FOR THE TIME BEING

If there’s one recent horror movie that I’ll remember for a very long time, it would be “The Cabin in the Woods.” The smart idea and the brilliant script of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, the polished visual and sound effects, the convincing acting and the endless shocks and thrills more than make up the reason to that.

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The Avengers was without doubt the best Marvel movie to date! Joss Whedon, its director and writer, was a real genius! The great story of the world’s mightiest heroes was excellently presented with a smart and witty screenplay, awesome visual and aural effects, credible acting, flawless editing and brilliant directing. Watching the film from start to finish was definitely an awesome experience!

In Wrath of the Titan’s world of make-believe, all we have to do as audience is sit back and enjoy the fantasy.

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“May the odds be ever in your favor.”

The movie version of one of the most popular books about a dystopian world was good. Most of what I remember about the story in the book came into life in the movie. Indeed, it was a faithful adaptation.

“Hunger Games” was the name of the competition between 12- to 18-year-old boys and girls from 12 different districts in a nation called Panem, which is governed by the wealthy and powerful Capitol. It was no ordinary competition as these young men and women (called “tributes”) would battle out each other in a carefully designed arena where dangers lurk. Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl who volunteered to join the game to spare her sister from joining, was joined by Peeta Mellarck, a son of a baker who has always had a crush on her to represent District 12. Their battle in the arena against all the other participants would be watched by everyone in Panem. Ultimately, only one of the 24 participants would win the game.

The movie was able to successfully channel the spirit of the book. It was able to show how poor people from the districts seem to be willing victims of the Capitol. The malicious difference between the suffering people of the districts and the superficially happy people of the Capitol was evident as well. It seemed that the details the audience needed to know were shown, as well as some hints about the past that somehow give sense to the story.

The dystopian world that the movie explored was not taken lightly. You could feel there’s a tension somewhere, although restrained and unbalanced. There were also the jabs of hypocrisy that were successfully shown: the hunger games, an event where children kill each other, was being turned to a festivity where people cheer and bet who would win; the tributes being given the best of everything before they face the horror of death, and also, clothed and interviewed like celebrities before they were forced to ravage each other. If you’d think they somehow reflect some happenings that people experience in the real world, I’d agree with you. Even though there were no solid and definite actions the oppressed did in the movie, subtle signs of uprising were seen. And let’s leave the sequels to settle that.

I liked how the film handled the love-me-or-love-me-not situation of Katniss and Peeta. The tension was there, and those unfamiliar with the whole story of the Hunger Games trilogy might be confused with the exchange of heart-warming gestures and cold-hearted words of the two (well, Katniss did this more). Are they really lovers or not? I’d let you think about that.

The movie delivered in a lot of ways: great story and screenplay, brilliant acting, good visual effects, awesome sound effects and fine cinematography.

As expected, “The Walking Dead” delivered well again in its second season. My first impression about the series’ farm story arc wasn’t that good, but I later found out that it was ultimately essential. In this season, major conflicts were somehow resolved and many issues were brought into light but still, many questions were left to be answered.

Right from the start, the biggest draw of the series is its story, which remained good no matter how horrifying and terrifying it became in so many levels. What’s a bunch of people living in the distant future when zombies rule do to survive? With such story, the show was able to produce a group of complex characters. There’s no single major character that has remained one-dimensional. And each complex character was portrayed well by able actors led by Andrew Lincoln (as the former deputy sheriff who’s leading the group), Sarah Wayne Callis (as Lori, Rick’s wife who is torn because of the unusual story that befell her husband and his bestfriend) and Jon Bernthal (as Shane, Rick’s best friend who wanted to step out and lead the group away from Rick). The supporting cast was also great in their roles.

Anyone who’s watching the series will be fascinated with the work of those people behind the production. The zombies are horrifyingly real, the special effects look amazingly real and the actors portray characters that seem to be real. Furthermore, many congratulations should be given to the series’ various directors because they were able to make each episode of the 13-episode season full of suspense without compromising the story.

Based on the last three episodes of the season, one could only expect that the showrunners of “The Walking Dead” won’t leave any stone unturned to give shocks and surprises and make the series better.

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