The Croods

CAST: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, Clark Duke, Randy Thom DIRECTION, STORY  AND SCREENPLAY: Kirk de Micco, Chris Sanders  PRODUCERS: Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell MUSIC: Alan Silvestri CINEMATOGRAPHY: Yong Duk Jhun EDITING: Eric Dapkewicz, Darren T. Holmes PRODUCTION DESIGN: Christophe Lautrette  ART DIRECTION: Paul Duncan, Dominique Louis PRODUCTION: Dreamworks Animation  GENRES: Adventure, Comedy, Family  RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes DISTRIBUTOR: 20^th Century Fox
 

Technical assessment:   4

Moral Assessment:  3.5

CINEMA rating:  GP

MTRCB rating:   GP

The Croods are a prehistoric cave-dwelling family composed of parents Grug (voice by Nicholas Cage) and Ugga (voice by Catherine Keener), teen daughter Eep (voice by Emma Stone), Eep’s little brother Thunk (voice by Clarke Duke), baby sister Sandy (voice by Randy Thom) grandmother Gran (voice by Cloris Leachman).  Their only rule to live by is: Don’t try anything new.  Anything new is bad—to be feared, and so dad Grug’s perennial word of caution is “Never not be afraid” because “fear keeps us alive.”  When an earthquake occurs and their world of rock begins to crumble, the Croods are forced to desert their cave.  They wander into a strange new world, and meet Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), a resourceful orphan of Eep’s age. 

In vivid 3D, The Croods has been the most natural, wholesome, and memorable family film that has happened since Up, offering entertainment with a heart and an uplifting break from revenge themes, gory horror and terror in our cinemas as well as the news.  It strikes a happy medium between outright fantasy (out-of-this-world creatures) and next-door reality (Neanderthal family management so like ours?).  But of course, nothing is impossible with animation, and in The Croods it is put to very effective use in highlighting emotional responses supposedly of humans clad in animal skins but which might as well be our own in the 21^st century.

Obviously caught up in the Croods’ adventure, viewers of all ages on the day CINEMA watched The Croods couldn’t stop reacting to it—cheering, laughing, shrieking, clucking with glee—which only goes to prove its tremendous appeal to a general audience.  And why not?  The Croods are like anyone’s family that has its share of fights (and even jabs at mothers-in-law) but is united in moments that challenge their survival.  And there are no villains to speak of here; the only baddies to confront are those within oneself—inflexibility and resistance to change, unwillingness to accept new ideas, the habit of wanting to be always in control, etc.  The Croods shows that even in animation, catharsis is possible, as each character evolves in the family’s journey into a new way of living.

Silver Linings Playbook

CAST: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Rober de Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Anupam Kher  DIRECTOR: David O Russell  SCREENWRITER:  David O. Russell  PRODUCER: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti  EDITOR: Jay Cassidy, Crispin Stuthers   MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Danny Elfman  GENRE:  Romantic Comedy-Drama  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Masanobu Takayanagi  RUNNING TIME:  122 minutes  DISTRIBUTOR:  Weinstein Company  LOCATION:  United States

Technical assessment:   4

Moral Assessment:   3

CINEMA rating:   V 14

MTRCB rating:  R 13

Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) is released from a Baltimore psychiatric hospital on the insistence of his mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) who does not like him getting used to the hospital’s routine life.  He was committed by court order to the mental hospital after he beat up a man he had caught in the shower with his wife Nikki (Brea Bee), a teacher at a local high school.  Pat moves in with his parents, to the delight of his father Pat Sr. (Robert de Niro) who takes it as an opportunity to bond with his son.  Stubbornly refusing medication, Pat resolves to rebuild himself by getting in tip top physical shape and enriching his mind by reading all the books Nikki assigns to her students.  He is determined to win her back despite a retraining order barring him from coming within 500 feet of Nikki.  Pat soon meets another psychiatric case, young widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), who volunteers to deliver Pat’s letters to Nikki if Pat would be her partner in a local dance contest.

Two things make a major push for Silver Linings Playbook: the story and the actors.  All else are there in support of these two.  The story is part factual, part fantasy, but is told in a way that makes the film bitingly real.  The story needs no eye candy, no CGI, just the flesh and blood realism of a middleclass neighborhood in Philadelphia, acted out like the actors were born and raised in that milieu and were in fact telling their true story.  Brad Cooper is a revelation here, playing a character so remote from his usual roles and giving it incredible depth.  Jennifer Lawrence—well, the Oscar speaks of the promise the 22-year old holds as a major talent.  (Somehow her face is perfect for the intense characters she’s given, remember Hunger Games).  Here her character is so fierce she can steal the thunder from de Niro, who, by the way, delivers classic de Niro as Pat Sr. 

Silver Linings Playbook gives hope, as the proverbial silver lining behind the dark clouds.  It’s an optimistic movie that treats mental illness with  respect, and demonstrates how persons with neuroses may rise above their situation.  The keyword is “Excelsior” (Latin for “ever upward”) which subtly permeates the day to day life of ordinary people in an ordinary neighborhood.  Not overtly religious, the characters nonetheless hope and believe—Pat himself, a bi-polar patient, says “There is a reason for everything that  happens.”   The Solitano home offers clues to the inhabitants’ Christian faith but the father engages in rituals—something like a home-brewed feng shui—that’s supposed to bring him luck at betting on the Philadelphia Eagles.  In the end, one may indeed wonder how relevant medicine is when people who sincerely work for what they want, do not get what they want, but get something better instead.  Then you realize, the silver lining is but a proof of the presence behind the clouds of a light-giving, life-giving Sun.

Oz the Great and Powerful

LEAD CAST: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobs, Joey King DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi SCREENWRITER: David Lindsay-Abaire, Mitchelle Kapner PRODUCER: Joe Roth EDITOR: Bob Murawski MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Danny Elfman GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure RUNNING TIME: 130 minutes CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Deming DISTRIBUTOR: Walt Disney Pictures LOCATION: United States 

Technical assessment: 3
Moral assessment: 3 
CINEMA rating: PG 13
MTRCB rating: General Patronage 

It is 1902. Small-time illusionist at a small town circus in Kansas, Oscar “Oz” Diggs (James Franco) is a magician of dubious ethics. He is actually more serious about perfecting his skills at oneupmanship than improving his repertoire. Escaping the ire of the circus strongman he had apparently shortchanged, he scampered into a hot air balloon; unfortunately—or fortunately—the balloon gets sucked by a twister that spits him out into the fantastic Land of Oz. He is met by a beautiful witch, Theodora (Mila Kunis), who believes Oz is the fulfillment of a prophecy—the arrival of a great wizard who would save the Land of Oz from the wicked witch. Theodora takes him to the Emerald City where he meets her sister, another beauteous witch, Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who takes him to a cavernous room filled with gold. It would be all his, says Evanora, provided Oz would destroy the wicked witch Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams). Oz sets forth to search for the wicked witch to break her wand—which should spell the end of all her powers.

Directed by Sam Raimi, Disney’s family movie, Oz the Great and Powerful, imagines the origins of L. Frank Baum's beloved wizard character. Baum wrote 14 Land of Oz novels but not one of them spoke about the wizard’s origins. Thus, this brave attempt at establishing once and for all the beginnings of this legendary character. Reportedly the third choice for the lead role—after it was turned down by Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp—Franco nonetheless delivers a credible character that combines conman and charmer. Williams’ Glinda is bland, sugary at most, but every inch a Disney witch; by the way, she plays a dual role, first as Oscar’s sweetheart in Kansas, then as Glinda in Oz. Kunis’ Theodora turns from seductress into a harmless Halloween party witch, possessing a nose, chin and hat as pointy as her black talons, cackling her way to vengeance and riding a broom that pollutes the air of the Land of Oz. (Doesn’t it remind you of the exhaust pipes of the smoke-belching buses on EDSA?) And Weisz? She’s perfect as the deceiver-in-disguise, lovely to look at even when she is being at her rotten-best. (But oh, maybe we just have a soft spot for the actress because she was very nice to fans when she was shooting Bourne Legacy in the Philippines). The effects are as good as demanded by a fantasy movie, emphasized by the contrast in color: black and white for the scenes in Kansas, and blooming in full technicolor grandeur for the Land of Oz. Special mention must be made of two non-human characters that have very human characteristics, Finley the flying monkey, and the frail China Doll. They are so well-developed that you can almost take them in as members of your family.

Oz the Great and Powerful is about good and evil, for sure, and the transformation of one man from charlatan to one of character. Oscar is shown as a con artist in his “earthly life” in Kansas. When his sweetheart tells him she is now engaged to another man, he lets her go, admitting the other man is good and will make a good husband. He himself says he is not a good man, but he dreams of becoming a great man, someone the likes of Thomas Alva Edison, his idol. Enveloped by the Kansas twister Oscar bargains with God to give him another chance—he doesn’t want to die without having done something meaningful in his life. Placed by fate in the Land of Oz, he cannot help but confess to his companion that he is not a wizard but simply a carnival magician. The Land of Oz has no army and people are forbidden to kill even in self-defense, Oscar is the reluctant savior who is compelled to employ his magical arts and scientific knowledge—ably assisted by Oz’s tradesmen to carry on a plan to defend their land from the evil witches. At the end, someone smilingly tells Oscar that a great man can also be a good man. That’s a happy enough ending for the whole family. But although CINEMA gives this a PG 13 rating, we warn that some of the images are scary enough to rob very young children of sleep.

Lincoln

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes. Director: Steven Spielberg.  Screenplay: Tony Kushner, based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  Cinematography:  Janusz Kaminski. Music: John Williams. Genre: Drama. Running Length: 2:30 U.S. Distributor:  Touchstone Pictures.

Technical assessment:  4

Moral assessment:  4

CINEMA rating:  PG 13

MTRCB rating:  PG 13

Film is indeed a powerful medium for teaching history.  Had we not watched Lincoln and been awed by the riveting performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, the United States’ 16^th president would have remained in our mind as nothing more than a shiny marble statue.

Lincoln chronicles the last month, January 1865, in the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th president of the United States, as he zeroes in on the last and greatest win of his political career—the abolition of slavery in America.  

Director Spielberg does right in depicting a Lincoln that is at once iconic and human.  Far from being a traditional bio-pic that tends to paint a glossier-than-reality picture of a revered character, Lincoln shows how a principled man may still be admired despite his political savvy that enabled him to resort to the maneuverings prevalent in his time. 

President # 16 has been played by so many estimable actors since 1930, but in Lincoln, the role is not played, it is lived—to the point that it becomes difficult to tell whether it is the actor Day-Lewis inhabiting the Lincoln character, or the spirit of Lincoln inhabiting the actor’s body.  A well-chosen cast combined with matchless supporting performances—notably by Tommy Lee Jones (as Thaddeus Stevens) and Sally field (as Mary Todd Lincoln) add to an authentic reliving of Lincoln’s struggle towards his goal.  To the last detail, the rich production sets are adjudged faithful to Abe’s life and times, bringing the past vividly back to life to afford the viewer a peek into history.

The sessions in Congress where the battle over the 13^th Amendment is raging is particularly eye-opening to contemporary political observers.  They reveal that some things in the field of public service have not changed—and perhaps never will—such as under the table deals, patronage positions as bribes, presidential strategizing and pressure on the House of Representatives to ensure the passage of an amendment, etc.  The latter may evoke a feeling of déjà vu in people quite familiar with the debates that not too long ago raged over an RH bill in the Philippine Congress, and the nonchalance with which some lawmakers dismissed the Executive railroading of the contentious bill.  In his rush to pass the 13^th amendment, Lincoln utilized all the tricks in his arsenal.  Sounds familiar?  But of course, presidential maneuvering of the Legislative branch takes on a different coloration depending on the issue at hand: a law abolishing slavery is not the same as a law establishing a contraceptive mentality. 

It might also come as some form of warped consolation to Filipinos that their present-day solons’ (mis)behavior is civil compared to that of the insult-hurling American counterparts in 1865.  If in 1865 their congressional session room resembled a saloon filled with trigger happy cowboys, ours in 2012 was simply reminiscent of classroom of overgrown kindergarteners who couldn’t differentiate between study and play.  One noticeable thing, though: the 1865 lawmakers hurled verbal darts at one another, but God was acknowledged in the process of lawmaking.  In the 2012 RH arena… well, make your own conclusions.

Kudos to the Spielberg-Kushner tandem that brought out the Oscar-winning performance of Day-Lewis, the Abraham Lincoln that came alive onscreen proves worthy of the reverence accorded him by his countrymen—a doting father, a sympathetic husband, a statesman made of fire and ice, wisdom and wile, a soul blessed with courage and grace, a human being who passionately went after his dream and paid the price for it.  Certainly a very very far cry from being a mere marble monument.

A moment in time

Cast:  Coco Martin, Julia Montes, Cheri Gil, Gabby Concepcion, Zsa Zsa Padilla ; Director:  Emmanuel Quindo-Palo;  Producer: Star Cinema; Running Time: 112  minutes; Genre: Romance/ Drama; Location: Philippines and Amsterdam

Technical Assessment: 2

Moral Assessment: 3

CINEMA Rating: for viewers 18 and above

Mabibighani ang baguhang pintor na si Patrick (Coco Martin) sa unang pagkakita pa lamang nito kay Jillian (Julia Montes). Sa mga susunod na araw ay ipipinta ni Patrick ang mukha ni Jillian sa mga pader na siya namang mapapansin ng huli. Sa paraang ito muling magtatagpo ang kanilang landas at sa marami pang pagkakataon ay tila sadya ngang pinagtatagpo sila. Sa pagtitiyaga ni Patrick ay sasagutin din siya ni Jillian ngunit magbabago ang lahat pagka’t malalaman ni Patrick na si Jillian ang nakasagasa sa kanyang ina (Zsa Zsa Padilla). Dahil dito, magbabago ng pakikitungo si Patrick kay Jillian na siyang ikapagtataka ng huli. Tuluyan silang magkakalayo at nang matauhan si Patrick sa kanyang pagkakamali kay Jillian ay mahihirapan siyang lalo sapagkat ito ay nagpakalayo-layo na sa Amsterdam. Magkita pa kaya silang muli at magkabalikan?

Ang A Moment in Time ay isang pelikulang ginawa upang samantalahin ang init ng  kasikatan ng dalawang bidang sila Coco Martin at Julia Montes. Hindi man matatawaran ang husay ng dalawa sa pagganap, pawang nasayang pa rin ang kanilang talino sa isang proyektong tila minadali at hindi na gaanong napag-isipan. Nagkulang sa hagod ang pelikula pagdating sa paghahain ng kapani-paniwalang sentro ng problema na siyang dapat paghuhugutan ng emosyon ng dalawang bida. Resulta’y pawang pilit ang lahat ng pangyayari sa pelikula at tila sa gitna ng pagkakagulo ng lahat, ang pinagtuunan na lang ng pansin ay masiguro ang kanilang pagbabalikan. Hindi angkop sa mga karakter ang kanilang mga naging reaksiyon sa mga pangyayari. Halimbawa ay ang kakulangan ng pamilya ni Jillian ng sinseridad sa pagsisisi sa nangyaring trahedya sa pamilya ni Patrick. Nang malaman nila ang katotohanan, tila baga, sila pa ang galit at mayabang sa halip na punan ng kanilang pagkukulang. Ito at marami pang mga pangyayari sa kuwento ang pawang di angkop sa tauhan at walang epekto sa emosyon ng manonood dahil mali ang hagod ng mga eksena. Nasayang din ang magagandang kuha ng pelikula sa mga interesanteng lugar tulad ng Amsterdam. Sa kabuuan, ang A Moment in Time ay isang pelikulang madaling mawawala sa alaala ng manonood dahil sa mababaw nitong pagtrato sa dapat sana’y tunay na problemang hinarap ng dalawang bida.

Sa kabila ng marami nitong kakulangan, lumutang naman ang kahalagahan ng pagpapatawad sa pelikula. Mas matimbang pa rin ang pagmamahal sa galit sa bandang huli at tanging pagpapatawad ang magpapalaya sa anumang tanikala ng galit na kinikimkim ng isang taong labis na nasaktan. Ipinakita rin sa pelikula na hindi hadlang ang kaibahan ng estado sa buhay at ang pagmamahal ay walang kinikilalang mayaman o mahirap. Nakakabahala nga lang kung paanong tinakasan ng pamilya ni Jillian ang tunay nilang responsibilad sa nangyaring aksidente sa ina ni Patrick. Pawang ipinakita na kayang takasan at pagtakpan ng pera ang ganitong uri ng problema. Hindi ibinigay ang karampatang hustisya sa isang taong napakahalaga sa buhay ng isang karakter. Ang hindi pagharap ng pelikula sa tunay na problemang ito ay talaga namang nakababahala. Sa kabila nito’y lumutang naman ang pagiging wagas ng damdamin ng mga pangunahing tauhan. Gaano nga ba kalayo ang maaring marating ng tunay na pag-ibig at hanggang saan ba ang kayang ibigay ng isang taong nagmamahal? Ipinakita sa A Moment in Time na walang imposible sa taong nagmamahal—maging ang pagpapatawad sa matinding sakit na idinulot ng taong minamahal. Ito nga marahil ang sukatan ng tunay na pag-ibig—laging handang magpatawad at magparaya kung kinakailangan.

Safe haven

LEAD CAST:  Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Noah Lumax, Mimi Kirkland,  David Lyons.  DIRECTOR Lassie Halstrom.  SCREENPLAY:  Leslie Boheme and Dana Stevens, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. CINEMATOGRAPHY:   Terry Stacey.  MUSIC: Deborah Lurie.  GENRE:  Drama/romance. RUNNING TIME:  1:55

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 2.5

CINEMA rating:  A 14

MTRCB rating:  PG 13

In a middle class home in Boston, a man is stabbed by a woman.  There is no witness.  Confused and with bloodied hands she runs away.  We learn later that to help bury her past behind, she had cut her long dark hair and dyed it blonde, and then she boarded a southbound bus.  She finds a low key North Carolina community where she can feel safe; there she introduces herself as Katie (Julianne Hough), landing  a job as waitress at a seaside resort.  She rents a cabin in the woods, certain that as a complete stranger she would then start a new life.  She is soon befriended by a neighbor Jo (Cobie Smulders) and the owner of the town’s general store Alex (John Duhamel), a recent widower with a pre-teen son Josh (Noah Lumax), who has yet to get over his mother’s loss, and a perky eight-year old daughter (Mimi Kirkland).  After the first alternately polite and awkward encounters, Alex and Katie start to warm up to each other.  Things get sweeter—until Alex spots a bulletin at the local police station tagging Katie as a suspect in a first-degree murder case.

Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, Dear John, and Safe Haven—they have something in common.   They’re all Nicholas Sparks novels, of course, and as romance stories they all give hope to people (especially women) who believe that for every woman there is a man destined to be hers alone, who will be faithful to her, love her forever and ever.  It doesn’t hurt if the man is also good looking and well-mannered and tender hearted and … well, a good catch.  Chick-flicks, that’s what they’re called.  People in general do not see such movies to criticize, measure its merits in the technical department and see if they’re Oscar material.  They draw crowds who want to nurture their romantic hopes or to get carried away by their drama.  But, of course, CINEMA cannot but say a few things about how well made Safe Haven is—until the unexpected twist towards the end.

With the credible though predictable plot, the likeable characters, the bad guy we would want to protect these beautiful characters from, we are willing to close an eye to a few editing slips so we can hope without interruption that everybody would end up happily ever after—after all how can anything untoward happen in such a pretty place as that safe haven?  But Safe Haven pricks its own high flying balloon, and we land on the ground with a thud, feeling we’ve been had.  This uncalled for denouement to the story douses cold water on our viewing pleasure, and we’re left to wonder if the movie’s genre should now be changed from romance to horror, or maybe even  psychological thriller.  Worse, we come to ask: shouldn’t the heroine who has so elicited our sympathy be locked up in an asylum?

Safe Haven’s release must have been timed to fill the Valentine’s day craving for a romantic pop corn date but, really, there are far more worth-your-money ways to celebrate love with.  

  

A good day to die hard

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Sergei Kolesnikov, Yuliya Snigir; Direction: John Moore; Story and Screenplay: Skip Woods, based on the characters by Roderick Rhorp; Cinematography: Jonathan Sela;  Editing: Dan Zimmerman; Music: Marco Beltrami; Producers: Alex Young, Wyck Godfrey; Genre: Action; Running Time: 110 minutes;  Location: Russia; Distributor: 20th Century Fox
 

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment: 2.5

CINEMA rating:  V18

  

In Moscow, Victor Chagarin (Sergei Kolesnikov), a high ranking official coerces whistle-blower and political prisoner Yuri Komarov (Sebastian Koch) into handing over a secret file which Chagarin believes to have incriminating evidence against him.  Simultaneously, Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) is arrested and offers to be a witness against Komarov in exchange for a shorter sentence. In New York, John McClane (Bruce Willis) learns of his estranged son’s arrest and decides to go to Russia to bail him out.  What John doesn’t know is that Jack is actually a CIA operative who is trying to rescue Komarov and retrieve the file, too, as part of his mission to thwart a major crime in Chernobyl.  But John’s sudden appearance spoils the CIA’s plans and Jack is left to continue his mission on his own. Jack, trying to win back the son he has never known, trails along and constantly proves to be their life saver with his street smart keenness and wit to counter the double crossing and deceptions that happen along the way.

From one explosion after the other, the film desperately tries to fill in the crevices of storytelling with a poor excuse of a father-son plot, which may not sustain the audience's sympathy or interest.  The chase sequences, which must have received the biggest investment in the production, are just loud and tiresome to watch. Unless the McClanes have found an amulet to shield their bodies from death,  the action sequences are implausible for ordinary humans to survive. The greatest satisfaction is counting the minutes before the end credits roll because between waiting for the next explosion and for Jack to finally call John "dad", the scenes pass through like a madman's train of thought—absolutely meaningless and senseless.                                                                                     

John McClane follows this philosophy—“Get the bad guys.”  Okay, that is good so far.  But then, he continues this statement with  "at any cost".  Now it becomes problematic because at any cost in the movie means blowing up cars, destroying property, endangering lives of innocent by standers who happen to be in the way of the action.  Fine, the McClanes are supposed to be macho heroes who take fear and danger by their horn but with all the damage and violence that came hand in hand with the action, one would have to ask if the effort was worth it. 

On the other side of the plot is a father desperately trying to win the affection and respect of the son he had neglected in his youth.  The film’s attempt to make a statement for the importance of the father-son bond, albeit against a backdrop of violence, is the movie’s saving grace.  It has tender father-son moments to emphasize the need for family unity and love but the explosions and the violence are much too loud to have that lesson instantly heard.  One has to pay attention to the close-ups—the exchanges between father and father, father and son, father and daughter—to get the message.   A good day to die hard wants to say that the human need for family and the parental need for filial love outlast a man’s need for success in his career even if that career were as dehumanizing as detective work.   It is never too late to begin to heal wounds and start over again.

Upside down

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst; Direction: Juan Diego Solanas; Story and Screenplay: Juan Diego Solanas; Cinematography: Pierre Gill; Editing: Dominique Fortin;  Music: Benoit Charest; Producers: Claude Leger, Dimitri Rassam, Aton Soumache; Genre: Sci-fi Drama;  Location: Running Time: 110 minutes; Distributor: Touchstone Pictures

Technical assessment:  3

Moral assessment: 3

CINEMA rating: V14

MTRCB rating:  GP (General Patronage)

In another part of the universe, twin worlds exist with the following rules of gravity:  1) All matter is pulled by the gravity of the world it comes from; 2) An object’s weight can be offset by matter from the opposite world or inverse matter; 3) Matter in contact with inverse matter burns after some time.  The inhabitants of each world are not allowed to have any relationship with each other and their only contact is through Transworld, an industrial corporation built by the world above that enables it to get gas from below at the same time supplying it electricity at such high cost.

In the poorer exploited world below, Adam (Jim Sturgess) lives as an orphan who has inherited from his aunt a secret formula that allows matter to defy gravity while on the richer oppressive world above, Eden suffers from amnesia after a fatal accident when she was a teenager. The memories Eden lost before her accident were the secret meetings she made with Adam. Ten years after the accident, Adam sees Eden in a TV program sponsored by Transworld and decides to use his secret formula to gain employment and meet Eden once more.  But to win her back, he must defy gravity, confront the prejudices of the world above, regain Eden’s trust and try to make her believe the dreams she has been having were memories of their past.

The effects and production design are splendid, giving that gritty in your face feel of a hard core reality even with the obvious vignette and color corrections.  The visual effect is breath-taking with the seamless blending of fiction and fairy tale in the work.  It is obvious that this film was challenging to shoot and execute but Solanas pulled it off quite impressively, technically speaking.  This aspect made the film engaging despite its pretentious storytelling.  The story and its tempo resonate Gattaca and move too slow for comfort.  It did not help that Sturgess and Dunst both were irritatingly sugary and stilted.  You just knew from the start that they will end up with each other after the first 10 minutes so why wait another hour and forty? You can just wish there was more to the movie than just the same old love story.

Love is just so great and powerful it defies gravity—literally, in this movie, at least. Love gives hope and determination to (also literally) rise above a predicament. But more than the romantic love is the basic respect for a person not because he or she is loveable but because he is a human being regardless of class, race or social status.  The stronger and more honorable love was not between Adam and Eden but with Bob—Adam’s upper world co-worker in Transworld—who made no distinctions between the poorer and the richer world. Very subtly, the movie talks about equality, brotherhood and breaking that barrier that separates worlds and people based on what they have.

As a whole, the movie is decent and wholesome but suggestions of pre-marital sex and pregnancy outside marriage might be misunderstood by very love struck teenagers. 

(Editor’s note:  MTRCB rates this movie GP, but parents surely have a lot of explaining to do to curious kids, not only about Newton’s law of universal gravitation which all satellites and projectiles obey, but also the probability of pregnancy without sexual intercourse.  Thus it comes as a surprise (spoiler coming!) that Eden announces in the end that she’s pregnant.  Nowhere in the movie do Sturgess and Dunst go beyond prolonged and boring kissing—but hey, wait, could they have “done it” just by floating in the air while locked in an embrace?  You never know in sci-fi.  But that’s what CINEMA is trying to say here.  Upside down is science-fiction, and despite its scientific sounding opening scene laying out the fictional gravitational laws from which the story attempts to draw its claim to credibility, the storyline is burdened with inconsistent physics.  Mesmerized by the stunning visuals, intelligent kids might still wonder: Are there even sunsets or sunrises in either world?  Do the worlds revolve around a sun jointly?  Do they rotate around their individual axis synchronized?  We’re willing to grant that the makers of Upside down are trying to present an ideal society where freedom and equality reign supreme, and that a new civilization is possible through the union of Adam and Eden—the choice of their names is a giveaway—but don’t let their hypothesis turn your science upside down).

Gangster squad

CAST: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick.  DIRECTOR:  Ruben Fleischer.  PRODUCER: Dan Lin, Kevin McCormick, Michael Tadross.  SCREENPLAY:  Will Beall (based on ‘Tales from the Gangster Squad’ by Paul Lieberman.  MUSIC: Steve Jablonsky.  CINEMATOGRAPHY: Dion Beebe.  RUNNING TIME: 113 minutes.  LOCATION: United States.  DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros.

Technical assessment:  3.5

Moral assessment:  2

CINEMA Rating:  A 18

MTRCB Rating:  R 13

Gansgter Squad is set in post-war Los Angeles, USA, 1949.  A truly vile gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) wants complete control of the city, owning perennial money pots—the dope and sex trades.  To turn LA into his private empire, Cohen has got half of LA’s cops by the balls, so to speak, plus a couple of contacts in high places.  The police chief, William Parker (Nick Nolte) is hot on dousing cold water on Cohen’s fire, by all means.  So he taps another Cohen-hater, the intensely idealistic World War II veteran Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) after he proves himself incorruptible.

O’Mara handpicks the “gangster squad” who will work under the radar to bring Cohen down: fellow war veteran Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling); sharpshooter Max Kennard (Robert Patrick) and his sidekick Navidad Ramirez (Michael Pena); Afro-American tough cop Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie); and wiretapper Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi).  Although off to a cartoonish start, the mystery team scores success after success in sabotaging Cohen’s establishments, getting enough media mileage to provoke Cohen into waging a full blown war against his secret, unidentified saboteurs.  Things get sticky when the slickster Wooters seduces Cohen’s babe Grace Faraday (Emma Stone)—and the two fall in love, trysting right under Cohen’s nose.

The trailer may be promising due to its stylish veneer, but don’t let that fool you.  Gangster Squad opens with Cohen’s rival chained in all fours to two cars that run off in opposite directions, tearing the guy in two, like a frog in a science lab.  Eeeeeeoow!  Expect more gore and guts spilling in most of the 113 minutes of slick killing and amusing vintage car chases.  You can’t ask anything more from a cast that features two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn (whose sterling performance, by the way, should elicit visceral reactions from the audience); three Oscar nominees (Brolin, Gosling and Nolte); and one of the sizzling-est stars in Hollywood these days, Emma Stone.  Stone’s character is thinly-drawn, though, making her look like a high school kid in homemade Laureen Bacall gowns.  Gangster Squad is fast paced, well shot, well written and should appeal to movie fans of that genre.

You have to be a hopeless or an idealistic fool to want to be part of a vigilante squad like this one.  As always with this kind of story where do-gooders are tunnel-visioned about their targeted villain, the question is: does the end justify the means?  Are their ways moral?  Legal?  Is justice served?  If you must watch it, watch it with prudence and discernment.  Immature audience will surely get lost in its tangled (un)ethical web.

Seduction

 

LEAD CAST: Richard Gutierrez, Solenn Heussaff Sarah Labhati.  DIRECTOR: Peque Gallaga. PRODUCER:  Regal Films.  GENRE:  Romantic drama.  RUNNING TIME:  105 minutes  DISTRIBUTOR:  Regal Films.  LOCATION:  Philippines

Technical Assessment: 3

Moral Assessment: 2

CINEMA Rating:  A  18

MTRCB Rating:  R 13

Pilit na pinagkakasya ni Ram (Richard Gutierrez) ang kinikita bilang isang bumbero subalit kapos pa rin. May malubhang sakit sa bato ang kanyang ama na kailangan ng malaking halaga upang maisalba ang buhay nito. Sa panahong higit na pangangailangan ay minalas na masuspende siya sa trabaho dahil sa ginawa nilang pangingikil sa may-ari ng hotel na nirespondehan nila upang apulahin ang sunog.  Habang suspendido ay umupa si Ram sa bahay ni Trina (Sarah Labati) na sa kalaunan ay magiging kasintahan niya. Samantala, isang mayaman na half-Filipino, half-French si Sophia (Solenn Heusaf)  na gustong magpasalamat kay Ram dahil sa pagliligtas sa kanya mula sa sunog.  Nalaman ni Sophia na suspendido si Ram at nangangailangan ng pera kaya para makabawi sa pagliligtas sa kanya ay babayaran niya si Ram ng malaking halaga upang magtrabaho sa kanya bilang driver at body guard. Subalit sa katagalan ay magiging sex partners sila at mahuhulog ang loob  ni Sophia kay Ram. Nang hindi masusuklian ni Ram ang nararamdaman ni Sophia sapagkat mas matimbang sa kanya si  Trina ay magdaramdam si Sophia sa kanya at makakaisip maghiganti.

Maganda ang mga teknikal na aspeto ng pelikula. Mahusay ang mga kuha ng camera lalo na sa mga eksena na nagpapakita ng mga tanawin at tradisyon katulad ng kasalan sa probinsya. Maingat din ang naging trato ng direktor sa mga madalas na eksena ng pagtatalik.  Medyo mahaba at nakakainip nga lang na parang walang katapusan ang mga eksena ng sunog. Nakasentro sa karakter ni Ram ang kwento bilang binata na ginamit ang matipunong katawan at magandang mukha upang katulad niya ay bumigay sa mga kahinaan sa laman ang mga babae kabilang na sina Trina at Sophia. Ipinakita sa pelikula ang iba't ibang hamon at sitwasyon na nararanasasan ng isang bumbero na inaakala ng marami na sa tuwing may sunog lamang nagtatrabaho. Tama lamang ang mga pagganap nina Gutierrez, Heusaff at Labati. Nagsikap ang direktor na mailabas ang hinihinging emosyon mula sa mga artista sa mga eksena.  Nakatulong ang suporta ng mga katulong na aktor katulad ni Jay Manalo maliban sa kanya ay tila hindi kumportable sa pagmumura ang iba pang tauhan lalo na si Ram, kaya pilit ang dating. 

Napakarangal na hanapbuhay ang pagiging bumbero. Hindi lahat ng tao ay nasa posisyon na katulad nila kung saan nakasalalay ang kaligtasan ng  maraming buhay at ari-arian ng mga tao. Subalit saglit lamang ito pinakita sa Seduction; ang mas malaking bahagi ng pelikula at mas naikintal sa mga manonoood ay ang ipinakita na ang mga bumbero na tumatanggap ng lagay, ginagamit ang katawan para makabayad ng utang, at parang mga hayok na ginagawang libangan ang panonood ng pakikipagtalik ng kasamahan. Madalas ang mga eksena ng pagtatalik  na pawang nasa konteksto ng pang-aakit at pagbibigay sa tawag ng laman ng hindi naman legal na mag-asawa. Mahinang karakter ng lalaki ang pinakita sa pelikula. Bahagyang nilagyan ng pagpapakita ng sakripisyo bilang anak para sa kaniyang maysakit na ama, pero mas nangingibabaw at nanaig ang mga kahinaan sa tukso na humantong sa walang saysay na pagbubuwis ng buhay. Sa kabuuan ay walang maihain na magandang aral ang pelikula at maaring mabahala ang isang manonood na gustong maglibang at makakuha ng magandang mensahe sa isang palabas.

Chinese zodiac

Cast: Jackie Chan, Kwom Sang-woo, Liao Fan, Yao Xing Tong, Laura Weissbecker; Director: Jackie Chan; Screenplay: Jackie Chan; Editor: Music: Roc Chen, Nathan Wong,  Producers: Jackie Chan, Stanley Tong, Barbie Tung Genre: Action Comedy; Running Time: 123 minutes; Location: France; Distributor: Star Cinema
 

Technical assessment:  2

Moral assessment:  3

CINEMA Rating: V14

MTRCB Rating: PG 13

A century ago, during the 2^nd Opium War, the Brits invaded Summer Palace in China and stole most of their precious artefacts and national treasure; included were the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals bronze heads. In the present times, MP Corporation sells replicas of these precious collections to the highest bidder and commissions JC (Chan) to recover the remaining bronze heads. JC and his team travel to France where two of the bronze heads are said to have been found. He meets and eventually teams up with Coco (Tong), an idealistic Chinese woman working to return lost antiquities to her native land and Katherine (Weissbecker), the naïve French great great granddaughter of the invaders of the Summer Palace. In the beginning JC sees his mission as another job that will earn him a lot of money. But eventually, he realizes the importance of respecting his nation’s treasures and risks his life to save both the artefacts and the people he cares about.

Chinese Zodiac is nothing more than a vanity project for Jackie Chan. He simply cannot handle all the creative and technical demands of a decent movie and should have been advised to just simply be the lead cast. (The Guinness Book of Records named Chan MOST CREDITS IN ONE MOVIE) In fact for his stature, Chan should be more selective of the roles he accepts. Definitely not one that showcases his limited thespian skill and his aging agility. Between the exhausted and prolonged chase sequences that viewers have seen in older Chan films and the dull pontifications about the industrialized nations pillaging the weaker ones, the movie falls shamelessly on its face with confusing language switches from Chinese to English to French, a miscued framing, artistically challenged camera works, so-so scoring and a really dreadful storytelling. The gadgets are impressive but are obviously imitations of those in James Bond or Mission Impossible films. Save for the opening rollerblade chase and the ending skydiving sequences, there isn’t really much signature Chan moves the viewers can expect. Ultimately, the movie is irredeemably boring and badly made.

Respect for culture and history are romanticized yet consistently overlooked in modern times. More often, culture and history are remembered for the media opportunity and their profitability as tourist attractions.  The real deep-rooted love for heritage is lost—Chinese Zodiac had the intention of getting this message across until it was eaten in the confused creative and technical work of Chan.