Wednesday, February 27, 2019

The Favourite

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Her majesty Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) heavily relies on a select group of people to run her kingdom. One of them is her trusted confidante Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), the duchess of Marlboro and her childhood friend. The two share a bond that goes beyond platonic, satisfying one another in ways that would be deemed scandalous in the time period they are in. Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) was once a lady but has since fallen into rough times due to her irresponsible father’s gambling ways. She seeks the assistance of her cousin Sarah to be employed in the royal kitchen. Her being street smart impresses both duchess and queen. Soon enough, she is on her way up the social ladder, gaining the monarch’s attention and spiting her cousin who is slowly falling from grace. In this game of politics and wit, who will end up as the favorite?

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Alone/Together

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UP Fine Arts student Christine (Liza Soberano) doubles as a tour guide at the National Museum as a part-time job. Stopping in front of Luna’s Spoliarium, she informs her guests that the artwork has inspired a variety of works in different mediums, including a misspelled single from the Eraserheads called “Spolarium”. Pre-Med student Rafael (Enrique Gil) begs to differ and gives her a copy of the album as proof. A friendship is formed and quickly blossoms into young love. Naïve and still idealistic, the two of them plan their lives together while enjoying the moment, with the possibility of not ending up together not crossing their minds even once. She wants to hone her craft through internships in several museums abroad with the backing of her stellar academic record. He wants to be a successful doctor but seems lost in the moment. Five years later they are no longer together, until one day they meet once more.

Friday, February 15, 2019

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 10


10. The White Violin
Vanya goes on a rampage leaving the mansion in shambles, with Pogo and Mom both dead. The Handler visits Hazel and Cha-Cha, giving a new assignment to protect Vanya at all costs in exchange for some ex-deals. Five figures out that it is Vanya who causes the apocalypse. She plays the violin as first chair at their concert. Her brothers try to take her out. Allison wants to reason with her. They are all attacked by The Commission’s foot soldiers. Klaus’ sobriety upgrades his power set making Ben corporeal, unleashing his tentacled monstrosities to help the team despite being dead. Hazel betrays Cha-Cha, goes back to the motel, and shoots the Handler in the head. As the boys are paralyzed by Vanya’s powers, Allison decides whether to gun her sister down. She shoots at the glass dome instead, distracting Vanya and causing her power to ricochet straight to the moon, making it explode and hurl its fragments toward Earth, triggering the apocalypse. Five teleports all of his siblings to another timeline just as the planet disintegrates.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 9


9. Changes
The boys manage to bring Allison back to Pogo and Grace in time to save her life, but her vocal cords are severely damaged. Vanya discovers Reginald’s diary in Leonard’s possessions and confronts him about his manipulation of her. He tries to come clean then taunts her when he fails. She kills him with her powers. Diego, Klaus, and Five find Leonard’s dead body in his apartment. Five concludes he’s the owner of the prosthetic eye. When Allison wakes up, Pogo and Grace admit the truth about Vanya’s powers to her and Luther. Hazel visits Five at the mansion to help stop the apocalypse but he is informed that it has been averted with Leonard’s death. He happily goes back to Agnes whom he finds tied to a chair. A battle with Cha-Cha ensues, interrupted by the stopping of time signaling the appearance of the Handler with a briefcase on hand. Vanya returns to the mansion and is imprisoned by Luther in her soundproof cage, much to the disapproval of their siblings, including Allison. Vanya manages to break free, embracing her powers full-on.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 8


8. I Heard a Rumor
Hazel runs away with donut entrepreneur Agnes (Sheila McCarthy) while Cha-Cha sets the donut shop ablaze and purses the two. Diego escapes from prison. Five wakes up. Klaus narrates his séance with Reginald to his siblings. Allison goes on her own and teams up with a local cop to investigate Vanya’s whereabouts, which is linked to the ongoing investigation of an incident the other night that left two people dead and one in critical condition. Leonard is beaten to a pulp and loses an eye in that brawl, but requests for immediate discharge from the hospital. In reality, he paid the three to assault them to trigger Vanya’s powers. A flashback reveals Vanya’s powers being uncontrollable as a kid, leading Reginald to drug her daily and ask Allison to rumor her sister into believing she is ordinary. The secret is unveiled as the two sisters face off. As emotions run high, Allison tries to rumor her sister into submission, but not without her neck getting slashed by Vanya’s powers first.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 7


7. The Day That Was
Harold Jenkins was born on the same day as the 43, but at a different time and without powers. Obsessed with the Umbrella Academy, he believes that he should be part of the team, but he is humiliated by Reginald. Suffering from emotional abuse, he murders his father and gets 12 years in prison. As he gets out at present day, he camps outside the mansion, retrieves Reginald’s diary tossed by Klaus in the trash, and zeroes in on Vanya as an aspiring student named Leonard Peabody. Five’s reappearance resets his siblings’ day. Luther turns to liquor and parties the night away. Diego gets arrested for his ex the detective’s murder. Five collapses due to a gunshot wound and goes on bed rest. Allison investigates Jenkins on her own. Klaus summons their father instead of his GI lover and discovers that the old man committed suicide to get the siblings back together to prevent the apocalypse. Leonard takes Vanya to his family’s vacation home where they get assaulted and she kills two of the three drunkards with her powers.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 6


6. The Day That Wasn't
Luther calls a family meeting to discuss how they can prevent the apocalypse, but not one of his siblings is interested after finding out that in the future Five has been to, they all die anyway. They spend their last few days pursuing personal agenda. Luther discovers that his mission to the moon was his late father’s way of showing pity by giving him a semblance of purpose. Allison books a flight to be with her daughter. Klaus strives to be sober and manages to summon his dead GI lover from the Vietnam War. Diego is hellbent on killing Hazel and Cha-Cha. Vanya takes Leonard to the mansion, but they leave after she feels shut out from the rest of the group as always. Ranting on the way back to Leonard’s, she makes parked cars shake and lamp posts bend to her will. She discovers Reginald’s diary and her secret powers. Five quickly ascends in the hierarchy of the Commission then betrays The Handler by time travelling to the start of his siblings’ day with a clue care of The Handler on hand: “Protect Harold Jenkins”.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 5


5. Number Five
Five lives a few decades stuck in an apocalyptic future until a woman dressed to the nines appears in front of him. She calls herself The Handler (Kate Walsh), the head of a commission in charge of preserving the balance of time continuum. She recruits him as one of their time-hopping assassins, but he breaks his contract by returning to his family’s timeline to prevent the apocalypse. A disgruntled Klaus comes back after time-traveling to 1968 and staying there for a year. He destroys Hazel and Cha-Cha’s time machine before teaming up with Diego to seek revenge on the duo while Luther and Five set a trap for them, too. Five manages to summon The Handler again, making a deal that he’ll go back to work for them in a management position if his siblings are made to survive the apocalypse. Vanya auditions for a now vacated first chair position and gets it after embracing her new meds-free life. Somewhere in Leonard’s attic lies Reginald Hargreeve’s missing diary. Allison’s suspicions about her sister's new boytoy might be true after all.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 4


4. Man on the Moon
Seven years ago, Luther was the only one left at the academy. His father sends him to a fatal mission. He injects him a serum to save his life, and he wakes up with simian mutations on his body. Five ambushes the Meritech personnel again. Hazel and Cha-Cha torture Klaus and get high on one of his cannabis chocolates, after which they pay Meritech Prosthetics a visit and set it on fire. Luther and Diego team up and find Five drunk at the public library. Allison goes to Vanya’s apartment and walks in on Leonard sneaking out. The sisters go out for drinks and Allison warns Vanya about him. Vanya finds out that he left flowers for her in the kitchen. What she doesn’t know is that he stole her bottle of meds and emptied the contents down the drain. Diego’s ex, detective Eudora Patch (Ashley Madekwe), finds a captive Klaus at the motel. She is shot by Cha-Cha and later found dead by Diego. Klaus escapes and takes the duo’s briefcase with him. He opens it on the bus and with a flash of blinding light, he and the case are gone.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 3


3. Extra Ordinary
Five years ago, Vanya wrote a tell-all book about the Umbrella Academy which caused friction with her siblings. After getting lambasted by a mean girl at her orchestra about not being special, she seeks refuge in Leonard. Five camps outside Meritech Prosthetics but does not seem to be getting anywhere until he sees the personnel hand over a package to someone in a car. He spatial jumps and follows them. Upon seeing old footage with Allison, Luther is convinced that their robotic Stepford Wives mother Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins) might have killed the old man. Vanya argues that she was programmed to be a protector and that her recent failures might point to hardware damage. The siblings vote whether to deactivate her, much to Diego’s chagrin because of his emotional bond with her. Hazel and Cha-Cha trace Five’s residence back to the academy and attack the mansion where a battle ensues with Luther, Diego, and Allison. They retreat, but not without taking Klaus hostage, unbeknownst to his siblings.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 2


2. Run Boy Run
Five explores time travel despite his father’s warning about the repercussions. He ends up in an apocalyptic future where he finds the dead bodies of Four, Three, Two, and One, who is clutching a prosthetic eye. Back at present, he pursues his lead with the help of Klaus and traces it back to Meritech Prosthetics. With a bit of theatrics and blackmail, they find out that based on its serial number, the eye hasn’t even been manufactured yet. Agents Hazel (Cameron Britton) and Cha-Cha (Mary J. Blige) chase Five but seem to have a case of mistaken identity based on their intel. Luther tracks Diego’s whereabouts to a boxing gym where he mops the floor in exchange for a small room. Allison deals with losing her child’s custody post-divorce. Phinneus Pogo (Adam Godley), Hargreeve’s intelligent chimpanzee assistant, cheers her up by showing her surveillance footage of them as children. She finds a clue about Luther’s hunch that their father was murdered. Vanya entertains a new music student called Leonard (John Magaro) who is into her.

The Umbrella Academy: Episode 1


1. We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals
October 1, 1989. 43 women around the world who hadn’t been pregnant that morning give birth. Eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) vows to find all 43 and gets to adopt seven of them. He raises them as an elite group of superheroes called the Umbrella Academy. Many years later, his death brings back the brood together. Number 1 – super strong Luther (Tom Hopper) comes back from a mission on the moon and believes there’s foul play involved in their father’s death. Number 2 – telekinetic Diego (David Castañeda) lives life as a vigilante. Number 3 – celebrity Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) can control minds. Number 4 – Klaus (Robert Sheehan), who can communicate with the dead, just got out of rehab. Teleporter Number 5 (Aidan Gallagher) returns from a 17-year absence after getting stuck in the future and warns that the world is ending in eight days. Number 6 – Ben (Justin H. Min) has been long deceased but can be seen by Klaus. Number 7 – Vanya (Ellen Page) is a violinist and is said to not have any ability.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Alita: Battle Angel

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In a post-apocalyptic Earth of the future, Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers a dismembered female cyborg whose brain is still functioning. He brings her home and attaches her head to a new cyborg body naming her Alita (Rosa Salazar). The arrival of Dr. Chiren (Jennifer Connelly), Dr. Ido’s ex-wife, reveals that the cyborg has been modeled after their dead daughter. The cyborg does not remember anything about herself and what led to her disembodied state, but she quickly adapts as the doctor’s new adopted daughter. She is introduced to Motorball by Hugo (Keean Johnson), a scrap dealer who becomes her love interest. Together, they dream of traveling up to Zalem, a wealthy sky city that land-dwellers could only dream of moving to. Soon enough, Alita uncovers remnants of her history, a glorious albeit violent past of being a member of an elite group of hunter-warriors that might just be their ticket to Zalem.

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