Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie. Show all posts

Saturday

Why hunks Tony and Marco don’t get turned on while doing love scenes


While their previous works can give people the impression that they’re already used to baring skin in front of the cameras, Marco Gumabao and Tony Labrusca insisted that it’s something that no one could ever get used to.

And the upcoming sexy drama flick “Hindi Tayo Pwede”—which had the two men doing steamy scenes with leading lady Lovi Poe—is no different. “It may seem like we’re comfortable doing those types of scenes, but the truth is, no—definitely not. We always get scared at first. There’s always hiya and awkwardness once you’re on the spot, and especially when you’re working with an actress you haven’t worked with in the past,” Marco told reporters at a press conference for the said film, which opens on March 4.



Marco, whose last film was another sexy drama—“Just a Stranger” with Anne Curtis—said being intimate with someone on-screen takes a lot of preparation. “For instance, I was informed that I was doing a love scene with Lovi on such a short notice … just the night before the shoot. That got me nervous because I wasn’t ready, physi­cally, at least. And you can’t help but worry about these things when you have to show off your body,” the 25-year-old actor pointed out. Thankfully, the process is much easier when working with a proficient actress like Lovi. “After the first take, the awkwardness starts to go away. And once you ­realize that you’re doing this for the movie, that’s when it all flows,” he said.

But even then, the two actors maintained that you can’t really get turned on while working. “We’re in a professional setting. What people forget is that when we do those scenes, there are a lot of people around us,” said Tony, whose passionate kissing scene with Angel Aquino in the film “Glorious” made headlines not too long ago. “You have the cameras, the lights, the director.”

“I know that when you see the end result, it’s like magic, there’s spark. But there’s a lot of hard work in it,” stressed the 24-year-old actor.

In “Hindi Tayo Pwede,” Tony plays Gab, who dies in a freak car accident days before his wedding with Gabby (Lovi). In her time of grief, Gabby gets comforted by Gab’s best friend, Dennis (Marco), who, apparently, has been secretly in love with her. Eventually, they get intimate. But as it all happens, Gabby still gets to communicate and make love with Gab via supernatural twist.

While the film’s trailer does highlight the steamy bits, “it’s not all there is to it.”

“We’re not selling it as a movie of love scenes. It really is mostly about relationships—there are confrontations, dramatic moments, too. It’s a love story among three people and each of them has his or her own burden to carry. I hope people get to see that,” Marco said. “When you love someone you express it by making love. It’s normal, that’s included in the film. But it’s really about how love transcends death. It’s a beautiful story,” added Tony, who was thrilled to be paired with Lovi for his first big screen project with Viva.

“I didn’t expect that I would be paired with her. And I’m really happy about that because Lovi is already an established actor who has proven herself in the industry. I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with her.”

How do they relate to their characters? Tony said he would have probably made the same decisions as Gab. “Imagine being so in love with someone—your one true love—and you die. If you’re allowed to come back and love that person again, wouldn’t you take that chance?” Meanwhile, Marco, like Dennis, has had the experience of falling for someone who’s in love with another person. “You can be the best of friends or have the best chemistry, but things still don’t work out because of various circumstances. You’re not just destined for each other. It’s sad. But that’s reality. It’s about acceptance. You have to move on,” Marco said.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Monday

Blasters ablaze, ‘Rogue One’ dominates in opening weekend


LOS ANGELES, United States — The latest blockbuster episode in the “Star Wars” anthology dominated weekend box offices in North America, humbling another popular Disney film, “Moana,” according to industry estimates.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” raked in $155 million for the three-day weekend, Exhibitor Relations said. It has brought in $290 million globally, and has yet to open in the vast Chinese market.

The North American figure was less than last year’s $248 million weekend opening of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” but still ranked the new film as 12th among all-time openings and third-best this year, according to Forbes.

“The movie lived up to expectations,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst with comScore. Based on the success of these latest two films, “The next film in the Star Wars saga has the potential to claim the title as the biggest movie of all time,” he said.

“Rogue One” blew away the $11.7 million weekend take of second-place film “Moana,” the computer-animated musical fantasy about a brave Polynesian teenager, which had ruled the box office for three straight weekends and has grossed $161.8 million to date.

Produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Gareth Edwards, “Rogue One” stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and Forest Whitaker. The first stand-alone chapter in the Star Wars epic — it is set shortly before the events of the original 1977 film — it tells the story of Rebel Alliance fighters trying to steal plans for the Empire’s feared Death Star.

Placing third in weekend box offices was “Office Christmas Party,” a Paramount comedy starring Jennifer Aniston, which took in $8.4 million.

Fourth was the Warner Bros. film “Collateral Beauty,” which notched $7 million in its opening weekend. With an ensemble cast including Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren, it tells the story of a man trying to cope with his daughter’s death.

In fifth place was the Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which chalked up $5 million, for a total so far of $207.6 million. Based on a 2001 book by J.K. Rowling, the Warner Bros. film stars Eddie Redmayne as a wizard in 1920s New York.

Rounding out the top 10 films were:

“Manchester by the Sea” ($4.2 million)

“La La Land” ($4 million)

“Arrival” ($2.8 million)

“Doctor Strange” ($2 million)

“Nocturnal Animals” ($1.4 million)

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Saturday

‘Wonder Woman’ buzz builds as star shares film’s first poster


SAN DIEGO—“Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot shared the first poster of the movie on Friday, ahead of its highly anticipated introduction before fans at the San Diego Comic-Con convention.

The image features a profile of the Amazonian superhero in her famous red, blue and gold outfit, clasping a sword against a pink and blue sky, above the words: “Power. Grace. Wisdom. Wonder.”

“A dream come true! Happy to finally share this with you all,” the Israeli actress and model wrote alongside a post of the image on Twitter.

Many convention-goers see Saturday’s “Wonder Woman” panel as the big event of Comic-Con. It is expected to premiere the first full trailer for the DC movie ahead of its release next summer.

Reaction to such new material is being watched carefully by industry analysts. “Wonder Woman” is the first modern superhero movie to focus exclusively on a female protagonist.

A misogynist social media backlash against the all-female “Ghostbusters” reboot shocked Hollywood, although much of the criticism arose from the fact that the leads in the original film were men.

The reaction to Gadot’s tweet was mainly positive, with Chris Cabin of the Collider film blog calling the image “eye-catching in its use of color and shadow.”

He added, however, that “part of me isn’t entirely comfortable with the fact that the image blacks out her face and focuses entirely on her figure.”

But fan account @dceufacts, which is devoted to news from the DC Comics Extended Universe, posted: “This is gorgeous! Best poster for a superhero movie in ages.”

The DC Extended Universe films are distributed by Warner Brothers, which released a new poster on Friday for keenly awaited Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

“We’re adding a little magic to (Comic-Con) with this new #FantasticBeasts art,” the film’s official Twitter account said of the poster.

It features Eddie Redmayne as “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, which is also the pseudonym under which J.K. Rowling wrote the book. A magizoologist, it seems, is one who studies magical creatures.

The poster’s artwork highlights the Prohibition-era New York setting of the spin-off, which takes place some 70 years before the events of the Harry Potter films.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

‘The Conjuring 2’ brings the big scares

The second installment of the James Wan-directed haunting series is a more conventional movie, one that's more determined than ever to terrify viewers



HAVE you ever been terrified of a piece of furniture? You will, after watching “The Conjuring 2” with your eyes covered by your fingers. The second film in the franchise from director James Wan (who had previously created the “Saw” and “Insidious” series) tries a different approach to terrifying viewers—including those who had already been scared by the first film in 2013—by trying out novel concepts such as a haunted armchair.

“The Conjuring 2” begins with the paranormal investigator couple of Ed Warren (straightforward Wan repertory company stalwart Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (the ever enigmatic Vera Farmiga) encountering the most notorious haunting in America, the Amityville horror in Long Island. The experience leaves the spook-sensitive Lorraine shaken and she asks Ed that they now stop dealing with the supernatural. But over in Enfield borough in London, England, the Hodgson family finds themselves scared beyond belief when something seems to inhabit the same house. To the horror of mom Peggy (Frances O’Connor), the presence seems to be attached to the second child, daughter Janet (a promising Madison Wolfe). The Catholic Church asks the Warrens to take a look, and, despite frightening premonitions of disaster, Lorraine is convinced to travel to Enfield.



True to the series’ devotion to true-to-life stories, “The Conjuring 2” is built around the controversial Enfield Poltergeist, suitably the most famous and documented of British hauntings.

The first “Conjuring” film was also about the haunting of a home, the Perrons in Rhode Island. That film, genuinely among the most frightening horror films of all time (along with films like the original “The Exorcist” from 1973 and 2001’s “The Others”), was a stylish exercise in subterfuge, with Wan using jump scares and tricks of perspectives to ambush the audience. That film made you start and stop, look around and shake your head before making you scream—even if you haven’t really seen anything.

“The Conjuring 2” takes a more direct approach. The film has a more complicated story, with several key revelations coming more than halfway through the film. The viewer essentially accompanies the Warrens (Lorraine in particular) to Enfield and will be let to decide if the Hodgsons are actually being pestered by an otherworldly being or if Janet is faking it. This isn’t as simple as it seems and Wan does a good job of keeping the audience guessing. Then it becomes an outright battle between good and evil, something that attacks the very core of what the Warrens represent and what they’re fighting for.

When “The Conjuring 2” finally reveals its true form, it becomes clear that Wan has decided to scare everyone he hasn’t scared yet. He does so by making a more conventional movie, bringing the big scares out of the shadows and into the unsteady light. There are things out in the open in “The Conjuring 2” that you’ve not seen before in a James Wan film, a considerable achievement considering Wan has directed or produced 15 horror films of varying nature.




“The Conjuring 2” does not feature the quiet moments before the horror seen in the first film; it relentlessly moves forward with one kind of scare after another. Wan brings back the usual suspects for this outing, notably his go-to musical composer Joseph Bishara, who has pretty much mastered the art of matching music with menace.

Wan is clearly expanding his reach with his deployment of both repurposed classic scare tactics as well as some fresher tricks in “The Conjuring 2.” It is obvious that the producers have found a franchise here, and we will probably see the Warrens in a third installment soon.

Armed to the rotting teeth with an entire range of frightening elements, “The Conjuring 2” represents the democratized, cutting edge of horror; it has something here—new and old— to scare just about anyone.

Warner Bros.’ “The Conjuring 2” opens in cinemas on June 9.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Tuesday

Transformers franchise reveal title for 5th film on social media


The never ending metal-clad war between the Optimus Prime-led Autobots against Megatron’s Decepticons is reportedly returning to cinemas soon, with a fancy new title to boot.

Dubbed as ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’, the film, which has been previously known simply as ‘Transformers 5’,  was unveiled on Instagram on Monday (Tuesday in Manila).

The short clip featured a close-up image of Prime’s alien-robotic face, with the sounds of heavy cybernetic breathing resonating in the background.

The image then fades into a title treatment, showing what seems lot be like an Excalibur-type sword, followed by the revelation that production will start in June.

Although the new title has been made public, plot details have yet to be released for the film which will once again be headlined by Mark Wahlberg and be directed by Michael Bay.

The pair spearheaded the the success of the 2014 film, Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Transformers: The Last Knight will reportedly hit theaters on June 23, 2017. Khristian Ibarrola

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Kristen Stewart, Marion Cotillard: Queens of Cannes 2016


There will be no shortage of movie star royalty at the Cannes film festival, but the true queens of this year’s red carpet will be “Twilight” megastar turned indie darling Kristen Stewart and French film siren Marion Cotillard.

Both actresses are sweeping into the French resort town with two films in the official selection.

Cotillard, 40, who has become a transatlantic celebrity with an Oscar and several Hollywood blockbusters under her belt, will appear in two films in the running for the top prize, the Palme d’Or.

In “From the Land of the Moon”, set just after World War II, Cotillard stars as a woman caught in an unhappy marriage who falls in love again. She also stars in “It’s Only the End of the World” by French Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, about a writer who returns home to tell his family he is dying.

While Cotillard was the first French actress since 1960 to win America’s highest acting award in 2008, Kristen Stewart became the first American actress ever to win France’s equivalent, the Cesar, in 2015, for her supporting role in “Clouds of Sils Maria”

Stewart, 26, became a celebrity icon for an entire generation as Bella in the blockbuster vampire romance-thriller trilogy “Twilight” but has gained a reputation for taking on passion projects, sometimes for little pay.

“I take part in successful productions to facilitate the existence of more modest films,” she told France’s Le Monde magazine.

This year she appears in the out-of-competition opening film, Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society”, about a young couple who fall in love in 1930s Hollywood.

She is also starring in “Personal Shopper”, a ghost story set in the Paris fashion world which is in the running for the Palme d’Or, teaming up again with “Sils Maria” director, France’s Olivier Assayas.

Stewart, a Los Angeles native, was first discovered by a talent scout who spotted her in a school play at the age of eight.

Her breakout role came opposite Jodie Foster in the 2002 thriller “Panic Room” and at 17 her career rocketed into the stratosphere when she landed the role of Bella Swan in “Twilight”.

Her relationship with “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson made her a tabloid favourite, particularly after she was pictured cheating on him with then-married director Rupert Sanders in 2012.

Up-and-comers
The festival will also feature young up-and-comers with plenty of celebrity blood in their veins, Lily-Rose Depp and Elle Fanning.

With parents like Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp and French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose was never going to fly under the radar, and the 16-year-old has already turned to acting and become the teenage face of Chanel.

She makes her Cannes debut as legendary American dance prodigy Isadora Duncan in “La Danseuse” (The Dancer) which will be shown in the “Un Certain Regard” section of the festival.

The young Depp made her cinema debut alongside her famous father in Kevin Smith’s 2014 horror comedy “Tusk”.

She also stars in the upcoming French drama “Planetarium” alongside Natalie Portman.

Another Cannes teen star is American actress Ellie Fanning, 18, who features in Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn’s horror thriller “The Neon Demon” about cannibalistic models.

The film is being shown in competition and is Refn’s first at Cannes since his “Only God Forgives” was booed three years ago.

Elle Fanning is the younger sister of former child star Dakota Fanning. Her ascent into stardom began when she was just two years old, playing a younger version of her sister’s character in the 2001 Michelle Pfeiffer/Sean Penn film “I am Sam”.

She has also appeared in Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Twixt”.

 Dunst on jury duty

Another Cannes queen is American film star Kirsten Dunst, one of four women on the nine-member jury who will decide who wins the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the world’s most prestigious film festival.

Dunst, 34, lifted the best actress award at Cannes five years ago for her part in Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia”.

Like some of her fellow Cannes royalty, she was a child star before building a glittering career by mixing arthouse hits like “Interview with the Vampire” and “The Virgin Suicides” with the “Spider-Man” films.

She will soon be seen in “Woodshock”, a first foray into film-making for Los Angeles fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Thursday

‘Star Wars’ cast and crew revel as fans and critics praise movie


LONDON - With fans and critics giving "The Force Awakens" the thumbs up, cast and crew of the latest "Star Wars" film expressed "huge relief" as the movie rolls out in cinemas worldwide.

The seventh episode of the popular sci-fi saga won over fans globally after months of secrecy surrounding the film, billed as the biggest movie release of the year.

Few details on the J.J. Abrams-directed picture have been released, except some broad character outlines in the run-up to this week's release.

As reviews were published on Wednesday following an embargo, cast and crew relished the positive feedback at the movie's European premiere in London after first hearing from the critics while travelling from Los Angeles, where "The Force Awakens" premiered on Monday.

"We were just getting ready to land and started looking at the reviews coming in and it was pretty exciting," producer Kathleen Kennedy told Reuters.

"There is nothing better than working really hard ... like we have on something that has such huge expectation and have it being well received. ... I was sitting behind J.J. Abrams and he kept turning around (saying) 'listen to this.' ... We were really excited."

The critical receipt to work done revitalising a franchise that began in 1977 and whose latest film came out 10 years ago was a "huge relief," Kennedy added.

Veteran "Star Wars" actor Anthony Daniels, known for his C-3PO character, said the reviews reflected work done filming.

"It sort of mirrors what I felt on the set because the atmosphere was so exciting, so loving, so full of fun ... it didn't matter what job anyone was doing, everybody felt good to be there," he said.

John Boyega, who plays troubled Stormtrooper Finn, said he had not yet read reviews but was "glad to hear there's positive feedback."

"I'm now fixated on the fans having a good time and having positive feedback also," he said.

"Star Wars" old hand Mark Hamill who reprises his role as Luke Skywalker, was happy the story was finally coming out.

"Secrecy is agonising, it's not fun," he said. "They're not trying to tease anyone they're just trying to keep the surprises for the movies instead of letting it out all on the Internet."

Newcomer Daisy Ridley, who portrays scavenger Rey, welcomed the reviews, but said there was one audience's views she was still awaiting.

"I think it's wonderful that ... everyone's work has been appreciated," she said. "I just want my family to like it." — Reuters

Friday

Leonardo DiCaprio to star in historical epic ‘The Revenant’


Leonardo DiCaprio stars in what movie critics consider his latest most powerful performance -- 'The Revenant,' a historical epic film directed, produced, and co-written by Academy Award winner director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

Inspired by true events and based on author Michael Punke’s “The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge,” the film explores life in 1823 America. DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, whose journey for survival and revenge shows a man's transformation amid harsh conditions and unpredictable peril.

“The Revenant is an incredible journey through the harshest elements of an uncharted America. It’s about the power of a man’s spirit," DiCaprio says in a press release.

"Hugh Glass’s story is the stuff of campfire legends, but Alejandro uses that folklore to explore what it really means to have all the chips stacked against you, what the human spirit can endure and what happens to you when you do endure," he added.

The rest of the cast includes Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck, Paul Anderson, Kristoffer Joner, Joshua Burge and Duane Howard.

'The Revenant' opens in Philippine cinemas this January 27. — Jessica Bartolome/RSJ, GMA News

 source: gmanetwork.com

Sunday

'Star Wars' director faces hype, history in 'Force Awakens


LOS ANGELES - The new installment in the "Star Wars" movie saga opens in theaters this month against a formidable force: the galactic hopes of devoted fans who have waited a decade to revisit their beloved universe of Jedi, droids and lightsabers.

Can "The Force Awakens," the seventh episode in the celebrated sci-fi series, meet those expectations when it debuts in theaters on December 18? "No," said director J.J. Abrams. "How can anything live up to any expectation like that?"

What the movie will offer, Abrams told Reuters, is great performances and visual effects, music "that breaks your heart and soars," plus a story, characters and creatures that are new, but feel like they fit in the universe created by George Lucas in the original 1977 film.

"George was creating a world that we wanted to go back to in order to tell a story we'd never seen yet," Abrams said. "In a way, we were going backward to go forward."

For example, he said, the filmmakers created droids "to feel completely new and different and at the same time something that was so of 'Star Wars.' That was always the challenge."

Lucas bowed out of "Star Wars" after he sold his film studio to Walt Disney Co in 2012 for $4 billion.

"There's no way that I can imagine anything touching the magic of what he did," Abrams said, "and yet we all did the best we could to make that happen."

Set 30 years after "Return of the Jedi," the new movie brings characters Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) back to their galaxy far, far away. Newcomers Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) lead a younger generation that grapples with the conflicts that haunted the past.

Disney is guarding details about the plot of "Force Awakens." The secrecy has stirred rampant online speculation, particularly about the fate of Skywalker, who is absent from trailers and posters promoting the new film.

Abrams said the character was purposely left off to keep key parts of the story under wraps.

"It's just what our narrative is," Abrams said, "so if it's driving anyone crazy, apologies. But it's mostly about wanting to protect the experience for the people who might go see the movie."

Ridley, who plays a scavenger, said the film captures the "delightful" tone of the earlier movies. "'Star Wars' never had like insane violence or anything," she said. "It's always joyful and always uplifting even though bad things happen."

"Force Awakens" also features "classic Star Wars humor, choppy dialogue," said Boyega, who described his role as a conflicted Stormtrooper.

Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren, a character dressed similar to Darth Vader who is presumed to play the main villain, though that depends on the perspective.

"I don't think he's evil at all," Driver said. "I think he's right."

Aside from fan anticipation, the movie faces lofty box office projections for the opening weekend, from $170 million to $220 million in just the United States and Canada, a level never achieved in December. "Jurassic World" holds the record with $208.8 million in June. —Reuters

Thursday

Solenn Heussaff reveals why she finally agreed to work with ex-bf Derek Ramsay


Malapit nang matapos ang shooting ng pelikulang Love is Blind, mula sa Regal Entertainment, kung saan magkasama ang dating magkasintahang sina Solenn Heussaff at Derek Ramsay.

Inamin ni Solenn na hindi naging madali ang pagsasama nila ni Derek sa isang project.

Saad ng Kapuso actress, “Noong pumasok ako sa showbiz, kahit ang tagal na naming hiwalay, palaging 'yun ang tanong. All the interviews, palaging sa kanya; sabi ko, ‘Puwede ba, this is my first time in showbiz. And years na 'yung breakup dati, so bakit kailangang pag-usapan?’"

“Ayokong magkatrabaho sa kanya kasi kapag may work, 'yun ang magiging tanong din.”

Bakit siya napapayag ngayon?

Paliwanag ni Solenn, “E, kasi, nine years na, sana naman naka-move on na ang mga tao. At least now, it’s good enough na nagkaroon na rin ako ng mark sa industriya, so okey lang naman din.”

First love

Awkward daw sila ni Derek sa unang araw ng shooting nila.

Ayon kay Solenn, “Awkward in a sense na I haven’t seen him in awhile. Kahit na we’re in the same industry, we never bumped into each other.

Nakaramdam din ba si Solenn ng pagkailang ni Derek sa kanya?

“No, as in first day lang 'yung awkward, 'yung second day, as if super parang walang nangyari sa nine years. Parang hindi namin kailangang mag-catch up na it’s a long time."

“Catching up lang, kasi ako dati, ayoko talaga sa showbiz. Sabi niya, ‘Bakit ka nag-change ng mind,’ catch up, catch up lang. And siyempre naman, he will always be a part of my life. First love ko siya, he’ll always be in my memory."

May mga pagbabago ba siyang nakita kay Derek?

“Same old Derek, same guy. He hasn’t changed kahit na successful siya, mabait siya. And, actually, nagulat ako sa galing niya sa pag-arte; sabi ko, ‘Galing mo, ha.’”

“Siyempre naman guwapo siya, attractive pa rin siya hanggang ngayon,” sagot ni Solenn.

Hindi naman daw nakakaramdam ng anumang selos ang fiancé ni Solenn na si Nico Bolzico sa muling pagsasama nila ng ex-boyfriend sa pelikula.

Aniya, “Si Nico, okey naman siya. Siyempre I asked him just to be sure, out of respect. Sabi niya, kung ready ako, okey lang sa kanya. So he’s very, very supportive."

Walang selos?

“Wala. Kung meron, baka he’s not showing it, he’s not the type. Kapag nasa work ako, nasa work ako; siya rin. Hindi kami nag-uusap tungkol sa trabaho. Alam niya lang na today, Marimar taping, pero 'yung details, hindi niya alam." —PEP

For the full story, visit PEP.

source: gmanetwork.com

Monday

‘Minions’ dominates with $115.2-M debut


LOS ANGELES - "Minions" ruled the weekend box office, racking up a massive $115.2 million in North America, for the second biggest animated film opening in history.

The Universal and Illumination Entertainment spin-off to "Despicable Me" just missed the domestic record set by "Shrek the Third's" $121.6 million kickoff in 2007, while continuing animation maestro Chris Meledandri's hot streak at the multiplexes. What makes Meledandri so valuable to studios is that he keeps budgets low. "Minions" cost $74 million to produce, a modest number considering that Pixar and DreamWorks Animation routinely spend north of $100 million on their animated features.

"I'm not sure the public is mindful of what films cost, they're more concerned with how they resonate," said Nick Carpou, Universal's domestic distribution chief. "Chris is able to produce films that speak to families, to children, to people everywhere."

The studio left nothing to chance when it came to reminding moviegoers why the loved the nattering, mischievous, highlighter-hued critters. Universal partnered with the likes of Snapchat, McDonald's, and Amazon to deliver nearly $600 million in publicity and promotions, according to a recent article by Bloomberg. The titular characters were ubiquitous popping up on everything from Twinkies to Chiquita bananas.

Carpou said he was made aware of the Minions' cultural currency this weekend while on an outing to a mall. A store featuring plush toys prominently displayed the "Despicable Me" characters.

"They're everywhere, those yellow guys," he said. "In a way they exist in the culture without even having a film attached to them."

The opening weekend crowd for "Minions" was 59% female, 55% under the age of 25, and 60% comprised of families.

"With anything that opens to over $100 million, you breach all demographics," said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. "The Minions are the stars of the 'Despicable Me' franchise...kids love them, teens love them, and adults love them."

"Minions" also enjoyed a sprawling rollout, debuting in 4,301 theaters. In recent months, there's been a lot of celebrating taking place on the Universal lot. The studio is the leader in market share thanks to hits like "Pitch Perfect 2" and "Fifty Shades of Grey," and has two films that have crossed $1 billion at the global box office with "Furious 7" and "Jurassic World."

"Minions" was such a behemoth that two newcomers, "Self/Less" and "The Gallows," risked getting washed away. Of them, "The Gallows" fared better, picking up $10 million, across 2,720 locations. The Warner Bros. found footage chiller cost less than $2 million to make, so it could be profitable. Entertainment 360 and Blumhouse Productions backed the picture about a high school play gone terribly, terribly wrong...and not in that teenagers putting on "The Crucible" kind of way.

Warner Bros. executives say the film is a modestly priced single, but was an important showcase for writers and directors Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing.

"We're cultivating young filmmakers and giving them a chance to grow and prosper," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution executive vice president. "These are really sharp guys, who have a long career in front of them."

Focus Features' "Self/Less" was not so fortunate, picking up roughly $5.4 million from 1,953 locations. The science-fiction thriller about a radical medical procedure is the latest film fumble for Ryan Reynolds, who is still laboring to get out from under the massive flops that were "The Green Lantern" and "R.I.P.D." The good news for the actor is that a trailer for "Deadpool," his upcoming R-rated comic book adaptation, rocked the Comic-Con crowd. Box office redemption may be nigh.

"Self/Less" was produced for $26 million, but the blow is softened in part by foreign pre-sales that limited Focus' and co-backer Endgame's financial exposure.

"Minions" also took a chunk out of some of the turbo-charged blockbusters still kicking around cinemas. "Jurassic World" slid 54% to $18.1 million, bringing its Stateside haul to $590.6 million, while "Inside Out" dipped 43% to $17.1 million, pushing its domestic total to $283.6 million.

Overall ticket sales were robust, improving nearly 40% over the year-ago period when "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" kicked off with $72.6 million. —Reuters


Julianne Moore takes best actress Oscar for ‘Still Alice’


LOS ANGELES - Julianne Moore won the best actress Oscar on Sunday for her role as a university professor with Alzheimer's disease in "Still Alice."

The win marked Moore's first Academy Award after being nominated four times previously. The 54-year-old actress was favored to win this year's prize after picking up Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA awards earlier this year.

"I read an article that said that winning an Oscar could lead to living five years longer," Moore said while accepting her award. "If that's true I'd really like to thank the Academy because my husband is younger than me."

In "Still Alice," the veteran actress plays a brilliant lecturer and beautiful redhead who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at 50. The small budget film was picked up for distribution by Sony Pictures only in September, thanks to Moore's award-winning potential.

Last year, she said she was attracted to the role because she had never seen Alzheimer's portrayed from the point of view of the patient.

The film was adapted from the novel "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova and was directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.

Moore has been among Hollywood's most celebrated actresses for the last 20 years, earning Oscar nominations for previous roles in "Boogie Nights," "The End of the Affair," "The Hours" and "Far from Heaven."

She also won an Emmy in 2012 for her acclaimed turn as politician Sarah Palin in the television movie "Game Change." —Nichola Groom/Reuters

Saturday

Halloween greeting from ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’


Columbia Pictures has just released a special video featuring the spooky but beloved characters from “Hotel Transylvania 2” wishing everyone a fa-boo-lous Halloween this Friday, Oct 31. The video also shows Count Dracula giving safety reminders on how to make this Halloween a “monster of a celebration.”



“Hotel Transylvania 2” is the highly anticipated sequel to the 2012 smash hit “Hotel Transylvania” from Sony Pictures Animation. Director Genndy Tartakovsky returns to helm the sequel, as do screenwriters Adam Sandler and Robert Smigel.
 
The original's principal cast also reunite for “Hotel Transylvania 2” led by Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Cee-Lo Green, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon and Jon Lovitz.
 
Opening across the Philippines on September 2015, “Hotel Transylvania 2” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

source: gmanetwork.com

Tuesday

Batman v Superman movie takes Comic-Con by storm


Look it’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Warner Bros. finally giving DC Comics fans what they wanted to see, and through a surprise reveal to boot!

Throughout the entire weekend of the multi-genre pop culture event that was the San Diego Comic-Con, lucky attendees (and the rest of the world via the Internet) were treated to several teasers and promotional items from studios and brands that have upcoming new comics, movies, toys, and hobby stuff for the coming year and beyond.

Among those participating, of course, were Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, who showcased some pretty amazing things at Comic-Con, especially as this year marks the 75th Anniversary of their Caped Crusading superhero, Batman.

However, despite setting up an awesome Batman 75 display that even featured a look at the new Cape and Cowl that Ben Affleck will wear as the latest Dark Knight, people were more curious about the progress the studio and director Zack Snyder have made so far with their very ambitious yet highly anticipated superhero film – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Throughout the first few days of the convention, the only official update for the movie was a new picture of Affleck as Batman, which made its way online and showed the Argo director and actor wearing the Batsuit and brooding in a close-up promotional image for the movie.

Also, Batman v Superman was not included in the list of movies Warner Bros. had for their panel presentation, which left plenty of fans concerned as to whether there would be updates on the film during SDCC at all.

But when it came time for the WB panel on Saturday, fans around the world finally got their prayers answered at the beginning of presentation.





In an unexpected turn of events, the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice logo was shown, and Zack Snyder went on stage to introduce a teaser video for the movie! The short video showcased not only a tease of the epic battle to come between The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel, but it was a near perfect recreation, if not homage, of the fight depicted in Frank Miller’s seminal story "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", in which The Caped Crusader is fully clad in an armored batsuit to take on his fellow Justice League teammate.

The teaser showed Affleck’s Batman suited up very much the same way, but standing beside a shining Batsignal that lights above a very angry looking Superman, once again played by Henry Cavill. The video then ends as Supes flies straight down to combat Bats, with the crowd raving in thunderous applause and approval.

Aside from a showcase of the World’s Finest, the world also got to see the very first look at Fast & Furious franchise star Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Dressed in full battle gear worthy of the character’s name, Gadot looked very much like an Amazon Warrior who’s ready to face anything, and she’ll certainly have her hands full when she fights side-by-side with Affleck’s Batman and Cavill’s Superman, or do something to quell their battle against one another to bring DC’s Trinity together to stand united for the first time in the big screen.



While it was certainly a tease of big things to come, the panel was arguably the best thing about this year’s installment of SDCC more than anything else. Even panel moderator and comedian Chris Hardwick was excited enough to take a selfie with the stars themselves Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, and Gal Gadot, who were present to just woo the crowd.

However, the team had to leave SDCC soon after to get back to filming the much anticipated sequel to 2013’s Man of Steel right away, but they certainly won over many hearts with what they have shown so far.
 
On a final note and while it hasn’t been released officially by WB on the web, a fan later recreated his version the teaser and posted it online:

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will fly into theaters in May 6, 2016! — JST, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com



Friday

Jake Gyllenhaal explores identity in doppelganger thriller "Enemy'


LOS ANGELES - What would you do if you came face-to-face with a doppelganger?

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve explores that question in the psychological thriller "Enemy," in theaters on Friday, based on Jose Saramago's 2002 novel "The Double."

Jake Gyllenhaal, 33, plays both Adam Bell, a teacher struggling to commit to a relationship, and Anthony St. Claire, a married aspiring actor. The two men are unrelated but look identical.

Adam discovers his double while watching an obscure film and descends into an obsessive search for Anthony. When the two meet, their lives become intertwined.

Gyllenhaal, who had to maneuver special effects and act with tennis balls used to digitally place Adam and Anthony on-screen together, said the film was "the most fulfilling creative experience" for him.

"Never have I had the opportunity to feel what it was like to act against my own instincts, and I actually was humbled by it," he said in an interview littered with laughs, Jay Z quotes and talk of serial killers.

"I think there were places where I thought I knew what I was doing, but then as I'd watch those and do it back, it wasn't easy to work with as I thought it would be."

"Enemy," billed as an erotic thriller, follows Adam as he faces an identity crisis. At times, the audience is taken into his psychological state, which Gyllenhaal described as "his anxiety, his questioning, the feelings that we feel inside of ourselves when we're faced with who we really are and who we perceive ourselves to be."

"The internal journey is the most interesting one to me," he said.

ARTISTIC INDULGENCE

Gyllenhaal gained critical praise last year for his performance as the obsessive Detective Loki in Villeneuve's "Prisoners," a thriller on child abduction co-starring Hugh Jackman. "Prisoners" was made after "Enemy" and reunited Gyllenhaal with the director.

The actor credited "Enemy" for enabling him to push himself to deliver intense scenes as Loki.

"'Enemy' was much more artistically indulgent in the way that we were experimenting with form and process," Gyllenhaal said.

"I was definitely not the center of attention on 'Prisoners,' I was doing my thing along with a number of many more talented actors than I am. Denis said very specifically to me before we started 'Prisoners' ... 'you're not going to get my attention in the way that you did,'" he added.

Gyllenhaal, whose parents are writer-directors and whose older sister Maggie is an actress, forged his acting career in his teens with breakout roles in 2001's cult hit "Donnie Darko" and in 2002's "The Good Girl" as a psychologically unstable young man.

After a leading role in 2004's blockbuster disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow," the actor earned a best supporting-actor Oscar nomination in 2006 for his portrayal of a gay cowboy opposite Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain."

He has since stayed with darker dramas, as with 2007's "Zodiac" and 2009's "Brothers" and more recently, a police officer who becomes entangled in the drug cartel world in 2012's "End of Watch."

The darker characters are getting harder to leave behind at work for the actor.

"You make physical transformations or you make mental transformations; the inside transformations are a lot harder, and they take a lot out of you," Gyllenhaal said.

"I can't just jump from one thing to the next, that's something I've learned. Once I've explored one world, I need some time back in my real life before I can even know what's right for me as an actor to go to next."

After the slew of dramas, the actor will be seen in director David O. Russell's comedy "Nailed," but he will return to grittier roles in "Nightcrawler" and "Everest."

"The exploration of the darker side of things really only allows me to appreciate the other side, you know. So the more I go (to the darkness), the more I can go the other way," Gyllenhaal said.

Then, with a laugh, he added, "But I don't need to go the other way," as if to say that the darkness suits him just fine. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Wednesday

Oscars pit gravitas of 'Slave' against pull of 'Gravity'


LOS ANGELES - To historian Brenda Stevenson, a scholar on American slavery, "12 Years a Slave" is a masterful cinematic work that achieves more than any other film on slavery, so worthy that she plans to screen it in classes at her university, UCLA.

It's the kind of validation "12 Years a Slave" has been earning from experts, critics, audiences and the film industry for six months now. Even so, the acclaimed drama may falter in the final test, losing out on the most coveted of movie prizes, the Academy Award for best picture.

The film from British director Steve McQueen appears to be the frontrunner for film's highest honor at Sunday's ceremony but has at least three factors conspiring against it: another high-quality, groundbreaking movie called "Gravity," the tricky math of Oscar voting and the film's own brutal depiction of American slavery.

"I think it is a hard film to watch," said Stevenson. "One of the things I think Steve McQueen does extremely well is capture the violence of the institution."

That unflinching portrayal of a real American story, that of the free black man Solomon Northup who is tricked and sold into slavery, may win on the gravitas scale. But sometimes the 6,000-plus voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just want to reward enjoyable entertainment and "Gravity" gives that in spades.

If this year's nine best picture nominees add up to the strongest year for film in recent memory, they also have injected a good dose of uncertainty into Hollywood's biggest night. Voters had a good and varied lot from which to choose, with big successes such as "American Hustle" and "The Wolf of Wall Street," and smaller films "Nebraska" and "Philomena."

"In the 12-13 years that I have been doing this stuff seriously, I can't remember a best picture race in which there was less certainty than there is this year," said Scott Feinberg, awards analyst at The Hollywood Reporter.

Over at the other trade publication, Variety, awards editor Tim Gray said that "more than ever, I'm totally flummoxed."

"I think best picture is between '12 Years a Slave' and 'Gravity' but I wouldn't bet money on that," Gray said.

In a telling sign of the tight battle, the two films had an exact tie in one of the most reliable predictors of the Oscar best picture, the Producers Guild Award.

The heightened drama around the big prize could give viewers an extra reason to tune in to the live ABC telecast of the glamorous event, hosted this year by comedian Ellen DeGeneres.

The cliffhanger category also stands in contrast to more predictable outcomes in the top acting races. Cate Blanchett should win best actress for "Blue Jasmine," while Matthew McConaughey is favored for best actor for "Dallas Buyers Club" and co-star Jared Leto has a lock on best supporting actor.

The best supporting actress category could see favorite Lupita Nyong'o, the slave Patsey in "12 Years a Slave," upset by Jennifer Lawrence's loopy wife in 1970s caper "American Hustle."

For best animated film, the tale of Nordic princesses "Frozen" is expected to give the Disney Animation Studios its first Oscar in that category since it was added in 2002.

IT'S TIME?

"American Hustle" and "Gravity" lead nominations with 10 nods a piece, followed by "12 Years a Slave" with nine. But if the best picture award were decided at the box office, "Gravity" from Warner Bros. and Mexican director Alfonso Guaron would be the winner.

The outer-space thriller starring Sandra Bullock, for which Cuaron pushed the technical and visual effects boundaries, has brought in $270 million in North America and $703 million worldwide. That's nearly as much as the $780 million earned collectively by the nine best picture nominees in the U.S. and Canada. For his feats, Cuaron is favored to win best director.

"12 Years a Slave," in comparison, has pulled in $49 million at the domestic box office, a respectable figure for a hard-to-watch picture that features bloody whippings, lynchings and evil slave masters.

Even the studio feared members of the Academy might skip it, compelling Fox Searchlight Pictures to goad them into seeing the film with ads during the Feb 12-25 voting period showing slaves embraced with the tagline "It's time." Some Oscar watchers said the ambiguous phrase could also be seen as shaming voters.

The voting system for best picture also complicates the fortunes of the slave drama. It is a so-called preferential ballot in which members rank their top films rather than vote for just one and the consensus can emerge from films that are many people's second or third choices.

But if history is a lesson, the Academy voters should go for the more serious subject matter.

"They generally are not looking to just reward the most fun movie, they are looking to reward the movie that has something meaningful to say," said Feinberg.

"And if that is the case this year, the winner would clearly be '12 Years a Slave.'"

The Academy would also make its own history with that choice: "12 Years a Slave" would be the first best picture from a black director in 86 years of awards.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Friday

‘Gravity,’ ‘12 Years a Slave’ battle for Baftas


LONDON - "Gravity" leads the nominations for the Baftas on Sunday, but the harrowing "12 Years a Slave" is tipped to win the top honours at the last major awards ceremony before the Oscars.

Hollywood stars are due to pack out the Royal Opera House in London for the glitzy red carpet event, attended by Prince William and hosted for a ninth time by actor Stephen Fry.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards are a useful guide to which way the Academy Awards might go on March 2.

Last year "Argo" won for best film, Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor, and Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway in the best supporting categories—awards replicated at the Oscars.

With British-made films such as space drama "Gravity" proving box office hits, and UK actors earning critical acclaim, the Baftas seem likely to reward home-grown talent.

"Gravity" has 11 nominations; Golden Globe winners "12 Years a Slave" and "American Hustle" were each nominated in 10 categories, while "Captain Phillips" was nominated nine times.

"Behind the Candelabra" and "Saving Mr. Banks" have five nominations each.

"12 Years a Slave", starring British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as a free black man who is kidnapped and enslaved in the United States, is nominated in five of the big six categories.

Bookmakers have "12 Years a Slave" as the 1/8 runaway favourite for best film, with Ejiofor even more heavily odds-on for best actor at 1/10.

Cate Blanchett is also 1/10 for best actress for her title role portrayal in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine."

"Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron is a 1/2 favourite in his category.

"These really are the precursor to the Oscars," said Joe Crilly, spokesman for betting chain William Hill.

"Usually you have a little battle on your hands—at least for best film—where normally two are relatively close, but this year it's strange that there are so many odds-on favorites," he told AFP.

"There's also the British bias that you generally tend to see at the Baftas.

"If you've got an incredible performance by a non-British actor you will always see them do quite well. But Ejiofor puts in a very good performance and being British we think he shades it over Leonardo DiCaprio."

The Best Film Award is being disputed between "12 Years a Slave", "American Hustle", "Captain Phillips", "Gravity" and "Philomena."

Special award for Mirren


Judi Dench is nominated for drama "Philomena" in the best actress category—a record 15th Bafta acting nomination taking her one clear of Meryl Streep.

Workers at the Royal Opera House have already been working out the seating plan for the likes of DiCaprio, Blanchett, Dench and Sandra Bullock.

Fellow nominees Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Martin Scorsese will also be treading the red carpet.

However, they might be squelching down it under umbrellas if the storms that have been lashing Britain since New Year continue.

Helping to present the awards will be the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irons, Kiefer Sutherland, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Stanley Tucci and Uma Thurman.

Bafta's highest accolade, the Academy Fellowship, is being given this year to Helen Mirren, "in recognition of her exceptional contribution to film."

Prince William, second in line to the throne and the academy's president, will present her with the award.

Previous recipients include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Sean Connery, Elizabeth Taylor, Christopher Lee, Anthony Hopkins and Scorsese.

Mirren, a four-time Bafta winner, is "one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation," said the academy's chairman John Willis.

"Helen's incredibly successful career is testament to the determination, dedication and skill she brings to each of her roles."

Besides the regular categories, Bafta also has an Outstanding British Film award.

"Gravity", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", "Philomena", "Rush", "Saving Mr. Banks" and "The Selfish Giant" are in the running this year. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Tuesday

'Fast & Furious 7' pushed back to 2015, will include late actor


NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES - The release of "Fast & Furious 7," the big-budget action film that was shut down in November after the death of actor Paul Walker in a car crash, has been pushed back nine months to April 2015, Universal Pictures said on Monday.

Walker, who died in a fiery one-car crash at the age of 40 on Nov. 30, will appear in the film, Universal said.

The "Fast & Furious" film series, which has grossed more than $2 billion at the global box office and helped turn around the fortunes of Comcast Corp-owned Universal, was originally slated to be released on July 11, 2014, in the summer movie-going season.

The seventh installment of the popular series about illegal street racing, crime and heists will be released on April 10, 2015, Universal said in a statement. It said that series star Vin Diesel and the late Walker would "lead the returning cast."

Diesel, also one of the producers, first announced the new release date on Facebook on Sunday.

Walker, who became a symbol of car racing and car culture in his role as law enforcement officer Brian O'Conner in the "Fast & Furious" series, was a passenger in a red Porsche Carrera GT sports car that crashed on Nov. 30 in Santa Clarita, Calif. about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The car careened off of a street, struck a utility pole and burst into flames, also killing driver Roger Rodas. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the accident but have said that speed probably played a role.

Production on "Fast 7" was on a break at the time for the Thanksgiving holiday and it was not clear how many of Walker's scenes had been filmed.

Production was suspended days after the crash and Universal has not said when filming will resume.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Monday

JFK assassination film 'Parkland' shows gore, avoids conspiracy


VENICE - U.S. President John F Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago this year in Dallas is re-created in graphic detail, with a blood-smeared operating room and the famous film showing the actual event, in "Parkland" which had its premiere on Sunday in Venice.

"What a shitty place to die," an aide to Kennedy says in the film named for the Dallas hospital where Kennedy was treated and died on the operating table.

Zac Efron, former teen hearthrob from the "High School Musical" films, plays Dr. Charles Carrico, who started the emergency treatment of JFK. Paul Giamatti is Abraham Zapruder, the women's clothing manufacturer who happened to film the assassination with his home movie camera.

The operating room where nurses and doctors struggle to save Kennedy while surrounded by frantic presidential aides and secret service agents is awash in blood touching everyone in a "very Shakespearean" way, director Peter Landesman said.

Landesman, a former journalist, said he wanted to show what happened to the doctors, nurses, secret service agents, police and everyday people like Zapruder who were there on Nov. 22, 1963 for an event that changed their lives forever.

"The assassination of Kennedy had been understood from the level of speculation and mythology and politics and ideas of conspiracy and something unknown happening in the ether that may have coalesced to kill him," Landesman said at a post-screening press conference.

"What we never really thought about was disorientation and the power and the chaos and the anarchy of what it was to seriously survive the assassination and that entire weekend."

Conspiracy theories, which have been rampant since the assassination, do not figure in "Parkland", Landesman said.

"For 50 years...the conspiracy speculation mythology has occupied a lot of emotion and intellectual real estate. That's there, that conversation is being had and always being had, it will never end. Our focus was really on the emotions, truths and survival."

The film, which lasts a brisk 92 minutes, was shot by the same cinematographer, Barry Ackroyd, who brought a real-time feel to films by directors Paul Greengrass and Kathryn Bigelow.

It chronicles the events over three days, from the time Kennedy was shot an hour after his arrival in Dallas, until his killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, shot the following day by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, was buried.

The film pounces on the odd, poignant or telling details of that fateful weekend, such as the coincidence that Kennedy and his killer died a little more than 24 hours apart in the same hospital, Parkland Memorial.

Secret Service agents are shown removing seats from the presidential plane so that Kennedy's body can be flown back to Washington accompanied by his widow, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, and the new President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in the passenger compartment rather than in the cargo hold.

Landesman said the 26-second-long Zapruder film, which has been pored over for clues to prove and disprove the assertion that Oswald, firing a cheap rifle from an upper floor of the Texas School Book Depository, acted as a lone assassin, was "probably the most examined film in the history of man."

He said that the family had given permission for and licensed its use in "Parkland" where it is shown to eerie effect reflecting off Giamatti's glasses as law enforcement officers view it for clues.

"We've seen it on the screens, on television but what I wanted to do as a filmmaker, as we all want to do as filmmakers, was to present this film as he (Zapruder) would have seen it...for the very first time," Landesman said.

The film also shows Oswald's brother Robert, who worked at a clerical job, and their mentally unhinged mother, who thinks her dead son was a top secret agent, burying Oswald at a grave where there are no pall bearers because none will touch the casket.

"This is where the truth is - you want to find the DNA of why he may have pulled the trigger you look at his mother, you look at the relationship with his brother. This is the emotional fabric of...the kind of honest film I hope we've made," Landesman said. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

'One Direction' movie predicted to outgross 'Skyfall' in UK


The "intimate, all access" 3D concert film “One Direction: This Is Us” premiered in UK's Leicester Square August 20, with hordes of fans turning up to catch a glimpse of the British boy band. But what's interesting is that odds-maker Ladbrokes is offering unprecedented odds of 4/1 for the film to overtake James Bond movie “Skyfall,” which took £102m last year, at the top of the all-time UK box office chart.

“One Direction: This is Us,” which is directed by “Super Size Me” filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, will benefit from the huge following for One Direction members Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Niall Horan in the UK and across the globe.

They are the most followed British band on Twitter, with more than 14 million followers, and have more than 19m "likes" on Facebook. Twitter has reported more than 3.6m tweets were posted on the social network site about One Direction and the One Direction world premiere in London August 20.



Styles told reporters: "We made this for the fans. We just want to say a massive thank-you to them." X-Factor creator and “This Is Us” producer Simon Cowell, who signed the band to his label Syco, said: "It has been my dream come true to produce a film. But without their fans, this couldn't have happened. They have the best fans in the world."

The other films in the current UK all-time box office top five are “Avatar,” “Titanic,” “Toy Story 3” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two.” No other concert movie has even made the top 100, so “This Is Us” has a challenge on its hands to live up to bookmakers' expectations. Ladbrokes is also offering odds of 5/1 for the film to win a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2014.

"One way or another this film is going to break records and win awards," said spokesperson Jessica Bridge. "The '1D' phenomenon is showing no signs of slowing down and the odds suggest they could be adding a BAFTA to their tour bus mantelpiece."


 More than just a filmed concert and tour documentary, “One Direction: This Is Us” is a chance to get up close and personal with the world’s biggest band.

Filmed while the guys were taking their world tour to arenas around the globe -- from Mexico to Japan to London’s famed O2 arena -- the movie mixes high-energy performance footage, candid interviews, and behind the scenes footage to offer a one-of-a-kind perspective into the talent, hard work and mischief that goes into being One Direction.

It’s a remarkable story of humble origins, an unprecedented rise to fame and a fan-driven phenomenon that enabled One Direction to conquer the world.

Opening across the Philippines on Friday, August 30, “One Direction: This Is Us” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

source: gmanetwork.com