Category: Movies

MOVIE REVIEW: The Unflinching ‘An Inconvenient Love’ Showcases the Power of Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan’s Love Team

There are three things that the film ‘An Inconvenient Love’ wants you to know within the first act of the film’s narrative. First, that this is a good old-fashion Star Cinema/ABS-CBN Films rom-com with all the magic that those qualifiers imply. Second, that the world is tough (with images of a rally and protest staged by workers against their employers juxtaposed by the struggles of the working class just getting to work everyday) and that in the hustle and bustle of daily living, really, love is such an inconvenience. It can derail everything. And thirdly, that the chemistry of lead stars Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan is electric and can light up a whole theater with their onscreen sparks.

There’s so much to enjoy in director Petersen Vargas’ ‘An Inconvenient Love.’ From the way it opens with real-world challenges (such as the aforementioned strike) and a revisiting of the typical rich boy-poor girl rom-com dynamic to the way with which the film pushes all that aside to make way for the romantic thrills that comes with the movie and how it all manages to get all these narrative points intertwined again for its dramatic ending. This film is a healing salve to these troubled times as it is not afraid to juxtapose pressing issues of labor and economic struggle with the highs and lows of romantic love. There is an escapism that is formed in the second act of the film when all the social awareness issues head to the background to focus on the kilig moments – when the film embraces its rom-com tone and atmosphere head on – but easily brings it back for its satisfying resolution.

It’s the story of a rich boy, Manny (Donny Pangilinan), who is a shop owner and is rebelling against his dad by supporting the workers of his dad’s company, who are on strike. Manny meets Ayef (Belle Mariano), a working student, whose dream is to finish school and work in Singapore. They meet on a bridge, with Manny running away from a protest gone violent and he asks for Ayef’s help to get away. It’s love at first sight for the two as the adrenaline from the situation heightens each other’s senses and they become fully aware of each other.

Both Manny and Ayef are attracted to each other but there are more practical concerns that need their more immediate attention. At this point in time, love really is an inconvenience and the film really finds interesting ways to highlight this.

But love is such a tempting escape and both decide to make a contract for a love that is convenient and practical; a contract that would not hinder both parties – Ayef most especially as she wants to continue her dreams of flying off to Singapore – from living their lives.

But that’s not how these things go and the film manages to explore the consequences wonderfully.

This is my first time watching Mariano and Pangilinan and I get it now. The chemistry is palpable. Pangilinan does have moments (usually his scenes without Mariano) where he’s not in the moment as I would like him to be but when he’s working a scene with Mariano, it’s pure magic. She, on the other hand, has a very un-self-conscious way about her that makes her feel so real and grounded. She doesn’t rely on pretty to make her character work and she’s so enjoyable to watch.

Amongst the ensemble, Teresa Loyzaga and Matet De Leon are the ones who truly stand out and don’t feel at all like supporting characters. They inhabit their characters so fully that you feel like you can make a separate film on just their characters alone.

Vargas does an incredible job at juggling the elements he’s working with and knows the strengths and weaknesses of the film. He even playfully plays around with some Kdrama tropes at the beginning of the film – the umbrella sequence, someone falling and someone catching the other, even mentions of Kpop fandom – but is quick to let it go once his movie is in full swing.

Overall, ‘An Inconvenient Love’ is such a return to form for ABS-CBN and Star Cinema. It’s vibrant and playful and unflinching to both its genre and its story’s own message.

My Rating:

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An Inconvenient Love is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

December 1, 2022
Power and Struggle: a review of ‘Triangle of Sadness’

Bold and in-your-face, Ruben Ostlund’s satirical black comedy ‘Triangle of Sadness’ goes all out in depicting the absurdity of the excesses of the rich and affluent while building a biting commentary on class inequality and the distribution of wealth and power. The film is not afraid to get didactic as characters have extended dialogues (and monologues) regarding gender norms and a drunken battle of words between a Marxist captain of a 250 million dollar yacht (played by Woody Harrelson) and a Russian capitalist oligarch (played by Zlatco Buric) while the aforementioned yacht is being bombarded by a storm and threatens to capsize. Everything is then turned on its head by its revelatory third act that binds everything together. It’s a tonal challenge to maintain the dark and (oftentimes vulgar) satire for its 149-minute running time, but the imagery along with the excellent performances keep you on your seats and eyes transfixed to the screen.

‘Triangle of Sadness’ is not a conventional movie by any sense of the word. From the get-go, the satire hits hard as the film explores and pokes fun at all its characters. To ground us to a storyline, we follow the model and influencer couple Carl and Yaya (played by Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean, respectively), as they navigate the power struggles within their own relationship as they are invited to join a cruise (for free) on a yacht for the extremely wealthy. Through Carl and Yaya, we are introduced to the other guests onboard like Russian capitalist oligarch Dimitry; Therese (Iris Berben), a woman who suffered a stroke and can only utter one phrase in German; Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin), a lonely tech millionaire; an old couple, who made their fortune selling weapons; and the rest.

Photo from ‘Triangle of Sadness’ trailer

On the yacht, the rich engage in their most indulgent of whims and the hapless crew must cater to their every desire. Led by Paula (Vicki Berlin), the crew and staff work tirelessly to ensure the guests get everything they want and desire, even if those desires run contrary to the rules or the safety of the ship.

For over an hour and a half, we are presented with a vast display of absurd requests and acts of great entitlement and privilege from the wealthy class. It’s writer and director Ruben Ostlund’s way for us to set a moral line before he turns everything over its head.

Past the halfway point of the film, the narrative finally reaches its inciting incident and a storm crashes into the ship sending the whole yacht into a frenzy. It’s a well-executed scene as the whole ship tosses and turns. People get sick. They vomit and defecate everywhere. They lose their balance and stumble and fall. Visually, it’s a reprisal of what we just saw unfold in the first hour and a half. It’s brutal and grotesque but also weirdly humorous.

Photo from ‘Triangle of Sadness’ trailer

But the movie doesn’t end there. The third act is an entirely different movie altogether where the structures in place have been overturned and the rules of the game have changed. This is when Abigail (played with great power and nuance by Dolly De Leon), a toilet manager on the yacht, finds her footing in the circumstances that follow and puts her in a position of power that continues Ostlund’s criticism of society and the way things are.

Throughout the storm sequence, Harrelson’s captain and Buric’s Dimitry drunkenly argue over the ideologies of Marxism and capitalism and all of this now is evidently played out in the third act. Everything that was deemed important in the first two acts have been stripped away. It is in the way people change and how relationships shift and turn in the third act that we can see what it is that Ostlund is trying to do and what he is commenting on.

Photo from ‘Triangle of Sadness’ trailer

Almost invisible in the first two acts, Dolly De Leon’s Abigail takes center stage and the Marxist ideologies start to come to the fore. This movie is all about power and the struggles that come with navigating its complexities. It begins first with Carl and Yaya’s relationships and the expectations of gender roles then branches out to the yacht with all the excesses of the extremely wealthy and their absurd whims. Finally, when you take away all the frills and the luxuries that don’t really matter in the day-to-day of things, priorities shift and new power structures are formed.

Photo from ‘Triangle of Sadness’ trailer

Ostlund’s ‘Triangle of Sadness’ has a way of demonizing and villainizing all the characters who have power. With an ending that is filled to the brim with irony and a final insult to the characters in the film, ‘Triangle of Sadness’ offers us no real solution or catharsis for what we just witnessed because we are being asked how complicit we are to the systems that are in place that makes these inequalities so blatant. To laugh at this (and it is funny) is to recognise the truth of what the film is saying. And we have done nothing.

My Rating:

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Triangle of Sadness is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

November 30, 2022
WATCH: New “Babylon” Trailer Further Reveals Tale of Outsized Ambition

About Babylon

Paramount Pictures Presents A Marc Platt / Wild Chickens / Organism Pictures Production A Damien Chazelle Film BABYLON.

From Damien Chazelle, BABYLON is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, produced by Marc Platt, Matthew Plouffe, Olivia Hamilton, executive produced by Michael Beugg, Tobey Maguire, Wyck Godfrey, Helen Estabrook, Adam Siegel

Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Tobey Maguire, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde

Babylon is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #BabylonMovie and tag @paramountpicsph

Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”

November 29, 2022
David Harbour’s Strange Santa Comes to the Rescue in “Violent Night”

From 87North, the producers of non-stop action thrills with groundbreaking fight sequences such as John Wick and Bullet Train comes “Violent Night”, where Santa is pitted against bad guys on Christmas day and shows them what Christmas is like for the naughty ones.

Violent Night’s Santa Claus is the real Santa, but in a way that we’ve never seen him before. This Santa is a protector and a warrior with some seriously bad-ass skills, but when we meet him in the film, he’s become slightly bitter and tired about the otherwise merry holiday. “He’s lost faith in humanity, and he feels the spirit of Christmas disappearing, which has made him into a shell of a man,” director Tommy Wirkola says.

Santa is at a crossroads. “Santa is having a bit of an existential crisis and he’s lost his Christmas spirit,” producer Kelly McCormick says. “Christmas has been overtaken by consumerism and greed, and he’s ready to hang up his boots until he enters the Lightstone home and realizes a little girl Trudy and her family are in danger.”

It turns out, that before Santa donned the jolly red suit and hitched up the reindeer, he had a very different life—a history that’s about to make him the ideal protector for this exact moment. “Santa was a greedy, violent Norwegian Viking who traveled the Scandinavian countries in search of treasure, killing anyone who got in his way,” Wirkola says. “It was the elves and the magic of Christmas that he discovered. This was the moment that he was offered some redemption and he found that in giving back, he could redeem who he was born to be, rather than a violent murderer. So, when we meet him in the film, he hasn’t thought about that life or been close to that life for hundreds of years, but over the course of the events of the film, he’s forced to put some of his skills from the past into practice.”

Finding the ideal actor to play Santa was essential. “It needed to be someone with the natural gravitas of Santa Claus and his sense of kindness and generosity, but there also needed to be some mystery in him beneath the surface,” Wirkola says. “He also had to be able to not only kick ass, but also be able to sell the emotional moments, too. David Harbour (Stranger Things) was the first person we reached out to because he had a combination of all those things.”

Harbour also had the benefit of being a bit of a mystery himself to the public. For his part, Harbour wasn’t initially sure about the role when the idea of the film was first explained to him. “I first heard the pitch from my agent, who told me, ‘It’s a violent Santa Claus movie,’” Harbour says. “My initial response was, ‘What are you talking about?’ But then, they told me the filmmakers wanted to talk to me about it. So, they called me up and told me the general idea, and it sounded so hilarious, fresh and different, but in my mind, it was still a big risk because it was like two movies smashed into one. That’s what was so unique about it.”

An R-16 holiday film from Universal Pictures International, “Violent Night” will open in cinemas on November 30.

November 25, 2022
Dreamworks Animation’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” to Open in PH Cinemas on December 7

Academy Award® nominee Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious PiB in “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” as he embarks on his grandest journey into the Black Forest to recover his passion for adventure in search for the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left and no other options, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Soft Paws (Oscar® nominee Salma Hayek). Along with their quest is the ratty, chatty and relentlessly cheerful mutt named Perro (voiced by Harvey Guillen). Together, the trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldilocks (Oscar® nominee Florence Pugh, Black Widow) and the Three Bears Crime Family, “Big” Jack Horner (Emmy winner John Mulaney, Big Mouth) and terrifying bounty hunter, The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura, Narcos).

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” features an all-star comedic cast that includes Oscar® winner Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone (Black Widow), Samson Kayo (Sliced), Emmy nominee Anthony Mendez (Jane the Virgin) and Tony nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Trolls World Tour).

November 23, 2022
A Daring Cinematic Feast: a review of ‘Bones and All’

It is in the merging of so many different genres – coming-of-age, horror, romance, and the road trip movie – that ‘Bones and All’ manages to find a space where its frightening premise can find solid ground. After all, this is essentially a love story about two cannibals and director Luca Guadignino treats them as ordinary and as complex as any other human being. He treats their love and their love story with just as much tenderness and care as if they weren’t troubled by the fact that they have to eat human flesh every now and then.

Based on the novel of the same name by Camille DeAngelis and from a script by David Kaiganich, ‘Bones and All’ never tries to explain our two lead characters’ dietary proclivities. There is a whole world and mythology that surrounds them but the film never makes it about them being – what our lead character later learns – what are known as “eaters.” We follow the story of Maren (played by Taylor Russell) as another incident causes her father and herself to leave town once again. As she is abandoned by her father and left with a cassette tape (the film is set in the 80s in rural America) narrating what he knows about her and “her condition,” she sets out to find her missing mother in a road trip of self-discovery and love.

Photo from ‘Bones and All’ Twitter

She meets another eater called Sully, played by Mark Rylance, and then later Timothee Chalamet’s Lee, who Maren finds attractive. Through these two interactions (and a few more as the movie progresses) Maren begins to understand what it means to be an eater and must now navigate growing up alone and different from everyone else.

Except she’s not alone, because Lee has asked her to stay and the two go cross-country to find Maren’s mom. In the dark, lonely, and scary world of being an eater, Maren and Lee find solace and comfort in each other.

Except they eat people.

Photo from ‘Bones and All’ Twitter

Beautifully shot by Arseni Khachaturan and with a dynamic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, ‘Bones and All’ manages to shift between tender moments of vulnerability and the frightening brutality of their hunger. Guadagnino is completely unafraid to present a confessional scene about eating someone as a tender and fragile moment for Lee, with Reznor and Ross’ musical score playing it as a sweet romantic moment for Lee and Maren to become more deeply bonded. There are scenes of utter tenderness where both Russell and Chalamet are drenched in blood. It’s incredible the dynamics that are going on in this movie. Guadagnino proves that love is so universal that we can relate to a young couple finding safety and comfort in each other even if they are man-eating cannibals. We even end up rooting for them somehow.

Symbolically, you could take this eater couple as a metaphor for any sort of othering: the fact that they are a mixed race couple, outliers or misfits, you can even turn it into a metaphor for queer relationships, or any sort of undesirable coupling (based on the majority) and the film can be a discussion point about the humanity that can be found between any two people who have genuinely found love. It can be a metaphor for children and teens that are abandoned by their parents who have to fend for themselves and must navigate the world alone with no real moral compass to tell them what is right or wrong.

Photo from ‘Bones and All’ Twitter

I prefer to take it exactly for what it is: it’s a love story about two people who eat people. A new race of beings, maybe an evolutionary step, who knows? And the film is the tragic love story of these young eaters, who want to build a life together despite their difference in appetite from the rest of society. It’s strange and weird and even grotesque at some point but in the way that it is shot and presented and performed, it’s just so beautiful and strangely touching and moving.

Russell, Chalamet, and Rylance all deliver such textured and nuanced work. These characters feel lived-in and never feel hokey. There are even scene-stealing moments from Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloe Sevigny.

Photo from ‘Bones and All’ Twitter

There’s so much to digest (pun intended) in ‘Bones and All.’ There are so many ways to interpret it but for some reason, I feel most comfortable taking it for face value. The sheer confidence of Guadagnino and his cast and crew to present this film without any sentimentality or camp makes it brimming with humanity that runs counter to dark and brutal imagery. It’s a cinematic feast that you can chew on for days and still find something to ruminate on and feel through.

My Rating:

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Bones and All is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

November 23, 2022
The Emotional Impact of Cold-Hard Facts: a review of ‘She Said’

I came into the cinema without any knowledge on what She Said would be about. All I knew before coming in was that it was a movie about investigative journalism with Carey Mulligan as one of the leads, who is also gaining a lot of attention for her performance. What threw me for a loop was that the film was based on real events, and ‘She Said’ is the story of Jodi Kantor (played by Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan), the two journalists of The New York Times who investigated and published the article on Harvey Weinstein’s history of abuse and sexual misconducted that sparked the #MeToo movement back in 2017.

The film opens strong with Mulligan as Twohey and how she goes head-to-head with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election. She breaks the story on Trump’s misconduct with women and how, despite the reports, Trump still manages to win the election and Twohey’s world starts to get tougher as she and her source receives death threats and the like.

Five months later and we then follow Kazan playing Jodi Kantor who is following up on a story that she picked up about sexual abuse and workplace harassment in Hollywood. As she begins following the threads of the story, it begins to resemble the Harvey Weinstein incident and she calls on Twohey to help her put the story together.

Photo from ‘She Said’ trailer

What is absolutely incredible about director Maria Schrader’s coverage of this story is how devoid of drama it is. Except for one scene that feels scripted and manipulative, a scene between Twohey and Kantor in the middle of the film where they ask each other if they wished they didn’t go through with this story, the rest of ‘She Said’ is just dealing with the facts of the case and the process by which the two journalists and their editorial board at The New York Times went about putting the story together.

Photo from ‘She Said’ trailer

If you remember strongly the Harvey Weinstein case, celebrities and actresses like Rose McGowan, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd were names that were being tossed around this investigation. The film doesn’t shy away from this, representing the real people of this story from Trump, Paltrow, and McGowan to phone conversations with actors who sound very much like the people they are portraying and Ashley Judd, who appears on screen as herself. Part of the stripping down of the film’s dramatic flair, director Maria Schrader keeps most of the real-world stars as voices on a recording or on a telephone and minimizes their close-ups when they do show up (as they did with Ashley Judd). With very little tricky camera work, ‘She Said’ is focused entirely on the stories of these women, especially the women working behind the scenes, whose lives were destroyed by their interactions and engagements with Weinstein.

Photo from ‘She Said’ trailer

Except for one story, almost all the recounting of the acts of abuse and sexual misconduct were told by the actor portraying these women with no flashbacks or cutaways. It’s almost as if these are testimonials and we have to listen to them like a jury. Of the many performances of these testimonials, it is the ones by Jennifer Ehle as Laura Madden, and a spectacularly riveting monologue by Samantha Morton as Zelda Perkins that really shows the power of truth spoken aloud without the need of additional flourishes.

Schrader and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz (based on the book by Kantor and Twohey) go through the details of the two journalists’ challenges on being able to gather the evidence needed to publish their story. Through every step of their investigation, they uncover horrendous systems in place that protect men in power and silence women. Devoid of over-dramatizing scenes and story points, ‘She Said’ can seem clinical, antiseptic but the cold-hard facts of what is uncovered creates the drama on its own. I was sitting in the cinema wringing my hands and getting angrier with every new testimonial.

Who knew that facts alone could be so emotionally charged?

Photo from ‘She Said’ trailer

Very much like ‘Spotlight,’ this movie revels in the process of investigative journalism. It’s the process, not the emotions nor even the case itself, that ignites the energy of the film and amplifies its theme. What Schrader and Lenkiewicz does, to push the humanity just a bit without going too over-the-top, is to frame both Twohey and Kantor not just as courageous and determined journalists, but also as empathetic women and dedicated mothers as well. It’s these little details – from juggling parenthood and career and the way with which these women empathize with their subjects – that really underscore the issues of this film.

We know this story and we’ve read it in the news. We’ve seen how it ends but seeing the process of it, the details of the investigation, clearly defines our world for the misogynistic and patriarchal world that it was (and still is).

I hope more and more people get to see this film.

My Rating:

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She Said is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.

November 23, 2022
Interview with the Filipino Artists Behind Disney’s ‘Strange World’

Disney has yet to take us into another adventure with their new animated feature film, Strange World!

Promising to be another fun family flick, Strange World follows the Clades, a family of legendary explorers who sets foot on an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures reside. But as they embark on this journey, the Clades’ differences will threaten their most crucial mission yet.

Before the release of the movie in cinemas, we got to chat with two Filipino artists who worked from behind the scenes of Strange World: Mikee Sevilla (Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto) who served as an animator for the movie, and Virgilio John Aquino (Frozen 2, Raya and the Last Dragon) who served as a modeler. In a virtual roundtable interview, the two artists talked about their processes in working on the film, how they relate to its characters, and more!

Check out the highlights of the interview below:

What has it been like to witness that shift of diversity and representation in these animated films from Disney?

Mikee Sevilla (MS): I think it’s very important obviously, to have representation in films. That’s something that we’re always trying to strive for. Hopefully, this film inspires young kids to be themselves, be who they are, and allow them to be more comfortable.

Virgilio John Aquino (VJA) : I totally agree. Disney always strives to tell different stories and we always deal with different themes. In this case, we have three generations of the Clades, and they’re trying to get along and trying to figure each other out because everyone has their own dream. When kids see themselves, they’re gonna relate to young Ethan– all the kids who aspire to be themselves and just be accepted to be who they are, and just be allowed to be humans.

Photo: Disney website

In Strange World, did you have a favorite model to work on?

VJA: Yes actually. I worked on the Venture, which is the big exploration ship that they used to go on this fantastic journey into this unknown space. It’s a big task because it has to be a functioning, kind of ship, and it’s always great to see it on the big screen and on the small screen whenever we do testing and stuff.

How was it working on Disney films, before and during the pandemic, and now that we’re almost back to normal?

MS: I started with Disney when the pandemic happened. Even up to now, I’m still working from home, but they’re starting to bring people back in. Actually, in two weeks, I’ll be working onsite at Disney which I’m very excited about!

VJA: For me, it’s been a learning experience, especially during the pandemic. We’re always used to having our fellow artists in the next room, we’re always collaborating. But when the pandemic hit and we had to revert to working from home, it was a little disconcerting but you know, we worked it out and we were able to get our work done. Because we would be concerned that, ‘Oh my gosh, how are we gonna make films now? How are we gonna tell these fantastic stories?’ but when there’s a will there’s a way, and we were able to work from home and as Mikee said, we’re starting to get back into the building… It’s great that Disney is allowing us to have that flexibility to work from home, work hybrid, or just go in [and work full-time].

Photo: Disney website

To which character were you able to relate to the most?

VJA: I think for me, it was more with Ethan, because we’re talking about three generations in the film that are coming together. They’re trying to figure out how to relate to each other and stuff. For me, I’m always relating [them] to my father and my grandfather. You’re always gonna be the young one, you’re always gonna relate, because you grew up being a kid under their eyes, and then you grew up a little, and all of a sudden you have your own thoughts and your own ideas.

So I think that what’s interesting in the film, for me, is how they explore those relationships. And with Ethan, to me, he’s my point of view as far as how he deals with the generational gap and the communication gaps when you talk to your father and grandfather. Sometimes they cannot relate, and that’s fine. At some point you have to work things out.

Photo: Disney website

Is there a particular sequence that you worked on that was most memorable for you?

MS: I was cast on a few family shots where Ethan is talking with his mom in the Venture. That was a very meaningful sequence to work on, mainly because you could see Ethan just longing for something, and his mom being super supportive of it. And working on Ethan, in general, was very meaningful for me, because I got to be involved in pre-production for the character so that’s really figuring out who this character is and how this character moves and behaves. So one of the things I enjoyed doing was, sort of incorporating– although Ethan was I would say generally masculine, you know everyone has both feminine and masculine sides to them– and I think being playful, creating this character, and showing his softer side, that was really fun to do.

How different was it working on an animated film that has a sci-fi adventure genre?

MS: I think for this particular film, since we didn’t really do any research trips on this film, it was really just from your imagination, so I feel like the director was really responding to just strange, weird things. So it’s really just, go crazy, and we’ll sort of pull back if it gets too far. That’s a little different than the films that I had to work on because for films like Raya and Encanto, those are very cultural-specific things, so certain gestures are from that culture. So yeah, this one’s different, I would say, for sure.

Photo: ‘Strange World’ on Twitter

VJA: I think that for this film, there was a pandemic going on and stuff. You know, what I had to do was really find that adventurous part of myself and inventive part in myself as well. And when I was tasked to model the Venture, there were a lot of mechanical things that I wasn’t privy to, because I’m not a mechanic. So I had to research online just how things work, how certain mechanisms would work if it was a real ship.

Then just before the pandemic, we actually had a team that took pictures of going into a real ship and just taking pictures of the interior of that ship. I was able to draw from that as well. But you know, I would like to have gone onto a real ship and looked at it myself, being a modeler and stuff. But a lot of it was like, 80% of it was research online, and 20% of it was pure imagination and just making stuff up, that’s very unique to the film, and I think that we pulled it off.

With the arrival of Disney+ in the Philippines, what are your top three recommendations from the streaming platform while we wait for Strange World to come out in cinemas?

MS: Well, Raya and The Last Dragon, Encanto, [laughs], and John, you give the third recommendation. What else would you recommend?

VJA: Zootopia, yeah, that’s a good one. For me, it would be Raya and The Last Dragon [laughs]. I always liked the classics, I always say, “Watch Beauty and The Beast.” That’s one of my favorite animated films of all time. And if I might be a little self-appreciating– self-promotion I mean– here, go see Lightning in a Bottle at the Short Circuit, there are a lot of great short stories there, but yeah, see mine too.

Photo: ‘Strange World’ on Twitter

ALSO READ
WATCH: Pinoy Animator Mikee Sevilla on Working for Disney’s ‘Encanto: A Magical World’

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Strange World opens in cinemas today! Buy your tickets here.

November 23, 2022
Cannibal Love Story “Bones and All” Gets R-16 Rating, To Be Shown With No Cuts

The MTRCB explained in its decision that “the film contains graphic but non-gratuitous depiction of violence and gore, themes of cannibalism, that may not be suitable for children below sixteen (16) years of age.”

In the US, “Bones and All” also received an R rating from the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) “for strong, bloody and disturbing violent content, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.”

The New York Times has described the film as “Gory, ridiculous and curiously touching,” while the Los Angeles Times found it “unsettling and heartbreaking in equal measure.”

“Bones and All” is “difficult to watch, but looking away is harder still,” says The New Yorker, as Bloody Disgusting raved that “It’s as elegant as carnal and carnivorous, and it’ll take a bite out of your heart if you let it.”

From Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures comes “Bones and All,” a movie about love, directed by Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name”), who recently won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2022 Venice Film Festival for the film.

“Bones and All” is a story of first love between Maren (Taylor Russell), a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee (Timothée Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter… as they meet and join together for a thousand-mile odyssey which takes them through the back roads, hidden passages and trap doors of Ronald Reagan’s America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will determine whether their love can survive their otherness.

“Bones and All” stars Taylor Russell (“Waves,” “The Heart Still Hums,”), who won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Timothée Chalamet (Oscar-nominated for “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dune”); Michael Stuhlbarg (“Call Me by Your Name,” “The Shape of Water”); André Holland (“Passing,” “Moonlight”); Chloë Sevigny (“We Are Who We Are,” “American Horror Story”); David Gordon Green (“Halloween Ends,” “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”); Jessica Harper (“Suspiria,” “Minority Report”); Jake Horowitz (“Adam Bloom,” “The Vast of Night”); and Mark Rylance (Oscar winner for “Bridge of Spies,” “Wolf Hall”).

The screenplay is by David Kajganich (“Suspiria,” “A Bigger Splash”), based on the novel by Camille DeAngelis.

In cinemas across the Philippines starting November 23, “Bones and All” is distributed in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Discovery company. Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #BonesAndAll

Photo & Video Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

November 22, 2022
WATCH: New ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ Vignette Celebrates Whitney Houston

Check out the new vignette titled Celebrating Whitney Houston and watch I Wanna Dance with Somebody exclusively in cinemas across the Philippines on January 8, 2023.

“The most challenging part of portraying Whitney Houston is…portraying Whitney Houston,” says Naomi Ackie, star of Columbia Pictures’ I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Academy Award® nominee Anthony McCarten, produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis and starring BAFTA Award® winner Naomi Ackie, the film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?

Photo: Columbia Pictures

Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Anthony McCarten, produced by Anthony McCarten, Pat Houston, Clive Davis, Larry Mestel, Denis O’Sullivan, Jeff Kalligheri, Matt Jackson, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Thad Luckinbill, Matt Salloway, Christina Papagjika.

The film stars Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams and Clarke Peters.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Connect with the hashtag #IWannaDanceMovie

November 22, 2022