“Dragon Ball Super: Broly” Opens January 30 Exclusive In SM Cinemas Nationwide

Tweet

The most anticipated and latest in the anime action Dragon Ball franchise starts January 30 as “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” opens exclusively in SM Cinemas.

“Dragon Ball Super: Broly” is a new legend penned by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, the first film in the new Super series, and the 20th anniversary film. Because of this bounty of importance, the production style of this film can best be summed up in Director Nagamine’s words: “If Goku has undergone an upgrade, then the visuals must be upgraded as well.” If Goku will always love to fight and become stronger, we need to think outside the box and create a contemporary, high quality Dragon Ball worthy of him. In other words, the stronger Goku gets, the harder we must work to express that evolution. The evolution displayed in Dragon Ball Super: Broly is not just a memorial to over 30 years of legendary titles, but also a challenge to depart from the films that came before it.

As this is the first Super film, we’ve also refreshed the character designs from the TV series. Mr. Iyoku at Shueisha’s “Dragon Ball Unit” proposed a challenge to us to renew the animation and character design because the drawing style of the creator of Dragon Ball, Toriyama himself, has also changed. Toriyama believes the new designs represent “the Dragon Ball of today,” and their shade is similar to the original manga’s. Aiming for that kind of animation, we held elaborate auditions for animators at Toei Animation.

Naohiro Shintani was handpicked by Toriyama himself to create these new designs based on the flavor of the original manga. Upon inking the model sheets, he received the nod from Toriyama on the first draft without having to do any retakes. 

What characterizes Shintani’s renewed designs is that they have a slim silhouette when compared with the previous designs. You could call them contemporary, but they also achieve the feeling of a fine balance that is closer to the original manga than previous anime designs. 

Upon observing the animation for the previous series, Shintani said, “I like the designs that director of key animation Minoru Maeda did for the original Dragon Ball TV anime, so I thought it would be nice if I could bring out Maeda’s nuances like his soft touch and expressions when I drew them.” This comes out in the character model sheets, but please look for this sensitive expression in the film as well.

A 20th Century Fox presentation, “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” opens in the following cinemas on January 30: SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Manila, SM Fairview, SM Sta. Mesa, SM Marikina, SM East Ortigas, SM San Lazaro, SM Southmall, SM Bacoor, SM Cebu, SM Seaside Cebu, SM Iloilo, SM Cauayan, SM Clark, SM Pampanga, SM Cabanatuan, SM BF, SM Dasmarinas, SM Davao, SM Lanang, SM Cagayan De Oro Downtown, SM Telasbastagan and SM Legazpi.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in "The Revenant," a story of harsh survival

Tweet

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the highly-thrilling cinematic "The Revenant,"  a story of harsh survival. Inspired by true events from the sparse accounts of the legendary fur trapper and trader. This 19th-century survival epic is awash in stunning vistas and features an uncompromising, award-worthy turn from its star.

Hugh Glass, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, Glass became a revenant, someone believed to be dead who has returned to life after going through a harrowing series of events fighting for his life when left to survive in the wild set during the 19th century American Frontier.

Surviving the wild by pure instinct prior the advent of emergency call buttons such as 911 and high-tech gadgets is what makes the latest Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio film, “The Revenant” this year’s highly-thrilling cinematic experience – directed, produced and co-written by Academy Award winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu. 

Immersing audiences in the unparalleled beauty, mystery and dangers of life in 1823 America, the film explores one man’s transformation in a quest for survival.

“The Revenant” explores primal drives not only for life itself but for dignity, justice, faith, family and home. The film’s wilderness-based production mirrored the harsh conditions Glass and company actually lived through in the 1800s. Iñárritu and his whole cast and crew were up for all that was thrown at them, welcoming the challenges of shooting in Canada and Argentina, regions known for unpredictable weather and untouched wilds, in order to fully understand the experience of fur trappers in the early 19th century.

Glass’s mythology began in 1823, when he was among thousands joining the fur trade, a driving new force in the US economy. It was a time when many saw the wild as a spiritual void that demanded to be tamed and conquered by the steeliest of men. And so they poured into the unknown, plying unmapped rivers, disappearing into impossibly lush forests, seeking not only excitement and adventure but also profits -- often in fierce competition with the Native tribes for whom these lands had long been home.

Many such men died anonymously, but Glass entered the annals of American folklore by flat-out refusing to die. His legend sparked after he faced one of the West’s most feared dangers: a startled grizzly bear. For even the most tested frontiersmen that should have been the end. But not for Glass, in Iñárritu’s telling of the tale, a mauled Glass clings to life – then suffers a human betrayal that fuels him to continue at any cost. In spite of tremendous loss, Glass pulls himself from an early grave – clawing his way through a gauntlet of unknown perils and unfamiliar cultures on a journey that becomes not just a search for reckoning but for redemption. As Glass moves through the frontier in turmoil, he comes to reject the urge for destruction that once drove him. He has become a “revenant” -- one returned from the dead.

One of the movie’s most thrilling scene, the bear attack that threatens to end Glass’s life, immediately took DiCaprio into a mano-a-mano struggle with one of nature’s most skilled predators. “The bear attack was incredibly difficult and arduous,” DiCaprio recalls, “but it’s profoundly moving. In the film, Alejandro puts you there almost like a fly buzzing around this attack, so that you feel the breath of Glass and the breath of the bear. What he achieved is beyond anything I’ve seen. Glass has to find a way to deal with this full-grown animal on top of him. He’s at the brink of death – and you are fully immersed in this moment with him.” 

“The Revenant is a story of harsh survival but also one of inspirational hope,” Iñárritu says. “For me, the important part was to convey this adventure with a sense of wonder and discovery, as an exploration of both nature and human nature.” 

“The Revenant” opens in cinemas February 3 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Nicki Minaj joins the cast of funny and endearing story on friendship movie “The Other Woman”

Tweet

Music industry’s most versatile talent, Nicki Minaj marking her live action film debut as she joins stars alongside Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the upcoming estrogen-filled comedy “The Other Woman.”

In this funny and endearing story on (female) friendship, Minaj’s role channels a very vocal and fashion-forward assistant named Lydia who works for the stunning and tough New York lawyer Carly, played by Diaz whose boyfriend Mark (Waldau) turns out to be a married guy cheating on his wife, Kate (Mann).

The two women don’t appear to have much in common, other than the philandering womanizer who has been tricking both of them. They become great pals, much to Lydia’s initial dismay, and decide to teach the lying Mark a few lessons to prove that cheating will not work. Everything becomes more complicated when Carly and Kate find out that the charming cheat has been engaging in yet another affair, with the beautiful Amber (Kate Upton) who is half his age. The three of them join forces and conjure up ingenious strategies to give Mark what he deserves, at the same time the bond between them grows stronger.

As Nicki Minaj’s unexpected casting coup added something to the movie that producer Julie Yorn hadn’t counted on: “We all have a sense of Nicki’s persona and larger than life personality, but she came in with the most humble approach and attitude. She was dying to sit at the feet of these other women and learn.” We always wanted for the character of Lydia to be sassy,” Yorn continues. “But what was disarming about Nicki was her likability, which actually changed the scripted character. Lydia became a really important ally to Carly. That’s the chemistry part of it that you don’t expect. Cameron and Nicki bonded from day one and so you just get a whole different dynamic than anticipated.”

Minaj was a welcome surprise for director Nick Cassavetes, as well: “Lydia says things to Carly that are couched as truths, and that are really preposterous, but they have this unexpected truth that suggests sometimes the correct thing is to do the incorrect thing.”

Minaj said Lydia is very opinionated. “She has her own outlook on life and relationships, and you can’t change her mind about anything. She develops a real friendship with Carly. And Lydia really wants Carly to settle down and meet the right man. So she gets involved a little bit in bringing Mark down and getting Carly to fall in love with someone who’s a good person.”

Lydia is an important person in Carly’s life, because, says Minaj, “Lydia’s the friend that is going to give you tough love. I happen to be that kind of friend. I don’t like when my best friends are sad about a guy. I think all women need a friend who’s going to let us cry and mope, but we also need the friend that’s going to say, ‘Okay, pick it back up. Let’s go. You know, we’re not going to be walking around the office moping.’” 

Patricia Field helms the movie’s costume design department and styling Nicki Minaj was another highlight for the designers. “It was really fun to get the chance to dress Nicki for this role,” says Field’s longtime collaborator and protégé Paolo Nieddu. “She’s the secretary, and the sexy secretary is an image everybody can imagine, so we went with almost a cartoon sexy secretary, with exaggerated colors and prints and lots of different accessories. Every day is a new Lydia. So you never know what you’re going to get with her.” 

Lydia’s looks include high fashion, sexy, and body-conscious pieces that would fill the closet of a girl with a sugar daddy footing the bill. Some of her designer looks are by Gucci, Roland Mouret, Versace, Herve Leger, Proenza Schoeler, and McQueen – all paired with the most extreme, expensive designer shoes that only a diva could stand wearing to the office. Nicki Minaj, a noted fashion icon in her own right, was also thrilled to learn Field would be joining the team: “When I heard that Patricia Field was a part of this movie, I was very excited because I knew everybody would be eating their hearts out when they saw all the clothes we wear in this movie, and I knew it was going to be fresh and fun.”

“The Other Woman” opens May 7 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

The Monuments Men

Tweet

The Monuments Men, directed by and starring George Clooney, has done the production in Berlin, Germany. The action-thriller is written by Clooney & Grant Heslov, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter.

The Monuments Men opens today in cinemas from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros.

The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners.

It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys - seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 - possibly hope to succeed.

But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

From director George Clooney, the film stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett as Rose Valland, the one of the greatest and yet unknown heroines of World War II. After risking her life spying on the Nazis, day after day for four long years, Rose lived to fulfill her destiny: locating and returning tens of thousands of works of art stolen by the Nazis during their occupation of France.

The Monuments Men is based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history.

"The “Monuments Men”, were a group of approximately 345 men and women from thirteen nations who comprised the MFAA section during World War II. Many were museum directors, curators, art historians, artists, architects, and educators. Together they worked to protect monuments and other cultural treasures from the destruction of World War II. In the last year of the war, they tracked, located, and in the years that followed returned more than five million artistic and cultural items stolen by Hitler and the Nazis. Their role in preserving cultural treasures was without precedent." (http://www.monumentsmen.com/)

“Life of Pi" , The Journey of a Lifetime

Tweet

 “Life of Pi,” is a great movie by Oscar winning filmmaker Ang Lee and  based on a screenplay by David Magee. “Life of Pi's” newbie thespian Suraj Sharma nominated in 18th  CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS.

“Life of Pi,” a breathtakingly beautiful story of a boy named Pi played by newcomer Suraj Sharma who is lost at sea with a Bengal tiger, following the loss of his family in a shipwreck. 

Suraj Sharma who hails from India never expected a “Life of Pi” when he accompanied his brother to the movie’s casting call.  Born and raised in Delhi, India and raised by mathematician parents, it seemed that from more than 3,000 hopefuls who auditioned for the role, Suraj was destined to play the role of Pi, a mathematical constant transcendental number.

He has recently been nominated in the upcoming Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for Best Young Actor for his role in “Life of Pi” along with other actors/actresses such as Elle Fanning (“Ginger & Rosa”) and Logan Lerman (“Perks of Being a Wallflower”).

The story revolves around Pi, a delightfully enthusiastic teenager who lives with his zoo-keeping family in Pondicherry, India. Inquisitive and intelligent, he explores different cultures and spiritual traditions. Pi has open-minded parents who allow him to become a free thinker, finding his own path. Due to a worsening economic climate, Pi’s parents decide to emigrate to start a new life in Canada. But the ship sinks.  Eventually only Pi and the tiger are left alive on the lifeboat and the unlikely pair embarks on an Odyssey that is fraught with danger.  On the precarious lifeboat he shares with the tiger, Pi finds inner strength and becomes aware that some kind of higher power is in charge of his destiny.

The heightened emotional connections presented in the movie required exceptional performances from its cast, none more so than the neophyte thespian who would take on the titular hero.   

“We searched for a young man who had the innocence to capture our attention, the depth of character to break our hearts, and the physicality needed to embody Pi on his journey,” says director Ang Lee. "During his audition, Suraj filled the room with emotion, much of which he conveyed simply through his eyes. His natural ability to believe and stay in the world of the story is a rare treasure.

“Suraj’s investment in the story made us really believe that whatever challenges we faced, the film was really going to happen,” adds the director.  “When we saw Suraj, we saw the movie.  Mr. Lee marvels at Suraj’s innocence and efforts, noting, “We are all experienced and perhaps a little jaded.  Suraj reminded us why we want to make movies. Every day was a miracle.”

For Suraj Sharma, the experience of landing the starring role was surreal. “It was all so new for me,” says Suraj. “I had never been out of India. I didn’t know how to act or swim. I learned how to swim and now it’s my favorite thing to do.  Shooting the film in Taiwan and meeting people from all over the world in the crew was fantastic. You get an idea of how diverse the world is. I was really inspired by everything I saw and everyone I got to know.  I wanted to give it everything I had.”

Sharma also went through rigorous workouts to increase his stamina, which gave him an inner discipline and strength that enabled him to empathize with the character. 

“What defines Pi is his never-ending will to survive, he has a belief in the world and I think that’s what sets him apart from everyone else. He survives by instinct. But he also possessed a strong sprit from the beginning, right from being a child. But Pi kept that innocence inside him and with innocence comes belief.”

“Life of Pi” opens January 9 in 3D and 2D theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox thru Warner Bros.

Stepping up the Grandparents’ Game in “Parental Guidance”

Tweet

“Most people are mortified by the way they were raised and can’t wait to raise their own kids differently.  I was on the cusp of the old school /new school parenting styles, so I understand the motivations of each.” -

 Says Bette Midler of the generational parenting conflicts.

Comedy icons Billy Crystal and Bette Midler star in the family-centric comedy “Parental Guidance” together with Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott, Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush and Kylie Harrison Breitkopf directed by Andy Fickman.  

 A comedic and emotionally rich depiction of the clashing parenting styles between the generations, “Parental Guidance’s” subject matter, characters and actors are relatable to all audiences.  Youngsters will enjoy the hijinks of the family’s trio of children; the film’s theme of being caught between your parents and kids will resonate with adults; and the movie is the first comedy in many years that shows grandparents as active, funny, involved and vital characters – and central to modern family life.    

Alice (Tomei) in desperation calls her parents Artie (Crystal) and Diane (Midler) to look after their three children when she and her husband need to go on a trip.   In the story, Billy Crystal’s Artie and Bette Midler’s Diane are “the other grandparents” to their three grandchildren – meaning their son-in-law’s parents have a much stronger connection with the kids, which Diane envies and has long sought to correct.  But Artie and Diane’s infrequent visits to their daughter Alice’s (Marisa Tomei) home have relegated them to second-tier status – along with a few photos of the couple hidden on Alice’s mantelpiece.  Joe Syracuse & Lisa Addario, the movie’s screenwriting partners, husband-and-wife, and parents of two children, say the notion of battling parenting styles between the generations resonated with them. “Once we became parents, we realized that we were not raising them the way our parents raised us,” says Addario.

The two writers, like so many of their generation, grew up during a time when children’s car seats had yet to be invented, second-hand smoke didn’t have a name, and kids rode bikes without helmets.  But when our generation had kids, “the word ‘parent’ became a verb as well as a noun,” adds Syracuse.  “But when the reality of childrearing set in, we came to see the wisdom in the way our parents did things, and we started to question our generation’s nurturing, coddling and overprotecting our kids.”

Director Andy Fickman, father to a teenager, says he was drawn to the movie’s universal appeal, noting that “in any country in the world, each generation thinks it has a better way to be a parent.” Like Syracuse & Addario, Fickman makes special note of the differing generational parenting methods.  “When I was growing up, I would get a Pop Tart for breakfast.  My parents had [famed pediatrician] Dr. [Benjamin] Spock’s book to guide them through almost all situations; today, we go to doctors for every conceivable concern.  For parents today, it’s all about the kids’ feelings and emotions, and everything becomes a ‘Dr. Phil’ episode.”

A big motivation for Midler to join “Parental Guidance” was the chance to team with Billy Crystal.  The two have been friends for nearly 30 years, but this is their first professional collaboration. 

“Billy and I have similar tastes in theater, movies, music and humor, so it was pretty easy for us to play a married couple,” says the actress.  “We know what each other is going to do, so we mesh in a unique way.”

It’s a family affair when “Parental Guidance” opens in cinemas nationwide in the Phils. on January 16 from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

“Ruby Sparks”

Tweet

Not your conventional boy-meets-girl  romantic story,  “Ruby Sparks” leads us to Calvin Weir-Fields, (played by Paul Dano who also appeared in “Little Miss Sunshine,” “There Will Be Blood” a literary wunderkind with an acclaimed first novel.  But since then, he’s been stricken with a stubborn case of writer’s block magnified by a dismal love life. In a last-ditch attempt to reignite his creative spark, Calvin begins to envision a female protagonist in his mind.  Then one morning she steps off the page and into his life. Suddenly, Ruby (portrayed by Zoe Kazan who is also the film’s writer) is sleeping in Calvin’s bed, cooking in his kitchen, beguiling him in every way, with one mind-boggling twist: he somehow has the power to change her every time he sits at his typewriter. As Calvin tries to juggle this power, he faces a major dilemma as a writer and a boyfriend: what will it take to make this relationship from his imagination work in the real world ?

It seems fitting that “Ruby Sparks,” a romantic fable about how two people weave a love story in and out of reality, was brought to life by a married pair of directors (Dayton & Faris) working with two actors who are also a devoted couple (Dano and Kazan). 

A sharp, modern take on the Pygmalion myth, “Ruby Sparks” is the story of a novelist’s vision who inexplicably comes to life, only to prove far more complicated than even he could have imagined.  With a light touch and a dash of magical realism, the first screenplay from actress and playwright Zoe Kazan attracted the attention of Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, the married team who directed the run-away hit “Little Miss Sunshine.”  The film takes an unpredictable route into fantasy, identity and the ways we invent love – and how love can re-invent us. 

The duo decided to approach the story not as a sci-fi fantasy, but as something that is currently happening in the everyday world, no matter how bizarre it might seem to Calvin.   “Even though the story is built around a fictional premise, it illuminates so many truths about relationships.  We felt it was essential for the scenes to feel real and honest,” explains Dayton.

On the premise’s conception, Kazan shared that “I started wondering what might happen if a writer had a character come to life who could give him exactly what he thought he wanted romantically.  How do you love the person you’re with completely without saying ‘I don’t want this part or that part?’  How do you make room in a relationship for two separate people? But things get very complicated because when you really love someone you have to love all of the person, not just the parts you’ve idealized.” 

As Kazan wrote, she began sharing her work with her boyfriend, Paul Dano, the actor, and though she had not set out to write something for the two of them, they couldn’t help but envision one another in the lead roles.   “I think I was always subconsciously writing Calvin for Paul,” she muses. “But the weirdest thing is that I was writing a character who is writing my character!  There was something very meta going on.”

Kazan wasn’t so interested in the science fiction aspect of how a writer’s fantasy character might come to life – she was more intrigued by what would come next.  How would a fictional creation fare in the midst of the messiness of real life, especially when the man writing her isn’t sure of exactly what he wants?  There has been a long literary tradition of riffing on the man-made object made human:  Shakespeare with Queen Hermione in “A Winter’s Tale,” George Bernard Shaw with Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalion,” and Mary Shelley gave it another take with her “Frankenstein” myth.  Kazan wanted to come at the concept from a literary perspective, exploring a writer who pens the lover he thinks he wants in his heart . . . but who makes him so nervous in the flesh, he is tempted to keep changing her. 

“The story leaves some questions open for discussion,” concludes Faris, “we hope that people will leave the theater with something to talk about.”  

“Despite this movie’s high-concept premise, we think audiences will identify with Calvin’s predicament.”  Kazan chimes in, “I am so proud of the movie we made.  After such a happy collaboration, we are really excited to share the film with an audience, hear their reactions, start that conversation.”

“Ruby Sparks” opens September 19 in cinemas from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.