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Da Couch Tomato Podcast Season 2 Episode 3, discussing The Matrix Resurrections, and how we are undecided as to how we feel about it. Nagpaka-meta na rin sila rito, and pati ang filmmakers may mga jab sa sarili nila. May rant din si Rachel about 'yung make-up ni Niobe. And yes, magaling sina Jonathan Groff at Neil Patrick Harris, pero nasaan si Laurence Fishburne? May shinare din si Sting about how much the Matrix means to him, especially noong unang lumabas ito.

Sting Lacson's rating: 7/10
Rachel's rating: 6.8/10
Final ating: 6.9/10
11:53 AM
New York Times

Da Couch Tomato Podcast, Episode 36, discussing the Netflix film The Trial of the Chicago 7, the awesome writing of Aaron Sorkin, and the types of films and their literary equivalent.

Rating: 8.55/10
6:37 PM
YouTube

Da Couch Tomato Podcast, Episode 15, discussing HBO's Watchmen, the great use of non-linear storytelling, and the awesomeness that is Doctor Manhattan.

Background music used is the Watchmen score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

Hosts: Sting Lacson and Rachel

Rating: 8.9/10
6:50 PM
The only thing creepier than a boy in a mask is two boys in masks.

•This is a great sophomore project by Jordan Peele. His directorial debut, Get Out, was a wonderful work of storytelling, and he flexes his cinematic muscles once again with this vaguely similar yet totally different film.

•The subject of doppelgangers has always fascinated me. It's like something that's not too scary to be frightening, but not too normal that can be dismissed. My brother has had more than one experience with doppelgangers, particularly his own. Although this isn't the first movie about doppelgangers, I think this is the first one about an entire doppelganger family.

•As a horror movie, where the intention is to scare the living hell out of the movie audience, this film worked. However, it didn't concern itself with world-building; it just gave a simple explanation of where the doppelgangers came from, but it didn't tell us why they were created in the first place.

•As a suspense movie, where the intention is to put viewers on the edge of their seats, this film works exceptionally well. The scary thing about doppelgangers is that they behave like real people, and they don't appear and disappear like ghosts. They're as dangerous on land as they are on boats.

•Unlike Get Out, which was clearly a statement on the racial issues of the United States, this film is not really about the race problem. Yes, it's about an African-American suburban family, but Peele doesn't play the race card in this movie. The leads just happen to be black. They conflict in this movie doesn't happen because of their skin colour.

•At first you'd think this film has a supernatural element to it, but it doesn't. The doppelgangers are some kind of clones from an underground experiment, not some dark version of themselves from an alternate universe.

•Lupita Nyong'o is such a talented actress, and her voice acting skills are truly remarkable. In the Disney Star Wars trilogy, she plays Maz Kanata, and her voice is totally unrecognisable. Here, she does a different voice for her doppelganger, a hoarse, creepy voice capable of giving children nightmares.

•I'm glad Elisabeth Moss is getting more acting gigs. She's great in The Handmaid's Tale, but I liked her way back in Mad Men.

•This film gives us great throwbacks. The flashback part of the film takes place in 1986, as shown by the Hands Across America commercial in the beginning and the Michael Jackson shirt in the amusement park. In fact, the Hands Across America reference is used again near the end, which I think would have been really beautiful if people outside the United States understood its significance.

•And speaking of throwbacks, the use of the song "I've Got 5 On It" was refreshing. If it wasn't for this movie, I might've forgotten about this song already. There's a theory I read, about how this song is about two guys splitting a dimebag of weed by paying five dollars each. So there's two guys forming a whole, which is very much like a doppelganger being two parts of a whole.

"Can you make your eyes big like this?"



Us. USA/Japan/China. 2019.



Original rating: 8/10
Winston Duke and Lupita Nyong'o Black Panther reunion: + 0.1
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Elisabeth Moss The Handmaid's Tale reunion: +0.1
Final rating: 8.2/10
10:33 AM
Graffiti sa tren. New York na New York.

Noong makita niyo ang promotional materials para sa The Get Down, malamang pareho tayo ng naisip: Oh, a show about hip-hop? Malamang parang Empire lang 'to, pero set in the 70s. Well actually, medyo parang Empire siya, pero hindi rin.

Siyempre, dahil si Baz Luhrmann ang co-creator nito, alam mo na more or less kung ano ang ie-expect. Malaking production ito, tulad ng ibang Baz Luhrmann films na Romeo + Juliet at Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby, at Australia. Sinasabi nga na ang The Get Down ay ang most expensive show ng Netflix, at one of the most expensive shows ever produced for television. At dahil si Luhrmann din ang co-writer at director ng pilot, na-set na niya ang standard para sa buong series.

Maganda ang production design ng series, at kasama na rito siyempre ang costume designs. Straight out of the 70s, lalo na ang graffiti sa mga pader ng Bronx, ang red Puma sneakers ni Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore), ang afros nina Ezekiel (Justice Smith) at Dizzee (Jaden Smith, na uncredited, surprisingly), at ang disco costume ni Cadillac (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).

Hindi ko lang alam kung totoong footage of old school New York ang ibang eksena na ginagamit pang-intercut sa mga scenes. Pwedeng totoong footage 'yun, or pwedeng modern footage na nilagyan nalang ng film grain para magmukhang luma. Si Grandmaster Flash pala ay totoo. I mean, totoong tao siya na master ng turntables at pioneer ng hip-hop music. Sa show, siya ay pino-portray ng isang actor na si Mamoudou Athie. Pero 'yung totoong Grandmaster Flash, na obviously matanda na, ay associate producer sa show na ito.

Shaolin (kanan) at Flash (kaliwa), na medyo kamukha ni Pharrell.

Dahil ito'y tungkol sa hip-hop, hindi talaga maiiwasan ang mga comparison sa Empire, ang hip-hop show ng Fox na lumabas noong 2015. Actually, malayo ito sa Empire. Ang magkatulad lang siguro sa dalawang shows ay ang African-American, hip-hop music, at New York City. Ang Empire ay mas katulad ng Glee, kung saan may mga original songs. Sabi nga ng British rapper na si Rodney P tungkol sa The Get Down, "I was worried. I saw the trailer and I thought, 'This is gonna be like a hip-hop version of Glee." Buti nalang hindi.

Magaling din ang casting para sa show na ito. Maganda ang chemistry ng DJ na si Shaolin at ng kanyang wordsmith na si Ezekiel, a.k.a. Zeke. Ayos din ang magkakapatid na sina Dizzee, Ra-Ra (Skylan Brooks), at Boo-Boo (Tremaine Brown, Jr.), pero parang tinamad ang writers mag-isip ng pangalan nila. Sa adults naman, ang galing ng mga veterans na sina Jimmy Smits at Giancarlo Esposito bilang magkapatid na magkalayo ang hitsura at landas. Pero ang pinakabida talaga rito ay si Mylene (Herizen Guardiola). Ang galing lang ng boses. At ang ganda pa niya.

In terms of narrative pacing, maganda ang pilot dahil na-hook ako agad. Ang isang indicator kung magiging maganda ang series ay ang pilot, dahil kung hindi ka na-hook sa pilot, hindi mo pagtiyatiyagaan panoorin ang mga susunod na episode. Pero ayos ang pilot, at hindi lang dahil si Baz Luhrmann ang nag-direct. Kaso lang, natapos ang six episodes na parang isang buong season na. Mid-season break lang dapat iyon, dahil twelve episodes talaga ang Season 1. Pero buo na siya e, at malamang ang magiging feel ng next six episodes ay Season 2. Hindi lang ako sigurado, so baka may surprises pa si Luhrmann up his sleeve.

Nakaka-bother ang pekpek shorts ni Boo-Boo.



The Get Down. USA. 2016.



Original na rating: 7/10
Walang Herizen Guardiola nudity: -0.1
Jimmy Smits bilang Papa Fuerte: +0.1
Kevin Corrigan bilang Jackie Moreno: +0.1
Kevin Corrigan na taga-Bronx talaga: +0.1
Medyo corny na rhymes ni Nas: -0.1
NYC graffiti: +0.1
Speech ni Zeke sa Episode 6: +0.1
Grandmaster Flash: +0.1
Final na rating: 7.4/10
11:17 AM
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