screening schedules this week (06-29-05)

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD

War of the Worlds
12:15 PM, 2:30, 4:45, 7, 9:15 PM
Happily Ever
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
A Lot Like Love
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
BATMAN BEGINS
1:35 PM, 4:25, 7:15 PM

SM CITY CINEMA

House of Wax
11 AM, 1 PM. 3, 5, 7, 9 PM
War of the Worlds
11:40 AM, 2 PM, 4:20, 6:40, 9 PM
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
11:40 AM, 2 PM, 4:20, 6:40, 9 PM
A Lot Like Love
11:25 AM, 1:20 PM. 3:15, 5:10, 7:05, 9 PM
Batman Begins
11:00 AM, 1:30 PM, 4, 6:30, 9 PM
Happily Ever After
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM

UNLEASHED (Danny the Dog)

UNLEASHED
Jet Li is Danny the Dog
By Reymundo Salao

Although his past works, like the Chinese epic "Hero" may have proven to be his most excellent films, Jet Li's image in the US and Europe has only been attached to very dull, very tacky B-movie Hollywood action flicks. But finally, he has brought decency to his international action star image with his new film. UNLEASHED is easily Jet Li's best English language movie.

"Danny the Dog" (Jet Li) is a slave who has lived his whole life without any sort of normal human education, with the mind and personality of a young child, with only one lesson learned: how to fight. Treated like a dog by his owner/boss, Bart (Bob Hoskins) which includes having to wear a collar, Danny has been raised to be a lethal fighting machine who fights in illegal gladiator-style fight clubs, where he earns lots of money for Bart as the undisputed champion. After a car accident that lands Bart in a coma, however, Danny escapes and is taken in by a kind family consisting of blind piano tuner Sam (Morgan Freeman) and his teenage stepdaughter, Victoria (Kerry Condon). They teach Danny how to be a real person, to be able to act civilly in society. They also allow Danny to explore his love of the piano, where a specific tune haunts him, bringing up repressed memories from his long-ago past. Just when Danny thinks he has escaped from his former life, he is pulled back in, but he is no longer the trained dog Bart thinks he is.


Jet Li's acting is brilliantly honest and dramatically convincing. Funny as it may seem, the words that came to my head was "It's 'I Am Sam' with Killer Martial Arts". Morgan Freeman is, as always, greatly inspiring whenever he plays heartwarming characters that seem to be a perfect combination of a guide-of-wisdom father figure and the emotionally nurturing mother figure. He plays the character that has served as Danny's pathway back to humanity. Freeman's character (which reminds me of Ray Charles) may be blind, but he is the character that manages to tap into what human side Danny still has. His character Sam was at first not blind at all. After hearing from a piano school for the blind (with a very high reputation, and where the scholars developed their hearing), Freeman had the idea of making his character blind because like this it is easier for Sam to "see" the child in Jet Li's character, and not the brutal killer. Like many of his other emotionally inspiring roles in previous films, he does so in this film, with a standing ovation excellence.

Exact opposite of Freeman's role, is the role of Bob Hoskins. Playing Uncle Bart, he is the master, the abusive guardian of Danny. Not so much of a father, his degrading treatment of Danny since his childhood is what makes Danny, Danny the Dog. Hoskins is amusing playing the somewhat cruel, rarely caring master. Often breaking into witty slum-scum funny lines, Hoskins plays the villain role somehow familiar to the Tarantino and Guy Ritchie films.


This film was originally titled "DANNY the DOG" and was released around a year ago in parts of Europe and France under the original title. Louis Leterrier directed, but was under the production of Luc Besson, who also wrote the screenplay for this film. It's no wonder the film has such a great dramatic depth that balances nicely with the drama, it is because Luc Besson has had a great reputation in the A-quality action-drama movies, which include the thought-provoking explosive hitman action-drama "Leon: The Professional", and "La Femme Nikita" (which was later remade into Bridgette Fonda's "The Assassin" and was made into a TV series, which also became an inspiration for the TV series "Alias")

The music for the entire film was directed and scored by the popular group, Massive Attack, which delivers a magnificent soundtrack that gives great colorful life into the film. The fight direction was under the supervision of Yuen Wo Ping (the master himself) whose long-standing reputation goes back from the 70's with works like "Snake in the Eagles Shadow" & "Drunken Master" up to the more recent groundbreaking action of the Matrix movies. Clearly, from the A-list actors, up to the A-list crew, UNLEASHED is indeed a clear champion action film.

UNLEASHED is now showing at Robinson's Movieworld (sked: 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM)

BATMAN BEGINS

BATMAN BEGINS
The Story That Unveils the Real Dark Knight
By Reymundo Salao

I have been a longtime fan of Batman since childhood. It was especially when I saw the comic books in the late 80's that was refurbishing the Batman concept away from it's campy late-60's image popularized by the cartoons and the Adam West television series, into a serious, brooding crime fighter who doesn't resemble a children's cartoon at all. I have loved the Batman genre, not only because of his cool gothic demon-like anti-hero persona but because he's the only prominent superhero who does not have superpowers. He just relies on his quick wits, his agile strength, and his more-than-Houdini tricks & illusions. He can't fly like Superman, but he can glide, leap distances. He can't walk on walls with his bare hands like Spidey, but he has gadgets like claws that could let him do the same. He doesn't shoot lasers or power rays out of his eyes or fingertips to stop crime, he uses his skill in martial arts and a cunning sense of intimidation, his power of striking fear into the hearts of the evildoers with his image itself. He is Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham City.

The 1989 adaptation of Batman by director Tim Burton was phenomenal. But it may have upset diehard fans, for it was a film that made changes in the origin of the Batman. Its sequel "Batman Returns" also made alterations in the storyline, not to mention the level of Batman's gadgets that was pushing the limits of wackiness. But the unhappy fans were very very few, because everybody who loved the Batman was happy enough with the way Tim Burton was directing the film; his balanced sense of bizarre style that captured the gothic, the "seemingly-30's era- yet-strangely timeless" style: it made Batman the serious, caped crusader that he is, and not the colorful silly style of the Adam West version or the 1980's cartoon version.

Burton's style was so good, and his Batman films so popular that it spawned the animated TV series which (may consciously or unconsciously) adapted Burton's sensibilities. The animated series itself also became a phenomenal success in TV history, becoming one of the first successful cartoons series that touched on mature issues such as Vengeance, Hatred, Crime, and Social Prejudice. While Burton's movies altered the original Batman storyline, the animated series was more true to the comicbooks, as each episode seemed like it could also serve as a dissection of the criminally insane.


All hell broke loose and the Batman reputation crumbled at a quick instance when Warner Brothers decided they want more money; in doing so, they wanted the Batman franchise to be more kid-friendly. Joel Schumacher was hired to direct the new Batman movies. It was a disaster. Schumacher wanted Batman to be less brooding, less angry, less stoic. The result was that the two Batman movies: "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" became replicas of what seemed to be a cross between Power Rangers and Michael Jackson. They were the two ugliest movies in film history. Apart from making it too childish was its odd over-queer approach: Batman's costume had nipples, in one scene, Batman's butt was intentionally focused in zoom, and the sets were too glamorous that it seemed to become a drag-queen version of Moulin Rouge. Schumacher was lambasted by fans, his career severely tarnished, and the Batman franchise was closed down in shame, as it watched other comicbook adaptations become successes because they didn't follow Schumacher's mistake. "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" were two very very ugly films that fans would rather forget about, or deny ever having existed.

Several years have passed and may other comicbook adaptations have become critically and financially great successes. Superman's already signed up for a sequel due next year entitled "Superman Returns" Everybody was asking "When was Batman's turn to grace the new millennium?" Well, if you look back at the last Batman movie, you'd ask, "How can you make a decent sequel out of THAT PILE OF CRAP?" At least Superman can make a comeback in continuity because the last Superman movie was decent enough. Batman also had the flaw made by Burton, which was the storyline alteration. Warner Brothers, along with its director Christopher Nolan (who directed the mind boggling MEMENTO and the thought-provoking INSOMNIA) and its writer David Goyer (who wrote the screenplay of BLADE) perhaps have thought that they had no choice but to remake the whole thing; retell the deeper story of the Batman, and start from the very beginning, a beginning that will once and for all, serve as the foundation of what is to be the saga of the Batman. That is why this summer, BATMAN BEGINS…


This film is very expensive. I'm not talking about film sets, costumes, and explosions, I'm talking about its intoxicatingly stellar cast: You have the respectable Japanese actor ("The Last Samurai) Ken Watanabe as the mysterious Ra's Al Ghul, Cilian Murphy ("28 Days Later) as The Scarecrow, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, and "Oskar Schindler" himself, Liam Neeson as Ducard. That's only half of it. There's the mainstay cast of the entire Batman saga; Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine is Alfred, and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox. It is clear that this film is bent to be precious in its acting weight and impact rather than stunts and special effects. There isn't much to tell about the cast: they were all superb.

Understandably, this tells the origin story of how Batman came to be, so we really can't expect to see Batman in his full costumed form up until halfway through the movie. It finally tells how Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered. The previous films tells that Joker was the one who killed them, but this new version is more faithful to the original storyline: That the one who killed them was just a nobody from the slums, just a clumsy thug who was resorting to violence in his desperation in poverty. And Bruce Wayne never was able to exact vengeance on this person, that is why he takes his war, not only against one criminal, but a war against all crime; all evil. This storyline is beautifully orchestrated into film by its director Christopher Nolan, who takes a very heavy dramatic treatment into the film, making Bruce's tragedy very real, and his transformation into a fighting machine of justice very realistic. The screenplay of David Goyer is a touch of genius as he bridges the origins of how Batman came to his learn skills of martial arts and deception, with the storyline of one of the villains Ra's Al Ghul. And how that bridge came to be connected with why Bruce cannot fully become an ally of Ra's Al Ghul, who believes that death is a worthy punishment of those who do evil. Halfway through the fiulm, you'd wish Schumacher was beside you so that you can shout at him "Teh? Kaya Mo NA?!"


What makes Batman the superhero is his firm belief that killing is not the ultimate punishment, not the ultimate solution to uphold justice. Though dark and demonlike as he may be, his is not the evil that he fights, and draws a line between them. His moral virtues stand proud and unflinching, a shade of black that shines in the darkness.

Although the film is meant to entice a more mature audience because of its heavier storytelling elements rather than eye-candy, parents should not be afraid to bring along their kids with them to watch this film, because Batman's morality serves as a good example of self-discipline and humanity. And for those who would have wanted a bit more eye-candy for the Batman franchise, at least you can expect that the sequel (which was clearly hinted at the epilogue) can be crammed with action and explosions, it is because the foundation has already been established. And Batman has already begun…

BATMAN BEGINS...This Week!!! (Announcement) & Screening Schedules this Week (061505)

BATMAN BEGINS…this week!!!
By Reymundo Salao

When fate prevents him from avenging the deaths of his parents, young Bruce Wayne vowed to avenge his parent’s death and avenge the many victims of crime. He travels all over the world to train himself physically, mentally, and spiritually to become a creature crusading for justice. When he returns, Bruce finds that his home, Gotham City has become overrun with crime and corruption, and that there are forces at work trying to remove him from his inherited place as the owner of Wayne Industries. Discovering a cave under Wayne Manor, Bruce assumes a new identity as a secret detective and guardian of the people of Gotham City against the criminals that plague them...

When the Batman film came out in 1989 with Tim Burton as the director, it was to revolutionize the superhero genre of film for it offered a mature approach on adapting the superhero genre unto the silver screen. But when Warner Brothers changed the director, shifting to Joel Schumacher, to direct a more kid-friendly (and utterly childish) Batman movie, the Batman genre immediately fell into an embarrassing slumber. “Batman Forever” was pop garbage, and the Power-Rangers-like “Batman & Robin” became the 2 most awful superhero movies to date.

Hopefully learning from their mistakes, the Batman film franchise is making a comeback, trying to earn back its reputation and success among recent superhero movies that has gained applause; like “X-Men”, “The Hulk” and “HellBoy”. The new Batman promises to deliver what the real Batman is meant to be: dark, brooding, and sometimes, even twisted.


BATMAN BEGINS is loosely based on the mini-series BATMAN: YEAR ONE which is one of the best Batman stories ever made

Warner Brothers and DiBonaventura Pictures have returned to once again delve into the shadow of the Batman. Fittingly, they opted for a director who would surely deliver a dark and moody, but at the same time, intelligent take on the Batman; Christopher Nolan, who directed such excellent mysteries such as “Memento” and “Insomnia”.
The storyline of BATMAN BEGINS will focus on the younger Batman (ie, not long after the setting of Batman: Year One mini-series). The villain known as the Scarecrow, who uses drugs and chemicals to alter people's perception of reality, sending them into nightmare-like hallucinations, is in the movie as the villain, along with Ra's Al Ghul, an international criminal mastermind obsessed with taking over the world (and maintaining his immortality, after having lived 600+ years). This film is relaunching the franchise, basing the storyline on the most popular origin-storyline of the Batman; BATMAN: YEAR ONE which tells the origins of how Batman really evolved into the dark crimefighter that he is.

The Batman saga has rich characters that have been pretty underplayed in the previous movies. First and foremost is (Commissioner/Sgt.) Jim Gordon who is the narrating protagonist of the famous Batman: Year One mini-series. In the comics and even in the animation, he is less reliant on Batman. He and the rest of the Gotham Police are not as inutile as in the movie version (especially in the Schumacher version) where they’re played as dumb and inefficient. Alfred Pennyworth, is not supposed to be just a stereotype old British butler; there is even a season in the Batman comic universe that he left Bruce Wayne because of a complicated disagreement. Lucious Fox, the man who actually runs Wayne Enterprises for Bruce so he can concentrate on fighting crime. All these characters hope to be portrayed correctly with the introduction of an impressive new cast, which includes: Ken Watanabe (Ra's Al Ghul), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Rutger Hauer, Katie Holmes (Rachel Dodson), Cillian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow), Liam Neeson (Ducard), Gary Oldman (Sgt. Jim Gordon), Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone), and Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman).

The script is written by David S. Goyer (Blade, Blade II, Death Warrant, The Crow: City of Angels, Freddy vs Jason; he's also got Blade: Trinity coming before this) and Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia)

BATMAN BEGINS this week…

SCREENING SCHEDULES

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD
BATMAN BEGINS
12 PM, 1:15, 3:15, 6:35, 9:15 PM
Nasaan Ka Man
12:30 PM, 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 PM
Shutter
12:30 PM, 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
BATMAN BEGINS
12:45 PM, 3:25, 6:05, 8:45 PM
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
12 PM, 1:15, 3:15, 6:35, 9:15 PM

MR. & MRS. SMITH

MR. & MRS. SMITH
A Charming Love Story… with Ferociously Exposive Action
By Reymundo Salao

Just for curiosity's sake, ever wonder what it would be like if James Bond settled down on a married life with Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider? And that they still kept their very dangerous lifestyles as secret alter-egos from each other? More or less, it is a question answered by the movie MR. & MRS. SMITH. This film topbills Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt as a typical suburban couple who lived a quiet, boring, and over-domesticated married life, unbeknownst to each other that both have secret lives as assassins, until time came when during a mission to hit the same target, they stumbled upon each other, discovering each other's secret. This pit the mister and the misis on the same deadly playing field; from explosively relentless gun-battles, to ticking bomb gadgets, to fierce hand-to-hand combat, Mr. & Mrs. Smith fight it out in an evenly matched competition. But how will it end? Will they indeed kill off each other? Or just kiss and make up?

(Warning: may contain spoilers)
This film is a ferocious and explosive action movie that doesn't bore. It's got great car chase scenes, bloody martial arts, high-powered firearms, and John Woo style stunts. But THAT is not why this film is really worth watching. Behind the action is the very witty underlying tale of marriage. A kind of marriage that is actually too typical for just about any couple could relate to. Like many typical love stories, it starts out with a sexy, rendezvous that could bear resemblance to most cologne commercials. The steamy love flame burns nicely that, in no time, it leads to marriage. Then BOOM, five or six years later, all that steam of love and romance simmers down to mediocrity and repetitive dullness. Sometimes that leads to some sort of clash: breakdown, fighting, endless bickering, arguments, separation. To Tagalog movie satires, there's the throwing of plates and the packing of the maleta, to Mr. & Mrs. Smith, it's the getting into a high-powered firearm duel with each other. And after surviving that clash, can the typical married couple grow from the pain, and realize their love with a beautiful reconciliation. So basically, with that thought, it's clear that this film really is a love story; a marriage satire…with lots of guns, lots of explosions, lots of action. Not only that, it has great witty lines as well. With the humor it is saturated in, you will find that the comedy aspect of it is what will make you love this film. Noteworthily the best scenes of the film are when the couple are still in doubting uncertainties whether they would and should indeed kill off each other.


The stunningly beautiful Angelina Jolie plays it well as Mrs. Smith, an action superchick, just like her many tough-chick roles like Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider movies. But in this film, she plays a married woman, as well, which makes her character a bit more emotionally vulnerable. She has a fluid comedic chemistry with Brad Pitt, who plays Mr. Smith. Though the two provide charming onscreen presence, it was also the supporting character played by Vince Vaughn, who has had a preferably excellent image transition from being just some poster boy, into a wackily-reputed comedian, that has stood alongside the topbilled duo on the giggle-meter spotlight of the film. Vaughn plays Eddie, Mr. Smith's friend, business associate, and ignorable blabbering conscience.

The film was directed by Doug Liman, who also directed "Go" and "The Bourne Identity". Although Liman was a good choice for a spy-action that can more or less be related to his work with the "Bourne Identity" remake, his signature styles (especially that of film-speed alteration) have become overshadowed by his employment of John-Woo-style action-choreography and other action film styles that have either been overused and immersed by its many duplicates, especially on Jerry Bruckheimer action flicks. Doug Liman's style we saw in his previous films was just too easy for other filmmakers to copy so much so that his signature hasn't been so original anymore.

But MR.& MRS. SMITH isn't supposed to be a meticulous study of film styles anyway and it just gets the job done: Give the audience a trippy roller-coaster action ride that has some smart storylines and smart dialogues to give it a higher value. Extremely charming, sexy, and ultimately romantic, MR. & MRS. SMITH is packed with wit and firepower that will stir you into steaming satisfaction.

screening schedules this week (06-08-05)

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1:55 PM, 4:35, 7:15PM
Madagascar
11:25 AM, 2:15 PM, 4:05, 5:55, 7:45 PM
Amityville Horror
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, PM
Say That You Love Me
12:45 PM, 3:05, 5:25, 7:45 PM
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
3:55 PM, 6:35, 9:15PM


SM CITY CINEMA

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1:00 PM, 3:20, 5:40, 8 PM
Say That You Love Me
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Madagascar
12:15 PM, 2, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
Head in the Clouds
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
11:40 AM, 2 PM, 4:20, 6:40, 9 PM
Amityville Horror
12:15 PM, 2, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM

screening schedules this week (06-01-05)

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
11:00 AM, 1:30 PM, 4:05, 6:45, 9:15 PM
Madagascar
11:15 AM, 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 PM
Amityville Horror
11:15 AM, 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 PM
Say That You Love Me
11:15 AM, 1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15 PM
In Good Company
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM
Ring of the Nibelungs
1:30 PM, 4:05, 6:45, 9:15 PM

SM CITY CINEMA

In Good Company
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Say That You Love Me
10:35 AM, 12:40 PM, 2:45, 4:50, 6:55, 9 PM
Madagascar
11:30 AM, 1:05 PM, 2:40, 4:15, 5:50, 7:25, 9 PM
La VISA Loca
12:40 PM, 2:45, 4:50, 6:55, 9 PM
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
11:20 AM, 1:45 PM, 4:10 PM, 6:35, 9 PM
Amityville Horror
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM, 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM