Movie Digest # 063

UP
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 1, August 19, 6:35pm

Synopsis not necessary, this movie will never go wrong as it has all the tried and tested ingredients of a Disney Pixar film. It’s an eye candy, intelligent and has a heart. What I like best with the film company’s body of work is that they treat the kids mature enough and the adults, young and innocent. Though I’m stuck with loving “Wall-E”, “Up” soars high amidst the oh-so-familiar road. One scene stood out for me. This is where Carl unloaded some stuff from the house to keep it afloat. Kids would take it as simple science of gravity while the adults would see it more of a metaphor (well, at least, for me). Definitely not to be missed.

Friends who might appreciate it: No, not really for those with erectile dysfunction (it’s a different movie).

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE
Greenbelt 3, Cinema 2, August 19, 8:40pm

It’s one film that is hard to summarize. Maybe that’s the reason why the material started as a book (which I haven’t read) before being adapted into a movie. But in a nutshell, it’s a love story between a human (for the lack of apt term) and not so human. The message is there somewhere but the logic check keeps on popping up from time to time. Worth appreciating though is the quiet execution of a film that borders from sci-fi to romance. I can completely forget “Jumper” for now.

Friends who might appreciate it: Mistresses.

DISTRICT 9
Glorietta 4, Cinema 1, September 1, 8:10pm

First, the movie is well conceptualized and well made. I like the idea particularly on aliens inhabiting the earth and, though highly discrimated, taken care of as common citizens. I was reminded big time of the British satire “Shaun of the Dead” wherein zombies are treated as pets, complete with a chain and a doghouse. But “District 9” has something more to prove: the nameless actors, the un-Hollywood treatment of a very Hollywood CGI, the location and the feel. The only minus point for me is that I wasn’t entertained (assuming of course that it was envisioned that way).

Friends who might appreciate it: Those who think that the film has nothing to do with a red light.

KIMMY DORA
Glorietta 4, Cinema 6, September 7, 5:50pm

This comedy, a blend of situational and bit slapstick, tells a story of twins, Kimmy and Dora, both played by the great Eugene Domingo. Kimmy is the alpha one female type who absurdly “gained” her might after having a high fever (we call this in the province “tipus” or “tipos”) when she was young. Dora, on the other hand, was born accidentally in a toilet bowl and grew up mentally slow. They both hate each other and this leads them to a seemingly endless catfight before hitting a snag that would test their relationship as sisters. Unlike other Pinoy slapstick flicks, this one has Chris Martinez as writer. I haven’t seen a local comedy before that has lines like “This is the dull side of being a heredera, sometimes you get kidnapped” and words like “slowburn”. The audience was laughing out loud from start to finish and even clapped in one act wherein Dora has to play Kimmy to appease her father. The laughter alone is worth the ticket. And for the love of Eugene, whom I had the chance to catch in a DUP play and in a Gabby Concepcion-Alice Dixon sitcom on ABC-5 ages ago, watch this.

Friends who might appreciate it: Those who look up to Eugene Domingo as an artist more than a movie star.