Film Review: Conducta (Behavior)

Film Review: BEHAVIOR (Conducta)
26th Palm Springs International Film Festival
(Official submission of Cuba to the Academy Awards)

Saw "Behavior" from director Ernesto Daranas in Palm Springs and it's an instant favorite!

It's a moving portrait of a life-long public school teacher, Carmela, who has dedicated all her life pursuing only the best for her marginalized students. It also tells the story of a young kid, Chala, one of Carmela's impoverished students, who had to train dogs for fighting and trade pigeons so he can make money for himself and for his irresponsible mother.

The movie tells us their story but it also gives us a glimpse of Cuba and the children that the country is raising. It's bleak and quite depressing but the movie pays tribute to the importance of proper education and the selflessness of teachers in third world countries. In a communist country like Cuba, a teacher holds one of the most powerful positions in society and the movie could have used this theme and go overtly political but it did not. Applause, applause!

What we get instead is a subtle indictment of the structure that plagues every poor country and makes the system unfair to the poor and the marginalized through the story of a teacher who has spent all of her life lightly treading these unjust rules and working hard each day to give her students a reason to hope, an opportunity to dream and the freedom to express themselves -- and when the same rigid rules are used to try to stop her, you know she'll never have it. Nope!

I love movies about teachers.Teaching is a vocation. Our teachers are our second parents and we should celebrate them always.

The young kid who plays Chala (Armando Valdes Freire) and the magnificent Alina Rodríguez who plays Carmela are both marvelous. This movie will most likely be compared to other movies in the past bearing the same theme but this one, though a work of fiction, is a story of hope. And the final scene was just the perfect ending to the chapter we saw but an invitation to hope that in those exhange of simple greetings, a change has occured and a brighter future has now been made possible. Oh, in the movies, we can always dream!

Rating: 5 Stars

My Favorite Films of 2014

(Note: This story was first published in The Philippine Star on January 11, 2015. Online link is here: http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2015/01/11/1411569/my-favorite-films-2014)

MANILA, Philippines - It’s 2015! Did you make good with your 2014 resolutions? This writer did not do so well and is recycling a lot of them but there’s one resolution that I diligently followed through and I believe I did very well.

Last year, about this time, I pledged to watch as many movies as I possibly can and I think I did it! I saw over 200 titles from all over the world and it made my year incredibly exciting and fulfilling.

I started the year at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in early January where I saw the highly-regarded debut films of Hannah Espia (Transit, Philippines) and Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo, Singapore). Two weeks later, I attended the Scandinavian Film Festival where I discovered one of my favorite films of the year from Swedish filmmaker Lukas Moodysson, the exuberant We Are the Best! I also loved the tender film Mother, I Love You from Latvia by director Janis Nords.

In early February, I went to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and discovered a couple of outstanding films from two emerging Eastern European directors: Victor Taus (Clownwise, Czech Republic) and Ignas Jonynas (The Gambler, Lithuania).

In June, the Los Angeles Film Festival offered a great selection of films and I discovered a great documentary about a movie buff making his own D-I-Y films in his own backyard called Giuseppe Makes a Movie by Adam Rifkin. In July, I enjoyed Cupcakes, a delightful comedy about an unlikely group of friends competing for Europe’s top singing prize from acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Eyton Fox at the annual LGBT-themed OutFest.

In September, the University of Southern California organized EUphoria, a three-day film festival featuring the best new films coming out of the European Union. My favorite movies were the quirky comedy from Germany called The Strange Little Cat and the politically charged espionage thriller The Color of the Chameleon from Bulgaria.

In November, the annual AFIFest organized by the American Film Institute offered an outstanding selection of movies from all over the world including the excellent Argentine film Wild Tales from filmmaker Damian Szifron and Two Days, One Night from Belgian greats Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s Locarno-winning film From What is Before also screened but to mixed reviews.

During the same month, the European Film Promotion (EFP) organized a series of screenings of Foreign Language Oscar submissions from 23 countries. I went to a few screenings and discovered the delightful film Cowboys from Croatia, 1001 Grams from Norway, The Japanese Dog from Romania, Force Majeure from Sweden and the haunting and powerful new film from acclaimed Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo Concrete Night (Betoniyo).

In between all these film festivals and screenings, this writer also enjoyed the variety of movies that Hollywood offered this year. It wasn’t a particularly strong year for Hollywood movies with only a handful that can be considered as truly masterful and memorable although there’s one that really stood out over the others, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.

Boyhood is a delicate and brilliant ode to childhood. Filmed over 12 years, the movie tracks the years in the life of a young boy named Mason from the time he was seven until he went to college. The part of the young boy was played with surprising tenderness by newcomer Ellar Coltrane who literally grows up before our very eyes! In a year filled with movies populated by state-of-the-art computer-generated special effects, Coltrane’s transition from a young child to young adult on screen stands out as the best special effect there was all year!

The movie debuted to wide acclaim at Sundance in January last year. I saw it in July and it was an experience like no other. If cinema was invented to create magic and trickery on film, Linklater’s masterpiece will be remembered years from now as perhaps an important milestone in the evolution of cinema as a medium to capture life on screen and it is for this reason alone that I pick Boyhood as my top film of the year!

My second favorite film of the year is Wild Tales. I waited half a year for this movie to reach the US after its spectacular debut at Cannes last year. Many critics have been raving madly about the Argentine film all year. Many of them were one in saying that it was perhaps the best film this year and after watching it I can definitely say that all the buzz were warranted, all the great reviews were earned, all the superlatives heaped on the film were absolutely well deserved!

The movie is an anthology of six short stories that share a common theme: Violence and vengeance. If you are in the mood for some wicked time at the movies, this movie is perfect. But even if you want to just have a good fun at the movies, to be entertained without being dumbed down by poor writing, this is the perfect movie for you. It’s the kind of film that successfully mixes high art with commercial filmmaking! I have an exclusive interview with Damián Szifrón, the writer and director of the movie. Watch for it.

My third favorite film of the year is the hypnotic Concrete Night from the great Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo. Shot in gorgeous black-and-white, the movie begins with a dream that morphs into a nightmare for young Simo, the central character in this relentlessly depressing film about a boy’s final hours. The story tracks 24 hours in the life of brothers Illka and Simo. Illka, the older brother is to start serving his prison sentence while his younger brother Simo is forced by their mother to spend the day with Illka. I wish the Finland consulate in Manila would bring this masterpiece to the Philippines so that many ardent movie buffs could watch it.

So, to recap, my Top 3 favorite films of the year are: Boyhood, Wild Tales and Concrete Night.

My fourth to 10th picks are:

4.) We Are the Best! (Director: Lukas Moodysson, Denmark) — This film tells about three adolescent girls who share a common love for punk music and decides to form a punk band. It is a lovely film that pulsates with life and youthful exuberance.

5.) The Imitation Game (Director: Morten Tyldum, UK) — This is based on the life of Alan Turing, the man credited for cracking the German communication system Enigma during World War II. It is an imposing document of one man’s undeclared greatness and enormous sacrifice to save millions of lives in exchange of his own. What a triumphant and heartbreaking performance by Benedict Cumberbatch!

6.) A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Director: Ana Lily Amirpour, USA) — I waited 11 months for this movie and when I finally saw it, I was just blown away by it! I love it! I adore it! And I think it’s a masterpiece! Every frame, every minute of the movie satisfies in all levels. There’s comedy, drama, theater, thriller, horror, romance — even the music, oh, how I love the score! The film is a mash-up of several genres that only someone who lives and breathes movies could have ever done. Have I told you that it’s a vampire flick set in Tehran but filmed in the western genre?

7.) Wild (Director: Jean Marc-Vallee, USA) — This is based on the incredible journals of Cheryl Strayed when she spent over three months hiking over deserts, mountains and forests in searing heat and snow in search of her proverbial self and her worth as a person — and in atonement for the many transgressions she has committed against herself and the people who loved and cared for her. This movie features a commanding performance from Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon.

8.) Two Days, One Night (Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium) — This movie features a tour-de-force performance by French superstar Marion Cotillard in the role of a laid-off woman who was given only one weekend to plead with her co-workers to return their bonuses in exchange for the job that she lost. The film is a powerful commentary on the state of minimum wage earners in modern Europe that is slowly seeing the growing divide between the rich and the poor.

9.) Transit (Director: Hannah Espia, Philippines) — One of the best Filipino films I’ve seen in many years! Espia’s well-observed camera work and meticulous storytelling style showed in this masterful examination of the effects of Israel’s discriminatory law that called for the deportation of children born to non-Israeli parents to a group of Filipino migrant workers.

10.) The Fault in Our Stars (Director: Josh Boone, USA) — This is a love story between Gus and Hazel. Enough said. But, really, no recent movie in this genre has moved me so much and made me cry hard as much as this movie did. I know it’s my favorite because I saw it in theaters five times.

I also tremendously enjoyed Locke, which features a singular performance by Tom Hardy in a movie set in its entirety in a moving car. If I had an extended list, I would have included Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Whiplash, The Theory of Everything, Nightcrawler, Enemy, X-Men: DOFP and Big Hero 6.

In 2014, I also saw Lav Diaz’s Norte, the End of History and found it to be one of his better films but it definitely could use extensive editing. The Star Cinema movie Starting Over Again offered an interesting twist to the ex-girlfriend angle in the Filipino rom-com genre but was ultimately hampered by a shamelessly audience-bait epilogue.

(To see the full list of the 200 films I saw, please visit my blog: http://raymonddeasislo.blogspot.com/p/2014-movies.html.)

Film Review: "Wild"

There is one scene early on in "Wild" that convinced me the movie is going to be something i'll love. It was how the music was used organically to establish the two main characters in the story and how this brilliant idea instantly revealed to us the soul and the spirit that will propel Cheryl Strayed to do the crazy idea of hiking 900 miles across three states along the Pacific Crest Trail.

There are thematic similarities between Jean Marc-Vallee's "Wild" and Sean Penn's "Into The Wild" but whereas the latter ended quite tragically, the former carries a happier and more hopeful conclusion.

"Wild" is based on the incredible journals of Cheryl Strayed when she spent over three months hiking over deserts, mountains and forests in searing heat and snow in search of her proverbial self and her worth as a person -- and in atonement for the many transgressions she has committed against herself and people who loved and cared for her.

The hike also served as the final stage of her grieving process. It's an emotional and deeply moving film that validates the capacity of the human spirit to triumph over extreme adversity when equipped with determination, inspiration and, to some degree, desperation.

The movie features a masterful screen adaptation and an excellent performance from Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon. Marc-Vallee's direction is divine and the editing utterly flawless.

The parade of supporting casts are also impressive but I remember most the boy Cheryl encountered on the trail who sings to her and in the process helps usher in a cathartic, well-earned cry --- which rubbed off on me, too!

And, above all, Cheryl's journey has inspired me to consider doing a similar hike as well. Just an idea for now. A crazy one.

Rating: 5 Stars

Film Review: "The Imitation Game"

There's not a single memorable scene in "The Imitation Game" and no scene stands out over the others because every scene in the movie is as memorable as the other. Each scene is beautifully composed and filled with wonderful performances from a uniformly marvelous cast and a stupendous, career-defining turn by Benedict Cumberbatch who may just, quite possibly, snag the Best Actor Oscar for his quiet and tortured performance as Alan Turing, a closeted homosexual who, with the help of a team he assembled, successfully cracked Enigma, the NAZI communication device that proved to be impenetrable and allowed Hitler to conquer much of Europe until Alan Turing defeated him, that is.

The movie is an imposing document of one man's undeclared greatness and enormous sacrifice to save millions of lives in exchange of his own. What an incredible film! What a triumphant performance by Mr. Cumberbatch. I always say that a good movie is one that moves me to tears. This one did. I wrote a quick review for my Facebook friends immediately after the movie ended. I stood up in a corner of the cinema, typed my rave review until i noticed that tears were still flowing through my cheeks, washing the sense of loss i felt for Mr. Turning. Those were tears for his brilliant but short and uncelebrated life; for the pain he carried in his heart because society wouldn't allow him to express who he was, because society decided that he was only good for what he can provide; and for his role in the rise of computer technology and for not benefiting from it.

I am raving about the movie not solely because the story is exceptional. I am raving because the quality of the movie-making is just as exceptional. The narrative jumps between three important periods in Mr. Turing's remarkable life: his years in school, his years in the service and his terribly sad final years --- when the world was celebrating the rewards of peace brought on by the end of World War 2 and Mr. Turing was quietly suffering inside, devoid of peace because the world didn't know who he was and those who knew and had power to grant him some piece of happiness wouldn't give it to him.

Mr. Turing was recognized for his greatness decades after he died. It may have been late, but as this movie shows, it is never too late to celebrate his life. His story is sad but it is ultimately inspiring. "The Imitation Game" is one of the very best films of the year. You should watch it!

Rating: 5 Stars

Film Review: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

Let's start this review by pointing out that the movie was filmed in one single continuous shot. Actually not but it was shot and edited in such a way that as if we were all watching one seamless, fluid take. It's a ravishing display of visual flourish. It deserves to win Best Editing Oscar!

The opening sequence is a dizzying tour inside a Broadway theater as we observe a group of actors and crewmen mount a stage play based on a Raymond Carver short story. The characters are introduced one by one until we get a sense of what the core story is all about.

It is a story about a has-been actor on the edge of insanity and his relationship with his daughter, his ex-wife, his girlfriend, his manager/producer, his insecure leading lady and an obnoxious actor tapped to replace another who was hit by a spotlight.

The movie follows Michael Keaton's character as he tries to compose himself amid a spiraling chaos of directing and acting in his first Broadway play in a desperate attempt to rekindle the fire that made him a huge Hollywood star twenty years before. He is a walking time bomb that could just explode any moment. The tense final minutes of the film is going to test your patience and will make you wonder how the director plans to end the story. Fortunately, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, the director, devised three separate endings that complement the other with a final sequence that gives us a sense that there was really no other way --- that Birdman had to fly.

Another interesting topic touched on rather extensively by the movie is the role of critics in the success or failure of every Broadway show. No artist would easily acknowledge their affection for a particular critic but they would always look out for their compliments first minute they open the morning paper. It's a delicate act but it's the nature of the business. Critics don't create art, so to speak, but we set the bad art from the good and the great ones.

Michael Keaton is in fine form here and may just finally nab an Oscar without ever having to go through what his character did in this fictional tale.

Rating: 5 Stars

News: "Boyhood" Featurette on Hulu

IFC Films debuted today a "Boyhood" featurette on Hulu.

"The Making of Boyhood - 12 Years on Film" is a 10-minute featurette, spanning 12 years, and gives an extensive look at the process of creating what The New York Times calls "one of the most extraordinary movies of the 21st century." Go behind-the-scenes with Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater as they delve into how they created this groundbreaking epic.

"Boyhood" was filmed over 12 years with the same cast and is a feature-length film about growing up as seen through the eyes of a boy named Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. The film charts the rocky terrain of childhood, parenting and growing up. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations - and all the moments in between - are set to a soundtrack spanning the years with music from Coldplay, Paul McCartney and Arcade Fire.

Watch the featurette below:


XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "Wild Tales"

I waited half a year for "Wild Tales" to finally reach the US after it received spectacular reviews at Cannes and after i have heard so many journalists, who have seen the movie and who I have been with in junkets, raving madly about the Argentine film. All of them were one in saying that it was perhaps the best film this year.

And after watching a screening the other night, all i can say is, I agree.

All the buzz was warranted. All the great reviews were earned. All the superlatives heaped on the film were absolutely well deserved. "Wild Tales" is incredibly great and, if not for Richard Linklater's cinematic masterpiece "Boyhood", I would easily declare the film my favorite this year. But it is my second favorite now and i don't think its place in my ranking is in any danger of ever being dislodged.

The movie is an anthology of six short stories that share a common theme: Violence and Vengeance. If you are in the mood for some wicked time at the movies, this movie is perfect. But even if you want to just have a good fun at the movies, to be entertained without being dumbed down by poor writing, this is the perfect movie for you. It's the kind of film that successfully mixes high art with commercial filmmaking!

Written and directed by Argentine filmmaker Damián Szifrón and co-produced by the award-winning Agustín Almodóvar and Pedro Almodóvar, "Wild Tales" take the audience through a literal wild ride when men and women have finally succumbed to their desire for vengeance without regard of what the outcome might be. The satisfaction is in carrying out the plan notwithstanding the end results and that frees the movie from ever having to drag itself by tidying up each of the short stories weaved in this monumental film.

The formula is simple. Get angry, get back. The end. And you get six of these stories in one!

The film begins with a panicked passengers on an airplane who discovers that they were duped into flying on the plane by a common man whom they all committed some form of bad act at some point before. When they finally came to realize all these, it was already a minute too late. This happens even before the opening credits roll and if you don't find yourself howling and applauding something is wrong with you.

Five more stories will be introduced after the opening credits. The stories are independent of each other but each story contributes to make the entire movie an experience something movie buffs and ordinary moviegoers will collectively enjoy.

Each short story is presented as a provocation and I tremendously enjoyed what each one of them had to offer. My favorite though was the final story about a bride discovering on her wedding day, during the reception mind you, that her groom has been carrying on an affair with a woman co-worker who happened to be present at their wedding. This discovery sets off a wild roller-coaster chase of who gets to ruin who in front of their unknowing but shocked guests. This last piece confirmed for me what i have believed all along: That the depth of one's love for another is in equal measure to the depth of hate the same person can have for someone they purport to love. The final story ends differently from the previous five and it somehow offers a collective redemption for all of them.

"Wild Tales" is the official submission of Argentina to the Oscars. It could win!

Rating: 5 Stars

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "1001 Grams"

How do you measure grief? Or guilt? Or love? These are some of the profound questions that you will find yourself thinking about while watching the gentle and heartwarming film “1001 Grams”, the new film from acclaimed filmmaker Bent Hamer and Norway’s entry to the Oscars this year.

It’s kind of a weighty proposition but the movie is actually a very entertaining and crowd-pleasing drama with a little romance and bursts of comedy mixed into the well-told story of a daughter trying to cope with her father’s untimely death while representing Norway in the international conference on the kilo. Yes, do not be put off by the title. It’s about weight, about the weight of the kilo to be exact, now that last sentence was a paradox, sort of.

At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Marie and Ernst. They are father and daughter scientists whose connections are limited to cigarette breaks in a cramped alleyway and an occasional weekend visits to Ernst’s farmhouse by Marie. Marie is dealing with personal issues on her own and as the story progresses we get to see that she is slowly losing her personal belongings yet we could feel that physically she seems to be burdened with some heavy stuff that she’s carrying in her heart. What could it be? Guilt? Frustrations?

There are layers to the title and the subject matter that, I fear, putting it down all here, would ruin the experience for the audience. I could easily rattle off the charming relationship between the title and narrative references and the connections it makes with real life but it has to be experienced by the audience first hand to be able to feel the gentle power of this movie.

“1001 Grams” is actually very subtle in layering out the various subtexts to the story and for an introspective moviegoer who likes to have a little laugh and a little entertainment while at the same time being challenged by the story, it is definitely a gift that deserves to be rewarded with vigorous applause.

The performances by the cast are amazing and the photography, splendid. I so love the parade with the blue umbrellas in the middle of the movie because it somewhat reminds the audience that there is life, there is color, there is order, there is beauty, in even the most boring stuff in the world.

Can i also tease you on why the title is 1001 Grams and not 1000 Grams if it is about the kilo? Hmm...

Rating: 5 stars

Film Review: Mike Nichols' "Closer"

(This review first appeared in December 2004 and i thought it best to reprint it today as a form of tribute to Mike Nichols. Rest in peace to one of America's master storytellers.)

There is a big revelation at the end of "Closer" that puts in perspective all the events that transpired in Mike Nichols' caustic tale of love, lust, betrayal, deception and the vagaries of easily told truths.

This film, adapted from a Tony-winning stage play, brings to screen four of the handsomest people working in Hollywood today.

Natalie Portman is Alice. She is a New York stripper who moves to London to mend her broken heart. An accident leads her to meet Dan (Jude Law), an obituary writer in a local newspaper. They easily take a liking of each other and live in apparent bliss for the next few months.

A year passes and come enters Anna (Julia Roberts) into their lives. She is the photographer commissioned to do Dan's cover jacket photographs for his new book detailing his love story with Alice. This series of photograph sessions and, at first, innocent flirting leads to a deeper relationship that hooks Dan and alienates Alice.

Dan's obsession with Anna triggers him to do extreme acts. In one of the films best written scenes, Dan logs into a cybersex webpage pretending to be Anna and indulges Larry (Clive Owen), a Dermatologist to come meet her in a local Aquarium. This innocent and lusty playfulness backfires as the real Anna falls in love with Larry and abandons Dan.

Alice, in all these events, remain in the shadows of Dan, faithful and trusting, loving and understanding.

This is a film that puts into focus how adults make a mockery of love and relationships. After Anna abandons Dan and marries Larry, the films spirals into a terrible series of betrayals and deceptions that ultimately leads to painful breakups and reconciliations.

This masterful love quadrangle is perfect in its triumphant evocation of how lovers tend to lose focus on gentle truths and sometimes demand painful honesty from their partners not to assuage their hurt feelings but to hurl back to the offending party the same pain their acts have caused them. It is very apparent here and so in real life that oftentimes people can easily promise their i-love-you's without taking the consequences of what they are inviting their partners into.

It is also significant to note that the professions of the characters here (that is the reason why i patiently jotted them down) reflect how they are in real life (it is not apparent though that they are able to grasp the ugly pictures they are painting of themselves). Anna is a photographer who was accused early on by another character of stealing her subjects life and using them for her own personal comfort. Larry is a dermatologist who is preoccupied on physical beauty but is hiding an ugly wrathful self. Dan is an obituarist whose main occupation is to write about the ideal lives he paints of his subjects which blurs his own beliefs and make him blind to the ideal life he actually has. Alice is a stripper who allows her patrons to disrobe her without letting them touch her. She goes naked, bares all her body but does she really open up everything about her? hmmm...

In the end, the revelation about Alice, the stripper, will finally unmask her and lovingly define her and puts a mean ending to this rollercoaster of a love quadrangle that doesn't end happily ever after for some.

And Isn't it a fact that in every love stories that begin there is always one person, the one abandoned and left behind, hurting in the background? But, how can one empathize with the character who so bravely declares his love for someone and yet carelessly not try to even know the real person he is supposedly in love with and when he is left abandoned, can the audience be blamed if they don't feel an ounce of sympathy - or for that matter the party who abandons him - for the sad predicament he put himself in?

Closer is one of the very best films of the year. All the actors do good here but special kudos goes to Natalie Portman who, while she vibrantly bookends this tale, despairingly shines as Alice. She acts so good that even when she goes naked the viewer is not a bit distracted. Clive Owen is also very effective in his role that is so easy to like and hate as swiftly as his chameleonic character changes from being nice to being vicious.

The haunting music used at the start and end was never more inspired while the writing witty and crisply naughty.

XXX
Raymond Lo

Film Review: "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night"

I waited eleven months for this movie and I finally saw it over the weekend. The wait was worth it! I love it! I adore it! And I think it's a masterpiece!

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" is a triumph of contemporary cinema. Every frame, every minute of the movie satisfy in all levels. There's comedy, drama, theater, thriller, horror, romance - even music, oh, how I love the score! The film is a mash-up of several genres that only someone who lives and breathes movies could have ever done. Think Quentin Tarantino but less gory and less revolting. Think Robert Rodriguez but with better storytelling. I am never a big fan of the horror genre but this movie made me reconsider that (for how long, i really can't tell because there are just so many bad ones squeezing every tricks that may have worked before thus rendering the entire genre an afterthought to me.)

But, no, this one is not. This assured film debut by Ana Lily Amirpour is hailed as the first Iranian Vampire Western ever made and the audience can sense that she had fun doing the movie. It is like listening to a film buff rattle off all the movies she loves, the film styles she wants to emulate, the directors and genres she fancy and how dear she holds her motherland in her heart. And she pulled this off without letting go of her grip on the core romance between her two protagonists that holds the entire movie together. Yes, there's a girl in this movie but there is also a guy. I will not dwell on this because I would want the reader to have the same joy I had in discovering this one aspect of the film that I tremendously enjoyed.

I always find myself rambling when I write about a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed and loved that I tend to forget a lot of things. I will not allow that for this film. I will start with the gorgeous black-and-white photography that lends the film an edgy atmosphere that makes the audience feel what it feels like to be alone, to be unseen. And the performances by the ensemble are glorious! Sheila Vand and Arash Marandi are just so perfect in their roles! Mozhan Marinó is terrific.

The film is not short on subtexts as well. Every movie is an allegory for something and if you are in a particular mood to brood about it, this movie offers a lot to think about. Some are obvious, some obscure but what is certain about this film is that it offers pure cinematic pleasure!

Rating: 5 Stars

A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT
Writer and Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Sina Sayyah, Justin Begnaud, Ana Lily Amirpour
Executive Producers: – Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, Josh C. Waller, Nick Moceri, Ben Conrad, Alexei Tylevich, Reza Sixo Safai, Daniel Grove, Patrick Grove
Cast – Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Mozhan Marinó, Dominic Rains, Milad Eghbali, Rome Shadanloo, Marshall Manesh
Website: http://films.vice.com/a-girl-walks-home/

Oscars 2015: "Kauboji (Cowboys)"

"Cowboys"

There are movies that you fall instantly in love with after just a few minutes of watching it. Last week, I saw Croatia's entry to the Oscars this year, "Kauboji" ("Cowboys"), during a screening sponsored by the European Film Promotion and I loved it instantly!

It’s a funny and endearing film set in an industrial town in Croatia. It tells the story of Sasa Anlokovic and his troupe of wannabe actors as they try to mount a stage play in a town that has not seen one in over a decade.

Sasa is a successful theatre director who was lured back to his hometown to help revitalize the town’s arts and culture scene. And everything would have been perfect if only there were more actors who showed up during the audition process.

By some curious incident, only a handful of people showed interest in the production that Sasa was mounting and he was left with no choice but to take every single of one of them in as his actors. This group of wannabe actors is composed of a down-on-his-luck deodorant salesman, an unsmiling ex-convict, a confused young man, a handsome easy-go-lucky man, a woman and her mentally-challenged brother who speaks a dialect nobody could understand and one real actor whose dreams of headlining his own show is matched only by his pushy mother’s overbearing expectation of her son’s stardom.

"Cowboys" is a loving tribute to all the actors and directors who all struggle to realize their dream projects. For the director, the challenge was to mount a play because he needed to satisfy his commitment to his art. For the actors, they needed to ultimately prove to themselves that they could do and create something if they only set their hearts into it.

It is such a joy when the characters discover that even though they may not have the biggest talent for acting, each one sure has a talent suited for some specific part in the play. If we go deeper and examine the allegorical implication of this we can actually conclude that everyone is an actor just waiting for the right part to come along. That we all possess some form of creative talent that can be tapped anytime with just the right motivation.

The film’s biggest strength lies beyond the obvious comedy or the talented ensemble of actors whose performances I really enjoyed, and, although it may not be too apparent to casual moviegoers, there’s a powerful element in the film’s final act that highlights the lasting power of art: that no matter how dire things get, art, when it has taken form, will endure and continue to live on in the new set of talents it has taken roots in.

Why the movie is titled “Cowboys” is something that has been revealed in the press notes for the film but I would rather be vague about it and let the audience discover for themselves the reason behind the title because the scene that sets up the title – and the course of the story, for that matter, is a funny, if not poignant, homage to one of the universally-loved genre in movies.

I also wish to point out that director Tomislav Mrsic’s use of iconic songs from a different era and his decision to play them in their entirety to score key scenes is one of the main reasons why I so loved his film. I loved the nostalgia it evoked and how it made the film somewhat timeless.

Rating: 4 ½ Stars

Don't miss "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" this November!

Strange things are afoot in Bad City. The Iranian ghost town, home to prostitutes, junkies, pimps and other sordid souls, is a bastion of depravity and hopelessness where a lonely vampire stalks its most unsavory inhabitants.

One of the most awaited films of the year is finally showing in Los Angeles this month. Beginning November 21st, film buffs will now have a chance to watch "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night", which has been enthralling audiences since its Sundance premiere last January. Yesterday, the film received an award at the ongoing Hawaiian International Film Festivals.

Here's a sample of some of the superlative reviews the movie is getting:

“'Funny, scary, oddly sexy and deeply gorgeous... Watching A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, you get the impression that you're witnessing something iconic and important unfold before you.”
--  Drew Taylor, The Playlist

“A beguiling, cryptic and often surprisingly funny look at personal desire that creeps up on you with the nimble powers of its supernatural focus. Grade: A”
-- Eric Kohn, Indiewire

“'Middle Eastern feminist vampire romance' is likely to remain an underpopulated cinematic sub genre, but at least it now has a luminous standard-bearer in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.”
-- Guy Lodge, Variety

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" is cinema's first Iranian vampire western, Writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp. A joyful mash-up of genre, archetype, and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films, and the Iranian New Wave. Amped by a mix of Iranian rock, techno, and Morricone-inspired riffs, its airy, anamorphic, black-and-white aesthetic and artfully drawn-out scenes combine the simmering tension of Sergio Leone with the weird surrealism of David Lynch.

Ms. Amirpour is currently in Los Angeles doing the press round.

Credits:
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Screenwriter: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Sina Sayyah, Justin Begnaud, Ana Lily Amirpour
Executive Producers: Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, Josh C. Waller, Nick Moceri, Ben Conrad, Alexei Tylevich, Reza Sixo Safai, Daniel Grove, Patrick Grove
Principal Cast: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Dominic Rians, Marshall Manesh, Mozhan Marno, Milad Eghbali
Cinematographer: Lyle Vincent
Editor: Alex O'Flinn
Country: U.S.A.
Language: Farsi with English subtitles
Runtime: 107 minutes

See you at the movies!

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Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "Concrete Night"

Jari Virman (Ilkka) and Johannes Brotherus (Simo), CONCRETE NIGHT

“Concrete Night” starts with a dream that morphs into a nightmare for Simo, the central character in Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo’s relentlessly depressing film about a boy’s final hours.

The film is shot in gorgeous black-and-white that heightens the dreamlike quality of the storytelling. The story is about Simo and his brother, the prison-bound Ilkka and tracks the final day of freedom for Ilkka before he starts serving his prison sentence. Simo is forced by his mother to spend the day with his brother because she fears Ilkka might harm himself.

Simo, at 14, is as impressionable as any teenager on the verge of puberty. He adores his brother, he hates his mother (who doesn’t seem to have any sense of what proper parenting is) and he regards with suspicion his neighbor – just because he behaves strangely (the film suggests that the neighbor could be gay.)

The film puts the audience into a hypnotic spell as it follows the two brothers around town. The movie is told from Simo’s perspective and from a night spent with his drunken brother he develops this belief that there is no more hope to be had from this world. That hope belongs to the weak.

It’s difficult to place the story in a world that’s familiar to the audience. Yes, it’s about a boy losing his sense of perspective but it seems more than that. Simo’s story seems to mirror society’s disregard of the promise of its youth. From the mother who would consider going on a date with a lover than to spend the day with her son or to a photographer who is misunderstood just because he appears different. The youth here is left to fend for itself. To recognize what is right and wrong. To act on impulse and disregard any consequence of his action until it is too late. And what is really depressing for this writer is how, until the very end, the youth is left to decide for him a fate he did not design, but a fate he thought was intended for him

This is definitely one of the best movies this writer has seen all year. It moves you to think about the story it presents but at the same time it comforts you with the notion that what you are watching is all but a dream and you have the option to wake up anytime. The beautiful cinematography and the strong performances by the cast specially the stunning young actor Johannes Brotherus, who plays Simo, make you all feel that – or, I guess, I am only trying to make me feel good by looking at it with hope versus Simo’s bleak perspective.

For a lover of cinema, the filmmaking here is simply majestic: The filmmaker’s aesthetic choices, her narrative technique and her brave depiction of the recklessness and hopelessness of the characters seem organic and innate – and it makes me so even sadder for Simo and Ilkka now that I am writing this review. Please excuse me, as I cry in sorrow again.

Rating: 5 Stars

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Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "Force Majeure"

Force Majeure

Saw "Force Majeure" last night, Sweden's official entry to this year's Best Foreign Language Film race at the Oscars. It's an excellent film about a marriage unraveling during a family's ski trip. Funny, heartfelt and thought-provoking. It's the story of Tomas and Ebba and their two children Vera and Harry.

This movie is the polar opposite of "Gone Girl", the other film about marriage currently playing in theaters and this one feels more real, more relatable but just as damn gorgeous as David Fincher's film.

The scenes in the snow-covered Alps and the symbolic avalanche at the start of the film (and depicted in the film still above) -- just breathtaking!

This is only the 3rd among the 83 films contending for the Oscars that I have seen so far and I believe it has a strong chance at making the shortlist but, personally, I rank it 2nd behind "The Gambler" from Lithuania but ahead of Venezuela's "The Liberator". I have 80 more films to go. Oh, wait, make that 79. I ain't gonna spend 5 hours for a Lav Diaz film!

"Force Majeure" opens in Los Angeles October 24.

Rating: 5 Stars

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Raymond Lo

My coverage of "The Book of Life"

My story on "The Book of Life" came out today in The Philippine Star. The online link can be found here: http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2014/10/17/1380963/magical-journey-young-young-heart

Below is the text of my story.

A magical journey for young & young-at-heart

MANILA, Philippines - Last weekend, this writer saw two different cultures celebrating their respective successes in America. On Saturday morning, I went to the special screening of 20th Century Fox Animation’s latest offering, the Guillermo del Toro-produced film, The Book of Life. It’s an enchanting tale of true love and heroism set amidst the colorful, musical and vibrant culture of Mexico. I love the movie! And if children are the best critics of any animation movies, this one is a sure winner. This time last year, the contest for the Best Animated Film of the Year was still pretty wide open but when Frozen started screening for the press it easily rose to frontrunner status. The Book of Life could follow that same route given the enthusiastic response it received after the screening and the endearing and delightful sight of children loudly applauding the movie when it ended.

On that same day, at 5 p.m., this writer went to another celebration of a different kind of culture: The Philippines’! ABS-CBN and The Filipino Channel did not skimp on anything and produced what could be the biggest and most extravagant Filipino show ever staged in Los Angeles. But I digress. I was asked to write about the epic ASAP event for the December issue of the Star Studio magazine so please watch for it.

The next day, I was back celebrating at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills with the jubilant Guillermo and The Book of Life director Jorge R. Gutierrez, who shared that the concept for the movie has been gestating since his film school days. The happy pair held a 30-minute press conference where they talked about the film’s development, including how Jorge almost botched his pitch to Guillermo courtesy of a loud Mexican gardener next door — “As soon as my mouth opened, my people betrayed me in the house next door,” he recalled laughing — the story, the music, the cast and the pair’s excitement of being able to share with the world, via Hollywood, some of their Mexican culture and traditions that are unique, colorful and, with a few cinematic touches, magical as well.

The Book of Life tells the story of three childhood friends: Maria, Manolo and Joaquin, whose lives are forever intertwined by a curious twist of fate. Maria would grow up to become the most beautiful woman in their village. Joaquin, the most decorated soldier and protector of their town. Manolo, meanwhile, would grow up conflicted between what his heart desires and what his family’s legacy expects of him. He would set off on an epic quest through magical, mythical and wondrous worlds in order to reunite with his one true love, defend his village and discover his true purpose.

The movie is partly influenced by the myth of Orpheus and it uses a framing device reminiscent of the classic The Princess Bride to introduce the audience to the story. “It’s such a magical world that we need to ease the audience into this magic land,” Jorge said after acknowledging the homage to one of the most romantic films of all time.

“We are telling this story not just to an audience in America but to everybody in the world,” Jorge added before Guillermo interjected and said, “including Scandinavia,” alluding to the massive success Disney had with Frozen which was about two sister princesses set in a fictional Scandinavian fjord.

“But what was important was to make it about a beginning and an end of a story that feels ancient and you needed a narrator,” Guillermo veered back. “You need to root it with the tree of life, the book of life, the power of Mexico.”

No other movie could perhaps bring more pride to someone than a movie celebrating one’s own culture without the negative bias that’s usually associated with it. The Book of Life is that movie to the Mexican filmmakers and they want to invite the world to see their country in a new light. They gathered the best craftsmen in the industry from the superb musical talent of two-time Oscar-winner Gustavo Santaolalla to the best actors in Latin American cinema, Hollywood and even the Opera to help them realize their vision.

Famed Spanish tenor Placido Domingo appears in a minor role as the voice of one of Manolo’s ancestors whose passion was to sing but was forced to become a bullfighter. Mr. Domingo gets to showcase his phenomenal voice in one memorable sequence in the movie.

“The cast was incredibly eclectic and it was pretty amazing,” Jorge remarked before he shared how he made Mr. Domingo say yes to him. “I didn’t think we’d get him. When we talked to him he saw his part and I got a phone call from Placido Domingo at 2 o’clock in the morning — it was pretty surreal — so I picked up the phone and it was like the voice of god, ‘Hello Jorge, this part, I don’t want a bigger part but I want a more meaningful part.’”

The director spent the entire night rewriting the part for Mr. Domingo that eventually became the part that the opera superstar voiced.

Getting the right actors to voice the parts was key to the success of the movie and Jorge revealed that they decided from the very beginning that “it can’t just be all Hispanic actors because you don’t want to scare everyone else into thinking this movie is just for a Hispanic audience we wanted it to be for everybody so the cast had to be from all over the world.”

So when they decided to cast for Maria, they chose Zoe Saldana, one of the hottest Hollywood stars to emerge in the past few years. The part of Manolo went to Mexican superstar Diego Luna (Y Tu Mama Tambien) while that of Joaquin went to all-American boy Channing Tatum.

American rapper Ice Cube is also in the cast as Candle Maker, the mythical god made of wax that produces a candle that represents every life on earth. “Hell Boy” actor Ron Perlman is Xibalba, the god who rules the world of the forgotten souls. Mexican soap opera superstar Kate del Castillo voices La Muerte, the goddess who rules the world of the remembered.

The cast held their own press conference after and they echoed the excitement of Jorge and Guillermo about their film.

“Guillermo was an amazing godfather for this project and he believed and he fought for Jorge. Every frame that I see of this movie, I see Jorge. I see the pride that he has in his culture, in his upbringing and how beautiful he saw his life growing up and how colorful it was and I feel like Guillermo was able to sympathize with that, identify with it greatly and therefore felt the need to fight for Jorge to get his vision come to life,” Zoe said.

Zoe, who was very beautiful and very pregnant during the junket, also shared how she was able to pull off the singing parts of her role. "The Book of Life" is a movie full of music and Zoe and Diego get to sing a lot. “It’s amazing what you discover that you are able to do once you really put your body and your soul into a scale and you try nothing but to master it,” she said. “I realized that I am not as bad, I am not as tone-deaf as I thought I was and some people would appreciate my shower singing. It was fun!”

For Diego, the singing aspect of his role brought him anxiety for two months. “You know, you always go as an actor, and we all tend to do this, ‘Of course I can do it, you know, with a little bit of training, I will get there,’” he said. “But then Gustavo showed me the actual songs and they sounded very difficult. It was very scary but I thought about having to tell my kids that that voice wasn’t my voice and that kept me going.” He added that the process was painful but he loved it.

The Book of Life is now showing in theaters nationwide.

  

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Raymond Lo

Trailers: "Gone Girl"

The full trailer for "Gone Girl" is here!

This David Fincher adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel is one of the hotly-anticipated movies of the Fall movie season. It opens October 3. The first week of October is now the unofficial start of the Oscar season. "Gravity" opened around the same time last year. So did "Argo" the year before.

I read the book and if you haven't and you think you know the story, you are dead wrong! I read the book over one week (I have a day job, thankfully) and it's one of those books where you just can't put down. You will not forget Amy and Nick after you've read the book - or, after you've seen the movie.

Watch the trailer below:



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Raymond Lo

Trailers: "The Maze Runner"

There's a new film opening on September 17, 2014. You have to watch it. I can't say no more.

Here's the trailer:



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Raymond Lo

Film Review: "The Hundred-Foot Journey"

I had no great expectations going into “The Hundred-Foot Journey” when my good friend (Oliver Carnay) and I went to the Arclight in Hollywood last Monday upon the invitation of Disney to watch a sneak peek. I had two reasons why I wasn’t so keen about it: first, the trailer was not really catchy and, second, I am not aware there was a book of that title and, of course, I never got to read it.

You can forget all that because the movie turned out to be such a heartwarming little gem that made me feel really, really good about the world and about myself. You would want to live in that small Parisian town where the story is set. You would want to live in their part of the world and experience the inherent kindness and, well, competitiveness in people, and feel secure about your surrounding.

There's a certain charm in the kind of movies that Lasse Hallstrom has been making lately and “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is a worthy addition to his already impressive filmography. The material itself is not really groundbreaking – it’s rather a simple story of a young boy's rise to fulfill his destiny despite the typical odds but that uncomplicated premise and the simple elements in the movie are the very reason that lends the movie its charm. 

We long for a world where we can root for our hero to succeed and to have a triumphant homecoming. We long for a world where there's simplicity and sophistication but the genuine shared respect and understanding among neighbors permeate the air. We long for a world where a small town can have the sophistication and worldliness of a big city but retains its genial charm and innocence.  We get all that in this movie. Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg are two of the producers that take us to that world and for that we owe them our thanks.

Finally, this movie makes us long for a fusion not just of a particular cuisine but of culture and people so that the world will just be a much better place to live in. It may take a hundred-foot journey or a thousand hike (which is what the family actually did when they were forced out of India) to get there but it's the promise of peace that makes us take that initial step and continue on with the journey.

Rating: 4 ½ Stars

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Raymond Lo

Film Review: "Boyhood"

I finally got to see "Boyhood" yesterday afternoon. It is an ambitious film that pays off enormously. I loved it.

The movie tracks the years in the life of a young boy named Mason from the time he was seven until he went to college. The part is played with surprising tenderness by Ellar Coltrane (he had no previous acting experience when he was cast) who literally grows up before our very eyes. Amid a summer filled with movies populated by state-of-the-art computer-generated special effects, Ellar Coltrane stands out as the best special effect there is this summer!

"Boyhood" is a heartwarming and moving film that reaffirms how precious and fleeting time is and that what we have in the present is the only thing that really matters.

I will echo the sentiments of many critics here, Richard Linklater has definitely crafted what is perhaps one of the most important and greatest contributions of America to world cinema. What he has achieved here is beyond magic; he created life on screen -- a life that mirrors pretty much our lives to some varying degree, of course. It makes you long for the childhood that you've had and also makes you look forward to more milestones, more special moments that you will create in the life that you are trying to build.

Did I already mention that I loved it? This early, the Best Screenplay and Best Director Oscars are Linklater's to lose. And if the academy would try to look ahead and place themselves in a position where they can judge "Boyhood" from some twenty years now and see its importance in the evolution of cinema as a medium to capture life then "Boyhood" is your rightful Oscar Best Picture winner already!

Rating: 5 glorious stars!!!

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Raymond Lo

Trailers: "Fifty Shades of Grey"

It's here!!!

Valentine's Day is still a few months away but Universal and Focus offered avid fans of "Fifty Shades of Grey" a glimpse at the realized world of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele and the whole world (it's an exaggeration but you follow my gist, right?) dropped everything and devoted a good two minutes or so of their existence today to watch the most-awaited trailer of the most-awaited movie in many years! Yes, am a big fan of "The Fault in Our Stars" but that movie comes second to "Fifty Shades of Grey" in terms of the anticipation from avid, rather rabid (LOL!) fans of the series. (Myself included, haha!)

Here's the trailer:


And here are a few juicy screen grabs from the trailer. Enjoy!

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Raymond Lo