4 films to see on the week of Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2015:
Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo
Just in time for Bonifacio Day, the international version of last year’s epic film will be screened at selected SM theaters. Directed by Enzo Williams, and starring Robin Padilla, Vina Morales, Daniel Padilla and Eddie Garcia, the film tells the story of the Philippine Revolution’s assasinated hero, Andres Bonifacio, through the stories told by an elderly mentor to a high school student. The film won Best Picture at the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival, and that year’s Star Awards and FAMAS Awards. “In Bonifacio, characters are little more than pawns in a textbook reenactment of history. But it is their flaws, their fights and their failures that should endear them to us,” wrote Rappler’s Zig Marasigan. “The film takes the highlight reel approach to biography, picking out only certain scenes from the life of its subject to dramatize. And it doesn’t really work. The film never gives itself a chance to develop any of these particular threads,” wrote Philbert Ortiz of ClicktheCity.com.
MTRCB Rating: PG
Criminal Activities
Jackie Earle Haley stars and directs this tale of four friends who stumble into a deal too good to refuse — then when the investment goes bad, they learn that part of their funding came from a notoriously ruthless crime boss… and it’s payback time. The film stars Dan Stevens, Michael Pitt, and John Travolta. “An eleventh hour twist adds a bit of intrigue, and everyone — including Haley himself, as a henchman — seems to be having a pretty good time,” writes Sara Stewart of the New York Post.
MTRCB Rating: R-16
Victor Frankenstein
Not very popular with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes, Victor Frankenstein follows radical scientist Victor Frankenstein (played by James McAvoy) and his protégé Igor Strausman (Daniel Radcliffe) as they do groundbreaking research into immortality. Then Igor finds himself having to save Victor when his experiments go too far. Directed by Paul McGuigan. “For much of the movie’s running time, I wished I were watching Mel Brooks’ classic take on Shelley’s yarn, Young Frankenstein. At least that one was intentionally funny,” writes Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times. “This skewed take on Mary Shelley’s classic never shows enough sparks of life to justify reanimating its nearly 200-year-old source,” says Variety’s Andrew Barker.
MTRCB Rating: PG
A Second Chance
A Star Cinema drama, helmed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo, A Second Chance is a sequel to 2007’s One More Chance, and follows Popoy and Basha after eight years of a tumultous marriage.
MTRCB Rating: PG
