REEL DEAL: Rise of the Guardians - Chris Pine SPOTLIGHT

Chris Pine as Jack Frost

Chris Pine who has emerged as one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors, is currently shooting “Jack Ryan,” slated for a December 2013 release, assuming the mantle of the Tom Clancy action hero previously portrayed on film by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. This holiday season Chris Pine provides the voice of the character of Jack Frost , a ghostly blue and white 14-year-old boy with no memory of his past apart from waking up one night floating in a frozen lake.

“They know Jack as a troublemaker, as this immature kind of guy,” says director Peter Ramsey, and by all appearances, he is. Jack is a 300-year-old prankster in a 17-year-old body, with the power to create frost, wind and snow.  Happiest when he’s causing havoc, controlling winter with a swing, tap or touch of his staff, to him, a successful day is measured by how many snowballs he’s thrown, how many windows have been fogged and how many schools have closed after it’s been declared a snow day. He has no responsibilities, no one to answer to, and ultimately, at least in his mind, no purpose.

REEL DEAL: Rise of the Guardians - Jude Law SPOTLIGHT

Jude Law is the wicked bogeyman Pitch in ‘Rise of the Guardians’

Jude Law is considered one of Britain’s finest actors, with a wealth and variety of film and theater performances to his credit. 

Law will star opposite Keira Knightley in Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina.” Last year, he reunited with Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr., on “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” reprising his role from the global boxoffice success “Sherlock Holmes”. In his new animation film in DreamWorks Animations he plays evil entity known as Pitch.

REEL DEAL: Rise of the Guardians SPOTLIGHT

"Rise of the Guardians" is an epic and magical adventure that tells the story of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost - legendary characters with previously unknown extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children everywhere. The film features the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law.

“Rise of the Guardians” opens on November 21st across the Philippines released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.

REEL DEAL: Alex Cross SPOTLIGHT

Based on James Patterson’s best-selling novels (with over $3 billion in worldwide sales), “I, Alex Cross” will reboot the global franchise originated by the films “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider”.  

Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) is a decorated detective, forensic psychologist and devoted family man.  Working with his long-time partner, Tommy Kane (Ed Burns), he catches a complicated quadruple murder case and begins to profile a killer whom he labels Picasso for the drawings he leaves at the scene.  Picasso (Matthew Fox) is a suave, highly skilled assassin who is targeting an elite list of executives all part of the corporate empire of Leon Jospin (Jean Reno).

  

After Cross successfully thwarts one of Picasso’s murder attempts, Picasso retaliates by targeting Cross’ family.  Now it’s personal as Cross blurs the lines of justice to pursue a killer no one can stop.  The film leads to a thrilling climax where Cross and Picasso face off in an intimate battle only one can win.  And in the end, a final twist reveals all was not as perceived to be and Cross is changed forever.  

REEL DEAL: The Bourne Legacy REVIEW

The long wait of Filipinos (especially action fans) is over, after many inconveniences with traffic with the supervision of the MMDA, The Bourne Legacy will be shown in theaters this August 8. A spin off from the very successful and acclaimed Bourne Series (Identity, Supremacy, Ultimatum), the movie now tells the story of another agent similar to Jason Bourne, Aaron Cross.


The movie goes on a world tour to many countries, not just the Philippines. From the cold mountains of Canada, to many Asian cities  showing the string theory of events that eventually lead to the crossroads of the meltdown of the program and its agents. Rachel Weisz, plays the beautiful doctor who accompanies  Aaron to travel to the other side of the world to Manila.


Of course, Pinoys who were part of this movie take pride of making this happen. And the view of Manila was really cool, for a true blue Manilan like me. The chase scene in the city was something really surreal to think that I also walked at those places. Also its my first time to see a Jeepney at a chase with passengers and falling moments. It also makes me think that Manila can be a place for parkour... perhaps? And El Nido is just... wow!

REEL DEAL: The Bourne Legacy - Jeremy Renner SPOTLIGHT

JEREMY RENNER is Aaron Cross in  The Bourne Legacy

Two-time Academy Award® nominee JEREMY RENNER a performer as comfortable with drama as he is with action, stars in Universal Pictures “The Bourne Legacy” he plays Aaron Cross is one of six agents in a program called Outcome.  Unlike the CIA’s Treadstone, Outcome agents have been developed and trained for use by the Department of Defense.  More than assassins, Outcome agents are designed for use in isolated, high-risk, long-term intelligence assignments.  The behavioral science that was suggested as the underpinning of the Treadstone agents has been upgraded and advanced, but it’s the shared origins of these two programs that makes Outcome so vulnerable as Bourne’s story becomes public knowledge.  

How did this role come to you?

It came to me in a very BOURNE-like way. Someone flew out to Germany where I was shooting HANSEL AND GRETEL. They knocked on my door, handed me a script and said, ‘When you’re done with it, call this number…’  It was very spy-like. So I read it, loved it, and thought I’d be an idiot not to do it.

REEL DEAL: The Bourne Legacy - Director Tony Gilroy SPOTLIGHT

Manila According To Tony Gilroy

During preproduction, of The Bourne Legacy director Tony Gilroy toured Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in Vietnam, Jakarta in Indonesia, and Manila in the Philippines.  Ultimately, Manila’s history as a shooting location won over the team.  Major Hollywood features, such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Brokedown Palace, were shot in the Philippines in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.  “They had a 25-, 30-year run of making movies there,” says Gilroy, “and they have this huge infrastructure that was built up from all the films made about Vietnam.”

REEL DEAL: The Dictator REVIEW

The Republic of Wadiya makes its mark not by terrorism but the wacky and super crazy movie The Dictator starring Sacha Baron Cohen. Though he might be known with his very controversial film Borat. The Dictator tells the story of General-Admiral Aladeen who leads the nation of Wadiya which is rich in oil however lives under the Tyranny of the "Supreme One" who also is spoiled with almost everything he wants. However he still feels a sense of loneliness.


The Dictator is actually based from a novel of the fallen leader Saddam Hussein entitled, "Zabibah and the King". They made a modern twist to this story plus the fact that Cohen is a genius in making insanely controversial comedy that requires an open mind and sense of humor to greatly enjoy the film.


There would be a lot of stereotypes, racial slurs written in a comedic way that in the end you would laugh and forget the insulting script. Though I can say pertains to politics, the society wherein it serves as an eye opener to the issues of the world which also shows the irony that many have failed to portray. The long wait was indeed worth it!

REEL DEAL: Snow White and the Huntsman REVIEW

Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, hair black as night, bring me you heart... my dear... dear... Snow White.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all...

These are the lines that people recognize and know belongs to the well loved fairy tale now brought to a different light with Snow White and the Huntsman. Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Chis Hemsworth (Thor, Avengers) and Charlize Theron leads the cast as Snow White, Huntsman, and Queen Ravena respectively.

And even with new take of the story, the key elements are still there like the magic mirror, dwarves, and the poison apple. This is similar to the latest Alice in Wonderland who is also the producer for this film. It is also not all evil with the queen but also shows the journey on how she became the queen with the mirror. 

Kristen Stewart makes a break away from her twilight image and also impressive with her action scenes, also Chris Hemsworth weilding axes and knives instead of a hammer. 

REEL DEAL: Snow White and the Huntsman - Charleze Theron SPOTLIGHT

Charlize Theron’s monsters turns to evil queen.

Reflects director Rupert Sanders on the power of this creature in our minds, as well as her role in this interpretation of the iconic story: “The Queen symbolizes death, and she is trying to stop her own from arriving.  She is seeking immortality, so everything in the kingdom is thrown off balance.  Oppositely, Snow White is the beating heart of life, and the Huntsman’s job is to take that life.  If the Queen fails, life and death may fall back in sync and the kingdom will return to how it once was.”

Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron was brought aboard to play the fabled monarch.  Discussing his decision to cast Theron, Sanders commends: “Charlize has given such staggering performances in her career, but she is also such an incredibly beautiful woman.  She encompasses, more than any other actor out there, both power and beauty personified.  She is Margaret Thatcher-meets-Kate Moss.” 

REEL DEAL: Snow White and The Huntsman - Kristen Stewart SPOTLIGHT

Kristen Stewart Twilight’s turning into Snow as White

In Snow White and the Huntsman, a breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale begins. Kristen  Stewart  plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron).The casting of Ravenna’s nemesis was slightly trickier than finding her pursuer.  The filmmakers were searching for an actress who could capture both sides of the archetypal character: the innocence, naiveté and tenderness that Snow White demonstrates in the first half of our story, and the tough, physical warrior princess that she becomes in the second half.  They discovered a number of younger actresses who could play the first half of the movie brilliantly but had trouble convincing the team that they could carry off the tougher persona.  Likewise, when older actresses auditioned, they could well portray the battle-hardened soldier but were unconvincing as the recessive captive that the film’s early scenes demanded.  

REEL DEAL: Snow White and the Huntsman SPOTLIGHT

In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen Oscar® winner Charlize Theron out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman Chris Hemsworth (Thor and The Avengers) dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White’s beauty and power.

The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders. 

“Snow White and the Huntsman” is released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.

REEL DEAL: Battleship REVIEW

There is a great interest in war and weapons nowadays. With the tension on our seas maybe the hottest news today and with the failed North Korean Missle Launch also threatened the nation it is also the perfect time for this war inspired kick ass movie, Battleship

BATTLESHIP brings together the Navy, Army, Air Force and the Marines in an all out war for Earth against an unexpected alien invasion that the advantage of the invading team .  From War Games the exercises  becomes a critical game of the fate of Earth. The movie stars Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Liam Nelson , Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard . Situated in the Pacific Ocean, the vast body of water serves a perfect battleground with all that firepower from destroyers and battleships and alien warcrafts.

REEL DEAL: Battleship SPOTLIGHT

‘BATTLESHIP’ from game-to-film

On April 12  2012, the battle for Earth begins at sea. Peter  Berg directs and produces Battleship, an epic-scale action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.

After the blockbuster success of the toys-to-films Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Hasbro reviewed the catalogue and focused on “Battleship” as its first game-to-film.  Still, the company knew it wouldn’t move forward until a crucial dilemma was resolved: how to logically transfigure a beloved property into a cohesive and entertaining motion picture.

It was crucial to the producers that when audiences see this epic, they witness an incredible spectacle. Bennet  Schneir,  the leader in leisure time entertainment services and products in Hasbro Inc. says: “They’re going to see airplanes and ships and aliens and shredders and thugs.  They’re going to see the game of ‘Battleship’ that they all grew up on come to life in front of them.  And at the core of it, they’re going to see a story about a group of human beings who are up against impossible odds.”

REEL DEAL: Battleship SPOTLIGHT

From the producer of Hasbro the Transformers franchise.  Summer 2012 begins with the biggest battle of all: Battleship.

Peter Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.  Based on Hasbro’s classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam, a physical therapist and Hopper’s fiancée; Alexander Skarsgård as Hopper’s older brother, Commanding Officer Stone of the USS Samson; Rihanna as Lt. Raikes, Hopper’s crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones, and international superstar Liam Nelson as Hopper and Stone’s superior (and Sam’s father), Admiral Shane.

“Battleship” distributed and released by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corporation.

REEL DEAL: The Lorax - Zac Efron SPOTLIGHT

Zac Efron Voices “TED” in Dr. Seuss’ THE LORAX 

The role of the passionate and curious 12-year-old named Ted went to Zac Efron, known to audiences for the High School Musical series and the hit musical Hairspray.  Though the character is much younger than the actor, the filmmakers knew that Efron’s charm and youthful spirit would serve the character well

Efron vividly remembers his parents reading “The Lorax” to him as a child and credits the book as “planting the seed of an environmentalist” in him.  Reflecting upon his character, he states: “Ted is a regular kid growing up who is hungry for adventure.  He’s got a crush on this girl, and he has a crazy grandma and a mom who is too strict, so he wants his freedom.  He lives in a world in which there is virtually no nature—no trees and no plants.  Everything exists through technology, so it’s fun to see him navigating a similar family life that we have today.”

Voicing an animated character was a new experience for Efron.  He notes that though the process of recording alone in a booth felt a bit awkward at times, he enjoyed the challenge.  “I thought back to my childhood and put myself in these awkward, hilarious situations that this kid finds himself in.  The variations between something being funny and something not quite fitting are so slight, but they can make all the difference.  It’s fun to really let go, though I’m sure it looked ridiculous when I was in the sound booth.”  

How was it to play Ted in THE LORAX?

It was awesome. Ted’s a little rock star. He’s an ambitious, driven AND crafty young guy. He would do anything for the girl he loves. He’s a cool, cool cat.

REEL DEAL: The Lorax - Danny DeVito SPOTLIGHT

Danny DeVito Voices “THE LORAX” in DR SEUSS’ THE LORAX 

Lending the vocal talent as the iconic title character of the Lorax is no other than Danny  DeVito is one of the entertainment industry’s most versatile players, excelling as an actor, producer and director. 

When casting the actors who would voice the characters in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, the filmmakers looked to a variety of performers to find not just the ideal actors for the film, but also the perfect people to embody Dr. Seuss’ iconic characters.

Cast as the gruff yet comical Lorax was legendary comic actor Danny DeVito, who currently entertains TV audiences weekly with his portrayal of Frank Reynolds on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  

REEL DEAL: Safehouse REVIEW

The world indeed is a dangerous place, no one is exempted on what could happen to any of us in natural or man made events. Even with the toughest security can be breached, nowhere is a safe place.



Oscar® winner Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds star in the action-thriller Safe House.  Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA, who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run.  When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Reynolds) escapes with him.  Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.


For the past year, Matt Weston has been frustrated by his inactive, backwater post in Cape Town.  A “housekeeper” who aspires to be a full-fledged agent, the loyal company man has been waiting for an opportunity to prove himself.  When the first and only occupant he’s had proves to be the most dangerous man he’s ever met, Weston readies for duty.

 

Reel Deal: Juggernauts UIP-SOLAR become the country’s biggest film distributor of all time

United International Pictures. together with its local affiliate Solar Entertainment Corp., one of the country’s leading film distributors, recorded its biggest year of all time in 2011 at theatrical grosses of PHP1.600 billion and still counting, announces by Mr. Wilson Tieng President of Solar Entertainment Corp. Surpassing  Warner’s Bros. 2010’s  record of PHP1.3 billion.


Tent-poles films, which were mostly great sequels, such as Fast and Furious 5, Kung Fu Panda 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Marvel’s Thor quickly escalated the gross tallies to 1 billion in the second quarter of 2011. Tent-pole films on the horizon also have all the potential, to reach 1 billion this oncoming year with firestarters left and right such as Universal Pictures’ Battleship, Snow White and the Huntsman, Safe House, Bourne Legacy, American Pie: The Reunion, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, 47 Ronin, and Les Misarables; Paramount Pictures’ G.I. Joe Retaliation, and the re-envisioning of the classic tale Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunter; and DreamWorks’ 3D animation Madagascar 3 and Rise of the Guardians. 


BATTLESHIP. An epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies, and over land as our planet is forced to fight for survival against a superior armada of unknown origins.

REEL DEAL: Contraband SPOTLIGHT

Mark Wahlberg leads the cast of Contraband, a white-knuckle action-thriller about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked hard to leave behind and the family he’ll do anything to protect. Set in New Orleans, the film explores the cutthroat underground world of international smuggling—full of desperate criminals and corrupt officials, high-stakes and big payoffs—where loyalty rarely exists and death is one wrong turn away. 

Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy (Caleb Landry Jones), botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs (Giovanni Ribisi), Chris is forced back into doing what he does best—running contraband—to settle Andy’s debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian (Ben Foster), to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate (Kate Beckinsale), and sons become their target. 

“Contraband” distributed and released by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corporation.