Friends with Benefits

I chanced upon this one lazy Sunday afternoon. I watched this already before and the title actually gives you a gist of what the entire movie is all about. Let us call a spade a spade, a FUBU what else but a FUBU.

Still even if I know where this movie is leading, I did appreciate the route the movie took to get to the finale. Two gorgeous people with emotional baggage hooking up, a fine formula for another run of the mill, romcom flick. Still the sap that I am, watched how these two unmask the love they have for each other.

Mila Kunis is the New York head hunter Jaime while Justin Timberlake is an LA based art director of an online blog. Their paths met when Jaime got Dylan hired as GQ’s art director. Their professional relationship blossomed to friendship as they began hanging out. While watching a sappy girl flick, Dylan suggested they play “tennis” and soon enough the two were in bed doing the deed.

Of course, sex was supposedly just sex but eventually expectations happen as emotional investments become part of their romp in the sack. This led to complications, obviously and soon the two had a falling out because the sex became a sort of relationship they both agreed was not what they wanted. Go figure right?

Anyhow, movie has to be happy, boy and girl made up via a flash mob dance at the Grand Central train station. How else can you end a movie but through some corny lines and a song and dance?

It isn’t a favorite but it is an okay movie with some good lines. Woody Harrelson may be gay in this film but he gets it and he delivers some of good quotes for a take away:

“Tommy: You know what I discovered? It’s not who you want to spend Friday night with, it’s who you want to spend all day Saturday with. Feel me, Felix?

Dylan: Yeah, but then it’s every Saturday for the rest of your life…

Tommy: It’s OK, you don’t get it. It’s no big deal. But you will. One day you’ll meet someone and it’ll literally take your breath away. Like you can’t breathe. Like no oxygen to the lungs. Like a fish…

Dylan: Yeah, I… I get it, Tommy.

Tommy: Yeah, you don’t.”

 

“Dylan: I’m supposed to meet up with Jamie.

Tommy: Who’s that? That headhunter?

Dylan: Uh-huh.

Tommy: What, you guys going out now?

Dylan: No, no, no, we’re just friends. We’re… messing around a little bit.

Tommy: What do you mean?

Dylan: Sleeping together. But it’s just sex.

Tommy: That never works, bro. She’s a girl. Sex always means more to them even if they don’t admit it.

Dylan: Jamie’s different.

Tommy: Does she have a penis where girls have a vagina

Tommy: Then she’s no different.”

(Credits to imdb for the lifted quotes)

 

 

The Good Dinosaur

I heard this movie was a major flop in the US. It did not rake in as much as they expected it to. I do not know why it should not. It is a good feel good movie because the story of the good dinosaur is more than just about family and friendships. It is about learning how to overcome your fear and use your strengths in making things happen.

Arlo, an Apatosaurus, was the last one to hatch among his siblings Buck and Libby. He was also the smallest and thus easily gets spooked. He was given the most menial of tasks like feeding the chicken but even that he could not do well because the chickens would often ran amuck and chase him.

The family of Apatosaurus plants and harvests corns in preparation for the winter. Ida, the mother Apatosaurus created a silo to store the corns in while Henry, the father, was the one who fills it up with corn. Both parents pressed their foot on the mud and stamped their mark on the rock. Henry told his children they too can put their own mark once they earned it by doing something big, something bigger than themselves.

Buck and Libby made their mark soon enough by clearing trees and plowing the field. Arlo wanted to earn his mark too but this was spoiled by Buck’s prank when Arlo tried to feed the chickens without getting chased. Buck pretended to have been attacked by the chickens and was left for dead. Arlo, gullible as he was, fell for it and failed to finish his chore.

Henry took pity on his youngest so late at night, he woke up Arlo and brought him to the middle of the field. A bug settled itself on Arlo’s snout scaring him but Henry approached him and softly blew revealing a firefly. “Sometimes, you gotta get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side.”

The next day, Henry asked Arlo to guard the silo as there’s something that kept stealing the corns stored in it. He also taught Arlo how to make a trap and if anything gets caught in it to pounce on it using a club. Once Arlo accomplishes this, he can make his mark.

Not to ruin the story or anything for those who have yet to watch this rather laid back film, I would like to say that the animation drove home a point without sounding preachy or forced. The storyline weaved through Arlo’s travails, experiences and interactions as naturally as if you are there. Of course the ending is expected, Arlo making his mark is expected but the journey on how he got over his fear, how he made his mark was something truly inspiring to watch.

This movie can be enjoyed by both adults and kids alike. However they’d both come out of the cinemas with varying insights. Kids on how to enjoy growing up and adults on how to make smart choices and how to find themselves still at the end of the journey.

 

 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Hugo

Lately the buzz is that Divergent is another Hunger Games where kids from the future equip themselves to fight for freedom of sorts. Well, this is not surprising. Afterall most of the movies basically rehash plots. But my most favorite of those movies that are very parallel with another were shown just two months apart.

Hugo was released in November 2001 while Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was shown in January 2012. Both stories revolved around the boys whose respective dads died violently at work. Hugo and Oskar both wanted to solve a puzzle they thought would lead them to a message from their dads. They both have an old man who played a critical role in their adventure – Hugo had the former magician turned filmmaker cum toy maker Papa George while Oskar had his grandfather Oskar Schell Sr. Then both found the keys to get them the answers they sought. Hugo and Oskar while doing their mini adventures met new people along the way and managed to touch those lives somehow.

Despite these parallelism with how the stories evolved, the movies were both refreshingly original and inexplicably captivating. Maybe a tad heavy handed on the drama but the stories wrapped up quite nicely in the end.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Not exactly your typical happily ever after as Hansel and Gretel never did find their way back home. Unfortunately for the poor audience duped into watching this flick, there was no happy ending either for them however this movie ended. The adventure and the real story why they were brought to the dark forest by their father make for a very flimsy plot.

Honestly after the initial fight scenes, the script leaves you wondering why the heck you even wanted to watch it in the first place. There was nothing new, the twist was predictable and an hour in the film you wished you can get your money back.   Nick Burkhardt of the Grimm family has more going for him than these two orphan Annie (yeah Hansel, you are one big Annie too as Gretel showed more heft than you). Had it not been for the special effects and some awesome clobbering scenes, I would have felt cheated out of my hard earned money.

Jeremy Renner was doing so well in the Ghost Protocol as a funny Impossible Mission Force agent William Brandt. But he seemed to have lost his marbles here as Hansel. There was no connection there with the audience whether Hansel gets weak without his insulin shots or when he got devirginized by the white witch, Mina. Same goes for the lovely Gemma Arterton who did a great job giving Bambi a run for his money with her woe-is-me eyes but failed miserably to save this film from withering away.

Since there seems to be a dearth of new plots in Hollywood, we as movielovers can only hope for a good story line next time around they plan to do a series of fairy tales themed movies especially with Jack  the Giant Slayer about to come out in theaters this March.

 

Pitching for Pitch Perfect

Whoever said or even thought that the movie Pitch Perfect is Glee on the big screen, better think again. The movie is much more than just the usual schtick of underdogs winning the title. It is also a far cry from Glee just because the writer give each one of the characters an actual persona and their own limelight (yes Ryan Murphy there is an actual scriptwriting involved, one that entails knowing your characters and how they should evolve).

Pitch Perfect is about this girl, Beca (Anna Kendrick), who’d rather listen to what’s coming out of her headphones than what’s coming out of you. Arriving at her new college, she finds herself not right for any clique but somehow is muscled into one that she never would have picked on her own: alongside mean girls, sweet girls and weird girls whose only thing in common is how good they sound when they sing together.

My favorite is Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) just because she has the best lines and she delivers them with such finesse that you’d end up in tears laughing so hard. Next are the two hosts of the The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory, John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth Banks), who can be considered as the oddest but hilariously inappropriate commentators ever.

The other cast members are equally funny and entertaining because the writer Kay Cannon (an Emmy-nominated writer and producer on NBC’s award-winning show 30 Rock and co-executive producer and writer on FOX’s New Girl) made sure they stood out as well with their own weird traits: Anna Camp  as Aubrey, a stubborn traditionalist who masks her anxiety with bitchiness; Brittany Snow as Chloe, the eager-to please morale booster of The Bellas; Alexis Knapp  as Stacie, the oversexed musical dynamo; singer Ester Dean as Cynthia Rose, the tomboy who proves herself as a vocal force to be reckoned with; and Hana Mae Lee as Lilly, who is as meek as a mouse but eager to break out and freestyle her riffs.

So do not miss out, watch Pitch Perfect and believe.

Ref: http://www.pitchperfectmovie.com/pdf/production_notes.pdf

In The Name of Love…

Honestly the real reason why I even dared watch this was because my HS friend Lani asked me to go on a movie date with her. This was her pick. I seldom watch Tagalog movies since I find most of the plot the same run of the mill type and at P160, quite a steep price to just grit your teeth through.  So when I went, I had no expectations whatsoever and the movie despite being such a tearjerker was just what I needed.

The movie started with a worried looking Emman Toledo (Aga Muhlach) being led out of the airport terminal and then stripped butt naked somewhere in Japan. Turned out that he brought with him a bagful of Yakuza money, this then fast forward to the market place where he works as a porter. Mercedes (Angel Locsin), the prostitute-turned-girlfriend of a politician’s son (Jake Cuenca) was inside an SUV smoking. As the present intersected with the past, it became apparent that Emman and Cedes had a relationship while they were both in Japan. Star Cinema came in with heavy guns as they played up the heart broken Emman whose life became doomed the moment he volunteered to bring the money to save Cedes life from the Yakuza. You could feel the anger towards her hang heavily in the cinema until she blurted out how she died each year as a kept woman to a Japanese who said he can give Emman back his freedom. Her way out of the prostitution den was being involved with Dylan Evelino but it was akin to being a kept woman as well. So as the story behind their respective hells becomes clear, their love and romance became all the more touching. Added to this set of revelation was the fact that Emman and Cedes may not be able to get out alive as they face the wrath of the Evelino political army (the father just had to be a ruthless killer and his son played by Ryan Eigenmann just had to be more menacing…sigh).

But this heart wrenching but rather doomed love affair must end happily so Emman escaped from his captors (yeah guys, do not let his age and flabs fool you) and save Cedes from a sniper while Dylan gets shot by his father because he just had to kill Cedes (it escapes me why they had to kill her, she is already a prisoner in their house) and Dylan blocked that fatal shot.

Indeed the ending was expected, gives the audience some break from all that unnecessary crying. But it was a nicely woven story and the twist of why Cedes stopped writing Emman was a good surprise. Of course this may not happen in real life since doomed lovers are that just doomed. Still the movie is not your usual Tagalog flick. Lastly pag lumingon ka, magiging akin ka maybe just be the cheesiest line but it is a keeper.

A dud remake of Clash of the Titans

It was actually one of those nights when I have the TV all to myself and I was channel surfing when I chanced upon Clash of the Titans on HBO. I was not at all impressed with the story, not because I am not intrigued with a demigod’s perilous journey to avenge his family’s death by going to the underworld. But I got the feeling this movie has dispensed with a good story board. Too bad as there were really great actors in it. Liam Neeson as Zeus did not really strike me as the might god of Olympus whose wrath can destroy the human race. Ralph Fiennes as Hades did not really bring with his character the feeling of death and misery. Jason Flemyng as Calibos/Acrisius was not even memorable, he was just the king whose queen-wife was impregnated by Zeus. I would never understand why he even waited for her to give birth first before he killed her and placed her in a coffin. Could he not just kill her then as he already know she sort of had sex with Zeus? I also do not understand what the role of Io (Gemma Arterton) was. She was just there when Perseus was found by his foster father inside a coffin and then was revived by Zeus as a gift to his son.

Also Sam Worthington as Perseus just seem to just know how to fight with all the acrobatic stunts he pulled off when Calibus appeared in Medusa’s lair. I know he is supposedly a demigod but he was raised a fisherman and fishermen do not fight like that. Perseus was just too good with any weapons that it leaves you baffled. There were just so many loopholes in the story that you would just be glad that it was over when the closing credits were shown.

The movie pretty much relied on the make up and the cinematic effects. Had it not been for that, this would have been such a blah movie. Good that I did not spend a single centavo to watch it on the big screen.

Thor

Thor was one of the most awaited movies after its teaser was shown during the credits of Iron Man 3. But will a relatively new actor, Chris Hemsworth, be the right match for a seasoned actor like Robert Downey Jr. when they face each other in the upcoming Avenger movie?

Chris was totally an eye candy in this film and he struts the strut only a guy who stands to gain an entire kingdom and scars to prove his conquest can. He may not be as seasoned as Robert but Chris sure was a good fit to the role. His smile can bring any woman non stop schoolgirl giggling feats like what it did to Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), a scientist who kept on physically hurting the Norse god of thunder. Chris is a good choice actually. It was said that during the audition Director Kenneth Branaghand Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige chose Hemsworth after a back-and-forth process in which the 27-year-old actor was initially dropped from consideration and then given a second chance to read for the part.

Natalie for her part was really credible for her role as the astrophysicist who cannot seem to get the break that she needs. She was giggly when around Thor, feisty when all her hard work was confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D., and feeble when faced with uncertainty. Natalie took the role just because she found out Kenneth was directing the film “”I just thought it sounded like a weird idea because Kenneth Branagh’s directing it, so I was just like, ‘Kenneth Branagh doing ‘Thor’ is super-weird. I’ve gotta do it’,” said Natalie taken from an online article by ^ Douglas, Edward (2009-11-21). “Natalie Portman on Why She Did Thor“. SuperHeroHype.

The only complaint I have though for this film is that the story never established Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) mischievous nature. It was too concentrated on making Thor powerful and arrogant that it completely forgot the nemesis. Loki was more on the shy, recluse younger brother than mischievous.

Green Lantern, a fairly good movie

We almost did not watch this movie because there were so many bad reviews and feedback that crossed our path. Suffice it to say we do not dare spend money on a surefire miss on the big screen. Turned out the movie we were supposed to watch, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, was not in any of the cinemas at Trinoma. Since there was nothing else to watch, we chose Green Lantern.

The plot felt akin to Superman out to save the world kind of thing, with the Lana Lang and Lois Lane falling in love with the caped hero. But here the female lead, Carol Ferris, played sexily by Blake Lively was not fooled by the mask. She recognized him instantly. Remember, Clark Kent just uses a pair of eyeglasses yet no one can guess he is Superman (smack on forehead) and these are supposedly smart ladies (eyes roll). Anyhow going back to the story, the plot was seamlessly written as it established the relationship of Carol, Hal Jordan (Ryan) and Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) early on so no one in the cinema would have those question marks on their faces as they leave. The same way it showed how Hector got involved in the autopsy of Abin Sur when he is but an ordinary HS Science teacher. It also established the reason why there was even an entity that fed on the yellow energy of fear when there is a lot of hope going around in Oa.

I did like the fact that the writers did not automatically make Hal an automatic hero. He fumbled through his training and his first heroic act could have been much better. Like how he tried to save Senator Hammond (Tim Robbins), Hal made a track course of sorts instead of a giant like hand to place the copter safely on the ground.  His character was every bit of what he sets out to do, his being a happy go lucky sorts shows in what he sees in his mind and subsequently creates. So kudos to the writers for making Hal every bit of a human with a lot of flaws yet have a good heart to balance it out.

As for the characters, I am a Ryan Reynolds fan so there is a bit of bias here. He is as always very funny here but seemed like Hal should not be like any of Ryan’s other characters. Surely Ryan has more up in his sleeves rather than playing off the same type of happy go lucky ladies’ man robe he dons for every movie. He needs to keep his fans excited and believe that he has more versatility in him. But I liked him as Green Lantern because Hal does seemed like he does not take life nor relationships too seriously.

I did like the transformation of Blake from blonde to a brunette. She is convincing as the soon to be owner of the Ferris Aircraft Company while having the hots for Hal. Must be all that hair color that did the trick or maybe the girl can actually act. Mark Strong as Sinestro did give me the chills, he is as cold here as he was menacing when he was  Sherlock Holmes’s nemesis, Lord Blackwood. The other casts should have been given meatier lines since their existence in the movie seemed negligible like Tim, Angela Basset, Taika Waititi, Jay Sanders…

All in all the movie is a good one, yes maybe I lowered my expectations to zero but Hal aka Green Lantern sure is a nice way to end my rather tumultuous week.

RPG: the first ever 3D Philippine Animated Film

Funny thing about expectations is when there is none there at all, you get a better experience. Filipinos are a talented lot but when it comes to cinematic effects and what nots, we sorely lag behind other countries, so when my brother asked me to watch RPG I just shrugged matter of factly and came along. It was sort of if there is nothing good on just look for something that you can tolerate, after all P200 is not a cheap way of being bored out of your eyeballs.

As the movie started, the cinema was full but even with kids in tow the opening credits were met by a complete silence. Maybe it was anxiety or the lackluster feeling towards the animation that made the audience just sit tight. A Filipino 3D animation began to tell its story with a fast paced cartoon version of the lead Nico in his RPG image of Zero battling mechanical drones. I was hooked not because of the pacing of the film nor the story (which is not extraordinary nor different from the usual stuff of a little boy turned hero material) but because it was refreshingly Pinoy in all aspect. The humor was so Pinoy even the retorts, ribbing and expressions. The tricycles that roam the province where Nico must be at were so uncannily realistic that there was an appreciative murmurs in the audience. The longganisa eaten by Nico when he woke up and the daing na bangus he shared with his mom during dinner were undoubtedly Pinoy fare. Of course who would forget the good old electric fans in every room that cool us every hour of every day? But I digress so let me start telling you what I feel about the film’s entirety.

The Story is simply about an ordinary boy named Nico who becomes a very fast, agile yoyo wielding vagabond Zero in a massively multi-player online playing games Metanoia. He is used to being ill coordinated that he sought solace in the game where he is control of everything. In real life however, much to the consternation of his mom, he would often fumble and get hit in the head with a fast flying ball. Yet middle of the film, he can be seen playing all sorts of Pinoy games like patintero, taya, tumbang preso, taguan, etc after being thrown out of their hang out at Bomb Shelter by two teen bullies. But soon enough because of a virus that took over the Metanoia community, Nico with the help of his friends and perhaps love interest May along with his dad and what is left of those not yet infected players rescued Metanoia and the world from being mindless drones.

Effects For the first time in a long time, the effects are and if not flawless. There were more hits than misses. There was no latency in terms of the characters movement nor of the transition from the Metanoia environment to Nico’s actual world. It was smooth and clean from one scene to the next. The details too were very worthy of note especially since the animators had a painstaking time in putting them together and give the audience a 3D feel to a very Filipino setting. Let us just say that it is not easy pulling off the tricks each of the players have in their arsenal but the animators managed to do so.

Mang Ernie’s magic and an umbrella like weapon that deflects attacks; K-mao’s Chi powered Rock, Paper, Scissor combo attack; Ahdonis arnis for offensive maneuvers and body tattoo for defense; Sumpak has an arsenal of weapons made by him and Cassandra who is a beast master show that Pinoys can think outside of the box and make an awesome presentation albeit years in the making.

Voice Talents Aga as Dad, Eugene as Mom and Vhong as Cel are for the most part negligible here because the younger talents proved to be great finds. Mika dela Cruz as May is the quintessential girl trying to be one of the boys but yet very feminine in her ways, this was obvious in how her tone changed when playing with the boys and when she was affronted by Nico’s snide comments that she was not his type. Basty Alcances as Mark hit the feeling guapo mark to the hilt, you can hear that he likes girls and he thinks girl like him back in the way he inflects during his dialogues. Jairus Aquino as Bryan gives his character the right bemused or annoyed tone. Aaron Junatas as Bobby stutters a lot and he did well sounding as gullible as his character should be. Zaijian Jaranilla as Nico has that loser voice because he is that at the beginning but his tone changes when he started to have more confidence at the latter part of the movie. Definitely gifted voice talents who breathed a life to clay and computer rendered animation.