Boses - 2008

Category: Movie

Genre: Drama / Indie

Director: Ellen Ongkenko- Marfil

Writer: Rody Vera, Froilan Medina

 Cast: Coke Bolipata, Julian Duque, Ricky Davao, Meryll Soriano, Cherry Pie Picache and more


I saw a trailer of this indie film over TV some 2 weeks ago, and it got me curious. I never wouldve imagined that I would be meeting the Director and 2 actors of the said movie right here in Davao City.

I got an invitation for a film showing over at Cinematheque, and since two offices invited me, Tuburan Institute and Happy Team(Councilor Avila of Davao), I grabbed the chance. But, I didn't realize the title was "Boses". All I saw at the invite was: "The Heart Speaks", cocktails and live violin by The Cast.

And I was pleasantly surprised to realize it was a film showing of Boses.

This film is about a child who is being abused by his Dad...

I find this movie simple yet very moving and it sure is worthy of your time. It has multi-dimensional aspects of the film from child abuse, to child welfare, how to run a shelter, isolation rooms, bullying, suicide, dreams, family, father & son, depression, music, therapy and so on and so on. There are so many points of discussion. It's educational. More films like these should be made. :)

The Roommate - 2011

Category: Movie

 Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Director:  Christian E. Christiansen

Writer: Sonny Mallhi, Nick Blysma

Producer: Screen Gems / Vertigo Entertainment

Cast: Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet, Shirley Norris, Lauren Alfano

Tagline: She's cute...loyal...and a psychotic. No one's perfect.


Fresh from Iowa, Sara Matthews has just landed in Los Angeles as a college freshman studying fashion design. She meets Stephen, Tracy, and her roommate Rebecca. Sara then finds out that her new roommate Rebecca has an obsession with her, which quickly turns violent.

It was quiet predictable. There's not much uhmm spark between some of the leads. Some of the acting was off. It's just out to give you a few scare about what if you end up with a psychotic room mate. Which can be quiet eerie if you have one actually.

Photo Source: Papaes Review

Liar Game Season 1 - 2007

Category: TV Series

Genre: Psychological

Episodes: 11

Casts: Toda Erika, Matsuda Shota, Kitamura Soichiro, Wada Soko, Iwasa Mayuko and more

This is an adaptation from a manga.

It's always interesting to watch the psychological tv series from Japan. This one involves around one philosophy or belief: "Not everybody can be happy." and that "Humans will lie, cheat and steal to survive."
 

Nao Kanzaki (Toda Erika) is known for being naive and innocent. She is a high school student.
One day, she receives a black postcard indicating that she has been selected to participate in the "Liar Game Tournament". Along with that postcard is a box with 100 million yen (about $1,000,000). The goal of the first round of the game is to trick the other player out of their hundred million yen. At the end, the winner would get to keep the hundred million earned, and the loser owes the LGT (Liar Game Tournament office) 100 million yen, "will be collected by any means and at all costs".


One might think that the series is quiet unnecessary, placed on an impossible setting (but I'd rather have this over SAW who tests the "human fiber").

I like how it ended and how the events turned around.

However there's a slight implication or definition of MLM that is quiet misconstrued. They should have used the term "binary" or "pyramiding" company. Oh well.

Bloody Monday - 2008

Category: TV Series

Genre: Action / Technological / Crime / Suspense

Broadcast network: TBS

Original writing (manga): Bloody Monday by Ryumon Ryo
  
Screenwriter: Makita Mitsuharu, Watanabe Yusuke

Producer: Makita Mitsuharu 

Director: Hirano Shunichi, Hatano Takafumi, Miyashita Kensaku


Theme song: Over the rain ~Hikari no Hashi~ 

Cast: Miura Haruma, Sato Takeru, Kawashima Umika, Fujii Mina, Tokunaga Eri, Hisano Masahiro, Tanaka Tetsushi, Matsushige Yutaka, Narimiya Hiroki, Kichise Michiko, TET, and more


A biological terrorist attack kills off the population of a Russian town; Japan's Special Third-i unit believes that the terrorist organization responsible plans to have the same virus known as Bloody X in Tokyo. THIRD-i then recruits, Takagi Fujimaru a genius, notorious hacker to find out what happened in Russia.


It's absolutely a good tv series. One that would keep you wanting to see more. Great storyline. Also this reminds me of Jack Bauer, only this time, it's not focused on Jack but on Fujimaro, a civilian, helping Third-I. It took me awhile to get the relation of "THIRD-i" and Third Eye. It's pretty much designed like CTU of 24.

I like how each episode made you want to check the next episode. And missing one might make you miss the ingenuity of the storyline. It has good character build-up. It gets nifty on Episode 3. It has a very good psychological warfare script.

This is as much about crime and suspense, but also about friendship and family. It's about courage, honor, pride, life.... love....

I like the lyrics of the song they have: (translated into english)

Though the cold rain drenches my forehead, flower petals fall like raindrops overlapping with you...
if that can be called "light"
the radiance doesn't fade, right?

no matter how it is contaminated.. i think it disappears.
not only this but also the sad memory does not vanish
holding back the tears
light that is more beautiful than anything esle, is gathering;
walking towards the clouds;
the rainbow forms after the rain...
trust only your dream and walk towards it...

Quotes from Bloody Monday:

"If you are given a talent... you are entrusted with a mission."

Photo Source: Anaherarika

Sixth Sense - 1999

Category: Movie

Genre: Suspense

Director: M. Night Shymalan

Writer:M. Night Shymalan

Producer: Barry Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg, Mischa Barton and more

Tagline: 1...Sight 2...Sound 3...Smell 4...Taste 5..Touch 6...The Sixth Sense

A boy named Cole(Haley Joel Osment), communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead, seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist named Malcom Crowe(Bruce Willis).  Crowe then spends a lot of time with the boy Cole, who is his only hope.

Either it's way too scary for something with minimal "gore", or I had just one too many coffee for the day. But, yeah I have to hand it to M.Night Shymalan for creating a movie that can be so scary using less - gore but with only your imagination to play with. This is a well crafted movie, that would allow a viewer to really be glued in the story. It's a simple film.... but a brilliant one.

Photo Source: Media Fire

Gothika - 2003

Category: Movie

Genre: Horror / Suspense


Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez

Producer:Columbia Pictures Corporation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment

Cast:  Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Dorian Harewood, Bronwen Mantel, Kathleen Mackey, Matthew G. Taylor and more




Tagline: Dr. Miranda Grey Is An Expert At Knowing What Is Rational, What Is Logical, What Is Sane... Until The Day She Woke Up On The Other Side



This is a ghost story of a criminal psychiatrist named Miranda Grey (Halle Berry)  who wakes up as a patient in an asylum she is working for, with no memory of a murder she was accused of doing.

I used to wish to have my third eye activated. But, after seeing this I'm beginning to think... I should not. If I'm gonna see or feel things like the way she did here in this movie.

I was enthused to find out Robert Downey was in the movie. This gives me the heebie jeebies!! It's actually got a neat storyline and also scares the hell out of you at the right time without appearing too much of the gore. Just enough. It's a good combination of horror and a suspense/thriller film. :)

The Aviator - 2004

Category: Movie

Genre: Biography / Drama

Writer: John Logan

Director: Martin Scorsese

Producer: Forward Pass, Appian Way and more.

Tagline: For some men, the sky was the limit. For him, it was just the beginning.

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Adam Scott,

Overview and Review of The Aviator directed by Martin Scorsese.

I heard about this movie when Dr. Andre mentioned it in one of his seminars, a movie about one of the richest man in the world. The movie begad as a young Hughes directs one of Scorsese's favorite films, Hell's Angels. Hughes was an obsessed man when it comes to details from the planes to cloud formations which can prolly drive you crazy. He also makes controversial huge budget films. This was a movie on his life from the 1920s to 1940s.

Interesting and good cinematography as well, but it was a long movie for me. A good autobiography at that. Maybe, I watched it a the wrong time. I was helluva sleepy. Good performance of the actors and actresses. And, i think the movie was in a hurry in the end.

Mean Creak - 2004

Category: Movies

Genre: Drama

Director and Writer: Jacob Aaron Estes


Tagline: Beneath the surface, everyone has a secret.

Cast: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck, Carly Schroeder

Overview and Review of Mean Creek directed by Jacob Aaron Estes

When Sam (Rory Culkin) got beaten up by a bully named George (Josh Peck), Sam's older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan) and two of his friends Clyde (Ryan Kelley) and Marty (Scott Mechlowicz) planned to get back at George.

They came up with a plan to pretend it's Sam's birthday and "invite" George on a boat trip in which they would dare him to strip, jump in the lake, and run home naked. Along the way Sam, his girlfriend Millie (Carly Schroeder), Rocky, and Clyde sees that George is not really "that" bad after all but a kid who lacks attention, they wanted to call off the plan, but Marty refuses.

It looks kind of like an "Indie" film to me, which I am guessing it is.

An intelligent movie with great young actors. Very believable. It is also engaging, gets you hooked to the story. The story itself is unique and provoking at the same time. It's also quite disturbing and another one of those "what if's" situations. What if I'm there? this and that.
The lines are all good and pretty realistic. The actors may be young but this is a nice "grown-up" story you would learn a lot from. The acting, writing and directing were all good.

Some of the Memorable Lines in the Film:

Sam: You know, if we hurt him, we'd be just as bad as him.
Rocky: We need to hurt him without really hurting him.

Intensity - Dean Koontz

Category: Books

Genre: Thriller

Author: Dean Koontz

Review and Overview of the book Intensity written by Dean Koontz.

A young woman named Chyna Shepard gets invited by her only close friend Laura Templeton to stay over for the weekend at her hometown in Napa Valley. Little did they know, a homicidal adventurer/killer intended to kill everybody in the Templeton's farmhouse. Suddenly, Chyna finds out she is the only one living in the farmhouse and as usual the "survivor" just like her past. Compelled to take action and not just hide and try to survive just like before, she decided to go and follow the killer and avenge the Templeton's death, specially Laura's.

Just like the title, the book is Intense since the killer (Edgler Foreman Vess), definetly lives for INTENSITY. There were times when it got a bit slow but it actually serves it's purpose. Most of the story took place within the 24-hours.

May 8, 2008

Predator - Jack Olsen

Category: Books

Genre: Non-Fiction, Based on a True Story

BAuthor: Jack Olsen

Overview and Review of Predator a book written by Jack Olsen.

This is a true story about a man named "Steve Titus" (a pseudonym to protect the identity) who was falsely accused of raping a woman named Celia Dalton. For eight (8) long months he suffered under a trial he did not commit. Along with it his career and sense of well-being ended.

The work was done by a serial rapist / psychopath who raped about 50-55 all in all named Mac Smith (a pseudonym as well).

There sure are some loopholes in every government system and this book shows how it could be made possible. I'm sure there are many others who were convicted of a crime they did not commit and that is just so sad.

The end was more like a report of events of what happened after uncovering the real story with the help of a journalist. It was reported and well accounted in the book. The family that Mac Smith grew up with.

Into the Garden - V.C. Andrews

Category: Books


Genre: Psychological


Author: V.C. Andrews

Overview and Review of Into the Garden by V.C. Andrews

The fifth book of the series Wildflowers.

Four teenage girls named Misty, Jade, Star and Cat first came together in Dr. Marlowe's group therapy sessions. They began trusting each other for their most kept secret. They unraveled and shared their story to the rest of the girls bravely. But then Dr. Marlowe's group therapy sessions ended and they did not know whether they would see each other.

This book is narrated by Cat and is based on her own perspective. She kind of played the major role in this book.

Once again the four decided to come together one more time minus Dr. Marlowe and shared a pact with each other, that the four would share the REAL TRUTH and nothing but the truth to each other, and to hide no secrets. They called themselves OWP's (Orphan's with Parents).

It's kind of unthinkable what the four did in this story and managed to get away with it in the end thanks to Dr. Marlowe. I was completely mollified as to what they would do to their situation.

But the story ended pretty well though. Unpredictable plot. :)