Movie: V for Vendetta

	Studios:	Warner Bros. Pictures
	Release:	March 17, 2006
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
	MPAA Rating:	R for strong violence and some language

Like most heroes that first see light in comic books, V is a mysterious character. In this vision of post-nuclear holocaust Britain that gave rise to a tyrannical form of government, V is the vigilante whose acts have earned him the title of terrorist. For someone accustomed to a lot of action in a sci-fi/comic-book-based movie, the pacing of this one is rather slow as the movie tends to examine the psyche of the hero more than move the viewer along a straight story line. I'm not complaining though, as this treatment is apt for the character, who is more a romantic hero rather than the rogue type.

I must say though that the costume of V must have worked better in the comic books. In this movie, I find the wig a bit funny - almost annoying, but more on the funny side.

Movie: Nanny McPhee

	Studios:	Universal Pictures
	Release:	January 27, 2006
	Genre:	Comedy, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
	MPAA Rating:	PG for mild thematic elements, some rude humor and brief language.

Mischief meets its match in Nanny McPhee. This movie takes me back to the days when childrens' stories aim to teach a lesson, before Disney made everything so rosy. Oddly enough, the story reminds me of Water Babies (the novel by Charles Kingsley, not the band). Why? It's about teaching kids morals and manners. Kids may find some scenes awful or frightening, but they only show consequences of bad decisions. Unlike Charlie and the Chocolate Factory though, every kid here learns their lessons.

Movies on Cable: Connie and Carla

	Studios:	Universal Pictures
	Release:	April 16, 2004
	Genre:	Comedy
	MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual humor and drug references

Women pretending to be gay men impersonating women. It's been done before. Remember Victor/Victoria? In this movie, the catalyst is that the two leads witnessed a murder. To escape pursuers, they cross states and set up new identities ... as men.

The movie has cute moments. Enough to make me chuckle and giggle here and there.

The problem with this movie is that Nia Vardalos' curves are more on the earthly woman side, and most female impersonators I have seen tend to go for the model-type female bodies (big breasts, skinny everything else). You may say that there's Dame Edna and Nathan Lane in Birdcage ... I still think that had these characters been younger, they'd still go for the big-breasts-skinny-everything-else look. Toni Collette could have pulled it off bodywise, except that her character's too shy that it's hard to reconcile with a man who's flamboyant enough to impersonate a woman. In other words, the actresses they picked to play Connie and Carla just didn't convince me as much as Julie Andrews did in Victor/Victoria.

As for the murder witness arc, it's just too obvious they put it there just so there's a decent reason Connie and Carla would even think of pretending to be female impersonators.

Movies on Cable: Batman & Robin

	Studios:	Warner Bros. Pictures
	Release:	1997
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Crime/Gangster and Sequel
	MPAA Rating:	PG-13

When it comes to movies, few ever get past the 3rd installment, and of those who do, not all become "hits". It happened with Superman, and unfortunately, the same goes with Batman. Batman and Robin is the fourth movie of the series that started in 1989, and compared to the successful first movie, this one has a different director and a different actor playing the lead role. The tone is not as dark as the first one, and is actually threatening to go on the "campy" side. With the appearance of Batgirl, it's also accumulated too many protagonists... too many characters sharing the same amount of movie time - ergo less time to develop each one.

Good points: Like the previous three movies, every scene here is a pretty picture. It still is a visual treat and it is still entertaining. It just pales so much compared to the other three.

TV Series Rerun: Coupling

	Network:	BBC2
	First Run:	May 2000 to 2004
	Genre:	Comedy

I discovered this series last year ... as a rerun. I enjoyed the few episodes I did catch and was overjoyed to discover they are repeating the series again. Which means I can watch it from the start.

I like the guys in this series ... all are CUTE. Their characters have horrible flaws, mind you, but they still end up adorable because of the actors playing them I guess. I LOVE Jack Davenport. There, I've said it.

The funny thing is, the women here don't have as much flaws as the men, but they tend to come across as annoying bitches at one point or another. Which is in contrast to the women portrayed in F*R*I*E*N*D*S - for example: Monica is one control freak and is much more a nag than Susan, yet you end up loving Monica more than Susan. However, I think that if I met someone like them in real life, I'd like the Susan over the Monica.

Is this the British FRIENDS? Superficially, perhaps. It centers around a group of 20-something people, 3 of them male, and the remaining 3 female. The tone and topics however are entirely different. As the series title suggests, much of the discussion taking place here revolves around sex. You have to hand it to the Brits to attack the subject in a manner that is amusing rather than offensive.

Movie: Syriana

	Studios:	Warner Bros. Pictures
	Release:	December 9, 2005
	Genre:	Drama, Thriller, Adaptation and Politics/Religion
	MPAA Rating:	R for for violence and language.

It's not everyday that you see George Clooney and Matt Damon in a movie with a political statement.

Syriana shows us how the lives of several people in the Middle East intertwine, and whether they are led by greed or idealism, all of them are walking a dangerous path. In the end, everyone is a victim.

This movie came out last year, and it is probably being shown in the Philippines only now because of the Academy nominations.

There is violence, although the blood that flows is implied rather than shown. The effect on the audience is just as heavy ... which shows that a movie need not be gory to have an impact.

Nothing is really resolved at the end of this movie.

The question that hangs on everyone's head is: will we let this go on? If that is one of the moviemakers' objective, then they have succeeded.