Movie Review: Lady Bird

There are very few films, where the setting is so important that it also becomes a character in the movie, such is the case for the city of Sacramento in Director Greta Gerwig's award-winning film "Lady Bird". 

The colors of the film itself will make you feel the warmth of California, it is as if the "filter" used is named "Sacramento". I don't think I've seen a character, have such a love-hate relationship with a place, which is one of the conflicts that Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson, (Saoirse Ronan) a high school senior (in a co-ed Catholic school!) who is ready and eager to spread her proverbial wings and leave the nest, of which her kind depressed father, Larry (Tracy Letts), her equally strong willed mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf) and her newly wed brother Miguel and wife Shelly live in. 

Christine insists on being called "Lady Bird" ('its given to me- by me' she says.) and dreams of leaving Sacramento to attend college in New York, much to her mother's disapproval as the family is struggling financially and would not be able to afford the tuition. 

Lady Bird spends her senior year falling in love, discovering heartache, learning about friends and coming to terms with her difficult relationship with her mother. 

The plot of "Lady Bird" is so simple- that it is so real. I may have an unfair advantage of also attending Catholic Schools (all the way from pre-school to College) and going through some financial difficulties myself when I was studying, which is why I could relate to most of Lady Bird's conflicts, although I couldn't be as stubborn and determined as she was. Don't worry though, you don't need to have come from a Catholic school or have been a angsty teenager with a difficult relationship with your mother in order to appreciate and enjoy "Lady Bird". The film is presented in such a way that despite being another coming-of-age story, it comes of as 'fresh' and captivating, thanks to the award winning performances of the cast Ronan and Metcalf are a dynamic duo, so powerful and vulnerable in their performances that they could actually be mother and daughter!  

Greta Gerwig's directorial debut should be celebrated as it brings us this gem of a film and promises of more in the future (crosses fingers). 

9.5/10-In what could be the best "coming of age" story. "Lady Bird" soars high, anchored on strong performances, a genuine understanding of the film's setting and an impressive directorial debut from Greta Gerwig.

A must see for mothers and daughters and all the awkward teenagers trying to discover themselves, or even the clueless adult, trying to make sense of things until now. It is an ode to growing up and the ode is so real that it celebrates everything that comes along with it-beauty, heartache and self discovery. 

Events: Sky Cable Hosts Oscar Trivia Night

Talk about putting your Oscars knowledge to the test. Because it is Oscars Week, Sky Cable,  together with HBO and E! hosted its first ever trivia night, with of course the questions coming from this year's Oscar Nominations, past Oscar highlights and a special round for HBO and E! plus a bonus round featuring the much talked about Red Carpet looks. 

We arrived when dinner was well on the way for guests at Ludo Board game Bar and Bistro in Makati. It was a good thing that Paul was on a day off last Thursday. 

Being a movie buff myself I was really excited. I did a little reviewing during my breaks at work but I can say that because of work and well the baby's insatiable need for sleep, I wasn't really able to sit down for a recent review. It doesn't mean that we did bad, I think we did pretty good - considering. Well, I  have to give up to the winners who were really, really good. I mean the answers even to the Best Foreign Language Film categories, even answers like "Il Postino" -well just goes to show that I really have a lot to review, cover, I mean when we talk about the Oscars, that's over 89 years of movie history right there! Its one of Hollywood's most celebrated evenings and well, for the past years, I've always enjoyed staying at home and watching the Oscars on TV, I would usually prepare a little Oscar snack and just sit back and enjoy the show. 

#OscarTriviaNight just made it more enjoyable! Now I know a lot of new Oscar Trivia! :) -like which Actor was the first to be nominated for a posthumous award (Answer: James Dean) and that "La La Land" ties with "Titanic" and "All About Eve" with 14 nominations, for the most nominations for a movie, in Oscar history. Hahahah I know its very geeky of me, but its this kind of trivia that really lights my brain up! 

Congratulations to the winning team who took home P 40,000 in prizes (yes, you read that right) and of course bragging rights! 

Thanks for having us Sky :) We had a blast! 

Click HERE for MORE PHOTOS! 

TV NEWS: HBO AND SKY TO FLY TWO LUCKY VIEWERS TO CHINAWOOD AND HOLLYWOOD

HBO and SKY bring lucky viewers to two of the biggest places in show business, the epicenter of everything showbiz, Hollywood, and the largest production lot in the world, Hengdian World Studios or Chinawood.

As the biggest and brightest stars in Hollywood gather for one night to celebrate the art and majesty of filmmaking at the Academy Awards, SKY subscribers who will catch the live airing will have the chance to fly to the 2018 edition of the planet‟s most prestigious entertainment gathering.

The promo is open to all SKY subscribers with One SKY, SKYcable, Destiny Cable, and SKYdirect plans. The subscriber should be at least 21 years of age and should watch the live airing of The Oscars® on HBO on Monday, February 27, 2017 at 8 AM. Look out for the question that will be flashed during the live telecast. Submit your answer via the official promo page, www.mysky.com.ph/oscars. The page will be up from February 27, 2017 to March 19, 2017 and the winner will be drawn on March 31. Check out the promo page for more information.


The winner and a companion will get the chance to win seats at the red carpet of the 2018
Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

The Oscars® is a night of elegance and luxury. It is one of the most prestigious award giving bodies for filmmaking and everything else it entails – from scriptwriting to acting, to musical scoring, production and costume design. The Academy is more than just glamour as it aims to bolster education, innovation, and preservation of materials in the industry.

Another viewer can take a whirlwind tour of China, from the Forbidden City to the Yangtze
River, from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, all in one day as Red by HBO and SKY bring a lucky
viewer and a companion to the Hengdian World Studios in China, the largest film and television production lot in Asia and maybe even the world. Located in the Zhejian Province, „Chinawood,‟ as it is also called, spans 2,500 acres, and is divided into 13 shooting bases.

HBO Asia original movies “Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So” and “Master of the
Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying” were filmed at Hengdian World Studios. Philippines viewers can still catch both movies on RED By HBO in March.

Red by HBO and SKY will bring one lucky SKY subscriber with SKYcable or Destiny Cable
plans and a loved one to the Hengdian World Studios this April! Just fill out an entry form at www.mysky.com.ph/hengdianpromo. There will be 10 consolation winners who will get goodies from Red by HBO. The promo is also open to Destiny Cable subscribers. Contest ends on March 19.

Singapore-based HBO Asia brings the best of Hollywood to Asia first through its exclusive
licensing deals with major Hollywood and independent studios. HBO Asia has proprietary and award-winning HBO and HBO Asia Original programmes produced exclusively for HBO viewers. Wholly owned by HBO (a Time Warner company), HBO Asia reaches 23 territories across Asia with six 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels: HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Hits and Cinemax, as well as Red by HBO, internet streaming platform, HBO GO, subscription video on demand service, HBO On Demand, and in China, 鼎级剧场 (ding ji ju chang). HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst and the DreamWorks channel inthe region. Log on to www.hboasia.com for more information.

SKY continues to offer viewers with diverse options to enjoy TV entertainment with its value and premium service offerings. Only SKYcable provides quality home entertainment with the widest range of standard and high definition channels and other top-of-the-line services such as flexible subscription options via SELECT, iRECORD that records, pauses, and rewinds live TV, as well as real-time coverage of live concerts and sporting events via FREE VIEW and PAY-PERVIEW. To subscribe and to know more about SKYcable, log on to www.mysky.com.ph, text APPLY <space> your name to 23662, or call the 24-hour customer service hotlines at 381-0000 for Metro Manila, CAMANAVA, and Rizal; 484-4701 for Cavite; 534-2814 for Calamba and Binan, Laguna; 520-8560 for San Pedro, Laguna and Carmona, Cavite; 693-5877 for Bulacan; 421-1818 for Cebu; 305-5456 for Davao; 442-4841 for Baguio; 432-0051 for Bacolod; 300-1210for Iloilo;533-6244 for GenSan.

Enjoy over 90 channels in clear digital signal for only P550 per month with Destiny Cable. For inquiries about the services and promos of Destiny Cable call 418-0000. You may also contact Destiny Cable via email address, weserve@destinycable.com.ph.

Academy Award- Best Picture of the Year SPOTLIGHT Back in Cinemas

For a limited time you may now watch SPOTLIGHT, the Oscar pick for Best Picture, back at select cinemas: Eastwood,Gateway, Powerplant, Robinsons Galleria, and the newly openedCinema '76.

Seeing it this weekend! 

The movie won two Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture in the recently concluded 88th Academy Awards. It also had four other nominations with Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams in the Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role category,  Film Editing for Tom McArdle, and Directing for Tom McCarthy.

In his acceptance speech, producer Michael Sugar said he hoped the film had given a voice to the survivors of the abuse that would “become a choir that would resonate all the way to the Vatican.” He continued with a direct call to Pope Francis that “it’s time to protect the children and restore the faith.”

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has praisedSpotlight for its “convincing attempt to show abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic church”. The newspaper published a front-page editorial on Monday hailing Tom McCarthy’s film and calling it “not anti-Catholic”. The editorial said Spotlight, which centers on the work of a group of Boston Globe reporters to uncover abuse by Roman Catholic priests, faithfully presented the church’s attempts to defend itself in the face of “horrendous realities”.

According to Justin Cheng, Chief Film Critic of Variety, Spotlight’s Oscar win is a meaningful victory on a number of levels. It has brought attention the testimony of those who have endured grave abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church — and perhaps, too, it will help hold abusers and conspirators to ever higher standards of reform and accountability.

Spotlight’s Best Picture win also offers a rare and significant validation for the many journalists who have seen their proud profession become a downsized shadow of its former self, bereft of the resources that make such patient, vital investigative work possible. But social conscience alone is never a good enough reason to declare a movie the best of its class. No one disputes that “Spotlight” is an important movie, but its far more praiseworthy attribute is that it so skillfully avoids the trap of self-importance.

After SPOTLIGHT, Solar Pictures is set to release another Oscar favorite TRUMBO,starring Bryan Cranston who earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as Dalton Trumbo. He is joined by Helen Mirren and Diane Lane, both no strangers to the Academy.

THE REVENANT Returns to Select Cinemas

Just in case you have been hiding under a rock, then you probably don't know that Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been the subject of countless of hilarious (and sometimes not so funny) memes about the current count of Oscars to his name; has finally, FINALLY! won the coveted Academy Award for Best Actor! Your timeline may have been flooded with memes and news about Leo's long awaited win. Needless to say, the whole world, nay the whole internet was rooting for him to win and after six nominations, he finally did. 

Leo, AKA every 90's kid's first love, crush, true love (etc...) won the award for his role as Hugh Glass in Academy Award Winning Director, Alejandro Iñarritu's 'The REVENANT'. Iñarritu also won Best Dorector for 'The REVENANT'. 

So if you missed the movie during it's run in the cinemas-this is your chance to see it! Make sure you don't miss this opportunity to see Leonardo Di Caprio in the role which finally landed the Oscar in his (deserving) hands. The film also won Best Cinematography under the talented Emmanuel Lubezki, who has won three consecutive times. 

Check out my review of 'The REVENANT'  http://pchengphotography.blogspot.com/2016/01/revenant-is-captivating-and-visceral.html 

DiCaprio’s Best Actor award for his winning performance which the domestic and global audience have been rooting for in his work in “The Revenant” has finally been realized at the recently concluded Academy Awards.  While Iñarritu has for two years in a row have also won Best Director last year for his work in “Birdman” and Lubezki for the third time since his win in 2014 for “Gravity” and last year’s “Birdman.”

The Revenant,” meaning someone who came back presumably from the dead tells of the highly-inspiring true story of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), a fur trapper on his impossible survival during the 1800s.  Inspired by true events, “The Revenant” is an epic story of survival and transformation on the American frontier.  While on an expedition into the uncharted wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass  is brutally mauled by a bear, then abandoned by members of his own hunting team. Alone and near death, Glass refuses to succumb.  Driven by sheer will and his love for his Native American wife and son, he undertakes a 200-mile odyssey through the vast and untamed West on the trail of the man who betrayed him: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy).  What begins as a relentless quest for revenge becomes a heroic saga against all odds towards home and redemption. 

                The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.

These are the following cinemas where “The Revenant” will have its return engagement starting March 2, Wednesday – Powerplant, Robinson’s Galleria, Eastwood, Festival Mall, Gateway, Gaisano Davao and SM Megamall.

 

                “The Revenant” is a 20^th Century Fox presentation distributed by Warner Bros.

That's Leo giving 'the bear' a kiss before going up the stage for his Oscar. See the movie so you know what the buzz with the bear is all about.