Starring: Juliana Palermo, Maria Isabel Lopez
Director: Ed Lajano
Category: Sex-Drama
Genre: Foreign
Format: Full Screen ...
Language: Tagalog
Subtitles: English
For Lito, (Neil Ryan Sese) his existence has always been dull and repetitive. Breaking his neck everyday as a photocopy machine operator in a dingy Recto copyshop, Lito is slowly losing his apetite for life. But everything dramatically changes when the mysterious and alluring Mina (Juliana Palermo) suddenly moves into the boarding house just above Lito's shop. With just one fateful encounter with Mina, Lito's life rapidly spirals from total bliss, suspicion, betrayal, desperation and towards- murder. Seroks is a must see, one of a kind suspense movie that redefines the notions of Pinoy classic thriller.
While trying to cozy up to the sexy and mysterious Mina (Juliana Palermo), who recently moved into the boardinghouse above his shop, unlucky Xerox operator Lito (Neil Ryan Sese) is unwittingly placing his life in grave danger. A tense psychological thriller full of passion and betrayal, this Filipino film deftly explores the theme of duplication, utilizing recurring patterns and elements throughout.
Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan
Director: Clint Eastwood
Release Date: October 31, 2008
Running Time: 141 min
MPAA Rating: R
Distributor: Universal Films
Clint Eastwood, the greatest working director today, continues to display reasons why his films have the potential and audacity to gather like a quiet storm and later evolve to form a massive natural disaster. Unlike any director today, Eastwood manages to go beyond the surface of the true story of a woman searching for her lost son in 1928 Los Angeles by digging deep into his subject matter’s heart and finding gold in the unlikeliest of places. Time after time, he manages to show his ability of exploring darker situations and scenarios that aren’t neatly placed on the table at first glance. Watch Million Dollar Baby or Mystic River if you need reference. As Changeling moves towards its climax we experience plot revelations that deal with children being plagued of hatred and corruption at an early age. Slowly the film expands to a full sized portrait of a town that once produced dreams, to a town that toils with human emotions as a hobby.
Searching for her nine-year-old son Walter is Christine Collins, played fiercely by Angelina Jolie. Jolie’s ability to go through all of what Christine goes through is an act of endurance. Clocking in at 140 minutes her performance could’ve easily succumbed to melodrama and repetitiveness, but Jolie plays each scene as if it were her last. Giving new life and meaning to each of Christine’s soul searching scenes.
Christine leaves him home as she goes to work as a supervisor on skates at a telephone company. She returns home later in the day to find Walter missing. She calls the police department who reply that they can’t do anything until morning. Months later the department ushers in a boy from DeKalb, Ill., telling her that this boy is her son. The department, getting bashed recently by media, needs a feel good story to rekindle a new image for them. They will pursue this new image at any person’s expense.
Christine knows at first glance it’s not him but is persuaded by a tarnished soul with a police badge, Capt. J.J. Jones (Jeffrey Donovan in one of the film’s best performances). She’s persuaded eventually by Jones to take the boy for a “trial run” even though he’s 3 inches shorter, isn’t recognized by his school teacher and doesn’t have the same dental records as Christine’s Walter. Christine, hiding her face underneath that hat of hers, with the help of a radio preacher (John Malkovich), has to prevail and find right. Eastwood and screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski, by staying true to public records (which may be the films only flaw as it drags just a bit), follow this woman’s despairs as she stands up to the system only to find herself getting institutionalized for stating the facts and staying institutionalized for keeping her word and not giving in. Her ambition opens up a can of worms.
The LAPD is always pinpointed for achieving and carrying out deviant acts. Corruption follows them wherever they go and that corruption soon sets up shop internally, making it almost impossible to rid of it. L.A. Confidential, another film dealing with the corruption of the LAPD, ridded its corruption by killing everyone. Changeling though has to deal with their corruption being on a totally different platform. Where L.A. Confidential was corrupted with mobsters, money and drugs, Eastwood wants to channel something more dreaded; corruption that dwells and indulges on human emotions belonging to the weak.
A gun isn’t fired to make matters better. Eastwood, 78, a filmmaker of delicacy, relies on dialogue to resolve problems. This isn’t the spaghetti western, nor is Dirty Harry present in the L.A. area. There’s a powerful courtroom scene that showcases one of the film’s most intense performances by Christine’s lawyer played by Geoff Pierson; he willingly took Christine’s case. He’s one of many L.A. residents who gladly sided with Christine to bring down the law.
Beginning with the 1928 Universal logo, Changeling happens to satirize all of its color, abandoning the upstart energy of a dizzying L.A. so it can issue a bleak clarification of the events that will transpire. A simple tune, composed by Eastwood, consisting of a piano and guitar emphasize the disparity and bleakness. Films directed by Eastwood pay strict attention to detail; costumes, setting and color are all on the same page. These meticulous actions reflect a man who has become a perfectionist in his elder days. More importantly he has the patience to tell a good story.
Source
The goth-inspired Arkansas rock band Evanescence, with its Linkin Park-meets-Tori Amos sound backed by chugging guitars, easily made it to the top of the charts in 2003 with its Wind-Up Entertainment debut album, Fallen. Singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist/songwriter Ben Moody formed the band at the end of the '90s after meeting in their early teens during a "youth camp," Moody said in a statement. "I heard Amy playing Meat Loaf's 'I'd Do Anything for Love' at the piano. So I went over to meet her, and she started singing for me. I was pretty much blown away, so I suckered her into joining a band with me."
As a duo, Evanescence didn't perform live, instead opting to release EPs and the full-length Origin. Lee told the BBC that Evanescence was mastering demos in Memphis, TN, when she and the band were discovered by producer Pete Matthews. He shopped the songs to record companies in New York, and Evanescence -- rounded out by bassist Will Boyd, guitarist John LeCompt, and drummer Rocky Gray -- eventually landed a contract with Wind-Up, the home of Creed. The soundtrack to the 2003 Ben Affleck action movie Daredevil brought success to Evanescence; the begging "Bring Me to Life," which appeared on the soundtrack along with the ballad "My Immortal," became a hit. (Paul McCoy, of labelmates 12 Stones, rapped on "Bring Me to Life," which originated as a piano ballad.) The songs proved to be a head start to Evanescence's future hit album Fallen, produced by Dave Fortman (Boy Sets Fire, Superjoint Ritual) and released in March 2003.
Evanescence ran head first into controversy promoting Fallen. Originally, it was released in the Christian and secular markets; however, the band's use of profanity during an interview with Rolling Stone prompted its label, Wind-Up Records, to recall Fallen from Christian stores. Ironically, 12 Stones are also labeled Christian. Fallen surpassed double-platinum status, reaching the Top Ten in the United States, including the Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart, the Top Five in Canada, and number one in the United Kingdom. It spent more than 100 weeks on Billboard's Top 200; Evanescence also managed to pick up two Grammys (Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance) for the 2003 awards.
During a European tour late that same year, however, Moody abruptly left the group over apparent creative differences. Ex-Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo soon replaced him in the band; he clicked with Lee and the two became cohesive songwriting partners who worked to further define Evanescence's classically influenced hard rock identity. The band continued to tour nonstop for the next year, and they issued the live album Anywhere But Home (recorded at a show in Paris) in November 2004 to hold over fans hungry for their follow-up. It also went platinum. More internal band drama ensued -- including Balsamo recovering from a stroke suffered in fall 2005 and Boyd's departure the following summer -- before that album, The Open Door, finally appeared in early October 2006. Tim McCord (ex-the Revolution Smile) joined up in Boyd's place that August, switching from his usual guitar to bass. Spearheaded by the single "Call Me When You're Sober," the album displayed a broader emotional range amid the band's evolving sound. Evanescence played several intimate theater dates immediately following the record's release before moving on to larger arena shows. ~ Christina Fuoco, All Music Guide
Source
