It's a WHISKY business.

Cheers to Shia LaBeouf, a performance as hard as a straight up vodka.

Shia LaBeouf has proven himself even before Lawless. In fact, Russovoir was bent to watch Lawless because of his well-received, and well-maintained reputation in shia-ning light of his films that surely were of his discretion to play. To his shia-ck, LaBeouf has grown so much since Even Stevens (2003). On which until to this day, Russovoir can't help comparing him with in an almost possessing nostalgia.

He knows the art of pain, re-beouf of all unnatural front, as sincere to be vicarious as Kristen Stewart with her own art of brooding and ponder, Speak (2004). Alongside his independent films, Disturbia (2007) Eagle Eye (2008) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Lawless is yet another film that proves his audacity and expertise as an actor of value, maturing in the industry as if strategically.

"Invincible. I don't know what that means but it sure sounds good."

Brutal and merciless, at an antiquated time where a gun shot is deafening, Lawless is the declassification of Virginia's foaming secret. The Bondurant brothers have each a role to play to keep the liquor flowing for eventually it will be strained. Like a mad frat party, they came for the alcohol and will stop at nothing to get it. But here's the kick that burns one's throat. The Bondurants are the hosts and won't entertain if not for the agreed, familiar wrist lock.

An Unf-ARGO-ttable MOVIE-ment!

The trailer was a trail leading obscurely, the poster was a post sufficiently inadequate, Argo was initially, and Russovoir couldn't honestly be more ashamed in admitting, an indifference. Not limited to Ben Affleck where his affleck-tion is "okay" since The Town (2010), the title, the "colorood" (color + mood) of the picture - probably even the moustaches - all contributed to the adamant withdrawal.

Russovoir even made the mistake - such unfounded audacity - it's a waste of film. Eureka, Russovoir  has a friend telling, persuading him otherwise, as if the universe shall not grow older without watching an edge-of-your-seat historical feat film. It revealed a snapshot of US history, what was once was top secret, that this generation should be aware and commend the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Canada alike for. That even if deprived of the advancement and technology before, espionage has already made the engine before the wheel.

"Hi, I'm Kevin Harkin, and I'm sending you home."

It was the best bad idea they've got, and it will work if everyone conspires. That is the very essence, the moral lesson if need be, of Argo. The number of films that shows and proves US has one of the most organized and reliable security services cannot be counted. Let alone the CIA, a government-funded organization responsible for parting a sea of information leaking onto the people who tread dry land. What descending of Air Force One (1997) is ascending of Argo, the distress is palpable as it is oddly exhilarating. Trust Russovoir he stiffened.

    

Before it was CLIMAX, now it's a LOOPER.

Russovoir wishes he could tell you right now, right here the loop of Looper that felt like - how fitting this is - a roller coaster ride.

As if life was kind enough for a precaution, unsolicited and completely at random, a seemingly frank woman who clearly has watched the film said it's an hour too long. There are only a few films that are acceptably two (2) hours long; in fact I can only think of one movie franchise: Harry Potter. Everything else who tries to break the standard length of a film must have a story so well-written, so compelling that time has to seem it didn't matter, brain disabled the need to pee. To Russovoir's disappointment, he did remember looking at the time with brewing impatience, wondering how will this movie end, an hour and a half of "loop tying" gone by. It must have a compromised ending; a loop poorly done, it's not gripping. Then like a noose, the film's loop constricts! Russovoir felt death all around the room.

Russovoir didn't breathe; ten seconds of unblinking, surreal climax.

"I saw how a mother would die for her child..."

It was a mood changer, the last twenty minutes. It was honestly, and frankly genius story making. In result, Russovoir didn't mind that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had so much cake and facial corrections (to look like Bruce Willis as closely as possible) that looked like he just came from a botox procedure. All the same, he is knot a bad actor, to say the least. There is action, there is suspense, and why Russovoir didn't see it coming he applauds Hollywood, there is motherly reform.

Pitch Perfect: Sound of WUB! WUB! Music.

Russovoir remembers, has it been four (4) days now, Russovoir remembers applauding with snorting laughter. Not that it's unusual that he applauds at something remarkable in the movie house, he remembers it because the applauds were done alone and brazenly.

Pssh, killjoys.

Pitch Perfect is nothing short of a long overdue musical film. You see, in a cordoned nutshell (it means no spoiling), it is a story of creating newfangled, upbeat music apart from the shing-a-ling-a-lings and wo-o-wo-os (The Carpenters (1970), Yesterday Once More) - truly classic - that bore the Dubstep generation. The WUB! WUB! age.

"I call this the Mermaid dance."

Rebel Wilson (above) made the film loudly hilarious. Besides the energy from the aca-mazing acapella voices of performances placed strategically throughout to prevent an overdose of euphoria, the tastelessness of a routinary medicine. Think Rock of Ages (2012). Like Skrillex's last insatiable bass drop, Russovoir admits Pitch Perfect gave him a songbook of happy notes and good feeling rhythms inside that the outside rudely soundproofed due to demanding deadlines.

PUBLIC NOTICE: Pitch Perfect is exclusive to Robinsos Malls.

Top 10 Most Fashionable Gentlemen in Enderun Colleges.

Before I begin, I would like to apologize, on the expense of Russovoir, that this article is not about a movie. This is in celebration for the 1,300th visitor of his blog, CESTLAMOVIE, first seen up and running 10th of June 2012, exactly four (4) months old now. This cornucopia of the best movies Russovoir has seen is nothing but a portal of happiness, putting into words what has been pulsing madly in his head every after a great movie experience. While Russovoir is all about the aesthetics and magic of cinema, I, Russo, is about and inspiration-dependent of people, which doesn't really string far from cinema. I am pulsing with theories, ideals, and thoughts that shape who I am and hopefully what I want to become.  

Looking good is sort of a hobby of mine. It's, say, "passion", but far from making a career out of it. I find joy in dressing up like personality finally can be seen. With that, there is a contained, almost elusive smile for men who, somehow, from penny loafers to a dress shirt one wears, I see myself. It's pulsing in my head, so for good riddance, allow me to recognize the men that are consistent with their individual style and why they have been getting away with it.

10. Allen Dela Pena - The Weight Advantage

    Runner-Up: Miguel Del Rosario 

Jennifer Lopez once said, "I want the clothes to fit me, not the other way around." in Monster-in-Law (2005). One's worth is a crucial factor that provides an answer whether your clothes has to fit you or you fit them. Lopez just has the plumpest ass. It's an asset, so we understand what she's trying to say. Weight, on the other hand, is personal and conditional. Simply put, no one forces you to lose weight. What pleasing you put on yourself is the best proof that you love yourself.

9. Gyeong Hee Min (Kevin) - The Imported

Runner-Up: Jericho Tanangco

In this mass-produced, avant-garde-deprived, easily bemused locale we call nowadays, the bold is beautiful. From the pair of oxfords bought online, to the limited stock, and the one of a kind pieces that seem to always get lost in time and space (e.g. Supras, leather jackets), the foreign and the classic strike us by surprise. But trust me, for what the work and worth expended, it serves about right. Much less of attention-seeking than of attention-grabbing. There's a difference.

8. Luigi Santos - Bask in Build

Runner-Up: Matthew Regalado

The clean look for gentlemen never fails. Quite fortunate for one's genetics as there is ease and kind of, implied tendency to look good because you feel good. The universal truth is this. A man will only know how to dress himself if he is aware of what it will do in his favor. Interlacing somewhere in a man's DNA is a genetic instruction that states, "I am good-looking, I'd be fine with a plain Fred Perry."

7. Miguel Sermonia - The Breadth Winner

Runner-Up: Enrique Yabut

The distinctive quality is their framework: taller, broader shoulders, lithe to a lean physique. They're like mannequins: pieces fitting snugly, however simple and ordinary, it falls into the right places. Their height is such an asset that standing out is pretty much mandatory. And if that wasn't unfair enough, the Lord God gave them a critical eye for color coordination and impressive style. Criminal.  

6. Daniel Roleda - The Weight Disadvantage

Runner-Up: Sherwin Gope

Remember, the more you expand, the choices for clothes shrinks. No one likes to wear something that doesn't flatter them. It beats the purpose of being seen in them in public. If weight is the problem that prevents you to have what you think you deserve and long to wear from the best selection of clothes, you are your solution.
  
5. James McDermott - LV: Loud and Valiant

 Runner-Up: Dan Samson

I start to nod in pleasuring approval for men who are secure enough for spring colors, of the fedoras, blazers, and oxfords. A statement is louder on gentlemen. Make no mistake, it's noise for the eyes if not mindful. A stylish gentleman always go for the discreet but daring. The likes of McDermott are the unsung handful that are able to define it, and sport it (results may vary).

4. Dan Kaw - The Snob

Runner-Up: Jul Morado

Do you ever stop and really read the terms and conditions of anything? We don't, really. Well, certain gentlemen can snob the terms and conditions of style, and still look good. They seem not to invest money on the "good shit" for clothes, but they always seem to dress just fine. They seem not to care for themselves at all, yet they seem content. One would think they must be wearing much more than commercial fabric, much thicker than wool; they are wearing cool.

3. Ron Hortaleza -  The FAUX-fessional

Runner-Up: Carlos Medalla, Alumni

Clothes can deceive people. I'm sure any man of Enderun had been asked where they work, when in fact they are still a college student. We get respect from our fauxfessional look. A gentleman can pull this off because he walks the talk, poised and measured in manner. He has Jaeger LeCoultre to withstand the test of time, and with his uncompromising values intact and determined dreams written on brittle stone, he reflects his choices of style: of and for the blue-blooded.

2. JM Pabiton - The Pro-CASH-ional

Cash is king; Cash can dress you like a king. Affluent men and style often go find themselves in the same page as debit and credit on a balance sheet. There is nothing more admirable and frankly more masculine than a man paying for his things. Blood, sweat, tears, and sleep were risked just to sustain a family, support a child, a sibling, a lover/wife, or simply strengthening one's arm and leg because a Prada briefcase echoes hard work. Simply put, a cashmere sweater is for the gentleman who is his own bread and butter.

1. Jack Tuason - The POWER-fessional

"Sir Jack, are you wearing Fred Perry?", to which he replies, "No I don't think so. Converse." The next day I bought a Converse shirt. POWER is INFLUENCE, and influence creates a ripple in society as pervasive as a loose thread on a shirt pulled rashly. Round-framed glasses are attributed to John Lennon as evidently as Steve Jobs for black turtlenecks. Locally Enderun, he was a second g-lance for his flamboyant bow ties. Guess who? Character is embedded, embossed, emanating from the clothes - accessories, of a reputable gentleman.

The true august gentlemen dress with the careful and selective stitching of honor and glory into almost everything they put on. This is why some notable men dress effortlessly that attests one of life's greatest paradoxes: it takes so much effort to be effortless.

Egos will be stroked; suspicions will arise, but despite that, let this be a challenge to every gentleman listed here to continue putting color into your wardrobe, the symphony of trendy and the classic, the wedlock of metrosexual and heterosexual, and still able to go home and provide and make love to your woman. Had women were an accessory, they've gotten a limited edition. It is truly comforting to know that there are men who still know, and are not ashamed, what a corsage is.

  "Be daring. Be different. Be impractical.
 Be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton.

 

s-HAWKE-ing but Insidious retains SCARIEST!

Russovoir applauds the finding what's already outside of the box and putting it back in. Sinister personally is a mesh of Children of the Corn (1984), Paranormal Activity (2007), and Insidious (2010). Without going so much into detail to avoid, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory), your mind of being preblown, the film is not exactly predictable despite elements resembling the mentioned films. It's a whole new experience - not as realistic as Insidious - but it's an experience - say, a new figure of scary - relatively one's while.

It's been a while Ethan Hawke has come out and play, so I commend him for that. Or Russovoir  has just been - surely unconsciously - apathetic of his prior films (Do comment films of Hawke's you personally think grabs one by the talons). And there's the reappearance of child actor Michael Hall D'Addario from People Like Us (2011); he was a familiar face. Longer hair, vaguer in gender (for the record, he's a boy). First it was Isabelle Fhurman whose very face is indelible as the sex-starved, latent dwarf in The Orphan (2009). Tenuously, The Possession's (2012) Natasha Calis as the possessed, troubled 10-year old. Sinister didn't have as intimidating a character but the film has set a standard - ingenious standard, I must add - to all aspiring horror films. Let's just agree it's a relief Hollywood succeeds in creativity than Shake, Rattle, & Roll 14. Fourfuckingteen.

"Did you say eater of children's souls?"

Furthermore, Baghuul was a hauntingly refreshing sight (on the screen, center). Trust Hollywood creating a character from scratch, provided of course eclectic inspiration. Entities coming from harmless objects (in this case, a Super 8 mm camera) dates us back to that film that unwind an unrealized fear of global magnitude with just a videotape, The Ring (2002), an adaptation of Japan's Ringu (1998). With an element proudly one of ours, Feng Shui (2004), this is a horror film as convenient as products that have a 3-in-1 spin. Quite sinister.

Brokeback Mountain: LAPD Edition.

The poster, after all, was deceiving. Russovoir expected End of Watch to be a cutthroat action thriller with a noisy gun orchestra as the only audible music in between deafened screams and cries. Russovoir thought it's a grim story of cat and mouse that will have to make the picture shaky and shady which almost often motivates staggered naps.

So when Russovoir found himself crying, he felt punch-drunk harassed.

It just could be either the well-written, well-paced plot, or just solely Jake Gyllenhaal. He was just this completely new character no one expects but everyone concedes once done. Then again, Russovoir has yet to watch Jarhead (2005), that he thinks is still uninteresting until today. He can be vulnerable and sensitive in one scene and assertive and aggressive in another. It's almost hard not to admire this 31-year old man. The amount of tenderness in End of Watch is pleasantly reminiscent of one of his notable and career-turning films, Brokeback Mountain (2005). It's like the inimitable personality of James Dean has finally shown itself - took a lot of practice, perhaps - to an actor of distinctly inimitable personality on itself. He is simply a bright sticky note on a corkboard. Among other sticky notes.

"You got a big heart for hooking up with a policeman."

The film is a glimpse of the everyday life of policemen; one being roughly nine (9) months ahead the other - partners, i-got-your-back kind of friendship for Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Pena). For a policeman in downtown Los Angeles where crime and violence seem staple, they need each other's back like a gun needs a safety lock. The progression of events confuses you at first because you don't know what the film's focus is: the nature of their jobs or their personal lives. Then you gradually realize the once thought unrelated scenes both were significant actualities to agitate two (2) particular emotions, as if they were the two wires that trigger an inner explosion. Russovoir came to recognize this as anger, so angry that he felt helplessly weakened and just burst into sorrowful tears.

End of Watch is beautiful despite savagery. A film of brothers from different mothers that captures how they work. Truly much respect is given to the Los Angeles policemen for their courage and dedication to their posts, where peace and order are assured only until they die.