You Can Not Kiss an Idea

Movie Review
V for Vendetta
Directed by James McTeigue

Based on a graphic novel written by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta tells the story of one masked vigilante called simply by the codename 'V' (Hugo Weaving). Set in the bleak fictional future of Great Britain, V vows vendetta against the repressive British government and started wreaking havoc not only by the destructions of key governmental buildings but also by instilling ideas of freedom inside the minds of the citizens of Great Britain. Along the way, V met a woman named Evey (Natalie Portman), who reluctantly becomes entangled in V's conflict with the British government. Unknown to both of them, their past has a lot in common than they realized at first.

V for Vendetta has a lot of good things going on about it. First and foremost, the story is excellent. Alan Moore is quite known for graphic novel with stories that have a lot of moral gray areas and intricate plot details. For those who are in the graphic-novel-loving crowd should be familiar with Moore's Watchmen (which is also coming out for the big screen sometimes in 2009), and the story there follows the same style of intricate plots and twisted morality. Although heavy with political themes, the story of V manages to relate to the ordinary people. This is thanks to the character Evey and the background of her story.

The excellent story is supported by excellent screenplay written by Andy and Larry Wachowski (of the Matrix Trilogy fame). Coupled with the cinematography, the story and characters are excellently portrayed, calling forth the right kind of emotion for each scene from the audience. Even though it is the Wachowski brothers, don't expect Matrix-like action. They do the story justice by cutting down on the special effects and creating a screenplay that best describes each scene. They save the special effects for the last parts of the story, and even that is not grossly overdosed like what you find in the Matrix trilogy.

Performances by the actors and actresses are probably one of the strongest aspects of the movie (second only to the excellent story), with Natalie Portman perfectly portraying the character of Evey. She delivers a great and convincing performance in this movie (something which couldn't be said of her role as Princess Amidala in the Star Wars movies). However, the spotlight is definitely on V, played by Hugo Weaving. Probably the most extraordinary aspect of his performance is that Weaving manages to perfectly deliver the characters and personality of V without showing his face, since the character wears a Guy Fawkes mask all throughout the movie. A truly outstanding feat, considering that Weaving has to use other means to convey V's emotions aside from facial expressions.

I couldn't write enough praise when it comes to the story of V for Vendetta, something that could be said of the graphic novel Watchmen as well. Yes, you can't touch an idea, but ideas are probably one of the strongest moving forces in human lives. So is this movie. Highly recommended, for those who has a penchant for excellent and complex story. I suspect that those with quite a liberal point of view could find a thing or two to like about this movie as well.

Good Show, Lad!

Movie Review
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Directed by David Lean

Whoa. 1957. Old movie, but in full color of course. Ran across the DVD in one of Manila's many markets. Knowing that this movie's got a lot of praise, I thought that I owed it to myself to see it and find out by myself why it's one of IMDB's top 250 movies of all time (and why it won Academy Awards best picture long, long time ago).

The story tells of a Japanese POW (prisoners of war) camp somewhere in Burma, South East Asia. It opens up with the arrival of a battalion of British army under colonel Nicholson who previously surrendered to the Japanese. The camp's commander, one colonel Saito, orders these prisoners to build a bridge on the river Kwai (hence the movie's title). The bridge's development starts slowly, hindered by a dispute between Saito and Nicholson over the British officers' nature of involvement in building of the bridge. The dispute is settled, and the bridge's development continues. And of course, the story's not that simple, but I won't spoil that in this review.

There are many things to like about the movie. First off, Alec Guinness' acting is top of the line in this movie. Those of you who scratch your head when hearing his name, please recall Obi-Wan Kenobi and you'll know who I'm talking about. Still no clue? Then better stop reading right now. Kidding. Anyways, Guinness' acting is center stage in this movie. You will sympathize with his character straight off from start to finish. He fully deserves the Oscar for best actor that he won for his role in this movie. Sessue Hayakawa's believable and sympathetic performance as col. Saito also deserves a high praise. William Holden, as commander Shears, and Jack Hawkins as Major Warden also deserve honorable mention.

The screenplay and cinematography are just downright amazing. Each scenes are handled meticulously, and those who were involved obviously put a lot of care into making them perfect. Amazing that a movie made in 1957 could put so many amazing little details into each and every one of the scenes. Can't really stress enough how excellent the cinematography is, the shooting done in style so that you can even notice things happening both in the foreground and in the background. This truly shows off the excellent coordination between each scene's elements, be those in the foreground or the background. Truly an incredible feat considering that this movie was made in 1957 and that they didn't have a lot of high-tech tricks to play around with during that time (computer graphic, for example). There's a lot of incredible, unforgettable moments in this movie.

And then there's the story, of course. I'm willing to bet that a lot of people who watch this movie will be able to draw an analogy between this movie and the whole idea of war and military might. I have my own opinion on it as well, a really balanced one, but let's just say that this movie will touch on your morale senses. But don't take it too seriously. There's a lot of humorous scenes in the movie. And, if you pay attention to its many little details, you will find a lot of comedic touches sprinkled here and there in the movie's scenes, even among the seemingly serious ones. War analogies aside, you will get more entertainment out of the story if you try to enjoy it as it comes and not draw analogies (though it's rather difficult for me to do that).

Additionally, the music and sound effects are so...due to a lack of better word...classic. Vintage, even, in my humble opinion. Don't expect sweeping orchestra scores in this one, but the music fits the mood perfectly.

This movie screams classic all over the place. It's got everything: excellent performances, great cinematography, great and compelling story, good sense of humor, long running time (if you're used to movies with short running time, this one has the danger of putting you to sleep along the 161 minutes run time if you're really tired). They just don't make this kind of movie anymore these days. *Sigh*. Great movie, highly recommended. Enough said. Good show, lad! Good show!

Disturbed

Movie Review

Disturbia

Directed by D. J. Caruso

Disturbia, I've been wanting to see this movie for quite awhile. By the time I realized that IMDB gave it a decent review, the movie's out of circulation in the many theaters near me. My luck came around when I found a DVD of it back when I was visiting good ol' Jakarta. Got the chance to pop it into the DVD player on a good Sunday evening (while denying the fact that the next day was actually and inevitably Monday). And I had quite a fun watching this movie.

Disturbia tells a story of one Kale Brecht, whose life takes a turn for the worse when his father dies in a car accident, an accident in which he survives. After the tragedy, Brecht becomes rather antisocial and sullen. During a Spanish class, the teacher said something that provoked Kale's anger and physical violence ensues. One thing leads to another, and Brecht finds himself under house arrest for 3 months. Trying to get rid off the boredom afflicting his condition, Brecht tries to find entertainment by spying on his neighbours. It is during this time that he finds some unsettling things about one of his neighbours, one Robert Turner.

The story in Disturbia is quite good, but in my opinion it could have been developed more. I am in particular pointing out the relationship between Kale Brecht and his father, I feel that this is only to serve to bring the story to the part where Brecht got his house arrest and the events that will later follow, and there's no continuation of how Brecht cope and find redemption in the lost of his father. However, this is a thriller movie and not drama, and in this regards the story works quite well. The movie might not have the most scary, make-you-jump-out-of-seat, story and screenplay. However, in the thriller department, it still entertains.

Alright, let's take a look at some of the crucial elements of a thriller, or any good movies for that matter. Acting? Shia LaBeouf actually delivers, fitting his role as an angsty, antosocial teenager perfectly. Seems like he's good when it comes to playing teenager roles, especially with his face that blends innocence and mischief perfectly. Carrie-Anne Moss' performance is also decent, playing the mother of a hard-to-handle Brecht. Funny sidekick? Check. Aaron Yu, playing as Becht's best friend Ronald, delivers the comic reliefs in many of the movie's scenes. Hot chick? Check and double check. Sarah Roemer is your typical hot chick that you just gotta have in a thriller, but the good thing is that they don't whore her too much. And, last but not least, a scary villain? Check, with David Morse playing the antagonist role as Robert Turner. He's got the face, however I just don't see him as menacing enough a villain in this movie.

All in all, an entertaining movie all around. Good story with some regrettably underdeveloped potential but manage to entertain nonetheless, decent acting by the casts, and some interesting gadgetry in many of the scenes (Marketing, marketing! Brand awareness, brand awareness!). And I'm so getting a PlayStation Portable.

Who Watches The Watchmen?

Book Review
Watchmen
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Alright, I'm not much of a comic book fan (and please bear in mind that comic is different than manga, it's Japanese counterpart). I don't follow stuff like the Marvel Universe, or Justice League of America. I mean, I know X-Men, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, and all those superheroes, but only in general terms. My exposure to these characters is thanks to a good friend, who has quite a healthy collection of superheroes comics in his home library.

I am, however, always curious about books that are said to be excellent by a few sources, one of them being Time magazine. That was why when I saw Watchmen in one of Makati's book stores I got interested. On top of the cover, these words were printed: "One of Time Magazine's 100 best novels". Novel? Must be one heluva comic with one heluva story. On a side note, they call comics 'graphic novel' these days, but to me they will always be comic books. They just have much better stories.

A week later, on a Friday, I got my hands on one copy and started reading and finished by late next day on Saturday. From the moment I opened up the book, I was hooked. The artwork is vintage American comic, and the story is excellent. I could understand why Time magazine called this one of the best 100 novels. The story's excellent, with a lot of plot twists and tiny little details, and the psychological profiles of the many characters depicted in this 'graphic novel' are amazingly deep and multi-dimensional. Each and every one of them are believable human beings. Yes, the story is about people dressing up in costumes and masks and fighting crimes. But, that's what's great about it. These are just ordinary people with their own private fears and doubts.

The story's started with the mysterious murder of a costumed crime fighter (or vigilante, if you prefer that) named 'The Comedian'. His death is only the first of many to follow, with the murderer seeming intent on eliminating costumed crime fighters (whether active or retired). Determined to find out about the truth, one costumed vigilante with the name of Rorshcach started investigating. As to be expected, one thing leads to another, and soon enough, you got a pretty complicated yet excellently told story on your hands. There are so many story elements, like the cold war between the USA and the (then) USSR, the Keene Act that declared costumed vigilantes to be illegal, war in Vietnam, the golden age of comic books, and so on. Some (like me) would probably be unfamiliar with these background/concepts, but that won't take the pleasure of reading it away.

There are so many things to be said about the story, but at the least I could say that this is not your usual colorful superhero story. It's dark, and can be a bit depressing at times, at least to me. And unlike the usual superhero story, good and evil are not clear cut here. There's so much gray area in this story, it's not an easy 'black and white' story. There's this interesting thing worth mentioning: there's a 'story within story' thing going on along the way. Won't spoil it for you, but it's one of the many entertaining parts of the story. Furthermore, I can't say it enough, there are so many little details in this book, that you'd probably want to go through it again and again. Good value for money, right? To add to the growing glowing words I've been writing up until this point, I'd like to point out that the story's not only told in comic panels. You'll find sections where there are worded narratives in place of panels (usually at the end of a chapter). In both matters, comic panels and narratives, the book shines equally.

So, great story, great character psychological profiles, great artwork (vintage!), the list goes on and on. For those who love comic books, it's definitely a must have. And for those who love great stories, don't be put off by the comic panels presentation. You will find a deep and compelling story within this one. Certainly one of the best book I've ever read.

Enchanted Album

Music Review

Corinne Bailey Rae

by Corinne Bailey Rae

First heard of her in a compilation CD called 2007 Grammy Nominees. The song they put in that album was 'Put Your Records On'. The song started out relaxing and picked up tempo a bit during the chorus and throughout the rest of it. I was not deeply interested in her until, as always, I was browsing through Amazon and saw her album and realized that it's got good ratings.

Put it up in my list of albums to get, and sure enough one day here in Manila I was browsing one of the music store and found her album. Bought it straight away without thinking twice, especially it has a bonus CD with almost the same number of tracks as the main CD. Yep, it was a pretty good deal.

Popped the CD into the player and started listening to her songs. Seems like my initial impression of her was misleading, but only slightly. The songs in this debut album are mostly relaxing and only some of them are slightly up-tempo. Most have this dreamy quality in the melody. The mostly-love themed songs, the slow relaxing tempo, the dreamy and sweet characteristics of the melody blended with Rae's sweet and rather smokey voice made for an excellent chemistry. In other words, I'm saying that this CD is excellent. Excellent might not be the right word, methinks. 'Exquisite' is probably more spot on.

I'd like to mention some of the songs worth mentioning in my opinion. The album starts with 'Just Like A Star', a sweet and exquisite opening. 'Enchantment' is downright dreamy, one of my favourite songs in this album. 'Put Your Records On' and 'I'd Like To' are probably the only songs that are slightly up-tempo in the whole album. Not saying that the other songs are not enjoyable; they are all great songs and they are all as exquisite as a cup of smooth cappucino on a sunny and breezy Sunday afternoon. Which is probably a great time to listen to the album.

If you like sweet and relaxing music (with a touch of dreaminess), you can't go wrong with this album. I'm looking forward to further release from Rae.