The Critics Agree: "Split" Brings Shyamalan Back to Fine Form

With a 78 percent Fresh rating at reviews-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Universal Pictures' new suspense thriller Split starring James McAvoy has undeniably marked the official comeback story of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.

As critic John DeFore writes in The Hollywood Reporter, “genre fans should embrace what is arguably the director's most satisfying picture since The Sixth Sense. In some quarters, it will generate talk of a comeback for a filmmaker who has suffered both critical drubbing and box-office humiliation over the past decade.”

Peter Debruge agrees in his review in Variety. He shares, Spit is “A welcome return to form from Shyamalan whose unhinged new mind-bender is a worthy extension of his early work.

University of the Visayas wins SBP-Passerelle Sportsmanship Award.

The University of the Visayas (UV) got to take home the much-coveted Sportsmanship award in the SBP division of the prestigious SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament. This award is based not only on the fair play shown by the players, but also among the coaches, school officials and parents, and aims to develop values, discipline, team work and sportsmanship among all participants. 

The SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament is organized by the multi-awarded school for basketball and volleyball, BEST Center, sponsored by Milo, and supported by Chris Sports and Rain or Shine. Now on its 31st year, SBP-Passarelle is the longest running and most prestigious annual interschool basketball competition for children where students ages 9-11 compete in the SBP division, while students ages 12-14 compete in the Passarelle division. For more information about BEST Center’s classes and tournaments, email bestcentersports@gmail.com or follow its official Facebook page BEST Center Sports Inc.

"xXx: Return of Xander Cage" Launches Main One-sheet Art

Paramount Pictures has just launched the new posters of xXx: Return of Xander Cage starring Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson and Donnie Yen.

Check out the main one-sheets below and watch the film in Philippine cinemas starting January 18, 2017.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the third explosive chapter of the blockbuster franchise that redefined the spy thriller finds extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Diesel) coming out of self-imposed exile and on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang (Rogue One's Donnie Yen) and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora’s Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments.

Ben Affleck, a Gangster with a Conscience in "Live by Night"

Two-time Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck – most recently seen in the critically praised The Accountant and in early 2016 playing crime fighting icon Batman/Bruce Wayne in the global blockbuster Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – now directs and stars in Warner Bros. Pictures' new gangster film Live by Night.

Affleck plays Joe Coughlin who went overseas to fight valiantly for his country, but quickly found himself utterly disillusioned by the war. He ultimately finds himself back home in, as he tells us, a life he didn’t expect…paying the price for the American dream.

“Joe fully acknowledges that he’s chosen to be an outlaw in a town run by gangsters, with the Irish and Italian mobs at war,” offers Affleck. “What I find most intriguing about him though is that, while he breaks the law and makes his own rules, it’s his own morality that prevents him from considering himself one of them, a gangster.”

"Game of Thrones" Star Pedro Pascal is Bound to "The Great Wall"

Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal (Netflix’s Narcos, HBO’s Game of Thrones) stars in Universal Pictures' new fantasy adventure The Great Wall as Pero Tovar, a tough, sword-wielding Spaniard who has become a brother-in-arms to Matt Damon's William Garin.

Directed by Zhang Yimou, the epic film tells the story of Garin, a battle-scarred mercenary in China and master archer taken captive by a secret army of elite warriors known as The Nameless Order. In a vast military outpost called the Fortress City, they fight to protect humanity from supernatural forces upon one of the greatest defensive structures ever built: The Great Wall.

Vivo Launches Stephen Curry-endorsed 20MP dual front camera V5 Plus

Basketball superstar Stephen Curry is the face of
Vivo’s newest flagship model, the Vivo V5 Plus.

With the ‘selfie’ phenomenon at its peak and its popularity growing unabated, smartphone manufacturers have been producing phones with camera-focused features that can create the selfie worthy of being called ‘perfect’.

In fact, Vivo, one of the top five premium global brands according to data from the International Data Corporation1 is set to launch a smartphone equipped with the most advanced selfie technology to date: the Vivo V5 Plus, to be officially unveiled in a consumer and media launch on January 21, Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

The Vivo V5 Plus is endorsed by basketball superstar Stephen Curry, who earlier said that he shares the same core values with the brand: energy, professionalism, and pleasure.

James McAvoy Amazes as Man with Multiple Personalities in "Split"

Golden Globe Award-nominated actor James McAvoy won over global audiences with his critically acclaimed performances in Atonement, Wanted, X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Now, he stars in Universal Pictures' new suspense thriller Split, an original film that delves into the mysterious recesses of one man’s fractured, gifted mind.

McAvoy stars as Kevin who has evidenced 23 personalities—each with unique physical attributes—to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), but there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey (Taylor-Joy), Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him—as well as everyone around him—as the walls between his compartments shatter apart.

Gear Up for the Teaser Poster of "Monster Trucks"

Paramount Pictures has revealed the teaser poster for its new comedy adventure Monster Trucks from Ice Age director Chris Wedge and starring Lucas Till (X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Apocalypse), and Jane Levy (Don't Breathe).

Take a look at the teaser one-sheet below and watch the film when it opens in Philippine cinemas on February 01, 2017.

Looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into, Tripp (Till), a high school senior, builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend.

Melding cutting edge visual effects and state-of-the-art CGI, Monster Trucks is an action filled adventure for the whole family that will keep you on the edge of your seat and ultimately touch your heart.

Ariana Grande, John Legend to Perform "Beauty and the Beast" Theme Song

GRAMMY nominated and multi-platinum selling artist Ariana Grande and 10-time GRAMMY, Oscar®-winning and multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter/ musician John Legend are set to perform the Oscar and GRAMMY-winning duet “Beauty and the Beast” as the title track for Disney’s upcoming soundtrack to the live-action film adaptation “Beauty and the Beast.” The song will also be featured in the film.

The enchanting ballad, originally performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson featuring eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken’s beautiful melody and two-time Oscar-winner Howard Ashman’s unforgettable lyrics, received an Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and GRAMMY Award, among other accolades, upon its release in 1991.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" Caps Biggest Game-Based Film Franchise

Writer, director, producer and franchise veteran Paul W.S. Anderson returns to helm Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the sixth and final installment in the most successful video game film franchise ever.

The improbable beginning of Paul W.S. Anderson’s fantastically successful, franchised motion picture adaptation of the Resident Evil video game reads like a Hollywood ending. Producer, Jeremy Bolt, who has worked with Anderson for 25 years and including all the Resident Evil editions, recalls, “Back in 2002 we had just made a movie for Warner Bros. called Soldiers, which did not perform as well as we’d hoped. So I went back to England and made a couple of small films, and Paul holed up in his house in Venice Beach where he played video games for 6 months. Out of the blue he called to say ‘I’ve been playing the game Resident Evil and we have got to get the film rights.”