8 films to see on the week of September 22-29, 2017
Respeto
IN A story set to the ongoing bloody war on drugs, Hendrix, a young drug runner, aspires to become a successful hip-hop rapper and joins forces with an older poet haunted by Marcos’s martial law. Directed by Alberto Monteras II, it stars Abra, Dido de la Paz, Chai Fonacier, and Loonie. Pep.ph’s Mark Angelo Ching writes, “Respeto is more than just an entertaining movie about rap music. It’s an honest depiction of the cycle of oppression in Manila….”
MTRCB RATING: R-13
Amalanhig: The Vampire Chronicle
IN this Viva Films thriller, teenagers encounter mythical creatures while doing research on the supernatural. Directed by Francis “Jun” Posadas, it stars Jericho Ejercito, Sanya Lopez, and Lilia Cuntapay.
MTRCB RATING: R-13
Kingsman: The Golden Circle
IN THIS sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, the Kingsmen team up with their American counterparts, the Statesmen, to defeat a ruthless enemy. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, it stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, and Julianne Moore. The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin critiques, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle might stop short of rolling out an invisible car, but you wouldn’t put it past the next one.”
MTRCB RATING: R-13
Message from the King
HAVING LOST touch with his younger sister, Jacob King arrives in Los Angeles from South Africa to search for her, and quickly finds himself embroiled in the city’s underbelly. Directed by Fabrice du Welz, it stars Chadwick Boseman, Luke Evans, and Teresa Palmer. “A lurid [potboiler that no amount of surface style can salvage,” declares Screen International’s Allan Hunter.
MTRCB RATING: R-16
Security
A MALL security guard protects a 11-year-old female trial witness from a brutal gang after losing all forms of communication in a storm. Directed by Alain Desrochers, it stars Antonio Banderas and Ben Kinsley. “It’s Die Hard and The Equalizer meet Mall Cop... Security is a makeshift movie, constructed of spare parts and the best ideas and scenes from better action movies,” writes Martin Liebman of Blu-ray.com.
MTRCB RATING: R-13
Vamps
WHILE LIVING in exile in a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains, a nobleman experiences something frightening, then confronts evil forces which his mind cannot explain. Directed by Sergey Ginzburg, it stars Aglaya Shilovskaya and Konstantin Kryukov.
MTRCB RATING: R-13
Gintama
BASED ON a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, this live action comedy tells a story of samurai who tries to find work in an alien-invaded era of feudal Tokyo. Directed by Yuichi Fukuda, it stars Shun Oguri, Masami Nagawasa, and Yuya Yagira. Mark Schilling of The Japanese Times remarks, “Gintama is another manga adaptation with too much plot, too many characters and too much emoting at full volume, as though ‘loud’ equals ‘funny.’”
MTRCB RATING: R-13
I Love You. Thank you.
THREE twenty-somethings search for direction as they cope with their quarter-life crisis. Directed by Charliebebs Gohetia, it stars Joross Gamboa, Prince Stefan, and Ae Pattawan.
MTRCB RATING: R-16
