Pleasant surprises–and rediscoveries

We love watching old movies, so we were pleased as punch last week when, in just one day, we were able to watch “Stranger Than Fiction” on HBO, and “Mutiny on the Bounty” on TCM. The first film, directed by Marc Foster, was about a man (Will Ferrell) who felt trapped in a dead-end life

—until he almost died while trying to save a boy’s life, and realized that no life is “useless!”

“Mutiny on the Bounty” is a much older film starring a young Clark Gable and Charles Laughton before he became portly and plump.

The unexpected “twin treats” reminded us that there’s a virtual library of “oldies but still golden goodies” available on the many movie channels we now have.

So, film buffs should stop complaining, survey the many cinematic choices out there—and take the time (perhaps on weekends?) to savor them again, or for the first time.

Other recent rediscoveries were the exceptionally moving and meaningful religious films that we’ve come to value and love through the years. They include “Joan of Arc,” with Ingrid Bergman turning in a luminous and felt portrayal of the young saint and martyr.

George Stevens’ “The Greatest Story Ever Told” stars Max von Sydow as Jesus Christ. In Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” the coveted role is played by Jim Caviezel.

In “The Song of Bernadette,” Jennifer Jones plays a peasant girl (Bernadette Sububirous) who has a vision of “a beautiful lady” in France, in 1858.

In “The Gospel According to St. Matthew,” Pier Paolo Pasolini presents a controversial portrait of Jesus as a marxist. And “Jesus Christ Superstar” is the film version of the hit stage musical that similarly presents the Son of God in a modern light.

Other religious movies worth a second view include “Jesus of Nazareth,” “Noah,” “Quo Vadis,” “Spartacus,” “The Robe,” “King of Kings,” “Ikiru,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “The Miracle Worker,” “The Mission,” “Schindler’s List,” “Wild Strawberries,” “Tender Mercies,” and “Life Is Beautiful.”

Some of these titles show that a movie doesn’t have to be “biblical” or even overtly spiritual to help viewers arrive at insights that can illuminate and inspire their hearts—and souls!

‘Kung Fu Panda 3’

Sequels of hit movies always run the risk of being duds and flopping with a big, fat pffft!—if they fail to live up to expectations. Many follow-up movies end up as failures because they pretty much just “Xerox” the original hits and don’t offer anything new.

The good news is that “Kung Fu Panda 3” has avoided this dead-end fate, because it takes its story into a new and better direction, making its resident hero contend with new conflicts and relationships, which make him see and appreciate himself for what he truly is:

This time around, Po finally gets to meet his real father, Lishan, who takes him to a secret panda village in the mountains. This happens just in the nick of time, because Po’s all-powerful mentor, Master Shi Fu, and Furious Five cohorts, have been defeated by the sequel’s main villain, Kai, who has captured their chi or life force, using it for his own dastardly ends.

Faced with the “impossible” task of rescuing his mentor and friends, Po needs all the psychic help he can get, so his newfound panda family and clan are exactly what the script doctor ordered!

In addition, this production’s storytelling and visualizing style is not just state-of-the-art, but also creative and full of heart.

As a result, the brilliant “technicals” doesn’t upstage the character’s emotional “journey” and run away with the film, which happens only too often with other animated features whose innovations are too shallowly spectacular for their own good.

Yes, the final battle versus Kai and his metaphysical minions may take too long, but the film is generally a bright, uplifting and fun viewing experience!

‘Just Duet’

For months now, the “Just Duet” singing tilt on “Eat Bulaga” has been exciting viewers with its unique concept of pairing popular singers with relative “unknowns,” motivating the newbies to “level up” to their stellar counterparts’ performances. It’s a daunting challenge that has been effectively met by some standout contestants, 18 of whom are now competing for slots in the tilt’s finals—and fans are excitingly keeping close tabs on the semi-finals to see who make it to the next and more stringent level.

Unfortunately, a key adjustment has been made that could turn out to be distracting and problematic: This time around, the duet format has been expanded into a trio—with one singing star performing with two semifinalists each day, and the tilt’s resident judges now have to listen to all three singers, then choose the best of the two newbies as the winner for the day.

We submit that having to do all that in the space of one musical number is asking too much of the jurors, who have to do a lot of extra “focusing” and “delineation” to come up with an objective evaluation.

Yes, the star singer is not their key coordination, but their attention is still being divided too much by the “adjusted” performing situatuion. Could a “readjustment” be made, back to the original duets format?