7 films to see on the week of June 10-17, 2016
Fifty Shades of Black
THIS SPOOF from the Wayans Brothers parodies the ultra-popular novel/film series Fifty Shades of Grey. Directed by Michael Tiddes, with a script written by Rick Alvarez and Marlon Wayans, it stars Wayans, Kali Hawk, and Jane Seymour. “If comedy is like sex, all about buildup and release of tension, then this movie can’t get it up,” writes the AV Club’s Katie Rife.
MTRCB Rating: R-18
Magtanggol
A PROMISING senator is tagged as the prime suspect in the murder of an OFW in this Sigfreid Barros Sanchez megged film, starring Tom Rodriguez, Dina Bonnevie, Ejay Falcon and Joonie Gamboa.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Now You See Me 2
A YEAR AFTER outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, The Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan) resurface for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film also stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Daniel Radcliffe. “A madly spinning top of a movie, powered by an eagerness to please that somehow comes off as more innocent than calculated,” writes Variety’s Owen Gleiberman.
MTRCB Rating: PG
Our Kind of Traitor
WHILE ON vacation, a British couple get caught up in the intrigues of the British Secret Service and the Russian Mafia as they attempt to broker a deal for a Russian oligarch that wishes to defect. Directed by Susanna White, it stars Ewan McGregor, Damian Lewis, and Naomie Harris. “White plays the moment of rupture with a banality that threatens to undermine our faith in her as storyteller more than in the system itself. If Makepeace was meant to be our kind of hero, it’s a shame to see him made out to be such a sucker,” writes Variety’s Peter Debruge.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Pare, Mahal Mo Raw Ako
JOVEN TAN directs Michael Pangilinan, Edgar Allan Guzman, and Katrina Michelle Legaspi in a story about two men whose friendship is tested when it turns out that one is in love with the other. The film also stars Nora Aunor.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
The Boss
MELISSA MCCARTHY’s comedy about a paroled business mogul is a dreadful viewing experience, from the awkward and unconvincing setup to the desperate performances to the depressingly unfunny slapstick scenes to the conflict and resolutions you can see a mile away. — Richard Roeper/Chicago Sun-Times
Rating: One star
MTRCB Rating: R-16
The Conjuring 2
REPRISING THEIR roles, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, play a couple who travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits. James Wan directs. “Wan has a gift that most slam-bang horror directors today do not: a sense of the audience — of their rhythm and pulse, of how to manipulate a moment so that he’s practically controlling your breathing,” writes Variety’s Owen Gleiberman.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
