How to be yours

DIRECTOR: Dan Villegas  LEAD CAST: Gerald Anderson, Bea Alonzo, Alex Medina,  Anna Luna, Nicco Manalo, Jerome Tan, Divine Aucina, Bryan Sy, Janus del Prado, Bernard Palanca STORY: Dan Villegas  SCREENWRITERS: Patrick R. Valencia, Hyro P. Aguinaldo  PRODUCER: Elma S. Medua  EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Charo Santos-Concio, Malou Santos  MUSIC BY: Emerzon Texon  FILM EDITOR: Marya Ignacio  GENRE: Romantic Drama CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mycko David  ART DIRECTOR: Michael Bagot  PRODUCTON COMPANY: ABS-CBN Film Productions (Star Cinema)  DISTRIBUTED BY: Star Cinema  COUNTRY: Philippines  LANGUAGE: Pilipino  RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 2

CINEMA rating:  V18

Magkakakilala sila Anj (Bea Alonzo) at Nino (Gerald Anderson) sa isang bar, at dagling magkakalapit ang kanilang kalooban. Bagama’t hindi nag-aral ng pagluluto, nagtatrabaho bilang cook si Anj sa Kapitolyo restaurant row (Pasig) dahil talagang hilig niyang magluto. Si Nino naman ay isang magaling na sales agent ng mga imported lighting systems.  Magpapatuloy ang pagkikita nilang dalawa hanggang sa maging “sila na”.  Buong-loob na susuportahan ni Nino ang ambisyon ng Anj na maging isang chef sa isang high end restaurant hanggang sa puntong ipadadala si Anj ng amo niyang si Pocholo (Bernard Palanca) sa Paris para mahasa ang galing nito.  Magsisimulang dumilim ang mundo ni Anj at Nino gawa ng hindi pagkakasunduan sa kabila ng kanilang mabubuting hangarin para sa isa’t isa.

Bagama’t may mga bahaging medyo “angat” ang How to be yours sa karaniwang pelikula, meron din mga parteng “kapos” din ito.  Halimbawa, mahusay ang sinematograpiya, pero kulang sa paglalarawan ang lalim ng relasyon ni Anj at Nino—mababaw ang pagtatagni-tagni ng mga eksena ng dalawa.  Oo nga, maganda silang panoorin—hindi nakakasawang tingnan ang kagandahan ni Alonzo, lalo na’t napapaligiran siya ng supporting cast na “hindi magaganda” ayon sa isang manunuod na narinig namin— pero kung tutuusin, karikatura lamang ng isang pag-iibigan ang ipinakikita ng pelikula.  Sinikap nitong maging makatuwiran sa parte ng pagtatalo o pag-aaway ng dalawa, at mahusay naman itong naisagawa, nguni’t naging labis namang naging madali ang resolusyon sa huli.  Iisipin mo tuloy, ang pelikula bang ito’y ginawa upang masalamin ang katotohanang namamagitan sa mga mag-sing-irog sa ganitong situwasyon, o para lamang ilungsad ang tambalang Alonzo-Anderson at muling mapag-usapan at mapagkitaan ito?  Sa hinaba-haba ng mga eksena nila, hindi maantig ang damdamin ng manunuod na magka-simpatiya kay Anj man o kay Nino.  Namukod-tangi si Palanca bilang isang malupit na amo, kapani-paniwala pagkat walang self-consciousness sa pagganap.

Iba’t ibang reaksiyon ang natutunugan ng CINEMA sa mga nakapanood na ng How to be yours.  Hindi nag-iisa ang dalubhasa at popular na film critic na pumuri sa pelikula, at may mga movie fans din namang walang nakitang exceptional dito.  Kahit maituturing na “malinis” ang pelikula pagkat hindi ito “bastos”, hindi rin hahayaan ng CINEMA na tanggapin na lamang ng mga kabataang manunuod ang relasyon ni Anj at Nino bilang “kalakaran” na, tulad ng ipinapalagay ng pelikula.  Ang pagsasama nila ay kinukunsinti pa ng mga kaibigan nila, at ni hindi pinagtatakhan o ipinagbabawal ng mga magulang.  Kahit na dumarami na diumano ang tumatanggap sa ganitong mga kasunduan ng mga dalaga’t binata sa ngayon, hindi ito dapat tanggapin bilang “the new normal” ng mga kabataan, bagkus akayin natin ang ating mga anak na igalang ang mga higit pang mahahalagang bagay kaysa pagli-live in.  Magandang tanungin sila: Ang mga hindi pagkakasundo nila Nino at Anj kaya ay mangyayari kung hindi sila nagsasama?  Nang mabalitaan ng CINEMA na dumalo sa premiere screening ng How to be yours si bise-presidente Leni Robredo at ang kanyang mga anak, naisip namin: Paano kaya ipinaliwanag ni Leni sa mga anak niya ang implied premarital sex ng pelikula?  

Jason Bourne

Direction: Paul Greengrass; Lead Cast: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones; Story: based on characters by Robert Ludlum ; Screenplay: Paul Greengrass, Christopher Rouse; Cinematography: Ackroyd; Editing: Christopher Rouse; Music: John Powell; Producers: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner Genre: Action, Thriller: Location: various European countries and US; Distributor: Universal Pictures; Running Time:120 minutes

Technical asssessment: 3

Moral assessment: 2

CINEMA rating: V14

Nicky Parsons (Stiles) breaks into an Iceland facility and hacks the CIA mainframe to expose its BlackOps programs. She copies several file evidence about Jason Bourne’s (Damon) past but not without alerting CIA cyber ops head Heather Lee (Vikander) who plants a Malware in the stolen files. Lee discovers Parson’s identity and links her to Jason Bourne, now living in isolation as an underground fighter in Greece. She then informs CIA director Robert Dewey (Jones) about it and they oversee several attempts to retrieve the files and kill Parsons and Bourne. Before Parson dies, she passes the key to a luggage locker where she kept the encrypted files. Bourne travels to Berlin to have the files decrypted and discovers that his father was former CIA personnel who created one of the BlackOps program. Through protracted flashbacks, he remembers how his father was killed in Beirut. Meanwhile, the Malware planted by Lee gives away his location and allows her to remotely erase the files. Believing she can convince Bourne to return to the agency and not exactly agreeing with Dewey’s decisions, Lee decides to help Bourne escape to earn his trust. When Bourne finally pieces together the real story behind his father’s death and his recruitment, he decides to seek revenge and travel to Vegas to confront Dewey. In Vegas, Dewey is preparing for a public debate against Social Media mogul and creator of Deep Dream Aaron Kaloor (Ahmed) who wants to let off his deal to betray the privacy of his users to the CIA in the guise of national security. Dewey, shrewd as ever, plans to have both Kaloor and Lee assassinated but Bourne arrives in time to thwart the attempt.

If it’s non-stop heart pounding action you want, its non-stop heart pounding action you get. Jason Bourne delivers its promise to keep breathless audiences at the edge of their seat for two hours as they follow the characters all around the world. Ackroyd brilliantly uses tight handheld-like shots to convey urgency and tension. The engagement would not have been achieved if traditional framing was used. Master scorer John Powell accentuates the dynamism of the non-verbal script. The director-editor teaming up to develop the screenplay pays off with such tight, fast-paced editing. Damon and Jones complement each other as cold hearted nemesis accentuated by Vincent Cassel’s eerie presence and Vikander’s calculating genius. The casting is seamless and the performances commendable. Now, while non-fans of the Bourne franchise may be temporarily mesmerized by the complicated but well visualized storyline until they realize its absurdity, fans who followed the four previous films may find this film dry, repetitive and unnecessary. None of the characters have any real motivation. There are too many subplots. And whatever wow factor it has technically may not totally make up for what it lacks in content and development.

We can try to nitpick some messages the film unconsciously delivered. First, trust is not gained by trying to win another person’s favor by pledging false support. In the end, the real motivations will be revealed.  Truth, no matter how much you try to bury or hide, will always be uncovered and discovered. Second, a subtle issue about personal privacy and national security is a real serious point to be considered. When should privacy be given up? While it seems a cheap commodity now that social media have converted everyone into instant publishers raring to get their 30 seconders of fame regardless of the risk, giving every other institution the right to abuse and exploit the naivete of willing social media users. The film totally disregards the value of life. Murder is committed at the blink of an eye. Violence peppers every scene. The movie is not suitable for the young.

Star Trek Beyond

DIRECTOR:  Justin Lin  LEAD CAST:  John Cho, Simon Pegg. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba  SCREENWRITER: Simon Pegg, Doug Jung  PRODUCER: J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Roberto Orci  EDITOR: Greg D'Auria, Dylan Highsmith, Kelly Matsumoto, Steven Sprung  MUSICAL DIRECTOR:  Michael Giacchino GENRE: Science Fiction/Action  CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Stephen Windon  DISTRIBUTOR: Paramount Pictures  LOCATION: USA/China  RUNNING TIME: 122 minutes

Technical assessment: 3

Moral assessment: 3

CINEMA rating: PG13

MTRCB rating: PG

The USS Enterprise is on its third year in a five-year mission of exploring outer space when Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) starts to doubt his purpose in the mission and is feeling restless. Meanwhile, Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) is reassessing the role he plays in the survival of the Vulcan people. But all these issues take a backseat temporarily when the Enterprise receives a call of distress from somewhere to which they have to come to rescue. There, they are attacked by a stronger force leaving the Enterprise damaged beyond repair. The entire crew is separated and stranded on an unknown planet ruled by an evil warlord who seems to have a deep-seated grudge against the Federation.

The third installment of the newly revived Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Beyond could be considered as the most entertaining of the three. Characters are fun to watch and most of their motivations are clearly staged. However, in its entirety, the film suffers from a weak villain Krall who’s not threatening enough, making the film quite predictable. Star Trek fanatics can easily track down and recognize plans and pay-offs in the film as they effortlessly relate events and decode jargons. Non-fans may be a bit alienated and find it hard to catch-up, but with the solid structure of the story, they would easily feel the characters as the film progresses, given the centrality of the theme and the ample time devoted to character development. This particular installment has a distinct style of its own that is not necessarily like the first two movies. The CGI is also impressive, as well as the entire cast’s performance. As a spectacle, the Star Trek Beyond experience is still very much enjoyable. 

Central to this “ship-of-fools” sci-fi is camaraderie and the battle between good and evil that goes beyond skin deep. Star Trek Beyond celebrates unity in diversity—the crew, particularly, Capt. Kirk, Commander Spock, Dr. Bones, Scotty, and the rest, are different from one another with their own issues to grapple with, and yet, when it comes to achieving their goal as a league, personal differences never get in the way. For teamwork to succeed, several hands are not enough, instead, members of the team should endeavor to put aside personal interests and work as one mind to achieve the common good. Commander Spock’s optimism shines through in the story—left in the midst of rubble, disconcerted Captain Kirk says, “We got no ship, no crew, how're going to get out of this one?” But beyond the shadow of doubt, Commander Spock responded with, “We will find hope in the impossible”.  For the common good and for the sake of saving the planet, characters of diverse interests come together in the film which sets a good example to the young audiences. In the end, good triumphs over evil. However, it cannot be denied that the film is not devoid of violence, albeit bloodless, thus, parents should guide children aged 13 and below in viewing such images.