Indy Phone Home

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): 3/5

It’s hard to be a discerning moviegoer amidst the dozen of summer movies at hand,. especially with a movie this big invading theaters. Creators George Lucas and Steven Spielberg bring back the bona fide classic character we all know and love- Indiana Jones!

Opening credits. “I have a bad feeling about this”. A mix of emotions surface. There’s joy, despair, annoyance, and maybe frustration for some people. Wisecracks and whip-cracks, bugs and all sorts of creatures, Russians and guns, a greaser, a snake, and an old flame, area 51, psychic powers, great chase scenes, and impossible feats of physicality. Indy 4 in a nutshell.

Of course expect references to the old Indy episodes galore. But its controversial ending puts its viewers in a time warp, a la ‘Life of Brian’ (see this clip ) which makes us think twice about naming Indy the second most irrelevant summer blockbuster (next to Speed Racer).

It’s saddening knowing that we’ve lost some of Indy’s best adventures to time and something out of this world. However, In spite of everything bad I can say about this film, (as I type this Indy theme song plays in my head), and as much as I wanted to hate it, I’d have to admit that nostalgia still wins me over by a landslide

Wild baby, wild

Into the Wild (2007)

Into the Wild (2007): 3.5/5

From the kaleidoscopic ‘Speed Racer’ seeing Emile ‘Emperors Club’ Hirsch in ‘Into the Wild’ was well, quite a surprise.

In ‘Into the Wild’, Hirsch plays a straight-A college grad-turned-hitchhiking jungle boy who seeks adventure in the Alaskan wilderness to define his existence only to discover that he’s gotten too far into the depths of his journey. Or something like that.

In the world of Hirsch’s character Chris McCandless , aka Alex Supertramp, society is evil (as the dialogue incessantly reiterates) and strange road people and hippies are saints. Penn delivers stunning visuals and Christ-like imagery, but at the end of the day this film seems to want to point out the necessity to undergo traumatic experiences (like eating poisonous berries) to realise who they are and what’s vital in life. Amazing

Saving Private Shuya

This will be an image-loaded post since I can’t find the words to describe how disappointed I was with the Battle Royale sequel (although I’ve already been warned in the past) – eh well this was a classic case of curiosity that killed the cat. I just wish it killed it with more style, less guns and explosions, and more hand to hand combat

–

7 Years Ago..

3 Years later–

Sadly, the word “Requiem” in the title doesn’t save this movie

Ridiculous Zombie Movie

There is beauty in ridiculousness such as this. I can’t wait to find / download / buy / watch this movie.

Behold Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies

Pelicula / Pelikula: 7th Spanish Film Festival October 1-12!

Vamos a ver las peliculas!=)

Lo siento, mi espanol es muy mal. jajajajaja

I wanna watch the ones I highlighted in yellow.. to anyone who’s game , vamos! : )

Check out http://www.pelicula.ph/ for more details on the fest

7th Spanish Film Festival

October 1-12

Greenbelt 3, Cinema 1

P65/film

MIGUEL Y WILLIAM · MIGUEL & WILLIAM
Director: Inés París
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 102 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Elena Ayana, Juan Luis Galiardo, Will Kemp, Geraldine Chaplin

Leonor leaves London to marry a rich, widowed duke in Castile, also leaving her lover, William Shakespeare, a promising playwright. In Spain, she meets Miguel de Cervantes, a man of letters who has lost faith in his talent. Shakespeare arrives to prevent the marriage between his beloved and the duke and so Leonor sees the chance to bring together the talents of the two writers to create a unique work.

BAJO LAS ESTRELLAS  · UNDER THE STARS
Director: Félix Viscarret
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 108 minutes
Reparto · Cast: AlbertoSan Juan, Emma Suárez, Julián Villagrán

Benito learns that his brother Lalo will soon marry. Knowing the bride-to-be, he decides to step in, but finds himselfup against Nines’s daughter, Ainara, with whom he ends up forging a peculiar friendship. When things take a turn for the worst in this peculiar family, Benito decides for the first time in his life to take control.

CONCURSANTE · THE CONTESTANT
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 88 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Cheta Lera, Miyam Gallego, Fernado Cayo, Myriam de Maetzu

Martin’s life is turned upside down when he wins almost 4 million dollars in prizes from a quiz show. But his life becomes a roller-coaster ride when his girlfriend starts spending the cash value of the prizes at the same rate he is frantically trying to sell them.

EL POLLO, EL PEZ Y EL CANGREJO REAL · THE CHICKEN, THE FISH AND THE KING CRAB
Director: Félix Viscarret
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 108 minutes
Reparto · Cast: AlbertoSan Juan, Emma Suárez, Julián Villagrán

Jesús Almagro was a happy man when he won Spain’s National Award for Best Cook 2007. His next challenge was to compete for the World Championship, the Bocuse d’Or. He thought he was up to the challenge, that preparing was just a matter of time and skills. But he was definitively not ready for what lay ahead.

EL ORFANATO · THE ORPHANAGE
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Producción · Production: Spain, Mexico; 2007
Duración · Duration: 105 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla

Laura returns to the orphanage where she spent the best years of her childhood to discover that it has acquired a haunted, unhappy air. She then sets out to learn what happened at the orphanage after she left, plunging headlong into a netherworld where the dead reach out to the living.

EL VIOLÍN
Director: Francisco Vargas
Producción · Production: Mexico, 2007
Duración · Duration: 98 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Ángel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Dagoberto Gama, Mario Garibaldo, Fermín Martínez

Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and grandson Lucio make a humble living as traveling musicians. They also collect supplies and ammunition for the guerrilla movement that has arisen in response to the tyrannical regime.

FADOS
Director: Carlos Saura
Producción · Production: Spain, Portugal; 2007
Duración · Duration: 90 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Camané, Carlos do Carmo, Lila Downs, Cesária Évora, Toni Garrido

After more than two years research on the Fado, Carlos Saura makes an important change in his approach to musical films. In Fados, the plot and the images work to reflect the origins of this organic port music in a unique, original way.

FUERA DE CARTA  · CHEF’S SPECIAL
Director: Nacho G. Velilla
Producción · Production: Spain, 2008
Duración · Duration: 111 minutes
Reparto · Cast: JavierCámara, Lola Dueñas, Fernando Tejero, Benjamín Vicuña

Maxi thinks his life is perfect. Then, unexpectedly, the children from his sham marriage turn up on his doorstep and a handsome ex-football player from Argentina moves in next door, making him reevaluate his own morals and values.

LA CAJA · THE WOODEN BOX
Director: Juan Carlos Falcón
Producción · Production: Spain, 2006
Duración · Duration: 96 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Ángela Molina, Elvira Mínguez, Antonia San Juan, Vladimir Cruz, María Galiana

In a fishing village in the Canary Islands, the hated don Lucio dies and his wife has asks her neighbor Isabel to keep vigil over the body. All the neighbors visit him to settle old scores. Rest in peace, Don Lucio… if you can.

LA TORRE DE SUSO · SUSO’S TOWER
Director: Tom Fernández
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Javier Cámara, Gonzalo de Castro, César Vea, José Luis Alcobendas, Malena Alterio

Cundo returns home after a ten-year absence, on the news of the death of his best friend, Suso. He pretends that everything in his life is hunky-dory, planning to leave the scene as quickly as he had come. But Cundo actually isn’t doing so well and Suso won’t be content with a simple toast to his life.

LO MEJOR DE MÍ  · THE BEST OF ME
Director: Roser Aguilar
Producción · Production: Spain, 2008
Duración · Duration: 85 minutes
Reparto · Cast: MariánÁlvarez, Juan Sanz, Lluís Homar, Alberto Jiménez, Marieta Orozco

When Raquel was a little girl, she couldnot understand why everyone talked constantly about love. When Raquel moves inwith Tomas, she will have to ask herself what she could be willing to do forlove, discovering how beautiful, and at the same how difficult, it is to trulylove someone.

LOS CRÍMENES DE OXFORD · THE OXFORD MURDERS
Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Producción · Production: Spain, France; 2008
Duración · Duration: 107 minutes
Reparto · Cast: ElijahWood, Jogn Hurt, Leonor Watling, Julie Cox, Burn Gorman

The murdered corpse of an old lady is discovered by two men who meet for the first time, on the site of the first ina series of murders, all announced by the perpetrator by strange symbols. Professor and student join forces to try and crack the code, revealing an elaborate puzzle where nothing is as it seems

LUZ SILENCIOSA · SILENT LIGHT
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Producción · Production: Mexico, France, Netherlands, Germany; 2007
Duración · Duration: 127 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Cornelio Wall, Maria Pankratz, Miriam Toews, Peter Wall, Jacobo Klassen, Elizabeth Fehr

Johan, married to Esther, with seven sons from her, has been having a passionate love affair with Marianne for 2 years. He confesses to his friend, Zacaris and to his father, a preacher, who sees it as the devil’s work. Nevertheless, both of them support him, pity him. And envy him.

MATAHARIS
Director: Iciar Bollain
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: NajwaNimri, Tristán Ulloa, María Vázquez, Diego Martín, Nuria González

Private detectives Inés, Eva and Carmen find that they have to cross the thin line between public and private matters, bringing their own issues to light in order to solve more than just their professional cases.

NOCTURNA
Director: Adriá García, Víctor Maldonado
Producción · Production: Spain; 2007
Duración · Duration: 80 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Imanol Arias, Natalia Rodríguez, Carlos Sobera

Tim leaves the orphanage he calls home to find out why the stars have disappeared from the sky. He embarks on an exciting journey where he encounters the denizens of Nocturna, a parallel world that comes to life as we lie asleep, with a mission to find Moka, keeper of the night, to plead him to return the stars to the night sky.

SIETE MESAS DE BILLARFRANCÉS · SEVEN BILLIARD TABLES
Director: Gracia Querejeta
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 116 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Maribel Verdú, Blanca Portillo, Jesús Repartoejón, Víctor Valdivia, Enrique Villén

Angela is faced with what’s left of the family business, a hall with seven billiard tables: Despite this, the death of her father, and the sudden and mysterious disappearance of her husband, she resolves to get on and rebuild her life and to get the seven tables back on their feet.

TODOS ESTAMOS INVITADOS
Director: Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón
Producción · Production: Spain;2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Óscar Jaenada, José Coronado, Vanessa Incontrada, Iñaki Miramón

Josu Jon, is injured in a clash with theCivil Guard, losing his memory. He is treated in a prison hospital, where he awaits judgment. The inmates help him remember that he is actually a gudari, and that he will soon return to the struggle if he manages to get out of prison.

YO SOY LA JUANI · MY NAME IS JUANI
Director: Bigas Luna
Producción · Production: Spain; 2006
Duración · Duration: 100 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Verónica Echegui, Dani Martín, Laya Martí, Gorka

Juani leaves her boyfriend to do what she couldn’t have done while she was with him. Sick of having to take it all in, she decides to go on with her life and to find success. She’s going to be an actress and no one can stop her. After all, she’s Juani and Juani is number one.

Depress-fest

Nobody Knows (2004)

Nobody Knows (2004): 3.5/5

At its most principal level, Nobody Knows is a movie about four kids who try to survive in Japan after being abandoned by their mother. It tells of the kids’ struggle to live under conditions that started out from not-so-great to the kids turning into dirt-poor destitutes (haha how’s that for redundant). It’s an extremely predictable storyline with an inevitable demise for each of the characters- however, it is in that sole purpose that our participation as the audience ensues. How long you’re willing to sit through all 144 minutes of this depress-fest is what strkes me compelling as far as the movie-watching experience for ‘Nobody Knows’ goes. The film’s sad moments are carefully guided, so as to not show too much, while we still continue to be lured into their struggle- although the emphasizing closeup shots on feet makes us think the director has a sort of fetish, either for children or feet- nobody knows!

American Psycho : The Broadway Musical!

"Looks like I'm a pretty sick guy!"

Imagine my face light up like a giddy weirdo upon reading this awesome piece of news. What a delight it was seeing this headline from cinematical.com., perfect for this hump day Wednesday!

This made my day I tell ya. This is perfect. It’s a combination of two things I like/love – American Psycho and musicals! well not all musicals.

It’s hip to be square!

ok I gotta return some videotapes

Read on!

This just in to Cinematical headquarters: American Psycho, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, is being turned into a stage musical! Seriously. We’re not joking. According to a press release, “The Johnson-Roessler Company, The Collective and XYZ Films have partnered to acquire, develop and produce the live stage version.” Most folks remember the 2000 film starring Christian Bale as a wealthy New York investment banking executive whose sick, twisted, murderous alter ego exposes itself in the most delightful and imaginative ways. While Bale had been acting since a very young age, it was his role in American Psycho that catapulted him into the spotlight.

There’s no word on who they’ll get to play Patrick Bateman on the stage (though I’d personally love to see Bale reprise the role for a limited run — heck, we know he can belt a tune or two; just watch Newsies). As far as music goes, it will “revive the nostalgia of the 80’s alongside celebrated hits from the era.” Look for tunes from Talking Heads, Genesis and Huey Lewis and The News to make an appearance.

What Would Ploning Do?

Ploning (2008)

Ploning (2008): 2/5

In a picturesque town in Palawan called Cuyo, where perfect Coca-Cola moments are captured on 35mm film (ahem product placement ahem) there lives a mysterious woman Ploning, whose name is where the movie’s title derives from and centers on. Judy Ann Santos plays the title role and town belle Ploning (for which some odd reason everyone in the town of Cuyo desires) and delivers the Cuyonon dialect with very careful speech-like enunciation and utmost emotional repression.

‘Ploning’ is a case where the visuals (although gorgeously captured) do nothing much for the story (there isn’t much to tell anyway). The marriage of tourism and film seems to be the trend nowadays, as we watch every aspect of the Cuyonon lifestyle – a little bit too much that sometimes a Palawan AVP comes to mind.

While we blatantly learn of life’s “lessons” through the cashew nut metaphor, every dragging sermon and spoon-fed clichéd virtues on love and hope makes this 80+ minute film seem double its length. Towards the end of the film is a Juno-esque finale in a highly laughable flashback scene with Ploning finally showing emotion through tears reminiscent of the Mara Clara soaps that Juday fans will be glad to witness.

¡Que horror!

El Orfanato (2007)

El Orfanato (2007): 4.5/5

This Guillermo del Toro-produced horror/mystery had all the makings of overripe cheese (see US version of ‘The Eye’) but El Orfanato (‘The Orphanage’) sits auspiciously on top of the “not just another ghost story” pile. Rarely are we treated to a film that contains an entire scope of emotions while at the same time, having a decent and creepy story.

The Orphanage tells the story of Laura who returns to the orphanage where she was raised in order to re-open it as a home for children with disabilities. She prepares the orphanage for its new residents but things start to go awry when her HIV positive son Simon starts making imaginary friends, which includes retarded ghost boy Tomas.

Although the ‘ghost-boy’ subgenre in the horror phenomenon may be a tad cliché, del Toro protegé Juan Antonio Bayona intelligently delivers this bone-chilling thriller with a hint of fantasy. It’s gorgeously photographed to create that eerie Gothic feel- but how very wrong are we when we realize (in a very Shyamalan way) the movie’s twist.

I love how the film manages to shock viewers without looking like cheap Hollywood scares (wait for the 1-2-3 knocking game) though I must admit I’m a sucker for even the faintest bit of gore (sadly, this film has just that). ‘The Orphanage’ succeeds in drawing out the horror methodically, utilizing the drab atmosphere to its full potential. But the most more horrifying bit is of course,  the upcoming English language remake . ¡Que horror!

Oh Ewan

Young Adam (2003)

Young Adam (2003): 4/5

Ewan McGregor’s role as Joe in ‘Young Adam’ may be his best performance yet. Such talent this man possesses. Big, big talent.

‘Young Adam’ is a smallish, oldish, and underrated flick whose title is just as dubious as its story. It’s basically a sexxed up whodunit which receives beautiful, delicate treatment from then-first time director David Mackenzie. There is no character named Adam, neither is it a movie for the youth (ha-ha). But you didn’t need to know that. Mackenzie’s approach to tension makes Adam’s plot compelling and interesting enough to follow. David Byrne’s haunting score and the Lynch-esque storytelling saved ‘Adam’ from what could have been a characteristically senseless and ambiguous film.

Oh and if you haven’t seen The Pillow Book yet, or any other film of the sort, this one definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. teehee