movies and tv shows in 75 words or less

2008-07-08T12:14:00.003+08:00

WANTED | James McAvoy reprises the Edward Norton role in “Fight Club” as a hopeless drone who is plucked from his miserable life by a shadowy organization called The Fraternity. Angelina Jolie looks more and more cartoonish with thin arms, but large lips, eyes and boobs—perfect for this comicbook-based story about assassins who get their orders from the Loom of Fate. Yes, you heard right, the Loom of Fate. Timur Bekmambetov directs with anarchic glee. | mads bajarias

2008-06-29T00:14:00.003+08:00

THE SHIELD SEASON 5 | Edgy police drama. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) is a ruthless and effective strike team leader in a crime-ridden LA district. The team is corrupt and Internal Affairs detective Jon Kavanaugh’s (Forest Whitaker in his creepy best) mission is to bring down Mackey. Kavanaugh uses all means possible, including striking a secret deal with a drug lord that Mackey sent to jail. A team member’s death at season’s end sends Mackey over the edge. | mads bajarias

2008-06-27T22:59:00.005+08:00

PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER | Beautifully shot with exquisite visuals, director Tom Tykwer brings to life Patrick Suskind’s disturbing novel to the screen. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), an amoral outcast in 18th century France is a man is obsessed with scents. To concoct the best perfume ever created, he kills women to distill their essences. Some scenes like the baby Grenouille crying among the muck are unforgettable. The scaffold scene where Grenouille reveals his olfactory masterpiece is a superb sequence. | mads bajarias

2008-06-25T15:09:00.005+08:00

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS | Quirky HBO comedy. Bret (Bret McKenzie) and Jemaine (Jemaine Clement) are an earnest but luckless music-and-comedy duo from

New Zealand

trying to make it in New York. Their manager Murray (the excellent Rhys Darby) works out of a room in the

New Zealand

consulate. The best parts are when they suddenly break out into song with hilarious lyrics (“You are so beautiful/You could be a waitress/Or a part-time model”) and shot in mock-MTV style videos. | mads bajarias

2008-06-24T12:38:00.005+08:00

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS | The flip side of “Letters from Iwo Jima” tells the sad tale of the men in the iconic Mt. Suribachi flag-raising picture. Saddest was that of Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), a native-American who survived the war but died a broken man, forgotten by the country that had feted him as a hero. Ira and his mates were used as pawns by their government which tragically failed to recognize how the war had irreparably damaged them. | mads bajarias

2008-06-18T17:47:00.005+08:00

ATONEMENT | A typewriter's clicks and dings become music at the movie’s beginning: this is a story about hope and salvation through literature. Upper-class 13-year-old Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is an aspiring creative writer. One fateful summer day, her overactive imagination mixed with conflicted feelings about the servant’s son Robbie (James McAvoy), puts an abrupt end to the budding romance between him and her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley). When WWII erupts, their lives are changed forever. | mads bajarias

2008-06-18T15:02:00.002+08:00

DAMAGES SEASON 1 | Intricately edited and brilliantly plotted. This is no ordinary legal drama—at times it feels like a documentary about a savage tribe of high-stakes litigators whose bloodthirsty queen is Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). When her machinations result in people dying, the new hire—young, bright Ellen (Rose Byrne) fights back. By season’s end, Ellen barely gets out alive and gets surprising news: the FBI has been secretly investigating Patty, and they want Ellen’s help! | mads bajarias

2008-06-17T00:42:00.006+08:00

AH! SI J'ETAIS RICHE | In the world of French romantic comedies the ladies are gorgeous and the men are, um, interesting-looking. Take short, balding and cash-strapped beauty product salesman Aldo (Jean-Pierre Darroussin): his wife Alice (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi), who is having an affair with his oily boss Gérard (Richard Berry), wants a divorce. So when Aldo hits the lottery jackpot, he must hide his millions because by law, Alice—and thus Gérard!—is entitled to half of it. Consequences abound. | mads bajarias

2008-06-16T14:10:00.007+08:00

SEX AND THE CITY MOVIE | “SATC” is to men what “Rambo” is to women. When Mr. Big (Chris Noth) casually buys Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) a penthouse apartment, the women in the theater gushed with delight while the few men hissed in anger. Women adore the tight friendships set amidst a fantasy lifestyle dominated by Blahnik, Prada and their ilk. For men, the best thing to result from the movie is sarahjessicaparkerlookslikeahorse.com. | mads bajarias

2008-06-16T00:54:00.006+08:00

DEXTER: SEASON 1 | It had to happen sometime: a show about a serial killer who works as a CSI. Michael C. Hall is perfect as the likable guy (a little weird, but that’s normal) who tortures criminals to death and goes home to a loving girlfriend. “Dexter” confounds expectations; taut psychological realism mixes blokey humor with unwatchable sadism. One episode begins with Dexter thinking cheerfully, “Thank God for showers. It’s a great time to think.” Killer show. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T23:34:00.004+08:00

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL | Indy Jones (Harrison Ford) creaks at the joints as he battles Soviets led by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett with a communist haircut). The big prize is the crystal skull which is—um, why is it important, exactly? The most annoying thing is the flying saucer at the end: it feeds into the thinly-veiled racist hokum that South Americans couldn’t have built those advanced civilizations by themselves alone. Computer-generated monkeys signal the nadir of this franchise. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T19:18:00.000+08:00

MA VIE EN L'AIR | Yann’s (Vincent Elbaz) mother died giving birth to him on a plane resulting in his fear of flying. In his twenties, he had lost Charlotte (Elsa Kikoine) because he couldn’t muster the courage to board a plane for

Australia

. Ten years later, Charlotte returns to France and threatens the budding romance between Yann and Alice (Marion Cotillard), who heads to Tahiti to mend her broken heart. Will Yann face his fear and fly to Tahiti? | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T17:56:00.001+08:00

THE HAPPENING | When Plants Attack Humans! In M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening,” park-loving Americans die off when they inhale an invisible chemical. The culprit: plants! Yes, it seems plants have grown tired of man and have decided to fight back. Personally, I support the flora guerrillas in their war against oppressive human rule. Say what you want about Shyamalan, but no one can film an indoor potted plant with as much spookiness as him. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T17:18:00.000+08:00

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA | Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece of Japanese Imperial forces as ordinary men thrown into an impossible situation. In the waning months of WWII, Allied forces were closing in on Iwo Jima where they aim to launch air raids into mainland

Japan

. The Japanese were determined to defend it to the last man. The scene where the doomed Japanese commander listens to the voices of children from his hometown singing him a song over the radio is heartrending. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T16:05:00.002+08:00

UN BAISER S'IL VOUS PLAIT | Nicolas (Emmanuel Mouret) and Judith (Virginie Ledoyen) are 30-something best friends whose placid lives of muted mochas-and-beiges are thrown into chaos when the bachelor Nicolas confided to the married Judith his pressing need for “closeness” (“complicité”). Their story is framed by another, that of Emilie (Julie Gayet) and Gabriel (Michael Cohen), two strangers who’ve developed a mutual attraction to each other despite being married to other people. Sometimes, a kiss isn't just a kiss. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T14:50:00.000+08:00

NOW SHOWING | At 4 hours and 50 minutes, an opus made chiefly for the high-brow and the iron-buttocked. Hard-assed yoga nuts with PhDs in the Frankfurt School of Criticism should be able to make some headway with this one. No commercial appeal whatsoever but culture analysts steeped in the dark arts of film criticism should have a field day with it. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T12:26:00.000+08:00

CAREGIVER | No hysteria. No cloying melodrama. No slapping scenes (and what a relief!). Star Cinema’s third in a tear-filled series of OFW-oriented dramas. They have learned their lessons after “Milan” and “Dubai.” This one’s a winner. Sharon Cuneta’s performance does not reach the same heights as in “Madrasta” but still effective and powerful. Masikig Morales does a wonderful turn as a wayward kid. What’s next? “Iraq”? “Somalia”? Why not? The franchise is hitting its stride. | mads bajarias

2008-06-15T12:24:00.000+08:00

PLONING | A movie conceived with the best of intentions. It tries to be a lot of things but the leaden writing prevents it from soaring into great heights. Veteran actors like Tony Mabesa, Gina Pareño and Eugene Domingo are wasted as they spout long-winded pieces of dialogue. If the editor had been more forceful in cutting out the fat, “Ploning” could have been something great. Wonderful cinematography. The setting is the real star: Cuyo, Palawan. | mads bajarias