Sa'yo Lamang & Despicable Me

Sa'yo Lamang Director: Laurice Guillen (Tanging Yaman, I Love You Goodbye) Starring: Bea Alonzo, Lorna Tolentino, Christopher de Leon, Coco Martin, Enchong Dee, Miles Ocampo, Shaina Magdayao Sa'yo Lamang is a modern take on Tanging Yaman, not that the latter should be modernized because it's so last decade. Oh wait, Tanging Yaman was shown last decade. There are many similarities between the two: the title that pertains to a religious song, the broken family, the sick matriarch, the ensemble treatment, and the central themes of forgiveness and faith. However, Sa'yo Lamang is like a little sister trying to follow the footsteps of her successful older sister. I'm not saying that Sa'yo Lamang is no good. There is just nothing new. But it's better than any of the rom-coms Star Cinema has produced this year. The central drama (the one that involves the dutiful eldest daughter) is strong and the characters are beautifully flawed. Just five minutes into the movie, you'll hear members of the audience sobbing because of Bea Alonzo's cussword scene with Christopher de Leon. This is Bea's acting vehicle and best work to date. A real tear-jerker. Rating: 3/5 Despicable Me Director: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud Featuring the voices of: Steve Carrell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews If you look into the dictionary to search for the meaning of the word despicable, you won't find anything that will describe this film. There is nothing vile or mean or awful or despicable about Despicable Me. Instead, the film is funny and adorable and touching and charming. Despite some slapstick, its overall humor is solid and the characters are memorable: the bidang-kontrabida Gru, the minions, and three girls (most especially Agnes). Rating: 3.5/5

Sigwa: I wish it had more balls

Barely a year ago, the tandem of director Joel Lamangan and screenwriter Bonifacio Ilagan brought us the courageous political thriller Dukot (Desaparecidos), an account of forced disappearances of the “enemies” of the government. This year, the duo reunites for another politically charged drama. Sigwa tackles the First Quarter Storm (FQS), a period of student revolt from January to March of 1970 wherein people’s marches and heavy picketing took place to oust former president Ferdinand Marcos from public office. In an attempt to suppress the rebellion, the riot police used brute force to disperse the demonstrators. FQS is said to be one of the reasons why Marcos declared Martial Law two years after. The film begins with the arrival of Dolly (Dawn Zulueta), a Fil-Am journalist who documented the student activism in Manila back in 1970. After being deported in 1975 because of her ties with communist groups, she returns to the Philippines to find her daughter who is supposed to be dead. In her search, she reconnects with her old friends from the FQS movement. It’s interesting to see the changes these student activists have undergone after 35 years. Rading (Jaime Pebanco) is still an activist at heart, Cita (Zsa Zsa Padilla) joined the guerilla forces, Azon (Gina Alajar) took refuge in a far-flung province, and Oliver (Tirso Cruz III), the “defender of the status quo”, is now working for the administration. Their stories unfold through a series of non-linear flashbacks showing us what happened during the First Quarter Storm and the tumultuous years after it. Like any other martial law epic, there are mandatory torture scenes and rape sequences. The men are treated like human punching bags, while the women are treated like masochistic hookers. But none of it is gritty enough to be repulsive or emotionally affecting. Even the rally dispersal scenes are too tame to make a lasting effect. Lamangan, dubbed as the “Festival King”, is a fixture in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). He megged five Mano Po installments, twoDesperadas films, and a number of melodramas such as Filipinas, Aishite Imasu 1941, and Deathrow. This year, Lamangan dips his toes in the country’s premiere independent film festival. Sigwa is Lamangan’s entry in the Director’s Showcase category of Cinemalaya alongside Mario O’ Hara’sAng Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio, Mark Meilly’s Donor, Gil Portes’s Two Funerals, and Joselito Altarejos’s Pink Halo-Halo. Lamangan brings the glitter of mainstream filmmaking to Cinemalaya through his all-star cast. We’re so used to seeing these well-known actors and actresses play the same characters on TV that it’s refreshing to see them take on more challenging roles. Sigwa’s cast can be considered as one of the best acting ensembles that graced Cinemalaya. The younger generation of student activists is played by Megan Young as Dolly, Jay Aquitania as Rading, Pauleen Luna as Cita, Lovi Poe as Azon, Marvin Agustin as Oliver, and Allen Dizon as Eddie. The younger actors display sheer tenacity. There is fire in their eyes and angst in their heart. Their acting verges on passionate and compelling to over-the-top and all-over-the-place. Among the six, Marvin is a clear stand-out. He is often criticized for overacting, but Marvin’s overacting works perfectly for his role as Oliver. If the young stars are ferocious but rough around the edges, the veteran actors are polished and pitch-perfect. Dawn is convincing as a hopefulbalikbayan mother longing for her daughter. Her fake American accent gets in the way though. Gina and Jaime nailed their roles with aplomb. Their slightest gestures reveal hidden emotions and suppressed pains. But it is Zsa Zsa and Tirso who stole the show. Their scenes are explosive and exhilarating. Lamangan should have given them more screen time than Dawn. Zsa Zsa’s conviction is negated by Tirso’s cynicism. Their war of words and clash of ideas are full of gravitas that will make the audience contemplate the social and political climate of the country. Is the era of communism a long forgotten past? Now that the Marcos regime is vanquished, isn’t it time to wave the white flag and put the revolution to rest? There are no easy answers. It is up to the audience, left with their own judgment, to evaluate the opposing ideas eloquently presented. It is such a shame that the weighty issues were discussed only at the tail end of the film. Sigwa could have been a more compelling film if they shifted the focus from the human drama (i.e. Dolly’s reunion with her daughter) to the social dynamics of the story. It might be a conscious decision on the filmmaker’s part to play it safe to be more palatable to the general public, and that’s understandable. But for a film that is meant to commemorate 40 years of civil unrest, I wish it had more balls.

Rating: 3/5

Toy Story 3 is a weepie?

Out of the ten Pixar films, most of which unanimously praised by kids and kids at heart, I’ve only seen five – Toy Story 1 & 2, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Up. I can barely remember what Toy Story 1 & 2 were about. I think Up was mildly entertaining. But I tremendously enjoyed Finding Nemo and WALL-E. Dory (voiced by the effervescent Ellen DeGeneres) is my favorite animated character of all time. I’m not ashamed to admit that Finding Nemo made me cry. Meanwhile, I ranked WALL-E as my 4^th favorite film of 2008, beating the likes of The Dark Knight and Wanted. But overall, I can’t really say that I’m a huge fan of Pixar or of animated films in general.

Despite being a banner year for animated films, I only saw two in 2009 – Coraline and Up. Both were tolerable at best. I have the slightest interest to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mary and Max, and Ponyo despite the acclaim they have received. So when Pixar announced that Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang will bounce back to the silverscreen after 11 long years, my reaction was: “Hollywood, when will your addiction to sequels end?” I think a third installment is largely unnecessary. It took a 100% “fresh” rating (not a single negative review as of last week) on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates movie reviews and ratings from film critics, to convince me to give Toy Story 3 a shot.

As I said earlier, I can barely remember what Toy Story 1 & 2 were about, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. If your memory is as unreliable as mine, fret not. The opening montage set to the tune of You Got A Friend In Me will refresh your memory on the toys’ relationship with their owner/friend Andy. But Andy is already 17 years old and is leaving for college soon. After a garbage bag mix-up, the toys thought they were going to the dump. Tired of gathering dust and longing to be played with, they decided to donate themselves to Sunnyside Day Care. But Sunnyside isn’t so sunny after all, it is ruled by a maniacal, power-tripping, strawberry-scented purple teddy bear Lotso. They are banished to the Caterpillar Room where they are chewed on, thrown all over, and played with by overly rowdy toddlers. In exciting Prison Break fashion, the gang plots their grand escape out of Sunnyside and back to Andy’s house.

You’ve probably heard your friends say that Toy Story 3 is a weepie. If you’re the type who laughs at your friends when they cried watching Dear John, I can just imagine how you will berate them after making that bold proclamation that Toy Story 3, an animated film about toys, is a tearjerker. But they were telling the truth, especially if you’re one of those kids who grew up with the franchise. I could hear an orchestra of sniffles playing during the last two scenes (the garbage incinerator scene and the inevitable conclusion), so practice wiping off your tears while wearing those 3D glasses.

Hollywood, take heed, this is how you cap off a fantastic franchise. Damn! What an ending!

But that doesn’t mean that Toy Story 3 will bore kids with its adult sentiments. Pixar stamps it with their signature brand of adventure and joy. Without giving away too much, some of the highlights of Toy Story 3 are Buzz Lightyear in Español mode, Mr. Potato Head in a tortilla, Mr. Prickle Pant's improv, and Ken, Barbie’s metrosexual lover. So I guess it’s safe to assume that Woody and Buzz will be shaking hands with the golden statue next year. A Best Picture nod, a Best Adapted Screenplay nod, and a Best Animated Feature award are within reach.

Rating: 4.5/5

Note: Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Pixar film on the sidebar.

Zombieland Survival 101

Ruben Fleischer’s Zombieland, the Americal cousin of Shaun of the Dead, brings the zombie genre back to life in this hilarious and inventive road trip movie. When the undead takes over the world, an unlikely alliance is formed among Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, all this time I thought he was Michael Cera, dumbass!), Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson.), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine fame).

They’re not after saving the world. That would be too clichéd, don’t you think? Columbus is content just to survive… and maybe get hitched while doing so. Tallahassee wants to get his hand on the Earth’s last remaining Twinkies. While Wichita and Little Rock want to go to an amusement park. These guys have big ambitions, I must say. But as one of Columbus’ Rules of Survival state: enjoy the little things.

See some of his rules below.

Armed with these rules and some ammo, they put the undead to rest while having a lot of fun on the side. Production is slick. Acting is convincing and funny. Script is clever. This may not be the most original zombie movie you’ll ever see, but it’s one of the most fun and entertaining.

And don’t forget about the last rule, some rules are made to be broken.

Watch the trailer here.

Rating: 3.5/5

Did James Cameron Top Titanic with Avatar?

In 1998, James Cameron helmed Titanic, a film of ginormous proportions – both literally and figuratively. Titanic earned $1.8 billion and became the highest-grossing film of all time. Unlike box-office hits of the late like Spider-Man and Transformers, Titanic was well-received by critics and the international press. Its winning streak went all the way to the Academy Awards, collecting 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.

If you were James Cameron, how can you top that? Rather, can you ever top that? It must have been hard for the King of the World to stage a comeback that it took him a decade to return to the director’s chair. Avatar was conceptualized even before Titanic, but the technical requirements of the project made the production impossible. James Cameron wasn’t resting on his laurels because all this time, he has been preparing the technology and the infrastructure that will turn his larger-than-life vision into reality.

Avatar is a gorgeous film. It is set in Pandora, a fictitious planet of lush and greens. Although Pandora is just a product of the imagination, it is rich in life and detail. The place felt authentic. The magic of James Cameron’s filmmaking proficiency is definitely at work here. He puts digital 3D to maximum use and rejuvenates the need to watch movies on the big screen for an immersive experience. What’s great about Pandora is that it’s nothing like we imagined. It’s complete with bioluminescent flora, peculiar wildlife, and even alien traditions.

Aside form the visual marvel the film provides, its best achievement is infusing human emotions to the computer-generated characters. Although Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, and Sigourney Weaver have been turned to 10-foot tall, blue-skinned humanoids called Na’Vi, their expressions, mannerisms, and speech inflections aren’t any less human - all thanks to performance capture.

At three hours long, the script could have been tighter. Compared to recent special effects-heavy blockbusters, there isn’t anything particularly amusing or novel about the story. Moviegoers will be in awe upon seeing the visuals, but Avatar’s storyline is as generic as any run-of-the-mill sci-fi flick could get.

So can James Cameron ever top Titanic? Maybe. But not with Avatar.

Rating: 3.5/5

Amelia is MEANT to Soar

Amelia is a film meant to soar. Take note of the usage of the word: meant. It’s the biopic of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to cross the Atlantic on a plane. It stars two-time Academy Award winner for Best Actress, Hilary Swank; Golden Globe winner for Best Actor, Richard Gere; and Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor, Ewan McGregor.

Although Amelia aspired to be an eagle flying over high clouds, the filmmaking involved is stuck on the ground. The screenplay’s frail little wings couldn’t hold the weight of the eponymous heroine. We see glimpses of the aviation legend, but the portrayal skips her depth and intensity.

Hilary Swank has proven herself as an outstanding actress with two golden statuettes to boot (one for her androgynous turn in Boys Don’t Cry and another one for the Clint Eastwood melodrama Million Dollar Baby). But for now, the esteemed actress has to be contented with her two Oscars. Amelia is unlikely to be her ticket for a third Academy award.

In this film, Amelia was portrayed as an insipid character who acts on a whim as if she is intoxicated by the whiff of her own stubbornness. With this characterization, it’s a mystery how she achieved celebrity status as the face of early American aviation – a mystery more puzzling than her enigmatic disappearance.

The narrative is flat, without climax or denouement. It’s such a shame that the life of Amelia Earhart is as exciting as watching blips on a radar.

Rating: 2/5

Instead of watching Amelia, catch these following movies instead:

Sin Nombre (3.5/5)

Zombieland (3.5/5)

Are You Itching to See Paranormal Activity?

When I first saw Paranormal Activity’s trailer in a fellow blogger’s site, it instantly captured my attention. The film is dubbed as this decade’s The Blair Witch Project.

Paranormal Activity was actually an old film. It was screened in various film festivals in 2007, Slamdance and Screamfest to name a few. DreamWorks loved it and commissioned Oren Peli, its director, to helm a remake with a bigger budget. So they conducted test screenings to determine areas of improvement. But the test screenings went so well that they ditched the idea of doing a remake.

The film started with midnight-only screenings in selected US theatres. Through an intensive viral campaign, Paranormal Activity was poised to become a sleeper hit. It soon became a trending topic on Twitter. As word of mouth grew, so does the number of theatres screening it.

The pinnacle of its rise to fame occurred during the Halloween weekend when Paranormal Activity trumped Saw VI on the box office. I know the Saw franchise is garbage but this was a feat for Paranormal Activity because of two things: (1) for the last five years, Saw has consistently dominated the Halloween weekend as box-office champion; and (2) Paranormal Activity was made under $11,000, which is not even a fraction of Saw’s promotions budget.

People have been hailing Paranormal Activity as the scariest film of the year, while some think it is an overhyped and boring piece of shit. If you’re itching to see the film, you’ll be glad to know that Manong Dibidi already carries a DVD copy of Paranormal Activity. But be warned, the version we will be getting on the silverscreen is not the same as what is available on pirated DVD. Why is that? The version available in pirated DVD is the 2007 original cut. After DreamWorks picked up the film for distribution, they implemented some changes: they cut scenes, edited sequences, CGI’d the special effects, and remade the ending.

Since I didn’t know this before, I got the original ending, which I thought was lame. Through blog-hopping, I found out what the new ending is and I regret that I haven’t seen that version. But I don’t have any plans of seeing Paranormal Activity on the big screen, simply because I don’t think it’s worth it.

I have terribly mixed feelings for Paranormal Activity. I admire its success story, which I have written above. But the film isn’t really that special. It’s a micro-budgeted film and that becomes noticeable right away. It doesn’t help that the actors were complete amateurs.

We all know it’s a mockumentary and I’m totally cool with that idea. However, I hate the fact that the director is trying too hard to pass the film off as authentic. Hence, the opening credits thanking the police department for the footage (the entire film is a ‘footage’) and the ending credits saying that the film is dedicated to Micah and Katie (the main characters of the film).

But no matter what I say, I know curiosity will take the better of you and you will still line up come December 2 to watch the film on the big screen. I can’t blame you. If it’s any consolation, there’s one scene that made me go OMFG with matching goosebumps, that itself may be worth the admission ticket.

Rating: 2.5/5

Other films I saw recently:

The Hurt Locker (4/5)

Tokyo (2/5)

Review: When Timawa Meets Delgado (2/5)

Instead of watching Tony Manero, I opted to see this little indie film that I heard so much about – a decision I half-heartedly regret. When Timawa Meets Delgado is one part documentary and two parts visual poetry. It dissects the nursing phenomenon in the Philippines. The experimental format adds bits of cleverness to the final product, but it’s hard to take the film seriously especially with its low production values.