at times, it seems that all that rage is directed at each other instead of who it should be. The film is a rebuke of the system that is in place but it is also a rebuke of all the failed attempts to change that system.

‘Ang Duyan ng Magiting’ is a work of fiction that becomes an eloquent argument without any clear answers for us. The film will disturb you, it will grip you. The theater I was in was quiet all through-out the movie, you could hear a pin drop, and we were all holding our breaths. It’s visceral and smart and also very moving. It’s definitely a masterclass in building tension, in wrestling with its themes, and of excellent performances.

My Rating:

August 10, 2023
Movie Review: Cinemalaya’s Opening Film ‘Marupok AF’ treads dangerous ground

As someone who was completely oblivious to the viral trend back in 2020 that became the basis for the story of ‘Marupok AF,’ I was taken for a wild ride as I watch the Quark Henares-directed film (with a screenplay by Henares and John Bedia). It’s a story of a horrifying catfish scheme directed primarily at transwomen and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community (at the end of the film, even one woman said she was victimized by the real-life perpetrator). It was recounted on Twitter and this formed the film that opened the 19th Cinemalaya Film Festival. ‘Marupok AF’ features much of Quark Henares’ refined, glossy, and hip filmmaking. It includes a terrific cast that includes EJ Jallorina, Maris Racal, Royce Cabrera, and a scene-stealing Gabby Padilla.

But with everything going for it, the film treads on very dangerous ground because while it shows the full range of hurt that can come from a catfish scenario, the film’s takes the tone of a comedy (and sometimes even the conventions of a heist movie) that ends up serving as a buffer to how despicable the act is. In fact, it turns the act of catfishing into a comic situation where the audience are laughing at the trans character, who is victimized by the situation and the young man who is being exploited by the catfisher.

It follows the story of Janzen (Jallorina) who meets Theo (Cabrera) via a dating app. It’s a powerful connection and Janzen finds herself falling in love except that it is quickly revealed that Theo is really Dennis, an aspiring industry professional who accepts the job of pretending to be Theo for Beanie (Maris Racal), who has a thing for catfishing transwomen like Janzen. Strangely enough, Beanie goes to the extreme with Janzen and this forms the crux of the story.

Told in a non-linear manner and through various perspectives, Janzen reveals her innermost thoughts through monologuing live on her social media, facing the camera and relating the story to her followers (the audience). Dennis ends up telling his story via an internet talk show, complete with a host. One of the many tricky areas is that Beanie gets to the talk to the audience directly. Completely unmediated, whether by social media or by a host, Beanie gets to directly talk to the audience and plead her case. In fact, her studio has a bar that she can lean on while talking and it gives her the image of a podium and she gets the most screen time. Racal is devilishly charming. She is so engaging that she takes over the three storylines and it feels like it becomes Beanie’s story.

Henares doesn’t shy away from showing us how Theo’s playing hot and cold is screwing with Janzen’s mind but while the movie does show us Janzen agonizing over it, we also get to see Beanie and her co-conspirator Dina (played deliciously by a scene-stealing Gabby Padilla) enjoying the fruits of their fiendishness. But the film plays it as a comedy and as the film feels more tilted to Beanie, it is Beanie’s triumph that feels highlighted and not Janzen’s pain.

And while this is going on, Dennis is caught between an opportunity (Beanie promised him that she’d help him be an actor and a director) and doing what he can see is a horrible thing to do. He is conflicted but he also needs the money that Beanie offers and the opportunity. So, Dennis is being exploited but he is also a butt of the jokes as his being of the common folk is also used for comedy.

Told in three different perspectives simultaneously, with varying degree of tones (though all are consistently comedic), ‘Marupok AF’ details the the inner workings of an elaborate catfish scheme but with the villain at the center. Rather than be disgusted, you find yourself amused by them (and Racal’s excellent portrayal of Beanie’s confusion as to why she might actually be so invested in taking Janzen down) and, in a way, Beanie is humanized whereas Janzen and Dennis are turned into punchlines.

It’s easy to put the camera on Beanie, she is an interesting character, especially when played by Racal, but to do so at the expense of Janzen and Dennis, both who are played so brilliantly by Jallorina and Cabrera, makes ‘Marupok AF’ a dangerous film. While I’m on my seat squirming and seething with anger at the horrors that Beanie and Dina are putting Janzen through, the crowd around me were laughing, courtesy of Henares’ slick filmmaking, witty dialogue, and hip music (composed by CRWN).

Fortunately, the film ends well (it is a comedy after all) and the final act is given to Jallorina’s Janzen but I feel like I could’ve gotten to know her better throughall of this. As the film tries to create a rally cry of understanding and compassion by its final act, it can feel like a last-minute realisation for having let Racal’s Beanie steal the movie.

With that being said, ‘Marupok AF’ is Quark Henares’ best film. It takes his strengths – directorial finesse and a pulse of what tickles the zeitgeist – and presents a story that is so rooted in the now. It’s best when it allows its characters to just be themselves (and it helps with a cast this good and working at this level) and when he puts the spotlight on Janzen and how society is so mean and cruel to transpeople (there’s a scene involving a bathroom and a vicious bathroom attendant that sends shivers down my spine). I wish the film was more of that than of Beanie.

My Rating:

August 10, 2023
REVIEW: Disney+’s new series ‘Moving’ is the best of two worlds: Kdrama and Western superhero shows

While there are a good number of Korean dramas that feature supernatural abilities or paranormal powers (‘Strong Girl Bong Soon,’ ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ ‘He is Psychometric,’ amongst others), this is the first Kdrama I’ve ever encountered that really leans in to the world of comic book superheroes in a Western way. Based off of the webtoon of the same name by Kangfull, ‘Moving’ is a 20-episode Kdrama about people with superpowers and a dark history that has driven them into hiding.

Directed by Park Inje (Kingdom season 2) and written by the original webtoon creator Kangfull, the story of ‘Moving’ unfolds in an interesting way. It opens in the present day following the story of 2 teens – Kim Bongseok (Lee Jungha) and Jang Huisoo (Go Younjung) – who have powers and find themselves going to the same school. As they navigate senior year and confiding each other with their abilities, we also discover that their parents also have powers but are keeping theirs secret too.

What first seems like a coming-of-age story of two kids with superpowers, begins to unravel as a complex story that involves governments, secret agents, and assassins. The story of the parents are a lot more complex than what the first few episodes show us and by the time we reach closer to the midway point, we discover that the story needs to fork into two timelines – the present and the past.

‘Moving’ boasts of an expensive budget and incredible CGI work for a drama series. Within the first ten episodes, there are images and visuals of flying, of regeneration, of superhuman strength and speed, and effects involving electricity. The show is also relentless in its action and fight choreography. Director Park Inje is also quite adept at creating striking images of the characters using their powers and while it feels exciting when it’s shown in the context of a fight scene, it’s when he uses it in relation to the young kids’ experiences of everyday life that it really shines.

There’s a great scene when Huisoo discovers Bongseok’s power of flight for the first time, it’s so elegantly done and it covers all the wonderful emotions that the two young actors can display. There’s another scene, also involving Bongseok’s flying abilities, of him cleaning a bathroom in the throes of young romance that makes a great visual.

This is what makes the show really shine. Yes, there are superpowers in it – and to the point where it feels like an MCU series – but that’s the easy stuff. The best parts is when it stays within the realm of Kdramas and work on their characters and their relationships. Bongseok’s and Huisoo’s relationship is a very special, wonderful little storyline that keeps everyone engaged. Then, playing counterpoint to each other, you have the Bongseok with his mom (Han Hyo Joo) and Huisoo and her dad (Ryu Seungryong). Bongseok and his mom is a tenuous relationship, with Han Hyo Joo’s Lee Mihyun as being overprotective and extra cautious. The tiredness and exhaustion of her character is explicit in every move she makes but the love is there, buried inside. It’s a wonderful performance that brings some very touching scenes. On the other hand, Huisoo and her father, Jang Juwon, have a more loving relationship – one that has both characters always walking on eggshells with each other. It’s so wonderfully played out that I cannot wait until the moment when the teens find out their parents have abilities.

This is why the show loses out on its strength as it gets closer to the midpoint. The first four or five episodes are working with multiple characters and weaves a tapestry of persons of interest. How they connect each other and how they relate to each other makes the show so good. By the sixth or seventh episode, they start to focus on one character’s backstory (usually a parent) and it takes the whole episode (sometimes two episodes) and I start to miss the present day storyline.

I understand that ‘Moving’ is building a world and is expanding it because it needs the space to move when all the characters come crashing into each other (by episode 10, they are still in each other’s periphery but have yet to come together) but it has made the episodes close to the midpoint feel dragging. Yes, we eventually see the histories of Jang Juwon and Lee Mihyun, but I’ve already invested in the friendship (and maybe even relationship) of Bongseok and Huisoo. There are also other characters like Lee Ganghoon (Kim Dohoon) and Chae Taehyun’s Jeon Gye-do and the assassin Frank, played by Ryu Seung-bum. Regardless, the first ten episodes of ‘Moving’ is proving to be an engaging new series that has the flavor of a Western/MCU type of superpowered show but with all the heart and the precision writing and character development of a Kdrama. It has a great cast and an intriguing, rich storyline with a lot of ground to cover. I won’t be surprised if the show ends in a cliff-hanger by the end of the 20th episode.

My Rating:

MOVING is now streaming on Disney+. Watch it here.

August 9, 2023
Movie Review: Fantastic Plastic: a review of ‘Barbie’

Who would have thought that the director of such nuanced and meticulous films like ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Little Women’ would be able to craft such a bombastic film that is fully committed to its absurdity as ‘Barbie.’ Director and screenwriter Greta Gerwig, (with co-screenwriter Noah Baumbach of ‘Marriage Story’) delivers a narrative that never takes itself too seriously, ever, and by doing so manage to break all the rules and expectations set upon as a movie and allows it to go to places both familiar, true, and biting without ever feeling like you are being preached to. Because the politics of the film is part of the joke.

People immediately ask if the film is political, and I find that question difficult to answer. Everything is political and, for sure, ‘Barbie’ gets political, but the film takes its time to set up the parameters of the discussion first and chooses the tone of whimsy and light-hearted comedy. It doesn’t go deep or hit hard until way after the film’s midpoint and you’ve been completely taken over by the absurdist events and hilarity that when the politics comes in, it feels like part of the joke. It doesn’t take away from the truth and the authenticity of it, but it gets to make its statements and they are powerful ones.

After all, the movie presents us with the idea of Barbie world – a place where all the Barbies ever produced (even the discontinued ones) live, living their lives in one perfect day over and over – as an actual place as much as it is an idea. It’s a world that can be left to go to the real world, “our world,” and it can also be visited by humans. When one particular Barbie begins to think of thoughts about death (as seen in the trailer), her perfect world and perfect day is disrupted and her arched feet goes flat.

In order to discover what went wrong, she must travel to the real world to discover the truth. By her side is Ken, who feels his whole life’s objective is to be in support of Barbie. He has no other function, otherwise.

But when they go to the real world, it’s not the world that they expected: not a world of empowered women. Instead, it is a difficult world where men are in power. And things start to change.

What’s great about ‘Barbie’ is that it’s an unhinged, absurdist comedy that is inherently satirical but manages to disguise its most biting commentaries in the form of silliness. It is so fully committed to its style and form that you never feel like the film is standing on a pulpit, though the film actually does go into political monologues. It’s just done in such a way that it is part of the humour and so deep into the film’s narrative that, by that time, you are completely unguarded and just willing to take whatever this film dishes out.

This is achieved by the film’s campy tone – everything is just absurdly colourful and outrageous in its visual style – it leans on the fictional mode that it even skirts the line between cheesy special effects and more sophisticated ones. What is equally incredible is how its stars – most notably Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – fully commit to the style and aesthetic of this movie.

In fact, Robbie and Gosling provide incredibly textured and nuanced performances. They understand that they are both ideas and actual beings. Robbie works on the level of physicality, her face and body movements are fully in line with that of what a Barbie doll looks like but manages to convey her character’s every thought and feeling. It’s such delicate work that it’s impressive. It’s award-worthy, to be honest. But the one who steals the show is Ryan Gosling, who is so committed to the silliness of his character (and his character gets to do more silly stuff than Robbie’s, who delves into the more existential themes of the film) that it can take center stage sometimes.

But both are amazing and so are the rest of the cast, including such an earnest performance from American Ferrera, who gets the film’s most powerful monologue

For all of the films artifice and how much it leans into its fakeness (of concept, of aesthetic, of its filmmaking) it manages to hit some hard truths about some pressing issues. The film manages to tackle identity and purpose, the roles that are impressed upon us by society, feminism and patriarchy, commercialism, and the pitfalls of capitalism. It manages to poke fun of these things while still asking very serious questions in the process.

And as the film reaches its fever pitch in a huge musical number that is as crazy as it is silly, the film manages to enter a very existential, philosophical conclusion that is completely opposite of the rest of the film, but it feels fitting and honest. The film earns it anyway. It earns every laugh, and every hard-hitting truth that it manages to touch upon.

My Rating:

BARBIE is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

July 20, 2023
Movie Review: ‘Oppenheimer’ is everything you’d expect from a Christopher Nolan film

As expected from any Christopher Nolan movie, ‘Oppenheimer’ is visually stunning and presents the story of the invention of the atomic bomb in an epic manner that captures the gravity of that discovery and manages to ponder on the consequences of such. Since his exploration on the concept of cinematic time in his film ‘Interstellar,’ (and even as far back as ‘Memento’) Nolan has been exploiting the way movies can bend and distort time to present the story of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer through the narrative framework of two important events of his life – forming the team of scientists and building the site that gave birth to the invention of the atom bomb and the subsequent attack upon him by the American government for his dealings with socialists and the far left – which unfolds in a non-linear manner to dazzling effect.

The narrative of ‘Oppenheimer’ unfolds from different time frames. They include his early life as a student of theoretical physics and moving to Germany to learn about the new theories of physics to his rise in the ranks of the American academe to his appointment as the head of the Manhattan Project where he lead the team that invented the atomic bomb all the way to the later parts of his life when he was questioned for his dealings with the far left. The past is presented in full color while the later periods are told in black and white and through the perspective of Lewis Strauss, who is nominated for a cabinet post in the White House and is being questioned for his engagement with Oppenheimer.

What the non-linear storytelling does is that it connects all facets of Oppenheimer’s life with each other in a visual tapestry that suggests causality: his engagement with socialism, communism, and left-wing ideology and how this entangled him into the world of politics as his brilliance in his field brings him to the attention of the powers that be. The nuclear race had begun, and World War II was at full-swing and he had the know-how to possibly end it with a weapon that was to end all wars. But as the film continues to jump back and forth in time, what the film does is shows humanity’s greed and hunger for power, in all shapes and sizes, whether it be individual or in the form of an institution or government.

‘Oppenheimer’ is focused on the bigger themes of morality – putting the narrative spotlight on the scientist’s thought and feelings about creating a bomb so powerful that it could risk destroying the world and glosses over the other aspects of his human frailty such as his infidelity (which has more implications on his politics) or his arrogance and self-importance (though the film underlines that he was deserving of this stance).

The back and forth of its narrative style brings a sort of energy into the piece, along with the relentless musical score of Ludwig Goransson, that makes the film feel epic, important, and urgent. It is constantly building momentum towards both the eventual test of the atomic bomb in New Mexico and the buildup of the closed-door inquiry of Oppenheimer’s leftist dealings as well as Strauss’ own inquiry for his cabinet post. All three events are interlinked that sets to amplify what the film seems to be pointing at: that man cannot be trusted with any power whatsoever. Even with Oppenheimer’s own reluctance and eventual submission to the call for harnessing the power of the atom, the government that requested for it took it from him the moment it was done and used it for their own ends.

As much as the film underscores that Oppenheimer wanted this to be the end of all wars, what the film also manages to highlight is how this was also the beginning of a sort of end for human civilization. It is a triumph in Nolan’s direction that he was able to use Oppenheimer’s story as a fulcrum of when things may have started to go bad for the world.

L to R: Robert Downey Jr is Lewis Strauss and Matthew Modine is Vannevar Bush in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Rami Malek is David Hill in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Nolan is always an interesting director who is able to push boundaries and whose visual style is just perfect for large scale storytelling. He can make a room full of scientists talking about theoretical physics the most interesting thing to watch on the big screen because he understands how to contextualise it through cinema – the scenes preceding it and the context as to why they are having this discussion. Nolan is a storyteller that can present such things in a captivating way.

And it helps that he’s got fantastic actors to help bring out the best of his work. Cillian Murphy is captivating as Oppenheimer, and he manages to do so in the large span of time that Nolan has chosen to tell his story. Murphy has to play him from as young as an eager student in Germany to him at his prime while working on the Manhattan Project and then later on in life as an accomplished man and watching the world pass him by. Emily Blunt also gives a powerful performance with what little she’s given to do (though she does have one moment where she steals the show from everybody). But if anyone manages to really steal everyone’s thunder, it is Robert Downey Jr as Lewis Strauss.

As Strauss, Downey is a fireball igniting every scene he is in. There is a huge range of emotions that is required of him, and he delivers each on a silver platter. It’s a more flashy role than Murphy’s so while Cillian Murphy serves to anchor the film to its main character, it’s the rest of the cast like Blunt, Matt Damon, and Downey Jr who pushes the sails and really helps this movie take flight.

While all of Nolan’s creative team from Cinematographer Hoyt van Hoytema to editor Jennifer Lame and production designer Ruth De Jong and Goransson’s impeccable score are working at peak levels, ‘Oppenheimer’ proves to be exactly what I was expecting from a Christopher Nolan movie about the famous physicist. Except for two nude scenes that felt out of place, and a little too much figurative use of Oppenheimer’s hallucinations on the effects of the nuclear destruction, the film does exactly what it sets out to do in Nolan’s style. It isn’t as surprising as say ‘Inception’ nor does it have that effect of the sublime that ‘Dunkirk’ manages to evoke.

While I appreciate the way ‘Oppenheimer’ highlights the vile practices of any government – in this case, America’s – and man’s own unfitting nature to regulate and safeguard such vital knowledge like how to harness the power of the atom and nuclear energy and what seems like such a nuance treatment of the man’s dealings with socialism and communism; the film is enjoyable for what it is. I don’t know why I was expecting more.

My Rating:

OPPENHEIMER is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

July 20, 2023
Movie Review: Deus Ex Machina: A review of ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’

One amazing thing about the Mission Impossible franchise is that it always leaned in towards its fictional world so while it can mirror real world events, it never really feels overtly political. It’s enemies were all vague and opaque so as to not upset anyone in politically. If it ever did, I don’t remember it but it doesn’t bother me. You could enjoy it for what it is: a straight-up, fun, action spy adventure. It was good versus evil and always executed in the most amazing ways possible in cinema.

So when you consider the fact that ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ began filming in 2020 and wrapped up filming in 2021, then you will understand how prescient the filmmakers were in the crafting of this movie. This time, Ethan Hunt and the rest of the Impossible Mission Force (the IMF) are battling advanced technology – one that carries no allegiances and has no recognizable agenda. The enemy is an advanced AI that has global internet access and can disrupt, distort, and disable any of our digital devices. When you consider that the IMF and all the spies and governments in the world use digital technology for everything, you can understand the power this AI holds.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

If this film gets political, it’s basically within the context that instead of stopping it, all governments and institutions are after its control. It seems only Ethan Hunt has the moral fortitude, and the experience and skill sets to put this AI down and ensure that no one gets it. This puts the IMF as the biggest enemy of the nations of the world; not to mention that AI itself is out to protect its own best interest. Interestingly enough, this premise is so believable, how it hinges upon our belief that governments and people with power do not fear the dangers of such an AI existing. In this current age of AI art and AI written materials, director and writer Christopher McQuarrie and co-writer Erik Jendressen somehow predicted how AI would be received by a general public. They seem to have made a film, unlike the message of ‘Terminator’ or ‘The Matrix’ with regards to sentient machines. Here, the enemy, once again, is us and the people in power who would rather try and take control of a powerful tool regardless of the dangers and the cost than err in the side of caution.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

The premise is so strong that it highlights the heroism of a character like Ethan Hunt. Here is a man who is so capable and the world of Mission Impossible is so lucky to have him because he is so morally constant. It’s such a fictional approach and the film indulges in this mode. There’s even a scene where members of the American security council are trying to understand the whole purpose of the IMF – even to the point of making fun of its name – that amplifies the ridiculousness of the whole concept. That one scene underlines the absurdity, but it also impresses upon us that it takes a person of Ethan’s inherent, unmoving goodness to survive the temptations of this sort of work. It’s idealistic and completely unrealistic but it’s also fun to watch onscreen.

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

McQuarrie knows how to keep all of this interesting. The story is straightforward and simple – like most of the films in the franchise – and he keeps the plot moving. In the first hour alone, we have a submarine fight, a foot chase in an airport, a battle in the desert during a sandstorm, and a car chase in the streets of Rome – the pace is relentless, it only stops to contextualize the mission and what is at stake and even that is done in a way that is exciting. The tensions are high, the urgency is always evident, and the characters are always on the move.

When there are quiet or still moments, McQuarrie is only using it as a build up for a bigger, more explosive scene later on. And he never lingers. The relationships between Hunt and his crew are so ingrained in previous installments that the film confidently just shows us enough to remind us but keeps the narrative in motion.

Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, Vanessa Kirby and Christopher McQuarrie on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

So, while the film is filled to the brim with exciting action pieces whether they are car chases, shoot outs, hand-to-hand combat, and whatnot, McQuarrie and his amazing actors deliver all of this with such speed and brutality that it is just enjoyable to see on screen. They are not even above taking a moment to have a visual, slapstick gag about a pumped-up fiat in the streets of Rome. It had everyone laughing for the sheer silliness of the scene.

Tom Cruise on the set of Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Tom Cruise has really made Ethan Hunt his own. They are almost completely interchangeable at this point. You either like it or you don’t but he knows this character in and out and still manages to find new places to bring him. Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are back as Luther and Benji and are always such capable support teams. But say what you will about Cruise, he has populated the later installments of the Mission Impossible franchise with a lot of interesting and capable women and while Haley Atwell and Pom Klementieff is a new addition to the franchise, we see the return of Rebecca Ferguson and Vanessa Kirby, both are excellent in their respective roles of Ilsa Faust and White Widow.

Pom Klementieff in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

While Klementieff gets to show a different side of her this time round (and a lot more of her athletic skills), it is Haley Atwell who gets the biggest role here. Atwell’s Grace is an interesting character because her story is an origin story, so to speak, and somehow we will discover that it parallels that of Ethan, Luther, and Benji. Her introduction sort of gives us an insight into the backstories of the three veteran IMF members. It feels like a full circle even if we never saw how it began (though the film touches upon Ethan’s origin, teases us with it in this installment).

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

In a cinematic landscape that is overfilled with franchises and sequels, I’m actually always eager for another Mission Impossible story. There’s something about the Tom Cruise stamp that what we’re going to get will always set a new bar in what we can see in terms of action sequences and explosive thrills. Unlike other action stars who try to put socially relevant story points in their franchises to justify its continued existence or overstuff later installments with too much CGI and big-name cameos, ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One’ proves that all you need is to just constantly be serving up simple stories told extremely well. Mcquarrie and Cruise, as a partners, just have that magical touch to deliver the goods.

The fact that they turned this story into one about AI and the danger of advanced technology seems so timely but, really, it’s just prophetic. Another testament that these two filmmakers are still at the top of their game and have their hands on the pulse of the world.

My Rating:

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

July 13, 2023