Screen Log 20: BuyBust; Mary Poppins; Blockers; Isle of Dogs; Succession Season 1

"Isle of Dogs."

So let me just rank the most recent Erik Matti films in order. Number one, by a mile, is his Iglesia-ni-Cristo parable "Honor Thy Father." Then a far number two is "On the Job," minus points for all the times it couldn't help being Star Cinema-ish. Lightyears below, down there, is the bamboozling "Seklusyon." And in between, just a little below "On the Job," is the newly released and much-lauded BUYBUST, which stars Anne Curtis in arguably top form.

I realize films like "BuyBust" are the ones I really react to on a genuinely visceral level--the kind that skirts just beneath perfection, the kind that, through a couple of missteps, ends up a lesser film. I don't agree with all the noise online, praising it like it's a seamless masterpiece. It's not. There are contrivances that weaken the story, one appearing as early as thirty minutes into the movie. There's a final act--and a final line--that's clumsily handled in the spirit of "message." And there are moments when the filmmaker's emotions get in the way of the story itself. 

Make no mistake, however, the film is a scathing indictment of our times. I do agree that the fight scenes are too many and too long to the point of being redundant, but sizing them up against the whole work, it all makes sense. It's poor-against-poor madness rendered so convincingly, you'd have to be heartless not to be infuriated. The people in government, and especially the 1% who run this country, ought to see this film, but then I don't think they're the type who'd watch movies of a certain IQ level such as this. 

I only got around to seeing the classic musical film MARY POPPINS recently. And I must say, it is a rather pointless story. Julie Andrews is the only thing that keeps the whole thing worth plodding through. Can somebody explain its appeal to me? Is this a parable on the dangers of drug use because, you know, these people be tripping and flying and seeing colors and worlds and stuff?

The sex comedy BLOCKERS makes me thankful I wasn't born at a time when social media is front and center of life (a.k.a. now). Watching it, I found myself wondering, "This is how they do prom now?" Like with Facebook messages and cellphones and videos and stuff everywhere. I kind of thought this was maybe "Superbad" for the 2010s high school crowd or something. Anyway, Leslie Mann in this movie--poignant, career-high work, if you ask me. What an underrated actress.

Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was marvelous, delicious, eye-popping cinema. His newest film, the Berlinale winner ISLE OF DOGS, is also a visual feast (the stop motion is superb). But I'm not even going to get into that whole cultural appropriation discussion. I'm just here to say that this movie eventually felt like something I needed to get through, instead of something I wanted to drown myself in. Not bad Anderson, but also, for me, not worth storing in a limited-space hard drive.

Last night I finished the first season of HBO's SUCCESSION. This will be my new answer to people who ask me for viewing recommendations, probably with the same level of passion and aggression with which I promote Donna Tartt's literary masterpiece "The Secret History" to any willing ear. I loved the whole thing from start to finish. Brilliant, brilliant television. Well, not really the entirety. I thought episode 9 was its weakest--the one where you really felt the writer just setting things up and making people run into each other just so they could have shady conversations. The ending, too, I initially felt ambiguous about, but then in retrospect, I realized what genius it was. Jeremy Strong's performance--especially his entire arc in the finale--is a shoo-in for an Emmy next year. Kieran Culkin and Matthew MacFayden, too, as the family idiots. Also, episode 6--the one where Jeremy Strong's character tries and embarrassingly fails to stage a coup against his father (Brian Cox, making superhuman recovery from a hemorrhagic stroke)--is one of those episodes I will always remember, alongside "Hardhome" from "Game of Thrones," "The Animals" from "Orange Is the New Black," "Beryl" from "The Crown," "Teddy Perkins" from "Atlanta," "Halloween" from the second season of "Modern Family" (yep, it used to be able to produce excellence), etc. Also, J. Smith-Cameron liked my tweet about this, just so you know. Am aware I'm not being very coherent right now. Basta, watch this!

PDI Feature: Guelan Luarca, incoming TA Artistic Director

I interviewed someone whose name seems to be everywhere in the theater. This man is a National Artist in the making. The online version here.

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Guelan Luarca: 'Don't reinvent the wheel? Why not?'

The pre-show set of "Desaparesidos."

Miguel Antonio "Guelan" Luarca is the epitome of the multitasking theater artist.

Until two weekends ago, he was acting in Carlo Vergara's "Edgar Allan Hemingway" for Virgin Labfest 14. His adaptation of Lualhati Bautista's "Desaparesidos" (which he also directs) is in rehearsals for a three-week rerun next month, following its 2016 premiere that former Inquirer Theater editor Gibbs Cadiz hailed as that year's best full-length Filipino play. And he's also finishing his translation of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," slated to debut in February under Tanghalang Pilipino.

Then there's his new job as artistic director (AD) of Tanghalang Ateneo (TA).

"I won't lie: Being AD is a dream," he says, "but I imagined this [happening] 20, 30 years from now, hindi ganitong agad-agad."

Prolific writer

Luarca is 27 years old. A TA alumnus himself, he succeeded Glenn Sevilla Mas, whom he considers one of his three artistic fathers. The other two are Ron Capinding and Mas' predecessor Ricky Abad, who kindled Luarca's involvement with TA by having him help out with the performance text of "Sintang Dalisay," the Sama-Badjao transposition of "Romeo and Juliet."

"I left school for two semesters after third year college because of financial issues," Luarca says. "When I returned, my collaborations with TA continued even though I was no longer formally a member. When Sir Glenn took over [from Abad], he made me part of his 'inner circle' who helped him come up with each season.

In fact, for the first production under Mas, Luarca worked as an actor, playing the rebellious teenage lead in Han Ong's "Middle Finger" with "aching, nervy realism," wrote Inquirer reviewer Cora Llamas.

"Just when I thought I didn't want to act anymore!" says Luarca, who has become one of our most prolific writers. He was introduced to the Greek myths at 5, started reading Shakespeare at 7, and has now adapted into Filipino works ranging from Shakespeare to Euripides, Sarah Ruhl to Samuel Beckett, on top of scoring two Carlos Palanca first prizes for his Labfest entries "Mga Kuneho" and "Bait."

First season

Luarca's inaugural season, titled "Sturm und Drung/Bagyo at Bagabag," also happens to be TA's 40th.

The lineup, apart from the already-announced restaging of Ian Maclennan's "The Squaddies' Shrew" (hewn from Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew"), will include Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera's "Marisol," to be translated by Rody Vera and directed by Ed Lacson Jr.; and Luarca's adaptation of the seminal Mike de Leon film "Batch '81."

"Marisol," about a woman who gets caught up in a surreal, apocalyptic revolution between the angels and a so-called "senile God," will see Teresa Barrozo's return to designing music and sound for TA after 2016's "Boy."

For "Batch '81," Luarca hopes to assemble an artistic team made up of TA alumni. "Sir Glenn opened up TA to the larger theater world, and I want to continue that exchange of artistic practices. But I also want to go back to those old-school TA vibes, to enhance the bond between alumni and current members, in preparation for our TA [40th anniversary] ball."

Social activism

Luarca, who is also faculty member of the Ateneo's Fine Arts Department, is interested to see the young TA actors use their craft as a medium for social critique and activism. "I wish to burrow deep into the psychology of someone who sincerely believes in strongman rule, to the point that he's willing to give up his morals for his 'idol.'"

"As theater practitioners, drama and its processes are our weapons for activism. Theater has to reclaim its role as bangaw ng lipunan--agitating and ever-questioning, ardent in its pursuit to challenge the status quo," he adds.

Think poetically

"TA has to be socially engaged, and I want to expose its audiences to plays that force you to think a certain way, like how [Bertolt] Brecht forces you to suspend emotion for the sake of pure analysis; or how Shakespeare forces you to think poetically all the time; or how Sir Floy [Quintos] suspends your judgment of the excesses of the Filipino upper middle class to show they also have revolutionary potential.

Otherwise, he says, "why stage something that doesn't respond to the big picture?"

"I suppose that's where my youth enters," says Luarca. "I'm not afraid to fail, but also unafraid to come up with weird, challenging stuff. In fact, perhaps I invite it, because at least it means we're doing something new."

"I hate the mentality of 'Why fix what isn't broken?' or 'Don't reinvent the wheel.' Why the hell not?!"

Screen Log 19: Superbad; The History Boys; Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again; Pose Season 1

"Pose."

When that "Post a poster of your favorite movie without explaining" game went around on Twitter, I put SUPERBAD in with some hesitation. Maybe I was wondering if it's just a case of not remembering clearly, the way we tend to filter the less fun parts out of memories, so that what we end up recalling isn't exactly the entire thing, but just a glamorized part of it. I saw "Superbad" again, and nope, definitely a fun movie from start to finish. It's just unabashed bastusan from start to end, with no pretenses whatsoever, and it pulls off its comedy big time. 

It's a different case with my rewatch of THE HISTORY BOYS (which I don't think any company will be staging in Manila any time soon, too damn culturally specific as the play's topic and milieu is). So many layers and nuances I missed out on the previous times I saw this. That "Hodge the Drummer" scene between Samuel Barnett and Richard Griffiths, for instance, is just poignant, just plain effective use of dialogue and understatement and metaphor. Or that whole "History is women following men with buckets" speech by Frances de la Tour, which I never really fully grasped until now, how it sort of encapsulates the whole movie, especially with regards to her character. This is definitely one of the successful stage-to-screen adaptations of our time, one that grows richer with every viewing.

I didn't think the first "Mamma Mia" movie was bad, but then I was still in high school when it was shown in our cinemas, and the first few minutes I was confused, if I remember correctly, as to where exactly the "real" world stopped and the "singing" world began, or if there even was such a boundary. The new movie, MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN, was just the perfect antidote to the recent turn of events in our country. I saw it the other day, after the shit president's state of the nation address and the announcement that the plundering thief of an ex-president is the new speaker of Congress. "Mamma Mia 2" is a load of unbridled joy, its prequel-sequel magic delivered seamlessly, the transitions never jarring, the fun always infectious. It knows it's a silly movie and doesn't pretend to be something more serious. Everyone is terrific--Lily James is my discovery--but the glorified cameos of Cher and Meryl Streep are the best parts, quite appropriately saved for last. If I may be allowed an act of heresy, maybe the movie ought to travel back in time and give some tips on pulling off this prequel-sequel mumbo-jumbo to "The Godfather 2," which never really clicked with me on a more visceral, emotional level.

Just finished Season 1 of POSE, the new Ryan Murphy TV series about the 1980s LGBTQ ballroom scene in New York. Billy Porter and Indya Moore can start campaigning for their Emmys now, and if they don't get nominated next year, I am sure some heads will have to roll. Evan Peters, too, I think, if only for his episode 3 performance. Moore is the best part of the show. Episode after episode, she just oozes raw emotion and commands every scene she's in, not by eating scenery or anything loud, no, but by quietly luring the viewer into her world, perhaps into her soul, even. There's just something so natural, so earthy, so heartbreaking with the way she delivers her lines. The show as a whole can't veer away from its "Glee"-like moments and turn of events, but I'm willing to forgive the show for those moments if it means watching Elektra (most improved actress by the finale!) say "I think we've had enough of feelings" again. And of course her epic read of House Ferocity. Next season, please. 

Screen Log 18: Incredibles 2; Ocean's 8; Hereditary; RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10; Atlanta Season 2

"Atlanta Season 2."

It's hard to believe it's been, like, more than a decade, almost 15 years, since "The Incredibles" was released. That was a great animated movie and a great superhero movie, back when superheroes weren't in vogue yet (I'm looking at you, Marvel). Do I think INCREDIBLES 2 was a good movie? Sure (though I thought the short that opens the film, "Bao," was even better). I do think it faltered when it devolved into a conventional superhero caper, but it shone best when it's turning everyday life on its heels, like the baby having all the powers, for instance, or the father having to stay at home, or Edna Mode (the best character!) agreeing to babysit the baby. Truth be told, I kind of don't remember a lot about it now, which must speak of the film's staying power. "Bao," however, I remember from beginning to end, the storytelling just plain lovely and heartrending.

There's a whole generation out there that's not even aware of the Ocean film franchise. Hence their clueless reaction to the Danny Ocean references, as I witnessed firsthand from my cousin last night, in OCEAN'S 8. I enjoyed this new movie. It has a lot of fun moments, most of them involving Anne Hathaway in one of her best roles so far (and also, she returns to the Met more than a decade after she snatched that trip to Paris from Emily Blunt). In fact, the cast is solid, from Rihanna to Sarah Paulson to James Corden. But the story is very, well, linear. Everything goes smoothly and as expected. They pull off the heist, get their shares, and go their own ways. It's middling writing and direction that just doesn't make the most of its incredible lineup of talent. It's a missed opportunity, is what it is.

I loved HEREDITARY. I loved it so much. That was just fiction at its finest. It's difficult not to compare it to the other great horror film of the year so far, "A Quiet Place," which I also liked, but not as much as this new movie. Imagine if Toni Collette and Emily Blunt both land Oscars and the slew of other accolades that come with it by year's end. Two female actresses in horror flicks. What a concept.

Thoughts on Season 10 of RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE, anyone? One, you could see Aquaria winning the whole thing from the start (I agree, she's one of the top ten runways ever). Two, um, Kameron Michaels, lipsync assassin? Really? Three, that Reunion episode though.

At the risk of sounding redundant and uncreative, Imma go ahead and call the second season of ATLANTA, subtitled "Robbin' Season," perfection. I know I also said this about its pilot season, so let me clarify: Season 2 is even better. Off the charts better. Like one of the few pieces of television (given the very few that I watch, to begin with) that left me immensely satisfied at the end of every episode. Season 2 of "Fargo," with Kirsten Dunst, was one. Seasons 2 and 3 of "The Leftovers" was basically 18 masterpiece episodes. In "Robbin' Season," every episode works like a wonderfully executed short story. I mean, "Teddy Perkins," for instance! Or Brian Tyree Henry's excursion to the woods in, well, "Woods." Or "Barbershop." Or that Drake party. Or the finale. Or Alligator Man. This season here is just TV deliciously, mesmerizingly delivered.  

'The Language of Silence'

After years--and I mean literally years--of submitting and getting rejected, I'm finally published in "Cha: An Asian Literary Journal." All the more special for me because I happen to be in the Philippines-themed issue, guest edited by Ricky de Ungria and Larry Ypil. And also my Silliman co-fellows Jam and Jake are in this issue. So yay, hashtag Germane (our batch name)! Here's the link to the site.

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The Language of Silence

"Children displaced by the fighting in Marawi City play inside the temporary learning space at the central elementary school in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur."

--Photo by Fernando Sepe Jr. for ABS-CBN News.


Nobody wrote prayers for dead cities,
so the children were quick to learn
the language of silence. Say nothing
when a tank rolls by. Say nothing
to the men in camouflage. Here a boy
perfects his pauses, sings through gestures
bearing little sense. The brevity of goodbye
rolled with the twirling hands of let go.
On cracked pavement, two girls, mirrors
of each other, cake their soles with grime,
begging the ground to keep them
from flying. Too late: Their wings,
luminous as the mosque's golden dome,
spread wide, and soon they are dancing
specks on an iceberg sky. The boy
opens his mouth in imitation
of a bomb's roar, but what he means
is the opposite of run. What he means
eludes utterance. Eyes fixed on the cold
vermilion moon, wishing for the swift
swish of flight, he crouches low
against a dented lamppost. Remain,
even when the nights are never sound,
rain pooling in muddy craters, umbrellas
and slippers collecting in potholes.
Soon the world will dismantle itself,
rid of syntax and syllables, territory
marked by measured sentences,
and there will be no one to build
fires, fetch water, whittle wood to spears.
Soon, the patter of running feet
on cobblestone, before the stillness,
heavy with the land's hushed desires,
and in that stillness, a new city,
smaller than an embryo, its cry
louder than the last monsoon.

PDI Feature: Dexter Santos and Glenn Mas, exiting artistic directors

I sort of break the news today. I mean, like, officially. This is the first in a three-part quasi-series. The website version of the article through here.

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A changing of the guard at Dulaang UP and Tanghalang Ateneo

Cholo Ledesma and the set of Tanghalang Ateneo's "Rite of Passage" (2014).

It's pure coincidence, but nonetheless a touchstone moment, that Manila's two most eminent university theater companies are changing leadership this year. Dexter Santos and Glenn Sevilla Mas step down as artistic director of Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (DUP) and Tanghalang Ateneo (TA), respectively.

For Santos, it's a case of moving on to other academic and professional pursuits. He had held the position for three years, replacing DUP cofounder Alexander Cortez back in 2015.

Santos himself is a product of UP Diliman's Theater Arts program, whose students apprentice in DUP productions.

"I would volunteer as choreographer, stage manager or assistant director so I could work with different directors and be exposed to their approaches and styles of staging," he said. "I'd even sneak into rehearsals, even if I wasn't part of the production, just to observe how my professors handled their plays."

In 2006, Santos made his DUP directorial debut via "Orosman at Zafira," the hit dance-heavy adaptation of Francisco Baltazar's komedya. This emphasis on movement would mark his later works, the choreography providing some of the most satisfying moments in "Ang Nawalang Kapatid," Floy Quintos' condensation of the Indian epic "Mahabharata"; "#R(heartbroken)J," Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" for a millennial Filipino age; and even more text-centric pieces such as Quintos' "Collection" and "Ang Huling Lagda ni Apolinario Mabini."

Now, Santos is in the thick of directing the Eraserheads jukebox musical "Ang Huling El Bimbo," opening this July at Resorts World Manila.

Banaue Miclat-Janssen succeeds him as DUP artistic director.

More personal

The reasons are more personal for Mas.

"I need to take care of my mother, who's been in the hospital for nearly four months now. I've always been busy with theater stuff--rehearsals, shows, Gawad Buhay! jury duties--that I feel it's time I prioritize being with her."

Mas, who entered professional theater through Teatro Metropolitano under Frank Rivera, before becoming a Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company scholar, traces his theatrical leanings back to his mother.

"She wrote my winning declamation pieces in school," he said. "The highlight of our partnership was when I won silver at the Western Visayas Regonal Meet in 1981."

"Also, I'm turning 50, and want to give playwriting another go while I still have the time and energy."

The last play Mas wrote was "Games People Play," which won a Palanca Award in 2007 and eventually enjoyed several sold-out runs at the Ateneo and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

One of the plays TA staged under Mas was his semi-autobiographical piece "Rite of Passage," a production he considers a high point of his four-year term. "We recreated my provincial upbringing in Catungan, Antique. Throughout the run, there was a nipa hut and people speaking in Kinaray-a accents in the midst of the Ateneo!"

"It was the first play of mine that my mother saw when it was staged at the first-ever Virgin Labfest [in 2005]," Mas added. "This Ateneo staging was the last she saw--for now."

Passionate students

Varied as their backgrounds may be, Santos and Mas agree that chief among the pleasures of being artistic director is working with the students.

"It's witnessing the interaction between professional artists and the students on- and offstage," said Santos. "In DUP, we believe that one of the best ways to learn is through collaboration. So our students perform with Joel Lamangan, or share the backstage with Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino or Ana Abad Santos. They acquire an eye for detail through [designers] Gino Gonzales or Monino Duque."

Mas really enjoyed "the process of coming up with a season, looking for plays and inviting members of the artistic staff, then coming up with a cast, attending rehearsals, and seeing the cast become these confident actors on opening night."

"The good thing about university theater," said Santos, "is that we have the freedom to produce a wide range of repertoire that doesn't succumb to commercial appeal or censorship."

Concurred Mas: "We are not profit-driven, so we can do riskier, more experimental work. And it is okay to fail in this setup. It is school, after all."

Moving forward, both are optimistic regarding the future of campus theater. "As long as we have passionate students, we are here to stay," said Santos.

"The future is bright because the future is here," added Mas, "especially when you consider productions such as the recent musical 'Dekada '70,' or 'Chipline' and 'Mga Kuneho' [Virgin Labfest entries written by his former students Dominique La Victoria and Guelan Luarca, respectively], or in the case of DUP, 'Angry Christ' and 'The Kundiman Party.'"

Beginning this season, the multihyphenate Luarca assumes the TA artistic directorship.

"That's every teacher's dream--for your students to be better than you are," said Mas.

PDI Feature: Fred Lo and Rissey Reyes in Hong Kong Disneyland

Did another interview today! I first saw Fred Lo when he was Mark Cohen in 9 Works Theatrical's "Rent" in 2010, and then the next time, I think, was in 2013's "Cinderella" at Resorts World Manila. As for Rissey Reyes, I can't remember when exactly I first saw her, but I remember her from the ADHD shows for Fringe Manila. The online version of the article here.

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Fred Lo and Rissey Reyes: Fast friends find work in HK Disneyland

Disneyland with a dear friend? It's all in a day's work for Fred Lo and Rissey Reyes, who are the latest additions to Hong Kong Disneyland's roster of Filipino performers.

Not that they ever planned on working in the same theme park at the same time. Reyes was already set to leave even before Lo attended a casting call. When she found out the day after New Year's this year that she had booked the job, Lo was one of the first to know.

"He was ecstatic for me. And to our surprise, there was another round of auditions. I felt like a stage mom, pressuring him to do well in his audition and constantly bugging him about the results afterward," says Reyes. "We imagined how cool it would be to take our friendship abroad and have each other in Hong Kong."

'Preserve the magic'

The two first met in 2013, when Lo was alternating with Reyes' boyfriend Victor Robinson III for the male lead in the Sugarfree musical "Sa Wakas." But it was during their stint in "Hi-5 Philippines," based on the Australian children's educational television series, that they really hit it off.

They last appeared onstage together in ADHD Productions' "Si Saldang, si Marvin at ang Halimaw ng Gabi" for Fringe Manila 2018. Since April, Reyes has been in Hong Kong; Lo arrived a month after.

"I was on vacation in Norway when I received the job offer," Lo says. "I actually thought I didn't make it because I hadn't heard anything. Turns out, the guys from Disney just couldn't reach my phone for some reason."

The work now is something of a secret, as they're contractually obliged to "preserve the magic." (Based on their social media posts, Reyes appears to play the Polynesian heroine Moana, while one of Lo's roles is that of the Genie in "Aladdin" for the half-hour musical "Mickey and the Wondrous Book.")

Full-time job

But they both agree: It spells a world of difference to have a full-time job that pays well in the performing arts.

"I was a freelance actress in Manila," Reyes says. "One day I'd get a high-paying gig; the next, I'd settle for anything to keep busy and keep earning. The financial stability of working for a company like Disney is something that's just not available in the Philippines."

"Freelance performers have to work long hours, and even multiple jobs, only to earn a meager amount and have a portion of it go to taxes," Lo adds. "I realized the Manila entertainment industry has very little to offer, and then you still have to factor in traffic in the city."

"Frankly, Filipino artists deserve so much more than what the local scene can currently give them," Reyes says. "Until our profession can be treated like a real profession, with just compensation and protection for workers, there will always be a steady stream of local artists searching for greener pastures abroad."

Tough hurdle

Still, it's not all fun and games working for the world's smallest Disney theme park. Performing in the self-touted happiest place on earth is still work.

"I do plan to go on trips, maybe hike some trails," Lo says, "but so far, all I've done on my days off is sleep and shop."

Lo admits that although he's worked on a cruise ship for a few months some years back, moving to another country is totally different. "There were moments during my first few days [in Hong Kong] when I really felt alone, living in a hotel room by myself."

For Reyes, being away from her loved ones has been the toughest hurdle. "My mama was the best stage mom growing up, so it's frustrating for her that she can't be physically near me everyday anymore. And it's heartbreaking to be unable to see Victor's work onstage, and also, just being away from our Maltese, Winter."

To help with the homesickness, Reyes, a self-confessed grandmother in a 24-year-old's body, goes grocery shopping to cook mostly Filipino viands.

"The fruits and vegetables are really cheap," she says. "But there's also the language barrier. Some locals know English, but some cab rides or moments at the cashier can get lengthily awkward."

"Thank God for technology," Reyes says. "My loved ones and I have arranged lots of trips to and from Hong Kong and Manila to visit each other." 

Screen Log 17: You Were Never Really Here; Lean on Pete; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Mistress America; While We're Young

"Mistress America."

In "We Need to Talk About Kevin," director Lynne Ramsay gave us Ezra Miller's breakout performance, as well as an Oscar-snubbed tour-de-force from Tilda Swinton. In YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE, Ramsay treats us to a barrage of Joaquin Phoenix wielding a hammer as if he were Thor on a murderous rampage. The story is billed as a "thriller," but what it really is is a slow-burn manhunt more obsessed with stylistic takes than with telling a focused narrative. Phoenix here doesn't surprise, either; in fact, it's just him doing his usual mumbling and grumbling and retreating into his inner shell, that it surprised even him when he won the Cannes Best Actor trophy. There are bravura sequences here--Phoenix killing people floor by floor as seen through surveillance cameras, for instance. But overall the film comes off as one writer-director's vision taken down the far-from-perfect road.

The title of Andrew Haigh's latest film LEAN ON PETE refers to a decrepit race horse that figures prominently in the story. No secret that I'm a fan of Haigh; I think his "Weekend" is the defining LGBTQ film of the decade, and his "45 Years" was no slouch either. "Lean on Pete" will see you entering a story expecting to see blossoming attachment between a boy and his horse (something I thought would remind me of Steven Spielberg's un-magical adaptation of "War Horse"), only to turn your expectations a full 180. It's about a boy and his horse, sure, but that relationship isn't even the main point. It's about a poor American teenager grappling with familial loss, as well as the glaring class divide, and trying to navigate his way through impending adulthood. But it's also about the astounding amount of kindness he encounters along the way. There are so many opportunities for plain badness in the film, but Haigh sidesteps every one of them to give us a story that slowly but surely leaves an imprint in the mind and in the heart. You end up really caring for the protagonist (Charlie Plummer in a genuine breakthrough performance), wishing him all the goodness in the world. He just wants to run, for goodness' sake! Coming of age has never been this gritty and desperate.

Film critic Philbert Dy said JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM is a stupid movie, but I didn't expect it to be that stupid. At least its predecessor had elements of camp; this one is just plain dark. And the nerve of that clone-child to unleash those wild beasts upon the world!

I'm on a Greta Gerwig/Noah Baumbach marathon. I rewatched "Lady Bird," and I'm really convinced it is a perfect movie. Then I rewatched MISTRESS AMERICA, one of the great screenplays of 2015. I do think it sags a bit in certain places, but the best parts of this film are the ones that really amp up the crazy. Like those scenes with the collection of random characters in that already-random trip to suburbia to attack Mamie Claire, only to run into her sort-of-doped-up pediatrician neighbor and her pregnant mothers' literary club. I mean, what's up with pregnant, no-bad-words, covert-chess-genius lawyer Karen, for example! Sometimes watching Baumbach can feel like an über-extended situational comedy, a slice-of-crazy-life that's not allowed to have an ending until the viewer's no longer searching for one.

2014's WHILE WE'RE YOUNG is a rare misfire for Baumbach. Compared to the rest of his oeuvre that I've seen, this one's just heavy-handed, clumsy with its message, though funny in some places and amusing in many. It's like watching Baumbach on sedatives literally putting aphorisms on paper with the Ben Stiller character's name on the left margin.   

If I had an Academy Award ballot, 2018...

So, so late, but I just realized I'm done with this year's Oscars. Well, not exactly: I've been unable to find decent, reasonably sized copies of "BPM" or "The Square" or "Foxtrot," and I don't plan on seeing, say, "War for the Planet of the Apes" on its own (i.e. if I'm watching it, I'm doing a franchise marathon). Anyway, if I were a member of the Academy Awards, these would have been my choices--and I'm hewing as close as possible to the actual list, meaning as long as I'm at least civil towards the inclusion of a certain name, the name stays. Also, no Foreign Language Film category because, again, I feel I haven't seen enough, and among the ones I've seen, I found no particularly compelling winner. As for Animated Feature, the only one I've seen is "Coco."

*     *     *     *     *

"Phantom Thread."

BEST PICTURE

Winner: "The Shape of Water"

Should Have Won: "Lady Bird," "Call Me by Your Name" and "Phantom Thread" are far more superior films, but "Shape" was a fine winner.

Should Have Been Nominated: "The Big Sick" was the notable snub; instead, two stinkers--"Darkest Hour" and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"--snuck in, with the latter almost dominating the season.

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Guillermo del Toro, "The Shape of Water"

Should Have Won: Paul Thomas Anderson, "Phantom Thread," maybe--gasp!--Christopher Nolan for "Dunkirk."

Should Have Been Nominated: The slate was a formidable five.

BEST ACTOR

Winner: Gary Oldman, "Darkest Hour"

Should Have Won: Timothée Chalamet, "CMBYN"--by a mile! 

Should Have Been Nominated: Tom Hanks for "The Post" and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Stronger," instead of Oldman's histrionics and Denzel Washington's stiff, middle-of-the-road turn in the awful "Roman J. Israel, Esq." Heck, I'd even nominate James Franco in "The Disaster Artist" and Robert Pattinson in "Good Time" over those two. 

BEST ACTRESS

Winner: Frances McDormand, "Three Billboards..."

Should Have Won: Meryl Streep, "The Post" (her best since "August: Osage County") or Saoirse Ronan, "Lady Bird." Actually, anybody but McDormand would have been fine with me; Margot Robbie kept me glued to "I, Tonya," a movie that was just half as brilliant as its lead performance, and Hawkins was simply sublime in "Shape."

Should Have Been Nominated: Annette Bening, "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool" over McDormand.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Winner: Sam Rockwell, "Three Billboards..."

Should Have Won: Richard Jenkins, "Shape"

Should Have Been Nominated: Michael Stuhlbarg(!) and Armie Hammer(!), "CMBYN" over Woody Harrelson, "Three Billboards" and Christopher Plummer, "All the Money in the World." Stuhlbarg's omission, in particular, was the season's biggest injustice.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Winner: Allison Janney, "I, Tonya"

Should Have Won: Laurie Metcalf, "Lady Bird"--again, by a mile!

Should Have Been Nominated: I'd keep Lesley Manville's much-deserved nomination for "Phantom Thread"; Janney, Octavia Spencer in "Shape" and Mary J. Blige in "Mudbound" would have to give way for the more deserving Holly Hunter in "The Big Sick," Hong Chau in "Downsizing" and Tiffany Haddish in "Girls Trip."

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Winner: Jordan Peele, "Get Out"

Should Have Won: I once thought Greta Gerwig for "Lady Bird," but a second serving of "Get Out" confirmed Peele deserved this more.

Should Have Been Nominated: Paul Thomas Anderson, "Phantom Thread" (which would then be my choice for the win). I mean, over steaming shit like "Three Billboards"?

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Winner: James Ivory, "CMBYN"

Should Have Won: Ivory was really the only choice.

Should Have Been Nominated: "The Death of Stalin" by Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows. I'd probably remove--and I shock even myself by saying this--Aaron Sorkin's "Molly's Game," which I didn't like at all.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: Roger Deakins, "Blade Runner 2049"

Should Have Won: Nobody else. Duh. 

Should Have Been Nominated: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, "CMBYN" over Bruno Delbonnel, "Darkest Hour." I mean, if you saw, like literally saw, "CMBYN," it should have been a no-brainer. 

BEST EDITING

Winner: Lee Smith, "Dunkirk"

Should Have Won: Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos, "Baby Driver"

Should Have Been Nominated: Joe Walker, "Blade Runner 2049." And the "Three Billboards" nomination can go flush itself down the toilet.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Winner: "Shape," which was a deserving winner

Should Have Been Nominated: Again, "CMBYN"--over the predictable "Darkest Hour."

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Winner: Alexandre Desplat, "Shape"

Should Have Won: As much as I'd like to say Jonny Greenwood, "Phantom Thread," Desplat thoroughly earned this. Also, I haven't seen any "Star Wars" movie.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Winner: "Remember Me" from "Coco"

Should Have Won: "Mystery of Love" from "CMBYN" 

Screen Log 16: The Insult; Happy End; Manhattan; Sid & Aya (Not a Love Story); Radio Days

"Manhattan."

THE INSULT, the Lebanese nominee in this year's Oscars for Foreign Language Film, is occasionally engaging, occasionally tedious, occasionally heavy-handed courtroom drama made for bored housewives in the late afternoon lull. The issues, the backstories, and especially the "insult" that starts off the entire narrative debacle, are all compelling. But the film has a tendency to be as hammy as the lawyer who can't help wetting himself in court, parading around like a peacock on uppers. The result is a film that pulls you in while the story takes place outside the courtroom, but has you wishing you were somewhere else once it plunges you back in there, with those judges and counselors and spectators all so primly directed. I liked this movie, but it could have used a little more discipline.

No use mincing words now: Michael Haneke's HAPPY END bored me to near-death. I was happy enough to emerge with my senses intact from this thinly composed drivel. The usual suspects were excellent, and by usual suspects, I just really mean Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Huppert breaking her son's middle finger mid-conversation just to end said conversation? Badass! And Trintignant's was really the only story within this humongous story that I actually wanted to follow; the rest of the film was kind of blah. I suspect a huge reason for that was that Haneke had to make the beginning of every scene a sort of guessing game, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it game, a you-have-to-stare-long-enough-at-the-screen-or-else-just-go-home game. It wasn't at all fun, mind you.

I love "Annie Hall," but I believe MANHATTAN is Woody Allen's greatest work. Those two, plus "Hannah and Her Sisters," "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Radio Days," which I also talk about below, constitute his five best works. I'm not here to talk about his sins; I think he is a sick man, and I don't mean "sick" as in "ill," but "sick" as in "burn-in-hell disgusting." But I also think he's made some of the 20th century's finest films, and those who think there's no separating the artist from his art are fully entitled to their opinions. Anyway, back to "Manhattan." I find it hard to believe it wasn't nominated for Best Picture back in its day, but then again, knowing the Academy and its proclivity for unpleasant--sometimes, as in this case, downright foul--surprises, I shouldn't be surprised. There is a little bit of a stumble towards the end, where you feel the conflicts sort of drift toward caricature, but that's all easily forgotten. This is just sublime filmmaking and storytelling.

Irene Villamor is on a roll. After "Meet Me in St. Gallen," she now gives us SID & AYA (NOT A LOVE STORY), starring Anne Curtis in fine form and an even finer Dingdong Dantes. How to describe this film other than "mumblecore on rock-and-roll drugs"? The last third of the movie I find hard to love, because it differs in tone and consistency from everything that precedes it. In fact, it's a surprisingly excellent film until Dantes punches his boss and the story moves to Japan. Then you just feel it become a lesser, altogether different movie.

RADIO DAYS is one of the best pieces ever made about the concept of nostalgia. There's just something new to discover with every viewing; that's how rich this seemingly superficial film is.