2012

The Not Too Serious Apocalypse?
By Reymundo Salao

Most of Roland Emmerich’s movies have been mostly reminiscent of the 70’s disaster movies like The Towering Inferno or Poseidon Adventure. These disaster movies are essentially survival horror, wherein we are introduced to main characters that we are supposed to root for and follow as they try to survive a peril or perils that could kill them. This movie more or less combines all of it for something which can be referred to as the ultimate disaster movie because this one deals with the end of the world. As what the movie portrays, 2012 is the year wherein changes in the Earth and in the overall atmosphere of the planet (that’s as far as I can understand about the scientific aspect of the movie) will cause the Earth to experience global cataclysms and destruction, and basically may be interpreted as the end of the world as we know it.

The doomsday theory of 2012 is one that is very paranoia inducing. Unlike the doomsday conspiracies of the year 2000 or previous end-of-the-world theories which were more religion-based or literary prediction-based, the 2012 concept is based on the Mayan calendar which is regarded with some degree of accuracy. That is why it is very interesting to watch a movie like this. On the other hand, do not expect to go into details on the Mayan calendar detail because there is only about half a minute of reference of that concept in the movie. Everything that is explained is more on the science aspect. In addition, the science aspect is laid down, but never dwells on the explanations. If you plan to walk on this movie and expect to delve into the deeper and more thought-provoking issues about why the world is about to end or how this prediction has come to become real, you may not be satisfied because it really focuses more on the plight of our main characters to survive the cataclysms. Most of the movie is focused on running from earthquakes, running from lava, running from flood. Even the drama takes a backseat.

The movie felt like it needed a couple of more minutes of character development. There are pretty good characters here to work with. The old friends in the cruise ship, for instance, the movie needed more quiet moments with them. Every time the scenes simmer down, and you think there was going to be some character development about to happen, a great big special effect all of a sudden steals the moment and makes way for another destructive scene.

It was not easy to walk into another Roland Emmerich movie, after his previous movie “10,000 BC” (pattern-wise is also a movie title referring to a date in time, one that he ignorantly altered by his fictionalized interpretation) made itself as one of the worst movies ever made, in my opinion. But it was a good thing that 2012 was not as bad as I feared it to be. In fact, it was really worth my money, and if I may add, a movie I recommend for the big screen. The visual effects are awesome and the stunts were exhilarating.

The thing about this movie is that it takes this serious plausible concept and quickly turns it into a rollercoaster adventure. And that is one of the things that have given me this dual reaction; first I was upset with it because it takes this concept of paranoia and a plausible global cataclysm, and does not treat it with a very serious approach. It was a bit hard to swallow some action scenes which injected some humor because at one hand we are being shown scenes of extreme disaster and calamity, naturally the scene implies the horrific death of millions, yet elements of comedy are making its way unto it. If this was sci-fi involving alien invasions, it would have been forgivable to mix apocalyptic scenes of mass death with a sense of adventure.

But on the other hand, by the middle of the movie, you realize that the light, somewhat comedic, moments were needed to be injected to please a wide audience. Otherwise, we could have ended up with a movie too serious and too depressing that, by the middle of the movie, may have caused people to walk out in just sheer displeasure.

If you are one of those people who even remotely considers the 2012 doomsday conspiracy as plausible, this movie is indeed for you. It will both amaze and horrify you. Although it is indeed so ironic to refer to Emmerich's movies as a form of entertainment. I guess many of us Filipinos will be affected by this movie emotionally because of our experiences in recent unusual cataclysms. Many might hate it or many might relate to it.

The concept of the end of the world is the ultimate horror movie concept to work on. Emmerich could have made the ultimate horror movie. I would have been impressed if such bold approach was made. But I could understand him not doing that and opting to make an audience-friendly movie instead. I just hope that this movie would have something similar with his other movie “10,000 B.C.” …and that is hoping that this will purely be all fiction.

Screening Schedules this Week [11-11-09] updated [11-13-09]

SM CITY CINEMA
Astro Boy
12:15 PM | 2:00 PM | 3:45 PM | 5:30 PM | 7:15 PM | 9:00 PM
Ang Tanging Pamilya
11:50 AM | 1:40 PM | 3:30 PM | 5:20 PM | 7:10 PM | 9:00 PM
Carriers
12:00 PM | 1:30 PM | 3:00 PM | 4:30 PM | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 9:00 PM
2012
12:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 9:00 PM
2012
11:30 AM | 2:20 PM | 5:10 PM | 8:00 PM
Superhero Movie
12:00 PM | 1:30 PM | 3:00 PM | 4:30 PM | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | 9:00 PM
Michael Jackson's This Is It
12:40 PM | 2:45 PM | 4:50 PM | 6:55 PM | 9:00 PM

ROBINSON'S MOVIEWORLD
2012
11:30 AM | 2:30 PM | 5:30 PM | 8:30 PM
Carriers
12:40 PM | 2:30 PM | 4:20 PM | 6:10 PM | 8:00 PM
Ang Tanging Pamilya
11:50 AM | 1:55 PM | 4:00 PM | 6:05 PM | 8:10 PM
Astro Boy
12:00 PM | 2:00 PM | 4:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 8:00 PM
Halloween II
12:00 PM | 2:00 PM | 4:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 8:00 PM
Red Cliff
12:00 PM | 2:40 PM | 5:20 PM | 8:00 PM

Schedules are subject to change without prior notice
BACK TO MAIN PAGE

Recommended this Week: Carriers

Synopsis: Piper Perabo, Chris Pine, Emily VanCamp, and Josh Berry star in this apocalyptic tale of a viral pandemic that sweeps across the United States, and four fleeing friends who discover that they are far more dangerous to one another than any airborne pathogen.

Astro Boy (2009)

An ATOM BOMB OF SPECTACULAR GOODNESS
By Reymundo Salao

ASTRO BOY is a full-length CGI animated American adaptation of the massively-popular Japanese manga (comic book) and television series fictional character of the same name ASTRO BOY, created by Ozamu Tezuka, who is considered as “the God of Manga”. Its manga series was first published in 1952 and its television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963.

Basically the storyline of Astro Boy is a sort of futuristic version of Pinocchio, but is extended by storylines of action, adventure, and pure sci-fi. Astro Boy is a robot boy, who initially has gone through an identity crisis, but later on, serves as more of a superhero who gets into various adventures and is consistently bent on promoting peace in his society wherein robots live side-by-side human beings.

Arguably, Astro Boy is the quintessential children’s action hero because he is an ideal mix of pure innocence, a loving heart, and an explosive little dynamite when the going gets tough. Although he shoots lasers, and has weapon turrets from his butt, he is always doing his best to resolve things with a more friendlier approach, and always has that cute optimism that even the darkest of villains may possibly be persuaded do good things instead.

This recent Astro Boy movie is indeed, in my opinion, a good way of reintroducing Astro Boy to a younger generation. Spectacular and fun-filled, the movie is never a waste of time. The eye candy aspect is high; it almost reaches the level of Pixar quality. The action is moderately impressive, on the other hand, it has the best “I can fly” sequence (I’m talking about that sequence when the main character discovers he can fly or do superhuman things and goes out in a self-indulging fun trip) and is superior in comparison to those in movies like Spider-man, Superman and Iron Man. It may be just animation but when Astro Boy is having fun in the sky, his joy radiates unto the audience.

Although this is not all comedy from start to finish, the humor was enough to make the movie enjoyable. There are only a few punchlines placed here and there, but no matter how few they are, they pack a punch of solid laughter. I was really amused at the three robots that referred to themselves as the Robot Liberation Front. They were probably my favorite characters in this entire movie. From their quirkily hilarious character designs up to the overall portrayal of these robots, they easily got me tickled pink.

While voice actors Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy and the rest of the voice cast such as Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, and Eugene Levy were all generically good, it was Nicholas Cage, voicing Dr. Tenma, Astro boy's father, whose voice acting complemented excellently with the animation. It was as if it captured Cage in one of his best acting moments. It would not have been easy to bring the character of Tenma to a full-length movie version without altering it. In the original manga (Japanese comics) version and in the TV series, Tenma is portrayed as more brutal and has certainly a darker character, as he deliberately abandons and sells Astro boy, and in one other interpretation, he goes insane. The Tenma portrayed in this new movie version is a more positive version, as he is still bound by love for his creation, Astro Boy. Inevitably and obviously you expect this Tenma to do the morally upright thing.

The storyline aspect was pretty solid. Simplistic to be family-friendly, yet it has some plot and characterization elements that appeal to adults as well. It ends up as a movie that is both young at heart yet mature in content. Enjoyable for kids, interesting for adults. The story does not treat its audiences like idiots, and manages to tell the story without applying unnecessary restraint that can hinder a writer's creativity. In addition, the writers and the rest of the crew have an enormous pressure to make this project become perfect. That is because Astro Boy is like a national figure in Japan, as much as how Mickey Mouse is towards americans. And in my opinion, the americans did deliver a good script for him.

Inevitably, the movie keeps itself faithful with the source material on Astro Boy's origins but there are indeed many little alterations made in order to update this Astroboy as being this generation's version. Rife with enough heart, humor, and spectacular explosive action, this movie has a storyline that easily pleases its audience. It is indeed worth your time & your money if you are looking for a family-friendly movie this week.

The Howling ...Reborn!

Preparations are made for The Howling to be Reborn
Source: Moonstone Entertainment

The Howling is regarded as one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Released in 1981, the film has become an instant cult classic which spawned 6 sequels.

The Howling legacy lives on in a new project being flaunted at the American Film Market by Moonstone Entertainment.

Insiders reveal writer-director Joe Nimziki attached to the project. His credits to date include one thing and one thing only, a 1997 episode of the rebooted The Outer Limits.

At what stage in development the film is in is unknown.

Original Howling director Joe Dante has said in the past that he's been courted for a remake in the past and there are interested parties, but nothing has come to fruition.

Moonstone Entertainment is also repping the Stephen King adaptation From a Buick 8.

GHOST RIDER sequel to be Darker & more Existential, says Goyer

David Goyer (screenwriter for BLADE & BATMAN BEGINS) is attached to the GHOST RIDER sequel. He says it's not a reboot, and the setting will happen eight years after the first film, the film will still have Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze. And (oh yes) the movie will have a darker tone than the first film.

Majority of those who are really familiar with who or what the Marvel character GHOST RIDER is, hated and despised the Ghost Rider movie they made with Nicholas Cage and directed by Mark Steven Johnson last 2007. Well I've got news for those who still hope that Ghost Rider would get a proper film adaptation treatment.

Goyer sat down with MTV News and shares his ideas about what GHOST RIDER 2 will be like.

"It's not exactly a reboot," said Goyer "I hate to say it's more realistic, because he's got a flaming skull for a head, but it's a bit more stripped down and darker. It's definitely changing tone. What 'Casino Royale' was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to 'Ghost Rider.'"

"This story picks up eight years after the first film," said Goyer. "You don't have to have seen the first film. It doesn't contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we're pretending that our audience hasn't seen the first film. It's as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later—he's just in a much darker, existential place."

Goyer adds that the "Ghost Rider" sequel is planned to "roll before cameras next year"

The Hurt Locker

MODERN COMBAT AT ITS MOST REALISTIC PORTRAYAL
By Reymundo Salao

The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The film is based on recently declassified information about a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD / bomb squad) team in present day Iraq. The Hurt Locker is written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad.

The world premiere of The Hurt Locker was at the 65th Annual Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy, on September 4th, 2008 and appeared in several film festivals where it won several awards. It has only been theatrically released in the U.S. only last June.

Hi there! THE HURT LOCKER opened here in Iloilo City theaters just this week. I actually already had a review for this movie last June. But I am posting here the direct link to my review of THE HURT LOCKER. You may wanna check it out. Just CLICK HERE to go there

Ian McKellen has good vibes to share for The Hobbit

It seems like Ian McKellen, who we expect will return to his gray robes for the role of Gandalf once again, has read The Hobbit script, and is very excited about it. But as he said in an interview with scifiwire.com, "I'm sworn to secrecy. I'm not to say anything at all about the script."

McKellen continues to share his positive thoughts on Guillermo Del Toro's involvement. He said that he and Jackson speak the same language. "They are the same person," he said. "They were separated at birth. They're twins. They have the same attitude. Neither likes working in Hollywood. They're both fascinated by fantasy and violence on the screen, and gore, and things that frighten you. They like going into the psyche. They're both brilliant storytellers in very much the same way. And I think the script, because I have read it, plays very much to Guillermo's strengths, as I've seen them. I have seen his other movies, and people act very well in them. So I think it's all fine. And Peter will always be there."
(You can read the full article from Scifiwire.com here)

Some of you film junkies may take note that both Del Toro's and Jackson's histories do have a resembling pattern, both had come from quirky groundbreaking horror roots and transcended to very visionary, very imaginative fantasy. I personally have been optimistic of Del Toro's involvement with The Hobbit up from the start.

Screening Schedules this Week [11-04-09]

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD
Halloween II
12:00 PM | 2:00 PM | 4:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 8:00 PM
Patient X
12:00 PM | 2:00 PM | 4:00 PM | 6:00 PM | 8:00 PM
Red Cliff
12:00 PM | 2:40 PM | 5:20 PM | 8:00 PM
The Hurt Locker
12:30 PM | 3:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 8:00 PM
The Echo
12:40 PM | 2:30 PM | 4:20 PM | 6:10 PM | 8:00 PM
Michael Jackson's This Is It
1:00 PM | 3:20 PM | 5:40 PM | 8:00 PM

SM CITY CINEMA
The Echo
12:15 PM | 2:00 PM | 3:45 PM | 5:30 PM | 7:15 PM | 9:00 PM
The Hurt Locker
12:00 PM | 2:15 PM | 4:30 PM | 6:45 PM | 9:00 PM
Patient X
12:40 PM | 2:20 PM | 4:00 PM | 5:40 PM | 7:20 PM | 9:00 PM
G-Force
1:00 PM | 3:00 PM | 5:00 PM | 7:00 PM | 9:00 PM
Michael Jackson's This Is It
12:40 PM | 2:45 PM | 4:50 PM | 6:55 PM | 9:00 PM
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
12:40 PM | 2:20 PM | 4:00 PM | 5:40 PM | 7:20 PM | 9:00 PM
Halloween II
11:50 AM | 1:40 PM | 3:30 PM | 5:20 PM | 7:10 PM | 9:00 PM

Schedules are subject to change without prior notice
BACK TO MAIN PAGE

Showing this Week: The Hurt Locker

Synopsis: In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge of Bravo Company are at the volatile center of the war, part of a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that account for more than half of American hostile deaths and have killed thousands of Iraqis. A high-pressure, high-stakes assignment, the job leaves no room for mistakes, as they learn when they lose their team leader on a mission. When Staff Sergeant William James takes over the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are never reliable for long. Is James really a swaggering cowboy who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the margin of error is zero - or is he a consummate professional who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision? As the fiery chaos of Baghdad swirls around them, the men struggle to understand and contain their new leader long enough for them to make it home. They have only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster will strike.

Terminator, anyone?

Terminator franchise to be auctioned off
By Matthew Garrahan

The rights to the Terminator film franchise will be auctioned this month in a deal that will test Hollywood intellectual property valuations at a time when film industry profits are under pressure from falling DVD sales.

The sale, which comes weeks after the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were sold for $60m – and is likely to exceed that – has sparked considerable interest because Terminator is a rare example of a blockbuster film franchise not controlled by a big studio.

The interest in the future rights of Terminator underscores the value of IP during a tough time for Hollywood. That value has held up, with Walt Disney recently agreeing a hefty premium in its $4bn deal to buy Marvel Entertainment.

Several financial buyers have expressed interest in Terminator. All the big film studios have also registered interest in the rights, with Sony Pictures a leading contender, according to a person familiar with the situation. Sony declined to comment.

Summit Entertainment, the company behind the Twilight series, is tracking the sale, as is Media Rights Capital, which produced Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno, the person added.

The rights are being sold by Halcyon, the production company behind Terminator Salvation, the latest instalment in the series, which grossed $380m worldwide. The auction does not cover earlier Terminator films.

The rights will give the buyer the ability to make new Terminator films, TV programmes and other spin-offs that build on the popularity of the franchise.

The sale is being conducted by FTI Capital Advisors, recently appointed by Halcyon when it sought bankruptcy protection. Halcyon filed for Chapter 11 after a dispute with Pacificor, a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund that lent Halcyon funds to buy the Terminator rights.

The rights to the franchise have changed hands many times and were sold to Halcyon for $25m two years ago by Mario Kassar, who produced Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Kevin Shultz, senior managing director at FTI, pointed to the recent $60m purchase of rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise by Nickelodeon, the cable network owned by Viacom. “We have a property that has made three times the box office [takings of the TMNT films],” he said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

source: Financial Times

Patient X

NOT VERY HEALTHY
By Reymundo Salao

Synopsis: Dr. Lukas Esguerra comes home to his rural hometown and finds that one of the suspects in the brutal murder of his brother and his family was caught by the police and was able to sustain multiple gunshot wounds. But then this suspect is still alive, and apparently cannot die. The police locked up this suspect in the basement section of a hospital, because of the suspect’s involvement in the recent massacre that resulted to the deaths of the family of the police chief. On the evening of Dr. Esguerra's visit, the sinister and mysterious companions of the suspect has come knocking on the hospital doors and is bent on freeing their companion locked up inside, even if it kills everybody on the way.

According to press releases for this movie, Patient X shows us director Yam Laranas' take on the Aswang folklore, and puts it in the storyline that asks "What if we ever caught one of these aswangs?" The movie does show that, but it quickly becomes this survival horror about a group of people stuck inside a rural hospital that is being attacked by a group of aswangs.

PATIENT X is a movie that many Pinoy horror audiences will definitely enjoy. Preferably for the same audiences that had made movies like Feng Shui or the Shake Rattle & Roll movies a hit at the box office. Because Patient X does provide the jumps, the scares, and the monsters, all enough to make its mainstream audiences scream. It is the kind of movie that will preferably be enjoyed by a large mainstream crowd (preferably not film critics) who just want to have a good time, brains left outside the theater doors preferably.

Now that is the extent of what little praise I have for the movie. I am really sorry to say this because I am a fan of his works, but Patient X is probably Yam Laranas' weakest movie. The movie has a good premise to begin with. The idea of an aswang held in captivity is something that can create a far more interesting film than what was made. The story never does a good job in covering its loopholes. For instance; none of the characters seem to think of using their cellphones or their mobile radio communicators to call for outside help. This error just makes the film's characters look like idiots. The policemen in the movie felt like cardboard horror victims, their characters are almost too cartoonish. It’s like they all wore a bright yellow t-shirt that says "filler character" or “victim no.1”. The flow of the film is oozing with predictability. One could even easily guess the sequence of who dies first and who survives at the end.

I feel that the monster design on the aswangs looked awkwardly-placed. It was as if they just came off a Halloween Party, what with faces too white and outlandish. Sure their make-up was intricate, but there were moments that they looked silly. It was also a bit inconsistent that at an earlier scene the aswangs could talk to each other coherently, and the next scene, they appear and act orc-ish (communicating in growls and snarls and acting animalistic. Even though one could justify that they were in their "aswang mode" it still felt so inconsistent with their earlier scenes. As if they were taking on a completely different character all of a sudden). But this is just a very minor factor, because what really made a difference in the movie was Richard Guttierez's acting, which is really unbearably bad.

I felt that it really is unfortunate that Guttierez plays the lead role in this movie. No matter how many times he's had movie and TV appearances, it seems to never have any progressive effect on his acting. His performance looks like it is only equivalent to some high school actor in a classroom play. In some scenes he looks like he's too conscious of how he looks, and in most of the scenes, I feel like the director should inject him with some heavy narcotics just to get him to do some real acting. Somebody better either get him into some military-type acting workshop or get him into substance abuse. But then again, some people are just born to be really bad actors.

Despite these bad factors that plague Patient X (pun intended), the film does have its great points. A Yam Laranas film always looks great. His direction makes sure that the cinematography is outstanding. As harsh as my review seems to be, I still urge true lovers of cinema to watch this because of how Laranas executes beautiful lighting and stylish scenes. His use of the lightning effects on some characters, the use of shadows and darkness in a scene, the blurry silhouettes that gives way to creeping anticipations. These are things that make Patient X worthwhile to watch despite its flaws. I also love the concept of how the aswangs hold their victims using their mouth, as if how a wolf carries around their victims: held tightly in their mouth.

Critiquing Laranas is not a simple task because his skill has already gone beyond just local filmmaker borders. Laranas is to be judged alongside international mainstream-friendly directors, like Paul Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil), James Wan (Saw, Death Sentence), and even Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell). You just can’t compare Laranas’ works to the typical Viva, Regal, Star, GMA films. Patient X is not a movie that I liked. But at least in comparison, this was a great, spectacular horror movie compared to what is usually released by the mainstream local film industry. As I have said earlier, this is a film recommended for mainstream audiences, preferably in large crowds. If you and your barkada are out to watch a movie where you can just scream or maybe laugh at, this is for you.

STAR WARS to return in 3D?

Marketsaw.blogspot.com has reporter what seems to be a rumor, that may well be reliably turn out to be true...

With the rising popularity and success of the latest advancements in digital 3D cinema, Lucasfilms is prepping up a new STAR WARS trilogy, this time in stereoscopic 3D. This is NOT the TV series, these are brand spankin' new 3D STAR WARS movies.

And we are also not talking about the re-release of the six existing STAR WARS movies which is already being set to be released in 3D format as well. We are talking about a NEW set of Star Wars movies.

I know some of you are rolling your eyeballs because Lucas has already ruined his own Star Wars Universe by directing Episode 1,2, & 3. I admit being one of those who has already lost faith in the Star Wars Universe actually. But in a positive turn of events, Lucas will be producing and NOT directing these new episodes. The source of this news, which is at marketsaw.blogspot.com also revealed that Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola (both personal friends of Lucas) may be tapped to direct these movies.

Check out the full article here

Well, I WAS a big STAR WARS Geek. I still sometimes am one. And I do want STAR WARS regain its respect. Lucas should have done this (giving directorial powers to a batter director) earlier though. The damage of the Prequels has been done.

James Bond 23 to start filming late 2010

JAMES BOND 23 Begins
According to commanderbond.net Daniel Craig has just put the Bond 23 timeline into perspective, stating that production is set to kick off in the second half of 2010.
The comment was made by Craig after a performance of his Broadway play A Steady Rain alongside Hugh Jackman. While signing autographs and posing for photos with fans, one female member in the crowd asked when the next James Bond film was coming out—to which Craig replied ‘Uh, we start the end of the next year, so…’

Furthermore, according to the site, producer Michael G. Wilson had stated that work had begun on Bond 23 earlier this year, although he failed to divulge any specifics. With Craig’s latest comment now, it seems fairly certain that we’ll be back to a three-year wait between Bond films.



source: commanderbond.net