My Amnesia Girl

CAST: John Lloyd Cruz, Toni Gonzaga; DIRECTOR: Cathy Garcia-Molina; PRODUCER/ DISTRIBUTOR: Star Cinema; RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes; GENRE: Romantic-Comedy; LOCATION: Manila

Technical: 3
Moral: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 18 and above

Nagkakilala sa isang dating/ match-making event ang ahenteng si Apollo (John Lloyd Cruz) at ang photographer na si Irene (Toni Gonzaga). Mabilis ang mga pangyayari at agad nahulog ang loob nila sa isa't-isa at nagkamabutihan. Yayayain ni Apollo si Irene na magpakasal ngunit sa araw ng kasal, habang palakad si Irene sa altar ay biglang uurong si Apollo at iiwan si Irene nang walang anumang pasabi. Makalipas ang ilang taon ay wala pa ring asawa si Apollo at tila hindi pa rin makalimutan si Irene at malabis ang pagsisisi sa ginawang pag-iwan dito. Sa muling pagku-krus ng landas nila ni Irene ay malalaman niyang may amnesia ito na bunga marahil ng natamong trauma sa pag-iwan niya dito sa araw ng kanilang kasal. Magiging daan para kay Apollo ang amnesia ni Irene upang makabawi sa mga nagawa nitong kasalanan at magpapanggap na bagong manliligaw ni Irene sa pangalang Paul. Lingid sa kanyang kaalaman, si Irene ay nagkukuwanri lamang na may amnesia upang siya ay sadyang gantihan at pahirapan. Saan kaya hahantong ang pagbabalat-kayo ng dalawang ito? Paano kung malaman ni Apollo na nagkukunwari lamang si Irene?

Nagawang bigyan ng bagong bihis ng pelikula ang tila gasgas nang tema ng amnesia sa mga kuwentong Pilipino lalo na sa pelikula. Ginamit ng My Amnesia Girl ang maraming makabagong pamamaraan ng pagkukuwento upang gawing kapana-panabik ang bawat susunod na eksena. Bagama't pawang napabilis ang mga rebelasyon sa manonood, naging epektibo pa rin ang kwento sa kabuuan at nabigyang kadahilanan naman kung bakit maraming sekreto sa kuwento ang hindi itinago sa manonood. Naging mas nakakakilig nga naman at nakaka-enganyong panoorin ang dalawang tauhan na tila naglolokohan at hindi nagkaka-alaman. Ang tunay na hiyas pa rin ng pelikula bukod sa husay ng direktor at manunulat ay ang walang kupas na kahusayan nila Cruz at Gonzaga. Napanatili nila ang kilig, katatawanan at maging ang tamang timpla ng drama kung kinakailangan. Tuloy ang mga manonood ay natatawa, kinikilig at lumuluha ng magkakasunod kundi man minsan ay magkasabay. Ang mga pangalawang tauhan ay pawang mahuhusay din. Salamat din at panandilaan tayong nakawala sa mga titulo ng popular na kanta bilang pamagat ng pelikula at may isang kuwentong bago sa panlasa ng Pilipinong manonood.

Ang kuwento ng My Amnesia Girl ay uminog sa kasinungalingan at pagbabalat-kayo. Bagama't nagawa ng pelikulang gawing katatawanan at nakaka-kilig ang makita ang dalawang pusong nagmamahalan habang naglolokohan ay marami pa rin itong aral na inihain. Una na dito ang hindi magandang naidudulot ng pagsisinungaling. Sa hinaba-haba ng takbo ng kuwento na uminog sa kasinungalingan, ipinakita pa rin na sa bandang huli'y katotohanan pa rin ang mananaig. Tunay ngang "ang pagsasabi ng tapat ay pagsasama ng maluwat". Matindi rin ang naging balik kay Irene ng kanyang matatawag na "maliit na kasinungalingan" at mapapatunayan na wala ngang kasinungalingang maliit at ito ay kasinungalingan pa rin bali-baligtarin man. Mas higit na nakababahala naman ang hindi gaanong naipaliwanag na dahilan kung bakit si Apollo ay bigla na lamang tumalikod at kumaripas sa araw mismo ng kasal. Sa napaka-habang pinagdaraanang proseso sa sakramentong ito ay hindi dapat naba-bale wala at tinatalikuran nang ganoon lang ang kasal nang walang matinding dahilan. Nagkulang marahil sa pagsasaliksik o sa paghahagod ng pelikula sa aspetong ito. Hindi rin husto ang naging paliwanagan ng dalawa sa kung ano nga ba ang naging mali sa kanilang relasyon. Kahanga-hanga naman sa isang banda ang ginawang pagpapatawad ng dalawang tauhan sa isa't-isa. Patunay na ang pusong nagmamahal ay laging handang magpatawad. At ang paglimot sa ginawang pagkakamali ng kapwa, bagama't mahirap, ay posible pa rin sa wagas na pag-ibig. Ang kaiga-igayang pagganap Gonzaga at Cruz, na sinusuportahan ng mabilis at katukso-tuksong dialogue ay hindi sapat upang maituring ka ganoong kahanga-hanga ang pelikula. Ito'y isa pa ring "feel good movie" sa kabila ng magaling na pagsasalarawan ng mensahe nito. At tulad ng lahat ng mga "feel good movies", ang panganib nito sa nanonood ay ang maaaring pagliligaw nito mula sa katotohanan. Bukod sa rito, ipinapakita na ang mga magsing-irog ay halos nagsama na bago ikasal, tila nagsasaad na ang pundasyon ng kanilang relasyon ay posibleng "good vibes" at "sexual compatibility" lamang. Ang isang dibdibang relasyon na magwawakas sa patawaran at kasalan ay hindi tapat sa katotohanan kung ito'y mistulang "formula" lamang ng pagkakamali-pagpapatawaran-at-ayos-na-ang-buto-buto! Kung nailabas sana ng pelikula mga ugat ng pagkakamali at pagpapatawad, maaaring nabigyan ng CINEMA ng mas mataas na "rating" ang Amnesia Girl. --By Rizalino R. Pinlac, Jr.

Megamind

CAST: Will Farell (Megamind), Brad Pitt (Metro Man), David Cross (Minion), Tina Fey (Roxanne Richi), Ben Stiller (Bernard) DIRECTOR: Tom McGrath, Careron Hood SCREENWRITER: Allan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons GENRE: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Studios

Technical: 4
Moral: 3 ½
CINEMA Rating: PG 13

"Megamind" is the most brilliant supervillain the world has ever known. And the least successful. Over the years, he has tried to conquer Metro City in every imaginable way. Each attempt, a colossal failure thanks to the caped superhero known as "Metro Man," an invincible hero until the day Megamind actually kills him in the throes of one of his botched evil plans. Suddenly, Megamind has no purpose. A supervillain without a superhero. He realizes that achieving his life's ambition is the worst thing that ever happened to him. Megamind decides that the only way out of his rut is to create a new hero opponent called "Titan," who promises to be bigger, better and stronger than Metro Man ever was. Pretty quickly Titan starts to think it's much more fun to be a villain than a good guy. Except Titan doesn't just want to rule the world, he wants to destroy it. Now, Megamind must decide: can he defeat his own diabolical creation? Can the world's smartest man make the smart decision for once? Can the evil genius become the unlikely hero of his own story? MRQE

Megamind is the most brilliant super-villain the world has ever known. He finally conquers his nemesis, the hero Metro Man but finds his life pointless without a hero to fight.

Bored without a nemesis, Megamind uses his powers to create a new superhero. Unfortunately, when he decides on using a TV cameraman as his test subject he ends up creating Tighten, a would-be hero turned villain.

Unstoppable

CAST: Denzel Washington (Frank), Chris Pine (Will), Rosario Dawson (Connie), Ethan Suplee (Dewey), Kevin Dunn (Inspector Werner) DIRECTOR: Tony Scott WRITER: Mark Bomback
GENRE: Action/Adventure, Drama, Suspense/Thriller RUNNING TIME: 98 min.

Technical: 3.5
Moral: 3
CINEMA Rating: R 14 (For viewers aged 14 and above)

Thinking he had brought the train to a full stop, the engineer (Ethan Suplee) dismounts. But to his surprise, the train pulls away, under full throttle. On another train, veteran engineer Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) is training a new man on the job, Will Colson (Chris Pine). The half-a-mile long runaway train is carrying hazardous materials—according to the station yard master Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) who is in charge of dispatch and operations—and is speeding towards a head on collision with the train carrying Barnes and Colson. To make matters worse, rookie Colson and veteran Barnes are like oil and water, bickering for control as the precious minutes tick away. Besides sidetracking the collision they know they have to set their mutual disdain aside in order to stop the unstoppable locomotive from hurtling towards a populous district of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

It might not be a good idea for people suffering from hypertension to watch this movie. It is such a superb thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat—and your neck and shoulder muscles tense from beginning to end. Nearly all Hollywood movies these days come up with a chase scene, either for laughs or for thrills, and if it’s for thrills, the chase is usually between the good guys and the bad guys. But in Unstoppable, the chase is between people and a train! And as the sound effects and photography establish beyond doubt—particularly in those shots where the train rockets towards the audience over the camera placed on the tracks—the runaway train is a murderously heavy machine: having no soul, it couldn’t care less what it destroys.

It’s the people who provide the soul in the story. Barnes and Colson know that even with the right decisions, things could go wrong and thus spell their death. Nonetheless, in their race against time towards a possible tragic ending, they exchange glimpses of their family life which in turn enable them to bond and put their animosity aside. While the story and viewer attention is naturally focused on the problem posed by the runaway train, a softly voiced message is beneath it all: human beings thrive on the love of a family. Making Unstoppable more worthy of viewing is the fact that it is inspired by true events surrounding an incident on May 15, 2001 when an unmanned CSX train “ran away” and in two hours sped through 66 miles before it was stopped in a similar way as the movie shows. Perhaps young kids wouldn’t care to watch Unstoppable but CINEMA gives it a PG 13 rating just the same.

Due Date

CAST: Robert Downey Jr., (Peter Highman), Zach Galifianakis (Ethan Tremblay), Michelle Monaghan (Sarah Highman), Jamie Foxx (Darryl), Juliette Lewis (Heidi), Danny r. McBride (Lonnie) DIRECTOR: Todd GENRE: Comedy RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes LOCATION: USA DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures

Technical: 3
Moral: 3
CINEMA Rating: Audience Age 18 and above

High-strung father-to-be Peter Highman is forced to hitch a ride with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay on a road trip in order to make it to his child’s birth on time.

Two different personalities: Ethan is wild, clumsy, bearded and disheveled while Peter is composed, handsome, dry and sarcastic.

Peter a strung-out guy who just wanted to get home to California to see the birth of his child while Ethan is an aspiring actor who is heading to California to pursue his dream in Hollywood.

Both are booted off a Los Angeles-bound flight, their only option of getting there is to rent a car and drive. Given that they cannot stand each other, chaos ensues.

Each one with different sensibilities is funny, some with dark humor and some slapstick. Peter and Ethan’s experience of shame and guilt and their acceptance lead them to become friends.

You Again

CAST: Kristine Bell (Marni), Odette Yustman (Joanna), Victor Garber (Mark), Jamie Lee Curtis (Gail), Sigourney Weaver (Ramona), Jimmy Wolk (Will) DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman SCREENWRITER: Moe Jelline GENRE: Comedy RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes LOCATION: USA DISTRIBUTOR: Touchtone Pictures

Technical: 3
Moral: 4
CINEMA Ratings: PG 13 (For viewers aged 13 and below with parental guidance)

Successful PR pro Marni heads home for her older brother's wedding and discovers that he's marrying her high school arch nemesis, who's conveniently forgotten their problematic past. Then the bride's jet-setting aunt bursts in and Marni's not-so-jet-setting mom comes face to face with her own high school rival. The claws come out and old wounds are opened in this crazy comedy that proves that not all rivalries are forever. (MRQE)

A relevant movie showing the effects of bullying in school and how envy and jealousy can lead to violence. You Again proves that acknowledgment of one’s guilt over offense committed even many years back can heal the victim. The message of forgiveness though shown in comedy situation is effective.