Nu-'Star Trek' Has a Solid, Fun Third Installment in 'Star Trek Beyond'

So that’s three out of three.  Nu-Star Trek accomplishes a solid, entertaining trilogy with Star Trek Beyond.  There were legitimate fears that this third film would prove to be bad.  J.J. Abrams, who helmed the first two films and set the vision and tone for the nu-Star Trek, gave up the director’s chair to Justin Lin (so that he could do Star Wars).  Now, Lin had proven his worth in making exciting movies with The Fast and the Furious franchise, but there was always a chance that the result of changing of hands might not be as smooth as desired.  It also didn’t help that the trailers for Star Trek Beyond were unimpressive, underwhelming messes.  Fortunately, it was simply another case of “bad trailers, good movie.”

If Ever You Fly Away...

If ever you choose to fly away,

I wouldn’t be able to stop you.

You are from out of this world.

Nigh invincible.

Essentially a goddess,

Soaring above.

'Mechanic: Resurrection' Is a Brain-Dead Action Movie

I think I haven’t seen 2011’s The Mechanic yet.  Or if I did, it was so forgettable that I can’t remember now if I had seen it.  I wasn’t even immediately aware that this year’s Mechanic: Resurrection is a sequel.   When I first saw the trailer, I thought it was a stand-alone movie.  That trailer made me interested of watching it.  I was drawn by the featured scene in the trailer wherein Jason Statham does a skyscraper stunt, which reminded me a lot of Tom Cruise’s iconic, breathtaking Burj Khalifa stunt in Ghost Protocol.  I knew immediately that this was going to be a bad movie (the trailer already thoroughly summarized the plot), but I had hopes it was going to be one of those entertaining, turn-your-brain-off, popcorn action films.

Mechanic: Resurrection follows the calculating hitman Arthur Bishop (Statham) a.k.a. The Mechanic, who is forced out of retirement when the woman he loves, Gina Thorne (Jessica Alba), is kidnapped by a notorious arms dealer named Riah Craine (Sam Hazeldine).  In exchange for Gina’s life, Bishop is tasked to kill three of Craine’s competitors while making their deaths appear like accidents.  But Bishop turns the tables when he decides to collaborate with one of the targets (Tommy Lee Jones) instead.

'Swiss Army Man' Could Be This Year's Weirdest Movie

Swiss Army Man starts with a young man named Hank (Paul Dano) who is stranded in a deserted island.  Bored, desperate, and lonely, he wraps a rope around his neck to end it all.  But before he can proceed with the act, he spots a corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washed ashore.  The dead man proves to be flatulent, with his farts strong enough to propel his body across the sea.  Hank uses the corpse like a jet ski and is able to get to the mainland but still far from civilization.  Fortunately for him, the dead body, who he learns is named “Marty”, strangely has the capability to be used in a variety of ways, like a Swiss Army knife (hence, the title) – using parts of its anatomy to gather and store water, chop wood, start a fire, launch projectiles, or even be used as a compass.  Marty also quickly learns how to talk, and he and Hank begin sharing many conversations about life and its principles along their journey.

'Bring It on, Ghost' Is Surprisingly a Lot of Fun

Bring It On, Ghost – alternately known as Let’s Fight, Ghost or Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight – surprised the heck out of me.  After finding Doctors a let-down, I thought I might give watching K-drama a rest (also, because the fall season of American TV shows has come; I need more time for that).  But reading about Bring It On, Ghost’s premise made me curious enough to give the first episode a try.  I immediately found the tone and the execution of the premise very enjoyable.  I also became interested on where the arcs could be going.  Hence, I was compelled to watch the entire 16-episode series.  I wasn’t expecting that I would have this much fun with it.

It tells the story of a college student named Park Bong-pal (Ok Taec-yeon) who grew up with the ability to see ghosts.  He works part-time as an exorcist, beating up and banishing ghosts for a fee, and hopes to save enough money so he can pay to have his ability removed.  One night, he encounters a feisty, amnesiac high school ghost named Kim Hyun-ji (Kim So-hyun).  They scuffle, which result to an accidental kiss that triggers Hyun-ji to remember some vague memories when she was still alive.  Realizing that Bong-pal might be the key for her to remember her past and “move on”, she badgers him for his help.  Bong-pal agrees.  But in exchange, Hyun-ji has to help him fight ghosts.  As their ghost fighting partnership progresses and flourishes, they begin to develop feelings for each other as well as learn the secrets that connect their pasts.

'April and the Extraordinary World' Is an Animated Science Fiction Gem

April and the Extraordinary World, also known as April and the Twisted World, is a French-Belgian-Canadian animated science fiction movie (the original French title is Avril et le Monde truqué).  It’s set in an alternate steampunk world, wherein technical and industrial advancement have radically slowed down in the late 19^th century toward the 20^th century.  As a result, the world’s technologies are steam-powered, driven by burning coal and wood, which result to the depletion of trees and heavy pollution in the air.

The plot centers on a young woman named April Franklin who carries on her family’s research on a serum of invulnerability after the disappearance of her parents.  Along with her talking cat Darwin, she soon finds herself on the run from agents of the government that intend to weaponize the serum, and goes one step closer to reuniting with her parents and uncovering a world-changing conspiracy.

See Jackie Chan Cover Adele in 'Skiptrace'

Skiptrace is about a Hong Kong detective named Benny Chan (Jackie Chan) who is driven to prove once and for all that businessman Victor Wong and the crime boss known as “The Matador” (Winston Chao) are one and the same.  In order to do that, as well as save his goddaughter Samantha (Fan Bingbing) who recently gets herself in trouble with Wong, he searches for American con artist Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville), a witness to a murder that Wong has committed in his casino.  After Benny retrieves Connor from Russian mobsters in Siberia, circumstance forces them to take the long and scenic route back to Hong Kong, crossing the steppes of Mongolia, the Gobi Desert, and China’s countryside, with Chinese and Russian mobsters hot on their trails.

Jeff Dunham Is a Comedy Genius

Ventriloquism and comedy aren’t an unusual mix.  Actually, almost all – if not all – ventriloquist acts I’ve seen are comedic in nature.  But there’s something about Jeff Dunham that made me feel as if I’m seeing ventriloquism comedy for the first time.  He’s that remarkably talented and innovative.

I first learned of him years ago.  I read an article listing the most viewed (or most popular? I forgot) videos in Youtube, and a clip from Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity was in it.  That clip was the debut of Achmed the Dead Terrorist.  When the puppet greeted everyone, “Good evening… infidels!”, I immediately burst out laughing.  From that moment on, Jeff’s sets constantly have me in stitches.  I’ve since watched his specials Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity, Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special, Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos, Jeff Dunham: Minding the Monsters, Jeff Dunham: All Over the Map, and Jeff Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood as well as many of his videos in Youtube.

'Alice Through the Looking Glass' Is Delightful Madness

Right off the bat, let me say that I liked Alice Through the Looking Glass.  And not in a “so bad, it’s good” way like I did with other movies of the same nature (e.g. Pan and The Huntsman: Winter’s War).  It’s not brilliant, but I legitimately enjoyed it as what it intended to be and what it is.

I extremely love Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (also known as Alice in Wonderland) and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, which this movie is very loosely based from.  It’s the first novel that I’ve ever read (my copy has both books in it), and I credit it for jump-starting my lifelong love for reading and collecting novels.  I’ve read it many times over.  I also enjoyed watching many of its screen adaptations – from the classic Disney animated film to the 1999 Hallmark TV movie to the brilliant anime series Alice in Wonderland (or Fushigi no Kuni no Alice), which is an overlooked gem.

Heck, my favorite photo of my sister is that of the time she had to dress up as Alice in school.  I simply can’t stress enough how I deeply love Alice in Wonderland. 

Top 10 Bankai in 'Bleach'

“Bankai.”

Much excitement is stirred whenever a character in Bleach utter that word, especially for the first time.  It’s easily one of the best things about this manga/anime.  As the ultimate evolution of the Zanpakutō, it’s expected to be large, flashy, and amazing.  Oftentimes, a Shinigami is at his or her most badass whenever he or she activates his or her Bankai.

One of my biggest disappointments with the way Bleach wrapped up is how it ended with several notable characters’ Bankai still remaining unrevealed.  Anyway, unless the last arcs of Bleach are still going to be adapted into anime and the unrevealed Bankai are going to be shown there for the first time – something very unlikely at this point – then that means all Bankai that were set to be revealed in the narrative, incomplete they may be (arg!), are now available on hand.  And from those, I picked my top 10 favorites.

Same with my list on Shikai, these are all based on my personal preference, after weighing in each Bankai based on – let me just copy-paste what I wrote there – “not only its raw power, but also how well it impacted the narrative, how gratifying was the delivery of its initial revelation and subsequent appearances, how kickass and efficient it was wielded by its Shinigami and how much it added to his or her characterization, and, of course, how stylish its design is.”

10.) DAIGUREN HYŌRINMARU

Wielder: Tōshirō Hitsugaya

Though I was actually more impressed when Tōshirō revealed his Shikai for the first time than when he did with his Bankai, it’s nonetheless one of the most notable Bankai in Bleach.  Not only does it give Tōshirō ice wings, increased freezing power, and the ability to cast a variety of ice attacks, but it also allows him to create out of ice a life-like image of himself which he uses as a decoy in the latter part of battles since it can only fool an opponent once.

Top 10 Shikai in 'Bleach'

Bleach just ended a month ago in a saddening, unsatisfactory manner.  But there was a time when it was a terrific, badass anime/manga.  And one significant reason that made it so is the surprises and excitement brought by the Zanpakutō, the Shinigami’s weapon that takes the form of a katana, wakizashi, nodachi, or tantō when sealed.  So even if I hated what Bleach had eventually become, for the sake of the great thrill and enjoyment it had delivered to its fandom when it was at the top of its game, I want to somewhat pay homage to it by listing my most favorite Zanpakutō releases.

For this post, I will first enumerate the top 10 Shikai – the first released form of the Zanpakutō – that I liked the most.  A list for my favorite Bankai – the second and ultimate form of the Zanpakutō – is set for another post.  So, in this sense, this is a two-parter.

I ranked them based on my personal preference.  I considered not only its raw power, but also how well it impacted the narrative, how gratifying was the delivery of its initial revelation and subsequent appearances, how kickass and efficient it was wielded by its Shinigami and how much it added to his or her characterization, and, of course, how stylish its design is.

10.) TACHIKAZE

Wielder: Kensei Muguruma

Release command: “Blow it away.”

When a Shikai is released, the Zanpakutō often becomes longer or bigger.  But in the case of Kensei Muguruma’s Tachikaze, it shortens from a wakizahi into a combat knife.  I find that unique and appealing.  Moreover, Kensei wields his combat knife with as much intimidating presence as any Shinigami with a sword has.  The form of his Shikai gives Kensei, especially as a Visored, an air of someone being in the Special Forces.

'Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates' Is a Serviceable Comedy Movie

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is a comedy about party-loving brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) whose antics tend to cause trouble during family gatherings.   With their sister Jeanie’s (Sugar Lyn Beard) Hawaiian wedding coming soon, their family orders them to bring respectable dates so that they will be obliged to behave during the occasion.  The brothers begins their search by placing an ad on Craigslist, which goes viral and even results to them appearing on a talk show.

Meanwhile, Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Anna Kendrick) are slacking, party-loving bestfriends who have just been fired from their waitressing job.  They see the brothers on TV and realize that the free Hawaiian vacation is exactly what they need.  They pose as well-educated, upright girls and succeed in charming the boys to choose and invite them.  However, once they arrive at Hawaii, the girls’ true colors gradually become apparent.

'Doctors' Is a Middling Medical Drama

My expectation for Doctors was that it was going to be a remarkable medical thriller.  But though some interesting medical cases were touched upon, Doctors is no thriller at all.  It’s primarily a romantic drama which happens to have doctor characters and set in a hospital.  The medical aspect felt incidental.

The series is about two neurosurgeons who first met when the girl (Park Shin-hye) was still a high school student with a gangster personality and the man (Kim Rae-won), a freshly minted doctor taking a sabbatical, was her Biology and homeroom teacher.  The teacher influenced and inspired her to redirect the path of her life to a meaningful direction.  However, circumstances led them to have somewhat of a falling out.  Thirteen years later, they reunite as co-workers in the neurology department of a hospital, reconnect, and start a love affair.

Top 20 Fictional Duos

For this installment of my series of lists on small-sized teams, I will be focusing on teams that have the minimum number of members required to qualify as a “team” (at least, in my opinion): two.  So, these are my most favorite duos in fiction.

To make a “duo”, they must be basically working together – either as partners of equal standing or as senior/hero/mentor and subordinate/sidekick/protege.  There could be tension, bickering, rivalry, and even some dislike between them, as long as they’re working together and not against each other (thus, Tom and Jerry aren’t considered in this list).

20.) TIMON & PUMBAA

Not only do I love The Lion King, but it had a significant impact in my worldview development.  One of its biggest influences, if not the biggest, on me is “Hakuna Matata” – the motto of this quirky meerkat-warthog duo, which they shared to Simba, and which I took up as my own as well.  Moreover, they’re one of the most hilarious fictional duos there are – as I’ve witnessed in the movie, its sequels, comics, as well as the fun spin-off animated series that carried their names.

19.) “BAD BOYS”

The titular “Bad Boys” of the Bad Boys movies are Detective Sergeants Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey of Miami Police’s narcotics department.  It can be argued that there are funnier, more endearing, and more badass buddy-cop movie pairings out there.  But I’ve always had a soft spot for the Bad Boys movies – dumb and flawed as they are.

'The Shallows' Is the Best Shark-Attack Thriller in the Last Four Decades

Ever since Jaws basically invented the summer blockbuster more than 40 years ago, a multitude of shark movies have attempted – including subpar Jaws sequels – to replicate it through the years.  I did find several of them entertaining.  But not in the way that made Jaws an iconic film – a masterpiece.  I enjoyed Deep Blue Sea, but it’s dumb and absurd.  And then there are movies like Ghost Shark and Sharnado, only “entertaining” because they’re so ridiculously over-the-top and hilariously godawful.

The Shallows is also no Jaws.  But it does a fresh approach on the whole thing, and is an effectively thrilling and good-looking movie in general.  In fact, it’s probably the best crafted shark thriller since Jaws.

So I Watched 'Camp Sawi' (Yawn)

Camp Sawi is just the first Pinoy film since Heneral Luna that I’ve watched and reviewed.  Actually, I watched this movie a week ago, but it was such a bummer that I wasn’t interested of writing about it in the first place.  But then again, ever since I started last year of writing brief reviews about every recent movie (and TV show) that I’ve been able to watch, I’ve yet to skip one, regardless of quality – even when it’s annoyingly pretentious, utterly atrocious, mind-numbingly stupid, or tortuously bland.  Besides, though this movie bored me out of my mind, it’s still not the worst movie I’ve seen this year so far – that would be Zoolander 2 or Allegiant.  So I probably shouldn’t break the streak now.  Here goes...   

The movie tells the story of a group of heartbroken women (and one gay man) who go on a peculiar vacation getaway by staying in “Camp Sawi”, a boot camp/resort that could help them heal and move on.

Chain of Thoughts: So I've Finally Got into Reading 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and Watching 'Game of Thrones'

I’ve been aware of Game of Thrones – probably the most talked about TV show in the past years – for quite a while now.  However, I kept on putting off getting into it myself.  I admit that I was somewhat intimidated by the sheer scope of the mythology that it has already developed.  I felt that immersing myself into it won’t be easy (it’s the same thing I felt before I got into Doctor Who), and I just felt lazy to try.  Also, ideally, I want to first read all available A Song of Ice and Fire books first before I dive into the show.

Nonetheless, Game of Thrones is such a significant show that it has been constantly referenced everywhere – interviews, blogs, social media, forums, etc.; thus, I had come to become familiar with its key characters, scenes, plot twists, plot points, and fan theories – giving me a general understanding on what’s it about and what’s going on with it.  Still, that didn’t make me a fan.

But one of the birthday gifts I received last June was A Game of Thrones, Book One of the ASoIaF series.  Hence, obsessive geek that I am, I’m not comfortable with just reading and having that one book.  I was compelled to get all other available ASoIaF books – A Class of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons – for my collection, and so that I can finally read a series that many have considered one of the best works of fantasy of all time (heck, some even dare to sacrilegiously state that it’s better than Lord of the Rings).  And since I had finally begun reading the books, watching the show consequently followed.  After years of putting it off, I finally did it – I finally got into AsOIaF and GoT.

And now, I’ve just recently finished reading A Dance with Dragons and watching season six of Game of Thrones.  Here are some thoughts:

'Train to Busan' Is a Thrilling, Fun Ride

After seeing Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress last month, I never thought that I would soon be having another dose of zombies and trains.  Then I caught much positive buzz about this new South Korean zombie film that premiered earlier this year at the Cannes, Train to Busan.  And to my delighted surprise, it has been shown recently (and is still being shown as of writing) in Philippine theaters.

Train to Busan tells the story of a group of passengers on a bullet train to Busan, who suddenly find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak.  Apparently, South Korea is rapidly ravaged, and their train’s intended destination is seemingly the last safe zone.  The train passengers are left with no choice but to fight through hordes of zombies, and hope for the best that refuge can indeed be found in Busan.

‘Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV’ Has a Fascinating Science Fantasy Premise and Stunning Visuals, but Is Drastically Bogged Down by Muddled Storytelling

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is an anime film serving as prequel to the Final Fantasy XV game.  It’s set in the alternate world called Eos, which is divided into kingdoms that hold magical crystals.  However, in recent years, the militaristic and technologically-advanced Niflheim Empire has conquered all of the kingdoms except for Lucis, which is protected by a magical wall raised by its reigning king, Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII (voiced in English by Sean Bean.  Yes, the Sean Bean, the beloved actor that played Boromir and Ned Stark), by using the magic of the kingdom’s crystal.  Beyond the wall, at Lucis’ borders, the advancing armies of Niflheim are being fought off by the Kingsglaive, an elite guard made up of recruited immigrants capable of being empowered by the king’s magic.  After years of destructive war, Niflheim sues for peace in exchange for Lucis’ territories outside of its capital and the marriage of its Prince Noctis (the main character of the game) to Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret (voiced by Cersei Lannister herself, Lena Headey), former princess of the kingdom of Tenebrae, which has been made an Imperial Province after being invaded by Niflheim.  The plot centers on a Kingsglaive member named Nyx Ulric (voiced by Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman), who gets caught up with Lunafreya and King Regis’ struggles against Niflheim’s treachery.

Illumination Entertainment Has Another Franchise in the Making with 'The Secret Life of Pets'

The Secret Life of Pets depicts the quirky daily activities and behaviors of a community of domesticated animals living in a Manhattan block while their owners are away.  The plot centers on a Jack Russell terrier named Max (Louis C.K.) who loves and is loved – and spoiled – by his owner, Katie (Ellie Kemper), very much.  However, his snug and pleasant status quo is threatened by the arrival of Duke (Eric Stonestreet), a big and shaggy mongrel that Katie has recently adopted from the pound.  The two dogs begin to feud with each other, and in one of their scuffles while going for a walk outside, they lose their collars and get captured by Animal Control.  On the way to the pound, they are freed by a vengeful bunny named Snowball (Kevin Hart), but in exchange, they have to join his sewer-dwelling, human-hating gang of abandoned pets.  Meanwhile, Max’s friends – white Pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate), tabby cat Chloe (Lake Bell), pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan), dachshund Buddy (Hannibal Buress), budgerigar Sweetpea (Tara Strong), and guinea pig Norman (Chris Renaud) – enlist the help of a red-tailed hawk named Tiberius (Albert Brooks) and an elderly basset hound named Pops (Dana Carvey) to roam around Manhattan and rescue Max.

'The Neon Demon' Is an Eerie, Gorgeous, and Difficult Movie

I recently became familiar with director Nicolas Winding Refn through his recent movies Drive, which I liked, and Only God Forgives, which I hated.  It’s probably because the former has a straightforward, comprehensive, gripping narrative while the latter was bizarre and hard to understand, which probably requires to be looked deeper into, but I felt was too boring to be worth the effort of doing so.  However, there’s something similar about both movies that made me consider Refn a talented director: the stylishness of the shots.  Hence, when I learned that he has a new movie this year, i.e. The Neon Demon, it was something I looked forward to – at least, for the sake of seeing the technical aesthetics of the visuals.

The Neon Demon tells the story of a young, aspiring model named Jesse (Elle Fanning) who has recently moved to Los Angeles to try her luck in the fashion world.  Her youthful and flawless beauty draws the adoration and fixation of many she meets, including makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone), but also the envy and wrath of some, particularly a pair of ravenous models named Sarah (Abbey Lee) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote), who will take any means necessary to remain on top.

'Jason Bourne' Is a Solid Action Thriller, but a Disappointing Jason Bourne Film

Jason Bourne is one of the greatest fictional spooks ever.  He’s not only a fantastic badass, but a well-realized character as a whole.  And the Bourne Trilogy is one of the best film trilogies ever made, with it getting better with each succeeding installment.  The fourth movie in the franchise, which was more of a spin-off than a sequel, The Bourne Legacy, was a decent action thriller carried by Jeremy Renner’s charisma, oomph, and commitment in the lead role.  However, the absence of the Jason Bourne character had proven to be a big hindrance to that movie, which didn’t measure up to the quality of its predecessors.  Thus, when it was announced that Matt Damon had agreed to reprise the role in the fifth movie of the franchise, I was ecstatic.