PH BLOG ➹

Now a regular feature in QCinema , this specially-curated program showcases the most interesting new short films from the region, including two from the Philippines.  In exploring diverse cinematic approaches, the line-up of six shorts range from the fiction narrative to social critique and to experimental styles of filmmaking.  This section, curated by filmmaker Carlo Manatad, expands the notion of storytelling for the short film medium in its various possibilities. Sundance Grand Prize winner, The Headhunter’s Daughter by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, tells about an Igorot who leaves her family behind to try her luck as a country singer.  Navigating through the Cordilleran highlands with only her horse and guitar, it is laden with imagery from the American frontier and colonial influences seeping through the film’s images. Another Filipino filmmaker, Timmy Harn who competed in QCinema’s 2018 main competition with Dog Days, returns to the short form medium in this progra...

The award-winning documentary feature, “ Delikado ,” which draws focus on environmental crusaders who risk their lives protecting the rainforests of Palawan will finally have its Philippine premiere. The 96-minute enviro-thriller docu directed by journalist Karl Malakunas will be screened at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Main Theater (Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo) on Aug. 13 at 3:30 p.m. It will be among the closing films of the 18th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival . In “Delikado,” Malakunas takes viewers to one of the Philippines’ top tourist destinations—Palawan. But the former Manila bureau chief of Agence France Presse shies away from the tropical paradise angle and instead shines the light on environmental defenders who are fighting to preserve their natural resources from big developers, politicians, illegal loggers and others who threaten the Philippines’ “last ecological frontier.” The film follows Robert “Bobby” Chan, lawyer and executive director of the P...

 July may mean rainy days, but for 2022, it also means some executive couch time at SM Cinema with one of Marvel ’s blockbuster movies, Thor: Love and Thunder . Directed by Taika Waititi, Thor: Love and Thunder will surely entertain the whole family as the God of Thunder marks his big-screen comeback. Embarking a special journey of self-discovery, Thor’s efforts are interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr, the God Butcher, who seeks the extinction of the gods.  To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of new and old allies like King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi) and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it is too late. Catch the adventure and most awaited Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder on July 6 in SM Cinemas o...

Film enthusiasts can now look forward to watching the much-awaited Metro Manila Film Festival movies as SM Cinema in SM City Marilao finally reopens on December 25. As SM welcomes movie goers once more, SM Cinema highlights the safety procedures that need to be observed for a worry-free movie going experience. All patrons need to wear well-fitted face masks at all times. Temperature and symptoms will be checked upon mall entry. A health declaration must also be presented upon ticket purchase. Moviegoers from adults to kids, must be fully vaccinated to be allowed inside the cinemas. Ensuring safe and fun theater going experience, SM Cinema will likewise have a capacity restrictions to allow customers to physically distance one seat apart from each other. Bringing food inside will also be prohibited at the time being but drinking water will be allowed in consideration of possible emergencies and health risks. SM remains committed to the safety and well-being of its mall goers as each...

It’s another historic win for multi-awarded documentary film Aswang . Aswang won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Documentary , and Best Cinematography at the 44th Gawad Urian by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Director Alyx Arumpac says:  “We thank the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino for this honor. We are overwhelmed and beyond grateful for the recognition. " Aswang follows a group of people whose fates wrap around the growing violence over two years of killings in Manila, among them Brother Jun Santiago, a photojournalist and missionary brother who comforts bereaved families. “While making the film we heard grieving people say this so many times — ‘Kung alam ko lang na papatayin nila ang kapatid/asawa/anak ko, hindi ko na sana siya binoto’ (If I had known that they would kill my brother/father/son, I never would not have voted for him),” adds Arumpac who encourages all Filipinos to watch the documentary and see how the first years of President Rodrigo Duterte's ...

T he much anticpated action adventure “ Jurassic World ” is opening exactly one year away, so Universal Pictures has released three new images from the upcoming sequel to mark the occasion. The movie takes place 22 years after the horrific events of the original “Jurassic Park” and is set on a fully functional park on Isla Nublar.

A ward-winning director Paul Haggis’ latest romantic thriller “ Third Person ” follows the journeys of three sets of couple at three different stages of a relationship set at the backdrop of Paris, Rome and New York. The movie’s main character Michael, played by Liam Neeson, a novelist who’d been famous for his previous work has holed himself up in a hotel suite in Paris finishing his latest book. Within the hotel works a maid named Julia, Mila Kunis ’ character – an ex-soap opera actress who was once a frequent guest at the hotel. Julia is caught in a custody battle for her 6-year old son with her ex-husband Rick played by James Franco , who is a famous New York artist. With her support cut off and her legal costs ruinous, Julia’s lawyer Theresa (Maria Bello) has secured Julia one final chance to change the court’s mind and be reunited with the child she loves. Julia’s sole motivation in life is to gain joint custody of her son but her fragile psychological...

2 0th Century Fox has recently shared the hair-raising performance capture behind the upcoming revolutionary action thriller “ Dawn of The Planet of The Apes ,” where Caesar, a CGI-created ape introduced in the previously released “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is now an older, wiser and more troubled character. Watch trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WujkWBN3_wo&list=UU-JrjBL_iZAn5wjEsw9nRYA

F rom DreamWorks Animation, “ How To Train Your Dragon 2 ” is even more exciting than the first Oscar-nominated film. The 3D adventure is stunning, with beautiful animation, great characters and a powerful storyline about a boy named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless. Gerard Butler returns as Hiccup’s dad, Stoick The Vast, mighty Chieftain of the Island of Berk. Hiccup, now a young man, is contentedly flying with Toothless and exploring the frontiers of the Viking world, much to the annoyance of his father. Stoick feels it’s high time his son stepped up to his leadership responsibilities and his heritage. As the plot unfolds, Hiccup has to defend the villagers from the power-crazed Drago (Djimon Hounsou) and his army of dragon trappers. And in a dramatic twist to this exhilarating coming of agestory, there is an emotional family reunion with Valka, Hiccup’s courageous mother (Cate Blanchett),an inspiring dragon protector.

I f Maleficent has long been a symbol of the dark feminine, the character Aurora has always symbolized the light and innocent. In casting the role of the Princess who falls under Maleficent’s spell, the filmmakers of Walt Disney Pictures' “ Maleficent ” chose one of the most talented actresses of her generation, Elle Fanning. “Elle is Aurora,” comments Angelina Jolie, who plays the title character. “From the moment I met her, she is just sunshine. She’s a wonderful, sweet, intelligent young woman.”

C olumbia Pictures taps the best talents (Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington, Channing Tatum, Andrew Garfield, among others) to star in high-concept and interesting films that the studio will rollout in 2014. From original ideas to re-imaginings, from anticipated sequels to clever adaptations, Columbia's solid slate for the year promises to inspire, enlighten and entertain. “ RoboCop .” When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees its chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine pursuing justice.

W hen retired Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson’s book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 was published in 2007, it quickly rose to the top of The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. This true story of duty and honor in the face of extreme adversity and the heroic deeds of fallen comrades caught filmmaker Peter Berg ’s attention when his production partner, Film 44’s Sarah Aubrey, gave him a copy of the book and insisted that he read it. Although in production on his then-upcoming blockbuster “Hancock,” Berg began to flip through it during a lunch break. After a few minutes, he was transfixed, locking the door to his trailer and reading the book cover to cover. Determined to win the rights and adapt “ Lone Survivor ” into a film, Berg became a man obsessed.

I n attendance at the recently concluded Australian (Sydney) premiere of the upcoming adventure comedy “ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig. Ben Stiller produces and stars in the movie where no one really knows the power of the private dreams inside our heads . . . until they inspire our reality. That’s what happens in Ben Stiller’s contemporary rethink of one of the most influential fantasy stories of all time – indeed the quintessential tale about the irresistible allure of fantasizing: James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Stiller has taken that two-and-a-half page 1939 classic and opened it up into a 21st Century comic epic about a man who finds that his real life is about toblow his wildly over-active imagination out of the water. “ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ” opens January 22 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

W alt Disney Pictures has released the new international trailer for “ Muppets Most Wanted ,” opening in Philippine theaters on March 21, 2014. You can view the trailer here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuT_9W_Vohc.

A cclaimed Emmy®-winning director Alan Taylor , known for his work on HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” brings his style and love of “epic language” to Marvel’s “ Thor: The Dark World .” Taylor admits he was excited by the prospect of helming the film, saying, “I’d come to love having one foot in reality and one foot in fantasy. All of those things were coming together in this. Thor is a unique Super Hero because he carries so much weight of history and he carries a mythology. Those things gave him the kind of stature that I found exciting.” From the beginning of his involvement, Taylor was keen on grounding the film in a sense of reality as the story takes place not only on Earth but on Asgard and other worlds of the Nine Realms as well. It was important for the director to never let the film depart from feeling both real and emotionally connected. “We’re making a big effort to ground it in a sense of ‘history,’ despite the fact that it is a made up world, “ explains Taylor. “It was impor...

F rom director Kimbery Peirce (TV's “The L Word”) comes Columbia Pictures' new thriller “ Carrie ” based on the Stephen King novel and starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore. “Carrie” is a reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White (Moretz), a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, Margaret (Moore). The teenaged girl unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. The filmmaker talks about the eagerly anticipated remake in the following interview.

M etro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Columbia Pictures have just released the teaser poster for they're upcoming action thriller “ RoboCop .” Directed by Jose Padilha, “RoboCop” stars Joel Kinnaman (TV's “The Killing”), Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The screenplay is by Josh Zetumer and Nick Schenk, based on the 1987 motion picture written by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner.

A utodesk, Inc., has played a pivotal role in the creation of some of the most iconic and breathtaking movie imagery over the past two decades. From large post-production studios to small boutique houses, talented artists across the globe use Autodesk visual effects (VFX) software such as Autodesk 3dsMax, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Flame, Softimage to create stunning movies and television content. In fact, Autodesk media and entertainment software has played a key role in making iconic visual effects movies like ‘Avatar’ or the recently released ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Superman’ and ‘Iron Man’ and many other for the past two decades. And now with the release of the blockbuster movie ELYSIUM check out how Autodesk Academy® Award-winning software has helped digital artists unlock their creativity.

F rom Neill Blomkamp, the acclaimed director of the Oscar Best Picture nominee “ District 9 ,” comes the futuristic action-thriller “ Elysium ” starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster. In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined planet. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the crime and poverty that is now rampant throughout the land. The only man with the chance to bring equality to these worlds is Max (Damon), an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt (Foster) and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well.

P romoting and championing Filipino talents, Ayala Malls Cinemas hosts for the 3rd time entries that will compete in Cinemalaya Festival on its 9th year themed “Cinemalaya Cinesthesia.” Ayala Malls Cinemas ’ first collaboration with Cinemalaya back in July 2011 opened its Greenbelt3 screens to the entries, paving easy access for the festival’s followers within the metro. Ayala Malls Cinemas solidified its support to the festival by adding Trinoma screens as an additional venue on its 2nd year of partnership with Cinemalaya in 2012.