The Theory of Everything is exclusively showing at Ayala Mall Cinemas starting Feb. 25.
Tag: Reviews
Comet
Only a handful get to witness the Haley’s comet twice in their lifetime. Each close encounter between the Earth and this extraterrestrial tourist is considered glorious by what it is, by what it could mean, and for that minute-long moment the tiny humans see it. As for Comet, the two
Han Gong-Ju
The proverbial desire to escape from the past has proven to be no less than harrowing, if not futile, for Han Gong-ju’s titular character (Chun Woo-hee), who is forced to leave her hometown following a gang-rape scandal. Despite the defeatist premise, Lee Su-jin’s visually dissonant directorial debut maintains a constant
The Last Five Years
In the case of The Last Five Years, innovation and passion are the keys for its own salvation. Broadway buffs and fans will unanimously praise the film to the high heavens for its charming characters and well-written lyricisms but filmgoers who have never seen the original piece might constantly struggle
Unbroken
Adapted from a biopic by Laura Hillenbrand on Olympian and World War II hero Louis Zamperini, Unbroken comes off as unique but uneven. It is unique that compared to recent biopics like The Imitation Game or American Sniper, Unbroken shows not one but three seemingly disconnected stories in the protagonist’s
Paddington
If you watched Paddington as an animation near the end of the 90’s, you would probably remember the charming little bear full of heart in a Britain fileld with yellows, blues and browns. The 2014 live action adaptation with a computer-generated Paddington is memorable in a similar delectable way. Paddington,
Liwanag sa Dilim
Richard Somes’s Liwanag sa Dilim enacts a battle between good and evil, the timeless adventure of friends joined in defeating a villainous being, tykes assembled in lieu of the common task of slaying the monster under the bed. And although the film is elusive to the delineation as a children’s
Before Sunset
Like a high school reunion, Before Sunset is a rekindling of lost loves, and reigniting friendships we hoped to last forever. Director Richard Linklater revisits the American Jesse and the French lady Céline 9 years after their night in Vienna, which is also 9 years after the release of the
Before Midnight
Time is a consistent fascination for Richard Linklater. Friend or foe, time in his films is always depicted for being the most humanizing aspect of life—which it is. Everyone seem lost in its evanescence, compelling transports away and back to the present, and daring to bend its ephemeral and often
Before Sunrise
In our finite existence which is being challenged by both the ideas of determinism and randomness, the profound sense of connection between earthly beings are often in the most ephemeral encounters. Before Sunrise creates two memorable vivid characters in the romantic setting of Vienna conversing about some pseudo-intellectual ideas about
The Imitation Game
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is a survival mechanism employed by some species. The Imitation Game is about the battle for humanity, in population terms and to one single being, a British pioneer of computer science, Alan Turing. More than a biopic, it is a lesson on perspective, of how simple
Halik sa Hangin
Halik sa Hangin. Kiss the wind. Try doing that. Turn on your electric fan. Let it rotate its head 180° side-to-side. Face the oscillating blades and feel the cool wind blow against and pass by. Now, close your eyes. Move your lips. Do the thing. It isn’t fun. What makes
The Taking of Deborah Logan
The collective torment in The Taking of Deborah Logan creeps back to an unenviable happenstance, one that does not enter Adam Robitel’s frames but reverberates to consequences just as sweeping, back in the rise of switchboard answering machines, when data and information are tantamount, and entrusted, with no legal bounds whatsoever,
The ABCs of Death 2
The ABCs of Death anthologies do not necessarily invite to winnow of treasures on a proverbial pile of manure; they encourage its viewers, instead (for the lack of a daintier term), to dig right into the said pile-o’-shit, for there to discover rewarding and beautiful oddments. The finds are unusually
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Good vs Evil. Substance over Style. In-N-Out. Truth or Dare. Rise and Fall. Extant/Extinct. Fight or Flight. The universe started with binaries beginning with light encroaching against its absence. We grew up on dualities starting from me to you, from the collective troughs
Edsa Woolworth
The Woolworth family is composed of three Filipino siblings, the titular Edsa Woolworth, played by Pokwang who is not terrible in drama for someone well-versed in self-deprecating stand-up comedy; Boni, enlivened by the reliable Ricci Chan; Paco, with Prince Saruhan providing enough angst; and their American stepfather, who is endearingly
American Sniper
If there’s one word to describe the film American Sniper, it is ‘enough‘. It is just enough as a Middle East war film in the eyes of an American soldier. The justification for the war on terror was enough to keep both the endless sieges to go on in real
Annie
Annie is the organ transplantation of a young healthy cardiac pump from a golden girl to a lively hopeful kiddo, without pre-operative planning needed to address the intricacies of the organ recipient. The new blood pumped by this transplanted heart is different with the form of its red blood cells
The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death
The well-oiled mechanics of James Watkins‘ The Woman in Black (’12) see an unintentional “advent” of the so-called “modern tactics” in ghost stories of markedly classicist forms. Taking note from the minimalist flair of Robert Wise‘s The Haunting (1960), whilst remaining cautious to service the modern spectator’s customary jolts, the film and its often wobbly framework may
Tragic Theater
Rape is a difficult subject of conversation, but demonic possession is not. In fact there is a glut of stories and accounts concerning the occult on which people savagely gorge, and with which few and certain people make corporate enterprises. G.M. Coronel, the author of the same-name novel Tragic Theater published some years
Boyhood
When does fiction end and reality begin in Boyhood? Or are we the fictional ones instead? In this daunting film, auteur Richard Linklater documents a story close to our hearts, and close to our time. Much of the merit this feature has reaped is in its effort to capture its
Force Majeure
It was American physiologist Walter Cannon who first described that the human mind is capable of an acute response to prepare our body in either leaving or confronting a threat and it is only after several minutes when our condition finally comes back to its original state. This is one
English Only, Please
English Only, Please is a romantic-comedy film rooted on a typical premise but fashioned differently yet relevant in our age: A meets B, falls in love, and lives happily ever after. This is the dreamy innocent romance. A meets B, falls in love, and wham! Deus ex machina. Two possible
Shake, Rattle & Roll XV
Of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival, since the film series’ awakening from its lengthy dormancy until ‘05, Shake, Rattle & Roll is bestowed upon the most daunting task, which is, to present three horror “featurettes” per volume. The scriptwriters has since considered their limiting obstacles, primarily runtime, which, on
Magnum Muslim .357
Clocking in less than two and a half hours, Magnum Muslim .357 displays a principled hero saving a damsel-in-distress from a villain working in the shadows. One of the seven basic plots in the world could work had there been a compelling script, convincing acting, focused cinematography, and a consistent
