DAYBREAKERS

DAYBREAKERS IS IMMORTAL
By Reymundo Salao

The year is 2019 and the world is not like it was before. The outbreak of vampirism has led to the a change in global civilization, for everybody who lives on Earth is now a vampire, civilization is now run and inhabited by vampires. And in order to sustain their lives, blood for public consumption is produced by corporations who control factories where they farm blood from human specimens. There is a problem, though, because the blood supply is running low, and the corporations are trying hard to find an alternative to help them sustain their lives. Because if they do not feed on human blood, they will biologically deteriorate into mindless mutants. One of the scientists, chief hematologist Edward Dalton stumbles upon the last remaining humans who fight for survival, and discovers that one of them used to be a vampire...

DAYBREAKERS is directed by Michael & Peter Spierig (the Spierig Brothers), who also directed the Australian zombie movie Undead. And they did a magnificent job on this movie. They paint a world where vampires inhabit the earth. That means that everybody stays indoors all day, there are cars that have special functions that will shield its passengers from the sun, and there are public warning curfews that warn everybody how much time is left before the sunrise. Experiencing the vampire world alone is enough to make you enjoy its surreal reality.

On the visual impact, one may also notice the shifts in the color tone of the movie. The lifestyle of the vampires are always seen in an almost monochromatic appearance with mere shades of blue and black, the humans on the other hand are defined by lush vibrant colors. When one vampire character finally transforms into being human, he no longer wears his office suit in a formal fashion, his hair, his overall appearance loosens up.

As expected, Ethan Hawke had a very impressive performance, which is consistent with the rest of his previous works; one may notice that he chooses his projects well. Hawke effortlessly plays a character of repressed angst, one that is silently in turmoil with himself. Up until he meets the character played by Claudia Karvan and Willem Dafoe, who is a vampire-turned-human who is one of outlaws hiding from the current society, he is well defined by the quote from the movie where he announces "We're the folks with the crossbows" Sam Neill, on the other hand, plays the corporate lord who controls the production of blood for mass consumption.

DAYBREAKERS is like no other vampire movie you have ever seen. And if you do consider yourself to be a vampire fanatic, this is one movie you should watch. It breaks the typical vampire storyline; this one is most unique and most original, so much so that it is so unpredictable where the movie will end up. Although there are scare moments in the movie, it is better defined as an intelligent sci-fi movie. It is smartly written and has numerous layers about it. Of course we have the main storyline that concludes that even though vampirism has helped people escape death, in the end, humans are the far superior species. And then we also have the metaphors of consumerism, corporate greed, class struggle, poverty, hunger, and drug addiction represented by the relationship between the blood corporations and those who cannot afford to purchase blood, who end up deteriorated by hunger or rather thirst. Another focus of the film lies on the relationship between Edward Dalton and his brother. Even there is a love story with the leading lady which appears on the outset as one that is given focus, ultimately it takes a back seat at the drama of Ethan's character and his brother.

I am reminded about how District 9 was that one movie last year which I am confident will become a timeless classic. This time, this is the movie which I think will ferment over time and will remain a timeless classic. At the very least, it would be like Blade Runner (which did not have a flashy success when it was released, yet it became an undying classic in the libraries of sci-fi). One heck of a brilliant film that blends a vampire movie, s futuristic sci-fi, and a kickass action movie. DAYBREAKERS is a movie that YOU MUST watch. My thumbs up high for this one.

Warner Brothers Summon A New Mortal Kombat

Warner Brothers Pictures is bringing the almost twenty-year-old franchise back for another battle, hiring Oren Uziel to pen the screenplay. Though there's no word on a start date, director or cast, Uziel's last script, Shimmer Lake, made the 2009 Black List (the list of the best un-produced screenplays in Hollywood), so anticipation is high for what the new Mortal Kombat film will entail. [source: Bloody Disgusting]

MORTAL KOMBAT (& its 2 other game sequels that came much later on) is simply about a death tournament of the most skillful, most dangerous fighters around the world, including mystical and immortal characters.

Mortal Kombat was my favorite arcade game to come out of the mid 90's & SNES era. It's appeal lied not only on its realistic content (as it applied photographic images of actual character models), but also on its adult gore elements. The game was one of the earliest video games made for adults. Unfortunately, the movie adaptation was horribly simmered down to appeal to a wider audience; it did not help that the adaptation was very cheesy and silly.

I just hope that this new adaptation would be more faithful to the game; that's to say that it should be violent and gritty, as it originally is. The studio should take note that whatever infant which became a Mortal Kombat fan during the 90's should be all grown-up now, so it really should not hold them back from making a very adult-oriented action movie. But then again, there are those executives that would probably want it to appeal to a new generation of kids. With that thinking, they should keep in mind that what made Mortal Kombat successful was because it was realistic and dark. And that the two movies really did not push high enough to be a good enough of a film franchise because it was cartoony.

Lucas targets Star Wars in 3D

George Lucas has yet to work in the new 3-D technology that is sweeping Hollywood, but the director told Access Hollywood that the success and achievements of “Avatar” could help bring “Star Wars” into the third dimension.

“I liked it. I make movies like that, [so], I can appreciate what [James Cameron] went through to do it,” George Lucas told Access Hollywood at the HBO Golden Globes party on Sunday.

”[I’m] happy it’s so successful, and worked very well in 3-D,” he continued. “Haven’t been a big fan of 3-D, but that movie definitely improves in (the field of) 3-D.”

George was so impressed with the movie’s technology – which took home the trophy for Best Motion Picture – Drama at the 2010 Globes – that he thinks it could help pave the way for creating 3-D versions of his “Star Wars” movies.

“We’ve been looking for years and years and years of trying to take ‘Star Wars’ and put it in 3-D,” George explained to Access. “But, [the] technology hasn’t been there. We’ve been struggling with it, but I think this will be a new impetus to make that happen.”

On the other hand, , George is writing and producing “Red Tails,” about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.

source: Access Hollywood

Jason Momoa is the New Conan

We've been very excited for the return of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian (the first movie was the timeless epic directed by John Milius and gave birth to the stardom of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but unfortunately had an awful sequel entitled Conan the Destroyer). Millennium Films, Lionsgate, and rights holder Paradox Entertainment have revealed that Jason Momoa will be Conan, in the rebirth of the Robert E. Howard-created series. The brawny star of Stargate Atlantis who also stars in HBO's Game of Thrones, Momoa got the nod over Kellan Lutz, the Twilight guy, thank God for that at least!

March 15 production start in Bulgaria, and it closes a long ordeal in bringing the saga back to the screen. Paradox originally set up the film with Warner Bros in 2002, and then moved it over to Millenium in 2007.

I have not seen any of his screen appearances, but basing on these internet photos, well he looks too puny for what I percieve as what Conan should look like. He's muscular, but sh!t man, he looks "pretty boy" muscular. (this pic I found of him is as closest to a decent Conan that I could find. His other pix online are just too horrendously matinee idol-ish )Personally, I want Conan to NOT look like a f%cking pretty-boy, and actually, he should look kinda butt-ugly and a bit scary. But I dont think studio executives share that idea. They probably want to tap a large female demographic, rather than concentrate on the more primal and savage aspects of what Conan should be. Well let's just hope that I am wrong.

In other Conan news, Latino Review says that an offer has gone out to Mickey Rourke to play Conan's father Corin, though this is unconfirmed at this point.

source: Latino Review

The Walking Dead marching to TV

Darabont to Walk the Dead

One of the best recent series to come out of the comicbook scene is THE WALKING DEAD. Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore (replaced by Charlie Adlard from issue #7 onward) the Image comics series chronicles the travels of a group of people trying to survive in a world stricken by a zombie apocalypse.

It was actually last August 11, 2009, that (US television network) AMC (American Movie Classics) expressed wishes to create a Walking Dead television series. And just this week, has greenlit the said television series. Frank Darabont (the Mist, Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile) penned the adaptation and is onboard to direct. Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion will exec produce with Darabont.

source: Variety

Campbell's Approach On Green Lantern

Seems like the movie adaptation of the DC comic book superhero GREEN LANTERN is looking bright. Martin Campbell who is best known to have been the director of (the 2006) Casino Royale, the Mask of Zorro, and Goldeneye, is a great choice to direct this project. His vision on the adaptation is also one that seems to really fit the source material. In an interview with Collider's Steve "Frosty" Weintraub, Campbell reveals:

“It will be much more in the tone of Iron Man. It’s got to be. Certainly not Batman Begins, which is a pretty dark movie. No, he’s the Hal Jordan character who’s the sort of shoot from the hip, irresponsible kind of cocky test pilot if you will. In fact, the character seems to be the least likely to be chosen as Green Lantern. Well, of course that’s the fun of it. So no, it’ll be much more like Iron Man. So it’ll have one foot in reality if you see what I mean.”

Campbell further explains his approach to the character "He's a psychological character. His powers are psychological. They’re to do with will and the enemy is fear and so on and so forth, as opposed to Superman who sort of runs into a phone box, gets the old spandex on and off he goes. So he’s a much more complex character and also again, it’s the origin story, which again is the Carol Ferris character, Carl Ferris. There’s Sinestro, Kilowog, Tomar-Re. All these characters and all who appear in the movie. So it’s such a kind of eclectic range of characters and also it’s the only superhero to go to another planet, so you’re creating at least another world that…and none of them do."
Green Lantern is scheduled for a June 2011 release.
source: collider.com

Webb of Spider-man?

(500) Days of Raimi Ends; (500) Days of Webb Begins

Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have confirmed that Marc '(500) Days of Summer' Webb will direct the 2012 Spider-Man reboot. Written by James Vanderbilt, Webb will work closely with producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin in developing the project, which will begin production later this year.

To those who just caught up with the Spider-man news, here's a quick review: Spider-man director Sam Raimi (who obviously was unhappy about how the studios forced his creative hand in the making of "Spider-man 3" to do things he felt was not right) came into various clashes with the producers in the creative process of making "Spider-man 4" As a result, Raimi was fired and the producers decided to take the Spider-man series for a reboot. That means we have to go back to the start of the Spider-man story, but this time, they want a Spider-man series focused on the younger, more teen version of the story (possibly in order to target a "Twilight" demographic), and a director who can work well with the studio executives.

Now, it seems that they have chosen their slave..uhh ehem... I mean... director for the restart/reboot.
On the other hand, Marc Webb is really a great director. I personally freaking LOVED his movie (500) Days of Summer. In fact, I am relieved that Webb got the directorial job for Spider-man (rather than some hack like Bay or Ratner). But what I am upset about is that this is still going to be a reboot, this is going back to the high school days of Peter Parker, what we really want is for the Spider-man story to move forward, not needlessly remake a Spider-man origin story which is already brilliant to begin with.

I'm gonna sound mean, but I sure do hope that those executives be taught a lesson; I hope that by the time this reboot comes out, it will flop miserably. So miserable that they would wish they had not fired Raimi in the first place. Webb may be a great director, but with pushy executives like this, things may not be as what was originally intended. Just look at how stupid "X-men Origins: Wolverine" was.

Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning are The Runaways

Dakota Fanning & Kristen Stewart to bring to the silver screen the story of all-girl rock band The Runaways

The Runaways is a 2010 biographical film, based on the 1970s all-girl rock band of the same name. The film was written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, and stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie, Stella Maeve as Sandy West, Scout Taylor-Compton as Lita Ford, and Michael Shannon as Kim Fowley. Alia Shawkat plays the band's bassist, a fictional character named Robin, created due to alleged legal issues preventing the portrayal of bassist Jackie Fox.

The film follows two friends, Jett and Currie, as they rise from rebellious Southern California kids to rock stars of the now legendary group that paved the way for future generations of girl bands. They fall under the Svengali-like influence of rock impresario Kim Fowley, who turns the group into an outrageous success and a family of misfits. With its tough-chick image and raw talent, the band quickly earns a name for itself—and so do its two leads: Joan is the band’s pure rock’ n’ roll heart, while Cherie, with her Bowie-Bardot looks, is the sex kitten. The film is partially based on lead-singer Cherie Currie's 1989 autobiography Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story which details her fractured childhood, the group's meteoric rise to fame, and her subsequent battle and recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

The film will have its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on January 24th, and be released in select North American theatres on March 19, 2010. No date yet has been set for a Philippine release. But check out this hot trailer...

Brillante Mendoza to direct Climate Change documentary for Senator

Cannes film Awards Best director of 2009 Filipino Brillante Mendoza is directing a documentary for Senator Loren Legarda about the issue of Climate Change. The docu-film is expected to be done by January 28, which is the Lady Senator's birthday, or a bit later than that.

On an interview with the Senator, she revealed that the film would possibly have a launching of the film late January. My sources have not revealed details if the movie is going to be released in various theaters nationally or if it would be in a limited release, or on television.
source: pep.ph

the TEKKEN movie

There's a LOT of TEKKEN fans out there. I mean A LOT. Here in Iloilo, there's like a 50% percentage of people I know who have, at least for a few times in their lives, have been TEKKN game fanatics. Of course, news of a TEKKEN movie would be big news for them. Unfortunately, the upcoming (suddenly came out of nowhere) TEKKEN movie may not be what some of you fans may expect. Not unless maybe you love B-movie type action movies. Well, just check the trailer for yourself and make your own judgement.

Directed by Dwight H. Little, the guy responsible for films such as Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid and Marked for Death, which starred Steven Seagal, and from a screenplay written by Alan McElroy, the guy behind The Marine, Wrong Turn, and Halloween 4. The film version is a science fiction gladiator story set in the near future, about a rebel who rises up against the Tekken Corp. to seize freedom for his people. Here's the synopsis:

"The year is 2039. World Wars have destroyed much of civilization as we know it. The remaining territories are no longer run by governments, but by corporations, the mightiest of which is Tekken. In order to keep the masses down, Tekken sponsors the Iron Fist Tournament in which fighters compete to the death for ultimate glory and receive a lifetime of stardom and wealth."

source: slashfilm

Chito Roño is Directing a Full-length Filipino Musical film

Director Chito Roño is currently in Morocco, shooting "one of his most ambitious films" -which is a full-length musical film entitled EMIR.

According to the director, an Emir is a royal title in the Middle East. He explains that this indie movie is Broadway-type musical which will only have few spoken lines and majority of it will be in musical numbers. He explains that it has like 21 or 22 songs on it.

The director confesses that he does not know how to make a musical, that is why this is an ambitious project for him, but he really loves musicals and he wants to show the Filipinos that we can have a different genre to be proud of. He says "Ang gagaling ng mga composers natin, ang gagaling ng mga singers natin (We have talented composers and singers, we just need to put them in a dramatic vehicle). Ilagay natin sa isang dramatic vehicle. Ito talaga, it's an entire dramatic retelling of story or telling of the story by using music and dance." Emir will have all-original Filipino songs created by composers like Gary Granada, Diwa de Leon, Ebe (of the band Sugarfree) and Vin Dancel (of the band Peryodiko).

Chito pitched the film to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which later went on to produce it along with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). The project went through around 2 months of auditions. One of those who auditioned was Franceska Farr who Roño says is perfect for her major role. The film crew will be back from Morocco by January 25. And the film's release is expected by May or June 2010.

source: pep.ph

The Ghostbusters & its director Ivan Reitman will return in GHOSTBUSTERS 3

Reitman confirmed to return in Ghostbusters 3

"Ghostbusters" writer and star Harold Ramis revealed that the long-awaited third movie in the series is planned for a 2011 release. This news broke only a short time after "Avatar" star Sigourney Weaver speculated that Bill Murray's character Pete Venkman might appear in the movie as a slimer ghost, and that Oscar, her character's son from the second movie, would be a full-fledged Ghostbuster.

Ivan Reitman, director and producer of the first two movies, had a chat with MTV's Josh Horowitz and shied away from addressing Weaver's spoiler-y speculation, but he did have some things to say about the general state of development for "Ghostbusters III."

Reitman said that the script from "Year One" writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky is in and that a second draft is currently in the works. He also confirmed that he will indeed be returning to direct the coming sequel, as had been previously speculated.

"They have delivered a draft," Reitman said of the script's progress. "We are working our way through another draft... good work is being done and all of us have our fingers crossed."

What he wouldn't do was address exactly what that "good work" entailed. Asked about Weaver's recent comments, Reitman laughed and kept things light.

"I'm not going to comment on what's in the script and on what Sigourney may or may not have said," he told us. "She's been so busy on 'Avatar,' I've not been able to find her. There's some very cool things in the new draft, let's just put it that way."

Reitman was all business again when the talk turned back to the schedule. "I hope to start shooting in this next year," he said, giving weight to Ramis' recent comments about a planned 2011 release.

Then the bomb dropped. Asked if he would be returning to direct "Ghostbusters III," Reitman answered with a simple and unequivocal "Yes." It's good to see the old gang all getting back together, isn't it?
source: mtv.com

Spider-man 4 & Raimi No More

Producers attempt to meddle in creative process ends in the firing of director Sam Raimi and rebooting Spider-man series

Bad news to Spider-man fans. The upcoming Spider-man 4 is scrapped, kicking out Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, et al., and rebooting the series instead. EW reports that Sony wants “a more gritty, contemporary redo of the series,”

But this is Spider-man, not Daredevil or Batman, or the Punisher. You don't need a Spider-man movie to be dark to be good. In fact, forcing it to be dark and gritty may even possibly make this a bad movie.

EW also reports that Sony was always aiming to reboot the series in 2012 no matter what, but they did want one last outing with Raimi, Maguire, and co. According to Collider.com's Matt Goldberg, "this means that Sony just pushed up the timetable on setting up a crappy precedent where they don’t have to use over forty years of material from the comics, but can just keep redoing the series to suit the demographic with the most purchasing power at the time. That’s why when Sony means Peter Parker is going back to high-school, it means they’re skewing towards the Twilight crowd because they know the fanboys will nut up, take it, and then complain about it after they’ve already paid x-amount of dollars to see it (most likely in 3D; Sony hasn’t announced that for this new movie, but it’s a safe assumption they’ll jump on that bandwagon as well)."

In my opinion, what made the Spider-man movies successful was the masterful direction of Sam Raimi, who is a true fan of the Spider-man comics ever since his childhood. If you ask me, before Dark Knight came out, I had considered Spider-man 2 to be THE best superhero movie. But the third movie, Spider-man 3 was a critical failure because it was already there on that stage that the producers started to meddle with the creative process of making the movie; it was here when they began barking orders to Raimi to utilize their own ideas instead of Raimi's. It would be logically surmised that Raimi would not let this failure be repeated when they set out to make Spider-man 4. Now, the producers have fired him and want a new director they could easily bark orders to.

Spider-Man 4 delayed over script clashes

Sony & Sam Raimi have differing ideas for the film's villains
By Carl DiOrio and Borys Kit

The latest Spidey sequel is proving villainously difficult to plot out.

Sony and director Sam Raimi are at loggerheads over which direction to go with the villains for the latest installment -- an impasse which has prompted the studio to delay its scheduled spring production start and potentially to bump the pic from its May 6, 2011 release slot.

Raimi wants to have a criminal known as the Vulture act as the primary antagonist in the film while the studio, which dislikes the idea of the winged wrongdoer, is pushing for a romantic sub-plot involving a burglar named the Black Cat in addition to another villain.

A succession of writers has tried to marry the two parties' differing visions to no effect.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire ("Rabbit Hole") was hired in October 2008 to pen a key version of the screenplay, on top of the earlier version penned by James Vanderbilt ("Zodiac"). Last year, Sony brought in Gary Ross -- Oscar-nominated for his adapted script on 2003's "Seabiscuit" -- which he also helmed.

Alvin Sargent is penning the latest iteration.

Word of the Sony-Raimi conflict first surfaced mid-December on genre Web site IESB, but at the time Sony denied the report, saying tweaking of the script was "nothing unusual."

The differing views about the villain have their origins in the making of "Spider-Man 3."

Raimi, a fan of the wall-crawling super-hero since the character's 1960s debut, wanted to use classic villain Vulture in addition to Sandman, another classic creation, for that movie. The studio pushed him to use Venom, a character that was introduced in the late 1980s, because it thought that character, with its slick alien-symbiote origin, would lend itself to more effective marketing material and a way to attract "the kids."

"Spider-Man 3," while ensnaring $890 million in its worldwide web, turned out to be reviled by both the fanboy community and by many critics. In addition to a hefty paycheck, Raimi purportedly returned to helm the fourth installment in order to leave the series on a high note.

Production still could begin by this summer. While Sony insiders maintain the pic still could remain in its current release date, a shift to a date later in summer 2011 may be more likely considering the lack of a final script for the visual effects-driven project.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter

Yes, there will be an "AVATAR PART 2"

It should not be a surprise and it's extremely obvious that there is going to be a sequel to the ultra-popular & ultra successful AVATAR. As of January 6, 2010, respected film news analysts already has counted AVATAR as the number two highest grossing movie of all time (first being TITANIC which is also a James Cameron movie). News broke from the highly respected site Aintitcool.com revealing Cameron telling a Q&A crowd that there will be an AVATAR PART 2. Here is the letter presented by Aintitcool that reveals it:

"Hi Harry!

Don't know if this is newsworthy, but I just saw a Variety Screening Series showing of Avatar at the Arclight theater in Hollywood tonight, followed with a Q&A with James Cameron and two of his visual effects artists. One of the artists mentioned that they'll never again do this for the first time, meaning that everything they did in the making of Avatar was just a lot of instinctive grasping in the dark. Cameron agreed with him. He also told him to expect the studio to want another one, as they'd passed the billion $ mark. A second film will be easier, as the technology now exists, thanks to the movie. The moderator asked if there *would* be an Avatar sequel. To which Cameron answered that the plan had always been to make a trilogy of films. Finally, Cameron actually said it: "Yes, there'll be another."

As I said, I'm not sure how newsworthy this is, but thought I'd pass it on.

If you use this, please call me Marcel The Negro Projectionist"

source: Aintitcool.com

Director Sam Mendes to be a Consultant on the new Bond movie (Will he be the Director?)

James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are in final negotiations with CAA for director Sam Mendes to come on as a consultant to the 23rd James Bond film (as yet untitled). There is still no official confirmation if he is going to be the director or just a consultant.

Bond#23 is currently in pre-production for release in 2011 whose story begins after Quantum Of Solace. Bond actor Daniel Craig has already announced months ago that the filming shall commence late 2010. According to deadline.com writer Nikki Finke, Craig is "insisting" on Mendes' hiring because the actor was stung by criticism of the last Bond film. (And Sam directed Daniel in Road To Perdition.) Oscar-winner Peter Morgan with Quantum Of Solace and Casino Royale alumni Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, is writing the script for the latest film.

Being a champion of numerous Best director awards, Sam Mendes is best known for his work as the director of American Beauty (which won him the Academy Awards Best Director), Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road.

SOURCE: deadline.com

Moviehouses Resume Regular Screening

January 8 marks the resumption of the screening of the non-MMFF entries and regular movies. The end of the Metro Manila Filmfest Season opens the moviehouse floodgates to regular theater screenings. First in the list of movies rolling into theaters is the resumption of the screening of the movie Avatar, which has already opened before the MMFF season and was halted temporarily during the festival season. There is also the opening of three big movies; the family-friendly Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, the hilarious Zombieland, and the mysterious Sherlock Holmes. Other MMFF movies such as Ang Panday and Shake Rattle & Roll 11, among a couple of others are still showing and are still drawing box-office numbers.

During the Christmas holiday weeks, the Metro Manila Film Festival is being held. This festival began as one which aims to showcase Filipino cinema with a week wherein only Filipino movies are being shown. Eventually, it required all theaters in the country to only show locally produced films that were chosen by a selected committee. Over the years, though, the Festival had arguably gone through changes which many consider as a decline in the quality of Philippine Cinema, and according to many, made the festival something that is merely commercial rather than one devoted to Filipino artistry. This decline in quality made a number of people abhor the festival, because it forced theaters to show tagalog movies which they considered as awful and destroys the reputation of Philippine Cinema as a whole, and because it deprived these people of watching non-MMFF movies.

Bong Revilla wants to limit the showing of Hollywood films in the Philippines

Bong Revilla just gave you a reason not to support him

Senator Bong Revilla, producer of films that usually feature himself as the leading character, has proposed that there should only be one Hollywood movie to be shown in the country per month.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a hypothetical question was posed: What if the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) were scrapped and Hollywood films were again allowed to be shown during Christmas time? (The highly lucrative holiday play dates, which spans two weeks, are reserved for Filipino films.)

“I won’t allow that to happen,” Bong Revilla asserted. “How else can we revive the local movie industry if we give up the holiday play dates? The rest of the year, Hollywood movies beat local productions at the box office.”

If he had his way, he’d regulate the influx of foreign movies. “We should set limits, like what happened in South Korea. We should show only one Hollywood movie a month.”
He is fully aware that such a measure could prove drastic and divisive.

“A lot of people would react negatively and I know it’s against the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade),” the actor-solon said.

As producer-actor of “Ang Panday,” Revilla feels passionately about “offering viewers entertainment that’s worth their time and hard-earned money.”

He noted: “We spent over a year making ‘Panday.’ We took extra care in doing the special effects, and we had a Red camera ... the same one used in Hollywood movies like ‘Jumper’ and ‘Gamer.’” a statement counter-acted by vast number of opinions which claim that the latest Panday movie clearly and blatantly copied elements from Lord of the Rings and Dragonheart. Others claim that this movie was an embarrassment compared to the originality of the first Panday movie.

source: Inquirer

Movies to Watch Out this 2010

2010 is finally here and here are some movies that you may want to watch out for this year...

Daybreakers - is a vampire film written and directed by Peter and Michael Spierig. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill. Filming took place in Australia from July to September 2007. Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a researcher in the year 2019, in which an unknown plague has transformed the world's population into vampires. As the human population nears extinction, vampires must capture and farm every remaining human, or find a blood substitute before time runs out. However, a covert group of vampires makes a remarkable discovery, one which has the power to save the human race. The movie is scheduled for a January release in the US & UK. No date yet was set for the Philippines

Clash of the Titans - fantasy film which is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name, itself loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film is set for release on March 26, 2010

Kick-Ass - is an upcoming superhero film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn. The plot of Kick-Ass concerns a teenage boy, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), who decides to become a real-life superhero after being inspired by the heroes of comic books. He soon encounters a mysterious vigilante called Big-Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and his daughter Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz), who are working to bring down the drug baron Frank D'Amico. This is set for an April 2010 release.

Iron Man 2 - it's the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, and the second film in a planned trilogy. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and master engineer, also known as the superhero, Iron Man. The film is scheduled to be released on May 7, 2010.

Alice in Wonderland - the upcoming fantasy-adventure film directed by Tim Burton. It is an extension to the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The film will use a technique combining live action and animation. Mia Wasikowska plays the role of Alice, alongside Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen, and Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts. The film is due for release on March 5, 2010 and the film will be released through Walt Disney Pictures in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3-D, as well as in regular theatres.

The A-team - Everybody loves the A-team TV series back in the 1980's. This time, it is being made as a full feature movie with all the action and adventure. The film stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Jessica Biel, Quinton Jackson, Yul Vazquez, and will be directed by Joe Carnahan. It is set for a June 11, 2010 release.

Predators - a sequel to the 1987 classic horror film Predator. Robert Rodriguez stated that he named the film "Predators" in relation to how the second film in the Alien franchise was called Aliens. This new movie is actually the third of the Predator movie franchise. The first starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and the second starred Danny Glover. This movie is directed by Nimród Antal, but is produced by Robert Rodriguez, visionary director of From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, and the El Mariachi series (its most popular of the series is Desperado). It will be starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, and Danny Trejo. It's scheduled for a July 9, 2010 release.

The Expendables - This ensemble action film written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, which stars himself along with Jason Statham and Jet Li. The film pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early '90s, as the film includes action veterans from those decades (such as Stallone himself, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, and Bruce Willis). The movie is expected to be released on August 20, 2010.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (part 1) - Part 1 of the adaptation of Rowling's final Harry Potter book, which is expected to have its grand finale of a successful and highly respected film franchise based on the phenomenal book series. The final chapter of the Harry Potter film series begins as Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave Hogwarts behind and set out to find and destroy the Horcruxes, the secret to Voldemort's power and immortality. In as much as I actually hated the earlier Potter movies, I do think that this series clearly is the Star Wars of this generation. Deathly Hallows part 1 is set on November 19, 2010.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Just after Disney severed its ties from the Narnia franchise, 20th Century Fox came right in to take charge of distributing this Narnia sequel. fantasy film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third published novel in C.S. Lewis's fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the third in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. This time around – Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb – find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world. Obviously this new movie will feature stuff closer to something like Pirates of the Carribean because this will have sea voyage adventures. The Dawn Treader will set sail on December 10, 2010.

Wanted: Border - shot in Iloilo, and made generally by Ilonggos, this movie written and directed by Rey Gibraltar, and stars Rosanna Roces, won seven trophies in the fifth Cinema One Originals Awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Director, held last November 15, at the Dolphy Theater in ABS-CBN. It also won Best Production Design (Al Alacapa, Winston Lazaro and Allan Hilado); Best Music (Malik Lopez and Eric Romulo), and Best Cinematography (Ogi Sugatan). After (the movie) Yanggaw sparked consciousness in the local masses on how good indie films and Visayan talent and creativity are, there has been a demand to see this new indie movie made by Ilonggo creativity. Cinema One's Festival season is long been over, no release date has been set, yet Ilonggos are still eagerly awaiting its release in Iloilo shores...