Vengeance is all about fluidity. The action scenes were shot in a very elegant manner. Every plot point was well planned, calculated and executed. But in some times, if everything’s too calculated and smooth, it will dilute the emotion or the grittiness behind each move. And in Vengeance, the fire behind each shot was missing.
Rating: 3.5/5 stickers
The characters weren’t developed well and there were a lot of plot holes. But oh well, the film was one fun crazy but sweet ride. The brilliant performance by the cast gave this film a semi-Paris Je T’aime feel, with every relationship story arc serving as a short film. This is how you do it Valentine’s Day and New York, I Love You people.
Rating: 4/5 naked pictures
Antichrist is Lars Von Trier’s darker and shocking version of the Creation story. Man and Woman were struggling to survive in Eden. The baby served as the apple. The woman became violent and unstable. She sinned while giving the man a living hell. In this grotesque art house ride, everything would’ve all made sense if there were a snake in Von Trier’s story. In the end, it was just a misogynistic shock fest.
Rating: 2/5 baby shoes
The plot was semi-cliche for a hiphop film. But the story never really concentrated on the main character - it revolved more on Rabbit’s environment and the situation that he’s in. 8 Mile has the grittiness and emotions that usually lack in a traditional hiphop flick.
Ratings: 4/5 overtime shifts
The film doesn’t depend on explosions, blood and brutality but it’s one of the finest gangster movies from Hong Kong. For an action gangster flick, the slow paced gun fights and sequences give a certain sleekness and elegance to a typical mob story.
Rating: 4/5 peanuts
A fine work of visual poetry with the music, production design, and cinematography giving a cinematic treat. It is really visually captivating, but in the end, the little snippets of the weirdness of the two main characters were far more interesting than the main plot. Definitely style over substance, the only thing that will be remembered are the wonderful Kafka-esque sets.
Rating: 3.5/5 birthdays
It bastardizes depression and psychiatric problems into a hipster kind of thing. The quirkiness of the film never really hits the viewer - this makes the scenes seem annoyingly unfunny. It’s still entertaining. Not bad, but not that good though. Just meh.
Rating: 2.5/5 pizzas
Devastating and moving, Bicycle Thieves can serve as a lesson for Filipino filmmakers that poverty doesn’t have to be filthy and gritty. Rather than concentrating on the faces of poverty, this Italian Neo-realist classic, with the help of the raw but genuine acting, bares the true sides of poverty: the moral choices that one has to bear and the disintegration of human dignity. Hands down, one of the most important films of our history.
Rating: 5/5 mozarella sandwiches
The most important aspects of a revenge film are the depth of the anger and despair of the characters. These are what Kim’s gangster/revenge film lacks. Despite the brilliant cinematography, music and over-all style, the shallow drive of every character’s revenge alienates the audience from the movie itself.
Rating: 3.5/5 lamps
Ceremony had the potential to be Wes Anderson-ish film, but it fell short. The quirky dialogue was rarely funny. The characters were too awkward - to the point that the audience will feel ashamed for the lead, Sam, and feel intellectually insulted by Uma Thurman’s character, Zoe. The whole story of teenagers posing as adults and adults trying too hard to be teenagers was just unfunny. And the non-existent chemisty between Angarano and Thurman was just too much to ignore.
Rating: 1.5/5 wedding rings
