FULLY LOADED REVIEWS II

First Fully Loaded Review for 2015 starts now. Let's do this!

TOP 20 FILMS OF 2014

The past year was quite good for the Western film industry. There were a lot of entertaining movies and some of them were critically-acclaimed. I re-watched 30 of my favorites from last year and here are the those who made it into my unadulterated list, arranged from awesome to legendary.

20. THE LEGO MOVIE

Directed by: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller

19. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Directed by: James Gunn

18. DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Directed by: Matt Reeves

BAMBANTI

Nobody told me that this will be a heavy drama. The trailer looks fine, the poster looks bad. I was expecting of a tiring storyline like in Ekstra, but damn, this shit made me cry.

NINJA PARTY

Disclaimer: The following review will mostly be in Filipino language. I apologize to the foreigners and the ultra magnetic supercosmic bourgeois who might not understand it. This opinion comes from a normal moviegoer who liked Tribu and who doesn’t praise himself a “critic”. 

IMBISIBOL

Before, it was “Ang mamatay nang dahil sa Hapon.”

Nowadays, it’s “Ang mabuhay nang dahil sa Hapon.”

SWAP

Before anything else, let me share to you that this is the first 2015 film I've seen. Yes, I missed a couple of movies in the past months because I was catching up on a lot of films from the previous year. But now I’m back, expect more and faster reviews. Let’s do this!

Sinag Maynila 2015

Solar Entertainment, together with renowned director Brillante Mendoza, launched a new film festival that aims to support local independent cinema. Sinag Maynila brings you five films from acclaimed indie filmmakers of the country from March 18-24, 2015. Read more for trailers and screening schedules.

The 87th Academy Awards

Before we go to the results, here are some of the most memorable moments from this year's Academy Awards Night.

TOP 15 FAVORITE MOMENTS:

1. The Magical and Inspiring Opening Number (plus Jack Black)

2. Eddie Redmayne's win and acceptance speech.

3. NPH's Birdman Impression

4. Tribute to the late greats (shed a tear for Robin Williams)

5. Common's Acceptance Speech

6. Adeel Dazeem and John Travolta

7. Graham Moore's Acceptance Speech

8. Emma Stone Winning a Lego trophy

9. Patricia Arquette's Acceptance Speech
10. Everything is Awesome

11. Lady Gaga being not so gaga

12-15. Every Grand Budapest Hotel win

Top 5 BOO!/WTF?!/LOL in a Bad Way Moments:

1.  Racist Sean Penn (It's obvious that Birdman will win when his name was called. Could've been Mel Gibson but Penn is okay.)

2. The Eddie Murphy Joke by NPH

3. Terrence Howard's intimate moment

4. J. Lo's dress

5. Big Hero Six winning over Princess Kaguya (at least it's not How To Train Your Dragon 2)

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO….

TOP TEN FILIPINO FILMS OF 2014

Twenty-fourteen is a great year for the Philippine movie industry. Even if there are a ton of mehs along the way, good films were recognized and Pinoy filmmakers won awards. Disclaimer: I didn't use the term "Best" for I'm not an expert in film criticism. To start this, I have to mention some movies that didn’t make it in the top ten but became noteworthy parts of the past year.

KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES 2

Just when you thought that Tiktik was bad-ass, wait ‘till you see this. GMA Films never outdid themselves since Muro Ami. It’s great seeing them back in making an awesome film. I just wish that we won’t wait for more than a decade for another GMA classic.

MY BIG BOSSING

Despite the awards received, Vic Sotto had a tough year because of the hate mails and bad reviews about My Little Bossings. Now that Kris Aquino and the never-ending product placements are gone, can he redeem himself and keep the Christmas tradition alive?

FENG SHUI 2

This is perhaps the most intriguing entry of this year’s MMFF. I love how I was able to discuss this with critics and Star Cinema fans. Most people who liked the first part were disappointed with this. Some liked this film and others are just okay with it.

ENGLISH ONLY, PLEASE

The film started strong with the introduction of Jennylyn Mercado’s Tere. The usual Jadaone female lead. You know, tatanga-tanga. But what’s different from her is that there is the sex element involved in her katangahan. It’s slightly more matured than Tadhana and more graphic than Mayohan. But this is still a love story. We were introduced to Rico who was perfectly portrayed by Kean Cipriano. I remember teenagers in the theatre saying, “Tangina talaga ng mga ganyan, talaga! So relate. Ipapapanood ko ito kina besties.” and I was like, “Bitch, you know nothin!” in Chris Rock’s voice.

40th MMFF Main Category Awards Night Results

Here are the results, and some side comments, for this year's MMFF Awards Night...

SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL XV

A lot of things have changed since that disappointing experiment by Chito Roño two years ago. Can SRR redeem itself or is this the end of one of my favorite Christmas traditions?