Milk

- SKRON
Radioactive Culture

I went out earlier to watch some movies. What I really wanted to see was Waltz With Bashir, an animated documentary about the conflicts in Israel. But, since it's a limited release, I couldn't find it on any theaters near my place. Instead, I just went with Milk and Slumdog Millionaire. Both of which are excellent films.

Milk is about the life and struggles of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay elected to become a public servant in California. This is a great movie. I know a lot of guys aren't comfortable watching films about gay. But I assure you, Milk won't give you any of that same awkwardness you had while watching Brokeback Mountain. No, none at all, because the story is much more focused on the political and social angle. It's about being yourself -being gay, brown, black, geek or dog poop picker- and having the rights to be yourself.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, a humble coffee server at a call center in India, who found his long lost love and won millions by winning a game show, an Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. This is probably the best movie I've seen this year. Hands down. The story is just so full of life, romance, comedy and action. The way the film was also told, which revolves on each answers of the game show, is just pure genius. I highly recommend this movie to everybody.

Milk and Slumdog Millionaire, great movies. I also wanted to see Frost/Nixon but it was already getting late. So, I'll just save it for next time.

- SKRON
Radioactive Culture

Metro Manila Film Festival 2008 ....AWFUL as always

LET us NOW take a peek at the Film Festival that is obviously bent to DESTROY the reputation of Philippine Cinema: The Metro Manila Film Festival. Majority of these movies are the movies that do celebrate the idiotic, the ugly, and the lousier side of Tagalog movies. Majority of these movies are the kind of movies, that when you watch it, then you are CONTRIBUTING to the DESTRUCTION of the reputation of Philippine Cinema.

ISKUL BUKOL - this is not really Iskul Bukol. It's a messy lousy salad of spoof from many genres of fantasy, adventure, comedy & sci-fi just to entice audiences of all ages to watch it. IT IS JUST USING THE TITLE ISKUL BUKOL to create the excuse of a comeback, desperately trying to win old fans of the old series as well. watch this and youre either a dumbass or have been fooled.

ANG TANGING INA NINYONG LAHAT - the first movie may have been popular but this is also a messy rotten piece of shit that seeks to recycle the same lousy immature humor over and over again. Why watch a movie which is intentionally made to sound just like a defamatory phrase? Movies like this do just that: Ginagago nyo lang ang audiences.

SHAKE, RATTLE, & ROLL X - Same piece of effortless garbage. After around the 3rd or 4th movie in this franchise, it has produced the lousiest of sequels which led it to die out around the late 90s. The franchise was revived some few years ago but showed no promise of improvement. Sure, the effects got better. But with lousy producers intentionally making lousy movies, biskan anu pa na realistic CGI ang ibutang mo, ang baho sang ta-e, ta-e gd ya!

MAGKAIBIGAN - I will not comment on this one because this is a drama directed by a director who's occasionally bad but occasionally good as well. And I have not yet watched this. But there are notable local critics that give it a high rating.

DESPERADAS 2 - The sequel of the FUCKING RIP-OFF of a dumbass TV SHow Desperate Housewives. From the very concepcion of the first Desperadas movie, the producer made it public already that this was a RIP-OFF a KINOPYAHAN off Desperate Housewives. The first movie was DOWNRIGHT AWFUL already. The sequel is WORSE. INCREDIBLY O.A. And the jokes off Ogie Alcasid's character is very very racist. GAGO or GAGA ka lang gd ya if u enjoyed this movie. PAK YU!

DAYO - is the only shining star among the entries, that from the very start I have been trusting to be good. But then again, just like Urduja, do NOT expect DAYO to be up to "Pixar standards" DAYO is not something I would say the greatest Pinoy movie this year, but I would say it certainly is worth watching & these guys should progress all for the better. SUPPORT THIS MOVIE!

ONE NIGHT ONLY - I would not comment. I have not watched this movie. But it seems like the same crap of softcore porn disguising itself as a girl power movie.

BALER - DISAPPOINTING! This was directed by one of my trusted Pinoy directors, Mark Meily (Crying Ladies, La Visa LOca). But BECAUSE this was made under VIVA FILM, you would NATURALLY expect things to GO WRONG! First off is the dumbass casting. Who's the MORON who would cast Anne Curtis as a Pinay in the Spanish Era of the Philippines, in love with a Half-spanish Jericho Rosales?!!! HUNGHANG! This was obviously only made so that gossip about the couple would blend well with the marketing of the movie. IN ADDITION the movie was messy, poorly edited, badly produced, and stylized awfully. This is the problem with the big mainstream production companies. These are the people who make movies BAD. Viva, Regal, Seiko, M-Zet, Star, GMA. You morons should educate yourselves with proper values of cinema! Biskan si Ridley Scott ka pa, if you work under companies like Viva, the result still is TA-E movie mo!

Disney Gives Up On Narnia 3 [news]

BAD NEWS from NARNIA
source: The Hollywood Reporter

Disney jumps ship on next 'Narnia'
Studio won't exercise option for 'Dawn Treader'
By Borys Kit

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will have to sail without Disney.

While declining to elaborate, Disney and Walden Media confirmed Tuesday that for budgetary and logistical reasons the Burbank-based studio is not exercising its option to co-produce and co-finance the next "Narnia" movie with Walden.

The third entry in the series, based on the classic books by C.S. Lewis, was in preproduction and set for a spring shoot for a planned May 2010 release. The development puts the participation of the talent attached in doubt. Michael Apted was on board to direct a script by Steven Knight. The key players of the second installment, "Prince Caspian" -- Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell -- were to return for the third film.

Walden has a strong relationship with the Lewis estate and will shop "Treader" in hopes of finding a new partner. The most likely candidate at this stage is Fox, which markets and distributes Walden fare under the Fox Walden banner.

Any partnership on a "Narnia" movie will require a substantial investment. "Caspian," which filmed in the Czech Republic, Mexico and New Zealand, cost $200 million. The first film, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," was shot mostly in New Zealand for $180 million.

It is rare for a studio to pull out of a planned trilogy in midstream, but the number-crunching showed a franchise on a downward trend. "Lion" roared to $292 million domestically and another $453 million internationally in 2005. This year, "Prince Caspian" grossed a healthy $141 million in North America and another $278 million internationally, but that was well off the "Lion" take.

Further challenging "Treader" may be a waning of the pricey children's fantasy genre. When the "Harry Potter" series topped the book charts and then filled movie theaters, studios began snapping up fantasy manuscripts as quickly as they could. When "The Lord of the Rings" showed it was possible for adults to enjoy the fare as well -- and produced the boxoffice results to prove it -- Hollywood's fascination with the genre intensified.

But no other fantasy adventure films have shown that kind of boxoffice punch. Earlier this year, Warners and New Line hoped they were launching a franchise with "The Golden Compass," but the adaptation of the Philip Pullman trilogy tanked domestically.

The film grossed just $70 million domestically and the co-production partners declined to go forward with a second installment despite the fact the film did take in more than $300 million overseas.

Reboot Judge Dredd [news]

New 'Judge Dredd' Movie Coming
by Peter Martin

"I am the Law!" Does that quote give you goosebumps or nightmares? Sylvester Stallone uttered those words as Judge Dredd in the awful 1995 sci-fi action flick, featuring Diane Lane as his partner, Rob Schneider as his comic sidekick, Armand Assante as the villain, and Max von Sydow as the Chief Justice. Now a new version of the British comic strip character will be coming to the big screen, with production scheduled to begin next year, according to an announcement at the 2000 AD web site.

Judge Dredd began life in the second issue of the magazine anthology 2000 AD. In a time when Judges are running a huge megapolis, Judge Dredd was empowered to enforce the law, sentence offenders, and carry out the punishment. The premise sounded ideal for adaptation, but the 1995 movie version, directed by Danny Cannon, was tired and generic; Schneider was especially annoying. It lacked any zip or zest; fans noted that Dredd never removed his helmet in the strip and, more importantly, complained that the dry humor was missing and the mythology was left out. Stallone himself feels that the film was "a real missed opportunity," and told Uncut magazine that "great potential" was wasted. "We shouldn't have tried to make it Hamlet; it's more Hamlet and Eggs."

The new version will be made by Rebellion and production company DNA Films; DNA also made 28 Weeks Later and Sunshine. No other details have been announced. Obviously, the right script and director are essential, but let's play "what if?" and try to imagine: who could be the next Judge Dredd? And does he need to keep his helmet on?

SOURCE: Cinematical.com

The RETURN of JACK RYAN [news]

Screenwriter Hossein Amini has been hired to tackle a new Jack Ryan movie for Paramount Pictures. The erstwhile intelligence analyst and all-American do-gooder created by novelist Tom Clancy has not appeared onscreen since 2002's "The Sum of All Fears."

Amini is best known for his literary adaptations of Henry James, Thomas Hardy and Elmore Leonard. His new Ryan film is planned as an origin story, not derived from Clancy's novels and ultimately featuring a new, younger star. Amini, repped by Endeavor, was nominated for an adapted screenplay Oscar in 1998 for "The Wings of the Dove." His other credits include "Jude" and "The Four Feathers." He has "Golden Compass" sequel adaptation "The Subtle Knife" in development at Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Co. drama "Shanghai" in postproduction.

I am confused though, is Tom Clancy still alive? Why dont they just get him to write Jack Ryan's origins. He CREATED him after all. Maybe he refused. Either that or maybe Hollywood demands an origin story which will involve high octane, box office attracting action.

Mace Neufeld and Lorenzo Di Bonaventura are producing the project for Paramount. "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi was on the hook to direct and produce a new Ryan installment, but his packed schedule made his involvement unworkable. On the other hand, I do not think Raimi is the appropriate director to work on something like the Jack Ryan series without the risk of messing it up.

With a new Jack Ryan installment in the pipeline, Paramount is establishing a muscular franchise lineup: "Iron Man" and "Transformers" are moving toward sophomore editions; "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe" will launch in the summer as potential multifilm properties; and "Tintin," "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Beverly Hills Cop IV" are in development.

The first onscreen Ryan adventure, "The Hunt for Red October," grossed $199 million worldwide in 1990 with Alec Baldwin in the role. "Patriot Games" (1992) and "Clear and Present Danger" (1994) brought in $178 million and $208 million worldwide, respectively, with Harrison Ford playing Ryan. Ben Affleck took over the role in a sort-of prequel in "All Fears," which grossed $177 million worldwide.

IS RYAN GOSLING the new JACK RYAN?
by Jason

It’s beginning to look like Ryan Gosling is getting set to become the next Jack Ryan (from the popular series of books turned into movies by Tom Clancy). Gosling would be the fourth Jack Ryan after Alec Baldwin (The Hunt For Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears).

The road to making Gosling into Jack Ryan is long and strange, and, apparently, no longer involves Tom Clancy. Philip Noyce, the director of the 90s Jack Ryan films starring Harrison Ford, “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger” was once attached to direct a fifth Jack Ryan film but is now saying that he is no longer attached but one is, in fact, being prepped to stay Gosling.

Noyce was once set to direct Ford as Ryan in “The Sum of All Fears,” but Ford didn’t like the script and dropped out. The studio then decided that it would be a great idea to “reboot” the series and make the character younger so they rewrote the script and cast Affleck as the younger Ryan. The plan was to follow that film up with “Red Rabbit” which Tom Clancy actually wrote with the younger character (and new movie series) in mind. Unfortunately, the numbers for “Sum” weren’t great and Ben Affleck’s career took a bit of a nosedive for a while and the idea was quickly dropped.

Fast forward a little and Noyce is attached to direct a film entitled “By Any Means Necessary” about “a cop who turns to a mobster for inside information to prevent a terrorist attack. Well, Paramount Pictures owns the Jack Ryan character and somewhere along the way decides to develop this film as a Jack Ryan picture (without any Tom Clancy involvement). Noyce leaves the project, but Anton Fuqua (Training Day) comes aboard and everyone starts talking Ryan Gosling. I guess Ben Affleck is now too old?

There’s little doubt that Gosling is on the Hollywood fast track for A-list status so he’s a good choice if they really want to revive the series. The question I have is, why? The world loved Jack Ryan when he was being played by Harrison Ford, but I think a lot of that was Harrison Ford and really good filmmaking. I’m not so sure the world is in love with the character of Jack Ryan even if they do like reading the Tom Clancy books he’s featured in. It seems to me that it would make more sense to just create a new character and go forward without all the baggage (backstory that no longer makes sense) of the Jack Ryan character.

I’m not even sure why Gosling would want to tackle this character. Jack Ryan isn’t exactly James Bond, and, at this point, the character has gone through so many changes it doesn’t seem like the kind of role he’s been choosing up to this point. I understand how he might want to find a possible franchise character but I’m not sure Jack Ryan should be it.
What do you guys think? Any Tom Clancy fans pissed off about this?

Screening Schedules this Week - updated 12-19-08

ROBINSONS MOVIEWORLD
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1:30 PM, 3:45, 6, 8:15 PM
Twilight
12:45 PM, 3:15, 5:45, 8:15 PM
City of Ember
12:15 PM, 2:15, 4:15, 6:15, 8:15 PM
Make It Happen: Give It All You've Got
12:15 PM, 2:15, 4:15, 6:15, 8:15 PM
Quarantine
2:15 PM, 4:15, 6:15, 8:15 PM
Walang Kawala
12:15 PM, 2:15, 4:15, 6:15, 8:15 PM

SM CITY CINEMA
City of Ember
12:15 PM, 2, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
The Day the Earth Stood Still
12 PM, 2, 4, 6, 8 PM
Make It Happen: Give It All You've Got
12:40 PM, 2:20, 4, 5:40, 7:20, 9 PM
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1 PM, 3, 5, 7, 9 PM
Quarantine
12:15 PM, 2, 3:45, 5:30, 7:15, 9 PM
Twilight
12:20 PM, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9 PM
Monster Slayer
12:40 PM, 2:20, 4, 5:40, 7:20, 9 PM
Tropic Thunder
12:40 PM, 2:20, 4, 5:40, 7:20, 9 PM

SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE
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