REVIEWS: ‘Miss Peregrine,’ ‘Ang Babaeng Humayo,’ ‘My Rebound Girl’
Eva Green as the titular guardian in “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
Starring: Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Tim Burton
Rating 4 out of 5
American teen Jake (Butterfield) searches for Miss Peregrine (Green), the guardian of powerful misfits, to figure out a relative’s baffling death. In the process, he discovers the secrets that keep the enigmatic headmistress and her “Peculiars” hidden from horrific threats, including a madman, Barron (Jackson), and his crew of vicious monsters.
Burton’s inimitable visual style makes the effects-heavy romp fascinating, and screenwriter Jane Goldman’s script keeps things unpredictable to the uninitiated.
Green, known for her portrayals of strong women—she’s memorably played witches, warriors and enigmatic beings—is a good fit in Burton’s eerie new world, which is rife with mythic clashes and oddball creatures. —O. Pulumbarit
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans
Director: Tate Taylor
Rating 4 out of 5
Rachel (Blunt), an alcoholic artist, has difficulty moving on after a divorce, and has become obsessed with strangers she regularly sees from her train window. She imagines stories about those near-perfect spouses (Bennett and Evans), who live a few houses away from her estranged husband (Theroux). Rachel attempts to recall details of a drunken stroll in her old neighborhood, which coincides with the mysterious disappearance of a resident.
Blunt is world-weariness personified—she’s both appalling and pitiful as the self-destructive Rachel. Taylor’s film tells her story intimately as it interweaves the fascinating narratives of similarly suffering women.
As a psychological thriller, it’s pretty sturdy, if formulaic—but ultimately, Blunt and company form a strong ensemble that offers a complex dissection of relatable frailties. —O. Pulumbarit
ANG BABAENG HUMAYO (THE WOMAN WHO LEFT)
Starring: Charo Santos, John Lloyd Cruz, Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Michael de Mesa, Mae Paner
Director: Lav Diaz
Rating 5 out of 5
Lav Diaz’s Golden Lion-winning drama, “Ang Babaeng Humayo,” offers a tantalizing portrait of a woman torn between inherent kindness and her gnawing need for revenge. Charo Santos portrays falsely accused teacher, Horacia Somorostro, 30 years after she was wrongfully hauled off to prison.
“Humayo” is Diaz’s most “accessible” production to date. At three hours and 47 minutes, it is likewise one of his “short(er)” films, whose running time is only twice the length of an average mainstream movie.
The black-and-white film has its “real-time” moments, too, but they pretty much add up to justify the conflicting emotions that seethe and stew inside Horacia’s head as she mulls over her continually shifting circumstances—which the award-worthy Charo conveys with alternating thespic ferocity and quiet grace. —R. Asilo
SAUSAGE PARTY
Voice actors Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd, Salma Hayek
Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan
Rating 4.5 out of 5
In the animated adult comedy, food products are intelligent beings, unknown to supermarket shoppers. Two of these smart items find a unique connection—Frank the sausage (Rogen) and Brenda the sandwich bun (Wiig). They, along with other items being sold, believe that untold rewards await them once the “gods” (ordinary humans, unknown to them) take them from their “home.”
Frank and Brenda look for the truth in a supermarket filled with all sorts of items—while questioning their seemingly forbidden attraction and the life that awaits them outside the store walls.
“Sausage Party” is filled with cussing and sexual situations, but despite the focus on cackle-worthy lewdness, it still inserts sense and substance into these characters’ predicaments. O. Pulumbarit
MY REBOUND GIRL
Starring: Alex Gonzaga, Joseph Marco
Director: Emmanuel dela Cruz
Rating 2 out of 5
After a series of heartbreaks, Rocky (Alex Gonzaga) creates a set of rules for herself to avoid another romantic mishap. Then, she meets dashing new business partner Rich (Joseph Marco), who’s also mending a broken heart. With a string of items on her list upended, is Rocky headed for another heartache?
Despite its brisk pacing, Dela Cruz’s film quickly overstays its welcome—and the rest of the act eventually becomes loud and annoying.
Gonzaga is weighed down by too much manic energy and her penchant for relentless shouting and livid histrionic schmaltz. To make matters worse, Alex and Marco’s vaunted screen pairing is largely devoid of chemistry. —R. Asilo
