4 films to see on the week of July 29-August 5, 2016

How To Be Yours

This romantic comedy-drama from Star Cinema pairs Bea Alonzo and Gerald Anderson — under the direction of Dan Villegas — as two professionally driven people who fall in love and are forced to reassess their goals.

MTRCB Rating: PG

Ignacio de Loyola

Written and directed by Paolo Dy, and produced by Jescom Film Philippines, this biopic tells the tale of the 16^th Century Spanish soldier who finds God and eventually helps fond the Jesuits. It stars Andreas Muñoz, Javier Godino, and Julio Perillan.

MTRCB Rating: PG

Sadako Vs. Kayako

Kôji Shiraishi directs this film where two evil queens of Japanese horror battle it out. Woe betide anyone caught between them — particularly ghost hunter Keizo (Masanobu Ando) and his sidekick Tamao (Mai Kikuchi). The film also stars Aimi Satsukawa, Mizuki Yamamoto, and Tina Tamashiro. “Director Koji Shiraishi (The Curse, 2005) is a horror veteran who largely respects the ideas that make up the constituent franchises, which started with Ringu (1998) and Ju-On (2002),” writes John Lui of The Straits Times, but  “Keizo’s and Tamao’s characters feel as if they wandered in from a high-school comedy featuring a cool teacher and his magic pet.”

MTRCB Rating: R-13

Nerve

Pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve which involves dares, a high school girl decides to sign up for just one dare. She soon finds herself partnered with a stranger caught up in a competition that takes a sinister turn. Directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, it stars Dave Franco, Emma Roberts, and Juliette Lewis. Entertainment Weekly’s Kevin P. Sullivan writes: “The perils of social media may be ripe for the after-school-special treatment, but less expectedly, they make for a half-decent Hunger Games riff.”

MTRCB Rating: PG