Mission Impossible 4 with Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner is a Go

Paramount Pictures has announced that Hurtlocker star Jeremy Renner will co-star with Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 4.

Not too long after Mission Impossible 3 had been released, there had been initial reports that Cruise will not be appearing in this fourth movie but now it seems that Paramount has confirmed his presence and involvement in this new movie. Although it is yet unofficial, but it is highly likely that Ving Rhames will reprise his role as Luther Stickwell.

Mission Impossible 4 is produced by J.J. Abrams and will be directed by Brad Bird. It is scheduled for release on December 16, 2011.

WHY AM I NOT HAPPY?

Because Tom Cruise will be reprising his role, that means the movie will probably have the same format as with the rest of the other Mission Impossible movies with Cruise on it; it all focuses on one main character, Ethan Hunt. Personally, I hate these Mission Impossible movies because anybody who is familiar with the original Mission Impossible TV series knows fully well that this series is all about teamwork. How a crack team of secret agents are able to pull off incredible flawless missions just to fool their enemies in a very dangerously indiscreet, undetectable manner. Each and every mission is pulled off incredibly leaving zero traces of the team's handiwork. Cruise's version, on the other hand, is nothing but a childish James Bond rip-off, needlessly explosive, and ridiculously ballistic. As I said; childish James Bond. What was originally concieved as a spy concept that mirrors real espionage work has devolved into what looks like cartoons.

Marvel will be creating Iron Fist

An Iron Fist film is moving into the scripting stage, says a report at Deadline.
Marvel Studios has brought aboard Rich Wilkes (the "XXX" film series) to write the screenplay, which will adapt the story of Danny Rand, the Marvel martial arts superhero created in the 1970's.

In the Marvel Universe, Rand is the son of a wealthy explorer who trains in the mystical arts and eventually gains the power of the legendary Iron Fist, a magical fighting power that gives him indestructible fists.  First using the power after his father's death, Rand continued to bear the mantle in the fight against evil. Later, Iron Fist popularly teamed with Luke Cage (Power Man), who allegedly has his own film in development.

The idea of making an IRON FIST movie is actually a really old one, I guess it's as far as the same year the first Blade movie was released. During that time, the rumor goes that Ray Park (who was Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I, and Toad in the X-Men movie) was going to star as Iron Fist. But almost a decade has passed and still no Iron Fist movie. It is only now that news about this project emerges, hopefully, this project will finally be made.

The Walking Dead are coming

In the field of graphic novels, the most successful and the best ever made about zombies is THE WALKING DEAD. Actually, it’s not just the best zombie graphic novel; it is one of the best graphic novels ever made, period. THE WALKING DEAD is about to walk into a screen adaptation; but it wont be for the silver screen; it would be for the TV screen. This zombie saga will be brought to life by AMC, the TV channel/Cable Company responsible for TV shows such as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Rubicon. AMC is known for putting storyline quality as a priority rather than the commercial weaknesses most production companies have. With a prominent project such as The Walking Dead, AMC may achieve a global reputation. It does make sense that this zombie saga be turned into a TV series rather than a movie, primarily because a film’s running time cannot easily contain all the many subplots, twists, and turns of the story. To reduce this into a mere movie or even several movies, will only cause to tire itself and will only reduce the impact of each and every impact of the story.

Frank Darabont, who directed The Green Mile and The Mist, is the director and the co-writer of the TV series. A trailer has already been released (Check it out). THE WALKING DEAD will premiere on the AMC network on October 31, 2010 with a 90-minute premiere episode, during the network's "Fearfest.". There is no news as of yet if this will be showing in Philippine television, but I’m sure many of you will be torrenting. Let’s just hope HBO or Studio 23 picks it up…

Zack Snyder's SUCKER PUNCH, posters, trailer, & synopsis

Zack Snyder, the director of such visually super-spectacular movies such as 300, Watchmen, and the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead has a new project that looks like it has the potential to cause such an epidemic when it comes out next year, the title of this latest movie of his is SUCKER PUNCH. This action-adventure sci-fi is set in an alternate and ultra dark fantasy version of the 1950s.

The film will have an ensemble cast of gorgeous sexy ladies as its main characters; Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung and Jena Malone.
[check out the character posters and the trailer]

In February 2009, Snyder released a short synopsis of Sucker Punch  which states: "Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of Baby Doll (Browning), who is trying to hide from the pain caused by her evil stepfather and lobotomy. She ends up in mental institution in Brattleboro, Vermont, and while there she starts to imagine an alternate reality. She plans to escape from that imaginary world but to do that she needs to steal five objects before she is captured by an unknown adversary. She has 5 days to escape before being lobotomized. In order to cope with the situation, she enters the hyper-real world of her imagination, and the lines between reality and dream begin to blur. She is joined with friends who are inmates from the institution. Lessons learned in the said fantasy world could help the girls escape their real-world fate."

In addition, Snyder had this to say about SUCKER PUNCH: "A while ago I had written a script for myself and there was a sequence in it that made me think, 'How can I make a film that can have action sequences in it that aren't limited by the physical realities that normal people are limited by, but still have the story make sense so it's not, and I don't mean to be mean, like a bulls--t thing like Ultraviolet or something like that... It's as crazy as anything else that I have ever done. It's a movie that nobody can get made with the ending that it has and the subject matter."

This movie was originally set for am October 8, 2010 release but it was pushed later. SUCKER PUNCH is scheduled to be released on March 25, 2011

The Expendables

THE EXPENDABLES: A GLORIOUS Orgasm of Action Junkie Bliss!
By Reymundo Salao

The EXPENDABLES is about a group of unstoppable mercenaries taking on an evil oppressive general and his American allies. This is simple ballistic good versus evil; a movie created as a grand homage to the action movies of the 1980’s and 90’s.

I confess up front that I am going to be biased about this review. I love action movies. Good action movies (even the dumb ones). I basically grew up watching action movies, and so, because The Expendables is an all out explosive movie which is an homage to the classic action films of the 80s and 90s, it’s no surprise that this is something I surely will enjoy from start to finish. And surely I did enjoy it.

Commercially and creatively, it is a fabulous idea to combine all these legendary action icons into one movie. Of course, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, and Stallone, all action movie heroes, Randy Couture on the other hand is himself an icon of the Ultimate Fighting sport, and so is Stone Cold Steve Austin for the field of wrestling. Then there’s Dolph Lundgren who, despite being cast in B-movie projects over the recent years, still remains an active action movie actor (his 1989 movie Red Scorpion and the 1989 Marvel movie The Punisher are his two movies that I really loved when I was a kid), and also Mickey Rourke, who is more of a ‘man’s man’ icon rather than an action hero. And to top it off is the action movie villain icon Eric Roberts as the main baddie (alongside Steve Austin as his henchman). Terry Crews was also a great addition to the team because he's one of those actors that do look like a bad-ass but is often used on comedies and minor roles in action movies, in this one, he gets to be one of the main heroes. Of course there’s a minor appearance from Arnold Schwarzenegger alongside Willis whose appearance is minor also. But it’s a scene that I loved; the exchange between Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis was just something I really adored. I can’t really ensure if it's also something ladies will enjoy with much giddy enthusiasm as I did. But yes, this movie made me feel like I was in GRADE 6 again, with ...matching childish cheer & machine gun sounds from my grade 6 teeth.

Stallone's style in action is, by definition, violent, but never gory. Stallone's treatment in gore is pretty much hit, get-to-the-point, and then run; it does not exert any effort to focus too long on the gore as much as Neveldine & Taylor's direction in Crank 2 or the torture porn of the Saw movies.

Unfortunately, Stallone has the same major flaw typical American directors are plagued with; they do not know how to shoot a good martial arts sequence. I think the film failed to really let the audience see the usual martial arts majesty of Jet Li. Even Stallone's, Steve Austin's and Randy Couture's major fight sequences lacked an impressive fight-sequence orgasm to it. The shots of the fight scenes feel shaky and too close. With martial arts and fight scenes, the static should be on the body movements of the characters fighting, a good steady focus should capture every detail of the body static. Especially with a superior martial artist like Jet Li, you need to focus each and every impressive stunt he creates onscreen. This is also very similar to editing; a good fight sequence should not be divided into tiny bits to meld with a grand all-out action mix-up with the other characters doing other separate things as well. If it does become part of a mix-up, make the sequences longer.

With what he has achieved in directing John Rambo (Rambo IV), and with his achievement here in The Expendables, I feel that Stallone's forte is more on the military action. It's just grand, wild, ballistic, and merciless. There is one scene (which involves a plane escape) where I literally even clapped my hands (yeah that's not a usual thing here in our conservative city, but hell I just loved it).

What I like about this movie is that even though his main characters are scary when in battle, their character arcs are that they are never a-holes or arrogant vain dicks. That seems to be what sets them apart from the protagonist in movies by Michael Bay or Neveldine & Taylor whose heroes are too cocky and sometimes break too many “hero” rules to the point that you get tired of rooting for those kind of heroes.

Just because you have characters that are wickedly bad-ass, doesn’t mean they have to possess nasty personalities as well. At one scene, we see Mickey Rourke riding in on his bike with what looks like a hooker on his back, yet, the next time we see him, he delivers this soulful lamentation of how an experience in the battlefield, when he neglected a civilian, has bothered his conscience. As I said, they look demonic on the outside, but they reveal sheer goodness inside. Maybe to younger audiences this appears to be an old school approach to action hero archetypes, but if you ask me, this is THE BEST approach to an action hero archetype.

THE EXPENDABLES is full-price movie for me and for many action-loving audiences out there. Sure you should not expect this to be a smart “thinking” movie. But at least it’s not as dumb as, say the “Charlie’s Angels” movies or that dumb G.I. Joe movie (personally this is what I wanted that GI Joe movie to look like). THE EXPENDABLES earns a solid thumbs up; along with wishes that there should be a sequel! Next Mission PLEASE!!!

New Movies this Week

Change picture day last Wednesday saw the release of Step Up 3D, which has been getting good reviews and have, according to critics, effectively utilized 3-D style film-making into a dance movie. There really is nothing much to explain about the movie's synopsis except that it is one of those silly movies that revolves around dancing. For those who love dancing, this one is ought to be a must-see movie.

Also released last Wednesday is the comedy --Grown Ups. This American buddy-comedy film starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider. It's story revolves around a group of childhood friends, who came home and met up again, now as grown ups, trying to reminisce the fun and the gags of their childhood. This is your typical American comedy which is just a beerload of fun to watch for some; and maybe a bit lame for others. 

And this Friday comes the release of the much anticipated action movie which is Stallone's homage to old school action movies - The EXPENDABLES. This film which boasts an ensemble cast of action icons - Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, and they are joined by Terry Crews, with minor appearances of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. There's also nothing much to explain here; just a couple of good guy mercenaries out to fight nasty bad guys, all you need to do is sit your ass down & enjoy the explosions. Sure, expect this to be campy and maybe just too testosterone driven, hey what do you expect from a movie that is an homage to old school action?

It's obvious where my crosshairs are set; see you later at the Expendables screening! ;)

Amigo Plaza's 2010 Ilonggo Short Film Competition

To all Ilonggo amateur and hobbyist film makers out there, here is your chance to show off your talents and skills. Join Amigo Plaza Mall’s Ilonggo Short Film Competition and showcase the best of Ilonggo in the film  making. Big prizes awaits the best entries. See the guidelines below and this may be the break you’ve been waiting for to entering big in this industry.

2010 Ilonggo Short Film Competition GUIDELINES:

1. The 2010 ILONGGO SHORT FILM COMPETITION is presented by Amigo Plaza Mall in cooperation with ABS-CBN (Iloilo) and is organized by TMX in association with the film & video expertise of the Faculty of the Asia Pacific College (School of Multimedia Arts).
2. The contest is open to a group of students and/or organization (minimum of three and maximum of 15 in a group) and must represent a school and/or company.
3. Only Narrative Shorts will be accepted. Animated and/or experimental works will only be accepted if they are infused in a narrative work. Purely experimental works (such as abstractions, non-linear, etc.), documentary videos and animated optics without a story will NOT be accepted. Since
4. Running time is set to a minimum of five (5) minutes to a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes only including opening and closing credits. Short films that do not conform to this rule shall not be accepted.
5. Submission format will be DVD only. Any other video format will NOT be accepted.
6. No specific themes will be provided for this competition but filmmakers are encouraged to tackle any Ilonggo theme, lifestyle and/or culture in very creative ways.
7. Submissions must be in Hiligaynon with English subtitles otherwise the work will NOT be accepted.
8. Works shall be judged according to the technical elements of film & video, highly-regarding film & video as creative mediums.
9. Prizes include: Best Short Film (P10,000.00 for the filmmaker/s plus a 21” color TV for the school/company it represents); 2nd Prize (P5,000.00 for the filmmaker/s); 3rd Prize (P3,000 for the filmmaker/s); Two (2) Runners-up (P1,500.00 each); Highest Receipt Votes (P1,500.00); Audience Award (Certificate).
10. Highest Receipt Votes shall be determined per submitted receipts. One (1) vote for every P100 worth of receipts from the period August 1, 2010 to September 29, 2010 from mall tenants only and from stores within the Amigo Plaza Mall.
11. Audience Award shall be determined by the actual votes from those who have attended the short film screenings.
12. The competition shall be judged by five (5) selected filmmakers to comprise the Board of Jury. For professional and technical considerations, the selection of the Board of Jury, the film selections and the judging processes shall be coordinated and moderated by the Film & Video Faculty of the Asia Pacific College (School of Multimedia Arts) in Makati City. TMX and Amigo Plaza Mall will not participate in the judging process and shall only take care of the “Highest Receipt Votes” and the “Audience Award” tally.
13. Deadline of submission of entries is on September 25, 2010. After the set deadline, TMX and Amigo Plaza Mall shall mail all DVD entries to the Asia Pacific College (School of Multimedia Arts) for the judging process.
14. Results shall be sent by the Asia Pacific College to TMX and Amigo Plaza Mall via snail mail and e-mail.
15. Decisions made by the Board of Jury are final and are not subject to appeal. No protests of any kind shall be accommodated.
16. The Board of Jury may reward special jury prizes to worthy entries and winners of these special awards will take home Jury Certificates signed by them.
17. First degree up to the third degree of consanguinity relatives of TMX employees and Amigo Plaza Mall employees are disqualified from joining this competition.
18. Registration period will be on August 1, 2010 to August 21, 2010. Submission of entries is on September 25, 2010. Awarding Ceremony is on October 8, 2010.

For more details you may contact Amigo Plaza Mall at (033)508-6736.
2010 Ilonggo Short Film Competition Contact persons: Gigi Sy and Hannilyn Delfin.

Farewell, Charlie Davao!

Veteran actor Charlie Davao, the father of actor Ricky Davao, succumbed to colon cancer on Sunday morning. Charlie passed away at 11:30 a.m. at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila. His cancer was detected in 2009. Charlie was 75.

Born Charlie Dabao in Iloilo City, he went to Manila in 1954 to study. He juggled being a commerce student at the University of the East and working as a commercial and print ad model.

Charlie, who would later become known for his roles as an antagonist in the movies and TV, landed his first major role in the film "Isinumpa" (Cursed) in 1959. Among his most memorable films were "Kaming Mga Talyada" (1962), with Juancho Guttierez and Jose Mari Gonzales, and "Trudis Liit" ("Little Trudis," 1993), with Vilma Santos.

He was also part of "Palengke Queen" with Nora Aunor in 1982; "Pedro Tunasan" with Lito Lapid in 1983; "Get Victor Corpus: The Rebel Soldier" with Rudy Fernandez in 1987; "The Rape of Virginia P." with Alma Moreno in 1989; and "Volta" with Ai-Ai de la Alas in 2004.

On television, he worked with Claudine Barretto in "Mula sa Puso" on ABS-CBN in 1997. He was also part of "Darna," "Rosalinda," and "Totoy Bato" on GMA 7. Charlie was last seen in "Saan Darating ang Umaga" on GMA 7 in 2008.

Mario O'hara sets sights on BIDASARI

Although Mario O'hara's Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio did not make waves at the recent Cinemalaya Film Festival, this did not crush the enthusiasm of the veteran film-making master to plan another history-related project. O'hara is planning a historical epic movie entitled "Bidasari" which is set in the Philippines before the Spanish colonization. O'Hara stated that a movie set in Pre-Colonial Philippines would have beautiful elements which would also include a lot of action, because this would also feature warriors of the early Filipinos. This kind of movie would also be of great help to Filipino students in their studies of History.

Mario O'hara is known for many films that have been etched among the greatest films of Philippine cinema, such as; Bulaklak sa City Jail (1984), Babae sa Breakwater (2004), and the war drama Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (1976).

SOURCE: Philippine Entertainment Portal

The Last Airbender (2010)

THE EPIC FAIL
By Reymundo Salao

Okay, so this is another LATE review. The movie already had a late release here in the Philippines, now, my review came even LATE-ER. But here it is...

There was a time when the words "Written, Produced, and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan" seemed like a good movie. But after a string of, not just disappointing movies, but really flat out bad movies, Shyamalan's career has gone from bad to worse. It is very surprising that a director who was once hailed as a next Spielberg could have fallen into not just a mediocre film-maker, but a really bad one the likes of Uwe Boll and Joel Lamangan have seen.

THE LAST AIRBENDER is the film adaptation of the phenomenal animated TV series AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. The TV series was said to be this classic landmark in fantasy sci fi fiction, but those who are familiar with this series claim that Shyamalan has changed many aspects of the story and injected his own elements, and his own style, that is to say that being awful at what you do is a style that he has nowadays.

It is actually incredible how a movie supposedly rich with so many magical elements, martial arts action, breath-taking stunts, bizarre creatures, and exotic and strange locations, can still become a movie that is not even a bit above awful.

The acting was horrible. Forgiving the cast because most of them were child actors is not a good enough excuse because we have all seen too many better child actors and actresses than this. Either that, or the director was just not able to extract a good enough energy to act in this. Even the great Liam Neeson could not give a decent performance in George Lucas' stinky Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, looks like Noah Ringer and the rest of the cast may find themselves in a very similar predicament.

Most of the time, what made their performances awful was the very bland and the disorderly editing. At one point, Aang was acting up an emotion of loss for his monk friends, and the angle never pans or shifts to another, it just stays at a single side, eventually making Noah Ringer's acting look all the more awkwardly bad.

The script itself was just downright tasteless; poorly written and chronically lacking in fluidity and even common sense. I was desperately already lowering my expectations, just so that I could enjoy the movie in my most tolerable state, but the first fifteen minutes just struck me down, crushing my already low expectations. The first fifteen minutes already tells you that the acting is bad and whatever they do and however they react in this story does not make much sense.

The movie tried to force in the love story between Sokka and Yue, which just ended up being extremely bland and hilariously corny.

The only factors remotely edible here was the action and the special effects, the costumes were all great also, and the set design was marvelous, most of all, I adore the musical score. I even did manage to obtain a copy of the soundtrack. But all of those factors, no matter how great they are, cannot redeem the awfulness of the entire movie, and this has already ingrained itself on the throne as the most disappointing movie (possibly, ever). Just as the original animated series was phenomenally good. This movie version is phenomenally bad.

SPOILER DISCUSSION

When they first see Aang inside the icy sphere, they never react much to the creature (Appa).

When they brought Aang to the village, they seem to have just neglected him there, nobody was even curious of such discovery the children made. Nobody was curious about the strange creature (Appa). No elder seemed to made any advice to them.

When Aang discovered that his monk friends were already gone.

Will Robert Rodriguez direct Deadpool?

Is the director of Sin City ready for Ryan Reynolds' "Merc with a Mouth"?

The rumors have been bubbling under for the past few weeks about whether director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) might be called upon to direct Deadpool, the planned spin-off from last year's X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Ryan Reynolds reprising the role of the "Merc with a Mouth" he played in that movie.

Last week at Comic-Con, Rodriguez was asked by MTV about the project and he confirmed he had received the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland) but wasn't sure if he would direct or not.

Just one week later and the L.A. Times is reporting that Rodriguez is now in active negotiations to direct the movie and that it would likely happen after he finishes Spy Kids 4: Armageddon, which he's currently shooting for release next year. Rodriguez does have a lot on his plate right now with Predators still in theaters and Machete coming out later this summer, and he has a few other original ideas he's been developing.

One presumes that one way to stay in the public eye and maintain his relationship with 20th Century Fox would be to take on a high-profile superhero movie like Deadpool, which combines humor and violence, two things Rodriguez has made his specialty. The question is whether he could make the movie PG-13 or 20th Century Fox might allow Rodriguez to do what he does best when not having to soften things up for a younger audience. (Of course, having made four PG movies and working on a fifth, it's not like Rodriguez would have problem making a movie that falls somewhere in between.)

source: SuperHeroHype