B.M.S.

Since the end of the year was quickly approaching, I watched one of 2018's most acclaimed films -- Alfonso Cuaron's Roma. It's a modern black-and-white film centering on the life of a housekeeper to a well-off family in 1970s Mexico, and is pretty much Cuaron's message of love to his upbringing. The simplicity of the film plot-wise -- it's basically a string of vignettes in the life of an ordinary person -- is one of its biggest strengths. We see our protagonist, Cleo, through the ups and downs of taking care of a family but being denied the opportunity of starting one of her own by various circumstances, juxtaposed with scenes of daily life in Mexico City. Although her partner cuts off all ties with her and her baby is stillborn, she still finds meaning in life with the family she serves -- as if she was part of the family since birth. The cinematography was also very well-done; Cuaron mostly chose shots that emphasized atmosphere over character close-ups, to remin...

Another bout of boredom has led me to finally knock out one of the longest-lasting movies in my Netflix queue: Shaun of the Dead -- a bit appropriate given the circumstances. This movie perfectly demonstrates all the techniques that make Edgar Wright's later movies (see: Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver) stand out so well, from juxtaposing the protagonists' dialogue with not-so-subtle foreshadowing in the background to making sure the action scenes sync flawlessly with the soundtrack.  The film follows an average Londoner and his average friends and his average routine; it's a life that's so mind-numbing he's completely oblivious to the fact that he's woken up in the middle of a zombie outbreak. That doesn't last, however, as he takes advantage of the occasion to rebuild strained relations with his ex, his family, and his roommate, all while taking charge of possibly the most slapstick zombie survival plan ever conceived. Although this movie isn't af...

My latest excursions into the films recommended to me by Netflix, as well as a flurry of social media discussion, have brought me to the recently released thriller Bird Box. This Sandra Bullock flick borrows key elements from many preceding post-apocalyptic and horror films -- the waves of mass suicides that kick off the plot are reminiscent of The Happening, even using sudden gusts of wind as a sign of impending doom, while the nature of the mysterious beings causing them and the ways the protagonists avoid the effects call back to It Follows, A Quiet Place, and even the Boggarts from Harry Potter, for instance. All of these are combined to make a solid film that'll leave you tense for a good two hours. I especially liked the inclusion of "proxies" who are immune to the memetic properties of the suicide-inducing beings and instead seek to expose survivors to said beings, almost like zombies with their mental functions still intact. I also appreciated how the film's p...

A few nights ago I decided to knock out another movie that has just been stagnating in my DVR for months -- the 1992 film adaptation of David Mamet's play, Glengarry Glen Ross. It's an exploration of the unscrupulous things people are willing to do under the pressure of a high-stakes competition, with such stars as Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin playing heated personalities who bring Mamet's penchant for profanity to life on the big screen. Overall, I don't really have much to complain about regarding this movie -- there are no flashy visuals or score to muddy the plot, which is to be expected with an adaptation of a play about real estate salesmen. I do find it interesting that probably the film's most memorable moment -- Baldwin's "Coffee is for closers" speech -- was written specifically for the film, and for a character who only appeared to give said speech. But the impressive display by Baldwin sets the tone for the rest of the film: a mixture of ange...

After putting it off for a few weeks, I finally got around to watching Steven Spielberg's latest blockbuster, Ready Player One. I was a bit curious how he and the original writer, Ernest Cline, would improve on the source material, which I saw as a tiring slog of 80s nostalgia combined with the cliches of modern dystopian young adult fiction. Thankfully, a lot of the ideas work better on the big screen than on paper, which is honestly to be expected from a story that heavily revolves around video games and virtual reality. Despite the flashy effects and a healthy amount of homage to pop culture, I still believe that a few aspects of the plot fell flat and challenged suspension of disbelief. Firstly, knowing the nature of gaming aficionados today, it seems improbable that absolutely no one over the course of five years of this worldwide contest's operation tried the ideas that dawned on our protagonists, especially when one of those ideas was to simply go backwards in a race. On...

Though there were some historical inaccuracies (with the most noticeable being that of Trotsky personally ordering the execution of the Romanovs), they can usually be credited to the filmmakers’ artistic license in most biographical mini-series like this one. And although for some reason I was amused by the actors who portrayed Lenin and Stalin, I think this Russian production is actually very well-made. It had me glued to the TV screen the whole day. Yup, in between naps, meals and bathroom breaks I binge watched the eight episodes while unconsciously noting the dialogues and relating every scene to what I learned long ago from my readings about the Russian Revolution.

I watch bad movies when I have hackneyed thoughts percolating inside my mind. This was one of those times and this film is really bad.

I remember reading about it on Reader’s Digest a long time ago. And watched a lot of documentaries on cable TV here. But this latest one from Sundance showed some footage that I have never seen before. Have you ever heard the saying, “Don’t drink the KoolAid?”

This is the start of my resolve to watch or re-watch every Elizabeth Taylor movie that I can find on Retroplex or TMC on lazy winter nights like tonight. Oh, and for the trivia enthusiasts out there, this movie is the first-ever recipient of the “Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama” in 1951.

after leaving it untouched in my DVR for more than four months, I finally caught up with TRUST and watched the season finale of this well-made series. And even if my younger self used to hate Donald Sutherland, I actually liked him here as J. Paul Getty.