Faster

CAST: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Moon Bloodgood, Maggie Grace, Tom Berenger, Micaela Johnson, Jennifer Carpenter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Courtney Gains; DIRECTOR: George Tillman, Jr.; SCREENWRITER: Joe Gayton & Tony Gayton; PRODUCER: Martin Shafer, Tony Gayton, Liz Glotzer; EDITOR: Dirk Westervelt; MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Clint Mansell; CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Grady; GENRE: Action/Adventure; LOCATION: US; RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes

Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 1
CINEMA Rating: Audience Age 18 and above.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: After 10 years in prison, Driver has a singular focus - to avenge the murder of his brother during the botched bank robbery that led to his imprisonment. Now a free man with a deadly to-do list in hand, he's finally on his mission. It's a do or die race to the list's finish as the mystery surrounding his brother's murder deepens, and new details emerge along the way hinting that Driver's list may be incomplete.

Who's That Girl?

CAST: Anne Curtis, Luis Manzano, Eugene Domingo, Dina Bonnevie; DIRECTOR: Wenn Deramas; PRODUCER/ DISTRIBUTOR: Viva Films ; GENRE: Romantic Comedy; LOCATION: Manila; RUNNING TIME:120 minutes;

Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers ages 14 and above

Humaling na humaling si Elizabeth Pedrosa (Anne Curtis) sa campus figure na si John Eduque (Luis Manzano) mula nung sila’y na sa kolehiyo pa. Yun nga lang, palihim ang paghanga ni Elizabeth kay John at pawang nasa pedestal kung ituring niya ito. Kinimkim ito ni Elizabeth hanggang sa sila’y magkalayo na ng landas at magkaroon ng kani-kaniyang buhay pagkatapos ng kolehiyo. Ngunit magbabago ang takbo ng lahat nang mabasa ni Elizabeth ang pangalan ni John sa obitwaryo. Pupunta siya sa burol at gagawa ng malaking eksena para lang malaman na ang namatay ay hindi si John kundi ang ama nito na kanyang kapangalan. Dala ng matinding hiya ay hindi na makakapagpaliwanag pa si Elizabeth at kakaripas na lang ng takbo. Mabibigla ang lahat sa burol at kanilang aakalain na nagkaroon ng ibang babae ang ama ni John na labis na ikagagalit ng ina niyang si Belinda (Eugene Domingo). Ipapahanap at tutugisin ni Belinda si Elizabeth habang si John ay ganun din ang gagawin. Yun nga lang, sa pagkikita at pagkakakilala nina John kay Elizabeth ay unti-unting mahuhulog ang loob nila sa isa’t-isa.

Naghatid ng matinding aliw ang Who’s That Girl sa mga manonood nito sa kabuuan. Pinakamatingkad na yaman ng pelikula ang talento ng mga nagsiganap lalo na si Domingo na wala pa ring kupas sa pagpapatawa. Mahuhusay din ang mga pangunahing tauhan na sina Curtis at Manzano yun nga lang, parang nagkulang pa sa hagod ang kanilang tambalan upang maging tunay na nakakakilig. Maganda ang naging simula ng kuwento at naging matindi ang interes ng manonood sa takbo nito. Talaga namang hagalpakan lahat sa kakatawa sa tuwing hihirit ang kakatwang karakter ni Domingo. Yun nga lang, parang nakakasawa na rin ang iba paglaon. Hindi pa rin napigilan ang pelikulang ito na gaya ng inaasahan sa isang pelikulang gawa ni Deramas, marami pa ring eksenang pawang pilit na isinisingit ang pagpapapatalastas ng mga produkto. Naging matahimik naman sa pagkakataong ito ang mga product placements pero pawang nahahalata pa rin ng maraming manonood. Nakakaapekto pa rin ito ng malaki sa daloy ng pelikula sa kabuuan.

Patungkol ang Who’s That Girl sa kung paanong maraming nagkakasira sa maling akala at kung paanong ang pagkakasirang ito ay maari namang maayos ng pagmamahalan. Yun nga lang, tila may mga bagay na sadyang pag nasira na ay mahirap nang ayusin pa. Tulad na lamang ng maraming bagay na nagawa ng galit ni Belinda dahil sa kanyang maling akala. Pinagsisihan naman niya ito sa bandang huli at naliwanagan din siya sa kahalagahan ng tunay na pag-ibig. Yun nga lang, maraming bagay sa pelikula ang nagkulang sa hagod at pagbibigay ng tamang kahulugan lalo na sa konsepto ng pag-ibig. Hindi gaanong malinaw kung ano ang nagtulak kina Elizabeth at John upang mahalin ang isa’t-isa. Ang kay Elizabeth ay malinaw na pagkahumaling pero tinatawag niya itong pag-ibig. Kay John naman ay pawang pagnanasa pero tinawag din nila itong pag-ibig. Nakababaha lang na magdulot ng maling impresyon at konsepto ang pelikula, lalo na sa mga kabataan, kung ano nga ba talaga ang tunay at wagas na pag-ibig. Ipinakita na sana ito sa pagmamahalan nina Belinda at John Sr. ngunit nasira din naman kalaunan. Malabo tuloy ang mensahe ng pelikula sa kabuuan. Sa gitna ng mga aliw at halakhak ay tila naman yata walang laman ang pelikula. Nariyan pa ang mangilan-ngilang paghuhubad ng ilang tauhan na nasa konteksto naman ngunit kinakailangan pa ring gabayan ang mga batang manonood.

Black Swan

CAST: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, Sebastian Stan, Vincent Cassel, Janet Montgomery, Barbara Hershey,Christopher Gartin, Toby Hemingway, Kristina Anapau; DIRECTOR: Darren Aronofsky; WRITER: Andres Heinz, Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin; GENRE: Drama, Suspense/Thriller; RUNNING TIME: 110 min.

Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 1.5
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 18 and above.

A ballerina with the New York Ballet Company, Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) gets her dream role as Queen Swan when the impresario Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) thinks Beth (Wynona Rider) has become too old for the role. As Swan Lake’s lead dancer, however, NIna has to inhabit two roles—the good White Swan and the evil Black Swan. The problem is while Nina has her technique honed to perfection, she lacks the passion to fill the Black Swan part. At 28 she is still treated by her mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) as though she were 20 years younger, sleeping in a bedroom all pink and fluffy and populated by teddy bears and other stuffed toys. Not for a moment dissuaded by Nina’s frigidity, Leroy spurs her on with calculated seduction, teasing her and then tormenting her by flying in the passionate Lily (Mila Kunis) from California to dance the Black Swan part. Partly to fulfill her ideal of perfection and partly to spite her overprotective mother—a retired dancer living her life through her daughter’s career—Nina is inevitably lured to explore her dark side.

Every single actor in Black Swan have all their feathers neatly in place: smooth, credible performance, good line delivery, great rapport all the way. Cassel is as charming as a devil can be. Hershey fits the aging stage mama role to a T. And Portman gives a performance worth a standing ovation. She’s really good at such roles—as in The Other Boleyn Girl—playing flawed characters who are definitely assured of a place in Dante’s Inferno. Director Darren Aronofsky carries you away with his sense of aesthetics; you get so busy gawking at his mesmerizing art that you lose track and don’t question anything till the end when you somehow suspect you’ve been had.

The story is seen from the point of view of an artist—Nina—who instead of losing herself in her art loses her sanity. Thus the thin line between reality and fantasy is blurred, and it’s you who lose yourself in Tchaikovsky’s music (albeit chopped up and overlayed with electronic muck reminiscent of Terminator). And when Nina does what she does at the end of the dance, you wake up and say, “Hey, wait a minute! How can you be so sure this act is not another nightmare or hallucination or one of those fears and fantasies that rattle her in her sleep and lull her to stupor when she’s awake?”

Who the hell cares? The point is, for CINEMA, aesthetics isn’t everything—neither is technique. Black Swan is both eye candy and tricky brainteaser, sure, but where’s the meat? Its only saving grace in terms of ethical content is the devotion Nina has for her craft, her drive towards perfection. But then again, the devotion crosses the boundary to neurosis, and the drive leads to the perfection of self-destruction. Black Swan is not about ballet—in fact it’s unflattering to the ballet industry; it’s more about an obsession dipped in the glitter of high art but which remains lowly nonetheless because the film chooses to overpower the heroine by her semi-conscious acquiescence to evil. Ask yourself: In the misguided pursuit of perfection is it worth sacrificing your soul for your art?

From Prada to Nada

CAST: Camilla Belle, Alexa Vega, April Bowlby, Kuno Becker, Wilmer Valderrama, Nicholas D'Agosto, Adriana Barraza, Karla Souza, Alexis Ayala; DIRECTOR: Angel Garcia; SCREENWRITER: Luis Alfaro, Craig Fernandez, Fina Torres; PRODUCER: Gigi Pritzker, Linda McDonough, Rossana Arau, Gary Gilbert &Lisa Ellzey, EDITOR: Brad Maclaughlin; MUSICAL DIRECTOR/COMPOSER: Daniel Hubbert, Andrea von Foerster, Sebastian Zuleta, Neitor Pereira; CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hector Ortega; DISTRIBUTOR: Lionsgate; GENRE: Comedy, Romance; LOCATION: USA ; RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes

Technical Assessment: 2.5
Moral Assessment: 3
CINEMA Rating: V14

Nora (Camille Belle) and Mary (Alexa) are beautiful, rich, spoiled and pampered. Although their last name is Dominguez, they definitely do not consider themselves Latina and have put no effort to learning their mother’s native tongue. The sisters think they have everything until their father dies and they find themselves penniless and at the mercy of the woman with whom their father had an affair with. The sisters are kicked out of the house and are force to live with their auntie in the poor side of East Los Angeles. At first, they are bemused at the living conditions of the people and look at themselves as a class way above the rest. However, the Latino community is not impressed with the newcomers. Over time, only when the sisters learn to live beyond their designers’ clothes and BMWs and value themselves for the real person inside their hearts and start treating other people as equals do they find true meaning in life.

The movie is a weak spin off on Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”. Although, there are numerous instances where we find the girls in hilarious situations, the humor fails to deliver a good punch because the storyline is too predictable and the plot takes a long time to make the necessary twist for character redemption. The problem is in the script. The characters are too shallow and empty-headed that by the time they make the transformation, it is a bit too late to be genuine and to elicit sympath. And because the script is flat and the script shallow, you cannot really expect a stellar performance from the lead actors. On the positive side, the movie is cute and adorable production-wise. The movie starts with an interesting and promising premise but fails to deliver a great movie.

There are several good points that the movie emphasizes:

First, we say that material wealth should not be the basis of judging a person. FROM PRADA TO NADA shows this clearly as characters find meaning in life and self-respect not when they were covered with blings, brands and expensive things but when they were stripped of all possessions and began to interact using their hearts.

Second, people are always capable of changing. We can never say that just because a person was born and raised in a certain way, he or she will remain like that for the rest of his or her life. We clearly see how the lead characters made a complete 360 in dealing and respecting people and in discovering their self-worth.

Lastly, success is sometimes handed down the family line, but it is sweeter and more meaningful when it comes hand in hand with perseverance and hard work. People who have invested sweat, talent and determination in their achievements value the fruits and rewards even more.

The movie is not one of the must-see films but for those who would or plan to, there are good lessons to take home afterwards.

Unknown

CAST: Liam Neeson (Dr. Martin Harris), Diane Kruger (Gina), January Jones (Elizabeth Harris), Aidan Quinn (Martin B), Bruno Ganz (Ernst Jurgen), Frank Langella (Rodney Cole); DIRECTOR: Jaume Collet-Serra; SCREENWRITER: Stephen Cornwell, Oliver Butcher; GENRE: Drama, Horror, Mystery & Suspense; DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures; LOCATION: Berlin, Germany; RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes

Technical Assessment: 3 ½ .
Moral Assessment: 2 ½ .
CINEMA Rating: Audience Age 18 and above

American botanist Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) flies to Berlin with his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) to speak at a biotechnology conference. Checking in at the hotel he misses his briefcase, rushes back to the airport in a cab to retrieve it and gets into an accident that causes brain trauma resulting in partial memory loss. After cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) bravely saves him from death, the police take him to a hospital where he lies in coma for four days. He awakens, wonders why no one has looked for him, and recalls just enough to escape from the hospital and return to the hotel to find his wife he hopes will establish his identity. He finds her with a stranger (Aidan Quinn) who claims to be the real Martin Harris. Worse she denies knowing him and confirms that her husband Martin Harris is the man with her. It’s a mystery the bewildered Harris would give his all to solve, and he is helped by Gina and her friend Ernst Jurgen, a private investigator (Bruno Ganz) who used to work in the East German secret police.

Based on French writer Didier van Cauwelaert's novel, Unknown may keep you at your seat’s edge rooting for the accident victim—credit that to Neeson’s looks which seem to naturally evoke sympathy. But of course he’s an actor who feels his role to the bone, even if his character be in such an absurd situation as Harris. Good direction by Jaume Collet-Serra pulls together the pieces of this brain-teasing story into clarity, aided by the lead actors’ self-convinced portrayal of their roles. Ganz as the ex-spy, wizened and wise and blessed with a prickly humor by his Stasi past, lends depth—even heroism—to the plot. If it were up to us, Ganz should get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Action and violence abound as the audience is led further into the dark, until close to the end of the 115-minute thriller when the unknown becomes known.

Unknown seems to have been made just to puzzle the brain. Older generations would call it “mental calisthenics”, the younger ones would say it’s “mind f—k”. It may entertain many who like to solve riddles but it offers little ethical guidance for those expecting it. Its redemptive factor comes late in the movie when—the mystery having been demystified—a character tries to influence another towards a new life direction. Unknown, however, may arouse one’s curiosity regarding the killer-for-hire industry, to ask questions like: How deeply is a spy indoctrinated to prepare for his or her mission? How does the training impact his self-image? How much of his real self is lost in the process? Does this then still hold him morally culpable for the acts he is paid to commit? Is there another process by which the killer-for-hire is disengaged totally from his role upon the completion of his mission? You see, even movies that critics would judge unworthy may lead to profound thoughts a world in chaos needs today.