Author: Wanggo Gallaga

A Dream I Don’t Want to Wake From: a review of Netflix series ‘The Sandman’

I read the complete ‘Sandman’ graphic novels over fifteen years ago and it is one of my favourite graphic novel collections I’ve encountered. It’s literary. It’s profound. It’s magical. Neil Gaiman’s imagination is boundless and the art by Sam Keith and Mike Drigenberg was so different from the superhero comic books that I collected in the 90s. It was mature and elevated my opinion of comic books back in the late 90s.

For ‘The Sandman’ to finally be adapted into a television series was something I was nervous about. I’m glad to hear that Neil Gaiman was part of the creative team behind the show, which means that any of the changes would be approved by the writer of the source material. This is as important as the immense world-building that Gaiman did for the series.

There are quite a lot of notable changes – some characters have been gender-swapped, some are portrayed by actors of color, the show is set in the present-day whereas the graphic novels were set in the late 80s, and the like – but it never feels like a ploy for relevance nor does it take away from the story. In fact, it adds nuance and inserts additional layers into the work that I don’t remember from having read the series many years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ClbRPRDXU

‘The Sandman’ is the story about an otherworldly being known as Dream or Morpheus or The Sandman. He is one of the seven Endless, immortal beings that are in charge of aspects of the universe. Dream is the lord of the sleeping world and king of dreams and nightmares. The first season of ‘The Sandman’ adapts the first two volumes ‘Preludes and Nocturnes’ and ‘The Doll’s House’ wherein Dream is imprisoned in the mortal world by a magician with the hopes of catching Death, Dream’s sister. While Dream is imprisoned, the dreaming world begins to fall apart and Dream must get out and restore the dreaming world to protect the waking world.

The rich world of ‘The Sandman’ is given a glossy, CGI-heavy treatment that departs from the book’s visuals in a drastic way. It took me about three episodes to get used to the bright, crisp visuals of the Netflix show. Sam Keith and Mike Drigenberg’s art style was something I’d describe as dirty, messy, and very dark. It was so well-suited to the material and such a great departure from the superhero comics that were so in vogue at the time.

The clean CGI of the show goes the opposite of that and so it took me a while to sync into this new look. The original art underscored the darkness of the material, but the refined visuals contrasted the heaviness of the show and it’s great because Dream is not an easy character to connect with.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Dream is an immortal being of immense power. He’s rigid and cold. He’s fascinating to watch because he’s so far removed from humanity and while it reads well in the comics, in the show, it can be a little off-putting. Tom Sturridge does a brilliant portrayal of this. He has the signature pout and that blank expression that betrays nothing. He carries all the gravitas and majesty that Dream should have and it’s mesmerizing.

But Dream is not an easy person to like and so the lush visuals and glossy treatment help humanize the world that Dream moves through and the characters that he interacts with creating a nice dynamic for him to play off of. The other characters keep him interesting until later on through the show when you begin to invest in him because you can finally understand what he must be going through.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

And that’s what is brilliant about this show. Dream is in charge of all our hopes and fantasies and our fears. As Dream sets out to restore the dream world back to its former glory, the show becomes a deep dive into some of the driving forces of the human race. It is a dissection of how we react and deal with the things that we want and the things we are afraid of and how different these things are for each person – whether human or otherworldly.

‘The Sandman’ is not a superhero television show. It’s a fantastical drama that delves more into philosophy and a study of human nature and other high concepts. It can be slow at times for people who are not keen on detailed and careful world-building. Being faithful to the books and with Neil Gaiman developing the show alongside David S. Goyer and Allen Heinberg, the show is more a showcase of the limitless imagination of Gaiman and how the world that he has built works. There’s not a lot of action. Instead its meditations on power, responsibility, mortality, and humanity.

To keep things interesting, the show is filled with magical moments and captivating characters. Other than Dream, the show is filled with memorable characters that populate this rich fantasy world. Of the many slight changes to the source material, three notable characters are played by women: Lucienne (Lucian in the books) is played by Vivienne Acheampong, Lucifer Morningstar is played by Gwendoline Christie (of ‘Game of Thrones’ fame), and Johanna Constantine (originally John Constantine in the books) played by Jenna Coleman.

All three actresses do memorable performances, with Coleman really capturing Constantine’s swagger and bravado and Christie adding quiet, otherworldly confidence to her portrayal of Lucifer but it is Acheampong who adds the most to the gender swap role. By turning Lucian into Lucienne, it creates a really interesting new layer into the relationship between Dream and his librarian. There is a warmth and a beating heart that the show needs in their interactions that might not have been there should they have kept Lucian as he was in the books.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

There is such a strong understanding of how much needs to change for the television version of this story. There is an awareness of the demands a viewing audience would have over the material versus a reading audience and I feel that this was addressed through the filmmaking of ‘The Sandman.’ The story is intact but the modernization of the material addresses real-world issues. As a fan of the original material, I’m enjoying the adjustments and marveling at how watching this show is bringing me back to the same wonder of reading the graphic novels but also opening my eyes to things I wasn’t aware of fifteen years ago.

I’m very happy with this adaptation and I can’t wait for the second season. This is not for those who are looking for something easy and light to watch. This is a show that will take its time to establish the vast and rich world of Dream and the Endless and it’s going to get even more dense and complicated as the show continues. I hope it continues. This is a dream I don’t want to wake up from.

My Rating:

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The Sandman debuts globally on Netflix on August 5, Friday.

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August 5, 2022
‘The Gray Man’ is fast, big, loud, and oozing with charm

There’s a scene in one of the many Eastern European cities that is used as a location in The Russo Brothers’ ‘The Gray Man’ that is really the pinnacle of what this movie has to offer. It’s a fast-paced action sequence that feels like it plays out for a good 15 minutes.

There’s a shoot-out in a public plaza that escalates into a full-blown war zone that involves a high-speed car chase with a tram, high-powered assault rifles, and a beautiful luxury sports car, while the lead character carries on a gunfight inside the train. It’s a huge setup with explosions and people almost getting run over, cars toppling over and exploding. It’s fast-paced and hard-hitting and the stunt choreography and camera coverage are incredible.

Watching this at the cinema in a special advanced screening makes me wish that people will get to watch this movie in this format rather than on their phones or laptop screens because it’s the kind of blockbuster spectacle that is made for the big screen.

‘The Gray Man’ has an old-school action film vibe, where the bad guys are completely lacking in nuance and the story is thin but the enjoyment comes from all the spills and thrills.

It begins with an introduction to our protagonist, Ryan Gosling’s unnamed character who is recruited by the CIA to become a dispensable killing machine, a Black Ops assassin with no record at all for plausible deniability. He is given the name Six and the film immediately jumps forward in time to his most recent mission, where he discovers that the change of guard in US politics meant the Sierra program that he is part of is being taken down and his life is in danger.

Now, on the run, he has to escape the new bosses at the CIA who are tying up loose ends.

But how do you catch one of the deadliest assassins in the world? By hiring the equally skilled and dangerous (and possibly sociopathic) private contractor Lloyd Hansen, played by Chris Evans. In less than 15 minutes, you have two of Hollywood’s charming and attractive leading men, Gosling and Evans, battling it out over Eastern Europe and it’s a joy to watch.

Gosling’s Six is a quiet, lone wolf type, though he is not above an occasional witty remark. We know how charming he can be from films like ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ and ‘La La Land’ but he tones it down for the gruff, silent killer type who grunts as much as he speaks but despite his frighteningly impressive action hero image in this film, there’s a relatability that he brings to Six that attaches himself to audience pretty quickly.

On the other hand, Evans is obviously having a blast playing the villain. He’s as charming as he is brutal and sadistic and cruel. And he’s also unafraid to bring out his excellent comedic timing for some really great comic moments that keep the energy up.

The film runs a little over 2 hours and surprisingly, there’s very little in terms of character development or a story arc. There’s no complicated plot nor any overly ambitious save-the-world narrative involved in this film. It’s a brawl and a gunfight and it’s loud and explosive. Everything from cars, trains, airplanes, and helicopters at some point explode or topple over. Our heroes get punched, kicked, stabbed, and even shot and still manage to carry on and fight.

And it’s this simplicity that gives ‘The Gray Man’ a hollowness to it – no real exploration of the abuse of government power, the effects of geopolitics on this scale, the cost and value of human lives – but it also makes it really easy to watch and really fun to just jump aboard on.

At the same time, directors Joe and Anthony Russo feel like they directed this film specifically for the Netflix viewer – people watching at home on their laptops or phones – and so they push the story down and ramp up the action and fast cuts and pacing so as to not allow the viewers to get distracted at all. Never is there a moment for you to press pause to answer the phone or to take a break to do house chores or online school work.

The film feels like they are aware that the medium this film will be shown, through streaming, means they can put what feels like a 15-minute flashback scene in the middle of the story, as they pivot the narrative towards a different direction.

There’s a freshness to the way this film is made because as big and loud as the film gets (and it constantly peaks) it doesn’t feel like it has to abide by any certain expectations as other films do. Of the many Netflix films I’ve seen in this genre like ‘Extraction’ or ‘The Old Guard,’ this is the one I feel really fits perfectly for streaming.

‘The Gray Man’ may not be deep or even moving, but it’s a whole lot of fun and the whole cast – from Gosling to Evans, to Ana de Armas and Jessica Henwick, to Rege-Jean Page, Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thornton – it’s loaded with charisma and screen presence. I hope this becomes a hit because, as it is based on a series of books by Mark Greaney, they plan for this to be a franchise and I love to see more of it.

My Rating:

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The Gray Man premieres on Netflix this Friday, July 22.

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July 21, 2022
‘The Black Phone’ keeps it simple and puts the tension front-and-center

One of the best things about ‘The Black Phone’ is how it keeps the narrative down to its essentials. There are a lot of backstories implied or referred to but it never digresses from the main storyline to explore them. It stays focused on the main plot, about a young kid who is kidnapped and trapped in a basement, and keeps the camera on them and the kid’s sister, who is trying to find him. Another interesting point is that ‘The Black Telephone,’ based on the short story by Joe Hill, is a supernatural tale but the danger doesn’t come from the ghosts that you see in the trailer. That real danger here is another human being. And for some reason, that makes the film even scarier.

Directed by Scott Derrickson, with a screenplay by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, ‘The Black Phone’ is not your typical horror film. The source of fear comes from the anticipation that something bad is going to happen. From the trailer, you can tell that the ghosts are actually all the former victims of the kidnapper. While they do appear in gruesome forms, they are actually helping Finney, the latest victim, to try and get out alive. Instead of shocking you with images of violence, it is implied; that it is coming but not yet and that is what creates the tension that pervades throughout the film.

It’s a nice subversion of the genre, extending the suspense, building the anticipation, and creating moments of hope that Finney can get out in one piece. The film, then, isn’t so much as scary as it is thrilling, capitalizing on our hope that this story will end well for the protagonist and that’s what drives the film’s momentum forward.

Another interesting subversion, shared by one of the critics I got to see this with during the special screening, is how the voices of the victims are amplified in this movie and not the villain’s. There is no glorification or humanization of this kidnapper and after this was pointed out to me, I thought that was a welcome and necessary change.

_{Photo: The Black Phone Trailer}

Derrickson builds a very distinct world in this film. ‘The Black Phone’ is set in the late 70s so the lack of technology creates even more obstacles for our characters. Before Finney is kidnapped, we see the world he inhabits: a close relationship with his sister, their abusive alcoholic father, and the bullies at his school that have made life very challenging for him. The stronger one amongst the siblings is his sister Gwen, who might’ve been smart enough to not get kidnapped, but knowing Finney’s vulnerabilities makes us feel more attached to him as the victim.

Compounded by the narrative elements is the wonderful acting amongst all the kids. Mason Thames, who plays Finney, and Madeleine McGraw, who plays Gwen, do a great job at bringing their characters to life. For Thames, he instills so much fragility within his Finney but also shows his sparks and moments of cleverness, while McGraw makes tough and foul-mouthed Gwen such a spirited character. She juggles multiple emotions including a surprisingly genuine laugh-out-loud moment in the middle of the film that completely endears you to the character. While the adults like Ethan Hawke, as the kidnapper, and Jeremy Davies, as the alcoholic father, play a great role, this movie is really a showcase for all the child actors involved.

_{Photo: Universal Pictures PH Facebook}

There are minimal jump scares in this film and that’s perfectly alright because what ‘The Black Phone’ does is to put you right smack dab in the center of a very tense situation and then plays with your emotions and gives you characters and a goal to root and cheer for. You’ll find yourself tapping your feet anxiously hoping that things don’t turn out the way the film manages to illustrate through the presence and stories of these ghosts.

Derrickson does an amazing job at managing and playing with expectations and suspense and I’m excited to see what he’s up to next.

My Rating:

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The Black Phone opens in cinemas nationwide on Wednesday, July 20. Buy your tickets here.

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July 19, 2022
As fun as it is, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ reveals the character’s narrative weakness
When director Taika Waititi took over Thor and gave us the enjoyable ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ the character had already been established in two solo movies and two Avengers movies. He had a lot to work with: a troubled relationship with his brother Loki, experience working with a team like the Avengers, and so on. In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ he had carte blanche to change the tone of the movie and infuse Waititi’s own brand of humor, which breathed new life into the character and the franchise. It was carried over into the succeeding Avengers movies such as ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

But in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ most of Thor’s storylines were given closure. He had relinquished his throne to Valkyrie and left the remaining Asgardians to start anew on Earth. He had lost his brother and the loss he experienced in ‘Infinity War’ found a sort of resolution by the end of ‘Endgame.’ He had redeemed himself.

Where can the character go now?

And this is where ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ ends up being a mixed bag for me. The first half of the movie depicts Thor once again as the blonde himbo, whose massive god-like ego is the crux of a lot of the humor. It’s good for a few laughs but it seems that the character is stuck in some cartoonish version of himself. This film is Thor’s eighth appearance in the MCU and while this iteration only really came to the fore in ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ it feels tired. It is as if the events of the previous movie didn’t have any effect on him and sometimes, he even seems dumber than before. Sure, it’s great for a few laughs but there’s just so much of it.

The first half of the film feels more like a sequence of plot points and funny gags that are interspersed with the actual story of this film. The more important parts of the story – that of the villain, Gorr, the God Butcher, and that of Jane Foster – don’t get as much screen time and that’s what I’m looking for as I come in watching a superhero movie. The jokes and the gags are great but not at the expense of the struggle and tension and the stakes.

Photo: Marvel Studios/Jasin Boland

Taika Waititi can definitely balance out tragedy and comedy in equal measure. ‘Jojo Rabbit’ does this exceptionally well. Even with all the jokes and gags of ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ we were able to see the bonds between Loki and Thor heal and Thor making the ultimate sacrifice by allowing Asgard to fall to save the Asgardians.

In ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ the romantic comedy aspects of the film undermine the pulsing heart at the core of Jane Foster’s story, which could have been a nice space for Thor’s character growth. Instead, Waititi leans deeper into the whimsy, which is unexpected and surprising, but it doesn’t help build up the love story of its two lead characters that when it hits the final act of the film, the resolutions of their character arcs don’t have as much weight as it could.

Because the latter half of the film is definitely far better than how the film starts, it’s only then that Waititi emphasizes the stakes. It doesn’t have the urgency or the drama that the scenes ask for. It’s such a shame because Christian Bale looks like he is having fun playing Gorr, and Natalie Portman nails each dramatic beat. In fact, Jane Foster has such an interesting character arc and shows great agency but the depth of Jane’s situation – taking the mantle of Thor and why – has no time to really build.

Photo: Marvel Studios

‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ has all the components of a proper comic book movie. It has the action and the special effects but they don’t really seem to be at par with ‘Thor: Ragnarok.’ It’s only really impressive and refreshing when Thor, Jane Foster, and Valkyrie take on Gorr. The choreography in those scenes are spectacular.

What ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ has proven is that Thor doesn’t seem to do too well on his own. As a character, he’s a team player who needs Loki or the other members of the Avengers for him to realize his own narrative potential. It isn’t until he meets Jane that Thor becomes remotely interesting, outside his whimsical, buffoonery. A character this powerful needs something to ground him otherwise there aren’t many places to go narratively.

Photo: Marvel Studios

Interestingly enough, the ending addresses this narrative demand but it didn’t need half of its 119-minute running time to get to that point. It’s fun. I had fun. But it’s not up there amongst the other MCU films.

My Rating:

‘Thor: Love and Thunder‘ is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
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July 7, 2022
Beautiful Chaos: a review of ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’

It was exhausting watching ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once.’ Exhausting physically. Exhausting mentally. Exhausting emotionally. And I loved every minute of it.

The film is over two hours of crazy, out-of-this-world action-adventure moments but carefully interwoven into a poignant drama about family (mothers and daughter; husbands and wives, mothers and fathers) and, ultimately, the meaning of life. It is a story about the multiverse, the number of alternate realities that are present and happening simultaneously with ours, and how one character, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) must learn to access every possible iteration of her to save the world – every world in every universe, in fact – and save her daughter.

Directors and screenwriters Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (credited as Daniels, one moniker for both) approach this material with a madcap sense of humor. They are not afraid to get dark (the violence and gore can get pretty intense), not afraid to get vulgar (there are dildos and buttplug jokes that are actually funny), not afraid to get meta (in all the variations of Evelyn’s character, there is quite a number that reference her career), not afraid to get weird, and definitely not afraid to get personal.

The story is already a lot to deal with: an ordinary housewife, while trying to pay her taxes, discovers that in an alternate reality, she discovered the multiverse and found a way to “verse jump.” Verse jumping is accessing the memories and skills and talents of another version of yourself in another universe and little, ordinary housewife, Evelyn must now find a way to learn how to verse jump so she can save the universe from a destructive being called Jobu Topaki.

Photo from Official Movie Website (www.everythingeverywheremovie.com)
Photo Credit: Allyson Riggs

Mixed in with this dense science fiction adventure is a story about a woman in strained relationships with her husband (played by Ke Huy Quan) and daughter (an excellent Stephanie Hsu) and father (James Hong). The film manages to bounce back and forth effortlessly from adventure to family drama while pondering upon the meaning of life.

If that wasn’t enough, Daniels manages to imbue the film with exquisite filmmaking. There are split screens, subtitles that shift and change with the story, and clever cinematography and editing. As Evelyn moves between realities, the tone and style of filmmaking change as well. There are homages to Wong Kar Wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ in some realities, others are homages to Jackie Chan period kung fu films. The costume designs are out of this world in some moments. Nothing can be expected and everything will take you by surprise.

It’s chaos but there’s so much sense in all of it. It’s why I say ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is exhausting. You are laughing out loud in one moment and then, in the next, you are marveling at the fight choreography right before it brings you to horror film levels of suspense and dread. The film itself takes on the infinite possibilities of its own story and Daniels is unafraid to go there and mine it for all its thrills, laughs, and tears.

Photo from Official Movie Website (www.everythingeverywheremovie.com)
Photo Credit: Allyson Riggs

The performances are all incredible, Quan makes a fantastic return in front of the camera (he became famous as a child actor in the 80s films ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’), while Stephanie Hsu shows off her incredible range. Jamie Lee Curtis is incredible and reliable, as always. But at the heart of this movie is Michelle Yeoh. The role is so demanding and she manages to be as mercurial as she is human. She infuses Evelyn with such an ordinariness, a woman who is completely unprepared for this wild journey she is about to enter but can quickly shift to a myriad of different characters. It would be a shame if this performance isn’t recognised at all by any award-giving bodies.

And at the heart of all this beautiful chaos, is a story that really digs deep into what it means to be alive and what it means to be happy in this very crazy world we live in. The craziness of this movie is just an exaggerated reflection of the craziness of the real world of the audience watching it. This two hours and twenty-minutes film manages to encapsulate a lot of this younger generation’s fears and anxieties and triggers and manages to create a dialogue between Evelyn and her husband, daughter, and father that proposes a sort of rationale that can address the underlying nihilism and cynicism that is at the surface of this film.

Photo from Official Movie Website (www.everythingeverywheremovie.com)
Photo Credit: Allyson Riggs

By the end, I was in tears. I was emotionally spent as much as I was mentally overwhelmed and physically drained by the experience. The last time I felt like this was watching Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’ in a 3D IMAX cinema, though I don’t remember laughing as much. I’m definitely watching this film again.

My Rating:

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‘Everything Everywhere All At Once‘ is opening in cinemas nationwide on Wednesday, June 29.

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June 28, 2022
‘Ngayon Kaya’ is a moody romance drama that dwells in the feelings and revels in the nostalgia

There is a nostalgic appeal to Prime Cruz’s latest film ‘Ngayon Kaya’ starring Paulo Avelino and Janine Gutierrez. From its moody cinematography to its soundtrack of familiar OPM songs, from the way the story delves into the past to the vibrancy of pre-pandemic Philippines (the film was shot before the pandemic), ‘Ngayon Kaya’ is a film that is rich in its sentimentality. It reminds me of romantic films from five years ago.

It’s a story of what-ifs and how two friends, Harold and AM (played by Avelino and Gutierrez, respectively), reconnect at a mutual friend’s wedding and the weight of past choices weigh heavily on them. Both have arrived late to the church wedding and it’s the first time they have seen each other since Harold has moved to Canada and so they decide to head to the reception together. The awkwardness triggers memories of the past and the tight bonds of friendship that they once had unfolded before us through these flashbacks.

The story plays out in two timelines – the past and the present – and we see two friends who bond over trivial things like being late to the same class at the start but as they get closer, they become each other’s anchors. They share similar interests, after all, both are into music, but they come from different worlds.

Harold and his family are struggling financially and his goal is to move to Canada to earn a lot of money to help support his mother, his two younger siblings, and their struggling fish pond. AM is an only child of parents, who are both doctors, and while she’s on a pre-med course, her dream is to make music and sing in a band. AM immediately latches on to Harold and brings him with her in her dreams of making it big in the music industry but as the story unfolds, it seems that their priorities and their intentions were not aligned.

Reality kicks in and kicks them hard and we see and understand why the present-day relationship between the two reunited friends is so strained.

But this is also a love story but one that is bogged down by the hesitation of its principal characters.

Screenwriter Jen Chuaunsu infuses Harold’s and AM’s conversations as youths with the realistic unconscious meanderings of that age, of dreams and ideals, and then shifts it to this awkward mess in the present day as the two are unable to connect, their past serving as a wall to rebuild their relationship. This is another way in which the film feels like a throwback, it has the same verbose dialogue as films like ‘Meet Me in St. Gallen’ and ‘Mr. and Mrs. Reyes.’ The first half of this film is centered around these conversations and the contrast between the past and the present.

What’s amazing about these contrasts is that the problem is still present, it persists: Harold and AM talk a lot, but they aren’t saying what it is they really want to say, which is how they feel about each other.

This is the magic of the second half when the slow, languid pace of the film picks up as the present-day Harold and AM find an opportunity to reclaim the energy and vibrancy of their youth and the possibilities open up for these two.

‘Ngayon Kaya’ is a delicate film that is built carefully around the nuances of the characters. While Paulo Avelino takes a completely understated approach to Harold, which diminishes the character’s strength (oftentimes, I want him to do more, give more as he does at the end of the film), it is Janine Gutierrez who really steals the show. Gutierrez’s AM is so un-self-conscious, so naive of her effect on people, and breathes life into the film. It is her dreams and passion that push the story forward and Gutierrez manages to make this film hers.

‘Ngayon Kaya’ is more reserved and withdrawn as a romance film, focusing more on the mood and the nostalgia than it does on the drama of an unrealised relationship. The pace and energy is unlike director Prime Cruz’s other works like ‘Isa Pa With Feelings’ and ‘Can We Still Be Friends.’ He takes his time, sometimes even dwelling on a feeling, which is a brave move for a Filipino romance movie but it feels apt for this film.

I wish that the dialogue was more conversational, instead of the dialogue-pause-dialogue delivery that happens between Avelino and Gutierrez. That staccato works in the present day but didn’t in the flashback scenes. It’s as if the couple can’t seem to fully connect because of the things not said, while the world behind them is so rich and full of life. But everything comes together in the final act, an extended scene set to the music of the band Mayonnaise is the catharsis that the film is pushing towards. I just hope the audience has the patience for it.

My Rating:

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‘Ngayon Kaya‘ is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

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June 23, 2022
The bombastic Baz Luhrmann turns ‘Elvis’ into an epic rock musical that’s nothing short of explosive

From the director that brought us ‘Moulin Rouge!’ and ‘Gatsby’, Baz Luhrmann lends his unmistakable genius of cinematic spectacle to the life of American rock and roll legend Elvis Presley in the musical biopic ‘Elvis.’

Luhrmann (with a screenplay by Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner) takes broad strokes and focuses on the phenomenon of Elvis – how his persona and music changed the fabric of America – and his relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker. Told in the point-of-view of Parker, as he is recalling the rise and fall of Elvis in a delirious state of a morphine high near his death, Parker narrates the story completely aware of the audience, with Tom Hanks (playing Parker) looking straight at the camera at some point and even referring to us as ‘you.’

The self-awareness of the film’s approach creates a space for Luhrmann to go all-out with his filmmaking techniques. He splices live footage with his film, uses multiple frames, jumps back and forth through time in a dazzling fury, and even infuses contemporary music production techniques when Elvis sings to seamlessly jump from scene to scene on a song number while amplifying what it was in Elvis Presley’s music that was so charged and moving.

Told from the villain’s point-of-view (because Colonel Tom Parker was revealed to be as such) it pushes Elvis into the space of a mythical being. His rags to riches story and how his life is the quintessential American dream (including the reality of being consumed by the same industry he found his mark in due to his naivete) is rendered like a fable or a fairytale except all this really happened.

More than Hanks, who delivers a rather unsurprising villain (complete with full prosthetics and a fat suit), it is Austin Butler who truly grounds this movie with an embodiment of a character that is full of charisma and passion and sexual energy.

While I’m familiar with a lot of Elvis Presley’s songs (more than I realised after watching this film) I’m not that familiar with the singer himself nor his actual career so I don’t feel comfortable talking about Butler’s portrayal of Presley. But what he does accomplish is to imbue Elvis with so much energy that when the women start screaming at his onstage gyrations and primal stage presence, I feel like I understand what the whole phenomenon of Elvis is about.

And while the film, even at 159 minutes, only really scratches the surface of Elvis’ life and career, what I do enjoy about the movie is how it really manages to show his connection to black music – gospel and rhythm and blues – and really amps up how Elvis Presley found his roots in these genres of music.

His connection to the black community of Memphis and Beale Street, with legends like B. B. King and Mahalia Jackson in tow, really brings to light why people like Al Green and Little Richard credit Presley for “opening the doors to black music.” This is well-executed through Luhrmann’s editing where he splices three timelines in one song, allowing us to see how Presley’s youth and listening to gospel choir influences his music in his early years until the later part of his career. The effect is dazzling.

With the intercutting of the scenes and sounds, it even appears that the primarily white audience of Elvis are applauding and cheering for the black singers and musicians of Elvis Presley’s past. The effect is spell-binding.

Baz Luhrmann is a director of grand spectacle. He barely has any quiet moments in his film and his character’s most introspective moments are amped up by a soaring musical score and high drama. Subtlety is not Luhrmann’s strength and we don’t go and watch a Baz Luhrmann film for that. What he delivers in turn is a high-energy rock musical, sometimes even playing contemporary rap music in selected scenes, to underscore how timeless this story is and how relevant Elvis Presley’s legacy to American (and global) music is.

While the film really explores the villainy of Colonel Tom Parker and his hand at both the rise and fall of the rock and roll legend, at over two hours, I would’ve wanted just a little bit more of his life with Priscilla, his wife. Played by Olivia DeJonge, Priscilla is set up as a counterpoint for Parker’s manipulations but she hardly gets to do anything much in the narrative.

What we get instead are some amazing performances by Butler, singing some songs I’ve forgotten and some songs I love that I didn’t even realize were Presley’s that truly showcased the power of his stage presence and his voice. Butler sings the songs in his early years but they interpolated recordings of Presley in his later years into Butler’s voice to mark the lowering of his tonal register. The music of this film, like any Baz Luhrmann film, is absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait for the album to be out on streaming (it isn’t out yet on Spotify as I’m writing this).

‘Elvis’ is a big, grand rock and roll musical with high energy and a brilliant performance by Austin Butler. And while it never really manages to get to a genuinely soft and tender moment due to its scale, it manages to contextualize the legend that is Elvis Presley. It’s definitely something to watch in a cinema with really good sound.

My Rating:

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‘Elvis‘ is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

ALSO READ:
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‘Elvis’ Gets 12-Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes
Tom Hanks Plays the Shady Manager of “Elvis” Presley

June 21, 2022
‘Lightyear’ is a solid, fun adventure movie but falls short of Pixar’s standard of great filmmaking

‘Lightyear’ is an animated science fiction adventure film from Pixar, which expands the world of the ‘Toy Story’ franchise by being a sort of origin story for the character Buzz Lightyear. The fictional astronaut Buzz Lightyear, whose toy became a prominent character in the ‘Toy Story’ series of films was based on a movie, which was Andy’s favourite film. So ‘Lightyear’ is the movie, released in 1995, that the Buzz Lightyear toy was based on.

Director and co-writer Angus McLane wanted to use this film as a “tribute” to the science fiction films he grew up with like ‘Star Wars.’ There is a push-and-pull between early 90s sensibilities alongside contemporary values and mores. What is created is a rich world and enjoyable characters that would have been revolutionary and exciting if the film really was released in the 90s.

‘Lightyear’ portrays Buzz Lightyear as a fearless captain, highly competent, and very arrogant in a humoristic way. It helps that Chris Evans’ voice acting for Buzz is imbued with so much earnestness that it really helps cement the character down pat. We see a sort of a maverick figure, one who is unaccustomed to making mistakes, prefers to do things alone, but will always give respect to his commanding officer, Alisha Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba). The film begins with the ship of Space Rangers arriving at an uninhabited planet. On a quick reconnaissance mission, Buzz, Commander Hawthorne, and a rookie, whom Buzz does not want to tag along, discover the planet is a hostile one and end up marooned on the planet in the process.

The story manages to quickly establish Buzz’s guilt for his part in their being marooned on this planet, his friendship with Commander Hawthorne, and his obsessive drive to set things right. What unfolds is a rather complex story that involves time, Buzz’s need to open up and take the whole weight of the burden on himself, and the attack of the Zergs on the Space Rangers.

While ‘Lightyear’ has what we’ve come to expect from a Pixar animated film: great humor, thrilling setups, a tight and rather surprisingly complex story with a narrative flow that is quite unexpected, and some truly great humanistic moments that even got me teary-eyed at some point; there’s something in ‘Lightyear’ that feels missing.

All of Pixar’s filmography that I’ve seen has been absolutely terrific. From each film in the ‘Toy Story’ series to ‘Monsters Inc.’ to ‘The Incredibles,’ and even the more recent ones like ‘Turning Red’ or ‘Inside Out’ or ‘Soul,’ there’s just something so wonderfully endearing in each of these films that I would immediately consider them classics. And while Buzz Lightyear’s character growth and personal epiphanies are quite strong messages to impart to its audience – the value of camaraderie and the value in allowing our mistakes to help us grow – it doesn’t feel as universal a message as it should.

While genre films like science fiction or horror or fantasy are great narrative forms to take to form a metaphor to test the human condition, there seems to be a distance in ‘Lightyear’ and his learnings from our own, unlike, say, Woody and Buzz’s learnings in ‘Toy Story’ or that of Sully and Mike Wachowski in ‘Monsters Inc.’ There is an everyman quality to the characters of ‘Toy Story’ or ‘Inside Out’ or ‘Soul’ that we can easily relate to, while Buzz seems so extraordinary that it’s hard to take his growth as our own.

It’s all familiar and recognisable, but it’s just hard to ride on.

At the same time, there are flourishes in the story’s narrative that bring up images of colonization and imperialism that don’t sit well with me. Yes, the planet is uninhabited by intelligent lifeforms so the marooned Space Rangers set up a station and begin mining the planet’s resources. And while it all makes sense (especially for a film made in the 90s), it brings to light the human nature to take possession and use anything in the world for their own uses. While this is a science fiction film and maybe they are keeping the ecological and environmental stability of the world in check; in this day and age of global warming and dwindling resources, it just feels off to see it so blatantly in this film.

But it is still a fun movie. Sox, the robot cat that is given to Buzz, is just a wonderful character and is definitely going to be a fan favourite (and a treat for all cat lovers) and all the new characters are unique and recognizable that you are guaranteed to have a fun time.

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A post shared by Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear (@pixarslightyear)

And while ‘Lightyear’ is a good film, a solid one, it’s not a great film. And when Pixar has been churning out great films with each release, the film suffers only in comparison. And that’s not entirely fair.

My Rating:

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‘Lightyear‘ opens in Phillippine cinemas on Wednesday, June 15. Buy your tickets here.

ALSO READ:
WATCH: ‘Lightyear’ Trailer Teases an Action-Packed ‘Toy Story’ Spinoff
WATCH: Disney & Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ Unveils Out-of-this-World Trailer
Chris Evans Lends His Voice to Buzz Lightyear in Disney and Pixar’s ‘LIGHTYEAR’

June 14, 2022
With nothing really new to say, ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ just feels like a theme park ride

The first three installments of the ‘Jurassic Park’ franchise took to the heart of the Michael Crichton book it was adapted from and really focused on two things: the majesty and wonder of dinosaurs and the hubris of man in using science to play god (and all the destructive consequences that followed).

It wasn’t until I saw ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ that I finally understood what I didn’t like about the last three installments. It takes the central premise predicated by the first three and turns it around. The dinosaurs were no longer these mysterious and majestic creatures. They can be trained and their presence in the films was more like monsters in a creature feature than the products of man’s arrogance.

Steven Spielberg and Joe Johnston (who directed the first two films and the third film, respectively) treated the dinosaurs with child-like wonder when covering them. They took the time to really marvel at the imagery of a dinosaur walking side-by-side with human beings. And when the predatory dinosaurs attacked, it was frightening because they were like animals in the wild, who were just doing things in their nature. When the T-Rex was brought to America in ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’ Spielberg made sure that he was highlighting the mistake of man playing god and the destruction this causes.

But when ‘Jurassic World’ came out, and its succeeding films afterward, the majesty and grandeur of the dinosaurs were taken away when Chris Pratts’ Owen Grady began training the velociraptors and even gave one a name. The dinosaurs were valued more for their potential for action sequences and horror sequences. I suppose this is an evolution (pun intended) of where the series would go, but something gets lost in the process: the magic of it all.

Director Colin Trevorrow, who directed ‘Jurassic World’ and ‘Jurassic World Dominion’ is more inclined to create spectacles than to imbue grand imagery with profound meaning. At least J.A. Bayona, who directed ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ just mined the premise for all its horror possibilities but even that script couldn’t bring back the magic.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

The lesson was already learned in the first three. There’s nothing that feels new to the whole series to keep it exciting or relevant.

And all this culminates in ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ which feels like an excuse to just bring back as many characters from the different installments as possible and mix the old and new in new sequences to show dinosaurs being frightening.

At first, the narrative is split into two – that of the old guard, Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Alan Grant (Sam Neill), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and the new characters like Owen, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), and Maisie (Isabella Sermon) – and while that of the older characters feel more familiar in tone and feel, the one of Owen and Claire feels a little disconnected and personal.

The personal tone of Owen and Claire’s story feels off, as there’s this attempt at envisioning a world now where dinosaurs have now encroached into human life. Pteranodons are now nesting on the rooftops of buildings and giant long-necked apatosauruses are getting in the way of industry work. It’s these moments, few as they are, where the film holds some magic. But these moments don’t last.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Instead, we are once again brought into a story about an evil corporation run by Dr. Lewis Dodgson (played wonderfully by Campbell Scott), who is using the genetic material now available to wreak new havoc on the world, albeit accidentally. And to make things worse, Maisie is instrumental in all of these machinations and she’s abducted.

In the 146-minute running time, there’s less about the ramifications of all this (it’s said a lot but it is never really felt) and more about complex high-octane chase sequences with trained killer velociraptors in the streets of Malta, a battle of three different giant predators in a valley in Italy, and several more attacks from various dinosaurs in different situations.

Courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

‘Jurassic World Dominion’ barely stops to take a breath and keeps throwing us one action sequence after another (and often time, they aren’t covered properly: the scenes are too dark, editing is off that you don’t understand what’s going on) that it barely has time to breathe and when it does, it’s just so that the old and new characters can mix and trade platitudes and witty barbs.

I think I now know what Martin Scorsese meant when he called MCU films a “theme park ride.” At least Laura Dern was there. She’s great in everything.

My Rating:

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Jurassic World Dominion is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

ALSO READ:
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June 8, 2022
Great in parts, ‘Stranger Things 4’ Volume 1 lacks the intimacy of past seasons as the world gets bigger

It has been a long while since season 3 of the Duffer Brothers’ hit series ‘Stranger Things’ premiered on Netflix. Three years have passed since the last season and so much has changed. The characters have all grown up now with the younger set moving on to high school, Joyce (Winona Ryder) takes her family – Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Will (Noah Schnapp), and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) – to California to start anew, the rest of the group have stayed in Hawkings, Indiana, while (as the trailer suggested) Hopper (David Harbour) has found himself in Russia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQEondeGvKo

Volume One, the first seven episodes of season 4, is one gigantic set-up with the characters all spread out in different locations around America and the world. The first three seasons had everyone split up but just within the confines of Hawkings (except that one season when Eleven went to the city and met Eight) but the world of ‘Stranger Things’ has gotten bigger now. In Volume One alone, the story shifts between Hawkings, California, Russia, and later to the open road, Alaska, Nevada, and Utah. While the largeness in scope truly makes the world of ‘Stranger Things’ bigger and the world-building richer, what it does is take away from what made the first three seasons so enjoyable.

The hustle and bustle of previous installments meant that the split-up characters eventually bump into each other as they must face a terror from the Upside Down, the shadow world parallel to ours where monsters exist. With such distance between the characters, it’s hard to create that sense of narrative intimacy. There was always some level of joy when the younger set collided with the young adult set – Jonathan, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), and later addition Robin (Maya Hawke) – and then later on with the older set of Joyce and Hopper and the parents.

Image courtesy of Netflix

But there’s not much of that here. That sort of narrative interweaving only really happens in Hawkings and it quickly happens because the characters know each other already and have been through this before. As the Upside Down throws another horrible monster into the fray, this time a powerful creature named Vecna, those in Hawkings quickly band together to solve the case.

That’s when the show really and truly feels like ‘Stranger Things.’ Cut up into four parts – Hawkins, California (split into Joyce and Murray, played by Brett Gelman, and the younger set) and Russia with Hopper – the show feels a little disjointed. It doesn’t help that they split them up into five stories by the halfway point. For the first time in three seasons, I wasn’t interested in all the stories. I actually wanted to skip parts and just focus on one part, which was Hawkins.

Image courtesy of Netflix

By the fourth season, you can tell that the Duffer Brothers and their creative team have run out of steam for some characters. For Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan, Will, and Mike, there doesn’t seem to be anything new to do with them (or even interesting). You can even see this as Jonathan, Will, and Mike start to have less and less scenes as the season progresses. Joyce and Hopper must deal with an external struggle, a tangible goal, and while it does not test Joyce’s character to a point of any real change, Hopper has just one and this is explored only by the last two or three episodes. Prior to that, it’s just trying to survive in Russia.

And while Eleven is poised to be the show’s central figure, her character must endure a necessary trial to get her abilities back but plays out a story we’ve all seen before in one shape or another. It feels more like Eleven’s storyline was meant more to introduce somebody new.

It’s in Hawkins where the show really feels like the show we’ve come to love and it’s there that I want to focus all my attention. It’s in Hawkins, with Nancy, Steve, Robin, Dustin (Gaten Materazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Erica (Priah Ferguson), and new addition Eddie (Joseph Quinn), where the mystery of Vecna is truly explored, experienced, and felt.

Image courtesy of Netflix

It’s in Hawkins where the heavy themes are truly explored like radical conservatism and surviving trauma, which are handled in a way that shows their frightening aspects but also still done with a good mix of seriousness and humor. The monster is not that important, though the show manages to pivot that thought later in the season in an interesting way, but his presence is necessary because that’s the impetus for the fun stuff to happen – when the Hawkins group tries to solve the mystery, working together and using past experiences to rationalize their findings. It’s the stuff that pays tribute to old 80s and early 90s movies like ‘The Goonies’ and ‘E.T.; and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and the like that gave the show its working DNA.

And on a personal note, I just love how pivotal a Kate Bush song becomes in two episodes of the season. Amazing use of music, as always.

Hopefully, when Volume Two arrives in July, episodes 8 and 9 will interweave the stories again to give us the show we’ve come to love and prepare us for the announced fifth and final season of the show.

And hopefully, they won’t make us wait another three years before we can properly say goodbye.

My Rating:

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All episodes of ‘Stranger Things 4‘ Vol. 1 are now streaming on Netflix. Vol. 2 will premiere on July 1, 2022.

ALSO READ:
‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Interviews: Darker Journeys, New Faces, and Vecna of The Upside Down
11 Scenes from ‘Stranger Things 2’ that Gave Us Chills
All Grown Up: A Review of ‘Stranger Things 3’
Close Encounters with Eleven: Q&A with Netflix ‘Stranger Things’ Star Millie Bobby Brown

May 30, 2022