Movie Review: Arrival (2016)

Science Fiction and Drama are themes that have had a long charted history in film, and movies such as Interstellar, Contact, and The Abyss are prime examples of what happens when humanity and emotion come into contact with the unknown and things beyond our understanding. In that regard, director Denis Villeneuve tries his hand on the genre and adapts Ted Chiang's 1998 short story " Story of Your Life" into film, creating the star studded and Oscar nominated movie called "Arrival" - which puts humanity in the middle of a worldwide extraterrestrial encounter when 12 ships appear in different parts of the globe and humanity scrambles to decipher whether they are here as friend or foe.

ARRIVAL – International Trailer Starring Amy Adams (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Jeremy Renner (The Avengers), and Forest Whitaker (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Arrival follows the perspective of linguist Louise Banks - who is summoned by the U.S. Army to help communicate with the alien lifeforms visiting our planet. Together with physicist Ian Donnely, Louise is sent into one of the ships located in Montana, where contact is established and the team soon discovers that the UFOs write in symbols that need to be broken down and deciphered for proper communication between the two species. What follows is a sequence of events where a combination of humanity's own faith and paranoia are tested, and as the world hinges on breakdown over whether the aliens are friend or foe, Louise will discover that their presence will change her and how she perceives everything in life forever.

Deep and emotionally tangled in a storyline that is both non-linear and requires a lot of focus and thinking, Arrival is the kind of movie that doesn't go for the alien action movie route that past films such as "War of the Worlds" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" have presented where extraterrestrial life invades or needs to be met with hostility. There are themes of paranoia and fear present when pockets of humanity take the UFO visit negatively, but the film puts more emphasis of Adams and Renner's roles as people who want to ensure a peaceful encounter with the aliens and find out exactly what they are here for. Granted this is one movie that will require you to pay attention and not skip a beat in terms of the sequence of events, because much like Christopher Nolan's way of depicting films like "Interstellar" and "Memento", Arrival is non-linear and has a lingering mystery that doesn't fully flesh out until everything is said and done. It's a bit out of this world and requires some suspension of belief, but given it's a science fiction film and it has some of the best stars in film to date, it may please those who like something deep.

Arrival, presented by Columbia Pictures Philippines, will be released in theaters on February 15.

Rating - 3/5

Movie Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017)

Fifteen years after it began in the underground complex known as The HIVE and through trials and extreme horrors faced through the course of five movies - IT FINALLY ENDS and the journey of the woman known as "Alice" comes to a close, as Director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife/ star Milla Jovovich finally bring everything full circle with "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" - the sixth and last film in the Resident Evil Movie franchise that sees our heroine making a final stand against the Umbrella Corporation when an opportunity to undo all the damage they have done with the T-Virus outbreak makes itself present and brings all parties back to where it started - Raccoon City.


RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER - International Trailer #2
Set a few weeks after the events of the 2012 film "Resident Evil: Retribution", The Final Chapter sets up Alice in the desolate wasteland of what was once Washington D.C, now infested with hordes of T-Virus infected zombies and bio-weapon monsters. An encounter with her old Artificial Intelligence computer enemy called "The Red Queen" gives a glimmer of hope in the form of an antidote to the Virus - which is the key to stopping all the devastation and destruction Umbrella has left in their wake. Unfortunately for Alice, she must travel back to Raccoon City and The HIVE - where everything began for her and the Umbrella Corporation. Travelling back to the city and encountering allies and enemies new and old alike, Alice makes her last desperate attempt to stop all the evil Umbrella has done and put an end to things once and for all.

Movie Review: Why Him?

Imagine if you had a daughter - the gem of your eyes and the kind of girl that is so perfect that you couldn't be prouder to know that she excels in everything and is a student at Stanford. Then during your own birthday celebration, you find out the worst possible news - your kid is dating a guy who looks the OPPOSITE of what you can imagine as a suitable suitor for her - rebellious, cusses a lot, and is a successful video game programmer to boot!

That's pretty much the premise of "Why Him?" - a Christmas time comedy which features a prime cast lead by James Franco and Bryan Cranston - who play the unlikely match of the daughter's boyfriend and the father who is not too thrilled to find out that he is the guy who wants to marry his kid. Directed by Zoolander and Meet The Parents director John Hamburg, this comedy is all about what it takes for girl to get the two men of her life to see eye to eye... But it's easier said than done as Franco's character Laird Mayhew does too much to impress Cranston's Ned Fleming, and hilarity and insanity of all kind as a result! After seeing the movie last Monday c/o 20th Century Fox Philippines, here's my review of the wild ride comedy film!