Movie review: More madness and murder in 'The Grudge' reboot

The original "Grudge" movie was the 2002 Japanese horror movie "Ju-On" by Takashi Shimizu. It originated a story about how when someone dies in the grip of a powerful rage, a curse is born. This curse possessed the house where this death occurred and would corrupt anybody who made the mistake of entering that place. It introduced us to the vengeful ghosts of Kayako, a Japanese woman with long hair covering her face, and her son Toshio, a little boy with wide open black eyes.

This film got an American remake in 2004, also directed by Takashi Shimizu, involving Americans who moved into the house in Tokyo where the curse originated. There had been several subpar sequels in both Japan and the US over the years, culminating in a cheesy crossover featuring the two foremost long-haired lady ghosts of Japanese cinema, Sadako (of "The Ring) and Kayako (of "The Grudge").

The US decided to reboot the 2004 film again this year, bringing the curse to the USA. Like the original movie, the film would jump back and forth in time from 2004 to 2006 to tell the story of four families upon whom the curse had descended. It all started when an American caregiver who worked in the original Tokyo house where the curse began went back home to her home in suburban Pennsylvania. Since then, everyone who went into their cursed address of 44 Reyburn Drive would see ghastly visions which led to madness and murder.


The whole atmosphere is dark and eerie as would be expected from the horror film like this. The musical score and shocking sound effects all contributed to this. Director Nicolas Pesce certainly knew how to build up the suspense for a jump scare, though some may be predictable. He did not shirk from showing disturbing, gory or bloody images of all sorts, not just limited to long-haired ladies in white this time around. I cannot say that all the scares worked as Pesce planned, but at least they did keep audiences at the edge of their scenes.

There was no Sarah Michelle Gellar in this reboot, but there are familiar faces like John Cho (as a real estate agent), Jackie Weaver (as an assisted suicide counselor) and Andrea Riseborough (as a harrassed cop). But, of course, the best (or in this case, the most disgusting) scene of all belonged to none other than American horror film superstar, Lyn Shaye. As the demented Faith Matheson, she had her back turned while working at the kitchen counter with a chopping knife. I will give you three guesses what she was chopping. That scene alone was worth the price of admission for me.

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

Netflix acquires Anne Curtis movie 'Aurora'

MANILA -- Netflix has acquired the horror film "Aurora" starring Anne Curtis.

According to a report from Variety, "Aurora" can be watched on the streaming service starting April 25.

"Aurora" is directed by Yam Laranas and is one of the entries in last year's Metro Manila Film Festival. 

The film revolves around Leana (Curtis), a young woman who tries to find the surviving passengers of a ship that crashed into her island home.

Curtis' other film, "BuyBust," was also acquired by Netflix last year.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Jigsaw' pieces together chart-topping opening weekend

LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood may be suffering through a spiritless patch but Halloween films can still lend a needed jolt, as Lionsgate horror film "Jigsaw" and a clutch of other scary films showed by boosting an otherwise flimsy weekend box office.

"Jigsaw," the eighth chapter in the "Saw" franchise, took $16.6 million over the three-day weekend, according to industry website Exhibitor Relations. It beat the same studio's "Boo 2! A Madea Halloween," with $10.1 million.

After that, no film in the top 10 made as much as $6 million, with audiences distracted by baseball's World Series and the return of hugely popular Netflix series "Stranger Things."

Even "Jigsaw," the first "Saw" sequel in seven years, fell some $4 million below expectations in its opening weekend, Variety magazine reported, although its paltry $10-million production budget will ensure it makes a profit.

The latest installment has police investigating a string of horrific murders committed in the style of the supposedly long-dead killer Jigsaw.

Comedy horror sequel "Boo 2" strikes a somewhat lighter tone, with Tyler Perry (who also wrote, directed and produced) and his gang heading to a haunted campground, where -- no surprise -- monsters lurk.

"Geostorm," a new release from Warner Bros., took third place, earning $5.9 million. The sci-fi disaster thriller follows Gerard Butler as an engineer tasked with saving the world from an apocalyptic storm caused by climate-controlling satellites run amok.

"Happy Death Day," another comedy horror flick, took in $5.1 million. The Universal film stars Jessica Rothe as a college student who repeatedly relives the day she was murdered until she discovers who killed her.

In fifth place was sci-fi reboot "Blade Runner: 2049," taking $4.1 million. The film features Ryan Gosling as a Los Angeles Police Department "blade runner" charged with killing bioengineered androids who are becoming too much like humans. He goes on a search for Harrison Ford's character -- the original blade runner -- who had disappeared years earlier.

With ticket sales in October some 5% below the same month last year, Hollywood is eagerly awaiting next week's domestic premiere of Marvel and Disney's "Thor: Ragnarok." It took in an impressive $108 million in its international opening.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Thank You for Your Service" ($3.8 million)
"Only the Brave" ($3.5 million)
"The Foreigner" ($3.4 million)
"Suburbicon" ($2.8 million)
"It" ($2.5 million)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Annabelle: Creation' leads N. American box offices

Los Angeles, United States - Horror, war or animal-centered comedy -- take your pick. This weekend, horror prevailed on North American movie screens, with "scary as hell" film "Annabelle: Creation" pulling in $35 million in its first week out, more than paying off the $15 million Warner Bros. spent on it, analysts said.

The estimated three-day opening take for "Annabelle," the fourth installment in the popular "Conjuring" franchise, was considered healthy for a supernatural horror flic. The film stars Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson and Anthony LaPaglia.

While this has been a weak summer overall for film, it was a good weekend for Warner Bros., which saw another of its productions, war movie "Dunkirk," hold steady at second in the box-office race, with ticket sales of $11.4 million, industry site Exhibitor Relations reported.

That movie, starring One Direction singer Harry Styles, depicts the heroic 1940 evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from northern France. The film has a global take of $363.6 million so far, and has yet to be released in China, Japan or Italy, according to boxofficemojo.com.

In third spot is the Open Road film "Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature," at $8.9 million, less than half the opening weekend take of the first "Nut Job" movie. The animated adventure tells the story of a group of animals trying to save their home from the bulldozer.

Sony's "The Dark Tower" placed fourth, at $7.9 million, slipping from the No. 1 spot a week earlier. The sci-fi production, based on best-selling novels by horror/fantasy master Stephen King and starring Tom Taylor and Idris Elba, tells about a boy trying to save the world from enemies including bad guy Matthew McConaughey.

In fifth place, also from Sony, was "The Emoji Movie," with $6.6 million in ticket sales. The computer-animated comedy, based on the expressive little symbols on cell phones, has an all-star voicing cast including James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Christina Aguilera and Sofia Vergara.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Girls Trip" ($6.5 million)

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" ($6.1 million)

"Kidnap" ($5.2 million)

"The Glass Castle" ($4.9 million)

"Atomic Blonde" ($4.6 million)

bbk/jm

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: Samara returns in new 'Ring' sequel

The original 1998 Japanese horror film "Ringu,"directed by Hideo Nakata, adapted from the novel Ring by Kôji Suzuki, became a pop culture phenomenon. Its main character, the vengeful ghost Sadako, with her long black hair covering her face as she crawled out of a well on video and out of the TV to kill her victims, became a cult icon recognized, feared and parodied to this day.

In 2002, Hollywood produced its own version of this film, called "The Ring" directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Naomi Watts. For this American version, the name Sadako became Samara Morgan, which, for me, lost some horror points already. But the critics and public loved it. For the 2005 sequel, "The Ring Two," they even got Hideo Nakata himself to direct, but the reviews were considerably poorer.

I was very surprised to learn that after 12 years, there will be yet another "Ring" sequel this year called "Rings." I then learned that this film was supposed to have been released way back September 2015, but its showing had been pushed back three times until it ended up only being released this month. That did not sound too promising, but I wanted to see where they were taking this mythology.

Julia is alarmed that her boyfriend Holt has not been calling her from his college. When she goes to look for him, she discovers that he had taken part in an experiment conducted by his professor about watching a certain cursed videotape which threatened to kill the watcher after seven days if he was not able to make a copy and make another person look at it. Since Holt's seven days was already running out, Julia decides to watch the video for herself to save him, putting herself next on the line to be killed unless she finds a way to break Samara's curse.

There are no A-list actors on the cast. Do not expect too much acting-wise. Matilda Lutz cannot convince us that her character Julia was that brave to do the things she did, like enter an empty tomb, or go down an abandoned flooded church basement, or confront the suspected killer all by herself. As Holt, male lead Alex Roe was just Julia's pretty consort, nothing more than that. He played the loyal boyfriend but was not really there in much of Julia's daring investigative escapades.

One of the only two actors whose names I recognized is Johnny Galecki who played Holt's Biology professor Gabriel Brown. He is a egotistical jerk who started that video experiment among his students to save his own hide in the guise of scientific inquiry. Imagine him as his "Big Bang Theory" character Leonard, only totally and seriously demented.

The other is Vincent D'Onofrio who played the role of the burly blind man at the cemetery, Galen Burke, who seemed to know a lot about Samara but is not letting on. Being blind, there was a time there when this character was involved in a suspenseful situation very much like that in "Don't Breathe" (2016).

Spanish director F. Javier Gutierrez stuck to the muted palette with that distinctive bluish green filter pervading the screen. Samara's horror is not scary like before anymore, since we already know what she does when she comes out of that well. Gutierrez had to come up with other ways to scare us, mainly by jump scares with startling sound cues. With the update in technology, Samara can now reside in an mp3 file. Copying and sharing does not seem too difficult anymore as well.

I do not get the reason why Julia was different from the other people who watched the video. Why was she the one who seemed to have been specifically chosen by Samara to liberate her? Why was Julia the one who received additional images in the video she copied, providing her several clues as to where Samara was buried? If the reason was mentioned, I did not catch it.

I think fans of the original "Ring" will still find that this sequel stayed loyal to the lore, further unearthing another angle to explore, that of Samara's real parents. This may be interesting for the duration of the film, but will ultimately be forgettable in the long run. Just like the VHS tape which she originally inhabited, I think Samara/Sadako already had her time to scare us 15 years or so ago. Any more efforts to exhume her, like this one, will just prove needless and unproductive. 4/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: Creeps still there in 'Conjuring 2'

"The Conjuring" (2013) was one of the best horror films in recent memory. It told of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren helping the Perron family of Rhode Island with the spirit that haunted their farmhouse. It was a story formula that perfectly lent itself to possible sequels, and now, just three years later, here is the first one.

(Read the full review of 'The Conjuring' here.)

The setting is 1977 in a simple townhouse in the borough of Enfield in London, England, where the Hodgson family (mom Peggy and her four children) lived. The second daughter Janet is seemingly being possessed by the malevolent spirit of Bill Wilkins, the previous owner of the house. The church of their community seeks the help of Ed and Lorraine Warren to investigate the case and help free the poor family from their ghostly tormentor.

There were so many parallelisms between the first "Conjuring" movie and this one in terms of story outline. Ed and Lorraine were investigating the "Amityville Horror" house, while the London incident was happening. The central victim family also had a distraught mother with four young vulnerable children. Eventually, the Warrens get called in to help get rid of the demons, at great peril to their own lives. It was good to revisit the Warren's museum and seeing its prize exhibit Annabelle again.

If there was anything cheesy about it, I'd say it would be every time a CG demon was shown for a prolonged period of time. There was one prolonged scene where Lorraine was being taunted by a female demon dressed like a nun. While the ominous buildup to an attack was very suspensefully edited, it ended in a rather hilarious manner which made me laugh. There were many horror movie cliches as well, like people approaching a ghost they see, instead of running away from it. It is crazy why they do that. (But then again, we probably won't have a horror movie if they don't.)

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga were credible as Ed and Lorraine, as they vacillated between faith and skepticism in this case. For one remarkable scene, we get to see Wilson play the guitar and sing an Elvis love song in full. This is the first time I've heard him sing since his turn as Raoul in the film version of "Phantom of the Opera."

Farmiga was really very good playing a medium going in and out of her eerie visions, without the excessive hamminess lesser actresses may resort to. Young Madison Wolfe gave an affecting performance as the possessed girl Janet.

Director James Wan is really an expert in the jump scare. We still get startled every time the demonic face was shown in a flash with a loud sound cue, even if we expect it. This one felt like a combination of various story elements from "The Exorcist," "Insidious," "Sinister," "Drag Me to Hell," yet executed in its own novel way.

The first "Conjuring" had this memorably crazy game called "Hide and Clap" which provided some really spine-tingling scary moments. This sequel did not exactly have something distinctly its own, but the creeps were mostly still there. 7/10

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

New horizon for horror as 'Paranormal Activity' gives up the ghost

For six years, horror fans have wondered what the supernatural entity is scaring the "Paranormal Activity" movie franchise, but as they get their answer with the final film, ghosts could be cast aside for horrors rooted in reality.

"Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension," which opened last weekend just in time to entice the Halloween revelers, concludes the tale that began in 2009 with Katie and Micah, a couple who are stalked at home by a supernatural entity.

"Paranormal Activity," a found-footage, or pseudo documentary style, horror made for around $15,000 and acquired by Paramount Pictures, revolutionized the horror movie genre after grossing $193 million worldwide.

Katie's possession by a demon named 'Toby' led to four more films and a spin-off, and brought a slew of ghost-centric micro-budget movies, replacing the gory fare that dominated horror in the 2000s, such as "Saw" and Eli Roth's "Hostel."

"Horror has been more supernatural than bloody, and I think that had a lot to do with the 'Paranormal Activity,'" franchise producer Jason Blum told Reuters in an interview.

But as "Paranormal Activity" wraps up with "Ghost Dimension," Blum believes horror may be taking a more psychological and human turn.

The producer suggested that his 2013 movie "The Purge," about a society in which all crime is legal for 12 hours, may usher in an era of psychological horror that humans can inflict on each other.

"The Purge" will see a third installment next year, while this summer's "The Gift" and "The Visit," all produced by Blum, served up real life fright.

Horror has not quite given up the ghost yet, and neither has Blum whose production company Blumhouse Productions leads the way in making horror movies on tiny budgets that turn big profits and use new distribution models. Since 2009's "Paranormal Activity," Blum has produced more than 30 films in the horror genre.

Blum's found-footage horror "The Gallows" made for $100,000 has grossed $23 million in North America since July. The producer has numerous projects leading into next year that find scares in the supernatural, such as "Ouija 2" and "Amityville: The Awakening."

"There's an appetite for more scary movies every year," Blum said. "There's a real market for hardcore fans - not millions but hundreds of thousands - and there's new distribution avenues to get to them."

Paramount will release "Ghost Dimension" on-demand just 17 days after its release in movie theaters rather than the usual 3-6 months.

Studios are flocking to work with Blum, as are veteran directors experimenting with the micro-budget format.

"He's succeeded so many times, (the studios) feel like he's seeing things the audience will enjoy that they're not seeing," said M. Night Shyamalan, whose summer release "The Visit" was made for $5 million and topped $63 million at the box office.

Roth's cannibal horror "The Green Inferno" capitalizes on the appetite for human-inflicted horror, but the director said he had to partner with Blum to get the film on US screens.

"I have a nose for doing something that's different, and that's exactly what scares distributors," Roth said. The film has grossed $7 million since its September release.

And then there is "Creep," a stranger-danger horror by Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice made for under $1 million and released with Blum's help exclusively to Apple Inc's iTunes in July and Netflix three weeks later.

"It opens up a whole new audience for me of people who might not have known who I was," said actor-filmmaker Duplass. "For guys like me and Jason Blum, it's the game of trying to figure out ways of how to get our audiences."

(This version of the story corrects name of production company in ninth paragraph)

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Jill Serjeant and Diane Craft)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Review: Horror unfolds on computer in 'Unfriended'

Since the time of 'The Blair Witch Project," the horror film landscape had been peppered with various variations of the "found footage" style ad nauseam. This even created an entire profitable franchise in the "Paranormal Activity" series.

It is high time for something new to shake up the horror genre. Here comes "Unfriended" where all the action happens online from a computer screen.

Blaire Lily (Shelley Hennig) and her boyfriend Mitch (Moses Storm) are having a naughty private chat online, when they are suddenly joined in by their other friends, namely the nervous Adam (Will Peltz), the clueless Jess (Renee Olsted), the techie Ken (Jacob Wysocki), and the bitchy Val (Courtney Halverson).

However, that night, they are joined by a mysterious account that seemingly belonged to their other friend Laura Barns (Heather Sossaman). However, Laura had been dead for a year now. She committed suicide after being cyber-bullied when an embarrassing video of her in a drunken stupor was posted on the net. Now, Laura wants payback and badly.

The conceit of this horror flick is that all we are seeing on the big screen is what Blaire sees on her Apple laptop screen. We see her watching YouTube, posting on Facebook, group chatting on Skype with webcams, downloading videos and photos, among other online activities we are all familiar with. That is what makes the horror, outlandish as it may seem, in this film so palpable. It involves activities we do practically do every day as we fiddle with our computers. The possibility that the paranormal can infiltrate our virtual reality is compelling stuff.

Director Levan Gabriadze, in his breakthrough Hollywood debut, effectively creates genuine chills despite the limited confines of his setting. Annoying computer problems, like slow download speeds, screen glitches and snail-paced buffering times, had been used to create suspense and excitement to push the scare level up.

Of course, the obvious downside of this film's gimmick is that computer-illiterate people who do not understand these online activities will find all the clicking around on screen to be completely ludicrous and meaningless.

It really helped that the actors and actresses in this film are not big stars. They maybe too whiny or unlikable, but that is what makes them regular young people who hang around the net with their friends.

The story takes a deeper turn as it delves into their inter-relationships as friends. That game of "Never Have I Ever" is a high-tension sequence which kept me on the edge of my seat as Laura pressures each of them to reveal dark secrets they have kept from each other under the threat of death.

I appreciate the originality of this film in the story-telling technique. The name of the lead character, Blaire, could well be a tribute to the "Blair Witch Project," reflecting its attempt to break new territory in horror film-making with this movie. I caught its reference to "Dangerous Liaisons" at the end and I liked it. It is as much an intense suspense film, as it is a sociological treatise on today's youth and the brutal cyber world they live in. 8/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Am makes directorial debut with 'Voodoo Possession'

HOLLYWOOD – For his first big movie directing job, Filipino-American Walter Boholst chose to do "Voodoo Possession", a horror-thriller set in an insane asylum in Haiti where a man is desperately trying to find his missing brother.

The Fil-Am director also wrote and co-produced the movie which stars veteran Hollywood character actor, Danny Trejo.

Boholst's experience in making the project that he cared passionately about sounded like a beautiful nightmare.

"I've done a lot of films like short films, music videos so it's really a hard thing to do a movie on a much bigger scale. It was a dream come true," he said.

It was while he was studying to be an entertainment lawyer in Florida that the Hollywood bug bit Walter

Boholst's parents come from Mandaue and Leyte and he's hoping the movie can find distribution in the Philippines so he could show his work in his parents' homeland.

"Voodoo Possession" is getting an international release. It is also now available on iTunes, Amazon and other video outlets.

Read more from Balitang America

source:  www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Annabelle' breaks box office record in PH

MANILA - The low-budget horror prequel "Annabelle" is now the highest-grossing foreign horror film in the Philippines.

The fright flick pulled in more than P121 million in ticket sales in its first two weeks, according to Francis Soliven, general manager of local movie distributor Warner Bros. Philippines.

The number surpassed the previous record holder "Insidious: Chapter 2," which scored P113 million for the whole of its run in local cinemas.

The current worldwide box office gross of "Annabelle," as reported by film website Deadline, stood at more than $122.4 million (around P5.4 billion) as of Sunday.

Directed by John R. Leonetti, the film revisits the doll possessed by an evil spirit seen in last year's "The Conjuring," which took in an estimated P60 million in the country.

As of Tuesday, "Annabelle" had a "fresh" rating of just 31 percent on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

"We expect to continue excellent box-office performance for 'Annabelle' as the Halloween season ushers in," said Soliven.

"The combination of an engrossing story, great filmmaking and reliable association with last year's hit horror film 'The Conjuring' propelled 'Annabelle' to succeed. The film delivered in a huge way," he added.

Read our review of "Annabelle" here.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Review: 'Annabelle' is distressingly diabolical

We have met the creepy-looking vintage doll Annabelle before in last year's excellent and very memorable horror film "The Conjuring." She was just the front act there, showing up only at the pre-opening credits sequence. This year, she gets a film all her own. We now get to know Annabelle more and learn how she became demonically possessed.

The setting of this film is in the 1960s in a California suburb. Young couple John and Mia are expecting their first child. One day, John surprises Mia, who was a vintage doll collector, with a huge antique doll with painted ivory face and wearing a white satin dress adorned by a red bow. It just so happened that same night, crazy satanic cultists attack their home and there was resulting bloodshed. Since that night, there was no more peace in John and Mia's household, especially after she gives birth to their daughter, Leah.


A big part of why "Annabelle" worked as a horror film is the effective lead performance of coincidentally-named actress Annabelle Wallis as Mia. The character's name Mia, I am guessing, is a tribute to Mia Farrow, who was the star of a horror classic of the 1960s, "Rosemary's Baby." The stroller Mia uses for Leah looked very much like Rosemary's stroller, which is seen in posters of that old film. Ms. Wallis has an elegant beauty and her acting was sympathetic without becoming cheesy.

Ward Horton did well as Mia's husband John. He is a medical student, which gives him a convenient excuse to be a skeptic and always away during the night, leaving Mia alone in the house. Veteran actress Alfre Woodard is the only familiar face in the cast, and she plays their helpful neighbor Evelyn. Her story arc though was disappointing, and may be the only really negative thing I can say about this film.

John R. Leonetti, the cinematographer of "Insidious 1 & 2" and "The Conjuring," makes a respectable directorial debut with "Annabelle." He learned very well from his previous director James Wan, who sits as producer of this film. You can see that Leonetti has the eye for the perfect views to create the most effective suspense and surprise.

I liked the throwback look of this film, with its faded color palette and meticulous production design. The architecture, interior design, fashion, hairstyles, television shows, pop music all captured the era so well. Even the look of the cute baby Leah looked vintage, like the Gerber Baby. The limitation of technology also contributed to the helplessness factor.

I liked the camera angles that give you a point of view such that you too do not know what will happen next. The suspense could be so intense with the excellent editing and splicing of scenes accompanied by a swelling crescendo of music. There was that tense sequence with the popcorn, the sewing machine and the tv. There was also that thrilling sequence with the elevator. The timing for the jump scares was effective most of the time, even if you were sort of predicting it to happen already.

This is a film which may divide audiences as to whether it could match the audacity of "Insidious" or "The Conjuring." Frankly, it does not. But as it is, I liked "Annabelle" more than I thought I would. I was expecting the worst, since I hated how the Annabelle doll looked and I can't imagine anyone wanting a doll like it in their house. However, the film managed to transcend that limitation and actually create genuine scares that worked. 7/10.


This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Daniel says he's more 'seloso' than Kathryn

MANILA – Teen stars Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla thanked their families for remaining very supportive of their careers, adding that until now, they look to them for guidance.

“Hindi naman po mawawala sa mga magulang [ang pagabay]. Mas marami na silang [mga magulang] alam sa ganito so makikining na lang [kami],” Padilla said in an interview with "Buzz ng Bayan" on Sunday.

Padilla also admitted that his mother gives him advice about his "Got to Believe" leading lady.

“Kayo ni Kathryn, relax lang kayo. Alagaan mo dahil babae ‘yang si Kathryn. Relax ka lang, DJ. Dadating din ang panahon. Basta ngayon, magtrabaho kayong mabuti at mag-enjoy kayong magkasama,” Padilla quoted his mother, actress Karla Estrada, as saying.

Bernardo, on the other hand, admitted that she feels grateful for having Daniel in her life.

“Unexpected kasi ‘yung sa amin ni DJ. Masaya ako dahil okay siyang kaibigan, na taga-advice mo and totoo siya, ‘yun ang importante. Siya ‘yung nagturo sa akin ng reality. Before, hindi ko alam ‘yung mga bagay. Siya ‘yung mas matured kasi so tinuruan niya ko sa mga realidad ng buhay," Bernardo said.

Padilla also revealed that he is more "seloso" than her on-screen partner.

“Wala naming selos na sobra. Hindi naman selos na ang sama sama ng loob. [Kapag nagseselos ako], pinapasaya ko na lang ‘yung sarili ko. Hindi ko na dina-down ‘yung sarili ko," he said.

Aside from their primetime series "Got to Believe," the two tween stars will headline the horror film "Pagpag," which is the official entry of Star Cinema and Regal Films to the Metro Manila Film Festival, which opens on December 25.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Review: 'Carrie' victim of CGI overload

The story of "Carrie" is by now is very well-known. It was first a best-selling novel in 1973 by master of horror fiction, Stephen King, his first novel. It had already been given a film treatment by another master of suspense, Brian de Palma, with Oscar-nominated performances by Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie. Locally, there had just been a musical theater version of the same story, which had just closed.

Carrie White is a teenage girl severely sheltered by her fanatically religious mother, Margaret. She is a victim of bullying at school, especially by Chris Hargensen and her gang. When Chris goes overboard with her cruelty, her good friend Sue Snell felt very guilty. Sue asks her boyfriend Tommy Ross to take Carrie to the prom. Carrie defies her mother's prohibition and accepts her prom date. Of course, Chris will not let Carrie have her fun. Little did they know the powerful telekinetic abilities that mousy little Carrie possesses!

My main interest to see this film is for the performance of Chloe Grace Moretz in the title character. It was brave of her to take on the very memorable, star-making, signature performance given by Spacek in 1976.

Moretz manages to hold her own with her own spark of innocence. She gives us a very sensitive performance as the troubled Carrie. Her face is extraordinarily expressive even with the minimum of words she says.

Julianne Moore gives an over-the-top yet sympathetic portrayal of Margaret White with her Biblical mumblings and self-mutilation. Compared to Piper Laurie's portrayal of Margaret in 1976, Moore was more miserably anguished in this version, while Laurie was more raving mad in the original.

Gabriella Wilde and Ansel Elgort, who play Sue and Tommy respectively, are both very attractive, and do well enough in their roles. Portia Doubleday and Alex Nolan, who play the villains Chris and Billy, do alright, although they did not have a good enough screen presence in my opinion. It will be interesting to see if any of these young stars will achieve the career status of their 1976 equivalents, namely Amy Irving, William Katt, Nancy Allen or the biggest eventual star of them all, John Travolta. That does not seem too likely now, but we'll never know, can we?

If you compare this version with the 1976 version, you can recall scenes done almost exactly alike with practically similar lines. You can see similarities in little details of the production design, like the ruffles on the tux Tommy tries on, or the stars decorating the prom venue ceiling. There is none of the nudity seen in the opening credits now, nor are there the "Psycho"-like musical cues whenever Carrie uses her powers.

What I thought this production did wrong was unduly going overboard with computer-generated special effects. The director, Kimberly Peirce, seemed to have had too much fun with these new "toys" to the detriment of her film. This advanced technology should have been this film's distinct advantage over the 1976 version, but the blatant lack of subtlety is jarring. Carrie can fly. Carrie can cause an entire street to break open with a single stomp. I guess you get the picture. Brian de Palma was able to create a tenser and scarier atmosphere at the prom and the house at the end with much less technology in the original film.

This 2013 film version is no means really necessary, but here it is. Still I think it is still worth the time to witness the acting of Moretz and Moore. It is just too bad that the overwhelming unrestrained CGI extravaganza did them all in towards the end. 6/10.

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'The Road' Hits Int'l Highway Of Film Distribution, Set For Commercial Screenings In North America

MANILA, Philippines — OFFENDED BY HORTICULTURIST: At a roundtable interview recently, a young, hunky actor was asked what role he was playing in the new movie that was the subject of that afternoon’s interview.

The actor, who’s being built up by his studio as someone with a sexy image, said his role was that of a caretaker of plants, something like a farmer. Clearly, it was a role written to allow half-nude scenes that have been part and parcel of the boy’s career.

“Then, you’re playing a horticulturist,” a veteran columnist replied.

“Ang bastos mo naman,” the actor snapped back, seemingly offended by the spitfire columnist’s remark.

Those of us in the roundtable looked at each other, perplexed by the actor’s reaction. He probably thought horticulturist was a bad word, insulting to his sexy image.

It was a good thing he wasn’t on Twitter when he said that.

• • •

THE ROAD TO THE WORLD: Breaking new ground in the international scene is the Yam Laranas movie, “The Road,” which recently closed a distribution deal with the Los Angeles-based Freestyle Releasing company.

The horror film is believed to be the first all-Filipino film to be released in commercial theaters – as distinguished from art houses – across North America and Canada for an entire week in May.

While Laranas is not at liberty to disclose how much the distribution deal is worth, he pointed out during an interview Feb. 22 that the theatrical release of a Filipino film in that part of the world is a landmark of sorts.

Scheduled for release starting on the week of May 11, “The Road,” featuring an all-star cast led by Marvin Agustin, Rhian Ramos and TJ Trinidad, will be shown in at least 50 theaters. It will be preceded by a red-carpet gala premiere at the Mann Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on May 9.

Annette Gozon-Abrogar, head of GMA Films which produced the motion picture, cleared the release is not merely a special, off-shore screening of a locally produced film.

“This is, in fact, a full-fledged distribution deal. There’s a big difference between the two,” she said.

Aside from the widespread theatrical release, the deal also includes the video release of the film in various platforms.

• • •

ORIGINAL VERSION: Laranas said “The Road” will be shown in its entirety in the original version in which it was seen in the Philippines.

The film will not be translated into English but will be subtitled. The groundbreaking director said Freestyle’s Mark Borde wanted to preserve the exotic quality of the film described by international film critics as “creepy to the extreme” (KillerFilm.com). Borde said he picked the film for international release as he found something “new” in it.

Another film site, Bloody Disgusting, said the film was “a beautifully shot supernatural tale with incredible effects and great scares.”

“The Road” is the story of a 12-year-old case of a missing person, recently reopened when three teenagers went missing while traversing an abandoned road.

More wonderful opportunities are opening up for “The Road.” It has been listed in the official competition category of the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFF) scheduled on April 5 to 7. BIFF is one of the biggest genre festivals in Europe. Created in 1983 as a venue for horror, thriller and science-fiction films, it takes place every year in March in Brussels.

The international films “Saw” and “The Ring” are among some of its previous winners.

Laranas adds that “The Road” is also in competition at the 8th Fantaspoa-Int’l Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre, Brazil from May 4 to 20.

article source: mb.com.ph