cine chichirya: 17 AGAIN

wala kaming mapanood ng nanay ko kanina. dapat iba ang panonoorin namin pero walang kinahinatnan, kaya eto na lang...


17 AGAIN
d. burr steers
c. zac efron, matthew perry

pitch: regretful adult who used to be a high school basketball star discovers what's it like to re-live your youth

catch: um, BIG in reverse? FREAKY FRIDAY (the one with jodie foster my love and/or lindsay lohan the lesbian wannabe). 13 GOING ON 30 maybe.

whatever film it shares this shaky plot pattern with, shaky pa rin siya. at least the others had clear narrative structures and dramatic goals. this one? it's obviously just a vehicle to star the latest hollywood cutie. okay fine he has nice eyes. but after that, wit na. sorry sa HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL fans, pero walang USP sa akin ang boylet na ito ever e. oh well.

back to the story. manipis siya ati. at natatawa ako kasi ang lapit! sobrang lapit lang ng agwat! walang differentiation ng gaano. i mean, from matthew perry to zac efron? how big of a stretch is that??? chandler still looks like an overgrown high school kid, so it wasn't much of a stretch to have him play his 17 year old self ek. hanlabo. e kahit dun sa adult siya e, parang haiskul ang moda pa rin niya e. ewan. miscast 'ata 'to e, more than narrative loopholes. i mean, it worked fairly well with jaime lee curtis switching with lindsay lohan, and they both did a good job of portraying the other in the FREAKY FRIDAY remake. sa hitsura, sa postura, sa pagdala sa sarili, sa acting! winner si lindsay dito, and decades earlier, si 13 year old jodie foster sa original film.

ganun din si tom hanks sa isa sa pinaka-favorite film ko of all time, yung BIG. winner din siya sa acting like a kid in a grown man's body. bagay. akting! may isa pang kasabayang film ito noon e, na magtatay naman ang nagkapalit, starring a very young fred savage, he of WONDER YEARS tv fame. that one i also like. magaling kasi ang akting! hey, even jennifer garner pulled it off in that 13 GOING ON 30 bit. akting!

can't say the same for this one. marami pang bigas na kakainin si zac to be more convincing as a 30+ man in a young person's bod. man, he just looked like he was "acting like an adult" unconvincingly. hay ewan, basta malabo ito, acting-wise.

na-save ang pelikula ng ibang aspects na nakapaligid sa main actor, mga funny moments ng geek turned millionaire best friend niyang adult, mga subplots na friends niya ang anak niya etc. pero potah, nasisira lagi ng sablay na akting e. sablay sobra. hay.

saka yun nga, natatawa ako sa soooobrang laaaayo ng 1989 sa... 2006! like haller, ano hitsura ng cheerleaders noon? pareho rin ngayon. were they already dancing the pep squad-meets-janet jackson way that time? actually, di pa masyado, kasi si paula abdul actually ang kinda nagpauso nun, at 1989 pa lang siya sumambulat sa eksena, at sa 1990s pa actually mapi-pick up yung ganung cheerleading styles, after janet jackson popularizes them before paula does, kasi si paula ang choreographer ni janet sa earlier music videos niya. and the music? geez. from mc young's "bust a move" then to today's, what, mga hiphop? magkakatunog pa rin! at least yung 13 GOING ON 30, nag-effort na i-differentiate ito, yung nagsayaw sila ng "Thriller" ni michael jackson sa very 2000s na scenario. yun ang difference! malinaw! malayo!

at syempre maikukumpara ko ng matino ito dahil noong 1989, 16 years old pa lang ako! fast forward to today and i am roughly the age of chandler's character at the present. na nakakatawa dahil sa most of my generation ay wala naman nung angst niya, probably because we're asians! his dilemma and problem is so typical of americans that age. not to say na walang ganun dito, pero hindi gaano. wala pang looking back moda at may paghihinayang eklavu na di na-fulfil ang dream nila sa life ek. potah, he's just in his freaking 30s! it's not too late to reinvent himself, just like what others like him have done, and have been doing as we speak! kaloka! ang nipis lang ng angst and character motivation na ito, na napaka-unrealistic ang dating talaga. kaya natatawa ako habang pinanonood ko ito. sobrang unrealistic. sobrang fantasy film lang ito ng mga high school losers siguro, yung mga writers o producers hahaha! chakaaaaa!

and please, the title! noong mga panahong naglalagi pa ako sa star cinema, sinusurot puwet namin kakaupo for hours sa conference room to brainstorm a good title for an upcoming movie. ito naman potah, sana naman nag-effort pa ng kaunti ang brain cells 'no, para mapaganda ang title. hay mega ligwak to the max itey!

pinanood ko lang siya because i want to see how their variation of the plot pattern will turn out. buti na lang masarap ang popcorn sa sinehan kanina. kundi, laslas!!!