MOVIE REVIEW: mother!

Director Darren Aronofsky's filmmaking style has always been out of the box. From his first full-length film Pi (1998) to the Oscar nominated ones Requiem For a Dream (2000), The Wrestler (2008) and to the one that gave Natalie Portman her Best Actress award Black Swan. Unconventional and emotionally draining you gotta have a right state of mind to appreciate his skills.

Now here comes mother! a film that is divided into two parts. The first half is more like a stage play. A newlywed couple played by Javier Bardem a poet and his younger wife Jennifer Lawrence live in a huge Victorian styled house in the middle of nowhere. Then a visitor (Ed Harris) from out of the blue, knocked on their door. He thought that the house was a bed and breakfast place. The husband took a liking into him and asked him to stay the night. The wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) then came and they seem to have something in mind with the man of the house. Their sons (real life brothers Domhall and Brian Gleeson) came as well  and their conflict set the stage for the second half.
 mother! then turns into something that is rarely seen on mainstream cinema. An exercise in extreme filmmaking that is polarizing. You will love it or hate it. References to the Bible and idol fanaticism abound. There's no middle ground to it. Enter at your own risk.

MOVIE REVIEW: Kingsman: The Golden Circle

A sequel was inevitable when the first Kingsman became a surprise hit in 2014. It was an entertaining but unexpectedly violent cartoonish film that stayed true to it's graphic novel origins. It was so different yet fun. Aside from Colin Firth who was part of the original cast, the sequel attracted three Oscar winners (Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore and Halle Berry) and a global music icon (Elton John) to join in and have a great time.

Taron Egerton as back as Eggsy and together with his guardian in the Kingsman Merlin (Mark Strong more endearing here) enlists the help of their American counterparts or "cousins", the Statesman headed by Bridges with Channing Tatum, Halle Berry (both underutilized but from the looks of it, the saga won't end with this film) and Game of Thrones' Pedro Pascal to help them fight an enemy (Julianne Moore having fun and playing it easy as the bad girl Poppy) bent on destroying mankind. The film also tackles the war on drugs which bears some similarities to today's headlines especially in the Philippines and Indonesia.

 Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't as unpredictable and loud (Samuel L. Jackson took care of that in the first film) compared to it's predecessor but it's still great entertainment and well worth your hard earned money for a trip to the theater primarily of the cast and it's running time of 2 hours and 20 minutes that's worth spending on those comfortable lazy boy reclining chairs that most cinemas worldwide offer now.

MOVIE REVIEW: Rebel in the Rye

Nicholas Hoult (About A Boy, Mad Max: Fury Road) plays the reclusive author J.D. Salinger who penned one of the most controversial books of the 20th Century: The Catcher In the Rye. The movie audience got a glimpse of the time of his life before he wrote the iconic novel.

 From a young man living an affluent lifestyle in New York City until after World War II, the film relied on tidbits that can easily be found on the internet. Fortunately, director and writer Danny Strong, elevated Rebel in the Rye with an excellent cast that also featured two time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as Salinger's professor and mentor Whit Burnett and Emmy winner Sarah Paulson as Salinger's loyal literary agent Dorothy Olding.

Rebel in the Rye gave us an entertaining glimpse on a forgotten era wherein only a few privileged people were given a chance to write a book due primarily to ones talent.

MOVIE REVIEW: It

Who would have thought that a horror movie which was based  on a book and made into a TV movie 27 years ago will make going to the movies fun again!! It, written by Stephen King in 1986, brought out our fear of clowns. The 1990 version with an iconic performance of Tim Curry as Pennywise the Dancing Clown scared my generation of the circus staple. This year, Bill Skarsgard, son of Stellan and brother of Alexander, steps out of his family shadows to deliver a scary yet funny performance of the character.

However, the real stars are the ones who are a part of "The Losers Club", a group of kids who are constantly being bullied in school. Their banter of jokes and insults among each other brought out their comic talents and makes the film's running time of 135 minutes more bearable. The scenes are shot with an eighties touch yet it does not forget this current time by using drone shots in some scenes.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hitman's Bodyguard

Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson team up in The Hitman's Bodyguard. An action comedy about one of the world's top bodyguards Michael Bryce (Reynolds) who is tasked to protect an assassin Darius Kincaid (Jackson) as he is about to testify in the International Criminal Court against a ruthless Eastern European leader (Gary Oldman) from his henchmen.

This would have been a standard buddy comedy but the impeccable comic timing and chemistry of the two leading actors elevates it from the plot loopholes. The
scenes in the Netherlands are beautifully shot for an action film and props for having a chase scene in Amsterdam's infamous De Wallen more famously known as the city's Red Light District. It's pure fun to see Reynolds channeling James Bond together with Jackson being Samuel L. Jackson. With Oscar nominees Oldman and Salma Hayek in supporting roles. The Hitman's Bodyguard is pure popcorn entertainment in the dog days of August.

MOVIE REVIEW: Annabelle: Creation

The Conjuring cinematic universe continues it's winning streak with Annabelle: Creation. Forget about the 2014 prequel of the scary doll that was overall a disappointment. The film goes way back when the doll got created. In the able hands of Swedish director David F. Sandberg (in only his second full length feature film after last year's excellent Lights Out), Annabelle: Creation is ten times scarier and yet a lot of fun for those who loved The Conjuring series and horror films in general.

Years after the tragic death of their only child, a dollmaker named Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (the ethereal Miranda Otto), welcome a group of girl orphans and a nun Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) into their home to ease the pain of their loss. That's when the possessed doll Annabelle comes out to haunt them.

A doll with the right built and facial design is always scary. Children in a haunted house is scarier. Demon possession is the scariest!! Annabelle: Creation has all of these.

MOVIE REVIEW: Detroit

Detroit starts out with an excellent narration using animation with of the migration of the African-American from the Deep South to the Motor City. I learned something yet I was entertained, which sets the mood for the dark tone of the film. Then we go forward to 1967, when a party was being held at an unlicensed speakeasy for returning servicemen from Vietnam. All guests were African-American. The police came to raid the place. The people were brought outside the street and arrested in full view of the neighborhood thus anger ensued. A bottle was thrown at a police officer therefore starting what was known to be the 12th Street riots of Detroit.

The city was in crisis and the National Guard was called in to patrol the streets. A curfew was implemented and looting continued.

The movie focuses on the Algiers Hotel incident when a guest named Carl (Jason Mitchell) fired a toy gun at the police who mistakenly thought of as a sniper. They found the place and started interrogating all those who were at the building that time, including a member of the singing group Larry Reed (Algee Smith in a breakthrough performance) and his friend Fred (Jacob Latimore) who both decided to spend the night when their show got cancelled because of the riots. Anthony Mackie plays Greene, a Vietnam vet who's also checked in. Together with a couple of more African-Americans and two white girls Julie Anne (Hannah Murray) and Karen (Kaitlyn Dever), they experienced outmost humiliation and maltreatment from the cops Krauss (The Chronicles of Narnia's Will Poulter in an Oscar worthy performance), Flynn (Ben O' Toole) and Demens (Jack Reynor). Star Wars' John Boyega is also in the film as a security officer caught in the middle of the police activity.

The Oscar winning tandem of director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal does it again. Detroit is so gripping and entertaining that one wouldn't realize that it has a long running time of 2 hours and 29 minutes. All the characters from the film had their own flaws and it is up to us the audience to determine who's right or wrong. 50 years had passed since one of the darkest moment of the US had happened and still almost nothing's had changed.