From last week’s awesome tandems, we now come to a week full of new discoveries from worlds far and wide. This week, we give you new movies officially opening today in all Manila cinemas so you can unleash your kids and the kids inside you into new worlds and awesome discoveries.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Dir: Ben Stiller (2013). USA. Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn. MTRCB G.
BASED ON: A daydreaming character from New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber’s 1940’s collection of short stories.
SYNOPSIS: If you’re one of those kids who used to “zone out” in the middle of class back in the days, or the kind of person who just stares at your computer monitor for a few seconds, lost in thought, this is probably the perfect movie to watch this weekend.
Actor, producer and director Ben Stiller brings another out of this world character into life with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Though the movie’s far from the original James Thurber short story collection, it still centers on Walter, a “negative assets manager” who goes on a mission to find Life magazine’s last cover photo, negative 25, sent by photojournalist Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn). To get there Walter Mitty takes inspiration from his office crush Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) and travels to Greenland, Iceland and the Himalayas.
COCONUTS RECOMMENDS: Even though the film got mixed reviews from international critics, we’ve got to say this film has to be worth the time and effort of going to the cinemas. For starters, this film had been in Samuel Goldwyn Films’ back burner since 1994. And though Sacha Baron Cohen and Jim Carrey had been offered the role of Walter Mitty, we’re more than happy to see Ben Stiller finally showing off his directoral chops with this film.
HOT TIP: Pay attention to all the covers of Life (1936 to 2007) featured everywhere in the movie. You’ll be surprised with the amount of information those photos giveaway about the movie!
I, Frankenstein
Dir: Stuart Beattie (2014). USA, Australia. Aaron Eckhart, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto. MTRCB PG.
BASED ON: Kevin Grevioux’ gothic graphic novel also based on Mary Shelley’s 1823 novel Frankenstein.
SYNOPSIS: We all know the story of the Geneva-bred monster made by Dr. Victor Frankenstein. What we don’t really know is what actually happened to the monster after the death of his creator.
Aaron Eckhart, known for his portrayal of Two-Face in the Dark Knight Rises, now stars as Adam, the abominable creature made by Dr. Frankenstein some centuries ago. In the film, he comes back from hiding to fight forces who have been recruiting him for years and a thousand other copies of him.
COCONUTS RECOMMENDS: First of all, we haven’t had enough of Aaron Eckhart’s chiseled, macho face so him being Adam Frankenstein is something we’re looking forward to see, for sure. Also, there’s a lot to said about a movie with popping graphics based on another eye-popping comics. The geek kid in you would surely be excited to see Frankentein without the cliche bolt in the head and green skin (because in the novel its skin color is actually yellow, mind you) but with a very human touch and a few stitches here and there.
HOT TIP: Keep your eye out for the IMAX version, also opening this week, because the dark, CGI-enhanced Australian set will surely remind you of director Stuart Beattie’s adventurous Pirates of the Carribean shots.
Mumbai Love
Dir: Benito Bautista (2014). Philippines, India. Solenn Heusaff, Kiko Matos, Martin Escudero. MTRCB G.
BASED ON: India’s super rich culture, including fixed marriages.
SYNOPSIS: Since we’re on the topic of traveling to worlds unknown, why not set our eyes on other lands like India? This week, Harana director Benito Bautista takes us to Mumbai to experience India’s colorful culture and marriage-making traditions.
Babagwa actor Kiko Matos takes the role of Nandi, an Indian-Filipino set to follow a tradition to marry whoever his parents selected for him. But Nandi is a romantic and he believes in fate so he falls for a Pinay girl named Ella (played by Solenn Heusaff) whose free spirited nature takes her to India.
COCONUTS RECOMMENDS: We recommend this movie to people who love to travel or the kids-at-heart dreaming of traveling (or finding love in other places). Aside from the wonderful Mumbai sceneries, keep an eye out for a distinctly Pinoy-flavored cast with the likes of Raymon Bagatsing, Jayson Gainza, Martin Escudero and Ronnie Lazaro. HOT TIP: Watch out for Internet star Jun Sabayton’s first movie role.
Police Story 2013
Dir: Sheng Ding (2013). China. Jackie Chan, Ye Liu, TianJing. MTRCB R-13.
BASED ON: Jackie Chan’s Police Story film series since 1985.
SYNOPSIS: We all had that crime-fighting hero we looked up to during our childhood days. Some of us grew up with Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Captain Planet and even Darna. Some (just like me) grew up with Jackie Chan’s funny crime-fighting movies.
Here’s good news: Though Jackie told the press that his last action movie will be Chinese Zodiac, Police Story 2013 proves he’s still in the game of action flick making. Our dads would be proud.
Jackie Chan stars as Zhong Wen, a mainland China police officer who finds his daughter Miao Miao (played by Tian Jing) with her boyfriend and bar-owner Wu Jiang (Ye Liu). In the film, officer Zhong finds himself caught up in a kidnapping headed by Wu Jiang and he tries to solve the crime and save his daughter at the same time.
COCONUTS RECOMMENDS: If you, like us, revere Jackie Chan’s choreographed and stuntman-less stunts, you’ve got to see this new Police Story installment. What makes this film a must-watch is that it actually lacks the signature Chan funny moments but has all the martial arts flavor only a real stuntman-slash-actor can bring to the table. Also, the gritty, dark will take you to a whole new world of experience with a wholly different Jackie Chan, a much serious and awesome one, we dare say.
The Nut Job
Dir: Peter Lepeniotis (2014). USA, Canada, South Korea. Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Will Arnett. MTRCB G.
BASED ON: The numerous Brad Pitt heist movies and the fact that squirrels love nuts.
SYNOPSIS: Here’s a movie that will drive you and your kids nuts. Ratatouille star Will Arnett comes back as the voice of a purple squirrel named Surley, whose heist of the Maury’s Nut Shop cart got him kicked out of the park where he lives. He roams the city with his rat sidekick Buddy (Robert Tinkler) and comes across the Nut Shop’s headquarter which they plot on robbing along with other squirrels so they can get all the nuts they can have for themselves.
COCONUTS RECOMMENDS: It’s a bit hard to explain Ocean’s Eleven or The Italian Job to your kids so this film could come in handy for cool parents like you (not that stealing is cool but, like, heist movies are, right?). Aside from the cool plot about plotting, we bet your whole family will also enjoy the huge amounts of laughter this guarantees.
HOT TIP: Watch out for the cute trick-playing pug because…we love pugs.
