Maleficent (2014)

There seems to be a paradigm shift going on at Walt Disney. It wasn’t that long ago that whenever people

thought of Disney movies, they would immediately think of fairy tales come to the  big screen, complete with happily ever after. For a while, this formula worked well for Disney, and allowed them to be the dominant animated studio during their renaissance. And then Pixar came and changed the game. Since then, Disney has played second fiddle to Pixar’s animated films. The “Disney Magic” seemed to be gone. Something needed to change. The old formula of damsels in distress, to be saved by a knight in shining armor while they sing and dance wasn’t working anymore in this day and age. And then Enchanted came out in 2007.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Except for one or two misses, Martin Scorsese’s films have always been fantastic in my opinion. From his earlier works with Robert de Niro to his more recent films with Leonardo DiCaprio, Marty has that unique touch that seems to resonate well with me. So it came as no surprise that The Wolf of Wall Street was a must see film for me. Given its R-rating and the way cinemas here in the Philippines choose films, I feared that if I were to watch it in the theater, I would get a very censored and edited version. Luckily though, some local malls decided to show the un-cut version, choosing film value over profit. Early reviews of this film have been mostly positive, focusing mostly on DiCaprio’s acting. After finally watching it on the big screen, all I can say is that Scorsese has done it again.

American Hustle (2013)

After the masterpiece that was Silver Linings Playbook, I eagerly anticipated director David O. Russell’s follow-up and entry for the 2013 awards season. The buzz surrounding American Hustle has been constantly strong, add to that it’s recent Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination, and moviegoers are definitely anxious to catch what exactly the hype is all about. I’m also sure that Filipino cinephiles are currently very thirsty for a film that deserves their attention and money after the annual atrocity that is the Metro Manila Film Festival. Fortunately, technology has allowed me to watch the film before it hits local cinemas. So is it worth your time and money? In a word, yes.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Many of us, especially Non-Americans, will never truly understand the horrors and atrocities associated with slavery. While hundreds of books have been written over the past century, slavery is still not a subject that Americans are entirely comfortable talking about or bringing up. It is a black-eye in their history that they would rather not discuss it and just move on. So you can just imagine the difficulty and controversy that comes with trying to make a film about slavery. Most recently, Quentin Tarantino tried his hands at it with Django Unchained. Although it was greatly entertaining, the added spaghetti western element, and the over-all style of the film really didn't give enough attention to the slavery part of the film. In fact, I dare say no Hollywood film has truly tackled the issue of slavery in the United States that would really allow the audience to connect with the characters, and perhaps really know how it feels to live in that time. Ironically, it took a British director, and a British leading actor to truly get the message across. It took a film like 12 Years a Slave to really show slavery in all its inhumanity and degradation.

Gravity (2013)

Life is not possible in space

By using this fact as an introduction to his latest film, director Alfonso Cuaron prepares us for a breathtaking and eye-popping journey about life, change and coping. There has been much anticipation for Gravity, focusing primarily on the film's visuals and cinematography. While I do not want to belittle these aspects and will get to them later on, I can tell you now that the film is much more than just eye-candy. And even with some very obvious weaknesses and shortcomings, Gravity is still a film worthy of the hype and attention.

In a jist and at first, Gravity seems nothing more than a really pretty movie about a disaster in space; while on a mission to repair the Hubble Telescope, the space team led by Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), which includes Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) suddenly find themselves in huge trouble when debris from nearby satellite destruction come crashing towards them killing everyone else and destroying their spaceship. Now they must work together to get safely back to Earth.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Five down, four to go. With my recent viewing of Silver Linings Playbook, I’ve crossed the halfway mark in my goal to watch all of the Best Picture nominees in the 85^th Academy Awards next month. Before watching Silver Linings, I had Lincoln winning best picture based on the films that I have already viewed. Now after watching, did my prediction change? Honestly, no it did not. That does not mean though that Silver Linings Playbook is not a good movie. Truth be told, it may possible be one of the best and most certainly the most enjoyable and endearing films I have watched in quite some time.

Bradley Cooper stars as bipolar Pat Solitano, who after serving the court ordered eight months in a mental institution because he beat up the man he caught making love with his wife, is released into the custody of his parents. When he gets out though, he finds out that his father, who is played by Robert De Niro, has lost his job and is making ends meet as a bookmaker (did I mention Pat Sr. has OCD). Pat Jr. immediately gets in touch with common friends in order for him to get in touch with his wife and get their marriage on track. Seems like a pretty basic premise for any love story right? Lovelorn guy does something wrong and wants to make up for it with girl. It’s a Hollywood cliché. This movie though, offers so much more, especially when Pat finally meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who has some issues of her own.

Lincoln (2012)

With exactly a month to go before the Academy Awards, I'm trying my best to see as many (if not all) of the best picture nominees as possible. Coming from the Philippines, this poses a challenge since some of the films may be released here after the Oscars. Some may not even be released at all if it didn't win anything, or if the distributors think that it wouldn't appeal to the local audience. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I think an example of the latter would be Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. I just finished watching it yesterday and I still can't properly put into words just how beautiful and incredible a film it was.

A brief background on the film first, since I don't think I'd be spoiling it for anyone since everything shown on the film is part of American history. The film is set during the tail-end of the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln has just been elected to a second term and he has made it his ultimate mission to finally abolish slavery by having the thirteenth amendment to the American Constitution passed in congress within the next month. It seems like a pretty easy law to pass since his party has the majority in congress but so many factors and vested interests from various parties are making it harder and harder to guarantee the bill's ratification.

Life of Pi (2012)

This will be a rough draft review of Life of Pi. I won't be writing that much about the film due to lack of time, but I do intend to polish it up as soon as I can. I am sure that almost everyone out there has seen Life of Pi so there is no need for me to elaborate on the plot. Also with all the good reviews about it, people who have not seen it need little more convincing. While I admit that Life of Pi is an above average movie, far better than the majority out there, I was not totally wowed by it and personally don't think it is worthy of all its accolades.

I think it is universally accepted that the movie was an absolute visual masterpiece, and I would have to agree with this. Visually, Life of Pi was unbelievably beautiful; so many stunning scenes and images that were really breathtaking. My personal favorite was the aerial shot of the ocean with all the jellyfish.

Skyfall (2012)

So it's been five months since I last wrote down a review here, and I'm not sure if anyone outside of my closest friends actually read this blog, but I'll apologize for the lack of activity anyways. Again, I will try to be more active with this movie review blog, especially with some awesome movies coming out for the Fall season. I guess, it's kinda apt that after such a long drought, I'll be coming back with a review of the latest James Bond film - Skyfall, because much like this blog making a comeback, the film was an absolutely awesome way to bounce back from a lackluster and disappointing previous film.

MGM kept the details of Skyfall very hush hush and all I knew coming into the film was that, the past of both Bond and M will be tackled which will cause some discord between the two and even test the loyalty of 007. Given that it was a James Bond film, it was definitely one of those films that I knew I would not miss, regardless of how bad the last film was or how little I knew about the plot. The addition of Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men, Eat Pray Love) and Sam Mendes (American Beauty) just brought my interest and expectations in the film to a whole new level. I am glad to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that after watching the film, my expectations were EXPONENTIALLY exceeded.

The Artist (2011)

Being the odds-on favorite to win the Academy award for best picture tomorrow, I wanted to see what all the buzz about The Artist was about before the actual Oscars. So Giulz and I just finished watching the film not more than ten minutes ago, and I don't know where to begin in writing about it. With what I knew about the film and all the hoopla surrounding it, some of my expectations were met, while others were surpassed. It was extremely refreshing to see this kind of a movie in this day of technology and special effects. A film that pays homage to the films that started it all, while adding a touch of modernity and surprising us with lessons about life that go well beyond the silver screen.

Without giving away too much, The Artist is set in 1927 Hollywood when silent films rule all. It revolves around George Valentin, who at the time is the best actor in silent film, and how his career and life change when sound films suddenly emerge, and a younger actress named Peppy Miller usurps his place atop Hollywood. Yes, the film is about silent film, and is also presented to us in that medium. This was actually the first time that I watched a silent film. I guess I subconsciously avoided the films of Chaplin and instead went for the hilarity of The Marx Brothers for my oldies fix. Yet while I was watching, I noticed that the way I was viewing the film was different from the usual. I found myself observing more every single change in the face, action and body language of the actors.

The Descendants (2011)

It seems like ages since I've written my thoughts about a film down for people to read. If I remember correctly, the last film I wrote about was Grindhouse: Planet Terror back in the old Multiply website. So forgive this initial attempt at a comeback if it lacks any semblance of a valid movie review. As I write more, I'll try to do better I promise. It is also befitting that I re-start this hobby of mine discussing one of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year - Alexander Payne's The Descendants

The end of the year is usually where Hollywood studios release their bets for Oscar gold. Because of the Metro Manila Film Festival though, we get these films a few months delayed. This for me is both good and bad since by this time the nominations have been announced, so we only get those films that were actually nominated and not those that were snubbed but still worth watching. So when Giulz and I found out that The Descendants was now showing, we made it a point to watch it and see if the film lived up to all the hype and if George Clooney's performance was as good as his nominations merited. By the end of the film, the answer was a definite yes to my queries.

The plot of The Descendants is pretty straight forward- An absentee father attempts to mend his strained relationship with his two children because his wife is near death due to an accident. Seems cliche, pinoy-like even, but there truly is so much more to the film than the main plot. This movie is so far from the usual family drama where the absentee parent, in this case Clooney, is solely to blame for all the family's dysfunctionality, will spend the whole film being the nicest parent there can be, and they will live happily ever after. Much like his other films, Payne initially introduces us to the simplicity of the plot, slowly sucking us in, and then