Two new posters arrive for sci-fi psychological horror film ‘Flatliners’

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“Cross the line. Death will follow you back,” warn the two new posters for Columbia Pictures’ new suspense thriller Flatliners which have just been released by the studio.

Check out the one-sheets below and watch Flatliners in Philippine cinemas on October 29, 2017.

Starring Ellen Page, Nina Dobrev, Diego Luna and James Norton, Flatliners tells of five medical students who embark on a daring and dangerous experiment to gain insight into the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life. The bold adventure begins when they trigger near-death experiences by stopping their hearts for short periods of time. As their trials become more perilous, each must confront the sins from their past while facing the paranormal consequences of journeying to the other side.

Flatliners is directed by Niels Arden Oplev, from a screenplay by Ben Ripley, story by Peter Filardi.

Flatliners is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

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Paid advance screenings set for ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Aug 14 & 15

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Annabelle is coming back earlier than you think!

The year’s most eagerly anticipated horror thriller, New Line Cinema’s Annabelle: Creation, will hold whole-day sneak previews in most cinemas nationwide on Monday and Tuesday, August 14 & 15, this was announced by Warner Bros. Philippines today.

Tickets will be be regular admission prices.

The sneaks are being held (ahead of the film’s grand opening on August 23) in response to loud but inspired clamor from horror fans. “This is our special treat to them,” says Francis Soliven, General Manager of Warner Bros. Philippines. “The fans are elevating their excitement and anticipation to this film in such creative ways, and we are pleased to return the favor.”

Warner Bros. Philippines has previously organized a media and fan screening August 7 which coincided with the celebration of International Doll Day. Fans showed up with their own dolls to mark the occasion.

From New Line Cinema comes Annabelle: Creation, with David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) helming the follow up to 2014’s hugely successful Annabelle. The new film is once again produced by Peter Safran and James Wan, who previously partnered on The Conjuring movies.

In Annabelle: Creation, several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll maker and his wife welcome a nun and six girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. They soon become the target of the doll maker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

The film stars Stephanie Sigman (Spectre), Talitha Bateman (upcoming Geostorm), Lulu Wilson (Ouija: Origin of Evil, Deliver Us from Evil), Philippa Coulthard, Grace Fulton, Lou Lou Safran, Samara Lee (The Last Witch Hunter), and Tayler Buck in her feature film debut, with Anthony LaPaglia (TV’s Without a Trace) and Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy).

Opening across the Philippines on August 23, 2017, Annabelle: Creation is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

‘The Dark Tower’ tops US box-office, opens in PH Aug 30

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A new Stephen King big-screen adaptation made its way to the top of US box office as Columbia Pictures’ The Dark Tower opened at No.1 for the August 4 to 6 weekend. The fantasy action-thriller collected an estimated $19.5-M over the weekend from 3,451 theaters for a $5,651 average.

Watch the new Dark Tower spot below.

Demographics the Idris Elba-Matthew McConaughey actioner were typical of a sci-fi action thriller with the crowd being 58% male and 68% over 25.

With good international appeal, The Dark Tower is poised for a successful global rollout. The film opens in Philippine cinemas on August 30, 2017.

There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Knight Warrior, Roland Deschain (Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.

The Dark Tower is directed by Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair), with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner and Anders Thomas Jensen & Nikolaj Arcel, based on King’s novels. Producers on the film are Akiva Goldsman, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Erica Huggins.

The Dark Tower is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

WATCH: Official first trailer for ‘mother!’ reveals Darren Aronofsky’s horror film

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Paramount Pictures has revealed the official first trailer of its upcoming horror thriller, mother!, which may be viewed below.

A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream), mother! stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer in this riveting psychological thriller about love, devotion and sacrifice.

Opening across the Philippines on September 20, 2017, mother! is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

Be part of an adventure beyond words in ‘The Emoji Movie’

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Human beings have never been more connected. With the smartphone, we are never out of touch from each other – and constantly in touch with people around the world. And with a simple invention, we are now able to communicate with people who are separated from us by language, borders, oceans…

…after all, everyone knows what Inline image 1 means.

Now, Sony Pictures Animation takes you into the secret world inside your phone for a rollicking adventure in The Emoji Movie (in Philippine cinemas August 23, 2017).

The Emoji Movie unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris). Together, they embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever.

“Emojis help us express ourselves in ways we don’t have time to express, or don’t have the forethought to express, or are afraid to express,” says Tony Leondis, one of the writers and the director of The Emoji Movie. “When I get a heart-eyes emoji from my mom, it actually means something – it makes me smile. In this world of technology, the human heart has found a way to connect.”

“Everybody’s using emojis – they’re part of our everyday life,” says producer Michelle Raimo Kouyate. “I always enjoy animated movies that go inside a world that you deal with every day, but never gave a thought to.”

And for T.J. Miller, who voices the lead role of an emoji named Gene in the film, that’s the perfect jumping off point for a movie. “Parents use emojis with kids and kids use emojis with parents, so everyone is in on the joke from the get-go. From the first scene, you think, ‘Oh, I use that emoji all the time, my friend uses the dancing woman emoji,’” he says. “And when you add the fun of having Sir Pooptrick Stewart playing Poop, Sofia Vergara playing Flamenca, Anna Faris playing Jailbreak – she’s so dynamic – Maya Rudolph is so funny, Steven Wright, one of my icons in the standup world, Jennifer Coolidge and James Corden are never not funny… I was excited to join them because it seemed like the project had the elements to be a great and very surprising movie.”

The Emoji Movie is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

GUIDE: International Silent Film Festival Manila 2017

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The 11th International Silent Film Festival Manila runs from August 31 to September 3 at the Shang Cineplex of Shangri-La Plaza Mall in Mandaluyong City.

Admission

Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are distributed 30 minutes before every screening.

FEATURED FILMS AND ARTISTS

  • El Gilfo (1918) – Spain
    Live music from rock band Talahib
  • Underground (1928) – UK
    Live music from band Goodleaf
  • The New Enchantment (1923) – France
    Live music from Frence-Vietnamese harpist and singer HeloiseLaHarpe
  • A Perfect Family (2017) – Italy
    Live music from instrumental rock trio Tom’s Story
  • Dragnet Girl (1933) – Japan
    Live music from string ensembles The Celso Espejo Rondalla with silent film narrator Ichiro Kataoka
  • Taglish (2012) – Philippines
    Live music from instrumental stoner-metal Kapitan Kulam
  • Cafe Elektric (1927) – Austria
    Live music from pop-rock band Rivermaya
  • Pandora’s Box (1929) – Germany
    Live music from alternative rock band Sandwich
  • The General (1926) – U.S.A.
    Live music from ensemble Flippin Soul Stompers

SCREENING SCHEDULES

August 31 (Thu) • 8:00 PM

The Festival reels off at 8:00PM on Thursday, August 31st with lnstituto Cervantes presenting the classic action/comedy El Golfo (1918), directed by Jose de Togores. Starring Irene Heredia, Mariano Ozores and Ernesto Vilches, the film tells the story of Enrique Villar, a tramp, who goes through much trouble to win the heart of his lady love. The rock band Talahib will accompany this film with a live performance.

September 1 (Fri) • 7:30 PM

On Friday, September 1st, at 07:30PM, the British Council will present a unique offering. Thanks to the discovery of an alternative print at the Brussels Cinematheque Royale, and advancement in photo-chemical and digital techniques, the British Film Institute has restored the magnificence of Anthony Asquith’s Underground, a 1928 silent romance that reveals 1920s London life in the underground tube system. A live musical performance by dub band Goodleaf will accompany the film.

September 1 (Fri) • 9:30 PM

At 9:30PM, also on September 1st, the Embassy of France to the Philippines will present L’lnhumaine or The New Enchantment (1923), a story of love and deceit directed by Marcel L’Herbier. The film will be scored by the French-Vietnamese harpist HeloiseLaHarpe, together with Ryan Villamor on piano and synthesizer and Aldous Castro on percussion and handpans.

September 2 (Sat) • 3:00 PM

On Saturday, September 2nd at 3:00PM, the Philippine Italian Association together with the Embassy of Italy will screen the world premiere of an experimental silent film by Filipino-Italian director Ruben Maria Soriquez: Una Famiglia Perfetta or A Perfect Family (2017). The movie will be live-scored by thre instrumental rock trio Tom’s Story.

September 2 (Sat) • 5:30 PM

At 5:30PM, the Japan Foundationn, Manila will feature Hijosen no Onna or Dragnet Girl (1933) by Yasujiro Ozu. This screening will feature a rare performance by Ichiro Kataoka, a noted benshi or silent film narrator/actor/storyteller from Japan, who will provide a live interpretation of the silent film. The screening and nrration will be accompanied by The Celso Espejo Rondala, a group which plays Filipino music on traditional native string intruments.

September 2 (Sat) • 8:00 PM

Ending the night with an 08:00PM screening will be the Philippines with Gym Lumberais 2-person drama Taglish (2012), which started as a damaged film entitled Tagalog, then English, and finally the present title Taglish. The film will be accompanied by the stoner-metal quartet Kapitan Kulam.

September 3 (Sun) • 3:00 PM

On Sunday, September 3rd at 3:00PM, the Embassy of Austria will feature Cafe Elektric (1927) directed by Gustav Ucicky. Cafe Elektric was the last film made and released by Sascha-Film, the first major film studio in Vienna. The live score will be played by one of the most established Filipino bands, Rivermaya.

September 3 (Sun) • 5:30 PM

At 5:30PM, Goethe-lnstitut Philippinen will screen one of silent cinema’s masterworks, Pandora’s Box 1929 , by George Wilhelm Pabst. Based on the controversial plays of Frank Wedekind, the film features the dazzling Louise Brooks in her classic bobbed hairstyle as lulu. Pandora’s Box will be accompanied by the band Sandwhich, led by local rock icon Raymond Marasigan.

September 3 (Sun) • 8:00 PM

Closing the festival at 08:00PM will be the U.S. Embassy’s screening of one of the most-reverd comedies of the silent era, The General (1926). Co-directed by Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton, the film also stars the iconic Keaton as an ill-fated railroad engineer. The ·film will be scored by a band of veteran musicians — exponents of Motown, Stax, Funk, Blues and Soul – the Flippin Soul Stampers.

SIDE EVENTS

This year’s film’s experience will have a unique addition, an exhibit at The Atrium of the Shangri-La by partner organization Para sa Sining, from August 31st to September 3rd. This community of creative collaborators will also present contemporary films of the silent film genre by their member-filmmakers.

On September 3rd at 2:00PM, 7:15PM and 9:30PM, the group will present Musike x Pelikula, during which their films will be scored by live musical performances from young and upcoming Filipino artists.

2:00 pm
MARIANING
Film by Nikolo Salazar
Music by ALPAS

7:15 pm
ORANGE JUICE
Film by Ivan of UP Cineasters’ Studio
Music by BennyBunnyBand

9:30 pm
MUKHA
Film by Noah del Rosario
Music by Fiona

10:00 pm
DREAMWEAVER
Film by Jedd Rommel & Ron Genato
Music by Ja Quintana

Established in 2007 as the very first event of its kind in Asia, the ISFFM promises to bring once more to Manila film buffs and music aficionados an extraordinary experience. From the 1890’s to the 1920’s, audiences around the world were enchanted by the magic of watching soundless images on a saeen accompanied by live music played by different performing artists. This year, Philippine-Italian Association, the Japan Foundation Manila, Goethe-Institut Philippinen, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Institute Cervantes, the British Council, and the Embassies of the United States of America, France and Austria, are extremely proud to present 11th edition of the International Silent Film Festival in Manila.

 

Scarlett Johansson gets funny in rare comedy ‘Rough Night’

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Superstar Scarlett Johansson takes a break from superhero duties as she plays the bride-to-be in Columbia Pictures’ new bachelorette-party comedy Rough Night (in Philippine cinemas August 9, 2017).

Also starring Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, and Zoë Kravitz, Rough Night is about five friends from college who reunite when they rent a beach house in Miami for a wild bachelorette weekend that goes completely off the rails. Just when all hope is lost, they realize there’s more to the story than they could’ve ever imagined.

Johansson plays Jess Thayer, who has dedicated her life to public service, and has set her sights on becoming a member of the state legislature. “She is definitely a socially conscious person,” explains Johansson. “She’s involved in the community and wants to make a positive difference in people’s lives. That’s why she’s running for state senate.”

Jess’ devotion to her constituents has come at the expense of her personal relationships. “Along the way, she’s neglected the people that are closest to her, as we do sometimes,” explains Johansson. “She’s career driven and focused on making a difference.”

“Jess is one of those people who has moved on from her crazy college days and is trying to forge a new life in a genuine, earnest way,” explains writer-director Lucia Aniello.

Johansson was excited by the idea of working in comedy. “I read the script and it was just so funny,” she says. “It made me laugh out loud, and I’m not a person that laughs out loud. I laugh a lot on the inside, but it made me belly laugh. I just loved how real the relationships were between these girls and how very earnest the characters were. I responded to these characters and how very real and raw they are.”

In Johansson’s portrayal of Jess, Aniello was in awe of her uncanny ability to strike the perfect balance between humor and vulnerability. “Scarlett not only is such an incredible actress, but, she also can be vulnerable, goofy, and silly,” says Aniello. “The ability to have that in a lead has grounded the movie exactly how I think we intended it to be. Scarlett can also destroy a punchline – she can just kill it. It’s just been incredible to have that flexibility with an actor.”

Tony and BAFTA winner and four-time Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson was most recently seen in the lead role of the Major in Ghost in the Shell, a live-action adaptation of the original Japanese manga.

In 2016, she voiced the python Kaa in Disney’s live action/CGI animation adaptation of The Jungle Book from Jon Favreau, and lent her voice to the computer-animated musical comedy film Sing, in which she played punk-rocking porcupine Ash. She also reprised her role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War, and is currently filming the two upcoming Avengers movies, including Avengers: Infinity War.

Her other recent roles include Luc Besson’s action-thriller Lucy, Jonathan Glazer’s sci-fi art film Under the Skin, and Spike Jonze’s critically acclaimed sci-fi romance Her, in which she played the role of operating system Samantha, which earned her a Best Actress award at the Rome Film Festival.

She is currently the highest-grossing actress of all time and highest grossing actor of 2016, with her films making over $1.2 billion that year and $9.3 billion overall worldwide.

Rough Night is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

‘The Dark Tower’ epic novels make long-awaited big-screen debut

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“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” With these words, Stephen King sparked an entire universe that makes its long-awaited screen debut with Columbia Pictures’ The Dark Tower, in Philippine cinemas August 30, 2017.

Idris Elba stars as the gunslinger Roland Deschain, sworn to protect the universe, and his perpetual nemesis, Walter O’Dim, the man in black, played by Matthew McConaughey.

In a career spanning 50 years and over 80 books, King has amassed a towering reputation as one of our greatest storytellers. The author of innumerable bestsellers, he has been honored by the President of the United States with the National Medal for the Arts, by the National Book Foundation with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and countless awards and prizes. His name is recognized everywhere as a master of blending our everyday world with the supernatural.

And there is one work that is at the center of his entire canon: The Dark Tower, the eight-novel epic telling of an eternal battle between good and evil, with the fate of multiple worlds at stake. “I started The Dark Tower when I was 22 years old, when I had just graduated from college, so it’s spanned my entire career,” says King. Over time, he says, as the books and stories piled up, “I started to realize that I had all these characters that were referring back to this other world, Mid-World, the world of The Dark Tower. It had become the centerpiece of my fictional universe –characters who showed up in other books would show up in The Dark Tower and vice versa.” Even King himself would become a character in later novels. The Dark Tower series of books would become the nexus for most of the King universe and crosses over into many of King’s other books.

Roland (Idris Elba) and Walter (Matthew McConaughey) in Columbia Pictures’ THE DARK TOWER.

It’s an epic that has inspired millions of readers – not least of which was a young boy in Denmark whose imagination was sparked by the events in Mid-World. Now grown, director Nikolaj Arcel was determined to be the one to bring The Dark Tower to the screen. Growing up with the Dark Tower books, Arcel became so immersed in the stories that the Danish native taught himself English. He recounts, “When I was about 13, there were almost no Stephen King stories translated into Danish. I became infatuated with the few books that I’d read in Danish, even at that age. And so I had to start picking up his English-version novels and I had to teach myself to read adult novel-style English at a very early age. Stephen King taught me English.”

For Arcel, the way King weaves together the personal and the larger-than-life elements of the story is why it’s connected to so many readers. “It’s as small as a 14 year-old boy, who has visions, who thinks he’s crazy, and it’s as big as a hero fighting a great villain and trying to save the entire universe. It expands from the very intimate to the very epic.”

And at the center of the story is the Dark Tower. “The Tower is a thing of beauty, it’s a thing of awe, with a powerful presence – it holds the whole world together. I think it’s beyond our comprehension,” says Arcel, “I think every single fan of the books will have their own idea of what the Dark Tower is.”

So who better to ask what it is than the man who created it? “You have to imagine an axle or a spindle, with all of these worlds connected to it,” says King. “You know what happens to a car if you cut the axle – it doesn’t run anymore. The Tower is the stabilizing force, and the Gunslingers are this ancient group of knights dedicated to the idea of protecting the Tower. But they have been wiped out – there’s only one left, Roland. And standing opposite him is an agent of chaos who wants to bring the Tower down,” King concludes.

The Dark Tower is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

First ‘Proud Mary’ poster guns with style

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Columbia Pictures has just unveiled the nostalgia-inspired poster of its new action thriller Proud Mary starring Oscar-nominee Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Hidden Figures).

Check out the one-sheet art below and watch Proud Mary in Philippine cinemas in January 2018.

Killing for the man, every night and day, Mary (Henson) is a hit woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.

Babak Najafi (“London Has Fallen”) helms the film which co-stars Billy Brown, Margaret Avery, Xander Berkeley, Neal McDonough, and Danny Glover.

Proud Mary is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Yabang Pinoy launches second Philippine Cinema Sessions Sept 9-10

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Being open entails a lot of meanings. It can be a doorway, a passage, or it may mean transparent. Cinema, as we know, stems from ordinary stories of daily lives in different faces. These representations may be formulaic or experimental, streamlined or self-expressed. And we must look at films with eyes open.

PHILIPPINE CINEMA SESSIONS is a two-day session which lets the participants have the opportunity to grasp the ideas, techniques and processes of filmmaking from the so-called experts in today’s generation of Philippine Cinema. Furthermore, the two-day session digs deeper on the relevance and importance of film in relation to Nationalism and Filipino-Pride by showing concrete manifestations through some of the masterpieces of the speakers.

Last year, Yabang Pinoy brought forth issues that raised awareness on the current situation of Philippine Cinema, as discussed by distinguished speakers such as Kanakan Balintagos (Director, “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”, “Esprit De Corps”), Alvin Yapan (Writer and Director, “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa”, “Oro”), Adolf Alix, Jr. (Director, “Padre de Familia”, “4 Days”), Petersen Vargas (Director, “2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten”), Oggs Cruz (Film Critic), Gino M. Santos (Director, “#Y”, “Ex With Benefits”), Sandino Martin (Actor, “Esprit De Corps”, “Ringgo The Dog Shooter”), Paul Soriano (Director and Producer, “Thelma”, “Dukot”), and Perci Intalan (Director and Producer, “Dementia”).

With the theme “The Art of Openness”, Yabang Pinoy will deepdive on different topics that causes ruckus and tremor among filmmakers and audiences which will be explained by this year’s line-up of speakers. As part of Yabang Pinoy’s homegrown project called Rated YP, Philippine Cinema Sessions is positioned to make the participants more aware of the present situation of the industry so that they choose filmmaking as their life mission, to become active audiences in nation-building, and to see quality films in the future. As this project will dwell more on motivating artists and fanatics alike, participants are expected to become more resolute on filmmaking not just as a form of self-expression, but more so, a parcel of their life and an extension of their identity as individuals and as a Filipino.

This event will be on September 9-10, 2017 (Saturday and Sunday), 12:00nn to 8:00pm, at The Globe Tower in Taguig City. Registration fee is Php 1,995.00 which includes Workshop Fee, Participation Kit, Food and Beverage, Certiificate and Other Freebies.

To register online, you may sign-up through this link: http://bit.ly/2sNdZjT

For bank deposit and fund transfer, you may refer to these details:
Children’s Environmental Awareness and Action Foundation
Bank of the Philippine Islands
8293-0598-46

For more information, visit our website at http://www.yabangpinoy.com or you may call or text 09164233214 or e-mail yabangpinoy@gmail.com with the subject “2nd PH Cinema Session”.