You're My Boss (2015)

A romance-comedy movie by Antoinette Jadaone of the famed That Thing Called Tadhana, this movie will surely give you a lot relationship reminisces and familiarity as it is easily appreciated for its light-hearted tones and wonderful story. And since That Thing Called Tadhana has been famous because of quotable love lines, expect You’re My Boss to do the same. But the difference is that You’re My Boss tackles the issue of career over love life that uses the corporate extensively to illustrate the theme it wants to deliver. The story may not be an amazing as other romance Filipino movie but it surely not a disastrous or mediocre one. The use of modern social web application within the movie gives it a familiarity to its modern audiences. And I’m sure a lot of us can relate this – Instagram, Instant messaging, Facebook. Plus this movie is also a travel movie which is becoming a typical trend nowadays in rom-com flicks as it heavily promotes Batanes as a travel destination to visit by halfway of the movie. Batanes is truly a stunning destination and it was used wisely as great backdrop for the movie scenes. Toni Gonzaga and Coco Martin tandem seems forced and less chemistry between the two as lovers but they surely deliver the best performance needed for their act. Their tandem may seem less sugary sweet but their act was superb and very effective when it comes to comedic scene.  You’re My Boss may used the issue of a tried-and-tested romance movie formula of how to move on from past love but it appropriately delivers it effectively. And the end of the film, don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting to book the cheapest flight to Batanes right away! 

  
Going Popcorn Reveiw: 3.5/5 Popcorns

Red Eye (2005)

One of the best suspense/action movie I've watched! I like the way the movie was made in centralizing on the two main characters of Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy who were both excellent in delivering their characters and made this movie interesting. Plus the film has a real tension, suspense and thrill that will really make you jump on your seats and makes you scare on what will happen next to the lead. The first half of the film is a slow build of the story, suspense and tension and the next half was a full blown gripping suspense action mode which for sure the audience will really like. It was well thought out, great direction; great act by the leads, nice musical background and it has thrill and suspense that will really hang to its watchers. Though the movie is short and plot is simple, the airplane/airport setting is unique and the story is interesting with enough thrill, suspense and tension that is very effective and easily made it to my favorite movie of all time. I highly recommend this best suspense and thriller movie!

Going Popcorn Review: 5/5 Popcorns

The Longest Ride (2015)

Another novel of Nicolas Sparks turned movie which I expected to follow the trend of his novels themes but surprisingly it turned out a feel good movie. The Longest Ride tackles two story of romance – one in the past and one in the present that both discusses the issue of being with your special love versus your career. The “longest ride” here is perhaps the long narration of both love stories which has theme parallels to both story and affected the characters to the present one way or another. The love story is like the “longest ride” that goes on a journey but deserves to end beautifully. Nicolas Sparks novel-turned-movies still never fails to show gorgeous and stunning sceneries as its backgrounds - this time the beautiful farm settings of Wilmington, North Carolina. This has been a trend in Sparks movies and I won’t be surprise in upcoming The Choice (2016).  

Though, the past love story is stronger versus the story of Luke Collins and Sophia Danko, their love story posed a premise on choices between love and career. It tells how much sacrifice is essential for relationships to work. Well, at some point one maybe bored with this romance film since most of the time this type of films by Nicolas Sparks novels involves a lot of dialogues and speeches rather than action. But I’m sure the bull-riding cowboy part of the film won’t surely bore you as this was quite thrilling. The Longest Ride taught us love requires sacrifice, which is also its famous line throughout the movie. The phrase is self-explanatory enough for The Longest Ride to be one of the memorable romantic films that come around.  

Going Popcorn Review: 4/5 Popcorns

Crazy Beautiful You (2015)

Crazy Beautiful You is a coming-of-age film about finding oneself, longing from family love and discovering romance along the journey. Though, I’m not a big fan Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo love theme, I commend their decent acting performance from the movie which has a nice story about family rather than romance story which I find it shallow and unremarkable. The family drama was a stand-out element of the movie. I find it heartfelt despite of inserted cheesy moments of Padilla and Bernardo for the theme of romance movie. I enjoyed much on the part where the scenes were taken in Mount Pinatubo volcano crater. It created beautiful sceneries for this film and making it a good and highly recommended travel movie. It has a memorable theme song – Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us – a hit song of Starship. I think it was a good and wise choice of theme song since it has a high recall and familiar mostly to all ages. Good thing they didn’t have it covered by any local artists when it was used in the film. I hope a next romance film for Padilla and Bernardo would have more serious tones and drama than this film so we could see if they can do more than just the sweet romance and chick flick type of movies.

         
Going Popcorn Review: 3.5/5 Popcorns

Insidious Chapter 3 (2015)

The scariest chapter goes back to the beginning of Insidious saga which focused on a prequel story – years before Chapter 1 and 2. And it turned out to be the most terrifying Insidious sequel in my opinion. Story-wise, it has a good narrative and I say a clever writing again courtesy of its original screenwriter, Leigh Whannell who is also directing and acting in this film. There is a story behind this prequel film and a good twist on this Insidious installment. Second, it’s a screamfest movie! It has lots of scares, tension and suspense moment than the previous sequels in my opinion. I didn’t just jump on my seat in the scares but I screamed to the loudest I could ever do and not to mention the expressions I uttered as an aftershock scream. 

And lastly, the casts delivered what they have to. I commend Lin Shaye for not only the only character to be on all Insidious movie but also for showing the best acting she could for the role of Elise. She was phenomenal here as an actress just like the other sequels of this movie. There’s also a right amount comedy again courtesy by the duo of Angus Sampson and Leigh Whannell as Tucker and Specks. For me, Insidious Chapter 3 is a worthy sequel for the Insidious saga. It is a great horror, suspense and thriller movie that is worthy for a Chapter 4! I would say that with this newest installment of the movie, it made Insidious cemented as one of the best horror movie of all-time.    

Going Popcorn review: 4/5 Popcorns

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

A worthy sequel of the hit comedy musical of 2012’s Pitch Perfect, the pitch bellas are back for world domination of their a cappella singing. The story starts 3 years after the first movie timeline and though with some changes I’m glad the movie tried to bring back all the leads and majority of the casts from the first movie. But what makes this sequel of Pitch Perfect standout is the story and twist in it where the leads were also given ample characterization of their background character which gave them enough and equal limelight in the movie. Plus the movie has more memorable comedies this time and songs that would really lead you to last song syndrome especially Flashlight sung by Jessie J for this movie.

It is said that no sequel can equal the first sequel movie and one can’t help but to compare the sequel to the original. Yes it is true with Pitch Perfect but this sequel is worthy for its story, songs, and characters on its own. It may not equal the first one but it was surely a great sequel to watch and worth to wait. The story has more twist time and the main leads were given equal weight in the plot. It is sure that the movie is making Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and Brittany Snow as the leads but I wish they make it a quad-lead by inserting more of Anna Camp. The songs used this time were new and most were emotional theme making it quite an emotional movie especially the ending which I didn’t expect and caught me off-guard. While Pitch Perfect 2 struggles to match its predecessor, it can stand alone in this movie with its new songs, real funny comedies and beautiful plot. But beyond the story of chick flick, girl group and pretty girls, Pitch Perfect 2 is a lovable story about bonded friendship, importance of beautiful memories and deep meaning of siblinghood. The final Bella performance may not be as great as the first sequel final performance but it is definitely one of the best scenes of the movie that made me almost cry in emotion. This is highly recommended!

Going Popcorn Review: 4.5/5 Popcorns

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl is one of the types of movies that really interest me a lot because the theme is about mystery and psychological thriller - the type of movies that made me analyzes the situation of the characters, puzzles me about the story and makes me curious about the mystery that surrounds the plot. And this is the type of movie that I like. Gone Girl made me analyze its story, character and plot from a closer look to an in-depth analysis. This is a highly recommended psychological themed movie. Aside from the theme, Gone Girl has a very catchy story that is worth to watch and would really get your interests - a missing America's famed sweetheart writer with an angle of mystery murder and unanswered clues that leads to a shocking revelation? Who wouldn't be enticed to watch this thriller and mystery film? And I mention that there are tension moments and suspense themes in the film that would really excite your watch of the film? The film also get the best of acting of Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike whom I feel a little miscast for the role of Amy Dunne but nonetheless she was stellar here that it earned her a 2014 Oscar Best Actress nomination for portraying a sweet but psycho wife. Gone Girl runs too long (2 hours running) but it’s interesting mystery story about marriage gone mad and unnerving ruin of one's personality due to failures in relationship was worth to watch and spend your movie night with.

Going Popcorn Review: 4/5 Popcorns