Screening Schedules this week (9-21-05)

SM City
Longest Yard
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Ice Princess
12:15 PM, 2 PM, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
Lovestruck
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Sky High
12:15 PM, 2 PM, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
The Cave
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Red Eye
12:15 PM, 2 PM, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM

Robinson's Movieworld
Sky High
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Red Eye
11:45 AM, 2:15 PM, 4:45, 7:15 PM
The Cave
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Lovestruck
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM

Screening Schedules this week (9-14-05)

SM City
The Longest Yard
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
The Skeleton Key
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM, 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM
Lovestruck
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
The Truth About Love
12:15 PM, 2 PM, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
The Dukes of Hazzard
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Evil Eyes
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM

The Skeleton Key

THE SKELETON KEY
By Reymundo Salao

Once you unlock with THE SKELETON KEY, the evil that will be unleashed will intensely be overwhelming; you realize that there’s no turning back.

The story begins after New Orleans hospice worker Caroline (Kate Hudson) answers a help wanted ad, she finds herself working as the live-in caretaker of Ben Devereaux (John Hurt), a stroke victim who has lost his ability to speak. Ben's wife, Violet (Gena Rowlands), presents Caroline with a skeleton key to open any door in the house--with the exception of one, which she claims she has never been able to open. But curiosity gets the best of her, and Caroline opens the door to find a wealth of materials representing the old house's history of hoodoo, an ancient form of folk magic. She soon discovers that the house harbors a dark secret--one that Violet knows more about than she first admits.

The simplicity of the entire setting; from the non-flashy setting of New Orleans to the basic New Orleans’ local superstitious magic practice of Hoodoo (which has basic similarities to Voodoo and our own local Pinoy “Sorano” magic), is perfect for the film’s gradual pace that lets the audience sink in into that understanding of the sense of evil that haunts the protagonist of the film. To add to that sense of morbid familiarity, is noting that the setting of the film occurs on the same area that was recently devastated by the infamous Hurricane Katrina which has left such a chilling death toll.


(Spoiler Warning: Please proceed to the next paragraph if you haven’t watched the film) It was refreshing to see Kate Hudson in a more serious role this time; that of a caregiver who has much concern for the patients that she handles, so much so, that her noble and sincere concern could lead her to challenge the forces that block her way. Even when the end had an impressively notorious twist, it bummed me out that Hudson’s character was not all too deserving of her sad fate. Just like how my buddy in Manila who watched it earlier stated in his SMS Message: “Don’t get me wrong: the film is great, pero ma-bad-trip ka” Gena Rowlands, who played Violet, the old lady villain, was certainly a unique horror villain.

The tone of the film, at the start kinda reminded me of the original EVIL DEAD, which evoked the atmosphere of eerie dread with conservative means, such as the alteration of film speed, the creepy soundtrack of the movie, and the use of old and dusty antique props (That scene in the attic reminded me of the scene in Evil Dead when Ash found the tape recorder). But the intensity of the climax reminded of Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” as the character of Hudson relentlessly struggles to face the evil that is threatening her. This film was directed by Iain Softley, who quoted in an interview: “Some of my favorite films are psychological thrillers, like Don't Look Now, Rosemary's Baby, Angel Heart. I felt that this script followed along the same lines. It was both intelligent and thematically rich, as well as really entertaining."

The story is written by Ehren Kruger, who wrote the script for the American remake of “The Ring” (Not to be confused with Koji Suzuki, the writer of the original Japanese novel “Ringu”, and Hiroshi Takahashi, the screenwriter of the original “Ring” movie). Probably inspired by her experience from “The Ring”, Kruger has succeeded in developing a good storyline that taps into basic old American local cultural sources. Endowed by an impressive psychological-gothic storyline, this film succeeds to be the most diabolical movie this year. (Obviously it’s one of those movies that you should watch from the very start to the end)

SM City
Lisensyadong Kamao
12:15 PM, 2 PM, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
The Skeleton Key
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM, 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM
Bewitched
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM, 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM
Arahan
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM
Valiant
12 PM, 1:30, 3, 4:30, 6, 7:30, 9 PM
Must Love Dogs
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM, 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM

Robinson's Movieworld
The Skeleton Key
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Arahan
11:45 AM, 2:15 PM, 4:45, 7:15 PM
Must Love Dogs
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Lisensyadong Kamao
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM

The Great Raid

THE GREAT RAID: FACTUAL & MAGNIFICENT!
By Reymundo Salao

It's not so often that a big Hollywood production company (Miramax Films) would work with a Filipino cast and crew to make a project about the World War 2 in the Philippines. In THE GREAT RAID, Cesar Montano, Ryan Eigenmann, and Noel Trinidad Jr., work with Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, and Joseph Fiennes to tell the true story of a daring rescue on the Cabanatuan POW Camp. Following the 1942 Bataan Death March, thousands of U.S. and Filipino soldiers were imprisoned by the Japanese in a POW camp in Cabantauan in the Philippines. Brutalized, starved, and tortured, the prisoners languished in the camp for nearly three years. But in January 1945, an American battalion, with the help of Filipino guerrillas, planned a daring mission--some called it suicide--to rescue the five hundred U.S. soldiers still alive there.

It was too bad that the release was horribly delayed for a year (Originally set for a US theatrical release in 2003 and then in 2004, the reason for it: Two massive waves of layoffs were sustained at the studio, and the Disney-Miramax split reached its height. The movie remained in the Miramax vaults unreleased during this time of uncertainty. When the Disney and Miramax divorce was finally completed, numerous films like this one under the Miramax and Dimension label were finally released theatrically.) and that the publicity for the film wasn't so built up much in the US, and that it was only on limited release (only on selected theaters), but despite that, it still managed to catch up on the Top 10 Hollywood Box-Office, ranking number 10 in the US Box-Office during its release (it is currently, at presstime, at number 14), a clear indication that despite its obstacles, it still remains a film in fighting form.


The film is directed by John Dahl, produced by arty Katz and Lawrence Bender. The story is based on two books, THE GREAT RAID: RESCUING THE DOOMED GHOSTS OF BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR by William B. Breuer and GHOST SOLDIERS: THE EPIC ACCOUNT OF WORLD WAR II'S GREATEST RESCUE MISSION by Hampton Sides. In addition, several men involved in the raid served as consultants on the project. The result is a thrilling, agonizing, and unforgettable war movie like they used to make in the 1940s and 1950s, a celebration of the human spirit. The introduction really set up the mood with real footages of the World War and a vivid narration that bridges us to be welcomed into the world at war. As the black & white colors up to indicate the start of the storyline of the film, we are treated to a very beautiful color combination of film that makes the events of the movie appear as if it was off a 1940's postcard, a great set-up for the mood of the period.

THE GREAT RAID is far different from the big historical films that have come out lately. It may not be as action-packed and all-out explosive as "Saving Private Ryan" or "Enemy At the Gates", but it certainly is far more sensible and more intelligent than the ridiculous, laced-with-too much-bullcrap love story film- of Jerry Bruckheimer's & Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor" which never really gave a fair emphasis on history. While Bruckheimer & Bay's "Pearl Harbor" treated their film as a silly love story to please immature infanteen audiences with making historical events as a mere alibi-backdrop for said love story, "The Great Raid" is better off telling factual events, based on what is actually history, from the battle plans, to the sentiments of the people who lived and fought during those times of darkness. It has even more historical credibility than "Titanic". In addition, "The Great Raid" is also far better than "Thin Red Line" which horribly lacked the action and energy of what a war movie ought to be, suffering from the kind of editing that dragged the pace of the movie into an utter snoozefest. "The Great Raid", on the other hand, had a well-planned build-up when it comes to pace. It starts out slow with some wartime drama, then comes the tensions and suspense on the part of the Manila resistance trying to evade the watchful eyes of the Japanese Imperial Command, then as the story progresses, so does the excitement and the energy, until when the raid itself actually begins that the explosive fireworks of a fierce battle begins. When that starts, it feels like you want to grab a rifle yourself and join the raid.


One other thing that sets it apart from other war films is its emphasis on Military strategy. Not so many war movies these days give that kind of emphasis. It is so reminiscent of old war movies like "A Bridge Too Far" when war movies are not just done in a gung-ho Hollywood special-effects-driven manner. There is also a good chemistry between Pajota (the role played by our very own Cesar Montano) and (the role played by Benjamin Bratt) and the subtle-but-obvious tension that their characters have as they clash with racial mistrust; a subplot that lets Montano throw back this one memorable sarcastic line at the mistrust aimed at them, the guerillas. But it is the Joes who still are the featured heroes of the film; it is an American film anyway. But in the epilogue, there seems to be a failure of addressing and recognizing of the efforts of Filipino guerillas in the success of the raid. Which was kind of unfair anyway.

But of course, it is the relevance of the story to our own national history that gives us all a good reason to watch it. It reminded us of our history, and the times our grandparents went through, times of great darkness over the Philippine islands, and times of great honor, patriotism, and valiance. Highly factual, informative, and radiant with a breathtaking battle sequence; THE GREAT RAID is the War-movie event of the year.

Screening Schedules this week (082405)

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD
The Great Raid
11:45 AM, 2:15 PM, 4:45, 7:15 PM
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Crash (2005)
1:15 PM, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15 PM
Stealth
11:45 AM, 2:15 PM, 4:45, 7:15 PM

SM CITY CINEMA
CRASH (2005)
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM
D'Anothers
11:50 AM, 1:40 PM. 3:30, 5:20, 7:10, 9 PM
Wedding Crashers
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM
Stealth
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM
The Great Raid
12 PM, 2:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9 PM

THE 10 MOST UNDERRATED / FINEST FLOP FILMS (Article)

THE 10 MOST UNDERRATED / FINEST FLOP FILMS
By Reymundo Salao

While I'm having a sabbatical from making film reviews, may I just share to you something, well, fun to discuss about. In this edition of my column, let me just share to you some of my personal choices of the WORST popular/successful movies, the BEST underrated (or box-office failure/forgotten) movies, and the movies that are considered hard-to-find, and even CANNOT be found on home video anymore.


THE MOST UNDERRATED / FINEST FLOP MOVIES

1. DARK CITY - This enigmatic sci-fi tale directed by Alex Proyas (director of the Brandon Lee "The Crow" movie) may have been a great big failure at the box office, but the only reason why it might have failed is that the audiences have failed to grasp the imaginative bounds of this surreal masterpiece. It tells of a thought-provoking, mysterious world of a City, which literally is in constant twilight. The movie begins with its main character waking up from his sleep, and not remembering who he was. As he struggles to find out who his identity is, he becomes a suspect of a murder that he has no memory of. Not only that, he is also witness to strange occurrences, one that when the clock strikes midnight, everybody suddenly falls into a trance-like instant sleep, except for him. And while everybody is asleep, strange beings come out of the shadows to alter and control reality. Who are these beings? What is going on in this city? Intriguing and rich in prolific madness, Dark City is a masterpiece, clearly a work that its critics cannot comprehend.

2. CONAN the BARBARIAN - Tagged as the movie that launched Arnold Schwarzenegger's career, and also the same (and perhaps the only) movie where his acting is indeed impressive, Conan the Barbarian has long been regarded as a mere testosterone movie. A brute action flick, and as one critic quoted to describing it as a "Psychotic Star Wars". But there is clearly more to this film than just big muscles, blood n' guts, and giant swords. Because CONAN was based on the books of Robert E. Howard, whose radical "philosopher-barbarian" ideas has become a true work of passion, embodying an ubermensch sense of valiance, honor, and discipline. A character whose essence is closely correlated with the philosophies of Neitzche. In fact, in the intro of the film, there is a quote from Neitzche (which is my favorite quote) "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger". This film was a worldwide success, but only a few have regarded its deeper meaning. In the DVD commentary by director John Milius, he states how much of the film's artistic emphasis on the dramatic side was trimmed down because they felt that American audiences were just too concerned of the action factor of the film rather than the storyline.

3. EVIL DEAD (NOT to be confused with the Chinese movie that was shown last week) - The ORIGINAL Evil Dead was made in 1981 by Sam Raimi who years later would become phenomenally successful in directing the Spiderman movies. Back in the old days, there were only a handful of horror movies that could scare the living daylights out of moviegoers they were "The Exorcist", "Night of the Living Dead" and the one which sprung out of the less popular production companies was this film "Evil Dead". Sinister and ghoulishly eerie, it blends elements of "The Exorcist" and "The Shining" into a terribly disturbing horror movie. It spawned 2 sequels "Evil Dead 2" was more of a remake than a sequel, and also took the movie in another direction as it became more of a campy-comedy film, and "Evil Dead 3: (or as it is popularly known: ) The ARMY of DARKNESS" The Evil Dead Saga has become popular to a vast planetwide cult following, and there had been rumors that its main character ASH would be the next character in the "Freddy vs Jason" sequel, which is initially entitled "Freddy vs Jason vs Ash"

4. LA VISA LOCA - Not too many Pinoy movies are as magnificent as this. And what makes this comedy great is, not only that it is NOT slapstick, but it also serves as a great satire about Filipino culture and attitudes towards foreigners and foreign influence. Unfortunately it didn't gather much hype when it was shown. We could only hope that it would bag an international award later on this year.

5. CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK - Critics just love to pick on Vin Diesel because he seems to have been incredibly stereotyped when he appeared in lousy roles like the ones in "Fast & the Furious" and "xXx". But Riddick attempted to cook up a marvelous sci-fi saga that could proudly stand alongside Star Wars and Dune. But no, critics still thought of him as a talentless Rambo, and Riddick was released on the same day as the newest Harry Potter movie was released.

6. THE QUIET AMERICAN (Released in the Philippines as "The SPY") - This love triangle starring Brendan Frasier and Michael Caine, set in war-torn Vietnam during the 70's is also a good symbolism of the relatinship between Vietnam, the US, and Europe.

7. THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY - like Conan, this film was also successful. But again, people tend to fail to see the depth of its storyline. It is actually a most brilliant tale of how peaceful man's simple ways should have been, but with the introduction of modernity in an innocent community comes the consequence of mayhem. In the movie, Nixau's tribe lived happily with themselves until they stumbled upon a Coca Cola bottle, this bottle would become the one thing that will bring forth envy and mistrust among the tribe.

8. DARKMAN - Before Sam Raimi became well-known for his Spiderman movies, he created this interesting superhero movie which stars the then-not-so-famous Liam Neeson and Frances Mcdormand.

9. OFFICE SPACE - This comedy from Mike Judge, the creator of "Beavis & Butthead" is a hilarious movie about office life. It stars Ron Livingston & Jennifer Aniston.

10. MATRIX REVOLUTIONS - This sequel, which marks the final chapter of the MATRIX Saga was greatly lambasted by critics for the wrong reasons. Its critics considered the heavy storyline aspect as a liability, but it is actually what makes it a great picture. REVOLUTIONS actually completes the MATRIX saga with great dramatic epiclike effect. The twist of Neo's blindness and eventual messianic self-sacrifice really does fulfill a more interesting end. Thumbs-down critics fail to comprehend the beauty in its deep meaning.

Frank Miller & his SIN CITY dvd

Today Movieweb had the privilege of sitting down with Sin City creator, Frank Miller. With the DVD of this groundbreaking film set to hit stores on August 16th, we talked about that upcoming release, Sin City 2, other projects he is working on and how his characters “bug” him into existence.

What can we expect from the upcoming Sin City DVD?

Frank Miller: Well, the one coming out Tuesday has got some extra features. It includes interviews with us. The one that’s coming out in December is going to be Rodriguezes re-creation, where he and I are going to restore a lot of scenes that we cut. So you’ll be able to see each story as a seperate entity. It being full flesh. It’s gonna be way cool.

As it’s coming out in 4 different covers, I was wondering how much you had to do with that? In terms of what goes on the covers?

Frank Miller: The only part I had to do with that was when I was directing the still photography, because the pictures derived from when we were doing the still photography. As far as what Miramax has done and what Robert has put together, I sit back and learn. I mean four different covers, my goodness!

What’s it like working with Robert Rodriguez and having him be such a big champion of your work?

Frank Miller: It sure as hell is not depressing. It’s like here I’m my 40s, and I discovered a brother I didn’t know about.

Oh wow...

Frank Miller: I’d do anything for him.

How did you two end up coming together? Did he come to you about all this?

Frank Miller: He hunted me down like a wild dog.

Laughter.

Frank Miller: He called my attorney, he called my editors, and one of my editors called up and was like ‘Frank, this guy..., you really, really have to take this meeting.’ And I said, ‘I don’t work in movies anymore.’ ‘No, no, this guy is someone... you gotta meet him. Just to meet him.’ And I met him in a Hell’s Kitchen saloon. And, as far as I could tell, he was the only straight guy in Hell’s Kitchen that wore a cowboy hat.

We both laugh.

Frank Miller: And he and I hung out and I really liked him. I loved what he showed me as far as test shots and so on. And then I turned him down. I said, ‘I’m sorry, this is my baby. You’re a really nice guy. I know you mean to do this thing right. I know you’re sincere about that. But every time I’ve worked on a movie, it’s been turned inside out at the last minute by the studio or something. Something’s gonna go wrong and I can’t live with that with Sin City. Cuz Sin City is my daughter.’ And I said, ‘I just can’t whore her out.’ He just kept at it and then he said, ‘Hey, you know man, how about I fly you out and we’ll do a test? Just a test with a couple of friends of mine. And then if you don’t like it, we’ll have a cool DVD that we’ll show to our friends, but we won’t do the movie. And it’s all on my nickle.’ He bankrolled a day of shooting. How do I turn that down? So I went out there. And I walked in and I saw his two friends... Marley Shelton and Josh Hartnett. And in 10 hours we shot the opening sequence for Sin City. And as he knew would happen, there was beautiful Marley coming over and asking me questions about character. And I just started telling her her entire backstory. And I realized, ‘Oh my God, he was right.’ And at the end of the day I said, ‘When do we start casting?’ And we’ve been partners ever since.

What stage is Sin City 2 at?

Frank Miller: The script isn’t quite done. I’m working on a new story that I’m going to weave into the main story. The main story is my book “A Dame to Kill For” and I’m weaving a new Nancy Callahan story into it... but we’re planning on shooting in January.

Can you give us any hints about what we can expect from that?

Frank Miller: Way too early, man. Way too early. It wouldn’t be fair to the movie and goodness knows at this point it probably wouldn’t be accurate.

How do you go about creating the characters that inhabit the Frank Miller world?

Frank Miller: They introduce themselves to me. I tell yah, I don’t know how else to explain it.

It’s just kind of an organic process? You sit down and they just kind of come out of you?

Frank Miller: No, they bug me. They bug me. I dream about them. I walk around and one of them will be in my head. It usually starts when I do a drawing. Sometimes it’s just on a napkin somewhere. Other times it’s a proper drawing on my board. And then if it’s like it is with any creative act, then it’s a matter of simply falling in love.

Are you working on anything else now aside from Sin City?

Frank Miller: I am currently writing an ongoing series that Jim Lee is drawing called “Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder.” Which is all about the evolution of little Dick Grayson becoming Robin. And also, I’m 120 pages into illustrating a Batman graphic novel that’s called “Holy Terror Batman.” And it’s essentially Batman versus Al qaeda.

Frank Miller starts laughing.

Frank Miller: Good catch, I know.

Sin City comes to DVD with 4 different covers August 16th, 2005.

source: http://www.comics2film.com/